When it's not producing locally-made whiskey and rum, the Van Brunt Stillhouse acts as home to Tokki SOJU, the first traditionally-crafted rice soju made in the United States. Owner and creator Bran Hillwho was Van Brunt Stillhouse's head brewer and distiller for a year and a halfalong with managing partner Douglas Park, have been working on the product for a year and a half. It officially launched last February, in conjunction with the Lunar New Year.

"I'd just moved from Korea to New York, so whenever I had open fermenters, I'd start to do Korean spirits and just experiment with them," Hill recalls of Tokki's origin. "I make about six types of Korean spirits outside of soju and would give them to my friends. They were really well received by the Korean community and they're just kind of non-existent on the American market."

Hill's background in brewing expanded following a sudden move to South Korea, where he enrolled in the Susubori Academy run by the Kyonggi University and the Foundation of Agricultural Technology Commercialization and Transfer (FACT). From there, he traveled around the country to learn about different types of Korean alcohol and their production, ranging from historical methods to contemporary.

Soju's been made in Korea since the 13th century, when Mongolian invaders brought over arak, soju's alcoholic predecessor. Despite being sold more than any other spirit in the world, soju still hasn't quite cracked the American market and there's not as large a demand herefor now.

Most New York City diners are accustomed to "green bottle" soju, ubiquitous in the city's Korean BBQ houses and casual Korean restaurants.

"The soju category is so open it can pretty much be made from any starch, so the green bottle sojus are whatever neutral grain spirit they can get the cheapest," Hill says. "Sometimes it's made from tapioca from China, sorghum from China, sweet potatoes and yams from Papua New Guinea. It's primarily just neutral grain spirit and chemicals, which is not really an accurate representation of what soju truly is."

For his soju, Hill's using chap ssal, a Korean sticky rice that's very high in sucrose. Because of the natural sugars, sweeteners like refined sugars or additives don't need to be added to make the spirit palatable. He's also employing Nuruk, a Korean yeast cultivated from ground wheat in the traditional soju-making method. Cultivating the enzymes and yeasts this way takes about three and a half weeks.



Nuruk (Clay Williams/Gothamist)

"I know a couple older guys who in their village make it with Nuruk, just to give it away; those are the people who taught me," Hill explains. "But I don't know an actual brand that still does that, even in Korea."

From yeast cultivation to bottling, the soju-making process at Tokki takes about a month. The rice is milled, mashed and brewed before entering a fermentation process, where the alcohol is produced. Following that, it goes into a distillation process, making it a spirit as opposed to a wine or beer. Like vodka, soju isn't aged, but it does have a lot in common with spirits like whiskies.

"If I were to put this in a barrel and serve it at 40% [ABV], it would technically be a whiskey," Hill says. "Grains like corn, wheat, rye, barley, and rice, when you cook them and you ferment them, they do have very similar aromatics. You can make whiskey out of rice because it's a cereal grain."

Because sojueven in Koreadoesn't employ traditional methods as often anymore, the reactions Hill's gotten have often been ones of surprise.

"A lot of people have never had it, so when they say, 'Oh, this doesn't taste like soju,' it's kind of because they haven't had it actually made the way it was. The artisan soju movement has not really been adopted by the younger millennials like it has been in the U.S. It's still kind of like the older generation's holding on to what they remember as traditional soju prior to the 1970s."

Hill says most tasters describe a grappa-like flavor because of the sweet rice; he's also heard people pick out cherry and plum notes.

You can find Tokki Soju in high-end Korean dining establishments like Jungsik, and Hanjan, Jongro, where Hill hoped to offer a high-quality product to Korean chefs who might not have access to high-quality, traditionally-made soju because of importing costs. And people can buy bottles at Van Brunt Stillhouse for drinking at home, too.

"At 17% alcohol, most people consume 4-5 bottles [of soju] with dinner, just kind of casually. It's created a very big drinking culture" in Korea, Hill says. There are even rituals surrounding the pouring of the drinknever pour your own and always pour for your elders, for example.

Hill says it was this sense of community and the convivial sharing of food and drink that inspired him to study soju and ultimately create his own.

"Koreans are very, very welcoming, at least with my experience. I never felt like an outsider and I thought they were always welcoming and always really appreciative when I showed an interest in the culture and learning the language and the history behind the spirits," Hill recalls. "It was really well-received as opposed to, 'What's this outsider doing?' Once the Korean community gave me the green light, then I felt comfortable doing it."
POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hammer Fiber Optics Holdings Corp. (OTCQB: HMMR) (the "Company"), is scheduled to present at RedChip's Global Online Growth Conference on Thursday, January 26, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. The presentation can be viewed at www.RedChip.com. A live Q&A session will follow the investor presentation.

RedChip's Global Online Growth Conference brings together investors and executives of leading microcap companies, representing a broad spectrum of industries and sectors, including oil & gas, technology, mining, healthcare, consumer goods, energy, and more. More than 10,000 investors attend RedChip's microcap conference series each year.

No registration is required to participate in the conference. Start times are subject to change.

About

Hammer Fiber Optics Holdings (HMMR) intends to bring alternative high-speed telecom services to poorly served areas. The Company's internet services ensure subscribers get the bandwidth that they need to run all of their applications. The Company's technology is based on a proven end-to-end system that has already been successfully deployed in eight countries. Initial commercial operations are expected to commence in New Jersey in January 2017, followed by expansion into other markets. For more information visit http://www.hammerfiberopticinvestments.com/

SOURCE Hammer Fiber Optic Holdings Corp.

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MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- For the fifth consecutive year, Herzing University Online learning programs have received national recognition as among the best in the United States. The university, an accredited private nonprofit institution that has 11 campuses in eight states in addition to its online division, received notice in U.S. News & World Report for:

2017 Best Online Nursing Programs

2017 Best Online Bachelor's Programs

2017 Best Online MBA Programs

"Online academic programs fill a vital need for busy students who want flexible education opportunities to help them pursue their academic and professional goals," Herzing University President Renee Herzing said. "Herzing University is proud to offer a number of career-focused online programs and personalized support resources."

The U.S. News & World Report ranking system takes into account the publication's research data on education, as well as quantitative measures education experts use to identify academic quality, including the widely used Carnegie classification. Ranking factors include student engagement, faculty training, student services and others, and demonstrate Herzing University's dedication to innovation in education and providing comprehensive resources for online learners.

Herzing University is known for its healthcare, technology and business degree programs with flexible schedules and a supportive learning environment. Herzing helps students maximize their prior learning and professional experience toward academic credits and offers several degree pathways from an associate to a bachelor's and up to a master's degree.

About Herzing University

Herzing University, an accredited private nonprofit institution, encompasses 11 campuses in eight states, a continuing education division, an online division, and has a current enrollment of approximately 6,000 students. Founded in Milwaukee in 1965, today the University offers career-focused, convenient and caring education for master's, bachelor's, and associate degrees, diplomas and continuing education in the fields of nursing, technology, business, healthcare and public safety. From 2013 through 2017, U.S. News & World Report recognized Herzing University as having some of the "Best Online Bachelor's Degree Programs" nationally. Herzing University has also been recognized on the GI Jobs magazine list of "Military Friendly Schools" from 2013 through 2017. Herzing University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission; www.hlcommission.org or (800) 621-7440. More information about Herzing University is available at: www.herzing.edu.

Contact:

Candice Hudson

312-661-1050

[email protected]

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LONDON, Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bridging cost and performance gap between engineering polyamides and other high performance polymers, high performance polyamides (HPPA) are widely used in automotive, electrical & electronics and various other demanding applications. High performance polyamides withstand extreme conditions such as long term exposure to heat, chemicals, and moisture. Compared to standard polyamide technologies including PA 6 and PA 66, HPPAs can offer improved dimensional stability due lower moisture absorbsion.



Mega trends in the automotive, electrical & electronics and oil & gas sectors are expected to spur the demand for high performance polyamides in the future. In the automotive industry, growth is supported by metal replacement to reduce vehicle weight, while thinner and smaller components in electronic devices. Further, the development of unconventional oil and gas technologies to spur the demand for the specialty polyamides.



Global volume consumption of High Performance Polyamides is forecast to be 217.4 thousand metric tons in 2016 and is projected to reach 271.1 thousand metric tons by 2022 at a CAGR of 3.7% between the two years. Asia-Pacific is the largest volume consumer of High Performance Polyamides, forecast to be 105.4 thousand metric tons (48.5% share) in 2016, which is also expected to record the fastest 2016-2022 CAGR of 4.6% and reach a projected 138 thousand metric tons by 2022.



This report includes high temperature polyamides within the definition of high performance polyamides as well as other specialty polyamides which display outstanding characteristics such as very low moisture absorption, outstanding chemical resistance, toughness and strength. The report focuses on six different high performance polyamides namely polyamide 11 (PA 11), polyamide 12 (PA 12), polyamide 46 (PA 46), polyamide 9T (PA 9T), polyphthalamides (PPA) based on polyamide 6T (PA 6T) and polyarylamide (PARA) or polyamide MXD6 (PA MXD6).



The study also analyzes the key end-use sectors of high performance polyamides including Automotive & Transportation, Electrical & Electronics, Mechanical/Industrial, Medical & Healthcare and Others (such as Building & Construction, Aerospace, Consumer Goods, Medical etc.). The global markets for the above mentioned product types and end-use sectors are analyzed in terms of volume in metric tons and value in USD for 2012-2022 analysis period for the United States, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of World. The regional markets further analyzed for 8 more independent countries across Europe  France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom; Asia-Pacific  China, India, Japan and South Korea. This report also provides the comprehensive market analysis of each polyamide type by end-use sector for the global markets including the United States and key regions in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of World.



This 440 page global High Performance Polyamides market report includes 631 charts (includes a data table and graphical representation for each chart), supported with meaningful and easy to understand graphical presentation, of market numbers. This report profiles 12 key global players across the United States  1; Europe  5 and Asia-Pacific  6. The research also provides the listing of the companies engaged in manufacturing, compounding, processing and supply of high performance polyamides. The global list of companies covers the address, contact numbers and the website addresses of 81 companies.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4247281/



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Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com



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SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit advancing professional open source management for mass collaboration, today announced that Hitachi, Ltd. has become a Platinum member of the Foundation.

Hitachi has been a key supporter of The Linux Foundation and Linux since 2000 and had previously been a Gold member. The company is also a member of numerous Linux Foundation projects, such as Automotive Grade Linux, Civil Infrastructure Platform, Cloud Foundry Foundation, Core Infrastructure Initiative, Hyperledger and OpenDaylight.

Mr. Takahiro Yasui, Director, OSS Solution Center, Information and Communication Technology Business Division, Hitachi, Ltd., commented: "Deep involvement in collaborative R&D is strategic to Hitachi because it allows for the fastest possible innovation in sectors that include servers, cloud, converged applications, big data and Internet of Things. Becoming a Platinum member of The Linux Foundation helps Hitachi align as closely as possible with the open source technologies that are of essential value to our customers and the industries we serve."

"Linux and many other critical open source projects have benefitted tremendously over a span of years from Hitachi's contributions and unwavering support," said Jim Zemlin, Executive Director of The Linux Foundation. "Hitachi's move to become a Platinum member of The Linux Foundation is a strong indicator of the depth of its commitment to the advancement of open source."

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world's top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Media Contact

Dan Brown

The Linux Foundation

[email protected]

415-420-7880

SOURCE The Linux Foundation

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The proud two-meter-tall 3D rooster of magnificent red and green colors was weaved using bamboo strips and decorated with 60 kilograms (132 pounds) of red and green chili peppers. The installation was inspired by Huangling's ancient folk tradition of shaiqiu , when people in Huangling sun-dry numerous baskets of fruits and vegetables on hundreds of high and low roofs of Hui-style houses throughout the year.

"Bathed in sunshine, the rooster installation is an actual reflection of the local folk culture and way of life because for our villagers, harvests such as grains and vegetables are the best paintbrush from nature. This rooster, which envokes shaiqiu, also embodies people's hopes and wishes for the new year," said Wu Xiangyang, CEO of Wuyuan Rural Culture Development Co., Ltd.

The Chinese Lunar New Year will fall on January 28 this year. This most important Chinese festival has been celebrated for 4,000 years though countless traditions and folk customs across China. It runs from Chinese New Year's Eve to the 15th day of the first calendar month, the Lantern Festival.

In Chinese culture, every zodiac year in the 12-year cycle is represented by an animal, starting with the rat and ending with pig. The rooster, the only bird in the cycle, has a special relationship with man and a prominent role in farming culture

"Huangling has preserved traditions of its farming culture; the local phenomenon of shaiqiu, together with many other unique folk events, has presented people around the world with a destination for nostalgic memories. During this most special Spring Festival holiday, we hope that our visitors will have a unique experience and enjoy our combination of farming traditions and cultural heritage," Wu said.

About Huangling

Located in Wuyuan County, Jiangxi Province, China, Huangling attracts visitors from all over the world. The quaint and elegant village has preserved and maintained its ancient Hui-style architecture and offers an authentic Chinese countryside travel experience. Praised as the most beautiful countryside in China, the unique view of shaiqiu can only be found in Huangling, where baskets of colorful harvest bask in the sunshine.

SOURCE Wuyuan Rural Culture Development Co., Ltd.
NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Executive Summary

The report titled "India Ballistic Protection Market Outlook to FY'2021 - Rising Defence Expenditure and Growing Exports to Shape the Future" which provides a comprehensive analysis of the ballistic protection market India. The report covers various aspects such as overall size of the ballistic protection market in terms of value and volume, segmentation on the basis of types of products, domestic sales and exports and others.



The report also covers future outlook and projections of the industry. Additionally, the report offers prevalent trends, developments and challenges in industry and SWOT analysis of the current market. The report also covers the competitive landscape of the industry and comprehensive profile of leading players operating in the market. Major macroeconomic indicators affecting the market have also been highlighted in the report. The report is useful for manufacturers of ballistic protection equipments companies, consultants and stakeholders to align their market centric strategies according to ongoing and expected trends in the future.



Ballistic protection market comprises of defence equipments which are used by people to protect themselves against the firearm or an explosive device. Such products are most commonly used by the armed forces of a nation, VIPs and HNWIs, which face risk on their lives due to their influence or stature in the society.



The need for ballistic protection has been growing in India with the rise in threat of domestic and cross-border terrorism. Apart from terrorism, local extremist outfits such as Indian Mujahideen, Bodo militants, Maoist-Naxalite insurgency in several of its states has led to the deployment of military and paramilitary forces in these regions. As the casualties and fatalities from stray explosives and firings rise in these regions, the need for protective armour by the general public in these regions has been growing. Moreover, there is a constant demand from the armed forces in India, since the country's borders are shared with China and Pakistan.



The market size in terms of revenues in India was recorded at INR ~ million in FY'2011. The revenues have increased to INR ~ million in FY'2016, at a CAGR of ~% during the period. In terms of volume the market has been evaluated at ~ in FY'2016. In FY'2016, the largest share in the personal ballistic protection market in India was countered by bullet proof vests which accounted for ~% of the overall market revenues. Ballistic boots has contributed the second largest share of ~% in the overall market revenues. Ballistic helmets, on the other hand have contributed ~% of the overall market revenue.



The market has overall sales volume of ~ units of bullet proof jackets as of FY'2016, which has substantially enhanced over the years. Over the period FY'2011-FY'2016, the market for bulletproof vests has generated significant demand from different units of the Indian Army as well as police forces of J& K, Assam, Manipur; Nagaland and several other Indian states. In the year FY'2016, the total market value of the bullet proof vests had reached a total of INR ~ million. Sales volume has inclined from ~ units in FY'2011 to ~ units in FY'2016. The market for bulletproof vests in largely export oriented as of FY'2016. Exports accounted for a share of ~% in the volume sales of ballistic vests/jackets market in India during FY'2016.



Ballistic boots have been produced with the major focus towards preventing damage from bullets and other shrapnel to the legs and feet of users. Indian ballistic boots market has showcased a healthy growth rate in terms of revenues over the period FY'2011-FY'2014. The market has risen steadily from INR ~ million in FY'2011 to INR ~ million in FY'2014. As of FY'2016, demand for ballistic boots in India is ~, however only ~ are being procured. There is a huge demand-supply gap majorly due to new completed tenders for ballistic boots.



Bomb blanket is a combination of suppression blanket and safety ring for quick protection against blast shocks and fragments. The market revenues were registered at INR ~ million during FY'2016. Units consumed during FY'2016 have been registered at ~. Similar to ballistic vests and helmets, the market for ballistic blanket in India has been dominated by exports during FY'2016. Exports have captured a share of ~% in the total sales of ballistic blanket market during FY'2016.

The bomb suits are generally made with high strength aromatic polyamide polymer fabrics such as Kevlar. The suits have extra padding in their built to protect against the massive impact of blasts. The demand for bomb suits in India has been recorded at ~ units, with revenues of worth INR ~ million in FY'2016



The sales volume of bulletproof helmets during FY'2016 was recorded at ~ units. The price of bullet proof helmets in India has been witnessed at INR ~ per unit. India ballistic helmet market is highly export driven with export accounting for ~% share in the total sales during FY'2016. Domestic sales have accounted for a low share of ~% in the total sales of ballistic helmets in terms of units in FY'2016.



The market for armored fighting vehicles has been registered at ~ units. The average price for an armored military vehicle is INR ~ lakh as of FY'2016.On the other hand, ~ civilian vehicles have been upgraded into armor protected vehicles during FY'2016. Average cost of modifying a civilian vehicle into armor protected vehicle is INR ~ lakh as of FY'2016.



Bulletproof Glass market has grown at a gradual pace over the period FY'2011-FY'2016. Bullet-proof glass used in India is majorly of two types, laminated glass and polycarbonate thermoplastic. Average price of bulletproof glass in India is INR ~ per square feet as of FY'2016. Inclining sales of armored vehicles and growing military strength of the country have earmarked the sales volume for bulletproof at ~ square feet in FY'2016.



Key Topics Covered in the Report:

- India Ballistic Protection Market Introduction and Size by value and volume

- India Ballistic Protection Market Segmentation (By types of products and import and domestic production)

- India Ballistic Vest/Jacket Protection Market size by value and volume

- India Ballistic Vest/Jacket Protection Market Segmentation (By domestic sales and exports)

- India Ballistic Boots Market size by value and volume

- India Ballistic Blankets Market size by value and volume

- India Ballistic Blankets Market Segmentation (By domestic sales and exports)

- India Demining Suits Market size by value and volume

- India Bomb Suits Market size by value and volume

- India Ballistic Helmet Market size by value and volume

- India Ballistic Helmet Market Segmentation (By domestic sales and exports)

- Company Profile of Leading Players in India Ballistic Protection Market

- SWOT analysis of India Ballistic Protection Market

- India Ballistic Protection Market Future Outlook and Projections

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04650062-summary/view-report.html



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NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Information Builders, a leader in business intelligence (BI) and analytics, data integrity, and integration solutions, today announced Analytics Accelerator, a new premier partner program that makes it easier and more lucrative for system integrators and infrastructure companies to sell Information Builders' WebFOCUS BI and analytics software worldwide. Analytics Accelerator provides higher margins and margin protection, while enabling partners to sell the full portfolio of WebFOCUS products.

Tweet This: [email protected] grows its worldwide channel, unveils new, premier alliance program: http://ow.ly/EkPe307RL4x #BI #analytics

Business analytics is a $16 billion market and is expected to be $27 billion by 2021  a compound annual growth rate of 8.4 percent. Information Builders is a highly respected software company in this market space, getting top scores from analyst firms such as Forrester, Dresner Advisory Services, Ventana Research, and Enterprise Management Associates (EMA).

Where previous Information Builders reseller programs only allowed partners to refer deals to Information Builders' direct sales team or resell the WebFOCUS Business User Edition, the Analytics Accelerator program enables partners to refer or resell all WebFOCUS products, including:

WebFOCUS Business User Edition , which is designed for workgroups and small businesses that need analytics and reporting authoring, sharing, and distribution capabilities for 10 to 100 users

, which is designed for workgroups and small businesses that need analytics and reporting authoring, sharing, and distribution capabilities for 10 to 100 users WebFOCUS Application Edition for enterprises that want to build highly interactive analytical applications for up to 400 users, with enhanced distribution and sharing capabilities

for enterprises that want to build highly interactive analytical applications for up to 400 users, with enhanced distribution and sharing capabilities WebFOCUS Enterprise Edition for organizations of all sizes that need to deploy large-scale internal or customer-facing analytical applications to users ranging from 400 to millions

The Analytics Accelerator program includes the highest referral fees and highest margins of any Information Builders program. In addition, when discounting is required, Information Builders will provide margin protection for an initial percentage with shared responsibility for margin after that point.

Additional benefits of the Analytics Accelerator program include:

Business planning and co-marketing, including MDF

Joint opportunity development with dedicated account management

Tiered discount structure

Protected deal registration

Free sales and technical enablement

Mentorship from Information Builders sales and services for reliable and consistent coordination of sales, marketing, and implementation activities

The new worldwide program has already attracted more than 20 charter members, including LRS, Systech, and Meridian IT.

Steve Bickford, president, Meridian IT, said:

"Information Builders is a BI and analytics solutions provider and a compelling option for many Meridian IT clients because its WebFOCUS platform meets the diverse business and IT requirements of organizations across different industries. This partnership is a strategic step forward, accelerating our joint engagements and better serving our current and future clients. Information Builders' powerful analytics and visualization platform, combined with Meridian's technology solution and support services expertise deliver exceptional business value and greater return on investment to our clients."

Gerald Cohen, president and CEO, Information Builders, said:

"Partners are integral to our business model. Leveraging premier resellers is a mutually beneficial  and highly profitable  way for Information Builders to seed our products into numerous markets and industries that we don't normally enter directly. Our partner relationships create competitive advantages for customers by helping them to rapidly deploy end-to-end BI and analytics solutions that enable data-driven decision-making throughout their entire organization. Through this new, premier alliance program, we are aligning with services and infrastructure providers who build and deliver enterprise solutions that establish the vital foundation for obtaining insights, which make the promise of business agility a reality."

For more information about Information Builders' partner ecosystem and the Analytics Accelerator program please visit our website.

About Information Builders

Information Builders provides solutions for business intelligence (BI), analytics, data integration, and data quality that help drive performance improvements, innovation, and value. Through one set of powerful products, we enable organizations to serve everyone  analysts, non-technical users, even partners, customers, and citizens  with better data and analytics. Our dedication to customer success is unmatched with thousands of organizations relying on us as their trusted partner. Founded in 1975, Information Builders is headquartered in New York, NY, with global offices, and remains one of the largest independent, privately held companies in the industry. Visit us at informationbuilders.com, follow us on Twitter at @infobldrs, like us on Facebook, and visit our LinkedIn page.

Press Contacts

Kathleen Moran

Information Builders

(917) 339-6313

[email protected]

Kate Finigan

LEWIS

(781) 761-4500

[email protected]

SOURCE Information Builders

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BOSTON, Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- At their annual meetings held today, shareholders of John Hancock Income Securities Trust (NYSE: JHS) and John Hancock Investors Trust (NYSE: JHI), each a closed-end fund managed by John Hancock Advisers, LLC, elected the following thirteen Trustees to continue to serve as members of the Board of Trustees of JHS and JHI: Charles L. Bardelis, James R. Boyle, Craig Bromley, Peter S. Burgess, William H. Cunningham, Grace K. Fey, Theron S. Hoffman, Deborah C. Jackson, Hassell H. McClellan, James M. Oates, Steven R. Pruchansky, Gregory A. Russo, and Warren A. Thomson.

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined by the United States securities laws. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond a fund's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

An investor should consider each fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing.

About John Hancock Investments

John Hancock Investments provides asset management services to individuals and institutions through a unique manager-of-managers approach. A wealth management business of John Hancock Financial, we managed $136 billion in assets as of September 30, 2016, across mutual funds, college savings plans, and retirement plans.

About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial

John Hancock Financial is a division of Manulife Financial, a leading Canada-based financial services group with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were C$966 billion (US$736 billion) as of September 30, 2016. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at manulife.com.

The John Hancock unit, through its insurance companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in the United States. John Hancock offers and administers a broad range of financial products, including life insurance, annuities, fixed products, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, college savings, and other forms of business insurance. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com.

SOURCE John Hancock Investments
The two companies are celebrating the $100 million sales benchmark. "We were thrilled to be awarded with the exclusive license for kathy ireland Office, Quick To Assemble (QTA) several years ago," says Mr. Evans. "We knew then that a partnership with kiWW, one of the most successful brands in the world, presented a tremendous and unique opportunity for our company. Our sales projections were doubled and we are now celebrating a major milestone. We are even more thrilled to be able to share this success with Kathy and her exceptionally talented team at kiWW," he adds.

"The Bush team and their QTA Technology are extraordinary," says Kathy, kiWW's CEO & Chief Designer, who this year graced the cover of Forbes Magazine for the second time as one of America's 50 most successful self-made women. "Many, many years ago we tried and failed in the direct to business channel. With Bush, we're winning. In concert with our Global Creative Director, Jon Carrasco, we're making miraculous things happen. We are outselling so many leading brands. Our on-trend design work, in-stock positioning and customer connection has powerful results," adds Kathy. "Our sales and margins are excellent... and sales and margin are the bottom lines. Aren't they? We started as a business, and became a business family," said Stephen Roseberry, President and CMO who brokered the original deal and extension.

"Bush is the future of QTA. In business furniture, Bush Rocks! kathy ireland Office by Bush best sellers include Ironworks, Volcano Dusk, New York Skyline, and staggering presales for our Connecticut, Metro and Echo collections. Jon Carrasco, the Bush Team and I have many plans to delight our clients. New upcoming offerings will see designs with the launch of our I'M1 collection. This is a focus for Millennial men and the women who love them. We're making glorious progress," says Ms. Ireland.

About Bush Furniture

Bush Industries, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of case goods and ready-to-assemble furniture designed for office and home applications. The company operates two North American divisions  BBF and Bush Furniture. With a 50-year legacy built on quality, safety, reliability and durability, Bush Industries is the trusted leader in designing furnishing solutions that meet today's office and home needs. With headquarters in Jamestown, NY, the company has manufacturing and distribution facilities in western New York, Pennsylvania, Nevada and China. They offer their expertise through a vast array of quality furniture, accessories and additionally are a premier source for private label product to many retailers.

About kathy ireland Worldwide

kathy ireland Worldwide Business by Bush celebrates a entrepreneurial and executive lifestyle. The mission of "...solutions," translate to all kiWW collections, including: fashion, fine jewelry, intimate apparel, skincare, accessories, weddings, home, office and more. kiWW's unique capability to design and translate fashion trends for all markets and price points allows it to develop product for a wide variety of customer tastes. Listed as the 25th most powerful brand globally by License Global Magazine, with annual merchandise sales of $2.6 billion, according to Forbes Magazine, the success of kathy ireland Worldwide is the result of teamwork and dedication. Kathy has graced the cover of Forbes Magazine twice (2012, 2016) and according to Fairchild Publications, Kathy Ireland is one of the 50 most influential people in the world of fashion.

Kathy Ireland and kiWW support many non-profits including: YWCA Greater Los Angeles for which she is an Ambassador, Dream Foundation, Providence Educational Foundation, 911 for Kids/AEFK, and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Kathy was recently named an Ambassador for the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

SOURCE Bush Furniture
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MORRISTOWN, N.J., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Liquid Church announced today that it will serve as one of more than 350 churches around the world that will host Night to Shine sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation simultaneously on Friday, February 10, 2017. Night to Shine is an unforgettable prom night experience, centered on God's love, for people with special needs, ages 14 and older. This worldwide movement is already set to take place next year in all 50 states and 10 countries around the worldand the numbers continue to grow!

Every guest of Night to Shine enters this complimentary event on a red carpet complete with a warm welcome from a friendly crowd and paparazzi. Once inside, guests receive the royal treatment, including hair and makeup stations, shoe shining areas, limousine rides, corsages and boutonnieres, a catered dinner, karaoke, prom favors for each honored guest and, of course, a dance floor all leading up to the moment when each guest is crowned king or queen of the prom.

"We are honored to be able to work with so many churches across the county and around the world to impact the lives of people with special needs," said Erik Dellenback, executive director of the Tim Tebow Foundation. "After such an amazing response to the first two years of Night to Shine, our prayer is that this event will continue to change the face of Valentine's Day weekend from simply a celebration of love, to a celebration of God's love for people with special needs."

As sponsor of Night to Shine, the Tim Tebow Foundation will provide each host church with the official 2017 Night to Shine Planning Manual, the official Night to Shine Prom Kit, complete with decorations and gifts for the guests, and personalized guidance and support from a Tim Tebow Foundation staff member. The foundation also is providing financial support to hundreds of churches needing assistance in hosting the event.

During Night to Shine 2015, 44 host churches and 15,000 volunteers worked together to honor more than 7,000 kings and queens of the prom. Last February, Night to Shine 2016 saw 450% growth, reaching 32,000 honored guests in 201 host churches with 75,000 volunteers. Night to Shine 2017 promises to be the biggest event yet, with more than 350 churches already signed up to participate all around the world.

Liquid Church is hosting five proms in Essex, Middlesex, Morris, Somerset, and Union Counties. For additional information on Night to Shine hosted by Liquid Church, visit www.LiquidChurch.com/NightToShine.

For more information on the worldwide movement of Night to Shine, visit: http://www.timtebowfoundation.org/index.php/night-to-shine/

ABOUT LIQUID CHURCH:

Liquid Church is one of New Jersey's fastest-growing Christian churches. Officially launched in 2007 by Lead Pastor Tim Lucas, the church's vision and mission is to "Saturate the State with the Gospel of Jesus Christ," with six campuses in Essex, Middlesex, Morris, Somerset, and Union Counties. Each week, more than 3,500 people experience Liquid Church's worship services in New Jersey and around the globe through Church Online. As part of its global outreach, Liquid provides clean drinking water to the poorest of the poor, with dozens of completed wells in several countries including El Salvador and Nicaragua - and most recently, Rwanda! Liquid Church's innovative approaches to outreach and ministry have been spotlighted by CNN and The New York Times. www.LiquidChurch.com.

ABOUT TIM TEBOW FOUNDATION:

The Tim Tebow Foundation exists to bring Faith, Hope and Love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need. That mission is being fulfilled every day through the foundation's seven areas of outreach, including W15H, Timmy's Playrooms, Orphan Care, Adoption Aid, the Tebow CURE Hospital, Team Tebow and Night to Shine. For more information on the Tim Tebow Foundation, please visit www.timtebowfoundation.org

Media Contact:

Lauren Bercarich

[email protected]

908-389-6153

SOURCE www.LiquidChurch.com

Related Links

http://www.LiquidChurch.com


NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fierce competition in T2DM medical affairs. Can the top two teams hold onto their lead?

Two medical affairs teams lead in the EU5 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) market, but for how long? Competition is fierce, and a few small improvements could vault any number of teams into top spot.

Find out, and see how your team measures up, in Medical Affairs Reputations: T2DM (EU5).

Comparing teams for 12 major T2DM drugs from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, Novartis, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi, this detailed report reveals

How doctors rate each team overall, and on 12 key medical affairs services.

Which medical affairs services are most important.

How, and how often doctors want to meet with your team.

What you can do to improve your medical affairs services.

That's actionable information you can use to turn your team into one that doctors rely on.

Top Takeaways

No team is safe: While two teams have a clear lead, overall quality scores are close at the top of the market, and any team could take the lead. What can lower-ranked teams do to boost their scores?

A winning formula: Two of the top three medical affairs teams come from the same company. What do performance and satisfaction data reveal about the secret to their success?

Clamouring for attention: Up to nearly one-third of respondents report interacting with the surveyed teams more than once per month. Are teams struggling to differentiate their products in a crowded market?

Room for improvement: Performance and satisfaction scores are not positive across the board. Doctors, it seems, are only moderately happy, and have a host of recommendations for teams to improve their services.

No substitute for in-person interactions: Not only do doctors rate face-to-face communication methods highest, they say that nearly every team needs improvement in areas related to in-person interactions.

Insights into Medical Affairs Teams for These T2DM Treatments DPP-IV inhibitors:

DPP-IV inhibitors

Januvia (sitagliptin; Merck & Co.)

Trajenta (linagliptin; Eli Lilly/Boehringer Ingelheim)

Galvus (vildagliptin; Novartis)

SGLT-2inhibitors

Invokana (canagliflozin; Johnson & Johnson)

Jardiance (empagliflozin; Boehringer Ingelheim)

Forxiga (dapagliflozin; AstraZeneca)

GLP-1 agonists

Victoza (liraglutide; Novo Nordisk)

Trulicity (dulaglutide; Eli Lilly)

Insulin

Toujeo (insulin glargine; Sanofi)

NovoLog (insulin aspart; Novo Nordisk)

Humalog (insulin lispro; Eli Lilly)

Tresiba (insulin degludec; Novo Nordisk)

An Expert-designed Competitive View of Your Medical Affairs TeamDeveloped with the help of medical affairs specialists, this report gives you an in-depth comparison of 10 medical affairs teamsanswering important questions like:

What do doctors need?

How, and how often are they using your medical affairs team?

What services do they consider most important?

How often should you contact them? What channels are best?

Does your medical affairs team deliver?

How memorable are your team's interactions with doctors?

How do doctors rank your team for performance and satisfaction in 12 key areas?

How does your team compare to the competitionin each area, and overall?

What needs improvement?

Are you delivering the services that are most important to doctors?

Where do you need to improve?

How can your team enhance its services?

Based on Interviews with Practicing Oncologists

We surveyed 150 diabetologists and primary care physicians from the EU5 (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, UK), chosen from the largest community of validated physicians in the world.

Have been practicing for between 3 and 35 years

See at least 5 patients with Melanoma in a typical month

Devote at least 50% of their time to direct patient care

Have interacted with at least one listed product's medical affairs team in the past 6 months.

We conducted the survey between July 6th and 11th, 2016.

MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!

At FirstWord, we stand behind our reports. If you're not completely satisfied, we'll refund your money. Guaranteed.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04201025-summary/view-report.html

About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

http://www.reportlinker.com

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

http://www.reportlinker.com


MUNICH, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vectorform today announced the appointment of Martin Tabery to its executive team as managing director, European region. Martin will have oversight of the strategic direction, expansion and operation of the European division of Vectorform.

"We are thrilled to have Martin joining our team," said Clemens Conrad, managing director, experience and user strategy at Vectorform. "He shares in our vision and passion for technology and innovation. His technical and leadership expertise will help Vectorform reach new heights across Europe as we continue to revolutionize customer experience throughout the region."

Martin brings to Vectorform nearly 20 years of sales, marketing, and business strategy experience. He most recently served as the director of sales and marketing for VividWorks, an organization known for its 3D design SaaS platform and work in AR and VR. Martin also held several global executive positions including heading the retail media team at Metaio and leading the sales organization for Swiss-based clinical documentation solutions company, Me2Me.

"I am excited to join a team of talented business disruptors, and inventors," said Martin Tabery. "Vectorform is at the forefront of the technologies that are revolutionizing the lives of millions of its customers. 2017 will be an important year for Vectorform, as we continue to deliver these innovative solutions, while meeting the company's strategic objectives for the European market."

Martin's diverse technology and industry specialties include the cloud, augmented reality, and virtual reality.

About Vectorform

Vectorform invents digital products and experiences for the world's leading brands with a focus on Mobile, Augmented and Virtual Reality, Internet of Things, Smart Home, Connected Vehicle and Wearable Technology. Founded in 1999, Vectorform has five global offices: Seattle, Detroit, New York, Munich and Hyderabad. Visit Vectorform.com and connect on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

SOURCE Vectorform

Related Links

http://vectorform.com


NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- McGlinchey Stafford PLLC is pleased to announce Camille Bryant and Hillary Barnett Lambert, Associates in the firm's New Orleans office, have been appointed to leadership roles within the Association for Women Attorneys (AWA).

Lambert was elected President for 2017 and Bryant was appointed as Programs Committee Chairperson at the AWA's January 19 meeting. Both will serve one-year terms in their respective roles. Lambert previously served as AWA's Vice President, and both attorneys have previously co-chaired the AWA's annual Food & Funds Challenge, a fundraiser for Second Harvest Food Bank.

"I am proud of the work our attorneys do as active members of the legal and business communities in New Orleans. Camille and Hillary, through their involvement in AWA, represent McGlinchey Stafford's commitment to women's initiatives and advancement in the legal profession," said Rudy Aguilar, Managing Member of McGlinchey Stafford.

"We are fortunate to have Camille and Hillary as leaders within AWA and the New Orleans legal community," said Ashley Liuzza, outgoing AWA President. "I am confident they will help us continue to make a positive impact in New Orleans through our membership events and community-focused programs."

Bryant defends and counsels clients in employment discrimination matters for both union and non-union workforces, assisting with matters involving collective bargaining, grievance handling, working within the framework of a union contract, and other general legal counsel. Bryant has also defended manufacturers of heavy equipment, automobiles, and other consumer products in products liability matters, and has experience in medical malpractice defense. She received her J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 2013 and her B.S. from Southern University and A&M College in 2010.

Lambert advises clients in connection with revolving and term loan facilities, construction loans, letter of credit facilities, and restructurings. She also represents community development districts and economic development districts in connection with real estate development and infrastructure finance and advises institutional investors in the municipal finance area. Lambert received her J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and her M.B.A. from Loyola University New Orleans in 2012. She received her B.S., cum laude, from Tulane University in 2008.

AWA is a nonprofit professional association whose membership includes both women and men and represents every sector of the legal community. AWA aims to foster the exchange of information among its members, to encourage and facilitate the participation of women in economic and social decision-making in the community, and to advance the interests and improve the status of women in the legal profession and in society.

ABOUT MCGLINCHEY STAFFORD

McGlinchey Stafford is a full-service law firm providing innovative legal counsel to clients nationwide. Guiding clients wherever business and law intersect, McGlinchey Stafford's 200 attorneys are based in 13 offices in Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Washington, DC. To learn more about McGlinchey Stafford, visit www.mcglinchey.com.

SOURCE McGlinchey Stafford PLLC

Related Links

http://www.mcglinchey.com


RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Talk to an astronaut, see the latest research and explore 100 years of technology development during a special NASA event in Richmond, Virginia, Feb. 1-2

As part of the 12th annual AeroSpace Days in Richmond, NASA Langley will debut a traveling exhibit to the public and news media in downtown Richmond that highlights the 100th anniversary of Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. It will be the first appearance of this centennial exhibit.

The exhibit features an interactive journey through a century of NASA Langley's aeronautics, science and space achievements. The exhibit  housed inside a specially-equipped 18-wheeler  will be located in the parking lot at the corner of 9th and Broad streets.

For a peek at the trailer, go to https://www.instagram.com/p/BPqClPiDvbB/?taken-by=nasa_langley

The two-day event is open to the public both days from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Media availability will be from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Feb. 2, featuring astronaut Shannon Walker at the exhibit trailer. Also invited are members and pages of the General Assembly.

Interested media should contact Michael Finneran in the NASA Langley Office of Communications at (757) 864-6110 or [email protected].

NASA Langley is celebrating its 100th anniversary throughout 2017. Langley was founded just three months after America's entry into World War I as the nation's first civilian facility focused on aeronautical research. The goal was, simply, to "solve the fundamental problems of flight."

NASA Langley continues to conduct aeronautics research and now also studies Earth's atmosphere and develops technology for space exploration. For more about Langley, go to https://www.nasa.gov/langley

The exhibit is part of NASA Langley's annual Aerospace Day at General Assembly. Highlights include meetings with legislators and members of the governor's cabinet and an evening reception sponsored by the Virginia Department of Aviation. This event is held in conjunction with NASA Wallops Flight Facility and more than 20 industry, university and government partners to increase awareness of the impact of NASA and the aerospace industry.

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mesothelioma Compensation Center says, "We are by far the best branded compensation resource in the United States for nuclear power workers or nuclear Navy Veterans who were exposed to asbestos and now have mesothelioma. As we would like to discuss anytime at 800-714-0303, these very special people deserve to get the very best possible mesothelioma compensation, but to achieve this they must have the nation's most experienced mesothelioma attorneys in their corner." http://MesotheliomaCompensationCenter.Com

Nuclear Submarine Asbestos Warning Sign

Nuclear power workers and Navy Veterans who were exposed to asbestos on a nuclear-powered ship or submarine that now have mesothelioma are in a special category as far as the Mesothelioma Compensation Center is concerned. If people like this, or their family, hire the right attorneys they have a far greater chance of obtaining substantial financial compensation. The key to the best mesothelioma compensation hinges on having the most capable full-time mesothelioma lawyers who have a track record of achieving the best financial settlements for people exposed to asbestos at a nuclear power plant or on a US Navy Ship/Submarine with a nuclear reactor.

"Before you hire a lawyer or law firm to assist a nuclear power plant worker or nuclear Navy Veteran, please call us at 800-714-0303 for instant access to the nation's most elite mesothelioma attorneys; don't shortchange yourself or you family member when it comes to mesothelioma compensation." http://MesotheliomaCompensationCenter.Com

For more information about the dangers of asbestos exposure and mesothelioma please review a recent news article on the topic: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-r-caudle/15-years-later-and-the-th_b_11984542.html

US Navy Veterans account for about one third of a people who will be diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. The average age for a diagnosed victim of mesothelioma is about 70 years old. Between 2500 and 3000 US citizens will be diagnosed with mesothelioma this year. Mesothelioma is attributable to exposure to asbestos.

The states with the highest incidence of mesothelioma include Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Louisiana, Washington, and Oregon. However, a retired nuclear power worker or Navy Veteran with confirmed mesothelioma could live in any state including California, New York, Delaware, Maryland, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, or Alaska. http://MesotheliomaCompensationCenter.Com

The Mesothelioma Compensation Center says, "If you call us at 800-714-0303, we will see to it that you have on the spot access to the nation's most skilled mesothelioma attorneys, because these incredibly skilled legal experts consistently get the best financial compensation results for their clients on a nationwide basis." http://MesotheliomaCompensationCenter.Com

The Mesothelioma Compensation Center specializes in assisting high risk workers who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma. High risk groups for exposure to asbestos include the US Navy Veterans, power plant workers, shipyard workers, oil refinery workers, public utility workers, chemical plant workers, nuclear power plant workers, hydro-electric workers, plumbers, electricians, welders, or machinists. In most instances people with mesothelioma were exposed to asbestos in the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, or 1980's.

For more information about mesothelioma please refer to the National Institutes of Health's web site related to this rare form of cancer: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mesothelioma.html

Contact:

Thomas Martin

800-714-0303

[email protected]

SOURCE Mesothelioma Compensation Center

Related Links

http://MesotheliomaCompensationCenter.Com


CINCINNATI and ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Two industry-leading security providers, Morphick and Endgame, today launched the industry's most advanced Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (Managed EDR) service. The Morphick Managed EDR service, powered by Endgame, combines Morphick's best-in-class managed detection and response services with Endgame's unparalleled EDR platform to provide customers with earliest prevention, accelerated detection and response, and automated hunt of next-gen attacks.

Organizations will improve endpoint security, avoid costly IR engagements, and reduce business exposure without the burden of managing technology or hiring additional staff.

Core to the service offering are Morphick's seasoned security analysts and NSA-accredited incident response teams, whose deep expertise enables them to identify and terminate the efforts of latent attackers targeting organizations' intellectual property, business systems, or other key assets. These analysts will leverage Endgame's EDR platform to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to advanced attacks without the reliance on signatures. Customers will benefit from disruption-free operations, rather than the continuous disturbance many face when attackers evade traditional security controls.

"We are excited to partner with Endgame to present the market with a solution that finally effectively addresses security organizations most pressing issue; defending against advanced attackers by delivering one service that combines the power of Morphick threat hunters and analysts with Endgame's best-in-class EDR platform," said Brian Minick, CEO of Morphick. "Technology alone will not win the battle against people."

The Morphick Managed EDR service is delivered utilizing Endgame's recently-announced platform enhancements that expand coverage of the attacker lifecycle to anticipate adversary innovations, including In-Memory Attack Detection and Malicious Persistence Detection capabilities. Endgame is the first and only endpoint security platform that combines prevention, detection and response in a single centrally-managed dissolvable sensor to prevent attacks and eliminate new and already resident adversaries in time to stop damage and loss.

"Today's advanced attackers circumvent even the most fortified of traditional enterprise defenses," said Nate Fick, CEO of Endgame. "Endgame and Morphick's joint solution combines state-of-the-art technology with top-notch talent to deliver an always-on solution that disrupts the attack lifecycle to stop the most sophisticated techniques that incumbent EDR tools fail to detect. Armed with it, our customers can spend less time dealing with threats and more time on innovation and growth."

About Morphick

Morphick provides security Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services to organizations globally. Morphick's proven approach combines attack detection, threat hunting, incident response, and tailored threat intelligence to deliver morphing defensive postures. The Morphick service provides multiple types of network security monitoring, full packet capture, and endpoint threat-hunting capabilities. All events are aggregated on the Morphick Defense Platform and are monitored, validated, and remediated by US-based dedicated security analysts in the Morphick Threat Intelligence Center. Organizations can also leverage Morphick's NSA CIRA-Accredited Incident Response services for breach response support. Morphick provides threat intelligence for deep intelligence gathering and analysis, and other incident response services such as malware reverse engineering and customer signature development.

About Endgame

Endgame is a leading endpoint security platform that enables enterprises to close the protection gap against advanced attacks and detect and eliminate resident adversaries. Endgame transforms security operations teams and incident responders from crime scene investigators into hunters that prevent damage and loss, and dramatically reduce the time and cost associated with incident response and compromise assessment. Our IOC-independent platform covers the entire kill chain, leveraging machine learning and data science to uncover, in real-time, unique attacks that evade traditional defenses and respond precisely without disrupting normal business operations.

Media Contact:

Margot Koehler

Director of Marketing and Communications, Endgame

[email protected]

(202) 649-0517

Tom Doepker

Director of Marketing, Morphick

[email protected]

513.310.3773

SOURCE Endgame

Related Links

http://www.endgame.com


NEW YORK, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

NetworkNewsWire News Coverage: The election of 2016 will forever mark a historic moment for the cannabis industry, reflecting growing acceptance - and legalization - of cannabis for medical and recreational use. The progression of this market, expected to grow to $50 billion in the next 10 years, has awakened a new era of business opportunities for companies like Singlepoint (OTC: SING), Eco Science Solutions, Inc. (OTC: ESSI), Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC: MJNA), OWC Pharmaceutical Research (OTC: OWCP) and MassRoots, Inc. (OTC: MSRT).

With specialties ranging from technology to health care, visionary companies are learning how to apply their expertise to meet the increasing and evolving demands for cannabis-based products and services.

A recent report (http://nnw.fm/iI0ci) from the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) calls the 2016 election "a watershed moment for the cannabis industry." While the report highlights concerns about how the Trump Administration could affect players in the blooming cannabis industry, the cautionary article offers room for optimism.

Among other points, NCIA notes the potential for policy changes at the Department of Justice, which since 2013 has crafted its state marijuana programs around the "Cole Memo." Written by James Cole, former U.S. deputy attorney general (2010-2015), the memo provides eight priorities concerning federal policy on the cannabis industry.

"Hypothetically, new leadership at the Justice Department could revoke the Cole Memo and return to an era of federal enforcement actions against state-compliant cannabis businesses. However, such an action would almost certainly provoke substantial backlash," writes NCIA.

Meanwhile, a recent initiative by Senator Elizabeth Warren of the Senate Banking Committee demonstrates growing acceptance of the cannabis industry, and raises hopes that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) will soon provide updated guidelines for marijuana companies looking for access to banks and credit unions. Earlier guidance provided by FinCEN in 2014 addressed the concerns of businesses that dealt directly in marijuana, like pot shops and marijuana dispensaries. "Indirect businesses that service the marijuana industry" were left in regulatory limbo, not knowing what rules, if any, applied to them.

One "indirect business" of vital importance to the marijuana industry is handled by Singlepoint subsidiary, SingleSeed Payments, which will provide a number of transaction and payment processing services, such as cashless ATM, Pay-by-Text and text message marketing to the cannabis industry.

In a recent interview (http://nnw.fm/lK1Y5) with MoneyTV, Singlepoint CEO Greg Lambrecht discussed the value banking services would provide to marijuana businesses, also highlighting his optimism for the industry.

"With Oregon, Washington and Colorado, the cannabis business was roughly somewhere around $5 billion. With Florida, Massachusetts and California, I've seen a lot of estimates of it growing to $50 billion, and some estimate saying $100 billion. We're going to be the merchant processor on that money, so this is a very exciting time for Singlepoint."

Another business that will feel the ripple effects of industry change is MassRoots, Inc. (OTCQB: MSRT), one of the largest technology platforms for the regulated cannabis industry. The company's mobile apps enable consumers to provide community-driven reviews of cannabis strains and products, enabling consumers to make educated cannabis purchasing decisions.

The cannabis industry is also comprised of other "indirect players" such as Eco Science Solutions, Inc. (OTC Pink: ESSI), an eco-tech company with several smart-device apps and related supplements to natural medication use; and Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC Pink: MJNA), whose HempMeds Mexico subsidiary recently received approval from Mexico's health authority, COFEPRIS, to import the company's Real Scientific Hemp Oil-X to treat a patient for pain associated with cancer treatments and for general well-being.

Additionally, OWC Pharmaceutical Research (OTCQB: OWCP), through its Israel-based One World Cannabis Ltd. subsidiary, develops cannabinoid-based therapies targeting a variety of different medical conditions and disorders. One World was created to apply pharmaceutical research protocols and disciplines to the medical cannabis industry, and enables OWC Pharmaceutical to take advantage of Israel's position as the global center of medical cannabis research.

Ultimately, the forecast for cannabis business is bright, buoyed by public and congressional support that demands change.

"The 2016 election is a turning point for marijuana policy and the cannabis industry in the United States. Never before have so many Americans lined up to reject the failures of marijuana prohibition and support legal, regulated cannabis programs," says NCIA.

For more information, please visit: Singlepoint, Inc. (SING)

About NetworkNewsWire

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SOURCE NetworkNewsWire
NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A new book that examines how we can live better lives by understanding how dogs think was released last week. The book's author, Sanjay Gupta, a serial entrepreneur and advisor to Fortune 100 CEOs and Forbes 50 billionaires, started his first company after graduating with a degree in Philosophy so he could bring his dog to work. The book, titled 'Perceiving Purpose,' offers a new way to look at ourselves through the mind of a dog -- and learn how to be happy as a result.

Perceiving Purpose Sanjay Gupta, Author of 'Perceiving Purpose'

"I've learned so much from my dogs -- and as someone who cares deeply about the welfare of animals, but also how humans act within the world, I think we have a lot more to learn than what science has told us so far," said Gupta.

Gupta drew his insights from his dog; a Basset Hound named Cody, who was the inspiration for a system of simpler ideas about how humans make decisions, and what guides their motivation. He asserts that many problems we face today are the result of our internal failings at being honest -- something that comes naturally to dogs.

"When I observed how my dogs were making choices, I realized we had missed the point about what is important. We look to Philosophy and Religion for guidance on what is important, but that answer starts with learning more about ourselves, and not how others choose to live. Dogs seem to do this intuitively," said Gupta.

Others have found Gupta's insights to be useful for clarifying what is important, versus what is not. Daniel Christensen, a senior executive at a public company with almost 40 billion dollars in annual revenues, said he gained the perspective. "After reading this book, I was content to lay by the fire and feel like I was doing something meaningful, rather than feeling the learned human guilt about wasting time."

Still, others have found even deeper meaning in the book's message, which Gupta jokingly refers to as "Dognosticism." William Spear, the best-selling author of 'Feng Shui Made Easy,' commented, "Gupta masterfully connects the dots between one's values, goals, beliefs, and role in life, (offering) a plausible answer to "Why am I here?"

Gupta, who was born and raised in New England, was educated at Georgetown and Oxford and was honored by the World Economic Forum (Davos) as a Young Global Leader in 2010. His dog, Cody, passed away in 2016 after a courageous battle with cancer.

"Cody taught me so much. This book is about what I learned from him, and I know I still have a lot more to learn. If we are open-minded, dogs offer a lens into our own soul," concluded Gupta.

About Intellectual Press: Intellectual Press is the publisher of 'Perceiving Purpose.' Known as the "Imprint of Ideas," the mission of Intellectual Press is to bring new and thought-provoking concepts to readers across the world.

Media Contact:

Liling Wang, Executive Assistant

[email protected]

2124989272

SOURCE Intellectual Press
You might have thought that this weekend's women's march bought you a little bit of time to do something other than organizing and agitating, but the thing is that the work of stopping a burgeoning ethno-nationalist nuclear armed state is never done! What can you do the rest of this week to try to prevent the death of America? Start by scrolling down.



Emergency Rally For Muslim And Immigrant Rights

The executive order barring immigration from majority Muslim countries (six of which we're bombing!) is here. It's short notice, but CAIR and other civil rights groups are gathering in Washington Square Park tonight to stand up for the rights of all immigrants, and you're invited to stand with them. Do it.

FREE, 5 p.m., January 25th, Washington Square Park



Raise Your Glass And Raise Your Voice: Stand Up For Reproductive Rights

The 44th anniversary of Roe v. Wade happened just a few days ago, and next week we'll get the name of the man or woman who casts the vote to overturn it after spineless Democrats don't obstruct their nomination. That's the future though. For now, help raise some money for the National Institute for Reproductive Health Action Fund by drinking, buying raffle tickets and enjoying some comedy. Remember, the more you drink at happy hour, the more good you'll do.

$20, 7 p.m., January 26th, West 3rd Common, 1 West 3rd Street

We Marched, Now What?

If you're looking to channel your energy after participating in the Women's March this past weekend, you've got some options. Another option to add to the list is this mass get together where you can strategize with fellow organizers, have some drinks, get to work on sending 5,000 postcards to representatives and dance. Definitely save some energy for dancing. A cash donation gets you in the door, and beyond the good works you'll be doing, the money will go towards women's shelters in the tri-state area. Also bring a box of pads or tampons, and if you've got some spare professional clothing, that will be donated to Dress for Success.

$20, 6 p.m., January 26th, Centre for Social Innovation, 601 West 26th Street, #325

Awkward Sex... and the City: Planned Parenthood We Got You

Are there still laughs to be had in our nightmare existence where Republicans are set to strip voting rights under the cover that there's no way a Republican could have lost New York and California? Probably, for now anyway, especially when you're dealing with sex, which is pretty funny. Watch the likes of Natalie Wall, Dave Hill and Subha Agarwal tell their stories of sex gone wrong, or at least funny, with all of your money going to Planned Parenthood. Plus, free beer!

$15, 8 p.m., January 27th, The Pleasure Chest, 1150 2nd Avenue, Manhattan

Building A Socialist Left Under Trump

How invested should you be in the Democratic Party as the bulwark against Trumpism and "a new national pride." If current events are a guide, not very! If you've about had it with the Democrats, check out what New York City's socialists have to offer at this panel discussion on building up a new left featuring Jacobin publisher Bhaskar Sunkara, organizer and writer Jen Roesch and activist Charlie Post.

FREE, 7:30 p.m., January 27th, Verso Books, 20 Jay Street, Suite 1010

RESIST TRUMP! Planned Parenthood Benefit Show & Raffle

How many raffles to benefit organizations that will suffer under the Trump presidency is too many? We might learn that rhetorical question has an answer eventually, but in mean time, there's a whole other show that will reward your decision to give money to Planned Parenthood with a chance to win some cool stuff. At this punk show, buying raffle tickets to help out Planned Parenthood gives you a chance to win precious stuff from the likes of The Spotted Pig, Mikey's Hook-Up, Nitehawk Cinema and Babeland. Plus, Scully is pretty pretty good.

$2-$12, 8 p.m., January 27th, Alphaville, 140 Wilson Avenue

Before The Wall: A Benefit To Support Immigrant Communities

Shilpa Ray is a great rock and roll artist, and ordinarily I would always recommend going to see her. But especially when she's rocking out to benefit SAPNA, an organization that assists South Asian immigrant women with their health and economic opportunities, and Women for Aghan Women, a group that advocates for Afghan women both in Afghanistan and New York City.

$12 - $50, 7 p.m., January 27th, Littlefield, 622 Degraw Street

10 Actions/100 Days Postcard Party

The marching orders for women's march attendees and their allies are out: write some postcards with your demands on them and send them to your legislator. Don't do it home alone while watching your Twitter feed stream by with second-by-second reactions to the new apocalypse, you might lose it doing that. Instead, get together with like-minded folks at Better Than Jam's storefront and write your postcards in an atmosphere of solidarity and hope.

FREE, 6 p.m., January 27th, Better Than Jam, 20 Grattan Street

Computer Security Workshop

Two consecutive administrations helped build a panopticon that answers to no one, with the (extremely shortsighted) idea that whoever was in charge of it wouldn't be the kind of person who would maybe use it to settle petty personal grudges. Lol, whoops. In that case, it's never been a better time to learn the basics of protecting yourself online, including areas like encryption, Tor and secure messaging systems.

FREE, 3 p.m., January 28th, Silent Barn, 603 Bushwick Avenue

Women's March Postcard Event

Can't make it to Thursday or Friday's postcard events? Here's one more for you on Sunday. Bring some supplies, snack on some snacks and get those postcards out to Democrats in Congress who think they'll somehow get brownie points from President Gaslight for doing something like voting to approve fucking Ben Carson to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

5 postage stamps for admission, 1 p.m., January 29th, Hudson Guild, 441 West 26th Street

Immigration Rights, Sanctuary and Upstander Seminar

So, cool, the threat to try to defund sanctuary cities is now real policy, just like Trump promised. What does that mean? What's next in the immigration battle? What can you do to help your friends, neighbors and community members who are immigrants? Immigration attorney Lauren Burke will tell you all that and more as she discuses the charred hellscape that is immigration policy at the moment.

FREE, 1 p.m., January 29th, Park Slope United Methodist Church, 410 Sixth Avenue

Queer Soup Night

The Gefilteria's Liz Alpern will take a break from making new takes on Eastern European Jewish classics to make soup for a cause for a night. Each of the three soups getting served up will go for $5 or $10 donations, and your money will go to low-income LGBTQ health care center the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center. Plus, the day's cold weather will mean a perfect time for eating soup.

FREE, 6 p.m., January 29th, Pels Pie Co, 446 Rogers Avenue
FORT COLLINS, Colo., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fort Collins-based Old Elk Distillery is proud to announce four recent wins at prestigious industry competitions, the 2016-2017 World Beverage Competition and the 2016 New York International Spirits Competition.

Just announced this January, the 2016-2017 World Beverage Competition has awarded Dry Town Vodka Gold in its "Best of Show White Spirits: Vodka" category, and Dry Town Gin Bronze in its "Best of Show White Spirits: Gin" category. The World Beverage Competition works with a panel of industry professional judges to host double-blind taste tests  the competition's tried-and-true method of ensuring all spirits are judged on an even playing field. Post-tasting, the judges also consider packaging and tally their results to share the final winners.

In late 2016, Old Elk Distillery and Dry Town Gin received high honors at the New York International Spirits Competition (NYISC). Founded by industry professional Adam Levy, NYISC is the first major international spirits competition with trade-only judges, including top retail store buyers, restaurant and bar owners, distributors and importers. Dry Town Gin received Double Gold in the gin category, the competition's highest honor. Since 2010, only three gins have received the prestigious Double Gold award. In addition to its win with Dry Town Gin, Old Elk Distillery was named Colorado Distillery of the Year.

"We are beyond excited to receive these awards and accolades for Old Elk," said Bill Lovell, general manager at Old Elk Distillery. "Though we only introduced Dry Town in 2016, we have been working tirelessly behind the scenes for years, perfecting our recipes to ensure we create the best-tasting, highest-quality spirits. We're thrilled to see our hard work pay off, and we look forward to introducing more Old Elk Distillery spirits."

Old Elk Distillery was founded by Curt and Nancy Richardson, the innovators behind OtterBox. Led by a team of experienced and passionate distillers based in Fort Collins, Old Elk Distillery prides itself on developing premium, handcrafted spirits. Its portfolio includes Dry Town Gin, Dry Town Vodka and Nooku Bourbon Cream.

Dry Town Gin, Dry Town Vodka and Nooku Bourbon Cream are available at retail stores, restaurants and bars across Colorado. For more information, visit DryTown.com or EnjoyNooku.com and connect with @DryTownSocial and @EnjoyNooku on social media.

About Dry Town

Premium spirits, Dry Town Vodka and Dry Town Gin are handcrafted to pay homage to the days of bootlegging during the Fort Collins 73-year prohibition. Dry Town Vodka is created with a four grain recipe of corn, wheat, rye, and malted barley. Distilled using Colorado-sourced water, the premium handcrafted vodka is unfiltered, heightening the expression of each grain. Dry Town Gin is artfully distilled on pot stills using 10 botanicals; juniper, orris root, orange, lime, angelica root, black pepper, ginger, lemongrass, French verveine, and sage come together resulting in a smooth and distinctively refreshing herbal, piney, citrus-forward flavor. At the 2016 New York International Spirits Competition, Dry Town Gin earned Double Gold  the competitions' highest honor. Both spirits are currently available in Colorado. Visit www.DryTown.com for more information.

About Nooku

Real bourbon. Real cream. Nooku is the first bourbon cream made using only bourbon whiskey with fresh dairy cream. Because Nooku, a distilled spirit specialty from Old Elk Distillery in Fort Collins, Colo., is made with only two ingredients and without artificial coloring, flavoring or added sugar, it is the only spirit of its kind. Nooku is a Native American name for the white snowshoe rabbit  a fast and bold, yet soft and smooth animal known for its lush coat and lightning speed. The same juxtaposition exists in Nooku bourbon cream  all the strength of bourbon with the qualities of decadent cream. Nooku's spicy vanilla and toffee aromas, caramel flavor and hearty burst of bourbon finish are perfect to indulge in over ice, in cocktails or savored in delicious recipes. Visit www.EnjoyNooku.com for more information.

About Old Elk Distillery

Old Elk Distillery  named Colorado Distillery of the Year at the 2016 New York International Spirits Competition  is the exclusive distiller of Dry Town Gin, Dry Town Vodka and Nooku Bourbon Cream. Founded by Curt and Nancy Richardson, the innovators behind OtterBox and Blue Ocean Enterprises, Old Elk Distillery follows the Richardsons' tradition of innovation by crafting spirits unlike any others. Led by a team of experienced and passionate distillers based in Fort Collins, Colo., Old Elk prides itself on developing premium, handcrafted vodka, gin, bourbon cream and soon-to-be released bourbons.

SOURCE Old Elk Distillery
The report provides a unique link between specific risk reduction practiceslike conducting regular meetings with the full project team, formal brainstorming and developing a plan to manage riskand tangible project benefits, such as reduced construction cost, improved project schedule and improved safety. A key finding of the report is that collaboration is widely recognized as beneficial in an industry still plagued by silos and competition within teams.

"This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge about the positive impacts of project collaboration," says Steve Jones, senior director of industry insights research at Dodge Data & Analytics "and early collaboration by team members can lead directly to less project risk and crisis  a significant incentive to start working together better, more often."

"The concept of collaboration and integration is not new and has been around for decades," adds Karen Walsh, Senior Vice President and Regional Director of Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. "The difference today is with the preponderance of large scale mega projects, this becomes a new reality with much higher stakes for all sides. Regardless of the disposition, each party's risk concentration is exacerbated. Couple this with the emerging and still unknown complications of technological, political and workplace violence risks, and you have a situation that forces the concept for change for all parties."

Among the three types of industry players surveyed  building owners, general contractors (GCs) and trade contractors  it is general contractors that have experienced the highest level of claims or disputes in the last five years. For GCs, subcontractor defaults, terminations and failures are the most frequent and costly issues they face. The report shows that 33 percent of GCs consider labor procurement and subcontract management to be high risk areas, and that 81 percent of all respondents find that labor scarcity will increase project risk. Building owners, by contrast, are most impacted by claims arising from construction defects, and trade contractors are plagued by the frequency of warranty issues.

To help deal with these risks, industry can employ a series of risk evaluation and mitigation strategies. Formal brainstorming is by far the top evaluation strategy, but different players see different advantages, the report shows. Building owners are most enthusiastic about brainstorming, helping increase reliability of overall project performance, while GCs also see its impact on improved project schedule and safety. Trade contractors find it most effective for reducing construction costs.

The most effective risk evaluation strategies, according to the study, are regular meetings with the full project team focused on risk and the development of a plan to manage risk, Both practices help increase project performance reliability, maintain project quality and improve project safety.

The Managing Risk in the Construction Industry SmartMarket Report also includes perspectives on risk from surety experts, offers tips on achieving cyber resilience, managing subcontractor default risk and dealing with active shooter risks on a jobsite, as well offering insights on risk and the evolution of the construction industry since the Great Recession.

In addition to premier partner Alliant, supporting partners include e-Builder and Procore. A wide range of research partners also participated in the survey by distributing it to their members. They include: the Associated Builders and Contractors, the Construction Financial Management Association, the Construction Owners Association of America, the Construction Users Roundtable, the International Risk Management Institute, Inc., JB Knowledge, the National Electrical Contractors Association and the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association.

About Dodge Data & Analytics: Dodge Data & Analytics is a technology-driven construction project data, analytics and insights provider. Dodge provides trusted market intelligence that helps construction professionals grow their business, and is redefining and recreating the business tools and processes on which the industry relies. Dodge is creating an integrated platform that unifies and simplifies the design, bid and build process, bringing data on people, projects and products into a single hub for the entire industry, from building product manufacturers to contractors and specialty trades to architects and engineers. The company's products include Dodge Global Network, Dodge PlanRoom, Dodge PipeLine, Dodge SpecShare, Dodge BuildShare, Dodge MarketShare, and the Sweets family of products. To learn more, visit www.construction.com.

Dodge Data & Analytics Media Contact: Ben Gorelick | Spector & Associates, +1-212-943-5858, [email protected]



About Alliant Insurance Services: Headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. is one of the largest insurance brokerage firms in the United States and has a history dating back to 1925. Alliant provides property and casualty, workers' compensation, employee benefits, surety, and financial products and services to more than 26,000 clients nationwide, including public entities, tribal nations, healthcare, energy, law firms, real estate, construction, and other industry groups. More information is available on the company's web site at: www.alliant.com.

SOURCE Dodge Data & Analytics

Related Links

http://www.construction.com


NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) today announced that Entravision Communications Corporation (NYSE: EVC), a leading media company that reaches and engages U.S. Latinos across acculturation levels and media, has signed a multi-year renewal agreement for Nielsen's Local Television Measurement. Nielsen will provide TV measurement services to all of Entravision's 56 televisions stations with the majority located in 20 of the top 50 Hispanic markets. Entravision is the largest affiliate group of both the Univision and UniMas television networks.

Under this new agreement Entravision will continue to have access to Nielsen's market-leading Local TV measurement data and services, including ratings services, Nielsen Local TV View (NLTV) tools and qualitative measurement with Nielsen Scarborough. These services will provide local stations with more granular viewing data trends of their market as well as richer and more robust qualitative insights about the local consumer including lifestyle choices, shopping preferences and media consumption.

Entravision's Pulpo Media, a leading digital platform to reach U.S. Hispanics, will leverage Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings (DAR) to provide advertisers with accredited metrics for millions of digital impressions. With DAR, Pulpo will be able to augment its data-driven platform to offer advertisers and agencies better campaign results and more sophisticated measures of success.

"Audiences are consuming more content than ever before, whether through our television stations, radio stations, websites or social media," said Jeffery Liberman, Chief Operating Officer of Entravision. "Nielsen provides best-in-class services to help us market to all segments of our audiences, and allow our advertisers to reach sought-after consumers."

"Entravision is a leader at embracing how consumers enjoy local content, whether in the home, on the go, or on new viewing platforms like smartphones and mobile devices," said Jeff Wender, Managing Director for Nielsen Local Media. "Nielsen is thrilled to renew our relationship with Entravision, providing the measurement and tools necessary to maximize commercial prospects across all platforms, and all audiences. We look forward to working now and into the future on ways to grow the insights and assets necessary to help them accelerate growth and capture incremental ad dollars."

About Nielsen

Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) is a global performance management company that provides a comprehensive understanding of what consumers watch and buy. Nielsen's Watch segment provides media and advertising clients with Nielsen Total Audience measurement services for all devices on which contentvideo, audio and textis consumed. The Buy segment offers consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers the industry's only global view of retail performance measurement. By integrating information from its Watch and Buy segments and other data sources, Nielsen also provides its clients with analytics that help improve performance. Nielsen, an S&P 500 company, has operations in over 100 countries, covering more than 90% of the world's population. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

About Entravision Communications Corporation

Entravision Communications Corporation is a leading media company that reaches and engages U.S. Latinos across acculturation levels and media channels, as well as consumers in Mexico. The company's comprehensive portfolio incorporates integrated media and marketing solutions comprised of acclaimed television, radio, digital properties, events, and data analytics services. Entravision has 56 primary television stations and is the largest affiliate group of both the Univision and UniMas television networks. Entravision also owns and operates 49 primarily Spanish-language radio stations featuring nationally recognized talent, as well as the Entravision Audio Network and Entravision Solutions, a coast-to-coast national spot and network sales and marketing organization representing Entravision's owned and operated, as well as its affiliate partner, radio stations. Entravision's digital operating group, Pulpo, is the #1-ranked online advertising platform in Hispanic reach, and Pulpo's comprehensive media offering, data, and consumer insights lead the industry. Entravision shares of Class A Common Stock are traded on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol: EVC. www.entravision.com.

SOURCE Nielsen

Related Links

http://www.nielsen.com


HUNTINGTON, Ind., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Northeast Indiana Bancorp, Inc., (OTCQB: NIDB), the parent company of First Federal Savings Bank, has announced that the Corporation will hold its twenty second annual shareholders' meeting on April 25, 2017 at 1:00 PM local time. The meeting will be held in the boardroom of First Federal Savings Bank at 100 Frontage Road, Huntington Indiana. The holders of record date for the annual meeting will be March 13, 2017.

The Company also announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.22 per common share. This cash dividend will be payable on February 21, 2017 to common shareholders of record on February 7, 2017.

The book value of NIDB's stock was $27.86 per common share as of December 31, 2016. The last reported trade of the Company's stock at the close of business on January 24, 2017 was $31.55 per common share and the number of outstanding common shares was 1,207,379 as of the same date. The annualized dividend yield is currently 2.8% when annualizing the current quarter cash dividend of $0.22 per common share against the January 24, 2017 closing price of $31.55 per common share.

Northeast Indiana Bancorp, Inc. is headquartered at 648 N. Jefferson Street, Huntington, Indiana. The company offers a full array of banking and financial brokerage services to its customers through its main office in Huntington and five full-service Indiana offices in Huntington (2), Warsaw and Fort Wayne(2). The Company is traded on the OTC Markets Group, Inc. (www.otcmarkets.com) utilizing the OTCQB platform under the symbol "NIDB". Our web site address is www.firstfedindiana.bank.

SOURCE Northeast Indiana Bancorp, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.firstfedindiana.bank


LONDON, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The 3rd edition of the report 'Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Construction Sector Report  UK 2016-2020 Analysis' addresses the scale of construction activity in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry alongside the key contractors operating in that sector. It also assesses the health of the pharmaceutical industry and whether prospective industry performance is likely to lead to greater levels of capital and construction investment.



Key sections covered:



- Market size and overview  value, market drivers and key issues, R&D and manufacturing activity.

- Construction activity - in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

- Main manufacturing and R&D facilities  the key centres of the South East, East of England, North West, North East and Scotland.

- Construction capability - major companies involved in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors including contractors, consultants and architects.

- Funding and investment - analysis of Government resource and capital funding for science and research.



Key areas of insight include:



- Analysis of the impact of Brexit on the UK pharmaceutical sector  there are significant issues for the industry including the regulation of medicines, EU clinical trials regulation, EU funding for research, access to R&D facilities, the single market, skills base.

- Leading specialist supply companies to the pharmaceutical industry including: cleanroom design, construction and fit-out; clean and controlled air environments; clean air products; bio-containment and contamination control; validation and maintenance.

- Construction costs and issues in the design of pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing facilities including legislation, regulatory requirements, containment and environmental issues, cleanroom and laboratory design.

- Detailed analysis of pharmaceutical clusters and centres of excellence in the UK. Many of the UK's biotech firms are located in an area known as 'The Golden Triangle', with the centres of London, Cambridge, Oxford and Stevenage housing the UK's largest biomedical cluster in the UK.

- Review of the main challenges facing the pharmaceutical sector including slowing R&D pipelines, dwindling healthcare budgets, rising costs, impending 'patent cliffs', increased regulatory controls, the influence of the generic drugs market and increased pricing pressures.



Key areas covered in the report include:



MARKET OVERVIEW



- Market definition, size and value, overview of the global pharmaceutical market, overview of the UK pharmaceutical market: biopharmaceuticals; medical technology; digital health; genomics sector.

- Location of UK biopharmaceutical manufacturing and R&D sites.

- Pharmaceutical/biotechnology clusters and centres of excellence: Oxfordshire biocluster; London, Cambridge and Stevenage bioclusters.

- Regional concentration of pharmaceutical manufacturing and R&D: Northwest; East, Southeast and London; Northeast; Scotland.

- Future of pharmaceutical manufacturing operations in the UK.

- Value of pharmaceutical industry to the UK economy: UK trade in pharmaceuticals, sales of pharmaceutical drugs to the NHS.

- Pharmaceutical R&D in the UK: government funding for science R&D (resource & capital funding); pharmaceutical company investment in R&D; R&D pipeline.

- Market drivers and key issues in the pharmaceutical industry: drug patent expirations; generic drugs market; university collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry; tax implications and government legislation; long-term implications of 'brexit' on the UK pharmaceutical industry.



CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY



- Construction output in the UK pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector, forecast through to 2020, prospects for development in construction within this end use sector.

- Construction in the industrial sector, future prospects in construction output within the sector, key influencing factors, growth in factories and warehouses.

- Capital expenditure in the UK pharmaceutical & biotechnology sectors: R&D capital and manufacturing capital.

- Pharmaceutical construction/development pipeline  confirmed projects to 2020.

- Construction issues in the pharmaceutical industry  construction costs; contamination control issues; clean rooms; containment laboratories; legislation/guidelines/standards for cleanroom construction.

- UK science parks and university innovation campuses.

- UK Enterprise Zones and Catapult Centres.



CONSTRUCTION CAPABILITY



- Leading specialist supply companies to the pharmaceutical industry including: cleanroom design, construction and fit-out; clean and controlled air environments; clean air products; bio-containment and contamination control; validation and maintenance.

- Major engineering construction companies involved in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors including contractors, consultants and architects - capability and project experience.



LEADING PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES



- Overview and Pharmaceutical Company League Tables (Global and UK).

- Pharmaceutical company profiles: Abbvie; AstraZeneca; Boehringer Ingelheim; GSK; Johnson & Johnson; Merck; Novartis; Pfizer; Roche; Sanofi.

- Other smaller pharmaceutical/biotechnology companies: biotechnology/therapeutics & diagnostics; biotechnology R&D; pharmaceutical.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4246044/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

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"On behalf of Piper-Heidsieck, I want to congratulate all the nominees for this great recognition by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences," said Benoit Collard, global executive director of Piper-Heidsieck. "Piper-Heidsieck has a long and rich association with cinema and is proud to return to the Oscars, the ultimate arbiter of cinematic achievement in film."

To honor this great partnership, Piper-Heidsieck has created a limited-edition magnum bottle to be poured exclusively at the ceremony and Governors Ball, the Academy's official Oscars after-party. An exceptional bottle for an exceptional night, the Piper-Heidsieck Cuvee Brut magnum is enrobed in red and features a design of gold film that encircles the bottle. Piper-Heidsieck believes that nothing less than a magnum is worthy of the grandeur of Oscars night.

The 2017 Academy Awards season marks the third year of a long-term partnership between Piper-Heidsieck and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In addition to the awards ceremony on February 26, Piper-Heidsieck will be poured at Academy events in Los Angeles, New York and London, including the Oscars Nominees Luncheon on February 6 as well as the Governors Ball.

Get red carpet ready for Oscars night with Piper-Heidsieck! #PiperRed

For more information, please visit: http://Piper-Heidsieck.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

A Grand & Bold Story with the Cinema

The house has long supported cinema with boldness and grandeur, dating back to 1933, when a bottle of Piper-Heidsieck appeared in SONS OF THE DESERT, the debut film of Laurel and Hardy. In 1964, Piper-Heidsieck celebrated Rex Harrison's Oscar for his role in MY FAIR LADY with a tailor-made 48-liter bottle that was literally as tall as the 5-foot-10 actor. Piper-Heidsieck continues to support the enrichment and preservation of film heritage through the French Cinematheque and has been the official champagne of the International Cannes Film Festival for more than two decades.

ABOUT Piper-Heidsieck

Created in 1785 by Florens-Louis Heidsieck who aimed to create a wine worthy of a Queen, Piper-Heidsieck is one of France's oldest Champagne houses. With a grand history, Piper-Heidsieck has been synonymous with excellence, boldness, and grandeur for over 230 years. One of the world's most awarded Champagnes, Piper-Heidsieck benefits from the expertise of celebrated winemaker, Regis Camus, who has been named "Sparkling Winemaker of the Year" eight times over the past ten years. Piper-Heidsieck is part of the EPI Group.

Champagne Piper-Heidsieck is imported in the United States by Terlato Wines.

SOURCE Piper-Heidsieck

Related Links

http://www.piper-heidsieck.com


ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PlanSource, a leading provider of cloud-based benefits and HR software, announced today that it has acquired Next Generation Enrollment, a leading provider of benefits administration services. The combination gives employers of all sizes a single source of software and services for benefits shopping, enrollment, billing, compliance and administration.

Next Generation Enrollment offers services to help automate the process of employee benefits administration, including total benefits outsourcing, call centers, ACA services, billing reconciliation and payment, employee communications, dependent eligibility audits and COBRA and consumer-driven health care account administration. The Ada, Michigan-based company has roughly 900 clients ranging from 50 to 35,000 employees.

"This is a big win for our customers and their employees," said Bradley Taylor, Founder and CEO of Next Generation Enrollment. "We have always focused on the employee experience to ensure that they have the knowledge and services needed to make informed benefits decisions. Together, PlanSource and Next Generation Enrollment have the tools, software and services to help organizations empower their employees with a great benefits experience."

A complete benefits and HCM system

The PlanSource system features an intuitive, configurable employee experience for benefits shopping and enrollment, with educational content, plan recommendations and decision support. For Human Resources teams, PlanSource provides a robust administration experience that includes ACA measurement, reporting and data exchange with leading insurance carriers. By partnering with leading technology and service providers such as Next Generation Enrollment, PlanSource offers a comprehensive solutions for all aspects of human capital management.

"We've worked with Next Generation Enrollment for many years and I have always admired their focus on customer service and ability to give employees a great benefits experience," said Dayne Williams, CEO of PlanSource. "I've seen firsthand how well they work with our joint clients and understand why they have such a stellar reputation. Together, we are going to do great things. We'll be able to serve the industry better than ever and provide a truly complete benefits offering."

A history of innovation and service

Next Generation Enrollment was founded in 2004 by Bradley Taylor, whose vision was to provide the same level of benefits administration services to small and medium-size employers as was available to large employers. The company quickly gained a reputation for innovative technology and services. It has had a rapid growth trajectory, and in 2016 was named an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing company, marking the third time the company has been featured by Inc.

Next Generation Enrollment serves clients nationwide with offices in Michigan, Virginia and Nevada. In 2011, the company partnered with PlanSource to replace its proprietary benefits enrollment system and has since been an official reseller. PlanSource and Next Generation Enrollment have more than 300 clients in common.

"Next Generation Enrollment and PlanSource have each provided excellent support for Learning Care Group as we've worked to ensure comprehensive, high-quality benefit choices for our employees," said Phil Dobias, Vice President, HR Programs & Services at Learning Care Group, the second-largest, for-profit early education and childcare provider in North America. "We look forward to what they will be able to accomplish as one company."

Today's announcement comes after an extended period of growth for PlanSource, which has included the acquisition of ClearBenefits in early 2015, a capital infusion of $70 million, double-digit revenue growth and multiple strategic partnerships with leading insurance carriers and technology companies.

"Benefit Technology Resources is excited to hear that PlanSource is acquiring Next Generation Enrollment," said Jamie Hawkins, President and CEO of Benefit Technology Resources. "We find that employers are now expecting outsourcing services such as call center and dependent verification more frequently so this transaction gives companies access to both benefits technology and services in one place."

Closing details

The transaction closed on Friday, January 20, 2017 and the two entities are working diligently to ensure a successful transition. In the near term, customers and partners can expect to interact with each company as they always have.

About PlanSource

PlanSource is a technology company driven to create a better benefits and HR experience for employers and their employees. By offering flexible and intuitive software for benefits administration, insurance exchanges and human capital management, PlanSource's complete cloud-based technology helps nearly 10,000 employers and 3.5 million consumers with benefits shopping, enrollment, billing, compliance and administration. Learn more at www.plansource.com.

PlanSource is a registered trademark of PlanSource, Inc., and PlanSource owns other registered and unregistered trademarks. Other names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE PlanSource

Related Links

https://plansource.com


Michael Chasen was previously the CEO and co-founder of Blackboard, the global leader in education technology platforms. Michael took Blackboard public in 2004 and eventually sold the company in 2011 to Providence Equity Partners for $1.7 billion. Michael then was the CEO and founder of SocialRadar, a geo-location company that utilized satellite and street level imagery to determine the exact location of businesses. SocialRadar was acquired by Verizon in 2016.

"Michael is a talented and experienced CEO with remarkable success in architecting and scaling a technology platform," said Bob Young, PrecisionHawk Chairman and former CEO. "Under his leadership, PrecisionHawk is well positioned to expand its technology offerings and optimize the integration of its platform into the existing business processes of its clients."

PrecisionHawk provides an enterprise platform that uses advanced drone technology to collect and analyze data to improve business intelligence. The platform includes automated flight planning, tracking, data collection, and analytics. PrecisionHawk's technology is used across multiple industries including agriculture, construction, energy, insurance and by the government.

PrecisionHawk also serves as a key leader in shaping regulations and policies that promote the safe and rapid adoption of drones both through its work under the FAA Pathfinder program and development of its LATAS drone safety platform.

"Adoption of drone technology among major industries is growing at an incredible rate. By engineering an ecosystem that allows companies to gain valuable information, PrecisionHawk is at the forefront of one of the most important areas of technology innovation," said Chasen. "The PrecisionHawk team has all of the building blocks that are required to become the world leader in commercial drone technology, and I am looking forward to the growth and immense opportunity ahead."

About PrecisionHawk Inc.

PrecisionHawk is a leading provider of advanced commercial drone technologies. The company, founded in 2010, is privately held and located in Raleigh, NC and Toronto, Canada. PrecisionHawk's client list of Fortune 500 companies and market-leading innovators spans 150 countries and the company has existing operations across six continents. PrecisionHawk is funded by leading venture capital firms and global technology investors including Intel Capital, Millennium Technology Value Partners, Verizon Ventures, a subsidiary of USAA, NTT Docomo Ventures, Yamaha Motor, DuPont and Indiana University.

More information about PrecisionHawk can be found at www.precisionhawk.com or on Twitter @PrecisionHawk.

SOURCE PrecisionHawk

Related Links

http://www.precisionhawk.com


CHICAGO, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The title Public Enemy Number One has been officially removed from Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera by the Chicago Crime Commission, now that he has been extradited to the United States. The title, originally coined for Al Capone by the Chicago Crime Commission in 1930 and never used since, was assigned in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration, to Guzman on February 14, 2013.

The Chicago Crime Commission vowed that he would retain the Public Enemy Number One title until he was in the custody of U.S. authorities.

"At the time of his escape in 2015, the Chicago Crime Commission was outraged that Chapo Guzman had been allowed to slip through the hands of Mexican authorities once again," said J.R. Davis, Chairman and President of the Chicago Crime Commission. "The Guzman escape demonstrated that even the most 'high security' Mexican prison was not equipped to hold him. Upon Guzman's recapture in 2016, the Chicago Crime Commission called on the President of the United States to demand that he be extradited to the United States immediately," he added.

"Not since the Chicago Crime Commission's first Public Enemy Number One has any criminal deserved this title more than Guzman," Davis continued. "Compared to Guzman, Al Capone looks like an amateur," he stated.

Guzman headed the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico which, according to law enforcement, smuggles heroin, cocaine, marijuana and other narcotics between Mexico and the United States. Chicago has been identified as a key recipient of these drugs and as a trans-shipment hub for the cartel. The Sinaloa Cartel has found willing business partners among the 100,000 street gang members in Chicago and in the suburbs.

In Mexico, the Sinaloa cartel and other feuding cartels are responsible for tens of thousands of murders, some gruesome beyond belief. "Under Guzman's leadership, the Sinaloa cartel was known to kidnap, torture, kill and mutilate. Additionally, because of the violence associated with gangs and the drug trade, you can say that Guzman's fingerprints are on much of the violence plaguing Chicago today," Davis concluded.

Contact:

John Pastuovic

312-925-9092

SOURCE Chicago Crime Commission

Related Links

http://www.chicagocrimecommission.org


(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/461166/PRNE_WingifyReport_Infographic.jpg )



A comprehensive study of how industries and users are adopting and using web push notifications, PushCrew's report used three distinct sources. First, PushCrew surveyed 500 of their own customers; second, they undertook a consumer survey among SMBs as well as general website audiences in the USA; lastly, they tracked their product's usage across 1000+ websites. The results throw new light on what is a very recent space in marketing communications. For example, the report finds that notifications sent in the evening had more engagement than others, and that CTRs steadily decreased for every extra notification sent in a single day.

The report also finds that most of the early adopters of web push notifications are from the e-commerce industry (21%), followed closely by news and media (17.6%). Also, the bulk of push notification users come from small-sized organisations across all industries, inferring that larger organisations are taking time to adopt this new technology.

Paras Chopra, Founder and CEO of Wingify, said, "The report was born out of an internal project through which we wanted to better understand our customers. Then we realised it could be of use to the industry in general, so we decided to release it. Web push notifications are very new to the marketing landscape, and this report can serve as a vantage point from which to look at the channel."

"The report is not written as a dreary data sheet. It is designed to be a brief, reader-friendly document that will help decision makers figure out how push notifications are being used, who is already using them, and what its potential might be in the future," added Sairam Krishnan, Head of Marketing at PushCrew, who authored the report. The report itself is free for download here, from the PushCrew website.

About PushCrew

The second product from the makers of VWO, PushCrew is the most stable, easy-to-use, and popular web push notifications platform. With features like segmentation, scheduled notifications, multi-website support, custom images and so on, PushCrew has everything a marketer needs. With more than 4500 customers, PushCrew's customers include Hubspot, LeadPages, Hindustan Times, Intuit's QuickBooks, Skyscanner, Lenovo, HCL, and UNICEF. PushCrew is the second SaaS product from the Wingify stable. Wingify's first product is VWO, the world's easiest A/B testing and conversion optimisation platform.

Media Contact:

Sairam Krishnan

Head of Marketing for PushCrew

Wingify

+91-8870150603

[email protected]



SOURCE Wingify
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.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Decommissioning oil rigs into artificial reefs, mental health impacts of disasters, and invasive lionfish are a few of the topics to be presented at the 2017 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference Feb. 6-9, 2017 in New Orleans, LA at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The four-day Conference will bring together oil spill-related experts from academia, state & federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, and industry to share the latest oil spill and ecosystem scientific discoveries, innovations, technologies, and policies through 23 scientific sessions with approximately 350 oral presentations and 260 poster presentations. The conference will have special emphasis on practical uses of scientific research in the Gulf of Mexico and will connect scientific research to decision makers in the response and restoration communities.

The registration fee will be waived for credentialed members of the media. Onsite registration will be available at the Hyatt Regency Hotel - 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113. Please contact Leslie Smith for media registration details if you plan on attending.

A few interesting scientific presentations to note:

Decommissioning and Rigs-to-Reefs Programs in the Gulf of Mexico - Current Status and Strategies, and a Review of Decommissioning Cost Estimation (Session 019), E. Kobrinski Keen , Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi :

Have you ever wondered what happens to oil rigs left idle in the ocean? In October 2010 , over 3,000 wells and 600 platforms off the Gulf Coast waters were identified as being "Idle Iron," posing navigational and safety hazards. Per federal policy, these structures must be decommissioned and removed, which has proved costly. Scientists will present a novel idea to assist with the decommissioning process of these structures that will also repurpose the structures to serve as artificial reefs, potentially helping nearby fish communities. This project seeks to highlight how by working together, managers, scientists, and the oil industry can help each other and the Gulf.

(Session 019), Have you ever wondered what happens to oil rigs left idle in the ocean? In , over 3,000 wells and 600 platforms off the waters were identified as being "Idle Iron," posing navigational and safety hazards. Per federal policy, these structures must be decommissioned and removed, which has proved costly. Scientists will present a novel idea to assist with the decommissioning process of these structures that will also repurpose the structures to serve as artificial reefs, potentially helping nearby fish communities. This project seeks to highlight how by working together, managers, scientists, and the oil industry can help each other and the Gulf. Assessing the Effects of Religion and Disruption on Mental Health in Vulnerable Communities (Session 011), L. Drakeford, Louisiana State University :

Religion can be an important aspect of a community during a disaster. Past studies have focused on the effect of religious involvement at the individual level; scientists are now, however, trying to learn more about how faith and the structure of a religion can influence at the community level. In this talk, scientists will present research on how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has impacted the mental health of communities and how that relates to the religious devotion and structure within their community. Scientists will discuss how the amount of religious adherence affected the mental health of those disrupted by the oil spill and how certain religions magnified negative effects.

(Session 011), Religion can be an important aspect of a community during a disaster. Past studies have focused on the effect of religious involvement at the individual level; scientists are now, however, trying to learn more about how faith and the structure of a religion can influence at the community level. In this talk, scientists will present research on how the oil spill has impacted the mental health of communities and how that relates to the religious devotion and structure within their community. Scientists will discuss how the amount of religious adherence affected the mental health of those disrupted by the oil spill and how certain religions magnified negative effects. Disturbance of Northern Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Communities: The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and the Lionfish Invasion (Session 008b), K.A. Dahl , University of South Alabama :

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted in a widespread decline in fish abundance in the northern Gulf of Mexico. As these communities work to recover, however, a new disturbance has stressed their populations - invasive red lionfish. Red lionfish in the northern Gulf of Mexico are increasing exponentially, making it difficult to determine the effects of and subsequent recovery from the oil spill on native fish populations. Scientists will present recent trends in lionfish populations related to density, diet, and cannibalism, as well as the effectiveness of mitigation efforts to target and control their population in both artificial and natural reef communities.

Other program highlights include:

Keynote address by Dave Westerholm , National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): Oil Spill Science and Response: Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together

, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): Panel discussion with six leading Gulf experts on how planning and response decisions are made by federal, state, and industry responders

Closing plenary discussion: Linking Science & Restoration: Now and in the Future , moderated by Monty Graham of the University of Southern Mississippi

, moderated by of the Several associated meetings & events and workshops will also be held

Click here to view the Conference schedule at a glance. A searchable database of abstracts for oral and poster presentations as well as the full Conference schedule is available online - https://event.crowdcompass.com/gomoses2017/

For accommodation information, click here.

The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference is made possible by the generous support of many organizations including its Gold Level sponsors: National Academies' Gulf Research Program, NOAA, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative.

For more information, visit the Conference website and follow on Facebook and Twitter (#OneGulf).

Media Contact:

Leslie Smith

202.787.1613

[email protected]

SOURCE Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference
DUBLIN, Jan 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Automotive Airless Radial Tire Market 2017-2021" report to their offering.

The global automotive airless radial tire market to grow at a CAGR of 39.87% during the period 2017-2021.



Global Automotive Airless Radial Tire Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.

One trend in market is in-tire technology to revolutionize airless tire market. Bridgestone has been developing a system known as Contact Area Information Sensing (CAIS) system since 2011. The company demonstrated the same in December 2015 in Japan and announced that the system was market-ready. In CAIS, tires have sensors mounted on them, which monitor the road surface and communicate the information to the driver in real time. This is expected to be a game changer for airless tires since noise and vibration have been some of the prime drawbacks of these tires (discussed in the section on market challenges).

According to the report, one driver in market is airless tires are expected to increase ride safety by preventing accidents due to blowouts and punctures. The primary danger that riders face from pneumatic tires is the chance of a flat (a puncture), or a blowout occurring at freeway speeds. A flat caused by any sharp object usually results in rapid deflation of the tire. On the other hand, blowouts occur due to many causes ranging from a puncture to exposure of the tires to high temperatures or pressure. TPMS usually prevent blowouts nowadays. In a case of a blowout, the tire pops and rapidly deflates, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The chances of a collision in such situations are quite high.

Key vendors



Bridgestone

Michelin

Hankook



Other prominent vendors



MacNeillie

SciTech Industries

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)



Key Topics Covered:



Part 01: Executive summary



Part 02: Scope of the report



Part 03: Market research methodology



Part 04: Introduction



Part 05: Market landscape



Part 06: Market segmentation by vehicle type



Part 07: Market segmentation by geography



Part 08: Market drivers



Part 09: Market challenges



Part 10: Market trends



Part 11: Vendor landscape



Part 12: Key vendor analysis: Conventional tires OEMs



Part 13: Key vendor analysis: Dedicated airless tire OEMs



Part 14: Appendix



For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/th5h45/global_automotive

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


HIAWATHA, Iowa, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Crystal Group Inc., a trusted designer/manufacturer of combat-proven rugged commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) and custom computers, displays, switches, and storage devices, announced today that Robert Haag (Bob) has joined the company as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. In this position, Haag will oversee Crystal Group's business development and marketing strategies in the areas of defense systems and commercial markets.

Haag brings to Crystal Group more than 25 years of experience in the areas of business strategy and growth within the electronics and transportation markets. Most recently, Bob had Vice President roles at Rockwell Collins where he led the Communication and Navigation Products business and the International & Service Solutions business development efforts. In those roles, he oversaw all go-to-market business and marketing plans, customer value propositions and global order capture efforts. Previously, Haag served as President and General Manager for Wabtec Corporation's railroad electronics line of business where he drove product strategies aimed at global railroad freight movement.

"With our ambitions and plans to grow our business in the global military, transportation, and energy sectors, we are pleased to have Bob join our Crystal Group team. He brings a broad set of experience and rich history that will support our plans for market expansion," said Scott Kongable, Crystal Group President.

"Crystal Group has tremendous potential for multi-market segment growth," said Haag. "I look forward to working closely with the sales and marketing team to develop and implement strategies to achieve long-term growth in the markets that we serve now and opening new market opportunities globally."

About Crystal Group Inc.

Crystal Group Inc., an employee-owned small business located in Hiawatha, Iowa, USA, is a technology innovation leader specializing in both custom and COTS products for defense, government and industrial markets since 1987. Crystal Group designs and manufactures installation-ready rugged servers, displays, networking devices, embedded systems, power supplies and storage devices that fit critical applications in demanding environmental conditions.

The company is certified to quality management standards AS9100C:2009 and ISO 9001:2008. Crystal Group products meet and exceed MIL-STDs 810, 167-1, 461, MIL-S-901, IEEE and IEC industrial standards. Additionally, the company offers integration services, configuration management, product life-cycle planning and 5+ year warranties.

crystalrugged.com

 2017 Crystal Group Inc. All rights reserved. All marks are properties of their respective owners. Design and specifications are subject to change.

SOURCE Crystal Group Inc.

Related Links

https://www.crystalrugged.com


BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Birmingham's Robert R. Meyer Foundation is supporting Southern Research's Drug Discovery program with a $500,000 gift that aims to accelerate efforts to find new treatments for unmet medical conditions and rare and neglected diseases.

The contribution renews close ties between the Birmingham-based non-profit research organization and a charitable trust that became an important backer of its scientific work more than 60 years ago.

Southern Research has earned a solid reputation in drug discovery, with seven FDA-approved anticancer drugs, a number that ranks it among the most prolific in the field. In addition, Southern Research's labs have screened many other potential medicines, and its researchers have developed a robust pipeline of promising therapeutics.

"The Robert R. Meyer Foundation's longstanding support of Southern Research has been fruitful, contributing to many discoveries made by the organization's scientists that have improved the lives of people battling cancer and other serious diseases," said Beverly Baker, an Advisory Committee member for the foundation.

"The foundation's leadership is confident that this gift will facilitate additional insights that lead the way to new treatments," Baker added.

EARLY SUPPORT

The Meyer Foundation has supported Southern Research since 1953, when it provided $100,000 to match funding from the Charles F. Kettering Foundation for the construction of the Kettering-Meyer Laboratory. The Meyer Foundation made another significant contribution in 1957 to facilitate construction of a second Kettering-Meyer Lab.

In addition, the foundation has supported Southern Research's cancer programs with other donations over the years.

"Significant gifts from the Robert R. Meyer Foundation in the 1950s enabled Southern Research to make important advances in drug discovery and have contributed to the impact our research and drugs have made on patients around the world," said Art Tipton, Ph.D., president and CEO of Southern Research.

"The foundation's latest gift will allow us to continue to explore important scientific breakthroughs that are high-risk, high-reward endeavors, rarely funded through government grants," Tipton added. "This is the kind of research that results in the discovery of new drugs."

Southern Research's Drug Discovery division focuses on identifying novel treatments for serious conditions such as cancer, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and viral and bacterial infections.

The division works as a partner of the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the National Institute of Drug Abuse, among others. It also collaborates with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, and other non-profit organizations and research institutions.

"Southern Research has the unparalleled capacity to investigate a wide range of potential treatments for complicated conditions," said Mark J. Suto, Ph.D., vice president of the Drug Discovery division.

"Our innovative research programs and unique technological capabilities position the scientists at Southern Research to investigate possibilities and achieve meaningful outcomes."

IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS

The Robert R. Meyer Foundation was formed in 1942, just one year after the founding of Southern Research. Over the years, it has contributed more than $65 million to hundreds of charitable organizations.

Robert Meyer was a prosperous hotel operator with properties in Birmingham; Baltimore; Jacksonville, Florida; Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee; and Raleigh, North Carolina. He served on the boards of the Waldorf Astoria and Governor Clinton hotels in New York City, as well as local enterprises such as DeBardeleben Coal and Woodward Iron.

He also served on Southern Research's board of directors in 1946, one year before his death. His son, John Meyer, became a member of the board the next year, serving until 1970.

John Meyer was optimistic that cancer research would unravel the mysteries of the deadly disease and yield new treatments. At the dedication ceremony for the Kettering-Meyer lab on Dec. 17, 1953, John Meyer introduced his oldest daughter, Jane, to those attending the event.

"It seems particularly appropriate that youngsters of Janie's age group should play a part here since their generation undoubtedly will be among the largest beneficiaries of current cancer research," John Meyer said. "It is not only possible, but altogether probable, that by the time this young lady reaches maturity, the battle with cancer will have been won."

While the struggle has not yet been won, the Meyer Foundation's latest gift will help Southern Research continue the fight through the search for new medicines.

About Southern Research

Southern Research is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) research institution with nearly 500 scientists and engineers working to solve some of the world's hardest problems across four key divisions: Drug Discovery, Drug Development, Engineering, and Energy & Environment. Founded in 1941, the institution has built a trusted name for itself in continually working with some of the world's leading organizations, including the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, major aerospace firms, the nation's largest utility companies, and other private and government organizations. Headquartered in Birmingham, Southern Research has additional laboratories and offices in Wilsonville and Huntsville, Alabama; Frederick, Maryland; Durham, North Carolina; Cartersville, Georgia; and Houston, Texas. For more information, please visit www.southernresearch.org/.

CONTACT: Rossi Carlson, 205-581-2266, [email protected]

This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com.

SOURCE Southern Research

Related Links

http://www.southernresearch.org


NORTH READING, Mass., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TraceLink Inc., the World's Largest Track and Trace Network for connecting the Life Sciences supply chain and eliminating counterfeit prescription drugs from the global marketplace, today announced that Ropack Pharma Solutions has selected TraceLink to provide serialization solutions for its customers. Leveraging the TraceLink Life Sciences Cloud, Ropack's international serialization hub provides an efficient and streamlined solution to assist its 130+ pharmaceutical manufacturing customers prepare for the rapidly approaching serialization deadline in November 2017 to comply with the U.S. Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA).

Ropack Pharma Solutions is a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) that brings solid oral dosage packaging solutions to the top pharmaceutical and natural health organizations throughout Canada and the United States. The Ropack international serialization hub enables packaged pharmaceutical products to be sent by an organization's in-house packaging team or contract partners to the Ropack facility. Using the TraceLink Life Sciences Cloud and Optel Vision, the packaged products are serialized, aggregated and then shipped with the appropriate complication documentation, to a distribution network or another warehouse.

"Serialization and regulatory compliance are complex processes, but with TraceLink, it's a simple connection that is low cost and managed entirely by their in-house experts. We selected TraceLink because it offers an easy-to-use platform that helps our customers achieve compliance without all the challenges and difficulties that pharmaceutical manufacturers often face when implementing a serialization program," said Paul Dupont, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Ropack. "Becoming serialization ready for DSCSA is a complicated, time-consuming and costly endeavor for all companies, large and small. Our international serialization hub, leveraging the TraceLink Life Sciences Cloud as a core component, reduces an organization's capital expenditures, need for increased personnel and the multifaceted coordination required for serialization."

"Time is crucial with the first DSCSA serialization deadline going into effect later this year. Companies ultimately need to master the complex DSCSA requirements, implement their solution to generate, store and manage unprecedented volumes of regulated data, and exchange that data with all of their supply chain partners. Complying with serialization is a daunting task that takes time, money and resources, and for companies that haven't started yet, being ready by November 2017 may be unattainable," said Shabbir Dahod, president and CEO of TraceLink. "TraceLink lifts all of these burdensome tasks and partners with Ropack to offer an efficient and practical alternative to companies looking to outsource their serialization programs."

With more than 500 life sciences customers and over 246,000 trading partners on the Life Sciences Cloud network, TraceLink provides an end-to-end compliance solution for the pharmaceutical supply chain. Customers integrate once and immediately interoperate with all of their trade partners to securely exchange regulatory data and cost-effectively comply with track and trace requirements.

To learn more about meeting global or country-specific pharmaceutical compliance deadlines and how to build a flexible serialization, track and trace, and reporting platform for the U.S., the EU, China, Brazil, South Korea, India, Turkey, Argentina and other countries, please visit www.tracelink.com.

About TraceLink

TraceLink is the World's Largest Track and Trace Network for connecting the Life Sciences supply chain and eliminating counterfeit prescription drugs from the global marketplace. Leading businesses trust the TraceLink Life Sciences Cloud to deliver complete global connectivity, visibility and traceability of pharmaceuticals from ingredient to patient. A single point and click connection to the Life Sciences Cloud creates a supply chain control tower that delivers the information, insight and collaboration needed to improve performance and reduce risk across global supply, manufacturing and distribution operations. A winner of numerous industry awards including Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 (ranked number 149 in 2016), the Amazon AWS Global Start-Up Challenge Grand Prize, and the Edison Award for Innovation in Health Management, the Life Sciences Cloud is used by businesses across the globe to meet strategic goals in ensuring global compliance, fighting drug counterfeiting, improving on-time and in-full delivery, protecting product quality and reducing operational cost. For more information on TraceLink and our solutions, visit www.tracelink.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

TraceLink is funded by Goldman Sachs, FirstMark Capital, Volition Capital and F-Prime Capital.

About Ropack

Ropack, a contract manufacturing and packaging provider for the pharmaceutical and consumer health-care industries, offers turnkey primary and secondary packaging of tablets, capsules and powders into blisters, bottles, sachets, stick pack and vials. Ropack operates ambient and refrigerated warehousing space and provides temperature-controlled clinical distribution services for the Canadian market. Facilities are cGMP compliant; Health Canada certified and FDA licensed for Rx products, including controlled substances. Visit www.ropack.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook.

SOURCE TraceLink

Related Links

http://www.tracelink.com


Scott Parkhurst, National Sales Manager for Skyline Corporation also gave praise to the dealers for their suggestions and input on the floor plan. "We really cannot thank everyone enough that supported the Shore Park. We knew it would be a huge success after the first few shows  customers loved the model and bought it. The 1969CTA is the fastest retailing floor plan Skyline has introduced. People could not get enough of the high impact features, which include the largest walk-in tile shower in its class, a great living space, extra tall ceilings and an abundance of windows and natural light." Mr. Parkhurst also added, "The 1969CTA is a must have and will complement any display."

ABOUT SKYLINE CORPORATION: Skyline builds park models throughout the country at most of their ten divisions. All Skyline products are backed by a "no-nonsense" 15-month warranty, over 65 years of building experience and a commitment to produce the best product and the best price. For more information on Skyline and Skyline Park Models, visit www.skylinehomes.com and www.skylineparkmodels.com.

Photos: Interior views of the 2017 Shore Park 1969CTA by Skyline Park Models

SOURCE Skyline Corporation

Related Links

http://www.skylineparkmodels.com


Key findings:

Simplicity earns a premium: 64 percent of consumers are willing to pay more for simpler experiences.

64 percent of consumers are willing to pay more for simpler experiences. Simplicity builds loyalty: 61 percent of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand because it's simple.

61 percent of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand because it's simple. Complexity costs: Brands that don't provide simple experiences are leaving an estimated share of $86 billion on the table. 1

Brands that don't provide simple experiences are leaving an estimated share of on the table. Simplicity performs: A stock portfolio of the simplest global brands outperforms the major indexes by 330 percent.

A stock portfolio of the simplest global brands outperforms the major indexes by 330 percent. Simplicity inspires: 62 percent of employees at simple companies are brand championsversus only 20 percent of employees at complex companies.

The 2017 study, based on an online survey of more than 14,000 respondents across nine countries, ranks 857 brands on their perceived simplicity.

"Our seventh Global Brand Simplicity Index demonstrates more powerfully than ever that brands that embrace simplicity are more profitable," said Howard Belk, co-CEO and chief creative officer, Siegel+Gale. "The research shows that businesses that haven't been providing a simpler customer experience have left an estimated $86 billion on the table! Ignoring that kind of ROI is crazy."

The 2017 Global Brand Simplicity Index Top 10 Brands

ALDI Lidl Google Netflix IKEA Amazon KFC YouTube McDonald's SUBWAY

Global Movers and Shakers

Each year Siegel+Gale analyzes the movement of brands in the Simplicity Index rankings. Some brands remain consistent year-over-year, while others fluctuate. Highlights from the 2017 study include:

ALDI remains the simplest brand in our global ranking for the fourth year running, while competitor Lidl once again lands in the top three.

remains the simplest brand in our global ranking for the fourth year running, while competitor once again lands in the top three. Yahoo! drops 37 places, demonstrating that web search isn't always simple.

drops 37 places, demonstrating that web search isn't always simple. Dollar Shave Club and Jet.com land in the top US Disrupterstheir current multi-billion-dollar valuations are further testament to the power of simplicity.

and land in the top US Disrupterstheir current multi-billion-dollar valuations are further testament to the power of simplicity. Insurance provider AXA just can't seem to break out of the bottom spot, as they are the most complex brand for the second year running.

just can't seem to break out of the bottom spot, as they are the most complex brand for the second year running. Health and beauty product purveyor Sephora rises 44 spots in the global ranking.

rises 44 spots in the global ranking. Global hotel chain Hilton moves up 50 spots in the global ranking.

moves up 50 spots in the global ranking. EasyJet has ascended 16 spots, a smooth takeoff for a customer-focused airline.

has ascended 16 spots, a smooth takeoff for a customer-focused airline. Five out of six brands representing the restaurant industry are in the top 15, indicating that quick service often means simple service.

The Leaders That Deliver Simplicity

As part of this year's study, Siegel+Gale interviewed marketing leaders of brands that are featured in the Simplicity Index to explore how they strive to make simplicity manifest in their organizations. Executives from McDonald's, Target, Jet.com, Spotify and Direct Line opine on how they provide simple experiences.

Global Disrupters

For the third year running, Siegel+Gale asked people to evaluate "disruptive" brands in the US and UK. These emerging businesses are continuously changing consumer expectations by delivering memorable, meaningful and useful brand experiences.

In the US, the top disrupters include Dollar Shave Club, GrubHub, Square, Spotify and Jet.com. In the UK, the top disrupters include OVO Energy, City Mapper, Shazam, GoPro and My Fitness Pal.

"Disrupter brands possess a common characteristicthey place simplicity at the core of their customer experience," said David Srere, co-CEO and chief strategy officer, Siegel+Gale. "The recent billion-dollar acquisitions of Dollar Shave Club and Jet.com are further proof that simplicity drives brand loyalty and financial gain."

To view the full report, visit: www.simplicityindex.com.

About the 2017 Global Brand Simplicity Index

The Siegel+Gale Global Brand Simplicity Index is a report of global brand ratings, based on an online survey of more than 14,000 consumers in nine countries who rated a total of 857 brands to gather perspectives on simplicity and how industries and brands make people's lives simpler or more complex.

The data collected are used to generate two scores: An Industry Simplicity Score and a Brand Simplicity Score.

The Industry Simplicity Score rates each industry on its perceived simplicity. Each industry is evaluated on its contribution to making life simpler or more complex, the pain of typical interactions with companies within the industry and how the industry's communications rank in terms of ease of understanding, transparency/honesty, concern for customers, innovation/freshness and usefulness.

The Brand Simplicity Score rates each brand on its perceived simplicity. It evaluates each brand on the simplicity/complexity of its products, services, interactions and communications in relation to industry peers. The score takes into consideration the consistency of responses, the difference between user and non-user perceptions and the simplicity score for the brand's industry.

The annual research study was first conducted in 2010.

About Siegel+Gale

Siegel+Gale (www.siegelgale.com) Siegel+Gale is a global brand strategy, design and experience firm. Using facts, intuition and creativity, we blend science with art, unlocking the power of simplicity to help organizations realize their full potential. Since 1969, Siegel+Gale has championed simplicity for leading corporations, nonprofits and government organizations worldwide. We have offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Dubai and Shanghai, but we're willing to fly just about anywhere. We're also not alone. As part of Diversified Agency Services, a division of Omnicom Group Inc., we have strong partners all around the world.

About Diversified Agency Services

Diversified Agency Services (DAS), a division of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC), manages Omnicom's holdings in a variety of marketing communications disciplines. DAS includes over 200 companies, which operate through a combination of networks and regional organizations, serving international and local clients through more than 700 offices in 71 countries.

Contact:

Molly Muldoon

Associate PR Director, Siegel+Gale

[email protected]

1.212.453.0491

1. $86 billion was calculated by multiplying the average premium that people are willing to pay for brands within a given industry by the total revenue for that industry in the US market.

SOURCE Siegel+Gale
LONDON, Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Increasing demand for LNG from end-users, declining LNG prices, strategic geographical location in Asia-Pacific and implementation of favourable government policies are few of the major factors expected to boost demand for LNG in Singapore. To address the growing domestic demand, the country imports natural gas from Indonesia & Malaysia and LNG from countries of Qatar, Equatorial Guinea and Australia. In 2013, Singaporecommissioned an LNG terminal in Jurong Island, with an initial LNG handling capacity of 3.5 mmtpa, which was later increased to 6 mmtpa in 2014. Power generation sector emerged as the largest consumer of LNG in Singapore, as of 2015, however, with the increasing demand for LNG to be used as bunkering fuel in transportation sector, the market share of LNG for application in power sector is expected to decline, during the forecast period, thereby impacting demand for LNG in the region.



According to "Singapore LNG Market Demand & Supply Analysis, By Region, By Application, By LNG Terminal, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011-2025", market for LNG in Singapore is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10.39% during 2016-2021. Various upcoming LNG based power plants, emergence of LNG to be used as a bunkering fuel, falling supply of piped natural gas from neighbouring countries, imposition of regulations to modulate supply of piped natural gas and cost-effectiveness of LNG in comparison with other alternative fuels are the major factors anticipated to positively influence LNG market scenario in Singapore, over next ten years. "Singapore LNG Market Demand & Supply Analysis, By Region, By Application, By LNG Terminal, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011-2025" discusses the following aspects of LNG market in the Singapore:



- Singapore LNG Demand & Supply Analysis

- Singapore LNG Potential Demand & Supply Gap

- Regional Market Analysis (South West, North West, Central Singapore, North East and South East)



Why You Should Buy This Report?



- To gain an in-depth understanding of LNG market in Singapore.

- To identify the on-going trends and anticipated growth in the next ten years

- To help LNG terminal operators, aggregators, suppliers, marketers and consultants in aligning their market-centric strategies

- To obtain research based business decisions and add weight to presentations and marketing material

- To gain competitive knowledge of leading market players

- To avail 10% customization in the report without any extra charges and get research data or trends added in the report as per the buyer's specific needs



Report Methodology



The information contained in this report is based upon both primary and secondary research. Primary research includes interaction with LNG terminal operators, aggregators, distributors and industry experts. Secondary research includes an exhaustive search of relevant publications such as company annual reports, financial reports and proprietary databases.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4646993/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

http://www.reportbuyer.com


DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SME  an organization dedicated to training and developing the manufacturing workforce  is pleased to announce Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) as one of its inaugural institutional members.

Georgia Tech joins Harper College of Palatine, Illinois, and Grand Valley State University of Allendale, Michigan as SME's first institutional members.

"By taking advantage of this membership, colleges and universities can increase their awareness of manufacturing trends and technologies for their instructors, helping connect students to knowledge, resources and people in manufacturing," said Thomas Kurfess, PhD, FSME, PE, professor of mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech and 2017 SME president-elect.

Georgia Tech is known for top-ranked schools and programs, including the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. The department provides programs such as acoustics, bioengineering, materials, manufacturing, and robotics; as well as highly ranked nuclear and radiological engineering and medical physics programs.

SME's institutional membership program, now offered to all academic institutions, connects universities or colleges to manufacturing professionals of the SME network. Along with networking opportunities, it includes reduced member pricing for SME trade shows and conferences, access to industry-focused publications, and opportunities for research and certifications. Additionally, five of the institution's faculty or staff will receive a one-year SME membership.

Institutions interested in exploring SME membership can visit sme.org/institutional-membership to learn more.

About Georgia Institute of Technology

Georgia Tech provides a focused, technologically based education to more than 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Georgia Tech has many nationally recognized programs, all top-ranked by peers and publications alike, and is ranked in the nation's top 10 public universities by U.S. News and World Report. It offers degrees through the Colleges of Computing, Design, Engineering, Sciences, the Scheller College of Business, and the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech has more than 100 centers focused on interdisciplinary research that consistently contribute vital research and innovation to American government, industry, and business.

About SME

As a nonprofit organization, SME has served practitioners, companies, educators, government and communities across the manufacturing spectrum for more than 80 years. SME is dedicated to advancement of manufacturing by addressing both knowledge and skills needed for the industry. Learn more at sme.org, follow @SME_MFG on Twitter or facebook.com/SMEmfg.

SOURCE SME

Related Links

http://www.sme.org


"Simply put, President Trump is all that stands between the U.S. aviation industry and a scheme by a foreign air carrier to undermine it," NJASAP President Pedro Leroux said. "Our members gathered in the nation's capitol to urge the president to reverse an egregious DOT decision that puts both the safety of the flying public and middle-class American jobs squarely in the crosshairs."

The #MakeItRight Pilot Support Rally did not go unnoticed: Inquiries from media outlets leading up to and during the rally signaled a critical turning point for the issue. "Our call to 'deny NAI' has received more coverage in the past 24 hours than it has in more than two-and-a-half years," SWAPA President Capt. Jon Weaks said. "From every indication, the media sees this as a story that fits within President Trump's pro-worker narrative, and the independent Southwest and NetJets pilot unions could not agree more."

In late December, the DOT granted a foreign air carrier permit to NAI despite violating Article 17 bis of the U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement and threatening a vital American industry. With its access to the U.S. aviation marketplace secured, Norwegian is now positioned to set into motion a flag-of-convenience scheme that allows it to forum shop the globe for the cheapest labor, the least restrictive regulations, and the choicest tax laws.

"Article 17 bis was specifically included in the Open Skies Agreement to prevent the very scenario Norwegian is now set to perpetrate  shopping the globe for the cheapest possible labor," Weaks said. "This atrocious action by the Obama Administration has unilaterally undermined every trade agreement the U.S. has ever signed, including the Open Skies agreements we have with more than 100 countries across the globe." He continued, "The former administration not only violated trade policy, but also turned its back on the tens of thousands of American workers employed in the aviation industry."

Union leaders agree the outpouring of member support for the rally demonstrates the grave nature of a very bad trade deal and its implications for professional aviators. "Our members have sent a very powerful message," Leroux said. "Pilot families have taken this issue to heart, and they are prepared to fight this anti-worker policy from one side of the beltway to the other."

Added Weaks, "President Trump campaigned on a pro-worker platform, and we are calling on him to keep the bottom from falling out of our industry by prioritizing American aviation worker interests over those of foreign corporations and their executives."

[Rally Hashtags: #DenyNAI #MakeItRight]

About SWAPA Located in Dallas, Texas, the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association (SWAPA) is a non-profit employee organization representing the more than 8,500 pilots of Southwest Airlines. SWAPA works to provide a secure and rewarding career for Southwest pilots and their families through negotiating contracts, defending contractual rights and actively promoting professionalism and safety. For more information on the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association, visit www.swapa.org.

About NJASAP Established in 2008 as an independent labor advocate, NJASAP represents the professional interests of the 2,700-plus pilots who fly in the service of NetJets Aviation, Inc. For more information, visit our web site, www.njasap.com, Facebook page, www.facebook.com/njasap, or Twitter feed, @njasap.

SOURCE NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP)

Related Links

http://www.njasap.com


STAMFORD, Conn., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, S.Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water announces the anticipated return of S.Pellegrino Young Chef, an extraordinary culinary competition that recognizes leading young chefs worldwide. Following the success of past events, the third edition of S.Pellegrino Young Chef will feature talent from an expanded 21 global regions and will take place over the span of 18 months. It will begin with the call for applications on February 1, 2017 and will culminate with the announcement of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018 winner at the Grand Finale in Milan in June 2018.

With the new extended competition timeline, chef candidates will now have more time to work side-by-side with their assigned Chef Mentors to improve their signature dishes and refine their skill set in preparation for the finals. The global competition will also feature a distinguished panel of judges, named the Seven Sages, which is comprised of some of the most celebrated culinary masters of the world. These judges are responsible for deciding the winner of S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018 at the finals in Milan, Italy. Past judges include Wylie Dufresne (USA), Elena Arzak (Spain), Mauro Colagreco (France) and Roberta Sudbrack (Brazil).

Winners of S.Pellegrino Young Chef are presented with the opportunity to gain global visibility, as well as the chance to take part in several of the brand's annual events around the world, including those related to the Young Chef competition. Previous winners of the competition are Ireland-based S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2015, Mark Moriarty and U.S.-based S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016, Mitch Lienhard. Last year, Chef Lienhard worked closely with acclaimed chef Dominique Crenn who served as his Chef Mentor leading up to and during the competition.

"It is a great honor to be named S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016," said S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016 winner, Mitch Lienhard of the United States. "The experience has provided many unforgettable moments so far, and I am thankful for the impact the title will have in my career. I look forward to continuing my work with S.Pellegrino to help find the culinary world's best new talent and serving as a mentor to future competitors."

Chef contestants will have the opportunity to submit an application and their signature dish if they are 30 years of age or younger. They must have at least one year of experience working at a restaurant and hold the position of a chef, sous chef or chef de partie. ALMA, the world's leading international educational and training center for Italian cuisine, will select up to 10 semi-finalists for each of the 21 regional competitions. From there, semifinalists will compete in front of a regional jury of acclaimed chefs and one winner from each market will continue on to participate in the Grand Final Event in Milan in 2018.

Call for chef applications will open on February 1, 2017 at Sanpellegrino.com and will close on April 30, 2017. For more information on the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018 competition, visit www.finedininglovers.com or follow #SPYoungChef online.

About S.Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water

The signature taste of S.Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water is created during a 30-year journey through the Italian Alps, where the water is naturally filtered. S.Pellegrino cleanses the palate and amplifies subtle flavors, making it the perfect complement to fine food and wines. This clean, refreshing taste helped S.Pellegrino become a preferred sparkling water in fine-dining restaurants in the USA, and pairs well with any occasion.

S.Pellegrino is proud to support a number of top culinary events, such as The James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef of the Year Award, Aspen Food and Wine Classic, Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation, and Identita Golose. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/SanPellegrinoUS or www.finedininglovers.com.

Contact:

Colleen McCarthy

Team N

[email protected]

617-520-7059

SOURCE S.Pellegrino
Rozendaal has been tapped to co-chair the firm's Litigation Group with Byron Pickard , and Joffre will co-chair Sterne Kessler's Appellate Group with Jon Wright .

"Having worked with J.C. and Mike for the past few years, we have learned that they are excellent lawyers and exceptional people," said Michael B. Ray, managing director of Sterne Kessler. "Their addition expands our capabilities to serve our clients in the full range of complex IP matters, and they are terrific additions to our team and to our firm leadership."

The attorneys come to the firm from the highly respected litigation boutique Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel where they developed significant expertise in Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) matters for generic pharmaceutical companies and have become "go to" resources for technology and consumer electronics companies, particularly international companies, as they navigate the U.S. patent system.

"We are thrilled to join a firm with such an extraordinary team of talented lawyers who focus exclusively on IP," said Joffre. "Sterne Kessler has a proven track record in patent law, especially at the PTAB, and we look forward to the synergies that our combined teams can bring to district court and appellate litigation."

"I think it's the common vision we share  providing the highest-quality representation in an efficient way by lawyers who fully understand the clients' business and the science behind their technologies is what distinguishes us from other firms. We are proud to make Sterne Kessler our new home," added Rozendaal.

Rozendaal represents clients in complex business and intellectual property litigation, principally in federal court, and he regularly tries patent-infringement cases. He has litigated patents on a wide variety of technologies, including pharmaceuticals, aseptic packaging systems, optical disc drives, medical ultrasound, Voice-over-Internet-Protocol, LCD flat-panel displays, and streaming video technology. He also regularly briefs and argues cases in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and has represented clients in the U.S. Supreme Court both at the certiorari stage and on the merits.

Rozendaal earned his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, a B.A. and M.A. from Oxford University, and a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. He served as a clerk for Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, U.S. Supreme Court.

Joffre focuses his practice on intellectual property disputes before trial and appellate courts. He has litigated cases involving a variety of technologies and products, including microprocessors, telecommunications networks, mechanical devices, consumer products, and computer software. He has appeared in jurisdictions throughout the country, including Texas, California, Wisconsin, Delaware, the International Trade Commission, the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Joffre, a registered lobbyist, has also counseled companies seeking legislative reform of the patent laws.

Joffre earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School, his Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of Chicago, and his B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served as a clerk for Judge William C. Bryson, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

About Sterne Kessler

Founded in 1978 and based in Washington, DC, Sterne Kessler is dedicated exclusively to the protection, transfer, and enforcement of intellectual property rights. Our team of attorneys, registered patent agents, students, and technical specialists include some of the country's most respected practitioners of intellectual property law. Most of our professionals hold an advanced level degree, including more than 50 Ph.D.'s in science or engineering and well over 100 advanced technical degrees -- credentials wide and deep enough to fill the faculty of a science oriented university.

Sterne Kessler is a leader at the PTAB, having filed more than 500 America Invents Act proceedings. The firm has represented clients in 448 inter partes reviews (IPRs), 45 covered business method reviews (CBMs), four post grant reviews (PGRs), and three derivation proceedings (DERs). The firm handled over 100 AIA proceedings filed in 2016, a milestone that the firm previously attained in 2014 and 2015.

SOURCE Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

Related Links

http://www.skgf.com


LONDON, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

In an initiative to enhance the functionality and ease of use between two market leading crop management systems, Proagrica (http://www.proagrica.com ) and Muddy Boots Software (http://www.muddyboots.com ) have teamed up to allow users of both Muddy Boots' Greenlight Grower Management and Proagrica's Gatekeeper the ability to exchange data between both platforms.

"We are delighted to be able to partner with Muddy Boots", said David Wilson, CEO of Proagrica, parent company of Farmplan and F4F. "The collaboration provides an exciting opportunity for both farmers and the wider industry to inform decision making with real insight".

Speaking at the announcement Jonathan Evans, MD of Muddy Boots said, "we have for many years been challenged by our customers to find ways of allowing the ever growing number of separate information systems to talk to each other and to help present that data in a way that provides real benefit to farmers, agronomist and supply chain alike. Everyone has asked for it, now we can do it thanks to this collaboration." Evans adds that by allowing users of both systems to communicate, the existing barrier caused by farmers and agronomists using different software will be overcome.

"We know that farm businesses just want to be able to get on with the job. By providing this link between Greenlight Grower Management and Gatekeeper, we hope to provide users of both systems, the data they need, as easily as possible."

End

Notes to Editors

For further information please contact:

Snezana Petrovic Sarah Carter Chief Marketing Officer Account Director Proagrica rdp [email protected] [email protected] +44 (0)20 8652 2077 +44 (0) 1452 429 175

Proagrica is a global division of Reed Business Information and the RELX Group, a FTSE 100 company. Proagrica provides critical decision-support to the global agriculture industry by delivering high-value insight and data, trusted workflow tools, proven integration technology and effective channels-to-market. We're proud of our market-leading brands in Europe, as well as a growing footprint in Australia, Asia Pacific, South Africa and the US. Our portfolio includes flagship media brands Farmers Weekly and Boerderij, as well as the latest in the integration and connectivity capabilities that F4F offers across the supply chain. We're known for our industry leading farm management software Farmplan and GateKeeper, but with an increasing need for actionable insight from data and analytics, we have been developing new products in this area under our Agility brand.

About Reed Business Information

Reed Business Information provides information, analytics and data to business professionals worldwide. Our strong global products and services hold market-leading positions across a wide range of industry sectors including banking, petrochemicals and aviation where we help customers make key strategic decisions every day. RBI is part of RELX Group, a world-leading provider of information and analytics for professional customers across industries.

http://www.reedbusiness.com

About RELX Group

RELX Group is a worldleading provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. The group serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs approximately 30,000 people of whom half are in North America. RELX PLC is a London listed holding company which owns 52.9% of RELX Group. RELX NV is an Amsterdam listed holding company which owns 47.1% of RELX Group. The shares are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX and RENX. The total market capitalisation is approximately 28.0bn/32.5bn/$34.9bn*.

* Note: Current market capitalisation can be found at http://www.relx.com/investorcentre

Muddy Boots Software: established in 1996, gives its customers total visibility of the quality of their products and compliance of their supply chains, from grower to retailer. The Company provides software solutions to 2,000 customers across 40 countries, including 5 of the top 7 UK retailers, and 70% of the UK's fresh produce supply chain.

SOURCE Proagrica, Reed Business Information
BOSTON, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading research firm Strategy Analytics announces the availability of a new report detailing the effect of "smart home" capabilities on the traditional security industry.

"Smart Home: Disrupting the Security Industry" explains that the current residential security model in the United States is undergoing major change. According to the report, "the traditional, one-way security systems are giving way to innovative solutions that meld remote monitoring and control as well as automation capabilities with notifications of security breaches and events homeowners want to be alerted about. These innovations are creating new options for consumers and driving changes in the way monitoring services and first responders react to emergencies."

The report provides a concise history of interactive security and an overview of the companies that are ushering in this disruptive model. Video verification also receives significant coverage in the report, given the fact that the law enforcement agencies in an increasing number of U.S. jurisdictions are beginning to require audio or video authentication of an event to generate a prioritized response.

The reports concludes with Strategy Analytics' forecast for the adoption of US households with interactive security systems which, the reports says, will displace traditional one-way systems in the long term and expand the market due to their enhanced capabilities.

"Interactive security is unquestionably the wave of the future in the residential security market," said William Ablondi, the report's author who directs Strategy Analytics' Smart Home Strategies (SHS) advisory service. "As this report explains, consumers want their security systems to not only protect their families and their homes, they increasingly see them as the foundation of total home control  and more. It's a trend that forward-thinking companies like Alarm.com, ADT, Vivint, and MivaTek have recognized in their next-generation security products."

ABOUT STRATEGY ANALYTICS

Strategy Analytics, Inc. provides the competitive edge with advisory services, consulting and actionable market intelligence for emerging technology, mobile and wireless, digital consumer and automotive electronics companies. With offices in North America, Europe and Asia, Strategy Analytics delivers insights for enterprise success. For more information visit www.StrategyAnalytics.com.

Bill Ablondi: Director - Smart Home Strategies

[email protected]

Media Contacts:

Arthur Sesnovich

Bulldog Communications

(508) 485-0776

[email protected]

SOURCE Strategy Analytics

Related Links

http://www.strategyanalytics.com


BRUSSELS and MUMBAI, India, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

2017 edition of the forum to outline a new strategy for Europe

Leading platform for public-private dialogue between industry and government leaders in Europe

TCS will serve as the Summit ' s exclusive Strategic Partner in a n agreement concluded at the World Economic Forum in Davos

Marks TCS' continued commitment to Europe and the growth of its Digital Economy

Tata Consultancy Services (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, today announced a strategic partnership with the European Business Summit (EBS). Held annually in Brussels, the EBS is recognized as the foremost platform for dialogue between business and government leaders. Its 2016 edition attracted 2,400 delegates, including eight European Commissioners and the Presidents of the European Commission, European Parliament and European Council.

With representation from over 250 companies, the Summit is designed to provide an engaging exchange of ideas and perspectives. In recent years, Europe has navigated unprecedented challenges posed by the financial crisis, regional conflicts, refugee crises, a changing political landscape and more recently, Brexit. Questions have been raised about the design of EU institutions and their capacity to adapt to disruptive forces in business, technology and politics. The 2017 Summit will address these challenges and find pragmatic solutions for business and policy leaders through open dialogue.

Themed around "A new Narrative for Europe", the event will discuss industrial and trade strategy, employment and skills, sustainability and smart cities, amongst a wide range of topics, underpinned by the role of digital transformation in finding new opportunities and addressing existing challenges. This strategic partnership with the EBS is a further component of TCS' long term commitment to the region and will help propel greater dialogue on key issues facing the business and policy circles in the region.

Amit Bajaj, CEO Europe at TCS, commented: "This year Europe will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome where the European Economic Community was first established. In recent decades the region has seen tremendous growth and prosperity, driven in large part by a progressive and innovative business community. As we look forward there are undoubted challenges ahead but also many opportunities. Probably the single largest opportunity is digital economy where the European Commission estimates growth of 415 billion a year if steps can be taken to support digital business.

He emphasized; "With the fourth industrial revolution bringing forth rapid change across all industries, and digital disruption reshaping entire sectors, it is essential that business and policy leaders come together to find the most inclusive way forward. We are honored to be playing an even bigger part in driving that debate through the European Business Summit."

With a growing footprint in 16 European countries, TCS works with over 350 leading companies and across the region, helping them evolve to the needs of the digital economy. In addition, TCS supports 220 European universities and schools to build vital digital skills, through training, scholarship programmes and internships. These investments are just one part of the company's commitment to help foster a vibrant digital economy that helps economies and communities thrive across the region.

Jean de Gheldere, CEO, European Business Summit, commented: "We are delighted to have Tata Consultancy Services as our Official Strategic Partner. Having a partner with a deep understanding of the importance of digital technology and how it can power Europe, will bring huge benefits to our endeavor EBS and, more importantly, help us serve the interests of Europe as a whole."

About European Business Summit

The European Business Summit (EBS) promotes the largest networking and debating events in Brussels. EBS is a key player in bringing business and politics together and aims to stimulate thinking on European issues that span political, social and environmental challenges. Through its events and publications, EBS delivers an inspired and informed contribution to policy-making in Europe. EBS, under the provision of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is supported by the FEB (Federation of Enterprises in Belgium) and BUSINESSEUROPE. First established in 2000, the annual European Business Summit (EBS) attracts a representative audience evenly distributed across policy makers, businesses, trade and industry associations, consultancies, civil society and other groups.



About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS)

Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPS, infrastructure, engineering and assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model, recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata group, India's largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 378,000 of the world's best-trained consultants in 45 countries.The company generated consolidated revenues of US $16.5 billion for year ended March 31, 2016 and is listed on the BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) and the NSE (National Stock Exchange) in India. For more information, visit us at http://www.tcs.com.

For TCS global news, follow @TCS_News. For TCS Europe news, follow @TCS_Europe

SOURCE Tata Consultancy Services
CHERRY HILL, N.J., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, in partnership with Cardtronics, recently branded 189 ATMs in Walgreens locations across Florida, specifically the Miami and Tampa-St. Petersburg metro areas, increasing its ATM population in the state by 96 percent. This provides TD Bank customers with added convenience and fee-free access to their cash in more places.

The TD Bank-branded in-store ATM installation follows the company's expansion last summer in Boston-area Walgreens locations.

"Fast, convenient access to cash is a priority for consumers," said Ernie Diaz, Regional President, TD Bank. "We've expanded our ATM footprint to select Walgreens locations in Florida to provide our customers even more options for accessing funds where, when, and how they need to. And with TD ATMs in more locations, we're also helping our customers avoid fees."

More ATMs make life easier

A new study by TD Bank found that although the majority of respondents (71 percent) primarily use their debit card for everyday purchases like gas, coffee, and groceries, visiting the ATM for cash is still a regular part of their routine.

More than half of respondents (61 percent) visit the ATM once a month or more.

Baby boomers lead the way, with 65 percent visiting the ATM for cash regularly (at least once a month), holding a slight edge over Gen Xers (63 percent) and millennials (60 percent).

Of those visiting ATMs monthly, more than one-third (35 percent) are returning once a week or more. Gen Xers are the most frequent visitors, with 40 percent stopping by at least weekly, while 36 percent of boomers and 26 percent of millennials do the same.

Men are burning through cash at a faster rate, with one in four reporting that they visit an ATM at least once a week, compared to 17 percent of women.

It's all about the Benjamins

Americans aren't carrying big bills: when visiting the ATM, 70 percent of respondents withdraw $200 or less.

Of those withdrawing $200 or less, more than three out of four respondents (78 percent) withdraw $100 or less.

or less, more than three out of four respondents (78 percent) withdraw or less. Women lead the way here: 83 percent withdraw $100 or less, compared to 74 percent of men.

The bank branch is alive and well

Although consumers are increasingly choosing digital and online options to manage their daily tasks, sometimes there's no substitute for a face-to-face interaction. Consumers visit bank branches slightly more often than they visit ATMs, with boomers again leading the way.

64 percent of respondents visit a bank branch at least once a month.

68 percent of boomers go to the bank once a month or more, followed by Gen X and millennials (both 63 percent).

About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing more than 8.9 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at more than 1,275 convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, TD Bank and its subsidiaries offer customized private banking and wealth management services through TD Wealth, and vehicle financing and dealer commercial services through TD Auto Finance. TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more, visit www.tdbank.com. Find TD Bank on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TDBank_US.

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company in North America. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol "TD". To learn more, visit www.td.com.

Survey Methodology

The study polled a nationally representative group of Americans from November 14 to November 17, 2016. The total sample size was 1,000 respondents with a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percent. Google Survey conducted the survey.

Media Contact:

Lisa Sawicki, TD Bank

856.505.1095

[email protected]

SOURCE TD Bank

Related Links

http://www.TDBank.com


ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Transportation Research Institute today released its annual list highlighting the most congested bottlenecks for trucks in America, including four in Tennessee.

The 2017 Top Truck Bottleneck List assesses the level of truck-oriented congestion at 250 locations on the national highway system. The analysis, based on truck GPS data from 600,000+ heavy duty trucks uses several customized software applications and analysis methods, along with terabytes of data from trucking operations to produce a congestion impact ranking for each location. The data is associated with the FHWA-sponsored Freight Performance Measures (FPM) initiative. The locations detailed in this latest ATRI list represent the top 100 congested locations.

"Tennessee's large manufacturing base and continued job growth make trucks a lynchpin of the state's economy," said Tennessee Trucking Association President Dave Huneryager. "As such, reducing congestion in these freight bottlenecks is included the Governor's recently unveiled IMPROVE Act. ATRI's analysis allows us to target state and federal resources to keep trucks, and the economy, moving."

The four bottlenecks in Tennessee are:

No. 20  I-24 at I-440 North in Nashville

No. 29  I-65 at I-24 in Nashville

No. 32  I-40 at I-240 East in Memphis

No. 48  I-40 at I-65 East in Nashville

"Trucks move 70% of the nation's goods, so knowing where our highway system is most congested can lead to better decisions about what highways and bridges need improvement," said American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear, "and it is our hope that ATRI's research will guide states toward improving these pain points in the supply chain so our industry can continue to safely and efficiently moving the nation's goods."

For access to the full report, including detailed information on each of the 100 top congested locations, click here.

ATRI is the trucking industry's 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation's essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system.

SOURCE American Transportation Research Institute
ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Transportation Research Institute today released its annual list highlighting the most congested bottlenecks for trucks in America, including 14 in Texas, the most in the nation.

The 2017 Top Truck Bottleneck List assesses the level of truck-oriented congestion at 250 locations on the national highway system. The analysis, based on truck GPS data from 600,000+ heavy duty trucks uses several customized software applications and analysis methods, along with terabytes of data from trucking operations to produce a congestion impact ranking for each location. The data is associated with the FHWA-sponsored Freight Performance Measures (FPM) initiative. The locations detailed in this latest ATRI list represent the top 100 congested locations.

"Texas is a key freight generator and a critical link in the nation's supply chain," said Texas Trucking Association President John D. Esparza. "ATRI's analysis allows us to target state and federal resources to keep trucks, and the economy, moving."

The 14 bottlenecks in Texas are:

No. 8  I-45 at US 59 in Houston

No. 11  I-10 at I-45 in Houston

No. 12  I-45 at I-30 in Dallas

No. 13  I-10 at US 59 in Houston

No. 22  I-610 at US 290 in Houston

No. 25  I-45 at I-610 North in Houston

No. 28  I-35 in Austin

No. 33  I-10 at I-610 West in Houston

No. 49  I-35W at I-30 in Ft. Worth

No. 59  I-610 at US 59 West in Houston

No. 60  US 75 at I-635 in Dallas

No. 65  I-45 at Sam Houston Tollway North in Houston

No. 82  I-45 at I-610 South in Houston

No. 88  I-10 at I-610 East in Houston

"Trucks move 70% of the nation's goods, so knowing where our highway system is most congested can lead to better decisions about what highways and bridges need improvement," said American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear, "and it is our hope that ATRI's research will guide states toward improving these pain points in the supply chain so our industry can continue to safely and efficiently moving the nation's goods."

For access to the full report, including detailed information on each of the 100 top congested locations, click here.

ATRI is the trucking industry's 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation's essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system.

SOURCE American Transportation Research Institute
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Texstars LLC, a leading innovator and manufacturer of aerospace transparencies and plastics, was awarded a multi-year Engineering & Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). Under the EMD contract and working closely with the KAI design team, Texstars will develop flight-qualified canopy and windshield transparencies for the KF-X single-seat and tandem-seat advanced multirole fighter aircraft.

Texstars will provide the KF-X fighter with bird-strike resistant transparencies with high-quality optics. The company's extensive manufacturing know-how will provide KAI with transparency systems that operate in the extreme flight conditions of the KF-X fighter while providing maximum survivability and pilot safety.

Texstars has significant experience providing single- and tandem-seat transparency configurations for a variety of platforms. Texstars co-developed the F-16 transparencies and has been the primary producer since 1977. The company is also a long-time supplier for the B-1B, B-2, E-2C/D, EA-6B, A-10, F-15 and many other fixed-wing aircraft.

For more information, visit http://texstars.com/transparencies or write to [email protected].

About Texstars LLC

Texstars is a leading manufacturer and innovator of high technology transparencies and components which employ composite and thermoplastic materials in support of the fixed-wing and rotorcraft aerospace as well as military vehicle markets. For more information, visit www.texstars.com.

Company Contact

Mr. Elmer L'Roy, Vice President of Business Development

[email protected]

Tel: +1 972 647-1366, ext 3055

Mobile: +1 972 742-5021

SOURCE Texstars LLC

Related Links

http://www.texstars.com


CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Since its inception in 2014, the Sodoma Law Foundation, the charitable arm of Sodoma Law , has steadily increased its role in providing support to businesses and nonprofits in the Charlotte region and throughout the state. In 2016, the Foundation contributed over $80,000 in leadership, talent, assets and monetary donations to 21 organizations and events, with a particular focus on those that support the well-being of children  the keystone of this family law firm's commitment to its clients.

"Sodoma Law and the Sodoma Law Foundation have shown unwavering support for Safe Alliance since 2009," said Mike Blackwelder, Chief Advancement Officer of Safe Alliance. "Not only has the Sodoma team provided monetary support, but they have also volunteered in leadership positions on event committees, leveraging their relationships in the community to strengthen our agency. The Sodoma Law Foundation's ongoing generosity helps Safe Alliance continue our mission of providing hope and healing for victims of domestic and sexual violence."

Tweet this: The @SodomaLaw Foundation: Supporting the well-being of children in NC and beyond since 2014 bitly.com/SodomaFoundation

"Part of the "Sodoma Way"  the heart of how we approach our law practice  is to always put children and families first," said Nicole Sodoma, founder and Managing Principal, Sodoma Law, P.C. "Whether we're sharing our expert insights with victims of domestic violence as part of the Mecklenburg County Domestic Violence Speakers Bureau, or encouraging our attorneys to join the boards of organizations that are making a difference in our legal community such as Justice Initiatives, the work of the Sodoma Law Foundation always speaks to that core mission."

In 2017, the Sodoma Law Foundation and the team at Sodoma Law will continue to be involved with North Carolina-based causes, including Baby Bundles and the Charlotte Rescue Mission.

Images available upon request

About Sodoma Law, P.C.

Sodoma Law, P.C. is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the historic Walter Brem House, with three additional locations in Charlotte and in Monroe, Union County. The firm's areas of practice include Family Law, Assisted Reproductive Technology, Adoption, Estate Planning, and Business Law. Like Sodoma Law on Facebook, follow them on Twitter (@SodomaLaw), and follow Managing Principal Nicole Sodoma (@NSodoma).

Contact: Ariane Doud, Warner Communications

978-283-2674 or [email protected]

SOURCE Sodoma Law, P.C.

Related Links

http://www.sodomalaw.com


The Medicines Patent Pool today announced that it has signed a licence with Johns Hopkins University to facilitate the clinical development of tuberculosis (TB) drug candidate sutezolid. The antibiotic sutezolid has long been considered a promising investigational treatment that, if further developed in combination with other drugs, could be used to more effectively treat both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB in patients.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160706/813286 )



"We are proud to work with Johns Hopkins University to encourage the further development of sutezolid, a potentially important component of new TB regimens," said Greg Perry, MPP's Executive Director. "Faster acting, better therapies to treat TB are a particularly urgent global public health priority. With the exception of two new drugs that have come to market recently, the dearth of new alternatives to decades-old TB drugs contributes to our limited response to the epidemic."

Johns Hopkins University is granting the MPP an exclusive, royalty-free licence covering all countries that currently have patents issued or pending for a combination therapy comprising sutezolid and two additional compounds used to treat TB such as pretomanid, delamanid, bedaquiline, rifampicin and moxifloxacin. The patent for the base compound sutezolid expired in August 2014, but the patent for the use of sutezolid in combination therapy for TB-held jointly by Pfizer Inc and Johns Hopkins University-is valid until August 2029 in the countries in which it was filed.

"The MPP-John Hopkins University agreement is an extraordinary step as it seeks to jump-start currently stalled development on a compound that showed promise in early stage trials," said Mario Raviglione, Director of the Global TB Programme at the World Health Organization (WHO). "The current scarcity of treatment options is threatening to derail the WHO's global targets to slash TB deaths by 95% over the next two decades. We are in urgent need of new and better combination regimens, especially for patients with multidrug-resistant TB, and the inclusion of sutezolid might bring great benefit."

According to the WHO, there were an estimated 1.4 million TB deaths in 2015, including 0.4 million among people living with HIV, making it one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide. Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death in people living with HIV, and a treatable and curable disease facing the specter of growing drug-resistance. The latest WHO data shows that, worldwide, only 52 percent of multidrug-resistant TB patients and 28 percent of extensively drug-resistant TB patients are currently successfully treated.

Sutezolid is an oxazolidinone antibiotic in the same class as the commercially-available drug linezolid but in early-stage testing was shown to be more potent and less toxic. Currently in Phase IIa clinical development, Phase I trials revealed that the compound has action mechanisms similar to those of linezolid. Despite positive early study results published in 2014, however, there has been no further development of the treatment.

"Understanding the crucial importance of moving sutezolid forward, the TB community has long advocated for responsible, public health-oriented licensing of the product," concluded Perry. "We commend Johns Hopkins University for its commitment to improving treatment options for TB patients through this licensing agreement."

The MPP was founded and remains fully funded by UNITAID.

- # # # -

About the Medicines Patent Pool

The Medicines Patent Pool is a United Nations-backed public health organisation working to increase access to HIV, viral hepatitis C and tuberculosis treatments in low- and middle-income countries. Through its innovative business model, the MPP partners with industry, civil society, international organisations, patient groups and other stakeholders to prioritise, forecast and license needed medicines and pool intellectual property to encourage generic manufacture and the development of new formulations. To date, the MPP has signed agreements with eight patent holders for twelve HIV antiretrovirals, an HIV technology platform, one hepatitis C direct-acting antiviral and one tuberculosis treatment. Its generic partners have distributed four billion doses of low-cost medicines to 125 countries.

http://www.medicinespatentpool.org

-# # #-

SOURCE Medicines Patent Pool
Arrivals accounted for 50.6 percent of U-Haul traffic in Louisiana in 2016 thanks to locations such as Lake Charles, Gonzales, Mandeville, Covington and Denham Springs, the cities to pace the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks.

Follow the Top 10 Growth States daily countdown through Feb. 3 on Twitter @uhaul and view other migration trends reports, including the U.S. Growth Cities release, at myuhaulstory.com.

Growth States are calculated by the net gain of one-way U-Haul truck rentals entering a state versus leaving a state during a calendar year. Migration trends data is compiled from more than 1.7 million one-way U-Haul truck rental transactions that occur annually.

While migration trends do not correlate directly to population or economic growth, U-Haul growth data is an effective gauge of how well cities are attracting and maintaining residents.

"We had an influx of trucks due to the flooding in Baton Rouge. A lot of folks came in with supplies to help, and contractors came in to rebuild. But we've also seen a lot of growth in the Lake Charles area and southwest portion of the state," says Pat Allen, U-Haul Company of Southern Louisiana president. "The (Sasol) refinery complex is a huge expansion causing an influx of traffic. That's always been an oil industry-driven area."

Warren Iles, U-Haul Company of Northern Louisiana president, said there are now some 330 U-Haul neighborhood dealers serving the state as well as many new stores.

"We have a giant new store in Lafayette. We're building another 800 climate-controlled self-storage rooms there that should be open by mid-March," Iles says. "I'm about to open 500 self-storage rooms this week in Alexandria. We're ready for more business. That's for sure."

Find U-Haul stores and neighborhood dealers in Louisiana at uhaul.com/locations.

U-Haul is the authority on migration trends thanks to its expansive network that blankets all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. The geographical coverage from more than 21,000 U-Haul locations, including neighborhood dealers and Company-owned and -operated stores, provides a comprehensive overview of where people are moving like no one else in the industry.

About U-Haul

Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of more than 21,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to more than 139,000 trucks, 108,000 trailers and 38,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers more than 536,000 rooms and more than 50 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry and is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S. www.uhaul.com

Contact

Jeff Lockridge

Sebastien Reyes

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 602-760-4941

Website: uhaul.com

SOURCE U-Haul
NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Unlimited Biking, New York City's premier bike club, is the most selected bike rental company for the upcoming TD Five Boro Bike Tour organized by Bike New York. This 40-mile bike tour brings together 32,000 cyclists of all skill levels from around the world to ride through the streets of all five boroughs of NYC totally free of cars. Happening yearly on the first Sunday of May, this year's event takes place May 7, 2017.

For those looking for a bike rental for the tour, the company offers brand new Cannondale bikes in a range of options including road, hybrid, and performance bikes. Available bikes include the Cannondale Kids Bike with the option of a 20 or 24 inch wheel, the Cannondale Adventure 3 Ladies Bike, the Cannondale Quick 6 Men's Bike, and the Cannondale CAAD8 Road Bike for those looking for a high performance option. Because helmets are required to ride in the tour, Unlimited Biking includes a helmet with each rental for no additional charge.

"We offer brand new bikes rentals for riders looking to explore New York City in a fun and exciting way," says Hakan Ugdur, CEO of Unlimited Biking. "Our bike rentals are affordable and our company offers exceptional customer service and a range of options to meet the needs of each rider."

Unlimited Biking aims to make both picking up the bike and returning as easy as possible for their customers reserving a bike for tour. Riders have the option of picking up their bikes at one of four locations near the starting lines for the tour including the Central Park location at 56 W. 56th Street, the Brooklyn Bridge location on the Manhattan side of the bridge at 110 South Street, the Hudson River location at Pier 78 on 39th Street and 12th Avenue, or the Harlem location at 111 W. 110th Street. For easy return, riders can drop their bikes near the finish line at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal with the company's onsite team.

To learn more about the company and secure a reservation for the upcoming 2017 TD Five Boro Bike Tour, visit UnlimitedBiking.com.

About Unlimited Biking

Unlimited Biking is New York City's premier bike club, offering one-day rentals as well as monthly and yearly subscriptions for bike enthusiasts in the New York City area. For more information and reservations, visit UnlimitedBiking.com.

Media contact

Hakan Ugdur

[email protected]

Related Images

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Related Links

Reservation Link

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com.

SOURCE Unlimited Biking

Related Links

http://www.UnlimitedBiking.com


DALLAS, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently Microsoft announced that it has recognized Vertical Nerve, a leading digital optimization agency and Premier Google Partner, as a Bing Ads Partner. To qualify, partners must meet specific criteria with requirements on training, Bing Ads accreditation and business volume. Partners then receive extensive benefits including training, access to the latest Bing and Microsoft technology and APIs, enhanced marketing support for their clients, recognition with a Partner Program badge and visibility in the Partner Directory.

The platform powers millions of connections via devices, apps and sites that customers use every day, meeting them in the moments that matter the most to help clients put their brand where customers are, where relationships are built, where more sales are closed. It is the second largest search engine advertising provider, and Vertical Nerve recognizes the importance of being a valued agency within the Bing partner network.

"Being recognized as a Bing Ads Partner underscores our commitment to helping our clients grow their business through this critical advertising channel," said Richard Johnson, Vice President Operations at Vertical Nerve. "As a partner, Vertical Nerve will have the ability to opt clients into new BETA opportunities not available to other advertisers."

Vertical Nerve has consistently driven strong results for clients through the Bing Network, and this partnership will help them provide even more valuable services and support.

To inquire about Vertical Nerve's analytics, search marketing and web development services, visit verticalnerve.com or call 1-800-330-9450.

About Vertical Nerve

Vertical Nerve is a digital optimization agency helping clients acquire traffic and convert that traffic to leads and sales. The company's specialties include search engine marketing, website development and design, digital analytics, search engine optimization and conversion rate optimization. The dedicated team works to bring brands to people and people to brands.

About Bing

Bing is the intelligence behind nearly 1 in 3 organic searches in the U.S. It's inside the apps, sites and devices people rely on every day, powering search experiences from Yahoo to AOL, Apple to Amazon, and Windows 10 to Xbox. And with the Bing Network, one can connect one's brand with Bing's unique audience to drive more reach and more results.

Related Images

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image2.png

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com.

SOURCE Vertical Nerve

Related Links

http://www.verticalnerve.com


The #ReadYourLabel movement officially kicked off on September 7 th , 2016, which Eric L. Adams, President of the Borough of Brooklyn, proclaimed " Read Your Label Day, " stating, "All of Brooklyn joins today to recognize and honor Victoria for its outstanding contributions to increase public awareness about the importance of choosing healthier options." Victoria engaged consumers to show their support by sharing Victoria's Facebook post or using #ReadYourLabel. For every share or hash tagged post, Victoria agreed to donate $1 (up to $10,000) to Spoons Across America, a not-for-profit organization that teaches children healthy eating habits. To date the video has been viewed over 66K times.

Like its hometown, Brooklyn, Victoria is a leader of positive change in the food industry and is leading compliance with the new FDA label ruling on communication around added sugar  we are proud to say we have no added sugar and clearly state that on our packaging.

"Modern consumers are more conscious than ever about eating healthy, however they still habitually purchase and serve food that isn't the best option. Victoria is committed to Positive Category Change and transparent labelling,which we believe helps them make better choices," said Tim Shanley, Victoria representative.

Founded in 1929, Victoria continues to craft premium pasta sauces with only a handful of fresh ingredients - no water, no paste, and no sugar added. At Victoria, Ingredients Come First; it was the first major pasta sauce brand to put its ingredients on the front of its label and is now at the vanguard of the Read Your Label movement.

About Victoria - ITALY BORN. BROOKLYN RAISED.

Victoria is a Brooklyn-based company founded in 1929. Victoria's SOUL is grounded in Italy's Campania Region, the founder's homeland. Victoria's SPIRIT thrives on Brooklyn's energy at the forefront of the artisanal food movement and modern living. As the #1 slow kettle-cooked pasta sauce manufacturer in the U.S., Victoria uses fresh ingredients for its specialty Italian sauces and condiments. Using traditional cooking methods, Victoria sauces are slow kettle-cooked in small batches to ensure rich flavor and a homemade taste. Committed to the values of quality, honesty, authenticity, and community, Victoria believes that Ingredients Come First.

In sync with the spirit of Brooklyn, Victoria is setting the pace on the cutting-edge of the food revolution. Victoria continues to allocate resources into proprietary research and consumer analytics to come up with "Brooklyn-style" innovations. As culinary trends continue to evolve and consumers become more health and socially-minded, Victoria's mission is to offer the most relevant selection of products, while never losing its heritage of delicious homemade taste.

To learn more about Victoria please visit www.victoriafinefoods.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

ABOUT SPOONS ACROSS AMERICA

Spoons Across America is a pioneering not-for profit that develops and fields a comprehensive curriculum of proprietary, experience-based food education programs. We believe the best way to encourage better nutrition among children is to engage all their senses and feed their natural curiosity. Our programs awaken and inspire a lifelong passion in children to explore smarter, more nutritious and more diverse food choices. We strive to improve children's relationship with food so that they may enjoy the benefits of healthier bodies, healthier lives, healthier families and a healthier community. http://spoonsacrossamerica.org/

SOURCE Victoria Fine Foods

Related Links

http://www.victoriafinefoods.com


BOTHELL, Wash., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vioguard Inc., an industry leader in UV-C technology solutions, today announced that it has raised a $5 million Series A round of financing from Imagen Capital Partners. This investment brings Vioguard's total funding since launching its ultraviolet disinfection solutions to $11 million and will be used to expand its sales and marketing efforts, as well as, broaden and accelerate product development initiatives. With this investment, Imagen Capital Partners will designate two persons to join the Vioguard board of directors.

Vioguard, an industry leader in UV-C technology solutions designed to enhance the effectiveness of infection control strategies, believes this investment will further enable it to develop its products and execute on its business strategy. Vioguard's patented flagship product is a self-sanitizing automated keyboard and mouse system that uses high-powered germicidal ultraviolet light, known as UV-C. This system, which has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, effectively kills 99.99 percent of all bacteria, viruses, fungi, and drug-resistant pathogens that have been proven to be responsible for millions of Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs) worldwide.

"I believe the investment by Imagen will help Vioguard advance our leadership position within the ultraviolet disinfection arena," said Laurance Ranta, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vioguard. "We are pleased to welcome Imagen Capital Partners as a shareholder and look forward to an exciting and prosperous future with them."

Commenting on the transaction, Chris Barrow, managing director at Imagen Capital Partners, stated, "We are excited about Vioguard's technology platform and its leadership team as they continue their efforts to bring pioneering UV-C solutions to the worldwide marketplace."

Vioguard currently holds multiple patents in the UV space for sanitizing surfaces, such as computer keyboards, touchscreens, telephones, escalator handrails, writing implements, as well as various other surfaces and input devices. Additional product introductions are expected to include an escalator handrail sanitizer and a pen sterilizing device, both projected to be released across 2017.

About Vioguard

Established in 2008 by technology professionals interested in combating Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs), Vioguard is passionately committed to developing products and solutions designed to enhance the effectiveness of infection control strategies without compromising productivity or accuracy. Its mission, by working with industry professionals, is to save lives, reduce sickness and stop the spread of deadly pathogens by developing products for infection prevention. To learn more, go to www.vioguard.com

About Imagen Capital Partners

Imagen Capital Partners, based in Seattle and Park City, Utah, is a venture capital fund focused on investing in early-stage technology companies and businesses. The firm seeks to invest predominantly in seed and Series A rounds across the technology spectrum. Its team of experienced entrepreneurs has a significant history and track record in building entrepreneurial companies and seeks to leverage this broad industry knowledge to work with entrepreneurs who seek to innovate, challenge and fundamentally change the dynamics of new and existing markets.

Release Summary

Bothell, Wash.-based Vioguard has announced that it has raised a $5 million round of financing from Imagen Capital Partners.

Sharing Facebook: Vioguard Corp and Twitter: @Vioguard

Contact:

Laurance Ranta

425-318-7900

[email protected]

SOURCE Vioguard Inc.

Related Links

http://www.vioguard.com


NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE: WPC) announced the income tax treatment of dividends paid in 2016. Stockholders are encouraged to consult with their personal tax advisors as to their specific tax treatment of WPC dividends.

CUSIP 92936U109

Record Date Payable Date Distribution Per Share Ordinary Dividends Nondividend Distributions Qualified Dividends(1) 12/31/15 01/15/2016 $ 0.9646 $ 0.8172631 $ 0.1473369 $ 0.0962429 03/31/16 04/15/2016 $ 0.9742 $ 0.8253968 $ 0.1488032 $ 0.0972008 06/30/16 07/15/2016 $ 0.9800 $ 0.8303109 $ 0.1496891 $ 0.0977795 10/03/16 10/14/2016

$ 0.9850 $ 0.8345471 $ 0.1504529 $ 0.0982783 FORM 1099-DIV



1a 3 1b (1) Qualified Dividends is a subset of and included in the 2016 Taxable Ordinary Dividends amount.

W. P. Carey Inc.

W. P. Carey Inc. is a leading internally-managed net lease REIT that provides long-term sale-leaseback and build-to-suit financing solutions primarily for companies in the U.S. and Europe. At September 30, 2016, the Company had an enterprise value of approximately $11.0 billion. In addition to its owned portfolio of diversified real estate, W. P. Carey manages a series of non-traded publicly registered investment programs with assets under management of approximately $12.2 billion. Its corporate finance-focused credit and real estate underwriting process is a constant that has been successfully leveraged across a wide variety of industries and property types. Furthermore, its portfolio of long-term leases with creditworthy tenants has an established history of generating stable cash flows, enabling it to deliver consistent and rising dividend income to investors for over four decades.

www.wpcarey.com

Institutional Investors:

Peter Sands

W. P. Carey Inc.

212-492-1110

[email protected]

Individual Investors:

W. P. Carey Inc.

212-492-8920

[email protected]

Press Contact:

Guy Lawrence

Ross & Lawrence

212-308-3333

[email protected]

SOURCE W. P. Carey Inc.

Related Links

http://www.wpcarey.com


If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Yangon, Jan 21 : British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Boris Johnson on Saturday lauded talks with Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, which he said included positive exchanges on economic reforms and human rights in the Southeast Asian country.

Johnson met Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi on Friday night, as part of his two-day visit to Myanmar, Efe News reported.

Taking to Twitter on Saturday, the British Foreign Secretary said that the pair had held "very positive talks on British support for economic reforms, trade and human rights", including the situation in Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state.

Britain's Foreign Office had previously expressed concern over the persecution of the Rohingya minority group in the western state.

The UN estimates that some 66,000 members of the predominantly Muslim community have fled to Bangladesh since October amid a military crackdown, which included accounts of rape, arson and killings.

As part of the trip, Johnson was also scheduled to meet the Rakhine State Advisory Commission and other NGOs in Yangon, as well as visiting the country's famous Shwedagon Pagoda.

On Saturday, Johnson visited Myanmar's largest healthcare institution, Yangon General Hospital, where he had a tour of the facility and met staff, according to reports.
Washington, Jan 24 : US President Donald Trump, during his discussion with congressional leaders, claimed that "illegals" voting deprived him of a victory in the popular vote, a media report said on Tuesday.

Trump's agenda for discussion on Monday night revolved around relitigating the campaign, NBC news reported.

The claim of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 presidential election was widely debunked.

Sources told NBC News that Trump spent about the first 10 minutes of his bipartisan meeting with congressional leaders at the White House talking about the campaign and about how 3 to 5 million "illegals" voted in the election, causing him to lose the popular vote.

The meeting with congressional leaders was described as more of a social occasion than a formal session.

Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell said it was "light-hearted", joking that he was most entertained by seeing Trump and Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer from New York, discuss which New York politicians were their common friends.

After the reception, Trump met privately with House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Ryan's office described the meeting as substantive and wide-ranging, including discussions of the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and other agenda items for the new administration.

"The Speaker and President Trump are eager to continue moving forward on their shared agenda to jumpstart the economy and get the country back on track," an office spokesman said in a statement.
Washington, Jan 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump discussed the security situation in South and Central Asia during their phone conversation on Tuesday night and resolved that India and US will "stand shoulder to shoulder" to fight global terrorism, the White House said.

Strengthening defence partnership was among topics that came up during their talks about furthering cooperation between the two nations, according to the White House.

"Trump emphasised that the United States considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said.

This was reflected in the fact that conversation between the leaders of the world's two greatest democracies came before Trump had talked to leaders of important allies like Britain, Germany and Japan or major powers like China and Russia since formally taking office last Friday.

During his campaign, Trump praised Modi as a "great leader" and sought a kinship of ideas with him as a "pro-growth leader" when he attended a rally organised by the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) in New Jersey in October. He added that after his election India would have true friend in the White House.

White House said that Trump invited Modi to visit him later this year.

President Pranab Mukherjee invited Trump to visit India when he congratulated him on assuming the presidency. The real estate investor-turned-politician has visited India several times for business.

Another topic Trump and Modi discussed was strengthening the partnership in the economy, but the statement did not give any details of what they might have discussed.

Modi and Trump have parallel priorities of job creation, especially through manufacturing, and increasing investments which may appear headed for a collision.

Earlier in the day, Trump met with auto industry leaders to to promote his programme of "Make in America" and on Monday, he met union and industry leaders and emphasised his campaign mantra of "Buy American, Hire American".

Shalabh Kumar, the founder and head of the Republican Hindu Coalition who is close to both leaders, told IANS that trade need not be a zero sum game and both nations can mutually benefit from their respective "Make in India" and "Make in America" domestic manufacturing programmes.

As an example, he said that while the US increases manufactured exports to India in defence, technology and energy sectors, India will have an opportunity to take advantage of Trump's move away from China and increase its own manufactured exports in a balanced manner. This would help create jobs in both countries and enable both leaders to achieve their priorities, he added.

Trump has also spoken about limiting the use of temporary professional visas known as H1-B, which he has repeatedly said is abused and is used throw Americans out of jobs.

That is a matter of great concern for India as the visas are the lifeblood of technology sector exports to the US.

Tuesday was a special day to hold their conversation. Nikki Haley became the first Indian American to get a cabinet-level appointment when the Senate approved on that day Trump's nomination of her to be the US ambassador to the United Nations.

On Monday, Trump appointed Ajit Pai to be the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, the powerful agency that regulates mobile phones and the spectrum, telephones, radio, television and cable.

A third senior administration appointee of Trump is Seema Verma, who will be in charge of the government healthcare programmes and have a key role in reforming President Barack Obama's health insurance plan.

Before the call with Modi, Trump had spoken only with the neighbours, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Pena Nieto, with premier ally Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who will have a major role in helping Trump deal with the Middle East and with terrorism.
Panama, Jan 25 : The Panama Government has decided to sue Brazilian construction company Odebrecht for allegedly paying bribes to former officials.

The government will become a complainant in the investigation conducted by the Attorney General into Odebrecht "so that the different institutions that may be affected are part of the process, actively collaborate and recover diverted funds", Xinhua news agency cited a statement as saying on Tuesday.

The Panamanian Public Prosecutor's Office (OTP) said it had filed money-laundering charges against 17 people linked to Odebrecht's bribes in the country.
Yangon, Jan 25 : Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday questioned the repression on freedom of expression in Myanmar and urged the government to take steps to protect it, a media report said.

The HRW report said there has been an escalation in the suppression of opposition critics by the state authorities, Efe news reported.

The research and rights advocacy group urged the government-led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, to reject legislation inherited from the previous government.

The erstwhile government here was made up of ex-generals of the last military junta that criminalised opposition views, even those expressed peacefully.

"Though Burma's new government includes more than 100 former political prisoners, it has done little to eliminate the laws used to prosecute peaceful expression," said HRW's Asia director Brad Adams in a statement.

"Instead, during the government's first year there was an escalation in prosecutions of peaceful political speech," he added.

The organisation cited, among others, the cases of two executives of the Eleven Media group, accused of defamation after reporting a corruption case involving a senior official of the National League for Democracy (NLD), Suu Kyi's party.

According to HRW, the government has used "particularly aggressive" defamation laws, which can carry sentences of up to three years in prison, with at least 40 cases in the first eight months in power, compared to just seven in the previous two years.

"The Burmese people expected the NLD government to bring an end to this kind of repression, not add to the ranks of political prisoners," Adams said.

Myanmar was governed by military regimes from General Ne Win's coup in 1962 until 2011, when a transition period began that allowed the democratic movement led by Suu Kyi to win the elections and govern.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was on Wednesday ceremonially welcomed by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived in India on Tuesday and was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is the guest of honour for India's Republic Day on Thursday.
New Delhi : Budget 2017 is an opportunity for the government to concentrate on improving school education for over 260.5 million children who enrolled in elementary and secondary school in 2015-16 -- children who will form the core of Indias working-age population, one billion by 2030, the largest in the world.

"Business as usual" will not solve the problem, submitted Pratham, an education nonprofit, in a pre-budget consultation with the Finance Ministry. "Unless major shifts are undertaken on an urgent basis to build children's foundational skills, we are losing huge opportunities each year for improving the life chances of an entire generation of children and youth in this country," the consultation note added.

Higher education dominated last year's education budget (with an increase of 13 per cent over the 2015-16 budget) and the conversation about education -- with policies for improving the quality and ranking of higher education, creation of a higher-education financing agency, and approval of new higher-education institutes -- even though only 34.2 million enrolled in higher education institutions in 2014-15 or, a seventh or fewer than those enrolled in school.

In contrast, the school education and literacy budget increased 3.2 per cent in 2016-17, compared to the 2015-16 revised budget estimates.

Over the financial year 2016-17, the central government allocated Rs 43,554 crore to school education and literacy, and Rs 28,840 crore to higher education.

In 2014, though the government implemented a programme, 'Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat (If India learns, India advances)', to improve early-grade reading, writing and math, data on learning outcomes do not show improvements in rural schools. For instance, elementary school education in public and private schools is plagued with low outcomes -- 46.1 per cent of Grade I rural children couldn't read letters in 2016, while 39.9 per cent couldn't recognise numbers 1 to 9, according to the Annual Status of Education Report.

If children do not have basic education -- reading, writing, comprehension and math skills -- India will have a workforce that is unproductive, not fit to be hired, and unprepared for higher education or skill development.

"It is clear that for quality and outcomes to improve in higher education, much more focus and investment is needed in elementary education," wrote Rukmini Banerji, CEO, Pratham, in an email to IndiaSpend.

The low level of education is also reflected in a drop in secondary school enrolments. In 2015-16, 88.94 per cent of primary school-age students enrolled in primary school, compared to 51.26 per cent of secondary-age students in secondary school, according to data from the Unified District Information System for Education.

Along with increasing the amount spent on education, the budget also needs to be restructured to focus on learning outcomes, and monitoring of quality.

"There is a significantly low proportion spent on learning enhancement," while more attention is paid to inputs such as schools and books, said Avani Kapur, Senior Researcher, Accountability Initiative, a New-Delhi based nonprofit. She explained that the NITI Aayog, the government think-tank, plans to start ranking states, using the school education quality index, one indicator of which would be school learning outcomes. "Orienting the budget more towards learning outcomes could move this agenda forward," she added.

Further, delays in decision-making and fund-flows have led to major delays in programme implementation, according to Pratham's note to the Finance Ministry. Even though the school year begins in April in most schools, learning enhancement programmes often get implemented between September and November, wasting much of the school year.

The government does not monitor learning outcomes regularly. For instance, the annual report on schools includes information on enrolment, and number of teachers, but not on the quality of education.

The government started a school standards and evaluation programme, called "Shala Siddhi", in 2013, which is primarily based on self-assessment by schools and school examinations. Until now, no report has been published as the government is collecting information from the states, according to a person who works with the programme.

One government measure of learning, the National Achievement Survey, will now be conducted every year, instead of every three years, according to press release from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

But the education ministry should ensure states know how to conduct measurements well, and that available data are used to improve learning, according to Pratham's pre-budget submission.

The MHRD prepared an outcome budget for 2016-17, outlining activities and effects on enrolment, gender equality and more. But there was no clear outcome on learning levels. The budget outlined one outcome as "enhanced learning levels and retention" with no specific measures for the outcome.

One way of improving learning outcomes through the budget could be through outcome-linked financing, suggested Kapur. For instance, the central government could provide 10 per cent of aid to the states only if they reach certain pre-decided outcomes, such as learning goals.

Total state and central government school education spending based on budget estimates in 2015-16 was equivalent to 2.68 per cent of India's gross domestic product, according to calculations by the New Delhi-based Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), a budget research and advocacy organisation.

In 2015-16, the central government spending on school and higher education was less than other BRICS countries -- India spent 3 per cent of its GDP, compared to 3.8 per cent in Russia, 4.2 per cent in China, 5.2 per cent in Brazil, and 6.9 per cent in South Africa.

"There is an urgent need to increase financial resources" for school education, said Protiva Kundu, lead researcher at CBGA. Based on an analysis of 10 state education budgets, she said education is not a priority for all states.

(In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform, with whom Shreya Shah is a writer/editor. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. Feedback atrespond@indiaspend.org)
Washington, Jan 25 : The US Senate has confirmed Nikki Haley to the cabinet-level position of ambassador to the UN, marking a major milestone in Indian American ascendancy in US politics.

Haley, who has said she would work to reform the UN, was nominated to the position by President Donald Trump and won the support of an overwhelming Senate majority cutting across the political divide on Tuesday.

She got 96 votes with only four diehard Democrats voting against her.

The post of the US ambassador to the UN is considered the second highest-profile diplomatic job after the Secretary of State and requires Senate approval.

The historic Senate approval for the first Indian American to hold a cabinet-level position came a few hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump had a telephonic conversation.

On Monday, Trump appointed Ajit Pai as Chairman of the powerful Federal Communications Commission, which regulates phone, internet, TV, radio and cable.

Earlier he nominated Seema Verma to head the government health insurance programmes.

Before the vote, Ben Cardin, a senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), said Haley represents the best in the American story of immigration.

The daughter of Indian immigrants in South Carolina, she faced discrimination as a child but overcame it, rising to become the Governor of the state, he said.

Haley has no diplomatic or foreign policy experience. Chris Coons, one of the four Democrats to oppose her, said he was against her appointment because she lacked the "high level of expertise on international affairs".

Cardin countered this by saying that she had the skills to persuade others and build coalitions, an asset to further US policies and interests at the UN.

He was impressed by her performance as Governor in dealing with a tragedy when a white racist killed nine African Americans in a church and in bringing the state together to agree to take down the Confederate flag, a symbol of racism and slavery, in its capital.

Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of SFRC, said she was a "fierce advocate" for US values and interests and had the right instincts for the job.

At her confirmation hearings last week, Haley had spoken about her achievements in negotiating with corporate leaders to get businesses to invest in her state.

One of her successes was getting Boeing to set up an aircraft factory in the state.

She took a hard line against Russia, a position that puts her at odds with Trump. She said she would not hesitate to challenge Trump in the cabinet, a statement that endeared her to the Democrats.

She also spoke of her immigrant parents and her struggle as an Indian American child in racially polarized South Carolina.

Her father, Ajit Singh Randhwa, wearing a red turban, sat proudly behind her during the hearings.

While a student, she worked as an accountant in her mother's import business.

Her husband, Michael, served in the US military in Afghanistan. They have a son and a daughter.

Although she converted to Christianity when she got married, she has continued to attend Sikh religious ceremonies.

She and her husband visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar while she was on a business visit to India in 2014.

A rising star of the Republican Party, Haley, 44, has had an impressive career.

In 2010, she became the first woman to be elected Governor of the conservative southern state and the second Indian American, after Bobby Jindal, to hold the position.

During her election campaign, she overcame vicious personal attacks and impressed the state with her conservative but compassionate ideas.

She criticized Trump during his election campaign for what she said were his negative views about immigrants. However, Trump reached out to her after the election and offered her the ambassadorship.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday hailed the Election Commission for playing a key role "in our democracy".

"We greet the Election Commission and salute their important role in our democracy," he said in a message to mark the National Voters Day.

"Elections are celebrations of democracy. They communicate the will of the people, which is supreme in a democracy," he added.

The Prime Minister urged every voter to exercise his franchise and called upon the young to register as voters when they turn 18.

The National Voters Day is celebrated to mark the birth of the Election Commission on January 25, 1950, a day before India became a constitutional Republic.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday described the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as one of India's "most valued partners and a close friend in an important region of the world".

In his press statement after holding talks with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Modi said he had held "very fruitful and productive discussions" and that the talks had "particularly focused on implementation of various decisions" taken during their last two meetings.

"We agreed to sustain the momentum of our relations in key areas including energy and investments," Modi said.

Modi added "We have been successful in creating new synergy in out ties. We have shaped an ambitious road map of engagement to make our comprehensive strategic partnership purposeful and action oriented."

"I expressed gratitude to His Highness for looking after the welfare of Indian nationals in UAE," he said, and added that he had also thanked him for allotting land for a temple for the Indian diaspora in Abu Dhabi.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday described the UAE as an important partner in India's growth story after the two countries signed 14 agreements, including one that elevates the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

In a joint address to the media with visiting Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan following delegation-level talks, Modi said the United Arab Emirates was one of India's "most valued partners and a close friend in an important region of the world".

"We regard the UAE as an important partner in India's growth story," Modi said. "I particularly welcome the UAE's interest in investing in India's infrastructure sector."

Stating that work was on to connect the institutional investors of the UAE with India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, he said the Gulf nation "can benefit by linking with our growth in manufacturing and services".

"We can jointly tap abundant opportunities in our initiatives aimed at building digital economy, human capital and smart urbanization in India.

"We are also encouraging and facilitating business and industry of both countries to increase the quality and quantum bilateral trade."

Stating that the energy partnership was "an important bridge in our linkages", Modi said he and Sheikh Mohamed "discussed ways to transform our energy ties in a strategic direction through specific projects and proposals.

"In this regard, long-term supply contracts and establishment of joint ventures in the energy sector can be beneficial avenues," he said.

The UAE contributes significantly to India's energy security and was the fifth largest supplier of crude oil to India in 2015-16.

Among the agreements signed on Wednesday was one on oil storage and management at a strategic facility in India.

Modi said security and defence cooperation was another area that "have added growing new dimensions to our relationship".

"We have agreed to expand our useful cooperation in the field of defence to new areas including in the maritime domain.

"The MoU (memorandum of understanding) on defence cooperation, signed earlier today, will help steer our defence engagements in the right direction."

The MoU aims to establish cooperation in the identified fields of defence manufacturing and technology, including through studies, research, development, innovation and cooperation between public and private sector institutions of the two countries.

Modi also called for growing engagement between the two countries to counter violence and extremism.

Stating that closer ties were of importance, he said: "They are also of significance to the entire neighbourhood. Our convergence can help stabilise the region. And, our economic partnership can be a source of regional and global prosperity."

Modi thanked the Crown Prince for allotting land for a temple in the UAE, which is home to around 2.6 million expatriate Indians.

Sheikh Mohamed, who arrived here on Tuesday on a three-day visit to India, will be the Chief Guest at India's Republic Day celebrations on Thursday.

Earlier, the visiting dignitary was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought to know from a SIT probing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases in which Congress leader Sajjan Kumar is mentioned in FIRs.

Justice S.P. Garg, while hearing a Special Investigation Team's plea to cancel Sajjan Kumar's bail, asked the agency to also provide the date and time of his presence during the riots.

The court posted the matter for February 23.

The SIT moved the High Court against trial court's order of December 21, 2016 granting anticipatory bail to Sajjan Kumar in a case related to the 1984 riots.

Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for SIT, told the court that investigation was going on in the case and that Sajjan Kumar was not cooperating and that his custodial interrogation was vital.

The court asked the SIT, which took up the case recently, the reason why Sajjan Kumar's name appeared in this case in 2016.

Jain said this was because it was after setting up the SIT that some witnesses and the complainant got the courage to record their statements.

The trial court had given anticipatory bail to Sajjan Kumar, accused of instigating a mob to kill two Sikhs in Janakpuri in west Delhi on November 1, 1984 and another the next day at Vikaspuri, also in west Delhi.

Gurcharan Singh, who was badly burnt in the attack, remained bed-ridden for 29 years before dying three years ago.

Nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed, mostly in Delhi, in riots that followed the 1984 assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by two of her Sikh bodyguards.

Some Congress politicians, Sajjan Kumar included, have been accused of leading the killer mobs. They have denied the allegations.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : Congress President Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday slammed BJP MP Vinay Katiyar over his alleged sexist remarks against her, saying it "exposed the mindset" of his party.

The Congress party has demanded that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah apologize for the BJP "insulting India's womanhood".

Katiyar has courted controversy saying there were "prettier star campaigners" in his party than Priyanka who is the star campaigner for the Congress in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.

Priyanka said the remarks of the BJP leader were making her "laugh even more".

"He is right...they do," she said about women BJP leaders in a WhatsApp reply to Delhi-based journalist Tavleen Singh Aroor.

"And if that is all he sees in my colleagues who are such strong, brave and beautiful women that have battled through all sorts of hardships to get where they are, then he makes me laugh even more. Because he exposes the BJP's mindset towards the better half of the population of India."

An image of Priyanka Vadra's WhatsApp was later posted on Twitter by Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala who praised Priyanka Gandhi for giving "a befitting reply to such misogynist BJP leaders".

Reacting to Katiyar's remark. Surjewala said: "Disparaging and atrocious remarks of Vinay Katiyar on Priyankaji reflect the petty and insulting culture of BJP that commodifies women."

"To adjudge India's women by physical features and not by their capacity, capability, strength and sacrifice proves the lowly BJP mentality," he said on his Twitter account.

Surjewala further said: "BJP has insulted India's womanhood. Such conduct, behaviour and words prove BJP's mentality. Time for Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah to apologize."

"BJP-RSS suffer from a deep rooted and retrograde anti-women mindset. There is a long list led by Mohan Bhagwat (RSS chief) and (BJP leader) Kailash Vijayvargiya," he added.
Panaji, Jan 25 : Prison authorities in Goa ordered an enquiry into Tuesday night's attempted jailbreak by 45 inmates in Sada sub-jail, while a judicial probe has been ordered into the custodial death of history-sheeter Vinayak Korbatkar, who received grievous injuries during the incident, officials said on Wednesday.

Nine inmates and four prison guards were injured in the attempted jail break at the under-repair Sada sub-jail, located 40 km south of Panaji, late on Tuesday night.

Attempts made by the inmates to flee the prison premises, were thwarted by police personnel who had rushed to the site and laid siege to the prison premises to prevent prisoners from running away.

While the violence in the prison premises started at 11.30 p.m. on Tuesday night, police and prison authorities were able to secure the prison premises and conduct a head-count of the inmates by 1.30 a.m.

Speaking to reporters, additional Inspector General of Police Siddhivinayak Naik confirmed to reporters, that a probe had been ordered to investigate the incident.

"Yes, a probe has been ordered into the incident," he said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Lawrence D'Souza said Vinayak Korbatkar died due to severe stab injuries which he received in the melee.

Prison sources said that the jailbreak followed a melee within the sub-jail premises, which was caused after two groups of inmates clashed late on Tuesday night.

"The two groups of prisoners, one led by Korbatkar, suddenly erupted into a fight and after a few minutes they also started attacking the jail staff. We called the police for assistance and managed to prevent any inmate from slipping away," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Naik however said, that the exact cause of the incident would be established only after a probe by his department. He also said that all the inmates of the sub-jail were being transferred to the high-security Colvale central jail.

Meanwhile, a judicial probe has also been ordered into the death of Korbatkar, who incidentally has been accused of stabbing another inmate Ashpak Bengre, earlier in 2017. Korbatkar was declared dead on arrival at a local government-run hospital.

"A judicial probe has been ordered following the death of the inmate," South Goa District Magistrate Swapnil Naik said.
Kolkata, Jan 25 : Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay is innocent of the charges for which he has been arrested, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday.

"Sudip Bandyopadhyay is innocent and has committed no crime," Banerjee told reporters at Sukna in Darjeeling district.

The Trinamool leader added: "You cannot exploit the common people. People in the coming days will not forgive this exploitation of democracy."

Again alleging vendetta over the arrest of Trinamool leaders including Bandyopadhyay in the Rose Valley chit fund scandal, Banerjee said that her party was being targeted for opposing demonetisation.

She accused the BJP of "giving shelter" to "thieves and dacoits who have made crores".

"Whenever someone protests, he is deprived of his democratic rights and jailed. Trinamool is being targeted as we opposed demonetisation."

She regretted that people still cannot withdraw their own money as per their wish.

"I will request the government to withdraw the restrictions (on bank withdrawals). It is white money which people deposit in the bank. It is their right (to withdraw)," Banerjee said.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : Claiming a pension scam involving Rs 2,000 crore in the three municipal corporations of Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday demanded a CBI probe.

"The report of the Chief Auditor of MCDs has revealed that a pension scam of Rs 2,000 crore going on in the MCDs since 2000. There is no information on where all that money has gone," Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra told reporters here.

"We have been repeatedly saying that people sitting at the top of the BJP-ruled MCDs are diverting money meant for salaries of their employees," he said.

Mishra said the AAP will move the court if the central government didn't order a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"In the last two years, the Delhi government gave significantly more money to the MCDs compared with previous governments. We did not even demand the repayment of loans the government gave them.

"Yet, the MCDs have no money to pay their employees... There should be a CBI probe."

The East Delhi Municipal Corporation had accused the Delhi government of withholding funds and not implementing reform policies to make MCDs more financially viable.

All the three wings of the municipal corporation in Delhi are governed by the BJP, the main opposition, although with only three of the 70 seats, in the Delhi assembly.
Manila, Jan 25 : The Philippine government will ask the US to remove from its list of terrorist organisations the leftist Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA), as well as its founding chairman Jose Maria Sison, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Philippine government chief negotiator with the leftist rebels Silvestre Bello III was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying that the delisting of the CPP-NPA from the US list of international terrorist organisations would put into fruition the commitment of Sison to President Rodrigo Duterte to return to the Philippines as part of the ongoing peace negotiations.

Duterte and Sison earlier agreed to meet in any neutral Asian country once the latter is removed from the list of international terrorists.

Sison, who has been self-exiled in the Netherlands, and the CPP-NPA, have been included in the individuals and entities designated as terrorists by the US State Department since 2002.

The Philippine government under late President Corazon Aquino also cancelled Sison's passport in 1987. If he leaves Europe, he could be arrested by the US authorities.

Bello said Sison's arrest could affect the peace talks.

With Donald Trump as the new US president, he said it could be possible that Sison be stricken from the list of personalities considered by the American government as terrorists.

He also said that there is basis for the US to remove the CPP, the umbrella organisation, and the NPA, its armed wing, from the terror list since its political umbrella, the National Democratic Front, and Sison are now involved in the peace negotiations with the Philippine government, with the hope to end the 48-year guerrilla war in the country.

The European Union has long ago stricken Sison from the terror list, he noted.
Moscow, Jan 25 : Normalising ties with the US will take time, but Russia is ready to begin the process, the Russian Foreign Minister said during in the State Duma here on Wednesday.

Addressing members of Russia's lower chamber of Parliament, Sergey Lavrov said it would take time and serious effort to recover from the damage that Russo-American ties suffered under the administration of former president Barack Obama, efe news reported.

"But, as pointed out by President Vladmir Putin, we are willing to do our part to repair relations in the interest of our people and in the interest of global security and stability," Lavrov said.

Russia's top diplomat said his country approved of newly elected US President Donald Trump's stance with regard to the normalisation of bi-lateral relations.

Russia hoped Trump would maintain his intentions of concentrating on America's domestic problems without straying into the internal affairs of other countries, Lavrov said, adding that Russia would continue to judge Trump's actions.

Real-estate mogul and former reality TV personality, Trump, who won the US election for the Republican Party, has postured in favour of normalising ties with Moscow.

This political outlook runs in stark contrast with Obama, who, during his administration, supported the imposition of economic sanctions on the Eurasian country for its involvement in the Ukraine conflict.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : India and the UAE on Wednesday elevated their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership while signing 14 agreements, including on energy security and defence cooperation, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the Gulf nation as "an important partner in India's growth story".

A much anticipated agreement on a joint investment fund, after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) committed $75 billion to India's infrastructure sector, however, was left to be signed.

Though it was already agreed that the relationship between the two countries would be elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Wednesday's agreement is a general framework agreement which highlights the areas of bilateral cooperation identified under the comprehensive strategic partnership as agreed upon in the high level joint statements issued in August 2015 during Modi's visit to the UAE and in February 2016 during Sheikh Mohamed's visit to India, according to information released by the External Affairs Ministry.

In a joint address to the media with visiting Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan here following delegation-level talks, Modi said the UAE was one of India's "most valued partners and a close friend in an important region of the world".

"We regard the UAE as an important partner in India's growth story," Modi said. "I particularly welcome the UAE's interest in investing in India's infrastructure sector."

Stating that work was on to connect the institutional investors of the UAE with India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, he said the Gulf nation "can benefit by linking with our growth in manufacturing and services".

"We can jointly tap abundant opportunities in our initiatives aimed at building digital economy, human capital and smart urbanisation in India.

"We are also encouraging and facilitating business and industry of both countries to increase the quality and quantum bilateral trade."

Stating that the energy partnership was "an important bridge in our linkages", Modi said he and Sheikh Mohamed "discussed ways to transform our energy ties in a strategic direction through specific projects and proposals".

"In this regard, long-term supply contracts and establishment of joint ventures in the energy sector can be beneficial avenues," he said.

The UAE contributes significantly to India's energy security and was the fifth largest supplier of crude oil in 2015-16.

Among the agreements signed on Wednesday was one between Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on storage and management of oil at strategic facilities in India. This agreement aims to establish a framework for the storage of crude oil by ADNOC in India and to further strengthen the strategic relationship between the two countries in the field of energy.

Modi said security and defence cooperation was another area that "have added growing new dimensions to our relationship".

"We have agreed to expand our useful cooperation in the field of defence to new areas including in the maritime domain.

"The MoU (memorandum of understanding) on defence cooperation, signed earlier today, will help steer our defence engagements in the right direction."

The MoU aims to establish cooperation in the identified fields of defence manufacturing and technology, including through studies, research, development, innovation and cooperation between public and private sector institutions of the two countries. The two sides will cooperate in areas of armaments, defence industries and transfer of technology.

Modi also called for growing engagement between the two countries to counter violence and extremism.

On his part, Sheikh Mohamed said that it was "refreshing to see how the Indian leadership is keen to strengthening relations with the UAE".

"Fostering our relationship with India is a strategic choice for the UAE under the leadership of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, especially in light of our identical views on regional and international issues," he stated.

Sheikh Mohamed also said that "the UAE with its unique development experience and Islamic and Arab background and India with its inimitable and successful development experience and its unique model of coexistence, can work together to push for peace and stability in Asia and the Middle East".

The Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, who arrived here on Tuesday on a three-day visit to India, will be the Chief Guest at India's Republic Day celebrations on Thursday.

Earlier on Wednesday, the visiting dignitary was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Meanwhile, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world's tallest building, was lit up in the saffron, while and geen of the national flag to mark the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's visit to India for Republic Day. The UAE is also home to around 2.6 million expatriate Indians.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said his government had unleashed a "revolution" in the education and health sectors.

In his Republic day address after unfurling the tricolour at Chhatrasal Stadium, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said his government's first budget doubled the education budget and hiked the health budget by 50 per cent.

Kejriwal said the expenditure incurred on health and education sectors is investment for the better future of the country.

"That is why my government's top priority is to provide better health and quality education to every citizen in the capital," he said.

Kejriwal added if all the governments in the country, including the Central government, decided to focus on education and health, development in the country would be rapid.

"If children are educated well, there is no doubt they will make India proud."

The Chief Minister said the health infrastructure in Delhi was in a "bad shape" when he took charge in February 2015, with people flocking to the AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital even for minor ailments.

"In the last two years we opened Mohalla Clinics in a lot of areas where free medical care is being provided. We have been focussing on primary health care," he said.

"In the coming year, we will have 1,000 Mohalla Clinics and one will be able to find them within a radius of 2-3 kilometres."

Kejriwal reiterated his government's commitment to ensure transparency in nursery admissions in private schools while also working towards transforming government schools at the same time.

"We are working on providing better infrastructure in government schools like installing elevators and swimming pools which are not even there in most private schools," he said.

While appreciating "good work" being done by some private schools, the AAP leader said that some "bad fish" have turned education into a business.

"It's our responsibility to make them fall in line. Till now, the governments hesitated to take action against private schools because of their vested interests. But we have no other interest except providing best education to children of Delhi at low cost," Kejriwal said.

He said it was the first time in years that the government stopped private schools from hiking school fees.

Kejriwal was speaking at the state level celebration of 68th Republic Day organised by the Delhi government at Chhatrasal Stadium.

He took the guard of honour from the contingents of Delhi police, Delhi Fire Service, Civil Defence, National Cadet Corps and the school children. A cultural programme was also presented by the school children.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyender Jain, Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra and Environment Minister Imran Hussain were also present on the occasion.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : Known for her significant contribution to children's and women's literature, noted writer-activist Eli Ahmed was on Wednesday named a Padma Shri awardee.

The Padma wwards were announced by the Centre on Wednesday.

An all-rounder from the North-eastern state of Assam, Ahmed is a renowned writer, script writer, director, lyricist, costume designer, actress and a social activist, to mention just a few among what she has done in her life.

Her books include "Romanthan" and "Asom Jyoti" and have rose to critical acclaim. She is also the Editor, Publisher and Proprietor of "OraniI", the only women magazine in Northeast since 1970.

She is best known for her play "Ami abhinoy kora noi," a drama based on physically handicapped children, child labour and child education.

The awards, conferred in three categories -- Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri -- are presented by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan around March or April every year.

This year the President of India has approved conferment of Padma Awards to 89 persons, which comprises of seven Padma Vibhushan, seven Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri Awardees. 19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes five persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs and 6 Posthumous awardees.

Iconic Bollywood actress Wahida Rehman, journalist S. Gurumurthy and 17 others, including Home and Cabinet secretaries, were part of the Padma Committee this year.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : The Centre's demonetisation move was not taken on electoral considerations and it was ready to face the consequences, Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Wednesday.

"We never undertook demonetisation (by) keeping elections in mind," Naidu told women journalists at the Indian Women's Press Corps here.

"It was long overdue... time will tell whether we are right or wrong," the Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation said, calling it a "bitter pill" which was good for the country.

Asked if the party had any apprehensions about its impact on the assembly elections, the minister said: "I don't share your apprehension.

"We will bear the consequences if we have to. Corruption and black money are a huge problem."

As for the impact of demonetisation on the Indian economy, Naidu said that it will be "temporary".

Asked about the death of people standing in bank or ATM queues, the minister said: "Should I ask how many people died due to corruption and black money?"

About the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh assembly elections from February 11 to March 8, Naidu said the Bharatiya Janata Party had not yet decided on announcing a Chief Ministerial candidate, and stressed that development is their main agenda.
Dubai, Jan 25 : An Indian businessman in the UAE has pledged $1 million (Dh3.6 million) to pay off the debts of expatriates who are jailed here, a newspaper reported.

Firoz Merchant, who operates a number of gold jewellery shops here, recently visited the Ajman Central Jail to help secure the release of the first batch of 132 prisoners whose combined borrowings worth $40,837 (Dh150,000) were settled, reported Gulf News on Wednesday.

Each prisoner was also provided an air ticket and money to cover the transportation expenses once they reach their home country.

The first batch of prisoners who have been freed were expatriates from India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Ethiopia, Syria, Yemen, Oman and Ghana.

"These prisoners are victims of circumstances and are not real criminals. They are in jail because of debt. That is why I decided to pay off their debts and provide for air tickets so that they can go back to their countries and be reunited with their families," Merchant told the newspaper.

"Whatever support we provided them is according to the UAE laws, and in consultation with the official authorities. I do not follow direct requests from prisoners or their families. We take care of only those applications that are forwarded by the prison authorities. Each case is evaluated and recommended by the authorities," Merchant added.

A number of expatriates in the UAE have ended up behind bars for failure to repay their debts.

Merchant said those who have been assisted are expatriates who accumulated debts because of a job loss, business downturn or other reasons beyond their control.

Merchant's charity programme "Forgotten Society" is also in line with the UAE's Year of Giving initiative that encourages everyone to do whatever they can to help the less fortunate.

The businessman said he hopes that other players in the UAE's business community will also follow his example and help more expatriates get out of their "unfortunate financial circumstances."
To ring in 2017, OCR announced its first HIPAA settlement based on late reporting of a data breach. Presence Health, a health system in Illinois with multiple locations (150 sites, including 11 hospitals and 27 long term care and senior living facilities), reported a data breach in 2014 about 100 days after it occurred. The breach: paper records gone missing from an OR at one of its facilities, including PHI on over 800 patients: patient names, dates of birth, medical record numbers, procedure dates and types, surgeon names and anesthesia types. The rules require notification without unreasonable delay and within 60 days to patients and to OCR and to local press, given the scope of the breach (over 500 patient records). Presence agreed to a $475,000 fine and a corrective action plan involving revision of policies and procedures and training of staff.

This case is notable because it is the first reported case of its kind. OCR has not previously taken action against a covered entity triggered by delay in notifying patients or others of a breach. OCR has taken the slow but steady approach, working with the regulated community with a focus on education in addition to enforcement. Numerous OCR guidance documents (including the guidance on breach notification) have been published, on various topics, and the announcement of this settlement now puts the regulated community on notice that this often-discounted deadline is, in fact, a hard and fast deadline  unless of course it is extended per instructions from a law enforcement official (see 45 CFR 164.412).

It is always worth noting that concerns about health data privacy and security do not begin and end with HIPAA. Some health data, and some custodians and users of health data, are not subject to HIPAA, but are instead subject to state laws or other federal laws. Some situations are governed by HIPAA and other law as well.

For example, Federal Trade Commission considerations should be top of mind for health care providers and businesses dealing with health data.

Current events remind us that publicly traded enterprises dealing with personal data are subject to additional requirements regarding breach notification.

Yahoo is reportedly under investigation by the SEC for the two-year delay in its reporting of a security breach that involved the compromise of hundreds of millions of user accounts (and a three-year delay in reporting another breach). From the SEC perspective, the key issues are whether the breach is material to the companys business (after all, the bad guys are hacking, or attempting to hack, any business worth its salt at any given time) and, if so, whether failure to disclose the breach allowed insiders to profit before the breach was more widely known (whether due to trades or due to the effect the withholding of information had on the negotiations with Verizon regarding its proposed acquisition of Yahoo). Consider the ramificaitons if a publicly-traded company had delayed reporting of a material data breach to both the OCR and the SEC. Thus far, the SEC has not taken action against a publicly traded company for failing to timely disclose a breach.

Theres a first time for everything.

David Harlow

The Harlow Group LLC

Health Care Law and Consulting
New Delhi, Jan 25 : The Station House Officer (SHO) of Mangolpuri Police Station has been sent to district police lines for delayed arrival at a hearing at the Delhi High Court, police said on Wednesday.

"It is a minor administrative action taken against Arvind Kumar, SHO, Mangolpuri Police Station, as he reached two hours late in a meeting on Tuesday with the counsel of a case reported in his police station," Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP) Deependra Pathak told IANS.

Kumar was supposed to reach the court around 9.30 am for a meeting, but he reached almost two hours late, while the DCP of outer district was present on time to join the meeting with the counsel, Pathak said.

The DCP found Kumar inattentive towards his duty and ordered to send him to lines for two days, he added.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal received a death threat on his official e-mail ID on Wednesday, officials said.

Sources added there were two threat e-mails and the government has forwarded them to the Delhi Police, urging them to take action.

Delhi Home Secretary S.N. Sahay said an anonymous e-mail bearing a threat was received on Kejriwal's official e-mail ID, and he had informed Police Commissioner Alok Verma, requesting him to urgently look into it.

Delhi's Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime, Ravindra Yadav said that the Crime Branch have received a letter in connection with an e-mail which is mentioning some names and numbers of those who want to kill the Delhi Chief Minister.

"We have to verify the information," he said, adding that no FIR has been registered in this connection as of now.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : A court here on Saturday stayed a magisterial court order directing police to probe the cause of death of two men in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

Special Judge Pitamber Dutt's stay order came on a Delhi Police plea challenging a magisterial court order. The court also issued notice to the complainant Amrik Singh Lovely and listed the matter for February 7.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Sudhanshu Kaushik on Monday directed Station House Officer of Paharganj in central Delhi to register an First Information Report (FIR) clarifying that "purpose of the investigation is to find out the cause of death of Amir Singh and Narender Singh in the light of allegations leveled by the complainant."

The court was hearing a plea filed by Lovely who has sought registration of case against the two retired senior police officials Amod Kanth and S. S. Manan.

Lovely's counsel Jitender Kumar Dhingra has told the court that both of the accused violated the "invaluable constitution right."

Lovely lost two members of his family -- Amir Singh and Narender Singh-- during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

According to complainant, Amir Singh and Narender Singh succumbed to injuries after they were tortured by police in the custody.

He also told court he and his family were implicated by police, but later acquitted by court.

However, Delhi Police, which has oppose the plea, that fresh probe will not solve any probe.

The public prosecutor also argued that at this stage, this court can not order re-investigation.

"The court can only order further investigation but re-investigation is prohibited," the prosecutor said
New Delhi, Jan 25 : Hours after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claimed a pension scam of Rs 2,000 crore in the three municipal corporations of Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) termed it an attempt to "politically defame" the civic bodies.

"The allegations of scam in the payment of employee pension levelled by Kapil Mishra is an attempt to politically defame the municipal corporations," Delhi unit BJP President Manoj Tiwari told reporters.

"It would be better that instead of levelling false charges, the Delhi government releases the amount of social welfare funds due towards the municipal corporations," he said.

The BJP leader's remarks came after the Delhi Tourism Minister claimed a pension scam involving Rs 2,000 crore in the three municipal corporations of Delhi and demanded a CBI probe.

Responding to Mishra's allegations, Tiwari said, "Charges of corruption in the pension distribution in the municipal corporations is due to his lack of administrative knowledge."

"Besides this the strategy of AAP of levelling political allegations on the activities of the municipal corporations for every matter," he said.

Explaining how the pension is distributed to the civic bodies employees, Tiwari said: "According to the decision taken by the government of India in 1985, all the state governments and municipal corporations pay salary and pension to their employees through banks."

Accordingly, all the three municipal corporations of Delhi pay pension to their employees through banks and the life certificate of the pensioner is collected and verified by the banks concerned.

"Employee pension is completely based on verification by the banks and there is no role of the MCD officials and leaders in its payment," he said.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : Domestic airlines have started a fare war with ticket prices as low as Rs 999 to celebrate the country's 68th Republic Day and gain more passenger traffic.

According to industry observers, the announcement of the sale offers by Jet Airways, and AirAsia India is aimed at increasing their advance bookings for summer vacations as well as a number of long weekends in 2017.

"With the onset of the vacations by the end of March and the 11 long weekends ahead in the year, this sale is a great opportunity for travellers to plan a very affordable break," Sharat Dhall, President of Yatra.com was quoted as saying in a statement on Wednesday.

"Fares as low as Rs 999 will also further catalyse growth in the already buoyant domestic air passenger market. We are expecting that other carriers are likely to join the sale as well."

Airline major Jet Airways on Wednesday announced special fares under a limited period sale offer allowing passengers to book tickets for as low as Rs 999 on certain sectors.

According to the airline, the special fares are applicable for tickets booked between January 25 and 29, 2017 on select domestic routes and from January 25 to January 27, 2017 for international travel on its direct flights to London, Amsterdam, Paris and Toronto.

"While international tickets are valid for immediate travel, domestic ones will be valid for travel at least 15 days from the date of booking," the airline said in a statement.

The airline has joined AirAsia India which has already announced special fare offers.

On Tuesday, the budget passenger carrier AirAsia India had launched a discount offer of 50 per cent on the return leg of round trips, booked via its website and mobile-based application (App) from January 23 to 29, 2017 for travel between February 1 and April 30, 2017.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the city police to identify unlit public areas in the national capital which required more street lights based on crime-mapping exercise undertaken by police in the past.

A Division Bench of Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Ashutosh Kumar directed all civic agencies in Delhi to put their logos and telephone complaint numbers on each street light pole under their respective jurisdictions.

The court order came after Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson Swati Maliwal said that the commission was facing problems in figuring out who was responsible for the street lights in different areas.

She said a West Delhi area was quickly becoming "prone to a lot of rape incidents because of poor street lighting".

On recruitment of additional personnel in Delhi Police, the court was told that out of additional 54,482 posts required to improve policing, only 14,753 new posts have been cleared by the Home Ministry and that too is pending approval by the "competent authority".

The court asked the Centre and police to submit a status report on when the new appointments will be made and what happened to the remaining proposals.

Amicus curiae, lawyer Meera Bhatia, drew the court's attention over the non- installation of closed-circuit television in public areas and police stations in Delhi.

The court directed the Centre, police and city government to clarify their stand on installation of CCTVs in all police stations and crime-prone areas.

The court was hearing the issue suo motu after the December 16 gang rape case for the safety of women in national capital.

It declined to entertain Maliwal's plea for a direction to the Lt. Governor to include Aam Aadmi Party government's ministers in the reconstituted Special Task Force for women safety.

The court, however, asked Lt. Governor Anil Baijal to consider including the Delhi State Legal Service Authority (DSLSA) representative(s) in the 12-member task force reconstituted on January 20.

The DSLSA is the sanctioning authority which decides the quantum of compensation to be awarded to the victims of various crimes.

The task force, established in 2013 following the gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus December 16, 2012, was disbanded last year.

The court posted the matter for hearing on March 1.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : Indian Railways said on Wednesday that at least 45 cases of rail track sabotage were reported during 2016 and that it is working 'round the clock' to avoid any untoward incidents.

"Form January 2016 to December 2016 there were at least 45 cases of alleged sabotage with the railway tracks," Member Traffic in the Railway Board Mohammad Jamshed told reporters here.

"There were seven cases of explosion of tracks, three cases of track tampering, 18 cases of extremist activities, 13 cases of recoveries of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) along the railway tracks."

Citing example of the attempted sabotage on the railway tracks in Bihar and Maharashtra, Jamshed said: "The railway employees tracked the attempted sabotage on time in Hajipur and Mumbai division, and the railways has asked all its supervisors to monitor the tracks properly."

Referring to the Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express derailment in naxal zone in Andhra Pradesh's Vizianagaram district on Saturday night Jamshed elaborated: "Two similar incidents were reported in the same division area in the month of August 2016, which led to the derailment of two trains."

According to Jamshed, disruptions caused on the railway tracks due to several factors have led to a loss of over seven million tonnes of freight orders worth Rs 700 crore.

"Similarly punctuality of 3,500 mail and express trains were affected resulting in the revenue loss of Rs 100 crore," he said.

Following two major accidents in November and December in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur area, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had invited the Korean expert team to review the Indian railway tracks.

The Korean team arrived in India on January 16 and carried out detailed field inspection and rail and weld fracture analysis till January 24.

The Korean team submitted its 32 page detailed technical report to the Railway Ministry.

Asked about the Korean team's report, Jamshed disclosed: "They have gone through our system and mechanism and they have suggested several measures which the railway will undertake soon."
Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), Jan 25 : Supporters of organisations espousing the cause of Hindutva protested outside a cinema hall here on Wednesday against Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's movie 'Raees', police said.

Police said the protesters rallied in large numbers outside the cinema hall in South Avenue Mall and raised slogans. They were prevented from barging into the cinema hall by the police.

Activists of Hindu Seva Parishad accused Khan of earning money in India but giving statements against the country.

"Pakistani artiste Mahira Khan has acted in the movie. Pakistani artistes earn money in India and take it away to their own country. This money is then used to fund anti-India activities," the protesters alleged.
Islamabad, Jan 25 : Pakistan's Sindh High Court on Wednesday summoned priests of various churches and Hindu temples pertaining to the sale of liquor in the name of minorities.

These priests and pandits have been summoned for guiding the Sindh government as to who should be licensed for sale of liquor in the province, and how much quota should be granted for it, Geo News reported.

The court also gave February 14 deadline to the provincial government to legislate on the issue, ordering that rules for liquor sale in Punjab should also be reviewed.

The court further asked the Sindh government to ensure closure of wine shops located near mosques and schools.

Consuming and selling liquor is prohibited in Pakistan; its sale, however, is permitted to people of other religions through licensed liquor stores.

In October last year, the Sindh High Court ordered the provincial government to immediately shutdown and revoke licenses of all liquor shops operating in the process.

On November 17, the Supreme Court, however, issued an interim order to reopen wine shops in Sindh.
Visakhapatnam, Jan 25 : Police Wednesday night imposed ban orders in this coastal city to foil Thursday's proposed protests to demand special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

Police imposed orders banning assembly of five or more persons in the limits of all 23 police stations in and around the city.

A police official said no meeting, rally or procession will be allowed without prior permission.

Security has been tightened at RK Beach, where youth plan to hold silent protest to press the demand for special category status to the state.

Police said there was no permission for any protest at RK Beach or any other place in the city.

Using social media as the platform, youngsters have announced their plans to gather at the beach for the protest.

Leading actor and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and some other actors have declared their support for the protest.

Pawan has warned the central and state governments that if they stop the youth, this would create unrest. He also asked the governments to be prepared for a long-drawn battle.

Opposition YSR Congress Party also plans to hold candle light protest at RK Beach Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, the Left parties and some students' groups took out rallies and candle light marches in different parts of the state on Wednesday in support of the proposed protest in Visakhapatnam. They urged the Centre to immediately accord special status as promised at the time of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu made it clear that his government will not tolerate attempts to create disturbances. He told reporters in Vijayawada that there is no question of allowing anybody to organise any programme without permission.

Naidu alleged that the opposition parties were trying to create problems in Visakhapatnam to disrupt Partnership Summit, beginning in the coastal city on Friday.

The TDP chief said the opposition parties wanted to stall investments coming to the state. He pointed out that delegates from 50 countries will be attending the summit.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said that the telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump was an indication enough that ties between the two nations would be "empowered".

"They spoke about enhanced defence. This conversation will really empower ties," the Defence Minister said in an interaction with media during his visit to the National Cadet Corps' Republic Day Camp here.

"Terrorism was a major concern in their talk. It is the issue that we have taken with so many countries. We want the world to come together against terror," he said.

Prime Minister Modi had a telephonic conversation with the newly-elected US President Donald Trump, late on Tuesday night, and had informed about it on Twitter.
Shillong, Jan 25 : Former Congress legislator, Stanlywiss Rymbai was arrested on Wednesday by the CID in a land acquisition for afforestation scam in Meghalaya's Ri-Bhoi district.

Rymbai was later produced before a court here and sent to judicial custody for medical treatment after he complained of ill-health to the judge, a CID official told IANS.

The arrested Congress leader, who is now admitted in Shillong Civil hospital for medical treatment, has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Rymbai had received Rs 8 crore from the government for acquiring land measuring 1.78 sq. Km, which was otherwise government land under the Soil and Water Conservation Department at Mawpalai village with a view to providing environmental amelioration to the degraded forest areas.

In a 2015 report, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said that the Forest and Environment Department had paid Rs 8 crore to Rymbai, who claimed to be the self-styled rightful representative of the Mawpalai Village Dorbar and acted as the landowner without any valid and legal authorisation by the village council to the effect.

In fact, the state government had filed a case in November 2012 in connection with fraudulent payment of government money to Rymbai.

The Meghalaya High Court, which disposed off the writ petition in February 2014, had directed the government to file a recovery suit before the appropriate court. Accordingly, a money suit for recovery of RsA 8 crore was filed in June 2014 in the court of Assistant District and Sessions Judge at Nongpoh.
New Delhi, Jan 25 : The Congress on Wednesday complained to the Election Commission against BJP's Uttar Pradesh president Keshav Prasad Maurya for allegedly raking up the issue of "Ram Temple" at Ayodhya.

The complaint was submitted to the poll panel by Congress; Legal and Human Rights Department Secretary K.C. Mittal.

"He (Maurya) categorically stated that grand temple will be built in Ayodhya if BJP secures an outright majority. He also stated Ram Mandir is a subject of faith," it said, adding Maurya had also said that the temple will not be built in two months but after the elections.

The complaint also said that the statement made by Maurya has flouted the instructions issued by the Commission, and demanded stern action against him as well as derecognition of the Bharatiya Janata Party under the symbol order, and withdrawal of the lotus symbol granted to them.
Kolkata, Jan 25 : For all the flak American President Donald Trump drew at a literary meet here on Wednesday, it was US-based Iranian author Firoozeh Dumas' bruising brilliance that stood out when she underlined "duping people" as his "trump card".

Among the executive actions President Trump is set to dole out in the next few days, is one where Dumas' country of birth, Iran, stares down the barrel with six other Muslim countries deemed a "threat to national security" - namely Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, and Somalia.

Dumas, who moved to US with her family when she was seven, chose late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's rhetoric to describe how the maverick former TV reality show figure "duped" people and rode on their fears to power.

"There was a rumour going around in the Middle East during the Iranian revolution. If you look at the moon you could see Khomeini's face. I was like what?" Dumas told a packed audience during a Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet session dwelling on how Trump defied pollsters to win the presidential polls.

"I feel people were duped. Trump has done a masterful job of truly duping people. About fear which they had a little bit, now he has already stoked the fire. The lack of critical thinking was the (reason behind it)," said Dumas, author of two bestselling memoirs about growing up as an Iranian immigrant in America, "Funny in Farsi" (Random House, 2003) and "Laughing Without an Accent" (Random House 2008).

In 1979, Khomeini and his agents appeared more than 400 times on foreign media, using it as a platform to gather support and get his message out, she said.

Khomeini had lived in Iraq, supported by the Ba'athist regime, as a tool against its archrival Iran. But suddenly for a man who had been out of Iran in exile for almost thirty years, the leader who overthrew Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran that year, took over the "leadership" of the revolution with the active participation and approval of leftist groups, said Dumas, likening it to how Trump "befuddled masses and media by selling propaganda many had thin knowledge about".

"I have spent a lot of time in whole of America and literally the places I have visited I am the only Middle Easterner that these people have spoken with.

"And one of the things I have discovered in going to these towns, often in the West belts, is that so many Americans have no concept of the Middle East.

"They have no concept of the history, no concept of our foreign policy in the Middle East. When I first came to America people were constantly asking me about camels, and it was a real let down for them when they found out we had a Chevrolet."

Dumas said the lack of critical scrutiny among the commoners egged Trump on.

"So what happened with Trump is that he came in and played on people's fears about the Middle East and that was a big part of his campaign.

"There were a group of people who could not think critically about whatsoever he was saying. They bought it. They are so many people who blamed things on the Middle East that had nothing to do with the Middle East."
Margada (Syria), Jan 25 : At least 15 foreign jihadists have deserted from the Islamic State militant group in the town of Margada in northeastern Syria, local news site ARA News said on Wednesday, quoting local sources.

"The defectors were Western members of the group who have been recently transferred from Iraq's city of Mosul to Margada in Syria's Hasakah province," media activist Ghassan al-Omari was quoted as telling ARA News.

"They have apparently lost hope of winning the fight against the US-backed Iraqi and Syrian forces, which led them to abandon the ISIS ranks and escape," al-Omari told ARA News.

IS's al-Hisba police force was unable to find the jihadists in the area and they are believed to have crossed the border into neighbouring Turkey, ARA News reported, citing local activist and IS sources.

IS installed new security checkpoints and deployed dozens of guards in the Margada area following the desertions, according to ARA News.

Dozens of militants have recently deserted from IS amidst growing internal rifts over power and money, the news site said, citing local monitors.

Margada is IS's last stronghold in Hasakah province and is located near the border with the province of Deir Ezzor, which is mainly under IS control.
Kolkata, Jan 25 : Sand bunkers and watch towers have been put up as part of heightened security measures in the city ahead of the 68th Republic Day celebration on Thursday, a senior Kolkata police officer said.

According to police, special security arrangements have been made at crowded places and around vital installations including shopping malls, important railway stations and metro stations, government buildings and the port and the airport, besides the Indira Gandhi Sarani (erstwhile Red Road) in Central Kolkata, where the Republic Day parade would take place.

"Four thousand police personnel under the supervision of 19 Deputy Commissioners of Kolkata police will be monitoring the city streets on Thursday. The Red Road would be scanned using drones during the time of the Parade," said Joint Commissioner of Police(Headquarters) Supratim Sarkar.

He said 10 sand bunkers, 10 watch towers, 11 police assistance booths and six bullet proof enclosures have come up in and around the Red Road, while 11 Heavy Radio Flying Squad (HRFS), 14 ambulances and three quick response teams would also be present at the venue to tackle any emergency situation.

The movement of vehicles on Red Road would be stopped post midnight on January 25, police said.
New Delhi, Jan 26 : The country's top civilian awards announced ahead of the 68th Republic Day have names of over 15 unsung heroes, officials said.

Special emphasis has been laid on awarding recognition to those who have been rendering selfless service to society, the officials said on Wednesday.

"This government has been instrumental in recognising the works of unsung persons working at grassroots level in awarding the prestigious Padma Awards," official sources said.

While Jadav Payeng, environmental activist and forestry worker, and Chewang Norphel, civil engineer, were awarded the Padma Shri in 2015, Arunachalam Muruganantham, social entrepreneur, and Sunitha Krishnan, social activist, were given the honour in 2016.

"This year the government has recognised over 15 such individuals who have contributed immensely to the community around them," they said.

They cited example of Bipin Ganatra, popularly known as "fireman", who has volunteered his services to the fire department over the past 40 years, and many others commoners including Chintakindi Mallesham, who invented a mechanised Poochampali silk sari weaving machine to ease the pain of weavers.

The informed sorces said that the list of Padma awardees for medicine does not have the "usual popular names" from the elite hospitals of the capital.

"Not a single doctor from Delhi has made it to the coveted list, which usually features many," they said.

"Doctors of the rich and famous who usually push for their doctor nominees to be awarded, have been given a miss this time," they added.

"Bhakti Yadav, 91, from Indore has been selflessly treating her patients for free over the past seven decades (have been awarded)," they added.
Big Pharma has ruthlessly exploited a well-intentioned measure that sought to provide medications to treat patients with rare diseases that might otherwise have been ignored. Drug companies, instead, have manipulated the 1983 Orphan Drug Act to create legally protected monopolies so they can gouge desperate patients with astronomically priced products that already were taken by as many as millions.

These findings, part of an investigation by Kaiser Health News, a nonpartisan service focused on health policy issues, were just some of the outrages that surfaced in recent days involving Big Pharma: Two big drug makers have just agreed to pay hundreds of millions in fines for anti-competitive practices or failing to report suspicious transactions, while two pharmacy operations also will fork over millions to settle suits with federal authorities over anti-kickback violations or lax controls.

Kaiser said its scrutiny of orphan drugs, those targeted at diseases affecting fewer than 200,000 Americans nationwide, found that a third of the approvals by the federal Food and Drug Administration involved medications that already were approved for mass markets and were simply re-purposed.

The agency also is approving multiple meds as orphans, sometimes as many as 80 different drugs for one rare disease. Makers are turning with greater frequency to this FDA classification, with just under half of all the new drugs approved being deemed as orphans. Seven of the 10 top selling medications have been designated as orphans.

The classification is important because it gives manufacturers seven years of exclusivity for their products in serving small groups of patients whose demand is typically huge. This means the companies can jack up their products prices. Makers also can return repeatedly to the FDA, asserting that their study shows a given drug also could be used to treat another rare disease and, thus, should be deemed an orphan.

The FDA describes rare diseases, subject to treatment with orphan drugs, as illnesses, as familiar as cystic fibrosis, Lou Gehrigs disease, and Tourettes syndrome, and as unfamiliar as Hamburger disease, Job syndrome, and acromegaly, or gigantism. Some diseases have patient populations of fewer than a hundred. Collectively, however, they affect as many as 25 million Americans, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and that makes the diseasesand finding treatments for thema serious public health concern.

Uncle Sam recently has cracked down on at least one maker of a rare disease drug, a medication to treat infantile spasms. It once sold for $40 a vial but the Federal Trade Commission, in a lawsuit, asserted that a series of companies, each acquiring the other, led to Mallinckrodt controlling the drug, Achtar Gel. The company sent the drugs price skyward, ultimately reaching $34,000 a vial and leading to more than $1 billion in revenue.

The FTC asserted that Mallinckrodt engaged in anti-competitive practices, including acquiring for $135 million a synthetic drug similar to Achtar, to maintain its monopoly. The company had said it has limited direct competition with the pricey product. The company agreed to pay $100 million to settle the FTC suit without admission of liability or wrongdoing.

Meantime, McKesson, one of the nations largest pharmaceutical drug distributors, agreed to pay $150 million in fines to resolve federal prosecutors claims that it failed to report suspicious orders of powerful addictive, painkillers. The company also on a staggered basis must suspend sales of controlled substances from its distribution centers in Colorado, Ohio, Michigan and Florida for several years, Thomson Reuters news service has reported.

Federal officials and the company in 2008 settled a similar case, with a $13.25 million settlement over prosecutors claims that McKesson failed to design and use a system to track effectively big shipments of the potent painkillers oxycodone and hydrocodone. The latest settlement was reached because the firm hadnt put in place nor properly used the tracking systems agreed to previously, officials said. They noted that McKesson, in Colorado alone, processed more than 1.6 million controlled substance orders but told authorities of only 16 instances that it said were suspicious.

As for the pharmacies and their penalties, Walgreens agreed to pay $50 million to settle a lawsuit with federal authorities over violations of anti-kickback rules in a case involving incentives given to seniors to fill their Medicare and Medicaid prescriptions. Costco has agreed to pay $12 million to settle a federal lawsuit, asserting its pharmacies in Washington, Michigan, and California, between 2012 and 2015, improperly filled prescriptions, kept poor records or failed to adequately track inventory. The suit, officials said, is part of federal efforts to crack down on prescription drug abuse nationwide. Costco says it has put in a $127 million pharmacy management system and tightened its audit practices to address issues raised in the federal suit.

In my practice, I see plenty of the significant harms that dangerous drugs can do, and I see the huge toll that skyrocketing costs for medications and medical services can inflict on families. Lawmakers, policy-makers, and regulators need to step up their oversight on Big Pharma so it cant exploit the best intentions of those seeking to help not only patients with rare diseases but also to protect the public from lax, risky, or unfair market practices.
Though electric car travel in the vast stretches of rural Montana may be risky, drivers who stick to major arteries should have little trouble getting from one charging station to the next.

Popular Mechanics notes the worlds top-selling electric vehicle, the Nissan Leaf, has an estimated range of up to 107 miles on one charge. Drivers can push that figure to 125 miles through use of the vehicles regenerative braking power, said Missoula Nissan Hyundai sales representative Troy Zastrow.

The more you brake and the more you go downhill and use your brakes, it actually regenerates your battery power as well, he said.

Nissan, General Motors and Tesla are all planning to release vehicles that would go 150 to 200 miles on a single charge, and Audi has announced a more expensive model with a range of 300.

That means that even with some higher-end electric vehicles, drivers would have to stop and recharge a few times to make it across Montanas 600-mile width without running out of juice.

But plugshare.com, one of the most popular online charging station finders, shows electric car drivers who plan their Montana trip wisely have a number of options from which to choose.

From as far west as Saltese to as far east as Miles City, the website shows dozens of places in Montana where drivers can charge their vehicles. Though some of the highest concentrations of charging stations are shown along Montanas interstate highways, plenty of them can be found in rural areas like Saint Marie and Broadus too.

The website also offers information about the amenities available at the charging stations, the cost to use them and what types of ports are available. Different ports are required for different types of cars, and some connecters will charge vehicles faster than others.

A standard charge for the Leaf takes about eight hours, said Zastrow, of Missoula Nissan Hyundai. The dealership sells the Nissan Leaf and has one of several charging stations in Missoula.

Many of Montanas charging stations are located at campgrounds, which allow people to use RV plugs to charge compatible vehicles.

At Riverfront RV Park in Garrison, owner Sharon Schillo said overnight campers can use the plugs however they want at no extra cost. She said those who are just passing through can usually charge up for $5 or $10, depending on how long it takes.

We have a few every year that do that, she said, adding that some electric vehicle owners come back again and again.

Charging stations can also be found outside many Montana restaurants and coffee shops, such as Suds Hut bar and grill and one of the Starbucks locations in Helena. Several Montana hotels and motels provide them for customers as well.

Tesla Motors now has Supercharger stations for Tesla vehicles in eight Montana communities: Billings, Big Timber, Bozeman, West Yellowstone, Lima, Butte, Missoula and Superior.

Part of what drove the expansion in Montana is national park access, Tesla told The Montana Standard in 2014, which is when the company installed many of its charging stations in the state. Tesla tries to place the stations in convenient locations about 150 miles apart.

While long-distance travel is possible in electric vehicles, Zastrow posited that his dealerships customers use them primarily as in-town commuter cars. However, he believes that could all change as technology continues to advance.
Bank of America Friday volunteers present a $40,000 check to Evas Village, continuing two decades of funding support for the programs and services that help those in need rebuild their lives. Our corporate partners provide critical support and funding for Evas 20 anti-poverty programs serving our community in Paterson. Past News Releases RSS Evas Village Hosts New Event to...

Partnership Supports Culinary...

Evas Village Gala honored...

A team of Bank of America volunteers presented a $40,000 check to Evas Village in December 2016. The grant will help fund the food and shelter, medical and recovery, and education and job training programs at Evas Village. These programs serve the men, women, and mothers with children struggling with homelessness, hunger, and addiction who come to Evas Village for help.

Evas Village values the strong community partnership that has grown out of a decade of regular volunteer participation and 20 years of sustained financial commitment from Bank of America. Our corporate partners provide critical support and funding for Evas 20 anti-poverty programs serving our community in Paterson, noted Evas Development Director, Heather Thompson. The partnership works both ways. Volunteering is a tangible way to give back and puts a face on hunger in our community by fostering personal interactions with individuals who come for a meal, she added.

Gabriella Ropke-Lugaro, a Bank of America employee who has volunteered for eight years at Evas Village, agrees. You cant help but love them. Bank of America encourages employees to volunteer and those who do, like Ms. Ropke-Lugaro, find it rewarding to give back to the community. She belongs to a core group of seven employees representing a wide range of departments, who sign up one Friday a month to serve the noon meal in Evas Community Kitchen. The need is clear. We know were appreciated. Were thanked often. I feel blessed and honored to serve at Evas, she said.

For 35 years, Evas Village has served a daily nutritious meal to those in need. Now, Evas Community Kitchen serves meals to more than 350 individuals, 365 days a year. Last winter, Evas Village added weekday breakfast service (an additional 750 meals each week) to address the persistent problem of hunger. The Community Kitchen is a place where individuals who come for meals can find out about other services and programs available at Evas Village.

More about Evas Village

Founded by Msgr. Vincent E. Puma in 1982, Evas Community Kitchen began by serving 30 meals a day to feed the hungry in Paterson. In response to the related issues of poverty, addiction, mental illness and homelessness in the community, additional programs and services grew out of the Community Kitchen to become Evas Village, a non-profit, social service, anti-poverty organization that is one of the most comprehensive in New Jersey. For 35 years, Evas Village has carried out its mission to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, treat the addicted, and provide medical and dental care to the poor with respect for the human dignity of each individual. Today, Evas Village helps thousands of individuals rebuild their lives each year through 20 integrated programs addressing needs in the community for Food & Housing, Medical & Recovery services, and Education & Training.
Philana Callahan has accepted the role of Marketing Manager at Oasis Solutions (http://www.oasisky.com), an award-winning business management software partner for Sage software, NetSuite ERP, SugarCRM and Adaptive Insights. The Marketing Manager is a new position created after tremendous growth in the company required someone to manage awareness of the Oasis brand and services.

As Marketing Manager, Philana works closely with the Senior VP of Business Development to identify target customers and the best ways to reach them, as well as inform current customers of all Oasis has to offer. "Philana has been a tremendous addition to the Oasis team. From day one she came in, rolled up her sleeves and got to work. Her positive sunny disposition is a real pleasure to have in our office and shes been a delight to work with.", said Aaron Rosenberg, Senior VP of Business Development. Other duties include experimenting with different marketing channels to determine effectiveness, tracking lead generation, and supplying the Oasis team with marketing materials to help them succeed.

Philana holds an MBA from Bellarmine University (http://www.bellarmine.edu) and a BA in Advertising from Western Kentucky University (http://www.wku.edu). She began her career in account management at an energy company before switching industries to pursue her passion in digital marketing. She held an account management role at a couple of small digital agencies before moving to the client side of the business. "I am so excited to be a part of the Oasis family and be tasked with managing the brand. Our commitment to quality and custom solutions is evident in the loyalty our customers show."

About Oasis Solutions

Since 1991, Oasis Solutions Group has been serving businesses throughout North America with software consulting, development, training, and support. With more than 200 years of combined industry experience, our team of software specialists offer expertise in accounting, human resource management, sales force automation and custom software development.

Oasis Solutions has offices in Louisville and Lexington, KY, and Nashville, TN.

It's Not Just What We Bring To The Table, It's Who. To learn more: http://www.oasisky.com/
We enter 2017 poised to expand our role in improving healthcare throughout northeastern New York. I see Paul (Macielak) as exactly the right person to lead our board toward future growth. Mark McKinney - Hixny CEO

The board of directors of Hixny has re-elected Paul Macielak, President and CEO of the New York Health Plan Association, as Chair for 2017. Hixny is a non-profit healthcare collaborative supporting care coordination to more than 1.7 million patients in the Capital District, Northern New York and the Mohawk Valley.

Macielak will head a board made up of 16 thought leaders representing physicians, hospitals, payers, government and educational institutions, consumers, and employers in our region. Macielak worked with other thought leaders to form Hixny in 1999.

We are grateful for Pauls leadership during our exponential growth over the past year, said Mark McKinney, CEO of Hixny. We enter 2017 poised to expand our role in improving healthcare throughout northeastern New York. I see Paul as exactly the right person to lead our board toward future growth.

Hixny empowers modern healthcare by improving the way the healthcare community and patients access, analyze and collaboratively act upon patient-specific information to promote operational efficiency, eliminate unnecessary cost, improve patient outcomes and advance community wellness.

In addition to Macielak, other board officers include Joseph Gambino, CEO of Hometown Health Centers, as Vice Chair; David Kile, Executive Director of Continuing Education and Professional Development at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, as Treasurer; and Dr. Wouter Rietsema, Vice President of Quality and Information Services for The University of Vermont Health Network - Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital, as Secretary.

Rounding out the board are: Dr. John Bennett, President and CEO, CDPHP (and the boards former Chair); Dr. Louis Snitkoff, Medical Director, CapitalCare Medical Group; David Shippee, CEO, Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Services; Sumeet Murarka, Chief Information Officer, Community Care Physicians; William Duax, Vice President of Information Services, Albany Medical Center; Scott Groom, Vice President, Bassett Healthcare Network; Charles Fennell, Regional Chief Information Officer, St. Peter's Health Partners; Dr. Kirk Panneton, VP, Regional Executive and Medical Director, BlueShield of Northeastern New York; James Hopsicker, Vice President of Pharmacy, MVP Health Care; Barbara Hess, Chief Administrative Officer, SEFCU; Bonnie Chavin, President, Seymour Fox Memorial Foundation; and Charles Welge, Director, Public Health Planning and Education, Albany County Department of Health.

Directors and officers are elected to serve a one-year term.

---

Hixny empowers modern healthcare by improving the way in which the healthcare community and patients access, analyze and collaboratively act upon patient-specific information. Hixny is a not-for-profit healthcare collaborative based in Albany, NY, is a recognized national leader in population health management support.

Hixny supports care coordination of more than 1.7 million patients in the Capital District, Northern New York and the Mohawk Valley. To learn more visit http://www.Hixny.org
National Technologies Associates, Inc. (NTA) was founded in 1981 to provide a full range of technical support services to government clients. NTA proudly promotes Greg Emmons to Vice President, Business Development and Strategy. Greg will manage the Business Development and Growth Strategy for NTA as well as supporting corporate M&A activities.

Greg Emmons is a retired Army Officer with over 40 years executive experience in the Federal Market. Prior to joining NTA, Greg served as the Vice President, URS Federal Services managing solutions and services for the Army, Air Force and Combatant Command Business Area. Greg also has served as the Operations Manager for Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, where he was responsible for business development and account management of professional services supporting USSOCOM, USCENTCOM, USSOCCENT and other Combatant Command, Army, and Air Force programs.

Mr. Emmons had a distinguished 25 year Military career with the U.S. Army Signal Corps commanding at the Company and Battalion level. Greg also served in many Joint assignments including Director of Communications J6, Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT), Chief of Communications, National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC); and Director C4 Current Operations CCJ6C, United States Central Command (USCENTCOM).

Greg received his Master of Science Degree in Information Systems Management from Central Michigan University, and his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics from Southern Connecticut University.

National Technologies Associates (NTA) a leader in the Federal Service Market providing core capabilities focused on Program Management, Systems Engineering, Configuration Management Support, Acquisition and Sustainment Logistics Support, Technical Training, Production Engineering Support, Performance Based Logistics and Cybersecurity.

http://www.nationaltechnologiesassociates.com
The Last Good Country: Walloon Lake, is Hotel Walloon's second annual event celebrating Ernest Hemingway's connection to the northern Michigan area

Hotel Walloon is pleased to present The Last Good Country: Walloon Lake, the second annual event celebrating Ernest Hemingway's connection to the northern Michigan area. The event will take place Friday, April 28th, 2017 through Sunday, April 30th, 2017. The three-day event package includes two nights' accommodation at the 32-room boutique hotel.

On Friday, April 28th, 2017, the event begins with a meet-n-greet with Valerie Hemingway, who was both a personal assistant and daughter-in-law to the late author. Ms. Hemingway is author of "Running with Bulls," a memoir of her years working with her father-in-law. The meet-in-greet will be accompanied by Ernest Hemingway inspired drinks and hors d'oeuvres, compliments of the Walloon Lake Inn.

On Saturday, April 29th, 2017, guests will have the opportunity to take two guided tours highlighting many of the local areas featured in "The Nick Adams Stories." The first will be a guided shuttle tour of Horton Bay with Chris Struble, a local historian and President of the Michigan Hemingway Society. The second tour will consist of a guided boat tour around Walloon Lake passing by some of Hemingway's favorite haunts including "Windemere," the Hemingway family cottage where the famous author spent summers during his formative years. In the evening guests will enjoy a "Nick Adam's" Feast at the historic Walloon Lake Inn accompanied by tales of Ernest Hemingway as seen through the eyes of his personal assistant, Valerie Hemingway.

The weekend long Hemingway celebration commences on Sunday, April 30th, 2016 following the "Sun Also Rises" breakfast at Barrel Back Restaurant and a fly fishing demonstration by Brian Kozmiski to honor the opening of trout season in northern Michigan, a favorite past time of Ernest Hemingway.

Centrally located between Petoskey, Boyne City, Harbor Springs, and Charlevoix on Walloon Lake, Hotel Walloon is the perfect "home away from home" to enjoy all the adventure northern Michigan has to offer. Come experience the area that Hemingway enjoyed as a young man and fondly referred to as The Last Good Country in his writing.

For more information and to book your reservation, please call (231) 535-5000 or visit http://www.HotelWalloon.com.
BenefitGuard was founded in 2010 with the intent of fixing Americas retirement problem. To date, BenefitGuard has focused on improving outcomes by revolutionizing the 401(k) model. Today, the company announced its next step toward helping Americans save more, through Financial Connection, a simple guide to financial wellness.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports the savings rate for the average American is about 5.7 percent, states Matt Bradley, CEO for BenefitGuard. Experts suggest that individuals should be saving a minimum of 15 percent to build an emergency fund and adequately prepare for retirement. We believe these new tools in Financial Connection will provide people with the necessary knowledge and skills to close this dangerous gap in savings. (Tweet This)

The resources in Financial Connection help simplify debt elimination, increase retirement savings, and promote financial literacy in order to improve overall financial wellness for individuals. All content on the website is free to the public; however, the chat and email functions are reserved for use by 401(k) clients.

The features of the Financial Connection site include:



Financial Formula  a 10 step process to achieve financial well-being

Financial Fundamentals  50 key principles to gain financial literacy and simplify decision making

Financial Fitness  exercises to apply and reinforce sound financial behavior

Financial FAQ  answers to commonly asked personal finance questions

Other features: Chat, email, and search as well as quizzes, statistics, and calculators

These new tools add great value to our clients using BenefitGuard for their small business 401(k)s, states Chuck Cutler, Managing Partner for Financial Insight Center. The Chat function alone provides instant access to experts who can help individuals wade through the maze of complexity that exists in the world of finance, investment, debt, and government regulations.

The benefits of the financial wellness solution dont stop with the employees; employers can expect to see increased productivity, job satisfaction, employee retention, and decreased absenteeism as their employees move towards financial independence.

BenefitGuard services thousands of clients across the country through a growing network of partners. Employers, employees, or financial advisors interested in exploring Financial Connection may visit the site HERE.

About BenefitGuard:

BenefitGuard, LLC offers a low-cost 401(k) solution for small to mid-size businesses. BenefitGuard uniquely appoints professional fiduciaries to sign and act in administrative and investment fiduciary roles to dramatically reduce fees for employees and fiduciary risk and work for employers. Through a network of best-in-class partners, BenefitGuard provides cloud-based recordkeeping, payroll-integration, third party administration, custodial, advisory, and full fiduciary services. 401(k) plans are sold directly to employers and by financial advisors, payroll providers, HSA providers, benefits brokers, and other professional service firms. BenefitGuard was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Orem, Utah.

Media Contact:

John Pilmer, PilmerPR

801-369-7535

jpilmer(at)pilmerpr(dot)com
As a Gold-level Fund-A-Meal sponsor, Wells Fargo provided funding for 2 days of meals at Evas Village for Kitchen guests and clients, while a team of volunteers served the meal to Evas guests. We are proud to work alongside Evas Village and to help build stronger and healthier neighborhoods one family at a time. Carlos Arroyo, Senior Vice President at Wells Fargo Past News Releases RSS Evas Village Hosts New Event to...

Partnership Supports Culinary...

Evas Village Gala honored...

In the past year, Wells Fargo has made grant awards to several of the 20 anti-poverty programs at Evas Village: $10,000 to Evas Community Kitchen in December; $20,000 to The Culinary School at Evas Village in September; and $7,500 to the Summer Enrichment Program for the children of Evas Village in August. For more than a dozen years, the bank has provided broad-based support for ongoing programs and new initiatives at Evas Village. Private donations contribute more than a third of our annual revenue, Evas Development Director, Heather Thompson noted. Several of Evas programs, including our Community Kitchen and the Summer Program for children, rely entirely on contributions from businesses and community groups, she explained.

Evas 20 programs serve the growing numbers of homeless and working poor in the Paterson community. More than one million New Jersey residents struggle with hunger each day: nearly that many (10.7%) live below the poverty level and 27.5% of residents pay more than 50% of their income on rent. Paterson is one of the 10 poorest cities in the state.

For the past 35 years, Evas Village has served a nutritious daily meal to those in need. Today, the Community Kitchen serves meals to more than 350 individuals, 365 days a year. Last winter, Evas Village added weekday breakfast service to address the ongoing problem of hunger in the Paterson community. Through interactions with staff and volunteers, individuals who come for meals learn about other services and programs available at Evas Village. Opened in 2013, The Culinary School at Evas Village offers job training and support to prepare students for entry-level positions in the food service industry. Evas eight-week Summer Program provides fun and educational experiences for children who live with their mothers in Evas shelters and residential programs.

Wells Fargo has also helped fund job readiness programs to prepare Evas clients to re-enter the workforce, contributed to after-school enrichment programs for the children of Evas Village, and to Evas sheltering programs. Wells Fargo employees frequently volunteer to serve in Evas Community Kitchen through Evas Fund-A-Meal program, which underwrites the cost of two days of meals for kitchen guests and clients in Eva's residential programs. The banks volunteers also participate in mock job fairs, offering feedback and advice to help prepare Evas clients for job interviews.

Wells Fargo has been a long-time supporter of Evas Village and the important work they do for the City of Paterson and surrounding area, said Carlos Arroyo, a senior vice president at Wells Fargo. This organization, through its wide-ranging services, continues to make a life-changing impact on children and families in transition. We are proud to work alongside Evas Village and to help build stronger and healthier neighborhoods one family at a time.

More about Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo is committed to providing community solutionslocal responses to local needsby promoting economic development and self-sufficiency through community development, financial education, cash contributions, affordable housing, environmental stewardship, and through the efforts of our enthusiastic team member volunteers. In 2015, Wells Fargo invested $281.3 million in grants to 16,300 nonprofits, and team members contributed more than 1.86 million volunteer hours around the country. Locally, the companys contributions to New Jersey non-profits totaled over $5.3 million in 2015. There were over 750 grants awarded to support non-profits involved in such areas as community development, education, health and human services, arts and culture and environmental initiatives. Additionally, New Jersey team members contributed 22,720 volunteer hours to help their neighborhoods and communities flourish.

More about Evas Village

Founded by Msgr. Vincent E. Puma in 1982, Evas Community Kitchen began by serving 30 meals a day to feed the hungry in Paterson. In response to the related issues of poverty, addiction, mental illness and homelessness in the community, additional programs and services grew out of the Community Kitchen to become Evas Village, a non-profit, social service, anti-poverty organization that is one of the most comprehensive in New Jersey. For more than 30 years, Evas Village carried out its mission to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, treat the addicted, and provide medical and dental care to the poor with respect for the human dignity of each individual. Today, Evas Village helps thousands of individuals rebuild their lives each year through 20 integrated programs addressing needs in the community for Food & Housing, Medical & Recovery Services, and Education & Training.
Gomif's Tey inspires social care business model in Bangkok, Thailand. By offering them the opportunity to bring their elephants back to live in peace, as it was intended, in the forest, means that they can avoid working the elephants in circus shows and street begging

Environmentalist and investor Tey Por Yee (Larry) sponsored the program of elephant rescue in Thailand, as part of the Gomif Partners Socialpreneurship corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative. Larry shows his concerns and contributed to the program during Thailand Cyber Workshop in Bangkok.

The program helps mahouts and elephant owners to return to their community in Northern Thailand.

Street begging and working in tourist camps significantly reduces the life expectancy of these endangered species. It diminishes their high cultural importance and places individuals in inhumane living conditions. Working elephants are waiting to join our forest reintroduction program and funds are desperately needed to facilitate this. Mahouts and owners join our education and alternative livelihoods program along with their elephants to ensure they have a sustainable alternative form of work.

By offering them the opportunity to bring their elephants back to live in peace, as it was intended, in the forest, means that they can avoid working the elephants in circus shows and street begging, commented Larry.

The program is organized by GVI & GlobalGiving. Learn more about the program at https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/elephant-rescue-thailand/

Gomif Partners co-lead by venture capitalist Tey Por Yee (Larry), shows the tech savvy startups on Thailand Cyber Workshop, how easy to contribute to society by using the Internet, besides making profit from business. The project is in hope to promote social responsibility as part of the crucial element in business. Gomif will pick up an equity stake in qualified startups as part of the program. Interested candidate can visit https://gomif.com/ and submit business plan online.

About Gomif Partners

Gomif Partners (GP) is an early stage investment advisory network joint lead by socialpreneur Larry Tey Por Yee and several private venture partners. GPs investors invest in and work with information technology companies at any stage but they are primarily focused on seed and early stage investments. GP is interested in socially responsible business models, especially renewable, retail, manufacturing, software, and services surrounding this concept. Visit http://www.gomif.com
Beautiful birds such as the brilliant Scarlet Macaw call Belize home Theres nothing like getting up early when the jungle is just starting to come alive with the sounds of so many birds

The Lodge at Chaa Creek, a Belizean eco-resort situated in the midst of a 400-acre private nature reserve, has announced expanded birding activities for 2017 in response to what one naturalist guide said is a growing interest in Belizes impressive bird population.

Ricky Manzanero, a Chaa Creek naturalist guide with a special focus on birds, said a steady rise in interest about Belizes avian wildlife has prompted the popular Belizean eco-resort to dedicate more staff and resources towards birding activities, which currently include daily early morning guided birding walks.

When Chaa Creek hosted the ambitious Birds Without Borders project years ago, some guides took the opportunity to learn more about the hundreds of beautiful birds we see here in Belize. It turned out to be a real eye-opener that started a passion for some of us thats still alive today.

We also noticed that each year more and more of our visitors were showing an interest in birds. Weve had serious birders with sophisticated equipment, books and checklists arriving, as well as the more casual visitor who began by saying, whats that lovely bird called? Some of those people began taking more of an interest, and now we see some of them returning year after year.

Its a great to watch, Mr Manzanero said.

The growing interest in Belizes resident and migratory birdlife prompted Chaa Creek to place a greater emphasis on birding during 2017, he said.

The early morning birding walks seem to grow in popularity each year, and we have enough trained guides now to cater to a wide range of birding activities. This year well be emphasising birding during guided nature walks, canoe excursions down the Macal River to look at riverine wildlife, horseback rides along the network of trails crisscrossing Chaa Creeks 400-acre private nature reserve, or even just being on hand to answer guests questions.

Whats that lovely bird over there called? is still a popular one, Mr Manzanero said.

Chaa Creeks general manager, Bryony Fleming Bradley, agreed that birding is growing as an activity, and said it was the subject of a recent managers meeting to identify new or refreshed activities for 2017.

Actually, before my parents first began taking in guests at our family farm and started Chaa Creek as one of Belizes first eco-resorts, some of our earliest visitors were bird watchers looking for a place to stay in what was then a very remote part of Belize.

Birds, butterflies and the nearby ancient Maya temples were what attracted people to the Cayo district back then.

Now, over thirty-five years later, we have regular staff meetings to discuss guest feedback and identify areas where we should place more emphasis and dedicate more resources, and we just completed the annual new year review and planning sessions, Ms Bradley said.

Birding was up near the top of the list of visitor interest, so well continue to grow that area, she said.

Ms Fleming said Belize has long been regarded as a birders paradise, with huge resident populations and flocks of migrant species visiting each year to rest and feast amid a veritable smorgasbord of fruits, insects, grains and other foods found in the huge swaths of rainforests, rolling pasturelands, savannahs and seacoast areas.

Migrants make up some twenty per cent of the nearly 600 species found in Belize, with residents such as Belizes national bird, the Keel Billed Toucan, the Scarlet Macaw, and the Blue Crowned Mot-Mot some of the more popular attractions.

The huge Harpy Eagle, capable of preying on large game like monkeys and sloths, the Jabiru Stork, King Vulture and Great Egret join flocks of parrots and seabirds such as the rare Red Footed Booby and Magnificent Frigate Bird in attracting birders from around the world, Ms Bradley explained.

We see people in the restaurant and lounge coming back after a day of birding and you cant help but share their excitement. It rubs off on many of our staff members and even on someone like me, who was born and raised here. You begin to understand why so many people become avid birders, she said.

Now, about birding and bird watching

Jonathan Rosen, author of The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of the Nature discussed the difference between birding and bird watching in a New Yorker article of that title.

Birding is the opposite of being at the moviesyoure outside, not sitting in a windowless box; youre stalking wild animals, not looking at pictures of them. Youre dependent on weather, geography, time of dayif you miss the prothonotary warbler, there isnt a midnight showing, he said, before making a distinction between serious birders and more casual bird-watchers.

Huge numbers of people are bird-watchers; the United States Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that something like forty-eight million Americans watch birds. Of those, only a tiny fraction have the time, money, and obsessive devotion for hardcore birding, he explained.

Back at Chaa Creek, Mr Manzanero said he doesnt give much thought to the distinction between the two terms, except to say that birding seems to be the more acceptable designation.

Youll never get in trouble by referring to some as a birder, he said.

But however you chose to call it, observing, identifying and counting birds is a great pastime. Theres nothing like getting up early when the jungle is just starting to come alive with the sounds of so many birds and other wildlife. Its just a great time to be out with people, especially when they spot something special, or see a species theyve been searching for.

Thats when you realise how rich in wildlife Belize is, and how lucky we are to be surrounded by so much pristine nature.

During times like that, distinctions such as bird watching or birding no longer seem to matter.

Im sure the birds dont worry about it either, he smiled.

The Lodge at Chaa Creek has a team of licenced naturalist guides available to conduct a range of cultural and naturalist tours for individuals, groups, couples and families, Ms Bradley said, and encouraged people to visit Chaa Creeks website, contact the eco-resort directly, or speak with their travel agents to learn more.

Better yet, just come for a vacation and bring your binoculars, camera, sensible footwear and a willingness to learn. You may find yourself joining the thousands of other people for whom birding has become a lifelong passion, Ms Bradley said.

The Lodge at Chaa Creek is a multi award winning eco resort set within a 400-acre private nature reserve along the banks of the Macal River in Belize. It is currently a finalist for National Geographics 2017 World Legacy Awards.

ENDS
Pond Lehocky welcomes Matthew J. Allen as our newest workers compensation attorney, joining our western Pennsylvania office in Pittsburgh. Mr. Allen has extensive experience preparing and litigating cases for state, federal and appellate courts regarding employment law, construction law, real estate, and general civil litigation.

His comprehensive legal background has made Mr. Allen exceptionally prepared for the transition to practicing workers compensation law.

Participating in frequent depositions and arbitrations and drafting motions representing many different clients has armed me to fight for workers rights in the courtroom, he said. When my previous firm represented public and private employers, I gained valuable insight to defense strategies that will now serve the interests of injured workers.

Mr. Allens family background helped solidify his dedication to representing workers, especially the union and blue collar workers he was raised with in Chicora, PA.

I grew up in a small, blue-collar town, said Mr. Allen. My experience working on a line at a steel mill for three summers is where I saw first-hand the importance of standing up for workers rights.

Mr. Allen can be reached at mallen(at)pondlehocky(dot)com.
One man is dead and another is jailed on a charge of deliberate homicide after an early morning shooting at a Helena motel Wednesday.

Authorities say Brandon James LeClair, 41, shot Kenneth Lee Purcell Jr., 31, during a fight at Motel 6, 800 N. Oregon St. Purcell died in the parking lot from a gunshot wound to the chest around 1 a.m.

LeClair ran from the motel. Police apprehended him without incident around 2 p.m. at a gas station in Boulder, 30 miles south of Helena. Helena Police Chief Troy McGee said a citizen provided a tip that helped investigators track LeClair.

Police also arrested 30-year-old Travis Holly Stephens of Butte, who was staying at the motel with LeClair, on a felony charge of criminal possession of dangerous drugs (methamphetamine). Court documents say the room they were sharing contained a small amount of methamphetamine alongside a meth pipe that appeared to have recently been used.

Both men have past drug convictions.

Stephens told police she and LeClair had traveled to the motel from Butte the previous night but would not say why they came to Helena, court documents state. Purcell was in the room with them, she said, and an argument broke out between the two men.

During a subsequent fight, Purcell hit LeClair in the head with a whiskey bottle and kicked him after LeClair fell to the ground, she told investigators.

The fight then moved to the parking lot, where the shooting occurred. Stephens later told police she believed both men were carrying guns. A semi-automatic .9 mm pistol and a spent casing were found near Purcells body.

On Purcells body, police found a magazine for a semi-automatic weapon believed to be from a different gun. McGee said only one gun had been recovered as of Wednesday afternoon.

Stephens said she did not witness the shooting, but later saw Purcell laying in the parking lot. LeClair had bleeding head injuries from the fight, court documents note.

Police have seized the vehicle Stephens and LeClair used to drive to Helena.

LeClair, who lived in Billings at the time, was sentenced to five years in federal prison in 2007 after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He had been convicted in federal court in 1999 for possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute and was sentenced to just over three years in prison. LeClair completed his probation in November 2014, according to federal court records.

An arrest warrant with a $50,000 bond was issued in Deer Lodge County after LeClair failed to appear in court in early November for a felony drug possession charge, court records show. LeClair is named in another arrest warrant in West Yellowstone, police said.

LeClair is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond. As of Wednesday afternoon, he was to be held at the Jefferson County jail in Boulder.

Purcells criminal history includes a conviction for criminal distribution of dangerous drugs out of Silver Bow County for a crime that occurred in 2009, state court records show.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Its easy to customize Hersheys products with Avery labels. Just pick your favorite candy and the appropriate Avery label, then personalize with free Valentines printables at avery.com/Hershey. Just in time for Valentines Day, Avery Products Corp. and The Hershey Company are partnering to let consumers personalize Hersheys products using Avery printable labels and free designs at avery.com/Hershey.

Just in time for Valentines Day, Avery Products Corporation and The Hershey Company are happy to announce their new partnership that gives consumers the ability to personalize Hersheys beloved products using Avery printable labels and free templates at avery.com/hershey.

The customizable Valentines Day printables were designed specifically for a variety of Hershey brands, and are available in the complimentary Avery Design & Print program. This popular design tool makes it simple for consumers to personalize Avery labels and then print them using a desktop printer.

We are thrilled to work with Hershey to create these Valentines Day printables, said Monica Robinson, Senior Product Manager for Avery Products. Now its so easy to give sweet personalized Valentine treats to friends, classmates, co-workers, clients and even your special Valentine.

Avery  Round Labels are perfect for customizing HERSHEY'S KISSES Chocolates and REESE'S Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures. Wrap a personalized Avery Address Label around HERSHEY'S Miniatures and HERSHEY'S Nuggets, or add special heartfelt labels to KIT KAT Bars or REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups with Avery Rectangle Labels. With so many options to choose from, its easy for consumers to create personalized Valentines Day treats for school, work and home.

Hershey is working to provide brand offerings that inspire creative moms whether theyre shopping online or in store, said Bridget Binning, Senior Manager, Insights Driven Performance, Ecommerce and Digital for The Hershey Company. Shopping for special occasions and gift giving are particularly popular online; they are two of the top four reasons people go online to shop. Together with Avery, we are building a personalized portfolio that can easily fit within a moms digital and physical shopping lifestyle.

Hersheys brands and Avery labels are also a perfect pairing for wedding favors, party treats, gift baskets and more. With Avery professionally designed templates available for any occasion, personalizing Hersheys chocolates is a breeze.

To get more information and see the Hersheys chocolates Valentines Day printables, visit avery.com/hershey.

About Avery Products Corporation

Avery Products Corporation is one of the worlds leading manufacturers of printable labels, name badges, business cards, dividers and more, and markets products under the well-known Avery brand. The company offers innovative solutions to make life easier, including free templates to design, customize and print projects. Avery Products Corporation, a division of CCL Industries, is based in Brea, California. For more information about Avery products, visit http://www.avery.com.

Avery and all other Avery brands, product names and codes are trademarks of Avery Products Corporation. All other company and product names may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.

About CCL Industries

CCL Industries, a world leader in specialty label and packaging solutions for global corporations, small businesses and consumers, employs more than 20,000 people operating 156 production facilities in 35 countries on 6 continents with corporate offices in Toronto, Canada and Framingham, Massachusetts. For more information, visit http://www.cclind.com.

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company, headquartered in Hershey, Pa., is a global confectionery leader known for bringing goodness to the world through its chocolate, sweets, mints and other great-tasting snacks. Hershey has approximately 21,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 80 brands around the world that drive more than $7.4 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as HERSHEY'S, REESE'S, HERSHEY'S KISSES, JOLLY RANCHER, ICE BREAKERS and BROOKSIDE. Building on its core business, Hershey is expanding its portfolio to include a broader range of delicious snacks. The company remains focused on growing its presence in key international markets while continuing to extend its competitive advantage in North America.

At Hershey, goodness has always been about more than delicious products. For more than 120 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on giving underserved children the skills and support they need to be successful. Today, the company continues this social purpose through 'Nourishing Minds,' a global initiative that provides basic nutrition to help children learn and grow. From neighborhoods across the United States to the streets of Shanghai and Mumbai and villages of West Africa, our goal is to nourish one million minds by 2020.

To learn more, visit http://www.thehersheycompany.com
Effective school-to-college articulation for U.S. students of world languages is critical for the preparation of a new generation of Americans ready to enter the global workforce.

American Councils for International Education (AC), an international education nonprofit headquartered in Washington, D.C., the International Korean Educators Network (IKEN), an international network of Korean language educators, and the K-12 Korean Language Teachers Association USA (KLTA) announced a collaboration to strengthen the study and teaching of Korean language and culture in the U.S.

Initiating the new partnership, AC and IKEN representatives will offer a professional development seminar for Korean language teachers in the greater Los Angeles area in support of the new National Examinations in World Languages (NEWL-Korean). NEWL-Korean is a portfolio of interactive proficiency exams (speaking, listening, reading, and integrated writing) endorsed by The College Board and designed to provide both traditional and heritage high school students of Korean with the opportunity to demonstrate their linguistic and cultural competencies in Korean for college admissions, placement, or credit by examination purposes.

Effective school-to-college articulation for U.S. students of world languages is critical for the preparation of a new generation of Americans ready to enter the global workforce and interact effectively and appropriately within America's own increasingly diverse society, noted Dr. Dan E. Davidson, President of American Councils. "We are very pleased to cooperate with IKEN in this important new project.

IKEN and KLTA will host the NEWL-Korean workshop at the Korean Education Center of Los Angeles for Korean language teachers to support the upcoming launch of the NEWL Korean proficiency exam in spring 2017.

We are glad to step forward to benefit students and teachers of Korean in this way. IKEN and KLTA very much look forward to our cooperation with American Councils in support of NEWL-Korean, noted IKEN co-presidents Ellen Park and Sung Kim.

As a nonprofit organization, IKEN fosters and supports U.S.-based Korean language educators and their students and parents in Korean dual-language programs and Korean language classes in public and private schools. Similarly, KLTA works to advance Korean language education worldwide and bolsters the development of teaching materials and methodology for Korean language teachers.

The partners will collaborate to increase public awareness of the study of Korean language and culture in the U.S., support the development of Korean language and culture programs, identify professional development opportunities for Korean language educators, and engage in joint research related to the study and teaching of Korean.

NEWL Korean Workshop Information

February 4, 2017  9:00AM - 4:00PM

Korean Education Center Los Angeles #213

680 Wilshire Place, Suite 401

Los Angeles, CA 90005

Email: sungkim271[at]gmail[dot]com

About the International Korean Educators Network

The International Korean Educators Network (IKEN) is founded on establishing a systematic support network of educating our future generation of Korean heritage students by strengthening their identity as Koreans through Korean language and cultural education as productive, global citizens of the future.

IKEN will take an active role in supporting educators of Korean language and culture in different types of schools such as Korean Dual Language Program, Korean language classes as a foreign language in secondary schools, and Korean community language schools in the world to share a common pedagogy in positively influencing the future generation. IKEN also emphasizes developing the technology based instructional materials, such as K-12 Korean online curriculum and Korean online courses, which incorporate to the Common Core States Standards and ACTFL Proficiency Scope and Sequence.

This objective is made possible with the active support of Korean policy makers and community partners by promoting the Korean language as a world language and Korean cultural contents such as K-POP

About the Korean Language Teacher Association

The Korean Language Teachers Association in the USA's (KLTA) main focus is to set forth in the professionalism for the greater vision to globalize the Korean language. This organization supports exchanging useful teaching materials and methodology applicable to the Korean language teachers.

About American Councils

American Councils for International Education is a premier, international nonprofit creating educational opportunities that prepare individuals and institutions to succeed in an increasingly interconnected and rapidly changing world. Through academic exchanges, overseas language immersion, data-driven research, and educational development programs, American Councils designs and administers innovative programs and language assessments that broaden individual perspectives, increase knowledge, and deepen understanding.

For over 40 years, American Councils has responded to the needs of the communities where we work with hundreds of robust, international education programs that span over 80 countries, 40 languages, and are represented by more than 65,000 alumni worldwide, including government leaders, top international educators, business innovators, public officials, and K-16 students.
We are excited to partner with the highly-experienced team at Austin DermCare, said Geoff Wayne, CEO of Dermatology Associates. Their reputation and long-standing presence in Austin further bolsters our market-leading position in Central Texas.

Dermatology Associates (DA) is pleased to announce that it recently completed the acquisition of Austin DermCare (ADC). The transaction closed January 2017. Dermatology Associates is a dermatology-focused physician services and management organization backed by private equity firm ABRY Partners.

Located in Austin, TX, ADC provides services to patients via four board-certified dermatologists and one physician assistant. ADCs providers offer a full suite of clinical, surgical and cosmetic services. ADC has served patients in greater Central Texas for more than 40 years.

Dr. John Fox has been a dermatologist in the Austin area for over 40 years. He received his training at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. He attended medical school there followed by his internship at Cleveland Metropolitan Hospital, and completed his residency at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinic in Hanover, NH. Dr. Fox is board-certified in both dermatology and dermatopathology.

A native of Austin, TX, Dr. Dale Schaefer received his bachelor degree from the University of Texas at Austin with highest honors. He went on to receive his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine, and completed his dermatology residency there as well. Dr. Schaefer is a board-certified dermatologist, and has practiced dermatology in Austin since 1987.

Dr. Margaret Hart joined ADC in July 2003. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and her medical degree from the University of Texas Health Services center at San Antonio where she was elected a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. She then spent one year at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin, TX completing a transitional internship followed by a dermatology residency at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Dr. Hart is a board-certified dermatologist and is an active member of several local and national industry organizations.

Dr. Tom Roark graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in electrical engineering, and practiced engineering for a time prior to attending medical school at UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, TX. He interned in Internal Medicine at Presbyterian Hospital, and then completed his dermatology residency at Baylor College of Medicine in the Texas Medical Center in Houston. Dr. Roark is board-certified in dermatology, and is an active member of several industry societies and organizations.

Joining the physicians of Austin DermCare is Rachel Miller, PA-C, who has been with the practice since 2002. She received her undergraduate degree from Southwest Texas State University and then completed her medical training as a Physician Assistant at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

The acquisition of ADC represents another successful partnership for Dermatology Associates, and further strengthens DAs leadership position in Central Texas.

"We are excited to partner with the highly-experienced team at Austin DermCare, said Geoff Wayne, CEO of Dermatology Associates. Their great reputation and long-standing presence in the Austin area further bolsters our market-leading position in Central Texas.

If you would like more information about Dermatology Associates, or if you have any questions regarding the partnership with ADC, please contact one of the team members listed below:

Dermatology Associates

Geoff Wayne

Chief Executive Officer

Geoff(at)dermatologyassociates(dot)com

Scott Wells

Chief Development Officer

SWells(at)dermatologyassociates(dot)com

Brent Ohlsen

Director of Corporate Development

BOhlsen(at)dermatologyassociates(dot)com

About Dermatology Associates

Headquartered in Dallas, TX, Dermatology Associates provides comprehensive practice management services to over 85 board-certified dermatologists across more than 50 locations in Texas, Kansas and Missouri. Dermatology Associates is focused solely on supporting providers so that they can focus exclusively on delivering high-quality care to patients. By leveraging the benefits of a broad group platform, Dermatology Associates physicians are able to maintain professional autonomy while the business aspects of practice management are handled by its team of experts.

About ABRY Partners

Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, ABRY Partners is an experienced and successful private equity investment firm focused on media, communications, healthcare services, insurance services, business and information services. Since its founding, ABRY has completed more than $62 billion of transactions, representing investments in more than 550 properties.
T38Fax Incorporated announced today that it will be a Gold Sponsor of this years ITEXPO, held February 8-10, 2017 at Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. T38Fax will also be a Platinum Sponsor of Digium Asterisk World which will be held within ITEXPO. These industry-leading business technology events bring together IT professionals and experts to explore the latest technology and trends in cloud, VoIP, FoIP, WebRTC, unified communications and much more.

We are delighted to be returning to ITEXPO and look forward to reconnecting with our customers and interop partners, many of whom will be exhibiting or speaking at this years show, said Darren Nickerson, President of T38Fax. Were especially excited to be highlighting our Service Provider Offload model this year. Its a remarkably simple solution to a long-standing problem that is agonizingly familiar to most VoIP service providers, MSPs and carriers.

Most SIP service providers shy away from the complexities and technical support burden arising from fax traffic on their networks. By contrast, T38Fax wants all of that traffic and has pioneered the idea of a Service Provider Offload model, whereby ITSPs divert their customers fax transmissions by using T38Fax as a preferred route for those faxes. The benefits to the service provider are compelling: they can claim formal T.38 support without the associated support burden, and rest easy knowing their customers' calls are being switched over a network that was specifically built for T.38.

T38Fax's SIP trunking infrastructure was engineered from the ground up by fax experts, is optimized for todays converged voice & data networks and is supported by highly trained engineers. Recognizing that most carrier implementations of T.38 are fundamentally flawed and poorly understood by the carriers own engineering team, T38Fax has developed a robust, reliable, standards-based and feature-rich T.38 implementation that ensures a uniform and consistently high level of successful call completion.

Registration for ITEXPO is now open. For the latest ITEXPO news, updates and information follow the event on Twitter at @ITEXPO.

About T38Fax

Founded in 2012 and based just outside of Philadelphia, PA, T38Fax Incorporated provides fax-optimized SIP trunks to business customers within the US and Canada. Their promise of Simple, Reliable Fax Over IP is fulfilled via a combination of three key features:

1. Consistent T.38: T38Fax sells you their own T.38 instead of their underlying carriers various flawed implementations. By controlling the T.38 stack they are able to make sure its predictable, feature-rich and trouble-free.

2. ECM Error Correction: A facsimile is not guaranteed to be an exact copy without this vital feature of the fax protocol. Most carriers mistakenly turn off ECM. T38Fax offers ECM on all calls, and recommends all devices be configured to use it.

3. Premium Fax Support: T38Fax offers unlimited free support from fax industry veterans. They use science, not superstition, when troubleshooting fax issues.

For more information, visit T38Fax at http://www.t38fax.com or call their sales team at 888-536-4499.

T38Fax Media Contact:

Dana Meltzer

Marketing Manager

215-825-8720 x 8102

dana(dot)meltzer(at)t38fax.com

About TMC

Global buyers rely on TMCs content-driven marketplaces to make purchase decisions and navigate markets. This presents branding, thought leadership and lead generation opportunities for vendors/sellers.

TMCs Marketplaces:



Unique, turnkey Online Communities boost search results, establish market validation, elevate brands and thought leadership, while minimizing ad-blocking.

Custom Lead Programs uncover sales opportunities and build databases.

In-Person and Online Events boost brands, enhance thought leadership and generate leads.

Publications, Display Advertising and Newsletters bolster brand reputations.

Custom Content provides expertly ghost-crafted blogs, press releases, articles and marketing collateral to help with SEO, branding, and overall marketing efforts.

Comprehensive Event and Road Show Management Services help companies meet potential clients and generate leads face-to-face.

For more information about TMC and to learn how they can help you reach your marketing goals, please visit http://www.tmcnet.com.

TMC Media and Analyst Contact:

Jessica Seabrook

Marketing Director

203-852-6800 x 170

jseabrook(at)tmcnet(dot)com
Home security, indoor and outdoor lighting design and countless other services are now highlighted and explained on a newly designed and launched customer-friendly website. Teague Security is updating its image, along with its website, in an effort to provide customers a more interactive, educational experience when it comes to their security and peace of mind.

Over the past few years, the security industry has underwent a revolution. The professional staff from Teague Security has recognized this trend and are more than ready to offer their customers the shopping experience they deserve. With the newly revamped website, customers can find answers to commonly asked questions, view popular products, and get an idea of what they want prior to even calling the friendly staff waiting on the other end of the phone at Teague Security.

This company has been a leading supplier of Kansas City Home Security needs in the KC metro and surrounding areas for a number of years. With this latest website improvement, it means that it is now time for homeowners to consider the services and benefits this reputable and reliable company has to offer them.

When going online, visitors to the newly designed website can learn about the services offered by Teague Security, as well as why this company has risen to the top in the field. This ensures customers know exactly what they need and want, and why they want to use Teague prior to making a call.

Quality home security is a multi-step process. The professionals from Teague Security understand this, which is why they offer consultation appointments for any service a customer needs. From beginning to end, customers can have peace of mind they are receiving top-notch quality products, in addition to all the information they require to make an educated decision regarding the residential security services they need.

While selecting the right products is important, it is only half of the process. This is why Teague Security also offers professional installation services. From home security systems, to simple cameras for the garage, and everything in between, Teague Security can handle all home security and installation needs.

When customers call Teague Security, they can feel confident that an experienced and professional crew will show up to ensure that the right products and services are provided to provide the end goal for the customer.

Teague Security serves the Kansas City and surrounding areas with all the necessary insurance and licensing to ensure customers get the services they want and need, without the worry of sub-par technicians. Take some time to browse around the new website to learn all about the services provided by Teague Security.
Cronycle - The Content Curation and Collaboration Platform integrates with Newsletter Tool Publicate "Cronycle is a platform designed to allow users to curate content and ignite insight through collaboration. When we saw Publicate in action we knew this would delight users by giving them the power to create and share curated content.

London-based software developer Cronycle has announced a new integration with newsletter tool Publicate. The integration stands to benefit users from both platforms, as content saved and discovered in Cronycle can be used to create beautiful newsletters and easily-consumed content.

The integration is a simple way for Cronycle users to push content directly to a newsletter, and is also a simple way for Publicate users to deliver new content directly to their subscribers.

This news follows the companys recent announcement of $2.6 million in raised funding in July of 2016, originally reported by TechCrunch. The Series A funding was procured from Andurance Ventures, which helped create the enterprise platform. The company previously raised $2.5 Million in a seed round.

The new integration will benefit anyone who relies on email subscribers for their business, as well as content marketers, email marketers and more. Users will now be able to push content from their Cronycle Boards straight to a newsletter.

Cronycle CEO Theo Priestley believes the company is uniquely positioned to transform online content curation and aggregation, stating that "Cronycle is a platform designed to allow users to curate information and ignite insight by sharing that content collaboratively. He goes on to say When we saw Publicate in action we knew this would delight our users even further by giving them the power to create and share curated newsletters to an even wider audience. Cronycle plus Publicate is a truly powerful combination especially in today's world where discovering and sharing trusted news content is now a priority."

The new service enables its users to collate information into one platform and share their knowledge directly with their audience and subscribers through a newsletter. Marketers and consultants will often save information on word docs before sharing that content with clients and stakeholders. This integration improves this process and makes it more efficient.

"We are really excited about this integration with Cronycle. Our mission is to empower the world to create beautiful, engaging content, and this takes us another step closer, notes Publicate Founder, Chris Bradley. By combining the powerful content discovery of Cronycle with the seamless content creation of Publicate, it means that together we can offer customers the entire content creation workflow, end to end."

Cronycle is currently available for download, free at the App Store and Android Marketplace for smartphone and tablet devices. Publicate plans currently start at $15 per month to $99 for businesses that include unlimited integration, unlimited publications, analytics and much more. To learn more about the companys newest integration, please visit: http://www.cronycle.com/publicate/ for more details.

About:

Cronycle is the brainchild of Nicolas Granatino and Pierre Andurand and was created in 2013 with the goal of turning information abundance into actionable intelligence. Cronycle is a single platform that inspires users to curate, collaborate and communicate quality content. By connecting creative minds and trusted sources, Cronycle makes it faster and easier to generate insight and make smart business decisions. The research collaboration platform is headquartered in London, England.
Saint Marys commitment to providing a transformative student experience that is both challenging and inclusive reflects the colleges longstanding culture of excellence. --Dr. Mary Todd, Society Executive Director

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi will install its 340th chapter at Saint Mary's College of California on Wednesday, January 25. Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi is the nations oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Founded in 1863, Saint Marys College is located in Moraga, California.

The installation of the Saint Marys chapter comes after a thorough chartering process and approval from the Societys board of directors. To be eligible, an institution must be a regionally accredited four-year college or university with an established reputation of excellence and an expressed commitment to upholding the values of the Society.

Phi Kappa Phi is pleased to welcome Saint Marys College of California to its growing community of scholars, said Society Executive Director Dr. Mary Todd. Saint Marys commitment to providing a transformative student experience that is both challenging and inclusive reflects the colleges longstanding culture of excellence.

Officers elected by the chartering group to serve the newly installed chapter include President Richard Lemberg, President-elect Jim Sauerberg, Secretary Emily Hause, Treasurer David W. Bird and Public Relations Officer Michael K. McKeon.

Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 under the leadership of Marcus L. Urann who had a desire to create a different kind of honor societyone that recognized excellence in all academic disciplines. Today, the Society has chapters on more than 300 campuses in the United States and the Philippines and inducts approximately 30,000 new members each year. Membership is by invitation only to the top 7.5 percent of juniors and the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students, along with faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

More about Phi Kappa Phi

The Societys mission is "To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others." Since its founding, more than 1.25 million members have been initiated. Some of the organization's more notable members include former President Jimmy Carter, NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, novelist David Baldacci and YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley. The Society has awarded approximately $15 million since the inception of its awards program in 1932. Today, $1.4 million is awarded each biennium to qualifying students and members through graduate fellowships, undergraduate study abroad grants, member and chapter awards, and grants for local and national literacy initiatives. For more information about Phi Kappa Phi, visit http://www.PhiKappaPhi.org. For more information about St. Mary's College visit https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/.
Google Ann Arbor is hosting an SS Digital Media event in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017. The event will discuss the senior healthcare industry and how businesses can effectively maximize their marketing budgets.

The event will feature SS Digital Media Founder, Nick Skislak and representatives from Google New York, Taylor Korbryn and Isha Vij. Registration will cost $25 and include coffee, a provided lunch and an exclusive tour of Google Ann Arbor. A tentative schedule for the event is as follows:

10 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. SS Digital Media Presentation

10:55 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Google Presentation

11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. Lunch and Networking Event

12:45 p.m. - 1 p.m. Tour of Google Ann Arbor

Speakers will discuss various aspects of digital marketing and how they apply to the senior healthcare industry, including, but not limited to:



The digital marketing revolution

Tracking online successes and failures

How to increase web traffic and conversion rates

How to optimize your marketing budget

If you are interested, please register for the event by completing the registration form.

SS Digital Media is a full-service digital marketing and advertising agency located in Troy, Mich. For more information, contact SS Digital Medias Project Manager, Tessa Feeley by phone at 248-629-9594 or via email at tessa(at)ssdigitalmedia(dot)com.
View of Living Water Car Wash Living Water Express Car Wash is expected to open in spring, 2017

This car wash isnt just another place to wash cars. Its a breakthrough in car wash technology, from the building design to the belt conveyor and innovative car wash process technology, says partner Chad Roach, one of the owners of Living Water Car Wash. Our group has over 12 years of experience in washing cars in the Littleton area, and weve heard what folks are asking for.

Roach explains that the new express exterior tunnel car wash can wash a car in less than 3 minutes from entrance to exit, all without the driver ever leaving their seat. With prices starting as low as $7 per wash and all wash packages including free vacuums and mat cleaners, Roach anticipates that many folks will permanently change their car washing habits after trying the new location.

Customers can sign up for a monthly account that allows them unlimited washes for one low monthly price. And with new RFID technology, this allows customers to drive up and never even roll their window down  the RFID system will automatically recognize the customer and direct them straight to the tunnel entrance.

The new STI belt system featured on Living Water Car Wash is the most technologically advanced system Roach knows of, and is the first of its kind in the entire country. Once the car enters the tunnel, they will seamlessly glide onto the belt conveyor for an experience as simple as stepping on a moving walkway. This will be a huge difference for customers used to the old-style system of driving their tire into a narrow channel and getting pushed through the tunnel by a chain conveyor. The STI belt system was engineered in Canada by a company that specializes in washing cars from the gritty difficult road conditions of the Canadian foothills and countryside.

Roach looks forward to meeting the customers at this new facility. Folks who come to Living Water will find out that we operate an entirely different kind of business . . . one built for serving customers so well theyll leave anticipating the next time they can have their car pampered by Living Water Car Wash!

Living Water Express Car Wash is expected to open sometime in spring, 2017. Prizes, give-aways, and free car washes for all customers will be handed out during the grand opening which will be announced on their website at http://www.LivingWaterCarWash.com

--

For more pictures of Living Water Express Car Wash, please use their contact information below.

Living Water Express Car Wash is being constructed by Aaron Voorhees of Car Wash Construction, one of the leading construction firms for the car wash industry in Colorado. Car Wash Construction has erected tunnel car wash systems around the Rocky Mountain Region, and has over 10 years of experience serving the car wash industry.

STI Conveyor Systems is based out of Toronto, Canada, and develops the most innovative car wash belt systems available on the market today. The Living Water Express belt conveyor system will be the first of its kind in the United States.

Contacts

Chad Roach

Owner, Living Water Express Car Wash

6646 S Wadsworth Blvd, Littleton, CO 80123

info(at)livingwatercarwash.com

http://www.LivingWaterCarWash.com

Phone: (303) 956-3455

Aaron Voorhees

Owner, Car Wash Construction

info(at)carwashconstruction.com

http://www.CarWashConstruction.com

Phone: (303) 872-8557

Rob Stephenson

Owner, STI Conveyor Systems

rstephenson(at)sticonveyor.com

http://www.sticonveyor.com

Phone: (705) 728-4868
The extensive renovation at the Embassy Suites DFW Airport North will enable the hotel to provide guests with state-of-the-art meeting and event accommodations, along with providing a highly satisfying stay overall, said Todd Raburn, General Manager.

The 329-suite Embassy Suites DFW Airport North has broken ground on a $13 million renovation including its lobby, atrium, Starbucks, restaurant, and all meeting rooms, with guestrooms to follow. The hotel is owned and managed by Atrium Hospitality, based in Alpharetta, GA.

The Embassy Suites DFW Airport North provides guests with a full complement of services and amenities, including free made-to-order breakfast each morning, a nightly complimentary evening reception, and two-room suites with a separate living area, private bedroom, two flat-screen high-definition televisions, and wet bar fitted with a microwave, mini-fridge, and a selection of gourmet coffees and teas from Starbucks.

Additionally, the Grapevine Embassy Suites features 28,000 square feet of meeting space including 20 meeting rooms, as well concierge services, a small gift shop, and complimentary 24-hour business and fitness centers. Located next to Bass Pro Shop and just two miles north of the DFW Airport, the hotel also offers complimentary airport transportation.

For reservations, visit Embassy Suites DFW Airport North at http://www.embassysuitesdfwnorth.com or call 972-724-2600.

About Embassy Suites by Hilton

Embassy Suites by Hilton, one of Hiltons 13 market-leading brands, is dedicated to delivering what matters most to travelers. The full service, upscale brand offers two-room suites, free made-to-order breakfast and a nightly two-hour reception with complimentary drinks and snacks. Both leisure and business travelers looking for a relaxed, yet sophisticated experience will feel right at home with brand-standard amenities like inviting atriums and complimentary 24-hour business and fitness centers. Embassy Suites by Hilton has more than 230 hotels with more than 40 in the pipeline. Hilton HHonors members who book directly through preferred Hilton channels receive instant benefits, including an exclusive member discount that cant be found anywhere else, free standard Wi-Fi and digital amenities like digital check-in with room selection and Digital Key (selected locations) available exclusively through the industry-leading Hilton HHonors app. For more information, visit embassysuites.com or news.embassysuites.com. Social media users may connect with Embassy Suites by Hilton at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About Atrium Hospitality

Atrium Hospitality is a leading hotel and asset management company, headquartered in Alpharetta, GA, overseeing a portfolio of hotels licensed primarily through the Marriott, Hilton, and Intercontinental brand families. In addition, Atrium Hospitality provides asset management and accounting services to a number of other hotel debt and equity investments held by the companys ownership groups. With a best in class executive team, Atrium strives to maximize the financial performance and value of every property and investment, provide a positive experience to every guest and associate, and bring to life a culture that promotes the four core values of Perseverance, Respect, Service, and Teamwork.
A legislative committee on Tuesday voted to advance bills on electronic hunting tags and clarifying what it means to hunt from a vehicle, while tabling a bill requiring anglers to use barbless hooks on catch-and-release streams.

SB50

The Senate Fish and Game Committee first took action on Senate Bill 50, introduced by Sen. J.P. Pomnichowski, D-Bozeman. The bill allows Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks authority to pursue electronic validation for hunting carcass tags. Current law requires hunters to validate paper tags for animals such as elk and turkeys by cutting out the date.

FWP noted that specifics on implementing electronic tags would be the subject of future working group discussions.

Concerns over data collection, and whether FWP would collect specific hunter locations, spurred debate during the bills hearing and brought a pair of amendments Tuesday seeking to limit collection authority.

Ultimately amended to the bill is language that prohibits the department from gathering GPS hunter locations.

The committee voted unanimously to move SB50 to the Senate floor.

SB91

Senate Bill 91, brought by Sen. Jedediah Hinkle, R-Bozeman, seeks to clarify hunting from a vehicle. The current law is overly broad and subject to selective interpretation by law enforcement, he said, with the bill defining legal hunting as having two feet outside of a vehicle.

The clarification only pertains to non-highways, such as private roads. Separate statutes prohibit shooting from highways or rights of way.

Hinkle amended the bill Tuesday, citing public response to further clarify a person must be physically outside of a vehicle to legally shoot.

An amendment from Sen. Tom Facey, D-Missoula, which would have prohibited the hunter or the weapon from touching the vehicle, was voted down 9-2, with Sen. Chas Vicent, R-Libby, stating that he believed a more ethical shot could be executed using the vehicle as a rest, citing those with physical limitations.

SB91 passed committee 8-3 with Hinkles amendment to move to the Senate floor.

SB74

The bill, which drew support from FWP and fly-fishing outfitters but opposition from Walleyes Unlimited and the Montana Wildlife Federation, would have required anglers to use barbless hooks on waters deemed catch and released by the Fish and Wildlife Commission.
Daisy Intelligence Corporation, an artificial intelligence software-as-a-service company, announced today the inaugural Daisy A.I. challenge 24-hour Hackathon, to be held January 28-29, 2017, at the University of University of Torontos Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, St. George Campus. Sponsored by NVIDIA and Cogeco Peer 1, the Daisy A.I. Hackathon event is open to all engineering and computer science students at the University of Toronto. For more information, interested participants and observers should visit http://www.daisyintelligence.com/results on January 30 for coverage on the results and winners.

The competition will start at 10:00am EST on January 28, and contestants will have 24 hours to design and build their programming projects. Several Daisy Intelligence engineers and Daisy founder and CEO Gary Saarenvirta will be onsite offering help and expertise where needed. At the end of the coding period, teams will go head-to-head for a chance to win monetary prizes and an opportunity for an internship at Daisy Intelligence.

A total of 56 student teams have registered for the competition. They will be tasked to solve highly complex parallel computing problems by utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning methods. Participation is open to all skill levels: the competition is designed to be completed by participants with a range of programming skills and experience levels.

Were thrilled to work with our partners at NVIDIA, Cogeco Peer 1 and the University of Toronto on this event, said Saarenvirta. Were honoured to host our first hackathon with the support of the best hardware and technology providers in the industry at the world renowned engineering school at the University of Toronto. Theres a lot of great talent in our city and we cant wait to see what they have in store for us.

A.I. is driving the next industrial revolution, and GPU deep learning is powering it, said Kimberly Powell, Senior Director of A.I. Business Development at NVIDIA. Were supporting the Canadian computer engineering community to encourage students to get familiar with state-of-the-art A.I. computing platforms and transform their ideas into cool applications.

While winning a prize is always nice, the point is to bring students together so they can learn from each other and provide a practical environment where they can apply their skills, said Saarenvirta. Through this hackathon, were helping train the next generation of A.I. scientists and engineers in the most exciting area of emerging technology, artificial intelligence, which is critical to fostering Canadian innovation and global competitiveness.

About Daisy Intelligence

Daisy Intelligence is an artificial intelligence software-as-a-service company that analyzes very large quantities of our clients transaction and operational data in order to make automated operational decision recommendations which our clients can immediately action to improve their business. Using our proprietary mathematical solutions and the Daisy A.I. based simulation platform, Daisy Intelligence analyzes 100% of the tradeoffs inherent in any complex business question and provides weekly, specific recommendations to help our corporate clients grow total sales, improve margins, reduce fraud and delight customers. http://www.daisyintelligence.com

About Cogeco Peer 1

Cogeco Peer 1 is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cogeco Communications Inc. (TSX: CCA) and is a global provider of essential business-to-business products and services, such as colocation, network connectivity, hosting, cloud and managed services that allow customers across Canada, Mexico, the United States and Western Europe to focus on their core business. With 16 data centres, extensive FastFiber Network and more than 50 points of presence in North America and Europe combined, Cogeco Peer 1 is a trusted partner to businesses small, medium and large, providing the ability to access, move, manage and store mission-critical data worldwide, backed by superior customer support. To learn more visit http://www.cogecopeer1.com.

About University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

The University of Torontos Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering is Canadas premier engineering school and among best in the world. Our diverse community includes more than 5,400 undergraduates, 2,300 graduate students, 260 academic staff and nearly 50,000 alumni. Through innovations in engineering education, we prepare the next generation of global engineering leaders with strong technical foundations and professional competencies in multidisciplinary research, teamwork, leadership and entrepreneurship. Our faculty members are international leaders in research who collaborate across disciplines to address key global challenges, from new diagnostics and treatments for human diseases to wearable technology, smart cities and renewable energy.

For more information, contact:

Gary Saarenvirta

CEO, Daisy Intelligence Corporation

gsaarenvirta(at)daisyintel.com

905.642.2629 ext. 221

Shawna Gee

Director, Communications, Cogeco Peer 1

shawna.gee(at)cogecopeer1.com

Christina Heidorn

External Relations Officer, Division of Engineering Science

Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto

engsci(at)ecf.utoronto.ca

416.978.8634
I think 'Bass Ball' is a great, innovative record with some of the best bass players in the world, encompassing a variety of styles. Bunny Brunel

If you like the bass, then you will love "Bass Ball," a new CD encompassing everything thats great about the bass. The innovative album is produced by Bunny Brunel and Stanley Clarke; and has been five years in the making. "Bass Ball" stars Bunny Brunel and Stanley Clarke, featuring solos by Billy Sheehan, Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Armand Sabal-Lecco (who also composed Stand Out on the album), and more. Wanting to add a French flavor, Bunny Brunel invited a few musicians, including bass players from his country to be a part history in the making.

The French bass players who also play on 'Bass Ball' are famous in France, but not well known here. I was the one who had the privilege to come to America and play with Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, and others. But there were many bass players in France who were also very good, remarks Bunny Brunel.

I wanted to write a song from my hometown in Nice, France. At the very entrance of Nice is a bay called Baie des Anges [translation: Bay of the Angels]. So I composed and named the tune 'Bay of the Angels' and decided to have musicians from my hometown perform on the song; they are trombonist Alex Perdigon, trumpeter Eric Giausserand, bass players Tony Bonfils, Dominique Bertram, Fifi Chayeb (Billy Cobham). There are other songs featuring Josquin Des Pres from St. Tropez, and Marc Bertaux and Hadrien Feraud from Paris, concludes Bunny Brunel.

"Bass Ball" features a Whos Who of drummers with Dennis Chambers, John Wackerman, Simon Phillips, Steve Ferrone, Johan Franzon, Ike Wiley, Clayton Cameron, and Bryan Cabrera. On Percussion are Chris Moraga and Monette Moreno. Playing keyboards on a few of the tunes is Nick Smith and Larry Dunn (Earth, Wind & Fire). Dunn composed a song with his wife Luisa called Lulua track filled with layered keyboards and complex, melodic arrangements. Luisa Dunn adds her lush background vocals to the tune. Lulu also features flutist Kaylene Peoples (who also plays flute on two additional tracks).

Bunny Brunel and Stanley Clarke make their presence know on all of the songs on "Bass Ball." The two virtuosos (Bunny and Stanley) have very distinctive playing and soloing styles, making it easy to guess who's playing what on the album. In the liner notes, "Bass Ball" carefully outlines each bass player's part. However, If you know your bass players, you'll have no trouble identifying these iconic players.

"I like the fact that 'Bass Ball' is going to give people an opportunity to hear some of the best bass players theyve never heard before. Stanley Clarke

As far as the featured instruments: Bunny Brunel plays the ESP fretted bass, fretless bass, and piccolo bass; and Stanley Clarke plays Alembic basses, piccolo bass, and acoustic bass.

All the bass players are truly the stars on this album, making "Bunny Brunel and Friends - Bass Ball" the first CD of its kind in the history of recorded albums. Rest assured . . . There will be a 'Bass Ball 2!' Bunny Brunel and Stanley Clarke

"Bunny Brunel & Friends - Bass Ball" by Nikaia Records will be available February 2017 on iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon.com, and in stores. Contact Sean McKenzie of First Take PR (http://www.firsttakepr.com / E: sean(at)firsttakepr.com) for more details.

--------

About Bunny Brunel:

Grammy-nominated, virtuoso Bunny Brunel is a French-born, American bass player who is best known as one of the four founding members who started the "Bass Fusion Movement," along with Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorius, and Jeff Berlin. He has performed and recorded with Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Al Jarreau, Natalie Cole, Tony Williams, Georges Moustaki, Michel Polnareff, Jack DeJohnette, Milt Jackson, Dizzy Gillespie, and Stevie Wonder, just to name a few. Also known for his many bass instruction books, Bunny Brunel designed for Gibson in 1986, for Carvin in 1992 (for several years); and since 2015 he has been designing basses for ESP (the Bunny Brunel LTD Signature Series). Brunel is also one of the few famous bass players alive who conceived, designed, and constructed his own electric upright bassthe Bunny Brunel Electric Upright Bass (BBEUB). Brunel has put out countless solo albums and is the founding member of the Grammy-nominated fusion band "CAB" (co-founded with Tony MacAlpine, and Dennis Chambers). He is also a founding member of iNow, a new group with Patrick Moraz (Yes, Moody Blues) and Virgil Donati. Brunel is a rare musician, making his bass sing. A melodic writer, he creates memorable, melodic overtones, fused with modal changes and dexterous playing. Hearing his music transcends most recordings from the fusion genre simply because even after listening and being blown away by the execution and profound changesas complex as his music isyou walk away humming his melodies. Experiencing Bunny Brunel live in concert is transformative as well as spiritual. Nothing compares to the auditory, sensory fulfillment when you drink in a performance by this masterful bass sorcerer!

About Stanley Clarke:

Multi-Grammy Award winner Stanley Clarke is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated acoustic and electric bass players in the world. Whats more, he is equally gifted as a recording artist, performer, composer, conductor, arranger, producer, and film score composer. A true pioneer in jazz and jazz-fusion, Clarke is particularly known for his ferocious bass dexterity and consummate musicality. Clarkes creativity has been recognized and rewarded in every way imaginable: gold and platinum records, Grammy Awards, Emmy nominations, virtually every readers and critics poll in existence, and more. He was Rolling Stones very first Jazzman of the Year and bassist winner of Playboys Music Award for ten straight years. Clarke was honored with Bass Player Magazines Lifetime Achievement Award and is a member of Guitar Player Magazines Gallery of Greats. In 2004 he was featured in Los Angeles Magazine as one of the Top 50 Most Influential People. He was honored with the key to the city of Philadelphia, a Doctorate from Philadelphias University of the Arts and put his hands in cement as a 1999 inductee into Hollywoods Rock Walk. In 2011 he was honored with the highly prestigious Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival for his entire body of work. Clarke won the 2013 and 2014 Downbeat Magazines Readers and Critics Poll for Best Electric Bass Player. Leading the bass liberation movement, Clarke envisioned the bass as a viable, melodic, solo instrument positioned at the front of the stage rather than in a background role; and he was uniquely qualified to take it there. A pioneer at 25, he became the first jazz-fusion bassist in history to headline tours, sell out shows worldwide, and craft albums that achieved gold status.
We are thankful to our many valued customers and partners who have helped to make this 20 year milestone possible and in particular much gratitude to our employees for their dedication and enthusiasm.

IPFone (http://www.ipfone.com) is proud to announce its 20th year as a leading provider of Hosted PBX and Internet Access services with headquarters in South Florida, and branch offices in Jacksonville, Florida and Buenos Aires, Argentina,.

Founded in 1997, IPFone started as a competitive local, long distance and internet service provider. Then in 2002, as technology evolved, IPFone was among the first to deploy a VOIP platform with Broadsoft as the technology partner. Now, IPFone is uniquely positioned to provide a complete solution for all business communications requirements such as Hosted phone system, Internet Access and Cloud Services. IPFones diversified customer base of close to 3,000 companies gives IPFone the expertise to deploy nationwide and worldwide for those customers requiring multi-location features and support.

In the recent years, IPFone has received multiple awards including 2014 Product of Year, Unified Communications Product of the Year 2015 and 2016, and Internet Telephony Hosted VoIP Excellence Award for 2016.

We are thankful to our many valued customers and partners who have helped to make this 20 year milestone possible and in particular much gratitude to our employees for their dedication and enthusiasm. We look forward to continued growth in this ever changing industry said Damian Chmielewski, President and CEO of IPFone.
John's Crazy Socks Co-Founder John Cronin with the Autism Awareness Socks We want to honor the achievements, contributions and struggles of people with autism

Johns Crazy Socks, an online sock store that spreads happiness through socks, is donating to the Autism Society of Americas Nassau/Suffolk Chapter $1 for every pair of Autism Awareness Socks sold. Mark X. Cronin, co-founder of the company said, We want to honor the achievements, contributions and struggles of people with autism. By offering this sock, we help raise awareness of autism and raise money to support individuals with autism and their families.

The socks feature the multi-colored puzzle that has become associated with autism. The design represents the puzzling nature of the condition as well as the many varied contributions that people with autism make to society. The bright colors signify the hope that comes from increased awareness. The socks were designed and made by SockSmith, a cutting edge sock design shop in Santa Cruz, California. People can purchase the Autism Awareness Socks here.

Johns Crazy Socks was co-founded and inspired by John Cronin, a young man with Down Syndrome, and we have a mission to spread happiness through socks. Through Johns work in the company every day, Johns Crazy Socks demonstrates that people should not be judged on their limitations, but on the difference they make for others.

Johns Crazy Socks offers socks that people can love: beautiful colorful, fun and crazy socks that let people express their passions and personalities. We deliver the socks through fast and personal service and every package includes a hand-written thank you note from John. The company ships world-wide, but John still makes personal local deliveries. John says, I like to meet our customers and make them happy.

Giving back is part of the core mission of Johns Crazy Socks. The company has pledged five percent of its earnings to the Special Olympics. John is a Special Olympics athlete and he and his family have witnessed the positive impact the Special Olympics has on so many lives.

It was John who initiated the project to do something for people affected by autism. John says, Some of my best friends have autism and people should know how great they are. The idea was simple. Find a sock that was beautiful and would help raise awareness about autism. To further the cause, the firm decided to donate $1 from the sale of each sock to the Autism Society of America Nassau/Suffolk Chapter.

We chose the Nassau Suffolk Autism Society of America (NSASA) based on feedback from our customers, our Facebook community and families we know affected by autism, explained Mark X. Cronin. NSASA has a mission to provide lifelong access and opportunity for all individuals within the autism spectrum and their families. They offer events and programs and conduct education and advocacy initiatives at the local, state and federal levels. We were touched by the level of personal commitment to the families affected by autism.

To learn more about the Nassau Suffolk Autism Society of America (NSASA), you can visit their website or call (516) 404-2306.

You can learn more about John and Johns Crazy Socks at our website and our Facebook page. You can also call 631-760-5625 or reach us via email at service(at)johnscrazysocks.com.
Lithium Motors - Virtual Automobile Showroom Experience "...it provides an immersive and interactive experience that cannot be achieved with more traditional sales approaches."

Over New Years weekend, San Francisco based creative agency, Transparent House, quietly dropped a revolutionary virtual reality application that creates an interactive virtual showroom experience for its in-house designed luxury car, Lithium Motors. The tool shows producers how VR can be leveraged as a sales-driving marketing tool.

Only six days after the application went live on Viveport.com, the application received 1,000+ downloads. It was quickly moved to the Featured section on the Viveport app store and now just three weeks after release, it is still going strong at 2,600+ downloads. The app allows the viewer to admire the sleek design of the automobile from varying angles and interact with it by opening the door, turning on lights, and viewing the inside. A customizable feature presents the viewer with an option to change the color of the exterior and interior materials of the vehicle.

With international buyers becoming a driving consumer base for the automobile industry, the need to create a transportable showroom has become more vital, said Transparent House President, Denis Krylov. Not only does virtual reality increase reach, it provides an immersive and interactive experience that cannot be achieved with more traditional sales approaches.

The rise of the VR industry in the last few years has yielded a lot of discussion about hardware and gaming. This new application, however, demonstrates VRs applicability as a sales or marketing tool, thus solidifying a place for virtual reality in consumer business. Transparent House continues to push the boundaries in the field of virtual reality.

For more information or questions regarding Transparent House or Lithium Motors please contact the San Francisco office at sf(at)transparenthouse.com or visit goo.gl/wTBiCv.

About Transparent House

With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Moscow and Berlin, Transparent House (TH) is the next-generation creative studio that excels at the intersection of digital, art, and commerce. Specializing in the creation of stunning 3D assets, branded environments and high-end retail developments, TH employs strategic digital innovation and 3D for high-profile, future-looking brands. With design and 3D in our DNA, TH is equally adept in creative development as well as production, all of which happens around the clock through the companys interconnected global network. Simply put, our goal is making 3D the spectacular core of your brands marketing campaigns. Experience the future of strategic marketing design and production today at http://transparenthouse.com.
TopVet Logo Were positioning ourselves to be the ZocDoc / OpenTable of the veterinary world

Today, TopVet, an innovative cloud-based technology start-up, has confirmed that it has officially launched the veterinary industry's very first comprehensive marketplace that connects pet owners with more than 20,000 local vet clinics and hospitals internationally. A remarkable rate of 8% year-on-year growth in the sector is being driven by compelling technological innovations. In fact, the global veterinary healthcare market is estimated to reach $40 billion by 2021 with veterinary software sales predicted to hit $369 million by 2019.

As a robust consumer-centric start-up, TopVet is a smart free service for pet owners and veterinary practices. With headquarters in Exeter in the United Kingdom, the new marketplace provides vets with the tools required to drive new business and improve customer retention levels by enabling veterinary clinics to build upon their loyal client base and simplify the process of serving customers online.

Were positioning ourselves to be the ZocDoc / OpenTable of the veterinary world, asserted, Graham Church, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), TopVet and the Creator of the online project management tool PlanITpoker and the Founder of the software development company CodeFirst. Theres a large gap between the best modern web apps and the current systems available for managing veterinary practices. Were aiming to fill that gap by offering the highest quality software that both veterinary staff and their customers will find very easy to use.

Key Benefits of TopVet for Pet Owners:



Quickly find and book a local veterinary practice.

Easily manage appointments and pet medical records online.

Works across all mobile devices.

Communicate via SMS.

Key Benefits of TopVet for Veterinarians:



Simply manage appointments, reminders, staff, customers and patients from any online device.

Increase customer retention using automated marketing tools.

Attract new business through the TopVet marketplace.

Improved online presence and reputation management.

About TopVet:

Since 2015, TopVet has been gaining traction internationally. It now stands out as the only expertly designed and dedicated veterinary software in the world that is driving new business for free by serving the needs of pet owners and veterinarians. Visit our website to discover over 20,000 trusted vets around the world or list your veterinary practice and grow your business online for free today: https://topvet.net/
"Citrix has been an exceptional partner and key part of our strategy. Our teams have collaborated to deliver many projects that have greatly enhanced how Citrixs solutions enable our clients business. - Jim Hart, President, Burwood Group

Burwood Group, a leading consulting firm that bridges business strategy and technology solutions, announced today that among thousands of Citrix partners, it has received one of the highest annual distinctions: 2016 North America Citrix Solution Advisor Partner of the Year for its commitment to provide the most effective, transformative solutions to its customers. The award, which is reserved for Citrix partners who hold at least two Citrix specializations and is based on a number of factors including total net new partner sourced bookings and total Citrix Advisor Rewards validated bookings, was announced at the 2017 Citrix Summit in Anaheim, CA.

It is a privilege to be named a Partner of the Year by Citrix, said Jim Hart, President at Burwood Group, a Citrix Platinum Solution Advisor. Citrix has been an exceptional partner and key part of our strategy. Our teams have collaborated to deliver many projects that have greatly enhanced how Citrixs solutions enable our clients business. This award is a testament to the technical skills, experience, and hard work of our teams.

Citrix is honored to recognize Burwood Group as the North America CSA Partner of the Year for its exceptional achievements in 2016, said Rafael Garzon, Vice President, Americas Partners at Citrix. Burwood has demonstrated its commitment to our mutual customers and its unwavering ability to drive new opportunities to provide them with technology and business strategy to enable their organizations to thrive. We are excited to build on this relationship in 2017 and the years ahead.

About Burwood Group

Burwood Group is a systems integrator, helping forward-thinking IT leaders deliver knowledge to the end-user within the organizations unique business context to increase profitability, reduce risk and enhance customer loyalty. We partner with leading technology and service organizations to provide tailored product and industry solutions. We work to ensure an optimal fit for each individual client. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Burwood Group serves local, national and international clients. We pride ourselves in being trusted business advisors to clients by providing smarter solutions that deliver better outcomes. Visit http://www.burwood.com.
It is an honor to once again receive the AWLP Seal of Distinction. said Peter Burki, LifeCare Chairman & Chief Executive Officer. For almost 33 years we have committed ourselves to helping clients, their employees, and the employees of LifeCare

WorldatWork, a nonprofit HR association and compensation authority, is proud to announce that LifeCare has earned WorldatWorks Seal of Distinction for 2017 for the sixth straight year. The seal is a unique mark of excellence designed to identify organizational success in total rewards effectiveness. LifeCare is one of 160 organizations to be honored as a 2017 recipient. All of the 2017 recipients will be recognized during the WorldatWork Total Rewards Conference & Exhibition, held in Washington, D.C. from May 7-10.

It is an honor to once again receive the AWLP Seal of Distinction, said Peter Burki, LifeCare Chairman & Chief Executive Officer. For almost 33 years we have committed ourselves to helping clients, their employees and the employees of LifeCare be successful both in the workplace and at home. We look forward to continuing our support for them as they navigate through their personal needs and life events.

Begun in 2012, the prestigious Seal of Distinction is awarded to companies that meet defined standards of workplace programs, policies and practices weighted on several factors, such as the complexity of implementation, required organizational resources, perceived breadth of access and overall level of commitment from leadership. Applicants are evaluated on:



Health & wellness

Pay for time not worked

Unpaid time off

Retirement

Perquisites

Base pay

Bonus programs

Short-term incentives

Long-term incentives

Performance management

Recognition

Development opportunities

Caring for dependents

Culture initiatives & community involvement

Financial wellness

Workplace flexibility

Workforce experience

We congratulate all of the recipients of the 2017 Seal of Distinction. These recipients represent a wide variety of industries from across the U.S. and Canada, showing that the total rewards model applies to employers and employees everywhere, stated Anne C. Ruddy, president and CEO of WorldatWork. This year, we saw the highest number of applicants since the Seal of Distinction was created. Im confident that this means an increasing number of companies are recognizing the importance of a workplace environment that benefits both the employer and employee.

This years recipients represent industries of education, finance, government, health, law, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals  and hail from 36 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. The 2017 list includes 80 companies who are first-time Seal of Distinction recipients. Eighty companies have received the seal in previous years. In addition, 11 organizations, including LifeCare, have qualified every year since WorldatWork started presenting the Seal of Distinction in 2012.

About LifeCare

LifeCare provides employer-sponsored work-life benefits to 61,000 clients, including Fortune 500 companies and large branches of the federal government, representing 100 million members nationwide. In addition to child and backup care solutions, LifeCare also provides a full suite of work-life solutions that save members time with personal life needs such as: elder care, legal and financial issues, health and everyday responsibilities. LifeCare also operates LifeMart, an online discount shopping website that provides real savings on everyday products and needs. LifeCare is headquartered in Shelton, CT.

About WorldatWork

The Total Rewards Association

WorldatWork is a nonprofit human resources association and compensation authority for professionals and organizations focused on compensation, benefits and total rewards. It's our mission to empower professionals to become masters in their fields. We do so by providing thought leadership in total rewards disciplines from the world's most respected experts; ensuring access to timely, relevant content; and fostering an active community of total rewards practitioners and leaders.

WorldatWork has more than 70,000 members and subscribers worldwide; more than 80% of Fortune 500 companies employ a WorldatWork member. Founded in 1955, WorldatWork has offices in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Washington, D.C., and is affiliated with more than 70 human resources associations around the world.

Below is the complete list of 2017 Seal of Distinction recipients:

Alabama

Norton Lilly International, Inc.

Calgary, Alberta

University of Calgary

Arkansas

USAble Life

Arizona

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona

Arizona State University

The University of Arizona

Vantage West Credit Union

British Columbia

University of the Fraser Valley

California

ACI Specialty Benefits

Actelion Pharmaceuticals US

Addepar

Foothill Family

Fremont Bank

Infoblox Inc.

Intuit Inc.

Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA)

Motion Picture Industry Pension & Health Plans

Professional Publications Inc.

Prologis

UCLA Health and David Geffen School of Medicine

University of California, Davis

University of California, Irvine

University of California San Diego

Colorado

Otter Products LLC

Quantum Corporation

Connecticut

LifeCare, Inc.

Yale University

District of Columbia

Advanced Medical Technology Association

American Gas Association

DC Water

Department of Transportation - Federal Aviation Administration

Federal Reserve Board of Governors

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Raffa, P.C.

Summit Consulting LLC

The George Washington University

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Florida

AACSB International

BayCare Health System

Black Knight Financial Services, Inc.

Broward Health

Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority/LYNX

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation

Seminole State College of Florida

Georgia

Alston & Bird LLP

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Emory University

NCR Corporation

Sibley Heart Center Cardiology

SouthCrest Bank N.A.

WellStar Health System

Iowa

ITA Group, Inc.

Principal Financial Group

Wells Enterprises Inc.

Illinois

Feeding America

National Futures Association

Northwestern University

Riverside Healthcare

Sikich LLP

StratEx

Indiana

Old National Bancorp

Kansas

American Multi-Cinema Inc.

Louisiana

LAMMICO

Massachusetts

Babson College

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc.

Globoforce

Kronos Incorporated

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Progress

Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Maryland

Bon Secours Health System, Inc.

Campbell & Company

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield

Continental Realty Corporation

Frederick County Public Schools

Johns Hopkins University and Health System

Marriott International

National Institutes of Health

National Security Agency

Target Community & Educational Services, Inc.

Michigan

CSIG Holding Company

Herman Miller Inc.

Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital

MidMichigan Health

The Taubman Company

University of Michigan

Whirlpool Corporation

Minnesota

AgriBank

AgStar Financial Services

Amplifon Americas

Missouri

City of Kansas City, Missouri

KCP&L

Nestle Purina PetCare Co.

University of Missouri System

Veterans United Home Loans

Montana

Anderson ZurMuehlen & Co. P.C.

Nebraska

TD Ameritrade

New Jersey

BASF Corporation

Becton Dickinson

CRP Industries Inc.

Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.

KPMG LLP

Prudential Financial

Sanofi US

The Electrochemical Society

Nevada

Renown Health

New York

Mastercard

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

MVP Health Care

MetLife

NYU Langone Medical Center

On Deck Capital Inc.

Ralph Lauren

The YMCA of Greater Rochester

North Carolina

BlueCross and BlueShield of North Carolina

NC State University

Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA)

RTI International

Volvo Group North America

Ohio

G&J Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Inc.

Medical Mutual of Ohio

Paycor

Oklahoma

Explorer Pipeline

Ontario

The Co-operators

Oregon

Craft Brew Alliance

Oregon State University

Puppet Inc.

The Standard

Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Brown University

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan Research Council

Tennessee

Smith Seckman Reid Inc.

Texas

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Children's Health

City of Southlake

Dell Inc.

Disability Rights Texas

Geokinetics

Lloyd's Register Americas Inc.

MOGAS Industries, Inc.

Ryan, LLC

Southwest Research Institute

Texas Instruments

Utah

BambooHR

Mountain America Credit Union

O.C. Tanner

Space Dynamics Laboratory

Virginia

DRS Technologies Inc.

George Mason University

M2 Strategy Inc.

SC3 LLC

Vencore

Virginia Commonwealth University

Washington

Energy Northwest

Providence Health & Services

WE Communications

Wisconsin

Runzheimer International
We are gaining an expert in compliance who has been at the forefront of the evolution of compliance in our industry

The Money Source, a national lender and mortgage loan servicer, has hired Shayna Arrington as the companys Chief Compliance Officer to lead the fast-growing mortgage companys regulatory compliance efforts.

Arrington comes to the Melville, N.Y.-based lender with extensive governmental and private sector experience, including positions with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Justice. Arrington was most recently a compliance attorney with the American Mortgage Law Group in San Francisco.



Rick Toma, Chief Operating Officer of The Money Source, praised Arringtons deep industry knowledge and keen understanding of regulatory compliance.

We are truly excited to expand our executive team with such incredible depth and breadth, said Toma. We are gaining an expert in compliance who has been at the forefront of the evolution of compliance in our industry.

Arrington will oversee regulatory compliance within the companys many service lines, including retail lending, correspondent lending, wholesale lending and loan servicing. As The Money Source continues to build out industry-leading mortgage and financial technology, Arrington will assure the technology architecture is driving not only a class-leading user experience but also the highest levels of compliance.

The Money Source has grown rapidly under the direction of a talented and experienced executive team that oversees the companys nationwide expansion. Over the last year, The Money Source has hired more than 500 new employees, opened offices in Santa Ana, Calif.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Dallas, Texas; Meriden, Conn., and funded over $1 billion in new loans in one month. The Money Source was recently honored as a Financial Services Silver Stevie Great Employers award winner. This honor follows recognition in May, when The Money Source was awarded the Bronze Stevie Award for Management Team of the Year.

About The Money Source

The Money Source is a national mortgage lender and mortgage loan servicer, with offices in Santa Ana, Calif.; Walnut Creek, Calif.; Melville, New York; Tempe, Ariz.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Dallas, Texas; and Meriden, Conn. For more information on The Money Source, visit themoneysource.com
It's rewarding to see our students succeed. Proof of our students accomplishments culminates with achievements like this.

Students at two Stratford School locations achieved Honors Status at the 2016-2017 American Math Competition (AMC) 8 examination. The AMC 8 is a middle school mathematics examination created to stimulate the development of advanced problem-solving skills while promoting positive attitudes, enthusiasm, and excitement toward continuing the study of mathematics. The competition is sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

Monisha Gupta, senior director of curriculum and instruction at Stratford School, says, "Our students excel in academic competitions every year because of Stratfords emphasis on excellence, problem-solving and critical thinking. Being challenged by rigorous math problems in class everyday is routine for our students. They welcome and thrive on competition."

The sum of the top three scores ranked students at Stratford Sunnyvale Raynor Middle School and San Jose Middle School in the Honors category. As a result, 20 students at Sunnyvale and 10 students at San Jose have qualified for the opportunity to take the AMC 10, a similar examination for 10th graders. Only the highest-scoring students from AMC 8 proceed to take the AMC 10.

Stratford students participate in the AMC competition annually and have improved their performance each year. This year, Fremont Middle School earned Merit Status while San Francisco Middle School improved its top three Team Score by 30 percent.

It's rewarding to see our students succeed, states Sherry Adams, Stratford School co-founder. Proof of our students accomplishments culminates with achievements like this. A solid foundation for learning begins within our preschool classrooms, and many have been with us since their preschool years. We are so proud of the continued successes our students are experiencing as part of AMC 8.

The Mathematical Association of America created the American Mathematics Competition over 60 years ago. The MAA is the nations largest professional society focusing on making mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. The main goal of the MAA is to advance the mathematical sciences, especially at the collegiate level.

The American Mathematics Competition encourages and challenges students to continue their future mathematics education beyond the high school level. This approach ties directly to Stratford Schools goal of encouraging a childs natural curiosity through a balanced curriculum emphasizing problem solving and critical thinking skills through STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics).

About Stratford School

Established in 1999, Stratford School is a leading independent private school founded on the belief that education is a significant influence in the life of a child. Stratford offers an accelerated, balanced curriculum from preschool through eighth grade with an emphasis in the areas of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) that incorporates music, physical education, foreign language and social skills development. Stratfords goal is to prepare and mentor students for admission to competitive high schools and colleges. All students are provided the necessary tools to excel, and are encouraged to participate actively in leadership, community service and extracurricular activities. Visit http://www.stratfordschools.com for more information.

About the American Mathematics Competition 8

The AMC is a 25-question, 40-minute, multiple-choice examination in middle school mathematics. The exam was created to enhance students mathematical problem solving skills. The contest is held annually in November. The contest includes questions that range from easy to extremely difficult, encouraging students to challenge themselves to extend their learning capabilities in mathematics. Visit http://www.maa.org/math-competitions/amc-contests/amc-8 for more information.
The Helena School Board began many steps in the right direction when it hired Jack Copps as the district's interim superintendent. As a board member in the early 1980s, I was fortunate to work with Jack when he was our assistant superintendent. With 35-plus years of school management experience, including significant improvements in the Billings School District, Mr. Copps should be recognized as the most skilled superintendent in Montana.

I thank the current Helena School District Board for its very difficult work and decision to follow the recommendation of our superintendent to place a bond issue on the ballot this spring that will allow the construction of three new school buildings for our students. While I empathize with my fellow citizens who ardently support historic preservation, I believe a new Central School is the better choice for our children now and in the long term. (Like many Helena citizens who either attended Central and/or had children who did, I also feel some nostalgia for the school and the 7th Avenue gym. My son went to Central and I have a granddaughter who is currently at Central Linc.)
e-Spirit, the Content Experience Hub company, today announced that for the first time in its history, the FirstSpirit content management system has been included in the Forrester Wave. The new research report, entitled The Forrester Wave: Web Content Management Systems, Q1 2017 evaluates the 15 most significant vendors on 25 criteria, including current offering, strategy, and market presence.

As web content management (WCM) software has become critical to the evolving marketing technology stack, companies are looking for solutions that enable them to communicate with customers regardless of where those customers are or what device they are using. Forresters report evaluated vendor solutions on the topics of content and multichannel experience management.

Cited as a Contender, Forrester noted that FirstSpirit is a traditional, on-premises and licensed software solution today with solid chops to manage content independent of presentation, and references leveraged this strength across many languages and countries. The report also noted that the companys vision and roadmap outshine the current offering by focusing on a new Content-as-a-Service offering released in September 2016.

We are thrilled to be included in the Forrester Wave for the first time, said Joern Bodemann, CEO of e-Spirit. We are continuously evolving our capabilities to help clients future-proof their marketing technology stack and deliver on their content strategies, and we believe inclusion in the Wave is evidence and validation of our progress.

More About FirstSpirit

FirstSpirit makes the opportunity to turn digital content into revenues a reality  not just a pipe dream. Customers demand great digital experiences across all channels, and that demand is changing the way content is delivered. Content-as-a-Service (CaaS) is the surest way to deliver content with the speed and consistency needed to satisfy customers on their channel of choice  emerging or existing  whether via website, store, wearable, Internet of Things, social network, smart device or app.

A rapidly evolving marketplace demands a digital marketing infrastructure that supports overall readiness and ability to quickly adapt. FirstSpirit was built to support agility and interoperability from its inception, making it the best-of-breed content experience hub for companies intent on delivering exceptional omnichannel experiences not just now, but in the future as well.

Visit e-Spirit.com/us/wave for a full copy of the analyst report.

About e-Spirit

e-Spirit changes the way companies in every sector monetize their content. It is a leader in enabling companies to unlock the value of digital content and transform the way they communicate with customers and employees. FirstSpirit combines all systems, applications, data and content required for the design of engaging customer experiences to create a central digital content hub. It gives companies the required infrastructure for efficiently supplying increasingly large quantities of (personalized) content for increasing numbers of channels and touchpoints along the customer journey, allowing them to systematically reach customers worldwide.

With FirstSpirit, FirstSpirit Cloud and FirstSpirit CaaS, e-Spirit offers users diverse solutions for significantly accelerating the time-to-market of their communication for products and brands and rolling out digital marketing measures target group specific and in real time.

e-Spirit was founded in 1999, is part of the adesso Group and has offices in 16 locations in the US, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria. Customers include international brands and corporations such as LOreal Luxe, BASF, Bosch, Commerzbank, EDEKA, MAN, Media-Saturn and many others. http://www.e-Spirit.com

e-Spirit Inc.

One Cranberry Hill, Suite 100

Lexington, MA 02421, USA

+1 781 862 5511

us-info(at)e-Spirit.com

http://www.e-Spirit.com
The Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, announced today John Lechleiter of Eli Lilly and Company; Ann Marie Petach of JLL; and Arnold Donald of Carnival Corporation & plc will be among the prominent of faculty for the 9th Annual Global Ethics Summit hosted by Ethisphere Institute March 15-16 in New York City.

Dr. John Lechleiter continues to serve as Chairman of Eli Lilly and Company since 2009 following his retirement as Lillys President and CEO at the end of 2016. He joined Lilly in 1979 as a senior organic chemist in process research and development and became head of that department in 1982. In 1984, he began serving as director of pharmaceutical product development for the Lilly Research Centre Limited in Windlesham, England. He later held roles in project management, regulatory affairs, product development and pharma operations. In 2005, he was named Lilly president and chief operating officer and joined the board of directors. He became CEO on April 1, 2008.

Dr. Lechleiter will join the keynote session on Upholding Values Through ESG Investment on Wednesday, March 15.

Ann Marie Petach has served as a Member of the Board of Directors for JLL since May of 2015 and Chairman of the Audit Committee since May 2016. Ms. Petach was a senior leader at BlackRock, Inc from 2007-2014, most recently as the co-head of US Client Solutions and the Chief Financial Officer of BlackRock. Prior to joining BlackRock in 2007, Ms. Petach was Vice President, Treasurer at Ford Motor Company, where she worked for the firm in the US, Europe and South America for 23 years. Petach is currently a member of the board of directors of BlackRocks affiliated companies and she is a trustee, secretary and treasurer of the Financial Accounting Foundation.

Ms. Petach will participate in the plenary session View from the Board: Profiling Risk Through the Audit Committee on Wednesday, March 15.

Arnold Donald is President & Chief Executive Officer of Carnival Corporation & plc, the largest travel and leisure company in the world. Donald has been President & CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc since 2013. Prior to that he served on the board for 12 years. He currently serves on the board of Bank of America Corporation and Crown Holdings, Inc. Mr. Donald was also President and Chief Executive Officer of The Executive Leadership Council, a professional network and leadership forum for African-American executives of Fortune 500 companies, from 2010-2012, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, the largest charitable funder of diabetes research in the world.

Mr. Donald will join the opening keynote panel on Leadership Through Diversity: Enhancing Company Values and Performance on Wednesday, March 15.

These leaders join the ranks of past CEOs and Board Members who have shared inspired perspectives at previous Summits including most recently in 2016 which featured Richard Davis (U.S. Bank) Andrea Illy, (illycaffe), Patricia Diaz Dennis (U.S. Steel), V. Ann Hailey (Realogy Holdings), Samuel Di Piazza (JLL and AT&T) and Stanley Bergman (Henry Schein). To see some of the themes previously attacked by these top leaders, the Best Practices & Key Takeaways from the 2016 Global Ethics Summit is available for download here: http://insights.ethisphere.com/best-practices-and-key-takeaways-from-the-2016-global-ethics-summit/

In the pursuit of ethical business practices, leadership from the board of directors and the CEO is absolutely imperative to widely embed and communicate organizational values across a globally diverse set of stakeholders, said Ethispheres Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Erblich. Not only do each of these leaders offer a remarkable set of multi-disciplinary experience, but they are leaders that place a premium on company integrity which places their companies at a business advantage over the competition. Their participation at the Summit further demonstrates their commitment to raising the bar for companies all over the world.

Join these CEOs, board members and other influencers of company integrity and performance at the Global Ethics Summit on March 15-16, 2017 at the Grand Hyatt New York in New York City: https://globalethicssummit2017.com/. On Tuesday, March 14, Ethisphere will celebrate Worlds Most Ethical Companies at our annual Gala Dinner: https://wmegala.com. Registration is now open for both events.

About Ethisphere

The Ethisphere Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its Worlds Most Ethical Companies recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with "Ethisphere Magazine". Ethisphere is also the leading provider of independent verification of corporate ethics and compliance programs that include: Ethics Inside Certification and Compliance Leader Verification. More information about Ethisphere can be found at: http://www.ethisphere.com.

###

Media Contact

Clea Nabozny

480.397.2658

Clea(dot)Nabozny(at)ethisphere(dot)com
Tora Spigner, RN, MSN If we can change attitudes and beliefs, if we can reach people early, and educate medical and nursing students, [circumcision] will fall out of favor and the rate will drop precipitously.

Tora Spigner, RN, MSN, of Berkeley, California is a doula, labor and delivery nurse, and a staunch opponent of circumcising baby boys. Her viewpoint has been honed by her family, all of whose boys and men are intact, and in her years in obstetrics, where she says she has seen many complications from removing foreskins from newborn boysincluding cutting off the glans penis and unintentional removal of shaft skin.

People have no idea how invasive circumcision surgery is, says Ms. Spigner, who works in the maternity department at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley. So, she says she takes it upon herself to educate parents before their babies are circumcised. She shows them the post-circumcision care instructions and asks parents, Do you really want to do wound care, on top of caring for a newborn? Many parents havent thought of circumcision as actually wounding their baby, she notes, adding that parents often decide to keep their sons intact after speaking to her.

As a result of her unwavering commitment to intactivism, Intact America is honoring Ms. Spigner as Januarys Intactivist of the Month.

"Tora inspires utter confidencenot just because of her knowledge about birth and the importance of protecting mothers and babies from harm, but in the straightforward way she calls for not interfering with nature," says Georganne Chapin, executive director of Intact America. In the challenging hospital environment where she works, Tora tries hard to ensure parents know the truth about circumcision.

THROUGH GRADUATE RESEARCH, SHE LEARNED ABOUT INTACTIVISM

Raised in Port Huron, Michigan, Ms. Spigner studied medical technology as an undergraduate at Michigan State University. Later, while working on her Master's degree in Interdisciplinary Technology at Eastern Michigan University, she became interested in how medical technology has changed childbirth over the decades. In the process of writing an independent paper on that subject, she decided she wanted to become a childbirth professional.

Ms. Spigner moved west and enrolled in nursing school at San Francisco State University, where she earned her RN and a Master's of Science in Nursing. After helping a friend to give birth, Ms. Spigner launched an independent business as a doula "before it was a profession," she smiles. She still works independently as a doula, along with her job at the hospital.

Ms. Spigner says she first became aware about circumcision when her brother was born in 1971, and her mother made sure he stayed intact. The men in my family are all intact," she explains. "We feel very strongly that it is nobody's right to change another person's body."

It was through her research in graduate school that Ms. Spigner learned about the intactivist movement. She discovered that the Nurses at St. Vincent's Hospital in Santa Fe, NM, were refusing to assist in circumcisions, so she wrote for information and received a packet including bumper stickers and reading materials. She began to actively demonstrate against circumcision. Since 2002, she's had a "NOCIRC" license plate on her car, having been inspired by Marilyn Milos, founder of the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers, whom she met at a demonstration.

ONCE ANGRY, NOW RESOLVED

Early on as an intactivist, Ms. Spigner says she spoke my mind and argued with people who did not share her view that circumcision is medically unnecessary and that babies must be protected from its trauma. Upon reflection, Ms. Spigner says she thinks people reacted to her outrage, not her message, and she wasnt as effective as she could have been. "I kind of accosted people. I'd say, 'Why would you do this?'" she recalls.

So, in recent years, she has moderated her approach. She agrees with Intact Americas view that circumcision is as an American problema cultural problem, she says. If we can change attitudes and beliefs, if we can reach people early, and educate medical and nursing students, the practice will fall out of favor and the rate will drop precipitously.

Ms. Chapin applauds Ms. Spigners contribution to intactivism. "At a time when too many who know that circumcising a baby is wrong are still reluctant to come out publicly, Tora is unequivocal in her condemnation of the practice and utterly comfortable speaking out in any setting, she says. She is a truly a role model for intactivism."

ABOUT INTACT AMERICA

Intact America is the largest national advocacy group working to end involuntary circumcision in America, and to ensure a healthy sexual future for all people. Intact America is based in Tarrytown, New York. For more information, visit Intact America at http://www.intactamerica.org, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
Stottler Henke Associates, Inc. today announced the award of a contract with Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. to support operational use of Aurora-KSC, an advanced software system for scheduling ground processing operations at NASAs Kennedy Space Center for the Space Launch System (SLS). Based on Stottler Henkes Aurora intelligent scheduling software, Aurora-KSC greatly reduces the manpower required from expert schedulers while shortening turnaround time when scheduling SLS processing operations. The Space Launch System is the worlds most powerful rocket, designed to travel to asteroids, Mars, and beyond. Jacobs Engineering Group provides testing and operations support services to NASAs Kennedy Space Center.

To process payloads, prepare vehicles for launch, and launch the vehicles, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) must efficiently manage the use of unique, expensive and limited resources such as the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), Launch Equipment Test Facilities, launch pads, mobile launchers, crawlers, general and specialized processing facilities, numerous smaller facilities and resources, and manpower. For example, the Vehicle Assembly Building is one of the largest buildings in the world by volume, originally built to support vertical assembly of the Saturn V rocket for the Apollo program.

Managing ground operations is extremely challenging. Schedules must obey complex constraints imposed by ground rules, safety requirements, and the unique needs of processing vehicles and payloads destined for space. For example, some operations are designated as hazardous, which means that when they are being performed, other activities cannot be performed in a defined volume of space. In addition, schedules must be generated at multiple time scales and synchronized. Launch manifests are planned years in advance to allow time to produce the launch vehicles and payloads, daily ground operations are often planned to the minute, and countdowns are planned to the second.

Since the 1990s, Stottler Henke has been working with NASA KSC to provide intelligent scheduling systems for managing ground operations more efficiently. For 18 years, Stottler Henkes Automated Manifest Planner (AMP) and its successor system, Aurora/AMP, generated short- and long-term schedules of Space Shuttle preparation and refurbishment activities before and after each flight, automatically setting the launch dates for the Shuttle program. Aurora software was also used to schedule the use of floor space and other resources at the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF), the worlds largest low-particle clean room environment where International Space Station components were prepared for space flight.

Aurora-KSC is the newest scheduling software developed by Stottler Henke for Kennedy Space Center. Aurora-KSC improves the scheduling of ground-based processing, verification, and validation for the Space Launch System. Enhancements include near-optimal schedules, faster scheduling in response to changes and what-if queries, reduced requirements for highly skilled human planners, and data exchange with Primavera P6 project management software. Faster scheduling is especially important when re-planning is necessary close to launch time.

Aurora is the worlds leading planning and scheduling system that uses artificial intelligence. It was originally developed to help NASA tackle difficult, mission-critical scheduling problems with complex constraints by incorporating the judgment and experience of expert human schedulers. Most other systems use simple rules to select and schedule activities and assign resources to carry them out. Often, these schedules are far from optimal. Aurora outperforms conventional software because it uses artificial intelligence technologies to encode and apply extensive scheduling knowledge and rules. The Boeing Company uses Aurora to manage the process of building the Boeing 787 Dreamliner commercial airliner, and NASA used Aurora at Kennedy Space Center to schedule International Space Station payload and Shuttle processing activities. Other users of Aurora software include Pfizer, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Korean Aerospace Industries, Massachusetts General Hospital, Bombardier Learjet, Alaska Airlines, the US Air Force, and the US Navy. Aurora was featured in NASAs Hallmarks of Success video series which showcases successful spin-off technologies.

Founded in 1988, Stottler Henke Associates, Inc. applies artificial intelligence and other advanced software technologies to solve problems that defy solution using traditional approaches. The company delivers intelligent software solutions for education and training, planning and scheduling, knowledge management and discovery, decision support, and software development. In 2012, Stottler Henke, in a White House ceremony, was awarded the prestigious Tibbetts award, which honors small businesses for outstanding technical achievements and innovativeness. US Government agencies have designated ten Stottler Henke systems as Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) success stories. Four Stottler Henke systems have been included in Spinoff, NASA's showcase of successful spinoff technologies. Stottler Henke was the subject of a NASA Hallmarks of Success video profile for its work developing and later commercializing advanced scheduling and training software systems. Stottler Henke received a Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning award for innovative technology. Stottler Henke was named one of the "Top 100" companies making a significant impact on the military training industry by Military Training Technology magazine for 2016 and eleven previous years. Stottler Henke has received a Blue Ribbon from Military Training Technology magazine, recognizing it as a company that leads the industry in innovation. Email: info(at)stottlerhenke(dot)com. Web: http://www.stottlerhenke.com.
Photo by Stephen Somerstein/Getty Images

On Thursday, February 2, Spring Arbor University will host Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?  a statewide panel discussion organized by Spring Arbor Universitys Office of Intercultural Relations and Black History Month Committee.

The event begins at 6 p.m. and will be held in downtown Jacksons historic Michigan Theatre. The panel discussion will address the continued issues of racial barriers and illegal use of force in policing, and will serve as an opportunity for the community to come together for a candid discussion intended to foster empathy and understanding.

A wide array of notable participants include representatives from the Governors Office and the Attorney Generals Office, the Jackson County Prosecutor, the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, the Michigan State Police, the Detroit Chief of Police, and professors from both Spring Arbor University and Michigan State University.

Spring Arbor University is aware of the racial unrest in our state and nation, and the heightened tensions wrought by race-driven, post-election issues. Given this, the panel discussion will encourage participants and attendees alike to listen with open ears and open hearts, to enter into other perspectives and experiences without judgment or preconception.

For more information on Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, please contact Eric Beda, director of SAU's Office of Intercultural Relations, at Eric(dot)Beda(at)arbor(dot)edu or 517-750-6891, or visit arbor.edu/unity.
Excellent opportunity to connect and network with fellow industry professionals.

MEA (Midwest ENERGY Association) is offering a course designed specifically for natural gas workers hosted at Amerens training facility March 14-16, 2017 in Pawnee, IL. The Construction Inspector Training course focuses on identifying the responsibilities of a construction inspector and effectively communicating to a contractor any work that is not executed in accordance with the company's specifications, federal, state and local requirements, and preparing for the final inspection of the work area.

The agenda includes:



Construction updates

Updated Contractor Rules

Engineering & real estate information

Pre-construction requirements

Excavation safety with some hands-on experience

Operator Qualification (OQ)

Cathodic protection

A day in the shop of a Construction Inspector with hands-on training in tapping and stopping and welding

Attendees appreciate this excellent opportunity to connect and network with fellow industry professionals, said Sandy Driscoll of MEA.

MEA has offered this course annually for over 17 years, training over 425 natural gas engineers, technicians, specialists, supervisors, safety managers, and construction coordinators. MEA serves the natural gas delivery industry and their contractors through online OQ training and in-person learning summits. Ameren, an MEA member, has hosted the training for 15 years as they are centrally located for most MEA members and have a well-equipped training facility.

For information about the event or to register go to http://www.midwestenergy.org > events or contact Sandy Driscoll at (651) 289-9600 x119, or sandyd (at) midwestenergy (dot) org.

About MEA:

MEA serves the people that deliver electricity and natural gas to homes and business. MEA (Midwest ENERGY Association) was founded as a trade association over 100 years ago by distribution utilities, whose vision was to improve safety and efficiency. Today, energy delivery companies around the globe benefit from MEA's industry learning seminars, operations summits, and other events. Members collaborated to develop EnergyU, the world's premier online training and testing system for energy delivery companies.
Greensboro, North Carolina, welcomed its first Duck Donuts on Monday, January 23. Were proud to introduce our donuts to new fans, and especially excited to bring 25-40 new jobs to the region with each additional store. The opening of the Greensboro, NC, Duck Donuts brings the franchise total to 33 open stores across the U.S. Past News Releases RSS Duck Donuts Announces New Franchise...

Duck Donuts Franchising Company...

Duck Donuts Franchising Company...

Greensboro, North Carolina, welcomed its first Duck Donuts to the city on Monday, January 23, according to Russ DiGilio, founder and owner of Duck Donuts Franchising Company LLC. The opening of the ninth Duck Donuts in the Tar Heel State brings the franchise total to 33 open stores across the U.S.

Franchise owners David and Rebecca Johnson are thrilled to celebrate the launch of their donut shop at 409 Pisgah Church Road in The Village at North Elm, site of the former ABC store.

We have really enjoyed being part of this brand and love the excitement of introducing warm, delicious, and made-to-order donuts to the new market of Greensboro, says Rebecca Johnson. Immersing our business and staff in the community culture and looking for opportunities to add value through #QuackGivesBack initiatives is a driving force for David and me.

A perfect fit for entrepreneurs, Greensboro was named on Forbes Best Places for Business and Careers in 2016. The Gate City acts as the major intersect for highways I-85, I-40, and I-73 and is home to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, Wet n Wild Emerald Pointe Water Park, Greensboro Science Center, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

The Tar Heel State is where our Duck Donuts journey began, and our team is thrilled to expand our franchise to Guilford County, says DiGilio. Were proud to introduce our donuts to new fans, and especially excited to bring 25-40 new jobs to the region with each additional store. Deeply passionate about customer service, the Johnsons are veterans to our procedures, and they will continue to satisfy North Carolina residents and visitors with our award-winning donuts!

The 2,000 square foot donut shop will feature indoor and outdoor seating, as well as a retail store reflecting the companys iconic coastal theme. As of January 24, 2017, Duck Donuts Franchising Company has 33 open locations and 136 signed contracts.

Donuts at this location are made fresh to order 7 days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays. For specials and donut topping updates, visit the Duck Donuts Greensboro Facebook page or connect on the web at DuckDonuts.com.

About Duck Donuts

Duck Donuts was founded in 2006 by Russ DiGilio in Duck, North Carolina. His intention? To solve a family vacation problem: Our family wanted a place to buy warm, delicious & made to order! donuts, and when we couldnt find one, we decided to start our own.

By 2011, Duck Donuts had expanded to four Outer Banks locations and the donut business was so successful that DiGilio was continuously approached about franchise opportunities and by fans who begged for a Duck Donuts in their communities. The first franchise opened in Williamsburg, VA, in 2013, and there are now 33 open franchise locations and 136 signed contracts.

Duck Donuts store openings are scheduled for:

Fredericksburg, VA  February

Hilton Head, SC  February

Jacksonville, NC  February

Stafford, VA  February

Alexandria, VA  March

Hershey, PA  March

Pittsburgh, PA  April

Cincinnati, OH  April

Duck Donuts emphasizes the importance of giving back to the local community through their #QuackGivesBack initiatives every month. Our mission is twofold, says DiGilio, to serve the most amazing warm, delicious and made-to-order donuts, and to contribute to the communities we call home.

The Duck Donuts Experience

We discovered that the most powerful marketing advantage we have is the aroma of warm donuts wafting from every store. Our light vanilla cake donut is a little crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, made fresh right in front of you, hand-dipped in hot icing, and sprinkled with your choice of delicious toppings and drizzles. Its that simple, says DiGilio.

Children love to stand on the strategically placed step in the waiting area, allowing them to see the entire process, as the donut machine cooks and carries their donuts down the line, where they are dipped, topped, packaged, and served warm in the box. Duck Donuts serves its own signature coffee blendsRiptide Roast, Light House Blend, and Sunset Pier Decaf with new special seasonal flavors changing throughout the yearand offers breakfast options, as well as catering services. Indoor and outdoor seating is available at most locations.

To learn more or to share your Duck Donuts experience, Like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, or send us a Tweet.

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This Certification comes at a time when we are rapidly growing and defining new solutions for the GIS and non-GIS markets.

ROK Technologies, LLC the premier provider of location analytics, Cloud Management, WebGIS and IoT, today announced that two of its top programmers are now Amazon Web Services (AWS) Certified Developer Associates.

This new capability will enhance ROKs existing offerings to include AWS setup and development for GIS and non-GIS companies and organizations. It will also expand ROKs suite of services to include the creation of applications for clients wanting to move to the AWS Cloud and increase ROKs footprint as a dynamic provider of innovative IoT solutions.

This Certification comes at a time when we are rapidly growing and defining new solutions for the GIS and non-GIS markets, said Alex Coleman, EVP at ROK Technologies. We are hearing from companies and local governments every day that they are seeking cost effective ways to provide visual information to their internal and external consumers. The ability to be flexible and agile enough to create custom solutions that serve this purpose is key.

ROKs premiere product, ROKMaps is currently available on AWS Marketplace. ROK is a registered AWS Partner Network (APN) focusing on Software as a Solution (SaaS) and the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies.

ROK Technologies, LLC, based in Charleston, South Carolina, serves clients in many industries and governments globally. As an Esri Silver business partner and ArcGIS Server Application Service Provider licensee, they are able to leverage the entire ArcGIS platform, including ArcGIS for server hosting, application development, and virtualized desktop software - available from anywhere, on any device. ROK's cutting edge core competencies and secure private cloud infrastructure provide their clients the tools they need integrate their enterprise software with GIS solutions, products and services.

Connect with ROK

Email: info(at)ROKtech(dot)net

Phone: 843.577.3192

Toll-Free: 888.898.3404

Fax: 843.225.1813
Hugo Lopez Coll, a shareholder in the Mexico City office of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, who is also a member of the firms Global Anti-Corruption Group, will participate as a panelist during the American Conference Institutes (ACI) 11th Houston Forum on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) which will take place on Jan. 31 in Houston, Texas.

Lopez Coll and other event participants, who include the Deputy Legal Compliance Officer of PEMEX, Carlos Benjamin, and the Director of the Forensic Services Practice at PwC, Alberto Orozco, will participate in a panel discussion titled, The Fast Evolving Anti-Corruption Landscape in Mexico: How Risk and Compliance Management Strategies Need to Evolve.

Now in its 11th year, the ACIs Houston Forum is back with an agenda that empowers participants to discuss best-practice solutions to the most immediate FCPA risks, said Lopez Coll. Our breakout session during the event will assess Mexicos sweeping anti-corruption reform, including the prospects for enhanced cooperation between Mexican enforcement authorities and international regulators.

ACI is devoted to providing the business intelligence that senior decision-makers need to respond to challenges around the world. Staffed by industry specialists, lawyers and other professionals, ACI operates as a think tank, monitoring trends and developments in all major industry sectors, the law and public policy  with the aim of providing information on the leading edge.

Lopez Coll advises Mexican entities and their holding companies, both in regulated and non-regulated industries, on regulatory and compliance matters with several Mexican laws, including: (i) the Anti-Money Laundering Law; (ii) the Anti-Corruption Law for Government Procurement; (iii) the Data Protection Law; (iv) the Consumer Protection Law; (v) the Gaming Law; and (vi) other laws in the financial, telecommunications, and other regulated industries.

In addition, Lopez Coll regularly assists clients with issues arising under the FCPA, the OECD Convention, and the U.N. Convention Against Corruption.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GTLaw) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is celebrating its 50th anniversary. A single entity worldwide, GTLaw has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the second largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2016, and among the Top 20 on the 2016 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.
San Franciscos restaurant scene is always among the hottest in the nation, and 2017 is no exception. It can be a lot for even locals to keep up. Here are a few delicious places worth experiencing in the next year.

ATwater Tavern (295 Terry Francois Blvd.)

Specializing in "classic" San Francisco cuisine driven by seasonality and sustainability, ATwater Tavern offers American fare such as fried and seared calamari, cioppino and 100% grass fed tri-tip off the Santa Maria Grill. Opened in May 2016, the restaurant is the ideal spot for date night, the perfect cap to a vacation, happy-hour patio bites or to celebrate a special occasion. In the growing Mission Bay neighborhood overlooking AT&T Park, ATwater Tavern won't be a secret much longer.

Salt & Straw (2201 Fillmore St.)

The much-adored ice cream emporium Salt & Straw is opening its first shops in the city this spring on Fillmore Street and in Hayes Valley. The San Francisco scoop spots will feature a menu of flavors created just for the city, and part of the profits will benefit local schools. Yes, they will still be bringing their much-beloved flavors down from Portland, too.

China Live (644660 Broadway St.)

Chinatown is getting a huge new destination in 2017 from a team of partners, including George Chen, called China Live. The complex will clock in at more than 30,000 square feet. It will house a market, retail and the lively all-day Oolong Cafe on the ground floor and a craft cocktail bar, lounge and elegant restaurant.

In Situ (Inside the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, SFMOMA)

It's not everywhere you can find an award-winning chef running a restaurant in a museum, but not every museum is SFMOMA which re-opened in 2016 after a major expansion and this new fine dining venue. Created by three-Michelin-Starred chef Corey Lee, In Situ's concept upends the traditional fine dining experience by curating benchmark dishes by over 80 chef-colleagues worldwide, including Rene Redzepi (Noma), Alice Waters (Chez Panisse), Thomas Keller (The French Laundry), Hajime Yoneda (HAJIME), Virgilio Martinez (Central), Martin Picard (Au Pied de Cochon), and Olivier Roellinger (Les Maisons de Bricourt), among others. Think of it as a culinary journey across time zones.

Finn Town Tavern (2251 Market St.)

Described as a tavern with a twist, Top Chef alum Ryan Scotts highly anticipated Finn Town opened in December 2016. Culinary tourists craving an only in San Francisco dining and drinking experience will discover a menu where the food is unpretentious and the drinks, described as strong and satisfying," include a few named after individuals who once lived or worked here, including the "Call of the Wild", named for author Jack London, and the "Milkman", which honors the legacy of Harvey Milk.

Barcha (28 Fremont St.)

Barcha is a Mediterranean bistro with a Parisian flair, serving healthy, fresh and satisfying dishes with Turkish, Tunisian and Spanish influences. Opened in November 2015, it is still a hot spot. The focus is on mezze, which means a lot of small plates. Signatures are the chicken croquettes, lamb meatballs, grilled duck kefta, chickpea falafel, shakshuka and fire-roasted eggplant.

Waxman's (900 North Point St.)

Opened in Ghirardelli Square in Fisherman's Wharf in March 2016, James Beard Award-winning chef Jonathan Waxaman's newest namesake plays on the Bay Areas seasonality and homegrown ingredients in simply prepared California- and Italian-inspired dishes. The menu offers ingredient-driven pastas, wood roasted farm stand vegetables, meats and fish and fresh salads.

Two Projects by Erik Sun: 715 Brannan St. and The Hunted at 445 Harriet St.

Los Angeles-based food personality Erik Sun has a few projects lined up in San Franciscos SoMa. The to-be-named project at 715 Brannan St. will open in March and feature two restaurants in one address. One will be a 20 seat noodle bar with all house-made noodles (one preview pic shows a bowl of spicy beef noodle soup with aged sirloin, braised back ribs, and prime rib-eye), while the grill side will feature the world's most exclusive beef in a Yakiniku-style grill at your table style dining.

The Hunted, opening in late summer, will take inspiration from Sun's experience on feasting in the outdoors. Sun is a hunter, spearfisher and forager, as well as a partner and sometime chef at Bestia in Los Angeles.

Hitachino (639 Post St.)

International chef Noriyuki Sugie has been collaborating with Japans Kiuchi Brewerywhich brews Hitachino Nestfor the past eight years, and will be opening a craft beer bar with them. Hitachino beers will be served on tap from kegs and there will be some exclusive San Francisco brews. Whether guests want snacks or a full meal, an izakaya-like menu will offer a range of options.

Alba Ray (2253 Mission St.)

From the minds behind Popsons, one of San Francisco's most drool-inducing burgers, comes their newest concept, a Cajun restaurant due in early 2017. There will definitely be classics like boudin balls with pickled peppers and creole mustard, frog legs sauce piquant, shrimp and grits, and crawfish boils when in season. Even the bar ha a Cajun beat with N'awlins-style cocktails like the Sazeracs.

RT Rotisserie (101 Oak St.)

The team behind San Franciscos beloved Rich Table will be bringing a casual and approachable rotisserie chicken restaurant to Hayes Valley with, set to open in early 2017. The menu will be inspired by the comforting meals that husband-and-wife team Evan and Sarah used to refuel with after ski trips: rotisserie chicken, warming soups, California-inspired salads, oysters and hearty sandwiches.

Babu Ji (280 Valencia St.)

Jessi and Jennifer Singh, the team behind the widely popular Babu Ji in New York City, bring their creative and fun approach to Indian dining to San Franciscos Mission District, where the duo originally met. The food at Babu Ji, opened in November 2016, is simple yet remarkable as its made from high-quality ingredients and offered in a creatively driven and regularly changing menu that spans Indian street food, cross-regional curries and tandoori specialties.

The San Francisco Travel Association is the official destination marketing organization for the City and County of San Francisco. For information on reservations, activities and more, visit http://www.sftravel.com, read the Visitors Planning Guide or call 415-391-2000.

San Francisco Travel operates Visitor Information Centers at Hallidie Plaza, 900 Market St. at the corner of Powell and Market streets, and on the lower level of Macys Union Square. San Francisco Travel is also a partner at the California Welcome Center at PIER 39.

American Express is the official Card partner of the San Francisco Travel Association.

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers non-stop flights to more than 46 international cities on 39 international carriers. The Bay Area's largest airport connects non-stop with 79 cities in the U.S. on 13 domestic airlines. SFO is proud to offer upgraded free Wi-Fi with no advertising. For up-to-the-minute departure and arrival information, airport maps and details on shopping, dining, cultural exhibitions, ground transportation and more, visit http://www.flysfo.com. Follow SFO on http://www.twitter.com/flysfo and http://www.facebook.com/flysfo.

Note to editors: Press releases and other media resources are available at http://www.sftravel.com/media.

The San Francisco Travel Photo Video Library is available at http://barberstock.com/sanfranciscotravel.

For news and story ideas, follow @SFMediaRelation on Twitter and @OnlyinSF on Instagram.

Sign up for e-newsletters on San Francisco travel, culinary or LGBT news.
One thing I love about Helena -- Helena is a generous community, where we all are supportive of our neighbors, including those with legal issues.

I am a legal aid attorney with Montana Legal Services Association. I represent low-income renters. Consider Ann, a grandmother raising her daughters children. Anns landlord threatened to evict her due to property damage caused by one of the children. Ann couldnt afford to lose her home, but didnt know how to respond to her landlord. With MLSAs help, Ann negotiated a payment plan with her landlord and avoided eviction.

Ann is one of the 182,000 Montanans who are eligible for free legal assistance from the 15 attorneys at MLSA. Theres a bill currently pending (HB46) that would provide additional funding for civil legal aid to Montanans living in poverty. If HB46 is passed, an additional 1,344 Montanans each year could get assistance with civil legal needs.

A recent study showed that legal assistance does make a difference -- in evictions, 51 percent of tenants without lawyers lost their homes, compared to only 21 percent of tenants with lawyers. Any of us could find ourselves in Anns situation. Wouldnt we want access to counsel?

Amy Hall

Helena
Armstrong Teasdale, a law firm with offices across the United States and in China, proudly announces the addition of Corporate Services of counsel Patricia J. Churchill. She will also serve as director of regulatory affairs for Armstrong Teasdale subsidiary AT Government Strategies LLC (ATGS).

Churchill has more than 20 years of experience serving as legal counsel for both government agencies and private sector businesses. Prior to joining Armstrong Teasdale, she spent seven years as chief legal counsel in the Governmental Affairs Division for former Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster. Leveraging her knowledge of government agency inner workings as well an extensive network of high-ranking officials, Churchill adds significant value for her clients. She also has experience representing statewide officials and the legislative, judicial and executive branches of government. Churchill has litigated matters in Missouri administrative tribunals and courts, including the Missouri Supreme Court.

Churchill earned her J.D. from the University of Missouri and B.S. in business management from Quincy University. She is admitted to practice law in Missouri and Illinois. Churchill is also a member of The Missouri Bar, the Illinois State Bar Association and is past chair of The Missouri Bar Taxation Law Committee.

Churchill is based in the firms Jefferson City office, but will also work out of the St. Louis office.

About Armstrong Teasdale: With lawyers in offices across the United States and in China, Armstrong Teasdale LLP has a demonstrable track record of delivering sophisticated legal advice and exceptional service to a dynamic client base. Whether an issue is local or global, practice area specific or industry related, Armstrong Teasdale provides each client with an invaluable combination of legal resources and practical advice in nearly every area of law. The firm is a member of Lex Mundi, a global association of 160 independent law firms with locations in more than 100 countries, and the United States Law Firm Group, a network of 18 law firms headquartered in major U.S. cities. Armstrong Teasdale is listed in the Am Law 200, published by The American Lawyer, and the NLJ 250, published by The National Law Journal. For more information, please visit http://www.armstrongteasdale.law.

About AT Government Strategies LLC: A subsidiary of law firm Armstrong Teasdale LLP, AT Government Strategies LLC (ATGS) provides full-service government relations and strategic counsel to advance the business objectives of companies, industry associations and other professional entities. The organizations bipartisan team of public policy lawyers, lobbyists and political consultants has a long track record of success helping shape legislation and regulations on behalf of clients at the federal, state and local levels of government. ATGS, which does not provide legal services, works closely with experienced attorneys at Armstrong Teasdale in multiple practice areas including environmental, tax, banking, government contracting and procurement, initiative petition and referendum compliance, health care, finance and development, education, and more. For more information, please visit http://www.atgovernmentstrategies.com.

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The nomination for this distinguished award is recognition of the contributions that First Associates has made to the online lending industry as a whole and of the value that we bring to our clients and partners

LendIt, the worlds largest show in lending and fintech, announced that they have selected First Associates Loan Servicing as a finalist in the Top Service Provider category for the first annual LendIt Awards. First Associates is the only loan servicer to be named as a finalist of the LendIt Awards.

First Associates Loan Servicing was selected as a finalist out of hundreds of applicants worldwide and by more than 30 industry experts who judged finalists representing innovation, game-changing ideas, emerging talent and top performers. First Associates Loan Servicing will compete for top honors within its award category at The LendIt Awards Ceremony on March 7 at the LendIt conference in New York City.

First Associates Loan Servicing is the leading third-party service provider in the marketplace lending industry. The company actively contributes to the advancement of the online lending industry through speaking engagements, educational programs, industry resources, hosted networking opportunities, and more.

Having been on the front lines of emerging and later stage FinTech companies for the past five years, we wanted to unveil our own best of the best industry accolades, said Jason Jones, Co-Founder, LendIt. We were overwhelmed with the high number and high caliber of entrees. These finalists represent some of the most innovative companies that are radically improving financial services through technology.

The nomination for this distinguished award is recognition of the contributions that First Associates has made to the online lending industry as a whole and of the value that we bring to our clients and partners said David Johnson, CEO of First Associates Loan Servicing. First Associates is thankful to LendIt and to the judges for this honor.

About First Associates Loan Servicing, LLC

Based in San Diego, First Associates Loan Servicing is the fastest growing third-party loan and lease servicer in the United States. The company offers a wide range of solutions for a variety of asset classes including marketplace lending, automotive, motorsports, business, retail purchase finance, solar, timeshare and student loans. First Associates has world class management and staff, full SSAE 16 II audit, best-in-class IT infrastructure, as well as strong institutional relationships with commercial and investment banks, finance companies, investment funds and credit unions. First Associates leads the consumer finance industry in providing customized technology and customer service solutions for its partners. The company celebrated its 30-Year Anniversary in 2016. For more information, please visit http://www.1stassociates.com.

About LendIt

LendIt is the worlds largest event series dedicated to connecting the fintech and lending community. Our conferences bring together the leading lending platforms, investors, and service providers in our industry for unparalleled educational, networking, and business development opportunities. LendIt hosts three conferences annually: our flagship conference LendIt USA as well as LendIt Europe in London and LendIt China in Shanghai. LendIt USA 2017 will be held in New York from March 6 - 7. Learn more at http://www.lendit.com/.
LENA's patented talk pedometer records language throughout a childs day, then translates the recording into data about talk, provided in easy-to-read, actionable reports for families. Ready4K is a targeted, manageable way for parents to continue to learn and grow as they help get their babies prepared for kindergarten.

LENA Research Foundation and ParentPowered Public Benefit Corporation, the creator of Ready4K text messages, have announced a partnership to help young families talk more with their children. Through the partnership, parents and caregivers who graduate from the LENA Start parenting program will enroll in Ready4Ks free, research-based texting program.

The LENA Research Foundation, creator of LENA Start, is dedicated to increasing talk in the first three years of a childs life when a childs brain develops to 80 percent of its adult size. During this critical window, children from low income families may hear as many as 30 million fewer words than their more affluent peers.

Ready4K is a free program that provides families with fun facts and easy tips via text message that build their childrens school readiness skills. The text messages are based on the childs age, and provide suggestions on ways to increase engagement throughout the day. In a randomized controlled trial study in San Francisco Unified School District, Stanford University researchers found that the Ready4K approach increased parental involvement at home and school, ultimately leading to two to three months of child learning gains in literacy (York & Loeb, 2014).

Over the past two years, LENA has dramatically expanded its reach and impact on early talk by partnering with trusted organizations across the country to implement LENA Start, which combines LENAs talk pedometer technology with a complete group curriculum that teaches parents simple strategies to talk more with their babies. Outcomes show that babies whose caregivers have participated in the program are building five months of language development in two months time.

LENA Start is focused on helping parents build good talk habits that will have an impact well beyond the programs 13-week duration, and adding Ready4K will expand on that impact by providing parents and caregivers with a powerful resource to keep talk top of mind. This spring, Ready4K is extending its existing programs for parents of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds to include new content that applies to parents of 1- and 2-year-olds. This extension is ideal to serve as a follow-on for LENA Start, which is offered to parents of children 0 to 30 months.

As strong as the effectiveness measure data has been for LENA Start, we recognize that it is not an inoculation; its a great foundation, says LENA President Dr. Steve Hannon. Ready4K is a targeted, manageable way for parents to continue to learn and grow as they help get their babies prepared for kindergarten.

Beginning this spring, LENA Start parent graduates will enroll in age-matched Ready4K sequences at LENA Starts five sites across the country in California, Texas, Iowa, Minnesota, and Alabama.

Achieving and maintaining gains in early childhood is an ongoing process that requires various supports along the way, says ParentPowered PBC Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Ben York. LENA Start provides an excellent foundation for families, and were thrilled to offer Ready4K as a follow-on support for parents as they prepare their children for school.

LENA Research Foundation is actively seeking new LENA Start partners to launch the program in 2017. For information on bringing LENA Start to your community, contact Jess Simmons at 303-441-9048, or email jsimmons(at)lenafoundation(dot)org.

About the LENA Research Foundation

The LENA Research Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity based in Boulder, Colorado. Its mission is to accelerate language development to improve the cognitive, social, and emotional health of children birth to five and close achievement gaps. Used by researchers and clinicians all over the world, the LENA System measures a childs language environment and provides vital feedback to parents and professionals in programs dedicated to close the language, learning, and opportunity gap for children. For more information, please visit lena.org.

About Ready4K

Ready4K is administered by ParentPowered, a public benefit corporation dedicated to creating simple tools for great parenting. The program was founded by Ben York and Susanna Loeb, educational researchers with a passion for providing helpful information to all parents. The program builds on several years of research that they conducted while working in partnership at Stanford University. Today, more than 63,000 families in 25 states are receiving Ready4K texts. For more information, please visit http://www.ready4k.com.
Blueprint

Blueprint Software, a leader in application lifecycle management solutions, is hosting a thought leadership event on Jan 25 2017 in London, UK. The event will feature Philip Howard, Information Management Director of Bloor Research, who will be speaking about Scaling Agile to the Enterprise.

Senior IT leaders in the financial services, pharmaceutical, retail, manufacturing, and hospitality industries will come together to discuss a wide range of topics around the benefits and challenges of Enterprise Agile. Specifically, they will address ways in which organizations are overcoming barriers to scaling Agile and DevOps, including:



How business and IT in large, distributed teams can overcome barriers and collaborate in Agile environments using new and innovative software solutions

How to use new Agile planning solutions to support the transition to continuous delivery throughout the business

The importance of requirements in scaling Enterprise Agile, and how innovative solutions, including Blueprints Storyteller, are providing needed capabilities that common Agile Application Lifecycle Management tools do not address.

In a recent report, Bloor research recommended Storyteller as a solution for enterprise organizations engaged in complex, expensive, large-scale IT initiatives. They recognized Storyteller for its highly visual environment and ability to facilitate Agile collaboration.

Weve seen customers encounter barriers in their Agile transition, and leading edge solutions across the DevOps toolchain are needed to address these challenges said Ruth Zive, VP Marketing, Blueprint. At our event on Jan 25, we will share best practices and highlight how Storyteller directly addresses the challenges of collaboration, scale, and business alignment to help organizations succeed in their agile transformation.

For more information about the event, or to learn more about Storyteller, contact Blueprint at info(at)blueprintsys(dot)com.

About Blueprint

Blueprint provides industry-leading software solutions that help large organizations build better business applications. Our products  Blueprint, Storyteller and Blueprint Enterprise  resolve many of the time-consuming, costly, and error- prone functions that challenge IT organizations, thus ensuring that mission critical projects are completed successfully, on time and on budget. Organizations across the globe use Blueprint solutions to ensure regulatory compliance, speed transition to Agile, better align business and IT. Nearly half of all Fortune 100 companies choose Blueprint to de-risk and accelerate their software projects. For more information, please visit http://www.blueprintsys.com.
Magic Machines AI Labs will focus on force-multiplying technologies in five primary areas of research to maximize automation: Swarm Intelligence/Emergent Behavior, Adaptive AI, Algorithmic Coordination, Transfer Learning and Meta-Learning.

Lexalytics, the leader in cloud and on-prem text analytics solutions, announced today that it is unveiling the Magic Machines AI Labs in Amherst, MA, to speed innovation in artificial intelligence (AI). In stealth mode for the past year, Magic Machines has been focusing on force-multiplying AI technologies. These breakthrough technologies researched by Magic Machines are already accelerating Lexalytics product development cycle. Over the coming months, Lexalytics will announce products that enable data scientists to handle more projects and empower business intelligence users to shape AI.

Lexalytics has also partnered with two leading academic institutions dedicated to the advancement of data science and marketing technology: University of Massachusetts Amhersts Center for Data Science and Northwestern Universitys Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications. Through its affiliation with UMass, Lexalytics will work with faculty and students on the underlying challenges of analyzing, visualizing and drawing insights from massive volumes and varieties of data. At the other end of the problem, Northwestern and Lexalytics will partner to ensure the usability and applicability of Magic Machines AI technologies to a broad set of business users.

Acquiring and retaining strong scientific and analytics talent is still an issue for many companies. Magic Machines AI Labs will focus on force-multiplying technologies in five primary areas of research, each carefully chosen to maximize automation of building an application-specific AI. These include: Swarm Intelligence/Emergent Behavior, Adaptive AI, Algorithmic Coordination, Transfer Learning and Meta-Learning.

Smart machines need to be properly set up, maintained and continuously governed if they are to be of maximum benefit to the enterprise, according to Gartners November 2016 Predicts 2017 Artificial Intelligence report. Magic Machines is working towards intelligent automation of these processes, so data scientists can more efficiently apply their time and business analysts can shape the resultant AI systems.

Lexalytics has a long history and deep expertise in building and deploying thousands of machine-learning models as part of our market leading text analytics toolkits, said Paul Barba, Chief Scientist, Lexalytics. Text analytics is an AI-hard problem, meaning that we have solved some of the most difficult AI-related challenges around. After over a year of working quietly on Magic Machines technologies, were happy with our results, and ready to catapult innovation in AI even further.

Lexalytics has had a long-standing informal relationship with the College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) at UMass Amherst. CICS faculty members are internationally known for their scientific achievements in the many specialized disciplines now referred to collectively as data science. In 2015, UMass Amherst created the Center for Data Science to catalyze and drive innovation in data science education and research, making the university a natural Lexalytics Magic Machines partner. Our goals are to establish UMass as a leading public academic institution delivering excellence in data science education, research and industry collaboration, and to thoroughly prepare our students to meet industry demand for highly qualified data scientists, said Brant Cheikes, Executive Director, Center for Data Science, UMass Amherst. Were thrilled to deepen our partnership with Lexalytics and collaborate with them to overcome their hardest data science challenges.

Northwesterns Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications is dedicated to educating a new breed of fully digitally-aware executives, business people, entrepreneurs and journalists. Lexalytics has been instrumental in educating our graduate students, and thousands of others who access our classes on Coursera, said Randy Hlavac, Director, Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications, Northwestern University. At Medill, we have a strong pool of graduate students, business leaders and faculty. Our people will work with Lexalytics to ensure that the technologies and products that emerge from the Magic Machines AI Labs have maximum business impact with minimum hassle.

For more information on the Lexalytics Magic Machines AI Labs, including a brief overview of technologies like Swarm Intelligence and Transfer Learning, please visit the Lexalytics  Magic Machines Artificial Intelligence Labs webpage.

About Lexalytics

Processing billions of unstructured documents every day globally, Lexalytics is the industry leader in translating text into profitable decisions. Lexalytics deploys state-of-the-art cloud and on-premise text and sentiment analytics technologies that transform customers thoughts and conversations into actionable insights. The on-premise Salience and SaaS Semantria platforms are implemented in a variety of industries for social media monitoring, reputation management and voice of the customer programs. Based in Boston, MA, Lexalytics has offices in the US and Canada. For more information, please visit http://www.lexalytics.com, email sales(at)lexalytics.com or call 1-617-249-1049. Follow Lexalytics on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

About UMass Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Amherst, founded in 1863, is the flagship of the five-campus UMass system. Home to the Commonwealth Honors College, UMass Amherst incorporates modern teaching methods involving new communication and information technology, yet remains an immersive, residential campus serving more than 22,000 undergraduate and approximately 6,300 graduate students across a comprehensive array of academic programs. True to its land-grant roots, UMass Amherst is engaged in research and creative work in all fields and is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a doctoral university with the highest research activity or R1. Major areas of emphasis include climate science, food science, alternative energy, nanomanufacturing, polymer science, computer science and linguistics. Together, students and faculty are deeply engaged in collaboration with communities  both regional and international  to improve their social and economic conditions.

About Northwestern University Medill School

Medill, a leader in education since 1921, offers programs in journalism and integrated marketing communications that combine enduring skills and values with new techniques and knowledge that are essential to thrive in todays digital world. Medill has a long-standing reputation for academic excellence. As the media industry experiences unprecedented change, Medill leads the way. The schools graduate and undergraduate programs are educating a new generation of multimedia journalists and integrated marketing communications professionals who are not only thriving in this evolving media landscape but also helping to shape it.
January 24, 2017  FirstService Residential (Ontario), Ontarios leading residential property management company, is proud to announce a month-long fundraising campaign beginning Monday, January 23rd, supporting Samaritans Feet in providing new shoes to disadvantaged children in the Jane-Finch community. Samaritans Feet is a global non-profit humanitarian relief organization working to end poverty. FirstService Residential and Samaritans Feet are committed to the development of vibrant and caring communities in the Greater Toronto Area.

Supporting the communities we serve is a core FirstService Residential value, said Todd Cooper, President of FirstService Residential (Ontario). This partnership enables us to spread awareness of Samaritans Feet, raise funds and provide a crucial item in keeping people mobile and healthy, Cooper added.

Samaritans Feet has distributed nearly seven million pairs of shoes in over seventy-five countries since 2003, said Manny Ohonme, founder, president and CEO at Samaritans Feet. FirstService Residential is a wonderful addition to the Samaritans Feet family and we look forward to bringing new shoes to hundreds of children in Toronto.

About FirstService Residential

FirstService Residential is North America's largest manager of residential communities and the preferred partner of HOAs, community associations and strata corporations in the U.S. and Canada. FirstService Residential's managed communities include low-, mid- and high-rise condominiums and cooperatives, single-family homes, master-planned, lifestyle and active adult communities, and rental and commercial properties.

With an unmatched combination of deep industry experience, local market expertise and personalized attention, FirstService Residential delivers proven solutions and exceptional service that add value, enhance lifestyles and make a difference, every day, for every resident and community it manages. FirstService Residential is a subsidiary of FirstService Corporation, a North American leader in the property services sector. For more information, visit http://www.fsresidential.com.

About Samaritans Feet

Samaritans Feet is a 501(c)(3) humanitarian aid organization that shares a message of hope and love through washing the feet of impoverished children around the world and adorning them with new shoes. There are an estimated 2.2 billion people worldwide living in poverty and more than 1.5 billion who suffer from foot borne diseases. The goal of Samaritans Feet is to create a world with zero shoeless children. Since its founding by Manny Ohonme in 2003, Samaritans Feet and its team of ambassadors and partners have blessed more than 6.5 million children in more than 75 nations. For more information about Samaritans Feet International, visit http://www.SamaritansFeet.org.


A visitor enjoying ice sculptures downtown! Take in the beauty of winter and see how the streets glimmer with beautifully lit ice sculptures and see twinkling lights fill the trees along Main Street.

Bundle up tight from the winter weather and bundle up the kids for the 15th Annual IceFest in downtown Chambersburg to shake off the winter blues! Take in the beauty of winter and see how the streets glimmer with beautifully lit ice sculptures and see twinkling lights fill the trees along Main Street.

From Thursday, January 26 until January 31, enjoy the 80 ice sculptures made up of a record 36 tons of ice! These lit sculptures break up the winter blues with chilly fun for everyone. Catch a glimpse of the master carvers of DiMartino Ice sculpting blocks of ice into works of art, take a chilly ride on the carved ice slide, shake it up at the Snowfall Ball, watch live glass blowing demonstrations, watch as local community members are dunked during the Polar Dunk Plunge and taste test chili at the famous Chili Cook-off. Taste delicious cake and vote for a favorite at the Icing on the Cake competition on Saturday at the Capitol Theatre. This years theme is The World of Gaming.

Looking for an icy adventure? Pick up a scavenger hunt form at the Council for the Arts, The Heritage Center or Heres Looking at You and hunt for a chance for prizes! Enjoy artwork from local students in downtown windows and on Thursday, join the Community Walking Party, which promotes healthy behavior, at Council for the Arts to get a free collectible keychain!

New for this year on Saturday, the main streets of Chambersburg are closed to make room for more food vendors and fun! On Sunday, kids can also enjoy a new obstacle course addition to the kids zone from noon until 3 p.m.!

Chambersburg's downtown merchants are welcoming visitors with all types of specials. Duck inside the boutique shops of downtown, warm up, and shop a little. Many are offering extended hours. Food vendors are arranged around the square, and downtown has a number of restaurants--Molly's Restaurant , Checkos, Texas Lunch, Cafe d'italia, Main Street Deli, and Bistro 71 to name a few.

This and more is waiting for visitors January 26 through January 29!

For a schedule of events and more information, contact the Franklin County Visitors Bureau at http://www.explorefranklincountypa.com/icefest-2017.

The Franklin County Visitors Bureau invites all to explore Franklin County PA and enjoy the history, arts, recreation, natural beauty, fresh foods and warm hospitality of communities like Chambersburg, Greencastle, Mercersburg, Shippensburg, and Waynesboro. Franklin County PA is located just north of the Mason Dixon Line and an easy drive to Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Discover more.plan your visit at ExploreFranklinCountyPA.com , by contacting 866.646.8060 or 717.552.2977.
It is so important for young people in recovery to experience firsthand that it is possible to have an awesome life without using alcohol or drugs.

The Association of Recovery in Higher Education ARHE is pleased to announce its first national student leadership summit. The ARHE Collegiate Recovery Student Summit and Recovery Skiathon will be held in Keystone, Colorado Feb 2-5, 2017.

The ARHE Collegiate Recovery Student Summit and Recovery Skiathon is a unique event that supports students in recovery who have overcome addiction and are living a sober life. With over 185 students and staff currently registered to attend, the ARHE Skiathon will be the largest gathering of students in recovery involved in collegiate recovery programs to date. The University of Colorado Boulder Collegiate Recovery Community and the Penn State Collegiate Recovery Community are the host colleges for the event.

The Summit will offer leadership sessions and speakers in the mornings before the lifts open and in the evenings, after the lifts close. During the day, many will hit the slopes, or go ice-skating, snow tubing, explore the ski village, attend recovery meetings, or hangout in a Lakeside Student Lounge at Keystone Lodge. It is an opportunity for students to connect with other sober students, to gain inspiration and leadership experience, and to enjoy an adventure that celebrates life in recovery.

The idea of a student summit combined with a ski trip arose out of a conversation (University of Colorado Collegiate Recovery Center Coordinator) Sam Randall and I had last year after our students hung out together at a different skiathon, said Jason Whitney, ARHE Board Member and Penn State Collegiate Recovery Community Program Coordinator. We saw how inspired they were by meeting each other and experiencing an adventure together. We imagined what would happen if we could gather students from collegiate recovery programs around the country for a student-focused recovery conference and skiathon hosted by ARHE. It is so important for young people in recovery to experience firsthand that it is possible to have an awesome life without using alcohol or drugs. These students have worked hard to establish and maintain recovery while also going to school. They deserve all the support we can give them.

Collegiate Recovery Programs and Communities (CRPs and CRCs) provide a safe environment, a sober social community, and recovery support services for college students in or seeking recovery. They are a game changer on college campuses for students who have overcome the odds and want to pursue their education while continuing to progress in their recovery. CRPs have become essential to the long-term success of students in recovery post-treatment, and students involved in such programs rarely have a recurrence of use. A study by Alexander Laudet, across 26 sites with 486 students, showed an 8% relapse rate per year across programs. Typical relapse rates are 40-60%, according to studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

When this launched, we knew right away this gathering was going to be special, stated Sam Randall, ARHE Board Member and CU-Boulder Collegiate Recovery Community Program Coordinator. More than 140 students registered just in the first week from over two-dozen collegiate recovery programs in every region of the country. The National Student Leadership Summit and Recovery Skiathon will provide a meaningful and worthwhile experience that we hope will further energize each student, their programs, ARHE, and the collegiate recovery movement as a whole. We thank our many sponsors for supporting the summit and helping us to reduce costs for students who are participating. Without their partnership, many students would not have been able to attend.

Thanks to many generous donors and event sponsors, including Founding Sponsors, Life of Purpose Treatment, Transforming Youth Recovery, AIM House and Summit Behavioral Healthcare, scholarships are being provided to help as many students as possible to participate. For almost all of them, this will be their first time connecting with students in recovery from other colleges. The summit will serve as a unique opportunity for student leaders from across the country to network with each other and to share ideas and peer support practices they can take back to their campus while having an epic experience in recovery in the Colorado Rockies.

As we face an opioid addiction epidemic in the United States, these students are the best evidence of what is possible with a long-term ongoing continuum of care that includes campus-based recovery services and a supportive peer community. Young people now have opportunity to move forward in recovery from addiction and be successful earlier in their recovery thanks to the growing number of collegiate recovery programs on campuses throughout the country.

For more information on the event, please visit: https://www.arheskiathon.org

About the Association of Recovery in Higher Education:

The Association of Recovery in Higher Education (ARHE) is a national leadership organization dedicated to empowering collegiate recovery programs and professionals to support students in recovery. The non-profit provides education, advocacy and development expertise to help grow and sustain the availability of collegiate recovery programs across the nation, with an emphasis on connection and collaboration. The ARHE envisions a collegiate culture that embraces recovery where students can find academic success while being supported in their recovery and valued for their dedication to health and wellbeing, and contributions to the campus community. For more information about ARHE, please visit: http://collegiaterecovery.org.
Cathy Baldwin, Sterling Administration

Sterling Administration is proud to announce that Cathy Baldwin has joined the team as Director of Sales, serving our broker and employer community in Southern Californias central coast region, including Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Bakersfield areas. Cathy joins us from a General Agency background, and brings years of experience to the team. She is charged with building broker and agency relationships to expand Sterlings suite of products in Southern California.

Mike Booth, Sterlings Vice President of Sales and Marketing says, I am very pleased to welcome Cathy to the Sterling team. With her leadership, attention to service, and keen networking skills, we know Cathy will greatly expand Sterlings footprint in her region.

Cathy is a dedicated volunteer to THON.org, a student-run philanthropic organization serving children with cancer, founded at her alma mater, Penn State.

About Sterling Administration

Sterling Administration is an independent administrator for HSAs, HRAs, FSAs, POPs and COBRA. Additionally, Sterling offers expert compliance services for ERISA Wrap, Form 5500 Filing, non-discrimination testing, and requirements under the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (PPACA); it also offers an online benefits enrollment platform in English and Spanish.

Sterling was named a national Best Place to Work by Business Insurance Magazine in 2014. Sterlings office culture promotes health and wellness, reinforced by daily walks and stretching, led by CEO Cora Tellez. Sterling is based in Oakland, California with remote staff nationwide. Visit Sterling online at http://www.sterlingadministration.com.
Throughout the past decade the drone industry has undergone immense growth, making it one of the fastest growing industries of the past few years.

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2017) in Las Vegas, drones were a major draw and as such will play a big role in the tech of 2017. Two lesser known Chinese drone companies that are leading the way with affordable alternatives to big name brands are Xiaomi and Wingsland.

These cool electronic gadgets let consumers take to the skies for a fraction of the price of big name brands and have just been made available to the Western market by Chinavasion.

Chinavasion is located in Shenzhen, a city in South China that is home to over 200 drone companies. Shenzhen plans to build the world's first drone development and manufacturing hub  putting them on the forefront of the drone industry.

This innovative market and localization of components and skills is a driving force behind the competitive drone market. Due to its positive location, Chinavasion finds itself in the midst of the latest drone developments and inventions, so there is lots for consumers to look forward to.

Ms. Rose Li, PR manager at Chinavasion, stated: The drone industry is facing mounting pressure from a new range of highly competitive Chinese drone manufactures that offer all the features of big brands but at a much lower price."

As of late, Chinavasion has introduced its global customer base to two lesser known Chinese drone brands; Xiaomi and Wingsland. Both companies have produced a topnotch drone that packs the latest technology and features yet comes with a remarkably low price tag.

Both drones feature a compact size, making them easy to maneuver. Equipped with ultra-HD cameras, they allow pilots to shoot absolutely stunning photographs and video in 1080p and 4K resolution. Added to that, the Xiaomi Mi video drone supports 360-degree photography - enabling users to take photography to entirely new heights.

When asked, Ms. Rose Li stated, It is remarkable how such compact devices are capable of packing these absolutely gorgeous cameras. Snapping pictures and making videos with these drones certainly is an experience like no other.

Featuring the latest hardware and software, the Wingsland S6 and Xiaomi Mi drones allow their users so enjoy numerous flying modes. An abundance of in-flight features such as auto landing and take-off support along with a highly accurate GPS system allow even new drone pilots to cruise the skies with these quad copters.

What really sets these drones apart from the competition is the fact that they are easy to control, even for beginning drone enthusiasts, Ms. Li stated. She added that, "Features such as FPV support and the possibility to attach external accessories like a search light or BB gun further enhance the overall flying experience."

As a Shenzhen-based electronics e-commerce company, Chinavasion sees a bright future for the Chinese drone industry. The company aims to add more high-end devices along with other cool electronics and gizmos to its collection in the near future so as to meet the demands of its global customer base.
Let's be clear right up front about Central School and its potential to become a 21st century school. All of the architect and engineering reports that have looked at the building say it can safely be refurbished. None have said it was failing or that it should be demolished. Rather, they all agreed the school needed to be seismically reinforced to meet current codes, and that doing so was entirely feasible.

And like the many school districts across the nation that have proudly renovated their schools, Helenas Central School, with its high ceilings, large sunny windows and spacious rectangular form, could readily be remodeled and with an addition, meet the districts targets for modern learning.

Recently, the Billings School District showed what can be done with historic schools. Last week they received the Governors Award for Historic Preservation for the vision and beauty of their restoration effort of the McKinley and Broadwater schools. And in accepting, they said not only did the district save money by preserving their schools rather than replacing them, these two schools are the highest performing for energy efficiency of all the elementary and middle schools in the District.

Yet rather than look more deeply into all this compelling information on preservation, the Helena School Board has determined to demolish Central School.

We greatly respect the good people on the school board but the decision to tear down Central is the latest chapter in the much-regretted story of the destruction of Helena's unique trove of historic buildings. Since urban renewal in the 1970s more than 230 19th and early 20th century buildings here have met the wrecking ball, many of them architecturally irreplaceable. The ornate Marlowe Theater, the stately granite Union Bank and the unique Electric Block were just a few of the structures that met the business end of the wrecking ball, and people still mourn their passing.

Fortunately some buildings, like the elegant Civic Center, the stone jail that became the Myrna Loy, the majestic Power Block, and the New York store which now hosts a lively wine bar and brewery were saved and restored to modern use. Together they create a part of the vibrant personality of this city. People live here and visit Helena in large part because of the one-of-a-kind historical character that is still evident in the business district and lovely older neighborhoods.

Since opening in 1915, Central School has crowned Helenas downtown skyline, and welcomed neighborhood children every fall for almost 100 years. To destroy it, without sitting down with historical architects to see what truly is possible, is the wrong decision, especially with no plan in place for a replacement. There are no architectural drawings for a new school, just vague ideas. Lacking even some kind of basic concept, no one can say what a new building would cost or what would even be feasible to construct on the sloping Central property.

Against this backdrop, Central School deserves an open-minded hearing and in our opinion, a new lease on life. We have no wish to fight with Helenas elected school trustees and we invite them to visit Billings with us and see for themselves how renovated schools are truly a beautiful option for teachers and students.

Most all the people I know believe in and support a school bond. I support renewed schools for Helena. But forcing a stand-off between voting for a school bond for the children, and for a school bond that also preserves their heritage, is needlessly divisive.

There is still time to find a solution that everyone can support. Rather than waging campaigns and pressuring people to make irrevocable decisions, lets listen to the experts and work together to craft a solution for how to safely rebuild a part of Helenas history into a school to be proud of for the next century.

The reports assessing Central, and how it can be modernized into a 21st century school, are posted on the MPA website at http://www.preservemontana.org/centralschoolhelena.

Chere Jiusto, executive director

Montana Preservation Alliance
Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP further grew its Corporate Practice with two strategic additions, Joseph Suh and Ejim Peter Achi as shareholders in New York. They join Greenberg Traurig as the firm continues to enhance its Corporate Practice, specifically in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, private equity and investment management. In 2016, nearly 90 attorneys joined the firms Corporate Practice, with more than 20 in New York.

As the marketplace changes and becomes increasingly complex and global, Greenberg Traurig is focused on attracting premier specialists, like Joseph and Ejim, to support those changes. On a variety of levels, we offer a tremendous value proposition in the M&A, private equity and investment management arenas, said Richard A. Rosenbaum, Greenberg Traurig Executive Chairman.

Suh focuses on corporate and securities matters related to investment funds and financial products, and has substantial experience in representing investment managers and investors in connection with formation of and investments in collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), hedge funds and private equity funds, including private funds investing in asset-backed securities, distressed assets, marketplace loans and Brazilian assets.

Achi represents private equity sponsors, public and private strategic buyers and sellers, and venture capital investors in connection with buyouts, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and other investments.

The CLO market is underserved today and Joseph is one of the few attorneys in the United States who has his level of experience. Both he and Ejim have unique, real-world experience in foreign markets, making them a great fit within our award-winning global platform. We are excited to add them to our already talented roster, said Patricia Menendez-Cambo, Global Vice Chair of Greenberg Traurig.

Per Nancy Mitchell and Stephen Rabinowitz, Co-Managing Shareholders of Greenberg Traurigs New York office, We welcome Ejim and Joseph to our robust New York practice as two of our three new additions since the start of 2017. Greenberg Traurig is a firm built for today's client needs that added more than 70 attorneys and directors throughout New York State and the Metropolitan Region in 2016.

Also on Jan. 17, former Deputy Secretary of Legislative Affairs for New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mark Weprin joined the firm in its New York City and Albany offices and Rebecca L. Caldwell-Harrigal, the first female Director of the Office of Tax Exempt Bonds (TEB) at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), joined as a shareholder in the Tax Practice in our Northern Virginia office. Additionally, on Jan. 18, six new shareholders and related teams focused on private equity, real estate and tax joined the firms London office.

Greenberg Traurig is an excellent fit for my clients and for my experience based on the firms goals and strategy. It is particularly important that I am joining at this time, given the firms focus in growing its investment management practice and, especially in my case, CLOs, hedge funds, private equity funds and related financial vehicles, Suh said. I have worked with Greenberg Traurig attorneys previously and its great to be part of the team.

This is a tremendous opportunity to grow my practice while serving as an asset to Greenberg Traurigs clients on a global scale. The firms highly respected reputation for prudent management and excellence in the delivery of quality legal services are key factors in my decision to join at this time, Achi said.

Suh, who speaks Portuguese and Korean, lived in Brazil for nine years and has significant experience with the Brazilian investment management industry. He advises them in structuring the investment funds and in connection with all related U.S. corporate, securities and investment adviser regulatory issues. He received his J.D. in 1994 from Fordham University School of Law and his B.A. in Government from Cornell University in 1991. Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, he was a partner at Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, where he coordinated that firm's Latin America practice.

Achi represents clients in joint ventures, acquisitions and venture capital transactions involving a number of jurisdictions, including a number of African targets. In 2011, he received the Accelerator Award from the MIT Sloan School of Business Africa Innovate Business Plan Competition. He earned his J.D. in 2006 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he also received a Certificate in Business & Public Policy from The Wharton School of Business. In 2002, he received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. Achi also received an MBA from the Yale School of Management in 2013. Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, he practiced at Hogan Lovells.

Greenberg Traurigs Private Equity Practice

Greenberg Traurigs Private Equity Practice utilizes the collective experience and resources of the firm to help clients achieve their goals. An experienced team of private equity attorneys leverages the firms unique geographic platform and extensive range of practice and industry capabilities across the firm, which distinguishes Greenberg Traurig from other large firms. To learn more about Greenberg Traurigs Private Equity Practice, click here.

About Greenberg Traurig's Corporate & Securities Practice

Greenberg Traurigs Corporate & Securities Practice comprises more than 400 lawyers who advise public and privately held companies and investment funds on global mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, private equity and venture capital, underwritten and syndicated offerings, commercial finance and syndicated lending, cross-border transactions, and general corporate matters. The groups industry experience includes transactions in a wide range of fields, from the pharmaceutical, medical devices, and life sciences fields, to representations involving clients in the aviation, banking, energy, health care, manufacturing, technology, and telecommunications sectors.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GTLaw) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is celebrating its 50th anniversary. A single entity worldwide, GTLaw has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the second largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2016, and among the Top 20 on the 2016 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.
"The result has had a profound effect on the office's overall investigative process." Office of the Ohio Inspector General, Annual Report

Column Technologies, a provider of IT and Business Process Management solutions, today announced it has entered into an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) relationship with BMC Software, a global leader in IT solutions for the digital enterprise. Under the agreement, BMC Software will market Column Technologies Case Investigative product to allow customers the flexibility to extend their investment into areas of the business beyond IT including risk management, investigations, and fraud.

Column Case Investigative is a workflow-driven, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) web-based case management software solution that enables organizations to manage investigations, improve operational efficiencies, and mitigate risk, while ensuring corporate and regulatory compliance. Built on BMCs Remedy IT Service Management Suite, the solution offers content management, workflow, role-based access, system integration, data visualization, and reporting and analytics.

Column Technologies as the manufacturer will provide the support for customers. Column Case Management will be available via SaaS-based and perpetual licensing models.

The BMC Marketplace provides an ideal platform for customers to find solutions that enhance their investment in BMC products, said Shafath Syed, Sr. Director of End User Solutions, BMC Software. Column Technologies Case Investigative solution enables BMC Software customers to extend their Remedy IT Service Management Suite solution well beyond the help-desk."

We are extremely excited about the BMC Marketplace Program for ISVs. This is a great opportunity to expand BMCs Remedy footprint across the world with our market-leading investigative software. The BMC ISV program will allow us to reach new markets in collaboration with BMCs sales organization, said Tim Yario, President of Column Technologies.

Column Case Management was included in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for BPM-Platform-Based Case Management Frameworks published on October 24, 2016. In addition, it has been chosen as one of the Top Dynamic Case Management Vendors by Forrester Research and has been mentioned in the recently published research by Gartner, Market Trends: Case Management Software, an $8Billion Untapped Opportunity.

About Column Technologies

Established in 1998, Column Technologies is a privately-held, global technology solutions provider with focused areas in IT and Business Process Management. Headquartered in the United States, Column Technologies employs a diverse and talented team of more than 440 employees around the world with offices in Canada, India, and the United Kingdom.

BMC, BMC Software, the BMC logo, and the BMC Software logo are the exclusive properties of BMC Software Inc., are registered or pending registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other BMC trademarks, service marks, and logos may be registered or pending registration in the U.S. or in other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Copyright 2017 BMC Software, Inc.
Poonam Gupta, President & CEO Iyka Enterprises We are not experts in anti-money laundering and we are not heroes. Rather we empower the experts to become heroes at their own organizations. Past News Releases RSS Iyka to Introduce Comprehensive Big...

Iyka Enterprises, a leading business intelligence provider, just introduced a paradigm-shifting analytics platform for anti-money-laundering applications. While nearly all AML platforms are restricted to numeric and relational data, Iyka dS also uses precision context to interpret all information for a much higher percentage of money laundering detection. Another significant advantage is an exponentially faster time-to-actionable insights.

For example, a major international bank recently incurred $14B in penalties and fines directly related to money laundering that was missed by their Advanced Analytics AML team. The fault was traced to their data analytics process which took four years to implement and was only able to process numeric and relational data. By contrast, Iyka dS could have processed data that was much more valuable and completed the analysis in a fraction of the time.

Iyka President and CEO Poonam Gupta-Krishnan said, The bottom line is that our clients are already saving hundreds of millions of dollars and this bank could have saved itself $14B in penalties and fines with Iyka dS.

AML is becoming more of an issue now because criminals and international players are increasingly looking to global trade avenues to launder money. There are a number of reasons for this, the primary being that global trade is less scrutinized than finance.

And tracing global trade is more ephemeralmeaning effective analytics must to be able to process descriptive data in context. The value of this capability cant be overestimated, Gupta-Krishnan added.

Global trade-based money laundering includes cartel funds, terrorist financing, and efforts to circumvent international sanctionsthree very complex areas. Additionally it involves finance, shipping, and insurance operations across international legal and customs systems based on multiple languages.

According to a CIO article: How Big Data Analytics Can Help Track Money Laundering,

common trade-based money laundering (TBML) techniques include the following:



Under-Invoicing. The exporter invoices trade goods at a price below the fair market price.

Over-Invoicing. The exporter invoices trade goods at a price above the fair market value, allowing the importer to transfer value to the exporter.

Multiple Invoicing. A money launderer or terrorist financier issues multiple invoices for the same international trade transaction, justifying multiple payments for the same shipment.

Over and Under-Shipment. In some cases, the parties simply overstate or understate the quantities of goods shipped relative to the payments sent or received.

False Description of Trade Goods. Money launderers misrepresent the quality or type of trade goods.

Informal Money Transfer Systems (IMTS). An example is Colombia's Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE), which was established by Colombian businesses trying to get around Colombia's restrictive currency exchange policies.

These sophisticated efforts to fly under the radar require sophisticated business analytics to counteract them. This means extracting and analyzing structured and especially unstructured data from in-house and external sourcesa very tall order for most analytics platforms, but not for Iyka dS.

Iyka dS processes and accurately flags information from text analytics, policies, translators, industry-specific jargon, ontologies, spreadsheets, Web resources, unit price and weight analysis, international trade/country profile analysis, relational analysis of trade partners and depots, etc.

The international bank situation was completely avoidable, Gupta-Krishnan said. If it was up to us it would never happen again. But we are not experts in anti-money laundering and we are not heroes. Rather we empower the experts to become heroes at their own organizations.

Headquartered in Greater Chicago, multiple award-winning Iyka is the leading expert on analytic optimization and the comprehensive utilization of all data. Its primary product is Iyka dataSpryng, the only Big Data analytics platform able to read unstructured data and provide an instantaneous unified view. It is as straightforward to deploy as Microsoft Outlook and user friendly--clients get the answers they need without technical translation or dependencies. Value add solutions include Iyka Team Consulting Services, which is staffed with highly experienced, experts that are closely monitored and held accountable to Iykas own exacting performance standards. Master Contracts include: University of Illinois Systems, Cook County, State of Illinois, CDW, Federal Aviation Administration (eFAST), 8(a) STARS, and GSA 70 (pending). For more information on Iyka dataSpryng and Iyka visit http://www.iyka.com or call 630-372-3900.
Share your culture, share your home Technology such as secure document sharing, live video chat and now, online background screening, allow for a safe introduction between students and housing providers.

Homeowners or renters with an extra room to share can now run comprehensive tenant screening reports on possible tenants with a click of a button on the Roomdock website thanks to technology created by theRRD.

The comprehensive tenant screening reports includes a summary credit check, national criminal background check, and a national search for evictions, liens and judgments, as well as theRRDs proprietary Incident Reporting. theRRDs Incident Reporting allows Roomdock room providers to view lease violations on prospective tenants, while in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. All the information is pulled and aggregated from several reputable national repositories.

The new service adds to the suite of services Roomdock offers to both room seekers and room providers on its platform. Roomdock is a premier web destination for international and domestic students looking for housing and support near college campuses all over the United States.

Roomdock helps students from 60 countries find a compatible place by pairing them up with a host who wants to make an extra income, but is also interested in cultural exchange. Students and hosts are matched based on budget, location, lifestyle, interest and culture.

Technology such as secure document sharing, live video chat and now, online background screening, allow for a safe introduction between students and housing providers, said Smith Tanny, a former international exchange student and Roomdock CEO. Roomdock also couples a powerful screening algorithm with real-person interviews to provide the safest room-sharing platform on the web.

theRRD offers a comprehensive list of real estate services for real estate professionals, property owners, tenants, renters and property managers including the industry's first nationally available Instant Tenant Screening API.

I am excited to have this new partnership through our API offering which was created specifically to enhance partnerships with companies that could benefit from integrating tenant screening services as part of their offering, said Joe Killinger, CEO of theRRD.

Approximately 1 million international students enroll in colleges and universities across the US annually, but there is a shortage of supply of on-campus housing. Most schools dont have dedicated support for international student housing and apartment rental and classifieds sites can be expensive and unsafe.

About Roomdock

Roomdock was born in 2014 through the vision, experience and struggles of our founder, Smith Tanny (Smitty), a former foreign exchange student from Indonesia. Roomdock is a premier web destination for international and domestic students looking for housing and support near college campuses all over the United States. Roomdock helps international students from 60 countries find a compatible place by pairing them up with a host who wants to make an extra income, but is also interested in cultural exchange. Students and hosts are matched based on budget, location, lifestyle, interest and culture. Visit http://www.roomdock.com for more information

About theRRD

theRRD offers an integrated suite of market-leading solutions that provides a more complete toolset for the real estate and property management industry, including the industry's first nationally available Instant Tenant Screening API. Visit http://www.theRRD.com to learn more about these products.
Judge John M. Facciola (Ret.) I am honored to join SunBlock Systems' special masters group...

SunBlock Systems, Inc., a leader in digital forensics and eDiscovery services, today announced that Judge John M. Facciola (Ret.) has joined the firms newly established special masters group.

Pursuant to Rule 53 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, courts have the power to appoint judicial adjuncts or special masters to assist with civil and criminal cases. Judge Facciola will provide his eDiscovery expertise to courts and private litigants as he joins other industry leaders in SunBlocks special masters group. The group provides courts and litigants with highly specialized expertise in the fields of digital data collection and assessment, eDiscovery and financial accounting for the purpose of resolving complex issues that arise in litigation.

Judge Facciola is available as a special master to facilitate meet and confer discussions to avoid eDiscovery problems and to fashion reasonable agreements and eDiscovery protocols. He is also available to monitor and compel compliance with court orders, to resolve discovery disputes and to provide courts with reports and recommendations. For private litigants, Judge Facciola is available to mediate disputes, to adjudicate at mock trials, and to provide opinion letters on issues pertaining to eDiscovery and compliance with eDiscovery rulings.

We are thrilled to leverage Judge Facciolas leadership and expertise. No one can dispute the impact Judge Facciola has made in the field of eDiscovery, said David Sun, CEO and Founder of SunBlock Systems, Inc. We look forward to facilitating Judge Facciolas continued impact and contribution in the field of eDiscovery.

I am honored to join SunBlocks special masters group, and I am looking forward to using my expertise and experience to help courts and litigants resolve eDiscovery issues in cost-effective, fair, and reasonable ways. I look forward to working with the many great people in the legal community with whom I have had the pleasure of meeting and exchanging ideas with over the past twenty years, said Judge Facciola.

For more information about SunBlock Systems and the special masters group, visit: http://www.SunBlockSystems.com.

About Judge John M. Facciola

Judge John Facciola (ret.) is one of the leading thought leaders in the field of eDiscovery and privacy and has been since even prior the enactment of the 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. As a jurist, academic and as a leader of professional eDiscovery-related professional groups and associations, Judge Facciolas thinking has impacted almost every aspect of the eDiscovery practice. Judge Facciola is a recognized eDiscovery expert, and he is a frequent author and speaker on the subject of eDiscovery and eDiscovery practice.

About SunBlock Systems

SunBlock Systems, established in 2002, specializes in providing digital forensics, technology-related investigations, eDiscovery and litigation support services. SunBlock Systems has assisted large corporations and law firms around the world and foreign and domestic governments on high-profile, highly-sensitive matters.
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In his third State of the State address, Gov. Steve Bullock encouraged legislators to craft bipartisan solutions to navigate the state through a financial crunch and make targeted investments in the future.

In his 45-minute speech Tuesday evening, Bullock often quoted the addresses of previous governors to reinforce his core message.

It struck me that, no matter the moment in history, no matter the political party, we have shared values, immutable over time: a sense of pride in this state and its people, a trust in our ability to get things done, and a belief that if we band together, our state and her citizens will shine even brighter tomorrow than they do today, he said.

The address reiterated his priorities for the next two years, often casting them in the context of anticipated clashes with legislators, who must craft a state budget by the end of April amid slowed revenues and a state savings account that has largely been depleted. Bullock listed the historical Montana values he hoped would guide them in those decisions: Fiscal responsibility. Education. Infrastructure. Job creation. Caring for others.

And at the core of them all is the bedrock value of working together to get things done, he said.

Legislators, too, had called for unity on their opening day of the session earlier this month, but cracks soon appeared as Republicans criticized the governor for downplaying declines in energy production and, as a result, state revenues during the course of his re-election campaign. They reinforced that message in a rebuttal after Bullocks address.

In his rebuttal delivered in the Senate chamber after Bullocks address, Speaker of the House Rep. Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, worked to paint Bullock as living in a Helena bubble and unaware of how the rest of the state is doing.

Knudsen tapped into an emotional touchpoint in the symbolic battle between eastern Montana and the western half of the state -- the coal-fired power plant at Colstrip south of Billings.

To massive applause from a packed chamber Knudsen said he will carry a bill to keep Colstrip Units 1 and 2 open, though its not clear how that could be accomplished since the closures are part of a settlement after a lawsuit filed by environmental groups over emissions violations. Terms of the shutdown are part of a consent decree. Knudsen said he was exploring ways to deal with the legalities.

Republicans have used Colstrip and infrastructure issues in eastern Montana and rural parts of the state to say the state is struggling, though Bullock doubled down in his address, painting a different picture.

I stand before you to report the state of our state is strong, he said to standing applause from Democrats while Republicans stayed seated -- a scene repeated throughout the the night. Montanas economy is solid  and growing.

He disagreed with Republicans that the states tax climate or government regulation was to blame for slow revenue growth slowing since a post-recession peak in 2015.

The biggest challenge Montana businesses face is growth itself, he said, calling for more job training and apprenticeship programs to fill thousands of openings statewide.

Montanas future will look different with a more diverse economy than its past, he said, and rejected the idea that addressing climate change precluded producing power from fossil fuels.

He insisted on a $300 million ending fund balance. Republicans have argued that figure is too high for the states informal rainy day fund.

Bullock also argued against funding cuts to Child and Family Services and community nursing homes. He said that, yes, building projects like a renovation of Romney Hall at Montana State University and an expansion of the Montana Historical Society are infrastructure needs worth funding -- confronting conservative legislators who killed the 2015 infrastructure proposal in protest of those projects.

Despite statements from GOP leaders that they would not support tax increases, Bullock insisted in his address that adding a new, higher income tax bracket for the wealthiest Montanans is a fair way to fund such state programs.

He emphasized infrastructure investments and the thoughtful use of bonds to fund them. Legislators from both parties have acknowledged they need to help Montana communities make critical infrastructure repairs and improvements.

But Montanans need you to do more than recognize it, he said. They need you to vote for it.

Bullock also urged legislators to make investments in children, including a proposal to fund a statewide voluntary preschool program that was killed by legislators in 2015.

Republican Territorial Governor James Tufts said in 1868 that: Next in importance to liberty itself, the greatest blessing we can confer upon our children is education, Bullock said.

In his rebuttal, Knudsen repeated a refrain Republicans have over and over during the first month of the session, saying the Legislature left town in 2015 with $300 million in the states rainy day fund. Members of the party have questioned where they money went and why Bullock did not reduce spending earlier.

Montanans deserve to know what happened to the huge reserves, and going forward we want more transparency on where Montanas tax dollars are going to be spent. What we now face is not only a budget crisis, but a management crisis."

In closing, Bullock repeated a call for unity and optimism.

That future is in our reach, he said. But we must work together, and the time for games is over. We must engage in thoughtful, rational and constructive dialogue with one another.

Holly Michels also contributed to this report.
HarperOne Goes to Hollywood

In a world rights deal, Nena Madonia Oshman at Dupree Miller & Associates sold The Hollywood Commandments by film producer and preacher DeVon Franklin to KathrynRenz Hamilton at Harper One. The book, slated to publish in October, encourages readers to pursue their passion in every area of life, including career, relationships, and faith.

Zondervan Nabs the Chewbacca Mom

Zondervan acquisitions editor Stephanie Smith bought world rights to two books by Candace Payne, also known as the Chewbacca Mom who shared a Facebook Live video of herself wearing a Chewbacca mask and laughing. The video entitled the simple joys in life went viral, garnering over 165 million views. Paynes first booka memoir on poverty, shame, and depressionwill release on November 7 with a national media and multi-city book signing tour. Following in fall 2018, Zondervan will release a gift book illustrated by Payne that explores joy and how to find it. Payne is represented by the Icon Management Group and Jana Burson of the Christopher Ferebee Agency.

Faithwords Signs Up for a Miracle

Nena Madonia Oshman sold world rights to Rolf Zettersten at FaithWords for The Impossible: The Miraculous Story of a Mothers Faith and Her Childs Resurrection by Joyce Smith with ghostwriter Ginger Kolbaba. Scheduled to publish in fall 2017, the book claims to tell the story of how a drowned child was brought back to life by his mothers prayers.

Tyndale Takes The Martyrs Oath

Sealy Yates of the Yates and Yates Agency sold world rights to Tyndale Momentums acquisitions editor Jon Farrar to The Martyrs Oath: Living For the Jesus Theyre Willing to Die For by author of Defying ISIS Johnnie Moore. Slated to publish on October 17, the new book sheds light on Christian persecution around the world.

Grant Sells Childrens Debut to Sparkhouse

Jennifer Grant, author of five books including Love You More and Wholehearted Living, sold world rights to her first childrens book, Maybe God is Like That Too, to Sparkhouse editor Naomi Krueger. The book, illustrated by Benjamin Schipper, follows a child through a day in his busy city life, including encounters with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It will be published in March.

Conari Buys End of Life Book

Henry Fersko-Weiss, a hospice therapist and the founder of the International End of Life Doula Association, is bringing Caring for the Dying: The Doula Approach to a Meaningful Death to Conari Press in March. In it, Fersko-Weiss explores how the dying and their families can bring meaning and comfort to care at the end of life. Caroline Pincus acquired U.K./Commonwealth rights to the title from the authors agent, Sheree Bykofsky.

IVP Reconstructs the Gospel

Greg Daniel with Daniel Literary Group sold world rights to IVP for a new book by Strangers at my Door author Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. Acquired by Al Hsu and slated to release in spring 2018, Reconstructing the Gospel (working title) examines teachings of Christianity as an antidote to racism.

Fortress Signs a Double with Micheli

Following up on Cancer Is Funny: Keeping Faith in Stage-Serious Chemo, Jason Micheli signed a two-book word rights deal with Fortress Press senior acquisitions editor Tony Jones. The first, a book on marriage, is tentatively titled Living In Sin: Lessons on Marriage while Living with Cancer, and is slated for release in early 2018. The second, an untitled book on parenting while living with cancer, will release in early 2019.

Loyola Embarks on a Strange Journey

Joe Durepos, executive editor at Loyola Press, acquired world rights to Strange Journey: How Two Homesick Pilgrims Stumbled Back into the Catholic Church by Christopher Award winner Jessica Mesman Griffith and writing partner Jonathan Ryan. Inspired by their popular spiritual blog, Sick Pilgrim, the book is an account of the pain and grace of living a 2,000-year-old faith tradition in a 21st Century world. It is slated to publish in October.

Immersive Prayer Approaches Loyola

Elizabeth M. Kelly, author of May Crowning, Mass, and Merton and Other Reasons I Love Being Catholic, sold world rights to Joe Durepos for a book on immersive prayer, Jesus Approaches: What Todays Woman Can Learn about Healing, Freedom, and Joy from Women of the New Testament. Publication is set for late 2017.
February will see the release of a book on Buddhist wisdom that has already sold over three million copies in Korea as well as new titles from Kyle Idleman and Steven Furtick.

Nonfiction

Feb. 1

The Little Book of Dream Symbols: The Essential Guide to Over 700 of the Most Common Dreams by Jacqueline Towers (Hampton Roads, $14.95 paper, 978-1-5717-4758-7) features an A-Z index of symbols often found in dreams and the possible meaning behind them.

My Heart by Julie Manning (B&H, $16.99 paper, 978-1-4336-4404-7). A nurse reflects on living with a life-threatening heart condition, exploring how it changed her parenting style, marriage, and perception of God.

Tightropes and Teeter-Totters by Lisa Pennington (David C. Cook, $16.99 paper, 978-0-7814-1293-3) features methods for finding stability in marriage and motherhood as well as words of encouragement to persevere through hard times.

Feb. 6

Race and Place: How Urban Geography Shapes the Journey to Reconciliation by David P. Leong (IVP, $16 paper, 978-0-8308-4134-9) argues that geographical structures and systems such as ghettos, ethnic enclaves, and suburbia serve as divisive barriers that perpetuate racial injustice.

Feb. 7

Divine Direction by Craig Groeschel (Zondervan, $22.99; ISBN 978-0-3103-4283-0) is a guide to decision-making built on seven biblical principles.

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim (Penguin Books, $18, 978-0-1431-3077-2). A bestseller in Korea, this guide to Buddhist wisdom addresses topics such as love, spirituality, and relationships while urging readers to find peace among modern day demands.

Feb. 14

Big Miracles: The 11 Spiritual Rules for Ultimate Success by Joanna Garzilli (HarperElixir, $26.99; ISBN 978-0-0624-5698-4). The author of Unleash the Psychic in You presents steps for creating positive change, complete with meditation and journaling exercises. 50,000-copy announced first printing.

The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis (HarperOne, $14.99 paper; ISBN 978-0-0625-6539-6). Originally published in 1960, this new edition series features a fresh cover and examines four types of loveaffection, friendship, erotic love, and the love of God. 95,000-copy announced first printing.

May Cause Love: An Unexpected Journey of Enlightenment After Abortion by Kassi Underwood (HarperOne, $26.99; ISBN 978-0-0624-5863-6) is a memoir on healing from depression, addiction, and abortion through an array of spiritual practices. 50,000-copy announced first printing.

Mindfulness for Parents: Finding Your Way to a Calmer, Happier Family by Amber Hatch (Watkins, 978-1-7802-8960-1) introduces mindfulness as a practice that can lead to a more connected relationship with young children.

Feb. 21

You Are Free: Be Who You Already Are by Rebecca Lyons (Zondervan, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-3103-4552-7) answers the need for approval with biblical teachings and calls on women to remember that God has specific plans for each and every one of them, according to the publisher.

Feb. 28

Grace is Greater: God's Plan to Overcome Your Past, Redeem Your Pain, and Rewrite Your Story by Kyle Idleman (Baker, $19.99 paper, 978-0-8010-1941-8) uses stories about mistakes, failures, and hardships to build a case for the transformational power of grace.

Seven-Mile Miracle by Steven Furtick (Multnomah, $23.99, 978-1601429223) compares the last words of Jesus to stages of spiritual growth such as forgiveness, salvation, distress, and reunion.

Fiction

Feb. 7

An Uncommon Protector by Shelley Shepard Gray (Zondervan, $19.99 paper, 978-0-3103-4542-8). Laurel Tracey hires a criminal ex-soldier to defend her family farm from trespassers, but she quickly learns her protector is more than what he appears to be.

Feb. 14

Redeeming Grace by Jill Eileen Smith (Revell, $15.99 paper, 978-0-8007-2036-0) follows the biblical story of Ruth, the great-grandmother of David.

Feb. 21

Home to Paradise by Barbara Cameron (Abingdon, $14.99, 978-1-4267-6993-1) Different ideas about the Amish lifestyle threaten to break John and Rose Anna apart and tests the depth of their love.
DECATUR -- Flu is hitting hard all over the country, and though there havent been any serious cases reported in Macon County, health officials are encouraging precautions.

Influenza in the U.S. is approaching peak levels according to Mayo Clinic infectious diseases specialist Dr. Pritish Tosh.

"We are seeing a fairly dramatic increase in the amount of influenza in parts of the country, and likely will be hitting epidemic levels soon," Tosh said. "Already in the U.S. we are above the baseline for influenza-like illness."

Macon County Health Department Director of Health Promotion and Public Relations Brandi Binkley said only intensive care unit-admitted cases of flu are required to be reported to the health department, and there havent been any ICU cases. But, she said, word from area doctors offices, schools and urgent care locations is that theres been an increase in flu-like symptoms.

Binkley said the health department is encouraging members of the public to get the flu vaccination. Walk-in hours are available Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. She also recommended anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms should stay home from work and recommended everyone wash their hands frequently or use antibacterial rinse.

Tosh says its not too late to get a flu vaccine even for those who have already had the flu because there are more strains circulating.

"You may have been infected with the H3N2 strain that is circulating right now, but there are influenza B strains that also are circulating," Tosh said. "If people have not been vaccinated, they should certainly do so before the peak of influenza gets into their area."

There is still plenty of skepticism surrounding the flu vaccine, but Tosh said it does help.

"Every year, health authorities look at the likely viruses that are going to be part of the next year influenza epidemic, and that is what is used to formulate their vaccine," Tosh said. "The strain that is going around right now was well-predicted and is the strain that was expected, and is in the vaccine. Right now, influenza vaccines are 60 to 70 percent effective in preventing influenza illness in healthy adults."

The Memorial Health System, which includes Memorial Medical Center in Springfield, Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, Passavant Area Hospital in Jacksonville and Taylorville Memorial Hospital -- is recommending inpatient hospital visits be limited to two visitors per patient at one time and that all visitors 18 or older show no signs of illness.

"People who are ill shouldnt visit someone in the hospital," said Tracy Seaton, director of nursing for Taylorville Memorial Hospital. "This is true any time of year, but especially during flu season."

Seasonal flu activity usually peaks in January and February, beginning as early as October and ending as late as May, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As many as 20 percent of all Americans get the flu each year.

Most people who get the flu recover completely in one to two weeks, but some people develop serious and potentially life-threatening medical complications, such as pneumonia, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. In the past decade, flu and pneumonia have been associated with an average of 3,500 deaths a year in Illinois.
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A Davenport woman was arrested for drunk driving and a hit and run accident on Tuesday evening.

Shelby L. Kraus, 47, of 3810 Bridge Ave., is charged in Scott County District Court with driving on a revoked license, a serious misdemeanor, and operating a motor vehicle under the influence-first offense, a serious misdemeanor.

Davenport police received a 6:27 p.m. report of a hit and run in the area of Welcome Way and Kimberly Road, according to court documents.

A green Chevy Malibu struck multiple vehicles and fled the scene. An officer stopped the vehicle in the 100 block of W. Kimberly Road. Ms. Kraus appeared to have red, bloodshot, watery eyes and a strong odor of alcohol, court documents say.

There was an opened 750 ml container of Seagram's 7 American Whiskey within reach of the driver. Mr. Kraus admitted she drank half a bottle of wine. She refused to take a sobriety test or a breathalyzer test. She consented to a datamaster test which revealed her blood-alcohol content to be .230.

Ms. Kraus was booked in Scott County Jail at 7:52 p.m. Court documents say Mr. Kraus has a pending operating while under the influence case stemming from an arrest in November 2016 in Scott County.

Police say Ms. Kraus was not arrested in relation to a second hit and run crash that occurred Tuesday at around 6:18 p.m. in the area of Locust Street and Harrison Street.

This crash involved a Davenport School District school bus and a Beige GMC van. After striking the school bus in the left rear, the van fled the scene, a Davenport Police Department news release says.

Fifteen passengers were on the school bus. No injuries were reported. The crash is under investigation.
MOLINE  An American Red Cross volunteer from the Quad-Cities is headed to Georgia to aid with tornado recovery.

Sandra Keller, of Milan, is a trained mental health volunteer and will be part of the health services team headed to the South after dozens of tornadoes and severe weather left a path of destruction last weekend in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Arkansas and Florida.

Ms. Keller joined the Red Cross as a volunteer in March 2016. In addition to helping with disaster response, she serves as a Red Cross Community Outreach Volunteer working with military members and their families. Her husband, Ken, has been a Red Cross volunteer since 2010.

To make a donation to the Red Cross, visit redcross.org, call 800-RED CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
ROCK ISLAND  Rock Island-Milan school board members eyed administrator proposals Tuesday that would balance the 2017-18 school year budget through more than $1 million in spending reductions and a $2.3 million summer construction plan that would begin utilizing some of the district's projected $3.6 million in new local option sales tax revenue.

Both the spending reductions and construction project spending items before the board were information matters only, with no action taken by the board or direction given to administrators for moving forward. The board is expected to vote and direct administrators to build the 2017-18 budget at the Feb. 28 meeting.

As part of board policy, board members reviewed $1.01 million in cuts that would allow for a balanced budget for the 2017-18 school year. Chief financial officer Bob Beckwith presented financial projections Jan. 10 to the board that called for a $1 million education fund deficit in the 2017-18 school year with a $20.5 million fund balance. At the beginning of the 2021-22 year, he projected a $4.3 million education fund deficit with an $8.5 million fund balance.

Mr. Beckwith said the board could choose to balance next year's budget by authorizing reductions in three areas:

 $250,000 in planned capital improvement projects that would be paid for through local option sales tax revenues instead of district dollars

 $540,000 in savings by eliminating nine teaching positions that were added to reduce class sizes in the kindergarten through second-grade classes. Mr. Beckwith said that would return the class size ratio for those grades to 28 students per class from the current level of 24 students per class.

 $220,000 in savings from eliminating the two junior high school dean positions.

The summer construction proposal to the board by Mr. Beckwith would use $2.3 million for upgrades at five district schools. Mr. Beckwith said the district could use $1.81 million in reserve funding to complete an entryway and facade project at Ridgewood Elementary and for roof work at Rock Island High School, Edison Junior High, and Earl Hanson Elementary. Described as a loan to itself, Mr. Beckwith said the district would begin repaying those reserve funding dollars with local option sales tax dollars, which are due to begin flowing to the district in late October.

The second portion of summer construction work proposed would utilize $500,000 in life safety funding to do exterior wall restoration at Rock Island High School and Thurgood Marshall Learning Center.

Board president Linda Dothard and Dave Rockwell said they were receptive to this proposal as a way to begin utilizing the local option sales tax funding. The board has also discussed other options in the past, including the possibility of using the funds to repay old debt or using the funds to borrow additional funds to do construction upgrades to the many district buildings in need at a much faster pace.

In other business, board members:

 Took no action following a closed session to discuss employee matters

 Heard from superintendent Mike Oberhaus that the fieldhouse renaming committee had met twice and minutes of those meetings have been received by himself and Ms. Dothard. He said the board can expect a recommendation from the committee at the Feb. 14 meeting.

 Recognized the 2017 winners of the Thoms Family Above and Beyond Scholarships. The top prize winner, Asrielle Allen, won $5,000 for her Girls Leading the Way project. Other winners included Paul Bilori, Ellie Hooper and Kylie Wymer.

 Recognized the district's 2016-17 Illinois State Scholars with certificates

 Approved the 2019-20 certified retirements of Terry Taylor and Kathy Evanchyk
President Donald Trump has signed executive actions to advance the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday that construction of the pipelines will be subject to the terms and conditions being renegotiated by the U.S.

Former President Barack Obama killed the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in late 2015, saying it would hurt American efforts to reach a global climate change deal. The pipeline would run from Canada to U.S. refineries in the Gulf Coast. The U.S. government needs to approve the pipeline because it crossed the border.

The Army decided last year to explore alternate routes for the Dakota Access pipeline after the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters said the pipeline threatened drinking water and Native American cultural sites. The Dakota Access pipeline is set to run from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to Illinois near Quincy.

"From now on we are going to start making pipelines in the United States," Trump said from the Oval Office, where he also vowed to require the actual pipe for Keystone to be manufactured in America.

Trump's actions four days after he took office came on the heels of his decision to withdraw from a major trade agreement as he upends Obama's policies, winning praise from congressional Republicans. Democrats in energy-producing states also hailed Trump's actions on the pipelines as long-awaited steps to boost jobs and move the country toward energy independence.

"Today's news is a breath of fresh air, and proof that President Trump won't let radical special-interest groups stand in the way of doing what's best for American workers," said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate.

Warren Mabee, Canada Research Chair in Renewable Energy at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, said Trumps order would mean TransCanada could restart Keystone XL fairly quickly because much of the pipeline has already been built.

Mabee said environmental groups and Native American and First Nations groups who live along the Keystone XL route will see Trumps order as a battle cry, opening it up to possible protests and legal action.

Josie Ironshield, of Bettendorf, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux from Cannoneal, N.D., which is on the Standing Rock reservation, said such an action by the new president was expected but still "devastating."

"This is very devastating," she said. "I'm in touch with all my family in North Dakota, and everybody is just shocked. They are very discouraged to put up a resistance for so long. They're basically scared for their safety and the safety of their children and grandchildren."

Ms. Ironshield is a co-founder of the Sage Sisters of Solidarity, a group of three Quad-Cities Native American women who have been putting on fundraisers to support the protest movement in North Dakota and raise awareness about it. Efforts have included making people aware of the Environmental Impact Statement process, including public comments, and petitions to put pressure on the government to set it in motion.

Those efforts will continue, here and in the Dakotas, she said. The efforts to safeguard the environment is also on behalf of U.S. farmers and residents whose access to clean water and clean soil would be endangered, she said.

"How much do we have to endure before the government will side with us so we can protect the earth?" she said.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  A school board member in Hillary Clinton's hometown resigned after making a derogatory reference on Twitter to the female anatomy in describing women marching against President Donald Trump. An Illinois teacher was pulled from the classroom for a tweet deemed sexist. And a freshman Indiana lawmaker was inundated with criticism over a Facebook post mocking "fat women."

These are a handful of examples from across the U.S. of mostly male public officials who have been reprimanded, called out or disciplined over social media postings about the women's marches around the globe last weekend.

The rash of incidents, which range from boorish to downright vulgar, highlight how nasty political discourse has become since the divisive presidential election. But in an era when Trump made lashing out against "political correctness" central to his appeal, the consequences these officials face for unfiltered use of social media once again demonstrate that what you say on the internet still can hurt you.

"Very few people in public life, even today, get away with what Trump was able to get away with," said Michael Cornfield, a George Washington University professor who studies politics in the internet age. "I wonder what these gentlemen were thinking."

It's not the first time rantings on social media have sparked backlash. Public officials for years have found themselves in trouble, and even resigned from office, over comments that were impolitic, distasteful and sometimes even racist. It's also not strictly a partisan issue. A writer for "Saturday Night Live" was suspended this week after writing an offensive tweet about Trump's 10-year-old son Barron. The writer, Katie Rich, deleted the tweet, briefly deactivated her account and then apologized after a social media outcry led to calls for a boycott of the show.

Still, the number of incidents following the women's marches, which packed public squares in blue states and some red as well, has put a few elected officials and supervisors in an awkward spot. And it's not clear where to draw the line.

In Indiana, Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma says he's conducting social media tutorials after posts from at least two state lawmakers.

A weekend Facebook post by Indiana state Rep. Jim Lucas, a Republican, showed a photo of a woman sprayed in the face with pepper spray with a caption that read: "PARTICIPATION TROPHIES. NOW IN LIQUID FORM."

Another post by newly elected Indiana state Sen. Jack Sandlin, also a Republican, credited Donald Trump with getting "more fat women out walking than (former first lady) Michelle Obama did in 8 years."

Sandlin, who says he didn't knowingly make the since-deleted post, was inundated with criticism on his Facebook page and has apologized. He says the incident was a powerful lesson on the "unintended consequences" of opening up "your social media to try to get it out as broadly as you can."

Bosma partially blamed "the Twitter storm created by our president" which he said "makes people feel this is an appropriate vehicle to communicate." He added: "We're elected officials, we're held to a higher standard."

On Monday, Dathan Paterno, a school board member in Park Ridge, Illinois, where Hillary Clinton grew up, abruptly resigned after he called the protests a "farce" by "vagina screechers" on Twitter.

Paterno, who did not respond to a request for comment, later deleted his social media accounts, said district Superintendent Laurie Heinz. He wrote in his letter of resignation that the tweets were "understandably misinterpreted."

Locally, a teacher at United Township High School was "removed from the classroom" for posting a view of women that "does not reflect the values" of the school, district officials said in a statement.

The teacher, Mark Kaczmarek, tweeted a photo of a 1950s housewife, and commented that the protesters "all went home to make dinner."

One online petition called his tweet "unacceptable" while a rival petition said there is "no proof" that he "ever engaged in any kind of sexist, racist or even homophobic hate speeches in his classroom."

A person who answered the phone at a number listed to Kaczmarek declined to comment.

In Nebraska, a retweet of an offensive joke may be the final straw for state Sen. Bill Kintner, who admitted last year to having cybersex on a state computer with a woman who later tried to blackmail him. The Republican's colleagues on Wednesday will debate whether to expel him after he retweeted a joke implying that three women's march demonstrators were too unattractive to sexually assault.

Other incidents were reported in Mississippi, Rhode Island and New Mexico.

Cornfield, the political science professor, said that he thought most people learned the lesson about crossing the line in social media posts years ago during the early days of email.

"I guess now that we've elected the real Donald Trump some people need reminders," he said.
DECATUR  Whether it is part of a New Year's resolution or an item on a bucket list, many will want to try something new to stretch the imagination, learn a craft or fulfill a lifelong dream.

Area art galleries want to make that happen.

Galleries throughout the area are providing classes in a variety of media to start off the new year. Flourishes Gallery and Studio in Shelbyville offers an art discussion group from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoons. Each week they create pieces and discuss art topics such as history, techniques and upcoming events.

The topics often revolve around elements and principles in design. It doesn't take an art background, said the gallery's owner, Carol Kessler. They may not have heard of any these concepts.

Kessler and other instructors assist budding arts in finding what might be missing from the student's artwork, such as balance, contrast, variety or movement. These are ways to use concepts of design, she said.

Because art is a broad subject, art classes can range in topics, too. Decatur Area Arts Council education coordinator Jenny Cowgill has classes scheduled to fit various ages and preferences. Class subjects range from watercolor paintings to drawing cartoon characters.

For people who aren't artistic, it is like learning math or to read. You have to learn the basic steps, Cowgill said. It is a problem-solving process that can help the brain.

Many of the galleries offer classes closely related to crafts. For example, the Decatur art gallery's Bentos, Kokeshis and Kites is a class incorporating Japanese culture. The students learn about doll making, kite construction and food art.

Art classes at Flourishes are often craft oriented.

We've had projects with gourds, figure drawing, tie-dye, craft flowers, calligraphy, origami boxes and quilting, Kessler said.

For many students, the class is not just an opportunity to learn a new talent, but is also a social event. Artists can arrive 30 minutes before scheduled class time to Flourishes to discuss art topics and dilemmas. It is open to sharing about what we've been doing with our art, Kessler said. Whether we've seen it or done it ourselves.

Cowgill categorized many of the classes by age group or interests, including the prekindergarten classes and the Cocktails and Creations class. The classes encourage socialization as well as the arts. The artwork is usually simple, such as a step-by-step painting, candles or collages.

It is a way to look at something differently, Cowgill said. We try to offer a lot of different classes to see what they are good at.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump's selection to become health secretary told a Senate committee Tuesday that the new administration believes people with existing illnesses should not be denied health insurance, but committed to no details on that or any aspects of how Republicans will reshape President Barack Obama's health care law.

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., who would be at the center of GOP efforts to scuttle Obama's statute and create new programs, frustrated Democrats probing for details of what Republicans will do. Instead, he repeatedly told them that the GOP goal is making health care affordable and "accessible for every single American" and to provide choices.

At a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Price's nomination, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., told him the upcoming Republican drive to scrap Obama's overhaul will garner no Democratic votes and warned: "What we have after the repeal is Trump care."

Democrats also condemned Price, a 12-year House veteran, for purchasing stocks in health care companies that could benefit from legislation he pushed. Top panel Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon called that "a conflict of interest and an abuse of his position."

Price, an orthopedic surgeon, told Wyden: "The reality is everything I did was ethical, above board, legal and transparent."

Wyden questioned Price about the congressman's purchase of around 400,000 shares last August of Innate Immunotherapeutics Ltd., an Australian drug company. Wyden said Price had bought the stock at prices only available to insider investors, had understated the value of those shares in papers filed with the Finance Committee, and had obtained the stocks at a time when he could affect congressional legislation.

Price appeared a day before Republicans head to Philadelphia for meetings on how to revamp the nation's health care system. After solidly opposing Obama's law since Democrats pushed it through Congress in 2010, Trump's White House victory puts them in position to deliver their pledge to repeal and replace it, but they've not decided how.

Democrats questioned Price about whether a Republican replacement would continue requiring insurers to cover people with pre-existing illnesses. Before Obama's law, insurance companies did not have to do that because such consumers can be extremely costly to cover, though Trump has said he supports continuing such coverage.

"Nobody ought to lose insurance because they got a bad diagnosis," Price said.

He said one way to cover people who are already sick is with high-risk pools, in which people with high medical costs are pooled together to avoid having their expenses drive up premiums for healthier consumers. That hasn't worked well in the past, providing costly coverage to limited numbers of people.

His appearance also came days after Trump used Inauguration Day to issue an executive order that federal agencies curb fiscal burdens imposed by Obama's overhaul and give states more flexibility to interpret it.

Asked by Wyden for assurances that no consumers will be hurt by that order, Price said he'd work with Congress to ensure people that "every single American has access to affordable health care."

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, praised Price and said he'll schedule a committee vote on sending Price's nomination to the full Senate as quickly as possible.

Obama's health care law has expanded coverage by 20 million Americans, including around half benefiting from the statute's expansion of Medicaid to more lower-income people.

Previous GOP proposals to revoke Obama's law have eliminated that Medicaid expansion, which 31 states  including many headed by Republican governors  have adopted. Price repeatedly sidestepped Democrats' questions about whether the forthcoming Republican plan would erase that expansion, saying it would be up to lawmakers.

He also avoided directly answering whether Republicans will propose turning Medicaid  currently provided to anyone who qualifies  into "block grants." Those are lump sums of money that would go to states so they can make coverage decisions.

Until recently chairman of the House Budget Committee, Price has supported turning Medicaid into a block grant. The House's most recent budget proposed cutting the program by $1 trillion over the next decade.

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., told Price that GOP proposals on Medicaid send signals that they want to "cut the federal government's commitment of access to minorities" for health care.

Price said judging Medicaid's effectiveness by money is "measuring the wrong thing." He said instead, its success should be judged by "outcome, whether people are covered."

Price also said he doesn't believe the long-refuted claim that vaccines cause autism, saying, "The science is it does not." Trump has voiced skepticism about vaccines.
East Moline School District teachers are threatening to strike and ultimately undermining childrens right to education. No public servant should be allowed to strike, causing a stoppage of public services. Feel free to continue to negotiate your contract through arbitration.

Im further appalled by the characterization that their pay is not a livable wage. According to their Facebook page, a teacher with a bachelors degree can be eligible for a $70,000 wage, and with a masters degree, $85,000. (Union spokesman) Rich Palmer complained in this newspaper that he has a masters degree and is not compensated properly. According to online data, he and his wife make over $120,000 per year of taxpayer money; clearly that is a livable wage.

I find similar flaws with the rationale of the union co-presidents who both have public service spouses. They are making over $140,000 per year of taxpayer money as a family. According to the U.S.. Census data, also available online, 2015 data shows the median U.S household income was $53,889; in Illinois the median income was $57,574; and the median household income in East Moline was $43,459.

According to Teacher portal, the median teacher salary in Illinois was $59,113. It appears to me that our educators are at least in the range of properly compensated. The school board can address out of line administrator salaries, staff ratios and expenses. That doesnt justify giving teachers the same irrational fiduciary expenditures. Feel free to negotiate in the court system but going on strike is not acceptable to taxpayers.

Dan Weilding,

East Moline
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DECATUR  A weekend-long event in February is intended to provide inspiration for ideas to boost local business development efforts.

The Millikin University Center for Entrepreneurship will be hosting a Startup Weekend Feb. 10-12 at the Barnes Citizen Building, 236 N. Water St. in downtown Decatur. Activities are scheduled from 6 p.m. Friday through 6 p.m. Sunday.

The host building was the site of an open house in December to showcase the possibilities for vacant space in a central downtown location.

It's in the heart of downtown, said Courtney Tulak, the center's project coordinator. We are real excited as it could get something moving in Decatur. We could find the next big thing in that building.

The open house was the first step toward engaging the community in the concept of a co-working space, said Julie Shields, the center's director.

They could see what the space can be used for, Shields said. That was a test run.

Holding the start-up weekend in the building will build on that experience, Shields said.

We want to engage people and have them feel motivated by it, Shields said.

Tulak said the hope is for those attending the event to continue working on developing ideas. A similar event was held last spring.

Students are taking a more active role in planning this event, Shields said.

There are no limit or boundaries, Tulak said. If they like an idea, they can run with it.

Participants are signed up to attend the event from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where groups from Millikin have been looking as a model.

We're excited to play off their energy, Tulak said. It can really build cool ideas for the community. We are looking forward to making a big dent in Decatur.

Tulak said part of the idea is to provide resources to help aspiring entrepreneurs develop their ideas. She said more than 2,000 similar events have been held in 135 countries around the world.

Registration fees cost between $25 and $45 with sign-up available online.
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GE was awarded a contract by AEnergia in early 2015 to supply 100 of the six-axle 1067mm-gauge locomotives, which are equipped with 12-cylinder 2.2MW FDL12 diesel engines. Key features of the C30 ACi for Angola include ac-ac traction, an electronic airbrake system and driver-machine interface screens in both English and Portuguese. The locomotives have a maximum speed of 100km/h and a 21-tonne axleload.

The order is being financed through a $US 429.5m loan agreement with Export Development Canada (EDC), which was signed last year.

The locomotives will be deployed on the 907km Mocamedes Railway between Menongue and Namibe on the Atlantic coast, and the 1344km Benguela Railway (CFB), which runs from Luau on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo to Lobito on the Atlantic Coast.

Assembly is taking place at GEs plant in Erie, Pennsylvania, which is also building 55 ES43 ACi locomotives for Pakistan Railways.

For extensive data on locomotive orders around the world, subscribe to IRJ Pro.
PEORIA (AP)  One of Illinois' largest pork producers has cancelled its plans to build a hog confinement in Fulton County.

The Chicago Tribune reports the affiliate of Professional Swine Management formally removed its notice of intent to construct from the Illinois Department of Agriculture last week.

The decision came a day after local residents, who feared the waste from the facility could pollute rivers and creeks, protested the hog confinement at a meeting last Wednesday.

However, state agricultural officials say Professional Swine Management could restart the permitting process if they turn in a new application.

The Tribune could not reach the company's officials for comment.

According to the newspaper, nearly half of the 1 million fish killed in Illinois water pollution incidents from 2005 to 2014 were due to waste spills from hog confinements.
Content giant A+E Networks has created two new senior management positions with Lea Goldman appointed editor-in-chief, Lifetime and FYI and Tiffanie Darke joining as editor-in-chief, A&E and HISTORY.





In the newly created roles, Goldman and Darke will be responsible for brand-focused editorial strategy and facilitating creation and curation of content for use on-air, across digital and on social platforms in a consistent voice. They will also support the companys efforts to initiate non-traditional strategic partnerships, events and sponsorship opportunities.Goldman joins A+E Networks from Refinery29 where she served as editorial director. Previously, Goldman was executive editor at Marie Claire where she launched the @Work platform, cultivated a roster of influential contributing editors and expanded the brands reach through strategic partnerships and events.Darke joins A+E Networks from News UK, where she was creative content director overseeing commercial content across all three of its titles. While at News UK, Darke founded and ran Method, News UKs internal creative agency.In today's competitive, fragmented media environment, we need to build brands that truly connect to culture, are an ongoing and meaningful part of our audiences lives and are therefore also clearly consistent across all platforms, said Amanda Hill, CMO, A+E Networks . Having Lea on board to work across our female brands and Tiffanie collaborating across our male/adult brands are important evolutionary next steps for our building our cultural reputation, driving relevance through powerful storytelling and for our company as a whole.
Online video platform ICFLIX and Yellow Spot Productions have struck a partnership to stream an early years 3D animation series in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).





The series, Super Geek Heroes, aims to educate, entertain and enhance the development of children aged from two to five years. Each episode focuses on curricular areas such as health, literacy, numeracy and social-emotional development.David Lawrence Jones, CEO of Yellow Spot Productions and creator of the Super Geek Heroes, said the company was excited about working with Dubai-based video-on-demand ( VOD ) platform ICFLIX.This is a fantastic opportunity to introduce our early years animation series and share our characters missions to learn, added Jones.Radia Saadaoui, manager content acquisitions & programming, ICFLIX, said: We are delighted in working with Yellow Spot Production in bringing the animated series, Super Geek Heroes, to Arabic audiences around the world. Super Geek Heroes will help the children to learn and grow as they find it easier to learn through storytelling and visuals.
EU General Court upholds freezing of Russian air defense systems manufacturers funds

MOSCOW, January 25 (RAPSI)  The General Court of the European Union has upheld the freezing of funds of Russian air defense systems manufacturer Almaz-Antey over the crisis in Ukraine, according to the courts press release issued on Wednesday.

The Court held that the EU Council had acted proportionally in deciding to freeze the funds of entities supporting, materially or financially, actions of the Russian Government which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, the statement reads.

The Court found that Russia had supplied weapons to one of the parties of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine and therefore materially supported "actions which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine," according to the press release.

In the spring of 2014, the EU, the United States and Canada slapped the first sanctions on Russian companies, banks and politicians, freezing their bank accounts, denying them entry and refusing to buy Russian products. The move was linked to the conflict in Ukraine. In June 2015, the EU foreign ministers approved amendments to the EU decision on sectoral restrictions, thereby extending economic sanctions against Russia until January 31, 2016. In 2016, the penalties were expanded and extended yet again.

The EU Council made Almaz-Antey subject to sanctions in July 2014 alleging that the company manufactures anti-aircraft weaponry including surface-to-air missiles which it supplies to the Russian army. According to the Council, Russia has been delivering heavy military assets to Eastern Ukraine, contributing to the destabilisation of Ukraine. As a state-owned company, Almaz-Antey therefore contributes to the destabilisation of Ukraine, the Council claimed.

Russian air defense systems manufacturer Almaz-Antey has turned to the Luxembourg-based Court seeking to have sanctions imposed on it annulled for the period 2015 to 2016.

The Almaz-Antey legal department pointed out that the EU Councils decision to place the company on the sanctions list violates EU law and standards because there is no reliable evidence or substantiation of the companys involvement in the destabilization of the situation in Ukraine, the company announced earlier.

Almaz-Antey was established in 2002 to design and produce air defense and radar equipment. In May 2015, it was renamed the Almaz-Antey Aerospace Defense Concern.
Rosneft files lawsuit against Transneft over oil transfer services

Context Rosneft files another lawsuit against Transneft over protection of property interests

MOSCOW, January 25 (RAPSI)  Russias largest oil producer Rosneft filed a lawsuit with the Moscow Commercial Court against Transneft oil company over allegedly unlawful cancellation of oil transfer services provision, court documents read on Wednesday.

On January 11, Rosneft lodged a lawsuit with the court over protection of its property interests

On December 27, Rosneft filed a lawsuit against Transneft, asking the court to impose preliminary interim measures on protection of its property interests. TASS news agencys source in the Energy Ministry said that the dispute may be caused by Rosneft discontent with methods of calculating residue oil and petroleum products in Transnefts system.

On December 28, the court granted the plaintiffs request and ruled to impose preliminary interim measures which came into force on January 1 and prohibited Transneft from stopping transfer of oil belonging to Rosneft. The latter company claimed that Transnefts pipelines transport up to 1.3 million of tons of oil daily.

The plaintiff stated that cancellation of oil transfer services by Transneft will halt development of oil deposits used by Rosneft and its subsidiaries and which rely on contract signed by the two oil companies. According to Rosneft, such halt will cause significant irreparable damage to the oil company and its employees as well as government and other parties as it will provoke oil shortage.

Transneft disagreed with the courts measures. The company notes that Rosneft did not provide sufficient evidence to justify emergent preliminary interim measures before review of the lawsuit by the court. Transneft believes that there was no evidence of significant damage to the plaintiff and that balance of sides in court was disrupted by such measures.
Ukrainian journalist charged with spying to stay in Russian detention

MOSCOW, January 25 (RAPSI, Yevgeniya Sokolova)  Moscows Lefortovsky District Court on Wednesday extended the detention of Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko, who stands charged with espionage, until April 30, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

According to Russias Federal Security Service (FSB), the Ukrainian citizen "purposively collected classified information about the Armed Forces and National Guard of Russia." Leak of data abroad could cause damage to the national defense capability, the FSB claimed.

On October 7, charges were brought against Sushchenko. He could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

Ukrinform news agency earlier confirmed that Sushchenko has been acting as its reporter since 2002. Since 2010, he has been working as Ukrinforms personal correspondent in France. According to the agency, Sushchenko arrived in Moscow on private business during his vacation and was arrested immediately upon his arrival.

Ukrinform repelled accusations against Sushchenko calling him "a journalist with years of unblemished professional reputation".
Dispute between Russian antimonopoly watchdog and Google to be heard behind closed doors

MOSCOW, January 25 (RAPSI)  The Moscow Commercial Court will hear the dispute between Russias Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) and Google, over corporations refusal to comply with the antimonopoly watchdogs ruling, behind closed doors, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday.

A motion to hear the case behind closed doors was filed by Google. A representative of the corporation said that court documents contain commercial secret. He also filed a motion to stop proceedings in this case.

On January 17, Google Inc. filed an appeal against the Moscow Commercial Courts refusal to overrule the Federal Antimonopoly Services (FAS) decision.

The watchdog held that Google Ireland Ltd. and Google Inc. had violated anti-monopoly law by abusing their dominance on the Russian market of mobile applications.

The Moscow City Court dismissed a lawsuit against the watchdog in March 2016. The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals has upheld the ruling. In early August, FAS announced that it had fined Google 438 million rubles ($6.7 million) for violating administrative legislation.

On September 18, 2015, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) found Google guilty of violation the legislation.

On November 2, the watchdog fined the companies 500,000 rubles each for their failure to comply with its order.

On November 30, FAS announced that it had filed a lawsuit with a commercial court against Google, forcing it to follow the order.

Yet in September, Igor Artemyev, the Head of FAS, stated that the agency was ready to fine Google every two weeks if the company failed to comply with the order.

In case we see the process is dragged out, we will meet every two weeks to impose new fines on them for failing to comply with the order, Artemyev said. It will continue until the final victory [is achieved - ed.] and final court judgement [is passed - ed.], according to Artemyev.
Foreign Policy, January 24, 2017

By Bonnie Kristian

Every year, Transparency International releases a worldwide ranking of national corruption. The calculation of each countrys score includes measures like press freedom, fiscal transparency, and rule of law.

Out of 168 nations ranked, Afghanistan clocks in just two shy of last place at 166. Six in 10 Afghans reported having to pay bribes to facilitate government transactions, and as many agreed their country became more corrupt from 2007 to 2010a bad situation made worse.

Now it turns out this isnt just the expected corruption of an impoverished, undeveloped, war-torn nation. Its corruption on steroids, and the United States government is supplying the juice.

What Our Interventionism Wrought

Thats the conclusion of a new report, Lessons Learned, out from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). The watchdog agency found the United States underestimated the risk of corruption in Afghanistan for years as it threw huge sums of money at unaccountable contractors and shady local allies. It was nearly a decade after the initial intervention that corruption became a priority for the U.S. in Afghanistan, but since then anticorruption policies have been too little and too late.

Our report points out that while corruption in Afghanistan pre-dates 2001, it has become far more serious and widespread since then, SIGAR head John Sopko summarized in a recent speech, adding, The result [of U.S. nation-building attempts] for Afghanistan was systemic corruptionpervasive and entrenched, affecting the courts, the army and police, banking, and other critical sectors.

In fact, corruption has become such a pervasive part of Afghan life since 2001 that cultural attitudes about paying bribes have dramatically shifted in just a decade and a half. Where once bribery was shameful, now it is met with tacit acceptance as a necessary evil.

This finding is hardly surprising. If anything, it would be a shock if corruption hadnt increased under the conditions the SIGAR document describes.

In Afghanistan, the United States inject[ed] tens of billions of dollars into the Afghan economy, using flawed oversight and contracting practices, and partnering with malign powerbrokers, the report says. At its height in 2012, spending in Afghanistan by the Obama Administrations Department of Defense was $19 billion, matching 93 percent of Afghanistans entire GDP. Though the full amount of these contracts was not spent in Afghanistan, SIGAR notes, much of it was, and these amounts indicate that huge sums, relative to the Afghan economy, flowed into the country. Predictably, the local economy couldnt handle it, and so year after year, that massive influx of money built more corruption than it did democracy.

U.S. Taxpayer Money Funded Cronyism, Not Schools

And thats not even the worst of it. Washington partnered with brutal and untrustworthy warlords. The CIA dumped literal bags of cash in the Afghan presidents office in the capital city of Kabul. U.S. failure to address corruption early and often alienated local populations and undercut efforts to promote fair and transparent government. At one point $45 billion just went missing. And while U.S. taxpayers were promised our money was building hundreds of schools to teach Afghan children in a safe environment, corruption interfered even with education efforts. The few schools that did get up and running were dangerous, ramshackle buildings with fewer studentsespecially fewer girlsthan official records attest.

The root of the problem here is bigger than any one program. Rather, it lies in the hubristic belief that the United States should entrench itself in a long-term occupation of this small, faraway nation we have failed so miserablyand so expensivelyto remake in our own image.

SIGAR offers a list of six lessons and 16 policy recommendations based on its finding, and theyre good so far as they go. But they dont go far enough. Yes, Washington should better vet its foreign contractors and proxies, but far more necessary is a thoroughgoing reevaluation of the failed, aggressive foreign policy that led to our creating those relationships in the first place. The problem in Afghanistan is not just the systemic corruption our intervention fosteredits the intervention itself. If we wish to avoid repeating these mistakes, we must subject Washington to at least as much scrutiny as Kabul.

Originally published on Sep. 23, 2016
SPRINGFIELD  Illinois senators, still grappling with the sticker shock of a tax increase and other far-reaching restructuring to end the nation's longest state budget deadlock, skipped a much-anticipated vote on the massive package and adjourned early Wednesday evening.

Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, and Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno of Elmhurst, had set up Wednesday as decision day on their bipartisan plan to end the longest budget drought of any state since World War II.

That plan includes new taxes to drive down a multibillion-dollar deficit while attempting to address Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's demands for changes to ease the cost of business and crimp the influence of unions and politicians.

The Senate vote was to cap a big day at the Capitol. The Republican governor lauded the Senate's cooperation earlier Wednesday during his annual State of the State address to a joint session of the General Assembly.

"Please don't give up. Please keep working. The people of Illinois need you to succeed," Rauner said, going off script.

But after Democrats and Republicans met for more than three hours in private caucus meetings, lawmakers abruptly left, leaving Cullerton spokesman John Patterson to explain in a statement that talks continue and that the chamber would reconvene Thursday.

He would not venture a statement on whether there would be a vote on the Senate's final scheduled session day in January. Radogno promised swift action on the plan, certainly by month's end.

The stalemate began shortly after Rauner took office in 2015. He won't talk about how to tackle a multibillion-dollar deficit until Democrats consider business- and political-climate changes he says will boost the economy and restore voter confidence. Democrats have said the state should raise taxes and cut spending to get the deficit under control before addressing "non-budget" issues.

The Senate plan, notably, would increase the personal income tax 33 percent, from 3.75 percent to 4.99 percent. It would create a 5 percent excise tax on some services such as car repair and laundry.

But it also includes legislation to answer Rauner's concerns. They include a two-year freeze on local property taxes, cost-cutting restrictions on payouts for workers' compensation claims, streamlined state purchasing and an avenue for voters to eliminate unnecessary local governments.

In a Democratic response to the governor's speech, House Deputy Majority Leader Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat, laid the financial suffering squarely at Rauner's feet.

"There are people across our state, including our most fragile citizens, whose lives are forever impacted because of the lack of a budget," Lang said. "If we have a repeat of the past two years there will be more people permanently harmed all across Illinois. We can all agree this should not be allowed to happen."

He said House Democrats would push an economic plan that cuts corporate income taxes while insuring all businesses pay some taxes, raising the minimum wage and ensuring other protections for middle class families, and reviving House Speaker Michael Madigan's idea of a surcharge tax on incomes over $1 million.

The Senate plan goes beyond spending for immediate government operations. It goes so far as to take on years-old problems facing the Prairie State  how to erase a $130 billion gap in what's needed to cover current and future retirees' pensions and a fairer way to fund public schools, although that bill doesn't have any explanatory language yet.

Cullerton and Radogno had hoped to strike fast, putting the Senate on record with a plan to bash the logjam early this month. When Republican senators balked, Radogno promised a vote before month's end. Skepticism about that timetable arose Tuesday when skittish lawmakers backed off taking a stand after public committee testimony.
Immigration was the biggest policy issue in the 2016 presidential campaign, and President Obamas actions during his eight years in office are what set the stage.

But Obamas immigration legacy is a complex one. On the one hand, he is the harshest enforcer of immigration laws in American history, deporting more illegal immigrants than any previous administration. On the other hand, his executive actions have also helped shield from deportation some 750,000 unauthorized immigrants who were brought here as children.

What lessons can we draw from Obamas mixed legacy on immigration?

The Obama administration deported about 3 million illegal immigrants, compared 2 million under Bush. This jump was made possible by Obamas expansion of a Bush-era program called Secure Communities (S-COMM). At first, this program allowed local police departments to cooperate voluntarily with the federal government on deportation. Obama made it mandatory for all states to cooperate.

S-COMMs purpose was to remove dangerous criminals. However, research published in the Journal of Law and Economics and the journal of Criminology and Public Policy found no evidence that it affects violent and property crime rates. In 2015, President Obama replaced S-COMM with the Priority Enforcement Program, whereby the federal government primarily targets serious offenders.

The Obama administration has not been more lenient on employers than previous administrations, either, issuing 15.5 times as many fines against employers and 8.3 times as many arrests for immigration-law violations as did George W. Bush by the end of 2014. President Obamas Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has also been encouraging businesses to sign up for E-Verify  an expensive government program that is supposed to weed unlawful immigrants out of the workforce. Moreover, the Obama administration has expanded detention in jail-like conditions for many of the roughly 231,000 children asylum seekers since 2010.

As the final immigration act of his presidency, Obama ended the decades-old wet feet, dry feet policy that allowed Cubans fleeing the most tyrannical government in the western hemisphere to enter the United States easily. Many Cubans were already en route to the United States, with one exclaiming that I got here too hours late, as he was denied entry.

Cuban entrepreneurship has helped revive cities such as Miami, and the descendants of Cuban immigrants have become patriotic and productive Americans. Consigning more of them to life in Communist Cuba hurts everyone except that islands dictatorship. Obamas ending of wet feet, dry feet during the last week of his administration was a shocking and misguided policy decision.

There are just no two ways about it: President Obama created the harshest and largest immigration enforcement regime in American history.

However, there is another side to President Obamas immigration legacy. He issued a de facto temporary legalization of some illegal immigrants who were brought here as children. Known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program, it has so far shielded 750,000 young people from deportation. Obamas 2014 executive actions on immigration would have shielded many more immigrants from deportation, had these actions not been blocked due to serious constitutional concerns.

Obama is the first president since Reagan who will leave office with about the same number of illegal immigrants living in the country as when he was initially sworn in  about 11.3 million. (President Reagan got there by dint of his blanket amnesty of 1986.) By contrast, the population of illegal immigrants grew by more than 2 million under the Bush administration with even larger growth under Clinton. Illegal immigrants arent choosing to come to the United States as much as they used to due to increased American border enforcement, a lackluster economy here relative to Mexico, and demographic changes that have reduced the number of potential illegal immigrants.

So President Obamas immigration legacy is mixed. His executive actions shielded hundreds of thousands from deportation, but he was also the most stringent enforcer of immigration laws in American history  earning him the title deporter-in-chief from the National Council of La Raza.

There are two major lessons to be drawn from this legacy for the incoming administration. The first is that immigration enforcement, alone, cannot solve illegal immigration. Changes to immigration law are also necessary. The second is that executive actions are a temporary and partial solution that can be easily overturned by the next administration. Only Congress can put forward serious and permanent immigration reform that will expand legal immigration and legalize the current illegal immigrant population.

Alex Nowrasteh is immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute.
SPRINGFIELD  Leaders in the Illinois Senate have described their proposed grand bargain on the state budget and other issues as a work in progress.

That work was on display Tuesday as lawmakers began holding committee hearings on a 13-bill package designed to end the long-running standoff between the Democratic-controlled General Assembly and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. The deal includes tax increases, workers compensation and pension reforms, gambling expansion, and a host of other issues.

Even as lawmakers were set to begin hearings, changes were being made to some of the bills, most notably the proposed tax increases.

A penny-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages is out, and the personal income tax rate would now go up to 4.99 percent instead of 4.95 percent from the current 3.75 percent. Thats still slightly below the 5 percent level it was at before a temporary increase began rolling back in January 2014.

Also added to the package were a new business opportunity tax, which would be levied on businesses based on their Illinois payroll, and a tax on certain services, such as dry cleaning and storage unit rentals.

Despite the changes, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, and Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, said they remain committed to moving the legislations through their chamber.

I am very excited to be where were at today, Radogno told fellow senators at a committee hearing. The Senate president and I have been living and breathing this project for two months  to the point I actually dream about it sometimes at night.

While there had been talk of votes on the Senate floor as soon as Wednesday, that now appears unlikely because adjustments are still being made to the packages tax provisions and other components.

As the proposal stands, each of the 13 pieces only become law if all the others are approved in the Senate and House and signed by Rauner.

It became clearer Tuesday just how difficult that task may be, with Democrats traditional allies in organized labor and the GOPs backers in the business community lining up in opposition to components of the plan or the entire package.

For example, leaders of the states largest teachers unions, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, testified against part of the plan that would freeze local property taxes for two years while also giving school districts more flexibility in hiring third-party contractors to provide food, janitorial and transportation services.

Dan Montgomery, president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, said lawmakers need only look to the problems McLean County Unit 5 school district faced with its bus service at the start of the school year to see what can go wrong when services are contracted out.

Montgomery also testified against a pension reform proposal from Cullerton that would give workers a choice between counting future raises toward their pensions or receiving compounding cost-of-living raises in retirement.

Opponents say the plan violates the Illinois Constitution, which says current workers pension benefits shall not be diminished or impaired, but supporters say theres no legal guarantee that raises will be counted toward pensions.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, a close ally of Rauner, is opposing the entire package because of the way all the pieces are linked together, President Todd Maisch said.

While there are some positive aspects, Maisch said, our assessment is the package on the whole is very much a net negative for the business community.

One concern for the Chamber of Commerce is the proposed business opportunity tax, which would range from $225 annually for businesses with Illinois payrolls of less than $100,000 to $15,000 for businesses with payrolls of $1.5 million or more.

State Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, the sponsor of the tax package, said theres widespread acknowledgement that more revenue is needed to fix Illinois financial problems and provide more stability for businesses.

Doing those things would help stop the damage that the ongoing budget impasse is causing, including cuts at public universities, community colleges and social service agencies.

The vast majority of cuts, the vast majority of pain, the vast majority of everything horribly wrong with us not having a budget for two years has fallen on the backs of people who cannot bear it anymore, Hutchinson said. So another two years going like this is just unconscionable.

She said constructive criticism from business groups is helpful in developing a revenue proposal.

State Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, said its important to continue having these discussions to arrive at an agreement that everyone can live with.

This is still fluid, Brady said. Its still our hope that  we will get to a point where the business community believes theres more benefit than negative.

But some are worried that the delay may derail the progress thats been made.

Its a huge problem, said state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill. The governors closest allies are putting forward their best effort to stall any progress in the state Senate.

Rauner hasnt weighed in publicly on the specifics of the Senate proposal but has commended Cullerton and Radogno for their efforts.
Author Robert D. Kaplans latest book is "Earning the Rockies: How Geography Shapes America's Role in the World." This piece is part of a special RCW series on Americas role in the world during the Trump administration. The views expressed are the authors own.

The United States, bordered by two oceans, is a maritime nation. Not only is its Navy the largest in the world by far, but its coast guard would qualify as the 12th largest fleet in the world. The U.S. Navy is America's foremost strategic instrument -- much more so than its nuclear arsenal, which in all probability can never be used. The U.S. Navy is on the high seas around the world in peacetime as well as in wartime, guarding the sea lines of communication and the main maritime choke points. This, in turn, allows for a free global trading regime and guarantees access to hydrocarbons for America's allies. This Navy, by the way, also allows for an inland strike capacity. To wit, America bombed Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo from warships in the Indian Ocean and the Adriatic Sea.

Historically, America is not unique in this regard. Athens, Venice, and Great Britain were all great global maritime powers. So were Holland and Portugal. Maritime powers, with exceptions of course, were generally more benign than land powers such as Germany and Russia. For while armies invade, ships make port visits and facilitate commerce. Navies also do not occupy foreign territory to anywhere near the extent that land forces do. While armies are required for unpredictable contingencies, navies (and air forces) project power on a daily basis. America might have gotten into unnecessary wars in Vietnam and Iraq, but American power is undiminished, largely because of the size of its Navy and Air Force. Finally, the U.S. Navy helps keep America engaged but out of trouble.

If we consider ourselves a maritime nation, chances are that we will make fewer mistakes in foreign policy, since naval power is about protecting commerce and a free trading order more than about having imperial-like possessions and interests. This is why a Navy can deploy anywhere all the time, though sending large numbers of ground troops overseas often involves a debate in Congress.

The United States currently has a Navy with almost 300 warships. This is an important fact, since if America's Navy had only, say, 200 warships, the world would be a very different place. It would be considerably more violent and anarchic than it already is. The U.S. 7th Fleet essentially keeps the peace in East Asia, while the U.S. 5th Fleet helps prevent war between Iran and the Arabian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia.

This 300-ship Navy, combined with America's other armed services, gives the United States more power than any other nation in the world. Yet we must keep in mind that this considerable power does not equal overwhelming power. It is in the space between these two concepts that much of the violence and instability in the world takes place. For even a 600-ship Navy, or even an army much larger than our present one, would be unable to prevent the collapse of states across the Middle East. America, in other words, while guarding its interests, must be prepared to tolerate a world where it is not in control.

Let me elaborate on this.

America's ability to influence the world will likely decrease, but the ability of other powers to do likewise will also decrease over time, owing to internal economic challenges in China, Russia, and Europe that dwarf America's own economic problems. Thus our power will increase relative to other major states and unions, even as it decreases in absolute terms around the world. In all this, our Navy will be a barometer for our national health: this is because maritime platforms are frightfully expensive, thus the ability to maintain a Navy the size of ours requires public support through taxes and a healthy rate of increase in the gross domestic product.

A big Navy says a lot about who we are. And given the structural economic weaknesses of China, Russia, and Europe, I believe it is questionable whether they can keep up with the U.S. Navy over the long run. The big unknown is not Russia, which is a near-term threat rather than a long-term one, but China: Can it really reform its economy? I am not sure.

So watch the size and health of the U. S. Navy. It is as sure an indicator as any of American geopolitical power.
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Coco Austin and her mini-me daughter are continuing their twinning trend.

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The 37-year-old model and Chanel Nicole, her 13-month-old daughter with husband Ice-T , wore matching monokinis during their recent family trip to Miami, Fla.

"Behind on posting my pics.... My bestie and [I] did Miami! Matching monokinis and everything!" Austin captioned a photo of herself and her daughter Monday on Instagram.

"I would live in a swimsuit if I lived near a tropical place," she added to another picture. "Chanel loves to [wave] hi!"

Austin and Chanel were enjoying some downtime at the Acqualina Resort and Spa on Sunny Isles Beach. The mother and daughter duo had worn matching blue and black bikinis on the trip last week.

"Chanel and I are sucking up this beautiful weather in Florida.. Its 30 degrees back home," the star wrote at the time. "There's too much cuteness going on with this little girl. I have so much fun with her."

Austin welcomed Chanel in November 2015, and previously wore matching, Chanel-inspired outfits with the infant.

She and Ice-T introduced their daughter on "The Tonight Show" starring Jimmy Fallon in March.

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"She's a little model," the new mom gushed. "I've got the camera in her face at all times. She poses, moves her eyes and looks at the camera. She's going to be awesome in five years."

Austin and Ice-T, who plays Det. Fin Tutuola on the NBC drama "Law & Order: SVU," married in 2002.

The couple starred on the E! reality series "Ice Loves Coco" and reportedly have another show in the works.
Upon request, the press office for U.S. Rep. Jody Hice (R-Georgia) has released a statement on Hice's proposed House Resolution 586.

The resolution, nicknamed the Sanctity of Human Life Act, defines human life as beginning at fertilization, "defending the inalienable right to life protected by the Constitution," according to the statement.
In 2012, the University of Georgia aimed to rival Georgia Tech for top engineering school in the state by creating a College of Engineering that has grown in just a few short years and has rapidly become a high demand department.
Something that's increasingly difficult to do, even for someone whose job is to cover music full time, is to just go to a show without knowing who's playing. Finding time to go is one thing, but paying money to see an act you've never heard of is tough to bring yourself to do, especially when Netflix exists. But that's exactly what I did last Saturday, seeing a record release show at the Empty Bottle for a Minneapolis/Chicago band called Silent Age, whom I'd never heard of except for a friend telling me they sound like "a mix of Bauhaus and the Cure." With that plus tickets being $7, I was sold, and I had the best time.

With the shows I've listed below, I hope that at least a few of these aren't familiar names and that you'll take a chance to find something new and support your local venues.

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Wednesday

Lady Lamb, Liam Kazar

The Hideout

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1354 W. Wabansia Ave. 773-227-4433

In 2015, I gave Lady Lamb's excellent album "After" a perfect score, calling it a "grand indie rock statement." Fortunately for me, the record still holds up, so I don't look like an idiot. Marrow frontman and Tweedy member Liam Kazar opens.

Tickets: Sold out.

Thursday

The Lemon Twigs, Savoy Motel, Glyders

The Empty Bottle

1035 N. Western Ave. 773-276-3600

The retro pop rock stylings of the Lemon Twigs turned a lot of heads in 2016. This sold-out show at Empty Bottle will likely be a gig that fans of the fast-rising duo who couldn't get tickets will say they were at anyway.

Tickets: Sold out. Show up early; there might be tickets at the door.

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***Post Child, Closed Mouths, Sonny Falls

Emporium Wicker Park

1366 N. Milwaukee Ave. 773-697-7922

Three great Chicago bands for the great price of nothing. We've written about Sonny Falls (the project of Peekaboos guitarist Ryan "Hoagie" Ensley) before, but I'm not sure we've highlighted Post Child, who just released an excellent album called "Wax Wings." Fans of hook-laden indie rock will find a lot to love in this fuzzy gem of an album, which was recorded by Meat Wave's Joe Gac.

Tickets: Free, 21+

Friday

D.R.A.M., River Tiber, Nebu Kiniza

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Metro

3730 N. Clark St. 773-549-4140.

I had so much fun singing along to D.R.A.M.'s "Broccoli" and "Cha Cha" at Lollapalooza last year. If you're one of the few lucky enough to have gotten tickets to see Big Baby, I'm very jealous.

Tickets: Sold out.

Psych Fest VIII: Post Animal, Spectralina, Diagonal, TALsounds, DJ Psychedalex

The Hideout

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1354 W. Wabansia Ave. 773-227-4433

Chicago Psych Fest is in its eighth year, and I couldn't think of a better local band to headline than Post Animal.

Tickets: hideoutchicago.com

Saturday

Psych Fest VIII: Ryley Walker/Bill MacKay/Michael Zerang, Dos Santos: Anti-Beat Orquesta, Magic Carpet, Metal Tongues, DJ Andrew James Shelp

The Hideout

1354 W. Wabansia Ave. 773-227-4433

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Ryley Walker's "Golden Sings That Have Been Sung" was one of the best records of last year. This show will be a collaborative set with Bill MacKay and Michael Zerang, and it's essential viewing.

Tickets: hideoutchicago.com

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Monday

Michael Vallera, Matchess, Jeremiah Meece



The Empty Bottle

1035 N. Western Ave. 773-276-3600

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Michael Vallera, an artist who plays in Chicago bands Cleared and Luggage, is gearing up to release his solo LP "Vivid Flu" via German label Denovali at the end of the month. I've heard an advance copy of the release, and Vallera's instrumental guitar-based soundscapes are expansive, ambient and at times thrillingly disorienting.

Tickets: Free, 21+

@joshhterry | jterry@redeyechicago.com
Like her artistic moniker suggests, Noname, aka 25-year-old rapper Fatimah Warner, is a very private person. She doesn't do many interviews, and of the few that she's done, many of the publications billed the feature as "a rare conversation" with the breakout Chicago musician and poet.

Her hesitation to open herself up to the press may seem at odds with her songs, a refreshing and necessary blend of confessional and poetic rap music that culminated in her long-awaited debut project "Telefone," undoubtedly one of the best full-lengths of 2016, which was released last July. It also feels at odds with her breakout success, which saw her appearing with Chance the Rapper to perform "Finish Line/Drown" on "Saturday Night Live" in mid-December, just days before her interview with RedEye. But as we sit and chat at the Argo Tea in the Tribune Tower, I realize that her undeniable warmth and perceptiveness in conversation illuminate a truly independent artist in charge of her image and musicsomething that's defined her short career since she first appeared with a verse on Chance the Rapper's "Lost," a highlight of his 2013 tape "Acid Rap."

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"I grew up in my grandparents' home until I was 13, and then I moved in with my mom. I grew up on the South Side. [I was] awkward and not really able to find a niche for what I wanted to do," Warner says of her Avalon Park and then Bronzeville upbringing. In high school at De La Salle Institute in Bridgeport, she began to find her passion through obsessively watching Def Jam Poetry videos and immersing herself in slam culture, which included a brief stint performing in Louder Than A Bomb, though the competition aspect of the event was a turn-off.

"In terms of me like figuring out what it is that I wanted to do in life and who I kind of felt home around was in YouMedia," she says of the teen-centered learning and creative space at Harold Washington Library. Her interest in writing led her to the after-school program, and from there, she workshopped poems and found like-minded young people and, later, open mics. She continues, "I spent a lot of my teenage years kind of just moving around the city freely and discovering new creative spaces."

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But YouMedia was her creative home and where she and so many others found their voices. "When a lot of people talk about YouMedia, what they're really talking about is Lyricist Loft, which was the open mic that was the catalyst for the boom of Chicago hip-hop and art that we see now," Warner explains. Those who also got their start there include Chance the Rapper, Saba, Mick Jenkins, Lucki Ecks and many more.

But for Warner, the biggest inspiration was her mentor Mike Hawkins, aka Brother Mike, an educator, poet and activist. "A lot of my memories of YouMedia aren't just attached to that open mic, it's more so than just being in space and being with Brother Mike specifically," she remembers, before adding, "What he instilled in me and in all of us really is to be of service in whatever way our talents would allow. And to just know that we are lovable and we are worthy of whatever the universe decides to bring to us."

Hawkins died unexpectedly in 2014 at age 38, but his legacy lives on: Chance the Rapper and YouMedia alums started free high school-oriented events called "Open Mikes," and on "Telefone" opener "Yesterday," Warner eulogizes him with "Me missing Brother Mike, like something heavy/Me heart just wasn't ready/I wish I was a kid again." At YouMedia, it was his message of self-love that led her to expand her focus to music as well as poetry, performing as Noname Gypsy (a stage name she ditched in 2016). While she released several songs in 2013solo cuts like "Sunday Morning" and collaborations with Mick Jenkins, Saba and the O'My'sit was Chance the Rapper's "Lost" that drew the most eyes to this Chicago talent.

From there, there was pressure to release a debut project. Warner, who revealed as early as 2013 that she was working on a project called "Telefone," remembers that initial pressure: "It was difficult because there were a lot of people, even people who I love and people whose opinions I value, telling me, 'If you don't strike while the iron is hot, this moment won't exist anymore.' "

But what might have been good for her career would not have been good for her as a person and artist. "It's been difficult these past couple of years not coming out with 'Telefone' in like everyone thinking that after 'Acid Rap,' I missed my opportunity," she explains. Warner kept on, listening to herself rather than outside pressure. "I'm just glad that I'd listened to myself and trusted myself because I could've put something out, but it wouldn't have been good! It wouldn't have been what I wanted it to be and what I knew I could do."

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From the time of "Telefone's" incarnation to its eventual release, she boasted notable team-ups with Chance the Rapper and the Social Experiment that included "Surf" standout "Warm Enough," loose single "Israel (Sparring)," "Drown" off "Coloring Book" and many more.

"While it took me three years to put it out, actually making it took like a month," she explains of the monthlong studio session she did with Saba and producer Phoelix, who were simultaneously working on the former's "Bucket List Project." In fact, she ended up scrapping the original concept (which was about a literal phone conversation) to make what would become a new and improved "Telefone," releasing it in July.

The result was something darker but more human. "It's more so supposed to be this life story of this girl, this little black girl in Chicago trying to figure shit out and maintain happiness and sanity. It's hard because of all the things that go on in the world, but I feel like this is the album little baby Fatimah would have made." Take "Casket Pretty," the song she wrote in Chicago just days before the project's release, where she draws attention to the city's gun violence with the heart-wrenchingly evocative line, "Too many babies in suits."

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As she looks to 2017 and beyond, she's approaching the future with an even stronger confidence. Her upcoming "Telefone" tour is completely sold out (including two nights at Metro); the night before our talk, she appeared on a surprise Christmas EP from Chance the Rapper and Jeremih; and most importantly, her recent "SNL" appearance was a life-changing success. She says, "I know it sounds cheesy, but the 'SNL' thing kind of changed me. I never thought someone like me could be on TV, that someone like me could feel comfortable in this space and feel joy. It's crazy."

But one thing she won't do is let the internet or anyone else spark her doubts as an artist. "Now I'm in a place where I can see what the internet is doing, but I don't allow it to sway my opinion about my art or my process," she says, before joking of her biggest pet peeve about well-meaning fans or critics, "Whenever I outlive people calling me the female Chance the Rapper, that'll be my testament to when I finally make it. It's weird. No one calls Adele the female whatever, she just gets to be Adele!"

Live: Feb. 8 and 9 at Metro. Sold out.

@joshhterry | jterry@redeyechicago.com
People planning to visit the Shedd Aquarium this week to see Ellie the sea otter pup or Diego the penguin might need to change their schedule.

The aquarium will be closed to the public Wednesday and Thursday for routine maintenance and cleaning, reopening on Friday with free admission for Illinois residents.

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The Shedd Aquarium closes to the public annually for improvements and maintenance, ranging from cleaning animal habitats to repainting hallway walls, said Kayley Ciocci, spokeswoman for the Shedd.

During the closure, more than 200 staff members will participate in group team-building activities and training on providing a more proactive approach to guest services, she said.

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Free general admission for Illinois residents is available Friday through Tuesday along with discounted passes to special exhibits. Shedd is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.

lvivanco@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @lvivanco
National Irish Coffee Day, a whiskey tasting and more things to do in Chicago on Wednesday, Jan. 25.

EAT

Robert Burns Birthday Bash

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Fountainhead

1970 W. Montrose Ave. 773-697-8204

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The Ravenswood bar's annual celebration of the Scottish poet features readings of his work plus food and drink specials including Scotch eggs, lamb and parsnip meat pies, and Belhaven Scottish ale ($8-$10). Volunteer to read a poem for a bottle of Traquair Jacobite Scotch ale. 6-10 p.m. No cover.



DRINK

National Irish Coffee Day

Fado Irish Pub

100 W. Grand Ave. 312-836-0066

The River North bar and Tullamore Dew attempt to break the world record for the largest serving of Irish coffee by making more than 200 gallons of the drink. Order a glass for $7 and $1 will be donated to St. Baldrick's. 5 p.m. No cover.



Rare Whiskey Tasting

Sidebar Grille

221 N. LaSalle St. 312-739-3900

Visit stations serving samples of Angel's Envy rye, Woodford Reserve bourbon, Hibiki Harmony Japanese whiskey and other spirits. Pair your drinks with passed appetizers including veggie sliders and beef tartar. 5:30-7 p.m. $15. Tickets: nightout.com



DO

'The Assembled Parties'

Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. >

Raven Theatre

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6157 N. Clark St. 773-338-2177

Catch the Midwest premiere of the Tony Award-nominated play that follows an extended family over the course of two Christmas Days, 20 years apart. 7:30 p.m. $21-$29. Tickets: raventheatre.com



History Schmistory (Free!)

@North Bar

1637 W. North Ave. 773-697-3563

Comedians don costumes and perform standup as historical figures including Leif Erikson, Cleopatra and L. Ron Hubbard. 8-10 p.m. Free. RSVP: eventbrite.com



HAPPY HOUR OF THE DAY

MAD Social (1140 W. Madison St. 312-243-2097) offers $8 flatbreads and $5 beers from 5-7 p.m.

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Comfortably single and unafraid to stand up to her gruff newsroom boss, Mary Richards splashed onto television screens at a time when feminism was still putting down roots in America, a woman who charged through the working day with equal parts humor and raw independence.

Mary Tyler Moores character charmed TV watchers, earned the actress Emmy nominations and became a potent symbol of womanhood in the 1970s. The actress and her television character became so entwined that Moore became a role model for women who sought to challenge the conventions of marriage and family.

She wasnt married. She wasnt looking to get married. At no point did the series end in a happy ending with her finding a husband  which seemed to be the course you had to take as a woman, former First Lady Michelle Obama said in an interview in August. As a young girl, Obama said, she drew inspiration from the character.

Moore died Wednesday in Greenwich, Conn. from cardiopulmonary arrest after being hospitalized with pneumonia. She was 80.

In a career that began as Happy Hotpoint, the dancing and singing 3-inch pixie in Hotpoint appliance commercials on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet in 1955 when she was 18, Moore went on to star in television and films and on Broadway.

In 1981, she received an Academy Award nomination for best actress for her portrayal of the emotionally cold mother in Ordinary People, the Robert Redford-directed drama about an upper-middle-class family dealing with the death of a teen-age son in a boating accident and the attempted suicide of their surviving son.

In a statement Wednesday, Redford said he admired Moore for taking such a role.

The courage she displayed in taking on a role darker than anything she had ever done was brave and enormously powerful, he said.

The unsympathetic, nearly-bloodless role was a departure for Moore, who remains best-known for her light and sunny touch in two classic situation comedies that together earned her six Emmy Awards.

Moore was still largely unknown when she was cast as Laura Petrie, the suburban housewife and mother of a young son opposite Dick Van Dykes TV comedy writer husband Rob on The Dick Van Dyke Show.

The acclaimed sitcom, which aired on CBS from 1961 to 1966, earned Moore her first two Emmys and made her a star.

Her Capri-pants-wearing Laura brought something new to the traditional sitcom role of wife and mother: youthful sex appeal.

As Carl Reiner, the series creator, said of Rob and Laura in a 2004 TV Guide interview: These were two people who really liked each other.

Moore agreed, saying: We brought romance to comedy, and, yes, Rob and Laura had sex!

Van Dyke often praised Moores abilities as a comedic actress  one who has been credited with turning crying into a comedic art form and memorably got her toe stuck in a hotel room bathtub faucet in one episode.

She was one of the few who could maintain her femininity and be funny at the same time, Van Dyke said in a 1998 interview with the Archive of American Television. You have to go as far back as Carole Lombard or Myrna Loy to find someone who could play it that well and still be tremendously appealing as a woman.

After the Van Dyke show ended in 1966, Moore starred as Holly Golightly in a problem-plagued Broadway musical version of Breakfast at Tiffanys that producer David Merrick closed after four previews in New York.

Moore also played Julie Andrews roommate in the hit flapper-era comedy-musical movie Thoroughly Modern Millie in 1967. But her budding film career, which included playing a nun opposite Elvis Presleys ghetto doctor in Change of Habit, was less than stellar.

She was reunited with Van Dyke in a 1969 musical-variety TV special, a critical and ratings success that spurred CBS to offer her a commitment to do her own half-hour comedy series.

Moore and her second husband, TV executive Grant Tinker, created MTM Enterprises, their own independent TV production company, whose logo  in a takeoff on MGMs roaring lion  was a meowing orange kitten.

Tinker hired writers James L. Brooks and Allan Burns to create and produce The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which debuted on CBS in 1970 and made TV history.

The series, featuring Moore as Mary Richards, a single woman in her 30s who lands a job as an associate producer in a Minneapolis TV newsroom, won 29 Emmys during its seven-year run.

Four of those Emmys went to Moore, whose character became a symbol of the independent 1970s career woman.

As Ed Asners lovably gruff and rumpled Lou Grant tells her when she applies for a job in the newsroom at WJM-TV: You know what? Youve got spunk. I hate spunk.

Ellen DeGeneres, who later invited Moore to play herself in several episodes of the sitcom Ellen, said she was an admirer of both Moore and her alter ego. Mary Tyler Moore changed the world for all women, she tweeted after Moores death became public.

In the wake of the success of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the MTM empire grew to include series such as The Bob Newhart Show, Rhoda, Lou Grant, Remington Steele, WKRP in Cincinnati, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere.

After The Mary Tyler Moore Show left the air in 1977, Moore failed with two TV comedy variety shows within the next two years.

But she scored on Broadway, winning a special Tony Award in 1980 for her performance as the quadriplegic lead character in the Broadway revival of Whose Life Is It Anyway?  a part originally written for a man.

In 1993, Moore won her seventh Emmy, for her supporting role as the ruthless owner of a 1940s Tennessee adoption agency in the Lifetime cable drama Stolen Babies.

Her two returns to the sitcom format in the mid- and late 80s  Mary and Annie McGuire  were short-lived, as was the 1995 newspaper drama New York News, on which she played the autocratic editor of a tabloid newspaper.

In the years after The Mary Tyler Moore Show, she dealt with a series of personal problems and tragedies.

In 1978, her younger sister, Elizabeth, died of a drug overdose. In 1980, Richie, her 24-year-old son from her first marriage, fatally shot himself in what was ruled an accident. And in 1992, Moores brother John, a recovering alcoholic, died after a long battle with kidney cancer.

In the mid-80s, Moore checked into the Betty Ford Center to seek treatment for alcoholism.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley should not drop the ball on continuing the battle against black money and move towards digital transactions to reduce the preponderance of cash in the economy, says A K Bhattacharya.

Image: Former revenue secretary N K Singh presents the report on Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management to the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on January 23, 2017. Others in the photograph are, from left, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian and former finance secretary Sumit Bose. Photograph: PTI Photo.

Make no mistake about it. The Union Budget for 2017-18, to be presented in less than a week, should be primarily judged in the context of what the government needs to do in the aftermath of demonetisation that was ordered on November 8.

To believe that the impact of demonetisation has by and large been contained and the economy is bouncing back, recovering from the early shocks, may well tantamount to ignoring the larger and more substantive agenda for action on what needs to be done through the forthcoming Budget.

One of the original objectives of demonetisation was to tackle the menace of black money. That so far has not been comprehensively achieved with almost 97 per cent of the demonetised currency notes reported to have returned to the banks.

The final figure may be different, but it will be nowhere near the 70 per cent estimated earlier.

Within a week or two of demonetisation, the government had told the Supreme Court that about Rs 4-5 lakh crore of the total Rs 15.44 lakh crore of demonetised currency notes were not expected to surface and this amount would eventually get neutralised.

As some more weeks after November 8 passed by, the government realised that far less than Rs 4-5 lakh crore would be neutralised.

It is true that not all the money that has been returned to banks is legitimate or white money.

The income tax department is busy scrutinising these deposits. Going by indications available from government officials, the taxman is likely to somehow pounce on at least Rs 4-5 lakh crore of deposits to declare that black money.

The government may heave a sigh of relief as it will have some decent figure to talk about as the black money unearthed through demonetisation, but it will also realise that little has been achieved to strike at the root of the black economy or stem the generation of unaccounted wealth.

A secondary goal of demonetisation, identified and promoted by the government a few weeks after November 8, was to encourage digital transactions and phase out the preponderance of cash in economic activities.

This goal, if achieved through careful, prudent and gradual implementation of policies, can bring about a fundamental change in the Indian economy and give it a new direction with many collateral gains even by attacking the black economy in the country.

But there is no denying the hugely disruptive impact of demonetisation -- whether to tackle black money or to encourage digital transactions.

The pattern of disruption and the pace of recovery in the coming months are difficult to predict. And the success or failure of Finance Minister Arun Jaitleys fourth successive Budget will largely depend on how he uses the current situation as an opportunity to secure more sustainable benefits for the economy.

What then should Mr Jaitley do on February 1?

Most importantly, he should not drop the ball on continuing the battle against black money and move towards digital transactions to reduce the preponderance of cash in the economy.

This would require him to use the Budget to unveil a host of measures to complete what certainly looks to be an unfinished task -- both eliminating black money generation and reducing the share of cash in gross domestic product from the pre-November 8 high of 12 per cent to a more reasonable and moderate level in keeping with the trend in other developing economies of Indias size and complexity.

The problem is that Prime Minister Narendra Modis address to the nation on December 31 created an impression that while tax evaders would be punished, no further steps to tackle black money were on the anvil and it was time to roll out the concessions to apply the balm on citizens who were bruised by demonetisation.

Mr Jaitley needs to firmly reject that impression through policy actions in his Budget.

And he could do so with a combination of fiscal and non-fiscal measures -- remember that the annual Budget exercise is not just an opportunity to make a financial statement along with taxation changes, but also an occasion to make necessary economic policy announcements.

To start with, Mr Jaitley should consider focussing on five areas.

One, he could outline the governments action plan to make completely transparent the process of funding elections, financial dealings of political parties and all donations to political parties. Some tinkering with the limits on permissible cash donation that can be received by political parties has already been done.

It is time that a legal bar was imposed on acceptance of cash donations by any political leader or political party, of course after due consultation with all the stake holders, including the Election Commission.

Two, it has been widely recognised that real estate transactions generate black money in plenty.

If a national real estate law could be introduced to discipline real estate builders, it is perhaps time for Mr Jaitley to initiate a Centre-state consultative process to at least reduce, if not eliminate, stamp duties on real estate transactions and to realign circle rates (the minimum price level for registering land or real estate) in all major towns and cities to bring them on a par with the prevailing market price.

Three, no cash transactions in gold above a specified value should be allowed. Indeed, such a limit can be prescribed for all high-value transactions in various areas.

Why shouldnt restaurant or hotel bills above a certain level allowed to be settled only through cheques or cards?

Four, Mr Jaitley should not only reduce and rationalise (remove exemptions) tax rates, but also reform tax administration.

There is no reason why the digital push should not impact the taxman as well so that human interfaces are reduced to the minimum and tax assessment or tax scrutiny undertaken without the venality that they are often associated with.

And finally, the finance minister has to take a call on the ideal level of high-denomination currency notes that should be circulating in the economy.

If the economy sees the return of the same amount of cash, which circulated before November 8, the movement towards digital transactions is likely to be adversely hit.

Mr Jaitley must take a considered call on this issue as well, and the Budget would be a good occasion to outline his game plan on this front.
Why is the government unwilling to disclose the winners of its DigiDhan Yojana, asks Syed Firdaus Ashraf.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the first weekly draw for Lucky Grahak Yojana and DigiDhan Vyapar Yojana, December 30, 2016. Photograph: Subhav Shukla/PTI Photo

2017 began on a good note for me.

Like many of my countrymen I too decided to go digital.

80 per cent of my payments are now done through digital money.

I felt I had arrived in life.

Digital transactions are transparent. Only clean people use digital money and I felt proud to join the bandwagon.

'Go cashless!' was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mantra and I was following it.

A friend told me I had been too negative about Modi's vision of a cashless India.

"You breathe negativity about the Modi government," he had remarked.

That stung, so I decided that in 2017 there would be no more negativity about Modi. I would think positively about him and his decisions.

Looking for positivity around me I 'discovered' an instance of it from Modi's Digital India campaign.

In a bid to boost digital payments, the Modi government has started awarding Rs 1 lakh every week under the Lucky Grahak Yojana and DigiDhan Vyapar Yojana to Indians who use digital platforms for transactions.

This money is being paid by the National Payments Corporation of India, an arm of the Reserve Bank of India.

Till date, 614 winners (500 merchants and 114 customers) have been announced.

These individuals won Rs 50,000 each. Another 6,500 people won Rs 10,000 in weekly draws. Some also won Rs 1 lakh.

Over and above that, some 15,000 people get Rs 1,000 into their accounts every day for electronic transactions.

I also found out that on April 14, 2017, the Modi government would award Rs 1 crore, Rs 50 lakh and Rs 25 lakh to three surprise winners.

In total, the government would distribute Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million) as rewards for members of the public who use digital platforms to fulfill Modi's 'cashless India' dream.

This project is headed by S K Gupta, chief project officer, National Payments Corporation of India.

I wanted to meet the winners and do a story on them -- a perfectly natural urge for a reporter.

I called Mr Gupta and sought an appointment.

He was very jubilant that someone wanted to do a feature on this project and how Digital India is transforming the lives of ordinary people.

He was a gentleman and I felt happy that he was willing to share information about the winners to whom the money was distributed.

I told him it would be better if he could give me the contact details of a few winners from Mumbai so that I could meet them personally and highlight their stories.

Gupta immediately called over his corporate communication team, and that's when things began to go awry.

The CorpCom team interrogated me as if I was a terrorist trying to blow up the Digital India programme!

I had gone to the National Payments Corporation of India requesting names of Digital India prize winners for my feature.

The scheme Web site (external link) did not have any information about the winners and there was no way I could contact them.

And that was why I was sitting in the National Payments Corporation of India office.

After 10 minutes of discussion, I realised that the National Payments Corporation of India's corporate communication team was unwilling to share details about the winners immediately.

They promised that I would get the information in a day or two.

IMAGE: Modi felicitates the first set of 7,229 winners of DigiDhan.

However, there is no information available about the winners.

Photograph: Subhav Shukla/PTI Photo

After a week, I received the following e-mail:

Dear Firdaus,

We are in the process of identifying winners of the Niti Aayog lucky draw contest with whom you can talk for your story.

Please send us few tentative questions which you intend to ask them.

Regards,

Corporate Communications Team

National Payments Corporation of India

I promptly replied to the mail and sent the following questions.

What was your first reaction when you got to know you had won Rs 1 lakh?

Who and when did the NCPI contact you about the prize?

What did you buy using digital money that got you the prize?

What do you plan to do with the prize money?

Did you use digital money prior to November 8 or started going digital only post November 8?

How often do you shop online?

Why you feel India needs to go cashless? What are the advantages?

Are your neighbours aware of your prize money? If yes, did you educate them to adopt digital mode of payments?

After sending the mail, I hoped I would soon get to meet these winners and write a feature about Digital india.

I waited for days before realising that I would not get any response from the NPCI.

A week later, I sent off a reminder mail.

Hi!

Any luck with the phone number of winners?

regards

Syed Firdaus

And guess what! I got an immediate response from the NPCI.

Hi Firdaus,

Due to compliance issues we will not be able to share the phone numbers with you.

Regards,

Compliance issues? What compliance issues can possible come in the way of disclosing the names and contact details of the prize winners!

Why is the government not sharing the information such as this?

Surely, the government is not running a scam?

Why is it unwilling to announce the winners of Digital India?

What do I need to do to get such basic information?

Whatever happened to transparency, minimum government etc?

I decided to tell my friend that I really, really, tried not to breathe negativity about the Modi government, but what can I do if the government itself wants me to?
The governments at the Centre and in the state were unprepared to handle the massive response to the large numbers of people, as they were not aware of the groundswell of public admonition that was against the Establishment, says N Sathiyamoorthy.

IMAGE: Students during a protest to lift the ban on Jallikattu at Marina Beach in Chennai. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo

Even as the massive show of peoples peaceful strength across southern Tamil Nadu over the Jallikattu ban is winding down slowly but surely, a few questions remain, for which authorities, both at the Centre and in the state, have to find answers -- and address them, too.

Its not without reason. From around 50 persons on the sands of capital Chennais famed Marina beach, the number of protesters had swelled to over 500,000 on day five. Elsewhere across the state, too, the numbers kept swelling, and included children to aged people, men and women.

Across the state, too, the non-existent Jallikattu movement found sudden traction across the board, religion, caste and class, no bar.

Clearly, Jallikattu was an annual sub-regional sport of the dominant and militant Mukkulathore community in central Tamil Nadu, dating back to centuries, yes.

But then, none had expected it to spread to other parts, including, for instance, the southern-most Kanyakumari district of Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan, which had been a part of neighbouring Kerala until the linguistic reorganisation of Indian states in 1956.

Protests and mock Jallikattu did galore in western and northern districts, where again it had not been a custom of practice.

Yet, to belittle the cause, citing the same reason and argue in the reverse amounts to a perverted interpretation or wanton misinterpretation of ground realities.

In turn, it meant an insult to the collective Tamil angst of the previous decades, almost since the anti-Hindi agitation of the sixties if not adding up the earlier times.

Conversely, the question should be asked as to why a sub-regional, caste-centric annual sport, mostly unknown to the outside world, came to occupy such a centre-place in the collective Tamil psyche.

Such a probe would find the answers, but only for those who want to ask those questions honestly and find answers to the same with all sincerity.

Its now the collective job of the central and state governments, to undertake this probe in their own spheres, and implement/enforce the responses, in whatever way they need to be addressed.

Going beyond Jallikattu, it was an all-inclusive, agonising Tamil feeling of neglect, both by his own rulers nearer home in the state and more so in distant Delhi.

Nowhere else did it find better traction than in the recent years of successive Supreme Court verdicts on the Cauvery and Mullaperiyar water disputes with the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Kerala, respectively.

In both cases, the court verdicts favoured Tamil Nadu almost at every turn, but the Union of India found no way to enforce it.

If anything, the executive-judiciary ping-pong game on the Cauvery dispute since the early nineties, and mostly anti-Tamil riots in Karnataka, once then and more recently late last year, were among the ignored pointers.

Ditto in the case of Kerala and Mullaperiyar, too, though the violence quotient was absent -- but relatively.

Suffice to point out, on the politico-administrative side, the Centre has no soft solution on the Sri Lankan fishers front.

Nor has the Centre given any serious response -- positive or negative -- to then Chief Minister Jayalalithaas repeated requests for grants to facilitate purchase/conversion onto deep-sea fishing in the Rameswaram area, so that the local fishers would be away from trouble at the hands of Sri Lanka Navy or fishers.

Jayas successor at the helm, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, too, had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the one-plus month he has been in office.

-- FULL COVERAGE: ROW OVER JALLIKATTU

It does not stop there, though. On the related issue of Katchchativu going to Sri Lanka under the 1974-76 bilateral accords, the Centre swears by the same.

But the Supreme Court has not found time to adjudicate -- favourably or otherwise -- the pending plea of Jayalalithaa and Dravida Munnetra Kazagham rival M Karunanidhi.

The former is dead and the latter has become ill. The petition thus filed by the former has now become infructuous until the new AIADMK general secretary impleads herself as a party in Jayas place, and M K Stalin as executive president of the DMK gets himself replaced in father Karunanidhis separate petition before the Supreme Court.

Both the ruling AIADMK and the rival DMK and the rest of the Tamil Nadu polity, including the national/nationalist BJP, Congress and the Communists back the Tamil fishers case but their own positions are compromised whenever they are in power at the Centre.

But intellectuals, strategic thinkers and political/bureaucratic administrators only end up belittling the Dravidian competitiveness, whenever any or all these issues come up for national discourse, if at all they come up for a national discourse, involving ill-informed anchors and semi-knowledgeable guests in TV talk shows.

Less said about social media the better. At the height of the Jallikattu protests, one Tamil local media enthusiast asked the question, why is it always Tamil actors, including the nations highest-paid super-star Rajnikanth, who has to be at the receiving end of all social media jokes in English and/or Hindi, and not any one from the Bollywood or elsewhere.

All of it may sound silly to the rest of India, but thats how the Tamils feel, fullstop. And greater the GenX Tamils interaction with their counterparts in other parts of the country in the IT corridors across the country and elsewhere, worse has been their experience -- or, so it seems.

The inherent reason lies in the possibility that IT education and jobs began going to the rural youth in the southern states long ago whereas its still mostly a preserve of the urban/semi-urban elite elsewhere.

If the unsure nature of farming forced the rural youth to take to education-based employment over the past decades, the lack of job- security attaching the private sector, which alone is readily available (as against tenure-guaranteed government jobs) has made even middle-aged men and women in the IT and ITE sectors feeling unsure all the time.

They are yet to accept and acknowledge the western ways of hiring-and-firing, a culture thats alien to the country and its own nature as a people and political administration.

This year round, anxieties induced by demonetisation-centric industrial sluggishness possibly leading to job losses and poor prospects of campus recruitments have added a new factor.

In the southern IT recruitment market, if you do not get a job when you are out of the campus, you may never ever get one. Its another reality that GenNext across the nation are battling with.

All this, when linked to poor agriculture prospects, have driven all sections of the populace desperate. The Cauvery and Mullaperiyar issues apart, successive years of poor rains have led to farmer suicides as never before in Tamil Nadu.

But the two Dravidian majors were busy -- not even blaming each other -- but going through their succession plans. The local media too spent more time on political changes than farmers plight.

It was not better in the case of the Centre, or the national parties. Whether true or not, the BJP leader of the ruling NDA at the Centre was seen as playing one faction of the ruling AIADMK against the other, post-Jaya -- or, even from when the former chief minister was hospitalised.

At the same time, the Centre was also seen as holding back funds after the Vardah cyclone hit Chennai in mid-December (independent, again, of whatever the truth).

This was at a time when the state was seen as having a quietly efficient, low-profile OPS as chief minister, who needed all the help the Centre could give him, even if meant that the BJP was playing politics in and with the state.

Yet, none expected the public response to isolated social media calls to trigger such a massive response, nearer home and even outside the country -- wherever Tamils (purportedly) are residents, Russia and China included (if one went by shared social media pictures and believed them).

Clearly, the governments at the Centre and in the state were unprepared to handle such a situation, as they were not aware of the groundswell of public admonition that was against the Establishment.

It may also owe to the absence of modus and mechanics to follow social media campaigns that are swift beyond comprehension of governmental systems the world over.

-- 'There is cruelty in Jallikattu'

In India, the Team Anna and Nirbhaya protests were earlier examples, but none seemed to have looked at them in terms of repeat-performances of the Jallikattu kind.

Yet, in Tamil Nadu itself, the Kudamkulam protests provided a clear clue to government agencies about the possibilities of peripheral groups using a social cause and mass protests to infiltrate and induce the rest to avoidable violence.

Not that the state government did not have information -- or, was not warned. But the then Jayalalithaa government, and also the personality of the chief minister at the time, together meant that communication stalled somewhere mid-way, and/or absence of follow-up action became impossible in the absence of clear-cut political decision and direction.

It had led to laxity somewhere, and demoralised initiatives elsewhere. It was thus that the Jallikattu protest opportunity first and venue, later on, was an occasion that peripheral politico-ideological groups could not stay away from.

That they were present, first in the periphery -- or, did they want to give that impression? -- and moving later on to the Centre, became known with some credence and credibility when the early leaders of the Jallikattu movement over the past years came out in the open.

Even as the competition-centred electronic media did everything to keep the periphery out of their camera-centre in the early days, and for justified, nationalist reasons, these single-point Jallikattu activists went to town, pointing to the presence of anti-nationals in their midst.

For all the education-driven employment and social enlightenment flagged by years and decades of progressive politics of the Dravidian movement, Tamil Nadu has been one state where all forms of fundamentalist ideologies and militant modus have been on exhibit for quite some years now. You name it, and its there.

But with a face and name that was widely acknowledged in the state over the years, when the original promoters and defenders of Jallikattu told a Chennai news conference first, and later on took to social media to say that a section of the protestors were shouting anti-national slogans, were talking secessionism through their own public address systems, and were also insulting PM Modi and CM Panneer by name -- apart from insulting the national flag -- people readily accepted it on face-value.

Their conviction carried the day on Sunday, and apolitical bystanders and even apolitical students, who had made the protests hugely successful as never before in the state -- and possibly the rest of the country without a political leader or cause, began seeing things in perspective.

Greater the crowds at the protest venues across the country, greater was the possibility of more and more getting increasingly convinced about the truth of the charge, as they themselves were witnessing what was unfolding in the periphery and was beginning to capture the centre-stage.

The rest of the proceedings, including tail-end violence before it all folded up, had been written into the script, the police by then having been alert to the possibilities and prepared to tackle the same.

Yet, there was less of violence and more of success for the genuine protesters, who however could not celebrate it as many of them might have wished but became aware of the possibilities, there again!

N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and political analyst, is Director, Observer Research Foundation, Chennai Chapter.
'The BJP is so keen to use this opportunity to make its foray in a state where it hardly exists, says Amulya Ganguli, that it has silenced the vociferous animal rights activist in its ranks -- Maneka Gandhi.'

IMAGE: The protest to lift the ban on Jallikattu and impose a ban on PETA at Kamarajar Salai, Marina beach, Chennai, January 20, 2017. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo

History of a somewhat dubious kind was made in Tamil Nadu when the state legislature approved of an amendment of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

Where the normal expectation is an initiative in favour of strengthening the provisions to eliminate egregious brutality, there has been a dilution -- undoubtedly an unprecedented event in the history of such conscience-driven measures.

Yet, arguably, the step is not all that unusual.

That the law itself is no more than half-a-century old underlines the newness of the concept of animal rights.

Evidently, the idea did not -- and probably still doesn't -- have wide acceptance and may also be regarded as the sign of too delicate a mentality.

Such an outlook is not surprising since the muteness of animals has been their curse since the dawn of history where humans are concerned.

As the proverbial beasts of burden, they were -- and still are -- worked to death. Or were hunted (sometimes to extinction) to provide food or as a 'sport'.

As in the case of outlawing slavery, it took a few high-minded individuals to initiate steps to prevent gratuitous cruelty towards animals.

Even then, the punishment for breaking the law has rarely been substantial enough to be a genuine deterrent.

Now that a step backwards has been taken in Tamil Nadu, the possibility of further regression cannot be ruled out.

Already, there are indications that the revival of other 'sports' involving animals like buffalo racing in Karnataka or cockfights in Andhra Pradesh are being contemplated in defiance of judicial orders.

That the Bharatiya Janata Party is ready to jump in on the side of these upholders of cultural and traditional fun and games is not surprising.

The reason is that, for one thing, animal rights is seen as a Western concept by the saffron brotherhood -- so is human rights where Islamic terrorists are concerned, but that is another story -- and, for another, the BJP has seen its support for Jallikattu as a means of securing a foothold in Tamil Nadu politics which is currently in a flux after J Jayalalitha's death.

The BJP is so keen to use this opportunity to make its foray in a state where the party hardly exists because of its association with North India that it has silenced the vociferous animal rights activist in its ranks -- Maneka Gandhi.

Besides, the BJP's reverence for culture and the consequent disavowal of judicial diktats in the matter have been seen from the time of the Ram Janambhoomi movement in the 1990s when its leaders claimed that the courts could have no say in questions of faith.

The party was so adamant about this line of separation between religion and the judiciary that the UP chief minister of the time, Kalyan Singh, wore the broad smile of a valiant warrior for his incarceration for a day for having failed to abide by the judicial order to save the 16th century protected monument of the Babri Masjid from the depredations of Hindutva storm-troopers.

Where Tamil Nadu is concerned, the defiance of the Supreme Court over Jallikattu is not the first time that the state has given full play to its self image as a special, even unique, entity.

One of the first instances of this attitude was evident in the movement for a 'sovereign' Dravida Nadu led by, among others, the DMK's C N Annadurai, who spoke in favour of 'self-determination' for Dravidians in a speech in the Rajya Sabha in 1962.

Three years later, the anti-Hindi agitation once again emphasised Tamil Nadu's distinctiveness even if it had the positive fallout of marginalising Hindi zealots.

However, the outlook of being in a category of its own with not much in common with the rest of the country was also evident in the cold reception which the DMK gave to troops of the Indian Peace-Keeping Force returning from Sri Lanka in 1990.

It would have been better, however, if the state had chosen something other than the 'sport' of bull-taming to assert its cultural pride, for the event can lead to the deaths of participants, as in Puddukkottai, and of a policeman in Virudhunagar over the past few days.

The outbreak of violence in Chennai over the demand for the perpetuation of the sport irrespective of what the judiciary or the animal rights activists of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the Animal Welfare Board say also shows how the issue can play into the hands of trouble-makers while the champions of Jallikattu focus on the cultural aspects.

Amulya Ganguli is a writer on current affairs.
India and Pakistan must reform their institutions of governance to accelerate economic growth on a sustained basis for poverty reduction, lawmakers and experts from both the countries attending a meeting in Dubai said notwithstanding the chill in bilateral ties.

The fifth round of 'Pakistan-India Legislators and Public Officials Dialogue' was held on Tuesday and facilitated by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency.

"Participants highlighted that acceleration in economic growth on a sustained basis is an important policy objective for poverty reduction. For this policy and reform, the two countries must introduce reforms in institutions of governance," a statement released following the dialogue said.

According to the statement, participants from India highlighted a number of social safety net programmes that have helped alleviate poverty in India adding that success also needs to be based on equitable and sustained growth and the inclusion of stakeholders other than government.

"While the dialogue saw overall consensus on both global and South Asian success with some reduction in poverty numbers despite complexity of measuring poverty and disagreements on successful strategies, participants believed that continuing arms expenditure by both countries will be to the detriment of the welfare of the people," said the statement.

Those who attended the event included Kirti Azad, BJP MP from Darbhanga, Adarsh Shastri and Ajay Dutt, AAP MLAs in the Delhi assembly, and Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya, Congress MLA from the Rajasthan assembly. Some prominent journalists from India also attended the event.

Dr Arif Alvi, MNA from Sindh (Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf), Muhammed Tallal Chaudry, Punjab MNA Pakistan Muslim League Nawas (PML-N) and Syed Naveed Qamar, Hyderabad MNA representing Pakistan Peoples Party represented the Pakistan side.

While Pakistani participants showcased economic growth and role of remittances, they also cited some success emanating from targeted-subsidy programmes in reducing poverty.

"Dialogue also recognised with concern the growing gap in rich and poor segments of society both in Pakistan and India. Comprehensive poverty alleviation strategies must also focus on reducing inequality within society in both countries. Participants highlighted exclusion of the poor in planning as well as in prioritising development schemes.

"There needs to be an increased focus on expenditures by governments in housing, public health, public education and in other social sectors," said the statement.

The two sides agreed that microfinance and availability of easy and cheap credit can go a long way in providing capital to poor and deprived sections of society for small business enterprises.

Highlighting food security as a critical looming challenge for Pakistan and India, dialogue participants emphasised that both countries must focus on revamping agricultural growth policies that are farmer-friendly and incentivise them as key stakeholders.

Tensions have been running high between India and Pakistan at the LoC and got escalated after the cross border terror attack on an army base in Kashmir's Uri town in September.

Photograph: Courtesy Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency
In a bid boost to their strategic ties, India and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday signed more than a dozen pacts in key areas like defence, security, trade and energy apart from a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement amidst assertion by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that cooperation stands poised for a major take off.

However, much-anticipated pact pertaining to the $75 billion (Rs 5 lakh crore) investment fund, committed by the UAE, was not among the fourteen pacts which were signed after the talks between Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Al Nahyan, who arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers, senior officials and captains of industry, will be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade on Thursday.

Terming his discussions as fruitful and productive, Modi, at a joint press event with the UAE leader, said the discussions were wide ranging, covering the entire spectrum of the bilateral engagement.

"We have shaped an ambitious roadmap of engagement to make our comprehensive strategic partnership purposeful and action oriented. The agreement that was exchanged just now has institutionalised this understanding," Modi said.

Asserting that security and defence cooperation have added growing new dimensions to the ties, he said their closer ties are of importance, not just to both the countries but also of significance to the entire neighbourhood.

He also said convergence between the two countries can help stabilise the region and the economic partnership can be a source of regional and global prosperity.

"We exchanged views on developments in West Asia and the Gulf, where both countries have a shared interest in peace and stability. We also discussed developments in our region, including Afghanistan. Our shared concern on growing threat from radicalism and terrorism to the safety and security of our people is shaping our cooperation in this space," Modi said.

He noted, "Moving forward, our cooperation stands poised for a major take off. I am confident, Your Highness, that your visit will build on the strong gains and understanding of our previous interactions. And shape its future framework marked by depth, drive and diversification of our partnership."

However, the two sides did not sign a pact pertaining to the $75 billion (Rs 5 lakh crore) investment as was hoped by ministry of external affairs officials on Tuesday.

Holding that the UAE has the largest sovereign fund, secretary for economic relations in MEA Amar Sinha on Tuesday had told reporters, "During the visit, we are hoping to sign an MoU between their investment fund and our National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF)" which will put in place a framework as to how the fund will be administered and which all sectors it can be invested in.

Asked as of why the accord was not inked, senior officials said, "Talks are in an advanced stage and this visit has helped in identifying sectors in which the investment can be made."

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in New Delhi on Wednesday. Photograph: @PMOIndia/Twitter
America considers India a "true friend and partner", US President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a phone conversation during which they resolved to stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" in the global fight against terrorism and work together for defence and security.

America considers India a "true friend and partner", US President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a phone conversation during which they resolved to stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" in the global fight against terrorism and work together for defence and security.

During their conversation, the two leaders extended invitations to each other for visits.

"During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in a statement.

"President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the US later this year," it said.

The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.

Besides this, they also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the US and India stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, the statement said.

Modi, who is the fifth foreign leader Trump have spoken with over phone after being sworn-in as the new US President on January 20, said, they "agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties".

"Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening," the Prime Minister tweeted.

"Have also invited President Trump to visit India," Modi said.

After Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the November 8 general elections, Modi was among the first world leaders to have congratulated Trump.

During his gruelling election campaign, India was among the few countries in addition to Israel with whom Trump spoke of strengthening ties if elected to power.

On January 21, Trump spoke with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

On Sunday, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and on Tuesday he had a telephonic conversation with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

At a charity event organised by the Republican Hindu Coalition for the Kashmiri Pandit terror victims and the Bangladeshi Hindu victims in Edison on October 15, Trump, as the then Republican presidential nominee, had praised India's fast growth rate and Modi's bureaucratic and economic reforms.

"Under a Trump Administration, we are going to become even better friends, in fact I would take the term better out and we would be best friend," Trump had told a cheering crowd of Indian-Americans in Edison, New Jersey.

"I look forward to working with Prime Minister Modi," he had said, adding that the Indian leader is very energetic.

"India is key and a key strategic ally," he had said.

Photograph: Reuters
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Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday made his first visit to the Eastern Command after taking over the office and also went to the forward areas at the international borders with China.

Gen Rawat's visit is significant after the terrorist ambush, in which three Assam Rifles personnel were killed on Sunday at Wara village near Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, defence sources said.

The Army chief also visited the strategic Gajraj Corps where he was received by GOC-in-C Eastern Command Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi and Gajraj GOC Lt Gen A S Bedi at Tezpur Air Force Station.

The sources said a high-level security meeting with senior officials of Gajraj corps was held on Tuesday evening.

Defence spokesperson Lt Col Suneet Newton said that a security review meeting on the areas falling under under Gajraj Corps was also held.

The Army chief was satisfied with the operational preparedness of Gajraj Corps and encouraged all its ranks to keep up the high state of alertness and professionalism

displayed by them.

Gen Rawat had commanded a Corps in the Eastern Command and is well acquainted with the nuances of operational scenario here, he said.

The Army chief accompanied by the Eastern Army Commander and the Corps Commander also visited Tawang and the forward areas at the international borders with China in western Arunachal Pradesh, the Defence sources said.

The Chief was briefed by the Corps Commanders on the security situation in the Corps, both from external threat and internal security point of view in the bordering area, they added.

IMAGES: (Above) Army Chief General Bipin Rawat greets GOC-in-C Eastern Command Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi on his arrival at Tezpur. (Below) General Rawat interacts with soldiers assigned with the Gajraj Corps. Photographs: Courtesy Indian Army
Akhilesh Yadav, the amiable crown prince, has emerged from his father's shadow and has signalled to his subjects that he is ready to become the king.

Every day when Akhilesh returns after a joust with political adversaries to his Camelot, which is Lucknow's 5, Kalidas Marg, it is time to hold court with advisors and loyalists.

A motley lot, they include his trusted bureaucrats, father Mulayam Singh Yadav's Socialist associates, an uncle, cousins and the knights from his Samajwadi 'Youth Brigade'.

Radhika Ramaseshan takes a look at some of the known and lesser known faces in Akhilesh's Round Table.

Illustrations: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Venkat Changavalli

Home and health advisor to the Uttar Pradesh government



He has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, and a B Tech (chemical) from NIT, Warangal.

Conceptualised and implemented the 'Dial 108' free ambulance service when chief executive officer at Hyderabad's Emergency Management and Research Institute, founded by Ramalinga Raju, the former Satyam chairman.

After the gangrape of a mother and her daughter on a highway off Bulandshahr in west UP in August 2016, Akhilesh marshalled Changavalli's advice and help. He helped start the 'Dial 100' facility to seek instant police help even in remote parts.

Changavalli, who lives in Hyderabad, said he came in touch with the chief minister through Amod Kumar, a UP bureaucrat, in 2014 when the latter heard him out at the Indian School of Business.

"I was impressed by the CM's youthful energy because until then I was used to dealing with leaders past their prime like (M) Karunanindhi and (B S) Yeddyurappa. He seemed to me as someone who was accessible, approachable, determined but flexible," recalled Changavalli.

The EMRI idea was hired by 12 state governments after it launched the free ambulance service idea in Hyderabad in 2005.

When Changavalli meets Akhilesh in Lucknow, usually twice a week, the CM receives him at the door and sees him off, a gesture his peers never observed.

Akhilesh, he says, was so taken by the 'Dial' concept that in 2016 he extended Changavalli's services by two years.

Sources in the Lucknow bureaucracy described Changavalli as one of Akhilesh's "key resource" persons in governance, valued for an ability to marry social concerns with economic exigencies.

It was Changavalli who reportedly told the chief minister to treat the market as an important link between the city and the village, and to appreciate the benefits to be had by promoting the corporate sector to market farmers' produce, instead of leaving growers to the vagaries of informal financial transactions.

Amod Kumar

Secretary to the chief minister



He has a B Tech from IIT-Kanpur and a postgraduate diploma from Japan's Institute of Developing Economies.

He became a favourite of the Samajwadi Party when in 2004, in Mulayam Singh Yadav's then government, he pioneered the use of e-governance, based on a public-private partnership.

Kumar studied two other e-governance templates, the 'Janmitra' and 'Gyandost', used limitedly by the Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh governments. He found these unsustainable, as they were entirely government-subsidised.

He involved private players and charged them in a scheme named 'Lokvani'.

Here, people can place complaints and queries before the government through web-vendors, on payment of Rs 15 for every transaction.

The government charges the vendors a one-time licence fee.

The 'success' of Lokvani, especially in the rural areas, prompted Akhilesh to appoint Kumar as a consultant in e-governance, in addition to his role as project director of Manthan, which works on improving maternal and neo-natal health in UP with help from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Kumar recently became a secretary in the CM's office. He monitors Akhilesh's pet social schemes.

Shiv Nadar

Founder, Hindustan Computers Limited and chairman of an eponymous foundation that seeks to 'empower' individuals through 'transformational literacy'



Nadar's work in the information technology and education sectors impressed Akhilesh.

While the chief minister reportedly never went "out of his way" to seek industrialists, Nadar was an exception.

He was asked to create the Lucknow IT City, sprawled over 100 acres.

The still-to-fully-materialise IT hub is as close to the chief minister's heart as the Agra-Lucknow Expressway and the Lucknow Metro Rail -- to him, these projects symbolise his "mission" to wrench UP from the caste-communal matrix.

Abhishek Mishra

Minister for vocational education and skill development



Mishra, son of a former UP bureaucrat, quit his job as a professor of business policy and strategy at IIM-Ahmedabad to join Akhilesh's core team in 2012.

He is the SP's 'pro-change' face and is asked to liaise with investors.

Through the recent crises, arising from the Yadavs' internal feuds, Akhilesh sought Mishra's assessments before firming his moves.

"He seeks advice, processes the information and then decides," says Mishra, although on the father-son conflict, his take was that Akhilesh decided to be a "perfect practitioner of karma... He believes in giving things his best shot and waiting to see what happens."

Mishra was part of the group helmed by Akhilesh's chief advisor and strategist, Ramgopal Yadav, that petitioned the Election Commission to allot the party's poll symbol, the bicycle, to it.

Kiranmoy Nanda

Fisheries minister in the Left Front government as a member of the West Bengal Socialist Party, which merged with the Samajwadi Party in 1996.



Nanda is currently a Rajya Sabha member and a vice-president of the SP.

Thought of as inseparable from Mulayam, Nanda's switch over to the son's camp shocked old-timers.

The veteran explains without mincing words. "We planned the whole thing from last September. My job was to go to the districts, hold workers' meetings and evaluate the mood. Everyone I found wanted the party to be led by Akhilesh. Our workers felt Netaji (Mulayam) would not deliver the results any longer," says Nanda.

Ramgopal Yadav

Mulayam's cousin, Rajya Sabha member and Akhilesh's principal political advisor and strategist



Mulayam's faithful call him 'Shakuni'. To the larger Samajwadi family, Ramgopal is Chanakya incarnate.

For someone who called himself a reluctant politician and claimed Mulayam pushed him into contesting a local election in Etawah in 1988, Ramgopal has come a long way.

A former physics professor at Etawah's KK Post-Graduate College, Ramgopal's equations with Mulayam have depended on the degree of importance his cousin accorded Shivpal Singh Yadav and Amar Singh.

Ramgopal resented Shivpal, Mulayam's brother, and Amar, his confidant.

He never lost Akhilesh's confidence for these reasons.

When the SP won the UP election in 2012 and Mulayam anointed Akhilesh as chief minister, it was Shivpal who opposed the decision and Ramgopal who endorsed it.

Such was the unfailing trust Akhilesh reposed in his uncle that he quashed an intra-party move to implicate Ramgopal in a Noida graft scam.

Ramgopal has arranged and rearranged the pieces on the chess board.

The outcome in the election will determine if he stays on as an Akhilesh confidant or loses the faith invested in him.
Iran: Stoning writer rearrested as Revolutionary Guards block review of her conviction

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 25 January 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Iran: Stoning writer rearrested as Revolutionary Guards block review of her conviction, 25 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58885d684.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Iranian human rights defender and writer Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, sentenced to six years in prison for writing a story about the cruel practice of stoning, was rearrested on Sunday and the judicial review of her conviction is being illegally blocked, said Amnesty International today.

Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee was returned to Evin prison after being picked up by Revolutionary Guard officials while on the way to visit her gravely ill husband, human rights defender Arash Sadeghi, in hospital. She had been on temporary prison leave since 3 January, awaiting a judicial review by Iran's Supreme Court of her six-year imprisonment for writing an unpublished, fictional story. The review is being deliberately held up in the courts by the Revolutionary Guards.

"Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee's rearrest and the intrusion into the judicial process by the Revolutionary Guards is the latest alarming development in the authorities' arbitrary and unjust treatment of this activist couple," said Philip Luther, Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

"The Iranian authorities must put an end to all attempts to penalize the peaceful activities of Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee and Arash Sadeghi in defence of human rights, immediately and unconditionally release them and ensure that their unjust convictions are quashed without further delay."

Prior to her arrest, she told Amnesty International that her sentence and the 15-year sentence given to her husband for his peaceful human rights work had been assigned for review to Branch 33 of the Supreme Court, but the Revolutionary Guards had obstructed the process by preventing the transfer of the court files from the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

Golrkh Ebrahimi Iraee also told Amnesty International that the Associate Prosecutor of Evin Prison had admitted that illegalities had taken place in their case and promised that they would be addressed.

In addition to obstructing justice, Amnesty International is disturbed that the Revolutionary Guards continue to inflict calculated pain and suffering on Arash Sadeghi by blocking his access to urgent medical care. Arash Sadeghi was on a 72-day hunger strike between October 2016 and January 2017 in protest at the imprisonment of his wife. He ended his hunger strike on 3 January, following a global outcry and after the authorities eventually released Golrokh Ebrahim Iraee on temporary prison leave, promising to extend the leave until her case undergoes judicial review - a promise they have now broken.

In recent weeks, he has been transferred to the prison medical clinic almost on a daily basis due to internal bleeding, shortness of breath and severe coughing. Doctors have said that he is suffering from a severe lung infection, gastrointestinal problems and kidney dysfunction and requires an extended period in hospital to receive appropriate medical care.

Despite these warnings, the authorities have refused to transfer him to a hospital. Prior to her arrest yesterday, the Prosecution authorities had told Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee that the Revolutionary Guards will block Arash Sadeghi's transfer to hospital until she returns to prison.

"The authorities have effectively taken Arash Sadeghi's health hostage. The decision to deny him access to the medical care he so desperately needs and condition it on his wife's return to prison is patently a callous punishment for his hunger strike and amounts to torture on the part of the Iranian authorities," said Philip Luther.

"His condition is dire and he must be granted the necessary treatment or else his health will continue to worsen, which could put his life in danger."

Background

Arash Sadeghi has been serving a 15-year sentence in Evin prison for his peaceful human rights activities since June 2016. His wife, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, was arrested on Sunday to continue serving a six-year prison sentence on charges including "insulting Islamic sanctities". Their joint request for judicial review is currently pending before Iran's Supreme Court. Amnesty International considers both to be prisoners of conscience.

In a report entitled Health taken hostage: Cruel denial of medical care in Iran's prisons and published in July 2016, Amnesty International documented a pattern of authorities - in particular the Office of the Prosecutor, prison administrations and intelligence officials - deliberately preventing access to adequate medical care, in many cases as an intentional act of cruelty intended to intimidate and punish political prisoners, or to extract forced "confessions" or statements of "repentance" from them.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Kyrgyzstan: Grave failure of justice in Azimjan Askarov's case

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 24 January 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Kyrgyzstan: Grave failure of justice in Azimjan Askarov's case, 24 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58885e0e4.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Following today's decision by the Chui Regional Court to uphold the life sentence of human rights defender and prisoner of conscience, Azimjan Askarov, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia, Denis Krivosheev said:

"Kyrgyzstani justice suffered a major blow today. In deciding not to release Azimjan Askarov, the regional court has brazenly disregarded the country's international human rights obligations."

"The UN Human Rights Committee called last year for Azimjan Askarov's immediate release and the quashing of his conviction, and provided an opportunity for the Kyrgyz authorities' to reverse a grave injustice. That chance has been squandered."

"In line with Kyrgyzstan's obligations under international law and the findings of the UN Human Rights Committee, we urge once again the Kyrgyzstani authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Azimjan Askarov, and provide adequate compensation for this terrible ordeal. The authorities must put an end to this injustice and ensure that human rights defenders are able to work in the country without fear of reprisals."

Background

Human rights defender Azimjan Askarov was sentenced to life imprisonment in September 2010 following a trial that did not meet international fair trial standards. Azimjan Askarov also reported that he was tortured while in police custody. Azimjan Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek, was accused of being an accomplice to the murder of a police officer during several days of violence between ethnic Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks that took place in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010. Three months later he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Amnesty International believes that the charges against Azimjan Askarov were fabricated and politically motivated, and considers him a prisoner of conscience imprisoned solely for his human rights work.

In its decision on Azimjan Askarov's case in March 2016, the UN Human Rights Committee recognized that Azimjan Askarov was a victim of torture, that he had been arbitrarily detained, that the conditions of his detention were inhumane, and that he was denied his right to a fair trial. Complying with these recommendations the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan viewed his case in July 2016 but instead of releasing the prisoner of conscience his case was referred to Chui Regional Court for additional review.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Iraq: Execution of 31 piles injustice on top of bloodshed

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 24 January 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Iraq: Execution of 31 piles injustice on top of bloodshed, 24 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58885e764.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

The mass execution of 31 men in Iraq, which was announced yesterday, for their alleged role in mass killings in 2014 is further proof of the Iraqi authority's blatant disregard for human rights and misguided use of the death penalty in the name of security, said Amnesty International.

Local authorities confirmed to Amnesty International that they yesterday received the 31 bodies in Samarrah, Salah al-Din governorate, which were then transferred to the city's hospital for purposes of being collected by their families, who have commenced to do so. The executions took place on Friday.

The men, whose "confessions" were extracted under serious allegations of torture, were convicted following deeply flawed and speedy trials, over the killing of 1,700 military cadets at Speicher military camp near Tikrit in June 2014. The armed group calling itself Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for those killings.

"This is the second time in less than six months that the Iraqi authorities have carried out mass executions after unfair trials" said James Lynch, Head of the Death Penalty team at Amnesty International.

"The death penalty - the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment - is being used to create an illusion of security but it will only perpetuate the cycle of violence that is ravaging Iraq."

"Amnesty International has consistently condemned IS atrocities in the strongest of terms, including the heinous Speicher massacre. Victims of IS crimes have the right to justice and truth. However, unfair trials, torture and mass executions can never be considered justice."

"The Iraqi authorities must immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty."

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
UN rights expert 'deeply concerned' about reprisals against those she met on official visit to Myanmar

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 January 2017 Cite as UN News Service, UN rights expert 'deeply concerned' about reprisals against those she met on official visit to Myanmar, 24 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58885ee640d.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

24 January 2017 - A United Nations expert warned today about possible reprisals against the people she met during her recent visit to the country, noting that she was particularly struck by the fear of some she spoke to "who were afraid of what would happen to them after talking to me."

"There is one word that has hung heavily on my mind during this visit - reprisals," the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, said in a press statement wrapping up her 9 to 21 January mission to the country.

She said she is deeply concerned about those with whom she met and spoke, "those critical of the Government, those defending and advocating for the rights of others, and those who expressed their thoughts and opinions which did not conform to the narrative of those in the position of power." Moreover, she noted the increasing use of section 66 (d) of the Telecommunications Law against many, "merely for speaking their minds."

"It is particularly alarming to learn that the security forces' counter operations in the villages of Maungdaw north in Rakhine state have reportedly been resumed following a brief lull, with raids conducted in several villages including nearby the villages I visited," Ms. Lee stressed.

There are further allegations of arbitrary arrests and detention in relation to these latest reported raids.

The expert was especially dismayed to note that during the visit, feelings of optimism and hope had appeared to be fading among the country's ordinary people - just one year after nationwide elation over the last general elections.

The Special Rapporteur regretted that due to security reasons, she was only allowed to go to Myitkyina, and not Laiza and Hpakant in Kachin, stating that the situation "at the northern borders is deteriorating."

"Those in Kachin state tell me that the situation is now worse than at any point in the past few years. Whilst I was not able to travel to the areas most severely affected, the situation is now such that even in Myitkyina, the capital of the state and home to over 300,000 people, residents are afraid - and now stay home after dark," the UN expert explained.

In visiting a hard labour camp in Mon state, Ms. Lee was concerned over prisoners' living conditions, pointing to the use of shackles as a form of additional punishment and the lack of transparency regarding their transfer to the hard labour camp. Without an individual complaint system in prisons she was "struck by the fear of those prisoners who were afraid of what would happen to them after speaking to me."

A report from the visit will be presented in March to the UN Human Rights Council, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system. Ms. Lee's position is honorary and she does not receive a salary for her work.
UN rights chief urges probe into Askarov case despite Kyrgyz decision to uphold life sentence

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 January 2017 Cite as UN News Service, UN rights chief urges probe into Askarov case despite Kyrgyz decision to uphold life sentence, 24 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58885f29411.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

24 January 2017 - The United Nations human rights chief today voiced deep concern about a decision by a Kyrgyz court to uphold a life sentence against human rights defender Azimjan Askarov, saying it highlights "serious shortcomings" in the country's judicial system.

"The decision by the national court clearly had not taken into account the views of the UN Human Rights Committee which had found in March 2016 that Askarov had been arbitrarily detained, held in inhumane conditions, tortured and prevented from adequately preparing his defence," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a statement.

"Despite the repeated commitment of the Kyrgyz authorities to uphold international fair trial standards and to resolutely investigate torture allegations, this trial vividly displayed the deficiencies in the country's judicial and law enforcement system," the High Commissioner added.

Reading the statement to reporters in Geneva, spokesperson for the High Commissioner's Office (OHCHR) Ravina Shamdasani noted that the hearing allegedly relied on the same witness testimonies as in the first trial, and that the court-appointed interpreter for Mr. Askarov was repeatedly absent.

Ms. Shamdasani reiterated OHCHR's call for Askarov's conviction and sentence to be quashed and urged Kyrgyzstan to conduct "impartial, objective and thorough investigations and judicial proceedings in order to ensure justice for all."

Mr. Askarov was sentenced to life imprisonment and confiscation of his private property in November 2010 for the murder of a police officer, participation and organization of mass riots and incitement to inter-ethnic hatred.

His arrest is believed to be related to his peaceful activities as a human rights defender, particularly his documentation of inter-ethnic violence in the Jalal-Abad region in June 2010, OHCHR had said at the time of his original sentencing.
Mali: UN mission condemns attack on Kidal base that kills one 'blue helmet'

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 January 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Mali: UN mission condemns attack on Kidal base that kills one 'blue helmet', 24 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58885f64412.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

24 January 2017 - The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) today condemned the attack on its camp in the country's restive northern region of Kidal, which left one 'blue helmet' dead and two others seriously wounded.

According to the UN, several mortar shots hit the MINUSMA camp in Aguelhok on Monday afternoon, killing a UN peacekeeper from Chad.

MINUSMA interim chief Koen Davidse strongly condemned the attack and expressed sincere condolences to the family of the deceased and wished a speedy and full recovery to the wounded.

Mr. Davidse reiterated that the attacks on MINUSMA will not weaken the mission's determination to fully implement its mandate to support the efforts of the Malian Government, the signatories of the Peace Agreement and the Malian people to achieve lasting peace and stability.

"This attack marks a dark and violent period in Mali. The criminal and bloody attacks of the last few days show that terrorism targets, without discrimination, the peace camp. I wish to express our gratitude and solidarity to the families of the many victims," he stated.
With international agreement on ceasefire monitoring, UN envoy praises Syrian delegations in Astana

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 January 2017 Cite as UN News Service, With international agreement on ceasefire monitoring, UN envoy praises Syrian delegations in Astana, 24 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58885f8d40d.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

24 January 2017 - The talks to strengthen the ceasefire in war-torn Syria ended today in Astana, Kazakhstan, with agreement on how to monitor the effort started last month and praise from the United Nations Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura.

"Let me commend Russia, Turkey and Iran for their decision to establish a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire," Mr. de Mistura said, adding that the agreement is a "concrete step" towards implementation of Security Council resolutions on the issue.

In addition to representatives from the three countries, the two-day talks were the first time that Syrian opposition participated in the discussions alongside representatives of the Syrian Government.

Mr. de Mistura, who was a conduit for many of the discussions, praised the delegations noting that "it has required political courage from them to sit in the same room and listen to their respective demands."

He added that both Syrian parties had told him that "their immediate priority was and remains to strengthen the ceasefire."

With more than 650,000 people in besieged areas in Syria, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the ceasefire is expected to allow greater humanitarian aid to areas previously cut off by the fighting.

"The ceasefire can additionally help the fight of the international community against terrorism in Syria and the wider region," Mr. de Mistura said.

In addition, the ceasefire is expected to help create "a supportive environment" for engagement between the Syrian parties ahead of the 8 February talks in Geneva, the UN Special Envoy noted, adding that he will head to New York to consult with the Secretary-General and brief the Security Council ahead of those talks.

The discussions in Switzerland will be held under the auspices of the UN and include issues of governance, constitution and elections in the context of Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), which endorsed a road map for a peace process in Syria.

"We cannot allow another ceasefire to dissolve because of a lack of a political process. Now is the time for the international community in all its dimensions to come together and support one integrated political negotiating process, as provided for in SCR 2254," he said.
In Helsinki, UN appeals for nearly $5 billion to help Syrians and host communities

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 January 2017 Cite as UN News Service, In Helsinki, UN appeals for nearly $5 billion to help Syrians and host communities, 24 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58885fb340c.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

24 January 2017 - The United Nations and partners today appealed at an aid conference in Finland for $4.63 billion to help people inside Syria, those who fled and the communities hosting them.

Unless these additional funds are promptly secured, the UN and its partners will have to scale back life-saving assistance, not only for Syrians but also refugees and host communities, with catastrophic consequences, said Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O'Brien.

It will force families to try to survive with inadequate food intake; it will stop short nutrition programmes to bring babies back to health; it will mean families having to sleep without even plastic sheeting to protect them, added Mr. O'Brien, who also heads the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) which co-organized the conference alongside the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Hosted by Finland, the Helsinki Conference on Supporting Syrians and the Region focuses on key humanitarian priorities: saving lives, protection, and building resilience, according to a press release from the organizers.

The international community must send a clear message that it stands with them and provides the urgently needed support, Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in reference to displaced Syrians and host communities in remarks ahead of the funding appeal.

Some 13.5 people urgently need protection and life-saving aid, according to OCHA, including 2 million children under the age of five.

Within Syria, there are 13 besieged areas with some 650,000 men, women and children cut off from aid.

Those people who have been able to flee to neighbouring countries continue to struggle, along with their host communities, to meet the challenges of the political, economic and social spill-over from the Syria crisis.

As millions have fled Syria, we have seen extraordinary generosity and solidarity on the part of host countries and communities  and they must not be left to cope alone, said Helen Clark, Administrator of UNDP. UN agencies and NGO partners are committed to helping governments and host communities build resilience in the face of this crisis. We've made important strides, but we need more support.

The Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) for 2017 and 2018 launched today aims to assist over 4.7 million refugees from Syria and 4.4 million people hosting them in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.

The appeal is in addition to the $3.4 billion that the 2017 humanitarian response plan.
Disclaimer

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Bye bye Jammeh: Hope and challenges in The Gambia

Publisher IRIN Publication Date 24 January 2017 Cite as IRIN, Bye bye Jammeh: Hope and challenges in The Gambia, 24 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/588861804.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Only disgraced ex-president Yahya Jammeh's most hardcore supporters turned up to watch as he boarded a private jet at the weekend for exile in Equatorial Guinea. Some soldiers and members of his political party cried and shouted: "Daddy, Daddy". Others aggressively jeered at supporters of The Gambia's new coalition government.

But once he took to the skies, most of the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"This day is amazing. We didn't see it coming. We didn't believe that he would leave, and the fact that this has happened democratically is the greatest achievement," said 24-year-old Aminata, part of a youth group helping Gambian refugees as they arrived back at the ferry terminal in Banjul.

"A year ago, we thought this would be impossible. But now we are hopeful that things will change. Now, we feel that destiny is in our hands, because leaders will have to be more accountable. Now, we know the power of our vote."

The moment was all the more remarkable because of what was at stake if the situation had unravelled. "We are in disbelief that we have come out of this in peace. We are glad that Jammeh has gone, but in a solemn way, because we came so close to war," added Aminata's friend, Khadija.

Adama Barrow, The Gambia's new president, was sworn in last week. For his safety, the ceremony had to take place in Dakar, Senegal, and he was not planning to return home until a West African military intervention force had secured the country.

They were poised across the border the night Barrow was sworn in, and the threat of force was crucial in buttressing mediation efforts by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS that eventually succeeded in pressuring Jammeh to accept his electoral defeat and step down.

ECOWAS troops and military vehicles now patrol the streets of Banjul, cheered as they pass. Gambian soldiers are meanwhile being disarmed because of a concern that rogue elements, still loyal to Jammeh, could cause trouble.

From total power to ignominy

Jammeh, along with a group of other young officers, came to power in a coup in 1994. After 22 years of oppressive rule, in which arbitrary detention, torture, and disappearances were common, he suffered a shock electoral defeat in a 1 December ballot that most analysts assumed he would rig.

At first, Jammeh magnanimously accepted the result, only to change tack a week later and declare the poll void. He petitioned the Supreme Court for a fresh election, but as he had sacked most of the judges 18 months previously the court could not hear the challenge before May.

He then declared a state of emergency that technically would have allowed him to stay in power for another three months. This desperate, last-ditch attempt to cling to power was ignored by the West African leaders who were working to resolve the crisis.

By then, Jammeh's grip on power was already slipping. Most of his cabinet had deserted him and his army chief, General Ousman Badjie, had conceded that his soldiers would not resist the ECOWAS intervention force.

Barrow's inauguration speech embraced the history-making moment. "This is a day no Gambian will ever forget," he said. "The capacity to effect change through the ballot box has proven that power belongs to the people in The Gambia. Violent change is banished forever from the political life of our country. All Gambians are therefore winners."

But the fact that Barrow's much-anticipated swearing-in couldn't take place on Gambian soil is a bitter reminder of the regime's far-reaching net of oppression.

Jammeh had ordered there to be no inauguration celebrations. In the event, nothing could stop at least several thousand young Gambians defiantly taking to the streets.

At Westfield Junction  the symbolic location just outside Banjul where opposition activist Solo Sandeng was arrested in April last year after calling for electoral reform (he was subsequently tortured to death)  the crowd grew and grew. Above the throng was one united cry: "Gambia has decided".

Throughout the political impasse, activists had been peacefully campaigning to ensure Gambians' democratic choice was upheld. #GambiaHasDecided became a social media phenomenon, also appearing on billboards and T-shirts, defying Jammeh's attempts to silence dissent.

What now?

Having put themselves on the line, young Gambians who voted for change are determined to see a new Gambia achieved.

"The day the coalition was formed  that was the day the whole country smiled," said Momodou Jallow, 28.

But Jallow also offered a sobering reminder to the coalition not to lose sight of how they came to power. "I voted for Adama Barrow not because I liked him but because I didn't want to vote for Jammeh," he told IRIN.

Jallow, who was recently arrested for posting views critical of Jammeh's government on social media, wants to see a change in the constitution, in particular the introduction of a two-term presidential limit.

And there are plenty of other challenges facing the new administration. After more than 22 years of Jammeh's autocratic rule, it must start pretty much from scratch: having to install a cabinet, institute a proper rule of law, and launch much-needed military and political reforms amid a climate of both uncertainty and expectation.

Barrow began announcing his cabinet on Monday. A notable pick was Vice President Fatoumata Tambajang, a former minister and United Nations Development Programme staffer credited as the main force in galvanising the previously fractious opposition parties.

One of the new administration's first tasks will be to support the return of the 46,000 refugees estimated by the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, to have fled to Senegal and Guinea over the past weeks, fearing impending conflict.

An estimated 25,000 have also been internally displaced, according to the Gambian Red Cross Society. Almost everyone in the capital sent family members  mainly women, children, and the elderly  away to the sanctuary of relatives in other parts of the country.

Extra pressure is being placed on already stretched food supplies and sanitation in the some of The Gambia's poorest communities, according to a rapid assessment survey by United Purpose, an NGO.

Jammeh's stubbornness also hurt Gambia's already ailing economy by dealing a blow to its main revenue earner  tourism. As the crisis deepened, Western governments sent charter planes to pick up holidaymakers, right in the middle of peak season.

Tackling impunity

But uppermost in many Gambians' minds is how Jammeh and his accomplices will be made to pay for the wide-ranging crimes and abuses perpetrated under his regime.

Jammeh is free to return to The Gambia in the future under the exile terms set out in a joint statement by the UN, the Afrcian Union, and ECOWAS. These state that he, his family, and his senior aides should have the same rights to dignity and safety as any former president.

The unsigned communique implies that he will have impunity from prosecution but it doesn't impose any legal obligations on the new Gambian administration. Barrow has since referred to it as a "resolution, not an agreement".

Barrow's administration intends to establish a truth and reconciliation committee, which will gather evidence. But some people do not think this process will go far enough.

The new government's spokesman, Halifa Sallah, has already hinted that it may not be in the national interest to delve too deeply into the past.

But Fatou Jagne, West Africa director of human rights NGO, Article 19, has welcomed a homegrown reconciliation process, saying: "We need to give Gambians a chance to set up a mechanism that will work for them to get to the justice and the truth."

New Gambia has begun. It's a place where people can now speak freely and have hope for the future, but the new administration will need to carefully manage the soaring expectations of its people, according to Abdul Aziz Bensouda, secretary-general of the Gambian Bar Association.

"People have expectations for rapid development, but [this will be difficult] with a budget that's just enough to pay the bills," he said. "It is a case of trying to right the wrongs under Jammeh's regime, and move us [forward]."
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

Publisher Regional Treaties, Agreements, Declarations and Related Publication Date 21 January 2017 Cite as Regional Treaties, Agreements, Declarations and Related, 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, 21 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/588862f64.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Comments Done this 21st day of January, 2017 in Banjul, The Gambia Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

1.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 African Union 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 Jammeh's 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 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.
Afghanistan's Modern Day Slave Labourers

Publisher Institute for War and Peace Reporting Author Mahfooz ul-Haq Publication Date 24 January 2017 Cite as Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Afghanistan's Modern Day Slave Labourers , 24 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5888640d4.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Sajid, 13, has been working in a brick-making plant ever since he was taken out of school three years ago.

He spends 12 hours a day heaving a handcart full of earth from one place to another. His father and four siblings, the youngest of them only six years old, work alongside him soaking, shaping and drying the bricks.

"My family stopped me from going to school because my father had borrowed a lot of money from a brick kiln owner and we had to pay off this debt," he explained. His 15-year-old brother and three sisters aged 12, nine and six respectively all worked a 12 hour day, from six o'clock in the morning to six o'clock at night.

"I still have many dreams in life," the boy said sadly. "I liked school very much. I want to study, but I have to work hard with my father making bricks."

Sajid is one of thousands of children forced to work long hours at brick factories in Nangarhar after their families borrowed money from brick plant owners.

These debts can take generations to pay off, with entire families living on-site in poor conditions because their main breadwinner is working to pay off the loan.

"I borrowed 3,000 dollars from the kiln owner because my father was extremely sick and I didn't have any other option," Sajid's father Noorullah said. "Now I'm held hostage and I'm leading my life as a slave. I don't think that I will ever be able to pay off all my debt. I'm sad because even after my death, my son will have to continue working to repay it."

The 51-year old earns 150 US dollars each month, barely enough to support his dependents.

"I can't earn enough to feed my family by making and preparing bricks, so paying off the debt is impossible," he concluded.

There are 120 brick kilns in the province employing about 50,000 workers, according to the brick industry's Nangarhar union. More than half of these are indentured labourers whose families work alongside them in an effort to help pay off their debts.

One foreman in a brick factory in the Surkh Rod district of Nangarhar province, who asked to remain anonymous, told IWPR, "The kiln owners provide rooms to workers who don't have homes of their own, but the workers have to take on some work for free in exchange. For this housing, the kiln owners ask the workers to make 1,000 bricks for free each month."

The situation had been exacerbated by an influx of refugees returning from Pakistan, after Islamabad announced new efforts to induce Afghans to return home. Pakistan hosts some three million Afghan refugees, of whom nearly half are undocumented.

"These days many refugees return from Pakistan without any money, work or homes to go to, and these people are the kiln owners' ideal victims," the foreman continued. "If nothing is done to prevent such exploitation, thousands of other families will become slaves."

Kiln employees complain that although the price of bricks had tripled in in recent years, wages have not risen in tandem.

They are paid five-and-a-half dollars for 1,000 unbaked bricks, which when fired sell for 75 dollars.

Abdul Hakim Sherzad, director of Nagarhar's public works department, confirmed that there was widespread exploitation in the industry.

"The owners of the kilns are cruel and cause three problems for these workers," he said. "The first is that the kiln owners deliberately lend money to the workers' families so as to exploit them. Families owe 2,000 to 3,000 dollars and have to pay this all off before they can start working somewhere else. The second main problem is that the kiln owners ask for 1,000 free bricks in exchange for the rooms provided to the workers' families and the third problem is that the owners also pay very little for making bricks."

Nimamatullah Hamdard, the spokesman for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), agreed that this was a modern form of slavery.

"The behaviour of the kiln owners is against all principles of human rights," he added.

For their part, the factory owners dismiss claims that they are exploiting their workers.

Haji Gul Pacha, head of the Nangarhar's brick kiln owner's union, claimed that employees lied about such mistreatment.

"They waste their wages and after spending the money, start badmouthing us," he said. "We provide the workers with the best facilities. For example, we have provided rooms and homes for them."

Asked why employees were asked to make 1,000 bricks for free each month in exchange for their accommodation, he declined to reply.

Gul Aziz, who owns a Surkh Rod brick kiln, told IWPR that the 1,000 free bricks were simply a form of rent.

As for the workers' static wages, he said, "We haven't increased the price for unbaked bricks because the cost of fuel is so high. The price of a tonne of coal used to be 110 dollars, but now it is 190 dollars."

Although none of the kiln owners interviewed for this piece agreed to directly address the issue of indentured labour, Gul Aziz said, "[The workers] cannot go anywhere else unless they pay us."

Sherzad said that kiln owners took advantage of high rates of unemployment to recruit impoverished workers. Employees were forced to agree to take on a large loan otherwise they would not be given work. The terms of these loans were often impossible to meet.

"The kiln owners force workers to borrow money and sign a contract and until this is paid off workers cannot go anywhere else," he said, adding, "That is how the workers are exploited."

Sherzad said that this practice was illegal, and condemned the harsh conditions in which children were forced to work.

In Afghanistan, a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is illegal for minors to undertake hard physical labour that could harm their health. Children under the age of 11 are banned from working at all, and until the age of 18 they should not be employed more than 35 hours a week.

In 2014, the Kabul government included brick making on a list of 19 dangerous occupations prohibited for children.

But these rules have largely been ignored, as have more targeted attempts to improve life for those working in the brick industry.

"Last year an agreement was signed between the department of public works, education, public health, the workers' union and the owners of the brick kilns," Sherzad continued. "According to this agreement, the owners of the kilns cannot select a target for the workers; for example kiln owners cannot ask them to make 1,000 bricks a month [for free]. The aim of this agreement was to protect the workers' children from being forced to take on hard physical labour."

The agreement also included a promised pay rise, as well as provision for the departments of education and public health to provide classrooms and mobile clinics for the brick factories.

Ghulam Hussain Bewas, AIHRC's head of children's support in eastern Afghanistan, said that they had been involved in lobbying for the new regulations.

He added, "We have repeatedly met families who are in debt and have to work in these kilns. They are treated in a way which is against human rights law and principles."

Mohammad Liyaqat Adil, who heads the All Afghanistan Federation of Trade Unions (AAFTU), said they had staged protests to highlight the exploitation of brick workers, as well as approaching international agencies to put pressure on the Kabul government.

"We have twice asked the International Labor Organisation [a UN agency aiming to set fair labour standards] and related groups to pressurise the Afghan government to take some serious and practical steps to solve these problems," he continued.

"There are some families where the elder members have died but their children are still being held hostage and exploited," he said, adding, "The government doesn't act to implement and enforce international law in the sphere of public works.

"In addition, the government has not been able to stop the owners of the kilns exploiting their workers. In fact, the government has never listened to these workers' problems and ignores these issues."

Adil said that the practice was particularly hard to uproot due to widespread corruption. The owners of brick kilns were emboldened because they had friends in high places, he continued.

"A person who exploits other people must be sure that he has a strong supporter and that there's someone who will stand by him."

Local officials say that there is little they can do without the intervention of central government.

Zabeullah Zemarai, secretary of Nangarhar's provincial council, told IWPR, "Some of those who were exploited by the kiln owners approached us and shared their problems with us. We informed the governor's office about these problems. This is all we could do because we don't have any executive authority."

Nangarhar governor's spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told IWPR, "We have not freed any families [from their debts], but we have paved the way for the children of these workers' families to go to schools."

With officials apparently unable or unwilling to take action, the local media has stepped in to try and highlight the plight of indentured workers.

Nangarhar journalist Zabiullah Ghazi not only wrote a report about the issue, but also launched a crowdfunding effort with some local activists to try and help affected families.

"When I uploaded my story on Facebook and asked people for help, some sympathetic and compassionate fellow citizens listened to my request and donated money which was used to pay off the debts of some families and free them from slavery," Ghazi said.

"When we paid off the debts of one family, we told this 10-year old girl that she would now be able to go to school. She was so happy she burst into tears and all the assembled reporters and social activists also began to cry."

Abdul Rahman is the head of one of the families who had their debts paid off.

"Our life was no different from that of of slaves, but now I am so happy," he said, explaining that he had been indentured for ten years due to a debt of some 1,400 dollars.

"Now I am free," he continued. "I sell caps and hats on a street corner in Jalalabad city and I earn about nine dollars in a day."

This report was produced under IWPR's Promoting Human Rights and Good Governance in Afghanistan initiative, funded by the European Union Delegation to Afghanistan.

Copyright notice:  Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Addressing the Syrian refugee crisis

Publisher Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement Author Jessica Brandt & Robert L. McKenzie Publication Date 16 December 2016 Cite as Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Addressing the Syrian refugee crisis, 16 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/588873e14.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

President-elect Trump is soon to inherit the Syria conflict, an enormous engine of suffering that has taken the lives of nearly 500,000 people[1] and displaced more than 10 million, nearly half of Syria's prewar population.[2] Today, 13.5 million are in need of humanitarian assistance within Syria, of which more than 6 million are internally displaced. Nearly 5 million more have sought refuge in neighboring countries.[3]

Resolving the conflict will be Mr. Trump's most daunting foreign policy task. Under President Obama, Washington's Syria policy was almost singularly focused on defeating the Islamic State, an approach that allowed the conflict to fester, and thereby contribute to one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time.

As the Trump administration begins to formulate a Syria policy, the nearly 5 million Syrian refugees in neighboring countries-who represent nearly one-quarter of Syria's population before the civil war-should not be overlooked.[4] The sheer scale of the refugee crisis poses unparalleled humanitarian, economic, and political challenges in an already fragile region. Turkey hosts more than 2.8 million refugees from Syria, more than any other country in the world and more than half the refugee population in the region. Lebanon hosts more than 1 million refugees, which amounts to more than one in five people in the country. In Jordan, that number is one in ten at least.

Despite the high-level attention paid to the tremendous scale of need at a series of global conferences this year, substantial resource gaps remain. Those resource gaps have consequences. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Program, both of which are critical to aid delivery in frontline states, face funding shortfalls that have resulted in housing and food insecurity. This lack of institutional support, coupled with deepening poverty and hurdles to legal residency, led hundreds of thousands of refugees to make their way to Europe, often at great personal risk. In their wake, politics on the continent have been reshaped, largely in ways that strain the transatlantic relationship (for example, Brexit and the rise of extreme forms of populism). Because of its potential to drive instability that runs counter to American interests, the United States should increase its already substantial contribution to help fill these resource gaps.

This chapter argues that there are steps the next administration should take to address the Syrian refugee crisis that will improve the lives of those in need while advancing American security interests. It presents three policy recommendations that focus on America's own resettlement program, efforts in the frontline states, and a coordinated international response to the crisis.

CORRECT THE RECORD AND CONTINUE AMERICA'S LONGSTANDING RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM

Since 1975, the United States has taken in more than 3 million refugees from around the world.[5] Working with the U.N. Refugee Agency and its implementing partners, the program resettles the most vulnerable refugees whose specific needs cannot be addressed in the country where they have sought protection. Those include single-parent, female-led families; orphans, unaccompanied minors, and adolescents at risk; women and girls at risk; the disabled and infirm; and survivors of torture.[6]

Since 9/11, the United States has resettled almost 860,000 refugees. Of those, only three individuals have been convicted on terrorism-related charges: all were for plots outside of the United States, and none were successful.[7] Every refugee resettled to the United States must complete a multilayered, dynamic vetting process while overseas, which often takes two or more years to complete. It is the most stringent security procedure for an individual entering the country. The chances of being murdered by a refugee-related terrorist attack in the United States has been 1 in 3.4 billion a year.[8] This is a fact that the incoming administration needs to convey to the American public.

Just as the threat of Syrian refugees has been overstated in public discourse, so too has the number of Syrian refugees being resettled in the United States. This past presidential cycle, candidates routinely and incorrectly suggested that America risked being "flooded by Syrian refugees." Yet since the Syrian uprising began in 2011, the United States has resettled a fraction of the nearly 5 million Syrians in need-only 10,000 to date.[9] The overwhelming majority will not have the opportunity for resettlement in Western countries. Less than 1 percent of the world's 21 million refugees will be resettled. However, the resettlement of even this small number of refugees is important. First, it provides a pathway out of frontline states for those who are particularly vulnerable and cannot safely be accommodated there. Second, resettling refugees has a symbolic importance. It demonstrates solidarity within the transatlantic relationship and makes it clear that the United States supports rights and refuge for all. Third, the United States will not be able to encourage other countries to step up their efforts if it does not shoulder its share of responsibility. For these reasons, the United States should neither pause nor discontinue its refugee resettlement program but instead reaffirm its commitment to it. The next administration should maintain course on America's commitment to resettle 110,000 refugees in fiscal year 2017 (a 30 percent increase from 2016).

FOCUS ON EDUCATION AND LABOR MARKETS IN FRONTLINE STATES

Five years into Syria's civil war, the international community has come to recognize that refugees will not be returning home any time soon. The average length of major protracted refugee situations is 26 years.[10] The resources and infrastructure of Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey have been strained by the crisis, which was a contributing factor to large-scale, irregular migration to Europe in 2015. Therefore, for political reasons as well as humanitarian ones, advancing the well-being of the displaced where they are is imperative. The key to doing so is better access to education and employment.

Increase access to education for refugee children in front-line states

President-elect Trump should make Syrian refugee education a top priority. Before the Syria conflict, 94 percent of children in Syria attended primary and lower secondary education. However, access to education for Syrian refugees is limited and uneven in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. Mr. Trump should challenge the international community to work with and support frontline states to set a bold agenda to ensure that every Syrian refugee child has access to primary and secondary education by September 2017. The international community must ensure that these efforts to support refugee children do not overlook or come at the detriment of the needs of children in host communities.

The returns on investing in Syrian refugee education are enormous, far reaching, and long lasting. Schools and classrooms provide an environment for refugee children to learn from and about one another, strengthen interpersonal skills, develop resilience, and build conflict resolution skills. When children are unable to attend school, they have difficulty integrating into their host societies and are likely to be a greater burden on the host country's economy in the future. In the immediate term, Syrian school-aged refugees need psychosocial support because many of them have experienced tremendous suffering. They should be in learning environments where they can develop a sense of peace, belonging, trust, and respect. In the long term, access to high-quality education gives refugees the skills to become valuable and valued contributors to their host communities, as well as to their country of origin when they can return home. By failing to educate refugee children, the international community is not only dashing their hopes and aspirations but also turning a blind eye to potential environments where violent extremism can take hold.

There are several common obstacles to access to education in frontline states, including a lack of funding for public schooling and economic hardship that drives families to send children to work instead of the classroom. In the case of Turkey, there is also a language barrier. The only way to overcome these obstacles is for the next administration to challenge the international community, host governments, and implementing partners to act.

Encourage and resource education reform in Lebanon

In Lebanon, the education system has struggled to keep up with demand, and nearly 250,000 Syrian children-half of the Syrian school-aged children there-are out of school. The sheer number of Syrian children has required the Education Ministry to introduce two-shift school days in the public education system. The first shift is for Lebanese students and is open for Syrian students if there is space. The second shift, starting between 2:00 and 2:30 p.m., is only for Syrian children. To improve the situation, Lebanon will need to embrace major reforms to strengthen public education and receive donor funding earmarked for this purpose. The responsibility of hosting so many refugees has cost Lebanon over $13 billion, and stretched the government's capacity on virtually every single public good.

Increase political and financial support for Turkish language instruction in Turkey

To its credit, Turkey has lifted legal barriers for Syrian refugees to access education. However, language is an obstacle for many Syrian children, who are primarily Arabic speaking, and most instructors do not have the ability to teach Turkish as a second language. They will need special training.

Economic hardship is the primary reason most Syrian school-aged children are out of school, and it is forcing many refugee children into employment to provide for their families. Of the nearly 5 million Syrian refugees, 35 percent are children and 900,000 are out of school.[11] In Jordan, 84 percent of employers employ Syrian refugee children.[12] In Iraq, 77 percent of Syrian children are supporting their families.[13] In Lebanon and Turkey, girls and boys as young as six years of age are working to help make ends meet. Under these conditions, refugee children are extremely vulnerable to multiple forms of exploitation and abuse, and an entire generation is at risk of missing out on an education. Getting Syrian school-aged children into classrooms will require that their parents be allowed to work, making families less dependent on children's labor.

Expand access to employment opportunities in front-line states

Opening labor markets to refugees is a politically sensitive matter. The United States, together with the international community, has a role to play in encouraging countries to take steps in that direction and supporting them when they do.

Partner with the private sector

Washington could employ a range of incentives to encourage companies to make measurable commitments that would expand labor market integration, especially in communities on the frontlines of the crisis. These incentives could include ensuring that refugees have access to financial services, even if they do not have a place of permanent residence; enabling refugees to access seed funding to start new businesses, and where necessary providing them with the technical assistance to do so; and procuring goods and services from businesses that hire refugees.

Increase financial support for Jordan's refugee response plan

In response to the Syrian refugee crisis, the government of Jordan recently produced a three-year plan that promotes a resilience-based approach.14 To the extent that such an approach is sustainable and can offer benefits to host communities as well as refugees, it is an important mechanism for ensuring stability. Although the international community has supported the plan, only $1 billion (37.5 percent) of the $2.7 billion required to fund it for 2016 has yet been raised. As Michael Ignatieff and a team of researchers pointed out in a paper they wrote for Brookings earlier in 2016, the success of the plan depends on the extent to which it is supported.[15]

Jordan has indicated that it could generate 200,000 jobs suitable for Syrian refugees, including 150,000 jobs in a set of five new industrial zones and 50,000 jobs in labor-intensive infrastructure projects. That number could rise with additional support from the international community, in particular for the development zones. Earlier this year, the European Union granted trade concessions that allow goods produced there to be sold on European markets free of taxes and quotas, provided that the manufacturer's workforce is at least 15 percent Syrian. The United States, which has its own trade agreement with Jordan, should encourage other countries to follow suit.

Encourage Turkey to further open its labor market

Turkey hosts more than 2.8 million refugees from Syria, more than any other country in the world and more than half of the refugee population in the region. In January, Turkey opened up its labor market, passing legislation that allows registered Syrian refugees who have been in the country for at least six months to apply for work permits in the province where they first registered. Under the new law, employers are required to pay permit holders minimum wage. Given the extent to which many Syrians in Turkey work illegally, for low wages, and sometimes under exploitative conditions, the measure is an important one.

However, it is not clear that the new law goes far enough. First, it does not automatically give refugees a path out of the black market; most notably, it requires an employer to give his or her employee a work contract before the employee can apply for a permit. Employers who have benefitted from the exploitation of refugees are unlikely to offer these contracts. Perhaps for that reason, very few permits have yet been issued. Second, the law does not apply to all Syrians. To be eligible, would-be permit holders must have held a Turkish identification card for at least six months. These cards are not always easy for refugees to procure.[16]

Washington can use financial commitments to incentivize Erdogan's government to expand the pathway to legal work. This approach will be harder to make in the wake of the attempted coup in Turkey in July 2016, which led to a series of crackdowns that have introduced substantial uncertainty in the relationship between Ankara and Washington. However, it is an effort worth making.

COLLABORATE WITH NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AND FOSTER COLLABORATION AMONG THEM

Across each of these initiatives, collaboration between government and civil society organizations, as well as among civil society organizations themselves, has the potential to contribute substantially to success. Faith-based organizations and diaspora groups have an important role to play in providing on-the-ground services to those in need. So too do refugee advocates. Washington-based think tanks should work with organizations like the International Rescue Committee and smaller outfits doing refugee-specific work, helping to leverage their impact.

CONCLUSION

Providing assistance to refugees fleeing the violence in Syria will require substantial financial and political investment. But the costs of doing otherwise are much higher. Scaling back America's commitment to those in search of safety would reverberate within the transatlantic alliance, strengthen the forces of nationalism and populism breeding disunity within Europe, deny a needed form of support to fragile states in the Middle East that are already struggling to cope with the crisis, and make the United States a bystander in a catastrophe that cries out for leadership.

For these reasons, the next administration should continue America's long-standing refugee resettlement program while providing additional support to Syrian refugees in frontline states. It is also important that Mr. Trump build and lead a global coalition of countries to advance the needs of Syrian refugees and the communities that host them-only then can the pressure on fragile states in the Middle East and America's allies in Europe be relieved. Both are strained by the weight of the crisis, and both are critical to America's security interests. If the next administration is to take such concerns seriously and make Syrian refugees more than a political slogan, Mr. Trump must challenge the international community to take action. It can only do so if America takes action itself.

FOOTNOTES

1 Priyanka Boghani, "A Staggering New Death Toll for Syria's War -470,000," PBS Frontline, February 11, 2016, www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/a-staggering-new-death-toll-for-syrias-war-470000/.

2 Mark Bixler and Michael Martinez, "War Forced Half of All Syrians from Home. Here's Where They Went," CNN, April 18, 2016, www.cnn.com/2015/09/11/world/syria-refugee-crisis-when-war-displaces-half-a-country/.

3 "Figures at a Glance," Global Trends 2015 Statistical Yearbooks.

4 "Syria Complex Emergency - Fact Sheet #5," U.S. Agency for International Development, September 30, 2016, www.usaid.gov/crisis/syria/fy16/fs05.

5 Ruth Igielnik, "Where Refugees to the U.S. Come From," Pew Research Center, June 17, 2016, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/17/where-refugees-to-the-u-s-come-from/.

6 "Information on UNHCR Resettlement in the United States," UNHCR, n.d., www.unhcr.org/en-us/information-on-unhcr-resettlement.html.

7 Alex Nowrasteh, "Syrian Refugees Don't Pose a Serious Security Threat," Cato Institute, November 18, 2015, www.cato.org/blog/syrian-refugees-dont-pose-serious-security-threat.

8 Alex Nowrasteh, "The Terrorism Risk of Asylum-Seekers and Refugees: The Minnesota, New York, and New Jersey Terrorist Attacks," Cato Institute, September 20, 2016, www.cato.org/blog/terrorism-risk-asylum-seekers-refugees-minnesota-new-york-new-jersey-terrorist-attacks.

9 Washington Post Editorial Board, "America Has Accepted 10,000 Syrian Refugees. That's Still Too Few," Washington Post, September 2016.

10 Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, "Protracted Refugee Situations," U.S. Department of State, n.d., www.state.gov/j/prm/policyissues/issues/protracted/.

11 "UNHCR Reports Crisis in Refugee Education," UNHCR, September 15, 2016, www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/press/2016/9/57d7d6f34/unhcr-reports-crisis-refugee-education.html.

12 "Economic Impacts of Syrian Refugees: Existing Research Review & Key Takeaways," Policy Brief no. 1 (International Rescue Committee, January 2016), www.rescue.org/sites/default/files/document/465/ircpolicybriefeconomicimpactsofsyrianrefugees.pdf.

13 "Small Hands, Heavy Burden: How the Syria Conflict is Driving More Children into the Workforce," Save the Children, July 2, 2015, http://childrenofsyria.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CHILD-LABOUR.pdf.

14 "Executive Summary," Jordan Response Plan for the Syria Crisis, 2016-2018, Jordan Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, n.d., https://static1.squarespace.com/static/522c2552e4b0d3c39ccd1e00/t/56979abf69492e35d13e04f3/1452776141003/JRP+2016-18+Executive+Summary.pdf.

15 Michael Ignatieff, Juliette Keeley, Betsy Ribble, and Keith McCammon, "The Refugee and Migration Crisis: Proposals for Action, U.N. Summit 2016," Brookings, September 12, 2016.

16 Patrick Kingsley, "Fewer than 0.1% of Syrians in Turkey in Line for Work Permits," The Guardian, April 11, 2016, www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/11/fewer-than-01-of-syrians-in-turkey-in-line-for-work-permits.
Kyrgyzstan: Travesty of Justice for Rights Defender

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 24 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Kyrgyzstan: Travesty of Justice for Rights Defender, 24 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/588876cd4.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

A Kyrgyzstan court on January 24, 2017, upheld a life sentence for a human rights defender, Azimjon Askarov, despite the United Nations Human Rights Committee's ruling that he should be released and his conviction quashed, Human Rights Watch said today. The court decision reinforces a severe miscarriage of justice in Kyrgyzstan.

The Chui Regional Court in Bishkek upheld Askarov's life sentence, imposed following his unjust conviction in 2010 for "organizing mass disturbances" and "inciting interethnic hatred" leading to the killing of a policeman in Bazar-Korgon, southern Kyrgyzstan. Following the latest court ruling, Askarov, 66, declared he would protest by starting a hunger strike. Askarov's lawyers said they would appeal to the Supreme Court.

"Azimjon Askarov should be released immediately," said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Kyrgyzstan cannot in one breath say it seeks to uphold human rights, and then in the next, dismiss such basic international legal norms as fair trial, arbitrary detention, and the prohibition on torture."

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, said on January 24 that the court decision was "deeply troubling."

On October 4, 2016, the court started to examine the case, which had been sent for retrial in July by the Supreme Court on the basis of the UN Human Rights Committee's decision. The committee had ruled in March that Kyrgyzstan was obligated to release Askarov and quash his conviction concluding that he had been arbitrarily detained, tortured in custody, and denied a fair trial.

During the rehearing that ended on January 24, Minura Mamadalieva, Askarov's co-defendant at the initial 2010 trial, who was arrested together with her 6-year-old son and later released, stated that she had been forced in the original trial to testify against Askarov. Police officers had mistreated her and threatened to put her child behind bars if she would not comply, she told the court.

Nurbek Toktakhunov, Askarov's defense lawyer, told the court that he had not been able to adequately defend his client as he had received multiple death threats and feared for his personal safety. He also said that Askarov had been covered with bruises when the lawyer visited him at the Bazar-Korgon police station in 2010. Human Rights Watch documented attacks on Askarov's lawyer and courtroom violence at the initial trial in 2010, which was marred by procedural violations.

Askarov's case is one of the first high-profile cases related to the June 2010 ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan that was sent for retrial. Human Rights Watch documented widespread allegations of torture and ill-treatment in the context of the investigations and trials that followed this violence. The outcome of this trial is a clear indication that Kyrgyzstan has failed to serve justice regarding the violence in southern Kyrgyzstan in 2010.

At the rehearing, Askarov himself described in detail how in 2010 he had been repeatedly tortured in the Bazar-Korgon police station. He said he had been hit repeatedly with a plastic bottle filled with water, and forced to clean the premises while police officers beat and humiliated him.

At a point when these acts of torture became unbearable for him, Askarov said he had urged police officers to kill him rather than continue. He said the answer was, "No, we will make you die slowly." The panel of judges did not take any action in response to the torture allegations. In the hearing before the verdict, Askarov said: "My only guilt was that I am an Uzbek and defended human rights."

When announcing the verdict, the panel of judges stated that they "doubt the veracity of Askarov's words that he had been repeatedly tortured as three state psychiatrists concluded that Askarov is a liar."

Al Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, called on Kyrgyzstan to implement the UN ruling on Askarov. "Despite the repeated commitment of the Kyrgyz authorities to uphold international fair trial standards and to resolutely investigate torture allegations, this latest trial vividly displayed the deficiencies in the country's judicial and law enforcement system," Al Hussein said. "The court did not pursue allegations that Askarov had been tortured."

Kyrgyzstan's international partners in the European Union, the United States, Canada, and elsewhere should urgently press the government in Bishkek at the highest level to reverse its rejection of international legal norms and to release Askarov.

"Askarov is an old man in ill health, and we are deeply concerned he will suffer even more on a hunger strike," Williamson said. "Kyrgyzstan should take this opportunity to do the right thing and release Askarov."

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Kenya: Activist Facing Forced Return to South Sudan

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 24 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Kenya: Activist Facing Forced Return to South Sudan , 24 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5888aaf14.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

A prominent South Sudanese lawyer and human rights advocate is at risk of unlawful deportation from Kenya to South Sudan, where he could face persecution, Human Rights Watch said today. Kenyan authorities detained the lawyer, Dong Samuel Luak, on January 23, 2017.

According to credible reports, Luak, a refugee, is being held at the Nairobi Area Police Headquarters, has been denied access to legal counsel, and is subject to a deportation order.

"Dong Samuel Luak has been a vocal advocate for human rights in South Sudan for many years, and could face serious mistreatment if returned to South Sudan," said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Kenyan authorities should respect his rights, allow him access to legal counsel and United Nations refugee officials, and immediately halt any deportation proceedings against him."

From 2002 to 2013, Luak was secretary-general of the South Sudan Law Society, a South Sudanese nongovernmental organization focused on promoting justice, human rights, and the rule of law. He fled to Kenya in August 2013, after receiving death threats following his defense of Pagan Amum, the former secretary general of South Sudan's governing party, whom the South Sudan government had accused of treason.

Since South Sudan's conflict began in December 2013, Luak has continued publicly to denounce human rights abuses and corruption by South Sudanese government officials. He joined South Sudan's opposition forces  known as the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (the "IO"), led by former Vice-President Riek Machar  as the group's deputy chairman for justice and human rights. In October 2015, he was brutally attacked at his home in Nairobi by men thought to be linked to South Sudan's security services.

Kenyan law, the 1951 Refugee Convention, and the regional African Union treaty on refugees prohibit refoulement, the return of a refugee "in any manner whatsoever" to a place where their life or freedom would be threatened.

In recent years, Kenya has unlawfully deported several prominent opposition members from neighboring countries to their countries of origin, despite being recognized as refugees under Kenyan law and protests by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Most recently, in November 2016, Kenya deported a prominent South Sudanese politician, James Gatdet Dak, who acted as Machar's main spokesperson. Gatdet Dak was arrested upon arrival in South Sudan's capital, Juba, and has since been held, without charge, at the headquarters of South Sudan's National Security Services (NSS).

There are serious concerns that the same fate, or worse, may await Luak if Kenya forcibly returns him, Human Rights Watch said.

"Dong Samuel Luak is at serious risk of arbitrary detention, torture, and other abuses if returned to South Sudan," Lefkow said. "Kenyan authorities need to respect their obligations under international and Kenyan law and ensure he is protected."

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Ukraine: Armed Conflict-Related Abuse in Detention

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 25 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Ukraine: Armed Conflict-Related Abuse in Detention, 25 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5888ac804.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Both sides in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine have detained and abused people with complete impunity, Human Rights Watch said today at a joint press conference with Amnesty International in Kyiv. In a statement released in Kyiv jointly with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch reiterated its call for the Ukraine government and the Russia-backed separatists to stop all arbitrary and secret detentions and ill-treatment of detainees and ensure accountability for abuses that have occurred.

In July 2016, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch released a joint report, "You Don't Exist," documenting prolonged, arbitrary, and sometimes secret detentions  that is, enforced disappearances  as well as ill-treatment of detainees by both the Ukrainian authorities and Russia-backed separatists. Since then, based on the information obtained and verified by the organizations, the Kharkiv branch of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has released all 18 people it had forcibly disappeared, the last three in December. However, Ukrainian authorities have not acknowledged either the detentions or the releases and have not taken effective steps to ensure accountability for these abuses.

"Though freeing the detainees was a positive step, we are concerned about the SBU's continued denial of enforced disappearances," said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The lack of effective investigation by Ukraine's authorities fosters a climate of lawlessness and perpetuates impunity for grave human rights violations."

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have seen no positive developments in connection with the detention-related abuses by Russia-backed separatists documented in their joint report.

People held by the warring sides in eastern Ukraine are protected under international human rights and international humanitarian law, which unequivocally ban arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture, and other ill-treatment.

In July, when the report was released, the chief military prosecutor of Ukraine pledged in a meeting with the two groups to investigate the allegations of secret detentions by the SBU detailed in the report. In August, the organizations informed the chief military prosecutor in a letter that, based on information they had obtained and verified, some of the detainees had been released from the SBU facility in Kharkiv, but that five people remained there in unacknowledged detention. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch reiterated their call for prompt and effective investigation, but Human Rights Watch has not been able to determine that the investigation has yielded any tangible results or even any concrete steps or progress.

In December 2016 and in January 2017, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch learned from different sources who were participants in or had direct knowledge of relevant events, that at the beginning of August, guards had moved the five remaining detainees from their cells to a basement in the Kharkiv SBU compound and on August 20, released two of them warning them not to reveal any information about their detention. The other three men  two Russian nationals, Vladimir Bezobrazov and Vladislav Kondalov, and one Ukrainian national from separatist-controlled Torez, Sergei, whose last name has been withheld for privacy reasons, remained in unacknowledged SBU custody until December 12.

Based on the organizations' interviews with Bezobrazov, and Kondalov, on August 21 SBU officials moved the three men to another SBU facility just outside Kharkiv, where they were locked in a tiny room with three iron beds and a boarded-up window, without any contact with the outside world. After about a month, SBU officials moved the three men to another unacknowledged detention site, apparently a former resort outside Kharkiv, where they stayed until December 12.

In the evening of December 12, SBU officials released Bezobrazov, Kondalov, and Sergei, dropping them off near the town of Novoluhansk in Ukraine's Luhansk region without any identification documents.

Bezobrazov finally returned to Moscow on December 23, after close to 21 months of secret detention. Kondalov was home in Russia's Samara region by December 29, after approximately 8 months of secret detention. Sergei, who spent over a year in secret detention, is being treated in a hospital in Donetsk.

"The prolonged enforced disappearances irreversibly altered the lives of the former detainees and their families," Williamson said. "Ukraine's leadership should not allow this to go unpunished."

When working on the report "You Don't Exist," Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also documented nine cases in which Russia-backed separatists held civilians incommunicado for weeks or months without charge and, in most cases, subjected them to ill-treatment.

The organizations are particularly concerned about Igor Kozlovsky, a university professor from Donetsk, and Volodymyr Fomichyov, a pro-Ukrainian blogger originally from Makiivka, who have been in the custody of Russia-backed separatists since January 2016 on fabricated charges of weapon possession.

Both cases were detailed in the report, although Fomichyov was assigned the pseudonym "Yuri" as a security measure at the time. Kozlovsky is currently in a remand prison in Donetsk pending trial. On August 16, a court in Donetsk found Fomichyov "guilty" of weapon possession and handed down a two-year prison sentence.

The Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) de facto authorities then sent him to a penal colony in Makiivka, a small town near Donetsk. As documented by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty, the circumstances of Fomichyov's arrest, his detention conditions, and the indications of clearly fabricated evidence and a coerced confession, leaves his "conviction" void of any credibility and his continued detention a serious violation of both international human rights and humanitarian law.

The efforts by Human Rights Watch to engage on the issue with the Russia-backed separatists and to convince Russia's leadership to exercise its leverage over the de facto authorities in the DNR and the Luhansk People's Republic, the two Russia-backed separatist regions, have yielded no tangible results.

"Local security services operate with no checks and balances and the overall vacuum of the rule of law in separatist-controlled areas denies people protection for their rights and for those held in custody leaves them vulnerable to abuse without any effective remedies," Williamson said.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
RSF calls for release of TV journalist held in eastern Libya

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 25 January 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, RSF calls for release of TV journalist held in eastern Libya, 25 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5888ad914.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns TV journalist Wiem Ben Zabia's arbitrary detention in eastern Libya for the past 11 days and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.

A journalist with Libya Panorama Channel (LPC), Ben Zabia was on his way to attend a relative's funeral in the eastern city of Derna, his hometown, when he was arrested at the Ras Lahlel checkpoint on 14 January by members of the army that controls the eastern part of the country led by Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar.

A pro-Haftar TV station posted a video of his arrest shortly afterwards on social networks. It shows a man in civilian dress interrogating Ben Zabia in a repetitive manner about his social and family "links" with supposed terrorists, but without presenting any clear and legally-based accusation against him.

It was later said that Ben Zabia would be freed last weekend but his release did not take place.

"The forces led by Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar have yet again targeted a journalist," RSF editor-in-chief Virginie Dangles said. "We call for Wiem Ben Zabia's immediate and unconditional release. Our sources say he was transferred at the weekend to Gernada military prison in the eastern city of El Baydah, where conditions are harsh and detainees are often tortured."

Libya continues to be extremely dangerous for journalists, who are increasingly harassed since the deterioration of the security situation in 2014. Three journalists - two Libyans and a Dutch citizen - were killed in Libya last year and more than ten were detained arbitrarily.

Last September RSF and the Libyan Centre for Freedom of Press (LCFP) jointly distributed 100 "Press" vests and 100 copies of RSF's Safety Guide for Journalists, which is available online here.

Libya is ranked 164th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index.
RSF calls for human rights defender's release

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 25 January 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, RSF calls for human rights defender's release, 25 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5888ae164.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the immediate and unconditional release of leading Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, who has been held since June and had to appear in court this week.

The head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Nabeel Rajab should have attended hearings on 23 January in two separate cases against him, one about a series of tweets in 2015 and the other about a series of TV interviews in 2014 and 2015. The hearings were instead rescheduled for 28 and 8 February respectively.

He was to have been released provisionally on 28 December as a result of a judicial decision in the first of the cases, about a series of tweets in 2015, but the prosecutor's office kept him in prison by bringing a second case against him, this one about a series of TV interviews in 2014 and 2015.

"We call for the immediate release of Nabeel Rajab, who is guilty only of exercising his right to freedom of expression and information by criticizing Bahrain's government," said Alexandra El Khazen, the head of RSF's Middle East desk.

"The new proceedings against him reflect a desire to keep him in detention at all costs and to punish him for statements to the media which, according to the government, hurt the country's international image. But convicting this citizen journalist is not going to clear Bahrain's name."

The original case against him concerns a series of tweets in 2015 criticizing the military intervention in Yemen and the use of torture in Bahrain's Jaw prison. They led to his being charged with "spreading false rumours in time of war," "insulting public authorities," and "insulting a neighbouring country." His lawyers say there is no proof that he was responsible for the tweets.

The second case concerns interviews about the human rights situation in Bahrain that he gave in 2014 and 2015 to local and regional media outlets such as Lualua TV, Al-Etejah TV and Al-Alam TV. For these interviews, he is facing a possible two-year jail sentence on charges of "disseminating rumours and false news."

He is also being investigated in connection with letters published in the New York Times in September and Le Monde in December in which he criticized the Bahraini government's policies.

Arrested many times in the pasts, Rajab was last released on 15 July 2015 under a royal pardon issued on health grounds. After being arrested again on 13 June 2016, he spent two weeks in solitary confinement. This and the other forms of mistreatment to which he has been subjected have exacerbated his health problems.

The Kingdom of Bahrain is ranked 162nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index.
Kuwait carries out seven executions in deeply alarming setback for human rights

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 25 January 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Kuwait carries out seven executions in deeply alarming setback for human rights, 25 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5888af5d4.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

In response to the news that the Kuwaiti authorities have carried out seven executions by hanging this morning for the first time since 2013, Samah Hadid Deputy Director for Campaigns at Amnesty International's regional office in Beirut said:

"Today's execution of seven people - including five foreign nationals - is a shocking and deeply regrettable step backwards for Kuwait.

"By choosing to resume executions now the Kuwaiti authorities have displayed a wanton disregard for the right to life and signalled a willingness to weaken human rights standards.

"The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, degrading punishment. Its use cannot be justified under any circumstances. Instead of resuming executions the Kuwaiti authorities should immediately work to review laws relating to the death penalty and establish a moratorium on executions with a view to ultimately abolishing the death penalty completely."

Kuwait is state party to eight international human rights covenants. This is the second group of people to have been executed in the country since 2007, the other occasion being in 2013 when Kuwait carried out the execution of five non-Kuwaiti nationals.

The seven people executed today were:

1- Mohammad Shahed Mohammad Sanwar Hussain, Bangladeshi national

2- Jakatia Midon Pawa , Filipina national

3- Amakeel OoKo Mikunin, Ethiopian national

4- Nasra Youssef Mohammad al-Anzi, Kuwaiti national

5- Sayed Radhi Jumaa, Egyptian national

6- Sameer Taha Abdulmajed Abduljaleel, Egyptian national

7- Faysal Abdullah Jaber Al Sabah, Kuwaiti national

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan touched down in Moscow yesterday on a two-day official visit to Russia at the invitation of Premier Dmitry Medvedev.

Medvedev received his Armenian counterpart at the Gorki residence of the Head of Russian Government. The two heads of government held a private meeting, followed by an expanded one featuring official delegations in the format of a working breakfast.

Greeting Karapetyan, Medvedev said: Dear Karen Wilhelmovich, I heartily welcome you. This is your first official visit to our country. We have special allied relations with Armenia, and there are always issues to discuss. It is important that a number of documents have been prepared in anticipation of your visit, aimed at developing our cooperation. I hope they may help build up closer economic ties and human contacts.

Karapetyan replied: Dear Dmitry Anatolevich, first of all, I would like to thank you for the invitation to visit Moscow and the reception of our delegation. Taking this opportunity, I would like to congratulate you on your election as Chairman of the United Russia party, wish you every success and express confidence that everything will be fine.

Armenias prime minister told Medvedev about a series of reforms launched in Armenia aimed at creating a favorable environment for investors.

In this respect, we would highly appreciate the commitment of the Russian capital. We have come along with a number of new proposals, which will allow us to diversify and expand the vectors of cooperation. I am confident, too, that we are in for a constructive conversation, said Karapetyan.

See full government communique HERE






World Vision rattles aid groups with solo operation for Syrians at Jordan border

Publisher IRIN Author Sara Elizabeth Williams Publication Date 24 January 2017 Cite as IRIN, World Vision rattles aid groups with solo operation for Syrians at Jordan border, 24 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5888b0044.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Some 70,000 Syrians are stranded in a demilitarised zone on the Jordan-Syria border, with aid severely limited and subject to tight restrictions. IRIN can reveal that while the UN delivers assistance by crane or by contractor, the US NGO World Vision is taking a different and controversial approach: using a "moderate" Syrian militia to help bring in supplies.

Aid agencies have tried a range of workarounds to deliver help since Jordan sealed off the area - known as the "berm" - following a June attack by so-called Islamic State. The UN's efforts have delivered some food to more than 46,000 people and maintained a minimal water supply. A service centre has also been built in Jordanian territory to provide medical care.

All those trying to help the stranded Syrians are treading a fine line on the humanitarian principles of impartiality and independence. Because it can't enter the berm, the UN has engaged contractors vetted by the Jordanian Armed Forces - themselves unable to enter the area - to do humanitarian distributions and related tasks inside the no man's land, along the lines of a plan reported exclusively by IRIN in October.

World Vision, however, has opted to pay a logistics contractor affiliated with a militia run by Syrian businessman Rakan Khdeir and backed by Jordan. Khdeir's militia provides armed protection. While this route has its critics, the NGO says it's effective and getting aid where it needs to go.

And, according to one well-placed source, one of the UN's contractors, First Technical Support Company (FTSC), is in fact paying the same militia to provide security for its own food distribution.

Mageed Yahia, the World Food Programme's country director in Jordan, told IRIN any security arrangements made by their contractor, FTSC, was the business of the contractor, not the WFP.

"They are supposed to arrange their own security. We told them that we can't provide it it's not under our obligation" he told IRIN. "This is what we've been allowed by the government: distribution can only be done inside the no man's land, and we can only do a distribution if a contractor carries it out."

UNHCR, UNICEF and OCHA were also contacted by IRIN for this report but declined to discuss details of contracting arrangements at the berm.

A lawless zone

On Saturday, a car bomb exploded at Rukban, the larger of two settlements on the berm, killing at least six and injuring more than 14. It was the fourth blast in the demilitarised zone in seven months. It was also a reminder that tens of thousands of civilians are stranded in an area that has been infiltrated by IS on several occasions and is too lawless for most aid agencies to enter.

The Syrians see the Jordanian side as a beacon of stability: "I feel afraid when I go to the Syrian berm alone," said Asmaa, a mother of four living in Rukban (she asked IRIN not to use her real name for her own security). "I feel more confidence and safety when we see the Jordanian berm, because it's organised and has guards. There are people there who stay up at night to protect it, and protect the people in it."

In mid-2014, Syrians began piling up at the berm's two crossing points: Rukban and Hadalat. Some were granted entry. Most were not.

Under pressure from the international community, in early 2016 Jordan increased aid and admissions. But after an IED killed seven troops on 21 June, entries ceased and the area was declared a military zone. Now, more than 70,000 people have amassed on the berm.

Only a trickle of aid has entered in the more than seven months since that June blast, and that's why Khdeir, the leader of a Syrian militia known as the Tribal Army (full name: Free Tribes' Army), says he began meeting with aid agencies in late August - he was frustrated with the pace of the UN delivery system.

Sheikh Rakan, as Khdeir is also known, has close ties to the Jordanian Armed Forces. In an interview with IRIN, he disclosed that his salary bill - including costs of $300 per Rukban-based fighter per month - is paid by Jordan, which also supplies his weapons. Khdeir told IRIN he had deployed more than 130 men to quell the violence in the Rukban "camp" and counter IS.

Sheikh Rakan's favoured aid partner became World Vision. "I felt their humanitarianism. What joined our beliefs was that they love order and I love order. This is very important," he said.

A working relationship commenced in September, and one senior humanitarian worker called the Tribal Army "the new favourite child of Jordan".

"Our role is to receive aid from the border, take it to the warehouse, protect it, and then protect the World Vision team as they distribute it," explained Khdeir.

Dodgy deal?

World Vision has contracted a Jordanian firm connected to Khdeir, Al Badia Logistics Services, to implement the deal, which included drilling a borehole just inside Syria.

A spokesman for World Vision told IRIN: "We have a commercial relationship with Al Badia Logistics Services to deliver goods to the berm for distribution. Payments have been made for services delivered as part of that contract."

Working so closely with an armed group has upset some in the humanitarian community.

"The nature of the agreement they have is so dodgy," one senior humanitarian said of World Vision's collaboration with the Tribal Army. "It's so far from what I'd call normal humanitarian conduct."

Describing World Vision's access as "very instrumentalised", another aid worker asked: "How can you provide humanitarian assistance through an actor, a military actor, no less?"

But World Vision defended its approach.

"In situations like this, there are no perfect answers," a spokesman for the NGO told IRIN. "We take great pains to follow humanitarian protocols and principles, carrying out assessments and checks in deciding who we work with. In our request for access to the berm, there were no preconditions requested or agreed that contravene humanitarian principles."

Khdeir himself seems aware of the apparent contradictions of a militia doing humanitarian work. He said he met with "all the NGOs" but was frustrated at how slowly most of them moved. "Right now, we're in a time of war, emergency. Making the process democratic won't facilitate or ease anything," he told IRIN.

World Vision says it has distributed 4,000 hygiene kits and 3,000 packages containing baby clothes, a relatively small part of the total aid response at the berm.

With the Tribal Army as facilitator, World Vision has also trained some Rukban residents to carry out a rapid needs assessment of 600 families. IRIN met more than a dozen of these refugees brought into Jordan for training.

The survey found that hunger was the top concern. The surveyors themselves appeared to confirm that: every one was thin, some even gaunt. All claimed to have lost weight while at Rukban, and none ate more than a single small meal per day.

Allegations and attacks

In addition to these ethical questions surrounding humanitarian principles and neutrality are other serious allegations.

Omar al-Beniai, an activist with a local Syrian Bedouin tribe, accused the Tribal Army of preventing some civilians from accessing medical services, selectively distributing World Vision aid to friends and allies, and sending some back to contacts in Daraa inside Syria, where it could be sold for profit.

Al-Beniai said the Tribal Army is a US and Jordan-backed proxy established to fight IS, and that it had strayed far from its initial mission. The US and Jordan maintain a joint special forces presence near Rukban.

Khdeir dismissed the accusations, and World Vision insisted that its aid delivery is closely monitored.

"We're confident that the hygiene kits from our first test distribution, at the beginning of November, reached the children and families they were meant for," a World Vision spokesman told IRIN.

"We carry out the best monitoring we can in situations like this, including checks of the identification of beneficiaries, and we don't have any evidence to suggest that these supplies - which included diapers, nappy rash cream, toothpaste and laundry detergent - were diverted."

Regardless of its merits, the aid operation itself may have become a target: on 17 December, a motorcycle-riding suicide bomber blew himself up outside World Vision's warehouse in the berm area. The fire killed several Tribal Army militiamen guarding the warehouse and destroyed up to 12,000 children's clothing kits that World Vision said had been donated by UNICEF.

What next?

The technicalities of how aid is delivered may seem dry but they can mean the difference between life and death.

Well-placed medical sources assert that at least a dozen children have died for lack of health care since June, while women in pregnancy and labour are at high risk, and there is now an outbreak of hepatitis A.

While World Vision's modest operations continue, the larger UN effort continues to work with both the Jordanian Armed Forces and private contractors to find ways to deliver aid into the berm area, without entering themselves.

Since June, UN-run aid operations even to the berm's southern edge have been a start-stop affair, and anything further inside is carried out remotely (aid has even been delivered by crane), or through contractors.

MSF, like other aid agencies, has not been able to work in the area since June. Luiz Eguiluz, Jordan country head of Medecins Sans Frontieres until the end of last year, said the UN system isn't getting the job done. "Remote support doesn't address the needs of the people at the berm. Not having trained medical professionals there is a problem," he told IRIN.

The aid boss who called the Tribal Army deal "dodgy" said the main worry was about how it might affect everyone else: "Our concern is that World Vision's operation doesn't jeopardise the rest of the operation." However both the World Vision and UN operations appear mired in security agendas.

The Jordanian military, senior aid workers say, has already had a strong influence on the selection of UN contractors. One senior UN figure confirmed to IRIN that since the area is a military zone, tenders for work there can only be awarded to contractors pre-approved by the Jordanian Armed Forces. Jordan continues to seek UN and donor support for a range of security measures related to the berm that go far beyond the humanitarian operation.

The UN says it expects to begin a second food distribution cycle on 28 January. But at the berm, plans derail easily.
Cop-out or vital lifeline? Massive EU cash aid programme rolls out for refugees in Turkey

Publisher IRIN Author Diego Cupolo Publication Date 25 January 2017 Cite as IRIN, Cop-out or vital lifeline? Massive EU cash aid programme rolls out for refugees in Turkey, 25 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5888b0994.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

After fleeing Aleppo and moving to the Turkish capital in 2015, Siham, a widow and mother of five, had few options other than to let her eldest child, 11-year-old Yussef, take a job at a handbag factory.

Yussef brings home a monthly salary of 400 Turkish lire (about 100 euros), working 13-hour shifts, six days a week. Until recently, Siham combined whatever aid she could gather from local charities with Yussef's earnings to pay the rent and feed her children.

It was never enough.

"Sometimes we couldn't afford even a loaf of bread," said Siham, seated in her cramped living room.

Siham was faced with the prospect of having to pull her two younger sons, aged nine and 10, out of school so they could also work.

Now, she might not have to.

Earlier this month, Siham became one of the first recipients of an EU-funded programme that aims to provide cash assistance to one million of the most vulnerable refugees living in Turkey. At least 500,000 refugees are expected to be enrolled in the programme by April and another 500,000 by the end of 2017.

If successful, it will be the largest ever EU-sponsored cash aid programme.

The Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) is being rolled out with an initial 348 million euros in financing from the EU's Facility for Refugees in Turkey, a three-billion-euro fund to provide support over two years. The aid was pledged in return for Turkey's cooperation in deterring refugees from moving on to Europe as part of the EU-Turkey agreement that came into effect in March 2016.

The agreement has been criticised by rights groups as a cynical attempt to outsource the EU's so-called refugee crisis while turning a blind eye to human rights abuses perpetrated by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. But the ESSN could offer a lifeline to refugees like Siham.

How it works

Refugees deemed eligible are given debit cards, which are recharged monthly and can be used at shops to buy food and other essentials, or at ATMs to withdraw cash. The amount of money on each card is based on the size of the family, with each family member adding a value of 100 lire (25 euros) to the monthly allowance. As the head of a family of six, Siham's debit card will be topped up with 600 lire (150 euros) a month.

With her rent and utility bills totalling 350 lire a month, she will be left with some additional cash to spend on whatever she thinks the family most needs.

"I find this help better than others because you know what you need most and your needs change," Siham said.

Cash-based aid programmes for refugees are springing up all over the world, but particularly in the Middle East where the majority of those displaced by the war in Syria are living in cities rather than camps.

The ESSN differs from similar programmes, such as the smaller one the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, is piloting in Lebanon, not only in scale but also in terms of the prominent role played by the Turkish government.

The EU insists its humanitarian projects "are carried out by humanitarian organisations, not by governments", and that the World Food Programme together with the Turkish Red Crescent are leading the implementation of the project. But enrollment is largely taking place at government-run centres and refugees must first register with Turkey's Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM).

Whereas in the past, refugees had to register with individual aid agencies and government departments to fulfill specific needs, such as housing or food assistance, the ESSN is meant to mirror Turkey's existing welfare system, explained Jane Lewis, Ankara's Head of Office for ECHO, the EU's emergency aid department.

"This isn't just a programme for us. It's a model," Lewis told IRIN. "It's a new way of doing business in humanitarian assistance and we're trying to show a different way of approaching this with [host] governments we're also seeing how we can replicate this in Lebanon and seeing if we can do this in Greece. It's kind of a laboratory of best practice."

Problems?

With both Syrian and non-Syrian refugees eligible for the debit card, many previously unregistered refugees are now registering with the government and high demand has caused some delays in the enrollment process.

The criteria for eligibility has not been made public due to Turkish officials' fears that applicants might provide false details to skew results in their favour. But Lewis said the programme would most likely target single mothers, the disabled, the elderly, and those who can't provide for themselves. Once registered, refugees will be encouraged to update their circumstances regularly and may qualify at a later stage.

"Anyone who has applied will become eligible if the criteria changes," Lewis explained. "We're trying to get the critical mass of people on board and then look at the most critical cases once they come to the surface."

Still, the lack of defined criteria leaves the Turkish government and the EU open to criticism about the programme's lack of transparency.

Gulsum Agaoglu, a member of the refugee and migration committee and the executive board of Turkey's opposition socialist Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), argued that keeping the selection process opaque could lead to discrimination.

Agaoglu said the Turkish government has favoured Syrians of Sunni and Turkmen descent in the past, while denying or complicating access to social services and registration assistance for refugees from Kurdish areas in Syria.

"They have done it in the past and they will do this again with the card programme," she told IRIN.

Agaoglu added that such a large-scale programme required strong third-party monitoring, which she felt the ESSN lacks.

A more concrete obstacle to accessing the programme is the requirement that applicants have a street address. This will exclude the many refugees who do seasonal agriculture work and live in temporary structures and tent encampments around the country.

The requirement that refugees register in-person at enrollment centres - mostly located in cities - also means the programme will initially only reach urban populations and those with access to transportation.

The bigger picture

Broader concerns about the ESSN go back to its links with the EU-Turkey agreement.

The EU has been under pressure from the Turkish government to speed up distribution of its promised three-billion-euro package of support. Some 2.2 billion has so far been allocated, but just 748 million has been disbursed. Lewis admitted that the screening of aid projects and the allocation of funding has been difficult to achieve within the two-year time limit set out by the agreement.

Some view the ESSN as a cop-out: an all-too-convenient way to dispatch the EU's promised aid that is unlikely to have long-term benefits for refugees.

"It's an easy way out," said Erdem Vardar, director of YUVA, an Istanbul-based NGO focused on refugee education, rights, and sustainable living. "It's harder in the long term to create jobs for refugees in this country. Of course, it's much easier to give people money."

Vardar said the ESSN may be helpful in the short term, but that integration initiatives and career development programmes are needed to foster long-term social cohesion for refugees who may remain in Turkey for decades to come.

He added that 100 lire per person may be a decent allowance for people living in Ankara, but that rents are much higher in cities with denser refugee populations, such as Istanbul and Gaziantep.

"In Istanbul, you will never find rent of less than 400 or 500 lire," he told IRIN. "The only reason refugees are able to afford living in these cities is because many people share the same apartment."

According to Joelle Eid, a spokeswoman for the WFP in Turkey, the monthly allowance was initially planned to be more than 100 lire, but Turkey's Ministry of Family and Social Policy was uncomfortable with giving refugees a higher allowance than its citizens receive under the state's welfare system.

As it is, the programme has not gone unnoticed by Turks living below the poverty line. After speaking to IRIN, as Siham left her apartment in Onder, a low-income neighbourhood in Ankara, she was surrounded by local mothers who asked why she should get a debit card and not them. The confrontation was cordial but revealed an underlying sense of grievance that has emerged in a country now hosting an estimated 3.1 million refugees.

For the time-being, the ESSN programme remains in its infancy, with many possible adjustments in the future, including additional cash for families that keep their children in school.

Siham said her son, Yussef, will continue working in the handbag factory, but that the ESSN means she can keep her two other boys in school. With her first cash transfer, Siham paid the rent, utility bills, and several debts owed at local shops.

"I was most worried about paying the rent," Siham said. "The landlord made it clear that missing one payment on the first of each month would mean we would get kicked out in the street.

"For now, we don't have to worry about this."
Pakistan NGOs go to court to fight government crackdown

Publisher IRIN Author Aamir Saeed Publication Date 25 January 2017 Cite as IRIN, Pakistan NGOs go to court to fight government crackdown, 25 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5888b1c14.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

A legal showdown is looming in Pakistan as NGOs petition the courts to squelch interior ministry orders to cease operations for allegedly "pursing an anti-state agenda".

About a dozen NGOs in Punjab Province received letters last week from local and provincial authorities ordering them to stop work. It was the latest move in a crackdown on domestic and international NGOs over the past couple years, which has included shutting down their offices and imposing tight restrictions on their activities.

Three NGOs have already filed petitions with the Lahore High Court, and another is preparing to challenge the ban. The court has ordered officials from the Ministry of Interior and the Punjab Home Department to attend a hearing this Friday.

The NGO South Asia Partnership-Pakistan shared with IRIN letters from three different government bodies in Punjab. A letter from the Layyah District coordination office said local officials had "been informed by the Ministry of Interior" that SAP-PK was "pursing an anti-state agenda", which included accusing the armed forces of "harassment". Directors of two other NGOs, the Cholistan Development Council Bahawalpur and Women in Struggle for Empowerment, told IRIN they received letters that used similar language.

"Towards this purpose the NGO prepared a shadow report [for] sharing with [the] UN Rights Commission presenting a very bleak picture of [the] human rights situation in Pakistan," said the letter.

Mohammad Tehseen, SAP-PK's director, said the ministry's information was wrong and that he told the court his group had not prepared a report for any UN human rights body.

The Lahore High Court has agreed to hear cases presented by SAP-PK and the two other groups, requesting that it overrule the ban. On Monday, the court gave temporary permission to SAP-PK and the Cholistan Development Council Bahawalpur to continue working, and it told Women in Struggle for Empowerment on Tuesday that it could continue working for the time-being.

"The interior ministry is looking into the whole issue regarding closure orders to several NGOs in Punjab and will release a detailed response on it in [the] next couple of days," ministry spokesman Sarfraz Hussain told IRIN.

Another NGO, Anjuman Falah-e-Niswan, which provides skills training to marginalised women, is also preparing to legally challenge the closure order, said its director, Nasreen Awan. She said the government forced her group to stop operating in 2015 but then allowed it to continue after officials scrutinised funding records.

"The government shouldn't ban any organisation; rather monitor the working and source of funding," she said. "If the government finds any anomaly in utilisation of the funds, it should initiate legal action against the organisation instead of ordering it to close operations."

Another 121 local NGOs had their registration cancelled last week by the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration, bringing the total number to 350 over the past couple of years, according to Mohammad Ali, the administration's director of labour.

He told IRIN that the registrations were cancelled because NGOs were "getting funds from foreign donors but not letting the administration know about [the] exact source and use of these funds".

International NGOs have not been immune to the government's crackdown. In 2015, the Norwegian Refugee Council was expelled from Pakistan, and police came to the offices of Save the Children and forced the group to temporarily shut down.

At the time, government sources told IRIN that Save the Children had attempted to conceal its links with Shakil Afridi, the doctor who allegedly ran a fake vaccination campaign to gather information that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden by US Navy Seals during a covert operation in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad in 2011.

Save the Children told IRIN that the allegations were ridiculous, and said the only link between it and Afridi was that he was one of about 5,000 health workers who had taken part in training sessions in government facilities.
Joint HRW and AI Statement on Detention-Related Abuses in the Context of the Armed Conflict in Ukraine

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 25 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Joint HRW and AI Statement on Detention-Related Abuses in the Context of the Armed Conflict in Ukraine, 25 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5888b2fa4.html [accessed 5 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Impunity for detention-related abuses in the context of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine continues by both Ukraine's government and on Russia-backed separatists in Donbass. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reiterate their call on both parties to put an end to this deplorable situation, stop all arbitrary and secret detentions and ill-treatment of detainees, and ensure accountability for those responsible.

In July 2016, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch released a joint report You Don't Exist which documented prolonged, arbitrary, and sometimes secret detention (enforced disappearances) as well as ill-treatment of detainees by both the Ukrainian authorities and Russia-backed separatists. Since the report's publication, 18 persons forcibly disappeared by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) have been released from secret detention by SBU's Kharkiv branch. The last three of those secret detainees were released in December 2016 and, to the best of our knowledge, the Kharkiv Branch of SBU no longer holds any individuals in unofficial custody. However, the Ukrainian authorities have acknowledged neither the actual detentions nor the releases, and have not taken any effective steps to ensure accountability for these abuses.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have not seen any positive developments in connection with detention-related abuses by Russia-backed separatists documented in their joint report.

People held by the warring sides in eastern Ukraine are protected under international human rights and international humanitarian law, which unequivocally ban arbitrary detention, torture, and other ill-treatment. International standards provide that allegations of torture and other ill-treatment should be investigated, and that, when the evidence warrants it, those responsible should be prosecuted. Detainees must be provided with adequate food, water, clothing, shelter, and medical care. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch call on all parties to the conflict in eastern Ukraine to ensure that all forces under their control are aware of the consequences of abusing detainees under international law.

Lack of Accountability for Secret Detentions and Abuses against Detainees by Ukraine's Security Service

While Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch welcome the fact that all the former detainees of the Kharkiv SBU branch are now free, we are concerned that the SBU's continued denial of enforced disappearances and the lack of effective investigation into them and other unlawful detentions and detention-related abuses by Ukraine's authorities serves to foster a climate of lawlessness and perpetuates impunity for grave human rights violations.

In July, at a meeting with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the Chief Military Prosecutor of Ukraine pledged to carry out an investigation into the allegations of secret detentions by the SBU detailed in the report You Don't Exist.

In August, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch informed the Chief Military Prosecutor in a letter that we believed, based on extensive research, that some of the secret detainees had been released from the SBU facility in Kharkiv, but at least five individuals remained in unacknowledged detention. In the letter, the organizations reiterated their call for a prompt and effective investigation. At the time of writing, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are not aware of any tangible results of the investigation, or even any concrete steps taken or progress made.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch carried out further research between December 2016 and January 2017, including interviews with six people who were participants in or had direct knowledge of relevant events.

In the beginning of August, immediately after the release of most of the secret inmates from the Kharkiv SBU facility, guards moved the five remaining detainees from their cells to the basement of the same building. On August 20, the SBU released two of them, both residents of Kharkiv, warning them not to reveal any information about their secret detention. The two men eventually crossed the border into Russia. The other three mentwo Russian nationals, Vladimir Bezobrazov and Vladislav Kondalov, and one Ukrainian national from separatist-controlled Torez, Sergei (last name withheld for privacy reasons)remained in unofficial SBU custody until December 12.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch interviewed Bezobrazov and Kondalov after their release and return to their respective homes in Russia.

Vladimir Bezobrazov, whose case is detailed in the August letter to Ukraine's Chief Military Prosecutor by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, is a business manager from Moscow. He was arrested by Ukrainian authorities in May 2014 in a small town near Odessa where he was on vacation with his mother and his small son. Though Bezobrazov denies any involvement with the events in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian law enforcement officials promised him that he would receive a suspended sentence and be released in a "prisoner exchange" between the warring sides if he "confessed" to attempted recruitment of fighters for Russia-backed separatists, which he did. On March 6, 2015, a court in Ovidopol, Odessa region, found him guilty of actions aimed at changing Ukraine's territorial border, handed down a suspended sentence and ordered his release in the courtroom. However, SBU officials forcibly disappeared him immediately after his release and he then spent close to 21 months in unofficial custody of the Kharkiv SBU without any contact with the outside world.

Vladislav Kondalov from Samara region of Russia fought on the side of Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian government forces captured him in March 2016 near the town of Schastye in Luhansk region of Ukraine. According to him, his captors kept him in a sewer for a few days, beat him severely and threatened to cut his arm off with a chainsaw. Then, he was taken into official custody and the authorities transferred him to a pre-trial detention facility in Kyiv where he, like many others detained in connection with the armed conflict, received an offer from the authorities to become part of the "prisoner exchange" process between the warring sides. A court in Severodonetsk, Luhansk region, found him guilty of "participation in a terrorist group" but handed down a suspended sentence and ordered his release. As he was leaving the pre-trial detention facility in Kyiv on May 21, Kondalov was forcibly disappeared by SBU officials and moved to the SBU facility in Kharkiv. He spent the next seven months in unofficial custody of the Kharkiv SBU without any contact with the outside world.

On August 21, SBU officials transferred the three men who remained in their custody, Bezobrazov, Kondalov, and Sergei, to another SBU facility just outside the city. Bezobrazov and Kondalov told Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that it was "a small base" in a one-story building where they spent another month, locked in a tiny room with three iron beds and a boarded-up window. They had no contact with the outside world, but their captors kept reassuring them they would be released soon through "prisoner exchange" with Russia-backed separatists. The room had neither a toilet nor water tap. The detainees had to yell for guards to take them to the toilet and urinate in plastic bottles when the guards failed to answer their calls. The guards provided them with just enough drinking water and some food. "They'd bring a big bucket of cereal porridgeand that would last us three days. It was enough to survive," Bezobrazov said.

After about a month, SBU officials moved the three secret detainees to another unofficial place of detention, apparently a former resort outside of Kharkiv. Bezobrazov and Kondalov told Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch they stayed there, in the same room with Sergei, until December 12, 2016. According to them, it was a "typical Soviet-style resort" room with conveniences, including adequate sanitary facilities, but the windows were boarded. "They [the guards] kept saying, don't worry, you'll be out soon, the negotiations are in progress, the exchange is coming up, but I no longer believed themafter more than one-and-a-half years of imprisonment without any contact with the outside world you just lose hope," Bezobrazov said.

On December 12, SBU officials hand-cuffed Bezobrazov, Kondalov, and Sergei, put black bags over their heads, and led them to a vehicle parked outside the building. The back of the vehicle had a compartment designed for transporting detainees, separated by a grill from the driver's cabin. According to Bezobrazov and Kondalov, they drove all day. Then, the vehicle stopped, armed officials entered their compartment, un-cuffed them, took the bags off their heads, gave them some "travel money" in Russian rubles and US dollars, and ordered them out. The detainees asked about their passports but the officials said they did not have them. The officials then told the three men to lie in the snow with their faces pressed to the ground and stay put for 10 to 20 minutes after they heard the car drive away. "It was getting dark. We had no idea where they had dropped us off. We had no identification documents. We did not know what would happen to us. I really had my doubtswe could step on a mine in that field Or someone could've been waiting there with an assignment to shoot usand then take the money they had given us by way of payment," Kondalov said.

After a short walk, the three men saw a road sign for the town of Novoluhanske. At the time, Novoluhanske, which is located in the Donetsk region of Ukraine and is presently under government control, was contested by the warring parties and had both a Ukrainian and a pro-Russian separatist checkpoint on different sides of it. After arriving at Novoluhanske, Sergei immediately left his companions saying that he would look for the separatist checkpoint and ask them to help him make his way to Torez. He was subsequently detained by Russia-backed separatists who held him for questioning for several days, and is currently undergoing treatment in a hospital in Donetsk, the capital city of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR).

Bezobrazov and Kondalov found shelter for the night in the stairwell of an apartment building damaged by shelling. The next day, they met a local resident who offered them his hospitality and let them use a phone and contact their families. Their family members then called another former detainee of the Kharkiv SBU facility who had been released earlier and was in contact with them. The former detainee told Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that he got in touch with an international humanitarian organization, which contacted Bezobrazov and Kondalov and sorted out identification documents for Bezobrazov and Kondalov. With assistance from the organization, Bezobrazov and Kondalov arrived in Donetsk on December 18. Bezobrazov returned to Moscow on December 23. Kondalov was home in Russia's Samara region by December 29.

The prolonged secret detentions irreversibly altered the lives of the former detainees and their family members. "When I returned [after close to 21 months of secret detention], my son was no longer five, practically a baby, but already seven, a school kid. It's hard to come to terms with this. He is also so worried I'd disappear again. He calls me on my cell phone several times a day just to check. He wakes up late at night and if I'm not home wakes his grandmother saying daddy's gone," Bezobrazov told Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Both Bezobrazov and Kondalov told Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that they are experiencing health issues as a result of their prolonged detention, including problems with their digestive tract and dental problems. "During the first six months they held me in Kharkiv they would not even give me a toothbrush or toothpaste. Seemingly a small thing But when you cannot brush your teeth for half a year, it proves to be so awful, like torture, really, and eventually your teeth just fall apart. Since my return, I've been spending loads of time at the dentist's," Bezobrazov said.

The SBU has consistently denied the practice of secret detentions and has not acknowledged any of the detentions and releases documented by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, including those set out in this statement. In September, the SBU authorities organized a press tour of the SBU compound in Kharkiv in an attempt to dismiss the allegations of secret detentions by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. This move appears particularly cynical in the context of the now confirmed information about the secret transfer of all the remaining detainees to another unofficial facility in the second half of August.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reiterate their call on Ukraine's Military Prosecutor's Office to conduct a prompt, impartial, and effective investigation into secret detentions by the SBU and to hold perpetrators to account.

Individuals Held in Custody by Russia-Backed Separatists Remain Without Recourse to Any Effective Remedies

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also reiterate their concern regarding prolonged incommunicado detentions and ill-treatment of detainees by Russia-backed separatists and the total lack of progress in addressing this issue. In the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LNR) local security services continue to hold civilians in their custody without any contact with the outside world, including with their lawyers or families. Local security services operate with no checks and balances; the overall absence of the rule of law in separatist-controlled areas deprives individuals held in custody of their rights and leaves them without recourse to any effective remedies.

While researching for the report You Don't Exist, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch documented nine cases in which Russia-backed separatists held civilians incommunicado for weeks or months without charge and, in most cases, subjected them to ill-treatment. The efforts by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to engage on the issue with the Russia-backed separatists and to convince Russia to exercise its leverage over the de facto authorities in the DNR and the LNR have yielded no tangible results.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are particularly concerned about Igor Kozlovsky, a university professor from Donetsk, and Volodymyr Fomichyov, a pro-Ukrainian blogger originally from Makiivka, who have been in the custody of Russia-backed separatists since January 2016 on fabricated charges of weapon possession. The cases of Kozlovsky and Fomichyov are detailed in the joint report by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. In the report, Fomichyov was assigned the pseudonym "Yuri" as a security measure to lower the risk of retaliation occurring against him while he was awaiting trial. Kozlovsky is currently in a remand prison in Donetsk pending trial. On August 16, a court in Donetsk found Fomichyov "guilty" of weapon possession and handed down a two-year prison sentence. The DNR de facto authorities then sent him to a penal colony in Makiivka, a small town near Donetsk. As documented in the report, the circumstances of Fomichyov's arrest, his conditions of detention and the indications of clearly fabricated evidence and a coerced confession, render his "conviction" void of any credibility and his continued detention a serious violation of both international human rights and humanitarian law.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
The village of Basen, in Armenias Shirak province, is leading the way in terms of coming up with innovative technical solutions to reuse biological waste.

For the past month, such waste has been transformed into pellets for use as fuel.

The technology has been used globally since 1947, especially in Denmark, Austria and Sweden. Basen is the first similar venture in Armenia.

We struggled for three months before achieving success on our own, says Basen community mayor Hamlet Petrosyan. The experimental unit in Basen is small. Gurgen Petrosyan, who heads the Basen Community Development Foundation (BCDF), is now looking for assistance to enlarge capacity.

We were able to start pellet production with assistance from the U.N.s Global Ecological Fund, with a grant of $44,600. Our contribution was the building, with a value of some $17,000. The community invested a similar amount. So did the Arot Consumers Production Cooperative. We started preliminary work in September. Our first product was realized in late December, says Gurgen Petrosyan.

The cost of the entire project, designed to reduce poverty and comprehensively manage soil and water resources, is $58,100.

With savings of $4,460 from the U.N. grant, the BCDF plans to purchase a 3-4 kilowatt photovoltaic system to generate electricity to produce the pellets.

We are now using 250 kilowatts to produce one ton of pellets. The new photovoltaic system will reduce the electricity cost. We calculate using 40,000 kilowatts of electricity if we work six hours daily. The new system will reduce our costs several fold, says Gurgen Petrosyan.

Basen residents have decided to use straw as the raw material to produce pellets, even though they could use any vegetable matter. Petrosyan says leaves, animal feed remnants or even barnyard waste can be used.

Some villagers collect straw left over from wheat and barley harvests for animal feed. Others just leave the straw on the field as fertilizer. Many just burn the waste. Using farm waste to make pellets would cut down on field fires and cutting down trees to use as fuel would become a thing of the past.

Burning the straw is bad for the environment in terms of air pollution. It also burns away the rich topsoil. Plants that spread by seed transfer are also damaged. Habitat for small animals is also wiped out, says Gurgen Petrosyan.

Basen has 1,800 hectares of cultivable land. Most of it is farmed. The crop was good last year according to the mayor.

Our villagers know about the project. But since there was no sample results, they couldnt figure out what they would get in the end for their investment of straw, we didnt have enough to begin production with, says Basen Mayor Hamlet Petrosyan.

In one month, more than ten tons of pellets have been produced and sold. The capacity of the machine now in use is 200 kilograms. Its now working at around half capacity. If they can attract orders for the entire year, the unit can start producing more.

Three families in Basen decided to heat their homes with the new pellets this winter. Some orders have been placed by people in Yerevan. Heating businesses have also expressed an interest in the new product.

We set about heating the kindergarten with pellets this year, says the Basen mayor. Thus, we purchased a $1,000 stove, made especially to burn pellets, from Russia. The stoves commonly used in rural homes arent efficient. The pellet stoves are great. They dont have to be continually tended to keep the fire burning. The pellet stoves do it automatically. They can produce a minimum temperature of +20c.

The price for one kilogram of pellets is 50 AMD, if the straw is purchased locally. Its then sold in sacks, also made on the spot.

The straw is first pulverized and then taken by conveyer belt for final processing into pellets.

Basen, with its 460 households, is regarded a leader, in the province and the country, in employing new technologies to solve basic problems.

Should we freeze if we dont have heating oil? Must we burn dung forever if we dont have gas? We have to start using our resources. Most importantly, we have the brainpower, jokes Mayor Petrosyan.

Basen started using solar power to heat the communitys kindergarten and grow vegetables in 2013.

Back then, we werent sure if residents would use the technology on an individual level. Now, thirty houses have installed solar water systems and others want the system as well. I see the same future for the pellets. This winter three families are using pellets to heat their homes, and Im certain that number will increase next year, says the Basen mayor.

He tells me that there are plans to set up wind-powered generators in the village and to install solar panels on a grand scale.

Were in the study phase right now. Weve sent data regarding local winds, sunlight duration, etc. If the response is positive, Basen will surely invest in cutting edge technology.

Top photo: vdeltafuel.com
** For the most up-to-date information on this topic, please click here . About a week ago I was reading some information with regards to...
Which are your favorite 3 combos? You can vote for one of them, or two or three, its entirely up to you; the maximum, however, is three.

Only one vote per person is allowed.

Voting for this category will end on Saturday January 28th.

Combo #443 (Stavros Dimakopoulos)

"The pictures in this series record the "Halcyon Days" (calmer periods during the winter, when there are no storms) in Greece. Taken in various coastal areas, where people go to bask in the sun, go fishing or practice water sports, the photos reflect this year's mild winter. The color palette of this combo consists of a yellowish base, provided by the Mabel lens, although there are various warm tones too, as a result of the RedEye Gel Flash. Otto film offers a considerably intense contrast, especially when shooting into the sun; the silhouettes appear to be rigid and dramatic, with heavy shadows, while the blue sky and sea are bathed in purple hues."

Stavros Dimakopoulos

Combo #447 (Brett Evan Gross)

"Ho Chi Minh is hot and sweaty, while the Vietnamese countryside is lush. I loved hanging out in the city, where people are extremely friendly and know how to relax amidst the city-chaos. I only got a bit of the countryside this time: Quy Nhon and Hoi An. While the Doris lens is a challenge because its rather dark, sunshine brings out incredible detail and shadows add a bit of drama. Cheshire, my new favorite, gives the photos a gritty energy. I cant wait to get back to Vietnam for a short trip next month!"

Brett Evan Gross

Combo #459 (Marieke van Oyen)

"The Eric lens produces beautiful contrasts of dark and light, hot and cold. I particularly like the blues, which are actually more of a bluish-white, topped with an orange-like sauce. I paired it with the Indio film and, in my opinion, its a combo that works great for outdoor photography."

Marieke van Oyen

Combo #462 (Lori Hillsberg)

"I recently vacationed in Puerto Rico and I fell in love with its easy going happy, relaxed style. Burke and Robusta made the perfect combination to show off its greenish-blue tropical carefree style. It worked for the Caribbean Blues and the old world feel of Old San Juan."

Lori Hillsberg

Combo #465 (Lee Atwell)

"April in California"

"In April, our yoga teacher turned 93 years old and we took a road trip from Washington State to California to attend his birthday celebration. The coastline of California is breathtaking with many of the spring flowers in full bloom. Although we only stopped briefly in San Francisco, it was great to capture a few of its iconic homes painted in pastel colors. I chose the Dee Lens to add warm golden tones to the scenery, to accentuate the turquoise tones of the ocean and to highlight the beauty of the blue sky. The Robusta Film gives the photos a painterly and vintage quality."

Lee Atwell

Combo #477 (Vytautas Ambrazas)

"Forecast was predicting a fairly cold and rainy July weekend. That didnt change our plans and early Friday morning we headed out. We didn't have a clear plan, just a vague destination. Slow ride with stops at small towns, beaches with long walks and unexpected rains... Knowing that you have no destination is best, it frees the soul. The scenery, the tides and the weather of coastal Maine fit our moods just right or it was us that fit there so well?! It's good to be in love."

Vytautas Ambrazas

Combo #482 (Nadia Cianelli)

"This series is from my trip to Amazonas - Brazil in July 2016. I spent a month sailing up the Rio Amazonas, from the mouth, Belem, to the border with Colombia and Peru: "las tres fronteras". Cloudy skies, the rainforest's strip of green, sandy coloured water... while on deck, you swing in your hammock as the boat slowly goes up river; the small villages on wooden stilts, canoes, floating forest, indios and shamans: the experience was magical. I used my favourite combo, Diego/Robusta: the perfect combination for my way of perceiving things."

Nadia Cianelli

Combo #491 (Christine Mignon)

Highlights: -12  Shadows: +72

"The pictures of this collection were taken in Lisbon, Innsbruck, Neusiedler Lake and Sicily. The crispy clear sharpness of the Stavros lens creates a rather cold atmosphere, so I added some warmth by using Love 81 film and Apollo flash."

Christine Mignon

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This post is also available in: French
A look back on all of our reporting of the Delphi murders since 2017
In two separate cases the Cambodian Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected appeals by five opposition party members and the countrys most prominent land-rights activist.

Judge Soeung Panhavuth found without merit a request from the five Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) officials to add their names to a petition to nullify a lower court decision in their case.

While the appeals court last year rejected the nullification petition, Chuong Choungy, a lawyer for the five, told RFA's Khmer Service their names mysteriously went missing from the complaint.

Although the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, meaning that they will not agree to include the names of the five into the nullity case at the appeals court, as their lawyer, I see that the incarcerated five still can lodge a new complaint with the appeals court to include their names into the nullity case," he said.

Ouk Pich Samnang, the only defendant in the courtroom, accused the Cambodian courts of being lackeys for the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP).

We must fearlessly devote ourselves and dare to do anything we can for the sake of our nation, he said. We shall never hold back and be defeated by cheap activities under the leadership of [Prime Minister] Hun Sen.

Ouk Pich Samnang and 10 other opposition figures including CNRP media director Meach Sovannara were sentenced to prison terms of up to 20 years on insurrection charges for clashing with police over the closure of a protest site in the capital in 2014.

In a separate case Judge Kim Sothavy upheld the Phnom Penh Municipal Courts decision to keep prominent land activist Tep Vanny locked up pending her unscheduled trial.

The activist was charged in August with incitement for her part in protests near Hun Sens residence in 2013.

I was born in a dark society surrounded by all kinds of unfairness and injustice everywhere, she said after the hearing. Where is the light of justice? I want to see it.

While the protest occurred in 2013, the case was reactivated when Tep Vanny was arrested for participating in a protest in August 2016.

Tep Vanny first gained prominence as an activist fighting the Boeung Kak Lake land grab, when some 3,500 families were evicted from the neighborhood surrounding the urban lake in Phnom Penh.

The lake was later filled with sand to make way for a development project with close ties to Hun Sen and the CPP.

Seizure of land for developmentoften without due process or fair compensation for displaced residents is a major cause of protests in Cambodia and other authoritarian Asian countries, including China and Laos.

Reported by Mam Moniroth for RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.


Authorities in the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang have detained and questioned two online activists after they made a banner in support of detained rights lawyer Xie Yang, who has reported being tortured in detention.



Yu Yunfeng and girlfriend Li Baihua were dragged away from their home on Wednesday morning by police in the provincial capital Harbin, they told RFA.



They were taken to the local police station, where they were held for 10 hours and questioned about their protest over Xie's torture.



"The main reason was the online campaign in support of lawyer Xie Yang that started a few days ago," Yu said. "I printed out a banner with Xie Yang's photo on it; it was about four meters long and 1.2 meters wide."



He, Li, and a few friends had unfurled the banner, which was signed with his own name and also referred to local rights campaigns.



"They hauled me in for questioning because of the banner, because I got some people together to [unfurl it]," Yu said.



"They came to my place, officers from the police station, and then they locked the outer doors, so that when I came in, there were 10 or more police officers waiting for me."



"They had a detention docket, and they confiscated our cell phones. I demanded to see their warrant, but they didn't have one, nor did they have an official summons."



Warnings given



The couple's friend and fellow activist Wang Binsheng said it was China's state security police who detained Yu and Li, who tried to resist at first.



"When they were taking them away, Li resisted, and her arm knocked the team leader's mouth, breaking the skin on his lip," Wang said. "I think his dental implant was a bit loose."



Meanwhile Yu said the couple were warned off any further online campaigns.



"They told me not to go posting anything that would disrupt public order," he said. "I had to sign a guarantee, or they wouldn't have let me come home."



Fellow rights activist Liu Jinlong said the government is keen to suppress any authentic expression among its citizens.



"Basically, if you're just a regular citizen [in China], you don't have any human rights," Liu said. "That's all they care about, clamping down on the tiniest thing."



"Anyone who stands up for justice becomes a target for them," he said.



Director Xu Jiazhen of the Kang'an district police station, where Yu and Li were taken, confirmed they had been detained.



"Where did you hear about this? It's nothing. We're just having a chat, that's all," Xu said.



Asked about the content of the "chat," he replied: "I can't tell you that ... because I don't know you. You could be anyone."



Torture, death threats



Rights activists are calling for the immediate release of Xie Yang, detailing his lawyers' reports of his torture in a police-run detention center in the central province of Hunan.



Initially detained on July 11, 2015, Xie was held under "residential surveillance at a designated location" in a government guesthouse in Hunan's provincial capital, Changsha, where he was confined in a "hanging chair" made of plastic chairs stacked high above the ground for hours at a time, so that his legs swelled up and he was in excruciating pain, he told his lawyers.



He was also deprived of sleep, food, and water and repeatedly beaten, humiliated, and taunted with death threats against his family, according to his lawyers' notes, which were published online last week.



Xie said he was tortured again after being moved to the police-run Changsha No. 2 Detention Center following his formal arrest on Jan. 9, 2016.



Activists across China launched an online protest selfie campaign after the reports emerged.



Reported by Yang Fan for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Wong Siu-san and Sing Man for the Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.




In what looks like a race to the bottom, North Korea is ranked as the most corrupt country in Asia with the closed communist nation receiving one of the worst scores in Transparency Internationals 2016 corruption index.

With a corruption score of 12, North Korea ranked 174 in the survey by the Berlin-based organization. The country was beaten out for the most corrupt nation in the index only by South Sudan and Somalia. In 2015 North Korea tied with Somalia with a corruption index of eight.

Transparency International (TI) attributed poor performance in the index to unaccountable governments that lack oversight, along with insecure and shrinking space for civil society organizations that pushes anti-corruption action to the margins in those countries.

High-profile corruption scandals, in addition to everyday corruption issues, continue to undermine public trust in government, the benefits of democracy, and the rule of law, the organization said.

In countries with populist or autocratic leaders, we often see democracies in decline and a disturbing pattern of attempts to crack down on civil society, limit press freedom and weaken the independence of the judiciary, explained TI Chair Jose Ugaz.

Ugazs description appears to apply to Cambodia, which ranked 156 with a corruption score of 21, the same corruption score the country had in 2015.

In Cambodia judicial independence is lacking, and Prime Minister Hun Sen, his family, and close associates control vast amounts of the countrys wealth.

The London-based nongovernmental agency Global Witness in its 2016 report Hostile Takeover detailed how Hun Sens family dominates the most important businesses in Cambodia where they can operate outside the law thanks to the protection of Asias longest-serving premier, his relatives, and associates who hold top military and government posts.

Opposition leaders and outside observers, including the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, have criticized the Cambodian judicial systems lack of independence.

Rarely do politicians of the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) face charges, but the list of opposition lawmakers dragged before the courts is long and includes Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha, as well as other opposition lawmakers like Um Sam An and Meach Sovannara, the CNRP's media director.

Laos and Myanmar show improvement

Laos and Myanmar continued to improve their scores in 2016, as leaders in both countries have put an emphasis on fighting corruption.

But while the National League for Democracys (NLD) government headed by Aung San Suu Kyi has proposed action to reduce corruption, progress there has been overshadowed by the deadly violence in the Rahkine State. According to TI the fighting highlights a lack of oversight of Myanmars military, which allows abuses to take place.

Myanmar received a corruption score of only 28 with a country ranking of 136. Myanmar's corruption score was 22 in 2015.

In Laos, Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has made fighting corruption a key policy of his administration, but Laos still scored poorly ranking 123.

Laos's corruption score of 30 showed some improvement, however, as the countrys score in 2015 was 25.

Vietnam ranked 113 in 2016, with the countrys corruption score of 33 showing a little improvement over the 31 it scored in 2015.

Vietnam has been rocked by a series of crackdowns on public protests and free speech as the country jailed activists and bloggers in 2016 as it tried to reign in dissent.

Hanoi has shown little with patience with demonstrators protesting the chemical spill from the Formosa steel plant that devastated the countrys central coast. Authorities have also thrown bloggers who have dared to challenge the government in jail and have continued their repression of Catholics in the country.

Chinas best ranking still low

China ranked as the least corrupt country in the region with a country rank of 79 and a corruption score of 40.

While the regions largest and most powerful nation ranks the highest in the index, its still at the low end of the range. In 2015, Chinas corruption score was 37.

In Transparency Internationals index a score of zero means a country is perceived as highly corrupt, while a score of 100 means the country is perceived to be very clean.

Based on expert opinions of public sector corruption, the annual report rated Denmark and New Zealand as the least-corrupt countries, followed by Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Norway.

With a score of 74, The United States placed 18th, down from 16th with a score of 76 in 2015.

Denmark and New Zealand both had scores of 90, closely followed by Finland (89) and Sweden (88). Although no country is free of corruption, the countries at the top share characteristics of open government, press freedom, civil liberties and independent judicial systems.

In too many countries, people are deprived of their most basic needs and go to bed hungry every night because of corruption, while the powerful and corrupt enjoy lavish lifestyles with impunity, said TI Chair Ugaz.
Dumdaw Nawng Lat (L) and Langjaw Gam Seng (R) of Myanmar's Kachin Baptist Convention appear in an undated photo.

Police in Muse township in Myanmars northern Shan state have opened a case against two Kachin Christian leaders, charging them with illegal association under a controversial colonial-era act, a local police official said on Wednesday.

The military handed over Dumdaw Nawng Lat, a 65-year-old pastor with the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), and Langjaw Gam Seng, a 35-year-old KBC youth leader, to police on Tuesday after detaining the two since Dec. 24.

Police are charging them under a two-part section of the 1908 Unlawful Associations Act for providing support to the rebel Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which is engaged in hostilities with the governments armed forces as part of a four-militia group known as the Northern Alliance in northern Shan and Kachin states.

The act has been used to detain regional politicians and others who allegedly have links to ethnic armed groups fighting the government army in Kachin state.

As usual, they are being charged under Sections 17/1 and 17/2 because they have liaised with illegal organizations, an officer on duty at the Muse police station told RFAs Myanmar Service.

A major from Light Infantry Regiment 99 opened the case, and we got a 15-day remand for them, he said. After that, they will be taken to court.

Dumdaw Nawng Lat and Langjaw Gam Seng went missing after being summoned to a military base in Muse township in northern Shan state in apparent retaliation for taking journalists to a Catholic church allegedly damaged by airstrikes in clashes between the government army and ethnic guerillas.

On Jan. 19, the military published a statement on social media acknowledging the mens arrest and detention and accusing them of providing support to KIA rebels.

But the military had not filed charges, turned them over to civilian authorities, or provided them access to lawyers or family members, as required by Myanmar and international law, rights groups Human Rights Watch and Fortify Rights said in statements on Tuesday.

Jail sentences and fines

The Unlawful Associations Act was used during Myanmars decades of military junta rule to detain those linked to rebel groups, and continues to be used to jail people in Kachin State for being in contact with the rebel KIA.

In recent years, local and international rights groups have called on the government to amend or rescind the law, fearing that domestic NGOs might unwittingly come under the scope of the act.

The law defines an unlawful association as one that encourages or aids persons to commit acts of violence or intimidation or of which the members habitually commit such acts.

Article 17/1 of the act sets out prison terms of two to three years and a possible fine for being a member of an unlawful association, making contributions to one, or assisting its operations.

Article 17/2 carries a three-to-five-year prison term and a possible fine for anyone who manages or assists in the management or promotion of an unlawful association.

New York-based Human Rights Watch and Southeast Asia-based Fortify Rights, had called on Myanmar on Tuesday to immediately release or charge the two ethnic Kachin Christian leaders, who were being arbitrarily detained by the military.

Presidential spokesman Zaw Htay told the Democratic Voice of Burma on Tuesday that the government will ensure that the two Kachins receive legal representation.

The Baptist-denominated KBC, an evangelical organization headquartered in Myitkyina, Kachin state, has been helping internally displaced people who have fled fighting between the government army and ethnic militias in both Kachin and Shan states.



Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
A Tibetan doctor held by police for over a month in Chinas Gansu province over suspected links to a self-immolation protest was released last week after suffering beatings and torture in detention, a Tibetan source says.



Khedrup, aged around 50, was taken into custody on Dec. 14 by police in Machu (in Chinese, Maqu) county in Gansus Kanlho (Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, a resident of the area told RFAs Tibetan Service.



He was held for over a month in Machu county, and during that time was interrogated and tortured, suffering beatings and other mistreatment at the hands of the police, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



Police suspected Khedrup of sending photos and video clips of the Dec. 8, 2016 self-immolation protest of Machu resident Tashi Rabten to international media, the source said.



But the authorities could not produce any evidence of his crime, and he was therefore released on Jan. 21, 2017, he said.



Before his release, authorities warned Khedrup, the resident doctor at Machus Mura monastery, not to discuss with outsiders any details of what had happened to him while in detention, the source said.



They said they would be closely watching his daily movements and activities, and warned him that he could be arrested again.



Police did not return Khedrups mobile phone or other belongings taken from at the time he was detained, he said.



Call for freedom



Tashi Rabten, 33, set himself ablaze on Dec. 8 at about 7:00 p.m. local time on a road leading from the Machu county center to the Machu Bridge, local sources said following the protest.



Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Tibetan living in the area told RFA next day that witnesses to the protest heard Rabten call out for freedom for Tibet and for the return of [exiled spiritual leader] the Dalai Lama.



He also called out for the release of the [detained] Panchen Lama, Gendun Choekyi Nyima, RFAs source said.



Chinese police later beat and tortured Rabtens wife and daughters after taking them into custody for questioning, local sources said.



The abuse followed authorities demand that the three sign a document declaring that Rabten had set himself ablaze not in protest of Chinese policies, but because of problems at home, one source said.



Reported by Lhuboom for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.




WASHINGTON - RFE/RL contributor Mykola Semena was formally presented an indictment by Russian authorities on charges of separatism on January 20, in a case that has come to symbolize the suppression of media freedom in Russia-annexed Crimea.

The indictment, citing Article 280.1 of Russia's criminal code, states that an article written by Semena in September 2015 in which he opposed Russias occupation of Crimea contained calls to action aimed at violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.

Semena has been under criminal investigation since April 2016, when Russian security agents conducted a search of his apartment and the homes of six other journalists. Currently barred by authorities from leaving Crimea, he faces a potential prison sentence of five years.

In a January 24 statement deploring the deterioration of media freedom in conflict zones in Ukraine, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunya Mijatovic raised Semenas case specifically, saying it reminds us all of the arbitrary practice of silencing critical voices in Crimea. She said, It is totally unacceptable to persecute the journalist for expressing his views, and demanded that the charges against him be dropped.

RFE/RL President Thomas Kent has assailed the charges as part of a concerted effort by Russian and Russian-backed authorities to obstruct RFE/RLs journalistic mission to provide an independent press to residents of Crimea."

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has condemned the case as evidence of the Russian governments growing crackdown on independent voices in Russia and Russia-occupied Crimea. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) have called the charges against Semena unfounded.

Human rights groups, which deny Semena has committed any crime, have demanded that the charges be dropped and restrictions on his travel be lifted to permit him to receive urgently needed medical treatment in Kyiv.

No trial date has yet been set.

Semena was recently awarded the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forums Pavel Sheremet Journalism Award in absentia in Brussels on November 28, and the National Union of Journalists of Ukraines Igor Lyubchenko Press Freedom Award on November 2. Crimea Realities, the RFE/RL website to which he contributes that covers the peninsula, was a recipient of the Broadcasting Board of Governors 2016 David Burke Award.

Crimea Realities is published on the web in the Crimean Tatar, Ukrainian, and Russian languages and broadcast on medium wave radio. Despite being blocked by a majority of internet providers under orders from the peninsulas Moscow-backed prosecutors office, residents continue to access the website, logging nearly 20 million visits in 2016.
Russia, Iran, and Turkey said they would establish their own process for observing and enforcing the fragile cease-fire in Syria. But as two days of peace talks ended in Kazakhstan on January 24, rebel groups said on they had major reservations about the plan -- mainly Iran's participation. (Reuters/AP Video)
BAKU -- A court in Baku has sentenced several opposition figures to lengthy prison terms after convicting them of publicly calling for the overthrow of the government and of inciting ethnic, religious, and social hatred.

The Baku City Court for Grave Crimes sentenced theologian Taleh Bagirzade, the leader of a group called the Movement for Muslim Unity, and his deputy Abbas Huseynov to 20 years in prison. Fuad Qahramanli, deputy chairman of the opposition Popular Front Party, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Sixteen other activists received prison terms ranging from 14 1/2 to 19 years.

Aside from Qahramanli, the defendants were arrested in November-December 2015 during a series of raids against alleged religious extremists in Nardaran, a village on the outskirts of Baku.

Seven people, including two police officers, were killed during the raids.

Qahramanli was arrested several days later for his posts on Facebook about the deadly raids and charged with public calls to overthrow the government.

Lawyers for the accused said the case against them was fabricated, and the defendants pleaded not guilty. Some said they incriminated themselves under torture during questioning.

Rights defenders in Azerbaijan say a total of 87 people have been arrested in what is known as the Nardaran case. Several were sentenced to prison in 2016, and two other groups are currently being tried separately.

Critics say the government of President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father in 2003, has used trumped-up charges as part of a persistent campaign to silence dissent in the oil-producing, predominantly Muslim former Soviet republic.


Separating the heroes from the villains of the Balkan wars (1991-95) is still no easy task for many in the region.

On one hand, Belgrade journalist Antonela Riha recently criticized Serbia's ruling Progressive Party for inviting a convicted war criminal, Veselin Sljivancanin, to one of its events.

Meanwhile, out of the wider public glare, former Yugoslav Army (JNA) General Vlado Trifunovic died at the age of 79 and was buried in his hometown of Prijedor, in northern Bosnia, on January 21. Trifunovic had the dubious distinction of being the only high-ranking JNA officer to be accused of war crimes in Croatia and court-martialed in Serbia for refusing to commit a war crime.

In September 1991, Trifunovic was the commander of the Yugoslav Army's 32nd Corps, based in the Croatian town of Varazdin. Croatia had declared its independence from the federal republic of Yugoslavia earlier that year and was engaged in an armed conflict against the JNA and Serb paramilitaries. Trifunovics base was surrounded by Croatian forces, its water and power supplies cut off.

With around 280 officers and recruits, he was expected to hold out against a vastly bigger Croatian force of around 15,000. If he had chosen to continue fighting, it is likely that all those under his command and many civilians would have been killed. But those were precisely his orders from Belgrade.

'High Treason'

Trifunovic chose instead to negotiate a surrender to save the lives of his soldiers. He spiked his guns, and he and his men were escorted to the border.

I wasnt born to spread hate, he said later. I did not want the bones of my dead soldiers to become a symbol of hatred between two peoples. Thats why I saved my men.

However, upon his return to Belgrade, he was declared a traitor and put on trial.

On December 26, 1994, a military tribunal in Belgrade sentenced him to 11 years in prison on charges of "high treason and undermining the defensive capabilities of the Yugoslav Army." Amid pressure from NGOs and human rights activists, his sentence was later reduced to seven years and he was pardoned and released from prison after less than two years.

Yet he did not want a pardon, he insisted he wanted justice. He continued to work to clear his name, publishing three books about his experience. Serbias Supreme Court finally quashed the guilty verdict against Trifunovic in 2010.

By that point, however, Trifunovic was already gravely ill.

Around the time of his trial in Serbia, a suit was brought against him by Croatia for alleged crimes committed in the course of the fighting in that country. He was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 15 years in jail. The Croatian Supreme Court later upheld that conviction. In 2013, Trifunovic personally requested a new trial, which was granted, although it never took place.

'Killed By Injustice'

Some, including the former Croatian President Stipe Mesic, praised his courage.

"If there had been more generals like Trifunovic," Mesic said, "politicians could not have made the decisions that led to bloodshed."

At Trifunovic's funeral, on January 21, the Orthodox priest and Trifunovic's surviving family members were joined by one of the soldiers saved by the generals refusal to fight.

Former conscript Darko Jovanovic made the long journey from Slovenia to pay his respects: "Today I have a family, two kids, thanks to General Trifunovic. If he had acted differently in 1991 in Varazdin, all of us would have been dead."

Trifunovic was buried next to his son, Zelko, who died young in 2010.

"Both were killed by injustice," said Trifunovics widow, Milka.

Reminiscing years later about the reception he and his men got on their return to Serbia in 1991, Trifunovic observed: "Serbia needed dead heroes, not living officers who wanted to spare their men."

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL
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U.K. Minister of State for the Armed Forces Mike Penning met with officers of the Afghan National Army in Kabul, where he offered Britain's renewed commitment to training members of the Afghan military. (RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan)
A Russian lawyer who is defending a prominent Crimean Tatar activist says he was forcibly detained and taken to a Federal Security Service's (FSB) office in Russia-controlled Crimea on January 25.

Nikolai Polozov, who was seen being forced into a car by men in civilian clothes, said he was released two hours later.

He said FSB officers had used psychological pressure in an effort to force him to answer questions related to the case of his client, Ilmi Umerov.

Polozov added that he refused to answer the questions.

Polozov's colleague Mark Feigin said earlier on Twitter that Polozov would risk being barred from representing Umerov if he invoked his right to protect his client's privacy.

Umerov, former deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatars' self-governing body, the Mejlis, was charged with separatism last year after he publicly criticized Moscow's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014.

In August, Umerov was forcibly sent to a psychiatric clinic for a month of assessment tests.

The Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center has called the case against Umerov "illegal and politically motivated."
Vladimir Putin wants to relitigate the 1990s.

He seems determined to erase an entire decade.

He wants a do-over. He wants backsies.

And this, I believe, is one of the keys to understanding the Kremlin leader's behavior.

It explains Putin's memorable comments that Ukraine, which like the rest of the U.S.S.R. won its independence in 1991, isn't even a real country -- and his subsequent use of Russia's military to try to make this so.

It also explains Russia's invasion of Georgia, its saber-rattling in the Baltics, and its efforts to undermine NATO.

But the latest example of Putin's war on the '90s can be found in the Balkans.

The West's intervention in the Balkan wars of the 1990s, and its prevention of the creation of a Greater Serbia under Slobodan Milosevic, has long been sore point for the Kremlin.

It often seems that Moscow views Serbia's dominance over the former Yugoslavia as a metaphor for Russia's dominance over the former Soviet Union.

And now Moscow is trying to restart the Balkan game.

The Kremlin appears to be encouraging separatism in Bosnia's Republika Srpska and in northern Kosovo.

It's pushing to eliminate the UN-appointed high representative that oversees Bosnia-Herzegovina.

It's encouraged militant nationalism in Serbia.

And it was allegedly involved in a coup attempt by Serbian nationalists in Montenegro.

Putin's games in the Balkans are disturbing, but they're also very predictable.

They're just the latest battle in his ongoing war with the 1990s.

Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.
BRUSSELS -- A European Union court has rejected a bid by Russian arms maker Almaz-Antey to force the EU to lift sanctions imposed in connection with the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The EU slapped sanctions on Almaz-Antey in July 2014, together with 36 other entities and 146 people that Brussels considers responsible for "actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."



The Luxembourg-based General Court said on January 25 that the EU Council had not acted disproportionately in freezing the funds of Almaz-Antey, which makes antiaircraft weaponry including Buk surface-to-air missile systems, and that the reason for putting it on sanctions list in 2014 was valid.



At the time, the official EU journal said that "the Russian authorities have been providing heavy weaponry to separatists in eastern Ukraine, contributing to the destabilization of Ukraine," and that the weapons were being used for "shooting down airplanes" among other things. State-owned Almaz-Antey "therefore contributes to the destabilization of Ukraine," it said.



The court said that the EU was not required to "demonstrate positively that the weapons which Almaz-Antey produced were used in Ukraine by the separatists" as such evidence "would be difficult to provide, particularly in a conflict situation."

International investigators have found that the Malaysia Airlines jet that crashed in eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 people aboard, was shot down by a missile fired by a Buk launcher that had been brought in from Russia and returned back across the border later, despite repeated denials of involvement in the war in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The passengers and crew of the MH17 are among more than 9,750 people who have been killed since the conflict betweeen Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists began in April 2014.

Almaz-Antey has disputed findings of the international investigators, claiming it conducted tests that showed the missile was fired by an older Buk model that was no longer in service in the Russian military and that it was launched from territory held by Ukrainian government forces. The investigators have dismissed those claims, saying they are not supported by the evidence.

The Russian company charged that the court's ruling was politically motivated.

"We find that today's decision...is political and is not based on a legal assessment of the case," Almaz-Antey's press service quoted CEO Yan Novikov as saying.

The sanctions were prolonged by six months in September 2016 and are expected to be extended by another six months in March.

International investigators have found that the Malaysia Airlines jet that crashed in eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 people aboard, was shot down by a missile fired by a Buk launcher that had been brought in from Russia and returned back across the border later, despite repeated denials of involvement in the war in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The passengers and crew of the MH17 are among more than 9,750 people who have been killed since the conflict between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists began in April 2014.

With reporting by AFP and TASS


A new transit agreement reached earlier this month between the Georgian government and Russia's Gazprom on how Georgia will be compensated for the transit of Russian natural gas across its territory to Armenia has incurred widespread criticism.

Even though not all of the details have been made public, the divided opposition United National Movement (ENM), civil society organizations, and even Georgia's president have all denounced it as undermining the country's energy security and political interests.

Energy Minister Kakha Kaladze has rejected such criticism as "disinformation" and "hysterics" on the part of "marginal groups" seeking to "score populist points." After he ignored a request from the ENM last week to brief parliament on the precise terms of the agreement, the party is now demanding that a debate on the issue be scheduled for February 8.

For the past several years, under successive annual agreements, Georgia received 10 percent of the approximately 2 billion cubic meters of gas Gazprom supplied annually to Armenia instead of cash payment. That tariff, according to Vartan Harutiunian, CEO of Armenia's national gas company, owned by Gazprom, is the highest in the world.

The 200 million cubic meters Georgia received in lieu of transit tariffs accounted for a little under 10 percent of Georgia's total gas consumption in 2015. Georgia imports almost 90 percent of its gas from Azerbaijan.

Kaladze disclosed in January 2016 that Gazprom had sought for the previous two years to monetize the transit fee, but ultimately agreed to maintain payment in kind. This year, however, Gazprom apparently insisted on switching to monetization. Consequently, Georgia agreed to a two-year contract. During the first year, Georgia will be paid partly in kind and partly in cash (the proportion is not known), but as of 2018, Georgia will be paid the cash value of 10 percent of Armenia's gas imports.

At the same time, Georgia will be entitled to buy Russian gas to compensate for any shortfall that arises, but the price charged will be $185 per 1,000 cubic meters, compared to the normal prices of $215. Economy Minister Giorgi Gakharia said it may not even be necessary to purchase any Russian gas unless Azerbaijan is unable to provide additional quantities if asked to do so.

Critics of the new deal say it is economically disadvantageous, runs contrary to national interests, and poses a threat to the country's energy security. They note that the price Gazprom charges Armenia for gas has been reduced several times (it is currently $150 per 1,000 cubic meters) and is not enough to purchase the quantity of gas that Georgia received in previous years in lieu of transit fees. Kaladze, however, claims that the value of the cash payments is "more or less the same" as that of the gas received in previous years.

Kaladze has repeatedly rejected the objections voiced by the ENM as unfounded and politically motivated. The ENM had similarly criticized him for not taking a tough enough stance during the negotiations that culminated in last year's agreement.

Kaladze said the first two rounds of talks, on December 13 and 23, were difficult, as the two sides' positions were "so far apart there was nothing to negotiate about." He did not say whether Gazprom threatened, as it had done in early 2016, to reroute future gas exports to Armenia via Iran, but this may have been the case, judging by Georgian parliamentarian Gia Volsky's comment that not accepting Gazprom's offer would have damaged Georgia's relations with Armenia and called into question Georgia's reliability as a transit country.

Then, during the third round on January 11, Gazprom came up with what apparently amounted to a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum that according to Kaladze was an improvement on its earlier offers, and to which he assented. He says doing so was the "rational and correct" course of action and that the new agreement preserves Georgia's "important transit function" while "not increasing by a single iota" its energy dependency on Russia.

Kaladze has refused to divulge the precise terms of the new agreement on the grounds that they constitute a commercial secret, but economist Lado Papava questions this, pointing out that it is not an interstate agreement but one between a commercial entity and a national government.

Georgian officials tacitly admit nonetheless that the terms of the new agreement are less than ideal. Kaladze has stressed repeatedly that they were the best Georgia could have achieved, while Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said the agreement "is nothing to celebrate." But as parliamentarian Zviad Dzidziguri has pointed out, no opponent of the new agreement has stated explicitly what Georgia could and should have done to secure better terms.

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.
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.
Japan scrambled fighter jets to intercept three Russian military aircraft that were approaching the country's borders on January 24, Tokyo's Defense Ministry said.

The Russian military's three Tu-95 Bear strategic bombers approached Japan's mainland from the north and flew over the Sea of Japan during the afternoon, it said.

Two of them then went southward toward the southern island of Okinawa and flew around the country before returning to Russia in the evening, it said.

The Russian aircraft did not violate Japan's airspace, the ministry said.

The last such encounter involving Russian warplanes near Japan's borders was about a year ago, in January 2016.

Most of the more than 500 Japanese interceptions of foreign military aircraft last year involved Chinese warplanes, the ministry said.

Based on reporting by dpa and TASS


New legislation in Kazakhstan requires all mobile phones to be registered with a government database, according to mobile service providers in the Central Asian country.

The requirement is apparently aimed at helping combat terrorism.

Two major providers, Kcell and Beeline, said on January 25 that all unregistered mobile phones will be blocked as of July 1.

The companies said the requirement is a result of legislation against extremism and terrorism that was adopted on December 22.

They said the Kazakh Ministry of Information and Communications is currently creating a database of mobile phones using their International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers.

Tajikistan, another former Soviet republic in Central Asia, adopted a law in November obliging mobile phone owners to register their devices, citing the need to "to boost the fight against crime."

Based on reporting by Tengrinews, nurt.kz and news.tj


Kazakhstan's long-ruling President Nursultan Nazarbaev says he will delegate some of his sweeping powers to parliament and to government ministers as he transforms his own leadership into a role he described as "supreme arbiter."

Nazarbaev made the remarks on January 25, saying that constitutional amendments and other legislation had been drafted by a working group he appointed earlier in January.

According to the draft amendments, Nazarbaev said, parliament would be empowered to choose the prime minister and government ministers.

Currently, Kazakhstan's prime minister is nominated by the president and approved by parliament. The prime minister then selects the cabinet, and those choices must be approved by the president.

Nazarbaev's Nur Otan party dominates parliament and there are no serious opposition parties.

Nazarbaev said the new constitutional amendments would also give government ministers more power and responsibilities to manage social and economic development in Kazakhstan.

He said parliament's control over the government would be increased by giving lawmakers the authority to hold a "vote of no confidence" on a sitting cabinet.

'Operation Successor'

Nazarbaev said: "The role of the president -- who will focus mainly on strategic matters, foreign policy and national security -- will be that of a supreme arbiter in relations" between branches of government.

He said the point of the proposed reforms was to create "a serious redistribution of powers and democratization of the political system as a whole."

But political analysts say the moves could also facilitate an eventual political transition.

They say devolving some presidential powers would make it easier for Kazakhstan's political elite to manage a succession by splitting key roles between different figures rather than allowing one successor to concentrate power in his or her hands.

One of Kazakhstan's few remaining opposition politicians, Amirzhan Kosanov, described the draft amendments as "the beginning of 'Operation Successor.'"

"Groups within the elite will split power among themselves," Kosanov said on January 25."[Informal] clans have become strong enough and they want their share of power in the post-Nazarbaev era as a means to protect their wealth."

The 76-year-old Nazarbaev has ruled Kazakhstan since 1989 when it was still a Soviet republic.

Nazarbaev has so far not identified a clear successor and the uncertainty has been a concern to investors.

Among those seen as possible successors to Nazarbaev are his eldest daughter Dariga, who is a parliamentary deputy, Deputy Prime Minister Imangali Tasmagambetov, and Senate Speaker Kasym-Zhomart Tokaev.

Under Kazakhstans current constitution, Tokaev would automatically assume the presidency in the event of Nazarbaev's death, pending fresh elections.

Nazarbaev's office said in a statement that the draft reform package would be published on January 26 and that there would be a one-month "nationwide discussion" before the reforms are presented to parliament.

With additional reporting by Reuters
The leaders of Kosovo and Serbia agreed at a summit in Brussels on January 25 to hold further high-level talks on establishing normal relations after a flare-up in tensions this year.

"We have agreed to continue the dialogue on the high level of officials in the coming days. We will also try to lower the tensions between the two sides, to try to act responsibly and to restrain ourselves," said Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic after a late-night meeting.

"I will personally require from Serbian ministers and state officials to act in that way. I believe that we will keep our word on that," he said.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini stressed after the meeting that a normalization of relations is "key for both sides in moving forward on their respective paths towards the European Union."

Mogherini said the meeting was "open and very constructive," and both sides "agreed to leave the tensions behind and to focus on the work ahead" in a series of high-level meetings in the "coming days."

Ahead of the talks, Kosovar leaders had accused Serbia of trying to "destabilize" Kosovo, with President Hashem Thaci accusing Belgrade of plotting to take control of the enclave, which was a part of Serbia before declaring independence in 2008.

Tensions increased earlier this month after Belgrade sent a train toward an ethnic-Serbian-dominated enclave in northern Kosovo with the slogan "Kosovo is Serbia" emblazoned on the side.

Kosovo's leaders have cited the incident for dramatically increasing tensions, along with Serbia's move this month to issue a warrant for the arrest of Kosovo's former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj in France on war-crimes charges.

"I hope Serbia will use this meeting to calm down, to calm the nationalist pretensions," Thaci said after the talks.

"Kosovos answer on calls for war is peace and normalization of relations," he said. "Tonight's meeting has helped the Serbian leadership to understand that Kosovo is an independent country which has its own constitution and laws."

Serbia has never recognized Kosovo's independence, though it is recognized by 114 other countries, including the United States and most other Western nations.

"Kosovo is committed to peace, security, and good neighborliness...but we are also firmly determined not to allow interference by anyone in Kosovo's internal affairs," Kosovo's Prime Minister Isa Mustafa told RFE/RL before the meeting.
BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz authorities say they have detained two alleged members of a terrorist group who were carrying $56,000 in counterfeit bills.

Kyrgyzstans State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said on January 25 that the suspects, whose identities were not disclosed, had been detained on January 20.

It said the counterfeit U.S. currency they were carrying had been printed in Turkey.

The UKMK also said that two Kyrgyz citizens residing in Istanbul, Mansur Suvanov and Ilias Sabirov, were suspected of being connected to the two detained suspects.

Sabirov is wanted in Kyrgyzstan for alleged involvement into a terrorist attack against the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek last year.

On August 30, three Kyrgyz nationals were injured after a suicide bomber rammed his car into the Chinese Embassy compound and detonated an explosive device inside the vehicle.
Prominent Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab says a manager who headed its investigation unit has been arrested.

In a statement on January 25, Kaspersky spokeswoman Maria Shirokova confirmed a report in the Russian daily Kommersant that Ruslan Stoyanov was arrested in December.

Kommersant cited unidentified sources close to the Federal Security Service (FSB) as saying that Stoyanov's arrest might have been linked to an investigation into a deputy chief of the FSB's Center for Information Security, Sergei Mikhailov, who they said was also arrested in December.

The report said both men are charged with treason.

Shirokova said that Stoyanov's arrest "has nothing to do with Kaspersky Lab and its operations," adding that "the case is related to a period when Stoyanov was not employed by the lab."

She said the company has no details of the charges against Stoyanov.

A list on the website LinkedIn indicates Stoyanov started working at Kaspersky in 2012 and that his previous jobs include a position at the Russian Interior Ministrys cybercrime unit in the early 2000s.

There was no immediate comment from the FSB.

Kaspersky Lab has been cooperating with the FSB on cybersecurity-related issues since 2013.

Russia's Supreme Court said in April 2016 that 28 people were convicted of high treason in 2015.

Based on reporting by Kommersant, AP, RIA, TASS, and Interfax
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to meet with Syrian opposition representatives in Moscow on January 27, the Foreign Ministry says.

The January 25 announcement comes after Russia, Iran, and Turkey said they would jointly enforce a fragile three-week cessation of hostilities in Syria.

The three countries made the pledge on January 24 in a joint statement issued at the conclusion of two days of peace talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

The Syrian opposition was dissatisfied with the communique and issued its own plan for monitoring cease-fire violations, while Damascus representatives said they would not hold government-level talks with Turkey or sign any document signed by a Turkish official.

Moscow and Tehran back President Bashar al-Assads government in Syria's six-year civil war, while Ankara supports the opposition.

Based on reporting by Reuters, TASS, and Interfax
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate's No. 2 Democrat has backed calls for an independent investigation into allegations that Russian hackers interfered in the U.S. presidential election last year.

Dick Durbin (Democrat-Illinois) was the latest in a growing number of lawmakers pushing for a broader inquiry into intelligence conclusions that Russia sought to manipulate the vote and help Republican Donald Trump win the presidency.

"Election Day 2016 is a day that will live in cyberinfamy. A foreign adversary intentionally manipulated Americas presidential election. It is an act of cyberwar and it cannot go unanswered," Durbin said in a January 24 speech.

Three different Senate committees are conducting their own investigations, but Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell has rejected calls to convene a special select committee.

U.S. intelligence officials said there was no evidence that Russia tampered with the vote tally, but it was unclear how much possible Russian influence affected the overall election.
VIDEO REPORTS

The Kremlins recent moves in the Balkans are an attempt to set the clock back.

Hundreds of refugees and migrants stranded in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, launched a hunger strike on January 24.

A court in Kyrgyzstan reinstated a life prison sentence for a human rights activist in a verdict described by the UN as "deeply troubling."

OTHER NEWS

Japan scrambled fighter jets to intercept three Tu-95 Bear strategic bombers that were approaching the country's borders on January 24, Tokyo's Defense Ministry said.

Legislation that would decriminalize some forms of domestic violence has advanced in the Russian parliament despite vehement criticism from human rights and family protection groups.

Mykola Semena, a contributor to RFE/RLs Crimea unit, was formally indicted on January 20 by Russian authorities on charges of separatism linked to an article he wrote denying Russian sovereignty over Crimea. (Crimea Realities)

Russian lawyer Nikolai Polozov, who has represented defendants in cases believed by human rights advocates to be politically motivated, was detained on January 25 by six security agents near his hotel in Simferopol.(Crimea Realities)

Leaders of Russia's Jewish community have accused a top lawmaker of making anti-Semitic remarks in his criticism of protests against the handover of St. Petersburg's St. Isaac's Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church.

A European Union court upheld sanctions against Russian munitions manufacturer Almaz-Antey for producing weapons systems supplied to Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. (Russian Service)

More than 50,000 "medical tourists" came to Belarus in 2016, an indication of the countrys emergence as a destination for cut-rate access to doctors and treatments.

The leaders of Kosovo and Serbia agreed in Brussels on January 25 to hold further high-level talks on establishing normal relations after a flare-up in tensions this year.

Kazakh journalist Bigeldy Gabdullin has been found guilty of extortion and given a five-year suspended sentence with parole-like restrictions.

Kyrgyz authorities say they have detained two suspected members of a terrorist group who were carrying $56,000 in counterfeit bills allegedly printed in Turkey.

A special commission has been set up by Tajikistans Ministry of Internal Affairs to enforce a December, 2016 order requiring policemen measuring 55 to weigh no more than 165 lbs or risk dismissal. (in Russian, Current Time TV)

Announcing its 2016 corruption index on January 25, Transparency International said corruption and social inequality are reinforcing each other around the world, generating popular disenchantment with political establishments.

A transit agreement reached earlier this month between the Georgian government and Russia's Gazprom has incurred widespread criticism.
ON MY MIND

Russia should be careful what it wishes for. In a piece featured below, the Brookings Institution's Robert Kagan argues that the rules-based liberal international order "may be coming to an end." And while the Kremlin believes this is cause for celebration, it is likely mistaken.

If history is any guide, multipolar world orders in which great powers preside over spheres of influence tend to be unstable and tend to lead to major wars.

And as Mark Galeotti pointed out in last week's Power Vertical Podcast, Russia has benefited from the tottering post-Cold War order. It has been able to play the spoiler, breaking the rules that other major powers were following. It has gained asymmetrical advantage by being unpredictable in a world where everybody else was predictable.

But how would Russia fare in a world where nobody was following rules? With a GDP lower than that of Texas, an economy dependent on hydrocarbon exports, and a demographic crisis, probably not very well. In such a world, Russia's asymmetrical advantages would evaporate and its weakness would be exposed.

A world without rules and based on spheres of influence would be bad for the West and a tragedy for Russia's neighbors. But it would also be very dangerous for Russia.

IN THE NEWS

Legislation that would decriminalize some forms of domestic violence has advanced easily in the Russian parliament despite vehement criticism from human rights and family protection groups.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the Belarusian men's canoe and kayak team was wrongly banned from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on doping charges.

Russia, Iran, and Turkey said they would establish their own process for observing and enforcing the fragile cease-fire in Syria. But as two days of peace talks ended in Kazakhstan, rebel groups said they had major reservations about the plan -- mainly Iran's participation.

Japan scrambled fighter jets to intercept three Russian military aircraft that were approaching the country's borders on January 24, Tokyo's Defense Ministry said.

The U.S. Senate's No. 2 Democrat has backed calls for an independent investigation into allegations that Russian hackers interfered in the U.S. presidential election last year. Dick Durbin was the latest in a growing number of lawmakers pushing for a broader inquiry into intelligence conclusions that Russia sought to manipulate the vote and help Republican Donald Trump win the presidency.

WHAT I'M READING

The End Of The World Order As We Know It

Robert Kagan, author of the book The World America Made, has a piece on The Brookings Institution's website on The Twilight Of The Liberal World Order.

Kagan writes that if China and Russia "were to accomplish their aims of establishing hegemony in their desired spheres of influence, the world would return to the condition it was in at the end of the 19th century, with competing great powers clashing over inevitably intersecting and overlapping spheres of interest. These were the unsettled, disordered conditions that produced the fertile ground for the two destructive world wars of the first half of the 20th century."

Ilves Speaks

The Stanford Political Journal has an interview with former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves on the future of NATO, European defense, cybersecurity, and the rise of populism.

What Happens Next In Syria?

Joseph Bahout has a piece on The Carnegie Middle East Center's website on where Syria appears to be headed post-Astana.

"Any kind of framework that comes out of Astana may gradually replace the Geneva framework that had previously been in place, and that sought a transitional arrangement for Assads replacement," Bahout writes.

"Geneva had numerous stakeholders, but Astana may better reflect what the Russians regard as a more realistic outcome in Syria: The replacement of any notions of a unified, democratic Syria with the consolidation of existing statelets and zones of influence through local truces and reconciliations. These would later be legalized through a permanent decentralization scheme. In this future Syrian state, a weakened Assad may remain in the picture for a long time, though very likely supported by new institutions, including a military council that would include regime generals and former rebels. This would be accompanied by a largely cosmetic national-unity government that could introduce minimal reforms on matters not vital for regime survival and oversee vital reconstruction plans for the country."

Secret Sale Of The Century

Reuters has a reconstruction of Russia's sell-off of shares in the state-controlled oil giant Rosneft.

"More than a month after Russia announced one of its biggest privatizations since the 1990s, selling a 19.5 percent stake in its giant oil company Rosneft, it still isn't possible to determine from public records the full identities of those who bought it," the report says.

Lukashenka In The Crosshairs?

Ryhor Astapenia, editor in chief of the Belarusian internet magazine Idea, has a piece in Belarus Digest asking: Will The Kremlin Topple Lukashenka?

The Current Dangers

Veteran Kremlin-watcher Edward Lucas, author of The New Cold War, talks to Monologue For Two, about Trump, Putin, and the Baltics.

Putin And Trump

In his column for Bloomberg, political commentator Leonid Bershidsky parses the parallels between Putin and Trump.

Here We Go Again

The Telegraph has a report by Justin Huggler and Roland Oliphant taking a closer look at how Russia is targeting the upcoming Dutch, French, and German elections with fake news dumps.

And The Guardian's Daniel Boffey and Jennifer Rankin weigh in with a report on how the European Union is stepping up its efforts to counter Kremlin-backed disinformation.

SRB Podcast

The latest SRB Podcast, hosted by Sean Guillory of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies, looks at Josef Stalin's purge of the Red Army. Sean's guest is Peter Whitewood, a lecturer at York St. John University and author of the book The Red Army And The Great Terror: Stalins Purge Of The Soviet Military.
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U.S. President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders that are in keeping with his campaign promises to boost border security and crack down on immigrants living illegally in the United States.

Trump signed the orders on January 25 during a ceremony at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after honoring the department's newly confirmed secretary, retired General John Kelly.

The executive orders jumpstart construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall, one of his campaign promises, and cut federal funding for so-called sanctuary cities that don't arrest or detain illegal immigrants.

The orders are part of sweeping anti-immigration measures that are expected in the coming days -- with media reports saying further measures will include a temporary ban on refugees and suspension of U.S. visas for citizens of Syria, Iraq, Iran, and other Muslim countries.

The ban on allowing refugees into the United States except for religious minorities escaping persecution is expected to last multiple months until authorities put an aggressive vetting process in place, according to Reuters and AP.

Another order reportedly will block visas from being issued to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, the news wires said, citing unidentified officials and experts.

Trump said in a January 25 television interview that construction of the border wall that he promised during his election campaign would begin within months.

He said the work initially would be funded by U.S. taxpayers, but he vowed to recuperate those funds from Mexico. He did not specify how he planned to get Mexico to reimburse those payments.

Trump said on Twitter late on January 24: "Big day planned on national security tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall" between the United States and Mexico.

Building a wall on the Mexican border was a top Trump campaign pledge. Trump also campaigned on pledges to tighten immigration from majority Muslim countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, including stemming the flow of refugees.

At first, he called for temporarily halting entry to the United States from Muslim countries, but later shifted the policy to a focus on what he called "extreme vetting" of people coming from countries where terrorist groups are located.

Many Trump supporters decried former President Barack Obama's decision to increase the number of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States saying they feared that those fleeing the country's civil war would carry out militant attacks.

Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq -- all nations plagued by war -- are among the countries that are home to the majority of the world's refugees today.

Trump is expected to instruct the State Department to stop issuing visas to people from certain specific nations and he could also instruct U.S. Customs officials to stop any current visa holders from those countries from entering the United States.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on January 24 that the State and Homeland Security departments will work on setting up a vetting process to govern entry from those countries.

Legal experts say the executive orders may be open to legal challenge from groups arguing they are unconstitutional because they single out a particular religion for discrimination.

"His comments during the campaign and a number of people on his team focused very much on religion as the target," immigration expert Hiroshi Motomura at the UCLA School of Law told Reuters.

Other measures may include directing all agencies to finish work on a biometric identification system for noncitizens entering and exiting the United States and a crackdown on immigrants fraudulently receiving government benefits, Reuters said.

With reporting by AP and Reuters


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A bill that would allow utilities to avoid local zoning and planning restrictions for substations and other associated facilities that accompany 138-kilovolt transmission lines was passed by the House of Delegates on Tuesday, over the objections of municipal and county governmental groups and some delegates who said it undercuts local control of land use.

In a 67-30-1 vote that went across party lines, the House passed House Bill 1766, patroned by Del. Gregory D. Habeeb, R-Salem, and requested by Appalachian Power. The bill made it through the Houses Commerce and Labor Committee on a 18-1 vote last week and a companion bill, Senate Bill 1110 by Sen. William M. Stanley Jr., R-Franklin County, was referred to the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, which meets again on Monday.

Both bills would mean that when the State Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities, issues a certificate of public convenience and necessity for construction of 138-kilovolt transmission lines, associated projects such as substations and switchyards shall be deemed to satisfy local comprehensive plan requirements and all local zoning ordinances.

The Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia Municipal League oppose the legislation.

Only Appalachian Power has the 138-kilovolt lines to which the legislation would apply, said Ken Schrad, a spokesman for the SCC. Most transmission lines are larger, he added, carrying as much as 760 kilovolts.

Current law states that a certificate issued by the SCC to construct and operate transmission lines only satisfies local zoning ordinances with respect to the line and not associated facilities, Schrad said. Thus, a substation or switching station associated with a line currently needs to go through the local zoning process.

John Shepelwich, a spokesman for Appalachian Power, said the 138-kilovolt lines are backbone transmission lines that are lately increasingly needed for new economic development projects such as industrial parks in areas lacking sufficient power.

Shepelwich said he could not recall a specific instance where a locality had barred a substation associated with one of the lines.

The utility requested the bill so elements of projects cannot be cherrypicked by counties and towns to defeat them, he said.

The House vote came after a heated floor exchange between Habeeb and Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William.

Habeeb stood to address what he called "misconceptions that folks in this building and outside this building have been spreading."

This is not taking anything away from local government because theyve never blocked one of these projects with local zoning because theyve never had the authority to do so, Habeeb said.

In 2012, the legislature passed and Gov. Bob McDonnell signed legislation allowing utilities what amounted to an either/or approach for 138-kilovolt transmission lines. The law said utilities shall either obtain a certificate from the SCC or obtain approval pursuant to any applicable local zoning ordinances by the locality or localities in which the transmission line will be located.

Habeeb said that prior to 2012, local governments had no role whatsoever in the types of transmission lines and facilities targeted by his bill. That year, he said, the legislature decided to give localities a role for jurisdiction-specific projects by letting them go through either the SCC or the local government.

Everybody understood this to mean the entire project, Habeeb said, because separating the facilities and lines would allow one locality to hold the project hostage.

Habeeb said that under his bill, localities still would have standing to be heard at the SCC and request that projects go through a local zoning process.

This sets a horrible precedent, Marshall argued. Zoning powers are properly exercised by the elected representatives of the people, not the corporate stockholders of a private utility.

Marshall said a Walmart or a Wawa would never get similar zoning leeway, prompting a barb from Habeeb.

"I'm a little surprised to hear that the gentleman from Prince William doesn't know the difference between Wawa and a regulated utility in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Habeeb said.

"The gentleman's gratuitous comments about me not knowing the difference between Wawa and this are simply that: gratuitous comments," Marshall replied.

Del. Peter F. Farrell, a Henrico County Republican and son of Dominion Resources CEO Tom Farrell, abstained from the vote under the House rule for conflicts of interest.

In 2013, a decision by the SCC approving Dominions controversial Surry-Skiffes Creek project, which seeks to build a 500-kilovolt transmission line across the James River and a switching station in James City County near Carters Grove plantation, was appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court said the station could not be considered a transmission line under state code and would be subject to local zoning regulations.

The James City County Board of Supervisors has yet to decide on a special-use permit for the station, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is still evaluating the request to build the transmission line, which is opposed by conservationists and preservationists, including the National Park Service, who say it will mar the view from Jamestown Island and other historic areas.
A driver was flown to the hospital early Wednesday after a single-vehicle accident near the border between Chesterfield and Powhatan counties, Virginia State Police said.

The accident happened about 4:30 a.m. when a pickup truck traveling east on U.S. 60 in Powhatan County ran off the road and hit a tree head-on, state police said.

The driver, who had to be cut out of the truck, was taken by helicopter to VCU Medical Center with serious injuries, state police said.
A Chesterfield County man is facing several charges after an online sale ended in an apparent robbery, police said.

Shortly before 2 a.m. Monday, the victim met Tyler J. Patterson, 19, in the 4000 block of Kingsland Road to exchange items that had been advertised for sale online, police said.

When the victim approached, Patterson pushed the victim to the ground and took a bag containing the victim's items, police said.

Patterson, of the 11800 block of Pleasanthill Court in Chesterfield, has been charged with grand larceny, robbery, assault and possession of marijuana in connection with the incident, police said.
The new head of Chesterfield County schools unveiled his first budget proposal Tuesday, one that aims to keep a retirement plan afloat, boost employee salaries and alter school start times.

The proposal for the $621 million operating budget comes as projections indicate that the district will surpass the 60,000-student mark for the first time  to a total of 60,025 in the next school year.

The plan also comes as more Chesterfield students come from diverse backgrounds and struggle with poverty. The population of white students continues to decline, while the Hispanic student population and students considered economically disadvantaged increase at the fastest paces.

Superintendent James Lanes proposal for the operating budget that ends June 30, 2018, represents a $23.7 million increase over the current budget and seeks $10 million more from the county. The proposal still must be vetted and approved by the School Board before it heads over to the five-member Board of Supervisors, which ultimately controls the purse strings.

I didnt expect some of the headwinds that we have faced over the past six months, Lane said. We are bringing solvency to some major issues ... but we are also bringing innovation.

One of those headwinds was the supplemental retirement program designed to retain long-term employees, which is leaking money.

Lane expects to have to put an additional $3.1 million into the program to keep it afloat for this year, plus add additional funds after that. About $15.6 million would go to the program this year under his proposal, an increase from previous years when average payments ranged from $8 million to $12 million.

But that is just the solution for this year. Costs will continue to escalate until the annual contribution will increase by $7 million in later years.

Lane said Tuesday that he is committed to keeping the program alive until the end of its life in several more decades.

But what the plans benefits and eligibility requirements may look like in order to achieve that goal is still unknown, and Lane said any figures are preliminary until a detailed study wraps up next month. Lane said a more detailed discussion on the program is expected Feb. 7, after a committee finalizes its recommendations for what parts of the benefit should change or be reduced.

Lane did acknowledge that some parts of the program must be cleaned up, citing a provision that allowed the former chief executive to then-Superintendent Marcus J. Newsome to enter the program and earn 175 percent of her preretirement salary, even though she is performing work well below her previous six-figure salary.

***vvv

Also during Lanes first months in office, two Chesterfield schools didnt meet state benchmarks for student achievement and were denied accreditation for the first time in the districts history. Not one Chesterfield school had been denied accreditation before.

Ettrick Elementary School and Falling Creek Middle School didnt receive accreditation. Additional staff and programs have been added to both schools, but Lanes proposal also calls for $140,000 to add one full-time position at Falling Creek for a pilot program for remedial study skills.

Ettrick has already received funds for a grant program to start an engineering program. Other suggestions, such as increasing the contract period for teachers in those two schools, went unfunded in the proposal.

School leaders are expected to finalize corrective action plans with the state next month.

Lane also wants to tackle a proposal that has been tossed around Chesterfield schools for years.

Hoping to change up school start times by the 2018-19 school year, Lane is seeking $500,000 in his budget to get the ball rolling. The money this year targets bus driver salaries.

Lane wouldnt say how many bus driver salaries that could affect, and he said more details would be discussed in early February after the transportation department conducts route tests.

Lane also concentrated on increasing employees salaries and reducing class sizes in certain areas.

If Lane has his way, 7,400 full-time employees will see a 2 percent salary increase and $1.6 million will add 28 full-time employees to secondary language arts classes to reduce those class sizes.

The 28 extra employees will be on top of the 45 additional teachers tied to the 500 additional students projected for next school year.

Lane said the district focused on lowering class sizes at kindergarten through second grade last year, and then targeted language arts classes this year.

We try to pick areas where the targets we set are furthest from the actual numbers, Lane said.

***vvv

In addition, nearly $959,000 will be used to increase principals salaries and beef up principals support staff.

Regionally, we are competitive with teachers. Regionally, we are not competitive with principals, Lane said during a presentation comparing regional salaries.

State funding is projected to cover the bulk, $5 million, of the $7.8 million cost to supply the 2 percent employee pay increases this year, though the district would have to cover that entire cost in future years. In total, the budget envisions almost $16 million more coming from the state this year.

A total of $281 million would be required from the county side, an increase of $10 million over the current budget.

There is also considerable money slated to beef up resources for special education students and students with disabilities.

The federal government has mandated that Chesterfield schools set aside $1.6 million to intervene in the fact that African-American students with disabilities are still being suspended at higher rates than white students with disabilities. That money will translate into 28 additional full-time employees, Lane said.

The proposal also calls for funds to add special education coordinator positions at elementary schools and expand elective choices for some students with disabilities who are now offered one choice: adapted physical education.

An additional $100,000 is included to expand a social emotional learning program that essentially teaches life skills at seven elementary schools.

As part of the School Boards five-year plan that calls for a nurse in every school within four years, the proposal added nine more nurses to schools next year. At the same time, the proposal assumes reducing clinic aide positions by not replacing positions that become vacant.

Lane also wants to put money toward what he called the reinvention of the high school experience. That includes opening up a new alternative school, the Phoenix Program, and funding for programs that allow students to graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree and also intern at local businesses.

Its our goal to bring the entire degree program into each of our comprehensive high schools, Lane said.

Outside of the operating budget, the schools $223.6 million capital improvement plan lays out funding facility projects for the next five years. That plan puts money toward more projects in the 2013 bond referendum so seven of those referendum projects would be fully funded. It also advances funding for work at Harrowgate, Crestwood and Ettrick elementary schools. Reams Road Elementary work is already funded.
A homeless Richmond man found guilty of two September robberies at the same Henrico County bank was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years in prison.

Carroll Buford Gammon Jr., 40, was sentenced on two felony counts of robbing the Village Bank in the 1400 block of Santa Rosa Road, just west of the intersection of Three Chopt Road and Forest Avenue. The robberies occurred on Sept. 14 and Sept. 16.

Those robberies were in addition to two others in Richmond over the same time period that police said Gammon carried out. The Wells Fargo Bank in the 800 block of East Main Street was robbed Sept. 13, and the Union Bank & Trust in the 3500 block of West Cary Street was robbed Sept. 16. Gammon was arrested shortly after the Cary Street robbery.

Henrico Circuit Judge Gary A. Hicks sentenced Gammon to 20 years for each Henrico robbery, but suspended all but 5 years of one robbery sentence and all but 9 years for the other robbery sentence. Hicks also sentenced Gammon to 3 years in prison on a conviction of using a firearm while committing a felony.

Those sentences are in addition to the 12 years Gammon is serving for one of the Richmond bank robberies. All told, Gammon is facing 29 years in prison.

Deana Malek, a deputy commonwealths attorney in Henrico, asked Hicks to consider Gammons criminal record when issuing a sentence. Gammons record includes not just the latest robberies, but past charges of attempted robberies, assault and larceny.

The commonwealth cant ignore his record, Malek said, adding that his behavior has escalated.

Gammon apologized to the court for his actions prior to his sentencing, saying that he just hoped he could get out of prison while hes still alive.

I know I did wrong, he said. I was just trying to feed my drug habit.

Gammon in December pleaded no contest to the charges facing him. In pleading no contest, a defendant neither admits to nor denies the charge against him, and it has the same immediate effect as a guilty plea.

Gammons defense attorney, Owen Conway, pleaded for leniency during a court appearance. She said Gammon had taken responsibility for his crimes and his pleas spared witnesses from having to testify. Conway also said Gammon is a father with two children, ages 21 and 23, and hes going to become a grandfather soon.

Conway also said Gammon was driven to the robberies because he was seeking some cash to buy drugs. His story is a sad one, but very familiar to the court system, Conway said.

The defense attorney said after court that her client had started using Percocet, a painkiller, after a serious car crash, and he had eventually turned to heroin.

Conway also said it wasnt even clear whether Gammon actually had a gun while committing the robberies.

A prosecutors report on file with the circuit court says tellers at Village Bank told investigators that Gammon said during both robberies that he was holding up the bank while reaching under his shirt or in his pocket in a way that made them feel he had a weapon.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):

1:45 p.m.

President Donald Trump is signing two executive orders in keeping with campaign promises to boost border security and crack down on immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

The president signed the two orders Wednesday during a ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security after honoring the department's newly confirmed secretary, retired Gen. John Kelly.

The executive orders jumpstart construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall, one of his signature campaign promises, and strip funding for so-called sanctuary cities, which don't arrest or detain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

___

1:40 p.m.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer is saying that President Donald Trump plans to open an investigation into voter fraud "to understand where the problem exists, how deep it goes."

Trump tweets on Wednesday calling for the investigation revisited unsubstantiated claims he's made repeatedly about a rigged voting system.

Spicer did not provide many details as to what the probe would look like, calling it at one point "a task force."

He suggested that the probe would focus on dead people who remained on the voter rolls and people registered in two or more states. In particular, he singled out "bigger states" where the Trump campaign "didn't compete" in the election.

There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud occurring in November's election.

___

1:30 p.m.

The House intelligence committee says it will focus on leaks of classified information to the media as part of its investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

In a tweet earlier this month, then President-elect Trump asked the intelligence committees to investigate "top secret intelligence" shared with a news organization.

The House panel is already investigating the intelligence agencies' finding that Russia interfered in the election to benefit President Donald Trump. The Senate intelligence committee is also conducting an investigation.

__

1:25 p.m.

The White House is distancing itself from a draft executive order that would lead to a major review of America's methods for interrogating terror suspects and the possible reopening of CIA-run "black site" prisons outside the United States.

Spokesman Sean Spicer said the draft "is not a White House document." He says he has "no idea where it came from."

The AP obtained the draft order from a U.S. official, who said it had been distributed by the White House for consultations before Trump signs it. The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.

The order would also reverse America's commitment to closing the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and instruct the Pentagon to send newly captured "enemy combatants" to the site.

__

1:15 p.m.

An electrical contractor who worked on the Trump International Hotel in Washington has sued a company owned by President Donald Trump for more than $2 million, alleging it was not fully paid.

AES Electrical of Laurel, Maryland, filed suit in District of Columbia Superior Court, the latest in a string of lawsuits involving Trump's renovation of the historic Old Post Office building a few blocks from the White House.

AES alleges it bore increased expenses because of change orders and other demands from Trump's staff. AES claims it was told to accelerate the pace of work so that the then-Republican presidential candidate could hold a televised media event to celebrate the "soft opening" of the $200 million project prior to the November election.

The complaint was first reported by Politico.

___

1:10 p.m.

The Senate Intelligence Committee's top Democrat has informed two key members of President Donald Trump's national security team that he will not stand for any attempt to get around the U.S. law banning torture.

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia says in a statement that he spoke Wednesday morning to Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Warner says he told them "any attempt by this administration to restart torture is absolutely unacceptable, and I will strongly oppose it."

Warner is responding to reports that Trump is considering a major review of America's methods for interrogating terror suspects and the possible reopening of "black site" prisons outside the United States.

Warner says he'll hold Mattis and Pompeo "to their sworn testimony to follow the law banning the use of enhanced interrogation techniques."

___

12:30 p.m.

More than 100 workers rights groups say President Donald Trump's choice for labor secretary raises enough questions to warrant a "rigorous" and extended confirmation hearing.

The groups wrote in a letter to the Senate committee conducting the Feb. 2 hearing that senators should be able to ask multiple rounds of questions of fast food executive Andrew Puzder about everything from his business record to his personal history. The groups say that's because Puzder has no record of public service and because he's publicly opposed employer mandates.

He should be subjected to "rigorous examination" that includes the testimony of former workers of Puzder's companies, Carl's Jr. and Hardee's.

Chairman Lamar Alexander allowed only one round of questions for Trump's controversial picks for education and health secretary last week.

___

12:10 p.m.

The Trump Organization is tapping a former George H.W. Bush campaign lawyer and a top executive at the company as ethics monitors for the business.

The company says that Bobby Burchfield of the law firm King & Spalding will become the independent ethics adviser to review transactions for conflicts-of-interest problems. Burchfield was general counsel to Bush's re-election campaign in 1992.

The company says executive vice president George Sorial will take on the role of chief compliance counsel.

A White House spokeswoman did not respond to a question about whether Trump has plans to hire a White House ethics counselor, as at least the previous two presidents have done. That attorney would be beholden to the American public, unlike the Trump Organization attorneys, who report only to the privately held company.

___

11:40 a.m.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says she feels "very sad" and "sorry" for President Donald Trump for falsely claiming he'd have won the presidential popular vote but for votes cast against him by millions of people in the U.S. illegally.

The California Democrat told reporters Wednesday that the new president is "so insecure." She said suggesting massive voting irregularities undermines the election system's integrity and is "really strange," and she says she'd prayed for him.

She contrasted Trump's assertion with the intelligence community's conclusion that the Russians intervened in the election to help Trump win. She said Trump "resists" investigating that.

Trump tweeted Wednesday that he's ordering an investigation into voter fraud.

Trump lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton by almost 3 million votes.

___

10:20 a.m.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has been sworn in to be President Donald Trump's ambassador to the United Nations.

Vice President Mike Pence swore in Haley on Wednesday. The Senate voted 96-4 Tuesday night in favor of her nomination despite her lack of significant foreign policy experience.

During her confirmation hearing, the South Carolina-born daughter of Indian immigrants said she supports Trump's call to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

She also took a harder line against Russia than Trump, saying she doesn't think Moscow can be trusted right now.

Haley resigned as South Carolina's governor moments after the Senate vote. She was succeeded by Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster.

___

10:16 a.m.

Republican Sen. John McCain is pushing back on any efforts by President Donald Trump to use an executive order to allow enhanced interrogation.

In a statement on Wednesday, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee said the president can sign whatever executive orders he likes, "but the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America."

McCain pointed out that the Senate voted overwhelmingly in June 2015 for prohibiting torture and endorsing only those techniques spelled out in the Army Field Manual. Waterboarding and other forms of enhanced interrogation are not included in the field manual.

The Arizona senator also said that Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo assured him that they would support the Army Field Manual.

McCain said he was "confident these leaders will be true to their word."

__

10:15 a.m.

A draft executive order shows President Donald Trump asking for a review of America's methods for interrogation terror suspects and whether the U.S. should reopen CIA-run "black site" prisons outside the United States.

The order also would also continue America's use of the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the draft from a U.S. official.

The document instructs senior national security officers to "recommend to the president whether to reinitiate a program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States and whether such program should include the use of detention facilities operated by the Central Intelligence Agency."

The document says U.S. laws should be obeyed at all times and explicitly rejects "torture."

__

7:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he will reveal his Supreme Court pick next Thursday. The court has had only eight justices since the death last year of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Trump tweeted early Wednesday, "I will be making my Supreme Court pick on Thursday of next week. Thank you."

A person familiar with the process said the president has narrowed his choice to three federal appellate judges. They all were on the list of 21 potential high court picks Trump announced during his presidential campaign.

The leading contenders  who all have met with Trump  are William Pryor, Neil Gorsuch and Thomas Hardiman, the person said, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly about internal decisions.

__

7:25 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he will order an investigation into voter fraud.

The president tweeted early Wednesday that the measures will affect those registered to vote in more than one state, "those who are illegal and even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time)."

Trump says that "depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures."
Former U.S. Rep. Robert Hurt, a Republican who represented Virginias 5th District, will be the director of a new law and government center at Liberty University in Lynchburg. Hurt said hes looking forward to working with students on policy issues at a critical time for America.

To me, its a tremendous opportunity to be able to continue to do things that I have a passion for and that deal with law and government, he said.

The center is in the planning stages and has not yet been named. It will promote self-government and free markets, according to a news release from the university.

The new center will be a place for the free exchange of ideas and the robust debate of issues of national, state and international importance, the release said.

It will serve a critical role in ensuring that all Liberty University students graduate with a full appreciation for our fundamental principles and are prepared to engage in a new generation of American statesmanship.

Hurt decided not to seek re-election in 2016 after serving three terms in Congress. Before that, he served in the Virginia legislature.

Former state Sen. Tom Garrett, a Republican, succeeded Hurt in the congressional seat.

In the release, Liberty Chancellor Jerry Falwell said:

We believe that we have a responsibility to use the talent and the resources here to vigorously debate and promote those fundamental principles that ensure that every American enjoys the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness  as endowed by our Creator and as set forth by our Founders.
After facing the prospect of Gov. Terry McAuliffe handpicking a successor to Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, Republican lawmakers are advancing legislation to strip Virginias governor of the power to fill U.S. Senate vacancies.

House Bill 1696, which passed the House of Delegates on Wednesday on a 64-34 vote along party lines, would remove the governors power to make temporary Senate appointments to fill a vacancy. Instead, the governor would be able to call a special election immediately.

The U.S. Constitution gives states a choice in how to fill Senate vacancies. Most states  36 as of early last year  use gubernatorial appointments, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The rest use special elections.

Del. Daniel W. Marshall III, R-Danville, said the bill hes sponsoring would return electoral power to the voters rather than having it rest in the hands of one person.

Asked during a House floor debate how many times Virginia has had a Senate vacancy to fill, Marshall made clear he had Kaines run for vice president in mind.

It could have happened in 16, he said. Thank goodness it didnt.

After the Democratic tickets loss in the presidential election, there is no Senate vacancy on the horizon for Virginia.

House Minority Leader David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, argued that by putting no time requirements for a timely special election, the bill could allow a future governor to keep a Senate seat vacant indefinitely without giving voters a say.
Virginia State Police would receive a major boost in salary  almost $7,000 a year  on top of a 3 percent raise that General Assembly budget leaders promised Wednesday to restore to state employees in their first paycheck in July.

The compensation package agreed upon by budget leaders in the House of Delegates and Senate would increase a troopers starting pay from $36,207 a year to $43,000, an increase of almost $7,000.

All sworn officers would receive the increase to prevent salaries for veteran officers from lagging behind new hires.

Combined with the 3 percent raise for all state employees, the starting salary for state police would rise to $44,290 under the budget plan unveiled Wednesday.

Its been a long, long time in coming, said former state police Superintendent M. Wayne Huggins, now executive director of the Virginia State Police Association. This is going to be extremely well-received up and down the ranks.

Assembly leaders have made their top priority restoring the pay raise for state employees that was canceled Dec. 1 because of a revenue shortfall now projected at $1.26 billion. They also have made clear they do not support Gov. Terry McAuliffes proposed 1.5 percent one-time bonus.

In a radio appearance Wednesday on Washingtons WTOP, McAuliffe said he supports a raise, as long as the budget forecast is strong enough to support it.

We all want to do it, he said. But listen, we got whacked 2011 through 13 with sequestration in Virginia.

Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, who also is co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, emphasized a cultural change in the cooperation of Senate and House leaders in the budget review process.

We have a common set of priorities, Norment said at a news conference announcing the compensation commitments.

At the top of the list has been pay for state police. The agency has lost hundreds of employees to retirement and resignation since the revenue shortfall, and the loss of the scheduled raises became apparent last summer.

Im confident this is going to stop the hemorrhaging, Huggins said.

The package also satisfied Sen. Charles W. Carrico Sr., R-Grayson, a former state trooper who agreed Wednesday for the Senate Finance Committee to kill bills he proposed to raise money for state police and law enforcement generally by raising the vehicle registration fee and the sales tax on purchases at state liquor stores.

What theyre going to put forward is going to take effect immediately, Carrico said after the Finance Committee meeting. So Im happy.

Employee compensation emerged as the dominant issue facing the General Assembly last fall, when a commission led by House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, made restoring the raises its top priority rather than pension reforms Howell sought.

State employees are the No. 1 priority of the General Assembly, said R. Ronald Jordan, executive director of the Virginia Governmental Employees Association and a member of the commission. It makes us feel pretty damn good.

Del. S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, opened the committees annual retreat in November with a vow to find money for state police pay, a promise echoed by Senate Finance leaders.

In a speech on the House floor Wednesday, Jones said: For too many years we have treated our state employees as an afterthought in the budget process.

Restoring the raise for state employees will cost the state $70.6 million and the additional money for state police will cost $15.5 million, including $4 million already in the governors budget to address salary compression.

Legislators intend to pay for the package with savings identified by the governor for his bonus proposal, as well as additional money from cuts made to other new spending initiatives.

This is a major priority, said Sen. Janet D. Howell, D-Fairfax, who supported Carricos funding proposals for police. But it means every other part of the budget is severely constrained.

The package also will include $8.7 million that McAuliffe last month proposed to restore to help sheriffs departments address salary compression, in which pay for veterans lags new hires.

Jones said the committees were still discussing how to address pay for state-supported local employees, such as sheriffs departments and other constitutional offices.

The bottom line is, its encouraging they are addressing public safety, said John W. Jones, executive director of the Virginia Sheriffs Association.

The package does not include money to pay for raises for teachers or higher education faculty, because legislators said most school divisions, colleges and universities chose last fall to give raises even after the state eliminated its share of the cost.

Jones said he expects the House budget to put a significant amount of general fund dollars into categorical education programs to free Virginia Lottery money to be distributed to school divisions on a per-pupil basis to use as they wish.

I would see us doing more in that regard, he said.

Norment, an adjunct professor at the College of William & Mary, said budget leaders still are looking for ways to help colleges and universities that didnt provide raises to faculty and other staff to do so. We really have not locked down on that, he said.

The money committees also said they expect to do more for employees in high-turnover, underpaid jobs, such as direct-care aides and nurses in state behavioral health facilities. We really need to target turnover, said Senate Finance Co-Chairman Emmett W. Hanger Jr., R-Augusta.

Hanger said he expects the committees to make a significant investment in Virginias behavioral health system, although he stopped short of saying the legislature would support all of the $31.7 million in new investments proposed by McAuliffe for treatment of mental illness and substance use disorders.

He and other budget leaders also said they expect to support most of the governors proposed changes in tax policy to generate additional revenue, including maintaining the current threshold for businesses to remit sales taxes to the state on an accelerated basis.

However, the Senate Finance Committee promised Wednesday to study the future acceleration of sales tax collections in response to bills Sen. Glen H. Sturtevant Jr., R-Richmond, proposed to address the issue. Retail merchants strongly oppose the accelerated collections.

House Finance Chairman R. Lee Ware Jr., R-Powhatan, said he expects the House to resurrect one of the governors proposals to cap the deduction a taxpayer can take for rehabilitation of historic property, which would generate almost $10 million in the next fiscal year.

Last week, a Finance subcommittee killed one version of the proposal, capping the deduction claimed on a return at $5 million, which generally would apply only to a few large insurance companies.

Ware expects a different fate for another bill with the same purpose, sponsored by Del. Robert S. Bloxom Jr., R-Accomack.

However, he is less sure whether the House would support McAuliffes proposal to cap the amount of credits for land preservation that taxpayers can claim in annual tax returns  which the subcommittee also killed last week, opening a $6.1 million hole in next years projected revenues.

I dont know if the House is going to do that, he said.
Give President Trump credit. He is moving to fulfill perhaps his most important campaign promises.

Almost as soon as he moved into the Oval Office he announced he would renegotiate NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. He had spoken with the prime minister of Canada and the president of Mexico, he explained. Trump also said the U.S. would withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Hostility to globalism played a crucial role in Trumps electoral strategy. It established him as a national figure and may have secured the GOP nomination. He won a majority in the Electoral College by carrying battlegrounds dubious of trades benefits. Trade contributed to the Bernie Sanders phenomenon in the Democratic Party as well. The Sanders threat compelled Hillary Clinton to abandon the TPP, which her State Department helped to negotiate for the Obama administration.

Free trade agreements enjoyed bipartisan support  and generated bipartisan opposition. The business community generally supported them; labor remained opposed. The debate spanned decades. Protectionism preceded the Depression. Franklin Roosevelt preferred trade. Globalism fueled a post-war world order that brought peace and prosperity. NAFTA enjoyed the support of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, despite Ross Perots warnings of a giant sucking sound. When it embraced NAFTA, Mexico abandoned a protectionist tradition. It opted for a more open society  economically, politically and culturally.

Red China will cheer Trumps repudiation of the TPP. The U.S. retreat  surrender?  will speed Chinas ascension as an economic and military power. Beijing will grow more bellicose, not less. Although Trump has praised Taiwan as an island of freedom and a friend of the United States, the TPPs collapse further isolates Formosa, the beautiful island. Old China hands weep.
The snow season is halfway over, and the results so far have been boom or bust across Virginia.

The Richmond area, Tidewater and the southern Piedmont can consider it a snowier-than-average winter so far, but only because of the one heavy snowstorm of Jan. 7. Richmond is still above the pace for normal winter snowfall as a result of its 7.1-inch total from that storm.

Farther to the north and west, the winter of 2016-17 has been far less snowy than usual.

Only 0.4 inches of snow has been measured so far at Reagan Washington National Airport, which is about 6 inches below normal for this point of the winter.

Blacksburg and Roanoke have had only about half of their usual totals. With a season-to-date total of 5.2 inches, Charleston, W.Va., is only at a third of normal.

Its quite rare for Virginias capital city to have seen more snow than West Virginias capital by this point in a winter.

Charlestons snow deficit is not necessarily due to a lack of moisture or a lack of cold air. The issue has been unfavorable weather patterns that dont allow the two to mix. When bitter Arctic air has swept into the region, it has usually been with a very dry northwest wind.

Many of the lows so far this winter have taken paths from the Great Plains into the Great Lakes, which tends to keep the Mid-Atlantic on the warmer, rainy side.

Everything was finally in the right position for heavy snow in Richmond and Hampton Roads on Jan. 7. But it was too far south for Northern Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley and much of West Virginia.

The strong low that brought rain and gusts to Virginia on Monday took a track thats usually favorable for a big snow maker, but there was not enough cold air in place.

***

Based on weather history, the last week of January turns out to be the midpoint of Richmonds snow activity.

Richmond averages 10.3 inches of snowfall from November to April, according to the National Weather Service.

On Jan. 25, the typical season-to-date amount is 5.3 inches, which is slightly past the halfway mark.

No winter is perfectly average, and the snowfall is never evenly distributed across the calendar. It can come as early as November or as late as April. But this is an estimate that the area is about halfway through its chances.

Theres still a lot of winter left to go. When the right ingredients come together, there will be more opportunities for Richmond to keep up with the average, or for the Washington area to catch up.
State Debate: When media reports lies, it isn't bias, says blogger Chris Walker; John Torinus says Donald Trump is after wrong target
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
In honor of Martin Luther King Day this week, U.S. Cellular joined hundreds of students from The Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Virginia today to kick off the 10th annual Black History Month Art Contest.

During the month of January, students at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Virginia are encouraged to create an original 8.5 x 11 piece of artwork as a tribute to influential African Americans both past and present. Students explore the accomplishments and contributions of these impactful figures as they research their subjects.

We look forward to this event every year, said Nathan Waddell, director of sales for U.S. Cellular in the Mid-South. It is incredible to see the amount of creativity that goes in to each entry. U.S. Cellular is committed to the enrichment and education of our youth here in the Greater Roanoke area. This contest provides a great opportunity to connect with the Boys & Girls Clubs in the communities where our associates live, work and volunteer. It is an honor to showcase the amazing talents of these young artists as we pay tribute to influential African Americans and celebrate our countrys diversity.

The top 10 finalists entries will be chosen by a panel of representatives of The Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Virginia and will be displayed at local U.S. Cellular stores. The public ages 18 and older will be invited to vote on the artwork at the stores from Feb. 1 through Feb. 28. Three winners per Club (1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes winners) will be chosen based on the voting results, and will be announced in early March. Prizes are as follows:

 $150 for 3rd Place

 $200 for 2nd Place

 $500 for 1st Place

Celebrating this tenure milestone with U.S. Cellular means a great deal to us at the Boys & Girls Club. It shows that U.S. Cellular believes not just in short-term goodwill but in investing in Roanoke for the long-term, and that means a lot. We greatly value our partnership with U.S. Cellular, said Calvin Curry, Director of Operations for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Virginia.

To vote (starting Feb. 1) visit U.S. Cellular stores 4760 Valley View Blvd #30 or in Salem at 1420 West Main Street. For more information about the creation of the submissions or to see the childrens creative artwork in process contact the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Virginia in Roanoke at 1714 9th Street, S.E. For more information, contact Melissa Watkins at 804-402-5316 or melissawatkins@comcast.net or Katie Frey at 773-355-3275 or katie.frey@uscellular.com.

To learn more about U.S. Cellular, visit one of its retail stores or uscellular.com.

Submitted by U.S. Cellular
Community schools, which offer health and social support services during and after the school day, may help schools in the impoverished coalfields region that face steep enrollment drops, rapidly disappearing state funding and school closures, Del. Sam Rasoul said.

Rasoul, D-Roanoke, introduced a bill that would create an interagency task force of state and local entities to develop a pilot program for creating community schools, which are sometimes housed in older, vacated school buildings or on an otherwise flourishing school campus.

The community school model and innovative ways of thinking about K-12 education could be one route of extracting the coalfields schools out of the dire financial situation they face because many residents are fleeing the area due to a lack of jobs, Rasoul said. The new school concept would be just one part of a multipronged approach to help the floundering schools.

Localities such as Dickenson County in Southwest Virginia have consolidated schools due to their shrinking student population. Now, former school buildings in the county and neighboring localities sit empty.

Rasouls HB 2434 aims to revive those schools by turning them into centralized hubs offering all the services a family might need.

Richmonds school system did something similar over winter break by moving nine of its offices, such as health services and school social work, into a block of offices in a Richmond alternative school  creating a one-stop shop for needy students and their families.

Chicago has the largest community schools program in the nation with schools that partner with nearly 50 nonprofit organizations to offer on-campus after school programs, medical and dental care, job training for parents and other social services.

Everybody knows where the school is, Rasoul said. Everybody can go to the school and then, they can receive services there.

The bill stipulates that the community schools pilot program would create a process by which localities could go about creating community schools, though each locality would be able to customize its schools and the on-site services they offered.

Rasoul stressed that creating community schools would be a long-term process wherein certain services may relocate their operations onto school campuses when able.

Rasouls bill will be heard in the General Assembly education innovation subcommittee next week.

Southwest Virginia schools superintendents optimistic after meeting with legislators RICHMOND  School superintendents from Southwest Virginia said they left a Wednesday meeting
After noting press secretary Sean Spicer's falsehoods about President Trump drawing "the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration," NBC's Chuck Todd asked presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway to explain why the president asked Spicer to lie. Her response was, Youre saying its a falsehood  and Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that. Todd countered with the truth: Alternative facts are not facts. Theyre falsehoods. FILE PHOTO BY CHARLES KRUPA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Authorities wore gas masks while searching a town of Onalaska property where they discovered children and emaciated animals living in squalor, according to court testimony.

Linda West, 74, pleaded not guilty Tuesday, and her daughter, 37-year-old Carol West, stood mute to the 29 crimes filed against each of them, including two counts of child neglect, six counts of felony mistreating animals and 21 counts of misdemeanor mistreating animals, all as party to the crime.

Authorities in October seized 44 rats, 16 horses, eight dogs and one cat from the Wests property at N5788 Hauser Road. Most were emaciated after having survived living in feces-laden locked plastic kennels or corrals without water, according to the complaint filed in La Crosse County Circuit Court.

Carol Wests two children, ages 8 and 11, also lived at the house, which smelled overwhelmingly of urine and feces. An animal control officer choked on the odor, and deputies wore gas masks during a search of the property.

There was rat feces and dog feces throughout the home, La Crosse County sheriffs deputy Rich Amundsen testified. The West property was the worst property Ive ever been in in my entire life.

The countys health department on Oct. 19 condemned the house, which authorities navigated using narrow paths through mounds of debris and garbage stacked to the ceiling. Authorities lifted the condemnation order Nov. 11 after the property met the minimum acceptable living standards, sanitarian Sam Welch said.

Authorities found 32 dead rats in a freezer along with food, and horses were standing in manure that was knee deep, Amundsen testified. One horse had hooves so overgrown that it struggled to walk, while another now suffers from a chronic breathing condition, animal control supervisor Kathy KasaKaitas testified.

The Wests in November filed suit against the county sheriff and animal control, challenging whether the animals were properly taken and held. The women also want a judicial order for their return.
JUNEAU  A former correctional officer at Fox Lake Correctional pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges that he abused residents of penal facilities.

Thomas J. Lukas, 45, Beaver Dam, could face up to three and a half years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of the charges.

Lukas pleaded not guilty to the charges before Judge Brian Pfitzinger. He is currently out of jail on a $1,000 signature bond with the conditions that he not have any contact with his victims or other Department of Corrections inmates. He also may not go on the premises of any correctional facility and may not have any violent contact with anyone.

According to the criminal complaint, Lukas was employed at the correctional institution from 2011 to 2013 when an inmate was allegedly being abused. The inmate approached a captain at the prison on April 13, 2014, to talk about the abuse and said that acts of staff sexual misconduct were done to him by Lukas.

A representative from the Dodge County Sheriffs Office met with the inmate Oct. 16, 2015, at Oak Hill Correctional Institute. The inmate said the incidents began when Lukas would use a mail stick in his genital region. The inmate said that something happened every day, according to the criminal complaint. Lukas also made racial slurs toward the inmate, and the inmate remembered several other incidents where he felt abused by Lukas.

According to the criminal complaint, Lukas left a gay marriage article in the inmates room with his name and another inmates name written on it.

The inmate said the incidents stopped when Lukas went to another facility, and he was told to forget everything. However Lukas sent an email harassing the inmate and the inmate decided he finally had proof.

The inmate said there was no sexual contact or conversations about beginning a sexual relationship.

Other inmates were contacted in the first few months of this year and remembered incidents of Lukas making comments or abusing the inmate.

Lukas will appear in court on March 1 for a telephone scheduling conference.
FIVE men have been found guilty of sexually exploiting two young girls at flats in Rotherham more than a decade ago.



Brothers Basharat Dad (32), of Eldon Road in Eastwood, Nasar Dad (36), of Cranworth Road in Eastwood and Tayab Dad (34) of St Lawrence Road in Tinsley, were convicted today after a three-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court, along with Matloob Hussain (41), of Doncaster Road in Thrybergh and Mohammed Sadiq (40), of Oxley Grove in Broom.



Basharat Dad was convicted of six counts of rape, five counts of indecent assault and one count of false imprisonment.



Nasar Dad was found guilty of rape, inciting indecency with a child and false imprisonment.



But he was cleared of one count of rape and one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under 13.



Tayab Dad was found guilty of one count of rape.



Sadiq and Hussain were each found guilty of one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under 13.



The charges all related to the sexual abuse of two girls between 1999 and 2001, when they were aged 12 and 13, at a flat in Fitzwilliam Road, Eastwood.



The jury took just over six hours to reach their verdicts, which were unanimous.



It was revealed today that another man was guilty of an offence in relation to the case.



In a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court in February last year, 36-year-old Amjad Ali of Broad Lane, Hodthorpe, Worksop pleaded guilty to one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under 13.



He will be sentenced alongside the others convicted at Sheffield Crown Court next Thursday, February 2.



The five men convicted today have been remanded in custody.



Ian Thomas, Rotherham Borough Councils head of childrens services, hailed the excellent investigation by South Yorkshire Police and called the verdicts more justice for our survivors and reflection of great partnership working.



Council leader Cllr Chris Read called it another important step. Justice served.



Temporary Det Chief Insp Martin Tate, who oversaw the inquiry, said: No child should ever have to experience what these women have had to endure and I hope that todays result offers them both some resolution after so many years of anguish.
Tiffany & Co.s sales could suffer in the aftermath of U.S. President Donald Trumps protectionist trade policies. Meanwhile, the retailer's holiday performance weakened amid anti-Trump protests outside its flagship New York store.

Bloomberg reported that Tiffany's overseas revenues could come under pressure if China fights back against the Trump administrations protectionist trade policy.

Chinese consumers might decide to buy a German instead of a U.S. car, or buy an Adidas shirt instead of a Nike shirt, Bloomberg quoted one Credit Suisse exec as saying.

In the 2016 holiday season, Tiffanys sales in the Asia-Pacific region jumped 7 percent to $200 million, outperforming the companys U.S. business, according to the retailer.

Tiffany's sales in the Americas came under pressure amid anti-Trump protests outside the jewelers flagship New York store, and declined 4 percent to $483 million.

Its Fifth Avenue flagship store saw a 14-percent slump of holiday sales as access was restricted due to post-election demonstrations outside the neighboring Trump Tower.

These overall holiday period sales results were somewhat lower than we had anticipated, said Frederic Cumenal, Tiffanys chief executive officer.



Theodor Lisovoy, Rough&Polished, Moscow




The Zimbabwean government initially collaborated with illegal dealers in the grand theft of diamonds in Marange before a nasty fallout frayed relations, an investigation carried out by a local weekly has revealed.

The Zimbabwe Independent newspaper quoted Centre for Research and Development director Farai Maguwu as saying that the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) in partnership with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) carried mop-up operations around 2007.

The MMCZ was wholly-owned by the government of Zimbabwe as an exclusive agent for the marketing and selling of all minerals produced in the country except silver and gold.

The MMCZ and the RBZ would come to Marange to carry out mop-up operations where they were buying all the diamonds from the artisanal miners using the Zimbabwe dollar (Zim$), he said.

Miners would celebrate, saying bag rauya (cash has arrived) as they would rush to deliver their diamonds to the government buyers.

However, it is during the same period that we witnessed an increase in foreign buyers who were using the US$.

Maguwu further alleged that the influx of foreign buyers became a cause for concern for the government as artisanal miners started avoiding the MMCZ and RBZ officials in favour of the foreign buyers.

Once government discovered that miners were now supplying foreign buyers, a number of interventions were introduced, resulting in foreign buyers camping in Mozambique, he said.

Miners would then go across the border into Mozambiques Manica province to meet with foreign buyers.

Maguwu also claimed that Harare then introduced Operation Hakudzokwi (no return) following the snub by the artisanal miners.

Some reports alleged that several illegal diamond miners were killed as a result of the operation.

However, the Zimbabwean government dismissed the allegations.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




Sammon was originally arrested at his home in Croydon, south London, in 2014, but jumped bail while police examined his computers. He must serve half his sentence and will be free in around a year, as he served three months in custody after his extradition from Spain. He had three previous convictions and had stopped offending, but started again when he lost his job and home and suffered depression. When he was arrested, Sammon had so many images he ran out of space on his computer and had to store them on CDs and memory sticks. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children said: From the severity of the images found in his possession its clear that Sammons depravity knows no bounds. By running from his crimes he hoped to evade justice but this case shows there is no place to hide and hes now rightly behind bars.
Epic Systems and a group of plaintiffs in one of three pending overtime pay lawsuits against the health care software maker cannot reveal the terms of a recently reached settlement in part because of a similar lawsuit involving Epic that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a court filing Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge William Conley wrote to the parties earlier this month asking for information about the settlement. On Tuesday, Epic attorney Noah Finkel wrote, with the concurrence of the plaintiffs, that confidentiality of the settlement is a material term of that settlement, particularly because the parties are continuing to litigate what the court has referred to as the companion case. 

Accordingly, Finkel wrote, the parties cannot reveal the financial terms of that settlement in this pleading.

On Jan. 9, the two sides filed a stipulation seeking dismissal of the lawsuit, which was brought by a group of former Epic technical writers who said they should have received overtime pay but were misclassified as exempt. The next day, Conley asked for more information about the settlement in the case, which had been certified as a class action.

Terms were not disclosed in Tuesdays filing.

Epic wrote to assure Conley that the settlement was negotiated through four demands or counter-demands and four counter-offers, and was individually signed by each plaintiff and each person who opted into the case as a plaintiff.

The companion case involves a dispute about overtime pay for technical writers who were working at Epic as of April 2014, when the company made them sign an agreement to arbitrate wage disputes individually rather than as a group.

In May, a federal appeals court ruling in that case found that the wage arbitration rule violated federal law. The U.S. Supreme Court granted Epics appeal on Jan. 13, and will hear the case along with two others that pose similar questions.

Last month, another class- action lawsuit was filed against Epic on behalf of a group of quality assurance workers who say they were misclassified by Epic as exempt from state and federal overtime rules.

In 2014, a different group of Epic quality assurance workers settled a class-action lawsuit about overtime wages for $5.4 million.
MBTA

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB) has approved a construction contract for McCourt Construction Company to build its new Blue Hill Avenue commuter rail station.

Representatives say the contract is worth $16.97 million and the Massachusetts Department of Transportations board of directors and FMCB authorized the project funding in September 2015 for the amount of $26.55 million.

The transportation authority advertised the project in December 2016 and received bids from seven companies. MBTA says it chose McCourt Construction Company, offering the lowest bid of $16.97 million, following its bid analysis.

The new station will be located between Blue Hill Avenue and Cummins Highway on the Fairmount Line. The station will become the ninth Fairmount rail line station, providing 20-minute service to downtown Boston without requiring transfers.

Representatives say the station will include one center-island platform between Blue Hill Avenue and Cummins Highway that will be located below street level and two covered pedestrian ramps from Blue Hill Avenue and Cummins Highway.

The station will also feature canopies, warning strips, benches and windscreens, closed circuit television security cameras, new lighting and messaging signs, train approach warning systems and historically-influenced graphic panels.

The MBTA expects the Blue Hill Avenue Station to begin service along the Fairmount Line in 2019, following a projected two-year construction period. The transportation authority reports roughly 1,300 daily passengers along the Fairmount line.
Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 641.433 billion yen in December, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday - up 361.6 percent on year.

The headline figure beat expectations for a surplus of 281.1 billion yen following the downwardly revised 150.8 billion yen surplus in November (originally 152.5 billion yen).

Exports jumped 5.4 percent on year to 6.679 trillion yen, topping forecasts for 1.1 percent following the 0.4 percent decline in the previous month.

Exports to Asia jumped 12.0 percent on year to 3.740 trillion yen, while exports to China alone advanced an annual 12.5 percent to 1.301 trillion yen.

Exports to the United States added 1.3 percent to 1.369 trillion yen, and exports to the European Union slipped 4.0 percent to 711.003 billion yen.

Imports slipped an annual 2.6 percent to 6.037 trillion yen versus forecasts for -0.8 percent after losing 8.8 percent a month earlier.

Imports from Asia were down 5.0 percent on year to 2.919 trillion yen, while imports from China alone also fell 5.0 percent to 1.483 trillion yen.

Imports from the United States climbed 9.6 percent on year to 650.127 billion yen, and imports from the European Union slipped 4.8 percent to 715.736 billion yen.

The adjusted trade surplus was 356.7 billion yen, topping forecasts for 209.9 billion yen and down from 466.1 billion yen in November.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
Singapore will on Thursday release December numbers for industrial production and Q4 data for unemployment, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

Industrial production in November was up 6.1 percent on month and 11.9 percent on year, while the jobless rate in Q3 was 2.1 percent.

Hong Kong will provide December numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. In November, imports were worth 374.99 billion HKD and exports were at 340.94 billion HKD for a trade deficit of 34.05 billion HKD.

The Philippines will release Q4 numbers for gross domestic product; in the third quarter, GDP was up 1.2 percent on quarter and 7.1 percent on year.

Japan will see December figures for corporate service prices, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.4 percent - up from 0.3 percent in November.

Finally, the in Taiwan and Australia are closed on Thursday for the Lunar New Year and Australia Day, respectively. Australia re-opens on Friday, while Taiwan is shuttered until February 2.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
French utility giant Electricite de France or EDF Tuesday said its Board has approved plans to shut down the Fessenheim nuclear power plant, which is France's oldest nuclear plant. The board also approved a plan for state compensation for the damage suffered by the company from the shutdown, which will be conditional on the launch of a new-generation plant.

The state-run EDF's board voted to start the process of closing the plant. The move to close the plant, which is near the German border, was due to much pressure from Germany and environmental activists, while unions oppose the move, reports said.

The plant in northeastern France, which was commissioned in 1978, is scheduled to stop production this year. The outgoing President Francois Hollande pushed the move as the country aims to reduce its unusually high reliance on nuclear power. The German government also asked France to shut down Fessenheim.

Meanwhile, some presidential candidates in the country, including conservative frontrunner Francois Fillon, reportedly are against the plant closure.

In a statement, EDF said the application of the law on energy transition of August 17, 2015 sets a ceiling of 63.2 GW for installed nuclear electricity generation capacity in France. This means that the commissioning of the Flamanville 3 EPR is conditional upon the shutdown, on the same date, of an equivalent generation capacity.

Under the agreed terms of the protocol, the compensation include a fixed initial portion covering the anticipated costs associated with the closure, currently estimated at about 490 million euros, 20% of which would be paid in 2019 and 80% in 2021. The compensation also include a further, variable portion giving rise, where applicable, to subsequent payments reflecting EDF's shortfall up to 2041.

Earlier, EDF and the French government reportedly agreed on a 400 million euros compensation package for the proposed closure of Fessenheim.

EDF noted that the closure of the Fessenheim plant requires a decree revoking the licence to operate the power plant, to be issued at the request of the company and which, in application of the law, will take effect at the same time as the commissioning of the Flamanville 3 EPR, scheduled for late 2018.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
US President Donald Trump signed executive orders to advance completion of two controversial pipelines - the Keystone XL pipeline and Dakota Access Pipeline.

The President invited TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. (TransCanada), to re-submit its application to the Department of State for a Presidential permit for the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline, a major pipeline to import petroleum from Canada to the United States.

The Obama administration had previously denied approval for the final segment of the Keystone XL pipeline in 2015 after years of exhaustive study and delays.

Revival of the $6.1 billion Keystone project was one of the promises Trump made during election campaign to increase domestic energy production.

Talking to reporters after signing five orders regarding environmental issues in the Oval Office, Trump said they would be subject to terms and conditions being negotiated by the United States.

The President also ordered the Secretary of Commerce to develop a plan to ensure that if a pipeline is built in the United States, the pipe material should also be built domestically.

Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, welcomed the presidential action. "I am pleased years of illogical and political delays preventing completion of the Keystone pipeline have finally come to an end," said Corker.

"The Keystone pipeline is good for the and better for the environment than alternative methods of transporting the oil. Developing more of our domestic resources supports economic growth and the energy security demands of our country," he said in a statement.

The 1,100-mile Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is designed to carry approximately 500,000 barrels per day of crude oil from the Bakken and Three Forks oil production areas in North Dakota to oil in the United States. Developed by Dakota Access, LLC, the DAPL is more than 90 percent complete across its entire route.

Oil producers in Canada and North Dakota are expected to benefit from a quicker route for crude oil to U.S. Gulf Coast refiners. But going ahead with the pipelines would mark a bitter defeat for Native American tribes and climate activists, who fear it would damage cultural sites, and have severe environmental impacts on the areas where they are built.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
Following an inaugural address that was widely viewed positively, the results of a Morning Consult/Politico poll showed a notable improvement in President Donald Trump's favorability rating.

The poll found that 49 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of Trump, up from 46 percent just before his inauguration.

Forty-four percent of voters still view Trump unfavorably, but that is down from 48 percent in the previous survey.

Morning Consult said the seven-point net swing is one of the biggest spikes in favorability since Trump's election on November 8th.

The improvement in Trump's favorability rating may partly reflect a positive reaction to the new president's inauguration speech.

Forty-nine percent of voters described Trump's speech as "excellent" or "good," while just 23 percent viewed his speech as "poor."

Trump's pledge to lead an administration that puts America first had a positive reaction among 65 percent of voters.

Fifty-one percent of voters described Trump's speech as "optimistic," 46 percent said it was "presidential" and 44 percent said it was "inspiring."

The Morning Consult/Politico survey of 1,992 registered voters was conducted January 20th through 22nd and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

(Photo: Michael Vadon)

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
Yemen, WFP discuss cooperation relations

SANA'A, Jan. 25 (Saba) - Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf met on Wednesday in Sana'a the Executive Director of the World Food Program, Lopes da Silva and his accompanying delegation.



At the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed that the humanitarian situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate rapidly because of the continuity of the Saudi aggression and the siege against Yemen, asserting that the operational capacity of the port of Hodeida decreased at the as a result of air strikes by the aggression.



Similarly, Minister Sharaf appreciated the role played by the World Food Program in Yemen, particularly with regard to the provision of food aid in the most disadvantaged areas for vulnerable groups, including women, children and the elderly.



He explained that the Ministry provides all facilities for the continuity of work of international humanitarian organizations, stressing the concern of the Supreme Political Council and the Government of National Salvation to achieve a just peace that meets the aspirations of the Yemeni people.



For his part, Lopes da Silva said that the nutritional level in Yemen is at its worst, affirming the need to increase international support.





He noted that WFP and the rest of the UN agencies working in the humanitarian field urged donors to increase their support to enable organizations to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance.



It should be noted that the Executive Director of the World Food Program and his delegation undertook a field visit to Hodeida province to closely examine the deteriorating humanitarian situation, particularly in the poorest and most deprived areas. The delegation also visited the port of Hodeida.



HA

Saba

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[25/January/2017]
Redox, a Madison health technology startup, is getting another $9 million from investors, led by a New York venture capital firm, RRE Ventures.

Redox helps health care providers integrate new applications into their electronic health record systems, giving them a place to plug in all of the technology theyre looking to use, co-founder and president Niko Skievaski said.

The industry buzz word is interoperability  or, letting electronic health records systems communicate smoothly with other software applications.

Redox is attacking an enormous problem in health care, said Raju Rishi, RRE Ventures general partner, in a written statement.

The proliferation of health care applications promises better data, better patient care and better outcomes. Redox is helping application companies and health systems alike to realize that promise, Rishi said.

RREs portfolio also includes companies such as NerdWallet, BuzzFeed and bitly.

Redoxs past investor groups also provided funding: HealthX Ventures, Madison; .406 Ventures, Boston; and Flybridge Capital Partners of Boston and New York. Redox has received about $13 million, so far.

Founded in 2014, Redox recently moved from Downtown to the East Side, to offices at 2020 Eastwood Drive. The companys employee count is about to hit 30, with about half of the staff in Madison, and others around the U.S., including Chicago and Denver.

Having (software) developers in different cities actually has been beneficial to us, Skievaski said, by getting Redox known to health-tech companies in other parts of the country. He said another mission of Redox has been to help younger startups develop health-related apps.

Skievaski said the new funds will let Redox hire more employees and scale up the business.

Started by former employees of Epic Systems Corp., the Verona electronic health system development giant, Redox deals with other companies systems, as well, Skievaski said. Only about a third of our implementations are Epic sites, he said.

Redox also was chosen to participate in another health-tech mentorship program: Pulse@MassChallenge in Boston. It is one of 31 startups from around the U.S. chosen for Pulses first six-month session.
Hollywood romantic musical comedy-drama film "La La Land" is nominated across 14 categories -- equalling a record previously set by "Titanic" and "All About Eve" -- for the 89th Academy Awards, it was announced in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Indian composer A.R. Rahman missed the race to the golden statuette, while Indian-origin British actor Dev Patel has one nomination for "Lion".

"La La Land", which won seven Golden Globes earlier this year, has been nominated in categories like Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Ryan Gosling), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Emma Stone) and Best Directing (Damien Chazelle).



"Moonlight" and "Arrival" got eight nominations each, while "Lion", a Garth Davis directorial set in India and Australia, features in six categories of the nomination pack, which displays diversity to avert last year's #OscarsSoWhite controversy.



Interestingly, Viola Davis has become the first black actress to earn three Oscar nominations. This year, her role in "Fences" has fetched her a nomination in the Best Actress in a Supporting Role category, which even feature two other black actresses -- Naomie Harris ("Moonlight") and Octavia Spencer ("Hidden Figures").



Celebrities like Terrence Howard and Brie Larson joined Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs to reveal the Oscars ' title='89th Oscars '>89th Oscars nominations in two batches.



While Tamil movie "Visaranai", India's Oscar entry for the Best Foreign Language Film was out of contention in an initial list itself, Rahman -- who had won two Oscars in 2009 -- lost out on his chance at two nominations for his work for "Pele: Birth of a Legend", on Tuesday.



Rahman's name featured in an initial list of 145 scores in contention for a nomination in the Original Score category. Also, "Ginga", his acclaimed number from the 2016 biographical film, was part of a long list of 91 songs competing for a spot in the final nominations for the Original Song category.



Among the top categories, Gosling will vie for Best Actor in a Leading Role with Casey Affleck ("Manchester by the Sea"), Denzel Washington ("Fences"), Viggo Mortensen ("Captain Fantastic") and Andrew Garfield ("Hacksaw Ridge").



Stone will compete against Isabelle Huppert ("Elle"), Ruth Negga ("Loving"), Natalie Portman ("Jackie") and Meryl Streep ("Florence Foster Jenkins") for the Best Actress in a Leading Role trophy.



To win Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar, Dev will have to defeat Mahershala Ali ("Moonlight"), Jeff Bridges ("Hell or High Water"), Lucas Hedges ("Manchester by the Sea") and Michael Shannon ("Nocturnal Animals").



For Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Viola Davis ("Fences"), Naomie Harris ("Moonlight"), Nicole Kidman ("Lion"), Octavia Spencer ("Hidden Figures") and Michelle Williams ("Manchester by the Sea" will have to fight it out to be victorious.



"La La Land" will face tough competition from "Arrival", "Hacksaw Ridge", "Hidden Figures", "Lion", "Moonlight", "Fences", "Hell or High Water" and "Manchester by the Sea" to receive the Best Picture honour.



"Land of Mine (Denmark), "A Man Called Ove" (Sweden), "The Salesman" (Iran), Tanna (Australia) and Toni Erdmann (Germany), on the other hand, will battle it out win the Best Foreign Language Film award.



Best Directing nominees are Denis Villeneuve ("Arrival"), Mel Gibson ("Hacksaw Ridge"), Damien Chazelle ("La La Land"), Kenneth Lonergan ("Manchester by the Sea") and Barry Jenkins ("Moonlight").



In the Best Animated Feature, the competition is between "Kubo and the Two Strings", "Moana", "My Life as a Zucchini", "The Red Turtle" and "Zootopia".



In the music category, "Jackie", "La La Land", "Lion", "Moonlight" and "Passengers" are up against Best Original Score award.



The prestigious Academy Awards will be handed over to winners in a star-studded ceremony on February 26 in Los Angeles.
Over 5, doctors ' title='000 doctors '>000 doctors and 20, 000 paramedical staff and volunteers will be gathering at Mumbai to hold the world's biggest medical camp, covering screening of several diseases related to liver, Ear-Nose-Throat, HIV and Cancer ' title=' HIV and Cancer '>HIV and Cancer among others.

The camp is being organised by city-based R.K. HIV Aids Research and Care Centre, which also said that free insurance worth Rs 6,000 crore will be distributed under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Surakhsha Yojana (PMJSY) to three lakh people already registered for the camp.

The medical camp is being organised at Mumbai Metropolitian Region Development Authority (MMRDA) ground at Bandra Kurla Complex on Feb 19, 2016. The organisers have also tied up with 52 other hospitals for free surgical procedures under government schemes.





"The low income group society is deprived of several healthcare interventions due to poor economic conditions; we want to thus support the masses. A total of 50,000 spectacles will be distributed, " said Chairman of R.K. HIV AIDS Research & Care Centre Dharmendra Kumar.



Kumar also said that they will try to get listed into the Guinness World Records through the initiative.
The Supreme Court is likely to hear on January 30 a batch of petitions by animal rights groups challenging the validity of a Tamil Nadu law permitting Jallikattu.

A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said that in all likelihood a bench comprising of him and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman would hear the plea on Monday on the bull-taming sport that is held in the state during Pongal.





Misra also referred to Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi's mentioning on January 24, about an intent of the government to withdraw a January 7 notification permitting the ancient sport.



Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi also told the court that they have filed an application pointing out that the state law permitting Jallikattu was repugnant to the provisions of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.



While senior counsel C.A. Sundram told the apex court that they had nothing to do with the government decision to withdraw the 2016 notification as they made substantive prayers and had nothing to do with the withdrawal.
A probe was ordered on Wednesday into the foiled jailbreak bid at South Goa's Sada sub-jail late on Tuesday, in which one inmate died, a senior officer said.

Several people, including jail guards, were injured during the attempted escape, the officer added.



Speaking to reporters Additional Inspector General of Police Siddhivinayak Naik said: "Yes, a probe has been ordered into the incident."



Deputy Superintendent of Police Lawrence D'Souza said inmate Vinayak Korbatkar died due to severe stab injuries which he received in the melee.



"He was declared dead on arrival at a hospital," the officer said.



Korbatkar was involved in the stabbing of another criminal, Ashpak Bengre, earlier in 2017.



South Goa Collector Swapnil Naik told reporters that the incident happened on the eve of shifting prisoners to the newly constructed Colvale Central jail, 15 km north of Panaji.



"The escape attempt took place after a fight broke out between two groups in the jail. They later attacked our jail guards and tried to escape from the main gate. But they were stopped by police," Naik said.



Late on Tuesday night, 45 prisoners and undertrials attempted to escape from the sub-jail, located 40 km from Panaji, after assaulting jail guards. The sub-jail is under repair.



Nine prisoners and four guards were treated for minor injuries at a government-run facility.
An army officer was killed and four other soldiers injured on Wednesday when an avalanche hit an army camp in Jammu and Kashmir in Ganderbal district, while four of a family died after their house was buried under the snow in Bandipora district, said officials.

"An avalanche hit an army camp in Ganderbal's Sonamarg today (on Wednesday) burying five soldiers under it," police said here.



"An operation was immediately launched to rescue the soldiers from under the avalanche debris.





"A major died in this tragedy while four soldiers were rescued alive in an injured condition and were taken to hospital for treatment," they added.



Confirming the incident near the tourist resort, some 100 km from here, an army spokesperson said "rescue operations commenced immediately" and "all other personnel were rescued and are safe".



He said the deceased soldier will be identified after the next of kin have been notified.



Earlier on Wedesday, four members of a family including the family head, his wife, daughter and son were killed when an avalanche hit their house in Tulial area of Gurez tehsil near the Line of Control in Bandipora, police said.
A 22-year-old Madison woman suffered a serious head injury Tuesday night during a domestic fight in an apartment on the South Side, with police searching for her assailant.

The incident happened at about 9:25 p.m. in the 2400 block of Allied Drive, Madison police said.

According to police, the woman was pushed and punched by the 25-year-old man, who she is acquainted with.

"The victim was knocked down and her head struck a coffee table, causing a significant laceration that exposed a large portion of her skull," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

The laceration was estimated to be 12 inches long; doctors told police she would need multiple stitches and plastic surgery.

The suspect fled the scene before police arrived. No description of the suspect was given.
A senior official of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), who was incharge of the committee that inquired into the incident of beating of a student inside the campus, resigned from his post on Tuesday.

A.P. Dimri, the Proctor of the central university, tendered his resignation allegedly due to differences with the Vice-Chancellor over the outcome of the inquiry.

"We knew of the differences between the Proctor and the VC for quite sometime over the punishment of guilty students. The Proctor suggested punishment to nine students for beating Najeeb Ahmed and served notices to them. But at the end the, matter was rounded off with only an order to change their hostels," Rama Naga, former Joint Secretary, JNU Students Union, told IANS.

"The Proctor was under pressure from the administration to be soft on the students, while the former wanted proper action against them," he added.

However, when contacted, Dimri refused to reveal the reasons for resignation.

A first year M.Sc. student Najeeb Ahmed was beaten up by at least nine students -- who were named in the proctorial inquiry report -- on the night of October 14 last year at his hostel inside the campus.

Ahmed has been missing ever since.
Laboratory panels and medical equipment worth Rs 20 lakh ' title=' worth Rs 20 lakh '>worth Rs 20 lakh was destroyed in a fire at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital, authorities said on Wednesday.

Hospital authorities said the incident was reported around 11.30 p.m. on Tuesday in the Microbiology laboratory caused due to a short circuit.

"The fire incident mostly affected the laboratory panels, some equipments, computers and wires. We have estimated the loss and it is around 20 lakh," A.K Gadpayle, Medical Superintendent of RML hospital, told IANS.



Gadpayle said that the fire was later brought under control after the fire tenders came.
Bollywood celebrities Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan and others allegedly involved in the 1998 blackbuck poaching couldn't make it to a court here on Wednesday. The hearing was deferred to Friday.

The actors cited security reasons for their absence from the court.



The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) was to record the statement of Salman, Saif, actresses Neelam Kothari, Tabu and Sonali Bendre as well as a local resident, Dushyant Singh.



However, applications seeking exemption from personal appearance was submitted on behalf of the accused, saying police were not able to provide adequate security to them due to Republic Day celebrations.





This year, the state-level Republic Day celebratioons are being held in Jodhpur.



Chief Judicial Magistrate Dalpat Singh Rajpurohit posted the matter to Friday, K.K. Vyas, counsel for Saif, Sonali and Neelam, told media.



Dushyant Singh was present in the court.



The five Bollywood celebrities are accused of poaching blackbucks in 1998 during the shooting of Hindi movie "Hum Saath Saath Hain".



Two blackbucks, a protected animal under the Wildlife Protection Act, were killed on the outskirts of Kankani village near Jodhpur.



Salman was accused of carrying and using illegal arms too but the court acquitted him of the charges.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday drew criticism as he not only shared stage with controversial Samajwadi Party leader Gayatri Prajapati at a public rally in Sultanpur but also exhorted people to elect him with a handsome victory margin.

Prajapati, a close associate of Mulayam Singh Yadav, has been fielded from Amethi. His tenure as the Mining Minister has been under cloud and the High Court has ordered a CBI probe into the allegations of wrong doings against him.

The development is being seen in political circles as a huge dent to Akhilesh's claim of starting a new era of clean politics in his party.

The BJP pounced on the opportunity and said the fact that Prajapati is the "brand ambassador of Akhilesh Yadav" speaks volumes about his bent towards graft and that the 43-year-old Chief Minister is only hoodwinking people.

Keshav Prasad Maurya, the state BJP President, said the corruption and gundaraaj of the SP government has further been exposed by Tuesday's show of solidarity for the minister by Akhilesh Yadav.
The sealing of the electoral alliance between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) has altered the political landscape in Uttar Pradesh for the crucial seven-phased assembly elections from February 11 to March 8.

While leaders of these two parties claim to have been forced into a political embrace to "stop the forward march of the communal BJP", the tie-up seems to have come as a rude shock for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), waiting in the wings to return to power on the time-tested Dalit-Muslim combination.



A resurgent BSP, which is targeting the ruling SP on poor law and order and focusing on the its failure during the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots which left more than 60 persons dead and thousands homeless, has suddenly gone into a huddle, haunted by the spectre of Muslims rallying behind the SP-Congress combine.



"There was euphoria in favour of Behenji (BSP supremo Mayawati) as the electoral race started in Uttar Pradesh. The SP was mired in infighting between father (Mulayam Singh Yadav) and son (Chief Minister) Akhilesh Yadav and the Congress had little to write home about. The BSP was a serious challenger to the BJP, itching to come to power at any cost," a senior Muslim voice in the old city pointed out.



He, however, said the political situation has changed drastically in the last 48-hours since the SP-Congress brokered a deal to stop the BJP. "We as a community want to keep the BJP at bay and the new alliance seems better placed to do so," Faiz-ur-Rehman, a worker at a city mosque, contended.



The writing on the wall seems to have already worried the BSP leadership as its senior leaders, mostly Muslim faces, have been asked by Mayawati to "go out and explain to the community that SP-Congress tie-up will only help the BJP by dividing votes and that she remains their best bet".



"The coming together of the SP-Congress is nothing but an attempt by both sides to piggyback each other in the face of certain electoral defeat," Naseemuddin Siddiqui, the tallest Muslim leader of the BSP, said.



One of Mayawati's closest aides, Siddiqui scoffed at the "winnability prospects" of the alliance.



Mayawati, on her part, has sharpened her attack on both the parties and has appealed to the Muslims not to be swayed by the last-minute tie-up as this was being done at the "behest of the communal forces to weaken the BSP".





"The Congress leadership has surrendered before the SP in a bid to garner a few seats but it has failed the aspirations of the Muslim voters," she thundered.



With 19 per cent votes that could influence 60-70 seats of the 403-member assembly, political observers here concede that while the Congress aligning with the SP could "offer a serious threat" to the BSP, they for now are giving the BSP and the Congress-SP alliance a 30:70 chance of splitting Muslim votes.



The BSP is stressing to its Muslim voters that the coming together of the 19 per cent Muslim vote and 23 per cent Dalit vote is potentially a match-winning cocktail. A section, however, dittoes Mayawati's fears that a triangular fight could give the BJP an edge it has been waiting for.



The jury is, however, out on who benefits and by how much from this alliance. For the SP, it is felt that the alliance is timely as, due to the infighting within, it was being largely considered knocked out of the race.



The tie-up returns it to the reckoning and it can now pitch in with its winning and time-tested MY Muslim-Yadav combination. The pan-Indian acceptance of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi as benefactors of the Muslim community stays intact and could benefit the SP. For the Congress too, it's a good situation as it is now riding with a regional party and is back in the fight.



Relegated to the fourth position in the state over the past few decades, the Congress now stands a decent chance of enhancing its numbers in the assembly and, in any case, can only hope to taste in power in a coalition. With its organisational structure in tatters, the 105 seats that have come its way is a "bumper draw", in the words of an old Congress worker. The Congress won a mere 28 seats in the 2012 assembly polls.



On the face of it, the BJP is chuckling, saying the alliance will result in a surge in its favour. "We have always been saying that the SP is the B-team of Congress and they are now out of the closet, making it easier to target them," said a senior BJP leader. The Congress, he pointed out, is still not favoured by the people in north India and the SP faces strong anti-incumbency.



BJP strategists also say that the SP-Congress alliance to consolidate the Muslim vote could trigger "reverse polarisation" on a larger scale among Hindus and force them to stand behind the saffron camp. Senior journalist Arvind Bajpayi, who has followed Muslim politics for very long, however, says "its an open field for all as of now".



"Campaigning is yet to start. On the face of it, the SP-Congress alliance seems to have taken a head start. How it pans out during the course of the polls -- we will have to wait and watch closely," he said.



The verdict on the winnability of this new political combination will be out on March 11 when votes are counted -- but, for now, the two have clearly managed to create a buzz.
BJP MP Vinay Katiyar on Wednesday courted controversy saying there were "prettier star campaigners" in his party than Congress Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Asked to comment on Priyanka being named as one of the star campaigners for the Congress in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the BJP Rajya Sabha member told media : "It doesn't make any difference. We have far more prettier women, heroines as star campaigners."



Katiyar's comment comes a day after Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav made a sexist remark.





Speaking in Bihar, the JD-U MP said the "honour of being able to cast a vote is a much bigger honour than your daughter's honour".



"If a daughter's honour is violated, then only her neighbourhood, her village will lose its honour. But if a vote is sold, it is the country's honour that goes," said Yadav.



The video of Yadav's comment has been aired by several TV channels and has gone viral on social media.



Both Yadav and Katiyar attracted severe criticism for their remarks.



"Most of the male politicians don't even understand when you talk about objectifying women. There should be something to sensitise these people, to make them aware what are women rights, what these issues are," said DMK leader Kanimozhi.



"They don't understand what can be said and what cannot," she added.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday sought the support of people in returning to power, saying his government had fulfilled promises made in the 2012 election manifesto.

The Samajwadi Party leader warned the people against the Bharatiya Janata Party and the hopes it generates.



"We have worked and shown what development is whereas the other party has ensured that people for their own money stand in lines and get nothing in the end," Akhilesh told a modest gathering here.



Warning the people not to be swayed by promises made by the "chamatkari party" (miraculous party), Yadav said the time had come to reject the Narendra Modi government and its policies.





In his third election rally within a span of two days, the 43-year-old for the first time mentioned the tie up between the SP and the Congress for the state assembly polls starting from February 11.



The Chief Minister said people should back them as a second innings in power will ensure the good work done in his first stint is taken forward.



"We have made expressways, roads, improved the power scenario, distributed free laptops, given incentives to meritorious students and have also worked to protect the interests of the farmers," Akhilesh said while listing the achievements of his government.



He also asked the people to go through the SP manifesto and said if voted to power again, Rs 1,000 per family will be issued to one crore people.



According to Akhilesh, the Samajwadi government has worked for the welfare of all sections of society without any prejudice and if brought to power in this year's assembly polls, the SP-Congress alliance will ring in more prosperity for the people of Uttar Pradesh.
Ending days of speculation, the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) on Wednesday announced it will not contest assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

"JD-U will not contest in Uttar Pradesh to ensure the defeat of communal forces by minimizing the chances of split in secular votes," JD-U national spokesperson K.C Tyagi told the media.





Tyagi said the party took the decision after its leaders agreed "not to split the anti-BJP votes".



But he expressed displeasure over the failure to forge a Bihar-like Grand Alliance in Uttar Pradesh.



Last year, Nitish Kumar addressed nearly half a dozen public meetings in Uttar Pradesh with the hope of contesting the assembly polls.
After Priyanka Gandhi, her husband Robert Vadra too slammed BJP MP Vinay Katiyar for his "misogynist and atrocious remarks", saying it "exposed his shameful mindset" and demanded a public apology from him.

Katiyar courted controversy saying there were "prettier star campaigners" in his party than Priyanka who is the star campaigner for the Congress in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.





"Shocked at misogynist and atrocious remarks of BJP MP Vinay Katiyar saying there were 'prettier star campaigners' in his party than Congress's Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.



"This exposes the shameful mindset of some of our political leaders. We all need to respect women and accept them as equals instead of commoditising and objectifying them. As a society, we need to bring in a change. Vinay Katiyar should publically apologise for his remarks," Vadra said on his Facebook account.


The leaders of the world's two greatest democracies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, spoke over phone on Tuesday in the fifth interaction by the newly elected US head with a foreign leader after he assumed office.

White House Spokesperson Sean Spicer said details of their conversation that took place around 11 p.m. (IST) would be provided soon.

During his campaign, Trump praised Modi as a "great leader" and sought a kinship of ideas with him as a "pro-growth leader".

The call to Modi so soon after Trump's inauguration is itself a sign of India's importance to Trump.

So far, Trump has spoken only with the neighbours -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mexican President Pena Nieto and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who will have a major role in helping Trump deal with the Middle East and with terrorism.

The call took place shortly after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee cleared the first phase of the appointment process for Nikkai Haley to become the US ambassdor to the United Nations. When appointed, she would be the first Indian-American to hold a cabinet-level post in the US.

President Pranab Mukherjee has invited Trump to visit India. Trump has made business trips to India before.

Among issues of concern to India are exports to the US and the flow of technically qualified people there through H1-B visas to buoy the Indian technology companies there.

However, India is likely to face problems in these areas.

Earlier in the day, Trump met auto industry leaders to to promote his programme of "Make in America". On Monday, he met union and industry leaders and emphasised his campaign mantra of "Buy American, Hire American".

India and the US share a common worry about Islamic radicalism.

Trump has also been critical of China over its trade and regional policies.
Inmates at the states youth prison are routinely placed in solitary confinement for minor offenses, a current inmate and a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the state alleges in a column published Wednesday.

Being in solitary messes you up: you cant sleep, you feel anxious, and the longer you are there the angrier it makes you feel. I mean, you try sleeping with the light on 24 hours a day, or having to distract yourself in a small, dirty, smelly space, the inmate listed as J.J. wrote in a column published in the Guardian U.S. And they give you 30 or 60 days in solitary for whatever  disrespecting staff, running, not even stuff that hurts other people.

A Department of Corrections spokesman declined to comment because of the pending litigation. A spokesman for Gov. Scott Walker did not respond to a request for comment.

The inmate, who wrote he has been at Lincoln Hills for about two years, is one of four plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU this week against the state DOC for alleged violations of inmates constitutional rights, including the right to live free from cruel and unusual punishment.

A former Lincoln Hills guard disputes the inmates claims, which appear in the lawsuit.

There are very few incidents other than fighting or battery for which a youth may be sent to security, said Doug Curtis, who retired in October after 20 years. The two buildings at the prisons campus with solitary cells are known as security cottages.

Curtis rejected describing the cells as solitary confinement. He said the inmates are removed from the cells frequently and contribute to a negative atmosphere in the security cottages.

Frequently they plug their toilets and flood both their rooms and the halls. They smear feces, cover their cameras, cover their door windows, pound and kick their doors, scream (obscenities) and do everything they can to disrupt the security building, Curtis said. Their pounding and noise can be heard hundreds of yards away.

The inmate wrote in the column he was first sent to the Irma facility when he was 15 after getting in trouble with the law, but did not say what crime he committed.

I didnt know theyd be sending me four hours away to Irma, Wisconsin, where I would be surrounded by guards who treat the kids there like dogs, the inmate wrote, adding he also saw guards beating kids and that he has been sent to the prisons solitary confinement cells about 10 times.

Ive spent most of my time at Lincoln Hills in solitary confinement, the inmate wrote. Honestly, I feel like the guards intentionally provoke kids to get them to react so they can put them there and not have to worry about them.

But Curtis disputed the inmates characterization of the treatment of inmates by guards. Curtis said in an interview Wednesday that the inmates are not routinely kept in the security cottages cells for all but one hour out of a day.

Its determined by the kids behavior, Curtis said of how long stays are. If they are still wild and combative, well then theyre going to stay there until they calm down. ... If theyre threatening everyone in the world, then we dont really feel confident in sending them back to their cottage to beat up everyone in there.

The ACLU lawsuit also focuses on the staffs use of pepper spray. The inmate wrote he has been sprayed five or six times.

One time, I wasnt cooperating when they tried to take me to solitary, so they pepper-sprayed me, he wrote. They do that to a lot of kids, even for nonviolent stuff like refusing a staff order. ... Sometimes they spray it into the cell, sometimes they spray it right into your face. It makes you temporarily blind and hurts really bad.

Curtis said pepper spray is used as a last resort and that guards make decisions in response to inmates behavior.
Narendra Modi ' title='Prime Minister Narendra Modi '>Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Donald Trump ' title=' US President Donald Trump '>US President Donald Trump discussed the security situation in South and Central Asia during their phone conversation on Tuesday night and resolved that India and US will "stand shoulder to shoulder" to fight global terrorism, the White House said.

Strengthening defence partnership was among topics that came up during their talks about furthering cooperation between the two nations, according to the White House.



"Trump emphasised that the United States considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said.



This was reflected in the fact that conversation between the leaders of the world's two greatest democracies came before Trump had talked to leaders of important allies like Britain, Germany and Japan or major powers like China and Russia since formally taking office last Friday.



During his campaign, Trump praised Modi as a "great leader" and sought a kinship of ideas with him as a "pro-growth leader" when he attended a rally organised by the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) in New Jersey in October. He added that after his election India would have true friend in the White House.



White House said that Trump invited Modi to visit him later this year.



President Pranab Mukherjee invited Trump to visit India when he congratulated him on assuming the presidency. The real estate investor-turned-politician has visited India several times for business.



Another topic Trump and Modi discussed was strengthening the partnership in the economy, but the statement did not give any details of what they might have discussed.

Modi and Trump have parallel priorities of job creation, especially through manufacturing, and increasing investments which may appear headed for a collision.



Earlier in the day, Trump met with auto industry leaders to to promote his programme of "Make in America" and on Monday, he met union and industry leaders and emphasised his campaign mantra of "Buy American, Hire American".



Shalabh Kumar, the founder and head of the Republican Hindu Coalition who is close to both leaders, told media that trade need not be a zero sum game and both nations can mutually benefit from their respective "Make in India" and "Make in America" domestic manufacturing programmes.



As an example, he said that while the US increases manufactured exports to India in defence, technology and energy sectors, India will have an opportunity to take advantage of Trump's move away from China and increase its own manufactured exports in a balanced manner. This would help create jobs in both countries and enable both leaders to achieve their priorities, he added.



Trump has also spoken about limiting the use of temporary professional visas known as H1-B, which he has repeatedly said is abused and is used throw Americans out of jobs.



That is a matter of great concern for India as the visas are the lifeblood of technology sector exports to the US.



Tuesday was a special day to hold their conversation. Nikki Haley became the first Indian American to get a cabinet-level appointment when the Senate approved on that day Trump's nomination of her to be the US ambassador to the United Nations.



On Monday, Trump appointed Ajit Pai to be the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, the powerful agency that regulates mobile phones and the spectrum, telephones, radio, television and cable.



A third senior administration appointee of Trump is Seema Verma, who will be in charge of the government healthcare programmes and have a key role in reforming President Barack Obama's health insurance plan.



Before the call with Modi, Trump had spoken only with the neighbours, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Pena Nieto, with premier ally Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who will have a major role in helping Trump deal with the Middle East and with terrorism.
Mexico is a more familiar for most Americans, like the woman down the dock who thought shed need to arm herself. I chalk this up to lack of understanding and media influence. Staying safe in Mexico mostly comes down to dont be stupid (walk around Tijuana drunk at 2am? Involved in drug trade of any kind?). We paid attention to the coconut telegraph and local reputations (watch your dinghy in Mazatlan, and your outboard in Barra.). Pretty sure most cruisers who have been to Mexico would agree with me: we feel safer there than we do in the US by a wide margin!

Petty theft happens. If you think disguising your outboard to look beat up and old will make it less appealing, think again. Its an outboard. Our US flag was probably stolen off the back of the boat in Seychelles, but we're not even positive that was deliberate vs slippery line and knots coming undone. Our horseshoe was taken off the back of the boat in Labuan, Malaysiaprobably. I think it was secure? Know the reputation of places you go, what to do or not do, and then be open. Weve also noticed that folks who assume people are out to get them until proven otherwise are more likely to have problems with petty theft. Theres no statistical significance to the observation, but something demonstrated often enough.

With a return to the Caribbean ahead, we have a lot to learn about staying safe. Once again, it's an area with risks to learn about and decide how to approach. Should we put bars across the hatches? Are there destinations to rule out? There's a lot to figure out, but we'll do our best, and we sure don't think we're safer by staying at home.

Back to the question we had at that cocktail party about how many guns are on Totem. Diplomatic me wants to say that guns on board are a personal choice and your choice is fine, but Im not feeling very diplomatic. Guns aboard are a bad idea for a pile or reasons. Had the German boat recently boarded in the Philippines not had guns aboard, the woman aboard would probably still be alive. So would Sir Peter Blake.

While cruising in Mexico, we met a former green beret colonel out cruising with his family. His training is extensive, and his opinion- which I respect- was that the training needed for a gun on board is WAY outside the realm of the typical cruiser. It's not just about going to the range, and how to handle it, but the microdecisions about when to use it. Even with all of his training, he felt he was safer without a gun on board than with one.

Aside from the fact that the best way to be shot by a gun aboard is to have a gun aboard, its a hassle. You have to declare them on entry in a new country. That country will almost certainly take them for you until you clear out, and your port of entry and intended port of clearance could be a long distance apart. Lying and hiding guns? Laws vary of course, but can mean incarceration or death if theyre found! Go ahead, cowboy. If someone is determined to target us and to take our stuff, Id rather just let them take it than risk greater personal injury to my kids or myself.
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."
U.S. Rep. Ron Kind said Wednesday that a new hiring freeze by President Donald Trumps administration could hamper efforts to improve care at the troubled Tomah VA Medical Center.

Trump, in one of his first official acts as president, signed an executive order Monday imposing the hiring freeze across federal agencies, including the VA system.

Kind, D-La Crosse, said the move comes amid staffing shortages at the Tomah VA Medical Center and other VA centers in Wisconsin and Minnesota. At Tomah, located in the congressional district Kind represents, he said one of the biggest issues is the shortage of health care professionals, including nurses, psychiatrists and dermatologists.

The fact that one of President Trumps first actions was to make it harder for Wisconsin veterans to receive quality care and help is simply unacceptable, Kind said in a statement.

VA officials told USA Today on Tuesday they plan to take advantage of exceptions within the hiring freeze for positions deemed necessary for public safety needs.

Its not clear whether the freeze would affect the 22 vacancies currently posted for the Tomah VA. Those openings include nine physicians, one physicians assistant, two nurse practitioners and five other care providers.

A clinic spokesman referred questions to VA headquarters, which did not immediately respond to questions.

Staffing shortages forced the facility to shutter its inpatient psychiatric unit for 10 months in 2015 and 2016 and to suspend admissions to a residential care center.

In 2015, the VA cited staff shortages when it slashed hours at the Tomah urgent care clinic, forcing veterans with overnight emergency medical concerns to go to local hospital emergency rooms, sometimes at their own expense.

The Tomah VA facility has a troubled history stemming from its alleged over-prescription of opioid painkillers to veterans.

A federal investigation found deficiencies in care at Tomah contributed to the 2014 death of a U.S. Marine from Stevens Point, Jason Simcakoski. After the findings were disclosed, the centers director and chief of staff no longer are employed at Tomah. The former chief of staff, David Houlihan, eventually surrendered his Wisconsin medical license.

The national VA system also has faced considerable controversy in recent years. In 2014, reports showed veterans were waiting too long to get care  in some cases, dying before they received it  and that VA employees at some facilities were falsifying reports to conceal long wait times.

La Crosse Tribune reporter Chris Hubbuch contributed to this report.
Everyone at some stage in life  especially if you are a Samoan citizen  will have to confront the reality that to travel anywhere in the world  you will need a visa. This is a given.

The difference is that some of us are intelligent and confident enough to work out what we need to do while others who are not so informed become victims of scammers looking to prey on their vulnerabilities.

The sad part is too many of our people have become victims of this vicious cycle. In their hour of need for some help in terms of immigration advice, the factors are heavily stacked against them. Their inability to understand the English language, the lack of confidence in approaching the correct authorities and sometimes the unhelpful nature of some immigration officials have left them wide open to being scammed. And they have lost thousands of their hard-earned tala in the process. Weve seen this over and over again.

The latest example emerged in the Sunday Samoan under the headline Couple issue scam warning. The story featured a couple from Fagamalo, Savaii, who claim to be victims of what they claim as an immigration scam run by a woman in Taufusi.

They claim to have been hoodwinked of close to $20,000 in fees for a trip to Australia that has yet to happen.

In September, we were given her name and someone said we should go and see her, the couple said. Thats how we met her. We compiled most of the information and she said she was going to get the airfares and the statutory declarations, which was $150. The airfares were $5,800 and that was the first amount of money we were tricked into giving her. She said it will be heaps better if you give them two return airfares already.

So we just thought this womans been recommended by a family friend, shes going to help us from going back to and forth from Savaii all the time. Thats why we decided to use her.

Alas it was a big mistake.

As soon as we gave her the airfare money, we couldnt get a hold of her for a week and we tried emailing and phoning and no answer.

But things got worse. The couple also gave her $14,000 to apply for a different type of visa. To cut a long story short, the couple are still in Samoa and they are looking for their money.

Looking back on the situation, the couple admitted they were naive.

The police said shes very smart and she strung us along for a long time. Looking back on it now, we were very stupid.

We were under the impression that she was a friend of the family and looking out for our best interest but she had us set up from the very start. It wasnt until that we said enough is enough that we went to the police and provided key pieces of evidence to prove that she lied to us from the very start.

We want this woman exposed because shes been charged before our case and has two current cases apart from ours. We think its the tip of the iceberg as well. I think shes defrauding a lot of people and we want to warn everyone.

By the way, we have the name and identity of the woman and this story is not over yet. You will eventually find out who she is. But this couples story from Fagamalo is so typical of how our people are robbed by some serious con artists out there. They are ruthless, vicious and they will lie to you with their eyes wide opened.

The good news is with a bit more education and public awareness, many people might be spared the agony and the pain of being fooled in the future.

Now at the beginning of the week, the New Zealand Immigration Advisors Authority (I.A.A.) warned against such people.

The warning came from Catherine Albiston, the Registrar of I.A.A. who cautioned members of the public against working with what they refer to as unlicensed advisers.

Our main message is to raise awareness in the community that it isnt okay for people in the community to provide immigration advice unless youve got a license, she said. We want to stop scams and stop people from paying money that doesnt get them a visa.

In New Zealand, the government there has specifically set up the I.A.A. to protect migrants who wish to travel to New Zealand.

There have been historically and it continues that migrants and people wanting to come to New Zealand do get bad immigration advice.

It may be from good meaning people in the community and from the churches but often they get bad advice.

That bad advice has bad consequences for peoples lives. That bad advice wrecks lives and people end up in New Zealand as over-stayers and might get deported which causes financial stress and stress in families when people get bad advice.

So what can people do?

According to Ms. Albiston, anyone who needs immigration advice should go directly to Information New Zealand.

If you need extra help, you need to use a licensed immigration adviser. There are very few exceptions for lawyers who have a certificate but most of them are based in New Zealand.

Currently there are only two licensed advisors for New Zealand based in Apia. They are Denise Ella Sonnya Ah Tune and Roberta Tiatia. There might be licensed advisors for other countries, which we are not aware of.

The point is that dont take anyones word when it comes to immigration advice. You are better off to ask questions  even in Samoan  at the Immigration Office and be seen to look stupid rather than having someone pretend to help you when all theyre doing is stealing your hard-earned money while they are at it. Exercise caution and be alert.

Happy Thursday Samoa, God bless!
Re: The scourge of theft in Samoa

Tony, you describe the experiences of most of us new Samoans.

Someone once told me that Samoa is a country without a conscience. It is unfortunately true.

God fearing Samoans dont seem to subscribe to the fundamental tenets of Christianity, the ten commandments, or about 5 or 6 of them at least.

Founded on God what a joke!

Theft is so acceptable that it is not prosecuted as any crime should.

If we are to get all thieves charged and go through the court system, with many spending time in jail, there may be a change in the communities acceptance of this crime.

No one has mentioned the tourists who experience this as they are more likely to damage Samoas international reputation and hold back growth in our most important sector, tourism.

Kevin Hartin
Former Cabinet Minister, Faumuina Tiatia Liuga, has taken the government to task over what he claims as the lack of support for the private sector.

He has also urged the government not to focus on the deficit but rather they should have faith to do what is necessary to develop Samoa.

Speaking in Parliament during the discussion of the Supplementary Budget, the veteran Member of Parliament reminded that as the engine of economic growth, the government needs to show a lot more support to develop the business community.

He pointed out that businesses provide employment opportunities and the benefits from these will filter down to ordinary people who need money for survival.

The question is, are we developing the private sector? he said. We need to develop the private sector! That is the engine for national growth and that is why we should develop it.

In addressing the allocations in the Supplementary Budget, Faumuina questioned the millions of unutilised appropriations from financial years 2014/2015 and 2015/2016.

They are $7million and $10million respectively.

"The Ministry of Finance should attempt to implement training programmes to inform Ministries and Corporations, as to the exact amounts of appropriation allocated to them each financial year, he said. We want to encourage the utilisation of funds.

He also suggested that the government should set up a Project Management Unit.

According to Faumuina, this is because he has heard so many stories about uncompleted projects.

Ive heard stories that we are not making any progress moving forward. That is because there is an accumulation of work. So what can we do about it?

We should develop a Project Management Unit to handle project plans.

The Unit, he said, should monitor and assess the progress of any project.

The truth is the standard of monitoring and assessments that we do is just inadequate.

But who is responsible? Its certainly not the Minister.

It should be the responsibility of the C.E.O. and the staff. But we need to motivate them, if workers are motivated, we will see that the level of productivity is high as well.

Turning to the Minister of Finance, Faumuina told Sili he has to stop focusing on the deficit.

Look at the unused funds from the financial years of 2014-2015, they total up to $7million tala. But we havent renovated the wharf at Salelologa?

We are also expecting a total of $10 million unused funds from the financial years of 2015-2016. This is money that is not being used. This is something that we need to look at carefully.

Faumuina said the government is too busy focusing on the difference between cash inflows and outflows.

You focus too much on the deficit. We are suffering because you supported the I.M.F. instead of fighting.

Ive heard stories about how we are not making any progress and that there are no work at all. Sili, I didnt think you were a coward.

Like I said, you focus too much on the deficit.

Faumuina also called on everyone to work together.

He also encouraged his fellow M.P.s to always rely on God.

We should remember that a task can be accomplished if several people help, said Faumuina.

Sili, I understand that it is not easy to be a Minister; it is not easy. But I also know that you are a man of faith. If you rely on God and draw close to him, you can do it.
The Chief Justice, His Honour Patu Tiavaasue Falefatu Sapolu and the President of the Land and Titles Court, Fepuleai Attila Ropati, have clarified the decision by the Judiciary to abstain from a Parliament-ordered Commission of Inquiry to investigate the work of its Judges.

The explanation is contained in a copy of the response from the Land and Titles Court to the report by the Commission of Inquiry tasked to review the performance of the Judges.

Dated 20 January 2017, the response was submitted with a cover letter signed by Fepuleai to the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, Charlene Malele.

The official response is co-signed by His Honour Patu and President Fepuleai.

The report has been tabled in Parliament and was the subject of a Ministerial statement by Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi on Tuesday when Parliament reconvened.

According to a copy obtained by the Samoa Observer, the Land and Titles Court Judges objection was based on a legitimate concern.

The main reason the Judges did not take part was because of our concern that members of the public would eventually criticise the decisions by the Land and Titles Court Judges, which was clearly reflected in the report, a translation of the response reads.

Our firm belief is that the Judges of the Land and Titles Court are not answerable to any person or any Committee in relation to their decisions.

The concern is that it diminishes the independence and the integrity of the Land and Titles Court and its decisions.

The response pointed out that Land and Title Court decisions are carefully investigated.

When it comes to decisions of the Land and Titles Court, they are a collective outcome of a panel after an investigation. It means it is not the opinion of one person but rather it is the opinion of a majority.

The response also highlighted the procedures that were already in place for members of the public to seek redress.

In terms of Court procedures, if a party is not satisfied with a ruling by the Land and Titles Court, they can appeal a decision in accordance with the law, the response says.

If a party is still not satisfied with the outcome, the Judicial Review of the Supreme Court provides another opportunity. If they still are not satisfied, there is an opportunity at the Court of Appeal.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Tuilaepa criticised the decision by the Land and Titles Court to abstain.

They were afraid, they were embarrassed to be questioned about their reckless handling of matters pertaining to the people of this nation, Tuilaepa said.

Tuilaepa added that their refusal is a contempt of the dignity of Parliament and he called on the Speaker of Parliament for the matter to be dealt with immediately.

I dont need to tell you Mr. Speaker and the Chairmen of Parliament Committees that the power is in your hands to summon anyone required by any Committee of Parliament, Tuilaepa said.

That is Parliamentary procedure. Even I as the leader of the government and Cabinet Ministers always respond when we are called by a Committee. We come, we wait outside the meeting room until the Committee calls us in.

Tuilaepa said they do this because they respect the authority vested in each organ of democratic Samoa.

These are guidelines that all leaders should respect and adhere to, he said.

Mr. Speaker, I dont mean to tell you what to do but I strongly urge you not to allow anything foolish like this in the future.

The appointed Committee has the authority of the Parliament of Samoa. This is the highest assembly of Samoa, there is no other before it or after it.

Im not saying this out of high-mindedness but if there is an assembly that should be obeyed by a person, it is this one. That is why it is called the Fono Aoao Faitulafono a Samoa (The Legislative Assembly of Samoa).

So for anyone to reject the call to appear before this Assembly is a serious offense. It is contempt of the dignity of this Parliament, which means it should be dealt with immediately.

Tuilaepa also downplayed suggestions that the government is interfering with the work of the Judiciary.
A $12million supplementary budget tabled by the Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, has been passed.

The budget was approved on Tuesday during Parliaments first session for 2017. The key priorities are:

 $7,000,000 to the Statutory Vote

 $2,000,000 additional funds for Income Tax Refunds

 $274,134 for the Legislative Assembly

 $709, 885 for the Ministry of Communication

 $1,934,828 for the Ministry of Education

 $225,000 for the Ministry of Finance

 $353,569.73 for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

 $825,080 for the Ministry of Health

 $233,962 for the Ministry of Justice

 $161,440 for the Ministry of Works, Transport and Infrastructure

 $680,000 for the National Health Services

During the budget debate, many M.P.s raised issues in relation to developments within their constituencies and villages.

Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, acknowledged the issues raised and welcomed the concerns expressed.

The feedback from my perspective was very positive, Sili told the Samoa Observer. I think it was encouraging to see most of the Parliamentarians speaking up and provide advice as to where we should be heading and what we should be doing.

Sili added that he would take into account the recommendations as he prepares the main estimates for this financial year.

The feedback can help us do better when we prepare for the main estimates for this year. We will take into account some of the suggestions from the other M.Ps on how we can improve in terms of the financial planning and the allocation of resource.

Also we will look carefully at the areas that we should prioritise to ensure that we respond to the needs of our people expressed by their M.Ps. So to me, the feedback was very positive; it was very pleasing as well.

I like that fact that a lot of them commented and supported the supplementary estimates for this year and they were also happy with the fact that we are trying to consolidate.

I think there were only one or two M.Ps who said that maybe we were too conservative but you know our message that was delivered through the budget statement for the main estimates in June.

Sili was referring to the theme of the Main Budget for the last financial year which is living within our means.

We need to make sure that we have the resources and that we dont over commit and then we run into deficit, he said.

I am very a strong believer that we need to pay attention to our financial management. In this way we focus on what the main priorities are and to develop the economy and to ensure we dont over depend on borrowings.

We also need to make sure that the capacity of the public sector is at the level where we can make best uses of our resources and resources from our development partners.

We dont want to find out at the end of a financial year that we have borrowings in which we might have received funding for a number of projects in which we did not implement well.

Sili said one of his focuses is to build capacity of the different government ministries to ensure that they are able to implement and make good use of resources and funding. This can be done if his Ministry continues to monitor and evaluate the implementation of projects by the different ministries.

We also need to ensure that our procurement process and tendering process is fair and that everybody has the opportunity to bid.

Sili said it would probably take him another year to see where we are now, where we want to be and what we need to do.

We need to go slow; thats really my perspective of what we need to do. We need to make sure, that if there are problems, if the ministries are not making good use of money, then we will look at how we can improve on their capacity.

(Then) the Ministry of Finance will consult with the different ministries so that they can understand what their constraints are and whether they understand the process of use of funds and the reporting.

As you know, for the funding that we get from development partners, and the ones we borrow from the multilateral institutions, we need to account for them. We need to make sure that we deliver what they are expecting us to do.

Sili also stated that they are also aware that they need to improve their service delivery to the people of Samoa.

We need to connect with them and listen to them, said Sili. We need to look at whether we need to change our systems and the way we do work to make sure that we respond to their needs, and our people expect us to do it. I am a strong believer that we need to make sure that the government and all its agencies, Ministries do respond and connect with our people.
Parliament is a step closer to amending the Constitution to define Samoa as a Christian State.

This followed widespread support for the Constitutional Amendment Bill (No.2) 2016 tabled by Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi last year.

According to the Constitutional Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2016s Explanatory Memorandum, the government aims to insert in the Constitution that Samoa is a Christian nation to declare the dominance of Christianity in Samoa.

During the second reading in Parliament this week, Tuilaepa said the Constitutions reference to Christianity as it stands is only in the Preamble of the Constitution.

The discussion of this bill is not new as it was introduced in our last Parliament sitting. And from that discussion, we saw how inadequate the Constitution was at the time. Inadequate in terms of how Samoa as a Christian State is not included in the body of the Constitution.

Instead it is in the cover and the preamble of the Constitution, not within the body of the Constitution.

This shows that it is not part of the Constitution. This does not stand in Court as it is not included in the body of the Constitution.

Tuilaepa said he understood the main reason it wasnt included in the body of the Constitution then was because there were no religious wars in Samoa when the Constitution was initially written. He said that perhaps our ancestors were not thinking about it at the time.

This means that we have been misled all these years. And every time we say that Samoa is founded on God because it is in within our Constitution, God mustve had a good laugh and thought that we have been fooling him.

And it has been more than 50 years since we have been fooling God, because this is not in the body of our Constitution.

That is exactly why the 47 members of our party (H.R.P.P) have decided to review and amend the Constitution to correct this.

The main objective of the bill is that Samoas religious stance as a Christian nation may be firmly enshrined in the body of the Constitution.

With the amendment, Tuilaepa said Christianity will no longer be at the Cover or the preamble of the Constitution. Rather it will become an integral part of the body of the Constitution.

The phrase Samoa is founded on God will no longer be used. Instead, under the Constitution, it will be, Samoa is a Christian nation founded of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Finally, Tuilaepa said that religious wars are a common occurrence throughout the world and it has resulted in some great civil wars within countries.

Therefore, it is the Governments duty to legislate accordingly, in efforts to avoid religious tensions in the future.

The floor was then opened to Member of Parliaments to show their views on the matter.

First to voice an opinion was Olo Fiti Vaai. The Opposition M.P. showed his support for the bill but proposed that the definition of the Holy Trinity be defined even further.

Second to comment on the bill was Gatoloaifaana Amataga Alesana-Gidlow, Member for Faasaleleaga No.1. She acknowledged the Cabinet for the great initiative in proposing the amendment, which will emphasise to the rest of the world that Samoa is truly founded on God.

Gatoloaifaana suggested that perhaps the definition of Christianity could be expanded to include other Christian doctrines, such as the crucial belief that Jesus Christ was crucified and was later resurrected. She also believes that this will encourage the people of Samoa to put God at the forefront of their lives and to stay away from non-Christian acts.

Fonotoe Pierre Lauofo, Member for Anoamaa West, also noted his support for the bill.

But the proposed bill will not restrict other denominations from their religious practices, nor restrict them from entering the country.

In the reality of things, it is difficult for any State to regulate its peoples religious inclinations given the ability of various denominations to easily reach the public through various technological means, and indoctrinate people.

Member of Parliament for Alataua West, Aliimalemanu Alofa Tuuau also raised her hand to support the bill. However she noted her concern over the possible influx of religious fanatics into the country.

I believe the proposed amendment is insufficient as it apparently lacks real power to limit the spread of potentially fanatical denominations within the country.

Thats why we need to either amend the proposed Article or include an additional Article which would restrict the denominations in Samoa to Christian denominations only.

But M.P. for Faleata West, Lealilepule Rimoni Aiafi objected to the proposals to restrict non-Christian beliefs to come into Samoa.

I dont support these proposals, said Leala. This is a re-affirmation, to tell the world that we are a Christian nation. I dont think we should restrict other denominations or non-Christians beliefs in Samoa.

That will just show that we are moving backwards. We are a progressive country.

Tell and show the world what we are, and the best way to do it is through what we do. The country will know that we are a Christian country if we show it to them. And if they come here, they will respect that. If we also go to their country, we will also respect their religion and values.

Leala went on to say that through the decisions the government makes for Samoa, the whole world will know that Samoa know that Samoa is a Christian country.

For instance if we make laws and bills, we need to make decisions that will reflect that we are a Christian country. So if other countries push us to make laws such as to allow same sex marriage, then we have to say no because that will not show that we are a Christian country. That will never happen in Samoa.

Leala believes that we dont need to worry about other denominations. Instead, we should focus on our own faiths and beliefs and make it strong.

Dont be threatened or feared by other denominations. It will show how strong our faith is if we stand firmly in our own beliefs. We just have to focus on us and show them how strong our faith is. You dont just tell them we have faith, we show them.

Other Members of the House noted their full support for the bill.

Tuilaepa moved a motion for the bill to be second read, the motion was carried and the bill stands referred to the Standing Orders, Electoral, Petitions and Constitutional Offices Committee.
Gov. Scott Walker is preparing a plan to help rural school districts, he said Wednesday.

No details about the plan have been revealed by the governor, but Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance executive director Kim Kaukl said funding for rural schools and transportation, expanding broadband access and initiatives to improve the teacher pipeline and administrative efficiency are being discussed.

Walkers 2017-19 state budget proposal also will include funding to allow districts to apply for grants for mobile wireless internet hot spots for school buses and to allow students to take home, Kaukl said.

Assembly Republicans have previously floated the idea of proposing in the upcoming budget to supply a tablet or laptop computer to nearly all high school freshmen.

Walker said during a Wednesday meeting of the Wisconsin Credit Union League that he planned to tour the state on Thursday to release dramatic proposals intended to help rural schools. But his spokesman said late Wednesday that the stops would be rescheduled because Walker is ill.

Walker had planned to stop at schools in Stanley, Hilbert, Wauzeka and Crandon. Its unclear when Walker will reschedule and unveil details of his proposal.

Kaukl said he met with the governor and suggested increasing the state-imposed revenue limits to more than $200 per pupil and increase funding for rural school districts that have had to recently quit offering summer school in part because of transportation costs.

Kaukl also said he requested more money for mental health services, special education, a financial incentive for school districts to share services and a repeal of the state school year start date of September 1.

Jim Jones, who is superintendent of the Stanley-Boyd School District, where Walker planned to stop, said small, rural school districts with few students face financial troubles that larger districts dont because their costs per student are much higher.

The quality of the districts teachers, principals and administrators must be on par with larger school districts, but because of their low enrollment, the districts budgets dont always accommodate salaries that would attract good candidates for school positions.

The rural schools, they have some real, tough budgetary parameters, said Jones. They have issues that everybody else doesnt have simply because of their size. So I hope he will quote-unquote throw some money at them.

Walker has said he would increase state-imposed revenue limits and backfill the increase with state funding to allow districts to spend more but keep residents tax burden the same.

He also has said for months that increasing investment in schools will be a priority in his upcoming 2017-19 state budget proposal, especially for rural schools, which state Superintendent Tony Evers has called for in past budget cycles.

Evers current budget request asks for $5.5 million to provide rural school districts with grant money to pay teachers to retain and recruit them; increase transportation funding for rural school districts and millions more in funding for bilingual-bicultural programs and programs aimed at students who are learning English as a second language.
A Samoan is among three outstanding Pacific Islanders who have been awarded the 2017 Greg Urwin Awards.

She is Samoan lawyer, Dr. Lalotoa Mulitalo, who is a former Legal Counsel for the Parliament of Samoa.

The award provides her and two others with opportunities to develop skills, experience and networks in their fields of expertise.

Dr Lalotoa Mulitalo is joined by Etivina Lovo and Vincent Lal, who will shortly commence their placements with their respective host organisations.

The Greg Urwin Awards are a joint initiative of the Australian Government, through the Pacific Leadership Program (P.L.P.) and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (P.I.F.S.).

The Awards were set up in 2008 to honour the memory of former Secretary General of P.I.F.S. and former Australian High Commissioner to Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu, the late Greg Urwin.

Awardees receive financial support to undertake a three-month placement to enhance their experience and knowledge and contribute to development in the region.

The Greg Urwin Awards, in supporting our collective economic, social and cultural development progress, are very much in line with the intentions of the Framework of Pacific Regionalism, said Andie Fong Toy, P.I.F.S. Deputy Secretary General and Awards Selection Committee member.

The Forum Secretariat warmly congratulates the 2017 recipients, and we look forward to following the initiatives of these leaders into the future.

Australias Acting High Commissioner to Fiji, Amy Crago, said, The 2017 recipients were selected from a high calibre of applicants from the Pacific. These recipients are the leaders of the future - this is what makes the Greg Urwin Awards special and is the reason why the Australian Government continued to invest in the Greg Urwin Awards in 2017.

The 2017 Greg Urwin

Awardees are:

 Dr Lalotoa Mulitalo (Samoa): Dr Mulitalos placement is with the University of Queenslands TC Beirne School of Law, and is focused on developing Pacific focused legislative drafting guidelines. She is a former Legal Counsel for the Parliament of Samoa.

 Ms Etivina Lovo (Fiji): Ms Lovos placement is with the James Cook Universitys Anton Breinl Research Centre for Health Systems Strengthening, focussing on developing curriculum for Bioethics Education and Research Bioethics and a platform for Research Bioethics Governance with Ministries of Health in the region.

She is currently a Research Fellow on Bioethics and Professionalism at Fiji National Universitys College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.

 Mr Vincent Lal (Fiji): Mr Lals placement is with the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences where he will be looking into quantifying health risks from exposure to chemicals by ingestion.

He is a PhD student at the University of Queensland.

A total of 24 emerging leaders from the region have completed placements under the Awards since its commencement in 2008 on issues including cancer research and palliative care, human rights advocacy, agriculture research, forensic accounting and biosecurity.

For further information on the Greg Urwin Awards and an opportunity to speak to the Awardees, please email [email protected] or call 7078145 (mobile), 3314410 (office).
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Saudi Arabia is warning that a computer virus that destroyed systems of its state-run oil company in 2012 has returned to the kingdom, with at least one major petrochemical company apparently affected by its spread.

Suspicion for the initial dispersal of the Shamoon virus in 2012 fell on Iran as it came after the Stuxnet cyberattack targeting Tehran's contested nuclear enrichment program.

It wasn't immediately clear who could be responsible for the new infection, though the relations between regional rivals remain tense.

A report Monday by Saudi state-run television included comments suggesting that 15 government agencies and private institutions had been hit by the Shamoon virus, including the Saudi Labor Ministry. The ministry said it was working with the Interior Ministry to contain the virus.

Sadara, a joint venture between the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and Michigan-based Dow Chemical Co., shut down its computer network Monday over a disruption.

Company spokesman Sami Amin said its network remained down Tuesday, though it hadn't affected operations at the facility. He declined to comment further.

Sadara is based in Jubail Industrial City, which sits about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of the eastern Saudi city of Dammam in the heartland of the kingdom's oil industry. The $20 billion facility, inaugurated by Saudi King Salman in late November, includes 26 manufacturing units that will produce more than 3 million metric tons of plastics and chemical products.

Another state-run TV report on Tuesday said the Saudi Technical and Vocational Training Corp. was affected, though a spokesman denied the virus did any damage to its network.

Symantec Corp., a California-based security firm, warned in late November that Shamoon had been spotted again in Saudi Arabia. Computers affected had their hard drives erased and displayed a photograph of the body of 3-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi, who drowned fleeing his country's civil war, Symantec said.

"Why Shamoon has suddenly returned again after four years is unknown," Symantec said . "However, with its highly destructive payload, it is clear that the attackers want their targets to sit up and take notice."

The November attacks apparently involved previously stolen passwords. Symantec on Monday said the outbreak might be linked to a group it called Greenbug, which previously attacked targets in Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey with emails carrying malicious attachments.

Shamoon, named for a folder in its code, first emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012. In that attack, which hit Saudi Aramco and Qatari natural gas producer RasGas, the virus deleted hard drives and then displayed a picture of a burning American flag on computer screens. The attack forced Saudi Aramco to shut down its network and destroyed over 30,000 computers.

"All told, the Shamoon virus was probably the most destructive attack that the private sector has seen to date," then-U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said at the time.

Shortly before Panetta's speech, a former U.S. official told The Associated Press that American officials firmly believed Iranian hackers likely backed by Tehran were responsible for the attack.

Iran denied being responsible for the 2012 Shamoon outbreak. Tehran had no immediate comment on the new outbreak.

The first emergence of Shamoon came as Iran faced international sanctions over its contested nuclear program and after it saw thousands of centrifuges destroyed by the Stuxnet virus, widely believed to be an American and Israeli creation.

Last year, a series of fires at Iranian petrochemical plants and facilities have raised suspicions about hacking potentially playing a role.

Hostilities persist between Shiite power Iran and Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia.

The countries support opposite sides in the wars gripping Syria and Yemen, while the kingdom has backed Bahrain's Sunni rulers amid a crackdown on dissent on the Shiite-majority island.

Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran last year after protesters there  angry about its execution of a Shiite cleric  stormed two Saudi diplomatic posts.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump moved aggressively to tighten the nation's immigration policies Wednesday, signing executive actions to jumpstart construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall and block federal grants from immigrant-protecting "sanctuary cities."

"We've been talking about this right from the beginning," Trump said during a brief signing ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the White House had not circulated copies of the documents or briefed reporters on the details, as has been typical practice in past administrations.

But Trump cast his actions as fulfillment of his campaign pledge to enact hard-line immigration measures, including construction of a wall paid for by Mexico. U.S. taxpayers are expected to pay for the upfront costs, though Trump continues to assert that Mexico will reimburse the money through unspecified means.

In an interview with ABC News earlier Wednesday, Trump said, "There will be a payment; it will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form."

While Trump has repeatedly said the border structure will be a wall, his spokesman Sean Spicer said more generally Wednesday the president was ordering construction of a "large physical barrier."

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who has insisted his country will not pay for a wall, is to meet with Trump at the White House next week.

The orders Trump signed Wednesday also increase the number of border patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to be hired. And the president ordered the end of what Republicans have labeled a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are released and given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

Later in the week, Trump is expected to sign orders restricting the flow of refugees into the United States. His current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as a temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim-majority countries, according to a source from a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues. The person was briefed on the details of that proposed action by a government official and outlined the plan to The Associated Press.

The public policy organization source insisted on anonymity in order to outline the plans ahead of the president's official announcements.

Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten U.S. immigration policies, including strengthening border security and stemming the flow of refugees. His call for a border wall was among his most popular proposals with supporters, who often broke out in chants of "build that wall" during rallies.

In response to terrorism concerns, Trump controversially called for halting entry to the U.S. from Muslim countries. He later turned to a focus on "extreme vetting" for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

To build the wall, the president may rely on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-President George W. Bush, and the majority of that fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office. The last remnants were completed after President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

The Trump administration also must adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be buil. The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the U.S.-Mexico border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint U.S.-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.

Trump's order to crack down on sanctuary cities  locales that don't cooperate with immigration authorities  could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars. But the administration may face legal challenges, given that some federal courts have found that local jurisdictions cannot hold immigrants beyond their jail term or deny them bond based only a request from immigration authorities.

It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still being finalized. The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the U.S. for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though the person cautioned the details could still change.

There is also likely to be an exception for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.

As president, Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing. Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.
SAO PAULO (AP)  Brazil's Ministry of Health has ordered 11.5 million doses of yellow fever vaccines to reinforce its stockpiles amid the largest outbreak of the disease the country has seen since 2000, officials said Wednesday.

So far during the summer rainy season, 70 cases, including 40 deaths, have been confirmed. More than 300 cases are still being investigated.

That makes it the biggest outbreak since 2000, when 85 cases were confirmed, according ministry data.

Around 5.5 million vaccine doses have already been sent to five states that have confirmed cases or are at risk, Eduardo Hage, director of the Department for Surveillance of Infectious Diseases, told a news conference.

The other 6 million ordered will arrive soon to join stockpiles. In addition, production of another 9 million doses has begun and should be available in the coming weeks.

Yellow fever is a mosquito-borne disease that causes fever, body aches, vomiting and can cause jaundice, from which it gets its name. Outbreaks are generally brought under control by vaccination campaigns.

Brazilian authorities recommend that the yellow fever vaccination be routine for anyone living in areas considered at risk. They are now advising anyone living in or traveling to areas with current outbreaks  or areas generally considered at risk  to get vaccinated, if they have not already. Brazil does not require a yellow fever vaccination for entry.

The current outbreak is centered in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, which is within the at-risk area but didn't see any cases last year. There have also been a handful of confirmed cases in the neighboring states of Sao Paulo and Espirito Santo, which has not had a case in decades.

"It's unusual," Jimmy Whitworth, professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said of the outbreak. "The more cases you have, the more chance that it's going to light up and take off in urban areas."

But he added that Brazilian authorities are taking the situation very seriously and appear to have enough vaccine stocks.

Officials at Wednesday's news conference said they are monitoring the disease closely to ensure it doesn't spread to urban areas, including ramping up vaccine stocks in Rio de Janeiro state, which has not had any cases but has a large population and is a popular beach destination is summer.

Though much of Brazil is considered at risk for yellow fever, it has seen only a handful of cases in each of the past few years. The last double-digit outbreak was in 2009, when 47 cases were registered.
Tijuana business leaders were defiant Wednesday morning that President Donald Trumps policies, including an executive action to speed up border wall construction, would not significantly affect them.

The news of the wall broke as roughly 300 met for the monthly meeting of Coparmex, an association of business leaders.

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Gilberto Fimbres Hernandez, president of the Tijuana branch of Coparmex, said any concerns about a wall are ridiculous.

"(A wall) has been there for 20 years, why would we worry? he said.

Hernandez also said the city didnt have to worry about a flood of Mexicans being deported back to Tijuana because President Barack Obama sent record numbers back and it made no difference.

His comments were echoed by Humberto Jaramillo Rodriguez, president of the business advocacy group Consejo Coordinator Empresaria who said a new, bigger wall would not make a difference.

The wall is only symbolic. It doesnt mean anything, he said. Tijuana and San Diego are friends. We are together.

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As for Trumps desire for Mexico to pay for the wall, Rodriguez said he didnt think it would be legal for the United States to charge Mexico.

You can do whatever you want in your own country, he said, but you cant charge your neighbor.

However, some business leaders werent so sure that Trumps policies wouldnt touch Tijuanas economy.

The presidents push to keep jobs in the U.S. could hurt the Baja regions manufacturing, or maquiladora, industry, said Sergio Gonzalez, business developer for real estate agency Probien.

So far, his firm has seen no slowdown in demand for condos, which are almost entirely purchased by Mexicans, he said.

The main speaker at the Coparmex meeting, economist Maracino Schettino, devoted much of his talk to discussing characteristics of Trump voters.

He argued Americans who voted for the president did not vote for him because they felt left behind in the economy, but for social reasons.

At the border fence at Playas de Tijuana, people hanging out at the beach did not like the idea of the new border wall but did not seem to be highly concerned either.

Abraham Garcia, 22, of Tijuana, said he did not have a problem with the United States keeping itself secure.

"(Trump) may be trying to protect his country and his people, he said. But, I believe it wont restrict people coming to the U.S.

Top Mexican media organizations were reporting heavily on the latest moves by Trump on their websites Wednesday afternoon.

Guadalajara-based El Informador had several stories on its homepage, including one about a local governor calling on politicians to stand with him to oppose the wall. Another story covered organizations urging Mexican president Pena Nieto to skip a scheduled meeting with Trump. An opinion column about Trump in the Mexican newspaper El Debate headlined The snake returns to bite warned there was no win-win for both nations  only the United States ending up on top.

Most Tijuana publications were running wire stories about the border wall from The Associated Press and other news services.
Qualcomm posted mixed fiscal first quarter financial results on Wednesday as the first wave of legal and regulatory actions attacking its patent licensing business model began to take hold.

For its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31, the company reported revenue of $6 billion and net income of $700 million, or $46 per share, under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

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That compares with $5.8 billion in revenue and earnings of $1.5 billion, or 99 cents per share, for the same quarter last year.

Qualcomms earnings took a hit from an $868 million set-aside charge in the first quarter related to a fine in December by the Korea Fair Trade Commission  South Koreas anti-monopoly regulator  over the companys patent licensing practices.

Though Qualcomm intends to fight the agencys fine in court, the KFTC requires the amount be paid within 60 days of being levied.

Excluding the fine and other charges, Qualcomm would have earned $1.8 billion for the quarter, or $1.19 per share. Thats up from non-GAAP earnings of 97 cents per share for the same quarter last year.

Wall Street analysts had forecast fiscal first quarter revenue of $6.12 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $1.18 a share.

We are pleased with the strong start to our fiscal year and the year-over-year earnings growth across both our semiconductor and licensing businesses, said Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf in a statement.

Qualcomm has been hit with a series of government and customer legal actions. In addition to the Korea Fair Trade Commission fine in December, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued Qualcomm last week, alleging it uses its market dominance in cellular chips to extract higher patent royalties, among other things.

Three days later, Apple filed a lawsuit making similar allegations, as well as accusing Qualcomm of withholding nearly $1 billion in royalty rebates in retaliation for Apples cooperation with South Korean regulators.

Qualcomm denies the allegations. Commenting on the lawsuits and government probes, Mollenkopf said they are at their core driven by commercial disputes. As we have done in the past, we will vigorously defend our business model and the value of a portfolio of technologies that has been so instrumental to the success of the mobile communications industry.

Looking ahead, Qualcomm forecast fiscal second quarter revenue of $5.5 billion to $6.3 billion and earnings excluding charges of $1.15 to $1.20 per share.

Wall Street analysts were expecting fiscal second quarter sales of $5.9 billion and earnings of $1.20 per share.

I thought the guidance was reasonably good, said Steven Re , president of Fairbanks Capital Management. Paying a fine to Korea is not part of the ongoing business. Margins are going up. Theyre looking at an increase in device shipments.

Qualcomm released results Wednesday after markets closed. It shares ended trading at $56.90 but fell $2.14 cents to $54.76 in early after hours trading.

Business

mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com;

Twitter:@TechDiego

760-529-4973

ALSO:

Apple expands legal war against Qualcomms cellular patents into China

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
Apple has taken its legal attack on Qualcomms patent licensing business global, filing two complaints in Chinese courts challenging the way Qualcomm gets paid for its cellular intellectual property.

The move comes after Apple sued Qualcomm last week in San Diego federal court over its patent licensing, among other things. It comes on the heels of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission taking legal action on similar issues three days earlier.

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Qualcomm hasnt seen the Chinese complaints but learned about them from a Beijing Intellectual Property Court press release, which says Apple is seeking $145 million in damages.

Apple has yet to respond to an email seeking comment.

In an earnings conference call with analysts on Wednesday, Qualcomm served up its most thorough defense to date against Apples claims.

Apples complaint contains a lot of assertions, but in the end this is a commercial dispute over the price of intellectual property, said Qualcomm Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf. They want to pay less than the fair value that Qualcomm has established in the marketplace for our technology  even though Apple has generated billions in profits from using that technology.

Qualcomm has negotiated more than 250 licensing agreements over the years  including more than 100 in the past two years  that reaffirmed the value of its patents, said Mollenkopf.

He added that Qualcomms intellectual property portfolio has expanded by thousands of patents over the past two decades, yet the company has never raised royalty rates.

According to Qualcomm, Apple has been agitating for regulators to derail the San Diego companys patent licensing business model. Starting last week, Apple joined the legal fray itself

In the China lawsuits, Apple alleges a violation of Chinas anti-monopoly law and the other requests a determination of the terms of a patent license between Qualcomm and Apple over cellular standard essential patents.

In early 2015, Qualcomm paid a $975 million fine and lower patent royalty rates for certain smartphones sold only in China as part of a settlement with the National Development and Reform Commission  Chinas anti-monopoly regulator. But the deal kept Qualcomms licensing business model intact.

Qualcomm offered a patent license to Apple for Chinese sales based on terms of the NDRC settlement  which 120 Chinese devices makers have agreed to.

Apple refused, claiming the San Diego company was still charging too much for key cellular patents.

Qualcomm President Derek Aberle said Qualcomm cellular inventions enabled mobile services ranging from Uber to Snapchat, Instagram to WhatsApp, Spotify to Instagram, Siri to Googles Assistant.

Apple has been among the largest beneficiaries of our efforts and investments by being able to easily enter the smartphone space with little or no investment in core technology, said Aberle.

Steven Re, president of Fairbanks Capital Management and a shareholder of both companies, said smartphone makers that have fought Qualcomm in the past over patents  such as Nokia  have seen competitors pass them by.

He hopes Qualcomm continues to take a strident stance against Apple.

Qualcomm had a habit of working through these things and as long as their business model doesnt change, theyll pay some money or maybe a slightly lower royalty rate to whomever brought the most recent action, said Re. This time I detect more firmness on Qualcomms part. I think they are finally getting sufficiently disgusted with this.

Re added that Qualcomm could sue Apple for patent infringement. In the conference call with analysts, Qualcomm mentioned patents that they obviously feel Apple is using that are not included in licensing deals.

In its lawsuits, Apple claims Qualcomms practice of charging royalties based on a percentage of the wholesale price of the entire smartphone  not the chips inside it  results in Qualcomm getting paid for technologies it has nothing to do with.

Aberle said Qualcomm licensing agreements have per-smartphone royalty caps  perhaps as low as a couple hundred dollars  above which royalties arent applied. Apples average selling price for iPhones tops $600.

Charging royalties based on the price of the device has been the practice in mobile and other industries for more than two decades. According to Qualcomm, its fair in part because low price smartphones use less of the Qualcomms extensive patent portfolio than more expensive devices like iPhones.

Apple contends Qualcomm is withholding nearly $1 billion in royalty cap rebates to Apple in retaliation for Apple cooperating with South Koreas anti-trust probe. Qualcomm says it did no such thing and doesnt owe Apple money.

Business

mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com;

Twitter:@TechDiego

760-529-4973

Apple, regulatory disputes case shadow over Qualcomms first quarter results

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
One of last years most anticipated local dining events was the long-awaited opening of Crudo by Pascal Lorange, a seafood-centric restaurant that debuted in August in Carmel Valley.

The fourth-generation Belgian chefs arrival from New York added yet another star to the citys burgeoning culinary credentials. Over his 26-year career, Lorange had cooked in some of Europes finest Michelin-starred restaurants and spent 10 years at the culinary helm of the upscale national restaurant chain Fig & Olive.

With Crudo, Lorange planned to introduce his signature culinary concept for the first time in San Diego and use it as a launchpad for what could become a chain that has already announced its first expansion at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa next summer.

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Crudo is a concept that blends Mediterranean and Asian cuisine with a focus on raw seafood. Foods arent prepared with heavy creams and sauces, but in clean, lighter presentations that are accented with spice blends and infused olive oils, citrus fruits and fresh herbs.

On three visits over the past five months, it became clear that Loranges Crudo brand is in a state of evolution. The New York-inspired white- and glass-walled restaurant is stunning, the food plating is gorgeous, and many of the dishes I tried were excellent.

But the menu can be confusing, some prices seem high for its North County strip mall location, and service can be slow and inconsistent. Before Lorange takes Crudo elsewhere, its rough edges need some smoothing.

True to its name, Crudo is best when it comes to raw seafood. The crudo sampler plates, with items like shrimp ceviche, salmon tartar, tuna, branzino and salmon, are delicately enhanced with bright citrus acids, herbed oils and sea salt.

In a Mediterranean twist on sushi restaurants, Crudo diners get three dipping-sauce dishes containing soy sauce mixed with aged balsamic vinegar, a Chinese five-spice harissa/wasabi paste and candied kumquats with ginger. On request, the sauces are served with fresh-baked breadsticks.

One item that has disappeared from the menu since August is the ricetinis, a twist on nigiri made with pesto rice. But diners can still try the interesting, if unspectacular, Mediterranean rolls, which are sushi-inspired fish-free rolls made with ingredients like burrata, prosciutto, duck breast and foie gras.

Small-plate dining is the way to go at Crudo, though there are several fully plated entrees. The best I tried were the lamb tajine, with savory and complex hawayej spices, and the buttery branzino a la plancha, served on a bed of red quinoa, taboule and Israeli couscous.

Two dont-skip dishes are the decadent prosciutto and mushroom croquetas appetizer, which comes with a creamy roasted green apple-garlic aioli, and the heavenly pot de creme dessert, which is layered with a light whipped cream and crunchy cocoa nibs.

The menu could be more user-friendly. The Crudotinis section sounds like fish martinis, but theyre actually crostini toasts topped with various items (pick three for $10 or six for $18, which seems steep for what you get).

Other pricing could use adjustment. The Crudo Salad, stocked with a triangle of Manchego cheese, prosciutto shavings, pomegranate seeds and slivers of hazelnut, is delicious, but $17 feels like a stretch.

Not sure what to order? Some of the tables are close enough together in true New York fashion that you can compare notes and forkfuls with your neighbor.

One element thats still in the weeds at Crudo is service. On an early visit in September, our waitress was warm and informative, but she failed to clear our dirty plates, replace silverware and bring dishes out at the same time.

At a lunch in the fall, service was friendly but surprisingly slow. And at dinner on Jan. 15, notably the first night of San Diego Restaurant Week, service was poor. Although the restaurant was virtually empty when we arrived for our 5:30 p.m. reservation, my party and a couple that followed minutes later were seated on either side of the noisy swinging kitchen doors.

Our waiter seemed disinterested and didnt know the ingredients on several featured dishes, but he politely granted our request to move to another table. Unfortunately this put us next to the kitchen, where during our appetizer course we heard a 10-minute argument between the waiters and kitchen staff about how to handle the incoming deluge of Restaurant Week diners.

Its rare for a new concept as unusual as Crudo to score high in all categories right away. Thats why I visited several times and am willing to try several times more to see how the Crudo brand eventually jells.

Lorange was on the culinary team that launched Fig & Olive and grew it to a national presence. Clearly the expertise and creativity are there, but he needs more time to polish Crudos edges.

Crudo By Pascal Lorange

The Village at Pacific Highland Ranch, 5965 Village Way, Suite E 107, San Diego

(858) 847-2797

crudopl.com

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
A plan to build 125 condominiums, a food market, a drive-though drug store and other retail shops in Carlsbads Bressi Ranch neighborhood was approved this week by the Carlsbad City Council before a standing-room only crowd.

The council voted 4-1 to OK the Uptown Bressi project Tuesday night after listening to 38 public speakers point out its merits and flaws. Almost three-quarters of the speakers asked for approval, saying the city needs more affordable housing and nearby places to shop in the Bressi Ranch community.

Shea Homes representative Kevin McCook said the company has been meeting with Bressi Ranch residents for three years to gather their opinions during the development of the project, which will be built on 17.7 acres along Palomar Airport Road.

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A proposal five years ago by different developer to build 450 apartments and no commercial buildings on the vacant site died quickly after about 150 residents at a community meeting said it was far too many homes for the property.

Sheas condos will sell at prices beginning in the $600,000 range, McCook said. That would be well below the cost of single-family homes in Bressi Ranch, which average more than $1 million. Also, 20 percent of the Uptown Bressi condos would be reserved for low-income buyers.

Its a place where residents can live, work and shop, McCook said. That idea has been a key part of the Bressi Ranch plan since the City Council approved a master plan for the 585-acre community east of El Camino Real in 2002.

Tenants of the Uptown Bressi commercial center are expected to include a BevMo liquor store, a drive-through CVS pharmacy, a Whole Foods market, and more, though no leases have been signed. The site is across Gateway Road from the Bressi Village shopping center, which includes a Trader Joes, a Stater Brothers, some restaurants, offices and other businesses.

Councilwoman Cori Schumacher, who voted against the project, said she objected to it largely because it places residential units on land originally zoned as light industrial in the communitys master plan and the citys General Plan. However, supporters of the project said the community has changed since those plans were approved, and Carlsbad now needs housing and a convenient commercial center more than it needs additional industrial jobs in Bressi Ranch.

For example, Mayor Matt Hall said, ViaSat is expanding its nearby Carlsbad headquarters and plans to add 2,000 to 2,500 jobs, and there are plenty of other industrial jobs.

This is a trade, Hall said, adding that it meets the needs of the community.

A greater concern is the projects location near the Palomar-McClellan Airport and the busy intersection of Palomar Airport Road and El Fuerte Street, Hall said. He worries that people will buy the condos and then a few years later complain about airport noise.

However, other council members said airport noise should not be a concern.

People need to think when they buy a home, said Councilman Mark Packard. The airport was there first.

Some people objected to the additional traffic the project would bring, but city staff said the mix of jobs, shops and homes will help reduce how far neighborhood residents must travel for goods and services.
Every year, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants about 225 wishes for San Diego children with life-threatening illnesses. Some kids ask for a trip to Hawaii or Legoland, others want to spend a day as a Marine or a superhero. But on Monday night, the foundation granted a wish like no other.

For the first time in the local chapters history, the organization granted a teens wish for independence. With help from Golden Boy Mobility in Poway, the foundation underwrote the cost of adapting a car so that 18-year-old Erin Danzer of Oceanside could drive herself.

Because of a connective tissue disease that limits her mobility, Danzer was not able to drive a car. For years she has relied on family, friends, buses and Lyft services to get to school and to her job at a local movie theater.

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The challenge of juggling everything without a car became too much for her last year and she took a break from her college studies. Now, with her adapted car, she said she looks forward to doing her own errands, driving herself to the beach and listening to audio-books on her car stereo.

I felt really bad asking for rides, using the bus, buying $5 bus passes that I hardly used. It was expensive and it was really difficult, she said. Now that Ill be able to drive, I can go to work, go back to school and go pick up meals from the store anytime I want. I really do like driving.

On Monday night, Erin and her parents, Kenneth and Lori Danzer, arrived at Golden Boy Mobility for the unveiling ceremony. The familys new cherry red Chevrolet Spark, nicknamed Sparky, has been outfitted with a steering wheel extension, special mirrors that allow Erin a 180-degree view of her surroundings and a spinner knob on the steering wheel to make turning easier. With her learners permit in hand and her mom by her side, Erin drove out of the shop and home to Oceanside with a smile on her face.

Erin Danzer, 18, of Oceanside smiles when she sees her newly adapted car at Golden Boy Mobility in Poway on Monday night. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Erin was born with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, a genetic disorder so rare there are fewer than 800 diagnosed cases in the world. Known as FOB, the disease advances rapidly in childhood and causes connective tissue and muscles to turn to bone. Any trauma to a muscle or immune action causes ribbons of bone to to grow across joints, essentially growing a second skeleton inside the body, Lori Danzer said.

The disease is very painful and and debilitating. Erin can no longer run or play sports, she cant reach out with her arms and cant turn her head from side to side. But her father, Kenneth, said his daughter has rarely let FOB get her down. She has an active life, a job and frequently attends concerts.

Shes very fun-loving and social. Its amazing how she has found ways to work around the disease. She doesnt let the pain overtake her attitude, he said.

When Erin was a sophomore at Mission Vista High School, many of her friends were getting their drivers licenses, but she didnt see the point of attending drivers education herself. She couldnt reach the steering wheel and didnt have the range of motion to turn it, and when her parents tried moving the car seat closer to the dashboard, her ankles would cramp.

Sometimes I wish I started driving at 16, but I just waited, she said.

About 18 months ago, the Make-A-Wish Foundation learned about Erins condition and offered to grant her a wish. Lori said that at first her daughter talked about meeting a favorite band or author, since music, books and writing are three of her passions. But then, after meeting Sean Petersen of Golden Boy Mobility at the San Diego auto show in January 2016, they figured out the perfect wish.

Family and friends of Oceanside resident Erin Danzer, 18, center, at her wish-granting ceremony at Golden Boy Mobility in Poway on Monday. The Make-A-Wish Foundation in San Diego paid to have her car specially adapted for her medical needs. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Suzanne Husby, vice president of mission delivery for Make-A-Wish San Diego, said shes never heard of a wish like Erins. They have had teens asks to have their cars repainted or refurbished, but this was the first request for a car adaptation.

The thing so special is her wish is to have independence, Husby said. To her, that meant driving herself like other kids her age. That was such a heartfelt wish and we were very happy to do it.

Granting that wish took almost a year. Erin worked with a driving evaluator at Golden Mobility who determined what adaptations she would need to drive safely and what car models had easy-turn steering, a backup camera and a Bluetooth accessory.

Petersen said he also spent months figuring out how to make what would normally be a $15,000-$20,000 adaptation affordable for Make-A-Wish. Last summer, the Danzers bought the Chevy Spark (Erins parents made the down payment but she pays the monthly installments) and Erin started lessons for her learners permit. Then a few weeks ago, the car went into the shop for adaptations.

It was killing her to be making payments, but unable to drive it, so this day has been a long time coming, Kenneth said.

Lori Danzer said this wish has been a blessing for the family, not only because it covered an expense they couldnt afford, but because Erin doesnt have to wait any longer to share the freedom of other kids her age. Because her disease is progressive, her condition could change from month to month, so every day she has behind the wheel is precious.

This will help her blossom and live a wonderful life for as long as she can, Lori said on Monday, a few hours before the reveal. What I always say is today is a good day. She might wake up one day and not be able to move, so we just take it a day at a time, and today is a very good day.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
I am not done with bubbles yet.

So proclaimed my friend last week at Mr. As where we were enjoying our Restaurant Week dinner. And why should she be? Because it was weeks after New Years and not yet Valentines Day?

We know better than that. Like the now-laughable no white after Labor Day rule, its time to dispel, once and for all, the dated notion that sparkling is only for special occasions. And the Gruet Winery Brut is just the sparkling to do it with.

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Since 1989, the Gruet family  originally from Champagne  has been producing sparkling wines in New Mexico. Hows that for breaking the rules?

This all-American sparkler, made from 75 percent chardonnay/25 percent pinot noir in the traditional methode Champenoise style, is nicely crisp, but also a little creamy, with hints of green apple, lemon and warm, buttered toast.

I found mine at for $16.99 at Krisp and at that price, you can drink it any night of the week  and not be too concerned if you spill some on your white pants.

Where to find it: Krisp, downtown San Diego, and Cost Plus stores in downtown San Diego, La Jolla, 4S Ranch, Oceanside and Escondido. Syrah Wine Parlor, in the Gaslamp, carries the equally lovely Gruet Rose.

Wine event of the week:

Washington state wines consistently deliver high quality wines at ridiculously reasonable prices. But hows this for value: free. The Craftsman New American Tavern, in Encinitas, is hosting a five-course wine dinner next Wednesday with Avennia, the impressive, accessible Woodinville, WA-based winery  for $65, with the wine complimentary. (Sample pairing: braised beef cheeks with thyme gremolata and the 2013 Gravura Bordeaux-style blend.) RSVP to Ivan or Matt, (760) 452-2000. 267 N El Camino Real, Encinitas; craftsmantavern.com

Food & Wine Videos

Twitter: @sdeditgirl

michele.parente@sduniontribune.com
Lawyers for the state and businesses clashed in a Sacramento appeals court Tuesday over how much power California has to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and whether that authority includes raising revenue for lawmakers to spend.

The case could determine the future of the states cap-and-trade program, which requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The program is the centerpiece of Californias climate agenda and has been extolled as an international model in the fight against global warming, but opponents argue that it constitutes an unconstitutional tax.

A decision, which is expected from the state appeals court judges within three months, has been hotly anticipated by businesses and advocates whose next steps hinge on which way the court rules. Spectators and journalists began lining up outside the courthouse before it opened on Tuesday morning, and there werent enough seats in the courtroom for everyone to watch the proceedings.

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National environmental organizations have vociferously defended the cap-and-trade program, one of the few such initiatives anywhere in the world. The groups are particularly concerned about any stumbling block in California with President Trump promising to roll back environmental regulations in Washington.

With the federal government seemingly stepping back from climate leadership, Californias example is even more important, said Erica Morehouse, a lawyer for the Environmental Defense Fund.

Cap and trade was devised by the California Air Resources Board to meet emissions-reduction goals set by lawmakers in 2006, and the first permits were auctioned off in 2012. However, the original legislation wasnt passed with a two-thirds vote, the legal threshold for raising tax revenue.

The state should not be allowed to collect money through the program, said James Parrinello, the attorney representing the California Chamber of Commerce, one of the organizations suing the state.

The Air Resources Board is asking for a blank check granting the power to raise whatever revenue it wants, Parrinello said. He added that he believes that because greenhouse gas emissions are the inevitable result of modern society, regulators could start charging Californians for how far they drive to limit tailpipe emissions, or how much milk they drink because cows produce methane.

All human activity creates greenhouse gases, he said. [Regulators] could say those activities are privileges and levy a fee on them.

Parrinello said the revenue produced by cap and trade  now in the billions of dollars since the first auction in 2012  is essentially a government slush fund. Some of the money is used to fund the construction of the bullet train from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

Follow live coverage from the Capitol on Essential Politics 

David Zonana, a deputy attorney general representing the Air Resources Board, defended the revenue by saying its being used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, furthering the goal of the regulations. For example, spending cap-and-trade revenue on affordable housing developments helps slash emissions if its close to transit lines, reducing the amount of time people drive, he said.

Zonana said cap and trade is a legitimate regulatory tool.

Greenhouse gases are an enormous environmental problem, he said. Cap and trade is tested and well-suited to that problem.

The court should not second guess the decision of regulators, Zonana added.

Zonana also said cap and trade isnt a tax because buying pollution permits through a state auction isnt required under the 2006 emissions-reduction law. Companies could also trade for the credits on a market, or modify their operations to lower emissions.

But thats not how the system works in practice, Parrinello said. Companies often have no other choice besides buying permits unless they want to shut down.

An income tax is voluntary because people can quit their jobs, he said.

Attorneys were reluctant to predict which way the court will rule once a decision is released in the coming weeks or months.

You cant handicap what the decision is, said Tony Francois, a lawyer for the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing some of the businesses challenging the program.

chris.megerian@latimes.com

Twitter: @chrismegerian

ALSO

The immediate threat to Californias climate-change fight isnt Trump, its this

Californias cap-and-trade program faces daunting hurdles to avoid collapse

Updates on California politics
Remember candidate Donald Trumps promise to, in his first 30 days, get a new plan out of Americas generals to beat the Islamic State?

It appears that new Defense Secretary James Mattis is preparing to start as early as Friday, when Trump is scheduled to visit the Pentagon.

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Some options that could be quickly forwarded: two ideas that former President Barack Obamas administration developed but never approved, according to CNN.

They include arming Kurdish fighters for the battle to retake Raqqa, the ISIS capital in Syria. Obama didnt like that idea due to concerns it would alienate Turkey, where the United States needs airbase access.

Another option: sending more U.S. troops into Syria for combat against ISIS fighters. Under Obama, American service members are technically in an adviser role in Iraq and Syria.

Welcome to The Intel, a blog examining the hot military news of the day

New leadership at the Pentagon comes just as Iraq announced this week a somewhat tenuous victory in eastern Mosul, in whats been a bloody, months-long onslaught to eliminate ISIS in its Iraqi stronghold.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday announced the liberation of eastern Mosul on state television, but his administration had to back off that claim later as fighting continued.

Still, whats ahead is perhaps an even tougher battle for western Mosul, with its densely populated neighborhoods.

The top U.S. military leader in Iraq called the Iraqis progress in Mosul a monumental achievement that would have been a difficult task for any army in the world.

There is still a long way to go before ISIL is completely eliminated from Iraq, and the fight for Western Mosul is likely to be even tougher than the Eastern side, said Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, the commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force  Operation Inherent Resolve.

The coalition has tried to keep ISIS fighters from fleeing Mosul for Raqqa.

Meanwhile, Trumps team has said the new president may be willing to work with Russia in Syria against ISIS.

Thats a departure from the past administration, which saw Russia as mostly helping Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad by bombing the forces fighting him, not ISIS.

The president has been very clear that hes going to work with any country that shares our interest in defeating ISIS, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday.

I think that if theres a way that we can combat ISIS with any country, whether its Russia or anyone else, and we have a shared national interest in that, sure, well take it.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, the situation is deteriorating with the Taliban launching more attacks.

Trump told the Afghan president in December that he would consider sending more American troops, according to the Wall Street Journal this week.

Currently, a little over 8,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan as a stabilizing force.

Military Videos  On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France  at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal

jen.steele@sduniontribune.com

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Eight immigrant rights organizations have sent a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security alleging that officers at legal crossing points along the southwest border were illegally turning away asylum seekers.

The complaint  signed by the American Immigration Council, American Immigration Lawyers Association and American Civil Liberties Union, among others  urges Homeland Security officials to investigate whats happening at the border. It recounts the testimony of several asylum seekers who were turned back at San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry without getting to speak to anyone about their claims.

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The United States has long adhered to international laws and conventions allowing people to seek asylum on grounds that they are being persecuted because of their race, religion, nationality, political beliefs or other factors, said Carlos Diaz, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection when asked about the complaint. The applicant does not have to specifically request asylum, they simply must express fear of being returned to their country.

CBP has coordinated and continues to work with Mexican authorities in regards to border security and humanitarian causes, Diaz added. In this case, CBP has collaborated with the Mexican authorities to improve the processing and humanitarian assistance of those individuals with no legal status to enter the U.S. This is being done to temporarily house the individuals in a more comfortable location and out of the elements. Prior to establishing this orderly process there were hundreds of people on the streets of Tijuana for days at a time.

The United States, under both U.S. and international law, has obligations to screen those asking for asylum to determine whether their requests for protection are legitimate and to protect them if they are.

If a person comes to the border saying that he or she is afraid to go back home and asking for asylum, the person is supposed to be taken for a credible fear interview, an interview with a trained asylum officer who determines whether the asylum seeker has a valid claim.

If the claim is not valid, the asylum seeker is sent back. If the claim is found to be valid, the asylum seeker moves on through the process to immigration court, where a judge makes the final determination in the case.

The Jan. 13 complaint addresses several incidents in Texas, in addition to two in San Diego.

One man whose testimony is documented in the complaint, a Mexican police officer who stood up to a cartel and was subsequently attacked and hospitalized, was turned back at San Ysidro and Otay Mesa on multiple occasions this past summer, the complaint claims.

In the complaint, the mans daughter said she pushed him in his wheelchair to the San Ysidro border to ask for protection in July 2016, and a Customs and Border Protection officer told them, Were not accepting any more people.

Four asylum seekers from Guatemala, three teenage boys and one 21-year-old man reported a similar experience when trying to come through San Diegos entry points, according to the complaint. They said they were told they needed to have passports or visas to apply for asylum. Asylum seekers do not need to have such documents. The four Guatemalans later met an immigration attorney, Nicole Ramos, who accompanied them back to the port of entry.

Ramos convinced border officials that they had to take the four through the asylum application process. As recounted in the complaint, Ramos and her paralegal overheard the officers speaking very harshly to the four asylum seekers. Another officer saw them and told the other officers to keep it down because there are attorneys watching, according to the complaint.

Several of the asylum seekers in the complaint tried crossing the border illegally because officers would not let them take the legal route at the ports of entry. When they were apprehended after crossing, they were put in asylum proceedings.

kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate
After President Donald Trump signed an order to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, Democrats criticized the plan as an attack on minorities and a costly boondoggle. Some Republicans largely praised the order, but noted that a wall is one of many tools needed to reform the immigration system.

While specifics about the border fence construction are still vague, politicians from the San Diego region that shares cultural and economic ties, and a series of physical barriers with Mexico, had split reactions to the new presidents plans.

Whether or not they saw it as as a prudent step to prevent people from coming to the country illegally, or something that would divide people, largely fell along party lines.

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And in other instances they didnt directly address the wall but spoke in defense of the bonds between the San Diego region and northern Baja California.

We already have a safe and secure border in San Diego built by the federal government, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, a Republican, said in a statement. But we also have strong economic and cultural binational ties that have my unwavering support. Keeping trade moving in both directions safely and securely is important to San Diegos economy and helps create local jobs.

During the 2016 campaign Trump promised to build a continuous wall along the countrys southern border to prevent illegal immigration and insisted Mexico would pay for it. Mexican officials say theres no way theyll finance it.

Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to start construction of the wall but it makes no mention of Mexico paying for it. Instead, it compels the executive branch to find all federal funds that could be used to plan, design and construct the wall. The order also calls on federal departments and agencies to find and quantify aid and assistance given to Mexico over the last five years.

He says Mexico is still going to pay the cost over time and we should have confidence thatll happen, said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine. But the effort to build infrastructure needs to start now. And there are funding streams available to start  its really just a matter of prioritizing.

Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, expressed doubts that the wall would actually get built, and said that it is a simplistic approach to a complex problem.

It will cost billions to construct, she added, and will likely trigger millions in expenses from environmental lawsuits and litigation between the federal government and owners of private property needed for the wall.

Only bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform is going solve the problem of illegal immigration, she said.

Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, said the executive order is anti-immigrant and unfairly harms innocent people. His district runs from the Pacific Ocean eastward through to the western edge of Arizona.

These executive orders do not bring us any closer to achieving comprehensive immigration reform and they do not make America safer, he said in a statement. Instead, the president is proposing solutions that target, criminalize, and demonize innocent communities.

Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, said Trump has a lack of understanding of the relationship between the San Diego and Mexico.

Tens of thousands of jobs in San Diego, and millions around the country, depend on border trade with Mexico, Peters said. In San Diego, we see the border as an opportunity, not a threat, and we know that a wall isnt the answer.

Peters said between the wall, possible taxes Trump may impose and his immigration proposals it is clear that President Trump has absolutely no understanding of how our relationship with the border works and the disastrous impact that his policies would have.

Walls, like the ones along San Diegos border, are effective, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, said through a spokesman, who added that other tools are also needed to stop people from living in the country illegally. Issa is among those who say policies must also address the 40 percent of people who have overstayed their visas and are now residing in the U.S.

Border security including a physical barrier can be enhanced to deter illegal smuggling and immigration without harming the region in the process, said Supervisor Dianne Jacob, a Republican whose East County district includes border areas.

I welcome any steps by Washington to tighten security, including additional manpower, technology and a more secure physical barrier. I believe improvements can be made without hurting our vibrant border economy, she said.

As the president makes decisions that may redefine the United States relationship with Mexico, business interests are trying to make sure that the San Diego regions deep economic ties to Baja California remain strong.

Earlier this week Rep. Peters and former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, now the president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, spoke before the House of Representatives Border Caucus in support of bilateral trade.

The chamber is hosting its first cross-border business forum on February to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement, an agreement that has increased commerce between the United States and Mexico, but that Trump has called a disaster and a job-killer.

The wall Trump wants shouldnt, in itself, have too much of an impact on the San Diego region economically, Sanders said.

But Sanders and others said they anticipate new policies that could impact trade, and are warily watching whether Trump seeks to overhaul NAFTA.

Improving the ability to move goods across the border in an efficient way has been a priority at nearly every level of government. County Supervisor Greg Cox has pushed for the industrial development of property just north of in East Otay Mesa to make way for thousands of jobs.

Weve made great progress in recent years improving trade and commerce with Mexico and Id be opposed to anything that would harm binational trade and the creation of local jobs, he said. Id rather see the federal government spend money on our nations aging highways, bridges and other infrastructure.

Likewise, the San Diego Association of Governments has a series of long-term transportation projects planned at the border in order to help freight move more quickly through the port of entry.

This relationship, and the ability to easily move goods back and forth over the border several times, is a reason why many companies come to San Diego, said Mark Cafferty, president and CEO of the San Diego Economic Development Corporation, said.

Oftentimes the proximity is one of the anchors why a business would move here, he said.

But the current relationship could also be used to compel Mexico to pay for the wall, said Douglas Manchester, a San Diego developer, Trump delegate, and one of the presidents biggest donors during the campaign.

Businesses that ship goods across the border could be taxed for moving goods back and forth between the countries, and that tax revenue could then be used to finance the wall, he said.

Its a use tax, theyre using the border. Thats one of 20 different ways to pay for the border wall, Manchester, a former publisher of the Union-Tribune, said.

And cross border trade will likewise be enhanced through infrastructure improvements, also paid by Mexico, he said.

Twitter: @jptstewart

joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1841
More than 8,000 San Diegans may need to renew their tax identification number this tax season, according to data from the National Council of La Raza.

Those who dont have Social Security numbers, such as unauthorized immigrants or temporary visitors to the U.S., can apply for individual taxpayer identification numbers, or ITIN, to use for filing taxes as well as opening bank accounts.

A law that passed in 2015 goes into effect this tax season that requires some to renew their identification numbers if they were issued before 2013 or if they havent been used to file taxes in the past three years. The numbers are renewable on a rolling basis, so identification numbers with the middle digits 78 or 79 are up for renewal this tax season.

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Top counties for individual taxpayer identification number renewals 

San Diego ranks eighth in the U.S. in terms of people whose numbers are expiring, according to data from the National Council of La Raza. Los Angeles County has the highest at 58,523 possible renewals.

The IRS contacted about 6,664 of the San Diego County residents by mail last fall asking them to renew. The agency did not contact people if it believed their addresses were no longer valid.

If those needing to renew their numbers file taxes without renewing, the IRS will withhold refunds until they do renew.

The Internal Revenue Service, under current law, does not share its data with any other government agency, including immigration enforcement officials, so unauthorized immigrants can file taxes without fear of deportation.

Jackie Vimo of the National Immigration Law Center said that some unauthorized immigrants are concerned that this could change under President-elect Donald Trump.She said if an unauthorized immigrant already has an identification number, that person should go ahead and renew unless he or she has moved recently.

We cant make any guarantees about the risks versus the benefits moving forward, Vimo said. We have a long history of protecting this information as confidential.

She said some immigrants hoping to adjust their status have benefited in the past because paying taxes is one way to demonstrate good, moral character, a requirement to get legal status in the U.S.

Tax filing season starts January 23.

kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate
Juan Felipe Herrera, the first Mexican-American to be United States poet laureate, credits San Diego school teachers with helping him find his voice, what he calls the puzzle of his life.

He told his story Tuesday morning to a gymnasium filled with students at The Bishops School in La Jolla, engaging the 6th- to 12th-graders with storytelling, harmonica playing and call-and-response. Herrera, the son of migrant farm workers, was scheduled to give a public lecture at the school Tuesday evening on immigration and migration, Latino and Chicano poetry.

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Mexicans are in a peculiar place, Herrera said in an interview after the lecture, because their identities include the ideas of both immigrant and migrant.

A migrant, he said, is someone who follows a path worn by family networks. An immigrant has to have the proper documents to cross an institutionalized border.

The border cuts migrant trails in half, Herrera said, referring to the point in history when California was part of Mexico. We have suffered through these installed separations.

He hoped to make people aware of the cultural joy in cross border experiences, away from the politics that surround the border.

We dont know what it means to be a nation of many cultures, he said.

Growing up as a Mexican-American in San Diego, he said, he felt like an outsider.

I came from a different world, at the margins, he said.

He fondly recalled his familys trips to Tijuana during his childhood.

It rounded out our existence, he said. Sometimes its hard to see it, notice it or talk about it. Youre either on this side or that side.

When he started school, he did not understand what it meant to go to school, he said. He only spoke Spanish, and he struggled early on.

That was a major issue, he told the students during his lecture, speaking only Spanish in a world that spoke English.

Then, his third grade teacher at Lowell Elementary School in Barrio Logan made him sing in front of his class.

Juan, you have a beautiful voice, he recalled the teacher telling him.

I dont have a voice, he responded, reenacting the scene for The Bishops School students. I dont talk at all.

That moment catalyzed a change in him that put him on the path to become poet laureate, he said, because he began figuring out his voice.

Herrera, who has published 30 books of poetry, was Californias poet laureate from 2012 to 2015 before becoming the nations poet. He was appointed as U.S. poet laureate by the Librarian of Congress in 2015 and again in 2016.

Herrera, who lives in Fresno, encouraged the students to scribble, to find their own voices through writing or other forms of artistic expression.

The whole idea is to 1,000 percent express ourselves with all our life who we, our star system selves, are, he said.

Seeing youth, especially those who have also felt like outsiders, create art from their own experiences drives him in his work as poet laureate, he said during the interview.

For those students, he said, it gives them a positive experience of themselves and their language, and it can cleanse the sense of being an outsider, of not being a speaker and of not being worthy.

I cant find anything thats more filled with joy than that, Herrera said.

He encouraged the students to give poems to others as well.

We need gifts, Herrera said. People are feeling a little hows society feeling right now  agitated.

Besides working as an educator, Herrera has also been an activist during his time as poet laureate. He has penned poems about issues like gun violence, and he wrote the introduction for a chapbook released shortly after the recent election called Poems for Political Disaster.

kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com

kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate
President Trumps vow to crack down on sanctuary cities that protect immigrants in the U.S. illegally has met with resolve, at least so far, in some California communities.

Details about Trumps crackdown remain unclear. Trump on Wednesday signed two executive orders designed to begin building a border wall with Mexico, add lockups for detaining immigrants who cross the border illegally, enhance enforcement powers for border agents and strip federal funding to cities that refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement.

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According to a draft document reviewed by The Times, under the new order, the federal government would threaten to withhold funds from cities that limit cooperation with immigration officials.

More than 400 jurisdictions across the country have some sort of sanctuary policy, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and about 40 others in California.

Several smaller towns in Los Angeles County have declared themselves sanctuary cities and now leaders of those municipalities are wondering how Trumps orders will affect them.

More than a year ago, Cudahy, a small working-class town southeast of downtown Los Angeles, declared itself a sanctuary city to encourage immigrants without legal status to cooperate with police.

It was a symbolic gesture to say: Youre here already. Youre free to live your lives and you can call police, said City Councilman Cristian Markovich.

Markovich said the policy has no legal teeth because it doesnt supersede federal law. He said there might be some cooperation with federal authorities, such as police turning over immigrants in the country illegally who commit serious violent crimes.

Markovich said he would oppose any Trump plans to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities.

We pay our fair share and that funding should go to the city regardless of whether the city is a sanctuary city or not, Markovich said.

He said one way the city could be affected would be the withholding of funds from the Community Block Development Grant program, which is used for parks and public housing.

Im going to stick to my guns and say this is a good piece of policy for our city, Markovich said.

In 2006, the one-square-mile town of Maywood declared itself a sanctuary city.

It became second nature, Mayor Pro Tem Eduardo De La Riva said. It wasnt a topic of discussion because California became so progressive over the years it was sort of the norm.

But ever since Trump entered the national stage and because of his rhetoric, more cities became sanctuary cities and it once again came to the spotlight and now were having to ask what does it mean to be a sanctuary city? he said.

De La Riva, who was on the city council when Maywood declared itself a sanctuary city, said they dont plan to abandon the policy.

Were going to wait and see what the executive order states and then were going to have a discussion on what that means for Maywood moving forward, he said. California is going to fight Trump all the way and thats great to have the support from state leadership. I think were sending a clear message when you have several of the largest cities also saying were going to take a stance.

Sanctuary policies have become good politics in cities with large Latino populations. But the protections cities afford to immigrants vary widely.

There is no neat definition of sanctuary city, but in general cities that adopt the designation seek to offer political support or practical protections to people who are in the country illegally.

For some cities, the sanctuary movement consists simply of encouraging people without legal status to get more involved in government. For instance, Huntington Park has never declared itself a sanctuary city but appointed two people without legal status to a city commission, a move that generated national attention.

Other places, such as San Francisco, adopt far-reaching policies, such as taking steps to cut ties with federal immigration officials and refusing to fully cooperate with them. San Francisco declared itself a sanctuary city in 1989, and city officials strengthened the stance in 2013 with its Due Process for All ordinance. The law declared that local authorities could not keep immigrants in custody to be handed over to federal immigration officials if they had no violent felonies on their records and did not currently face charges.

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank that advocates for restrictions on immigration said cutting off funding to sanctuary cities was a long time coming.

Money talks, she said. But there probably will be some die hards who will continue to play chicken on this, and they may face other consequences, such as litigation.

She said it would behoove Trump to expand the types of funding that could be cut off, possibly to include Department of Homeland Security funding or community development block grants.

ALSO

Read a draft copy of President Trumps executive order on immigration and refugees

Federal agents are reinvestigating Syrian refugees in U.S. who may have slipped through vetting lapse

Trumps crackdown on illegal immigration leaves a lot unanswered for sanctuary cities like L.A.

UPDATES:

12:15 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from the Center for Immigration Studies.

This article was originally published at 12:05 p.m.
Wisconsin is one of just a handful of states that has allowed its youngest prison inmates to be punished by placing them in solitary confinement for more than 10 days  a practice that is at the heart of a federal lawsuit filed this week.

And its in the minority nationally in not prohibiting punitive solitary confinement, which inmates at Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls have faced as punishment for serious misbehavior since the facility opened in 1970, according to a 2016 survey conducted by the Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest.

That means teenagers sentenced to serve time at the states youth prison in Irma face being taken to a cell no larger than about the size of a gas station bathroom, outfitted with a single metal bed and metal toilet. Theres one window in the cells door, as wide as the inmates face, that looks across a hallway into another cell. Food is slid through what could be a mail slot.

In some cases, inmates at the youth prison have spent weeks at a time in isolation, according to current and former inmates and staff. The official policy limits confinement in isolation to 60 days.

That practice, along with alleged overuse of pepper spray and mechanical restraints, violates inmates constitutional rights, according to a federal lawsuit brought this week by four current and former inmates of the states youth prison, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin. They allege the state Department of Corrections has violated inmates rights to live free from cruel and unusual punishment.

They do deserve to be punished but do they deserve to be treated like that? John Levy of Milwaukee, a father of a current inmate at Copper Lake who is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said at a news conference Tuesday.

A DOC spokesman declined to comment.

Levy and the inmates mother, Meranda Davis, said their daughter feels she has been mistreated by the mostly white staff because she is black. They said she has been held in isolation and been pepper sprayed, suffered a bloody nose because so much pepper spray was being used on an inmate in a cell next to hers and had a nervous breakdown last year and attempted suicide because of the treatment she received from staff.

Levy said his daughter committed auto theft and battery.

The lawsuit also alleges inmates rights are being violated by the amount of pepper spray and level of restraints being used on inmates to control behavior.

I feel that they need to do better or they need to shut down, Davis said of the Lincoln Hills/Copper Lake facility.

Practices revised

DOC officials named as defendants in the lawsuit have already begun to revise practices  limiting the amount of time an inmate is taken to what are known as security cottages, where inmates are kept in solitary confinement. The changes came about six months ago after nearly every Department of Corrections official involved in juvenile corrections, at both the facility and the state level, had been replaced or had resigned in the wake of a two-year state and federal investigation into alleged abuses at the facility.

Now, the ACLU and its plaintiffs are seeking to force large-scale changes in practice  including eliminating the current use of solitary confinement for juvenile offenders altogether  in the absence of a resolution to the investigation.

If I had any reason to believe (a resolution) was imminent, we may have held off, said Larry Dupuis, legal director of the ACLU in Wisconsin.

Dupuis said inmates are still being mistreated at the facility despite the ongoing investigation. He cited an incident during which ACLU officials witnessed an inmate be pepper sprayed for failing to remove his shoes.

Kenneth Streit, a UW-Madison Law School professor who specializes in criminal justice issues, said the lawsuit could allow the plaintiffs attorneys to provide answers to questions the state and federal investigation has failed to yield thus far.

It doesnt take you two years to figure out whats going on here, Streit said.

According to allegations contained in the lawsuit, inmates in the states youth prison are locked up for nearly 24 hours in the cells that measure 7-feet-by-10-feet and have little more than a book and a toothbrush to keep them occupied. Boys are not allowed to flush the toilets in the cells, while girls must be escorted to a bathroom. Lights are kept on at all times but dimmed at night. The inmates get one hour of instruction from a teacher who comes to the cottage.

During this time, they may be locked to a desk in the classroom, according to the lawsuits allegations.

Streit said the practice of solitary confinement may work for some people but not for juveniles.

Illinois overhaul ordered

The lawsuit, which is seeking to change policies and collect attorneys fees, is similar to a federal class-action suit brought by the ACLU a few years ago against the state of Illinois. That case spurred a court-ordered overhaul of the states juvenile justice system.

In recent years, there has been increasing agreement that youth offenders should not be treated like adult offenders.

In 2016, former President Barack Obama banned the use of solitary confinement for juvenile offenders in federal prisons, saying the practice is tied to lasting psychological consequences and, for juveniles especially, increases the risk of suicide.

Jessica Feierman, associate director of the Juvenile Law Center, said at the news conference that if she treated her teenage son in a similar manner to how inmates are treated in the Irma facility, it would be called child abuse.

If I chained him to a table, if I sprayed him with pepper spray, it would be called child abuse, she said.

Department of Justice spokesman Johnny Koremenos said DOJ attorneys will not represent the state in the lawsuit because of its involvement in the criminal investigation. Gov. Scott Walkers office with hire an outside attorney, Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said.
San Diegans reacted with relief or dismay to President Donald Trumps reportedly imminent actions on Wednesday on the subject of immigration, depending on their perspective on the divisive issue.

Trump is reported to be taking a number of measures to launch construction of a border wall and limit the arrival of refugees.

San Diego-based Shawn Moran, vice president of the Border Patrol union, welcomed the news about the immigration action in a telephone interview with the Union-Tribune.

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Thats something that we have been calling for for close to two years now, Moran said. Were very concerned that the refugee stream could be exploited. Were encouraged by the actions that hes taking.

In terms of the wall, were grateful to have a president whos taking border security seriously.

Ramla Sahid, executive director of the San Diego-based Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, said the U.S. should continue to welcome refugees.

I cant fathom the loss and sadness families must be feeling who are separated from loved ones in refugee camps and urban centers and who now will have no hope of seeing them again, said Sahid, whose group advocates for inclusion of refugees. Our work will be difficult but we must resist. We have to fight this and any effort to turn our backs on human beings at a time when they are most in need of safety and welcome.

She added, We must affirm the dignity and humanity of over 65 million people who have been forced to flee home who deserve our compassion. This is what we do as Americans. We stand in opposition to any announcement which turns our backs on refugees at a time when they are most in need of safety.

Ramla Sahid, executive director of the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans in San Diego, addresses the crowd at an event supporting the worlds refugees. (Tatiana Sanchez/ U-T)

kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate
President Trump directed federal workers Wednesday to start building a border wall and begin punishing so-called sanctuary cities, in a flurry of steps that could fundamentally reshape how the U.S. deals with immigration, security and the war on terrorism.

The president is also considering dramatically limiting the flow of people from other countries, including a ban on Syrian refugees.

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Trump signed two executive orders designed to begin building the wall, add lockups for detaining immigrants who cross the border illegally, enhance enforcement power for border agents and strip federal funding to cities that refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement.

Also see

Reform of our immigration system has been at the top of President Trumps priorities since he announced his candidacy, spokesman Sean Spicer said early Wednesday afternoon. Well enforce the rule of law and restore value to the American citizenship.

Trump said construction would begin as soon as possible and that the U.S. would pay for it, to be eventually reimbursed by Mexico, which has said it will not pay.

There will be a payment. It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form, Trump said in an interview with ABC News.

He did not detail how he would force Mexico to pay for the wall, though during the campaign he proposed ending remittances sent home by Mexicans in the U.S., which make up a large part of the Mexicos economy, to pressure it to negotiate.

Trump is mulling a range of additional activity. It includes stopping admission of Syrian refugees and severe restrictions on travel from several majority-Muslim countries. Additionally, he is considering a reversal of President Obamas efforts to shutter the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the reintroduction of torture techniques and secret overseas prisons designed to strip protections for terrorism suspects.

All of those options fit Trumps broad campaign promises to crack down on people entering the country illegally, with an emphasis on those who he believes might harm Americans. Trump argued repeatedly during the campaign that the U.S. had become too politically correct to effectively defend itself.

Trump administration officials were still deciding on the exact timing for announcing the rest of the new policies.

The batch of actions Trump is contemplating amount to a clear repudiation of Obamas view, as well as that of many in the international community, that the U.S. abandoned some of its commitment to human rights in the early years of the war on terrorism and doing so helped terrorist groups recruit and win favor. Some of that thinking had begun to take shape in the Bush administration, which initiated the policy of moving detainees out of Guantanamo Bay and often underscored that the fight against terrorism was not religious-based.

Obama pointed to a lack of Sept. 11-style terrorist attacks on U.S. soil during his administration as evidence that his approach worked. Yet Trump won the election in part because many Americans continue to feel vulnerable.

But it all begins with the wall. Trump built his campaign largely on a call for stricter immigration enforcement, his central promise a vow to build the wall on the border with Mexico. Though it evoked cheers from his supporters at campaign rallies, his divisive rhetoric stoked fears among immigrants.

Trump previewed his executive action Tuesday night, tweeting : Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!

Spicer said Trump would sign two orders Wednesday during an appearance at the Department of Homeland Security. The first would direct the agency to begin building the wall, but it would still require Congress to approve the estimated billions of dollars in funding to construct the 2,000-mile-long barrier. In the meantime, the Homeland Security budget includes about $175 million set aside for upgrading Border Patrol buildings and adding new equipment, which along with other funds could be diverted quickly to start construction.

Details from one version of the directive reviewed by the Times would include a requirement that the agency publicly detail aid it is giving to Mexico  highlighting Trumps pledge to force that country to pay for the wall. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is scheduled to visit the White House next week to discuss trade, another Trump priority.

The memo also includes language allowing federal law enforcement to access federal land for border security, a possible attempt to head off environmental lawsuits that could hold up construction. It would also prioritize border prosecutions and referrals to the Department of Justice.

The second action would threaten to withhold funds to punish sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with immigration officials. It would include directions for aggressive interior immigration enforcement and an advocacy office for victims of crimes committed by those in the country illegally. Relatives of those victims were often onstage with Trump during campaign rallies.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a close ally of the new administration, telegraphed the sanctuary cities announcement during a speech Wednesday to the conservative Heritage Foundation. He called it a common-sense action that would drive the left crazy.

Beyond those actions, Trump is also looking at new restrictions on refugees and visitors, to follow through on his campaign promise to bar Muslims from entering the country for a period of time. That pledge has been one of Trumps most polarizing, drawing criticism from leaders in his own party, along with Democrats and security experts, but approval from many of his supporters.

One memo he is reviewing would block all refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days and restrict admissions and some visa applicants for people from countries where the U.S. has counterterrorism concerns, not only Syria but also Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

The draft order temporarily suspends the U.S. refugee program while new vetting procedures are put in place and officials decide whether refugees from some countries should be blocked permanently from admission. This step would likely arouse an international outcry, given the historic role that the U.S. and other industrialized nations have long held in taking in victims of war and oppression.

The draft orders the U.S. stop admitting refugees from Syria indefinitely until a review of security screening is complete. Trump also instructed the secretaries of State and Defense to come up with a plan to create safe areas in Syria and nearby countries where Syrians could wait for resettlement. That could open the U.S. military to deeper engagement in the Middle East.

In addition, the Department of Homeland Security would review how visas are issued and whether some countries should be required to provide more information before their citizens are allowed entry to the U.S., according to the draft order. The results of that review could allow Trump to block or slow visa issuance to countries with large Muslim populations or with terrorism concerns, a de facto ban on Muslims.

The order goes beyond the Muslim world, however, creating new restrictions on visitors from some of Americas closest allies. It would suspend the visa waiver program  widely used by citizens from 38 countries, including most European countries, Australia, Japan and Chile  which grants citizens of those countries a 90-day tourist visa after they submit their biographical information to a screening check. The new policy would would require in-person interviews for most citizens from those countries.

Trump is also considering lifting restrictions on harsh interrogations and renewing the use of secret overseas sites to hold terrorism suspects, both widely seen as dark chapters of the post-9/11 era, as he looks to follow through on his campaign promise to ramp up targeting of Islamic militants.

During the campaign, Trump repeatedly said he would bring back waterboarding and other harsh tactics that were part of the so-called enhanced interrogation program, which was installed after the Sept. 11 attacks and widely considered a stain on the CIAs record. A Senate Intelligence Committee report in 2014 concluded that the torture methods diminished U.S. standing in the world and failed to produce significant intelligence.

Aides have prepared executive actions to lift bans on both, according to a draft document being circulated. Spicer denied that it was a White House document.

Trump is expected to ask national security officials to review what interrogation methods are allowed under the Army Field Manual. Techniques that go beyond what the manual allows were outlawed by Congress in 2014.

He could also order the CIA to consider bringing back the use of so-called black sites for secretly holding terrorism suspects, a practice that Obama banned in 2009, as well as sending detainees to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Trumps CIA director, Mike Pompeo, repeatedly told senators at his confirmation hearing that he would not restart the CIAs use of secret prisons and would refuse any orders from the White House to torture suspects.The CIA and the militarys Joint Special Operations Command are expected to play a major role in increasing attacks on Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, a priority for Trump. During his inaugural address, Trump promised to eradicate from the face of the Earth Islamic terrorist groups like Islamic State and Al Qaeda.

Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

noah.bierman@latimes.com, brian.bennett@latimes.com

Twitter: @noahbierman, @bybrianbennett

ALSO:

Trump sends an unmistakable signal on pipelines: Big oil is back

Trump moves quickly in bid to revamp Americas trade policy

Trump makes his priorities clearer, and deportation of young immigrants has fallen off the list

UPDATES:

11:05 a.m.: This article was updated with Trump signing executive orders.

10:45 a.m.: This article was updated with comment from White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

9:25 a.m.: This article was updated with comment from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

This article was originally published at 8:45 a.m.
President Trump put force behind his central campaign pledge to toughen immigration enforcement, signing orders Wednesday to start construction of a border wall, expand authority to deport thousands, increase the number of detention cells and punish cities and states that refuse to cooperate.

Some of the actions could add up to billions of dollars and will require help from a Republican-led Congress friendly toward Trumps immigration agenda. Others will invite lawsuits from a vast army of opponents. Yet in total, they represent a major shift in the nations approach to immigration and an early indication that Trump plans to boldly reshape government as he promised on the campaign trail.



For the record: An earlier version of this article reported that the Trump administration was considering changes in the visa waiver program, which allows citizens of 38 countries to obtain 90-day tourist visas without an interview at a U.S. consulate. The proposed order would affect a different program known as the visa-interview waiver, which affects certain foreign workers and students in the U.S.

Trump, in office less than a week, has shown few signs of letting up on his vow to dramatically limit the flow of people from other nations. In addition to Wednesdays two orders, he is considering a flurry of additional ones that would temporarily ban all new refugees and narrow the openings for people traveling from Muslim-dominated countries.

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A nation without borders is not a nation, Trump said to employees at the Department of Homeland Security. Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders.

The most immediate impact of Trumps actions might be a vast increase in the number of people subject to detention and deportation. Trumps orders call for an expansion of detention facilities holding asylum seekers and others awaiting immigration hearings. It would end so-called catch-and-release practices that allow those migrants to remain at large if there is overcrowding or if they are mothers with children, unaccompanied minors or face a credible fear of persecution from their home countries.

Trumps orders would also 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.

The day is over when they can stay in our country and wreak havoc, Trump said. We are going to get them out, and were going to get them out fast.

Immigration rights groups and politicians representing liberal localities known as sanctuary cities and states vowed resistance  in Congress, local legislative bodies and in court  inviting what is likely to be years of litigation.

Watch: President Trump speaks at the Department of Homeland Security 

Directing a deportation force to break up immigrant families contributing to our country is not a show of strength, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said. It damages our communities and erodes local economies.

Harris said Trump had used his first days in office to target the voiceless and vulnerable.

California alone receives as much as $105 billion a year in federal dollars, though its unclear how much of that money would be put in jeopardy as a result of Trumps orders, which give power to the U.S. attorney general and Homeland Security secretary to withhold grant money. The most likely targets are money for equipment, prisoner detention and officer training.

Trump scared and angered minorities and others when he opened his campaign by saying some Mexicans who came to the U.S. brought drugs and crime and were rapists.

He echoed some of that explosive language Wednesday: We are going to get the bad ones out: the criminals and the drug dealers and gangs and gang members and cartel leaders.

The need for more money to fund Trumps agenda will ensure Congress continues to play a role and could delay implementing some of his measures, including the hiring of 5,000 more Border Patrol agents, which would bring the total to 26,000, and 10,000 new immigration officers, tripling their ranks to 15,000.

Others require less money but will help Trump, a strong believer in the power of branding, to send a message. He ordered the Homeland Security Department to publish a list every week of crimes committed by people in the U.S. illegally, along with names of police departments that failed to detain them.

In addition to penalizing cities and states that refuse to work with immigration authorities, Trump immediately restored the Secure Communities program in which immigration officers were notified each time an immigrant who has entered the country illegally is booked into a local jail.

Though Congress seems likely to approve spending on agents and holding cells, Trumps border wall  his signature campaign promise  could be a tougher sell. He directed federal workers to start construction, allowing Homeland Security to redirect about $175 million already set aside for upgrading Border Patrol buildings and adding new equipment.

But a wall all along the 2,000-mile border, which Trump has called for, would cost billions. Trump has said the U.S. would pay for it, while insisting it would eventually be reimbursed by Mexico. But Mexico says it wont pay for the wall.

There will be a payment. It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form, Trump said in an interview with ABC News.

He did not detail how he would force Mexico to pay for the wall, though during the campaign he proposed ending remittances sent home by Mexicans in the U.S., which make up a large part of Mexicos economy, to pressure its leaders to negotiate.

Wednesdays announcement is certain to add discomfort to next weeks visit from Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who is under intense pressure at home to repudiate Trumps insistence that his country will pay for a wall, and a spokesman said he did not know whether Pena Nieto would come to the White House.

A wall will help Mexico crack down on cartels and stop immigrants moving north from Central America, Trump said. He also promised to help stop cash and guns from flowing south out of the U.S.

Trump is weighing a range of additional activity. They would include stopping admission of Syrian refugees and severe restrictions on travel from several majority-Muslim countries, matching a campaign promise that was one of his most divisive.

Additionally, he is considering a reversal of former President Obamas efforts to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the reintroduction of torture techniques and secret overseas prisons designed to strip protections for terrorism suspects.

The torture techniques, widely considered one of the darkest chapters of the post-Sept. 11 era, were outlawed by Congress, and a Senate Intelligence Committee report found that they did not work.

Trump argued repeatedly during the campaign that the U.S. had become too politically correct to effectively defend itself.

Trump told ABC News that he would rely on his Cabinet, but has been told by intelligence officials that torture does work. The answer was yes, absolutely, he said.

One directive he is reviewing would block all refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days and restrict admissions and some visa applicants for people from countries where the U.S. has counter-terrorism concerns, not only Syria but also Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

The draft order temporarily suspends the U.S. refugee program while new vetting procedures are put in place and officials decide whether refugees from some countries should be blocked permanently from admission. This step would probably bring an international outcry, given the historic role that the U.S. and other industrialized nations have long held in taking in victims of war and oppression.

The order goes beyond the Muslim world, however. It would suspend the visa-interview waiver program, which allows some foreign workers and students in the U.S. to extend visas without returning to their home country for an in-person interview at the U.S. consulate.

Times staff writers Lisa Mascaro in Philadelphia and Kate Linthicum in Mexico City contributed to this report.

noah.bierman@latimes.com, brian.bennett@latimes.com

Twitter: @noahbierman, @bybrianbennett

ALSO:

Trumps order to begin wall construction opens wider rift with Mexico

Fresno mayor vows his town wont become sanctuary city, bucking California trend

Hes here illegally. His son was born in U.S. Im worried of being separated from family under Trump

Trump makes his priorities clearer, and deportation of young immigrants has fallen off the list

UPDATES:

3:35 p.m: The story was updated with more details on Trumps orders.

1:05 p.m.: The story was updated with comments from Trump.

11:05 a.m.: The story was updated with Trump signing executive orders.

10:45 a.m.: The story was updated with comments from White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

9:25 a.m.: The story was updated with comments from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

The story was originally published at 8:45 a.m.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer says he has unwavering support for San Diegos close binational ties with Mexico in the face of a pending border crackdown by President Donald Trump.

Faulconer also made a reference to the border fence that exists in the region, saying theres already a secure border in San Diego.

Among other border and immigration-related actions, Trump is expected to sign an executive order Wednesday redirecting federal funds to build a continuous wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Trump to sign executive order for construction of border wall, targeting sanctuary cities.

Also see

We already have a safe and secure border in San Diego built by the federal government, the Republican mayor said in a statement late Tuesday night. But we also have strong economic and cultural binational ties that have my unwavering support. Keeping trade moving in both directions safely and securely is important to San Diegos economy and helps create local jobs.

San Diego has long had intricate cross-border ties with Tijuana and other cities in northern Baja. Faulconer has moved to strengthen those relations since his election in 2014.

The mayor and business groups on both sides of the border have warned that actions threatened by Trump  a possible border tariff and an overhaul of the North American Free Trade Agreement  would cost jobs in both the U.S. and Mexico.
San Diego extended its temporary moratorium on recreational marijuana dispensaries on Tuesday to give the city more time to craft rules that will allow, but heavily regulate, such businesses.

The moratorium, which had been set to expire this weekend, was extended to December by the City Council in a unanimous vote. But it will be immediately lifted when the city adopts regulations, which is expected to happen quickly.

Proposed regulations were presented to the San Diego Planning Commission in December and a council hearing on them is scheduled for Jan. 31.

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San Diego is the only city in the county that has indicated it intends to allow the sale of recreational marijuana, which state voters approved Nov. 8 as Proposition 64.

But city officials said the temporary moratorium is necessary to avoid having dispensaries selling recreational marijuana open in unsuitable areas or buildings before the new city regulations are in place.

The proposal presented to the Planning Commission would essentially allow the 15 dispensaries approved by the city to sell medical marijuana to begin selling recreational marijuana.

San Diegos first permitted marijuana dispensary, A Green Alternative in Otay Mesa (John Gibbins / U-T San Diego)

Those businesses, eight of which have opened, all conform with regulations that prevent dispensaries from opening near housing, schools, churches, parks and other sensitive uses, while also requiring security guards, cameras and other safety measures.

The proposal would also refine some of the regulations to avoid some unintended consequences of the medical marijuana ordinance, which was approved in 2014.

An example is making the definition of a park more specific to prevent open space and riparian areas from blocking some proposed dispensaries.

In addition, the Planning Commission last month recommended San Diego begin allowing commercial cultivation and testing of marijuana within the city limits.

The commissioners said continuing to ban those activities will cost San Diego jobs and tax revenue, jeopardize the safety of patients and increase air pollution by forcing tons of marijuana to be trucked into the city from elsewhere.

Proposition 64 made it immediately legal for individuals to use and grow marijuana for personal use, allowing indoor and outdoor cultivation of up to six living marijuana plants in a private residence.

But the sale and subsequent taxation of recreational marijuana will not go into effect until new state licenses needed to sell it take effect sometime before Jan. 1, 2018.

San Diego voters approved a local tax on recreational marijuana on Nov. 8 that would start at 5 percent and rise to 8 percent in July 2019.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick
Neighborhoods in San Diego, especially those in low-income and urban areas, would get significantly more trees under a five-year urban forestry plan the City Council unanimously approved on Tuesday.

The proposal aims to help the city meet the goals of its ambitious climate action plan, which calls for increasing the percentage of San Diego covered by trees from 13 percent to 35 percent over the next two decades.

Supporters said the 32-page plan would also boost property values, improve air quality, enhance wildlife habitat and shrink energy costs by reducing the need for air conditioning.

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Increasing a citys tree canopy has also been shown to reduce storm water runoff, lower crime rates, boost public health and strengthen communities, city officials said.

Now more than ever, cities and nature need each other, said Ann Fege, chairwoman of the citys Community Forest Advisory Board, who called the plan a big leap forward. Nature and trees will make our cities much more livable.

The plan includes 65 separate actions and initiatives aimed at giving San Diego a resilient, world-class urban forest.

The actions include creating a tree inventory this year to determine strengths and weaknesses in the citys canopy, how to decide where to plant which types of trees and how to re-shape city policies for preserving and maintaining the roughly 1 million trees already in place.

Councilman Scott Sherman praised the plan, which includes three phases that run through the end of 2021.

Were actually going to have a plan, he said. We know what were going to put in the ground, we know how it works and were going to be thinking down the road. In the long run this will save us money, because we dont have to go repair streets and dig up roots and dig up trees that shouldnt have been there in the first place.

Mike Palat, chairman of the San Diego Regional Urban Forest Council, said the plan makes San Diego the leading agency in the region regarding tree care and strategy.

Hurdles the city must overcome include neglect of trees and a dearth of planting during the Great Recession, a relative shortage of trees in low-income areas and ill-advised planting of trees in areas where they have buckled sidewalks or dropped fruit and leaves on cars and other private property.

In addition, the city has six separate departments that oversee tree planting and care, a problem the plan seeks to solve by streamlining and coordinating city efforts.

A key boost for the plan came in 2015 when the city secured a grant that used high-resolution light detection to determine San Diegos urban tree canopy is 13 percent.

Previous efforts to determine the canopy used aerial imagery and found it was 7 percent in 2003 and 4.2 percent in 2010.

The percentage is key to the citys climate action plan, which commits to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2035. One way the plan would accomplish that is by boosting the tree canopy to 15 percent by 2020 and 35 percent by 2035.

Last month, the city announced plans to plant 500 street trees in urban neighborhoods using a $750,000 grant from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention.

The trees will be planted along Market Street, Imperial Avenue, Ocean View Boulevard, 25th Street and 47th Street. They are projected to collectively capture roughly seven million pounds of carbon during their lifespans.

The five-year plan fund was funded by a $75,000 grant from the same state agency.

Some residents have expressed frustration over city policies that prohibit replacing damaged trees unless nearby property owners sign agreements to water them.

They contend it would be cheaper to preserve and replace the trees the city already has in place than to plant thousands of new trees.

But city officials note they dont have equipment or funding to water many street trees.

City policy says a tree should only be removed if it is dead, hazardous, causing damage to public improvements, the owner of the fronting property requests the removal or the tree is not part of a uniform tree planting.

But the five-year plans notes that property owners face few consequences if they use poor pruning practices or illegally remove a tree.

The next key step for San Diego is creating an updated tree inventory to obtain a definitive understanding of the existing urban forest, which will help the city create a strategy and garner crucial public support.

The most recent tree inventory was completed in 2002. It included all trees in the public right-of-way, but not those in maintenance assessment districts.

While San Diegos streets are lined with approximately 200,000 trees and 48,000 palms, previous studies estimated that they could accommodate more than four times that amount, the plan says.

Planting opportunities exist along under-planted arterial roads, in older neighborhoods where many trees have died, in new neighborhoods that lack trees, around schools and near freeway interchanges.

The city could also plant more trees in parks, open space areas and canyons.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick
San Diego police raided an unlicensed marijuana dispensary in Logan Heights and arrested the suspected owner Tuesday.

Officers served a search warrant at Firehouse Meds on Logan Avenue near Simpson Street about 10 a.m. During the raid, police seized 14 pounds of pot, about 1,000 edibles and concentrates, about $20,000 in cash, a handgun and business records, police Lt. Matt Novak said.

Police arrested the person they believe is the owner on suspicion of selling marijuana and operating an illegal business. One employee was issued a citation.

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Other people associated with the dispensary may be charges, Novak said.

Authorities were led to the business as part of an ongoing investigation by a police narcotics unit and the City Attorneys Office into marijuana dispensaries operating without a permit.

Firehouse Meds was the 18th shop to be raided. Roughly 12 to 15 others are under investigation, Novak said.

Breaking News

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, its going to be only America first, America first.

 President Trump, inaugural address, Jan. 20, 2017

President Trump is something of a paradox. He roots himself in nostalgia for yesteryear  Make America great again!  but is remarkably unconcerned with history. He ransacks the past for rhetorical baubles but declines to carry their historical baggage too.

In 2015, a Washington Post reporter had to remind Trump that his use of the phrase silent majority had Nixonian overtones. Oh, is that why people stopped using [the phrase]? Trump replied. Nobody thinks of Nixon. I dont think of Nixon when I think of the silent majority.

He invokes the forgotten man as if he invented the term, never indicating that it was one of Franklin D. Roosevelts central themes.

His inaugural address made almost no reference to American history. His populist rejection of the status quo and the establishment suggests he thinks the country is starting over at Year Zero. Indeed, he repeated a standard campaign line that at least some historians might quibble with: that he was elected by a historic movement, the likes of which the world has never seen before.

Which brings us to America first, a slogan the president seems to have first absorbed from a New York Times reporter trying to characterize the candidates positions. As with silent majority, Trump refuses to accept what that term means to many of the people who hear him use it.

Granted, its more complicated than mainstream journalists would have you believe.

The America First Committee was founded in the spring of 1940 by isolationist students at Yale University and quickly became a major national movement  though it was never the purely right-wing phenomenon many claim. Many Republicans and conservatives supported it (including a then-15-year-old William F. Buckley, who as an adult repudiated isolationism and barred isolationists from the pages of National Review).

But other allies in the isolationist or non-interventionist cause included American Socialist Party leader Norman Thomas, liberal journalist Oswald Garrison Villard, and such progressive icons Charles Beard, John Dewey, Joseph Kennedy, Bernard Baruch and Progressive Party hero Robert La Follette, Jr., of Wisconsin. Though its true the German American Bund had opposed war, so did American pacifist organizations (until the Soviets told them to change their position). Isolationism is a bipartisan American tradition, and its defenders can claim George Washingtons farewell address as proof of its pedigree.

The entire purpose of the America First Committee was to keep FDR from dragging the U.S. into another European war. Given the still fresh memory of the horror  both at home and abroad  of World War I, this always struck me as a defensible if, in hindsight, wrong position.

The isolationists had largely fought FDR to a political standstill until Pearl Harbor, which ended all debate. After the war, with the full knowledge of Nazi crimes and years of domestic patriotic fervor, the term America first took on a more sinister reputation in retrospect than it deserved (influenced by FDRs political vendettas against the isolationists during the war). Some Jewish groups to this day unfairly consider it vague code for America should have let the Holocaust run its course.

That Trump could so easily adopt America first without being hobbled by its negative connotation was a political coup. He insists its just a catchphrase for prioritizing American interests. Even though the term is both catnip and dog whistle to some of his more unsavory fans, I think hes sincere.

Still, my problem with Trumps version of America first isnt his desire to do what is in Americas best interests  who could oppose that? Its how he defines Americas best interest  and its best self. With his blind eye to the past, hes stumbled into old-fashioned nationalism.

Up until very recently, American exceptionalism  i.e., we are a creedal nation dedicated to certain principles reflected in our founding documents  largely defined the conservative understanding of patriotism.

But Trump sees America more as an identity than an idea. He promised that Americas example will shine for everyone to follow, but he defined that example not in terms of our liberties or ideals, but in terms of unity. We will rebuild our country with American hands and American labor following two simple rules: buy American and hire American. We will shine through our success at building infrastructure, walling off our economy and crushing our enemies.

All in all, this is no new vision  though it is arguably new for an American president.
San Diego police pursued the suspected Bag Trick Bandit bank robber from Linda Vista into Mission Valley, where a police dog caught him Wednesday.

The suspect, driving a U-Haul truck at 65 mph, hit a street sign, then a parked car near the Mission Valley YMCA, police said.

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Police said they believe him to be the man who held up three banks and tried to rob two others, mostly in Clairemont since late December.

The FBI dubbed him the Bag Trick Bandit because he stuck his hand inside a bag as if he was holding a gun. He displayed a gun openly in two cases.

An officer spotted the suspect in Linda Vista about 8 a.m. and tried to pull him over, police Officer Tony Martinez said.

The truck driver sped off, going south on Via las Cumbres, then reaching Friars Road westbound into Mission Valley.

Several police cars were behind him as he pulled into the YMCA parking lot, struck the parked car, then got out and ran toward the San Diego River, Martinez said.

He said the pursuit lasted four to five minutes.

Officers caught up to him near the riverbed but he did not comply with their orders and a police dog was used to subdue him, Martinez said.

The man was taken into custody. Robbery unit detectives were called in to investigate.

The FBI issued a notice on Monday that agents wanted the publics help in finding a series bank robber.

He is suspected of trying to rob a bank in Linda Vista on Dec. 21 and succeeding at a Clairemont bank the same day. The FBI believes the same man tried to rob another Clairemont bank on Jan. 5, then hit one Midway District bank twice, on Jan. 8 and Jan. 22.

He was described as white, about 30 years old, 6 feet tall, thin, with dark blond hair. His face was generally partly covered with a hooded sweatshirt, hat and sunglasses.
Federal judges on Tuesday declined to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the distribution of costs for the premature closure of the San Onofre nuclear plant, saying state regulators have not shown the case is moot.

The decision means that new settlement talks scheduled to begin Friday will take place with the federal case still pending.

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Opponents argue that a settlement deal assigning customers to pay $3.3 billion out of $4.7 billion in premature shutdown costs was skewed by improper backchannel dealings between regulators and utility executives.

The California Public Utilities Commission last May agreed to reopen the settlement deal. Lawyers for the commission and majority plant owner Southern California Edison unsuccessfully argued in court papers earlier this month that the federal lawsuit contesting the settlement should therefore be dismissed.

This shows the wisdom of the court, said San Diego attorney Michael Aguirre, who filed the case on behalf of the Citizens Oversight consumer group. We read it to say that what has happened up to now has not been noticed with a fair hearing.

Commission officials did not immediately respond to questions about the order posted Tuesday. Edison said it could not comment on pending litigation.

In 2014, the utilities commission approved the settlement agreement for costs of the 2012 failure of the plant north of Oceanside.

The agreement, negotiated by the utility and two consumer groups, closely mirrored a framework set forth a year earlier during a secret meeting in Warsaw, Poland, between former commission president Michael Peevey and Edison executive Stephen Pickett.

The Warsaw discussion led to a criminal investigation that is still open. It also prompted a nearly $17 million fine against the utility for failing to disclose the discussion.

The deal adopted unanimously by the commission in 2014 was challenged by Citizens Oversight as an illegal taking of property  ratepayer money  without due process.

Aguirre lost his claim at the U.S. District Court in 2015, but late last year the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to hear the appeal.

In the meantime, state utility regulators reopened the San Onofre proceeding and scheduled a new round of settlement talks  this time including Aguirre and other parties that were not at the bargaining table between 2013 and 2014. The reopening has not yet resulted in any changes to the 2014 settlement.

John Geesman, an attorney representing the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, said the order Tuesday is important because both the commission and Edison wanted the federal case dismissed.

What the court has decided is that federal jurisdiction can stay until it can see how the PUC process is resolved, said Geesman, who also is participating in the new settlement talks. Its unusual for the federal government to involve itself in a PUC proceeding in the first place, but to say that the scrutiny is going to continue is a pretty big deal.

Matthew Freedman of The Utility Reform Network or TURN, one of the two consumer groups that negotiated the first settlement, said the 9th Circuit action sends a strong message to regulators, Edison and minority plant owner San Diego Gas & Electric Co.

If the court delays oral arguments in the case, it would provide additional leverage to consumer groups in the upcoming meet and confer process, he said. Edison and SDG&E are now on notice that the failure to make significant concessions could lead to review and scrutiny by the federal courts.

The negotiations begin Friday in San Francisco. Another meeting is tentatively scheduled in February and the settlement is supposed to be completed by April.

Oral arguments in the federal appellate case are scheduled Feb. 9 in Pasadena. They could be postponed until a new deal is hammered out between Edison and other parties in the commission proceeding.

Aguirre has said for months that the San Onofre costs should be determined through a public process  not behind closed doors. Tuesday he said there is a difference between secret negotiations and confidential settlement talks.

Settlements are typically done confidentially but theyre not done in secret, like they were last time, said Aguirre, who declined to say what concessions he would seek in the negotiations. We will not be holding them in Poland.

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jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald
A conservative Nebraska state senator previously fined for having cybersex while using a government computer resigned Wednesday after sending a tweet that implied some participants at the Womens March were too unattractive to be sexually assaulted.

To paraphrase Richard Nixon, you wont have Bill Kintner to kick around anymore, said the legislator at a news conference at the state capital.

Kintner outraged constituents and other lawmakers when he sent a message originally posted by conservative radio talk show host Larry Elder of a photo of three protesters at last weekends march in Washington D.C.

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The women were holding signs that disapproved of Donald Trumps previous comments about touching women in an inappropriate way.

Ladies I think youre safe, said the caption on the tweet, which has since been deleted.

Kintners retweet of the post caused immediate disapproval.

So maybe time to take down the retweet of @larryelder saying those ladies are too ugly to assault senator, wrote one person in a screen shot of the tweet posted on WOWT TV.

Kintner replied that Elder could take down the post if he wanted and the person then responded by saying, Im talking about *you* senator. @larryelder wrote it and you liked it enough to share it with us. Its on your Twitter. Why?

Right out of the liberal playbook, replied Kintner. Take a joke and claim victim-hood.

His office later issued a statement that said, By retweeting a message, I was not implying support for putting women in fear of their personal safety. I took down the retweet as soon as I became aware that it was being misconstrued.

Nebraska state Sen. Bill Kintner of Papillion announces at a news conference in Lincoln, Neb. that he is resigning the seat he has held since 2012. (Nati Harnik / AP)

So the tweet may have been gone but the anger at the senator  who had already raised the ire of fellow lawmakers  was not.

In fact, Kintner announced that he was stepping down just hours before his states legislature was set to debate whether to expel him.

Kintner had previously gained their disapproval after he admitted that he had engaged in a 2015 mutual masturbation video conference while on business in Boston. Minutes after exposing himself, the woman he was conversing with threatened to blackmail him unless he paid her $4,500. Kintner realized he had been had, and reported the transgression to police, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.

The incident raised immediate calls for him to leave office but he had steadfastly refused.

One of his fellow senators called the lawmakers behavior disgusting.

Kintner, who once commented to a newspaper that no one understands women and that they dont even understand themselves, said his resignation is effective immediately.

619-293-1710

debbi.baker@sduniontribune.com

twitter.com/Debbi_Baker
Regarding Issa takes another stab at moving nuclear waste from San Onofre (Jan. 19): For years Ive championed bipartisan legislation to remove nuclear waste from closed power plants like San Onofre and consolidate it at safe interim storage facilities. I was pleased to hear Congressman Darrell Issa has again introduced similar legislation.

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The Senate has passed legislation to do this several times, including in the most recent U.S. Department of Energy funding bill. Our bill would establish a pilot program to create the first consolidated site for interim storage and would rely on a consent-based process to find a host community that welcomes the facility.

Letters and commentary policy

The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy.

E-mail letters@sduniontribune.com

Mail: Andrew Kleske, Reader Outreach Editor San Diego Union-Tribune P.O. Box 120191 San Diego, CA 92112-0191.

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Unfortunately, House Republicans have repeatedly blocked the program. Im hopeful that Congressman Issa can change that dynamic in the House and convince Republicans that removing nuclear waste from scattered plants and safely consolidating it is our best option.

Dianne Feinstein

U.S. Senator

Raiders fans put nail in the Qualcomm coffin

After reading the interesting letters to the editor (What does San Diego do without Chargers? Jan. 21), Chargers fans need to be honest with themselves.

First, Qualcomm Stadium is a terrible location: difficult and frustrating ingress and egress (which is why I gave up my seats years ago).

Secondly, the decision to move the Chargers occurred the day the Raiders beat the Chargers and Spanos saw more Raiders fans in the seats than Chargers fans. Rivers couldnt even call an audible due to the noise the Raiders fans generated. The Chargers, like the Clippers, are gone for good.

Tear old Jack Murphy down.

Paul Douglas

Oceanside

Sunset Cliffs safety must become a priority

Regarding 2 women rescued from ocean, one in critical condition (Jan. 22): As citizens of the San Diego community and all that visit, we love, value and appreciate the unlimited access to our local beaches and bay.

When are the Coastal Commission and powers that be going to address the safety of the Sunset Cliffs area? I have not counted this years toll, but this unfortunate scenario is happening with such frequency, we cannot continue to ignore it.

I am familiar with this challenging site, and foresee the difficulty of a design and installation of safety measures. Come on, this is 2017, theres got to be a way.

Shirley Odorico

Clairemont

We arent paying our politicians to protest

So, 60-plus Democratic congressman decided to boycott the inauguration. Since they didnt show up for work, will their pay be docked?

Or is the American taxpayer being burned once again?

Monique Belmares

Poway

Dont give Cabinet appointees free pass

The American people need longer vetting and weeding out of Cabinet appointees. Do we want this government to be discovered to be a worse swamp of corruption and conflicts of interest than previously existed? Previous presidents have chosen Cabinet members who will provide advice based on their expertise in the fields they represent. We have to ensure Trumps Cabinet has enough knowledge of its proposed positions so it can make up for Trumps inexperience.

The opposition to those in power will grow, the more Trump hides tax returns and he and Mitch McConnell favor incomplete ethical reviews, pay lip service to conflicts of interest and bully those who value government for the people rather than government by lobbyists in key positions. Incomplete vetting will contribute to tearing our country apart. We must stand up to Trump and McConnell.

C. Wootton

San Diego

Lets be honest about what must be done

The United States is on a downward path and it will never recover. We are as corrupt as any other nation. There are easy fixes but they will never happen:

1.) Remove all private money from all elections  federal, state, county and city.

2.) Ban all lobbying. The lobbyist will claim he is there to educate. Hogwash. He is there to buy.

3.) Eliminate the poison of gerrymandering. Give elections to the people.

4.) As the Supreme Court has ruled  one person, one vote. All votes are equal.

Robert Rosenblum

San Diego

California cant expect to run the whole show

The Electoral College isnt broken. What California cant seem to understand is that it is one-50th of the United States, not the majority.

Bill Colford

San Diego

Not seeing the progress that we were promised

Regarding Faulconer has not performed as promised (Jan 23): Letter writer Kevin Westlins description of our mayors failures is right on.

I, too, seem to recall that Faulconer campaigned as the infrastructure mayor. But our roads are still in disrepair, traffic congestion is at an all-time high, our beautiful freeways are littered with trash and, despite encouragement for homeowners to get rain barrels to collect water runoff, I have not heard one peep about plans to build any new reservoirs.

Now, with the loss of the Chargers on his resume, this mayor has been mostly ineffectual, which can mean only one thing: a run for governor is in his future.

Glenn Walker

San Diego

Talking about homeless wont solve problem

Id like to thank Michael McConnell for pointing out in his opinion piece (Mayor Faulconer sends mixed messages to reduce homelessness, Jan. 20) that the emperor has no clothes.

Perhaps the most ballyhooed effort by Mayor Faulconer regarding homelessness over the last year was to hire what the U-T (Mayor hires staff member to focus on homeless, Oct. 9) referred to as, a longtime public relations professional  who has not worked in public housing or on homelessness before.

The mayor seems to think he can make homelessness disappear from the public consciousness with public relations. Real problems require real solutions. I am hopeful that this mayor can do better if he elects to meaningfully address the issue.

B. Chris Brewster

Pacific Beach

Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.
One in every three Californians wants to see California secede from the nation. Are you one of them?

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 32 percent of those polled would like to see the Golden State follow the model set by the British exit of the European Union , or Brexit, with a Calexit.

A peaceful Calexit, of course.

UPDATE: 'Calexit' organizers can now start collecting signatures to get California secession on the ballot

For many in the state, the need for Calexit stems from the election of President Donald Trump despite overwhelming support for his opponent Hillary Clinton.

As The San Diego Union-Tribune, Sacramento Bee and others have reported, the chance of this actually happening is slim to none. But that doesnt mean people dont still want it.

Just look at all the recent talk about Calexit.

And state political leaders are only stirring up the California self love lately. On Trumps inauguration day, Democrats issued a #DearCalifornians letter describing all the reasons California is great on its own. It also outlined what those leaders will continue to try to do in the Trump era so it can be a light to the nation.

Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown delivered his own California is awesome message in his State of the State speech, which positioned the state in clear opposition to the Trump administration.

Democrats are in the majority, but Republicans represent real Californians, too, he said. We have generally been civil to one another and avoided the rancor of Washington. I urge you to go even further and look for new ways to work beyond party and act as Californians first.

The state has a long history of small groups popping up to advocate for secession, including the current movements of Yes California and the California National Party. Yes California is even pursuing a ballot measure in 2018.

For now, its really just California dreamin. But the dream may be growing.

The same poll in 2014 saw that just 20 percent would like to see California become its own independent state. Hmm.

Are you one of the one in three Californians who wants to see Calexit happen? Are are you team two out of three? Please let us know, and well keep following this story.

Calif., Gov. Jerry Brown delivers his annual State of the State address to a joint session of the California Legislature, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin
Update, Jan. 26: Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto has cancelled his Jan. 31 meeting with President Donald Trump hours after Trump posted a tweet saying that the meeting should be cancelled if Mexico continued to refuse to pay for the border wall, the Associated Press reported Thursday morning.

On Wednesday, several top Mexican officials offered strong reactions to the executive order President Donald Trump signed to move forward with building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, vowing to walk out of trade talks with the U.S. in light of it.

As Mexican government and White House officials met to discuss trade on Wednesday, Trump signed one executive action on immigration and another on border security, which effectively ordered the federal government to immediately begin building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In an interview with ABC News, Trump said the government would use taxpayer dollars to begin building the wall in months but that construction costs would be reimbursed at a later date by Mexico, an idea that Pena Nieto has repeatedly rejected.

Mexicos economy minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, and foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, had vowed to absolutely walk out of trade meetings with the White House, set for Wednesday and Thursday, should the U.S. move forward to make Mexico pay for the border wall through remittances.

"There are very clear red lines that must be drawn from the start," Guajardo was quoted saying ahead of the meetings.

Mexicos President Enrique Pena Nieto pauses during a press conference at Los Pinos presidential residence in Mexico City, Monday, Jan. 23, 2017. (AP Photo / Marco Ugarte)

Pena Nieto also faced growing calls to cancel his meeting with Trump next Tuesday following the executive actions taken by Trump. As of Wednesday afternoon, there was no word on whether Pena Nieto would cancel the meeting.

Earlier this week, former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castaneda urged Pena Nieto to cancel his meeting and save his reputation with the Mexican people.

This is an insult to those Mexican officials, to the president of Mexico and to all Mexicans, Castaneda said in an interview. Its a way of making them negotiate under threat, under insults, and it should lead President Pena Nieto to cancel his trip next week.

In a tweet, former Mexican president Vicente Fox used an expletive on Twitter to reiterate that Mexico would not pay for the wall.

Trumps proposed wall also drew strong reactions in Tijuana, Baja California, where government and business leaders met to discuss economic and border issues.

Renowned Mexican politician Cuauhtemoc Cardenas Solorzano said trade talks between the two countries in light of Trumps border wall proposition would be seen as a punch in the nose to Mexico.

It appears that the least that can be done under these circumstances is to not attend, cancel the visit to the U.S., and find a dignifying position for Mexico, Cardenas Solorzano told Proceso.

Earlier this month, Videgaray said there was no way Mexico would pay for the wall because it was a matter of dignity and national sovereignty. But Videgaray has been the subject of controversy in Mexico.

Last year, Videgaray resigned as Mexicos minister of finance and public credit after facing heavy criticism given his role in facilitating a visit from Trump to Mexico when he was still campaigning for president. Some of that criticism was still visible Wednesday as he and Guajardo met with White House officials.

One Twitter user wrote, One more trap from those who assure us that a wall has benefits. This deception is one more mockery toward our country. What did Videgaray go to the U.S. for?

With the country largely offended by Trumps wall proposition and Mexicans highly skeptical of their own leaders ability to stand up to the U.S. border policies, the conversation about the future of the two countries will likely continue.

Can the U.S. and Mexico come to an agreement that will make everyone happy? Or will the nations remain divided over the wall? Share your thoughts with me via email or via Twitter.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

UPDATES:

9:10 a.m., Jan. 25: This article was updated with an update from the Mexican president.

This article was originally published at 1:55 p.m. on Jan. 25.
The Poway Grade will be closed from 8:30 a.m. to about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday while city public works crews clean up after the recent storms. The closure will extend from Highway 67 to Espola Road.

During Wednesdays closure, crews will be taking care of potential safety concerns along the grade and a geotechnical engineer will evaluate slope conditions.

The Sheriffs Senior Volunteer Patrol will help provide traffic control. Residents located along this section of Poway Road will be allowed access to their property; other traffic will be diverted to Scripps Poway Parkway

Over the weekend there were several small slides. On Sunday evening a large boulder landed on the pavement, forcing the road to be closed for several hours.

Email: editor@pomeradonews.com
San Diego County Board of Supervisors is scheduled today to consider a package of regulations for medical marijuana facilities in unincorporated areas and could extend a moratorium on new dispensaries for an additional year.

Board members will be presented with a variety of zoning options, including buffers with homes and schools ranging from 1,000 feet to one mile and requiring that a dispensary operator obtain a major use permit  an expensive and time-consuming process.

The county Planning Commission, however, has recommended that operators be required to get a less onerous minor use permit.

The options also include limiting the number of such operations in a given location -- such as four per supervisorial district and two per community planning area -- and extending the moratorium to Jan. 25, 2018.

The current temporary prohibition on new dispensaries is due to expire on March 16.Two medical marijuana dispensaries -- near El Cajon and in Ramona -- currently operate in unincorporated areas.

The El Cajon location at 8157 Wing Ave. has applied to the county for a building permit that would allow it to expand, according to county documents. Four others who want to establish dispensaries -- two in Ramona and one each in El Cajon and Valley Center -- have also obtained building permits.County officials estimate that as many as 23 properties could house such facilities under current regulations and that five could be operating soon because the moratorium doesnt apply to them.

The regulations do not involve recreational marijuana enterprises, which are banned in unincorporated areas.

On Tuesday, the city of San Diego addressed recreational marijuana,which was legalized in California with Novembers passage of Proposition 64.

The City Council unanimously extended its moratorium on establishing recreational marijuana businesses for another 10 1/2 months, or until it can adopt regulations. The council members are scheduled to take up regulatory proposals next week.
The trials are over, the sentences ordered. But questions remain.

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Why did a young brother and sister devise a plot to kill their stepfather, a veteran San Diego criminal defense attorney, who by many accounts had not harmed them?

Did anger drive them to murder Timothy MacNeil in his Rolando home and try to make it look as though he was shot during a home-invasion robbery? Or was it greed?

Brae Hansen, 19, was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in MacNeils death in July 2007. Her brother, Nathaniel Gann, 20, was sentenced to 25 years to life.

This was a planned, cold, calculated execution, said San Diego Superior Court Judge Frederic Link, who pondered the pairs motives during back-to-back hearings.

I dont understand, I dont think anybody understands, and I dont think anybody will ever understand.

Both were convicted in April of first-degree murder. Hansen was also found guilty of a special-circumstance allegation of lying in wait.

Gann made no statements during the emotional proceedings yesterday except to answer a few questions from the judge. But Hansen tearfully told the packed courtroom that she was sorry for what she had done.

Im sorry that I robbed the world of his goodness, Hansen said of MacNeil. He was not a perfect man, but he was good.

Im sorry that Ive disappointed so many people, and Im sorry that I made some really horrible decisions.

Hansens apology seemed little comfort to MacNeils family members and supporters, many of whom did little to hide their anger.

You killed the one person who truly loved you and shattered the lives of those who loved him, said Bonnie MacNeil, who is married to the victims brother, Richard.

The attorneys girlfriend, Kim Bieda, said she believed MacNeil was killed for money. Police had said the siblings planned to share any inheritance Hansen received.

However, comments from Erin Ellison  MacNeils daughter from his first marriage  had a slightly different tone. She said her father cared deeply for both of his daughters, including Hansen.

I will miss you and I will think of you; I cant help it, she told Hansen. Im sorry you didnt have enough love in your life to know that this decision would never be worth it.

According to testimony during the three-week trial, Hansen called 911 on July 19, 2007, and reported that she and her stepfather had been surprised by a masked gunman. She said the intruder shot MacNeil after he refused to reveal the combination to a safe.

MacNeil, 63, was shot four times, including twice in the head.

When police arrived at his Marraco Drive home, they found Hansen  then 17  standing in a downstairs game room several feet from the body with her wrists bound behind her back with plastic ties. She told police she had dialed the telephone with her tongue.

At first, police treated Hansen like a victim, but a detective became suspicious when Hansen used the name Nathan when describing her attacker.

The murder weapon, a revolver, was found outside the house. It had belonged to the siblings mother, Doreen, who committed suicide the previous summer.

Witnesses testified that they saw a man fitting Ganns description run from the house after the shooting. A black shirt and mask were found in a nearby tree; Ganns DNA was found on the mask.

Gann was arrested in Arizona, where he lived with his grandmother. Attorney Ricardo Garcia, who represented Gann, argued that Hansen was the mastermind and recruited her brother. Garcia stressed that Hansen played the victim after the slaying and lied repeatedly to police.

Troy Britt, a deputy public defender who represented Hansen, argued that she participated in the plan to kill MacNeil, but changed her mind. When she tried to back out, her brother threatened her with a gun, Britt said.

Britt unsuccessfully argued yesterday that Hansen should get 25 years to life in prison, noting that the diminutive woman, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, was not the shooter.

But Deputy District Attorney George Bennett said Hansen didnt deserve leniency, and that the murder never would have happened if she hadnt set it in motion.

The only thing Brae Hansen cares about in the whole goddamn world is herself, Bennett said.

Dana Littlefield: (619) 542-4590; dana.littlefield@uniontrib.com
I have learned the hard way not to put my personal life on the Internet. But suffice it to say that, God willing, things should be pretty much back to norm...

3 weeks ago
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In this editorial from January 24, 1942, the Saturday Evening Post analyzed the role of wartime censorship implemented by the Office of Censorship and extended by the cooperation of newspaper editors. The assumptions in this editorial  that the citizens will trust the government to censor information as it sees fit, that the press and the politicians can find mutually agreeable terms of censorship, that the press will exercise discretion in what it chooses to publish  would be unlikely to find much support today.

The Post noted that wartime censorship required a pledge of unlimited confidence to be exchanged between the Government and the people. While this point of view may have found favor 1942, its doubtful that Americans would agree with this sentiment 75 years later, even if we found ourselves in similar circumstances. Whether you call it cynicism or wisdom, too much has changed.

Censorship

Originally published January 24, 1942

It says much for the powers of self-discipline in a free and willful people that liberty of the press very willingly submits to put itself in a strait jacket for the duration of the war. Everyone uncomplainingly takes it for granted that communications will be censored and that news will be controlled at the source, and that this will be done not as the law says it may be but as military judgment says it shall be. Censorship on those terms requires a pledge of unlimited confidence to be exchanged between the Government and the people; and so, happily, it begins. But we shall do well at the same time not to underestimate the difficulties.

The Government lays down what appears to be a very legible rule to govern the release of news. The conditions are two. First, the facts must be fully verified; second, publication of them is forbidden if they tend in any way, direct or indirect, to give aid and comfort to the enemy. But you could not invent a general rule that would leave more to arbitrary discretion in its application to a particular case.

News is of two kinds  good and bad. Any bad news at all tends to give aid and comfort to the enemy. Then what will you do with it? Withhold it from the people until it is certain that the enemy already has it?

Take the communique. In its daily report to the people the Government cannot tell everything that has happened, and the more critical the situation is the more this will be true. Why? Because the enemy is reading it too. You cannot have two reports  one for the people and one for the enemy.

In the business of bombing, for example, the enemys only firsthand knowledge of his hits is from his own pilots, who tend naturally to exaggerate what they think they have done and are liable in any case to be mistaken. The enemy, therefore, anxiously watches the news on the other side in order to check the claims of his own pilots; and one of his artful tricks is to put forth fantastic claims in his own communique with intent to provoke on the other side a denial, on the chance that the denial will be informing. Thus, it was very important for the Japanese to know whether or not they had got an aircraft carrier at Pearl Harbor, as their own pilots said they had.

The communique, indeed, now is one of the weapons of strategy. The Russians in theirs were most despondent just on the eve of the unexpected counteroffensive that forced the German war machine suddenly into reverse. The purpose was probably twofold. One part of it was to deceive the Germans; the other was to hasten American and British aid.

On the free, Anglo-American side there is no likelihood of bad military news being suppressed or long withheld for fear the people cannot take it. The British are extremely the other way. They are nourished by bad news. It must be remembered, said Mr. Churchill, in a recent review of the war before the House of Commons, that here at Westminster and in Fleet Street  newspaper row  it has been sought to establish the rule that nothing must be said about the war that is not altogether discouraging. Although I must admit the British people seem to like their food cooked that way, a military spokesman addressing a large army might do more harm than good if he always put things at their worst, and never allowed buoyancy, hope, confidence and resolve to infect his declarations. He was defending the military spokesman at Cairo, whose reports on the North African campaign, the English people thought, had been disgustingly optimistic, and they were complaining of him on that ground.

But there is another kind of bad news which, although it is not strictly military in character, does tend nonetheless to give aid and comfort to the enemy; and the question about it is not whether the people can take it but whether the Government can, because it is news of the Government, of its own blunders and failures and mistakes of political judgment. What will the censor do with facts of that order? What ought he to do with them?

This is the kind of news that free criticism tends to reveal; and here it is that censorship faces what is perhaps its most unruly problem. For all the aid and comfort it may afford the enemy, shall criticism be free? In England it is. Mr. Churchill has at times complained of it, yet very mildly and with grim understanding. Suppression of criticism would be incomprehensible in England. So it would be here. Free criticism is troublesome. It does present a problem. Nevertheless, it is one that will solve itself if let alone. A government in the popular principle, being trusted by the people to control their news at the source and censor their communications for military reasons, must in turn trust criticism to censor itself. And this it does much more than can be realized by those who know only when it errs and have no idea how many times it makes the right answer when it asks itself this question: All things considered, will the saying of this truth do more good than harm? And if, in a given case, it comes too often to the wrong answer, then people themselves by their extreme disapproval will extinguish it, with no aid from the censor.

Good news, you might suppose, offers the censor no problem at all. Nevertheless, good news can be a liability. People may make too much of it. Bad news moves them to greater exertion, whereas good news may tempt them to relax. In his very fine sermon on must to the representatives of labor and management just before they sat down to work out a truce for the duration of the war, President Roosevelt said: Dont believe everything you read in the newspapers.  I was reading a paper this morning which was telling how inevitable  a victory would be. I want to see what we can do.

To be on the safe side, we must expect a long hard war. News tending to belittle the resources of the enemy or to make us complacent about our own must be discounted. How? Not by suppression and certainly not by distortion, but by mixing bad news with good, by emphasis, by keeping the facts in perspective. Thus you come to censorship policy, touching the handling, timing and spacing of the news, for its effect upon public morale.

The poet said, Let me write the ballads of the people and I care not who may write their laws. This was paraphrased by a New York managing editor who said: Let me write the headlines and anyone who likes may write the ballads. He would not touch a word of the news to alter it, nor would he write a false headline. He would produce his effects entirely by selective emphasis. If there could be anything like that power of propaganda in mere headlines, and truthful headlines at that, imagine what lies in the hands of a censor, a national managing editor, acting upon news at the source, not to change any of the facts, but to time the release of them, to counterweight good ones with bad ones, and so control the perspective. Whose perspective? Not his own. The censor has no policy of his own. He executes the governments policy, and when he fails to do that, there is a new censor.

Censorship is unavoidable. Although it may be authorized by a wartime statute, and is in that sense lawful, it cannot be administered by any rule of law. You may read in the Constitution that the Congress shall pass no law to abridge freedom of speech or freedom of the press; but when drums beat, the law flies away, says the proverb. Moreover, censorship entirely innocent of propaganda belongs to some faraway realm of the ideal. The subtle power of propaganda that is implicit in control of the news is bound to be exercised, because, first, a government is human, and for the reason besides that every government is obliged to believe that it knows what is best for the total good.

This is our second experience. In the war before, it was the Committee on Public Information. Now it is the Office of Censorship, which has a more honest and a more severe sound and, we suppose, a more severe intention. Even so, there will be, we think, forbearing to almost any point, no want of co-operation and no unfair criticism, so long as the Government holds free of hurt and trespass that confidence with which people, both the believing and the unbelieving, have suddenly overwhelmed it.
Marbella, Spain -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/25/2017 -- 2016 was a year of uncertainty in terms of the property market in Marbella, after the Brexit vote saw the exchange rate plummet and the lack of Government in Spain instigated a degree of buyer uncertainty. In spite of this, 2017 is predicted to be the most profitable year yet in relation to property sales- particularly holiday homes.



"Marbella's property market is unto its own," says Julie Bett, director of Fab Property. "In the past 10 years, there have been many ups and downs for the property market in spain, but Marbella has always managed to maintain stability regardless."



The Marbella property market has broadened its scope dramatically over recent years. Five years ago, the market relied almost solely on Russian buyers in search of ultra-luxurious properties. Today, the market is driven by cash buyers from areas such as Belgium, Holland and of course, the Scandinavian countries. Mrs Bett goes on to say that "Buying motivation is no longer driven by discount prices, but by the lifestyle and prestige that Marbella eludes." Commercial investors as well as individual buyers recognize that Marbella offers them the opportunity to purchase affordable properties in a location that will never lose its charm. All of these factors combined has resulted in a gradual increase of property prices, particularly in the surrounding areas of Nueva Andalucia and Benahavis. 2017 will see prices steadily increasing, as well as the amount of monthly property purchase transactions.



About Fab Property

In a highly competitive market, clients require a real estate agency that consistently achieves results and exceeds clients customer service expectations. Our team has a proven track record in negotiating the best price for your property sale or purchase and our business thrives regardless of market sentiments. Our knowledge of the local market combined with our energy, enthusiasm and will to succeed on your behalf, are some of our strongest qualities.



If you would like to find out more about purchasing a property in Marbella, Spain visit our website www.fabps.com.



Contact:

Julie Bett

Fab Property Spain SL

Address: Elviria, Marbella, Spain

Phone: 0034 952 886 340

Email: info@fabps.com
Philadelphia, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/25/2017 -- With a new branch location in Warminster, PA and another one opening up early next month in Springfield, Delaware County, it's clear that PFFCU is building on the growth they realized in 2016. Part of the reason for this expansion can be directly attributed to PFFCU's mission, to provide the best Branch and Call Center Service in Philadelphia, suburban counties in PA and the South Jersey areas. PFFCU strives to be the primary financial services provider for each of their membersa goal they achieve by offering great products and services at competitive rates delivered with superior service. In fact, the Member Service Representatives at PFFCU strive to earn their members' Trust by offering an exceptional level of Service, Value, and Convenience every time.



As a not-for-profit financial institution that's owned and operated by its members, everyone can expect to be treated like family at PFFCU. Moreover, by offering free checking with no minimum balance and no monthly fees, it's evident that members need look no further than PFFCU when searching for the best checking in Mt. Laurel and its neighboring communities, Philadelphia, PA, and Bucks & Montgomery Counties. In addition, PFFCU Home Equity Loans involve no out-of-pocket expenses; which means no application fee, no closing costs and no points. The application process is fast and easy and a member can receive a loan decision quickly. PFFCU has a convenient digital mortgage application processsend, receive, and sign documents electronically to make the process faster and easier.



Impressively, the Member Service Representatives at PFFCU answered 1.8 million member calls in 2016 with an average wait time of only ten seconds. In fact, all calls at PFFCU are answered by a live person to ensure members can always enjoy a positive banking experience, every step of the way. Whether someone is searching for the best mortgage lender in Cherry Hill, NJ or is interested in a PFFCU AutoDraft in Montgomery County, PAwhich is an auto loan in the form of a check, with rates as low as 2.49%APRthere's no better credit union to turn to for the best financial products at great low rates.



To learn more about PFFCU, visit their website or call 800-239-1837 to speak with a Member Service Representative, or stop by one of their full-service branches conveniently located throughout Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery Counties in PA and the South Jersey area.



This January, take the first step in the right direction of a more financially sound future: Don't wait any longer to take advantage of the great Service, Value, and Convenience at PFFCU in 2017.



About Police and Fire Federal Credit Union

Police and Fire Federal Credit Union offers great low rates on Mortgages, Home Equity Loans, Auto Loan, Credit Cards, and more. They currently have 13 full-service branch locations throughout the Greater Philadelphia region, including Bucks and Montgomery Counties, and New Jersey. In February 2017, PFFCU will open a new branch in Springfield, Delaware County, PA. Knowledgeable and friendly Service Representatives will help members with the products and services that best meet their financial needs. Police and Fire Federal Credit Union delivers Service, Value, Convenience, and Trust to assure that members have the highest level of satisfaction. Any active and retired police officer or firefighter, their family and co-workers are eligible to become a member of the credit union. Other Select Employee Groups, organizations and individuals can apply for a PFFCU membership in branch, by phone at 215-931-0300 or 800-228-8801 or through their website.



Learn more at http://www.PFFCU.org.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/25/2017 -- Electron beam wafer inspection system is a semiconductor fabrication device, which is primarily used during the process of semiconductor wafer manufacturing. The primary application of the system is to locate a fault in the wafers before packaging it. With the growing technological advancement the application of electron beam wafer inspection system is spreading across the automotive, industrial and consumer electronics field globally. The market has been segmented into by application which includes consumer electronics, automotive, industrial segment among others. The market for electron beam wafer inspection systems by geography has been segmented into, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and South America.



With rising research activities in the field of e-beam wafer inspection system, the application of the system are growing in the high-end industrial, consumer electronics and automotive application segments. Growing adoption of consumer electronic and communication devices is one of the major reasons behind the rising popularity of e-beam wafer inspection system. Increasing usage of smartphones, LCDs, SSDs, LEDs, tablets, and other wearable smart gadgets are fueling the market for e-beam wafer inspection system across different regions globally. Furthermore, rising demand for advance quality silicon wafers in the semiconductor devices is one of the prime factors fueling the market.



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The growing research and development in the field of advanced electron beam wafer inspection solutions and equipments for major semiconductor processing fabs is contributing in the positive development of the market. Electron column and electron gun technologies are effective and crucial fault inspection solutions and algorithms. Furthermore, in the manufacturing process of high end and advanced IC, electron-beam inspection plays a crucial role. Moreover, the application of electron-beam inspection system plays an essential role where sensitivity is required to find defects in the process. The system is also important in the production process in order to monitor major process steps primarily for fault excursions. E-beam wafer inspection technology is generally applied to locate physical faults which are unable to detect optically. The system can find the subtle defects in the time of manufacturing process while introducing new device structures and materials.



Asia Pacific is dominating the electron beam wafer inspection systems market worldwide. Rapid usage of consumer electronics and communication devices such as smartphones, tablets, wearable, LCDs, LEDs, SSDs and other smart electronic devices in economies such the Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, South Korea and India is contributing in the positive growth of this market across Asia Pacific (APAC). North America is another major region which is contributing in the positive growth of the electron beam wafer inspection systems. The U.S., Mexico and Canada are some of the major economics contributing in the positive development of this market. Brazil, Argentina and U.A.E are expected to witness positive growth over the forecast period from 2016 to 2024 across South America, Middle East and Africa. With increasing advancement in the consumer electronics, industrial and automotive field, the application of electron beam wafer inspection systems is growing rapidly.



Market Insight can be Viewed @ http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/e-beam-wafer-inspection-system-market.html



Research and development along with merger and acquisitions and strategic partnership agreements are some of the key business strategies adopted by the companies operating in this industry in order to strengthen its presence across different regions globally. Applied Materials, Inc. (The U.S.), ASML Holding (The Netherlands), KLA-Tencor Corporation (The U.S.), Lam Research Corporation (The U.S.), Hermes Microvision Inc (Taiwan), Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Japan), Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (California, The U.S.), STMicroelectronics (Switzerland), GlobalFoundries (The U.S.), Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (Shanghai, China), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited (Taiwan), NXP Semiconductors N.V. (The Netherlands), Renesas Electronics Corporation (Japan) among others are some of the major players operating in the electron beam wafer inspection systems market.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/25/2017 -- Europe Neurological Disorders Drugs Market: Snapshot



Neurological drugs are developed to treat neurological disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, cerebrovascular diseases, and others. The growing prevalence of these disorders across the European region is anticipated to drive the demand for neurological disorder drugs market in the coming few years. The research report projects that intensifying concerns about living an adjusted life have prompted several patients to seek help. According to the study, the Europe neurological disorder drugs market was valued is expected to reach a valuation of US$32.0 bn by the end of 2024 as compared to US$18.3 bn in 2015. During the forecast years of 2016 and 2024, the overall market is expected to surge at a CAGR of CAGR of 6.4%.



Increasing Research and Development Fuels Market Growth



The Europe neurological disorders drugs market will be fueled by the growing initiatives taken by governments of several countries to educate the masses and to develop new drugs. For instance, European Parkinson's Disease Association in Europe is offering affordable medications to patients, campaigning to raise awareness, and supporting research and development activities to drive the overall neurological disorder drugs market. The market has also seen a steady emergence of several research and development programs that are focused toward developing effective drugs that come at affordable prices. The collective rise in the spending of countries on developing neurological disorder drugs is expected to improve the market's revenue in the coming few years.



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On the basis of various disorders, the market caters to disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebrovascular disease and others. Out of all of these segments, the cerebrovascular disease held the dominant share in terms of revenue in 2015. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the cerebrovascular diseases, which can manifest as a stroke, migraine and headache is the common cause of worry for several patients. About 80% of the patients suffering from cerebrovascular diseases across EU% show these symptoms. Thus, this segment is expected to exhibit a robust growth rate in the coming few years.



Germany Stands out as Highest Consumer of Neurological Disorder Drugs in Europe



In terms of geography, the Europe neurological disorder drugs market is segmented into Germany, France, Italy, Spain, U.K., Russia, Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, and Rest of Europe. The research report states that Germany held a significant share in the market in 2015, closely followed by France. The regions will dominate over the forecast period due to the rising prevalence of neurological disorders and improving the awareness about the diseases due to support groups and government initiatives. Furthermore, the rising pool of geriatrics in Germany will also boost the uptake of neurological disorders drugs in the coming few years.



Presently, Germany, the U.K., France, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain are the leading countries in Europe in the neurological disorder drugs market. The study indicates that Switzerland will offer several growth opportunities to the overall market as awareness about these life-altering diseases grows.



The leading players operating in the Europe neurological disorders market are Merck & Co., Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Bayer AG, Astra Zeneca, F-Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Novartis AG, and GlaxoSmithKline plc. Among these, Merck & Co., GlaxoSmithKline plc and Novartis AG. The research report states that the market is consolidated due to the presence of several small players in who hold significant share in the market. Most of these companies are focusing on improving their pipelines and expanding their geographical outreach to retain their dominance.



Browse Full Research Report on:

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/europe-neurological-disorder-drugs-market.html



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Do the elders of Asian science have a voice and are they being heard in the councils of power of their countries, asks Crispin Maslog.



When Indonesian and world scientists rail against the raging Indonesian forest fires that are destroying the ozone layer, do their leaders listen?



When ASEAN scientists moan about the destruction of coral reefs in the South China Sea and the Tubbataha Reef, are their voices heard?



When the small Pacific island nations, living just 13 metres above sea level, warn that global warming is causing their seas to rise and drown them, is anyone listening?



There are probably 10,000 prominent and potentially influential scientists, in our conservative estimate, who are members of some 50 national academies of science and technology in the Asia-Pacific region.



What are these scientists doing, aside from their routine  conducting research on their areas of expertise, writing papers, publishing books, lecturing and attending conferences?



Scientists must organise and advocate



To make an impact on society scientists have to do more. They should venture out of their laboratories and classrooms and take stands on science issues. We cannot leave the solution of our societys problems only to the politicians who run our governments.



As a start, the scientists are doing the right thing by organising themselves through science academies. Only if they speak with one voice will they be heard and their influence felt. As early as 15 January 1984, the Federation of Asian Scientific Academies and Societies (FASAS) was established in New Delhi. (1)

Let their voices be heard now. Crispin Maslog



The Federation, a non-government science organisation from the region, started with 12 scientific academies and societies as its founding members. Memberships were later on extended to other national scientific academies and societies in the Asia-Pacific region.



FASAS president Kurt Lambeck urged its members to take an active part in FASAS activities and programmes to build strong and independent academies across the region that can advise governments on the use of science to resolve national and regional issues. Well said, but has it been well done? (2)



The original secretariat of FASAS was supported by the Indian National Science Academy until 1999. The secretariat moved in 2000 to Malaysia and was hosted by the Malaysian Academy of Sciences.



Meanwhile, another organisation, the Association of Academies of Sciences in Asia (AASA), covering Asian and Oceania countries, was being planned separately. It was inaugurated on 22 September 2000 with Mu Shik Jhon of South Korea as the first president during a symposium on Science Policy in Asia. (1) In the decade that followed the two associations of science academies  AASA and FASAS  functioned separately. They were merged into The Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia (AASSA) on 1 January 2012, with 34 member-academies and societies of science from 30 countries.



The merger was facilitated by the newly formed Inter Academy Partnership, a global network of 130 national academies of science and regional networks. (1)



AASSA and its two predecessors have been active in staging national and regional scientific research, conferences and symposia in the past two decades, as can be seen by its record. AASSA alone conducted 23 conferences between 2002 and 2016, at least once a year and sometimes two. (1)



Its conferences have been relevant to current scientific issues. Its first symposium was on Science Policy in Asia in 2002 while the one in 2016 was on Refugees and Migrants: A Global Problem or an Asset?



Past conference topics have covered transfer and adaptation of advanced technologies, the impact of biotechnological advances in Asia, science and technology of water, role of science academies, promotion of science, environmental and climatic changes and biodiversity, emerging technologies for a greener Earth, sustainable agriculture through biotechnology and climate risks in sustainable development.



Science academies and their roles



What are national academies of science and what do they do? Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region have science academies whose members are called Academicians. The National Academy of Science and Technology in the Philippines has been in existence for 40 years now. (3)



In general, the members are the best of the best scientists elected by their peers from the countrys leading and most distinguished natural and social scientists and engineers. They give scientific and technological advice to government. Their recommendations are independent of those coming from the science ministries directly under the president of the country. They are independent of government.

They need to be proactive, to advocate and speak out more forcefully on the crucial issues of our time like climate change, environmental pollution, genetically modified crops, and the threat of a post-antibiotic era in medicine. Crispin Maslog



Often the advice of a national academy is sought when an issue or concern has reached a level when government agencies do not agree or the general public has an opinion contrary to that of the existing government. (3)



The national academy in this case could act as an arbiter but the most ideal case is when the countrys president or the science secretary would consider the academys advice as the First Advice or THE ADVICE. In practice, however, the president and the science secretary would deliberate the academys advice in consultation with the rest in the cabinet.



How influential are they and how relevant is their role?



The academy has influence on articulation of science policy but only indirectly through participation of academicians in congressional hearings, in assisting legislators craft evidence-based laws involving science, Filipino academician Emil Javier tells SciDev.Net. You might also like How scientists can reach out with social media

Explaining controversial issues to the media and the public

Asia-Pacific Analysis: Addressing science fraud in Asia

Committee to guide Asia-Europe science cooperation

AsiaPacific Analysis: Putting the science into policy



The academies of science will always be relevant in society as new areas of knowledge are discovered . . . and technologies developed to apply them for human purposes, he adds. The academy members are in fact the most senior and most accomplished scientists of the country and therefore had contributed tremendously to research and training of future scientists during their prime.



No doubt the eminent scientists of Asia-Pacific are abreast, and working on the relevant scientific issues of the world today. And no doubt they are now organised to be able to speak with coordinated voices.



But their voices are not loud enough. They should not wait for governments to seek their advice. They need to be proactive, to advocate and speak out more forcefully on the crucial issues of our time like climate change, environmental pollution, genetically modified crops, and the threat of a post-antibiotic era in medicine.



Let their voices be heard now.

Crispin Maslog is a Manila-based consultant for the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication. A former journalist, professor and environmental activist, he worked for the Press Foundation of Asia and the International Rice Research Institute.



This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets South-East Asia & Pacific desk.

This article was made possible with support from Monsanto.
Steve Wiggins discusses how Tanzania could expand irrigation to one million hectares by 2020.



Since 2006, Tanzania has aimed to expand irrigation to one million hectares by 2020, a target reaffirmed by the Minister for Water and Irrigation in autumn last year. [1]

Currently, only five per cent  461,000 hectares  of Tanzanias cultivated land is irrigated, out of an estimated 29.4 million hectares available. [1] One explanation for this is that surprisingly little attention has been paid to irrigation in Sub-Saharan African since the revival of interest in agricultural development signalled by the Maputo declaration of 2003. [2]

Public investment in much of Africa has focused instead on improving seeds and encouraging farmers to use more fertilisers. Reasons for this are not hard to find: many irrigation schemes developed in the 1960s and 1970s ran over budget and over time, encountered all manner of technical and social problems, and produced meagre returns.

Investing in irrigation could help Tanzania feed its growing population, and boost economic growth by increasing agricultural exports. Steve Wiggins, Overseas Development Institute

Yet irrigation is a promising way of raising agricultural productivity. It can increase farm yields mightily, allowing two crops to be cultivated each year instead of one, and ensuring more consistent yields. Investing in irrigation could help Tanzania feed its growing population and boost economic growth by increasing agricultural exports not only to other African countries, but also to the tempting Asian markets that lie just across the Indian Ocean.

So how will Tanzania reach one million irrigated hectares by 2020? A workshop convened by Tanzanias National Irrigation Commission and held in Dar es Salaam last October suggests three areas in particular need attention.



Financing irrigation

The first is drumming up finance for investment. Irrigation requires considerable initial investment. Private finance offers an alternative to governments going into debt, hence the appeal of public-private partnerships (PPPs).

New research suggests that private investment in partnership with the public sector can work. During the workshop, researchers highlighted three examples of successful Tanzanian irrigation schemes engaged in formal public-private partnerships. [3] Two of them are outgrower schemes, whereby smallholder farmers supply processing plants on a central estate, and the other example involves a cooperative of smallholders.

But success is not necessarily easily achieved. For formal PPPs, the studies show that success depends on combined efforts of many different individuals and institutions such as the ministries of water and agriculture, water boards, large-scale agricultural firms, farmers and their organisations, commercial banks, donors and non-governmental organisations.

Because these schemes depend not only on getting the engineering, farming, economics and marketing to work, but also on effective coordination across the different stakeholders, they often run into glitches of one kind or another. Those with crucial stakes in scheme success  most notably farmers  have to be prepared to alter their plans and find workable solutions.



Supporting farmer-led irrigation

What should the government do to support farmer-led irrigation? Driven by market opportunities such as the attractive prices for onions and tomatoes in domestic markets, farmers have been able to develop their schemes despite limited access to formal finance and collective tenure of land. [4] Although many are on quite a small scale, some schemes cover areas of more than 1,000 hectares.

Government officials could set the terms by which river boards allocate water, and empower them to enforce these terms. Steve Wiggins, Overseas Development Institute

Should public support be offered to such schemes? If so, what would be the most effective use of scarce funds and capacity? To ignore informal schemes would be to forego the chance to enhance their functioning and in some cases to expand them. On the other hand, lavishing attention and funds on a few favoured farmer initiatives could lead to farmers expecting government to help them out every time they encounter a problem.



Fair allocation of water

While in some parts of Tanzania water is relatively abundant, in other parts water is limited. Conflicts can arise between different sets of irrigators, and between farmers and urban water users. [5] Two cases illustrate issues with irrigation interventions in Tanzania. First, Dakawa, a public scheme that cannot get enough water from the river to irrigate in the dry season owing to upstream abstraction. [6]. Second, informal irrigators in the Uluguru mountains are competing for water with urban users in Morogoro. [7]

So, how can water be allocated efficiently, fairly and flexibly? Ministers in central government would find it difficult to allocate water fairly and efficiently for each and every specific case because there are too many local factors to consider. But government officials could set the terms by which river boards allocate water, and empower them to enforce these terms. Its not only about passing acts and regulations: boards need both technical capacity and the political backing to allow them to function.

Forums for resolving disputes are needed as well. In the absence of better water allocation, rights to water tend to be established on the ground by the energetic, the crafty and the powerful. Only by good fortune will such rights be efficient and equitable.

If these issues can be addressed, and the challenges outlined overcome, theres a good chance that Tanzania could make substantial progress towards its target.

Steve Wiggins is a principal research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute, and agriculture lead for the DFID-ESRC Growth Research Programme, which funded the irrigation research mentioned. He can be reached at [email protected]



This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.
While the medical use of marijuana has been made legal in 28 states as well as the District of Columbia, a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine urgently calls for further studies on both of its positive and negative health effects.

Sci-Tech Today reported that the federal advisory panel urges for national effort to go into a deeper study on the effects of cannabis to public health. The report gathered about 100 conclusions on marijuana's health effects based on comprehensive reviews of statistical studies since 1999. However, with the given amount of research, they still appear to fall short in data.

Though there have been studies proving that cannabis use could relieve chronic pain and nausea among adults, particularly those who undergo chemotherapy, some studies suggest that marijuana has also been linked to schizophrenia and other depressive disorders.

There are also varying degrees of evidence that marijuana could ease spasms in multiple sclerosis and muscle stiffness. However, there is still an insufficient amount of evidence on whether it is effective in treating cancers, epilepsy, some Parkinson's disease symptoms and irritable bowel syndrome.

Since the recreational use of marijuana is now legal in eight states, committee head Dr. Marie McCormick of Harvard School of Public Health warns that "there's very little to guide them." According to the report, this lack of information "poses a public health risk." The government has not been helping much on this issue, given the several regulatory laws that limited scientific research.

"This growing acceptance, accessibility, and use of cannabis and its derivatives have raised important public health concerns. Moreover, the lack of any aggregated knowledge of cannabis-related health effects has led to uncertainty about what, if any, are the harms or benefits from its use," Dr. McCormick said in a press release. "As laws and policies continue to change, research must also."
The Great American Eclipse is set to stun citizens this year. NASA is inviting amateur and professional astronomers to take part in this most-awaited scientific event.

Space.com reported that NASA has provided a list of ways on how both scientists and science enthusiasts could contribute to science when the total solar eclipse occurs on Aug. 21. Astronomy professor Tyler Nordgren at the University of Redlands in California will talk about the experiments people could be involved in at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAS) in Boston in February.

Students and adults may participate by tracking the speed of the Moon shadow's movement across a landscape with the use of a smartphone or a smartwatch. The best place to witness the eclipse would be at a high landmark or over the mountains.

Albert Einstein fans could also join the experiment by calculating the general relativity of the eclipse. "The idea is to have people take images of the sun and the stars around it during the total solar eclipse," Nordgren said. "And because of the sun's gravity, it would warp the fabric of space-time around the sun. So, stars only visible during the eclipse will have their positions slightly altered as their light passes by the sun."

People may also want to download light meter apps on their smartphones to participate in measuring ambient light and temperature changes. For those who want to do it old-school, mercury thermometers could absolutely help them monitor the temperature.

Film projects under The Eclipse Megamovie and Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse Experiment (CATE) are also welcoming video submissions of the total solar eclipse. The Eclipse Megamovie plans to stitch at least 1,000 clips from various places, while CATE is set to release a 90-minute video of telescopic observations from volunteers.

Professional and amateur filmmakers could sign up on each of their websites.
FLORENCE, S.C. -- A job aptitude test is paying off for students at Florence-Darlington Technical College's Tutoring and Career centers, according to a report give to the college's commissioners Tuesday.

In the past year, 776 first-time freshmen students took the Type Focus Careers Assessment, which is a test designed to evaluate students personal qualities and match them with career fields they would excel in.

Max Welch, director of the Veterans and Career Service Center, said the assessment examines four qualities: energy, information, decisions and approach to life. The program identifies strengths and talents, what affects job satisfaction and areas of growth. It works to increase self-acceptance.

Of the 776 participants, 770 said they were satisfied with their major and career choice, and 652 immediately selected choices after taking the assessment. The assessment also measures student demographics. Of those who took the test, most did not have parents with a four-year degree, 141 made an A or higher in high school and only 13 had a D or lower.

The assessment is now mandatory for incoming freshmen in a college skills class. The class teaches students basic skills, such as communication and team work, that they need to be successful in school and in their careers.

If you can succeed here in college, we know you can succeed out in your job, Welch said.

Another topic of discussion at the meeting included what the college can do to decrease textbook prices. Commission member E. Hood Temple said its contradictory to try to keep prices low and still allow book vendors to charge high rates.

When were doing our best in-house to keep tuition affordable, but these folks are coming in here, its not really going to support our mission, Temple said. Thats something thats a problem, I think.

Douglas J. Lange, vice president for business affairs, said that the college marks up textbook prices enough to cover overhead.

We mark up about 20 percent, and that covers our overhead and passes that along, Lange said. If we have students whose financial aid doesnt cover that, we have other mechanisms in place. Students ask for a grant or a loan and purchase books.

Lange said the bookstore has also worked to make mandatory items for classes available on campus, such as workbooks, stethoscopes and toolboxes.

Nine new staff members introduced themselves for the first time to the commission.

Actor Wesley Snipes also attended the meeting to congratulate the commission on its work at the college. Snipes said Florence Darlington Technical College is bridging the gap between tech and film together.

The commission will discuss a new recommendation for next years tuition at the next meeting.
COLUMBIA, S.C. - S.C. Senate President Pro Tempore Hugh Leatherman resigned Tuesday in order to avoid becoming the states lieutenant governor.

The states most powerful politician, Leatherman  who chairs the Senates powerful budget-writing Finance Committee  said in November he was not interested in becoming lieutenant governor, an essentially powerless position.

The question of who would be South Carolinas lieutenant governor became urgent Tuesday when Gov. Nikki Haley was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Haley then resigned, elevating Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster, R-Richland, to the post of governor. That move vacated the lieutenant governors post.

Last week, however, the S.C. Supreme Court ruled the Senate president pro tempore would replace McMaster as lieutenant governor.

The state Supreme Court clarified any questions on the line of succession, and as Ive stated before, I have no desire to seek statewide office and I will remain in the Senate, Leatherman said in a statement Tuesday evening.

Senators are expected Wednesday to elect state Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, to ascend to the lieutenant governors office.

Once Bryant becomes the states second-in-command, Leatherman likely will regain the post of Senate leader in a vote of the full Senate.

However, state Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, plans to challenge Leatherman, R-Florence, for the top Senate post.

Peeler, a former Senate majority leader, said he was pushed to run by senators upset by Leathermans refusal to ascend to lieutenant governor, part of the Senate presidents job description.

Asked if he thinks he has the votes, Peeler replied: Well see. Im working.

Republicans hold the majority of seats in the 46-member Senate. However, those GOP senators split into competing factions. The competing GOP factions allow Senate Democrats to ally with one Republican group to elect the Senate leader, most recently Leatherman.

However, opposition to Leatherman has been been increasing. In December, nine senators  all Republicans  voted against re-electing him Senate leader.

Leatherman first was elected Senate president pro tempore in 2014 after then-Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, resigned to become the president of the College of Charleston.

At the time, then-President Pro Tempore John Courson, R-Richland, resigned to avoid becoming lieutenant governor.

After Courson stepped down, senators elected then-Sen. Yancey McGill as Senate president pro tempore and he ascended to become lieutenant governor.
JOHNSONVILLE, S.C.  David Mace has been chosen to be the city of Johnsonvilles first downtown development director.

In addition to helping the city with some of its development activities, Mace also will be the first managing director of the Johnsonville Area Chamber of Commerce.

The part-time position was previously approved by the city council in late 2016. City council member Mona Dukes said Mace will be working from city hall two days a week.

In an email sent to chamber members, Mace said he looks forward to working with the business community.

In a chamber meeting Tuesday, plans were to discuss the Three Rivers Yard Sale and other chamber activities.

The Three Rivers Yard Sale was postponed in October because of Hurricane Matthew and rescheduled for April 7-8. For information about the sale, contact Mace at the city of Johnsonville, 843-386-2069.
LAKE CITY, S.C.  The Lake City City Council approved the second reading of an ordinance that will allow the Florence County Sheriffs Office to provide victims advocate services within the city.

The city has not had a full-time victims advocate for approximately a year, according to City Administrator Shawn Bell. Ordinance 2016.422 would take care of that.

The Pee Dee Coalition has provided the city with victims advocate services for domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse. Those are the major services that a victims advocate is needed for, Bell said.

The things that have fallen through the cracks are like property crimes, Bell said.

The Florence County Sheriffs Office will provide services. Bell said the city will give Florence County the funds received from fines and fees that are collected from tickets.

At the Jan. 10 meeting, the council also approved Resolution 2017.312, which transfers the citys Economic Development Administration Revolving Loan Fund to the Catawba Regional Council of Governments.

In 1978, the city accepted an award of more than $1.1 million from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to administer a revolving loan fund program (RLF), according to Bell. Years of mismanagement of bad loans and excessive administrative charges caused the program to now be worth less than half of the original amount.

The current RLF program is now worth just over $500,000, Bell said. Lake Citys RLF program is actually EDAs only RLF program in the nation (that) has lost capital and is negative income.

Bell said it is not easy to manage a revolving loan fund, and the mismanagement and excessive administrative charges came before the current council was elected.

The Catawba Regional Council of Governments maintains a $30 million revolving loan fund program, according to Bell.

I guess the main thing is the Catawba Regional Council of Governments is already here in Florence County, Bell said. Theyre already servicing the Lake City community. So they will be available for individuals in our community that would want a small-business loan.

The council also approved the first reading of Ordinance 2017.443 for the conveyance of property at 588 Moore St. in Lake City.

In fiscal year 2015-16, the Lake City Fire Department sold three fire trucks that were declared surplus property for over $12,000, according to Bell. Currently, the department has a 1975 pumper truck that is out of service because of mechanical problems with the pump.

The council gave approval for the Lake City Fire Department to replace the 1975 truck with a 1995 pumper truck from the Windy Hill Fire Department for $11,000.

The $11,000 would come from the proceeds of the sales of those three trucks sold in the fiscal year 2015-2016, Bell said.

The 1995 pumper truck from Windy Hill will be used as a backup. Lake City Fire Department Chief Randy Driggers said the truck is mechanically sound.

Help4Kids representatives Diane Welsh and Allie Walker were on last weeks city council agenda to make a presentation for Childhood Hunger Awareness Week.

The nonprofit organization provides weekly bags of food to children who are considered food insecure in each Florence County school district. Nearly 2,000 students receive the free bags of food each Friday.

What we focus on is those children that are identified by the schools, and many times, those are children who are already receiving free and reduced lunch during the week, Welsh said. When the bell rings on Friday for them to get on the bus, they dont know if or how they will have food.

Welsh said half of the children who do not have enough nourishment on the weekends come from families who do not qualify for food assistance other than what is given at school.

In Florence County School District Three, 413 students are given weekend food bags from Help4Kids.

That number is a little bit up from last year, Welsh said. Lake City was the last school district that we picked up, because youre second in size to Florence.

Help4Kids operates by grants and the generosity of churches and individuals, Welsh said. A Vienna sausage food drive was held Dec. 23-30 at local IGA stores to benefit the children who receive assistance from Help4Kids.

At last weeks meeting, Councilman Billy Brown was elected to serve as mayor pro tempore.
DARLINGTON, S.C.  Nearly 250 students from across the Darlington County School District joined together on Jan. 10 for the annual All-County Music Festival, hosted by Coker College.

The festival aims to broaden the music education of Darlington County students and provide opportunities for more advanced training in instrumental and vocal music through clinical study and performance.

The 249 middle and high school students formed the DCSD All-County Vocal and Instrumental Music Ensemble. Music instructors nominated the students based on musical knowledge, showmanship and talent. Each year, the ensemble is granted the chance to receive in-depth music instruction from expert guest clinicians before performing in front of family, friends and the community.

Marisa Johnson, the districts arts and innovative programs coordinator, praised the students and their instructors for another outstanding All-County Music Festival.

This year was our largest student ensemble in three years, Johnson said. I am amazed at the talent we have in Darlington County School District. We value the arts, and we want to provide our students with rich experiences. This festival provides those experiences and gives opportunities for students to exhibit their talent and creativity.

The ensemble performed pieces such as Ukrainian Alleluia by Craig Courtney, I Sing Because Im Happy by Rollo Dilworth and Mansions of the Lord by Randall Wallace and Nick Glennie-Smith.

Guest clinicians this year were Dustin Ousley of Coker College and Christopher Martinez of North Augusta Public Charter District. Cole Davis, band and chorus teacher at Mayo High School for Math, Science and Technology, served as the emcee. Kim Roberts, chorus teacher at Hartsville Middle School, and Marlin Ketter, band teacher at Hartsville Middle School, served as middle school clinicians.

Coker College hosted the festival inside the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center.
KINGSTREET, S.C.  The United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development is offering agricultural producers and rural small businesses in South Carolina the opportunity to reduce their energy consumption with assistance from the Rural Energy for America Program.

Grants provided by the Rural Energy for America Program can pay up to 25 percent of the cost of completing energy-efficiency improvements to a facility, building or a process within the agricultural operation. The maximum grant amount for an energy efficiency project is $250,000, and the minimum grant amount is $1,500. Renewable energy grants are available for a system that produces or delivers usable energy from sources such as a renewable energy source with a maximum grant of $500,000 and a minimum grant of $2,500.

Funds can be used for renewable energy systems such as solar or wind generation, as well as efficiency improvements such as HVAC systems, insulation, lighting, cooling or refrigeration units, doors and windows. Go to rd.usda.gov for more details.

Applications can be filed at any time; however, the next application deadline for funding consideration is March 31.
The Cuban officials and Port Everglades are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding aimed at fostering trade opportunities.

Port Everglades has had cargo service with Cuba for nearly 16 years, but it was just last week that Pearl Mist became the first cruise ship to sail from the port to Cuba. Eleven additional departures are planned through April.

The Cuba delegates include Rene Rolando Fernandez Lara Cabezas, director of inland waterway and sea transport, Ministry of Transport; Ana Teresa Igarza Martinez, general director, Office of the Mariel Special Development Zone; Eradis Gonzalez de la Pena, president of Almacenes Universales SA (the operator of the Port of Mariel Container Terminal); and Jose Leonardo Sosa Barrios, assistant director, Mariel Container Terminal.

Further delegation members are Tania Vazquez Garcia, senior official, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment; Joel Lago Oliva, Economic and Trade Office, Embassy of Cuba in Washington, DC; and Ernesto Vinas Betancourt, adviser of the deputy minister of transportation.

Executives from Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Crystal Cruises and Silversea Cruises are expected to take part in the meeting, which revolves around a seminar, 'Doing Business with Cuba.'

This will include topics like the country's economic environment, legal framework, sectorial policies, priorities for foreign Investment, foreign trade activity and inland and sea transportation and development priorities. Opportunities for the deep-water Mariel port and its container terminal, along with the Mariel Special Economic Development Zone, will be another focus.

'We're very excited for such a high-level group to come,' said Jim Pyburn, director of business development, Port Everglades, who added the port has been working toward the visit for nearly a year.

The delegation will arrive from a stop at the Port of New Orleans and will continue on to a couple other Florida ports, Pyburn said.

The visits come amid uncertainties about the future of US-Cuba relations under the Trump administration. President Obama used his executive powers to re-establish diplomatic ties and open certain trade opportunities and travel to Cuba, but President Trump has signaled he will be reviewing these matters. The US trade embargo is still in place, and that can only be changed by Congress.

Carnival Corp.'s Fathom was the first cruise line to get the OK to sail directly from the US to Cuba starting last May. In early December a number of other US-based cruise operators got the green light, but no visits have been authorized by Cuba beyond May.
Wednesday's visit followed a Louisiana delegation's trip to Cuba in October.

The Cubans presented an overview of their economy, trade activity, the Mariel Container Terminal and opportunities within the Mariel Special Economic Development Zone. A Louisiana business round table followed with representatives from manufacturers, shippers and logistics providers and a harbor tour of the Port of New Orleans.

The delegations agenda concluded with a meeting with New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and dinner with Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Don Pierson and officials from the five deep-water ports located on the Lower Mississippi River.

'It is an honor to host this delegation,' said Brandy Christian, president and ceo, Port of New Orleans. 'This was a great opportunity to show the delegation the infrastructure and opportunities we touted during our trip. Also, we gained valuable insight into maritime and transportation plans in Cuba and determined actionable items to the memorandum of understanding signed with the Cuban government last fall.'

The Cuban delegation includes Rene Rolando Fernandez Lara Cabezas, director of inland waterway and sea transport, Ministry of Transport; Ana Teresa Igarza Martinez, general director, Office of the Mariel Special Development Zone; Eradis Gonzalez de la Pena, president of Almacenes Universales SA (the operator of the Port of Mariel Container Terminal); and Jose Leonardo Sosa Barrios, assistant director, Mariel Container Terminal.

Further delegation members are Tania Vazquez Garcia, senior official, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment; Joel Lago Oliva, Economic and Trade Office, Embassy of Cuba in Washington, DC; and Ernesto Vinas Betancourt, adviser of the deputy minister of transportation.
Twenty-eight new ports, cruises in the Mediterranean, northern Europe, the South Pacific, Australia, Asia, South America, the Caribbean, Alaska, Canada/New England and 2019's 131-night world voyage also feature.

The line continues to offer free, unlimited shore excursions on all voyages and included three-night, pre- or post-cruise land programs on Asia and Africa sailings.

Introduced last July, Seven Seas Explorer returns to Europe for another summer season in May 2018. The ship will sail throughout the Mediterranean, North and Baltic seas on seven- to 12-night voyages with maiden calls at Portimao, Portugal; Lysekil, Sweden; and Bod and Haugesund, Norway.

Seven Seas Explorer then commences its maiden Africa season on two voyages showcasing the continents west coast, a 24-night, Lisbon to Cape Town itinerary, followed by a 15-night, round-trip New Year's cruise. The ship then heads west to South America and rounds the horn to Los Angeles via the Pacific coast.

Seven Seas Voyager also will sail the Mediterranean in summer 2018, with many seven-night itineraries and maiden calls at Korcula and Hvar, Croatia; Saint-Raphael, France; and Lipari, (Sicily), Italy. The ship will winter in the Caribbean, alternating seven- to 12-night, eastern and western Caribbean itineraries. New ports include Port Antonio, Jamaica, and Charlestown, Nevis, the birthplace of US founding father Alexander Hamilton.

Seven Seas Mariner will operate throughout the Pacific, starting with a return to Alaska in summer 2018. The ship then charts the South Pacific to Asia and Australia, with calls at Broome, Australia, and Oarai, Japan, for the first time. From Sydney, travelers can join Seven Seas Mariner on the 'Grand Aussie Adventure,' a new 36-night circumnavigation of the continent, sailing Dec. 15, 2018.

Seven Seas Navigator's 89-night 'Grand Arctic Splendor' voyage begins and ends in New York. It includes six sailings that call at 63 non-repeating destinations in Canada and New England, Greenland and Iceland, the North and Baltic seas, as well as into the Arctic Circle to reach the White Sea. On this adventure, Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts, and Archangel, Russia, will be maiden ports.

The ship will then sail a range of Canada/New England cruises between New York and Montreal to view the autumn foliage and visit cities of Quebec and the Northeast US.

To kick off 2019, Seven Seas Navigator embarks on a 131-night world voyage to 62 ports across the Hawaiian Islands, French Polynesia, Australia, Asia and the Mediterranean. The itinerary is comprised of seven segments and gives access to 23 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and maiden calls at Kingfisher Bay (Fraser Island), Australia; Makassar (Sulawesi), Indonesia; and Puerto Princesa, Philippines.

Bookings are open for the newly announced schedule.
Every cruise features Tracy Arm Fjord and Misty Fjords.

President John Delaney noted that Windstar's small-ship experience will enable passengers to sail closer to shorelines and deeper into fjords. There will be opportunities to explore by kayaks and Zodiacs directly from Star Legend.

Delaney said the line is working to arrange customized bucket-list experience like the chance to hike atop Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau, zip-line over crystal-clear creeks in bear country, snap a classic whale tail picture during a romantic deck-side dinner and explore Petroglyph Beach in Wrangell, a destination rarely visited by cruise ships.

Each cruise will visit seven to eight Alaska and British Columbia ports. Due to its small size, Star Legend will sail right into Misty Fjords and Kenai Fjords. Naturalists and expedition leaders will accompany all cruises, and Native American speakers are planned.

The Alaska season follows Windstar's recently announced Asia season aboard Star Legend. That ends with a voyage from Tokyo to Seward, a 14-day trans-Pacific cruise that also stops at Miyako, Hakodate and Kushiro in Japan.

Once in Alaska, Star Legend will operate eight departures of three itineraries including a 14-day Seward to Vancouver option, a 12-day Vancouver round-trip and 11- or 12-day Vancouver to Seward voyages. Windstar also plans to offer pre- and post-cruise land excursions.
Dubbed the Color Hybrid the planned ferry is 160 m long with the capacity for 500 cars and 2,000 passengers. Color Line and Ulstein signed an LoI on Tuesday for the building of the plug-in hybrid vessel which is planned to go into service in the summer of 2019. The vessel will be designed by Fosen.

The signing of the LOI represents a significant step to realize the world's largest plug-in hybrid ship. It is very gratifying that the Norwegian shipbuilding industry has proven its competitiveness internationally, said Trond Kleivdal group president of Color Line.

As a plug-in hybrid the ferrys batteries can either be charged via cable when at berth or recharged onboard by the ships generators. Operating between Sandefjord in Norway and Stromstad in Sweden the vessel will have full battery power into and out of the fjord to Sandefjord.

This is an important milestone for us, and we are very pleased that we have been chosen as partner in this very exciting project. We are looking forward to the further cooperation with Color Line, said Gunvor Ulstein ceo of Ulstein Group.
"At the highest political level we must make Europeans understand Greek shipping is not only Greek but is a proven European asset and we will do all we can to make Europeans understand this," the countrys Shipping & Island Policy Minister, Panagiotis Kouroumblis, has once again vowed,

Addressing a maritime conference in Athens last week Kouroumblis said trust in shipping is needed for it to face the challenges of our time. Europeans must understand Greek shipping is a powerful weapon for Europe, said the minister talking about Greek and European shipping and the industry's competitiveness and prospects in these uncertain times.

Union of Greek Shipowners' president, Theodore Veniamis, also underlined the importance of shipping to Europe. He mentioned the European generated issue over Greece's approach to shipping tax stressing the need for shipping to remain competitive, saying the competition does not come from within Europe but from the shipping clusters rapidly being developed in the Far East.

He noted EU Transport commissioner Violeta Bulc understands this, noting the European shipowners body ECSA will be in Brussels the first week of March under the umbrella of the 'European Shipping Week' as part of the effort to make the law makers and wider public more aware of the EU shipping clusters and the social and economic advantages they give.

Veniamis described shipping as "a national treasure" for Greece, without having political party affiliations, and this enables the shipping community and the state to share a common aim, especially when it comes to increasing the direct links with the country's economy and overall welfare.

Addressing the conference, Bimco chairman, Philippe Louis-Dreyfus, expressed admiration for the ability of Greek shipowners and said he was jealous that Greece has a special Ministry for Shipping.

He called on the EU and IMO "to work together to ensure the European owner does not leave EU, which would be disastrous for Europe". He said: "If Europe does not want to lose ground in international competitiveness, it should support sectors such as shipping which has a leading role on the world's economic stage."

However, he warned shipping must take proactive action over the environment otherwise EU bodies and politicians will. He also predicted financing will become scarcer and more expensive.

Greek shipowner Panos Laskaridis also spoke of the growth of clusters in the Far East and said European shipping should strive for more unity. "If the EU does not give motives to shipping, I'm afraid European shipping will be lost to outside centres just as the shipbuilding industry was."

However, he feared the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and IMO are expressing views not liked by the EU.

On the homefront, he said Greek shipping is disciplined and the 250,000 people working in it can give a lead to the rest of the country.
The ice breaker Kapitan Dranitsyn and two bulk carriers, Sinegorsk and Iogann Makhmasta, are being forced to stay for the winter Chukotka anchorage outside the port of Pevek, according to Russian news site PortNews.

The port which is on the North Sea Route that connects Europe to Asia during in the summer months, normally closes in November for the winter, however, it had remained open for the supply of materials for building the floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov.

A convoy comprising ice breakers Kapitan Dranitsyn and the two bulkers arrived in Pevek on 7 January and left the port on 13 January but faced a barrier of heavy ice at the exit from the Chaunskaya Guba bay.

FSUE Rosmorport said the two ice breakers could have broken through the four  five mile ice barrier there was risk of damage to the two Arc 5 ice class bulkers.

It is not an emergency situation. Winter anchorage is a positive practice to prevent incidents associated with severe ice conditions, a statement from FSUE Rosmorport said.

The vessels are set for a lengthy stay with the summer navigation period not expected to start until late May  early June.
Scott Ferry

This article is one of a series of stories about Michigans agricultural economy. It is made possible with funding from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Other stories in this series can be found here Many young people, some of them recent graduates, are lured away from home by big city lights and jobs. But sometimes roots are too deep to let a person stay away for long.A number of younger farmers in the state who grew up working on their family farms left for college and the prospect of 9 to 5 jobs in a corporate setting only to return to the land they left behind.Drawn back by different reasons, they share a desire to be closer to their roots, their families and the land that feeds the state, the nation, and the world.Paul Pridgeon remembers graduating from Central Michigan University and asking himself the question that swirls in the minds of so many recent graduates: now what?Raised on a multi-generational farm first homesteaded in Montgomery in Hillsdale County in 1836, Pridgeons father, Bill, told him to seek out opportunities off the farm if he felt called to do so.I didnt know what I wanted to do (after CMU), says Pridgeon, 30. My brother is a doctor in Grand Rapids, and I have a sister in nursing school. My dad never pressured us into returning, but I knew I could always go back.Pridgeon, who also holds an MBA from Michigan State University, took his business degree to an internship at the Whirlpool Corp. in St. Joseph, and other professional jobs in Mt. Pleasant and East Lansing, before making the decision to return to the family farm, becoming the seventh generation of Pridgeons to make a living off the land. Currently, the farm raises hogs, and plants corn, soybeans, and wheat on 4,500 acres.We know that most Americans are just two to three generations removed from the farm, Pridgeon says. Theres a romanticism now of farm life with the whole lifestyle of it, the green pastures, the focus on family, the wholesome lifestyle. But its hard work. Its a 24-hour job.I could have done the 9 to 5 thing, the cubicle things, but I wanted to raise a family in the culture of this industry, being Christian and community focused, surrounded by others who know that we are all in this thing together, who have an emotional tie with the land.That connection started at a young age. Pridgeon began work on the farm at 12-years-old, working in the summer sometimes up to 50 hours a week, alongside his father, uncles, and others who made a living on his familys farm for decades.I was treated like a man, he says. All of us working together, we were a family, regardless if we were related or not. It was a community of people. I came back to re-create that life for me and my family.Even though the work is hard, and the hours long, farm life affords Pridgeon a kind of flexibility he would not enjoy in a corporate setting, he says.My wife and I might have had fun in a larger city, doing what a lot of our friends did, but now, I get to see my kids all the time. I dont miss their activities. I get more touches with my family.Right now, his home is about five miles from the farms main operations. But now hes looking to build operations just 300 yards from his home, he said.I thought, five miles is too far, he says. This way, my kids can find me whenever they need to. And maybe one day, theyll choose to plant their roots here, too.While in his mid and late teens, Scott Ferry says he couldnt have imagined owning his familys dairy farm in Litchfield. Then, after he has what he calls his awakening of life, that all changed.A recent graduate from MSU in 2006, his father passed away two years later. He was a man whod had discussions with Ferry about taking the reins and becoming the fourth generation of dairy farmers in the family.I was scheduled to marry the following month (November), and started thinking about family and where Id like to raise them, says Ferry, 32. And man, theres just no better place than the values of a farm and the community that surrounds it, the work ethic, the family ties. Its in my blood and I cant get it out.Ferry took over in June 2009, with this year (2017) marking the 111th anniversary of Ferry Farms, named after the family that has operated it for four generations, where 350 cows are milked three times daily.There was never pressure to take over, he says. 'When? was never even really asked. In a lot of ways, I am blazing my own path, on my own. There are no previous generations here anymore to consult, so I use the community and resources around me to stay on right track.Hes using his finance degree, too.Ferry admits it was hard to find many people entering into the world of agriculture when he did  in the midst of the Great Recession. But his business acumen and his talent for seeing trends in finance have helped him weather economic swings that have hit his industry harder than most, using contracting as a means to lock-in predictable revenue and build his businesss margin.There has been an advantage to having an understanding of the modern economy, he says. Ferry also has a drive to help people in the way he does business.I wanted to feel like I was helping people, he says. I never thought about how what I was doing was actually helping people, though. But it is. Milk is a necessary resource, so Im accomplishing that  the betterment of others  with the work I do to provide a product to nourish them.His foresight has led to successes, including the growth of the operation by 75 cows and 500 acres of land to push his total acreage to 1,500. A dozen people work at his farm, about an hour southeast of Kalamazoo.The Ferry family is growing, too, with a six-week-old child just joining a 3- and 5-year-old.Raising a family on a farm," Ferry says, "is the whole reason I set my roots back into the industry.Chris Killian has been a writer and journalist in the Kalamazoo area for over 10 years. You can find more about Killian, his work, and projects hes working on by visiting chriskillian.net
A new technology that can 3D-print functional human skin might offer an alternative to chemical testing on animals.

Researchers in Madrid created a prototype for a 3D bioprinter that produces a synthetic skin that effectively works the same way as the real thing. Like human skin, it has a top and middle layer, as well as a third layer that consists of fibroblast cells, which produce collagen and gives the printed skin elasticity.

The technology could potentially be used in skin grafts for burn victims, which would require cells from the patient's own skin so the body won't reject it.

It could also be used by cosmetics and pharmaceutical companies to test their products. For these tests, the skin can be printed in large quantities from batches of cells, which could provide a low-cost alternative to animal testing.

Though not required by U.S. law, such tests frequently expose mice, rats, rabbits and guinea pigs to the chemical ingredients in makeup and skin products.

"These can include skin and eye irritation tests where chemicals are rubbed onto the shaved skin or dripped into the eyes of restrained rabbits without any pain relief," Vicki Katrinak, program manager for animal research issues at the Humane Society of the United States, told Seeker.

RELATED: After Gorilla Killing, Changes Ahead for Zoos

They also use "skin sensitization tests where test substances are applied to the surface of the skin or injected under the skin of a guinea pig, or applied to the ear of a mouse," she added. "Their skin may show signs of redness, ulcers, scaling, inflammation, and itchiness."

When they're no longer needed, many of the animals used for testing are simply discarded.

"Animals used for testing are usually killed, normally by asphyxiation, neck-breaking or decapitation," Katrinak noted. "Pain relief is not provided."

She explained that there are already many alternative means to test cosmetics that don't involve animals.

"With thousands of ingredients safe for use in cosmetic products and an array of non-animal alternative methods available for use, cruelty-free companies can already create new cosmetics without the need to test on animals," she said.

RELATED: Ringling Brothers to Retire Elephants Ahead of Schedule

Amanda Nordstrom, a liaison with PETA's Beauty Without Bunnies program, agrees.

"Effective, affordable, and humane non-animal test methods include in vitro [test tube] and computer-modeling techniques as well as studies with human volunteers," she told Seeker.

In fact, L'Oreal partnered with bio-engineering company Organovo in 2015 to begin producing their own version of 3D-printed skin, in an effort to eliminate animal testing in their labs.

"Innovative technology like printed skin has paved the way for companies to refuse to test on animals and use only non-animal test methods for cosmetics," Nordstrom said.

WATCH: How Powerful is PETA?
Even after someone is declared dead, life continues in the body, suggests a surprising new study with important implications.

Gene expression - when information stored in DNA is converted into instructions for making proteins or other molecules - actually increases in some cases after death, according to the new paper, which tracked postmortem activity and is published in the journal Open Biology.

"Not all cells are 'dead' when an organism dies," senior author Peter Noble of the University of Washington and Alabama State University told Seeker. "Different cell types have different life spans, generation times and resilience to extreme stress."

In fact, some cells seem to fight to live after the organism has died.

"It is likely that some cells remain alive and are attempting to repair themselves, specifically stem cells," Noble said.

Signs of Cellular Life

The international team of scientists, led by Alex Pozhitkov, studied zebrafish and mice and believe that the phenomenon occurs in all animals, including humans.

RELATED: A Virtual Out-of-Body Experience Could Reduce Your Fear of Death

Gene transcription - the first step of gene expression, where a segment of DNA is copied into RNA - associated with stress, immunity, inflammation, cancer and other factors increased after death. And this could happen within hours or even days after the individual as a whole was declared dead.

Interestingly, gene transcription linked to embryonic development also increased. It's as though parts of the body essentially go back in time, exhibiting cellular characteristics of very early human development.

The Twilight of Death

The researchers identified a "step-wise shutdown" after death where some gene transcriptions diminished while others became more abundant. While the precise steps have yet to be defined, the scientists do not believe the process is random.

"Death is a time-dependent process," Noble remarked. "We have framed our discussion of death in reference to 'postmortem time' because on the one hand, there is no reason to suspect that minutes after an animal dies, gene transcription will abruptly stop."

"On the other hand," he added, "we know that within hours to days, the animal's body will eventually decompose by natural processes and gene transcription will end." The authors referred to the window of time between "death and the start of decomposition as the 'twilight of death' - when gene expression occurs, but not all of the cells are dead yet."

For years, researchers have noted that recipients of donor organs, such as livers, often exhibit increased risk of cancer following a transplant. The authors indicate there could be a link between "twilight of death" gene transcription and this increased cancer risk.

RELATED: 4th Phase of Life May Signal the End Is Near

"It might be useful to prescreen transplant organs for increased cancer gene transcripts," Noble said, which might offer some insight on the health of the organ, though more research is needed.

If such a connection is established, the findings could help to explain why the donated organs of people who were young and healthy before death - for example, if they died in a sudden accident - could still lead to increased risk of cancer in the organ recipient.

Since gene transcription associated with cancer and inflammation also can increase postmortem, analyzing those activities and patterns could shed light on how these health problems arise in the living and how the body reacts once they have been established.

Ashim Malhotra, an assistant professor at Pacific University Oregon who was not involved with the study, said "one would expect genes involved in immunity and inflammation to [increase in response to a stimulus] right after... death because some cells remain alive for a short time and the transcriptional machinery is still operating in 'life mode.'"

Malhotra was nevertheless surprised that the process happened between 24 to 48 hours after death. The researchers concluded their investigations after that upper time limit, so the transcription could potentially go on for longer than two days.

Perhaps certain cells live longer than we think, but there could be another explanation that has not yet been considered.

RELATED: Teen Girl's Body Frozen After Death in Legal First

Noble likens studying the dead to analyzing building collapses, in that both investigations can reveal what the original underlying structure was.

"Like the twin towers on 9-11, we can get a lot of information on how a system collapses by studying the sequence of events as they unfold through time," he said. "In the case of the twin towers, we saw a systematic collapse of one floor at a time that affected the floors underneath it. This gives us an idea of the structural foundations supporting the building and we see a similar pattern in the shutdown of animals."

Putting Death on Hold

Malhotra hopes that the experiments of Noble, Pozhitkov and their team could be repeated with more sampling times-possibly going beyond 48 hours-in order to better understand the identified transcriptional dynamics. Since the new study is the first comprehensive investigation to assess changes in genetic transcription after organismal death, many questions remain.

Malhotra even raised the big question of raising the presumed dead. He wonders now if it might be possible to "put a hold on death" if the molecular processes underlying cellular death could be further determined and if scientists could develop specific ways to "interrupt the shutdown."

Arne Traulsen of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology also expressed excitement over future related research. "I think this could be the start of a much more detailed analysis on how processes are being shut down after organismal death," Traulsen explained to Seeker.

"In spirit, death is probably more like turning a computer off and much less like turning a light bulb off," he added, referring to the computer-like step-by-step shutdown and intricacies involved. "We will see the consequences of this at some point, but I would not be surprised if this (new research) provides entirely new insights on the function of complex biological systems."

WATCH: How Different Cultures Dealt With Death
Even though the election is over, fake news and daily disputes over what constitutes a fact haven't really gone away.

While meeting with congressional leaders Monday, President Trump repeated his claim that several million votes for Hillary Clinton were illegal, despite the lack of evidence and statements to the contrary by elections officials. Trump also claimed that his inauguration brought more than a million people to the National Mall in Washington, despite photographic evidence disproving the statement.

Measuring the impact of fake news spread through Facebook or Twitter is more difficult. Did made-up reports of pre-election ballot-stuffing for Hillary Clinton in Ohio before the election change any votes? Perhaps not, but it did lead the story's original author, a Republican legislative aide in Maryland, to lose his job last week On many college campuses, professors are teaching their students identify and analyze fake news shared on social media, while some are even teaching students how to write their own fake news stories as a form of satire to make a bigger point about critical thinking.

"It's become such a big part of public discourse," said Sergio Figueiredo, assistant professor of English at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. "Whether its President Trump's press secretary talking about 'alternative facts' or CNN saying it's not going to put out statements from press briefings if not deemed accurate."

RELATED: Manipulated Video and Audio Will Make Future Fake News Even More Believable

Figueiredo, who teaches rhetoric as well as social media writing, say, his students sometimes bring up fake news in discussions about how best to make an argument.

"I'm still figuring out the best strategies just to address it," Figueiredo said. "You hear a lot of people talking about fake news, but I don't know that people buy into it. I wonder if it's a contemporary technique to dismiss a story you don't believe."

At the University of Washington, two professors plan to offer a course this spring on "Calling Bullshit in the Age of Big Data" to help students wade through inaccurate statistical analyses in science, medicine and social sciences.

Meanwhile, some psychologists are trying to understand why people believe information, even when they suspect it is false or misleading. The answer could lie in something called motivated reasoning.

"One of the reasons that fake news is so successful on the internet is that when I see a piece of information and I agree with it, I do not engage in any critical analysis," said Troy Campbell, a professor of marketing at the University of Oregon who researches the psychology of consumer behavior. "You might not look below and say what is the source of that article or let me go type this into Google to see if it is really true or fact-check it. You do not engage in the same quantity and quality of processing around it. Especially if it is not something you agree with and want to agree with."

Campbell has extended his research into the world of "unfalsability," or why people deny facts that don't confirm to their existing world view. The main reason, according to his 2015 study in the Journal of Social Psychology, is that people don't want to confirm facts that make them feel bad about themselves.

RELATED: Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Outlines Projects to Reduce Fake News

Campbell sees this same kind behavior expressing itself in voters who supported Donald Trump, a topic of fascination at the recent meeting of the Society for personal Social and Psychology in Antonio, where Seeker reached Campbell by phone.

"It's been a big point of discussion," he said.

"A lot of reason that people voted for Donald Trump is the feeling that they are being told by modern society that they are bad, dumb, stupid people," Campbell said. "Voting for Donald Trump is affirmation that I am a good person, I am valuable and he is not bad."

Campbell expects that fake news will have a polarizing effect on American society as both sides dismiss arguments from the other without examining information critically. One solution is to take away the reason that people have for disregarding facts.

"What we can do is to make sure that people don't have a motivation to disregard the evidence," Campbell said. "It's not always going to be possible."

The other answer is to rethink how students are taught in school, and question whether it's a good idea to assume that every child's opinion as valid, even if it isn't accurate or correct, Campbell explained.

"I would say it's an important thing to raise people in a way where they do not just trust their gut all the time," he said. "To raise people who identify as critical thinkers."

Now, for something completely different, Mark Marino has another theory of exposing fake news. He's teaching students how to make up their own.

Marino and Talan Memmott just launched "How to Write and Read Fake News: Journalism in the Age of Trump" as part of the UnderAcademy College, an online school of avant-garde studies that leans toward the absurd.

Marino has signed up more than 100 students who are given assignments in how to make fake tweets, write fake news articles by changing a few words in real news articles, and "post-fact-checking" in which students reinforce their stories with made up fact-checking.

RELATED: A Fake News Story on Facebook Triggered a False Bomb Scare

"I hope they will get a more critical understanding of the world of fake news," said Marino, who is also a professor of writing at the University of Southern California. "At the same time, I want them to develop as both readers and writers while thinking about role of satire , and play, and perhaps the way satire and irony can be used as veils for people who want to make some money out of clicks."

Like many academics, Marino divides fake news into various sub-categories, including fake news from Russia and the kind of tall tales like "Bat Boy" and UFO landings that used to be found in supermarket tabloids like the National Enquirer.

Even though he enjoys satire, Marino says he is worried about the trend of "real" fake news spread on social media or by the president.

"It's serving the function of spam by jamming the information networks and disrupting authentic communication," he said. Fake news "is adding additional noise to a sphere that's already pretty confusing."

WATCH:The Impact Of The Placebo Effect On Science
Press Release

January 25, 2017 ANGARA: "FREE COLLEGE ACT" CAN BE LIFE-CHANGING "No one can argue the positive life-changing impact of a good education on an individual's life." This was expressed by long-time education advocate Sen. Sonny Angara, co-author of Senate Bill Number 1304 under Committee Report No. 28, or the "Free Higher Education Act." "It is a terrible thing to witness Filipinos capable of achieving but don't ever get to develop their potential just because they don't have access to formal learning," he lamented. According to the Senate education committee vice chair, free public college tuition could provide "the impetus and the incentive to develop the human capital needed to the country to progress." "This should be the first installment," Angara explained. "By enacting this measure alone, our work is still not finished. An entire reform package, as bold as this one, must follow on how to democratize access to college." The senator, who chaired the Committee on Higher and Technical Education in the House of Representatives when he was representing the lone district of Aurora, mentioned some of the "college affordability measures" he filed such as the Student Fare Discount Act (Senate Bill No. 945) and the Underprivileged Students' Discount Act (Senate Bill No. 134). "Students are not only hobbled by tuition, but also by other so-called miscellaneous fees. We also need reforms that raise the quality our state colleges," the lawmaker said. "Making public college affordable is just one of the concerns. The other bigger challenge, Angara exclaimed, is how to raise the quality of instruction, and improve their facilities, especially on research. "Of course we do not only want our education system to be widely accessible. We also want it to be top-notch, responsive and relevant," he stressed. Angara said upgrading Philippine schools will always remain "a work in progress." He cited the measure making SUCs tuition-free as "the latest in the long line of upgrades, beginning with the Free High School Act of 1988, the GASTPE Law, Universal Kindergarten Education Act, Early Years Act and recently the K-to-12 Law." But Angara emphasized the educational system must be attuned "to this age of the millennials, borderless world and rapid-changing technology." "Education must lead to employment. Today, there is a disconnect between what you have learned and its potential for you to earn," he said. "This should be agenda number one of SUCs: to churn out employable, productive and trained professionals." It can be recalled that the senator's father, former Senate President Edgardo J Angara, himself a very popular education advocate, authored some landmark education bills in the Senate such as the "Free High School Act," "Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE), and the law creating the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). "Upgrading the standards of our schools will always be my priority because the work of improving the knowledge base and critical thinking capacity of the next generation should never end," Angara added.
On the commemoration of the second anniversary of the Mamasapano massacre

As we remember the second anniversary of the 44 members of the Philippine National Police - Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) killed in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, let us commemorate the memory of their bravery, heroism, and sacrifice.

The search, too, for truth and justice continues. We should persist in uncovering the answers to some of the questions left hanging, and let those responsible for the deaths of the 44 face the courts.

These 44 heroes sacrificed their lives with only one thing in mind: to fulfil their mandate to enforce the law, prevent and control crimes, maintain peace and order, and ensure public safety and internal security.

As the SAF44 accomplished their mission to get Marwan, the government should also complete the promises it had pledged to the grieving families of the brave policemen. They deserve nothing less from a grateful nation.
Press Release

January 25, 2017 OPENING STATEMENT ON THE COMMITTEE ON ELECTORAL REFORMS AND PEOPLES PARTICIPATION We would like to thank and acknowledge the presence of our resource persons present today who took the time out to help us craft this important legislative measure that seeks to develop, strengthen and empower political parties. There is no debate that to this date there is no law that clearly provides for the exact nature and character of political parties in our country. That is a major gap considering that there is no law in the country, not even the Constitution, that specifies the how political parties become the stable foundations of a popular democracy that runs on the ideals and principles of collective groups, and which in turn guide and motivate the members of these groups to capture political power for the implementation of a program of government that is distinct from that of the other groups. There is also a major gap as to who is ultimately responsible for the development and strengthening of political parties because the Commission on Elections is only mandated to register political parties and, to some extent, monitor them.[1] For party members, a party's immediate function is to take care of the registration requirements when its members run for public office. What existing provisions of the Commission on Elections provide are those pertaining to how parties are registered and which also imply the operational roles that the political parties must assume during elections. There is however no law that defines the relationship of political parties with that of the government and that of the State. In 1900, the Federal Party was established. It was the first Philippine political party that was organized.. Through the years, a multitude of political parties have come and gone in Philippine political history. Yet, party institutionalization in the country remained weak and underdeveloped. The current Filipino party system is largely composed of "transient parties" or those political parties that "are not founded on some distal source, like political cleavage, issue or ideology".[2] Indeed, there is some truth to the observation that "political clans are the real political parties in the Philippines."[3] Perhaps it is due to the fact that political parties in the Philippines are personality-based organizations largely organized around dominant local political clans and warlords; and anchored on clientelistic, parochial, and personal inducements rather than on issues, ideologies, and party platforms. Politicians switch parties depending on who won the last election. We are witnesses to how fast members of certain political parties jump to "ruling" political parties or to whoever won in a concluded elections. In fact, these politicians are aptly called political butterflies or political turncoats. They are fittingly described as those who lack the backbone to stand behind their political party. They easily change to whatever party is most convenient to them, or which gives them the most benefits at a particular time. This is usually the party whose candidate for President has won in the elections and thus controls the purse strings of government. We find that there are common provisions in the proposed legislative measures for deliberations today. First and foremost is the intent to prevent and impose restrictions and on political turncoats by making turncoatism a criminal offense. Second is campaign financing . The third is the State Subsidy Fund for national political parties. On the proposed State Subsidy Fund, the proposed measures hope to empower political parties by professionalizing and enhancing their operations and consequently prevent politicians from being beholden to campaign contributors through the allotment of funds political parties' direct and exclusive use for party development and campaign expenditures. By participating in our election processes, political parties offer citizens a choice in governance. If they happen to be in the opposition, political parties can hold governments accountable. It is therefore high time that we make our political parties work for democracy by making them live up to the modern standards of party systems all over the world. In this public hearing and the succeeding ones, we shall attempt to come out with a common proposed measure that shall strengthen political parties. Thank you very much. ________________________________________ [1] Aceron, Joy; Friedrich Ebert Stiftung; http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/philippinen/07131.pdf [2] Manacsa and Tan 2005: 748 [3] Simbulan 2007:33
Press Release

January 25, 2017 SEN. LEILA M. DE LIMA'S STATEMENT ON 2ND ANNIVERSARY OF MAMASAPANO INCIDENT The second anniversary of the Mamasapano incident is again being used by Duterte to divert attention from the crisis his current leadership is facing, rather than to actually give justice to the SAF and Muslim civilian victims of that armed encounter. This appears to be the primary motivation of the President in continuously harping on the Mamasapano incident. It is to continuously demonize the past administration in order to cover up for his own lack of accomplishments and direction after six months into his term. Any further probe on the Mamasapano incident is best conducted shorn of politics. Duterte is the least qualified in directing such a probe given his propensity for prejudgement and to preempt the results of any investigation, as he himself has already declared the Mamasapano police action as a CIA operation. The Ombudsman as an independent constitutional office is in the best position to conduct any further probe on the Mamasapano incident. Any other investigation initiated by the President would be a mere surplusage the results of which will always be doubted for his obvious bias against the past administration.
Press Release

January 25, 2017 SENATOR JV DEMANDS JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF 'MAMASAPANO MASSACRE' AND THEIR FAMILIES; SUPPORTS DOJ'S MOVE TO TRANSFER TRIAL VENUE FROM COTABATO TO MANILA SENATOR Joseph Victor G. Ejercito today demanded for justice as the country marks the second year of the bloody encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. The senator expressed disappointment that justice remains elusive for the victims of the carnage and their families while the nation is still in the dark on what really happened on the fateful day of January 25, two years ago. "While the heroism of the 44 Special Action Forces was continuously hailed and honored by our countrymen and the government, justice for these brave souls and families remains elusive. Will we wait for another year or more before the perpetrators of this massacre be punished so that we can move on from one of the darkest moments of our country's history? Justice delayed is justice denied," Senator Ejercito said. Senator Ejercito also registered support for the Department of Justice (DOJ) move for the transfer of the trial venue against 88 accused from Cotabato to Manila, so as to spare the trial judge from any pressure in ruling the case one way or the other. The 88 accused are commanders and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), and private armed groups who were charged complex crime of direct assault with murder. "If the transfer of the trial venue is a step to achieve justice for the victims of the bloodbath and their families, then we must support the DOJ with this crucial move. We must also back up the Duterte government's plans to fulfill the various kinds of assistance and support that the previous government had promised for the families of SAF 44, including scholarships for their children and kin and livelihood and housing assistance," Senator Ejercito stressed.
Press Release

January 25, 2017 Legarda Hails Stronger PHL-France Diplomatic Ties Senator Loren Legarda today hailed the deepening ties between the Philippines and France as the two nations commemorate this year the 70th anniversary of the formal establishment of Philippines-France diplomatic relations. Legarda made the statement during the launch of PhilFrance: Feel French!, a year-long program of activities in celebration of the 70th year anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship between the two nations. "I think we would all agree that Philippines-France relations have gone better with time--starting with the establishment of France's consulate in the Philippines in 1824, which was the first in the country; to the formal establishment of diplomatic relations with the signing of the Treaty of Friendship in 1947; and up to this year as we celebrate 70 years of deeper ties. We could only see it getting even better through the years," she said. Legarda, Founding Member of the Philippines-France Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Association, said that in recent years, the two nations have forged stronger partnership when in 2012, then French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault visited the Philippines. It was the first visit by a French head of government to the country. It was followed by the visit of President Benigno Aquino III to France in 2014, and in 2015, French President Francois Hollande's state visit to the Philippines. "These interactions resulted in enhanced partnership between our two nations most especially increased economic cooperation and political consultation, and continued partnership in the areas of climate change and sustainable development, among many others. There have also been many opportunities for cooperation in the field of cultural and heritage preservation," she said. "We are likewise grateful for the French Government's programs in the Philippines that provide support for start-ups in the country. These initiatives would greatly complement our efforts to support our micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which make up 99.6% of the domestic economy," she added. Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committees on Climate Change and Finance and a Global Champion for Resilience of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), also thanked the French Government for rallying nations to craft and support the Paris Agreement on Climate Change during the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. "The Philippines has signed and we are in the process of ratifying the Agreement. I hope that France will continue its role of championing climate action and helping ensure that commitments are carried out, especially by the developed nations to the developing climate-vulnerable countries," she said. "We are grateful for the continued confidence France has in the Philippines and our nation is keen on sustaining growth in all areas of development. As one of France's legionnaire, I reaffirm my commitment to serve as a vanguard of our countries' great alliance," Legarda concluded. Senator Legarda has been working closely with the French Government through the French Embassy in the Philippines and was bestowed the title of Chevalier (Knight) in the Ordre national de la legion d'Honneur (National Order of the French Legion of Honor) by the government of France. She sponsored the Senate's concurrence in the ratification of the "Protocol Amending the Agreement between the Philippine Government and the French Republic for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income." It broadens the scope of information that may be exchanged relating to tax administration, including bank information. Legarda also supported the showcase of ancient Filipino artifacts during the Philippines: Archipelago of Exchanges exhibit at the Musee de Quai Branly in Paris in 2013. She is the principal advocate of the environmental film Taklub, directed by Brillante Mendoza and starring Nora Aunor, which earned a special commendation from the Ecumenical Jury at the 68th Cannes International Film Festival in France. It was also shown at the opening night of the 20th French Film Festival in Manila. Legarda helped craft the 2015 Manila Call to Action for Climate Change, which was signed by Hollande and Aquino, and was read by the Senator side by side with French actress Marion Cotillard in Malacanang. Legarda was also invited by President Hollande as the Philippines' representative to the Summit of Consciences for the Climate in France in 2015 and she afterwards launched a similar summit on the same year at the Philippine Senate.
SPRINGFIELD - Governor Bruce Rauner announced Wednesday the Administration has reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police-Command Council that represents Illinois State Police captains and lieutenants. The agreement will now go to the full union for ratification.

Through good faith negotiations, we were able to reach a compromise with the Command Council on a contract that is fair to both state employees and taxpayers, Rauner General Counsel Dennis Murashko said. The Administration has now successfully reached 20 innovative collective bargaining agreements with public employee unions. We continue to invite all unions to work with us on reasonable and affordable contracts.



The agreement will include a merit pay system and a temporary, four-year wage freeze. The Administration looks forward to building on our partnership with the Command Council in serving the citizens of Illinois.
Press Release

January 25, 2017 PANGILINAN BATS FOR MANDATORY AUTOPSY IN SUSPICIOUS DEATH CASES MANILA -- To help solve the reported daily killings that have claimed more than 7,000 lives, mandatory forensic autopsies should be conducted on bodies of crime victims and in deaths that occur under mysterious or suspicious circumstances, said Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Wednesday as he filed the Mandatory Autopsy Bill. In the explanatory note of Senate Bill 1307, Pangilinan said: "The paramount interest of the State to prosecute criminal actions should not be frustrated by malevolent designs to erase the corpus delicti -- the body of the crime itself -- to escape liability (Pangunahing interes ng Estado na habulin ang mga maysala sa krimen. At dapat biguin ng Estado ang may masasamang-balak na burahin ang mismong katawan ng krimen para wala silang pananagutan)." "By compelling forensic autopsies, the State can accomplish what the deceased can no longer do --- point the finger at the perpetuator of the crime. After all, while dead men tell no tales, dead bodies certainly do. Thus, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought (Kapag requirement na ang forensic autopsies, maaaring makamit ng Estada ang hindi kayang gawin ng namatay na -- ang ituro ang maysala. Bagamat wala ng ma-i-kwe-kwento ang patay, meron ang bangkay. Kaya hinihiling namin ang pagpasa ng panukalang batas na ito)," the Liberal Party president added. News reports indicate that since the start of the Duterte administration in July, government's daily execution of its war on drugs has taken over 7,000 lives, or an average of more than 30 suspected drug users, pushers, and even bystander "collateral damage" killed every day by either law enforcers or unidentified gunmen. Senate Bill 1307 seeks mandatory autopsy in 12 instances, including: 1. deaths resulting from commission of crimes; 2. deaths occurring under suspicious circumstances; 3. deaths occurring as a result of violence or trauma; any death wherein the body is unidentified or unclaimed; 4. deaths known or suspected as due to contagious disease and constituting a public hazard; 5. deaths occurring in prison or a penal institution or while in the custody of the police; and 6. deaths of persons whose bodies are to be cremated, buried at sea, or otherwise disposed of so as to be thereafter unavailable for examination Pangilinan said these mandatory autopsies are meant to identify the deceased, and know the approximate time of death, the direction and proximate cause of death, and other conclusions which may be required during the trial of the case. "In the examination of the body, evidence useful in reconstructing the crime scene can be discovered, thereby assisting the investigators in determining the real cause and circumstances surrounding the death of the victim. Under the bill, results of autopsies shall remain confidential to the investigating body and to the next of kin except upon lawful order of the court. "Layunin nating makamit ng mga biktima ng krimen at ng kanilang mga pamilya ang katarungan (We wish justice for crime victims and their families)," Pangilinan added.
Koko lauds Duterte order to compensate Martial Law victims

Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel praised President Rodrigo Duterte for issuing an order on Thursday, January 19, to immediately release the initial compensation of Martial Law victims.

Pimentel, the son of Martial Law victim and former Senate President Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel, Jr., said that the move showed President Duterte's compassion for victims of injustice.

"President Duterte shows that he will always be on the side of those who are wronged, and he will always fight for the helpless", Pimentel said.

The order was issued during a meeting with members of the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto, or SELDA.

SELDA is an organization of political prisoners and former political detainees.

According to SELDA, there are more than 75,000 victims of human rights abuses under the Marcos dictatorship.

The Human Rights Victims Claims Board (HRVCB) was established by RA 10368 in 2013 to compensate these victims. However, SELDA said that no one has received any compensation from the government since HRVCB was established.

Pimentel is the President of PDP Laban, a party that was founded by his father at the height of Martial Law.

PDP Laban was one of the largest opposition political parties at the time, and played a key role in the 1986 elections that ultimately led to the ouster of President Marcos.

President Duterte is the Chairman of PDP Laban, and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez serves as its Secretary General.
Press Release

January 25, 2017 Transcript of Media Interview with Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel II I Q: On the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte to reopen the investigation on the Mamasapano incident SPPimentel: Yun ang order daw ni Presidente, to reopen, it is an executive action. Tutulong na lang kami, if they need transcripts of our hearings here, ibibigay namin, para hindi na ulit-ulitin. Q: What do you think is the reason for the investigation? SP: That's the judgment of the President, hindi siya siguro satisfied. He wants to find out some other things. Tama po iyan, kasi executive action din naman ang what led to the deaths of the SAF44, so dapat meron din silang closure diyan sa issue na iyan. Q: Possible po ba na ipatawag si former President Noynoy Aquino doon sa investigation? SP: They should investigate objectively, follow the evidence kahit saan umabot. Kahit saan umabot, kahit umabot sa doorstep of the former President. Q: Sir dito po ba kapag nagkaroon ng separate investigation, may chance din po kayong tawagin si former President PNoy? SP: Kami dito, kung may magfile ng resolution, we have to process - hindi ko sinasabi na automatic. Dito wala kaming censorship. Pag may nagfile ng resolution, we process. If it is referred by the plenary to a committee, then the chairman decides. Yan po ang gagawin natin. But so far, I am not aware of any resolution filed in connection with the Mamamasapano incident. But we have transcripts though, transcripts are available, and then the reports, may reports din kami. Q: Dito po ba sa Senado, gusto niyo po bang ireopen pa yung investigation here sa Senado? SP: Ay hindi na po, hindi na po sa Senado. We have a lot of things to do, darating na ang LEDAC, diba? We will identify legislative priorities, so tututukan po namin iyan. Q: Are you convinced that maraming kulang doon sa ginawang inquiries ng Senate at PNP BOI doon sa Mamamasapano? SP: Hindi. Sa Senado, ipinrocess na po namin iyan dito. Fully discussed na po iyan. But the President of course, separate branch po iyon eh. If they want to re-investigate, then let them reinvestigate. Q: So the former president is open to any kind of suit? SP: Basta, if you are a former president, then you lose your so-called "immunity from suit." Q: Even if the acts were committed during his term in office? SP: "Immunity from suit" naman yun eh. I am not saying that you also lose your "presumption of innocence?" So ibang issue po iyon. Q: Kailangan po ba independent body yung commission? SP: Of course, how will you arrive at the truth kung may mga exempted na mga isusubpoena or tatanungin? Di naging useless lahat kung ganun din. Q: And you think that is the right venue for the former president to answer all lingering questions? SP: It's the decision now of the person being summoned or subpoena'd. Kung magaappear siya or hindi, or kung pagdating niya doon, mayroon siyang i-invoke na right. Q: Mayroon pong nagsasabi na the President is using the issue to demonize the past administration. Do you agree? SP: Bakit naman nila parating negative yung reaction? Ang tanong, does the President have the power to order the investigation? If the answer is yes, we do not put evil motivations in the exercise of power. When the government is acting, and tanongin lang natin: Is it being done pursuant to a power? If the answer is yes, huwag na natin isipin na masama yung motivation. Actually sa law nga, the presumption is that all government officials have the good of the country in their hearts. Q: On President Duterte's comments re: role of former President PNoy on Mamasapano incident SP: Basta ang importante diyan, kung independent commission iyan, let them show their independence and not start from the statements of the President. Ang importante, just get to the bottom of the issue, and then submit your report. Q: Sir diba may mga nakasuhan na sa korte? Pwede po ba dahil sa findings ng commission, madagdagan ang mga makakasuhan? SP: Pwede, yan ang risk diyan. Ang risk diyan, may additional na makakasuhan, or kung may angulong may makakapabor doon sa nakasuhan na, pwede rin nilang gamitin doon to introduce reasonable doubt. Yan po ang risk diyan, but ang importante, we are after the truth. Q: Any suggestion as to how long should the commission conduct its investigation? SP: Wala na muna, I will leave that to the executive. Ang mas interesado ako doon sa other commission, sa Constitutional Study Commission. Dapat mabuo na po iyan. Kasi, we have to start the ball ralling on this federalism or charter change effort. Q: How soon? SP: Dapat soon, kasi last December pa po yung executive order, so I am calling on the President to already fully compose the Constitutional Study Commission, the 25- man commission. That's another commission, so diyan na po ako nakatutok. Q: Nasa LEDAC na po iyan, yung Charter Change? SP: Ah yes oo. Nag-agree naman po ang House of Representatives na priority po naming iyan, the amendment or revision of the Constitution. Q: Hihintayin pa ba ng Congress yang commission? SP: Basta ang Congress, nagsta-start na kami. Naalala ko ngayon, may narecommend pala ako sa Commission - si Armina Rasul, mayroon pa yung nag-aaral diyan, si Professor Ed Tayao ng LOGODEF. Q: Sir sabi niyo nagagree ang House and Senate na priority ang Cha-cha. What's the target to how to go about it? SP: Priority in the sense na all efforts which will lead to opening of the revision of the Constitution, will be prioritized. Sa house, may resolution yata sila, they will prioritize that. Kami sa Senate, meron din kaming resolution, but it is about the modes, so si Senate President Pro Tempore Frank Drilon, nag-hearing na, maghe-hearing pa daw siya ng two or three, then he is ready to report out. Q: Have you personally discussed this with the President, the necessity for the immediate creation of a Constitutional Convention? SP: Sa Monday, pag-patuloy ng LEDAC, I will tell him, I will remind him, pero he has an executive order. Ano na lang yun, matter of, I am sure marami na dyan yung recommendation letter or applications so it's a matter of telling you na pangalanan na yung 25 na yun. Q: Can you give a list of priority bills na ipupush ng Senate? SP: Endo, yung Cha-Cha, tax reform, income tax reform, hindi tax package. More on the relief kami, to lighten the tax burden of the compensation income on the tax payers. School feeding. 30-40 agreed kasi upon the subject matters, as the joint priority of the two Houses. Death penalty is the House priority, hindi sa Senate. Coco Levy trust fund. FOI is a Senate priority. Q: Bakit hindi priority ang death penalty sa Senate? SP: Ang commitment ng Senado sa death penalty, is we will discuss it in plenary at the soonest possible time pero hindi namin magarantiya na it will get the overwhelming support of the members. Yun lang naman yun. When we commit kasi, we have a feeling that it will get the support of the members. Q: What do you say about the attacks of Duterte against the Catholic Church? SP: No comment, hindi naman ako nag-aattack sa Catholic church. Q: Ang anti-money laundering amendments kasama rin po? SP: Wala. Pag wala sa list of priorities but it is already pending, may reports na, we will process them normally just like any other bill. Q: Ano po yung mga priority bills? SP: (1) Income tax reform, (2) estate tax reform, (3) revision of the Corporation Code, (4) the free internet access in public places, (5) traffic and congestion crisis, emergency powers . (6) Coconut Farmers Industry Development Act. (7) The Anti-Hazing Law, (8) Criminal Investigation Act, (7) Anti-Discrimination Act, (8) End of contractualization, (9) Expansion of local absentee voting. (9)Free school feeding, (10) Social Security Act, (11) creation of a Department of Housing, (12) Free Irrigation Services Act, (13) Free Higher Education Act, finile na din naming iyan. Yung (14) refusal of hospitals to administer treatment, we will address that, pero because of that, because that is a priority, kasama na rin doon yung (15) free health insurance coverage for all, kasi yun yun. Yung walang health insurance coverage, yun yung na-rereject. (16) Philippine mental Health Act, (15)Ease of Doing Business Act, (16) yung Anti-Red Tape Act. (17) Public service act, ito yung madugo, sa utilities, sa telcos, kasi we have an archaic or jurassic Public Service Act, 1930s yata yun. Sabi nga ni Senator Tito Sotto III, may provision pa sa law natin in that old law that we are asking pa the permission of the President of the united states, kailangan na po talagang ayusin yan. There is also (18) a measure to review the Allowable Coverable System Loss Act, sa kuryente, sa power utilities. The proposal is alisin na yun, and we agreed na gagawing priority. (19) Philippine Passport Act, validity, maybe other matters pa. (20) Salary Standardization Law. (21) Government Procurement Act. Kasi kailangan daw i-review iyan because tumaas na iyong budget natin. At ang palaging issue ay absorptive capacity. It does not only about capabilities sa baba but even our procurement processes ay may problema. (22) Family code of the Philippines Act. Babaguhin iyong separation of property, kapag sinabi mong Family Code, the entire code will be reviewed. (23) Railways, Mindanao Railways kasama na diyan. Franchise ng railways. (24) National ID System. (25) Prohibition of conversion of irrigated lands. (26) Stiffer penalty for the violation of the minimum wage law. Q: Hindi naman sinusunod iyan e. SP: Kaya nga stiffer, gagawin nating stiffer. Kasi ang reaction diyan ay hindi daw nasusunod kaya gagawin nating stiffer. Dapat may masampulan lang din talaga. Ang role ng media kapag may nasampulan, bigyan ng wide publicity para may deterrent effect. Kasi kung walang nakakaalam, walang sampol. (23) Revised penal code Indexation - Ito ang pet bill ni Senator Drilon. Sa Revised Penal Code, may penalties na depende sa amount na involve sa krimen. In 1932 iyan e. So iyong amount na 200 pesos sa theft, ilan ng years iyon. Wala na. So, masyado ng kawawa. Sino naman ang magnanakaw ng ganoon. Hindi naman ang mga mayayaman kundi ang ma mahihirap. (24) Amendments to the Fair Election Act. So iyon ang ire review namin iyong mga advertising etc etc Ito na muna nag sabi ng notes ko. Q: Sir ang lowering ng age ng criminal responsibility? SP: Hindi po napag usapan iyon. Heto pa. (25) Agricultural Credit Condonation Act. Marami palang utang ang mga agrarian reform communities na iyan. (26) Extension of Driver's License validity. (27) One town - one doctor act. (28)Uniform personnel retirement benefits and pension act. Parang pension reform. Ang usapan naming is that we can no longer sweep this under the rag. We have to recognize that we hav a problem in our pension system. (28) Community service to replace arresto menor. (29) Occupational safety and health standards. Ang importante dyan ay hindi iyan nakataga sa bato. The House and the Senate will periodically meet. The list can be expanded. New ideas idadagdag. And then of course, after LEDAC inputs naman ng executive request for legislative action, ma i influence din nya ang listahan naming. Q: Sir kung priority siya ng House and Senate, until when siya dapat sir. SP: 17th congress kasi at least iyong membership naman naming is 17th congress. Hindi pa final iyon. It will improve. Q: Monday pa sir ang LEDAC? Next Monday? SP: Heto na. Monday, July 31 Q: Sir, gagawin niyo po bang legacy ninyo ang relocation ng Senate sa BGC? SP: Ok. I am thankful to Senator Ping Lacson. At least kinikilusan na nya as chair of the committee of accounts the proposal, the idea to relocate the Senate. Sabi nga ni Sen. Lacson, that has been a 10 year old proposal or idea. He has been acting on it. Pero ico caucus muna namin because I have reservations because after the change of the constitution, sabi ko, how large can the Senate be? Sabi ko nga it could range to a 48 members all the way to the 72 members. So, siyempre iyong membership mo influences the size of the structure and that influences the size of the lot. Malayo pa tayo. But at least nag start na po kami. Q: On compensation to Martial law victims SP: There has been a board processing all the claims of the human rights victims. Nag pa extend sila ng term nila. Pinagbigyan po namin sila mag double time, mag triple time. I-full time para po tapusin na po nila ang kanilang mandato. Kasi po hindi naman po kasi puwedeng patagalin ang claims because they need compensation or they need a closure doon po sa traumatic experience po nila. So pakiusap ko na lang po sa mga human rights victims claims board, wala na pong tulugan. Tapusin na po ninyo ang trabaho ninyo. Q: Hanggang kailan po ang extension nila, sir? SP: I think May this year. yes, May of this year. So, iyon lang po yon. We do our share. The Congress when ask for the extension, we give the extension. so do your part. That would mean the end of your job. Pero alam niyo naman na iyon e. Kasi when you join that entity, that organization, alam niyo namang adhoc lang iyan, it has a fix life term. And, then, you have a fix job to do, Do your job for the good of all the 70,000 claimants as human rights victims.
Press Release

January 25, 2017 Villar urges the DFA to exhaust all diplomatic means to save OFW Jakatia Pawa Senator Cynthia Villar urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to exhaust all diplomatic initiatives to save 44-year old OFW, Jakatia Pawa, from being executed in Kuwait today. "She has professed innocence since the day she was arrested in 2007 and has not changed her statement until now. The DNA found on the murder weapon did not match Jakatia's DNA, and there was no motive involved since Jakatia has been faithfully and peacefully serving her Kuwaiti employer for five years prior to her arrest. Let us pray that her life would be spared, because for all intents and purposes, she may be innocent of the crime and it would be unfair and tragic to see the execution carried out," Senator Villar said. The senator, a staunch OFW advocate, also asked the Overseas Workers' Welfare Administration to extend assistance to the Pawa family, including a plane ticket for the two children and Jakatia's brother to be able to visit the OFW. "Jakatia was a former OWWA member up until she was arrested and put behind bars. On humanitarian grounds, OWWA can help the Pawa family during this difficult time," Villar said. Villar, author of Senate Bill 146 seeking the creation of the Department of Migration and Development, said Jakatia's case further justifies the need to create a dedicated department that will look after the affairs of 12 million Filipinos overseas. Jakatia Pawa is a native of Zamboanga Sibugay. She has two children, ages 18 and 16. She was arrested in May 14, 2007 and convicted in 2008 for the alleged murder of her Kuwait employer's daughter. At 5 o'clock this morning, the OFW called up her brother, Lt. Col. Gary Pawa. She asked for forgiveness and requested her brother to look after her two children. When the brother inquired as to the reasons behind the request, she informed him that her execution has been set for today. The brother, Lt. Col. Pawa, has issued an appeal to President Rodrigo Duterte for help in obtaining a stay of execution from the Kuwait government. Pawa is based in Zamboanga City.
Press Release

January 25, 2017 Privilege Speech by Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri

"The Sacadas from Mindanao" The world is astounded by a lot of big things. A President wakes up to massive protests worldwide even before he starts his first day at the White House. Yale University announces imminent fisheries collapse with China's island grab and construction in the West Phlippine Sea. OPEC fuels oil price hikes. Avalanches and floods cause deaths and destruction. Our military confirms foreign terrorists are training in the country. Indeed, we should be astounded by these big things. However, Mr. President, let us hear the plight of the small man called the sacada, some of them Manobo, some of them children. They are now in the midst of a deception foisted by a labor recruiter masquerading as a cooperative serving one of the biggest sugar haciendas in the country. I am referring to the hundreds of sacadas from Bukidnon, Cotabato and Davao recruited by a certain Greenhand Labor Service Cooperative to work in Hacienda Luisita. My kababayans were promised big wages, good accommodation, all mandatory social security and health benefits, free transportation to and from work, and, free meals. All those promises were broken. The wages were starvation wages. The bunkhouses were cramped. No proof of mandatory contributions remitted to government agencies were found. Clearly, these are labor issues. That would have been a simpler issue against Greenhand and the Hacienda. However, one aspect of this deception has made this much more serious. The sacadas were recruited from far away Bukidnon. They were ferried from Mindanao Island into the Central Plains of Luzon. If the sacada, even just one sacada opted out of working at the Hacienda, and, even if Greenhand allowed him to go; he could not have done so on his own. Everyday, the sacada is worked to the bone not being given the decent meal promised and shortchanged monetarily with a wage as low as Nine pesos and Forty-Six centavos (P9.46) per day due to the pakyawan nature, cutting and loading of sugarcane. "Dahil napakalayo ng Tarlac, hindi niya kaya ang pamasahe at lalung hindi niya kayang lumangoy pauwi sa bahay niya sa Bukidnon." It smacks of human trafficking. Greenhand made sure the sacada would not dare escape Greenhand's strangle hold on him. That's why they had to be rescued by the DAR and the DSWD from the Central Azucarera de Tarlac. Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, may I enjoin everyone to listen to the interview of one of the rescued sacadas, Mr. Mario Memper Jr. (Play first part of video.) Mr. President, it is the 17th year in the 21st Century, yet evil hands still employ 16th Century tactics to force fellow Filipinos to work the land for the cash crop, sugar. We have the Sugar Amelioration Fund. It addressed planters' and farmers' need for capital. We have the Sugar Industry Development Act. It addressed farmers income, productivity, marketing, health, education and pension needs of workers and agrarian reform beneficiaries in sugarlands. We have the Philippine Cooperative Code that encourages self-help and achieving economic strength through cooperativism. In other words, we Filipinos have always struggled to free fellowmen from exploitation. Filipinos won the Revolution. We launched reforms. Our laws, development plans and our national budgets have been evolving in order to address old and emerging problems, especially economic inequality. And, now, to our chagrin, comes a labor recruiter calling itself a cooperative and giving cooperatives a bad name. It ferried workers to a hacienda which bullheadedly resists change. Their business model harks back to the cacique system of centuries ago. They have a hard time acknowledging and implementing basic reforms. So much so, that many Tarlaquenos refuse to work their land. The canes were ripe for harvesting, but, bitter labor conditions and paltry wages made harvesting sugar not sweet at all. So now, they preyed on workers from Bukidnon. Mr. President, let me echo the plea of Mr. Memper to those who would be approached by Greenhand Labor Service Cooperative or other similar devious scheme. (Play second part of video.) Mr. President, at this time, the DOLE and the NLRC are investigating the matter. Based on those developments, your Committee on Cooperatives proposes to investigate the plight of the Bukidnon workers in order to address their demands for fair treatment, just compensation and for the parties responsible for their plight to be brought to justice. And, crafting measures to prevent the same in the future. Towards these ends, I filed Senate Resolution No. 274. Mr. President, my kababayans are trying to get the best value for their labor - which, with their small plot of land - are all that they possess. Let no one cheat them with false promises. Let no one violate their economic and social rights by uprooting them from their homes and preventing them to seek real greener pastures at their own free will. Lastly, let no one destroy our chance for rural development thru cooperativism, as mandated by the Constitution. Let no oppressive labor practices disguise as labor service cooperative destroy the good name and noble ideals of true cooperatives. On these, I enjoin you to support the inquiry to be carried out by the appropriate committees to resolve and craft measures so that the sugar workers do not receive the short end of the cane. Thank you, Mr. President.
Six members of the Illinois delegation - five Republicans and one Democrat - signed onto H.R. 7, the "No Taxpayer for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017," as co-sponsors: Democrat Dan Lipinski and Republicans Rodney Davis, Randy Hultgren, Mike Bost, Peter Roskam and Darin LaHood.

WASHINGTON, D.C. A measure that would end taxpayer funding of abortion passed the U.S. House Tuesday afternoon with a 238 to 183 vote. All of Illinois' delegation voted along party lines, except Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-3), one of three Democrats that supported the bill.

On the House Floor, Rep. LaHood said, 57 million innocent lives have been lost to abortion since 1973. Even more disheartening, taxpayer dollars are currently funding them, despite the fact that polls show that 60% of Americans believe that abortions should not be directly paid for with these dollars. I am proud to cosponsor and vote for this measure to permanently prevent taxpayer dollars from being spent on aborting unborn children. Its time to make this life-saving amendment permanent and government-wide. If signed by the President, this measure would do just that. LaHood's full comments can be reviewed HERE.

Congressman Randy Hultgren also shared his thoughts on the topic with House colleagues.

Majorities of Americanswomen and men alikeagree that no one should be forced to pay for someone elses abortion. This legislation takes provisions that have had bipartisan support for decades and makes them permanent, said Rep. Hultgren. This week, Americans from across the country plan to march in protest of the unjust Roe v. Wade decision which has resulted in more than 55 million of unborn deaths. Defending and protecting the most vulnerable in our society means ensuring no tax dollars go to end their lives. Hultgren's full comments can be reviewed HERE.





H.R. 7 codifies policies enacted for more than thirty years on a case-by-case basis that prohibit federal funding of abortion including health insurance subsidized by the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare).

For more than three decades, various appropriations riders have been enacted to prohibit federal funding of abortion. The "Hyde amendment" was first enacted in 1976, and is generally included as part of the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Act. It prohibits both the direct use of federal funds for abortion services and federal subsidies for plans that include abortion coverage, except in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger. H.R. 7 would make this permanent.

H.R. 7 prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion or health plans that cover abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger. H.R. 7 prohibits abortions at facilities owned or operated by the federal government, and prevents federal employees from performing abortions within the scope of their employment, GovTrack explains.

H.R. 7 prohibits premium tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies authorized under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) from being granted for health plans that include elective abortion coverage. H.R. 7 also prohibits small business tax credits authorized under PPACA for health plans offered by an employer that include elective abortion coverage.

The bill now proceeds to the U.S. Senate for review and passage. PredictGov gives the bill an 11% chance of being enacted into law.
The Board of Supervisors put together the last few puzzle pieces needed to fund affordable housing on Treasure Island Tuesday.

The board voted unanimously to approve special financing districts on Yerba Buena and Treasure islands, which will reinvest property taxes generated on the islands. Rather than the money flowing into the citys general fund, one financing district will pay for various public projects and improvements. Another district will generate money for the maintenance of the islands parks and open spaces.

The vote had stalled for months as Treasure Island Development Authority officials scrambled to find money to cover a $380 million funding gap left by an unexpected surge in construction costs and the addition of extra affordable units. The special financing district will generate some money, and the Mayors Office of Housing and Community Development is contributing $250 million, but the project is still $130 million short.

TIDA officials plan to ask the state to increase the lifetime of the financing district from 40 years to 45 years and to explore other state grants.

The development of Treasure Island has been a long time coming, said Supervisor Jane Kim, whose district includes the project. We want to rebuild our public buildings and institutions but also commit in the long term to more affordable housing. We requested that every six months they submit a report on the status of their affordable-housing-funding goals.

Of the 8,000 homes to be built on the islands, 27.2 percent will be offered at a below-market rate. That will make 2,173 units available to people earning up to 120 percent of the area median income, or $120,000 for a family of four. Kim wants that number to be 30 percent.

Other legislation introduced at the board Tuesday focused on affordable housing. Under an ordinance introduced by Supervisor Mark Farrell, developers wont be able to play politics with taxpayer dollars.

The measure stems from an incident last fall where Todco, a nonprofit housing developer, refinanced its federally subsidized apartments for millions of dollars. It then spent $270,000 of that money on progressive campaigns. The ordinance would clamp down on affordable-housing nonprofits from using government money for campaign purposes. The legislation stipulates that those dollars instead be used to build affordable housing.

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.

Profits from public subsidy should be directed towards public needs, not private interests, Farrell said. The majority of affordable-housing developers are good actors, but were in a housing crisis. We must ensure that every penny available for affordable housing is being used for affordable-housing needs.

Supervisor Norman Yee also reintroduced neighborhood crime unit legislation that would mandate the creation of property crime units at each district police station. Mayor Ed Lee vetoed a similar measure in October.

Ive chosen to bring this back to the table, Yee said. Im hoping that there will be more thorough discussion, especially from the mayors office, to get this done. Can we finally put politics aside and work on something together proactively? I think so.

Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com @LizzieJohnsonnn
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As the Webs throng of digital publishers grapples for increasingly scarce slices of the online audiences attention, Ozy Media in Mountain View is doubling down on a push to reach readers and viewers wherever they are.

Ozy, a digital news magazine best known for its backing by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, announced Tuesday that it has raised $10 million in a new funding round from the investment firm GSV Capital.

The company said it plans on using the money to bolster its 50-person staff  which, former employees say, might be necessary after the startup experienced considerable turnover, including the departure of top editors like Yahoo veteran Liz Lufkin and former Wall Street Journal editor Jonathan Dahl.

It also plans to expand both video offerings and an events business, which could reduce the companys dependence on conventional online advertising. Media analysts called it a savvy move.

The traditional Internet advertising models are under tremendous amounts of stress right now, said Rebecca Lieb, a digital marketing and media analyst. Banner advertising is decreasing in efficacy and its getting cheaper as a result. Thats causing publishers to scramble for additional revenue streams.

Reaching into fresh media frontiers may help the company recover some of the Web traffic it lost between 2015 and 2016. According to ComScore, traffic to Ozys flagship site, ozy.com, dropped by 41 percent last December compared to a year earlier, registering just 6.4 million unique U.S. visitors.

Ozy CEO Carlos Watson disputes those figures, claiming that ComScores analysis failed to capture traffic to the companys other domains, like those dedicated to specific projects. ComScore said it recently worked with Ozy to better capture such traffic. Watson said the companys self-counted audience figure is between 20 million and 21 million.

Publishers have been under a lot of pressure when it comes to monetizing audiences and eyeballs online, said Rob Leathern, the founder of Optimal.com, which helps companies buy and analyze online advertising campaigns. Even folks like BuzzFeed have indicated that while content is great, its difficult to make enough money on that stuff alone on a consistent basis.

Ozy declined to disclose its current valuation, but since its founding in 2013, it has raised a total of $35 million. As part of that, the company got a big boost in 2014 when German publishing giant Axel Springer became Ozys largest investor, paying $20 million for a reported 16 percent ownership stake. Besides Laurene Powell Jobs, other prominent Ozy investors include Silicon Valley investor Ron Conway and David Drummond, a top Alphabet executive.

Ozy publishes media-rich, mobile-friendly articles and videos daily online, but last year, the company made its first move into television, producing The Contenders, a documentary series on historical U.S. presidential campaigns which aired on PBS and BBC in the weeks leading up to the 2016 election.

Watson said syndicating The Contenders series spurred interest from other potential TV partners and that Ozy was in the process of selling additional shows.

Ozy is also in the midst of planning another Ozy Fest, an outdoor festival in New York Citys Central Park. The first event last year featured presentations from the likes of author Malcolm Gladwell, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and GOP political operative Karl Rove, and musical performances by Will.i.am and Wyclef Jean.

Watson said the festival represents a meaningful, multimillion-dollar revenue stream and an important business for us.

Lieb called events like Ozy Fest a smart way for publishers to leverage their audiences.

Those paid events can be more lucrative to a publisher than eyeballs looking at banner ads, she said. It helps to brand it and helps to bring in sponsors at a higher price point than banner advertising.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa
It should surprise no one that T-Mobile CEO John Legere has found a special kinship with President Trump.

Both men delight  no, revel  in dishing out taunts to enemies, real or perceived, over Twitter.

Hes got game, Legere recently told CNBC. I tell you ... he is ignoring norms that I ignored as a CEO.

When I first came in, I remember our legal departments were like You dont do ... and he just keeps moving past dont do. The reach and the breadth of what hes able to do  I dont know where it goes, but hes got game, he said.

In one 2014 tweet, Legere accused Verizon of victimizing customers and then used the hashtag #NationalMeanGirlsDay, a reference to the 2004 Lindsay Lohan comedy. That was mild.

Prior to Trumps social-media-driven ascent, Legere was actually an outlier for CEOs active on Twitter. But one has to wonder if Trumps expert deployment of mean tweets will give other companies license, even at a subconscious level, to dispense with decorum and get their salt on.

Im not saying companies are going to go full snark just because Trump is president. But like it or not, the leader of the free world does set the example for the rest of us. And just by winning the election, Trump has already upended the rules of whats acceptable.

Take Wendys. The fast food chain recently took umbrage at a customers suggestion over Twitter that McDonalds burgers are superior because Wendys ships raw beef in hot trucks.

@NHride You dont have to bring them into this just because you forgot refrigerators existed for a second there.

A staple of mean Twitter is the command to delete your account, a diss Hillary Clinton used on Trump during the campaign. Faced by a torrent of abuse, @NHride temporarily did just that.

Even seemingly staid Merriam-Webster has been getting a little grouchy. Last September, in the heat of the presidential election, this is how the dictionarys Twitter account responded to a users criticism: No one cares how you feel.

Let me pause while I look up the definition of burn.

While Trump may have some impact, in general, companies are getting snarkier on Twitter because they realize they need to have personality, said Jonah Berger, a professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School.

A recent report by IBM said nearly half of the countrys chief marketing officers said they are still not prepared to manage the challenges posed by social media. Given that apprehension, its not surprising that many companies tend to adopt a conservative approach to tweets lest they risk offending someone. Better safe than sorry.

Brands still need to find the right personality and tone, said Kathryn DeVito, who chairs the digital practice at Levick, a strategic communications consulting firm in Washington.

At the same time, CMOs said they plan to double social media spending over the next five years to 22.2 percent of the marketing budget, according to a survey last August by the Deloitte consulting firm, Duke University and the American Marketing Association.

What theyre paying for is a lot of blandness that doesnt make much impact.

Its becoming a very crowded social market for brands, DeVito said. They are looking for ways to engage consumers.

I have to admit that I may be detecting snark even where none exists. On the day of Trumps inauguration, this ad from Mucinex showed up on a friends Twitter feed:

Pro tip  if you ever come across a walking, talking booger, dont listen to it.

Suzanne Grogan, a spokeswoman for RB, which makes Mucinex, said the timing to Trumps inauguration was pure coincidence.

The purpose if this campaign is to raise awareness of Mucinex by leveraging our highly recognizable asset, Mr. Mucus, Grogan wrote in an email. The planned media schedule is determined by the cold and flu season, which is at its most severe point right now.

If anything, Twitter has proven to an effective  and cheap  tool for challenging incumbents. Snark can be a weapon of the underdog. Like Trump facing a crowded lineup of experienced Republican politicians, Legere took on big competitors like Verizon and AT&T when he took over T-Mobile in 2012. Both men eventually learned that people, inundated with repetitive messages, viewed sharp remarks as authentic and came to view Trump and Legere as truth-tellers when everyone else was too scared or politically correct to do so.

Being bland or sounding like an advertisement isnt going to get people to share, Berger of Wharton said. The more authentic you are, the more people will listen, and pass your message along.

Snark, of course, can only take you so far. Its one thing to be the insurgent. But when you become the establishment, people expect a minimum amount of decorum.

Yet snark has demonstrated a remarkable ability to humanize things, not a small feat when people seem to naturally distrust anything that smells like an institution.

Dont agree with this column?

You know what you can do with it.

Thomas Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: tlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByTomLee

Reading mean corporate tweets

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Its getting rough on Twitter  and some companies and executives are taking a tougher tack when talking to users. They may be taking their cues from Americas tweeter in chief.

Macys was one of the worst performing stocks on the S&P last year, plunging 46%. Very disloyal company. Another win for Trump! Boycott.

 Donald Trump, on the retailer which had dropped his clothing line, Jan. 7, 2016

It takes 5 mins to copy-paste ... and a lot longer to build the right network.

 T-Mobile CEO John Legere, tweaking rival Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure about its new wireless plan, Aug. 18, 2016

You told me you would stop drinking and tweeting. Guess you broke your promise again.

 One of Claures salty responses to Legere

No one cares how you feel.

 Merriam-Webster, scolding Slate editor Gabriel Roth, Sept. 7, 2016

You dont have to bring them into this just because you forgot refrigerators existed for a second there.

 Wendys, objecting to a Twitter users mention of McDonalds in a discussion of raw beef logistics, Jan. 2
Michael Macor/The Chronicle

A Marin County man with a long prison record stole the identities of his fellow inmates while incarcerated in an elaborate scheme to profit off of fraudulent tax returns he filed without their knowledge, federal prosecutors said.

The man, Howard Webber, 52, was convicted by jury Tuesday of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, among other charges, according to the U.S. District Attorney for the Northern District of California.
The murder convictions of a Fishermans Wharf shopkeeper who fatally shot two neighboring merchants in 2011 must be reconsidered because of evidence that he was mentally incompetent to stand trial, a state appeals court has ruled.

Hong Ri Wu, then 59, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2014 for killing Qiong Han Chu and Fen Ping Ou, both 30, in the victims Jefferson Street shop because he was angry with them for selling the same cut-rate purses he was trying to sell. A defense lawyer also said the victims had bullied Wu.

Wu made some delusional statements in jail and went on a hunger strike, but a court-appointed psychiatrist concluded that Wu was trying to manipulate the system. The psychiatrist said he was competent to assist his lawyers and go to trial and, in 2012, Superior Court Judge Donald Sullivan agreed.

The case was delayed for nearly two years, however, by Wus refusal to cooperate with the legal system or his jailers and their medical staff. When he attended court hearings, he swore at the judge and said people were trying to harm him. He was transferred in March 2014 to San Francisco General Hospital, where he again refused to eat and was force-fed through a tube after a different judge declared him gravely disabled.

A hospital psychiatrist reported in 2014 that Wu was incompetent to make medical decisions or to cooperate with his lawyers at a criminal trial. But Sullivan reaffirmed his 2012 ruling that Wu was competent and ordered the trial, which Wu did not attend. He was released from the hospital the day of the jury verdict and, when asked by Sullivan for a statement, uttered a two-word profanity before the judge sentenced him to life in prison.

On Friday, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said Sullivan should have ordered a hearing on Wus mental competence in 2014, rather than relying on the first psychiatrists report.

Wus mental condition had changed since 2012, based on evidence that he was hospitalized, adjudicated to be gravely disabled, authorized to be forcibly fed and involuntarily medicated, and diagnosed by (another) psychiatrist to be incompetent to stand trial, Presiding Justice James Humes said in the 3-0 ruling.

The court set aside Wus convictions but said they could be reinstated if he was found, at a new hearing, to have been mentally competent at the time of his trial. Otherwise, Humes said, Wu would be entitled to a new trial when, and if, he was found competent to face trial.

The decision on whether to hold such a hearing, and its outcome, would be made by a new judge, since Sullivan has retired from the bench.

Attorney Neil Rosenbaum, who represented Wu in his appeal, said he was pleased by the ruling and doubted a judge could make a meaningful decision now on whether Wu had been competent in 2014. Alex Bastian, spokesman for District Attorney George Gascon, said prosecutors were considering an appeal of the ruling.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
Folks at the San Francisco Hall of Justice are shaking their heads that political consultant Enrique Pearce will be allowed to avoid jail time after pleading guilty to possession of hundreds of images of child pornography  including graphic pictures of infants as young as 6 months old being abused.

In a move that went largely under the radar, retired Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Rene Navarro, who is on temporary assignment in San Francisco, signaled that he intends to sentence Pearce to just six months of home detention when he returns to court Wednesday.

Under sentencing guidelines, Pearce will probably serve only half that time.

Compare that with the fate of former KGO-AM talk show host Bernie Ward, the Lion of the Left who pleaded guilty in a similar child porn case brought by the U.S. attorney in 2007. Under federal guidelines, Ward was sentenced to seven years, and he served every day of it.

And just last week, Duane Ackerman, a professional photographer whom San Francisco police and the FBI arrested 15 months ago for possessing and producing child porn, was sentenced in federal court to 15 years in prison.

Pearce, whose political clients included Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisors Jane Kim and Norman Yee before his arrest in May 2015, will have to spend five years on probation and register as a sex offender for the rest of his life in addition to his brief home detention.

D.A.s spokesman Max Szabo said prosecutors had pressed Judge Navarro for jail time in the Pearce case. But under state rules, they didnt get a say-so in the plea deal  Pearce could simply admit to all four charges against him in court once Navarro told him what the likely sentence would be.

Our hands are tied, Szabo said.

Pearces attorney, Douglas Horngrad, declined to comment on the plea deal. So did the judge.

As for why the Pearce case didnt land with the feds, where he would have faced mandatory prison sentencing guidelines? According to Steve Wagstaffe, district attorney in San Mateo County and president of the California District Attorneys Association, The U.S. attorney and FBI wont touch a case unless there are (several thousand) child porn images involved.

Southern comfort: No fewer than 50 Los Angeles police officers, led by Chief Charlie Beck, showed up at San Francisco City Hall on Monday for the swearing-in of Police Chief William Scott. He had a lot of friends in L.A. from his time as deputy chief, and acquired a reputation for keeping his cool.

That was never more on display than when he arrived for his San Francisco job interview with members of the Police Commission. Just as he walked in, he got a call from L.A. about an officer-involved shooting.

He handled it calmly and deliberately, said one commissioner, speaking on condition of anonymity because the panels process was not public. Then he did the interview and then, when we were done, called back for an update. All in the same calm and steady way.

The same calm prevailed in his acceptance speech Monday at City Hall, where Scott never broke stride as he was repeatedly interrupted by demonstrators trying to shout him down.

The large contingent of cops from the Southland, however, did prompt some to wonder if Scotts time here could be a launching pad for the L.A. chiefs job when Beck retires in three years.

None of that  theyre just friends, Scott said.

By the way, Scott isnt wasting any time getting organized. On Tuesday, he said former acting Chief Toney Chaplin and Deputy Chief Hector Sainez  both key players in the police reform efforts  will be staying on as his two deputy chiefs.

Snap-back: A former students Snapchat shot of a young woman wearing a headscarf with an emoji of a bomb in her hand and the caption Allah Akbar prompted the University of San Francisco law school to schedule a community discussion on sensitivity Thursday night.

Under the schools nonacademic student code, the image is considered an act of intolerance, USF law school officials said in an email to students. They said it had been brought to their attention by a group of students who considered it a negative depiction of Muslims and asked USF to respond.

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Even though the former student  identified only as Rachel  has graduated and moved out of state, the USF law school deans office contacted her. And in short order, she issued a letter of apology, stating her heartfelt disappointment in herself and remorse for her actions.

In the letter, Rachel said she had posted the image for four seconds. When a friend alerted her of the harm she could possibly cause, she wrote, she tried to take it down  only to discover that a screenshot of the image had already been reposted on Facebook.

I was blocked from the user(s) who posted the photo and I was unable to promptly issue a clarifying response and apology, Rachel wrote.

The law school said Thursday nights forum would be a chance for people to share reflections on how the image affected them. In the email, administrators told students that if they witness an act of intolerance, please file a report.

Law school Dean John Trasvina told us that the episode is a reminder and learning opportunity that social media posts, no matter how brief, have a life of their own.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross
My socks had sopped up the river below, but rivulets were dripping from my wrists as I headed west to the SoundBox at Davies Symphony Hall on Saturday, Jan. 21. The show was to start at 9 p.m., but the bars were open when people flooded into the space an hour before. I peeled off my sodden coat, tossed it on the floor with my wind-whipped umbrella, and settled in with a scotch.

The concert, co-curated by Symphony director of summer concerts Edwin Outwater and composer Mason Bates, was Macro/Micro, its focus moving from the planet  with imagery facilitated by Google Earth  to space. Lighting was by Luke Kritzeck; video design was by Adam Larsen. All the projected scenes in its first third  from an Alaska tundra to a Hawaii beach  included a horizon line, connecting the pieces.

The music was adventurous, but listeners were grounded; they knew where they were, as they did in the second section, which was set in South America. The third section started with two works by Bach, music that had been heard aboard Voyager 1  one performed by Symphony violinist Nadya Tichman, the other by Symphony keyboardist Robin Sutherland. And the last piece was Bates The Rise of Exotic Computing, which (Im quoting from a program) was inspired by the notion of synthetic or exotic computing.

If all that sounds technical, analyzing is not what I was doing when I listened, watched and sipped my drink, peering around at the audience. Some had stowed damp signs at their feet, others were still wearing traces of pink. Theres no quiz after listening to a concert. Being together and sheltered on a rainy night, savoring sound and light, protected from the storm  meteorological and political  was enough.

 Robert Wieder says that Donald Trump being sworn in as president is as if Emperor Norton were actually being sworn in as emperor.

Sign spotted recently near Sebastopol by Natasha Pehrson: Hide your cat before Trump grabs it!

Meanwhile, Dr. Mike Lano says even his trade magazines are fretting about the new president. On the cover of Inside Dentistry: How Will Your Practice Survive the Era of Trump? and on the cover of Dentistry Today: Trump Bad for Dentists?

She was determined not to watch or listen to last weeks inauguration, so Donna Calames son gave her earphones and a playlist: Slippin Into Darkness, Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get, Who Is He (And What Is He to You)? Trouble Man, Move On Up and songs from Theres No Place Like America Today.

Similarly, Danny Kraus turned his TV to anything but, so as to drive down ratings for the swearing-in, and came across programming for FXX: Mad About You, Anger Management and Raising Hope.

 During the Oakland womens march, Lincoln Cushings phone auto-corrected bigly to bigot; RIP American intellect 2016 was painted on a car window Ellen Nemoyten spotted in San Francisco.

Aboard a crowded Muni Metro car heading from the march to Castro Street, says Mark Hetts, a woman who was jammed against a door with three guys around her spoke out in a loud voice: I dont know who you are behind me, but if you do that again, this entire car will pound you senseless! There was silence for a moment, then everyone started laughing.

And more following up:

Concurrent with the recently described openings at the Berggruen Gallery and its neighbor, the Gagosian Gallery, was a decidedly looser event upstairs. Crown Point Press was showing prints by Jacqueline Humphries. Many of the artists who stopped by downstairs came up to Crown Point for a beer or a glass of wine, to greet Crown Points Kathan Brown and Valerie Wade (as well as bartender Michael Brennan) and to mingle with other artists in a relaxed atmosphere.

Crown Point owns the L-shaped building that includes the Gagosian Gallery and is wrapped around the separate Berggruen space. With Berggruen downstairs next door to Gagosian, said Wade, we are definitely the Upstairs/Downstairs episodes in reverse. It is great to have such tony neighbors.

Karen Platt says the sign welcoming refugees posted at the Richmond District library was created by Micah Bazant for the Network Against Islamophobia, a project of Jewish Voice for Peace. The group has canvassed neighborhoods inviting businesses and residents to post it in their windows.

Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik

Public Eavesdropping

I dont want to march with all those people, especially a bunch of angry women.
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) has been touring editorial boards with Senate President John Cullerton , outlining their plans to tap state lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to support a grand compromise - including, perhaps, some type of workers comp reform in exchange for the new taxes.

At the federal level, the Republican majority in Congress is debating just how much they will cut taxes while at the state level, the Democrat majority is winning support from the Republican minority leadership on just how high they will raise state taxes on income taxes and sweetened drinks.

SPRINGFIELD - Weary taxpayers are tired of working hard to pay taxes when at the state level, both Republican and Democrat lawmakers are considering how they can get more revenue for state-funded programs, agencies and projects - and yes, even pay long overdue bills.

"Absolutely not. I am fighting to kill this bill," McCarter said in an email. "We should not repeat history and cause hundreds of thousands of taxpayers to leave Illinois."

State Senator Jim Oberweis (R-Sugar Grove) wasn't as solid in his response to Illinois Review's query about whether he would vote for a state income tax hike.

"Not without much more significant reforms such as term limits for all legislators, redistricting reform and pension reform (probably need a constitutional amendment) as well as significant spending cuts," Oberweis said. "The proposed workman's comp reform might be a compromise."

McCarter and Oberweis, along with four other Republican lawmakers, signed the American Tax Reform pledge that they would not support a tax hike. Other GOP senators that signed on include Dave Syverson (R-Rockford), Tim Bivins (R-Dixon), Sue Rezin (R-Morris) and Bill Brady (R-Bloomington).

Senate Democrats maintain a super-majority in the Illinois Senate, and would be able to pass a tax hike to the Illinois House without a Republican vote. However, Democrats have historically worked to get one or two Republicans to cross party lines on tax hikes so they are not solely to blame.

In addition to the income tax hike, there's a growing acceptance of a one cent per ounce of sugared drinks throughout the state of Illinois. In Cook County, the tax would be added onto the one cent per ounce tax on sweetened drinks set to start in July.

GOP Governor Rauner has not ruled out signing the tax hikes into law.

The Illinois State Senate started debating the income tax hike Tuesday at the State Capitol. But recent reports indicated legislators may go even higher - to a 40 percent increase - up to a possible 5.25%. They may vote on this proposal by Wednesday.

They are also planning to hike the corporate income tax to 9.5% (including the state's 2.5% personal property replacement tax), which would give Illinois the fourth-highest corporate income tax rate in the entire nation.
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump moved swiftly Tuesday to advance the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, signing executive actions to aggressively overhaul Americas energy policy and deal a sharp blow to Barack Obamas legacy on climate change.

Obama had personally halted the Keystone XL project, which was to bring oil from Canada to the U.S., and major protest demonstrations have frozen work on the Dakota pipeline.

Trump, in his continuing effort to undo the past eight years of a Democratic president, invited the Keystone builder, TransCanada, to resubmit its application to the State Department for a presidential permit to construct and operate the pipeline. The company said it would reapply.

Obama halted the proposed pipeline in late 2015, declaring it would undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal that was a centerpiece of his environmental agenda.

Trump also ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to quickly review and approve construction and easement requests for the Dakota Access pipeline, a project that has led to major protests by American Indian groups and their supporters.

From now on we are going to start making pipelines in the United States, Trump said from the Oval Office, where he also vowed to require the actual pipe for Keystone to be manufactured in America.

Trumps actions four days after he took office came on the heels of his decision to withdraw from a major trade agreement as he upends Obamas policies, winning praise from congressional Republicans. Democrats in energy-producing states also hailed Trumps actions on the pipelines as long-awaited steps to boost jobs and move the country toward energy independence.

But environmental groups and Native American tribes who have fought both projects for years pledged to defy Trump.

President Trump will live to regret his actions today, said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. Unwittingly he is beginning to build a wall  a wall of resistance. This fight is far from over.

The 1,179-mile Keystone XL pipeline would run from Canada to Nebraska, where it would join other lines already leading to refineries along the Gulf Coast.

Trump directed the State Department and other agencies to make a decision within 60 days of a final application and declared that a 2014 State Department environmental study satisfies required reviews under environmental and endangered species laws. Environmental groups promised a legal challenge, arguing a new application requires a new review.

State Department approval is needed because the pipeline would cross the northern U.S border.

Julie Pace is an Associated Press writer.
Welcome to another episode of the top-rated game show Who Can Really Afford to Rent in the Bay Area? Im your host, It Beats the Heck Out of Me.

On todays show, the audience gets to play the role of a distressed renter attempting to survive while living in poor conditions and working for low wages.

If the thought makes you feel anxious, youre not alone. Because a tenuous housing situation can trigger depression, anxiety and even schizophrenia, according to studies by the Alameda County Public Health Department and the Oakland research firm PolicyLink.

Oaklands housing and eviction crisis has affected middle-income, working-class people as well as those with low incomes. The Dec. 2 Ghost Ship fire, which killed 36 people, raised displacement awareness as the city tries to determine what to do with people living in non-permitted live-work spaces.

And its not just artists and musicians who have been feeling the housing crunch. Its also teachers, janitors, service industry workers and 9-to-5 office professionals.

But lets not dwell too long on reality and get on with todays game.

First, Id like you to write down how much cash you have in the bank. In this game, youll probably get wiped out, but at least you know how much you stand to lose. OK, now for the keys to your braaaand neeeew hooome!

Trust me, youll want to hold the applause.

Its an apartment in a three-story, 30-unit building in the Fruitvale neighborhood. Your apartment probably doesnt have heat, and the rank odor of raw sewage makes it hard to eat, much less sleep. When you turn on the lights, the cockroaches dont scurry. Instead, they look at you like, What are you doing in my house?

After saying goodnight, you dont add, Dont let the bedbugs bite. Because they do. All night.

This is a real-life scenario in an Oakland building where most of the tenants are Spanish-speaking families. It got so bad that Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker filed a request for relief with the Alameda County Superior Court. Last week a judge issued an order against the landlords, who now have 40 days to fix the problems or face contempt charges and sanctions.

Now comes your game-time decision. According to price-tracking sites Zillow and apartments.com, rent in the building ranges from $1,695 to $2,200. So youre paying below-market rent, but for insufferable living conditions: Do you stay or do you go?

Obviously, you cant stay. But if you go, are you sure you can afford to move? If it were me, I wouldnt want to leave Oakland, a city that I love and want to make better. And I wouldnt be able to afford the move.

The average rent in Oakland, according to rentjungle.com, was $2,754 in December. If a new landlord wants first and last months rent and a security deposit equivalent to a months rent, that comes to roughly $8,200. And if you cant find a home immediately, you still have the cost of moving and storing your stuff  or have it tossed carelessly onto the street like cigarette butts from moving vehicles.

Game over.

Without city intervention, how are people supposed to make it?

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.

On Monday, the Oakland City Council passed a law that will ease the financial burden for tenants who get displaced when a landlord makes safety improvements. The law, pushed by Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, nearly doubles the relocation fee that landlords must pay tenants they evict to repair code violations. It passed by a unanimous vote.

So it doesnt only target the warehouse situation or only the artists, though certainly my heart goes out to them, and their plight is important, Kaplan told me. But it was written to apply to all of these different code-enforcement situations.

The new ordinance raises payments to $6,500 for a studio or one-bedroom unit and $8,000 for a two-bedroom unit. Tenants evicted from a three-bedroom unit will be entitled to $9,875.

The law is designed to discourage the abuse of rules and the abuse of people. It encourages property owners to keep places in good condition because, if they care about their tenants, theyll meet code standards. And the new law provides a safety net for people who cant hold on for much longer.

We really need much more to be done about the affordable housing crisis, including more production of more units, said Kaplan. The fact that there is such large and widespread public pressure for action on this does help advance these goals.

How long will it take? Cmon, folks, you know my name: It Beats the Heck Out of Me. Have a good morning, and please join us next time on Who Can Really Afford to Rent in the Bay Area?

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr
On the western flank of the Sierra Nevada, the American River tumbles out of the Desolation Wilderness, transforming snowmelt into whitewater as it churns through granite clefts. The river is one of Californias most popular playgrounds for rafting and kayaking, activities bound by necessity to the operation of 11 hydroelectric dams that also share the river.

Thanks to a renewed federal license issued for those dams in 2014, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District must now release water on a schedule that ensures more than 40 additional days of whitewater boating in dry years, and more than 140 days in wet years.

The additional flow also improves habitat for foothill yellow-legged frogs, an imperiled species, native rainbow trout and other wildlife.

This is just one example of a hydroelectric project now heeding contemporary environmental principles, thanks to reforms imposed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during the Obama administration. There are dozens of other examples across the West in which old hydro-power projects have been updated for the 21st century. Unfortunately, this progress could soon come to a standstill.

In the coming weeks, President Trump is likely to appoint a new conservative majority to the five-member FERC. We havent heard much about these appointments, but they are arguably as momentous as Supreme Court appointments.

Thats because FERC hydro-power licenses have 50-year terms, meaning their effects are essentially permanent for local communities, aquatic habitat and wildlife. It is vital that new licenses reflect modern conditions because, as climate change unfolds, people and wildlife alike need more access to the cold, clean water captured by dams from high elevations.

The stakes are huge: There are 23 California hydroelectric licenses pending at the FERC, and 18 more expected to come forward during Trumps term. They include projects on the Yuba, Feather, Bear, Merced, Pit and McCloud rivers  all with important recreational and ecological concerns. Some, built in the 1960s without fish ladders, are only now coming up for their first license renewal.

While some hydroelectric dam owners also sell water, electricity is their main revenue source. Yet modernizing dams doesnt require a big hit to revenue. On the American River, for instance, SMUD power generation declined only 7 to 8 percent due to the required flow increases for recreation and wildlife. And it will make some of this back in more flexible summer generating practices.

There are two vacancies on the five-member FERC commission, and a third expires in June. Rumors suggest Chairman Norman Bay will resign, even though his term runs until 2018. So Trump could seat four new commissioners within six months.

The FERC chairman has a large role in setting the agencys agenda. Bay, appointed by President Barack Obama, has sought to more closely regulate utilities and prevent energy market manipulation. He also has focused on encouraging green energy by pushing for smart-grid systems and improved transmission networks to accommodate wind and solar power.

Trump is said to be considering FERC Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur as the next chair. LaFleur has close industry ties and is a former executive at National Grid USA, a utility serving several northeastern states.

A 1986 law, the Electric Consumers Protection Act, requires FERC to give equal consideration to enhancing recreation, habitat and wildlife populations in its regulatory efforts. As a result, new hydro-power licenses have included many requirements to make dams more environmentally friendly.

But to a certain extent, such requirements are a matter of choice for the commission.

The law requires FERC to solicit and address recommendations from resources agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service. Those agencies are not required to respond and, if they do, their priorities may shift under the new administration. In any case, the commission is not required to heed all recommendations, and may choose less effective measures.

For example, rather than ordering a dam owner to install fish ladders, it could require a so-called trap and haul system, in which fish are moved around a dam in tanker trucks. This is known to be riskier to fish and less effective, especially when they need to move back downstream.

I expect, literally, that the federal agencies are going to take a four-year break from doing anything other than rubber-stamping what the dam licensees want, said Ronald Stork, senior policy adviser at Friends of the River, who has monitored federal water policy since the Reagan administration.

State laws could keep hydro-power reform moving forward. These include Californias Porter-Cologne Act, which regulates water quality; and the states system of water rights, which allows amendments whenever a concern emerges.

But the hydro-power industry is working to undermine states.

In 2015, the House passed a bill, HR8, with amendments negotiated in secret to prevent states from exercising certain powers in hydropower licensing. The Obama administration threatened to veto it.

The bill was supported by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which has seven California hydropower licenses pending at FERC. The prescribed licensing processes in place are overly complex, unnecessarily protracted, insufficiently coordinated and needlessly expensive, Debbie Powell, senior director of PG&E power generation operations, said in April during House testimony on the legislation.

Another attempt at the legislation will likely see smooth passage in Republican-controlled Washington.

Voters need to remind members of Congress and the Trump administration that dams mean more to the economy than electricity. Hydro-power also has a duty to provide clean water, healthy fisheries and vibrant recreation. FERC and other federal agencies have those obligations as well.

Matt Weiser is a freelance writer and contributing editor at WaterDeeply.org. He can be reached via Twitter at @matt_weiser.
Lynx the Animator pulls no rabbits out of hats.

That cliche, along with its cheesy, childish connotations, is something all magicians are trying to break, says the local magician and street performer, 43. Its an outdated concept. I really do want to kill the guy who put that image together.

Lynx, for one, specializes in sword swallowing, among other effects. None of his fellow performers in the second annual Fog City Magic Fest, Wednesday-Saturday, Jan. 25-28, at the Exit Theatre, conform to the magician stereotype, yet they all contend with the expectation that they will.

Well, almost all of them. Fellow Fog City Magic Fest performer Jade, as a female magician, is a relative rarity. More often than not, whenever anybody says magician, immediately they will think of a white man, she says. This was at a group interview at the Exit with Lynx, as well as other Fog City Magic Fest performers Jay Alexander and Ryan Kane.

One of Jades career goals is to contribute something to changing that expectation. In some ways, she already has. In 1990, she was the first woman to win the International Brotherhood of Magicians Gold Medal of Magic, an award that doesnt even get presented every year. (Often, no one is deemed good enough.)

For now, though, she still benefits from audiences not knowing what to expect from her act, which uses magic rings, a ribbon wand and a disappearing box, among other effects. As a result, audiences are more welcoming of her. Theyre just along for the ride, she says.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

For the men, says Kane, 27, your first 10 minutes onstage are always just proving everything you expected tonight, Im not that.

Alexander, 47, says at first, especially at corporate magic shows, it can be as if half the audience members have their arms crossed, as if to say, OK, fool me. Some audiences, of course, resent that magicians can fool them, but thats an absurd attitude, Kane points out: I started work on this 21 years ago, and you just started. Why on Earth should you expect yourself to figure this out?

Complicating popular notions of magic and magicians is part of what led Alexander to co-found the festival with local performer Christian Cagigal last year. All of us are so different, he says. Thats what the festival to me is about: celebrating the diversity of what magic can be.

One of Alexanders specialties is card tricks, and just in shuffling from one hand to the other for a photo, he coaxes from them a sound that no inanimate object should be able to make. Kane uses a lot of comedy; he even considered careers in stand-up comedy or theater before choosing magic as his medium.

A magic show doesnt need that much to be a magic show, Kane says. Performing a trick successfully is a low bar to clear. That allows me to do anything else I want with that, so I can be funny one moment, be poignant the next. I can be pretty or beautiful another moment. It allows me a lot of freedom to explore whatever I want to do and not be confined to comedian or musician, where everything has to be one thing. And thats also added onto blowing someones mind with something impossible.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

Fog City Magic Fest acts also vary by scale. Joe Culpepper, 37, of Montreal is one of the few out-of-towners to participate, though he grew up in Sacramento. His act, Magic for One, is just what it sounds like: a one-on-one magic show, each lasting five minutes, of what in the industry is called close-up magic. (The other kinds, he says, are street, parlor and stage.)

Its not economically very smart, he jokes, over the phone. You dont sell a huge number of tickets. This is an artistic, poetic experiment. Hes drawn to close-up magic in part because audiences cant then attribute a magicians success to being too far away to see how the sleight of hand is accomplished.

But he also likes how special it feels. He remembers, as a kid, going to see a magic show and being the kid who stayed after the show. If he followed the magician outside, the performer would often say something like, You know what, let me show you one more. Let me show you one thing I dont usually do.

That performance, Culpepper says, even though its something in this persons repertoire, that theyve lavished many hours perfecting, in that moment, it feels like its just for you. When you have someone who does a performance just for you, its a different type of gift.

In todays world, he says, we are so distanced from each other. So many of our storytelling experiences are mediated through screens nowadays. Theres a real nostalgia or sense of loss for these intimate experiences.

Even if San Franciscans can be glued to their screens, the Fog City Magic Fest performers agree that, counterintuitively, our region, with its wealth of engineers, makes for great audiences to magic shows.

The weird thing is, the smarter the person is, the easier (it is) to fool them, says Alexander. The more a scientific mind they have, theyre usually looking at it completely wrong.

They take a more complicated path to the solution, Jade concurs. If theyre a physicist, they are going to go through all the things, all the trainings theyve had, but you do it for a child, they will go straight to the source.

Lily Janiak is The San Francisco Chronicles theater critic. Email: ljaniak@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LilyJaniak

Fog City Magic Fest: Wednesday-Saturday, Jan. 25-28. Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy St., S.F. www.fogcitymagicfest.com

To see a video of Jade: https://vimeo.com/85668855

To see a video of Ryan Kane: https://vimeo.com/130570335

To see a video of Jay Alexander: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6DEnWnmW2w

To see a video of Lynx the Animator: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqGWoPU5BPU
The motivation for President Trump to continue repeating the falsehood that millions of people voted illegally in Novembers election might be about more than soothing the bruise to his ego after losing the popular vote, analysts said.

In the short term, repeating the widely debunked statistic diffuses the medias attention from the new administrations more controversial topics  reviving the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects and the records of some Cabinet appointees. But in the long term, analysts say it might be aimed at destroying faith in the nations core institutions, making Trump appear more omniscient.

It is an echo of Trumps acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, when he said, Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.

He could be saying that you cant trust the news media, you cant trust the voting systems, you cant trust anybody but him, said Melissa Michelson, a professor of political science at Menlo College in Menlo Park and co-author of Mobilizing Inclusion: Transforming the Electorate Through Get-Out-the-Vote Campaigns. He may be trying to say that other institutions are lying to you, but I am the deliverer of the truth.

But continuing to repeat the claim could hurt Trumps credibility with his fellow Republicans. On Tuesday, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told CNN, This is going to erode his ability to govern this country if he does not stop it. House Speaker Paul Ryan said he has seen no evidence of massive fraud, but the top three Republicans in the Senate Tuesday refused to disavow Trumps fact-less assertion.

On Wednesday, Trump tweeted that he will be asking for a major investigation into voter fraud, including those registered to vote in two states, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). He was not specific on who would carry out the investigation or what states they would be scrutinized.

For months, Trump  who received nearly 2.9 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton to lose the popular vote  has falsely claimed that millions of illegal ballots were cast, costing him the popular vote victory. In a late November tweet, Trump singled out California, where Clinton won 61 percent of the votes, along with fellow blue states Virginia and New Hampshire, as places where there was Serious voter fraud ... so why isnt the media reporting on this.

Trump repeated the unsubstantiated statement again Monday  three days after taking the oath of office  in a meeting with congressional leaders. On Tuesday, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer repeated the erroneous statement at a news conference.

As I said, I think the president has believed that for a while, based on studies and information he has, Spicer said.

Not only have independent fact-checkers like Politifact, which described Trumps voter fraud claims as a pants-on-fire wrong, debunked the notion, but the studies that Spicer cites dont allege voter fraud. One was a 2012 Pew Center that found 24 million voter registrations were out-of-date or inaccurate, but those inaccuracies did not lead to massive amounts of fraudulent votes.

David Becker, the chief author of that Pew study, tweeted Tuesday: As I've noted before, voting integrity better in this election than ever before. Zero evidence of fraud.

Even Trumps own attorneys dont believe there was fraud. In a legal response to Green Party candidate Jill Steins request for a recount in Michigan, Trumps legal team wrote in December: On what basis does Stein seek to disenfranchise Michigan citizens? None really, save for speculation. All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake.

A Dartmouth College study of the three states Trump tweeted about having massive fraud  California, New Hampshire and Virginia  and three of Clintons so-called blue wall states that provided the margin of Electoral College victory in the election  Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania  found no evidence that there was rampant voter fraud in the 2016 presidential election, said study co-author Michael Herron, a professor of government at Dartmouth.

The voter fraud fears fomented and espoused by the Trump campaign are not grounded in any observable features of the election, Herron said.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla was more direct Tuesday, calling Trumps comments corrosive lies without any evidence.

By repeating false and unsubstantiated voter fraud allegations as the cause for losing the popular vote, President Trump is dangerously attacking the legitimacy of free and fair elections and taking a jackhammer to the foundation of our democracy, Padilla said. These are not alternative facts.

It also stretches credulity that such a massive voter fraud operation could be conducted without the notice of many of the estimated 86,000 Californians who served as poll workers in November.

Voter watchdog Kim Alexander said Tuesday the claims do damage to peoples confidence in the process, when the president makes false and alarming statements about the integrity of our elections.

Alexander, the founder of the California Voter Foundation, said, I can count on one hand the number of times that a secretary of state has pursued voter fraud charges during her two decades monitoring the states electoral process. And prosecutors usually pursue only the cases they think they can prove.

Besides, Alexander said, Its absurd to think that millions of illegal residents would vote and commit that crime, given that voters must give their name, address, birth date and place of birth when they register. If you dont want ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers) knocking at your door, you dont register to vote.

Still, Trumps remarks could have other long-term effects, including depressing voting participation in immigrant communities, said Michelson, an expert in the Latino vote. It could create a drive for even more restrictive voting rights laws. It could embolden more poll workers and others to confront Asian and Latino voters at the polls, trying to sniff out if theyre legal, she said.

People who are concerned about having those kinds of confrontations might not want to vote, Michelson said.

But it is still too early to tell if Novembers swing voters  the blue-collar voters in the Midwest and elsewhere who backed Trump  will care about this controversy.

They dont seem to care about what Trump says, Michelson said. They just care if they can pay their bills and keep their homes and jobs. Words going back and forth between elected officials and the media really dont matter to them.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
Theres a little New York in our San Francisco. And it tastes pretty good.

Halal Guys, arguably the East Coasts most recognizable street eats company, opens its first San Francisco brick-and-mortar outpost on Friday, Jan. 27, at 340 OFarrell St., the former home of Naan-N-Curry.

Consider it one step in the brands ongoing global takeover, part of 450 planned locations worldwide. Halal Guys opened in San Jose last year, and is planning locations for Berkeley and the South Bay.

Halal Guys hysteria in the Bay Area has been bubbling since 2015, as word spread it was heading west, among other places. The excitement hasnt waned in 2017, even with Nobu going to Palo Alto, French Laundry finishing its renovation project and China Live set to debut.

The menu is simple: Popular items are chicken or gyro sandwiches ($7.99) and combo platters ($9.99).

According to Ahmed Abdrabo, Halal Guys CEO and son of one of the original founders, San Francisco food diversity drew him to the area. That, and finding the right business partners.

The Bay Area was appealing for us because of its foodie culture, Abdrabo said. We were also fortunate enough to have had an incredible franchise partner (Binh Tran) step forward and express interest in developing the area, he said.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

Tran is working with Tom Nguyen, master franchise owner of the San Francisco, East Bay and Las Vegas locations.

In the past, when food chains had their West Coast awakening, they usually bent to California sensibilities by throwing region-specific items on the menu. Not at Halal Guys. Abdrabo said the OFarrell Street menu is exactly what youd get in New York. The same can be said for future destinations.

This is because the Halal Guys concept is rooted in simplicity.

Founded by three Egyptian immigrants  Mohammed Abouelenein, Ahmed Elsaka and Abdelbaset Elsayed  Halal Guys first opened in the 1990s as a hot dog cart in Manhattan, on the corner of 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue.

Once they moved to halal dishes, they changed the perception of New York street food, broadening it from hot dog water and white onions to gyros and white sauce.

Their growth in popularity never stopped. But within the ascension over the years, there may be room to tweak the business model, Abdrabo said. The idea is to listen to the people buying the food.

While we always want to be true to who we are and what made our fans so passionate about our food, we also owe it to them to listen to their feedback, Abdrabo said.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

For now, its all staying the same because people keep coming. The hummus ($4.99), baba ghanouj ($4.99) and baklava ($2.49) will eventually do what theyve done for years in New York  attract loyalists.

Abdrabo said its seeing those lines and hearing how people are willing to wait for a dish that keep him going. He said hes witnessed over time that their food crosses cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

We owe it to them to ensure they have the same high-quality experience when they visit one of our restaurants, he said.

Theres a little New York in our San Francisco. And based on the initial reactions, it looks like were OK with that.

Justin Phillips is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips

Halal Guys, 340 OFarrell St., San Francisco; (415) 549-3454 or www.thehalalguys.com
The LA Times article speaks of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch as a highly regarded conservative jurist, best known for upholding religious liberty rights in the legal battles over Obamacare. Judge Gorsuch currently serves on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. He is a former former clerk to both Justice Byron White and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy , having also so served in the George W. Bush administration's Justice Department .

Judge Gorsuch currently serves on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. He was a former law clerk to both Justice Byron White and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy , having also served in the George W. Bush administration's Justice Department .

An article in the Los Angeles Times by David G, Savage on January 24, 2017, "Conservative Colorado judge emerges as a top contender to fill Scalia's Supreme Court seat," confirmed that Judge Neil M. Gorsuch , 49, has emerged as a leading contender for President Trump's first Supreme Court nomination. Two others top contenders for the position are Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of Alabama, who serves on the U.S. 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta, and Judge Diane Sykes of Wisconsin, who serves on the U.S. 7th Circuit Court in Chicago.

Supporters of Gorsuch perceive him as a jurist who has strong academic credentials, a gift for clear writing, and a devotion to deciding cases based on the original meaning of the Constitution and the text of statutes, much in the mold of the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

Judge Gorsuch is likewise seen as someone who might be more easily confirmed in the Senate than other Supreme Court nominees, given that Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) recently warned that Democrats would fight hard to stop court nominees who were not bipartisan and mainstream.

Gorsuch was successful in easily winning a Senate confirmation on a voice vote in 2006 as an appointee of President George W. Bush. John Malcolm, a lawyer at the Heritage Foundation, believes that Gorsuch would be less contentious than some of the other Supreme Court nominees because he doesn't have a record of strident comments that would fuel a confirmation fight.

Here therein lies the problem. We've been down this road before with the first President Bush breaking his "read my lips, no new taxes" pledge. It doesn't work for Republican presidents. Trump's margin of victory disappears in a state like Michigan, a state Trump carried by barely 10,000 votes based on immense efforts by pro-lifers there, if Trump is misled to break his pro-life pledge for the Supreme Court. Most importantly, every Republican President after Hoover made a lousy first choice for Supreme Court. We can't allow President Trump to go down the same destructive path

As the leading contender for Justice Scalia's vacancy, Neil Gorsuch is NOT pro-life. His selection would violate Trump's pledge to nominate a pro-life justice to the Supreme Court. Roe v. Wade won't be overturned for 40 years if the 49-year-old Gorsuch is picked. That is 40 million more unborn children who will be aborted based on this.

As Andy Schlafly, Esq, first shared on January 24, 2017:

"For starters, Gorsuch has never said or written anything pro-life. I knew him in law school and afterwards, and I've reviewed his opinions and his book. He's written multiple opinions that demonstrate he's not pro-life."

"For example, in the case of Pino v. U.S., Gorsuch discussed whether a 20-week-old "nonviable fetus" had the same rights as a "viable fetus." Gorsuch, showing that he is not pro-life, indicated that his answer is "no" unless the Oklahoma Supreme Court specially found rights for the "nonviable fetus." Rather than render a pro-life ruling, Gorsuch punted this issue to the Oklahoma Supreme Court for it to decide. Gorsuch's approach is similar to the unjust approach based on viability that underlies Roe v. Wade."

"More information, including how Gorsuch opposes overturning precedent even when it is wrong, is here . He supports special rights for transgenders, too. And he is no Scalia, as Gorsuch was not even on the Law Review in law school."

Mr. Schlafly finished his directive with this plea:

"Our pro-life movement has only a few hours or days to object, protest, criticize, and veto the nomination of this pro-choice candidate. Trump floats these trial balloons to see if people object. We must strongly object, and please speak out loudly now."

"Evangelicals spoke out and vetoed Bill Pryor. Now it is urgent that pro-lifers speak out immediately and veto Neil Gorsuch."

In a same day followup, 1/24/2017, Andy Schlafly noted the enormous positive response he received back from his earlier plea to pro-lifers to strongly object and to speak out loudly now against Judge Neil Gorsuch.

Schlafly observed how there is a small, but determined, network of people who pretend all the candidates are equally acceptable. That's utter nonsense, as some candidates would be terrific, while others resemble David Souter.

Federalist Society ally Ed Whelan, who doesn't even support Trump's pro-life pledge, pretends that Gorsuch's book against assisted suicide gives him pro-life credentials. Of course he's going to bluster against my attempt to fulfill the pledge. It is worth noting that all the pro-aborts on the Supreme Court voted against a constitutional right to assisted suicide.

As far as how justices are ranked, an independent, published ranking of judges said Gorsuch is not even in the top 100 most conservative federal appellate judges. See Article: Judged by the Company You Keep: An Empirical Study of the Ideologies of Judges on the United States Court of Appeals, 51 B.C. L. Rev. 1133 (Sept. 2010).

It is in the self-serving interest of the Federalist Society to have Trump pick as young as one of its candidates as possible, so for decades afterwards the Federalist Society can claim having someone on the Supreme Court who will speak at their conventions and enable them to raise money. But is it in the interest of conservatives or the American people to have someone sit on the Supreme Court for 35+ years?

As the Federalist Society led in picking the 21 individuals on the list of Supreme Court Justices for consideration by President Trump, it can be questioned why the Federalist Society had so much sway in compiling the list? After all, the Federalist Society is not a pro-life organization. If published reports are correct, all the finalists are young, Federalist Society candidates who are not as qualified (or as pro-life) as other candidates whom Trump should be interviewing and picking.

There is no directive that binds President Trump to only the names on the list of 21. Here are several good candidates to recommend when you place your calls: Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles Canady and U.S. Court of Appeals Judges Jennifer Elrod and Edith Jones.

In addition to giving feedback to Trump, Schlafly suggested it would be helpful to contact the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ted Cruz, for example, could block pro-choice candidates by speaking out against them.
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It finally happened. Team USA  two chefs with Bay Area ties  won gold at Bocuse dOr.

This year marked the 30th anniversary for the competition, widely considered to be the culinary Olympics, held in Lyon, France. Over the last three decades, it was typically dominated by teams from Europe.

Its a true sense of national pride right now, Thomas Keller, chef and owner of Yountvilles French Laundry, said immediately after the competition.

Norway, last years winner, finished in second place while Iceland finished third.

The American team was led by two chefs from Kellers New York restaurant Per Se: Mathew Peters, executive sous chef, and commis chef Harrison Turone.

The duo won with their interpretations of chicken and crayfish, and for the first time a wholly vegetal dish using only fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes.

The teams presentations included Poulet de Bresse consisting of morel mushroom sausage, braised wings, vin jaune glaze and sauce americaine.

The Bresse Chicken Liver Quenelle was made with foie gras, yellow corn custard, black-eyed peas, celery vinegar and toasted pistachios.

The teams North American Lobster Tail dish included Meyer Lemon mousse, black truffle and Chervil.

This victory isnt just about us. Its about the people that came before us, Keller said. Chef Peters knows he standing on the shoulders of hundreds of people.

There was hope in the food world that the United States could top their 2015 finish heading into this years competition, especially with the momentum built from the performance.

What happened Wednesday was a result of years of dedication and commitment, Keller said.

Over the years, the nations culinary leaders have turned the team into a well-oiled machine. The competing chefs usually spent time training at the Barn at Hestan Vineyards in Napa for the competition, which demands hours of cooking in a stadium filled with screaming, flag-waving fans.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Twenty-four teams from around the world compete for two days. The teams have five hours and 35 minutes to prepare their dishes.

Peters was a sous chef at both Per Se in New York and then the French Laundry in Yountville. In 2012, he went back to Per Se as the executive sous chef.

Turone spent time at Ad Lib, the French Laundrys temporary pop up restaurant in Napa. He later moved on to a commis position at Per Se.

Team USA is recruited and trained and funded by the mentor Foundation, a nonprofit founded by Keller, Daniel Boulud and Jerome Bocuse, all of whom train Team USA.

While a significant and highly competitive event in the food world, Keller said he hopes the victory brings wider public attention to Bocuse dOr.

This victory belongs to every American, Keller said. Were bringing recognition to the work being done in this industry.

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle Reporter staff writer. Email jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
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WASHINGTON  The Trump administration has quickly put in motion a radical shift on environmental policy that sets the federal government on a collision course with California.

Meeting with automakers Tuesday, President Trump said environmental regulations are out of control. He made that declaration a day after a leaked memo showed the administration would seek to halt several new federal environmental regulations, including one limiting tailpipe emissions on vehicles that are critical to Californias efforts to fight climate change.

The plan also calls for steep budget cuts in the Environmental Protection Agency and major changes to the agencys use of science.

Since Trump took office Friday, the White House has scrubbed the words climate change from its website and promised to embrace fossil fuels, including speeding energy development on public lands. On Tuesday, Trump also signed executive orders clearing the way for the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines.

And the day before Trumps meeting with automakers, he told a group of business executives that included Elon Musk of Palo Alto-based electric car company Tesla Motors that, we are going to be cutting regulation massively. He said 75 percent of federal regulations can be eliminated, while being just as strong and just as good and just as protective of the people as the regulations we have right now.

The priorities are pretty clear, Michael Wara, an expert in environmental law at Stanford University, told The Chronicle. Get rid of as many of the Obama regulatory actions on climate as possible, and try to wind that clock back.

On Tuesday, the administration also imposed a freeze on new EPA contracts and grants, which is how the agency carries out its work. Last year alone, it provided California tens of millions of dollars in grants for drinking water and wastewater systems and toxic waste cleanup.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, praised the administrations actions.

With President Trump and the Republican-led Congress, we will reduce the burdens that have been placed on our economy and on the American people over the last eight years, McCarthy said.

While all this is going on, California is taking steps in the opposite direction. On Friday, the state Air Resources Board ordered refineries to cut carbon dioxide emissions 20 percent to help meet the states aggressive climate goals, putting California in direct conflict with the administration on climate policy. And in his State of the State address Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown reiterated that California will continue to fight climate change aggressively.

Whatever they do in Washington, they cant change the facts, Brown said, and these are the facts: The climate is changing, the temperatures are rising and so are the oceans. Natural habitats everywhere are under increasing stress. The world knows this. ... We cannot fall back and give in to the climate deniers. The science is clear. The danger is real.

The Trump administration will have crucial backing in its drive to roll back environmental protections from an enthusiastic Republican-led Congress that has attempted for the past eight years to re-open public lands to coal mining and shale gas extraction, and offshore areas to oil and gas drilling. Congress has green-lighted dam building in the West and attempted to weaken the Endangered Species Act. These efforts were blocked by former President Barack Obamas veto but now are likely to be welcomed by the Trump White House.

The question is how far the new administration and Congress can go.

No national government can prevent me from buying electric vehicles, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told The Chronicle last week. Los Angeles now has the largest electric vehicle fleet in the country and saved 60 percent in costs last year by buying BMW i3 non-patrol police vehicles.

The nations cities, he said, have immense power at the ground level. Los Angeles has the largest port in the country, the No. 1 airport in the world, the largest municipally owned utility, he said. Worst-case scenario, (the federal government) can affect 20 to 30 percent of our progress, but 70 percent of our progress is inevitable.

Garcetti is a co-founder of the Mayors National Climate Action Agenda currently made up of 72 mayors from large and small cities, many in California, who are committed to urgent action against climate change. A letter from more than 60 U.S. mayors, which Garcetti presented to Trump last fall, reminded the then-president-elect that U.S. voters had approved in November $200 billion in bond measures to help fight climate change. The mayors argued that stalling further climate change is much cheaper that the cost of repairing damages from storm surges, wildfires, and other effects of the changing climate.

At the state level, Brown spearheaded a coalition of more than 170 subnational jurisdictions around the world to fight climate change independently of what their nations are doing. The coalition, the Under 2, now represents more than a billion people and a third of the global economy.

Auto emissions is another area where Stanfords Wara said he expects a fight between California and the administration.

Vehicle emissions standards are  probably the most significant thing that California has done to limit (greenhouse gas) emissions, he said.

The leaked administration memo targets new federal vehicle emissions and fuel-economy standards that were finalized a week before Trump took office. The rule mandates that each automaker meet a fleet-wide average of roughly 50 miles per gallon by 2025. California worked closely with the EPA on the rule and has mandated that 15 percent of new cars by 2025 be zero-emission vehicles. A dozen other states have adopted that policy.

Detroit automakers have sharply criticized the new rule. But reversing it would be far from easy or quick. It would require starting the rule-making process over again, including seeking public comment and explaining why the agencys original technical and legal findings were wrong. Even then, a reversal would certainly be challenged in court.

We are hiring more lawyers, and we will fight hard in the courts to hold this administration accountable to the law, said Michael Brune, president of the Sierra Club. We had success against the Bush administration, and we anticipate having success against this administration.

A spokesman for the states Air Resources Board said Californias waiver to mandate its own tailpipe rules wont expire until 2025. But if the new administration changes its rule, California may have to request a new waiver.

Pressed during a confirmation hearing last week by Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Scott Pruitt, Trumps nominee to head the EPA, refused to commit to granting the state a waiver.

But Wara suggested that California has a strong economic reason for seeking one. Industrial politics have changed since the Bush administration, he said. There are real employees and real investments that matter in the calculus. California for electric vehicles in the United States is a little like Michigan right now in thinking about its interests.

The administration will face many hurdles in attempting to change course. The Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the EPA must regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act. Reversing regulations requires the same long process as writing new ones. And market forces are reshaping energy markets. Last year, for the first time, the number of U.S. jobs in solar energy overtook the number of jobs in the oil, gas and coal industries combined.

Efforts by cities and states to fight climate change, along with legal mandates, will make it difficult for the Trump administration to entirely ignore climate change.

The administration can certainly roll back Obamas Clean Power Plan, Wara said. What is not possible is to roll back the findings through (the EPA) and the courts that greenhouse gases are an air pollutant that are going to require some sort of regulation.

Nonetheless, the combination of a determined administration and Congress can be powerful. Aggressive action to combat climate change is being replaced by aggressive action to reduce regulations.

Past efforts to eliminate or weaken Americas long-standing environmental laws have failed ... but that doesnt mean they will fail again, said William Buzbee, a professor of environmental law at Georgetown University. The possibility of legal change is greater than its been in a long time.

Carolyn Lochhead is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: clochhead@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carolynlochhead
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Archie is getting it on with Miss Grundy; Betty and Veronica cap a cheerleading routine with a Madonna-and-Britney-like kiss; Jughead is a moody, brainy slacker; and Moose wants to hook up with the out gay kid at Riverdale High, but no kissing.

If youre looking for a trip down comic-book memory lane in the CWs new Riverdale, look elsewhere. Archie, Betty and Veronica, not to mention Riverdale itself, have grown up and gone modern in the new drama premiering Thursday, Jan. 26.

Archie Andrews was created as the double-A, squeaky-clean, all-American boy in 1941, the year the U.S. declared war on Japan and Americanism was especially celebrated and promoted.

Archie was a high school kid living in the ideal small town of Riverdale and hanging out with his goofy best friend, Jughead Jones. Sometimes he crushed on blond Betty Cooper; sometimes he crushed on brunet Veronica Lodge.

Dean Buscher/The CW/The CW

The comics writers spent years and years milking Archies romantic indecisiveness. And we understood romance to be going steady and maybe a chaste kiss here and there. Hookups and high school students having sex werent even in the brightly colored pictures.

Riverdales Archie (KJ Apa) is a hottie with a six-pack who is receiving special tutorials from Miss Grundy (Sarah Habel) in the backseat of her VW and anywhere else the two can get busy. Needless to say, the shows Miss Grundy doesnt resemble the elderly spinster of the comic books.

Betty (Lili Reinhart) is Archies best friend but wants more than friendship. Her domineering mother (Madchen Amick) insists on perfection in every aspect of Bettys life and has little use for the redheaded hunk next door.

Veronica (Camila Mendes) moves to town from New York with her mother (Marisol Nichols) after her father is jailed for Madoff-like offenses shortly after Riverdale student Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines) disappears while boating with his mean-girl sister Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch).

Veronica immediately poses a threat to Bettys desire to upgrade her friendship with Archie, but nevertheless, she and Veronica become friends.

Everyone, it seems, has a secret in Riverdale, and in the first four episodes of the series, some of those secrets are too conveniently revealed as new ones are loaded into the script to keep the momentum going.

Katie Yu/The CW/The CW

Theres minimal credibility here, but that doesnt torpedo the show. Even the frequently overwritten dialogue, laced as it is with forced pop culture references that no one would use in real life, isnt fatal.

Creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa obviously knows he cant hold a 21st century teen audience just by keeping them guessing as to whether Archie will go chastely steady with Betty or Veronica, so he and his writing staff borrow liberally from other shows, such as Gossip Girl, Twin Peaks and, most of all, almost everything Ryan Murphy has masterminded, with the possible exceptions of The People vs. O.J. Simpson and The Normal Heart.

Producer Greg Berlanti has forged successful TV versions of other popular comics, including Arrow, the Flash and Supergirl, but Riverdale reaches new heights (or depths) of campiness.

Aguirre-Sacasa is a playwright and comic book and TV writer who has written for both Glee and Looking. He also wrote a play about Archie coming out as gay and moving to New York City, as well as the comic Afterlife of Archie.

The performances are generally fine, but the fact that the actors are all impossibly hot doesnt hurt. The shows creators and director overlook no opportunity to get Archie to take his shirt off. And when the opportunity isnt logically there, they make one.

Its almost as if theyre hoping each one of those perfectly defined abs will be nominated for an Emmy for supporting role.

David Wiegand is an assistant managing editor and the TV critic of The San Francisco Chronicle and co-host of The Do List every Friday morning at 6:22 and 8:22 on KQED FM, 88.5 FM in San Francisco, 89.3 FM in Sacramento. Follow him on Facebook. Email: dwiegand@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @WaitWhat_TV

Riverdale: Comic book drama. 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, on the CW.
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The flag of the communist Socialist Republic of Vietnam will not be welcome on city property in San Jose after council members voted to ban the emblem Tuesday night.

The red flag with a gold star often labeled offensive by Vietnamese immigrants who fled the Communist regime can still fly in the city, but not on city property following a unanimous decision from the council members.

It is a symbol of the atrocity of communism, said Councilman Tam Nguyen, who spearheaded the controversial resolution.

Instead, the city continued to formally recognize the South Vietnam flag, a yellow flag with red stripes also known as the Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag, as the official flag of Vietnamese Americans in San Jose.

Opposition to the ban came from the Libertarian Party of Santa Clara, who said the city was taking sides in matters of expression and conscience.

The city should either allow any foreign flag to be displayed, or get out of the business of displaying foreign flags at all, the party posted on Facebook Sunday.

Nguyen was inspired by a similar decision reached months earlier in the Orange County city of Westminster, along with his own personal experiences with the war that led scores of Vietnamese people to seek refuge in the United States, he said.

Nguyen said its presence would be insulting and criticized San Franciscos decision to annually raise the flag on Vietnam Independence Day.

San Francisco flies the red flag once a year on Sept. 2, Nguyen said Wednesday. Thats really an affront to the refugee people. We dont want that happening here.

Nguyen himself says he was a refugee, ready to leave for America by the time he was 18 years old. He recalled being 5 years old and seeing war insurgents storm his village in the Quang Nam province.

He said he awoke in the middle of the night to the sounds of gunfire, he saw men kidnapped from their homes, and he witnessed the death of his cousin.

All my life growing up, I went through the pain of the war, he said. We are enjoying the fruits of freedom of democracy but dont forget the pain and the roots of it.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
Mayor Ed Lee said Wednesday that San Francisco will not allow its immigrant residents to live in fear and affirmed the citys 27-year-old sanctuary city policy, one hour after President Trump announced a crackdown on immigrants living in the country without permission and promising to cut federal funding to sanctuary cities.

I am here today to say we are still a sanctuary city, Lee said Wednesday at a City Hall news conference after Trump signed executive orders at the White House. We stand by our sanctuary city because we want everybody to feel safe and utilize the services they deserve, including education and health care. ... It is my obligation to keep our city united, keep it strong ... crime doesnt know documentation. Disease doesnt know documentation.

San Franciscos sanctuary policy is among the most expansive in the country, limiting local law enforcements cooperation with federal immigration agents in all but the most extreme circumstances. While Trump has singled out the city for criticism, all of the counties and bigger cities in the Bay Area offer some protection to immigrants in the country without authorization. Legal experts said they expected lawsuits from cities challenging Trumps order.

Trumps executive order blocks all federal grants, except as deemed necessary for law enforcement, to sanctuary cities. The order does not elaborate on what that means. It also revives the Secure Communities program, which asked local law enforcement to hold immigrants without legal status behind bars until federal authorities could pick them up for deportation. That program ended in 2014, and a federal judge ruled it unconstitutional.

We are going to get the bad ones out, the criminals and drug dealers and gangsters and gang leaders, Trump said Wednesday. The day is over when they can stay in our country and wreak havoc.

Lee called Trumps order vague and said it was too soon to say how much money the city stood to lose. San Francisco receives about $1 billion  a little over one-tenth of the citys $9.6 billion budget  from the federal government. In what may be a best-case scenario, Lee said the city could lose money in specific federal grants from the Department of Homeland Security, which he estimated to be around $10 million. Most of that money goes toward the citys emergency preparedness program.

City Attorney Dennis Herrera said in a statement Wednesday that efforts to cut funding to sanctuary cities would be challenged in court. This executive order tries to turn cities and states into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Thats against the law. Cities cannot be coerced into becoming the deportation arm of the federal government, Herrera said.

Constitutional law Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Irvine School of Law, said he believed cities would have a strong legal argument because of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that, somewhat ironically, angered many Democrats.

In 1997, the court overturned the provision of the Brady gun control law requiring states to do background checks on prospective handgun buyers because the justices said it violated the principle of state sovereignty. And in 2012, the court invalidated a provision of the Affordable Care Act threatening states with loss of Medicaid funding if they refused to expand the program.

The bottom line is the federal government cant coerce state and local governments to administer a federal program, Chemerinsky said.

San Francisco officials formed a united front in defense of the sanctuary city status right after the November election, although some immigrant-rights advocates said Lee should do more. Lee set aside $3 million annually to boost services for immigrants facing deportation but refused to allocate money to fund the public defenders defense of those immigrants.

On Wednesday, around 100 people stood on the steps of City Hall chanting No papers, no fear. Dignity is standing here, in English and Spanish.

About 44,000 people who are undocumented live in San Francisco, according to estimates using 2014 census data. San Francisco is one of about 300 sanctuary cities nationwide, including Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, in addition to Oakland, Berkeley and San Jose in the Bay Area.

In Berkeley on Wednesday, Daniel Maher, 42, worried about his future. He moved to the United States from Macau when he was 3 years old. In 1994, he committed an armed robbery and was convicted of kidnapping, robbery and firearms offenses. He served five years in state prison and was stripped of his green card.

He was released and said he was ordered to check in with Homeland Security on a regular basis. Over the next 14 years, Maher put his life together. He now operates the recycling program at Ecology Center, a nonprofit environmental organization in Berkeley. He has a 7-year-old son and plans to marry his girlfriend this year.

I am scared, Maher said. My family is scared, but what can we do?

Around the Bay Area, officials were trying to assess the impact of Trumps order.

This is really, really disturbing to us, said Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan. We were, of course, hoping for the best, but weve been expecting the worst, and now here we are.

The Alameda Countys Sheriffs Office only turns prisoners over to federal immigration officials if special court orders are involved.

Chan said Alameda County has about 105,000 undocumented people who are adults, plus a lot of unaccompanied minors  9,000 or so. That is one of the largest such county populations in the state, along with those of San Francisco and Los Angeles, she said.

She said her board was going to hold an open public forum Thursday with its federal lobbyist to discuss how to react to the presidents order, but she said she believed at the very least the funding-cut mandate will be less severe than some fear.

Its not like Trump can just do this, she said. Some of the federal money we get is from legislative action, and anything by statute cant just be cut. We get grants for policing, streets, housing and more that falls under that category, and Im not sure how broadly hes talking.

In Marin County, Sheriff Robert Doyle said he would assess the presidents order, but I have always cooperated to the extent that I can legally with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and will continue to do that.

The main concern he has right now, he said, is what provisions might have to be made if his jail suddenly begins to fill up with immigrants marked for deportation or other action under the presidents new policies.

The thing the president has to understand is: Where is he going to put everyone he judges to be illegal? Doyle said. Every jail I know of in California is overcrowded. Where is he going to put all these millions of people?

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf issued a joint statement with the mayors of San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose, all promising to fight Trumps order. She noted that Oakland receives $130 million a year in federal funding for programs such as Head Start, which serves disadvantaged children, and said how cutting that makes America safer is beyond me.

Oakland and Alameda County are both creating emergency funds to create a rapid response deportation defense service, Schaaf said, and with San Francisco Foundation matching funds expects to have at least $1.5 million on hand.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Erin Allday and Lizzie Johnson contributed to this story.

Emily Green and Kevin Fagan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: egreen@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @emilytgreen @kevinChron

Bay Area sanctuaries for immigrants

Bay Area cities and counties that offer any form of sanctuary-style protections for immigrants who have no official residency authorization, from resisting many forms of inquiry by federal officials to cooperating only with court-ordered holds:

Counties: San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Santa Clara

Cities: San Francisco (which is a city and a county), Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, San Jose, Concord, Novato, San Rafael, Alameda
Omar Abdel-Ghaffar was jolted from sleep early Sunday by calls and texts that the local mosque in Davis, directly across from the University of California campus, had been vandalized.

The windows at the Islamic Center of Davis had been shattered. Bacon had been wrapped around the door handles of the main entryway  a sign of disrespect, as pork is forbidden in Islam. Bike tires were slashed.

This is where we grew up, said Abdel-Ghaffar, born and raised in Davis and a fourth-year UC Davis student. To see that anger. All of those cracks, the shattered glass. The sheer anger was really scary.

The vandalism comes less than two months after the Islamic Center of Davis received an alarming letter that was sent to other Islamic centers nationwide threatening that then-President-elect Donald Trump was going to cleanse America and make it shine again and will do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews.

Some people who attend the mosque fear that the election of Trump, who during his incendiary campaign pledged to ban Muslims from coming into the country, has increased Islamophobia across the nation and that even towns with liberal reputations like Davis are not immune.

Davis is a town where we love our farmers markets. We are liberal. As long as (a cause) fits a certain mold, we will champion it in Davis, said Hassan Shabbir, 30, who has been attending services at the mosque since he was a child.

But a day after the mosque was vandalized, Shabbir said he got a taste of the hate that has invaded his community. He said he was standing outside the mosque on Monday with his uncle assessing the damage when someone drove by and yelled, Trump will kill you all!

Literally, the day after someone broke all of our windows at the mosque, said Shabbir. What the hell is going on? This is Davis.

The Davis Police Department is investigating the vandalism as a hate crime, with the help of the FBI, said Lt. Thomas Waltz of the Davis Police Department.

Surveillance footage showed the vandal casually walking up to the Islamic Center of Davis doors on the 500 block of Russell Boulevard about 3:45 a.m. Sunday. She draped uncooked bacon over the handles, broke six windowpanes and knifed the tires of three bicycles in the mosque parking lot. The suspect, who police said is 25 to 35 years old, was unrecognizable to those affiliated with the mosque.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has issued a $1,000 reward for information that could lead to the identification and arrest of the vandal.

We want to send a message that any attack against a house of worship will be responded to in this manner, said Basim Elkarra, the executive director of CAIR-Sacramento Valley, adding that the last time the organization issued a reward for a hate crime in the region was in 2011, when two Sikh men were shot in nearby Elk Grove.

Davis, a college town that prides itself on its reputation of tolerance, has now had three hate crimes in 2017. The previous two hate crimes included a racial slur directed toward African Americans painted on one of the picnic tables in a park and a case that involved vandalism to a Black Lives Matter plaque on a school campus.

The vandalism at the mosque shocked many in Davis and prompted an outpouring of support from strangers with donations, flowers and messages of compassion sent to the mosque, including one from the mayor of the city, Robb Davis.

First, this is the act of a coward, Davis, the mayor, said in a statement to The Chronicle. We should all feel pity for a person so emotionally stunted that they stoop to this action, which is designed only to hurt and scar. Second, our Muslim brothers and sisters are part of the fabric of our community and we will never abandon them  ever.

A Statement of Love event is being held during the Friday afternoon prayer at the mosque for the community to show solidarity with members of mosque.

Ammar Shahin, the imam of the center, said he was stunned by the recent uptick in hate crimes in Davis, a town he described as being the quietest area.

We almost had no problem with anybody around us, Shahin said. Its very rare to have something like this happen in Davis, and its very scary, too.

While the current political climate is being blamed by some for contributing to the rise in hate crimes, Abdel-Ghaffar said its not as easy as just pinning it on the election of the new president.

In reality there has been Islamophobia before Trump and before 9/11. Because (Davis) is a university town, there are plenty of very well-read and intellectual people. And I think oftentimes, intellectuals manage to veil their bigotry. Not just from others, but also from themselves, said Abdel-Ghaffar, who is also the external vice president of the Muslim Student Association at UC Davis.

In light of the recent events, Abdel-Ghaffar said hes emboldened to take action, even in a place like Davis where the community seems accepting on the surface.

To Abdel-Ghaffar, simply refusing to engage with someone who makes anti-Muslim comments doesnt address the problem. Hes working with the UC Davis administration and other interfaith groups to develop a workshop for community members and faculty that will equip them with the tools to facilitate conversations around Islam.

We have to reach out to other communities and give our allies the tools they need to combat Islamophobia in their circles, Abdel-Ghaffar said. When (our allies) hear something Islamophobic, they dont want to engage with it, but you have to engage with it and shatter these perceptions that people have.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
TOKYO  President Donald Trumps decision to pull the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal should have been good news for Hitoshi Kondo, a Japanese rice farmer.

The sweeping 12-nation agreement, negotiated by the Obama administration and formally rejected by Trump on Monday, would have opened swaths of Japans highly protected agricultural sector, and was bitterly opposed by farmers. Now, without U.S. involvement, the deal looks as good as dead.

Kondo isnt celebrating, though.

Its actually scarier, because what comes next will be a lot harsher, he said on Wednesday, as Japanese leaders scrambled to find a coherent response.

What comes next, many in Japan believe, could be a bruising showdown between Tokyo and Washington. They fear a return to the trade wars of the 1980s and early 90s, when many Americans saw Japan as an untrustworthy economic adversary.

The U-turn is a setback for Japans prime minister, Shinzo Abe. Abe viewed the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a way to advance two cherished goals: drawing the U.S. closer to Japan and other friendly Pacific Rim countries (the trade deal does not include China, the regions increasingly bristly superpower) and bolstering Japans lackluster economy.

Such is Abes enthusiasm for the deal that his government finished ratifying it Friday, just before Trumps inauguration, despite Trumps promise to withdraw.

Trump has repeatedly said he wants to alter the U.S. trade relationship with Japan, in which Japan sells far more goods to the U.S. than it buys in return. In a meeting with executives from Ford Motor Co. and other U.S. manufacturers this week, the president again said that such an imbalance was not fair.

And Trump says he wants to pursue trade agreements with individual nations, in lieu of group deals like the partnership, which would have included countries comprising as much 40 percent of the worlds economic output. Japan has long preferred multilateral rule-making to head-to-head deals, but pressure to go along with Trumps approach will be strong.

Japan may eventually agree to bilaterals with the U.S. to ensure that the U.S. stays engaged in Asia  both economically and to provide a security counter to China, said Glen Fukushima, a former U.S. trade official who is now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a think tank in Washington.

Officially, Japan has not given up on the pact, or on keeping the U.S. involved.

The day after Trump signed his executive order committing to withdrawal, Abe said in parliament he would resolutely continue to seek understanding from Washington of the deals strategic and economic importance. Abes advisers express hope that members of Trumps Cabinet with business and national security experience will lend their voices to the effort.

Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of Keidanren, the lobbying group representing Japans largest corporations, encouraged Abe this week to take a two-pronged approach. Abe, he said, should try to keep the deal alive while engaging the U.S. directly, if necessary, with the goal of eventually broadening negotiations to a multilateral level.

Barring a drastic change in Trumps views on trade, however, that could mean stringing matters out for years  possibly until the next administration, if not longer.

The partnerships demise doesnt pose an immediate threat to Abe, whose poll numbers remain high. About as many Japanese voters favored the trade deal as opposed it.

But none of Japans other trade options serve Abes goals the way the pact does.

Japan and others could move on without Washington, which would require changing a condition that requires the U.S. to ratify the deal before it can take effect. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia said on Tuesday that he had been promoting that idea to Abe and several other leaders. Japan, with the second-largest economy in the group, after the U.S., would be a crucial participant.

But it could be politically awkward for Abe, who sold the deal on the merits of U.S. involvement. Even on narrow commercial grounds, he would have some explaining to do: Accepting more agricultural imports was supposed to be the price Japan paid for cheaper access to the vast U.S. market for cars and other manufactured goods. With the U.S. out of the picture, Abe could be accused of selling out farmers for little gain.

Japan is negotiating other deals. One, with the European Union, predates Abes embrace of the partnership, in 2013, but talks had been put on hold. European negotiators want concessions on agriculture, too  another reason Japanese farmers are not breathing sighs of relief. In at least one area, dairy products, European demands go beyond what Japan agreed to in the the pact.

Japan is also part of an Asian trade agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. But that effort is being led by China, which has that partnerships largest economy.

Chinas rise represents perhaps the biggest change from the U.S.-Japan trade battles of a generation ago. For Japan, it is both an added risk and a potential buffer. Many in the Abe administration hope that Trump will deal with China first, making Japan a lower priority, said a senior government official involved in trade matters, who asked for anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.

Companies, meanwhile, are dusting off their 1980s playbooks. Japanese carmakers built factories in the U.S. to head off U.S. protectionism then  investments that Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Corp., and others have made a recent point of highlighting. Only about a quarter of the Japanese-brand cars sold in the U.S. are imported, though Japan remains the source for many high-value components as well as design work.

One of Trumps complaints about Japan, repeated for decades by U.S. trade negotiators, is that its economy is organized to keep foreign products out even without overt trade barriers like tariffs. By this logic, U.S. carmakers have failed to penetrate the Japanese market because dealers and regulators collude against them. (Japan imposes no border taxes on cars; the U.S. adds a 2.5 percent levy to most imported Japanese vehicles.)

Japan has been addressing nontariff barriers  in some cases as a direct response to the partnership talks. It agreed during the negotiations to recognize some U.S. automobile safety standards, for instance, and has narrowed a tax loophole that favors ultralight Japanese cars. In agriculture, Abe has moved to curb the power of Japans monopolistic farm cooperatives.

Under the pact, Japan agreed to phase out import duties on about 2,000 agricultural products, more than in any previous trade deal, but a smaller percentage of the total than other signatories. Sensitive products like rice were exempted.

Kondo, the rice farmer, worries that Abe will concede more ground to the U.S. to appease Trump.

We have to sell cars to the U.S., he said, and farmers will be traded away for access.

Jonathan Soble is a New York Times writer.
Cisco Systems announced late Tuesday that it was buying San Francisco application monitoring company AppDynamics for $3.7 billion in cash and stock, just days ahead of AppDynamics planned initial public offering.

AppDynamics makes software that allows application makers to monitor their products performance. CEO David Wadhwani will continue to lead the company as a new business unit within Ciscos Internet of Things and Applications division. That division is overseen by Senior Vice President and General Manager Rowan Trollope.

The combination of Cisco and AppDynamics will allow us to provide end-to-end visibility and intelligence from the network through to the application; which, combined with security and scale, and help (information technology) to drive a new level of business results, Trollope said in a statement announcing the deal.

We hope to keep them as a unified business, said Rob Salvagno, Ciscos head of mergers and acquisitions. We believe thats critical to help maintain and continue to execute on the momentum they have.

AppDynamics had 1,186 employees as of October, according to a company filing, most of them in San Francisco. It was poised to launch the first initial public offering of a Bay Area venture-backed tech company in 2017. The company was anticipating raising more than $193 million in the offering, after adjusting the range of its share price to between $12 and $14 per share on Tuesday. Had it sold shares to the public at the middle of that price range, AppDynamics would have been worth $1.6 billion.

That is well below the $1.9 billion price tag placed on AppDyamics through its latest private financing round in November 2015, highlighting the difficulty private tech companies have had in persuading public-market investors of their value.

The announcement of the acquisition just ahead of AppDynamics planned IPO suggests the company may have been running a dual track process, in which a company pursues a sale and a public offering simultaneously. The possibility of a public offering through which investors might place a higher value on a company can give it more leverage in negotiations with acquirers.

The IPO timing does create another dynamic that we needed to make a decision around, said Salvagno, the Cisco executive.

An analysis of deals by Bloomberg last year revealed that 27 percent of U.S. companies who withdrew their IPOs in 2016 ended up being partially or totally acquired within six months.

In some cases, acquisition talks fail and a company pursuing both tracks must follow through with a public offering. PayPal, after several rounds of talks with eBay, went public in 2002; it sold to eBay for $1.5 billion, a higher price than eBay had proposed in private negotiations, later that year. Priceline bought online travel company Kayak for $1.8 billion in 2012, five months after Kayak went public.

Historically, Cisco has been known for acquiring companies in its core area of networking hardware and integrating them closely with its sales force and other operations. More recently, though, it has bought companies and managed them more as stand-alone units, as in its 2015 acquisition of San Franciscos OpenDNS, an online-security services company, and the 2012 deal to buy Meraki, also of San Francisco, a wireless-networking firm.

Zeus Kerravala, founder and principal analyst of ZK Research, said the deal is a strategic move for Cisco, which has more information about how computer networks are performing than other companies but doesnt have enough information about how individual apps are running. AppDynamics could help Cisco pinpoint problem spots, he said.

Customers can be very finicky about the providers they use, Kerravala said. If a Web transaction takes eight seconds or longer, customers will just go to a different provider.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Benny Evangelista contributed to this report.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa
Trump said the proclamation calls for the pipes to be built in the United States and that the pipeline will open the way for 28,000 "good" construction jobs.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump re-opened negotiations to begin construction on the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines Tuesday.

As proposed by TransCanada, a Canadian firm, the Keystone pipeline would carry 800,000 barrels a day from the Canadian oil sands to the Gulf Coast.

One portion of that pipeline would go through Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri to Patoka, Illinois oil refineries.



Graphic from Keystone-xl.com website
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A state appeals court has overturned an Oakland mans double-murder conviction and life sentence for the fatal shootings of two men in 2010, saying jurors should have heard evidence pointing to another man as the shooter.

Deshawn Reed has suffered a miscarriage of justice, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said Friday in a strongly worded ruling entitling Reed to a new trial.

Reed, then 26, was convicted of killing Victor Johns, 29, and John Jones, 56, in a West Oakland neighborhood on an afternoon in March 2010.

Witnesses said that after the shooting the gunman got into a nearby black Saturn car and was driven from the scene.

The driver, Jason Watts, was convicted of murder in a separate trial and sentenced to life without parole. Another jury found in 2014 that Reed had been the gunman, and he was also sentenced to life without parole.

Reed, who suffered from mental disabilities, had no record of violence, and prosecutors did not assert that he had a motive for the killings. Two witnesses, one of them a police officer, identified him as the passenger in the car that was driving away, and a small amount of gunshot residue was found on his hands.

But the appeals court said considerable evidence might have implicated another man, Al Collins, who died before the case went to trial.

Collins palm print was found in the car, and a police officer saw him nearby shortly after the shootings, bent over as if he had been running, the court said. The court also said most witnesses descriptions of the passengers facial appearance and clothing resembled Collins rather than Reed. Collins also had a potential motive, the court said, as Johns, one of the victims, had shot and wounded one of Collins friends.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Gloria Rhynes allowed Reeds lawyer to mention Collins as a possible suspect, but barred any reference to Collins possible motive.

The appeals court said Reeds lawyer failed to call witnesses whose description of the passenger resembled Collins or to obtain other potentially incriminating evidence  that Collins had lied to an officer about where he was on the day of the shootings and that an informant had told police that Collins had gotten away with the gun.

The defense lawyer also should have presented evidence that the gunshot residue on Reeds hands could have come from the police who handcuffed him, the court said.

Inadequate legal representation deprived (Reed) of ... important evidence pointing to his innocence or undermining evidence purporting to show his guilt, Presiding Justice J. Anthony Kline said in the 3-0 ruling. The jury never learned of the flaws in the prosecutions case.

Reeds trial lawyer, Spencer Strellis, said Tuesday that he was glad the conviction was overturned. It was one of the few cases Ive tried where I had serious doubts about the result, he said.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
NEW YORK  Prosecutors dropped a case Wednesday against a man who spent a quarter-century behind bars in an infamous tourist killing before getting his conviction overturned.

Johnny Hincapies eyes moistened as prosecutors said they wouldnt retry him in a case that once symbolized a city roiled by random crime. He was freed when his conviction was overturned in 2015, but hed faced the possibility of a retrial and potential return to prison.

Im overjoyed. I think I can finally now put this behind me and not ever have to worry about this, looking back, ever again. I can finally move forward with my life, Hincapie said, his voice breaking, as he left court with his parents and brother.

Hincapie, now 44, said he falsely confessed to playing a part in a 1990 subway-station mugging that ended with the deadly stabbing of Brian Watkins, a visitor from Utah. He was killed trying to protect his parents from the robbers.

After years of fruitless appeals, Hincapie persuaded a judge to toss his conviction after two witnesses and a co-defendant said he wasnt involved in the crime.

I had a belief that was inculcated by my parents to believe in the judicial system, to trust police officers, Hincapie had told the court. But when a detective beat and threatened him to get a confession, he said, I lost total trust in the system.

Prosecutors initially said they were committed to retrying Hincapie, but on Wednesday said they didnt believe they could win a conviction in the case.

Prosecutors still believe Hincapies confession was true and he was involved in the mugging, but there is significant doubt that a retrial of these charges would result in a conviction in light of the time that has passed, some of the new testimony and other factors, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eugene Hurley III wrote in a court filing released Wednesday.

Jennifer Peltz is an Associated Press writer.
More than two weeks after it went missing, the FBI is still searching for a submachine gun that was stolen from an agents vehicle, police said Wednesday.

The gun, a Heckler & Koch MP5 10mm, along with ammunition magazines and a bulletproof vest, were stolen in the East Bay either in the evening of Jan. 8 or the morning of Jan. 9, according to a previous statement from the FBIs San Francisco field office.
This story originally appeared on Hoodline.

Tenderloin dwellers eager for new street and sidewalk lights are waiting longer than expected for things to brighten up.

We reported in December that a contractor to complete a $2.5 million lighting project in the Tenderloin would be selected early this year. But an unsatisfactory bid forced the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to rebid the project last week, and it's hoping to receive a qualifying bid this time.

"We received one bid for the contract. It was not responsive to the city's request. Certain criteria specified in the bid were not met," SFPUC spokesman Charles Sheehan told us. The agency worked with the one respondent to try to resolve the issues with their bid, but it still has to be rebid, he added.

Many in the community voiced strong support for the project during the years of public comment the SFPUC conducted to select the proper light fixtures and locations. The aim is to make the streets safer for pedestrians by having lamps with two armsone to illuminate the sidewalk, and the other to light the road.

There have been no changes to the request for bids. The project would install 80 new fixtures on the north and south corners of Larkin, Hyde, Leavenworth and Jones streets between O'Farrell and McAllister, as well as where Eddy Street intersects Taylor and Mason streets.

In the meantime, at least, PG&E has been making progress replacing some of the oldest street light circuits in the city, which need to be upgraded before the new fixtures can be installed in the neighborhood. This had led to earlier delays in the project, which had initially been expected to be complete by the end of 2016.

"We are making progress with the PG&E upgrades, there should not be any more delays as it relates to the PG&E upgrades," Sheehan said.

But until a qualified contractor comes forward to do the work, the project cannot move forward.

Bids this time around are due to the SFPUC by 2pm on Thursday, January 26th. We will keep you updated on the project's progress.
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On Dangerous Ground: The Cinema of Nicholas Ray: He gave Humphrey Bogart, James Dean and Robert Ryan their most emotionally complex roles. Although he gave women great roles, too, its the films that feature men out of step with a society that seems to have been built for them that are most intriguing, as evidenced by an 11-film series at the Berkeley Art Museums Pacific Film Archive. Bogart plays a Hollywood screenwriter with an anger management problem who is implicated in the murder of a young woman  but hes more concerned with potential alibi Gloria Grahame, in the 1950 film In a Lonely Place (8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28); Dean spoke for an adolescent generation looking for their own space in Eisenhowers America in Rebel Without a Cause (7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29; also Feb. 11); and Ryan, one of his generations most underrated actors, is a cop with violent tendencies softened by blind angel Ida Lupino in On Dangerous Ground (Feb. 4 and 10). Through Feb. 25 at BAMPFA, 2155 Center St., Berkeley. (510) 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu

Speed Sisters: Street racing is a uniquely American phenomenon  from the early dirt track days of NASCAR to the teens of the 1950s racing for pink slips, to illegal street racing in the Bay Area. Among the last places one might expect to find a thriving street racing culture is the West Bank. Yup, as in the Palestinian territories. Canadian filmmaker Amber Fares documentary focuses on five Palestinian women who compete on a mostly male circuit that races anywhere they can  a helicopter pad, a vegetable market, etc. Friday, Jan. 27, through next Thursday, Feb. 2, at the Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St., S.F. (415) 863-1087. www.roxie.com
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At least six journalists were charged with felony rioting after they were arrested while covering the violent protests that took place just blocks from President Trumps inauguration parade in Washington on Friday, according to police reports and court documents.

The journalists were among 230 people detained in the anti-Trump demonstrations, during which protesters smashed the glass of commercial buildings and lit a limousine on fire.
HARTFORD, Conn.  Notes that Mark Twain jotted down from a fairy tale he told his daughters more than a century ago have inspired a new childrens book, The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine.

At the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, there is excitement that the story could help introduce the writer to wider audiences  and provide a financial lift for the nonprofit organization that curates the three-story Gothic Revival mansion where Twain raised his family.
1 Infrastructure program: Senate Democrats on Tuesday proposed spending $1 trillion on transportation and other infrastructure projects over 10 years in an attempt to engage President Trump on an issue where they hope to find common ground. The projects would repair and replace rail lines and tunnels between New York and New Jersey, some of which are more than 100 years old and were damaged in Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The project, which would double the number of trains per hour using the tunnels and help enable high-speed Amtrak service, is estimated to cost about $20 billion. Trump bemoaned the state of Americas roads, bridges, airports and railways during the presidential campaign and promised to generate $1 trillion in infrastructure investment, putting people to work in the process. But Trump has offered few specifics.

2 Comey stays: FBI Director James Comey told his top agents from around the country that he had been asked by President Trump to stay on the job running the federal governments top law enforcement agency, according to people familiar with the matter. A decision to retain Comey would spare the president another potentially bruising confirmation battle. It also would keep Comey at the center of the FBIs investigation into several Trump associates and their potential ties with the Russian government.
President Donald Trump's flurry of new orders and reported plans to further reshape national policy drew strong rebukes Wednesday from lawmakers in both parties.

Democrats responded sharply to Trump's plans to sign executive orders that would jumpstart construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and to halt visas to visitors from some countries - moves that are expected as soon as Wednesday, according to White House officials.

There is also bipartisan criticism for a White House draft proposal to allow the CIA to reopen overseas "black site" prisons and Trump's plan to ask "for a major investigation" into his unproven accusations of widespread voter fraud.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called Trump's focus on voter fraud "really strange" - especially because his own lawyers disputed allegations of ballot irregularities when Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein challenged the results in some states last fall.

"I frankly feel very sad for the president making this claim," Pelosi added. "I felt sorry for him. I even prayed for him - but then I prayed for the United States of America."

Pelosi spoke as Congress wrapped up a short work week in order to attend separate party strategy sessions outside Washington.

Republicans are decamping to Philadelphia, where they are scheduled to spend the next two days planning and meeting with Trump, Vice President Pence and British Prime Minister Theresa May, among others. Top GOP leaders are likely to weigh in on Trump's plans later Wednesday. Senate Democrats are headed to Shepherdstown, W. Va. for a similar closed-door retreat. Pelosi and House Democrats will meet in Baltimore next month.

The White House draft order to reverse a ban on black site prisons doesn't immediately reopen them or allow interrogators to use waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" that are currently banned by law. But the order would allow the CIA to begin reviewing current policy and techniques.

Such talk earned a swift response from an old Trump foil, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who was tortured and held captive during the Vietnam War.

"The President can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America," he said in a statement.

McCain noted that Mike Pompeo, the new CIA director, vowed during his recent confirmation hearing to "comply with the law that applies the Army Field Manual's interrogation requirements to all U.S. agencies, including the CIA." So did James Mattis, the new defense secretary, McCain said.

McCain is a longtime critic of using torture or other enhanced techniques to interrogate war prisoners or detainees. McCain's personal experience with the issue earned Trump's attention during his presidential campaign, when he said that the Arizona senator was a "war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured." Those comments were condemned by Republican leaders, but did not blunt Trump's ascendancy.

Democrats also warned against reviving a controversial cornerstone of former president George W. Bush's national security policy.

"This would be a step backward and I'm not alone in thinking that the path he's going down is wrong," Pelosi said at a news conference.

"Don't ask me, just ask John McCain and others," she added. "Reverting to that again does not support our values, but also endangers our people, whether it's from a security standpoint, the intelligence community or the military. It's wrong and I hope he will listen to even some Republican leaders on this subject."

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said that revisiting the creation of "black sites" or permitting the use of enhanced interrogation techniques would be a "tragic mistake for the country to revisit and make the same mistakes all over again."

"These are colossal mistakes that will cost us relationships in the long run," he said at an event hosted by the liberal Center for American Progress.

On immigration and border security, Trump is widely expected to order the end of a federal program providing temporary legal protections to the children of undocumented immigrants. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), and a companion policy protecting thousands of adults, have faced legal challenges and formed the basis of much of Trump's attacks on Obama-era immigration policies.

He may also potentially bar for 30 days the issuance of U.S. visas to people from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - all Muslim-majority countries - until new visa procedures are developed.

Members of both parties have been anticipating Trump's immigration plans for weeks, and in the last several days mostly have withheld comment. Pelosi said Wednesday that she wouldn't respond to "rumors" of his plans.

Anticipating that Trump will end DACA, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Durbin, D-Ill., have introduced legislation that would provide similar protections to people currently protected by the program. The "Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy Act," or BRIDGE Act, is believed to have broad bipartisan support across Capitol Hill.

Trump's calls for a broader investigation into voter fraud also perplexed Republicans and Democrats alike on Wednesday.

The White House has yet to provide details on a probe, but Trump said in back-to-back tweets that the investigation would cover "those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal" and "those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time)." Trump used all capitals - VOTER FRAUD - for emphasis.

"Depending on results," Trump tweeted, "we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he believes that the "prime jurisdiction" to investigate voter fraud will be at the local and county level, but that there is a "federal function" since states also decide whether to pass voter identification laws.

''I don't see the evidence" of fraud, he said. "But he's the president and if he thinks it's there, have at it.''

Democrats responded by announcing that they're asking state election chiefs and attorneys general to provide lawmakers with information on all cases of voter fraud committed this past November.

"President Trump wants a major investigation of voter fraud-well now he has one," said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.). "He continues to be obsessed with false numbers and statistics, but these are not 'alternative facts,' and there is no evidence to support these claims."
For at least the fourth time in four months, President Donald Trump has pointed to false claims that millions of votes in the 2016 presidential election were cast illegally.

Early Wednesday, Trump tweeted he was launching a "major investigation" into voter fraud.

Trump first started complaining about a "rigged election" in October of 2016, when he fell behind in polls after the release of the incriminating Access Hollywood tape.

He clarified what he meant by a "rigged election" in late November, tweeting falsely that he "won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."

His accusation was met with much backlash and Trump offered absolutely no evidence to support his claim.

And earlier this week, Trump again repeated the incorrect popular vote claim during a reception with members of Congress on Monday, Jan. 23.

On Tuesday, Jan. 24, Sean Spicer (Mr. alternative facts himself) doubled down on the president's claims.

How did fellow politicians react? Click through the above slideshow to see some of the reactions to Trump's voter fraud claims from both sides of the aisle.
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It finally happened. Team USA  two chefs with Bay Area ties  won gold at Bocuse dOr.

This year marked the 30th anniversary for the competition, widely considered to be the culinary Olympics, held in Lyon, France. Over the last three decades, it was typically dominated by teams from Europe.

Its a true sense of national pride right now, Thomas Keller, chef and owner of Yountvilles French Laundry, said immediately after the competition.

Norway, last years winner, finished in second place while Iceland finished third.

The American team was led by two chefs from Kellers New York restaurant Per Se: Mathew Peters, executive sous chef, and commis chef Harrison Turone.

The duo won with their interpretations of chicken and crayfish, and for the first time a wholly vegetal dish using only fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes.

The teams presentations included Poulet de Bresse consisting of morel mushroom sausage, braised wings, vin jaune glaze and sauce americaine.

The Bresse Chicken Liver Quenelle was made with foie gras, yellow corn custard, black-eyed peas, celery vinegar and toasted pistachios.

The teams North American Lobster Tail dish included Meyer Lemon mousse, black truffle and Chervil.

This victory isnt just about us. Its about the people that came before us, Keller said. Chef Peters knows he standing on the shoulders of hundreds of people.

There was hope in the food world that the United States could top their 2015 finish heading into this years competition, especially with the momentum built from the performance.

What happened Wednesday was a result of years of dedication and commitment, Keller said.

Over the years, the nations culinary leaders have turned the team into a well-oiled machine. The competing chefs usually spent time training at the Barn at Hestan Vineyards in Napa for the competition, which demands hours of cooking in a stadium filled with screaming, flag-waving fans.

Twenty-four teams from around the world compete for two days. The teams have five hours and 35 minutes to prepare their dishes.

Peters was a sous chef at both Per Se in New York and then the French Laundry in Yountville. In 2012, he went back to Per Se as the executive sous chef.

Turone spent time at Ad Lib, the French Laundrys temporary pop up restaurant in Napa. He later moved on to a commis position at Per Se.

Team USA is recruited and trained and funded by the mentor Foundation, a nonprofit founded by Keller, Daniel Boulud and Jerome Bocuse, all of whom train Team USA.

While a significant and highly competitive event in the food world, Keller said he hopes the victory brings wider public attention to Bocuse dOr.

This victory belongs to every American, Keller said. Were bringing recognition to the work being done in this industry.

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle Reporter staff writer. Email jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
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The once fantastical dream of reintroducing California condors to the states forested north may soon come true for American Indian tribal leaders who still revere the giant birds more than a century after they disappeared from the region.

The Yurok tribe has been leading an effort to bring back the endangered vultures, which lived for centuries along the Klamath River, but the Indian reintroduction plan first proposed in 2003 didnt have full government backing until the past couple of years.

Now, 15 organizations have signed a deal to cooperate on a reintroduction project, including the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Yuroks and the agencies are planning to release captive-bred condors into Redwood National and State Parks in Humboldt and Del Norte counties in two years.

Its really exciting to take the condors which were once nearly extinct and put them back into an area that they historically occupied, said Mike Long, the endangered species division chief for the wildlife services Pacific Southwest region. It would bring us one step closer to bringing condors back to recovery.

The first of five public meetings on the proposal was held Monday in Sacramento. Hearings are also being held this week in Eureka, at the Yurok tribe headquarters in Klamath (Del Norte County) and in Oregon.

The pink-headed California condor is a symbol of a time when the Far West was untamed. The majestic black carrion-eaters have a wingspan of up to 10 feet, making them the largest land bird in North America. They were once plentiful in Northern California and throughout the Pacific Northwest, roosting in redwood trees and feeding on everything from elk to beached whales.

The gangly buzzards were revered by almost all California Indians, but especially by the Yurok, the largest remaining tribe in the state, with 5,600 members living mostly along the Klamath River. The Yurok used condor feathers in ceremonial garb handed down through generations.

The number of condors in California declined precipitously starting in the 19th century, when European and American hunters and fur traders began to arrive in large numbers. Many of the birds were poisoned with the lead shot that was left in the carcasses they scavenged. The last condor in the Pacific Northwest was killed between 1890 and 1910  there are conflicting accounts  in a place called Kneeland Prairie, inland from Eureka. It is mounted at the Clarke Historical Museum in Eureka.

A remnant population remained in Southern California, prompting the federal government to list the condor as an endangered species in 1967. By 1987, there were only 22 left in the wild, prompting conservationists to capture all of the remaining birds.

The species, which does not begin producing offspring until age 7, was bred in captivity and reintroduced in Central and Southern California, Arizona and Baja California starting in 1992. There are now 435 condors in existence  about 250 of them in the wild, officials said.

The Yurok reintroduction program gained steam in 2008 when the tribe began envisioning a wildlife preserve on its reservation, which was established in 1855 on 80 square miles of ancestral lands. The plan is to release condors in the Bald Hills of Redwood National Park, part of Yurok ancestral territory.

Its extremely significant to bring back a piece of the Yurok world. Its almost like a symbol of the revitalization of native tribes, said Chris West, a wildlife biologist hired by the Yurok.

So far, no significant opposition has come forward, though timber companies have voiced concern that the introduction of an endangered species could interrupt operations. In response, federal officials are considering designating condors an experimental nonessential population, which would allow regulators to relax protections when appropriate.

Oregon officials are also reluctant, biologists said, because they do not want to be pressured into banning lead bullets, as California did in 2013, creating a furor among hunting groups. Wildlife biologists expect a significant reduction in lead poisoning cases in condors once the California law goes into effect in July 2019.

The park, the tribe and federal regulators plan to work with timber companies, cattle ranchers, and hunters in California and Oregon as they prepare an environmental impact report over the next year. A monitoring program will also be established, according to the plan.

Were definitely jazzed, said David Roemer, deputy superintendent of the 150,000-acre national park. Theres just the coolness of the bird itself, which is a missing part of our landscape.

But its also an interesting story to tell  the bird with the largest wingspan in America may be making nests in the tallest trees, he said. And then there is the relationship with the Yurok tribe and reconnecting the bird with their traditions and ceremonies.

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite

Condor comeback

For more information about the reintroduction of California condors or to comment on the plan (until Feb. 28), visit http://bit.ly/2k0Ouql.
San Gimignano is the epitome of a Tuscan hill town. About 25 miles from both Florence and Siena, its the regions glamour girl: Visually striking and perfectly preserved, it gets all the fawning attention from passing tour buses. But despite its tourist-trap feel, its still worth slotting into your Italian itinerary  especially if you can sidestep the hordes who descend during the day.

San Gimignano is beloved because of its skyline of medieval towers. Though a unique sight today, pointy skylines were the norm in Tuscany in the Middle Ages, when feuding noble families ran the hill towns (think Montagues and Capulets). Each family had its own private army that would periodically battle things out from the protection of its respective family towers. While some were built as a refuge against attackers, others were empty, chimney-like structures built only to boost noble egos.

In the 14th century, San Gimignano, like other hill towns, fell under Florences control. The Florentines usually asserted their power over the local nobles by ordering them to lop off their towers. But for whatever reason, some of San Gimignanos original skyline was allowed to remain intact. Today, 14 of its original 72 towers still stand.

A stroll through the core of San Gimignano, in the shadows of its surviving towers, is a delight. As the town was about a days trek to Siena or Florence in the Middle Ages, it was a good stopover for pilgrims en route from those cities to Rome. Near the main gate, you can still see the remains of a 12th century pilgrims shelter.

At the center of town is Piazza della Cisterna, named for the cistern that is served by the old well standing in the center of this square. Rustic-yet-proud facades crowd in a tight huddle around the well. I like imagining this square in pilgrimage times, lined by inns and taverns for the towns guests, with maids and children fetching water from the well.

On Piazza del Duomo stands the towns Romanesque cathedral. Sienese Gothic art from the 14th century lines the nave with parallel themes  Old Testament on the left and New Testament on the right. This is a classic use of art to teach. Many scenes are portrayed with a 14th century slice of life setting to help townspeople relate to Jesus.

Nearby is a pair of towers that have stood side by side for more than 700 years. These sisters are empty shells, built by the Salvucci family simply to show off. At the time they were built, no one was allowed a vanity tower higher than the old City Halls 170 feet.

So the Salvuccis built two 130-foot towers  totaling 260 feet of stony ego trip. Local guides claim that Minoru Yamasaki, the architect of New York Citys World Trade Center, was inspired by these twin towers. (I have no idea if thats true, but they sure look as if they could have inspired him.)

Of the 14 towers, visitors are allowed to climb the one at the newer City Hall  at 200 feet, the citys tallest tower. A visit here also includes access to a small museum with festive frescoes that provide a peek at how people dressed, lived, worked, and warred in the 14th century.

Although San Gimignano is gorgeous, it is also quite crowded, and at midday it can come off as a pretty greedy place, with vendors everywhere vying for the tourist dollar. I find that the charm of San Gimignano is easiest to enjoy after hours, when most tourists have gone back to their buses, vendors have made their money, and the town recaptures its magic. Smart travelers arrive here late in the day and stay overnight.

Though San Gimignano has perfectly good accommodations, if you want to get the full dose of that salt-of-the-earth Tuscan magic, stay in the countryside surrounding the town, either at a bed-and-breakfast-type guesthouse or an agriturismo (a small working farm that rents out rooms). At many of these places, visitors can enjoy fine food, a swimming pool, a serene setting and the company of other travelers  and good Tuscan living.

No matter where you stay, eating dinner at one of San Gimignanos restaurants provides a fine opportunity to sample typical Tuscan home cooking. Cinghiale (wild boar) is made into stews, soups, and  my favorite  salami. The area is well known for producing some of the best saffron in Italy; youll find the spice for sale in shops and as a flavoring in meals at finer restaurants. Although Tuscany is normally a red-wine region, the most famous Tuscan white wine comes from here: the inexpensive, light and fruity Vernaccia di San Gimignano.

After dinner, the empty streets are yours to savor. Enjoying San Gimignano at night gives you a chance to experience the romantic Tuscan town youve been dreaming about.

Rick Steves writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio. Email: travel@sfchronicle.com
Denis Gray/Associated Press

KAMPOT, Cambodia  A nearby sea, flanking mountains, a quartz-rich soil: Its the perfect spot on earth, devotees say, to yield a product they describe in that rapturous vocabulary usually reserved for fine wines: aristocratic, virile, almost aphrodisiacal, with subtle notes of caramel, gingerbread and mild tobacco.

Celebrity chefs from Paris to Los Angeles swear by Kampot pepper, a southwestern Cambodian spice with a tragic past that is now reclaiming its global preeminence. It is also proving to be black gold for some of its once-impoverished farmers, thanks in part to Kampot pepper last year being awarded a Protected Geographical Indication by the European Union. This identifies unique products  like Stilton cheese, Champagne or Darjeeling tea  as originating in a very specific region.
MOGADISHU, Somalia  At least eight people were dead and 14 injured Wednesday as Somali security forces ended a siege by extremist fighters who stormed a hotel in the capital, police said.

Four al-Shabab attackers were also killed in the attack on Dayah hotel, which is often frequented by government officials, said Col. Mohamoud Abdi, a senior police officer.

Survivors described chaotic scenes in which hotel residents hid under beds and others jumped out of windows of the four-story building to escape the attackers.

They kicked down room doors, and at some point posed themselves as rescue teams by telling those inside to come out (only) to kill them, said Hassan Nur, a traditional Somali elder.

He said two well-known clan elders were among those killed.

The assault on the hotel started when a suicide car bomb exploded at its gates. A second explosion soon followed.

Dozens of people, including lawmakers, were thought to have been staying at the hotel at the time of the morning attack, said Capt. Mohamed Hussein.

A nearby shopping center caught fire, and dozens of people helped save goods from the flames.

Somalias homegrown Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack via its online radio, Andalus, saying its fighters succeeded in entering the hotel.

Al-Shabab frequently targets hotels and other public places often visited by government officials and foreigners. Al Qaedas East African affiliate is fighting to impose a strict version of Islam in the Horn of Africa nation.

Farah Abdi Warsameh and Abdi Guled are Associated Press writers.
JERUSALEM  Israel said Tuesday it approved plans to build 2,500 settler homes in the West Bank, signaling a major ramp-up of construction just days after the swearing-in of President Trump, whose election has emboldened the settlement movement.

Trump is widely expected to be more sympathetic to Israels settlement policies than the fiercely critical Obama administration. He also has vowed to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem. Israels nationalist government has welcomed the prospective change in policy, but it also risks igniting Palestinian or even regional unrest.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a statement that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed on the new construction plans in response to housing needs.

He said the majority of the housing units will be built in settlement blocs, areas where most settlers live and which Israel wants to keep under its control under any future peace deal with the Palestinians. Some 100 homes were slated for two smaller settlements. All of the projects announced Tuesday still require additional bureaucratic approvals, meaning that construction is unlikely to begin anytime soon.

We are building  and we will continue to build, Netanyahu wrote in a brief Facebook post.

Settlement construction was a contentious area of disagreement during the Obama years, when the White House sided with the Palestinians and the international community in condemning it as an obstacle to peace.

The Palestinians want the West Bank, as well the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem  areas captured by Israel in the 1967 war  for their hoped-for state. They, along with much of the international community, view settlements as illegal. Some 600,000 settlers live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the latest settlement plans, saying they would hurt peace hopes and promote extremism and terrorism.

Trump has signaled a softer approach to the settlements, and some of his top aides have close ties to the settler movement.

Beit El, one of the settlements mentioned in Tuesdays announcement, has received donations from Trumps designated ambassador to Israel and from the family of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, now a top White House adviser.

That has buoyed Netanyahu and his pro-settler coalition allies, who see in Trumps election a chance to press forward with settlement initiatives.

Tia Goldenberg is an Associated Press writer.
1 Computer virus: Saudi Arabia is warning that a computer virus that destroyed systems of its state-run oil company in 2012 has returned to the kingdom, with at least one major petrochemical company apparently affected by its spread. Suspicion for the initial dispersal of the Shamoon virus in 2012 fell on Iran as it came after the Stuxnet cyberattack targeting Tehrans contested nuclear enrichment program. It wasnt immediately clear who could be responsible for the new infection, though the relations between regional rivals remain tense.

2 Polanski controversy: Filmmaker Roman Polanski abandoned plans to preside over the French equivalent of the Oscars, after protests from Frances womens rights minister and feminist groups prompted by decades-old U.S. sex charges against him. His film career, however, has continued to flourish since he settled in Paris after fleeing the U.S. in the late 1970s.
BARAKHAO, Pakistan  Two ornate minarets pierce the evening sky and frame the emerald green dome of a shrine to Mumtaz Qadri. He was hanged for killing a politician who criticized Pakistans blasphemy law  a measure that can bring a death sentence for anyone insulting Islam.

A marble-encased tomb holds the body of Qadri, a member of an elite police unit charged with protecting Punjab provincial Gov. Salman Taseer. But instead of keeping him safe, Qadri turned his AK-47 assault rifle on Taseer and killed him. With a smile on his face, Qadri then put down his weapon and was arrested, tried and hanged last year.

Qadris brother, Amir Sajjad, spends afternoons and evenings at the shrine, collecting donations for a mosque and madrassa, or religious school, to be built at the site on the outskirts of Islamabad. Millions of rupees have been collected, Sajjad said.

The shrine worries those in Pakistan who fear a growth of extremism. There have been brutal sectarian killings, violent demonstrations by clerics in favor of the blasphemy law, and threats to anyone who dares to challenge it.

Earlier this month, five liberal-leaning bloggers disappeared  the latest targets of radical clerics and their followers. The clerics have accused the missing writers of blasphemy after a social media campaign raising those allegations without any evidence. In Pakistan, a simple accusation of blasphemy can be tantamount to a death sentence.

The government has stepped in, saying there was no evidence the bloggers said or did anything that could be considered blasphemous, and that there was no suggestion of any of them being charged with blasphemy.

The bloggers, whose disappearances have been decried nationally and internationally, had been critical of the military and bemoaned the presence of radical religious militant groups in their country. No group has taken responsibility for their disappearances.

Supporters of the bloggers say the shrine to Qadri exalts those who kill in the name of religion. They also say it makes it dangerous to even amend the blasphemy law to prevent it from being abused.

Attorney Saif-ul-Mulk, who prosecuted Qadri, said the Supreme Court of Pakistan judged him to be a terrorist, yet clerics and others are trying to paint him as a saint.

I can assure you that in the coming 10 to 20 years, he will be a saint of very high profile and billions of rupees will be coming to his shrine, the attorney said.

For some in Pakistan, the shrine is seen as yet another tool in the arsenal of radical Sunni Muslim groups seeking to consolidate their hold over Pakistans 180 million people.

Kathy Gannon is an Associated Press writer.
BERLIN  People who turn to populist politicians promising to upset the status quo and end corruption may only be feeding the problem, an anticorruption watchdog group warned Wednesday.

Transparency International said in its annual Corruption Perceptions Index for 2016 that in countries with populist or autocratic leaders, instead of tackling crony capitalism, those leaders usually install even worse forms of corrupt systems.
Two charter buses, 75 people, 35 hour drivecrazy, right?

On the way home from the Women's March on Washington, SFR rode for a few miles next to Lava Buckley-Sheets. The Albuquerque native was part of the organizing committee for the New Mexico-to-DC trip. Buckley-Sheets helped with bake sales, pussy hat knitting circles, art shows and fundraising for sponsored protesters.

When we first started organizing I thought we would just get here and go on our own, but we stayed together, she says. It felt good to show up because were one of the poorest states, and we rank pretty low in education and childcare. But we needed to represent; we needed to let people know were New Mexico and we made the trek to get here and represent. Lead organizer Amanda Flory expected the New Mexico charter bus contingent to be larger than it was. Over 400 people registered for the march, but a large portion of them traveled independently. The two charter buses transporting the New Mexicans held about 75 people combined, not including the Oklahoma and Arkansas protesters they picked up.

Buckley-Sheets is an independent filmmaker who is originally from Ohio. She worked in various casting, direction and production positions on Independence Day 2 and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, as well as Longmire, Breaking Bad and Manhattan. She knew she'd miss her husband and dog, but she says she wanted to demonstrate in the nations capital for equal rights for everyone, especially for her mother, who is from Thailand and now lives in Albuquerque. When I heard about the march I thought about my mom being scared and I was feeling scared. I felt like [the march] was something I could do to show that there was still hope in this country, she says. Buckley-Sheets says she feels unsafe in an era of intense racial division as an Asian-American woman with a disability. Ten months ago, she was attacked by her neighbors dog, which risked her ability to walk again. There are people that often feel sad for me and I get treated differently. I wasnt disabled until 10 months ago and it makes me sad when Im pitied, she says.

People now have the momentum to come together to make sure we watch this administration under a microscope, she says. This wasnt just a march. This is the beginning.

Before the march, she felt hopeless. Now she has the inspiration to believe in a kinder, more loving country. She felt an immense amount of support at the march and tells SFR it exceeded all her expectations and even described it as euphoric. Mosh on WashingtonThey called it a march, but no one really moved from point A to point B. The national organizers of the Women's March on Washington werent prepared for over a million attendees. Approximately 500,000 people were registered for the demonstration, but DC Metro Police and news sources like the Washington Post and The New York Times estimate between one and two million. The three-hour-long rally caused restlessness among the protesters, which led to pushing, shoving and fainting.

After the crowd dispersed from the rally, they realized they didnt know where to march and it was impossible to move in one continuous direction without guidance. Several attendees were injured during the mess; luckily, medics were on standby and treated them quickly. But the Women's March was a disorganized organization, to say the least; nobody physically marched until much later, when discomfort had weeded out the crowd.

Then the DC Metro Police finally stepped in. They stood on top of their cars and attempted to direct people toward Independence Avenue, but most people had spread out by then. Most people ignored the directions and continued to move independently. They headed toward the White House, Capitol Building, Trump International Hotel, the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. About 100 people stood outside Trump International Hotel where more protest signs decorated the sidewalk and metal barricades guarding the entrance. Groups filtered in and out of the mini-protest and joined in their chant, "You're orange! You're gross! You lost the popular vote!"

As the sun set in DC and the air grew cold, the demonstration seemed to end, but people in pink still lingered in the streets. SFR and the New Mexico women left DC on Jan. 22 and arrived in Albuquerque on Jan. 23.

Stronger Together

A thick turquoise necklace adorns her neck. Matching slabs dangle from her ears, peeking through her sleek black hair. Debra Haalands posture radiates confidence. She quietly sits aboard the bus, westbound through Appalachia, eager to talk about the reason she took the trip.

Ive been to a lot of political rallies and events, she says, but nothing like this. As the first Native chairwoman of the New Mexico State Democratic Party, Haaland appreciated the huge race and age diversity and the size of the crowd. Haaland hails from the Pueblo of Laguna and now lives in Albuquerque. She is stepping down from the party leadership job this spring but plans to stay on high alert.

We dont stop here, she says. I would like to make sure everyone realizes that it doesnt end here. We had a wonderfully beautiful and successful march. But we need to stay on top of things. Haaland says she marched for her sisters in solidarity, the environment, Planned Parenthood, the education system and the Affordable Care Act. I wanted to march to raise awareness of the fear and anger a lot of us were experiencing and how our country will change under this president. And I wanted to show solidarity with my sisters across the country." She refers to Hillary Clinton's campaign slogan: "I feel we are stronger together."

The bus swayed heavily as it bypassed a tornado through an unidentified town in Tennessee. Haaland tells SFR that the four-day trip sent her through a variety of emotions, from happy to inspired to empathetic to determined. I think it was important for us to have a presence at that march. [New Mexicans] are leaders in the country now. We took a stand on November 8th; our state overwhelmingly voted Democratic and, in a way, people are looking to New Mexico to ask, How did you do this? and What can we do to help our state be more like yours? We are leaders in the country whether we accept that or not, but we need to move forward.

Santa Fe Reporter
T-shirts are a staple in every closet. Buttery and threadbare, a comfy tee can be the holy grail of clothing. It might not inspire a Friday night outing or be considered your Sunday best, but you can practically live in one, and they often become more a part of you than any specific occasion frock.

When it comes to my wardrobe, tees make a regular appearance. My boyfriend's old holey white Hanes is among my favorite pieces of clothing. I'll wear it with anything and everything: my jeans, as pajamas, with maxi skirts and dresses and camis. And I am not alone. Just a few weeks ago, I salivated over an Instagram photo of a lithe lady wearing an oversized, long-sleeved black tee under a powder-blue velvet maxi dress. This is one of those things that's hard to make sound as good as it actually looked, but the combo helps prove my theory: You can wear a good T-shirt with basically anything to add just the right amount of effortlessness.

Plus, tees have been more popular than ever lately. Hollywood is in the midst of a vintage rock shirt craze and you can easily do a Google search and find the unlikeliest of stars wearing thrash metal teesand probably pissing off Slayer. They've even seen a fast rise to the catwalk and joined the ranks of high fashion. Think Kanye West churning out $260 sweatshirts or French design collective Vetements producing $1,000 graphic tees, and you just know that cotton tops are at the forefront of the fashion world.

Full disclosure: My wardrobe rotation also relies heavily on an oversized Rolling Stones shirt. The fact that it's too big for me only makes me like it more, and that may be partially owed to the style world embracing sizing up. Fashion forward ladies like Rihanna have blurred the lines between big tee and tiny dress as they wear XLs and ditch anything else. In fact, if my own rock tee were just a bit bigger, I may go full-on trend and wear it alone. I mean, there is something inherently feminist about saying "fuck you" to pants, and this girl is a huge fan of just about anything you can sleep in, roll out of bed in and fashionably wear that day. Come to think of it, I'll probably write about robes soon.

Aside from being insanely easy to wear, T-shirts can also make a statement. Emblazoned with your favorite band's logo, a witty feminist saying or an artist's work, you can bring your "this-is-who-I-am" subliminal messaging to the surface. There's never been a better time to dress to impress something upon others, especially if you believe in it.

Thea Milinaire (Thea Milinaire)

A ton of tees are made right here in Santa Fe (all of which you can nab for much less than $1,000) which support locals. Eliza Lutz, founder of the local independent record label Matron Records, says that while band tees are a great way to generate cash, they can be about more than that. "You are also extending a hand to your fans to come and be a part of what you're doing," Lutz says, "On one hand, you are presenting your love and your fandom for something, and on the other hand you become part of a community because you are branding yourself as being into that."

Find locally designed and printed tees for Lutz' bands like GRYGRDNS, As In We or Future Scars under the "store," then "merch" tabs on matronrecords.com ($18). Even cooler? Each one comes with a free streaming code, so you'll get some new music as well.

Local artist Christopher Merlyn also creates his own tees and works with other designers and artists like tattooer Crow B Rising, owner of Talis Fortuna (913 Shoofly Way, 490-6749), an appointment-only shop that also carries enviable shop tees. Much of Merlyn's imagery is pulled from New Mexican ephemera, like on his High Desert sweatshirt ($35), an explosion of cultural emblems like Zozobra and the Virgin of Guadalupe settled among instantly recognizable starbursts a la Louis Vuitton.

Merlyn says collaboration is part of what he loves about designing. "I believe that 10 heads are better than one," he says. "I love working with artists because you are always going to get something that you wouldn't have otherwise." You can catch Merlyn at local events, like last year's SFR Music Fest, or check out his current stock online at cmerlyn.bigcartel.com.

Graphic tees can even support movements. Women's Marches around the world this past Saturday featured a spectacular array of feminist statement tees, which spurred me to immediately look for one of my own. There are quite a few out there, but these are my two favorites:

Google Ghosts Nasty Woman tee ($25): Half the profits from this silkscreened shirt are donated to Planned Parenthood. Theyve raised over $100,000 so far, and this is tee would be especially cute with a red maxi skirt or for Valentines Day.

Otherwilds Venus Tit Tee ($30): This small shop based in Los Angeles, California, has a few powerfully relevant statement tees, but the mauve one is my favorite and would be a dream tucked into jeans.

No matter what you support, you know you'll be comfortable. And it's always nice to have options when it comes to which tee to throw on tomorrow.



Santa Fe Reporter
Andrea Vaca, the co-founder of Knack Magazine, was finishing her sophomore year at College of Santa Fe when the university announced it was closing. That was spring of 2009, and by summer, Laureate International had snapped up the school and transformed it into Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Vacas junior year at the new institution was strange but inspiring.

"There weren't as many people, so I was able to use the facilities any time I wanted to. They really trusted us," says Vaca. She was a photography student, and all-hours access to the labs and equipment allowed for unbridled creativity. The transition was a lesson in seizing artistic independence, as a long line of substitute instructors cycled through her program. "It wasn't as consistent as I would've liked, but it was overall a great experience," she says.

By fall of 2012, Vaca had graduated and completed internships at Outside Magazine and here at SFR. "Publishing looked like something that I wanted to be a part of," she says. "The way I saw myself doing it was to feature emerging artists." Her idea for a new publication became Knack Magazine, a digital showcase for artists that will release its 42nd issue this Friday. Vaca's small team of editors has published an issue almost every month for the past four years, engaging an ever-expanding community of artists. Santa Fe was their incubator.

Vaca kicked off the project by calling up a few old classmates, most of whom had since left Santa Fe. Her friend Will Smith, who transferred to CalArts when College of Santa Fe closed, became her first collaborator and co-founder. Ariana Lombardi, who had just graduated from the creative writing program at SFUAD, signed on as executive editor. As creative director and designer, Vaca engaged Jonathon Duarte, a former SFUAD design student who'd moved back to his hometown of El Paso, Texas, to finish his degree.

"It was a bit daunting. The way she described it to me was pretty much a full-on magazine," says Duarte. "That's something I had never done before." The team started brainstorming names, a process that Vaca describes as "all over the place." They considered Art Hungry, Mustard Seed, Paprika and Project Lucida. "All of my Knack files are still stored in a folder called 'Project Lucida,'" Duarte notes.

One thing they settled on immediately was its purpose. "It was really frustrating to try to get our work out there in Santa Fe and to be respected as emerging artists," says Vaca. "There's so much art in Santa Fe, but it's really focused on making money. You don't all of a sudden become a famous artist. It takes a lot of time and exploration. That's mostly why I was like, 'I've got to do something.'"

Vaca's new collaborators were on the same page: They wanted to support artists who were at the bottom of the ladder. The name Knackmeaning a forte for somethingevolved out of this ethos. Many of the artists they knew possessed an excess of raw talent, but needed a platform to tell their stories and build reputations. Flexing their skills for digital design and marketing felt like a natural solution.

Knack Magazine's first issue debuted in October 2012 as a 110-page PDF file attached to an email. The team had compiled an email list of about 200 friends and family members. Duarte says Santa Fe's tight-knit creative community lit up as they got the magazine off the ground. "Here, there's a more readily available network of artists," he says. "They know what it's like to be a young artist and not have a voice, especially in this age when people are able to consume art more ubiquitously."

The first Knack email included a call to artists and writers, and the submission guidelines swiftly passed from hand to hand. Since then, they've featured up-and-coming local creatives such as Brad Trone, Michael J Wilson, Austin Eichelberger and Laura San Roman, along with artists from across the United States, Europe and beyond. Knack now has over 800 subscribers, between its email list and other platforms. The magazine's readership and circle of collaborators has extended far past the editors' personal networks.



"Every time an artist submits to Knack, that's a success," says Vaca. "That's how this project keeps going. As the staff, we don't think of it as just ours. It's for everybody." Duarte returned to Santa Fe in 2016, but Vaca had moved back to her hometown of Chicago in 2015. Lombardi calls China her home, and travels frequently. Several other editors have rotated in and out, including Smith. The entire editorial team has still never been in the same room for a meeting, but Vaca says that's a reality of such an expansive project.

Still, Vaca has some analog plans for Knack. She wants to launch a print edition and line of merchandise, and open a brick-and-mortar space in Chicago. She's also considering applying for Masters programs in publishing. In the meantime, she highly values the freedom of the digital space. "Artists don't need restrictions," she says. "There are no rules, but getting to the point of seeing that is really hard."

For artists and art enthusiasts, the first step is one email away. Subscribe or submit at knackmagazine1@gmail.com. Knack Magazine's 42nd issue is due to hit your inbox on Friday, Jan. 27.



Santa Fe Reporter
Dances with Werewolves is this new horror film about a young woman who leaves an abusive relationship only to get all tangled up with an ancient Romanian countess and, wouldn't you know it, werewolves! It's a tale as old as time, and a potentially killer example of the kitsch-horror niche that includes but is hardly limited to such celebrated cinematic highlights as Creepshow, Jack Frost or the Jan-Michael Vincent/Clint Howard-led masterpiece, Ice Cream Man.

And while I'm sure the movie is cool and all and totally perfect for a fun late night-ish screening at the Jean Cocteau Cinema, for a dude like me who grew up in a house where Frank Zappa's We're Only In It For the Money or Cruising With Ruben and the Jets were basically always played by my maniac of a father (you know I'm all about "Deseri"), I'm actually more enamored with the composer of the film's soundtrack, Don Preston, a longtime member of Zappa's Mothers of Invention.

"I wrote what you might call classical pieces because I just thought the music for the film should be classical in nature," says Preston, now 84. "I've been writing classical music for quite some time, and I thought it would suit the characters and what was going on in the film."

For Preston to say "quite some time" kind of sells his experience and background short. This is a man who's toured the world rocking outhell, he's played the pipe organ at the Albert Hall. The son of a resident composer for the Detroit Philharmonic, Preston began as a pianist at the age of 5. "I'd play around on the piano when my father wasn't using it, but I also took lessons for, oh, I think about 12 years," he says. He'd go on to join the Army, during which time he played in a jazz band with none other than Herbie Mann. "I gravitated toward jazz," says Preston, "but of course, when I first started playing music, there was no such thing as rock  so I played jazz, and I learned a lot."

After his stint with the Army, Preston applied to the music program at the University of Michigan. "They told me because of my experience I could start as a senior," he adds. But he never enrolled. Family circumstances forced him west to Los Angeles. "Even though I never formally went to school, I studied all the same great books on orchestration, so you could say I'm self-taught, I suppose," Preston says with a chuckle. "Although, some people have said I made the right choice doing it that way."

Preston would audition for Zappa by the mid-1960s, though he didn't get the job at first. "He said, 'Well gee, Don, I don't think I can let you in the band because you don't know anything about rock 'n' roll,'" Preston recalls. "After that failed audition, I started getting jobs in other rock bands and touring, and I learned a lot; I also knew Zappa's manager back then, so I eventually told him they ought to audition me again because by then I knew about rock. So I did and Frank said, 'Great, Don, you're in the band.'"

Preston would appear on Zappa's studio debut, 1966's Freak Out!, and subsequently on countless studio, live and compilation albums with the band. "Zappa wrote the songs, but even with the compositions, there were spaces in there for solos, and that was always very gratifying," Preston says. "Of course, when you compose something larger for an orchestra and hear that played back, that's also very gratifying."

His start in movies came with the 1982 cult classic Android, starring Klaus Kinski. Since then, Preston estimates he's composed for 23 films including 1984's Night Patrol with Linda Blair and 1986's Eye of the Tiger with Gary freaking Busey. Additionally, he's continued the Zappa legacy with his band, The Grandmothers of Invention, with whom he's toured the world, and is currently composing original pieces that he says sound like old Weather Report songsatmospheric, layered and, if we're lucky, kind of complicated.

Preston appears at this Friday's screening of Dances With Werewolves along with director Dan Golden and cast member Omar Paz Trujillo (who hails from Chimayo, y'all). It should be a hell of a good time, especially since it's composed of rock royalty.



Dances With Werewolves Screening

9 pm Friday Jan. 27. $6-$13.

Jean Cocteau Cinema,

418 Montezuma Ave.,

466-5528

Santa Fe Reporter
Descartes Labs, the agriculture forecasting startup, launched out of Los Alamos National Laboratory two years ago. Using satellite-imaging technology, the company boasts that it produces more accurate corn yield predictions than the federal government. CEO Mark Johnson has since raised millions in venture capital dollars and, on Monday, opened a brand new office on De Vargas Street in Santa Fe.

I think people have this view of the Bay Area startup scene as being superficial. Does that ring a bell?

Absolutely. I spent half my life in San Francisco working for a bunch of startups. You have to get coffee with every person. You're reading Tech Crunch everyday. People are saying, 'Did you hear what Travis said?' That's the founder of Uber. I'm not going to get people to move to New Mexico if I tell them I'm making a social networking app. How do you fake the core research we're doing here? That big thinking doesn't happen in Silicon Valley.

How are you getting involved with the community?

The team is getting involved with coding projects, holding sessions with middle and high schools. We're also planning on recruiting at UNM and NM Tech. People ask why aren't there more Descartes Labs here. There's nothing to point to in New Mexico for venture capitalists to say, 'That was a great success.' A few small changes here can have great effects. If we grow to 60 employees by the end of the year, we'll be one of the biggest success stories in Santa Fe in a long time.

What's the gender breakdown of your employees?

It's not the ratio I'd like to see, but it's higher than most. Five out of our 24 employees are women. Diversity is important to us, but hiring is hard. We make a concerted effort. I long for the day where I can say our ratio is better.

Santa Fe Reporter
I am quite the follower on social mediaFacebook and Twitter in particular. I make no trolling comments, no #MAGA hashtags; I just look with my male gaze. Like Laura Mulvey says, the male gaze is only natural. I've lost interest in pornography, so I use everyday pictures of women, typically selfies. It helps me to know the story behind the face and body. None of these pics are pornographicjust feel-good selfies by young women posted on social media. I don't communicate with these people, because that would be creepy. I'm not worried about whether this is abnormal. I just wondered if people would be okay with this, if people were aware of behavior like mine when they post, and if I should ask these girls for their permission to wank to their selfies.

-Not Anthony Weiner

So long as you're wanking alone, wanking with a reasonable expectation of privacy, and not bothering anyone who isn't a sex partner or a sex-advice professional with your wanking, NAW, you can wank to whatever you'd likeexcept for images of child rape, aka "child pornography."

You remind me of the proverbial shoe salesman with a foot fetish. (Full disclosure: proverb of mine, not a proverb of Proverbs.) Let's say a guy working in a high-end shoe store has an intense attraction to feet. Is it inappropriate for him to get an obvious boner while helping women try on shoes? Of course it is. It would also be inappropriate for him to drool or pantand it would be super inappropriate of him to ask the women he's serving if he can jack off about their feet after his shift. But if he can be completely professional, if he can go eight hours without giving off any signs of secret perving, that guy can (and probably should) sell shoes. And he's free to upload mental images to his spank bank for laterwe're all free to do so, NAW, and it's only creepy if the people whose images we're uploading/repurposing are made aware that we're uploading/repurposing them.

So in answer to your question, NAW, under no circumstances should you ask the girls whose selfies you're wanking to for their permission. People who post revealing pictures to social mediamen and womenknow they run the risk of their pics being wanked to by random strangers. But there's a difference between knowing some stranger might be wanking to your pics and hearing from one of those wanking strangers. Being asked by a wanker for permission to wank drags the social-media poster into the wanker's fantasiesand not only is that creepy, NAW, it's also no way to show your gratitude. If some stranger is going to make your day by posting a hot pic, why would you ruin theirsor make them think twice about ever posting a revealing pic againby telling them exactly what you're doing while you gaze at their pics?

If you saw a woman on the street that you thought was hot, you wouldn't stop her to ask if you could wank about her later. You would no more ask a stranger that question than you would flash your penis at her because, NAW, it would constitute sexual harassment. (Promise me you wouldn't do either of those things.) You would instead walk on by, minding your own business while discreetly filing her mental image away in your spank bank. You should behave similarly on social media: Don't harass, don't send unsolicited dick pics, and don't ask for permission to wank.

Finally, NAW, your question inspired me to read feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey's 1975 essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema," in which she coined the phrase "male gaze." Mulvey describes the male gaze as phallocentric, patriarchal, pervasive, and socially constructedshe never describes it as natural.



A problem has cropped up for me ever since the reports of Donald Trump's pissing Russian hookers made the news. Every time someone on social media tries to make a comment about how disgusting that is, someone else jumps in and scolds that person for "kink shaming." The problem for me is that by normalizing my piss fetish, you're making it dull for me. Piss was one of the few things that even the kink community found disgusting. I now find myself looking for different porn because, eh, a lesbian pissing in the mouth of another lovely lady on a train platform? No big whoop anymore, it seems. My polyamorous boyfriend and I found each other without knowing we shared a love for piss. Neither of us had ever had someone to enjoy that with before. The one thing the piss porn I've been watching for half my life completely failed to capture is how goddamn amazing it is to embrace and make out with a person you love dearly while you're both covered in each other's piss. If you personally don't want to kink shame, that's fine. I get it. But everyone, please stop telling your friends not to kink shame so that my boyfriend and I can get back to the business of pissing on each other and feeling disgusting about it and horny because of it.

-Pissed Off Slut Wife

I have grappled with this same conundrum, POSW. If a kink is boner- or slicker-inducing to some precisely because it's so transgressive and disgusting to most, efforts to normalize said kinkby shaming kink shamers, for instancecould piss away that kink's power to induce all those boners and slickers. But I'm confident that the kink shamers will continue to have the upper hand for decades to come, despite the best efforts of the kink-shamer shamers. So your kink will continue to induce enough revulsion and disgust generally to keep you and your boyfriend feeling disgusting and horny in perpetuity.



Listening to pundits discuss the president on the radio, I was inspired by your brilliant acronym (DTMFA) to yell, "Impeach the motherfucker already!" I'd love to see a line of bumper stickers and T-shirts bearing that sensible message: ITMFA! We need a shorthand for the obviousthink of the boost to productivity we'd get if we could cut half-hour conversations about the president to five simple letters: ITMFA! I appeal to you to bring this acronym into our everyday vocabulary.

-Dumped My Motherfucker Already

DEAR READERS: DMMA wrote me that letter in 2006. She wasn't referring to Donald Trump, our current awful president, but George W. Bush, our last truly awful president. I thought DMMA's idea was great, I put up a website (impeachthemotherfuckeralready.com), and I raised more than $20,000 selling ITMFA lapel pins and buttons. I donated half the money to the ACLU and the other half to two Democratic candidates for the US Senate. (My readers helped turf Rick Santorum out of office!)

I didn't think I'd see a worse president than George W. Bush in my lifetime. But here we are. So I'm bringing back my line of ITMFA buttons and adding T-shirts and, yes, hats to the ITMFA collection. Go to impeachthemotherfuckeralready.com or, if that's too much typing, ITMFA.org to order some ITMFA swag for yourself or someone you love. All the money raised will be donated to the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, and the International Refugee Assistance Project.

We're in for a long and ugly four years, folks. Let's raise some money for groups fighting Trump, let's bring ITMFA back into our everyday vocabulary, and let's remember that wepeople who voted against Trump, people who want to see him out of office as quickly as possibleare the majority. ITMFA!









On the Lovecast, sex-toy review with Erika Moen: www.savagelovecast.com

@fakedansavage on Twitter

Santa Fe Reporter
Cover, January 18:Chop Suey on San Francisco Street

Campaigning Over Rice

So true to life. I remember eating there in 1974 (as I did over the years). Gov. Bruce King was at one end of the counter, and a hippie my age was at the other. We all knew that Bruce could not pass up a chance to campaign, and within about 10 minutes after he walked in, he was talking with the younger man, shaking hands, etc. The Canton was a true slice of Americana.

Jim Rubin

SFReporter.com



Praise for Hsieh

What a superb and thorough article. This is the kind of journalism we need to see much more of in Santa Fe, and also the kind of writing that will revitalize the Santa Fe Reporter. The egalitarian spirit of its focus is inspiring, and I hope to see more of this writer's work.

Stephen Fox

SFReporter.com

Platinum Records

A San Fransisco loss is a Santa Fe gain. Thank you for using our records in such an enlightening way.

National Archives at San Francisco

via Facebook



News, January 18: Cash Withdrawal

Local is Better

I stopped doing business with the seven largest bailout banks years ago. Bank local, buy local and do business with people who support progressive values.

Jeff Carr

SFReporter.com

Our Bad

Correction: I did not drive, I don't even have a car. I rode a bus. Thanks so much for the story but you should never assume that an environmental activist drives. Folks who read this might think I'm a hypocrite. But everyone in Santa Fe who knows me knows I don't drive!

Jeff Ethan Green

SFReporter.com



Editor's note: We cleared this up in our online version. Sorry for the confusion.



SFR will correct factual errors online and in print. Please let us know if we make a mistake, editor@sfreporter.com or 988-7530.



Mail letters to PO Box 2306, Santa Fe, NM 87504, deliver to 132 E Marcy St., or email them to editor@sfreporter.com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.





Santa Fe Reporter
As Game of Thrones fans know, winter is coming.

Wait, it's already here. And Santa Fe residents may already have noticed that snow and ice are lingering on some streets far longer than they should, thanks to the city's financial woes.

This raises questions about what city governments are supposed to do for citizens, and how poorly they can do it before a place no longer seems like a city at all.

I live in a subdivision that the snow plowing people say is a Priority 3, out of, let's see, three priorities. That isn't where you want to be on the list, in a department that tells me it has had to shed nine workers since last summer.

For this reason, I've recently had telephone and personal contact with the snowplow people, and while they have been unfailingly polite, they are clearly up against it.

After learning that I live in a Priority 3 neighborhood, which roughly translates to, "We'll get to your street when we've finished watching Longmire," I asked about our side streets.

"We do those as we have time, when we get requests," one official said.

I must have misunderstood him. "You don't automatically plow residential streets when you see snow?"

"No, somebody has to call and put in a request."

Mr. Mayor, let me tell you something very intimate about myself. If there's snow on my street, you may presume I would prefer to have it gone, as soon as possible. I think this requirement for specific citizen requests could get out of hand.

"Hello, Fire Department? My house is on fire!"

"Thank you for calling, sir. Do you have a request?"

"I want you to put the fire out!"

"I'm making a note of your request, sir, but we do have some higher priority conflagrations ahead of you."

A cynic might wonder if the worker assigned to taking requests might be put to better use actually plowing.

You have to question the wisdom of city officials. It's not as though the city shrank in size by 30 percent, rendering many snowplow crews superfluous. We have the same streets we always did. Maybe more.

So why can't the city go ahead and presume every snowy residential street needs to be plowed, unless the residents ask to have their snow left alone? (And who is going to do that except for the criminally insane and landscape artists?)

Those parallel situations just keep popping into my mind. I can't help it.

"Good afternoon. I want to report that no new mail has shown up in my mailbox for two months."

"Well, Mr. Basler, the reason for that is, our records indicate you haven't requested any new mail."

"Hello, Pentagon? I'd like to report Russian tanks are rumbling down Marcy Street this very moment, guns blazing! Oh, the humanity!"

"I see. And do you have a specific request?"



Robert Baslers humor column runs twice monthly in SFR. Email the author: bluecorn@sfreporter.com

Santa Fe Reporter
The new archaeological exhibit at the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, scheduled to open this spring, was to be a thing of beauty. Housed in a spiffed-up visitors center, featuring hundreds of artifacts that likely hadnt been on display in generations, it seemed a once-in-a- lifetime chance to see what the researchers of the late 1800s found when they pried open the long-sealed chambers of what is now the parks main attraction, Pueblo Bonito.

Back then, archaeological expeditions carted off thousands of itemsbeads, pots, yucca fibers, skeletons from macaws that prove Chaco's importance as a center of tradeand gave them to the collections of important East Coast museums like the Smithsonian and the American Museum of Natural History.

Pots like these that were excavated from the site will stay in the basement for now. (Julie Ann Grimm)

The planned exhibit would have meant that generations of Chacoan descendants who live in the Pueblos surrounding the park and on the Navajo Nation would have been able to see the work their ancestors wrought for the first time.

When Dabney Ford, an archaeologist and former head of cultural resources at Chaco, retired last year, she says the unprecedented exhibit "was going great guns."

Now it seems shot to hell.

Two weeks ago, curator Wendy Bustard sent one of the most embarrassing emails of her professional career. It went to curators and other officials at two Smithsonian museumsthe National Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of Natural Historyas well as the American Museum of Natural History. The exhibit wouldn't be opening. At all. Years of work identifying and preparing artifacts, negotiating the terms of their loan and building custom mounts for them  gone.

The word came from higher-ups that plans for the exhibit must haltdespite the Park Service having already sunk nearly $2 million to design and build mounts and cases, to rehab the visitor center display hall and to ship artifacts stored in New Mexico to Arizona for stabilization. Bustard, who manages the Park Service's Chaco research collection that's housed in the basement of a building on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque, figures that ramping the project back up once it's scrapped would take five years.



Ford thinks her old colleague's assessment is too generous. "I think, given what I saw probably in the last five or six years of my being thereand I was there for just over 30 years," she says, "I would say at this time there is never going to be an exhibit there."

Never.

How did things go so wrong?

In 2010, the park tore down the old visitor center and with it, the 1980s-era interpretive display. As then-superintendent Barbara West planned the rebuild, she OK'd plans for the exhibit. While the visitor center has since reopened, the heating and cooling system can't control the climate.

While park management says the new building is comfortable, Bustard says the exhibit hall within it is not. A few days before Christmas, she measured the temperature in the exhibit hall at 39 degrees. Too cold for people and too cold for precious objects.

"The temperature and relative humidities were all over the place," she says. In one 24-hour period last summer, the relative humidity was as low 14 percent and as high as 58 percent. For museum artifacts that date back hundreds of yearsthings like bone, wood and textilesthat kind of swing in the room's moisture content can be lethal. Organic material swells and contracts and eventually splits, cracks or otherwise falls apart. The park service's own standards don't allow that. And forget about getting the Smithsonian to loan you something with those numbers.

And so, when he arrived late last year to become superintendent of Chaco and Aztec Ruins to the north, Michael Quijano-West assessed the HVAC data and looked at the park's aging infrastructure, unreliable power supply and remote location. Then he pulled the plug.

"This kind of an exhibit should have never been created to begin with," he says. "It's unrealistic to expect us to do a New York City-style exhibit here."

"We can't just fix this with a generator," he says. "We need engineers to come out here, they need to give me estimates and then we need to get funding."

Barbara West, his predecessor, disagrees.

"If you wait for infrastructure to get fixed, you're never going to do anything," she says. "Absolutely there are challenges. It's remote. But it's really important. This is a [United Nations] World Heritage Site. If you don't do anything for the visitors, I guarantee you the park will be closed in 10 years."

Quijano-West says his focus is on providing a sustainable experience for the people who make the trek to Chaco. The new display will center on the culture of Chacoan descendants, not on the museum pieces from the past.

Ford says the decision will undoubtedly hurt visitors who could have better understood the wonder of Chaco, "and not just see the empty buildings, but see the things that made those buildings spectacular."

For well-funded museums back east, scrapping a project that's already cost such a colossal amount of time and money is almost unthinkable.

David Hurst Thomas, curator at the American Museum of Natural History, told SFR in an email that news of the exhibit's delay or possible demise was "a total surprise" to him and his staff. "We have invested considerable time, effort, and enthusiasm to assist in this important exhibition. We are all extremely confused and disappointed."

Barbara West's assessment is blunt: "We're giving up on Chaco and its visitors."



Editor's note: An earlier version of this story contained a quote from Bustard claiming Chaco artifacts from Pueblo Bonito had not been on display ever before in New Mexico. Some of the them were here in the 1980s.

Santa Fe Reporter
The government has launched a $3 million fund to subsidise strengthening on earthquake-prone buildings in Wellington, Lower Hutt and Blenheim, with work required to be completed within a year.

Unreinforced masonry facades and parapets pose a major risk to the public in areas such as the capital, particularly with the eightfold increase in risk of an aftershock in Wellington, Hutt City, Marlborough and Hurunui district following the Kaikoura earthquake in November, Building and Construction Minister Nick Smith said. Falling masonry killed 39 people in the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch.

The $3 million fund will provide a 50 percent subsidy for work on buildings up to a maximum grant of $15,000 for a facade and $10,000 for a parapet to help building owners with the cost, Smith said. Local councils will contribute one-third of that grant, with central government paying the remainder. The government estimates building owners will have to pay about $4.5 million in total, with local councils to contribute $1.5 million.

The government is using its powers under the Hurunui/Kaikoura Earthquakes Recovery Act 2016 to require building owners to do the work within 12 months, and will, under the same legislation, exempt the work from having to get resource and building consents as long as it's overseen by a qualified engineer.

The fund follows a report from the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineers in late December, which estimated there are about 300 buildings in the high-risk category. Areas of concern include Cuba St in Wellington central, Riddiford St in Newtown, and Jackson St in Petone, the report says.

This is about taking a prudent and pragmatic approach to the aftershock risks from the Kaikoura earthquake, while acknowledging we cannot remove all the risks," Smith said. "The initiative complements the checks being made on buildings following the preliminary investigation into the Statistics New Zealand building and the long-term upgrade requirements in the new Earthquake Prone Buildings Act. It shortens the usual timetable for addressing these high-risk buildings but also provides taxpayer and ratepayer support to help fund half the cost for the urgent work."

Building owners will be notified by their local council if they are required to carry out securing work, with about 250 buildings likely to be eligible for the grant in Wellington, about 50 in Lower Hutt and 10 in the South Island. No buildings in Kaikoura met the criteria, the government said.

Wellington mayor Justin Lester said he would ask the city council to reprioritise $1 million for the council's contribution.

"Wellington has taken a leading role on earthquake resilience but more remains to be done and the investment from both central and local government will be a great help to owners," Lester said. "Unreinforced masonry is a real threat to peoples lives during a strong earthquake. It has been responsible for many earthquake-related deaths in New Zealand and overseas. As we are in the middle of an active earthquake sequence, its important we get this work done as soon as possible."

The city council is developing a full list of the streets and buildings these rules will apply to and which will be eligible to draw on the fund, Lester said.

The aftershock risk in the affected areas will drop to twice the usual risk by the end of the year and return to normal levels about 2020.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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Turners, the country's largest seller of vehicles, is to sell stakes in its loan book in a deal worth an initial $150 million.

As well as selling cars and trucks and lending people money to buy them, Turners owns Dorchester Finance, Oxford Finance and Southern Finance, which loan money to individuals and businesses.

The process is known as securitisation and sees the loan originator pool the value of the loans to create a fund. Investors buy stakes or tranches in the fund, and are entitled to the income from the loans as the money is repaid by the debtor. The role of securitisation came to prominence after the global financial crisis, because many of the risky mortgage loans made in the United States to people who couldn't repay them had been bundled up and onsold to investors around the world. They went from being seen as secure as the debt of the US government to being largely worthless overnight, crashing financial markets.

In a statement to the NZX, Turners said the securitisation programme had been arranged by Bank of New Zealand, and covered loans made by Dorchester Finance, Oxford Finance and Southern Finance, as well as the recently established MTF (Motor Trade Finance) Partnership channel.

Todd Hunter, chief executive of Turners, said securitisation had been a core funding strategy for the business for some time and they were pleased to receive credit approval for the programme.

The high quality of our consumer loan portfolio has directly enabled us to achieve commercial terms with the Bank of New Zealand that accommodate the majority of the Turners Group receivables, and provides committed funding to the Group at a competitive rate, with the structure able to accommodate future growth opportunities."

The securitisation programme is to start in February, with the first sales due to occur in March.

Shares of Turners rose 0.3 percent or 1 cent to $3.80. They've risen 8.2 percent since the start of the year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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New Zealand winegrowers remain upbeat about this year's harvest, despite earthquakes and adverse weather.

In recent weeks parts of New Zealand have been hit by heavier than usual rainfall, colder temperatures for January and high winds, accompanies by flash flooding, land slips and road closures. However, "in our major wine growing regions, the weather hasn't been too bad at all," said New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan. "At this stage, things are looking pretty good."

The bulk of New Zealand's wine is produced in Marlborough on the northern tip of the South Island and Hawke's Bay, on the North Island. Wine exports totalled $1.6 billion last year and 70 percent of the industry is located in Marlborough.

Looking ahead to the harvest that will run from late February to late April, Gregan said "we are not expecting an overly big harvest. At this stage, I think we are looking at an average harvest." Marlborough has been sheltered from the worst of the weather and in Hawke's Bay the weather has been warm and good, he said.

Xan Harding, vice chair of Hawkes Bay Winegrowers Association said "so far the growing season has been as close to perfect as we could wish for." Harding said they are currently positioning for a vintage "of the highest quality" with the potential to surpass even the stellar vintages of 2008, 2014 and 2015. He noted the area is well enough advanced into the growing season that a lot of the quality already "in the bank" but said the difference between a good and great vintage will come down to the weather in March and April.

The Marlborough region was also hit by the November earthquake, which damaged about 20 percent of wine storage tanks leading to a wine loss of some 2 percent of the area's total annual production. Gregan said, however, there would be little impact on this year's harvest as "the process of tank repair and/or replacement is progressing according to plan."

Regarding other risks to the sector, Gregan said that news the US officially pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership was disappointing. Newly installed president Donald Trump withdrew the US from the controversial trade and investment pact as a first order of business this week.

New Zealand spent some six years pursuing the 12-nation Pacific Rim pact in the hope of securing a historic first trade deal with the US. Gregan said eliminating tariffs on wine imports into the US would have been "nice to have." Wine imports into the US make up just under $500 million of the total.

However, the long-term benefit of the TPP was access into some of the Asian markets, such as Japan, he said. "It's obviously a disappointment that we are not going to have improved access into those markets but we will just have to see how things develop," he said.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.

-- The 52-year-old man who was

has been identified by sources as Carl Clark.

, 57, of Edgewater,

N.J.

as the other man who was

at about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday at a lending business at 124 Buel Ave. Police discovered the bodies following a 911 call about gunshots.

A suspect remains at large and the investigation continues, a spokesman for the

NYPD'

s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information said.

The suspect is described by police as an adult male who was possibly wearing a mask. He fled the location in gray sedan, heading east on Dongan Hills Avenue toward Hylan Boulevard, police said.

A motive has not yet been established. Police do not believe it was a robbery since nothing obvious was taken from the scene, the spokesman said. The victims were believed to have been alone in the building with the suspect at the time of the shootings.

A preliminary police investigation indicates the victims were shot in the back of their heads in a rear office. The medical examiner's office will determine exactly how many times the men were shot, police said.

The address where the men were shot is the location of Universal Merchant Funding, an organization that provides loans for small businesses. Genovese is listed the owner of the business, according to his LinkedIn profile.
nws lawsuit

Assemblymembers Ron Castorina Jr. and Nicole Malliotakis are on a statewide task force that will make recommendations to the governor concerning the policies needed to handling the crisis faced by those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. (Staten Island Advance)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Advocates for the intellectual and developmentally disabled community have long felt that Staten Island's politicians have put their needs on the back burner.

The Staten Island Developmental Disabilities Council (SIDDC) held a number of rallies last year to fight for funding and services they say their community has been lacking for years.

Advocates visited the offices of state officials last year in the hopes of bringing their issues to the forefront of agendas.

The advocates also urged local elected officials to put pressure on Gov. Andrew Cuomo for increased funding to maintain and enhance services in the borough.

"Our numbers are growing, even our little kids. After-school programs, recreational programs, housing, education and early intervention programs. They're cutting everything or they're not growing them fast enough to keep up with the need," said advocate Diane Peruggia, who sits on the executive board of the SIDDC and is a parent of a daughter with autism.

Since last year, a number of the borough's elected officials have been working on the issue; listening to their constituents' needs, joining task forces and working on legislative solutions.

Here are some examples:

MALLIOTAKIS: PUT PRESSURE ON THE GOVERNOR

After holding forums across the state and hearing testimonies from dozens of families, providers and advocates on Staten Island, Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) said a state task forces she on will put together a report with suggestions to aid lawmakers develop real solutions to better serve and support people with I/DD.

The report is set to be released in January.

One recommendation the task force will be making is increasing the reimbursement amount from the state for non-profits.

"Non-profits are at a major disadvantage," Malliotakis said.

She said that non-profits are providing "better, more tailored services than the Department of Education" but are receiving little reimbursement for the services that they provide.

In the meantime, Millotakis said her biggest concern and number one priority is lack of residential options and long wait lists.

She says that Gov. Andrew Cuomo vowed to study the residential issue the I/DD community is facing, which happened over a year ago, and "we haven't seen anything come from that."

"There's so much desperation from older parents. They're unable to care for their children because they're grown and it's not as easy as it was when they were small children. It's heartbreaking," she said.

"There's always going to be somebody who is considered priority, but the need for housing across the state is so critical. We need more investment and more planning so these parents can have peace of mind," she added.

She would also like to see more job and life skills training so that individuals can be more integrated into the community, adding that a tax credit for businesses who employ individuals would help.

For now, Malliotakis urges people to keep "making noise" and put pressure on the governor.

"The families need to keep doing what they're doing and make noise. Let the governor and the administration know how the lack of action in Albany is affecting them," Malliotakis said.

"[Gov. Cuomo] does respond to public pressure and it's so important that families keep writing to him and local legislators and let him know that you're not going to forget come election day. I think that's something that's important to communicate," Malliotakis said.

CASTORINA: BUILDING COALITIONS FOR LONG-TERM PLANNING

Assemblyman Ron Castorina (R-South Shore), also a task force member, agrees that the most pressing issue to the intellectual and developmental disabilities community is long-term care.

"I can't tell you how many parents that I've sat down with at the office -- and even as I go door-to-door - who've told me that they don't know what's going to happen when they're gone," Castorina said.

He said ideally he would like to set up a coalition with other assemblymembers to work on a plan for funding of additional long-term facilities.

As the infamous legacy the Willowbrook State School persists, many parents are looking for integrated group homes in the community, as opposed to a hospital or similar institutional setting.

"We have to do the compassionate thing; we have to do the right thing. And I think that involves us making an investment to make sure that those types of community homes continue and that they exist. Lots of people will say well not in my backyard and I get that but I think that they have a moral obligation to make sure that children, those with I/DD, those young adults and those people have the ability to be integrated into the community in a way that's appropriate," he said.

But, he said, "The state isn't providing the resources. Quite frankly, we shouldn't be going backwards."

BORELLI: TRACKING AUTISM BY DISTRICT

Republican Assemblyman Joe Borelli says that tracking autism on Staten Island is of vital importance and for an unknown reason, isn't currently being done.

"Data drives government ... and you can't get anything without supporting empirical evidence," Borelli told the Advance.

He said that an uptick in individuals with autism should results in more programs and services the way that a crime wave triggers increased police deployment.

Going into 2017, Borelli currently has 22 co-sponsors on a bill that would increase reporting on autism cases

Arguing that there is insufficient data available on autism cases by district, Borelli wants the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to track and keep better data.

"It's surprising that DOHMH doesn't track autism in their community health survey," he said.

"Tracking through the DOHMH community surveys would be best because it doesn't affect HIPPA laws or data," he said. "The city is not doing an effective job of tracking cases by district."

"[They] need more funding for programs, classroom space, other services but first [the city] needs to know where the greatest need is," he added.

MATTEO: ALLOCATING FUNDS IN 2017

"My office helps many constituents get services and work through government red tape for assistance for an intellectually or developmentally disabled relative or for other issues that arise," said Councilman Steve Matteo (R-Mid Island), stating that the need for housing is the top complaint from his constituents.

Matteo said he is "acutely aware" of the growing needs of the I/DD community on Staten Island, adding that the growing population of this community is why he prioritizes funding for local resources in the annual budget process.

He noted that funding will always be a challenge, however, it will continue to be addressed "year after year."

In 2017, Matteo has listed the following organizations for Fiscal Year 2017 discretionary funding: On Your Mark; Eden II; A Very Special Place; Community Resources; Lifestyles For the Disabled and Community Resources.

ROSE: PROMISES CONTINUATION OF SUPPORT

Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) said that her constituents have repeatedly told her that services available for those with I/DD are "too often inadequate."

Rose said that it's unacceptable and vows to continue working to rectify problems and ensure that the borough's most vulnerable have access to what they need.

"I have ... supported legislation that advances the rights of people with disabilities and allocated funding to local nonprofits such as On Your Mark and Lifestyles For the Disabled for services, including music education for children with disabilities and meals for seniors. I will continue to work to improve services so that all our neighbors who live with a disability can achieve their full potential," Rose said in a statement to the Advance.

Dignity in Danger is the Advance's depth report on the crisis of care facing Staten Island's developmentally disabled. View the full package.
Update: Arrest made in connection with double homicide, report says

Update: Second victim has been identified by sources.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police have released the name of one of the victim's in the Tuesday night double homicide in Dongan Hills.

Michael Genovese, 57, of Edgewater, N.J. was one of two men shot and killed inside 124 Buel Ave. Tuesday night at approximately 6:15 p.m.

The identity of the 52-year-old male victim is being withheld pending family notification.

Officers found two men at that location, who were pronounced dead on arrival, the A spokeswoman for the NYPD said.

Local resident Joe Salemmo, who has lived in the neighborhood his entire life, said he was walking up the block with a friend when he saw the officers on scene.

"The two officers came running out of the building and were looking for someone," he said. "It's scary what this neighborhood is coming to."

Salemmo said he had spoken to Genovese on several occasions, mostly about his Porsche. He described him as a "nice man."

Police were canvassing the surrounding neighborhoods for a suspect. There was no description on the individual, but he was said to have fled toward Hylan Boulevard in a grey sedan.

No one had been apprehended by police, and the investigation into the killing was ongoing. No clear motive had been established, police said.

The address where the double homicide occurred is the location for Universal Merchant Funding, an organization that provides loans for small businesses.

Genovese's Linkedin page listed him as the owner, and public records indicated he had worked there for at least the past ten years.

A man, who identified himself as Devon Rocco, a former employee of the business, said no cash was kept on the premise.

"This could've happened to me," Rocco said. "I could've been done."

Several neighbors who live nearby the location said they didn't hear any gunshots. They were also shocked by the news of a shooting in the quiet neighborhood.

"It's scary," Tommy Casey of Zoe Street said. "That something like this can happen here is unbelievable."

A representative from Advocates without Borders, a group against gun violence, came to the scene to announce that they would be offering a $2500 reward for anyone with information on a suspect.

There was also a shooting in the 120th Precinct at 718 Henderson Ave. Police said the two shootings are not being investigated together at this time. The victim in that shooting was expected to recover from his injuries.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A person of interest is in custody in connection with the double homicide at a Dongan Hills loan business, police said.

The person is being questioned by police, according to an NYPD spokesman, who declined to provide further details.

The suspect was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon in Brooklyn, law enforcement sources told the New York Post. The suspect was questioned at the 69th Precinct stationhouse, but police were still building their case Wednesday night and had not yet charged him, sources told the Post.

Two men were shot in the back of the head around 6:15 p.m. Tuesday inside Universal Merchant Funding at 124 Buel Ave., police said.

The shooter is thought to have known and targeted one or both of the victims, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.

A motive has not yet been established, but police do not believe it was a robbery since nothing obvious was taken from the scene, an NYPD spokesman said.

Police do not believe the shootings are linked to organized crime, Boyce said. The incident also is not believed to be connected to a separate shooting which occurred around the same time on Henderson Avenue in West Brighton, he added.

Police identified one of the victims as Michael Genovese, 57, who was listed as the owner of Universal Merchant Funding, according to his LinkedIn profile. Sources identified the other victim as employee Carl Clark, 52.

Neighbors and people who work in the area said Wednesday that they were shocked to hear Clark had been killed.

"I am very very shocked," said Yogi Patel, 38, store manager at a nearby 7-Eleven. "He was very friendly. He was a nice guy."

Clark would ride to the store on a bicycle with custom tires, Patel said.

"He just loved to ride his bike," he said. "All day and all night."

-- Advance reporters Kyle Lawson and Maura Grunlund contributed to this report.
20384528-mmmain.jpg

New Jersey became the first state in the country to vote on a bill that would ban the declawing of cats.((Jan Somma-Hammel/Staten Island Advance)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A bill making its way through the New Jersey Legislature, that would prohibit the declawing of cats, is getting the attention of New York animal lovers.

New Jersey became the first state in the country to vote on a bill that would ban the declawing of cats.

Earlier this week the Jersey state Assembly approved a measure that would make declawing cats a criminal offense. The legislation now goes to the state Senate for a vote.

The bill would ban declawing, and another procedure in which an animal keeps its claws but the tendons to its toes are severed. It would allow declawing for medical reasons.

According to a report on NJ.com, under the legislation, onychetomy, the medical term for declawing, would be added to the state's list of criminal animal cruelty offenses.

Violators would be guilty of a disorderly persons' offense, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and/or a jail term of up to six months. They also could face a civil penalty of up to $2,000.

Declawing is typically done to prevent cats from shredding furniture or other household property, or because a cat has a history of scratching humans and other household animals.

The measure, sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman Troy Singleton was passed Monday by a 43-10 vote. "Many countries worldwide acknowledge the inhumane nature of declawing, which causes extreme pain to cats. It's time for New Jersey to join them," Singleton told NJ.com.

New York State legislators took up a similar bill in May, but the bill never got off the ground in Albany. The legislation may be reintroduced during the 2017 session.

(SILiive readers, tell us whether you think New York needs a law to criminalize the declawing of cats. Let us know your thoughts on the issue in the Comment section below.)
Donald Trump

President Donald Trump shows off his signature on an executive order about the Dakota Access pipeline, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, in the Oval Office of the White House. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

STATEN ISLAND. N.Y. -- Donald Trump has marked his first few days as president with the signing of various executive orders, from weakening Obamacare to reviving the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.

And Wednesday, the president is expected to sign two more.

The first will include directing the Department of Homeland Security to begin construction of the Mexican border wall. The second will work to eliminate "sanctuary cities," in which municipal governments refuse to hand over undocumented immigrants to federal authorities.

The president is granted executive power via Article II of the U.S. Constitution, making him the commander in chief, and requiring that the president "shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."

A president's use of executive power can include executive orders, proclamations, memorandums and proposals.

Here are 5 things to know about executive orders:

An executive order is legally binding, allowing a president to give instructions to government agencies and departments.

An executive order can have the same effect as law under certain circumstances -- but Congress can pass a new law to override it, subject to a presidential veto of course.

An executive order can't reverse a law passed by Congress.

Every president, dating back to George Washington, has used his executive power in varying ways.

According to data from the American Presidency Project (APP), President Obama issued 277 executive orders, averaging 35 per year, during his eight years as president. Franklin D. Roosevelt issued 3,721 executive orders over his 12-year tenure (averaging 307 per year) -- the most executive orders of any U.S. president.

The APP, a non-profit, non-partisan organization, is a leading source of presidential documents on the internet.
During my restaurant research one name came up time and time again as being the very best restaurant in Vienna. Ranked number nine in The Worlds 50 Best Restaurant List, two Michelin star Steirereck was not only the best in the country but one of the best in the world.

Arriving at the restarants location in Stadtpark, Theresa and I eagerly anticipated the promised gastronomic explosion. Shunning white table clothes and the other fripperies of fine dining, the restaurant is located in a glass cube in the middle of the park and the decor is minimalistic but still beautiful and elegant.



Immediately were we offered our drink of choice from the champagne and aperitif trolley and we opted for a local Austrian sparkling wine. We really enjoyed the local wine in Austria which was as rule very dry and drinkable. Later when we wanted a still wine we were presented with two thick books, one of white and one of red!



Theres the choice of going full on tasting menu, a la carte or mixing and matching between the two, seeing plenty that we liked we chose the latter option.

And then the magic begins



Soon our waiter began laying up the table with multiple canapes and amuse boucheshonestly Id never seen so manyan array of nibbles which pretty much took up the whole table.



Next came THE ACTUAL BEST THING EVER!! Regular readers will know how much I love bread and I think my heart almost stopped when a bread trolley was wheeled to our table containing around thirty different varieties of bread! The waiter went through each of them, explaining but we were spoilt for choice.



I ended up choosing a chorizo bread and trying a pretzel bread with Theresa having one filled with bacon. Years ago we used to go for family meals at The Dorchester Grill and my favourite thing about dinner there was the bread trolley. Its now long gone but my dad doesnt fail to bring it up every time we go. It was actually the first time Id seen a bread trolley and one with so much variety since then.

For my starter I chose one of the signature dishes at Steirereck and two pieces of char were presented to the table.



Sourcing is incredibly important at Steirereck and Chef Heinz Reitbauer sources many of his ingredients in Austria. The fish comes from Mariazell in Styria which is also the city of the Reitbauers heritage and an important inspiration for his cuisine.



First the waiter pours beeswax over the char to cook it.



He then peels off the wax and returns the fillets to the kitchen.



Before bringing back the beautifully presented dish including a delicate boiled and marinated yellow carrot. What looked like perfect rounds of ravioli were actually jellied yellow carrot and apple juice infused with beeswax and filled with sour cream with cayenne pepper and lime. On top was a cleverly made quince vinegar pollen made with char caviar.

Theresas first course was crayfish grilled with a very inventive coffee butter, marinated foie gras, and jerusalem artichoke with bitter salad, crayfish marinade and coffee oil. Texture and flavour is added with a crisped up peel of Jerusalem artichoke and preserved green hazelnuts. Over this a roasted crayfish and Jerusalem artichoke sauce is poured.

Perhaps Steirereck had a bloggers in mind as every course came with a little card explaining the dish that I could take away and keep, meaning no notes were needed and we could simply enjoy the meal and keep the cards as souvenirs.

Of course, in between these courses there were several revisits from the bread trolley

Though Id never tried Perlfisch before I chose it for my next course. Its actually a ray-finned fish and a rare member of the carp family found only in Austria, Germany and Slovenia. The fish was perfectly pan-fried and came accompanied with nasturtium root, elderberry and dill in various permutations.



Theresas deceptively simple romaine lettuce dish came with meadow mushroom, meyer lemon and bone marrow and a touch of Viennese strugeon caviar was dotted on at the end. Produce here is only the very finest, coming from local farmers as well as the chefs own farm.

Steirereck has always been part of Chef Heinz Reitbauers life. Founded by his parents in 1970 the same year that he was born, Heinz spent years working in the kitchen before being appointed Head Chef at his familys second restaurant in Styria. It was in 2005 that Reitbauer moved the restaurant to its current location and became head chef of both restaurants. With the top restaurant in Vienna being in his blood, Reitbauer learned from the very best and created his own modern Austrian cuisine and is now one of the worlds best chefs.



Next course was fish again for me and a sturgeon grilled, glazed and marinated in mustard oil and accompanied with Marchfield artichokes, cape gooseberries and olive oil. The sturgeon was firmer that the other fish with a strong flavour and I loved the artichokes braised with caper leaves.



For Theresa, pheasant with salted lemon, braised onion, chard and groundcherry came next. The confit breast was succulent and the leg was mixed with the chard for flavour. A delicate potato sauce was beautifully balanced with baby leeks and salted lemon. One of Reitbauers key manifestos is respect for ingredients and its important for him to surprise his guests with something different that they may not have heard of. In this case the groundcherry which is actually similar to a cherry tomato with a flavour combining pineapple and tomato.



My favourite course was a whole roasted pigeon coated with cassava crumbs, accompaniments were pigeon crackling dumpling, parsnips cooked with apple juice, verjus and buchu (an African herb), steamed chard and lychee tomatoes. Separately on a bed of lightly fermented chard leaves was a rich pigeon offal and foie gras dumpling. You can see the obscure ingredients, the deep levels of research that goes into compiling these dishes.

Theresa declared her final dish the best of the whole trip. A milk-fed piglet accompanied by a celeriac pear salad and sweet potato braised in eucalyptus. The pork tail was also glazed with Eucalyptus and meyer lemon.



Next it was time for another of Steirerecks legendary trolliesthe hallowed cheese trolley. If you read my post about our dinner at Ocean in Jersey, youll know that Theresa basically lives for cheese and honestly Ive never seen anyone so excited as she talked through her options with the cheesemonger. Im sure that she wont mind me telling you that despite our multi-course menu, she also went in for seconds.



We also shared a dessert of poppy-seed noodles with damson ice cream which was inspired by a traditional Austrian dessert. The noodles were made from potato dough and glazed in poppy-seed butter.



We were finally presented with the worlds largest lemon variety while the waiter concocted our final surprise. One thing I really loved about Steirereck was that there was absolutely no rush to complete our multi-course meal. We started at 8pm and didnt roll out leave until 11.30, giving us plenty of time to fully enjoy the experience.



We finished with a palate cleansing smoothie and a variety of citrus fruits from the Orangery of the Schonbrunn palace. On the wooden board was white chocolate with pumpkinseed oil, Persian lime with black nattle, candied sweet lemon and candied diamante citron.

Its safe to say that our dinner at Steirereck was one of the best meals of my life, on a par with The French Laundry, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester and Enocteca Pinchiorri, Chef Heinz Reitbauer creates an unforgettable magic in the kitchen. Of course, this level of quality comes at a price and it was also one of the most expensive meals of my life. Totally worth it though but if youre looking not to dent your wallet so much, theres also a lunch menu. Theres also the option of trying Meierei, Reitbauers more casual restaurant in the same location which boasts a choice of 120 varieties of cheese!

PIN FOR LATER:



Steirereck Restaurant in Vienna

Am Heumarkt 2A

In Stadtpark

A  1030

Wien

+43 1 713 31 68
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The digital billboard outside a Canberra theatre is still featuring two girls in hijab celebrating Australia Day despite reports of online threats against the centre.

Far-right groups threatened to vandalise and set fire to the billboard outside Canberra Theatre Centre, after it posted a photo of the billboard with the image of the Muslim children waving Australian flags on its Facebook page on Monday.

Online threats were made against the Canberra Theatre Centre digital billboard for showing an image of two Muslim children celebrating Australia Day.? Credit:Katie Burgess

Anti-Islamic protesters threatened to bomb the theatre, prompting staff to remove the post, the ABC reported.

The threats have now been referred to police for investigation, ACT Policing confirmed on Wednesday afternoon.
There must be a certain camaraderie sitting cheek by jowl with someone day after day at work.

Carole Batterham and Neta Nallo met in the mid-1960s while both working at Canberra's first telephone exchange at East Block in the Parliamentary Triangle.

The Canberra Gold Awards are now open for people who have resided in Canberra for 50 years or more. Two nominees this year are Carole Batterham (left) and Neta Nallo who are still friends after meeting at the telephone exchange in East Block in the mid-1960s. They are pictured here on the CSIRO switchboard in 1973.

They were two young girls both from the north coast of NSW - Neta from Murwillumbah, and Carole from Kyogle.

"Maybe that's why we hit it off," Carole said.
The trial reintroduction of the species in the Lower Cotter Catchment represents the next phase of mainland reintroduction of what is sometimes called the rat kangaroo.

Eastern bettongs have survived only in fox-free Tasmania for about 100 years. Sixty bettongs were transferred to predator-proof areas of Canberra in 2012 with the population since growing to about 275.

Four of the bettongs were killed by foxes and one by a bird of prey with six other deaths under investigation. Another bettong may still be alive with a faulty collar and all six surviving females have pouch young.

Early learnings from a trial reintroduction of eastern bettongs in the Lower Cotter Catchment have been labelled "massively encouraging" despite at least 11 of the 28 animals dying since last August.

A review of the outcomes of the trial, expected mid-February, will be used to determine whether bettongs could survive in the wild.

"Due to the unknowns surrounding this project - because it's never been attempted before with a species on the mainland in this kind of environment - the lowest risk is to release a few animals, monitor them really carefully, gain as much information as possible so then it allows you to make an informed decision about a bigger project in the future and whether it's feasible or not," research lead Will Batson said.

"What we have proven is that bettongs aren't necessarily a big beacon in the landscape sucking all the foxes in, so in that way I'd say it's been massively encouraging, and currently although it's not definitive until the review, I think we've shown that there's a possibility that we could get viable populations of this species established with foxes and cats in the wild environment."

ACT Parks and Conservation director Daniel Iglesias said the trial reintroduction was imperative in saving the eastern bettong from extinction. But he said even if the trial proved successful there were no guarantees a population would be established in the ACT.

"To those that think 'oh, gee, you're exposing these animals and some of them may die', I would say the big picture is what we're looking at," he said.
The chances of a dividend hike and a possible share buyback when global miner Rio Tinto releases its annual earnings early next month have risen after it finalised deals to raise as much as $US3.8 billion ($5 billion) from asset sales in recent months.

Late Tuesday, Rio said it would raise $US2.45 billion from the sale of steaming coal mines in NSW, which followed the sale for as much as $US1.3 billion of an iron ore prospect in Africa. In both cases, it is selling to Chinese buyers.

A worker in a mine in China operated by Yanzhou Coal. Yancoal, owned by Yanzhou, is buying Rio coal mines in NSW. Credit:Olivia Martin-McGuire

Yancoal Australia, which is a locally listed arm of a state-owned enterprise in China, is acquiring the coal mines, with the African project, Simandou, being sold to China Aluminium Co.

Yancoal will be turning to local and offshore capital markets to finance the purchase, which is expected to include a share placement and a rights issue, although details have yet to be finalised. Yanzhou Coal, which has a 78 per cent stake in Yancoal Australia, said it would invest as much as $US1 billion in fresh equity in its local arm, although the details would depend on the outcome of investor meetings, which are due to be held later next month.
"My God, this is going to be refreshing," Kelcy Warren, the Texas billionaire behind the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, said days after Donald Trump swept to victory.

As the industry digests the newly elected US President's push to get two stalled pipeline projects moving again  with some caveats  oil and natural gas producers are preparing for even more quick policy turns from the administration. High on the wish-list is expanded access to drilling on federal lands and offshore areas.

US President Donald Trump is seen as a powerful ally by the energy industry. Credit:AP

With the stroke of a pen, Mr Trump breathed new life into the Dakota Access and Keystone XL projects, and, in the process, the nation's energy pipeline complex.

The latest step to dismantle policies of the Obama administration, the move underscores how energy, perhaps more than any other American industry, is poised to benefit under the new President.
If the first weeks of 2017 are anything to go by, Palestinian government-sanctioned terrorism targeting Israeli soldiers and civilians is showing no signs of slowing down.

On January 8, a Palestinian terrorist rammed his truck into a group of Israeli cadets and officers who were getting off a bus in the Armon Hanatziv neighbourhood of southern Jerusalem. Four young Israelis were killed, and 17 were injured. Of the three female cadets and male officer murdered  Lieutenant Yael Yekutie aged 20, Cadet Shir Hajaj, 22,Cadet Shira Tzur, 20, and Cadet Erez Orbach , 20  one loved horse riding; another was the oldest of four sisters; a third had fought to enlist in the army despite medical problems that allowed him to defer the draft. The fourth was the 300th graduate of her high school to have died while serving as a soldier. All of those killed left behind inconsolable parents and siblings, who had to endure laying to rest a family member who had barely made it to adulthood.All of those killed left behind inconsolable parents and siblings, who had to endure laying to rest a family member who had barely made it to adulthood.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - JANUARY 09: Relatives and family members of Shira Hajaj mourn during her funeral on January 9, 2017 in Jerusalem, Israel. Hajaj was one among the four soldiers killed during the truck attack the previous day. (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images) Credit:Ilia Yefimovich

The Palestinian terrorist who drove the vehicle was shot dead at the scene. Israel faced the usual criticism for its response. But international media and analysts chose to ignore the fact that not only did al-Qunbar accelerate as he struck the group, but after he hit the soldiers, he put the vehicle in reverse and attempted to run over the injured a second time, leaving nearby soldiers no choice.

In these pages recently, Dr Kevin Bray criticised Israel's response when dealing with "perceived Palestinian misdemeanours" ("Peace prospects look glum, January 19, p20). Bray is deliberately not using the word terrorism here because it doesn't serve his purposes. He also avoided mentioning that if an Israeli soldier does act against the IDF's strict protocols, they are held to account. On January 4, an Israeli military court convicted soldier Elor Azariah of manslaughter in the death of a Palestinian terrorist in Hebron last March, in an investigation spearheaded by the military. This verdict should be held up as an example of how, even after decades of fighting terrorism, the IDF operates according to strict rules of engagement, alongside a clear set of morals and ethical standards that will not be compromised.
On Monday a Senate committee began three days of public hearings on the federal government's draft same sex marriage legislation. The bill proposes to introduce exemptions from anti-discrimination law for people who have religious objections to same-sex marriage.

Those proposed exemptions would probably be unconstitutional if Parliament enacted them because they play favourites among different religious groups.

The bill proposes to exempt ministers of religion, civil celebrants and religious bodies that sell goods or services from having to comply with anti-discrimination laws if they have a genuine religious objection to same-sex marriage.

However, the exemptions aren't really about religious freedom. There is no exemption in the case of a conscientious religious objection to any other types of marriage, such as marriages involving a divorcee or a couple of different faiths. If the bill was really about religious freedom, the exemptions would not be limited to religious objections to same-sex marriages.
Meet Taronga Zoo's newest addition - one of the world's tiniest and rarest primates, a mohawk-sporting baby cotton-top tamarin.

The newborn, whose sex and name are yet to be determined, is the only one of its kind born at Taronga Zoo in 10 years.

It's also a first for doting parents, Esmeralda and Diego.

"Diego is playing a very active role in caring for the baby. We usually see the baby on his back during the day, so mum must be doing the night shift," primate keeper Alex Wright said.
Australia's peak body for architects has backed down on its opposition to a security fence around Parliament House, just weeks after its own petition against the controversial plan attracted nearly 4000 signatures.

In December, the Australian Institute of Architects said it was "deeply concerned" by a decision to build a fence along the building's sloping lawns, warning it would destroy the character, heritage and symbolism of the national Parliament.

But the group has backed down after its president, Ken Maher, and other representatives were invited to a confidential briefing with Department of Parliamentary Services secretary Robert Stefanic.

Speaker Tony Smith and Senate President Stephen Parry have refused to release information about the 2.6 metre steel fence, citing security concerns. Plans for the fences across the sloping lawns at the front of the building were rushed through Parliament as politicians prepared to leave Canberra for the Christmas break. The exact location, design and cost are yet to be made public.
Japan has swiftly rejected a push by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to press on with the doomed Trans-Pacific Partnership, reiterating its view that the deal is "meaningless" without the US.

US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the world's largest economy from the agreement prompted Mr Turnbull to suggest China could be brought in as a replacement to save the deal.

Mr Turnbull on Tuesday said he had spoken to the leaders of Japan, New Zealand and Singapore about how their nations could "maintain this momentum towards open markets and free trade".

But in a swift rebuff, Japan indicated it was not considering any further action on the TPP, repeating Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's declaration that the deal was "meaningless" without Washington.
London: Treasurer Scott Morrison is urging the Australian business community in London to adopt "strategic patience" as they wait to find out whether Britain will still enjoy special passporting rights into the EU after Brexit.

The issue is key for Australian providers of financial services into the Eurozone as the passporting system allows businesses to operate in participating countries without needing permission from each individual country.

Key countries include: Germany, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

Treasurer Scott Morrison raised the issue with his British counterpart Philip Hammond during talks at 11 Downing Street this week.
In three ways - and in just three days - Donald Trump's "America First" mantra has profoundly unsettled Australia's assumptions about the world.

Trump hasn't provoked a crisis in foreign policy but there is a new intensity that will especially challenge Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in the coming weeks on vexed political questions ranging from refugees to China.

US forces get the nod?

An unnamed official from the Trump team has flagged expanding or adding new bases in Australia as part of a wider strategy to counter China's influence in the region.
A $122 million Brisbane City Council IT contract will be renegotiated after a systems replacement program was delayed by 18 months, with a potential cost blow-out of up to $60 million.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the council would renegotiate its $122 million, 10-year contract with Technology One, which was to replace 13 existing systems with a new "local government systems program" by the middle of this year.

Not happy: Lord Mayor Graham Quirk says a $122 million IT contract will be renegotiated. Credit:Glenn Hunt

"More realistically, based on the information the panel has provided to me and civic cabinet, that is going to be more like late 2018," Cr Quirk said on Wednesday.

Technology One, meanwhile, has laid the blame at the feet of the council, which it said had changed the scope of the work after the contract was signed.
Forget for a minute that Donald Trump is president. Remember, back during the campaign, all that chatter about how a powerful woman should look?

In a New York Times column, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend questioned our use of outdated gender perceptions. Vogue admonished Trump for his "alarmingly retrograde" views on women's looks. The Huffington Post wondered why television shows shove high heels down our throats each time a strong woman appears on screen.

Chanel is reinventing the power suit for their 2017 Haute Couture Spring Summer collection. Credit:WireImage

Now it's time for Chanel's take.

At its haute couture fashion show in Paris on Tuesday, designer Karl Lagerfeld showed off looks that radiated both authority and femininity, retro pastel skirt suits reminiscent of the outfits executive women donned like armor in the 1980s.
The Australia Day honours were announced this morning and, as usual, the diversity of the list is under scrutiny.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of Australians honoured are once again older, white males with high levels of education. And while I am sure that those elderly white well-educated males are very deserving of their honour, surely they deserve to be joined by others who make up our rich society.

Former Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, now the CEO of the YWCA in NSW, is being appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia. Credit:James Alcock

The good news is that women make up 34.7 per cent of all those honoured today  up from an average of 31.4 per cent over the past 5 years. This year, both former PM Julia Gillard and former Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, were named a Companion of Australia, the top honour  with six men and four women in that category.

The bad news is that the number of women on the list still falls far short of the 50 per cent that you might reasonably expect.
Women shouldn't be required to wear high heels or make up at work, British lawmakers said in a report on Wednesday, as they urged the government to do more to protect women from discriminatory dress codes.

The Petitions and Women and Equalities Committees said discriminatory dress codes remained widespread in Britain and the existing law -- the Equality Act 2010 -- did not fully protect employees from gender discrimination in the workplace.

UK receptionist Nicola Thorp, who was sent home by her employer for not wearing high heels. Credit:SnapperMedia

The Committees launched an inquiry into dress codes in the workplace following a petition launched last year by the London worker Nicola Thorp who was sent home for refusing to wear high heels at work.

"It's not enough for the law to be clear in principle - it must also work in practice," Helen Jones, chair of the Petitions Committee, said in a statement.
L2 is something of an "orphan" gene with an unknown function that could have implications for cancer treatment, but it doesn't attract a lot of attention. The way the papers reported their findings and the flaws in their sequences were strikingly similar, Professor Byrne found. Their poor English and grammar, the strikingly similar references and their seemingly superficial experiments set off alarm bells. Professor Byrne dug deeper, finding the same sequences were being used for completely different purposes: a sequence used as a positive control in one research paper was used as a negative control in another. "You don't have to be a scientist to know that's a major logical flaw," Professor Byrne said.

"In many cases it was highly unlikely or impossible that they could have obtained the results they obtained," she said. She wrote to the four journals that had published the papers. Two journals investigated and one issued a retraction. The authors of the paper admitted they had obtained their data from a commercial biotechnology company without disclosing this partnership. This was just the tip of the iceberg. Professor Byrne's Saturday night search on the medical research aggregation site PubMed led to the discovery of another 43 papers that shared highly dubious similarities. The papers all described single gene knockdowns - a technique used to modify a gene using RNA.

The uniformities were as glaring as the authors' choice of title, the data, descriptions, images, table layouts, even the font and bolding of specific annotations. Often, the papers' text wouldn't match the data in the tables, again suggesting the authors had obtained their data form a third party, most likely an undisclosed biotechnology company. Professor Byrne and her colleague computer scientist Cyril Labbe at the University of Grenoble Alpes, France, published their findings in Scientometrics. "I think we also have to recognise that until we actually prove the origins that we discuss in the paper I guess the authors have a right to be presumed innocent to an extent," Professor Byrne said, "I'm hoping that at least some of these papers will prove to have been performed by the authors as they described in their papers."

But she suspected there were hundreds of papers with similar flaws. Under-investigated genes that attracted little attention could be fertile ground for researchers under overwhelming pressure to "publish or perish", Professor Byrne said. Career security can hinge on the number of published works a scientist has produced. Chinese researchers may be especially vulnerable, with many institutions setting strict quotas for their scientists. The papers were also published in journals that are fairly low down on the list of prestigious titles, and may have lower standards for publication. The damage done by research fraud cannot be understated, Professor Byrne said.

"Science runs on brainpower and funding but also trust," she said. "I need to believe the researchers are doing what they say they're doing. I'm not in their lab staring over their shoulders, and if I can't be confident that what I'm reading is correct I may as well go and work at my local shopping centre. "The public needs to trust what we do. Governments need to trust what we do, especially in this 'post truth' world where experts are shot down and dismissed so easily," she said. The papers, like the bulk of published research, urges others to continue their work. Researchers who are waylaid by trying to replicate faulty data could have been working towards findings that may have had a real impact on the lives of patients.
A noise-hating neighbour who recently moved to an inner-city suburb has succeeded in shutting down live music in the courtyard of the pub next door after just one complaint, in an incident that has sparked fresh debate about licensing restrictions and NIMBYs.

The Harold Park Hotel in Glebe admitted it has flouted development rules for at least five years by hosting Sunday afternoon live music sessions in its alfresco courtyard without permission.

Local band members Pat, Sam and Alex play in the outdoor courtyard of the Harold Park Hotel in Glebe.

But fifth-generation hotelier William Ryan told the Herald "the system ain't right" if a single complaint could lead to his popular, mostly acoustic event being muzzled.

"No one complained in five years. The system is broke if one person can upset the apple cart," he said. "I'm not in the right here but I'm definitely not in the wrong."
A proposal for sleepovers at the Sydney Opera House has been labelled "crass commercial exploitation" as Jan Utzon reiterated concerns about the staging of outdoor events at the World Heritage-listed site.

Heritage consultant Kylie Winkworth said the sleepover concept was "cheap" and inconsistent with the purpose of presenting the performing arts.

Outdoor events at the Sydney Opera House such as the Australia Day concert have stirred controversy. Credit:Edwina Pickles

The Opera House has proposed using six areas for "experiential accommodation"  including the Utzon Room, Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre foyers.

The plan aims to provide a promotional opportunity for the Opera House's corporate partners as well as provide new and innovative ways to experience the iconic building, according to the Environmental Impact Statement.
Eighty-two-year-old conservative Christian MP the Reverend Fred Nile has been called many things in his time in public life, but last week was the first time he was deemed a threat to international security.

Mr Nile MLC, the longest-serving member of the NSW Parliament, says both he and his wife, Silvana Nero, were last week denied entry to the United States because they were told they presented an unspecified security risk.

Mr Nile said he had booked travel to the US after being invited to attend the inauguration of President Donald Trump on January 20.

"No explanations or reasons were given," said Mr Nile, the founder of the Christian Democratic Party.
A police officer who was left with a traumatic brain injury after a truck ploughed into her car on Sydney's northern beaches says she will never forgive the driver for stealing the time she could have spent with her dying mother.

Sarmad Shamon Nisan, 41, has been found guilty of two counts of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm after the horrific crash that left six people injured, two seriously, in October 2014.

At a sentencing hearing in the Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday, officer Amy Champion told the court she would never forgive Nisan.

Ms Champion was driving to work with another officer when Nisan's 22-tonne truck, which was almost fully laden, lost control while travelling down the steep descent of Warringah Road, tipped over, and slammed into a line of traffic stopped at a red light on Pittwater Road in Dee Why.
"Removing this from law is actually discriminatory against women - that is my concern. "Men didn't grow up with that feeling, women grew up knowing that we just had to take extra precautions." Mrs Francis said she had spoken to several women's organisations including radical feminists who all opposed the change. "Preserving the current law which treats all equally is a better option in terms of protecting those people most vulnerable to being provoked into drastic action to protect their safety and that's often women," she said. Member for Coomera Michael Crandon questioned why the feminist groups had not provided submissions to the committee if they were opposed to the changes.

Mrs Francis said the partial defence was important given Queensland had a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for murder. But Mrs Francis said the ACL agreed that the any violence against gay or transgender people was inexcusable. She also expressed concern that the timeframe to consider the bill was very short. "I wonder whether we can not have to rush the decision," Mrs Francis said. But chair Mark Furner said the timeframe was not unusual.

Catholic priest Paul Kelly put the reform into the spotlight after creating a petition, which now has more than 290,000 signatures, when a man was bashed and killed in his church grounds at Maryborough in 2008. Clause 10 of the government's bill to remove the so-called gay panic defence would amend section 304 of the Criminal Code, so it would not be available on the basis of an unwanted sexual advance, other than in exceptional circumstances. Brisbane LGBTIQ Action Group convenor Phil Browne said some people could lie about the circumstances leading up to the death, especially when there were no witnesses, in order to escape a murder conviction. "This strikes fear in LGBTI Queenslanders, who feel vulnerable while this remains available as a partial defence to murder," Mr Browne said. "We must ensure our law is not used to target vulnerable groups."

Queensland Law Society immediate past president Bill Potts said parliament could not provide a proscriptive list of what an "exceptional circumstance" was but could provide examples which may help courts and juries decide when it should be used. Mr Potts said the society opposed the gay panic defence and legislation that had a discriminatory effect on any individual. But LGBTI Legal Service law reform director Thomas Clark said the judiciary was capable of interpreting the intent of the amendments and applying them in the spirit of the bill. "That is, not to allow the gay panic defence to be raised again in Queensland following these amendments," Mr Clark said. "The lack of definition should not be, in and of itself, enough reason to further delay this vital reform."

Department of Justice and Attorney-General Strategic Policy acting director Carolyn McAnally said on its own, an unwanted gay sexual advance would not be a "circumstances of an exceptional character" under the amendments. Ms McAnally said exceptional circumstances would be decided on a case by case basis. "That will require a consideration by the trial judge firstly in deciding whether to leave that defence to the jury and then the jury themselves in terms of deciding on a question of fact." Ms McAnally said from a policy position, it was preferred not to define those circumstances and provide examples. "To keep it wide to ward against unjust outcomes," she said.

Ms McAnally said because Queensland had a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for murder, unlike some other Australian jurisdictions, the decision was made to amend the partial defence rather than abolish it. "Because again there may well be circumstances where that defence should at least be left to the jury for them to consider so as to avoid unjust outcomes for the accused," she said. Ms McAnally said the gender neutral language meant the law would also apply equally to women charged with murder. "The court is entitled to look at whether there is a history of violence between the accused and the deceased and also whether or not there is a history of sexual contact between the two," she said. "So, if for example, you have a situation where a female... who acts on the sudden because a minor touching often precipitates or history has shown for that person often precipitates much more severe abuse then that's in those circumstances they acted on the sudden before there was time for the passion to cool, that is evidence that the court will be able to take into account."
If you have not changed electricity providers in the past two years, you are paying too much for power.

That is the verdict from Canstar Blue editor Simon Downes, who said south-east Queenslanders could save about $300 if they switched providers in search of a better deal.

New electricity retailers entering the market have prompted a call for people to shop around to save money. Credit:Robert Rough

Mr Downes spoke to Fairfax Media following news two new electricity retailers had entered the market in south-east Queensland.

Powershop and Red Energy - already operating in Australia's southern markets - have both recently launched in south-east Queensland, about six months after the electricity market was deregulated.
The Queensland government has revisited legislation from the Bligh government era to release a parcel of land for gas exploration to be used only for Australian supply.

Natural Resources Minister Anthony Lynham said the pilot project was in response to a predicted shortage of gas by as early as 2019.

Natural Resources and Mines Minister Anthony Lynham has called for federal funding to assist with the improvement of gas supply. Credit:Michelle Smith

"The driver for cost is to increase supply," Mr Lynham said.

"Security of supply is the main thing because we, as you know, there will be gas shortages coming as early as 2019 unless we find more supply."
The Mount Isa charter pilot alleged to have put glass beads in his rivals' planes is to be granted bail from the Mount Isa Magistrates Court.

However, Josh Hoch will likely be in the Mount Isa Police Station watch house on Australia Day. Part of his conditions set by Magistrate Stephen Guttridge is that Mr Hoch supply $50,000 surety before release.

Josh Hoch's solicitor Michael Spearman leaves the Mount Isa Police Station watch house on Wednesday afternoon. Credit:Chris Burns

The Mount Isa Court House had not received the surety or approved the paperwork by its closing time of 4.30pm, Wednesday. The court opens again at 8.30am on Friday. Thursday is the Australia Day public holiday.

Mr Hoch is to appear again before the Mount Isa Magistrates Court on February 22. He is charged with 342 offences.
Queensland's State Development minister Dr Anthony Lynham heads to Canberra next month to push Queensland's case for a $20 billion defence contract to build the next-generation armoured vehicles for the Australian Army and create new engineering jobs.

Queensland's "secret weapon" to win the contract is redirecting thousands of under-employed engineering, welding and heavy equipment staff who once worked in Queensland's resources industry.

State Development Minister Dr Anthony Lynham hopes to press Queensland's case for a $20 billion defence contract to build the Army's next-generation armoured vehicle. Credit:Tony Moore

Queensland's resources sector has lost around 20,000 jobs in the past two years, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Now the Queensland Government wants to redirect many of these skilled staff to defence work if all, or part, of the $20 billion in defence contracts to be announced in early 2018, comes to Queensland.
Business confidence is at its highest levels in six years but if you're running a retail business in the country you'd have no idea.

A new survey reveals an eight point rise in confidence taking the net balance to 46 points with most small businesses believing the economy has shifted to positive ground.

Small business confidence is high in metropolitan areas but it's a different story in the country. Credit:Louise Kennerley

However, the report by Sensis Business Index covering the last quarter of 2016 also showed regional business confidence dropped two points and the retail sector is down 23 points.

Rhys Allan, owner of Digital Done Printing in Ballarat said he had hoped to turn his retail merchandise and printing business into a full-time income last year but customers were reining in spending.
The man who police allege is the head of a Victorian syndicate that planned to import $60 million worth of cocaine has applied for bail.

Moshey Youkhana, 46, and five other Victorian men are charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of cocaine after they were arrested weeks after 186 kilograms of the drug was found aboard a former Japanese whaling vessel.

The men allegedly masterminded a plan to import 186 kilograms of cocaine in a former Japanese whaling vessel. Credit:Ming Wong

HMAS Adelaide crew discovered the cocaine packed in bricks and kept in hessian bags when they boarded the ship about 1300 kilometres off the Tasmanian coast on December 12.

Last week Mr Youkhana and Omer Tok, 39, Youssif Tawfik, 25, Christopher Peroulis, 46, and Mohamed Khaddour and Bill Triantafilopoulous, both 47, were arrested in raids in Melbourne and Queensland.
"You will always be a part of us and are one of the strongest people we know. We are constantly inspired by your love for everyone around you and the lengths you will go to for the people you love.

Families of the Bourke Street attack have spoken of the loss of their loved ones. These are their words.

"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. 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 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

"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"  Pride & Prejudice

"We love you so much!

"We thank everyone for their condolences but would appreciate this time together to grieve privately."
One of Victoria Police's top officers has said pursuits are not like in the movies, and police don't ram cars and shoot at moving vehicles.

In the wake of the Bourke Street tragedy, Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp defended the force's pursuit policy after the leaking of a four-month-old internal email on intercepting stolen cars.

The September 13 email written by Mr Crisp and obtained by the Herald Sun stated: "Plan your approach and response when intercepting a stolen or suspect vehicle  time is on your side."

Media reporting, including that by The Age, has raised questions about why alleged Bourke Street killer Dimitrious "James" Gargasoulas was unable to be stopped sooner. The Police Association has said police had chances to intercept, but were directed not to for safety reasons.
Warning: Content below may be distressing.

The father of slain 10-year-old schoolgirl Thalia Hakin has shared his grief after his daughter's death in last Friday's horrific Bourke Street car rampage.

Tony Hakin spoke on Wednesday at Thalia's funeral, which was held at the Melbourne Chevra Kadisha Cemetery in Lyndhurst.

Thalia's nine-year-old sister Maggie, who was also caught up in the crush of pedestrians, sat in the front row in a wheelchair with a cast on her leg. Her mother, Nathalie, did not attend as she remains in hospital.
A bail justice released alleged Bourke Street mass killer Dimitrious "Jimmy" Gargasoulas after hearing police submissions, it can be revealed.

But it was unclear from court documents whether or not police opposed bail for the man who allegedly went on to mow down dozens of pedestrians in the CBD six days later, Deputy Chief Magistrate Jelena Popovic said in a hearing on Wednesday.

Gargasoulas was on bail when he is alleged to have deliberately driven at pedestrians in Bourke Street about 1.30pm on Friday, killing five people - including a three-month-old baby boy and a 10-year-old girl - and hitting another 32 people. More charges are expected to be laid.

He was on bail over charges of speeding on the wrong side of the road and ignoring a police direction to stop, according to documents tendered to the Magistrates Court on Monday.
Riot police at Malmsbury Youth Justice centre. Credit:Paul Jeffers Weapons allegedly used in a home invasion at Mitcham were seized at the Ashburton home, police said. At 2.30am, the home of a young family in Quarry Road, Mitcham was stormed by youths who smashed through their front door brandishing a machete. A couple and their two young children, aged four and one, were inside. Neighbours heard screams of "Get out, go on!" before the youths stole their silver Mercedes. Youths on the roof of the Malmsbury Justice Centre. Credit:Nine Network The luxury car was later seized by police at the Ashburton house.

Police rushed an application before the Children's Court to allow the release of names and photos to assist in the escapees' capture. However, the escapees were captured not long after police received the court's approval to release the names and photos. Police at the house in Ashburton where some of the escapees from Malmsbury were arrested. Credit:Courtesy of Nine News A crime every hour Crimes allegedly linked to the young criminals occurred almost every hour overnight in Melbourne, and potentially in Moe, including: Attempted armed robbery in Berwick at 9.20pm where offenders confronted a person in a driveway of a house and tried to steal a car.

Assault with baseball bat in Bonbeach at 10.45pm. A victim was assaulted with a baseball bat by four youths. Victim was also threatened with a knife.

Two armed robberies in Noble Park at 11.15pm. Two victims were threatened with a baseball and a knife and their phones stolen.

Hit and run at Mulgrave at 11.40pm. A white Suzuki SUV, which several escapees had been travelling in, was involved in a collision with another vehicle and dumped at the intersection of Springvale and Wellington roads in Mulgrave.

Armed robbery at 12.30am outside Sexyland in Hallam. Knife was used to threaten.

Aggravated burglary at 2.30am on Mitcham where offenders smashed in the front door. Carrying a machete, they threatened the residents and stole a silver Mercedes. Believed to be linked to the youths arrested in Ashburton.

Mr Patton said none of the victims sustained injuries. "But the trauma of such a thing would be horrendous," he said. Police at the Ashburton house. Credit:Courtesy of Nine News The escape The riot has been described by a source as "the worst they had ever experienced" at the problem-plagued correction centre.

"Clients were bashing at the door with chair legs and other weapons, then used the swipe [card] to open the door," the source said. The source said the youths stole keys and a swipe card from a guard, before a "code white" (a riot) was called. The inmates used the swipe card to gain access to an unsecured area, where they jimmied open a sally port - the entryway into the prison - the source said. According to the source, 15 youths then piled into a ute, rammed a fence and escaped. They dumped the ute and car-jacked three other cars, ramming other vehicles and prompting police pursuits. The escapees led police on two high-speed pursuits of up to 160km/h, before police called off the chase.

Six of the escapees were arrested after a pursuit in the Bendigo area, which finished at Lockwood, where a police vehicle and a stolen vehicle were involved in a collision. "We've been getting bagged a fair bit lately for our pursuit policy," Mr Patton said. "But the policy allowed us to go hard on these people and enables members to pursue when there's a risk to public safety." Attempted carjacking Some of the escapees allegedly rammed a car on the Calder Freeway, terrifying a couple and their young grandchild.

Ray Blackmore told Channel Nine several youths carrying iron bars leapt from a vehicle which rammed his car on Wednesday afternoon. "This other vehicle came across the median strip and came straight towards us," Mr Blackmore said. "We realised once they jumped out of the ute with iron bars that we were in trouble." One of the youths shook the passenger car door where Mr Blackmore's wife, Judy, was sitting. She believed the group stopped when they realised their young grandchild, Ally, was also a passenger in the car.

"As soon as they spotted her, they backed off," she told Channel Nine. Two others who escaped the Malmsbury facility on foot were found walking shirtless through paddocks about five kilometres from the detention centre. Final chase The Ford Falcon, driven by the final two escapees, was seen in the Geelong area on Thursday afternoon and south-west Victorian police were aware that one of those teenagers was from the Warrnambool area. A police source said officers suspected the teen may try to return home.

"When they left Geelong heading west about 1pm we got very interested because we had a fair idea where they may be heading," the police source told Fairfax Media. "When they got to Colac we kitted up and had resources in place. We had cars along expected routes and spike strips to use if needed. We had put in some thought and were prepared." Malmsbury remained in lockdown on Thursday, and Ms Mikakos said police would remain at the detention centre until repairs were made to the facility. Loading On Wednesday, Fairfax Media revealed that the Andrews government was warned in an explosive secret report months before the latest riots in Victoria's youth prisons that the system was spiralling out of control in "a continued and ongoing threat to the safety of staff and clients"
The lives lost to the freak thunderstorm asthma outbreak in Melbourne has risen to nine with another death two months after the weather event.



The Department of Health on Wednesday released a statement advising the ninth person had died in connection to the November 21 storm, which saw 8500 Victorians suddenly in need of hospital care.

All other patients have since been discharged.

Fairfax Media understands the person died this week and had received specialist treatment in an intensive care unit before being moved to a ward.

On the high pollen count day in November hot winds carried grains across Melbourne followed by a sudden downpour that caused them to break into thousands of tiny allergen particles, which is believed to have triggered the unprecedented event.
The historic Block Arcade is abuzz with plans for a beehive in the window of a new shop selling honey.

Tourists already flock to see the little man tapping at the window - oh, and all that chocolate - at Haigh's, and to salivate at the famous Hopetoun Tea Rooms' cakes.

All abuzz: Grant Cohen, managing director of Block Arcade, is gearing up for the Arcade's 125th year with a new Beechworth Honey shop and two new Hopetoun Tea Room outlets. Credit:Eddie Jim

And soon they will marvel, perhaps a little uneasily, at the live bees making honey and beeswax for Beechworth Honey.

Block Arcade managing director Grant Cohen assured shoppers the bees would live in a glass box in the shopfront, which will open in early May near the arcade's Elizabeth Street end. The bees will come and go via a pipe leading outdoors.
But there'll be no such respite for Perth with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting a very hot and sunny day for Thursday's public holiday with 40 degrees expected, and eastern parts of the city like Midland potentially copping even higher temperatures.

Australian poet Dorothea Mackellar's ode to Australia My Country famously states "I love a sunburned country, a land of sweeping plains, of ragged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains."

Perth is in for a scorching Australia Day with temperatures reaching 30.5 degrees by 8am after a sweltering night where the mercury dipped to a balmy 21.6 degrees.

The bureau said there will be north to northeasterly winds up to 30 kilometres an hour in the morning, with the Fremantle Doctor's southerly sea breeze paying a welcome visit in the middle of the day.

St Kilda Beach on Christmas night last year, after temperatures got up to 36.3 degrees. Credit:Wayne Hawkins

Fire danger for Australia Day is listed as severe and sun protection is recommended from 8:20 am to 4:50 pm, with the UV Index predicted to reach an Extreme level of 15.

But a hot day for Australia Day will surely pair very well all the barbeques, backyard parties and city-wide festivities in Perth and Fremantle, with cooler temperatures when the 'Skyworks' fireworks display over the Swan River and the Freo Fiesta display in the harbour city kick off.

And if you're lucky enough (or clever enough with your roster) to have Friday off, the end of the week and weekend promises more hot summer weather to see you through.
A young woman who was attacked and indecently assaulted by a man in Bull Creek one year ago has stoically spoken out in an effort to catch her attacker.

The woman, who only wants to be known as Victoria, was grabbed and thrown to the ground by the man in the early hours of Australia Day last year.

She bravely spoke to the media on Wednesday to mark one year since the event as part of a fresh public appeal as police still search for the assailant.

It was just after midnight when she left the Bull Creek train station and was walking south on Bull Creek Drive when she noticed a man standing at the intersection of a pathway near a bush area whistling.
South Perth council, angry at being forced to back down on building heights in its CBD, has launched a campaign for the government to do more than vaguely indicate it might build a train station one day.

The train station has been promised by successive state governments since 2002, according to the city, but the government's draft Transport @ 3.5 Million: Perth Transport Plan, which plans out to 2050 did not mention it.

The government imposed a target for the council of creating 8300 new lots for infill dwellings by 2050, and the council set about achieving this with new zoning for areas including South Perth Station Precinct.

A rush of applications for high-rise residential towers caused alarm to surrounding residents facing extreme loss of amenity and the city attempted to reintroduce height limits in the area recently to curb this exponential growth.
London: British prime minister Theresa May has promised to give parliament more details of her Brexit plans.

Her pledge was a tactical backdown in the face of a growing call from MPs for more transparency on the UK's withdrawal from the European Union.

It reversed a position she had held even until Wednesday morning, a day after Britain's highest court gave MPs a deciding say in triggering the Brexit process.

With growing rumours that pro-Remain Tory MPs had planned to oppose the government on key Brexit votes, she made the about-turn that caught many, including, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, by surprise.
Shanghai: With 6 million Chinese tourists expected to travel abroad over the Lunar New Year break, China's January 27 to February 2 holiday is crucial for Taiwan tour agency operator Li Chi-yueh, who relies on mainland visitors for a third of his revenue.

But Li's hopes are not high this year, after the number of mainland tourists plummeted 36 per cent since Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen took power in May. Though Tsai says Taiwan wants peace with China, Beijing suspects she seeks formal independence.

"China uses its sightseeing tourists as a diplomatic weapon," said Li, owner of Taipei-based Chung Shin Travel Service, who has been representing Taiwan's tour operators to lobby Tsai to improve ties with Beijing. "There's a lot of concern that the industry won't survive if we carry on like this."

The concern is not confined to Taiwan - tour operators and government officials elsewhere in Asia say they fear China is using its increasingly high-spending tourists as a lever to pressure or reward its neighbours.
Washington: The Trump administration is preparing a sweeping executive order that would clear the way for the CIA to reopen overseas "black site" prisons, like those where it detained and tortured terrorism suspects before former President Barack Obama shut them down.

President Donald Trump's three-page draft order, titled "Detention and Interrogation of Enemy Combatants," would also undo many of the other restrictions on handling detainees that Mr Obama put in place in response to policies of the Bush administration.

If Mr Trump signs the draft order, he would also revoke Mr Obama's directive to give the International Committee of the Red Cross access to all detainees in US custody. That would be another step toward reopening secret prisons outside of the normal wartime rules established by the Geneva Conventions, although statutory obstacles would remain.

And while Mr Obama tried to close the Guantanamo prison and refused to bring new detainees there, the draft order directs the Pentagon to continue using the facility "for the detention and trial of newly captured" detainees - including not just more suspected members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban, like the 41 remaining detainees, but also Islamic State detainees. It does not address legal problems that might raise.
Washington: Seven activists who District of Columbia police said are affiliated with Greenpeace climbed a construction crane in downtown Washington on Wednesday morning, snarling traffic and bringing work on a new office building to a halt.

At least two protesters attached themselves to the crane, police said, while others were on the outstretched arm, or jib. Two wearing safety harnesses descended down ropes unfurling a 10 by 25 metre banner that reads "Resist."

At times, two protesters were dangling from the jib, apparently using safety harnesses, as they unfurled a banner emblazoned with the word "Resist." Dozens of onlookers gathered at the scene, clutching coffee cups and peering upward over the site, the location of the former headquarters of The Washington Post. New offices for Fannie Mae are being constructed there.

District of Columbia Police Captain Robert Glover, of the Special Operations Team, said investigators talked with at least one of the demonstrators. He would not describe how, nor would he say if anything had been discussed. Glover said police are in contact with Greenpeace.
The killing was particularly grotesque, even in Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's so-called "war on drugs" that has left thousands dead, including children as young as four.

Heavily armed officers of the police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group burst into the home of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo in Angeles City, 80 kilometres north of Manila, as the bodies of drugs suspects were piling up in funeral parlours across the island nation.

The police had a fake arrest warrant and accused Mr Jee of involvement in drugs, according to a Department of Justice investigation.

Mr Jee was dragged to a police vehicle, where he offered a bribe to the police, even though he was not a drug user or seller, the investigation found.
Mogadishu: Islamist militants have rammed a car bomb into the gate of a hotel and stormed inside, killing at least 13 people in Somalia's capital Mogadishu.

Gunfire rang out as fighters entered Dayah Hotel, which is popular with politicians. A second blast shook the area shortly afterwards, injuring several people nearby.

A crowd gathers at a hotel heavily damaged by a car bomb blast in Mogadishu, Somalia. Credit:AP

Colonel Abdiqadir Hussein, a police officer, said security forces later managed to secure the building.

"We have rescued the people and concluded the operation at Dayah hotel. The security forces are now inside the hotel and we shall give further details of casualty later," he said.
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PHILIPSBURG:--- In connection with the ongoing investigation into the interception at sea of more than 200 kilos of a drug-like substance perceived to be cocaine by the Dutch Royal Navy in collaboration with the Caribbean Coastguard on Saturday, January 21, 2017, a number of searches were carried out on Sunday, January 22 and Tuesday, January 24 on both the Dutch side as well as the French side of St. Maarten. Also, the three suspects on

board of the boat on the which the alleged drugs were transported have been detained.

The suspects are D.J.C. from Venezuela, D.O.G.V. from St. Martin and L. R. from the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor has prolonged their detention with eight (8) more days. Also, D.J.C. and D.O.G.V. were lead in front of the Judge of Instruction who deemed their arrest lawful. The third suspect L.R. will appear in front of the Judge of Instruction on Wednesday, January 25. The three suspects are in restrictive custody. A fourth suspect in the case has also been heard.

In connection with the ongoing investigation three (3), house searches were on the Dutch side on Sunday, January 22. Two (2) in Cay Bay and one (1) Cole Bay. On Tuesday, January 24 another two (2) searches were held on the French side at a marina near Marigot and a house in Marigot. During the searches, documents and digital data carriers were seized.

The investigation code-named "Cucumber" is still in full swing and is led by the Prosecutors Office in close cooperation with the St. Maarten Police Force, the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard, and the French Gendarmerie.

Prosecutor's Office Press Release.
PHILIPSBURG;---- The Central Committee will meet in a session on January 25, 2017.

The Central Committee meeting has been set for Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at 11.00 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda points are:

1. Presentation on composition, work method and role in society of the SER;

2. Advice regarding the installation and composition of the Permanent and Ad hoc committees of Parliament;

3. Advice regarding the installation and composition of the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino);

4. Discussion on appointment Acting Ombudsman.

Representatives of the Social Economic Council (SER) will be present for the first agenda point.

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.com and via www.sxmparliament.org.
CUL DE SAC:---- St. Maarten Academy on Monday last recognized the top performers of the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) and has unveiled a new batch of scholars for its Wall of Achievement.

These students, who officially walked in a commencement ceremony in December, performed outstandingly in several categories after having written the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations in May/June 2016.

Students who are placed on Academys Wall of Achievement, which can be viewed upon entering the campus, must have secured Grade ones at CSEC or an A at the Cambridge Dutch examination. Only in rare cases are students with Grade twos recognized.

The graduate recognized for her Outstanding Academic Performance was Candace Ford, who was valedictorian having gained the best CSEC passes. Ford passed 11 subjects with grade ones in six subjects, five of which are distinctions, four grade twos, and an A in Dutch. Beyond her academic accomplishments she had also represented St. Maarten Academy and the island at the International Moot Court Competition in Den Hague. Additionally, Ford had made the Honor Roll every year without fail since she entered the St. Maarten Academy and as a result, was also recognized by the Parent Teachers Foundation.

CAPE valedictorian, Maria Prince will once again grace the Wall of Achievement having being recognized with an Outstanding Leadership award as the Principals pick for being the most involved student who had taken on multiple leadership roles. She was one of 17 students who are considered trailblazers for the island of St. Maarten, being the first on the island to graduate with CXC Associate Degrees.

Two of the graduates who were most involved in school activities, Brandon Blake, who is now continuing his education at the CAPE level, and Oheny Loredent, shared the spot for Outstanding Contribution; while Tivona Trotman was chosen as Outstanding Athlete.

As is customary, the school also recognized the Outstanding Science student (Mario Mills  currently enrolled in CAPE) since he attained the best passes in Biology, Physics, and Chemistry; Outstanding Language Student (Candace Ford) for securing the best passes in English and Spanish at CSEC, as well as Dutch at IGCSE.

The recognition for Outstanding Visual and Performing Arts student went to Kadyjah Lake; while Esther Dede was recognized for being the most Outstanding Math Student since she had secured grade ones Mathematics and Additional Mathematics. Dede walked as Second Runner-up Valedictorian in December. She, too, wrote 11 subjects, copping four grade ones, three of which were distinctions; five grade twos, one grade three, and a C in Dutch.

The spot for Outstanding Business Student will be occupied by Jayni Suerno, who secured the best passes in Principles of Accounts and Economics. Suero, too, is currently enrolled in CAPE.

As First Runner-up Valedictorian, she also passed 11 subjects with six grade ones, four of which were distinctions, four grade twos and a C in Dutch.

Achievement Monday, presented before the entire student body at a special assembly, reminded students of valedictorian Fords entreaty that they should all work towards their destiny despite the many challenges that they may face along the way.

Challenges such as, sleepless nights to get SBAs in on time, or if youre like me, early mornings - the many countless days of sleeping in class because you were up all night...Then the nerves we felt sitting in the gym as we were about to write our final exams, Ms. Ford said.

She encouraged all that they should do everything with excellence. Create a mentality to win. Say to yourself, I will win no matter what it takes. I will succeed even if I cant see it now. I always win, I never loose, I learn...Find your purpose in life and hold unto it. Never let it go. Push toward that purpose. Never let anyone tell you, you cannot. It doesnt matter if you fail, it matters how you deal with failure. Always remember the only person that can stop you is the person that appears in the mirror. And if you have faith in God you can always trust that He has your back no matter what, were Ms. Fords encouraging words.

The schools principal, drs. Tallulah Baly-Vanterpool pointed out that the top scholars were a part of one of the largest batches, if not the largest for the school, to sit a total of seventeen subjects at the 2016 CSEC and CAPE examinations. All 106 CSEC students also sat the Dutch Cambridge examinations. Seventeen students sat the CAPE exams. When combined (CSEC and Cambridge), all wrote between nine and eleven subjects at one sitting and produced 100% school passes and 90% college passes.

The performance of this class was outstanding in subjects such as: English Language, where 96% of our students attained college passes, of this number 34% of them scored grade ones. This trend was also seen in subjects such as: Mathematics, Information Technology, Social Studies, Biology, Integrated Science and Additional Math, which all produced more than 90% college passes. This was no easy feat for our teachers, drs. Baly-Vanterpool said.

Mondays recognition of the top performers also underscored the schools history-making moment in graduating the first batch of CAPE students on the island with Associate Degrees in multiple areas. This marks a truly prestigious achievement for these students and, by extension, St. Maarten Academy and the island of St. Maarten, as an Associate Degree. Students with certain subject passes may gain exemptions at several universities worldwide.

Students and parents can view the new faces on the Wall of Achievement, which was established to recognize the top performers each year, as well as to encourage excellence.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister William Marlin and Minister of Justice will be attending a meeting of parliament on Thursday afternoon where Members of Parliament and Government will discuss the appointment of the Quartermaster that was appointed by the Dutch Government for the Integrity Chamber.

Marlin said his intention is not to discuss the current situation with the media on Wednesday but he felt it fit to make the announcement.

Oyster Pond Issue still a concern for Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister said that he is still busy discussing with the Minister of Foreign Affairs to further discuss the issues surrounding Oyster Pond since the business that is affected cannot operate and they are losing business. He said that while this international discussion is ongoing a business person that obtained a business license and water rights from the Dutch side is affected. He said that just Tuesday, he received information that a charter that is using Oyster Pond marina has decided to pull their contract from Oyster Pond and will begin using Marigot.

Marlin said that he intend to get off a lot off his chest during the parliament meeting on Thursday while he will also deal with it the issue at the Kingdom conference scheduled for February where the four Prime Ministers will attend. He further stated that the relationship between the Kingdom and the countries is not what it should be and that is one thing he intends to address.

Marlin visits fire victims at Paradise Inn on Wednesday morning.

The Prime Minister announced that he visited the victims of the fire that took place on Tuesday afternoon. Marlin said that the cause of the fire is not yet known, however, that is not important for him. He said the department of Social Affairs is busy providing assistance to the family and they are also working in collaboration with the St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation
Pond Island:--- TelEm Group has announced a multi-million dollar redundancy plan to keep telecommunication services on St. Maarten running in the event of any future damage to the companys vital fibre optic undersea telecommunication cable SMPR-1.

The $3.3 m plan, which will featuring the re-routing of traffic via a second fibre optic cable, was presented to TelEms Supervisory Board of Directors by Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Mr. Eldert Louisa and advising consultant, Nelson Vinck last week.

Both advised that a back-up redundancy cable is vitally needed so that the company can continue to provide telecommunication services in the event of a catastrophic failure to the SMPR-1 undersea cable.

TelEm Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mrs. Helma Etnel, has praised Mr. Louisa and Mr. Vinck for bring the redundancy proposal to the attention of the Supervisory Board, along with their advice and recommendations with minimal delay.

It is a major investment that we will be making, however, it is a vital one for the economy of St. Maarten because outages of the type we experienced in December can be very hurtful financially and socially, said Mrs. Etnel.

She said the large investment TelEm Group has now committed itself to demonstrate the companys resolve to ensure the customers and the general population that full redundancy is being provided despite the high investment involved.

It is often very difficult for smaller telecom providers like TelEm Group to make this kind of investment that would be normal for larger providers overseas because it ties up a lot of capital that can be invested in other important areas and to keep customer costs down, however, its an option that we have to take now because of the consequences if we do not, continued the CFO.

She said it also import to inform that search for affordable backup capacity to the SMPR-I has been ongoing for a number of years and has proven to be big challenge because of the limited options that were available and the high cost of making use of those few options.

Approval has been given by the Supervisory Board of Directors for the new redundant route that will go via the so-called SSCS cable via St. Kitts on the PCCS cable to Jacksonville, Florida USA. I will then connect to the main Smitcoms N.V. Point of Presence (POP) in Miami, Florida, to a co-location center.

CTO Mr. Louisa explained that backup capacity for the SMPR-1 will come from a 10Gbps link that will create the diversity network for Sint Maarten to guarantee the continuity of services, avoid unavailability of internet and data exchange if there is an outage of the SMPR-1 cable in the future, said Mr. Louisa.

He said TelEm Group had considered a number of options to provide the best redundancy proposal for TelEm Group, including continuing with its present capacity provider while repairs are awaited on the SMPR-1 cable, however, the presented proposal was analyzed and found to be in the best interest of TelEm Group and its business and residential customers.

Referring to the SMPR-1 repairs, Mr. Louisa estimated that full restoration of the fiber optic cable may still be three months away mainly because of the time it will take to secure an environmental permit in Puerto Rico to work on the reef where the damaged cable lies. The mobilization of the right manpower and equipment is also a contributing factor in the delay.

The delay in repair of the SMPR-1 is another reason we want to ensure we are not depending on anyone cable or provider of capacity service to us at this time, continued Mr. Louisa.

CFO, Mrs. Etnel, said TelEm Group and the Supervisory Board of Directors will be informing the government Shareholder about these latest developments, perhaps as early as this week during a reconvened Shareholders meeting. The local business sector, who have also expressed concern about the possibility of similar outages taking place in the future will also be informed as will customers generally.

Amongst those voicing their concern at the time was the Chamber of Commerce and president, Peggy-Ann Brandon who personally convened a meeting with the two main telecommunication providers for an explanation of the cause of the outage and how both companies could work on preventing future occurrence.

Mrs. Entel said she was happy to meet with the Chamber President Ms. Brandon on Monday to provide her with the latest update on the companys capacity redundancy plan.

Ms. Brandon was very happy, on behalf of her Chamber clients and businesses on St. Maarten to hear that we have taken such positive action, and she has pledged her continued support to us in any way she can, said Mrs. Etnel.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Top Promotion Foundation, the organizer of the culinary event, Fete de La Cuisine, participated with a booth at the Wine Professional Fair that was held at the RAI Congress Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from January 9 through 11, 2017.

The Wine Professional Fair is annually visited for three days by more than 12,000 by invitation only professional and 'decision making' visitors. Top Promotion Foundation, representing St. Maarten, was the only destination present at this event. Top Promotion Foundation promoted their culinary event, Fete de la Cuisine, which will be held November 5-12, 2017, as well as the destination St. Maarten. Given that our island was the only destination present at the Wine Professional, there were many queries about vacationing and living on St. Maarten. TUI Fly makes it easier to travel from Amsterdam to St. Maarten with fares starting at 399 Euros. Top Promotion Foundation further promoted the St. Maarten businesses that contributed to the fair.

Extra exposure for our Friendly Island at this fair was the cooking master class that Chef Dino Jagtiani of Temptation Restaurant presented on center stage of the Wine Professional on January 10th. Chef Dino prepared a Jerk spiced duck breast, coconut rice n beans, pineapple braised red cabbage, Caribbean vegetable ceviche, mango-ancho BBQ and an Authentic Indian Lamb curry with coconut-saffron rice.

These dishes were paired with specific Wines from Hungary during the demonstration to the audience delight.

Furthermore, Top Promotion captured the attention of visitors and participants with the raffle of a week stay for two to attend their culinary festival in November 2017. This prize was donated by Commodore Suites in Simpson Bay.

Top Promotion Foundation also engaged two St. Maarten students attending the culinary institute of Mondriaan College in The Hague, namely Richelle Alexis and Iresha van Heyningen.

They assisted in the Top Promotion booth at the trade fair in order for give them some exposure in the trade fair area.

Top Promotion Foundation thanks Temptation Restaurant, Karakter Beach restaurant, Commodore Suites, La Vista Resort, Sonesta Ocean Point Resort and Westin Dawn Beach Resort & Spa for their contributions which made the participation of Top Promotion Foundation possible to attend the trade fair.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The appointment of Quartermaster Hans Leijtens, last week, came as a shock to our politicians. The Honorable Prime Minister said he was flabbergasted. The Honorable President of Parliament called the appointment provocative and Member of Parliament, Theo Heyliger, described it as vindictive. And of course, the Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations, Ronald Plasterk, gets the blame. However, is it fair to place all the blame on the Dutch? It takes two to tango, therefore Sint Maarten also plays a role in this whole saga.

Our Prime Minister declared, in the newspapers, that St. Maarten does not need an Integrity Chamber because we already have a number of laws such as the LMA that can be enforced. That is our problem on Sint Maarten. Indeed, we have the laws but we have never ensured that they were enforced. Consequently, lack of integrity, corruption, bribery, nepotism etc. have been the order of the day in government for years. Sint Maarten has a history of reports and investigations related to corruption and lack of integrity in government. In 1978 and in 1991, such investigations were conducted. Eventually, the government was placed under higher supervision in 1993 which lasted until March 1996. Again, between 2013 -2015 there were no less than three integrity reports plus an internal review of government done by the General Audit Chamber. The results of these reports were damaging for government as well as for parliament. One of the reports highly recommended and gave as priority the establishment of an Integrity Chamber. The necessary legislation for this was drafted and after several revisions, the ordinance was passed by parliament. The ordinance was then sent to the Constitutional Court for review where it was totally dismissed and consequently returned to parliament to be rewritten.

Meanwhile, our government had approached Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Minister Plasterk, for financial and personnel assistance, in connection with the implementation and development of the Integrity Chamber. On May 2015, Justice Minister Dennis Richardson, on behalf of the government of Sint Maarten, signed a protocol with Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Minister Plasterk, in which it is agreed that the Sint Maarten Government would ensure that Parliament pass the National Integrity Chamber Ordinance, no later than June 31st, 2015 and that the Dutch would appoint a quartermaster, no later than July 1st, 2015, who would work together with the quartermaster, who was already appointed by Sint Maarten. It was also agreed that the cost of the Integrity Chamber would be shared by both Governments.

Even though the signed protocol permits the Kingdom Minister to unilaterally appoint the quartermaster, I agree with Prime Minister Marlin and President of Parliament Wescot-Williams that Minister Plasterk could have handled the decision with a greater degree of respect and courtesy. Sint Maarten should not have had to learn of this important appointment via the media.

However, I wonder if the Government of Sint Maarten has treated the Dutch Minister with the necessary courtesy and administrative respect? Did the Sint Maarten Government officially inform him that they were unable to meet the June 31st, 2015 deadline? Now that the Integrity Chamber is derailed, has the Government given priority to the implementation of other aspects of integrity? Were integrity priorities reflected in the 2016 and 2017 budgets? Did Government and Parliament give the necessary time and attention to reviewing, debating and implementing the recommendations in the four integrity reports? Seeing that the Government had signed a protocol with Minister Plasterk, not officially notifying him of the developments surrounding the integrity reports and the integrity chamber is also a demonstration of lack of courtesy and respect on the part of Sint Maarten.

SMCP is of the opinion that the parliamentary meeting, scheduled for January 26th, 2017, concerning integrity, is long overdue. However, it should not be a meeting to point fingers at who did and who didnt do! This meeting should be one of action as to when and how to tackle the recommendations listed in the four integrity reports. It is also a known fact that the Prime Minister and the President of Parliament, have opposing views, with regard to the Integrity Chamber. Therefore, Government and Parliament should first synchronize their positions, with regard to the Integrity Chamber. In addition, Parliament should set a timetable, for the approval of the National Integrity Chamber Ordinance. The government should inform Minister Plasterk that due to extenuating circumstances, there is no work for the appointed quartermaster at this time But he can perhaps be involved in the rewriting of the Integrity Chamber Ordinance. Government and Parliament will also need to amend the budget, so as to allocate funds for the establishment and development of the Integrity Chamber. The relationship Sint Maarten versus the Dutch is not a matter to be fought out via the media. Let us go beyond the talk! Let us unite and come up with realistic plans and concrete action.

SMCP believes that after spending hundreds of thousands of guilders on integrity reports, Sint Maarten should get better results for its money. It is now up to you, Parliament and Government, to promote and implement integrity measures, so that the people can enjoy good governance. Therefore, let us not blame the Dutch.

Wycliffe Smith

Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian Party
Alphinat Announces a Profit of $259,243 for the Quarter Ended November 30, 2016

MONTREAL, QUEBEC  (Marketwired)  01/24/17  Alphinat Inc. (TSX VENTURE: NPA) announces a profit of $259,243 for the quarter ended November 30, 2016.

The quarter under review has seen an acceleration in sales with OEM partners, both for OEM licenses as well as Enterprise licenses of SmartGuide. The Enterprise license of SmartGuide allows clients to deliver e-services that connect into multiple back-end systems, therefore insuring a more streamlined user experience.

The company continues to be involved with delivery of projects with various agencies of Canadian federal government. These projects have led to further discussions with current and prospective clients and partners.

For the 3-month period ended November 30, 2016, the Company recorded total revenue of $603,985 compared to $380,850 for the same period in 2016. The earnings for the period ended November 30, 2016 amounted to $259,243 or $0.005 per outstanding common share compared to earnings of 30,983 or $0.001 per outstanding common share for the 3-month period ended November 30, 2015.

Also, Alphinat Inc. announces the issuance, on January 23, 2017 of stock options representing a total of 1,758,544 common shares to Directors and employees of the Company. The exercise price on the options, which expire on November 30, 2021, is $0.12.

Alphinats financial statements and Managements Discussion and Analysis for the period ending November 30, 2016 can be found on SEDAR, at .

About Alphinat

Alphinat is the creator of SmartGuide, a next generation application development and deployment productivity toolset providing agility to leverage existing IT assets and lower costs for a one-stop delivery tool of Web and mobile enterprise applications from any back-end system.

Alphinat has been appointed by technology company peers to associate member at the Smart Cities Council ().

Alphinat technology is also used in the healthcare, banking, insurance, telecommunications and other sectors, in modernising, automating and rendering cost-effective various business processes at a fraction of the cost associated with conventional customized solutions. For more details about Alphinat or its software suite, please visit .

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this document, including those which express managements expectations or estimations with regards to the Companys future performance, constitute forward-looking statements as understood by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are, of necessity, based on a certain number of estimates and hypotheses; while management considers these to be accurate at the time they are expressed, they are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and risks on the commercial, economic and competitive levels. We advise readers that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other known and unknown factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. A number of factors could cause significant differences between actual results and those described in forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, the Companys capacity to increase acceptance of its products on the market, and to penetrate new markets; the potential existence of defects or undetected problems in the Companys products; the Companys ability to manage its growth; the Companys ability to compete with others; potential commitments; maintaining the Companys intellectual property rights and defending against litigation putting those rights in question; the Companys reliance on the knowledge of its key personnel; and the Companys access to sufficient capital to finance its future needs. This is a partial and non-exhaustive list of factors that could bear on any of our forward-looking statements. Investors are advised to not rely unduly on the forward-looking statements. This advisory applies to all forward-looking statements, whether expressed orally or in writing, attributed to Alphinat or to any individual expressing them in the name of the Company. The Company is under no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events, or other circumstances. Risks and uncertainties that bear on the Company are described in greater detail in the Companys Annual Report.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Mr. Philippe Lecoq

Chief Executive Officer

Alphinat Inc.

(514) 398-9799 ext 222
Analysis on Effective Strategies Framed by Telco Companies to Enhance the Growth of Digital Services

Albany, New York, January 25, 2017: Todays world is characterized by rapid technological changes for most of the sectors. Now, consumers are rapidly learning the value of digital technologies through their experiences in other, more advanced industries and due to this, they are also expecting the same from their telecom operators. The latest report highlighting the digital transformation of the Telecommunication Industry has been added to the database of Market Research Hub (MRH). This study entitled Telco digital transformation: Lessons from the worlds most powerful digital companies is a thematic research report which examines effective strategies for Telcos to gain explosive growth in the consumption of digital services.

Request for Sample Report: http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=915147

To provide the best results to the telecom operators, the report analyzes the key strategies of leading companies as well as a brief case study on the digital transformation of top four telecom service providers. These major brands include Apple, Facebook, Google and Amazon. The internet giants have established because of their digital architectures & operations that are more competent processes and workflows, greater innovation opportunities, higher revenues and greater profitability.

Moreover, the report also includes a set of key findings on the core values and success factors of digital leaders and strategy references for telecom services providers. Apple and Google have provided various solutions to pioneer revolutionary business models whereas, Amazon presented how to virtualize a brick and mortar industry. On the other hand, Facebook has transformed the meaning of content services.

Furthermore, the report case studies show that, Telco approaches to digital transformation because the consumers have quickly changed, adopted and created the need for new applications and services which have set a new standard for user experience. Many operators have already made efforts to digitize their relations with customers, developing internet-based sales channels, offering online customer care and also improving their social media presence. Leading telecom companies such as AT&T, Orange, China Telecom and Verizon are embracing digital technologies to create profitable growth.

Browse Full Report with TOC: http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/telco-digital-transformation-lessons-from-the-worlds-most-powerful-digital-companies-report.html

It also cannot be ignored that, with the help of digital services some of the factors have influenced the growth of the telecom operators, such as SMS and traditional voice services became rapidly replaced by the IP-based voice and messaging apps like Skype and WhatsApp. These reasons are also creating the need for operators to establish what digital transformation means, embrace this vision and drive changes in the sector and empower the customer. Also, the key findings reveal that Telco digital transformation begins with a digital corporate culture to drive the finding of new innovation engines, disruptive business models and digitally smart customer relationship platforms.
Tuiguang123 English Online Marketing Co. Ltd Presents High-End English SEO Services to All Clients In China

Posted by Publisher Internet

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Being an experienced SEO firm that has been in business for many years, the professionals working with Tuiguang123 English Online Marketing Co. Ltd can formulate highly customer specific SEO tactics that help them to enjoy better ranking in the search engine result pages. The services that are offered by Tuiguang123 English Online Marketing Co. Ltd are particularly useful for those who are looking to invest in top notch local SEO expertise that would help them to attract the attention of local customers. Whether it is creating unique content or offering off page SEO services, the experts at Tuiguang123 English Online Marketing Co. Ltd can certainly present business owners in China with the finest English SEO services.

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###
Lucidworks Fusion 3 Enables Teams to Build Enterprise Search Apps Easier and Faster

SAN FRANCISCO, CA  (Marketwired)  01/25/17  , the leader in enterprise search solutions, today announced Fusion 3, its updated application development platform. With the Fusion 3 release, organizations get greater operational simplicity, an accessible user interface, and query simulation capabilities, accelerating a search applications time-to-value to quickly deploy powerful search apps that index all your data and give end users a compelling, productive experience.

Fusion 3 provides out-of-the-box capabilities for teams seeking to build robust enterprise-level search applications. With greater operational simplicity, IT personnel can now leapfrog months ahead in the development cycle, which allows them to focus on customizing applications to meet unique business needs. Shortening the development cycle even more, a streamlined guided setup feature makes Fusion 3 accessible to non-technical teams who can quickly build search applications that meet high user expectations.

Fusion is at the core of our business as an enterprise solutions provider, explains Lucidworks CEO, Will Hayes. CTOs face demanding expectations to deliver a Google-like experience to users and an Amazon-like experience to customers but often IT isnt as search-savvy as they need to be. This, coupled with the deluge of data across departments, makes it difficult to share and communicate findings. Fusion 3 helps companies reap the benefits of big data and quickly build applications that accurately retrieve information without draining limited IT resources.

Current Fusion users can expect new features like the Query Workbench and preview of data transformation processes. With the latest updates, teams are now able to run simulations with sample data sets  or input proprietary data  to experiment with different data sources and see hypothetical results. The Query Workbench lets teams adjust relevancy of signals and input different parameters to find the optimal setting before building more permanent applications. Lucidworks also enhanced Fusions connectors to integrate data using more powerful parsers for higher relevancy.

Initially, we built our search with Apache Solr because of its reliability and open source, said Andy House, IT Director at Menards, who implemented Fusion for the home improvement retailers e-commerce search. Fusion gave us the power to create a more sophisticated, relevant search experience for every customer in half the time than if we had done it with just Solr. With Fusion, we can quickly run A/B tests in real-time and see the effects instantly. Weve seen our conversions increase more than we had initially hoped for.

 Getting a search app up and running shouldnt take weeks. With Fusion 3s new streamlined setup, This guided configuration also includes faceting, field mapping, and other transformations.

 Fusion 3s Index Workbench lets teams The new preview feature shows how different configurations will affect your collections before theyre indexed.

 Simple adjustments to relevancy scoring shouldnt require engineers to get involved. Fusion 3s Query Workbench enables to boost specific results or even specific conditions. It also allows users to tune results for increased relevance and test changes before they go to production.

 Fusion 3 introduces the ability to Collection configurations, pipeline setups, schedule listings, aggregation settings, dashboard layouts, and other objects can all be easily shared, and users will be able to replicate configurations from development to QA to staging to production.

 To simplify all parts of development and deployment, a graphical admin enables a UI framework for rapid prototyping of an organizations search app.

 A common hurdle with new search apps and platforms is having to learn a whole new set of commands and operators to get to your data. Fusion 3 includes full SQL compatibility. Users can There are endpoints so users can hook into other favorite services, integrations, and applications as well.

To download or learn more about Lucidworks Fusion, go to or call 415-329-6515.

Lucidworks builds enterprise search solutions for some of the worlds largest brands. Fusion, Lucidworks advanced search platform, provides the enterprise-grade capabilities needed to design, develop and deploy intelligent search apps at any scale. Companies across all industries, from consumer retail and healthcare to insurance and financial services, rely on Lucidworks everyday to power their consumer-facing and enterprise search apps. Lucidworks investors include Shasta Ventures, Granite Ventures, and Walden International.
Hundreds of Canadians of Punjabi origin are making a beeline for their homeland in India lured by rival factions vying to rule the state of Punjab.

The high-octane battle of the ballot for the February 4 Punjab Assembly polls in mainly a three-way battle between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress and the ruling Akali Dal-BJP alliance.

The AAP, with its populist anti-corruption manifesto, is contesting the Punjab polls for first time.

The 2017 Punjab Assembly elections will see the highest number of candidates in race with 1,146 candidates fighting for 117 constituencies.

Around 150 NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) under the aegis of the Indian Overseas Congress are coming from Canada, said Amanpreet Aulakh, a spokesperson for the Indian Overseas Congress (Canada). Some have already already reached India and extended support to the party, he said.

"NRIs from Canada will help take the party's campaign agenda forward on the ground across the state," Aulakh said.

The NRIs will move from one constituency to another in a hired bus to spread the party's message, he said, adding another 250 NRIs will be coming from the UK.

Some 90 Punjabis of Indian origin from Canadas Toronto area are also flying to Punjab to campaign for the AAP in the February 4 assembly election, the Toronto Star reported.

I want to be a part of real change, said Surinder Mavi, a 31-year-old Brampton resident whose planeload of Aam Aadmi Party election volunteers departed Tuesday.

The daily quoted Mavi as saying that his political awakening began with his arrival in Canada eight years ago when he realized that bribes were unnecessary and basic rules like stopping at red lights were respected.

I thought to myself, Why shouldnt the system work like this in Punjab?'

Mavi said the Toronto area volunteers were part of a campaign that would see thousands of Indian expatriates arrive in New Delhi to help the AAP in the state election, the daily said.

Mavi would ride an AAP campaign bus to rally support in 16 of Punjabs largest constituencies.

"We expect around 3,500 NRIs to reach Punjab and campaign for us over the next two weeks," said AAP Punjab convenor and Batala candidate Gurpreet Singh Waraich. The AAP has launched a "Chalo Punjab" campaign for supporters abroad.

The ruling Akali Dal-BJP alliance has some support from foreign-based Punjabis but this has eroded over the years.

NRIs, says Harjinder Walia, head of journalism department at Punjabi University, Patiala, broker influence because of the money they pump into their native places. They build schools, hospitals, houses for relatives; and are always forthcoming with funds for marriages and such occasions. So, every NRI has enough goodwill to be an effective influencer.

Assembly elections will also begin in four other Indian states in February, the Election Commission of India has announced.

Voting will be held in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said.

Polling will be held from 4 February to 8 March. Votes will be counted on 11 March.

Analysts say that the effect of the rupee ban is expected to play a crucial role in all five state elections.

The government said the ban on 500 and 1,000 rupee notes was to curb corruption and the illegal hoarding of wealth as well as promote a shift to digital modes of payment. However, critics said the ban mostly impacted the poor and agrarian communities who largely depend on cash for their daily transactions.

Each of the three main players in Punjab is claiming to be headed for a clear and sweeping majority in the elections.

The AAP started its political campaign in June last year but allegations of corruption in allotment of ridings, accusations of immoral activities by some leaders and a lack of any big name from Punjab, have all taken a toll on the party.

AAP wants to repeat a Delhi-type political magic in Punjab when it won 67 of the 70 assembly seats in the 2015 assembly polls.

The ruling Akali Dal-BJP alliance, which has been in power in the state since 2007 for two consecutive terms, is aiming for a third stint

But it faces an anti-incumbency sentiment of the past decade, charges of corruption, and criticism about financial health and clout of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

There also allegations of the Badals patronising drug cartels and other criminal activities in the sand mining, infrastructure, transport and cable TV industries.

For the Congress, a victory in Punjab would be the first sign of hope since it went into coma after the advent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the scene.

In 2013, since it lost Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Chhattisgarh, the Congress has managed to win only in Karnataka. A string of losses has put it on the verge of disappearance.
Dozens of members of B.C.s Indian Tamil community staged a rally at the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery last weekend to protest a decision by the Indian Supreme Court that banned the ancient bull-wrestling sport of Jallikattu.

The sport of Jallikattu involves releasing a bull into a crowd of people who attempt to grab it and ride it. It is popular in Tamil Nadu state but was banned by India's top court after animal rights groups argued it was cruel to the animals.

The protestors are against the ban as they see Jallikattu as an important part of their cultural heritage, and also say it ensures the preservation of native breeds of bulls.

The Indian community in Vancouver has joined hands with the Tamil diaspora in more in 15 countries to echo their discontent on the ban, said rally organizer Sridar Elumalai.

Demonstrators in Tamil Nadu have been calling for the practice to be fully legalised.

Most ministers in the state government, including Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, as well as Tamil celebrities such as Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman, support jallikattu.

Bowing to pressure Tamil Nadu this week passed a new bill to allow a controversial bull-taming festival.

To become law, the new bill must be signed by the state governor and India's president.
Guest Commentary

By Deanna Horton and Lorna Wright

The Economist magazine recently singled Canada out as an example to the world. The magazine focused on our liberalism and tolerance, but can we be cool too? Japan has done it with its Cool Japan Fund. Are there lessons there for us?

The Cool Japan Fund (CJF), launched three years ago, invests in promoting Japans unique and innovative products and services to growth markets in Asia and beyond. This fund currently has more than $500-million from a mix of private sector and government sources.

Essentially, the fund makes an investment in those companies it believes have the potential with their cool factor to make inroads into international markets, and encourages collaboration among companies to draw upon expertise in various sectors.

So, for example, Bakugan anime (featuring spinning spheres that burst open into Japanese-style action figures) could be supported by the CJF with the creation of an expanded line of Bakugan-related products.

Similarly, CJF supports the outbound localization (i.e. translation/modification) of Japanese products, including digital content, for overseas markets.

The Cool Japan Fund has also supported the creation of the Japanese version of Airbnb, known as Stay Japan, along with other initiatives to promote inbound tourism, particularly to regions outside of Tokyo and Osaka/Kyoto.

By promoting anime, for instance, Japan burnishes its brand as a creative and innovative culture.

Canada is in the same boat, and needs this kind of strategic support to embellish its brand overseas  not through government advertising, but rather through the support of private sector companies with products or services that embody Canadas cool.

How could this model be set up in Canada? First, government and industry advisers need to determine and define Cool Canada  how about a mix of digital media, e-commerce apps, quantum computing, craft beer, cuisine and cleantech?

Following Japans example, Canada would need to consider a mix of financial, advertising/media, and consumer-brand industries.

Second, the initiative requires a stable of private-sector investors.

And a Cool Canada Fund would be an ideal investment vehicle for pension funds that normally would not participate in smaller venture projects.

Third, set up a small group with industry experts to identify the ideal companies and potential markets for cool Canadian products and services.

Canada already has the advantage of being widely regarded throughout the Asia Pacific as an honest and reliable partner with high-quality products and well-governed businesses. Lets build on that reputation with an emboldened brand built on a foundation of new technology, world-class innovation and collaboration.

To be successful, Canada would also have to adopt the long-term investment horizon of the Cool Japan Fund, incorporating periodic reviews that would open up the next stages of funding to participant companies and organizations.

A Cool Canada Fund could also add a Dragons Den-styled competitive component for promoting Canadas participation in the global digital economy, and make this an essential element of Canadas Innovation Agenda. One of the objectives of this agenda, led by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, is to build super clusters for business innovation and global reach, from idea generation to value creation.

Cool Canada  the world is ready for us. A Cool Canada Fund would get our businesses ready for new and expanding opportunities within the context of our shifting global economy.

And Japan could be our next trade-agreement partner, so we can be cool together.

Deanna Horton is a senior fellow with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and Munk School of Global Affairs Innovation and Policy Lab. Lorna Wright is executive director at the Centre for Global Enterprise, York Universitys Schulich School of Business.
Commentary

By Phil Gurski

New Canadian Media

There is no doubt that throughout much of the West these days there is considerable angst over immigration and the impacts of new arrivals on Western societies.

This could be over the real  but largely exaggerated  fear that terrorist groups like Islamic State are seeding refugee flows with operatives ready to unleash carnage on European cities. Or, the rise of populist parties in Europe and the U.S. which paint immigration as some kind of existential threat  again vastly exaggerated  to what these countries think they stand for.

Fact is immigrants are increasingly seen as an unwelcome "fifth column" that must be stopped before they can irrevocably change who we in the West are.

I suppose that for some in the traditional West, new citizens, with their strange tongues and even stranger cuisines, dress and customs, represent the unknown, and the unknown is seldom greeted with open arms. Leaving aside the unfortunate amnesia that those who oppose immigration have for the very history of countries like Canada, which, let's face it, is founded on immigration, it is becoming a given that the advent of "foreigners" is not seen as an advantage.

It is also true that for many it is Muslim immigration that is viewed as some kind of existential threat.

So, the debate goes on and facts are often relegated to the margins as pesky, unwanted contributions. Both sides in this debate have their entrenched positions and it is hard to see any common ground.

One of the points of contention is the degree to which immigrants (i.e. Muslim immigrants) should be encouraged (or even forced) to integrate into the norms and values of the country welcoming them. A repeated theme across Europe has been whether immigrants should accept local practices, even where these clash with the customs of the homeland.

We were thrown into this debate once again recently when Switzerland decided that Muslim girls must partake in mixed gender swimming lessons.

This may strike some as a tempest in a teapot (a pother in a pool?) and beg the question whether the State has any business in the spas of the nation (pace Pierre Trudeau). Do we not have enough problems, and much larger ones than that, to worry about than whether girls and boys take a dip together?

And yet, there is something to this ruling and it has to do with whether or not we want to create a tolerant, inclusive society.

No, I am not saying that an absence of integration is a surefire recipe for radicalization and terrorism because I know better than that and have been beating that drum for decades. But there are merits to having all citizens buy into a small set of public practices all in the interest of social cohesion.

We in Canada may debate ad nauseum what "Canadian" means, but there surely are a few fundamental tenets that are non-negotiable, such as the belief in a secular, liberal and democratic nation, gender (and increasingly same sex) equality and the rule of law, even if we don't always get these right.

The demand that boys and girls are not separated routinely based on gender (there may be a legitimate argument for extremely limited occasions such as math and science education for girls only) is one of those immovable convictions. "Separate but equal" is a phrase that would strike many in 2016 as a form of apartheid, since while the "separate" part is easy to achieve, these arrangements are rarely "equal". In Canada. most education is co-ed. That is the standard and is as it should be.

Muslims who immigrate to the West are obviously allowed to practice their faith in private as they see fit and the State has no say in this (provided, of course, that it does not undermine the rule of law). In the public domain, however, a different set of rules apply and those are the rules of the majority.

Sorry, but that is how democracy works.

To those who reply that imposing the mixing of genders would force many families to take their girls out of swimming lessons, I grant that this may happen. This does not shake my absolute certainty, however, that it is necessary in a multicultural land.

We cannot allow each community to dictate its own public demands on the majority. Newcomers must by definition adjust to a new reality and conform to a few accepted standards. This is not unreasonable since these requirements are few and far between and do not impinge on private practice and faith.

We in Canada pride ourselves on our inclusiveness and open society. It is incumbent on immigrants to be as open.

Phil Gurski worked for more than three decades in Canadian intelligence, including 15 at Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and is the author of the Threat from Within and the forthcoming Western Foreign Fighters (Rowan and Littlefield). He blogs at http://www.borealisthreatandrisk.com/blog/

See http://www.newcanadianmedia.ca/component/k2/39970-newcomers-must-adjust-...
What you need to know about Powerball's $1.6 billion lottery jackpot

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Georgetown, SC (29440)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. Near record high temperatures. High 78F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 64F. Winds light and variable.
Four members of the Georgetown District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church recently gave a combined $5,000 to the Tidelands Health Foundation in support of the Tidelands Community Care Network. The network is a regional collaborative of faith-based organizations, human service providers, health educators, state agencies and primary care and specialty care providers. Its goal is to help improve timely access to health care among uninsured people. Pictured are, from left, the Rev. Dr. Sandy W. Drayton, presiding elder of the Georgetown District; the Rev. Oline Hendrix of the St. Mark AME Church in Bloomingvale; Alma Y. White, representing Bethel AME Church in Georgetown and Tidelands Health Foundation board member; and Jessica Sasser, Tidelands Health Foundation director. Also donating, but not pictured, was the Rev. Aundry Evans Sr., Greater Gordon Chapel AME Church.
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WASHINGTON  NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot formally took over as acting administrator of NASA Jan. 20 as the new Trump administration assigned two people to positions within the agency.

Lightfoot, the top civil servant at NASA, told employees in an internal memo Jan. 20 that he was "filled with humility and optimism" as he temporarily assumed leadership of the agency. He took over from Charles Bolden and Dava Newman, who stepped down as administrator and deputy administrator, respectively, at the end of President Obama's term.

"To be entrusted with this incredible agency, no matter how long, is an honor, and I commit to serving this team to the best of my ability so we can accomplish our ambitious missions and make this nation proud," Lightfoot said in the memo.

How long Lightfoot will remain acting administrator is not clear. The Trump administration has not announced a nominee for the position of NASA administrator. Once announced, it will likely be several weeks before the Senate votes to confirm the nomination.

The new administration, though, has appointed staff to work at NASA. Lightfoot, in the memo, said that the administration has appointed Erik Noble to serve as White House senior advisor and Greg Autry to be White House liaison. The two are the first members of the so-called "beachhead team" of administration staffers assigned to NASA, at least on a short-term basis.

Autry is an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California who has been a proponent of commercial space activities. Autry was one of eight members of the agency review team, or "landing team," assigned to NASA by the transition office of then President-elect Trump.

Noble did not serve on the landing team, but worked on the Trump campaign as a political data analyst. Noble, who earned a Ph.D. in environmental studies from the University of Colorado, spent seven years at the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies in New York, working on weather and climate models.

Lightfoot, who said in a Jan. 17 speech that he expected some members of the landing team to stay on at NASA as members of the beachhead team, suggested in the memo that Autry and Noble would soon be joined by others. "There will be other new and familiar faces arriving at Headquarters, and we will communicate with you as often as possible to keep you apprised of those developments," he wrote.

Besides Bolden and Newman, one other NASA official departed Jan. 20. Although previous reports indicated that NASA Chief Financial Officer David Radzanowski would stay on temporarily after the inauguration of President Trump, the biography of Radzanowski on the NASA website states that he resigned on Jan. 20. The position of chief financial officer, like that of administrator and deputy administrator, is one where administration nominees require Senate confirmation.

Despite the incoming and departing personnel, there were no obvious signs of major immediate changes at the agency as President Trump was sworn into office Jan. 20. At the time of the inauguration ceremony NASA was conducting a teleconference regarding its call for proposals for the next New Frontiers mid-sized planetary science mission. The teleconference continued uninterrupted.

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.
A major solar eclipse will sweep across the United States this year, but if you don't live near the path of totality you're running out of time to book hotel rooms and flights. Reports on social media indicate that some of the best locations, such as Oregon, are just about impossible to book for the Aug. 21 event.

So perhaps you're too late for this year. But don't despair, Tyler Nordgren told Seeker. If you can wait seven years, there's another chance to catch a total solar eclipse from the continental United States.

This one will go in a very different direction, though. While 2017's eclipse will move across states between Oregon and North Carolina, the 2024 eclipse will move from Mexico, across Texas, and then sweeping through parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York State, Virginia and Maine. Parts of Canada will also see the full eclipse.

RELATED: This Is How YOU Can Do Science During the Great American Eclipse

"All the excitement of 2017 will, I believe, make everyone say 2024  I cannot miss 2024," said Nordgren, an astronomer at the University of Redlands, Calif., who has seen five solar eclipses and plans to catch the 2017 one in Oregon. "So if you miss 2017, the excitement will make you see it in 2024."

The 2024 eclipse should be visible over Niagara Falls (Image credit: Robert F. Tobler - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0)

If the weather holds out  bearing in mind that upper New York State is iffy in April  one of the most spectacular spots to catch the eclipse could be right at Niagara Falls, Nordgren said. Canadians would also be able to see the eclipse from their side of the border, providing some potentially amazing views as the shadow passes across the three waterfalls on both sides of the border.

Large cities getting a prime view include San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, and Montreal (in Canada). Several other large cities are within an easy drive of the eclipse, such as Houston, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Cinncinnati, Columbus, Detroit, and Canada's Toronto and Ottawa.

RELATED: 'Great American Total Solar Eclipse' Just 1 Year Away

But Nordgren urges people, if you can, to go see the 2017 eclipse as well. Every person in the United States will have at least a partial view of the eclipse, so it's an opportunity to experience something together.

"I suspect this is going to be the greatest shared experience that this generation is ever going to have," Nordgren said. "Unlike other shared experiences, maybe we have to go all the way back to the moon landing [in 1969], this will be a joyful shared experience."

WATCH VIDEO: Why Does The Sun Always Look So Cool?

Originally published on Seeker.
The view inside St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, as seen during Gemini and Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan's funeral on Jan. 24, 2017.

HOUSTON  Family, friends and fellow astronauts mourned the death of Eugene Cernan , the last man to step foot off the moon, at a funeral service Tuesday (Jan. 24).

Cernan, who died on Jan. 16 at age 82 , was remembered as "perhaps the best representation of a patriotic American that this country had" during the ceremony, which was held at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston and broadcast live by NASA on its television channel.

"An excellent aviator and outstanding astronaut ," said Jim Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13, who was on the backup crew for Cernan's first mission. "We will miss you Gene  an extraordinary individual, who added another chapter in the history of spaceflight." [Eugene Cernan Remembered: Photos of the Last Man on the Moon]

One of only three people to fly to the moon twice, Cernan launched on three space missions, including Gemini 9A in 1966, Apollo 10 in 1969 and Apollo 17 in 1972. He was the second American and third worldwide to exit his spacecraft to conduct a spacewalk, and commanded the final mission to land on the moon.

"That was Gene, a man who would always tell me he had no right to be where he was, when he was  but he was," said Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto. "Only he took us along for the ride."

"A great hero can't leave us like this," said Cavuto, "but he has."

Cernan salutes the American flag after arriving safely on the moon on Dec. 11, 1972. (Image credit: NASA)

Selected to be an astronaut among NASA's third group of trainees in 1963, Cernan first served as a Naval Aviator for 13 years. It was on board the USS Shangri-La that Cernan met and befriended Fred Baldwin.

"How do you say goodbye to your closest friend?" Baldwin asked. "A man you have shared so many moments with on land, at sea and [in the] air. There's no easy answer."

"But more than being my friend," he added, "Gene Cernan was an important part of American history."

Closing out his remembrance, Baldwin cited the words that Cernan had delivered at the 2012 memorial service for the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong  a stanza adapted from the John Magee poem, "High Flight."

"And now Gene... you can put out your hand and touch the face of God," said Baldwin.

Rev. Russell Jones Levenson, Jr. presided over the funeral and delivered the homily.

Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell speaks at the funeral for astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man on the moon, on Jan. 24, 2017, in Houston, Texas. (Image credit: NASA TV)

"John's Gospel speaks of 'an abundant life.' Gene lived an abundant life," said Levenson. "He fired through life at full throttle. And he had every reason to have an ego the size of the moon itself, but every time you asked Gene how he felt about the adventure that was his life , he would say [he was] 'humbled.'"

"He loved his family," said the reverend. "He cared for his wife, Barbara, and he cared for his wife, Jan. And nothing could have said that more than to have them both with all of us who gathered for prayers with Gene as he was taking his last breaths."

From 1961 to 1981, Cernan was married to Barbara Jean Atchley, with whom he had a daughter, Tracy. In 1987, he re-married and with Jan Cernan gained two step-daughters, Kelly and Danielle.

"And then there's Gene's grandchildren, nine of them, who very much loved their 'Poppie,'" added Levenson. "Gene's encouragement to his grandchildren, time and time again, was stay true to who you are."

Cernan's family will gather for a private interment at Texas State Cemetery in Austin at a later date, where full military honors will be rendered.

"Cernan secured a place in American history that, like the footprints he left on the moon , will never fade," said former President George H. W. Bush, in a statement printed in the funeral program. "He was a true hero who inspired us and made his fellow Americans proud."

"But more than that, Gene was a true friend, and Barbara and I join in extending our sincere condolences to Jan and Gene's beautiful family," stated Bush.
Gene Cernan, the last human to walk on the moon, died last week at age 82. The naval aviator joined NASA in 1963 and remained with the agency for over a decade, flying three times in space. He is one of only three people to travel to the moon twice and one of only 12 people to walk upon its surface. Here are some of the most memorable photographs from his last mission, Apollo 17, in 1972.

Liftoff of the Apollo 17 mission, aboard a powerful Saturn V rocket, took place early in the morning on Dec. 7, 1972. On board were commander Gene Cernan  a veteran of the Gemini program and moon-orbiting mission Apollo 10  as well as two rookies, lunar module pilot Harrison (Jack) Schmitt and Ron Evans. Apollo 17 targeted a landing in the lunar Taurus-Littrow valley and had two main geological objectives, according to the Lunar and Planetary Institute: to sample material in the highlands that were older than rocks created from an impact in nearby Mare Imbrium, and to see if volcanism had happened in the valley.

Apollo 17 was the sixth Apollo mission to land on the moon, and the last to see humans walk on the surface. Though there are no firm plans from any space agency to return humans to the moon in the near future, robotic exploration of the moon (mostly in orbit) has continued, particularly as scientists discovered evidence of water ice on its surface. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has also taken high-resolution imagery of all the Apollo landing sites, including Apollo 17.

Cernan salutes the American flag after arriving safely on the moon on Dec. 11, 1972. (Image credit: NASA)

Cernan and Schmitt, the first scientist-astronaut to fly in space, landed on the surface in the lunar module Challenger. Evans stayed in lunar orbit in the command module America. (America is on display at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, while Challenger's ascent stage impacted the moon as planned after the mission was finished.)

RELATED: Eugene Cernan, Last Man to Walk on the Moon, Has Died at 82

"There's no way I'm going to go all the way to the moon, particularly for a second time, and let a computer land me on the moon," Cernan, who landed Challenger, said in a 2007 oral interview with NASA. "The arrogance of a pilot, particularly naval aviators, is too great to allow that to happen. Nobody ever landed on the Moon other than with their own two hands and brain and eyeballs and whatever. Computer-assisted, yes. Got a lot of information. We got help from a lot of sources."

Cernan works at the lunar rover, a vehicle type that was used on the three last Apollo missions (Apollos 15, 16 and 17). (Image credit: NASA)

While the first lunar missions relied on the astronauts' feet, the lunar rover allowed missions to range further from the lunar module, although NASA was careful to watch astronauts' oxygen supplies so they could still walk back even if the rover stopped operating.

On Apollo 17, Cernan accidentally ripped off one of the lunar rover fenders after inadvertently catching a rock hammer on it. "We had to fix it," Cernan said in a NASA interview in 2008. "Because otherwise a rooster tail of dust would really, really be bad. And the bottom line, we came up with a fix where we took some geology maps and taped them together in the spacecraft with, of all things, duct tape. And then took a couple clamps from lights we had in the lunar module and clamped them to what was left of the fender. And it stopped the dust."

Carrying a camera on his chest, Cernan is pictured here near an overhanging rock on the moon. He is facing a gnomon, which is a photographic reference to show things such as rock color on the moon, the scale of objects on the moon, and the angle of the sun. (Image credit: NASA)

In his 1999 autobiography "Last Man On The Moon", Cernan wrote about the strange nature of the Apollo program's timing. "President Kennedy reached far into the twenty-first century, grabbed a decade of time, and slipped it neatly into the 1960s and 1970s," he wrote. "Logic dictates that after Mercury and Gemini, we should have proceeded to build the shuttle, then an orbiting space station, and only then sought the Moon. It was as if our young nation had chosen to never again cross the Mississippi River after Lewis and Clark discovered the Northwest Passage."

(Image credit: NASA)

A dirty and tired Cernan is photographed here after the second of his three extravehicular activities (moonwalks) on the moon. Behind the camera was Schmitt, who used a 70 mm Hasselblad camera to capture this image. The three moonwalks comprised more than 22 hours all told, and yielded nearly 250 pounds of moon rocks that are still being analyzed by scientists today.

RELATED: After Cernan, Only Six Apollo Moonwalkers Remain

"Science and technology got me there, but when I got there and I looked back home at the Earth, science and technology could not explain what I was seeing nor what I was feeling," Cernan said in a 2007 interview with NASA. "You look at the Earth, and it very majestically yet mysteriously rotates on an axis you can't see, but must be there."

(Image credit: NASA)

The ascent stage of Apollo 17's Challenger spacecraft leaves the moon forever, as captured by a remotely operated camera on a nearby lunar rover. Below it is the descent stage, which remained behind. Cernan and Schmitt left the moon on Dec. 14, 1972 to rejoin their crewmate Evans in the command module orbiting the moon.

A plaque left behind on the moon reads: "Here Man completed his first explorations of the Moon, December 1972 AD. May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind." It is signed by Cernan, Evans, Schmitt and then-U.S. president Richard Nixon.

WATCH VIDEO: Why Are There No Stars In The Apollo Photographs?

Originally published on Seeker.
An optical observation of one of the isolated galaxy groups observed with the Magellan Telescope in Chile. The red knots reveal emissions that signify recent and ongoing star formation. The deep optical image also reveals asymmetrical morphologies/shapes possibly resulting from an interaction.

Computer simulations and theoretical models have shown that clusters of miniature galaxies, some 10- to 1,000 times smaller than the Milky Way, should exist, but proof has been elusive. Detections of dwarf galaxy clusters would provide key evidence that the current theory for how the universe evolved structures is correct.

The so-called Lambda Cold Dark Matter paradigm is the prediction that smaller things merge to form bigger things, University of Virginia astronomer Sabrina Stierwalt told Seeker. But there has been scant observational evidence of this process for low-mass galaxies despite the fact that small galaxies greatly outnumber bigger ones like the Milky Way, she added.

In paper published in this week's Nature Astronomy, Stierwalt and colleagues describe a new hunt for dwarf galaxy clusters using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

The team first looked for pairs of interacting dwarf galaxies, then studied those pairs to see if they could be part of a bigger group.

Follow-up observations with the Magellan Telescope in Chile, the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico and the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii provided optical images and spectroscopy of additional suspected group members.

RELATED: Dark Matter Dwarf Galaxy Found Hidden in Spacetime Warp

In all, the scientists found seven groups of dwarf galaxies, each with three- to five members.

"We suspect these groups are gravitationally bound and thus will eventually merge to form one larger, intermediate-mass galaxy," Stierwalt said.

The galaxies are located between 200 million and 650 million light-years from Earth.

"That sounds like a lot but it is relatively nearby given the vast size of the universe. Dwarf galaxies are fainter and smaller than more massive galaxies like the Milky Way we reside in, and so they are harder to detect at farther distances," Stierwalt said.

The number of clusters matches predictions, which builds confidence in the computer models.

"Such groups are predicted to be rare theoretically and found to be rare observationally at the current epoch," the astronomers noted in the paper.

RELATED: Could Nearby Dwarf Galaxy be a Dark Matter Factory?

The newly found dwarf galaxy groups "provide direct probes of hierarchical structure formation in action at the low mass end, giving us a new window into a process expected to be common at earlier times, but nearly impossible to observe at such redshifts," the paper said.

"Redshifts" is a cosmic yardstick for measuring distance and time. It refers to the lengthening of wavelengths of light as a radiating object moves farther away, similar to how the sound of a train shifts as it recedes.

WATCH VIDEO: This Is How We See The Universe

Originally published on Seeker.
1) Giant gravity wave

The latest weird cloud formation seen on Venus was spotted by the Japanese Akatsuki spacecraft. Recent research describes this formation as an "enormous bow-shaped bright region" that is 10,000 km (6,213 miles) long. It doesn't move with the rest of the clouds, but hovers over mountains on the planet's surface.

"The authors suggest that the bright region ... is the result of a gravity wave generated in the lower atmosphere as it flows over mountain topography  a phenomenon similar to when air passes over mountains on Earth," the researchers said. (Gravity waves are different than gravitational waves; the latter describe ripples in space-time.)

2) Glories

(Image credit: ESA/MPS/DLR/IDA)

In 2014, scientists using the European Space Agency's Venus Express noted a strange feature known as a "glory", based on pictures taken three years beforehand. The image you see here is the first time a glory, described as a "rainbow-like feature," was ever captured on another planet.

"A glory requires two characteristics: the cloud particles are spherical, and therefore most likely liquid droplets, and they are all of a similar size," ESA wrote in a statement. "The atmosphere of Venus is thought to contain droplets rich in sulfuric acid. By imaging the clouds with the sun directly behind the Venus Express spacecraft, scientists hoped to spot a glory in order to determine important characteristics of the cloud droplets."

3) The Y shape

(Image credit: NASA)

In ultraviolet wavelengths, a strange Y shape covers most of the planet and baffled astronomers for more than half a century. At first astronomers thought it was simply clouds in the wind, but observations with the Mariner 10 mission in 1973 showed that the Y was moving independently of the surrounding environment.

A 2015 study suggests that the wave happens due to centrifugal forces, which move stuff away from a rotating body's center of rotation. But other mysteries abounded. For example, astronomers tracked the movement of the Y using unknown compounds that absorb ultraviolet radiation.

4) Life in the clouds?

(Image credit: Northrop Grumman)

Could the dark streaks in the clouds actually be microbial life? It's admittedly a far-out idea, but that's one answer scientists are considering when looking at Venus' environment. The United States and Russia are working together on a proposal called Venera-D that would deploy an orbiter and a lander to Venus around the year 2025. It would be the first time anybody has gone to the surface of Venus since the 1980s, when the Soviet Union sent the Venera spacecraft to its surface.

A recent NASA astrobiology article cautions there could be other explanations: "It could be particulate matter mixed into the clouds, or a substance that has been dissolved by the droplets of sulfuric acid, or perhaps crystalline in nature, like ice," read the article by Keith Cooper. "Iron chloride has been proposed, but there is no confirmed mechanism that could loft particles of iron chloride 50 to 60 kilometers above the surface, particularly as winds near the surface only blow weakly through the dense lower atmosphere."

5) Close link between surface and atmosphere

(Image credit: ESA)

Admittedly, Venus is tough to observe because the thick clouds completely obscure the planet below. That said, scientists are coming to understand that by looking at the atmosphere, we can get a sense of what the surface environment is like. Observations from Venus Express between 2006 and 2012 showed that winds, water content and cloud composition were connected to the surface.

One example takes place over the Aphrodite Terra mountains, where water-rich air (from lower in the atmosphere) moves over the mountains in a process nicknamed the "fountain of Aphrodite." The scientists also found that water and ultraviolet-dark material in the clouds are more pronounced in certain areas above the equator.

WATCH VIDEO: There Could Have Been Life On Venus!

Originally published on Seeker.
SEATTLE  As reports filter out about restrictions on research and public communications at other federal agencies since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, a NASA official said Jan. 24 there have been no changes to the agency's programs or policies.

Speaking at a town hall meeting during the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) here, Michael Freilich, the director of NASA's Earth science division, emphasized that the new administration had not made any changes to his programs since taking office Jan. 20.

"Nobody has told us to change anything we are doing," he told a standing-room-only audience of more than 200 people during the hour-long session. "Keep doing your work, keep making advances, keep building credibility."

Freilich's comments came after several reports that the Trump administration has directed some federal agencies to suspend or restrict research activities and communications with the public and the media. The Huffington Post reported Jan. 23 that the Environmental Protection Agency has suspended its grant program and placed tight controls on responses to media or public inquiries.

Similar restrictions have been reported at several other government agencies, although in one case, at the Department of Agriculture, an order prohibiting scientists from talking about their work was rescinded Jan. 24 after public criticism, according to BuzzFeed.

Asked specifically at the town hall meeting about the reports of restrictions at the EPA, Freilich reiterated that it was business at usual at NASA. "We have not been given any direction to add to, delete from, or modify and refine in any way the plan with the money that has been appropriated," he said, referring to the continuing resolution (CR) funding the agency through April 28 at fiscal year 2016 levels. "There is no direction that we have received to date to change course at all."

"NASA Earth science division, and I believe I can say the NASA Science Mission Directorate, have not been given any direction to change either what we are doing, how we are doing it or how we are talking about it, as of right now," he said.

Freilich, in fact, urged the scientists in attendance at the town hall meeting to talk to the public about the research they are doing and why it is important, noting that Earth science touches on the public's lives in ways unlike the research done in the agency's other science divisions.

"The measurements that you take, the understanding that you get, the applications that you develop have the ability to improve the quality of life of everybody on this planet," he said.

Freilich said the transition of administrations had, so far, not caused any issues for him. "Things seem to be running relatively smoothly within the agency through this transition period," he said. He noted that the "beachhead team" of political appointees at the agency, coordinating NASA's activities with the administration, was now up to eight people.

While he emphasized NASA's plans and budgets were fixed through the end of the CR in April, he acknowledged uncertainty about what might happen after that. Althoguh he said that, in his personal opinion, he thought it was likely the CR would be extended for the rest of the fiscal year, he had no firm information about those plans.

"I don't know any of the details," he said. "I'm not sure that anybody knows any of the details of where we are going to go during this time."

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.
Pluto's largest moon, Charon, had a process like Earth's plate tectonics beneath its surface, driven by a freezing ice core that expanded and cracked the little world's crust, researchers said.

Using data from the New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past Pluto and Charon in July 2015, Ross Beyer and his colleagues on the mission team investigated features on Charon's surface to understand how they formed. They noted some similarities to what can be seen back home: Earth's geology is powered by huge plates of crust that float on a taffy-like mantle, crashing into one another. Certain features on Charon seemed to have formed in the same way, the scientists found.

The researchers noticed there were fissures that looked a lot like seafloor-spreading zones or rift valleys on Earth. The scientists also saw depressed blocks of the surface surrounded by faults, called graben, and scarps, where one piece of land had moved vertically relative to the other. [Fly Through Pluto Moon Charon's Giant Canyon in Spectacular New Video]

But the researchers didn't find any evidence of mountain building, a process on Earth caused by tectonic plates colliding.

"What we see are all of these fractures," Beyer, a planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and a principal investigator at the SETI Institute, told Space.com. "On Earth, where you have plate tectonics, some plates move apart, but they must be colliding in other places, because the Earth is a sphere."

Geological features like the Himalayas are direct illustrations of that collision, which happens because Earth's plates are moving apart in some other location, like the Atlantic Ocean or East African Rift, he said.

In contrast, "on Charon, we only saw the extensional features," Beyer said. "As if the only thing we are seeing is pieces of crust moving away from each other."

The planetary scientists said they think Charon once had a liquid mantle underneath a crust of mostly water ice. When the ice froze, it expanded, and Charon's crust had to stretch and crack to accommodate that expansion, they said. This doesn't happen with rock like Earth has; most of the time, melted rock will shrink when it becomes a solid.

"Chemically, Charon's surface is super bland, mostly water," Beyer said. Data from New Horizons and earlier observations showed Charon's mean density. That density suggests it likely has a rocky core, or at least that there's some amount of rock in the little moon's makeup, but it would be a minority of the total mass.

Beyer noted that current models depict Charon forming as a result of a proto-Pluto colliding with something big and effectively splitting into two unequal pieces, one of which would become Charon. The initial collision would have generated some heat, and radioactive elements in Charon's core would have generated some more, he said. Initially the surface, made mostly of water with some ammonia, would freeze, but the layer between the rocky core and crust of ice would still be liquid, he added.

Amy Barr Mlinar, senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, told Space.com in an email that tidal forces could also contribute to keeping Charon's underground ocean liquid, though there aren't yet good models for that process in the Pluto-Charon system. And a lot of heat might not be necessary. "A little bit of ammonia (which has been detected on Charons surface, I believe) can significantly lower the freezing point of water," she said. "This permits the satellite to have an ocean even if there isnt much heat available  but Charon should have a decent amount of heat given its high rock fraction."

Regardless of the heat source, Charon is small, with a lot of surface area relative to its volume. Objects with lots of surface area radiate heat away more quickly, which makes it more likely that the liquid mantle finally froze, probably within a few million years. One piece of evidence that the moon froze early is the cratered terrain; the number of craters shows that there hasn't been much geological activity for about 4 billion years at least, the study said.

When Charon's mantle froze, the moon's volume increased, stretching the crust. "So the solution is like a muffin getting bigger," Beyer said. That process built the pattern of ridges and cracks that the scientists saw in the New Horizons images, he said.

The team's research, currently in press, will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Icarus.

You can follow Space.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Former NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson tries on the "Boeing Blue" spacesuit, a private suit for astronauts flying on Boeing's new CST-100 Starliner space capsule. NASA will use Boeing's Starliner vehicles as private space taxis for American astronauts.

The NASA astronauts who fly aboard Boeing's new spaceship will wear sleek, blue suits that are lighter, simpler and more comfortable than the bulky orange gear of the space shuttle era, company representatives said.

Unveiled today (Jan. 25), the new "Boeing Blue" spacesuits for the Starliner capsule weigh about 20 lbs. (9 kilograms) each with all of their accessories, compared to 30 lbs. (13.6 kg) for the old space shuttle suits, NASA officials said.

Other advances include touch-screen-sensitive gloves, more-flexible material and soft helmets that are incorporated into the suit (rather than the hard, detachable helmets of the shuttle era). [See photos of the new Boeing spacesuits]

Former NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson tries on the "Boeing Blue" spacesuit, a private suit for astronauts flying on Boeing's new CST-100 Starliner space capsule. NASA will use Boeing's Starliner vehicles as private space taxis for American astronauts. (Image credit: Boeing)

"It is a lot lighter, more formfitting, and it's simpler, which is always a good thing," NASA astronaut Eric Boe said in a statement. "Complicated systems have more ways they can break, so simple is better on something like this."

Boe is one of four NASA astronauts currently training to fly aboard the Starliner and SpaceX's Dragon capsule, which the two companies are developing to provide taxi services to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Both vehicles should start flying crewed missions in the next year or two, NASA officials have said.

Chris Ferguson wears the brand new spacesuit from Boeing and David Clark. (Image credit: Boeing)

The Boeing Blue suit, and the one that SpaceX develops, will help keep astronauts safe in the event of an emergency during trips to and from orbit. The suits are not designed for spacewalks; the large, bulky "extravehicular mobility units" that astronauts use for this latter purpose are already aboard the ISS.

"The spacesuit acts as the emergency backup to the spacecraft's redundant life-support systems," Richard Watson, subsystem manager for spacesuits in NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said in the same statement. "If everything goes perfectly on a mission, then you don't need a spacesuit. It's like having a fire extinguisher close by in the cockpit. You need it to be effective if it is needed."

A look at the spacesuit astronauts will wear aboard Boeing's Starliner capsule. (Image credit: Boeing)

Since the space shuttles' retirement in July 2011, NASA has relied on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to get American astronauts to and from orbit, at a cost of about $70 million per seat. Starliner and Dragon will end this foreign dependence, if all goes according to plan.

That plan is getting closer and closer to reality, said former NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, who is now director of crew and mission systems for Boeing.

"To me, it's a very tangible sign that we are really moving forward and we are a lot closer than we've been," Ferguson said of today's spacesuit unveiling. "The next time we pull all this together, it might be when astronauts are climbing into the actual spacecraft."

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
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Arvind Kejriwal said that Delhi was not the only polluted city in the country and named several other locations with similar air quality indexes (AQI). He questioned critics for pointing fingers solely at the AAP-ruled states. Speaking about crop stubble burning, he said that AAP's government took full responsibility for it and said that it would come up with means to check on it. He said that Delhi air pollution was not merely the national capital's issue but the country's concern altogether.
Pretoria, January 24, 2017 (SPS) - the South African movement Solidarity For Sahrawi has called the Secretary General of the United Nations Organization - (UNSG), Mr. Antonio Guterres to exercise power for the immediate release of the Sahrawi political prisoners from Moroccan jails and for helping thousands of Sahrawi citizens in refugee camps to gain their independence in letter sent issued Monday to UNSG.

Your Excellency, With the most honor and respectful of your new position and office as the Secretary General of the United Nations Organization - (UNSG), we hereby send this letter in solidarity with the people of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) popularly called the Western Sahara), both in the Refugee Camps of Tindouf, and in the occupied territory of Western Sahara under the brutal aggression, oppression, repression and arrogance of the government of the Kingdom of Morocco. Said the letter of the South African organization

The said organization went on saying that nothing is spoken of the Gdeim Izik detainees who are being tortured in Moroccan prisons just because they decided to exercise some basic human rights such as the rights to self-determination and independence.

The South African Solidarity with Sahrawi recalled that there was an unfortunate incidence of mass injustice perpetrated against the Sahrawi local protest group of Gdeim Izik by the Moroccan authorities on the 9th of October over 8th of November 2010.

Gdeim lzik was a peaceful protest camp in the occupied territory of Western Sahara, established on the 9th of October 2010.

The protests of Gdeim Izik were initially very peaceful as said earlier, until the protests were later marked by clashes between Sahrawi civilians and Moroccan security forces which led to the dead of a 14-year-old Nayem Elgarhi whom no one had spoken about and many injuries among the Sahrawi indigenes.

The aftermaths of the protest were marked by brutality, unlawful imprisonments of Sahrawi peaceful protesters, and the dismantlement of the camps in November 8th, 2010.

Africa Solidarity for Sahrawi has also reminded his excellency Guterres, that the right to self-determination of peoples including the people of Western Sahara (the Sahrawi) is recognized in many other international and regional instruments, including; The Declaration of Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation Among States adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1970, The Helsinki Final Act adopted by the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) in 1975, The African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights of 1981, The CSCE Charter of Paris for a New Europe adopted in 1990, The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of 1993 and 'The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. SPS

125/090
Pretoria, South Africa, January 25, 2017 (SPS) - The new ambassador of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Mr. Radhi al-Bashir Asgayar has presented his credentials on Tuesday as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Sahrawi Republic to the Republic of South Africa to His Excellency Mr. Jacob Zuma.

During the meeting with President Zuma, the new Saharawi ambassador recalled the historical relations that united the African liberation movements during the battle and the liberation struggle, in particular the outstanding relations between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Frente POLISARIO.

The Saharawi diplomat said: "It is a great honor for me to assume this position of Ambassador in this noble and free land."

"We in South Africa will continue to be faithful to our allies who have remained with us in our struggle for the liberation and elimination of apartheid, and today we emphasize it," he said in a speech to a group of new ambassadors. Position in order to achieve peace, justice and give voice to Africa "

Zuma reiterated his country's strong support for the just cause of the Saharawi people.

In addition to the new Saharawi ambassador, a group of ambassadors from France, Egypt, Qatar and Vietnam presented their credentials as Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of their respective countries to the Republic of South Africa.SPS

125/090/TRA
Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), January 25, 2017 (SPS) - The ambassador of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in Ethiopia and permanent representative at the African Union, Lamine Baali, welcomes African countries' positions over Western Sahara people's just struggle for their right to self-determination, noting that the African States are "in line with the principles and foundations" of the African Union.

Saharawi ambassadors speaking at the meetings of the AU Committee of permanent representatives, to wrap up on Wednesday, said "African countries' consensus on supporting SADR's right to participate in the African Union-Arab League partnership summit, held (last November) in Malabo, shows AU's deep, common position over the rights of African peoples."

The Saharawi official praised the continental organization's position at the fourth Arab World-Africa meeting, as it refused to boycott the summit and defended the right of an AU full and founder member, namely the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, to take part at the meeting's works."

The works of the 33rd session of the Committee of AU Permanent Representatives opened Sunday in Addis Ababa, as part of the preparation for the 28th AU summit on January 30-31.

The meeting of the heads of State and Government will be preceded by a Foreign Affairs ministers meeting. SPS

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Holly joined JCB as a Higher Apprentice aged 16 after studying at the JCB Academy in Rocester, Staffordshire. She went on to take a two year foundation degree before stuyding for two more years for a BEng degree in Mechanical Engineering. She graduated last year and now works at JCB Compact Products in Cheadle, Staffs, where she is part of the team designing JCBs award winning mini excavator range.

Holly was among the first intake at the JCB Academy in September 2010  a 22 million state school for 14-18 year old students aspiring to become the engineers of the future. The project was spearheaded by JCB Chairman Lord Bamford and since it opened almost 1,500 students have been educated there.

Holly said:

Ive learnt and gained so much more than I ever thought possible through my apprenticeship at JCB. I look at my friends who went to university and they are only just getting the workplace experience now. I would advise anyone considering an apprenticeship to go for it 110% - it may seem nerve wracking to go straight into a job but it is so worth it in the long run.

JCB Chairman Lord Bamford  who started his career as an engineering apprentice in 1962 - today congratulated Holly on her Award. Lord Bamford has been the driving force behind JCBs investment in apprentices at JCB and over the past five years around 250 have joined the company under its Young Talent programme  with more than 100 set to be recruited in 2017.

He said:

Im delighted that Holly has been recognised at a national level. Engineering was in my blood from a very early age and nothing pleases me more than seeing other engineers being rewarded at a very young age for their passion and hard work.
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For the first time, the United States is no longer considered a "full democracy" by the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index.

America's score, which went from 8.05 to 7.98, is now below the threshold for a full democracy (8.0). The index is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation, and political culture. Countries are then ranked as either a full democracy, flawed democracy (like the U.S.), hybrid regime or authoritarian regime.

The ranking is put out annually by The Economist Group, which also publishes The Economist magazine.

The decline is due to "a further erosion of trust in government and elected officials," according to the EIU, and not directly because of the recent election of Donald Trump.

"The U.S. has been teetering on the brink of becoming a flawed democracy for several years, and even if there had been no presidential election in 2016, its score would have slipped below 8.00," the EIU report reads.

It was a bad year for democracy across the globe. Only 38 countries gained points compared to 72 that lost them.

"Popular trust in governments, institutions, political parties and politicians has been declining for decades in the U.S. and Europe, resulting in a full-blown legitimacy crisis for today's political elites," the Democracy Index reports. "In 2016 the UK vote to leave the EU (Brexit) and the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election were the most powerful expressions of the mood of popular

distrust of political elites that is threatening to upend the political status quo across the developed

democracies."

The U.S. is now 21st in the overall Democracy Index, below Japan and tied with Italy. With the loss of the U.S., there are now only 19 full democracies in the world. Those countries are:

Norway Iceland Sweden New Zealand Denmark Canada Ireland Switzerland Finland Australia Luxembourg The Netherlands Germany Austria Malta United Kingdom Spain Mauritius Uruguay

"Trust in political institutions is an essential component of well-functioning democracies," the Democracy Index notes. "Yet surveys by Pew, Gallup and other polling agencies have confirmed that public confidence in government has slumped to historic lows in the U.S.

"This has had a corrosive effect on the quality of democracy."
The commission observed that instead of initiating treatment of the patient, the hospitals made him run from one hospital to the other in the name of jurisdiction and non-availability of different facilities.

By Shivendra Srivastava: A 14-year-old boy, whose parents are dead, diagnosed with full-blown Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was made to shuttle between four state-run hospitals for treatment in Telangana, within a period of 24 hours along with his aged grandmother.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the chief secretary, government of Telangana asking for a report regarding the matter within six weeks.

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The commission has observed that the matter indicates the lack of infrastructure and coordination among different government-run health care centres. The boy, who could be under trauma being an AIDS patient was made to suffer with his aged grandmother with the callous and insensible attitude of the hospitals.

The commission observed that instead of initiating treatment of the patient, they made them run from one hospital to the other in the name of jurisdiction and non-availability of different facilities.

DENIED TREATMENT FOR DIFFERENT REASONS

According to reports, the boy who was undergoing treatment at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) hospital for two weeks, was referred to Niloufer Hospital for Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) as the same facility is not available at the NIMS.

He was denied admission at Nioufer Hospital on the ground that they do not take children aged over 12 years. He was then directed to the Osmania General Hospital (OGH), where no help was provided.

Reportedly, some volunteers arranged the overnight stay of the boy and his grandmother in the hospital corridor.

The next morning, the doctors in the OPD refused to see the boy and referred him to an ART Centre at Chest Hospital in Erragadda, where the doctors again referred him to OGH to undergo a liver function test, besides getting an expert opinion from a gastroenterologist, before which the treatment could not be initiated.

The superintendent of the NIMS hospital has, reportedly, confirmed that they do not take children aged beyond 12 years.

Commenting on the case, Dr Vinod Kumar, a physician at ART Centre said that the boy was not refused treatment. Kumar explained that since it was a chest hospital, the drug regimen cannot be started without getting an expert opinion from a gastroenterologist which is available only at the OGH.

Also read: Schools show the door to HIV kids, Supreme Court takes up their cause

--- ENDS ---
By India Today Web Desk: Akshay Kumar, himself a son of a former member of the Armed Forces, has immense respect for our soldiers. The actor had earlier called them the 'real' heroes, saying he was only a 'reel hero.' Ahead of our 68th Republic Day on january 26, Akshay had a special message for netizens.

ALSO READ: Akshay Kumar donates Rs 9 lakh to martyred BSF jawan Gurnam Singh's family

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ALSO READ: Akshay Kumar provides Rs 9 lakh to martyred jawan NK Narpat Singh's family

The actor began by thanking fans for the overwhelming response he had received for his earlier message on the Bengaluru mass-molestation where he condemned the perpetrators. Akshay, who has made several donations to the families of martyrs, urged people to contribute as well.

Here I am standing up AGAIN for something I truly believe in coz THEIR well-being MATTERS to ME.I'd love to know if it does to YOU as well? pic.twitter.com/3Y5NPmTJhg Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) January 24, 2017

While a lot of people wish to help these families, they are not aware of how to go about it. Akshay wants to start a website or app where verified bank account numbers of a family member of a martyr will be put up, along with the family's financial status. This way, anyone who wants to contribute can do so directly without any agency. The actor is all for transparency, and all contributions made to a particular bank account will be visible.

As soon as the total deposited money of a particular account reaches Rs 15 lakh, that account number will be deleted. In this way, family members of the jawan can directly use that money.

If Akshay finds support from people, he will start working on this website/app with the permission of armed forces and assistance of government. The actor believes that if such a gesture becomes a reality, it will be the biggest salute to our men in uniform on January 26.

We commend the actor for his thoughtful gesture and hope that his vision becomes reality.

ALSO WATCH: Stop politics over surgical strikes, says Akshay Kumar to politicians who demand proof

--- ENDS ---
I f Santander did not exist in the UK, it is tempting to ask whether anyone would invent it  because, unusually among brands, it is as much defined by what it is not as what it is.

It is not a mutual like Nationwide although it is one of the biggest players in mortgage lending. It is not a High Street giant like Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds or RBS.

Indeed, it is number five, a position business school strategists say is not where you want to be, where the others dominate the market and you are condemned to follow without their advantages of scale.

It is not a niche challenger like Aldermore or Shawbrook, where you can make money by staying small and specialised.

It does not have any investment banking activities like Barclays or HSBC, where you can make big money on the occasions you get it right.

It is growing but it still not a huge lender to small businesses, the area where we are told there is the greatest need.

Even if, as many expect, it does soon buy the 300-branch Williams & Glyn brand of Royal Bank of Scotland, it will not fundamentally change the nature and scale of the business.

But none of these caveats seem to matter because, whatever Santander is in banking terms, it seems to have a formula that is working.

It announced today that profits were up 43% at 1.9 billion before tax and ahead 37% at 1.3 billion net.

The banking sector has been mired in crisis for so long that one had almost forgotten it could deliver that kind of performance. It is respectable by any measure.

Chief executive Nathan Bostock says it comes down to thinking and behaving like a challenger bank, and embracing that culture even if you are atypical.

This is his cue to talk about customer service, innovative products, the intelligent application of technology and creating the perception among customers that its products and services deliver value.

It sounds like what most banks say they want to do, but Santander would appear in some crucial areas to be doing better.

It also seems currently to be in a sweet spot  big enough not to be dictated to, or dominated by, the really big banks but small enough to be nimble and respond promptly to customer needs.

So far, so good  but the fortunes of banking are hard to separate from the fortunes of the economy.

Thus in the past 12 months with the country on a spending spree, the bank increased lending virtually across the board without suffering the usual surge in bad debts.

It invests heavily in technology, which customers seem quite to like and which helps keep costs under control. In this relatively benign environment, it has found ways to keep those customers loyal so they are there to be tempted with higher-margin products.

The big question is how long Santander, and indeed the other banks, have before all this is derailed by Brexit.

You do not have to subscribe to the more gloomy views about the prospects for the UK economy  such as one currently going the rounds that forecasts 15 years of stagnation and several million unemployed for post-Brexit Britain  to accept that the economy is heading for rough water in the near term.

Bostock concedes the point. Last year was good but this year the bank expects more bad debts, and is going to be more careful about who it lends to.

It is more nervous about property prices. In what it anticipates will be a lower growth environment, it will be more cautious in its SME lending.

It is still optimistic but its body language is clear. This year will be less fun and harder work than 2016.

The less well-off are poorly served

In an ideal world, everyone in this country would have access to a bank account and be able to access fairly priced credit.

We would all have a savings buffer of a few hundred pounds to tide us over the unexpected shocks of life; our possessions would be sensibly insured.

We would know where to go to for advice, and we would feel sufficiently educated and aware not to be intimidated by the financial sector.

Unfortunately, as the one-time head of the Financial Services Authority Sir Hector Sants pointed out last night, the world is not yet perfect.

Between one million and 1.5 million adults in the UK do not have a bank account. Between eight million and nine million are over-indebted, and 2.6 million of them are what is euphemistically termed as in distress.

Some 13 million do not have savings of 500, and could not cope with even two weeks of unemployment or the washing machine breaking down without having to borrow money from somewhere.

Almost half of households have no contents insurance. Only one primary school in five makes any stab at financial education.

Sants was speaking at the official launch of a report called Reaching the Poor: The Intractable Nature of Financial Exclusion in the UK, which has just been published by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation.

He is closely involved with Step Change, a charity that seeks to address some of the problems.

But though he tried to strike an optimistic note in terms of progress being made, it is impossible to avoid the fact that our financial system continues to exclude a large number of people, and incurs hugely avoidable costs in terms of social dislocation, stress and mental illness that in a civilised society ought not be acceptable.

The problem, however, lies in the reasons why people are excluded and a reluctance to tackle the core issues. The brutal fact is that many people simply dont have any money.

Second, they dont always see why financial products are relevant to their lives. In some cases, they avoid tax or maintain eligibility for benefits they want to be outside the system.

Third, even if they do want to engage, there is very little out there tailored to their needs  nor is there likely to be, given the cohort is not seen as profitable to serve.

So despite the hand-wringing, the calls for something to be done and the obvious social case for action, it is hard to see much changing  absent a major commitment by Government, which might see tackling this problem as a step on the way to creating an economy which works for everyone.
T aking the Government to court over Brexit always seemed bafflingly pointless, even to an ardent remoaner like me.

The whole affair could only ever add more uncertainty for businesses at the sharp end of EU trade and worsen the rift in the country between Inners and Outers.

But none of that excuses the vitriol meted out by Brexiteers yet again today to Gina Miller, the fund manager who brought the case.

Since she dared exercise her democratic right to go to law, every element of her private and professional life has been dug over and smeared, her abilities as a mother mocked, her business credentials besmirched, her Guyanese heritage needlessly and repeatedly cited.

Unnamed City sources are quoted attacking SCM, the business she runs with former New Star hedge funder Alan Miller (the fact SCM exposes profiteering in the fund industry from which these sources probably hail is usually glossed over).

Yet for all the battalions digging into her past, the worst anybody has uncovered is that she may have given the impression one of her degrees was in law when it wasnt.

Being economical with the actualite in matters curricular is not a good look. But its nothing against the lies and exaggerations told by her detractors in the run-up to the referendum.

The nonsense claim about 350 million a week for the NHS; the suggestion Turkey was joining the EU; the idea that Nissan and Unilever wanted Brexit?

Besides, what relevance do her personal shortcomings have to the ruling of the Supreme Court? None.

Regarding the judges decision, its tempting to fling back at Millers attackers their oft-repeated phrase to Remainers: You lost. Deal with it.

Lets put BT on hold

Tempting, isnt it, to buy BTs shares after yesterdays 21% crash? Bad though the Italian fraud might be, worrying though its public sector contracts are, does it really merit 8 billion off the stock market value?

Sadly, yes. The shares failed to bounce back today for a good reason.

Not only could yesterdays problems worsen but others loom large, from its yawning pension deficit to rising regulatory pressure.

Sports rights  whose acquisition have driven BTs broadband sales  are getting pricier, and audiences are getting smaller. Longer term, BTs fixed-line dominance can only become less relevant as rivals eat into its share of bundled packages and the younger generation flocks to mobile.

Even house broker JPMorgan isnt recommending the stock. Best heed their opinion.
T he UKs accountancy regulator has rebuked former top brass of AssetCo, the firm that used to lease Londons fire engines, over an accounting scandal.

The Financial Reporting Council has made a formal complaint over the conduct of former chief executive John Shannon, ex-chief financial officer Raymond Flynn and former financial controller Matthew Boyle, over its accounts for 2009 and 2010.

The FRC alleges the trio acted dishonestly or recklessly and breached the fundamental principles of integrity and objectivity.

AssetCo, which listed a decade ago, nearly collapsed in 2011 after a series of restatements to its annual accounts. A big tax bill also put the company under pressure and it had to be bailed out by shareholders.

The case will go to tribunal. If the three are found guilty they face a range of sanctions, such as fines or unlimited costs.

Auditor Grant Thornton faces a 38 million claim by the company that it allegedly breached its auditing duties.

AssetCo, formerly part of British Gas, now offers fire engines and emergency services to Middle East countries.

It previously had an agreement with the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority for the London Fire Brigade, providing engines to about 113 stations.
S hould Theresa May rush to the head of the queue to see Donald Trump? Absolutely. The carping from critics about her forwardness in getting a foot in the door of the new Trump residence is misplaced.

Much of it comes from the ostrich position. It asserts that if we strongly object to the new American President, we should not grace him with the presence of a British Prime Minister so fast. The opposite is true. Lecturing him about being nicer to women or arriving with a list of schoolmarmish demands that he should stop being the populist who just got elected is a fools errand.

The PMs poker face will be sorely tested in Washington this week. She should wear it and plough on regardless. It is not her job to march against The Donalds vulgar inanities. It is her job to be the grown-up in the room when that position is vacant right now.

She may annoy those who count only her failures, by bringing back a decent deal on tariffs or the ability of US and UK workers to move between each others countries with as few restraints as possible, or she may not. But her chances of forming a beneficial relationship are far better if she engages with Trump, rather than sitting on the sidelines muttering about how inconvenient his presidency is. At the heart of this is an argument about the pros and cons of normalising a presidency that is out of the ordinary from the get-go.

On Friday, I was a passenger in a taxi listening to Trump ramble through his inauguration. It is as my wry cabbie said: We havent had one like him before. But you can oppose the isolationism, economic short-sightedness and the downright nastiness of Trumpism and still be aware that the office of the US President and Commander-in-Chief matters, and will continue to do so. We need to move beyond the default response of crying oh no at Trumps latest annoyance or outrage.

Hence Mays focus on the question of Nato, and on how to leverage support from those in Washington who do understand how vital a thriving Western defence community is. Her meeting with Capitol Hill Republicans is as important as a presidential handshake. Senior Republicans and General Mattis at the Pentagon are seeking to steer a President who is mouthy about international matters away from loose talk of Nato being obsolete  phrases best left to the dream-on world of Jeremy Corbyn and co  towards an appraisal of how to re-engage with Russia (a goal that Hillary Clinton also shared), without ending up as patsy to the Kremlin.

One of a kind Trump may be, but a rose-tinted view of the special relationship obscures how hardball dealings have been in practice.

Roosevelts tough bargaining with Churchill in the Destroyers for Missiles deal  warships in return for bases in the British West Indies  was a wartime shakedown. Ronald Reagans double-dealing on the Falklands and trigger-happy seizure of Grenada enraged even a staunch Atlanticist like Margaret Thatcher. President Clinton tore a strip off Tony Blair for demanding boots on the ground in the Balkans. Trump will most likely test an alliance that is durable but not always sunny. Only a short-sighted Prime Minister would let him test it to destruction. Theresa May has her shortcomings, but she is not that daft.

Anne McElvoy is Senior Editor at The Economist
T he news that a politician is actually fulfilling his campaign promises is normally grounds for gratified surprise. In the case of President Trump, it comes as an unpleasant shock. Many people regarded his campaign promises to build a wall with Mexico and to introduce enhanced vetting for Muslims entering the US as so much bluster. They were wrong; Mr Trump was serious. And, losing no time, today he is signing executive orders giving effect to his national security programme.

In fact, a law already exists to allow the building of a barrier  probably a fence rather than a wall  with Mexico: the Secure Fence Act 2006. And it turns out that the barrier, whatever its made of, will be built with federal funds, with a proviso that Mexico may in future pay for it in some way or another. As for enhanced vetting for people entering the US from seven countries in Africa and the Middle East such as Syria, Yemen and Somalia, it already exists: visas are not issued willy-nilly.

Of course, every country is entitled to protect its security, and illegal migrants have no automatic right to remain in the US. And while there will be a temporary ban on refugees entering the US from the Middle East, those fleeing religious persecution  such as the Yazidis in Iraq  are exempt. But it is the symbolism of these moves that matters, as the President is all too aware.

It signals that the US is not an open country, that the Statue of Liberty no longer represents an America that is welcoming to refugees and hopeful migrants from every part of the world. There is no more powerful symbol than the building of a wall  the fall of the Berlin Wall was the central moment in the collapse of Communism  and even if it takes the form of a fence, its still retrograde.

Some moves by the President may yet prove positive but many of the promises he has kept so far are those he should have dropped. London, by contrast, is making a point of being open for business post-Brexit. As messages go, it beats putting up barriers. As Pope Francis says, we should be building bridges, not walls.

Another Tube strike

Another day, another transport strike. From 9pm tonight, commuters on the Central and Waterloo and City lines will have to find other ways to get to work, as the RMT begins a 24-hour strike to protest against the forced redeployment of eight workers. Meanwhile, talks are under way at the overworked conciliation service, Acas, to fend off possible action by Tube drivers represented by the RMT and TSSA unions early next month.

The effect of the strike will be exactly as intended: it will disrupt business and social life in the heart of London, cause enormous costs to firms and huge congestion as passengers try to find other routes to get to work. London cannot afford disruption on this scale. The action only serves to reinforce the case for the Government to restrict the freedom of transport workers to take industrial action, perhaps by raising the bar for ballots approving strikes on rail and Tube. These are essential services. We should treat them accordingly.

A day for hopeful youth

Our Young Progress Makers event at the Roundhouse today is a chance for youthful minds to be inspired and for youthful voices to be heard. At a time of change for the UK it is more vital than ever that we forge links between the stars of today  in fields as diverse as the arts, politics and technology  and those of tomorrow. By taking young peoples views seriously, and giving them opportunities to shape the city around them, we will all prosper.
D ays after changing the curtains in the Oval Office and moving in, President Trump has started to weaken environmental protection. This threatens to go much further than the widely predicted abandonment of Barack Obamas climate policies, in a bid to reverse almost half a century of cleaning the countrys air, water and land.

Yesterday Trump signed executive orders to try to push through the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, overriding decisions by Obama, and to hasten environmental approval for high-priority infrastructure projects.

This follows a secret freeze on all grants and contracts issued by the powerful Environmental Protection Agency, covering areas from reducing air pollution to restoring the Great Lakes, from transport to contaminated land.

Observers are expecting a flurry of new measures to weaken pollution regulations and open up public land, possibly including national parks, to exploitation for fossil fuels. They also expect the agency  set up in 1970 by Richard Nixon, of all presidents  to be hammered.

All this chimes with much of the new Presidents campaigning rhetoric and his pledge to business leaders on Monday morning to cut regulations by at least 75 per cent. But it is far from clear how far he will succeed, and even less so that any US administration can, by itself, frustrate the worlds efforts to combat climate change.

Leading the anti-green crusade will be the agencys greatest enemy, who Trump has now selected to be its boss. As Attorney-General of Oklahoma, Scott Pruitt sued the agency 14 times, including to block measures to make power plants clean up mercury emissions, aimed at preventing 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks and 130,000 asthma attacks every year. And he is just one of a bevy of high-profile climate-change sceptics nominated for top positions by Trump.

Some idea of what more may be in store can be glimpsed from a top-secret Agency Action plan prepared by the Trump team, which lays out opportunities for cutting its budget for climate programs, environmental programs and management and grants to states and tribal peoples by $815 million.

The plan suggests abandoning regulations to control emissions of greenhouse gases from power plants, and advocates major reforms of the agencys use of science and economics to ensure that it will not be able to return to its bad old days under a greener president.

The stage is set for the mother of all environmental battles, for all this will not be easy to achieve. Trump can do some things with the stroke of a pen, such as cancelling executive orders by his predecessor to make all federal agencies cut their emissions, help communities prepare against flooding and other effects of climate change, and include climate resilience in foreign-aid programmes. He can also use the Republican majorities in Congress to strike down rules that the previous administration completed last year, including cutting pollution from landfills and oil and gas drilling and restricting hunting of migratory birds.

But Trumps biggest bugbears  such as Obamas measures to boost fuel economy in road vehicles and to cut carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants  will be much tougher to kill, because they have been through a lengthy rule-making process and will require a similar one to be dismantled. And much of the EPAs powers to regulate pollutants are enshrined in the Nixon-era Clean Air Act, making them hard to weaken.

Environmentalists, moreover, are already mobilising for the fight. Even as Trump was being inaugurated, scientists and computer programmers  including a group of 60 at the University of California in Los Angeles  were busily downloading government data on climate change, air pollution, energy and environmental health before his administration could eliminate them. And green groups, who have proved adept at defending environmental regulation in the courts in the past, are lawyering up. Even yesterdays decisions will face legal battles and are not certain to be implemented.

Above all, environmental regulations are popular. More than 60 per cent of Americans want the EPAs powers to be preserved or strengthened, and for no increase in drilling for oil on public lands, according to an opinion poll last week. Indeed, public opinion forced Ronald Reagan to abandon a similar, less extensive, assault.

The new administration may find it harder still to kill the international drive to avoid dangerous climate change. It is not yet even clear that, despite his climate-sceptic appointments, President Trump even wants to. He says his mind is still open and his daughter Ivanka, who is expected to take on some of the traditional duties of the First Lady and one of the people Trump listens to most, is believed to have made global warming one of her signature issues.

Meanwhile, his choice for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson  despite being a former head of Exxon, the oil company Greens most love to hate  has hinted that the US should remain part of the international Paris Agreement, despite the Presidents campaign pledge to leave.

Even if Trump does decide to quit it, US emissions are still likely to fall because many states, from California to New York, will stick to bold reduction plans while even Republican states such as Texas and Iowa are expanding massive renewable-energy programmes. And new studies show that even if these reductions did not continue, the worlds efforts would not be seriously blown off course unless other countries followed suit. China, much the biggest polluter of all, has made it clear that it has no intention of lessening its ambitious clean-up programme.

Yet Obamas plans  which Hillary Clinton would have been likely to continue  involved taking far stronger measures against global warming, and persuading other nations to do the same. These now look doomed, and the world may yet regret a lost opportunity to avert disaster. This may be the greatest legacy of the Oval Offices new occupant.

Geoffrey Lean is an environmental commentator and journalist
Alexandra Shulman will step down from British Vogue after a quarter of a century as Editor-in-Chief, it was announced today.

Her departure, confirmed in a statement issued by Conde Nast Britain managing Director Nicholas Coleridge, has been the subject of speculation amongst the fashion industry for some time and follows the biggest year of Shulmans career, which included the Vogue centenary issue, a BBC documentary and an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, along with the launch of her book Inside Vogue.

Shulman said: "I have edited British Vogue for 25 years almost to the day, and to have steered it during our spectacular centenary has been one of the greatest privileges. During that time I have worked with an unparalleled collection of talent both inside and outside the magazine and have been lucky enough to see both Vogue and the British fashion industry expand and flourish."

"It has been very hard to find a rational reason to leave what is unquestionably a fascinating and rewarding role but last autumn I realised that I very much wanted to experience a different life and look forward to a future separate to Vogue."

"My career at Conde Nast has been everything I could have wished of it and my heartfelt thanks go to Nicholas Coleridge and Jonathan Newhouse for giving me so many opportunities, trusting me to take care of the precious cargo that is Vogue and allowing me the freedom to do the job exactly how I wanted."

Alexandra Shulman - in pictures 1 /13 Alexandra Shulman - in pictures Alexandra Shulman and Model Kate Moss at the Business of Fashion Gala Dinner on September 19, 2016 Dave Benett The Duchess of Cambridge with Alexandra Shulman and Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Nicholas Cullinan at the "Vogue 100: A Century of Style" exhibition on 4 May 2016 Ian Gavan/AFP/Getty Images Kim Kardashian West and Alexandra Shulman at British Vogue's Centenary gala dinner at Kensington Gardens on 23 May 2016 Dave Benett Alexandra Shulman, Victoria Beckham and Anna Wintour attend the launch of "Vogue: Voice Of A Century" on 18 September 2016 Dave Benett Alexandra Shulman signing copies of her latest book 'Inside Vogue: A Diary of my 100th year' at Selfridges on 28 November 2016 Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images Alexandra Shulman and Mario Testino in the winners room after winning the award for 100 Years of British Vogue at The Fashion Awards 2016 on 5 December Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images Jasmine Guinness, Alexandra Shulman and Laura Bailey at the launch of the new Design Museum on 22 November 2016 Dave Benett/Getty Images Alexandra Shulman and Valentino at the preview of The Glamour of Italian Fashion exhibition at Victoria & Albert Museum on 1 April 2014 Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images Alexandra Shulman at the British Fashion Awards at London Coliseum on 1 December 2014 Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Christopher Bailey and Alexandra Shulman at Vogue and Burberry's cocktail reception as part of 'Fashion's Night Out' on 10 September 2009 Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Shulman, who will leave the magazine in June, counts other career highlights including the successful launch of Vogue.com, the acclaimed Vogue Festival and recruiting the Duchess of Cambridge to appear on the cover of the centenary issue.

Shulman has enjoyed a lengthy career in journalism. She cut her teeth at Over-21 Magazine, before taking up positions at Tatler and the Sunday Telegraph. She took her first job at Vogue as features editor in 1988.

Coleridge said: "This is an announcement I hoped never to have to make. Alexandra Shulman, Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue for a quarter of a century, told me before Christmas that she had decided to stand down from Vogue in six months time."

"Alex has been the longest serving and most successful Editor of Vogue in its 100 year history. She has edited the title for a quarter of its existence, through its period of highest ever circulation, and its simultaneous transformation into a global digital brand."

"She has been the towering figure of the British fashion press throughout her tenure: a superb journalist and editor, who understands and exemplifies every quality. Imaginative, hard-working, perceptive and a brilliant leader, Alex is also a valued friend to so many of us."

"It is impossible to sufficiently express the contribution she has made to Vogue, to Conde Nast and to the British fashion industry."

Shulmans resignation will no doubt result in months of speculation as to who will be her successor. Among the names expected to be in the running include Emily Sheffield, currently deputy editor of British Vogue and sister of Samantha Cameron.

Net-A-Porter founder and British Fashion Council chairman Dame Natalie Massenet could also be in the running, following speculation that a silicon valley giant such as Apple could be interested in buying the business.

While Shulmans next move remains unclear, it is presumed that she will take time out to spend with her partner David Jenkins. The magazine editor lives in Queens park and has one son.

Conde Nast will make an announcement regarding a successor in due course.
A 149-member UAE Presidential Guard, the Air Force, the Navy and Army contingent led by a UAE band consisting of 35 musicians marching on Rajpath and presenting a ceremonial salute to the President of India. The UAE military contingent is led by Lt Col Abood Musabeh Abood Musabeh Alghfeli.

For the first time a contingent of the National Security Guard (NSG) popularly known as the Black Cat Commandoes will march-past the Rajpath.

Sticking to the 67 years tradition of the Republic Day Celebration, the colourful BSF Camel Regiment led by Deputy Commandant Kuldeep Seervi will take part.

The parade will also see the fly-past of three LCA Tejas Aircraft flying at a height of 300 m from ground in 'Vic' formation and the Airborne Early Warning & Control System (AEW&C) developed by DRDO.

The Indian Army's missile firing capability, T-90 'Bhishma' tank, Infantry Combat Vehicle BMP-2K, Mobile Autonomous Launcher of the BrahMos Missile System, Weapon Locating Raddar 'Swathi', Akash Weapon System, CBRN Recconnnaisance Vehicle and Dhanush Gun System will be the main draw in the mechanised columns.

An Indian Air Force Tableau will roll down the Rajpath with the theme "Air Dominance Through Network Centric Operations". The Tableau will display the scaled down models of Su-30 MKI, Mirage-2000, AWACS, UAV, Apache and Communication Sattelite.

This year the Indian Navy's Tableau will have the theme 'Indian Navy - Professional Force-Anchoring Stability, Security and National Prosperity'. The tableau showcases the lethal Marine Commandoes proceeding for action, the indigenously built Kolkata Class Destroyer and the Kalvari Class next generation attack submarines. The tableaux also displays a model of the P-8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

The parade ceremony will commence at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate where the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the nation in paying homage to the martyrs by laying a wreath. An eternal flame burns at the Amar Jawan Jyoti to commemorate the indomitable courage of our Armed Forces personnel who have made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the motherland. The Amar Jawan, the immortal soldier, is symbolised by a reversed rifle standing on its barrel and crested by a soldier's helmet.

As per tradition, after unfurling the National Flag, the national anthem will be played with a 21 gun salute. The parade will then commence and the President will take the salute. This year's Chief Guest in the parade will be His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces. The parade will be commanded by Lt. General Manoj Mukund Naravane, General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area. Major General Rajesh Sahai, Chief of Staff, Headquarter Delhi Area will be the parade Second-in-Command.

Param Vir Chakra winners Subedar Major & Honorary Captain Bana Singh (Retd), Subedar Yogendra Singh Yadav, 18 Grenadiers and Naib/Subedar Sanjay Kumar, 13 JAK Rifles and Ashok Chakra winners Major General Cyrus A Pithawalla (Retd), Lt Col Jas Ram Singh (Retd), Shri Hukum Singh and Shri Govind Singh of district Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh and Shri Bhure Lal of district Guna also from Madhya Pradesh will follow the Deputy Parade Commander on Jeeps.

The marching contingents of Army will include horse-mounted columns of the 61st Cavalry, the Machanised Infantry Regiment, the Bihar Regiment, the 39 Gorkha Training Centre, 58 Gorkha Training Centre, the Madras Engineering Group and Centre and 103 Infantry Battalion (Territoral Army) Sikh LI.

The marching contingent of Navy comprising 144 young sailors will be led by Lieutenant Aparna Nair, while the Indian Air Force contingent comprising 144 men will be led by Squadran Leader Attal Singh Shekhon. The Paramilitary and other auxiliary civil forces will include the Border Security Force Camel Contingent, Indian Coast Guard, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Delhi Police, National Cadet Corps and National Service Scheme.

Tableaux from 17 States and UT, six Central Ministries and Departments will present the varied historical, art and cultural heritage of the country. They will also showcase country's progress in different fields, particularly floats from Goa, Gujarat, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam and Jammu & Kashmir with their varied themes, which will be of special attraction. The floats of Central Board of Excise and Customs, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Allevation will showcase the rapid development of some of the flagship programmes of the Government. The floats of Council of Scientific and Industial Reasearch (CSIR) and Ministry of Skill Development & Enterpreneurship will highlight the significant progress in the scientific and technoligical growth in the country as well as our efforts to promote skill development and enterpreneurship to achieve the vision of "Skill India".

21 of the 25children selected for the National Bravery Award-2016 will also participate in the parade. Four children have got the award posthumously. In the children's pageant section, about 600 boys and girls drawn from three schools in Delhi and a group of school children from South Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur will perform colourful dances on varid themes. The splendid driving skills of 'Dare Devils'- the motorcycle display team of Corps of Military Police will be a major attraction of the parade. They will perform different stunts like Salute to President, Ladder, Double Bar, Lotus, Christmas Tree, Aircraft, Sudarshan Chakra, Flower Pot, Pyramid and Wheeling on moving motor cycles.

The grand finale of the parade will be a spectacular flypast by the IAF. The flypast will commence with the 'Chakra' formation, comprising three Mi-35 helicopters in 'Vic' formation, followed by the 'Hercules' formation comprising three C-130J Super Hercules aircraft in 'Vic' formation. Trailing them will be the 'Netra' which is an Airborne Early Warning and Control System Aircraft also known as "Eye in the Sky". It will be followed by the 'Globe formation' comprising one C-17 Globemaster flanked by two Su-30 MKIs. Next in line will be the fighters, where five Jaguars will fly in Arrowhead formation, another five MiG-29 Air Superiority Fighters will fly in Fulcrum style. Then the breath-taking 'Trishul' formation comprising three Su-30 MKIs of No. 24 Squadron would fly over the Rajpath, and once in front of the saluting dais, the Su-30 MKI aircraft will split upwards, making a Trishul in the sky. The flypast will conclude with another Su-30 MKI carrying out a 'Vertical Charlie' manoeuvre over the saluting dais.
Orange is the only fruit for Giorgio Armani who presented a love letter to the shade in Paris last night.

Closing the second day of Haute Couture shows, the Italian showcased his own tangerine dream amongst a zesty offering of marabou trims, plisse lace and intricate embroidery.

In what has become a signature, the designer clung tightly to his chosen theme throughout and orange was represented in every outfit to grace the catwalk.

In one instance, a black asymmetric gown was lent colour through the inclusion of a layer of delicate colour lace whilst in others Armani opted for a more blatant hit of orange with floor sweeping organza gowns intricately embroidered with thousands of amber beads.

Nicole Kidman leaving the show / Getty Images

Designing for his bespoke Prive line has long allowed Armani to marry his affection for traditional silhouettes with playful red-carpet-worthy flourishes and this show was a prime example of that with classical Oscars ready gowns finished with lashings of feathers.

Armani also chose the occasion to explore the notion of the cocktail jacket.

Drawing from skills honed during his lengthy career as a tailor, Armani offered up jackets in opulent forms.

Among the most remarkable - and undoubtedly the most expensive - was a cropped crocodile incarnation which featured in vibrant tangerine.

Another created entirely from iridescent stones, also looked set to send Armani shoppers into a spin.
Its five days into Donald Trumps presidency and already hes making good on his promise to follow two simple rules: Buy American and Hire American. For that there is one political figure who deserves the credit: the new First Lady.

At the inauguration, the eyes of the world were drawn to Melania Trump. Gone were the clingy, cleavage-framing bandeau dresses that Melania wore when her husband was a judge on The Apprentice. Instead she was a dignified vision in sky blue. Her neckline was high, a risky style that can verge on Star Trek chic but she pulled it off, and she channelled Jackie Kennedy in matching accessories and shoes.

Crucially, the whole look, from her cashmere cutaway jacket to her suede gloves, was by Ralph Lauren, an American designer. Not only did she look appropriately stateswoman like but this was a masterclass in political power dressing.

A mere hour after Melania made her first appearance as FLOTUS, Ralph Lauren company stock soared. It closed on Thursday at $88.20 a share, before reaching $89.32 in the moments leading up to the inauguration. Trading spiked at 11am, and stock closed on Friday at $88.90, a significant rise in what has until now been a down month.

AP

The Ralph Lauren Corporation says: The Presidential Inauguration is a time for the United States to look our best to the world. It was important to us to uphold and celebrate the tradition of creating iconic American style for this moment. The fashion house dressed the US Olympic team, and everything about them is patriotic.

Before her husband was a presidential candidate, Melania said: I dont follow what is in fashion now; I just listen to myself and what I like. She wore a lot of European brands during her husbands campaign; Dolce and Gabbana and Chanel were favourites, while American Marc Jacobs refused to dress her for political reasons. But the last week suggests that everything has changed. What Melania wears counts, perhaps even more so than when she was a model.

Melania Trump: Best fashion moments - In pictures 1 /66 Melania Trump: Best fashion moments - In pictures September 22, 2017 At the Boys and Girls Club event Getty Images 1990s At an event in New York Diane Freed/Getty Images 1990s With her then-boyfriend Donald Trump Getty Images November 13, 2003 At the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York Getty Images June 7, 2004 At the CFDA Fashion Awards Getty Images December 13, 2004 At a gala to honour leaders in tourism Getty Images February 27, 2005 At the Vanity Fair Oscars Party Getty Images January 22, 2005 On the way to her wedding with Donald Trump Jeffrey Langlois/PB Daily News/Palm Beach Daily News/Rex April 20, 2005 At the Breast Cancer Research Foundation's Annual Hot Pink Party Getty Images June 23, 2005 At the premiere of "War Of The Worlds" in New York Getty Images September 18, 2005 At the Emmy Awards Getty Images February 6, 2008 At a reception to benefit UNICEF hosted by Gucci Getty Images May 24, 2010 At the "Sex And The City 2" premiere in New York Getty Images May 2, 2011 At the Met Gala Getty Images May 7, 2012 At the Met Gala Getty Images October 9, 2016 At the second presidential debate at Washington University AFP/Getty Images November 9, 2016 On stage during Donald Trump's election night event Getty Images January 19, 2017 At the Candlelight Dinner one day before her husband Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th President EPA January 20, 2017 With Michelle Obama at the White House AP March 17, 2017 At their Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach Getty Images April 27, 2017 At the White House AFP/Getty Images April 5, 2017 The Trump's welcomes King Abdullah II of Jordan and his wife Queen Rania of Jordan Getty Images May 25, 2017 At the arrival of the French President AFP/Getty Images May 26, 2017 At the Chierici Palace City Hall of Catania AFP/Getty Images May 26, 2017 At the ancient Greek Theatre of Taormina AFP/Getty Images June 29, 2017 Awaiting the arrival of the Korean President and his wife AFP/Getty Images June 26, 2017 Bidding farewell to Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi AFP/Getty Images June 24, 2017 At the wedding of US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin Getty Images July 6, 2017 On route to the Hamburg G20 economic summit Getty Images July 7, 2017 At the G20 economic summit Getty Images July 8, 2017 At the second day of the G20 summit Getty Images July 25, 2017 At the Make America Great Again rally AFP/Getty Images July 13, 2017 On a visit to Paris Getty Images September 23, 2017 Ahead of the Invictus Games 2017 Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation September 20, 2017 At the United States Mission in New York AFP/Getty Images September 14, 2017 At the White House Historical Association Getty Images October 3, 2017 Preparing to board Marine One AFP/Getty Images October 11, 2017 With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau Getty Images October 20, 2017 At the Smithsonian National Museum of American History AFP/Getty Images November 3, 2017 On a trip to Asia Getty Images November 7, 2017 On a visit to Seoul Getty Images November 9, 2017 In the Great Hall of the People AFP/Getty Images November 9, 2017 At the Great Hall of the People in Beijing AFP/Getty Images November 21, 2017 At the pardoning ceremony of the National Thanksgiving Turkey Getty Images December 31, 2017 At Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort New Year's Eve party AFP/Getty Images April 23, 2018 US first lady Melania Trump walks outside the White House AFP/Getty Images April 24, 2018 U.S President Donald Trump, and U.S. first lady Melania Trump arrive at first State Dinner Getty Images April 24, 2018 Melania stands with French first lady Brigitte Macron Getty Images 24 April 2019. US President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump walk to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington EPA January 13, 2020 Melania Trump and Donald Trump put their hands over their hearts for the anthem Getty Images

The day before the inauguration, Slovenian-born New Yorker Melania arrived in Washington in a double-breasted military-inspired coat by Norisol Ferrari, an independent New York designer of Colombian and Venezuelan descent who described herself to Womens Wear Daily as a first-generation minority woman. Sound familiar?

At the donors black tie dinner that evening, Melania donned a floor-length nude sequined gown by Reem Acra, who was born in Lebanon and is based in New York.

The grand finale of her Washington DC debut was the inaugural ball. There was speculation that she would wear a Karl Lagerfeld gown, but as the lead up showed it had to be an all-American designer to fit with her new brand. Melanias predecessor Michelle Obama favoured up and coming designers, and this shows she too is taking on that mantle.

She chose to design her own outfit, collaborating with Herve Pierre. The French designer lives in New York, where he was creative director at Carolina Herrera and dressed Melanias predecessors Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama and Laura Bush. He has said that designing the simple vanilla crepe dress with Melania was organic: She has a strong personal style and doesnt plan to change it because of her new function. This dress will be displayed at the Smithsonian museum with all the other first ladies gowns, which will be a boost if as rumoured Herve Pierre plans to launch his own label. When Melania wore Roksanda Ilincic to a Republican convention, sales soared and her choice spawned cheaper imitations of the $2,190 dress.

Melania hasnt forgotten her roots. She still wears shoes made back home in Slovenia. Cobbler Marinko Umicevic of the Bema factory recently sent her a pair that he made especially for her but would have cost around 200 euros. She wrote to thank him for such a lovely surprise and invited him to the inauguration ball. Unfortunately visa restrictions meant that Umicevic could not go to Washington. Umicevic says: The shoes are made with lots of love. I made the decision to send a pair of shoes to Melania because in her I see progress, a new America, which will bring the olive branch of peace to our region.

Melania is about to become one of the most photographed women in the world and she is making an impact with each well-tailored, diplomatically chosen step.

@susannahbutter
T he weather is cold, the political forecast is chillier. But there are laughs out there too. London is the undisputed world champion of the live comedy scene, with gigs everywhere, from pubs where you can see the whites of the performers eyes to arenas where you are almost in a different postcode to the fast-quipping superstar on stage. If youve only ever seen your favourite clowns on TVs Live at the Apollo, now is the time to catch them in the uncensored raw with our guide to this seasons best live comedy.

Mainstream clubs

Soho Theatre (sohotheatre.com) has become the go-to location to enjoy anything from world premieres to hits from the Edinburgh Festival. Its policy is bold but always crowd-pleasing, and with three performance spaces  a studio, a theatre and a sexy, subterranean cabaret bar  there is always plenty going on.

Imminent attractions range from character comic Kieran Hodgson (Feb 611) and satirist Nish Kumar (March 2 25), who are both bringing their acclaimed, award-nominated shows back due to popular demand, as is the searingly honest Sofie Hagen (May 16). If you like something more edgy, Alfie Brown (Feb 2025), who has something of the young Russell Brand about him, has a new show, Scissors. Or for compelling storytelling, try Australias Sarah Kendall (March 10-14).

A short heckle away from Soho at the Leicester Square Theatre (leicestersquaretheatre.com) you can catch some of contemporary comedys greats. Stewart Lee (until Saturday) has come up with his funniest show yet, dissecting Generation Selfie in Content Provider. And Bridget Christie (Jan 31 to Feb 11), who happens to be Stewart Lees wife, is also back with Because You Demanded It, her inspired response to Brexit, in which she compares multiculturalism to horticulture.

London's best comedy clubs and nights 1 /15 London's best comedy clubs and nights The Soho Theatre Sara Pascoes favourite comedy venue, and with good reason: the Soho Theatre is arguably Londons finest place to see both up-and-coming and established acts. Being a theatre, rather than a comedy club per se, expect to see full sets from individuals rather than bills with a few comics. Its three rooms host all sorts of things, from the latest Edinburgh winners to big names road-testing their latest bits. The standard is reliably excellent: even if youve never heard of a comedian, chances are, if theyre playing here, theyll be worth watching. The Comedy Store Another old favourite, the Comedy Store benefits from being built for purpose: no other venue in London suits stand-up quite so well (and the beer isnt too ridiculously priced, either). After starting out above a strip club in Soho, this place made its name throughout the eighties by breaking the pioneers in alternative comedy. Its happy to host mainstream stars these days, and never struggles to draw top acts, but if you can only make one thing, try The Comedy Store Players, old pros whose improvised shows on Wednesdays and Sundays all but guarantee hilarity. Tuesdays The Cutting Edge is best for those who like topical humour. Old Rope at The Phoenix Old Rope is popular with circuit veterans and newbies alike, so the weekly show usually has a mix of big names, comedy veterans and ones-to-watch. Host Tiff Stevenson leads an evening of new material  yes, lots of jokes given their test run  and its given its name for the noose that hangs over the stage. Ironically, this noose is a bit of a life-saver: if the new act is going badly, comics can grab the rope and fall back on old material. Knock2bag Always top value, the Knock2bag nights offer the chance to indulge in the odder end of the comedy spectrum: expect serious helpings of whimsy, eccentricity and surrealism. If you're looking for something different, this is your place to go. Monkey Business Comedy Club A first-rate comedy club and well worth travelling for. Wed pick the Thursday night over Saturday, but youll get a decent show on either day. Theres a mix of big names and up-and-comers, and host Martin Besserman is a pro wholl keep you laughing in between acts. Of which, theres often as many as twelve a night, so youll get your moneys worth. If one isnt to your taste, another promises a laugh. Banana Cabaret Club The Banana Cabaret Club hosts a lot of top drawer comics, and is well loved in comedy circles  in part, because theyve been going a good thirty years and in part because of the man running things, David Vickers, whose had everyone from Eddie Izzard to Stephen K Amos performing. Stars pop-in, and comedy circuit regulars play often, but its also on the finest spots to see new talent . No wonder Marcus Brigstocke name-checked it as his favourite London comedy club. Besides, once the two-hour show is done (typically wrapping up around 11pm), DJs strike up and everyone dances till 2am. Splendid. http://vivivi.co.uk/ Piccadilly Comedy Club Hats off to the Piccadilly for keeping comedy cheap: their shows cost 10 at the most, and they do a meal deal, where you can eat at Tiger Tiger and see the show for 20 all-in. A bargain. Expect a mix of well-known TV regulars alongside the best newcomers on the scene. Line-ups are particularly well thought out here: they dont just sling together anyone, so the nights tend to be uniformly excellent. Leicester Square Theatre The Leicester Square Theatre draws the big names, so expect to see top flight acts: Richard Herring hosts a weekly podcast here on Wednesdays, and the likes of Bridget Christie, Micky Flanagan and Frankie Boyle all make it a stopping point on their tours. That said, check the website for whats upcoming  there are chance to see some under-the-radar sets too. Live at Zedel The excellent Brasserie Zedel  whose Bar Americain is one of the finest drinking spots in the capital  relaunched Crazy Coqs as Live At Zedel last year and following a successful first run, are launching their second season. Besides comedy  the standard is usually very decent  they also host musical theatre and drag acts. The cocktails are terrific and there's at-table service. Eat in the restaurant beforehand (or after), too: we swung by recently and the food is as good as its ever been. Cheap, too. Happy Mondays This fortnightly show boasts the best new up-and-coming acts in the capital, combined with big name hosts  expect the likes of Miles Jupp, Sara Pascoe and Holly Walsh  who keep the standard up to scratch. Definitely up to par, somewhere to find your new favourite comedian. Angel Comedy Just how a comedy club should be: small, crowded and above a pub. Best of all, its free, and each night offers something different, from open-mic nights to well-known names giving their latest sets an airing. Check the website for details, but you wont be let down  just get down early, as it fills up quickly. Ginglik Comedy Club Following a decade of success in Shepherd's Bush, this comedy club has found a new home at the ever-popular Roof Gardens. Known as 'Jimmy Carr's favourite comedy club', the Ginglik has had everyone from Al Murray to Robin Williams play, and is set for more success. Laugh Out London The likes of Stewart Lee, Reginald D Hunter and Tony Law play these nights, which gives an idea of just how decent they are. Laugh Out London always do a good job of bringing the highlights from Edinburgh festival to town, so take the chance to see who everyones been tweeting about. The 99 Club This Leicester Square club is much, much better than you might expect for a place that continually flyers. A big favourite with the Chortle Awards, it always attracts big names  it runs a little like Live At The Apollo but on a smaller scale. There are three acts a night, and shows are fairly priced: some are as cheap as a fiver, though most will cost around 10 - 15. Theyve also got venues in Soho and Covent Garden. Live At The Chapel Bit of a shame that shows here are so few and far between  usually about once a month  but theres no place more beautiful than the Union Chapel to see comedy in London. The upside is that, with so few performances, they always get the big names headlining, with unfailingly impressive support. Plus theres usually a live band, who are fab. The atmosphere is everything. Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Londons comedy scene is truly international. Also at Leicester Square Theatre is Germanys Henning Wehn (March 23 to April 8), who relocated to work in marketing and caught the stand-up bug. American social commentator Rich Halls hoedowns (April 58) mix gags and Nashville twang. And the legendary Ruby Wax (May 30 to June 24) has chosen the theatre to premiere her new show Frazzled, about coping with the modern world.

Late-night laughs

Transport for Londons bosses must be stand-up geeks. Thanks to the all-night Tube the after-hours comedy circuit is kicking off. The aforementioned Soho Theatre is launching a new late-night slot, with controversial magician Jerry Sadowitz starting a weekend residency (February 9 to June 25).

The Old Vic is also taking advantage of nocturnal travel links with post-theatre stand-up. Cult comic Daniel Kitson recently compered there and on February 11 uber-nerd Mark Watson closes his UK tour with a gig on the famous stage.

And if youve never experienced the boisterous Friday or Saturday late shows at the legendary Comedy Store (thecomedystore.co.uk) there is no excuse now. It can get lively but seasoned pros such as Ian Stone, Adam Bloom and Jo Caulfield can handle the most animated  and lubricated  audiences.

Alt-comedy

For something more alternative the grassroots club scene is a chance to catch the cool names of tomorrow today. The Bill Murray pub (angelcomedy.co.uk) in Angel opened last autumn thanks to a kickstarter campaign that raised 46,643. Many of its gigs  the organisers have written to Hollywood star Murray telling him about their club but are still waiting for a reply  are free or just a fiver. Future attractions include highly rated newcomer Jordan Brookes (Jan 30) and Mae Martin (Feb 19), the UK-based Canadian recently seen in BBC3 sitcom Uncle.

The Bill Murray in Angel

If you live or work near Islington you are spoilt for choice when it comes to seeing top comedy in an intimate setting. The Laugh Out London club (laughoutlondoncomedyclub.co.uk) at the Old Queens Head runs a monthly night which regularly features top talent. On Feb 13 it hosts radical northerner Liam Williams and character comedian Lolly Adefope.

The other great London mini-chain is Always Be Comedy (alwaysbecomedy.com), which runs various clubs south of the river. Not only does it showcase upcoming talent but big names often pop by to try out new material. Jack Whitehall and Katherine Ryan are just two of the recent drop-ins to the Kennington venue at The Tommyfield gastropub. In-your-face Nick Helm is the headliner tomorrow night.

Big names, small stages

Want to see your heroes up close? Then sign up to mailing lists of all the main venues in London to find out about big names doing tryouts. Michael McIntyre, Ricky Gervais and Micky Flanagan have all recently been doing tiny work-in-progress sets. But be quick and get a good broadband connection. Tickets for Ricky Gervais at the Leicester Square Theatre went in minutes.

Meanwhile towering star of C4 sitcom Man Down Greg Davies is playing the Eventim Apollo (eventim.co.uk) for three nights from November 15. A word of warning when you buy tickets well in advance though  these dates were announced last summer and some Davies fans turned up in November 2016. It is always good to arrive early for comedy shows, but 12 months early is going too far. Another Apollo attraction is Joel Dommett (Sept 16), whose appearance on Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here has shunted up into comedys premiere league. His six-pack probably helped, but his jokes are pretty well-honed too.

And if you want to see comedy in a more traditional venue the London Palladium (reallyusefultheatres.co.uk) has recently opened its hallowed doors to stand-up. Forthcoming attractions include a rare UK visit from Whoopi Goldberg (Feb 11) and knockabout sitcom star Count Arthur Strong (May 26). Fulminating YouTube satirist Jonathan Pie (March 4) is also here, as is excellent, eloquent, endearing TV regular Miles Jupp (Feb 25).

If you cant get to see the big hitters at their small gigs, then snap up tickets for their tours. The comedy bubble shows no sign of bursting with upcoming O2 Arena shows from Jack Whitehall (Feb 24) and John Bishop (Nov 2-3). King of comedy must be Micky Flanagan (Sept 14 to Oct 6), who has just added yet another night to the O2 Arena run of his An Another Fing tour, taking the total to nine shows.

Do-it-yourself

If all of this has whetted your appetite to try stand-up, there are countless classes in London. You can do intensive one-day sessions or a more extended course. One of the best places is the regular Amused Moose Stand Up and Deliver course (amusedmoose.com/comedy-courses/), whose alumni include Greg Davies and Rhod Gilbert. Or if you want to try your hand at sketch comedy, tutors from Americas legendary Second City improv club, which spawned the likes of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, will be teaching from February 6 at Angel Comedy (angelcomedy.co.uk).

Whether you need to learn how to write a killer one-liner or just master the art of not bumping into the microphone, these lessons in laughter could be the answer. Maybe the next time you visit a comedy club you will be the act, not the audience.

Visit standard.co.uk/arts for the latest news and reviews from Londons arts scene

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout
L ondon will welcome in the new Chinese New Year, the year of the rooster, on January 28 and 29.

In Chinese astrology, years are associated with elements as well as animals. 2017 has the element is fire: famous names born in the year of a fire rooster include Martin Luther King Jr, Stephen Fry and Hans Zimmer.

As ever, the centre of the capitals celebrations will be the free parade on Sunday January 29, which is set to start at 10am in Trafalgar Square, before teams of dancing lions and six floats weave their way into Chinatown, passing craft and foodie stalls on Wardour and Gerrard Street. Shaftesbury Avenue will be set up with a stage featuring shows from local artists and performers. Over on Charing Cross road, there will be martial arts displays and workshops. The parades theme is China: Today & Yesterday celebrating the best of the past and present in Chinese culture.

Trafalgar Square will be bustling with crowds from 11am, where therell be a thanksgiving ceremony, speeches and firecrackers, ahead of the midday Lions Eye-Dotting Ceremony. Throughout the afternoon, therell be a series of dances and performances  dont miss the Flying Lion dance at 12.50pm  and everything from puppetry to acrobatics, before things conclude with a giant display of martial arts, a light show and plenty of music. If you can't make it down, London Live will be screening the celebrations on Sunday from 2pm.

The Magical Lantern Festival in pictures 1 /60 The Magical Lantern Festival in pictures Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of Amanda Hall Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of the Magic Lantern Festival Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House Courtesy of Amanda Hall

More stunning lights can be found at the Magical Lights Festival, at Chiswick House. Full details can be found here.

If youre looking to see in the new year with a decent meal, then plenty of restaurants across London are putting on special menus. Be sure to read our guide to the best regional Chinese restaurants.

London also boasts a plethora of fine-dining Chinese eateries, many of which are celebrating. There are New Year menus or related deals at Chai Wu in Harrods, Park Chinois, China Tang at the Dorchester, Kensingtons famous Mr Chow, Hakkasan, Hutong, Min Jiang at the Royal Kensington and Le Chinois.

Other Chinese dining spots with offers include Ping Pong, Bo Drake and TATA Eatery.

Live from London: Chinese New Year on London Live Sunday 29th February from 2pm

Those who want to see in the new year with a toast should head to Drunken Monkey in Shoreditch, who have a special Fire Rooster cocktail on, while late night dim sum bar Fu Manchu have also come up with a new cocktail. Just as inventively, theyve called it The Year of the Rooster.

Elsewhere, the V&A Museum of Childhood are laying on a day of traditional and modern instrumental dances, Chinese opera, lantern making, and costume and calligraphy workshops. Perfect for children. There's time to book up as its not until February 11.

Families are fond of the National Maritime Museum and their Chinese New Year celebrations offer more evidence of why they're right to: on February 4 and 5, expect live performances, lion dancing, fortune-telling and music. Make a day of it and pop in to the usual exhibits open too.

Xin Nian Kuai Le and San Nin Faai Lok.

The main celebrations will be screened on London Live on Sunday February from 2pm.

Follow David Ellis on Twitter @dvh_ellis

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESGoingOut
E nough is enough.

Youve endured three weeks of dry January, furtively ordering pints of tap water in pubs and shotting espressos in an attempt to buzz yourself through boozy parties. But with one week to go, its time to plan how youre going to end your dry January in style. Think giant cocktails overflowing with those hedonistic ingredients youve denied yourself over the past month. Think cocktails that double up as dessert, featuring butter-washed tequila and banoffee served in a waffle cup, or ones laden with wanton quantities of truffle and foie gras.

Ryan Chetiyawardana, drinks wizard at Mondrian Londons Dandelyan bar, says: You dont want to return to the same monotony of before. You need something unusual and exciting. Seek out something that challenges and pushes your boundaries. The worlds shocking enough these days  and the solace of a cocktail matched with the totally weird helps balance it all out.

While London knows the value of a simple, well-executed classic, we also have Willy Wonka bartenders who will pimp your poison with as many OTT ingredients as possible. Heres where to fall off the wagon in truly ostentatious fashion.

Duck & Waffle

Rich Woods doesnt believe in resolutions. Some of us want to continue our affair with the indulgent, he says, so at Duck & Waffle we dare you to abstain from your resolutions. Hence why the award-winning bartender launched an Anti Resolution menu for this month, stuffed lushly not only with booze but with what Woods calls the Oh Man! ingredients you really dont want to give up. Theres a foie gras-infused Manhattan Bulletproof Old Fashioned (butter-washed tequila, octane oil, coffee and maple, a nod to the so-called health drink), Milkybar Gin Fizz and a White Russian Mr Whippy: vodka-spiked soft ice cream, drenched in Kahlua and topped with a 99 Flake. The alcohol is intoxicatingly unnoticeable.

duckandwaffle.com

The Distillery

Theres a time and a place for a classic gin martini with a whiff of vermouth. Its not now. Now is the time for cheer, and The Distillery has weird and wonderful twists on the king of cocktails. Try butter gin with sweet vermouth and absinthe in an 1888 Martini, or the Felix Martini, truffle-infused gin with a toasted asparagus spear protruding from the top.

the-distillery.london

Nightjar

If youre feeling financially squeezed, save money on pudding by having it in the form of a cocktail. And what a cocktail. The Banoffeescotch is a full-on freakshake of a drink, albeit with less whipped cream and more booze: Auchentoshan Three wood whisky, granola milk, banoffee curd, maple syrup, all served in a waffle cup, so you can have your cocktail and, er, eat it.

barnightjar.com

Dandelyan

At his award-winning restaurant, Ryan Chetiyawardana thinks laterally about drinks, so this results in the neon-green-streaked Monkey Magic (rum, coconut kefir, passion fruit, grass cordial, oak falernum) and the 13th Century Boy, which comes with a garnish of mummified citrus. Yum.

@Dandelyan

Mnky House

If youve been wincing through mugs of herbal tea in an attempt to kick your caffeine habit, this is the stuff of dreams. Not that youll sleep with this much coffee: this new Mayfair club/restaurant serves a potent Mezcal Espresso, with mezcal, espresso, Kahlua, Mexican mole and vanilla, with a whack of dark chocolate and rose dust on top. Its the most hardcore cappucino youll ever drink. See also the Hot Flat White Russian at the new Exmouth Grind.

mnky-hse.com

Oriole

Its impossible to get a straight drink at this cocktail den, where drinks might come smothered in peat dust or with iced Gouda. Try the Prairie Horn (served in a horn): bourbon, prekese syrup (African fruit, used as a cough syrup), popcorn tea and mustard foam.

oriolebar.com

Three Six Six

If youve been depriving yourself of sugar as well as booze, youre in a bad place. Revive with a Voyeurista (gin, creme de cassis, coconut milk, honey, pineapple and mint, with a candy-floss perm) or an Apple and Pecan Pie: apple pie-flavoured moonshine, pecan syrup, apple juice and cinnamon smoke, with a vanilla foam.

threesixsix.co.uk

The best bars in London 1 /64 The best bars in London Scarfes Bar at Rosewood London 252 High Holborn, WC1V 7EN, rosewoodhotels.com/london

The Rosewood is doubly wonderful for drinkers, as theyve two fine spots. In the modern Dining Room, sit at the gin bar, which outstocks anywhere else in London, with more than 400 gins and 27 tonics. Trying to choose is impossible, but what a lovely impossibility to have. The bar staff clearly had one hell of a tasting session as they know the list perfectly. Across the way is Scarfes Bar, a brilliant, brilliant bar gladly shaken free from all the stuffiness usually found in hotel bars. The drinks are stunning, theyve often live music, it gets wonderfully busy and crackles with laughter. Go a little later and its busier, people drink more, everything is better. Bar Americain 20 Sherwood St, W1F 7ED, brasseriezedel.com

As the name suggests, this is a classic American bar, and done near perfectly. One can become very fond of Bar Americain and very quickly: passing through Piccadilly Circus, it acts as a magnet  a quick negroni becomes a temptation impossible to resist. Its a very beautiful place, calling to mind grand Parisian hotels of the 20s and 30s, bottles winking from the bar, staff floating through with their finery and litres of charm. Youre here to drink the classics: theyve a killer Clover Club and a straight-down-the-line Manhattan. But ask: the bartenders know their stuff and bring their A-game to any challenge  tell them what you like, and theyll bring you something new. They often have specials on, as well. Top marks for the attentive staff, bringing plenty of water and bowl after bowl of popcorn  both essential after a few here. Oriole Smithfield Markets, E Poultry Ave, EC1A 9LH, oriolebar.com

The team behind Nightjar took their winning formula, gave it a bit of a shake up and created Oriole. Theyve live music throughout the week  from Wednesday to Saturday, theres a charge per person, so watch out for that  which gives any night here a bit of zip. This is a strictly seated spot, so be sure to book: once inside, its a whirlwind tour of the world, with fine details from across the globe, both in the styling and the drinks and so much cheaper than booking a holiday. Drinks are excellent, whether youre into New Orleans style classics or something from the depths of Asia: explore the menu (split into Old World, New World and The Orient) and expect something unusual and faintly brilliant, with a touch of the Tiki. Put it this way: Oriole is ideal whether you prefer drinking from a crystal tumbler, a teacup or, er, a silver crocodile. Piano Works 113-117 Farringdon Road, Farringdon EC1R 3BX, pianoworks.bar

Full credit to this fun Farringdon spot: theyve worked hard to make the place better and better since opening, which is pretty good going for what was already a decent spot to begin with. The Piano Works sounds like a quiet jazz bar but instead is a hell-raising house of sound, splendidly raucous, where a house band take requests and belt out your favourite songs. The more you get involved, the more fun it is, and the place heats up the later it gets. Wine starts at 16, house cocktails are 8, but they've tons of terrific deals during the week  including cocktails for a fiver (!!) Drink lots, dance lots and leave in the early hours with someone you shouldnt do. Thats what we did. Hawksmoor, Spitalfields 157A Commercial St, E1 6BJ, thehawksmoor.com

Its hardly surprising the bar snacks are a highlight here  have the oxcheek nuggets with a side of chips, then call the waiter over to order them over again  given how good the steak upstairs is. The drinks and setting, though, match them pound for pound. The old tube tiles on the walls, the beautiful parquet floor, the copper tops and silvery black ceiling make the large space a place to settle in for the night no matter your seat, while the cocktails come with oodles of thought in each one: the new menu has homemade bitters, shrubs and syrups, and its bloody obvious everyone behind the bar is more than a little nerdy about building drinks. Shaky Petes Ginger Brew is the classic, so have it, but follow up with the Shadow Boxer, a mix of scotch, sherry and Fernet-Branca. Odd, oddly delicious. Its also a cracking place to sit for a bottle of wine. Andrew Edmunds 46 Lexington St, W1F 0LP, andrewedmunds.com

Perhaps better than its ever been, Andrew Edmunds recently won The Good Drinking prize in our Restaurant Awards, and for good reason. Its a small spot, cramped to the point that coming here on a first date feels like youre being very forward indeed , with the best tables upstairs and not much to look at  just settle for being distracted by someone beautiful. The food, French-ish/English-ish, is fine, but its the wine that's extraordinary. And youre here for wine: forget cocktails, they have. What a list, and so quietly marked up that youre getting a steal with almost every bottle  indeed, the more expensive the better the deal. Having been going 30 years, those who knew old Soho say its one of the last bastion of such things. Drink too much gorgeous wine and come back often. The Connaught Bar Connaught, Carlos Place, W1K 2AL, the-connaught.co.uk

A bar for the impossibly beautiful, a bar of high heels and glimmering lights, of perfume and leather. Aside from oddly thumping music, the Connaught is wonderfully detached from the world  a place of its own, cosy and winter warm when it needs to be, light and summer when desired. The drinks, naturally pricey, are well put together and while classic in tone, come with crackles of theatre: washes in perfume bottles, branches as garnishes, smoke, the lot. Still, the martini trolley is what theyre famed for, so its only right to indulge. Afterward, head to the Champagne Room: sadly the law stops it being the cigar haven it once was, but it's still gorgeous: romantic and charming with its fireplace, dramatic with its glass ceiling and sculpture swan diving. Treat yourself to the Ruinart blanc de blanc. Damned good olives, too. Milk & Honey 61 Poland St, W1F 7NU, mlkhny.com

You know a bar is good when local bartenders love it, and Milk & Honey has long been a Soho favourite for those in the know. Hidden in plain sight this terrific bar has been doing its thing for just shy of 15 years. The talent hasnt diminished, and neither has the care put into the drinks. Cocktails are strong and proper and happily, they're updating the list soon to freshen things up. At around 10 a drink, M&H is also a bargain for central London, and the quality outstrips the price. It functions as a members bar, but non-members can book up until 11pm  though going earlier in the week means youre more likely to score a table. Milk & Honey is civilised, without the crushing formality. Next door is the Blind Pig, another top 'hidden' spot. Mark's Bar HIX Soho, 66- 70 Brewer St, W1F 9UP, hixrestaurants.co.uk

The bad: you might not get in. If its busy, they dont squeeze people into this basement, so either be there early, or bamboozle them with charm, or dazzle them with your brilliant wit. Were kidding: just take someone hot. The good: pretty much everything else. Naturally, the bar snacks are distractingly tasty, but the drinks list is excellent, and unusual too, with a few historical recipes brought back to life. Attention to detail is everything here, so if youre not sharing one of the big old Chesterfields, head to the bar and sit and watch  theres something about it thats like seeing a cardmaster turn tricks. And have a Hix Fix, just to say you have. The Beaufort bar and the American Bar at The Savoy The Savoy, Strand, WC2R 0EU, fairmont.com

Glitz, glamour and lots of gold: both Savoy bars are wonderfully opulent. The world-famous American bar, recently revamped, is still up there as one of the best bars on our humble planet. The bartenders bible, Harry Craddocks The Savoy Cocktail Book, was written here, and the cocktails served today remain as finely tuned as they ever were. Whereas as other bars try to recreate the glamour of such places, The Savoy neednt pretend: everything is genuine. The palatial Beaufort is absurdly romantic, and drinks are extravagantly presented: it works for the most special of special occasions, and theres something undeniably grand about sipping away in the same place Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel and Ernest Hemingway all did. If youre planning a few drinks, either be rich or take someone rich  seriously. Artesian 1C Portland Pl, W1B 1JA, artesian-bar.co.uk

Artesian won its accolades for its team, Alex Kratena and Simone Caporale, who ran the place for eight years and earned its reputation as the best bar in the world. Theyve sadly departed, but have left the place in capable hands, and the feel is much the same as it ever was, which is chic, glamorous, and not taking itself too seriously. While the beautiful and the rich rub shoulders, the bartenders are mixing up excellent but often slightly silly drinks  but its their mischievousness that makes them so winning. Seriously impressive. Les Compagnie Des Vins Surnaturels 8-10 Neal's Yard, WC2H 9DP, cvssevendials.com

Call it CVS and your night becomes considerably easier to pronounce. Sat in Neils Yard, it is one of Londons finest wine bars. Thoroughly French, of course: New World wines barely get a sideways glance, while even Italys finest is only begrudgingly given a little space on the considerable menu. This doesn't mean there is a lack of choice  to the contrary, it is almost overwhelming, though they have a short by-the-glass list, and the charming staff are both well informed and passionate about what to have. In the summer, sit outdoors, in the winter, cosy up by the bar. Wherever you are, try the mystery wine; if you guess it, youll win a bottle. Have food  small plates made to share, and terrifically good  and drink plenty, so the bill doesnt hit as hard. The Shrub & Shutter 336 Coldharbour Ln, SW9 8QH, theshrubandshutter.com

This Brixton bar felt new in the area, taking a little of east London and bringing it down south. Theyve a pleasingly patchwork approach to decor: there are jars and bottles and shakers everywhere, which gives the place a kitchen feel. The cocktails, lovely to drink on their own, are made better with the food, which is designed to match what youre drinking. The pairings initially sound a little gimmicky  crayfish with vodka, venison on the side of The Deerhunter (an old fashioned, basically)  but they work, so drop that sceptical streak for a moment. It gets busy, so book up, get in early, and stay late. Theyve a license until 3am, so itd be rude not to. Sky Pod at the Sky Garden 1 Sky Garden Walk, EC3M 8AF, skygarden.london

The truth of it is, you come for the view, but good God it's a great view, and 360-degrees at that. Up 35 floors, if you can think of a London icon, you can probably see it. When the weather's good, get outside for some fresh air. With completely free entry and minimal security fuss, its worth making a reservation, though if youre ok to queue, theyll have you in. Cocktails arent torturously expensive, at around 11.50, and are very enjoyable  the cognac-chocolate-caramel-port mix that is Black and Gold is particularly good so it doesn't feel like they're relying on the sights.

Theres a sense of special occasion, and all the more so with live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturdays. Theyre hoping for jazz on Wednesdays, too. If youre tempted to eat, Fenchurch and the Darwin Brasserie are well worth trying  Fenchurch is particularly good for veggies. The Gilbert Scott St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, Euston Rd, NW1 2AR, thegilbertscott.co.uk

Given the golden hue here, where luxury hangs in the air like perfume, its remarkable that wine starts at as little as 5 a glass. Wine is its strong point, and likeable head sommelier Joris Beijn is a man worth knowing: he is passionate about his list, knowledgeable and accommodating. The bar is flexible, in that it is by turns ideal for a date, or a catch up with old friends, or a pre/post dinner drinks. The room is a stunner: high painted ceilings, dramatic red walls, great big bells as art, marble bar top and crystal glasses catching the light. Cocktails come in at around 14, and err on the light side: lots of gin and floral concoctions. The restaurant, next door, isnt to be missed, either, just be prepared to get an Uber home: invariably, youll stretch and tease out the evening to stay just a little longer. Gerry's Club 52 Dean Street, W1D 5BJ, gerrysclub.com

A word of warning: this is technically a member's club, but you'll probably be fine if you flirt enough  and don't ask for Gerry, he's long since passed. Michael looks after this place now. We've only been once  very late, very drunk and with very good friends. Most old-school Soho drinking dens are dead, but this hub of actors and writers is what remains of 'Old Soho'. If you're boring, steer clear: it is a place to drink wine and beer and tell stories, to laugh uproariously and to give yourself a monumental hangover in a faintly discreet way. 68 and Boston 4-5 Greek St, Soho, W1D 4DD, 68andboston.com

Boston, the bar upstairs, looks like glamorous train carriage from the golden age of cocktails but plays it a little bit safe. Wine bar 68, downstairs, is the real gem, with a wonderful way of pricing: every bottle on the list is 20, so choose what you like, not what you can afford. Better yet, if you don't fancy a bottle, they're served by the carafe (14) or glass (5.50). Wines are well picked and Denise Medrano, wine blogger and lover found behind the bar, is always working to update the list  so go back to try something new. Youll probably end up getting drunk here: the pull of another bottle at just 20 is monumentally hard to resist, but hey, thats what Soho is for. If you fancy drinking something more upscale, ask  theyve a few hidden wines kept hidden away for those in the know. Thats you, now. The Pink Chihuahua at El Camion 25-27 Brewer St, W1F 0RR, elcamion.co.uk

Forget house infusions and drinks that take half an hour to make: sometimes a good night needs tequila and dancing. The Pink Chihuahua is built for it: theyre providing the tequila  more than 300 different types of it, in fact  youre there to drink it down and dance it up. Theyve all sorts of twists on Margaritas and Daiquiris, and, given youre downstairs from Mexican restaurant El Camion, plenty of bar food to indulge in too. Lots of fun, and if youre feeling more in the mood just to sit back and sip something slowly, ask about their choice of Mezcal. There's real talent here, but fun too. The Gibson 44 Old St, EC1V 9AQ, thegibsonbar.london

Given the dearth of decent cocktails in Farringdon, the tiny Gibson is a God-send. Its a parlour pitched somewhere between Edwardian and Art Deco, and drinks arent simply poured here, theyre tended to, built, thought about, adored. All unsurprising, really, given the team learnt their trade at the likes of Nightjar and The Connaught.

This place is doing more creatively to push bartending forward than any bar that's opened up in a while, so ask the team for recommendations and youll be presented with something magic. Youll need to ask, actually, as the menu is a novel and theres the risk of wasting the evening reading instead of drinking, and that simply wouldnt do at all. Peg+Patriot Patriot Square, E2 9NF, talentedmrfox.com

The Talented Mr Fox, Matt Whiley, offers is a nice blend of things here: while the menu takes a sophisticated trip around London, with each cocktail a column of flavour, some managing chameleonic taste all within the space of a sip, the actual bar is surprisingly spare and understated. The effect is such that while drinks are upmarket, one doesnt feel obliged to sit demurely to enjoy them. Relax, have a few  you might want to, as the serves arent huge. It should be said that these cocktails are among Londons most interesting, rather than Londons best: they are talking points, oddities, they put flavours together in a way that isnt available elsewhere. If youre big on trying new things, different experiences, seeing what a cocktail can do, come, its a must. If its just something reliably delicious you fancy, elsewhere may be better. Worship Street Whistling Shop 63 Worship St, EC2A 2DU, whistlingshop.com

One presumes the staff here have night vision, otherwise its a complete and utter mystery how they see customers, let alone their ingredients. Still, they must do, for the output is pretty much excellent through and through at this dark spot. Its Victorian-inspired, which sounds tired and not a little tacky, but the gang from Purl have done it properly. Drinks are busy  lots of fusions, blends, gasses and pressure and all sorts  so its appropriate they come out of a lab. Still, all this engineering seems to be worth it, as the drinks slip down easily, the alcohol often hidden away. Make sure to take a seat in the Dram Shop, and pop in to the Gin Closet too, which operates as an honesty bar. Kansas Smitty's 63-65 Broadway Market, E8 4PH, kansassmittys.com

Below bar Off Broadway  a long way off, its Mexican  sits this glorious den of jazz and juleps. It is a speakeasy for 2016: that is to say, it has none of the contrived mannerisms of bars which proclaim to be speakeasies, it just happens to actually be one: youll need to knock to get in, the music raves loud and hot, and the place is so crowded strangers become family after a drink or two. The house band, for which the place is named, have envy-inducing talent, and the bar has fairly recently overhauled its drinks list, and the results are good. Youll be absorbed by the music, and stay afterwards to ride the buzz of the crowd. GONG 52, Shangri-La Hotel, the Shard, SE1 9QU, .gong-shangri-la.com

Gong is in the Shard, so youre there for the view alone. View it certainly does: at 52 floors up, its by far Londons highest spot to drink: consequently, sipping on a martini, one feels a little like a Bond villain pondering all thats below. Its not a huge bar, but that somewhat adds to the sense of exclusivity. Prices are, naturally, sky high: expect to pay at least 18. The drinks have plenty about them to compete with the view: presentation is everything. Theyve not skipped on the spirits making the mix, either: expect the likes of Zacapa 23 rum (heavenly stuff), Talisker scotch and Tanqueray 10 for the gin. All top drawer stuff. If this all sounds a bit intimidating, bear in mind they operate a no reservations policy, so youve as good a chance of getting in as anyone else. Mr Fogg's Salon 58 St Martin's Lane, Theatreland, WC2N 4EA, mr-foggs.com

Downstairs is a pretty decent pub, busy from theatreland. Upstairs, the salon is quieter, but only a little. The walls are a glittering ballgown of 19th century curiosities, unsubtle nonsense winking away. Head to a chaise longues with a couple of friends or a date and take in something from each one of the five acts which split the menu. Drinks seem to smell especially good here, rich, relying heavily on the likes of rum, cognac and sherry. Gin lovers need not despair: theyve a room with 300 different types next door. Come elegantly dressed. Bar Termini 7 Old Compton St, W1D 5JE, bar-termini.com

Do Bar Termini right and youll love it: do it wrong, and you may be underwhelmed. Tony Conigliaro, cocktail chap par excellence, and coffee maestro Marco Arrigo have built a revolving-door of a place: dont come here to linger. Expect a night of cocktails and youll leave disappointed: instead, love it in the day for the 1 espressos, and swing by in the evening for a negroni (6). Theyre small, but some of the best in the capital. One swishes in and out here, and that way, it adds a touch of Italian glamour to any evening. Trisha's (New Evaristo Club) 57 Greek St, Soho, W1D 3DX



Drinks dont make a bar, and thank goodness, as the stuff served at Trishas  named for its owner  is uniformly pretty awful: red and white wine youd consider an insult if a friend served it at supper, prosecco wildly overpriced, terrible spirits ecetera ecetera. At more than 70, the club is Sohos oldest, and while nobody who goes there can ever remember anything changing  its often quite hard to recall much about Trishas in crystal detail, as it happens  nothing needs to. The bad wine and expensive mixers and paint stripper spirits are all part of the point: its a glorious drinking den, and marvellous, marvellous fun. There are characters here: the last time we were in, we sat being scared witless by an old East End gangster who said hes known the Krays. Tremendous. Long may this place live. The Fumoir Claridge's, 49 Brook St, W1K 4HR, claridges.co.uk

The Fumoir will confuse you, as youll be torn between shouting about it and keeping it all to yourself. This plush purple and leather spot, deco decadence with a touch of welcome pomp, is hidden away behind a secret door at Claridges. Tiny and glitzy enough to feel like a Hollywood dressing room from the Golden Age, its little surprise the likes of Christina Hendricks adore it. For such a small place, they squeeze an awful lot in: plenty of wines, classic cocktails given a stern shake up, buckets of gin, a lovely choice of armagnac and a magnificent scotch list, gleaming with rarities. 69 Colebrooke Row 69 Colebrooke Row, N1 8AA, 69colebrookerow.com

Once known as the bar with no name, henceforth they shall be called the bar with Bernards watch, as there is no other explanation for the speed with which their finely mixed cocktails arrive. Another bar from Tony Conigliaro, its earned its reputation for turning out hit after hit: the drinks list is endlessly tempting. The piano is a nice touch; that is gets played a much nicer one, and make sure to order the Prairie Oyster  fun to drink, and one even for those who cant eat seafood. Bear in mind its a small spot, so youre close to your neighbours, and if you dont like strong drinks where the booze kicks, this wont be for you. Happiness Forgets 8-9 Hoxton Square, N1 6NU, happinessforgets.com

Dont expect frills and fuss or the rest of it here: Happiness Forgets is cocktail bar distilled down to its very essence, and done very well  their tag High End Cocktails/Low End Rent sums it up best. The bartenders are all top drawer, and their creations impeccable. Unsurprisingly, this Hoxton space has its regulars, so the crowd is always good. Tables can be booked, but half are always kept for walk-ins: try your luck, its worth it. Dry Martini by Javier de las Muelas Melia White House Hotel, Albany Street, NW1 3UP, melia.com

Come to this one to brag: Dry Martini is known as Barcelonas best cocktail bar, and has been rated the fifth best bar in the world by the Worlds 50 Best Bars panel. Renowned bartender Javier de las Muelas has bought over his concept to us lucky Londoners, and with it, finely mixed and classic cocktails. No prizes for guessing that the Dry Martini is the house special  if you dont think you like them, heres a place to change your mind. With more than 80 gins on the list, you could easily lose a week here. Gordon's 47 Villiers St, WC2N 6NE, gordonswinebar.com

Gordons seems to get more and more crowded with each passing day, but perhaps rightly so: the beloved Embankment institution is made for knocking back bottles of wine in. Eat a few cold bites and chat into a long, unwinding evening. The wine list is good enough, but youre really here for the atmosphere: in summer, the terrace, buzzing, in winter, the caves indoors, crammed with noise, spilt wine, and joy. Social bar at City Social 25 Old Broad St, EC2N 1HQ, citysociallondon.com

Youd think youre at City Social, up 24 stories of Tower 42, to eat, but if you stop in the bar, theres a good chance you wont make it to your table. The drinks come as something of a surprise: theyre so much better than one expects from a restaurant bar, inventive, put together carefully but not staidly, retaining a sense of fun. And, crucially, damned tasty. Its a dark room, and full of city types, but perfect for a few late night cocktails soaking up the view, which is really quite wonderful. Bloody pricey, but thats part of it. Ladies and Gentlemen 2 Highgate Rd, NW5 1NR, twitter.com

William Borrells bolthole transcends its gimmick (which, if you hadnt guessed, is that its a converted public loo), with the help of some very handy bartenders, and its house-brewed gin, Highwayman, of which twelve bottles a day get distilled. Ladies & Gents manages well as a place for a quiet drink, or better yet, a place to quietly get roaringly drunk. Convenient indeed. The drinks are strong, very interesting, and theres plenty of odd sods on the wall to keep your conversation up. It maintains a veneer of being somewhere faintly upmarket, but youll probably end up reading from one of the books scattered around or trying to dance to the live music. Perfect for a date that gets out of hand. Bull In A China Shop 196 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6LG, bullinachinashop.london

Truth it, youll need to catch this place on a good night, as weve been in often enough to know it has its good nights and its meh nights. But when the place is on, its really cooking, and easily one of the best bars in town. The cocktail list is short, but thought through, and care is taken in even the small things: they even make sure the water glasses are chilled. The chamomile and charcoal Old-Fashioned is a must, and any whisky lovers should get chatting to the bar staff, as theyve bottles which arent available anywhere else in the capital. Sager + Wilde Arch, 250 Paradise Row, E2 9LE, sagerandwilde.com

Wine lovers rejoice, wine bores look elsewhere. Sager + Wilde admirably keep things unpretentious: the exposed brickwork sets the tone: theyre keeping things low key. The specials list changes regularly, and always with interesting choices introduced. Some of the wines are exclusive to this place, so youre all but guaranteed to try something new. Have a SHE + T (sherry with tonic, delicious), and absolutely do not leave without having the grilled cheese sandwich. 7 Tales at Sosharu 64 Turnmill St, EC1M 5RR, sosharulondon.com

Underneath Jason Athertons Sosharu is this sexy, seedy Japanese drinking den, where youll find the hazy, debauched glamour of Tokyo after dark. Unlike so many bars underneath restaurants, 7 Tales doesnt feel like a holding pen, and drinks are precision made, with flavours leaning beyond the usual  think rice-washed gin, sake, infusions of sesame, snacks like tempura. Bar snacks are an irresistible must. Callooh Callay 65 Rivington St, EC2A 3AY, calloohcallaybar.com

Eccentric doesnt seem to quite cover it: enter the surreal world of Callooh Callay through an old Victorian wardrobe, catch sight of a throne and order punch out of a gramophone from a menu thats more of a sticker book. It sounds a bit ridiculous, but the bartenders really know their stuff, so for all the quirks, drinks are fundamentally pretty excellent. On the weekends, its a party bar, and DJs spin music to match: youre here for a good time. Any detectives in your gang will find there are two extra rooms in Callooh Callay to explore  theyre hidden away, too, naturally. If youre good, you might even get an invite upstairs to the Jub Jub Room, where the 10-long cocktail list changes every three weeks. Fans should also head to their new offering in Angel, Little Bat. Dukes Bar Dukes Hotel, 35 St James's Pl, SW1A 1NY, dukeshotel.com

Dukes is known for one reason: martinis. The St Jamess hotel was a favourite haunt of James Bond author and (very) keen drinker, Ian Fleming, who supposedly came up with the shaken, not stirred line here. Their martinis are exceptionally strong, and very large: theres a reason they wont serve you more than two. But look, break the mould: theyre a classic hotel bar, they serve a fine range of classic cocktails. Theres also a cognac and cigar garden, if youre so inclined. NOLA 1st Floor, 68 Rivington Street, EC2A 3AY, nola-london.com

It would be too easy to miss this place, so do your homework and saunter in: its must more attractive than sweatily asking anyone if theyve seen the place. Drawing inspiration from the home of proper cocktails, New Orleans, the bar loves traditional drinks, builds them properly and serves them in a den of music and laughter. Unlike some places specialising in old school serves, NOLA is a place for fun: sure, it seems to say, you could have a quiet drink  but why would you want to? Theres a cracking cigar terrace too, small enough that everyone talks before heading back in for one hell of a Vieux Carre. Call Me Mr Lucky 11 Southwark St, SE1 1RQ, twitter.com

All the hidden bars at the Breakfast Clubs around the capital are popular, with perhaps The Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town being the best known. Call Me Mr Lucky, on Southwark Street, happens to be our favourite. Once youve flirted with the staff  ask to get lucky  youre taken through the restaurants kitchens to a lively bar decorated like some twisted take on a kids party. Have a go on the wheel of fortune, where youll really want to get lucky, and win a free shot, and then work your way through the cocktail list. Like any good-time bar worth its salt, this place is big on tequila, and the drinks are light-hearted fun, but  here we go getting lucky again  along with the quirks comes quality. By the of the evening, before youre porured back onto the street, youll swear tequila is your new favourite drink, and youll be singing the party hits they play all the way home. K Bar at The Kensington 109 - 113 Queen's Gate, SW7 5LP, townhousekensington.com

K bar feels majestic  and there is no other word for it  because drinking here is a little like being in the captains quarters of the Titanic, albeit without the sinking feeling. There is glamour here: a kind of place to be seduced in. Cocktails wise, bar manager Ben Manchester is the man to ask for, but theres a fine list to choose from. It avoids stuffiness, and just needs to be packed out to really get cooking. Nightjar 129 City Rd, EC1V 1JB, barnightjar.com

Nightjar has fame which means writing about it is redundant: people think it marvellously good, and theyve live music most of the week. Its seating only and worth booking: just be sure not to cancel, or theyll charge a steep 10 per person. They do the speakeasy theme, but well enough that it isnt too tired yet, and have plenty of old school style on the list. Pick up a pack of cards from the bar on your way out. Reverend J W Simpson 32 Goodge St, W1T 2QJ, revjwsimpson.com

Bourne and Hollingsworth run this rather lovely little bar, downstairs from a small doorway on Goodge St. Service is friendly and speedy, it's comfortable, and drinks more than hold their own  there's both obscure traditional mixes and modern serves made with fresh, seasonal ingredients. Luckily, with good drinks come good people, and it's a loud, happy place. Albertine 1 Wood Ln, W12 7DP, albertinewinebar.co.uk

Albertine hasnt changed much since the day East Enders was commissioned there. A wine bar through and through, youll struggle to get anything else (though there are a couple of ales on the menu.) Its a place with spirit, which draws a regular, devoted crowd. They sell everything they serve, and its well worth splashing out: the mark-up gets less and less as the bottles get more expensive, meaning you can get an absolute bargain at the top end of the list. Its also the kind of wine bar you go to to overindulge. First Aid Box 119 Dulwich Rd, SE24 0NG, firstaidbox2015.com

This place really is worth travelling to Herne Hill to, which must be saying something. The team behind Shrub & Shutter have thickly laid on the pharmacy theme here, with cure-all drinks. Its not an idea which sounds like it should work, and yet, how much better life would be if they were one of the emergency services. Expect saline drips, syringes, and the likes of plastic lungs  their take on thirst aid  but rest assured, flavours arent medicinal in the slightest. At 8 - 10 a drink, its reasonable for London, and wonderful to see a bar really trying something new. Bravo. Media Wisdom Photography - Giles Christopher Nam Long Le Shaker 159 Old Brompton Rd, SW5 0LJ, namlong.co.uk

It gained fame for its celebrity fans, which include Mick Jagger and Prince Harry, but Nam Long has held on longer than most A-list haunts: its been going 30 years, and recently was given an overhaul. Its quite possibly the most Chelsea place imaginable  there are literally MIC cast members floating about  and its a go-to spot to drink far too much and party. The upstairs area is bright, airy, and well looked after by the excellent bartenders, while downstairs  "the Opium Den"  is as it sounds (though there was no opium available when we asked... ) The drinks upstairs were made with more care, but downstairs is more intimate, opulent, and better for a small groups. Some of those Chelsea types who go really are the very worst, and the drinks are outrageously expensive, but hey, its a laugh. The Vault at Milroy's 3 Greek St, Soho, W1D 4NX, shop.milroys.co.uk

A bar through a bookcase: were sold. Better yet, its underneath one of Sohos finest whisky shops  with stiff competition from The Vintage House  so if youre taken with something downstairs, buy it on your way out. Its a simple little bar and the service is decidedly so-so, but its usually pretty busy, they play good music and have an excellent range of spirits. The menu is changed regularly, but its a good place to cram into with friends or on a date. You mightnt spend the entire night here, but for a couple of drinks on the way somewhere, or on the way back, it fits the bill perfectly. Bounce 241 Old St, EC1V 9EY, bouncepingpong.com

There are two Bounce bars, one on Old Street and one on Holborn. The Old Street spot is a little more fun, graffiti adorning the walls,the Holborn spot somewhat more upmarket. Still, they both deserve a mention, and for the simple reason theyre damned good fun. Drinks here are good, with a decent spirit selection at both (and a huge number of gins in Farringdon) and a respectable selection of beers. Food is fine, simple. Still, you come to play ping pong. Theyve tables everywhere. Theres little to fault with Bounce: its a laugh, and sometimes thats all somewhere needs to be.

Callooh Callay

This critically adored Shoreditch bar regularly changes its menu, so you have limited time to get your hands on this unashamedly bad-taste cocktail, based on Black Forest gateau. Here it comes disguised as Chica de Ganso: dark rum, black cherry, chocolate, orange, bitters and yoghurt powder.

calloohcallaybar.com

The Blind Pig

For those who wish for a return to the blissful ignorance of childhood, pre-Trump and pre-Brexit, via the medium of strong alcohol, there is the new childrens story-inspired menu at Jason Athertons Soho bar. Start with the BFGs Dream Jar, lit by glowing ice cubes and filled with vodka, Swedish punch and zozimus essence, before a Winnie-the-Pooh-inspired Hunny Pot: rum with salted butter, mead, apple brandy and honey and orange bitters, served in a clay pot.

socialeatinghouse.com

@franklymccoy

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He launched his first collection aged 19, became a multi-millionaire design magnate, won fans including Princess Diana and owns stunning homes in Dorset and Greece.

Yet Jasper Conran admits that even these achievements are often not enough to impress his extraordinary parents, Habitat founder Sir Terence and bestselling author Shirley.

In an interview with the Standard, the 57-year-old revealed that he often turns to his siblings for moral support as his high-achieving mother and father like to remind you, even into their late eighties, of how very successful they are.

Conran told how he rings up brothers Sebastian and Tom or sister Sophie to vent his frustration saying: Oh my God, can you believe it?

The second son of Sir Terence and Shirley added: Its not easy to be the child of two very successful people, because you wonder how youre going to come out from under their yoke. He called them omnipresent and two very interesting, fascinating, extraordinary parents who are who they are.

The designer, who has worked for Debenhams, Wedgwood, Waterford Crystal, Designers Guild and Specsavers, recently opened his first hotel, LHotel Marrakech in Morocco.

He famously resigned from Conran Holdings last year the day after Sir Terence gave an interview to the Standard suggesting his son lacked experience.

London's best design shops 1 /26 London's best design shops Minimalist Mint in Knightsbridge Inge Clemente Essentials Labour and Wait in Shoreditch All of the lights Tom Dixon Studio in Portobello Dock Scandinavian dream Skandium has shops in Knightsbridge and Marylebone Beauty meets practicality SCP in Shoreditch East End cool The lighting area at SCP in Shoreditch Quirky objects A display at Aria in Barnsbury, north London Louis Little Eclectic You'll find contemporary furnishings alongside vintage pieces in Aria in Barnsbury Louis Little Something a little different Aria in Islington Louis Little Utilitarian cool Labour and Wait in Shoreditch Personal touch Lizzie Evans, founder of Smug in Islington Lizzie Evans, founder of Smug - press image Unique shopping experience Jasper Morrison in Hoxton Jasper Morrison in Hoxton - press image Full of quirky pieces Retrouvius in Kensal Green Eccentric Jimmie Martin in Kensington Jimmie Martin Scandi-style Triangle in Clapton Triangle in Clapton - press image Trendy Monologue shop in Shoreditch Bold patterns House of Hackney Shop in Shoreditch Anthony Crolla

Jasper was also reportedly estranged from his mother  author of bonkbuster Lace and self-help book Superwoman  for more than a decade until a reconciliation at his wedding to Irish artist Oisin Byrne in 2015.

L'Hotel's pool / Chris Tubbs

He described his wild student days in New York, where he attended Parsons Art College during the Seventies heyday of Studio 54. He said: I saw the whole thing from conception. I went out with Truman Capote and Andy Warhol  although he wasnt interfered with.

Of Capote, he said: I saw him as this absolutely sozzled person. If Id known what beautiful writing he was capable of I wouldnt have been so scornful, Id have been adulatory. He described Warhol as not laugh a minute although we now know he wasnt really dull. He was just dull to be with.

Follow us on Twitter @eslifeandstyle and Instagram @standard.lifestyle
T he Evening Standard and The Princes Trust today awarded one talented Londoner with a 50,000 advertising prize that will help to to launch their business idea.

Five talented entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 25 were invited to pitch their ideas to a panel of so-called Dragons at the Evening Standards Young Progress Makers event at The Roundhouse, but it was Jacopo Sarzis fledgling idea for an experimental dining experience company that the judges chose to award.

Food Design Lab hosts gastronomical experiences, where the venue is designed to match the menu - from the furniture to the crockery.

Sarzi will receive advertising worth 50,000 with ESI Media (Evening Standard & Independent). They will also benefit from one-on-one mentoring from panel members and 12 months free working space from The Office Group whose CEO, Charlie Green, is one of the judges.

Joining Green to judge the pitches were Jim Armitage, City Editor of the London Evening Standard, Paul Brown, Director of Marketing at the Princes Trust, Brent Hoberman, founder of Lastminute.com and Smruti Sriram, founder of Supreme Creations.

Paul Brown, communications director at The Princes Trust which is helped to draw up the shortlist, said the event offers a chance to boost a grassroots business. He said: Weve been helping young people to set up in business for over 30 years and, since then, weve supported 85,000 young entrepreneurs to get their businesses off the ground. The Princes Trust provides access to finance for young people who might struggle to get support elsewhere, and our volunteer mentors work with young people for up to three years.

We thought the Young Progress Makers event was a brilliant opportunity to give the winning business a real kick-start. Young entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of Londons economy and need all the support they can get.

The pitching forum was just one part of todays Young Progress Makers event. Designers, entrepreneurs, tech innovators, public figures and politicians including Mayor Sadiq Khan gave talks, took part in workshops and contributed to panel discussions about the challenges facing young Londoners today.

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M odel and entrepreneur Lily Cole has urged young Londoners to think about how they can use technology as a force for good in the future.

Speaking earlier today at the Evening Standards Young Progress Makers event at The Roundhouse, Cole said: You will be ones to determine the future of the internet, so as future coders and engineers I urge you to be mindful of how we can make the internet a more positive place.

Cole, who runs runs altruism-based social network Impossible.com, said that she is very much passionate about how we can use tech for good.

She warned young people about the issues around data being used unethically by individuals, companies and the government.

As citizens we have to be mindful that technology is a neutral tool that can be used for good and bad, Cole said.

As consumers of the internet and people who can create new enterprisers, or become coders or engineers, youll be the ones to decide.

The 29-year-old joins the best and brightest of London to discuss the issues facing young Londoners at the Young Progress Makers event.

Among those taking part at the event at the Roundhouse today are comedian and actor Humza Arshad, whose homemade YouTube videos have won him millions of fans, artificial intelligence researcher Demis Hassabis, Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, who set up the Good Chance theatre in the Jungle refugee camp in Calais, jewellery consultant and founder of In Detail Beanie Major and Roundhouse poet Anita Barton-Williams.

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C omedian and actor Humza Arshad, whose homemade YouTube videos have won him millions of fans, has today advised young people to be fearless when it comes to creating a career online.

Speaking at the Evening Standards Young Progress Makers event, Arshad said: Think outside the octagon, dont jump on a trend just because its popular on YouTube.

Dont just make prank videos because everyone else is, do your own thing and dont be afraid to try something new. YouTube is a platform for creating your own brand and if I can do it, you can too.

He believes that the three most important things that young people must do to start a successful brand are to be consistent, love what you do and be unique.

Speaking of setting up his own YouTube channel after attempting to get into acting, Arshad said: Im slim, Im brown, Im Pakistani, I didnt want to play the those typical [acting] roles.

I didnt want to be at the back of a scene pushing a shopping trolley. I wanted something bigger for myself.

Arshad, who started his YouTube channel Humza Productions six years ago, has had more than 77 million views on the platform.

The Young Progress Makers event, which is being held at The Roundhouse, brings together designers, entrepreneurs, tech innovators and politicians to discuss important issues facing young people in London.

Among those also taking part are Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, model Lily Cole and Secret Cinema founder Fabien Riggall.

Discussions will centre on the themes of power, possibility and performance, and the challenges facing young people in London today.

Evening Standard editor Sarah Sands said: The Young Progress Makers day is a chance for our youth to solve the challenges of this city  they may well do a better job than the rest of us. We reckon we can identify a sensibility for the capital  entrepreneurial, optimistic, creative, socially responsible.

The YPM Day should be inspiring, fun and I hope will produce brilliant ideas that could become realistic policies. We intend to create a network from which jobs and friendships should flow. Last time we held a much smaller-scale forum such as this, a speaker came up with the idea of a Night Tube, which was taken up by Transport for London. We can improve London, and the YPM are the people to do it.

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By Press Trust of India: Srinagar, Jan 25 (PTI) An Army Major and four members of a family were among six killed today in avalanches and other snow-related incidents in different parts of Kashmir, police said.

An avalanche hit an army camp at Sonamarg in central Kashmirs Ganderbal district this morning, resulting in the death of Major Amit Sagar of High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS), a police official said.

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He said rescue operation was going on at the camp, housing the personnel of 115 battalion territorial army, to save the "rest of the persons".

An army official said one soldier had died after getting trapped under the avalanche.

In another avalanche incident, four members of a family died as their residential house was buried under snow in Gurez sector near Line of Control in north Kashmirs Bandipora district, the police spokesman said.

A snow avalanche struck at Badoogam village in Tulail area of Gurez in the wee hours today and buried the residential house of Habibullah Lone, a police official said.

He said the house collapsed under the debris of the avalanche resulting in death of 55-year-old Lone, his wife Azizi (50), 22-year-old son Irfan and daughter Gulshan (19).

Lones another son, Reyaz Ahmad, was rescued by the authorities and admitted to a hospital for treatment, the official said.

In another incident, a police spokesman said one person was killed and another got injured when a house collapsed under the weight of snow at Kralpora in north Kashmirs Kupwara district.

Abdul Gani Ganaie was clearing snow from the roof top of a residential house belonging to his relative Abdul Jabbar Ganaie at Kralpora when the house got collapsed resulting in his on the spot death, he said, adding the house owner got injured in the incident and was hospitalised.

The spokesman said a residential house also got damaged when it came under a sliding boulder from a nearby hill at Pantha chowk in the outskirts of Srinagar.

However, no one was injured in the incident, he said. PTI MIJ TA AKK

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P huket used to have a party reputation, with backpackers lining the streets for cheap cocktails and partying until 2am. But its reputation is changing as five star hotels and restaurants open along the Andaman coast and with celebrities like Blake Lively and Beyonce owning villas in the tropical getaway.

Fancy some winter sun? Here are the best places to stay while youre in Thailand's sun-soaked holiday destination.

Manathai Surin

Your first stop should be Surin beach. Around half way down the coast, its a destination which has glorious beaches and some of the best hotels. The Manathai is a quaint little hotel, just opposite Surin beach, with the friendliest and most polite staff. The best rooms look directly into the swimming pool  at the quietest time of the day its like you have your very own personal pool. The hotels restaurant, aptly named Pad Thai, serves traditional Thai food, and has happy hour cocktails.

Manathai Surin

If secluded beaches are your thing and you fancy a 20 minute trek from the hotel, youll find Leam Singh beach. Tucked into a cove, you can grab a beach bed while they deliver you cocktails. Theyll charge you 100 Thai Bhatt to visit but its so worth it  youll feel like youre on a deserted island. Just make sure you save some energy for the steep large steps on the way out.

Rates from 68, manathai.com/phuket

The Surin Phuket

If you have a bigger budget, then the Surin is perfect. Sundowners are a must here  you can watch the sun go down every day at the Surins beach bar while you sip on a happy hour margarita or two. Set on its own private (Pansea) beach on the west coast of the Island, the most tiring choice youll have to make is which restaurant to eat in. The resort has 103 cottages and suites dotted along the beachfront and forested area  which makes them look like cute tree houses. And if youre feeling energetic, there's also a beachside pool, yoga and a gym.

The Surin Phuket

If you get bored of a life of luxury head out of the hotel and left up to Bangtao beach, where youll find a lively beach town, with restaurants and bars on the beach. Try out the Palm Seaside lounge for drinks and sea food, which gives you a great view for sunset and the beach, which goes on for miles.

Rates from 400, thesurinphuket.com

The Nai Harn

Leaving Surin, head further south of Phuket, and just 20 minutes from the hustle and bustle of Patong youll find the Nai Harn hotel. The views alone are worth visiting this hotel for: set overlooking Nai Harn beach, the pool and sun loungers look down to the lapping Andaman sea and glorious views. Book a room with a sun lounger, grab your book and you are pretty much sorted for an afternoon. Or if you feel like you need a stretch, roll out your yoga mat and do some poses in the sun. The inclusive breakfast here is a breakfast of dreams - with everything from traditional English to Continental, and even a walk-in fridge where you can help yourself to cheeses, yogurts and fruit.

The Nai Harn

For dinner, you can head to the hotels restaurant Rock Salt  which is overseen by chef Kevin Fawkes, who has previously worked with Gordon Ramsay and Rene Redzepi. If you want local authentic food make sure you head out of the resort too and find the local restaurants, just down the road, for traditional Thai food that will cost you around 200 Baht. Its easy and quite cheap to get around the island, especially by taxi.

Rates from 184, thenaiharn.com

Kata Rocks

Driving back up the Island and just minutes away from Patong youll find Kata Rocks. From the moment you arrive in Kata Rocks you feel like a VIP. Jumping in a buggy they whizz you up and down their resort like youre a star fresh from a film set. Its apartments are like no other  designed like youre on a yacht and with their own infinity pools. If all the sunbathing gets a little bit too much for you then head to the spa, where there are water beds, sleep pods and traditional Thai massages - heaven.

If youre not popping out into the nearby town for dinner, then you can book into the pool side restaurant for sundowers and food made with fresh local produce, which ranges from traditional Thai dishes to lobster.

Rates from 560 per night, katarocks.com

Khao Lak

If youre looking to explore further than Phuket then just a little north is Khao Lak, where youll find a spattering of hotels including The Manathai Khao Lak. Although not in a particularly built up area, it looks set to transform itself in the next few years, so, like Phuket, it will become a go-to place for tourists. The highlight of the hotel is the pool, which faces directly on to the golden sands. The resort has daily morning yoga classes, which, if you can get up early enough, really set you up for the day.

Khao Lak

The resort also has a restaurant for breakfast and dinner, along with a bar for poolside snacks and evening drinks. Make sure you also check out the beach restaurants, then head to the beach bar where you can drink cocktails until midnight.

Rates from 58, manathai.com/khaolak

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A celebrity hacker has been jailed for nine months after breaking into the online accounts of at least 30 stars and stealing nude photos along with other private information.

The US court also ordered Edward Majerczyk to pay $5,700 (4,550) for counselling services for one un- disclosed celebrity victim whose photos were disseminated online.

The Chicago hacker, 29, was accused of involvement in a phishing scheme that illegally accessed more than 300 email and other online accounts, believed to include those belonging to actress Jennifer Lawrence.

No victims were named in court documents. But the investigation began after the Oscar winner and other celebrities, including actress Kirsten Dunst and model Kate Upton, complained in interviews about having their private photos appear on the internet.

A Chicago federal court yesterday passed sentence on Majerczyk, who pleaded guilty last year to felony computer hacking charges. He will begin his sentence on February 27.

Hacker: Edward Majerczyk / AP

His attorney Thomas Needham wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed last week: At the time of the offence Mr Majerczyk was suffering from depression.

He looked to pornography websites and internet chat rooms in an attempt to fill some of the voids and disappointment he was feeling in his life. Mr Needham added that Majerczyk had consistently expressed remorse for the hacking.

Both the US Justice Department and Mr Needham said investigators had not uncovered any evidence that linked Majerczyk to the act- ual leaks. His attorney said the hacked material was for Majerczyks personal use and viewing.

According to a plea agreement, the accused illegally accessed accounts on Apple iCloud and Google Gmail accounts belonging to more than 300 people.

It was said that he used an email phishing ploy to obtain their user names and passwords.

In October Ryan Collins, 36, of Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 18 months jail for stealing nude photographs of stars in what became known as Celebgate.
A London student murdered a man by hitting him with a shopping trolley handle in a street row, a court heard.

Elmi Awil, 21, allegedly struck Mustafa Farah twice with great force  knocking him out and inflicting injuries from which he never recovered.

Mr Farah, 24, was rushed to hospital in the early hours of June 4 last year and lay in a coma for 11 days before his life support machine was turned off.

The Old Bailey heard that Awil, a business management degree student at Brunel University, took a bus to Rotterdam, Holland, in the hours after Mr Farah was attacked but returned to the UK for questioning within a week.

Died after 'street row': Mustafa Farah

Prosecutor Anthony Orchard, QC, said the alleged murder weapon has blue and orange stripes and can be identified by the trolley coin slot and branding of budget store B&M.

He said Awil was given the handle by a friend seconds before the attack and was witnessed as he struck the deceased with the metal bar twice.

A shopping trolley handle allegedly used as a murder weapon

Mr Orchard went on: The first blow appears to be to the upper body and causes the deceased to stumble backwards. The second blow is to the neck area. The deceased is seen to collapse to the ground. Jurors heard that Mr Farah had gone with friends to a shisha bar in Willesden, drinking alcohol and smoking hookah pipes.

They got into an argument with Awils group as they left, which led to a verbal clash in the street near the bus garage.

Awils fingerprints were found on the discarded pole, the court heard, and he admitted wielding it when questioned by police. However, Awil says he only lashed out to defend himself because Mr Farah was brandishing a knife and will claim self-defence.

Mr Orchard said: There is no doubt Elmi Awil caused the death of Mustafa Farah and did so by deliberate act, hitting him twice to the neck area with a metal pole. It is difficult to see how he could have intended to cause anything less than really serious injury when he did that.

James Scobie, QC, defending, said: At the end of it all, there are two very decent families. One has lost a beloved son and brother, another sees a business student in the dock on a charge of murder.

Awil, of Harlesden, pleads not guilty to murder and co-defendant Abukar Yahye, 20, Stonebridge, who allegedly drove him to Victoria bus station after the killing, denies assisting an offender. The trial continues.
A teenage moped rider has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to murder a policeman in north London.

Scotland Yard said the uniformed officer was injured when he was hit by a moped being driven "erratically" in Balls Pond Road in Islington at around 4.15pm on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old policeman signalled for the rider to stop but was ignored before the crash took place.

He suffered leg injuries and was taken to hospital but has since been discharged.

The teenage rider came off his moped and was detained by another officer at the scene.

Recovered: A moped was seized at the scene / Met Police

The 18-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, taking and driving away and possession of a class B drug.

He remains in custody at a north London police station.

Later enquiries found the moped had been reported lost or stolen.

The road was taped off near the junction with Southgate Road as a sea of police vehicles descended on the scene.

Stunned witnesses told how they saw a police officer attempt to stop the rider before he was attacked in broad daylight.

Scene: A sea of police vehicles flooded Balls Pond Road in Islington / Met Police

Eyewitness Peter Nguyen, who manages local restaurant Salvation in Noodles, told the Standard: "We were preparing for Chinese New Year when we saw a policeman try to stop a guy on a bike.

"The guy on the moped then smacked the police officer and tried to drive off.

"He got about 15 to 20 feet down the road before the police car stopped him again and pulled him over.

"It was quite scary people were coming out of their houses and shops and staring. The police blocked the road.

Police arrested a man at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder

Another witness said: "I saw lots of police officers, more than I've seen before.

"They were gathered by the junction at the end of the road. There was a police van where they were loading a cuffed man into

"As I moved up the road a first response car arrived, followed by a trauma unit."

Witnesses told on social media how swarms of police raced to the scene.

One user Helen Farndon, tweeted: "Absolutely chaos around Balls Pond Road. All roads closed and police everywhere."

Detective Sergeant Jean-Pascal Barbe of Islington Police said: "This shows the dangers that officers face on a daily basis as they go about their work of keeping the people of London safe."

Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to call Islington Police via 101 or @MetCC. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
A man was arrested today on suspicion of racially aggravated malicious communications over threats made online to Gina Miller, the businesswoman behind the Brexit legal challenge.

The 50-year-old was held at an address in Knightsbridge and taken to a central London police station for questioning.

The arrest was made in connection with a complaint made to police relating to threats made against Ms Miller on Twitter in November and August last year.

So far officers from the Mets Operation Falcon cyber crime task force have issued eight cease and desist notices to individuals around the UK in connection with an inquiry into threats made against the businesswoman.

Ms Miller has been subjected to death and rape threats and singled out by some newspapers as foreign-born, even though she had grown up the UK, following her successful High Court challenge over Brexit.

Other arrests have taken place in Swindon and in Fife.

A cease and desist notice takes the form of a notice served by police advising the recipient that to continue with their current actions or behaviour could result in police action.
T he mother of a teenager stabbed to death by a 15-year-old boy has called on the Government to tackle the knife crime that seems to have taken over the streets of London.

Yinka Bankole issued the emotional plea after her sons killer was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey.

Fola Orebiyi, 17, died after being knifed in the neck in Notting Hill last July. He had been out with a friend in Colville Square when the pair were approached by a group of boys who began abusing them.

A fight broke out during which a 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, jumped on Fola and fatally stabbed him.

His killer was convicted yesterday and will be sentenced next month.

Police and paramedics at the scene in Notting Hill

In an emotional statement, Ms Bankole said her sons death  and a spate of other knife killings in London, including the stabbing of 15-year-old Quamari Barnes outside the gates of Capital City Academy in Willesden  should prompt government action.

Ms Bankole said her son had been a vibrant and intelligent young man, with a bright future ahead of him and no gang or criminal background.

She added: I was in labour for 23 hours with him, yet it took less than four minutes to stab him to death, while several youths stood there and didnt ask for help or assist him, and Fola he bled to death.

To me this is the most devastating moment of my life. Knowing that I wasnt there to protect my son, I will have to live with that for the rest of my life. Yet to the system, just another figure added to the statistics.

In an act that took less than four minutes, several lives were ruined, including that of the boy who has been found guilty of Folas murder.

"No length of time will be long enough for what he did. What are the Government doing about this knife crime that seems to have taken over the streets of London?

The newspapers and the media are more and more frequently featuring incidents involving violent knife crime, and only yesterday I am sad to read that a 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death in London.

"How many more of our children have to die before the Government act?

During the trial, prosecutor Tim Cray told the Old Bailey that one of Folas friends had had a fight with the killer in the weeks before the murder.

When they met again on July 3, Fola thought the dispute was going to be sorted out by a fist fight but found himself in an ambush.

Sentencing will take place on February 10.
A paedophile who was of the UKs most wanted fugitives was today jailed for two-and-half years.

Matthew Sammon, 46, was arrested in Spain where he had been hiding out in a camper van after being on the run for almost two years.

He was detained in the popular Costa del Sol holiday resort of Fuengirola in October, following a tip-off to Crimestoppers, after he was named in a new top 10 most wanted appeal hours earlier.

Sammon, who used to live in Mitcham, south London, was today sentenced at Southwark Crown Court after admitting seven charges of downloading indecent images of children.

He had amassed a hoard of more than 34,000 images over two years. There were 263 images and 246 movies, in category A, the worst level of offences.

The images were found on his laptop and other storage devices when the National Crime Agency raided his home in Mitcham in April 2014.

Linda Shamel, prosecuting, said after his arrest following the raid of his home he admitted downloading the images to police.

She said he told police It had got worse and worse over time. It had become like a hoarding addiction.

She told the court his laptop had insufficient memory to store all the images so had transferred them to memory sticks, CDs and external hard drives.

Sammon had a string of previous convictions for child pornography offences, and a conviction in 1993 for the indecent assault of a girl.

Ms Shamel said said: Hes no stranger to this type of offending

Sentencing him to 30 months in prison, judge Deborah Taylor said: There are a number of aggravating factors including previous convictions.a significant custodial sentence is merited.

He is expected to serve just half the sentence. Taking into account time he has already served in custody he could be out in a little over a year.

Sammon pleaded guilty at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates court in November.

Sentencing was adjourned until today for an assessment of his dangerousness to take place.

He had been extradited to the UK and charged within days of his arrest in Spain.

Sammon had disappeared from the UK while on police bail following his initial arrest.

During his time on the Costa Del Sol, Sammon had been living in a camper van, and working as an odd-job man and labourer.

Police swooped on his mobile home near a fairground site as he returned from walking his dog after a tip off from a member of the public, reportedly his former boss Daniel Reid, an ex-pat plasterer from Blackpool, who had spotted him through the appeal.

It was a joint operation by Spanish police and the UKs National Crime Agency - who are hunting fugitives in Spain through its Operation Captura campaign.

Sammon was the 77th person arrested out of 96 publicised through the campaign.

He was extradited to the UK to face the charges he was jailed for today. He was suspected of being in Spain for up to two years.

A ferry ticket from Cork, Ireland, where he also has links to the Roscoff Port in northern France was discovered in his small camper van following his detention.

Matthew Pardoe, defending, said at the time of his arrest he had stopped downloading images.

He said: It generates a significant self-loathing within him but that didn't stop him doing it.

Sammon, of Sunnymead Avenue, Mitcham, had pleaded guilty to one count of possession of indecent images and six counts of making indecent images.
T his is the shocking moment two masked thugs burst into a post office in south London and robbed a shopkeeper as he shut up his store.

The 46-year-old employee was closing the shop in St James Way, Sidcup when the men pushed in through the door and ambushed him.

CCTV footage released by police shows the man being punched and kicked to the ground as the robbers demanded the keys to the shop.

They fled after being disturbed by a group of kids but not before snatching a set of keys which fell from the victims pockets.

Ambushed: The shopkeeper was attacked as he closed the post office in St James Way, Sidcup / Bexley Police

However, the keys were not for the post office.

The robbery took place on Saturday, January 7 just before 10.30pm. No arrests have been made.

Police Constable Pavan Sandhu, said: "This is a shocking incident that has left the victim very traumatised after his ordeal.

We are keen to identify the two men in the CCTV footage so we can speak to them about the incident.

We would also urge anyone who witnessed the incident to contact us."

Police described the first suspect as a medium built black man in his mid 30s, 5ft 6ins tall wearing a black mask, black leather jacket over a blue hooded top, blue tracksuit bottoms and red trainers.

The second man is described as a slim white man in his 30s wearing a dark mask, dark coloured hooded top, light coloured tracksuit bottoms and blue trainers.

Anyone with information or any witnesses are urged to call police on 101 or 020 8284 9116 or on Twitter @Metcc or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
T his was the dramatic scene after a BMW M3 was wrecked in a late night horror crash in south London.

The blue coupe was left wrapped around a lamppost with its roof sawn off and its chassis destroyed after the smash on Tuesday night.

The crash left a 19-year-old woman who was in the passenger seat seriously injured in hospital. The driver, a 28-year-old man, was also taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries. He has not been arrested.

Police said a Mercedes was being driven at speed close to the BMW when it crashed into a lamppost but failed to stop at the scene in Trinity Road.

Dramatic: the blue coupe ploughed through trees and smashed into a lamppost on Trinity Road / www.ssrichardmontgomery.com

Detectives are now hunting the driver of that car, possibly an AMG model, although it is not clear whether it was directly involved in the collision.

Carnage: the roof can be seen lying on the grass a few yards from the rest of the car / www.ssrichardmontgomery.com

Shocking pictures of the aftermath show police officers inspecting the wrecked BMW, which has a rear tyre bent sideways, half a door ripped off and the windscreen smashed to pieces.

Destroyed: The car's chassis was ripped to pieces in the collision / www.ssrichardmontgomery.com

The roof can be seen lying on the grass a few yards from the rest of the car after being sawn off, while trees have been ripped out of the ground and cracked in two.

Detectives from the Roads and Transport Policing Command are appealing for information and witnesses which could help their investigation. The crash took place at around 10.25pm.

Anyone with information that may assist the investigation should call detectives from the Collision Investigation Unit at Merton on 020 8543 5157 or via 101.

Alternatively you can tweet @MetCC with any information.
A professional dog walker risked his life by wading across a partly-frozen boating lake to save a strangers dog that had fallen through the ice.

Robert Wilson, 32, went to the rescue after two-year-old beagle Pippa ran onto the lake in Victoria Park, Bow, and got stuck 50 yards from the edge.

Pippas owner today hailed him a hero but the incident led London Fire Brigade to warn about the incredible risk of walking on frozen lakes.

Mr Wilson was out with his chocolate labrador Lola when he heard shouts for help at about 9.45am on Monday.

Pippas owner, TV director Ross Norman, 42, who with his wife and their six-month-old daughter, said: You could see Pippa was running out of energy and close to going under when Robert arrived and said he was going after her.

"He just ploughed through the ice. At one point he had to try to crawl across it as it was so thick he couldnt break it, but he fell through then.

Mr Wilson finally reached the beagle and carried her to safety. A passer-by then took him and the two dogs to her home where he had a hot bath.

The former model scout, who lives in Hackney, said: I love dogs and when I saw what was happening I just wasnt going to hesitate to help. I think about if it had been Lola and how devastated I would be if I lost her. It was absolutely freezing, but I just kept going.

Firefighters arrived shortly after Mr Wilson had returned Pippa to dry land. LFB community safety group manager Mark Hazelton said: Were obviously pleased that both the man and the dog were uninjured but this incident could have had a very different outcome.

Going out onto ice like this is taking an incredible risk. The ice almost certainly wont take your weight and if you fall in when its cold like it is at the moment, hypothermia will set in rapidly which can prove fatal.

He urged the public to stay put and call 999 so that firefighters can rescue any animal that ends up on the ice.

A woman was also seen going into a boating lake in Alexandra Palace yesterday after her dog fell through ice while chasing birds.

After taking off her jacket and shoes she reportedly jumped in with a life ring and smashed her way through pieces of ice before coaxing the dog towards the waters edge where a bystander helped them out.

A cafe worker gave the woman dry clothes.
Using satire, Israeli artist mocks lack of respect many visitors have for historical Holocaust Memorial, using footage from Nazi extermination camps.

By India Today Web Desk: The catastrophic genocide -- The Holocaust -- claimed lives of 6 million Jews including 1.5 million children. From 1941 to 1945, Adolf Hitler murdered the Jews in the deadliest genocide in the history.

Now, in a controversial series, an Israeli artist Shahak Shapira, has unveiled his art project called "Yolocaust".

The satirical project aims at shaming the tourists who take disrespecting selfies at historical monuments.

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Watch: Selfie obsession of tourists takes life of an endangered dolphin

Yolocaust intends to discomfort those who have taken disrespectful selfies at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.

The Memorial offers tribute to the thousands of people who died during WWII, particularly in concentration camps around Europe.

"The selfies were found on Facebook, Instagram, Tinder and Grindr. Comments, hashtags and "Likes" that were posted with the selfies are also included," Shahak wrote on his website.

This is what Shahak did taking the selfies and combining them with footage from Nazi extermination camps:

The Nazis killed approximately two-thirds of all Jews living in Europe.

Twitter/[Myriam]

At many Nazi concentration camps, Nazi doctors conducted medical experiments on prisoners.

Twitter/PhotoHab

Extermination camps also known as death camps, were built for the only purpose of killing large groups of people quickly and efficiently.

Twitter/Jon Astorquiza

Auschwitz was the largest concentration and extermination camp built and it is estimated that 1.1 million people were killed there.

Twitter/Aska Mazik

Prisoners were forced to do hard physical labor and slept in small wooden bunks.

Screenshot/Yolocaust.de

Since they were useless to the Nazis, most Jewish victims of the Holocaust were women.

Screenshot/Yolocaust.de

About 10,000 people visit the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe every day.

Screenshot/Yolocaust.de

Also Read: Texas woman rams police car while taking topless photo for Snapchat

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T he Grand Tour host Jeremy Clarkson has proved he has one of the biggest heads in showbusiness, leaving Londoners gawping at this giant sculpture.

Londoners spotted giant stone sculptures of the heads of Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond travelling around the capital on lorries on Wednesday morning.

It was part of a stunt to publicise their motoring show The Grand Tour.

Commuters were stopped in their tracks as the 8ft-high busts were driven around the Houses of Parliament, Waterloo, Elephant and Castle, Trafalgar Square and The Mall..

Busts: The trio's heads were spotted passing the Houses of Parliament. / Toby Leston

The enormous statues arrived in London via the M4 under the cover of darkness early on Wednesday.

Spotted: A giant head of Jeremy Clarkson in Westminster. / Warren Ralls

The sculptures of the trio were seen in December last year being driven through Sydney in Australia after having toured the USA.

Richard Hammond: The presenter's face on the back of a truck. / Warren Ralls

Many fans of the presenters, best known for being the former faces of Top Gear, said they were thrilled to see the three statues.

James May: Fans said they were "thrilled" to spot the trio, of former Top Gear fame. / Warren Ralls

Craig Stewart told the Standard: I was delighted. Im down in London on business and grabbed a picture for my son as he is a massive fan of Top Gear and The Grand Tour.

David Myles said the boxes were stencilled with mock descriptions of body parts inside including James Mays left shoulder.

Surprise: One of the first Londoners to glimpse the statues was in Elephant and Castle. / Dan Ebsworth

Mr Myles said: I was amused. I assumed it was a publicity stunt aimed at getting the attention of social media.

Toby Leston, 26, photographed the giant heads as they passed Parliament in Westminster.

He told the Standard: I was chuffed! Massive Clarkson fan, always have been. Think hes a genius. Good to see his big head in person.

The Grand Tour: Giant Stone Heads in London 1 /9 The Grand Tour: Giant Stone Heads in London Spotted: Stone statues including 8-ft heads of The Grand Tour presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond are spotted traveling through London on the back of flatbed trucks Amazon Prime Publicity stunt: The presenters' busts pictured with the London Eye in the background. Amazon Prime Final destination: Programme makers said 'The Grand Tour is heading home' after a tour around the world. Amazon Prime London landmarks: The Grand Tour presenters' statues passed many famous sights. Amazon Prime Westminster: The flatbed trucks driving past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Amazon Prime Massive: The Grand Tour presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond are unpacked at a UK airport before being taking to the road. Amazon Prime Transported: The stone statues have been around the world. Amazon Prime

Just a great way to start the morning!

Other Londoners took to Twitter to share their surprise at encountering the giant busts on the way to work including one Twitter user who saw a box marked as containing Jeremy Clarkson's crotch.

Dan Ebsworth, 36, was on his way to work when he glimpsed the busts blocking a bus lane in Elephant and Castle.

Others who spotted the travelling statues were not as thrilled with the sight.

Ellie Wyant said on Twitter: "Is there anything worse than being stuck in traffic with Jeremy Clarkson's smug face staring back at you?"

Ben Robinson said: "This was slightly scary on the commute."

The makers of the Amazon Prime show The Grand Tour said the statues have travelled more than 30,000 miles and on three continents as part of the publicity tour.

The statues were first spotted in Seattle near Amazon's headquatrers and are on their way to their final destination - which has not yet been revealed.

Samuel William spotted the giant heads along The Mall heading towards Buckingham Palace.

The statues were spotted heading to Buckingham Palace. / @swilliamism

Mr Clarkson left the BBC show Top Gear in 2014 following an incident with a producer of the show.

He and fellow presenters Mr May and Mr Hammond subsequently joined The Grand Tour, which aired in the UK in November last year. Amazon said the show broke records in becoming the "biggest show premiere ever on Amazon Prime Video".

In December last year researchers claimed the big-budget car show became the most illegally downloaded show in history.
I t sounds like something out of a sci-fi film - but interactive holograms of teachers can now be beamed into London classrooms from the other side of the world.

A life-sized HumaGram was being exhibited for the first time in Britain today, using the same technology that will digitally resurrect rapper The Notorious B.I.G. for a tour with his widow, Faith Evans.

The projections, a real-life take on the hologram of Princess Leia beamed out of R2-D2 in Star Wars, mean students can ask questions and interact with a teacher or expert anywhere that has fast broadband.

Ian Curtis, European head of firm Promethean, which has acquired the technology for educational use, said: A HumaGram is a hologram that you can interact with and its extraordinarily lifelike.

Life-sized: HumaGram was exhibited for the first time in Britain today

I could be in London, delivering a presentation to an audience in real time in Sydney. I can interact with them and they can interact with me. I could be giving a presentation in London but I could also interact with multiple audiences across the world at the same time.

He said the system could provide remote teaching where there is a skills shortage but added: Technologys a tool to support teaching, not a replacement for teachers.

The system, which costs about 20,000, was being demonstrated in a recorded presentation today by Oliver Le Grice, former chief designer at Land Rover, at the Bett education technology conference at ExCel.

HumaGram: the device is a giant live take on the hologram of Princess Leia beamed out of R2-D2 in Star Wars

HumaGrams work by capturing ultra-high-resolution footage of the subject using a 4K camera, which is processed and sent to its destination over the internet.

The video data is then unpacked there and projected between two screens to give the impression of a three-dimensional hologram.

The presenter can view the audience via cameras stationed at a holograms destination.

The system also allows digital effects to be inserted into recorded projections. When Mr Le Grice was beamed into ExCel in east London he was shown interacting with virtual objects that popped up next to him.

The technology is being used to take The Notorious B.I.G. on tour later this year with Evans, 43, who plans to duet with him. His likeness is being created from online content, music videos and concert film and video supplied by family and friends.

Oliver Le Grice discusses the power of virtual reality in automotive design

The rapper, also known as Biggie Smalls, was killed in a drive-by shooting in America in 1997. Different technology has already been used to bring stars such as Michael Jackson and Tupac Shakur back to life on stage.
A junior doctor who raised more than 100,000 for cancer research after his childhood disease returned has lost his fight for life.

Dr Mark Sims, who had malignant melanoma, had originally set himself a 1,000 target but his efforts to help others as he fought skin cancer saw donations soar.

His fiancee Georgie Latcham, 28, whom he proposed to a year ago on the steps of the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, described him as her hero.

In a tribute on his Wrestling Melanoma blog, she told how his family sang the song that would have been the first dance at their wedding as he passed away last Thursday.

She wrote: Watching my 28-year-old fiance cruelly robbed of his sight, hearing, swallowing, walking, speech, along with any chance of a future was heartbreaking and wrong.

Mark had requested our song, the song we would have had our first dance to at our wedding. The music therapist learnt it and it was the last song we sang to Mark.

"This meant so much and I did not want to let go of his hand. We are devastated. We had amazing times and he would have had a great career as a doctor. Cancer stole this from him.

Dr Sims, who worked at Croydon and St Helier hospitals, first developed melanoma at 15. It returned in February 2015, a month before he met Ms Latcham.

His willingness to use his training to speak about the disease won him a Cancer Research UK award last year and his fundraising now stands at 115,000.

justgiving.com/fundraising/Mark-Sims5
S adiq Khan today claimed that Londoners safety was being put at risk by 170 million Government underfunding of duties like royal protection and policing of major events.

In a letter to London MPs and council leaders, the Mayor asked for their support in making sure that the capital gets it fair share of police funding under a new formula.

It came as his deputy mayor, Sophie Linden, warned the Standard that the capital would be at greater risk from terrorism, and community policing would suffer, unless ministers plugged the gap.

She said: The bottom line is how do we keep Londoners safe and we are extremely worried.

The Metropolitan Police estimates its capital city duties  the NICC - cost 346 million a year while the Governments own experts put the figure at 281 million.

However, the Met receives just 174 million for its extra responsibilities, which also include diplomatic protection and specialist crimes such as national child protection.

The Home Office is consulting on plans to change how the police budget is divided between forces across the country, with a risk that money will move away from London.

In his letter, Mr Khan warned going ahead with the plans would have a devastating impact, as Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe also claimed last week.

I am deeply concerned that the combination of the Governments refusal to fully fund the NICC, along with changes to the police funding formula, could undermine public safety in the capital, he wrote.

Ms Linden told the Standard: Its a huge gap. The Met is carrying out policing and not being paid for the policing they do as a capital city.

She added: Its a constant worry and pressure for the Met and sometimes frankly the balance isnt always right. If theyre policing a demonstration, that comes from communities and people do feel that.

We are really worried about the safety of Londoners. Unless we get what London is owed and London gets its fair share, policing suffers and that means communities will suffer.

Also, London is growing, the population is growing, terrorism is always a constant threat that we must make sure we have the capacity to confront.

The Mayors letter came as he stepped up his campaign to protect the capitals 3.2 billion annual policing budget.

When similar changes were considered in 2015, a high-profile lobbying campaign by police chiefs and politicians resulted in ministers protecting the Mets budget in real terms instead of cutting it by an extra 184 million a year.

Scotland Yard has made 600 million in efficiency savings since 2010 and plans to cut a further 400 million by the end of the decade. This has resulted in the loss of hundreds of community support officer posts and the closure of dozens of police stations.

In December, Mr Khan said he planned to raise council tax by 8p a week per household to cover the cost of keeping police numbers at around 32,000.

However, this month, he admitted that he was only committing enough cash to maintain the forces current strength of 31,000 officers.

A Home Office spokesman said: The Metropolitan Police Service remains the best funded force in the country and will receive 2.5 billion in 2017/18 provided it maximises its precept.
D rones were involved in at least 13 near misses with passenger jets using Londons airports last year, the Standard has learned.

The shocking figures fuelled fears that the sharp growth in drone use could lead to a catastrophic crash over the capital.

Overall, the number of drone incidents involving Heathrow planes nearly quadrupled from seven in 2015 to 26 last year, according to reports by the UK Airprox Board.

Ten of them were category-A, meaning there was a serious risk of collision.

Two other such near misses happened with City Airport planes and one with a Stansted aircraft.

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A further nine class-B drone incidents were reported where the safety of Heathrow planes may have been compromised, three for Gatwick and one for Stansted.

In total there were reports of at least 36 London-linked drone incidents involving passenger planes last year.

Investigators are still to publish probes into four Heathrow cases, one Gatwick, one City Airport, as well as one more over the Olympic Park.

Amid the growing alarm, ministers are now considering introducing tougher penalties for breaking laws on drones, including possibly a new offence of misusing them.

Richmond Park MP Sarah Olney, whose constituency is overflown by many planes, said: In the wrong hands, drones are endangering the lives of passengers and thousands more on the ground.

There should be an annual report to Parliament on drone incidents over London and other highly-populated areas.

The Heathrow cases where the collision risk was assessed by pilots as high include an A320 close to the Shard, on July 18, an A320 close to Osterley Park, west London, on May 1, an A320 over East Barnet, north London, on August 15, an A321 on final approach to the airport on March 28, an A320 on climb-out on February 14, and an A320 near Slough on March 30.

An E190 jet which had left City Airport on July 20 was involved in a drone incident with a medium collision risk.

Drone laws: the basics A drone must never be flown beyond the line of sight of the person operating it. This is generally measured as 500m horizontally or 400ft vertically A drone must always be flown at least 50m distance away from a person, vehicle, building or structure that you are not in control of A drone must not be flown within 150m of a congested area or large group of people, such as a sporting event or concert. Drone operators must respect flying restrictions over sensitive or high-risk sites such as airports. Penalties for breaking the rules include a fine of up to 2,500, and an unlimited fine or up to five years in prison for endangering an aircraft. The Civil Aviation Authority has also published a Dronecode to inform and educate the public around safe drone use. IT can be found at www.dronesafe.uk

While, a drone came close to a B737 around 11 miles north east of Stansted on May 3.

The Civil Aviation Authority, which has published a dronecode, warned of the dangers of flying the aircraft near airports.

Anyone operating a drone must do so responsibly and observe all relevant rules and regulations, said a spokesman.

It is totally unacceptable to fly drones close to airports and other aircraft and anyone flouting the rules can face severe penalties including five years in prison.

Heathrow stressed its top priority was the safety of passengers and workers.

Anyone operating an unmanned aerial vehicle has an obligation to know the rules and ensure they are capable of operating it safely, said a spokesman.

Doing so in proximity to an airfield or aircraft is both illegal and clearly irresponsible.

The airport called for stronger regulation by the Government and enforcement action to ensure airspace around British airports remains among the safest in the world.

A Stansted spokesman said: Drones can pose a serious risk if flown near airports.

Owners of drones are legally responsible for their safe flying, and could face prosecution if they breach CAA guidelines - which includes a complete ban on their use in the vicinity of airports, unless prior permission has been given.

A DfT spokesman said: We are working closely with the CAA and industry to adapt and strengthen regulations as drone use and the related technology evolves.

The Government has published a consultation to tighten regulations on drones including proposals for a new system to ensure standards of pilot competency and qualifications, and to improve the restriction of drones flying in sensitive or dangerous areas, such as airports.
T heresa May was today urged to give reassurance to London about its future following Brexit after yesterdays Supreme Court verdict triggered threats of hand-to-hand combat in Parliament.

Opposition parties and rebel Conservatives were coalescing behind a demand for a government White Paper setting out in more detail the Prime Ministers plans for leaving the European Union.

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said it must be a plan that particularly works for London if it was to win the backing of MPs and peers.

She told the Standard: We need a plan that addresses very real concerns expressed by our Mayor amongst others.

Mrs May is expected to publish a short Bill tomorrow that would give the Government the authority to begin Brexit negotiations by the end of March.

Concerns for London: Labour's Emily Thornberry / EPA

Sources suggest the Bill will be put before the Commons next week with the aim of sending it to the Lords next month, giving time for Mrs Mays timetable of moving Article 50 by the end of March.

But Ms Thornberry said the Prime Minister could face a series of amendments designed to force her to produce more details of her plans than were set out in Mrs Mays speech last week.

Other amendments could seek a commitment to return to Parliament regularly with updates on the negotiations and for MPs to be given a meaningful vote on the eventual deal, rather than a take it or leave it vote.

Labour would not stop Article 50 being triggered, she said, but would push amendments to a series of votes. If necessary, there will be hand-to-hand combat on this, she added.

A Whitehall source said Brexit Secretary David Davis was meeting Mayor Sadiq Khan regularly and was very alive to the concerns of the capital.

The battle over Brexit follows the Supreme Court ruling that Article 50, triggering the departure process, cannot be moved without an Act of Parliament. Labour, the Scottish Nationalists and the Liberal Democrats are all united in demanding a White Paper, although Labour is deeply divided over the broader question of whether MPs should try to stop Brexit happening.
J eremy Corbyn faced demands for an apology after he mistakenly said a police officer who was shot in Belfast had died.

Northern Irelands Police Federation led criticism of the Labour leader after his error in the House of Commons.

During Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday, Theresa May told MPs her thoughts were with the family of the officer, his family and friends.

However, the Labour leader added: I join the Prime Minister in expressing condolences, Im sure of the whole house, to the police officer who lost his life over the weekend in Northern Ireland.

Belfast MP Nigel Dodd was then forced to point out the blunder and said: Actually, hes not dead.

Prime Minister: Theresa May said her thoughts were with the officer / Sky News

Local MPs criticised the gaffe.

The Ulster Unionist Partys Tom Elliott tweeted: Jeremy Corbyn makes huge mistake at PMQ by saying that a police officer lost his life in NI at the weekend. Very poor knowledge or briefing.

DUP MP Gavin Robinson added there was fury amongst Labour backbenchers behind us.

He said: They were aghast at his ineptitude.

A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Police Federation called on Mr Corbyn to apologise for the blunder.

He told the Standard: The officer is seriously injured but is very much alive.

It is remarkable that the leader of the opposition would get it so badly wrong.

A tweet posted by the Federations Twitter account read: Disgrace that Labour Leader should get something as serious as this so badly wrong.

Needs to apologise to officer & family.

A spokesman for the Labour leader later said: "He meant to say 'nearly died'. Obviously, the last thing that was intended was any offence."
S adiq Khan appeared to cast doubt on Labours Brexit policy today as he suggested claims by Jeremy Corbyn that Government plans threatened the rights of workers were unfounded.

The Mayor said he did not believe that Brexit Secretary David Davis had any intention to weaken those rights despite the Labour leaders concerns.

He said: Ive seen no evidence from the conversations Ive had with senior members of the Government that thats their aspiration or their intention or something they want to do.

Labour is ready to set out four amendments to the Governments Article 50 bill that sets out the two-year framework for Britains departure from the European Union.

Workers' rights fears: Jeremy Corbyn / Sky news

One of these is intended to help avoid Britain becoming a bargain basement tax haven off the coast of Europe. The party is expected to add it wants to secure workers rights.

However, Mr Davis, who has promised Londons voice will be heard in monthly Brexit talks with the Mayor, has met with the TUC and other workers rights advocates.

Mr Khan told the London Assembly: To give credit to the Government, I dont think they want to weaken workers rights.

However, he added: Im hoping that what we have now is a floor, not a ceiling. What none of us want to see is a dilution of workers rights or a race to the bottom.

Thats why theres been some anxiety with comments about us being, in inverted commas, an offshore tax haven, because the implication is that would lead to a dilution of workers rights.
R ussias huge aircraft carrier was kept under close guard as it sailed through the English Channel on its way home from a deadly bombardment in Syria.

The Royal Navy and a squadron of RAF Typhoon jets were deployed to escort the Admiral Kuznetsov as it passed the white cliffs of Dover, the Ministry of Defence said.

The Soviet-era vessel, known as the flagship cruiser in the Russian Navy, entered British waters on Tuesday evening and sailed through the English Channel on Wednesday lunchtime.

The colossal warship was sent to Syria in October as Russia was accused of supporting an 'indiscriminate' bombing campaign to aid Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon branded the 55,000 ton carrier equipped with missiles, anti-aircraft guns and torpedoes a ship of shame as it made its way home.

RAF Typhoon jets monitor the Russian aircraft carrier as it passes through the English Channel / MOD Crown Copyright 2017

He said: "We will keep a close eye on the Admiral Kuznetsov as it skulks back to Russia; a ship of shame whose mission has only extended the suffering of the Syrian people.

"We are man-marking these vessels every step of the way around the UK as part of our steadfast commitment to keep Britain safe."

"Remaining at a respectful distance, but keeping the Russian warships clearly visible, Royal Navy sailors keep watch on every movement through their binoculars and use state-of-the-art radars to track the course and speed of the ships as they pass close to the UK."

"Ship of shame": The ship made its way back to Russia from a bombing campaign in Syria / MOD Crown Copyright

The Kuznetsov, accompanied by the Petr Velikiy battlecruiser and a salvage tug, was kept under watch by Portsmouth-based frigate HMS St Albans and a Merlin helicopter.

Four RAF Typhoon planes were also scrambled to monitor the Russian carrier.

Commander Chris Ansell, the commanding officer of HMS St Albans, said: "This tasking demonstrates the Royal Navy's commitment to protecting our home waters and readiness to undertake short notice operations.

"The movements of the Russian ships are being continually monitored in a co-ordinated response between the Royal Navy, RAF and our Nato partners.

"As an island nation, the security of the seas around our coastline is vital and this sort of task is routine business for HMS St Albans and the Royal Navy, which stands ready at all times to protect UK territorial waters.

"My ship's company of 190 sailors take great pride in the role they play as one of the UK's on-call warships to deal with this type of situation."

The Kuznetsov carrier group previously passed through the Channel last autumn on its way to the Mediterranean and was escorted by Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan and Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond.
A n angry McDonalds customer jumped on the counter and fired two toy Nerf guns at fast food staff after he did not get his chicken nuggets.

Jacob Martin Geels shouted at McDonalds staff before spraying foam bullets around the fast food restaurant in New Zealand.

The 22-year-old was handed a $100 NZD fine  around 58 - for disorderly behaviour after the incident.

Police prosecutor Lisa Thompson told Greymouth District Court that Geels thought it was funny and didnt think anyone would care, the New Zealand Herald reported.

"It was quite a scary thing to occur, the prosecutor said.

Nerf gun: The judge accepted it was a prank / Alex Lentati

It was real for the people who were there and they could have easily thought an armed robbery was in progress."

But Geels defence lawyer Doug Taffs said the bright fluorescent orange and yellow guns are toys for children aged four to six and shoot foam pellets up to just one metre away.

Mr Taffs said: It was a silly thing he did and he spent two hours in custody at the Greymouth Police Station for his troubles.

"It was a plastic toy and he inadvertently caused alarm and it was deeply stupid."

Judge Robert Murfitt accepted it was a prank but told Geels: It is important for you to think more carefully about the way you behave, particularly with what is happening in the world at the moment.

There have been some outrageous events of random violence and harm."
One Army major and four civilians were killed in avalanches in the Kashmir Valley today morning

By Shuja-ul-Haq , Ashraf Wani: Amid heavy snowfall and avalanche warning, five, including an Army major are feared dead.

MeT department had predicted snowfall till January 26 and an avalanche alert was issued late yesterday evening.

Here are the latest updates

A HAWS (High Altitude Warfare School) camp was hit by an avalanche today morning at Sonamarg.

Major Amit Sagar was among the dead. Two soldiers were also pulled out of the snow.

Another snow avalanche hit a residential house in the Tulail area of Kupwara district in North Kashmir, killing four people.

The names of the civilians who died are: Habibulah (50), Azizi (48), Gulshan Bano (19) and Irfan (17).

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Kashmir: MeT predicts snowfall for three consecutive days in Valley

--- ENDS ---
T he head of an ancient Catholic order has resigned after a public row with Pope Francis over the ousting of a top official involved in a condom scandal.

Matthew Festing met with the pope yesterday and offered his resignation, Knights of Malta spokeswoman Marianna Balfour said today.

Mr Festing had refused to cooperate with a papal commission investigating the suspension of the grand chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, over revelations the orders charity branch distributed thousands of condoms to poor people in Burma under his watch. Catholic church teaching forbids artificial contraception.

Last week, the Holy See said in a sharply worded statement it plans to take action to resolve the dispute.

The showdown is the latest example of Francis clashing with more conservative elements in the Catholic Church, especially those for whom sexual ethics and doctrinal orthodoxy are paramount.

In a statement last week, the Vatican called the issue a crisis of the central direction of the Knights of Malta, which was founded in the 11th century.
G eorge Orwell's classic novel 1984 has become a number one bestseller again after Donald Trump's adviser referred to "alternative facts".

The dystopian tale, which coined the term "newspeak" for political propaganda cloaked in vague language, details life in a totalitarian state.

Its sales boost coincided with Mr Trump's adviser Kellyanne Conway explaining away inaccurate comments about the President's inauguration crowds as "alternative facts".

The phrase was quickly likened on social media to something from the novel's Ministry of Truth.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer lies to the media during press conference

And American media reported sales of the book had rocketed ever since, climbing to number one on the Amazon bestseller list by Wednesday morning.

Ms Conway used her phrase this week following a bad-tempered appearance by new White House press secretary who claimed Mr Trump secured "the largest audience ever", against all available evidence.

The sales boom also coincided with Mr Trump's seemingly baseless claim that millions of illegal votes had been cast in the US election.

Meanwhile, the new US President promised a "big day" on Wednesday, with expected announcements on visa and refugee bans alongside a wall on the Mexico border.
A Secret Service agent is under investigation for suggesting she would not take a bullet for Donald Trump.

Special Agent Kerry OGrady spoke out against the president-to-be during last years election campaign.

Now her bosses at the agency sworn to protect the commander-in-chief are investigating remarks she reportedly posted on her Facebook page.

Agent OGrady, in charge of the Secret Service in the Denver region, made no secret of her preference for Hillary Clinton.

Donald Trump's five key pledges

She said: As a public servant for nearly 23 years, I struggle not to violate the Hatch Act. So I keep quiet and skirt the median. To do otherwise can be a criminal offence for those in my position. Despite the fact that I am expected to take a bullet for both sides. But this world has changed and I have changed.

I would take jail time over a bullet or an endorsement for what I believe to be disaster to this country and the strong and amazing women and minorities who reside here.

The Hatch Act bans federal officials, other than the president and a few others, from certain political activities. In another post, disclosed by the Washington Examiner, Agent OGrady said the US was moving into a period of bigotry, misogyny and racism.

A complaint has reportedly been made to the Department of Homeland Security. The Secret Service said that it is looking into the matter.

Agent OGrady reportedly told the Examiner she deleted the post and that she was not claiming she would not take a bullet for Mr Trump. She was proud to do her duties and serve the office of the president, she said.
U S Emmy award-winning actress Mary Tyler Moore has died at the age of 80, her publicist has said.

The iconic television star gained fame in the 1960s sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show before further success with The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1970s.

Her publicist Mara Buxbaum said the actress died in the company of her friends and her husband Dr Robert Levine.

In a statement she was described as "a groundbreaking actress, producer, and passionate advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation who will be remembered as a fearless visionary.

Award winning: The actress gained fame for her roles in The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show / PA

Over her career she scooped seven Emmy awards and received an Oscar nomination for best actress for her portrayal of an affluent mother in the 1980 film Ordinary People.

Moore landed her first major television role as wife Laura Petrie in The Dick Van Dyke Show in 1961 in which she won an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

Later she cemented her name as a star of US television for her portrayal of TV producer Mary Richards in her self-titled sitcom.

The show was named by Time Magazine as one of 17 shows that "changed television over its seven-year run from 1970 to 1977.

In 2001 she was awarded the Screen Actors Guild's lifetime achievement award

Entertainers paid tribute to Moore on social media following the announcement of her death.

Stephen Fry tweeted: "A minute's silence as we remembered one of the true greats of TV comedy."

And film director Kevin Smith wrote: "TV [and] film star, tireless defender of animals, and scourge of diabetes. Truly she turned the world on with her smile."
T wo US national parks appear to have taken a public stand against President Donald Trump less than a week after he took up office.

Official National Park Service Twitter accounts in Dakota and California defied a Trump administration ban on using the social media site in order to post about climate change.

It comes days after the Department of Interior suspended all activity on its agencies Twitter accounts  allegedly because the main National Park Service (NPS) account retweeted images comparing crowds at Mr Trumps inauguration with Barack Obamas in 2009.

An NPS official later told the Huffington Post the tweet had been posted by a former employee and was quickly deleted.

However, Badlands National Park in South Dakota broke the strict ban to fire off three since-deleted tweets about climate change on Tuesday.

The posts, detailing scientific facts, were live for about two-and-a-half hours during the afternoon. One read: "The pre-industrial concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 280 parts per million (ppm). As of December 2016, 404.93 ppm.

Then on Wednesday, Golden Gate National Parks social media manager risked their job by tweeting a report on climate change with the words: 2016 was the hottest year on record for the 3rd year in a row.

The tweets may appear apolitical but Mr Trump has previously said climate change is a hoax and should be ignored.

In a 2012 tweet which he has never retracted, he said: The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.

He has not yet spoken publicly about the national parks' tweets.
The Broadcaster opened Wednesdays Good Morning Britain with a monologue about the Scottish actor, saying that he had let down the viewers.

All I want to say about it is this: Ewan McGregor is a major star. Hes entitled to have his opinion about politics and Im entitled to mine, he said.

He though the Womens March was a fantastic thing. I thought it was flawed and explained why. Im certainly supportive of all womens rights and all equality. I didnt feel this march was very focused. It was a bit more of an anti-Trump thing.

Piers Morgan annoyed as Ewan Mcgregor refuses to show for GMB

He continued: Putting that to one side, we should all be able to have different views. I would have respected him more if hed walked out there, sat down and went, You are are wrong about the Womens March, and we could have had an adult conversation about it.

It seems to me the whole Brexit, Trump stuff is now so extreme that no one can even raise a flag of this might not be quite right or lets bring them together. Its just too much extremity about all this.

McGregor had been due to promote his new film Trainspotting 2 on Tuesdays show, but pulled out when he found out that Morgan was hosting.

Women's March London 2017 1 /22 Women's March London 2017 Activists marched through London in support of equality Activists marched through London in support of equality Activists marched through London in support of equality Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality PA Activists marched through London in support of equality PA Activists marched through London in support of equality PA Activists marched through London in support of equality PA Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images Activists marched through London in support of equality Getty Images

Was going on Good Morning Britain, didn't realise @piersmorgan was host. Won't go on with him after his comments about #WomensMarch, the actor wrote on Twitter.

Morgan later wrote an entire column about the actor for MailOnline, writing: By refusing to be interviewed by me simply because I have a different opinion about a political march, McGregor revealed himself to be a narrow-minded, stupendously self-aggrandising, anti-democratic little twerp.

Perhaps everyone who voted Trump or Brexit should now boycott his movies?
C hannel 4s latest crime documentary Women Who Kill is as sobering a watch as its title suggests.

The two-parter tells the story behind American women serving long prison sentences for murder.

As an opening voice-over tells us, female killers in the vast majority of cases know their victims or are in a relationship with them.

Taking the front seat in Episode 1 is Amber Hilberling, whose husband Josh died in 2011 after she pushed him and he fell from a 25 story window.

Amber was heavily pregnant with their son at the time, and claimed her actions were in self-defence.

In interviews, she details her version of events  and how the media treated her during the trial.

If I didnt dress up enough for court then I was trashy and obviously guilty, she says.

If I did, then I was some hoity-toity, snooty rich girl that had no remorse for her situation and dared to do her hair.

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

Hilberling then served time in an Oklahoma prison, with limited access to her son Levi.

The circumstances around Joshs murder and Ambers incarceration are a moral grey area of sorrow and regret in a film that offers none of the glossy thrills of some true crime murder shows.

Then theres an even more tragic ending to the show  Amber Hilberling committed suicide in late 2016 after filming on Women Who Kill had ended. Its a chilling close to a documentary that was already an uneasy watch.

Channel 4, 10pm
By Press Trust of India: Srinagar, Jan 25 (PTI) Four members of a family died today as an avalanche buried their house in Gurez sector near the Line of Control in Kashmir while an army officer has been reported missing following an avalanche near his camp in Sonamarg area in Ganderbal district.

A police official said rescue teams are making efforts to trace the officer of the rank of Major.

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In a separate incident, an avalanche struck at Badoogam village in Tulail area of Gurez in the wee hours and buried the house of Mehraj-ud-Din Lone, a police official said.

He said the house collapsed under the debris of the avalanche resulting in death of 55-year-old Lone, his wife Azizi (50), 22-year-old son Irfan and daughter Gulshan (19).

Lones another son, Reyaz Ahmad, was rescued by the authorities and admitted to a hospital, the official said.

The authorities in Kashmir have issued avalanche warning for higher reaches of the Valley following fresh snowfall yesterday and advised people to stay away from the mountains and foothills. PTI MIJ DV

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Melbourne, Jan 23 (PTI) The Australian state of Victoria today announced changes to its bail laws after five people were killed and over 30 injured last week when a man deliberately drove a car into pedestrians here in the countrys second largest city.

The incident, which police said was not terror-related, happened after lunchtime on Friday. An Indian woman IT professional is among over 30 people injured in the attack.

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Nethra Krishnamurthy was seriously injured when she was run over by the speeding driver.

Suspect Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 26, was released by a bail justice against the wishes of police five days earlier.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said a new Night Court will be set up for magistrates to hear bail requests.

"All of us feel it. How could this have happened? How could such a tragedy have come to our city? How could so many lives end and so many lives change forever?" he said.

The changes mean magistrates will rule on after-hours bail applications for people charged with violent crimes, Andrews said.

Until now, Victoria has been the only jurisdiction in Australia to use volunteer bail justices rather than on-call magistrates for after-hours hearings.

Andrews also said the entire bail system would be reviewed by former Supreme Court of Victoria judge Paul Coghlan.

"We need to have a really close look at each and every element of our bail system, and we need to make profound change for the future to keep Victoria safe," Andrews said.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton has expressed frustration about the handling of bail cases.

"I think everyone that works in the system has issues with it from time to time," he told the Herald Sun newspaper.

Ashton said Gargasoulas would face "multiple" murder charges once detectives were able to interview him.

The suspect was recovering from surgery after being shot in the arm by police before his arrest.

Police said Gargasoulas had been involved in an attack on his brother in a Melbourne suburb earlier on Friday.

As Australians mourned the tragedy, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull joined Andrews in attending a makeshift memorial set up at the scene.

Victorias justice system has faced criticism in recent years following several high-profile cases, media reports said. PTI AKJ AKJ

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) The much-anticipated visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India is likely to be delayed further, top Bangladeshi officials indicated here.

"Both the prime ministers (Narendra Modi and Hasina) have been busy and she herself had been very busy with meetings and (WEF at) Davos. So, we have not finalised any date as of now," a source said.

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Asked if the visit would be happening sometime in February as expected, he said, "We are still not sure about it. Maybe, we will having a meeting next week and work out on the dates."

During Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbars visit to Dhaka last month, Hasinas press secretary Ihsanul Karim had said she (Hasina) has plans to visit India and officials of the two countries would work out the schedule.

Hasina was earlier expected to leave for New Delhi on December 18 to discuss a wide range of bilateral issues with her Indian counterpart Modi, but the plan got postponed.

The postponement had come amid speculation in the media in Dhaka that it was not a suitable time to discuss Teesta water sharing issue given the preoccupation of the government post-demonetisation.

A source in the Prime Ministers Office in Dhaka and three Awami League policymakers had in December said the Teesta issue requires the consent of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is protesting the NDAs governments demonetisation move.

Since Mamata has overtly expressed her dissatisfaction, the Bangladesh administration, keeping everything in mind, realised that it was not a suitable time to discuss the Teesta issue, the Dhaka Tribune reported last month.

Hasina, early December had told reporters in Dhaka, "I am going to India, I am not going with any conditions... discussion is on for Teesta river water sharing and we are hopeful".

In October, Modi had met Hasina on the sidelines of BRICS- BIMSTEC Outreach Summit in Goa. At the invitation of Hasina, Modi visited Bangladesh in June 2015.

"We are at fortunate phase of our history and we hope there will be no obstacles to future solution... The horizon of bilateral relations has become a sunrise horizon," Akbar said at an event here yesterday.

A senior Bangladeshi official said, "We (India and Bangladesh) have to take note of each others sensitivities and vulnerabilities and sustain dialogues with an open mind." PTI KND ZMN

--- ENDS ---

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Tonight, ex-contestant Mandana Karimi will enter the house, along with Nitibha Kaul, and give her piece of mind to Lopa.

By India Today Web Desk: Bigg Boss 9 finalist Mandana Karimi will enter the BB 10 house tonight, along with Nitibha Kaul for the Mela task. The ex-contestant will lash out at Lopamudra Raut for saying things behind the back and behaving like a school girl.

"Aap shaayad ho Miss India. But you are behaving like a little girl, who's always nagging about Bani," Mandana will say.

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She will praise Bani, saying she never criticised anybody or said things behind the back. Also read: Bigg Boss 10: Rohan Mehra OUT of the house in midnight eviction

Mandana will also say that Lopa doesn't respect Bigg Boss. She will go on to compare her with BB 10 troublemakers Om Swami and Priyanka Jagga.

Lopamudra will try to defend herself and will later be seen shedding tears.

--- ENDS ---
With one hand holding a bottle of champagne and the other an oversized certificate declaring him the winner of $1 million from Publishers Clearing House, Bruce Saunders stood on the front porch of his western Davie County Monday and rattled off a list of things he plans spend his spend money on  medical bills, fixing his lawnmower and helping family members.
By Press Trust of India: tomorrow

Mumbai, Jan 25 (PTI) Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is expected to clear his partys stand on the pre-poll pact with BJP for the upcoming BMC polls during a meeting with cadres at Goregaon here.

Although senior Sena leaders were tight-lipped about the fate of an alliance, most of party cadres are said to be opposed to any tie-up with the BJP.

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"It will be very difficult for Uddhavji to override the stiff opposition from party cadres and stitch an alliance with BJP," party sources said.

If the alliance breaks down in Mumbai, any alignment with BJP for the remaining nine municipal corporations and 25 Zilla Parishads is highly unlikely, they said.

Sources in Sena said all party ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, corporators, vibhag pramukhs, sampark pramukhs and allied frontal organisations have been instructed to remain present in the rally at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Goregaon .

Suspense also continues on whether Thackeray and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would meet for one last time to hammer out a pre-poll alliance.

Parallel to the Sena rally, state BJP president Raosaheb Danve will be addressing the partys youth wing at the Mumbai office in Dadar.

BJP sources said Chief Minister Fadnavis is likely to address members on January 28 at the venue where the Sena chief will be addressing workers tomorrow.

"The BJP leadership is likely to frame its response based on what Thackeray tells Sena cadres," sources said.

Shiv Sena and BJP leaders had held a few rounds of talks to workout an alliance for the BMC polls on February 21. While BJP has demanded 114 seats, Sena has offered 60 seats to its ally.

Meanwhile, BJP has dismissed reports appearing in a section of media that gag orders were issued to party ministers and leaders not to criticise Sena leadership. PTI MM RMT ANB

--- ENDS ---
Romania's General Prosecutor Augustin Lazar stated on Wednesday that the monitoring of Romania within the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) must be maintained, because this proves to be "a safety helmet" in unforeseeable situations, referring to the recent proposals to amend the Criminal Codes.

"Monitoring proves to be a safety helmet when you go on site, for unforeseeable situations. And after 10 years, here it happens something that we would not expect: radical changes of some law texts. (...) We wish to have irreversible evolutions. We do not wish legislation changes which will practically disarm the magistrates of the anti-corruption justice tools, because the decriminalization of some law texts regarding the work misdemeanors would turn inoperable the impunity of whistleblowers, institutions which where introduced in this phase of integration in the European Union, and which resisted 10 years and even more in the Romanian legislation. They should remain and not be given up, because otherwise magistrates will be disarmed in front of corruption offenses," Augustin Lazar stated for Agerpres.

The General Prosecutor underlined that the CVM reports of the European Commission, in the period 2014 - 2016, have underscored a positive trend, but they mention that the attacks of mass-media and politicians against magistrates represent a serious threat. "It is worth mentioning that Romania registered major progresses in the direction of achieving the objectives of reference comprised in the CVM, but the Report states the fact that the strong attacks directed against magistrates and the judiciary system by the mass-media and politicians represent a serious threat to the irreversibility of anti-corruption fight. This is exactly what the magistrates are discussing these days. The Report also states that the anti-corruption legislation must apply to all equally and at all the levels. This is very important, because the changes of legislation, in the sense in which they are meant to clearly weaken and reduce the enforcement area of texts regarding the corruption offenses, and which represented a major challenge to the DNA's [National Anticorruption Directorate] independence and efficacy, would entail the revaluation of the achieved progressed," Lazar said.

The General Prosecutor stated that he disagrees with changing the text in the Criminal Code on the conflict of interest offense. "Another important matter is preventing the conflict of interests, fraud and corruption in the procedures of public acquisitions, which continues to remain a serious challenge. Nowadays we note that precisely through one of the Emergency Ordinance draft it is planned to change the text on this offense of conflict of interest, so that it would be then inoperable, which is not to be wished. Surely the text must be brought to the exigency level of the decisions of the Constitutional Court, by changing the phrase 'commercial relations' to 'relation between professionals," Augustin Lazar also stated.
Director of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) Eduard Hellvig said on Wednesday that he hopes for a new beginning as regards the relationship between SRI and Parliament, and specified that he came to the hearings with classified documents that will be put at the committee's disposal to clear all aspects that have been subject to public debate lately.

He added that SRI had no involvement whatsoever in the protests staged in the last days with respect to the tentative amendment of the criminal legislation.

"I've no emotion, I came to Parliament open-hearted, to answer to all of the committee's questions. It's an opportunity to me. I have hope for a new beginning in the relationship between Parliament and SRI and I'm certain that after this hearing, we'll have an answer to many of the questions that have concerned the public lately. To me, as director of this important institution of the Romanian state, the relation with Parliament is of extreme importance. I served as an MP, I understand the Parliament's role in democracy and I have all availability and openness, both mine and the institution's, to have a more than close, correct and honest relation with the committee," said Hellvig at the Parliament Palace, before being heard in the Committee for the Supervision of SRI's activity.

He brought four suitcases loaded with papers, documents which he said are classified and will be put at the committee's disposal "to clear aspects that have been under public debate."

Hellvig refused to comment on the closeness between politicians and SRI staff.

He mentioned that he would inform the parliamentary committee on the institution's budget, too.

agerpres.
President Iohannis stated on Wednesday, in the plenary meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) that there is a "myth" that intelligence services are providing "strange evidence" in criminal cases, but this thing is not possible.

"There is a myth that intellgence services provide strange evidence in criminal cases. This thing is not possible, I say it myself, the President of Romania. Whoever has a complaint should go to the qualified institution and it will be clarified. Even as I speak, the head of an intelligence service is in Parliament to clarify these matters and I don't doubt he will. To talk about facts and reports is one, but to explain myths is, usually, difficult so I will limit myself to the facts," the head of state said in a context of a question regarding the latest Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) report.

He underlined that Romania has a balance and control system among state institutions that is functional. President Iohannis stated that the latest CVM report is a positive one. "I'm glad to say that the latest CVM report came out two hours ago. It is positive. Surprise, surprise. This is Romania, always capable of surprises, sometimes positive ones. The latest report states that substantial progresses were made in all areas. Certainly, we know best that a lot of things still must be improved, a lot of things have to be done. More precisely, the latest report reveals the 12 areas in which we have to work better to ensure the progress and for the first time this report shows that the correlation between the CVM and the decisions in other areas isn't appropriate, such as Schengen and European structural funds. (...) We will continue the work. This report reveals that fulfilling the 12 requirements will lead to the conclusion of the CVM process," the head of state revealed.

Agerpres
According to a survey, the general expectation from this year's budget is more rational tax regime, which leads to growth of business and creates job opportunities.

By Prabhash K Dutta: In a week's time, the country will enter a new phase of financial cycle in the country as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be presenting annual budget on February 1 for the first time in history.

With a shift in budget presentation, the expectations of the real aam aadmi seem to be skyrocketing high in the post-demonetisation era.

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According to a survey, in which more than 1,00,000 citizens participated on social engagement platform LocalCircles, which recently had a tie-up with the consumer affairs ministry of the Centre to address the grievances of people, the general expectation from this year's budget is more rational tax regime, which leads to growth of business and creates job opportunities.

It is very interesting to find that in an online poll how the netizens have understood the significance of agriculture in Indian economy. As many as 43 per cent of the participants said that the government should give agriculture the top priority.

Demonetisation has presented a whole new set of problems not for the people, who now expect the government to give them greater tax rebate and increase public investment much against the Centre's thrust on private corporate driven growth policies.

About 49 per cent of the participants expect reduction in income tax rates while 16 per cent seek increase public investment to deal with the challenges posed by demonetisation.

About 55 per cent people sought increase in the limit for taxable income, which is Rs 2.5 lakh at present. Another 37 per cent hope that the tax slabs will be restructured to benefit individuals giving them tax respite.

People's opinion is divided about exemptions under IT Act. Some 59 per cent participants were of the view that the government should drop all exemptions and reduce the income tax rate considerably. While another 33 per cent would love to see exemption limits to be extended further.

India faces a rising cost of healthcare and public investment in healthcare is among the lowest in emerging economies and even worse than the sub-Saharan countries.

According to one report, 47 per cent of rural citizens and 37 per cent of urban ones in India borrow money or sell their family assets including land holdings to pay medical bills.

With this background, 89 per cent people said in the LocalCircles survey that the government should increase public investment in healthcare.

About 40 per cent, said that the government should invest in improving hospital infrastructure while another 21 per cent wished for subsidies in select treatments and medicines.

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Apart from healthcare, education is another sector where people expect the government to spend more so that the cost of education could be brought down and quality of learning increased.

Nearly 90 per cent participants of the survey said that the budget should focus on improving standards of government school either by strengthening infrastructure or governance.

Pollution is among the biggest challenges in the county. According to a World Bank report, only 1 per cent Indians breathes pure air while dirty air kills nearly 14 people every year in the country. The cost of pollution is about 3 per cent of GDP. (http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/air-pollution-dirty-air-kills-14-lakh-indians-delhi-smog/1/804371.html)

In the online survey, about 36 per cent were of the opinion that the government should be more aggressive in funding public transport system. Another 47 per cent wish the budget should focus on bringing down pollution level by putting in place strict and efficient pollution control mechanism.

The government has decided to do away with the practice of presenting a separate rail budget. It has been merged with the general budget. Incidentally, the railways has been under tremendous pressure in the wake of a series of derailments leading to large number of deaths and injuries.

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About 47 per cent participants of the online survey want the budget to focus on improving safety in the railways. Another 24 per cent said that the government should focus on improving amenities and services. Surprisingly, only 14 per cent expressed wish to see trains maintaining its time table.

The government has collected nearly Rs 7,000 crore through Swachh Bharat cess during the last financial year. In an interesting poll, 37 per cent people said that the government should engage citizens and municipal bodies with the collected revenue in the cleanliness drive.

Another 30 per cent said that the government should spend the money collected through this cess in constructing toilets.

The government decided to change the timing of budget presentation as part of its efforts to synchronise the financial cycle with the agriculture cycle of the country.

Also read: 15 words to help you decode Arun Jaitley's forthcoming Budget

Also read: 7th Pay Commission: With an eye on elections, will the Union Budget woo government employees

--- ENDS ---
AgIdea, an Argentinian agriculture company that provides research services to ag-tech giants like Monsanto, plans to open its North American headquarters in Creve Coeur.

We know St. Louis is an important city for the agriculture industry and a lot of our clients are here, Agustin Cresta, an executive with the company, told the Post-Dispatch. Cresta likened the agriculture industrys presence here to that of IT in Californias Silicon Valley.

In a message posted to Facebook on Tuesday, Gov. Eric Greitens called the news a proud moment for Missouri.

Greitens, in the post, said he spoke Tuesday with AgIdea CEO Mariano Battista, who told the governor he selected Missouri for its leadership in agriculture and its workforce talent. He is excited about conservative leadership that will help create an ideal environment for businesses to grow and prosper, Greitens wrote.

Cresta told the Post-Dispatch the firm will occupy space at the Helix Center Biotech Incubator, a place for affordable lab space that is near the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and just across the street from Monsantos Creve Coeur campus.

The firm is looking to hire six full-time employees and will look to the University of Missouri in Columbia for recent graduates due to its very good agriculture school, Cresta said.

The university also is near farms where AgIdea is already running experiments, he said.

AgIdea was founded in 2006 and has about 60 full-time employees throughout Argentina, he said.
By Press Trust of India: London, Jan 25 (PTI) Cats are as good as dogs at certain memory tests, Japanese scientists say, suggesting they may be just as smart.

A study - involving 49 domestic cats - shows felines can recall memories of pleasant experiences, such as eating a favourite snack.

Dogs show this type of recollection - a unique memory of a specific event known as episodic memory.

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Saho Takagi, a psychologist at Kyoto University, said cats, as well as dogs, used memories of a single past experience, which may imply they have episodic memory similar to that of humans.

"Episodic memory is viewed as being related to introspective function of the mind; our study may imply a type of consciousness in cats," she told BBC News.

"An interesting speculation is that they may enjoy actively recalling memories of their experience like humans," she said.

The Japanese team tested 49 domestic cats on their ability to remember which bowl they had already eaten out of and which remained untouched, after a 15-minute interval. They found the cats could recall "what" and "where" information about the food bowls, suggesting they had episodic memory.

The researchers suggest cats may remember for much longer periods than the short time tested.

And they say cats can match dogs on various mental tests, including responding to human gestures, facial expressions and emotions.

Saho Takagi said the research may have practical applications.

"Understanding cats more deeply helps to establish better cat-human relationships," she said.

"Cats may be as intelligent as dogs, as opposed to the common view of people that dogs are much smarter."

Prof Laurie Santos, of Yale University, said the experiment nicely shows that cats are remembering information about where they searched before and also which locations used to have food.

"It opens the door to new studies examining how long cats memories can be and whether they also remember richer episodes in their own life as humans do," she added.

Experiments have shown dogs also appear to have memories linked to specific times and places.

The same team of Japanese scientists previously found that in similar tests, dogs had memories of food bowls from which they had eaten.

Last year, a team from Hungary found that dogs were able to recall their owners actions, even when they were not specifically instructed to do so.

The research is published in the journal, Behavioural Processes. PTI AKJ AKJ

--- ENDS ---

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The contractor that partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency to test Bridgeton homes for radioactivity last month "deliberately falsified" similar sampling efforts in the past, according to an October report from government nuclear regulators.

The report, issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), details an investigation into the consulting and engineering firm, Tetra Tech Inc. It found that at least two individuals with the company "deliberately falsified soil sample surveys" at a California site in 2011 or 2012, during cleanup work for the U.S. Navy.

The investigation conducted from 2014 to 2015 also determined that during testing at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, Tetra Tech failed to survey areas "that were reasonable to evaluate concentrations and potential radiological hazards of residual radioactivity."

Despite the report, regional EPA representatives said there was "no concern" that the sampling conducted with Tetra Tech in Bridgeton was compromised in any way. That sampling examined homes on the 3500 block of El Ferrol Court after a couple living on the street filed a lawsuit in November alleging that household dust and soil showed elevated levels of radioactivity matching the signature of the nuclear waste in the nearby West Lake Landfill.

"All of the soil samples were collected by EPA personnel, and the dust and swipe samples were collected by both EPA and Tetra Tech on mixed teams," said Ben Washburn, a spokesman for EPA Region 7, said in a statement. "In no case did Tetra Tech operate independently from EPA in the collection, storage, transport, or custody of the samples collected in Spanish Village."

The EPA has stated that tests of the samples collected are expected to take two months to process, and that Tetra Tech will not be involved with the analysis.

In the wake of its sampling violations in California, Tetra Tech reached an agreement with the NRC to avoid a $7,000 penalty under the condition that the company discuss "lessons-learned from the event" with its employees, conduct additional safety training and eventually consent to an independent assessment of the company's "safety culture." The NRC, which licenses Tetra Tech to conduct such work, notified the EPA of the commission's decision of enforcement in July, according to Diane Screnci, NRC public affairs officer.

But critics say the infractions are another reason they're troubled by the EPA's continued involvement with the company, adding to previous concerns about a possible conflict of interest, since Tetra Tech counts the landfill's operator, Republic Services, as a client.

We just want EPA to use unbiased, competent scientists to test our neighborhoods," Dawn Chapman, an activist with Just Moms STL, said a statement. "Nobody would choose to put their childrens lives in the hands of a private contractor that works for the landfill and that has a history of falsifying the same type of tests.

Ed Smith, policy director for the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, said Tetra Tech's offense makes him wonder what it would take for the EPA to sever ties with a contractor.

"How long will the EPA allow these bad actors to keep representing these responsible parties (at the landfill)?" Smith said. He believes the controversy also underscores that the landfill's cleanup should be transferred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and away from the EPA Superfund process, where he says responsible parties have too much control over "picking and choosing" the approach.

The EPA's relationship with contractors could be further complicated by actions taken Tuesday by President Donald Trump. A freeze was applied to the agency's grants and contracts, subjecting billions of dollars of projects and partnerships to review. Regional EPA officials could not say what impact the action may have locally. Smith sought more information, but feared that it may threaten contractors such as the Technical Assistance Services for Communities, which helps distill hundreds of pages of tedious EPA documents into concise fact sheets upon request from the public.

"(If discontinued) that is an area that really hampers the public's ability to understand what's happening at the West Lake Landfill going forward," said Smith.

It was also reported that the Trump Administration issued a separate notice Tuesday forbidding the EPA from communicating with the media. But as of Tuesday afternoon, Region 7 EPA personnel said they had not received such instructions.
NEW YORK  U.S. health insurers are making their case to Republican lawmakers over how Americans sign up for individual insurance and pushing for other changes to shape the replacement of former President Barack Obamas national health care law.

The health insurers, including Independence Blue Cross and Molina Healthcare Inc., are also recommending ways to put more control over insurance in the hands of states as the federal oversight of the Affordable Care Act is dismantled. They emphasize that it is crucial to keep government subsidies for low income people.

These changes, described by executives, high-level officials in the health insurance sector and lawmakers in nearly a dozen interviews with Reuters, include pushing for more strict enforcement of eligibility for these plans.

Because Republicans are just starting to work with the new administration of President Donald Trump and the debate is fluid, it is not clear ultimately what changes will take hold. But some of these ideas have started to surface in early Republican legislation, such as a co-sponsored bill from Maine Sen. Susan Collins that would keep subsidies.

The moves underscore that private insurers are quietly working on how to benefit under the Trump administration, which is focusing on deregulation in health care, energy and manufacturing. And they show that insurers want to save aspects of Obamacare individual plans, but cut down on the risk to their own bottom lines and any hikes in premiums that threaten the viability of this insurance market.

This market for individual insurance covers about 10 million people and is small compared to the employer-based system that covers more than 160 million Americans and the government-paid programs for over 120 million people.

But it is one that insurers have described as having growth potential. While Obamacare cut the uninsured rate to 11 percent, there are still millions of uninsured Americans. The largest U.S. insurer, UnitedHealth Group Inc., told investors recently that it sees opportunities in new state-based markets and is talking to policymakers.

Influencing what replace looks like

Trump campaigned on a promise to repeal Obamas national health care law on his first day in office. He and Republicans have not presented an agreed-upon replacement plan, but key issues they are expected to address include the laws requirements for individuals to have insurance.

Insurers main request takes into account replacement plans under discussion in Congress, and largely assumes that government funds will continue to subsidize health benefits, at least for the next two to three years.

Daniel Hilferty, CEO of Independence Blue Cross in Pennsylvania, told Reuters that he advocated tightening the rules around signing up for insurance outside of the open enrollment period, and tight control of which third parties are allowed to pay premiums for patients.

Independence is part of a nationwide network of Blue Cross Blue Shield licensees such as Anthem Inc. and has enrolled more than 300,000 consumers in individual plans.

Hilfertys requests, echoed by other people in the industry who did not want to be named, are similar to demands the industry made of Obama.

Enrollment outside of the regular period  and third-party groups that keep poorer, sicker patients in the private market by paying their premiums  has helped lead to hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for insurers and pushed three of the nations largest players out of the Obamacare market.

In addition, Independence is also asking for a bigger role in signing up new customers who want to buy individual plans. Insurers sell plans both on the exchanges and off the exchanges, but subsidized plans are currently mostly sold on the government-run HealthCare.gov and on state-run websites in a dozen states.

It would be really helpful if we in the industry played a more significant role in the actual enrollment process, Hilferty said.

Focus on the mandate, cost sharing

Insurers have built their list of top priorities assuming in part that Republicans will try to overturn the existing individual mandate, which requires Americans to pay a fee if they do not have insurance. A replacement plan would need to include some type of bonus to entice healthy people to get insurance.

That, they say, would be a step towards a good mix of sick and healthy people that will keep the plans profitable. Ideas include creating high-risk pools to keep the very sick in a separate market and offering low prices to the young and healthy.

Without a punishment for not buying insurance that is like the individual mandate, the market cant survive, according to Dr. J. Mario Molina, chief executive officer of Molina Healthcare, a company that provides Medicaid for the poor and individual insurance plans on the exchanges.

It probably needs to be a combination of both an incentive and a penalty, Molina said.

Insurers also want to keep the cost-sharing subsidies that have made health care costs affordable for millions of people as well as the premium subsidies that help to reduce the monthly cost for people with low incomes. Those subsidies are part of a court case filed last year that is on hold.

I think if you dont have the subsidies, then the whole thing falls apart, said Molina.

Susan Cornwell of Reuters reported from Washington.
Shareholders of Isle of Capri Casinos and Eldorado Resorts voted Wednesday to approve Eldorado's acquisition of Isle for approximately $1.7 billion.

Officials of Creve Coeur-based Isle and Eldorado said shareholders approved the deal at separate meetings. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter, subject to approval of applicable gaming authorities and other customary closing conditions.

Gary Carano, Eldorado's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement the acquisition of Isle is a big step in his company's strategy to expand its regional gaming operations.

Combined operations of Eldorado and Isle will include 20,290 slot machines and video lottery terminals, more than 550 table games and more than 6,550 hotel rooms in 10 states, the companies said.

Isle's chief executive, Eric Hausler, said shareholder approval of the sale to Eldorado "is an important step towards providing Isle of Capri shareholders with substantial and immediate value."

Isle's headquarters will move to Eldorado's home office in Reno, Nev., as a result of the sale, which was announced in September. Jill Alexander, Isle's spokeswoman, has said about 100 people work at the companys headquarters in leased space at 600 Emerson Road.

Eldorado plans to keep all of Isles casinos, including four in Missouri.
ANALYSIS

LONDON  President Donald Trump on Tuesday invited the promoter of the Keystone XL pipeline to re-submit its application for a permit and promised an expeditious review.

But Trump's memorandum on Keystone was twinned with another ordering the Secretary of Commerce to develop a plan to ensure all pipelines built, repaired or upgraded in the United States use domestically made steel.

The secretary was ordered to submit a plan within 180 days "under which all new pipelines, as well as retrofitted, repaired, or expanded pipelines, inside the borders of the United States ... use materials and equipment produced in the United States."

The plan must require the use of U.S. components "to the maximum extent possible and to the extent permitted by law" in a language inserted to help it survive a legal challenge.

Although the requirements apply to all materials, raw iron and steel and equipment made from them were highlighted .

The pairing of the promise for an expeditious review of Keystone XL with a plan to require the use of U.S. steel is characteristic of the president's transactional and deal-making approach. The pairing is a classic Trump quid pro quo.

But it also highlights what is likely to become one of the central tensions for the Trump administration because a requirement to use domestic steel would almost certainly violate 70 years of settled international trade law.

The president's desire for maximum discretion to strike advantageous deals on a case-by-case basis conflicts with the need of businesses for a stable rules-based system to plan their investment and operations.

Non-discrimination

Countries around the world traded more than $20 trillion in goods and services in 2015, and almost all that moves under the rules of the World Trade Organization .

The WTO, and its forerunner the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, is one of the pillars of post-war prosperity and a major reason the global economy has never suffered another collapse like the 1930s.

GATT/WTO trade rules are fairly straightforward, although they have been codified in dozens of separate agreements and there is an extensive case law arising from disputes.

At the heart of the GATT/WTO system is the principle of non-discrimination between domestic producers and foreign suppliers, and among foreign suppliers based in different countries.

GATT/WTO members are required to give the same treatment to imports from all other members, so any privilege given to an importer from one country must be given to importers from all other WTO members.

The principle of most-favored-nation treatment is required by Article I of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade signed in 1947.

GATT/WTO members must also treat imported goods and services no less favorably than domestically produced items once they have cleared customs.

The national treatment obligation is enshrined in Article III of GATT 1947 especially its fourth paragraph .

National treatment

Trump's plan to require U.S. pipelines to be built with U.S. steel is clearly inconsistent with the national treatment obligation set out in Article III:4.

"The products of the territory of any contracting party imported into the territory of any other contracting party shall be accorded treatment no less favorable than that accorded to like products of national origin in respect of all laws, regulations and requirements affecting their internal sale, offering for sale, purchase, transportation, distribution or use."

The plan to require the use of U.S. steel in U.S. pipelines is a textbook case of a local content requirement the GATT/WTO has long held is inconsistent with Article III:4.

The classic ruling on local content requirements was (ironically) made in a case brought by the United States against Canada in 1982 and finalized in 1984.

The United States successfully challenged the administration of Canada's Foreign Investment Review Act, which made investment approvals conditional on undertakings, including the purchase of certain products from domestic sources .

The GATT case brought against Canada has direct parallels to the Trump administration's plan to require pipeline constructors to use U.S.-made steel.

The United States has always been a fierce opponent of local content requirements because they discriminate against U.S. exporters and investors.

U.S. trade officials have repeatedly fought local content requirements under the GATT/WTO and in most cases the United States has prevailed.

The United States has challenged content requirements applied by India (solar cells), Argentina (import licenses), China (tax refunds, auto parts), Turkey (rice), Canada (wheat, auto parts) and the Philippines (auto parts) among others.

In fact, the United States has brought more challenges to local content requirements than any other member of the WTO.

The blunt reality for the Trump administration is that there is no way to make pipeline approvals conditional on the use of U.S. steel without undermining the U.S. goal of fair market access for U.S. exporters.

Rules-based order

The United States is a major beneficiary of the rules-based system of international trade under the GATT/WTO and has a strong interest in upholding them.

The United States has been the most frequent user of the WTO's dispute settlement system to obtain improved market access for its exporters.

U.S. officials have brought more complaints at the WTO (114) than major rivals such as the European Union (97), Japan (23) and China (15).

The United States, as the world's dominant economic and military power, has always had a complicated and inconsistent approach to the concept and practice of international law.

For a superpower, unlike a less powerful country, there is an inevitable tension between "might" and "right."

By and large, however, the United States has sought to uphold the notion of a rules-based international system and hold other countries to the same standard.

The United States was the principal architect of the rules-based international order which emerged after 1945 and has been its main defender against destabilizing challenges from new powers such as China.

The concept of international law lies at the heart of U.S. complaints about China's occupation and development of rocks, shoals and reefs in the South China Sea.

And the U.S. Navy's freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea are intended to enforce rights under international law.

White House politics

The best way to understand the public memorandum-signing ceremonies on Jan. 24 is as a piece of political theater designed to show the new president fulfilling his pledge to put America first.

Trump's secretary of commerce will struggle to craft a local content requirement for U.S. pipelines that is "permitted by law" but the administration has pushed that awkward decision six months into the future.

A careful reading of the memoranda the president signed on Tuesday shows they don't commit the administration to much at all.

Most of the memoranda contain legal language about ordering things to the maximum extent permitted by law which is designed to preserve lots of wiggle-room.

The administration has created a potential problem for itself but that can probably be attributed to inexperience and the fact the majority of positions are still unfilled.

Nonetheless, it signals there will be a chronic tension between the president's preference for ad hoc deal-making and the legal obligations of the United States both at home and internationally.

The conflict between discretion and the need to observe due process as well as constitutional, statutory and treaty limits on the exercise of presidential power is shaping up to be one of the dominant themes of the Trump presidency.
LONDON  The American Chemistry Council industry body called on Wednesday for World Health Organization's cancer agency to reform, accusing it of "dubious and misleading" work in classifying potential carcinogens.

Launching what it called a campaign for accuracy in public health research, the ACC, which represents U.S. chemical companies, said the International Agency for Research on Cancer's (IARC) evaluations "have a significant impact on U.S. public policy" and should be based on "transparent, thorough assessment of the best available science."

No one at IARC  a France-based semi-autonomous agency of the WHO  responded to Reuters' phone calls and emails asking for comment on the ACC's criticisms.

As part of its work on cancer research, IARC publishes evaluations  known as monographs  on whether certain chemicals, lifestyles and activities may cause cancer.

Its assessments of whether such things as coffee, mobile phones, processed meat and the weedkiller glyphosate  a key ingredient in Monsanto's popular Roundup product  cause cancer have caused particular controversy in recent years.

But IARC has repeatedly defended its work as scientifically sound and says its monographs are "widely respected for their scientific rigor, standardized and transparent process and ... freedom from conflicts of interest."

Cal Dooley, president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council, said in a statement: "IARC monographs program has been responsible for countless misleading headlines about the safety of the food we eat, the jobs we do and the products we use in our daily lives."

She said IARC's work "suffers from persistent scientific and process deficiencies that result in public confusion and misinformed policy-making," and said the ACC would offer specific proposals for reform of the agency's processes.

As well as Wednesday's criticisms from ACC, IARC has also come under fire in recent months from U.S. lawmakers who are questioning why U.S. taxpayer dollars are used to fund it.

The WHO agency is also embroiled in a row with Congress, the National Institutes of Health and the European Food Safety Authority over its review of the weedkiller glyphosate.

IARC classifies glyphosate, a key ingredient of Monsanto Co.'s herbicide Roundup, as "probably carcinogenic", but that assessment is at odds with many government regulators, including those in the United States, Europe, Canada, Japan and New Zealand, who say it is unlikely to pose a cancer risk to humans.

The ACC said it had been prompted to launch its campaign after leading scientists criticized IARC's monographs program "for its lack of transparency, minimal consideration of the weight of scientific evidence, misapplied conflict of interest policies and confusing communication of its ... decisions".

"Public policy must be based on a transparent, thorough assessment of the best available science," Dooley said.

"Currently, IARC's monographs do not meet this standard, though U.S. taxpayers foot the bill for over two-thirds of the international program's budget."
The term "GT" gets applied to more cars than Turtle Wax, but Kia says its all-new 2018 Stinger is a genuine grand touring car that's earned the appellation.

A true gran turismo  a car for spirited long-distance driving  is not about outright power, hard-edged dynamics and brutal styling, all at the expense of luxury, comfort and grace, said Gregory Guillaume, chief designer, Kia Motors Europe. The Stinger has nothing to do with being the first to arrive at the destination. This car is all about the journey. Its about passion.

It's also about the best-looking car Kia has ever produced  and, in the wake of the Optima and K900, that's saying something.

Stinger, unveiled earlier this month at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, is a rear- or all-wheel drive four-door that seats five while offering a reconfigurable luggage bay under its hatchback cargo lid.

Boasting a coupe-like long-hood/short-deck profile, Stinger  the styling evolution of Kia's 2011 GT and 2014 Stinger GT4 concept cars  flanks its familiar robotic Kia smile ("Tiger Nose grille" in Kia-speak) with techy LED headlamps. Out back, a prominent lower air diffuser, LED tail lamps, quad exhaust pipes and wide hips Velcro this car's look to the road.

The 2018 Stinger will be offered with a choice of engines, each available with rear- or all-wheel drive.

The base Stinger gets a 2.0-liter turbo four that makes 255 hp. The upscale model, dubbed  you guessed it  GT is motivated by a 3.3-liter twin-turbo V-6 borrowed from its corporate cousin, the Hyundai G90.

Either way, an eight-speed automatic manages power while rear-drive Stingers boast a limited-slip differential and AWD models provide torque-vectoring technology for more stable high-speed cornering.

Aiding in the driving experience is Stinger's standard five-mode, driver-selectable chassis, which includes Personal, Eco, Sport, Comfort and Smart modes.

Bragging that Stinger's 114.4 inch wheelbase stretches farther than the footings of such stalwarts as the Audi A4, Infiniti Q50 and Lexus IS, Kia promises plenty of rear head and leg room despite Stinger's racy profile.

Among Stinger's available active safety nannies are Kia's first Driver Attention Alert, Forward Collision Assistance with integrated Autonomous Emergency Braking and Pedestrian Detection, Advanced Smart Cruise Control that can bring Stinger to a full stop, Lane Keep Assist and Rear Cross Traffic Alert.

Of course, the latest infotainment gizmos are on the menu as well, including a color Head-Up Display projected onto the windshield at the driver's discretion, wireless Smartphone charging with Bluetooth hands-free phone operation and a choice of three audio systems. The base system, standard in the 2.0-liter turbo Stinger, features six-speakers and a seven-inch touchscreen with the latest version of Kia's UVO infotainment interface. A nine-speaker system is found in the 3.3-liter twin turbo Stinger. Optional is a 720-watt Harman/Kardon system with an ear-bleeding 15 speakers.

Look for the new Stinger in late 2017. No pricing yet.

Dan Wiese is a freelance automotive writer. He is a regular contributor to the Post-Dispatch and to AAA Midwest Traveler magazine's online Web Bonus. You can email him at drivingwithdan@gmail.com
JENNINGS  St. Louis County Police have released five surveillance photographs of the beating and robbery of a man after he walked out of a credit union.

Police said the crime occurred at 3:40 p.m. Friday outside the St. Louis Community Credit Union, 7345 West Florissant Avenue. The victim, 61, was getting into his car when two men approached, demanded his wallet and forced him onto the ground, where they ripped his clothing to rob him.

The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Police said the two robbers fled in a grey Pontiac G6 with a sun roof and without license plates. Anyone who can help police identify the suspects is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 866-371-8477.
By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma

Beijing, Jan 25 (PTI) Amid reports of China deploying long range intercontinental ballistic missiles near Russian border with the aim to be able to reach targets in the US, Beijing today said it was just a "speculation spread online".

When asked by a Russian journalist about the reports, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, "What you mentioned is a speculation spread online."

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"We attach great importance to the development of China-Russia relationship. Our relationship is developing at a high level with a deepening mutual trust. We would like to further exchange our cooperation in different fields," she said, appreciating "very positive" remarks from the Russian side on missile deployment reports.

Russian official news agency TASS quoted Chinas state- run Global Times as saying that DF-41 ballistic missiles have been deployed in northeastern Heilongjiang province near Russian border.

"China has deployed inter-continental ballistic missiles near Russia with the aim to be able to reach targets in the US, Canada and Europe," the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Doctor of Military Science Konstantin Sivkov told TASS.

"This is an inter-continental class missile with an effective range of 10,000 to 12000 kms. The missile?s dead zone is no less than three thousand kms. A large territory of Russia, practically the entire Far East and West Siberia are not within the missile?s reach," Sivkov said.

Selecting this area for deploying the missiles targeted against Russian territory would be not expedient from the military point of view, he said.

"If that were the purpose, the missiles should have been stationed deep inside mainland China or on its southern border," Sivkov explained.

In his opinion, missiles of that class stationed where they are will have the capability to reach targets in the United States, Canada and Europe.

"This is China?s response to threats pronounced by the new US president, Donald Trump. Also, Chinese missiles would be able to use a more advantageous northern strategic route for approaching targets in the United States, thus bypassing the US missile defence," Sivkov said.

Strategically Russia moved closer to China under the previous Obama administration following differences over Ukraine and Cyber attacks.

However, recent reports in state-run Chinese media spoke of Russia may warm up to US as Trump disassociated himself from Obama?s policy and looks to pursue more soft line towards Moscow which may in turn impact ties between Russia and China.

The movement of the missiles were highlighted by official Chinese media as Hua yesterday said China would not backdown from its island building in the disputed South China Sea afterTrump administration official made critical comments. PTI KJV ZH

--- ENDS ---

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ST. LOUIS  Cedric Miller, a marijuana dealer who killed an associate for cooperating with police, was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison.

Early on the morning of July 1, 2013, Miller, accompanied by Johnnie Moore, banged on an apartment door in the 2800 block of Samuel Shepard Drive, where Mark Wells Jr. lived, according to court documents.

Miller said that hed lost 18 racks and got three years paper, meaning that investigators had seized $18,000 and as a result, Miller was convicted and sentenced to three years of probation on a money laundering charge, his plea agreement says. Miller and Moore then opened fire, shooting at least 26 rounds from a .45-caliber pistol and a .223-caliber pistol. Wells, 35, was killed. His two young sons, who were sleeping until the attack, were not hit. Police would later find Millers gun, the .223-caliber pistol, and Moores gun and match them to the crime.

Both Moore and Miller were indicted in 2014.

Miller pleaded guilty in October to a marijuana conspiracy charge and two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime  one of those with death resulting. Under the plea agreement, both sides agreed to the 30-year sentence.

Also in October, Moore pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge and the firearm with death resulting charge. He is scheduled to be sentenced in March.

Miller had been involved with smuggling marijuana to St. Louis since 2012, first from Arizona and then from Texas, officials said. He was caught with marijuana and a gun in Texas in 2012, and then began mailing marijuana to St. Louis. Police and postal inspectors intercepted packages of drugs and money.

Officials caught Wells with a gun, marijuana and cash in September 2012. Wells then cooperated in the investigation.

His father, Mark Wells Sr., told U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey at Wednesdays plea hearing that the day was bittersweet. He thanked police and prosecutors, but said he felt no closure  and believed premeditated murderers should never get a chance to return to society.

The father suffered a stroke four days after his sons death and now uses a walker. He recalled his son as an inquisitive boy who was a loving father to his own sons.

Miller then apologized and said that he took full responsibility for his actions.
UPDATED at 11 a.m. with cause of crash

Two St. Louis police officers were injured Tuesday night after one rear-ended the other in a crash on Interstate 70, police say.

One officer in a patrol car hit the other officer's patrol car when they stopped to block traffic for an earlier accident.

One officer, a 31-year-old man, suffered an ankle injury. The other officer, a 54-year-old man, complained of head pain, police say. Both officers were taken to a hospital for treatment.

Police say the officers were in separate 2014 Chevrolet Impala police cars at about 10:40 p.m. Tuesday. They were assigned to block traffic for an earlier injury accident on westbound I-70 at Salisbury Street.

The 54-year-old officer arrived and parked his car to block the traffic lane. As he got ready to get out of his car to put down traffic cones, his car was struck from behind by the other officer's car.
JEFFERSON CITY  All students in Missouri could apply for an education savings account under an updated proposal a Senate panel considered Wednesday.

Funded by tax credits from private donations, the accounts, or ESAs, could be used by parents to pay for certain approved expenses, including private school tuition and textbooks.

Lamar Republican Sen. Ed Emery's plan was initially open only to wards of the state and students with disabilities, but he offered a more far-reaching version in committee.

Critics contend that ESAs are just a new generation of school vouchers, which have failed to make it through the Legislature in years past.

But backers said Wednesday that the accounts would return control to parents who want to keep their children out of struggling schools.

The Missouri proposal is similar to an Arizona law that Gov. Eric Greitens referenced in recent his state of the state speech, where he endorsed the idea and stressed the need to put power back in the hands of parents and teachers.

Arizona was the first state in the country to try these accounts, and the program has been a success, said Greitens, a Republican. Parents are much happier with their childrens educations, and children are able to get the kind of education that meets their needs.

Greitens mention of ESAs focused on their advantages for students with special needs - the original intent of Emery's bill.

Other states that have done this successfully, very rapidly had to expand, Emery told the Post-Dispatch.

The Arizona Legislature passed ESAs for special needs students in 2011, but the pool was later expanded to include more children, including those in failing schools, foster care, and military families.

The program was deemed constitutional by the Arizona Supreme Court, and Arizona lawmakers later considered offering the accounts to all public school students.

Public education officials already have expressed fear that legislation like SB 32 cracks open the door to that expansion in Missouri. What may be floated as a program only a limited number of students participate in, they argued, could grow until millions in state funds are diverted from public schools that desperately need the money.

Emerys bill caps the tax credits, administered by the state treasurer, to $25 million. The money is then funneled through education assistance programs and awarded to parents of qualified students through a debit account.

That more indirect route could protect the legislation should it ever be challenged in court, said Greg Reed, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, a pro-bono law firm that has defended school choice initiatives.

Tax credits arent public expenditures from the public treasury, Reed explained. Theyre neutral when it comes to religion  not supporting any one faith over another  and parents alone decide how to spend the money, he said.

The government has no role in determining where those funds go, he said.

But thats precisely the problem, countered Otto Fajen, legislative director for the Missouri NEA.

It doesnt go directly from the state to the students. Its mediated through these third parties, Fajen said. This one creates a new bureaucracy. ...(Wed) be grateful if 90 percent of what goes in actually gets to students."

Other concerns centered around accountability, and how the proposal would measure outcomes for ESA recipients. Suggestions included reporting graduation rates, surveying parents and testing students.
ST. LOUIS  Tom Villa, former Board of Aldermen president and current 11th Ward alderman, has taken his name off the March 7 primary ballot and will not seek another term.

After two stints on the board, Villa, 71, will serve his last day on April 17.

Its not fun for me anymore, he said this week. He added that it was time to step aside for younger, fresher ideas.

In not seeking re-election, the lawmaker is choosing to end an era in which a Villa has served on the board dating to the 1950s, with the exception of a two-year period in the 1990s.

Villas father, Albert Red Villa, served as an alderman from 1953 to 1990. The chamber where board meetings are held is named after him.

The younger Villa, who spent 18 years in the Missouri Legislature, joined his father on the Board of Aldermen in 1987. He served two terms as board president before stepping away in 1995.

In 1997, his nephew Matt Villa won a seat as the 11th Ward alderman, a position he held until 2011 before unexpectedly stepping down.

Tom Villa successfully ran for his nephews seat, finishing the remaining two years and then winning a full four-year term in 2013.

This week he said neither age nor health was behind his decision not to run again.

This institution means a great deal to our family, he said. I think I leave with our good last name intact.

Villa said hes become increasingly disillusioned over some of the major proposals that have come before the board which seem to lack fiscal sense.

He specifically cited the Cardinals building of Ballpark Village which, last month, was granted $16 million in tax incentives for an expansion on top of the $49 million the city granted the team in 2012 as part of the first phase.

Everything we do, someone is asking for more help from us and Im not sure we are in a fiscal position to give them help, he said.

Villa, who has described himself as somewhat of a grump, said he had also been disenchanted by a lack of communication from the mayors office, particularly when it came to big projects.

A lot of times, Ill hear about things from the media outlets before I get it from the mayors office, he said.
JEFFERSON CITY  Gov. Eric Greitens will announce his budget plan next week, potentially ending weeks of speculation about how he intends to grapple with an ongoing shortfall in tax revenue.

Unlike past governors, however, the Republican newcomer is not expected to outline his spending blueprint to a joint session of the House and Senate.

Rather, Greitens is planning an announcement via either a press conference or on social media, such as Facebook or Twitter.

In the Capitol Monday, Greitens told the Post-Dispatch he had picked a date for his announcement, but declined to answer further questions.

An aide later confirmed the unveiling would be next week, but a specific day was not identified. The Constitution gives the governor until Feb. 4 to offer his budget plan.

Typically, governors use their State of the State speech to discuss their budget plans, but Greitens  who has not previously held public office  delayed his announcement amid the negative effects of a slowdown in state tax collections.

The governor, who was sworn in Jan. 9, earlier cut $146 million from the current state budget and said more reductions will be needed in the fiscal year that begins July 1. In addition to a drop in corporate tax revenue, cuts to the individual income tax are likely to go into effect July 1, further reducing the states income.

As of last week, estimates show the state is facing a $456 million deficit.

Republicans who control the House and Senate have said the delay is not hampering their efforts to piece together a budget.

Well have plenty of time to work with Governor Greitens to deliver a balanced budget, House Speaker Todd Richardson said.

Democrats say they are concerned the governor is planning to cut services that people need, including Medicaid, higher education programs and public schools.

We dont know what cuts are still going to have to be made, said House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty, D- Kansas City.

House and Senate members have begun meeting in separate committees to review agency budgets.

On Wednesday, a Senate budget panel heard pleas from dozens of people who rely on the state for funding, including university and community college officials and public transit agencies.

While most are seeking to maintain their current funding levels in the coming fiscal year, residents of a Bridgeton subdivision located near two landfills called on senators to include new funding for a buyout of their homes.

Under legislation filed by Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, the state would provide $12.6 million to buy out homeowners in the Spanish Village neighborhood, situated adjacent to the Bridgeton Landfill and the West Lake Landfill.

Its like a ticking time bomb, former resident Cara Douglas said.

Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla, who chairs the Senate appropriations committee, said he was unsure how the buyout issue would fare in the Legislature.

I dont know how we go forward, Brown said.
JEFFERSON CITY  The Kinloch Fire Protection District, a volunteer force long plagued by money issues, has now brought in enough revenue from construction inspections to trigger a state audit.

Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway announced Wednesday that her staff will look into the districts finances, as its revenue has grown 650 percent since 2014.

State law requires any fire protection district that brings in $50,000 or more in revenue annually be audited.

In 2015, the district began offering fee-based building inspections to developers at the NorthPark development site, which brought in $165,000 in revenue.

The fire department, currently made up of about 30 volunteer firefighters in St. Louis County, has struggled financially for decades, relying heavily on donations and being forced to suspend services when utilities were shut off for nonpayment of bills.

Former fire chief Darran Kelley was convicted in 2013 for taking nearly $260,000 from the district  $140,000 in general funds and another $120,000 in disability payments when he claimed to be too disabled to work.

He was sentenced to 33 months in prison and ordered to repay the money, which he withdrew to buy personal items, pay credit card bills, and gamble.

"I applaud the brave men and women of the all-volunteer Kinloch Fire Protection District who risk their lives to protect their neighbors," Galloway said in a statement. "We owe it to them and to the people of the city of Kinloch to ensure public dollars flowing into district accounts are spent fairly, appropriately and in accordance with the law."
JEFFERSON CITY  A plan to change how the state sets utility rates drew harsh criticism from lawmakers and some of the states largest employers Wednesday.

In a sometimes testy two-hour hearing, a Senate panel heard testimony from supporters and opponents of an effort by Ameren and other Missouri power providers to change how their rates are set in order to pay for upgrades to the electric grid.

In the end, it was described as the equivalent of a tax hike that would hurt consumers.

Its taking money from my constituents to pay for infrastructure, said Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington.

It is the second time Ameren has attempted to alter the process used by the state to set rates the monopoly can charge its customers. The company says it cannot upgrade old electric substations or begin installing more modern, interactive meters until the rate-making process has been streamlined.

But, the utilities received negative reaction from large electric users like Wal-Mart, Bayer and hospitals, who said the initiative would unfairly hit them harder than some of their counterparts.

It is a solution without a problem, said David Woodsmall, executive director of Midwest Energy Consumers Group, which represents larger users.

Under the proposal, for example, Doe Run, a Maryland Heights-based lead mining company, would receive a special rate break as one of Amerens largest customers.

Doe Run spokesman Chris Neaville said the reduced rate would allow the firm to expand operations by boosting its power usage by 40 percent.

For Doe Run, its certainly beneficial, Neaville told the committee.

But Romine, who lead the charge to kill last years measure, suggested that was not fair to other companies that would have to pay higher rates to offset Doe Runs discount.

Youre willing to throw your peers under the bus. I dont understand that, Romine said.

Romine also slammed Ameren for hiring 40 lobbyists to work on the issue this year.

It seems like an excess use of power, Romine said.

Ameren vice president Warren Wood said the utility wants to launch a $1 billion, five-year infrastructure improvement plan that would cost the average customer about $1 extra per month.

He and the sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, said they could support adding provisions that would cap the amount of increases passed along to customers or cap the amount of profit earned by the utilities.

John Coffman, an attorney with the Consumers Council of Missouri, said the states utilities are financially healthy and offer reliable power to customers.

There really is no financial need here, Coffman said.

For now, the legislation remains stalled in the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment Committee.

The legislation is Senate Bill 190.
By Press Trust of India: Hoshiarpur (Pb), Jan 25 (PTI) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today appealed to the voters in Punjab to bring back the ruling SAD-BJP government for accelerated development of the state, saying Congress is a "sinking ship".

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP government headed by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has done a "tremendous and remarkable work for the upliftment of the state", he said, as he appealed to voters to vote for the ruling coalition for "further accelerated development of the state".

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Rajnath, who was in poll-bound Punjab since yesterday for two-day campaigning, while addressing a public gathering at Grain Market, Bhangala in Mukerian assembly segment here, praised Punjab and Punjabis, saying the state is famous for its brave jawans and hard-working farmers who meet the countrys food requirements. BJPs Arunesh Kumar is contesting from Mukerian.

Hitting out at Congress, Rajnath said it is a "sinking ship".

"Congress ruled the state for so many years, what development did they bring to Punjab. I want to appeal to you to once again vote for the SAD-BJP government," Rajnath said.

Hitting out at those "defaming" entire Punjab over drug menace, Rajnath said anyone who tries to encourage drug trade in Punjab will not be spared and taught a lesson.

Punjab goes to polls on February 4 and opposition Congress and AAP have made drug menace a major election issue, blaming the SAD-BJP government for its failure to check the menace.

Referring to the election manifesto of SAD-BJP, the Union Home Minister said they have promised a number of welfare measures for the people of Punjab.

The Centre has started a number of schemes for jawans, farmers, women and other sections, he said, adding that the SAD-BJP government has accelerated development works during its tenure.

Rajnath said even though Punjab constitutes just 1.5 per cent of Indias geographical area, the state contributes nearly half of foodgrains to the Central pool.

He talked about free power being given by the SAD-BJP government to the farmers, and pro-poor schemes like "Atta Daal" scheme. PTI CORR SUN CPS

--- ENDS ---
President Donald Trump is expected to sign orders later this week restricting the flow of refugees into the United States. The current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as a temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim-majority countries, based on a draft of the executive order.

The mandate would come after Trump on Wednesday signed executive orders to begin the process to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and to block federal grants from "sanctuary cities" that protect immigrants in the country illegally. St. Louis is not such a city.

Stephen Legomsky, who took a leave of absence as a law professor at Washington University to serve as chief counsel at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services during the Obama administration, said Trump has the legal authority to suspend the refugee resettlement program "but it is a terrible idea. The needs of the refugees who they are blocking are so desperate. The U.S. is uniquely positioned to be generous. In our history, we have been so focused on the admission of refugees, this seems regrettable."

Legomsky said the thrust of the executive order regarding refugees seems to be that the current procedures are not rigorous enough.

"The vetting process that already occurs contains multiple safeguards," Legomsky said. They include multiple interviews, review of paperwork by law enforcement and intelligent agencies in the U.S. and abroad, he said.

"All of these things are done over a period of one to two years before the person sets foot on American soil," he said. "Then at the point of entry, they are vetted again. The ironic part of it is the (Trump) administration has yet to identify a single thing that could be added to the vetting process that the previous administration was not doing. The whole exercise seems pointless to me."

Legomsky said "no competent terrorist" would ever select the U.S. refugee resettlement program as the preferred route to gain access to the country, considering that 50 million people a year come to the U.S. as tourists. According to the State Department, which oversees the program, 3 million refugees have been accepted into the U.S since 1975, living in all 50 states.

Anna Crosslin, CEO and president of the International Institute St. Louis, the region's largest refugee resettlement agency, said suspending the program will only amplify the fear that some refugees living here have, as loved ones who are in the resettlement program will be stuck in limbo for at least four months.

Some of those relatives are in need of medical care, she said.

"The halt of the program for 120 days could in fact be the difference between life and death," Crosslin said.

In the 2016 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the institute resettled 1,142 refugees, a jump of about 400 people over previous years. That was due largely to the Obama administration increasing the number of refugees allowed into the country to assist Syrians fleeing civil war.

Crosslin said suspending the program could also affect those the institute already serves, providing job training and English classes among other services. The institute gets about $2,000 per refugee from the federal government. About half of that goes to the refugee for housing, food and utilities; the institute keeps the rest to provide services, which includes paying staff. With fewer dollars coming in, some programs could be cut, she said,

On a larger scale, Crosslin said, preventing refugees from entering the country can jeopardize the alliances the U.S. and its military has built around the world in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan where locals help build roads, drive soldiers, and to provide interpretation and medical care.

"We have to be able to rely on the support of the local people. They are taking tremendous chances and if refugees are rejected from admission to the United States, how do our Armed Forces convince individuals to fight with us when they can't guarantee that if something happens and the war goes south, they would be protected and removed? Who is going to fight with us in these circumstances?"

Crosslin said those who work with refugees are urging the Trump administration to keep the program moving while they review it.
ST. CHARLES COUNTY  An appeals court on Tuesday upheld a county charter amendment banning red-light cameras, rejecting complaints by St. Peters and other municipalities that it illegally intruded on cities' rights to make such decisions.

A three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District ruled that the ban, approved by countywide voters in 2014, was within the authority given by the state Constitution to counties with home-rule charters.

The amendment is "a valid exercise of the county's broad power to regulate municipal services and functions," Judge Lawrence Mooney wrote in a 26-page opinion.

The opinion also said municipalities do not have exclusive control over enforcing traffic laws.

The ruling, which affirms a 2015 decision by a circuit judge, won't have any practical effect on red-light cameras in the county because St. Peters officials already had said they wouldn't resume using them again even if their lawsuit was successful.

However, the ruling gives added legal weight to the authority of charter counties to enact limits on municipalities.

St. Peters had been the only city in the county using the cameras at the time the charter amendment was passed by voters countywide in November 2014.

Joining St. Peters as plaintiffs in the lawsuit had been the cities of O'Fallon and Lake Saint Louis, along with former O'Fallon Councilman Jim Pepper and former Dardenne Prairie Mayor Pam Fogarty.

The Missouri Municipal League and its St. Charles County affiliate had supported the suit.

The charter amendment had been placed on the ballot by the St. Charles County Council. The amendment applied both to unincorporated areas and cities such as St. Peters.

Carl Bearden, a former county councilman who supported the county's position, said the ruling "clearly spells out that St. Charles County voters/taxpayers are in charge of their government and not the government in charge of the voters/taxpayers."

St. Peters Mayor Len Pagano could not be reached for comment.
The Missouri secretary of states office has been largely controversy-free for the past 22 years. Newly inaugurated Jay Ashcroft has quickly changed that.

Even before he took office Jan. 9, Ashcroft announced that David Minnick of St. Louis would head his offices Securities Division, which regulates the states investment companies. Minnick had been the longtime general counsel and senior vice president for Stifel Financial Co. of St. Louis, which is currently under investigation by the division  the fourth time since 2009.

Ashcroft had numerous options to head this office but chose the obvious conflict-of-interest route. This is exactly the kind of bad judgment that gave us qualms about Ashcroft as a Republican candidate.

Ashcroft also fired about half of the divisions staff, including four securities lawyers, none of whom was a political appointee. All had worked under his two Democratic predecessors, Jason Kander and Robin Carnahan. During their terms, as well as that of Republican Matt Blunt in the early 2000s, the secretary of states office aggressively pursued investment fraud cases.

Theres no suggestion that Minnick himself was involved in any of the transactions that the securities division investigated, but the company had a demonstrably dubious track record under his watch. After drawn-out negotiations, Stifel agreed to make its customers whole. It paid more than $1 million in fines for two of the incidents and agreed to compliance terms on the third. The fourth investigation was ongoing when Ashcroft took office.

As general counsel, Minnick set the tone for Stifels combative attitude in legal proceedings. On Monday, Ashcroft dismissed criticism of Minnick as partisan, though the same could be said of firing half of the divisions staff.

Carnahan was zealous in pursuing financial fraud, particularly after Stifel and other brokerages began marketing complex financial instruments called auction rate securities to small, unsophisticated investors. Carnahan charged that some Stifel brokers had understated the risks attached to the securities as being safe as cash.

But when the 2008 financial crisis hit, investors found themselves holding the bag. Stifel was among dozens of firms investigated in multiple states, and among the last to agree to a multistate payback plan. About 1,200 Stifel clients nationwide were owed a total of $180 million.

The last secretary of state to get in trouble was Democrat Judith Moriarty in 1994; she was impeached by a Democrat-controlled Missouri House and removed from office by the state Supreme Court for backdating her sons filing papers for a legislative race.

Republicans have a huge edge now, and Democrats are having trouble ginning up much bipartisan outrage over Ashcrofts appointment of Minnick. If Republican Gov. Eric Greitens truly believes in cleaning up the state government, this is a golden opportunity for him to take a principled stand.
Johan Enqvist, PhD student and MSc students Johanna Jelinek Boman and Ailbhe Murphy were the first to benefit from a collaboration initiated in 2016 between Stockholm Resilience Centre and the US Forest Service, established to promote research on urban social-ecological issues on the east coast of USA. The NYC Urban Field Station is run jointly by researchers and practitioners at the Forest Service and NYC Parks. By carrying out and supporting research on human-nature interactions and natural resource management they aim to improve the quality of life in cities.

During three months of fieldwork in New York, Johan, Johanna and Ailbhe sought to find out what attachment to nature drives engagement in urban settings. They found initiatives shaped by engaged communities, kids and survivors. This is a great opportunity for students interested in urban social-ecological systems, says centre researcher Maria Tengo, who supervised the first student exchanges together with Lindsay Campbell, form UD Forest Service. NYC provides for a great case study and the collaboration NYC Urban Field Station means access to data, experience, and excellent research collaboration around nurturing stewardship in the urban landscape.

See below for some photos from their fieldwork:
A senior Election Commission official said the authority will act if it receives complaints in this regard.

By Kumar Shakti Shekhar: Both Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress leaders have condemned the "sexist" comments made by JD(U) MP Sharad Yadav and BJP MP Vinay Katiyar and expected the Election Commission to take suo motu cognisance.

However, Election Commission does not seem to be keen to take notice of the "highly objectionable" remarks made by both the leaders ahead of the Assembly elections in five states.

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SUPREME COURT ORDER

Just on Tuesday, the Election Commission released a statement quoting a Supreme Court judgment which said that "any appeal to vote or to refrain from voting for a candidate on the ground of religion, caste, race, community or language of the candidate, election agent, any person making the appeal with the consent of the candidate or on the ground of the religion, caste etc of the electors would amount to corrupt practice".

Unfortunately, while all other categories such as religion, caste, race, community or language of the candidates and electors were included, gender was missing from the apex court's order.

Perhaps, taking undue advantage of this, both Sharad Yadav and Vinay Katiyar made remarks related to voting and election and which amounted to denigrating women.

ALSO READ: He makes me laugh: Priyanka Gandhi reacts to BJP leader Vinay Katiyar's not-so-pretty sexism

ELECTION COMMISSION NOT KEEN TO TAKE COGNISANCE

Talking to India Today, Election Commission's Legal Adviser SK Mendiratta said, "Is the Election Commission responsible for all statements made anywhere in the country?"

On Tuesday, Sharad Yadav had said, "Beti ki izzat jayegi to gaon aur mohalle ki izzat jayegi. Vote ek baar bik gaya to desh ki izzat jayegi, aur aane wala sapna poora nahi ho sakta (If a woman is violated, the reputation of only village or particular locality is maligned. But if votes are sold, the image of the country is tarnished. The dream of the country cannot be fulfilled)."

Senior Election Commission officials said, on the condition of anonymity, that as a matter of principle the Commission acts on complaints. with just 400 employees, the Commission is hard-pressed to take suo motu cognisance of violations.

"If the Commission receives complaints in the two matter, we will consider them," they said.

JD(U) DEFENDS SHARAD YADAV

JD(U) has defended Sharad Yadav's statement. Party spokesperson KC Tyagi sought to clarify Sharad Yadav's remarks. He told India Today on phone from Patna that Sharad Yadav never meant "rape" of women.

He said, "Sharad Yadav meant to say that if women are married off in the houses of criminals and rapists then the prestige of the whole village gets lowered. Similarly, if people vote for (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, then only riots will take place and the country's image is tarnished."

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ALSO READ: Sharad Yadav remains defiant, refuses to apologise for his sexist remark

BJP, CONGRESS CONDEMN SHARAD YADAV, VINAY KATIYAR

However, both BJP and Congress leaders condemned the statements of Sharad Yadav and Vinay Katiyar. The latter claimed that there were prettier woman leaders than Priyanka Gandhi in BJP who can draw bigger crowds.

VENKAIAH NAIDU: Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has taken strong exception to the objectionable remarks. He said, "Remarks of both Vinay Katiyar and Sharad Yadav are totally unacceptable. I condemn the remarks."

SHAINA NC: Speaking with India Today from Mumbai, BJP leader Shaina NC came down heavily on Sharad Yadav. She said, "It is not the first time that Sharad Yadav has made such a statement. He seems to be a repeat offender. He shows no respect for women. He will get an answer in the elections."

"(Samajwadi Party supremo) Mulayam Singh Yadav too suffers from the same mindset. He defended the rapists by saying that boys are boys and they commit mistakes. Certain mindset in India exists which considers women as commodities. It is condescending to women," she said.

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Asked about Vinay Katiyar's remarks, Shaina said if he was comparing Priyanka Gandhi as a speaker then there was no issue. But problems existed if physical attributes were being compared. "Instead of discussing the anatomy of women leaders, people should focus on their merits and achievements," she said.

ALSO READ: BJP leader trumps Sharad Yadav in sexism, says Priyanka Gandhi not as pretty as many in his party

The BJP spokesperson demanded that the Election Commission should take suo motu cognisance of the statements made by both Sharad Yadav and Vinay Katiyar.

SHOBHA OZA: All India Mahila Congress president Shobha Oza too condemned both the leaders and demanded the Election Commission to take suo motu notice of the remarks. She told India Today, "It is really unfortunate that some people have such dirty mindset. This is unacceptable. It is 21st century and women have excelled in every field."

She further said the Women's Commission had already taken note of the statements and hoped that the Election Commission would follow suit.

As BJP and Congress seek action against the two leaders, one has to wait and watch as to what step the Election Commission will take in this matter.

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ALSO READ: Sharad Yadav's shocker: Beti ki izzat se vote ki izzat badi hai, refuses to apologise

ALSO WATCH

--- ENDS ---
During financial years 2004-05 and 2014-15, as much as 83 per cent of the total income of the Congress and 65 per cent of BJP's funds came from such non-existent sources.

By Mail Today Bureau: The total income through unknown sources of national and regional political parties of India between financial years 2004-05 and 2014-15 was a whopping Rs 11,367.34 crore.

According to data released by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Congress was the biggest beneficiary of this income, followed by the BJP. Among regional parties, SP was biggest receiver, followed by BSP. Reports came through the I-T returns and audit reports.

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Also read | ADR report says 70 per cent of funding of political parties comes from 'unknown' sources

The details of donors of such voluntary contributions were not available in the public domain or they don't just exist.

AMOUNT OF MONEY

During this time, 83 per cent of the total income of the Congress - Rs 3,323.39 crore - came from such non-existent sources, while 65 per cent of BJP's funds - Rs 2,125.91 crore - came from such dubious sources. Among the regional parties,

Rs 766.27 crore (94 per cent) of total income of SP and Rs 88.06 crore (86 per cent) of the total income of SAD came from unknown sources. While the income of national parties increased by 313 per cent, regional parties' income rose by 652 per cent.

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: her full protection

Raipur, Jan 25 (PTI) Two days after activist Bela Bhatia was accused by protesters as being a Maoist sympathiser and told to vacate her house in Bastar district, senior state Home department officials today visited her residence in Pandripani village and assured her of full protection.

Principal Secretary (Home) BVR Subramaniam, Special Director General (anti-naxal operation) DM Awasthi, Bastar Superintendent of Police RN Dash and other officials visited the activist and assured her of full protection by state.

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"We have assured Bhatia that we are committed to extend full protection to her. In democracy, every citizen has equal rights to work freely anywhere in the country," Awasthi told PTI.

On January 23, villagers held a protest outside her rented accommodation and asked her to vacate it for being a naxal sympathiser.

However, the activisthad claimed that a group of men barged inside the house and asked her to leave immediately, failing which they will set the house ablaze.

Bhatia had said she would leave the house on January 24, but not Bastar, as her landlord was being pressurised.

She has been working in the region for past several years.

Bastar SP had said enough security was provided for Bhatias protection.

In the wake of the incident, the Chhattisgarh police had deputed 15 police personnel, including four women, for her security.

Notably, Bhatia was among a group of people who had accompanied a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team to villages of Bijapur recently to record the statements of alleged rape victims.

Earlier this month, NHRC had sent a notice to state government over alleged rape, sexual and physical assault of 16 women by the state police personnel in Bastar division (in October 2015 and January 2016), observing the government is "vicariously liable" for it. PTI TKP NSK NSK BAS

--- ENDS ---
Warwickshire College Group (WCG) has been nominated for a top award in recognition of its work training engineering apprentices.

WCG was put forward for the award by Jaguar Land Rover in the Training Partner of the Year category at the Semta Skills Awards.

Jaguar Land Rover engineering apprentices currently train with WCG at Warwick Trident College on advanced, higher and degree apprenticeships.

The scheme has grown from just 100 apprentices training for three job roles a few years ago, to now over 500 apprentices training for 35 varying engineering roles in different parts of the company.

Angela Joyce, Group Principal and CEO of WCG said, As the largest college provider of apprenticeships in the region, we are absolutely delighted to be shortlisted for this prestigious Semta Award.

It is recognition of our strong relationship with Jaguar Land Rover and how we strive to meet their growing need for skilled engineers.

Over a period of years, the Jaguar Land Rover apprenticeship programme has been transformed, creating the skilled workforce required to meet their business goals.

Semta (The Science, Engineering, Manufacturing and Technologies Alliance), is an employer-led organisation that aims to enable the UK engineering industry to compete on a global stage.
Haivisions 4K Encoder Now Compatible with Nokia OZO Live for Virtual Reality 360-Degree Streaming

Ecosystem collaboration with Nokia brings high quality, reliable VR experiences to online audiences

MONTREAL, CANADA( )

Haivision, a market leader in enterprise video and streaming solutions, announces that the companys KB 4K internet media encoder is compatible with Nokia OZO Live for virtual reality streaming.

Using Haivisions KB 4K encoder together with the Nokia OZO virtual reality camera and Nokia OZO Live software, organizations can stream reliable, high quality, virtual reality (VR) experiences that combine 360-degree viewing and a 3D immersive experience for online audiences. Nokia OZO Live and Haivisions KB 4K encoder have already powered a number of high profile events including the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert and The CMA Awards Red Carpet.

Nokia selected Haivision as an ecosystem collaborator for OZO Live due to its trusted and proven KB 4K encoder, which combines the highest H.264/HEVC 4K streaming quality, quick installation and easy configuration at the most affordable price point in the market.

Nokia OZO is committed to creating an extensive VR technology production ecosystem that provides compatibility, performance, and optimization for every element in the VR workflow, said Tarif Sayed, Head of VR Technologies, Nokia OZO. Haivisions KB 4K encoder is an important enabler for the OZO ecosystem in delivering high-powered, large-scale live virtual reality events.

Virtual reality has captured the minds of brands, marketers, and entertainers globally with the goal of creating immersive and interactive experiences, said Peter Maag, chief marketing officer, Haivision. Were looking forward to working closely with the Nokia OZO team to bring high quality, live streaming experiences to audiences online.

Haivisions family of KB internet media encoders and transcoders provides multiple options for live event streaming, helping deliver the highest quality live video to global Internet audiences. KB encoders/transcoders are available as small form factor portable appliances, on-premise servers or 4K appliances.

To celebrate Haivisions compatibility with the Nokia OZO, Haivision is offering a promotion on its KB 4K encoder. Visit the website to register for a $5000 discount and to download the latest white paper: 360-Degree VR Streaming

About Haivision
AltaGas Ltd. (TSX:ALA) and WGL Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: WGL) announced today the entering into of a definitive agreement and plan of merger for AltaGas to acquire WGL in an all cash transaction valued at approximately C$8.4 billion (US $6.4 billion). WGL is a diversified energy infrastructure company which is the sole shareholder of Washington Gas Light Company, a regulated natural gas utility headquartered in Washington D.C., has a growing contracted midstream franchise in the Marcellus/Utica, and also owns non-regulated contracted power and energy marketing businesses throughout the United States. The Transaction enhances AltaGas' position as a leading, diversified North American energy infrastructure company, with assets of approximately C$22 billion. AltaGas will have, on a combined basis, natural gas rate base assets of C$4.5 billion and over C$7 billion of identified capital investment opportunities identified through to 2021 in highly attractive clean energy lines of business.

"We look forward to welcoming WGL employees and customers to AltaGas," said David Harris, President and CEO of AltaGas. "This acquisition provides us with a robust, complementary set of energy businesses that greatly increase our scale and diversity. Our first priority in making this successful is to continue serving WGL's customers and communities with safe, reliable and affordable service and maintaining the strong relationships WGL has built with regulators."

"This is a significant and positive event for WGL and all of its stakeholders -- its employees, customers and shareholders," said Terry McCallister, Chairman and CEO of WGL. "Our leadership team and Board of Directors are convinced that we have found exactly the right partner in AltaGas. We are confident that, together, we will be a more diverse and stronger company that will open up new and exciting opportunities to provide value for all of our stakeholders."

Under the terms of the Transaction, WGL shareholders will receive US$88.25 in cash per WGL share, which represents an 11.8 percent premium to WGL's closing share price on January 24, 2017. The purchase price also represents a premium of 27.9 percent to WGL's closing share price on November 28, 2016, the day prior to news reports of a potential acquisition of WGL by a third party. The Transaction represents a total enterprise value of C$8.4 billion, including the assumption of approximately C$2.4 billion of debt.

The Boards of Directors of AltaGas and WGL have unanimously approved the Transaction, which is expected to close by the end of the second quarter of 2018. The Transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including WGL common shareholder approval and certain regulatory and government approvals, including approval by the public utility commissions of Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C., the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and expiration or termination of any applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.

Leading North American Energy Infrastructure Company

This transformational Transaction enhances AltaGas' status as a leading, North American diversified energy infrastructure company with high quality, high growth assets balanced across three business lines and multiple geographies. Following the closing of the Transaction, AltaGas will have substantially increased scale and scope, with approximately 3,300 employees across significant operations in over 30 states and provinces in both regulated and un-regulated businesses, including eight growing gas utility franchises, a large and growing midstream and energy export footprint in both the Montney and the Marcellus/Utica, and a substantial contracted clean power and energy efficiency business in over 20 states and provinces.

Upon the closing of the Transaction, AltaGas' assets are estimated to be approximately C$22 billion and AltaGas is expected to have a diversified growth portfolio of over C$7 billion in low-risk, investment opportunities throughout its three business segments through to 2021.

AltaGas' Utility business segment will also become a leading North American natural gas utility, with an estimated C$4.5 billion in rate base assets, as measured at the end of 2016.

Both companies have complementary pipeline and midstream businesses in two prolific regions, which are connected with marine-based energy exports both on the North American Pacific coast (through AltaGas' interest in the existing Ferndale LPG terminal, and AltaGas' Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal project which is expected to be completed in 2019) and the North American Atlantic coast (through WGL's growing LNG exposure at the proposed Cove Point LNG terminal in Maryland, currently expected to be operational in late 2017). The combined Midstream business is expected to drive a significant portion of the growth in the near term.

WGL also has a significant existing portfolio of clean power assets that generate stable cash flows and will also be well-positioned to significantly grow in solar, wind, fuel cell, battery storage and other clean technologies, as well as natural gas generation. WGL also has a retail energy services business with 275,000 customers in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.

"The strategic fit and compatibility of our two companies is exceptional. Both companies are strong utility operators, have a sweet spot of pipeline and midstream investments in premier supply basins, and have power generation businesses weighted to clean energy and innovations," said David Harris, President and CEO of AltaGas. "With WGL joining the AltaGas family of companies, AltaGas' business will enjoy a larger, more stable and geographically diverse regulated footprint. We can also deploy capital for future growth in all lines of business with greater scope, scale, talent, access to capital and consistent strategy. For our shareholders, the Transaction is expected to be meaningfully accretive to earnings and operating cash flow in the short and long term."

Terry McCallister, Chairman and CEO of WGL said, "We are proud of our company and are enthusiastic about the combination. Our focus at WGL has been creating value for our shareholders while at the same time providing superior service to our customers and to the communities we serve. This Transaction not only allows our shareholders to benefit from a substantial premium on their shares, but it also ensures our customers and communities will continue to receive the same great service we have provided for decades. AltaGas shares our values, including maintaining the strong working relationships we have developed with our regulatory agencies. The WGL team looks forward to contributing to AltaGas' future and the opportunities for growth across the organization."

Social Values and Commitments to WGL's Communities, Customers and Employees

David Cornhill, Chairman of AltaGas said, "Creating social value has always been part of AltaGas' DNA. We welcome WGL employees with open arms and will do our best to ensure the safe, reliable and affordable service that our customers and communities deserve. Combined with WGL, AltaGas is clearly a leading Canada-based North American energy infrastructure company."

Following the completion of the Transaction, WGL's natural gas utility will continue to be regulated by the three state public service commissions and will continue to operate under the WGL brand. WGL's experienced workforce will continue to deliver safe and reliable service at reasonable rates. As part of the Transaction, AltaGas will keep WGL's headquarters in Washington D.C. and intends to retain existing WGL executives to assist in managing AltaGas' U.S. regulated Utility business. AltaGas will relocate the headquarters of its U.S. Power business to WGL's service region.

Mr. Harris commented, "We recognize the strength of the platform that WGL has built in Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C., including its high-quality customer and employee bases. Like WGL, AltaGas has a strong sense of responsibility and commitment to our customers and communities. Together we look forward to building up our presence in each of these jurisdictions as we integrate our companies and further invest in the region. We also intend to expand WGL's presence in other states as well."

AltaGas and WGL are committed to engaging regulators in all jurisdictions as promptly as possible. AltaGas has a history of successfully executing acquisitions in the United States, working constructively in regulatory processes, standing behind its commitments and successfully engaging with stakeholders in its service areas.

Detailed Transaction Highlights

Complementary business mixes. AltaGas and WGL are both diversified energy infrastructure companies with meaningful operations in Utilities, Midstream and Clean Power. The Transaction allows both companies to leverage the other's expertise and assets to further develop each business, execute on growth and drive shareholder value.

Significantly stronger and more diversified growth platform. Following the completion of the Transaction, AltaGas will have increased scale and diversification, with assets estimated at approximately C$22 billion. Approximately C$7 billion in identified highly visible capital investment opportunities exist through 2021, of which over half would be in Midstream and Power. The Transaction expands AltaGas' regulated utility geographic platform into Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia. On a pro forma basis, AltaGas will operate regulated gas utilities in 8 jurisdictions with strong opportunities for growth. The Transaction also provides other opportunities to grow the combined business. In particular, AltaGas expects significant opportunities to further grow the midstream business with a meaningful and growing presence in both the Montney and Marcellus/Utica gas formations, which will drive near term growth. It also provides an opportunity to grow AltaGas' contracted power business in other territories and to grow WGL's clean power and energy services business both through geographic expansion as well as through a lengthened tax horizon and stronger combined asset base.

Reinforces AltaGas' strategy of focusing on high-quality, low-risk and long-life assets. Following the close of the Transaction, AltaGas expects that approximately 75 percent of combined normalized EBITDA1 will be from regulated gas utilities, Northwest BC Hydro assets (~60 year contracts), regulated gas pipelines and contracted take-or-pay/cost-of-service midstream assets. The balance is primarily contracted clean power PPAs and contracted fee-for-service gas midstream assets. Collectively, this portfolio of assets provides cash flow stability and underpins AltaGas' growing dividend. Over the long-term, AltaGas seeks to maintain a balanced utility, midstream and power business mix.

Geographic diversity. Following the closing of the Transaction, AltaGas will have diversity across geographies and regulatory jurisdictions, minimizing regulatory risk to the overall business from any particular jurisdiction. In the first full year following the close of the Transaction, AltaGas is expected to generate approximately 70 percent and 30 percent of normalized EBITDA in the United States and Canada, respectively.

Transaction is highly accretive to EPS and normalized FFOPS. EPS accretion is expected to be 7-9 percent in the first full year, and normalized FFOPS accretion is expected to be over 20 percent. AltaGas, following the closing of the Transaction, is expected to have higher growth on an absolute dollar value and per share basis, with double digit compound annual growth rates in EPS, normalized EBITDA and normalized FFOPS through 2021. As a result, the Transaction is also expected to result, on average, in 8-10 percent accretion to EPS, and normalized FFOPS accretion of 15-20 percent through 2021.

Transaction underpins 8-10 percent dividend growth through 2021. Pro forma for the Transaction, the strength of AltaGas and attractiveness of the growth opportunities will allow AltaGas to focus on growing its dividend by 8-10 percent into the future, while improving its dividend payout ratios.

Transaction Financing

The Transaction is not subject to any financing contingency and AltaGas has a fully committed US$4.95 billion bridge financing facility in place with J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, The Toronto-Dominion Bank, and Royal Bank of Canada to finance the Transaction. Permanent financing of the Transaction is expected to be achieved through an approximate $400 million private placement of subscription receipts to OMERS, the pension plan for Ontario's municipal employees, and a bought subscription receipt offering for gross proceeds of approximately $2.1 billion, launched concurrently with this announcement.

Tim Watson, CFO of AltaGas commented, "This private placement demonstrates the strength not only of AltaGas' reputation in the public markets, but also the strength of the combination with WGL being announced today. We look forward to having OMERS as an investor in our company for years to come." For further details, please see the press release issued by AltaGas contemporaneously with this release.

Furthermore, AltaGas will also finance the Transaction with subsequent offerings of senior debt, preferred shares and hybrid securities, as well as selected AltaGas asset sales. AltaGas has a US$2.0 billion tranche of its bridge facilities allocated to covering asset sales, which would be available for up to 18 months following closing of the Transaction. Furthermore, AltaGas believes there are a number of attractive, actionable opportunities to monetize portions of its three businesses in a manner which supports AltaGas' long term strategy of growing in attractive areas and maintaining a long term, balanced mix of energy infrastructure assets. The timing of these subsequent offerings and asset sales is subject to prevailing market conditions, but are expected to be completed prior to the closing of the Transaction.

AltaGas is committed to maintaining its financial strength following the closing of the Transaction and will look to fund its significant organic growth portfolio in a manner consistent with AltaGas' past practices with several financing sources including a more conservative dividend payout ratio resulting from transaction accretion, ongoing dividend reinvestment, additional capital market opportunities in the United States, continued access to the Canadian capital markets, and maintaining strong investment grade credit ratings.

Analyst and Investor Teleconference Call

AltaGas will be hosting a conference call and webcast on Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at 3:00 PM Mountain time (5:00 PM Toronto/Montreal/New York)

Analysts and investors in North America wanting to participate in the call should dial 1-844-543-5238 at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. International participants wanting to participate should dial 1-703-318-2220. No pass code is required. The conference call will be recorded. If you are unable to join the conference call live, you can dial for playback, toll-free at 1-855-859-2056. International participants wanting to listen to the playback can dial 1-404-537-3406. The passcode is 60526169 (available until midnight, January 27, 2017). Presentation slides for the conference call will be available and the teleconference will be web cast live at http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/2khbbiz9 and available for playback for one year.

Media Teleconference Call

Members of the media are invited to take part in a conference call on Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at 3:45 PM Mountain time (5:45 PM Toronto/Montreal/New York). Media wanting to participate in the call should dial 1-877-691-2551, passcode 44242733, at least 5 minutes prior to the start of the call. Canadian participants wanting to participate should dial 1-866-215-5508, passcode 44242733. All other international participants wanted to participate should 1-630-691-2747, passcode 44242733. The teleconference will be recorded and a transcript will be available.

Advisors

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as lead financial advisor and TD Securities Inc. is acting as financial advisor to AltaGas. Vinson & Elkins LLP is acting as lead legal advisor and Stikeman Elliott LLP is acting as legal advisor to AltaGas.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Lazard are acting as financial advisors to WGL. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as lead merger counsel and Covington & Burling LLP is acting as lead CFIUS counsel to WGL.
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) said today that Michael K. Wirth, executive vice president of Midstream and Development, has been named vice chairman, effective February 1, 2017.

As a senior officer of Chevron, Mike has made significant contributions to the companys success, said John S. Watson, Chevrons chairman and chief executive officer. Mikes experience, proven leadership and record of accomplishment will enable him to make a strong contribution to our Board.

In assuming his new role, Wirth will join the companys Board of Directors and add Policy, Government & Public Affairs to his existing portfolio of responsibilities. Currently, Wirth oversees Midstream and Development, accountable for supply and trading, gas commercialization and the companys midstream operating units engaged in transportation and power as well as corporate strategy and business development.

Wirth, 56, joined Chevron in 1982 as a design engineer. Since that time, he advanced through a number of engineering, construction and operations positions. Before assuming his current role, Wirth was executive vice president of Downstream & Chemicals. Prior to that he served as president of Global Supply and Trading, where he led the companys worldwide supply and trading operations as well as its aviation, marine and asphalt businesses. Earlier, Wirth was president of Marketing for Chevrons Asia/Middle East/Africa marketing business, based in Singapore. He also served on the board of directors for Caltex Australia Ltd. and GS Caltex in South Korea.
Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE: DSX) (the Company), a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, today announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has agreed to extend the present time charter contract with Cargill International S.A., Geneva, for one of its Capesize dry bulk vessels, the m/v Baltimore, for a period of minimum thirteen (13) months to about sixteen (16) months. The gross charter rate is US$11,300 per day, minus a 4.75% commission paid to third parties. The new charter period is expected to commence on February 3, 2017.

The Baltimore is a 177,243 dwt Capesize dry bulk vessel built in 2005.

The Company also announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Noble Resources International Pte. Ltd., Singapore, for one of its Panamax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Arethusa. The gross charter rate is US$7,200 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum ten (10) months to maximum fourteen (14) months. The charter commenced on January 23, 2017.

The Arethusa is a 73,593 dwt Panamax dry bulk vessel built in 2007.

The employment extension of Baltimore as well as the employment of Arethusa are anticipated to generate approximately US$6.57 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charters.

Diana Shipping Inc.s fleet currently consists of 48 dry bulk vessels (4 Newcastlemax, 14 Capesize, 3 Post-Panamax, 4 Kamsarmax and 23 Panamax). As of today, the combined carrying capacity of the Companys fleet is approximately 5.7 million dwt with a weighted average age of 7.65 years. A table describing the current Diana Shipping Inc. fleet can be found on the Companys website, www.dianashippinginc.com. Information contained on the Companys website does not constitute a part of this press release.
ISSOIRE, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

BIOCORP (Paris: ALCOR) (FR0012788065  ALCOR / PEAPME eligible), a French company specializing in the development and manufacturing of medical devices and smart drug delivery systems, today announces it will be part of the 20th edition of Pharmapack exhibition, which will take place on 1st-2nd February 2017, in Paris (France).

Pharmapack exhibition, which will take place at Paris Expo (France), has become one of the key meeting places for the pharmaceutical packaging and drug delivery industry players from all over the world1.

BIOCORP will participate at booth H8 and will present its innovations in pharmaceutical and connected medical devices. The company has already won two Best Exhibitor Innovation awards in 2015 and 2016 for its connected devices Datapen and Easylog. This year, BIOCORP will present its NewGuard in the Innovation Gallery, a new generation of integrated passive safety device compatible with various sizes of stacked needles PFS, under industrialization since the first half of 2016.

During Pharmapack exhibition, Eric Dessertenne, BIOCORPs Chief Operating Officer, will also participate in two presentations as a speaker:

Conference:  Go beyond tracking: guarantee better and safer treatment administration , on February 1st, from 2:40PM to 3:05PM.

, on February 1st, from 2:40PM to 3:05PM. Roundtable: Market access, pricing and reimbursement strategies for innovative drug delivery and connected health products (moderated by Faraj Abdelnour, President of ACIDIM), on February 2nd , from 2:50PM to 4:00PM.

ABOUT BIOCORP

Founded in 2004 in Issoire (near Clermont-Ferrand), France, BIOCORP is a French company specializing in the development and manufacturing of medical devices and innovative drug delivery systems. It is listed as Innovative Company by the French public investment bank Bpifrance. With over twenty years of experience and more than 30 manufactured products, BIOCORP is a key player in the industry, providing drug delivery solutions that meet the evolving needs of patients. Today, BIOCORP continues to innovate in the area of medical plastics, its core business, and to market traditional devices (alternative to aluminum capsules, syringe and vial administration systems) that have been an important source of recurring income. Its solid expertise and capacity to innovate have allowed the company to develop new Internet-connected products, including: the DataPen, a reusable smart injection pen that automatically transmits data to a mobile app, helping patients to manage their treatment; and treatment management add-ons, which adapt to existing delivery devices and are compatible with most injection pens in the market. The company has a team of 44 employees.BIOCORP is listed on Alternext since July 2015 (FR0012788065  ALCOR).

For more information, please visit: www.biocorp.frFollow us on Twitter @BIOCORPSystems

1 More information at: http://www.pharmapackeurope.com/

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170124006330/en/

BIOCORP

Jacques Gardette

CEO

[email protected]

or

Eric Dessertenne

Chief Operating Officer

or

Press relations

ALIZE RP

Caroline Carmagnol & Wendy Rigal

+33 (0)1 44 54 36 66 / +33 (0)6 48 82 18 94

[email protected]

Source: BIOCORP
Registered Office: ROYAL BANK PLAZA SOUTH TOWER200 BAY STREET, SUITE 3800 TORONTO, ONTARIO M5J 2Z4 CANADA Santiago Office: AVDA. SANTA MARIA 2224 PROVIDENCIA, SANTIAGO, CHILE Telephone: 56-2-2569 6224 Toronto Office: 1 KING STREET, OF. 4009 TORONTO, ONTARIO M5H 1A1 CANADA For further information, contact: Stephen W. Houghton, CEO David R. S. Thomson, EVP E-Mail: [email protected] Telephone: 56-2-2569 6200 Website: www.cegmining.com

TORONTO, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Cerro Grande Mining Corporation (the "Company" or "CEG") (CSE: CEG) (OTCQB: CEGMF) announced approval by Sernageomin of the Company's Pillar Recovery and Replacement Plan for the Pimenton Mine. The Pimenton Mine remnant pillars contain 28,000 tons of high grade mineralized material with a grade of 15.8 grams per ton gold and 1.4% copper as reported in the latest Technical Report on the Pimenton Mine (July 21, 2016)

This new release has been reviewed and approved by David R. S. Thomson, EVP of Exploration of Cerro Grande Mining Corporation and a Qualified Person in accordance with NI 43-101.

Cerro Grande Mining Corporation is a minerals producing, exploration and development company with properties and activities currently focused in Chile.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information", which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the future financial or operating performance of CEG. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of CEG to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release based on current expectations and beliefs and CEG disclaims, other than as required by law, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, results, future events, circumstances, or if management's estimates or opinions should change, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Cerro Grande Mining Corporation
SINGAPORE -- (Marketwired) -- 01/24/17 --

100 percent of surveyed organisations said collective ambition was key to their growth trajectory.

Organisations with leaders who are united under a singular vision, purpose, and aspiration develop more effective succession pipelines.

Singapore's Education Minister also cites a working culture of Collective Ambition in the government.

A study of CHROs from more than 15 industries representing 1.1 million employees demonstrated that organisations who drive stellar growth have "collective ambition," according to the People Fuel Growth study by Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement, and health solutions business of Aon plc (NYSE: AON).

Collective ambition is fuelled by competitive, yet collaborative leadership. The leadership team has a strong desire to be successful, but is highly aware that that this only occurs when leaders are able to work jointly.

Collective ambition ensures achievement of common goals

In order to achieve collective ambition, the Aon Hewitt People Fuel Growth study reinforces the belief that ambition in absence of a group is meaningless and the leadership team must have an understanding of growth and how to achieve it. The study found it essential that: 1. Leaders review the organisation's mission and growth plan regularly. 2. Hold meetings to discuss their growth plans at least once a year. 3. Have regular cadence for their senior leadership meetings; most organisations surveyed meet on a monthly basis to ensure leaders work in unison to accomplish organisational goals. 4. Goals are tied to concrete measures. In high-growth organisations, these are usually crafted so that all employees understand how they contribute to and share in the organisational success.

Na Boon Chong, Senior Client Partner, Aon Hewitt Singapore, said: "Collective ambition means that leaders are united under a singular vision, purpose, and aspiration. By uniting leadership around a common goal, supported by intentional alignment from a 'people' standpoint and customer centricity that ensures relevance, it helps organisations to best leverage their talent and drive growth from the top down, be it at a firm or at a national level."

It's interesting to see the same traits of leadership in Singapore's government. Mr. Ong Ye Kung, the Education Minister, was recently quoted as saying: "Disagreements are not treated as an ego contest. New ministers entering this kind of working culture know that while discussions are very robust, we are all in the same team. If there's any ambition, it is a collective ambition for Singapore."

About Aon Hewitt's People Fuel Growth Study The People Fuel Growth study sought to understand the impact people have on growth through interviews with CHROs of high-growth Fortune 1000 companies, representing 1.1 million employees across more than 15 industries. Aon Hewitt also analysed its proprietary data to identify differences between high and average growth firms.

For a white paper on the study findings, please visit: http://bit.ly/CollectiveAmbition.

For further information on the study, please visit: http://bit.ly/PeopleFuelGrowth

About Aon

Aon plc (NYSE: AON) is a leading global provider of risk management, insurance brokerage and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through its more than 72,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to empower results for clients in over 120 countries via innovative risk and people solutions. For further information on our capabilities and to learn how we empower results for clients, please visit: http://aon.com/ and https://apac.aonhewitt.com

Media Contact Jini Pillai Aon Hewitt Singapore T: +65 6313 7111 M: +65 8133 8523 E: Email Contact

Source: Aon Hewitt
VANCOUVER, BRISITH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Note to Editors: There is an infographic and a photo associated with this press release.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has launched an industry-leading incentive program for marine vessels operating in the Port of Vancouver, aimed at addressing concerns about underwater vessel noise affecting at-risk marine life.

On January 1, 2017, the port authority added new incentive criteria to its existing EcoAction(i) program to include harbour due rate discounts for quieter ships. This makes Canada the first country in the world with a marine noise reduction incentive.

Since 2007, the port authority's EcoAction program has recognized a variety of fuel, technology and environmental management options that make ship operators eligible to receive discounted harbour due rates. The new criteria includes three quiet-vessel ship classifications and three propeller technologies shown to reduce underwater noise. The program applies only to cargo and cruise vessels calling on the Port of Vancouver, which includes Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River and Roberts Bank terminals.

The new noise reduction incentive is one outcome of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority-led ECHO program, which launched in 2014 with the goal to better understand and reduce the cumulative impacts of commercial vessel activities on at-risk whales throughout the southern coast of British Columbia. The program is a collaborative research initiative involving marine transportation industries, conservation and environmental groups, First Nations individuals, government and scientists.

"Adding underwater noise reduction criteria to our EcoAction program is an exciting next step towards our long-term goal of reducing the impacts of shipping activities on at-risk whales," said Duncan Wilson, vice president of corporate social responsibility at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

Today, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority hosted the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, at its office in Vancouver for a demonstration of some of the technologies used by the port authority-led ECHO (Enhancing Cetacean Habitat and Observation) program. Minister Garneau commended the port authority for its efforts to address concerns about underwater vessel noise affecting at-risk marine life and the new incentive criteria incorporated into its EcoAction program.

"Today, the federal government recognized the programs and projects we have in place, which we believe align well with the government's recently announced Oceans Protection Plan as it relates to sustainability and preserving and restoring Canada's marine ecosystems. We are very proud of the progress we are collectively making to better understand and address the impacts of vessel activities on marine life," Wilson added.

The ECHO program commissioned a literature review and sought input from technical experts including naval architects, acoustic specialists and marine mammal researchers to create the new criteria. The study team identified and evaluated various vessel-quieting designs, technology and maintenance options. Several factors were considered in the criteria identification and evaluation process including noise reduction effectiveness and ability to verify technologies and classifications. Following completion of this study, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority developed its new criteria, which was incorporated into the EcoAction program as of January 1, 2017.

(i)Vancouver Fraser Port Authority's use of the name EcoAction refers to a program specifically intended to promote improved environmental performance within the shipping industry and is not related to the EcoAction Community Funding Program administered by Environment Canada

For further information on these programs, please visit:

- ECHO program

- EcoAction program

- Infographic: Effects of underwater noise on whales and what mariners can do about it

About Vancouver Fraser Port Authority

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is responsible for the stewardship of the federal port lands in and around Vancouver, British Columbia. It is accountable to the federal minister of transport and operates pursuant to the Canada Marine Act. The port authority manages the Port of Vancouver, which is Canada's largest port and the third largest tonnage port in North America, responsible for Canada's trade with more than 170 world economies. Located in a naturally beautiful setting on Canada's west coast, the Port of Vancouver is responsible for the efficient and reliable movement of goods and passengers, and integrates environmental, social and economic sustainability initiatives into all areas of port operations. Enabling the trade of approximately $200 billion in goods in 2015, the port sustains an estimated 100,000 supply-chain jobs, $6.1 billion in wages, and $9.7 billion in GDP across Canada.

To view the infographic associated with this press release, please visit the following link:

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1083916_1.pdf

To view the photo associated with this press release, please visit the following link:

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1083916_2.jpg

Contacts: Media contact: Danielle Jang Media Relations Advisor 604-340-8617 [email protected]

Source: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority
Around 15,000 police personnel have been deployed near India Gate for the celebrations on Thursday when the Capital will turn into a virtual fortress.

By Chayyanika Nigam: Ritu Sharma (name changed on request), a 34-year-old Delhi Police subinspector afflicted with kidney stone, has been asked by doctors to drink more water but says she cannot.

The cop, posted at India Gate from 3am to 12.30pm for 10 days ahead of Republic Day, pointed out that there was no toilet facility in the area. The first day, Ritu was forced to answer nature's call behind a tree at night. Embarrassed by the experience, she stopped drinking water after 10pm, ignoring doctor's orders.

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A portable restroom has been placed nearby following the full dress rehearsal on Tuesday for the Republic Day celebrations when India will put her military might on display. But the toilet facility will be removed after the parade.

Sources say that for the first time, senior officers asked cops deployed on R-Day duty to start reporting at India Gate from as early as January 9. And the first shift starts at 3am and goes on till 12.30pm, during which personnel have to be on their toes and not leave their posts. Senior officers brief the cops daily at 10am. Around 15,000 police personnel have been deployed near India Gate for the celebrations on Thursday when the Capital will turn into a virtual fortress.

All the security arrangements were made by special commissioner of police Mukesh Kumar Meena. He remained unavailable for comments. The duties of most of these police personnel have been pushed till the beating retreat ceremony on January 29 that officially marks the end of Republic Day celebrations.

NO WATER, FOOD OR TRANSPORT

Also, a cop on Republic Day assignment has to go back to regular work before or after the special shift. Sources say those posted in the first shift have suffered the most apathy from the department that, somewhat ironically, has the motto, "With you, for you, always." Apart from Rehearsal Day, none of the cops, including assistant commissioner of police (ACP) and inspector, were served food and water. Speaking to Mail Today, an assistant sub-inspector said his wife is unhappy with him for asking her every day to pack him some food late at night so he can have breakfast.

Also read: All you need to know about 68th Republic Day: From NSG's march-past to Tejas aircraft flying

Also read: Full dress rehearsal in Kargil at minus 8 degrees on Republic Day eve

"I stand at my position for more than nine hours without eating or drinking as we do not have any place to buy refreshments from. But the spirit of being a policeman kept me positive, even though I was in pain," said a 43-year-old head constable posted at the site.

DUTY IS PARAMOUNT

When Mail Today spoke to joint commissioner Dependra Pathak, who is also the Delhi Police spokesperson, he said, "Policing is a tough duty and duty is paramount. There is no limit to comfort and when it comes to Republic Day security arrangements, no matter what circumstances the police personnel have to be in, the security has to be perfect." Many of the female cops also complained that Delhi Police has not arranged any transportation facility for them early in the morning.

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Also read: Republic Day: IB sounds alert on 9/11 style terror attack, lists 39 vulnerable localities

"Yes, we are in uniform, but we too are vulnerable," said a female sub-inspector. "After all, we are women and are always moving targets." Another officer pointed out that as private vehicles are also not allowed entry to the sensitive area, they have to park at least two kilometres away and walk up to their posts.

Pathak conceded that there were problems with the arrangements and there is also room for improvement. "The New Delhi district is the best place in terms of infrastructure, but the issue related to unavailability of public convenience will be looked into. However, the best possible arrangements were already made for the staff," he iterated.

--- ENDS ---

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WESTPORT, Conn., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Newman's Own Foundation, founded by the late actor and philanthropist Paul Newman, today announced that it is awarding $2.5 million in grants over two years to 16 public broadcasting radio and television networks across the United States. The grants affirm the value of preserving trusted sources and multiple perspectives for news and other informational programming.

Most of the stations will use their grants as challenges to stimulate donor giving. Two will direct funding to programming or special projects.

"Independent media is essential to bringing civil dialogue to communities," said Robert Forrester, President and CEO of Newman's Own Foundation. "We are proud to help these stations as they continue their important work in giving a voice to many perspectives."

The organizations receiving grants are:

Arizona PBS, Tempe, AZ

Blue Ridge Public Television, Roanoke, VA

Channel 5 Public Broadcasting, Reno, NV

Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network, Hartford, CT

Florida West Coast Public Broadcasting, Tampa, FL

Foundation for Public Broadcasting in Georgia, Atlanta, GA

Greater Cincinnati Television Educational Foundation (CET), Cincinnati, OH

Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association (WETA), Arlington, VA

KCETLink, Burbank, CA

KQED, San Francisco, CA

Minnesota Public Radio, Saint Paul, MN

National Public Radio, Washington, DC

North Texas Public Broadcasting, Dallas, TX

Illinois Public Media, Urbana, IL

WNET/Channel 13, New York, NY

WSHU Public Radio, Fairfield, CT

Jerry Franklin, president and CEO of Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network, summed up the value of challenge grants in generating additional support for independent media. "The Newman's Own Foundation Challenge grant was the first of its kind to come to our organization. The Foundation has served as a trailblazer in this area, allowing us to leverage challenge grants from several other foundations, corporations, and even small businesses," said Franklin. "Our audiences have come to recognize Newman's Own Foundation as the gold standard for challenge grants, making the challenge grant our single most effective tool during pledge drives."

Paul Newman founded Newman's Own, the food and beverage company, in 1982, with a commitment to donate 100% of the profits to charity. Today, Newman's Own Foundation is the sole owner of the company and continues this charitable promise. Together, Paul Newman and the Foundation have donated more than $485 million to thousands of charities around the world.

For more information about the Foundation's support of independent media and other initiatives, visit newmansownfoundation.org/empowerment.

About Newman's Own FoundationNewman's Own Foundation was established by Paul Newman to continue his philanthropic legacy to use the profits and royalties from the sale of Newman's Own products to make our world a better place by supporting charitable causes. Since 1982, Paul Newman and Newman's Own Foundation have donated more than $485 million to thousands of charitable organizations around the world. For more information, visit www.newmansownfoundation.org.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/newmans-own-foundation-awards-25-million-in-grants-to-independent-media-300396048.html

SOURCE Newmans Own Foundation
LONDON (Reuters) - Angola's sovereign wealth fund will invest $180 million in the country's first deep sea water port in Cabinda, the fund's chairman Jose Filomeno dos Santos said on Tuesday.

The sovereign fund, known by its Portuguese acronym FSDEA, is making the investment from its $1.1 billion infrastructure fund, with the first phase of the port's construction expected to be finished by the end of 2017.

"We are giving some support to kickstart the project," Dos Santos said. "It might be used as a transhipment hub because it's a deep sea port and one of the few in the region."

Construction at the port of Cabinda, located in a heavily guarded territory that accounts for half the oil output from Africa's top petroleum producer, started in 2016 with costs totaling around $700 million.

The expectation is that the investment will yield a return of over 10 percent on an annualized basis over an investment horizon of 10 years.

Dos Santos said facilities at the port would include a duty free area and a ship repair yard, which the region does not currently have. Cabinda will also give access to the markets of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Around two years after the port has been in operation it is envisaged that other investors will be invited to participate in the port concession, which is expected to run for 30 years, he said.

The fund had $4.755 billion under management at end-September 2016, up from $4.56 billion at the end of the first quarter.

(Reporting by Claire Milhench and Karin Strohecker, editing by Ed Osmond)
Greek and EU flags flutter atop the Ministry of Finance next to a Ferris wheel recently placed in Athens' Constitution Square during Christmas festivities in Greece December 22, 2016. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers will not sign off on a review of Greece's bailout reforms at a meeting on Thursday, but they hope to do so as soon as possible, EU Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said.

"We will see how we can move to a swift conclusion... but this obviously cannot be achieved on Thursday," he told journalists in Dublin. "We hope it can be done as soon as possible."

Euro zone finance ministers meet in Brussels on Thursday afternoon and the progress of reforms, in return for which Athens gets cheap loans from euro zone governments, will be at the top of their agenda.

The ministers will also discuss the implementation of short-term debt relief measures agreed at their last meeting in December and later suspended because of concerns that Greece might miss agreed reform targets.

The short-term debt relief steps, which should lead to a cumulative reduction of Greeces debt-to-GDP ratio of around 20 percentage points until 2060, were unblocked on January 20.

"That is a very good decision after exchanges of views and commitments by the Greek government, because as soon as Greece takes its responsibilities, then we, the partners of Greece, need to take ours," Moscovici said.

Once euro zone ministers are satisfied that Greece has completed the set of reforms agreed for this stage of the bailout, they will unblock the payment of further loans to Athens.

The approval is now stuck because of differences over labor and energy reforms as well as on fiscal targets and debt relief measures beyond 2018.

(Reporting by Conor Humphries in Dublin and Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former minister of mines in Guinea pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to U.S. charges that he laundered $8.5 million in bribes he received from a Chinese conglomerate to help it secure mining rights in the West African country.

Mahmoud Thiam, a U.S. citizen who served as Guinea's minister of mines from 2009 to 2010, entered his plea in federal court in Manhattan to one count of money laundering and one count of transactions in criminally derived property.

His plea came after Thiam, 50, was arrested on Dec. 13 in one of the latest cases to focus on allegations of bribery involving individuals tied to Guinea's mining sector.

According to the indictment, beginning in 2009, Thiam received bribes from representatives of a Chinese conglomerate to help it obtain highly-valuable investment rights, including near total control of Guinea's mining sector.

The Chinese conglomerate was not named in court papers, but a key deal in the case matched the description of an agreement reached in 2009 involving a joint venture majority owned by China International Fund and China Sonangol.

Prosecutors said that to secretly receive the bribes, Thiam opened a Hong Kong bank account and misreported his occupation to conceal his status as a government official.

He then transferred millions of dollars from that account to, among other things, provide funds to a Malaysian company that facilitated buying a $3.75 million upstate New York estate and to pay for private schools for his children, the indictment said.

In court papers filed on Monday, Thiam's lawyers said their client was entitled to a presumption of innocence, and said it was not clear that prosecutors can prove that an illegal quid pro quo took place.

Those court papers were filed in support of Thiam's bid to be released on bail. A federal magistrate judge in December ordered Thiam be detained after the prosecution argued that he posed a flight risk.

The case is U.S. v. Thiam, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 17-cr-47.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Tom Brown)
A general view shows Israel's border fence with Egypt's Sinai peninsula (R), as seen from Israel's Negev Desert February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel on Tuesday advised its citizens in Egypt's insurgency-hit Sinai peninsula to leave the region, warning of the threat of an imminent attack.

Israeli holidaymakers are often warned of the risks they face in Sinai, which borders Israel, but the "Level 1" alert issued by the anti-terrorism directorate is its most severe warning.

It described the threat as "very high and concrete".

"The directorate warns of the possibility of attacks against tourist sites in the Sinai area in the immediate term," a statement said.

An Islamist insurgency in the rugged, thinly populated Sinai has gained pace since the military toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest Islamist movement, in mid-2013 following mass protests against his rule.

Militants have launched a number of deadly cross-border attacks on Israel in the past few years and have occasionally fired rockets across the border into the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat.

The anti-terrorism directorate said that while there was a "constant high threat" in Sinai, Jan. 25, the anniversary of the 2011 revolution in Egypt, was a day that had witnessed attacks in previous years.

Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1978 and the eastern coast of the peninsula is a popular international tourist destination.

(Writing by Ori Lewis; editing by Richard Lough)
FILE PHOTO: 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. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

DOHA (Reuters) - Kuwait's foreign minister will make a rare visit to Tehran on Wednesday to deliver a message to President Hassan Rouhani on a "basis of dialogue" between Gulf Arab states and arch-rival Iran, Kuwait's state news agency reported.

The visit comes days after Rouhani said countries including Kuwait had offered to mediate in the escalating feud between Shi'ite Muslim Iran and Sunni power Saudi Arabia.

Kuwaiti news agency KUNA quoted Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Sabah as saying relations between Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) of six Arab states "must be based on the UN Charter and principles of international law".

Iran and Saudi Arabia, the dominant member of the GCC, back opposite sides in civil wars in Syria and Yemen.

Riyadh and some other members of the GCC accuse Tehran of using sectarianism to interfere in Arab countries and build its own sphere of influence in the Middle East.

Iran, set to benefit from an easing of international sanctions after its nuclear deal with world powers in 2015, denies interfering in Arab countries.

Tensions in the Gulf have reached levels unseen since the 1980s, when Iraq received Gulf Arab funding for its 1980-88 war against Iran in a pan-Arab effort to stem the influence of its 1979 Islamic revolution.

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in January 2016 cut diplomatic relations with Iran and some other Gulf states recalled their ambassadors in solidarity with the oil-rich kingdom after its embassy in Iran was torched by protesters.

But long-standing trade links and shared access to oil and gas fields have stopped many Gulf states from shutting the door on Iran.

Kuwait, which has a sizeable Shi'ite Muslim minority, is seen as a potential mediator. When Kuwait's emir visited Iran in 2014 it was the first by a ruler of the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state since the 1979 revolution.

"We are partners in the region and we have many common interests and possibilities," said Sabah, adding that dialogue would be for the benefit of both sides.

(Reporting by Tom Finn; editing by Andrew Roche)
BISHKEK (Reuters) - A court in Kyrgyzstan upheld a life sentence on Tuesday for a prominent dissident accused of "inciting inter-ethnic hatred" in the former Soviet republic, defying U.N. calls for his release.

Azimjon Askarov, a 65-year-old ethnic Uzbek, was convicted of "organizing mass disturbances" and stirring up ethnic hatred leading to the killing of a policeman during clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010, when more than 400 people were killed.

Reacting to the ruling, U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein said the verdict was deeply troubling and said it was "truly unfortunate" the trial had not considered allegations that Askarov had been tortured.

The U.N. Human Rights Committee has also said Askarov had been arbitrarily detained, held in inhumane conditions and prevented from adequately preparing his defense.

His imprisonment sparked a political spat with the United States in 2015. Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev accused Washington of seeking to "create chaos" in his country by granting Askarov an award and terminated a cooperation accord.

Despite the repeated commitment of the Kyrgyz authorities to uphold international fair trial standards and to resolutely investigate torture allegations, this trial vividly displayed the deficiencies in the countrys judicial and law enforcement system, Zeid said.

The trial was conducted in Kyrgyz, but Askarov is a native Uzbek speaker and the court-appointed interpreter was frequently absent, putting him at a disadvantage, the U.N. statement said.

Kyrgyzstan has come under fire for its poor human rights record despite holding a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council.

According to Human Rights Watch, ill-treatment and torture of detainees are widespread, as are violence and discrimination against women and the country's LGBT community.

Following calls from the U.N. Human Rights Committee, Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court sent Askarov's case to a regional court for review in July last year, ruling that he had been tortured and denied the right to mount a proper defense in his original trial.

The Chui Regional Court upheld his sentence on Tuesday.

Throughout the hearing, Askarov protested his innocence from the metal cage where he was held, saying he would appeal to an international court to investigate the 2010 clashes and challenge the verdict in a hunger strike.

Valery Vakhitov, Askarov's lawyer, said he would appeal the decision at the Supreme Court.

(Reporting by Olga Dzyubenko, additonal reporting by Tom Miles in Geneva; Writing by Jack Stubbs; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
The logo of commodities trader Glencore is pictured in front of the company's headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, November 20, 2012. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo 1

By Olesya Astakhova

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin told trading giant Glencore , Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, and Italian bank Intesa (NYSE: ISP) their businesses in Russia would be successful after they took part in the privatisation of a stake in Rosneft .

"I want to thank you for your trust, for your decision, want to express confidence that your business in Russia will be developing and developing successfully," Putin told a meeting with the heads of the companies.

The meeting was also attended by Igor Sechin, chief executive of Rosneft, in which the state sold a 19.5 percent stake last month to the consortium of Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority.

Intesa advised on the deal and provided 5.2 billion euros ($5.58 billion) in financing.

Putin said he hoped Intesa would expand its presence in Russia.

Russia sold the Rosneft stake for 10.2 billion euros ($10.94 billion), earning revenues for the state budget hit by low oil prices and Western sanctions.

Putin said since the deal was announced on Dec. 7, Rosneft's market value had risen 18 percent.

"So you have already earned," he said.

Ivan Glasenberg, Glencore chief executive, told the meeting the deal was very important for the global commodities trader, which is studying the option of swap deals with Rosneft and oil supplies to India and other Asian markets, including China.

Earlier in January, Rosneft signed a deal with a company linked to Qatar and Glencore to supply up to 55 million tonnes of crude oil in total over a five-year period.

Currently, Rosneft's largest buyer of oil is Swiss commodities trader Trafigura with estimated annual purchasing volumes of around 20 million tonnes, equal to the entire annual output of two large refineries.

(Reporting by Olesya Astakhova; Writing by Denis Pinchuk and Katya Golubkova; Editing by David Evans)
HELSINKI (Reuters) - Ukraine's president said on Tuesday world powers should keep sanctions on Russia, rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to consider reducing the penalties if Moscow proved a useful ally.

Petro Poroshenko told reporters that sanctions remained the only way to keep Russia at the negotiating table over the crisis in eastern Ukraine, that Western powers say has been fueled by Moscow.

The United States, the European Union and others imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 over its annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine and its support for pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine's east.

But Trump told the Wall Street Journal this month he might do away with some penalties if Moscow proved helpful in battling Islamist militants and reaching other goals important to Washington.

Asked about the comments on Tuesday, Poroshenko said: "We've enjoyed very strong bipartisan support in the United States during the last three years. We don't see any reason to change this situation."

"We don't see any connection with possible progress in Middle East and the situation in Ukraine ... With that situation, the only effective way is sanctions, to motivate the Russian Federation, president Putin, to be at the negotiating table," Poroshenko added during a visit to Finland, another neighbor of Russia.

Poroshenko's Finnish counterpart, Sauli Niinisto, said he did not think the United States was changing its policy on the sanctions.

"Nevertheless, the U.S. has put its own sanctions, and European Union has ... made its own decisions," he added.

(Reporting by Tuomas Forsell; Writing by Jussi Rosendahl; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
The world order is increasingly going to be shaped by four countries and an event, Russia, the US, Britain leaving the European Union (EU) or Brexit and China.

By Santosh Chaubey: Geopolitics has always been shaped by few global powers, especially the US so far, even if it has been an increasingly multi-polar world.

But with the recent developments that have revolved around inward looking protectionist and autocratic powers taking central position not just at homes but in the overall flow of geopolitics, the world order is increasingly going to be shaped by four countries and an event, Russia, the US, Britain leaving the European Union (EU) or Brexit and China, the new RUBRIC that will shape of flow of geopolitics in the days to come.

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A RUBRIC with changed evaluations and definitions that would try to outsmart the existing ethos in order to impose their own.

And the rules of this new RUBRIC will be written by their leaders, Russia's Vladimir Putin, the US' Donald Trump, Britain's Theresa May and China's Xi Jinping, with new equations emerging after Donald Trump has taken over the world's most prosperous and powerful nation.

WHY THEY MATTER

The US still wields enormous military power and if we say it remains unchallenged, especially after the demise of the Soviet Union or the USSR, it will not be exaggerating it. The US is also the world's largest single nation economy and will remain so with its clout to greatly affect the trade blocks and negotiations.

Also read: Donald Trump's first press meet after win: If Putin likes me, that's an asset

Also read: US intel report: Putin "ordered" US presidential election influence campaign

Though the USSR is no longer there, it left behind a stockpile of nuclear arsenal that makes Russia a strong regional power that exercises considerable influence in Europe and Asia, even if it has had a volatile economy. Add to it the vast energy reserves that Russia has the serves as Europe's lifeline.

China is the world's second largest economy and the manufacturing powerhouse of the world and is in a position to dictate trade terms with global power centres even if it derided for its one party autocratic system and poor human rights. In terms of purchasing power parity, China is already the world's largest economy and is a growing military power with increasing clout in space, air, navy and on ground.

Britain, once the reigning colonial superpower of the world with economic and military might, has reduced to being just a small country with no influence to affect the geopolitical matters. Yes, but it remains a symbolic superpower of values that define the existing free democratic world order - free men, free markets and a freer world. And the country is still an economic superpower. Its GDP at 2.29 Trillion USD was at par with India's GDP of 2.3 Trillion USD in 2016.

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TRUMP IN THE WHITE HOUSE IS SETTING THINGS IN MOTION

China has a production model back home that is antithesis of the values that the US and major economies of the free democratic world cherish and promote but nothing stops them or the big transnational corporations from engaging with China. China has absolute protectionism and labour laws heavily tilted in the favour of businesses.

With the new US President Donald Trump's inward looking and protectionist views that aim to seclude the US economy in domestic shackles, the Asian economic giant is trying to take a global leadership position with Xi Jinping saying that China is ready to fill the void created by the US.

The US under Donald Trump has effectively dumped the biggest global trade deal proposed, Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), including 12 Pacific rim countries that already regulate the world's 40 per cent economic output. China would sure be happy to milk the opportunity that many including Barack Obama, the former US President, tried hard to grab and now believe that going away from it will be suicidal for America's global dominance.

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Also read: As Donald Trump pulls US out of Trans-Pacific deal, Australia says China can fill the vacuum

Trump's next target is NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and no one knows what comes next. No one knows where he will stop in the name of preventing jobs and businesses from going out of the US and paying back to the countries who he believes have sucked the US wealth. Signs don't look good. He is threatening businesses with counterproductive measures.

Also read: 'Donald Trump won't tolerate China, Pak's double standards towards India'

Military and nuclear confrontation with China already looks on the table. Trump has ratcheted up nuclear and military expansion rhetoric quoting Russia and China but while he has always been soft on Putin, hoping for 'good deals with Russia', he has never given such indications for Xi Jinping or China. Trump believes that 'One China' policy can be negotiated while China considers it blasphemous. Trump calls the Taiwanese leader breaking decades old US tradition and says it is not a big deal. The South China Sea dispute where it's defiance is directly pitted against the whole world community is another in the series.

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Russia is a big military power and big economy of its region of influence in Europe and Asia with an autocratic president in Vladimir Putin who believes in the unbridled run of power, military expansionism and has increasingly displayed a tendency to interfere in the theatres of conflicts like he is doing in Syria. And as Putin is sitting comfortably at home, crushing all the dissent, if he goes about pursuing his global designs, it will be a development that was just about to happen. The erstwhile USSR was one pole of the once bipolar world and Putin has not forgotten that.

Also read: Donald Trump expected to sign order on temporary ban on refugees

And Trump, it looks like, is giving him a chance. He has indicated that he will lift sanctions imposed on Russia after Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea. The US, so far, led in Syria peace talks but now it is being led by Russia and Turkey with the latest round of talks between Syrian rebels and government representatives in Astana, Kazakhstan's capital. And experts believe this may be the beginning of the process that can effectively see the US dominance, first in the Middle East and then elsewhere, diminished to a great scale, thanks to the Trump's policies that aim to make America an island nation, away from geopolitical tumults and thus stakes, away from the values that the US has globally promoted so far, democracy, free markets and human rights.

Britain is also picking signals from Donald Trump, emboldened by his anti-EU view. Trump says 'Brexit will be great for the UK'.

Also read: No half in, half out Brexit deal; UK will exit European Union's single market: Theresa May

Many in Britain fought hard and championed to create the world's largest economy as a single trading block and single, border-free zone of countries in the form of the European Union (EU) - inspiring the world to create such free zones for men and economies to flow freely. But that is not the case anymore. Britain is leaving the EU, after a bitter referendum, or Brexit, that divided the country. Brexit will make US the world's largest economy again. Britain's new leader Theresa May has said that the legal process has already begun and she is looking forward to meet the staunch EU critic and therefore her big admirer Donald Trump this Friday to negotiate trade deals, like she has done with other countries including India. Trump has also predicted, in his inimitable style, that more countries will follow Britain in leaving the EU.

So, the next few months are going to be very volatile and challenging for the existing world order and geopolitical equations. RUBRIC have set things in motion. What happens only future can tell but the flow of geopolitics is going to be dependent on the movements of these four nations and their leaders.

--- ENDS ---
1. Name and Address of Reporting Person * Hoskins Michelle Y (Last) (First) (Middle) ONE PIERCE PLACE SUITE 1500 (Street) ITASCA IL 60143 (City) (State) (Zip)

2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

FIRST MIDWEST BANCORP INC [ FMBI ]
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

_______________________

FORM 6-K

REPORT OF FOREIGN ISSUER

PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the month of January 2017

(Commission File No. 001-32305)

_______________________

ITAU CORPBANCA

(Translation of registrants name into English)

_______________________

Rosario Norte 660

Las Condes

Santiago, Chile

(Address of registrants principal executive office)

_______________________









Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

Form 20-F  Form 40-F 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101 (b) (1):

Yes  No 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101 (b) (7):

Yes  No 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Yes  No 













On January 20, 2017, Itau Corpbanca issued a press release announcing that on December 20, 2016, Helm LLC filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York and a Request for Arbitration in the ICC International Court of Arbitration against Itau CorpBanca, alleging certain contractual breaches. The press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1.











SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereto duly authorized.

ITAU CORPBANCA (Registrant) By: /s/ Cristian Toro Canas Name: Cristian Toro Canas Title: General Counsel

Date: January 25, 2017.













EXHIBIT INDEX




UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

____________________

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): January 20, 2017

SENSUS HEALTHCARE, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware 001-37714 27-1647271 (State of Incorporation) (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.) 851 Broken Sound Pkwy., NW # 215, Boca Raton, Florida 33487 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (561) 922-5808

___________________________________________________

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

 Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

SENSUS HEALTHCARE, INC.

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

(e)

On January 20, 2017, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors (the Compensation Committee) of Sensus Healthcare, Inc. (the Registrant) approved a grant of 10,000 shares of restricted stock to Arthur Levine, the Registrants principal financial officer, which shares will vest in four equal annual installments beginning on the first anniversary of the date of grant. In addition, the Compensation Committee also approved discretionary cash bonuses for each of Joseph Sardano, the Registrants principal executive officer, Kalman Fishman, a named executive officer of the Registrant, and Mr. Levine. The amounts of the cash bonuses were $90,000, $50,000 and $75,000, respectively. The Compensation Committee awarded the restricted stock grant and cash bonuses in recognition of the respective contributions and achievements of Messrs. Sardano, Fishman and Levine throughout the 2016 fiscal year and, in part, based on certain financial performance metrics of the Registrant for the 2016 fiscal year the Compensation deemed relevant.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K/A

Amendment # 1 to

Current Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): January 17, 2017

GENEREX BIOTECHNOLOGY CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware 000-29169 98-0178636 (State or other jurisdiction of Incorporation) (Commission File Number) (I.R.S Employer Identification No.)

10102 USA Today Way Miramar, Florida 33025 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrants telephone number, including area code: (416) 364-2551

4145 North Service Rd, Suite 200, Burlington, Ontario Canada L7L 6A3

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)  Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

1

Generex Biotechnology Corporation

Form 8-K/A

Amendment to Current Report on Form 8-K dated January 17, 2107

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The purpose of this amendment on Form 8-K/A to Generex Biotechnology Corporations Current Report on Form 8-K dated January 17, 2017 and filed January 20, 2017 is solely to resubmit the Financial Statements of the Business Acquired pursuant to Item 9(a) as some lines were missing from the as-filed financial statements. There were no changes to the financial statements.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(a) Financial Statements of Business Acquired.

In accordance with Item 9.01(a), the Combined Financial Statements of Hema Diagnostic Systems and Associates as of and for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2016, and as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 (unaudited), are included in this Report following the signature page

(c) Pro forma financial information.

Pro Froma financial information required by Item 9.01(c) will be filed by amendment to this Current Report within 71 days after the date of this Current Report.

(d) Exhibits.

The following exhibits are being filed herewith this Current Report:

10.1 Acquisition Agreement among Generex Biotechnology Corporation, Hema Diagnostic Systems, LLC, Stephen L. Berkman and the other Equity Owners of Hema Diagnostic Systems, LLC.

2

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

GENEREX BIOTECHNOLOGY CORPORATION. Date: January 23, 2017 /s/ Joseph Moscato Joseph Moscato President and Chief Executive Officer

3

HEMA DIAGNOSTIC SYSYTEMS, LLC and ASSOCIATES

COMBINED Financial Statements

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page Audited Financial Statements as of and for the Years Ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm F-1 Combined Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 F-2 Combined Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 F-3 Combined Statements of Changes in Owners Equity for the period from January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2015 F-4 Combined Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 F-5 Notes to Combined Financial Statements F-7

36

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The Board of Directors and Shareholders

Hema Diagnostics Systems, LLC

Miramar, Florida

We have audited the accompanying combined balance sheets of Hema Diagnostics Systems, LLC, Hema Diagnostics Systems Panama, PTY and Rapid Medical Diagnostics, Corp. as of December 31, 2015 and 2014, and the related combined statements of operations, owners deficit, and cash flows for the two years then ended. These combined financial statements are the responsibility of the Companys management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these combined financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform an audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the combined financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the combined financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall combined financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the combined financial position of Hema Diagnostics Systems, LLC, Hema Diagnostics Systems Panama, PTY and Rapid Medical Diagnostics, Corp. as of December 31, 2015 and 2014, and the results of its combined operations and cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 2 to the financial statements, the Company has incurred negative working capital and cash flows; and has suffered recurring losses from operations; which raises substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Liggett & Webb, P.A. Boynton Beach, Florida November 7, 2016

F-1





HEMA DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS, LLC and ASSOCIATES

Combined Balance Sheets

December 31, 2015 2014 ASSETS CURRENT ASSETS: Cash $ 29,928 $ 40,499 Accounts receivable, net 5,604 91 Inventory, net 29,303 41,575 Advances and loans receivable 928,174 782,723 TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 993,009 864,888 PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT, NET 12,936 22,767 OTHER ASSETS, NET 38,265 40,829 TOTAL ASSETS $ 1,044,210 $ 928,484 LIABILITIES AND OWNERS' DEFICIT CURRENT LIABILITIES: Accounts payable $ 368,618 $ 367,176 Accrued interest 81,924 54,669 Customer deposits 59,775 59,775 Loan payables - shareholder 14,144,391 14,144,391 Due to affiliates, net 81,054 83,225 Other current liabilities 21,689 29,040 TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES 14,757,451 14,738,276 COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES OWNERS' DEFICIT: Owners equity 5,856,329 4,745,329 Accumulated deficit (19,569,570 ) (18,555,121 ) TOTAL OWNERS' DEFICIT (13,713,241 ) (13,809,792 ) TOTAL LIABILITIES AND OWNERS' DEFICIT $ 1,044,210 $ 928,484

See accompanying notes to the combined financial statements

F-2

HEMA DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS, LLC and ASSOCIATES

Combined Statements of Operations

For the Years Ended December 31, 2015 2014 REVENUES, NET $ 5,703 $ 18,025 COST OF REVENUES 990 9,788 GROSS PROFIT 4,713 8,237 OPERATING EXPENSES Selling and Marketing Expenses 55,750 58,202 Research and Development 534,809 527,257 General and Administrative Expenses: Personnel expense 257,998 256,185 Professional fees 16,216 28,965 Facilities 70,617 64,085 Other general and administrative expenses 55,260 47,456 TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES 990,652 982,150 LOSS FROM OPERATIONS (985,939 ) (973,913 ) OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE) Interest income (expense), net (24,778 ) (25,616 ) Other income (expense), net (3,732 )  TOTAL OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE) (28,510 ) (25,616 ) NET LOSS $ (1,014,449 ) $ (999,529 )

See accompanying notes to the combined financial statements

F-3

HEMA DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS, LLC and ASSOCIATES

Combined Statements of Owners Deficit

For the Years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 Common Stock Shares Amount Owners Equity Accumulated Deficit Total Owners Deficit BALANCE AT JANUARY 1, 2014 100 $ 0 $ 4,745,329 $ (17,555,592 ) $ (12,810,263 ) Net Loss    (999,529 ) (999,529 ) BALANCE AT DECEMBER 31, 2014 100 0 4,745,329 (18,555,121 ) (13,809,792 ) Capital contribution   1,111,000  1,111,000 Net Loss    (1,014,449 ) (1,014,449 ) BALANCE AT DECEMBER 31, 2015 100 $ 0 $ 5,856,329 $ (19,569,570 ) $ (13,713,241 )

See accompanying notes to the combined financial statements

F-4

HEMA DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS, LLC and ASSOCIATES

Combined Statements of Cash Flows

For the Year Ended December 31, 2015 2014 CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES: NET LOSS $ (1,014,449 ) $ (999,529 ) ADJUSTMENTS TO RECONCILE NET LOSS TO NET CASH USED IN OPERATING ACTIVITIES: Depreciation and amortization 11,775 9,284 Allowance for inventory obsolesence 7,750  Loss on disposal of fixed asset 620  Changes in operating assets and liabilities: (Increase) decrease in accounts receivable, net (5,513 ) 1,184 (Increase) decrease in inventory 4,522 6,697 Increase in accounts payable (2,828 ) 2,932 Accrued interest 27,254 28,930 Increase in customer deposits  (2,025 ) Net cash used in operating activities (970,869 ) (952,527 ) CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES: Employee loans (145,451 ) (129,013 ) Purchase of fixed assets  (1,659 ) Due to affiliates 3,773 (329 ) Net cash used in investing activities (141,678 ) (131,001 ) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES: Proceeds from shareholder loans  1,117,873 Repayment of line of credit (3,080 ) (5,329 ) Repament of shareholder loan (5,944 ) (5,944 ) Capital contributions 1,111,000  Net cash provided by financing activities 1,101,976 1,106,600 NET CHANGE IN CASH (10,571 ) 23,072 CASH AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD 40,499 17,427 CASH AT THE END OF THE PERIOD $ 29,927 $ 40,499 SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURES OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION: Cash paid during the period for: Income taxes $  $  Interest $ 30,687 $ 30,903

Non Cash Investing and Financing

During 2015, $296,369 of amounts due from Hema Diagnostics Systems Panama was transferred to our founder and shareholder as partial satisfaction of a balance due him by Hema Diagnostics.

See accompanying notes to the combined financial statements

F-5

HEMA DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS, LLC and ASSOCIATES

Notes to Combined Financial Statements

NOTE 1. ORGANIZATION AND NATURE OF OPERATIONS

The Combined Financial Statements of Hema Diagnostic Systems, LLC and Associates (collectively the Company) include the accounts of Hema Diagnostic Systems, LLC; Hema Diagnostics Systems Panama, PTY and Rapid Medical Diagnostics, Corp as the entities are under common control and management. All transactions and accounts between and among the entities have been eliminated. The Company has evaluated subsequent events through November 7, 2016, which is the date the Combined Financial Statements were available to be issued.

HEMA DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS, LLC (HDS), was founded to market and distribute certain third party medical testing device technology. When new and innovative medical device testing technology became available that was both proprietary from and competitive to the previous third party technology, the principals decided to pursue the commercialization of the new technologies. HDS, a Florida limited liability corporation founded December 14, 2000 and began operations in 2002 to perform product research and development, create distribution channels and sales and marking and administration functions and is currently commercializing the new proprietary medical testing device patents and technology. HDS has not yet begun to generate significant revenues and is still in the process of perfecting production techniques and obtaining the appropriate certifications for a series of medical devices that will be able to detect certain diseases quickly and cost effectively.

HEMA DIAGNOSTICS SYSTEMS PANAMA, PTY (HDP) was established to distribute HDS products in Central and South America. HDS operates as the administration and disbursing arm for HDP. HDS is affiliated with HDP through common ownership and operates under a Management Services Agreements (MSA) that provides for the reimbursement of expenses incurred by HDS on behalf of its affiliates. HDS receives a service fee for performing these administration services as specified in the MSA agreements. The affiliates ability to repay HDS for funds advanced on their behalf, is entirely dependent on the successful commercialization of Rapid Medical Diagnostics technology and the resulting royalty payments generated there from. In late 2015, HDPs balance due to HDS of $295,564 was transferred to a founder and shareholder as partial satisfaction in the balance due to him by HDS.

RAPID MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS, CORP. (RMD) was established to develop products and hold patents for HDS and is affiliated with HDS through common ownership and management. HDS operates as the administration and disbursing arm of RMD in accordance with a Management Services Agreements (MSA) between the parties that provides HDS a service fee for performing these administrative and disbursing services. Consequently, HDS records substantial amounts due from RMD as a result of transactions disbursed by HDS on RMDs behalf. RMDs ability to repay HDS for funds advanced on its behalf, is entirely dependent on the successful commercialization of RMD patents and technologies by HDS and the resulting royalty payments generated there from. RMD has licensed its patents and technologies exclusively to HDS, which will entitle RMD to receive royalties from HDS once those technologies achieve commercial viability (see Note 8). To date there has been no royalty paid to or earned by RMD. Correspondingly, HDS has waived its right to receive service fees under the MSA until HDS successfully commercializes RMDs licensed technologies. In late 2013, RMDs balance due to HDS of approximately $632,000 was transferred to a founder and shareholder as partial satisfaction of the balance due to him by HDS.

F-6

NOTE 2. GOING CONCERN

The accompanying combined financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. The Company generated net losses of approximately $1,014,000 and $1,000,000 for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. The net loss incurred in 2015 has resulted in an accumulated deficit of approximately $19,570,000 and a total Owners deficit of approximately $13,713,000 at December 31, 2015. Financing activities provided approximately $1,111,000 during 2015, which was primarily due to additional capital contribution from a shareholder. During 2016, the Company continues to incur losses and require cash advances.

In response to the losses incurred in 2015, the Company continues to constantly evaluate and monitor its cash needs and existing cash burn rate, in order to make adjustments to its operating expenses. Cash on hand was approximately $30,000 at December 31, 2015.

No assurances can be given that the Company will achieve success in obtaining sufficient levels of end user sell-through necessary to fully sustain its operations, without seeking additional financing. There also can be no assurances that additional financing, if required, can be obtained, or obtained on reasonable terms acceptable to the Company.

NOTE 3. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Use of estimates

The preparation of combined financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (US-GAAP) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Estimates which are particularly significant to the financial statements include estimates relating to the determination of impairment of assets, the useful life of property and equipment and the recoverability of advances.

F-7

NOTE 3. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)

C a s h a nd c a s h e q uiv a len t s

T h e C o m p a n y c o n si d e r s s h o rt - t e r m i n t ere s t b eari n g i n v e s t m e n ts w ith i n i t i al m at u r it ies o f t h r ee m o n t h s o r l e s s t o b e ca s h e q u i v a l e n ts . The Company has no cash equivalents at December 31, 2015 and 2014.

Inventory

Inventory is stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is determined using the Weighted Average method. The Company periodically evaluates its inventory for any obsolete or slow moving items based on production lot# and advances in production design or technology. Any inventory determined to be obsolete or slow moving is removed from inventory and disposed or a provision is made to reduce slow moving inventory to its net realizable value. At December 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company recorded a reserve for obsolescence of $7,750 and $0, respectively.

P r op erty a nd e q uip m ent

P r o p e r ty a n d e q u i p m e n t co n si s ts o f f u r n i t u r e and of f ice e q u i p m e n t, a n d is s tated at c o s t less a c cu m u lated d e pr e c iati o n. De p r e c iati o n is d ete r m i n ed b y u s i n g t h e 200% double declining method for equipment and the s tra i g h t - li n e m et h o d for leasehold improvements, o v er t h e e s t i m at e d us e f u l l i v es o f t h e r elat e d a s s ets, g e n e r al l y f i v e to fifteen y e a r s .

Expenditures for repairs and maintenance of equipment are charged to expense as incurred. Major replacements and betterments are capitalized and depreciated over the remaining useful lives of the related assets.

Intangible assets, net

The Companys intangible assets consist of patent patented technology. Amortization is computed by applying the straight line method based on the remaining patent life. The primary patent expires in 2026.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

The Company evaluates long-lived assets for impairment, including property, plant and equipment and intangible assets, when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of such assets may not be recoverable or the assets are being held for sale. Upon the occurrence of a triggering event, the asset is reviewed to assess whether the estimated undiscounted cash flows expected from the use of the asset plus the residual value from the ultimate disposal exceeds the carrying value of the asset. If the carrying value exceeds the estimated recoverable amounts, the asset is written down to the estimated fair value. Any resulting impairment loss is reflected on the Combined Statements of Operations.

F-8

NOTE 3. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)

Revenue recognition

The Company has yet to fully commercialize its products and secure appropriate permits and licenses necessary to begin full worldwide distribution. The Company has had negligible sales to date, primarily related to trial samples and evaluation of the efficacy and suitability of the products to specific target markets.

Sales and the related cost of sales are recognized primarily upon shipment of products (normally when title passes). The Companys revenue recognition policies are in compliance with ASC Topic 605, which establishes criteria that must be satisfied before revenue is realized or realizable and earned.

The Company recognizes revenue when all of the following four criteria are met:

 persuasive evidence of a sales arrangement exists,

 delivery has occurred,

 the sales price is fixed or determinable and

 collectability is probable.

Income taxes

Hema Diagnostic Systems, LLC is a limited liability corporation. Rapid Medical Diagnostic Corp. is a Subchapter S corporation. Federal and state income tax regulations do not require a limited liability corporation or a Subchapter S corporation to pay income taxes. Rather each members allocable share of the profit or loss is reported in each members individual income tax return. Hema Diagnostics Systems Panama, PTY is a Panamanian company. Due to its operational losses, no taxes are required. Accordingly, no provision or liability for income taxes is reflected for this reporting entity in the accompanying financial statements. The Companys 2012  2015 tax returns remain subject to examination by federal, state or foreign tax authorities.

Risks and uncertainties

The Companys business could be impacted by continuing price pressure on its product manufacturing, acceptance of its products in the market place, new competitors, changing federal and/or state legislation, new technologies and other factors. Adverse changes in these areas could negatively impact the Companys financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

F-9

NOTE 4. RECENTLY ISSUED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS AND DEVELOPMENTS

Accounting standards promulgated by the FASB are subject to change. Changes in such standards may have an impact on the Companys future consolidated financial statements. The following are a summary of recent accounting developments.

In February 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-02, Consolidation (Topic 810)Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis (ASU 2015-02), which provides guidance on evaluating whether a reporting entity should consolidate certain legal entities. Specifically, the amendments modify the evaluation of whether limited partnerships and similar legal entities are variable interest entities (VIEs) or voting interest entities. Further, the amendments eliminate the presumption that a general partner should consolidate a limited partnership, as well as affect the consolidation analysis of reporting entities that are involved with VIEs, particularly those that have fee arrangements and related party relationships. ASU 2015-02 is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, with early adoption permitted. A reporting entity may apply the amendments using a modified retrospective approach or a full retrospective application. The Company is currently evaluating the impact, if any, that adopting ASU 2015-02 will have on its combined financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases, which will amend current lease accounting to require lessees to recognize (i) a lease liability, which is a lessees obligation to make lease payments arising from a lease, measured on a discounted basis, and (ii) a right-of-use asset, which is an asset that represents the lessees right to use, or control the use of, a specified asset for the lease term. ASU 2016-02 does not significantly change lease accounting requirements applicable to lessors; however, certain changes were made to align, where necessary, lessor accounting with the lessee accounting model. This standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. We are currently reviewing the provisions of this ASU to determine if there will be any impact on our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation  Stock Compensation: Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which relates to the accounting for employee share-based payments. This standard addresses several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment award transactions, including: (a) income tax consequences; (b) classification of awards as either equity or liabilities; and (c) classification on the statement of cash flows. This standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those fiscal years. We are currently reviewing the provisions of this ASU to determine if there will be any impact on our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

There were various other accounting standards and interpretations issued in 2015, none of which are expected to have a material impact on the Companys financial position, operations or cash flows.

F-10

NOTE 5. INVENTORY

Inventory at December 31, 2015 and 2014 consisted of the following:

Inventory 2015 2014 Production materials $ 30,281 $ 37,175 Sub-assemblies 5,001 1,900 Finished goods 1,771 2,500 37,053 41,575 Less: Obsolesence reserve (7,750 )  $ 29,303 $ 41,575

Production materials - Consists of certain subcomponents fabricated by outside third parties as well as other components purchased in bulk quantities. The carrying value of these units reflects their direct acquisition cost along with associated transportation costs to the Companys assembly and packaging facilities.

Sub-assemblies - Consists of units partially completed on the assembly line or by outside third parties. The carrying value of these units includes all direct material and labor costs involved to complete the associated assembly.

Finished goods - Consists of completed units in market ready packaging. The carrying value of these units include the cost of components and materials, labor necessary to assemble them.

Obsolescence reserve - Management evaluated the inventory at December 31, 2015 and 2014 and provided an allowance for obsolescence of $7,750 and $0, respectively, primarily associated with production materials and sub-assemblies. Managements evaluation for obsolescence includes identifying materials and components that are not currently or likely to be used in production in the near future as well as tracking certain components by lot number and expiry date.

NOTE 6. ADVANCES and LOANS RECEIVABLE

Advances and Loans Receivable as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 consisted of the following:

Other Current Assets 2015 2014 Advances to officer $ 893,372 $ 749,580 Advances to management 20,635 17,253 Advances to employees 14,167 15,890 $ 928,174 $ 782,723

Advance to officer - Consists of funds advanced to the Companys President and CEO, board member and shareholder. During September 2016, the advance to officer of $893,372 was repaid in full.

F-11

NOTE 6. ADVANCES and LOANS RECEIVABLE (continued)

Advances to management - Consists of funds advanced to the Director of Latin American Sales, board member and shareholder. During October 2016, $14,735 was repaid.

Loans to employees - Consists of funds loaned primarily to one employee. That employee has arranged a payback schedule and commencing in August 2016 began making agreed payments of approximately $950 per month.

NOTE 7. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT

Property and equipment as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 consisted of the following:

Fixed Assets Estimated Useful Lives 2015 2014 Computer Equipment & Software 5 yrs 200DDB $ 10,244 $ 15,360 Equipment 5 yrs 200DDB 47,148 44,364 Furniture 7 yrs 200DDB 1,402 1,402 Lab Equipment 5 yrs 200DDB 23,220 70,166 Leasehold Improvements 15 yrs SL 40,445 40,445 Office Equipment 5 yrs 200DDB 1,990 4,206 Tools 5 yrs 200DDB 12,191 183,495 Total 136,640 359,438 Less Accumulated Depreciation (123,704 ) (336,671 ) Property and Equipment, net $ 12,936 $ 22,767

Depreciation expense for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 totaled $9,212 and $5,840 respectively. Equipment additions during the year ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 were $0 and $1,659, respectively.

NOTE 8. OTHER ASSETS

Other assets as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 consisted of the following:

Other Assets 2015 2014 Deposits $ 8,362 $ 8,362 Patents 51,274 51,274 Less Amortization (21,371 ) (18,807 ) $ 38,265 $ 40,829

Amortization expense for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 totaled $2,563 and $3,444 respectively. The Company has several patents most of which are dormant as the Company lacks the funds to properly commercialize them. The current products and planned future products rely on the Express patent, the costs of which are reflected above. This patent expires in 2026.

F-12

NOTE 9. LOAN PAYABLE - SHAREHOLDER

The Company received substantially all of its funding from its primary shareholder, who owns 98.9% of the Company as of December 31, 2015 and 2014. The Company borrowed $0 and $1,117,873 during the year ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. The loan is unsecured, payable on demand and earns interest at 0.21%. Accordingly, the Company recorded interest expense of $27,255 and $28,083 during the year ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

NOTE 10. TRANSACTIONS with AFFILIATES

Transactions with affiliates as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 consisted of the following:

DTFAffiliates 2015 2014 Due from CWW $ 83,554 $ 83,554 Due from IDMS (2,500 )  Due from PROVET LABS  (329 ) 81,054 83,225 Less: Allowance   $ 81,054 $ 83,225

China World Wide (CWW) - was established 25 years ago to distribute certain third party products that are not competing with HDS products. HDS is affiliated with CWW through common ownership. From inception through 2007, CWW provided supplemental funding to HDS on a non-interest basis. At December 31, 2015 and 2014, HDS had an unpaid balance to CWW of $83,554. CWW has also assisted HDS in the development of its distribution and sourcing in China.

International Diagnostics and Medical Supply Corp. (IDMS) - was established 2 years ago to create hemodialysis facilities on a global scale. These services will not compete with HDS products. HDS is affiliated with IDMS through common ownership. Do to the high initial cost of establishing a hemodialysis facility, IDMS has not yet secured satisfactory funding to execute its business plan. Consequently, it has only engaged in minimal organizational activities. At December 31, 2015 HDS had an unpaid balance due from IDMS of $2,500 advanced to IDMS for legal fees incurred.

ProVet Labs (PROVET) - was established 7 years ago to provide rapid dialysis products for veterinary use. These services will not compete with HDS products. HDS is affiliated with PROVET through common ownership. PROVET has not yet secured satisfactory funding to execute its business plan. Consequently, it has only engaged in minimal organizational activities. At December 31, 2014 HDS had an unpaid balance due from PROVET of $329 advanced to PROVET for business licenses.

F-13

NOTE 11. LICENSES and PATENTS

All patents and licenses are held by Rapid Medical Diagnostics Corporation, an affiliate company through common owners. HDS licenses the rights to certain technologies used in the development, manufacture and commercialization of its products from RMD. Agreements covering these license arrangements were entered into on January 1, 2005 for a term of five years and may be automatically renewed annually, unless either party gives notice 60 days prior to the renewal date. To date the agreements have been renewed annually and are currently in effect. These agreements provide for royalties between the parties, once a commercialized product is marketed and begins distribution.

NOTE 12. COMMITMENTS and CONTINGENCIES

Legal contingencies

From time to time, the Company may be a defendant in pending or threatened legal proceeding arising in the normal course of its business. Management is not aware of any pending, threatened or asserted claims.

Lease commitments

Leases 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 and beyond Total HDS Office Lease $ 13,696 $ 6,979 $  $  $  $ 20,675 Auto Lease 12,259 11,789 11,789 3,930 39,767 Computer Equipment  Lease #1 3,291 823 4,114 Lease #2 1,663 1,663 139 3,465 $ 30,909 $ 21,254 $ 11,928 $ 3,930 $  $ 68,021

HDS Office Lease  Business lease for 5,627 square feet of office and storage space located at 10102 USA Today Way, Miramar FL 33025. The lease term is from May 12, 2012 through June 30, 2017. Having previously been extended, the lease provides no further renewal option. The above payment commitments reflect base rent, estimated common are maintenance costs and applicable sales tax.

Auto Lease  Closed end vehicle lease which called for 39 monthly payments of $1,099.85 for our CEO and President which expires in April of 2016 was replaced with a similar closed end vehicle lease which calls for 36 monthly payments of $982.39 expires April 7, 2019. The above payment commitments reflect both vehicle leases.

Computer Lease  Two leases were originated with the same supplier to provide office computer equipment. Lease #1 calls for 36 monthly payments of $274.21 commencing April 1, 2014 and expiring on March 31, 2017. Lease #2 calls for 36 monthly payments of $138.61 commencing February 19, 2015 and expiring on February 18, 2018.

F-14

NOTE 13. CUSTOMER and SUPPLIER CONCENTRATION

Customer concentration  The Company is currently in the process of commercializing its products and as of December 31, 2015 has not begun any substantial sales or marketing efforts. Accordingly, the Company has recorded only marginal sales to date, which were not of sufficient size to classify the customer as significant to the Companys revenue. Those marginal sales primarily reflect instances where samples and trial products were shipped at a billable value.

Supplier concentration  As the Company is in the process of commercializing its products, the bulk of its purchasing activities are focused on regulatory, legal and consulting services rather than production or branding activities. As to production activities, alternate suppliers of components and raw materials are readily available should the need arise. Legal and consulting services generally relate to intellectual property, regulatory matters and financial consulting. There are a range of alternate consultants available to the Company should the need arise.

NOTE 14. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

Advances to Shareholder/CEO - As of December 31, 2015, the Company had advanced $893,372 to its Shareholder/CEO. In September 2016, the Shareholder/CEO repaid the advances in full.

Loans from shareholder - During the period from January 1, 2016 through November 7, 2016, the Company has received an additional capital contribution of $884,500 from its principal shareholder. The Company also repaid $898,664 of the outstanding debt, bringing the total balance outstanding to $13,245,737. The loan bears interest at 0.21% in 2015, which was raised to 0.75% for 2016 and is payable on demand.

Letter of intent to be acquired (LOI) - On August 26, 2016 the Company received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from Generex Biotechnology Corporation (Generex) to acquire the Company. Generex is a registrant under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Its common stock is traded over the counter under the symbol GNBT. The terms of the agreement provide that:

 HDS will 

o issue a dedicated class of first ranking voting preferred securities representing 51% of the outstanding equity of the Company to Generex

o deliver Stephen Berkmans full and final release of all indebtedness owed by HDS and its affiliates to Generex

 Generex will 

o issue $250,000 worth of Generex restricted common stock plus 250,000 of restricted common shares to Stephen Berkman

o also issue a warrant to acquire up to 15,000,000 shares of Generex common stock to Stephen Berkman

o grant Stephen Berkman one seat on the Generex Board of Directors

o If at any time during 36 months following the closing date, the aggregate value of the stock consideration is equal to or exceeds $15,000,000, be entitled to acquire 100% of the outstanding equity securities of HDS for $1.00.

This LOI expires on November 30, 2016.

F-15

HEMA DIAGNOSTIC SYSYTEMS, LLC and ASSOCIATES

CONDENSED COMBINED Unaudited Financial Statements

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page Unaudited Financial Statements as of and for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 Condensed Combined Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2016 (unaudited) and December 31, 2015 F-16 Unaudited Condensed Combined Statements of Operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 F-17 Unaudited Condensed Combined Statements of Changes in Owners Equity for the period from January 1, 2016 through September 30, 2016 F-18 Unaudited Condensed Combined Statements of Cash Flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 F-19 Notes to Condensed Combined Unaudited Financial Statements F-20

F-16

HEMA DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS, LLC and ASSOCIATES

Condensed Combined Balance Sheets

September 30, December 31, 2016 (unaudited) 2015 ASSETS CURRENT ASSETS: Cash $ 25,441 $ 29,928 Accounts receivable, net 7,571 5,604 Inventory, net 33,524 29,303 Advances and loan receivables 113,128 928,174 TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 179,664 993,009 PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT, NET 6,640 12,936 OTHER ASSETS, NET 36,343 38,265 TOTAL ASSETS $ 222,647 $ 1,044,210 LIABILITIES AND OWNERS' DEFICIT CURRENT LIABILITIES: Accounts payable $ 425,128 $ 368,618 Accrued interest 158,788 81,924 Customer deposits 59,775 59,775 Loan payables - shareholder 13,260,472 14,144,391 Due to affiliates 80,504 81,054 Other current liabilities 25,994 21,689 TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES 14,010,661 14,757,451 COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES OWNERS' DEFICIT: Owners equity 6,740,829 5,856,329 Accumulated deficit (20,528,843 ) (19,569,570 ) TOTAL OWNERS' DEFICIT (13,788,014 ) (13,713,241 ) TOTAL LIABILITIES AND OWNERS' DEFICIT $ 222,647 $ 1,044,210

See accompanying notes to the condensed combined unaudited financial statements

F-17

HEMA DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS, LLC and ASSOCIATES

Condensed Combined Statements of Operations

(Unaudited)

For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016 2015 REVENUES, NET $ 16,963 $ 4,828 COST OF REVENUES 12,414 2,788 GROSS PROFIT 4,549 2,040 OPERATING EXPENSES Selling and Marketing Expenses 32,197 57,029 Research and Development 407,609 384,100 General and Administrative Expenses: Personnel expense 212,920 193,220 Professional fees 147,787 6,428 Facilities 52,222 53,166 Other general and administrative expenses 36,613 32,272 TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES 889,348 726,215 LOSS FROM OPERATIONS (884,799 ) (724,175 ) OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE) Interest income (expense), net (79,572 ) (24,874 ) Other income (expense), net 5,098 2,445 TOTAL OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE) (74,474 ) (22,428 ) NET LOSS $ (959,273 ) $ (746,603 )

See accompanying notes to the condensed combined unaudited financial statements

F-18

HEMA DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS, LLC and ASSOCIATES

Condensed Combined Statements of Owners Deficit

For The Nine months ended September 30, 2016

(Unaudited)

Common Stock Shares Amount Owners Equity Accumulated Deficit Total Owners Deficit BALANCE AT JANUARY 1, 2016 100 0 $ 5,856,329 $ (19,569,570 ) $ (13,713,241 ) Capital contribution   884,500  884,500 Net Loss    (959,273 ) (959,273 ) BALANCE AT SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 100 0 $ 6,740,829 $ (20,528,844 ) $ (13,788,014 )

See accompanying notes to the condensed combined unaudited financial statements

F-19

HEMA DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS, LLC and ASSOCIATES

Condensed Combined Statements of Cash Flows

(Unaudited)

For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016 2015 CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES: NET LOSS $ (959,273 ) $ (746,603 ) ADJUSTMENTS TO RECONCILE NET LOSS TO NET CASH USED IN OPERATING ACTIVITIES: Depreciation and amortization 8,218 8,832 Changes in operating assets and liabilities: (Increase) decrease in accounts receivable, net (1,967 ) (4,017 ) (Increase) decrease in inventory (4,221 ) (3,469 ) Increase in accounts payable and accrued expenses 56,511 6,926 Increase in customer deposits 76,863 24,520 Decrease in other current liabilities 4,305 3,199 Net cash used in operating activities (819,564 ) (710,612 ) CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES: Employee advances 815,046 (105,592 ) Decrease (increase) in other assets  (5,151 ) Due to affiliates (550 )  Net cash used in investing activities 814,496 (110,742 ) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES: Capital contribution 884,500 793,400 Proceeds from shareholder loans (883,919 ) 236 Net cash provided by financing activities 581 793,636 NET CHANGE IN CASH (4,487 ) (27,718 ) CASH AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD 29,928 40,499 CASH AT THE END OF THE PERIOD $ 25,441 $ 12,781 SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURES OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION: Cash paid during the period for: Income taxes $  $  Interest $  $ 

See accompanying notes to the condensed combined unaudited financial statements

F-20

HEMA DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS, LLC and ASSOCIATES

Notes to Condensed Combined Unaudited Financial Statements

For the Nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 (unaudited)

NOTE 1. ORGANIZATION AND NATURE OF OPERATIONS

The Combined Financial Statements of Hema Diagnostic Systems, LLC and Associates (collectively the Company) include the accounts of Hema Diagnostic Systems, LLC; Hema Diagnostics Systems Panama, PTY and Rapid Medical Diagnostics, Corp. as the entities are under common control and management. All transactions and accounts between and among the entities have been eliminated. The Company has evaluated subsequent events through November 17, 2016, which is the date the Combined Financial Statements were available to be issued.

HEMA DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS, LLC (HDS), was founded to market and distribute certain third party medical testing device technology. When new and innovative medical device testing technology became available that was both proprietary from and competitive to the previous third party technology, the principals decided to pursue the commercialization of the new technologies. HDS, a Florida limited liability corporation founded December 14, 2000 and began operations in 2002 to perform product research and development, create distribution channels and sales and marketing and administration functions and is currently commercializing the new proprietary medical testing device patents and technology. HDS has not yet begun to generate significant revenues and is still in the process of perfecting production techniques and obtaining the appropriate certifications for a series of medical devices that will be able to detect certain diseases quickly and cost effectively.

HEMA DIAGNOSTICS SYSTEMS PANAMA, PTY (HDP) was established to distribute HDS products in Central and South America. HDS operates as the administration and disbursing arm for HDP. HDS is affiliated with HDP through common ownership and operates under a Management Services Agreements (MSA) that provides for the reimbursement of expenses incurred by HDS on behalf of its affiliates. HDS receives a service fee for performing these administration services as specified in the MSA agreements. The affiliates ability to repay HDS for funds advanced on their behalf, is entirely dependent on the successful commercialization of Rapid Medical Diagnostics technology and the resulting royalty payments generated there from.

RAPID MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS, CORP. (RMD) was established to develop products and hold patents for HDS and is affiliated with HDS through common ownership and management. HDS operates as the administration and disbursing arm of RMD in accordance with a Management Services Agreements (MSA) between the parties that provides HDS a service fee for performing these administrative and disbursing services. Consequently, HDS records substantial amounts due from RMD as a result of transactions disbursed by HDS on RMDs behalf. RMDs ability to repay HDS for funds advanced on its behalf, is entirely dependent on the successful commercialization of RMD patents and technologies by HDS and the resulting royalty payments generated there from. RMD has licensed its patents and technologies exclusively to HDS, which will entitle RMD to receive royalties from HDS once those technologies achieve commercial viability. To date there has been no royalty paid to or earned by RMD. Correspondingly, HDS has waived its right to receive service fees under the MSA until HDS successfully commercializes RMDs licensed technologies.

F-21

NOTE 2. GOING CONCERN

The accompanying combined financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. The Company generated net losses of approximately $959,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2016. The net loss incurred in 2016 has resulted in an accumulated deficit of approximately $20,529,000 and a total Owners deficit of approximately $13,788,000 at September 30, 2016.

In response to the losses incurred in 2016, the Company continues to constantly evaluate and monitor its cash needs and existing cash burn rate, in order to make adjustments to its operating expenses. Cash on hand was approximately $25,000 at September 30, 2016.

No assurances can be given that the Company will achieve success in obtaining sufficient levels of end user sell-through necessary to fully sustain its operations, without seeking additional financing. The Company intends to pursue the equity transaction discussed in Note 14, seek additional lending, equity or joint venture partners. However, there can be no assurances that additional financing, if required, can be obtained, or obtained on reasonable terms acceptable to the Company.

NOTE 3. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed combined financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP) for interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, such statements include all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring items) which are considered necessary for a fair presentation of the unaudited condensed combined financial position of Hema Diagnostic Systems, LLC and Associates as of September 30, 2016 and the unaudited condensed combined results of its operations and cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2016. The unaudited condensed combined results of operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the operating results for the full year. It is recommended that these unaudited condensed combined financial statements be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and related disclosures of the Company for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014.

Use of estimates

The preparation of combined financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (US-GAAP) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Estimates which are particularly significant to the financial statements include estimates relating to the determination of impairment of assets, the useful life of property and equipment and the recoverability of advances.

F-22

NOTE 3. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)

C a s h a nd c a s h e q uiv a len t s

T h e C o m p a n y c o n si d e r s s h o rt - t e r m i n t ere s t b eari n g i n v e s t m e n ts w ith i n i t i al m at u r it ies o f t h r ee m o n t h s o r l e s s t o b e ca s h e q u i v a l e n ts . The Company has no cash equivalents at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015.

Inventory

Inventory is stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is determined using the Weighted Average method. The Company periodically evaluates its inventory for any obsolete or slow moving items based on production lot# and advances in production design or technology. Any inventory determined to be obsolete or slow moving is removed from inventory and disposed or a provision is made to reduce slow moving inventory to its net realizable value. At September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, the Company recorded a reserve for obsolescence of $7,750 and $7,750, respectively.

P r op erty a nd e q uip m ent

P r o p e r ty a n d e q u i p m e n t co n si s ts o f f u r n i t u r e and of f ice e q u i p m e n t, a n d is s tated at c o s t less a c cu m u lated d e pr e c iati o n. De p r e c iati o n is d ete r m i n ed b y u s i n g t h e 200% double declining method for equipment and the s tra i g h t - li n e m et h o d for leasehold improvements, o v er t h e e s t i m at e d us e f u l l i v es o f t h e r elat e d a s s ets, g e n e r al l y f i v e to fifteen y e a r s .

Expenditures for repairs and maintenance of equipment are charged to expense as incurred. Major replacements and betterments are capitalized and depreciated over the remaining useful lives of the related assets.

Intangible assets, net

The Companys intangible assets consist of patent patented technology. Amortization is computed by applying the straight line method based on the remaining patent life. The primary patent expires in 2024.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

The Company evaluates long-lived assets for impairment, including property, plant and equipment and intangible assets, when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of such assets may not be recoverable or the assets are being held for sale. Upon the occurrence of a triggering event, the asset is reviewed to assess whether the estimated undiscounted cash flows expected from the use of the asset plus the residual value from the ultimate disposal exceeds the carrying value of the asset. If the carrying value exceeds the estimated recoverable amounts, the asset is written down to the estimated fair value. Any resulting impairment loss is reflected on the Combined Statements of Operations.

F-23

NOTE 3. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)

Revenue recognition

The Company has yet to fully commercialize its products and secure appropriate permits and licenses necessary to begin full worldwide distribution. The Company has had negligible sales to date, primarily related to trial samples and evaluation of the efficacy and suitability of the products to specific target markets.

Sales and the related cost of sales are recognized primarily upon shipment of products (normally when title passes). The Companys revenue recognition policies are in compliance with ASC Topic 605, which establishes criteria that must be satisfied before revenue is realized or realizable and earned.

The Company recognizes revenue when all of the following four criteria are met:

 persuasive evidence of a sales arrangement exists,

 delivery has occurred,

 the sales price is fixed or determinable and

 collectability is probable.

Income taxes

Hema Diagnostic Systems, LLC is a limited liability corporation. Rapid Medical Diagnostic Corp. is a Subchapter S corporation. Federal and state income tax regulations do not require a limited liability corporation or a Subchapter S corporation to pay income taxes. Rather each members allocable share of the profit or loss is reported in each members individual income tax return. Hema Diagnostics Systems Panama, PTY is a Panamanian company. Due to its operational losses, no taxes are required. Accordingly, no provision or liability for income taxes is reflected for this reporting entity in the accompanying financial statements. The Companys 2012  2015 tax returns remain subject to examination by federal, state or foreign tax authorities.

St o c k - B a s e d p ayments

The Company accounts for transactions in which services are received in exchange for stock based on the fair value of such services received from non-employees, in accordance with ASC 505-50, "Equity Based Payments to Non-employees."

The Company follows ASC 718, "Compensation  Stock Compensation", in accounting for its stock based payments. This standard states that compensation cost or the value of stock issued for services are measured at the grant date based on the value of the stock granted and is recognized over the vesting or service period.

Risks and uncertainties

The Companys business could be impacted by continuing price pressure on its product manufacturing, acceptance of its products in the market place, new competitors, changing federal and/or state legislation, new technologies and other factors. Adverse changes in these areas could negatively impact the Companys financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

F-24

NOTE 4. RECENTLY ISSUED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS AND DEVELOPMENTS

Accounting standards promulgated by the FASB are subject to change. Changes in such standards may have an impact on the Companys future consolidated financial statements. The following are a summary of recent accounting developments.

In February 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-02, Consolidation (Topic 810)Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis (ASU 2015-02), which provides guidance on evaluating whether a reporting entity should consolidate certain legal entities. Specifically, the amendments modify the evaluation of whether limited partnerships and similar legal entities are variable interest entities (VIEs) or voting interest entities. Further, the amendments eliminate the presumption that a general partner should consolidate a limited partnership, as well as affect the consolidation analysis of reporting entities that are involved with VIEs, particularly those that have fee arrangements and related party relationships. ASU 2015-02 is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, with early adoption permitted. A reporting entity may apply the amendments using a modified retrospective approach or a full retrospective application. The Company is currently evaluating the impact, if any, that adopting ASU 2015-02 will have on its combined financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases, which will amend current lease accounting to require lessees to recognize (i) a lease liability, which is a lessees obligation to make lease payments arising from a lease, measured on a discounted basis, and (ii) a right-of-use asset, which is an asset that represents the lessees right to use, or control the use of, a specified asset for the lease term. ASU 2016-02 does not significantly change lease accounting requirements applicable to lessors; however, certain changes were made to align, where necessary, lessor accounting with the lessee accounting model. This standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. We are currently reviewing the provisions of this ASU to determine if there will be any impact on our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation  Stock Compensation: Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which relates to the accounting for employee share-based payments. This standard addresses several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment award transactions, including: (a) income tax consequences; (b) classification of awards as either equity or liabilities; and (c) classification on the statement of cash flows. This standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those fiscal years. We are currently reviewing the provisions of this ASU to determine if there will be any impact on our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

There were various other accounting standards and interpretations issued in 2015 and 2016, none of which are expected to have a material impact on the Companys financial position, operations or cash flows.

F-25

NOTE 5. INVENTORY

Inventory at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015 consisted of the following:

Inventory 2016 2015 Production materials $ 33,964 $ 30,281 Sub-assemblies 4,031 5,001 Finished goods 3,279 1,771 41,274 37,053 Less: Obsolescence reserve (7,750 ) (7,750 ) $ 33,524 $ 29,303

Production materials - Consists of certain subcomponents fabricated by outside third parties as well as other components purchased in bulk quantities. The carrying value of these units reflects their direct acquisition cost along with associated transportation costs to the Companys assembly and packaging facilities.

Sub-assemblies - Consists of units partially completed on the assembly line or by outside third parties. The carrying value of these units includes all direct material and labor costs involved to complete the associated assembly.

Finished goods - Consists of completed units in market ready packaging. The carrying value of these units include the cost of components, materials and labor necessary to assemble them.

Obsolescence reserve - Management evaluated the inventory at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015 and provided an allowance for obsolescence of $7,750 and $7,750, respectively, primarily associated with production materials and sub-assemblies. Managements evaluation for obsolescence includes identifying materials and components that are not currently or likely to be used in production in the near future as well as tracking certain components by lot number and expiry date.

NOTE 6. ADVANCES and LOANS RECEIVABLE

Advances and Loans Receivable as of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015 consisted of the following:

Other Current Assets 2016 2015 Loan to officer $ 78,331 $ 893,372 Employee advances 16,013 20,635 Loan to employees 18,784 14,167 $ 113,128 $ 928,174

F-26

NOTE 6. ADVANCES and LOANS RECEIVABLE (continued)

Advance to officer - Consists of funds advanced to the Companys President and CEO, board member and shareholder. During September 2016, the CEO repaid $897,000.

Advances to management - Consists of funds advanced to the Director of Latin American Sales, board member and shareholder. During October 2016, $14,735 was repaid.

Loans to employees - Consists of funds loaned primarily to one employee. That employee has arranged a payback schedule and commencing in August 2016 began making agreed payments of approximately $950 per month.

NOTE 7. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT

Property and equipment as of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015 consisted of the following:

Fixed Assets Estimated Useful Lives 2016 2015 Computer Equipment & Software 5 yrs 200DDB $ 10,244 $ 10,244 Equipment 5 yrs 200DDB 47,148 47,148 Furniture 7 yrs 200DDB 1,402 1,402 Lab Equipment 5 yrs 200DDB 23,220 23,220 Leasehold Improvements 15 yrs SL 40,445 40,445 Office Equipment 5 yrs 200DDB 1,990 1,990 Tools 5 yrs 200DDB 12,191 12,191 Total 136,640 136,640 Less Accumulated Depreciation (130,000 ) (123,704 ) Property and Equipment, net $ 6,640 $ 12,936

Depreciation expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 totaled $6,296 and $6,910, respectively.

NOTE 8. OTHER ASSETS

Other assets as of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015 consisted of the following:

Other Assets 2016 2015 Deposits $ 8,362 $ 8,362 Patents 51,274 51,274 Less Amortization (23,294 ) (21,371 )   $ 36,343 $ 38,266

F-27

NOTE 8. OTHER ASSETS (continued)

Amortization expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 totaled $1,922 and $1,922, respectively. The Company has several patents most of which are dormant as the Company lacks the funds to properly commercialize them. The current products and planned future products rely on the Express patent, the costs of which are reflected above. This patent expires in 2027.

NOTE 9. LOAN PAYABLE - SHAREHOLDER

The Company received substantially all of its funding from its primary shareholder, who owns 98.9% of the Company as of September 30, 2016. The Company borrowed no funds during the period from January 1, 2016 through September 30, 2016. However, the Company repaid $883,919 in September 2016. The loan is unsecured, payable on demand and earns interest for 2016 at 0.75%, which was increased from 0.21% for 2015. Accordingly, the Company recorded interest expense of $76,863 and $24,874 during the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively..

NOTE 10. TRANSACTIONS with AFFILIATES

Transactions with affiliates as of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015 consisted of the following:

DTFAffiliates 2016 2015 Due from HDS Panama $  $  Due from IDMS (2,500 ) (2,500 ) Due from RMD (550 )  Loan CWW 83,554 83,554 80,504 81,054 Less: Allowance   $ 80,504 $ 81,054

China World Wide (CWW) - was established 25 years ago to distribute certain third party products that are not competing with HDS products. HDS is affiliated with CWW through common ownership. From inception through 2007, CWW provided supplemental funding to HDS on a non-interest basis. At December 31, 2015 HDS had an unpaid balance to CWW of $83,554. CWW has also assisted HDS in the development of its distribution and sourcing in China.

International Diagnostics and Medical Supply Corp. (IDMS) - was established 2 years ago to create hemodialysis facilities on a global scale. These services will not compete with HDS products. HDS is affiliated with IDMS through common ownership. Do to the high initial cost of establishing a hemodialysis facility, IDMS has not yet secured satisfactory funding to execute its business plan. Consequently, it has only engaged in minimal organizational activities. At September 30, 2016 HDS had an unpaid balance due from IDMS of $2,500 advanced to IDMS for legal fees incurred.

F-28

NOTE 11. LICENSES and PATENTS

All patents and licenses are held by Rapid Medical Diagnostics Corporation, an affiliate company through common owners. HDS licenses the rights to certain technologies used in the development, manufacture and commercialization of its products from RMD. Agreements covering these license arrangements were entered into on January 1, 2005 for a term of five years and may be automatically renewed annually, unless either party gives notice 60 days prior to the renewal date. To date the agreements have been renewed annually and are currently in effect. These agreements provide for royalties between the parties, once a commercialized product is marketed and begins distribution.

NOTE 12. COMMITMENTS and CONTINGENCIES

Legal contingencies

From time to time, the Company may be a defendant in pending or threatened legal proceeding arising in the normal course of its business. Management is not aware of any pending, threatened or asserted claims.

Operating lease commitments

Leases 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 and beyond Total HDS Office Lease $ 20,938 $ 41,876 $  $  $  $ 62,814 Auto Lease 2,947 11,788 11,788 5,892 32,415 Computer Equipment  Lease #1 823 823 1,645 Lease #2 416 1,663 139 2,218 Office Copier 1,469 4,406 4,406 4,406 4,682 19,369 $ 26,592 $ 60,556 $ 16,333 $ 10,298 $ 4,682 $ 118,461

HDS Office Lease  Business lease for 5,627 square feet of office and storage space located at 10102 USA Today Way, Miramar FL 33025. The lease term is from May 12, 2012 through June 30, 2017. Having previously been extended, the lease provides no further renewal option. The above payment commitments reflect base rent, estimated common are maintenance costs and applicable sales tax.

Auto Lease  Closed end vehicle lease which called for 39 monthly payments of $1,099 for our CEO and President which expires in April of 2016 was replaced with a similar closed end vehicle lease which calls for 36 monthly payments of $982 expires April 7, 2019. The above payment commitments reflect both vehicle leases.

F-29

NOTE 12. COMMITMENTS and CONTINGENCIES (continued)

Computer Lease  Two leases were originated with the same supplier to provide office computer equipment. Lease #1 calls for 36 monthly payments of $274 commencing April 1, 2014 and expiring on March 31, 2017. Lease #2 calls for 36 monthly payments of $139 commencing February 19, 2015 and expiring on February 18, 2018.

Copier Lease  The lease was originated to provide office copier equipment. The lease calls for 60 monthly payments of $367 commencing June 3, 2016 and expiring on May 3, 2021.

NOTE 13. CUSTOMER and SUPPLIER CONCENTRATION

Customer concentration  The Company is currently in the process of commercializing its products and as of September 30, 2016 has not begun any substantial sales or marketing efforts. Accordingly, the Company has recorded only marginal sales to date, which were not of sufficient size to classify the customer as significant to the Companys revenue. Those marginal sales primarily reflect instances where samples and trial products were shipped at a billable value.

Supplier concentration  As the Company is in the process of commercializing its products, the bulk of its purchasing activities are focused on regulatory, legal and consulting services rather than production or branding activities. As to production activities, alternate suppliers of components and raw materials are readily available should the need arise. Legal and consulting services generally relate to intellectual property, regulatory matters and financial consulting. There are a range of alternate consultants available to the Company should the need arise.

NOTE 14. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

Advances from shareholder - During the period from October 1, 2016 through November 17, 2016, the Company has received an additional capital contribution of $192,500 from its principal shareholder. The Company repaid $14,735 of its outstanding loan balance due to its principal shareholder, bringing the total balance outstanding to $13,245,737. The loan bears interest at 0.75% during 2016 and is payable on demand.

Letter of intent to be acquired (LOI) - On August 26, 2016 the Company received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from Generex Biotechnology Corporation (Generex) to acquire the Company. Generex is a registrant under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Its common stock is traded over the counter under the symbol GNBT. The terms of the agreement provide that:

 HDS will 

o issue a dedicated class of first ranking voting preferred securities representing 51% of the outstanding equity of the Company to Generex

o deliver Stephen Berkmans full and final release of all indebtedness owed by HDS and its affiliates to Generex

F-30

NOTE 14. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS (continued)

 Generex will 

o issue $250,000 worth of Generex restricted common stock plus 250,000 of restricted common shares to Stephen Berkman

o also issue a warrant to acquire up to 15,000,000 shares of Generex common stock to Stephen Berkman

o grant Stephen Berkman one seat on the Generex Board of Directors

o If at any time during 36 months following the closing date, the aggregate value of the stock consideration is equal to or exceeds $15,000,000, be entitled to acquire 100% of the outstanding equity securities of HDS for $1.00.

This LOI expires on November 30, 2016.
Marriyum Aurangzeb says PTI Chief is levelling unfounded allegations against PM, his family without any evidence.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that PTI Chief Imran Khan has again failed to submit any proof before the apex court in Panama Papers case.

In an interview, she said PTI Chief is levelling unfounded allegations against Prime Minister and his family without any evidence.

The Minister said that all documents with regard to Maryam Nawaz have been submitted in the court.

Responding to a question, she said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will accept decision of the apex court.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family to submit documents regarding the distribution of properties after the demise of Mian Muhammad Sharif in 2004.

A five-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa asked the premiers counsel to submit documents regarding the settlement of Sharif properties.

During the hearing, Maryam Nawazs counsel Shahid Hamid stated that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf submitted forged documents to establish that the premiers daughter is the beneficial owner of London flats. The signatures do not match, he upheld.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan, however, observed that forgery is a question of fact. He said there are two aspects to the issue, one being Maryams dependency on her father and second that she acted as the front man for PM Nawaz and all properties belong to him.

Another member of the bench, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, observed that whether or not Maryam is dependent on PM Nawaz is a disputed question, thus the top court cannot adjudicate the matter as it requires recording of evidences.

Meanwhile, Hamid submitted that a similar matter is pending in the Election Commission of Pakistan.

On Tuesday, Maryam disowned a signature  purported to be hers  on a document, which shows that she is the beneficial owner of the Sharif familys properties in London as revealed by the Panama Papers in April 2016.

Maryam, through her counsel Shahid Hamid, submitted a reply before the Supreme Courts five-judge larger bench hearing the Panamagate case. In the reply, she denied two key evidences the PTI presented to establish that she is the beneficial owner of the London flats.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief Imran Khan has said that if decision was made on the properties of Maryam Nawaz, Panamagate case will come to an end.

Talking to media at Supreme Court, he said that Maryam had to provide evidence whether he was beneficial owner or trustee of the London flats.

He said that he did not consider it as appropriate to talks about someones female family members, but Shahid Hamid had admitted that Maryam had been living with Prime Minister Nawaz Sahrif.
PM Nawaz said that Pakistan considers itself a close friend and trade partner of Japan who cooperated in Operation Zarb-e-Azb against terrorism to ensure peace. We are hopeful that Japan will review the decision of including Pakistan in its travel advisory list, he expressed hoped.

The premier asked Japan to consider a three to four year tariff exemption for Pakistani textile products. The move will facilitate the countrys struggling textile industry.

He suggested that there are plenty of investment opportunities between Japan and Pakistan in the fields of trade, energy and infrastructure development. Both countries need to sign bilateral free trade agreements, he said. Nawaz Sharif stated that he will welcome the investment by Japanese companies in Pakistani industry.

On the other hand, Japanese ambassador praised economic growth in Pakistan. He said that Pakistan has become a suitable country for business in the sight of Japan.
President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders blocking visas to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, all Muslim-majority nations.

Trump is also expected to order a multi-month ban on allowing refugees into the United States except for religious minorities escaping persecution.

By Reuters: Immigrant and refugee advocates on Wednesday denounced White House plans to temporarily stop receiving refugees and suspend visas for people from seven Middle Eastern and North African countries, saying they target Muslims and will make America less safe.

Making good on campaign promises, President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders blocking visas to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, all Muslim-majority nations, according to several congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter.

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Trump, who took office last Friday, is also expected to order a multi-month ban on allowing refugees into the United States except for religious minorities escaping persecution, until more aggressive vetting is in place, said the aides and experts, who asked not to be identified.

US' REPUTATION SOILED?

The administration's aim is to head off Islamist violence in the United States, but critics say the measures soil America's reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants of all kinds.

Also read: Donald Trump expected to sign order on temporary ban on refugees

Also read: Donald Trump dials PM Modi: Here is what the two leaders discussed

"The president needs to know he's an absolute fool for fostering this kind of hostility in his first few days. This will inflame violence against Americans around the world," said Seth Kaper-Dale, a pastor at the Reformed Church of Highland Park, New Jersey, which he said helped resettle 28 refugee and asylum-seeking families in the state last year.

Before his November 8 election victory, Trump, a Republican, pledged to stop taking refugees from Syria and immigrants from countries deemed to pose a terrorism risk.

MUSLIMS, THE SOLE TARGET

"Muslims, we believe, are the sole targets of these orders," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group.

"These orders are a disturbing confirmation of Islamophobic and un-American policy proposals made during the presidential election campaign," Awad told a news conference in Washington. "Never before in our country's history have we purposely, as a matter of policy, imposed a ban on immigrants or refugees on the basis of religion."

Also read: Donald Trump signs executive order withdrawing US from free-trade pact

During the campaign, Trump originally proposed a ban on all Muslims entering the country, a measure that almost certainly would have faced legal challenges for discrimination on the basis of religion. He later altered his stance to target countries known to be sources of terrorism.

"Actions to build a wall around us, criminalize a religion, and to strike fear in the heart of immigrants make Trump's America look more like a police state than the republic we truly are," Wade Henderson, president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a statement.

--- ENDS ---

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Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide financial assistance of Rs3.4 billion for the construction of the Swat Expressway, state-owned Radio Pakistan reported Wednesday.

The total cost of the Swat Expressway mega project was estimated to be Rs38bn when it was first launched. It was envisaged as a collaborative effort involving the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government under the Public-Private Partnership Act, 2014.

The 113-kilometre-long expressway will connect the Karnal Sher Khan Interchange on the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway with Chakdara, and onward to Kalam, tunneling its way through mountains at Palai and Ala Dhand.

Pakhtunkhwa Highway Authority (PKHA) officials said the length of the tunnels had been estimated at about two kilometres.

Read more: Notification for CPEC security force issued by interior ministry

With the completion of the road, the journey from Karnal Sher Khan Interchange to Chakdara will be reduced to 45 minutes.

The four-lane expressway is expected to boost trade, business and tourism in the Malakand Division, Radio Pak said. The area is also expected to experience development as the expressway eases access to major marketplaces.

The areas benefiting from the project had been largely cut off from major routes, making transportation and business extremely difficult.

Read also: German companies keen to join CPEC

The route is also expected to boost tourism in Swat and adjacent areas.

According to PKHA officials, the expressway is also of strategic importance as it will provide easy and quick access to remote areas that were previously inaccessible.
China said on Tuesday it had irrefutable sovereignty over disputed islands in the South China Sea after the White House vowed to defend international territories in the strategic waterway.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer in his comments on Monday signaled a sharp departure from years of cautious US handling of Chinas assertive pursuit of territorial claims in Asia.

The US is going to make sure that we protect our interests there, Spicer said when asked if Trump agreed with comments by his secretary of state nominee, Rex Tillerson. On Jan. 11, Tillerson said China should not be allowed access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea.

Its a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yeah, were going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country, he said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing on Tuesday the United States is not a party to the South China Sea dispute.

China claims most of the South China Sea, while Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei claims parts of the sea that commands strategic sealanes and has rich fishing grounds along with oil and gas deposits.

Also read: China confirms its carrier held drills in South China Sea

Chinas sovereignty over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea was irrefutable Hua said. But China was also dedicated to protecting freedom of navigation and wants talks with nations directly involved to find a peaceful solution.

We urge the United States to respect the facts, speak and act cautiously to avoid harming the peace and stability of the South China Sea, Hua said.

Our actions in the South China Sea are reasonable and fair. No matter what changes happen in other countries, what they say or what they want to do, Chinas resolve to protect its sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea will not change, she added.

Tillersons remarks at his Senate confirmation hearing prompted Chinese state media to say at the time that the United States would need to wage war to bar Chinas access to the islands, where it has built military-length air strips and installed weapons systems.

Tillerson was asked at the hearing whether he supported a more aggressive posture toward China and said: Were going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.

The former Exxon Mobil Corp chairman and chief executive did not elaborate on what might be done to deny China access to the islands.

But analysts said his comments, like those of Spicer, suggested the possibility of U.S. military action, or even a naval blockade. Such action would risk an armed confrontation with China, an increasingly formidable nuclear-armed military power. It is also the worlds second-largest economy and the target of Trump accusations it is stealing American jobs.

Spicer declined to elaborate when asked how the United States could enforce such a move against China, except to say: I think, as we develop further, well have more information on it.

Tillerson narrowly won approval from a Senate committee on Monday and is expected to win confirmation from the full Senate.

Military experts said that while the U.S. Navy has extensive capabilities in Asia to stage blockading operations with ships, submarines and planes, any such move against Chinas growing naval fleets would risk a dangerous escalation.

Aides have said that Trump plans a major naval build-up in East Asia to counter Chinas rise.

Chinas foreign ministry said earlier this month it could not guess what Tillerson meant by his remarks, which came after Trump questioned Washingtons longstanding and highly sensitive one-China policy over Taiwan.

Washington-based South China Sea expert Mira Rapp-Hooper at the Center for a New American Security called the threats to bar Chinas access in the South China Sea incredible and said it had no basis in international law.

A blockade  which is what would be required to actually bar access  is an act of war, she added.

Read more: China, Vietnam agree to manage differences on South China Sea

The Trump administration has begun to draw red lines in Asia that they will almost certainly not be able to uphold, but they may nonetheless be very destabilizing to the relationship with China, invite crises, and convince the rest of the world that the United States is an unreliable partner.

Bonnie Glaser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank called Spicers remarks worrisome and said the new administration was sending confusing and conflicting messages.

Dean Cheng, a China expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Spicers remarks showed the South China Sea was an important issue for the Trump administration.

He said it was significant that neither Spicer nor Tillerson had been specific as to what actions would be taken and this left open the possibility that economic measures  instead of military steps  could be used against China and firms that carry out island building.
The border security measures probably include directing the construction of a border wall with Mexico and other actions to cut the number of illegal immigrants living in the United States.

By Reuters: U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders starting on Wednesday that include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries, say congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter.

Trump, who tweeted that a "big day" was planned on national security on Wednesday, is expected to ban for several months the entry of refugees into the United States, except that of religious minorities escaping persecution, until more aggressive vetting is in place.

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Another order will block the visas being issued to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, said the aides and experts, who asked not to be identified.

In his tweet late on Tuesday, Trump said,"Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"

The border security measures probably include directing the construction of a border wall with Mexico and other actions to cut the number of illegal immigrants living in the United States.

ALSO READ: After misspelling unprecedented as 'unpresidented', 'honored' is Donald Trump's latest gaffe

Sources say the first of the orders will be signed on Wednesday. With Trump considering measures to tighten border security, he could turn his attention to the refugee issue later this week.

Stephen Legomsky, who was the chief counsel at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama administration, said the president had the authority to limit refugee admissions and the issuance of visas to specific countries if the administration determined doing so was in the public interest.

"From a legal standpoint, it would be exactly within his legal rights," said Legomsky, a professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. "But from a policy standpoint, it would be a terrible idea because there is such an urgent humanitarian need right now for refugees."

The Republican president, who assumed office last Friday, was expected to sign the first of the orders at the Department of Homeland Security, whose responsibilities include immigration and border security.

On the campaign trail, Trump initially proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, which he said would protect Americans from jihadist attacks.

Both Trump and his nominee for attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, have since said they would focus the restrictions on countries whose migrants could pose a threat, rather than a ban on those of a specific religion.

Many Trump supporters decried former President Barack Obama's decision to increase the number of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States over fears that those fleeing the country's civil war would carry out attacks.

ALSO READ: Buy American, hire American, make America great again, says US President Donald Trump

LEGAL CHALLENGES POSSIBLE

Detractors could launch legal challenges if all the countries subject to the ban were Muslim-majority nations, said immigration expert Hiroshi Motomura at UCLA School of Law.

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Legal arguments could claim the executive orders discriminate against a particular religion, which would be unconstitutional, he said.

"His comments during the campaign and a number of people on his team focused very much on religion as the target," Motomura said.

To block entry from designated countries, Trump is likely to tell the State Department to stop issuing visas to people from those nations, according to sources familiar with the visa process. He could also instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to stop any current visa holders from those countries from entering the United States.

ALSO READ: Indian Americans celebrate as Trump becomes president of the US

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that the State and Homeland Security Departments would work on the vetting process once Trump's nominee to head the State Department Rex Tillerson was installed.

Other measures may include directing all agencies to finish work on a biometric identification system for non-citizens entering and exiting the United States and a crackdown on immigrants fraudulently receiving government benefits, according to the congressional aides and immigration experts.

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To restrict illegal immigration, Trump has promised to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and to deport illegal migrants living inside the United States.

Trump is also expected to take part in a ceremony installing his new secretary of homeland security, retired Marine General John Kelly, on Wednesday.

ALSO READ: Donald Trump dials PM Modi: Here is what the two leaders discussed

AUSTRALIA DEAL UNDER THREAT

Trump's executive order threatens a refugee resettlement deal with Australia signed late last year, and could leave more than 1,000 asylum seekers in limbo.

The U.S. agreed to resettle an unspecified number of refugees being held in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the tiny South Pacific island nation of Nauru on Australia's behalf.

The deal followed agreement by Australia in September to join a U.S.-led programme to resettle refugees from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador as part of its annual intake.

Australia's tough border security laws mandate that asylum seekers intercepted trying to reach the country by boat go for processing to detention camps on PNG's Manus island and Nauru.

ALSO READ: Trump speaks to Modi over phone: 5 issues that may have been discussed

Australia does not provide information on the nationalities of those held, but around a third of the 1,161 detainees were from countries covered by the executive orders, lawyers and refugee workers for the asylum seekers told Reuters.

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"We already didn't have much hope the U.S. would accept us," Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian refugee who has spent more than three years on Manus island, told Reuters.

"If they do not take us, Australia will have to."

ALSO READ: Donald Trump picks Indian-American Ajit Pai to head Federal Communications Commission

--- ENDS ---
By Karishma Kuenzang: When Faith Gonsalves got together with her twin, Patience, and founded Music Basti - a music education program for children from marginalised communities - they didn't know that they would make such a big mark in the field of education.

A History hons. student from Lady Shri Ram College, Faith and Patience started the initiative with five people and organised a workshop with musicians for kids belonging to the lower income bracket in 2008. Faith, executive director, Integrated Development Education Association (IDEA) and founder of Music Basti, says, "I grew up singing, and music isn't something that I wanted to do for a career. I mean, I still don't teach in classrooms, but I do facilitate it."

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Since having their first music concert in November 2008, the organisation, and the children, have come a long way - three groups of Music Basti kids produced a song in collaboration with some Delhi-based musicians in July 2011, and they even performed at the NH7 Weekender in October 2012.

Also read: Shankar Mahadevan's upcoming project is all about India and its rich musical heritage

Today, this Delhi-based organisation has a team of 20-25 full and part-time staff who are assisted by a large number of volunteers. Every year, they teach about 200-300 students from low income families, who attend government and private schools, and also involve NGOs working with kids from slum areas.

Beyond their core team, they also have more than 20 teaching artists every year. This inclusion plays the most important role in the students' learning and experience. Faith says, "It's a positive innovation in the field of education. Music as a mode of teaching makes perfect sense. Music is a fun and energetic way to retain education."

The kids make their own programmes and songs. Every child works with other kids and this also provides a broader education landscape.

IIT Delhi holds a similar workshop, apart from that there's no education through music workshops for underprivileged kids in Delhi. But there are a number of NGOs and establishments who are working with other art forms like photography, film and dance.

Music as a mode of teaching makes perfect sense, says Faith. Photo: Mail Today

Speaking about their initiative, Faith adds, "We want larger institutions to incorporate education through music in their curriculum as well. People are also gradually opening up to more alternatives as they are realising that the conventional methods aren't working as well. There's been a slow change." But there are a lot of challenges entrepreneurs face, especially when they are a young entrepreneur, and a woman. Faith says, "It's tough to work around the legalities of things, create a concrete base for your work, especially when there is no similar establishment or work happening in your country - which was the case with Music Basti. Entrepreneurs face a lot of resistance when they start out young, from parents as well the people involved in giving you the permissions you need to start a venture! You have to keep justifying your work and what you're doing and why. People are quick to dismiss you because of your age.

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"We're a patronising culture," she continues, "especially towards the young. But you can still do some great work and establish yourself. There's also a wide range of complex regulations you have to abide by."

Today, she opines, things are easier for them as Music Basti has been around for a while. And even generally, the support system for entrepreneurs is slowly expanding, with people willing to take more risks when it comes to supporting start-ups. "It's still tough though. But, if you have an idea, go for it. There's a good enough support system out there especially for women," she adds.

Though Music Basti takes up around 80 per cent of her time, Faith also takes out time to freelance for other projects. Ask her about what her family's support means to her, and she says, "Family support is very important and I have always had a 100 per cent support from mine. Entrepreneurship can be challenging and the emotional support you get from your family is crucial to help you tide over the challenging times, which can't be helped because starting a start-up is difficult."

--- ENDS ---

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The AIU recovered 159000 UAE Dirhams, 6000 Saudi Riyals and 20000 USD from one passenger, equivalent to Indian currency amounting to Rs 43,15,600.

By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: During the intervening night of January 24, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai customs on suspicion intercepted one passenger namely Mohammed Shoaib Arab holding Indian passport at the time of his departure to Dubai with the Indigo flight.

After detailed examination of his hand baggage, the officers recovered 159000 UAE Dirhams, 6000 Saudi Riyals and 20000 USD from him, equivalent to Indian currency amounting to Rs 43,15,600.

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"During the search, we noticed that the passenger has cleverly concealed US dollars inside the space created in a book," said the official to India Today.

The money were seized under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 read with Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 & Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Currency) Regulation, 2015.

In his statement recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962, the inter alia admitted ownership, possession, carriage, concealment, non-declaration and recovery of the said currency under seizure.

The passenger has been arrested and further investigation is in progress.

--- ENDS ---
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has criticised President Trumps decision to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership, calling it disappointing for sheep and beef farmers.

Chairman James Parsons says its a significant blow for trade liberalisation in the Asia Pacific region in the short term.

Ironically, the lost opportunity to our sector from President Trumps decision mostly lies outside of the US.

The TPP wouldve had only a relatively minor positive impact on our trade with the US due to existing low tariff rates faced by New Zealand beef and lamb in that market. The real value to our sector was in reducing tariffs and creating a level playing field in high-value Asia Pacific markets, Japan in particular.

Due to the Japan-Australia FTA, Australian beef entering Japan enjoys a tariff rate that is 10 percentage points lower than that faced by competitors such as New Zealand and the US.

As a direct result, over 2015 and 2016 Australian beef exports to Japan have increased by 13 per cent, while those from New Zealand and the US have fallen by 10 and 11 per cent, respectively.

The reality is that, in the short to medium term, New Zealand will struggle to complete a bilateral FTA with Japan to achieve a level playing field on beef.

Our competitiveness in that market, and our resulting market share, will continue to be affected for some time.

He says although this is a setback, there remain a number of possibilities for multilateral FTAs in the Asia Pacific region.

The remaining TPP parties may revise their agreement to remove US concessions and press on with an agreement as a way to show trade leadership in the region. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which is under negotiation and includes New Zealand alongside ASEAN countries, China, India and Japan, also provides an opportunity to free up access and establish common trading rules in the Asian region.

Over the coming weeks and months Beef + Lamb New Zealand will continue to work alongside the government and other industry groups as we come to terms with this setback and work through continuing to press for trade liberalisation. Decisions in the US and Europe over the past 12 months have added a lot of uncertainty, but it is critical that we as an export sector continue to keep the pressure up.

In the next fortnight, two Beef + Lamb New Zealand directors will travel to the US to hear directly from ranchers their take on President Trumps decision and where the US is likely to head next.
Now the group has announced it is to expand its European offerings by opening a new property in the Hungarian capital of Budapest.

Located in the heart of the city at Andrassy Avenue, W Budapest will be housed in the prestigious Drechsler Palace which will be fully renovated to bring the brands cutting-edge, contemporary design to life.

The hotel will feature 162 guest rooms and suites, including one Extreme WOW, the brands luxurious take on the Presidential Suite. Guests can wine and dine at the restaurant and destination bar or the signature W living room. Three meeting and event spaces, including a Great Room for larger celebrations, a spa and fitness centre, and are other amenities to look forward to.

Furthermore, the W brands signature Whatever/Whenever service philosophy, providing you whatever you want, whenever you want it, will also feature.

W Hotels bold and vibrant take on luxury continues to expand into some of the most exciting destinations in Eastern and Central Europe, said Carlton Ervin, Marriott Internationals Chief Development Officer, Europe.

The signing of this landmark hotel in Budapest matches the rising demand of luxury traveller and underpins our commitment to grow our portfolio in the region.

W Budapest is slated to open in 2020.
By India Today Web Desk: Ghulaam actor Param Singh has been in the news lately, thanks to his new show, and now the talented actor is making headlines for his personal life.

Param is presently in a serious relationship with his former co-star Harshita Gaur.

"They are quite serious about each other, but haven't made it official yet," The Times of India quoted a source as saying.

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The actor recently admitted that he is indeed seeing the actress.

Param Singh and Harshita Gaur. Picture courtesy: Instagram/paramsingh_fc

Also read: Is Qubool Hai actress Surbhi Jyoti dating this television actor?

"Initially, we were just good friends. However, I would get jealous whenever other men showered her with attention. That's when I realised we could be more than friends," Param told The Times of India.

And what about romancing other actresses on screen? Do the couple get jealous and insecure about that?

"No. It's part of our job and we have to be cool about it. Both Harshita and I are passionate about work and career comes first for us," the actor said.

--- ENDS ---
Hardik will visit the family of the woman from Mandvi village in Bhavnagar district who was raped and murdered in December. He will launch an agitation, demanding strict action against all the accused.

By India Today Web Desk: On his return to Gujarat after six months of externment ordered by the court, activist Hardik Patel is likely to launch his first protest in the BJP-ruled state today. Patel, who is the convener of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), will meet the family of a 50-year-old woman of Mandvi village in Bhavnagar district who was allegedly raped and murdered in December.

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Hardik, who has been demanding reservation in educational institutions and government jobs for Patels and Patidars, will visit the village along with his team and launch an agitation demanding strict action against all the accused.

Hardik and his team are scheduled to meet the members of the victim's family in the village and discuss with the police the actual status of the case. If they find that the police are handling the case in a lackadaisical manner, they will launch the agitation.

WHAT HAPPENED AFTER MURDER

The woman was found murdered near the village pond on December 1. Later, it was discovered that she was raped before being murdered. The Gujarat government handed over the probe to an IG-rank official after PAAS and state unit of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) decided to launch a stir over the issue.

Also read | Hardik Patel to return to Gujarat on January 17, will address 'massive' rally

Hardik Patel, who is facing sedition charges, was released on bail by the Gujarat High Court on July 15 on the condition that he will stay outside the state for six months, starting July 17. He had been staying in Udaipur in Rajasthan since then.

He returned to Gujarat on January 17 and received a rousing welcome on entering the state.

On his return, the 23-year-old Patidar leader attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the khadi calendar controversy. He also pledged to revive the Patidar-Patel agitation for reservation in the Prime Minister's home state.

HARDIK ADDRESSED RALLY IN AHMEDABAD IN AUGUST 2015

In August 2015, Hardik had addressed a massive rally at GMDC ground in Ahmedabad demanding inclusion of the community in the OBC category for quota benefits.

He was arrested when the rally turned violent killing at least 12 people.

The Gujarat police later charged him with sedition.

Also read | I am the next Sardar Patel, says Hardik Patel

Hardik Patel was in jail in Surat for nine months before he was granted bail.

--- ENDS ---
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The addition of one more day to the 2017 New York State Fair boosts the state closer to the top of the longest-lasting state fairs in the U.S.

The New York State Fair, in Geddes, will last 13 days this year instead of the usual 12 days, officials said this week.

The fair will start Wednesday Aug. 23, and end Labor Day, Sept. 4.

Most of the largest state fairs in the country last 11 or 12 days. State fairs in Texas and Arizona last a whopping 24 days. (The Arizona State Fair's website says 20 percent of the state's population attends.)

A few other large county fairs and expos serve up fried dough, roller coasters and rodeos even longer. The San Diego County Fair lasts 26 days.

How many days do large U.S. fairs last?

Fair State Days San Diego County Fair California 26 Miami-Dade County Fair & Expo Florida 25 Texas State Fair Texas 24 Arizona State Fair Arizona 24 Los Angeles County Fair California 24 Orange County Fair California 23 Washington State Fair Washington 21 State Fair of Louisiana Louisiana 18 Eastern States Exposition Massachusetts 17 Indiana State Fair Indiana 17 California State Fair California 17 New York State Fair New York 13 Minnesota State Fair Minnesota 12 Ohio State Fair Ohio 12 Mississippi State Fair Mississippi 12 South Carolina State Fair South Carolina 12 Maryland State Fair Maryland 12 Erie County Fair New York 12 Big Fresno Fair California 12 Tulsa State Fair Oklahoma 11 Iowa State Fair Iowa 11 North Carolina State Fair North Carolina 11 Wisconsin State Fair Wisconsin 11 Oklahoma State Fair Oklahoma 11 Kentucky State Fair Kentucky 11 New Mexico State Fair New Mexico 11 Colorado State Fair Colorado 11 Arkansas State Fair Arkansas 11 Florida State Fair Florida 11 Nebraska State Fair Nebraska 11

Contact Michelle Breidenbach anytime:

|

| 315-470-3186.
The recipient of a 2015 "genius award" will be making a trip to Syracuse in the early spring.

Alex Truesdell, founder of a non-profit called the Adaptive Design Association, will deliver the keynote address at the fourth annual "Celebrating Inclusion and Achieving Independence" dinner. The event hosted by ARISE, a non-profit organization for people with disabilities, will take place at the Syracuse Oncenter on April 11.

Alex Truesdell

In 2015, Truesdell was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, a five-year grant with no strings attached given to individuals who demonstrate extraordinary creativity in their respective fields. In order to receive the fellowship, one must be nominated. There is no application process.

ARISE provides services to people with disabilities in Onondaga, Oswego, Cayuga, Madison and Seneca Counties with the goal of helping disabled individuals live independently and freely.

In her own work, Truesdell has pushed to help children with disabilities participate actively in their communities and homes by creating affordable tools and furniture that are catered to their individual needs.

At the Adaptive Design Association office, Truesdell makes furniture and learning tools out of affordable materials like cardboard. The adaptations help children with special needs better interact with their environments independently.

Truesdell's interest in special education was sparked at a young age after watching her younger sister constantly get in trouble for not being able to sit still. Her sister was diagnosed with hyperactivity at the age of 2. She then dedicated her life to helping children who needed extra support.

Truesdell's first experience in creating solutions to specifically help individuals with disabilities was after her aunt's hands became paralyzed as a result of a spinal cord injury during a medical exam.

She first built adaptive designs for children out of her basement, but with the help of a partner established the Adaptive Design Association in 2001.

The organization does not only create design-based adaptations for children, but it also provides on-line courses, how-to videos, and articles on adapting environments to help children with unique needs. Truesdell has also brought her ideas to educators in other countries including Brazil, Colombia, and India.

Tickets for the dinner, including an awards ceremony, are on sale right now. The proceeds from the dinner will go towards funding future ARISE services.
IMG_4781

A "zombie property" at 102 Wellington Road in Dewitt.

(Photo by Elizabeth Doran)

DEWITT, NY - Every neighborhood seems to have one - the rundown, abandoned home that everyone wishes would be fixed up and sold.

Instead, these "zombie properties" languish in towns, villages, cities and in suburban and urban neighborhoods throughout Central New York, New York state and the United States.

These are homes that have been abandoned by the owner while the foreclosure process is underway - a process that can take months or even years. Meanwhile, the property is often left to decay.

The town of DeWitt has decided to tackle the growing number of "zombie" properties within its boundaries in a somewhat novel way. Starting with two properties, town officials will seize them through eminent domain and then turn them over to the Greater Syracuse Land Bank to be fixed up and sold.

Eminent domain is more typically used by governments to take property for the public good such as government buildings, road, railroads or utilities. It also is used sometimes to seize property for economic development. Owners must be paid for the property.

Syracuse, which has more than 2,000 zombie properties, doesn't use eminent domain because it would be too expensive, said Katelyn Wright, executive director of Greater Syracuse Land Bank. Instead, the city seizes some properties for back taxes and then sends them to the land bank to be restored and sold, she said.

Municipalities have the power to seize properties by eminent domain when abandoned properties like this create economic blight, said Robert Hockett, a law professor at Cornell University. Often the blight has to be quite serious to prompt a municipality to take a drastic step like this, but he says it's justifiable.

Large cities such as Chicago and some California cities have considered and/or use this approach, Hockett said.

It appears to be unusual for a smaller community to take an approach such as this. DeWitt is the only one in Onondaga County, Wright said.

DeWitt has held public hearings as part of the legal process required to seize the first two properties: 102 Wellington Road (by the DeWitt fire station) and 5685 Thompson Road.

These two properties - vacant for nearly a decade - were selected because of the large number of complaints about them, said DeWitt Supervisor Ed Michalenko. Neighbors report rats, squirrels, broken windows, peeling paint, vandalism, and deteriorating property values.

"We've tried for years to contact the banks about these properties, but we get no assistance or help from them," Michaelko said. "We are usually reluctant to take property from private owners, but this is a condition banks have brought on themselves and we have to do something."

Often, mortgages are sold from one company to another and it's hard to even track down who holds the mortgage, the supervisor said.

"We have felt helpless,'' he said.

DeWitt's plan is to seize a property, paying a fair market value for the property, and then turning it over to the Syracuse land bank, which will fix up the home and put it on the market.

Once the home sells, the proceeds will be used first to reimburse the Land Bank for its costs and then to pay back DeWitt for the costs associated with seizing the property, Wright said.
Immigration Arrests

In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers apprehend a fugitive during ICE's National Fugitive Operations search in Huntington Park, Calif.

(Jae C. Hong / AP)

President Donald Trump has taken the first step toward defunding municipalities that harbor undocumented immigrants.

Trump signed an executive order Wednesday titled "Enacting Public Safety in the Interior of the United States," intended to beef up immigration law enforcement and punish municipalities that disregard federal law.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the administration will "strip federal grant money from sanctuary states and cities that harbor illegal immigrants" and will "figure out how we can defund those streams, look at those funding streams and figure out how they can be cut off."

The executive order also called for:

The hiring of 10,000 additional immigration enforcement officers nationwide;

Publication of a weekly list of crimes committed by illegal immigrants and a list of any jurisdiction that failed to detain them;

A report on all federal grants received by sanctuary jurisdictions.

The policy could pit cities and counties in Upstate New York against the White House.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, for example, recently proclaimed Syracuse a sanctuary city -- a loosely defined policy of looking the other way on illegal immigration.

Here are answers to six questions about sanctuary jurisdictions and immigration:

What defines a sanctuary city?

A sanctuary is a municipality that does not typically detain immigrants long enough for federal law enforcement to deport them. Here's how it works:

When an immigrant is arrested for a crime, he or she is booked and fingerprinted at the county jail. Those fingerprints are sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigations and, in turn, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

If ICE determines the person is undocumented, it sends a detainer request to the jail. The request asks the jail to hold the person while a warrant is prepared to begin the deportation process -- usually 48 hours.

What the jail does next determines whether the county is a sanctuary. Compliance with the detainer request is voluntary. The county may disregard the detainer request and release the prisoner once the charges are dropped or bail is posted. Otherwise, the person is held until ICE arrives with a warrant and takes custody.

Some counties will comply with a detainer request only if the person arrested has prior felony convictions or terrorist ties. Some disregard all such requests.

Why are cities allowed to ignore federal law enforcement?

In 2014, a federal judge in Oregon ruled that ICE detainers are requests, not mandates. Holding someone based on such a request violates the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unlawful search and seizure, the judge ruled.

Why would a city be a sanctuary?

Cities that provide sanctuary often do so to encourage undocumented immigrants to report crimes when they occur. In a non-sanctuary city, illegal immigrants might be reluctant to report crimes for fear they may be questioned, detained and deported.

Critics of sanctuaries argue the policy obstructs federal justice and allows criminals here illegally to flaunt the law.

Where are the sanctuaries in Upstate NY?

A jurisdiction's sanctuary status is often a verbal or unofficial policy. Statewide, however, officials are taking efforts already to resist Trump's immigration efforts.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week announced the creation of a legal defense fund for immigrants. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is offering a "legal roadmap" to local governments outlining how to put sanctuary policies into law.

According to The New York Times, the cities of Albany, Kingston, Rochester, Syracuse and White Plains plan to adhere to Schneiderman's counsel.

In 2014, the New York State Sheriff's Association recommended its members refuse detainer requests from ICE. At the time, Wayne County Sheriff Barry Virts said he was among those who decided to disregard detainers, according to The New York Times.

In Syracuse earlier this month, Mayor Stephanie Miner declared Syracuse a sanctuary city and said city police would not enforce federal "anti-immigrant" policies. The decision to detain illegal immigrants, however, is typically made by the county sheriff.

Onondaga County Sheriff Gene Conway could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon. Immigration watchdog groups typically include Onondaga County in lists of sanctuaries.

What does this have to do with refugees?

In short, nothing. While policies regarding refugees and sanctuaries are commonly referred to in tandem, they are unrelated. Sanctuary status has to do with immigrants in this country illegally. Refugees are legal residents of the United States brought here by the U.S. State Department.

How much federal funding is at risk?

That's a big question mark.

Both the City of Syracuse and Onondaga County receive hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in federal block grants. For example, the Department of Justice recently awarded Syracuse $59,000 for police body cameras and another $59,000 to Onondaga County. The Syracuse City School District also received more than $1 million in federal funding this year.

Would President Trump have the authority to withhold this money from Central New York based on immigration policies? Possibly.

Trump has two main avenues for punishing sanctuaries: Lawsuits and withholding federal grants.

If Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions is confirmed as Attorney General, he would have latitude to sue municipalities that that violate federal law. Sessions has been an outspoken critic of illegal immigration.

The administration could also bar departments like the Justice Department from awarding grants. Many municipalities -- like Syracuse -- rely heavily on such grants for staffing, equipment and special programs.
The next time you're not exactly happy with the meal, would you let the chef know?

By India Today Web Desk: There are two ways of going about an unexpectedly bad dinner. One, let the chef know politely that it's not up to your taste expectations. Two, pick a fight with the chef, follow him to the kitchen, demanding an apology.

The latter is not the recommended way, but well, some people would just learn it the hard way.

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So, a fine night in South Wales (UK) turned into a man being rushed to the hospital after the head chef of the restaurant he was dining at threw a bowl of chilli powder in his eyes.

Here's what happened: Prince of Bengal chef Kamrul Islam did not like the fact that two of his diners that night--David and Michelle Evans, namely--found their meat "tough and rubbery".

When the chef heard of this, he allegedly started to verbally abuse Michelle, saying that the couple just wanted to get out of paying for the food, according to The Telegraph.

This is Michelle's version: "To cut a long story short the chef came to our table he was extremely rude and aggressive and accused us of not wanting to pay for our food. He started swearing at me so David said, 'there's no need to swear at my wife.' The chef caused quite a scene and was shouting and swearing so David walked back to the kitchen door with him asking for an apology. The chef came to the door with a large bowl of chili powder which he threw at David's face."

Michelle added that David had to be hospitalised to undergo several eye washes. "He instantly thought he had been blinded and didn't know what he'd thrown at him, he was shaking in shock, hanging on to the counter being sick thinking he was going to go blind," the Telegraph report quoted her as saying.

Chef Islam, on the other hand, says he did what he did as an act of self-defense. "I ran into the kitchen to get away from him but he followed me," he said. "I was frightened and threw it at him. Chili will burn but it is not life-threatening."

South Wales Police is currently investigating the incident.

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma

Beijing, Jan 25 (PTI) Talking tough, China has said it hopes Mongolia shall "drawn lessons" from the Dalai Lamas visit last year and asserted that its neighbour has "promised" not to invite the Tibetan spiritual leader again.

"It is confirmed through diplomatic channels that relevant promises made by the Mongolian side to not allow the Dalai Lama to visit Mongolia is an important step to elevate bilateral relations to achieve sound growth," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here.

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Briefing the media on yesterdays telephonic conversation between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Mongolian counterpart Tsend Munkh-Orgil, the first high-level contact between the two sides after the fracas over the Dalai Lama visit, she hoped the Mongolian side would honour its commitment to not allow him to visit again.

In his phone talks with Munkh-Orgil, Wang hoped that Mongolia shall "draw lessons" from the Dalai Lamas visit last November and respect Chinas major concerns and core interests.

Wang said the development of China-Mongolia relations has been overshadowed by the negative impacts of the Dalai Lamas visit.

He said Mongolia has reflected deeply upon the visit and made an explicit promise not to allow the Dalai Lama to visit the landlocked Asian nation again.

Mongolia shall keep its promise and make practical efforts to improve the China-Mongolia relationship, Wang was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

For his part, Munkh-Orgil saidMongolia, a staunch supporter of the One-China policy, has always believed that Tibet is an integral part of China.

One-China policy stipulates that the breakaway province of Taiwan and Tibet are part of China.

After hosting the Dalai Lama, defying China, Mongolia which is banking on big ticket loans and investments from Beijing, also appealed to India for intervention after China imposed a blockade of sorts to pressure its smaller neighbour.

India reciprocated with a USD one billion credit line.

Much to the surprise of Beijing, Mongolia allowed the Dalai Lamas visit from November 18 to 23 during which he took part in several religious ceremonies. PTI KJV ASK AKJ ASK

--- ENDS ---
By Vidya : In the ongoing journalist J Dey murder trial, so far 36 witnesses have been examined by prosecution but on Wednesday a witness was declared hostile by the special MCOCA court.

A senior journalist working with a national daily was declared hostile on Wednesday after he refused to say that accused Satish Kaliya had said anything outside the court on his first remand after arrest.

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Kalia was the one who shot at Dey in 2011, while his accomplice stood beside him. In the Dey murder case, extradited gangster Chotta Rajan is also an accused and that is why this case was handed over to the CBI in 2015.

Developments in the case:

1. In his statement earlier, the journalist had said that when Kalia was brought for remand at Killa court, he said to journalists there that had he known Dey was a journalist, he would not have killed him. However, the witness journalist refused to accept in court that he was present in court at that time.

2. Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat, who examined the witness journalist, said, "I asked the journalist as to why he was moving away from his statement given before the CBI. He said that he was surrounded by the CBI officers, so he did not know what to say. So, I told him that you were not frightened then but you are frightened now before criminals in the court."

3. However, the journalist later issued a statement saying that when he gave his statement to the CBI, the officer wrote it down in short hand, did not show it to him and twisted it according to their convenience.

4. J Dey, a crime and investigation editor for a daily in Mumbai, was shot dead by motorcycle-borne sharpshooters on June 11, 2011.

5. In the murder case, 10 accused are facing the trial including journalist Jitna Vora, who is currently out on bail.

Also read: Mumbai: Derailment averted after drivers notice obstacle on tracks; sabotage not ruled out

--- ENDS ---
Thank you for reading!

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China this week announced new measures to further restrict its citizens access to the Internet.

The 14-month campaign appears designed to crack down on the use of Web platforms and services unapproved by the government, and on virtual private networks, which can used to access those platforms and services covertly.

While Chinas Internet network access services market is facing many development opportunities, there are signs of disorderly development that show the urgent need for regulation, the countrys Ministry of Industry and Information Technology explained in a notice posted to a government website.

The coming clean-up of Chinas network access services will standardize the market, strengthen network information security management, and promote the healthy and orderly development of the countrys Internet industry, the ministry noted.

In order to operate legally, Internet service providers, VPN providers, data centers and content delivery networks will have to obtain a license from the government and adhere to strict limitations.

Great Firewall

The clean-up also places severe new restrictions on cross-border business activities. It requires that government approval be obtained to create or lease lines, including VPN channels, to perform cross-border business activities.

Those restrictions essentially will block any Chinese citizen from using a VPN  basically, hiding their IP address and rerouting their connections to servers outside their country  in order to access websites the government doesnt want them to see.

China is famous for controlling the information its citizens can see on the Internet with its Great Firewall, which screens Internet traffic between China and the outside world. Any requests to see information Beijing deems inappropriate are sent to an Internet graveyard.

Among the 171 of the worlds top 1,000 websites the Great Firewall blocks are Google, Facebook and Twitter, according to Greatfire.org, a censorship monitoring service. VPNs offer a way to get through the firewall, which is why the government wants to block them.

China also has taken a more proactive approach to dealing with websites that it doesnt like. It crafted a Great Cannon, which it uses to launch DDoS attacks on domains critical of Beijing.

Shaping the Narrative

Chinas government has attempted to restrict VPN access in the past, particularly at sensitive times, such as when the national Communist party convenes. Such a meeting is scheduled for the end of this year.

The great clean-up may be a departure from the past, however.

This new directive may be a sign that the restrictions might become more systematic, said Cynthia Wong, senior Internet researcher at Human Rights Watch.

In the past, enforcement of VPN restrictions seemed spotty. Sometimes they worked; sometimes they didnt.

Part of the problem with censorship in China is its often opaque, Wong told TechNewsWorld.

Users are often left wondering why their VPN isnt working. Is it because of technical problems or is it because of the government? she wondered. This needs to be viewed as part of a broader crackdown on any kind of independent media by the Chinese government. In recent years, the government has doubled down on efforts to restrict any information that diverges from its official narrative.

VPNs are used for many purposes in China, though  among them to keep companies discussions about their intellectual property and market strategies secure.

I would hope industry pushes back on this, because it will be much more difficult to run innovative businesses in China without full access to information, Wong said. Its in their interest for this to be a concern for them, and they should be concerned about corporate espionage as well.

Not Good for VPN Sales

Once the great clean-up gets under way, its going to be difficult to sell VPNs in China.

What theyre saying is they want to listen in on VPN connections, explained Glenn Chagnot, vice president of marketing for Uplevel Systems. In order to meet that requirement, wed have to re-architect our product.

Thats because with Uplevels product, the encryption keys reside with the user, so the VPN provider has no way of decrypting the users traffic.

Uplevel has limited its sales to the United States because selling VPNs internationally can be challenging, Chagnot noted.

The technical requirements vary from country to country, he told TechNewsWorld. What works for the U.S. doesnt necessarily work for Europe and doesnt necessarily work for China.

Asked if more and more countries are seeking the power to snoop on VPNs, Chagnot replied, Absolutely.
Mayilvaganan, Deputy Commissioner of Police from Trichy, delivered a fiery, practical speech to explain to the public that the jallikattu protest was a victory and that they could go back home and relax.

By Pramod Madhav: At a time when Tamil Nadu was on the boil over the issue of jallikattu that forced police to resort to stern measures to control the crowd, assurances from a top police officer convincing protesters that their agitation had secured the bull-taming sport's legitimisation got them to return home peacefully. This after the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a Bill legalising the holding of jallikattu.

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Mayilvaganan, Deputy Commissioner of Police from Trichy, delivered a fiery, practical speech to explain to the public that the jallikattu protest was a victory and that they could go back home and relax.

The protesters were demanding a permanent solution for Jallikattu and situation had turned worse in Tamil Nadu, where the police dispersed the crowd using "lathi charge", a crackdown that led to more violence in Chennai.

Also read | Tamil Nadu's new jallikattu law challenged in Supreme Court

But in Trichy, Mayilvaganan handled the situation in an extremely civilised way. He travelled across the town and met the people assembled in front of the Government Hospital and the court. He spoke to them for hours explaining the situation.

WHAT TRICHY POLICE OFFICER SAID

Mayilvaganan said, "History will consider your protest a great success. For 6 days, your peaceful movement was appreciated everywhere. Now, if you don't disperse and if any kind of violence occurs in Trichy, understand that you will be held responsible for that too."

The Trichy DCP cautioned the protesters that certain students and organisations were trying to incite violence. He claimed that the police department had access to an Intel report about the possibility of clashes being instigated and that was why he had come to caution them. Mayilvaganan said he appreciated the fact that the protest was conducted peacefully.

"I know despite being young, you all have taught us a valuable lesson, which is something I appreciate. But since I am older and have experience as an officer, I believe I have the right to advice you", he said.

Also read | Jallikattu movement: Not just youngsters, but Tamil celebrities also must be thanked for the success

Mayilvaganan warned students that some people were trying to exploit their emotions and foment lawlessness, which had caused chaos in most places across the state. "Such ruffians are attempting to achieve the same at Trichy", he added.

DISPERSE IF YOU TRUST POLICE FORCE: MAYILVAGANAN

"In 6 days, I have never spoken to you in such a manner. We did whatever you asked us. We provided you the protection you asked for. When you were drenched in rain, so were we. When you shivering in the cold, we stood by you. When you were burnt by scorching sun, so were we. If you are truly fighting for the Tamil cause and if you trust the police force, the good students here will accept this victory and disperse", he said one last time and left the area.

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Students present there who had immense respect for Mayilvaganan for the work he had already done in Trichy agreed to disperse peacefully. Mayilvaganan was greatly appreciated for handling such a sensitive situation so tactfully.

Also read | Jallikattu protests hijacked by arsonists in Chennai, agitators disperse from Marina after passing of bill

--- ENDS ---
Google I/O 2017 is set to take place between May 17th and May 19th at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California, the same location as last year's developer-focused event. Like previous Google I/Os, we can expect to receive new information about Google's initiatives at the event, including the future of Android, Home, Wear and more.

Rather than announcing this information in a traditional fashion, Google instead created an elaborate puzzle that developers would have to solve before the details of Google I/O were revealed. This puzzle, which was released through a GitHub repository, was split into five parts and involved coordinates and a chess board.

Around the world, from here to there, to the most clever minds, the secret will share. #googledevs #savethedate https://t.co/0zwCbSLzVy pic.twitter.com/0O2vNDWZx2 --- Google Developers (@googledevs) January 24, 2017

Those who solved the puzzle were greeted with basic information relating to Google I/O 2017, and a link to Google's I/O website. Currently, the webpage for Google I/O has not been updated with these details; instead it advises people to "check back soon for more details".

There is no word on when you'll be able to register for Google I/O 2017, but it's expected that Google will use a lottery system to allocate tickets, similar to previous years. The conference is highly popular among developers and fans of Google, and, with the exception of last year, Google has often given out brand new hardware to those that attend.
The success of Microsoft's Surface Hub has seen another company jump on the digital whiteboard bandwagon. First, Google unveiled the cheaper Jamboard; now, Cisco has announced its take on giant tablet-style collaborative devices: the Cisco Spark Board.

As with its rival boards, Cisco's entry is designed to work best with its own software. In this case, it's the company's cloud-based collaborative service, Spark. Other common factors the Spark Board has with its competitors are the 55-inch touchscreen (there's also a 70-inch version), 4K resolution and camera, speakers, and digital pen.

When not using your fingers (it even has pinch-to-zoom) or the stylus, Cisco's device can be controlled with a smartphone, tablet, or computer. And thanks to Apple's partnership with Cisco, iPhone users get extra benefits, such as the ability to drag and drop Spark calls onto the board.

Like the other two digital whiteboards, the Spark Board lets teams from different locations collaborate on projects using their huge displays. Users can share files and drawings while utilizing the board's video conferencing features, which includes 12 microphones and VoiceTrack technology.

Using ultrasound wireless pairing technology means anyone who walks into a room will have their Spark app automatically paired with the board, no Bluetooth required. There's also a strong focus on security, as everything gets encrypted before being sent to the cloud.

The Cisco Spark Board, which is powered by a pair of Nvidia Jetson TX1 chips, costs $5000 for the 55-inch model, making it cheaper the Microsoft's same sized $9000 Surface Hub and Google's $6000 Jamboard. The 70-inch Spark will be priced at $9900 when it's released before the end of the year. One caveat is that customers will have to subscribe to Cisco's $199 per month Spark Flex software plan if they want to access the board's full range of features.
Samsung is finally rolling out the Android 7.0 Nougat Update to owners of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge worldwide. U.S. customers of carriers Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint are now eager to learn when they can expect the Android 7.0 Nougat upgrade to hit devices on their respective networks.

After a couple of false starts and some confusion regarding build versions, the Android 7.0 Nougat update for Samsung's flagship smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, is now well into its worldwide rollout. While owners of the unlocked devices around the globe are being treated to the upgrade, the majority of U.S. Galaxy S7 and S7 edge users are locked into their handset via their carrier, and therefore have to wait for each of the four major networks to release the Android 7.0 Nougat update to their devices before being able to enjoy all the new features of the latest software build.

AT&T Android 7.0 Nougat Update For Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge

AT&T recently offered guidance as to a release date for the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge Android 7.0 Nougat update on its network. That was from a customer chat with a rep for the company who stated that the update was due in "early Spring .... after final testing."

Verizon Android 7.0 Nougat Update For Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge

Verizon halted the beta testing program for customers using the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge on its network, but assured those participating that they would receive the Android 7.0 Nougat upgrade in early 2017 when the final software is available, giving no more specificity as far as release date. No further information has been released by Verizon or any of its reps since then.

T-Mobile Android 7.0 Nougat Update For Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge

T-Mobile's official software upgrade page has the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge still listed in "Manufacturer Development." That's the first of the three steps in the carrier's software upgrade process, and confirms that no Android 7.0 Nougat software upgrade release is imminent for the devices. When the devices move into "Carrier Testing," that will indicate progress and hopefully a general release soon thereafter.

Sprint Android 7.0 Nougat Update For Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge

Sprint has not released any information as of yet regarding the timeline expected for the release of the Android 7.0 Nougat update to customers on its network.

As more information becomes available for the release of Android 7.0 Nougat on the four major U.S. carriers, Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint, we'll be sure to bring you all the latest news.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Henry Ford announced that the name of Henry Ford Museum will be changed to Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, starting Jan. 23. The name of the overall destination remains The Henry Ford, but the organization extends its name to better express the idea of innovation behind its key collection.

Part of the reason of this change lies in the result of a survey, which suggested that the purpose of the museum is unclear to many visitors.

Henry Ford Museum Of American Innovation

The museum was founded by auto pioneer and entrepreneur Henry Ford, and it is part of The Henry Ford, a popular destination located in Dearborn, Michigan.

"Henry Ford Museum has always been about ideas and innovations that changed the world. We believe adding the word innovation to the museum's name better serves our visitors as it clearly defines the museum's focus," noted Patricia Mooradian, president of The Henry Ford.

The Henry Ford will also strengthen its commitment to bringing the past forward, in the attempt to inspire future innovators today, through partnerships with national educational organizations. One of these partners is The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation, a successful television series, now in its third season. The series has gained the interest of more than 71.5 million viewers worldwide.

Approximately 35 percent of the 1.8 million annual visitors of the museum come either from outside the state or from abroad the country's borders. According to Mooradian, most of the visitors believed that the museum was either about Henry Ford the man or about the automobiles he built, so the representatives decided that a change was needed.

"The Henry Ford provides unique educational experiences based on authentic objects, stories, and lives from America's traditions of ingenuity, resourcefulness and innovation. Our purpose is to inspire people to learn from these traditions to help shape a better future," notes the organization's mission statement.

This renaming idea is the second rebranding program that the 88-year-old institution went through in recent history. Back in 2003, all the integrating parts of the Dearborn campus were placed together under the portmanteau of The Henry Ford. The three attractions are the Greenfield Village, the museum and the Ford Rouge Factory Tour.

Museum Rebranding, Part Of The Innovation Process

As part of the museum collection, some of the most popular exhibits showcase the American history, ideas, and innovation, including the auto, railroad, aviation, and agriculture industries. Another very popular item is the limousine in which President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

Additionally, this type of rebranding also goes very well with the name of the TV series, which according to Mooradian, brought massive awareness about the museum, given that the annual attendance increased by 200,000 people in the 2014 to 2016 time frame.

The organization itself is pretty popular on social media as well, with more than 326,000 fans on Facebook.

"The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, is an internationally recognized cultural destination that brings the past forward by immersing visitors in the stories of ingenuity, resourcefulness and innovation that helped shape America. [...] A continually expanding array of content available online provides anytime, anywhere access to The Henry Ford Archive of American Innovation," the organization describes itself.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 boasts attractive features that make it a great device. The Surface Pen stylus accompanies the tablet and assists users in taking notes easily.

The Surface Pro 4 tablet is usually accompanied by the Surface Pen; however, this inflates the device's price. It seems Microsoft has paid attention to the consumers' quandary and has listed the base version of the device sans the Surface Pen, which effectively reduces the tablet's price by $100.

Neowin was the first to spot this new Microsoft offer that is now creating quite a stir online as Surface Pro 4 fans scramble to snag the deal.

Strategically, this lowering of the tablet's price could propel the sales of the Surface Pro 4, which will be highly beneficial for the company, especially as it gears up to debut the successor Surface Pro 5 this quarter.

A New Offer

The company has realized that not everybody requires a Surface Pen and Neowin divulged the news on Twitter, stating that Microsoft has a special offer for consumers.

Surface Pro 4 m3 (no pen) - $799

Surface Pen - $59.99

Total = $858.99 Surface Pro 4 m3 with Pen included = $899 ??? https://t.co/NogCqbzcRZ  Neowin (@NeowinFeed) January 24, 2017

For budget-conscious buyers, now is a good time to snag the Surface Pro 4.

Specs And Price

The base model of the Surface Pro 4 is powered by an Intel Core m3 processor and 4 GB of RAM. With the battery serving up to nine hours at a stretch, this tablet strikes the perfect balance between size and power for those who are always on the move.

The company's new offer for the Surface Pro 4 without the Surface Pen will set consumers back by $799. This offer is valid for the 128 GB variant of the tablet that runs on the Core m3 processor. The deal can be snagged online from the Microsoft Store.

By willingly giving up the Surface Pen, the buyer gets to save $100. It also forms a significant part of the purchaser's savings as the pen only costs $60. For those planning to purchase the same model of the Surface Pro along with the Surface Pen, be prepared to shell out $899.

Surface Pro 5

Microsoft is now trying to catch up with other retailers like Best Buy that also happen to be offering the Surface Pen-less version of the Surface Pro 4 at lucrative prices.

Rumors swirling online indicate the prospect of Microsoft preparing for another tablet release - the alleged Surface Pro 5 - in the next few months. With the Surface Pro 5 expected to possess the seventh-gen Intel Core Kaby Lake processor and Type-C USB connection, buyers could be in a dilemma whether to wait for the next iteration or buy the older model.

So are you planning to get your hands on the lower-priced Surface Pro 4 or will you be waiting for the upcoming Surface Pro 5? Let us know in the comments below.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
News of a Nevada woman dying from an infection resistant to all kinds of antibiotics available in the United States has rocked the world of health care, showing that the matter of superbugs is much more urgent than previously thought.

Now, scientists from Oregon State University have developed a new potential weapon in the fight against antibiotic-resistant germs: a molecule neutralizing the bacterias ability to evade the antibiotic.

Key Molecule To Combat Resistance

The PPMO molecule, short for peptide-conjugated phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer, is hoped to inhibit an enzyme produced by bacteria known as NDM-1, which is instrumental in coding resistance  alongside other genes  to most if not all antibiotics.

"We're targeting a resistance mechanism that's shared by a whole bunch of pathogens," said microbiology professor and lead researcher Bruce Geller in a statement, only one PPMO is needed to fight resistance since the genes are shared across various bacteria types.

Heres how it goes: the molecule would establish contact with the antibiotics, restoring its ability to fight NDM-1-expressing bacteria.

In their research, the team used the antibiotic meropenem, an ultra-broad spectrum medication from the carbapenem group. The drug emerged effective in treating mice infected with E. coli bacteria found to be positive with NDM-1.

Racing Against The Clock

According to Geller, the molecule will likely be tested in humans in around three years. And its a massive challenge ahead, given the difficulty of developing new drugs to stay a step ahead of the persistent bacteria.

The penicillin-type carbapenems had been the last line of defense against bacteria. NDM-1 becomes so important such that it annihilates carbapenems and forces doctors to use colistin  which has not been used in decades due to its kidney toxicity.

A PPMO can restore bacterias vulnerability to antibiotics again, reported Geller. It is also hoped that one day the NDM-1 enzyme can be targeted directly without going through antibiotics.

The findings were discussed in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

Superbugs Can Be Asymptomatic, Too

Health experts have also warned about patients treated in hospitals overseas and potentially acquiring highly dangerous infections. The unnamed patient in Reno, Nevada, for instance, had inpatient exposure in Indian health centers before being treated in the United States. Practices in such hospitals may not be at par with those in the country, a factor that can contribute to superbug spread.

A separate study recently warned that the Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), which infects around 9,300 and kills about 600 of them in the United States, may be spreading silently and causing no symptoms in humans at all.

CRE seems to have more ways of evading antibiotics than what are currently identified by researchers, and that it may be proliferating more stealthily than current diagnostic and tracking methods can find.

The use of antibiotics in agriculture also plays a role in the ongoing campaign against superbugs. A new regulation from the FDA, taking effect this month, seeks to decrease this agricultural use of medically important antibiotics, and even farms themselves have begun taking steps to curb the widespread problem.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Weather experts and enthusiasts alike have been waiting for this day, and surely, they can all agree it's worth the wait.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has officially released a series of breathtaking satellite images of the Earth taken by its 16th Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite mission, which took off from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in Florida last Nov. 19.

GOES-16 Captures Heaven In High Definition

Equipped with an Advanced Baseline Imager instrument built by Harris Corporation, GOES-16 boasts three times more spectral channels and four times better image resolution than earlier generations of GOES satellites.

According to NOAA, GOES-16 is specially designed to take high-definition images of the continental United States every five minutes and the full Earth every 15 minutes.

Through an official public statement, the agency shared the first space photographs taken by GOES-16 from a geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above Earth.

Aside from an updated version of the iconic Blue Marble image of the planet, GOES-16 also captured high-resolution photos of the Saharan Dust Layer, the shallow waters of the Caribbean, the Yucatan peninsula, as well as North America and South America and the surrounding oceans during times of significant weather conditions.

NOAA describes this milestone as "the latest step in a new age of weather satellites," bringing "high-definition from the heavens."

The Future Of Weather Forecasting

With its satellite's advanced imaging features, NOAA is optimistic that GOES-16 will take weather forecasting to greater heights.

"This is such an exciting day for NOAA! One of our GOES-16 scientists compared this to seeing a newborn baby's first pictures - it's that exciting for us," said Stephen Volz, director of NOAA's Satellite and Information Service.

"These images come from the most sophisticated technology ever flown in space to predict severe weather on Earth. The fantastically rich images provide us with our first glimpse of the impact GOES-16 will have on developing life-saving forecasts," Volz added.

The new location for GOES-16 will be announced in May this year. NOAA plans to use all six new instruments of the satellite once it becomes fully operational as either GOES-East or GOES-West this coming November.

GOES-S, The Second GOES Satellite

Next on the list is the GOES-S, which is now going through a series of environmental, mechanical, and electromagnetic testing at Lockheed Martin's Corporation headquarters in Littleton, Colorado. It has a targeted launch date of August 2017.

GOES-S, which will soon go by the name GOES-17 after its launch, is part of NOAA's four-satellite program, along with GOES-R, GOES-T, and GOES-U.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The decision was taken by the party after national president of JD-U and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a core committee meeting of his party two days back.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: Janata Dal-United (JD-U) will not be testing political waters in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election and has decided not to contest polls. The decision was taken by the party after national president of JD-U and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a core committee meeting of his party two days back. The party claimed that the decision was taken to keep secular votes intact and defeat the BJP, however, Nitish Kumar's close aide and Water Resources Minister Lallan Singh made a startling admission.

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"Hum us layak hi nahi hain ki hum wahan koi seat lad sake. Hamare maangne se vote kahan milne wala hai? Nitish Kumar ke mangne se bhi vote kahaan milne wala hai?," said Lallan Singh, water resources minister.

However, party general secretary K C Tyagi blamed the Congress and Samajwadi Party for not accommodating JD-U in their alliance and criticized them for not taking any initiative to forge a Bihar-like grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh. "JD-U will not contest UP elections. We have taken this decided to defeat communal forces and restrict division of secular votes. We are disappointed that Congress and SP did not form a Bihar-like Mahagathbandhan," said K C Tyagi, general secretary of JD-U.

ALSO READ: SP-Congress alliance in UP may dash hopes of BJP, BSP

Tyagi further announced that Nitish won't even campaign for Congress-SP even if UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav invites him to do so.

"Nitish Kumar will not campaign in Uttar Pradesh polls. He won't go to UP even if Akhilesh Yadav invites him to campaign," declared Tyagi.

It may be remembered that Nitish Kumar has held several rallies in Uttar Pradesh in last one year and tried hard to expand his party, but the decision of not fighting polls comes as a dampener and exposes Bihar CM's futile exercise to create a base for his party in UP to fight elections.

ALSO READ: RLD, JD-U target PM Modi, CM Akhilesh as poll clamour grows louder in UP

Also watch: India Today-Axis Opinion Poll for Uttar Pradesh: BJP dream run to continue, but a hung Assembly likely

--- ENDS ---
Aside from the LG Watch Sport and Watch Style, the Huawei Watch 2 is another wearable running Android Wear 2.0 that's expected to launch soon, and it might be unwrapped at the 2017 Mobile World Congress.

What's interesting about the Chinese company's offering is that there's reportedly going to be at least one version that supports cellular connectivity.

Getting Into The Specifics: Huawei Watch 2 Specs And Design Details So Far

To start things off, the info surrounding the Huawei Watch 2 comes from none other than the well-known leakster Evan Blass of VentureBeat.

According to him, a "person familiar with the company's plans" is working on the successor of the original Huawei Watch.

Regarding the smartwatch's specs and design, it's said to rock a "sportier" look and, as mentioned earlier, a built-in SIM card for internet connections when there's no Wi-Fi or a phone to pair with available. More than that, it's believed to be capable of receiving and making calls.

Huawei Watch 2 will add optional cellular connectivity, may debut in February https://t.co/WrX7iwWcEI pic.twitter.com/jbvhoOlzDN  Evan Blass (@evleaks) January 24, 2017

Note: The image in the tweet is not the Huawei Watch 2 but the original Huawei Watch.

Sure, the details are scarce at best at this point, but at any rate, they paint a pretty good picture of what to expect from the (potentially) upcoming smartwatch.

Huawei Watch 2 To Be Unveiled At MWC 2017

Just like the first Huawei Watch, the company's second-generation wearable could be unveiled in February next month at the MWC 2017 in Barcelona, Spain.

However, the source that Blass got in touch with says that a debut at the big event isn't a sure thing. Still, the possibility of the Huawei Watch 2 appearing there is probably enough to keep some fans on their toes.

Past Huawei Watch 2 Rumors

Interestingly enough, there were talks about the Huawei Watch 2 launching with Samsung's Tizen OS, the software running things on the Gear S2 and Gear S3.

Needless to say, this update essentially debunks that rumor, which didn't really even have grounds to be true to begin with.

First Huawei Watch Got Pulled

In other related news, the first Huawei Watch got pulled down from the Google Store back in December, cutting down the Android Wear options out in the market.

Put simply, this development may lift the spirits of wearable enthusiasts out there, as it more or less goes to show that the smartwatch race is far from over despite signs of dying down.

Wrapping Up

To boil things down, the Huawei Watch 2 is said to be in development, with one version offering cellular data capability. Also, it could be officially introduced in February at MWC 2017.

With all said and done, what do you think of a next-generation Huawei Watch with cellular connectivity? Feel free to drop by our comments section below and let us know, especially if you want to see it take the stage at MWC 2017.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
No, Mark Zuckerberg is not running for president. This came straight from the horse's mouth after days of media speculation about the Facebook mogul's political ambition.

In a statement sent to BuzzFeed, Zuckerberg stated that he is focused on building the Facebook community and working on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Note how the word "never" was not mentioned at all, providing him wiggle room in case he needs to flip flop on this pronouncement in the future.

Mark Zuckerberg's Political Moves

This issue and a host of other factors explain the recent media interest because the prospect of a political Zuckerberg is not without any basis whatsoever.

A previously leaked court filing has revealed that an entry to government service was one of the factors considered when Zuckerberg negotiated his latest contract as Facebook CEO. Particularly, there is the provision that states how Zuckerberg must still be allowed to keep his position while in government service for two years.

Zuckerberg has also been methodically drawing political veterans into his orbit. Recently, he recruited David Plouffe, a prominent Barack Obama aide, to head the CZI. He joined a number of other political operatives such as Ken Mehlman, who used to be George W. Bush's campaign manager.

A number of observers also note that this year's personal challenge, which is sort of a tradition for Zuckerberg, involves travelling to as much as 30 U.S. states. For some, this suspiciously looks like a campaign in the offing or a listening tour to gauge the pulse of the public.

Does A No Mean No?

If one does think about it, there is cleverness and deflection in the way Zuckerberg's denial has been crafted. The question was whether he intends to run for president but his answer was not exactly a categorical no. What if conditions weaned him from Facebook and CZI?

Even Hillary Clinton said no when asked about her presidential plans back in 2004.

"You know, in 2008, I hope I'm going to be working for the re-election of John Kerry and John Edwards," Clinton told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

It is also worth noting that the perception of leaving Facebook at this stage could have serious repercussions for the social media company. During the discussion of Zuckerberg's tenure, for example, it was revealed that some investors have expressed worry that Zuckerberg is losing focus on Facebook while some are concerned that he would no longer be running the show. These indicate the potential financial fallout in case he confirmed that he will be seeking public office.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
BTCC cofounder and CEO Bobby Lee believes that China's immensely popular cryptocurrency bitcoin will come under regulation in future.

The statement comes after People's Bank of China (PBoC) launched an investigation in the aftermath of the immense price hike in bitcoin at the end of December 2016 and beginning of January 2017.

Acording to the reports, PBoC is fearful that black money hoarders are avoiding currency regulations and getting the money out of the country with the help of bitcoin.

"The answer is, I don't know when it will happen but I know it will happen. I have confidence of that because fundamentally I think bitcoin exchanges need to be regulated," said Lee to Business Insider.

The announcement by Lee comes after PBoC launched an investigation on BTCC, China's largest bitcoin exchange, along with other leading bitcoin exchanges like Huboi and OkCoin. The investigation started after these three leading bitcoin exchanges came under the scanner for deciding to charge trading fees from Jan. 24.

BTCC, Huboi, and OKCoin stated on their separate websites that they will be charging 0.2 percent per transaction, this fee they believe will "further curb market manipulation and extreme volatility."

It was earlier thought that the exchange portals levied this charge on trading fees as a part of an upcoming PBoC behind-the-scenes regulation. Lee, however, says that these allegations are untrue. The charge was slapped as he knew that authorities would have wanted him to do the same in near future.

What Is Bitcoin?

A bitcoin is a digital payment medium or payment system using cryptography to secure monetary transactions and control creation of excessive currency. The mode of payment was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto and was introduced in Oct. 31, 2008 and released in 2009.

Bitcoin Bubble In China

Compared to other parts of the world, bitcoin has gained immense popularity in China. The journey of the cryptocurrency has seldom seen a downward trend in the last three years and is currently estimated to take up 99 percent of all trade dealings happening in cryptocurrency.

The price hike in late December 2016 and early January 2017 got PBoC worried, which is why regulations regarding bitcoin may be on top of its 2017 to-do list.

Lee says that PBoC just wants to make sure that the price does not go "crazy" and "create a bubble" which have ramifications on investors. The severe scrutiny by PBoC on the market has helped pull down the price again, pushing the bitcoin back below $1,000.

Photo: Jonathan Waller | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Microsoft is rumored to be working on the successor of the Surface Book laptop, dubbed the Surface Book 2, which will bring several upgrades.

The Surface Book 2 will apparently deploy a 4K display and like the rumored Surface Pro 5, it could also be equipped with Intel's Kaby Lake processor.

With Microsoft offering massive discounts on its older Surface Book, it is speculated that the release of the next-gen laptop is around the corner and the company is looking to clear the inventory of the older device.

Usually, a company reduces the price of its current products in the build-up to the launch of a new generation device. The way Microsoft is trying to get rid of the old stock hints that the Surface Book 2's arrival is imminent.

The Surface Book 2 is a highly anticipated device that will bring many firsts for consumers. Here is a look at some of the rumored specs, features, expected price, and release date of the laptop.

Design

In August 2016, Microsoft took to its Instagram account to tease an image of what many believed was the Surface Book 2. The leaks showed off some significant design improvements. Fans can look forward to the "dynamic fulcrum hinge" that has a lot more ridges in comparison to the Surface Book.

Display

The Surface Book 2 is rumored to sport a 13.5-inch 4K display and the device may also be capable of offering support to VR systems.

The current-gen variant also boasts a 13.5-inch screen but with a resolution of 3,000 x 2,000 pixels.

The improved display will likely find favor with consumers and if the Surface Book 2 offers VR support, that would be the icing on the cake.

Processor

At CES 2017, Intel unveiled the seventh-gen Kaby Lake processor, which is expected to power desktops and laptops.

Rumors have been rife that Microsoft has delayed the release of the Surface Pro 5 because of the processor, so it's logical to think that the company is most probably equipping its Surface Book 2 with the same CPU.

Battery

To support the rumored 4K display and 3D graphics, the Surface Book 2 will need to house a powerful battery. It is expected that the next-gen laptop will not disappoint on this account and offer more usage than the four hours supported by its predecessor. Microsoft is also expected to offer support for USB Type-C.

Price And Release

Microsoft is yet to spill the beans on the official release date of the Surface Book 2. However, rumor has it that the device could be introduced in March this year. The Surface Book was unveiled in October 2015 and the company did not refresh the device in 2016. Therefore, the chances of the Surface Book 2 debuting in March, possibly alongside the Surface Pro 5, are high.

The pricing for device is not known at this juncture, but it will likely start at $1,499 just like its predecessor.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Pediatricians warn parents to think twice before buying those "smart" clothing with vital signs monitors to track their baby's health.

Electronic sensors that are attached to babies' socks, buttons, and onesies are supposed to continually monitor a child's vitals such as the pulse rate, oxygen level, and breathing by notifying the parents on their smartphone of any abnormality.

An example of this device is the $250-Owlet Baby Care's smart sock, which is worn on one of the baby's feet to monitor the vital signs.

Not Approved By The FDA

Christopher Bonafide, from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, however, said that these baby vital signs monitors have not been green-lighted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. There are also no evidence that can prove the devices do not prevent potentially deadly problems in healthy infants.

False Alarms

Repeated false alarms from these monitors may likewise lead to unnecessary tests performed on babies. False alarms may happen if the babies set off the monitor when they kick or roll or experience what can be considered as harmless changes in their vitals that the device may interpret as life-threatening.

Babies sometimes experience sudden drop in their blood oxygen levels which could set off a monitor. Bonafide said that although these are just normal fluctuations, parents may think otherwise when the alarm sounds off.

Potentially Harmful Consequences Of False Alarms

Babies who are brought in because of these false alarms may need to undergo a range of tests and procedures such as blood tests and X-rays which are not just expensive but are also potentially harmful.

"I worry about the unnecessary care and even potential harm to babies that can be associated with alarms from these devices," Bonafide said. "There's not a role for these devices in the care of healthy infants."

SIDS

Marketing of the devices often involve fear for sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, which kills about 3, 500 babies in the United States per year. The American Academy of Pediatrics though does not advise parents to use monitors such as the ones paired with smartphone apps at home since there are no evidence that these reduce the risk of SIDS.

AAP Recommendation To Prevent Sleep-Related Deaths In Babies

The AAP instead recommends parents to rely on prevention efforts that have already been proven effective such as breastfeeding and sleeping in the same room with their babies.

Parents and their babies should ideally sleep in the same bedroom albeit not in the same bed for at least six months to reduce the risk of sleep-related deaths among infants.

Babies Need Responsive And Vigilant Caregivers

Durham University' Parent-Infant Sleep Lab director Helen Ball said that many parents and caregivers today fail to realize the importance of giving responsive and vigilant care to keep babies safe. Many believe that it is possible to outsource this job to technology.

"One way in which monitors could hurt kids is by reducing the amount of care and attention they receive directly from their parents," Ball said.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Do you have an Ikea MYSINGSO Beach Chair at home?

Ikea wants it back.

Ikea MYSINGSO Beach Chair Global Recall

Ikea is conducting a mass recall of all models of its MYSINGSO beach chair after getting complaints of collapse and injury.

Five customers from Finland, Germany, the United States, Denmark, and Australia lodged reports against the Swedish company after incurring injuries to the fingers that required medical attention.

Arguably the world's largest furniture retailer of today, Ikea did not discount the possibility of the scenario.

"After washing the fabric seat it is possible to re-assemble the chair incorrectly leading to risks of falls or finger entrapments. Ikea has received five incident reports in which MYSINGSO beach chair collapsed during use due to incorrect re-assembly," Ikea said in an official statement.

"Safe products is a top priority at Ikea and all our products shall comply with international and national legislation as well as relevant standards," Ikea continued.

According to the company, the MYSINGSO beach chair has gone through relevant mechanical, fabric and chemical tests with approved result prior to being released to the market. However, after it received the reports, a full investigation on the incident was started immediately, which resulted in "an improved design to further mitigate the risks of incorrect re-assembly and injuries."

The updated version of the MYSINGSO beach chair will safely return to IKEA stores starting February this year.

Ikea Product Recalls In 2016

In 2016, Ikea also issued a number of global recalls for several products.

The most catastrophic of all was their 2016 recall of nearly 29 million dressers, after separate tip-over incidents resulted in the deaths of three small children. Ikea paid $50 million in damages to the families of the victims.

Last June, Ikea recalled almost 3 million safety gates - including their best-selling Patrull Fast and Klamma models - after parents complained that their locks were unreliable, causing children to fall down the stairs.

"At Ikea, we have a zero tolerance regarding child safety. We want to offer safe products and we believe that children are the most important people in the world. Whenever we are made aware of a possible safety issue with our products, we investigate thoroughly. We cannot accept that there could be a risk of injury while playing and as an immediate and precautionary action we have decided to recall all Patrull safety gates," said Acting Business Area Manager at Childrens Ikea Maria Thorn.

Other products recalled by Ikea through the years include the Choklad Mork chocolate line for undeclared milk, hazelnut, and almond ingredients; the Lattjo bat cape and children bed canopies because of risk of strangulation or injuries to the neck; all the three models of Gothem lamps because of the risk of electric shock; and Pastaalgar Fullkorn and Pastaalgar for undeclared soy content.

Ikea is best known for its ready-to-assemble furniture, appliances, and home decors. As of August 2016, the Ikea Group has 340 stores scattered around 28 countries across the globe.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Apple is apparently close to sealing a deal with India for a local manufacturing plant, which could translate to more affordable iDevices.

The company confirmed that it had a "constructive" meeting with the Indian government, discussing plans to open a facility in the country. This follows reports from earlier this month indicating that Apple was about to have a high-level meeting to ask the Indian government for concessions so it could manufacture products locally.

The list of demands Apple had for the Indian government included a waiver on custom duties, as well as extensive tax breaks.

According to a new report from Reuters, it now seems that the meeting took place and it was quite lucrative, albeit the two parties have not finalized any agreement just yet.

"We've been working hard to develop our operations in India," Apple tells Reuters. "We appreciate the constructive and open dialogue we've had with government about further expanding our local operations."

Affordable iPhones Made In India?

Apple has been trying to build an iPhone assembly factory in India for quite some time now and Apple products made in India could cost significantly less. India is among the world's fastest-growing smartphone markets and locally made handsets could be notably more affordable. Currently iPhones are simply too expensive for the vast majority of Indian customers, but things would be different if they were manufactured locally.

However, Apple is only willing to build a factory in India if the country agrees to loosen some of its rules for local businesses. One of those rules requires manufacturers to source at least 30 percent of all components locally, and that would be quite tough for Apple.

Apple Demands

India agreed to bend this rule for the first three years when new businesses start operations in the country, but Apple is looking for more leeway. Three years is not enough to get Apple on board, and the company has also asked for a waiver on customs duties for both used and new equipment. Moreover, Apple also wants full exemption from expenses on raw materials.

The company has also asked for a 15-year tax break on component and equipment imports, as well as looser rules when it comes to product labeling. Apple may not be too strict in meeting each and every one of these demands, but it will not give in easily either.

It remains to be seen whether the Indian government will eventually meet Apple halfway and agree to a solution that works for both parties, but the "constructive" meeting suggests that they're nearing some sort of common ground.

Should they reach a final agreement, having Apple products made in India could be great for all parties involved. India would get a global company setting up shop locally and creating many jobs, Apple would expand to one of the fastest-growing smartphone markets, and consumers would be able to purchase iPhones and other Apple devices at considerably more affordable price points.

For now, all we can do is wait and see if a deal materializes. As always, we'll keep you up to date as soon as more information becomes available.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Wait till you see the vintage dress and its beautiful back.

By India Today Web Desk: Promotions for Rangoon have just taken flight and its leading lady, Kangana Ranaut has already set the fashion bar so high.

Known for pulling off every piece of clothing with uncanny ease, Kangana didn't dissapoint this time too.

Also Read: Kangana just broke a very important fashion rule

From its back to its sleeves, every inch of the Fendi dress worn by the actress spelled perfection. The bell-sleeved, striped outfit looked even better because of the retro-style buttons on it.

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Also Read: Go home everybody, Kangana Ranaut's latest outfit has won the world

And what do we even say about the dress' stunning rear. See for yourself.

We love that dress on Kangana, don't you? Photo: Yogen Shah We love that dress on Kangana, don't you? Photo: Yogen Shah

Kangana's stylist Ami Patel decided to finish her look with a pair of Tom Ford pumps and her signature curls that did complete justice to Kangana's subtle makeup.

--- 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
Kannada actor Parul Yadav has been hospitalised after a pack of stray dogs attacked her on Monday evening.

By India Today Web Desk: Kannada actor Parul Yadav, who is gearing up for the Kannada remake of Queen, was attacked by a pack of stray dogs on Monday evening in Mumbai. After suffering multiple injuries and dog bites, Yadav is currently being treated at Kokilaben Hospital.

ALSO READ: Kannada star Parul to enter Bollywood with Killing Veerappan

ALSO READ: These Bengaluru-based actresses are turning entrepreneurs at the peak of their careers

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According to a report in The New Indian Express, Parul was attacked by six dogs when she was walking her pet near her apartment on Jogeshwari Road in the suburbs of Mumbai.

The report further suggests that it was in an attempt to save her pet from the pack of dogs that she suffered multiple bites with severe wounds on her face, legs and neck.

Moreover, she has a 3-inch deep cut on her head and is likely to undergo an operation today.

Parul began her career in Tamil and Malayalam films. Later, she made her Kannada debut with Pawan Wadeyar's Govindaya Namaha. Since then there has been no looking back for this actor who went up to star in films like Bachchan, Uppi2, Vaastu Prakara and Killing Veerappan.

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By Mail Today Bureau: RSS on Tuesday pulled all plugs to attack the CPM regime in Kerala as Sangh's number three, sah sarkaryavah or joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale called for immediate dismissal of the Left Democratic Front government in the state. Hosabale, who was speaking to a huge gathering at Kerala Bhawan where the rightwing had organised a sit-in dharna against the alleged killings of its cadre by the left in the state, also took jibes at the CPM.

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"The party must be renamed as the 'Conspiracy Party of Murderers'," he said. "Ab yachna nahi ran hoga, sangharsh bada bheeshan hoga (No more requests now, it is time for clash)," Hosabale threatened. "Kerala is generally known as 'God's own country' but these people have converted it into the demon's land," he said.

HOSABALE LAUNCHES ATTACK

"These leftists can also not do much about their actions today. Look at their ideology. It is irrigated by blood. In Cambodia Pol Pot killed so many; in China so many youth were killed at the Tiananmen square; in USSR MK Stalin did the same. When asked what was the basis of his actions, Stalin had replied 'deep hatred'. Now what can you expect from these people sitting in Kerala Bhawan," said Dattatreya.

Also read: Kerala: Six CPI-M activists arrested for BJP worker's murder

Also read: Kerala: BJP worker hacked to death in Kannur

The top Sangh functionary, along with VHP leader Surendra Jain and other BJP leaders, also submitted a letter to the Union home minister Rajnath Singh via MoS Hansraj Gangaram Ahir at the latter's residence.

The letter drew attention to the "recurring assaults and gruesome murder of RSS-BJP workers", "particularly in Kannur District". "There are also reports that the police personal have been attacked on many occasions by CPM workers when the police take strong steps against the culprits and CPM ruffians," the letter added. RSS also wrote to the Kerala CM, urging him to intervene immediately.

Also read: Kerala: BJP worker's wife who suffered injuries after their house was allegedly burnt by CPM workers dead

--- ENDS ---
By India Today Web Desk: Paris Jackson's suicide attempt at the age of 15 went public. In fact, A suicide attempt went public.

In her first-ever candid interview since, the 18-year-old daughter of Michael Jackson has told Rolling Stone that the incident was just one of many suicide attempts, thanks to the depression, anxiety and drug abuse she was going through at the time.

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"It was just self-hatred, low self-esteem, thinking that I couldn't do anything right, not thinking I was worthy of living anymore," she said. "I was crazy. I was actually crazy. I was going through a lot of, like, teen angst. And I was also dealing with my depression and my anxiety without any help."

idk what you're talking about, i don't wear the same outfit every day ??? A photo posted by Paris-Michael K. Jackson (@parisjackson) on Oct 27, 2016 at 3:40pm PDT

Talking about her father too having gone through depression, she adds that she was on the same anti-depressants he was on once. "I was crazy. I was actually crazy. I was going through a lot of, like, teen angst. And I was also dealing with my depression and my anxiety without any help."

But not anymore. Paris has officially recovered, and is proud of it. What made her come out of it? Her work, mostly--modelling.

"I've had self-esteem issues for a really, really long time," says Paris, and adds, "Plenty of people think I'm ugly, and plenty of people don't. But there's a moment when I'm modeling where I forget about my self-esteem issues and focus on what the photographer's telling me - and I feel pretty. And in that sense, it's selfish."

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By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Jan 25 (PTI) NCP today said it has warned its district units against any kind of pact with Shiv Sena and BJP for the upcoming polls to Zilla Parishads (ZP), panchayat samiti and municipal corporations.

NCP state unit president Sunil Tatkare told reporters that if such an alliance comes to the notice of the state party leadership, A and B forms (signed by the president or secretary of the party for candidates to file their nomination) will not be given to the candidates.

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"Stern action will be taken against those joining hands with Shiv Sena and BJP. We expect the Congress to take a similar action," he said.

Tatkare said for the second phase of ZP polls on Febraury 21, talks are on at district level with the Congress.

"Alliance (with Congress) is likely to be finalised at majority places," he said.

Tatkare slammed the Sena-BJP for discussing seat adjustments and at the same time targetting each other.

"It is immaterial to us whether they align or not. However, Sena says seat sharing should be done on basis of BJPs 2012 strength in Mumbai. While BJP says its strength has increased since 2014. If that is the case, BJP should compare its recent performance in the Municipal council polls with that of its 2014 assembly election success and not the municipal council results five years ago," he said.

"We were keen on an alliance in Mumbai, but that did not materialise since the city Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam declared that his party did not need us," Tatkare said.

A total of 25 ZPs and 283 panchayat samitis will go to polls in two phases next month. Polling for ten municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), will be held on February 21. PTI MRNCP warns its dist units not to have any pact with Sena & BJP

Mumbai, Jan 25 (PTI) NCP today said it has warned its district units against any kind of pact with Shiv Sena and BJP for the upcoming polls to Zilla Parishads (ZP), panchayat samiti and municipal corporations.

NCP state unit president Sunil Tatkare told reporters that if such an alliance comes to the notice of the state party leadership, A and B forms (signed by the president or secretary of the party for candidates to file their nomination) will not be given to the candidates.

"Stern action will be taken against those joining hands with Shiv Sena and BJP. We expect the Congress to take a similar action," he said.

Tatkare said for the second phase of ZP polls on February 21, talks are on at district level with the Congress.

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"Alliance (with Congress) is likely to be finalised at majority places," he said.

Tatkare slammed the Sena-BJP for discussing seat adjustments and at the same time targeting each other.

"It is immaterial to us whether they align or not. However, Sena says seat sharing should be done on basis of BJPs 2012 strength in Mumbai. While BJP says its strength has increased since 2014. If that is the case, BJP should compare its recent performance in the Municipal council polls with that of its 2014 assembly election success and not the municipal council results five years ago," he said.

"We were keen on an alliance in Mumbai, but that did not materialise since the city Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam declared that his party did not need us," Tatkare said.

A total of 25 ZPs and 283 panchayat samitis will go to polls in two phases next month. Polling for ten municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), will be held on February 21. PTI MR NP

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Longtime former prison warden Burl Cain took to the airwaves Tuesday to defend himself in a radio interview against the findings of a recent state audit that said he benefited from free state labor and other goodies  and that he might have committed malfeasance.

While taking issue with few of the audits specific findings during an interview on Baton Rouges Talk 107.3, Cain generally characterized the report, released a day earlier, as the work of nitpickers who couldnt find a real scandal.

Cain, who resigned as warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in 2016 after two decades at its helm, expressed some frustration that his accomplishments have gotten short shrift thanks to a raft of critical newspaper stories and the recent audit.

When his interviewer, guest host Leo Honeycutt, asked Cain whether he was guilty of any crimes, however small, the warden didnt hesitate.

Absolutely not, Cain said. I think I should get a plaque, actually.

The former warden said his achievements included transforming the Angola Prison Rodeo into a major money-maker and building a series of chapels with money he raised privately.

It was being creative and thinking outside the box that got me in trouble, Cain said. These kinds of things discourage state employees from being entrepreneurial.  I stole nothing. I gave.  I should be rewarded rather than condemned.

Cains appearance came a couple of hours after Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera, whose office published the report, appeared on the same station to speak about the highlights.

Purpera noted that  as is typical when his office conducts an investigative audit that turns up evidence that crimes may have been committed  the findings have been passed along to the local district attorney as well as the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Sam DAquilla, district attorney for the 20th Judicial District, said Tuesday that he had been briefed on the audit findings and that he plans to bring them before a grand jury, probably in early February. Well let them decide what to do with it, he said.

Walt Green, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Purpera described many of the practices outlined in the report as abusive and said his auditors found a go along to get along culture at Angola that discourages whistleblowing.

When the boss asks you to go work on (his) home, theres a little pressure there, he said. In the future, Purpera added, correctional employees who are uncomfortable with things they witness should call his office.

In his turn at the microphone, Cain repeated what he has said before: that if his subordinates failed to sign out from Angola before turning up to work at his private home, it was probably an oversight. He added that it wasn't his job to review employees timesheets and that he didnt pressure anyone to work at his house.

I think (the auditor is) making a lot out of nothing, he said.

Cain didnt deny that various appliances and furnishings for the wardens residence at Angola had been purchased with state money. But he said that a large refrigerator mentioned in the audit was actually at the Ranch House, where guests to the prison are entertained, not at the wardens house.

And he groused that the auditors and The Advocate had both failed to point out that he personally underwrote some improvements to the place, including the installation of marble tile in the kitchen at a cost of more than $3,000.

As for auditors claim that Cains adult children made frequent use of free lodging and food at Angola  costing taxpayers more than $17,000 over a period of years, by auditors estimation  the former warden again scoffed.

Two of his children already had free state accommodations provided by the state correctional department, he said, and the third was eligible for free digs but declined to take them. So, he asked, what difference did it make whether they were staying at a house at Angola or elsewhere?

Instead of turning on the water and electricity in the house they lived in, they left their state(-owned) house to come to Angola, he said. I cannot see how that costs anything.

Toward the end of his appearance, Cain waxed philosophical, telling Honeycutt  who told him he might have been the best warden in the prisons history  that perhaps he had gotten too powerful.

He reiterated that he agreed to step down only because he was told it was the only way Jimmy LeBlanc  whom Cain has described as his best friend  would be retained as corrections secretary.

I was maybe a little too strong and I needed to be clipped down, he said. When I got that ultimatum to step down or they wouldnt appoint Jimmy, thats when I knew I had to leave.

Honeycutt noted that the report suggests Cain could be guilty of one or more crimes, including malfeasance. What if youre indicted? he asked.

I wont be, Cain said. Over this? I cant imagine it.
DONALDSONVILLE - With residents replacing vehicles lost to the flood, Ascension Parish school district's tax collections from motor vehicle sales jumped by almost $300,000 in December, compared with the collections of December 2015.

Total sales tax revenues of $14.3 million for December were, in fact, more than $641,000 above budgeted, with post-flood retail spending up as well, the district's director of business services, Diane Allison, reported at the School Board meeting Tuesday.

The school district's expenses of $20 million in December also were up, 11 percent over budget, due in large part to the district's own flood-related spending.

Much of that expense came in the form of $2 million for 30 new school buses to replace ones that flooded, Allison said.

From the time of the disaster in August through Monday , total flood-related expenditures for the school district came to $13.8 million, Allison said.

Just under $5.2 million in revenues have been received against those expenses, through $4.6 million in flood insurance proceeds and $209,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, she said.

In a report to the board, Todd Mann, project manager with CSRS, the Baton Rouge consultant for the school district's flood recovery, said they anticipate submitting 46 projects to FEMA for reimbursement.

Of those, 14 projects have been submitted to date to FEMA, with a requested total reimbursement of $38.5 million.

+10 Ascension Parish school district flood cleanup includes transportation, distribution center On the night of Aug. 15, a determined crew working in knee-deep water managed to drive 40 sc

Also, Chad Lynch, director of planning and construction, told the board's facility management committee that the school district may able to purchase the warehouse it's been leasing on Orice Roth Road after the district's warehouse on Airline Highway in Sorrento flooded.
Despite lots of fanfare, Louisiana and other states allow public school teachers to be rated as "effective" even if students show insignificant academic growth, according to a national report released Wednesday morning.

"The policy itself is not as strong as it should be," said Nithya Joseph, one of the authors of the 70-page study.

Teacher evaluations have sparked controversy for years, and remain a hot topic seven years after the state started revamping how they are done.

Teacher evaluations may undergo changes Principals would have new latitude to evaluate public school teachers under a plan that will

Backers said tougher job reviews would improve the quality of teachers and improve student achievement.

Under current rules, half of a teacher's review in Louisiana is based on classroom observations by principals, 35 percent stems from objective student academic growth and 15 percent is based on other indicators.

Principals also have more say in the final outcome than they did previously.

The review, which was done by the National Council on Teacher Quality, said a teacher in Louisiana can be labeled "effective" even if he or she gets the lowest score possible on student academic gains.

That low score combined with a top rating in the classroom observation portion of the job review allows them to be classified overall as "effective," according to the report.

Doing so, the study says, undercuts the all-important role of student academic growth.

"No teacher's evaluation rating should be determined only by a single measure, including a student growth measure," the study says.

"But teachers and students are not well served when a teacher is rated effective or higher even though her students have not made significant gains in their learning over the course of a school year."

The report raises questions on how far Louisiana and other states have come since teacher reviews were based solely on classroom observations.

Advisory panel leaning toward teacher review changes Public school principals would have new authority to override ineffective ratings given to

Before the changes here, 99 percent of public school teachers routinely got satisfactory ratings, which critics said made the job checks all but meaningless.

Louisiana initially moved to a system where half the job review stemmed from academic growth and half from classroom observations, and that failure in either category could lead to termination.

However, those rules have since been softened amid criticism from teacher union leaders and others, who have criticized the overhaul for years.

Critics contend it is unfair to rely heavily on test scores because a wide range of factors play a role in the results, including some outside the control of teachers.

Even under that more rigorous review, only 4 percent of teachers subjected to the review were listed as "ineffective," which covered the 2012-13 school year.

"Despite state efforts, nearly all teachers continue to earn ratings of effective or higher, despite student test scores and research which indicates that these ratings are unlikely to accurately reflect teachers' performance," Elizabeth Ross, managing director of state policy at NCTQ, said in a prepared statement that accompanied the report.

Sydni Dunn, press secretary for the state Department of Education, said in an email that the agency "appreciates the critique that the state's educator evaluation system is not challenging enough, and we look forward to reviewing the report in its entirety."

Dunn said teachers deserve a full year of classroom training before entering the profession, and the state's top school board Tuesday authorized $1.5 million to do just that.

Debbie Meaux, president of the Louisiana Association of Educators, said the report represents "tired and rehashed arguments" by corporate interests.

Meaux questioned what the NCTQ considers student growth and noted that Louisiana is revising how it defines and uses student gains.

The study said 30 states require that academic growth play a significant factor in teacher evaluations.

Another 10 states have student gains play some part in teacher job checks while 11 states require no measures of student growth.

Kentucky and Indiana were singled out as the only states that make it impossible for teachers to be rated as "effective' if students failed to meet academic targets.

A panel named by Gov. John Bel Edwards, including Meaux, last month recommended that teacher reviews be changed so that 80 percent stems from classroom observations and 20 percent linked to student academic gains.

The reviews that have caused the most controversy apply to about 20,000 of Louisiana's roughly 50,000 teachers who teach subjects where test data is readily available.

A complex formula called the Value Added Model is used.

The other 30,000 or so teachers are judged in part of annual student learning targets, which are goals set for students and agreed on at the start of the school year by teachers and principals.

The group that did the report calls itself a nonpartisan research and policy organization in Washington, D.C.

Financial support comes from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Walton Family Foundation and others.
Baton Rouge Police have released video images of a man believed to have shot and critically injured another person on Friday.

The shooting happened around 11:30 a.m. in the 1700 block of North 23rd Street. Investigators believe the shooting followed a fight between the assailant and the victim, according to the incident report.

Anyone with information on the identify of this suspect is urged to call the Violent Crime Unit at (225) 389-4869 or Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867.
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By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 25 (PTI) The National Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the Kerala government and the state police over reports of "assault and gruesome killings" of RSS and BJP workers there.

The Commission today said it has taken suo motu cognisance of the media report and issued notices to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, Kerala government, and sought detailed reports on the matter within four weeks.

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Reportedly, an RSS ideologue had demanded urgent intervention of the Backward Commission and National Human Rights Commission into alleged political violence, which has claimed several lives in Kerala, the NHRC said.

Expressing concern over the incidents, the rights body, in a statement has observed that "such gruesome killings of RSS and BJP workers, as alleged in the news report, are indicative of violation of right to life of the victims. State is duty bound to protect the right to life, equality and dignity of its citizens".

The NHRC in its notice has also asked to specify as to what preventive steps have been taken by the state government to prevent such incidents.

"The Chief Secretary is also expected to inform whether any relief in these matters has been granted by the state government to the victims and their families," it said.

"According to the media reports carried on January 25, the RSS Joint Secretary at a sit-in protest has reportedly urged people in the state to demand Presidents Rule against alleged political violence," the statement said.

The protest was organised by the Hindu groups in front of Kerala House here.

RSS ideologue Dattatreya Hosabale had yesterday said Gods Own Country was turning into the land of demons, while demanding an urgent intervention of the Backward Commission and the NHRC into the political violence taking place in Kerala. PTI KND GVS

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The Louisiana Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus newly installed board officers are, from left, Eric Edwards, Travis Napper, Paul Arrigo and Kimmie Carlos.
Three ex-Louisiana State Penitentiary guards indicted last fall in the alleged beating of a handcuffed and shackled Angola inmate and an alleged cover-up of the January 2014 assault, have given up their right to a speedy trial in Baton Rouge federal court.

Former Maj. Daniel Davis and former Capts. John Sanders and James Savoy were scheduled to stand trial March 13, but their attorneys earlier this month cited the complex nature of the case and the 7,000-plus pages of documents they expected to receive from federal prosecutors in asking U.S. District Judge John deGravelles to postpone the trial.

The judge did so late last week, writing that "the ends of justice served by taking such action outweigh the best interest of the public and the (defendants) in a speedy trial." He scheduled an April 13 status conference but did not set a new trial date.

"We have just received the Government's discovery in the case," Ian Hipwell, one of Davis' attorneys, said Tuesday. "Mr. Davis looks forward to his day in court."

Davis, Sanders and Savoy were indicted by a federal grand jury Nov. 2 and pleaded not guilty Jan. 6 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Erin Wilder-Doomes, who set the March 13 trial date under the terms of the Speedy Trial Act, which requires a trial to begin within 70 days of arraignment.

The indictment of Davis, Sanders and Savoy came six days after federal prosecutors accused another former Angola correctional officer, Scotty Kennedy, of standing by while those guards allegedly severely beat the handcuffed and shackled inmate being held in solitary confinement.

+2 Feds charge Angola correctional officer in alleged beating cover-up A Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola correctional officer stood by in January 2014 while

Kennedy, who resigned in February 2014, pleaded guilty Nov. 1 to deprivation of rights under color of law, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Kennedy, 48, of Beebe, Arkansas, has not been sentenced.

Prosecutors alleged he plotted with Davis, Sanders and Savoy to cover up the "unjustified assault" by creating a bogus story, falsifying prison records to corroborate the story, and tampering with witnesses and physical evidence.

Kennedy had a clean record at the maximum-security prison prior to the beating, but two of the other guards allegedly involved in it had several excessive-force complaints against them, according to the federal bill of information charging Kennedy.

Davis, 40, of Loranger, and Sanders, 31, and Savoy, 38, both of Marksville, allegedly beat the inmate and plotted to cover up their misconduct by, among other things, falsely stating they used reasonable force to get the inmate under control after he got out of his cell and fought with guards.

Each man is charged with deprivation of rights under color of law, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and falsifying reports in a federal investigation. Davis also is accused of tampering with a witness and perjury.
Even though Louisiana rapper Corey "C-Murder" Miller has spent the last seven years at Angola as inmate No. 00556633, the recent release of new songs and a big social media presence promoting his records suggests the once-famed rapper might still be raking in some cash.

Now the victims of a botched 2001 Baton Rouge nightclub shooting  where Miller was convicted of trying to open fire, although he was thwarted by a malfunctioning handgun  are asking a state judge to seize any earnings from Miller's label to cover unpaid civil judgments.

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In a court motion filed Tuesday, attorneys for staff and patrons at Club Raggs on Plank Road pointed to recently released songs by the now 45-year-old Miller  available for purchase on Amazon and through Apple's iTunes store  as evidence he may still be leading a lucrative music career from behind bars. The lawsuit was filed by several people inside the club at the time of the attempted shooting, including the bouncer Miller allegedly tried to shoot, the club's owner, a bartender, a bar manager and at least one self-described regular.

His latest album, titled "Penitentiary Chances" and made with Boosie Badazz, was released in April. Torrance "Boosie Badazz" Hatch, who formerly performed under the name "Lil Boosie," also served several years in the Louisiana corrections system, including at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, for drug-related offenses. Hatch was released in 2014.

+5 New rap album by Angola inmate C-Murder sparks investigation Prisoners at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola arent allowed to record albums or songs

Miller released several hit songs during the late 1990s and early 2000s while appearing along with his brothers, Percy Master P Miller and Vyshonn Silkk The Shocker Miller, on Master P's now-defunct No Limit Records.

His Wikipedia page lists at least four albums released since Miller was sent away in 2009 to serve life without parole for murder in the fatal 2002 shooting of a teenage fan at a Harvey nightclub. It's unclear, though, if those songs were recorded during Miller's time in the state correctional system.

The state Department of Public Safety and Corrections launched an investigation into Miller in January 2016 after reports surfaced of the pending release of "Penitentiary Chances," then-DOC spokeswoman Pam Laborde said last April.

Shortly afterward, prison officials determined Miller broke Angola rules by recording music in the penitentiary and sent him to a separate disciplinary camp, said Ken Pastorick, the current DOC spokesman. Miller spent three months in "disciplinary segregation" with extremely limited privileges before being returned to a regular dormitory unit on July 26, Pastorick said.

Miller had told prison investigators that any new music was recorded before he was sent away, Laborde said. But lyrics on Miller's recent songs reference recent developments in his legal appeals and appear to have been conceived after his conviction.

In an interview with The Huffington Post in March to promote the new album, Miller's manager, Manuel "M.O." Ortiz, said the new release was intended to show "how the court system railroaded" Miller. But Ortiz and others coyly declined to tell The Huffington Post how they recorded the music.

The garnishment petition filed Tuesday asks Miller's managers and record label, New Orleans-based Bossalinie Records, LLC, to disclose any earnings Miller may have made from the record.

Attempts to reach Ortiz, Bossalinie Records, an attorney and other representatives for Miller on Wednesday weren't successful.

Miller lost a civil suit filed by the Club Raggs victims and, due to accumulated interest on judgments of $80,000, now owes the victims a combined $150,000, the petition says.

The incident at the club, which apparently began after a bouncer tried to pat down C-Murder before letting him inside, occurred just months before Miller was accused of fatally shooting a 16-year-old fan named Steve Thomas during a January 2002 confrontation inside a Jefferson Parish club.

A jury convicted Miller of second-degree murder in 2003 for Thomas' death, but a state district judge ruled prosecutors withheld information about the criminal background of a witness and granted Miller a new trial. He was convicted again by a 10-2 jury verdict in 2009 and was sentenced to life in prison.

Just a few months before his murder conviction, Miller pleaded "no contest" to two counts of attempted second-degree murder for the failed Club Raggs shooting.

Miller is apparently also marketing the music through a series of Twitter and Instagram accounts on social media, according to the filing, though it's unclear if Miller or representatives on the outside have been posting the updates.

Releasing an album from prison isn't the first time Miller has run afoul of law enforcement while locked up.

While appealing his first murder conviction in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in 2005, Miller rapped into a tape recorder held by his attorney, Ronald Rakosky. The recording and footage shot inside the lockup by film crews from a local access channel and Court TV wound up in a music video for "Y'all Heard of Me."

That infuriated then-Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee, who responded by banning film crews from interviewing Miller and allowed Rakosky to meet with his client armed only with pen and notepad.

A new music video for "Dear Supreme Court," a song off "Penitentiary Chances," was released in March but doesn't appear to feature any footage of the inmate himself. Instead, the video  which opens with protesters holding signs calling for Miller's release  draws on exterior shots of Louisiana's infamous state penitentiary and a sunglasses-wearing actor playing Miller in prison cell close-ups.

In the song, Miller maintains his innocence, claims his trials were rigged and calls on the state's high court to release him. But in May, the state Supreme Court denied Miller's latest request for a new trial.
In a turnaround from December, a Baton Rouge charter school that serves students with dyslexia was granted an extension Tuesday by the state's top school board.

The school, Louisiana Key Academy, was criticized last month at the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and BESE delayed a vote on its future.

However, BESE approved an extension Tuesday and also agreed that a new measuring stick will be used in the future to gauge how the school is performing.

"We are very pleased and thankful," said Dr. Laura Cassidy, president and chairwoman of the board that oversees the school and the wife of U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge.

Students with dyslexia have trouble reading and recognizing words.

The school has about 300 students in grades one to five. It is one of just two such public schools in the state. The school got an F for its 2016 state-issued letter grade.

However, in the future it will be reviewed using what state officials call an alternate framework. That means students will take tests like their peers statewide, and get a school performance score that is converted into a letter grade.

But the new assessment means officials will also consider students served by the school, whether they are improving academically and other issues in deciding whether it remains in operation.

BESE also approved allowing Louisiana Key Academy to offer sixth grade classes next school year, so current students can stay another year.

The action ensures a fifth year of operation for the school, and then BESE decides whether to approve a longer-term renewal.

Last month state Superintendent of Education John White said the school did not meet conditions for an extension.

Charter school for dyslexic students, graded 'F' by state, could continue on probationary status Amid questions and criticism, Louisiana's top school board Tuesday delayed a vote on major c

White recommended that Louisiana Key Academy get a probationary extension while officials crafted a rubric that will be used for future measurements.

Families previously opted out of the exams, and those results are typically the key factor in whether BESE grants charter extensions.

"The real goal is so that the children can read the written word," Laura Cassidy said Tuesday.

"It is one thing to have a test or a book read to you," she said "Our goal is for them to read on grade level by themselves."

School officials hope to eventually add classes through the eighth grade.

The same state assessment rules will apply to the other school that serves students with dyslexia  MAX Charter School in Thibodaux.

Before BESE gave final approval to the changes Tuesday Debbie Meaux, president of the Louisiana Association of Educators, questioned the move.

Meaux noted that school performance scores play a huge role in whether schools remain open. She said alternate frameworks, like those that will be used for Key Academy, should be applied to the special school district and other schools.

If not, Meaux said, "you risk the criticism of playing favorites."

In other action, BESE gave final approval to three charter schools like those that are the target of a lawsuit on how they are funded.

Amid legal fight, more charters schools up for debate Monday State Superintendent of Education John White said Friday his department will ask the Louisia

They are Baton Rouge University Preparatory, Collegiate Academies, also in Baton Rouge and Jefferson Chamber Foundation Academy in Lafayette.

A fourth school that won tentative approval Monday, Red River Charter Academy in Avoyelles Parish, failed on a 5-5 vote.
After years of delays under the Obama administration, the Keystone XL pipeline widely supported by Louisiana lawmakers appears to be advancing.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday took steps to advance the controversial Keystone XL pipeline  signaling a major shift in the nation's energy policy and approach to climate change under the new administration. He also took executive action to move ahead with the Dakota Access oil pipeline's construction, which had been halted amid major protest demonstrations.

"From now on we are going to start making pipelines in the United States," Trump said.

Trouble viewing video below? Click here.

Obama had personally halted the Keystone XL project, citing concerns over its impact on global climate change initiatives.

Through his order, Trump has invited Keystone builder, TransCanada, to resubmit its application to the State Department for a presidential permit to construct and operate the pipeline. The company said it would reapply.

Trump has also said he will require that it be constructed using steel from the United States.

President Barack Obama vetoes Keystone pipeline bill Washington  As expected, President Barack Obama vetoed the bill Tuesday to green-light cons

The timeline remains unclear, but several members of Louisiana's Congressional delegation and representatives from the state's oil and gas industry lauded the move.

Increasing our energy infrastructure is good for the nation, bringing well-paying jobs and increased revenue to state and local governments, said U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge. Clearly, President Trump is committed to fulfilling the promises that Republicans made to the American people.

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-Madisonville, called Trump's action "an encouraging development for our Louisiana families who give so much to the oil and gas industry."

"By embracing the Keystone XL pipeline, President Trump is unraveling the destructive policies of the prior administration that harmed our energy industry and killed Louisiana jobs," he said.

Keystone, a longstanding issue that has been popular among both Republicans and prominent Democrats in Louisiana, would link Canadian oil with refineries in Texas.

The pipeline won't pass through Louisiana, but supporters say it would strengthen the energy sector that's vital to the state's economy.

A downturn in oil prices has been cited among the causes of Louisiana's recession.

Louisiana leaders blast Obama's decision to reject Keystone pipeline Louisianas congressional delegation and others have blasted President Barack Obamas decisi

Gifford Briggs, vice president of the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association, said that there may not be a direct spurring of Louisiana jobs from the pipeline, but it and other actions that Trump has promised, including the easing of some regulations and promoting job, have a larger impact on the industry here.

"There's been some renewed optimism in the industry as a whole," he said. "Anybody can talk a big game, but actually seeing that talk put into action  and so quickly  is going to help solidify that renewed optimism about what can be done."

He said that the measure signals to the industry that it has a friend in the White House and can hopefully begin to rebuild.

"It certainly feels good to have that renewed sense of hope," he said.

The pipeline featured a prominent role in the 2014 U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican Bill Cassidy, who went on to win the election.

Mary Landrieu and Bill Cassidy scrap over Keystone pipeline bills WASHINGTON  The U.S. House on Thursday debated a Keystone XL pipeline bill by U.S. Rep. Bil

Both candidates supported the pipeline, but Landrieu, then chairwoman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, had been unable to move pro-Keystone legislation through the then-Democratic-controlled chamber. In the lead up to the runoff election, a vote on the Keystone bill made it to the floor, where it failed by one vote.

The move was widely seen as an unsuccessful political maneuver by Democrats hoping to give Landrieu a chance to demonstrate how much clout she had built in the chamber. Meanwhile, Cassidy passed a nearly identical bill through the U.S. House, of which he was a member at the time.

Trump's action directs the State Department and other agencies to make a decision within 60 days of a final application. He also declared that a 2014 State Department environmental study satisfies required reviews under environmental and endangered species laws. Environmental groups promised a legal challenge, arguing a new application requires a new review.

State Department approval is needed because the pipeline would cross the northern U.S. border.

Environmental groups and Native American tribes who have fought both Keystone and the Dakota project for years pledged to defy Trump.

"President Trump will live to regret his actions today," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. "Unwittingly he is beginning to build a wall  a wall of resistance. This fight is far from over."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A security camera sits under a Bourbon street sign on the corner of Bourbon and Bienville streets in New Orleans, Monday January 9, 2017. Mayor Landrieu is planning to improve the security of the French Quarter including plans of closing part of Bourbon street to vehicles and installing more bright lights.
PHILADELPHIA (AP)  Congress will move legislation this year providing up to $15 billion to build a wall along the Mexican boundary, Republica
WWL-TV photo -- An image of the coyote that wandered into Dat Dog in Marigny.
By Press Trust of India: From Lalit K Jha Washington, Jan 25 (PTI) Nikki Haley was today overwhelmingly approved by the Senate as Americas next Ambassador to the UN, scripting history by becoming the first Indian-American to serve on a Cabinet rank position in any US presidential administration.

Haley, 45, a rising Republican star, was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with wide bipartisan support, 96-4. She will replace Samantha Power.

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Haley turned in her resignation as South Carolina governor minutes after she was confirmed as President Donald Trumps Cabinet pick.

She is expected to be sworn in shortly.

The two-term governor faced questions from Democrats over her lack of experience with global affairs but won plaudits from senators for her handling of prickly issues like Russia and UN actions toward Israel during her confirmation hearings.

She is the first woman to be confirmed to Trumps Cabinet.

Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Haley is a proven leader who will be a "fierce advocate" at the UN for American interests.

With this, Haley becomes the first Indian-American to serve in a presidential administration at a Cabinet level position.

While nominating her, Trump had said, "Governor Haley has a proven track record of bringing people together regardless of background or party affiliation to move critical policies forward for the betterment of her state and our country.

"She is also a proven dealmaker, and we look to be making plenty of deals. She will be a great leader representing us on the world stage," Trump had said.

Haley has already created history by becoming the first women Indian-American Governor of a US State.

After Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, she is only the second ever Indian-American to be elected as the Governor of a State.

Haley would now be replaced by Lt Gov Henry McMaster as governor and will complete her term that ends in 2018.

"Governor Haley appears up to the task and seems to understand this as well," said Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as he voted to approve Haleys nomination as the next US Ambassador to the UN.

"What Governor Haley lacks in foreign policy and international affairs experience, she makes up for in capability, intelligence, and a track record of building coalitions in South Carolina," Cardin said.

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Once a fierce critic of Trump, Haley in November was selected as the first woman and first minority to serve in the Trump Administration.

The daughter of Indian immigrants from Punjab, Haley had said she wouldnt support one of Trumps major campaign proposals ? to create a registry of Muslims in the US and a ban on Muslim immigration and travel ? but suggested the administrations views had changed on the issue. PTI LKJ AJR NSA AKJ NSA

--- ENDS ---
Gregory "Rabbit" Stewart chronicled killing after gangland killing on the streets of New Orleans, naming guns, shooters, vehicles and motives behind a litany of slayings as the admitted assassin began his turn on the witness stand Tuesday in the federal racketeering trial of 10 accused members of the "39'ers" gang.

Stewart, 25, is the government's star witness against his accused former associates in an alleged heroin-dealing conspiracy backed by frequent killings.

In his first day on the stand, Stewart was unabashed about admitting he orchestrated many of the murders that prosecutors have pinned on the group. He eagerly killed rivals as the gang's most prolific triggerman.

Stewart gave the jury of eight men and four women a tutorial in how to cut heroin to make it still seem pure, and in how to carefully skirt police while shedding blood in broad daylight on New Orleans streets.

Members of the gang sometimes rented cars or vans that served as murder vehicles, and they often shared guns, keeping several assault weapons in a cache they stored under houses, in alleys or hidden in grassy fields, Stewart testified.

They employed them frequently, he said.

"We was tight. We was really like a good team. We was unstoppable. We had the city on lock," Stewart said. "We used to go to the Young Jeezy concerts in Atlanta. I stayed in Mississippi right on the beach. We went to Miami for Memorial (Day) weekend every year."

And often, particularly in 2010 and 2011, they killed.

Stewart has provided federal authorities a trove of material for the prosecution of his former associates as he seeks to shave time off the four life prison terms he accepted as part of a 2014 federal plea deal.

In some cases, Assistant U.S. Attorney Myles Ranier acknowledged, his admissions have cleared rivals who were arrested for a few of the 16 killings identified in a 47-count federal indictment. In many more cases, however, he has implicated his former friends in addition to himself.

Prosecutors describe the 39'ers as a hybrid force of the Upper 9th Ward's G-Strip gang and 3NG, a notorious Central City drug clan named for its stronghold around Third and Galvez streets. Several of the alleged members also hailed from the Florida housing development.

Stewart, who said he started dealing drugs at age 11 and killed until he was caught in 2011, has admitted to a role in at least a dozen murders.

Among them was the December 2010 attack in New Orleans East that left bounce rapper Renatta "Magnolia Shorty" Lowe and Jerome "ManMan" Hampton dead in a car from a barrage of more than 50 bullets.

Stewart said the since-slain leader of the 39'ers, Merle Offray, ordered the hit on Hampton, who was associated with a group from the Calliope housing project. He said the word was out that Hampton planned to kill Offray for supplying heroin to 3NG.

"Merle said (Hampton) was gonna kill him. He said, 'Handle him,' " Stewart said.

So on Dec. 20, 2010, Stewart said, he and four others  Rico "Freaky" Jackson, Terrioues "T-Red" Owney, McCoy "Rat" Walker and Tyrone "Biscuit" Knockum  headed to the Georgetown Apartments, after failing to turn up Hampton in the Calliope area.

Stewart said he anticipated that Hampton was headed to the apartment complex to see Lowe.

Knockum drove the group in Stewart's white Ford Crown Victoria. Owney's girlfriend lived at the complex off Morrison Road, so he knew the gate code.

"We knew he was in the house by Magnolia Shorty. I'm like, 'We about to sit on that boy. Let's go to the gas station and get a cigar, and we gonna smoke some weed till he get out,' " Stewart said.

He said they paid someone outside a gas station to go in and buy the cigars, so they wouldn't be spotted on surveillance cameras. They waited by a speed bump in the parking lot of the apartment complex, so their targets would have to slow down.

"Rat shot first with the 9. He hit Magnolia Shorty. That's when the car crashed. Everybody went in their position, to go to their spot. T-Red and Freaky, they was at the back of the trunk by the back windshield. I was on top of the gate, shooting through the passenger door and the windshield and stuff, and Rat was on the side by the driver's side," Stewart said.

He estimated he fired at least 20 rounds from a .40-caliber handgun the group had dubbed "Barack."

On the drive home, Stewart said, he spotted another rival and considered killing him, but found that he and the others were too short on bullets, having spent most of them killing Lowe and Hampton.

"We shot until they was dead," Stewart said matter-of-factly of the double killing. Knockum and Jackson have pleaded guilty to their roles in the killings of Lowe and Hampton, and Knockum testified last week in a trial that may conclude next week.

Stewart also described a hit on Elton "Bo" Fields, one of three men who gunned down two 39'ers outside the Wing Shack on Desire Street on April 12, 2010.

The 39'ers lost three associates that day: Terrance "Cheddar Black" Butler, Derrick "Gucci Man" Jones and Jessie "G-Strip Baby" Terry.

The 39'ers dressed in black for Butler's funeral and in all white for Terry's service, Stewart said, often distinguishing between hard-core killers among the group and those less interested in gunplay.

"For Baby's funeral we had on all white, made sure everybody had all white, because Baby was an innocent person. He sold drugs, but he was a good dude," Stewart said.

"But Cheddar was like a gangster. He killed. He's just like all us. We had all black for him. That was the lifestyle he lived, and we wasn't tripping."

Stewart said he and Owney caught up with Fields, a member of a Desire housing complex gang, on Oct. 11, 2010, switching to a rented Dodge SUV before the attack on North Rocheblave Street in the 7th Ward.

Defendant Leroy Price drove. Stewart and Owney fired.

"(Fields) was parked, talking to a girl. We turned the corner, so me and Red hurried up and jumped out the car. I told the girl she better get the (expletive) out. She took out running. He tried to close the door. I slid in the door on him," Stewart said.

"I'm sitting on the door like this, hitting him in his face, and Red's (firing through) the back window, just hitting him like, until he died. ... I shot till my clip was almost empty."

Offray, who was later killed in 2013 at a bar across South Broad Street from New Orleans police headquarters, was happy with the deed, Stewart said, "because Merle loved Cheddar and he wanted everybody dead who had something to do with (his death)."

Stewart said he killed Calvin "Plucky" Celestine on Feb. 5, 2011 because Celestine "was playing games, two sides of the field" with Offray and Darryl "Breezy" Franklin, a 39'ers leader who testified earlier in the trial and is serving a life prison term.

"Breezy went to Texas with his money. He told me, by the time he come back, Plucky gotta' be dead," Stewart said.

He said he did the hit with a man named "Willy Bill," who is now deceased.

"I got heroin and money. I don't remember how much money. I think $9,000," Stewart said. "I went (and) splurged with it."

Ranier, the prosecutor, spent Tuesday afternoon walking Stewart through scores of wiretapped phone calls with some of the accused 39'ers, discussing drug transactions, lost weapons and efforts to skirt police and manipulate the justice system.

Among them was a series of calls in which Stewart said members of the 39'ers had spotted another rival, Corey "Co" Lewis, at a jewelry store in the Lakeside Mall and were scheming to kill him after he left. They failed, losing track of Lewis, Stewart testified.

Stewart, who is expected to spend several days on the stand, seemed to express more remorse over his lost friendships than over the killings he said he and others committed.

The loss of Owney as his running partner, he said, was particularly hard. He said he pushed to help Owney rise up and make money.

"With T-Red, bruh, that's really like my true brother. I know our relationship is over with, because, you know, what I'm doing to him right now," Stewart said as Owney sat at the long U-shaped defense table.

"If it come down to it, I really got love for them dudes. This is something messed up, that I'm really doing this. Like, life. I gotta' live with this," he said.

Stewart testified that he didn't hang out with defendant Damian "A.D." Barnes "all the way like that." He also said Alonzo "Woo-die" Peters "ain't no really violent person. He don't carry guns like how I say me and Red carry guns, me and Pound (Ashton Price)."

Stewart said Peters had to show up for the one murder he's named in: The Feb. 22, 2010 slaying of Kendall Faibvre, a Press Park gang associate, allegedly committed with co-defendants Ashton Price and Jasmine "Rell" Perry, along with Stewart.

It was a retaliatory killing for the shooting of a friend named Percy who became paralyzed, Stewart said.

He said he hatched the plan, called Peters and they positioned themselves around the target's house, "so we got the corners sewed up. He can't go anywhere."

"So when they pull off, that's when the shots came out. They went Woo-die's way. They stopped at the stop sign. When I pulled up behind him, Woo-Die and Rell got out, shot the car. I had a chopper too (AK-47). I know one thing: Pound 'bout to work him. Pound come out the car and hit the car with the chopper. I backed up and pulled off. We found out that dude was dead."

Stewart said he brought his personal AK-47, though the two assault weapons linked ballistically to the killing were not recovered.

Earlier Tuesday, Ranier presented Stewart with an AK-47, which he identified as his own, noting a flip switch added to boost its capacity.

An assault rifle used to kill Faibvre also was used in the April 12, 2010 killing of Quelton "Gutter" Broussard, a rival from the Desire projects who was gunned down in a car during a three-scene battle that claimed three 39'ers. Stewart admitted Tuesday to killing Broussard with Offray and Franklin.

"We had so many choppers," Stewart said, "so I don't really know."

Stewart said he went to see Percy, the paralyzed man, the day after Faibvre's murder.

"I told him, 'Son, we handled that. It wasn't the dude who shot you, it was one of his friends. They gonna' cry behind that,'" Stewart said.

"He (was) just like, 'Thank you.'"
The ACT could relax its ban on billboard advertising, after Chief Minister Andrew Barr foreshadowed a planning committee review into the large scale advertisements on Wednesday.

Mr Barr said a review into the policy was overdue as current rules were being "stretched".

The billboard featuring two Muslim Australian girls was removed in Melbourne following complaints from some constituents. Credit:Victorian Government

"The recent national conversation about billboards and the local concerns about 2016 ACT election corflutes has raised the issue of outdoor advertising in the community," Mr Barr said.

"There are many examples of outdoor advertising, such as billboards on trucks, utes and motorbikes - both parked and being driven around the city - and large banners draped from buildings, that stretch the current regulations.
It was the many small injustices Marion McConnell felt around the time her son died from a heroin overdose which sparked her mighty two-decade battle for drug law reform.

Mrs McConnell, of Giralang, was surprised at the harsh questions police had fired at her as she once watched paramedics struggle to revive her son, and by the blame society often flung towards parents of drug users.

Drug law reform campaigner Marion McConnell, pictured with her late husband Brian, in 2015. She has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to community health. Credit:Jamila Toderas

"It made me realise there was an injustice here with our drug laws, almost immediately. I think when there's an injustice, you must try and right it."

Mrs McConnell's quest with her late husband, Brian McConnell, to "to right a wrong" and help other families affected by drugs began after the couple's son died aged 24 in 1992.
Outstanding work by public servants on issues such as asbestos contamination and community health has been honoured by the Governor-General.

Just 100 Public Service Medals are awarded every year to recognise the contributions made by public servants at every level of government.

Asbestos Taskforce head Andrew Kefford has been awarded the Public Service Medal. Credit:Jamila Toderas

Three employees of the ACT government were awarded the medal, including the head of the Asbestos Response Taskforce, Andrew Kefford.

Mr Kefford, from Deakin, was honoured for his "instrumental" work leading the government's response to the Mr Fluffy asbestos contamination crisis.
Emeritus Professor Larry Sitsky said he didn't know how be came to be made an Officer of the Order of Australia in this year's Australia Day Honours List.

"I'm not bullshitting you, I don't know who nominated me," the composer, pianist and academic said

Emeritus Professor Larry Sitsky. Credit:Jay Cronan

He knew it wasn't the same person who nominated him when he was made a Member of the Order of Australia about 10 or 15 years ago, his old piano tuner: "He's dead, it couldn't have been him."

Professor Sitsky, 82, was honoured "For distinguished service to the arts as a composer and concert pianist, to music education as a researcher and mentor, and through musical contributions to Australia's contemporary culture."
A top government environmental adviser is urging Canberrans to "clean up their act" after he stumbled across a waterway clogged with trash.

Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews found a creek near Curtin choked with plastic bottles, coffee cups and what looked like a can of fly spray on Monday morning.

Gregory Andrews is launching a push to clean up Canberra after he came across this Curtin waterway clogged with rubbish. Credit:Gregory Andrews

Mr Andrews, who is broadly responsible for promoting conservation at the national level, said the capital city should be setting an example for the rest of the country.

"I expect more from Canberra," he said.
Filling empty bedrooms across the country could help to alleviate the nation's housing affordability crisis, according to the chief executive of Flatmates.com.au.

Thomas Clement estimates there are more than 10 million empty rooms across Australia.

Treasurer Scott Morrison is considering ways to address Australia's housing affordability crisis. Credit:Andrew Meares

"Even if 10 per cent of those rooms were put on Flatmates or other share accommodation sites, we wouldn't have a problem," he said.

"The housing problem in Australia is more a utilisation problem than a stock problem."
By Press Trust of India: Puducherry Jan 25 (PTI)Organs of an eight year old child who was declared brain dead were harvested and transplanted to the needy patients in Puducherry, Madurai and Chennai giving them a new lease of life, according. Organs harvested were corneas, kidneys, liver and heart, Dr Sreejith Parameswaran, Additional Professor and Head of Department of Neophrology and Nodal Officer in Jipmer said.

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The child B Agash in Tindivanam taluk in neighbouring Tamil adu was knocked down by a two wheeler on January 18 when he crossed the road to reach the school. The boy sustained severe head injury and was immediately rushed to the primary health centre in the village, but was referred to JIPMER for onward treatment. Dr Sreejith Parameswaran said that the specialists in JIPMER removed large blood cells from the head after doing a surgery. Agash was retained in the intensive care unit for observation.

With his condition turning worse and tests carried out by the doctors in JIPMER on January 24 confirmed that the boy had irreversible brain damage incompatible with life. The child`s widowed mother Valli and maternal uncle Subramani hailing from poor family came forward to donate the boy`s organs inspite of the tragic condition of the boy.

Police Sub Inspector from Mailam Sharma immediately responded to the information given by Jipmer to take up inquest and completed the medico legal formalities. The brain dead boy`s kidneys and corneas were harvested and transplanted to needy patients in JIPMER today. Parameswaran told PTI that the liver was offered to be shared with TRANSTAN in Tamilnadu as suitable recipient of the child`s liver was not available in Jipmer. The liver was transported through special arrangements to Madurai and transplanted to a patient there today. Similarly the boy`s heart was rushed to Chennai and transplantedto a child suffering from cardiac ailment there. PTI Cor RC NTR

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January 26 has not always had the name "Australia Day", and, as a national public holiday, it is a fairly recent phenomenon. The names we apply to things can reveal much about the history and emotions they invoke. In the case of Australia Day  the day marking the anniversary of the beginning of British settlement at Sydney Cove in 1788  it is possible to see how naming has reflected, and shaped, public understanding and attitudes towards Australia's past and present. The term "Australia Day" has meant different things to different people at different times in Australian history.

In the first years following the arrival of the British, settlers attached no particular meaning to the day that marked the establishment of the NSW colony by Governor Arthur Phillip. But by the early 19th century sentiments had changed, and January 26 came to be seen as an opportunity for both commemoration and celebration in the colony. By the 1840s, "Anniversary Day", as it was then called in NSW, was widely regarded as a holiday. With the establishment of other settlements across the continent, other colonies marked their own anniversaries: "Besides the ordinary festivals  each colony has one peculiar to itself, commemorating its own foundation." (E. Kinglake, The Australians at Home, 1892, p69)

Other names evolved by the end of the 19th century for the NSW Anniversary Day, including "Foundation Day" and "ANA (Australian Natives' Association) Day", but these didn't stick. However, the push by organisations such as the Australian Natives' Association to use the day as a day to "bring Australians together"  they were also active in pushing for Federation  saw the marking of the day rise to prominence after 1901.

It is after Federation in 1901 that we see the term "Australia Day" begin to be used for the January 26 celebrations, although other days were also considered potential "Australia Days". For example, in 1905 it was suggested that the anniversary of Captain Cook's landing in Australia, April 29, should be Australia Day.
There is also the question as to who should be targeted for intervention. Unfortunately, there is no single factor that can predict violent behaviour. Certain risk factors have been identified, with substance abuse indicative of a significantly increased risk. However, risk assessment is not an exact science because usually a combination of factors are associated with a high risk of offending.

Those who commit violent crimes are often young men with a history of disadvantage in childhood, problematic behaviour in adolescence, substance abuse, unemployment, and a disorganised lifestyle. The Victorian Ombudsman's report on the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners found that the "average" prisoner did not complete high school, was unemployed and had a history of substance abuse. Despite socio-economic factors, whenever a mass killing occurs, many presume that the person must be either "mad" or "bad". There have been recent calls for an "assertive model" of compulsory treatment for those with severe mental health problems as a means of preventing violence.

Compulsory treatment makes building a therapeutic relationship difficult, it takes resources away from voluntary care and the association between violence and certain forms of severe mental health problems remains unclear. Some studies indicate that violence may be associated with 10 to 15 per cent of those diagnosed with schizophrenia. This is a very small number. About 0.5 per cent of Australians, around 115,000 people, have some form of psychotic disorder, just under half of which is diagnosed as schizophrenia.

A completely safe society remains elusive. While risk assessment techniques are constantly developing, it is impossible to predict the precise risk one person poses to the community. Risk assessments can classify an individual within a group as at high, medium or low risk of violence, but cannot say whether that person will be one of the group who will offend or one of the group who will not.

Increasing expenditure on counter-terrorism and preventive detention may provide a sense of security. However, crime and safety indices indicate that it is those countries with low rates of social disadvantage, rather than high incarceration rates, that have reduced crime the most.
Alexis Mardas, who has died aged 74, was an intriguing figure in the story of The Beatles, a self-proclaimed electronic genius and inventor known to his circle as "Magic Alex".

Mardas had moved to London from his native Greece in 1965 and worked as a television repairman. At a time when almost anything seemed to be possible for someone with the gift of the gab, he went on to exhibit his "kinetic light sculptures" at the Indica Gallery  one of which was bought by the Rolling Stones. The group's guitarist Brian Jones introduced him to John Lennon.

John Lennon with wife Yoko Ono and Greek host, Alexis Mardas, during a tour of Athens' shops. Credit:BETTMANN

Lennon was dazzled by Mardas's patter and when Mardas produced a "Nothing Box" (a small plastic box containing randomly flashing coloured lights), he would stare at it for hours while tripping on LSD. Before long "Magic Alex" had become Lennon's "guru" and best friend.

Among other claims, Mardas was said to have promised to construct a protective force field around Lennon's house; he made George Harrison empty boxes supposedly containing mystic light (at great expense), and asked for the engines from Lennon's Rolls-Royce and Harrison's Ferrari so he could build a flying saucer.
Lachlan Macquarie's name is everywhere: Sydney has Macquarie Street, Place, Fields, Lighthouse, University and Shopping Centre  and more besides; NSW has Port, Lake, Mount, River and Pass, as well as a brace of towns he founded  the Macquarie towns. Tasmania is similarly endowed. Macquarie is celebrated as a colonial governor of enlightened vision, who took the initial steps needed to turn a straggling penal colony, muddy, rum-soaked and brutal, into a prosperous, ordered settlement capable of attracting free immigrants from Britain.

To those accustomed to this view of Macquarie, son of the Scottish Enlightenment, hero of empire, it is thus disconcerting to realise he may also have been a war criminal. The evidence is from the governor's own diary from almost exactly two centuries ago  April 1816  in which he records ordering simultaneous punitive expeditions against Aborigines around Sydney in response to their "murders, outrages and depredations". The objective was to punish "hostile natives" and to drive them across the mountains. Any who resisted in any way were to be fired on, and the bodies of those killed hung in trees in order to "strike the greater terror into the survivors".

Those seeking to exculpate a national hero for these orders could point out that harsh though they were, Macquarie's actions were standard practice in the empire of his day. Within the British Isles themselves, the English had been punishing rebellious Irish and Scots this way for centuries, most recently after the battle of Culloden in 1746, and the United Irishmen rebellion in 1798  not to mention indigenous rebels in other parts of the globe. Macquarie himself writes that he ordered the punishment expeditions with the greatest reluctance. All that is true. But whatever his feelings, whatever the contemporary practice, they do not mitigate the culpability for acts that will strike a modern reader as anathema to contemporary, indeed any, standard of behaviour.

These are not congenial or comfortable thoughts on Australia Day, when most people will be thinking of celebrating all that is good about their country with barbecues and beer. Nonetheless, they must be raised if this national holiday is to have any meaning at all. At those barbecues today we celebrate many things  all the successes that have made contemporary Australia what it is. But we also do not deny or forget Macquarie's actions, and many others like them from the first European settlement to early last century, which had a part in forming this nation.
Sometimes we are spot-on choosing our Australian of the Year, and biomedical scientist Alan Mackay-Sim, from Queensland's Griffith University is a fine example.

His work has been described as "more impressive than man walking on the moon", and he's been central to allowing the first paraplegic in the world to recover mobility.

Australia Day means different things to different Australians. Credit:Jim Rice

But accepting the award on Wednesday night, his voice wavering, it was his humility that stood out. "I'm so proud and shocked and horrified," he said. "It's an unbelievable honour."

Australians of the Year are only allowed to give a brief response in a heavily choreographed production. Mackay-Sim used his time to call for greater investment in the nation's young scientists.
Older, more conservative and increasingly pessimistic: Is this Turnbull's Australia? Credit:Peter Braig At its best the Turnbull government has been about administration, at its worst its been about opposing things: Labor, the unions, external threats and the previous government. In welcoming the 16,000 people who will become Australians on Thursday his Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, made only a perfunctory reference to the good they would do and spoke instead of "unprecedented security threats from terrorists, extremists and criminals who seek to exploit migration pathways to citizenship for their own ends". "The lesson of terrorism here and in Europe is that we must prevent foreign extremists from arriving in the first place, and remove them once detected." As a vision for the future, it was fearful.

As we get older we usually become less adventurous, more fearful and more inward looking. Turnbull's Human Services Minister speaks rarely about services but often about fraud. His Trade Minister talks about Labor almost as often as he does about trade. His Energy Minister is as likely to score political points as he is to talk about energy. His Attorney-General spent much of last year feuding with the Solicitor-General while his Deputy Prime Minister was moving a division of his department into his electorate. It's anything but a vision, but I don't think it's entirely Turnbull's fault. Whether he realises it or not, Turnbull (like Trump) might be in tune with the times. Australia was indeed bold and optimistic when he was growing up. In 1966, the year decimal currency was introduced, half the population was aged under 30. Only 7 per cent were 65 or older.

Today it's double that: 15 per cent are 65 and older. Seven per cent are 75 and older. As we get older we usually become less adventurous, more fearful and more inward looking. There's every reason to believe it's the same with populations. The $2, $5, $10 and $20 notes introduced with decimalisation were vibrant  in your face greens, blues, lilacs and pinks. When they were replaced with plastic notes a generation later in 1992 the new designs were more muted, the colours more pastel. In the next upgrade to incorporate new security features another generation later in 2016 the designs changed little. Queen Elizabeth lives on the new $5 note, perhaps because removing her would be controversial.

By 2060 when almost a quarter of the population, and almost half the voting age population, will be 65 and over the designs are likely to be more muted still. We are already becoming more timid and inward looking. Parliament House is now patrolled by police with machine guns. A 2.6 metre fence is about to go up on top of it to keep terrorists away from the lawns. Radio Australia is about to turn off the shortwave service used to broadcast emergency information to remote Pacific islanders. Our foreign aid budget has been slashed by 16 per cent during three years in which our defence budget has grown 26 per cent. And care for ourselves, should we become sick, has become our No.1 priority. The ANU election survey finds that in 1990 only 9 per cent of us nominated health as the top political priority, far fewer than nominated unemployment or taxation. By 2016 it was 24 per cent, more important than any other priority including the economic ones. It's natural to want to care for ourselves as we get older, just as it's natural to invest more conservatively. Developing a city from scratch, as we did with Canberra a century ago, or the developing the Snowy Mountains Scheme as we did half a century ago, becomes less attractive the older we get.
Biomedical scientist Alan Mackay-Sim, whose research helped achieve a feat described as "more impressive than man walking on the moon", has been named the 2017 Australian of the Year for his pioneering stem cell research.

Professor Mackay-Sim's work was central to the 2014 surgery that allowed Darek Fidyka, a Polish firefighter, to walk again and even ride a custom-built bicycle. This made him the first paraplegic in the world to recover mobility after the complete severing of the spinal nerves. The success was hailed by fellow researcher Geoff Raisman as more impressive than the moon landing.

Mr Fidyka, who had been stabbed 18 times in the back by his partner's former husband four years earlier, described the feeling of recovering movement in his legs as akin to being "born again".

Professor Mackay-Sim is a leading global authority on the human sense of smell and the biology of nasal cells. The successful surgery that allowed Mr Fidyka to walk again involved taking cells from his nose, growing them in a lab and injecting them into his spinal cord.
Is shotgun-loving senator Bridget McKenzie a double agent inside the newly formed Parliamentary Friends of Gun Control?

The National Party senate whip, who last year defied Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull by crossing the floor to vote in favour of allowing the importation of the rapid-fire Adler shotgun, says she is not.

While even the groups' co-convenor, Labor's Andrew Leigh, described her membership of the Friends of Gun Control as "a tad surprising", Senator McKenzie told Fairfax Media she was attracted by the promise of "evidence and facts" in the debate over guns.

"If the group sticks to what it says it wants to achieve there won't be any disagreements about anything because the focus will be on evidence-based firearm regulation in Australia," she said.
The couple had previously moved to Bath, England, while Sam tried his hand at English rugby union, but returned to Sydney shortly before their wedding to allow Sam to start training with the Rabbitohs again for the 2016 NRL season.

Although you will catch her at the Dally M each year, Phoebe, who is the daughter of former Minerals Council boss Mitch Hooke, has expressed that she does not like being referred to as a "WAG".

"I personally wouldn't throw the term on my resume and it's not something I even consider myself in a serious way," she told the Bath Chronicle in April 2015.

"I know it's harmless and I've only ever heard it used jokingly, but unfortunately the term is loaded with preconceived ideas of what kinds of women are 'WAGs'. Some people make the mistake of assuming your whole life's work has led to being labelled as one and everything you accomplished before that isn't important."
A man accused of setting his neighbour on fire at a NSW housing commission complex in Wollongong on Tuesday night has been refused bail.

Police allege that Timothy Illingworth, 41, and Joseph Frank Baldacchino, 45, were arguing over a dog immediately before Mr Illingworth doused the victim with accelerant and set him alight.

Emergency services take Laura Kirby, who was injured in the attack, to hospital on Tuesday night.

Laura Kirby, 44, who tried to extinguish the flames was also burnt.

Mr Baldacchino was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to Wollongong Hospital with severe burns to his entire face, chest and both arms, as well as burns and swelling to his airways.
By India Today Web Desk: Pardes Mein Hai Mera Dil actor Arjun Bijlani, who shot to fame with the show Naagin, cannot contain his happiness. And no, it is not because of the success of his show.

Confused? Well, the talented actor recently reached one million followers on social media site Instagram. Also read: The ONE thing Drashti Dhami and Arjun Bijlani's Pardes Mein Hai Mera Dil got right in the first episode

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Yep, you read that right. ONE MILLION!

Now that is a lot of fans.

Every journey starts with a single step and thank you for taking each step with me in my ups and down.i still feel it jus the beginning and hope u continue to give ur love in my journey ahead.thank you for the 1 MILLION mark.lots of love and happiness from me to each one of u.#fanlove#happiness#Abians#onemillion #instafamily A photo posted by Arjun Bijlani (@arjunbijlani) on Jan 23, 2017 at 9:58pm PST

The actor took to the aforementioned social site to express his happiness and gratitude to his followers.

He shared an adorable picture of himself with his precious little son and wrote, "Every journey starts with a single step and thank you for taking each step with me in my ups and downs. I still feel it's just the beginning and hope u continue to give ur love in my journey ahead. Thank you for the 1 MILLION mark. Lots of love and happiness from me to each one of u. #fanlove #happiness #Abians #onemillion #instafamily."

Keep them coming, Arjun.

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A tourism operator struggling to come to terms with the horrific aircraft accident that killed one and injured three others on Queensland's central coast has been left to clear up the wreckage.

1770 Castaway owner operator Bruce Rhoades was flying a group of tourists to Middle Island, near Agnes Water, for an overnight camping trip when he saw his second aircraft, being flown by his best friend, crash on a remote stretch of beach in front of him on January 10.

Bruce Rhoades has had to call on friends to help him remove the wreckage from Middle Island. Credit:RACQ Capricorn Helicopter Rescue Service

Mr Rhoades immediately landed his aircraft and ran to the wreckage to pull the three passengers, a child and two women, and the pilot from the wreckage.

He performed CPR on one of the women for an hour before emergency services declared her dead.
A permanent memorial commemorating the lives of the five people killed during the Bourke Street attack may be built away from Melbourne's most iconic shopping strip so as to give people a quieter, more private place to grieve.

Thousands of bunches of flowers have been placed outside the GPO building after numerous people were mowed down by a car allegedly driven by accused killer Dimitrious Gargasoulas.

On Wednesday, lord mayor Robert Doyle said it was uplifting to see so many Melburnians publicly showing their support for victims and their families.

"Something very personally uplifting for me is the word I've heard most often this week - love," he said.
Riot police at Malmsbury Youth Justice centre. Credit:Paul Jeffers The Suzuki SUV had been spotted in Fountain Gate, in Melbourne's outer south-east, while another vehicle carrying three escapees, a blue Ford XR6 sedan with registration ZKV 598, had been seen in Werribee, on the city's western fringe. The detainees escaped from the Malmsbury facility on Wednesday, stealing cars, ramming other vehicles and prompting police pursuits. Youths on the roof of the Malmsbury Justice Centre. Credit:Nine Network The escapees led police on two high-speed pursuits of up to 160km/h, before police were called off.

Six of the escapees were arrested after a pursuit in the Bendigo area which finished at Lockwood, where a police vehicle and a stolen vehicle were involved in a collision. Inmates during a riot at Malmsbury earlier this month. Credit:Nine Network Two others who escaped the Malmsbury facility on foot were found walking shirtless through paddocks about five kilometres from the detention centre. Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Rick Nugent told a press conference late on Wednesday night that the escapees were 16 and 17-year-olds and police were still looking into releasing their identities and names. He said police did not know where the escapees were headed, but police were pursuing every lead, including family and friends.

Mr Nugent urged the seven on the run to hand themselves in at a local police station, and warned the public that they were dangerous. "It is just a matter of time before they are arrested, it is just a matter of time before they are put back in the facility." Members of the community are asked to call triple zero if they see either of the vehicles and not to approach them. Those arrested are yet to be charged. Do you know more? Did you see the car chase? Email scoop@theage.com.au. Police were initially called to a disturbance involving around 30 inmates about 2.45pm.

Police dressed in full riot gear and members of the youth justice safety emergency response team worked to regain control of the facility. The riot was described by a source as "the worst they had ever experienced" at the problem-plagued correction centre. "Clients were bashing at the door with chair legs and other weapons, then used the swipe to open the door," the source said. The source said the youths stole keys and a swipe card from a guard, before a "code white" (a riot) was called. Police confirmed the riot started after a number of youths assaulted a staff member and gained access to his keys. The staff member receved minor injuries in the incident, police said.

Police said there was minor damage to the inside of the facility, including smashed windows and a small fire being lit. One inmate suffered a minor injury while being arrested, police said. Staff were released at 7pm, after four hours in lockdown. At 8pm, police released a statement saying they had secured the facility. A police car was rammed during the escape, according to media reports.

The 15 youths initially escaped by stealing a ute and ramming a fence at the detention centre. The escapees dumped the ute, before stealing three other vehicles and reportedly smashing into another car on the Calder Freeway. A female motorist whose car was rammed on the Calder said the front end of her 4WD, on the driver side, was damaged. She said two men ran towards her and tried to get into her vehicle by pulling and shaking the door handles.

"As soon as they spotted her (pointing to her granddaughter), they backed off," she told Channel Nine. Police reportedly abandoned one high-speed pursuit after an allegedly stolen car started driving on the wrong side of the road on the Calder. Earlier, Superintendent Craig Gillard confirmed that 15 inmates were involved in the breakout. "There were five youths climbing on the roof of the facility and an additional 15 youths have breached the outside parameter of the facility," he said.

"We had a number of incidents external to this facility, around theft of motor vehicles. They have had three motor vehicles involved in use by these youths, we believe. One vehicle came from carjacking on a highway, another vehicle has been involved in a petrol drive-off," he said. "The incident is still live ... it is still incredibly fluid. We still don't have security here to the level we would like." Teenagers from the Monash and Latrobe units were involved. The latest events come less than two weeks since police were forced to storm the centre after six inmates armed themselves in a secure unit. Four of those offenders have since been moved into the adult prison system. On Wednesday, Fairfax Media revealed that the Andrews government was warned in an explosive secret report months before the latest riots in Victoria's youth prisons that the system was spiralling out of control in "a continued and ongoing threat to the safety of staff and clients".

Fairfax Media can also reveal that the man who ran the Parkville and Malmsbury youth justice facilities, Ian Lanyon, has recently been moved from his post, leaving an acting director in his place. Fairfax was unable to reach him for comment. On Wednesday, Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said Victoria's youth justice system was in crisis. "These people are causing crime wave after crime wave," he said. Mr Guy said Youth Affairs Minister Jenny Mikakos should resign if she could not fix the system.
Dressed in prison greens and glasses with his hair neatly trimmed and his hands clasped together, the accused Claremont serial killer made his second appearance in court on Wednesday, with interest in the case so intense his hearing was moved to its own courtroom.

Bradley Robert Edwards has been behind bars for a month since being taken into custody by police on December 22.

The 48-year-old Kewdale man is charged with the murders of Jane Rimmer, 23, and Ciara Glennon, 27, in 1996 and 1997 respectively.

He has also been charged with the rape of a 17-year-old girl in Claremont in 1995, and the indecent assault of an 18-year-old woman in a Huntingdale home in 1988.
Perth is all set to celebrate Australia Day on Thursday with celebrations across the city ranging from the biggest fireworks displays to backyard barbeques and parties.

The public holiday will see thousands of people receive Australian citizenship in ceremonies across the state, including the largest in Australia in Wanneroo with 800 residents set to take part.

Nilesh Sewpal, a Clarkson resident, moved to Australia in 2012 with his wife Yashnee and their three daughters, Sonia, Tiya and Layla. The South African family initially lived in Darwin before moving to Perth in 2014.

Nilesh said he was looking forward to becoming an Australian citizen.
An alleged thief with a penchant for champagne has been charged with stealing numerous bottles of the expensive alcoholic beverage from two bottle shops in Perth's western suburbs.

Police will allege the 45-year-old man from Swanbourne stole two champagne bottles at one liquor outlet and a box of champagne in a second incident before and after Christmas.

The thefts occurred on December 18 and 28 at liquor stores in Cottesloe and Claremont.

Wembley Local Policing Team officers executed a search warrant at the man's home this week and later charged him.
"Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow," Trump wrote on Twitter on Tuesday night. "Among many other things, we will build the wall!"

During an appearance at the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, Mr Trump plans to sign an executive order to direct federal funds to be shifted toward the building of a wall on the southern border, a signature promise of his campaign. He has argued that doing so is vital to gaining control over the illegal flow of immigrants into the United States.

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday will order the construction of a Mexican border wall - the first in a series of actions this week to crack down on immigrants, including slashing the number of refugees who can resettle in the United States and blocking Syrians and others from "terror-prone" nations from entering, at least temporarily.

This executive order on the wall will be signed on the day that Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray arrives in Washington to prepare for the visit of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the end of the month.

Ellen Furstner, 62, of Marcola, carries a sign during an immigrant rights rally at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem. Credit:AP

The order to build the wall is likely to complicate the visit of Mr Videgaray, who as finance minister orchestrated Mr Trump's visit to Mexico before the election, a move seen by many Mexicans as tantamount to treason. He was forced to resign because of the fallout, but his reputation was restored after Mr Trump's victory, and he was given the job of foreign minister.

Another order will block visas being issued to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, said aides and experts who asked not to be identified. Residents from many of these places are already rarely granted US visas.

The plan is in line with a ban on Muslim immigrants that Trump proposed during his campaign, arguing that such a step was warranted given concerns about terrorism. He later said he wanted to impose "extreme vetting" of refugees from Syria and other countries where terrorism was rampant, although the Obama administration had already instituted strict screening procedures for Syrian refugees that were designed to weed out anyone who posed a danger.
Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher can be used to carry out surgical strikes even without crossing the border.

By Mail Today Bureau: The Indian Army has a new weapon to flaunt, with Defence Research and Development Organisition (DRDO) having developed a multiple rocket launcher - Pinaka for it with a range of 70kms.

Pinaka rockets will be bought for an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore for 22 regiments of multi-barrel rockets launchers.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher system is an indigenous weapon system designed and developed by DRDO and produced in collaboration with L&T and Tata Power SED in India only. The system was used effectively in Kargil war. DRDO on Tuesday tested a new version of the rockets which can be guided to land bang on enemy targets. It can be used to carry out surgical strikes even without crossing the border. It will also help in reducing the weapon system requirements for the Army. It can also help reduce requirements for imported Russian Smerch long range rocket systems. Army has already inducted 10 regiments of the Pinaka missiles in its artillery wing. Missile deployed on both Pakistan and China borders.

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Also read: Here's all you need to know about ISRO's new scramjet rocket engine

Also read: China warns India against deploying BrahMos cruise missile in Arunachal

Also read: India sucessfully test fires new long range surface-to-air missile

--- ENDS ---
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/01/2017 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Steinbach organization will offer free mental health and psychological first aid training workshops after receiving a large grant from a national mental health awareness initiative.

The Eastman Safety Training Centre will run free mental health and psychological first aid training classes with a $5,000 grant they received from the Bell Lets Talk initiative. The raining offers humane, supportive and practical assistance for people who are distressed, in ways that respect their dignity, culture and abilities.

Bell Lets Talk promotes Canadian mental health with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns and significant Bell funding of community care and access, research, and workplace initiatives.

Jeff Bollenbach, Bell Medias general manager of Manitoba television and radio, presented Yvonne Harder, Eastman Safety Training Centre executive director, with a cheque for $5,000 from last years Bell Lets Talk campaign earlier this month.

Each year, mental health organizations apply to receive funding from the initiative. The Eastman Safety Training was selected as one of seven organizations in Manitobathe only one in the southeastern corner of the provinceto receive funds from the 2016 Bell Lets Talk Day initiative.

Yvonne Harder, the centres executive director, said the mental health and psychological first aid training is about listening to people experiencing a mental health crisis and linking them with the appropriate resources.

The aim of that is to get as many community members as possible trained in how to help someone if theyre going through a mental health crisis and try to get them the appropriate resources that they may require or to be a person to listen to their issues or story and provide resources if needed, said Harder. We look at it as looking for any way we can help them.

The classes are open to anyoneespecially people who may come in contact with a person, loved one or friend who have mental illnesses.

Its more so for people who might come in contact with [people experiencing mental health crisis], said Harder, adding one attendee is a student studying social work.

It could be people who may come in contact with those people or parents, friends, anybody who may come in contact with someone who is suffering or at-risk of a mental health illness.

The Eastman Safety Training Centre will run as many workshops as they can until the funding runs out. They held an introductory workshop on Jan. 11 and received positive response from the attendees, Harder said.

I was incredibly excited when I got the call from Bell Lets Talk. We were just ecstatic to be able to offer [these workshops], said Harder. Weve had a great response from the community with our posts and just talking with people in other classes about the courses coming to the City of Steinbach because it isnt something thats been offered to the public.

To register for the mental health and psychological first aid training workshops, visit eastmansafety.ca. The next workshop is Feb. 15.

Bell will donate five cents to Canadian mental health programslike Eastman Safety Training Centrefor every text message, mobile and long distance call made by Bell customers, tweet and Instagram post using #BellLetsTalk, view of the Bell Lets Talk Day video on Facebook, and use of the Bell Lets Talk Snapchat geofilter.

Winnipeg-based organizations Artbeat Studio, Inspire Community Outreach, Jewish Child and Family Services, Manitoba Schizophrenia Society and Siloam Mission and Artists in Healthcare Manitoba in Selkirk were also grant recipients from the 2016 Bell Lets Talk Day initiative.
"Had a warm conversation with President Donald Trump late last evening", PM Modi tweeted after a phone call from Donald Trump.

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump spoke over the phone last night in what was described as a "warm conversation" by PM Modi. The leaders invited each other while agreeing to strengthen bilateral ties. This was Trump's fifth interaction with a world leader since he assumed office.

"Had a warm conversation with President Donald Trump late last evening," PM Modi said in his tweet.

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"President Donald Trump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties," the prime minister said. "Have also invited President Trump to visit India", he added.

ALSO READ | Donald Trump dials PM Modi: Here is what the two leaders discussed

"During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in a statement.

During their conversation, the two leaders extended invitations to each other for visits.

PM Modi was the fifth foreign leader who spoke to Trump after he assumed charge as the US President on January 20.

After Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the November 8 general elections, Modi was among the first world leaders to have congratulated Trump.

WATCH VIDEO

ALSO READ:

Trump speaks to Modi over phone: 5 issues that may have been discussed

7 Modi-isms in Donald Trump's inaugural speech

--- ENDS ---
The Icelandic visit to Denmark (SISSE STROYER/AFP/Getty Images)

Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik of Denmark welcomed the President and First Lady of Iceland to Copenhagen yesterday, and Margarethe pulled out some of her most modern jewels for the occasion.

(MARTIN SYLVEST/AFP/Getty Images)

For the welcome ceremony and the presentation of a national gift (a Danish translation of The Complete Sagas of Icelanders), Margrethe wore pieces from her modern collection of turquoise jewels. The turquoise and gold brooch was made for her in 2000 by Torben Hardenberg; shes also wearing coordinating earrings and a turquoise ring. (You can read more about Margrethes extensive turquoise collection over here!)

SISSE STROYER/AFP/Getty Images

For yesterday evenings banquet, Margrethe brought out her newest tiara: the bright, golden Naasut Tiara. The piece was part of Greenlands Ruby Jubilee gift to Margrethe in 2012. (You can read much more about it over here!) She paired it with a diamond riviere, which seems like a mismatch to me. She also wore the earrings from the Naasut demi-parure, a diamond and emerald cluster brooch, and a large ring that also appears to be set with a green gemstone.

SISSE STROYER/AFP/Getty Images

Crown Princess Mary wore her Edwardian Tiara with coordinating jewels for the banquet.

SISSE STROYER/AFP/Getty Images

And heres a closer look at both the tiara and Marys earrings.

And there were no surprises from Princess Marie, who wore Princess Dagmars Floral Tiara.

One more Danish royal made an appearance at the banquet: Princess Benedikte, who wore Queen Sofias Star and Pearl Tiara.
The White House announced this week that it is considering a plan to screen minors in Honduras to determine whether they are eligible for refugee status in the U.S. By bringing those who need humanitarian relief directly from Honduras to the United States, the proposed program would ideally stem the flow of potential refugees crossing into the country illegally (and dangerously) through Mexico.

Congress continues to debate whether the unprecedented hordes of Central American minors and families who have crossed the U.S. border illegally in recent months were lured here by aspects of U.S. immigration policy or pushed out of their home countries by rampant violence. Early opponents of the proposal fear it would encourage more migration to the U.S. by loosening the legal definition of refugee, but according to the Texas-based Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), more than half of the unaccompanied migrant children already in U.S. custody should be eligible for aid. And the rising number of refugees from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras seeking asylum in other countries like Mexico, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Belize, suggests that the border crisis might be more a product of a humanitarian crisis in those three countries than faulty U.S. policies.

If approved, the refugee effort would put the level of violence in Honduras on par with the types of post-war and natural disaster humanitarian emergencies seen in Vietnam and Haiti. And if successful, the program would be extended to refugees in Guatemala and El Salvador. The current border crisis has been predominantly comprised of unaccompanied minors and families from those three countries, across which the United Nations estimates 70,000 gang members are currently operating. Yet according to the U.S. Border Patrol, more kids from Honduras have been caught crossing the border alone so far this year than from any other country.

So what is going on in Honduras? Why are so many people not just leaving, but seemingly fleeing, to a degree so significant that the Obama administration is considering implementing the first-ever refugee effort in a country reachable to the U.S. by land?

The Murder Capital

Honduras has the highest murder rate of any country in the world. According to the latest report from the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime, the Central American nation saw 90.4 homicides per 100,000 people in 2012.

The majority of the violence in Honduras is carried out by two main gangs, Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, and Barrio 18. Both were created in Los Angeles by Salvadoran immigrants, between 2001 and 2010. The U.S. deported more than 100,000 convicted members of both gangs back to Central America, where corrupt law enforcement and political instabilityparticularly in Honduras, which underwent a coup detat in 2009allowed them to spread out and take control of entire cities, kidnapping, torturing, and brutally murdering anyone standing in their way. San Pedro Sula, Hondurass second largest city and a gang stronghold, is considered the most dangerous city in the world. According to the CIA World Factbook, Honduras had 17,000 refugees or people displaced within the country as a result of extortions, threats, or forced gang recruitment in 2013.

The Center of Drug Trafficking

Centrally located between South and North America, and particularly susceptible to corruption, Honduras is a major transshipment point for the illegal drug trade. Half of all cocaine seizures in Central America take place in El Salvador and Honduras, with the number of seizures more than tripling between 2010 and 2011.

In an interview with the Washington Post this week, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez called on the U.S. to take acknowledge its enormous responsibility for the widespread violence and droves of people fleeing his country.

The problems of narco-trafficking generates violence, reduces opportunities, generates migration because this [the United States] is where theres the largest consumption of drugs, he said. Thats leaving us with such an enormous loss of life.

Human Trafficking

Hondurass central location also lends itself to sweeping human trafficking. Honduran women and girls are subject to sex trafficking as well as forced domestic and agricultural labor, both in domestic cities and other nearby countries, such as Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and the U.S.

According to the CIA World Factbook, the Honduran government maintains limited law enforcement efforts against child sex trafficking offenders, but has held no offenders accountable for the forced labor or forced prostitution of adults; most trafficking offenders are prosecuted under non-trafficking statutes that prescribe lower penalties; government efforts to identify, refer, and assist trafficking victims are inadequate, and most services for victims are provided by NGOs without government funding.

Extreme Poverty

Many of Hondurass deep-seated problems can be traced back to the countrys overwhelming poverty. With about 60 percent of the population living below the poverty line, Honduras is the second poorest country in Central America. More than eight percent of children under five years old are underweight, and the degree of risk for infectious diseases such as dengue fever, malaria, bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever is high. According to UNICEF, between 26,000 and 33,000 Hondurans of all ages are living with HIV.
New Edition holds a unique place in the canon of popular music. The group is a blueprint for virtually every boy band that has emerged since 1985, but N.E. is also the template from which more mature R&B groups of the 1990s built their image and sound. They are a group who aspired to be the Jackson 5 of the 80s and wound up becoming Generation Xs Temptations; a collection of distinctive voices and personalities that was almost as known for drama and conflict as they were hit singles and precise dance steps. The story of Ralph Tresvant, Johnny Gill, Mike Bivins, Ronnie Devoe, Ricky Bell, and Bobby Brown is one rife with the standard showbiz highs and lowsand with BETs highly-anticipated mini-series The New Edition Story, the general public will get to see how that bit of music history played out.

For fans of 80s and 90s R&B, New Editions history is well-known: Five childhood friends from Boston became stars on the backs of bubblegum hits like Candy Girl and Cool It Now, before Bobby Brown, the groups most volatile member, is voted out of the group. Brown goes on to solo stardom, as N.E. recruits a new member, Johnny Gill. With Gill, New Edition shed their teenybopper image and become the premier group in R&B before splintering off with various individual incarnations finding solo success.

I dont think theres a story like it, I really dont, Jimmy Jam tells The Daily Beast. Jam & Terry Lewis produced a number of hits for New Edition (and for Tresvants and Gills solo work). I think theres been a lot of groups over the years, and weve seen a lot of enjoyable movies from the Jacksons to the Temptations and all of those that are good. But its important for fans to get a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes, and all the hard work and all the turmoil that actually goes into the success. I mean its easy to go to a concert, see them on stage for an hour, and think that everything is great. But theres personal tragedies that happen and all kinds of different things that happen in peoples lives.

The New Edition Story emphasizes the roles that others played in turning New Edition into a success. It also depicts just how the group was exploited by the music industry. La-La Anthony plays Ronnie Devoes mother, Flo, and she points out the hard lessons that these kids and their parents had to learn over the years.

I actually got the chance to talk to Flo Devoe and we had a chat before I started the role, Anthony explains. [The mothers] were such an integral part at the beginning of [New Editions] career. You have these parents whose kids are so talented, but how are they supposed to know the ins and outs of the music business? The movie just goes to show how things happen when people realize how much they dont know and [labels] try to get things by you. These moms were just trying to do the best for the kids without really knowing the business at all.

Figuring it out often came at a price for New Editionmost obviously for Bobby Brown. Browns notoriety can sometimes overshadow New Editions legacy in terms of what the mainstream media chooses to dwell on. Browns been known as The Bad Boy of R&B for good reason; his dismissal from N.E. as a teenager, his penchant for raunchy performances as a solo superstar, an infamous marriage to the late Whitney Houston, and numerous run-ins with the law cemented that reputation long ago. But as a part of the New Edition family tree, Brown is only one facet of what makes the groups story so fascinating.

As teen stars, New Edition werent ever embraced by mainstream audiences on the level that the Jackson 5 had been a generation earlier, or the way New Kids On the Blocktheir Maurice Starr-mentored white counterpartswould be within a few years of N.E.s emergence. But for a generation of black kids growing up on music videos and Eddie Murphy movies, New Edition were the definitive teen idols of their era. A (usually) five-man group modeled in the song-and-dance mold of the Temptations, there wasnt a lot like New Edition in popular music in the mid-80s. It was an era of hair metal bands, the King of Pop, and on-the-rise hip-hop acts; R&B and pop were dominated by solo superstars. Collectives like The Jets and DeBarge enjoyed success, but they werent the kind of tight, uniformed unit that would become New Editions trademark.

I remember just being like Damn, these dudes are like me, recalls Wood Harris, who stars as N.E. choreographer/manager/mentor Brooke Payne in the mini-series. You could tell that they were regular, in a sense. Not in the talent departmentbut these were the kids at the park. These were regular guys. And to see them in front of the whole world was such a big deal at that time.

That New Edition was doing this in the MTV era proved to be a double-edged sword. They became darlings of the music video set, but the marginalizing of black R&B artists in the 1980s meant that N.E. didnt reach mainstream audiences in quite the same way that the Jackson 5 had in the early AM-driven 1970s. They may not have landed on the cover of Rolling Stone or play Saturday Night Live (at least not until their 1996 reunion), but they were a defining act of their era. And one could argue that their greatest musical impact happened after their squeaky-clean days of churning out kid-friendly pop tunes.

New jack swing would become dominant in urban music largely on the backs of New Edition and their individual projects. Teddy Riley may have fired the first shots with Keith Sweat and Guy, but it was Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewiss work on the Heart Break album, and L.A. & Babyfaces contemporaneous production on Browns blockbuster Dont Be Cruel that cemented the hip-hop-drenched style of R&B as the sound in popular music. And in 1990, when Johnny Gill, Ralph Tresvant, and Bell Biv Devoe all released multiplatinum albums that spawned a number of radio-dominating singles, it was clear that new jack swing had taken over popular R&B. From Gills Rub You the Right Way to BBDs infectious Poison, R&B suddenly had become musically informed by hip-hop beats, and both Jam & Lewis and L.A. & Babyface had brought that sound to the fore via N.E.-related projects.

As they made the transition from carefree kids to seasoned professionals, the one constant in their lives and careers remained Brooke Payne, the legendary choreographer who discovered these kids from the Orchard Park projects and groomed them as performers. Payne, (who is also Ronnie Devoes uncle), was a stabilizing figure throughout New Editions battles with labels, managers, and each othersomething that Harris says makes him an indelible figure in their story.

I was shocked at how much he had to do with New Edition becoming New Edition.

He was an integral part of their lives, says Harris. They really, really love that dude. Hes like a father figureor a big brother that raised you. He had so much to do with it.

Harris came away with a newfound respect for Paynebut as an N.E. fan, he was eager to take on the role from day one.

I got a phone call from Robi Reed, who Ive known for a long time, he says. And the director [Chris Robinson] and I was finishing up another film and I jumped right into New Edition. I started doing the necessary research to learn who Brooke Payne was. I got the chance to get with all of them and was with Brooke the whole time. I used him for a reference to him.

Beyond the personal relationships at the core of both the mini-series and the groups real-life history, the scope of New Editions significance cant be underestimated. Ralph Tresvant became a standard-bearer for the precocious teen frontman, Bobby Browns late 80s/early 90s run was tremendousand you can see a lineage from Usher to Chris Brown. Johnny Gill is one of the foremost quiet storm balladeers of his generation, and Bell Biv Devoe helped merge hip-hop attitude and image into an R&B contextsomething that would come to define urban music in the 1990s and beyond. Mike Bivins styled himself as an impresario of sorts, guiding the careers of multiplatinum acts like Another Bad Creation, 702, and most notably, Boyz II Men early in their careers, building a brand for himself and his Biv 10 label that foreshadowed what a lot of hip-hop artists would attempt to do over the years.

The thing that sets New Edition apart to me is just how they grew up together in Boston and had to overcome a lot of things early in their careers, says Jam. And then with all of them going solo pretty much and then coming back togetherthats just something you dont see in R&B for some reason. So its just an encouraging story from that level, that they were able to stay the course and still come back together and still be friends. I just think that with all of the twists and turns, there isnt another story like it.

Its surreal in a sense that it doesnt seem that long ago, says Harris. And time flies.

Like the Jacksons and the Temptations, New Edition is now getting the TV mini-series treatment. For people of a certain age, its affirmation for a group that was the soundtrack to their youthand a testament to the ongoing legacy of New Edition. You can see N.E. in everything from The Boys to Hi-Five to 112 to Jagged Edge to *NSync to B2K to One Direction. Their legacy is already cemented. But its great for the world to see their story. And for Jimmy Jam, this was the best way for that story to be toldin chapters.

People have asked me, why wasnt it just a movie? he says. And the thing is you cant just fit it into two hours. The mini-series format is perfect for this. Because theres three chapters, the early New Edition with Maurice Starr and those records, and then the mid point when they come to L.A. and sign the MCA deal, and then the third part where they all do solo records then come back together. So the mini-series is perfect to tell their story correctly with enough detail. I think its really well done and Im glad to have been apart of it.
Is the new Zeitgeist of Trumpism threatening the First Amendment?

One can only hope not.

But at least six reporters are facing felony rioting charges arising from their coverage of violent demonstrations in Washington, D.C., last Friday during journalist-loathing Donald Trumps inauguration as president.

Three of themEvan Engel, a senior video producer and filmmaker for the online outlet Vocativ; Alexander Rubinstein, a correspondent for the Russian government-funded cable channel RT America; and Aaron Miguel Cantu, a writer for the left-leaning Truthout news sitecould each receive 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine if convicted on charges of rioting.

Late Tuesday, the U.S. edition of Britains Guardian reported that similar charges have also been filed against three more journalists, web documentary producer Jack Keller, independent journalist Matt Hopard, and photojournalist and activist Shay Horse.

Keller, who works on the documentary series Story of America, was jailed for about 36 hours after being arrested on Friday morning, the Guardian reported.

The way we were treated was an absolute travesty, he told the newspaper.

Hopard, who was arrested while live-streaming Fridays demonstration near where Engel and Rubinstein were working, also denied the charges against him, the Guardian said, which offered no further details about Shay Horse.

Yet court documents filed in support of the charges offered zero specific evidence that any of six, who were among 230 people detained in a mass arrest Friday afternoon in downtown Washington, participated in the self-proclaimed anarchists mayhem that resulted in more than $100,000 in property damage, the documents claim, and reportedly minor injuries to six police officers trying to quell the violence.

After an inquiry from The Daily Beast on Tuesday, four days after the reporters arrest and incarceration, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a blistering protest against Washingtons U.S. Attorneys office, a division of the Justice Department which handles criminal prosecutions in the District of Columbia.

The prosecution is clearly excessive and we are concerned that it could send a chilling message for journalists covering protests, said Carlos Luria, an official of the international non-profit. We call on authorities to drop these charges immediately.

Engel and Rubinstein have insisted in recent days they were simply doing their jobs by observing and recording the events on the street, which included smashing shop windows and those of emergency and fire vehicles, setting trash cans, newspaper boxes and a limousine ablaze, and attacking cops with a hurled piece of concrete and a long metal pole.

Efforts to reach Cantu, who would presumably say he was also observing and not participating in the violence, were unsuccessful.

The arrest, detainment and rioting charge against journalist Evan Engel who was covering the protests for Vocativ are an affront to the First Amendment and journalistic freedom, said a spokesperson for Vocativ and Engel, who spent Friday night in the D.C. jail and was released after appearing before Magistrate Judge Rainey Brandt of the D.C. Superior Court. Vocativ will vigorously contest this unfounded and outrageous charge.

The cops confiscated Engels camera and cellphone, according to a spokesperson for Vocativ, and a report by the Atlantics City lab site suggested that the police were in the process of mining data from those and other confiscated devices, possibly without a warrant. A Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson didnt respond to email and phone messages from The Daily Beast.

Engel, who declined to comment for this story, is being represented by high-powered Washington attorney Kathryn Ruemmler, a former Justice Department official and Obama White House counsel. Engel faces a Feb. 15 hearing date in D.C. Superior Court.

In a Facebook post on Monday, he wrote: Vocative and I are fighting these charges and Ill have more to share as soon as the legal process has run its course. Thank you to everyone who got in touch, and to the folks at Vocativ, who worked diligently to secure my release and are providing me with legal representation. (Also, Im without my phone, but will replace it soon. Please bear with me til then.)"

Contacted by The Daily Beast, Rubinstein promised a statement about his situation, which wasnt received by deadline.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips, a Barack Obama appointee who has held the post since October 2015, generally defended the charges, which were filed against all 230 who were arrested. But the spokesman suggested that some of the defendants will ultimately escape prosecution.

Based on the facts and circumstances, we determined that probable cause existed to support the filing of felony rioting charges, the spokesman said in a statement. The Office determined that this chargewhich applies if any person suffers serious bodily injury or if property damage exceeds $5,000was appropriate.

But the U.S. Attorneys statement added: We are continuing to work with the Metropolitan Police Department to review evidence related to the arrests on Jan. 20. As in all of our cases, we are always willing to consider additional information that people bring forward. Because these matters remain pending in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, we have no comment on specific individuals beyond our public filings.
Just in case you were looking for an excuse to eat decadent treats between the holidays and Valentines Day, chocolatiers across the country are offering a sweet and boozy way to celebrate Burns Night.

The holiday, which is tonight and commemorates the 1759 birth of legendary Scottish poet Robert Burns, usually involves copious amounts of Scotch, bagpipe music and the historic (and often derided) dish haggis. Why all the hoopla? Well, Burns is a pretty big deal in Scotland, responsible for writing the New Years Eve favorite Auld Lang Syne, among other classics. (You can read more about the traditional Burns Night festivities in this fine piece by Max Watman.)

But if haggis isnt in the cards for tonights dinner (or Celtic music either, for that matter), chocolate and Scotch is perhaps a more appetizing way to observe the occasion. While it might sound like a bit of a strange pairing, the two delicacies work deliciously well together. Its not unusual to find small pieces of chocolate offered at whisky tastings, which makes sense since both edibles are often described using similar jargon and tend toward fruity, nutty and smoky notes.

Legendary Belgian chocolatier Neuhaus makes trying this combination easy with its aptly named When Neuhaus Meets Single Malt Whisky Luxury Gift Box ($90). The collection includes 24 pralines and 60 chocolate squares picked with the help of French dining guide Gault&Millau and is designed to be enjoyed with two different single malts: peaty and dense Bowmore 15-Year-Old Darkest or light and fruity Auchentoshan Three Wood. (The chocolates can also be paired with rum, sherry, Cognac, red wine or port if you prefer.)

East Coast institution L.A. Burdick Chocolate offers a limited-edition Robert Burns Whisky Collection ($42). You get 36 truffles and bonbons made with an actual wee dram of Scotch. I particularly like the Macallan Bonbon, that combines the whisky with dark chocolate ganache and pistachio marzipan. While you can certainly taste the single malt in these confections, the alcohol doesnt overpower the other ingredients. Just dont delayBurdick is only selling this special spirited treat through February 3.

But even after Burns Night ends, I would encourage you to continue to experiment with mixing liquor and chocolates and other desserts. In that spirit, if you happen to be in Chicago, head to the Vosges Haut-Chocolat shop on Armitage Avenue. There you can enjoy pairings ($9 each) of a range of confections with different types of alcohol from local craft distiller Koval, including blood-orange-and-hibiscus caramels with Koval Rye Single Barrel Whiskey. And if you want to really try something different, take a chance on the cardamom-and-rose caramel matched with a glass of Koval Dry Gin.

So whether you choose to celebrate Burns Night with chocolate or haggis, I hope youll join me in a toastwith Scotch, of coursemade to the national poet of Scotland. Slainte Mhaith!
WARRI, NigeriaWhat we call Boko Haram is a fractured, brutal, and deeply cynical collection of killers supposedly waging a religious war against the government of Nigeria. But as the governments military offensive continues to deprive them of territory, these would-be holy warriors have resorted to the use of women and children, even infants, as part of their suicide-bombing avant-garde. And at the same time they have targeted public health programs, trying to stop campaigns to vaccinate children, and thus putting many tens of thousands at risk.

All this is done in the name of what they call Islam. But this has become a war on innocents.

***

The town of Madagali, located just at the edge of Sambissa forest in Nigerias northeastern Adamawa state, is a place where Boko Haram often uses young girls as walking bombs. Since Nigerian forces regained control of the town in 2015, over 100 people have been killed by female bombers in four separate attacks in Madagali. But after last months deadly bombing in which 56 civilians were killed, security was beefed up. Now anyone entering the town is searched first by local vigilantesand then by the military.

This new screening systemthough of much greater risk to security personnelhas proved effective. A couple of intended suicide attacks have been foiled this month by members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), a group of locals helping the military fight Boko Haram, and also by Nigerian soldiers.

On Jan. 4, three female suicide bombers were shot dead in Bakin Dutse, a village in Gulak town close to Madagali. Officials said the three girls had planned to attack a market in Gulak before they were intercepted.

On seeing them [the suicide bombers] fast approaching, they [the CJTF] asked them to stop, but the girls declined, instead running faster, so one was instantly gunned down and the bomb on her body exploded. So also the second girl, said Yusuf Gulak, a local official, in an interview with ICIR Nigeria. The third girl attempted to run but could not succeed as she was also shot dead.

A week before this incident, the CJTF foiled an attempt by two female suicide bombers to attack a cattle market in the restive city of Maiduguri in neighboring Borno state. The vigilantes suspected they were carrying bombs when the girls rushed passed security and began to roam around the market. One of them accidentally blew herself up as the CJTF came after her, and the other was arrested by the vigilante group.

After these failures, Boko Haram adopted a new form of attackbombing with babies.

Two weeks ago, three female suicide bombers blew themselves up, killing at least 11 people and injuring 14 others as they approached a CJTF checkpoint entering Madagali.

One of the suicide bombers had a baby on her back, an apparent move to fool security officials into believing that she was a nursing mother and, as such, shouldnt be suspected of being a terrorist.

Witnesses said she was wearing a long hijab, or veil, which covered the baby, and in-between her and the child was a bomb which the infant was resting against.

She was the first to approach the vigilantes, who didnt suspect her because she was carrying a baby, a member of the CJTF who had been briefed on the incident by colleagues who were present, told The Daily Beast. After she slipped through, she stood at a corner waiting for the other girls.

But the others appeared to be too scared of passing through security as they kept roaming round the checkpoint, reluctant to advance. When men from the CJTF approached them, they detonated their devices, killing a couple of the vigilantes in the process. The first suicide bomber then blew up herself and the baby.

She must have thought that she would be shot by the soldiers nearby if she didnt act fast, the CJTF member said. It appeared their main target was actually the market close to the checkpoint.

The use of innocent infants as forced accomplices in suicide bombings has been tested by the jihadists in the past, but without so much success.

On Nov. 28, precisely, a woman suicide bomber carrying a baby on her back was shot by soldiers at a checkpoint in Maiduguri. Her explosives detonated as a result of the shot, killing the woman and the baby. Since then, no suicide attack involving a baby has been reported.

Earlier, when the jihadists began to deploy female suicide bombers, the girls had bombs tied firmly to their backs in the same manner used by many women to carry their children in northern Nigeria.

Now that the CJTF is aware of this trick, it is going to be more vigilant, said Yusuf Mohammed, an advisor to the vigilante group, based in Maiduguri. No one is going overlook any lady because she is pregnant, or because she is carrying a baby.

***

The use of innocents to kill innocents took another turn last week when a 7-year-old boy blew himself up during dawn prayers inside a Maiduguri mosque.

Among those killed was Aliyu Mani, the director of veterinary medicene at the University of Maiduguri. The highly respected 59-year-old professor died on the spot.

His young, schoolboy killer had been sent on his mission of death by the Boko Haram faction thats headed by Abubakar Shekau, a man even the so-called Islamic State wont accept as legitimate.

Authorities said a second suicide bombera teenage girlwas seen in a separate wing of the school speaking to herself. When officials asked her to identify herself, she detonated her bomb and died.

Shekau, in a released audio message, claimed the group carried out the attack because the university was mixing Islam with democracy.

We carried out the attack in the morning and I am speaking to you this evening, he said in the local Hausa language. Here in Maiduguri you will see more of these attacks.

Shekau did not make a specific link, but the bombing at the university came just days after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a mass vaccination campaign to protect more than 4 million childrenaged 6 to 10in northeastern Nigeria against the potentially deadly measles virus.

Immediately, some locals in Maiduguri began spreading rumors that the vaccines are stored in the universitys medical department, thus making it a likely Boko Haram target. And professor Mani, the victim with the biggest profile, has been a leading voice in the call for regular vaccinations for students and practitioners in the field.

He stands for everybody without segregation, said Philemon Columbus, a veterinary medicine lecturer at the University of Abuja in Nigerias capital city, who studied under Mani. He does not look at religion. He does not look at ethnicity. Hes so transparent.

***

Boko Haram has never hidden its hatred for vaccinations and those who carry them out, and it can draw on deep currents of suspicion.

Vaccinationsespecially polio vaccinationsare widely viewed not just by Boko Haram, but by a number of Muslim clerics in northern Nigeria, as a conspiracy to sterilize young girls and eliminate the countrys Muslim population.

In 2003, a Kano physician heading the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria said the medicine had been corrupted and tainted by evildoers from America and their Western allies. Not long after that, the Kano state government suspended polio immunization for 13 months as suspicion surrounding the program grew. As a result, the number of infections increased massively and the virus spread to 17 countries that had been polio-free.

Deadly attacks on health workers involved with vaccination campaigns in Nigeria started in 2012 not long after the trend began in Pakistan, where militants accused them of spying for the U.S. following reports that a Pakistani doctor ran a fake vaccination program to help the CIA track down and kill Osama bin Laden.

In October of that year, two police officers involved in guarding an immunization campaign were shot and killed in Kano by suspected Boko Haram militants.

The jihadists are also believed to have killed nine female polio vaccinators in two shootings at health centers in northwestern Nigeria nearly five years ago. In the first attack in February 2013 in Kano, the biggest city in Nigerias predominantly Muslim north, the polio vaccinators were shot dead by gunmen who drove up on a motor tricycle. Half an hour later gunmen targeted a clinic in the Unguwa Uku neighbourhoodjust outside Kanoas the vaccinators prepared to start work. Four people were killed in the incident.

***

Why take such risks to immunize children against measles, a disease many in the West see as a minor problem?

In fact the disease claimed more than 134,000 lives globally in 2015, and in Nigerias Borno state, for example, more than 77 percent of children younger than 5 have never received the vaccine.

Massive disruption to health services in conflict-affected areas for many years has deprived these children of essential childhood vaccinations, said Wondimagegnehu Alemu, WHO Representative in Nigeria, in a statement by the organization. In addition, many of them have severe malnutrition, making them extremely vulnerable to serious complications and death from measles.

But Boko Haram will see this move as un-Islamica Western plot against itand to fight back against this effort to save children, it may well use its new weapons of choice: the children themselves.
By Press Trust of India: Chandigarh, Jan 25 (PTI) The major political parties promising moon to voters in the form of freebies in the high-octane Punjab Assembly elections are "not looking beyond poll victory" as there is "no roadmap" for implementing such sops, economists said today.

"Political parties are just trying to lure voters by promising moon to them. No party is looking beyond victory in elections by promising sops because there is no roadmap or strategy to implement these tall promises, given the fiscal situation of the state," R S Ghuman, Professor, Nehru SAIL Chair, Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), said here.

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"The poll manifestoes should not have a narrow vision as we generally see. The vision of a manifesto should be 15-20 years for the overall development of the state," he said.

The economists also said that political outfits were playing "politics of polarisation" by offering freebies like sugar, ghee at low prices, houses to the poor, land to Dalits etc.

They asked the parties to rather come out with plans to empower public by ensuring employment generation and social security.

Senior economist Satish Verma said the sops would "incapacitate" people.

"Parties are playing politics of polarisation by offering sops. Issue should be development rather than offering something free to people," he said.

The dominant political players in the state are raining freebies on people in the run up to the Punjab Assembly polls beginning next month.

Congress, which has been out of power in the state for 10 years, has promised a host of freebies like farm loan waiver and free power, 50 lakh smart phones to youth etc.

The ruling Akalis have promised sugar at Rs 10 per kg, ghee at Rs 25 per kg, 20 lakh jobs for youth, facilitating 50,000 youth to acquire taxis without down payment, free two-wheelers to graduate/senior secondary students etc.

Similarly, new entrant AAP has promised making farmers debt free by 2018, Rs 10,000 compensation every month in the event of crop failure, 25 lakh jobs, free wi-fi hot spots, houses for Dalits, Shagun amount Rs 51,000 etc.

Notably, over 80 per cent of states revenue gets consumed by salary, pension, interest payment on borrowings and power subsidy, leaving little resources for spending on development expenditure.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) had last year pointed out in its report that Punjab utilised major portion of borrowings to service old debt and revenue expenditure.

Moreover, Punjabs outstanding debt is pegged at Rs 1.38 lakh crore for 2016-17. PTI CHS AKA SRY

--- ENDS ---
The Trump administration has put together a draft executive order to review bringing back waterboarding and the CIA secret prisons known as black sites. Its already drawing howls of protest from leading Democratsand some Republicansand skepticism from former intelligence officers who say CIA employees were burned once by carrying out orders later deemed illegal.

The President can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America, said Republican Senator John McCain, himself a victim of torture at the hands of his Vietnamese captors.

We havent engaged in waterboarding since 2004We havent used black sites since President Bush emptied the black sites, and weve somehow managed to keep our country safe, said former CIA chief of staff Jeremy Bash, in answer to a Daily Beast question at the Center for American Progress.

With respect to torture, thats banned, Senate Republican Conference Chair John Thune told reporters Wednesday afternoon. We view that to be a matter of settled law.

The Trump administration is denying the draft order was produced by the White House.

It is not a White House document, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said of the draft order. I have no idea where it came from.

But Congressional staff who have viewed the document believe it is real and President Donald Trump said Wednesday that torture absolutely works, in comments to ABC News. He added that a senior intelligence official had told him so in the past 24 hours.

Thats a turnaround from his comments after first meeting his now-Defense Secretary James Mattis, who is against anything that goes beyond the Army Field Manual. I will rely on (CIA Director Mike) Pompeo and Mattis and my group. And if they dont want to do, thats fine. If they do wanna do, then I will work toward that end. I want to do everything within the bounds of what youre allowed to do legally, Trump said.

The draft executive order circulating on Capitol Hill would overturn two 2009 Obama administration orders to end CIA black site prisons, limit interrogation methods to the U.S. Army Field Manual, and give the International Committee of the Red Cross access to all detainees. The order would launch a review of detention and interrogation practices, opening the door to returning to some form of enhanced interrogation and secret detention facilities.

The draft order, first obtained by The New York Times, would resurrect a 2007 Bush executive order that allowed CIA employees to use methods not specifically listed under international law as war crimes, such as sleep deprivation. (The draft order was described to The Daily Beast by a person who had reviewed it.) But that contradicts a 2015 amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act requiring all federal agencies to follow the practices listed in the Army Field Manual, which limited those practices. So its not clear how a Trump administration could overturn that.

The draft order would also overturn an Obama-era edict to eventually close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and transfer the detainees elsewhere. Its a move that puzzled former administration officials. On the Gitmo piece, its not surprising (as it) seems to halt transfers, one told The Daily Beast. But there are only five remaining detainees we would have transferred, out of the 41 left in detention.

As for the review of detention and interrogation tactics, the official points out that the Obama administration carried out a review of those practices that was just declassifiedand military and intelligence career officials agreed that the Army field manual was the right way to go, and anything else is now barred by statute. The official spoke of condition of anonymity to describe high level discussions.

At his confirmation hearing, new CIA director Mike Pompeo said he would absolutely not comply with any order to resume the use of harsh interrogation techniques like waterboarding, considered torture under international law. But in written answers to questions by the Senate intelligence committee, he said if confirmed, he would ask CIA experts if the manual is an impediment to gathering vital intelligence to protect the country, and if so, he may ask for changes. The executive order gives him the green light to do that. He stressed hed make sure those changes stay within the law.

The Army Field Manual does not include waterboarding or other forms of enhanced interrogation, and requires that it be updated in a way that complies with the legal obligations of the United States and reflects current, evidence-based, best practices for interrogation that are designed to elicit reliable and voluntary statements and do not involve the use or threat of force, according to a statement from McCain. Any changes to the manual must be made public 30 days before they take effect.

McCain, who together with California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein, championed a mammoth Senate Intelligence report on the CIAs detention program, said Pompeo had assured him in private conversations as well as the hearing that he would comply with the current lawadding that Defense Secretary James Mattis did as well.

The reopening of black sites, the re-examination of whether we should go back to EITs like waterboarding or some other form costs us relationships with allies who wont want to cooperate with us if they believe that may lead to the repopulating of Guantanamo or if someone they help usdetain will be sent to a black site, Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff said in answer to The Daily Beast, at a Center for American Progress event together with former CIA chief of staff Bash.

I have spoken this morning with CIA Director Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mattis and reiterated that any attempt by this Administration to restart torture is absolutely unacceptable, and I will strongly oppose it, added Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, Vice Chair of the Senate intelligence committee.

The draft order would also keep the International Committee of the Red Cross from visiting detainees and delivering confidential reports to U.S. officials of what they see and heara practice that U.S. commanders tell The Daily Beast they learned to appreciate as one of their best defenses against any abuse of detainees in their custody.

We are the early warning system when it comes to violations of international humanitarian law, said Dominick Stillhart, director of operations for the ICRC in an interview. As we saw Abu Ghreib, the typical example. Had they listened to us earlier, they could have avoided what was a huge public relations disaster. U.S. military commanders told The Daily Beast that the ICRC had reported to them of the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghreib outside of Baghdad during the U.S. occupation of Iraq. No one believed the Red Cross, until photographs of the abuse triggered a later investigation. So now commanders welcome the ICRCs visits.

Pompeo, a former member of the House intelligence committee, has previously denounced the Obama administrations revocation of enhanced interrogation practices  which included waterboarding, ice baths, sleep deprivation and even a few cases of rectal forced feeding, according to the Senate intelligence committee report.

President Obama has continually refused to take the war on radical Islamic terrorism seriouslyfrom ending our interrogation program in 2009 to trying to close Guantanamo Bay, the Kansas Republican said in a 2014 statement.

Former CIA operators and senior officials have both said agency employees would be unlikely to want to get back into the business of such practices, because some were investigated by the Obama Justice Department for carrying out practices they were told were legal.

One former CIA employee who carried out the controversial practices, civilian contractor James Mitchell, said this controversy couldand shouldstart a national conversation about how far an interrogator should be allowed to go in the case of a ticking time bomb situation where officers know the person they have in custody is aware of an imminent violent attack. Mitchell is still facing a lawsuit by the ACLU for his part in the program.

My chief complaint about the manual is not that it wouldnt work on 80-90% of the people youd get on the battlefield, but when youre dealing with the senior people, if hes hardened and hes willing to hold out, said Mitchell, who interrogated and waterboarded9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The point I would make to the president in a situation where you have credible intel that there is going to be another attack, and you have that person in custody, you have to be able to go beyond the moral high ground. He advocates coming up with something that goes beyond the army field manual, but not a return to Bush era tactics.

Black sites were as horrible as the name implies. In one infamous prison in Afghanistan called Cobalt, also referred to as the Salt Pit, nude prisoners were held together, and paraded around to humiliate them. Detainees were hosed down while shackled naked, and placed in rooms with temperatures as low as 59 degrees Fahrenheit, with loud music playing constantly.

The CIA was alerted of allegations that anal exams at Cobalt were conducted with excessive force, but there are no records of anyone being punished. Agency records said that one of the detainees housed at Cobalt, Mustafa al-Hawsawi, was later diagnosed with chronic hemorrhoids, an anal fissure, and symptomatic rectal prolapse.

Another prisoner, Gul Rahman, died apparently from hypothermia after being locked up without pants on in a cold room, after CIA officers had put a hood on him, slapped him, and dragged in the dirt.

"So-called black sites are illegal, and have been explicitly so since the Supreme Courts decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld," five Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee said in a joint statement. "Any attempt to reopen these facilities would open our intelligence and military personnel to prosecution for war crimes under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions."

This story has been updated to add comments from President Trump, the White House spokesman, the ICRC, and several lawmakers, as well as background information on the CIA detention program. With additional reporting by Tim Mak.
Despite admitting to prescribing unjustified pain medicine and committing more than 4,000 acts of Medicare fraud, Dr. Robert Ritchea was found fit to practice medicine.

After imposing fines and a slap on the wrist in 2010, both the Georgia Composite State Board of Medical Examiners and the Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners allowed Ritchea to continue seeing patients with little to no restrictions, according to state medical board records.

Six years later, hes awaiting trial for unlawful distribution of prescription drugs and money laundering and stands accused of killing a patient to whom he had prescribed more than 300 pills.

So when the DEA raided Ritcheas Phenix City, Alabama, office last March, many of his patients arriving for an appointment would not have been surprised when federal agents poured out of the bland, one-story office building, carrying boxes of medical records, computers, and hard drives filled with evidence that he was operating a pill mill, according to a search warrant application.

One long-time patient, who wished to remain anonymous, was first treated by Ritchea for chronic back pain. Eight years after she first started seeing him, she was walking out the door with 630 pills per visit: 210 methadone, 180 hydrocodone, 90 Valium, 90 Klonopin, 60 Adderall, 60 Soma, and 30 pills to treat high blood pressure, she told The Daily Beast.

It would have killed me in 3 days if I took the dosage recommended, she said. You go in, you get weighed, make small talk. No matter where I told him I was in pain, he never followed up on it. He just started writing prescriptions before I finished. He never checked my heart beat or anything like that. Whether it was 9 a.m. or 2 p.m., that office was packed every time I visited. And I would meet people waiting in the office as far away as Panama City, Florida. And, only four pharmacies in the area would fill prescriptions from him before he got shut down so the parking lots of those pharmacies would basically be a drug dealing market, she said.

Ritcheas subsequent arrest left hundreds of opiate-addicted patients without their drugs, legitimate or not. State medical board records revealed his office was ranked in the top 1 percent of more than 10,000 medical doctors in Alabama with the highest number of prescriptions for controlled substances. Since then many chronic-pain suffering patients have found themselves headed to the streets or methadone clinics.

By this point, Ritchea had his medical licenses back only for a few years. With an office in Phenix City, Alabama, which is just west of Columbus, Georgia, and separated only by the Chattahoochee River, and with medical licenses in both states, investigators and patients on either side of the border were very familiar with Ritchea.

In January 2008, after a lengthy investigation by Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners, Ritchea admitted that from 2001 to at least 2006 he prescribed unnecessary pain treatments and fraudulently received $2.2 million in Medicare funds, court documents show. For this, Ritchea was assessed administrative fines and costs, requiring continuing medical education and providing for monthly record reviews with quarterly reports to the Commission, according to Alabama board records.

But less than a year later, he was facing a similar investigation by the Georgia Composite State Board of Medical Examiners who concluded that Ritchea was, once again, guilty of prescribing pain treatment without medical justification, and illegally billing Medicare for the costs. He was eventually sued in a civil case by the U.S. Attorneys Office in Georgia, again admitting to thousands of malpractice acts, court documents revealed.

In July 2011, the Alabama medical licensure commission decided to removed all conditions and restoring to full, unrestricted status the license to practice medicine in Alabama, commission documents show. About three months later, the Georgia Composite State Board of Medical Examiners made a similar ruling, restoring all medical privileges to Ritchea, despite himself admitting to over prescribed, and over utilized, without medical justification, medical board records show.

The Georgia Composite State Board of Medical Examiners and the Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners could not be reached for comment.

Most of the patients from Ritcheas office tended to be young, white men with no insurance and seemingly no obvious signs of pain or medical concerns, despite having multiple prescriptions for the most dire of terminal cancer diagnoses, multiple pharmacists reported to the DEA. They would often travel in packs, driving sometimes more than two hours from their hometowns for a visit to Ritcheas office. By 2013, the DEA began to receive complaints from pharmacists who denied many of their prescriptions issued by Ritchea, relaying their encounters with what they believe to be opioid-abusing, drug-seeking, sometimes irate customers, according to court documents.

Eric Long, a pharmacist at a Phenix City Walgreens located about a mile from Ritcheas office, told the DEA that a typical Walgreens fills about 600 pills of Roxicodone, a highly addictive narcotic pain reliever, for all its customers in a given week. But, with a surge of customers wielding prescriptions from Ritchea, the pharmacy would dole out approximately 4,000 pills a week, according to court documents. The increase in pill orders, which are automatically placed by a computer system when supplies are low, was so great that the corporate loss prevention department suspected the drugs were being stolen, that is until the pharmacist told them about Ritchea.

In late 2014, pharmacists in the Phenix City area began reporting an uptick in opioid-seeking patients from Ritcheas office and it was no coincidence, they believed, that it was around this time that hydrocodone was moved from Schedule III drug classification to the more restrictive Schedule II classification by the federal government. Ritchea was one of the few remaining doctors in the area willing to prescribe these drugs liberally.

Meredith Street, a pharmacist at CVS in Opelika, Alabama, told the DEA it was around this time that her store refused all prescriptions written by Ritchea. But up until that policy was implemented, Street said she would see as many as 10 to 20 patients per week from Ritcheas office, despite being more than a half-hour drive away, according to court documents.

Citing repeated refusals by pharmacists to fill prescriptions written by Ritchea as a strong indicator that he was issuing illegitimate prescriptions, DEA Birmingham District Office Tactical Diversion Group 48 decided to ratchet up the investigation into the suspected pill mill. Beginning in March of 2014, law enforcement began conducting surveillance of Ritcheas office. In a single day, one task force office witnessed two separate incidents where individuals exited Ritcheas clinic to do what they believed to be hand-to-hand drug deals before returning inside the clinic, according to an application for a search warrant.

An undercover DEA operation that would span more than three years ensued. Surveillance agents began visiting Ritcheas office to try to obtain prescription narcotics. Feigning lower back pain, one agent was reportedly able to obtain more than 1,200 hydrocodone pills (including refills), among other prescriptions, over the course of three visits which included only one initial brief medical examination, the agent testified.

But, the most alarming allegation against Ritchea is his involvement in the overdose death of a 40-year-old woman just six days after he prescribed her 60 methadone tablets, 120 oxycodone tablets, and 150 Xanax tablets. The autopsy concluded the cause of death as mixed drug toxicity with a toxic methadone blood level, according to court documents. Law enforcement agents who interviewed her husband say he encouraged his wife to visit Ritchea to obtain a prescription for methadone. Her husband said he heard it was standard treatment for opioid addiction. Ritchea prescribed her much more.

Even though this incident was cited as evidence of illegitimate prescribing habits, Ritchea wasnt charged in her death, which was ruled an accident.

The raid by the DEA eventually led to Ritchea being indicted by a grand jury on four counts of dispensing hydrocodone, oxycodone, hydromorphone, and other powerful opioids with no legitimate medical purpose, along with four counts of money laundering. Investigators found Ritchea purchased nearly $20,000 of alleged illegal proceeds worth of Schedule II drugs directly from a pharmaceutical company, which he would then prescribe to his patients, according to court documents.

Page Pate, a lawyer representing Ritchea, categorically denied the DEAs allegations in the indictment brought against his client, saying that all the prescriptions issued by Ritchea were legitimate.

Weve had medical experts review them and found them to be medically justifiable, Pate said. When asked whether he believed Ritchea was providing too many opioids, the volume of opioids he was prescribing is relatively low compared to other physicians in Alabama.

In response to Ritchea ranking 27 out of more than 10,000 medical doctors in Alabama with the highest number of prescriptions for Schedule II, III, IV, and V controlled substances, Pate said that being a pain management specialist, Ritchea would expect to be high on that list. But, the DEA in its indictment contends that Ritchea is not in fact a pain management specialist, but a general practitioner. Pate said that with 99 percent of his patients citing chronic pain as the reason for their visit, Ritchea was, in fact, a pain management specialist.

Indeed, during the DEA undercover operations, an independent pain specialist was consulted to examine the evidence and concluded that there are significant, severe, and repeated lapses in the standard of care regarding scheduled medicationsbut I cannot state categorically that there is absolutely no medical legitimacy in the treatment provided by Ritchea.

Ritcheas arrest forced many of his patients to go cold turkey. For the long-time patient cited above, that resulted in four emergency room trips over the course of 12 days. She says it took her six months to feel normal again and now treats her pain with non-narcotic medication.

Ritchea notified court on Tuesday that he intends to change his previously entered plea of not guilty to guilty.
Gregg Phillips, the unlikely apparent source for President Trump's unsupported claim that 3 million or more "illegal voters" cost him the popular vote, says he might be changing his mind about releasing the names of those voters to everyone on the internet.

If I had my druthers, and they said, Gregg, you can release your list or you can give it to [the Department of Justice], Id instantly agree to give it over to DOJ. They could bump it up against the Homeland Security file, Phillips told The Daily Beast on Tuesday. Theres a group of us who dont think we should release the names at all.

As of right now, however, releasing the names is the plan, said Phillips, who identifies himself on Twitter as the founder of a voter-fraud reporting app.

On Monday, Trump told congressional leaders he believed 3 million to 5 million people illegally voted in November. A day later, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trumps belief was based on studies and evidence people have presented to him.

That evidence could include the data Phillips claimed to have a week after the election, which gained legendary viral notoriety on the right. The Washington Post's Philip Bump called Phillips' tweet "Donald Trump's new explanation for losing the popular vote" back in November.

Heres the problem: No one has seen any of the data, nor the algorithm Phillips and his group have put it through, let alone confirmed if its even possible for any part of it to be true.

Days after Phillips claimed, without providing any evidence, there had been 3 million illegal voters, Trump wrote, If the election were based on total popular vote I would have campaigned in N.Y. Florida and California and won even bigger and more easily.

Days later, Trump was still thinking about it. In addition to winning the electoral college in a landslide, he tweeted on Nov. 27, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.

He added, It would have been much easier for me to win the so-called popular vote than the Electoral College in that I would only campaign in 3 or 4-states instead of the 15 states that I visited. I would have won even more easily and convincingly (but smaller states are forgotten)!

And then he made a specific charge: Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and Californiaso why isnt the media reporting on this? Serious biasbig problem!

A few weeks later, on Dec. 21, it remained on his mind. Campaigning to win the Electoral College is much more difficult & sophisticated than the popular vote, he said. Hillary focused on the wrong states!

I would have done even better in the election, if that is possible, if the winner was based on popular votebut would campaign differently.

On Monday, President Trump got specific, telling congressional leaders he believed 3 million to 5 million people illegally voted in November.

That matches up nearly with Phillipss November claim to have verified more than three million votes cast by non-citizens, adding that we are joining .@TrueTheVote to initiate legal action.#unrigged.

His two tweets on the subject quickly went viral on far-right-wing and conspiracy sites, racking up over 10,000 retweets. An InfoWars story based on his tweet reached the top of right-wing news aggregator The Drudge Report, which in July had more than a billion readers.

When reporters asked to see Philipss information in November, he flatly said no, adding that We will release it in open form to the American people. We wont allow the media to spin this first.

Phillips told The Daily Beast on Tuesday that his group would not only release the full data but was also working to highlight each of the 3 million names his algorithm has identified as an illegal voterfrom dually registered ones to ones associated with a dead personfor everyone, including the Trump administration, to see.

Phillips claims his group, a band of volunteers loosely affiliated with a right-wing organization called True the Vote, has 184 million voting records weve collected over time.

He did not share the data set or algorithm with The Daily Beast, or give a timeline for when either would be released.

He said his team has worked on various projects and analysis and plenty of different methodologies on key components on the valuations such as verifying identity and verifying citizenship.

I believe in this stuff to my core, in my bones. A lot of people are saying, even people on the Trump side, Who cares? He won, said Phillips. Well, I care.

All of the volunteers have day jobs, Phillips said. Im just a regular guy, he said.

He said thats why theres been a delay between his November proclamation that 3 million people voted illegally and the release of his alleged evidence.

We have identified what we believe to be likely 3 million illegal voters. Ive got 184 million records that we have applied an enormous amount of analytic capability to, he said.

Phillips said he doesnt want to accuse someone of felony voter fraud who isnt a felon.

Thats exactly whats taking so long. Rather than publishing things that might be wrong, we not only just want to do a quality check on our own algorithm, we want to do an internal audit, if you will, he said.

Still, at the beginning of his conversation with The Daily Beast, he insisted hed release the data and algorithm to the public once he was sure the data was fine-tuned. (He didnt give a timeline for any of this when pressed.)

I committed from the outset to publish all of this data to the public. Im gonna let the public see everything weve done. Our analysis, everything, will be published. We will also give copies to the federal government, he said. Were gonna publish the entire data set.

In the meantime, though, hes mostly gone dark. Hes yet to post on Twitter this year, he said, after finding himself the subject of accusations hes responsible for crimes he said were actually committed by another person with his namea somewhat ironic development. He also deleted his Facebook account.

Im not a racist. Im not a child molester. Im not an Israeli spy. Its just Twitter, he said. Somebody accused me of murder in Sarasota. Im a 55-year-old white guy. This was a 30-year-old black guy. Same exact name. Spelled the same.

Doesnt that give him some reservations about releasing his list to the public? Even if he thinks its entirely right, wont random people on Twitter implicate the wrong people with the same name?

I agree with you. You kind of spurred it in my brain yet again, what we plan to do. Its been a bit of a hot topic within the group: What we are gonna do? he said. Were not looking to hurt anybody. Thats not our gig.

Phillips said the data set his group is working with came from True the Vote, a conservative vote-monitoring group that splintered off from the Tea Partys King Street Patriots. Both King Street Patriots and True the Vote were founded by Texas Republican organizer Catherine Engelbrecht.

Engelbrecht said shes confident the president has data to support his contentions, although she said the president is not citing True the Votes or Phillipss.

At least not yet, she said.

Months ago, [Phillips] sent out a tweet based on his independent analysis. It went viral. Suddenly it appeared in a story in Drudge, which was linked to the then-PEOTUS and it was a surreal experience, said Engelbrecht. No reporter ever contacted him until his connection to all of this had gotten way, way, way out of hand.

King Street Patriots has been successfully sued by the Texas Democratic Party for voter intimidation, and True The Vote was the subject of a 2012 congressional investigation for voter suppression. Engelbrecht later filed an ethics complaint against Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings for his handling of the investigation.

Phillips estimated True the Vote has 100,000 volunteers, and said it encourages splinter groups like the one creating the supposed illegal immigrant database. He said the side project doesnt have a name.

Phillips said he was dumbfounded by both the magnitude of the response to his initial tweet and also the attacks he received in return.

He called Twitter the meanest, nastiest, most horrible place on earth.

In my view, its bad for public discourse, he said. Ive never seen anything like that before.

In the meantime, he and his group are back to figuring out which people his algorithm might be confusing with illegal immigrants.

Were about halfway through, he said. Our biggest problem right now is that people are just tired. It really is tough work.
ROME  The Knights of Malta Prince and Grand Master position was supposed to be a job for life. At least thats what Matthew Festing, the 67-year-old Briton who has held the role for the last nine years, thought until Pope Francis sacked him this week after a very public battle of wills, and wonts, over condoms.

The scandal, which could be (and might be) the premise of the next Dan Brown novel, started last month when Festing fired the orders Grand Chancellor Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager.

It seems Boeselager, a German, concealed the fact that one of the two Catholic missions offering medical assistance to sex slaves in Myanmar, which he oversaw on behalf of the Knights of Malta, doled out condoms as a part of its medical services.

According to UNAIDS (PDF), in 2014 about 220,000 people in Myanmar were HIV-infected and about 11,000 died that year of related illnesses. Free condom distribution is a mainstay of the fight against HIV/AIDS among all sex workers, and de facto sex slaves are, of course, even more vulnerable.

But the members of the Knights of Malta, while they are not full clerics, do take the usual strict vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience to the Catholic Church, which prohibits the use of birth control for any reason, even to stop the spread of a fatal epidemic.

The Sovereign Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta (the Knights full formal name) dates back to the Crusades and is under the Vatican structure. Its 13,500 members, 25,000 employees and 80,000 volunteers, are compelled to follow the rules set forth by the Holy See.

But the question here has become, precisely, not who makes those rules, but who enforces them?

Boeselager was understandably not happy about being fired. And, according to the Knights own website, his dismissal wasnt smooth by any standard.

After it was discovered that Boeselager had been hiding the trail of the condom handouts, two missions were shut down (a third was left open to avoid creating a vacuum in medical services), and he was asked by Festing to resign, which he refused to do.

After Boeselager refused this, eventually the Grand Master [Festing] had no choice but to order him, under the Promise of Obedience, in presence of the Grand Commander and the Cardinal Patronus, to resign, the Knights press statement reads. Boeselager refused again. Thus, the Grand Commander, with the backing of the Grand Master and the Sovereign Council and most members of the Order around the world, initiated a disciplinary procedure after which a member can be suspended from membership in the Order, and thus all Offices within the Order.

Boeslager then went to the pope himself, complaining that hed been let go under what he said were unreasonable circumstances and that he was surely following the teachings of Francis when it comes to mercy and ministering to those in the margins who may or may not be able to uphold all the tenets of Catholicism.

Francis apparently agreed. He appointed a five-member commission to investigate the Knights of Malta matter, specifically the circumstances of the firingand the popes decision was met with an astonishing rebuke.

Citing their own constitution, the Grand Magistry of the Sovereign Council of the Knights of Malta issued a statement outlining why they were essentially saying no to the pope and his secretary of state.

The Grand Magistry of the Sovereign Order of Malta has learnt of the decision made by the Holy See to appoint a group of five persons to shed light on the replacement of the former Grand Chancellor. The replacement of the former Grand Chancellor is an act of internal governmental administration of the Sovereign Order of Malta and consequently falls solely within its competence. The aforementioned appointment is the result of a misunderstanding by the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, the statement said. The Grand Master respectfully clarified the situation yesterday evening in a letter to the Supreme Pontiff, laying out the reasons why the suggestions made by the Secretariat of State were unacceptable.

Clearly, the pope did not see it quite that way.

Shortly afterward, the Vatican issued its own statement of clarification. For the support and advancement of this generous mission, the Holy See reaffirms its confidence in the five Members of the Group appointed by Pope Francis on 21 December 2016 to inform him about the present crisis of the Central Direction of the Order, and rejects, based on the documentation in its possession, any attempt to discredit these Members of the Group and their work, the statement said. The Holy See counts on the complete cooperation of all in this sensitive stage, and awaits the Report of the above-mentioned Group in order to adopt, within its area of competence, the most fitting decisions for the good of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and of the Church.

The Knights of Malta didnt budge, refusing to cooperate with the papal group.

Thats when Francis decided that Festing had to go and called him in to ask for his resignation which, according to a spokesman for the Knights of Malta, he willingly gave. The Vatican will now assign an interim leader until the Knights of Malta hold their own election for Festings replacement.

While it may all seem medieval and Machiavellian, even for Rome, there is another wrinkleand a distinctly American onein this rather unholy thread.

The head of the Sovereign Council of the Knights of Malta is none other than Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, an American who is leading a campaign against Pope Francis for allegedly giving the impression that rules on divorced and remarried Catholics and LGBT Catholics have softened.

Burke and three other cardinals filed a list of dubia, or doubts, to Pope Francis and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about the popes apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love).

Burke was given his gig as Cardinalis Patronus of the Knights of Malta in 2014 after Francis fired him from his lofty job as head of the Vaticans judiciary.

Francis has refused to answer the dubia, essentially drawing a line in the sand on the matter. Whether or not the Knights of Malta mess is Burkes attempt at revenge or to embarrass the pope is a matter of conjecture. But this much is crystal clear: pissing off the pope has consequences.
The United States will allow torture again over Sen. John McCains dead body.

The Arizona Republican has worked tirelessly for more than a decade to prevent the United States from using torture during interrogations, influenced by the hell he experienced as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

If President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a platform of using waterboarding and a hell of a lot worse to question, the draft-dodger will have to declare war on McCain, a war hero.

We passed a law [prohibiting torture], and it as clear in the congressional record what the intent of the law was, McCain said pointedly, in a conversation with The Daily Beast. They would have to reverse the intent of the law, which they will not do.

McCain began his anti-torture push with a law he authored in 2005, but the law he passed only covered military interrogations. A more recent anti-torture law, written by McCain and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in 2015, barred all American officials from waterboarding or any other interrogation technique not explicitly mentioned in the U.S. Army Field Manual.

The Bush administration circumvented previous prohibitions on torture by listing a series of enhanced interrogation techniques that it believed stopped short of torture.

McCain and Feinsteins measure prevents this by stating clearly that only the methods explicitly outlined in the Army Field Manual can be used in questioning. The manual also requires that detainees be treated humanely and prohibits the use of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

McCain confidently predicted that his law could not be circumvented:

We could have another vote. It will be 92-7 again, he said. McCain may have been speaking figuratively, but he was close enoughin 2015, the McCain-Feinstein amendment passed the Senate with more than three-quarters of the Senate supporting it: 78 to 21.

The threat of bringing torture back appears to be real.

A draft of a new executive order within the administration indicates that the president would examine whether the United States should use enhanced interrogation techniques and whether it should reopen overseas black sites for interrogation, The New York Times reported.

And within the last week, incoming CIA Director Mike Pompeo appeared to leave open the door to waterboarding as an interrogation technique. National Security Advisor Mike Flynn has said that he would probably OK enhanced interrogation techniques within certain limits if the country was in grave danger from a terrorist attack involving weapons of mass destruction. And Jeff Sessions, now Trumps nominee for attorney general, voted against McCain and Feinsteins efforts to ban torture (although he said in his confirmation hearing that he would enforce that law).

Donald Trump has endorsed bringing back torture, clearly violations of the Geneva Conventions, said Susan Hennessey, a former National Security Agency lawyer. His position is a rather extreme and remarkable one.

So as Trump takes office, some wonder whether he might be able to carry it out in a time of national crisisdespite a legal framework that clearly prohibits torture. After all, torture was already illegal after the 9/11 attacks, when the Bush administration used enhanced interrogation techniques, which included beating, stress positions, sleep deprivation, and waterboarding.

Im a skeptic that any law is inviolable, said Glenn Carle, a 27-year veteran of the CIA with direct experience interrogating a top al Qaeda operative in the years after 9/11. Our democracy is shockingly thin. Yes, the law can be circumvented if the executive wants to. Only with consistent vigilance and pressure is our law given substance and life.

Feinstein told The Daily Beast that there was only one weakness in the law: the possibility that the Trump administration could change the Army Field Manual.

The Army Field Manual can be reviewed every three years. That might be the only weak part of it, Feinstein said, but she had no concern right now that this could occur. And even in that case, McCain and Feinsteins law prohibits any changes in the field manual that would involve the use or threat of force.

National security and legal experts, on the other hand, believe that the law is clearand almost airtight.

Many people have had the instinct that torture was convenient, or effective, or acceptable. And we, the American people, Congress, and the world at large as airtight a prohibition as is legally possible, said David Cole, the national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. [The Trump administration] would have to change the field manual, overcome extraordinary resistance in the military, make it public, thereby bringing on them the uniform criticism of the world.

American abuses have also been laid bare, making it less likely to occur again: In December 2014, the Senate torture report outlined some of the abuses that occurred following the 9/11 attacks, including forced rectal feeding, nonstop interrogation, a detainee forced to stand on broken legs, waterboarding, and a black site for detainees in Afghanistan called the Salt Pit.

Carle, whose views are colored by more than two decades of work in the CIA, and his own experiences in interrogating terrorists, has a different view of the lawand how governments tend to find legal loopholes in times of crisis, citing the Bush administrations use of torture and the Iran-Contra scandal as examples.

The law and our checks and balances are much more frail than most people imagine, he said.
For most job applicants, the question Have you ever been known by any other name? is not a stumbling block.

If you have a maiden nameor if you simply hated your first name and changed it from Jacqueline to Jessicaits unlikely that disclosing a previous alias on an application or a background check authorization form would adversely affect your chances of employment.

But for transgender applicants, that question can be a perilous catch-22: Unless your pre-transition name was gender-neutral, answering it honestly will out you. But leaving it blank could cause problems, too.

If you say that no prior names were used when thats actually not the case, that could leave you open to the charge of lying on the application, which could give your employer reason to fire you, Jillian Weiss, the executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, told The Daily Beast.

Transgender people experience poverty and unemployment at astronomical rates compared to the general population. Among the nearly 30,000 respondents to The National Center for Transgender Equalitys 2015 U.S. Trans Surveywhich was released last monthnearly one third reported living in poverty; 15 percent reported being unemployed; and 27 percent said they had been fired, denied a promotion, or not hired for a job based on their gender identity in the previous year. (For comparison, the current unemployment rate in the U.S. is less than 5 percent and the poverty rate is 13.5 percent.)

Its clear that acquiringand holding ontojobs is one of the most pressing problems faced by the already-imperiled transgender community. But between name changes, background checks, and social security records (PDF), its almost impossible to get through the job application process without revealing your transgender status and opening yourself up to discrimination.

It is very difficult in this day and age for a person to remain stealth, the Transgender Law Center notes in a fact sheet on employment rights. This is because employers may have access to databases tied to a persons social security number, which may contain information about previous name and gender information.

In an ideal world, of course, being transgender would be about as relevant to the job application process as having brown eyes. But in the current environment, accepting the unfortunate inevitabilityor at least, the likelihoodof being outed may be an important first step depending on ones individual situation.

Ashley Brundage, a transgender woman who is now an Inclusion Consultant for PNC Bank, interviewed at over 40 companies before accepting her current position. Over that time, she says, she learned how and when it made sense for her to self-identify as transgender during interviews. At first, she tried not disclosing at all. It didnt work. So she changed her strategy.

During later interviews, I began to self-identify [as transgender], which led to greater conversation around diversity and inclusion but no job offers, she told The Daily Beast. During my final interviews, I self-identified but also connected my desire to work at a particular company with the business case for diversity and inclusion.

There is a wealth of research to suggest that LGBT-supportive workplaces reap tangible rewards like higher job satisfaction and increased competitiveness in talent recruitment. But this means that companies that want the benefits of transgender talent need to be sensitive to the obstacles they face during the application and hiring process.

Susan Loynd, director of HR for Washington County Mental Health Services in Montpelier, Vermont, and an expert on the Society for Human Resource Managements Diversity and Inclusion panel, told The Daily Beast that human resources has a crucial role to play in protecting transgender applicants from unnecessary outing.

Weve had people whose name and alias are different genders, she said. We dont show those records to our hiring managerswe have that all here in HR.

If those internal practices are reinforced by an LGBT-friendly public image, Loynd says, then transgender applicants may be less nervous about applying.

My hope is that if we present ourselves in our community, at job fairs, in our ads, on our website, and on our Facebook page as a welcoming community, then we can maybe take folks anxiety down at least a couple of notches so that they have the self-confidence and the courage to pick up the phone and call us, she told The Daily Beast.

But not every company wears LGBT-friendliness on its sleeve, which leaves many transgender applicants in search of discreet ways to handle their application process.

For those who are currently navigating the minefield of a job hunt, there is no one-size fits all approach, Weiss says. Different levels of background check turn up different information. Some transgender people have changed the name on their educational degrees; others havent. Some transgender people have an employment history that predates gender transition; others dont.

Without offering legal advice, Weiss told The Daily Beast that leaving the previous name question blank is an option but an employer might still claim that qualifies as an omission of information.

It can be a difficult choice, she said, especially because hiring discrimination after revealing ones transgender status is difficult to prove.

Another option that Weiss described in a 2011 blog post entitled To Name or Not to Name? is to submit a letter separately to the HR department that indicates the fact of transition and requests that the information be kept confidential within the HR department as a matter of medical privacy.

For her part, Brundage says that even if transgender applicants choose to use a first initial or a preferred name on a resume as a confidence boost early in the process, they will still have to answer that catch-22 question at some point.

Eventually, naming will need to be fully addressed by the applicant, she said.
ROME  On Jan. 20, while much of the world was watching the 45th president of the United States place his hand on a Bible to take the oath of office, Pope Francis was kicking back with a couple of Spanish journalists to talk about the fate of the modern world, and his deep worries about it. And, yes, Donald Trump.

In a wide ranging interview with the Madrid-based daily El Pais, Franciss most memorable remarks drew a parallel between the rise of populism and the rise of the Nazis more than 80 years ago.

His focus was on Europe, where politicians like Frances Marine Le Pen and others on the far right are nudging closer to power.

Crisis provokes fear, said the pontiff. In my opinion, the most obvious example of populism in the European sense of the word is Germany in 1933 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 didnt 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.

On the matter of Donald Trump, about whom he was asked specifically, he suggested patience.

Almost a year ago he said in a pointed reference to then-candidate Trump that, a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.

But in the inauguration-day interview, the pope was more cautious: 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, Francis said. 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.

Asked about his greatest worry, the pontiff, who will celebrate four years at the helm of the Catholic Church in March, says he is most concerned about war. As for what worries me about the world, it is war. We already have a World War III in little bits and pieces, he says. 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.

Although the 80-year-old pontiff has millions of Twitter followers among his many multi-lingual Twitter profiles, he isnt really a fan of technology, especially if it gets in the way of human connections.

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, he said.

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.

He has no intention of slowing down any time soon. And his dream is to go to China, if only Beijing would invite him. China has always had that aura of mystery that is fascinating, he said. As soon as they send me an invitation. They know that. Besides, in China, the churches are packed. In China they can worship freely.

The journalists also led him into a conversation about his mortality and whether he would consider retiring, like Pope Benedict XVI before him. 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? they asked.

I want it to be Catholic. A Catholic conclave that chooses my successor, the pope joked.

And will you see it? they asked.

I dont 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, he said. And if God carries me away before that, I will see it from the afterlife. I hope it will not be from Hell
Donald Trump made grabbing pussies a meme, but abortion advocates fear Trumps Republican Party will go even further by trying to follow women into the private quarters of their doctors exam rooms.

Conservative lawmakers and anti-abortion activists are vowing to keep pressure up on Republican leaders to take their recent state level abortion battles to the marble halls of the U.S. Capitol.

Leaders of the advocacy group Faith 2 Action were at the Capitol this week where they helped five male lawmakers introduce the Heartbeat Bill, which has caught on in state legislatures but faces an uphill battle in Congress. It would ban abortions when a heartbeat is possible to detect, possibly as early as six weeks.

Its been introduced in 17 state legislatures and passed in threeArkansas, North Dakota and Ohio, where it was vetoed by moderate Republican Governor John Kasich. Conservatives are now hoping to use unified Republican control of Washington to wage similar battles in the nations capital.

The difference this year is that we finally have a president, I think, that will sign reasonable pro-life legislation, Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) told The Daily Beast. Whereas, under Mr. Obama we had the most pro-abortion president in the history of the Republic. He will go down in history as The Abortion President.

Last year, 19 different states passed more than 60 new restrictions on abortions, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights, which seems to be why abortions dropped to a low unseen since Roe v. Wade under President Obama. That wasnt lost on anti-abortion Republicans who are now hoping to offer similar bills in the newly minted 115th Congress.

The federal government has so much more profile that it catalyzes a debate that sometimes one state cannot do on a nationwide basis, Franks continued. On the first day of Congress he introduced legislation to restrict late-term abortions, which he had introduced in previous congressional sessions only to see state legislatures nationwide follow his lead.

I think the states are the laboratories of the nation and especially on this issue because it is so intense. I think it kind of works both ways, Franks said. But we learned from the strategy and from the debate that took place there.

Trump previously stated that abortion policy should be left up to the states, but now Republicans in Congress are hoping their party can tighten the nations abortion policies from the top down.

This Heartbeat Bill is not at odds with a pro-life president, Rep. Steve King told The Daily Beast. King, Hes the bills main cosponsor, and predicted it will effectively ban abortions, which is why he wants it advanced federally. I think its important that the states advance this legislation in every state that can. When that happens that builds a national consensus. Its important we advance this Heartbeat Bill as far as we can, as fast as we can here in Congress.

Some conservatives on Capitol Hill had been dubious of Trumps record on abortion issues but

Trump has already signaled hes on their side.

On his first full day in the Oval Office Trump, flanked by a male-only cast of advisors, signed an executive order cutting off American aid to any international organization that performs abortions, which is dubbed the Mexico City Policy.

Next week, Trump said hell announce his first Supreme Court nominee next week. Religious conservatives view that, coupled with the potential of him replacing a couple more justices in the next four years, as an opening to overturn Roe V. Wade, which they have viewed as unconstitutional since the landmark decision came down in 1973.

That is never going to be settled, Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas) told the Daily Beast. No matter what a Supreme Court ever does on that issue, I doubt that it will ever be settled.

Democrats are bracing for the far rights efforts to restrict abortions at the local and state level over the past few years to come to the nations capital.

Thats of concern. This is a dangerous precedent, Rep. Ami Bera (D-Cal.) told The Daily Beast. They didnt even wait a week to go down this road. We fully expect the House Republicansthey are who they are, but this is really dangerous where theyre headed right now.

The early focus on abortion has Democratsand even some Republicansscratching their heads because Trump won the election based on a populist economic message; not a hard-right social agenda, which he now seems to be advancing on the international stage and here at home.

I do not support defunding Planned Parenthood, which provides preventive care in birth control, family planning services to an awful lot of women across this country. And I dont think that ought to be the priority, but I dont set the agenda, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told The Daily Beast.

I dont think thats what people thought they were voting for. They thought they were voting for jobs and the economy, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Col.) told The Daily Beast. I think that women and men around the country, not just those who marched this Saturday, but people are going to be very concerned about these intrusions into their private health care decisions.

However, Democrats are vowing to give Republicans a bruising battle if Trump taps a far right jurist to the High Court, but Democratic leaders are stopping short of promising to block any GOP nominee outright.

Were not going to say there shouldnt be a hearing, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters on Tuesday. A hearing will bring out what this nominee is all about. Were not going to do what the Republicans did. But if the candidate is out of the mainstream, I can tell you, I will fight and my caucus will fight tooth and nail against them.
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 India Today Web Desk: Fans were waiting with bated breath to see the next glimpse of their very own 'desi girl' Priyanka Chopra in her Hollywood debut Baywatch, and their wait has come to an end. The new posters of Baywatch have been unveiled, and every character gets their own. Priyanka, who plays the baddie, looks smoking hot in her poster in a white dress with a slit.

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ALSO WATCH Baywatch trailer 2: Priyanka Chopra makes being bad look sexy

ALSO WATCH Baywatch teaser-trailer: Priyanka Chopra looks HOT as hell, but spot her if you can

A tongue-in-cheek take on the popular Game Of Thrones tagline "Winter is coming," the Baywatch poster assures us that "Summer is coming." Priyanka's big ticket to Hollywood is indeed as eagerly awaited as the new season of Game Of Thrones.

Be warned, Summer brings Victoria Leeds. #BeBaywatch Memorial Day Weekend A photo posted by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on Jan 24, 2017 at 5:18am PST

The film, which will see Priyanka play the antagonist Victoria Leeds, is scheduled for a summer release on May 26, 2017. Apart from our desi girl, Baywatch also stars Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Zac Efron and Alexandra Daddario.

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Moscow, Jan 25 (PTI) On the eve of Republic Day, Russian President Vladimir Putin today greeted President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying special and privileged strategic partnership with India is an invariable priority in Russias foreign policy.

"Over the decades of independent development, India has achieved impressive success in economic, social, scientific, technical and other spheres. Your country plays an important and constructive role in solving pressing issues of the regional and international agenda," Putin said in a congratulatory message.

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He said special and privileged strategic partnership with India is an invariable priority in Russias foreign policy.

"I would like to reiterate our readiness to further strengthening of mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation in various areas. In this respect, great importance is being attached to the implementation of the map of events dedicated to the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between our countries," he added.

"With all my heart, I wish you good health and success, and to the friendly people of India ? well-being and prosperity," he added. PTI ZH

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The Restaurant Monitor is a weekly listing of scores for restaurants inspected by the Brazos County Health Department.

Inspections scores are on a 100-point scale. Generally, scores below 80 might cause the department to schedule a follow-up visit. A score below 70 results in the suspension of an establishment's health permit.

The following inspections were conducted Jan. 12 through 19.

BRYAN

Bailey Concessions (Brazos County Expo), 5827 Leonard Road - 100; Big Top Learning Center, 908 Dansby St. - 100; Boots Beverage, 8301 N. Texas 6 - 100; Bright Beginnings Pre-School, 2525 E. Villa Maria Road - 100; Emmanuel Baptist Church, 408 E. 24th St. - 100; Nueva Vida, 2805 N. Texas Ave. - 100.

Ana Grocers LLC, 890 N. Earl Rudder Freeway - 96. Thermometers not provided/accurate/calibrated, non-food contact surfaces not clean, environmental contamination.

Bush's Chicken, 2701 E. Highway 21 - 96. Thermometers not provided/accurate/calibrated, invalid food establishment permit.

Cash Food Mart - Service, 200 W. Martin Luther King St. - 90. Nonfood contact surfaces not clean, food and nonfood contact surfaces improperly designed/used, hands not clean/gloves used improperly, thermometers not provided/accurate/calibrated, inadequate hand wash facilities.

Dollar General Store, 5735 E. Texas 21 - 92. Toilet facilities improperly constructed/maintained, invalid food establishment permit, inadequate hand-wash facilities, thermometers not provided/accurate/calibrated, evidence of insect/rodent contamination.

Huerta's Taqueria, 5300 N. Texas Ave. - 98. Food and nonfood contact surfaces improperly designed/used.

Molly's Magnificent Eatery and Desserts LLC, 201 S. Main St. - 97. Improper cold-hold temperature (41 F/45 F).

Popeye's, 2601 S. Texas 6 - 87. Improper cold hold temperature (41 F/45 F), physical facilities improperly installed/maintained/clean, manager not present/knowledge not demonstrated, unauthorized persons, food and non-food contact surfaces improperly designed/used, ware-washing facilities improperly installed/maintained/used, unapproved thawing method.

COLLEGE STATION

Nestle Toll House Cafe, 1500 Harvey Road - 99. Wiping cloths improperly stored/used.

Residence Inn by Marriott, 720 University Drive E. - 93. Manager not present/knowledge not demonstrated, food and ice obtained from unapproved source, required records unavailable.

Sonic Drive-In, 2900 S. Texas Ave. - 93. Food contact surfaces not clean and sanitized, unauthorized persons, physical facilities improperly installed/maintained, wiping cloths improperly stored/used.
The Permian Basin land rush is spreading to oil and gas pipelines.

Plains All American Pipeline said it will expand its crude oil gathering system in America's hottest shale play through a $1.2 billion purchase from Concho Resources Inc. and Frontier Midstream Solutions. The Alpha Crude Connector System is located in the oil-rich northern portion of the Permian's Delaware Basin and will serve to expand the volume that the company is able to move from West Texas to Corpus Christi and other delivery points, Plains said Tuesday.

The deal is the latest of many in the Permian, the largest and most prolific oil field in the U.S., as its crude-soaked layers of rock have delivered good returns for producers even during the market crash. On Monday, Targa Resources Corp. agreed to buy a set of pipelines in the region from Outrigger Energy for as much as $1.5 billion. The Permian's oil production has almost doubled since 2012, while the natural gas that comes along with the crude has also turned it into the second-richest gas play in the country.

"We expect aggregate crude oil production on the dedicated acreage to double over the next two to three years," Greg Armstrong, chairman and chief executive officer of Plains, said in the statement. "We believe overall Permian Basin crude oil volumes have the potential to grow as much as 50 percent or more during this same time period."

The deal is expected to close during the first half of 2017. Plains also announced the sale of unrelated assets, including a gas storage facility in Michigan and a pipeline segment in the Midwest, for $380 million.

BridgeTex Pipeline Company, in which Plains owns a 50 percent interest, said Monday it will expand its line from Colorado City, Texas, to Houston to help transport approximately 400,000 barrels a day.

Concho Resources sees net cash proceeds of about $800 million from the sale. The driller plans to use the proceeds to "redeploy capital into our drilling program, fund future acquisitions and reduce long-term debt," Tim Leach, Concho's chairman, CEO and president, said in a statement.

Moody's placed Plains All American's Baa3 rating under review for downgrade after the deal was announced. The $1.2 billion acquisition will be significantly funded by debt initially, resulting in continued high leverage, according to Moody's. Fitch Ratings views the acquisition as neutral, maintaining a BBB rating with a negative outlook.

Jefferies Group and Norton Rose Fulbright advised Plains All American on the deal. Simmons & Co., a division of Piper Jaffray Cos, and Vinson & Elkins advised the sellers.

Plains fell 16 cents or 0.5 percent percent to $31.99 at 10:32 a.m. in New York. Concho Resources rose as much as 4 percent to its highest since Dec. 12.
A local politician, Farid Khan Pathan, died in the commotion that ensued at Vadodara station when Shah Rukh Khan arrived to promote Raees.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Suffocation due to crowd led to the death of a social activist who collapsed during Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's train stopover at Vadodara railway station, confirmed the deceased's family members, who also said they have "nothing against" the actor.

Farid Khan Pathan, a resident of Hatikhana area of Vadodara, was at the railway station with his wife and daughter, when Shah Rukh was present there for the promotional tour for his film Raees.

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ALSO READ | Raees By Rail: Shah Rukh Khan reaches Delhi to heavy security and shouting fans

Pathan fell unconscious and upon being rushed to a hospital, was declared dead.

Journalist Samina Shaikh, niece of the deceased, was travelling with the Raees team at the time.

In a statement issued on behalf of the film's team, Samina said: "It's unfortunate that my uncle lost his life due to suffocation in the crowd as he was a heart patient."

"However, Shah Rukh Khan and his team made sure that my mother and I reach safely to my uncle's funeral. We got down at Ratlam and Shah Rukh's team arranged a car for us to Vadodara to attend my uncle's burial."

Dear certain media ppl,blowing @iamsrk 's rail trip out of proportion won't bring back my Uncle.It's an unfortunate incident,don't blame him Samina Shaikh (@saminaUFshaikh) January 24, 2017

The scribe also said Shah Rukh also ensured arrangements were made for their other relatives to fly in from Mumbai to Vadodara to attend her uncle's last rites.

The Quint quotes the deceased's mother also thanking SRK for his help. She said, "We have nothing against Shah Rukh Khan as he is not at fault. He is also like my son, I would like to thank him for making last moment arrangements for our family to be a part of my son's funeral. The incident has nothing to do with SRK's Raees promotional event, my son fell prey to the crowd and succumbed to death due to suffocation. All we want is prayers from everyone for my son."

While Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya and Manoj Tiwari slammed Shah Rukh for the incident and urged him to compensate the family, the deceased's mother said in the statement: "We have nothing against Shah Rukh Khan as he is not at fault."

"He is also like my son... The incident has nothing to do with the Raees promotional event. My son fell prey to the crowd and succumbed to death due to suffocation. All we want is prayers from everyone for my son."

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A huge crowd had thronged Vadodara railway station to see Shah Rukh on Monday night as he was travelling to Delhi on August Kranti Rajdhani Express from Mumbai to promote his film.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Tuesday ordered a probe into Pathan's death.

(With inputs)

ALSO WATCH | Raees: SRK's film promotion turns tragic, fan dies at Vadodara station

--- ENDS ---
But with the session underway, the schools have instead found themselves fighting for an arcane budgeting trick  one that could affect up to $1 billion worth of appropriations for higher education items such as museums, research projects and new academic programs. The House has signaled plans to keep the trick essentially in place. The Senate's first crack at the state budget almost doesn't use it at all.

It's unlikely that $1 billion will be missing when the two chambers reconcile the proposals months from now. But how the issue is settled could impact millions of dollars that usually goes to state universities.

Hearings on the budget in the Senate began this week. When university leaders testify, they are planning to urge the senators to keep the tactic.

The trick is known as a special item, and in higher education its a way for lawmakers to insert money for particular university programs into the state budget outside the standard appropriations formulas. In 2015, the Legislature allocated 362 special items worth a combined $1.1 billion.

But when the House and Senate filed their first versions of the proposed state budget for 2018-19, there was a huge disparity. The House kept special items for universities at about the same level. The Senate included almost none.

Many university officials were surprised by the Senates first crack. They say their schools could lose serious money if the Senate budget holds up. Thats especially true for newer, growing schools, which depend heavily on the items.

If those [special items] are not reinstated, we will have real difficulty keeping our doors open, said Emily Cutrer, president of Texas A&M University  Texarkana.

But one key Senate leader says the schools shouldnt panic. The budget is a work in progress, and months of negotiations between the House and Senate will happen before the final spending plan is produced. Special items are one of the key differences between the two chambers' plans. Nonetheless, it's likely that some funds will be added in even before the Senate finishes its version of the budget.

There will be some money in there going forward, said Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee. The best way to do it is to zero it out and go back and look at [each item] individually.

But special items are going to be a much smaller part of the budget going forward, he said.

Special items have been targeted specifically because they fall outside the standard appropriations methods. Most state money for higher education is disbursed through a series of formulas, the biggest of which takes into account the number of students at each school and the subjects that those students are studying.

The special items go toward a specific purpose outside those formulas. Those purposes can vary widely. The smallest higher education special item in the current budget is $31,500 to Sul Ross State University to study the Chihuahuan Desert. The biggest item is more than $61 million to fund the new medical school at the University of Texas  Rio Grande Valley.

The medical school is an example of an expense that the Senate might support. State leaders across the political spectrum pushed for such a school to bring future doctors to a region that needs them. But UT-RGV wouldnt have been able to pay for the school under the current funding formulas, which allocate money based on the number of students in the semesters before the budget goes into effect. The special item provided startup money.

But a critic might argue that the items can sometimes resemble pork-barrel spending  money that goes to support museums or research projects in a powerful legislator's district. And the special items often do more than get a program off the ground. Sometimes, they stay on the books for decades.

The Legislature has used the items to support a bureau of business research at the University of Texas at Austin since 1926, an art museum at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi since 1996 and a law enforcement management institute at Sam Houston State University since 1993. The oldest special item  the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin  dates back to 1909.

Once a special item goes into one budget, it becomes part of the base budget going forward, Seliger said.

In some cases, funding to start a program keeps going to a university well after that program is established. As a result, the program receives formula funding and special item funding. That might need to be fixed, Seliger said.

We are trying to rationalize the system, he said. And the fact is that the requests for them are huge and very expensive.

But canceling a special item means sending less money to a university. And seeing so many taken out of the preliminary budget was alarming for administrators, especially new ones that are using them to grow. At A&M-Texarkana, special items make up more than 60 percent of the universitys state appropriations  not counting debt service.

There are a few sleepless nights, said Cutrer, describing her feelings since seeing the Senate budget. But I also have a pretty positive attitude about the folks we work with in Austin. And I am hopeful that when they understand our story they will help us succeed.

Many programs might not be able to survive without special item funding. Some don't necessarily line up with the core mission of the universities that host them or have relied on direct state funding for years. Cutting off that money might mean universities would have to take cash away from another program to keep them alive.

For example, the state has provided money for more than three decades to four Texas colleges and universities that operate Small Business Development Centers, which help businesses such as hair salons, food trucks and engineering firms start up and maximize their profits. If they lose their special funding, their universities might not be willing to reallocate their own money to keep them going.

But cutting those programs because of the way they are funded would be a bad decision for the state, said Mike Young, director of the development center at the University of Houston. The four centers offer free advising and inexpensive training programs for small companies. The work has created thousands of jobs and millions of dollars' worth of new taxes, he said.

We want Texas to feel like it gets a great return on its investment on this program, he said.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M Corpus Christi and the University of Houston have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.
Addressing the nation on Republic Day eve, President Pranab Mukherjee stressed that time has come for electoral reforms in the country and urged the political parties to bury their differences and work together for development of the country.

By India Today Web Desk: President Pranab Mukherjee addressed the nation on the eve of 68th Republic Day today. In what was his last address to the nation as the President, Pranab Mukherjee backed the Narendra Modi government's demonetisation move, saying cashless economy will ultimately lead to more transparent economy.

President Pranab Mukherjee stressed that time has come for electoral reforms in the country and urged the political parties to bury their differences and work together for development of the country. FULL TEXT

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TOP THINGS PRESIDENT PRANAB SAID:

Demonetisation, while immobilizing black money may have led to temporary slowdown of economic activity. As more and more transactions become cashless, it will improve the transparency of the economy. Our economy has been performing well despite the challenging global economic conditions. Indian democracy has been an oasis of stability in the region troubled by unrest. We have to work harder to keep at bay dark forces of terrorism; these forces have to be dealt with firmly and decisively. We have to work harder because our pluralistic culture and tolerance are still being put to test by vested interests. We have to work harder to provide safety and security to our women and children. Our legislatures lose sessions to disruptions when they should be debating and legislating on issues of importance. Gandhiji's mission to wipe every tear from every eye still remains unfulfilled. The time is also ripe for a constructive debate on electoral reforms. It is for the Election Commission to take this exercise forward in consultation with political parties.

ALSO READ:

Cashless transactions will improve transparency in economy: President Pranab Mukherjee

Burj Khalifa to light up in Tricolour to celebrate India's Republic Day

WATCH VIDEO:

President Mukherjee backs demonetisatoin, favours debate on electoral reforms in Republic Day address

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Meanwhile conservationists are concerned about its impacts to biodiversity: dicamba drift threatens plants that provide nectar for pollinators and habitat for animals, and it is frequently detected in surface waters, says Earthjustice attorney Paul Achitoff:

"Monsanto's Roundup Ready crops created an environmental disaster by causing infestation of tens of millions of acres of farmland with herbicide-resistant weeds and spurring an enormous increase in pesticide use. Planting more GE crops and dousing them with more noxious chemicals isn't the answer. The Environmental Protection Agency should be protecting health and the environment, not Monsanto's profits."

Farmers in 10 states have already reported that much more limited dicamba spraying associated with Monsanto's new dicamba-resistant crops has caused widespread damage to thousands of acres of their crops. And last fall, a dicamba drift dispute between an Arkansas and a Missouri farmer even resulted in one farmer being shot to death.

"Monsanto's dicamba-resistant crop system will drive up sales of this outdated pesticide, spur more superweeds and damage vulnerable crops", said Dr Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, senior scientist with Pesticides Action Network.

"Monsanto's solution is expensive, inadequate, and reckless. If Trump's administration wants to serve farmers, it will invest in healthy, long-lasting solutions to farmers' needs, not pander to corporate greed."

On the way: another generation of superweeds

The huge increase in dicamba spraying will trigger an outbreak of dicamba resistance in weeds, just as massive use of Roundup on first generation GE crops created an epidemic of weeds immune to glyphosate.

While Monsanto spins its new dicamba crops as a fix to the current weed resistance problems its own Roundup Ready crop system caused, many scientists, and even the US Department of Agriculture, predict the opposite: the rapid emergence of more superweeds, resistant to both herbicides.

The evidence on the ground already indicates EPA's weak weed resistance 'management plan' will make the problem even worse, both because it lacks limits on dicamba use, and because it primarily relies on Monsanto for its implementation and enforcement.

Margot McMillen, NFFC board representative and Missouri organic farmer commented: "The whole system of genetic engineering threatens plant and animal health. Because of cross-pollination, the original non-GMO and wild weed genomes are fast disappearing, while the fight against weeds requires more and more potent chemicals.

"These new crops and their unintended consequences were predictable and avoidable, but the safe and healthy alternative offered by sustainable and organic agriculture has been ignored."

Despite admitting significant risks to dozens of endangered species, the EPA still refused to consult with the expert federal agency in charge of endangered species, the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Once again the EPA is allowing staggering increases in pesticide use that will undoubtedly harm our nation's most imperiled plants and animals", said Nathan Donley, a scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity. "Iconic species like endangered whooping cranes are known to visit soybean fields, and now they'd be exposed to this toxic herbicide at levels they've never seen before."

The plaintiff organizations bringing the lawsuit are National Family Farm Coalition, Pesticide Action Network, Center for Food Safety, and Center for Biological Diversity, represented jointly by legal counsel from Earthjustice and Center for Food Safety.

Principal source: Center for Food Safety.
As scholars specializing in study of the Holocaust, we strongly object to the way President Donald Trumps nominee to be US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has distorted and misused events during that tragic period in order to advance his own political goals. In approaching the Holocaust, we believe that one must show scrupulous respect for the facts as well as respect for the victims in all their humanity. We must also acknowledge the unique nature of the tragedy we are describing. To do otherwise is to dilute the moral and historical significance of this subject in human history. We are especially troubled that Mr. Friedman has repeatedly compared fellow members of the Jewish community whose views on Israel differ from his own to kapos or even worse than kapos. The historical record shows that kapos were Jews whom the Nazis forced, at pain of death, to serve them in the concentration and extermination camps. These Jews faced terrible dilemmas, but ultimately were made into unwilling tools of Nazi brutality. To brand ones political opponents, members of ones own community, as kapos, merely for engaging in legitimate debate, is historically indefensible and is a deeply disturbing example of the abuse of the Holocaust and its victims for present political gain. Mr. Friedman also trivialized the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust in an effort to discredit women who accused Donald Trump of sexual assault. At that time, he declared, While the revelation of Mr. Trumps demeaning comments caught on tape some 11 years ago brought him, as one would expect, widespread negative attention, The New York Times ran with the story with all the journalistic integrity of the worst gossip rag. If only the Times had reported on the Nazi death camps with the same fervor as its failed last-minute attempt to conjure up alleged victims of Donald Trump, imagine how many lives could have been saved. Reporting on the Holocaust as it occurred is a complex historical question Friedman oversimplified for the sake of politically expediency. Coverage of the serious allegations against President Trump is wholly unrelated to the Holocaust. We reject the use of the Holocaust to reinforce contemporary political messages and view this tactic as grossly trivializing the historical reality of the death and concentration camps. These examples show a callous disregard for history and for the suffering of the victims of Nazism. As such, they are unbefitting of one who would become a diplomatic representative of the United States and call into serious question his capacity to serve the United States honorably and successfully in this role. We hope that you will keep Mr. Friedmans disrespectful and politically cynical use of the Holocaust in mind as you consider his nomination to serve as our ambassador to Israel. ** All signatories are signing as individual scholars and do not necessarily represent the views of their institutions.
The rebel groups also imposed an 18-hour general strike on Republic Day. Police commandos, besides boosting patrolling, have been carried out sudden combing and search operations in various parts of the capital since the last two weeks.

By Manogya Loiwal : Security was increased in Manipur ahead of Republic Day in view of a boycott call issued by United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFW), Manipur's Coordination Committee (CorCom), Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) and Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) in the whole of the northeast.

The rebel groups also imposed an 18-hour general strike on Republic Day. Police commandos, besides boosting patrolling, have been carried out sudden combing and search operations in various parts of the capital since the last two weeks.

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On the other hand, police personnel have also conducted frisking and checking at crucial junctions and cut off points of Imphal city and its surrounding areas. Besides police, a large number of Manipur Rifles (MR) and India Reserve Battalion (IRB) personnel have also been deployed in the city.

All zonal police officers have been asked to intensify patrolling in their respective areas before and after the Republic Day's march past. Imphal city houses the Raj Bhawan, chief minister's bungalow, headquarters of all state government departments and branch office of government units, official residences of ministers, legislators, assembly complex and secretariat.

Notably, the Raj Bhavan and chief minister's bungalow had come under bomb attacks by the rebels in the past . A few days ago, state and central forces seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition from various places. Security has also been kept on high alert in all district headquarters.

Army chief General Bipin Rawat also reviewed the security situation in Manipur, an army spokesperson said.

Gen Rawat on Tuesday made his first visit to the Eastern Command after taking charge and visited Tawang as well as the forward areas of Arunachal Pradesh.

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When Glenna Moore was in Roanoke Saturday waiting for the Womens March on Roanoke to begin, she received a call from her husband, Larry.

He said, Do you realize how big this is? He was watching TV. He said, You wont believe the number of women who are in DC; not only that, the number of women throughout the world. I said, Gosh, wouldnt it be nice if you were here?

Not long after that phone call, her husband brought the men of the family to join her and the Moore women.

Only her son Sean, who was in Radford, missed it. Their other two sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren all were there: Darnell and Tressa Moore with Makenzi and Kennedy, and Brian and Shannon Moore with Brianna, Moriah and Braxton.

Sean was there in spirit, though  his family kept him updated through text messages.

It was so exciting, said Moore, who lives in Rocky Mount. I dont have the words. It was just exciting, just plain exciting.

While many of the marchers carried signs, Moores was simple. On white posterboard, it read Franklin County in large black letters.

She said that a clerk at an office supply store helped her make the sign. She was going to draw the letters with markers, but the clerk, who became interested, helped her make large, even letters by computer.

The signs were varied, all types of signs with all types of phrases, Moore said. Some, in another setting  as a retired teacher  I would sort of frown upon because theyre a little bit close to risque, but I said to myself, Those are the words that Donald Trump used so heck, its appropriate for some of those signs to be here. Im 65  some of the younger ladies went a little out with their signs.

Before the event began, organizers gave us some of the rules, Moore said: Stay on the sidewalk. Be considerate of other pedestrians and traffic.

The speeches at the event were all positive, Moore said. Some of the phrasing caught my attention.

As they marched through downtown, drivers honked their horns, most in approval.  Folks (in the cars) were cheering. Business people stepped out of their shops and gave the thumbs-up sign.

They marched for about an hour, Moore said. When we finished, it looked as if there were still thousands were still marching.

Deborah Montgomery of Wirtz said she was impressed by the number of people, and the diversity of them, not just gender but age.

Despite the differences in everyones looks, Montgomery said, the people we did end up talking to and interacted with were so likeminded, that we werent there to protest the inauguration or anything like that. We were just there to support each other and make our voice heard on issues that were important to us.

Montgomery, who is a woman of color from Jamaica, said she had many reasons to join the march. She is concerned about rising health care costs and accessibility of coverage. She is worried about the countrys stance on immigration and international relations.

She also went to show support for women, immigrants, religion and the diversity of it and the LGBT community, because I believe that everyone has the same rights and they should be equal. I felt that I needed to be in a sea of voices. The more voices we have, then people will pay attention to us.

She added, I really expected it to be every woman showing up with her own agenda  you could tell from the signs there were different agendas, but they really had to do with keeping our country safe and caring and protecting womens rights.

Linda Quinn of Union Hall, who attended the march with her husband, Dale, said, I felt supported as a woman and as someone who is willing to stand up and fight for democracy. I felt like other people shared my concerns.

Some of the directions things are going right now may end up starting problems for some people and immigrants on their rights. Im a firm believer that for democracy to work, everybody needs to participate and be involved.

Quinn said she remembers marching back in the 70s for some of the things that are in (question) now. Its good to see the young people (at the march), because its their future.

Overall, Montgomery said, she appreciated feeling like a part of something. I felt affirmation, that there were so many other people who felt the same way I did. Out here, you dont get that kind of affirmation too much.
DAVIS Carl Henry Carl Henry Davis, 49, of Rocky Mount, passed away on Wednesday, January 18, 2017 at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Born on November 5, 1968, he was the son of JoAnne Broughman and the late Earl Foran. In addition to his mother, Carl is survived by his brother, Venton (Christina) Davis; sisters, Phyllis (Jeff) Roark and Sheila (Garth) Harris; a very special aunt, Barbara Dudley; three nieces and two nephews whom he adored; numerous aunts, uncles and cousins that he spent time with. Carl attended Fieldale-Collinsville and Franklin County High School. He continued his education as a craftsman and a self-employed technician in cable and fibre optics. Carl was free-spirit that never met a stranger. He loved his family and friends. He enjoyed fishing and hunting. A private memorial service will be held at Stone Memorial Christian Church with Pastor Tim Wood officiating. Arrangements are by Community Funeral Services, Ridgeway To express condolences on line, please visit www.communityfuneralservices.com
VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP VISIT THE SHOP
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 ...
By Srijani Ganguly/Mail Today: Growing up, what were your dreams and aspirations?

While I was growing up, I wanted to be the Prime Minister of India. As I grew up, the same aspiration manifested into trying to be an independent professional creating jobs for the unemployed and underprivileged of the country. I take pride in saying that I have created employment opportunities for over 200 beauty experts.

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Also read: This male beauty vlogger just became a makeup giant's new face

Did you face any hurdles being a woman entrepreneur?

The hurdles I faced while establishing BigStylist are mostly hurdles I would face irrespective of my gender. Hiring a good-quality team, rolling-out operations, getting customers to repose faith in us and raising funds are all challenges that any entrepreneur should expect to face, notwithstanding gender and idea. However, the larger society in India is still not geared to see and accept a young woman lead a company as I would ideally want. Hence, it becomes challenging at times to make people (vendors, prospective employees, ex-employees) believe that yes, the decision I take is in fact the final decision. Some go to the point of actually declaring, ?"No, no, you cannot be the owner."?

Any advice for those aspiring to be entrepreneurs?

Learn as much as you can about the industry you operate in. Become an expert in that industry. Obviously, there are plenty of resources to learn from, but also try to find a mentor who directly answers your questions. A common mistake I see many start-up founders making is that they aren't solving a real problem. You should try to solve a real problem that people have . replace their need with your product. Also make sure you feed your mind with the things that you're fond of so that your personal life stays as enriched as your professional life. Do not let the latter consume your personal life. - As told to Srijani Ganguly

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How to watch, stream and listen to Iowa football's game against Purdue
"The court has scheduled the hearing in the case for January 27. All six accused, including Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Tabu and Sonali Bendre will have to appear before the court on that date," said Salman's lawyer, Hastimal Saraswat.

By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: Jodhpur court today posted the next hearing in the Salman Khan's blackbuck case for January 27.

Earlier, actor Salman Khan along with Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Tabu and Sonali Bendre were scheduled to make an appearance before the court to give their statements. However, the counsels for these actors petitioned before the court, citing law and order situation, to ask for exemption for their clients from appearing today.

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The counsels maintained that given the heightened security situation in the city, the police was not in a position to make proper arrangements for the security.

Also read: Blackbuck poaching case: Salman Khan to appear before Jodhpur court today

Salman's lawyer, Hastimal Saraswat, mentioned, "The court has scheduled the hearing in the case for January 27. All six accused, including Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Tabu and Sonali Bendre will have to appear before the court on that date."

Police in Jodhpur has been busy making preparations for the Republic Day celebrations scheduled for tomorrow. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Governor Kalyan Singh will be a part of the function on Thursday in Jodhpur.

Apparently, arrangements were made to fly the actors from Mumbai to Jodhpur, in case the petition seeking exemption was not approved.

Also read: Salman Khan did not kill blackbuck, Twitter explodes with jokes

The six accused have to make their statements in the 1998 case. The prosecution's witnesses have already given their statements.

Salman Khan had been accused of killing two blackbucks in Kankani area in 1998. Actors Saif, Neelam, Tabu and Sonali were said to be with him at the time of the alleged killings. Salman Khan has already been acquitted in the Arms Act case and two separate cases of Chinkara killings.

Also read: Salman Khan reaches Jodhpur for sessions court verdict on Arms Act case

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When Jimmy Gonzalez was the chief animal control officer for Bridgeport, he witnessed the seemingly endless problems associated with the areas surplus of unwanted dogs and cats.

Bridgeport has the largest animal shelter in Connecticut, and people were bringing in tons and tons of animals, he recalled. But I found out it was really just a revolving door. Animals were coming in and hopefully they were going out. But a lot of them were getting euthanized.

Gonzalez had hoped that local animal rescue groups would alleviate the overcrowding at the shelter, but he learned that many of them offered good intentions rather than solid solutions.

You have to understand that most of them are out of their basement, most of them dont have budgets and most of them will take an animal that is really not adoptable, he added. It was just not working.

Gonzalez teamed with Melissa Kuian, an animal adoption coordinator at the shelter, in an effort to provide a difference. In 2008, they created the nonprofit A Hand for a Paw, which sought to provide mobile humane resources to underserved Bridgeport area neighborhoods.

While we were at the shelter, people would come in and say, Oh, I have to get rid of my animal, Kuian said. And we would ask why, and they would say, We couldnt afford the food or the spaying/neutering and vaccines.

Responding to that feedback, Gonzalez and Kuians nonprofit helped families obtain affordable vaccines, microchipping and professional assistance for their four-legged companions. They also set up a pet food pantry. But financing the nonprofit required fundraising outreach, and the duo quickly found that animal advocacy T-shirts were popular sale items. But supply costs limited revenue.

When we were selling T-shirts and we would run out of medium or large, we would call the supplier company and say that we need to get a couple of mediums or larges, Gonzalez said. And we were told that we would have to order a minimum of 100. The problem is that you never made that much money because youd have to pay the (T-shirt) company.

In 2010, using $10,000 in savings, Gonzalez and Kuian purchased equipment to print their own T-shirt designs. Visiting a manufacturer in New Jersey, they soon realized their planned investment would not be nearly enough to cover the cost of equipment needed for their enterprise.

We were ready to walk out, said Gonzalez, when a gentleman walked in who purchased an entire set just recently, but he got a contract with the military and he was shifting over to automated machines, so he traded in what he had. The manufacturers salesman offered to sell the trade-ins to the Bridgeport partners for $7,000. So, we lucked out, Gonzalez said.

Using his graphic design skills, Gonzalez created a line of animal advocacy T-shirts  including a Got Pits? design to celebrate the much-maligned pit bulls  and started selling them in dog grooming salons, tattoo parlors and at animal adoption events.

By 2015, Gonzalez and Kuian left their jobs at the Bridgeport shelter and set up Vox Eorum  Latin for their voice  to concentrate full time on the creation of animal advocacy merchandise that also includes hoodies, tote bags and stickers.

We decided to start doing it for other companies, Kuian said. We knew a lot of other rescue groups and they were like, Oh, we like those shirts.

While running Vox Eorum, a for-profit enterprise, Gonzalez and Kuian in early 2016 launched BYOB  Build Your Own Brand. The business initially focused on creating merchandise for other area rescue groups. The partners were surprised to find that some potential clients needed significant help in other areas of operation besides fundraising items.

It wasnt just apparel, Gonzalez said. People were coming in saying they were nonprofit but they were not 401(c)3 (registered as a nonprofit) and they did not have a logo for their organization. A lot of people dont know how to get a logo or the www-dot-com registration. These rescuers or rehabbers or whatever they are, they are good at what they do and thats all they have time to do.

Last spring, Kuians mother opened a Stratford retail store, Animal Artisans, that has become the central location for the sale of merchandise from Vox Eorum, rescue groups working with BYOB and independent animal-focused artists. And after listening to a friends guest appearance on a local comedy podcast, Gonzalez and Kuian created their own online talk show with Vox Eorum Radio.

Since launching their merchandise production business, Gonzalez and Kuian have sold 16,000 items, they said. But their schedule required them to step down from the leadership role at A Hand for a Paw, which they passed to a new executive team.

Their next project together took shape last fall when Gonzalez proposed marriage to Kuian. For now, a wedding will wait while the engaged couple focuses on the work that engages them.

Phil Hall writes for the Fairfield County Business Journal. For more, go to www.westfaironline.com
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BETHEL  A bill proposing to bring back tolls to Connecticut and pending cuts to municipalities were the main areas of consternation among state lawmakers at the annual Bethel Chamber of Commerce Legislative Breakfast held Wednesday at the Bethel Fire Station.

My main crusade is to stop it, period, state Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, told a crowd of about 40 people. (Adding tolls) is the wrong thing to do.

Boucher said the state would lose federal funding for highways if tolls are approved and local roads would become more congested. Connecticut residents, she said, would be the most impacted and they are already taxed double on gasoline purchases. Congestion pricing, or charging motorists more during peak travel times, is akin to a tax on the working class, she said.

Those are the people who have to get to work or else theyll be fired, Boucher said. So who gets taxed the most? The people who can least afford it.

State Rep. Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, also vowed to fight tolls. He said the main proponent of tolls lives in the middle of the state while the tolls are proposed for the borders, including I-84 in Danbury.

State Rep. Antonio Guerrera from Rocky Hill has proposed Bill 6058 to establish electronic tolls on Connecticuts highways.

Harding said he will push for more autonomy for state municipalities, including fewer state mandates and cuts to funding.

I feel better about people in Bethel making decisions for the people of Bethel, rather than people in Hartford making decisions for the people of Bethel, he said. When municipal aid is cut, that amounts to a tax increase because thats where the money has to come from.

Bethel First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker, a Democrat, also expressed concern about cuts to municipalities.

The state cant balance its problems by passing them down to the towns. Thats a problem, Knickerbocker said. If you pull funding from towns  which already are at the back of the line for funding  it will mean fewer services we can offer. Its something every CEO of a municipality in the state is deeply concerned about.

Knickerbocker added that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Benjamin Barnes, secretary of Office of Policy and Management, have hinted at dipping into towns fund balances, or uncommitted funds, another idea Knickerbocker opposes.

Harding said the state should be looking at ways to save money instead of creating new revenue streams.

You talk about job growth and business environment but that all starts with fiscal responsibility, he said. If we can get that under control we can move on to a more robust economy.

cbosak@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3338
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Before work most mornings, and often before sunrise, local Morgan Stanley wealth adviser Jeffrey Castle heads downtown to the Greenwich YMCA. A few years ago, outdated windows around the YMCA campus were drafty and runners such as Castle noticed the chilly breeze while working out on the treadmills or indoor track.

Due to a state tax credit program, Castle was able to foster a partnership between his employer and the Greenwich YMCA, of which he is also a board member, to replace the windows.

For the last three years, Morgan Stanley has donated more than $100,000 annually to cover the costs of the YMCA replacing windows and upgrade to more energy-efficient lighting.

Because of the updates, the YMCA saved around $100,000 on electricity last year, according to Elaine Grant, the YMCAs director of development.

The savings will benefit members by funding a variety of programs, YMCA President Bob DeAngelo said. This is an example of a great board member, a great company willing to help and a great community project, DeAngelo said. Instead of paying money to the utility company, its going toward programs.

In total, Morgan Stanley has backed more than $335,000 worth of repairs to date, and the partnership will likely continue.

We couldnt do these projects without them, Grant said. Were happy we have a corporate partner willing to do it.

The state program is called the Connecticut Neighborhood Assistance Act Tax Credit Program, through which businesses in the state are eligible to recoup up to 100 percent of donations to nonprofits when they fund energy conservation projects.

To get the process started, Grant said, the town had to approve the YMCAs energy-saving plans. Then the YMCA had to take its project and corporate partner, Morgan Stanley, to the state for approval.

Its an intricate process for both parties with a tight timeline, she said, but its worked out well.

The partnership began a few years ago when a YMCA board member asked Castle if his company would be willing to participate in the state program. After doing some digging and asking around at Morgan Stanley, Castle convinced his company to sign on and its been happy with the results, he said.

Now that Castle has been on the YMCA board for a few years and sees its budget, he said hes even happier his employer has been able to help.

Now I see how much the YMCA needs, and I dont know what it would do if it werent for programs like this, he said.
Up until 2011, Valencia Luncheria in Norwalk was a "20-seat hole in the wall," as described by owner Micheal Young. Now, it's in a bigger location and with 692 reviews and four stars as of January 25, it is the restaurant with the most Yelp reviews in southwestern Connecticut.

Young said he believes this is because his customers are "foodies" who like to participate in discussion and reviews.
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We dont know much about Peruvian food, I said to our waiter. Thats too bad, Daniel said, suggesting that wed been missing out. He gave us a brief rundown of traditional Peruvian food and some specific suggestions from the menu at Fiesta Limena to start our exploration. A friend from Peru had suggested Fiesta Limena at 330 Connecticut Ave. (across from Best Buy) with the recommendation, Its the closest thing to food from home.

Peru, on the Pacific coast of South America, is divided by the spine of the Andes mountains into three regions, each with distinctive food traditions: the narrow, arid strip along the Pacific ocean; the steep and lofty Andes Mountains including the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu; and the rain forest of the Amazon basin to the east.

Like all new-world countries, the culture and food have been shaped by waves of colonization and immigration that folded native cooking and local ingredients into imported dishes for a unique and rich cuisine. In Peru, the influences came across the Pacific from Asia as well as across the Atlantic from Europe for a truly international cuisine.

Our dinner began with a basket of fresh baked bread and Aji Amarillo pepper sauce, a bright-yellow ubiquitous Peruvian condiment. Following Daniels advice, we ordered Papa a la Huancaina  cold boiled potatoes in a peppery cheese sauce garnished with a hard boiled egg and a black olive. Potatoes, a staple in Peru, are indigenous plants that the Spaniards exported to Europe. Peruvian-born manager, Jean Pierre Dominguez, told us that there are 20,000 varieties grown in Peru.

Unlike Chile just to the south, theres not a big wine industry in Peru, but there is, of course, beer. I ordered a refreshing Cristal lager. Marsha enjoyed a delicious Pisco Sour, made with Pisco, the popular Peruvian brandy, and lime juice.

Ceviche, seafood marinated in lime juice and spices, is probably the best known Peruvian dish. The cold-water nutrient-rich Peruvian (Humboldt) current brushes the coast bringing with it a bounty of seafood. Shrimp, scallops, squid, octopus, fin fish and even clams all appear in ceviche. Marinated with limes, peppers, cilantro and onions, the seafood is not actually cooked, but the citric acid marinade has the same effect on the protein. Cold boiled sweet potato, yucca, and large kernels of Peruvian Inca corn traditionally accompany ceviche.

Chaufa is a popular fried rice dish from Perus Pacific Rim heritage. Flavored with soy, peppers, onion, and local spices, it can be made with chicken, beef, pork, or shrimp, and egg. I cant get enough!

With a larger group we also visited Mochica, a new Peruvian restaurant at 75 Main St. (former Nicholas Roberts). We repeated our Fiesta Limena order for the sake of a very favorable comparison.

But with a larger group the order expanded to include some new dishes, too. Thanks to my friendly companions, I got a taste of everything. Popular Lomo Saltado, strips of steak sauteed with onions, peppers, tomatoes, and Peruvian seasonings was very tasty. Bistek a lo Pobre had a nice contrast between the grilled steak, rich sunnyside eggs, and sweet fried plantains. Tallarin Saltado de Carne was another nod to the far east with lo mein style noodles as the base for sauteed steak and peppers.

Daniel made sure we finished our dinner at Fiesta Limena with Alfajores - sandwich cookies filled with dulce de leche that are popular across South America. The Peruvian version is made with thin, delicate, crisp, very short, irresistible cookies, dusted with powdered sugar. Betcha cant eat just one!

Both restaurants are decorated with bright colors and Peruvian art. Spirited Peruvian panpipe music continues the theme The bustling dining room at Fiesta Limena is lined with comfortable booths, while Mochica is more sleek and modern. Both places do an active take-out business.

Renzo, another friend from Peru, recommended Ceviche Peruvian Cuisine at 91 North Main St. in SoNo as very authentic. There are two other Peruvian kitchens in Norwalk that I havent had a chance to visit yet: La Bamba at 21 North Main, and Aromas at 225 Main Ave. in the Walgreens Plaza.

I was surprised to to count five Peruvian restaurants in Norwalk. Undoubtedly supported by the local Peruvian community, they clearly have a broader reach, too. The modest prices, generous portions, and delicious world cuisine are a big draw. Im eager to make up for lost time by going back to delve deeper into their extensive menus.

Frank Whitmans Not Bread Alone column runs every Thursday in The Hour. Frank can be reached at notbreadalonefw@gmail.com.
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School districts would be given the upper hand in disputes with parents over special education services if a bill before the General Assembly were to become law.

The General Assemblys Education Committee will consider in the coming weeks whether it will take up the highly controversial bill that would shift the burden of proof in special education hearings from school districts to parents.

State Rep. Tom ODea, R-Wilton, introduced the bill for the January session after more than a dozen Fairfield County superintendents expressed their support for the change.

The idea, ODea said, is being raised now as school districts struggle to meet state mandates as state funding is slashed.

We need to be able to direct more resources to the students and less toward litigation costs, ODea said.

Special education hearings are formal meetings set up to resolve disputes between school districts and parents who feel their children arent receiving the special educational services they need.

The bill, as proposed by ODea, would mean parents would need to prove their school district's special education decisions are insufficient for their child, rather than the school district proving theyre appropriate.

Jeff Spahr, a parent of a son who receives special education and deputy corporation counsel for the city of Norwalk, strongly opposes the measure.

Parents go into this feeling like they have one foot in the sand and one on the sidewalk, Spahr said. Changing this is just one more way of tilting the playing field against them.

Other special education parents across the state were outraged by the news of the possibility. They say it only makes sense to have the burden placed on the district, given it has the teachers, psychologists and specialists needed in place to prove its case. Parents, they say, would be forced to hire a range of experts to prove their childs needs and come up with the money to do so.

They also say the burden of proof should be placed on school districts simply because the district would be in its own self interest to spend the least amount possible on childrens special education needs  at the risk of providing too few of or poor quality services  in the midst of state funding cuts. Putting the burden of proof on the district, they say, simply allows it to prove its devoting an appropriate amount of resources.

If you are providing the appropriate education for the child you really have nothing to worry about, Spahr said.

Supporters of the bill, including the Southern Fairfield County Superintendents Association  of which Norwalk Public Schools Superintendent Steven Adamowski is a member  say the current law forces school districts to make decisions about a childs education based on business practices in order to protect the districts financial standing rather than on what actually benefits the needs of a child.

Because, they say, the costs and risks of taking the disputes to court are too high, district officials say they are incentivized to have the terms negotiated through each partys lawyers.

Placing the burden of proof on parents, they say, would rid the need for districts to pay out reimbursement for legal fees and other expenses if the hearings were to make it through court. That would also allow them to take more of the disputes to arbitration, alleviate the financial strain of lawyer negotiations costs and take the educational decisions out of the hands of lawyers.

Overall, they say, the change would stop the diversion of the districts already limited funds away from the students.

The regulation to place burden of proof on the school district was adopted by the Connecticut State Board of Education in 2000.

Both state and federal laws require districts to identify students with disabilities that impact their educational performance and provide them with a free and appropriate public education based on their individual needs.

To meet that requirement, districts evaluate children to determine if they are eligible and create an individualized educational program. That program establishes the services the district must provide.

Special education hearings arise when parent and district views on these programs dont align.

Connecticut is currently one of only five states that places burden of proof on school districts, with a large majority of states placing burden on the complaining party, which tends to be the parents.

Similar efforts to override the Connecticut regulation through the creation of a state law have been put forth in the past several years  including in 2007 and 2009  but failed to gain traction because of public opposition.

But as many of Connecticuts public school systems face decreasing state funding, many districts are pushing legislators to pass regulations to help cut costs wherever they can.

The belief that public schools can and should do more with less is hollow  schools have been doing more with less for years, said Kevin Smith, superintendent of Wilton School District, in a letter sent to local legislators in late December requesting the change in burden of proof. Today, faced with unsupported mandates, we find ourselves required to divert precious resources away from classrooms.

ODeas bill is one of several proposed during Januarys session, including a similar bill from state Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, aimed at revising state special education regulations and mandates on school districts.

State Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, a House ranking member of the Education Committee, said the committee should decide within the next three weeks which bills it will take up. If the issue of reassigning burden of proof is taken up, it would first go to a public hearing. If that goes over without strong opposition, the bill would be redrafted and voted on by the committee, and possibly sent to the House or Senate.

However, Lavielle said it is early on in the process and that conversations still need to be had on what she called a very complex issue.

While this has often been seen as a cost issue, it's far more than that, Lavielle said. Its got a lot of components and we have to look at them all. Its very important to consider how services will be provided to students. And that means all students, not just special needs students.

What we have to think first and foremost is if all of our children are getting the services they need, she said.

In the meantime, Spahr, a member of Norwalk SPED Partners, said he would reach out to local special education communities to see if theyd like to join forces if the bill makes it to a public hearing.

We, along with other local special education groups, intend to stand up to this, Spahr said.

KSchultz@thehour.com; 203- 354-1049; @kevinedschultz
Early Sunday morning, while Americans were scrutinizing the remarks White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer had given during a press conference the previous afternoon, Dippin Dots was scrambling to prepare its own statement addressing President Donald Trumps spokesman.

Twitter users had unearthed some old tweets that Spicer had posted in 2010, 2011 and 2015 that were critical of the beaded ice cream company.

Dippin dots is NOT the ice cream of the future  Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) April 8, 2010

I think I have said this before but Dippin Dots are notthe ice cream of the future  Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) September 22, 2011

Ice Cream of the Past: Dippin' Dots Files for Bankruptcy http://t.co/xPifdujD  Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) November 4, 2011

If Dippin Dots was truly the ice cream of the future they would not have run out of vanilla cc @Nationals  Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) September 7, 2015

As the tweets began to gain more public attention, the Dippin Dots marketing team knew it had to craft a response. Entrepreneur spoke with Marketing Zen CEO Shama Hyder, who worked with Paducah, Ky.-based Dippin Dots on its open letter to Spicer.

In this day and age, brands just cant not respond, Hyder says. Its really not an option.

Dippin Dots's goal with the open letter, posted on the company's website on Monday and shared via the companys social media channels (read it below), was to speak to customers, Hyder explains.

We wanted to address everyone, talking about how Dippin Dots is an American company building American jobs, Hyder says. The idea was not for it to be contentious or political in any way.

While Dippin Dotss tagline used to be Ice Cream of the Future, the company recently transitioned to Taste the Fun. Because fun is central to the brand, the company wanted the open letter to be lighthearted in tone.

Related: How 10 Brands Thoughtfully Chimed In on President Trump's Inauguration

For a campaign to be successful, for a brand to be successful in the digital age, it doesnt have to be divisive, Hyder says. It needs to stay true to brand values, and you dont necessarily have to pick sides.

While the Dippin Dots team was surprised to discover Spicers tweets, it turned the unexpected attention into a major marketing opportunity.

Its always very heartening when a client is able to get more visibility than a Super Bowl ad, Hyder says, noting that Dippin Dots started trending on Facebook Monday night. The teams really been working around the clock and thinking of all the ways that we can continue to make the most of it.

On Monday night, Spicer tweeted back to Dippin Dots regarding the companys offer to host an ice cream social at the White House.

Sorry for the delay How about we do something great for the those who have served out nation & 1st responders https://t.co/G9BPmVAXKS  Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) January 24, 2017

While Hyder wouldnt explicitly confirm whether an event is in the works, she did tell Entrepreneur, Were working on a few things right now, and wed be happy to update you with a response when its finalized.

Ultimately, Hyder emphasized that the role of Dippin Dots, as a fun-centric ice cream brand, is to bring people together, or mend fences and build bridges. By extending an olive branch to Spicer, as Hyder describes, the company sought to turn a negative exchange into a positive relationship.

Related: Elon Musk Trolls Fake News Writer, and 12 Other Times He Had the Best Response

This isnt just about Dippin Dots, this is what every brand faces today, these opportunities or these pockets of being able to take a situation and turn a critic into a champion, Hyder says. I think that there are some really great brand lessons here for all brands engaging in social media.

An Open Letter to Sean Spicer from Dippin' Dots CEO Scott Fischer

Dear Sean,

We understand that ice cream is a serious matter. And running out of your favorite flavor can feel like a national emergency! Weve seen your tweets and would like to be friends rather than foes. After all, we believe in connecting the dots.

As you may or may not know, Dippin Dots are made in Kentucky by hundreds of hard working Americans in the heartland of our great country. As a company, were doing great. Weve enjoyed double-digit growth in sales for the past three years. That means were creating jobs and opportunities. We hear that's on your agenda too.

We can even afford to treat the White House and press corps to an ice cream social. What do you say? Well make sure theres plenty of all your favorite flavors.

Yours,

Scott, CEO of Dippin Dots

@DippinDots

Related:

How Dippin' Dots Made the Most of Unexpected Attention From the White House Press Secretary

Don't Let Marketing Zest Lead You Into the Fake News Morass

5 Social Media Studies That Will Boost Your Marketing Skills



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
President Pranab Mukherjee has named 89 people for the country's highest civilian awards, including seven Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri awards, to mark India's 68th Republic Day.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Senior politicians Sharad Pawar, Murli Manohar Joshi and the late PA Sangma are among seven recipients of the Padma Vibhushan award, India's second-highest civilian honour, it was announced today.

President Pranab Mukherjee has named 89 people for the country's highest civilian awards, including seven Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri awards, to mark India's 68th Republic Day.

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The awardees included 19 women and five persons Non-Resident Indian (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) while six of the awards have been made posthumously.

Also read: Padma Awards likely to be given to PV Sindhu, Mahendra Singh Dhoni amongst others

Also read:Sanjeev Kapoor to be awarded a Padma Shri for his culinary contributions

--- ENDS ---
NORWALK  A Stamford woman was charged with disorderly conduct after reportedly making an early morning ruckus outside her ex-boyfriends home.

Hoda Metwally, 34, of Clovelly Road, was charged with disorderly conduct and possession of narcotics early Wednesday morning.

At 1:44 a.m. police were dispatched to a MacIntosh Road residence on an unwanted guest complaint.

Responding officers said that Metwally was observed walking down the driveway from the house to her car.

The male complainant said that Metwally was his ex-girlfriend and that he had broken up with her more than a year ago. He said that she came to the residence and was knocking on the door and yelling.

The man said he asked her to leave and she refused. He told police that he wished to press charges.

Police said that Metwally appeared to be agitated and under the influence of alcohol. She reportedly yelled and cursed at officers.

Metwally was also found to be in possession of one bag of cocaine, police said.

Her bond was set at $1,000 and she was given a court date of Feb. 2.

llake@hearstmediact.com
Politician Sharad Yadav is being slammed on social media for his comment on honour of a vote being more important than the honour of a woman and this is not even the first time that Yadav has made a sexist comment.

By India Today Web Desk: Sharad Yadav, Former National President of Janata Dal United, is being slammed on social media for his comment on honour of a vote being more important than the honour of woman.

"Ballot paper ke bare mein samjhane ki zarurat hai. Beti ki izzat se vote ki izzat badi hai, Beti ki izaat jayegi to gaon aur mohalle ki izzat jayegi aur vote ek baar bik gaya to desh ki izzat jayegi", he said.

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According to him if a daughter's honour is violated, her neighbourhood and her village lose their honour. But if a vote is sold, it is the country's honour that goes.

After such sexist comments from a politician, it is difficult to expect that social media users would stay shut. Here is how the Twitterati is criticising Sharad Yadav and even asking for his resignation.

Politicians like Sharad Yadav are a disgrace to the nation. We have full sympathies for women in his family. #shame GodsLonelyMan????????? (@GodsLonelyMan06) January 25, 2017

#SharadYadav didn't deserve to sit in #Parliament.What a shameless politician he is. Ashok Shrivastav (@ashokshrivasta6) January 25, 2017

According to JD(U)'s Sharad Yadav, honour of ur vote greater than the honour of your daughter. Disgusting, derogatory condemnable statement! Priti Gandhi (@MrsGandhi) January 25, 2017

I feel so sorry for daughter of Sharad Yadav. She must be so disgusted to be her daughter. May God save her from her father. #sharadyadav GArima TiwaRi (@garimaaa20) January 25, 2017

Every time Sharad Yadav opens mouth he reminds one of Bollywood dialogue: Bhains poonch uthayegi to been (?) to nahi bajayegi Ashutosh Misra (@misrashutosh) January 25, 2017

If we're letting Sharad Yadav get away with this comment, there's no point of all the marches and 'condemning' of crimes. Throw him out. NOW Samreen (@BeingFeline) January 25, 2017

--- ENDS ---
LINCOLN  Embattled State Sen. Bill Kintner is resigning from the Nebraska Legislature following months of criticism from lawmakers, constituents and Gov. Pete Ricketts.

Kintners resignation is effective Jan. 30.

The Papillion senators expulsion from the Legislature was likely to have occurred later Wednesday had he not stepped down.

Kintner, 56, announced his decision to resign during an 8:15 a.m. press conference at the State Capitol, less than an hour ahead of when lawmakers planned to take up a motion to expel him.

Ricketts will appoint Kintners replacement to represent District 2, which includes Cass County and parts of Sarpy and Otoe Counties. The appointee will serve until 2018.

Kintner, who admitted last year to using a state laptop to engage in cybersex with a woman he met online, became the target of a barrage of criticism during legislative floor debate this week after he retweeted a Twitter post that appeared to make light of sexual assault.

Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer, who planned to introduce the motion to expel Kintner, said Tuesday he thought he had the required 33 votes to adopt it.

Nearly half of the Legislatures 49 senators told The World-Herald that they would vote to remove Kintner from office. The majority of the remaining senators said they were unsure how they would vote.

Two lawmakers  Sens. Curt Friesen of Henderson and Mike Groene of North Platte  ruled out expulsion, saying they supported censure.

Kintners expulsion would have been unprecedented in the 80-year history of the unicameral Legislature.

Until now, Kintner had defied calls for his resignation. That included requests from the Cass County Republican Party and Ricketts, who reiterated his call as recently as this week.

Kintner is married to Lauren Kintner, who leads Ricketts policy research office.

Sen. Kintner faced particular pressure from Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, who for months distributed poems and drawings criticizing Kintner.

Chambers has said that Kintners $1,000 fine for misuse of state property wasnt a severe enough penalty, and chastised other senators for remaining silent on the issue.

In the 2015 videoconferencing incident, Kintner masturbated with a woman he met on Facebook.

A conservative Republican, Kintner on Tuesday said he was very troubled by the liberal activist campaign that is using my mistake on the tweet to escalate calls for my resignation.

He also criticized Chambers, saying the Omaha senators agenda to remove him from office has been clear since last summer.

Kintner was elected to the Legislature in 2012 after defeating Republican incumbent Paul Lambert. Lambert was appointed by then-Gov. Dave Heineman following former Sen. Dave Pankonins resignation. Kintner was re-elected in 2014.

Kintners resignation opens up a spot on the Legislatures important, budget-crafting Appropriations Committee.

Kintner: You won't have Bill Kintner to kick around anymore. (citing former President Richard Nixon)  Emily Nohr (@emnohr) January 25, 2017
Before the inauguration is just a distant dot in the rear view mirror, lets not forget the movement Congressman John Lewis led  the movement that encouraged a large number of liberal House Democrats to boycott the big day in Washington.

Lets not forget it because it tells us something important about the people we elevate to hero status: that given enough time, even icons can become tedious. And, sadly, Congressman John Lewis has.

Lewis was a genuine civil rights hero who earned his stripes on March 7, 1965, a day that has come to be known, for good reason, as Bloody Sunday. A close ally of Martin Luther King Jr., he helped organize the now historic march from Selma to Montgomery. As Lewis and 600 others crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge that day, Alabama state troopers were waiting. And when the marchers stopped to pray, police on horses charged  and beat them with nightsticks. One of the troopers hit Lewis in the head and fractured his skull. He was a courageous man whose efforts made America a better place, and not only for African Americans.

I spent some time with Congressman Lewis when I was a correspondent at CBS News, reporting a story on one of the anniversaries of Bloody Sunday. He was gracious and dignified. I liked him.

But even heroes have to be held accountable. And over the years, John Lewis the civil rights icon has become a hyperpartisan liberal Democrat who, absent his biography, would be seen more clearly as just that.

Now, hes in the news because he says Donald Trump is not a legitimate president. That he lost his legitimacy because, in Congressman Lewis view, the Russians helped him win.

So he along with about 70 others who serve in safe House districts boycotted the inauguration. He also boycotted George W. Bushs first inauguration. He, too, in the congressmans opinion, was illegitimate.

So apparently was John McCain. In 2008, the congressman compared Senator McCain to Alabamas segregationist governor, George Wallace. What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.

This is nothing more than ugly political slander, slander unworthy of the man John Lewis used to be.

In 2012, Lewis played the race card again, this time against Mitt Romney, suggesting that if he were elected president, America would go back to the bad old days of segregation.

Speaking at the Democratic National Convention, Congressman Lewis said: Ive seen this before, I lived this before. We were met by an angry mob that beat us and left us lying in a pool of blood. Brothers and sisters, do you want to go back?

What reasonable person could possibly believe that if Mitt Romney won, America would go back to the days of George Wallace and Selma?

Congressman Lewis, to state the obvious, has every right to think whatever he wants, but even for those of us who believe deeply in civil rights, its getting tiresome.

For a man who spent his young life trying to bring Americans together, his decision to boycott the Trump Inauguration does no such thing. All it does is polarize an already deeply divided nation even more.

John Lewis doesnt seem to understand that not every Republican he opposes is George Wallace, who for the record was a Democrat. Lewis sounds like the old guy on the porch or at the barbershop who keeps telling the same story over and over again about the old days, the glory days, not realizing how sad and boring hes become.

And CNN journalist Anderson Cooper noticed what most others in his profession didnt, or didnt have the nerve to say out loud. I get he doesnt like Donald Trump, Cooper said. I get he doesnt accept the results of the election, but is this helpful in any way? ... If a Republican had said this about President-elect Hillary Clinton, Democrats would be up in arms.

But theyre not. And neither is the national press corps, Anderson Cooper notwithstanding. Imagine if 70 House conservatives boycotted Barack Obamas Inaugural. Journalists would condemn the entire Republican Party on page one in type the size they used for the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

But liberals arent allowed to condemn a noble man like John Lewis. He is, after all, an icon. And icons get away with things mere mortals, and Republican conservatives, cant.
A bill proposed by Sen. Jim Scheer, the Nebraska Legislatures speaker, would do away with a vague ban on public school teachers wearing religious garments at school.

LB62 would repeal the ban that has been in force in Nebraska since 1919. It was adopted in the midst of a national mood of anti-Catholic sentiment, with the support of the Ku Klux Klan. Actually, the ban was always unconstitutional, although 35 other states had similar laws at some time. But now Nebraska and Pennsylvania are the only states in which theyre still on the books.

There was little opposition to Scheers bill last week when it was reviewed in an Education Committee hearing. It was supported by a diverse group of organizations ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska to the Nebraska Catholic Conference and the Nebraska Family Alliance.

The current law doesnt even specify what religious garment includes. It makes the wearing of this item a criminal misdemeanor punishable by a $100 fine or 30 days in jail, along with a one-year suspension from teaching, for the first offense. A teacher could permanently lose the right to teach in Nebraska with a second arrest.

Many would think of the ban applying to a hijab or burqa worn by a Muslim teacher or a habit worn by a Catholic nun, but it could even apply to a Christian teacher wearing a cross necklace or a Jewish teacher wearing a yarmulke.

But with the U.S. Constitutions guarantee of freedom of religion, discriminating against someone from any faith would violate the First Amendment.

Plus, this ban could prevent good teachers from being able to work in our state at a time when the state Department of Education says Nebraska is struggling with a shortage of teachers in 18 fields.

Scheer introduced the bill on behalf of Sister Madeleine Miller of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters in Norfolk, who applied for a substitute teaching job with the Norfolk Public Schools, but was told she wouldnt be able to wear her habit to school.

Miller ultimately moved to her orders convent in Winnebago to get a teaching job at a Catholic school in Sioux City, Iowa.

This is just another example of someone being forced to move to another state to get work because of a state regulation that keeps them from working.

If wearing a piece of clothing or jewelry linked to a specific religion doesnt keep a teacher from doing his or her job, there is no reason for it to be outlawed.

The Legislatures Education Committee has advanced the bill, so it will be scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor. We urge the Legislature to quickly pass LB62 and leave Pennsylvania as the only state in the country that prevents teachers from wearing religious items while at work.
By Press Trust of India: From Sajjad Hussain

Islamabad, Jan 25 (PTI) Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today asked Japan to lift the travel advisory asking its citizens to avoid visiting Pakistan, following a series of major terror attacks in the country.

Sharif, who met the Japanese envoy Takashi Kurai at the PM House here, said that law and order situation has improved significantly as a consequence of operation "Zarb-e-Azb" and the country hoped that Japan would review Pakistans inclusion in travel advisory that asks its citizens to avoid visiting Pakistan.

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The travel advisory, issued by the Japanese government, identifies different risk zones in Pakistan and advises its citizens to be "evacuated immediately" from terror-infected border regions with Afghanistan including Baluchistan, and several parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Gilgit Baltistan.

Punjab and Sindh are placed in level 2 risk zone, where citizens are advised to suspend all "non-essential travel".

Several other countries, including the US, UK, and Canada, have issued similar travel advisories for their citizens, asking them not to travel to Pakistan, after a series of major terror attacks rocked the country.

The drying up of tourists from some of the worlds biggest economies has badly impacted Pakistans nascent tourism industry and has destroyed a much-needed source of earning foreign currency.

Sharif also said that Pakistan regards Japan as a "close friend" and a "reliable economic partner," according to an official statement.

He said that Pakistan looks forward to greater level of cooperation between the two countries particularly in the areas of trade, investment, infrastructure and energy.

"PM stated that both sides need to initiate negotiations on bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA)," the statement said.

The Prime Minister also welcomed Japanese companies to invest in Pakistan that would enhance the capacity of the countrys industrial sector to produce value added goods. PTI SH SUA AKJ SUA

--- ENDS ---
HS Football: North Penn upsets Pennsbury in instant playoff classic

With the game on the line, North Penn coach Dick Beck opted to go for the win with a two-point conversion attempt against Pennsbury.
By Press Trust of India: Islamabad, Jan 24 (PTI) Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could be summoned to the Supreme Court if required to record his statement in the Panamagate corruption case, the apex court hearing the high-profile case said today.

The remarks were made by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who is heading a five-judge larger bench of the apex court to hear a slew of petitions against the Sharif family over corruption.

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Jamaat-e-Islami counsel Advocate Taufiq Asif had requested the top court to summon the prime minister and record his statement regarding the ownership of luxury apartments in an upscale London neighbourhood.

Justice Khosa told the JI counsel that the court will first hear the stance of the counsels of Sharifs children and if there is anything required, then the premier may be summoned. The judge, however, clarified that such a move will only be taken after hearing the arguments of the counsels.

The JI counsel said Prime Minister Sharif had appeared in the top court several times in different matters, therefore, the court should summon him in this matter as well, The Express Tribune reported.

"Everyones has doubts regarding the money trail of London flats given by the Sharif family," he argued.

Meanwhile, Sharifs daughter Maryam Nawaz today again denied allegations she was the beneficial owner of London properties.

In her reply submitted in court, she also rejected the correspondence between Financial Investigation Agency of the British Virgin Islands and Mossack Fonseca.

Maryams response came a day after German newspaper, Suddeutsche Zeitung ? the original source of the Panama Papers leaks ? reaffirmed that the Sharifs daughter was connected with Minerva Financial Services Ltd, the company that owns the Park Lane flats in London.

The family of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was named in the PanamaPapers, one of the biggest leaks in history. The leak, comprising 11.5 million documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, shows how some of the worlds most powerful people have secreted away their money in offshore jurisdictions.

Among those named are three of Sharif?s four children ? Maryam, who has been tipped to be his political successor; Hasan and Hussain, with the records showing they owned London real estate through offshore companies administrated by the firm.

Sharif and his family have denied any wrongdoing. PTI AKJ AKJ

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Niruban Balachandran (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017 17:40 2109 9b519824cb3263083aedb70a0bcb1986 3 Opinion Israel,Islamic-extremism,MUI,Islamic-groups,Gus-Dur Free

When I learned last Friday that the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) would grill council member and Islamic scholar Ibu Istibsyaroh and seven of her colleagues for their recent study visit to Israel, I felt concerned for her well-being.

MUI secretary-general Anwar Abbas has hinted at Istibsyarohs dismissal. In addition, MUI leader Muhyidin Junaidi has asked Istibsyaroh to resign from her MUI position as chair of the Commission for Womens and Families Empowerment.

Although the MUIs concerns about the Palestinian people are valid, its negative rhetoric against Istibsyaroh and her delegation colleagues is a cause for worry.

In his response to my email, Jeremy Jones of the Australia/ Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) that organized the study visit said the event was held to honor the memory and legacy of Abdurrahman Wahid [Gus Dur].

The late former president Gus Dur was on the board of the Jerusalem-based Elijah Institute and of the Peres Peace Center. They honored Gus Durs teachings; they gave Israelis and Palestinians they met Indonesian perspectives; they met Jews, Muslims and Christians in Israel and the Palestinian authority, Jones said.

In 2015 the group of Indonesians met Shimon Peres, but as he is no longer alive the president of Israel sought to replicate his role in welcoming Indonesian Muslims and to hear their views, Jones added.

Dialogue, learning, prayer, education, debate, cooperation  all of these seem like fine intentions in the spirit of peace in the Middle East. It is also worth noting that former president Gus Dur was born, died and buried in his hometown of Jombang, East Java, which is very close to where Istibsyaroh is from. Perhaps she also felt an emotional connection with the visits primary objective.

There is no legal ban on Indonesian citizens traveling to Israel. Annually, tens of thousands of Indonesians visit Israel. In 2012, nearly a dozen Indonesian Muslim leaders traveled on the famed Mission for Peace and Understanding interfaith trip to Israel and the Holy Land, with their Jewish and Christian counterparts.

In 2008, the Indonesia Surgeons Association sent an official delegation of 23 Indonesian doctors to Tel Aviv, to be trained by Israelis in the management of multicasualty incidents, largely in preparation for potential terror attacks, disasters and other crises. A number of Indonesian officials, including House of Representatives member Tantowi Yahya, have also openly visited Israel over the past few years.

Indeed, Vice President Jusuf Kalla has stated that there is no reason Indonesia should not have closer ties to Israel. We cant be a mediator if we dont know Israel. We must be close with both Israel and Palestine, he explained in 2014.

Abbas said the MUI condemned the latest visit of Indonesian Muslims to Israel because of its colonization practices, which are against the preamble of the 1945 Constitution and therefore Indonesia refused to open diplomatic relations with it.

There are a number of problems with this argument. Leaving aside the fact that neither the United Nations, Arab League, Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) or other multilateral organizations have officially delineated Gaza or the West Bank as colonies, only the preamble of the Indonesian Constitution states this.

This, of course, is a post-World War II, Dutch-era statement whose legal mandate is still open to interpretation in 2017 and has not precluded Jakarta from engaging in formal diplomatic relations with other states accused of colonization.

A second problem with this argument is that the MUIs condemnation neglects the fact that not only did Istibsyaroh meet the Palestinian authority and Muslim leaders on her trip but she also evidently strived to educate Israelis about her country during a meeting with Israeli President Reuben Rivlin. It also underscores her ostensible patriotism.

Yet another problem with condemning the visit on behalf of anything underscores the numerous missed peacebuilding opportunities that will occur if Indonesians and Israelis do not interact with each other. For example, if Istibsyaroh helped amplify Jakartas voice and interests in Israel, or even helped pave the way for a successful two-state solution, then it is unhelpful for the MUI to condemn the study visit wholesale.

Finally, the MUIs reaction to the Israel study visit now raises a pertinent question about whether, in retrospect, the lack of Indonesia-Israel diplomatic relations has actually helped the Palestinians. Based on several decades of evidence, although Jakarta has helped establish an embassy, hospital, OIC support and capacity building projects in Gaza, its approach to the two-state solution has been unsuccessful. A twostate solution cannot be negotiated with only one of the parties.

Instead, Palestinian statecraft is more likely to be efficacious if Indonesia pragmatically opens diplomatic ties with Israel. The pro-Israel Donald Trump administration in the United States practically necessitates this strategic shift.

Indonesian engagement with Israel is not a radical foreign policy. For example, Turkey, Jordan and Egypt already have normal diplomatic ties with both Israel and Palestine, which allows these three Muslim-majority states to be more influential in the Middle East peace process than other countries are and to effectively advocate on behalf of the Palestinian people.

In total, 157 of the other 192 UN member states have normal bilateral relations with Israel, including the Muslim-majority states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The MUIs reaction demonstrates how Indonesias foreign policy requires an unflinchingly honest national conversation about Indonesias role and effectiveness in the Middle East.

The study visit to Israel by Istibsyaroh and her MUI colleagues was legal, ethical and constitutional, and it should be praised by both Indonesians and Palestinians.

If Indonesia wants to contribute to peace in the Middle East, more frequent visits with dialogue, learning, prayer, education, debate and cooperation with Israelis should be nurtured and encouraged.

---------------

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Linkedin Julia Suryakusuma (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017 10:13 2110 9b519824cb3263083aedb70a0bc9616e 3 Opinion Barack-Obama,#BarackObama,#Jokowi,Jokowi Free

Who doesnt love a sweet love story, especially if its of the most publicly visible power-couple in the world? Of course I am referring to Michelle and Barack Obama, who recently left the White House after their eight-year rent-free stint there.

Recently I watched the film Southside with You (2016), based on their first date in 1989 in Chicago. Or non-date, as Michelle Robinson, her name at the time, insisted. She was Baracks supervisor at the Sidley Austin law firm where she worked, and he was a summer associate. As they were colleagues, she was reluctant to call it a date, but agreed to go because he invited her to a community meeting.

They ended up spending the whole day together visiting an Afrocentric art gallery, lunch in a park, attending the community meeting, watching a movie, ending with a chocolate ice-cream flavored kiss. Hmm, some non-date!

At the community meeting, he impressed her with the oratorical skills he has now become famous for, and despite her protestations, charmed, romanced and three years later, married her.

Michelle is not the only one that Obama impressed, charmed and romanced; he did the same with the American electorate and indeed, many observers worldwide. If Michele and Baracks 24year marriage seems to have gone smoothly enough, how about his eight-year presidency?

In a marriage you make vows, in a presidency, you make (election) promises. Did Obama make good on his?

Certainly Obama secured a historic victory, being the first African-American president, the personification of diversity and even the American dream. However, most analysts agree that he has left a disappointing record. His approval rating was close to 60 percent suggesting he was a popular leader, which would indicate he achieved many of his objectives. But was that really the case?

According to The Washington Post, out of 40 promises, Obama kept 11, broke 17 and compromised on 12. Politifact did the monitoring in percentages: 48.8 percent kept, 27.4 percent compromised and 22.2 percent broken out of 533 campaign promises. So okay, his legacy was checkered. That happens.

But what if his presidency wasnt just disappointing, but slow suicide? The fact that Obama ushered in Donald J. Trump of all people, indicates that Obama failed in his one overarching ambition, to heal his nations divisions: racial, economic and political. What a sick feeling he must have in his gut realizing that Trumps ascension was because the latter could tap into a deep well of dissatisfaction in America that arose during Obamas presidency.

Sean Hannity, the host of of a television show on the conservative Fox News network, went so far as to say that After 100 days of President Trump, it will be like Obama was never there [] Trump can reverse Obamas executive actions on immigration, refugees, the Iran nuclear deal and climate change regulations.

Oh boy! How did Obama go so wrong? This was the analysis of a friend of mine, an American political scientist: What worries me is that Democrats dont really grasp that Republicans [especially the ascendant ones] are waging a take-no-prisoners war while their side still has a mushy cant we all get along mentality?. No wonder the Democratic National Convention (DNC) is ill-equipped to confront and counter the right.

By 2010 Obama had already lost control of Congress and it has been the rise of the Right ever since.

In his departure interviews Obama was still shaking his head in disbelief that Republicans had blocked the policies he drafted. As a politician, he seemed naive when he said in one of his parting speeches he believed that all human beings are by nature good. Oh really? Where have you been, No-drama Obama?

The fact is, liberals, moderates and centrists are by nature accommodative. The ideological extremists they face are the opposite. The middle is slow and ineffective in facing an energized and agitated right.

They failed to realize that this isnt about governing, that this moment is vastly more ideological and extreme than that.

Obama started out energizing a massive base, especially of young people who were inspired by his message and his story. But Obama totally turned off the tap when he arrived in Washington. He stopped mobilizing and tried to be accommodative and bipartisan. I suppose he thought this was his way of being president for all Americans.

The Republicans saw this naive weakness and played blocker, blocking any initiative or appointment they could. Obamas liberal stance was his Achilles heel, which resulted in his many failures. Naturally the young people who initially supported him became deflated, disillusioned and deeply disappointed.

What lessons can we learn here in Indonesia, especially given that President Joko Jokowi Widodo has been referred to as the Indonesian Obama?

Like Obama, Jokowi was an unlikely winner. Like Obama, Jokowi started a movement, the mental revolution, which attracted many young people, who rallied, supported and voted for him (and who are now also disillusioned with him).

And like Obama, instead of continuing to mobilize, he built his power network at the top and ignored the people who put him where he is now. Because of his elitist politics, Jokowi had to make many compromises that departed from his original campaign promises.

Trump rode in on a wave of racism and xenophobia. In Indonesia, the wave is Islamist, and its opportunists who are willing to ride it, naively thinking they can control or discard it. Hah!

If he doesnt want to end up like Obama, Jokowi should learn from his American counterpart because at the moment there are startling parallels between the two nations. The US used to be in a completely different category, and now the US and Indonesia overlap in the most shocking ways.

So if Obama ushered in Trump, who or what will Jokowi be ushering in? The equivalent of the right in the United States would be Islamic extremists in Indonesia, who have built momentum from below. Even the alleged blasphemy case Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama currently finds himself implicated in, is because Jokowi slipped up.

So, Pak Jokowi, learn from your friend Obama, keep your marriage vows and your electoral promises, if you dont want to leave office ushering in antipluralist and anti-democratic forces, which Islamist extremists will surely bring in!

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Linkedin News Desk (The Straits Times/Asia News Network) San Francisco, United States  Wed, January 25, 2017

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday (Jan 24) that he has no plans to run for US president, amid speculation that he could move into politics.

"No," Mr Zuckerberg told BuzzFeed News in response to a question about his intent to run in the election in 2020.

"I'm focused on building our community at Facebook and working on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative," he said, referring to the corporation he and his wife Priscilla Chan founded to advance human potential and promote equality through major bets on education and science research.

BuzzFeed News also quoted a source close to Mr Zuckerberg as saying the latter had privately denied he had any political ambition.

"There's absolutely no truth to the idea that Mark is running for office and I've heard it directly from him," the source said. "Here's the thing: For Mark, Facebook is global community that already plays this huge part in the lives of billions of people around the world and plays an incredibly important role in shaping the base on the issues that matter."

The source also said Mr Zuckerberg is preparing for a political battle as a private citizen through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

(Read also: Mark Zuckerberg's personal goal for 2017: Meet people in every US state)

"There is absolutely a possibility that Mark may choose to play a stronger role in the political system and political debates," the source told BuzzFeed News.

He has been "very transparent" in his advocacy for "greater equality and optimizing research that find cures for disease and solves the fundamental problems of our time, but I really don't see him stepping away from Facebook," the source said.

The comments come after weeks of speculation sparked by events that seemed to suggest Mr Zuckerberg's interest in politics. His target for this year is to visit every American state by the end of this year and talk to people about how they are living and what they are thinking about the future.

Last Christmas, the 32-year-old posted a cheery holiday message on Facebook. "Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from Priscilla, Max, Beast and me," he wrote, naming his wife, daughter and dog.

When a netizen asked "aren't you an atheist?", he replied: "No. I was raised Jewish and then I went through a period where I questioned things, but now I believe religion is very important".

The Guardian report, citing Pew Research Centre, said being an atheist is one of the biggest liabilities a presidential candidate can have.

This article appeared on The Straits Times newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

Ahead of the second Jakarta gubernatorial debate, Djarot Saiful Hidayat, the current deputy governor, spent his evening at a barbershop during his blusukan (impromptu visit) to Petak Sembilan in Jakartas Chinatown on Wednesday.

Djarot, the running mate of incumbent Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, said it was his third visit to the barbershop, called Ko Tang. Ko is a colloquial address meaning brother for Chinese-Indonesians. Ko Tang Barbershop also treated President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo during his campaign as then Jakarta governor candidate in 2012.

(Read also: Gerindra, PKS optimistic about Anies-Sandi victory)

"I had my hair washed and cut and my moustache washed and trimmed, plus a shoulder rub. This is a super complete package, plus, plus. [I feel] fresh again," Djarot said.

However, he refused to say the treatment was a part of his preparations for Fridays televised debate. "No, no, [you] would think that, I know, but it has nothing to do with the debate. I just want to show that such a traditional method is good," added the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician.

Djarot said the barbershop offered good services, although the hair style it offered was somewhat old fashioned.

"Am I handsome? Of course I am," Djarot said after the treatment, before leaving the barbershop. (evi)
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Linkedin Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

Presidential spokesperson Johan Budi confirmed on Wednesday President Joko Jokowi Widodo did grant clemency to former Corruption Eradication Commission chief Antasari Azhar.

The presidential decree on the clemency granted to Antasari has been signed and sent to the South Jakarta District Court, Johan said.

Johan said the clemency to Antasari, who was sentenced for 18 years imprisonment in 2010 for masterminding the drive-by shooting of Nasrudin Zulkarnaen, a director of state-owned pharmaceutical company Rajawali Putra Banjaran, was made based on considerations from, among others, the Supreme Court.

(Read also: Jokowi grants clemency to former KPK chief)

Antasari, who has served seven years of his term, has continuously pledged his innocence to the crime.

Earlier, Antasaris lawyer Boyamin Saiman told reporters that his client had been granted clemency. The lawyer said he would come to the court to obtain the presidential decree for clemency. (jun)
Over a decade after losing their land, farmers in Singur, part of one of India's biggest anti-land acquisition movements, have finally marked a return to agriculture by planting paddy saplings.

By Manogya Loiwal : For the farmers of Singur, West Bengal, this Republic Day couldn't be any better. Over a decade after they lost their lands, the farmers have finally sown a bath of paddy saplings after the land was returned to them a few months ago.

Singur, a block West Bengal's Hooghly district, is known for one of India's biggest anti-land acquisition movements, a movement that is credited as being one of the factors behind the fall of the Left and the rise of current West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

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RELIEF AFTER TEN YEARS

While the land is not fully fertile while the quality compared to a decade ago has degraded due to the use of cement and other products used in building factory infrastructure, the return of agriculture is still a successful story of an anti-land acquisition movement.

Becharam Manna, a farmer who became the Agriculture Minister in Mamata's first term, has returned to farming and is among those who sowed the paddy saplings in Singur. Becharam said, "Under the guidance of the respected Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the protest that began in the year 2006 was finally successful after a decade with the Supreme Court order we got our land back. We started with planting saplings of paddy, potatoes. On a 300 acre of land, we will start with planting corn on 20 acres and 40 acres of sesame."

Also read: Singur verdict: West Bengal government to make 997 acres land cultivable, says Mamata

LAND RETURNED AFTER SC DIRECTIVE

The land in Singur was returned to the farmers on August 31, 2016, following a Supreme Court verdict that ruled in favour of farmers who had had to, willingly or unwilling, give up a combined 997 acres of land so that Tata Motors could set up a unit in the area.

Until now, vegetables were being grown in the area in order to return fertility to the soil. However, the recent paddy planting is the first instance of crop sowing since the land was returned to farmers.

Also read: Singur land acquired by Tata for Nano cars cancelled by Supreme Court

SINGUR AGITATION: TOP DEVELOPMENTS The Singur agitation began on May 25, 2006 with farmers rallying against the Left Front government allegedly forcibly taking away of land so that Tata Motors could construct a plant to build the Nano cars. The protests saw 26 days of fasting in December 2006, with even the Central government, and other agencies, intervening in the matter. From barging into the West Bengal Assembly and ransacking it to organising demonstrations across the state, Mamata used all forms of protests in the anti-land acquisition movement. In 2010, Tata Motors moved the Nano project out of West Bengal, and thus began the legal case in the matter. After six years, during which the case went from the West Bengal High Court to the apex court, the farmers finally got their land back.

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Also read: Singur: Mamata returns land to farmers as promised, offers new deal to Tata

(With inputs from Mrinal Kanti Dutta in Hooghly)

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

The Defense Ministry is holding a working meeting on Wednesday to explore technical challenges in efforts to defend the country from potential risks.

The discussion brings together all ministry officials in charge of defense strategy, members of the Indonesian Military (TNI), as well as representatives from the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) and external stakeholders, including officials from the Home Ministry and analyst and former Cabinet secretary Andi Widjajanto.

"This meeting aims to introduce our programs, including in regards to budgeting, in order to cultivate the same perspective on defense among related state officials," the Defense Ministry's director of defense strategy, Maj. Gen. Yoedhi Swastanto, said in his opening remarks.

Yoedhi explained that the Wednesday meeting also aimed to further promote the ministry's priority program, which includes state defense programs. (dmr)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

The East Aceh consultative leadership board (Muspida) has agreed to cancel candidate debate events ahead of the election of regional heads in the regency.

The cancellation was confirmed after Muspida members held a meeting at the East Aceh Police headquarters on Tuesday evening. They made the decision following a string of clashes between supporters of various regent candidates.

East Aceh Voters Supervisory Committee (Panwaslih) head Zainal Abidin initially insisted that candidate debate events must be held because they were one of several stages of the election process.

East Aceh Police head Adj. Sr. Comr. Rudi Purwiyanto said, however, that candidate debates were not part of elections.

Concerning incidents that have occurred in the previous stages, it will be better if there is no candidate debate. We are worried that it will incite clashes between supporters of candidate pairs, he said as quoted by kompas.com.

(Read also: KPU worried bad weather will disrupt delivery of election materials)

Zainal said General Elections Commission (KPU) Regulation No.12/2016 stipulated that a candidate debate was part of campaign activities.

You should read a law or regulation thoroughly so you can understand it in accordance with its context, he said.

Echoing Zainal, the Idi Prosecutors Office intelligence division head, Khairul, said in the 2016 KPU regulation, a candidate debate could be defined as a campaign event, which meant debates were part of campaign activities and could be chosen as a campaign method.

The independent elections commission can skip candidate debate events, while for candidate pairs, there will be no sanctions if candidate debate events do not take place, said Khairul.

After the discussion, the Muspida members agreed there would be no candidate debate for East Aceh regent and deputy regent candidate pairs.

The campaign teams of the Ridwan Abubakar-Abdul Rani and Hasballah HM Thaib-Syahrul Syamaun pairs also agreed to the removal of debates. This makes East Aceh the only regency in Aceh that will not hold candidate debates ahead of the simultaneous regional elections scheduled for Feb. 15. (ebf)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

The General Elections Commission (KPU) said on Wednesday the logistical preparations for the upcoming simultaneous regional elections slated for Feb. 15 had almost been finalized.

The production and distribution of ballot papers are 98 percent complete. Almost all ballots have been received by KPU offices at the municipality or regency levels," KPU commissioner Arief Budiman told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

KPU offices in municipalities and regencies across Indonesia are now in the process of sorting, folding and packaging the ballots. They will later send the ballots, together with the election forms, writing materials and ballot boxes, to districts and subdistricts in their area.

Arief said the KPU targeted all ballots to arrive in each polling station in the regencies and municipalities one day before the elections.

He further said the commission had accelerated the production and distribution of ballots in geographically challenging areas, including islands and mountainous areas, including Morotai Island in North Maluku, Mentawai Island in West Sumatera, as well as regencies Lanny Jaya and Tolikara in Papua.

The production and distribution process of ballots in those areas have been conducted two weeks earlier than other areas, Arief said. (ebf)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

Three fishing boats belonging to private company PT Jaya Kota Benoa were destroyed by a blaze at Benoa Port in Denpasar, Bali, on Wednesday. No fatalities were reported.

The port police chief Comr. Nyoman Gatra said the fire occurred at 1:50 p.m. local time, which started from one of the boats that was berthed at the port.

The fire then spread to other boats adjacent to it, Gatra said as reported by kompas.com.

(Read also: Ferry bound for Tidung Island explodes, killing 23)

He said firefighters tried to isolate the fire by cutting the mooring lines of the docked boats in attempt to separate them.

He added that 15 fire trucks and two fire boats were deployed to extinguish the blaze, which took approximately three hours to subdue.

Police are still investigating the cause of the fire.(jun)
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Linkedin Grace D. Amianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25 2017

As President Joko Jokowi Widodo faces heavy criticism for being unable to solve inequality issues during his first two years in office, his administration is preparing new measures to narrow the gap between the countrys rich and poor.

Sofjan Wanandi, the chief economic adviser to Vice President Jusuf Kalla, said the government was finalizing several policies expected to be issued in the next one or two months in the form of government regulations (PP).

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25 2017

It seems that actress Marshanda is a woman whose word cannot be trusted.

Just a few months ago, the 27-year-old star posted on her social media accounts that she had bought a new home for her homeless dad, Irwan Yusuf.

However, the Social Affairs Ministry said recently that Irwan had not been living in his new home and instead, he had been sent to live in the Bahrul Maghfiroh Islamic boarding house in Malang, East Java.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

Hong Kong migrant workers have demanded that House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Fahri Hamzah apologize publicly over comments about the condition of migrant workers overseas.

"We demand Bapak Fahri Hamzah apologize officially for his derogatory comments about Indonesian migrant workers and for using invalid data to claim that 1,000 migrant workers in Hong Kong had been impregnated, leaving their kids without care, and claiming 30 percent of the migrants had HIV/AIDS," 55 Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong under the LACI group said in a release on Wednesday.

Fahri stirred up protests from netizens following a tweet associating Indonesian migrant workers with "beggars turning into housemaids abroad". Fahri immediately removed the post from his account.

(Read also: 12 confirmed dead in Johor Bahru capsizing)

"We also push the Houses ethics council to evaluate Fahri's performance and consider his dismissal from his position as a lawmaker," the group added.

In his most recent tweet, Fahri said: "To those who felt insulted [by my comments], herewith I apologize."(dmr)
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Linkedin Donny Fernando (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25 2017

A few days before the celebration of Chinese New Year, the distinctive fragrance of hio (incense) pervaded the air outside a factory in Kampung Melayu Barat, Tangerang, Banten. Workers busily engaged in their respective tasks, from grinding aromatic materials to drying incense sticks, all done manually.

Apart from incense, phu  paper to be used as good-fortune symbols  was also produced.

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Linkedin Hans Nicholas Jong (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25 2017

Following revelations of the enslavement of Myanmarese men working for a fishing company operating on Benjina Island, Maluku, in 2015, the Indonesian government has taken steps to ensure the protection of fishermens rights in the country.

In less than two years, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has issued three ministerial decrees to address chronic human rights abuses in the industry, with the latest decree issued on Tuesday.

The ministerial regulation creates a certification mechanism to ensure the fishing industry here is free of human rights violations, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said.

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Linkedin Niruban Balachandran (The Jakarta Post) Harvard, Massachusetts  Wed, January 25 2017

When I learned last Friday that the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) would grill council member and Islamic scholar Ibu Istibsyaroh and seven of her colleagues for their recent study visit to Israel, I felt concerned for her well-being.

MUI secretary-general Anwar Abbas has hinted at Istibsyarohs dismissal. In addition, MUI leader Muhyidin Junaidi has asked Istibsyaroh to resign from her MUI position as chair of the Commission for Womens and Families Empowerment.

Although the MUIs concerns about the Palestinian people are valid, its negative rhetoric against Istibsyaroh and her delegation colleagues is a cause for worry.

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By Press Trust of India: From Yosita Singh

New York, Jan 25 (PTI) Microsofts India-born CEO Satya Nadella has been nominated to join the Board of Starbucks for his "invaluable insight" in international operations and distribution as the global coffee giant focusses on global growth and innovation.

Nadella, 49, has been nominated by Starbucks along with President and Chief Executive Officer of warehouse chain Sams Club Rosalind Brewer and Executive Chairman of the LEGO Brand Group JArgen Vig Knudstorp to its Board of Directors.

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Their election, which will bring the Board strength to 14, requires approval of the company shareholders, who will meet in March, Starbucks said in a statement.

Starbucks nominated the three as it seeks to bring diversity to the Board while pursuing its long-term plan for strong global growth and innovation.

The company Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz described the three as "world-class, values-based leaders" who will strengthen its leadership and add "unmatched expertise in technology, strategy, and retail" to thecompany at a time of unprecedented change for the industry.

On Nadella, Starbucks said he will bring to the Board "extensive experience" and an understanding of how technology will be used and experienced around the world.

"He will provide the Board with invaluable insight in international operations and distribution as Starbucks continues to focus on innovative ways to use technology to elevate the brand and grow its business," it said.

Nadella has served as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Microsoft, since February 2014.

Hyderabad-born Nadella said he is "honored" to have been nominated to join the Starbucks Board.

"As a regular customer myself, I?vealways admired Starbucks focus and deep passion for its customers and the communities it does business in and hope my years of experience in the technology industry will be of value to the company," he said. PTI YAS NSA

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

The government and state owned enterprises have sent a strong signal that they will strengthen the role of Tanjung Priok Port as an international trade hub, taking over a slice of the transshipment market currently dominated by Singapore.

Transportation Ministry Director General for Sea Transportation Antonius Tonny Budiono said the government and state-owned port firms, Pelindo I, II, III and IV, were discussing the so-called Indonesia Integrated Chain Port plan, which would consolidate the export of cargoes from various domestic ports nationwide, including Bitung Port in North Sulawesi and Sorong Port in West Papua, with the countrys busiest port.

Such consolidation is aimed at making the transshipment more efficient and attractive for both local and global shipping lines.

The transshipment sector has long been dominated by Singapore. [But] If the commodities originate in our country, why cant we handle them? he said over the phone on Tuesday.

Tonny said the ministry would prepare technical and regulatory matters for the system, while also laying out the business plans with the State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Ministry.

The system, including IT management, is set to become effective in the second half of this year.

Its already settled. The only remaining concern is the business plans [of each Pelindo], Tonny said, claiming that infrastructure-wise, Tanjung Priok was ready to play a bigger role as an international hub.

The ministry sparked controversy when it recently revised the national ports plan (RIPN) through Transportation Ministerial Decision No. KP 901/2016 and introduced Tanjung Priok as the countrys new international port hub in Indonesia.

Deep-sea Patimban Port in West Java, construction of which is being carried out jointly by an Indonesia-Japan consortium, is set to complement the future hub.

Tanjung Priok Port has long been Indonesias largest container port, handling more than half the countrys externally traded goods.

It received an annual 1.5 million total equivalent unit (TEU) capacity boost for imports and exports with the operation of the New Priok Container Terminal 1 (NPCT1) last September, from the previous 7 million TEU capacity.

Its container traffic rose to 5.4 million TEUs last year from 5.2 million TEUs in 2015.

Of that figure, international traffic represented 3.8 million TEUs in 2016, up from 3.7 million TEUs in the previous year.

The Transportation Ministry has anticipated a 11.1 percent surge in freight traffic in the countrys ports to 929.8 million tons annually by 2020, from 836.5 million tons annually in 2015. The figure is expected to jump to 1.1 billion tons each year by 2030.

However, Port of Singapore is the one to beat as its container terminal handled 30.59 million TEUs of containers in the past year alone. The port, also dubbed the worlds busiest transshipment hub, currently accounts for almost one seventh of the worlds total container transshipment throughput.

The maritime industry also currently contributes about 7 percent to Singapores GDP.

Pelindo II president director Elvyn G. Masassya said the operational details would be discussed next week.

We aim for it to be efficient, productive and competitive, he said.

Pelindo II published data that forecast a Rp 1.5 million (US$112.59) cost-saving for transshipment from Boom Baru Port in Palembang, South Sumatra, via Tanjung Priok, and even Rp 1.6 million from Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, compared to via Singapore.

In response to the plan, publicly listed shipping line Samudera Indonesia managing director Bani M. Mulia expressed his pessimism, citing the geographical location of Jakarta.

As shippers wed be happy if Jakarta could be a hub, but just be realistic. How much time deviation will containers have if they must pass through Jakarta first before going to Europe or China? It just doesnt make sense, he stressed.

Bani said the government should focus on increasing Tanjung Priok capacity for export and import activities as well as enhancing its efficiency amid existing problems like labor costs.
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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

Indonesia is looking to major oil exporter United Arab Emirates to try to push down its feed-in-tariff for renewable energy, which many deem too high in the archipelagic country.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said Indonesia should also be able to reduce the high prices in the sector in order to encourage further development, especially in remote regions.

Many of my friends who work in the renewable energy sector ask whether or not incentives should be offered. I personally dont think so. What is needed is enthusiasm for efficiency, he said during the opening of the Indonesia Energy Roadmap seminar in Central Jakarta on Wednesday.

(Read also: Paving a renewable energy pathway)

I went to Abu Dhabi last week and saw that, for example, solar power plants there sold electricity for a mere 2.99 US cents per kilowatt-hour [kWh], which is a very serious thing to consider, he added.

Although the UAE is known for its vast oil reserves, it recently revealed that it was investing $163 billion in clean energy projects to fulfil half the countrys energy needs by 2030.

Jonan acknowledged that the characteristics between Indonesia and the UAE were different as their solar radiation is 30 percent higher than ours. However, he said if Indonesia studied the UAE closely, it might be able to push the renewable energy feed-in-tariff to around 6 cents per kWh, rather than 17 cents.

The government has set a goal to supply 23 percent of the national energy mix from renewable sources by 2025. (bbn)
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Linkedin Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

Indonesia needs to make the best of its foreign policy stances in the year ahead despite all the recent unsettling developments, a discussion of Indonesian foreign policy concluded on Tuesday.

This is all the more necessary with United States President Donald Trump signaling a particular shift in US interests away from Southeast Asia.

For Philips Vermonte, executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), there is a need for Indonesia to push the maritime agenda in ASEAN to stem the rise of China in a region that will lose its geopolitical balance if the US makes an exit.

ASEAN, Philips argued, was currently split between two halves: one side, mainland ASEAN, enjoys direct linkages with China as infrastructure projects occur more readily than in maritime ASEAN, where they have remained contentious and slow due to the South China Sea (SCS) dispute.

China, and several ASEAN member states, have competing claims in the SCS, causing tensions in a region that would prefer not to become a dueling arena for major powers.

But as the largest trading nation and second-largest economy in the world, China stands to benefit more if it connects mainland ASEAN, particularly from the Mekong region down to the Malaysian peninsula, than if it reinforces maritime connectivity, Philips said.

I think it is more important [now] for Indonesia to push its maritime agenda, which will also involve China. If we fail to do that, ASEAN will tilt toward the mainland, he told the discussion.

China has been peddling its One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative, an ambitious plan to connect Asia-Pacific with the Indian Ocean all the way to Africa, at once linking most of Chinas business interests.

The Philippines, also part of maritime ASEAN, currently chairs ASEAN in its 50th year of existence. Both countries will have an immense interest in ensuring the successful formulation and implementation of the Code of Conduct (COC) in the SCS, with negotiations starting next month.

Dinna Wisnu of Paramadina University, also believed Indonesia should make the best of current circumstances, particularly on Asias dilemma with Trump.

In 2017, the US will be too busy domestically, not only to calm down the street [protests] but also to accelerate income generation, she said.

With infrastructure [...] being his main project, [Trump] will need more income, mostly from oil and coal. He will start to realize that handling China alone will be too high a cost, especially for US coal production.

Trump won the US presidential election on an inward-looking, America First campaign platform that signaled a non-interventionist policy stance. The new US administration has yet to formulate any policies, but US Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph Donovan has insisted that US-Indonesian ties will resume as usual.

In light of a possible escalation of tensions between Washington and Beijing, the international relations expert said Indonesia needed to start diversifying its sources of economic growth.

Dinna said Indonesia should intensify business-to-business and people-to-people relations while making sure to build forward linkages to maximize on existing economic deals, which can be achieved through ASEAN.

Dewi Fortuna Anwar, another international relations expert and speaker, but who is attached to the government, said that Indonesias foreign policy stance was not simply to hedge between the US and China, but was omnidirectional by nature.

Whats important for Indonesia is that it is not subordinated. The Global Maritime Fulcrum is not a subordination of the OBOR idea; we support it if it works and complements ours, she said.
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Palu  Wed, January 25 2017

A police officer was shot on early Tuesday by his colleagues when he tried to escape arrest for possessing 5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine.

A team from Central Sulawesi Police raided a hotel room in Palu where they found Brig. Samsul Rizal of West Palu Police. He was shot in both legs after he attempted to flee the scene.

Ilham, who was also in the room, broke his leg after jumping from the hotels fifth floor to avoid arrest.

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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

The Transportation Ministry says the government has not overlooked the possibility of converting a semi high-speed train connecting Jakarta and Surabaya in East Java into a high-speed project, if it is technically possible.

The ministry is currently looking for consultants from Japan to conduct a feasibility study for the project, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year, said Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi.

It depends. If it is feasible then the project may become a high-speed one, he said following a meeting at the State Palace in Central Jakarta.

(Read also: Jakarta-Bandung high speed railway to get Chinese loan)

The Jakarta-Surabaya project is part of the governments efforts to revitalize the existing railway, which will be developed into a medium-speed railway with an estimated capacity of 160 kilometers per hour.

The travel time between the two cities is expected to fall to three-and-a-half hours from the current 12 hours as a result of the project, for which the first phase of development may require US$2.6 billion of financing. (bbn)
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Linkedin Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

More and more Jakartans are using face masks on public transportation and motorcycles and while walking on the streets.

Just like in many other cities of developing countries, people in Jakarta are being exposed to worsening air quality.

But the city administration appears to be slow to respond to the alarming rate of air pollution, with no clear plan on the table on how to address the problem.

Instead, the administration has said it will simply rely on old programs, like boosting the usage of natural gas for vehicles and better enforcement of emission tests for vehicles.

Environment Agency deputy head Ali Maulana conceded that the air quality in Jakarta was far below the safe level.

Areas like North Jakarta and West Jakarta have the worst air pollution level, he said on Tuesday on the sidelines of a workshop on air pollution by the Breath Easy Jakarta project, which was supported by the United States Environment Protection Agency.

The main reasons for the pollution are densely populated residential areas and a lack of adequate open green space.

Because of the dense population, mobility of the people is also high. In addition, many areas in North Jakarta are dedicated to industry, he said.

Ali said his agency would continue enforcing the obligation for public vehicles to use natural compressed gas (CNG). The regulation has been in force since 2007.

However, implementation is poor due to the low number of available CNG stations and poor law enforcement, he said. The administration also plans to convert all of its official service vehicles to be CNG-powered. I believe the impact will be quite significant given the high number of service vehicles [owned by the administration], he said.

The agency alone currently has 1,200 vehicles, including garbage and pickup trucks.

After we modify all of our vehicles, we will ask other agencies to follow our lead, he said. Ali said his agency would cooperate with city-owned company PT Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro) to establish CNG stations and mobile refueling units (MRU).

Currently, only bajaj (threewheeled motorized public vehicles), Transjakarta buses and some taxis use CNG as fuel.

In the future, all vehicles in the capital will be obliged to pass emission tests.

Sarath Guttikunda, a scientist from Desert Research Institute (DRI), which participated in the project, revealed that the level of fine particles (PM10) in Greater Jakartas air was mostly categorized as unsafe. The safe level is between 10 to 25 microgram per cubic meter, he said, adding that almost all areas in Jakarta were found to have higher levels of PM10.

Areas with heavy traffic like toll roads, airports and ports are at the PM10 level of more than 125 microgram per cubic meter, said Guttikunda, who conducted the study from 2012 to 2015.

His study also showed that there were an average of 3,700 premature deaths, 260,000 asthma attacks and 85,000 emergency room visits per year.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

Former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chair Antasari Azhar has reportedly received clemency from President Joko Jokowi Widodo following the former's release on parole from Tangerang prison, Banten, a lawyer has said.

"We have received information from the State Secretary this morning that [President Jokowi] has granted clemency to Antasari Azhar," Antasari's lawyer Boyamin Saiman was quoted as saying by Antara news agency on Wednesday.

Boyamin said he would check with the South Jakarta District Court to confirm the report. Antasari had said earlier that he needed clemency to rehabilitate his reputation.

(Read also: Former antigraft chief Antasari Azhar savors freedom)

The court sentenced Antasari to 18 years in prison in 2010 for masterminding the drive-by shooting of Nasrudin Zulkarnaen, a director of state-owned pharmaceutical company Rajawali Putra Banjaran. He will have fully served his sentence in 2022. (dmr)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has met with United States Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph R. Donovan to discuss the economic policy of President Donald Trump.

The Vice Presidents political affairs assistant, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, said economic issues had dominated the talks between Kalla and Donovan as many feared that protectionist policies from Trump might negatively affect the Indonesian economy.

The three issues that were discussed included infrastructure, foods and manufacturing, Dewi said on Wednesday as reported by tempo.co, adding that during the meeting Kalla also talked about Indonesian policy, including the wish to be self-sufficient in terms of food supply.

(Read also: Indonesia closely watching Trump's policy announcements)

In his inaugural speech, Trump strongly stressed his protectionist policy, which would protect American products from similar products made in other countries.

Kalla, however, expressed his disbelief that Trump would be able to fulfill all his campaign promises while leading his administration, saying it would not be easy to change foreign policies that the country had had in place for a long period of time.

Meanwhile, Donovan promised to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries. He said his country would develop fair trade that would benefit both Indonesian and American businesses.

He believed that Indonesia and the US would be able to become good partners in business. (bbn)
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Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

State-owned port operator Pelindo I has said there will be no changes to the plan for its Kuala Tanjung Port project in North Sumatra, despite a recent ministerial decision to alter its status as an international hub.

"It won't hamper our development plan. We have mid- and long-term plans [for the port], and it is not yet ready to be a hub," Pelindo I president director Bambang Eka Cahyana said.

He also said investors had not budged on the plan.

(Read also: Jokowi invites the Netherlands to invest in maritime projects)

Kuala Tanjung Port will be developed in several phases  first, the construction of a multipurpose terminal; second, the development of an industrial area; and third, the development of a container port and residential area.

The first phase of the project, costing Rp 34 trillion (US$2.5 billion), is slated to be finished and begin operating this year. Its current progress is at 68 percent.

Pelindo I has developed the port along with the Netherlands-based Port of Rotterdam Authority, as well as other interested investors such as Dubai-based port operator DP World. (bbn)
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Linkedin Abrori Charliene and Asila Jalil (The Jakarta Post) Depok  Wed, January 25 2017

Various media platforms are continuing to silence minorities through the stereotyping of religious, ethnic and sexual minorities, a panel heard Tuesday. The stereotypes generally preserve stigmas against these minorities, speakers at the Global Media Dialogue said.

The media center manager for the Center of Arab Women for Training and Research, Atidel Mejbri, who recently studied and analyzed how Arab women were represented on traditional media sites, said these women felt discouraged from participating in debates on issues that actually concerned them.

When graphic images are shown on some sites, women rarely participate actively to discuss these images. These women are satisfied with the little support they get as they refuse to comment on discourse involving violence and soon withdraw from the debate, due to the excessive amount of profanity and obscene words used in the discussion.

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By Press Trust of India: Chennai, Jan 23 (PTI) Amid continuing protests over jallikattu across the state, Tamil Nadu Assembly today unanimously passed an amendment bill for conducting the bull taming sport without any hindrance.

Replacing an ordinance promulgated two days ago to allow jallikattu, the Bill to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 was unanimously adopted by the House after members of all parties spoke welcoming the legislative initiative.

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The "Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment), Act, 2017" was piloted by Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and adopted by voice vote.

It was deemed to have come into effect on the day the ordinance was issued, January 21, 2017.

The government had promulgated the ordinance in a bid to defuse the raging protests across the state, especially at the Marina Beach, by students and others, demanding lifting of the ban on jallikattu.

The Bill defines jallikattu as an event involving bulls conducted with a view to following tradition and culture from January to May and it includes similar events like manjuviratu, vadamadu and erudhuvidum festivals.

It noted that the Supreme Court had held jallikattu as violative of the PCA Act (sections 3, 11, and 22).

The Bill further said, considering the vital role of jallikattu in preserving and promoting tradition and culture among people and also in view of ensuring the survival and continuance of native breeds of bulls, the "Government of Tamil Nadu has decided to exempt jallikattu from the provisions of the PCA Act".

Paneerselvam explained the legal and factual background that necessitated the amendment bill.

Leader of Opposition in Assembly M K Stalin was among those who spoke welcoming the Bill. PTI VGN VS ZMN

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly has expressed his support for granting clemency to former chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Antasari Azhar due to what he says are irregularities in his murder case.

There is something behind his case, said Yasonna at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday as reported by tribunnews.com.

He gave no further details.

Besides Yasonna, the Supreme Court also recommended that President Joko Jokowi Widodo grant clemency to Antasari who was sentenced by the South Jakarta District Court to 18 years for masterminding the murder of Nasrudin Zulkarnaen, who was the president of a state-owned company at the time of his death.

(Read also: Jokowi grants clemency to former KPK chief)

Yasonna said he was only giving his recommendation and that granting the clemency remained the prerogative of the President.

Earlier, Yasonna said that he felt there was something mysterious behind Nasrudins murder.

I said, in English, there is something smelly [in the case], something fishy, Yasonna said in a gathering in South Tangerang in December last year to express appreciation for Antasaris probation.

Antasari has repeatedly denied his involvement in the murder, saying a big power had manufactured the case against him. (jun)
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Linkedin Ganug Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post) Salatiga, Central Java  Wed, January 25, 2017

Over 1,100 ballots in Salatiga, Central Java, were found to be damaged during a sorting process conducted by Salatiga General Elections Commission (KPU) officials. The commission also discovered a shortfall of 204 ballot papers delivered from the printing house.

The sorting and folding process of ballots for the 2017 election is complete. As many as 1,136 ballots are damaged, some of them were either torn or creased during the printing process while others are ink-stained, said KPU Salatiga official Putnawati on Wednesday.

For the upcoming election, the commission has provided 129,930 ballots, the number of voters registered in the final voter list (DPT) plus extra ballots amounting to 2.5 percent of the total DPT. KPU Salatiga has also provided 2,000 ballots for rerun elections.

Putnawati said the commission hired 20 local residents to help sort and fold the ballots. They worked from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., for which they were paid Rp 100 (less than 1 US cent) per ballot.

They worked based on a contract. They started to work last week and their work is already complete, said Putnawati.

She said the KPU had asked the management of the printing house, which is located in Malang, East Java, to replace the damaged ballots and send the missing 204 ballots.

Putnawati was optimistic the election of regional heads in Salatiga would run smoothly. The commission continues to introduce the election to first-time voters. Working with the district-level election committees, KPU Salatiga has taken a road show to schools to encourage students aged 17 years and over to exercise their right to vote. (ebf)
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Linkedin Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25 2017

On the heels of a controversial remark attributed to Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, religious sentiments have escalated among voters in the capital, with many thinking that they should vote for a leader according to religion, a survey says.

A recent survey of 880 respondents carried out by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) found a significant increase of people in Jakarta who believe that religion should be taken into consideration when choosing a leader, growing from 40 percent in April last year to 71.4 percent this month.

The survey said a significant increase of voters adhering to such a principle was sparked in September when Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent who is seeking to hold onto the governors position he inherited from Joko Jokowi Widodo, made a statement afterwards deemed controversial because he cited a Quranic verse during a speech in Thousand Islands regency.

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25 2017

Despite many House of Representatives factions expressing opposition to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) getting the newest deputy speaker post in the House, the Democratic Party has swum against the tide and welcomed the bid.

Democrat lawmaker Khatibul Umam Wiranu argued that the PDI-P deserved the position having secured the largest number of votes during the legislative election in 2014.

For this reason, the Democratic Party endorses only one additional article in order to allow the PDI-P to be granted the deputy chairmanship seat, Khatibul said. This is to restrict deliberation from having to accommodate more demands from other factions.

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Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

The number of freshmen falling victim to hazing allegedly at the hands of a climbing club of the Indonesia Islamic University (UII) in Yogyakarta continues to increase, with the hospitalization of 10 students.

The Mapala Unisi climbing club freshman orientation program on the slopes of Mount Lawu in Central Java on Jan. 13 to 20 has claimed the lives of three UII students. Thirty-seven students joined the program.

All participating students have undergone medical checkups. Now, 10 of them need further [hospital] treatment, UII spokesperson Muzayin Nazarudin told reporters at the Jogja International Hospital in Yogyakarta where the students are being treated.

Muzayin refused give details of students medical conditions. The UII together with the Karanganyar Police [in Central Java] started questioning some participants Tuesday, he said, refusing to elaborate.

He also said UII rector Harsoyo had suspended the Mapala Unisi club.
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Linkedin Julia Suryakusuma (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25 2017

Who doesnt love a sweet love story, especially if its of the most publicly visible power-couple in the world? Of course I am referring to Michelle and Barack Obama, who recently left the White House after their eight-year rent-free stint there.

Recently I watched the film Southside with You (2016), based on their first date in 1989 in Chicago. Or non-date, as Michelle Robinson, her name at the time, insisted. She was Baracks supervisor at the Sidley Austin law firm where she worked, and he was a summer associate. As they were colleagues, she was reluctant to call it a date, but agreed to go because he invited her to a community meeting.

They ended up spending the whole day together visiting an Afrocentric art gallery, lunch in a park, attending the community meeting, watching a movie, ending with a chocolate ice-cream flavored kiss. Hmm, some non-date!

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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

Service outsourcing firm PT ISS Indonesia saw high revenue growth in 2016 despite the domestic economic slowdown, thanks to increased demand for firms to reduce risks surrounding worker issues.

During an economic slowdown, more businesses reduce risks from manpower issues by outsourcing more. We see this as an opportunity, the firms president director, Elisa Lumbantoruan, said during a visit to The Jakarta Post.

People say the economy is declining but last year was the best year for us with 14.8 percent revenue growth, higher than 13 percent in the past, he said.

(Read also: Indonesia a potential hub for outsourcing: GSLI)

That was even after we rejected some contracts totaling 11 percent of our whole business as we decided to only select those who were willing to pay the rate that we set, he added.

The company is aiming for similar growth figures on the back of more contracts and maintaining customers trust through work quality.

ISS, the local arm of Denmark-listed ISS, is eyeing contracts from private and state firms amid ambitious government infrastructure projects.

More and more state firms are using our services because they have started paying more attention to quality, Elisa said.

The company, employing 61,000 workers, now has 3,500 clients, 20 of which contribute to 40 percent of its revenue. ISS Indonesia accounted for only 4 percent of its parent companys revenue in 2015 of US$13.1 billion. (bbn)
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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, January 25, 2017

The governments recent decision to allow the exports of copper concentrate, nickel ore and washed bauxite is a pragmatic move, says Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan.

The government does not see this as a relaxation but as a decision that is realistic [to the circumstances]. The Mining Law stipulates that smelters must be completed by 2014. But what can you do? the minister said during the opening of the Indonesia Energy Roadmap seminar in Central Jakarta on Wednesday.

If we confiscate everything, do you think that the state can build all the smelters in one night? he added.

On Jan. 11, the government issued a fourth revision of Government Regulation No. 23/2010 on the management of mineral and coal businesses.

(Read also:Energy minister reported over mineral export ban relaxation)

The newest revision, Government Regulation No. 1/2017, allows mining companies to continue exporting copper concentrates and certain amounts of low-grade nickel ore and washed bauxite as long as they have converted their contract of work to a special mining license (IUPK). Furthermore, companies holding an IUPK must also officially express their commitment to building smelters in the country within five years.

Jonan defended the governments decision and said miners who had been allowed to export minerals would be evaluated every six months in order to check whether smelter construction was running as it should.

If the smelter development was not to the governments satisfaction, than the export permit would be revoked, Jonan said.

We are just giving them time, but whether they like it or not, there will be no more exports after 2022. We give them five years, after that, no more. You have to build smelters, he said. (bbn)
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Linkedin Rizal Harahap (The Jakarta Post) Pekanbaru  Wed, January 25 2017

As one of the affected provinces in the countrys worst haze crisis in 2015, Riau province has followed the example of two of its regencies by declaring emergency status on Tuesday in a bid to expand fire-anticipation

initiatives.

The declaration followed those by Rokan Hulu regency and Dumai city in Riau, which declared emergency status last week after hot spots were detected in the areas. The provinces declaration also followed a call by President Joko Jokowi Widodo on Monday for regional heads of haze-prone areas to be on the alert and have early prevention systems, Riau Governor Arsyadjuliandi Andi Rachman said.

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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan  Wed, January 25 2017

One month has passed, but Jamal Husein has not received the results of his interview with the team from the United States government.

Jamal is one of the hundreds of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar being accommodated in Medan, North Sumatra, who are seeking asylum status and resettlement in the US.

We are anxious because there is no announcement on the result as of today and I am worried that the plan to send us to the US could fail to materialize, he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

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By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Jan 24 (PTI) Bollywood actor Sidharth Malhotra said its unfortunate that a person died during a massive rush to have a glimpse of superstar Shah Rukh Khan at Vadodara railway station in Gujarat.

"It depends where you are travelling if you are travelling to a place where people know you then one cant do much activities or anything that openly. Its very unfortunate. Its very sad. I dont know the exact details so I cant say much," the 32-year-old actor told reporters here at an event.

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Tragedy hit SRKs train promotion campaign for his upcoming "Raees" when a man died of cardiac arrest during a massive rush to have a glimpse of the superstar at Vadodara railway station in Gujarat that also left two policemen injured.

The "Student of the Year" star believes that marketing movies is like a norm and actors are doing their job.

"I think all of us have the intention to promote our films. We have been marketing films, going out to promote, its a norm. I was not there to experience and to see what happened (but) I read about it. Its a very sad and unfortunate. Its an accident and no one has done it intentionally, " he added.

"Raees" will be clashing with Hrithik Roshan starrer "Kaabil" and Sidharth will see both the films, which release tomorrow.

"I want to see both the films. In college days we used to see one film after the other. Whichever films ticket I get first I will watch it," he quipped. PTI KKP NRB JCH

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Andi Hajramurni and Syamsul Huda M.Suhari (The Jakarta Post) Makassar/Gorontalo  Wed, January 25, 2017

Election organizers in Sulawesi have begun preparation to bring ballots and other materials to remote areas ahead of the simultaneous elections slated for Feb. 15.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) Takalar regency in South Sulawesi, for example, has prioritized distribution of ballots and other equipment in five island villages in Mappakasunggu district.

KPU Takalar chairman Jusalim Sammak said Wednesday the commission would prepare boats to take the materials to their destinations. Around 5,000 voters will cast votes in 16 polling stations in the five villages.

In total, 205,418 voters have been registered and 351 polling stations are being prepared for the regental election in Takalar when incumbent ticket Burhanudin Baharuddin-Natsir Ibrahim will compete with the Syamsari Kitta-Achmad Daeng Se're ticket.

(Read also: KPU worried bad weather will disrupt delivery of election materials)

In Gorontalo, the distribution of materials has been hampered by heavy downpours for the last several days.

KPU Gorontalo province member Verrianto Madjowa said the arrival of the trucks bringing the ballots from Makassar, South Sulawesi, were delayed due to bad weather.

The trucks also experienced flat tires, Verrianto told The Jakarta Post.

The commission has prioritized distribution to remote villages such as Lembah Permai, Bukit Tinggi, and Bohusami in Pohuwato regency; Papualangi and Cempaka Putih in North Gorontalo regency; as well as villages in Pinogu District, Bone Bolango regency.

Some of the villages in Pinogu can only be reached after walking for 10 hours, he said.

As many as 101 regencies and cities will conduct simultaneous regional elections on Feb. 15. (bbs)
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Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, January 26 2017

The city administration will close parts of Jl. Fatmawati in South Jakarta for the next six months to expedite the construction of the mass rapid transit (MRT) system in the area.

It has therefore arranged a number of detours on several major roads to provide alternative routes for motorists who used to rely on Jl. Fatmawati for their daily commute.

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Linkedin Sebastian Partogi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, January 26 2017

Prasanti Widyasih Sarli, a 27-year-old assistant lecturer at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), who loves Indian cuisine, said she was often confused when trying to find Indian restaurants in Jakarta when she was in the city at the weekends.

I really like masala dosa, a food from southern India. I prefer the regions vegetarian foods as opposed to the foods from the northern part of India. Aside from that, probably naan bread and saag paneer, she told The Jakarta Post in an interview recently.

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Linkedin Veeramalla Anjaiah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, January 26 2017

The Indian community in Indonesia is like a United Nations because we have various types of Indians living on this beautiful archipelago. The majority of the Indians living here are Indonesian citizens. We also have people who hold Indian passports and we have Indian-Malaysians, Indian-Singaporeans, Indian-Americans, Indian-Australians, British Indians and so on.



Like Indonesians, members of the Indian community, who came from different ethnicities and speak various languages, embrace different religions like Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.



How did Indians end up in Indonesia?



First, many people in Indonesia and India do not realize that they are maritime neighbors. People of both countries have inherited cultural heritages that are thousands of years old and have so many things in common.



The island of Java, the most populous island in Indonesia, was mentioned in the great Indian epic, Ramayana, under the name of Yavadwipa (Barley Island). It was one of the places where search parties were sent out for Sita, the wife of Rama, and it was by this name that the island was known to Ptolemy, the acclaimed geographer of the 2nd century AD.



In ancient times, Indians were well known as merchants and sailors, sailing to several countries in Southeast Asia for trade and to propagate Hinduism and Buddhism. These religious and trade missions to Southeast Asia had led to the establishment of several Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms in many countries.



In the past Indians were not known as a mobile people like the Jews and the Chinese. It was Indias colonial masters who contributed to Indian migration when they took Indian laborers to their colonies in many countries, including Indonesia.



The British rulers sent hundreds of thousands of illiterate villagers  mostly from the southern part of India  to countries like Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Fiji and Suriname as indentured laborers to work on tea, sugar and rubber plantations in the 18th and 19th centuries.



According to many people in Medan, North Sumatra, the Dutch colonial masters also brought Indian laborers to Sumatra to work in plantations in 17th century. Some soldiers serving in the British colonial army and British companies Indian employees deployed in Indonesia decided to stay.



Those laborers were the earliest members of the Indian Diaspora in Indonesia.



Then, another wave of Indian migrants  small-scale traders, professionals and laborers  ventured into Southeast Asia during the early part of the 20th century to test their luck. This happened during the time of the partition of India in 1947.



Gujarati and Bombay traders  mostly Sindhis, Parsis and Marathis, Sikhs and Tamils  belonged to this wave of migrants. They arrived in Indonesia independently  some with nothing but the clothes on their backs  to establish textile, iron and steel, shoe and sporting equipment businesses, small shops and other enterprises in major cities, including Medan, Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Surakarta, Padang, Banda Aceh and Semarang.



Later, professionals and the educated elite of India arrived here seeking financial gain, particularly between 1990 and 1997 when Indonesias economy was booming.



This Indian expatriate group is made up of managers, accountants, entrepreneurs, teachers, information technology experts, bankers, traders, researchers, inventors, engineers and analysts. They work in various companies and organizations across Indonesia.



Besides advancing their own careers, members of the Indian community  both Indonesian citizens and Indian expatriates  have made significant contributions to their host country in many fields.



Some established schools of repute such as Gandhi Memorial Intercontinental School in Jakarta and Rama Global School and Rama Polytechnic, both in Purwakarta, West Java, thus contributing to the development of education in the country. There are also many Indian schools in Karawang and Bandung in West Java, Surabaya in East Java, Medan in North Sumatra and Denpasar on Bali.

__________________________________



"The Indian Diaspora represents the best of Indian culture, ethos and values.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Star/Asia News Network) Kuala Lumpur  Wed, January 25, 2017

AirAsia X has received clearance from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to fly to any destination in the the US, making its foray into an entirely new market as it looks beyond the Asia Pacific.



The airline is the first Asian low-cost carrier to secure approval to operate scheduled passenger flights to the US, it said on Tuesday.



AirAsia X is considering flights to several US states including Hawaii as part of its route expansion plans.



Its group CEO Datuk Kamarudin Meranun said this was a major milestone for AirAsia X.



Our expansion up until now has concentrated on Asia, Australasia and the Middle East, and we are excited about our first foray into an entirely new market as we look beyond Asia Pacific.

(Read also: Korea eyes more Southeast Asian tourists)



"I'm confident travellers will respond well to our award-winning service and the kind of connectivity we can offer with our Fly-Thru product. As part of our expansion plans, we are also looking to resume our very popular London route, and are working towards securing the necessary approvals."



Kamarudin said none of this would be possible without its Allstars, especially group chief operating officer Anaz Ahmad Tajuddin, who passed away two weeks ago.



We wouldn't be where we are today if he had not laid the foundations with his blood, sweat and tears, and his bravery in the face of cancer showed us the true meaning of strength. This is for you, Anaz."



Fly-Thru allows guests to seamlessly connect to anywhere within AirAsia's wide network with just one stop at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Asia's No. 1 low-cost carrier hub - and other convenient transit hubs in Thailand and Indonesia, without having to pass through immigration and with their baggage checked through to the final destination.

This article appeared on The Star newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
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Linkedin Suherdjoko (The Jakarta Post) Semarang  Wed, January 25, 2017

Semarang residents in Central Java enthusiastically welcome the annual Semawis bazaar, which opened on Tuesday to mark the upcoming Chinese New Year.

Some 2,000 peoples attend the event each day, said the bazaars Imlek culinary festival chairman, Firdaus Anggoro. They are from out of town, as well as Semarang residents, he said.

The bazaar, themed Pasar Obar-Abir (Colorful Market), will run until Jan. 26, two days before Imlek 2568, Year of the Rooster.

[The colorful bazaar aims to] remind Indonesians about the meaning of pluralism, chairman of the Kopi Semawis (Semarang Chinatown community for tourism), Harjanto Halim, said.

The bazaar committee arranged a communal dinner on a long table on Tuesday evening.

Fashion, handicraft products as well as traditional Chinese medicine could also be found at the bazaar set up in the Wotgandul Timur and Gang Pinggir areas.

Attendees can also enjoy wushu demonstrations, a barongsai lion dance, Semarang-style ketoprak theater and a potehi puppet show, as well as various talk shows.
The Pepe River in the Pasar Gede area in Surakarta, Central Java, is picturesque at night thanks to the hundreds of lanterns hanging along the riverbank, which stretches around 500 meters. The site has become a popular tourist destination during Chinese New Year.

Starting Thursday, the river also offers water tourism, where visitors can float down the river in a wooden boat. At Rp 10,000 (less than US$1) fare per person, they can conveniently enjoy the festivity's atmosphere at night.

Visitors prepare to embark on a river cruise.(JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)

"Chinese New Year has become a reason to revamp the river. We want Pepe River to serve as a water tourism site, like the Hoi An River in Vietman or Cheong Gye Cheon River in Korea," said Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi Rudy Rudyatmo, adding that the administration cleaned the river once a month alongside officials and local communities. "Not only Pepe River, but also the Anyar and Jenes rivers."

Three years ago, Pepe River was known to be dirty and dense. Semi-permanent houses could be found lined on its banks here and there. All household waste, as well as industrial waste, were usually thrown directly into the river.

(Read also: West Kalimantan expedition set to explore Indonesia's longest river)

The boats are adorned with red and blue lights to make them more exciting.(JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)

Since 2014, Surakarta administration started to rejuvenate the small river, which its waters flow toward Bengawan Solo River. In the past two years, it also relocated 340 family heads who lived on the banks to low-cost apartments (rusunawa).

Interestingly, historian Mufti Raharjo said that Pepe River played a big part in the city's history as it had been mentioned since the Pajang kingdom era of the mid-16th century. "During those times, Bengawan Solo had 44 merchant ports that were very important for the city's trade. One of them was Pepe River port," he said.

Today, hundreds of people could be found strolling the small river's banks every night for leisure.

"We're really curious about this river tourism. It turned out to be quite excitingtaking a nightly boat ride down the river that has been adorned with lanterns. Hopefully [the decorations] are still here after Chinese New Year," said Retnowati, 22, who hopped on one of the boats with her family.

(Read also: Water puppet shows a must-see for tourists in Vietnam)

Hundreds of visitors are said to enjoy the river tourism every night.(JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)

Irsyad, 34, said he experienced a unique sensation while cruising the river, which reminded him of the time he visited Hoi An River in Vietnam. "It's not as good as the river tourism in Vietnam, but at least it has the potential to be better. Anyone will be happy if the river is clean," he said.

Retno Wulandari, the president of Indonesia Marketing Associations (IMA) Surakarta Chapter, said it currently was cooperating with hotels to offer Chinese New Year, or Imlek, tourism packages in Surakarta. "Aside from Jakarta and Bandung, visitors from Malaysia and Singapore have also expressed their interest," she said.

Among the packages is a 8-day, 7-night tour that includes a visit to Yogyakarta and join Grebek Sudiro celebrations; and a three-day, one-night stay in Surakarta, which includes touring Pepe River by boat. "We will continue to offer the river tourism after Imlek; probably available every weekend. Such tourism is not yet available in Surakarta; it will be very interesting," she added. (kes)

The experience is offered at just Rp 10,000 per person.(JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)
"During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in a statement.

By Press Trust of India: America considers India a "true friend and partner", US President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a phone conversation during which they resolved to stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" in the global fight against terrorism and work together for defence and security.

During their conversation, the two leaders extended invitations to each other for visits.

"During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in a statement.

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Also Read: Had a warm conversation with US President Trump, invited him to India: PM Modi

"President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the US later this year," it said.

Also read: As Donald Trump pulls US out of Trans-Pacific deal, Australia says China can fill the vacuum

INDIA-US PARTNERSHIP

The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.

Besides this, they also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the US and India stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, the statement said.

Modi, who is the fifth foreign leader Trump have spoken with over phone after being sworn-in as the new US President on January 20, said, they "agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties".

"Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening," the Prime Minister tweeted.

"Have also invited President Trump to visit India," Modi said.

Also Read: Donald Trump dials PM Modi: Here is what the two leaders discussed

TRUMP'S FONDNESS FOR INDIA

After Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the November 8 general elections, Modi was among the first world leaders to have congratulated Trump.

During his gruelling election campaign, India was among the few countries in addition to Israel with whom Trump spoke of strengthening ties if elected to power.

On January 21, Trump spoke with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

On Sunday, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and yesterday he had a telephonic conversation with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Also read: Trump administration warns China over South China Sea dispute

Also Watch: What Trump presidency means for India and fight against terror

WATCH THE VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
The lighting comes as the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the guest of honour for India's Republic Day on Thursday.

By India Today Web Desk: Burj Khalifa tower, the world's tallest building located in Dubai, today lit up in the colours of the Indian National flag to celebrate India's 68th Republic Day, a media report said. This will continue on Thursday as well.

The LED shows will be held today and on Thursday along with the Dubai Fountain shows, the Khaleej Times reported today.

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In addition to the shows, the Indian Consulate in Dubai has a flag-hoisting ceremony at the consulate premises by Consul General Anurag Bhushan, followed by flag-hoisting at the Indian High School grounds in Oud Metha.

The ceremony at the school will include a march-past by the students. In the evening, a cultural programme titled "Aaj Ki Shaam Desh Ke Naam", will be hosted at the school grounds where the students will perform various folk dances and other activities.

The programme, under the patronage of the Consulate, will also present people a chance to try various India cuisines.

Our second show has just started! Are you watching the 68th Republic Day of India celebrations with #BurjKhalifa tonight? pic.twitter.com/FWH3nIlidY Burj Khalifa (@BurjKhalifa) January 25, 2017

The lighting comes as the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the guest of honour for India's Republic Day on Thursday. He was ceremonially welcomed by President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday and held talks in New Delhi with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both sides inked a number of agreements.

ALSO READ:India, UAE sign pacts to increase economic cooperation WATCH VIDEO:

--- ENDS ---
If the sight of a big haggis turns you off a bit, were here to prove the Scottish delicacy is tastier and more versatile than you might think.

January 25 marks the annual celebration of the life and work of Scottish poet Robert Burns. There are many ways to get into the spirit  a ceilidh, whisky or a kilt  but one of the most important traditions is the savoury pudding made from sheep offal, suet, spices and oatmeal - the humble haggis.

Burns Night tradition says that you must address the haggis, if youre being really strict about it, while reading the Robert Burns poem of the same name, before shouting the haggis! while you cheers with whisky. So, yeah, its a pretty important slice of savoury pudding.

Now, we understand if this particular Scottish delicacy sounds a bit intimidating. Especially when it looks the way it does and you have no idea what to do with it

So here are some other ways to try haggis this Burns Night.

1. Haggis scotch eggs

a recipe One way to dramatically improve anything is to add a runny egg. So heresfor Jamie Olivers haggis and pork scotch eggs. You just know theyll be good.

2. Haggis sausage rolls

recipe If a big pile of haggis isnt your thing, pay homage to the Scottish tradition with these flaky, meaty mouthfuls. Heres a greatfrom The Twice Bitten blog for a party, to impress your housemates, or scoff all of them yourself.

3. Haggis nachos

Flavour Seeker recipe. You dont get many Scottish-Mexican hybrid dishes, but who says haggis nachos cant be a thing? It has to be the easiest of all the options to make with this

4. Crispy fried haggis balls

this recipe There are many tasty looking varieties of these online, butfrom the Nick Nairn Cooking School, made with turmeric and paprika with a chilli dipping sauce on the side, might be our favourite.

5. Haggis pie

this Delia recipe Embrace all things Burns Night withincluding tatties, neeps and whisky sauce. It doesnt get any more Scottish.

6. Chicken supreme stuffed with haggis

(Donald Russell)

Donald Russell recipe To please the haggis-sceptics, thisjust uses the Scottish delicacy as a stuffing rather than the focus of the whole dish. Its served with a whisky cream sauce. Erm, yum.

7. Steak and haggis burgers
Despite having faced the most severe financial adversity since the Great Depression and the thorn in his side of a Republican-led Congress, Barack Obama left office having changed perceptions of the US across the world, fixed the economy and with a collection of signature achievements to his name.

Donald Trumps blunt rhetoric has made it quite clear he wants to take a very different direction from Obamas administration, however.

(Carolyn Kaster/AP)

So for those of you biting your nails off worrying what Trump might do, we asked  whats Trump-proof? Talking with Dr Tom Long of the University of Reading, an expert on US politics, we tried to find out.

What may be Trump-proof?

(Alex Brandon/AP)

There are measures made by Obama which reinforce his policies against tampering from successive presidents  and Long suggests this brings some of his work close to Trump-proof.

For example Obama has dramatically expanded some aspects of federal protection for different areas of land for the creation of new national parks of new preserves that will not be opened for mining or oil exploration, says Long.

It is not just federal protection which can make something safe from Trumps changes, however. By building powerful private support for his policies, Obama has protected them with a constituency of support.

Long suggests the litmus test for if Obama was successful in this regard is Obamas work to appease relations between the US and Cuba  as Trump has previously said he wishes to reinstate the Cuban embargo.

(J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Obamas work to end the embargo  which began in the 50s  relied heavily on executive orders. This in theory makes it easy for future presidents to overrule this work without even needing to pass legislation in Congress. However, he also encouraged private businesses such as hotel, airline and construction companies to make significant investments there.

These major businesses arent going to let those investments go and are going to lobby hard against a return to the status quo anti-Cuba policy, says Long, who points out the power of lobbying which could be seen in the US debate over gun control.

For some of Obamas executive policies, such as Cuba, he might have shifted the political dynamic enough that its not worth it for the next president to radically change them.

May Trump actually support some of Obamas policies?

(Alex Brandon/AP)

Im not sure because its so difficult to know what Trump actually wants to do, laughs Long. But one area may be increasing spending on infrastructure domestically.

Trump has spoken of building walls, but he has said he wants to build roads and bridges too. Long says for decades the infrastructure has been underfunded in the US, and it is something Obamas administration also wanted work on quickly, investing in a stimulus programme in 2009.

That said the way in which thats done could be quite different, says Long, who notes Obamas spending on infrastructure was all about strengthening unions, while rhetoric from Trumps camp suggests they may avoid union involvement.

Whats vulnerable to Trumps changes?

(J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

The Paris Agreement on climate change is an issue Trump can change, which significantly affects not just the US but the world.

Trumps signals on this have been inconsistent but certainly not positive for the Paris accords, says Long. He could pull out from them and I think he will be quite weak in enforcing some of the domestic provisions for those.

That said if the international community sends a strong signal and says it is committed to those agreements as the UN have claimed, its going to be costly for Trump to back away from those.

(Michael Sohn/AP)

Perhaps the most vulnerable legislation of Obamas is his healthcare act. Trump received a lot of support for his insistence he will repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, but Long suggests suggests Trump wont even need to repeal it.

Instead of trying to fix the ACAs shortcomings, the Republican Congress has certainly made every indication that theyre going to let the act collapse under its own flaws  while exacerbating those flaws by taking money away, says Long.

And what of the USs role in the world?

(Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Long says Bushs administration was a move towards unilateralism, and Obamas a move towards international cooperation  so how will Trumps great vision of the US on the world stage?

What weve seen is that perception can change very quickly, but now weve seen it go in both directions, says Long. One towards a much more positive perception of the US under Obama and now, during Trumps campaign and the election, a swing back to a great deal of concern about the USs role in the world.

But the distribution of power in the world is changing  its growing more diffuse. There are more actors exercising a greater degree of power and that can make it more complicated for even a very powerful country like the US to get its way.

(John Minchillo/AP)

I think Trump will find himself very frustrated by the complexities of influence and achieving influence in the world in ways that he does not seem to appreciate, says Long. Or at least his rather simple rhetoric about US foreign policy doesnt show much grasp of.

So, although Trump can and will change the way the US is perceived globally, trying to make America great again might not be quite as simple as he appears to think.
By Supriya Bhardwaj: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat kicked off Congress' election campaign in the poll-bound state by embarking on the 'Uttarakhand Swabhiman Yatra'. The yatra will criss-cross through 70 assembly constituencies of the state.

"The soil of Uttarakhand is my own, I grew up here. There is no bigger joy than being among my own people. Divisive forces have worked towards destroying the state. We have to collectively fight them. This is about our swabhimaan (self-respect)", said Harish Rawat.

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The yatra will reach every household of Uttarakhand through nukkad meetings, rallies, padyatras and roadshows.

Also read | Uttarakhand election: Congress releases first list of candidates, workers protest

The party will also organise the 'Rawat Sang Dawat' (lunch at a party worker's home) and Jan Bhoj (dinner with party workers) everyday to reach out to voters as well as party workers.

--- ENDS ---
Many cities have tried to claim that they are the 'Venice of the North,' including Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and, more ridiculously, Manchester.

Stockholm, as well as being arguably the capital of Scandinavia, can make a serious stake to that claim. Like the famously beautiful Italian city, the Swedish capital is built on a vast array of small islands, its many districts broken up by waterways, both large and small.

There are a few things about Venice they don't tell you in the visitors' guide, such as the extortionate restaurants and the way in which the city's many canals are still sometimes used for sewage, which creates a really bad smell.

Stockholm, though a little colder, is troubled by neither of these problems - its people are incredibly friendly, and more importantly, the air smells fresh and clean.

Yet in many ways, Stockholm is central European rather than Scandinavian in its character, the many buildings, cathedrals and lengthy streets seeming Italian or Austrian in their appearance. Walking across the Strombron bridge into the beautiful Gamla Stan, the old town, you could be fooled into thinking you were in a holiday town in southern Europe, rather than in one of the economic centres of the north.

But don't be fooled into thinking Stockholm is just a Scandinavian replica of an Italian metropolis, for the city has a proud identity of its own, which is largely rooted in its impressive maritime history, which is today recorded in the countless museums and shipping buildings dotted around the city centre.

Although arguably the most interesting museum here houses an artefact from a rare moment of Scandinavian incompetence. The Vasa ship, now sitting proudly in a specially constructed concrete warehouse in the city's east end, was built in the early 1600s with the intention of being a proud defender of its Swedish motherland on the high seas. However, a screw-up in the design ensured that the beautiful Vasa would sink, rather pathetically, before it even made it out of the city's harbour for the first time.

The city does not like to dwell on this, so the people here are lucky, to a certain extent, that Stockholm is known internationally for two other things: first, being the home of ABBA, and second, for lending its name to the strange psychological condition in which hostage victims fall in love with their captors.

The bank where the original robbery and hostage situation took place is located in Norrmalmstorg, one of the city's many charming public squares, and not all that far from the large museum entirely dedicated to the output of Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha and Anni-Frid. You can tell that Stockholm is proud of its legendary pop quartet - even our hostel was replete with pictures of the famous four posing in their prime.

Not everything in this city is pretty, however. An area at the southern end of Gamla Stan was a huge mess when we visited, as it is in the middle of a major redevelopment project to streamline the city's chaotic public transport system. The concrete shell with traffic pouring out in all directions, like tiny creatures from a recently disturbed ant hill, looked pretty apocalyptic in the January rain.

A bit more attractive, but no less busy, are the two major shopping streets - Kungsgatan and Drottningattan (King and Queen Street), which intersect to create one of the largest commercial districts north of Germany. Kungsgatan was once the home of the famous department store in which Greta Garbo, perhaps the most famous Swedish blonde in history, once worked in the millinery department. Her famously sultry personality was well known, even as a young girl running errands for the store's manager.

I had a foul cold when I arrived in Stockholm, which a slow train from my home in Oslo did little to help. However, Sweden's comparatively cheap alcohol, which took away most of the pain, and at some points the memory of the cold in the first place, helped a lot. So too did the fresh air from the Baltic Sea, which sweeps over the city and works its way through its many streets. It is a lot more brisk and fresh than the pungent smell that is said to hang over Venice, of which Stockholm, if not exactly its Scandinavian double, is an austerely beautiful younger sister.
The Night Shift signalled a return to the usual Brooklyn Nine-Nine fare, after the fast-paced three-part Coral Palms trilogy that opened the fourth season. And in true Nine-Nine style, its fourth episode includes one of the weirdest  yet smartest  crossovers to date.

Other than the crossover, The Night Shift is probably one of the most beneficial episodes of this season. As good as the Coral Palms trilogy was in mixing up the narrative norms of Nine-Nine, The Night Shift could have easily been the premiere episode for this season if the Pimento/Figgis storyline wasnt a running thread from season three.

The Night Shift picks up three weeks have after the gang defied the orders of Captain Jason C.J. Stentley (Ken Marino) and travelled to Americas sticky butt to save Holt (Andre Braugher) and Peralta (Andy Samberg) from the hands of crime-boss Jimmy The Butcher Figgis (Eric Roberts).

The prospect of the night shift dampens the Nine-Nines spirit, and the implementation almost drives them insane. Overtiredness turns the team to their dark sides, with Terry (Terry Crews) spouting sassy remarks and Santiago (Melissa Fumero) moping around the precinct, whilst spying on Diazs (Stephanie Beatriz) mysterious bathroom breaks. Gina (Chelsea Peretti), however, utilizes this night owl-ness and makes herself known on social media to those down under, adopting a terrible Australian accent in the process.

Nine-Nine is a show known more for its comedy than its ability to showcase growth of character. Were four seasons into Nine-Nine, and its clear to see in this episode alone how much characters like Peralta, Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio), Santiago and Diaz have grown. Santiago and Diaz are beginning to trust and look out for each other, whilst Boyle has found people other than Peralta to focus and care about. Peralta and Boyle are unbreakable, of course, but both learn to prioritise other people. For Boyle, its his wife and adopted son Nikolaj, and for Peralta its his surprisingly unfaltering and stable relationship with Santiago (excluding the awkward reunion of Coral Palms).

But what about this crossover? Who stumbled into New York and the path of the Nine-Nine? Why Jess Day (Zoe Deschanel) of New Girl of course! At first watch, the inclusion of this crossover so late in the episode didnt do The Night Shift a lot of justice, as it didnt give the episode a lot of substance. But thinking about it, maybe thats a good thing. Jess randomly turning up like this didnt feel like a crossover. Sure, its jarring to see Deschanel pop up in the setting of Nine-Nine so suddenly, but it doesnt stop the flow of The Night Shift, nor does it let the episode stray too far away from its usual formulaic, narrative structure.

The bonus of this is that the writers have much more room to poke fun at the idea of a crossover, which they take in their stride. This aspect alongside the growth of character and hilarity that is intertwined within the show makes for a promising fourth season. Alongside that, they take the opportunity of the Nine-Nine suffering from the night shift in their stride, torturing the team with the hilarious antics of Holt trying to boost morale.

The only thing I cant forgive this episode is the Nine-Nine getting rid of Peraltas frosted tips. WHY?!

Season Four of Brooklyn Nine-Nine airs weekly on E4 at 9pm.
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Chinese tourist, 67, in coma after being pulled unconscious from Phuket hotel pool

PHUKET: A 67-year-old female Chinese tourist is in a coma at Vachira Phuket Hospital after being pulled unconscious from the swimming pool of a hotel in Mai Khao yesterday evening.

accidentsChinesehealthpolicetourism

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Wednesday 25 January 2017, 10:04AM

The woman was initially taken to Thalang Hospital but due to her condition was later transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

At 7:17pm yesterday (Jan 24), Lt Col Sarit Butnongsang of the Tha Chatchai Police was informed of an incident where a Chinese woman had to be pulled unconscious from a hotel swimming pool in Mai Khao at the north of the island.

Upon arrival at the unnamed hotel, police were told by hotel staff that they had found the Chinese woman unconscious in the swimming pool. They recovered her from the pool and later Mai Khao rescue workers preformed CPR before transferring her to Thalang Hospital.

Lt Col Sarit said that Chinese woman, named as 67-year-old Chen Ping, was initially taken to Thalang Hospital but due to her condition was later transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital.

We believe that Ms Chen may have fallen into the pool. It was raining at the time the incident took place and it was slippery around the pool, he said.

When the woman was discovered in the pool she was still wearing shoes and did not have on a swimming costume, Lt Col Sarit added.

Police are questioning Ms Chens relatives and hotel staffs to find out the true cause of accident.
How many people have already voted absentee in South Dakota ahead of Election Day?

elections
Encouraging InScribe members to share their writings with each other and the world
In a major relief to foreign investors, the government on Tuesday clarified that income arising from transfer of unlisted shares by certain categories of alternative investment funds will not be liable for taxation.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said income from transfer of unlisted shares would not be taxed in the case of certain categories of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) registered with markets regulator Sebi.

The exemption would be applicable for Category I and II AIFs.

Income from transfer of unlisted shares is being considered as capital gains and liable for taxation, a scenario which was seen as a hurdle for foreign entities investing in the country's stock market.

Category-I AIFs are funds that receive incentives from the government, Sebi or other regulators. This include Social Venture Funds, Infrastructure Funds, Venture Capital Funds and SME Funds.

Category-II entities can put in their money anywhere in any combination but are prohibited from raising debt, except for meeting their day-to-day operational requirements. Private equity funds, debt funds or fund of funds, among others come under this category.

IVCA (Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association) Chairman Gopal Srinivasan said the investor community welcomes this clarification before the budget. Great collaboration between the industry and government to pursue the goals of ease of doing business and manage in India, he added.

"Primarily, Sebi registered Category I and II AIFs invest in unlisted shares of ventures, many of which are new set ups or start ups, and thus, some form of control and management of the underlying business many be required to be exercised by such AIFs to safeguard the interest of investors," the circular said.

It has been issued after receiving a representation.
For the first time, Nepalese workers going to India would be provided mandatory insurance cover under an ambitous plan unveiled by Prime Minister Prachanda for the welfare of people working in foreign countries.

Prachanda on Tuesday said that the government is to regulate Nepali migrant workers going to India, issuing them permission letters and provide insurance and other facilities such as are enjoyed by migrant workers in other countries.

This is the first time that the government has decided to regulate Nepalese working in India since the signing of the Nepal-India Treaty of Peace and Friendship, 1950.

"Now onwards, those going to work in India have to obtain a permission from the district administration office (DAO).

Before issuing such permission the DAO has to enlist them for a mandatory insurance and welfare fund," according to the plan.

Migrant workers for destinations other than India will now have to buy life insurance and general insurance coverage worth Rs.2 million from January 28.

However, workers going to India, after taking permission from the concerned district administration office from February 12, can buy the insurance worth up to Rs.1.25 million.

Hundreds of Nepalese cross the porous southern border with India every day in search of job opportunities. It seems difficult to implement such a plan due to lack of mechanism to stop the movement of migrant workers at Nepal-India border.

While unveiling the plan, Prachanda said it was aimed at providing better social security schemes to migrant workers, more importantly to the families of those killed and injured at their work destinations.

The decision, if enforced, could benefit more than 5 million Nepalese working at more than 110 work destinations across the world.

Officials said it might be extremely hard to persuade workers to buy insurance package due to bureaucratic hassle and cost factor.

"A majority of the people go India because they cannot afford to pay to go to the Gulf or Malaysia. Each worker will at least need Rs.20,000 to follow the due process," according to the official.
The Centre has assured Arunachal Pradesh for a special package to develop the telecommunication system in the state.

The assurance came from Union Department of Telecom (DoT) Secretary J S Deepak when the state Chief Secretary Shakuntala Doley Gamlin made the proposal, among others, during the two days meeting of DoT at Guwahati, which concluded on Tuesday, an official release informed on Wednesday.

Deepak said that the Union Ministry of Telecommunication would set up around 6,000 towers across Northeast under the comprehensive telecom development plant for Northeast India.

The project would connect more than 8,000 villages across the region in next two years.

BSNL would do this work in Arunachal Pradesh, he said.The Union secretary further assured to make more bandwidth available, wherever the VSATs are being installed, especially in district headquarters besides, improved connectivity through VSAT till optical fibres are laid on an interim basis and connectivity through OFC possible within a period of 2 years.

During the meeting the chief secretary apprised the department of the need to expand telecommunications in the strategically located state, mainly in view of GST implementation, demonetisation, educational purposes, promotion of tourism sector.

"The state government is looking to fulfill the vision of the Digital India and implement Go cashless, Go Digital policy, where telecommunication plays a vital role," Gamlin said.

She expressed concern over slow pace of works by the executing agencies in various projects and emphasized that Railtel and BSNL should carry out their work on war footing to complete their projects in a time bound manner so that implementation of GST and other e-Governance projects could be rolled out on time.

Gamlin further proposed to bring internet to the state expeditiously, which included among others a waive in spectrum charges for 5 years, dedicated office, speedy procurement of microwave emitters, review of entire network to increase reliability, incentives to private operators to invest and scale up operations in the state, optical connectivity by March 18, besides a VSAT hub at Itanagar.
In a significant political development, the Janata Dal United (JD-U) headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar has decided not to contest assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh after seven months of intensive campaigning and trying hard to project prohibition as the key poll issue. The six-phased elections in Indias most populous states begin next month.



A decision to this effect was taken at the two-day meeting of partys core committee which concluded here late Tuesday night. The JD-U has decided not to join the UP assembly polls. The purpose is to defeat the communal forces by stopping division in secular votes, partys national general secretary KC Tyagi told newsmen in Patna today.



Although the party cited division in secular votes as the reason behind pulling out of the UP poll contest, the inside story is that no party showed any interest in allying with the JD-U which has no base in the UP. In fact, the top party leadership shuddered at the mere thought of severe poll defeat in the absence of alliance with any party and hence was forced to withdraw from the poll contest, feel observers.



Strangely, the JD-U was the first party to launch its poll campaign quite much in advance in a bid to present its clout and gain some political space. Encouraged by the empathic win in the Bihar polls and getting elected as partys new national chief, Mr Kumar launched the formal poll campaign by holding his party rally in Varanasi the political constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modion 10 May last year.



At the meeting, he extensively highlighted the issue of total alcohol ban he enforced in his home state and promised to repeat the same if given the chance to rule UP. In the next six month, the chief minister focussed his entire attention on UP, holding as many as six rallies in various pockets having sizeable population of Kurmi votes and publicly supporting the stand of Hardik Patel.



Through the extensive poll campaign focused around his liquor ban theme, the JD-U boss tried hard to stitch up an electoral alliance with any political party having even a little base in UP. First, he extended his hands of friendship with the RLD of Ajit Singh but the deal flopped as the JD-U leadership reportedly rejected the demand to send his son to Rajya Sabha.



Sometime later, the RJD itself tried to renew contacts with the JD-U. This resulted in holding a joint rally in Badaut town of Baghpat district in UP on 5 October 5. At the rally, both leaders agreed to project Jayant Chaudhary as the combines chief ministerial face but sometime later the matter again got stuck.



Left ignored, the JD-U tried to get closer to the Samajwadi Party, and under part of this strategy, it even send its representatives during a function organized in Lucknow in November last year to mark the silver jubilee of the SP but the latter too took no notice of the JD-U.



The family feud in the SP appeared having come as last bray of hope for the JD-U which very smartly supported chief minister Akhilesh Yadav against Mulayam Singh Yadav. But its last hope also got dashed as the SP entered into poll deal with the Congress without including other secular parties in alliance.



Nitish Kumar had no option other than withdrawing from the contest. He knows quite well that the embarrassment he faced today in withdrawing from the contest will be lesser than the one he would have faced after counting of votes. The fact is that the JD-U has no base anywhere in the country except Bihar, said observers.



In fact, the JD-U had already faced similar embarrassment when it failed to open its account in any of the three states, such as Kerala, Assam and West Bengal where elections were held in May last year. What was further humiliating, on most of the seats the party forfeited its security deposits, and Mr Kumar just didnt want to get another embarrassment in quick succession.



The BJP reacted sharply at the JD-U decision. The JD-U fled the poll arena even before facing the voters, mocked state BJP chief Nityanand Rai adding party leadership took this decision as they apprehended severe defeats in the elections.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hailed the country's democratic structure.

In a message on National Voters Day, she also urged the people to keep faith in a nation like India that is run "by the people, for the people".

"Proud of our great democracy," the Trinamool Congress leader tweeted.
Thirty-one leading scientists have issued an urgent plea to save humanitys closest biological relatives, saying scores of different species of apes, monkeys and other primates are all now facing impending extinction.

Despite gorillas, orang-utans and lemurs being among the most popular wild animals  a factor that helps fund conservation efforts  their main threats are almost entirely caused by humans.

Primates are hunted for meat and body parts or captured for life as pets; their habitats are destroyed as industrial-scale farms to make foodstuffs like palm oil take over previously wild land, dams are built, or mining, oil and gas companies move in; and new threats like climate change and the spread of human diseases to animals are also emerging.

Of the 504 primate species, about 60 per cent are threatened with extinction and 75 per cent have declining populations. However, the researchers, who published the findings of a major review of primates in the journal Science Advances, insisted they could still be saved. Despite the impending extinction facing many of the worlds primates, we remain adamant that primate conservation is not yet a lost cause, and we are optimistic that the environmental and anthropogenic pressures leading to population declines can still be reversed, they argued.

But they said this would only happen if effective measures were taken immediately. Unless we act, human-induced environmental threats in primate range regions will result in a continued and accelerated reduction in primate biodiversity, the scientists said. Primate populations will be lost through a combination of habitat loss and degradation, population isolation in fragmented landscapes, population extirpation by hunting and trapping, and rapid population decline due to human and domestic animal-borne diseases, increasing human encroachment, and climate change.

They said that perhaps the starkest conclusion of this review was the collective failure to preserve primate species and their habitats.

We have one last opportunity to greatly reduce or even eliminate the human threats to primates and their habitats, to guide conservation efforts, and to raise worldwide awareness of their predicament, the researchers added.

Primates are critically important to humanity. After all, they are our closest living biological relatives. Professor Paul Garber, of Illinois University, who co-led the study with Alejandro Estrada of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, emphasised how close extinction was for some iconic species. This truly is the eleventh hour for many of these creatures, he said, Several species of lemurs, monkeys and apes  such as the ring-tailed lemur, Udzunga red colobus monkey, Yunnan snub-nosed monkey, white-headed langur and Grauers gorilla  are down to a population of a few thousand individuals.

In the case of the Hainan gibbon, a species of ape in China, there are fewer than 30 animals left.

The critically endangered Sumatran orang-utan lost 60 per cent of its habitat between 1985 and 2007, Professor Garber added. And he said at times humans were exploiting forest habitats in needlessly destructive and unsustainable ways.

The biggest problem was the increasing amount of land being used for farming. Agricultural practices are disrupting and destroying vital habitat for 76 percent of all primate species on the planet, he said, In particular, palm oil production, the production of soy and rubber, logging and livestock farming and ranching are wiping out millions of hectares of forest. And that meant many primates were now clinging to life in the forests of China, Madagascar, Indonesia, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries.

Sadly, in the next 25 years, many of these primate species will disappear unless we make conservation a global priority, Professor Garber said.

This, by itself, would be a tragic loss. Now, consider the hundreds of other species facing a similar fate around the world, and you get a sense of whats truly at stake.

The Independent
Rusting of steel structures leads to disastrous loss of life and vital infrastructure  the loss can be particularly serious when the structure that fails is a high speed railway track.

British Steel, a company that came into existence when Indias Tata group sold its interests in the UK steel industry, has announced an innovation that bagged the award for the most interesting new product of the year at an event of the national rail industry in December last year. The product is called Zinoco and consists of a coating that protects rails from corrosion in the harshest conditions.

Corrosive environments can reduce rail life vastly, with unprotected rail lifetimes below six months being reported in some instances, says a page in the British Steel website. Whilst loss of rail section due to corrosion can occur generally or in more localised areas (like around rail fastenings) it is also important to note that foot fatigue failures often occur as a result of foot corrosion. Corrosion pits (often unseen) on the bottom of the rail can initiate fatigue cracks, which can then grow undetected, resulting in failure, the website says. Rusting is not the principal danger that rails face in the normal course where the punishment from the loads they carry is much more severe. But in specific places like coastal or low-lying areas, level crossings or special fittings, rusting can become a significant threat.

The process takes place in the presence of water and oxygen. Water, or H2O, consists of a pair of positively charged hydrogen atoms and a negatively charged oxygen atom, held together by electrical attraction. The components also partially separate and float about as charged particles. When there is also dissolved oxygen in the water, there are more oxygen atoms, which are not balanced by oppositely charged hydrogen atoms, and oxygen combines with iron to form the oxide, which we call rust. Rusting causes wasting away of the pure metal and the oxide with which it is replaced has none of the strength of the original.As rusting involves the movement of charged particles in water, the presence of salts that increase the electrical conductivity of water leads to faster rusting. This is the reason that salt sea water, even the salty spray in coastal areas, leads to rapid corrosion. In a celebrated experiment, scientist Ulick Richardson Evans showed that running a current through a salt solution and a pair of iron plates led to as much rusting of one of the plates as there was electric current.

Even without an external current, within a drop of water, there is a distribution of the charged atoms, which acts like an electric cell and drives a current. Within a small drop of water, placed on a piece of iron, negatively charged oxygen atoms repel each other and collect at the outer rim of the drop. This sets up a current from the centre of the drop to the rim with heavy formation of rust in the iron at the rim of the drop.

A simple trial of placing a drop of water on an iron sheet would show that the rust forms as a crater, higher on the outside, with a pit in the centre. Conversely, water that has been boiled to drive out the oxygen is not corrosive, as there is no free oxygen to combine with iron.

Paints and varnish form a coat that physically separates iron and steel from water or moisture.

If there is a scratch in the paint cover, rust forms within the scratch and takes the place of the paint lost, and protects the metal underneath. Stainless steel is an alloy of iron, chromium, manganese, silicon and some other metals. These elements react with oxygen contained in water and air to form a very thin, stable film of corrosion products. The film acts like a coat of paint, just a few atoms thick, and it forms very fast, with very little corrosive loss of body.

Painting is no use, of course, in the case of railway tracks, as the paint would degrade quite fast under the impact of wheels and the rigours of track maintenance. Different specialised coatings also fail under heavy corrosion or mechanical loading. This is the context of the British Steel development, of a covering that diverts any rusting to itself, rather than the steel rails when there is a breach in the covering.

In the case of the simple cell, shown in the picture, electrons flow from the zinc plate (which is called the anode) to the copper plate (called the cathode), because zinc (being a less noble metal) is electrically more active than copper. And as current flows, zinc reacts and passes into solution while hydrogen ions or the metal from dissolved copper salts collects at the copper plate. In the case of the iron plates in Evans experiment, shown in the picture, electrons flow from the plate B to the plate A and it is the former plate that loses metal to rusting.

In the same way, when iron and steel come in contact with water, there is a simple cell in action. The iron now plays the part of the anode and loses metal by combining with oxygen to form rust. And traditionally, the method to protect iron has been to keep the surface clean and dry or covered with a passive layer of grease or paint. The difference in the method developed by the British Steel researchers is to get the covering to play an active role by participating in the electrochemical rusting process.

The Zinoco cover has a metallic component that is more electrically active than iron (in the same sense that zinc is more active than copper in the simple cell).

In case of a rupture in the cover, the material takes the role of the anode while the exposed iron becomes the cathode.

The iron thus collects the positive, hydrogen part of the dissociation of water (in place of oxygen) and is saved from oxidation, or rusting. The loss of metal is of the Zinoco cover, which becomes the sacrificial anode.

That the new material protects railway tracks from corrosion has been demonstrated in trials by the track division of British railways, the French national railways and also the tracks in the Paris Metro system, the British Steel website says.
A ceremonial Border Personnel Meeting was held on Wednesday between the delegations of Indian Army and their Chinese counterparts in Chushul sector of Ladakh region on the occasion of Chinese Spring Festival.

"A ceremonial Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) on the occasion of Chinese Spring Festival was conducted today at Chinese BPM hut in Moldo garrison of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Chushul sector of Eastern Ladakh," a defence spokesman said here.

He said the Indian delegation was led by Brigadier R S Raman and the Chinese delegation was headed by senior Colonel Wang Jun Xian.

"The proceedings commenced by ceremonial hoisting of flags of both the countries, followed by ceremonial address by both delegation leaders and exchange of greetings and wishes.

Thereafter, the PLA personnel organised a cultural programme showcasing vibrant Chinese culture," the spokesman said.

Both the delegations interacted in a cordial and friendly environment, the spokesman said, adding the Chinese delegation also extended an invitation for another such meeting on January 29 at Daulat Beg Oldie.

"The delegation parted amidst feelings of friendship and commitment towards enhancing the existing cordial relations and maintaining peace along the Line of Actual Control," he added.
The 68th Republic Day Parade will showcase India's military strength and achievements in a range of areas and its diverse culture at the Rajpath on Thursday.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will be the Chief Guest of the Republic Day parade.

Led by Wing Commander Ramesh Kumar Dubey, the parade will start with four Mi-17 helicopters, flying an Indian flag and three other helicopters flying ensigns of the Army, Navy and the Air Force, will shower flower petals.

This will be followed by Parade Commander Lt Gen Manoj Naravane and his second-in-command, Maj Gen Rajesh Sahai paying respects to the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces  the President of India.

Param Vir Chakra and Ashok Chakra awardees will also follow the Parade Commander.

A contingent of UAE soldiers, along with its music band will lead the parade.

Major attraction of the parade would be marching of India's only mounted Calvary with its majestic horses.

The parade will also witness the heroic motor bike stunts by defence personnel. One of the major highlights parade will be the fly past by Mi-35 helicopters, indigenous combat light aircraft Tejas, Jaguars and Sukohis. However, these two events will be carried out at the fag end of the parade.

The army will also showcase its Tank T-90 and Infantry Combat Vehicle and Bramhos Missile, one of its treasured armour, its Weapon Locating Radar Swathi, Transportable Satellite Terminal and Akash Weapon System. Another attraction will be the Dhanush Gun system.

Advanced Light Helicopters Rudra will then make a fly-past.

The R-Day parade will also witness Mechanised Infantry Regiment, Bihar Regiment, Gorkha Training Centre and combined band of Punjab Regimental Centre, Sikh Regimental Centre, Madras Engineering Group, Infantry, Battalion (Territorial Army) Sikh Light Infantry.

The parade will also see tableau from ex-servicemen followed by Naval Marching Contingent and a naval tableau.

An Air force Marching Contingent followed by an air force tableau will also showcase India's air prowess.

The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) will showcase its Advanced Towed Artificial Gun System (ATAGS) and medium power radar Arudhra.

The Paramilitary forces contingent will be led by BSF's Camel Band followed by marching contingents of Indian Coast Guard, CISF, Delhi Police, elite NSG and the NCC.

Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Gujarat, Lakshdwaeep, Karanataka, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, these states will showcase their tradition and culture through their respective tableau.

The Department of Central Board of Excise and Customs under the Ministry of Finance, along with the Ministry of Skill Development, will also see their tableau at the R-Day Parade.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday termed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as one of Indias most valued partners adding that the shared concern on threat from radicalisation and terrorism was shaping the cooperation between the two nations.

UAE is one of our most valued partners and a close friend in an important region of the world, said Modi after holding talks with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Our shared concern on growing threat from radicalisation and terrorism is shaping our cooperation. Closer ties between India and UAE are of importance, not just to both countries, but to the entire neighbourhood, he added.

India and UAE signed 13 pacts including one on strategic cooperation and Modi said that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation will help steer Indias defence ties with the UAE in the right direction.

"We agreed to sustain the momentum of our relations in key areas including energy and investments," Modi said.

Modi added "We have been successful in creating new synergy in out ties. We have shaped an ambitious road map of engagement to make our comprehensive strategic partnership purposeful and action oriented."

"I expressed gratitude to His Highness for looking after the welfare of Indian nationals in UAE," he said, and added that he had also thanked him for allotting land for a temple for the Indian diaspora in Abu Dhabi.
The United States is a nation built on and constituted by immigrants. Surprisingly, this basis of the American nation has divided the country between the Democrats and Republicans, between Whites and non-Whites, affluent and indigents, employed and unemployed, male and female. America and its body-shopping exporters of human suppliers was the most contentious issue of the US presidential campaign 2016.

Starting with a modest 8385 persons who obtained lawful permanent resident status in 1820, the number expanded to 1051031 persons in 2015. However, it is not as if such manifold increase in numbers has seen a consistent northward trend. In the decade of 1980-89, green card holders doubled and crossed a million. In 1992-2000, the numbers were again scaled back to under a million per fiscal. During 2005-15, the annual numbers hovered just above a million. Going back into history, 8385 migrants in 1820 to 812870 in 1904 marked a 97-fold increase. Likewise, post-World War II witnessed a six-fold rise, from 108721 in 1946 to 641346 in 1988 (before it crossed over into the million plus range). Since then the annual grant of green cards has stagnated between 650000 and 1.10 million per annum, the lowest since America became an independent nation. The predominance of Latin American and Asian immigration in the late 20th and early 21st centuries starkly contrasts with the trend seen in 1960 when immigrants largely originated from Europe. In the 1960s no single country accounted for more than 15 per cent of the total immigrant population.

Asian card holders constituted 39-41 per cent of all green cards issued in 2013-15. For every European green card holder, there were four Asian holders. China, India and the Philippines constituted 7 per cent, 6-7.5 per cent and 5 per cent respectively, while Mexico, the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa claimed 15 per cent, 25 per cent, 7-12 per cent and 9-10 per cent of all green cards respectively. California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington attracted the maximum number of green card holders.

Are all Indian and Chinese green card holders fresh imports? Forty two per cent of Indians received employment-based green cards against 29 per cent Chinese, if one were to deem this as the original category. Twenty three per cent of Indian holders fell in the family-sponsored category against 20 per cent Chinese. While 32 per cent Indian card holders were relatives of US citizens, the Chinese outdid Indians at 38 per cent. Finally, only 2 per cent Indians fell in the diversity category against 11 per cent Chinese. However, what is most interesting is that from 2006-15, 493292 Indian nationals have been granted naturalised citizen status against 341281 Chinese, i.e. 44 per cent more. In fact, new naturalised Indian-Americans accounted for 7 per cent of 7388464 conferred compared with 4.50 per cent Chinese. Surprisingly, small Latin American and Caribbean nations like the Dominican Republic (3.50 per cent), Jamaica (2 per cent), Cuba (3 per cent), Haiti (2 per cent) have appreciable shares, perhaps out of proportion to their respective populations. Against all these nations, including India and China, stand 1113940 Mexican-Americans and 418894 Filipino-Americans, i.e. 15 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.

How do Indian and Chinese American migrants compare with other migrant communities? Chinese immigrants had much higher incomes compared to the total foreign-and native-born populations. In 2013, the median income of households headed by a Chinese immigrant was $57,000, compared to $48,000 and $53,000 for overall immigrant and native-born households, respectively. In 2013, 19 per cent of Chinese immigrants lived in poverty, a rate similar to all immigrants but slightly higher than the 15 per cent posted by the native-born population. In contrast, Indian immigrants have much higher incomes compared to the total foreign ~ and native-born populations.

In contrast, the median income of households headed by an Indian immigrant was $103,000. Only 6 per cent of Indian immigrants lived in poverty. About 70 per cent of Indian immigrants aged 16 and above were in the civilian labour force, compared to 67 per cent and 63 per cent of the total foreign and native-born populations, respectively. Indian immigrants were more than twice as likely to be employed in management, business, science, and arts occupations (73 per cent) than both the overall foreign-born (30 per cent) and native-born (38 per cent) populations. Indian immigrants were as likely as the native-born population to be uninsured (12 per cent), but much less likely to be uninsured than the overall immigrant population (32 per cent). Indian immigrants were more likely to have private health insurance (80 per cent) than both the total foreign and native-born populations (50 per cent and 67 per cent respectively).

Seventy per cent of Indian Americans aged 25 and above had college degrees in 2010, by far the highest rate among the six Asian-American groups that studied and 2.5 times the rate among the overall U.S. population. This is probably because of the H1-B visa programme, which allowed highly skilled foreign workers in designated specialty occupations to work in the U.S. In 2011, for example, 72438 Indians received H1-B visas, 56 per cent of all such visas granted that year. Not surprisingly, Indians received 86 per cent of all H1B visas with China a poor second at 5 per cent in 2014.

What does the mumbo-jumbo of statistics imply? First, that the US is not far different from many other former colonial nations of Europe when it came to cheap labour. Hence the high rates of migration, legal and illegal, ranged from former offshore sugar to cotton colonies. The first wave of immigration that came from Europe till 1945, post-War, needed cheap labour to build infrastructure and operate their factories and expand utilities in a cost-effective manner. The radical change in the complexion of migration to the US after 1945 and even more in the post-decolonisation years after 1960 created the wealth that is Americas today. Second, the White US population is fast ageing, birth rates are declining and social security for the Baby boomer generation is expected to be bankrupt by 2030. Third, the virtual dismantling of employees trade unions by various subterfuges such as employment has opened the labour market to wage undercutting, the prime beneficiaries of which are non-Indian and Chinese immigrants, legal and illegal.

Fourth, the cost of manufacturing and services has steadily increased over the decades, owing to 30-35 per cent corporate taxation, uncontrolled avarice of the health insurance and pharmaceutical sectors, rising wage demands of native-born, etc. All these made manufacturing and services in the US extraordinarily expensive and mostly uncompetitive, save for high technology. Trade and tariff barriers have evidently not helped much either, leaving monuments like Detroit and Flint in their wake. Fifth, economic deprivation, has given rise to immense social tension that is frequently spilling onto streets and schools, in the form of frequent fatal shootings. It is a travesty that 76 per cent of Americas wealth ~ a whopping $67 trillion ~ was held by just 10 per cent of all families in the US in 2013. The top 50 per cent of the country accounted for 23 per cent of the total wealth, with an average of $316,000 per family, leaving just 1 per cent of the total pie for the entire bottom half of the population. The average held was $36,000 for families that fell in the 26th to 50th percentiles. In in the lowest quarter, they had zero wealth and in fact, were $13,000 in debt on average. And all this from a report from the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO)! The wealth of families at the 90th percentile grew by 54 per cent between 1989 and 2013 while those at the 50th percentile experienced a paltry 4 per cent rise during the same period and those at the 25th percentile actually saw their wealth drop by 6 per cent .

Sixth, the complete dependence on cheap migrant labour has engendered a Gulf-like anathema for dirty jobs among native-born. Getting over this mindset takes a whole generation, if not longer. Seventh, to tar all immigrants with the same menial brush contradicts statistics mentioned above. There is a self-evident qualitative divide between European, Chinese and Indian immigrants and those from many other underprivileged parts of the world. Failure to recognise these would have disastrous consequences for Americas economy and reputation.

Yet India must remain beholden to Trump for ending exploitative body shopping by Indian I-T companies by pegging the minimum annual salary of Indian expatriates to $100000, a 30-40 per cent rise. To Trump or be trumped by migration then remains the central question.

The writer is a senior public policy analyst and commentator.
Despite its good intentions and many bold and positive decisions, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by Narendra Modi has been in the eye of a storm during the past several months. To a casual observer, it is clear that the government has not got due credit even though it has initiated a number of welfare measures.

Opposition parties have been vociferous in opposing every reform measure undertaken by the Modi government. One may argue that it is the job of the Opposition to make life difficult for the ruling party.

According to New Zealands Decision Maker Guide to Parliament and Government, it is the role of the Opposition to question the government of the day and hold them accountable to the public. In a way, as Dr Don Brash of the National Party of New Zealand says: The Opposition represents an alternative government but at the same time, it is responsible for producing different policies where appropriate.

In the case of India, though the political Opposition keeps questioning the Union government on every issue, it does not ever offer a different perspective on any policy proposed by the government. Oftentimes, we see that they oppose just for the sake of opposing.

Of course, it is accepted political strategy to change positions. As Nelson Mandela famously said, Where you stand depends on where you sit. In India, we can say that all Opposition parties, including the BJP and the Congress, are guilty of shifting their political stands depending on whether they sit on the Treasury benches or in the Opposition.

For instance, over the last few years, both the Congress and the BJP have changed their stands with regard to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) issue. When the Congress-led UPA government had introduced it in Parliament in 2011, the BJP had opposed it tooth and nail and the Congress later as the Opposition, stalled the measure when the ruling BJP was pushing to get it passed by the Parliament. Thus all parties have habitually changed their positions for political reasons.

A healthy political rivalry is fine, but lately it has been observed that the entirely opportunistic Congress-led Opposition has taken it to the extreme and it has now degenerated into a kind of enmity with the ruling NDA government. It is not difficult to understand why the Opposition parties have been crying themselves hoarse on anything and everything. That is because for them it has almost become a question of survival.

When the current government assumed charge on 26 May 2014, it was for the first time that the BJP was coming to power with an absolute majority. Furthermore, the Congress, which is the oldest political party in India and had ruled the country for most of its independent history, was reduced to a ridiculously low 44 seats. Both aspects were absolutely indigestible to the grand old party, particularly at a time when Crown Prince Rahul Gandhi was looking for an opportune moment to take over the party.

Initially, the Congress waited to see how the government was performing. What it saw was not to its liking as the government was walking away with the applause. The NDA government first formed a committee to trace the estimated Rs 15,00,000 crore of unaccounted money, thought to be stashed away in tax havens abroad. Then it tried to cut the red tape by scrapping the practice of setting up Groups of Ministers (GoMs) and Empowered Groups of Ministers (EGoMs), which perennially debated but were unable to take major decisions. The previous government had 62 such panels!

The Planning Commission, existing since Jawaharlal Nehrus time, was done away with. Instead, Modi set up Niti Ayog, to speed up decision-making. Besides, the Prime Minister also initiated several financial inclusive schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, aimed at bringing the poorest of poor into the banking stream. He also set up the National Food Grid, aimed at food security across the country.

With such welfare schemes and other positive initiatives, the people began to feel that there was indeed an efficient and result-oriented government at the Centre, which sought to make life comfortable for the common man. But this was discomforting for the Opposition. They realized that the ground was fast slipping from under their feet. If Modi was allowed to continue in the same vein, the Congress knew that it would soon be wiped out.

Undeterred, the government went ahead with many welfare schemes and other path-breaking projects including the Swachh Bharat Mission, Digital India, Make in India, and Namami Gange, a five-year project with a Rs 20,000 crore budget. At the same time, the country was fast-tracking infrastructure development, including new roads and bridges, bullet trains, telecommunication, and railways.

The Union government also set into motion such other schemes as crop insurance, Atal Pension Yojana for the benefit of people in the unorganized sector, inexpensive health insurance, and making available generic medicines at affordable prices under the Jan Aushadhi Yojana. In addition, Modi also introduced several other schemes to help the girl child, pregnant women and others.

Simultaneously, Modi was making friends abroad, thus raising the profile of the country internationally. However commendable and necessary this might be, the Opposition parties in India, opportunistic as they are, have been giving a torrid time to the ruling NDA.

However, that is to be expected. As the great scientist Albert Einstein once said, Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.

The desirability apart, the fact of the matter is that Opposition parties and their leadership are devoid of any concrete plan or strategy. They are below mediocre. Hence they keep throwing tantrums at all times because they fear that they may otherwise become irrelevant. And unfortunately, they are not capable of doing anything better!

Even though the quality of the Opposition is abysmal, the government cannot ignore them. It has to deal with them and do it diplomatically and effectively. In life, you can probably choose your friends, but there is no choice when it comes to your enemies.

Luckily for the ruling front, Indias Opposition is made of countless parties with diverse constituencies. It is very important to note that barring the Congress most others are just state or regional parties. They have their own constraints, concerns, and requirements. The BJP could address their concerns and try to meet their needs and thereby befriend them.

It helps those parties to have a friendly government at the Centre. The NDA government could reach out to state governments, one by one. If a state party declines the overtures by the Centre and thus deprives the people of that state from getting a major project or some other bounty because of its hostile attitude, this fact can be exposed and highlighted.

If the state parties yield to overtures, it will split the Opposition ranks. Also, the NDA can score brownie points with the states voters by favouring that state in certain areas. This tactic if tried in one state after the other will enable the BJP-led NDA government to wean away the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, the BJD in Orissa, the CPM in Kerala, etc from the Opposition ranks. If the parties spurn the Centres proposals, then the NDA may not only expose the anti-people stance of the states ruling party but win over the public too by directly communicating with them.

For the state satraps, it may become a catch-22 situation. If they accept the hand of friendship and get projects, it will drive a wedge in the Opposition alliance. If they decline, the public will turn against the state ruling party. This is something they cannot allow to happen under any circumstances.

Direct communication with the people is very critical. Over and above the central council of ministers, each Member of Parliament (MP) of NDA must be asked to communicate directly and regularly with the population in their respective constituencies. While highlighting the policies of the Modi government, they should steer clear of all the controversial issues. For this, the government should disassociate itself from the extreme right wing votaries and fringe elements.

Democracy and freedom of speech are deeply ingrained in the Indian psyche. Over the past decades, the Congress and the left-leaning academics and historians, have perpetrated a particular mental conditioning and a weird view of secularism. According to this view, it is progressive and acceptable to promote minority politics and identify with them. But, when someone talks about Hinduism, he is promptly stamped as a communalist.

Since this has got deeply embedded in the Indian psyche, it will take a few years of gradual and progressive education to cleanse the minds of the citizens. Any attempt to bring in sudden changes may prove futile or even lead to a negative backlash.

The NDA could also identify friendly journalists and publications of repute and communicate with them directly. Rather than confrontation, a conciliatory and placating approach and attitude would help in the current situation.

The most important way to deal with the cantankerous Opposition is to win over the voters. How does the Union government do this? It is simple. The government should come out with people-friendly measures and rein in prices of commodities and services. Any tough decisions, which could hurt the people, must be convincingly explained to the public.

For instance, demonetisation was absolutely necessary to fight the menace of black money, corruption, and counterfeit currency notes; and the subsequent inconveniences were probably inevitable. In such situations, the Union government should reach out to the public and show empathy with them. The public will understand and respond positively. And when the citizens are on your side, the Opposition will have no other option but to fall in line.

The writer, a chartered accountant, has served on boards of nationalised banks, the General Insurance Corporation and the Rural Electrification Corporation.
The BJPs UP campaign is beginning to look more and more like its disastrous electoral effort in Bihar in 2015. The distribution of tickets has set off rebellions at all levels in the party, leaving Amit Shah with the headache of soothing frayed tempers and ensuring that disgruntled aspirants dont turn rebel candidates.

This column had already talked about the explosion from Gorakhpur strongman Yogi Adityanath who may take a back seat in the campaign unless Shah succeeds in bringing him around. But Adityanath is not the BJP presidents only problem.

Theres Varun Gandhi who is upset about the smear campaign carried out against him some months ago. Not only did his party not defend him, there is a suspicion that a section of the leadership may have had a hand in circulating the slanderous videos. Party circles fear that he may not campaign in central UP where he commands influence. Worse, there is anxiety that he has the potential to sabotage their prospects.

OBC leader Vinay Katiyar, once a prominent face of the Ram mandir agitation, is upset too. He was neither consulted during the ticket distribution process, nor have his loyalists been accommodated by Shah. The 12 MLAs who contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and won are also threatening to turn dissident. Although they are now MPs, they wanted tickets for family members to preserve their assembly fiefdoms. They have not been accommodated although scions of other political families have been given nominations, like Rajnath Singhs son Pankaj, Lalji Tandons son Gopalji and Kalyan Singhs grandson Sandeep who is a political greenhorn.

On the other hand, Shah has gone out of his way to accommodate new entrants in the candidates list. The two lists announced so far include the names of at least 25 turncoats from rival parties who joined the BJP just the other day.

Party loyalists are not the only ones upset. Some OBC leaders who came in from other parties are up in arms. Swami Prasad Maurya of the BSP and Om Prakash Rajbhar are upset because they claim that Shah has not delivered on his promises when he persuaded them to join hands with the BJP. The BJP president is supposed to have agreed to give tickets to their loyalists who followed them to the BJP.

In Bihar, the BJP had unraveled during the campaign for similar reasons as Shah and his team rode roughshod over the local leadership. Prominent Bihar leaders like former deputy chief minister Sushil Modi were forced to keep a low profile during the campaign and hardly figured on BJP posters and hoardings. Shahs highhandedness led to a humiliating defeat in the state. UP leaders are worried that UP 2017 is looking frighteningly similar to Bihar 2015.

Awkward moments

There were several awkward moments for Kapil Sibal when he appeared for Akhilesh Yadav in the Election Commission to fight for the cycle symbol. It was embarrassing for him because he was battling Mulayam Singh Yadav to whom he owes a debt of gratitude for facilitating his re-entry into the Rajya Sabha last year. The Congress did not have enough MLAs to get Sibal elected. It was Mulayam who passed on his extra votes and helped Sibal get into the Upper House.

Sibal may not have accepted Akhileshs brief to fight the symbol case in the EC because of this. But the Congress had a vested interest in Akhilesh winning the symbol case so that it could finalise its pre-poll alliance with the UP chief minister. So it requested Sibal to take on the case on Akhileshs behalf. Sibal, a leading lawyer, had no choice but to obey his high command and of course, he won the cycle symbol for Akhilesh.

Sibal felt awkward as he argued for Akhilesh. Mulayam sat silently through the proceedings without looking at the Congress legal eagle. But the most awkward moment came later, when they met in the lift on their way down. Sibal smiled with embarrassment and told the SP patriarch the he hoped to help him too some day.

Not enough?

The arrest of former Air Chief S P Tyagi in the Augusta Westland case surprised many because the CBI really didnt have enough evidence to prove a money trail. In fact, the CBI was rapped severely by the Supreme Court on this count as it ordered that Tyagi be released on bail.

Congress circles see a political design in the arrest. They feel that it was a bid to silence Manmohan Singh whose stringent criticism of demonetization had rattled the Modi government. In a brief speech in Parliament, Singh had called it a monumental blunder and predicted a 2 per cent drop in GDP growth. Singhs words turned the tide against the government as more and more economists began to question the wisdom of the note ban decision.

In his statement, Tyagi strongly defended his innocence after he was arrested. He said he had simply followed orders from the PMO and that the decision to buy the Augusta Westland helicopters was a collective one.

Congress circles see this as an attempt to drag Manmohan Singh into the case as a pressure tactic to silence him on demonetization. They recall that something similar had happened in the early months of the present regime when suddenly the former PM became a target in the coal scam and there were threats to arrest him and make him appear in court as an accused. This followed Singhs vocal critique of the government in its early months.

While this may be too much of a conspiracy theory, it is indeed curious that Tyagi was arrested without proper evidence, leading to a rap on the knuckles from the Supreme Court.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump discussed the security situation in South and Central Asia during their phone conversation on Tuesday night and resolved that India and US will "stand shoulder to shoulder" to fight global terrorism, the White House said.

Strengthening defence partnership was among topics that came up during their talks about furthering cooperation between the two nations, according to the White House.

"Trump emphasised that the United States considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said.

This was reflected in the fact that conversation between the leaders of the world's two greatest democracies came before Trump had talked to leaders of important allies like Britain, Germany and Japan or major powers like China and Russia since formally taking office last Friday.

During his campaign, Trump praised Modi as a "great leader" and sought a kinship of ideas with him as a "pro-growth leader" when he attended a rally organised by the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) in New Jersey in October. He added that after his election India would have true friend in the White House.

White House said that Trump invited Modi to visit him later this year.

President Pranab Mukherjee invited Trump to visit India when he congratulated him on assuming the presidency. The real estate investor-turned-politician has visited India several times for business.

Another topic Trump and Modi discussed was strengthening the partnership in the economy, but the statement did not give any details of what they might have discussed.

Modi and Trump have parallel priorities of job creation, especially through manufacturing, and increasing investments which may appear headed for a collision.

Earlier in the day, Trump met with auto industry leaders to to promote his programme of "Make in America" and on Monday, he met union and industry leaders and emphasised his campaign mantra of "Buy American, Hire American".

Shalabh Kumar, the founder and head of the Republican Hindu Coalition who is close to both leaders, told IANS that trade need not be a zero sum game and both nations can mutually benefit from their respective "Make in India" and "Make in America" domestic manufacturing programmes.

As an example, he said that while the US increases manufactured exports to India in defence, technology and energy sectors, India will have an opportunity to take advantage of Trump's move away from China and increase its own manufactured exports in a balanced manner. This would help create jobs in both countries and enable both leaders to achieve their priorities, he added.

Trump has also spoken about limiting the use of temporary professional visas known as H1-B, which he has repeatedly said is abused and is used throw Americans out of jobs.

That is a matter of great concern for India as the visas are the lifeblood of technology sector exports to the US.

Tuesday was a special day to hold their conversation. Nikki Haley became the first Indian American to get a cabinet-level appointment when the Senate approved on that day Trump's nomination of her to be the US ambassador to the United Nations.

On Monday, Trump appointed Ajit Pai to be the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, the powerful agency that regulates mobile phones and the spectrum, telephones, radio, television and cable.

A third senior administration appointee of Trump is Seema Verma, who will be in charge of the government healthcare programmes and have a key role in reforming President Barack Obama's health insurance plan.

Before the call with Modi, Trump had spoken only with the neighbours, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Pena Nieto, with premier ally Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who will have a major role in helping Trump deal with the Middle East and with terrorism.


Describing India as a "true friend" of the US, President Donald Trump invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the country later this year, the White House said today after both leaders spoke over phone and discussed issues such as trade, defence and terrorism.

Trump spoke to Modi on Tuesday night over phone, four days after he was sworn-in as the 45th President of America.

"During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in a readout of the call.

"President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the US later this year," the White House said.

The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.

Besides this, they also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the US and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, the readout said.

After Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the November 8 general elections, Modi was among the first five world leaders to have congratulated Trump.

During his gruelling election campaign, India is among the few countries in addition to Israel with whom Trump spoke of strengthening ties if elected to power.

On January 21, Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican Premier Pena Nieto.

On Sunday, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and yesterday he had a telephonic conversation with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
US President Donald Trump will be ordering the construction of his signature Mexican border wall on Wednesday, a media report said.

White House officials told the New York Times that Trump was during an appearance at the Department of Homeland Security, was expected to sign the executive order  directing federal funds to be focused on creating the structure.

Building a wall on the Mexican border was one of Trump's biggest promises during his campaign.

He ultimately believes that doing so would put a stop to the influx of illegal immigrants coming into the US. He has already held the "illegal" immigrants responsible for costing him the popular votes.

"Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!" Trump tweeted on Tuesday night.

While the wall would not be completed for quite some time, officials told the Times that the President was also considering a policy that would temporarily stop refugees from coming from Syria, as well as other majority-Muslim nations that were deemed "terror prone".
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun in the morning followed by cloudy skies during the afternoon. High 74F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies with periods of rain after midnight. Low 64F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Couromoda revives optimism in footwear sector

Brazil

The footwear trade show held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on January 15-18 is estimated to generate around US$2.4 million in business for Brazilian footwear manufacturers.

According to a claim by Abicalcados, the Brazilian Footwear Manufacturers Association, around US$362,000 was generated in direct business during the event, and another US$2 million is expected over the next few months.

Roberta Ramos, Project Manager, Abicalcados, said these results bring a positive perspective for the rest of the year, despite the uncertainty caused by the election of the U.S. President, Donald Trump. We have worked several years to build a positive image of the Brazilian footwear industry. Despite the economic instability, our sector has sustained its tradition developing trade relations with over 150 different countries, which acknowledge our product differentiation in terms of design, materials used, as well as delivery flexibility, she says.

The 45th edition of Couromoda will take place January, 15-18, 2018.
KESSLER: Shame on the left and right in this country
On its surface, such remarks might appear to suggest potential willingness to either cooperate with the new American executive or to maintain moderate public statements about him in the era following his predecessors nuclear agreement with Iran. Realistically, though, the comments can be better understood as expressing uncertainty about the tactics Tehran will use to implement preexisting policies, and not as expressing uncertainty about those policies themselves.

In fact, this interpretation was underscored by Iranian state media, specifically the Islamic Republic News Agency, which used its English-language website to give broader context to Qasemis remarks. Instead of leading with Qasemis statement about withholding judgment, the IRNA report ran under the headline, No prospect for Iran-US relations. This was the explicit message of the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, who insisted that there had been no contact between the two countries governments after or outside of the nuclear negotiations.

Qasemi also used his Monday press conference as an opportunity to criticize the US and its Western allies for supposed efforts to dominate the region. He also referred to the Islamic Republic as a source of resistance against American influence over Middle Eastern affairs. Only then did Qasemi go on to say, At this juncture, the status of the White House is not clear and the world and even Europeans, the main US allies, are puzzled, not knowing what to do as they face what a type of approach and what kind of president.

Finally, IRNA quotes him as saying, We should be still patient and see what kind of policies we will witness. But in in this context, the remarks does not seem to invite a reevaluation of Irans policies, but instead implies that Tehran will wait for forthcoming changes in US policy before determining how to respond to them in line with the preconceived principle of resistance and confrontation.

This would not represent a significant break from the regimes behavior when it was dealing with departed US President Barack Obama. In fact, other reports that emerged on Monday indicated that much of Irans tone and many of its explicit threats appeared to remain in place now that the White House transition has completed. In the first place, the Middle East Monitor indicates that Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, had reiterated once again the countrys intention to resume its former nuclear activity if President Trump cancelled the nuclear agreement or otherwise moved against it.

Whats more, Salehi declared that Iranian nuclear enrichment capabilities would be able not only to snap back to their former levels, but could also quickly expand in terms of the amount of uranium being enriched and the levels of purity to which it is being enriched. Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, both of those figures are capped, but Western critics of the deal have expressed concern that it left in place opportunities for Iran to cheat or to simply wait out the expiration or cancellation of the deal and then rapidly expand its enrichment activities thereafter.

Salehis statement seems tailor-made to justify or inflame these suspicions  something that may yet affect the final determination that the Trump administration makes regarding the JCPOA. On the campaign trail, Trump referred to the agreement as the worst ever negotiated and promised to tear it up. Since winning election in November, his commentary has focused on the concept of renegotiation, and some of his major appointees to foreign policy posts have advocated for keeping it in place but enforcing it much more vigorously.

The multilateral nature of the deal raises questions about the feasibility of renegotiation, but a recent editorial by Ali Vaez of Foreign Affairs Magazine suggested that it would be quite possible for Trump to pursue a new mutual arrangement with Iran, and one that would address more than just limits on uranium enrichment. Vaez named some of the key points of contention that Western critics saw as having been improperly left out of the agreement. Specifically, he suggested that Trump could seize opportunities to impose restrictions on Irans ballistic missile program and on the regional operations of the Iran-backed Lebanese paramilitary Hezbollah.

Although these are issues of great concern for various Western policymakers, they have also been downplayed or dismissed by Iranian officials, who said in the wake of the nuclear negotiations that they would accept no imposition regarding their missiles. To underscore this point, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps conducted several ballistic missile tests that either violated outright or were out of keeping with the spirit of UN Security Council resolutions regarding Irans nuclear activities.

It remains to be seen whether Trump will be able to convince Iran to change this defiant tone that seemed to remain unmitigated throughout the Obama era. But his handling of the JCPOA and other areas of Iran policy were certainly high on the list of topics discussed between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call on Sunday, according to CNN. Netanyahu had been perhaps the worlds leading voice of opposition to the nuclear deal before Trump became a serious candidate for the American presidency.

Disagreements between Netanyahu and Obama on this issue put some strain on the special relationship between the two executive offices. But Sundays phone call  coming just two days after Trump took the oath of office  suggests that Tel Aviv is confident that that relationship can be reestablished and turned toward mutually beneficial ends now that Trump is in a position to reshape US foreign policy.

Other traditional US allies reportedly share that confidence, although they also seem to share Tehrans uncertainty about exactly what policies the new president will pursue. Yet regardless of that uncertainty, Trump has consistently struck a much less conciliatory tone in his discussion of Iran, and Trumps choice for Defense Secretary, General James Mattis, told confirmation hearings that he considered Iran to be the single most destabilizing force in the Middle East.

On Monday, Reuters quoted several commentators from the Gulf Arab states as saying that they believed the new American president would take serious steps to counteract Iranian influence in the region, and specifically to push back against Hezbollah and other Iran-backed proxies who have been participating in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen. If these assumptions are correct, it goes without saying that the Iranian regime will not pursue cooperative relations with the US, no matter what questions it might have had about what to expect of the Trump administration.
Amnesty urged readers to write to Irans supreme leader over the case of Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Nekounam, a dissident cleric who was arrested in January 2015 after criticizing a fatwa that supported restrictions on the internet and the flow of information in the country. After being initially sentenced to two years in prison for charges including insulting the supreme leader, his sentence was arbitrarily extended to five years. The first sentence was the result of a 10 minute trial and the second was announced after a prosecutorial appeal of which neither Nekounam nor his lawyer were informed.

The 68-year-old prisoner believes that this extension to his sentence was issued as punishment for his filing a formal complaint over his mistreatment at the hands of interrogators and prison authorities, as a result of which he experienced worsening medical conditions. Nevertheless, he responded to the new situation last month by initiating a hunger strike, which had gone on for 31 days by the time that Amnesty issued its urgent call to action.

Nekounam was transferred to hospital on January 13, but is still being denied access to specialized medical care despite having suffered both a stroke and a heart attack while in solitary confinement. Doctors have warned that he is in severe danger of suffering a second stroke and falling into a coma.

Other hunger strikes have apparently had moderate success in recent weeks, although their participants have sometimes been brought to the brink of death before action was taken. Earlier this month, Arash Sadeghi ended his hunger strike after more than 70 days, thanks in part to support from civilian activists who helped pressure the regime to grant temporary release and a retrial to his wife, who had been ordered to serve a five year sentence over the contents of a personal journal.

Sadeghis was not the longest recent hunger strike. It was exceeded by Ali Shariati, who ended his after 75 days last week. But in that case, no clear action had been taken on his case; instead, the protest ended at the urging of loved ones and fellow political prisoners. On the other hand, a 39-day hunger strike by Saeed Shirzad also ended last week, as a result of authorities offering promises that the abuse of political prisoners in Rajai Shahr Prison would end. There is no indication that those authorities took subsequent action to curtail such abuses, however, and Shirzad has vowed to resume his protest if his demands are not seriously addressed.

Even an inconsistent record seems to have an encouraging effect on fellow political prisoners, especially in light of the attention that human rights groups and certain news outlets are giving to the collective action. On Monday, for instance, the hunger strike tactics were highlighted by the Christian Times in the dual context of womens empowerment and the pursuit of religious freedom in the Islamic theocracy.

The article named Maryam Naghash Zargaran as a female Christian leader who has is suffering political imprisonment alongside other types of activists and has held two recent hunger strikes over the denial of medical treatment. After initially being granted a hospital stay, she Zargaran was reportedly returned to prison early and against the advice of doctors, as is common practice in similar cases. She also had her prison sentence arbitrarily extended to compensate for the time spent on medical furlough.

The Christian Times article notes that at least 193 Christians like Zargaran were imprisoned in Iran just last year, and that the country has been ranked as the 8th most dangerous in the world for Christians. Nonetheless, the number of Christian converts has apparently been growing in recent years, as another testament to the same defiance of government will that is on display in the broader phenomenon of hunger strikes.

That defiance is further underscored by the female leadership that the Christian Times points to. And this is by no means limited to Christian groups. Indeed, the leading Iranian resistance group the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran is led by a moderate Muslim woman, Maryam Rajavi. But the Iranian regime has reacted aggressively to this phenomenon with recent efforts to clamp down on womens rights and broaden restrictions on the co-mingling of men and women in public places.

Feminism is frequently cited as an existential threat to the regime. This claim is made directly by critics of the regime and indirectly by the regimes officials themselves, who have made accusations of feminism the grounds for various recent political imprisonments. One such arrest was that of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the Iranian-British dual national and charity worker who was detained before leaving from a visit to her family and accused of trying to foment a feminist soft overthrow of the Islamist regime.

The Washington Post reported on Monday that Zaghari-Ratcliffes five-year prison sentence was upheld on appeal. But that report also underscored that the case against her was based in large part on false or absent evidence. For instance, the judiciary declared that she had functioned as a leading recruiter for the BBCs Persian news service, but the BBC maintains that she was never an employee of the organization.

Zaghari-Ratcliffes two-year-old daughter was with her during her visit and has been prevented from leaving the country to rejoin her father. The Post indicates that British Prime Minister Theresa May raised the issue of Zaghari-Ratcliffes imprisonment in a conversation with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in August. But the UK governments action has otherwise been sparse, in an apparent contradiction to the rising levels of pressure that human rights groups and domestic Iranian activists are striving to bring to bear on the regime.
There is no end in sight for the legal battle over Jallikattu, with Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and other animal welfare bodies moving the Supreme Court challenging a Bill passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

A bench comprising of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman will take up the petitions for hearing on January 30.

Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi also told the court that they have filed an application pointing out that the state law permitting Jallikattu was repugnant to the provisions of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

Justice Misra also referred to Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi's mentioning on January 24, about an intent of the government to withdraw a January 7 notification permitting the ancient sport.

Tamil Nadu assembly had on Monday unanimously passed an amendment Bill for conducting the bull taming sport without any hindrance.

Replacing an ordinance promulgated two days ago to allow Jallikattu, the Bill to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 was unanimously adopted by the House after members of all parties spoke welcoming the legislative initiative.

The "Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment), Act, 2017" was piloted by Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and adopted by voice vote. It was deemed to have come into effect on the day the ordinance was issued, January 21, 2017.

The legislation followed mass protests across the state, especially in Chennai demanding the lifting of ban on Jallikattu.
She went on to say that her school in Aleppo was destroyed by the bombing and some of her friends died.

Right now in Turkey, I can go out and enjoy. I can go to school although I didnt yet. That is why peace is important for everyone including you, the transcript reads, and Bana adds, However, millions of Syrian children are not like me right now and suffering in different parts of Syria. You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you.

Turkey, who backs the Syrian rebels, is hosting some 2.7 million refugees from the conflict.

An estimated 300,000 people have been killed in Syrias six-year war between President Bashar al-Assads regime and rebel forces. More than 15,000 of them were children.

On her @AlabedBana Twitter account, she described the horrific situation in besieged Aleppo, and became a symbol of the tragedy unfolding in Syria. However, the government criticized Banas and her mothers nearly daily tweets as propaganda.

Peace talks between Syrian rebels and Assads government are being held in Kazakhstan, but there have been no signs of a resolution. President Trumps administration was invited to participate in the talks, organized by Russia, Turkey and Iran, but did not send a delegation.

Sean Spicer, Trumps spokesman, said on Monday that the president is open to conducting joint operations with Russia to combat the Islamic State group, who control significant territory in northern Syria.
Last March, the World Health Organisation declared that the Ebola outbreak, which had claimed 11,310 deaths and an economic burden of $2.2 billion, was no longer an emergency. Ebola disease was first identified in 1976, and till 2013, the WHO reported a total of 24 outbreaks and 1,716 deaths. But, till a two-year-old child from Guinea died on December 28, 2013, nobody feared a global epidemic. The WHO and its director general, Margaret Chan, came under fire for their slow response to the epidemic. Ebola was declared an international public health emergency only in August 2014. At the annual meeting of the WHO in 2015, German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated a need to streamline WHOs management to respond quickly to such crises. She said, I am convinced that if we act faster and have a clear command structure in place, we will be better equipped to combat a crisis like Ebola next time that happens. The proposal for creating proactive research and development of vaccines came during the annual meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2016. A new international coalition called CEPIthe Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovationswas launched in Davos on January 19, 2017.

Vaccines are often inaccessible or unaffordable to vulnerable population. CEPI is aimed at creating safe, effective and affordable vaccines that can contain outbreaks at the earliest possible stage. Research and development of a vaccine costs nearly $500 million. The cost factors led to the stalling of the development of vaccines. rVSV-ZEBOV, an experimental vaccine for protection against Ebola, was developed almost a decade ago by scientists from Canada and the United States. Created in 2003, it went for animal trials by 2005. Scientists were aiming to go for human trials and keep the product ready for licensing by 2011, but it never happened. Clinical trials and development of the vaccine started only after Ebola became a global epidemic. By October 2014, WHO, with other interested parties, started planning for clinical development of the vaccine and it helped in the containment of the disease.

Commercial viability of developing a vaccine came as a hindrance to the development of Ebola virus. In normal conditions, research and commercial production of vaccines will take nearly 10 years. Developing vaccines before epidemics arise will allow the health community to prevent outbreaks from becoming an international public health emergency. CEPI will prepare vaccine candidates for large efficacy trials and potential emergency deployment in an outbreak. It will coordinate resources from industry, academia, governments, philanthropies and NGOs to facilitate the advanced development of vaccines for emerging infectious diseases.

CEPI is in start-up phase until the end of 2017. During this period, an interim secretariat, provided by Norway, is coordinating CEPI activity with support from India, Wellcome Trust, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Economic Forum. Scientists from all over the world will meet in Paris at the CEPI partners forum on February 21. The conference is organised to highlight the urgency for action and the possibilities for vaccine development to neutralise global epidemic threats. CEPI will be unveiled to the scientific community at the conference, which will also serve to advertise its first call of proposals and facilitate discussions between potential collaborators.
Describing India as a "true friend" of the US, President Donald Trump invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the country later this year, the White House said after both leaders spoke over phone and discussed issues such as trade, defence and terrorism.

Trump spoke to Modi on Tuesday night over phone, four days after he was sworn-in as the 45th President of America.

"During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in a readout of the call.

"President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the US later this year," the White House said.

The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.

Besides this, they also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the US and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, the readout said.

After Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the November 8 general elections, Modi was among the first five world leaders to have congratulated Trump.

During his gruelling election campaign, India is among the few countries in addition to Israel with whom Trump spoke of strengthening ties if elected to power.

On January 21, Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican Premier Pena Nieto.

On Sunday, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and yesterday he had a telephonic conversation with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Nikki Haley got the unanimous approval of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, clearing the first stage for becoming the first Indian American to be appointed to a cabinet-level post.

Haley's nomination by President Donald Trump to be the US ambassador to the UN will now go before the full Senate for final approval.

Senate approval assured for her because of her popularity across the political divide as witnessed by the unanimous committee approval.

When she appeared before the panel last week, she got what was probably the best reception for a Trump nominee. At the confirmation hearings she criticised the UN for its paralysis, corruption and inefficiency and said that she would work to reform the world organisation.

The South Carolina Governor has no diplomatic or foreign policy experience which raised questions about her qualification for the post.

Democratic Party Senator Ben Cardin dismissed these doubts saying that her "track record of building coalitions in South Carolina" as governor makes suitable for a diplomatic job. She makes up for her lack of diplomatic experience through her "capability, intelligence," he added.

She has won high marks for her leadership of the southern, conservative state, particularly for getting the state leaders to agree to take down the flag of the Confederacy, the states supporting slavery, durign the Civil War.

It was considered a symbol of enduring racism. Haley has also spoke at her confirmation hearings about her achievements in negotiating with corporate leaders to get businesses to invest in her state, One of her successes was getting Boeing to set up a aircraft factory in the state.

She also spoke of her immigrant parents and her struggle as an Indian American child in racially polarised South Carolina. Her father Ajit Singh Randhwa, wearing a red turban, sat proudly behind her during the hearings.

After the hearings, committee chairperson Bob Corkr complimented her on her performance and said that she would have smooth-sailing in the Senate.
It seems feasible that the Gulf Arab states can work successfully with President Trump to ensure security in the region and in the West.

Saudi Arabia is particularly pleased that the Obama administration has left the White House. It believed that Obama favoured the Iran nuclear deal negotiations over Riyadh. Riyadh was not happy that Obama withdrew from the region, knocking the security balance in the Middle East.

The Gulf Arab nations urged Obama to provide more aid to rebels fighting against Syrian dictator Assad, but they were dismissed. President Assad has, as a result, continued to stay in power due to the tremendous support from Iran and Russia. The Syrian regime would undoubtedly have toppled long ago if it was not for foreign support.

Abdulrahman al-Rashed, a Saudi commentator, said: Perception is important: Trump does not look like the kind of guy who will bend towards Iran or anyone else. If he behaves as he says, then we will see another Ronald Reagan, someone all the forces in the region will take seriously. Thats what we have missed in the past eight years, unfortunately.

Trump is abrupt and impulsive. We have seen this in many of his messages on social media and this has caused some to question his suitability for dealing with highly sensitive issues like that of the Middle East crisis. There will inevitably be a time when Trump will need to provide a statement or react in a way that is calm, collected and reasoned. He cannot continue to attack people or nations in the highly emotional way we have seen in many of his posts on Twitter.

He has spoken about the Iran nuclear deal and he needs to follow through with his promises to act upon it in one way or another. The Iranian regime needs to be dealt with in a firm way. Obamas tactics of appeasing the regime was clearly a failure  the regime became bolder in its terrorism in the region because the US and the wider international community did not speak out against it.

Not long after Trump was inaugurated, the website of the White House claimed that defeating radical Islamic terror groups is a high priority for the administration. It also mentioned that a sophisticated missile defence system will be developed to protect the US from Iranian and North Korean threats.
Sergio Marchionne, Fiat Chryslers CEO, is one of three executives from leading automakers who participated in todays meeting with the President. He is reported to be pursuing re-entry into the Iranian market via a joint venture with Iran Khodro Group, one of Irans largest automakers, who is a subsidiary of IDRO, an Iranian government body controlling companies involved in development of the regimes nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

In response to a UANI campaign displaying photographic evidence of Fiat Iveco-brand trucks being used in public executions in Iran, and to transport Iranian missiles, Fiat previously halted its Iran business.

UANI CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations for Management and Reform, stated, Automakers have long known the risks of doing business with Iran, the worlds leading state sponsor of terror. Any company meeting with the Trump administration should be transparent about its activities, and be prepared for the consequences of working with an Iranian regime committed to its long-standing Death to America dogma.

Former U.S. Senator and UANI Chairman, Joseph Lieberman added, Fiat Chrysler, as a leading U.S. government contractor, should not be engaging the Iranian regime, which threatens the security of the U.S. and is already responsible for the deaths of hundreds of U.S. soldiers from Lebanon to Iraq, continuing, he said, Fiat should also be mindful and respectful of the fact that President Trump is opposed to the current nuclear deal with Iran and may either withdraw from the agreement, more aggressively monitor Irans compliance with it, and/or impose new sanctions on companies doing business with Iran.

President Trumps meeting with Marchionne followed on the heels of the annual North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), where UANI led a campaign warning participants of the numerous business risks they face in engaging with the Iranian auto industry.

UANI vows to continue to highlight industries whose efforts in Iran undermine international security.
Secretary-General of World Bnei Akiva (WBA) Roi Abecassis responded to the Annual Report on Anti-Semitism published by Israels Ministry of Diaspora Affairs. Abecassis states, The statistics in the Report are consistent with the reports weve been hearing throughout the past year from many of our 150 representatives around the world. The proper response to this worrying trend, both on ideological and practical levels, is to reinforce the connection between the new, younger generation to Judaism and to cultivate its bond with the State of Israel, the only country in the world where Jews control their own fate. This bond also grants young people in Jewish communities around the world the tools they need to serve as faithful ambassadors of Judaism and the State of Israel, both on social networks and universities. These statistics should be our adrenaline to expand our efforts to other countries while widening our scope of representatives in the Diaspora.

Minister of Diaspora Affairs Naftali Bennett will officially present the Annual Report on Anti-Semitism of 2016 this morning in the weekly government meeting. The Report is published annually in honor of International Holocaust Day, which will be marked this coming Friday.

Main Points:

1. Doubling of anti-Semitic incidents in Germany (461 incidents reported this year compared to 194 in 2015) following refugee crisis and rise of extreme right.

2. 62% rise in violent anti-Semitic attacks in London.

3. Increase in hundreds of percent of anti-Semitic comments posted on the internet. During October alone, 40 million users were exposed to anti-Semitic posts on Twitter.

4. 45% rise in antic-Semitic incidents on USA college campuses. Doubling of cancellation of Jewish student affairs on college campuses.

5. Decline in anti-Semitic incidents in France following government intervention and joint government efforts to secure Jewish communities and reduce points of friction.

6. Rise of anti-Semitic comments among politicians in USA and Europe.

7. Rise in alt-right parties in Europe and USA; rise of radical left parties.

8. Establishing anti-Israel ideology as the new form of anti-Semitism in Israel.

Trends of New Anti-Semitism:

Rise in anti-Semitic incidents around the world; anti-Semitic expressions and comments on media and social networks; demonstrations and violence targeting Jewish communities and injuring Jews on pretext of blaming Israel as a bloodthirsty, illegitimate state. These are collectively creating a slippery slope that leads to legitimate talk that incites hatred and attacks against Jewish communities around the world.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
As talks between Syrian factions and the government concluded in Kazakhstan, U.N. agencies and non-governmental groups at an aid conference in Finland appealed Tuesday for more than $8 billion in funding to help millions of displaced people inside Syria and those who have fled the conflict to neighboring countries.

The U.N. refugee agency is seeking $4.63 billion in new funding to help at least 4.8 million people who have escaped the war by going abroad, mainly to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey, and an estimated $3.4 billion to help an estimated 13.5 million internally displaced people.

Opening the conference, Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila made a strong global appeal for more global help to those affected by the devastating war, warning that it has caused population movements of great magnitude not seen since World War II.

He said that after six years of the conflict, the humanitarian crisis in Syria is worse than ever before, with large groups of people in extreme poverty and struggling to survive.

Women have been subject to sexual and gender-based violence and young girls have been forced into child marriage, Sipila said. More than half of the Syrian children are out of school across the region. Hospitals and schools have been destroyed and crucial public services have broken down.

Speaking to reporters, Stephen OBrien, the head of the Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs, said that while Syrias war is already longer than World War II, We fear that it will get worse.

We are at the critical juncture. We cannot let an erroneous perception that the crisis in Syria is somehow over, he said. Even if the lasting peace is to break out today, this is the crisis that continues to test out shared humanity.

The one-day meetings and panel discussions in the Finnish capital are aimed at charting humanitarian priorities for Syria in 2017 and to launch a regional refugee plan. They coincide with peace talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana, where the host country announced that Russia, Turkey and Iran had struck a deal on a mechanism to consolidate the countrys nearly month-old cease-fire.

In addition to U.N. and aid agencies, the Helsinki conference is being attended by government members from Syrias neighboring countries, where most of the refugees have fled.

Donors from civil society and the private sector also discussed new assistance in the wake of last years pledge of $12 billion made at a Syria aid conference in London. A follow-up to the Feb. 2016 London meeting is scheduled to be held in Brussels in April.

(AP)
The following is via Newsweek:

The suicide bombers who attacked Brussels airport last year, killing 16 people, were targeting an American airline, its passengers and Jewish people, according to a report citing sources close to the investigation.

The Belgian sources, speaking to AFP news agency on condition of anonymity, said that investigators consider the Delta Air Lines check-in desk to have been a main target for the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) bombers, Najim Laachraoui and Ibrahim El Bakraoui, in the March 2016 attack.

We know they wanted to target Americans, one source said. Its clear they had quite specific targets.

He added: We know they were obsessed with the Israelis too.

Jews traveling to Israel were also a target, according to the sources, with one of the bombers allegedly following a group of Hasidic Jews before detonating his device.

Another source said that Laachraoui was standing among dozens of students before changing tack and following two Hasidic Jews, usually recognizable by their long beards, sidecurls known as peyot and dark overclothes. The attacker seemed to rush towards two Orthodox Jews, the source said. He really, clearly wanted to kill a Jew.

An hour after the two detonated their devices at Brussels Airport, Ibrahims brother Khalid detonated a suicide bomb at Maalbeek metro station, killing another 16 people. The death toll in the attacks was 35, including the three attackers.

They are the obvious target [for radical Islamist extremists in Europe]. Jews, because of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, and the members of the coalition fighting ISIS, warns Alain Winants, the former head of Belgian intelligence who stepped down in 2013.

Belgium remains on heightened alert after security services in the small EU nation became overwhelmed by the threat of radical Islamists.

Several of the ISIS attackers who launched an assault on Paris in November 2015 came from Brussels. The manhunt for Salah Abdeslam, the lone surviving member of the Paris cell who decided against carrying out the attack, revealed an extensive network in the Belgian capital. Authorities believe his arrest accelerated the networks plot to attack Brussels.

The Belgian interior ministry spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

(Source: Newsweek)
The FBI in late December reviewed intercepts of communications between the Russian ambassador to the United States and retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn  national security adviser to then-President-elect Donald Trump  but has not found any evidence of wrongdoing or illicit ties to the Russian government, U.S. officials said.

The calls were picked up as part of routine electronic surveillance of Russian officials and agents in the United States, which is one of the FBIs responsibilities, according to the U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss counterintelligence operations.

Nonetheless, the fact that communications by a senior member of Trumps national security team have been under scrutiny points up the challenge facing the intelligence community as it continues its wide-ranging probe of Russian government influence in the U.S. election and whether there was any improper back-channel contacts between Moscow and Trump associates and acquaintances.

Although Flynns contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were listened to, Flynn himself is not the active target of an investigation, U.S. officials said. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that U.S. counterintelligence agents had investigated the communications between Flynn and Kislyak.

Of particular note was a Dec. 29 telephone conversation, initiated in an exchange of text messages the day before. Trump officials previously had said the call took place on the 28th. On the 29th, the Obama administration announced sanctions against Russia and expelled 35 officials from the Russian Embassy in response to what the U.S. intelligence community has said was interference in the presidential election on Trumps behalf.

Earlier this month and on Monday, during his first official White House news conference, press secretary Sean Spicer said that the call covered several subjects. They included a Russian invitation to the Trump administration to take part in Russian-sponsored Syrian peace talks that began Monday in Kazakhstan. The men also talked about logistics for a post-inauguration call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Flynn also conveyed condolences for a Russian plane crash that killed a famed military band the day before the call, said Spicer, who said that Kislyak initiated the call after he and Flynn exchanged holiday greetings by text. Spicer also said Monday that the two had followed up with a subsequent call two days ago  three days ago to further discuss a Trump-Putin call.

In remarks when the Dec. 28 call was first reported this month, Spicer and other officials said there had been no mention of the sanctions that were announced the next day. On Monday, he said he was unaware of any other conversations between Flynn and members of the Russian government. Spicer said he asked Flynn if there had been conversations with any other Russian officials beyond the ambassador. He said no.

Earlier press reports had also cited a Flynn call to Kislyak on Dec. 19 to express condolences for the terrorist killing of the Russian ambassador to Turkey that day.

Although Flynn has written critically about Russia, he also was paid to deliver a speech at a 2015 Moscow gala for RT, the Kremlin-sponsored international television station, at which he was seated next to Putin.

The FBIs counterintelligence agents listen to calls all the time that do not pertain to any open investigation, current and former law enforcement officials said. Often, said one former official, theyre just monitoring the other (foreign official) side of the call.

Both Flynn, a former head of the Pentagons intelligence agency, and Kislyak, a seasoned diplomat, are probably aware that Kislyaks phone calls and texts are being monitored, current and former officials said. That would make it highly unlikely, the individuals said, that the men would allow their calls to be conduits of illegal coordination.

(c) 2017, The Washington Post  Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller
It is evident that when it comes to addressing its own interests, the PA (Palestinian Authority) does not walk on eggshells in its dealings with the international community as Israel often must, and the case of relocating the US Embassy to Jerusalem is no exception.

Senior PA (Palestinian Authority) official Jibril Rajoub announced on Sunday, 24 Teves In my opinion, the [United States] moving the embassy to Jerusalem is a declaration of war against Muslims, sending a clear message to the international Islamic community as how they are expected to respond.

The PAs mantra over the years has in fact for many, re-written history books, now boasting a claim to not just Har Habayis, but Yerushalayim as well, seemingly forgetting Mecca and the Koran. For the enemies of Israel and the Jewish People however, this fits their ideology and opposition to the move is audible among nations of the world in addition to the PA.

Rajoub spoke with the Times of Israel and warned of America giving the keys to Jerusalem holy sites to the Jews, as if they are being taken from the fictitious Palestinian people. Rajoub was quick to add the PA will never wave a white flag to Israel, MEMRI reports in its translation of the Arabic interview. Not wishing to be perceived as too moderate by its neighbors, Jordan has also announced moving the embassy to Jerusalem would represent crossing a red line, as Jordan over the years since the liberation of the Kosel and Har Habayis in 1967 has been permitted to exercise a measure of control on Har Habayis via the Waqf Authority.

King Abdullah of Jordan met in Amman on Sunday with PA Chairman Abu Mazen to discuss the embassy issue.

Threats of consequences were also heard from Saudi Arabia regarding the planned embassy move.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after becoming the countrys second supreme leader in 1989, gave considerable power to the IRGC, while sidelining other powerful clerics.

Although the IRGC still had obstacles preventing it from expanding its influence, recent developments suggest that those barriers are being lifted, allowing Irans military to be the key decision-maker in Irans policy-making.

Many people, who once had considerable amount of political weight and influence, which counterbalanced the IRGCs increasing power, do not play a crucial role any more. The late Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, who was one of the founding fathers of the Islamic republic was sidelined by Khamenei towards the end of his life, still enjoyed a considerable amount of political legitimacy in creating challenges for the IRGC and others. However, Rafsanjani died this month.

Rafsanjani had significant power as a member of the Assembly of Experts, which is given the power to supervise, elect or remove the supreme leader. After his death, the IRGC is now much stronger, suggesting that the next supreme leader will be under the IRGCs influence. If the IRGC controls the next supreme leader, it rules Irans political establishment unequivocally.

While the nuclear agreement remains in place, the Iranian governments global legitimacy expands, leading to less scrutiny from the international community on how the IRGC treats domestic opposition.

The IRGC has successfully suppressed domestic opposition. Examples include supporters and leaders of the Green Movement, and religious and ethnic minorities such as Kurds, Sunnis and Arabs. As well, other political factions, such as the moderates, have come to the conclusion that they need the blessing of the IRGC in order to survive politically.

The reintegration of Tehran into the global financial system is deepening, and more countries are committing themselves to trade with Iran and investment in its markets.The IRGC and the office of the supreme leader are the main beneficiaries of the increased revenues, which have been diverted into upgrading the IRGCs military capabilities. Irans lawmakers voted to increase the military budget despite the high unemployment rate.

Reuters reported, Iranian lawmakers approved plans to expand military spending to 5 per cent of the budget, including developing the countrys long-range missile programme which US president-elect Donald Trump has pledged to halt. The vote is a boost to Irans military establishment  the regular army, the elite IRGC and the defence ministry.

Regional stability was an obstacle for the IRGCs objective of expanding its influence beyond Irans borders. Rafizadeh writes, In fact, it was through domestic conflicts that the IRGC expanded its stranglehold by penetrating other countries such as Lebanon and Iraq, and gave birth to several critical Shia proxies. In the long term, these proxies increase Irans political and ideological influence. He adds, The more tensions and conflicts there are, the more the militaristic role of the IRGC increases in the region in order to achieve its regional ambitions. This has led to a vicious series of heightened conflicts.

The IRGC, more than ever before, is capable of exploiting the rise of Sunni extremist groups such as the ISIL, not only to justify its military presence in the region, but also to increase its global legitimacy by arguing that it is fighting extremism. Without a specific agenda for fighting ISIL, western powers have allowed a certain amount of leeway to the IRGC. Additionally, some global and regional powers have been reluctant to address counterbalancing the increasing role of the IRGC across the region for economic or geopolitical reasons.

Although founded as a theocracy, Iran is becoming more of a military state as the IRGC pursues its regional ambitions. According to Rafizadeh, We are more likely to witness the increasing influence and domination of the IRGC domestically and regionally as several major obstacles against Irans military have been lifted.

Once the child that Irans Islamic revolution gave birth to, the IRGC is now becoming the father of the Islamic republic. This can only be reversed if global powers or a coalition of regional nations stand against the IRGCs increasing influence in the region.
US President Donald Trump on Monday 25 Teves spoke on the phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, with the two speaking about stepping-up the battle against Islamic terrorism. Trump expressed his appreciation for the difficult situation Egypt finds itself in.

White House officials verify that the two spoke and that President Trump spoke of the need to increase and improve bilateral relations between their countries.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Customs agents at the Allenby Crossing to Jordan intercepted a smuggling attempt involving a half ton of tobacco. The cargo was labeled bags of plaster imported from Jordan by an importer in PA (Palestinian Authority) occupied Hebron. Each pallet contained 50 bags of plaster.

Inspectors decided to inspect and they found 1kg bags of unprocessed tobacco pressed into the other bags. The tobacco was purchased in Jordan for NIS 25,000 and sells in Israel for about NIS 540 a kilogram, about four times the price, totaling about NIS 280,000.

In the past year inspectors at the Allenby Crossing intercepted additional shipments including about 70 tons of tobacco, over 70kg. of gold, 113,000 packs of cigarettes and 4,000 mobile phones.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Allenby Customs)
After two weeks of chareidi protests against the IDF, fourteen criminal indictments were handed down against protestors including charges of disturbing the peace, assaulting police and illegal congregation. This refers to the protests in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh that followed the arrest of five frum girls by the IDF for not reporting for military service.

Police report a total of twenty arrests were made including seven in Beit Shemesh. Fourteen are being indicted. The prosecution has that they are all held without bail pending the outcome of their trials. In fact, the prosecution has already appealed the release of one suspect on Monday, 25 Teves, taking the case to the district court. The appeal was successful and the suspect detained as the prosecution showed he took part in blocking traffic and setting garbage bins ablaze.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Minister of Environmental Affairs (Likud) Zeev Elkin feels the PA (Palestinian Authority) is living on borrowed time, calling to begin gradually declaring Israeli sovereignty on areas of Yehuda and Shomron. The minister made his remarks at an assembly calling to End the Occupation hosted in Bar Ilan University. Elkin feels discussion of sovereignty over the areas in question does not have to be dependent on the American government.

Elkin adds in the past there have been fears of declaring sovereignty on only portions, for that might have sent a message that Israel is giving up on doing so in the other areas. He feels of late, the right-wing has come to the understanding it is correct to begin the process gradually, citing doing so has advantages.

Elkin realizes that declaring sovereignty requires broad-based support and a public consensus regarding large areas of Yehuda and Shomron as well as in Knesset.

Elkin predicts that the PA will collapse following the rule of Abu Mazen, for he believes the PA has been living on borrowed time. He explains Israel needs a plan as to how Yehuda and Shomron will be ruled following the collapse of the PA for he is certain the collapse is inevitable.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The High Court of Justice on Monday, 25 Teves, rejected a state request seeking a six-month delay in announcing its decision regarding operating businesses in Tel Aviv on Shabbos. The state claimed it required the delay because Interior Minister Aryeh Deri has yet to decide if he will permit a merger between Tel Aviv and Bat Yam, explaining a merger may impact the decision on operating stores in Tel Aviv on Shabbos.

The court was not having any of the explanations and insists the decision must be announced as planned. The court added whatever is decided, it is not irrevocable and may be changed at a future date pending on Deris municipal merger decision.

A committee was appointed, headed by the Director-General of the Prime Ministers Office Eli Groner, who has been working with a number of other director-generals towards reaching a decision. It has been rumored the committee is prepared to recommend permitting and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and other chareidi elected officials are working to prevent this from taking place. Clearly the announced decision is being delayed to avoid a coalition crisis.

While Tel Aviv amended its Shabbos law a number of years ago, it has yet to succeed in having an Interior Minister sign off on it. Now, it awaits the decision from the government-appointed high-level committee.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Yeshiva Ateret Mordechai headed by HaGaon HaRav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi Shlita, is working to finalize building permits for a plot it purchased in the Har Nof neighborhood of Yerushalayim after opposition from some residents of the community was rejected. The yeshiva is optimistic that the plan will be pushed through and work will begin.

Yeshiva officials realize that if approved, due to the cost of the construction of a new building, it will take a number of years for the project to be completed. Therefore, the yeshiva will have to find a temporary venue after leaving its current home in Bayit Vegan. It appears the yeshiva will be moving to Modiin Illit as City Hall has given it a 10 duman (2.5 acre) plot adjacent to Yeshivas Knesset Yitzchak -Kiryat Sefer.

This should occur soon as the yeshiva is compelled to immediately evacuate the buildings it occupies in Bayit Vegan. In the initial stage, it will receive utility services from Yeshivas Knesset Yitzchak -Kiryat Sefer.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat announced on Tuesday, 26 Teves, that there is no alternative to launching a strike beginning on Sunday, 2 Shevat due to the Finance Ministrys foot-dragging in approving the citys budget for 2017.

Barkat sent a sharply worded letter to Finance Minister Moshe Katsav explaining Israels capital is facing a crises which may lead to the fiscal collapse of the citys essential services. He adds that government aid in recent years has waned, leaving the city in a hole.

The mayor adds as the city plans to mark 50 years since becoming united and while Israels enemies continue efforts to weaken Jerusalems standing, preventing construction and development as well as relocating the US Embassy to the city, the city hopes the treasury will stand at its side and give the necessary backing rather than making excuses. He adds the city must receive the appropriate budget without having to resort to extending its hand out seeking contributions.

The mayor adds that in recent negotiations between the city and the treasury it was decided that the appropriate sum would be NIS 800 million but to date, this remains in the realm of a promise, nothing more. This, the mayor explains impacts the lives of the citys almost 900,000 residents as well as the millions of visitors. The current situation will compel the dismissal of employees, all due to the position of the treasury.

The mayor is calling on Kahlon to immediately approve and release the citys 2017 budget to prevent a strike and permit the city to operate as it should.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto was released from Nitzan Prison on Wednesday morning 27 Teves. There was no crowd, just a driver and a gabbai were on hand.

The rav completed serving ten months in prison term that was a part of the plea bargain agreement he accepted in his bribery trial. It is reported that while in prison he wrote 15 seforim in addition to a number of kuntrasim. Rabbi Pinto had a difficult time as he was also undergoing chemotherapy while serving his sentence.

It was reported that he was heading directly to Kever Rashbi from prison where he will be participating in a hachnasas Sefer Torah.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photos: Media Resource Group)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with Interior Minister Aryeh Deri to discuss continued building in the chareidi sector. Mr. Netanyahu promised the Shas party leader that he will continue building in Betar Illit. The Prime Minister promised him this would occur, with Mr. Netanyahu reassuring Deri that he is well-aware of the critical housing shortage in the chareidi sector.

Earlier in the day on Tuesday, 26 Teves, prior to Deris meeting with the Prime Minister, he lashed out at Mr. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, accusing the government of continuing to discriminate against the chareidi sector. He explained that the chareidim make up about 40% of the Jewish population in Yehuda and Shomron and while there was talk of 2,500 new housing units, only 10% of the homes were approved in chareidi communities in Yehuda and Shomron. Deri said that in fact, some of the apartments are being marketed again so in essence, the real number is under 10%.

Betar Mayor Meir Rubinstein announced he received official word of the construction of 87 new apartments. He announced he welcomes any and every apartment being built, adding Betar is the largest municipality throughout all of Yehuda and Gush Etzion and announcing 87 of 2,5000 being allocated to Betar is an embarrassment.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman have approved 2,500 new housing units throughout Yehuda and Shomron. They announced getting back to normal following the Obama administration. The two senior ministers made the announcement this week during a meeting of the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet, adding restrictions will be lifted to permit a resumption of construction in Yerushalayim as well.

The new plan spells a major increase for the Shomron city of Ariel, where the government plans to construct 839 units. An additional 385 units are slated for communities within the Shomron Regional Council. Maale Adumim will receive 112 new housing units, Givat Zeev 652, 87 in Betar, 21 in Efrat and 4 in Gush Etzion communities. In the Binyamin Regional Council of Shomron, Beit El will receive 100, which are intended for the residents of Migron who were evicted by High Court of Justice decision in 2012. They were previously located in the same regional council near Psagot.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump would discuss the matter with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he meets with the president in Washington next month.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Soldiers patrolling near the Gaza border were targeted by terrorist gunfire on Tuesday, marking the second attack this week. The IDF responded with tank fire, destroying a Hamas position in southern Gaza on Tuesday night the eve of 27 Teves. Bchasdei Hashem there were no injuries in the attack.

There was also a cross-border attack near the Lebanese border against IDF soldiers in the Metula area. Once again, Bchasdei Hashem, there were no injuries.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
As representatives of the Reform and Conservative Movements continue applying pressure on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to authorize the egalitarian prayer area near the Kosel, chareidi MKs are going to meet with the Chief Rabbis of Israel. The chareidim first accepted the deal during a cabinet meeting but quickly did an about-face and have been fighting against it since.

The chareidim have informed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu they will not tolerate giving any measure of legitimacy to the Reform or Conservative; and any government step in that direction may precipitate a coalition crisis.

The representatives of the chareidim, Ministers Litzman and Deri along with MK Moshe Gafne are expected to meet with Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau Shlita and Rishon LTzion Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef Shlita this week.

Despite the adamant opposition by the Chief Rabbis and chareidi parties in Knesset, they are all aware of the enormous pressure being exerted by the Reform and Conservative leaders on Mr. Netanyahu, with all being quite aware of the significant contributions they make to the State of Israel.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
A Palestinian terrorist has been shot after attempting to ram a vehicle at a gas station on Highway 60 near Kochav Yaakov in the Binyamin Region  north of Jerusalem.

The driver was shot dead by by IDF Soldiers.

Bichasdei Hashem, there were no Israelis injured.

The location of the attack is in the Binyamin Regional Council of the Shomron and the gas station serves as a major bus stop and hitchhiking venue for persons heading to Jerusalem and heading north into the Shomron. The bus stop/hitching area is usually very crowded at this time of the day, and Bchasdei Hashem this attack ended as it did.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
BT is facing legal action over claims it misled investors about the scale of a 530million accounting scandal in its Italian business.

A trio of US law firms are preparing to file suits to recover losses suffered by BT investors after almost 8billion was wiped off the value of the telecoms giant yesterday.

It was a blow to BT's army of almost one million small investors, who saw shares plunge by almost 21 per cent to a four-year low of 303p.

Claims: A trio of US law firms are preparing to file suits to recover losses suffered by BT investors after almost 8billion was wiped off the value of the telecoms giant yesterday

Markets were stunned by the group's admission that 'inappropriate behaviour' had caused it to exaggerate profits in Italy for a number of years.

The scandal first emerged last summer but yesterday the firm admitted to the stock market that the problems were 'far greater than previously identified'.

The group said the scandal has forced it to write down the value of its Italian business by 530million, which was a much larger amount than its initial estimate of 145million.

The announcement  which was accompanied by a profits warning for this year and next  sparked a wave of panic selling.

This has led US law firms Rosen, Block & Leviton and Goldberg to announce investigations into whether top-level staff violated federal security laws.

It centres over allegations that BT may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.

BT declined to comment. Meanwhile, Milan prosecutors have opened an investigation into the Italian unit, according to Reuters.

The impending legal action will add to BT's costs and pile further pressure on its boss Gavin Patterson.

David Buik, a veteran City expert from stockbroker Panmure Gordon, described the scandal in Italy as 'the tip of the iceberg', which suggested wider problems with the management at BT  including its chief executive.

He said: 'Gavin Patterson will come under enormous pressure to deliver management change and give reassurance to shareholders. If he doesn't, the buck stops at the top.'

The group said an independent probe into the scandal by KPMG had uncovered 'inappropriate behaviour' in its Italian division, including 'improper accounting practices' and a 'complex set of improper sales, purchase, factoring and leasing transactions'.

It confirmed a number of senior executives in Italy have been suspended. The head of BT Europe, Corrado Sciolla, is also set to quit.

In an effort to appease shareholders, BT's remuneration committee will also examine bonus payments previously paid to leading directors, including Patterson, who collected 5.4million in pay and perks last year.

BT said: 'The improper behaviour in our Italian business is an extremely serious matter, and we have taken steps to strengthen the financial processes and controls in that business.'
The email from Richard Barber's trusted Polish builder looked no different from the others.

It was sent from his usual email address and included normal pleasantries. The only difference was that Wojtek was asking for cash for a loft conversion upfront, rather than at the end of the job.

'Please I want you to deposit 4,000 to the account . . . so that I can start ordering for materials needed,' the email read.

The email provided the details of a new Barclays account and was signed: 'All best, Wojtek.'

Victim: Barclays told Richard Barber that most of the money had gone and that he would receive a cheque for the remaining 4.33 (pictured)

Richard, 69, a former editor of Ok! magazine, had known Wojtek for eight years and always been happy with his work.

He saw no reason to be suspicious, so he called his bank the next day, transferred the money and thought nothing more of it.

But five days later Richard discovered his builder's email account had been hacked.

He had not been exchanging emails with Wojtek at all. The money had gone to a fraudster's bank account  and by the time Richard realised, just 4.33 was left.

Nine months later, he has not been reimbursed by his own bank, Coutts, or Barclays, the bank used by the crook.

'It wasn't my fault': Richard was robbed by scammers and must accept he is 3,995.67 out of pocket

Both say they merely did as they were asked. The police have not investigated because they have no leads and the ombudsman, which resolves disputes between customers and financial firms, says the banks are not liable.

Richard has exhausted all his options for compensation and must accept he is 3,995.67 out of pocket.

The retired journalist is one of thousands of victims falling for sophisticated bank transfer scams, with no way of clawing back their cash.

While fraud victims are generally refunded by banks if they are not at fault, those who unwittingly transfer money to a criminal's account do not have the same protection because the banks say they have handed over cash voluntarily.

This kind of fraud could be stopped using technology that lets you double-check the name of the person you are paying online.

Banks have pledged in future to cross-check the recipient's account number with the name on the account.

A message will pop up on your screen saying something like: 'Do you mean to pay John Smith?'

If this had been in place, Richard would have noticed the account did not belong to Wojtek, but to the unfamiliar name of a fraudster.

However, banks are dragging their heels on implementing this vital safeguard, saying only that it will be in place some time in the next one to three years.

Critics say they have little incentive to act faster because they are not the ones who lose from transfer frauds.

Sadly for Richard, he did not suspect a thing as he transferred 4,000 from his account with Coutts, the Queen's bank.

Warning: While fraud victims are generally refunded by banks if they are not at fault, those who unwittingly transfer money to a criminal's account do not have the same protection

Wojtek Sliwka, 41, the builder, who lives in Ealing, West London, was doing a loft conversion on Richard's holiday home in Whitstable, Kent, at a cost in excess of 8,000.

The pair had been exchanging emails about the work, so the bank transfer request didn't come out of the blue.

After paying on a Sunday, Richard travelled to Whitstable the following Friday with his wife Patti to meet Wojtek and discuss their building plans.

The scam became apparent as he helped to unpack plasterboard from the van. Richard says: 'I asked Wojtek whether he had received the money. He is normally very quick to confirm receipt of any payments, but he hadn't done so.

'Wojtek stopped in his tracks and said: 'What are you talking about?' I told him I had transferred 4,000 to him and he was baffled.

'We looked at each other and it was at this point that I think my face went ashen. I thought: 'My God, how has this happened?' '

Wojtek checked his email account and discovered another customer had also been asked for money. Fortunately, she had not made the transfer.

He called the police and sent an email to all his clients saying his account had been hacked.

Coutts was sympathetic, but said Richard had to speak to Barclays to reclaim the funds.

He was given an email address to write to  reportascam@barclays.com. After several days, a reply came saying most of the money had gone and he would receive a cheque for the remaining 4.33.

'I feel there should be more protection for victims of these scams,' says Richard. 'The money was transferred in good faith. I don't feel the fault was mine or that of my bank.

'Barclays clearly does not have sufficient safeguards in place to prevent this type of fraud.'

Richard reported the scam to the Metropolitan Police, who told him to call Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for such crimes.

It decided that there were no leads and the crime was not investigated further.

Action Fraud admits less than a third of cases sent to the national reporting centre are referred to the police.

A Coutts spokesman says: 'We sympathise with our client who was the victim of a scam and remind customers that seeing a phone number or email address you recognise does not mean it is genuine.'

A spokesman for Barclays says: 'We have every sympathy with Mr Barber and acted swiftly to recover the funds.

'Unfortunately, they had been withdrawn within four hours of the payment being made.'

l.eccles@dailymail.co.uk
On November 21, I parked in a multi-storey car park in Norwich. Three days later, I received a letter from my insurer, Hastings Direct, claiming I'd been in an accident.

I phoned to say this was not the case. On December 9, I received a further letter saying their review had found I was responsible.

They supplied a photo of my car parked next to a Vauxhall and said they would pay the claim in full on December 22.

Car trouble: Hastings Direct found one of their own customers guilty of scratching a car without even hearing his side of the story

It seems the other driver had claimed I had hit their car while parking.

There were no witnesses or CCTV. The other driver only supplied a photo of damage on my front right bumper  but that was historical damage to my car.

They have not sent me an engineer's report or photographs, which I asked for, nor have they sent a copy of the car park report.

P. A., Gorleston, Norfolk.

Tony Hazell replies: I thought insurance companies were supposed to take their customer's part in a dispute rather than automatically accept the word of the other driver.

It strikes me that the simplest way to prove your case would be to provide Hastings with any photos of your car taken before the incident featuring the damage, but I suspect that, like most people, you wouldn't bother to take snapshots of your car.

Perhaps, however, there is CCTV of you entering this or another car park before the incident, which may show this historical damage and thus prove your innocence.

There could be any number of reasons for the damage to the other person's car. They may have scraped it on a bollard while driving in, another car may have caught it or it may be recent damage that they only happened to spot when returning to the car on this occasion.

Hastings now admits it may have been a little hasty in settling the blame on you.

Its difficulty is that experience shows that if a case like this goes to court, the person who makes the claim usually wins because it is decided on the balance of probability.

However, Hastings has not admitted fault to the third party. And it has decided to defend the case on your behalf.

Hastings says it based its original decision on an engineer's inspection of your car, which indicated the damage was consistent with light to moderate impact at slow speed.

Of course, that does not mean it happened on the day or at the place in question.

If court proceedings are issued by the other driver, then Hastings would expect you to co-operate fully and this may include you having to attend a civil court to give evidence.

Hastings has promised to keep you up to date with developments and a spokesman apologised for the frustration caused.

YOU HAVE YOUR SAY Every week, Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails about our stories. Here are some from our recent story about how pensioners have been plunged into crippling debt after the Government axed plans to let savers cash in their annuities If you want to see what kind of Government you have just look at how it treats children and the elderly: we have the second highest child poverty rate among developed nations, and now this humiliation of pensioners. Shocking. T. B., Leeds. Annuities are a honey pot for insurance companies. They pay a pittance each month and keep the rest when you die. Why do you think they kicked up a storm in the first place and got the Government to cave in? They say an annuity is a guaranteed income for life; the only thing you're guaranteed is to be ripped off. A. L., London. As per usual the Government has overcomplicated the issue. All it had to do was ask insurers to buy back the annuity at the original price minus a reasonable fee. M.L., Malta While I feel sorry for the people now in debt off the back of trusting our Government, why did they spend the money before they were certain they could sell back their annuity? The saying 'don't count your chickens' springs to mind. J. F., Horsham, W. Sussex. My wife was offered a deal to have her pension investment as a lump sum because it was less than 10,000. She said yes because to get that money back from an annuity she would have to live until she was 89, by which time it would be worthless. C. O., Northampton. The real crime here is that you can save 60,000 for an annuity and only get a return of 45 a week. We're all slaves of successive governments who have failed to tackle the problem of good pension provision. S. F., Gravesend, Kent. Spending money you don't have is a high risk policy. You can never trust politicians. The hard fact is the two insurance companies in this piece were prepared to take part in the initiative and warned people they might get back a lot less than they might expect. The Government was wise to pull it. A. T., London. I don't think you can blame the Government here. Imagine if I'm told I'm getting a pay rise and I go on a spending spree before I have the money in my hand  and then I'm told I won't actually get the extra money. Who do I blame: the company or myself? A. D., Pontefract, W. Yorks.

We put money into Isas for our adult children will this be hit by IHT?

I am preparing a manual covering my wife's and my finances to assist our children when they deal with our estates.

We have two adult children living with us who pay monthly sums from their taxed income as housekeeping. This was paid into a joint account, but is now paid into my wife's. She uses the money to buy Isas on behalf of the children.

The combined sums are about the amount allowed as tax-free lodging income. My wife is not a taxpayer.

We are in our 80s, so inheritance tax considerations loom large. Could a valid claim be made that, as all the money is invested in the names of the children, there is no parental income tax or IHT interest?

R. D., Warwick.

You asked a number of complex tax questions in your letter. I am addressing the most straight- forward, but for the rest you really need to get professional advice.

Patricia Mock, tax director at Deloitte, has considered the main issue: will housekeeping contributions be treated as income?

If money from your children is simply to defray expenses rather than provide profit, this would be an argument against it being 'income'.

Also, she says, there will be no tax to pay as long as the sums are below the 7,500 lodging limit.

Now, to the Isas. It's not entirely clear whose name these are in.

However, if they are in your children's, then they are likely to escape IHT.

Initially, it appears you were making the contributions from a joint account. This would mean you could each claim your 3,000 annual exemption for gifts.

However, as more recently all of the money has been paid from your wife's account, only her 3,000 exemption would apply.

But there is a further exemption for normal gifts made out of surplus income that do not reduce the donor's standard of living.

If this money was not required to maintain your standard of living, it should fall under this heading.

In the unlikely event that the Isas are in your names, they would remain in your estates for the purposes of IHT.

STRAIGHT TO THE POINT John Lewis promised I would be sent a 5 gift voucher by email if I spent more than 50 in store. But it never arrived. When I contacted the company, it said there was no record I was entitled to one. A. R., Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan. John Lewis admits it is to blame for this oversight after failing to update its database when you recently changed your email address. It is sending you a 10 gift card as an apology. ** I bought my son an annual Tastecard subscription on December 16, but he doesn't want it. When I called to cancel the order on December 28, Tastecard refused to give me a refund. I thought that under consumer law, you have two weeks to return goods bought online if you don't want them. S. T., by email A spokeswoman for Tastecard confirmed that new customers are entitled to a refund if they contact its call centre within 14 days of making an order. She says you were initially refused a refund because you were given a voucher for a free case of wine when you applied for the card. The firm needed to check it had not been redeemed before issuing the refund. You have now got your money back. ** I want to rent a garage and use it as a workshop. My tools are currently stored at my parents' house, so I'm covered under their home insurance policy even though my name is not on the documents. Will I still be covered if I keep the kit in the workshop? S. B., Kent. You need to buy a new policy. Look for commercial rather than personal insurance if this is more than just a hobby. For independent advice, call the British Insurance Brokers' Association on 0370 950 1790 or visit biba.org.uk ** I'm about to go on maternity leave. I earn 50,000 a year, but while I'm off work this will gradually reduce to statutory maternity pay of 139.58 a week. That means my total annual income will be under the 11,000 personal allowance. Will my tax code be adjusted so I don't have to pay tax? L. L., Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. If your employer continues to pay you each month, your tax code should be adjusted automatically as your income reduces, says HMRC. If you're concerned, you can check you are paying the correct online. Register for a personal tax account at gov.uk/personal-tax-account

Is Avis allowed to take money for jumping a red light?

We were shocked to get a call from Halifax telling us it had refused a request from Avis (USA) for 150 from our bank account.

We rented a car from Avis in Tampa, Florida, from September 1 to 30. When I contacted Avis I was told I had jumped a red light on September 15.

Of course I will pay, but I can't understand why it's taken so long to hear anything and why the fine is so costly.

I am a careful driver and have been renting from Avis for years.

B.W., London.

I asked Avis for more information and I'm afraid you did jump a red light while on holiday, so you do owe the money.

Avis's UK office has collected the photographic evidence.

It seems that you were sent a letter in October warning you of the fine, but you did not receive it  hence your surprise.

The standard fine for jumping a red light in Florida is $158 (about 125). Avis paid the fine to prevent it escalating and added a $30 administration fee, which does not seem unreasonable. So, the total came to $188 (about 150).

Avis has made contact with you directly to resolve the issue.
British Gas left tens of thousands of business customers with delayed or inaccurate bills

British Gas has been fined 9.5million after the energy watchdog said its billing systems had let customers down.

The Centrica-owned supplier left tens of thousands of business customers with delayed or inaccurate bills after it launched a computer billing system in March 2014, according to Ofgem.

More than 6,000 new customers had delays in registering with the supplier, and British Gas Business handled many complaints over the issues 'poorly or not on time'.

Ofgem said British Gas Business came forward voluntarily in December 2014 to flag up the billing issues.

Dermot Nolan, chief executive of Ofgem, said that while the firm was right to report the problems, it 'didn't act quickly enough to put things right'.

The regulator said British Gas Business failed to protect customers from issues surrounding the launch of its IT system, did not ensure its customer service processes were adequate and then did not have enough staff to deal with complaints.

British Gas Business, which has around 400,000 customers, initially compensated some of those affected after discovering the billing issues.

The company took action to cut the number of delayed bills and contacted customers to explain problems with the billing system.
A clampdown on trading continues to weigh on IG Group shares.

Yesterday the firm admitted it was cautious about the future despite putting in place rules to prevent customers losing more than their original stake.

It comes after a damning report by the City regulator FCA which found novice customers of spread-betting firms were losing a fortune on deals they didn't understand.

Regulation aside, it was a record first half to the year which saw trading revenue climb 14 per cent to 245million in the six months to November 30.

Down: IG Group admitted it was cautious about the future despite putting in place rules to prevent customers losing more than their original stake

Operating expenses jumped 23 per cent after marketing spending increased but the firm said pre-tax profit was up 6.7 per cent to 105.2million.

IG said regulatory changes were not expected to have any material impact in the firm's current financial year but admitted there were 'a number of unknowns, [which] makes it difficult to say exactly what the ultimate impact will be'.

Numis expects revenue per customer to fall around 15 per cent as a result.

One change to IG's offering, which has been made with immediate effect, is that sprint trading will no longer be available to new clients.

This type of trade, which generates around 15million in revenue each year, is when a user makes a short term 'up or down' binary bet, for example, will the FTSE be higher or lower after two minutes.

IG said the change was part of its shift towards more sophisticated trading and investing. Shares slipped 1.9 per cent, or 10.5p, to 530.5p.

The FTSE 100 finished fractionally lower, down just 0.01 per cent or 0.84 points to 7150.34.

Miners were the greatest risers of the day as sterling continued its slide and the price of iron ore helped boost performance.

STOCK WATCH - TOWER RESOURCES Tower Resources tanked after it announced the sale of Comet Petroleum for just 1. The Africa-focused oil and gas exploration firm has offloaded the asset to private company Red Rio Petroleum. It will keep a royalty interest of 10 per cent of future production revenue. Tower said it had sold the asset because of political issues in the region. Comet, which Tower acquired in 2008, is in the partially recognised territory of Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic but its sovereignty is disputed by Morocco. Shares slumped 19 per cent, or 0.5p to 2.12p.

Anglo American advanced 5.9 per cent, or 77.5p, to 1386p while Antofagasta gained 4.4 per cent, or 34.5p, to 824p.

BT plunged on fears about its Italian business. Prosecutors have opened an investigation into alleged false accounting at the telecoms firm.

Shares in the company fell to a four-year low, plummeting 20.8 per cent, or 79.5p, to 303p.

Pub chain Marston's used its annual meeting to announce that trading over Christmas and New had been good.

Trading so far this year was encouraging and it was on track to open at least 20 pub-restaurants and bars and five lodges this financial year. Own-brewed volumes were up 3 per cent while taverns sales were 1.5 per cent ahead of last year.

But investors were drowning their sorrows anyway, perhaps disappointed that the firm did not upgrade its forecasts for the year.

Shares tumbled yesterday 1.8 per cent, or 2.5p, to 134.7p.

Enquest had the highest annual production levels since the company started in 2010.

The oil and gas firm said it had produced an average of 39,751 barrels of oil per day in 2016, up 8.7 per cent on the year before.

That's despite final production being affected by a shutdown for maintenance at the end of the year which took longer than expected.

The firm also announced it had acquired a 25 per cent interest in the Magnus oil field in the North Sea from BP.

There is no initial cash outlay but will be a future consideration of up to 68million. Enquest also has the option to acquire the remaining 75 per cent in the future. Shares gained 1 per cent, or 0.5p, to 49.75p.

Plunging profits sent shares in smoke and carbon monoxide detector firm Sprue Aegis lower.

The business said sales for the full year were 57.1million down from 88.3million a year ago, while operating profit is set to be 2.1million, down from 12.8million in 2015.

Sprue said performance picked up in the second half of the year but lower demand in France had hit the business.

Sales in Germany were up 52 per cent from a year ago after the launch of the FireAngel products which can connect to the internet to provide real-time monitoring and alarms to businesses.

But Sprue is still climbing back from a major share price fall last April when it reported battery life problems in some of its alarms.

Yesterday Sprue warned it had seen costs significantly increase since the fall in the pound. Shares dropped 2 per cent, or 3.5p, to 172.5p.
Out of pocket: Diana Hodgkinson had to pay 700 a month towards her husband's care

It was only near the end of their 50-year marriage that John and Diana Hodgkinson spent any significant time apart.

Even when Parkinson's disease stopped John getting up and down the stairs, Diana moved into the lounge of their home in Selston, Nottinghamshire.

But as former miner John's condition worsened, it became too difficult to manage on their own and Diana made the heart-breaking decision to move him into a nursing home, where he died in 2008, aged 74.

'He was the most loving man,' says Diana, 73, her voice choked with emotion. 'He was my pal.'

Moving John to a nursing home should have helped ease the strain on Diana. But instead, one of her lasting memories of the six years he spent there is the huge financial burden it put on her.

Though the council paid the bulk of the care home fees, the Hodgkinsons were still responsible for 700 a month that the local authority wouldn't cover.

This money had to come out of John's pensions, swallowing a huge chunk of the couple's joint income.

It meant Diana, who had given up work to care for her husband and says she wasn't getting any state pension, barely managed to pay her heating and council tax bills and had to accept financial help from her five children.

She lived in fear that if John's care bills jumped, the local authority would take their three-bed semi-detached home too.

Diana did ask the NHS to cover the 33,000 the couple spent on John's care fees.

She had a case under rules called Continuing Healthcare, which say the NHS should fund care for those suffering from degenerative illnesses such as Parkinson's.

But, like thousands of other families, she was rejected.

'There just seems to be something wrong with a system where people who have worked hard all their lives have to go without to pay for care,' says Diana.

Welcome to Britain's care crisis.

Local authorities have so little cash to look after our ageing population that they're trying to push through eye-watering council tax hikes.

Last week, Surrey County Council announced plans for a 15 per cent rise. Liverpool and Lancashire are mulling over similar moves.

Today Money Mail can also reveal that a lack of state funds has resulted in a giant 1.3 billion care home funding gap.

This is being plugged by families who pay their own care bills, who are being charged 8,000 more a year than they should be to cover the shortfall.

With so many families' finances at risk Money Mail will guide you through this national crisis.

Crisis: Last week the Office for Budget Responsibility warned the Government would need to boost the NHS's budget by 88billion over the next 50 years to cover rising care costs

HOW THE CRISIS GOT OUT OF CONTROL

The root of Britain's care crisis is our ageing population.

Many of us are living far longer these days  but not necessarily in perfect health.

The number of people over 85 is forecast to double by 2030, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

And the numbers suffering from dementia, Parkinson's and other ailments are rising at the same time, putting strain on the NHS and care providers.

Last week the Office for Budget Responsibility warned the Government would need to boost the NHS's budget by 88 billion over the next 50 years to cover the rising costs.

Under the current system, most people are forced to pay part or all of their own care bills.

When someone becomes ill enough to require care, the local authority sends someone to their home or hospital to check their finances.

The elderly person or a relative will be asked to submit details of savings, the value of their home and income such as pensions or rent from buy-to-let property.

If an elderly person's assets are more than 23,250 in England and Northern Ireland  or 24,000 Wales  they are entirely responsible for paying their own care costs.

As this figure includes the value of your home, you may have to sell up to pay the fees. There is an exception if a dependent, such as a spouse, is still living there.

You can also opt to defer the sale and pay any outstanding care bills after you die when the house is sold.

In Scotland, elderly people with more than 26,250 must pay for their own accommodation.

But personal care  for example, help with dressing or going to the toilet  is free and there is no charge if you need nursing help.

In all regions, once your income and assets fall below these thresholds, the local authority should pay towards the cost of care.

And once your assets drop further  14,250 in England  the local council must pay the fees in full. But even then, you could be obliged to pay for extra fees.

Burden: Under the current system, most people are forced to pay part or all of their own care bills

FAMILIES PICKING UP THE TAB

Typically local authorities set a maximum amount they'll pay towards a care home place  and won't cough up a penny more.

More and more care homes say this amount doesn't reflect the true cost of looking after someone, and so demand that residents pay extra.

Many families are therefore asked for so-called 'top-up' fees of up to 150 a week.

Through Continuing Healthcare, the NHS funds the care bills of patients who cannot live without medical help.

This should cover those who are paralysed or in the final stages of a degenerative condition such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's.

But the criteria are notoriously hard to meet.

While it would be simpler if the state paid everyone's care bills in full, local councils say there isn't enough money to go around.

The Local Government Association estimates that councils need an extra 2.6 billion by 2020 to fund rising care costs.

One reason is that the Government has slashed the grants it pays to councils to provide these services.

For instance, in Surrey, the council's annual grant has been cut by 170 million since 2010.

Local authority budgets are also stretched by other, less obvious pressures.

In areas such as Birmingham, councils face bills of up to a 1 billion over a ruling on equal pay.

Crisis: A lack of state funds has resulted in a giant 1.3 billion care home funding gap

For years workers in traditionally male-dominated jobs, such as bin men, were paid more than employees in jobs associated with women, such as nursing home workers  even when the roles were ranked at the same level by local authorities.

A court ruling in 2012 led to many councils having to issue backdated pay to female workers.

Councils are also being asked to pay more as the cost of care goes up.

The 7.20-an-hour National Living Wage introduced last year has hit care providers, which have historically relied on low-paid care assistants and other staff.

Although the wage doesn't sound overly generous, industry body Care England estimates it could cause 9,000 homes, where profits are already stretched, to close by 2020.

Many care homes are trying to hike their fees in response.

HOW THEY'LL TRY TO HIT YOUR POCKET

With councils unwilling  or unable  to cover higher fees, care homes are turning to families who pay out of their own pocket.

Figures shown to Money Mail reveal that people who fund their own care are being made to pay an extra 1.3 billion to cover the shortfall in the amount care homes are receiving from councils.

This means to cover the cost of housing poorer residents these families are having to find an extra 8,000 a year each.

William Laing, founder of healthcare analysts LaingBuisson, which compiled the figures, says: 'The entire care home sector is being kept afloat through care subsidies from the 40 per cent of residents who pay privately.'

Mr Laing says councils contribute 486 a week on average towards a single care home place, even though the cost to the provider is 590.

This is where top-up fees come in. Around 56,000 families pay extra charges varying between 40 and 150 a week to make up the difference, according to charity Age UK.

Some homes are so desperate for cash they are making mistakes and charging top-up fees when they shouldn't, according to the Local Government Ombudsman. Families should not have to pay extra if there is no home in their area that offers care at the council's maximum funding rate.

In some cases, homes are flouting rules that say the extra fees must be formally agreed in a contract between the care home, the elderly person's friend or relative, and the local council.

A care home can order a resident to leave a home if their family cannot pay these extra charges. But fears of bad publicity mean few carry out this threat.

Instead they are hiring financial advisers to quiz residents and their families before they move in. They then reject those who look likely to struggle with charges.

In the past, the Government has given local authorities permission to raise council tax by 2 per cent to cover the rising cost of care.

Local authorities raked in an extra 382 million over the past year using the hikes. Under new rules, councils can this year increase charges by 5 per cent, with 3 per cent ring-fenced for social care.

But even that's not enough. Councils that want larger hikes, such as Surrey, have to hold referendums to get voters' permission.

Some local authorities are trying to recoup costs with admin fees and crackdowns on families who hide assets.

Northamptonshire County Council is planning to introduce a 50 fee to assess the care needs of those with assets of more than 23,250.

Others have introduced 1,000 fees for arranging care for wealthier elderly people in their own homes.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO AVERT DISASTER?

For many families it's galling to see a nest egg built up over a lifetime drained by care costs.

But experts warn that we may all be forced to put money aside to pay these bills. Baroness Ros Altmann, the former pensions minister, says workers need to be given a greater incentive to save, such as a care Isa offering tax-free boosts if you use the money for care purposes.

She says the Government should also consider letting savers withdraw any amount of money tax-free from their pensions to cover care bills.

When someone becomes ill enough to require care, the local authority sends someone to their home or hospital to check their finances

Currently, you can take 25 per cent tax-free and the rest is treated as taxable income.

The Tory peer says: 'It is shameful that the Government has not offered any incentives for people to save for later-life care.

'Many baby boomers have savings or large pensions, but have no idea they should be planning for care costs  most think the NHS will pay, but it won't.'

There are a few, limited ways of cutting care bills.

One option is for generations to live together to support elderly relatives.

In 2013, the Government offered a 50 per cent council tax break to build 'granny flats' and last year the number in existence rose by nearly 8 per cent to 36,150, according to the Valuation Office Agency.

Another option is a so-called care annuity. Here you hand a lump sum to an insurer, which pays care costs up to a set annual amount.

It costs around 232,000 up front to cover fees of around 30,000 a year.

However, it's a gamble: if you die shortly after you enter the home the insurance firm typically pockets the entire sum you paid.

Future generations may find the amount they have to pay towards care capped.

Under reforms put forward by economist Sir Andrew Dilnot a 72,000 limit was supposed to be introduced last year.

But these plans have been put on ice until at least 2020 because they were viewed by the Government as too costly to implement.

Crucially, the cap would only apply to the cost of care and not to your accommodation, meaning many families could still be forced to sell their properties.

A final option is to apply for Continuing Healthcare. While an estimated 60,000 people receive this, hundreds of thousands more are believed to be eligible.

However, as Diana Hodgkinson discovered when John had Parkinson's, it is incredibly difficult to claim  even when a case appears cut and dried.

This is because the decision about whether someone qualifies is subjective.

NHS figures show that the numbers qualifying for the payout are falling steadily.

Some families say they have been forced to wait years even for their applications to be considered.

r.lythe@dailymail.co.uk
Stooge: BT's Libby Barr was sent to collect our wooden spoon award

It's a Thursday evening in late January in the Alps.

The great and good have descended on Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum and spent all day debating Brexit and Donald Trump's astonishing election triumph.

Tonight they're letting their hair down at a Hawaiian-themed party in a nightclub along the town's main promenade.

Hosted by tech firm Salesforce and its billionaire founder Marc Benioff, guests are garlanded with floral wreaths as they enter.

Pop group Black Eyed Peas are performing on stage with The X Factor's Nicole Scherzinger, as staff in Hawaiian shirts serve exotic cocktails and Bollinger champagne.

At the bar, mingling with the celebrity crowd, is 49-year-old Gavin Patterson, group chief executive of BT.

Unfortunately he couldn't have picked a worse time to be hobnobbing with the super-rich and super-famous.

Just the day before, at BT's London headquarters, a more junior member of staff had to collect an award on his behalf for the rotten customer service his firm has provided over the past 12 months.

Once again, BT has been crowned the winner of Money Mail's annual Wooden Spoon award and we were meeting the firm's bosses to find out what had gone wrong.

It is the second year in a row the telecoms giant has scooped the crown for shoddy service  and it has now won three out of our last four Wooden Spoon awards.

Yet despite being a clear winner with 27 per cent of the votes (runner-up Southern Rail got 16 per cent and third-placed Vodafone 15 per cent), BT refused to find any time in Mr Patterson's diary, in the two week window we gave them, to answer cus- tomers' concerns.

Instead, it put forward Libby Barr, managing director of customer care.

At BT's skyscraper HQ, we explained to her that thousands of you wrote in to nominate the firm with the worst customer service in Britain.

In previous years, complaints against BT centred on billing errors and unhelpful staff.

But what stood out this year was that, as well as poor everyday service, vast numbers of your complaints could be traced back to the firm's Openreach arm that's responsible for sending engineers to fix faults with phone lines and switch on broadband.

In the worst cases, customers were left without a landline or internet for months and then passed from pillar to post by BT call centres.

Every year we present the Wooden Spoon to the chief executive of the firm voted worst by our readers.

And this year it mattered more than most because just one man  Mr Patterson  is responsible for BT's entire operation, as group chief executive.

He took over as top boss in 2013 and oversees all the areas about which you complained, pocketing 5.6 million in pay and perks last year.

But for a reason that BT could not fully explain, it decided he was the wrong person for us to meet.

On accepting the trophy, Ms Barr tried to explain what went wrong.

'We are very sorry and would like to apologise to Daily Mail readers who have had a poor experience,' she said. 'We can see we are making progress but that's clearly taking time to come through to customers. We are determined to get things right.'

As we walked through the office she requested Money Mail's reporter hide the award up a coat sleeve so staff wouldn't see it. 'They [the staff] take this very personally,' she said.

'If they see the award they'll know why you're here and I want to have a chance to tell them first myself.'

It's good to talk: But Gavin Patterson, BT's chief executive, didn't have time - so he sent an underling in his place

Every year our Wooden Spoon award exposes the terrible treatment dished out by some of Britain's biggest companies.

In December we compiled a shortlist of ten firms that popped up most often in our postbag last year.

They were: Barclays, British Airways, BT, Extra Energy, Legal & General, HM Revenue & Customs, Scottish Power, Southern Rail, Thomson and Vodafone.

We then asked you to choose who you thought was worst.

Many of you attached detailed letters to your voting slips about the problems you've encountered.

Barry and Pauline Saunders were left without a working telephone or internet for 41 days after BT failed to fix their broken phone line.

It meant the couple, who live in a rural village in Kent where they struggle to get a mobile phone signal, had no means of contacting their family.

Barry, 70, a retired sales manager, says: 'If one of us had needed an ambulance or the fire brigade, we'd have had to run down the road shouting for help.'

The Saunders' complaint was typical. You told us engineers repeatedly failed to turn up as promised; and when they did, often couldn't fix the problem. Many of you say you were then wrongly charged for the repair work.

It took Joyce and Leonard Gardner, 85 and 89 respectively, six months to get their landline fixed.

BT even tried to charge the couple 129.99 when the fault was at the company's end. Three months later the couple from Merseyside are still waiting for their promised 60 compensation.

On top of technical faults, BT appeared unable to deal with simple problems.

Gary Cooksley, 64, from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, ended up with four different telephone numbers when he moved house because BT repeatedly failed to pass on requests to keep his existing one.

Many of you say you struggle even to get through to someone on the phone. In the worst cases customers have been left waiting for more than an hour and then passed around different departments because no one knows how to help.

And despite promises to bring back thousands of jobs from overseas call centres to the UK, many of you still complain of difficulties being understood by staff.

When we presented John Petter, chief executive of BT's Consumer division, with last year's award in January 2016, he promised an 80 million revamp of the firm's customer service.

This year vast numbers of your complaints could be traced back to the BT's Openreach arm that's responsible for sending engineers to fix faults with phone lines and switch on broadband

Around 10,000 of its call centre staff were to be given an extra 100 hours of training so they could help more customers and more than 1,000 more staff hired.

Mr Petter also pledged that by the end of 2016, 80 per cent of all calls would be answered in the UK  up from 55 per cent.

Ms Barr, 50, said: 'The customer service transformation is taking longer to implement across the business than we'd hoped.

'By May, when the transformation will be complete, customers will start to see a real difference. Where the new system is up and running, we're already seeing 50 per cent fewer complaints.'

When Ms Barr was asked if BT had met its target of answering 80 per cent of calls in the UK, she couldn't say. Instead she told us BT has a new target  that by spring, UK call centre staff would be answering 90 per cent of calls in this country.

Surprisingly, Ms Barr, who is responsible for BT call centre operations, also didn't know what the average call waiting time is at the firm.

BT later sent a statement saying the average call is answered in 106 seconds, but that it is aiming to reduce this to 60 seconds.

It also told us it will start offering compensation to customers later this year if it fails to meet its customer service promises.

It has set up a specially trained team to deal with calls from vulnerable customers, and launched a new service to help block nuisance phone calls.

Ms Barr also tried to speak on behalf of Openreach, despite it being overseen by Gavin Patterson and having its own chief executive, Clive Selley, to whom she does not report directly.

Mr Selley started at BT as an engineer and stepped up to the helm in February last year.

Ms Barr said: 'Openreach is really making progress. Clive has got a real grip on that side of the business now  it's remarkable.

He really understands the networks and the engineers have great respect for him.'

The number of appointments completed on time by engineers is also creeping up. This time last year it was 93 per cent. Today it is 94 per cent. In 2014 it was just 68 per cent.

Engineers also now text customers to update them on their arrival time so they don't wait in unnecessarily.

BT does not release the total number of complaints it receives each year. But official complaints statistics published by telecoms regulator Ofcom reveal the firm is currently the most complained about broadband and TV provider.

BT received 36 broadband complaints for every 100,000 of its customers between July and September.

The next worst was Plusnet with 30 and EE with 26.

For TV it received 19 complaints per 100,000 customers, ahead of Virgin Media with seven and TalkTalk with six.

Ms Barr did not want to comment on why the firm received so many complaints from TV customers.

BT later told Money Mail it is because its TV service is reliant on a working internet connection. So if your broadband breaks you won't be able to watch TV.

This is the same for Talk Talk but not for Sky as its TV service is largely provided via satellites.

Throughout our discussion Mr Patterson's absence has been the elephant in the room.

As the interview drew to a close, Ms Barr leaned forward, clenched her fists and said: 'I feel like I can speak on Gavin's behalf.

'I really felt it is right that I collect this award as it is my name that goes on the end of the letters to customers and I am the one responsible for transforming our service.

'Customer expectations are rising all the time and we are taking this very seriously. I care deeply about the improvements we're making.'

In an email statement from his media representative, Mr Patterson says: 'As CEO of BT, customer service is my number one priority. I'm therefore very disappointed that we have received this award. I'd also like to apologise to any customers we've let down.

'There is a lot more to do but I believe we are on the right course.'

RUNNER-UP: SOUTHERN RAIL

It was the first time a train company made it on to our annual Wooden Spoon shortlist.

But its 16 per cent share of the votes will come as no surprise to the thousands of passengers who have suffered months of delays and cancellations due to strikes.

Around 83,000 trains have been cancelled by Govia, which runs Southern Rail, over the past year, according to official figures.

On Monday this week staff walked out yet again over Govia's plan to give drivers the responsibility of closing the doors instead of guards.

You told us how cancellations left you stranded miles from home and routinely having to pay expensive taxi fares to get to and from work.

Hopeless: Around 83,000 trains have been cancelled by Govia, which runs Southern Rail, over the past year, according to official figures

Some commuters even lost their jobs because the delays made them late so often. On the few trains that have run, passengers have been squashed in like sardines.

Then, to add insult to injury, you tell us you are also struggling for months to get the refund you are entitled to when your train is cancelled or delayed.

A Southern Rail spokesman says: 'We're truly sorry for what passengers have been experiencing and are determined to restore the service they rightly expect.

'The industrial action on Southern is utterly unnecessary and causing misery to our passengers.

'The changes we have made will modernise our railway and improve the passenger experience.

'With control of the doors moving to the driver, staff will be more visible on trains and focused entirely on providing customer service.

'This method of operation is nothing new  trains across the country have been operating this way for decades.'

THIRD PLACE: VODAFONE

Vodafone suffered a massive customer service meltdown last year after a computer system upgrade went wrong.

With 15 per cent of the votes this year, it is clear the firm is still struggling with a huge backlog of complaints.

In your letters you say Vodafone seems unable to fix basic administrative errors and that you are routinely being charged too much.

Communication breakdown: It is clear the Vodafone is still struggling with a huge backlog of complaints

You've also told us how the mobile phones you've ordered regularly fail to turn up on the promised delivery date. In some cases you're still waiting months later.

Many of you also can't seem to get through to the call centre. And when staff promise to ring you back, the call never arrives.

A spokesman for Vodafone says: 'We continue to offer our profound apologies to customers affected by the aftermath of the IT system changes we made in 2015.

'Last year we made a huge investment in identifying and fixing the issues which were impacting customers, hiring an additional 1,000 new UK-based call centre personnel and giving more than 190,000 hours of training to improve how we identify and resolve individual customer problems.

'This has led to a 50 per cent reduction in complaints over the year.

'Our highest priority in 2017 is to build on that positive momentum and make our customer services best in class.'

v.bischoff@dailymail.co.uk
[January 24, 2017] Toulouse Welcomes Hyperloop Transportation Technologies to Europe's Aerospace Valley With New Facilities

PLAYA VISTA, Calif., Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) announced today the signing of an agreement with the city of Toulouse, France to open a facility for the development and testing of Hyperloop-related technologies. As part of this agreement the city, known worldwide as "Aerospace Valley," is providing a 3,000 square meter (37,674 sq. ft.) facility along with outdoor terrain. This announcement comes shortly after HTT's announcement of surpassing $100 million in in-kind and equity investment. "Our new center in Toulouse will help us continue to develop and manufacture important aerospace technology which will further improve the system," said HTT CEO Dirk Ahlborn. "The talent pool in the region allows us to hire some of the brightest minds in aerospace." "Hyperloop Transportation Technologies represents the cutting edge of transportation," said Jean-Luc Moudenc, Mayor of Toulouse and President of Toulouse Metropole. "This new collaborative corporation is already having a big impact on Europe and the rest of the world. We look forward to the exciting advancements that HTT will develop here." "Toulouse is the heart of Europe's aerospace industry so it is only natural that we have a presence there amongst many of our partners and peers," said HTT Chairman Bibop Gresta. "We are grateful to the community of Toulouse for welcoming us with open arms." "Our close relationship with the local government is exactly what is needed to implement Hyperloop systems in Europe," said HTT COO Andres De Leon. "While developing our technology we will also work together to create the necessary regulatory framework for the system." The new HTT Toulouse Research and Development Facility will be located at the Francazal Airport, a former military base being converted into a larger Mobility innovation Park by Toulouse Metropole. HTT worked closely with So Toulouse, an agency binging investment to the area, along with Metropole, as key partners on the agreement.



This announcement marks the fourth development deal directly with a government and is the latest in a series of important developments for HTT this month, including: the signing of Brno, Czech Republic connecting to Prague and Bratislava, the development deal formed directly with the nation of Slovakia in 2016, and the official strategic partnership agreement with the office of His Highness Sheikh Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi yesterday. At the end of 2016 HTT announced a development deal with the Department of Municipalities and Transportation of Abu Dhabi to develop a route connecting the city of Abu Dhabi with the neighboring city of Al Ain. About HTT

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc. (HTT) was founded in November, 2013, birthed of JumpStartFunda unique crowdfunding and crowdsourcing incubator platform that uses collective knowledge and assets to make ideas like Hyperloop a reality. HTT is a collaborative organization built within the egalitarian ecosystem of a company that values every one of its contributorsboth individual and entity. Collaborations with groups such as Atkins, Leybold Corporation, and Deutsche Bahn have resulted in tremendous advancement of the Hyperloop transportation system, setting the stage for a commitment to an installation in Quay Valley, California.



HTT has an exclusive agreement with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for use of their passive magnetic levitation system as the core of low-cost, safety-conscious construction and design in the Hyperloop. The company is partnered with more than 600 professional team members who provide the company with engineering, physics, legal, human resources, media relations, logistics, and construction talent to fuel a company that is uniquely collaborative and filled with talent. About Toulouse

Toulouse is the capital city of the southwestern French department of Haute-Garonne, as well as of the Occitanie region. It is the fourth-largest city in France with more than 1.3 million inhabitants as of 2014. Toulouse is the centre of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, the Galileo positioning system, the SPOT satellite system, Airbus Group (formerly EADS), ATR and the Aerospace Valley. The city also hosts the European headquarters of Intel and CNES's Toulouse Space Centre (CST), the largest space center in Europe. Thales Alenia Space, and Astrium SatellitesAirbus Group's satellite system subsidiaryalso have a significant presence in Toulouse. Its world-renowned university is one of the oldest in Europe (founded in 1229) with an enrollment of more than 100,000 students. The air route between Toulouse and Paris is the busiest in Europe, transporting 2.4 million passengers annually. Our full press kit with images and video can be found here Contact:

Ben Cooke

Director of Media Relations

(310) 720-1214

[email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/toulouse-welcomes-hyperloop-transportation-technologies-to-europes-aerospace-valley-with-new-facilities-300395767.html SOURCE Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc.

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[January 24, 2017] Global Consumer and Enterprise NAS Market - Strategic Assessment and Forecast Till 2021

NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The global Consumer and Enterprise NAS is expected to cross US$ 44 billion till 2021



A recent report published on Global Consumer and Enterprise NAS Strategic Assessment and Forecast Till 2021 provides a detailed analysis of the present scenario and growth aspect of the worldwide consumer and enterprise NAS for next five years. The report provides the detailed market segmentation by



By User Type (In Revenue and Shipment)

- Consumer NAS

- SOHO NAS

- SMB NAS

- SME NAS

- Large Enterprise NAS



By Geography (In Revenue and Shipment)

- North America

- Europe

- APAC

- Latin America

- Middle-East and Africa



For each region, the report provides break down by user type i.e. Consumer, SOHO, SME, SMB, and Large Enterprises





By Top Countries

- US

- UK

- China

- Japan



Consumer and Enterprise NAS  Market Size and Dynamics

Market research analysts at Beige Market Intelligence, forecast the Worldwide Consumer and Enterprise NAS market to grow at a CAGR of around 24% during the forecast period.

This growth of data is not only confined to consumers, SOHO, and SMBs. SMEs or large enterprises are also going to witness it. The users, who are running short of primary storage such as in device storage in mobile and external hard disk; left with two options, which are data storage in cloud or storing data in NAS devices. However, NAS is highly economical and secure than cloud. A detailed analysis between cloud storage and NAS storage cost comparison have been mentioned in the report.



Consumer and Enterprise NAS  Users Type Analysis

In terms of revenue; all the user segments?individual consumers, SOHO, SMBs, SMEs, and large enterprises?are going to witness an remarkable growth. Similarly, the CAGR of the user segments can vary from 16% to 48%. In 2012-2014, there was a slog in the growth rate of consumer NAS, due to the fall in the shipment as well as ASP. This trend will continue for a while and going to be revived by the increase in Smart home and Home automation. Beige Market Intelligence analysts have discussed two types of business model that have evolved in the developed nations, which include NAS as an integral part of Smart Home and Home Automation. Moreover, adoption of NAS by SOHO and SMBs compare to cloud storage is an emerging driver of the market in all the geographical segment. The report includes a detail cost analysis of NAS for each users Segments. It also compared the cost of NAS wth cloud storage.







Consumer and Enterprise NAS  Drivers, Restrains, and Trends

NAS for Smart home and home automation is a key driver in the market. In addition significant growth in data and piling up of unstructured data will enhance the demand for storage devices. However, cloud storage and SAN will pose a threat to the growth of NAS devices in the user segment. This is because, the cloud provides a cost-effective solution to individual consumer for short run than NAS. One of the emerging trend in the market is integration of remote synchronization and remote access features by the vendors in their upcoming NAS models to minimize the threat of cloud storage as an alternate to NAS. Moreover, vendors are also reducing the ASP of NAS products to overcome the market challenges and to combat declining penetration.



Consumer and Enterprise NAS  Geography Analysis

The report includes the market analysis of different regions such as North America , APAC, Europe and Latin America . The report outlines the major market share holder and the market size analysis of all the regions and provides the market size and forecast of the key countries. In 2015, North America led the worldwide NAS storage market. It was followed by Europe , where Nordic region was showing the potential growth.

In the recent days, the North American market has shown significant growth in shipment of NAS products than other geographies. The reason being, increasing use of NAS by individual consumer, SOHO, SMBs. In Europe , the declining ASP of NAS devices is expected to pull down its contribution to the overall market by a bit. APAC is the most emerging geography, which is going to witness a CAGR of approx. 27%, and going to witness significant increase in market share. This significant growth in market share is primarily due to increasing construction of new data center in SEA and China .





Consumer and Enterprise NAS  Market Share and Key Vendors

The report also provides in-depth analysis of 12 leading vendors and 13 emerging vendors. The report further provide market share for the following:

- Consumer NAS

- SOHO NAS

- SME NAS

- SMB NAS

- Large Enterprise NAS



The competition in NAS market is intense in the individual consumer and SOHO segment, and it is expected to intensify further. It will lead to an intense price war among vendors, which will increase the shipment but reduce their profit.



The major players identified within the report are Apple, Buffalo Technology, Dell, Dell EMC, Hitachi Data System, HP, NetApp, NETGEAR, QNAP, Seagate, Synology, and Western Digital.



Other Vendors are Asustor, Cisco system, Direct Data Networks, Drobo, Fujitsu, LeiCie Group S.A., Lenovo EMC, Nfina Technology, Oracle, Overland Storage, Promise Technology, Quantum, Tegile, Thecus, Transporter, Unylogix, X-IO Technologies, and Zyxel.



Why should you buy this report?

The report gives reasonable answers for the following questions which leads you to know the in- depth market analysis such as

1) How has the market been performing and what are some of the current changes which are expected to change the landscape in the coming years?

2) What are the various factors that can affect the market and in what way over the next few years?

3) What are the emerging trends and challenges for the market over the next five years?

4) What is the market size and market forecast for each product segment?

5) What is the market size and market forecast for each user type?

6) Which regions are going to have the largest market share and what are the factors propelling the market growth in that region?

7) Which are the key countries and the market size and market forecast in the key countries?

8) Which companies are the key vendors in the market?

9) What are the strategies used by the top vendors, and what are the opportunities to grow?

10) Which companies are the emerging vendors in the market?



Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04485374-summary/view-report.html



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



http://www.reportlinker.com



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-consumer-and-enterprise-nas-market---strategic-assessment-and-forecast-till-2021-300395941.html SOURCE Reportlinker

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By Mark Hallum

Ridegwood Savings Bank employees volunteered 2,400 hours and collectively raised over $67,000 to donate to various charities throughout the city over the course of 2016.

Since 2004, Ridgewood Savings has operated a community reinvestment program called Spirit of Ridgewood, which engages employees to volunteer through local 501c3 organizations. This year 340 employees offered a hand to the charity of their choice, with 147 associates volunteering 10 or more hours and 29 volunteering over 20 hours of service.

Through the Spirit of Ridgewood program we participated in 68 events and raised over $67,500 all through the efforts of our employees, Leonard Stekol, Ridgewood Savings Banks president, said. This incredible effort is rarely recognized outside the charities we help, but so appreciated by the directors and the deserving people each charity helps.

Charitable organizations such as The Interfaith Nutrition Network, St. Johns Bread and Life, Room to Grow, The East 233rd Street Senior Center, Yorkville Common Pantry, World Vision, and Forestdale were some of the organizations that were involved.

Although Spirit of Ridgewood has only been in existence since 2004, Ridgewood Savings has offered help to charities in the program for much longer.

Volunteer work from Ridgewood Savings Bank extended beyond city limits to The INN, a Hempstead based non-profit.

Ridgewood Savings Bank has been a huge supporter of The INN for over 20 years, Jean Kelly, executive director, said. Employees are front and center at our fund-raising events and familiar faces as volunteers in our soup kitchen. They have donated countless items that guests desperately need for daily basic survival, including food, clothing and personal care items.

Rachel McNeil of the Bronx-based East 233rd Street Senior Center said the volunteers offered meaningful work to help the elderly at their facility.

The Ridgewood Savings Bank employees stop in, bring food, organize the pantry and even cook the food that is given to the seniors at the center. I love that they are actively helping our cause, she said.

Room to Grow is a Manhattan-based organization dedicated to offering care to impoverished children for the first three years of their lives.

Ridgewoods generosity and their teams of volunteers help support Room to Grow in our mission to enrich the lives of babies born into poverty throughout their critical first three years of development, said Bethany Brichta, external relations for the organization. Room to Grow provides one-on-one parenting education and all the needed baby essentials to families dedicated to giving their children the best possible start in life.

Ridgewood Savings is a Queens-based bank founded in 1921 and serves communities in Manhattan, the Bronx and Long Island. It is the largest mutual savings bank in New York state, with over $5 billion in assets 34 branches.
[January 25, 2017] Unisys Client Flowserve Wins CSO50 Award for Implementation of Unisys Stealth Micro-Segmentation Software

BLUE BELL, Pa., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) announced today that its client Flowserve  one of the world's leading providers of fluid motion and control products and services  has won a 2017 CSO50 Award from publisher IDG's CSO for its successful implementation of micro-segmentation security protection using Unisys Stealth software. The prestigious CSO50 Awards are presented annually to a select group of organizations that have demonstrated that their security projects/initiatives have created outstanding business value and thought leadership. Flowserve will accept its award at the CSO50 Conference + Awards held on May 1-3, 2017, at the Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale, Arizona. Flowserve was recognized for a project the company designed to modernize its security framework for addressing future threats and meeting compliance and regulatory requirements. The project featured a micro-segmentation approach using Unisys Stealth and identity-based encryption to proactively protect data by restricting communication within the company's network to pre-authorized groups of users and devices. Consequently, even if hackers successfully accessed a device within the network, they still would not be able to access or even see other endpoints outside of the micro-segment in which the infiltrated devices resided. "Flowserve has found a way to improve security while avoiding the deployment and management complexity associated with traditional security approaches," said Tim Hostman, vice president, IT operations & end user services, Flowseve. "The innovation we've utilized is in the use of the Unisys Stealth micro-segmentation software that works across a heterogeneous environment, rather than using traditional physical segmentation which relies on firewalls, VLANs and difficult-to-manage physical infrastructure."



Unisys Stealth software  including applications focused on core, cloud, mobile, identity and analytics  creates segments within an organization where only authorized users can access information, while others cannot even see that those segments exist. The company recently launched Stealth(aware), a new application that enables organizations to easily deploy Unisys Stealth across extended networks with the touch of a button. For additional information on Unisys Stealth, click here. "Unisys congratulates Flowserve for this well-deserved recognition of its advanced approach to security," said Eric Hutto, senior vice president and president, Enterprise Solutions, Unisys. "This award is a testament to their forward-thinking leadership and willingness to innovate on new ways to improve digital security."

About Unisys

Unisys is a global information technology company that specializes in providing industry-focused solutions integrated with leading-edge security to clients in the government, financial services and commercial markets. Unisys offerings include security solutions, advanced data analytics, cloud and infrastructure services, application services and application and server software. For more information, visit www.unisys.com. About Flowserve

Flowserve Corp. is one of the world's leading providers of fluid motion and control products and services. Operating in more than 55 countries, the company produces engineered and industrial pumps, seals and valves as well as a range of related flow management services. More information about Flowserve can be obtained by visiting the company's Web site at www.flowserve.com. About the CSO50 Awards

Launched in 2013, the CSO50 Awards recognizes 50 organizations for security projects and initiatives that demonstrate outstanding business value and thought leadership. The CSO50 Awards are scored according to a uniform set of criteria by a panel of judges that includes security leaders, industry experts, and academics. Awards will be presented at the CSO50 Conference + Awards. Follow Unisys on Twitter and LinkedIn. RELEASE NO.: 0125/9475 Unisys and other Unisys products and services mentioned herein, as well as their respective logos, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Unisys Corporation. Any other brand or product referenced herein is acknowledged to be a trademark or registered trademark of its respective holder. UIS-C To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unisys-client-flowserve-wins-cso50-award-for-implementation-of-unisys-stealth-micro-segmentation-software-300394988.html SOURCE Unisys Corporation

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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.
Solving the Problem of Student Spills or Accidents That Kill Laptops, Parents' Pocketbooks

The following was issued by Sector 5, Inc. (OTCQB: SFIV):

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005845/en/

Sector 5 Rugged E1 Chromebooks (Photo: Business Wire)

Students can oftentimes be hard on their technological toys. They drop their smart phones on the ground or into toilets or they spill juice or water on their laptops. The end result is lost productivity and learning, not to mention a drain on the family or school budget because many of these devices cost hundreds of dollars to fix or replace.

Sector 5 has a solution with its E1 Chromebook that has a built-in handle that makes the device not only easy to carry, but its case can survive unexpected drops and liquid spills.

The E1 Chromebook has been used by students and schools since 2015 and has been receiving outstanding grades from parents and teachers and sales have been growing rapidly. Roger McKeague, Sector 5 CEO stated, "On Amazon alone, Sector Five, previously as a private company, and now, Sector 5, Inc. as a public company, has over $300,000 in sles since 2015 which has led to hundreds of schools purchasing our Chromebooks over Dell and Lenovo (News - Alert), and now moving us into the largest districts in the country with our wireless charging solution."







To read more about the E1 Chromebook click here. For testimonials from parents and educators, click here.

About Sector 5

Sector 5, Inc. (OTCQB: SFIV), is a Proud American Corporation, that sells, manufactures and develops new innovative consumer electronics under Sector 5 and other brands. The Company markets its partnership with Google (News - Alert) approved Chromebooks to educational organizations, other B2B and B2C sales channels, with retail sales on Amazon. It is in development of several new products to serve the educational, business and retail markets. Follow the company on www.twitter.com/sectorfiveinc and www.facebook.com/sect5 and find further information at www.sector-five.com. For Sector 5's Forward Looking Statements, click here.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005845/en/
A Bethlehem Middle School teacher faces legal charges after being charged with possessing marijuana in the school.

Steven P. Costopoulos, 56, of Ballston Lake was charged after the odor of the drug was detected. He was found in possession of marijuana and a pipe to smoke it, Bethlehem Assistant Police Chief Thomas Heffernan said.

"He was not smoking in school or during class," he said. "It appears there was some smoking prior to school or on his clothing."

The school resource officer, a police officer, recognized the smell.

"That is a distinct odor," Heffernan said. "He recognized the odor right away."

The district placed Costopoulos, a technology teacher who taught seventh and eighth graders, on a leave of absence.

"The district's number one priority is the health and safety of our students," Superintendent of Schools Jody Monroe wrote in a note to parents on the district's website. "I am sharing this information with you to give you the opportunity to discuss this issue with your child.

Costopoulos is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation.

He was released on an appearance ticket pending a court appearance at 4 p.m., Feb. 7, in Bethlehem Town Court.
Troy

The Rensselaer County Legislature six-member Democratic minority wants to hire its own lawyer after nearly a decade without one and Republicans say they're listening.

Minority Leader Peter Grimm, D-Troy, said having a lawyer would improve the ability to deliver constituent services.

"One-third of the county is represented by the six of us. Without proper resources, it's really a question of proper representation," Grimm said.

The six Democrats are from Troy. The 13-member Republican majority represents the county's 14 towns and the city of Rensselaer.

"There have been some discussions between legislators on legislative counsel and they are expected to continue in the coming weeks," Richard Crist, a spokesman for the GOP majority, said recently.

"There has been a good working relationship between legislators, including a unanimous vote on the 2017 budget, and we want to see that continue," Crist said.

Grimm addressed the legislature at its January meeting to urge the Republican majority to follow through on supporting the Democrats' request.

Grimm reminded legislators that the Democrats had worked through the budget process as the Republicans wanted them to do, but did not see a minority counsel included in the 2017 budget. He also said several majority legislators supported the Democrats' position.

"We still haven't gotten an answer," Grimm said.

The Democrats renewed their request at the start of the year. All 19 legislature seats are on the November ballot. A swing of four seats would give the Democrats a majority on the legislature.

The last time the minority counsel position was in the budget was in the adopted 2010 budget with funding of $10,661. The majority counsel was funded at $31,514.

The Republicans cut the position, saying Democrats could rely on the legislature's counsel, which replaced the majority position. Both jobs were always patronage positions for lawyers loyal to the majority and minority parties.

Crist said the majority "has placed a priority on keeping costs reasonable," which was part of the stance of eliminating the minority counsel post and reducing the majority counsel pay to $31,514 from $53,927.
Washington

With less than a month on the job as Senate minority leader, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is already is preparing for his first major battle: Opposition to a Republican nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday promised to announce a prospective justice next week, saying "we have outstanding candidates and we will pick a truly great Supreme Court justice.''

Schumer, who has pledged to block a doctrinaire conservative nominee, was among the senators attending an hour-long White House meeting with the president Tuesday.

"I reiterated that view in our meeting today, and told him that Senate Democrats would fight any nominee that was outside of the mainstream,'' said Schumer in a statement.

Despite his fondness for speaking before assembled cameras, Schumer left the White House grounds without addressing reporters.

There are few political issues more consequential than who occupies the Supreme Court seat made vacant by the abrupt death of leading conservative Justice Antonin Scalia nearly a year ago.

President Obama nominated an appeals court judge, Merrick Garland, insisting he was a mainstream moderate worthy of a Senate confirmation hearing and vote.

But the nomination languished for nearly 10 months after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., blocked it, declaring the winner of the 2016 election should select Justice Scalia's replacement.

The bitterness and appetite for payback is palpable among Democrats. But Schumer has steered clear of any explicit desire for revenge, suggesting his test is simply whether the nominee is  or is not  within the mainstream of constitutional and legal thinking.

Democrats now are a 48-52 minority. But under the 2013 "nuclear option'' crafted by Schumer's predecessor, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., it takes 60 votes for the majority Republicans to end a Democratic filibuster.

Republicans theoretically could change the rules again to permit Senate confirmation of a Supreme Court nominee by a simple majority of 51 votes. But several Republicans have stated their opposition to such a measure and it is unclear whether it would win approval.

Trump already has circulated a list a list of 21 prospective nominees, many of them judges or justices on state supreme courts. All are hard-core conservatives. One of them, Judge William Pryor, once called the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion an "abomination.''

How far and for how long Schumer's resistance to a Trump nominee can go is open to question. In an interview on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow show earlier this month, Schumer said, "It's hard for me to imagine a nominee that Donald Trump would choose that would get Republican support that we could support.''

The characterization of the Garland nomination as having been "stolen'' by Republicans is "a fair statement,'' he said. "The consequences are going to be down the road. We are not going to settle on a Supreme Court nominee.''

Asked whether he would do his best to hold the seat open, Schumer replied: "Absolutely.''

The answer, if Schumer can keep Democrats united, implies that the nation's highest court could continue to work indefinitely with eight justices, instead of the usual nine.

The even number means the court may not be able to resolve controversial cases that often are decided on a 5-4 vote. A 4-4 tie means the appealed opinion (generally from a U.S. appeals court) stands, but no precedent is set.

dan@hearstdc.com
CLIFTON PARK  The Shenendehowa school district will hold a referendum on the controversial sale of its land on Tuesday, April 4.

Superintendent L. Oliver Robinson told the Board of Education on Tuesday night that his staff verified 5,588 of the 7,028 signatures and therefore, the district will move ahead with the public vote on the fate of district's 32 wooded acres on Route 146.

The referendum asks district residents to allow the school to sell the land to BBL developers for $2.05 million. The Friends of Clifton Park Open Space, who stood out in the cold to get the signatures, wants the land to be sold to the town of Clifton Park and be preserved as a park  or as its members say "A Central Park for Clifton Park."

"We will now plan to keep the issue in the public eye," said Susan Burton, spokeswoman for the grassroots nonprofit that sought the ballot measure. "We want to keep the public informed and engaged. We want to get them out to vote."

Board member Mary Blaauboer thought the referendum should coincide with the May school budget vote. However, other members were concerned that a possible "no vote" on the land would lead to a "no vote" on the budget.

In December, the board decision to sell the land to BBL was contentious. Not only did the public come out against it, board members couldn't agree. The board vote was split 4-3 with William Casey, Christina Rajotte and Deanna Stephenson opposing development.

On Tuesday, Casey said he was "pleased that the district will hold a referendum."

"The last school budget vote, we only had 2,000 people come out," he said. "For 7,000 to sign a petition is a lot. Now we have to tell people to vote no."
WATERFORD  Town police issued a warning Wednesday about a nationwide scam that has reached the Capital Region and attempts to get victims to disclose their banking information and Social Security number.

A village resident received a text message advising them to call Key Bank Security at (518) 375-2162.
This Account has been suspended.
Minister for Health Simon Harris has congratulated staff at St Johns, Ennis, Nenagh and Croom Orthopaedic Hospitals in meeting exacting standards on data quality for their day case and inpatient waiting lists.

The minister was speaking at the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) Conference in Dublin Castle, where he congratulated teams from 22 hospitals across the country  including four at UL Hospitals Group  in meeting all 23 standards measured under the NTPFs Data Quality Project.

The Data Quality Project has delivered tangible and sustainable improvements in data completeness, classification and waiting list management processes, said Minister Harris.

I would like to congratulate the teams at those hospitals for their effort and commitment to improving how waiting lists are managed. I would encourage you all to redouble your efforts, as better waiting list data and management procedures mean that we use hospital resources more effectively and efficiently for the benefit of patients.

Among the standards met by the hospitals who earned NTPF Data Quality Awards were ensuring correct procedure codes were attached; that cancellations and no-shows were accurately tracked; that duplication was minimised and that waiting times were accurately captured.

John Doyle, Day Case and Inpatient Waiting List Manager, UL Hospitals, commented: Significant work has been done at UL Hospitals to ensure our day case and inpatient waiting lists are accurate so that best use can be made of our resources and so that patients can come in for their procedure as soon as possible. A steering group was formed at UL Hospitals to examine the quality of our data and this NTPF award for our staff in Ennis, Nenagh, Croom and St Johns is recognition for all their hard work.

In 2016, UL Hospitals was the only hospital group in the country to meet all inpatient and day case waiting list targets as set out in the HSE national service plan.
A planning application for a new aircraft hanger at Shannon Airport has been lodged with Clare County Council.

Shannon Group plc has today announced it has lodged a planning application with Clare County Council for a new aircraft hangar at Shannon Airport.

The proposed development will comprise a new steel framed wide-bodied aircraft paint hangar and internal ancillary office space, workshops, plant rooms and storage space within the airport lands at Shannon Airport. The new hangar will have the capability to accommodate multiple aircraft types up to an Airbus A380.

With 50,700sq meters of space in nine hangars, Shannon Airport has the largest hangar area of any Irish airport. However, all of the airports hangars are now fully occupied and to meet demand for additional space, Shannon Group recently appointed a design team to draw up plans and seek planning permission for a new hangar.

If the planning application is successful it will enable the company to seek tenders from suitably qualified contractors for the construction of the hangar.

Commenting on the initiative Matthew Thomas, CEO, Shannon Group said: Our proposed development is consistent with the Governments National Aviation Policy to develop the aviation and aerospace sector in Shannon and their commitment to building Irelands attractiveness to encourage more aviation businesses to locate and expand.

We are working hard with a range of stakeholders including the Government to bring this major project to Shannon. If successful the project would supportup to 150 jobs during the construction phase and a further 100 jobs during operation. It would strengthen the aerospace cluster at Shannon (the International Aviation Services Centre) and contribute to the development of Irelands aerospace capabilities for some of the worlds largest commercial aircraft, further enhancing Irelands reputation as a global centre for the aviation industry.

Welcoming the announcement Pat Breen TD, Minister of State for Employment and Small Business said: This major development will significantly enhance Shannons aviation infrastructure and will advance Shannons growing aviation cluster, already consisting of more than 50 companies employing 2,000 people.

Stressing the significance of the project Ray ODriscoll, MD, Commercial Properties, Shannon Group said: This is a major project that supports the expansion of the airport and would contribute to the Groups strategy for developing its property portfolio.
$20M Cash Found Hidden in Mattress Possibly Connected to VoIP Scheme

By Steve Anderson , Contributing Writer

Way back in 2014, claims emerged from both the state of Massachusetts and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that suggested that TelexFree might have been little more than a pyramid scheme. Fast forward just under three years to the present day, and a $20 million discovery hidden in a mattress that makes that suggestion a little stronger.

A photo from the U.S. Attorney's Office shows $20 million in cash hidden in a box spring mattress, which was in turn hidden in an apartment in Massachusetts. Reports suggest a link between the huge cash stock and the TelexFree operation. The company looked to promote its product line by recruiting promoters, who were to post ads for the TelexFree operation online. Said promoters were required to buy into the company, but were in turn offered regular weekly compensation along a certain scheme, as long as the promoters were putting up the ads for TelexFree's VoIP services.

This represents the basic elements of a pyramid scheme: Cash from the new promoters goes to pay the old promoters, with a skim likely involved for those running the operation. TelexFree reported sales of $1.02 billion in 2013, but virtually all of that came from promoters paying to be part of the operation.

As for the $20 million in the box spring, that was found following a police raid of an apartment in Mass. TelexFree filed for bankruptcy, reports noted, back in April 2014, following the discovery that most of what it had made in incoming sales were actually owed to promoters in payments.

When anyone connected with a company under circumstances like that is found to have eight figures' worth of cash in a box spring in their apartment, it certainly suggests something is awry. Of course, it only suggests; only the practices of a court of law can find out for certain. Still, that kind of cash has to come from somewhere, and chances are it didn't come from returning a large quantity of pop cans found along the side of the road.

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A look back on all of our reporting of the Delphi murders since 2017

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Microsoft said it's working on two new technologies--Automated Progress Monitoring and Automated Bridge Damage Detection--to make its HoloLens augmented reality (AR) headset more useful to the construction industry. The company's working on the project with the Construction Information Technology Lab at the University of Cambridge and Trimble, which released in November the first broadly available HoloLens app, SketchUp Viewer.

Not that "broadly available" means SketchUp Viewer is going to have millions of users. HoloLens developer kits only started to ship in March 2016, and they cost a whopping $3,000 a pop. Even then, it was available only to Windows Insiders in the United States and Canada. Microsoft is being cautious in its rollout of the AR (or as it calls it, mixed reality) platform--we didn't even know how it worked or what components were crammed into the HMD until August 2016.

Still, it's clear that Microsoft thinks HoloLens has potential in the construction space. SketchUp Viewer is used with Trimble's SketchUp software (who'd have thunk?) to view 3D models in AR. But that might not be enough to convince the world that HoloLens is the future, and that's where today's announcement of two new AR-focused trials comes in. Here's what Microsoft had to say about the Automated Progress Monitoring it's working on:

[It's] a way to address one of the most laborious, time consuming and error prone procedures in the industry: the demand to regularly, and manually, inspect remote structures. The process is currently conducted through visual inspections, form filling and report writing, and is made particularly painstaking by the need to extract information from different drawings and databases. The new trial revolutionises the process by presenting all physical and digital information through HoloLens, allowing inspectors to check, cross-reference and report on inspections very quickly, and collaborate with site representatives.

And here's its description of Automated Bridge Damage Detection:

Rather than sending structural engineers to each bridge as part of its inspection routine, through discoveries generated via the collaboration, high-resolution images can be taken by local teams and sent to inspection engineers. These are then automatically mapped onto 3D models of the respective bridge. Structural engineers can then review the integrity of a bridge in mixed reality using HoloLens, making recommendations for repairs or other preventative measures. This reduces costs and is more efficient, making sure bridges do not enter their failure zone, leading to major road closures and disruption.

Hard to argue with that. Nobody likes traffic jams--or the prospect of incredibly heavy bridges falling on their face--and Microsoft is positioning HoloLens as the device to make sure neither happens. Games like an experimental Pokemon Go that actually meets the standards for AR can be interesting, but given that Microsoft sells dev kits at prices far higher than top-of-the-line VR HMDs, odds are good that it's targeting businesses instead of consumers.

Check out the video below to learn more about what Microsoft, Trimble, and the University of Cambridge are working on.
In her first deep-dive interview, Michael Jacksons 18-year-old daughter Paris-Michael has said she believes her father was murdered.

During her interview with Rolling Stone for the publishers February cover feature Paris Jackson: Life After Neverland, Paris spoke candidly of her fathers 2009 death.

@rollingstone issue hits the stands tomorrow check ittt  many thanks to david, one of kindest human beings and most talented photographer ive had the honor of working with A photo posted by Paris-Michael K. Jackson (@parisjackson) on Jan 24, 2017 at 1:18pm PST

Paris told Rolling Stone writer Brian Hiatt: Its obvious. All arrows point to that. It sounds like a total conspiracy theory and it sounds like bullshit, but all real fans and everybody in the family knows it. It was a setup. It was bullshit.

But who would have wanted Michael Jackson dead? Hiatt writes. Interestingly, Paris didnt name Dr. Conrad Murray, who was treating Michael Jackson before he was found unconscious in his bed. Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on November 7, 2011.

A lot of people [might have wanted him dead], Paris said. I definitely do [want justice], but its a chess game. And I am trying to play the chess game the right way. And thats all I can say about that right now.

Paris called out Murray over Twitter last year following the release of his book This Is It! The Secret lives of Dr. Conrad Murray and Michael Jackson last July.

The fact that people are actually listening to and believing a cold blooded murderer is honestly beyond me, she tweeted.

According to the Rolling Stone article, Paris does blame Murray for Michaels dependency on the anesthetic drug Propofol that ultimately lead to his death.

The 63-year-old physician has become an unwanted presence in Paris life however. Last month, in an exclusive interview with BANG Showbiz, Murray said he knew the truth about the Jackson childrens parentage:

Here is my statement. I am very respectful of the children. I am also sensitive to any information that could damage the children. I will say this; I know the biological grasp of every one of Michaels children. I also know the biological grasp of Blankets mother.

However, I reserve that statement, that explanation, for those children, he added. If they came forward to me one day when they are adult and they are prepared and they are not tainted as they are now and they wanted the truth, then we can have that conversation and they can know whatever they want. But I wont put it in the book or any report. But, I do know.
"The FAA told the mayors KCI task force that federal funds could not be used for terminal makeovers but only air-side improvements. Of course, anything resembling a weve always done it that way mindset is likely invalid with a Trump administration but its worth noting nonetheless if only as a reminder that local officials originally told us the feds would pay for a new KCI while the feds always knew otherwise."

SHOULD STILL MEET WITH VOTER APPROVAL.

Here's a more thoughtful and well-informed analysiswho weighs in with an alternative perspective than City Hall cheerleading imagined Prez Trump and Mayor Sly building a single-terminal monstrosity together.Checkit . . .Important deet that the news didn't cover:From there, SaveKCI shares a new take on the influence of Prez Trump in ongoing airport talks thatDeveloping . . .
President Trump, Women Protesters Late Night TV And A Few Other Thoughts . . .

This all speaks to the reason Trump won -- The media and shows mock Trump BUT would audience applaud the jokes of Jimmy Kimmel or Steve Colbert if they were in Springfield, MO or any other mid-size city Trump won?

One of the smartest people to read this blog sent a couple of messages our way along with a great deal of relevant info regarding local politics, the culture of protest and the future of President Trump.Whilst we may not completely agree, it's an alternative way to look at things, a PERFECT item to share for the overnight and much more important than so many talking heads . . .There's a different way to look at these anti-trump marches:Similarly, look at Missouri -- The democrats won in the KC election board area (KC) but lost in Jackson County election board area to Trump. The Missouri Democratic Party won in KC, Columbia and in St. Louis but nowhere else.In terms of protest and crowd size . . . All across the nation these protests are in Democratic Party controlled areas. The inauguration in Washington DC was not close to Trump's base and most people probably wouldn't want to subject themselves to the hostility or possible violence.The democrats haveeconomic message. Millions of women did work in factories that have been shutdown and are more concerned that their job might be shipped overseas. Abortion is not their number one issue. Even with a chance to elect a women the democrats lost the white women's vote (53 Trump, Clinton 47) and will continue to lose . . .#############You decide . . .
He accused Germany that it does not behave as an ally but as a 'loan shark'

"We do not agree with the reduction of the tax free threshold because it wil hurt the low incomes," Defence Minister Panos Kammenos on Tuesday said in statements to ANT1 TV.

He underlined that despite the pressure and the reports for lower salaries and pensions, nothing has been confirmed. He reassured that the government is still negotiating and the economic staff is striving to close the second programme review.

Kammenos accused Germany that it does not behave as an ally but as a 'loan shark' and stressed that the US traditionally support Greece in difficult times. He said he is a supporter of Donald Trump adding that his Greek Americans associates will do their best to help the country. He also praised the position of Trump that Russia is not the enemy, but the Islamist terrorism is.

Read more here.

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Based on the criteria unveiled by the finance ministry, the majority of business are not eligible for the new settlement framework

The number of businesses and self-employed professionals that will be eligible for an out-of-court procedure to settle arrears towards banks, the state and pension funds will be much lower than the previously foreseen 403,000 in Greece.

Based on the criteria unveiled by the finance ministry, the majority of business are not eligible for the new settlement framework. One primary criterion is at least one annual result -- before taxes -- in the "black ledger" in the three previous years before applying for the settlement process.

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
Greece faces more fundamental problems than the other EU member-states that joined a bailout program in recent years, Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said

Greece faces more fundamental problems than the other EU member-states that joined a bailout program in recent years, Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Tuesday, during a speech at an event organized by Belgian newspaper L'Echo in Brussels.

Commenting about the country, he said it has "more fundamental problems, economic and institutional" and that "trust continues to be a major issue" both between member-states but also "from consumers and investors in the stability of the Greek economy."

Dijsselbloem also said that the Greek crisis, "after hitting rock bottom in the summer of 2015", has entered a phase of de-escalation. "We have entered into a constructive dialog with Greek authorities on the third program. Growth has returned and cooperation is proceeding, although not as fast as many people - including the Greek government - would wish to," he added.

Source: ANA-MPA

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European Commission coordinator for the EU-Turkey agreement, Maarten Verwey, visited the island of Lesvos to present the Commission's actions plan for the implementation of the agreement

European Commission coordinator for the EU-Turkey agreement, Maarten Verwey, visited the island of Lesvos to present the Commission's actions plan for the implementation of the agreement to the local authorities.

Verwey toured the refugees and migrants camp in Moria and was briefed by Lesvos municipal authorities.

Speaking to the press, he informed them on the action plan and referred to the results of the EU-Turkey agreement.

According to the Commission's representative, EU is satisfied by the implementation of the agreement because the flows have posted a significant drop. The arrival of refugees was reduced to 25,720 after the agreement from 960,681 arrivals in ten months before the agreement. Moreover, the number of dead or missing has fallen. 1,064 dead or missing before against 69 after the agreement.

Decongestion of the islands

The Commission aims at the decongestion of the islands until April, one month before the start of the tourist season.

Maarten Verwey also met with the mayor of Lesvos, Spyros Galinos.

According to a municipality's announcement, "the mayor briefed Verwey on the actions of the mayors of Kos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Lesvos as well as on their meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. He stressed the need for the island to be immediately decongested. The social cohesion on the remote Greece island is a major issue in order for the local communities to return to normality."

According to Lesvos municipality announcement, Verwey referred in detail to European Commission's action plan with the cooperation of the Greek government and all the involving European and national agencies for the acceleration of the asylum procedures as well as the transfer of the weaker groups and people with delinquent behaviour, something that will contribute to the gradual decongestion of the refugees hosting centers. "Our common aim is the continuation of the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement in order to control the arrivals while 4,000 people have been transferred from the islands to the mainland since September 2016 with the help of EU funds."

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
Espen Barth Eide, told CNA English that he did not exclude the possibility of President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci addressing the Security Council soon

UN Special Advisor on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, told CNA English today that he did not exclude the possibility of President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci addressing the Security Council soon.

They can do that, and maybe at some stage it might be a good idea, outlined the UN official.

Eide told CNA that the Security Councils role on Cyprus is extremely important, with it being informed about developments concerning the settlement talks on a regular basis.

They [the Security Council] are relevant and they will be relevant when there is a deal, said Eide.

But there is no tradition of having the Security Council as a member of a Conference, outlined Eide, referring to this months Geneva-based Conference on Cyprus.

IT DOESNT HAPPEN

There is no precedent for asking the Security Council to any Conference of this sort, because it will lose its status," Eide said.

"Their status is here, in this room [UNs New York headquarters], acting like the Security Council, not hanging in other peoples conferences.

Commenting on why the Council was not invited to be present as an observer at the Conference on Cyprus, as the EU did, Eide said: Where is the precedent for that? It doesnt happen.

The ex-Norway Foreign Minister insisted that all participants have agreed to this format.

It wasnt me deciding it; it was agreed between all the participants. All the field participants think this is the right format, affirmed Eide.

SOLUTIONS, NOT PROBLEMS

The UN Special Advisor added that talks will be challenging and that he feels there is a will by everybody  Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Turkey, Greece and the UK, supported by the EU  to look for solutions, rather than problems.

Eide reaffirmed his view that the security and guarantees issue is a complex one because the two sides want different things; one seeks the removal of the troops and the guarantees and other for them to remain.

Eide added: We need to think outside the box and find other formulas that entail enough change for this to be perceived as real positive movement forward for the Greek Cypriots.

The UN Special Advisor continued: At the same time [we need to] reassure the Turkish Cypriots that the implementation will happen and it will be safe and secure for them.

TIME IS RIPE

Eide rejected reports that Turkey regretted the acceptance of the Conferences format to be open-ended and that Ankara wants to rush things to a close.

I dont have this sense at all, he said. I think all players would like to close it when time is ripe. Its currently not necessarily Turkey that is mostly eager to rush it, because they also have some questions they have to answer.

Eide underlined that all sides have the same view on this issue, to solve it as soon as we can but not sooner.

We have to do it properly, he warned

NEGOTIATING TABLES

On when the Conference will officially reconvene at a top political level, Eide said that there is no date, but it will be after a few weeks, rather than months.

We had a successful second session in Mont Pelerin [last week] and they agreed to go back and report to their principles at home, stated Eide.

We will be consulting with them in the coming days and we will hopefully get the date out of that.

Eide also clarified that when speaking to the press after the Councils meeting earlier this week, when he said everything is on the table, what he really meant to say was tables.

There is still a table that is for the leaders and the negotiators, clarified Eide. The guarantors are in agreement that those issues concerning only Cyprus should be dealt by the Cypriots. Then you have the bigger table of the five-party Conference  the two are related.

There is an interrelationship between the tables, but they are not the same table.

Source: CNA English

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A Turkish national was arrested by Greek police on the island of Kalymnos, Monday afternoon on a series of charges. The 38-year-old man, who had a pending Europol arrest warrant in Germany, is charged with fraud, theft and embezzelment.

After searching his home in the presence of a judge, authorities discovered and confiscated small amounts of unprocessed cannabis.

Read more here.

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Pavlidis Marble-Granite's board approved an investment plan worth 70 million euros in the renewable energy source sector for the period 2017-2020

Pavlidis Marble-Granite's board approved an investment plan worth 70 million euros in the renewable energy source sector for the period 2017-2020.

The plan envisages the development of four energy parks with a total power of 50 MW for the production of electricity power in Macedonia and Thrace and more particularly in Serres, Komotini and Thrace. Construction works are scheduled to begin in March 2017. This investment will improve the company's project portfolio, raising its position in the Greek renewable energy source market.

Pavlidis Marble-Granite expects positive results in 2016, boosted by marble exports, and said that investing in windpower energy would offer new sources of liquidity.

Pavlidis Marble-Granite reported an annual turnover of 50 million euros in 2015 and expected a 20 pct increase in 2016.

Source: ANA-MPA

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The year 2017 will be an excellent year for congress tourism in Thessaloniki, the general manager of Thessaloniki Convention Bureau Efi Koudeli said

The year 2017 will be an excellent year for congress tourism in Thessaloniki, the general manager of Thessaloniki Convention Bureau Efi Koudeli said in statements to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency's radio station 104.9 FM.

"It will be a good year," for tourism in general, Koudeli estimated, as Greece is affected by the international developments which seem to be favourable for Greece.

As regards congress tourism, she explained, profit per visitor is high because when the participants visit a place "they always stay some additional days."

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
Strategic Housing Group, a fully integrated real estate project development, management, financial and marketing consulting firm, has partnered with Oman-based Sandan Development to set up a first-of-its-kind off-campus student housing complex in capital Muscat, said a report.



It is the Middle East, Asia and Africa partner of Asset Campus International, the largest student-housing firm in the US.



The $110-million complex, called the Myriad Muscat, will be located close to the Sultan Qaboos University and other highly reputed educational institutions, reported the Times of Oman.



The Italian architectural firm Mandressi has been roped in to design the buildings, which will have a capacity to host approximately 2,600 residents, said the report.



A total of 1,550 bedrooms have been carefully designed with comfortable furnishings, including study desks, smart storage and other facilities. The rooms, including single or multiple occupancy ones, will have a variety of configurations to suit all requirements.



Work on the project starts this year and will be ready for occupation by September 2019, according to the report.



In addition to a supermarket and other retail stores, it will include a full-fledged fitness club, a food court and coffee shops. The complex will have two levels of basement parking for both residents and visitors, it added.
Qatar Navigation (Milaha), a leading maritime and logistics conglomerate, has signed an agreement with the Kandla International Container Terminal (KICT) in India, to start the first direct common carrier feeder service between Saudi Arabia and India.



The frequency of the first-of-its-kind service will be weekly and will connect the Gujarat port of Kandla directly with Jebel Ali in Dubai, and Dammam and Jubail in Saudi Arabia.



Commenting on the launch, Milahas president and CEO Abdulrahman Essa Al Mannai said: "After our successful entry into the Indian market in March 2015 with the launch of our first direct service, we have been exploring various options to further boost our presence in the country."



"After careful evaluation of trade patterns and feedback from our very supportive customers and partners, we decided to launch this service especially since a large proportion of agricultural produce cargo to Dammam is exported through the ports in Gujarat," remarked Al Mannai.



The weekly service will be operated with two vessels and will have the following rotation with a 14-day round-trip: Kandla  Jebel Ali  Dammam  Jubail  Jebel Ali  Kandla. The first vessel call of this service will be M.V Oshairij on 4th February 2017 from Kandla.



Milaha is represented by M/S Poseidon Shipping Agency Private Limited in India.



"We are proud to be part of this historic moment which will certainly bolster trade ties between the Gulf region as a whole and India, as well as further broaden our feeder network within the Gulf and the Indian Subcontinent," he added.



The service, named KDX (Kandla Dammam Express), will provide rice exporters in North India with a cost effective solution for their supply chain as KICT will provide a direct train link between Northern Indias inland container depots and the container terminal.



At the other end, petrochemicals exporters in Jubail will have the advantage of a direct service to Kandla, and the convenience of connecting through to any North Indian inland container depots from Kandla.-TradeArabia News Service
Dubai-based Emaar Properties joined the festivities taking place in the UAE marking the 68th Republic Day of India by lighting up Burj Khalifa with the colours of the Indian national flag.



The stunning visuals, featuring the three colours of the Indian flag, embody the deep friendship and co-operation between the people of the two countries, linked by strong cultural and commercial ties, said a Wam news agency report.



Emaar will present these wonderful visuals at Burj Khalifa this evening and also on Thursday, using the latest LED technology associated with the Dubai Fountain shows.



Burj Khalifa, which was developed by Emaar, is 828m high and the highest tower in the world.



The celebrations call for special attention as they coincide with the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to New Delhi to participate as the chief guest of Indias Republic Day celebrations.



Emaar Properties enjoys a strong presence in India, which is one of the worlds most important markets for the company. It has recently restructured its operations in the country to promote current projects and explore new development opportunities, the report said.


Electricity and Water Affairs Minister Dr Abdulhussain Mirza yesterday patronised the opening ceremony of Solar One, a factory being set up to manufacture solar panels in Bahrain.



Speaking on the occasion, the minister praised the promoters for having chosen Bahrain for investment in renewable energy and said the plant is a distinctive initiative to support Bahrains policy of encouraging investment and use of solar energy to produce electricity.



The minister explained the Cabinet decision to adopt a national plan to raise energy efficiency and the national plan for renewable energy.



He said among its objectives was to develop a national goal for six per cent of the population to rely on renewable energy by 2025. He said these plans and objectives would help Bahrain in achieve its objectives of sustainable development and will help attract new international investment.



He added that these goals would also bring Bahrain in line with countries that have a diversity of energy sources and attract new technology that helps diversify its sources.



Solar One chairman Abdullah Al Khalifa, speaking on the occasion, welcomed the minister and thanked the government for its support.



Factory director general Rami Khalifa said the plant is fully managed by a professional workforce and will operate at an initial production capacity of up to 60,000 solar panels a year, enough to generate 15 megawatts of electricity.



It would include the development of factory production in three phases and will provide in the last phase approximately 50 jobs for Bahrainis.



He thanked the minister for the opening of the plant and his support in the development of solar energy products and systems.
Copperchase, a UK-based contractor, has won a major contract to develop the first phase of Mid-Euphrates Airport project in central Iraq, which on completion, will have a capacity to handle 2.5 million passengers a year.



As per the deal, the company will build a runway, terminal, control tower and other facilities at a cost of between $250 million and $500 million, reported Bloomberg citing a senior Iraqi official.



The project is aimed at helping ease travel for millions of religious pilgrims who visit the Iraqi city of Karbala each year, remarked Nahidh Mohammed Salih, chairman of Copperchase's Iraqi business.



Once the first phase gets completed, the airport will have a capacity to handle 2.5 million passengers a year, he added.



Copperchase said Phase One of the airport project will be completed in 18 to 24 months. With this project, it will become easier for Shiite muslims to visit the religious cities of Karbala and nearby Najaf.



Salih said the projects three planned phases will cost a total of $2 billion. However, work on the second and third phases will depend on demand, he added.
Turkish Airlines and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have expanded their codeshare cooperation and will commence on February 1.



Inclusion of the new routes will enable both airlines step into new market while offering passengers various possibilities to travel.



With the expansion of the existing codeshare agreement, PIA will be able to sell Turkish Airlines beyond Istanbul points of Atlanta, Johannesburg, Atina, Amsterdam, Tashkent, Moskova, Miami, Boston, Houston, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago with its own airline code and flight number in addition to the already existing cooperation on Istanbul  Karachi/ Islamabad/ Lahore vv. routes. Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines will market PIA operating flights from Karachi and Islamabad to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat and from Lahore to Dubai and Abu Dhabi with its own airline code and flight number.



Turkish Airlines currently operates seven frequencies each on the Istanbul  Karachi/Islamabad/Lahore vv. routes. The expanded codeshare cooperation provides passengers with more feasible connections as well as seamless travel opportunities between and beyond destinations of Turkey and Pakistan.

PIA's Jeddah and Madinah flights and as well as eight domestic routes from Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore are appended to the renewed SPA in force since January 1, 2017, which enabled Turkish Airlines to reach Pakistan domestic destinations. The new SPA also involves Turkish Airlines all American destinations besides most of the European points.



CEO and Deputy chairman of Turkish Airlines Bilal Eksi stated that the passengers will be able to travel with easier connections and more flexible alternatives. He also said: The more the frequencies between two countries are increased in the future, the further the cooperation between two carriers will be expanded so as to enable passengers to travel with even shorter connection times and more comfortable travel opportunities.



Regarding the expansion of the cooperation, CEO of PIA Bernd Hildenbrand said: Pakistan and Turkey are brotherly countries and have close cultural and business cooperation in various areas including aviation. PIA values its commercial relations with Turkish Airlines and expansion of this codeshare will add more value to our commercial ties and be equally beneficial for our customers. We will continue to explore more commercial avenues in future, as well.



Using Istanbul as its main hub, Turkish Airlines operates to 246 international destinations worldwide, with more than 100 of them being in Europe. Thanks to the advantageous geographical location of Istanbul, the cooperation between two carriers will enable passengers departing from Pakistan to travel all over the world by connecting in Istanbul. - TradeArabia News Service
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Samsung has finally revealed a reason for the "Galaxy Note 7" overheating. The company says bad battery design is what led to the phone overheating and exploding, which eventually led to millions of units being recalled worldwide.

A press conference was held on Monday where Samsung officials said tests were conducted on tens of thousands of units and batteries which ruled out any problems with the phone's hardware and software. However, it added that internal and independent investigations later found that the batteries were the primary reason for the Note 7's problems.

The original battery's casing was too small which caused it to short circuit and burst into flames. Samsung would later replace it with another battery that also had its own defect, and it resulted in the same catastrophic ending for the Note 7. Samsung's head of mobile Koh Dong-jin told reporters in Seoul that the company was sorry for all of the discomfort and inconvenience caused to their customers.

The company assured that no fire risk would be experienced by future devices, including its upcoming S8 smartphone. Samsung issued a statement saying they were taking full responsibility for their "failure to ultimately identify and verify the issue out of battery design manufacturing." The South Korean tech conglomerate also stated that they will be taking several corrective actions to ensure that any similar incidents will never happen again.

Last September Samsung was forced to recall more than 2.5 million "Galaxy Note 7s" after reports of the phones overheating and exploding, according to the Guardian. The problem only got worse after replacement phones equipped with batteries sourced from a different supplier experienced the same problems.

Samsung ultimately made the decision to cease production of the "Galaxy Note 7" in October. This move is expected to cost the company around $5.3 billion in lost profits. Reuters reports that Samsung could be delaying production of their flagship Galaxy S smartphone as it attempts to improve product safety.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
In terms of traveling to experience the finest of food, spirituality (sabbatical) and social environment, one does not necessarily have to look far. There are still a number of interesting locations (states) in North America that is worthy of attention.

Among the many states that adopted the moniker the 'Switzerland of America,' Pennsylvania might be among the interesting tourist selections. As a place that offers a wide range of tourist preferences, here are the three important ways to enjoy one's travel in Pennsylvania:

Eat Best At Winning Food Tours

Anyone looking for fine local cuisine will definitely enjoy their travel in Pennsylvania. This state offers at least 10 best organized tours solely dedicated to local gastronomy. Three of the best food tours recommended by Trip Advisor include Taste Kennett Food Tours, City Food Tours Philadelphia, and Savor Gettysburg Food Tours.

Pray Along With The Peace-loving Amish

In one is seeking to reconnect with his/her Christian faith, it is best to stop by a number of Pennsylvanian Amish communities. What is so fascinating about these German-patois communities is that every aspect of their lives rejects modern technology. This means no television, the internet, radio, and even clothing that are otherwise fastened by hook and rings. The Amish abhor all forms of violence and prefer everything in their retreat centers to be solemn, simple, and rudimentary - a true retreat from the hectic and noisy city life.

Love The 'Land Of The Free & Home Of The Brave'

Apart from the countryside Pennsylvanian Amish communities, some cities in Pennsylvania have perfectly fused ecology with urbanization. Places like the borough of Jim Thorpe earned the nickname 'Switzerland of America' because of its picturesque environment - a verdant semi-rural settlement surrounded by pictographic snow-capped mountains.

One of the key places in Pennsylvania worth visiting is the Gettysburg Memorial Site, the location of the last battle during the American Civil War. It is also important to take note that the Liberty Bell, the earliest symbol of freedom during the Revolutionary War with England, is also ensconced in the Liberty Bell Center in Philadelphia City.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
An alphabetical approach to creating one's upcoming travel itinerary is not exactly a random high-risk selection method. There are A-initial capitals that prove to be interesting vacation prospects. For this article, these choices are chronologically arranged in ascending order in terms of tourism prestige:

Algiers

What Algeria lacks in economic prosperity and overall national security, they always make up for exotic appeal. People visiting Algeria can truly appreciate how a resilient nation managed to tame a portion of the inhospitable Sahara Desert. Algiers is a complete package of good dining, shopping and sightseeing experience. Arguably the most attractive proposition for visiting Algiers is its nightlife scene - a splendid juxtaposition of strict Muslim tradition and loose secular leisure.

Western travel advisory may not recommend visiting Algiers as far as security is concerned, but anyone willing to get out of their comfort zone can explore this misunderstood country. After all, Algiers is nowhere as fractionally unsafe as Baghdad or Aleppo.

Amman

People visiting Jordan can appreciate its noteworthy multicultural diversity, despite having a predominantly Islamic system of government. The nation's capital city is a doorway to many of its wonderful UNESCO World Heritage Sites like the Dead Sea, Wadi Rum, and Petra. Although tourists often have a habit of visiting Amman as a mere stopover to its neighboring municipalities, this city is slowly becoming more attractive to newcomers due to its budget-friendly environment.

When visiting Amman, it is important for tourists to maximize cost-efficient spending, especially in terms of accommodations. The best way to cut down expenses while visiting Jordan's capital is to choose inns over hotels.

Amsterdam

Given that Netherlands is the most populated country in Europe, it stands to reason that outsiders visiting Amsterdam significantly contribute to this demographic excess. There are a number of reasons why one would be visiting the Netherlands, but most of these often revolve around its undying exotic appeal.

Since bicycles are the only things that exceed its local population, it is always a good idea to roam around the brick-paved village-like city on two wheels. Warning: although Amsterdam is relatively tolerant, public drunkenness and illegal possession of marijuana is still a penalizing misdemeanor.

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Everybody knows what happened on the Kim Kardashian robbery in Paris. It was a horrible experience that left a memory in the subconscious mind not just of the mother of two but of Kanye West too. Kim Kardashian's experiences were revived when the criminals were arrested and charged and she has to release her statement to pin them down.

At present, Kris Jenner's daughter is trying to move on from the painful experience and what she is doing is quite intriguing as per Us Weekly. She is currently reading a true-to-life account of a near death experience. "Embraced by the Light" written by Betty J. Eadie in 1992 was her own story.

The fashionable reality star shared a snap of the book she is reading. The book was extolled as, "the most eminent, prominent and extensive near-death experience ever recorded." The author described her book's main purpose is "to reach hurting souls and bring comfort to them during hardships, loss of loved ones and to help them establish direction when misdirected through daily living."

The author wrote about her near-death experience at age 31 when she was hospitalized and operated and had felt a link to the spirit world. The book tells about the possibility of contacting departed loved ones. Kim, who has a firm belief in the afterlife, has tried before to contact her father, Robert Kardashian, Sr. who died in 2003 as reported by OK.

Kim's reading of the book could lead her to appreciate her life more because the robbers could have killed her. She was robbed at gunpoint and took her jewelry amounting to $10 million including her engagement ring. She was also tied up with plastic cables and taped her mouth. The ring was reportedly melted down and re-cut then sold to the black market.

Kim Kardashian robbery trauma was so deep that memory of it will take long years to heal. Her current reading material deals with the afterlife but must be read not to embrace spiritism and talking to the dead. This can be used by the devil to mislead her from the truth.

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Now that Nicole has found that she is actually the mother of Holly, she will do everything to get back her baby. But Chloe will not make it easy, as she is also desperate to keep the baby. In the next episode of "Days of Our Lives," Chloe will ask for help in building her case.

Celeb Dirty Laundry reports that Chloe will be asking Belle to represent her in the unavoidable custody battle for Holly. Due to the fact that Nicole is being charged with attempted murder, Chloe may have a good chance of becoming Holly's guardian. But the site also reports that she may be risking her case due to her desperation, and her risky moves will earn her a lecture from Belle.

Meanwhile, the brewing feud between the three families is getting worse. The families are all fighting over the DiMera technology. Apparently, Sonny will go to Chad as he also wants to profit from the device. He wants to team up with Chad, and push Dario and Eduardo out.

Elsewhere, TV Over Mind reports of Eric's predicament is his quest to save Hope. Despite trying his best to take care of her, it seems that Hope's condition just keeps getting worse. Eric, who has been released recently from jail, is upset over the fact that he thinks he was not been punished enough for his sins.

But his desire to keep Hope alive wins over his self-imposed exile, and he goes into Salem to get supplies. And although his actions may have saved Hope, he is also spotted by none other than Jennifer. Now that people know that Eric has been released, people from town may be wondering if he and Nicole, who is now engaged to Deimos, will ever get back together.

What are you most excited to see in the next episode of "Days of Our Lives?" Share your thoughts and comments below.

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When it comes to choosing a vacation destination, adventurous seek the exotic factor to strike hard at the barely-sated reward system. Hence, traveling in Greenland is a prospect worth noting. It is easy to mistake this land as an independent country when, in fact, it is an autonomous region of Denmark. Nevertheless, it has its own capital and secondary cities, like every nation that thrived on the planet.

When it comes to traveling in Greenland, there are a number of obvious reasons why tourists would visit Nuuk. Here's why:

Chic Metropolis

Mainstream media would always depict the Arctic society as people living in igloos and using dog sleds for transportation. Though unusual to imagine for many people, the capital city of Greenland is a posh metropolis whose sense of minimalist style nearly rivals that of Germany and Iceland.

World's Second Largest Fjord

The world's largest fjord is in Norway, but anyone who thinks 'No.1' is overrated ends up in Nuuk. The Nuuk fjord is a popular site for kayaking and cruising. Many visitors also visit Nuuk's ecological jewel for its teeming marine fauna - angling for the evening's seafood fare.

The Northern Lights

If there is any other reason why outsiders would visit Nuuk, it is because of the rare experience of seeing the Northern Lights. The best chance of witnessing this nocturnal solar occurrence is between September and April.

In contrast to the modernization experienced by Nuuk, people who appreciate the positive and non-alienating mainstream Arctic scene would visit Ilulissat. Here's why:

Rustic Arctic

As hinted earlier, this small city in Greenland still bears a relatively close resemblance to its semi-urban landscape decades ago. Many of the houses in this municipality sport a traditional and rudimentary Nordic-American architecture reminiscent of its colonial period.

UNESCO's Icefjord

Another key reason to visit Ilulissat is for its ice-capped shoreline waters. This islet has rightfully earned the attention of UNESCO for its picturesque rarity. Across the stream overlooking from the stark brown terrain of the harbor, everything else is just white.

Dog-sledding Tradition

If there is any reason to be in Ilulissat, it is the pure delight of the sport called dog-sledding. Tourists may have the option to take the sled for a few hours of spin or go on a week-long camping voyage across the Arctic.

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For these two young kids, traveling is more important than the short-term euphoria drinking and nightlife could bring. Nathan Basista and Jess Roberts decided during one fateful day they would see the rest the Earth has to offer by avoiding additional expenses and saving up for their grand vacation spanning 12 countries in a year.

According to Metro UK, the couple decided to save "every single moment during college" and even "worked several jobs" to accelerate their vacation savings fund. Drinking and partying were immediately out of the question. Their thrifty lifestyle extended even during their vacations; Jess Roberts said they "camped and cooked at home" to save their vacation funds for better experiences than "pricey hotel rooms."

The couple first began their first year of journeying in the Western Hemisphere including the traditional road-trip across the United States and two weeks in Iceland. A journey to the arctic had brought the two to see the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights, which Roberts pointed out as her favorite highlight of their one-year journey and described it as "an otherworldly experience."

The two are on their way to head to explore Asia and intend to begin their trip on February in Hong Kong. Metro did not indicate the itinerary of the couple. Their second year of travel would "push our limits and bring us to exotic places far from home," according to Jess.

Another couple famous from a reality show had given up more than their drinking and partying but their entire jobs as CEOs of a modeling agency and rubbing elbows with famous people in Hollywood. Bessie Bardot and Geoff Baker -- according to LA Weekly -- had been journeying the entirety of Australia in their van where they raised their daughter in travel.

According to the couple, when they "opened themselves up to the universe," they found "congruence" and possibly a form of pronoia -- a positive feeling that the universe is conspiring to help you/the negation of paranoia. The once-famous and rich couple had found traveling to have soothed their souls aching for satisfaction and achievement in their once well-provided but sordid lifestyle.

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Tourism industries around the world have grown massively in the last few years. More people are now into traveling and experiencing the best of the world than never before. Likewise, many vacation hubs are slowly facing its side effects. In here are the tourist exploration's threatening effects and how to avoid them.

When traveling, vacationers are really into new adventures that are why it's better to go to places unexplored. Accordingly, many just recently discovered places like Venice's Chiogga and Iceland's Reykjavik which are now getting more people to visit them.

According to United Nations Environment Program, there are actually three impacts but it lies heavy about nature and economy. For the environment's dangerous effect, it can gradually destroy resources where it depends on. Most of the time, trees and other natural are turned into hotels and other buildings to accommodate travelers. This greatly changes the landscape of the destinations. Likewise, it can also spear loss investments for economic results.

In other report, National Parks also shares frightening negative effects of tourism. Accordingly, it opens door for severe cases of littering, erosion, fire, and vandalism while it only can also add to traffic congestion and pollution. Moreover, local people can also be massively affected! How? Local goods, food, housing, and crafts get more expensive because of it as well.

For examples of places where the adverse effects of tourism are terrible, Independent highlights Venice, Iceland, Cambodia, and Barcelona. Apparently, they are currently the most affected across the globe. The struggle is all about "overcrowding," even the locals now can't tour their own place because of it.

Lastly, tourism may have negative effects but these last years are clearly a huge improvement for everyone. Perhaps, learning how to be responsible travelers can make tourism industry a more useful tool for everyone to experience the most amazing attractions and adventures of a tourist place.

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CHAMPAIGN -- Taste buds will awaken this Sunday through Feb. 5 as Visit Champaign County hosts the inaugural Champaign County Area Restaurant Week. Seventeen area restaurants will feature special menus and discounted items throughout the week-long celebration.

We are thrilled to be a part of Restaurant Week as we showcase new and exciting menu items which are available on our all day menu. states Beckie Kane, marketing and private event coordinator for Big Grove Tavern.

Champaign is a foodie town and we love being in the heart downtown surrounded by so many passionate, hospitality professionals. We hope to see some new faces trying out all that downtown Champaign has to offer.

Weve assembled an incredibly diverse set of restaurants across the greater Champaign County area that exemplify the high quality of local food you can access right here in our community, explains Terri Reifsteck, vice president of marketing.

This week will tempt you to try something new, from fresh ingredients to international cuisine and will show you how easy and affordable it is to eat local.

According to the U.S. Small Business Association and the U.S. Department of Labor, for every $100 a person spends in a local business, $68 remains in the community vs. $43 from a national chain. Local restaurants also often have a smaller carbon footprint than larger companies.

Most important, local restaurants contribute to the identity of the Champaign County area. Supporting these restaurants during Restaurant Week and all year long ensures the uniqueness that can only be experienced here.

Participating restaurants include: Baxters American Grille, Biaggis Ristorante, Big Grove Tavern, The Bread Company, Crane Alley, Dancing Dog Eatery and Juicery, Hamilton Walkers, JT Walkers Restaurant, Minnecis Ristorante, Nando Milano Trattoria, Piato Cafe, Pizza M, Radio Maria, Siam Terrace, V. Picasso, Watsons Shack & Rail and Yoders Kitchen.

Diners are encouraged to take advantage of special menus and discounted pricing and share their experiences on Instagram with #CCRestaurantWeek for a chance to win a $100 gift card to their Champaign County area restaurant of choice.

Menus for participating restaurants can be found at www.visitchampaigncounty.org/restaurantweek. For more information, contact Terri Reifsteck at 217-351-4133 or terrir@visitchampaigncounty.org.
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SPRINGFIELD -- The Old State Capitol Historic State on Saturday hosts the 9th Annual Slow Food Springfield Film Festival highlighting the slow food movement and Illinois farming.

These films tell the stories behind our food and can increase awareness and interest in our food system," said Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant, the festival chair.

The event features the documentary Sustainable about a central Illinois farmer who became a leader in Chicagos sustainable food movement. The event also includes 10 short films that were finalists in the 2016 Real Food Media Contest.

The festival begins at 5 p.m. with the short films in the Old State Capitols Foundation Hall (level 2). That is followed by a light dinner at 6 p.m., and then Sustainable starts at 7 p.m. A question and answer session will follow.

Admission is $7 for the general public and $5 for members of Slow Food Springfield. Students with a student ID can attend free.

The event is co-sponsored by Slow Food Springfield, the Old State Capitol Foundation, Spence Farm Foundation and Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Sustainable focuses on Marty Travis, a seventh-generation farmer in central Illinois who watched his land and community fall victim to the pressures of big agribusiness. Determined to create a proud legacy for his son, he transforms his farm and pioneers the sustainable food movement in Chicago.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmakers Matt Wechsler and Annie Speicher, Marty Travis and Will Travis of Spence Farm and Erin Meyer, executive director of the Spence Farm Foundation.

The short films were chosen from 160 submissions from 20 countries to the Real Food Films Contest, the only competition for shorts about sustainable food and farming. Films were required to be four minutes or under and feature original voices that lift up under-reported stories. Film styles ranged from documentaries to advocacy films to spoken word poetry shorts.

Festival-goers can also buy a light dinner and coffee at 6 p.m. from Denise Perry, the chef/owner of Copper Pot Cooking Studio, and Custom Cup Coffee.

The Old State Capitol may be accessed from the parking garage below building. The garage entrance is on 6th Street, and parking is $1.50 an hour. The garage will be open until 9:30 p.m. The garage can also be accessed from the Adams Street Plaza. Enter the small brick building with the green metal roof and take the elevator or stairs down one level.

More information is available at www.slowfoodspringfield.org or by contacting Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant at 217-341-0398 or deborah@new.leaf.consulting.com.

The Old State Capitol served as the seat of Illinois government from 1839 to 1876. Abraham Lincoln served as a legislator there, launched his 1858 Senate campaign there with his famous House Divided speech, and used it as his unofficial transition headquarters after being elected president.

The Old State Capitol is open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
CHARLESTON -- Jail time was ordered for a man who admitted he lied to police about what he knew about a stabbing incident.

Anthony L. James, 28, for whom court records list an address of 1514 Edgar Drive Apt. D, Charleston, pleaded guilty to an attempted obstructing justice charge.

James was accused of telling Mattoon police that he witnessed the other man fall on a knife and injure himself on April 4 when he actually knew a woman stabbed the other man.

With the agreement reached in his case, the charge was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor. James' sentence was about three weeks in jail beginning Monday plus payment of fines and court fees.

Coles County Circuit Judge Brien O'Brien imposed the sentence by accepting the plea agreement that Assistant State's Attorney Tom Bucher and Public Defender Anthony Ortega recommended.

Records in James' case indicate that the stabbing took place at a Mattoon residence and the man who was stabbed also initially claimed that he fell on the knife.

The records also say that police later discovered that the woman stabbed the man during an argument that James witnessed.

The woman, Brittany L. Townsend of Chicago, was arrested for allegedly stabbing the man. The most recent information available about her was that she was at large after another incident in Mattoon later in April.

In other cases in court recently, O'Brien also accepted guilty pleas from:

Gabriel W. Bosler, 41, for whom records list an address of 728 14th St., Charleston, to a charge of presence within a school zone by a child sex offender.

Bosler was accused of attending a concert at Charleston Middle School on May 11 when students were present though that was a violation of requirements as a registered sex offender.

The charge was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor and Bosler was placed on probation for one year. Terms of the sentence included a requirement that he not be at any school unless in specifically excepted circumstances.

Bosler was also ordered to pay about $1,000 in fines and fees while six months of jail time was stayed, meaning he won't have to serve it unless there are violations.

O'Brien accepted a plea agreement that Bucher and defense attorney Todd Reardon recommended.

Records show that Bosler successfully completed the four-year probation sentence he received in 2002 after he pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Cale a. Hutchcraft, 32, whose address on record is in Sullivan, to a misdemeanor charge of unlawful distribution of pseudoephedrine.

The charge accused Hutchcraft of distributing the medicine in a "reckless manner" in Coles County in July 2015, knowing that it would likely be used to make methamphetamine.

A felony charge of possession of methamphetamine precursor was dismissed and Hutchcraft was sentenced to two years of court supervision, so he won't have a record of a conviction if he completes it successfully.

Terms of the sentence included substance abuse treatment and about $1,300 in fines and fees. Assistant State's Attorney Joy Wolf and defense attorney Terese Matthews recommended the plea agreeement.

Amanda M. Logsdon, 30, for whom records list an address of 525 18th St., Charleston, to a methamphetamine possession charge alleging she had the drug on Oct. 21.

Logsdon was sentenced to two years of first offender probation, which allows a chance for no record of a conviction. Terms included substance abuse treatment and about $1,300 in fines and fees.

Wolf and defense attorney Douglas Lawlyes recommended the plea agreement.
124 killed in Bhutan operation





Siliguri, December 16

At least 90 anti-India militants and 34 Bhutan Army personnel were killed and about 160 persons, including 100 militants, injured in a virtual war between the troops of the Royal Government of Bhutan and rebels in southern Bhutan since yesterday, according to senior officials.

The officials of the Bhutan army and their Indian counterparts said tonight 34 personnel of the Bhutan Army were killed and 60 injured in the exchange of fire with the militants. Among the militants killed during the operation were 12 KLO insurgents, 40 NDFB militants and 38 ULFA ultras, they said.

The Central Headquarters (CHO) of the ULFA had been completely demolished by the Bhutan Army jawans, they said, adding that some massive encounters occurred at Kalikhola, Tintala and Bukka among other places in that country.

In the Bukka encounter, at least 12 KLO ultras and 34 Bhutan Army personnel were killed, while in Tintala, at least 40 NDFB militants were gunned down and the 709 Battalion of the ULFA was completely demolished.

Reports from across the border said about 10 camps of the anti-Indian rebels were destroyed during the massive offensive, dubbed Operation All Clear. About 3000 anti-Indian insurgents belonging to the ULFA, the KLO and the NDFB had been operating from about 30 camps in southern Bhutan.

Reports here said the Indian Army had deployed about 12 battalions along the border to prevent the rebels infiltration. The road link between India and Bhutan had virtually been snapped following the deployment of the Army.

Guwahati: A red alert has been sounded in Assam and borders with Bhutan sealed with the Army moving additional forces on the border. Bhutans Royal Army soldiers have seized ULFAs central command headquarters located at Phukatong in Samdrup Jongkhar district bordering Assam yesterday, Bhutanese Foreign Secretary Neten Zangmo told PTI over telephone today.  UNI, PTI


Chandigarh, January 25

A headless charred body of an unidentified middle-aged man was found under mysterious circumstances in the forest area of Makhan Majra close to the Chandigarh-Ambala highway here today.

Prima facie it appears that the body is around a month old. However, it was burnt a few days ago. The police said Sultan, an employee of the UT Forest and Wildlife Department, had gone to the forest when he noticed that a charred body was lying in the middle of the forest around 150 meters from the Chandigarh-Ambala road. He further noticed that the body was headless. The head, which was also burnt, was lying around fifteen meters away from the body.

Sultan immediately informed the police, which rushed to the spot. The police found an empty liquor bottle, empty soda and water bottle and the victims slippers near the body. Sources said there were bite marks of some animal on the victims feet. Police officials said the body seemed to be very old. However, it was burnt recently. Eish Singhal, UT SSP, who inspected the spot, said the body could not be identified and it was completely charred. We have registered a case of murder and destruction of evidence against unknown persons at the Mauli Jagran police station, the SSP said. The SSP said bone ossification test would also be conducted to know the victims age. The area was cordoned off by the police and a search operation has been launched in the forest. A team of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Sector 36, also reached the spot. The team collected the pieces of the victims clothes. The police are also checking the records of persons missing from the nearby areas. DSP (East) Satish Kumar and DSP (Crime) Pawan Kumar were among the officers that reached the spot. The body was lying since a long time in the forest area. However, no forest guard noticed it, said a police official.TNS
Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 25

Former Senior Deputy Mayor and BJP councillor Heera Negi, who lost the Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) elections yesterday, has blamed Mayor Asha Jaswal and former Mayor and BJP councillor Arun Sood for her shocking defeat.

While talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Negi said, It is not Heera Negis defeat but it is the defeat of the BJP. Jaswal and Sood hatched a conspiracy, which led to my defeat, Negi said.

I had opposed the list of councillors allotted to me. I had told the Mayor to change the entire list but in vain. Even the list was finalised without consulting me. The list of councillors, who were to vote for me, was shown to me just minutes before the MC meeting. Had they changed the list in time, I would have won, Negi said.

Negi also raised question on how Sood got seven votes, when only six were allotted to him.

I will write to party president Amit Shah, Chandigarh unit president Sanjay Tandon and MP Kirron Kher to conduct a detailed inquiry into the defeat. This is the second time I was targeted. Even in the 2015 Mayoral polls, I was targeted and eventually I lost the elections for the post of Mayor, Negi said.

The party had decided that six BJP councillors would vote for Negi, they were Mahesh Inder Singh Sidhu, Raj Bala Malik, Heera Negi, Rajesh Gupta, Farmila and Chandrawati Shukla.

Similarly, the party had decided six councillors for other BJP candidates like Arun Sood, Jagtar Jagga, Kanwar Rana and nominated councillor Ajay Datta.

During the poll, Heera Negi only got four votes whereas Sood got seven votes.

Victory of honesty

" It is the victory of honesty. Now, I will ensure that all policies, which will be finalised in the F&CC, will be for the welfare of city residents ."  Davinder Babla, Congress winning candidate

There was plan to defeat Kanwarjeet Singh too

Sources said there was a plan to defeat another BJP councillor Kanwarjeet Singh too, who is MP Kirron Khers loyalist. They party had allotted him six councillors  Hardeep Singh, Davesh Moudgil, Kanwarjeet Singh, Anil Dubey, Ravi Kant Sharma and Rajesh Kalia. Kanwarjeet Singh had managed Independent Councillor Dalip Sharmas vote for himself. But instead of getting seven votes, Kanwarjeet Singh only got six votes. Sources said one of the BJP councillors, allotted to Kanwarjeet Singh, did not vote for him.

Guilty will be punished

"Since I am busy with the election duty in Rajpura, I have deputed Mayor Asha Jaswal and general secretary Chander Shekhar, to hold a meeting of all six councillors, including Heera Negi, and submit the report to me. If anyone is found guilty, the party will take strict action against that person and the party can even suspend the guilty person for anti-party activity."  Sanjay Tandon, Chandigarh BJP president
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 25

Two eminent city professors have been honoured with the prestigious Padma Shri award, announced in Delhi this evening.

Prof Harkishan Singh, Professor Emeritus at the PU, and Prof Mukut Minz, a former PGI transplant surgeon, have done the city proud by making it to the list of awardees for the prestigious award this year.

Prof Harkishan Singh is a well-known pharmaceutical academic, prominent medicinal chemist and renowned science historian.

Prof Mukut Minz is an eminent transplant surgeon. He is credited with setting up a new Department of Renal Transplant Surgery at the PGI and performing over 3,300 kidney transplants, among other achievements.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, 89-year-old Prof Harkishan Singh said, I am pleased to receive this honour, but I was not working for awards. It is my passion to research and invent something fruitful for society. He was flooded with calls soon after the announcement was made.

Interestingly, Professor Harkishan Singh could not find time to share the news with his siblings residing abroad till late evening. I am still writing research papers and will continue till my health allows, he said.

Prof Harkishan Singh said he was yet to decide whether he would go personally to collect the award when the date and time are decided and communicated to him by the government.

Prof Harkishan Singh is a renowned personality in the pharmacy industry not because of his books on research but for his rarest accomplishments, including the discovery of a clinically useful drug, Chandonium Iodide (HS-310), which was later named by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as Candocuronium Iodide. Candocuronium is the only drug discovered by any Indian University till date.

Over 350 publications, 18 books and 14 patents are testimony to the outcome of his work. He mentored over 50 doctoral and master theses too.

The second professor to be honoured with Padma Shri for his contribution to the field of medicine, Prof Mukut Minz, said he was overwhelmed to have received the honour. It is a great humbling experience. Im very happy and at the same time, satisfied too. It feels great when ones work is recognised and that too, with a Padma Shri, which is such a prestigious award, he said giving credit to the PGI for providing him an apt platform, which became the foundation of his glorious career.

Professor Minz, formerly Professor and Head of the Department of Renal Transplant Surgery at the PGI, Chandigarh, joined the PGI in 1980 and has over 30 years of experience in transplant surgery.

He was elevated to the post of Senior Professor in 2008 and became a member of the Governing Body of the PGI in 2015. He received advanced training in cadaver organ retrieval and transplantation at various centres/universities of Oslo, Norway; Gothenburg, Sweden; Heidelberg, Germany; Munich, Germany; and Minnesota, Minneapolis-USA.

Dr Minz successfully established a combined kidney-pancreas transplant programme for Type 1 diabetics with kidney failure at the PGI. He recently led the medical team at AIIMS, New Delhi, that carried out the kidney transplant of Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

He has trained over 30 transplant surgeons, many of whom are holding academic positions in India, the US, the UK and Australia and has been a visiting professor in various universities. He has been conferred several awards. Currently, he is Director, Renal and Pancreas Transplant Surgery, Fortis Hospital, Mohali.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 25

OT technicians of the PGI called off their strike here this evening after the PGI administration toughened its stand.

The strike was called off soon after the PGI administration announced that if the OT technicians did not return to work, no work no pay rule of the Government of India would be strictly followed and 25 technicians would be hired within a couple of days to ensure that the work did not suffer.

Meanwhile, on the second day of the strike today, 107 routine surgeries and 14 emergency surgeries were performed at the PGI as compared to an average of 400 per day. Patients suffered a lot of inconvenience as elective surgeries were put off indefinitely.

Earlier during the day, addressing a press conference, officiating Director Prof. KLN Rao and Deputy Director, Administration, Amitabh Avasthi, informed that the PGI administration had, in the morning, appealed to the striking OTA staff to join work for the larger good of the patients but despite the appeal, they continued with the strike.

He further added, As a long-term measure, counselling sessions for both doctors and technicians will be organised to take care of the stress they undergo while working in critical areas. The duty rosters will be streamlined so that the emergency duties are on rotation.
Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi

In the end of 2016, prominent leaders of Deobandis and Barelwisthe two majority Muslim sects in India organised large-scale conferences putting forward a proposal for the unity of Muslim ummah (community) in India.

Several meetings and events were recently held at Deoband and Ajmer, as reported in several Urdu newspapers. The two largest Islamic sects in India which have been vehemently opposed for decades are now seeking to unite. The reason, they aver, is: a rising fear of the ruling party which they believe is deliberately trying to further their sectarian divide to drive a wedge between the Muslims.

On May 10, 2016, the media reported the `beginning of the unification. Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, a noted Barelwi cleric, surprisingly visited Darul Uloom Deoband, the leading seminary of Deobandi school of thought in India. He met with the influential ulema including the Darul Ulooms current rector (naazim-e-aala) Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani, and stressed the need for unity of Indian Muslims to fight the common enemy.

So, both the stalwarts have emerged to unite their followers only in public to fight a common enemy. Clearly, it is a politically motivated slugfest rather than a genuine effort to counter sectarianism.

In fact, Barelwi-Deobandi unity is a mere figment of imagination. The unity we saw in Ajmer conclave or at Deoband meetings were nothing short of stage-shows. The ground reality is these 'priestly' sections are the biggest practitioners of sectarianism today. Their influential ideologues are deeply steeped in dogmatic and retrogressive religious humbug, disparaging one another over trivial theological polemics. So can we expect from this false display of unity? Given this deeper ideological dilemma, only gullible Muslim masses would be naive to expect those who are vanguards of the Barelwi-Deobandi sectarianism, to fight against it.

More surprising is the bizarre observation of several community watchers. They glorify the Barelwi-Deobandi unity as a fitting response to the dividing policyof the ruling anti-Muslim regime. They buttress their point citing the World Sufi Forum which had the presence of the PM Modi. Syed Zubair Ahmed, editor of Muslim Mirror, an online Muslim media outlet opinionated: There is a growing fear and perception that the community is being targeted and attempts are being made to divide it. The recently held Sufi conference was seen as a way of creating rift in the Muslim community. This [Barelwi-Deobandi unification] is significant as a message is being sent that it will be difficult to drive a wedge in the community now.

Of course, fighting sectarianism is welcome. Given the deep-rooted Barelwi- Deobandi sectarian tensions which often caused serious repercussions, bridging the sectarian gap is long overdue. But shifting the entire blame to the government and maligning the Sufi divines effort to counter religious fanaticism is appalling. Isnt it the run-of-the-mill theory of conspiracy far from the introspection required in the community?

Instead of a stage-show, both Muslim sects clergy must sincerely reflect on the prevailing sectarian psyche plagued with extremist thoughts. An objective observation reveals that not only the Deobandi-Wahhabi clergy but a section of the present-day Barelwi ulema have also fanned the fire of religious extremism among the countrys gullible Muslims.

The Barelwi movement emerged in 1880 as a quasi-Sufi group of clergy to refute the extremist thoughts of the Wahhabi-Deobandi ideologues. Seceding from the mainstream Sunni-Sufi school of thought, the pioneering Deobandi ulema like Maulvi Ismail Dehlvi and Syed Ahmad Shaheed got aligned with the Wahhabi think-tank. Inevitably, the subsequent generation of Deobandi Muslims incorporated an ultra-puritanical and exclusivist narrative of Islam. Therefore, Deobandi followers were easily drawn towards Islamist militancy. Many researchers have found theological linkages between the Deoband and the Tahrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. According to the Pakistani media reports, Talibani militants in the north-eastern Pakistan sprang out of a local Deobandi madrasa. Radical Islamist seminaries like the one at Lal Masjid were found ideologically linked with the Deobandi school of thought.

However, the mainstream Indian Sufi-Sunni Muslims led by the Barelwi ulema practiced a relatively tolerant and traditional Islam. They were greatly imbued in the precepts and practices of Islamic mysticism interchangeably known as Sufism.

But the recent developments have distressed the community watchers and progressive Muslim thinkers. The Barelwi group of Indian Muslims, who prided themselves in their tolerant Sufi-Sunni tradition, are at times drawn towards the religious fanaticism very similar to the notorious Wahhabi extremism.

In the name of reforming Sufism, many hardline Barelwi clerics today are peddling hatred against the liberal and tolerant ideas espoused by the earlier Indian Sufi saints. They literally castigate the non-conformist and mystically-inclined Sufi practitioners who profess liberalism in their religious outlook, declaring them heretics, erroneous in faith and misguided.

For instance Pakistani-origin Canadian Sufi scholar Dr. Tahirul Qadri has been declared a deviant Muslim by a large section of the Barelwi muftis (Islamic jurists). A number of Barelwi fatwas have targeted him for participation in non-Muslim celebrations, Sufi dance and music, welcoming other faith leaders in mosques. Such retrogressive and hardline fatwas are on the rise in the Barelwi clerical circle. Evidently, they are no different from the Deobandi clergy running the scary fatwa-factories in the country.

The impact can be seen in the reactionary protests of the Mumbai-based Raza Academy which demanded a ban on Qadri. But the Bombay High Court granted conditional permission to Dr Qadri to hold public gatherings and thus Raza Academy failed in its petition against him.

Tellingly, Raza Academy was the first to have campaigned against the Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi's ambitious biopic, Muhammad: The Messenger of God. The film faced a threatening fatwa when the movie had not been launched! Undaunted, the fatwa lambasted the film maker for his sinful attempt to portray the Prophets life through the cinema, something which is haram (strictly forbidden) in Islamic Shariah according to the authoritative Barelwi clergy.

The fatwa was issued by an acclaimed Barelwi cleric appointed as imam at Haji Ali Dargahs mosque, who also runs a fatwa centre (Darul Ifta) in the city. He was behind the much-hyped fatwa against womens entry into the sanctum sanctorum of the Haji Ali Dargah.

However, it is noteworthy, the prime Sufi shrines, particularly Ajmer Sharif and Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, took a stand against the Barelwi fatwas on music and film-making on the Prophets life. They rather commended AR Rahman for his brilliant performance and called him a true believer. According to the media reports, AR Rahman issued a written statement in which he stated: I am not a scholar of Islam. I follow the middle path and am part traditionalist and part rationalist...  My decision to compose the music for this film was made in good faith with no intention of causing offence.

It was indeed distressing to note that just like the film composer, Majidi also showed a very pious intention behind this film. In an interview, Majidi is reported to have stated: I decided to make this film to fight against the new wave of Islamophobia in the West..... The Western interpretation of Islam is full of violence and terrorism, he said.

Besides the Islamic movies, Sufi music and womens shrine visitation, the hardline Barelwi ulema have banned many cultural practices which exhort social affinity and religious harmony.

Thus, the threat of fanatic fatwas, from both Barelwi and Deobandi clergy, looms large in India scaring a sizeable section of the Muslim society. Given that Muslim clergy dont reflect on this deeper ideological crisis in the community, the Barelwi-Deobandi truce is simply pointless. Without this introspection, the communitys unity, integrity and harmony will remain merely a mirage.





The writer is a scholar of classical Islamic sciences and researcher in communication studies
The Shiromani Akali Dal has released its election manifesto for Punjab. Presented a mere 11 days before the poll, it may only serve the purpose of being held up as a checklist by the voter in the subsequent election in case the party returns to power. Alliance partner BJP went through the ritual of releasing its manifesto only a few days earlier, with similar promises. It is, however, perplexing why two pre-poll alliance partners should make promises separately when they have to run a common government. Would the atta, dal, chini, ghee, etc, promised by the two be made available separately or at once for a common recipe of disaster? The amount of freebies being promised this election is an insult to the voters intelligence and self-respect.

The insincerity of the promises becomes obvious when these are compared to those made in 2012. While many remained forgotten, the undertakings have been raised a few notches in others. Ludhiana was to have a metro service in five years. Punjab was to become California, but now farmers and students have been promised help in settling abroad. Malwa was to be a textile hub, the same promise has been repeated now. Farmers with up to five acres were to get tube well connections in a year, now the promise is for all. Ten lakh jobs, with 2 lakh in public sector, were to be created; but protests by the jobless have been the reality. Free 5-marla plots were promised for the landless poor, now the promise is plots with houses on them. The promise to girl students has gone up from bicycles to two-wheelers. This is just sleight of hand.

The SAD-BJP alliance, however, cannot be singled out for this charge. The Congress and AAP have been populist no less. Free power to farmers and incentives for paddy is a classic example of maintaining the poor in a perpetually self-destructive situation to milk votes with promises of a lifeline. No one has laid out a vision for restructuring agriculture to make it sustainable. Could it be the parties goal is only to get past February 4?
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 25

The government today proposed revision of water tariff in both urban and rural areas of the state. While the rates would be doubled for rural areas, the increase in tariff of urban areas was four times.

A decision to hike water tariff was taken in a meeting under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. The decision would be tabled for final approval in the Cabinet meeting on January 31.

Sources said water tariff in Haryana was very low compared to neighbouring states and it had not been hiked for the last six years.

In case of domestic metered water supply in urban areas for consumption up to 20 kilolitre (kl), Rs 4 per kl would be charged from consumers under the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED).

A levy of Rs 5 per kl would be charged from consumers under the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), municipal corporations (MCs), HSIIDC and Housing Board.

In case of consumption of more than 20 kl, Rs 8 per kl would be charged from consumers of the PHED and Rs 10 per kl would be charged from consumers of HUDA, MCs, HSIIDC and Housing Board.

In case of domestic connection being misused as a commercial, industrial or institutional one, Rs 15 per kl would be charged for metered supply and Rs 1,000 per month for unmetered supply. In case of domestic unmetered water supply, common charges were fixed for consumers under the PHED, HUDA, HSIIDC, MCs and Housing Board.

These included Rs 200 for plot size up to 100 square metres and additional charges of Rs 200 for increase in plot size of every 100 square metres of part thereof.

In case of water supply to institutions, Rs 10 per kl would be charged for metered connections and unmetered supply would not be allowed. In case of water supply in industrial and commercial metered connections, Rs 15 per kl would be charged. Unmetered supply of water to industrial and commercial establishments would not be allowed.

Sewerage charges amounting to 25 per cent of water bills would be charged in domestic, institutional, commercial and industrial areas.

In case of sewerage charges where no sanctioned government water connection was available, Rs 100 per month would be charged in case of domestic connections. For industrial, commercial and institutional connections, Rs 500 per month would be charged. It was decided that for domestic consumers, a one-time non-refundable fee of Rs 1,000 per connection would be charged for new water supply connection and Rs 500 for new sewer connection. However, for industrial, commercial and institutional consumers, Rs 5,000 each per connection would be charged for new water supply connection and new sewer connection.

In case of rural areas, for domestic metered supply for consumers under the PHED and village panchayats, the base rate of Rs 2 per kl was fixed. In case of domestic unmetered supply, Rs 40 per connection per month would be charged for general category households and Rs 20 per connection per month for Scheduled Caste households.

For metered water supply in industrial and commercial categories, Rs 10 per kl would be charged. For metered water supply in institutions, Rs 5 per kl would be charged. Unmetered water supply would not be allowed in areas under the PHED and village panchayats. Sewerage charges amounting to 25 per cent of water bills would be charged in domestic, industrial and commercial and institutional areas.

In case of domestic connection where no sanctioned government water connection was available, Rs 20 per month would be charged.

A one-time non-refundable connection of Rs 500 per connection would be charged for new domestic water supply and sewer connection.

In case of industrial, commercial and institutional consumers, it would be Rs 2,000 per connection for new water supply connection and an equal amount for new sewer connection. It was decided that to promote cashless transactions, a discount of 5 per cent of bill amount, subject to a maximum of Rs 50, whichever was less, would be given to consumers paying electricity, water and sewerage bills through BHIM App.
Mukesh Tandon

Tribune News Service

Panipat, January 25

Tall claims of the state government of improving school infrastructure notwithstanding, scores of students are studying in dilapidated buildings, drinking dirty water and facing shortage of teachers.

This was revealed during Chief Judicial Magistrate and DLSA general secretary Mohit Aggarwals visit to various schools in the district.

On finding pitiable condition of the schools in Tamshabad and Navada Par villages of Sanoli block recently, the CJM summoned the District Education Officer (DEO) and the Deputy DEO and directed them to improve the system in the schools.

The CJM said, The government middle school in Navada Par village caters to two villages. Its building is dilapidated. Though it was announced to upgrade the school to senior secondary level, no work has been started yet. There were no benches, so students had to squat on sacks spread on the ground. Nearly 70 per cent of the students were not in school uniform. A single teacher was teaching mathematics to a group of students from Classes V, VI and VIII, even as the syllabus of each class is different, he said.

The children also stated that they were forced to drink non-potable water drawn from a hand pump, which was the only source of water in the school, he added. The students were unable to read their books. Their knowledge level too needed improvement as they believed Narendra Modi to be the Chief Minister of Haryana and Mahatma Gandhi a former Prime Minister of India, he asserted.

The government primary school of Tamshabad was also found in pathetic condition. The school did not have a boundary wall. Toilets were there but not in a condition to use, he added.

I visited more than 114 villages and 40 schools in the district. I found too much shortcomings in the government schools like shortage of teachers and lack of infrastructure, he maintained.
Jalandhar, January 24

The police today seized 608 cases of illicit liquor from a factory in Reru Chowk in the city. The cases contained leading liquor brands.

Though the place was a godown of a factory manufacturing iron equipment, the manager of the godown was reported to be running illicit liquor business from the place. The police are investigating whether the recovered liquor was to be used for election-related purposes.

In another recovery, the Maqsudan police today recovered 109 cases of illicit liquor from the Wariana check point. According to area SHO Sukkha Singh, a Bolero car PB-08-CG-7372 was stopped at the point and on search, the liquor cases were found.

When asked, the driver failed to give a convincing reply and, hence, the police confiscated the liquor.  TNS
Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, January 25



An army officer and four civilians have been killed as avalanches swept two locations in north and central Kashmir on Wednesday.

A police official in central Kashmirs Ganderbal district said an avalanche hit a camp of Territorial Army at Sonamarg resort. The police official said an army officer had died.

There are also reports that some bodies are still buried, but that could not be immediately confirmed as the area is out of bounds, the police official said.

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In another incident, four civilians were killed when an avalanche hit a house in a remote village in north Kashmirs Bandipora district as the region faces one of the most widespread snow spell of recent years.

An official in Bandipora district said the four civilians were buried inside their house at Badogam village when it was hit by the avalanche. The official said the bodies of the four people, all belonging to the same family, were recovered early in the morning.

The dead included 50-year-old Habilullah, his wife, a daughter and a son.

The snow is intermittently falling across the Kashmir Valley for the second consecutive day on Wednesday.
Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 25

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said the divergence of opinion in democracy and diversity of cultures was the soul of the constitution and the symbol of greatness of our country. She said lack of democracy was the common factor in all the countries around the world.

In her message to the people on the occasion of the 68th Republic Day, the Chief Minister said the noise of democracy coupled with the richness of cultures and traditions keeps India going as a vibrant country.

She said though some sections of the society had not yet understood the benefits of a democratic set-up, strengthening democratic institutions and making them responsive, representative and accommodative was the only way with which their faith in democracy could be increased.

Terming the youth as the biggest treasure of a society, Mehbooba asked them to use the benefits of democracy to let Jammu and Kashmir make up for the losses it had suffered on account of its history and geography. She said vote was the weapon in their hands with which they could change a system and make their own. My government is with you in this effort, she added.

The same constitution has given our state a special status and the same constitution holds key to the resolution of all other issues, she added.

The Chief Minister said youth of the state hold a special promise for us and many of them had attained positions of acclaim at national and international levels. Be it academics or sports, administrative services or science, a healthy wave of displaying talent has kicked off, she said hoping that these individual successes would lead to a situation where our young generation would be able to realise its dreams and materialise its goals.

Appealing to people to support her government in transforming Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba said peace in the state was imperative for dialogue and resumption of friendly ties between India and Pakistan. She said peace only makes all developmental efforts possible and lets people reap the benefits of these initiatives.
Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 25

Governor NN Vohra participated in the National Voters Day celebrations, organised by the state Election Department here today.

Greeting the people on the occasion of the seventh National Voters Day, the Governor observed that India, the largest democracy in the world, is a remarkable example of democratic framework which is fully functional and as citizens of India we should proudly uphold the nations democratic values. He said democracy becomes meaningful when all eligible voters participate in the polls and carefully choose their candidates without coming under any kind of influence. He observed that the pledge taken on this day is a valuable guide on how to become a responsible voter.

The Governor noted that for promoting awareness among people, especially the newly registered young voters, the Voters Day should be used for spreading a better understanding of the democratic values. He urged the youth above 18 years to get registered as voters and meaningfully participate in the next elections to see that the state is run by an efficient government. He exhorted the voters to be particularly mindful, while casting their votes, why they are voting for a particular candidate.

Noting that the Special Summary Revision-2017 of the electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir has resulted in over 1.95 lakh new voters being enrolled, the Governor expressed hope that all other eligible citizens in the state shall lose no further time in getting enrolled so that they become entitled to exercise their franchise at the forthcoming polls in the state.

Lauding the countrys democratic values, the Governor observed that successive General Elections in India have always led to peaceful transfer of power. For this reason many countries look at India and seek its experience and expertise to strengthen their democratic institutions.

The Governor lauded the various school and college groups for presenting skits which sought to educate the audience about the vote and its value. He also congratulated the officers who were awarded for doing exemplary election-related work.

Participants were administered National Voters Day Pledge on the occasion. Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) were distributed to the voters. The Governor presented EPICs to about two dozen new voters and also released state Election Departments newsletter on the occasion.

Shantmanu, Chief Electoral Officer, J&K, while addressing the gathering, highlighted the functioning of the department, its achievements and future targets.

The keynote address was presented by Raman Kesar, Joint Chief Electoral Officer, and the vote of thanks was given by Simrandeep Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Jammu.

Among those present on the occasion were Dr SP Vaid, DGP, J&K, and Shaleen Kabra, Principal Secretary, Education.
Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 25

Governor NN Vohra today appealed to the leaders of various movements and youth, particularly in the Kashmir Valley, to shun the path of confrontation, shutdown and violence, saying it will yield no result except dragging the people and the state to slip further far behind.

He said all stakeholders should accept that the only way forward was through reconciliation, restoration of communal harmony, and engaging in dialogue to resolve all our issues.

If the upcoming generation is to achieve its full potential it is the responsibility of all the stakeholders to ensure that an undisturbed environment prevails in the state, he asserted.

The Governor also observed that Jammu and Kashmir has not been able to achieve its goals because of the western neighbours unceasing ventures to destabilise our democratic framework and perpetrate violence and terrorism to seize Kashmir.

In his Republic Day message, the Governor while extending greetings and good wishes to the people of the state said the prolonged disturbance in the Valley last summer resulted in large human losses and an unprecedented number of security forces personnel were injured.

I share the grief of all those who have lost their dear ones. The strikes, which extended from week to week, caused large economic losses and particularly severe hardships for the daily-wage earners. The violent agitators burnt several dozen schools and set ablaze government offices, police stations and private properties, he added.

The Governor said the recent disturbances caused irreparable damage to the functioning of the educational system. The studies of over 14 lakh school-going children and nearly a lakh college and university students were severely disrupted, he said.

In the past several years, I have been repeatedly cautioning against the serious consequences of a confrontationist approach being followed to resolve our problems. I yet again appeal to the leaders of all social, cultural, religious, political and other organisations in the state to seriously ponder over the happenings in the past months and recognise that the recurring agitations are causing varied adverse consequences for our people, particularly those who live in the Valley, he said.

Vohra said an environment of distrust, confrontations and violence would disrupt the society and further retard the growth and development of the state. It is, therefore, of crucial importance that all the stakeholders must not lose any further time in accepting that the only way forward is through reconciliation, restoration of communal harmony, and engaging in dialogue to resolve all our issues.

Batting for peaceful relations with neigbouring countries, the Governor hoped that the Pakistan would soon realise the high dividends to be gained if peace prevails along the frontiers.

He also expressed satisfaction over the present governments commitment to conduct Panchayat elections by next March and establishing the three-tier Panchayati Raj structure which has been functioning in the rest of the country for the past several decades now. The government is also committed to carrying through the long pending elections to the Urban Local Bodies, the Governor said, adding: I look forward to seeing the maximum number of voters exercising their franchise in the forthcoming Panchayat and Municipal polls.

The Governor also conveyed warm greetings to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and the members of her council of ministers, and trust that they would strive to see J&K soon achieving peace, progress and prosperity.
Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

January 25, New Delhi

The Animal Welfare Board of India, PETA and some other animal rights bodies on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court challenging the new Tamil Nadu law allowing bull-taming sport Jallikattu in the state.

A Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra agreed to hear the petitions against the popular festival on Monday, subject to availability of Justice Rohinton Nariman who is a part of the Bench that has been hearing the matter.

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Senior counsel Abhishek M Singhvi and Anand Grover mentioned the applications before a Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra at 10.30 am seeking urgent hearing. But the court posted it for January 30.

The fresh plea comes a day after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the top court that the Centre would withdraw its notification that permitted Jallikattu with certain conditions.

A Bench of Justice Misra and Justice Nariman which heard the main matter had reserved its verdict on December 7 last year.

Earlier it had agreed to defer by a week the verdict on the validity of the Centres 2016 notification that allowed Jallikattu despite the top court verdict banning it in 2014.

The animal rights bodies have demanded stay on the Tamil Nadu law pending a final decision on their plea, saying the SC held in 2014 that Jallikattu was cruel.

They contended that the state law defeated the purpose of the Supreme Courts verdict.

The state cannot overturn the 2014 verdict, the petitioners submitted.
Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

Shakumvary (Saharanpur), Jan 25

Even as the contest in western Uttar Pradesh appears to be a triangular one (among the BJP, BSP and SP-Congress), in the 26 Assembly segments falling in Saharanpur, Muzzaffarnagar, Shamli, Meerut and Baghpat districts, brand Modi is still a force to reckon with. The Tribune spoke to a cross-section of voters, both urban and rural, who claimed the contest was primarily between Modi (not BJP) and the others.

The common refrain was: Modi achcha kaam kar raha hai, uskey iradey bhi nek hain, par candidate selection mein BJP ne bahoot gadbadi kar di hai (Modi is doing a good job, his intentions are noble. But the BJP has grossly erred in the selection of candidates). Most villagers pointed out that the parties that fielded the right candidates keeping in mind the caste equations sailed through.

Jagveer of Charthawal village in Muzzaffarnagar district, who has had a long association with the RSS, said the Hindus had pinned high hopes on Prime MInister Narendra Modi. But in the western UP belt, the BJP had fumbled in selecting the right candidates. The BJP would have won the Behat, Shamli, Muzzaffarnagar Sadar, Saharanpur Sadar, Deoband, Sardana and Siwalkhaas seats in Meerut district hands down. But it has fielded turncoats who joined the party only recently. Disappointed, at several places party rebels have joined the race as Independents, he said.

In Chhaprauli village of Baghpat, traditionally an RLD stronghold, Jitendra Dhaka claimed that Jat leader Ajit Singh had lost his grip on the area, yielding space to the BJP. But internal bickerings appear to have given an advantage to the BSP though Modis image among the masses remains intact, he maintained.

Whereas the BJP is hugely banking on the Modi magic to win western UP, its rivals  the BSP and SP-Congress alliance  have selected candidates on sheer mathematics, keeping in mind the caste equations, knowing too well that a personality war with the PM would have been counter-productive.
Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

Shakumvary (Saharanpur), January 25

Even as the contest in western Uttar Pradesh appears to be triangular on paper among the BJP, BSP and SP-Congress alliance, the campaign theme and voter perception in 26 assembly segments falling under Saharanpur, Muzzaffarnagar, Shamli, Meerut and Baghpat give a sense that brand Modi is still a force to reckon with.

When The Tribune representative spoke to a cross-section of voters, both urban and rural, the common thread looked to be Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as everyone mentioned his name and claimed that the contest is mostly between Modi and the candidates of parties other than the BJP.

The general refrain among people in these constituencies was that this time they are not looking at BSP supremo Mayawati or Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Bhola Saini of Jasmaur village falling under Behat assembly segment said, Modi to achcha kaam kar raha hai, uskey iradey bhi nek hain, par candidate selection mein BJP ne bahut gadbadi kar di hai (Modi is doing well, his intentions are good, but the BJP has grossly failed in candidate selection).

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Like Saini, most of the villagers across districts covered by this representative said Modi is OK, but the contest always took place among candidates and the parties, which had fielded right candidates keeping in mind the caste equations.

Jagveer of Charthawal village in Muzzaffarnagar district, who has a long association with the RSS, was of the view that though Hindus in the area look with high hopes towards the BJP and they have great expectations from Modi, in the entire Western UP, the party had grossly fumbled in selecting right candidates. Seats like Behat, Shamli, Muzzaffarnagar Sadar, Saharanpur Sadar, Deoband, Sardana, Siwalkhaas in Meerut district the party would have won hands down. But on these seats the BJP has fielded candidates who have joined the party recently. At several places, the old partymen have decided to join the race as Independents, he said.

In Chhaprauli village of Baghpat, which is traditionally considered to be the RLD stronghold, one Jitendra Dhaka told The Trbune representative that since Ajit Singh grossly lost his grip in the area, the BJP had emerged as a natural alternative. But internal party bickerings appear to be giving advantage to the BSP, though Modis image among masses is still intact, he added.

Thus, a scenario is emerging in Western UP in which the BJP and most of its candidates are hugely banking on Modis image and his appeal among the masses, whereas its rivals BSP and SP-Congress alliance have done a cold calculation on the basis of Muslim voters and caste equation in candidate selection knowing well that any personality war with the Prime Minister would prove counterproductive.
Simran Sodhi



Tribune News Service

New Delhi/Washington, January 25

Describing India as a true friend of the US, President Donald Trump invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the country later this year, the White House said on Wednesday after both leaders spoke over phone and discussed issues such as trade, defence and terrorism.

Trump spoke to Modi on Tuesday night, four days after he was sworn in as the 45th President of America.

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During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world, the White House said in a readout of the call.

President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the US later this year, the White House said.

The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.

Besides, they also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia. Trump and Modi resolved that the US and India stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, the readout said.

After Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the November 8 general elections, Modi was among the first five world leaders to congratulate Trump.

During his gruelling election campaign, India is among the few countries in addition to Israel with whom Trump spoke of strengthening ties if elected to power.

On January 21, Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican Premier Pena Nieto.

On Sunday, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and on Monday he had a telephonic conversation with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Modi also invited Trump to visit India during his conversation last night. Had warm conversation with Trump. We agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties, said the prime minister. With PTI
New Delhi, January 25

Aimed at giving impetus to their ties, India and the UAE on Wednesday signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement and over a dozen pacts in key areas like defence, security, trade and energy amidst assertion by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that cooperation stands poised for a "major take off".

Read: PM Modi calls UAE most-valued partner and close friend

However, as hoped by India, a pact pertaining to the $75 billion investment fund, committed by the UAE in 2015, was not among the 14 pacts which were signed after the talks between Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers, senior officials and top businessmen, Al Nahyan, who will be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade tomorrow, also echoed Modi's views, saying, "As never before, our relationship has reached impressive heights... I look forward to seeing our relationship reach even more towering heights."

Terming his discussions as "fruitful and productive", Modi, at a joint press event with the UAE leader, said the discussions were wide ranging covering the entire spectrum of the bilateral engagement.

"We have shaped an ambitious roadmap of engagement to make our comprehensive strategic partnership purposeful and action oriented. The agreement that was exchanged just now has institutionalised this understanding," Modi said.

Asserting that security and defence cooperation have added growing new dimensions to the ties, he said their closer ties are of importance, not just to both the countries but also of significance to the entire neighbourhood.

He also said convergence between the two countries can help stabilise the region and the economic partnership can be a source of regional and global prosperity.

"We exchanged views on developments in West Asia and the Gulf, where both countries have a shared interest in peace and stability. We also discussed developments in our region, including Afghanistan. Our shared concern on growing threat from radicalism and terrorism to the safety and security of our people is shaping our cooperation in this space," Modi said.

He noted, "Moving forward, our cooperation stands poised for a major take off. I am confident, Your Highness, that your visit will build on the strong gains and understanding of our previous interactions. And shape its future framework marked by depth, drive and diversification of our partnership."

However, the two sides did not sign a pact pertaining to the $75 billion investment as was hoped by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials yesterday.

"During the visit, we are hoping to sign an MoU between their investment fund and our National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF)" which will put in place a framework as to how the fund will be administered and which all sectors it can be invested in, Secretary for Economic Relations in MEA Amar Sinha had told reporters yesterday.

Asked as of why the accord was not inked, senior officials said, "Talks are in an advanced stage and this visit has helped in identifying sectors in which the investment can be made."

Noting that they have agreed to expand cooperation in the field of defence to new areas including in the maritime domain, Modi said the MoU on Defence Cooperation will help steer the defence engagements in the right direction.

"We also feel that our growing engagement in countering violence and extremism is necessary for securing our societies," the Prime Minister said.

Ahead of delegation-level talks at Hyderabad House, the two leaders held a one-on-one meeting for nearly one hour at the Prime Minister's official residence here. Counter- terrorism and security situation in the region were among other key issues discussed between the two of them.

Terming the UAE as one of India's most valued partners and a close friend in an important region of the world, Modi said, "We regard the UAE as an important partner in India's growth story," adding that he has conveyed the interest of Indian companies to be a partner in infrastructure projects for the World EXPO 2020 in Dubai.

"I particularly welcome the UAE's interest in investing in India's infrastructure sector. We are working to connect the institutional investors in the UAE with our National Investment and Infrastructure Fund," the Prime Minister said.

Al Nahyan also said it was refreshing to see how the Indian leadership is keen to strengthening relations with the UAE, which makes him even more confident about the prospects of the Strategic Partnership Agreement that they have signed.

"Fostering our relationship with India is a strategic choice for the UAE under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, especially in light of our identical views on regional and international issues. No doubt, our Strategic Partnership Agreement will make our relationship stronger at the political, security and economic levels," the visiting dignitary added.  PTI
Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 25

India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today elevated their bilateral ties to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership (CSP) after delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

The Crown Prince is in India on a three-day visit. He will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations tomorrow. Both countries signed 14 agreements, including one on cooperation in defence manufacturing and technology with a focus on armament and transfer of expertise, maritime transportation and economic activities. Defence cooperation has become a priority area for both countries.

Another significant agreement was on India allowing the UAE to fill half of an underground crude oil storage facility at Mangalore. This is Indias emergency oil reserve to safeguard against global instability. The deal between Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL), a firm building the storage, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) was announced today. The UAE is Indias fifth biggest oil supplier. The only glitch in a picture-perfect ceremony today was that the much anticipated pact pertaining to the investment of $75 billion, committed by the UAE, into infrastructure development in India did not happen. For India, the significant factor remains that the UAE, which has traditionally been a Pakistan ally is now open to pursuing closer ties with India. Speaking to the media after his meeting with the Crown Prince, Modi said the UAE was one of Indias most valued partners and a close friend in an important region of the world.

We regard the UAE as an important partner in Indias growth story, Modi said. I particularly welcome the UAEs interest in investing in Indias infrastructure sector.

The UAE is home to around 2.6 million Indians who live and work there and send remittances to the tune of $14 billion per annum. In this context, PM Modi said he expressed gratitude to the Crown Prince for looking after the welfare of the Indian nationals in his country and also thanked him for allotting land for a temple for the Indian diaspora in Abu Dhabi.
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, January 25

Six persons  four members of a family and an Army officer  were today killed in three avalanches triggered by heavy snowfall in the Kashmir valley.

Major Amit Sagar was killed when an avalanche swept a camp housing a unit of the Territorial Army at a Sonamarg resort in Ganderbal district, a police official said. The officer was buried under the avalanche. Another officer was rescued from the site where a search and rescue operation is underway.

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Four members of a family died when their house was hit by an avalanche in Badogam village of Bandipora district. Sajad Ahmad Ganai, Deputy Commissioner, Bandipora, said one member of the family had been rescued. The deceased were identified as 50-year-old Habibullah, his wife, their daughter and son.

Abdul Gani Ganai (50) of Kralpora town in Kupwara district was killed when the roof of his house caved in because of heavy snowfall. His son was injured. The moderate to heavy snowfall in the region has forced the closure of the 300-km Srinagar-Jammu highway and grounded air traffic in the region.

Shimla: Heavy snowfall crippled normal life in Himachal Pradeshs tribal areas too, even as an avalanche threat loomed large. MeT office has warned of heavy to very heavy snowfall or rains at isolated places in higher hills and tribal areas on Thursday. The mighty Rohtang Pass and Kunzam and Saach Passes also received heavy snowfall.
Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, January 25

Thrown out of the venue after they showed black flags to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at a rally here today, a group of protesters were allegedly thrashed by Akali activists.

As the CM began his speech at the local grain market, members of Baba Budhaji Granthi Sabha and the Gurmat Prachar Ragi Sabha, Sangrur, who were among the audience, started raising slogans against the government. They were hurriedly whisked away by policemen and left outside, where they were thrashed by Akali activists.

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The police should have taken us to the police station. Mercilessly beaten up by SAD workers, we had to flee to save our lives, said an angry Darshan Singh Kohriya, state vice-president of the Granthi Sabha.

Kohriya, who suffered multiple injuries, was later admitted to the Civil Hospital. Denying that the protesters had been thrown out, SSP Inderbir Singh said three of them had been taken into custody. It is a conspiracy. We will approach the higher authorities for registration of a case against the errant policemen and SAD workers, said Mohkam Singh, president of United Akali Dal.
Our Correspondent



Jodhpur, January 25

A local court exempted Bollywood actor Salman Khan from appearing for hearing of a poaching case in which he and some other actors are suspected of having been involved after police said it could not provide him security due to Republic Day celebrations.

Actors Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam, and Sonali Bendre  the others involved in the case  have told the chief judicial magistrate that police have voiced their inability to provide them security because of the elaborate arrangements needed for Republic Day celebrations in Jodhpur that will see VVIPs, including Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Governor Kalyan Singh, in attendance.

The actors have been told to appear in court on January 27.

The court had called the actors to record their statements under Wildlife Protection Act earlier in the month.

The actors have been accused of having illegally hunted two blackbucks at Kankani village in Jodhpur on October 1-2, 1998, while they were in the state shooting their movie Hum Saath Saath Hain.
Tribune News Service

Lucknow, January 25

With the weakening of the Mulayam-Shivpal faction in the Samajwadi Party (SP), don- turned -politician Mukhtar Ansari and his brother may soon join the BSP.

According to sources, the last straw was the SP announcing a candidate for the Mau seat represented by Mukhtar Ansari.

Mukhtar was not expecting to be an SP candidate but was hoping that the party would not field a candidate against him.

Last year, the decision to merge the Ansari brothers Qaumi Ekta Dal with the SP had first brought out the Yadav family feud in the open as Akhilesh had opposed the decision of his father and uncle. He had retaliated by dropping senior minister Balram Yadav who reportedly had helped broker the deal.

Even while eldest brother Sibtaqullah Ansari had taken the initiative  earlier this month  to submit an affidavit in support of the Akhilesh Yadav faction before the Election Commission in the fight for the symbol, Akhilesh  so far  has not confirmed his seat from Mohammadabad in Ghazipur.

According to erstwhile Mulayam-Shivpal faction loyalist Ambika Chaudhary who recently joined the BSP, both Mukhtar Ansari and Sibtaqullah Ansari are in touch with the BSP and might join it in the near future.

As a BSP candidate in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Mukhtar Ansari had given a tough fight to BJPs Murli Manohar Joshi from Varanasi.
Tribune News service

Chandigarh, January 25

Congress expelled seven rebel candidates from the party after they refused to withdraw their nominations for next months assembly elections despite warnings Punjab unit chief Amarinder Singh.

An order from the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) said Ashok Sharma, Gurbinder Singh Atwal, Jagmeet Singh Sahota, Hemraj Aggarwal, Manjit Singh Mann, Amarjit Singh Gharu and Rajinder Deepa were expelled for anti-party activities with immediate effect.

Singh warned candidates from defying party orders on Sunday.

Rebels were given until Tuesday evening to pull out of the elections. Although several dissident candidates complied with the order, the seven remained defiant.
New Delhi, January 25

Reaching out to Punjabis in their own language, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has vowed not to spare those involved in the 2015 alleged desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib at Faridkots Bargari village.

An audio message to this effect, where Kejriwal is heard speaking chaste Punjabi, has been issued by the Aam Aadmi Party across social media platforms.

The message, where the AAP chief begins speaking with the Punjabi salutation Sat Sri Akal, is also being disseminated through IVR (Interactive Voice Response) to reach people through the cellular network.

One year ago Sri Guru Granth Sahib was disrespected in Bargari. People who were behind it have not been caught yet. After jhaadu wali party (AAP) comes to power we will punish them in a way like no one else so that they dare not repeat it again...disrespect of any religious book wont be tolerated, Kejriwal says.

Last week, the first such audio was released by the AAP as part a planned audio and video onslaught, featuring Kejriwal, in the last leg of the campaigning before the state goes to polls on February 4.

We plan to reach out to each and every voter of Punjab, a party member said.

In that message, Kejriwal reiterated his promise to jail Punjab Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, alleging his involvement in drug trade.

In Punjab, AAP is involved in a triangular contest against the incumbent SAD-BJP combine and the Congress, who have often branded Kejriwal as an outsider, which AAPs latest reach out addresses.

Punjab was caught in a spiral of violence following the Faridkot incident in October 2015.  PTI
Varinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Lambi, January 25

Autocratic halqa chiefs and the losses incurred by cotton growers owing to spurious pesticides are the two main factors that are likely to weigh upon Lambi voters mind as he goes to cast his ballot on February 4.

There are reports of voters being deeply resentful of the free hand given to halqa Jathedars as well as unequal grants. And this may benefit the Congress and AAP. Farmers are angry not only at the crop losses but also the fact that procurement too has not been a smooth affair. A united Congress is putting up a tough find against Badal Senior. AAPs Jarnail Singh too seems to have considerable support of the poor, especially Dalits.

But Badals accessibility, the impressive development works, four-laning of the Bathinda-Lambi highway and measures taken to reclaim 50 per cent of cultivable land in Lambi all go in SADs favour. There is no anti-incumbancy sentiment in Badal Sahibs constituency, claim SAD supporters Shaminder Pal and Amritpal Sharma.

But Gurmit Singh of Fatoohi Khera village disagrees. Even for a death certificate, we need the sifarish of the halqa chief, who often coerce village sarpanches to toe their line. They decide to whom grants are to be given, he says.
Shahkot/Nakodar, January 25

Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday promised to regularise all contractual employees and address the concerns of government employees if the party was voted to power in the state.

Addressing public rallies in Shahkot and Nakodar, Amarinder reiterated his promise of farm loan waiver, besides innovative measures to improve agriculture.

He alleged, "The Badals have looted Punjab for the past 10 years, and now the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is going all out to loot the state and its people by seizing power by hook or by crook."

Lambasting the Akalis for "obstructing the implementation of the agriculture promotion schemes initiated by him" during his tenure as the Chief Minister, including a World Bank sponsored biggest nursery project, Amarinder said the "Badals did not want to lose their vote bank by allowing people to progress."

He also attacked the "spate of farmer suicides" in the state and promised to bring agriculture back to its old glory, with prompt payment at MSP to farmers and waiver of all their existing debts if the Congress comes to power in Punjab.

Punjab goes to polls on February 4 and SAD-BJP alliance government is in power in the state for the past 10 years.

Amarinder promised to set up a potato development and marketing board for farmers, while ensuring power at Rs five per unit for industrial units to ensure their revival.

Hitting out at the Badals for allegedly stopping the mega investment projects that would have generated 20 lakh jobs during his previous chief ministerial tenure from 2002-2007, He promised immediate steps to revive industrial growth and bring investment back into the state.

Expressing concern about the plight of employees, he alleged they had been completely ignored by the Badal government and were struggling to get even their basic dues under the Akali regime.

Amarinder said besides regularisation of all contractual employees, "the Congress government will ensure that all government servants, including policemen, are provided the basic facilities and amenities to which they are entitled."

"Pending dues of the employees will be expeditiously cleared and policemen will be provided fixed duty hours with regular weekly offs to alleviate their sufferings," he promised.

Referring to the SYL issue, "which has brought Punjab to the brink of a severe water crisis," Amarinder reiterated his vow to prevent water from Punjab leaving the state.

He warned the people that "Haryanvi Kejriwal will sell Punjab's water and other interests to his native state if elected in the state."

"AAP is a party of outsiders that is out to loot the people of Punjab," he alleged, claiming that the AAP leader was only concerned about promoting his own interests.

Promising jobs for the unemployed youth of the state, who would also be given smart phones to connect them with the world, Amarinder said the employment schemes contained in the Congress manifesto would help wean youth away from drugs.  PTI
THE opinion the people of India hold of Viceroys and Governors of the type of Lord Curzon and Lord Sydenham is that they are Anti-Indian. The phrase is used in a wider sense than some Anglo-Indians would understand, and it signifies an attitude of active hostility to the ideals of progress and prosperity defined by the intelligent section of the Indian people. The nomination of Lord Ronaldshay as the next Governor of Bombay has been criticised in this sense, and Mr. Ginnel asked the Secretary of State for Indian in the House of Commons in the middle of last month at whose instance and on what qualifications the appointment was made. Further Mr. Ginnel asked whether the probable consequences of his Anti-Indian views were considered before the appointment would be cancelled in view of the opposition of the press, both Indian and British. In reply Mr. Chamberlain said that there was not a shadow of foundation for describing His Lordships views as is done in the third part of the question-viz., Anti-Indian.
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, January 25

The Dwarahat Assembly constituency in Almora district has been a bastion of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) before the last Assembly elections. In 2012, Madan Singh Bisht, a former Delhi University student council president and senior Congress leader, won the seat after defeating UKD sitting MLA Pushpesh Tripathi by over 6,000 votes.

The BJP stood third as its candidate polled only 10,946 votes, over 400 votes less than the UKD candidate who got 11,346 votes. Pushpesh Tripathi is also in the fray, trying to encash on the legacy of his father Vipin Tripathi. At the time of the 2012 elections, the constituency had 84,170 voters whereas at present the number is 89,559.

The constituency is facing same problems of potable water, broken roads and lack of medicals services that are a general phenomenon all over the state, says Jagat Rautela, a resident of Dwarahat town.

Besides the problems of drinking water and health services in the rural areas, the menace of wild animals in the villages has also added to the migration from the traditional occupation of agricultural and horticultural and from villages to Terai areas in general, Rautela says.

Sitting Congress MLA from Dwarahat Madan Bisht says he has helped Bagwali Pokhar, Dwarahat, Masi Chaukhutia and other distant villages of Masi get drinking water schemes, besides linking the villages of Athguli Pati with proper motorable roads. The pace of development will continue even after the elections when Dwarahat will be made one of the best Assembly constituencies in the state, claims Bisht.

Local residents say Dwarahat had been a well-developed region from the time of British as they had opened an intermediate college here in 1885. The rest of the works in advanced education and technical education were done when UKD leader Vipin Tripathi was the MLA, says Charu Tripathi, a resident of Dwarahat valley at present based in New Delhi.

Charu alleges that the only achievement of the sitting Congress MLA and his BJP rival has been making liquor available in every village in the valley and falsely taking credit for the development of the area. While the UKD had given the vision of development from the days of Vipin Tripathi, the Congress representative from Dwarahat ruined the valley, Charu rues.

People of the constituency are also demanding the creation of a separate district of Ramganga and making the Ramganga valley its headquarters. The creation of Ramganga district will also be suitable to residents of Ranikhet while the district headquarters at Ranikhet is not suitable to the residents of Dwarahat and Chaukhutia villagers, says Dinesh Tiwari, another resident of Dwarahat.

Sources close to the BJP say while the Congress MLA constructed some roads to link villages of Chaukhutia and Dwarahat, he failed in filling the vacant posts of teachers in Dwarahat Engineering College, which is facing a crunch of teachers from the past one decade.

The engineering college has been facing a shortage of teachers, adversely affecting the quality of education, says Mahesh Negi, the BJP candidate from the constituency
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 25

Governor KK Paul has said voters should follow their minds and vote fearlessly to ensure a strong and healthy democracy. He was the chief guest at the7th National Voters Day function held at Raj Bhawan here today.

The Governor said voters are the foundation of a strong democracy, which in turn leads to the progress of the nation. This festival of democracy was a symbol of the trust that people had in the democratic system set up through the Constitution.

This system gives each voter the right to choose an impartial and progressive government. The responsibility of the voter was to exercise this right without being influenced by factors such as caste, religion, language etc.

The Governor spoke about the challenging journey of elections in the country that began in 1952 (when the first election was held). He said it had been a historic journey that saw many remarkable improvements on the way. These improvements had increased the confidence that people had in the Election Commission. The extent of impartiality that existed in our elections could not be found in any other countrys elections. The Election Commission of India has become a model for the world due to its modernisation and simple arrangements, he added.

The Governor said all elections in Uttarakhand had been conducted smoothly and impartially till now and this was due to awareness among citizens. The increase in the percentage of voters was also due to this.

He appealed to voters to ensure a peaceful atmosphere during the forthcoming Assembly elections on February 15 and resolve to exercise their right to vote.

He said the constantly growing percentage of women voters in the state was a good sign for a strong democracy. He read out the oath/pledge of the Election Commission, which all people present repeated after him. He gave voter Id cards to 10 young voters (first time voters of 18 years of age) and gave them information about their rights and duties. The Governor also unveiled the election calendar. He specially appreciated the role played in this regard by Chief Electoral Officer Radha Raturi.

She spoke about National Voters Day. She said despite the difficult terrain in the state, the Election Department had made available photo Id cards to all voters. The total number of voters in the state stands at 749,5688, including 357,2045 women and 151 are third gender.

About 54000 of the total voters are newly registered who have attained the age of 18. She said there was 67.22 per cent voting in in the 2012 Assembly elections. This time, efforts were being made to encourage voters to raise the percentage to 80 per cent.
Karachi, January 25

A Pakistani woman lawmaker threatened to self-immolate in the Sindh Assembly after a provincial minister passed sexist remarks, inviting her to his private chamber, an incident which highlighted the position of women in the country.

Nusrat Sahar Abbasi, who belongs to the Muslim League Functional party, created an uproar in the Assembly after provincial minister for works and home Imdad Patafi misbehaved with her on the floor of the House last week.

The furore over the issue finally came to an end on Monday when Abbasi forgave Patafi in the name of tradition.

In the incident which highlighted the position of women in Pakistans feudal community, Patafi invited Abbasi to visit his private chambers so that he could give a satisfactory reply to questions she had asked on the Assembly floor.

Another lawmaker of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party was also captured on camera making snide remarks about the female parliamentarian.

The lawmakers behaviour caused a storm on the social media and on television channels and was seen as sexist and harassment of women.

Patafi had to face the criticism even from PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his sister Bakhtawar Zardari, who directed their lawmaker to apologise to Abbasi.

Abbasi came to the session on Monday with a bottle of petrol, threatening self-immolation unless Pitafi was sacked.

To finally bury the hatchet, Patafi draped a traditional shawl over Abbasis head and apologised to her over his behaviour.

But today, Abbasi again complained to Speaker Shehla Raza that she was not being allowed to speak her mind on a point of order.

I want to highlight the fact that in the Sindh Assembly female lawmakers are not being given their due place and rights, she said.

What happened last week and the way I was treated it only highlighted our problems. I only accepted the apology because of the traditional shawl, she said.

Abbasi, who belongs to the opposition, said she would have carried out her threat of self-immolation in front of the Assembly if Bilawal and Bakhtawar had not intervened.

The media saw everything and they also saw Patafis remarks as sexual harassment. The deputy speaker was also not willing to listen to me, she said.

The incident caused widespread embarrassment to PPP which was headed by slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Abbasi said though the incident was over but the government needed to review further laws governing womens rights and protection.

Before me also there has been an incident in this Assembly and also in the National Assembly where sexist remarks were made by fellow lawmakers and they later apologised, she said.

Abbasi said the government needs to quickly enforce the laws as women face discrimination in Pakistans conservative society.  PTI
MOGADISHU, January 25

Islamist militants rammed a car bomb into the gate of a hotel in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Wednesday and stormed inside, killing at least 28 people, emergency services said.

Gunfire rang out as fighters entered the Dayah Hotel, which is popular with politicians. A second blast shook the area shortly afterwards, injuring several journalists and others nearby.

Colonel Abdiqadir Hussein, a police officer, told Reuters that security forces eventually managed to secure the building.

"We have rescued the people and concluded the operation at Dayah hotel. The security forces are now inside the hotel and we shall give further details of casualties later," he said.

Duniye Mohamed, a doctor at Madina hospital, said some of the people taken there were very seriously wounded.

Reuters pictures showed a huge flame immediately after the blast. Several cars and buildings were destroyed by the explosion.

Islamist group al Shabaab, which until 2011 controlled much of Somalia including Mogadishu, claimed responsibility for the attack.

"Well-armed mujahideen (fighters) attacked the hotel, and now they are fighting inside the hotel," said an announcer on Andalus radio, which is linked to al Shabaab.

The insurgents often launch bomb and gun attacks in the capital in their quest to topple the Western-backed government and impose their strict interpretation of Islamic law on the nation.

In the past two years, African Union and Somali forces have driven the group out of key urban strongholds but it remains active from bases in rural areas.

Somalia swore in nearly 300 members of parliament last month. The lawmakers are due to pick the president but that vote has repeatedly been postponed.
Washington, January 25

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed directives to build a wall along the US border with Mexico and to crack down on US cities that shield illegal immigrants, proceeding quickly on sweeping and divisive plans to curb immigration and boost national security.

The Republican President is also expected to take steps in the coming days to limit legal immigration, including executive orders restricting refugees and blocking the issuing of visas to people from several Muslim-majority Middle Eastern and North African countries including Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen.

Trump signed two executive orders at the Department of Homeland Security, one ordering construction of a wall along the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) US-Mexico border and the other moving to strip federal grant money from sanctuary states and cities, often governed by Democrats, that harbour illegal immigrants.

In cities such as San Francisco, local officials, often Democrats, refuse to cooperate with federal authorities on actions against illegal immigrants.

The American people are no longer going to have to be forced to subsidise this disregard for our laws, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.

In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Trump said construction of the wall would start within months, with planning starting immediately, and that Mexico would pay back to the United States 100 per cent of the costs.

Mexican officials have said they would not pay for the wall.

During a White House briefing, Spicer referred to the wall as a large physical barrier on the southern border.

Building this barrier is more than just a campaign promise. Its a common sense first step to really securing our porous border, Spicer added. This will stem the flow of drugs, crime, illegal immigration into the United States, he said.

Trump has long said that he will make Mexico pay for the wall. Well be reimbursed at a later date from whatever transaction we make from Mexico, Trump told ABC on Wednesday.

Im just telling you there will be a payment. It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form. What Im doing is good for the United States. Its also going to be good for Mexico. We want to have a very stable, very solid Mexico.

The actions drew strong criticism from immigrant advocates and human rights groups, which called them discriminatory moves that rejected the American tradition of welcoming immigrants of all backgrounds.

To think that Trumps first 100 days are going to be marked by this very shameful shutting of our doors to everybody who is seeking refuge in this country is very concerning, said Marielena Hincapie, the executive director of the National Immigration Law Center.

During the campaign, Trump promised swift action on immigration on Day One in office. He pledged to cancel all federal funding to sanctuary cities, suspend immigration countries with ties to terrorism, investigate abuses of visa programmes and deport criminal undocumented immigrants.  Agencies

Prez vows to launch probe into voter fraud
Yes, Simon's Cat is between the covers again The new book is called Simon's Cat vs the World and you can win your own copy, acco...
Image via Twiiter @realDonaldTrump

President Donald Trump has moved quickly to keep key campaign promises on ending or altering U.S. international trade agreements. During the campaign, Trump insisted that these agreements have hurt American workers and cost jobs, while unfairly benefiting foreign countries such as China and Mexico.

On Monday, Jan. 23, President Trump pulled out of negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP), an Asia-centric trade agreement designed to bolster U.S. trading interests in the region at the expense of the Chinese.

The president has also said he will renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada at the appropriate time. Trump has also threatened to levy major taxes on U.S. companies that shift jobs to foreign countries.

Such moves are highly popular with his supporters. But some trade experts argue that the moves could ultimately backfire and slow U.S. economic growth.

Outlined below are views of several experts, from in and out of trucking, on these early trade moves by the Trump administration excerpted (along with their accompanying quotes) from a US News & World Report post

Winners and Losers

Marina Whitman is a professor of Business Administration and Public Policy at the University of Michigan who has long been a proponent of free trade agreements. Today, however, she says that while she still believes free trade agreements are beneficial to the U.S., and cites polling showing a majority of Americans support free trade agreements, she thinks the unexpected emergence of China as a major trade rival in the 1990s-- along with the failure of the American labor market to adjust and create new jobs for workers displaced by NAFTA-- have poisoned the free trade well for many Americans.

Whitman says that while there are many more American winners benefiting from free trade agreements, the negative impact from such agreements on the losers, in terms of lost jobs and lower wages, are more intense and personal:

Studies suggest that the American labor market is not as fluid and flexible as we thought. Job losers were not able to find new ones as quickly as expected nor command the same level of wages when they did. This finding is consistent with other research indicating that the in-country mobility of blue-collar American workers has been falling.

In other words, while the overall welfare effects of trade liberalization are generally positive, the impact on some subgroups, particularly the less well-educated, are negative and much larger. And the United States is less generous than other rich countries in providing both reemployment assistance and income support to workers hurt by these changes.

High-production Poverty

Harley Shaiken, director of the Center for Latin American Studies and professor of Letters and Science, University of California, Berkeley, says that the lack of strong labor unions and protections in Mexico led to a unique series of problems that eventually placed downward pressure on wages, salaries and jobs for American workers:

In 1993, when NAFTA was being debated, Mexico faced a disturbing reality: manufacturing productivity was rising at the same time real wages for Mexican workers were declining. Autos and color televisions were moving along assembly lines in state-of-the-art factories whose productivity and quality rivaled that of the U.S. or Japan, while workers were often living in communities without running water.

Economists tell us low wages reflect low productivity, but here we were seeing high productivity and rock-bottom wages. The result was high-productivity poverty. Why? A key factor was a lack of critical labor rights: the virtual impossibility in the export sector for Mexican workers to form independent unions and bargain collectively for better wages and conditions.

As my research has shown, by strengthening investment protection and largely ignoring worker protections, real wages in Mexican manufacturing continued to slide in the wake of NAFTA, declining almost 20% from 1994 to 2011 while productivity grew almost 80%. This loss for Mexican workers also contributed to a sharp downward pressure on manufacturing wages in the US. The combination of high productivity and depressed wages not surprisingly can serve as a beacon for investment.

There Will Be Consequences

The unprecedented scope of many of these free trade agreements today is a major problem, argues Charles Hankla, associate professor of Political Science, Georgia State University. He argues that since these agreements often touch on host of issues, from internet freedom to generic drug prices to the right of private investors to sue states for compensation, the effects of canceling them can have implications beyond the components of trade protection:

Economically, the U.S. is already tightly linked with both Asia and Europe. The TPP agreement would essentially expand the Pacific trade bloc beyond NAFTA to include nine additional countries, most significantly Japan. Similarly, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would deepen the already significant economic interdependence that traverses the Atlantic.

The loss of these agreements would certainly have negative economic effects on all sides, as least in the aggregate (since some jobs would be saved by the reduced competition). Agreements this large cannot be jettisoned without consequences.

That said, given the deep connections that already exist among Asia, North America and Europe, the purely economic results of killing the agreements are likely to be important, but not enormous. More serious would be the geostrategic implications. A rejection of TTIP by either side could signal a reduced U.S. presence in Europe, a particular concern in the face of increasing Russian assertiveness. Meanwhile, an end to TPP could encourage a number of Asian countries, unsure of Americas future in the region, to move into Chinas growing sphere of influence.

The United States, Mexico and Canada Make So Many Things Together

FedEx Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Fred Smith is a passionate supporter of free trade agreements, noting that History has shown repeatedly that free-market economies create human opportunities. He urges the Trump administration to improve both existing and pending trade agreements, to both sustain and boost economic growth and create new opportunities for American workers:

If President Trump wants to improve NAFTA, he may to want to address the advantage that Mexican exporters receive through the rebate of value-added taxes on all their exports to the U.S. We dont have similar rebates on corporate taxes paid on U.S.-made goods, and this puts our exports at a serious disadvantage.

While NAFTA could be updated and strengthened, as noted, withdrawal is another matter entirely. There are myriad reasons why that would be catastrophic for the U.S. economy, but a main one is the nature of North American supply chains. Few people understand how NAFTA has woven the productive capacity of North America into one integrated platform.

The United States, Canada and Mexico make so many things together. Forty percent of the value of Mexicos exports to the United States is U.S. content. The auto industry is a great example. Its been said that the average American car crosses the U.S.-Canadian border seven times during its production. A November 10th Wall Street Journal article cited an example in which a seat had parts from four U.S. states and four Mexican locations. NAFTA makes the U.S. one of the most attractive manufacturing locations in the world because of value-added productivity of both Canada and Mexico in an integrated North American supply chain.
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 ...
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I invite anyone who wishes to comment on this blog to do so. I enjoy the comments, whether you agree with what I have said or not. But some people want to abuse the right to comment, and since this is my blog, I have decided to lay down the following rules. If your comment violates these rules, it will not be published.
PennWell acquires interest in Turkish energy conference

Tulsa-based PennWell International announced Tuesday that it has acquired 50 percent of Sektorel Fuarcilik, owner of ICCI, the largest power generation conference and exhibition held annually in Istanbul, Turkey.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The next ICCI, which is the International Energy & Environment Fair & Conference of Istanbul, will take place May 3-5.

PennWell International, a subsidiary of U.S.-based PennWell Corp., purchased the 50 percent ownership share from Hannover Fairs Turkey, a subsidiary of German trade show organizer Deutsche Messe.

As a result of the purchase, ICCI will be promoted as ICCI Powered by POWER-GEN. PennWells POWER-GEN brand serves the energy industry with multiple worldwide events.

Tulsa Port of Catoosa approves contract to dredge channel

The Tulsa Port of Catoosa has awarded a contract with a dredging company to remove silt build-up in the channel, clearing it to a 12-foot depth.

A contract worth slightly more than $1 million was awarded to Illinois-based Mid-America Dredging by the City of Tulsa-Rogers County Port Authority at its January meeting.

The work is to start by March 1 and be finished in 105 days or pay a penalty of $800 per day, port operations manager Brad Banks told the authority. Five others firms bid on the project, which had an estimated cost of $1.7 million.

The board OKd monthly claims of $845,284 for payment. Secretary/treasurer Bryant J. Coffman said the port would recover 10 percent of that amount through grants or contractual obligations.

Nearly $2 billion in cargo moved along state waterway in 2016

Shippers moved $1.99 billion worth of goods along the Oklahoma portion of the 445-mile Arkansas Waterway during 2016, the Waterways Advisory Board of the states transportation department was told at its January meeting.

Deidre Smith, manager of the departments waterways branch, said the 11 commodities moved along the waterway in Oklahoma during the year totaled 5.93 million tons.

Chemical fertilizers led the list in both quantity at 2.46 million tons and value at slightly more than $1 billion, she said. Equipment or machinery was last in quantity at 26,457 tons but fifth in value at $132.29 million.

For the 10-year period ending with 2016, Smith said 50.38 million tons were barged through Oklahoma with a value of $26.44 billion. Chemical fertilizers also led that list in both quantity at 17 million tons and value at slightly more than $12.88 billion, she said.

Williams Partners announces quarterly cash distribution

Williams Partners announced Tuesday afternoon that the company has scheduled a regular quarterly cash distribution of 85 cents per unit for its common unit holders.

The board of directors of the MLPs general partner Williams Cos. approved the quarterly cash distribution, which is payable on Feb. 10, to common unit holders of record at the close of business on Feb. 3.

 From staff and correspondent reports
A two-year, citywide effort to combat copper theft has led to arrests or charges against more than 17 people, Tulsa police officers in charge of a task force to investigate the problem revealed Tuesday.

The cost to Tulsa taxpayers  dark highways and about $3 million for the replacement of wiring in highway lights  has been steep, officers said.

Cpl. Craig Johnson said arrests and charges have come about on various fronts  not all directly related to highway-light copper  in the ongoing investigation over the past two years.

This has been a huge cooperative effort between the City Council, city prosecutors office  and, of course, traffic engineering  God love those people, Johnson said. Without them, none of this goes.

Tulsas traffic engineers and street crews have been working for the past year to repair highway lights that have been darkened by the theft of more than 33 miles of copper wiring.

Johnson estimated that the stolen wiring would have sold as scrap metal for about $100,000 to $200,000. Taxpayers, however, are footing the bill for about $3 million worth of repairs, which includes replacing underground conduits and adding new aluminum wire, as well as safety measures to limit access and other measures to deter theft.

Sgt. Pat Harker, who supervises the unit leading the investigation, said that level of trade off between victims and thieves is common.

Its kind of like when the guys go out and steal an air conditioner, Harker said. They take the copper out of that. It costs you a minimum of about $4,000 to $5,000 to replace your air-conditioning unit, but they get about $25 worth of copper out of it.

Johnson said the 3,000-page investigation he turned over to the Tulsa County District Attorneys Office was part of the process that has led to various state and even federal charges against numerous individuals. The charges include conspiracy, larceny of copper and false declaration of ownership at scrap-metal dealers.

Christopher David Wroten, 37, pleaded guilty to charges in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma for destruction of letter boxes and possession of stolen mail, according to court records. In October, he was sentenced to three years probation on those charges.

State charges against Wroten, to which he pleaded guilty in Tulsa County District Court, include knowingly receiving or concealing stolen property and unlawful possession of methamphetamine, according to court records.

Johnson said those charges came following a search of a home where Wroten is alleged to have lived. Officers recovered drugs and a blue government-owned mailbox there.

Christopher Anthony Smith, 30, was also charged in federal court in connection with possession of stolen mail and destruction of letter boxes, according to federal court records. In that case, Smith pleaded guilty to counts of bank fraud, possession of stolen mail and destruction of letter boxes.

Smith is also charged in Tulsa County District Court with false declaration of ownership at a scrap-metal dealer. That case is ongoing, according to court records.

Arnold Wayne Gibson, 51, pleaded guilty and was convicted last February of larceny of copper, according to court records. Gibson is also charged in a separate, ongoing case with conspiracy, larceny of copper and false declaration of ownership to a scrap-metal dealer, court records show.

Johnson said several of the thieves began small, taking wiring from a few lights at a time. But later, thieves began stealing wiring from entire stretches of highway lighting at one time.

From there, the operation expanded with several accomplices helping strip the insulation from the wiring and others helping by selling the wiring.

To investigate and fight the growing popularity of the theft, Johnson said Tulsa police and city leaders have worked on expanding city ordinances to support a system that promotes enforcement of existing laws.

Were trying to make sure we get this one taken care of, Johnson said. It really is sitting down and figuring out how to attack the problem. How do we deal with not only putting the people in jail that put us in this position but then how do we go forward and make it easier to prevent it in the future?  We want a system set up that we can hand off to the next person and they can pick it right up.

How to tip TPD about copper theft

Anyone with information about copper theft can email the Scrap Metal Taskforce at TPDSMT@cityoftulsa.org.

Anyone with information about any crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS or send web tips to www.tulsacrimestoppers.org.
OKLAHOMA CITY  House Speaker Charles McCall on Tuesday suspended Rep. Dan Kirby from his chairmanship of the Business, Commerce and Tourism Committee.

In a press release, McCall, R-Atoka, said the suspension was pending the findings and recommendations of the House Special Investigation Committee after Kirby publicly wavered on whether he would meet with the panel.

McCall declined a request for an interview on the suspension, and Kirby did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kirby, R-Tulsa, initially said he would meet with the panel, saying he welcomed the investigation and wanted to clear his name.

He later changed his mind, saying Monday that the procedures established by Committee Chairman Josh Cockroft, R-Wanette, impaired his right to due process.

McCall has charged the House Rules Committee with looking into allegations of sexual harassment against sitting members and the legal authority to use House funds to settle a claim.

McCalls action with the committee came after it was revealed that former House Speaker Jeff Hickman, R-Fairview, approved a $44,500 settlement to one of Kirbys former executive assistants, Hollie Anne Bishop, and her attorneys to settle a sexual harassment and wrongful termination claim.

Hickman has said that although no sexual harassment was found, it was cheaper to settle the claim than to litigate.

Since then, a second former Kirby executive assistant, Carol Johnson, has come forward to allege wrongdoing by Kirby, which he has denied. Johnson told The Oklahoman that Kirby asked her to send nude pictures to him, which she did. Kirby said they were in a relationship, something she has said was not true.

The House Special Investigation Committee meets behind closed doors. Members were required to sign a confidentiality agreement to participate.

The House, with concurrence of two-thirds of its members, can expel a representative.

In the recent past, the lower chamber has issue reprimands to sitting members for varying reasons.
Having just wrapped up an overnight shift, Joe Allsup was wide awake.

Still, it didnt make him any more prepared for what he was seeing.

Caught off guard like everyone else when the aerial attack began, Allsup grabbed a Browning automatic rifle and started returning fire.

It was to little avail.

The Japanese completely tore up everything they could get in their sights, Allsup recalled in a later interview.

They were flying so low, he added, you could count the pilots teeth.

A few loud and terrifying minutes later, the attack was over.

But in truth, it was only beginning. As Allsup soon learned, his base was just the first target in what was a much larger, more ambitious attack.

From the Naval air station at Kaneohe, where the 19-year-old Owasso native was stationed, the enemy planes moved on down the coast of Oahu, headed toward Pearl Harbor, 13 miles away.

The day that would live in infamy was officially underway.

Joe Gene Allsup, a longtime Tulsa-area resident, World War II veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor, died Jan. 17.

He was 94.

A service is set for 2 p.m. Wednesday at Cedar Ridge Christian Church in Broken Arrow. Floral Haven Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Allsup was a member of the Last Mans Club, a Tulsa-area group of Pearl Harbor survivors. He is the second member of the group, along with Jim Jenkins, to die in the past week. Three members of the group remain.

Allsup was also the older brother of music legend Tommy Allsup, who died Jan. 11.

Born and raised in Owasso, Joe Allsup was one of his parents 13 children.

After high school, he enlisted in the Navy and was sent to Hawaii, where he was assigned to the newly built naval air station in Kaneohe.

In the hours leading up to the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941, Allsup was working a shift at the stations telephone switchboard.

It had been a quiet shift, he said. But just as he was preparing to leave, Boom! The board lit up like a Christmas tree.

Their attack underway, the Japanese pilots focused on their primary goal of taking out the PBY seaplanes at the station.

Most of the planes were lined up in the open, ready to be inspected, Allsup said.

It just made perfect targets for the fighters, he said. They put every one of them out of commission.

With the Japanese attack shifting its focus to nearby Pearl Harbor, the raid at Kaneohe was over within minutes.

But it had been time enough to cripple the station. Of the 33 seaplanes there, all but six were destroyed. Of those, only three  they had been out on patrol at the time  were undamaged and fit for service. One hangar was leveled.

Altogether, 18 American servicemen died at Kaneohe. More than 2,400 Americans were killed in the overall attack.

I wasnt scared, but I knew I was in an awful risky situation, Allsup said of when the attack began.

The Japanese really blew it by not sending troops ashore, he said. I dont think they had any idea it would have been as easy as it was.

Everyone was surprised.  Half the people killed were killed on their way to their battle stations, Allsup said.

Allsup was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Agnes.

His survivors include four children, Louise McConnell, Marcie Smith, Leonard Allsup and Tom Allsup; five grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and one great-great grandchild.
The West Indies are not going to Australia just to make up numbers, but aim for a Test series win.
Media faces have been recognised in todays Australia Day Honours.

They include:

Medal of the Order of Australia

Peter Hitchener, for service to the broadcast media as a journalist and television presenter, and to the community.

Ray Meagher, for service to the performing arts as an actor.

Kay McGrath, for service to children, and to the broadcast media as a journalist.

Member of the Order of Australia

John Edwards, for significant service to the broadcast media industry as a television producer, and as a role model and mentor.

Andrew OKeefe, for significant service to the broadcast media as a television presenter, and to social welfare and charitable organisations.

Tony Bonner, for significant service to the performing arts as an actor, to surf lifesaving, and to the community through charitable organisations.

Claire Dobbin, for significant service to the motion picture industry, particularly to national and international film festivals, through education, and to screenwriting.

Also recognised were Anthony Warlow, Paul Kelly, Jimmy Barnes and Nick Cave.

I couldnt actually believe it, Nine News presenter Peter Hitchener told TV Tonight.

I was just overjoyed and felt enormously honoured and I still cant believe it. Im enormously grateful.

Its something that belongs to my colleagues, our team. Theyre the ones who do the work and get it out to air every night.

Hitch has held a range of roles with Nine since 1974. He is Ambassador for Lort Smith Animal Hospital and Zoos Victoria and Patron to Able Australia, Dogs Victoria and Barwon Health, as well as support for the Royal Childrens Hospital RCH1000 Appeal.

I have the privilege of supporting several community organisations and they are, in the main, run by people who do enormous amounts of work for little or no recognition. So I hope its something they share in, as well.

But this is something that harks back to Sir Eric Pearce who was a big believer in community work.

It was a way of giving support from somebody they knew and bringing a little bit more publicity to the organisations.

He also highlighted the Operation Newstart programme run through the Education Department, which sees at-risk youth visiting Nine News studios.

They bring the kids into the station one day a term and they get to see what happens behind the scenes in television. Then they are put on the spot, in front of a camera and talk and express themselves. Its challenging but they all love it.

The tape is played at their graduation and its enormously moving. These kids turn their lives around, not because of what I do with them, but the training staff.

Its one of those things you dont talk about much, but it really is important.

Ironically, Hitch is usually reading the names of those who have been recognised in the Australia Day Honours -but this year he makes news himself.

I dont know that I will be reading anything out about myself, this year!
Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it.





I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends.





More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it.





The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity.





About me:

I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS.

Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line).

Age: 42

Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed.





I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it).
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Published January 25, 2017

MONROE, La.  A group of University of Louisiana Monroe Top Hawks publicly thanked AT&T for scholarships at a press conference on ULMs campus Tuesday.

In late 2015, AT&T announced a $25,000 contribution to the ULM Foundation to contribute to the Top Hawks Fund for Fall 2016/Spring 2017. The fund provides scholarship dollars to students who have achieved academic excellence during high school and continue to maintain high performance during college.

The scholarship recipients, who have all now been named, gathered to express their appreciation to the Fortune 500 telecommunications company.

Kylen Smith, a senior Speech Language and Pathology major from Center, Texas, spoke about how the ULM scholarship has allowed her to focus on her academics without the financial burden.

Ever since Ive been here Ive just been so blessed with this opportunity because instead of like actually wondering, How am I going to pay for this experience?, I get to focus on the things that matter, Smith said. The scholarship has allowed me to study abroad, to travelsomething Ive always wanted to do but Ive just wondered, How am I going to do this? Is this possible for someone like me?

Connor Dixon, a senior computer science major from Angola, La., also expressed his appreciation to the company for their generosity.

What [the scholarship] meant to me was peace of mind, said Dixon. I dont have to work, I dont have to take on two, three jobs trying to make ends meet trying to pay for college because the scholarship has helped me so much instead. I can instead put 100% of myself into this university.

Dixon also indicated he has a job lined up for after graduation, thanks to an internship through ULM.

Susan Chappell, Executive Director of the ULM Foundation and Alumni Relations, thanked the students for choosing ULM as well as AT&T for making it possible to further the ULM Foundations mission of providing support for students and the university.

ULM President Dr. Nick J. Bruno, who met with AT&T representatives two years ago about the potential contribution, discussed the importance of scholarships like this for the recruitment and retention of students and ultimately for the economy.

We recruit the better-prepared students, we challenge them when they are here, and then they move on to take their place and become the economic drivers of the future, Bruno said.

David Aubrey, State Director of External Affairs for AT&T, remarked that although AT&T represents one of the largest companies in corporate America, it is part of their fabric to give back to the community.

We continue to reach out to outstanding organizations like the University of Louisiana Monroe and we believe that we can be a great partner to build a stronger workforce, said Aubrey. We love our students in the state of Louisiana and we would like for you to stay here and be a part of our growing economy thats going to take place. So, on behalf of our state president Sonia Perez and all of our members of our team, we are very proud to be a partner. Were very proud to know that our contribution made a difference in your lives. And you make it very hard for me to leave here and not come back again with something bigger in my hand.
| By Mary T. Phelan

Samirah Franklin recently tried on a new role for size: catcaller at a protest rally.

Hey youre looking good. I like those jeans, Franklin, 19, of Sandtown, slyly told a young woman who visibly winced at the attention she was receiving. Youre looking reallllly good.

Several bystanders encircled the woman, in an effort to come to her aid, forming a human buffer zone between the harasser and her intended target.

Franklin and the victim were among 60 people who participated in a workshop on how to be a nonviolent active bystander on Jan. 20, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) Community Engagement Center. Through role-playing exercises participants learned techniques in how to de-escalate conflict and come to the aid of someone being verbally harassed or intimidated. (View a photo gallery.)

The training, sponsored by UMBs Anti-Oppression Work Group in collaboration with the political action group Swam Revolt, was one of 23 taking place simultaneously at sites across the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and the only one held in Baltimore.

That was really hard to do, Franklin acknowledged of her role as the attacker after the exercise was over. Some people arent going to be bothering you in 140 characters [on Twitter]. Some people are going to be in your face. I have some hate in me and I try to redirect the hate toward change.

As an African-American Muslim woman, Franklin said she felt coming to the workshop was super important.

In my normal walk of life, I would definitely like to be prepared with any way I could to be an ally to someone who needed some help, she said. Weve all got to have a better way of handling things.

Participants in a nonviolent active bystander training session held on Jan. 20, take turns role-playing scenarios in which they de-escalate conflict and peacefully intervene when witnessing incidents of harassment or abuse.

The workshop encouraged people to become active bystanders and de-escalate conflicts by engaging the target, rather than the attacker, and offering the target support. In all, nearly 2,000 people underwent the training throughout the region.

Were not preparing for the 1960s. Were not going to touch one another. Were not going to push you to your breaking point. But this is hard work, said Annie Hilb, who along with University of Maryland School of Social Work students Karen Campion and Bethan McGarry facilitated the afternoon workshop. Theres no easy way of dealing with these complex issues.

Many attendees said they participated in the workshop as a way to prepare for the Womens March on Washington, taking place the next day.

Participants also learned how to use their cell phones to document injustice and offer support to keep bad situations from getting worse.

Among the exercises conducted was what is known as a hassle line, in which two lines of people face each other and take turns verbally harassing each other for a minute at a time. Shouting and animated gestures filled the room. The goal is to find ways to intervene without escalating the confrontation.

Ive been in situations where Ive seen something happen and Ive thought, could I have done something differently? said Chrysalinn Archie, a community member who attended the workshop with her husband, Ulysses. This training will give me that skill set.

Jennifer Gallinat attended the training while visiting from St. Louis for the Womens March on Washington.

In many ways, with the people attending today, it was like preaching to the choir, she said. But there are times when even the choir needs to hear the sermon, too.
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UNHCR has taken note of the announcement by the US Government of its intention to build a wall at the border with its neighbour, Mexico. UNHCR will closely follow the impact of this decision for people seeking refuge in the United States. UNHCR will continue to engage actively and constructively with the U.S. Government as we have done for decades.

At a time of enormous needs for the protection of refugees, we hope that the US will continue its strong leadership role and long tradition of protecting those who are fleeing conflict and persecution.

Media contacts:
Hazrat, 16, an Afghan refugee, warms himself at a fire behind the main train station of Belgrade.  UNHCR/Daniel Etter

BELGRADE, Serbia  Refugees and migrants wanting to leave an unsanitary, improvised shelter in Belgrade are being transferred to emergency accommodation opened recently by the government outside the city. The move comes after mounting concern over hundreds sleeping rough in sub-zero temperatures who resisted previous appeals to transfer.

Thanks to the efforts of the authorities, UNHCR and the humanitarian agencies in Serbia over the past several months, around 85 per cent of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants living in the country are now accommodated in heated government shelters. Around 390 people have voluntarily sought shelter at the temporary Obrenovac facility since authorities opened it last week. However, an estimated 1,000 refugees and migrants are still camping out in smoke-filled, derelict warehouses behind Belgrades main train station. Residents there stave off the penetrating cold by burning scrapped railway sleepers around the clock, which generate perpetual clouds of toxic smoke. Many say they are suffering the effects of smoke inhalation and there have been several cases of frost bite.

The Serbian authorities, together with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners, are now working to extend capacity in the Obrenovac emergency shelter to house those now wanting to leave the warehouses, but who turned down previous offers, over coming days. UNHCR has contributed new clothing, blankets, bedding, cleaning services and hygiene kits.

Sometimes I cant feel my legs at night, but still I try to sleep.

I had to leave, it was so cold and so dirty there, said Kiramat Safi, a 17-year-old unaccompanied child from Afghanistan, who after four months outside volunteered to leave the warehouses and move into another nearby shelter, Krnjaca, last week. Now Im feeling much better because its warmer here. Theres no smoke and I can sleep inside."

I will stay here while it is so cold outside, said 12-year-old Abedulah Ibrahimi, another unaccompanied child who left the warehouses last week for the shelter at Krnjaca. I want to go to school, maybe they can help me here.

Others, who do not wish to apply for asylum in Serbia and are determined to push on with their journeys into other countries, will stay put in the abandoned warehouses despite the dangers posed by the smoke and freezing temperatures. UNHCR recently distributed leaflets, explaining in Farsi their right to be accommodated in government shelters and has also worked hard to identify unaccompanied children at this and other locations.

Sometimes I cant feel my legs at night, but still I try to sleep, said Hazrat Bilal, a 14-year-old unaccompanied child from Afghanistan who has spent the last four months in the warehouse. I know the smoke is bad for me, he added, crouching directly over a burning railway sleeper. What else can I do in this cold?

Refugees and migrants carry a railway sleeper behind the train station in Belgrade.  UNHCR/Daniel Etter

Kiramat, 17, a refugee from Afghanistan has found temporary accommodation in a government shelter.  UNHCR/Daniel Etter

A man heats water on a fire behind a warehouse.  UNHCR/Daniel Etter

Afghan refugee children play in a kindergarten in a government shelter.  UNHCR/Daniel Etter

Like many others here, Hazrat said he would keep trying to cross the Hungarian or Croatian borders. Most say they have already tried and failed countless times, sometimes having been beaten and pushed back to Serbia.

Smugglers have taken all my money, others beat me, said Hazrat, who fled violence near his home in Afghanistan after his father was murdered. Still I must try to cross the border again, it has to work one day.

UNHCR has expressed concern at the abuses perpetrated against refugees and migrants by criminal gangs, including kidnapping, physical abuse, threats and extortion. It is urging European states to enhance their efforts to tackle these criminal networks and ensure the safety of refugees and migrants.

Freezing fog and nightly snow falls have persuaded many to think twice about the warehouses. Its not good here and Im all alone, said 13-year-old Afghan Jibral Kochel, who after three months out in the open has volunteered to join the next bus transfer to the emergency shelter. The shelter will be very good. Here there are too many problems, we are all getting sick.

Kamran Khan, 14, and his elder brother Aman, 16, have also had enough of sleeping out in the cold and hope to join the next bus transfer to the shelter. Maybe later well try again to cross the border, said Kamran, who is also from Afghanistan. But not now in this cold, it is too dangerous. No, it is time we must take a rest.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, and rates are rising, with more than 1.6 million new cases in 2016.1 With that increase comes an increase in patients undergoing chemotherapy; physician assistants (PAs) play a vital role in treating these patients. In addition to providing medical therapy, PAs must be dedicated to improving their patients' quality of life through education and nonpharmacologic interventions. Although chemotherapy can reduce cancer mortality, it produces significant morbidity, including anxiety, fatigue, and pain, and signs of distress including increased respiratory rate, heart rate, and BP.2,3

Massage therapy has been found to be an effective nonpharmacologic method of reducing adverse reactions to chemotherapy.4 Massage decreases muscle tension and promotes the relaxation response, decreasing activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which can present as decreases in heart rate, respiratory rate, and BP.5 Although many forms of massage have been studied, the use of light touch to the hands, known as effleurage massage, is recommended by the American Massage Therapy Association.6 Effleurage massage avoids direct pressure to the cancer site, stimulation of lymph flow, and inadvertent dislodging of clots, which are major concerns in patients undergoing chemotherapy.6 In addition, caregivers' quality of life also affects patient quality of life.7 Caregivers of patients with cancer have been shown to be at increased risk of depression and caregiver distress has been linked to the caregiver's perception of patient suffering.8,9 Patient quality of life has been negatively correlated to caregiver burden and stress.7 Hebert and colleagues recommended future research be focused on the reduction of patient suffering as a tool for alleviation of caregiver burden, but subsequent studies have shown that interventions aimed only at patient suffering and not caregiver burden do not significantly improve caregivers' quality of life.7,9

The aim of this pilot study was to bridge the gap between the success of massage therapy and the burden felt by caregivers in relation to patient suffering. The pilot study investigated if massages given by volunteers trained in effleurage massage could provide the same benefits of reduced anxiety, pain, and sympathetic nervous system stimulation as reported in the literature when massages were performed by massage therapists. If volunteer massages were successful, caregivers trained in effleurage massage could provide symptom relief to their loved ones. This intervention could improve patients' and caregivers' quality of life and provide a cost-efficient way for caregivers to reduce patients' pain and anxiety.

METHODS

Subjects

Patients undergoing chemotherapy at the Lutheran Health Cancer Center of Fort Wayne were considered for participation in this pilot study. Inclusion criteria were age 18 years or older, ability to read or understand the English language, and current treatment with chemotherapy for any form of cancer. Exclusion criteria were an IV access device in either hand; inability to physically or cognitively carry out the tasks necessary for reading or understanding the scales provided; compromised autonomy related to potential study participation, as determined by the investigator or clinical staff; signs or symptoms of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in either upper extremity, as determined by clinical staff at the cancer center; signs or symptoms of compromised skin integrity; and initial infusion treatment.

Volunteer training and data collection

Following institutional review board approvals through the University of St. Francis and Lutheran Health Network, the study was conducted during May and June 2014. Volunteers of the Cancer Services of Northeast Indiana were trained by a massage therapist in effleurage hand massage technique for patients with cancer. Cancer center nursing staff approached patients at the chemotherapy center for participation. Those willing to participate gave informed consent. Cancer center nursing staff collected and recorded a set of baseline vital signs, including heart rate, respiratory rate, and BP; screened patients for DVT and skin integrity; and obtained a signed subject clearance form. Cancer center nursing staff then issued a wristband that identified cleared patients to the cancer services staff as study participants. Cancer services staff asked subjects to complete one set of VAS-A and VAS-P scales before beginning the chemotherapy session.

Volunteers then performed a 10-minute effleurage hand massage during the patient's chemotherapy session. At the completion of chemotherapy, nurses collected and recorded a second set of vital signs, and subjects completed post-treatment VAS-A and VAS-P scales. At the end of the data collection period, all forms were deidentified and given to researchers for compilation and statistical analysis. Data were entered into SPSS Version 22 software, which was used for all statistical calculations.

Statistical analysis

Analysis of the central tendencies for baseline measurements of vital signs and VAS scores for anxiety and pain showed that the data were not normally distributed. Therefore, one-tailed Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to examine the differences in heart rate, respiratory rate, systolic BP, diastolic BP, VAS-A, and VAS-P as measured before and after chemotherapy.

RESULTS

Table 1 lists the 12 different cancer diagnoses of the 24 subjects, with lung cancer the most frequent (n=7). Table 2 summarizes the measurements of vital signs and VAS scale scores before and after treatment with massage therapy, as well as the results of the inferential statistics from the Wilcoxon signed rank tests. Significant reductions were noted in systolic BP (z=-1.66, P<0.05) with a reduction from 130.1 to 124.6 mm Hg; heart rate (z=-3.9, P<0.001), from 83.4 to 72.7 beats/minute; VAS-A (z=-3.91, P<0.001), from 21.7 to 2.2; and VAS-P (z=-3.49, P<0.001), from 20.5 to 2.1. No significant difference was found for diastolic BP (P=0.47) or respiratory rate (P=0.06).

TABLE 1.: Prevalence of cancer types in sample patients TABLE 2.: Inferential analysis of pre- and postchemotherapy vital signs and VAS scales

DISCUSSION

Similar to previous studies that have shown professional massage to decrease anxiety and pain in patients undergoing chemotherapy, this pilot study showed significant reductions in subjective measurements of anxiety and pain in 24 patients receiving volunteer massages during chemotherapy at Lutheran Health Cancer Centers.4,10 A significant reduction was noted in the objective measurements of systolic BP and heart rate, which have been shown to be reliable indicators of stress in patients undergoing chemotherapy.11 The main assumption of the study was that the anxiety and pain experienced by patients undergoing chemotherapy was similar across all cancer types. The major limitations of this study were the lack of control data and the small sample size. Subjects acted as their own controls with baseline data but no measurements were taken on days where subjects did not receive chemotherapy or from subjects without massage, which limits the ability to exclude any other aspects of the treatment as a confounding variable. Larger studies would need to be performed to validate the results found here and to determine if cancer type would cause a significant difference in the responses of patients to hand massage.

CONCLUSION

This pilot study demonstrated that effleurage hand massages performed by trained volunteers provide effective reduction of anxiety and pain similar to previously reported results with massages administered by massage therapists.5 The training of family members and caregivers in the technique of effleurage hand massage could have implications for cost-effective reduction of patients' anxiety and pain, as well as letting loved ones be more involved in patient care. These interventions also could be helpful for improving quality of life in patients and their caregivers. Future studies need to include a larger sample and have an external control.
Frontotemporal dementia is a neurodegenerative disease associated with the progressive degeneration of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, resulting in disturbances in behavior, personality, and language. Although Alzheimer disease is the most common and well-known type of dementia, frontotemporal dementia accounts for up to 10% of dementia cases.1,2 In fact, in patients under age 65 years, its prevalence is almost equal to that of Alzheimer disease. Both diseases involve progressive decline in functional status; however, frontotemporal dementia has distinguishing characteristics and disease progression that set it apart from other forms of dementia. Making the correct diagnosis is important because frontotemporal dementia does not respond to medications used for Alzheimer disease.2

As the population ages, dementia is becoming increasingly prevalent. An estimated 46 million people worldwide are affected, and that number continues to grow.3 Clinicians in primary care settings must be aware of the differential diagnosis of dementia. By increasing their awareness of frontotemporal dementia, clinicians will be able to identify red flags that are not consistent with Alzheimer disease so that patients can be accurately diagnosed, educated, and managed.

PATHOPHYSIOLOGY

Frontotemporal dementia is a clinically and neuropathologically variable disorder with a spectrum of presentation. The two main clinical subtypes, differentiated by presentation, are behavioral variant and primary progressive aphasia. Behavioral variant presents primarily with significant changes in behavior and personality. Primary progressive aphasia is further broken down into three categories, all of which present primarily with speech impairment and language difficulties.4

All subtypes are due to abnormal deposition and aggregation of pathologic proteins within neural tissues. As the disease progresses, these cytoplasmic and nuclear protein inclusions build up and cause neuronal loss and eventual atrophy of the frontal and temporal lobes, either symmetrically or asymmetrically.2

Arnold Pick was the first to notice, on autopsy, these protein aggregations, which he called Pick bodies. Later, researchers discovered that quite a few different proteins, including phosphorylated tau, TDP-43, and/or fused-in-sarcoma, were implicated in the various subtypes of frontotemporal dementia. The longstanding eponym Pick disease recently has been replaced in favor of the more depictive term frontotemporal dementia or the umbrella term frontotemporal lobar degeneration, which encompasses all the clinical phenotypes.2,5

Frontotemporal dementia also may have strong genetic components. A recent study showed that 10% to 25% of patients have an identifiable autosomal dominant inheritance pattern.6,7 The genetic links involve specific mutations in the C9ORF72, MAPT, and/or GRN genes, which lead to the pathologic protein buildup that triggers the degenerative process.2,8

EPIDEMIOLOGY

Frontotemporal dementia is a fairly uncommon dementia with lower prevalence than Alzheimer disease, vascular dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies. However, the prevalence is skewed in terms of age groups because frontotemporal dementia is a more common diagnosis in younger patients. The mean age of onset is about 58 years, with the most frequent presentation between ages 40 and 75 years. In comparison, early-onset Alzheimer disease (onset of symptoms before age 65 years) is unusual.4 When these patients under age 65 years are taken into account, frontotemporal dementia has an equal prevalence to Alzheimer disease.2 The prevalence of frontotemporal dementia also may be underestimated because its behavioral symptoms can be misdiagnosed as psychiatric conditions.5 Unfortunately, frontotemporal dementia is a steadily progressive disease that causes a faster decline than Alzheimer disease, with the average patient surviving only 4 to 8 years after diagnosis.

BEHAVIORAL VARIANT

Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia is the most common subtype of frontotemporal dementia, accounting for over half of cases.9 This subtype is characterized by often subtle changes in behavior, personality, and/or social conduct that precede obvious cognitive decline. An impulsive job change or a new childlike sense of humor may be the first indication of pathology. As more of the patient's frontal lobe is affected, behavioral disinhibition worsens. Patients begin to exhibit socially inappropriate behavior and fail to recognize social cues.4,9 This lack of social awareness often causes embarrassment for family members. One study even suggests that new criminal behavior in previously law-abiding citizens could be a warning sign. The researchers found that up to one-third of patients had criminal records for offenses such as violent behavior, theft, public indecency, and inappropriate sexual advances.10

The disease tends to affect demeanor as well. Patients may become either more impulsive or more withdrawn than their norms. Outright apathy and disinterest can develop, which are understandably often misdiagnosed as depression.11 The loss of sympathy and empathy is one of the most difficult symptoms of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia for family members to understand. Patients will become uncaring toward family members and even pets. They may lash out, say hurtful things, and detach themselves emotionally.4,9 Decreased libido is a frequent symptom.11 Interviewing the caregiver separately from the patient usually is the best way to elicit these subtle changes.

Other common findings include compulsive behavior and hyperorality. Patients may exhibit binge eating; eating to excess at meals; and increased consumption of sweets, alcohol, or tobacco. Other frequent symptoms are placing inedible objects in the mouth, eating only one type of food, or scratching or picking at the skin or lips. Later in the disease, repetitive movements and speech patterns also can develop.4

The most important part of the patient encounter is a close observation of the patient's behavior. Depending on the severity of the disease, the patient may already have significant disinhibition and fail to recognize normal social cues during the encounter. Repetitious or compulsive behavior may be obvious. Some patients may even make inappropriate sexual advances.9

As part of the routine physical, check for the presence of frontal release signs, defined as the reemergence of certain primitive reflexes normally seen only in infants. The most commonly found reflexes in patients with advanced behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia are the palmar grasp and rooting reflex, which are elicited by stroking the palm and cheek, respectively.4 Although these reflexes also are found in patients with advanced Alzheimer disease, they are noticeable at a much earlier stage of disease in patients with frontotemporal dementia.4

Because behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia has such a varied presentation, a framework to recognize and organize the symptoms clinically has been devised. In 2010, a multinational group called the International Behavioural Variant FTD Criteria Consortium created the newest set of criteria to standardize the diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia. The criteria are broken down into three levels of diagnostic certaintypossible, probable, and definite (Table 1).1 A diagnosis of possible frontotemporal dementia is made clinically; probable and definite diagnoses require additional concrete findings.

TABLE 1.: 1,26 Diagnostic criteria for behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia

PRIMARY PROGRESSIVE APHASIA

This subtype is further delineated into three variants: progressive nonfluent aphasia, semantic dementia, and logopenic phonological aphasia.4 Although these categories are described discretely in this section, patients' symptoms often overlap in true clinical presentation. Behavioral changes may still be apparent, but typically are more subtle, such as apathy, irritability, or depression.12

Progressive nonfluent aphasia is the most common variant of primary progressive aphasia and manifests as anomia, or trouble finding words and naming objects. Patients often have halting speech with pronunciation and grammar errors.4,13 Patients whose disease is mild usually can compensate by using alternative words or simplifying their speech. Although comprehension and repetition are spared early on, these abilities begin to deteriorate as the disease progresses.4,13

Semantic dementia presents as more of a difficulty in language comprehension with a relatively normal fluency. These patients also have trouble finding words and naming objects. They have additional problems with remembering meanings of words, and often compensate by using vague language.13 They may also have visual agnosia, or trouble finding words for visual images.4 Visual agnosia can be tested by showing patients pictures of commonly recognized animals, such as lions or giraffes, and asking them to identify the animal.

Because progressive nonfluent aphasia and semantic dementia tend to overlap in clinical presentation, a verbal fluency test can help tease out true impairments. Verbal fluency testing includes two main subtypes: category fluency (sometimes called semantic fluency) and letter fluency (sometimes called phonetic fluency). Listing animals, fruits, or vegetables tests category fluency; listing words that begin with a certain letter tests letter fluency.14 A normally functioning adult at age 65 years should be able to list 15 words in 60 seconds for each category. In general, patients with progressive nonfluent aphasia perform equally poorly on both types of verbal fluency. However, patients with semantic dementia often perform significantly worse on category fluency than letter fluency.4

Logopenic phonological aphasia is a rare subtype of primary progressive aphasia. These patients have significant impairments in speech quality, talking slowly and having difficulties with word retrieval. Unlike patients with other subtypes, these patients have significant trouble with sentence repetition.4

An MRI is necessary to rule out a focal lesion in anyone presenting with word-finding and comprehension difficulty, decreased fluency, and/or motor speech difficulty. However, if an MRI reveals focal atrophy rather than a lesion, consider primary progressive aphasia.5

DIAGNOSIS

The four most commonly diagnosed dementiasAlzheimer disease, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, and frontotemporal dementiatogether account for more than 90% of all cases of dementia.15 Although Alzheimer disease continues to dominate in terms of prevalence, a recent study discovered that the less-prevalent dementias are actually mislabeled as Alzheimer disease up to one-third of the time.16 Simply recognizing key symptoms not consistent with Alzheimer disease can increase accurate diagnosis and patient care.

Perform a thorough review of the patient's history, soliciting input from others who know the patient well. The most meaningful warning sign for Alzheimer disease is significant memory impairment that precedes other symptoms.9 Misplacing keys, getting lost driving, and forgetting appointments or anniversaries can be the earliest signs of memory loss in a patient with Alzheimer disease.17

Mental status screening tests, such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment or the Mini Mental State Examination, should be administered early in the evaluation of a patient with possible dementia. Compared with patients with Alzheimer disease, many patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia continue to score normally on these screening tests even in advanced disease.13

In patients with frontotemporal dementia, family or caregivers are less concerned with memory loss than with reporting changes in the patient's routine behavior, relationships, preferences, and even appetite. Ask family members if the patient seems more withdrawn or more outgoing than usual. Has he or she been embarrassing in public? Has he or she had trouble finding words or speaking clearly? Any positive answers should raise suspicions of an alternate diagnosis to Alzheimer disease. Table 2 provides a side-by-side comparison of differences between frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer disease. If any of the patient's history or symptoms raise red flags, do not ignore them.

TABLE 2.: 1,2,4,5,10,15,16 Diagnostic comparison of frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer disease

CONFIRMING THE DIAGNOSIS

Once the clinician suspects a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia based on patient history and symptoms, a neurology referral is indicated. A neurologist can repeat mental status screening tests and perform more detailed testing to confirm the diagnosis as well as determine its severity. Depending on the patient's initial symptoms, collaboration with a neuropsychologist may also be considered.

Comprehensive neuropsychologic tests that assess many different domains of cognition (memory, attention, language, visuospatial ability, and executive function) are most effective for diagnosing frontotemporal dementia. The main impairment is seen in executive functioningtasks that require planning, problem-solving, or abstract reasoning.13 Examples include making a trail that alternates between numbers and letters in ascending order or explaining the meaning behind a common saying such as people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. A patient lacking executive function may only connect numbers and ignore letters on trail drawing or answer that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones because the windows would break. However, other areas of functioning, particularly memory, tend to remain relatively intact.4,13 Patients with primary progressive aphasia are an exception, as they will understandably score poorly on the language portions of the tests. The specific language impairment (naming, verbal fluency, comprehension, repetition) can distinguish between the subtypes of primary progressive aphasia.13

If neuroimaging was not already obtained in the primary care setting, a neurologist can order it for diagnosis and to rule out organic causes of the patient's symptoms.4 MRI is the ideal initial imaging test. As expected, patients with frontotemporal dementia have localized brain atrophy of the frontal and temporal lobes. In those with the behavioral variant, the atrophy is asymmetric and varies in severity among patients (Table 3). Primary progressive aphasia shows a predominately left-sided atrophy. If MRI is normal but frontotemporal dementia is still strongly suspected, a positron emission tomography (PET) or a single photon emission CT (SPECT) may reveal localized areas of hypometabolism in the frontotemporal region.4,9 Positive MRI or PET scan results combined with clinically apparent disease warrant a probable diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia.1

The only way to make a definitive diagnosis is direct visualization of neuronal protein accumulations on brain examination done at an autopsy.1 Talk to the family about whether they want an autopsy and definitive diagnosis. Genetic testing for isolation of one of the specific mutations of the C9ORF72, MAPT, and/or GRN genes is not done in routine clinical care.

TREATMENT

Frontotemporal dementia has no FDA-approved treatments. The key to management is early diagnosis so that sufficient support services can be put in place. This disease course is particularly hard on family members and caregivers as it disrupts the patient's entire personality. Therefore, having a plan in place early on can help ease the burden on the family, as the patient will inevitably deteriorate into complete dependence. Daytime care, financial planning, and safety assessments are just some of the resources to be considered. Keeping the patient on a routine and encouraging frequent social interaction can reduce behavioral instability. As the patient's motor function deteriorates, occupational and speech therapists can help evaluate the need for assistive devices, swallowing assessments, and communication aids.4,9 The burden on family members and caregivers should not be overlooked, and they should be provided ample counseling and psychologic services. A publication by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging: Frontotemporal Disorders: Information for Patients, Families, and Caregivers provides practical advice on managing these devastating conditions as well as a list of resources. This publication is available online at https://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/frontotemporal-disorders/introduction. The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (www.theaftd.org) is also a good source of information and support for patients and families.

Unfortunately, standard medications used to treat Alzheimer disease have proven ineffective in treating frontotemporal dementia. The acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, such as donepezil and rivastigmine, showed no benefit in clinical trials.18-20 Another study of the NMDA receptor antagonist, memantine, actually showed detrimental adverse reactions, including exacerbation of behavioral disturbances.21 These medications are not recommended for treating patients with frontotemporal dementia. Other medications have been tested in small clinical trials but had no statistically significant disease-modifying effects.18

For now, pharmacologic treatment is reserved for managing behavioral symptoms. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have been the most effective for decreasing impulsivity, repetitious behaviors, and sexual disinhibition.18,20 Trazodone and some antipsychotics also may be beneficial for aggressive or easily agitated patients, though the antipsychotics must be prescribed with caution due to the increased incidence of extrapyramidal adverse reactions in patients with frontotemporal dementia.19 Use of these medications in patients with frontotemporal dementia is off-label and should be prescribed thoughtfully for targeted symptoms, with ongoing reevaluation, dose adjustment, or discontinuation as indicated by patient response. Open communication between clinicians and caregivers works best to attain each patient's ideal medication regimen.

CONCLUSION

Research is focused on fully understanding the molecular pathophysiology of frontotemporal dementia. The ultimate goal is to determine specific targets for disease-modifying therapy. A promising target is in genetic therapies of the progranulin gene (GRN). Between 10% and 40% of genetically linked patients with frontotemporal dementia have abnormalities in this gene, causing underproduction of a necessary neural protein. Replacing this protein in patients who have the gene abnormality could reverse the disease.22

The other issue plaguing clinicians is definitively diagnosing frontotemporal dementia in its early stages instead of at autopsy. A recent breakthrough in a new form of PET imaging may significantly improve these diagnostic issues for patients with frontotemporal dementia as well as for those with Alzheimer disease. The new technology uses tagged tau protein biomarkers to map the extent of pathologic tau aggregates in the brain. The amount of aggregates correlates to the type and extent of neurodegenerative disease. This emerging technology, in combination with clinical presentation and standard imaging, may replace the need for autopsy in order to confirm a diagnosis.23

Researchers also are exploring other options for treating symptomatic frontotemporal dementia. For example, a small randomized controlled study showed short-term improvement of emotional blunting in patients using intranasal oxytocin; however, further research is needed before this treatment becomes clinically relevant.24 Other limited data from a 2015 trial suggested potential benefit of a medical liquid nutrition formulation.25 The supplement provided a statistically significant reduction in negative behavioral symptoms of patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia. This may prove to be a future adjunct to pharmacologic treatment.25
Megafauna or giant animals inhabited Australia 50,000 to 60,000 years ago. Animals, such as mammoths, crocodile-sized lizards, and 1,000-pound kangaroos roamed the rainforest of that continent. However, they became extinct and scientists have different theories as to why they were suddenly wiped out. The most prevalent theory about the extinction is climate change. However, a recent research suggests that it was caused by humans rather than by nature.

The team that conducted the research were scientists from the Monash University in Victoria, Australia and the University of Colorado Boulder. They said that the collapse of the megafauna population is relative to the arrival of humans in the area.

The scientists based their conclusion on the information they gathered from the drilled sediment core in the Indian Ocean just off the southwest coast of Australia. The core consists of layers of materials which was carried into the sea from land. One of these materials is the Sporormiella, a species of fungal spores which grew in the dung of herbivores. The scientists say that the abundance of these meant there were also a a big animal population in the are but it dwindled over time.

Aside from that, the sediment they had studied from the area suggests that it is a land where biodiversity could have thrived. Moreover, the material does not hold any clue that there was indeed a climate change that occurred in the area as previously suggested by earlier research.

So what did humans do that totally wiped out this great megafauna population?

There are several studies and theories by other scientists as to how humans brought these animals to extinction. Gifford Miller, professor at the Colorado University and also part of the research team, had an earlier study in 2016 which suggested that humans overhunted and overkilled animals. One example, he said was humans gathering and cooking the eggs of 7-foot giant birds called Genyornis newtoni.

In another study conducted by Gavin Prideaux, a paleontologist at Flinders University, said that aside from hunting, humans destroyed the landscape through burning which destroyed the animal habitat and induced a change in climate. The human-induced climate change dramatically changed the food web and plant diversity of the area. With the ecological balance destroyed, the megafauna also decreased and eventually became extinct.
Microsoft this week announced few amazing news about the company's cloud productivity app, Microsoft Office 365. The great news is said to provide even more value to customers' Microsoft Office 365 subscription.

Office 365 Gets A New Look

Microsoft this week announced the general availability of the new Office 365 Admin Center. The new Office 365 platform will replace the old-style Office 365 Admin Center, starting January 31, 2017. The new Office 365 Admin Center will soon be the only option for It admins to manage tenants.

According to Petri, the old-style Office 365 Admin Center is the second version. The first version, which was introduced in June 2011, was based on the current look and feel of 2010-generation Office server.

The new Office 365 Admin Center boasts features a new look-and-feel, muck like the one used in the Microsoft Security and Compliance Center. In the new Admin Center, Data are now presented more logically and easier to access.

Office 365 Get Microsoft Azure AD (Active Directory) Access

According to Microsoft-focused publication RedmondMag, Microsoft is now offering Office 365 subscribers a free Azure AD subscription. This also means that Office 365 admins will now able to access Microsoft Azure AD to create and even manage user accounts.

For a starter, Azure Active Directory or Azure AD is the software company's multi-tenant cloud-based directory and identity management service that combines core directory services, advanced identity governance, and application access management.

For IT admins, Azure AD provides a rich, easy-to-use, standards-based platform that enables IT admins to deliver access control to their applications, based on centralized policy and rules.

Microsoft is not limiting this free Azure AD offer to Office 365 subscribers only. Microsoft is also extending the free Azure AD offer to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online subscribers and also to Enterprise Mobility Suite subscribers.

Microsoft also hints that the free Azure AD offer might be extended to other Microsoft services, but does not provide more detailed info about this.

Unfortunately, there's some limitation, the free Azure AD offer is only valid to those who have a paid Office 365 subscription.

Microsoft is only providing free access to Azure Active Directory service only and other Azure services such as virtual machines and databases are not included in this free Azure AD offer.
Samsung SDI aims to improve the tech giant's smartphone batteries and they are willing to shell out more than a million dollars for it. A new report claimed the company's battery manufacturing division will invest $128 million for better and stronger battery safety.

The report came from Business Korea, saying that Samsung SDI is aiming for innovation after the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. The device was widely recalled after users reported of exploding batteries.

The $128 million investment will require the biggest group of workers at Samsung SDI. A total of 100 executives and employees will work in three separate teams: development, production, and technology, quality and verification.

Samsung SDI President Cho Nam-Seong admitted that much is at stake with the division's $128 million investment. He said that they are currently "standing at the crossroads of life and death of the company" and their fate could only go two ways: "a complete overhaul or fade into the mists of history."

A Samsung SDI spokesperson said that the new batteries will likely be used in the tech giant's next smartphones specifically in the next-generation flagship device, the Galaxy S8. This means that Samsung trusts its battery division enough for the big launch of the Galaxy S8. It's also possible that Samsung SDI's next batteries will be present in the Galaxy Note 8.

Weve identified the cause of the Galaxy Note7 cases. Find out what happened and why it won't happen again. https://t.co/SBjhPoRhc3 pic.twitter.com/hFGlaJygJz  Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) January 23, 2017

Koh Dong-jin, Samsung's mobile chief, said that the Galaxy S8 will not be launched at the Mobile World Congress 2017 trade show in Barcelona, Spain that will start on Feb. 27. However, there are expectations that the handset would hit store shelves in April. With this, there's still ample time for Samsung to manufacture safer and better batteries for the Galaxy S8 and their succeeding smartphones.

The Galaxy S8 will reportedly have both a headphone jock and a desktop jock, The Verge reported. Other rumored specs include a Snapdragon 835 processor, microSD card support, USB-C and a new "DeX" dock that converts the phone into a desktop computer-esque Android device.

Samsung confirmed that the Note 7's battery is to be blamed for the explosions. The company said that the Note 7's battery came from two suppliers, and they carried different defects and design faults that eventually led to short-circuiting and then catching fire. The company has recalled 96 percent of the 3.06 million Note 7 handsets bought by consumers, Reuters reported.
Going on a field trip is an exciting part of any school life. It can be an educational and wonderful experience. However, not a lot of schools or students have the luxury to travel. It is a good thing that virtual reality is a technology now made available.

Students from Bilborough College at Nottingham gets to travel around the world and even stopped by the moon because of this new classroom tool. This is considered to be an educational trip of a lifetime because of Google Expeditions, as reported by Nottingham Post. Students are now able to explore everything and everywhere. They can even visit the human body or take a peek at Buckingham Palace.

Through the use of Google's cardboard viewers and phones, the students are able to visit their destination. The teacher has a tablet with an app that can select the location and can guide the class. Inside the "field trip," a 3D image is being broadcast, as reported by Bilborough College.

These college students were able to travel the circulatory system in the human body. And the students are delighted to use this new learning tool. Virtual reality enabled them to learn through the use of an interactive environment and they find it useful for their subjects and degrees.

Aside from life sciences, computer science students also see the benefits of virtual reality. They are able to see fiber network construction.

Google's commitment for education using Google Expeditions will help reach UK's goal to reach one million students through the programme. CEO Sundar Pichaj (Google) and Sim Holland, the head of geography at Bilborough College, partnered up for this program as part of their broader commitment.

The virtual reality headsets are affordable and the app is free. Which is why students are able to experience field trips from a wide array of subjects that are beneficial to their learning experiences.

Watch the video below for more details about Google Expeditions:
International students with disabilities may enjoy support services in some colleges and universities. In the part, students with disabilities may have limited options. Today, there are schools with special programs for the disabled.

Students with disabilities will benefit from choosing the right school by exploring schools with support services for disabled students. The student can check the web pages of the school. This is where services are found. Guidelines regarding entry of disabled students can be found in these pages.

Some countries have laws that require schools to provide support for the disabled. United Kingdom has a law that requires universities to design programs for the disabled local and international students. This is known as the "Equality Act" of 2010. Schools in Australia are mandated not to discriminate disabled students. This is stated in the "Disability Discrimination Act", according to U.S. News. The University of San Francisco in the US, University of Leeds in UK and University of Liverpool have offices that serve disabled students.

Disabled students are advised to check support group within the school. They must consider financial assistance as well. A support staff in the school to provide assistance to disabled enrollees is important.

Some schools specialize in one or two disabilities. Jemicy School in Owings Mills, Maryland is one good example. It accepts students with dyslexia and language-based differences. Recently, one student with dyslexia garnered top awards in acting. The support of the school made him overcome his handicap and do better, according to Carroll County Times.

The leader of the movement to protect disadvantaged persons was Ed Roberts. He was paralyzed from the neck down. Yet, he finished his bachelor's degree and master's degree in political science. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and went on to lead the movement for the disabled, according to The Mighty.

This shows that with supportive schools, disabled individuals will be able to realize their potential and succeed.


The GoPro Karma drone now gets a cheaper replacement in a new GoPro product, the Karma Core, which was unveiled minus the fanfare with only an inclusion in the website product roster. However, the Karma Drone is still making a comeback as revealed in a GoPro press release with more details of its launch at the end of the year in February.

The GoPro Karma drone entailed an expensive recall with GoPro even throwing a free camera in the package. However, the company is poised to address the drone fiasco with a quiet launching of a drone replacement in the GoPro Karma Core.

The GoPro Karma Core appeared in the company's product listing last week as a "complete replacement" for wrecked Karma drones. The GoPro Karma drone had mechanical issues that loses power mid-flight and thereby comes literally falling from the sky.

Now the GoPro Karma Core can offer a cheaper replacement to the GoPro Karma drone assuming that it still has its camera and accessories intact including the controller and gimbal. The core includes the main body part, landing gear and arms.

In effect, consumers with working stabilizer, controller and battery can resume taking videos in mid-air with the new GoPro Karma core. The newest product retails at $399, which is half the amount of the GoPro Karma drone with GoPro Hero 5 Black bundle, Digital Trends has learned.

The website also lists the GoPro Karma drone under the "coming soon" label, indicative of two main things. First, GoPro has identified the problem and found a solution to keep the drones from losing power in mid-air.

Second, GoPro will deliver on its earlier pronouncements of re-launching the GoPro Karma drone this year, possibly earlier than the end of the year timetable. More details will be unveiled by the company come February.

However, the Motley Fool revealed that the technology involved in keeping drones in the air is far more complex as GoPro discovered the hard way in the GoPro Karma drone fiasco. The algorithm to keep drones steady is complicated and continuously evolving.

DJI has the advantage of controlling the manufacturing process for it does not outsource to third-party manufacturers like the GoPro for its Karma drone. Lily Robotics is now shutting down as well even before shipping its first drone.

Moreover, analysts say that the GoPro Karma drone need not be 100 percent perfect. GoPro needs to lay the foundation that the drone can fly, does not lose power and can take stable video images. All future improvements start from an established foothold.
The first university to have the initiative to delve into their ties with slavery was Brown University. Soon after, five more elite universities also made their own studies on the topic and posted their findings on their websites.

The other Ivy League universities that explored their part in the Atlantic slave trade were Yale University, Harvard University, Columbia University, University of Virginia, and Georgetown University. Each individual study was commissioned by the universities themselves and revealed some interesting information of how deeply ingrained slavery was in the academy.

The report from Columbia University included the story of John Parke Custis, the adopted son of George Washington, and his slave named Joe. According to the report, Joe was Custis' personal servant who accompanied him wherever he goes carrying different kinds of items for his master.

Eric Foner, a professor at Columbia who released the preliminary report, said that half of those who served as president of Columbia between 1754 and the Civil War were slave owners as well as some school officials.

Meanwhile, Georgetown University revealed that the John Carroll, the founder of the university, and Rev. Francis Neale, one of the early presidents of the institution, had slaves who sued them for their freedom. Moreover, the Jesuits from whom the founders of the university belong, were the largest slave owners in Maryland.

Harvard University, on the other hand, compiled all the resources and studies regarding the institution's ties with slavery into a book called "Harvard and Slavery: Seeking a Forgotten History" which can be accessed as a PDF file here. Even at the very beginning chapter, it already encouraged how deeply ingrained slavery is in the campus life of Harvard. It also showed that the earliest leaders of the university were slave owners.

The main reason why these studies were done is to invite discussion and seek what acts of commemoration and restitution is appropriate. By putting it out to the public, the community can discuss and eventually decide what's the most appropriate response. In addition to that, the studies also seek to educate people what emancipation really was and its significance to the modern times.
A joint study by Monash University and the University of Colorado - Boulder have found the cause of the extinction of Australia's "megafauna." Apparently, humans are to blame; not climate change. The Christian Science Monitor reported that Australia used to be full of dense forests and massive animals. However, these megafauna got wiped out of the face of the Earth some 45,000 years ago.

The cause for its extinction has long been a source of debate among scientists. The study, led by Monash University and the University of Colorado - Boulder, found that human activity may have played a significant role in the gradual extinction of the large creatures; contrary to previous beliefs that it was caused by fluctuations in the climate.

It was hypothesized that humans hunted the large creatures for food when they first arrived in Australia. Moreover, even though they limited their hunting, it may have been enough to cause the extinction of Australia's megafauna within just a few thousand years.

The study, which was published in the journal "Nature Communications," stated that most of the world's largest animals outside of Africa were wiped out over the past 130,000 years. This was said to have been caused by fluctuations in climate, human hunting and changing habitats.

In Australia, one of the fastest and most intense extinctions happened in that period. 85 percent of large mammal species, which weighed more than 44 kilograms, began to vanish less than 50,000 years ago.

In Monash University's official website, Dr. Sander van der Kaars, lead author and palaeoecologist from the Monash School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, said that the demise of the megafauna was not linked to significant changes in climate, vegetation or biomass. Instead, it was driven by "imperceptible overkill" by humans.

The research team studied a continuous and precisely dated sediment core which was collected offshore southwest Australia. According to CU Boulder Today, it allowed the researchers to reconstruct the climate and ecosystems on the continent in the past.

The megafauna in the continent included 1,000-pound kangaroos, 2-ton wombats, 25-foot-long lizards, 400-pound flightless birds and 300-pound marsupial lions, among others.
Texas Christian University has required some of its students to visit a mosque. This is part of the curriculum for one of its classes. The College Fix reported that students who are enrolled in a world religions course at Texas Christian University this semester are required to attend a mosque service. It will come in the form of a field trip.

The trip was initially scheduled for Good Friday. The syllabus for the class stated that each student should attend the service and that the visit will be deemed as participation in class.

Other students from the department will also attend the mosque service. The syllabus described it as a "religious experience visit." Students are not required to participate in the service during the visit.

University spokesperson Holly Ellman has clarified that the schedule for the field trip has been changed as the university is closed on Good Friday. The professor of the class is already working on rescheduling the trip. The course is named "Understanding Diverse Faith Communities." It is taught by associate professor of Islamic and Religious Studies Yushau Sodiq.

Sodiq obtained his bachelor's degree in Islamic Studies and master's degree in Islamic law at University of Medina in Saudi Arabia. He earned his PhD in Islamic Studies from Temple University. He has been with Texas Christian University since 1992.

In the school's official website, the course is described as an introduction to the significant role of religion in human experience. This is done by looking at historical, comparative and methodological issues in the study of religion based on rituals, institutions, texts, figures and beliefs in major world religions.

The trip is estimated to take up 90 minutes. It will feature an address by the "leader of the Muslim community" as well as an observation of the sunset prayer.The class also has an extra credit option named "Being Muslim for a Day." With this, students can dress as Muslims or tell their family that they have converted and document their reactions.

Pamela Geller, president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, expressed her concern over the trip saying that it seems as if Sodiq is aiming to convert students to Islam. She also stated that there are no visits to other religious places such as a synagogue, a church, a Buddhist temple or other houses of worship.
The 1980s were an exciting time to be a physician in the Indian Health Service (IHS) in Alaska. Brian McMahon, MD, at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage had through brilliant research worked out the epidemiology of hepatitis B in Alaska. This had been a poorly understood but spreading disease in rural Alaska, showing completely different routes of transmission than did hepatitis B in the lower 48 states. By 1982, a vaccine had been developed and was pressed into service. Similarly, another highly infectious disease, the encapsulated bacteria Haemophilus influenzae type B, had been a major cause of morbidity and mortality among Alaska Native infants and children younger than age 2 years. We had seen many of these tragic cases in our clinic and hospital, and we were among the first to test new vaccines when they became available and incorporate them into our vaccination schedule. Thus in less than half a decade, two of the last remaining infectious diseases of special susceptibility for Alaska Natives had been brought under control.

I became a part of this healthcare system in 1980, joining during a time of dramatic transition for our Interior Alaska Service Unit. Our group of three physicians was centered in Fairbanks, and we served the primary care needs of about 30,000 Alaska Natives, more than half of whom lived off the road system. These remote villages were by tradition located along the major rivers that served as routes of transportation and sources of food. Our service unit extended from the Canadian border to the lower Yukon River and from the Brooks Range to the Alaska Rangean area the size of Texas. To meet the healthcare needs of this farflung population, the Alaska Region of the IHS had evolved a very effective system of community-based village health aides, local people held in high esteem and trust by their neighbors, who were specially trained for this role at Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. They were supported by a robust presence of State of Alaska itinerant public health nurses and by daily satellite radio communication with and twice-yearly visits by our physicians from Fairbanks.

Because of the great distances that separated us from many of our patients, it made sense for our health service to decentralize its operations. Two of the largest villages, Galena and Ft. Yukon, were well positioned geographically to become subregional health centers. With help from the Tanana Chiefs Conference, the native organization that represented our beneficiaries, we obtained funding to upgrade and build new clinic facilities. But who would staff these new subregional clinics? The answer was a new category of certified and licensed clinicians who were starting to emerge from training at that timePAs and NPs.

By the summer of 1981, we had hired two PAs for Ft. Yukon and an NP for Galena. I believe that the proximity, accessibility, and engaging personalities of these first clinicians inspired our community health aides in the surrounding villages to consider PA training, a career path in healthcare that was much more accessible and more compatible with rural Alaskan lifestyles than physician training could have been. It also was a pathway to a career in medicine that would build on the thousands of hours of experience that many of the health aides had logged in their service to their communities. If this route to a certifiable medical career was appropriate for military corpsmen, surely it could be appropriate for our village health aides. Throughout Alaska's history, recruiting and retaining medical professionals, especially for rural service, has been very difficult. Isolation, adverse climate, and distance from family and friends are reasons often cited.

We three physicians (William James, MD; Floyd Elterman, MD; and myself), seeing an opportunity to grow our own, each began encouraging outstanding health aides who were open to considering PA training. This turned out to be an embarrassment of riches, as three of our rural health aides applied and were accepted to the MEDEX program for the entering class of 1983. One problem remained: how to support our future PAs financially during their 2 years of training. The PA profession was new, and there was no provision in Alaska law for scholarships or loans to support the cost of this training, let alone the costs of living in Seattle for a year. Ironically, national politics provided the answer. During the early 1980s, the IHS, as part of the federal government, had been on a prolonged hiring freeze. This led to a small budget surplus at the end of the fiscal year, and at a meeting of the medical directors of all the Alaska service units, I proposed and it was agreed that the IHS would continue to pay these three students their health aide salary for the duration of their training. After their didactic year in Seattle, all three returned to our clinic for parts of their clinical training; and in May 1985, all proudly graduated from MEDEX Northwest as certified PAs.

In the decades that followed, many more Alaskans entered PA training. Most have remained in Alaska to practice, many in rural settings. In fact, Alaska has the highest number of PAs per capita of any state. Most have come to the program from nonacademic backgrounds but with thousands of hours of practical clinical experience. An emphasis on academics tends to favor applicants from large cities and universities but requisite clinical experience can be obtained in many different settings. I for one view with alarm the pending changes in PA training and certification that attempt to gentrify the profession by making the academic prerequisites more rigorous and require a master's degree to be certified. This will clearly discourage applicants from rural Alaska, and I believe it will fundamentally change the focus and career choices of future PAs.
Meet a Roadrunner: Karla Broadus is strengthening UTSA's African American Studies Program

Broadus is a 20-year plus education veteran invested in creating a robust African American Studies program at UTSA.

(Jan. 25, 2017) -- Meet Karla D. Broadus M.A. '95. She's got big plans for the future of the UTSA African American Studies program.

Broadus is the newest director of the program, which is based in the College of Education and Human Development's Consortium for Social Transformation.

Since assuming her post last July, Broadus has been working with a multidisciplinary team of faculty, staff and students to create a roadmap and vision for the program's future. They are working to find new ways to expand the program by adding new classes, faculty and research interests.

"The African American Studies Program is a rapidly growing academic program here at UTSA that I'm very excited to be leading," Broadus said. "For the first time in its history, we had upwards of 177 students enrolled in our classes in a single semester. We even have an undergraduate student doing research this year. Now more than ever, it's time to build up a top-tier program that will challenge and excite our student body."

A believer in the benefit of ethnic and cultural studies, Broadus says that a strong understanding of humanity, history and culture is important to becoming a well-rounded individual.

"African American Studies, and other programs here at UTSA like Mexican American Studies and Women's Studies, are vital," Broadus said. "If we can help students understand their cultures, others' cultures and backgrounds, we can help them become better citizens. If you understand the different facets of our shared history, you can appreciate how far we have come and how far we still have to go. These and other stories need to be shared."

Ultimately, Broadus hopes to offer more degree options for UTSA students who are interested in African American Studies, and build stronger ties to the local community by creating new civic and academic engagement opportunities. The program currently offers a minor.

More importantly, though, she dreams of finding the unique strength that will make UTSA's program stand out among others.

"I'm a firm believer in the importance of literacy, particularly among children and young adults. It's through reading that I feel we're able to make sense of our world, our shared histories and ourselves," Broadus said. "That's why we've been trying to dedicate a focus to the study of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, named after the civil rights leader and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. These books have a profound impact on African American children, and we feel they deserve a closer academic look."

Broadus has been an educator for many years. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from Southern Illinois University in 1972 and later achieved two M.A. degrees, one from Pepperdine University and the other from UTSA.

She's been a big supporter of diversity in education from her very first full-time job, when she worked as an academic advisor helping bring black and African American students to the field of engineering.

In her time, Broadus has also been CEO of a successful computer company that supports K-12 schools and colleges, taught special needs students with the non-profit organization The Help Group and served as an assistant principal in San Antonio's Southwest Independent School District.

Since she joined UTSA in 1996, Broadus has seen the university change and evolve. She's met with thousands of students from a full range of backgrounds, and she's mentored them about life and the importance of education.

"My goal in my professional life has always been to support the education of our diverse students in some way," Broadus said. "I've been at UTSA nearly every day since 1996, and I've never stopped trying to do that. It's important."

- Jesus Chavez

-------------------------------

Do you know a Roadrunner who is achieving great things? Email us at social@utsa.edu so that we may consider your suggestion for our next installment of Meet a Roadrunner.

Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
UTSA, San Antonio Express-News, KLRN-9 to host town hall meeting on Jan. 26 to discuss Texas sanctuary cities

(Jan. 23, 2017) -- The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), the San Antonio Express-News and KLRN-9 will host a town hall meeting to explore policy related to sanctuary cities at 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 26 in the Buena Vista Street Building Theater (BVB 1.326) at the UTSA Downtown Campus. The event, Sanctuary Cities: State rules versus Local Control, is free and open to the public.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and many other conservative Texas lawmakers have vowed to make it a priority to end sanctuary cities in Texas during the 2017 legislative session. Prior to the start of the session, Gov. Abbott pledged to pass Senate Bill 4, which would effectively end sanctuary cities in the state by requiring local law enforcement agencies and governments to fully enforce existing federal immigration laws. The legislation was introduced in November by Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock).

UTSA, the San Antonio Express-News and KLRN-9 have partnered to develop town hall meetings that provide forums for San Antonians to become engaged in the most pressing issues of our community.

Four panelists will explore the implications of Senate Bill 4, and related immigration policies, during the upcoming forum. They include:

William McManus , San Antonio Police Department Chief of Police

, San Antonio Police Department Chief of Police Diego Bernal , State Representative (D-San Antonio)

, State Representative (D-San Antonio) Jeff Judson , former board member, The Heartland Institute

, former board member, The Heartland Institute Robert Stovall, Chairman, Republican Party of Bexar County

Francine Romero, UTSA associate professor and associate dean of the College of Public Policy, will moderate. She will also collect questions from members of the audience before the event begins. To submit a question, arrive early and fill out a Q&A card provided by the San Antonio Express-News. Doors close at 6:45 p.m.

Free event parking will be available in unmarked spaces of lot D-3, beneath IH-35.

Seating has reached full capacity. You can watch online live here or on KLRN-9 on Feb. 5 at 1 p.m.

- Brian Ward

-------------------------------

Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Scholarships



UW-Stevens Point (Main Campus)

Scholarships are awarded to applicants at the time of admission to UW-Stevens Point, main campus. Presidential Scholarships are automatic awards (no separate application required) for incoming fall 2022 first-year students. (While funding is available)

Destination Wisconsin Scholarship:

Our Destination Wisconsin Scholarship is guaranteed* to any new undergraduate student with a 2.75+ GPA or 19+ ACT/980+ SAT who is not a resident of Wisconsin or Minnesota. Students will automatically be awarded this scholarship.



Midwest Student Exchange Program Students**: $1,000/year , renewable for 4 years

, renewable for 4 years **Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Ohio residents

All other Out-of-State Students: $4,000/year, renewable for 4 years



The scholarship is only available to Stevens Point campus students. Students majoring in Applied Computing Bachelor of Science degree are not eligible.



*While funding is available



Scholarships are awarded independently of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Incoming freshman scholarships are based on merit, not financial need. Priority scholarship consideration will be given to students who have submitted their application for admission and the new student merit-based scholarship application (linked above) to UWSP by November 15. Scholarships are awarded to both First-Year and Transfer students who meet certain academic criteria (based on available funding).



Merit-based scholarship application

Additional Scholarship Opportunities:

Harju Scholarship for Elementary Education Students

Graphic Design Scholarships - School of Design and Communication



Art Scholarships - School of Design and Communication

For more information about scholarships please visit the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.





Additional Financial Aid information


At the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, you'll find an awesome assortment of fitness and recreation opportunities. We offer students plenty of options to get out, be active and have fun!

Check out all we offer:
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All vehicles parking on university property are charged user fees. The significant parking demands on campus mean that the purchase of a permit does not always guarantee a space. The university is not responsible for any damage to a vehicle operated or parked on campus.




If you are enrolled in courses, most visits are free at Student Health Service. If you are enrolled in summer school, you are eligible for summer services at Student Health.

Please be aware, we do have limited services during the summer. If you are not enrolled for summer courses, there is a Non-Summer Student Fee. The non-summer student fee for Summer 2022 is $63.00.


UW-Stevens Point's Veteran Coordinator's primary role is to explain military educational benefit options, assist with the application for benefits, and to provide campus and community resource information that will contribute to the academic success and well-being of all military-affiliated students.

Here's how we help:

Assist students navigate and understand the process of applying for Federal and State VA benefits.





Connect students with resources on campus and other student veterans.





Reach out to faculty and staff on campus to support their efforts in serving our students.





Military Student Priority Registration

UW-Stevens Point provides service members, veterans, and ROTC students priority registration each semester in compliance with Wisconsin Act AB201 and Section 303 of the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017. Registration appointment times are based on student status or credits earned. Military students are given appointment times for the next level greater than their current status. For example, a freshman will receive appointment times based on sophomore status.



2019 WI Act 147



Students should be aware that you have a choice whether or not to accept the credits from your Joint Service Transcript (JST) or your Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) transcript offered to you by UW-Stevens Point. The 2019 WI Act 147 provides flexibility to veterans in determining whether they would like their credits transferred from military transcripts to the University of Wisconsin System or technical colleges. Specifically, it contains this language:



SECTION 2. 36.31 (4) (bm) of the statutes is created to read: 36.31 (4) (bm) An institution or college campus may not award academic credit to a student under par. (am) for each course for which the student, upon consultation with the institution's or college campus's staff, objects to the awarding of credit for that course.

Students who are given credits that may not pertain directly to their program could be disadvantaged for financial aid purposes or other professional groups or designations.



It is important to make your determination regarding acceptance of these credits , in consultation with your advisor, in your first semester.



GOOD NEWS FOR OUT OF STATE VETERANS

Nonresident veterans may qualify to have the nonresident portion of your tuition charges waived through either the Veterans Access, Choice & Accountability Act of 2014-Section 702 or through the Yellow Ribbon program.

If you are...

A Veteran who lives in the state where he or she is attending school (regardless of his/her legal state of residence) and enrolls in the school within three years of discharge from a qualifying period of active duty service of 90 days or more.





Anyone using transferred Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits who lives in the state where he or she is attending school (regardless of his/her legal state of residence)





A spouse or child using benefits under the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship who lives in the state where he or she is attending school (regardless of his/her legal state of residence)

...then UW-Stevens Point will waive the nonresident portion of the tuition charges.

Nonresident veterans that discharged from the military more than 3 years prior to attending school may qualify for the Yellow Ribbon program. This means UW-Stevens Point and the VA agree to pay/waive your nonresident tuition as long as you have Post 9/11 benefits to use.

For additional details, see the "Benefits Available" tab on the left hand side of this page or call 715-346-4771.

UW-Stevens Point has been designated as a 2019 Military Friendly School and selected as a TOP SCHOOL in Military Advanced Education's 2018 Guide to Colleges & Universities.


Love is in the air! The High Roller, the worlds tallest observation wheel, located at The LINQ Promenadeproudly offers lovebirds a unique way to celebrate Valentines Day with an engagement located 550 feet in the air.

According to the American Express Spending and Savings Tracker, more than six million couples will likely get engaged on the most romantic holiday of the year: Valentines Day.

The High Roller Las Vegas offers the special Love is in The Air Engagement Package as the perfect place to get down on one knee. This package includes breathtaking views of the Las Vegas Strip, a unique and romantic atmosphere with a VIP cabin for up to six guests for one 30-minute ride. Also included: two flutes of Champagne, chocolate dipped strawberries and customized music for the perfect romantic ambiance.
Recently, there have been a series of acquisitions of Vietnamese consumer finance companies in which foreign investors ended up owning up to 49 per cent. Most recently, Shinsei Bank from Japan bought 49 per cent of MCredit, the consumer finance arm of Military Bank. Afterwards, MCredit was renamed MB Shinsei Consumer Finance Limited Liability Company.

Earlier, the State Bank of Vietnam allowed Ho Chi Minh City Development Bank (HDBank) to transfer 49 per cent of its capital in consumer finance company HDFinance to Japanese Credit Saison Co., Ltd.

After the completion of this sale, HDBank still retains 50 per cent of HDFinance. With 49 per cent now belonging to Credit Saison Co., Ltd, and the last 1 per cent to Ho Chi Minh City Securities Corporation (HSC). Subsequently, HDFinance was renamed HD Saison Finance.

Currently, HD Saison Finance has about 3,000 branches throughout 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam, collaborating with 2,000 partners and serving nearly 1 million customers.

According to Katsumi Mizuno, director of Credit Saison Japan International Markets, there still exists a great potential for credit growth in individual consumption and card services in Vietnam, owing to its young population and the meagre market penetration of these products.

Lending money is now one of the core activities of HD Saison, after the company enhanced its partnership with a number of schools to support students paying school fees and teachers consumer credit. Also, HD Saison provides customers with instalment loans ranging from hundreds of thousand to tens of millions of dong.

Many experts expect more acquisitions of this kind in 2017 as some deals are currently under negotiation. According to another source, a Japanese investor is offering to purchase 49 per cent of FE Credit from VP Bank.

Previously, VP Bank revealed seeking strategic partnerships, drawing up a plan to sell 49 per cent of FE Credit and looking for a domestic investor to buy at least 1 per cent to satisfy the current joint venture regulations.

FE Credit earned tremendous revenue in recent years. Specifically, its revenue in 2015 was VND1 trillion ($47 million) before tax and this figure in 2016 was VND2 trillion ($93 million).

As reported by Saigon-Hanoi Bank (SHB), the bank will soon found SHB Consumer Finance Company with the chartered capital of VND1 trillion ($47 million). The step was announced after the SBV issued Decision No. 2400 / QD-NHNN, which gives permission for the merger with Vinaconex-Viettel Financial Joint Stock Company (VVF). SHB also revealed plans to cooperate with foreign partners.

There has been a sharp increase in consumer credit (by 27 per cent), a tendency expected to last until 2020. Furthermore, the rich and the middle class in Vietnam are forecasted to double in the next 15-20 years, a serious appeal to foreign investors.
Italian firefighters working to rescue survivors at the Hotel Rigopiano in Farindola, central Italy, which was hit by an avalanche. (photo source; Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERS)

The emergency response helicopter came down in thick fog near Campo Felice, a popular ski resort 120 kilometres east of Rome, during the evacuation of an injured skier.

A loud explosion was heard and broadcasters later showed pictures of the charred shell of the aircraft. Police said the bodies of the six victims, thought to include two pilots, medical staff and the skier, had been recovered from the snow around the crash scene.

Campo Felice, located at 710 metres altitude but with pistes up to just over 2,000 metres, is close to the epicentres of earthquakes that struck the region last Wednesday and were followed by the killer avalanche.

The tally of bodies found in the ruins of the Hotel Rigopiano rose to 17 on the sixth day of an increasingly forlorn search through the snow-covered wreckage.

Eleven staff and guests survived the disaster. Two of them are men who were outside when the avalanche struck, while nine others, including four children, were rescued on Friday.

"We won't stop searching until we are certain there is none left under the ruins," said Luigi D'Angelo of Italy's civil protection agency.

"We are still digging into the heart of the building, the zone between the kitchens, the bar and the entrance hall. We're going to keep going until we have found everyone."

Italian authorities are investigating the chain of events leading to the avalanche to see if the tragedy could or should have been avoided.

A preliminary manslaughter investigation has been opened with the prosecutor in charge looking into whether environmental risks were properly taken into account during the construction and subsequent renovation of the hotel.

Events on the day of the disaster itself, when guests were unable to leave because of snow-blocked access roads, are also in the spotlight.

TUNNELLING INTO WRECKAGE

The local council had only one functioning road-clearance vehicle and had deployed it to reach isolated hamlets with elderly residents rather than clearing the road to the hotel.

A second snow plough had broken down earlier in the month and staff were awaiting authorisation to get a 25,000 (US$26,800) repair done.

The hotel, a four-star spa facility where George Clooney once stayed, was built into a hillside at 1,200 metres altitude on the eastern slopes of Monte Gran Sasso. Campo Felice is on the other side of the near 3,000-metre peak that dominates the region.

The survivors pulled from the ruins on Friday were all treated for mild hypothermia, suggesting anyone still alive more than would have had to have found some way of keeping warm.

Rescuers have not ruled that out because they believe some rooms they are trying to reach by tunnelling through thick stone walls may be almost intact.

The avalanche occurred three hours after the last of four magnitude five earthquakes shook the region in the space of four hours.

Police have calculated the force of the impact on the three-storey stone and wood structure as being equivalent to it being hit by 4,000 fully-loaded trucks.
Microsoft gave the US government account information it kept on US soil, but said the content of emails was off-limits because it was stored on servers in Ireland. (AFP/Vesa Moilanen)

A divided panel of judges in New York denied a petition by the US for a rehearing of a ruling last year in a landmark case pitting Microsoft against the government over data stored in servers in Ireland.

The case has been watched closely for its implications for privacy and surveillance in the digital age.

The December 2013 warrant directed Microsoft to turn over the contents of an email account used by a suspected drug trafficker.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft handed over account information it kept on US soil, but said the content of emails was off-limits because it was stored on servers in Ireland.

Microsoft chief legal officer Brad Smith welcomed the ruling while noting that "we need Congress to modernise the law both to keep people safe and ensure that governments everywhere respect each other's borders."

Many privacy and digital rights activists have supported Microsoft as a way of guarding against overreach by the US government, although some say the implications of the case are not clear.

REACHING BEYOND BORDERS

Concurring and dissenting justices on the panel agreed that Congress that the 1986 Store Communications Act (SCA) that was at the heart of the case should be modified by Congress to better balance privacy, crime-fighting, and national security.

Judge Susan Carney said Congress did not intend for the law to apply "extraterritorially," or outside US borders, and disputed the government's argument claiming the data remained domestic because it could be accessed by Microsoft.

"Mundane as it may seem, even data subject to lightning recall has been stored somewhere, and the undisputed record here showed that the 'somewhere' in this case is a datacenter firmly located on Irish soil," she wrote in a concurring opinion.

Judge Dennis Jacob said in a dissent that the US was essentially not reaching beyond its borders when the information it sought was in easy grasp of a Microsoft computer terminal in Redmond.

If the recipient of a legal warrant "can access a thing here, then it can be delivered here" and it should not matter where the "ones and zeroes" are located in cyber space, Jacobs reasoned.

"Localising the data in Ireland is not marginally more useful than thinking of Santa Claus as a denizen of the North Pole," Jacobs wrote.

"Where in the world is a Bitcoin? Where in my DVR are the images and voices? Where are the snows of yesteryear?"

Judge Jose Cabranes wrote in dissent that the negative consequences of the panel's decision could thwart law enforcement efforts and impede efforts to protect the US and its allies.

"The panel majority's opinion has created a roadmap for even an unsophisticated person to use email to facilitate criminal activity while avoiding detection by law enforcement," Cabranes wrote.

While Microsoft has received backing from most technology allies and digital rights groups, some activists say the case is far from clear-cut.

Jennifer Granick of the Stanford Center for Internet and Society has argued that a Microsoft win could mean these cases are decided in countries with fewer privacy protections, and drive more companies to "localize" data in places where authorities can't access it.

But Greg Nojeim of the Center for Democracy and Technology said a ruling for the government "could have resulted in chaos and a privacy disaster."

Nojeim said that tech firms under such a ruling "would have been subject to conflicting obligations to an even greater extent than is the case today, and users' communications privacy could become, over time, subject to the whims of not just the US government, but also other countries seeking their data."
Customers shop at a supermarket. Mobile phone sales, which did not see the usual spike during last months festive season, seem set to surge in the run-up to Lunar New Year.-Photo dantri.com.vn

During Christmas and Western New Year, sales remained the same as in previous months, but the situation has improved and we expect sales to double from now through Lunar New Year, Doan Van Hieu Em, mobile phone director of The Gioi Di Dong, was quoted as saying in the Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Viet Nam Economic Times) newspaper.

Mai Trieu Nguyen of Mai Nguyen in HCM City said December was for long the best month for mobile phone sales.

This year December sales were not high because the market did not have any striking product.

Besides, this year the western and Lunar New Year are so close to each other, and people were preoccupied with wrapping up their work that sales of everything, including mobile phones, were at a standstill.

According to FPT Shop, Iphone 7 and Iphone 7 Plus are the two top selling products followed by Galaxy J5 Prime.

Iphones are also the bestsellers in smaller stores.

At The Gioi Di Dong, the countrys largest telephone retailer, used Iphones top sales in terms of numbers though in terms of turnover Galaxy J7 Prime and Oppo F1s account for 60 per cent.

At Di Dong Viet, Iphones, Galaxy J7 Prime and Oppo F1s top sales while other brands are not in great demand.

Refurbished and second-hand Iphones at good prices are in demand this season. A used Iphone 6 Plus 64 GB is offered at VND8.8 million (around US$400), a price at which customers cannot get a luxury phone.

Nguyen warned: Customers should be careful when buying secondhand products. They should choose prestigious shops and check the product carefully before buying.
An oil drilling platform. (Photo: AFP/Andy Buchanan)

The report came as President Donald Trump moved to reverse decisions by the previous administration to block the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. Trump also has pledged to open more areas up to exploration and production, which will cheer investors but would not necessarily help states' economic growth.

Of eight oil-dependent states tracked by S&P, only two, Montana and Texas, did not rank among the 10 weakest state economies, according to the report. Texas, helped by its relatively more diverse economy, nevertheless will fall to 36th in growth for 2016.

"The sharp pullback in exploration and production during the past 18 months has inflicted considerable damage on the economies of the oil-producing states," S&P said.

And even if prices rise again, producers likely would renew investments in shale oil production, which would put downward pressure on prices. This more or less caps prices at US$60 a barrel, meaning state economies will level off with only modest recoveries.

Despite gains in recent months since November's production cut deal by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, benchmark US crude prices remain less than half of what they were in September 2013, when a barrel of West Texas Intermediate topped US$110.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery finished Tuesday at US$53.18 a barrel. The US Energy Information Administration forecast prices will not exceed US$55 through 2018.

FISCAL PLANNING

In addition to slashing revenues in oil-dependent states, the price drop caused producers to cut investments in infrastructure.

Commerce Department figures show a 35 per cent annual decline in US fixed investment for petroleum and natural gas in 2015 alone, and indicate that decline continued in the first three quarters of 2016.

"North Dakota's economy has suffered the largest declines, going from having the fastest-growing economy in the US in 2014 to the state with the most pronounced contraction in 2015 and (likely) 2016," the report said.

And there are not many options for these states.

Even if Alaska triples its fuel tax, supplements revenues with investment earnings and puts limits on dividend payments to state residents, the state still would face a US$900 million budget gap, according to the report.

Elizabeth McNichol, an expert on state fiscal issues at the Centre on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, told AFP the volatility of energy revenues demonstrated the need for states to maintain rainy day funds and use prudent fiscal planning.

The heady days of triple-digit oil prices caused some state legislators to be short-sighted.

"It's important to look ahead for downturn and some of these states did the opposite," she said.
In a bid to promote local sourcing and supply chain fluidity, Samsung assists its suppliers - Photo: Thanh Tung

Han Myoungsup, president of Samsung Complex Vietnam, expects Samsung to offer mentoring to 12 additional Vietnamese enterprises in 2017. The enterprises receiving mentoring may become new suppliers for the group, Myoungsup said.

With Samsung increasing its efforts to seek out Vietnamese vendors, the number of local firms engaged in the groups supply chain has increased dramatically, with 198 vendors in total, including 20 tier-one vendors and 178 tier-two vendors now participating, Myoungsup said during a Samsung Vietnam management board visit to five Vietnamese vendors in mid-January.

The vendors are joining the supply chain for Samsungs three existing plants in Vietnam  Samsung Electronics Vietnam ($2.5 billion) in the northern province of Bac Ninh, Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen ($5 billion) in the northern province of Thai Nguyen, and SEHC Complex ($2 billion) in Ho Chi Minh City. It is expected that Samsungs tier-one vendors in Vietnam will increase to a total of 29 in 2017. Samsung Vietnam also increased its supply rate for locally produced products from 35 per cent in 2014 to 51 per cent in 2016.

Through Samsungs supporting programmes, Vietnamese enterprises could gain the knowledge and experience required to enhance their capacity. Samsung believes that if a product can be produced locally, we will seek to maximise its localised content, Myoungsup said.

Hoang Anh Tuan, president of Viet Hung Plastic Company - one of the firms receiving mentoring from Samsung - told VIR that his firm provides products to many South Korean and Japanese firms, including Samsung. But Samsung currently accounts for over 50 per cent of Viet Hungs total revenue, which eclipses VND2 trillion ($91 million) last year, Tuan said.

We have been a vendor for Samsung for nearly 10 years, he said. Last year, we invested about $50 million into expanding production in Ho Chi Minh City. It is expected that our revenue from Samsung will continue to grow this year. We forecast a total growth rate of over 10 per cent.

According to Samsung, Viet Hung is an outstanding tier-one vendor in the groups supply chain. This is the second time Viet Hung has received mentoring for plastic component production for mobile phones and tablets.

As a result of the mentoring, Viet Hungs production error rate has decreased to 0.6 per cent from 1.7 per cent. The product performance indicator also hit 100 per cent, plastic quality improved 100 per cent, and line productivity rose 73 per cent.

In another example, tier-two vendor An Lap Plastic Co., Ltd. also provides Samsung with plastic components. However, this is the first time An Lap has received direct support from Samsung. After three months of mentoring, An Laps error rate has fallen 96 per cent, machine efficiency has improved 100 per cent, and inventory costs have fallen 31 per cent.

Samsung has extensive experience mentoring firms and cultivating localised supply chains for its products, having previously developed localised supply chains within South Korea.

I do believe that Vietnamese firms will be able to well compete with other foreign suppliers in the very near future. Previously, Samsungs vendors were mostly foreign firms. However, South Korean firms soon replaced the foreign rivals and became Samsungs partners, Myoungsup said.

With an export turnover of over $37 billion in 2016, Samsung Electronics accounted for 20 per cent of Vietnams total exports. This year, the firm has set a target export turnover growth rate of 7-10 per cent.

Samsung aims to not only turn Vietnam into the worlds smartphone and electronic appliance production base, but also create more opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises to get involved in Samsungs global supply chain, Myoungsup said.
US President Donald Trump signs executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP)

Trump gave a conditional go-ahead to the Keystone XL pipeline - which would carry oil from Canadian tar sands to US refineries on the Gulf Coast - and an equally controversial pipeline crossing in North Dakota. Both had been put on hold by Obama's administration.

True to his claim to be a hard-charging dealmaker, Trump said both pipeline projects would only be built subject to renegotiated terms and conditions.

"We are going to renegotiate some of the terms and, if they like, we'll see if we can get that pipeline built," he said.

Since being sworn in on Friday, Trump has begun rolling out an orthodox Republican agenda. He has moved to curb funding for abortions, embraced Israel, frozen government hiring and now sought to loosen environmental regulations.

His administration has also sought to place a tighter grip on departments that may not be sympathetic to his politics.

On day one, his Interior Department ordered staff to report any correspondence from Congress, governors, environmental groups or industry organisations, according to an internal memo obtained by AFP.

Certain meetings, regulations and environmental notices are also to be reported to the department's executive secretariat.

"No correspondence should be cleared to go to Congress or to any Governor until it has been reviewed by the Acting Chief of Staff and/or Senior White House Advisor," the document states.

Trump has sought to put his nationalist and populist print on policy, especially on the economy and trade.

MADE IN USA

The freshly-minted president indicated that one possible focus could be who makes the actual piping.

In a separate executive order issued on Tuesday, Trump decreed that pipes should be American made - echoing his "America First" doctrine.

"I am very insistent that if we are going to build pipelines in the United States the pipes should be made in the United States," Trump said. "We want to build the pipe, put a lot of steel workers back to work."

Most, although not all, oil pipelines buried underground and made of carbon steel.

Obama had rejected a permit from Calgary-based firm TransCanada to build the 1,900-kilometre Alberta-Nebraska section of the project.

Environmentalists have assailed the project, arguing that the Alberta deposits produce some of the "dirtiest" crude in the world.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has helped lead the international charge against climate warming, but his government has firmly supported the pipeline, seeing it as a means of boosting business.

"In both the conversations I've had with President Trump, Keystone XL came up and I reiterated my support for the project," Trudeau said at a retreat in Calgary, Alberta - Canada's oil industry hub.

"I've been on the record for many years supporting it because it leads to economic growth and good jobs for Canadians," he said.

Ahead of Trump's announcement, Resources Minister James Carr said the move would create 4,500 construction jobs.

The project will also mean less oil being transported by rail. "The fact is we know that oil in railcars is more expensive, more polluting and, most importantly, more dangerous," Trudeau noted, alluding to the 2013 derailment of a train carrying crude that levelled most of a Quebec town in 2013.

DAKOTA CHILL

The Dakota Access Pipeline is more of a political hot potato in the United States.

Native Americans and their supporters strongly protested against the project, prompting the US Army Corps of engineers - which has approval authority - to nix the plans under the Obama administration.

Thousands of protesters had camped in freezing winter temperatures to block the pipeline's planned route which the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe says creates a risk of water pollution and endangers areas with sacred historic artifacts.

The standoff - which included some 2,000 military veterans who joined the protest - set off violent clashes with law enforcement as well as sympathetic demonstrations nationwide.

But Trump has supp

orted the 1,886-kilometre oil pipeline, which would snake through four US states.

Environmental groups vowed to fight the pipeline in court and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe accused Trump of violating treaty rights.

"We are not opposed to energy independence. We are opposed to reckless and politically motivated development projects ... that ignore our treaty rights and risk our water," said Dave Archambault, chairman of the group.

The sheriff of Morton County, North Dakota, where the main protest camp is located, issued a statement urging protesters to remain "peaceful and lawful" in their actions, and saying he intended to ask the Trump administration for law enforcement backup.
Mr Alan Pham, Chief Economist with VinaSecurities. Photo: Viet Tuan.

The stock market recovered during 2009 but investors remain concerned about pressures on the balance of payments and the weakness of the Vietnam dong (VND). Will current macroeconomic policies support a continuation of the recovery in 2010?

In my opinion government policy is now on the right track to support economic growth in 2010. Monetary policy was tightened in 2009 and will be tightened even further if necessary in 2010. Foreign currency policy is now pre-emptive and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will not wait for a foreign exchange crisis to occur. The two most recent devaluations, in December 2009 and February 2010, were both pre-emptive in nature so I conclude that this is a change in how the SBV is managing its foreign exchange policy.

Foreign indirect investment (FII) was modest in 2009 but many new accounts were opened by foreigners and asset managers are showing interest in Vietnam once again. What are your expectations for FII in Vietnam in 2010?

I am cautiously optimistic about the flow of foreign indirect investment in 2010. I think that the sentiment of foreign investors towards the Vietnam market has improved compared to 2009. As evidence, I point to the successful floating of the $1 billion bond issue in January and that the bond issue was over subscribed. There was $2.4 billion being offered when the Vietnamese Government only needed $1 billion, so the sentiment seems to be favourable. Last week there was a country downgrade by Fitch Ratings but the credit default swap, the CDS rate, has held stable at 233 basis points. This means the quality of Vietnams debt was not damaged by the Fitch downgrade. The non delivery forward rate NDF for the VND actually fell on the international market again showing the strength of the VND was not damaged by the Fitch action. So I think these are indications that form investor opinion about the prospects for financial investment in Vietnam, and while I am not saying there will be a flood of new money I am cautiously optimistic. I think the sentiment is better and improved. I would say that any increase in FII would be fairly moderate in size.

In which sectors are foreign investors most interested at this point, and under which investment modalities? Do you expect new funds to be open soon? With Vietnamese partners? With what time horizon?

It is my opinion that there will not be new funds open in Vietnam to invest primarily due to the number of funds already in existence, and one of them, Indochina Capital Fund, is in the process of closing. I expect the inflow of financial investment will increase from a variety of sources. In our company we are now talking with a few hedge funds in Singapore who are willing to come here to talk with us about the local stock market and visit some companies to see for themselves how these companies are being run. We are also doing some road shows for some hedge funds. I see financial investment occurring through individual funds overseas putting their money into Vietnam but I dont expect new investment funds to be set up specifically for Vietnam. This may change by late 2010 or into early 2011 if the stock market performs well by the end of the year and things may change and funds may be set up, but not at this time.

What can the government do to increase attractiveness?

Government policies right now certainly can do more. The market is well organised but they could authorise margin lending and short sales, which are two features modern investors would like to see if the government authorised and monitored them carefully because margin lending and short selling can be abused by speculators. The government should have some monitoring mechanisms to ensure that these policies are honestly and openly conducted.

How do you see the bond market in Vietnam at the moment?

The bond market in Vietnam right now is fairly dormant. The domestic bond market in VND has not been successful in raising much money by the government or private companies. For the government the interest rate they offer is not enough to attract investors. Even in 2010 several bond auctions by the government have failed because the interest rate offered of 10.5-11 per cent are not attractive enough. The dollar bonds issued, which would be of interest to foreign investors, are frozen right now. The government does not want to further dollarise the economy.

There has been a private organisation that issued some ratings on some banks but the ratings did not offer credibility, prestige or reputation to the marketplace. The SBV right now takes on the task of rating corporate bonds. The Vietnamese Bond Association (VBA) is working with the SBV to set up an independent agency to rate bonds but this is still in the planning stage. I would hope that by the end of the year the bond market will be completely reorganised to make it more transparent and streamlined (right now it has over 500 bond codes, which is too many). The bond market is important, where the SBV can carry out its open market operations. Without a wide and deep bond market government market operations dont work well.



In America the Federal Reserve can carry out government market operations every day because they have a very wide and deep bond market to support its monetary policies. The process has started to reform the bond market. The VBA is working with the SBV to set up a new code of conduct for the market to streamline the codes and establish an independent rating agency that is respected in the short term. Other issues such as transparency can be taken up later but it is a long-term process. It is going forward as well as you can expect.

In other emerging countries there is already clear pressure on exchange rate appreciation and even some talk about asset price bubbles, as capital inflows recover. Could something similar happen in Vietnam in the near future?


First National Bank of Omaha has announced that Dan O'Neill, its president and chairman, will retire.

The retirement of O'Neill, who also is president of the bank's holding company, First National of Nebraska, will be effective March 31, the company said in a news release.

O'Neill has been involved in the banking industry for more than 40 years and has worked for First National or affiliated companies since 1981. He became president of the bank holding company in 2001 and president of the bank in 2009.

O'Neill will be succeeded in both roles by Clark Lauritzen, whose family owns the parent company of First National of Nebraska.

First National Bank of Omaha is the largest bank based in Nebraska and is the largest privately owned bank in the U.S.


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Emergency community meeting Monday

The Community and Police Association is calling an emergency community meeting to address the rash of violent crimes on St. Thomas in recent days, including a third gunpoint rape on the East End, according to member Bruce Flamon.

Flamon said the meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday in the auditorium at the V.I. Montessori and Peter Gruber International Academy. All members of the public are encouraged to attend.
The Omnipotent Owl  Why Are We Drawn to This Ancient Symbol of Wisdom?

Like a great sage, an owl sits stock-still, seeing everything, but saying nothing. When she takes action, it is swift and precise. These bold characteristics have earned the owl both respect and fear among humans; yet any great big eyes set into a fluffy body is sure to have broad
The finance ministry will recoup funds that go unspent according to plan from the 2017 budget, officials have said.

Vongsey Visoth, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, told a public forum this week that government departments often did not touch their budgets at the start of a new year, going on to waste all the money at the end in a rush to appear to need all of the budget they were allocated.

But this is 2017. If they dont use the money following the timeline we will take back the budget, Visoth said.

Preap Kol, executive director of Transparency International Cambodia, said the move could help ensure less money was wasted from the budget this year.

But, he added, ministries should be made to publish annual financial statements to ensure transparency.

The government should post it on their website. We want to see how much each state institution has spent each year, what did they spend, how much of the budget was left, and if their expense has been verified by any independent auditor and so on.

Chan Sophal, president of the Center for Policy Studies, said not enough money was being spent at a sub-national level.

Its been years without an increased budget for the sub-national level. There should be more budget directly given to them as they in need more budget to develop their community.

Opposition lawmaker Son Chhay, the deputy chairman of the National Assemblys finance commission, said the CNRP will monitor the governments budget usage to ensure transparency.

We still need to track their performance if the tax collection is accurate, or how much money they get from Angkor Wats visit tickets, he said. At least we need to ensure that the governments income and budget expenses are as accurate as in the draft law.
[Editors Note: The crime of forced marriage and pregnancy is rarely heard of in courts of justice across the world, even though it has huge impact on the mental and physical health of women. But at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, survivors told their stories, even though the crime was not directly addressed by the tribunal. In a recent report published by The Diplomat, Bangkok-based Spanish freelance journalist Ana Salva discussed how the reproductive rights of Cambodian women are forgotten by the court. She recently spoke to VOA Khmers Ten Soksreinith by phone about her work.]

VOA: Why did you decide to write about forced marriage under the Khmer Rouge?

AS: When I arrived to Southeast Asia in 2014, I started to write and learn about Cambodia and Cambodias gender violence. I was reading reports by the UN in 2013. It showed that one in five men admitted to committing at least one rape, and five per cent of men admitted to committing gang rape. I studied this astonishingly high figure.

I was talking to some NGOs about why this figure is so huge. They were pointing out that alcohol was one of the main reasons. But in other countries, men drink too. Talking to other experts they pointed out that the Khmer Rouge tendencies could be involved, and that has consequences even today. So I started to be interested in their recent past.

I have been in Cambodia five times since then, mostly working on gender issues. During my last trip to Cambodia, last June, it was about to start the forced marriage tribunal and I interviewed survivors to write on this issue. The reports and activists pointed that forced pregnancies were not going to be tried. Neither in this part of the court nor in the future. The Extraordinary Chambers of the Cambodian Courts are the only legal mechanism that can judge the crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge, including gender crimes. And many of the leaders now are octogenarians.

VOA: Why do you think the issue of forced marriage and forced pregnancies are important for the public to be aware of?

I dont know if a general audience has the interest on something that had already happened a long time ago. But I think its important to know and understand what and why it happened, and to understand also the present. Its important for prevention and that this story should be in the media to prevent and to know why something [like this] is happening today and why it happened in the past too.

VOA: What have you learned about the court procedure dealing with victims of forced marriage and forced pregnancies under the Khmer Rouge?

What Ive learned is that the crimes against women are far behind in the judicial system, not only in Cambodia, but also abroad. I think its important to point out that the court is trying forced marriages, a crime that involves men and women. But it will not prosecute forced pregnancies, a crime that only involves women and has been seen as a simple consequence of the forced marriage, as pointed out the activists I interviewed.

VOA: Do you think the lack of data on forced pregnancies resulting from forced marriage under the Khmer Rouge leads to courts having less interest to look at this crime?

I can say that there is a lack of a lot of data and there is no time to include this case to the court. But actually there are reports showing that at least half of the women [under the Khmer Rouge] who were forced to get married were pregnant. There are survivors who bring a lot of stories [like this]. This case is like being forgotten.

VOA: By reading about the cases, have you noticed survivors being hesitant to tell their story in full?

In my experience talking with the survivors of the Khmer Rouge and also survivors of violence that are abused, there is a lot of fear to report abuses. Actually, their statement was very weak  they said a few things going back and forth. There is a fear to report abuse and fear of the consequences. Theres a lot of stigma involved, like the stigma of the community, the stigma of the family, the stigma that many of them are not going to be able to get married. Virginity is very important in Cambodia. If you are not a virgin, you are not pure, and you are not going to be able to get married. I am not an expert and I am only a journalist. In my experience talking to many women, one of the main issues is the stigma and the fear to report.

VOA: Today violence against women still exists. How do you make sense of it?

I actually dont know why history is repeating. But what we know is that the international criminal laws continue to lack [interest] to address gender crimes that have impacted women worldwide. And for forced pregnancy, a lot of cases are forgotten. No international courts have pursued forced pregnancy to date. That is the problem for the future too, I think.
American actress Mary Tyler Moore, who starred in two of the most beloved and critically lauded television series in history, died Wednesday in New York.

No cause of death was announced. She was 80 years old.

A trained dancer, Moore began her career appearing in television commercials for an appliance company, dressed as a pixie, and dancing on stoves and ovens.

No one saw her face in hew next role - just her legs as she portrayed a secretary named Sam on Richard Diamond, Private Detective.

But the whole country saw her face and the rest of her in 1961 when she won the role as suburban housewife Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, named for her comic co-star.

The sharply written series about the home and office life of a TV comedy writer gave Moore the opportunity to display a talent for comedy as well as her ability to sing and dance. She was an early role model for young women, playing a TV wife who stood up to her sometimes bungling husband. The series became a huge hit and ran until 1966 and is still shown in reruns.

Moore returned to television four years later, forming her own production company and starring in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She played a producer of a big city newscast. Critics loved the show, its ensemble cast of veteran comic actors, and for Moore's role as television's first smart and successful single woman, who did not have to rely on a husband or desired to have one.

The series was a Saturday night staple for seven years.

Her MTM Productions were also responsible for other commercial and critical television successes from the 1970s through the 1990s, including Hill Street Blues, The Bob Newhart Show, WKRP in Cincinnati, and St. Elsewhere.

Moore won seven Emmy awards for television excellence and was nominated for an Oscar in 1980, playing an emotionally cold mother grieving for her suicidal son in the film Ordinary People.

Moore was also an advocate for animal rights and diabetes research, a disease from which she suffered.

Asked how she wold like to be remembered, Moore said, "As a good chum, as somebody who was happy most of the time and took great pride in making people laugh when I was able to pull that off.
The Taliban, in a so-called open letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, has called on him to help end what it denounced as a futile and un-winnable American war in Afghanistan.

A copy of the letter, written by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, was released to journalists Wednesday.

There has been no immediate reaction from the Trump administration.

The letter blamed the United States for starting the Afghan war 15 years ago and called the presence of foreign invading forces in the country the principle cause for the continued human and material losses being suffered by both sides.

It is on these basis that we send you our message to control this war of occupation launched by your military, Mujahid wrote, reiterating that the Taliban will not end fighting until all the U.S.-led forces are withdrawn from Afghanistan.

The U.S.-led international military coalition ousted the Taliban from power in 2001 to punish it for harboring and refusing to handover al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who was wanted for plotting deadly terrorist attacks against American cities.

Corruption allegations



The Taliban letter has again accused the U.S.-backed Afghan national unity government of President Ashraf Ghani of being a corrupt regime that has lost public trust.



Trump stated almost nothing about his plans for the Afghan war during his election campaign. But hours after his inauguration last Friday, the new U.S. president apparently vowed to continue with the military campaign until victory.

We are with you a thousand, a thousand, a thousand percent. You are doing just an incredible job. So, thank you all very much. We will see you and keep fighting. We are going to win, we are going to win, we are going to win, keep fighting, Trump told U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan during a brief chat with them via satellite link.

Afghan officials are also reported as saying that in a phone call in December, Trump told President Ghani that after an assessment he would consider sending more American troops to Afghanistan. The Trump administration has not commented on those reports.

US Afghanistan mission



There are currently about 8,400 U.S. soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, along with some 6,000 soldiers from NATO member nations.

The forces are primarily there to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces in the battle against the Taliban under NATOs Resolute Support mission. The U.S. military additionally is tasked with conducting independent operations against terrorists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group in Afghanistan.

The Taliban made significant battlefield advances during 2016, when it killed more than 5,500 Afghan security forces in the first eight months of the year.

Tuesday, the Afghan defense ministry disclosed the Taliban has launched around 19,000-attacks throughout the country in the last ten months while government forces conducted roughly 700-counter-insurgency operations during the same period.

Currently, the Afghan government controls two-thirds of the population while roughly ten percent is controlled by the Taliban and the rest is contested, according to latest U.S. military assessments.



Earlier this month, a U.S. government watchdog outlined for President Trump critical areas threatening the Afghan mission.

Challenges ahead



The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, John Sopko while releasing his assessments in Washington, said the Kabul government still cannot support itself financially or functionally and long-term assistance will be required for the country to survive.

But Sopko warned the new U.S. administration will also face challenges unless it effectively tackles rampant official corruption plaguing Afghan security institutions and the bleeding ulcer of drugs and narcotics in the country.

(NATOs) Resolute Support estimates that as much as 60 percent of the Talibans funding comes from poppy production, cultivation and taxation, he observed.

The United States has little to show for roughly $8 billion it has spent since 2002 to fight narcotics in Afghanistan because the country continues to grow poppy at a near record level, said Sopko.

Now policymakers should ask themselves if we are worried about illicit oil sales funding ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq why are we not as concerned about this key source of funding for the Taliban terrorists, funding which is only serving to prolong Americas longest war in Afghanistan.
The U.N. will send more troops and continued support against terrorists in Mali it announced this week, on the one-year anniversary of the U.N.'s intervention in the West African country.

"On the occasion of the first anniversary of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, the Secretary-General welcomes the renewed commitment to peace expressed by the President of Mali, Ibrahim Boubakar Keita, and his Government," Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said in a statement released Monday. "The Secretary-General trusts that the signatory parties will ensure the swift and full implementation of the agreement, bearing in mind the many challenges that lie ahead. He encourages them to remain steadfast in their efforts."

Last week Mali Prime Minister Modibo Keita addressed the U.N. Security Council in New York, particularly noting that the U.N. would send 2,500 troops in addition to the 12,000 already on the ground.

But he warned that the solution to violence in Mali is not entirely in numbers.

"The solution... is not in quantity but in quality," Keita told VOA Afrique. He recounted recommendations made to the Security Council, including "to strengthen the operational capacity of MINUSMA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali) by giving it adequate resources, appropriate means to deal with the advance of terrorism."

The prime minister stated that this does not mean that Mali is incapable of fighting jihadists, but, on the contrary, shows their commitment to fighting terrorist forces in Africa. His second recommendation to the U.N. was to train Malian forces themselves.

MINUSMA was established by the U.N. in 2013 to stabilize the country after the Tuareg rebellion in 2012. The base has seen 66 deaths since it's establishment, making it the most dangerous U.N. deployment in the world.

Violence, particularly in the North of the country where some rebel groups are based, has fluctuated since the rebellion. Nineteen people were killed in the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako last November, an attack claimed by a branch of terror group al-Qaida. But the prime minister says the threat of terrorism in Mali is a universal threat.

"If terrorism has a future in Mali, that means it has a future in the world," Keita said. "Which country isn't concerned about an attack today? Thousands of kilometers from Mali attacks are carried out every day - whether they are in Africa, in Europe, or in the U.S."

Mali has been battling multiple militant groups in recent years, including al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), with roots in Algeria, and the homegrown Ansar Dine - a group lead by prominent Tuareg leader Iyad Ag Ghaly. Both groups aim to spread Islamic law in Mali.

Keita says that Mali will not engage in any dialogue with Ghaly.

"We can't associate with anyone supporting terrorism," he said.
A small plane carrying a Brazilian Supreme Court justice overseeing a political bribery investigation did not suffer any obvious mechanical failure when it crashed into a bay amid heavy rain and killed all five on board, investigators said on Tuesday.

That preliminary analysis came from what investigators heard on the final 30 minutes of audio captured by the plane's cockpit voice recorder. The Brazilian Air Force, which is in charge of the investigation, said much more work was required before reaching a final conclusion.

The death on Thursday of Justice Teori Zavascki, 68, sparked widespread suspicion in Brazil because he was expected to approve a massive trove of new testimony in the kickback scandal within weeks.

Probe to be expanded

That testimony was gathered from 77 executives of the engineering conglomerate Odebrecht, at the center of the probe into bribes for contracts at state-run oil company Petrobras and other government-controlled businesses.

The new evidence could implicate upward of 200 powerful politicians and associates.

It will expand an already massive investigation that has seen 81 convicted of corruption, uncovered $2 billion in bribes and has led to popular former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva facing five trials in connection with the case.

'Car Wash' investigation delayed

Under Brazilian law, investigations into sitting federal lawmakers and several members of the executive branch must be approved by the Supreme Court and only the top court can try their cases.

Temer has said he will not nominate a new justice to take Zavascki's place until the court decides how it will proceed with the so-called Car Wash investigation, which has been delayed  and some fear damaged  by the justice's death.

Brazil's top prosecutor Rodrigo Janot formally requested on Tuesday that the Supreme Court handle the Odebrecht testimony with "urgency." The court's Chief Justice Carmen Lucia instructed Zavascki's legal aides to keep working on the case.

Replacement to be picked at random

The chief justice is not expected to decide who will take over the case until early next month, but it appears likely the justice that will be placed in charge will be chosen at random.

The plane carrying Zavascki plunged into the ocean just three kilometers (2 miles) from a landing strip in the tourist town of Paraty in Rio de Janeiro.

Also killed were Zavascki's long-time friend, Alberto Filgueiras, 69, a boutique hotelier who owned the plane, along with his personal massage therapist, the young woman's mother and the pilot.
Brazil's top labor prosecutor said President Michel Temer's proposals to modernize the country's labor laws were illegal in a report published on Tuesday that provided ammunition to workers' unions fighting the reforms.

Updating outdated labor laws to allow outsourcing and more flexibility in contracts and work hours is part of Temer's plan to reduce business costs and pull Brazil from its worst recession on record. But his proposal has come under fire even before it was discussed in Congress.

"In times of crisis, workers need more protection not less," Prosecutor-General for Labor Ronaldo Fleury, whose office in responsible for chasing labor law violations from slavery to child labor, said at a news conference.

Fleury said the government's proposal to do away with the eight-hour workday limit to allow more temporary employment and two other proposals already in Congress to expand outsourcing and allow workers to be paid per hour worked were unconstitutional and broke international labor conventions.

The bill sent by Temer to Congress would double the limit on temporary work contracts from three to six months. It would also allow longer workdays though keep the 44-hour week.

Presenting his report to labor leaders, Fleury said this would mean lower salaries, less benefits and precarious work conditions, and he rejected the government's claim it would create more jobs and reduce Brazil's record 12 percent unemployment.

Temer is struggling to restore fiscal discipline and revive Latin America's largest economy, and his unpopular belt-tightening measure face increasing resistance. Congress enacted a public spending ceiling in December, but lawmakers are expected to water down a key bill to reform the costly pensions system, main contributor to a growing fiscal deficit.

Brazil's biggest labor confederation with 7.4 million union workers, the CUT, said it plans to start nationwide protests against the pension and labor law reforms once Brazil gets back from its summer holidays and Carnival, kicking off with a national teachers strike on March 15.

"These proposals will take us back to the time of the industrial revolution when the working class was fighting to reduce 12- or 14-hour workdays," said the CUT's national labor secretary Maria das Gracas Costa.
On Friday, British Prime Minister Theresa May becomes the first world leader to visit new U.S. President Donald Trump, a symbolic reaffirmation of what the two countries view as an unshakable alliance.

The U.S. leader has promised an "even closer" relationship between the historic allies and has been eager to show his willingness to renew and reinforce ties in the wake of Brexit.

May shares the willingness to strengthen an already robust relationship, especially as the British leader works to forge new trade relationships following Britain's departure from the European Union.

Observers predict what could be an awkward moment when May and Trump meet.

Mary Evans, professor of gender studies at the London School of Economics, recently said she thought that for someone of May's background, "the way she comports herself, the way that she's lived her life, to confront Donald Trump is going to be moving into meeting somebody from a very different world  not quite a different planet, but certainly a different world."

The biggest rallies against Trump's inauguration outside the United States have been led by feminists in Britain, still angry about campaign revelations of controversial remarks about women.

May has called Trump's past remarks about women "unacceptable."

But it is the future of trade in the post-Brexit era, terrorism and the conflict with Syria that top May's agenda with Trump.

"I will be talking to Donald Trump about the issues that we share about how we can build on this special relationship. It's the special relationship that also enables us to say when we do find things unacceptable," May said in an appearance this week on the BBC's The Andrew Marr Show.

The British leader said she "won't be afraid" to challenge 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, prime minister of the United Kingdom, talking to him [Trump], directly to him, about the interests we share," she said.

But for both Trump and May, the common interests and the special relationship between the two nations are much more significant than any potential personality and gender issues that the media in both countries have raised.

May recently presented her 12-point plan for Britain's departure from the European Union, an exit Trump supports.

Scoring the first sit-down with the new U.S. leader bolsters May's position at home at a time when her government is still fighting challenges to Brexit.

On Tuesday, the British Supreme Court dealt her a setback by ruling that her government needed Parliament's approval to trigger the Brexit process.

Government sources here say what she wants now is a free-trade deal that cuts tariffs and facilitates exchanges of skilled workers between the United States and Britain.

After Germany, the U.S. is Britain's top trading partner, and officials on both sides of the Atlantic have expressed hopes that enhanced trade with the United States could help fill trade gaps that may result from Brexit.

U.S. leaders are preparing to give May a grand welcome of the type reserved for few foreign leaders. British officials say May has received an invitation to address congressional Republicans at their annual retreat, becoming the first serving foreign head of government to do so.
Bulgaria's president on Tuesday called an early national election for March 26 and appointed former parliament speaker Ognyan Gerdzhikov as caretaker prime minister until then.

Gerdzhikov, 70, currently a professor of law and head of an arbitration court, served as speaker of parliament in a centrist government from 2001 to 2005.

Kiril Ananiev, 61, currently a deputy finance minister in charge of budgets, will take over as finance minister, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

President Rumen Radev, who took office this month, had to call an early election after the center-right government resigned late last year following the presidential election loss of its candidate. He will dissolve the parliament on Friday.

"The head of state sets March 26 as the date for the general election. With another decree, the president appoints Ognyan Gerdzhikov as interim prime minister," the president's office said in a statement.

Russia-friendly Radev is also expected to appoint diplomat Radi Naidenov, at present Bulgarian ambassador to Germany, as interim foreign minister in a bit to reaffirm Sofia's commitment to its allies in the European Union and NATO.

The main task of Gerdzhikov's interim government will be to ensure that the Balkan country holds a fair election and maintain fiscal stability to protect the Bulgarian currency's peg against the euro.

The center-right government of Boiko Borisov steered economic growth and cut unemployment to an eight-year low, while cutting fiscal deficit, but its failure to tackle widespread graft in the EU's poorest country has frustrated voters.

Political analysts say the parliamentary election, Bulgaria's third since 2013, is again unlikely to produce a strong majority government able to implement the judicial, economic and other reforms the country needs.

Borisov's GERB party has a narrow lead over their main Socialist rivals, the latest opinion polls show.

"None of the parties is expected to win an outright majority, which will result in a fragmented parliament and another fragile coalition government," Teneo Intelligence analyst Andrius Tursa said in a note.
The worst wildfires in Chile's modern history are ravaging wide swaths of the country's central-south regions, as a massive Boeing 747-400 Super Tanker arrived on Wednesday on loan from the United States to help extinguish the blazes.

"We have never seen something of this size, never in Chile's history. And the truth is the [firefighting] forces are doing everything that is humanly possible and will continue to do so until the fires are contained and controlled," President Michelle Bachelet said, as she visited the hard-hit Maule region.

Forest fires are a regular feature of Chile's hot, arid summers, but a nearly decade-long drought combined with historically high temperatures have created tinder-dry

conditions.

International help from France, the United States, Peru and Mexico has been pouring into Chile as the fires swept through forested hills and into neighboring towns, scorching homes, industry and the region's world-renowned vineyards. The country last week declared a state of emergency.

As of Wednesday, 85 separate fires had been recorded, covering some 190,000 hectares (469,500 acres) - more than twice the area of New York City.

Chile's Conaf forestry service said that 35 of the fires were still out of control.

At least some of the fires may have been started intentionally and there had been a number of arrests in relation to ongoing investigations, said Bachelet.

Death, destruction

Three firefighters were killed on January 15 and another three gravely injured. Local media reported on Wednesday that another firefighter had died.

Some Chileans, such as Susana Molina, 82, a boutique wine producer, have seen their livelihoods destroyed.

"All my fields burned, there were four hectares that I had and it all burned," she said, from Cauquenes in the Maule region. Around 100 small vineyards in Cauquenes alone had been damaged so far, said the local industry association.

The forestry industry has also been impacted, with smaller outfits the most vulnerable.

Chile's forest products industry, the country's second biggest by exports after copper mining, is led by Empresas Copec subsidiary Arauco, Empresas CMPC, and Masisa.

Chile, along the seismically-active Pacific Rim, is no stranger to natural disasters. It is often walloped by earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and strong storms.

As a result, its emergency response teams, building codes and residents are usually well-prepared to confront such situations. But the scale of this season's fires have overwhelmed authorities.
China has intensified efforts to tighten its strong grip on the internet, officially outlawing unauthorized internet connections, including virtual private network (VPN) services, which enable many users there to bypass the countrys infamous Great Firewall.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced in a notice Sunday that all special connections through internet data centers (IDCs), internet service providers (ISPs), content delivery networks (CDNs) and VPNs, operating from within China, are now required to secure prior government approval.

Such operators will have until the end of March to commit in writing to abide by the new regulations and be tested to ensure full compliance before the years end. If they are found not to be in compliance, their unregulated operations will be shut down from next year on, the notice added.

Cross-border crimes

Li Yi, a Shanghai-based IT expert, told Chinas official Global Times newspaper the new regulations are needed to strike at cross-border crimes and purify cyberspace.

Some multinational companies in China such as Microsoft Corp. have a reasonable need to communicate with their headquarters overseas via VPNs, but some corporations or individuals browse overseas Internet pages out of illegal motivations. In this regard, the new rules are extremely important, he said.

Analysts found Chinas latest crackdown unsurprising in a country that has imposed some of the strictest internet censorship measures in the world for years. But it is alarming that the control has increased so greatly in the runup to the National Peoples Congress in March and the 19th Communist Party Congress in fall, when its top leadership is reshuffled, they said.

Giant Chinese intranet

Charlie Smith, co-founder of Greatfire.org and FreeWeibo.com, said the move helps push China closer to its vision of internet sovereignty, or a giant Chinese intranet. But it will also inflict collateral damage, including isolating itself from the global internet.

The higher authorities are trying to make the large telecom companies responsible for information control via their platforms, with a list of specific things to watch out for. But this is easier said than done, Smith said in a written reply to VOA.

He called enforcement into question as few companies wish to tend to the nitty gritty details of how their services are being used by customers.

They [telecom companies] will continue to make sure that paperwork is in place, but they will not spend too much time really getting into the details. This is also a huge cost for these companies. They simply cannot afford to conduct checks on every customer, he said, adding that it will be a step too far for China to cut off access to the global internet with a greater self-imposed threat than free access to information.

Smiths website estimates that China blocked access to 172 of the worlds top 1,000 websites, including Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Users will find ways out

Sharing a similar view, Michael Qiao, a journalism professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, expressed concerns that the new restrictions will work effectively to keep businesses in line with the governments online censorship, although he also believed that both businesses and end users will find ways out.

It mainly serves as a policy initiative, which works to intimidate or send a warning to the sectors businesses. But such bans in the long run may not work as [information] flows on the internet are simply too massive to control as a whole, Qiao said.

As counter measures, some domestic businesses may be forced to operate from outside of China, or Chinese netizens may end up signing up for international VPN services in order to access sites blocked by China, the professor added.

Policy windfalls

As such, Golden Frog is expected to benefit from the windfalls. The self-funded company is one of the three leading international VPN providers in China, which operate outside of China and may not be subject to the new regulations.

[China] Theyre just attracting attention and making people more aware of what is going on, and creating more of a market for VPN services, Austin, Texas-based Elizabeth Kintzele, vice president of Golden Frogs sales, told VOA via a phone interview. And theyre really probably shooting themselves in the foot because if theyre cracking down on their state-type VPN services, the international players will benefit from this, she said, adding that China-based users take up a large percentage of her companys sales.

Kintzele argued that, by imposing bans, China is not only missing out on domestic VPN business, but also having a negative impact on China-based multinationals, which need to access, for example, Google to complete deals.

While business activity is unchanged at Golden Frog, Kintzele admits it remains to be seen if China will enact new blocking measures against VPN services operating outside of China, although her company vows to recover as quickly as it can to ensure uncensored access to the internet for its customers in China.

Negative response

Already, many netizens in China are reacting negatively to Chinas planned crackdown on VPN services.

A user on the Baidu forum wrote such a fake reform will eventually bring about genuine revolution.

On Sino Weibo, Chinas Twitter-like platform, a user mocks no one is allowed to eat without prior government approvals, while another user wrote controls are everywhere. Dont know what [the government] is really afraid of.
Humanitarian agencies have expressed fear for the safety of 750,000 Iraqi civilians living in western Mosul as government forces are expected to mount an all-out offensive in the coming weeks to retake the city from Islamic State militants.

The Iraqi government reportedly has regained full control of eastern Mosul, 100 days after military operations to oust IS fighters from the city began. The government has now set its sights on recapturing the western part of Mosul, and this has been causing concern among humanitarian workers.

The United Nations reports nearly half of all casualties from Mosul are civilians. It has warned that people caught up in fighting in western Mosul face multiple risks, including being killed in crossfire, by booby traps or while being used as human shields.

Troubling reports

"The reports from inside western Mosul are distressing," said Lise Grande, humanitarian coordinator for Iraq. "Humanitarian partners are unable to access these areas, but all the evidence points to a sharply deteriorating situation."

The International Organization for Migration has a staff of 1,000 people in Irbil, in northern Iraq. Many of these people have family members and friends in Mosul.

IOM spokesman Joel Millman said his agency had been receiving reliable information from these sources regarding the fearful and difficult conditions under which people in western Mosul are living.

"We understand that water stations have been hit and destroyed, so there is a terrible shortage of water," he said. "People are digging wells in backyards, trying to treat the water the best they can."

Millman said there was not enough food in the city, driving up black market prices for ordinary commodities such as sugar, flour and chickpeas.

"We also understand that people are burning furniture for heat and for cooking fires because there is no delivery of any kind of propane or other gas," he said.

Grande said it wasn't possible to predict how the battle for western Mosul would turn out, but she did not rule out "the possibility of siege-like conditions or a mass exodus."

Meanwhile, the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights reported civilians in eastern Mosul were continuing to be victims of attacks by IS militants, although this part of the city has been retaken by Iraqi forces.

Civilian deaths

Ravina Shamdasani, the high commissioner's spokeswoman, said her agency had received many reports of civilians being killed by IS shelling or improvised explosive devices.

"Civilians have been killed and wounded by ISIL suicide attacks and snipers, which appear to be directly targeting civilians and civilian homes, as well as IEDs left by ISIL prior to their retreat from these areas  including one last Tuesday, which caused a child to lose his arm," she said, using another acronym for Islamic State.

Shamdasani said IS also continued to attack those fleeing or attempting to flee areas it controlled. She said airstrikes in Mosul reportedly were continuing to cause civilian casualties.

She said it was difficult to verify how many civilians have been killed or wounded because IS reportedly "continues to base itself in civilian houses and infrastructure and is exploiting civilians as shields."

Shamdasani said the high commissioner was very worried by reports that IS fighters had taken over hospitals in western Mosul and were using them as military bases, "and that they are diverting available resources, including food, water and medicines, to their fighters."

Relief efforts increase

The United Nations and its partners have been running a big relief operation for Iraqi civilians fleeing the fighting in Mosul. The United Nations had warned that as many as 1 million civilians might become displaced. So far, this "worst case" scenario has not materialized.

IOM's Millman said 180,000 people had fled eastern Mosul, while more than 550,000 civilians had remained in their homes.

"Humanitarian partners have been working as quickly as possible to provide direct lifesaving assistance. Nearly 600,000 people have received food, 745,000 people have benefited from water and sanitation support, and 370,000 people have sought medical care," he said.

He noted 85 percent of the people displaced from Mosul were staying in 13 camps, 10 of them full.

"The world's attention is fixed on the military campaign in Iraq," said humanitarian coordinator Grande. "But once this is over, there will still be a humanitarian crisis."

She warned that as many as 3 million to 4 million Iraqis might be displaced by the conflict and in need of humanitarian assistance for some time to come.

"We hope and trust that the international community will not walk away after Mosul. It would be a mistake, a very big one, if this were to happen," Grande said.
An anti-corruption watchdog is highlighting a link between inequality and government corruption with the release of its annual global index, saying people are increasingly looking to populist leaders who promise to tackle corruption, but are likely to make the situation worse.

In countries with populist or autocratic leaders, we often see democracies in decline and a disturbing pattern of attempts to crack down on civil society, limit press freedom, and weaken the independence of the judiciary, said Jose Ugaz, chair of Transparency International, as the group released its report Wednesday. Instead of tackling crony capitalism, those leaders usually install even worse forms of corrupt systems.

The report says countries need deep-rooted systemic reforms to address growing imbalances of power and wealth. It recommends those changes include public disclosure of who owns companies and imposing sanctions against those who help move corrupt money across borders.

In too many countries, people are deprived of their most basic needs and go to bed hungry every night because of corruption, while the powerful and corrupt enjoy lavish lifestyles with impunity, Ugaz said.

Index based on surveys

The Corruption Perceptions Index is based on surveys and reports of how business leaders and country experts perceive corruption in the public sector. It rates countries on a scale of 0-100, with 0 being a country that is highly corrupt and 100 being very clean.

In 2016, the report said more countries declined than improved when it came to corruption.

The highest ranked countries were Denmark and New Zealand, which each scored 90, Finland with 89 and Sweden with 88. The report said each of those countries has an open government, free press and independent judicial systems. It added that highly ranked countries in general also allow citizens to access information about how public money is spent.

Bottom of index

On the bottom of the index, Somalia ranked as the country with the most perceived corruption for the 10th consecutive year. It scored a 10, with the report noting concerns about corruption in its parliamentary elections and a presidential vote that was postponed three times.

South Sudan (11), North Korea (12) and Syria (13) were also at the bottom of the index.

Transparency International said low-ranked countries feature untrustworthy public institutions like the police and court system, basic services that are lacking because funding is misappropriated, anti-corruption laws that are ignored if they exist and people frequently faced with extortion.

The five countries that serve as the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council represent varying stages of the index, with Britain (81) among the least corrupt, followed by the United States (74) and France (69), while China (40) and Russia (29) scored as more corrupt.

Five of the 10 lowest scoring nations came from the Middle East and North Africa: Syria (13), Yemen (14), Sudan (14), Libya (14) and Iraq (17).

These countries are also inflicted with political instability, war, internal conflicts and terrorism, stressing the fact that war and conflict fuel corruption and in particular political corruption, the report says.

Protests and change

Transparency International also noted the wave of protests and in some cases changes in government that spread across the region in 2011, saying the majority of Arab countries have failed to fulfill the will of the people to build democratic systems allowing for greater transparency and accountability.

The report cited improvements in Tunisia (41), saying it adopted a national anti-corruption strategy and a law governing access to information.

For the Asia-Pacific region, the report listed 19 of 30 countries in the bottom half of the index, blaming the low scores on unaccountable governments, a lack of oversight and corruption scandals that have called into question trust in government. It noted improvements in Afghanistan, which still ranks very low with a 15, but has nearly doubled its score since 2013.

Transparency International said the main stories for the Asia-Pacific have yet to fully play out, with the new president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte relying extensively on anti-corruption rhetoric during his campaign, but also attacking media and using intimidation that could affect democratic institutions. The group noted concerns linked to graft allegations against Malaysias prime minister and the impeachment for corruption of South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the report highlights the improvements of Cape Verde (59) and Sao Tome and Principe (46), with each country holding clean elections in 2016, and Sao Tome and Principe carrying out a smooth transition of power. The report also cited Ghana (43) among a group of six countries in the region that significantly declined from 2015 to 2016, saying corruption there led to citizens voting out an incumbent president for the first time in the countrys history.
A challenge to whether Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers lives in his north Omaha district or resides in another district will be examined by a committee of the Legislature's Executive Board.

The board voted Wednesday to create a special investigative committee made up of seven members: Chairman Dan Watermeier, Vice Chairman John Kuehn and members Sue Crawford, John McCollister, Kate Bolz, Dan Hughes, and Speaker Jim Scheer.

Rules require the committee to have at least five members and have an uneven number.

Sen. Tyson Larson of O'Neill made the motion for the committee appointments and specifically took himself out of the running. He said later he and Chambers have a contentious relationship and it would be better if he weren't on the committee. Neither Chambers, who is also on the Executive Board, nor Sen. John Stinner, an ex-officio member, are on the investigative committee.

Chambers' opponent in the Distict 11 race last year, John Sciara, filed the challenge and was at the Executive Board meeting Wednesday afternoon.

Bolz said one of the first things the committee must explore is whether the challenge is valid, given the allegation that Sciara missed a deadline.

Sciara acknowledged he missed a deadline to pay a $5,000 bond after he filed the challenge, but he refiled within the time allowed and paid the bond on time for that filing, he said. And he said the committee also missed a deadline in taking up the review.

He alleges that Chambers lives in Bellevue instead of his north Omaha home. Chambers has countered that his north Omaha home is his residence, and he has proof. He cites Supreme Court cases that say to affect a change of domicile, he would have to change residence and permanently abandon his former home.

The committee will begin meeting, perhaps as early as this week, to discuss hiring a lawyer from outside the Legislature to help with the investigation, Watermeier said.

He had hoped to have the investigation started earlier and wrapped up this month but that didn't happen, he said.
President Donald Trump, poised to restore the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, met with key senators Tuesday and promised to unveil his nominee next week, with three U.S. appeals court judges among those under close consideration.

Trump met at the White House with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and the top Republican and Democrat on the Judiciary Committee to discuss filling the courts lingering vacancy caused by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia more than 11 months ago.

The lifetime appointment as a Supreme Court justice requires Senate confirmation.

Leonard Leo, a conservative lawyer advising Trump, said the president has definitely narrowed his focus and is looking very seriously at a short list of candidates.

Among the front-runners are three conservative jurists: Neil Gorsuch, a judge on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Thomas Hardiman, who serves on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; and William Pryor, a judge on the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judges Gorsuch and Hardiman and Pryor have received a lot of attention from the president. He knows who they are. He is familiar with their records. Hes clearly impressed with their backgrounds, Leo said.

All three were appointed to the bench by Republican former President George W. Bush.

Ill be making my decision this week. Well be announcing next week. We have outstanding candidates, and we will pick a truly great Supreme Court justice, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

The leading candidates all have strong conservative credentials.

Gorsuch joined a ruling in 2013 saying that owners of private companies can object on religious grounds to a provision of the Obamacare health insurance law requiring employers to provide insurance covering birth control for women.

Hardiman wrote an opinion in 2013 embracing a broad interpretation of the U.S. Constitutions right to bear arms.

Pryor has been an outspoken critic of the courts 1973 landmark ruling that legalized abortion.

Leo said all three are very much in the mold of Justice Scalia, who was among the most conservative members of the court.

After the meeting with Trump, Schumer said he reiterated that the president should pick a mainstream nominee who could earn bipartisan support and that Democrats would fight any nominee they deem outside the mainstream.

I anticipate what were going to get from the president is a highly qualified, well-credentialed conservative jurist, McConnell told reporters.

Trump can name Scalias replacement because the Republican-led U.S. Senate, in an action with little precedent in U.S. history, last year refused to consider Democratic President Barack Obamas nominee, appeals court judge Merrick Garland.

Obama, who handed over power to Trump last Friday, nominated Garland on March 16, but Republican senators led by McConnell denied Garland the customary confirmation hearings and vote.

Since Scalias death, the court has been deadlocked ideologically with four conservative justices and four liberals.

A conservative replacement for Scalia would reinstate the courts narrow conservative majority in place for decades.

Trumps fellow Republicans have a 52-48 majority in the Senate. Democrats, irate over Garlands rebuff, potentially could try to block the nomination using procedural hurdles.
After more than 100 days of fighting, much of eastern Mosul is in ruins after Iraqi forces took over the last Islamic State stronghold Tuesday on the eastern side of the Tigris River.

Residents say they are relieved the fighting in their neighborhoods has ended and the militant group is gone. The violence and isolation of the past two and a half years, however, has shrouded the city in heartbreak and fear.

"Islam is innocent from what they are doing," said one Mosul resident, who did not want to be named for fear IS militants still have spies in his neighborhood. "What they do is 100 percent opposite of what Islam says. You cannot even call them a terrorist group because they are more destructive and more evil than terrorist groups."

Everyone VOA speaks with has lost loved ones to Islamic State, and many people say they have relatives that are trapped in western Mosul, which is running out of food, water and electricity. Militants also are becoming increasingly violent in their treatment of civilians as Iraqi forces close in.

Soldiers say they expect the fight for western Mosul to be just as fierce as in the east, if not more intense. But officials say they also are confident Iraqi and coalition forces ultimately will win.

"After finishing Mosul, we will look for ISIS in all areas in order to announce that Iraq is out and free from ISIS," said Sabah Numan, the spokesman for Iraqi Counterterrorism Services. ISIS is an acronym for Islamic State.

Officials say they expect to begin the upcoming phase of the operation, called "We Are Coming Mosul," in the next several weeks. For the families of Mosul residents awaiting the onslaught of battle in the west, Iraqi forces cannot come soon enough.
Ecuador's ruling leftist party candidate leads voting intentions in the small Andean country ahead of presidential elections next month, but does not have enough support to win in the first round, two recent polls showed.

After recent major losses for Latin America's leftist bloc, Ecuador's election is being scrutinized for a potential further setback as the end of a regional commodities boom and corruption scandals fuel voters' desire for change.

Lenin Moreno, 63, a disabled career politician who uses a wheelchair, has garnered support with vows to continue popular president Rafael Correa's social programs, but the ballot seems increasingly likely to spill over to a second round in April.

Former UN special envoy

Some 34.3 percent of voters plan to vote for Moreno, a former vice president and United Nations special envoy on disability, pollster Cedatos said on Monday night.

Around 22.9 percent support Guillermo Lasso, a conservative banker and former economy minister, while 11.4 percent back Cynthia Viteri, a center-right lawyer and lawmaker, the poll showed.

To win in the first round on Feb. 19, a candidate needs to secure a majority of all valid votes or win over 40 percent of them and pocket a 10 point difference with the closest rival.

Lead slips

Worryingly for the ruling Country Alliance party, voting intentions for Moreno have slid from 37 percent in October while support for his rivals has grown, Cedatos said.

The probability of a second round is stronger by the day, Cedatos head Polibio Cordova told local TV station Ecuavisa.

The Cedatos poll, of 2,120 people between January 16-23, did not survey voting intentions for a potential second round on April 2.

Survey favors Moreno

Separately, pollster Market on Sunday also placed Moreno ahead of the pack with 28.17 percent of voting intentions, according to a survey of 9,120 people conducted between January 18-20. Viteri and Lasso were close at 17.98 percent and 16.57 percent respectively.

As a corruption scandal involving Ecuador's national oil company and Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht grows, analysts see a significant chance of Moreno losing down the line.

While a Lasso second-round victory remains our base case, Viteri would also likely beat Moreno in a run-off, as the opposition will mostly rally around a single candidate and voter discontent will remain high, Eurasia consultancy said in a report last week.

Some 12.8 million Ecuadoreans will vote to elect a president and 137 lawmakers for a four-year period.
European Union countries were urged Tuesday to halve food waste by 2030, but lawmakers stopped short of making the target binding  to the disappointment of environmental activists.

The European Parliament's environment committee in Brussels voted in favor of new regulations calling on EU nations to aim to reduce food produced and never eaten to 30 percent by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030.

"[The vote] fulfilled a moral obligation," MEP Simona Bonafe, the committee member charged with drafting the text, told Reuters by telephone.

About one-third of all food produced globally for human consumption is lost or wasted every year, either spoiled after harvest and during transportation, or thrown away by shops and consumers.

Yet almost 800 million people worldwide go to bed hungry every night, according to United Nations figures.

Reducing food waste would also help curb planet-warming gases linked to agriculture, which accounts for about 20 percent of overall greenhouse gas emissions.

Bonafe said that, although some countries, including France and Italy, already have in place measures to fight food waste, there was no common EU norm on the subject to date.

"We have filled the gap," she said.

The 50 percent target was introduced as an amendment to the European Commission's Circular Economy Package, a new legal framework to foster sustainable growth due to be enforced later this year.

To become law, it has to receive the final go-ahead by the EU Parliament in plenary session and European environment ministers.

Environmental activists said the amendment was a step in the right direction but didn't go far enough.

"It is disappointing that MEPs did not back a binding target," said Meadhbh Bolger, resource justice campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe.

"This means that the target may not be taken seriously by some member states," added Martin Bowman of British campaigning group This is Rubbish.

An estimated 88 million tons of food is wasted in EU countries every year, costing about 143 billion euros ($153.61 billion), which activists say could feed the 55 million people living in food poverty in Europe more than nine times over.
The European Union's partners have thrown more energy into trade talks with the bloc since Donald Trump's election, the EU's trade chief said on Tuesday, warning that those backing trade barriers were doomed to fail.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said EU-U.S. trade negotiations were firmly in the freezer and that, while the United States was the EU's most important partner, there was a long list of countries wanting to deal with the 28-nation bloc.

If anything, since November, we have seen many of our partners throw more energy and more resources at their negotiations with the EU, she told a conference at the Bruegel economic think tank in Brussels.

Trade deals up in air

Since his inauguration as president last Friday, Trump has already withdrawn from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and confirmed plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.

Trade was essential for employment  with some 31 million European jobs dependent on exports  and was a way to spread good values and standards across the globe and to lift people in developing countries out of poverty, Malmstrom said.

Most countries, she said, still shared the same vision, believing in the benefits of open trade and investments.

Those who, in the 21st century, think that we can become great again by rebuilding borders, reimposing trade barriers, restricting people's freedom to move, are doomed to fail, she said.

EU looks to add trade partners

As the United States withdraws from TPP, the European Union is steadily lining up most of the remaining 11 countries that signed up to the deal a year ago.

The EU already has a pact with Peru, has agreed trade treaties with Canada, Singapore and Vietnam that are yet to take effect, appears close to a trade deal with Japan, is in talks with Mexico, plans to open talks with Australia, New Zealand and Chile and is looking at the prospect of talks with Malaysia.

Certainly enough to keep us busy, Malmstrom said.
Indonesia's fire-prone Riau province declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, the disaster mitigation agency said, after President Joko Widodo urged regional authorities to avoid a repeat of fires that smothered Southeast Asia in smog in 2015.

Indonesia faces global pressure to put an end to slash-and-burn land clearances for palm and pulp plantations which send clouds of toxic smoke over the region each year.

Tuesday's move is intended to help Riau, which sits a stone's throw across the Malacca Strait from wealthy city-state Singapore, to begin taking preventive steps as dryer weather is expected in 2017 than in 2016.

"The province of Riau today declared emergency status for forest and land fires for 96 days," National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Nugroho told Reuters.

The 2015 fires were among the worst on record, straining ties with neighbors, and costing Indonesia an estimated 220 trillion rupiah ($16.5 billion) in economic losses, or about 1.9 percent of gross domestic product, Widodo's office has said.

Every year, Indonesia faces criticism from its neighbors Singapore and Malaysia over the smog, euphemistically known as "haze," and its failure to stop the fires from being lit.

Data from the state weather agency shows dryer weather in store for Indonesia this year, which authorities fear could spark more fires.

"We hope that at the beginning of this year there is planning and quick action [so] we can prevent forest and land fires in 2017," Widodo said.

He called for preventive measures, tougher law enforcement, more community involvement and better governance of private land and concessions.

"Check preparations for aerial operations, air patrols, rainmaking and waterbombing. These have to move quickly from the start," the president said.

Widodo thanked community stakeholders and authorities for efforts to prevent and douse fires in 2016, when hot spots were reduced by 83 percent.

"The reduction was drastic," he added.

($1=13,330 rupiah)
Equatorial Guinea confirmed on Tuesday it was hosting ousted Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh, who fled his country after West African troops threatened to remove him by force if he did not concede his election defeat.

Information Minister Eugenio Nse Obiang confirmed that Jammeh was in the country in a statement sent out to journalists. He gave no further details.

Jammeh plunged Gambia into turmoil in December when he refused to accept losing to Adama Barrow, demanding a new poll.

But the former soldier finally relinquished power on Saturday under strong diplomatic pressure backed up by several thousand West African troops who crossed into Gambia and were poised to enforce the election result.

State of emergency revoked

Many Gambians are angry that Jammeh fled into what they assume to be a luxurious exile rather than face trial for alleged human rights abuses.

Gambia's parliament on Tuesday revoked a state of emergency that Jammeh had imposed last week before he fled, as the tiny West African country slowly recovered from its political crisis.

The National Assembly hereby resolved ... to approve the revocation of the declaration of the state of public emergency," said majority leader Fabakary Tombong Jatta of the unanimous vote.

Barrow has yet to return

Barrow has not yet returned to Gambia from neighboring Senegal, where he took the oath of office on Thursday. He is due back in Gambia's capital Banjul in the coming days.



The turmoil prompted some 76,000 people to flee to Senegal. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said about 8,000 had returned home and more were expected to follow.
The first week of Donald Trump's presidency has seen him sign a number of documents setting out policy on issues ranging from the rollback of the Affordable Care Act to removing the United States from the multinational trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.



Some of these documents have come in the form of executive orders, and some as White House memoranda. What's the difference? What kind of power do they carry, and what are some of the most famous?



Executive orders vs. memoranda



First things first: both have what is known as the "force of law," which means they have the same power as legislation passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president.



Subtle differences

Executive orders are numbered and published in the Federal Register, the official journal of the United States government; memoranda need not be published there.

Executive orders must also indicate the price of executing the order; memoranda do not require a price tag unless they exceed $100 million.

Most notable



Every U.S. president except one (William Henry Harrison) has issued executive orders and memoranda, from George Washington all the way up to President Trump.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), the only president who served more than two terms, also issued the most executive orders, a whopping 3,721 of them, most regarding measures to combat the Great Depression and U.S. actions during World War Two.



Some executive orders have literally changed history, for better or worse. Here are a few of the most famous:

The Emancipation Proclamation:

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. It freed all slaves living in the Confederacy during the Civil War. Since the southern states had seceded from the Union, the proclamation had little effect initially other than to ensure the freedom of any slaves who escaped to the northern states.

The New Deal:

In the midst of the Great Depression, FDR issued many executive orders designed to get jobless Americans working again. During the winter of 1933, he established the Civil Works Administration, which created 4 million new government jobs. He also used his presidential authority to create the Export/Import Bank, and in 1934, the Rural Electrification Administration, which brought electricity to remote parts of the country.

Japanese-American Internment:

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in 1941, FDR signed Executive Order 9066, which allowed military leaders to designate strategic parts of the country as "military areas ... from which any or all persons may be excluded."

It also gave the military the responsibility to "provide for residents ... who are excluded ... such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as may be necessary."

The result was that 120,000 men, women and children, most of them American citizens of Japanese descent, were deported from the U.S. West Coast and placed in internment camps between 1942 and 1945.

Desegregation of the Military

In 1948, three years after the end of World War II, President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, which officially desegregated the United States military.

The order was a simple statement: "There shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the Armed Services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin."

Up until that point, military units were segregated by race; soldiers trained, worked and even fought in groups separated by race.



Sign of the times



Very few of the thousands of executive orders and memoranda that have been issued are as momentous as the ones listed here. Some of them express the frustration of a president facing a hostile Congress unwilling to pass legislation. Others are expressions of issues of great topical importance. Together they offer an insight into American history and reflect the priorities of each president and the times in which he served.
The head of Human Rights Watch, the New York based rights group, is warning the global rise of populism will likely erode human rights and democratic values globally.

Executive director Kenneth Roth said Wednesday he believes populist leaders, who claim to speak for the people, use this supposed status to trample on the rights of vulnerable minorities. When politicians begin to chip away at the rights of the few, he warns that ends up destabilizing the rights of the many.

Roth fears the global rise of populism will weaken the global commitment to human rights values. He said it will whittle away many of the pillars on which the United Nations, and the human rights instruments on which it was founded, were built.

I am very concerned that we will lose the U.S. voice as a defender of human rights around the world, Roth said. We do not know that yet, and it is still too early to say. But it is a big worry, you know, given [President Donald] Trump's expressed admiration for strong men and his appointment of a man as secretary of state, the nomination of a man [Rex Tillerson], who has yet to show any interest in human rights.

Nations need to step up

Roth said the United States has been an important voice and model for civil society in many countries, but he fears many governments will use the opportunity of Trump's arrival to crack down on dissent.

He said the United States can no longer be counted on to take a leadership role in upholding human rights values, so other nations must jump in and take over.

Putin's strategy questioned

Roth cautions Trump against partnering with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an effort to eradicate the Islamic State group, or ISIS. He tells VOA that Putin's counter-terrorism strategy is to obliterate cities seen as sympathetic to terrorists.

That is a pretty stupid way to fight terrorism because in the Syrian context, when you bring up ISIS, that is seen as an anti-Sunni policy, Roth said. It is seen as utter disregard for Sunni life. And, in an atmosphere of that sort, ISIS thrives.

Roth said the key to fighting radical Islam is to build inclusive societies so people, regardless of their sect, have a place. He says following the Putin approach of indiscriminate warfare is not a smart way fight Islamic State.
There is growing concern that Indias $150 billion information technology industry, which relies heavily on exports to the United States, could slow and become less competitive if the Trump administration tightens rules on hiring skilled foreign workers.

Earlier this month, a bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress raising the minimum salary for positions granted under the H-1B visa scheme from $60,000 to $100,000 per year.

Indian IT companies, which send hundreds of Indian tech professionals to the United States, are among the biggest beneficiaries of the H-1B visa program, which allows foreign professionals to work in the United States.

H-1B is a very important lifeline for the sector, so if there is a tougher stand on the visas, companies would have to substantially increase local hiring, said Madhu Babu, who studies the tech sector at brokerage firm, Prabhudas Lilladher in Mumbai.

Sponsors of the bill say it is designed to close loopholes in the high-skilled immigration system being used by some companies to import cheap foreign workers.

India to increase recruitment

Several Indian IT companies are preparing to accelerate recruitment of local employees as they face the possibility that election rhetoric about protectionism may become reality. That message was underlined when President Trump said during his inaugural speech, We will follow two simple rules: buy American and hire American.

In recent decades, Indian software firms emerged on the front lines of the global outsourcing industry by using the countrys large pool of trained, low-cost engineers to beat the competition. While some are deployed to client sites overseas, millions of others work in Indias tech hubs, such as Bengaluru.

But this core business model is under threat if immigration and visa policies turn restrictive in major markets such as the United States.

Few make $100,000

Pareekh Jain, who heads research operations in India at the research firm Horses for Sources, points out that many Indians working on H-1B visas earn less than the $100,000 per year minimum proposed under the bill that has been introduced.

All these steps will increase the cost structure of India IT firms and remove the cost advantage they had in comparison with other regional and global IT firms, he said.

Indian software companies have long maintained they use Indian employees because of a shortage of skilled workers in the United States and point out that American technology companies such as Microsoft and Intel also employ many Indians on the H-1B visa program. Critics say the lower cost of Indian hires has displaced American IT workers.

At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Vishal Sikka, the head of Infosys Technology, one of Indias top IT firms, said in an interview that his firm would have to train and hire more locally, whether it is in the United States or other markets such as Australia.

Industry insiders point out that Indian technology employees are flexible and can be easily moved from city to city. Accustomed to the Indian work culture, they often work long hours to coordinate with teams at home without extra pay. Those advantages will not be available with American hires.

Slow IT growth

The software industry is already bracing for slow growth: The National Association for Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has downgraded the growth forecast for the IT industry for the financial year that ends in March.

The slowdown is likely to be sharper in the coming year, especially for companies that have about half their employees in the United States working on H-1B visas, experts said.

You will hire more locally, and you will pay higher salaries onsite, so next one and a half year earning growth is also tough for the sector, Madhu Babu said.

Nasscom plans to send a delegation to the United States in the coming weeks to highlight what it says is the contribution made by Indian technology companies to the U.S. economy. Shivendra Singh, Nasscoms chief of global trade development, points out that the Indian industry has been a net creator of jobs.

We have created about, supported more than 411,000 jobs in the U.S., whether it is $20 billion taxes that have been paid by our companies in four years, Singh said.

The looming threat of visa curbs in the United States comes at a time when the sector is grappling with another challenge  new technologies such as cloud computing and analytics that could reduce demand for traditional IT work by an estimated 30 to 40 percent.

This is a double whammy, said Jain of Horses for Sources. Citing the emergence of other global uncertainties such as Brexit, he said a combination of these factors is the biggest challenge the Indian IT industry has faced so far.

The outsourcing industry accounts for about 20 percent of Indias exports of goods and services, and has helped catapult millions of Indians into the middle class.
It was one repugnant act too many by Bill Kintner.

Support evaporated for the embattled state senator Tuesday, with a chorus of allies and opponents calling for his resignation after he retweeted a joke mocking Women's March protesters and apparently making light of sexual assault.

Tuesday evening, Kintner's office called a news conference for 8:15 Wednesday morning at the State Capitol to "reveal how he plans to proceed."

If he doesn't go willingly, Kintner's colleagues stand ready to boot him from office right away  an unprecedented step in the Nebraska Legislature.

Speaker Jim Scheer said he will bring a resolution to expel Kintner first thing Wednesday morning, and is "positive" enough senators will support it if Kintner doesn't resign.

"As far as I'm concerned, the resolution that is coming from this office is coming on behalf of the entire floor," he said Tuesday.

Kintner remained defiant for the five months after a cybersex scandal provoked the first calls for his resignation. Nothing changed when the new controversy erupted this week.

"I'm a fighter," he told a reporter in a Capitol hallway Tuesday afternoon.

Kintner first told other Twitter users he found the tweet "funny" but later claimed it had been "misconstrued." In another statement early Tuesday, he blamed a "liberal activist campaign" and Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers for seizing on the situation.

But Tuesday's backlash brought together senators of all political stripes.

Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion  a fellow conservative from Sarpy County who has stood by Kintner through months of turmoil and describes him as a friend  called on him to resign immediately. So did Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse, chairman of the Legislature's Executive Board.

Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks, a Democrat, said her office has been overwhelmed by messages from Nebraskans offended by Kintner's remarks and behavior toward women.

Its enough, she said. This is enough. He threw gasoline on his own fire. He needs to resign.

Sen. Suzanne Geist, a Republican from Lincoln, became the first newly elected senator to "stand in solidarity with my sisters in the Legislature" and ask Kintner to resign. Other freshman senators followed.

The Legislature has never expelled or impeached one of its own.

Expulsion requires support from 33 of 49 senators, and would remove Kintner from office immediately but allow him to seek re-election in 2018 if he chooses. Impeachment takes just 25 votes and would permanently bar him from public office in the state, but would require action by the Nebraska Supreme Court.

People at the Capitol are already mulling the next steps, assuming Kintner's seat becomes open.

Gov. Pete Ricketts, who urged Kintner to resign months ago, would choose a replacement to serve two years until the next statewide election. Ricketts spokesman Taylor Gage said the administration hasn't started that process because there isn't a vacancy to fill.

Another pressing consideration is who would replace Kintner on the Legislature's powerful Appropriations Committee.

Scheer, who sets the legislative agenda, said his resolution calling for Kintner's expulsion will be the first item lawmakers address Wednesday when they convene at 9 a.m.

Omaha Sen. Bob Krist brought a similar resolution.

Both say Kintner's conduct has "impugned the integrity" of the Legislature and prompted state and national reaction.

"Such conduct has brought the Legislature and legislative process into disrespect and disrepute, has shaken the confidence that the people of the state have in the Legislature, and has impaired the ability of the Legislature to conduct its business," the resolutions state.

Scheer's resolution notes Kintner violated state law in 2015 by using his government-issued laptop to have cybersex with a woman who wasn't his wife. Kintner admitted doing so last year and paid a $1,000 fine to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

That's when calls for his resignation began, but the matter remained unfinished business until the comment he shared on Twitter over the weekend thrust him back into the spotlight.

The tweet mocked three women who took part in a Women's March protest on Saturday.

Originally posted by California radio host Larry Elder, the tweet included a photograph of the women carrying signs that referred to Donald Trump's hot mic moment from 2005, in which the now-president of the United States joked about grabbing women "by the p---y."

"Ladies, I think you're safe," Elder joked in his tweet.

Kintner shared the tweet with his followers late Sunday, then spent several hours defending it online before deleting his Twitter account after being questioned by reporters on Monday.

Scheer, the legislative speaker, speculated that Kintner's tweet isn't the worst thing a senator has done in Nebraska history: "I'm gonna guess not," he said.

But these days, lawmakers can be held immediately accountable for their actions.

Scheer said he got hundreds of emails and phone calls about the tweet, starting almost as soon as it appeared on Kintner's Twitter feed late Sunday.

"Everything's instantaneous news," Scheer said. "Things change with times."
A rare protest by Iranians against their governments use of broadcast jamming equipment is bringing global attention to growing concerns about the health impact of the practice.

Dozens of residents of the southern Iranian city of Shiraz joined the protest January 9, rallying outside the headquarters of the governor of Fars province, of which Shiraz is the capital. Participants sent a video of the protest to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a U.S. government-funded network supervised by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which also oversees VOA.

RFE/RL reported that the protesters blamed the governments local jamming operations for a series of health problems suffered by residents, from headaches to cancer. Some chanted, Jamming is betrayal of the people, while others said good health is an inalienable right.

Irans Islamist government has long jammed Persian-language broadcasts by Western news organizations such as VOA, RFE/RL and the BBC to try to stop its people from watching them. Some jamming equipment uses electromagnetic waves that critics say are the cause of the health problems.

Former Iranian lawmaker Ali-Akbar Mousavi, who investigated jamming while serving from 2000 to 2003, and who now lives in the United States, told VOA one factor that raised the alarm of the Shiraz protesters was Irans deputy health minister Reza Malekzadeh making remarks about a link between jamming and public health.

In an article published December 22, 2016, Irans state-run news agency IRNA quoted Malekzadeh as saying preliminary studies indicated that electromagnetic jamming signals can increase the risk of cancer. He gave no further detail on the studies that he cited. IRNA said Malekzadeh was speaking on the sidelines of a cancer research event in Shiraz.

Irans Financial Tribune newspaper says Iranian Health Minister Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi later downplayed his deputys remarks. It quoted Hashemi as saying his ministry still lacked strong scientific evidence to prove that jamming can enhance the risk of cancer or exacerbate health problems.

The World Health Organization says scientific literature does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields. The U.N. body also said some gaps in knowledge about biological effects exist, and need further research.

Iranian social media users shared their thoughts about the jamming controversy with the VOA Persian Services New Horizon program Tuesday.

Some who commented on the programs Facebook and Instagram pages complained of headaches and other health issues that they blamed on government jamming in Shiraz. One noted that jamming of foreign programs had decreased in recent days and his health had improved, while another said jamming appeared to have increased in part of the city.



In an email to VOA, Mousavi, who served as vice chair of the Iranian parliaments information and communications technology (ICT) committee, said he had seen many reports of Iranian lawmakers and civil society members speaking out in recent years against the governments jamming activities.

My colleagues and I raised the same concerns [about jamming] as members of the sixth Iranian parliament and succeeded in stopping it through public pressure, he said. Unfortunately, the government started jamming again when [former President] Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power [in 2005].

Jamming, the practice of deliberate interference with broadcast signals, is prohibited under rules of the International Telecommunications Union, of which Iran is a member.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani issued a Citizens Rights Charter last month, stating that: Citizens have the right to freely and without discrimination enjoy access to and communicate and obtain information and knowledge from cyberspace.

The document says the imposition of any type of restriction (such as filtering, interference, speed reduction and network interruption) without explicit legal authority is prohibited. It is not clear if the prohibition applies to jamming of foreign broadcasts.

Mousavi said he expects domestic criticism of jamming to continue until the Iranian government stops what he called an illegal practice.

VOAs Persian service contributed to this report.
Israel on Tuesday advised its citizens in Egypt's insurgency-hit Sinai Peninsula to leave the region, warning of the threat of an imminent attack.

Israeli holidaymakers are often warned of the risks they face in Sinai, which borders Israel, but the "Level 1" alert issued by the anti-terrorism directorate is its most severe warning.

It described the threat as "very high and concrete."

"The directorate warns of the possibility of attacks against tourist sites in the Sinai area in the immediate term," a statement said.

An Islamist insurgency in the rugged, thinly populated Sinai has gained pace since the military toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest Islamist movement, in mid-2013 following mass protests against his rule.

Militants have launched a number of deadly cross-border attacks on Israel in the past few years and have occasionally fired rockets across the border into the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat.

The anti-terrorism directorate said that while there was a "constant high threat" in Sinai, Jan. 25, the anniversary of the 2011 revolution in Egypt, was a day that had witnessed attacks in previous years.

Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1978 and the eastern coast of the peninsula is a popular international tourist destination.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev will delegate some of his sweeping powers to the Central Asian nation's parliament and cabinet, he said on Wednesday, a move that could facilitate an eventual political transition.

Kazakhstan, an exporter of oil and metals, is the only former Soviet republic that is still run by its communist-era leader.

Aged 76, Nazarbayev has so far not identified a clear successor and the uncertainty is a concern to investors.

In a brief televised address, Nazarbayev said proposed constitutional reforms would allow parliament to form a cabinet which would in turn have more powers to manage the economy.

President to change focus

Under the current constitution, Nazarbayev appoints all cabinet members. His Nur Otan party dominates parliament which has no serious opposition parties.

Following the reform, the president will focus on strategic matters, foreign policy and national security and will serve as an arbiter between the branches of power, Nazarbayev said.

The point of the proposed reform is in a serious redistribution of powers and democratization of the political system as a whole, he said.

Nazarbayev's office said in a statement the draft reform package would be published on Thursday for a month-long nationwide discussion before being handed over to parliament.

In charge since 1989

Nazarbayev has run the nation of 18 million people bordering Russia and China with a firm hand since 1989, first as regional Communist Party chief and then, after the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, as the president of a newly independent nation.

The decision to revise the constitution follows the death last September of Islam Karimov, president of neighboring Uzbekistan, who had also been in power since 1989.

No doubt, this is the beginning of Operation Successor, said opposition politician Amirzhan Kosanov. Groups within the elite will split power among themselves ...[(Informal] clans have become strong enough and they want their share of power in the post-Nazarbayev era as means to protect their wealth.

Among the people viewed as potential successors to Nazarbayev are his eldest daughter Dariga, who is a parliamentary deputy, Deputy Prime Minister Imangali Tasmagambetov and Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev, speaker of the Senate.

Tokayev next in line

Under the Kazakh constitution, Tokayev would automatically assume the presidency in the event of Nazarbayev's death, pending fresh elections.

Devolving some presidential powers could make it easier for the political elite to manage a succession by splitting key roles between different players rather than allowing one successor to concentrate power in his or her hands.
Kuwait's foreign minister made a rare visit to Tehran on Wednesday and called for frank dialogue between Iran and its regional neighbors, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

Tensions have risen between predominantly Shiite Iran and the mainly Sunni Arab countries of the Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, over their support for opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

Written message delivered

Sabah Khaled al-Sabah's visit, which included delivering a written message from the emir of Kuwait to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, appeared to be a step toward decreasing tension. IRNA did not report any details of the message.

It's necessary that the differing views and misunderstandings between the countries of the region should come to an end in a calm atmosphere and through frank dialogue, Sabah said, according to IRNA, a reference to Gulf Arab states who worry that Iranian influence in the region is growing at their expense.

Improved relations the goal

Rouhani expressed support for improving relations in the region, based on mutual respect, positive neighborhood ties and Islamic brotherhood, according to IRNA.

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in January 2016 cut diplomatic relations with Iran and some other Gulf states recalled their ambassadors in solidarity with the kingdom after its embassy in Iran was torched by protesters.

But long-standing trade links and shared access to oil and gas fields have stopped many Gulf states from shutting the door on Iran.
The largest Russian cybersecurity company has confirmed that one of its top managers was arrested in December.

The company confirmed a report published Wednesday by the newspaper Kommersant that the head of its computer incidents investigations unit, Ruslan Stoyanov, was arrested last month along with a senior official of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russias main security agency.

The newspaper reported that both men face treason charges.

Kaspersky spokeswoman Maria Shirokova said in a statement that Stoyanovs arrest had nothing to do with the company and its operations.

U.S. intelligence has accused Russia of intervening in last years presidential election in the United States through a hacker attack, with the aim of harming Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton and helping the winner, President Donald Trump.

Russia has denied the accusations.

VOA's Russian service contributed to this report.
U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis plans to travel to Japan and South Korea next month - his first trip as the head of the Pentagon, a spokesman said Wednesday.

"The trip will underscore the commitment of the United States to our enduring alliances with Japan and the Republic of Korea, and further strengthen U.S.-Japan-Republic of Korea security cooperation," Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said.

Mattis will depart February 1 for South Korea and travel on to Tokyo two days later. During his confirmation and his first days at the Pentagon, Mattis stressed the importance of maintaining international alliances.

U.S. President Donald Trump, however, had threatened during the campaign to withdraw American forces from South Korea and Japan if they did not pay more for the military support.

The first of Trump's cabinet picks to be confirmed, Mattis served as the commander of U.S. Central Command and was NATOs commander for transformation while in uniform; he retired from military service in 2013.
Homemade signs that protesters waved when marching against President Donald Trump across U.S. cities last weekend were being collected for posterity Tuesday by museums and libraries,

officials said.

The National Museum of American History in Washington and smaller institutions said they were collecting and sorting through protest signs they now considered records of nationwide protests of historic proportions.

Women activists, outraged by Trump's campaign rhetoric and behavior they found to be misogynistic, spearheaded scores of marches in the United States and sympathy rallies around the world on Saturday.

Trump, a Republican, insulted female reporters, a female political rival and other women about their looks, and a video surfaced in which he could be heard bragging about groping women and making unwanted sexual advances.

His behavior inspired a raft of signs handcrafted by protesters, many celebrated for their creativity, some saying, "Hey Trump! Women are people, too," and others reading, "Girls just wanna have fundamental human rights."

For future generations

The New-York Historical Society, the oldest museum in New York City, said its staffers had collected 20 signs at marches in Washington and New York City. It hoped some of the artifacts would speak to future generations about the mood of the current era.

"They have a personal story," said Margi Hofer, who heads the museum. "We're very confident that these will find their way into exhibitions."

Among the museum's best finds, which are preserved in acid-free folders and flat-file drawers, was a sign reading: "Strong women scare boys and excite men."

The National Museum of American History dispatched its curators to hunt for signs in the downtown Washington area where marchers amassed, it said in an online statement.

A day earlier, its political history curators were also on site to collect materials as Trump supporters swarmed the park to witness his inauguration as the country's 45th president.

"This is part of the museum's long tradition of documenting how Americans participate in the political process," it said.

Among other institutions recording the weekend's historic events were the libraries of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Southern California.

Chicago library

The Newberry Library, a famed research library in Chicago specializing in the humanities, said hundreds of messages of interest had poured in after it asked the public to donate their protest signs in Twitter messages.

The dozens of signs it had received so far added to "millions of items in [its] collection, ranging from medieval manuscripts to the signs that people marched with last Saturday," said Alex Teller, a spokesman for the library.

They will be part of a new collection focused on recording the social turmoil that has rocked the United States in recent years, including protests against racial injustice, Teller told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview.

"It seems like we've entered a period of time where political activism is shifting and changing, and more and more people are becoming involved in protest events," he said. "We wanted to make sure that we were documenting those shifts."
Native American activists and environmentalists say they'll fight President Donald Trump, who Tuesday signed executive orders which allow the construction of the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access (DAPL) oil pipelines stalled by President Barack Obama in 2015.

"These actions by President Trump are insane and extreme, and nothing short of attacks on our ancestral homelands as indigenous people," read a statement by the Indigenous Environmental Network. "The executive orders demonstrate that this administration is more than willing to violate federal law that is meant to protect Indigenous rights, human rights, the environment and the overall safety of communities for the benefit of the fossil fuel industry."

The group says its resistance is stronger than ever before, and it is prepared to "push back" at the administration's "reckless decision."

Separately, Earthjustice, the nonprofit environmental law organization that represents the Standing Rock Tribe, called Trump's action "anti-democratic."

"This move is legally questionable at best," said Earthjustice president Donnell "Trip" Van Noppen. "He [Trump] should brace himself to contend with the laws he is flouting, and the millions of Americans who are opposed to these dangerous and destructive projects. We will see his administration in court."

Washington DC Protest Tuesday

Conflict of interest questions

He also questioned whether there is a conflict of interest at play.

"Based on what we know about Trump's financial dealings in the Dakota Access Pipeline, it raises serious ethical concern," Van Noppen said.

According to Trump's May 2016 financial disclosure report, he held between $15,000 and $50,000 in stock in Energy Transfer Partners  down from $500,000 to $1 million the year before  and between $100,000 and $250,000 in Phillips 66. And, as the Washington Post reported in November, Energy Transfer chief executive Kelcy Warren donated $1 million to the Trump presidential campaign.

Trump has said he supports the pipelines because they benefit Americans, not because of personal financial interest. When he signed the order, he touted the number of jobs that construction of the pipeline would create.

"It's something that's subject to a renegotiation of terms by us," he said. "We'll see if we can get the pipeline built. A lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs."

In addition to an order speeding up construction of the pipelines, Trump signed a second memorandum requiring the secretary of the commerce department to mandate that all steel used in pipelines be American made.

"We're going to put a lot of  steelworkers back to work," Trump said as he signed the orders Tuesday. "We'll build our own pipelines, we will build our own pipes."

Oil war

As Trump took the oath of office in Washington last Friday, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota called for the three DAPL protest camps to be dismantled and for protesters to go home.

Roughly a thousand protesters have remained, among them, lawyer, activist and former Democratic House candidate Chase Iron Eyes, who characterized the protests  and crackdown by law enforcement  as "an oil war going on in the middle of America."

"Trump has presented himself as a threat to all those who value constitutional rights, native nations who seek to liberate from domestic dependent nationhood which is imposed by the United States," Iron Eyes said. "Trump presents a threat to those who seek water security as a human right and who want to avoid the privatization of water."

Currently, about 1,000 protesters remain near Standing Rock, but Iron Eyes expects that number will swell.

"We are going to orchestrate a callout as soon as we know we can logistically provide for people who want to come and stand in the fight against tyranny, come and stand in the fight of the corporate takeover of our very democracy," he said.
Earlier this month, the first train rumbled down the tracks of a $3.4 billion electric railway connecting landlocked Ethiopia with Djibouti and its access to the Red Sea. The 750-kilometer (466 miles) line, expected to carry up to five million tons of goods per year, promises to have a massive impact on the economies of both countries and the region at large.

At the official launch of the project, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said its importance cannot be overstated.

This project is like our blood vessels, he told a VOA Somali service reporter who was riding on the inaugural train. The reason is because Ethiopia's outlet is through Djibouti. Therefore, this project determines if we can live or not live.

The project was 70 percent funded by a loan from China's state-run EXIM Bank and built by China Railway Group and Chinese engineers.

Kenya railway line almost done

It is the latest in China's massive infrastructure investment in Africa. A $13-billion railroad in Kenya, financed by the Export-Import Bank of China and built by the state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation, is nearly complete. Other railway lines are planned to stretch into East African countries including South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

Between 2000 and 2014, China made $24.2 billion in loans to finance transportation projects on the African continent, according to researchers at the China-Africa Research Initiative, a group at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies focusing on China-Africa relations. Eighty percent of those loans were for roads and railways.

China eyes African ports

Experts say Chinese infrastructure investment in Africa is not about altruism. Funding railways benefits China by connecting ports and facilitating the movement of raw commodities that are badly needed to fuel China's development.

East Africa, particularly the ports in Kenya, ports in Tanzania and especially ports in Djibouti, these are very important for the Chinese just for the exports, said Jyhjong Hwang, a senior research assistant at Johns Hopkins' China-Africa Research Initiative.

Hwang says that for China, these projects will take a long time to pay dividends.

By contrast she said African economies are likely to see an immediate impact.

These are big transportation projects that will stimulate local economies, these are good for basic infrastructure, she said. This is good for local, loan recipient countries just because these projects have a lot of costs and not a lot of immediate financial return.

These are the projects that need a lot of financial infusion to begin with and obviously the financier has to be willing to want to take on a lot of risk, but willing to recuperate over a longer horizon, said Hwang.

Not a 'clear pattern'

In 2016, the China-Africa Research Initiative published its database of all known loans made by China to Africa between 2000 and 2014. The countries that received these loans were not all resource-rich countries, researchers found.

When we talk about China and Africa and interests, people talk about natural resources, but one of our findings was that actually there isn't a clear pattern in terms of the amounts of loans to countries and how well endowed they are with natural resources, said Janet Eom, a research manager at the China-Africa Research Initiative.

Oil-rich Angola received the largest amount of funding, Eom says. But resource-poor Ethiopia came in second.

One Belt, One Road policy in Africa

China views its investment abroad as part of its One Belt, One Road policy. Spearheaded by Beijing, this effort is a Chinese public-private partnership, Hwang says, even though technically no company is truly private in China.

It aims to develop a modern silk road where goods and commodities can be easily transported between China and its surrounding region. Eventually, China says, it would like to shift labor-intensive industrial work to places like Africa.

Local governments are aware a lack of infrastructure is a roadblock to international investment, Hwang says, and are eager to partner with China.

On the Chinese side, they want to have better investment opportunities in Africa, so if they don't have a railroad, they will help them build it themselves, she said.

China also has a large number of infrastructure contractors who need work, many of whom have close links to the ruling party or are state owned.

The quality of the work has come under scrutiny, says Hwang. But, she added, they are capable of doing [the work] very fast and very cheap, and they are able to find the financing for it 

Most laborers are African

The Johns Hopkins researchers also found Chinese projects benefit African workers, the foremen and technicians tend to be Chinese while the manual laborers are generally African.

There are concerns about the ability of African nations to pay back these loans, researchers found. This is particularly true in countries heavily reliant on oil revenue, which have seen the price per barrel slump in recent years.

There are also concerns China may pull back its investment on the continent as it experiences an economic slowdown.

But the recipient countries of this investment believe it is a win-win.
Newly confirmed CIA Director Mike Pompeo heaped praise on the U.S. spy agency during his first full day on the job, some of it in sharp contrast to criticism leveled by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The former congressman from Kansas and member of the House Intelligence Committee was sworn in as the agency's 22nd director Monday night after the U.S. Senate confirmed him by a 66-32 vote. On Tuesday, he met with the CIA's leadership team at its headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and got his first briefings as director.

Pompeo sent a message to the agency's workforce Tuesday morning, calling himself a long-time admirer, "well acquainted" with the CIA's "skill, courage and dedication."

"Your strength comes from many sources," he said. "A legendary can-do spirit, sophisticated tradecraft, and rock-solid integrity, among others.

Pompeo had visited CIA headquarters Saturday with Trump, who used the occasion to offer support, and accused the media of creating a false perception that he was at war with the nation's spy agencies.

"I am so behind you," Trump told about 400 CIA employees who gathered for the visit. "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.'"

Two weeks before taking office, Trump lashed out at the U.S. intelligence community on Twitter, chastising its leadership for allowing unsubstantiated reports of Russian efforts to compromise him to leak to the media.

Even before that, Trump argued with the intelligence community, repeatedly dismissing its assessment that Russia had tried to interfere in the U.S. presidential elections.

Several current and former U.S. intelligence officials have expressed concern, saying the contempt Trump already has shown for the CIA and the rest of the intelligence community has taken a toll on morale.

Some worry that Trump's appearance at CIA headquarters, despite getting applause from some in the audience, may not do enough to repair the damage, especially after he spent time criticizing the news media for its coverage of his inauguration.

"It seemed to me like a squandered opportunity to set things right with CIA's workforce concerned with its future," 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.

"The president has many opportunities to talk about inauguration numbers and bash the media; doing it at an apolitical place like CIA seemed inappropriate," he said.

Still, there is hope that Pompeo, already well respected by many in the intelligence community, can help mend the rift.

Pompeo said he plans to meet with CIA employees later this week.

"I want to hear from you  and learn from you  as I gain a greater understanding of the Agency's opportunity to improve how we keep America safe," Pompeo said in his message to the CIA Tuesday. "I am eager to join you, energized by the prospect of what we will achieve together."
Months after a cybersex scandal first threatened to end his legislative career, and after years of complaints about his behavior in office, Bill Kintner was undone by a tweet.

The embattled state senator and stalwart conservative from Papillion resigned from the Legislature early Wednesday, minutes before fellow senators were scheduled to debate expelling him from office.

"As much as my heart says to fight, my head says it is time to step away from the Legislature," a tearful Kintner told reporters, flanked by his minister, Perry Gauthier, and Speaker Jim Scheer.

He thanked his supporters, staff, family, God and his "Proverbs 31" wife, Lauren, who is chief-policy adviser to Gov. Pete Ricketts. She was not present for the announcement.

"My wife is one of the finest people I will ever know in my lifetime." Together, Kintner said, they have been through "amazing times and many, many tough challenges."

The resignation is effective Monday, giving him time to clean out his office, but beginning immediately, he'll no longer vote as a senator or take part in any legislative action, Scheer said.

Ricketts will choose a replacement to serve until after the next statewide election in 2018. The District 2 seat includes Cass County, as well as portions of Sarpy and Otoe counties.

Kintner, 56, had remained defiant for months after his use of a state-issued laptop for cybersex with a woman he met online left many constituents, fellow lawmakers and the governor calling for his resignation.

But a tweet Kintner shared late Sunday  mocking Women's March participants and apparently making light of sexual assault  left even his closest allies showing him the door.

The conservative Legislature Kintner had always wanted, and which was finally in place, ultimately rejected him.

"He did the body a favor. He did the state a favor," Scheer said after the announcement, adding Kintner's resignation took "more courage" than leaving the decision to fellow senators.

In a news release, Ricketts said Kintner did the right thing.

Omaha Sen. Bob Krist, a longtime critic of Kintner who led the push to punish him after the cybersex scandal, called the resignation "honorable and much overdue."

"I feel a lot cleaner," said Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte.

Kintner did not apologize or attempt to explain the tweet Wednesday morning.

He said he was reluctant to resign in the first place because it would "be hailed as a victory to the progressive liberal movement."

"This is not about justice or doing what's right. This is the old adage that might makes right. You have the votes, you can do what you want."

He left the room without taking questions after paraphrasing former President Richard Nixon: "You won't have Bill Kintner to kick around any more."

Outside the Capitol, reaction was mixed.

"The Women's March just took down their first politician," Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb said in a news release.

Kleeb said the party "looks forward to electing a candidate who stands up for women and working-class families."

Doug Kagan, president of the conservative group Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom, said Kintner's colleagues acceded to a double standard of political correctness by forcing him from office.

"Incendiary, insulting remarks" by Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers routinely go unpunished, Kagan said. "But when Sen. Kintner does a few outlandish things they go after him like hellfire."

Kagan also took issue with Kintner's fellow conservatives in the Legislature.

"They just didn't want to look bad themselves, so they went along with the crowd. I don't think they should have."

He hopes Ricketts appoints a conservative to fill the seat.

The governor's office will accept applications until 5 p.m. Tuesday. Applicants must be at least 21, have lived in the district a year or more and be registered to vote.

Kintner's own legislative career began when he ousted an appointee of then-Gov. Dave Heineman.

Originally from Cincinnati, the longtime political operative and baseball umpire ran against appointee Paul Lambert of Plattsmouth in 2012 and won. He ran again two years later, and would be eligible to seek re-election again in 2018.

Dave Pankonin of Louisville, who held the District 2 legislative seat before Lambert, said he is relieved and thankful Kintner resigned.

Were relieved for him and his family, for the Legislature and state. Im thankful this distraction is over, Pankonin said.

Kintner's comments and behavior raised eyebrows soon after he took office:

* In 2013, in a Journal Star profile, he described women as the biggest mystery: "No one understands them. They don't even understand themselves."

* In 2014, during a town hall with constituents, the Nebraska City News-Press quoted him as saying some "homosexual bills" may come up in the next session. He also objected to paying for the "bad behavior" of those on social programs and said "women  not men  can live a pretty good life" by making mistakes such as having more children.

* In 2015, he posted a graphic picture of a woman's beheading on his public Facebook page. Less than two weeks later, he repeatedly used a racial slur referring to Mexicans during legislative debate on a bill that lifted Nebraska's ban on issuing driver's licenses to immigrants who illegally entered the United States as children.

* In 2016, then-Speaker of the Legislature Galen Hadley chastised Kintner for a newspaper column in which he likened state senators to monkeys.

That issue was just the start of Kintner's problems that year.

In August, he admitted to using his state laptop for cybersex after the woman he met online convinced him to masturbate on live video, then tried to extort money from him.

The Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission fined him $1,000, and calls for his removal from office never stopped.

Until Wednesday.
Gambians are ready for their new president to return home. President Adama Barrow has remained in Dakar, Senegal this week for security reasons but he is expected to return Thursday, one week after his inauguration.

A spokesperson for the president told VOA Adama Barrow will arrive in Banjul on Thursday.



Kebba Jammeh is a party secretary for the coalition that supported Barrow in the December election.



The Senegalese government is advising Barrow not to come. Its not safe," said Jammeh. "Its safe for him to stay in Dakar right now.



West African troops in Banjul, Gambia's capital, have been busy securing the State House and other key areas. Weapons sweeps continued Wednesday.



Former president Yahya Jammeh boarded a plane to Guinea Saturday after a tense standoff with regional leaders that saw Senegalese troops deploy to the border, threatening to remove Jammeh by force. Gambias leader of 22 years was refusing to go, even though he had lost the election.



On Tuesday, Gambias national assembly voted to lift the state of emergency Jammeh had declared last week in a final attempt to cling to power.



Barrow will return home to high expectations.



President Barrow says he will set up a truth and reconciliation commission to look into alleged abuses under Jammeh. But he inherits some other hefty challenges. Gambia is one of the worlds poorest nations. Thousands of young Gambians take the dangerous route across the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean each year, trying to migrate to Europe.



Many here, like Kasseh Samura, want Barrow to focus on job creation.

I was a supporter of the former president, but I believe what people decide," said Samura. "Thats what were all yearning for. We want progress. Peace for our people, development for our people. So we are praying for Barrow, for him to succeed in his tenure of office.



A spokesman for Barrow has accused Yahya Jammeh of looting the countrys coffers before going into exile. Financial experts are still examining those claims.
With entries in 14 categories, La La Land, a musical with dramatic overtones, leads the Academy Award nominations this year by leaps and bounds.

But there is competition: The drama Moonlight, the life story of a black man as he struggles to discover his identity growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami, received eight nominations. Arrival, a sci-fi drama with spiritual connotations and mesmerizing cinematography, also received eight.

Watch: Oscar Nominations Offer Up Diversity

Here are this year's main competitors for the Oscars:

La La Land, a nominee of Titanic proportions

Damien Chazelle's musical pays tribute to the City of Angels and everyone who has gone there with dreams of making it as an artist. If you don't live under a rock, you should know about La La Land's popularity, and even though some may feel that it is overstated  it is a musical, after all  no one can question Chazelle's ingenious story arc, eye-candy cinematography and emotionally sweeping music. The film has received as many nominations as James Cameron's 1997 Titanic and is a clear front-runner for best picture, while lead actors Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, who make us fall in love again, have also received nominations for best actor and actress.

Moonlight, a noteworthy challenger

Director Barry Jenkins' Moonlight is a brooding drama about a boy growing up defenseless in a mean neighborhood and trying to deal with his sexuality. This is a daring film with great cinematography and actors. Mahershala Ali plays a drug dealer with parental feelings for the boy. He is considered a front-runner for the Oscar for best supporting actor, and Naomie Harris, who plays the boy's drug-addicted mother, is in the running for best supporting actress. Both are facing stiff competition, however. Ali could lose to Michael Shannon for his role in the thriller Nocturnal Animals, or to Jeff Bridges for his performance in the western Hell or High Water. Harris is up against Viola Davis for her stupendous performance as a put-upon housewife in Fences, opposite her philandering husband, played by Denzel Washington.

Arrival, an atypical storyline

When alien spaceships arrive on Earth in Denis Villeneuve's Arrival, linguistics professor Louise Banks, played by Amy Adams, is asked to interpret their language and help humanity communicate with them. The film deviates from the typical story line of armed conflict between earthlings and aliens and delivers an introspective outcome. It is doubtful Arrival will top La La Land and Moonlight, but its music and cinematography are literally out of this world.

Manchester by the Sea, a strong contender

Manchester by the Sea received only six Oscar nominations, but it is a serious contender in the best picture category. Director Kenneth Lonergan's original script has flowing dialogue, simplicity and spontaneity, and its depth of spirit and dearth of emotion make watching this film a gut-wrenching experience. Casey Affleck offers a brooding performance as Lee Chandler, a janitor from Boston whose brother dies and bequeaths him guardianship of his nephew. Chandler, a man who was dealt a bad card in life, blames himself for his problems and feels he will be an inadequate guardian. Lonergan borrows Albinoni's Adagio in G minor to seam together crucial moments that led Chandler to this low point. This is a tough film but worth watching, because it evokes life. Affleck and Michelle Williams, who plays his former wife, also ravaged by tragedy, are nominated for best actor and best supporting actress.

Washington could be the favorite

But Affleck will have to compete against Washington. Depending on artistic, social and political convictions, the best actor Oscar could go either way, and no one would bat an eye. There is a defiant despair bursting through the seams in Troy Maxson, the character played by Washington in Fences  a blue-collar worker who is trying to make a difference in life, raise a family, hold a job and be a good husband. But Affleck and Gosling are going to have a lot of voting members of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences on their side.

Diversity in nominations

This is going to be an interesting Oscar year. Not only do the nominees burst with talent, but this year there will be the real test of whether #OscarSoWhite is a thing of the past. More films and actors of color received nominations this year, such as Davis, Washington, Ali and Octavia Spencer, nominated for best supporting actress for Hidden Figures.

Ruth Negga was nominated for her lead role in Loving as Mildred Loving, the rights advocate and wife of Richard Loving. Negga is competing against Natalie Portman, who played the title role in Pablo Larrain's biopic Jackie, about Jacqueline Kennedy in the days after her husband's assassination. The other best actress competitors are Stone from La La Land and Meryl Streep for Florence Foster Jenkins. Streep, a three-time Oscar winner, could be passed over this year; it is not her strongest performance, and voters tend to sympathize with actors who have not won before.

Will the academy voters favor a romantic, uplifting tale, an esoteric but universally touching drama, or sci-fi? It's anyone's guess.
Trees are an overlooked source of income for farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and should be promoted as a means of reducing poverty and hunger in regions hit hard by climate change, researchers said.

Trees contribute nearly a fifth of annual household income for families that grow them, but are rarely a focus of agricultural policy, said Daniel Miller, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois and co-author of a new study.

Miller and his team collected data on trees on agricultural land in Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. They found that around a third of rural households grew trees, the majority for fruit or cash crops such as coffee.

"Trees on farms are not quite forests and not quite agriculture, so they tend to be forgotten," Miller told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

But trees have a particular advantage over traditional crops in sub-Saharan Africa because they are more resilient to climate shifts and extreme weather, often continuing to produce at times when other crops fail because of drought or heat, Miller said.

Climate change is already a harsh reality in many parts of Africa, where rising temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall have disrupted food production, fueled widespread hunger and forced farmers to abandon their land.

'Old-fashioned'

Trees are a natural part of the solution but have been neglected as a food and income source, in part because of colonial legacies and Western influence, Miller said.

"I think there's a stigma that trees are seen as old-fashioned," he said. "In the Western model of industrial agricultural, you don't see a lot of trees in fields."

The study, partly funded by the World Bank and published in the journal Forest Policy and Economics, also found that national laws in some countries have discouraged farmers from planting trees.

In French-speaking Africa in particular, some governments historically considered all trees part of the forestry domain, regulated by the state, but that is starting to change.

In Niger, a series of laws was passed in the early 2000s that strengthened individual and community rights to forest resources. The result was a widespread "re-greening" of the country that increased incomes and food security for millions, a separate study by the Focus on Land in Africa program found.

"I think the Niger experience could probably be replicated," Miller said. Since farmers' rights to grow trees were bolstered, he added, the growth of vegetation has been so dramatic that "you can see it from the sky."
As a member of a persecuted minority in Iraq, 24-year-old Shaker Mahie has seen his people massacred, raped and scattered across a new continent. Now, the Yazidi, whose faith is older than Christianity, are at the center of a new European dilemma.

Portugal has offered to take in several hundred of the 2,500 Yazidi refugees living in Greece, arguing that their mistreated community merits special protection. Athens has rejected the offer, worried that other countries might start cherry-picking asylum applications based on religion or ethnicity.

Does that make the Yazidis victims of discrimination or nondiscrimination? Its a question that could be keeping some of them in limbo.

Positive discrimination

Ana Gomes, a European Parliament member from Portugal who has been an outspoken advocate of the resettlement proposal, says Greek concerns are misplaced. Yazidis, she said, were targeted for slaughter by Islamic State militants at home and face ongoing harassment from fellow Iraqis stranded in migrant camps.

These people have been victims of negative discrimination in resettlement to other European countries when they should be having positive discrimination in recognition of the barbarity they have suffered, Gomes told the Associated Press after returning from a visit to refugee camps in Greece.

The dispute comes as the European Union wrestles with how to protect the most vulnerable refugees while making sure that member nations are sharing the cost of taking in newcomers. Delays and political obstruction have impeded an emergency relocation program meant to ease the disproportionate load carried by Italy and Greece.

Persecuted for centuries

Over centuries, Yazidis have been the victims of purges by rulers who regarded their religious symbols and practices as devil worship. Islamic State militants used the same explanation when they targeted the insular community for conversion and elimination.

Iraqs remote Sijar region, the Yazidi minoritys heartland, is where thousands of civilians were massacred and thousands more fled in 2014. The United Nations has described the attacks as genocide.

In a small hotel room near the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, Mahie watches his son and daughter play on the floor with a toy dump truck, and struggles to find words to recount the horrors witnessed by his young family. He remembers IS fighters entering his village two years ago.

They (took) girls and women and killed the men, he said.

He and his family fled into the mountains of Sijar before crossing into Turkey and paying smugglers to get them to Greece.

The Yazidis recent plight has been highlighted by the revelations of women being captured by IS fighters for sexual slavery. Two Yazidi women, Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar, received an annual award for human rights last month from the European Parliament.

Attacks continue

But old prejudices also have followed the Yazidi to Europe, where they have reported being attacked by other refugees at camps and are often housed separately.

We take the issue of Yazidis very seriously because they have suffered such violence and persecution. We are doing everything we can to ensure their protection, Greek Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas told The Associated Press.

Greece says more than 60,000 refugees and migrants who arrived there hoping to make it further into Europe are stranded in the country, after EU and Balkan countries closed their borders last year. Athens is struggling to shelter them over the winter and pressing other European Union countries to honor relocation commitments.

Portugal so far has taken in about half of the 1,618 asylum-seekers it pledged to accept under the EUs relocation scheme. Nevertheless, its Yazidi-specific invitation is unacceptable, Mouzalas said.

No government can discriminate on a racial basis, he said. And those making a lot of noise around this issue are not helping the Yazidis.

Yazidi refugees themselves are split on the offer from Portugal. Some worry about further dispersing the members of a minority group thought to number only several hundred thousand worldwide.

I dont want to go to Portugal, Mahie said. My mother and my brother are in Germany and my father is in Iraq. Its difficult for one family someone to (be) in this country and someone to (be) in another country.

To others, the idea of a haven is appealing.

Like Mahie, Riad Salo sought refuge from IS in the mountains of Sinjar; his father-in-law died there. The younger of Salos two daughters, Xzidxan, was born in a tent at a refugee camp near Mount Olympus in northern Greece.

Salo said he feared continued persecution from other Iraqis even if another EU country agrees to relocate his family.

I dont want to go to a country where there are many (other refugees), he said. I want to go to Portugal because its very safe.
European leaders were left shaken following U.S. President Donald Trumps recent comments that NATO is "obsolete."

The organization has formed the bedrock of Europes security since World War Two, but some EU leaders say Europe must now take responsibility for its own defense. The continent would face a huge deficit in military capability if the NATO alliance broke down.

The first contingent of German and Belgian troops arrived in Lithuania on Tuesday, which followed a separate U.S. deployment of the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, to Poland in early January. The buildup is part of NATOs 4,000 troop reinforcement in the Baltic States and Poland, which aims to reassure front-line states.

But Trumps recent comments that NATO is "obsolete" have shaken European allies.

Wolfgang Ischinger, head of the Munich Security Conference, an annual global summit on defense due to take place next month, tells VOA the situation is tense.

In addition to the crises we had last year, Ukraine, Syria, the South China Sea, North Korea, etc., now we appear to have almost panic in the trans-Atlantic space," Ischinger said. "Is NATO obsolete or not? Is the European Union something which the U.S. can or should ignore, or is the EU America's most important partner?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Europe now has its fate in its own hands. But Jonathan Eyal of Britain's Royal United Services Institute says it will take a dramatic shift in EU policy to make up for any rupture in the U.S. alliance.

While there is a lot of discussion about closer cooperation in the European Union, there simply is no substitute for American military power," said Eyal. "Up to 75 percent of all the military assets in NATO belong to the United States.

Military spending

Currently Germany, along with several other European NATO allies, spend far less on defense than the 2 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) they pledged to spend in 2014.

There is a commitment in Germany to increase defense expenditure, but we are far off, and, especially in an election year in Germany, we will remain far [from] any chance of a major boost in defense expenditure," said Eyal.

Core members including France, Germany, Spain and Italy want closer EU military and intelligence cooperation, a move backed by the blocs foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

"First of all it means that Europeans are starting to take seriously their security," said Mogherini. "We have started to do this ... well before the UK referendum, well before the U.S. elections because security is a priority for Europeans.

Britain has blocked efforts towards building an EU military alliance, fearing it could undermine NATO.

But with Britain set to leave the bloc within the next few years, the calls for an EU military force could grow louder.

On the eastern flank

Britain's former Ambassador to Georgia, Alexandra Hall Hall of the Washington-headquartered Atlantic Council, says countries on Europe's easternmost flank have a particular responsibility to gird themselves for a world with or without a U.S.-backed NATO.

"It is incumbent for countries in this region supported by their friends and allies to make clear that any new U.S.-Russia cooperation should not come at the expense of the interests of friends and allies," Hall Hall told VOA's Georgian Service, explaining that she hopes countries such as Ukraine and Georgia, each of which were invaded by Russian forces within the last ten years, should move fast to show that their values align with long-term U.S. interests.

"Putin will push as far as he will get, in Georgia, in Ukraine," she said. "If you dont stand firm to set boundaries on unacceptable behavior, you will see other problems cropping up.

"Georgia remains a successful example of what can be achieved with the support of EU and NATO and remains a model for other countries," she added. "What I would really like to see to happen in Georgia is that a very strong, united message come to the new U.S. administration. A very early engagement on the values you share and how you can work with new administration."

London-based Russia expert James Sherr seemed to echo that sentiment, warning that crafting policy solely in response to actions by the Trump administration carries its own risks.

"The real danger is that it will take a long time for a new policymaking system to emerge in the United States," Sherr told VOA's Ukrainian Service. "There's so many variables, there are so many different players, and there are so many informal actors that there's potential for chaos.

"This is a greater worry than the risk that the United States will make some grand damaging bargain with Russia that will change the whole European order. This situation could be chaotic and confused for a long time. This doesn't necessarily benefit Russia, but it certainly doesn't benefit Europe," he said.

"It's not going to benefit Ukraine either, but it also might mean that, at the level that thing happen -- say, for example, training Ukraine's armed forces, which is something that's been going on for a long time, or economic assistance, or even sanctions -- that a lot of things will simply continue, because there's been no real decision to stop it," Sherr said.

"Trump himself is not going to make it easy, because he has certain considerable authority of his ownand he can do some very rash and inconsistent things," he added. "So I'm not saying it's going to be good. That's not the point. But at this stage we just don't know.

"Everyone understands now that Russia is a serious and potentially dangerous military power; Europe, however, is not a hard-power animal," Sherr said.

"Trump's rash, ill-mannered threats about NATO have immediately produced a change of attitude in Europe and a consensus that defense spending in Europe must rise. He's been able to do this, through his bad behavior, more quickly and more effectively than two previous administrations that were more reliable from a European standpoint. So the United States continues to matter profoundly to Europe, and this will be particularly the case if the dynamics of disintegration continue inside the EU," he said.

Nana Sajaia of VOAs Georgian Service and Bogdan Tsioupine of VOA's Urkainian Service contributed original reporting.
Although there is no known exact figure, every year a significant number of young girls and mothers are raped in both the major cities and rural areas in Somalia. Amnesty International's latest annual report says rape and other forms of sexual violence are widespread in the country.

Some victims have been able to resist attempted assaults and in a rare case, one of them publicly discussed her ordeal with VOA's Somali service this week.

Horrific experience



The 38-year-old mother of two, speaking on condition of anonymity, fought back when attacked by a knife-wielding would-be rapist in the town of Beledweyne. She sustained more than eight stab wounds to her arms, hands, chest, shoulders and back.



I was looking for a grass to feed our two family goats. It was early in the morning just before dawn. I saw a man sitting somewhere in the bush. I felt very scared. And all of a sudden he attacked me with a knife," said the woman, who is recovering at a Beledweyne hospital.



He [the rapist] asked me to consent [to] his forcible sexual demand and once I refused he started stabbing me on the chest and that is when I decided to defend myself until I die. Then, he continued to stab me at arms, hands, chest, and shoulders and back until I fell down," she said.



She said the incident happened last Thursday night.



Hassan Omar Siyad, the doctor in charge of the hospital where she is receiving treatment said the victim has gone through live-saving surgery.

Siyad said the woman's attacker "escaped as she fell down, and she remained unconscious in a pool of blood for hours before she was found by pedestrians.



The woman is calling on local authorities to find the attacker and bring him to justice.



I would be happy to see the man who attacked me being detained and tasting the same pain I am going thought, she said in a low, demanding voice.

Unreported incidents



Despite their prevalence, incidents of rape and sexual assault are often unreported in Somalia because rape is still considered a taboo topic in Somali society. Many victims fear that they will be socially isolated if they report such attacks to police, their families or local elders.

However, earlier this month, authorities in central Somalia detained five men accused of raping two girls, after the news about the incident came to light through a video posted on social media.



A 2014 Human Rights Watch report said decades of civil conflict has have created a population vulnerable to sexual violence and at the same time, has destroyed institutions that are supposed to protect those most at risk.




Somali officials say dozens of people were killed or wounded when al-Shabab militants attacked a Mogadishu hotel with two vehicle bombs and a gun assault Wednesday.

Dr. Abdulkadir Abdirahman Aden, the head of ambulance services in Mogadishu, says medical teams have collected the bodies of 28 people so far.

Earlier, the Somali government said more than 50 others were injured. The National Union of Somali Journalists said seven journalists were among those wounded.

The attack started just before 9 a.m. local time when a suicide bomber detonated a truck filled with explosives outside the Dayah hotel, according to witnesses. The hotel is frequented by business people and members of parliament.

Somali Security Minister Abdirizak Omar Mohamed said the truck was loaded with charcoal to disguise the explosives.

Moments later, another vehicle arrived with four armed militants, who stormed the damaged hotel and exchanged fire with hotel guards and security forces. The gunmen also entered a building next to the hotel where they killed two security agents.

Amid the gunfire, the vehicle that brought the gunmen exploded, injuring bystanders. Officials believe it was detonated by remote control.

A video report from the scene, filed by VOA's Somali service, showed at least two sides of the hotel completely ripped away and flames leaping from the roof of a nearby building.

Islamic militant group al-Shabab, which has carried out similar attacks on Mogadishu hotels in the past, claimed responsibility on its website for Wednesday's attack.

Buildings near the hotel sustained massive damage.

Mohamed Hussein, who owns a barbershop in one of the buildings, said his business is destroyed and that one of his staffers is missing. My colleague is underneath. We dont know whether he is dead or alive," he said.

The business next to his, a restaurant, was also destroyed. He said four bodies were found in the restaurant.

Ahmed Yusuf Suleiman is a journalist who lives near the Dayah. When you see it with your eyes, it looks like a place where fighting has been going on for 10 years, he said. About five buildings nearby were destroyed or damaged.

Suleiman says his house was damaged and corrugated metal sheets blown off by the first explosion.

Duniya Mohamed Ali is the head of medical services at Medina Hospital, Mogadishus largest medical facility. She said 28 people were brought to the hospital Wednesday with injuries from the attack.

One lost a kidney, some lost arteries, some punctured veins and they need respiratory repairs, she said. Some have head injuries and they will need surgery but we dont have neurosurgeons in Mogadishu.

Ali says when someone is injured, the lives of entire families can be impacted.

These are families who already did not have much," she said. "They are economically destroyed, and they need a lot of help, not just moral support but also economical support.

Al-Shabab launches periodic bomb-and-gun attacks against Mogadishu hotels and other places where government officials are known to congregate. The group has been fighting since 2006 to overthrow the government and set up a strict Islamic state.


A gang rape video recorded in central Somalia could serve as a powerful test case for Puntland state's new sexual violence statute, and potentially for the rule of law in general in Somalia.

A group of men arrested and accused of gang raping and stabbing a pair of young girls in Somalia's Puntland state in December could face the death penalty or life imprisonment if they are found guilty. That is, if the state takes the case.

This case is the first case that calls for enforcement of the Sexual Offense Act, said lawyer Salim Said. This is a test for Puntland government's accountability in front of international law, in front of national laws, and also in front of their people.

A first for Somalia

Said drafted the new law, which Puntland enacted in December. It is the first law in all of Somalia to criminalize sexual assault. The new act draws on modern Western jurisprudence and is compliant with Islamic Sharia law.

In Puntland, the alleged perpetrators recorded the assault of one of the girls and posted it online, sparking national and international outrage. Somalia's Minister of Gender Sahra Samantar:

"Impunity is one of our biggest issues in Somalia, said Somalia's Minister of Gender Sahra Samantar. A lot of similar rape happens in Somalia ... but it's not publicly spoken. The fact that they now post it on social media, that gives at least the whole world to see indeed what happens in Somalia.

Change is the goal

Most rapes go unreported and unpunished in Somalia, but there is hope this case will usher in change.

According to Said, the new law in Puntland allows prosecutors to bring multiple charges against the suspects for gang rape, gang rape of an underage girl, and for posting a video of the assault online.

The charges could lead to up to 30 years in prison.

But since the suspects allegedly used a weapon during the assault, the case could fall under a section of Sharia law known as hirabah, with even harsher consequences.

Whenever they use weapon, means this crime qualifies to hirabah, which, according to [the] sexual offense bill, qualified either [for the] death penalty or life imprisonment," Said added.

Local elders dispense justice

But there is no guarantee the law will prevail because Somalia's government, even at the state level, has little real control after decades of war.

Said said in most parts of Somalia, local clan elders dispense informal justice through what is known as customary law. In customary law, rapists often only pay a fine as punishment, or the victims are forced to marry their attackers.

Since the collapse of the central government in 1991, customary law is one which prevails. The power is in the hands of the elders," according to Said. "They are taking advantage of the weakness of the rule of law, in the weakness of the government. If the Puntland government want to show that they are accountable, then I do not think they will hesitate to take action and take over this case.

Federal bill in works

A bill similar to the Puntland Sexual Offenses Act has been in the federal parliament for over a year, according to Antonia Mulvey, CEO of Legal Action Worldwide, which works with Somalia's legal system on sexual assault.

"We want to now use this as an opportunity to present the sexual violence bill to have public pressure upon them to pass it in its current form, Mulvey said. I hope this will galvanize religious leaders and the parliament to move it forward.

With so much on the line, rights advocates will be closely watching to see if the accused in this case in Puntland wind up in a state courtroom.
It is no longer first come, first served at public hospitals in southern Malawi.

Three years ago, health workers began using a system designed by the World Health Organization to triage sick children using the three colors of a traffic light.

Case in point: Patricia Hamza holds her daughters hand as they walk into the Ndirande health center. The girl looks pale and weak, and Hamza fears it is malaria.

As usual, the pediatric waiting room is full with mothers and their babies patiently waiting for medical attention.

But minutes later, a medical worker arrives, assesses the childs condition, and gives her a yellow ruler.

They head straight into the doctors room.

Chipatala Robot program

This is the Chipatala Robot program. Specially trained health workers sort children on arrival using the colors of traffic lights.

Red means emergency and the child should be seen immediately, priority cases are given yellow rulers so that they can jump the queue, while those with more minor complaints are assigned a green ruler, meaning they can wait.

Mtisunge Mhango is the coordinator for program.

A lot of children are saved through this system because they are recognized early at the health facility, Mhango said. And even at the referrals, they are sent in a stabilized condition rather than before where they could send the children without stabilizing them.

Children no longer dying

Health aide Mtendere Banda works at Ndirande, one of eight health centers using the system in southern Malawi.

Children are no longer dying in line while waiting for treatment, she said. She is not saying deaths have been reduced, she is saying they have stopped completely.

Researchers at Malawi-Liverpool Welcome Trust are studying the project, and officials are looking at expanding it to more hospitals.

For Hamza, it turns out her daughter has pneumonia.

She says they used to come to wait as early as five oclock in the morning and not return home until two in the afternoon. But this system is very efficient.

Just 20 minutes after they arrived at the health center, Hamza is in line to fill her daughters prescription and head home.

Watch: Red Means Go at Pediatric Wards in Southern Malawi


U.S. officials say President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order that would impose a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria, Sudan, and up to five other Middle Eastern and African countries.

The order is not likely to include a ban on religious minorities escaping persecution.

Sudanese Americans say the ban would be a big mistake.

Rudwan Dawod, a Sudanese American living in the west coast state of Oregon, said the order would affect the most vulnerable Sudanese seeking refuge in the United States. Sudan is a Muslim majority country.

"This decision is going to affect the lives of so many innocent people, especially refugees who are fleeing the dictator and radical Islamic government, and they are being punished by not thinking the same way and now they are being punished again by Donald Trump and it is just not fair," Dawod said.

Advice for Trump

Mohammad Badawi, a Sudanese citizen and lawyer who works for the Africa Center for Justice and Peace studies in Uganda, said he is not convinced that banning Sudanese from traveling to the U.S. will make America any safer. He advised Trump to think more strategically.

"Let us try to look at the issue of the security in a more global way. We have to get to the real reason why this is happening, and think about the measures that should be taken," Badawi said.

Dawod, who received his U.S. citizenship six years ago, said the order would affect his family personally.

"I have just started a process to bring my 74-year-old dad in a legal way. And I am expecting this decision to affect his process because I want him to be reunited with my family, and now it seems like it will be really difficult for them to come to the U.S.," Dawod said.

Dawod said he will contact his representative in Congress to ensure that his concerns are heard.

In a series of tweets, Trump had said he planned to focus on national security Wednesday.

During the U.S. presidential campaign, Trump proposed banning foreign Muslims from entering the United States. He later walked back such a blanket ban, instead saying people from countries flagged as terrorism concerns would be subject to "extreme vetting."
Clashes between rebel groups and their onetime al-Qaida-linked ally, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, have intensified in northern Syria with the jihadists accusing their former allies of having entered into a conspiracy against them.

The infighting, which erupted Tuesday as Russian-mediated peace talks were ending inconclusively in the Kazakh capital, Astana, has become a struggle for mastery between the jihadists and more moderate Islamist and secular-based groups in what is left of rebel-controlled territory in northwest Syria.

One of the triggers for the fighting are recent highly precise U.S.-led coalition airstrikes that killed more than 100 jihadist fighters in Syria.

Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as the Al Nusra Front, said the strikes hit one of its camps. It suspects the targeting information was supplied by other rebel groups, say commanders with Western-backed Free Syrian Army militias.

Jabhat Fateh al-Sham said its fighters had attacked opposition groups to prevent a conspiracy against it. It called for an end to the fighting between the rebel groups, which have been battling to oust President Bashar al-Assad for nearly six years.

The fierce clashes appear to have shattered the rebel alliance in the war-wracked country.

Opposition groups aligned with the Free Syrian Army have offered a cease-fire proposal, but there has been no immediate response. FSA commanders say Fateh al-Sham has no interest in a real cease-fire, but is aiming to reshape the battlefronts in the north and to win a power struggle for control in Idlib and western Aleppo.

Political activists and the monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights say clashes appear to be spreading from the western Aleppo countryside across Idlib and into coastal Latakia.

Irreversible consequences

The clashes mark the most serious fratricide between rebel groups since jihadists targeted Western-backed insurgent militias in late 2014, wiping out the Syrian Revolutionaries Front and Harakat al-Hazm, two of Washingtons then favored militias.

Analyst Charles Lister, author of the book The Syrian Jihad, says the current fighting will have irreversible consequences.

He points to a statement issued by the Syrian Islamic Council, an Istanbul-based religious body that has considerable sway with rebel groups. Tuesday, the council issued a fatwa against Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, dubbing it heretical and calling on all rebels to fight the jihadist group.

Until 2016, Fateh al-Sham openly acknowledged it was the Syrian branch of al-Qaida, but last July announced it was cutting ties to any "external entity. But it did not renounce publicly its oath of allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaidas leader.

FSA commanders and analysts have since maintained the group, arguably the most effective insurgent force in northern Syria, has remained al-Qaidas Syrian branch and its renaming was merely a marketing ploy designed to help it present itself as a Syrian movement focused purely on Assads ouster, and one no longer interested in waging international jihad.

This week, analysts from several organizations issued a report, "Combating al-Qaida in Syria", warning the terror group is acting to shape a safe haven in Syria as a key piece of real estate on Europes doorstep, allowing it strategic depth in its long war against the West.

As a result of the strong emphasis placed by the former Obama administration "on the counter-Islamic State campaign, al-Qaida and its enablers in the Syrian opposition movement have benefited, slowly and steadily shaping the sociopolitical norms of many areas of opposition-controlled northwest Syria, argued the report published by the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.

Building a new order

The report said JFS has been subverting the pluralistic and nationalist goals of the Syrian uprising and is aiming to build a new, enduring Sunni extremist order in Syria.

Since the fighting erupted, Russian and Syrian warplanes appear to have stopped targeting moderate rebel groups in the north and to have focused strikes on the jihadists, a reversal of their previous strategy. Earlier this week, the Pentagon denied it was coordinating airstrikes with the Russians or the Assad regime, but some analysts argue the circumstances appear to be fast approaching when that might change, especially as the Trump administration has talked openly of working with any country to fight terrorist groups.

In Astana, observers say while there was no breakthrough in the talks that saw rebels and Assad delegates briefly meet face-to-face, there appeared to be serious exchanges between Russia and rebel negotiators. Some rebels say they are hopeful Moscow might play a constructive role in pressing the Syrian government to negotiate a political resolution to the long-running conflict.

Among the moves building up rebel hopes is a sudden change in the classification by the Russian defense ministry of rebel militias Moscow previously dubbed "terrorist," including Ahrar al-Sham, a onetime close ally of Fateh al-Sham, but now involved in fighting against the jihadist group.
Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said on Tuesday he was losing patience with his conservative coalition partners, raising the prospect of a government collapse that could play into the hands of the far-right Freedom Party.

Kern, a Social Democrat, gave interviews in which he called on the conservative People's Party to back at least some of his recent proposals on economic and political reforms or face a breakdown of their coalition, which runs until 2018.

Spats within the centrist bloc are common and neither party appears to have a vested interest in an early parliamentary election, since polls suggest the anti-immigrant Freedom Party (FPO) would win. But Kern's remarks were unusually aggressive.

"Our patience is being seriously tested," Kern told the tabloid Kronen Zeitung.

"We have to provide results, otherwise there is no need for this government," he told newspaper Der Standard, which said he had called on the People's Party (OVP) to agree to unspecified "concrete measures" by Friday.

Whether Kern's comments were bravado or a serious threat remains to be seen. Polls regularly show the FPO in first place with support of roughly a third, followed by Kern's Social Democrats on around 27 percent and the OVP on about 19 percent.

The FPO candidate also put in a record performance in last year's presidential election, coming within a percentage point of becoming the first freely elected far-right head of state in Europe since World War II.

The FPO has been gaining support for years, helped by fears about economic insecurity and immigration in a country that was caught in Europe's migration crisis in 2015. Frustration has also grown at the two centrist parties that have dominated Austrian politics for decades and which many now see as ineffective.

Kern, who took over as head of the government in May, gave a slickly produced 105-minute speech this month unveiling a long list of proposals on issues ranging from cutting unemployment to achieving equality for women and reforming education.

The speech was partly an attempt to win back voters who have drifted towards the FPO, but some also saw in his list of proposals dubbed "Plan A" an implied threat to his coalition partners - Plan B being the end of the coalition.

Whatever his intention, the mood within the coalition appears to have soured since. In an apparent reference to the speech, conservative Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner told the daily Die Presse that "Kern puts appearances before work."

The two sides are due to hold a meeting on Wednesday to hammer out a set of coalition priorities.
President Donald Trump Wednesday ordered construction of a wall along the country's southern border with Mexico to thwart illegal migration while threatening to pull some funds from hundreds of so-called U.S. sanctuary cities.

Trump signed the immigration executive orders as he visited the Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency charged with protecting the U.S. border.

"We are in the middle of a crisis on our southern border. The unprecedented surge of illegal migrants from Central America is harming both Mexico and the United States," he said. "And I believe the steps we will take, starting right now, will improve the safety in both of our countries. It is going to be very, very good for Mexico."

The orders served as an exclamation point to one of the major forces behind Trump's lengthy run to a four-year term in the White House -- his contention that illegal migrants in the U.S. threaten its security and cost American workers their jobs. At rally after rally during his campaign, his most fervent cheering supporters shouted, "Build that wall!"

Trump told ABC News that construction of the wall would start within months and continued to contend that Mexico would pay for it, although Mexico has repeatedly said it would not.

WATCH: Trump on American reimbursement for border wall

Payment plan

Trump said the payment would perhaps be in a "complicated form," signaling it would not be a direct payment from Mexico City to Washington.

The Washington Post newspaper says money raised by a possible tax on Mexican imports could be used to pay for it.

Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin praised the actions in a statement.

"This is about keeping Americans safe. We are committed to working with the administration to stop the influx of illegal immigration along the southern border, protect our homeland, and uphold the rule of law. I applaud President Trump for keeping his promise to make this a national priority," Ryan said.

The executive order was not applauded by some, however. Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey condemned it in strong terms.

This is a terrible and ugly decision by a president who is more concerned with right-wing fringe movements than doing whats right for all of America, for the economy, and for the future of this country," Menendez said. "Donald Trump started his campaign by calling Mexicans rapists and murderers, and he is shamefully starting his presidency by declaring open season on immigrants and refugees, and making taxpayers foot the bill for his nativist impulses."

'Hostile act'

A senator from the Mexican opposition, Armando Rios Piter, calls the wall a "hostile act" toward the Mexican people. He is urging President Enrique Pena Nieto to cancel next week's meeting with Trump.

Late Wednesday, Pena Nieto said he "regrets and dispproves" of Trump's push to build a wall. He also said he "considering" cancelling next week's visit to Washington.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the U.S. would build more detention facilities along the border to house migrants who cross into the U.S. and then give them a "one-way ticket back to the country of their origin."

Spicer said the Trump administration would end what he called the "dangerous catch and release program" border agents currently employ. Migrants are let go after promising to appear in court. Many of them ignore the promise.

Officials say Trump is also considering a four-month freeze on all refugee admissions into the U.S., as well as a ban for at least 30 days for entry to the U.S. by anyone from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen  all Muslim majority countries.

The ban could also include an exception for people who are religious minorities in their country and facing persecution.

The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said it was aware of the U.S.-Mexican border issue and would "closely follow the impact" of any wall-building program on people seeking refuge in the United States.

"At a time of enormous needs for the protection of refugees," a UNHCR statement said, "we hope that the U.S. will continue its strong leadership role and long tradition of protecting those who are fleeing conflict and persecution."

National security

Trump often used his campaign rallies to criticize U.S. admissions of refugees, employing the phrase, "We have no idea who these people are." He also initially proposed a ban on admitting people from Muslim countries, drawing sharp criticism. He later amended his stance to include countries with links to terrorism.

He wants a wall along the entire 3,200-kilometer length of the U.S.-Mexico border. Currently, there is a barrier only along some of the border. U.S. agents patrol the border in vehicles, and monitor it with unmanned drones and infrared video.

Trump said Congress would initially authorize the U.S. government to pick up the cost  possibly $10 billion or more  and be reimbursed later by the Mexican government.

Trump has said building the wall would be easy. But experts say they doubt it noting the rough terrain along the border, with regular peaks and valleys. Some of the property along the border is owned privately and the owners say they do not want a wall.

Congressman Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democratic member of the House Homeland Security committee, said the executive order on the U.S.-Mexico border wall "is nothing more than political theater."

Thompson said the wall will do little to make America's borders safer.

"The Department of Homeland Security already has the authority to build border fence where there is operational need. Wasting billions on a wall will do nothing to address the thousands of people arriving at our borders, not trying to circumvent the existing fence or evade Border Patrol agents. It will do nothing to address those who come here legally, but overstay their visas," he said.

Trump's plan to put the $10 billion or more cost of the "wall on the American taxpayers' credit card," violates his campaign promise that American taxpayers would not pay for it, Thompson said. "Mexico has absolutely no intention of paying for it," he added.

Residents situated along the southern border hold opposing views, much like the rest of the country. But even among President Trumps supporters, some doubt the walls construction will amount to his promises.

It will never be a complete wall, because of the nondomestic animals that are native to this area, said Stuart Dilly, a gas station employee 2 kilometers north of the California border. He might find a way to get around it, but well see. I dont foresee the wall being any higher than it already is.

Jairo Carcamo, who crossed the border himself at 15 -- seeking refuge from Honduras -- isnt opposed to the wall as a deterrent to drug dealers and bad people, but offers an alternative solution.

Something good [Trump] can do is he can hire more border patrol, right there hes creating more jobs, Carcamo said.

But other locals consider Trumps plans detrimental to a border population of diverse heritage.

Los Angeles-native Leslie Ambriz, a volunteer at the humanitarian nonprofit organzation Border Angels, joined a group along the California desert to place jugs of water for crossing migrants. She says a walls central purpose is to create a division of people.

It says were better than you, Ambriz said, "and I dont think thats how people are supposed to be treated.

Sanctuary Cities

In addition, Trump targeted several hundred U.S. cities that by law or their political decisions have declared themselves "sanctuary cities," with police refusing to help federal agents identify undocumented immigrants so they could be detained and eventually deported.

Spicer said the new president will attempt to block federal funding to the cities that show "disregard for our laws." The cities individually could lose millions of dollars in federal aid. Many of the cities, including some of the biggest in the country, are located in states that Trump won in the November election.

Democratic House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi of California blasted both of Trump's executive orders.

With todays sweeping and constitutionally suspect executive actions, the president is turning his back on both our history and our values as a proud nation of immigrants," Pelosi said. "Wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on a border wall Mexico will never pay for, and punishing cities that do not want their local police forces forced to serve as President Trumps deportation dragnet does nothing to fix our immigration system or keep Americans safe."

Pelosi represents San Francisco, which is a sanctuary city.

Even with Trump's immigration decrees, the new administration is grappling with how to deal with former President Barack Obama's order allowing immigrant children who entered the U.S. illegally when their parents crossed the border to stay in the U.S. for two years without fear of deportation. Many of the children only know the U.S. as their home and now are students or working in the country.

Immigration hardliners want these children deported, along with their parents, but their supporters call them "Dreamers" and have advocated for allowing them to stay in the U.S.

Spicer said Trump officials would review the cases of the undocumented children "in a humane way."

WATCH: Spicer on immigration officers, sanctuary cities

Targeting criminals

Obama said his priority was to protect Americans, while also working to help immigrants who had been pushed from their homes by war, terrorism and political instability.

The Obama administration said refugees are "the most thoroughly screened travelers" to the United States, and are required to undergo security checks, including strict vetting by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and extensive interviews before they are allowed into the country. For many refugees, the process takes up to two years to complete.

In 2016, the U.S. admitted about 85,000 refugees, including more than 12,500 Syrians. Obama set a goal for the 2017 fiscal year, which began in October, of 110,000 refugee admissions.

VOA's Cindy Saine at the White House and reporters Victoria Macchi, Ken Bredemeier, Jeff Seldin, Ramon Taylor and Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
Confusion reigned in Washington on Wednesday about a purported draft executive order suggesting that President Donald Trump may review how America interrogates suspected terrorists and could reopen secret "black site" prisons outside the United States.

The New York Times and The Associated Press both reported they had copies of the document, which was said to be circulating among top administration officials.

But White House spokesman Sean Spicer insisted that the draft is not a White House document. He offered no further explanation or any theory about its author.

WATCH: Spicer on enhanced interrogation

The supposed presidential order would keep open the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where 41 suspected terrorists are still held.

Former President Barack Obama failed to keep his promise to close the facility. He contended that operation of the prison  where the Central Intelligence Agency used so-called "enhanced interrogation" in questioning suspects until Obama banned it  served as a recruiting tool for Islamic State terrorists.

Obama also closed the "black site" prisons, which had been run by the CIA.

Trump believes torture works

During his campaign for the White House, Trump endorsed bringing back waterboarding, a harsh interrogation method that simulates drowning, which Obama banned and now is prohibited by U.S. law.

Absolutely I feel it works, Trump said in an interview with ABC News Wednesday.

He said he has spoken with people at high levels in the intelligence community who agree, and that as far as he is concerned, We have to fight fire with fire.

His Defense Secretary James Mattis has said torturing suspecting terrorists is unlikely to prevent future attacks. Trump said in the interview he will rely on the judgment of Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

If they dont want do it, then thats fine, he said.

Even if Mattis were to believe that torture is an effective interrogation tool, former State Department official P.J. Crowley told VOA that Trump faces a "formidable legal and political obstacle," because the U.S. Army Field Manual clearly outlaws torture.

"This will be an area where political instinct will confront political reality and operational experience," Crowley told VOA's national security correspondent, Jeff Seldin. "I'm highly skeptical the executive order that is suggested is necessarily going to result in a dramatic change in U.S. law or U.S. approach."

Crowley said having both an intelligence team and a law enforcement team interview suspected terrorists has proven to be much more effective than using torture and harsh incarceration in "black site" secret prisons.

Guantanamo to stay open

Trump also has vowed to keep the Guantanamo detention center.

"We're gonna load it up with some bad dudes," he said during his campaign for the presidency. "Believe me, we're gonna load it up."

The supposed draft executive order, as described in media accounts, calls for top national security officials to "recommend to the president whether to reinitiate a program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States and whether such program should include the use of detention facilities operated" by the CIA, which the U.S. spy agency controlled after the 2001 al-Qaida terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

The CIA is believed to have run the clandestine prisons in Iraq, Lithuania, Thailand, Romania, Afghanistan and Poland.

News organizations said the document says U.S. laws should be obeyed at all times and explicitly rejects "torture."

Trump's presumed reconsideration of extreme types of interrogation drew an immediate rebuke from Arizona Senator John McCain.

The unsuccessful 2008 Republican presidential candidate was a U.S. naval pilot who was captured by North Vietnam in the 1960s and held as a prisoner of war for more than five years.

"The president can sign whatever executive orders he likes," McCain said. "But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America."

McCain said he had been assured by defense chief Mattis and new CIA Director Mike Pompeo that they would adhere to the Army Field Manual's limits on interrogation of terrorist suspects.
Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Wednesday this week's Syrian peace talks in Kazakhstan were a "serious diplomatic success."

Turkey, Russia and Iran brokered the two days of meetings in Astana with Syrian government and rebel delegates, agreeing in the end that they would monitor a partial cease-fire in Syria and support efforts to find a political solution to the country's conflict.

Yildirim said that solution should involve a new Syrian government "representing all factions."

One sticking point in previous peace talks has been the role President Bashar al-Assad would play in a new government. The rebels want him to leave power, but his supporters, including Russia, want him to stay.

A statement at the conclusion of the Astana talks said the Syrian sides should meet against next month in Geneva. Members of the Syrian opposition groups at the talks expressed doubts about the trilateral mechanism to ensure compliance with the cease-fire.

We are always skeptical about such countries, said Issam Alrayyes, spokesman for the Free Syria Armys Southern Front. I mean, mainly Iran. For sure Russia. But we hope this time that Russia is taking a different role.

Syrian opposition delegation leader Muhammad Alloush gave Russia a proposal for a comprehensive truce and said he expects an answer within a week.

Syrian government support

The Syrian government, backed by Russia and Iran, welcomed the trilateral plan, but made clear the government will push ahead with a military offensive against rebels just outside Damascus.

So, the issue here is not about who is happy and who is not happy, said Bashar al-Jaafari, the Syrian governments government negotiator and ambassador to the United Nations. The issue is that finally we have a consensus called final communique or final declaration agreed upon by everybody.

The rebel delegation, largely backed by Turkey, refused direct talks with the Syrian government, deflating hopes for a breakthrough. Some rebel groups, weren't even invited  seen as being too linked to jihadist organizations.

United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura says with so many parties fighting in Syria, including extremists, finding progress between the government and rebels is difficult.

Expecting the international community to actually come up with a miracle in a context like this and a divided Security Council is actually a little bit unfair to call a failure," he said. "But, rather quite a challenge.

The two sides met at the opening of the Astana Process talks on Monday but exchanged no words and sat at opposite ends of a massive round table. After the opening ceremony, they communicated only through intermediaries who shuttled between their separate rooms.

Both sides this week have accused the other of cease-fire violations. The truce, brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey, last month has been repeatedly marred by fighting. The cease-fire also didn't cover the entire country, and the Damascus government said it will continue attacks against what it called terrorist groups  mainly those allied with al-Qaida.

Astana or Geneva?

Theres an element of theatrics to it, says Noah Bonsey, the International Crisis Group's senior analyst on Syria. I think in so far as there has been real substantive discussion here in Astana, its been between the Turkish, Iranian, and Russian delegations. We dont know the full content of those discussions, we dont know how much they really got into what would be required to enforce the cease-fire on the ground, to make it truly national, to cover more of the country, to be better observed by both sides.

The Astana talks on Syria were the first such talks brokered by Russia, Turkey, and Iran. Some analysts say concerns that the Astana peace effort could overtake the more prominent negotiations in Geneva are overblown.

Did we just witness here in Kazakhstan the beginning of a new diplomatic platform distinct from that of Geneva or will this simply be an introduction to sort of energize Geneva talks, or something in between? I think the in-between is more likely, says Bonsey.

Kazakhstan hosted Syrian opposition talks in 2015 and the U.N. sponsored several rounds of negotiations that included the United States and produced short-lived cease-fires. Russia and Turkey invited the U.S. to the Astana talks but the State Department said President Donald Trumps administration was too busy with the transition to take part.

Instead, the U.S. ambassador in Kazakhstan attended as an observer.

Rebels at Astana say they will not attend the next meeting in Geneva, expected February 8, if the current cease-fire fails to hold.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Tuesday called on world powers to maintain sanctions against Russia, apparently in response to comments by President Donald Trump that indicated a U.S. willingness to ease the longstanding restrictions.

Earlier this month, Trump told The Wall Street Journal he would consider lifting some sanctions if Moscow supported U.S. counterterror objectives.

Last week he told The Times of London that sanctions against Russia could be fully eliminated as part of a nuclear arms reduction deal.

The United States, the European Union and others imposed sanctions on Russia in early 2014 over its annexation of the Crimea from Ukraine and its support for pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine's east.

We've enjoyed very strong bipartisan support in the United States during the last three years, and we don't see any reason to change this situation," Poroshenko told the press when asked about Trump's comments during a stopover in Estonia.

Bolstering NATO's eastern flank

Poroshenko's comments to the media came amid a two-day diplomatic tour of Estonia and Finland. Troops from both nations have participated in U.S.-backed military exercises aimed at countering Russia's heightened military presence along the coastal Baltics and Eastern Europe. Poland-bound U.S. tanks arrived in Germany earlier this month as part of a move to reassure nervous allies by pre-positioning artillery and military equipment throughout NATO's eastern flank.

We don't see any connection [between reducing or eliminating sanctions and] possible progress in the Middle East and the situation in Ukraine, Poroshenko added during a later stop in Finland. With that situation, the only effective way is sanctions, to motivate the Russian Federation, President Putin, to be at the negotiating table.

Sanctions called vital

Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, Ukraine's former top diplomat and one-time ambassador to the United States, called ongoing sanctions vital to long-term U.S. interests.

It's all important for the United States, and the president of the United States, to be engaged with the world, and the world to be engaged with United States, which is now headed by President Trump, he told VOA's Ukraine Service.

It is also all important for the Ukrainian government, he added. Ukraine is a nation ready to make sure that everything will be done  no effort spared  to make sure that this relationship will be ... a two-way street where the need for the strengthening of democracy and the rule of law, as well as the territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine, will be seen by the new administration as in the best interest of the American people.

Deal signed with Lithuania, Estonia

On Sunday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Western sanctions on Russia are likely to remain in place for a long time despite expectations that Trump's presidency will reduce tensions between Washington and Moscow.

Despite Trump's campaign trail criticism of NATO, the United States last week signed defense cooperation agreements with Lithuania and Estonia, formalizing the deployment of thousands of troops to bolster NATO defenses in the face of a Russian threat of aggression.

The agreements, signed Tuesday, will regulate the legal status of U.S. armed forces in the two Baltic states and are part of the biggest NATO reinforcement since the end of the Cold War.

This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Ukrainian Service. Some information was provided by Reuters.
North Koreas national carrier is facing repercussions from the United Nations Security Council sanctions adopted after the regimes defiant nuclear test last January, as more and more countries join the list of those banning North Korean commercial jets.

Pursuant to U.N. Security Council Resolution 2270, which are known to be the toughest sanctions against the North, the Malaysian government has banned Air Koryo from taking off from or landing in any airports under its jurisdiction, according to a report recently issued by the Security Council.

International sanctions

Malaysia has taken the necessary actions through aviation authorities to deny any DPRK aircraft permission to take off from, land in or overfly Malaysia, based on the guidelines of the Malaysian Aviation Commission Act 2015, said the Malaysian mission to the U.N. in New York.

The North Korean airline, which opened an air route from Pyongyang to Kuala Lumpur in 2011 and offered regular service once a week, took the last flight to the Malaysian capital June 8, 2014, according to the report.

Before Malaysias action, other countries had begun to implement the U.N. sanctions, denying Air Koryo from entering their territories.

In October, Sami Eid, air transport director of Kuwait International Airport, told VOA by email that the Kuwaiti government prohibited Air Koryo from landing in the countrys airport.

Increasingly grounded

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the move and thanked the government of Kuwait for efforts to help counter the proliferation of the communist state. The Kuwait City-bound flights had been operating from Pyongyang since 2011.

Pakistan, a refueling stop between Pyongyang and Kuwait, also told VOA in July that its aviation authorities had decided to deny North Korean flights access to Benazir Bhutto Islamabad International Airport, in compliance with the U.N. Security Councils resolutions against the regimes arms development. The last stopover made by the North Korean flag carrier was June 28, 2016.

In April, Air Koryo suspended its operation of flights to Bangkok, shortly after the Thai government hinted at possible actions against the carrier while endorsing Resolution 2270.

The U.N. Security Council Resolution 2270, which came on the heels of North Koreas fourth nuclear weapons test in January 2016, calls for all member states to deny permission to any [North Korean flagged] aircraft to take off from, land in or overfly, unless under the condition of landing for inspection.

Jenny Lee contributed to this report.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations says it recorded a significant increase in the number of human rights violations committed over the past year, and that state security forces were the main perpetrators.

The spike in violations has been recorded by the U.N. Joint Human Rights Office in its newly-released report for the Congo for 2016. The director of the human rights office, Jose Maria Aranaz, says there was marked deterioration.



We are particularly worried about the dramatic increase in human rights violations documented in the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Our office has documented 5,190 human rights violations, which represents a 30 percent increase compared to 2015, which was already a year of increase compared to 2014, Aranaz said.



DRC government spokesman Lambert Mende told VOA the figures sound exaggerated but declined further comment as he said he has not seen the report.



The U.N. says Congolese security forces committed most of the documented violations, while the rest were attributed to armed groups active in the east of the country.



It is a matter of particular concern the fact that state agents are responsible for the majority of these abuses, said Aranaz. They committed 64 percent of the violations and left behind 480 victims of extrajudicial killings and summary executions. The main perpetrator of human rights abuses in the country is the national police, followed by the army and the national intelligence services.

Restriction of political rights

The report draws special attention to the restriction of political rights which Aranaz said quadrupled in the past year amid opposition to delayed elections.

On New Year's eve, President Joseph Kabilas ruling alliance and most of the opposition signed an agreement. If implemented, this deal paves the way both for delayed elections to take place in late 2017 as well as a delayed departure for Kabila, whose second and final term expired last month.



Aranaz says it is crucial to ensure political freedoms during this precarious transition.



There is also a specific part in the political agreement signed on 31 December which refers to confidence-building measures. This refers basically to the opening of democratic space, the release of political prisoners or prisoners of opinion," Aranaz said.



Aranaz added that his office has also been pushing for other rights.



"We have been advocating that these confidence-building measures go beyond the political prisoners element and include lifting the ban on demonstrations for the opposition, stopping the instrumentalization of the judiciary, bringing the perpetrators of human rights abuses to justice, allowing media professionals to conduct their activities in a healthy environment and without threats, and for the police to refrain from using lethal weapons in crowd control, Aranaz said.



Earlier this week, Congolese authorities ejected a Human Rights Watch researcher from the country for the second time.
Ninety Somali immigrants who either ran afoul of U.S. law or had their asylum applications rejected have been deported to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, witnesses and officials said Wednesday.

Somalia's ambassador to the United States, Ahmed Isse Awad, told VOA Somali that these immigrants had sent letters to the Somali Embassy in Washington, requesting the deportation. All had been in detention centers or prisons.

"Most of them are people whose asylum cases [were] denied through [the] legal immigration process, and others broke the U.S. law and had received final orders for removal from courts in the United States," he said.

The flight carrying the 86 men and four women landed at Mogadishu's Aden Adde Airport after stopping in Nairobi to drop off two Kenyan deportees. It was not clear from where the flight originated or who had chartered the plane.

Mohamed Isma'il, a member of the staff at the airport, said a number of the deportees appeared gloomy and haggard.

"Some of them were happy and smiling, but most of them were very sad," he said. "A few of them had bags with their belongings."

Reports about Somalis being deported from the United States have emerged since Mogadishu reopened its embassy in the U.S. in November 2015 after a 25-year absence. Awad said the removal cases of these Somalis "have been dragging for the last three years. We were informed about their cases, and since the U.S. has its legal right to decide who is staying in its country and who is not, our role as the Somali Embassy was to know that they are willing to go back."

Dangerous place

The returnees came back to one of the world's most dangerous countries. Somalia has lacked a strong central government for more than a quarter-century; many countries, including the United States, have refrained from sending Somali immigrants back to the East African nation because of safety concerns.

Four years ago, for the first time in more than two decades, the United States granted official recognition to the Somali government, which is fighting al-Shabab militants with the help of 20,000 African Union peacekeepers and a small number of U.S. trainers.

But al-Shabab still manages to attack. On Wednesday, fighters set off two car bombs outside a Mogadishu hotel and exchanged fire with security guards. The attack left at least 28 people dead, according to the head of ambulance services in the city. At least five attackers were reported to be among the dead.
When retired Lieutenant Sean Murphy patrolled the dry brush California hills outside San Ysidro, on the north side of the U.S.-Mexico border, there was no towering wall. The barrier that existed barely cast a shadow.

It was a wooden post here, and a wooden post there, and some barbed wire, Murphy said.

That was the 1980s.

In a span of three decades, as successive U.S. presidents presented their blueprints to secure the border, the barrier expanded, sometimes parallel to previous fences - two or three layers thick. Today, it stretches no more than 1,000 kilometers in total, along 3,000 kilometers of border that is mostly desert.

The greatest wall

Before he became president, Donald Trump made no secret of his plans to build a wall - the greatest wall that youve ever seen - made of concrete, steel and rebar. His motive: to prevent crime and drugs from crossing north and migrants from taking U.S. jobs, charges he made repeatedly in 2016.

Whos going to pay for the wall? he would ask at his campaign rallies, ear flexed toward his supporters.

Mexico! they yelled.

President Trump vows to deliver on this promise, despite Mexicos insistence that it will not pay - an endeavor that could cost as much as $25 billion, according to research compiled by the Washington Post, more than double Trumps 2016 estimates for a 10-12-meter, 1,600-kilometer structure.



WATCH: U.S.-Mexico border wall

Eastward migration

Murphy of the San Diego Police Department says he has seen migrants change course as a result of the barriers in place today, the first under the president Clinton-led Operation Gatekeeper in 1994, and again under president George W. Bushs Secure Fence Act of 2006.

Back in the day  you would run into people with large duffel bags, and guess whats in the duffel bag? Murphy asked, answering his own question - drugs.

But while border-related crime is down in southern California, where large sections of the Bush-era fence are in place, Murphy says migration has only moved eastward into Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. And he doesnt foresee any wall stopping criminals from entering.

Theyre getting a little bit more creative. Now theyre using boats to get up the coast. They are trying to bring it in through 18-wheelers and tractor trailers, Murphy said.

Wall of shame

In the vast desert outside Jacumba, California, Enrique Morones - founder and director of Border Angels - drops gallon jugs of water beside bushes for migrants who might otherwise die from dehydration.

He calls the barrier there the wall of death and a wall of shame.

This wall of Operation Gatekeeper, from 1994, has led to the death of more than 11,000 people, Morones said, using a figure that he says accounts for both sides of the border.

Morones laments that many of those who perished remain unidentified and unknown to the world.

Youll recognize the image of the little boy with the red T-shirt on, face down in the Mediterranean Sea  but nobody has ever seen the picture of Marco Antonio Villasenor, a boy almost the same age, he said. He was five years old, and he died crossing the desert into Texas with 18 men.

Ev Meade, director of the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego, says many are under the false impression that the border is open, due to the lack of a physical wall along 2,000 kilometers of land.

In addition to aerial technology, Meade says the treacherous mountain ranges along the Sonoran Desert with Arizona already serve as deadly natural barriers.

Its a searing desert with mountain ranges that arent precisely parallel, meaning that it is very difficult to know where you are.

Seaborne crisis

Where the land ends in southern California, the Pacific Ocean begins.

While the majority of migrant deaths in the United States are due to lack of water, officials are increasingly concerned about those resulting from seaborne excursions.



As Morones notes, coyotes or smugglers who send migrants north provide no necessary precautions before pushing them out to sea.

They cross in little fishing boats called pangas, - they dont cross [by the shore] and just show up over here. They go a couple hundred miles north, and they show up in San Clemente, he said. The smugglers dont provide life vests, the boats are made for two people and they put 15 people on them. They flip over and the people die.

A place to reunite

As waves break on the rusting border structure, there is one place on the far west coast where immigrants can see their relatives. Friendship Park is run by the U.S. Border Patrol on weekends.

Through holes one centimeter in diameter, families separated for years attempt to touch by the fingertips.

One family, from Michoacan, Mexico, traveled four hours by plane so that they could see their son, Alejandro Moreno, a resident of California, who lacks the legal documents to travel home and return to his studies.

It was the second such reunion for the family in 14 years. Morenos sister burst into tears.



My heart breaks, she said. But theres no other way. We have to persevere.

But Moreno, once resigned to the possibility of never seeing his mother again, now takes a different outlook.

I know some people dont ever see their parents, he said. But this gives me hope that maybe one day I can hug her.

Arturo Martinez contributed to this report.

Watch: Legal, Logistical Hurdles Confront a US-Mexico Border Wall


A bill (LB45), introduced by Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse, was advanced to second reading. The bill would allow non-federalized reservists to be eligible for military honor plates.

The Executive Board will meet at 1 p.m. to decide whether to set up a committee to review a residency challenge by Chambers' election opponent John Sciara, who has claimed Chambers is living in Bellevue, rather than in his north Omaha District 11. Chambers owns a home in north Omaha and says the challenge is not legitimate.
Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists have detained and abused people "with complete impunity", according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Wednesday in Kyiv, the groups repeated concerns voiced in a joint report released last year documenting arbitrary, prolonged, and occasionally secret detentions. The rights watchdogs say they have seen "no positive developments" regarding the abuses documented in the July report.

At least nine cases of Ukrainian authorities detaining civilians accused of coordinating with Russian-backed separatists were cited, and nine more of separatist forces detaining civilians suspected of spying for the Ukrainian government.

The human rights organizations say they suspect the number of such detentions is much higher than they are able to document.

"Torture and secret detention ... are taking place right now, on both sides of the conflict," said Denis Krivosheev, deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International. "Those countries providing support, to whatever side, know this perfectly well. They must not continue to turn a blind-eye to these abhorrent abuses."

In the West, Russia is largely seen as having fomented and supported the unrest in eastern Ukraine as retribution for mass protests in Kyiv, which in February of 2014 toppled a pro-Moscow president. Russia denies any official involvement.
The White House said Tuesday that President Donald Trump continues to believe that voting by millions of undocumented immigrants cost him a victory in the national popular vote in November's election.

"It's a belief he maintains," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters, one day after the new president rehashed the election at a reception for congressional leaders, repeating the debunked claim that 3 million to 5 million immigrants in the country illegally voted for his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Spicer offered no evidence of fraud. Pressed by reporters on what evidence Trump has, Spicer said Trump "has believed that for a while, based on studies and information he has."

But election officials who have analyzed the November 8 vote say there were almost no indications of voter fraud  certainly not on the scale Trump cites.

Several reporters at Tuesday's White House briefing questioned Spicer, asking why if the president believes there was such massive voter fraud, the administration is not launching an investigation.

Spicer said Trump is confident in his Electoral College victory and wants to focus on fulfilling his campaign promises to American voters. When pressed again on the voter fraud allegations by reporters, Spicer said a future investigation is possible.

Republican response

Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters he has seen no evidence of rampant voter fraud in the 2016 election.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters voter fraud does happen, adding: "There are always arguments on both sides about how much, how frequent and all the rest."

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the Republican presidential contenders Trump defeated in the run-up to the national election against Clinton, called on the president to stop repeating the claim, saying that if he has evidence of fraud, "he needs to disclose why he believes that."

Clinton won the popular vote count over Trump by nearly 3 million votes. But Trump won where it mattered  in the Electoral College, the system the U.S. uses to pick its presidents, with the state-by-state election results determining the winner, not the national vote total.

Graham, who dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination after winning little voter support, said, "I would urge the president to knock this off. This is the greatest democracy on Earth; we're the leader of the free world, and people are going to start doubting you as a person if you keep making accusations against our electoral system without justification. This is going to erode his ability to govern this country if he does not stop it."

Another of Trump's Republican one-time presidential foes, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, said, "I have no evidence whatsoever, and I don't know that anyone does, that there were that many illegal people who voted, and frankly it doesn't matter. He's the president, and I'm not sure why he brought it up."

Delusional statement

Another presidential candidate, Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who ran as a Democrat against Clinton, told reporters Trump's voter fraud claims are "nonsensical." He said it is "a delusional statement."

Sanders said he fears that Trump is laying the foundation for more restrictive voting laws.

"What I fear about that statement, he said, and what is something we should all worry about ... he is sending a message to every Republican governor in this country to go forward with voter suppression."

Sanders called voter suppression the greatest democratic crisis facing the United States.

In a Facebook Live interview with USA Today, Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said no one in the room with Trump at the White House meeting Monday evening gave much credence to his voter fraud remarks. Schumer called on Republican lawmakers to speak up and challenge false claims.

"When these falsehoods are told, our Republican colleagues have an obligation to reject them," Schumer said.

Trump, apparently worried that his election was delegitimized by Clinton's popular vote advantage, complained about media reports over the weekend that used photos looking from the Washington Monument toward the U.S. Capitol where he was sworn in, that showed far more people attended former President Barack Obama's 2009 inaugural than his.

On Tuesday, Trump posted another photo on his Twitter account from a different vantage point, showing a large crowd in front of the platform where his swearing-in occurred. He said the photo would be hung near where the news media works at the White House.
The charge levelled at the Obama Administration by the newly elected President Trump? It would have obtained peanuts or nothing at all from the allies in exchange for the defense that the US is guaranteeing them. This charge has spurred the New York Times to descend into the fray. On 16 January, it published a report, based on official data, to demonstrate [just] how much the Obama Administration has done to defend US interests abroad.

Treaties have been concluded with more than 30 countries that contribute to bring stability to regions that, economically and politically speaking, are the most important for the United States. To this end, the United States has permanently deployed more than 210, 000 soldiers overseas, particularly in active conflict zones.

In Europe, the US maintains around 80,000 soldiers plus the Sixth Fleet stationed in Italy, to defend Nato allies and as a deterrent against Russia. In exchange, the US has secured from its Nato allies an undertaking to defend the United States and the option to maintain its own military bases near Russia, the Middle East and Africa with the Allies bearing 34% of the cost of this. This permits the USA to have the EU as its biggest trading partner.

In the Middle East, the United States maintains 28,000 soldiers in the Gulf Monarchies and also has its Fifth Fleet stationed in Bahrain, to defend the free flow of oil and gas and at the same time its allies against Iran. In exchange, it has gained access to 34% of global oil exports and 16% of natural gas exports; it has also secured the option of maintaining its military bases against Iran, with 60% of the cost borne by the Gulf Monarchies.

In Eastern Asia, the United States is maintaining more than 28,000 soldiers in South Korea and 45,000 in Japan plus the Seventh Fleet stationed at Yokosuka, to contain the influence of China and to support the Allies against North Korea. In exchange, it has secured the option of maintaining US military bases near China and North Korea, part of the cost of which has been shifted to the Allies: 40% in South Korea and 75% in Japan. This allows the USA to build important trading partnerships with Japan and South Korea.

In South-East Asia, the United States has a fluctuating number of soldiers, in the range of several thousands, to support Thailand and the Philippines as well as Australia in the Pacific. The military exercises for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, through which 30% of the global maritime trade passes, falls under this heading. In exchange, the United States has secured the option of protecting maritime trade worth more than 5,000 billion dollars per year. At the same time, it has secured a region that is friendlier to the United States and more able to unite with it against China. Left out of this list is the fact that during the Obama Administration, the Pentagon, began to line up against China, alongside the warships, the Aegis system. [This system] is similar to the one already lined up in Europe against Russia and is capable of launching not only anti-missile missiles but also cruise missiles which can be armed with nuclear heads.

Thus Trumps criticism of Obama is entirely groundless. A fact-checker clearly demonstrates this. Thus in his declaration in his final State of the Union address, Obama states:

America is the strongest nation on Earth. We spend more than on the military than what the other eight nations put together spend. Our forces are the finest fighting force in the history of the world.

This is the legacy left by the good president. What will his evil replacement do now?
With just a few days to go before leaving the White House, Barack Obama has decided not to waste the opportunity to strengthen the deployment of US troops in South America.

Indeed, [three parties] - one of Perus regional governments (the Amazonas), the U.S. Southern Command or SouthCom and the company Partenon Contratistas E.I.R.L. - have just signed off a plan to set up a new military base, under the sheepskin of the Centre for Operations for Regional Emergency (COER) in the Amazonas [1]. The funding for this centre will be just over $USD 1,350,000. With the launch date for the project being 29 December 2016, it will be completed in approximately 540 days.

According to information provided by the Peruvian government, the US military base will have a heliport covering 625 m2; a two storey building on the first floor of which will be a 1,000 m2 warehouse for humanitarian aid. On the second floor, the COER will function together with the operational modes (logistical, communications, monitoring and analysis etc.); there will also be a conference room, a press room, dormitories and a 800 m2 parking lot.

There can be no doubt: this is intervention wrapped under a blanket of humanitarian aid. Quite contrary to the official line, it is not a strategy driven to strengthen the Peruvian capacity to respond to natural catastrophes. The United States is sinking its military claws into the South Cone under the approving eye of Perus President, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. South American sovereignty is under threat.

The United States no longer needs to launch wars to conquer and assert its hegemony on Latin American soil; now the region is brought to heel by far subtler means: through initiatives of covert militarization [2]. In addition to its war against terrorism, Washington is using the fight against drug trafficking and its alleged commitment to respecting human rights as covers for intermeddling in the internal affairs of other countries.

Peru is a vital platform to enable the United States to consolidate its plan to dominate the whole of South America, an area, that, as we already know, has immense reserves of natural strategic resources, (gas, oil, metals, minerals etc.). At least during the last decade, South American governments have inflicted a mighty blow to US economic and political gravitation on the continent.

However, since 2009, Peru has not posed any resistance to Washingtons imperial incursions which have converted it into one of the countries in Latin America with the greatest presence of North American armed forces on its territory: before approving the installation of this new military base in the Department of the Amazonas, the US SouthCom had already taken root in the regions of Lambayeque, Trujillo, Tumbes, Piura, San Martin and Loreto.

It must be stressed that military cooperation between Washington and Lima is not restricted to setting up military bases; the United States has followed up by fully integrating itself into the [Peruvian] security and defense apparatus. Pursuant to authorization by Perus Ministry of Defense, special operation units of the Joint Command of Armed Forces, the Command of Intelligence and Joint Special Operations and the Special Unit, VRAEM, received training from US forces between May and September 2016 [3].

In tandem, the Peruvian forces have led countless joint military exercises with the United States. Their justification? To strengthen its defence strategies against external aggression. One of the most important operations is the Silent Forces Operation (SIFOREX, by its English acronym). This operation takes place every two years in the Mar de Grau and is considered one of the most important international naval operations.

Peru is clearly aware that South America is sailing through turbulent waters and is, at the same time, affronted by an aggressive campaign to harass it. In addition to economic woes [4], the region is the victim of a powerful offensive driven from outside that seeks, through all kinds of means, to consolidate Washingtons presence.

US military incursions in the region are advancing at an accelerated pace. This is partly due to several governments turning to the Right - especially after Mauricio Macri assumed the presidency of Argentina, and the parliamentary impeachment of Dilma Rousseff in Brazil, and partly due to the tireless effort to undermine the influence of countries such as China, Russia and Iran [5].

Arming Peru right to the teeth, represents a vital pawn for the United States to succeed, further down the line, in setting up other military bases in Argentina, at its border with Brazil and Paraguay [6]. Undoubtedly, building a better future for South American countries confronts a serious danger 
Asghar Farhadi. Photo: Habib Majidi/Courtesy of Cohen Media Group

The Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi understands English perfectly and speaks it competently, but prefers to use an English interpreter to conduct his interviews. It makes for a strange conversation  to look at someone intently while he answers in a language you dont understand, only to have to do it again with the interpreter. Several times, they stop to confer with each other over a word choice in Persian. Such verbal exactitude mirrors the great precision of Farhadis films  taut, suspenseful explorations of knotty ethical issues, like the emotionally wrenching divorce in the Oscar-winning A Separation (2011) or the devolving relationships of a group of friends after one disappears in About Elly (2009).

On this frigid morning in early January, Farhadi, whos 44, has left behind the temperate winter of Tehran to come to New York to collect his Best Foreign Language Film award from the National Board of Review for his latest film, The Salesman, which also picked up Best Screenplay and Best Actor at Cannes in May and is nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Even in a warm midtown office, he has wrapped his scarf around his neck multiple times. We have met to talk about The Salesman, but in speaking of a major theme, he could be talking about any of his seven films: Its the most important question one should ask in ones life, he says.  What would I do if it were me? 

The film centers on a couple in Tehran who are actors in a theater company producing Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman. In the opening scene, Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti of About Elly) and Emad (Shahab Hosseini of A Separation) are being forced from their apartment after ominous cracks appear in the buildings walls and windows. As a viewer, you are immediately sympathetic to Emad, who is kind and casually heroic during the evacuation of his fellow tenants. He and Rana seem happy. But after she is attacked in their new home, Emad, consumed by his desire to avenge her, becomes someone he and Rana do not recognize. Emad turns the whole situation into a personal retaliation, says Farhadi. Without understanding it himself, Emad gradually forgets Rana and what was done to her. In the end, the damage she has seen is less than the damage she sees after her husband removes her from the story.

It is commonly expressed that you never really know anyone, even those you love most. Farhadi is equally interested in how we dont know ourselves, as much as wed like to think otherwise. There are parts that remain hidden, he says, and only in climactic situations do people learn about the other sides of themselves. The same could be said of a country: Under certain circumstances, a society might do something to shock itself.

Farhadi, it turns out, traveled to America the day after our presidential election. I was absolutely certain that the people here would vote for Hillary, he says. And then I felt like I have no understanding of the American people. That makes two of us, I say, and he laughs. I describe how friends and families turned on each other during the campaign. We had the same experience with a president, he says, referring to the conservative populist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, replaced in 2013 by the more moderate Hassan Rouhani. Ahmadinejad and Trump are not the same, but many of us felt a similar shock  this man couldnt possibly be our president.

And how did he survive those eight years? Farhadi pauses before replying. It was the most bitter period of life that I remember.

Farhadis films exist on a battlefield between the present and the past. One of our greatest wishes is to return and correct our mistakes. What makes us old, he adds, is not the passage of time, but the weight of the past on our shoulders. You see this poignantly expressed in the final scene of The Salesman, as Rana and Emad are made up for that nights performance, each dumbstruck and haunted by his act of revenge  an event that had been unimaginable just weeks before.

The members of Irans new middle class  young, sophisticated, religiously tolerant, and thirsty for progress  are fertile subjects for the sort of moral entanglements at the heart of Farhadis work. Like Emad, they are trying, at a rapid clip, to reconcile the traditions of a 1,000-year-old culture with Western ideas. One of the reasons Farhadi chose Millers 1949 play was because of the parallels with America then and Iran today. Willy Loman is being victimized by the fast pace of capitalism, with its attendant shift from us to me. We are struggling so much with our own individualism, says Farhadi, that we cant see the world around us. All our lives we are trying to understand ourselves, and we still fail at that.

Farhadi has always felt that, emotionally, Iranians are closest to Americans. He grew up watching the films of the directors that he continues to like most: Martin Scorseses earlier work (particularly Raging Bull), Coppolas Godfather films, Elia Kazans, Kubricks. He relishes the slower pace of that era, when audiences were encouraged or allowed to think. Todays mainstream films too often take that power away, he says, as if the audience is shutting down their mind, focusing only on following the story.

He made his first film more than 30 years ago, when he was 13. Once Farhadi started making features as an adult, after studying theater, he worked within the constraints of low budgets and government censorship to produce his deeply nuanced portraits of modern Iranians  individuals an audience can view with understanding no matter their actions, in the vein of films by Scorsese and Kazan. I ask Farhadi why he remains in Iran when he would have greater freedom working in the West. He says he will never stay away for long; the culture and Persian language enrich him. In their everyday conversations, Farhadi says, people use poetry. Even when he does leave  as he did to film 2013s The Past in Paris  he doesnt journey far emotionally. His next film, his first with two non-Iranian stars  Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem  will be shot in Spain. In terms of production, its different from what Ive done in Iran, says Farhadi. But in terms of cinematic language, its continuing what Ive done so far. Its about empathy between people.

*This article appears in the January 23, 2017, issue of New York Magazine.
Photo: Al Levine/NBC via Getty Images

Dan Aykroyd, the former fiance of the late Carrie Fisher, has chosen to speak out regarding her death with a touching remembrance in Londons Empire magazine. The couple had initially met when Fisher hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1978, and their romance blossomed during the filming of Blues Brothers in 1980. Ultimately, though, Fisher left Aykroyd to marry Paul Simon shortly after their engagement. In his tribute, Aykroyd wryly recalls their courtship and how they fell in love on the set of the classic John Landis film. While in Chicago we obtained blood tests for compatibility from an East Indian female doctor. Contemplating marriage, I gave Carrie a sapphire ring and subsequently in the romance she gave me a Donald Roller Wilson oil painting of a monkey in a blue dress next to a tiny floating pencil, which I kept for years until it began to frighten my children, he wrote. One of the most brilliant and hilarious minds of our eon  you can imagine how much of a privilege and honour it was for me to have known this one-off, broke-the-mould woman as a great friend. An LSD-heavy trip the couple took in Lake Tahoe was also outlined in detail, where they rented a wagon and checked in for three days of full-on weeping to Christmas classics.

Aykroyd ended his tribute by fondly reminiscing about their final romantic weekend together, when they ill-fatedly moved from Chicago to Marthas Vineyard, much to Fishers chagrin. He would later marry the actress Donna Dixon in 1983.
Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Faced with a new administration that believes in proudly trumpeting alternative facts  or, as we previously called them, lies  Americans seem to be turning to answers from a book about a dystopia that is looking more and more plausible: George Orwells 1984. The aforementioned alternative facts is a term coined by President Trumps adviser Kellyanne Conway when she defended White House press secretary Sean Spicers easily disproven falsehoods about Trumps inauguration on Sundays Meet the Press. Orwells classic, which has long been a staple of classrooms, features a totalitarian government that attempts to control the public by altering the English language into newspeak. By changing the meaning of words and erasing words altogether  much like changing a proven falsehood into an alternative fact  the political party hoped to control peoples ability to have original thought. According to The Hollywood Reporter, following Conways viral statement, the 1949 novel jumped onto Amazons top-five-seller list by midday Tuesday. Though weve also heard the alternative fact that Amazons top five is currently made up of five different editions of Donald Trumps The Art of the Deal.
Public school advocates took turns at a podium in the State Capitol on Wednesday to argue against charter schools and vouchers they say would hurt what some consider the best public school systems in the nation.

Public education is the great equalizer of our nation and the best weapon against poverty and undoubtedly one of the greatest investments we can make in our communities," said Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks.

The news conference  which included state senators, public school officials and teacher union representatives  was held a day before a school choice rally that last year drew hundreds to the Capitol steps.

Bills introduced in the Legislature this session would allow students in low-performing schools or districts to attend charter schools or get vouchers for private schools. Nebraska is one of seven states that doesnt authorize charter schools and previous attempts to allow them in Nebraska have failed.

But momentum could be shifting nationally and locally. Betsy Devos, President Trumps pick for education secretary, is a strong proponent of charter schools, and in Nebraska, Gov. Pete Ricketts and some senators support the idea.

Organized opposition includes a national campaign by the National Education Association to oppose the confirmation of Devos.

Ann Hunter Pirtle, the executive director of the pro-public school group Stand for Schools, said Nebraska boasts one of the highest graduation rates in the country and has the seventh-highest college-going rate.

But Nebraska also ranks second-lowest in state investment in schools, which has created an over-reliance on property taxes, she said.

Speakers argued that Nebraska already has school choice, with private and public schools and option rules that allow families to enroll in different schools.

Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent Steve Joel said LPS has a career academy, focus programs and an International Baccalaureate program to serve different student needs.

We invest in all kids," Joel said.
You know how you can think youre doing fine  until your mom asks you how you are, and suddenly youre dry-sobbing in the middle of the sidewalk, realizing that your life is in shambles, you might be unlovable, and youre also fairly certain you have strep throat? Well, thats the overall vibe of this episode of Ladies of London. Moms  excuse me, mums  are on the loose, and everyones feeling just a little fragile.

Its actually very sweet, not a word usually used in the near vicinity of an Andy Cohen production. Theres hardly anything in the world more emotionally complex than family dynamics, and the ladies are pretty transparent about their familial struggles and triumphs. Its vulnerable, its relatable  and then you see a flashback to teenage Caroline Stanbury cutting a cake decorated in the fashion of what is undoubtedly a blurred-out Marlboro Reds box, while she drinks tea and eats on her parents glorious estate in present day. Its enough to make you think, Huh, maybe Ill never really understand this rich-English-people thing at all. And thats why Ladies of London is the best.

The episode kicks off as any day should, with Caroline Fleming visiting the local fishmonger to find supplies for a lobster salad recipe for her cookbook, which she invites Marissa over to taste test. Marissa has had a rough go of it lately, but today shes lending support to Caroline, whose father is in the hospital. Even though Carolines family is very private, Marissa wants her to know she can always talk to her. Caroline furrows her brow behind her readers, takes the offer into consideration, then gets about two inches from Marissas face and says, Theres a part of me thats very frightened to open up to you. Funny, theres a part of me that wonders if I would be very frightened to meet Caroline Fleming in person.

Cue the inevitable scene of Caroline telling Marissa, Well, its got back to my parents, because weve flashed back at least 1,000 times this season. But now Caroline is working to trust Marissa, just like Julie is working to find any reason to be mad at the flawless Sophie. Mid-makeover, Julie explains to Adela that shes feeling hurt by Sophie because she wont let her talk about Caroline Stanbury on account of their Were Family, Lets Not Talk Shit About Each Other pact. Adela asks, Isnt that a gift? If you dont talk to Sophie about it, it wont get back to Caroline. Yes, Adela! That is correct and logical. I am very impressed by your beauty and your sobriety and your toned arms!

I am also impressed by this Adela comment: Juliet makes me feel physically ill, which might have elicited my biggest LOL of 2017. After that little run-in where Juliet called Adela selfish for having attempted to commit suicide during the lowest point in her life, Adela is wondering if perhaps the two should have a conversation about Juliets judgmental negativity. And what better place to do that than at the drunken bacchanal that is the Henley Royal Regatta?

Caroline Stanbury, however, is unable to attend because her father ended up in hospital. Earlier in the episode, we were treated to a tour of her parents estate, Southrop, which is somehow both decadent and quaint. They take tea outside and bond over how wonderful it is that both Caroline and her mother despise emotion. Caroline admits that shes a daddys girl, though her mother has always thrown her wonderful birthday parties  cue the photo of that cigarette cake that I have oh, so many questions about.

Unfortunately, her fathers health has dipped since that visit, and now shes back at home with her mother. Both valiantly try to continue acting like theres no use bothering with emotions. Or, as Caroline puts it, I just prefer that you not know Im upset  that doesnt mean Im not upset. As someone who has a tendency to also be this way, I can see how it might be bothersome to friends and family. They think youre fine and then suddenly youre raving about loyalty. But Caroline seems to be in a good place now. She even manages to touch her mothers hand in comfort! For both women, its nearly too affectionate.

Back at the regatta, the other ladies are settling in for a day of drinking alcohol out of chests with extra-long straws. Much of the Henley Royal Regatta seems to revolve around straws: how long they are, and what weird things you can put them in. Much of the regatta also seems to revolve around Julie trying to bring the drama.

When Adela asks if she should confront Juliet in front of everyone  clearly new to this Bravo thing  Julie literally screams, YES! Juliet happens to come back at that moment, and Julie says, Oh, were your ears burning? so Adela is forced to tell Juliet that they were just talking about her. Without standing up for Juliet in any way whatsoever, I will say that this was the worst possible way to confront Juliet about her defensive nature. Arriving at a table to find that a group has been talking about you could make anyone defensive, let alone the personification of a screaming banshee Roomba.

Somehow, Juliet doesnt freak out. She just says that shes put up a wall because she was too nice when she first moved to London. (Okay, girl!) Now shes realized she doesnt need 100 friends or everyone to like her. (Congrats, girl!) Adela says that helps her understand, since she just didnt want Juliet to think she was saying things behind her back that she wouldnt say to her face. Once Juliet realizes Adela may have been talking behind her back, she nearly goes into full kamikaze mode, but Julie decides its her turn to be the annoying expat instead. As everyone agrees that theyd rather their friends express any annoyances directly to them, Julie screams, Shut up! Honestly, people! Ugh.

Julies whole thing is that she doesnt think its talking behind someones back if youre just expressing your feelings. Of course, her real thing is that shes annoyed because I cant go to Sophie anymore and say how I feel about Caroline because theyre sisters-in-law. JULIE, YES. That is exactly right. You can talk shit about Caroline Stanbury to anyone else, just not Sophie. And Sophie, bless her heart, explains one (hopefully) last time that its a boundary she just wont cross.

After her emotional time in Scotland, Marissa is finally heading to see her doctor, and man, this storyline really cuts deep. I got way teary when she talked about being conflicted about connecting with baby Sadie for fear of it hurting worse if she lost her. Im getting emotional just thinking about it again, so I can understand why Marissa wound up crying herself. Her doctor is also very understanding, and Id say he has about 120 percent more credibility than any other doctor Ive ever seen on one of these shows. He tells her that everything shes feeling is normal, but if she starts feeling as emotional as she was in Scotland, they need to keep an eye on it.

Thank goodness for a brief emotion-overload reprieve via Caroline Fleming, who brings her charming brand of crazy to Ravens Ait for her traditional Midsummers Eve celebration. A cute, unassuming event planner named Liam comes down to the water taxi to meet her and Juliet, but Caroline instructs him to get on the boat for a minute. See, a friend advised her that when people clear their houses of spirits  this is the island that the spirits come to. Liam sputters out, Thats the first time Ive heard that before, and Caroline reasons that he must be doing alright because the spirits have chosen to come there and are therefore happy. Every second of the exchange is amazing, topped off by Caroline dousing everyone in holy water like the Young Pope she is. Shes really excited to host Midsummer on the island, but its also dredging up emotion, because it will be the first time shes planned one since her mother passed. She tells Juliet that she feels ready to start her own traditions, but she also gets very emotional in that moment: Im not overwhelmed by my sadness anymore  its just very big right now.

All of the emotions are very big right now! A few questions for the road: Were you on as much of an emotional roller coaster as I was? Did you notice that Caroline Fleming served Barefoot wine to Marissa, and were you surprised or impressed? On a similar note, did any listeners of a certain podcast notice a certain rose-non-grata being served at the Henley Royal Regatta?
Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

After a years-long legal battle, the man responsible for hacking the personal accounts of more than 30 celebrities is being punished by the law. Edward Majerczyk organized the phishing scheme that mined nude photos and videos of dozens of famous people, the most high profile of which was Jennifer Lawrence, whose private images were leaked online in 2014. Today hes been sentenced to nine months in jail and ordered to pay $5,700 in restitution fees, the latter of which will recuperate therapy expenses incurred by one of his undisclosed victims. According to the plea deal, Majerczyk gained access to the accounts by e-mailing victims and asking them for username and password information, as though he was an agent of an internet service provider. As a rationale for his behavior, Majerczyks attorney said he was, suffering from depression and looked to pornography websites and internet chat rooms in an attempt to fill some of the voids and disappointment he was feeling in his life. The Guardian also reports that Majerczyks attorney described his client as deeply affected by the fallout from the scandal, experiencing both panic attacks and anxiety, which is probably something his victims can deeply relate to.
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Its about time the complicated politics of Michael Bays movies had some fresh fodder. A week into life under President Trump, and Bay is already preparing to bring the administrations nuance to the big screen. Universal Pictures has won the bidding war for his latest film, Little America, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Wasteland director Rowan Athale wrote the spec script about a future in which China owns America, a Trump-like president has spent the nations money, and American citizens immigrate to China for better work. Bay is onboard to produce with Andrew Form and Brad Fuller. Sources told THR the movie is more sci-fun than sci-fi, but it sounds like the plot is Trump bad, China  more bad.
Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

After using his fathers coming-out process as the subject the 2010 film Beginners, Mike Mills spent years putting together 20th Century Women, a film about trying to figure out, and ultimately not quite knowing, his late mother. Though he received an Oscar nomination for the films screenplay this morning, Mills is an unconventional writer who built much of his story out of memories of his childhood, objects of special significance, and even news clips of political speeches. Talking to Vulture for the second time in recent weeks, Mills explained how he went about researching his own life for the film, the broken writing rules that paid off, and why the films a sort of trans Bogart mom movie.

Hi, how are you? Congratulations.

Thank you. Thank you.

Since youre nominated for a screenplay, I thought itd be great to start off talking about the screenplay and about coming up with the story. I know that you thought about the film for a while, how long did it take before you were at the stage of writing out scenes?

A long time. Because I want the film to be really big and from life and my memory, so I really dig around and mine that for as long as I can before I start thinking about story or structure. It was about of year of interviewing other women for the other roles. Abbie, that characters based on my sister, so interviewing her and other women. So was a lot of culling information at the beginning. The whole process took about two years.

Did you know you wanted to set it specifically at 1979 at that point?

I knew that I wanted to talk about my mom and this middle-aged part of her life and me as a teenager whos into punk and their weird relationship. So that would put me somewhere in 77, 78, 79. And then when I found out that the Carter crisis of confidence speech was in 79, I was like, thats perfect. I liked 79 as being the end of the decade and the next year as the beginning of Reagan, so it felt like a really important, seminal transition year.

Were you also collecting objects or things you also knew you wanted to use in the film? Its built around these material things.

Im really interested in how in our personal lives we figure ourselves out in relationship to the larger culture and to history and to books and music, and all the things around us. To me, a song, the movie Casablanca, stills from the Depression era, the Jimmy Carter speech, these are all cultural touchstones by which we help figure ourselves out. Thats part of my process too, gathering cultural stuff.

That became my great thing in the writing was presenting anything, also the punk music, Jimmy Carter, any of these books, you presented them to these three women from different eras, different moments of history, and theyre going to react differently. So it was a great sort of device for me in the writing. And also, its very true, when Im thinking about my mom or my sister, or some of the young women that Julies based on, they have really different understanding of what it means to be a woman, what it means to fight, what it means to try to be free, based on the times that they came from.

Then, for instance, in presenting the script to Annette, did you, as a man, have to lend over the character to her?

Yeah, thats my process in general, anyway. Especially because Im a cisgender, straight guy writing about these women, I was especially concerned, just wanting to make it a part of the process and make it a part of the script, that I cant know everything about these people  to have some humility and confusion and limitations be built into the process and the script. All those women were great at helping complete the character. Of course, the only reason you get nominated for a script is because all your actors did a great job at making it seem real and alive.

I was bummed that Annette didnt get a nomination.

Yeah, Im wildly surprised. Shes my comrade. Were in the same army troop together. So I feel like I can say I was slugged in the stomach. She did so much and I admire it so much. Everybody on set was so completely blown away by her freedom and her bravery and just talent.

I had a fiction professor in college who said that the danger of writing about your mother is, youll just write mother and assume everyone else will have the same idea. What was interesting about this film is you have to get the specificity of her character and also the general sense that Jamie wont necessarily fully get her. Was there a sense of not being able to reveal too much?

Well, thats just the truth of me and my mom. And my mom was a very mysterious creature in lots of ways. And we were from really radically different times. She was born in the 20s and I was born in the 60s. It makes for really different people. And thats one of my favorite parts of the story actually, that these characters dont get to know each other as much as they want to, which in the end, is a lot like a Casablanca ending, you know? Breaking up at the airport. They might be closer than they ever are, but theyre not actually going to end up together.

Shes also curious about him. She has that terribly moving moment where she says, You get to see him out in the world as a person. I never will.

That line in particular, it was interesting, I had a son about a year into the writing process, so all of a sudden, Dorothea became a way for me to express my own feelings about parenthood. So I was very worried, as a writer writing about your mom, to use that character to express your feelings. But it was maybe I could understand my mom a little bit more now, as a parent. That line came from dropping my son off to preschool for the first time and leaving him with strangers, peeking at him through the gate and seeing him be a different person

It struck me how funny the script was. I read somewhere where you talked about looking at screwball-comedy styles of writing. Was that a conscious decision to make sure it was entertaining?

Yeah, its really all in the spirit of my mom. My mom had a great sense of humor. She was very funny, she had a lot of one-liners like that. So I wouldnt call it screwball comedy, but like, stage door, or even the comedy in To Have or Have Not. There are some very funny, sophisticated lines in there. I feel like thats the era my mom grew up in and thats the sense of humor that she actually learned, I think, from films and stuff. So it was a way to get a more accurate portrait of her. I also really enjoyed it. I love how the films from the 30s and 40s arent afraid to be entertaining and funny and sophisticated and the women are really smart and subversive and unusual. It was really enjoyable to try and write sort of Howard Hawks-ian scenes.

You get that wry, deadpan sense of humor with her character. She is like Bogie.

Shes super Bogie to me. You can choose any of her lines and imagine Bogart saying them and youd be fine.

Now Im just dreaming of a Humphrey Bogart dad movie. Or a mom movie, either way.

A trans Bogart mom movie. I think thats what I did, actually.

The film has these scenes where you cut ahead to what happens to each character, how Dorothea dies, for instance, which is often something that might be part of the backstory in a more traditional script, but then gets cut. What was important about keeping that in?

Thats part of what Im amazed by and all the more grateful to get recognized like this by the Academy, as I tried to do very strange moves like that structurally. Where a character speaks from the dead, in a way. Again, it felt very accurate to my incredibly mischievous mother to be able to do that, and I liked what it did to the script. Having her talk about her death halfway through the film, to up the stakes and ante of the film, in a way that I wanted and needed, and gave everything a weight. Even the humor, every time she puffs on a cigarette, all of her subversive unwillingness to share her feelings, has a different weight once you heard her say that. I really liked how that works. I really like other filmmakers who do moves like that, work in nonlinear ways. It challenges traditional film structure and challenges naturalism.

She and the other characters also occasionally take over the narration. Theyre still around even though Jamie doesnt get to know all of them.

I get that on one level that probably seems the most avant garde and weird thing that I did in my script. To me, it actually feel like the most true. Thats what life is really like and thats how our emotional brain really works, because all these people kind of live in their heads. You have access to what they feel and think in ways that you dont totally understand. Theyre all a part of how we figure out our own path in our life.

Youve spent all this time on the film, then you bring it to festivals, and you go through this whole Oscar campaign. From the outside, that seems like it could be an arduous process. Do you just try to block that out, or do you pay attention to the buzz as it goes back and forth?

I pay a little attention to the buzz because you just kind of want to know where you are, or you end up hearing about it from your distributor and so forth. But mostly, honestly, I truly feel super lucky that I got to make this movie and my last movie, and I made it with a lot of really nice people and it was a really nice experience. Thats really unusual. Its not arduous, because after Im making a movie for five or six years, Im pretty psyched to show it to people and to meet people whove seen it just to have some kind of connection with your audience. To me its kind of a completion of making the movie. Its meeting the world for your film.

Yeah, on an almost media-theory level, its not anything until an audience has engaged with it.

Thats what I say almost every time I introduce my movie. The film doesnt happen until people see it, so thank you for coming. Ive made films that people didnt see. [Laughs.] Under very existential stipulations, they dont really exist. So it really only happens when people watch it so. Its very dependent on that.

Where does that leave you now? Are you sort of looking around for other inspiration or trying to piece together kernels?

Im just starting to, you put it well, to have a little box and put a couple of little things into the box and think about them. Then, the election really, I feel like  Its a different situation being an artist right now and there are responsibilities, and so I have to change my game in some ways to address what I find to be a very hostile White House.

Is that encouragement to make art that is kinder, make art thats more political? Does it make you more or less interested in specific things?

If you have an opportunity to make a film, thats a huge cultural privilege. Even if youre making a little indie arty film, thats still a huge cultural privilege and kind of power. In this day and age, where I feel like reality is really at risk, we have a responsibility to be more socially engaged than I felt before, you know? Somehow as a white, cisgender, heterosexual man, I feel like I have a responsibility to stand up for and help out people who arent in the position of privilege that Im in.

This interview has been edited and condensed.
As the president and founder of the Real Housewives Institute, I hereby issue the following executive order, which we shall call the Eden Sassoon Amendment to the Eileen Davidson Accord of 2013. It states that all friends of the Housewives that are not made full cast members shall receive three appearances on the show before being judged. Originally, I thought we could just call Eden Sassoon cool and not wait the customary five-episode grace period that a full-fledged cast member earns. I was wrong.

That is because, ladies and gentlemen who love gentlemen, Eden Sassoon is a bit of a crazy person. Im not even talking about her relations to other sober people, which well get to in a minute. Were talking about whatever happened with the dude she was dating for three weeks who dumped her. First of all, she made him quit smoking because she would not date a smoker. Okay, that sounds reasonable. Then she gets all grossed out when he eats a cheeseburger, like shes never seen a Carls Jr. ad in her life. Then, when he reaches for his nicotine gum after his big burger, shes like, Oh, isnt that weird, just like you would reach for a cigarette after a meal. Yeah, Eden, it is. Thats because the gum is a replacement for the cigarettes until he weans himself off the gum and other related smoking-esque behavior until he can fully quit. I went through two bags of Dum Dums lollipops a week while trying to quit. Dont scoff at him for whatever gets the job done.

After totally missing the point of nicotine gum and giving this guy a hard time, he calls her type A, which, well, obviously. Eden takes tons of offense to this, like he just called her a frozen-faced slag or something. She takes pride in being a strong, powerful, outspoken woman. Why would she care so much that this dude called her type A? Even Lisa Vanderpump, a woman who has multiple tiny ponies in her backyard, stared at this story with her mouth agape, thinking, Yeah, this bitch is nuts.

Her behavior the rest of the episode is pretty bonkers too. Her stance on sobriety is, um, odd. Shes one of those sober people who thinks that everyone has a problem and is always trying to convince them that they do. I like to poke others to awaken them to the life I have now, she says. On the one hand, this comes from a place of pride that shes gotten sober and gotten her life in order, and I think that anyone who can find their truth and fight addiction is a superstrong person. On the other hand, anyone who has been through recovery should know that there is no waking people up to getting sober. The only way a person will get and stay sober is if she can wake herself up.

But the worst thing, the absolute worst, is Eden forcing Lisa Vanderpump and her lesbian crush Erika Jayne to kiss her on the lips when she leaves the party at Dorits house for her husband PK  a kiss on the lips from an overly friendly woman you dont really know. Eden is pushing too hard, too fast. Shes like one of those players on Survivor who is in an alliance with everyone in her tribe on the first day and ends up getting her torch snuffed first.

Just as I reversed course on Eden, I almost reversed course on Dorit at the beginning of the episode. She actually seemed kind of cool and fun when she went rollerblading with Eileen and Lisar. (Here is my customary rollerblading joke: What is the worst part of rollerblading? Having to tell your mother youre gay.) I loved that Dorit showed up and was a good sport, while still kind of complaining about it. She was willing to do everything they asked of her, but she did not want to wear one of those gross bike helmets that look like a New Balance sneaker. I have to look ugly, too? she asks, semi-mockingly.

Eileen doesnt look ugly. Eileen shows up wearing what I am imagining are purple suede roller skates, which would look absolutely amazing with one of her vintage denim jumpsuits. Oh my God, I loved them so much that I would put one right on my shelf, Eileen foot smell and all. Also, I decided that Rollerblading in the Valley should be the name of Eileen and Lisars 80s dance track, for which they should make an amazing music video. Please, someone make this happen for me.

Unfortunately, all of that new admiration for Dorit evaporated when I saw that she had a glamour shot of her, Boy George, and PK, a pinata full of toenail clippings, standing on the stairs. Why did they have a professional photographer take that shot? What could that possibly be from? Was that their Christmas card? Was it a cover shoot for Nostalgia Act Managers Monthly? Is this what they do on rainy Saturdays after Boy George has told all of his meanest Elton John jokes?

I wasnt very impressed with her party for her husband, either. (Though I was quite taken with Cory the party planner, who looks like he graduated from being one of Erikas dancers.) I mean, sure, a Boy George acoustic cover of Karma Chameleon is always welcome, but if youre going to go through all the trouble of having a whole band and that giant pipe and drape in the living room, why have him only play one song? Was that all the production company could afford?

Of course, Dorit is positively Dorit at the party. Dorit is always rehashing the past. As my friends would say when I try to retell old stories, Why you gotta bring up old shit? Why, indeed? Its like when Erika showed up looking (pain)killer in her black-and-neon dress and Dorit said, Oh, you look so much better than last time when you wore that scroungy T-shirt. Dorit, why you gotta bring up old shit?

Then she tells Lisa about Lisar and her bag of pills at Edens house. It was a funny moment, which Dorit started by saying she wanted to put vodka in her smoothie. Lisar countered by saying she has, in the past, put a Xanax in her smoothie. Then she pulled out the giant bag of pills she keeps in her purse. Now, calling it a bag of pills is a bit of a misnomer. It was more like a bag of vitamins. Sure, there was probably a Xanny and a sleeping pill or two mixed in there, but it was mostly multivitamins and amino acids and other things that they trick you into buying from Herbalife. Also, every mom has that pill bottle in her purse, right? My mother still carries around an Advil bottle with three kinds of pain relievers, an antihistamine, cold medication, a few antacids, and just about every other over-the-counter medication you could possibly need in an emergency. Thats what moms do. I bet Lisars pill bag is a lot like that.

Anyway, Dorit brings it up to Lisa Vanderpump and is like, Lisar brought out a whole bag of pills! Lisa is obviously concerned and Dorit, instead of seeing how she miscommunicated the story, tells Lisa to take the pole out of your ass. The problem isnt with Lisas interpretation, though. A bag of pills sounds like something an addict would have, which is what Dorit wanted. She wanted that reaction. If she really wanted to tell a joke, she should have described it as a bag of vitamins, which would have lessened the severity of the situation. This is like Pantygate all over again, where Dorit takes something out of context, talks about it to all the other women, and it totally gets blown out of proportion. Dorit must have started stuffing her bra at a young age, because shes a master of making mountains out of molehills.

On to a much better performance. I loved absolutely everything about Erika Jaynes performance at XLSior, a club that was named by the same person who names all of Erikas singles and most people who appear on reality television shows. I loved her dominatrix-Elsa-from-Frozen outfit; I loved her clomping up that ladder on a cliff; I even loved Mikeys prayer for throbbing cocks in that sea of shirtlessness and GHB where she performed. Oh, I also loved that guest appearance by the bear who tried to crawl up in front of Kyle when the performance started. Get down, queen! Cant you see Kyle Richards is at work?

But most of all, I loved Erikas body-ody-ody Instagram photoshoot with Kyle after her performance. I like this easy, breezy, beautiful CoverGirl Kyle on this trip, eating a bowl of pasta at 5:30 in the morning as the sun comes up and they have to pack and move out by eight. Still, Erika lures her into putting on her monokini (which sounds a bit like a tropical disease) and doing some hair tossing on the lanai. At first, you could tell Kyle was scared, peeling off her wrap like she was Norma Jean about to do her first topless shoot. But you could tell that Erikas enthusiasm and the Greek zephyrs tickling her intimate parts charged her up.

They sat there and worked their angles and posed H2T, as Tyra Banks has told us so many times. Kyle perked and twisted, making her body  already looking lovely  look even better thanks to the lighting and the contortion. Thats the great thing about photographs: If you know what youre doing, you can turn your illusion into reality. Thats all Erika Jayne really is: a spirit given flesh through some carefully curated Instagram posts and heavily edited YouTube videos. Once they had the shot, it was time to call it a wrap. Erika YAAAAAASSSSSSSS-ed her way inside in her gladiator boots while Kyle sucked in her tummy and bent down to pick up her tiny spa robe. She looked off the cliff for the final time, looking out at the azure water of the Mediterranean and its tiny waves, like a kick line rising in the wind. She thought about everything underneath them, the creatures and the seaweed and the stingrays and the jellyfish and the buried, barnacled hulls of sunken ships, their secrets lost but growing stronger with each passing tide. She went to put her wrap on her arms and then changed her mind. She slung it over her shoulder and walked confidently toward the house, as the wind picked up and carried her hair away from her body, as if it was going to release from her head altogether.
Appropriately enough, the third episode of Taboo opens with a shot of muck. Already TVs most dirt-encrusted show by a substantial margin, Steven Knight and Tom Hardys period-piece opus reached new levels of physical filthiness in tonights go-round. When lead character James Keziah Delaney (played by Hardy) turns to actor Michael Kellys American spy for lifesaving surgery, the docs teeth are so rotten theyre practically orange. When James staggers home to clean and dress the wound, you can barely see blood beneath the layers of grime. When he unearths a mysterious symbol from the fireplace in his late mothers room, he winds up looking like he used his own body to sweep the chimney. Like the gag from Monty Python and the Holy Grail about being able to recognize the king simply because he hasnt got shit all over him, Taboo is out to paint the town brown.

Which is not to say it traffics solely in the disgusting. On the contrary, if youre a fan of Hardys thighs  and who isnt?  theres much to enjoy here. Whether hes recuperating from his assassination attempt, wading through his flooded cellar (where the water comes in so frequently, it literally ebbs and flows with the tide), or sitting cross-legged after a nightmarish vision of a crow-cloaked, white-faced sorceress, he seems to do his best work pantsless. Hardy cuts a different figure when hes wearing nothing but an oversized shirt than he does when hes striding around London in all-black everything, but its fair to say the overall effect is equally impressive.

For the first time in the series so far, the story follows suit  to an extent, anyway. James still hasnt manifested any of the supreme ass-kicking powers that have his enemies so shook, unless you count ripping out the heart of his assailant offscreen sometime after the previous episode. But he manages to get the jump on two of his three primary adversaries (the English government and the East India Company) by drafting a will that leaves his all-important Canadian trading post at Nootka Sound to the U.S. in the event of his death. As Sir Stuart Strange puts it, not only can the Crown and the Company no longer kill him, its now in their best interest to keep him alive. This puts James in the position to sell his Nootka post to whichever side will grant him a monopoly on its trade route to China  provided, of course, that they help him screw over the EIC, which he hates with a passion.

Still, the safety net he weaves with all this double-dealing is a weak one. For one thing, the Americans have more incentive than ever to kill him off and grab the land for themselves, and his experience at the tender mercies of that spy-surgeon-interrogator indicate they have no qualms about playing dirty. For another, he has to worry about betrayal by Atticus (Stephen Graham, with a Cockney accent thicker than the mud that coats the scenery), the hitman hes hired to serve as his eyes and ears in the streets and on the docks.

Meanwhile, his attempt to rekindle a relationship with his half-sister Zilpha adds its own variety of oddly monotone turmoil to Jamess life. In a conversation thats rather strikingly conducted through letters and voice-overs, the wanderer explains some of his scheme and tries to remind her of what they once shared; she responds by saying shell burn his letters unread, but she proves herself a liar with a new reply, just two lines of dialogue later. This leads her awful husband to show up at Jamess office, crowing about how his newfound knowledge of his wifes incestuous tendencies has led to the roughest, hottest sex of their lives. For her part, Zilpha summons James to a church, where she straddles and kisses him before swearing never to see him again. It doesnt make a ton of behavioral sense, but its got that Game of Thrones feeling, and not just because Oona Queen Talisa Chaplin is involved. And just in case you werent sure if her hubby was a total bastard, he browbeats her over dinner about her failure to conceive in the most vulgar terms possible.

Then theres Lorna Bow, a.k.a. the Widow Delaney, the scheming actress who married Jamess late dad and now has a claim on half of his estate. Its all well and good when she seems like just a willing pawn in the governments scheme to get its hands on Nootka Sound; shes got no interest in the place herself, and simply wants the house her husband owned. But if half of everything James owns is hers, and James himself is now untouchable thanks to his will, that puts her in grave danger. Kill his co-owner, and either England or the East India Company can throw the whole claim into question.

This leads to one of the episodes strongest sequences, in which Bow gets caught up in a deviously clever scheme to knock her off the board. Many of the low-level actresses and actors in her company, it turns out, moonlight as sex workers. A misleading word in the ear of a randy duke gets her kidnapped and nearly forced into a nonconsensual menage a trois, until she slices the aristocrat with a knife and James shows up with a pistol to help her escape. Now shes a wanted woman, making her presence at the Delaney house even more dangerous than before. Its not a sequence to light the world on fire, but it relies on complicated plotting and a glimpse into a unique and forgotten theatrical demimonde  both of which set it apart from the shows usual prestige-by-numbers squalor and splendor.

The episodes other standout stretch involves sex work of an even more forbidden variety. Striding into a gay brothel full of men in drag, James makes a beeline for Godfrey, the guy who takes the minutes at all of the East India Companys meetings. Now we find out why James gave him such a prolonged once-over in the EIC office: They were best friends in school long ago. At least, thats what they were from Jamess perspective; Godfrey reveals he was in love, and that their clandestine sleepovers were exquisite torture. James blackmails his old friend into becoming his man inside the Company, and the whole scene is shot through with sadness: Godfrey has to live two separate lies on top of each other now, thanks to the man he once loved  who clearly still likes him, but is coldly using him nonetheless. The tears sliding down the pancake makeup on Godfreys face are the physical embodiment of Taboos most (or maybe only) genuinely moving moment so far. See what you can do when you scrape away the muck a bit?
Its business as usual on This Is Us. Which means after the divisive all-flashback episode (I stand by my love for it), were back to multiple timelines. It also means there are story lines that will make you laugh and others that will make you cry. You guys, they will make you cry so much. Im not just talking about Little Randall telling Rebecca about the book of mazes hes making with his friend Andrew. But I am talking about that a little bit. A BOOK OF MAZES, YOU GUYS. That little kid is the sweetest.

Of course, the main culprits of the weepiness in Three Sentences are some quick glimpses of a funeral  yes, that funeral  and a very emotional POUND fitness class. I promise its not as weird as it sounds.

Kates feeling a bit spooked after the stress of Tobys surgery. Now that theyre engaged (that bedside pseudo-proposal was official, it seems), Kate thinks its not really the best time to undergo her own surgery. Her doctor suggests a month-long weight-loss immersion program in upstate New York. Yes, its another weight-focused story line, but at least its not a Toby story line. You win some, you lose some, I guess.

So Kate heads north to a very lovely, possibly cultish fat camp  er, immersion program. The focus at this place is to discover underlying issues and emotions, or: whats underneath the weight. Apparently this self-discovery happens by partaking in things like bird-watching and riding horses. Seems cool.

Speaking of the horses, meet Duke (Adam Bartley). Duke runs the stables at fat camp. On one hand, his name is Duke and he grooms horses. This is very hot. But on the other hand, he is definitely a dick  he even admits it! He comes on to Kate very fast and very strong. He knows she has a fiance, but tells her his cabin number anyway, for when shes ready. He informs her that she doesnt see it yet, but this, meaning the two of them, is happening. Whenever this happens on TV, it is supposed to be sexy. In real life, you run from this type of person. You run very fast.

Kates not into Duke just yet, though its where things are headed and she does have him to thank for a big breakthrough. The two argue about people being able to change when he tells her this camp is a joke, people are who they are. Kate disagrees. Wanting to fix your life is not a joke. To prove her point, Kate marches herself back into a POUND fitness class  its real, and it involves drum sticks!  she walked out of earlier. This time, she doesnt brush it off. Shes into it. As the instructor asks the class why theyre there  guilt, sadness, loneliness?  Kate begins to get emotional. She remembers pivotal moments in her life that weve seen already: discovering that her mother wore a smaller size than her, that mean letter her friends sent her at the pool. She also recalls a memory we havent seen: her fathers funeral. Its just quick flashes of that day, Rebeccas moon necklace, the kids holding hands, and Jacks photo, but its enough. (Also, we discover during the final montage that the Big Three are late teens when Jack dies, which means for better or worse, we have a relative timeframe for Jacks death.) Back in fitness class, Kate lets out a guttural scream. There is so much pain in that scream, but also, a lot of relief. Kate is finally confronting her issues. Bird-watching and horses it is!

The sequence is especially moving because back in the past, we get to see another meaningful Kate-and-Jack scene. This week, the Big Three are celebrating their 10th birthday. The birthday tradition in the Pearson house (remember, its Jacks birthday, too) is a relatively small celebration involving a triple-layered cake, a banner with the words Big Daddy on it, and a rousing game of pin the tail on the donkey. Not this year. This year, the kids each want their own party: Kate wants a Madonna party, Kevin wants a Princess Bride party, and Randall  well, Randall doesnt really care but if a magician could be present, hes onboard.

And thus, Jack and Rebecca scramble to get ready for a three-in-one party in just 24 hours. It all seems very implausible, but if it means we get to watch Milo Ventimiglia bedazzle Madonna gloves, I am game. Chaos descends upon the Pearson house in the form of 10-year-olds, which leaves Jack and Rebecca, whove been contemplating adding to their brood (Jack misses the babies, you see), to handle several big issues.

First, they notice Randalls magician party has about three attendees. When they question Randall as to the whereabouts of his classmates, he matter-of-factly tells them that they arent coming because hes not really friends with them. His parents are much more upset than he is (their Im not emotional, youre emotional exchange is one of several laugh-out-loud moments in the episode). Randall has three good friends and thats all he really needs. Let it be known that Little Randall makes me tear up with pride and joy almost every time I see him. This kid!

Jack and Rebecca move on to the next party. Jack happens upon Kate, once surrounded by her Madonna-clad friends, now sitting alone in the back room. All of her friends, including her latest BFF Sophie, have abandoned her to join Kevins Princess Bride party. Its mainly just Kevin reenacting Inigo Montoyas scenes, so I get it to some extent  but Kate knows how to vogue, kids! Jack cant stand a sad Kate, so he does his Jack thing and asks her to teach him how to vogue. Let that sink in for a moment. It works momentarily, but then Kate tells her dad she just wants to be alone. Later, Jack laments that his talks dont work with Kate anymore. He knows that he shares a special relationship with his daughter.

Perhaps the sweetest of all the birthday stories is Kevins. While Jack is still trying to fix Kates problem, he sees Kevin sitting on the couch with Kates BFF Sophie and asks Kevin to politely tell her to return to Kates party. But Little Kevin cant do that, Jack. Little Kevin is in love with Sophie. You guys, I know. You know who also knows? Jack. As a romantic, he can barely stand the cuteness. Of course, all of this is made even sweeter by what we just learned in the present day.

Adult Kevin spends the day with Toby, King of Romantic Gestures, trying to decide what to do about his Olivia and Sloane problem. Finally, Toby tells Kevin to close his eyes, imagine the love of his life and the three sentences he would say to her if he had the chance. It works. Kevin knows exactly who the love of his life is. Before long, hes standing at a door. The woman who opens it, however, is not Olivia (praise!) or Sloane (okay, I guess), but someone else entirely. The woman is Sophie (Alexandra Breckenridge).

BUT WAIT, THERES MORE. Sophie isnt just a childhood sweetheart. After Kevin lays on an endearing, Ive never stopped loving you speech, we learn that Sophie is Kevins ex-wife and she hasnt seen him in 12 years. He wants to make things up to her. This is a very exciting development, people!

This Is the Rest:
Following the massive turnout at cities across America and the world for last weekends Womens March, Trevor Noah took some time between Daily Show scenes to reflect on the heroines he saw during his youth in South Africa. I grew up in a world that was very matriarchal, Noah told the audience. Women were the most dangerous freedom fighters that existed. Its true! Noahs praise of Winnie Mandela  ex-wife of the late president Nelson Mandela, and an activist and politician in her own right  should inspire any woman whos still riding a wave of enthusiasm from the march to read a book about a person even the police feared.
And I wouldve gotten away with it, too, if it werent for you meddling cardinals! Photo: Eva Hill/Vulture

Minor spoilers for The Young Pope below.

Much ink has been spilled over the years about the classical origins of the superhero. Though the noun itself has only been in use since the early 20th century and its association with costumed crusaders only dates to the introduction of Superman in 1938, the concept of a do-gooder with abilities beyond those of workaday humans is, of course, as old as storytelling. More often than not, scholars of the Western canon cite demigods like Gilgamesh and Achilles or outright deities like Thor and Jesus as proto-superheroes. But while watching HBOs ecclesiastical-intrigue saga The Young Pope, it occurred to me that theres a person  well, an office  that should be placed in the superhero tradition: the pope.

According to doctrine, popes are folks who were born normal and suddenly find themselves imbued with mystical powers that obligate them to save humanity. Like Flash or Green Lantern, when one pope falls in his battle against sin, the mantle is passed to a new champion. (And hey, Captain America has nothing on the popes costumes.) But in the case of The Young Pope, the superhero archetype were witnessing is that of the supervillain. In fact, Jude Laws chillingly focused Pope Pius XIII (nee Lenny Belardo) is more terrifying than any of the onscreen menaces in mainstream superhero fiction today. The cabals of tentpole strategists at Marvel Studios, Warner Bros., and Fox would do well to take notice of show creator Paolo Sorrentinos explosion-free narrative of nigh-sociopathic verbal brutality.

The key to The Young Popes understanding of superhero fictions mechanics is how eagerly it buys into the mythology of the papacy. Its easy to imagine an alternative approach to the story, one centering around a cynical pontiff who elbows his way through the Vatican while regarding the archaic suppositions of papal mysticism as means to an end, mere smoke and mirrors to win over the rubes in St. Peters Square. But Sorrentino swings aggressively to the opposite pole: His Lenny frightens underlings, followers, and would-be usurpers with his firm belief that he truly is Gods representative on Earth, someone to whom the Divine has granted authorities and abilities that make him more than just a man.

Take, for example, his long-delayed first homily to the faithful at the conclusion of the second episode. If Lenny were just a political operator seeking power, he would take that opportunity to whip the crowd into an adoring frenzy that would allow him to angle against his in-house foes by demonstrating his popular mandate. Instead, he declares that the time has come for Catholics to double down on leaps of faith. I have nothing to say to those who have even the slightest doubt about God, he shouts. Whats more, he says they are to take literally the notion that a pope possesses the magic we call holiness. I am closer to God than I am to you, he rails. He is, in other words, superhuman. When an adviser tells him that the new Papa has surprised and overwhelmed the faithful, Lenny calmly rebukes, God overwhelms. God frightens.

So, too, should the nasties in superhero stories, but all too often, they dont. Do you really feel threatened when Loki snarls or haunted after Magneto monologues? Not really, as interesting as their depictions might be. There is precious little grandeur in them, largely because their motivations and foibles are so mundanely human and worse, predictable. They want to take over the world, but a combination of hubris, strong-willed heroism, and some sci-fi MacGuffin ends up felling them; end of story, on to the sequel. Lenny, on the other hand, is terrifying because his aims are inscrutable and his weaknesses nearly nonexistent.

There is nothing conventional about Lennys approach to hard-core antagonism. His employees keep waiting for him to unveil some kind of master plan, but they come up empty at every turn. Wealth? Nah  when hes told that his doctrinal obscurantism is driving down Church revenues, he says he couldnt care less. World domination? Not remotely on the menu: We are cement without windows, so we dont look to the outside world, he muses to his quaking cardinals after scrapping the entire concept of evangelization. He wants fanatics for God, but he sees no purpose in using them for a Christian jihad. What does he want? Were denied the relief of finding out.

Moreover, none of the voices of reason (theyre all pretty venal, so calling them heroes would be a bit much) can figure out how to meaningfully punch him. Time and again, those who despise what hes doing to their beloved Holy See think they can leverage him with secrets from his past; those attempts roll off of him like Holy Water on wax paper. A rival asks for opposition research on Lenny and learns that his moral conduct is irreproachable, that theres no gossip, no insinuations  no love affairs, nothing. Appeals from mentors and friends leave him wholly unfazed; he repeatedly informs them that his papal selection by the Holy Spirit makes him fundamentally different from the human he once was. Even attempts to defeat his fundamentalism with realpolitik fall short when he demonstrates that his intellect allows him to use pragmatic, earthly logic to achieve his heavenly goals.

What becomes clear is that the only thing predictable about Lenny is his ability to make anyone and everyone feel like crap. He has a counter to every good point you might offer about why he should back down on his hard-line approaches to homosexuality, abortion, ecumenicalism, and any other issue those who oppose him hold close to their hearts. They tell him to be more flexible, and he (with no small amount of accuracy) points out that there is nothing less flexible than religious law. You knew the rules when you got anointed, so what the hell are your grounds for arguing, you moron? He makes a convincing argument that attacks on his ideology are just shamefully hypocritical attacks on the concepts and institutions that Christians claim to hold dear.

Like a sadistically illiberal Batman, Lenny is prepared for every eventuality, and can use intellectual judo to knock you out from any position. This, of course, is one of the superpowers that Catholics nominally invest in the pope, one more potent than heat vision or super-strength: infallibility. Hes always, always right. That uncanny deftness at opposition is the core of what makes him as horrifying as the great supervillains of the comic-book tradition. He makes you doubt and hate yourself, which is a far more painful experience for a viewer than just looking at some broken bones and energy blasts.

And that leads us to the secret sauce, the fundamental truth of supervillainy that the shepherds of the worlds most lucrative genre have forgotten. Everyone calls Lenny Holy Father, and that second word is crucial, because Lenny is an Oedipal nightmare, a primordial dad who will never be proud of you and calmly, plausibly argues that your entire life has been a waste. He is, in this way, not unlike the best comics depictions of Dr. Doom and Lex Luthor; Heath Ledgers filmic Joker; and TVs last great supervillain, Mads Mikkelsens stunningly capable and mentally devastating Hannibal Lecter. Theyre like verbally abusive papas whom you cant impress or successfully defy  theyre always smarter, more prepared, and more confident than the hero could ever be. A disapproving parent is everyones Ur-villain, and Lenny acts as one for all who dare speak to him.

Though The Young Pope occasionally flirts with the idea that its title character might actually have metahuman capabilities, thats entirely beside the point when it comes to the craftsmans lessons the show offers for those who build superhero narratives. What matters is that he believes he is better than us, and everyone is doggedly unable to prove otherwise. When we see an Avengers or X-Men flick, were accustomed to rolling our eyes at a bad guys foolish pride, but we stop rolling them over the course of Laws performance, because his pride starts to seem decidedly un-foolish. In other words, we start worrying that this pope, loathsome though he may be, cant actually lose  and when was the last time you felt that way about the antagonist of, say, an Iron Man film? And even if he does lose, hasnt he already damaged the viewer enough by sowing doubt about our own virtuousness? When the show is at its best, it turns us all into the eternal stereotype of the self-flagellating Catholic.

Lenny also, like all the great super-baddies, has a gift for soliloquy, and theres one he delivers to a secular politician midway through the series that resonates metatextually. In the 60s, the young people that protested in the streets spouted all kinds of heresies  all except one: Power to the imagination, he quietly sneers. In that, they were correct. The only problem was, they had no imagination. And neither do you. But God and I have plenty. God and I are simply dripping with imagination. He is  as always  correct. Wed all have a lot more fun at the multiplex if those who scribble about spandex paid attention to his homilies.
The legislative seat Sen. Bill Kintner of Papillion will vacate next week is already being eyed by some area Republicans.

Gov. Pete Ricketts is seeking applicants to represent District 2, which covers Cass County and portions of Sarpy and Otoe counties. Ricketts is expected to appoint a fellow Republican.

Months of questions about whether Kintner would resign or be forced from office gave those interested in the seat plenty of time to think about it.

"I've chosen not to," said Cass County Republican chairman Craig Buescher of South Bend, one name mentioned as a possibility by local conservatives.

Buescher, 65, said he made up his mind last summer.

Others said they are interested or already planning to enter their names.

"I'm strongly considering it," said Perry Pirsch of Ashland, a veterans benefits attorney whose mother and brother have both served in the Legislature, representing parts of Omaha.

Pirsch, 45, added that he has not yet made a conclusive decision.

"I recognize a need for smarter government, more-efficient government," he said. "I also would like to be a voice for liberty. The individual is the smallest minority."

Another probable applicant is Janet McCartney, who is serving her second term as a Cass County commissioner.

McCartney, 68, already had an eye on Kintner's seat and intended to run for the position in the next election if he hadn't resigned.

McCartney retired in 2011 as a computer programmer and code tester for First Data Resources, which is based in Omaha. She lives in the northeast Cass County neighborhood of Buccaneer Bay near Plattsmouth.

McCartney said if appointed she would focus on property tax relief for farmers while advocating that government services receive adequate funding without increasing costs to local governments through unfunded mandates.

Ron Nolte, an opponent of Kintner's in the 2014 election, said he's also interested in applying.

Nolte is 71, a farmer and commercial jet pilot from rural Plattsmouth, and a former member of the Cass County board of commissioners.

He said he would focus on addressing property taxes, the state budget shortfall and prison reform while working to protect funding for K-12 and higher education, as well as human services.

"I'm not new to this game, and I feel that I could hit the ground running up there."

Other Republicans mentioned as possible applicants could not be reached for comment.

Jane Kleeb, Nebraska Democratic Party chairwoman, said some Democrats are considering running for the seat in two years but did not believe any would make the long-shot attempt at securing a Ricketts appointment.

However, she hopes those candidates will announce for the 2018 election very soon.

How to apply

The governor's office said it will accept applications for the vacant District 2 seat until 5 p.m. Tuesday. Applicants must have lived within the district for at least a full year, be registered to vote and be at least 21 years old.

The appointment is for two years, and the appointee will serve until January 2019.

You can apply at Governor.Nebraska.gov under the Constituent Services tab, Boards & Commissions. Include a cover letter, resume and any additional background.

Questions can be addressed to Kathleen Dolezal with the governors office at 402-471-2256 or kathleen.dolezal@nebraska.gov.
State lawmakers highlighted a series of measures aimed at preventing sexual assault and protecting survivors Wednesday.

"This is not an issue to be joked about," said Sen. Kate Bolz of Lincoln, flanked by nine fellow members of the Legislature.

The news conference came a week after millions of people took part in Women's March protests around the world and a Nebraska state senator shared a joke on Twitter apparently making light of sexual assault.

Anyone can fall victim to sexual assault, regardless of gender, age or appearance, Bolz said.

Nationwide, an estimated 1 in 6 women do  along with 1 in 33 men.

"There is no one answer," Bolz said.

Five bills addressing a spectrum of issues related to sexual assault and domestic violence were featured during the news conference.

LB187, sponsored by Bolz, would allow victims of sexual assault to obtain protection orders similar to those available to victims of harassment or domestic abuse.

LB107, sponsored by Sen. Sue Crawford of Bellevue, would prohibit adults in positions of trust  such as doctors and school employees  from engaging in sex acts with teenagers between ages 16 to 18, even if the adult is under 25.

LB188, sponsored by Sen. Sara Howard of Omaha, would prevent people convicted of sexual assault that results in the birth of a child from having parental rights for that child.

LB191, sponsored by Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, would allow victims of domestic abuse to seek renewal of a protection order before it expires to prevent a "gap" in coverage.

LB289, also sponsored by Pansing Brooks, would significantly increase the state's penalties for human trafficking.

Sens. Adam Morfeld, Lynne Walz, Tony Vargas, Matt Hansen, Carol Blood and Mike McDonnell also appeared at the news conference.

Bolz said she was encouraged to see fellow senators speak out against state Sen. Bill Kintner's offensive retweet during floor debate Tuesday. Kintner resigned from office Wednesday morning.

However, Bolz said, "the amount of times that our colleague's inappropriate retweet was again retweeted gives me pause."

Among others, awareness and sensitivity toward sexual assault appears to be gaining momentum.

"Certainly we saw it in a very public way through the Women's March last weekend," Bolz said.
Baylor Universitys Mayborn Museum Complex, 1300 S. University Parks Drive, will host a Directors Forum lecture series, The Art and Science of Texas Dinosaurs, on Feb. 2-3.

Lectures will be presented at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 2 and at 3 and 2 p.m. Feb. 2. Cost is $10 per lecture or $25 for all three.

A Directors Forum lunch, with lecturers Louis Jacobs and Karen Carr, will be held at noon Feb. 2. Cost is $40.

Lunch reservations must be purchased by Thursday. For reservations, call Cindee Millard at 710-1733.

Lecture tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance at www.maybornmuseum.com.

Elder law seminar

Ridgecrest Retirement and Health Care, 1900 W. State Highway 6, will host a free seminar about elder law at noon Thursday in Ridgecrests auditorium.

James and Elisa Rainey of the Waco law firm Rainey and Rainey will speak about the purpose of, and the drafting of, a will as well as when and how to probate a will.

Space is limited.

Reservations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

For reservations, call 776-9681.

Crappie fishing course

McLennan Community College is offering a Crappie University continuing education course for anyone who is interested in crappie fishing, from beginner to avid fishers.

The eight-hour course, taught by a team of expert crappie-fishing instructors, will be presented from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Mondays from Jan. 30 to Feb. 20 at MCC.

The course is not a seminar but an accelerated course in the strategies and techniques for becoming a better crappie angler.

Cost is $89, which covers all course materials, including samples of crappie lures and jigheads.

To enroll, call 299-8888.

For more information, visit www.CrappieUniversity.com.

BU Opera Theater

Baylor Opera Theater will present Mozarts La finta giardiniera at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday at Baylors Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center.

Tickets cost $15.

For more information, visit www.baylor.edu/theatre.

Skating fundraiser

Trinity Temple of Deliverance will have a skating fundraiser from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Skate Country, 500 N. Loop 340.

Cost is $8, which covers entry fee and skate rental.

Proceeds will benefit Gods Chosen Vessels, the churchs praise dance team, as it travels to Houston in February for a performance.

The event is open to the public, even those who dont want to skate.

For more information, call 315-2593.

Domino tournament

The Westphalia Knights of Columbus Council is having its annual 42 Domino Tournament on Sunday at the Westphalia Community Parish Hall, Highway 320.

Registration will start at 11:30 a.m., and play will start at 12:30 p.m.

Each player will play four 30-minute rounds, drawing for partners between rounds.

Registration fee is $5.

Prizes will be awarded, and food and drink will be available to purchase starting at 11 a.m.

Submit items for Briefly in printed or typed form to Briefly, P.O. Box 2588, Waco 76702-2588; fax to 757-0302; or email to goingson@wacotrib.com.
A stormwater drainage project in the Chimney Hill neighborhood slated to start this year has nearly tripled in cost because of a recommendation to replace major water and sewer lines.

The city still plans to spend $1.4 million on a network of storm sewers through the neighborhood and under MacArthur Drive to drain stormwater toward Landon Branch. Residents in the subdivision long have complained of flooded streets.

But staffers told Waco City Councils budget and audit committee that engineers found a need to replace old waterlines at a cost of $1.1 million and wastewater lines for $1.4 million.

City utility director Lisa Tyer said the sewer lines along MacArthur lie along the drainage easements and could fail when they are disturbed during construction. Likewise, the cast-iron waterlines under the street are about a half-century old and could be weakened by the construction project, leading to leaks in the future.

The project will last from November until April 2019, and it is expected to cause some traffic delays along MacArthur Drive.

City staff said the money for the drainage project is already in the capital improvement program budget, while the utility lines will be paid for by this years package of utility bonds.

Its an expensive project, City Manager Dale Fisseler said. Stormwater is one of those things that doesnt affect a lot of people, but those people are affected a lot.

Fisseler said a stormwater master plan that is close to completion will detail the citys drainage priorities, and he expects more discussion on how to fund those needs, perhaps with a monthly stormwater drainage utility fee for residents and businesses.

Council members and staff also discussed the Barrons Branch culvert reconstruction project, which was completed at a cost of $4 million last year. The metal drainage tunnel that formerly channeled the creek near Indian Spring Middle School was in danger of collapsing.

That problem is now fixed, but the problem of trash washing into the Brazos River from Barrons Branch remains.

Interim public works director Chuck Dowdell proposed using a simple boom across the mouth of the creek to trap trash. The project would cost almost $400,000 for the boom, a ramp and a new grappling truck, which also could be used to clean other creeks.

Mayor Kyle Deaver said the council will continue to discuss the details of how to keep trash out of the Brazos River.

Im really glad were taking action to stop that floatable stuff from getting out in the river, Deaver said.
The McLennan County District Attorneys Office is asking the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reconsider its ruling from last month that reversed the capital murder conviction and death sentence of Albert Leslie Love Jr.

The Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the conviction after ruling that text messages used against Love at his trial in 2013 were improperly obtained without a search warrant.

Love was sentenced to death after a trial in Williamson County in the March 2011 shooting deaths of Keenan Hubert, 20, and Tyus Sneed, 17, at the Lakewood Villas apartment complex, 1601 Spring St.

The Court of Criminal Appeals, in a 6-3 opinion, ruled Dec. 7 that Love is entitled to a new trial because his Fourth Amendment rights were violated when the contents of his text messages were seized without a search warrant and used by prosecutors at his trial.

Love will remain on Texas death row near Livingston until the high court rules on the motion for rehearing and issues its mandate in the case.

McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna and his first assistant, Michael Jarrett, did not return phone messages Tuesday.

The states motion argues that Waco police officers were relying on what they understood the law to be at the time and exhibited a good-faith belief that warrants were not necessary for the cellphones.

In appellants case, the courts opinion acknowledged that law enforcements good-faith reliance on a statute that has not been held unconstitutional is a valid basis to not apply the exclusionary rule, based on federal jurisprudence, the motion states.

The exclusionary rule prevents the government from using most evidence gathered from an unreasonable search or seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The motion also notes that the Court of Criminal Appeals recently agreed to review a case with similar facts regarding cellphone warrants and asks the court to reinstate Loves conviction.

Loves trial was moved to Georgetown because the trial of his co-defendant, Rickey Donnell Cummings, was held first in Waco. The appeals court has affirmed Cummings conviction.

Cummings, like Love, is a member of the Bloods gang. He was sentenced to death in 2012 for his role in the double slaying.

Cummings younger brother, Darvis Cummings, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in September 2014. He pleaded guilty to murder as a party to the ambush slayings.

Deontrae Majors and Marion Bible, who were in the front seat of the car Hubert and Sneed were in when they were killed, were wounded in the attack but managed to flee to safety.

Testimony from both trials showed Cummings and Love wanted to kill Hubert out of revenge because they thought he killed their best friend, Emuel Man Man Bowers III, at East Waco Park the year before.

Prosecutors introduced Loves cellphone records, which included 37 pages showing the contents of about 1,600 text messages.

A message was sent to Bowers mother shortly after the ambush attack that said, mission accomplished. Later, after Rickey Cummings was arrested, Love sent a text to his former girlfriend, saying, hide the guns.

Trial testimony showed Bowers mother, Shelia Bowers, was upset at the pace of the Waco police investigation into her sons murder.
Balcones Distilling has seen its name become so linked with quality that breweries and home brewers are buying its used barrels to age beers in, hoping to create an appealing blend of flavors.

But Balcones supply of 5-gallon oak barrels may have an expiration date. As the company continues to ramp up production, it is switching to 50-gallon barrels, which also have a longer useful life for whiskey-making.

For now, about a half-dozen companies, including Bare Arms Brewing near Wacos traffic circle, are clamoring for the 5-gallon barrels Balcones has used to age spirits that have earned it more than 200 awards and accolades since 2009.

We typically sell the barrels for a little less than what we buy them for, which means we kind of break even on the deals, Balcones brewhouse manager Thomas Mote said.

The company typically uses the 5-gallon barrels twice before striking deals for their resale, Mote said.

He said customers buying a pallet of about 36 5-gallon barrels will receive better deals and an asking price of $70 per barrel.

Those involved in home brewing may want just a single barrel, and they will pay about $85 for it, Mote said.

Balcones contracts to have its barrels built and provides specifications to the maker. Mote declined to name the company or say exactly how much Balcones pays for its barrels.

Justin Veach, who partnered with Keith Collier to open Bare Arms Brewing, Wacos only brewpub, said it bought barrels to age three beers it introduced to the public Dec. 10, when it hosted a tasting at its WinterFest event. The beers were a Scotch ale, chocolate stout and India pale ale.

We loved how the beer came out of those barrels, Veach said. We combined a great whiskey with what we believe was a great beer, and the result was great.

Aging beer in barrels is not new to the industry, but the process has seen a resurgence in recent years to match increased demand for craft beers, Veach said.

As the trade magazine All About Beer said in a story published in September 2016, Barrel-aging may be all the rage at the moment, but giving beer time to mature is nothing new. While a modern lager might spend a few weeks aging and a barrel-aged beer sits a couple of years in wood, in the past, beers could mature for decades.

Veach said Bare Arms Brewing would consider buying more barrels from Balcones as business grows. He said it has sealed deals recently to deliver product to the Waco Hippodrome Theatre, Buffalo Wild Wings and Kings Landing Games, a new game room at on Hay Avenue off of Valley Mills Drive.

Jeremy Roberts, owner of 903 Brewers in Sherman, said he bought 260 empty barrels previously containing Balcones Baby Blue Bourbon and used them to age a craft beer called Sasquatch Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout. It won a silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival in the aged beer category.

Oh, it was awesome. We sold out of it really fast, Roberts said. Were hoping to get more barrels, possibly as early as next month.

Roberts said he is a longtime fan of Balcones.

We reached out to them by sending along some of our beer, which they said they liked, he said.

Zach Prichard, president of Prairie Artisan Ales, a brewing company based in Krebs, Oklahoma, said he collaborated with Balcones on a brew called Bomb early in Balcones journey to becoming toast of the spirits world. It was sold exclusively in Texas and performed well, Prichard said.

If they are looking to sell more barrels, tell them to give us a call, Prichard said.

Austin-based Blue Owl Brewing hosted Balcones Distilling Night in October. Representatives of Balcones discussed barrel aging, and Blue Owl staffers gave guests a tour of the property. No one with Blue Owl could be reached for comment Tuesday.

Mote said at least once a week someone involved in the home brewing of beer will visit the Balcones distillery to buy a 5-gallon barrel.

Balcones is moving away from 5-gallon barrels and toward 50-gallon models because it has ramped up its distilling capacity, having relocated most operations from a small welding shop beneath the 17th Street viaduct to the former Texas Fireproof Storage building on North 11th Street it has remodeled at a cost of $15 million.

Crews installed new copper pot stills produced by Forsyths of Scotland, which will give head distiller Jared Himstedt room to grow and experiment, Mote said.

Mote said about 8,000 barrels of whiskey, both big and small, have been placed in the upstairs aging area of the distillery.

Right now, were filling 50 large barrels a week, he said. In two months, we will be filling 100 large barrels per week.

Within the next six months to a year, Balcones likely will only use 50-gallon barrels, Mote said.

Were producing so much more spirit that it makes sense to use the larger vessels and to fill and refill them multiple times.

That means the availability of empty 5-gallon barrels could slow to a trickle, so those in the market for Balcones leftovers may need to act quickly.

Were selling two or three pallets of barrels a month right now, Mote said. We used to average selling fewer than one a month.

Whatever the future holds for used barrels, it would appear that demand for the award-winning product inside those containers remains healthy.
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday he wants construction to resume on two controversial oil pipelines, the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access, and an official with Waco-based Central Texas Iron Works said the move on Keystone could create work for the plant and increase its employment level.

Curtis Cleveland, an executive with Central Texas Iron Works, said contracts already have been awarded for construction of the Keystone XL, so Central Texas Iron Works would not provide material for that project if Trumps push to revive it is successful.

However, oil refining facilities in the Midwest and in Texas likely would take steps to increase their capacity, and Central Texas Iron Works will closely follow progress on those developments, Cleveland said.

I think this could affect 15 to 20 refineries stretching all the way from Ohio and Illinois to Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana, he said. Keystone is going to bring heavy crude, while the crude thats produced in Texas is sweet crude. They require different processing equipment, and refineries will equip themselves to handle both.

He said Central Texas Iron Works for 20 years shipped 150,000 metric tons of steel to Alberta, Canada, for oil-related projects. Those shipments hit a three-year lull when the Obama administration placed the Keystone XL pipeline project on the back burner, expressing concern about its potential negative impact on the environment.

We shifted our focus to the construction of liquefied natural gas plants, Cleveland said.

The company is keeping employment steady at 175 people.

If Central Texas Iron Works sees contracts from the revival of Keystone XL, we would experience the best of both worlds. Were hoping additional hiring would be needed.

Trump did not sign off on construction of either pipeline but revived the possibility of Keystone and asked that the Dakota Access process be expedited. Keystone would complete a line to carry crude from Alberta, Canada, to the Texas Gulf Coast, and Dakota Access would run from North Dakota to the Gulf Coast.

Waco-based economist Ray Perryman said he thinks the Keystone XL can be built without significantly threatening the environment.

I know that they were using the very highest standards to minimize risk and even rerouted to avoid sensitive areas, Perryman wrote in an email. The pipeline was studied many times and always found to be low-risk, particularly when you consider that the oil is currently transported by train. . . . I think environmental concerns are always legitimate but that they were adequately addressed in this instance.

Different conditions

Perryman said the pipeline will provide more efficient access to Canadian crude, but economic conditions are far different today than when the pipeline was first commissioned in 2010.

The timing of the projects will depend on supply and demand conditions in the sector, Perryman said.

Supply outpaced demand in 2016, causing oil prices to plummet, he said.

In announcing his executive actions Tuesday, Trump said construction of the Keystone XL would create 28,000 new jobs.

A State Department report in 2014 concluded that most jobs related to the project are temporary and that it would generate 35 permanent jobs. The report states the two-year construction project would employ a force of 1,950 per year, directly support 16,100 new or existing jobs and indirectly support another 26,000 new or existing jobs.

Rep. Bill Flores, a Republican whose district includes Waco, released a statement Tuesday praising Trumps decision to reactivate Keystone XL.

President Trumps actions will help pave the way for a 21st-century energy strategy that harnesses Americas abundant energy resources, lowers energy costs, improves economic opportunity, creates American jobs and reduces geopolitical instability around the world, Flores wrote.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, released a statement saying, For years, the previous administration inexplicably robbed this country of tens of thousands of new jobs and a chance to become less dependent on unstable sources of energy. Todays news is a breath of fresh air.
Long lines of community members stretched from Caritas of Waco early Wednesday morning in anticipation of more than 60,000 pounds of fresh produce H-E-B donated to help local food-insecure families.

This helps a lot, because I do get a (disability) check, but it keeps going up and down, so this helps a lot, Dolita Jackson, 56, said. Without this help, Id probably be back at home with my mom or Id be back out on the street again.

Jackson, a regular Caritas client, joined about 500 other families who benefited from H-E-Bs donation of fresh cauliflower, tomatoes, grapefruit, onions and other produce to the local nonprofit group Wednesday. With more than 68,000 people served in 2015, nutritious food is crucial for families living with food insecurity, Caritas executive director Buddy Edwards said.

Early this morning, by about 7 a.m., we had people lined up outside the building. It was probably our biggest line weve had at this building, Edwards said. By the early afternoon, weve probably had over 300 representatives from families, and that is a lot. So we cannot adequately express our appreciation to H-E-B for a donation like this.

Caritas volunteers and staff from area H-E-B stores helped clients shop and pick out fresh produce for their families throughout the afternoon. H-E-B spokesman Danny Flores said giving back to local communities is a top priority for the company.

Our partnership with Caritas has been long-lasting for a number of years, and we are so involved with working with the Central Texas Food Bank and their agencies, we wanted to make sure Caritas is taken care of with fresh produce, Flores said. The needs here in McLennan County are a little higher than in other parts of the state, so we recognize that and want to be able to give nutritious foods back into the homes of people who just need a little bit of help.

Edwards said almost 30 percent of Wacos population is living in poverty, and he is proud H-E-B can help people in need, including first-time visitor David Ratliff.

My wife told me about this and told me to come, because we knew this would be a lot of help, Ratliff said. My wife is on dialysis and we are both disabled, so I appreciate what (Caritas) is doing. Because when people give, it lets everyone know that people do care and that there are people willing to give back to the community.

On Thursday, Caritas will partner with River of Life, Family of Faith and Shepherds Heart food pantries to distribute produce through the region.
When Donald Trump calls reporters and editors the most dishonest human beings on earth, its worth remembering that Thomas Jefferson, in his second inaugural address, accused the press of engaging in falsehood and defamation while covering his administration.

So presidential hostility toward the press is hardly new. Still, Trump has cultivated a new level of acrimony and seems determined to make the White House-press relationship the most adversarial in well over four decades.

I covered the White House and directed coverage for two big news organizations for almost 20 years. Its important to have good reporters chronicle the history that presidents make every day.

But the most important reporting is not done inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Thats what reporters should remember in the heat of battles over the size of inauguration crowds, belligerent tweets and threats to shut down the White House press room. It wasnt the White House press corps that uncovered the Watergate and Iran-contra scandals, or exposed President Bill Clintons tryst with Monica Lewinsky.

Its most important to look for abuses of power by a president who acts like and expresses admiration for authoritarian figures. The conservative policy expert Peter Wehner put that idea into a warning in a New York Times column during the weekend:

In failing to distinguish between the good of the nation and his own vanity, the danger is that Mr. Trump will fail to see the limits of his authority and will try to use both the bully pulpit and the power of government  the IRS, the FBI, regulatory agencies and others  to settle personal scores. Hell do what he needs to in order to get his way.

Thats the fear articulated chillingly by John Dean, the White House counselor in the Nixon administration, in a must-read interview in The Atlantic last week with McKay Coppins. Dean, who helped reveal the extraordinary abuses of power that led to the Watergate scandal, said that Trump possesses many of Nixons worst traits  vengefulness, insecurity and consuming ambition  but with few of Nixons strengths, which included a deep knowledge of governance and even reservations about some of his own authoritarian tendencies.

Yet Dean doesnt think Trump will be held accountable. The checks on a presidents power  the press, the courts, Congress  have been rendered increasingly weak and ineffectual, Dean contends, and the public has become desensitized to political scandal. The Trump campaign is an interesting measure of how the tolerance has gotten for a public figures misbehavior, Dean told Coppins.

Lets hope that Dean is wrong about a vigilant press. To prove him so, journalists should worry less about Trumps tweets or tirades and focus, with fairness and skepticism, on the big stuff.

The big stuff is what makes difficult times interesting for journalists and reminds us why we signed up for the job.

In college, I was a stringer for a wire service and spent several days covering and questioning the great New York Times columnist James Reston, who was there to deliver a series of lectures.

His last night, he turned the tables and asked what I, a 20-year-old, was going to do with my life. Undecided, I replied that I was weighing both journalism and law.

Thats easy, he declared, explaining that law was more lucrative, journalism more interesting. By definition, if you make news youre interesting, he said.

The Trump years will give reporters and editors plenty of chances to be interesting. Lets embrace the opportunity.

Albert Hunt was the executive editor of Bloomberg News, before which he was a reporter, bureau chief and executive Washington editor for The Wall Street Journal.
In America, public officials usually get off scot-free after making poor predictions. Remember when President George W. Bush said that wed find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that the war would cost only $50 billion to $60 billion? These wildly inaccurate forecasts led many people to support a disastrous war, but Bush suffered no consequences for making them.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry also paid no price after making false predictions about tort reform. He persuaded many voters to support him by saying that if we curtailed medical malpractice lawsuits, doctors would move to Texas in droves. Then, after Texas adopted tort reform in 2003, growth in the states supply of direct patient-care physicians actually slowed. But Perry suffered no consequences for having given away Texans legal rights without getting anything from doctors in return.

Never fear. Democrats who make false predictions get off scot-free too. President Barack Obama sold his Medicaid expansion plan by saying that if poor people just had insurance, costs would fall because they would get routine treatments at doctors offices instead of hospital emergency rooms. Then studies showed poor people with Medicaid did see doctors more often but kept on using ERs too. Insurance caused them to use more of everything. Obama was wrong, but he too suffered no consequences.

This is a serious defect in our democracy. We rely on people in high positions to speak truthfully because they have access to the best information and advice. But far too often, they deceive us, and were powerless to do anything when the truth is finally known.

Fortunately, this problem can be fixed. Americans need only start demanding en masse that our leaders put their money where their mouths are. Large numbers of us must insist that they make verifiable predictions and specify the consequences they will suffer if they turn out to be wrong. Their unwillingness to do so would then tell us immediately that they were trying to fool us. And their willingness to specify only trivial consequences would do the same.

The call for federally imposed tort reform recently voiced by Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, President Trumps choice for secretary of health and human services, provides an excellent opportunity to try out this approach. Price contends that limits on medical malpractice lawsuits will save enormous amounts of money  more than $700 billion, according to one statement. He is wrong, as many academic researchers have said, and if he is wrong, Americans will again have lost our legal rights for no reason.

So, we should all ask Price to put his money where his mouth is. We should demand that he write down the amount he expects nationwide tort reform to save, specify the penalty hes willing to incur for being mistaken, sign the document and post the pledge on the Internet. Then, if health care spending does drop by $700 billion after tort reform takes effect, Americans will applaud him. But if he turns out to be wrong, he will suffer some consequences. The same goes for Trump and lawmakers who support Price. Let them sign pledges too. Wouldnt it be great if after making a terrible blunder, every officeholder involved had to confess the error and suffer some repercussions?

A practice of specifying penalties in advance would add a much-needed dose of honesty to American politics. Right now, we cant trust anything that any politician says, ignorance, duplicity and corruption being so widespread. But if politicians knew theyd face real consequences for being wrong, they might think twice before spouting nonsense, and their public pronouncements would be more credible.

If Price knew that his job and political future were on the line, I bet his estimate of the savings from tort reform would be much lower. Hed probably pick a number below $50 billion, the academic consensus; he might even refuse to guarantee any savings at all. Then, wed know what his call for tort reform is really about. Price, who is a physician, hates malpractice suits and plaintiffs attorneys, and aims to get rid of both.

Charles Silver is a professor of law at the University of Texas at Austin. In recent years, as co-director of the Center on Lawyers, Civil Justice and the Media at the University of Texas, he has worked with a group of empirical researchers on a series of studies of medical malpractice litigation in Texas. He has co-written several books.
Shortly before addressing supporters of school choice rallying at the state Capitol on Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott posted a Facebook message touting his support of such reforms. Plenty of folks on both sides of this controversial issue subsequently chose to sound off. Among the pearls:

Lyndsey Buck: No! Privatization of schools leaves too much room for misuse of school funding, which has happened a lot.

Mark Toffler: Lyndsey, people should be able to use their money to educate their children any way they please. Thanks!

Marti Earley Spruiell: School choice is fine so long as we hold private schools that receive school funds to the same accountability as public schools. While youre at it, fund public schools to the level at which we can successfully educate everyone. We currently rank 45th in the country for how much we spend on students.

Travis Thomas: Improve the quality of education in public schools by getting rid of the STAAR testing. Allow teachers to actually teach their kids. You also need to make sure that the schools have the money for things so that teachers, like my wife, arent spending their own money to properly supply their rooms and students. While youre at it, administer a statewide curriculum and schedule so when students move to another district they pick up where they left off at their last district.

Robert Daigle: You want to give public money to private institutions and hold them to a different standard. You mislead, misrepresent and lie. If what you want gets passed, it will take Texas decades to fix.

Jande Strempel: All I can say is seniors shouldnt have to pay school taxes. We dont have kids in school anymore. Let those with kids pay them based on how many kids they have.

Mercedes Cooper: We all pay to have our citizens educated, whether you have kids or not. I dont get to opt out of paying taxes on roads and bridges I dont use.

Alison Williams Frary Hall: Shame on you. Our public school funding is unconstitutional, and you are ready to hand cash over to private companies that will cherry-pick students. Dont do this, governor. It will come back to you as a huge failure.

Sarah Muirhead: School choice is not the answer. The schools pick you, not the other way around. Hope all your kids are the best of the best. My special-needs kid will get screwed.

Todd Elkins: This will lead to tax increases as public schools receive less money and school buildings become older with constrained budgets.

Tony Browning: Love it! Bring back spankings! Spare the rod and spoil the child.

Todd Elkins: You mean churches are so lazy they cant teach their own in Sunday school?

Larry Roberts: To use taxpayer money, you have to hold the private schools to the same standard as public schools. Otherwise, the private schools will be taxpayer-funded money pits.

Oneill Sanchez: Teachers no doubt have to have accountability, but doesnt most of it begin at home?
WAHOO  Winter Storm Jupiter paralyzed much of Saunders County Jan. 16 with a wintry concoction that kept roads treacherous.

The culprit was ice, and if the storm lasted much longer, area road crews would have struggled.

Saunders County Public Works Director Steve Mika recently identified a new tool against ice, a new kind of salt. But if the ice would have lasted longer, he said his issue would have been the countys salt supply.

It shows how vulnerable we could be, Mika said.

Mika said his crews began working on roads a week ago Sunday and worked until midnight the next day. They took to the roads again Tuesday morning at 4 a.m. to help keep roads drivable.

The primary weapon against ice is salt, Mika said. But there are only three sheds in the county that can house the product. Those are in Wahoo, Ashland and Valparaiso.

Mika said the county could use a shed in Prague to house salt to treat icy roads.

Salt used for Prague roads comes from Wahoo and, depending on the conditions, trucks might run low on salt by the time they get there. Near Prague, the county serves County Road R to the west from Prague and two miles into Butler County, per inter-local agreement.

There is no salt shed in Cedar Bluffs and the county crews run over 10 miles west of County Road 16, along County Road X. The county also services roads east of Cedar Bluffs at Woodcliffe, as well, Mika said.

All salt for those locations comes from Wahoo.

Mika said the salt shed in Valparaiso is less than 10 years old and was built for less than $40,000.

Newer priced sheds for Prague have exceeded that, as the precautions needed to house ice are necessary.

The ice needs to be covered from moisture, Mika said.

If salt becomes moist, it can turn to huge clumps that break the spreaders on the backs of trucks.

Housing salt not only requires cover, but also a concrete enclosure to fight against corrosion of the building due to salt and to be strong enough against the large machines that load the salt out of the sheds into the trucks.

The salt Mika recently used to combat the storm was an ice cutter salt, a red salt.

There are two kinds of salt, Mika said. The white salt is from Kansas and is cheaper, but the red salt is from Utah.

The red salt can be mixed with the white salt, works faster, has a residual effect and is not as toxic or corrosive to roadways, Mika said the vendors told him.

Even though the red salt can be used less, it costs more.

Mika said the red salt costs three times as much per ton in bulk.

The cost of salt not only affects the county, but also the cities.

Yutan Maintenance Superintendent Erik Wilke said he went $1,000 over budget due to having to purchase more salt.

Wilke uses the white salt and stores close to 30 tons at a time.

But if you treat the entire town, you can go through 15 tons, he said.

Yutans supplier is in Omaha.

All of this winters weather has needed salt, he said.

And a blade hasnt touched the street yet, Wilke said.

Mika said last weeks storm depleted the countys salt reserves overall.

The countys supplier, Nebraska Salt and Grain in Gothenburg, is working to supply many areas that used a great deal of salt over the course of the storm, Mika said.

Though an order is placed, Mika said salt could potentially be delayed because cities and counties across the state are looking to restock.

The Wahoo Street Department could not be reached for comment.
Velta Merija Matulis, 94, of Lincoln, passed away on January 16, 2017. She was born to Karlis and Paulina Lange on February 22, 1922, in Vaiva County, Cesis (central) region of Latvia, the second of three daughters.

She was studying home economics when World War II forced her to flee Latvia with her family when Latvia was forcibly occupied by the Soviet army.

Like many war refugees, Velta and her family were welcomed into the United States where they settled in Des Moines, Iowa. Velta worked for the Prize of Iowa Dairy in its butter manufacturing division for about 25 years before retiring.

She married a fellow Latvian, Robert Matulis, in July 1975, and settled in Lincoln, where she continued to be an active member of the Latvian Welfare Association and the Latvian Lutheran Church until she passed away on January 16, 2016.

She will be lovingly remembered by family members in the United States and Latvia, including Mark Matulis, Ilze Becker, Bruno Meisterburg, Ralph Fenton, Tamara Rusis, Anita Millers and their families, as well as friends in the local Latvian communities in Lincoln and Des Moines.

The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 28, at the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lincoln, 3300 C. St., Lincoln. Visitation will be held from 9:30 a.m.-11 a.m., prior to the funeral service at the church. Condolences online at Roperandsons.com.
A 26-year-old man went to prison Tuesday for beating and cutting a pregnant woman in May.

Lancaster County District Judge Andrew Jacobsen sentenced Cason Chavarria to eight to 14 years in prison for second-degree assault and possessing a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.

According to police, Chavarria forced his way into the north Lincoln home of a 24-year-old woman he knows about 1 in the morning on May 12. He punched the woman, who was about eight months pregnant, then grabbed a steak knife, threatened to kill her and slashed at her, cutting her twice on her arm, police said.

Officers arrested him later that day, and prosecutors filed five felony charges against him.

In November, Chavarria pleaded no contest to assault and weapons charges and prosecutors dropped the rest.

At his sentencing Tuesday, Chavarria apologized to everyone involved.

Jacobsen gave him credit for serving 257 days in jail.
A 26-year-old man who stole a Nebraska State Patrol cruiser after troopers found him with more than a pound of meth has been sentenced to 7 years in federal prison.

Jacob Barrickman, who has had addresses in Omaha and Nevada, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.

Chief U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp sentenced him Monday to the prison time, plus four years of supervised release. He already is serving three to six years in state prison for stealing the cruiser and fleeing.

On April 30, 2015, a state trooper in Lincoln County stopped Barrickman on Interstate 80 for going 112 mph. After Barrickman admitted there was marijuana in the car, the trooper handcuffed him and passenger Brianna Hampton and put them in his cruiser. Barrickman got one of his hands free and drove off, according to an affidavit for his arrest.

Law enforcement chased the stolen cruiser for 50 miles before spiking the tires to stop it.

A search of Barrickman's car turned up a pound of meth and a small amount of marijuana.

Last year, Hampton, an Arizona resident, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for possession of meth with intent to distribute.
Its World War II and Nazi Germany occupies France, an Allied nation. Somewhere in the moonlit French countryside, a modified B-24 Liberator flies overhead. Painted matte black, and stripped of unnecessary equipment, this B-24 is flying a secret mission. Flashlights shine from the ground as a dispatcher in the bomb bay of the aircraft opens a hole in the floor and begins pushing crates out of the aircraft. The crates parachute down to a group of French Resistance members. In these crates, collections of ammo, weapons and other supplies benefit the resistance fighters.

One of these dispatchers, Keith Cole, visited MacDill Air Force Base, Florida on Jan. 18, 2017, to share his experience and catch a glimpse of how the Air Force has changed since his time of service.

He began his visit with a speech at U.S. Special Operations Command.I was a part of the 492nd Bombardment Group, also known as the Carpetbaggers, during World War II, said Cole. We started as an anti-submarine squadron, but instead began working with the Office of Special Services to drop supplies to French guerrilla fighters. The OSS, a predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency, used the 492nd BG to secretly arm the French. During the war, the 492nd helped deliver more than 5,000 tons of supplies including 18,535 containers, 10, 700 packages, 662 spies and approximately one million gallons of fuel. Silence was a must during our missions, said Cole. No one talked about what we did; it was kept shrouded in secrecy. At the time, I knew what my objective was, but some details I didnt even learn about until several years after the war was over.

However, Germany was aware of the secret airlift missions, but couldnt fool the B-24 crews to mistakenly drop supplies to them. In order to keep the enemy from intercepting any supplies, the OSS and 492nd developed secret codes. French resistance fighters used radios with a scrambler to provide their location to the OSS in London. The message would be decoded by the OSS and supplies were loaded onto the B-24s. Later that day, at 6 p.m. on the British Broadcasting Channel, a television host would announce the news. The first 10 words the news anchor spoke, were actually a secret code for the resistance fighters to decipher, so they would know which groups would be supplied that night, said Cole. We would fly to their location, and they would signal us with flashlights. If the signal was identified, the supplies were dropped. However, if the pilots couldnt recognize the signal, the flight would return to England. Our methods were very primitive, laughed Cole. Aside from radios, we had absolutely no technology to help accomplish the mission.

After he spoke at USSOCOM, Cole was shown the inside of a KC-135 Stratotanker. While inside, members of the 6th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and the 91st Air Refueling Squadron talked about different aspects of the KC-135. Im impressed with how far things have come since I was in, said Cole. Cole learned that his same objectives more than 70 years ago are still being accomplished today.What Mr. Cole did as a Carpetbagger, helped pioneer the Air Force Special Operations Command, said Col. Christopher Ireland, the deputy director of strategy, plans and policy assigned to USSOCOM. He started with the early days of tactical airlift and coordination between air and ground forces.

At the end of the tour, Cole made his way to the 91st ARS heritage room, where he showed his French Legion of Honor, the highest decoration obtainable in France. Many of us [Carpetbaggers] received this award, said Cole. Its humbling to me to have earned it, but all I did was push stuff out of airplanes.
The amazing accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II and beyond will be celebrated as the theme of the third annual Atlanta Warbird Weekend Oct. 7-8, 2017, at Dekalb-Peachtree Airport, Chamblee, Ga. Hosted by the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) Dixie Wing, the weekend will feature the CAF Red Tail Squadron traveling exhibit, Rise Above, with its restored P-51 Mustang, Tuskegee Airmen.

We hope to bring dozens of Tuskegee Airmen veterans to share in the acknowledgment of the outstanding history of the black aviators who overcame prejudice and adversity to serve their country so well, said Dixie Wing Leader Jay Bess. We also plan to exhibit aircraft flown by the Tuskegee Airmen, including the P-51, P-47, P-40, and trainers used then, such as the BT-13, PT-17 Stearman and T-6.

Aerial shows each day will feature a B-17 bomber fly-by with a P-51 escort, simulating the missions of the Red Tails in WWII. Also scheduled is a fly-by with a P-51 and an F-16 from the Alabama National Guard. WWII aircraft rides will be available for purchase throughout the weekend, offering a once-in-a-lifetime experience for young and old alike. The annual Atlanta Warbird Weekend dinner Saturday night will feature the Tuskegee Airmen at the 57th Fighter Group Restaurant.

Earlier in the week, tours will be provided for Atlanta school children, and the Dixie Wing plans to screen the Red Tails movie on Saturday and Sunday. Educational programs will include Warbirds in Review presentations in front of various historic aircraft, and planned appearances by an F-16 from the Alabama Air National Guard (ANG). The 100th Fighter Squadron (100 FS), a unit of the Alabama ANG, was one of the Tuskegee Airmen squadrons during World War II. It was one of the famous all-black squadrons of the 332nd Fighter Group, activated on Feb. 19, 1942 at Tuskegee Army Air Field, Ala. It was returned to duty in 2007, replacing the Alabama ANG 160th Fighter Squadron, so the state could honor the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen.

About the Commemorative Air Force

The Commemorative Air Force is a non-profit organization dedicated to flying and restoring World War II aircraft. Based in Dallas, Texas, the organization has more than 13,000 members and operates a fleet of more than 166 aircraft. These aircraft compose the worlds largest flying museum, and are operated for the education of present and future generations. www.commemorativeairforce.org.

About the CAF Dixie Wing

The CAF Dixie Wing, based in Peachtree City, Ga., was approved as the 83rd CAF unit on Feb. 28, 1987, and has since displayed its collection of vintage World War II aircraft in numerous air shows throughout the United States. The wing is a non-profit, tax-exempt flying museum that relies on contributions of time and funds to carry out its mission. www.dixiewing.org

About the Atlanta Warbird Weekend

The Atlanta Warbird Weekend (AWW) is an annual event dedicated to the remembrance and celebration of the men, women and machines of The Greatest Generation. In metro Atlanta, there are significant historical resources and AWW is the catalyst to bring together the organizations, aircraft and people that keep this history alive and engage families and businesses that want to keep this spirit alive. Our goal is to elevate awareness of historical organizations in Metro Atlanta, raise funds to Keep em Flying, promote the sponsors and the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport  who make the event possible. www.atlantawarbirdweekend.com
DAKOTA CITY -- The second of two men charged with killing and dismembering an Emerson man has pleaded not guilty to murder.

Brayan Galvan-Hernandez, 18, of Wakefield, entered his plea Tuesday morning in Dakota County District Court to charges of first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony.

District Judge Paul Vaughan set his trial for May 9 and a pretrial conference for March 14.

Galvan-Hernandez and Andres Surber, 25, also Wakefield, are charged with the Nov. 1 shooting death of Kraig D. Kubik, 41, of Emerson.

Surber's trial date has not been set. Both men remain in the Dakota County Jail on $5 million bonds.

They are accused of killing Kubik with a 9 mm firearm. Authorities found his arm and leg in the trunk of a car in rural Dixon County and the rest four days later in a creek about four miles away.
"Endless bouts of introspection and navel gazing are unhealthy," John Howard declared 21 years ago. Credit:Fairfax Media Somewhere, in the midst of Australia's longest run of economic growth, and some time after Howard's decision to join the invasion of Iraq, the plucky country lost its mojo. Without even realising it, we became the No We Can't nation. Like the drinker who leaves the bar to avoid his or her shout, we opted out. One reflection of this is the lists of countries that have bills of rights; or one of their own as their head of state; or a treaty or compact with their First Peoples; or laws that allow people of the same sex to marry. Australia is conspicuously absent on all of them. Another is the growing gap between the rich and the poor and the rising number of people living on the street. Another is the retreat from any aspiration to show global leadership on climate change, replaced as it is with a grudging willingness to follow if others are prepared to lead.

Then there is the treatment of those who fled persecution, but arrived without an invitation. Our peculiar achievement has been to make vulnerable people even more vulnerable: banish them to remote foreign islands or impose unique hardships on those on the mainland. The indefinite detention of those on bridging visas who are accused of minor offences after these issues are resolved is but one example. "We've retreated into a delusionary mental bubble where self-interest is a prime motivator," says Tim Costello, the chief advocate of World Vision Australia, who cites the slashing of Australia's foreign aid budget as one manifestation. "We like to think of Australia as an egalitarian nation, but it is clearly less so in 2017 than it was a couple of decades ago," he tells me. "We are still hamstrung to some extent by the fortress state of mind that states we are safer if we are cut off from the rest of the world  from refugees, asylum seekers and migrants  and from those suffering in our own nation from inequalities, like the homeless and the Indigenous." Gareth Evans, the architect of the Cambodian peace plan when he was foreign minister in the Hawke and Keating years, expresses it this way. "The spirit of creative adventure does seem to be dead in the water.

"There is very little underlying optimism about the possibility of Australia doing great things, both internationally and domestically, which sustained it throughout the Hawke-Keating years." Social researcher Hugh Mackay, who has been monitoring the national mood for decades, suggests three reasons for this troubling transformation. "One reason is that economic prosperity, courtesy of the mining boom, made us complacent. Another is that we allowed our insecurities in the face of social change and the global threat of terror to make us more timid, more prejudiced and more conservative," he says. "A third, and deeper, reason is that modern politics has become a tediously predictable game of 'marketing', leaders have been reduced to 'brands', courage has been replaced by an over-scripted cautiousness, and democracy has become confused with populism." Populism is, of course, a global phenomenon and Donald Trump is not the only example of a leader who has prospered by exploiting fear and prejudice. He is just the most striking example.

The antidote is visionary leadership, and our problem is that we don't have it. The Prime Minister says his top priority is to provide national and economic security but, as Mackay points out, that is not nearly enough. "Australians complain, loudly and often, about the quality of contemporary leadership, and their basic complaint is always the same: where is the vision? Where is the story?" he says. "Our 'lifestyle'  or even our fundamentally sound economy  are hardly a sufficient cause for national pride, let alone celebration. Such things neither define nor inspire us. What inspires us are the imaginative ideas, the bold proposals that bring out the best in us, and give us a glimpse of a better society  fairer, more just, more compassionate, more humane." Furthering the cause of Indigenous reconciliation through the process of constitutional recognition looms as one opportunity, and the appointment of Ken Wyatt as the country's first Aboriginal federal minister is an important milestone. But bold ideas won't be enough to restore the nation's sense of self, even if political leaders have the courage and imagination to advance them. If the most basic, and most enduring, of Australian values is the notion a fair go, it simply has to apply to all of us.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's vaunted US "solution", aimed at resettling hundreds of refugees from Manus Island and Nauru, risks collapse as the freshly minted US President Donald Trump eyes selective bans on immigration.

The yet-to-be-delivered agreement was nutted out in secret talks with Washington in the dying months of the Obama administration.

But now, just a day after scotching the contentious 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact, Mr Trump is on the cusp of delivering on another of his pre-election commitments  a promise to stop migration from several countries associated with Islamic fundamentalism.

Also being contemplated is a temporary ban on all refugees entering the US, regardless of origin.
The Asian Community and Cultural Center is ringing in the Year of the Rooster by hosting a three-hour celebration featuring traditional dishes and dance on Jan. 28 as part of a celebration of the 2017 Lunar New Year.

The event, which will include dance and music performances from the DMNV Lion Dance Team, RMV Band and many more groups, begins at 2 p.m. at Auld Pavilion at Antelope Park, 1650 Memorial Drive. It's free and open to the public.

In many Asian countries, including China and Vietnam, the Lunar New Year, which follows the cycle of the moon, is the biggest event of the year.

On Jan. 29, Lincoln City Libraries invites the community to celebrate the Chinese New Year by participating in cultural activities from 2:30-4:30 p.m. at Bennett Martin Public Library, 136 S. 14th St.

The Lincoln Chinese School will demonstrate Chinese yo-yo and shuttlecock. Other activity stations will include calligraphy writing and crafts. The event also includes performances by the Lincoln Chinese Music Ensemble using Chinese classical instruments. Light refreshments will be served.

The Lincoln Chinese School is a nonprofit organization committed to promoting the understanding of Chinese culture and languages through classes and activates in the community.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services has issued a watch and act warning for the Shire of Bridgetown as fire-fighters battle to contain a bushfire threatening the area.

The fire started near the intersection of Eedle Terrace and Hampton Street in Bridgetown and it is currently moving fast and in a north westerly direction.

The alert has been issued for people north of the Blackwood River and Eedle Terrace, west of Lefroy Road, south of Walter Road and Highlands Estate, east of Bunya Road and Klause Road.

The alert level for this fire has been downgraded from an emergency warning as the fire is now contained and homes are no longer under imminent threat.
The state government has announced a long-awaited commitment to the long awaited extension of the Thornlie rail spur to Cockburn Central, via Canning Vale and Jandakot.

The announcement, which will no doubt cause joy to Canning Vale residents who bought into the area decades ago in the belief a station would eventually be built there.

The cheeky response from the opposition, which has also promised to build the line under its Metronet policy, was to email out a press release from the Liberals' previous election campaign, in which former Transport Minister Troy Buswell announced one of the government's most famous broken promises - MAX light rail.

Making the announcement on Wednesday, Premier Colin Barnett conceded the promise had been broken but pointed out that the government had made good on the rest of its transport promises, including Forrestfield's train station.
If you've ever switched on the television or gone along to a Perth Scorchers match, you would recognise James Keating.

He is recognisable by his dyed orange beard and his striped flaming suit, and is affectionately known by other fans at the Furnace as 'Choombies'.

James Keating, otherwise known as "Choombies." Credit:Paul Kane/Getty Images AsiaPac

But while other Scorchers fans were celebrating the side's convincing win over the Melbourne Stars on Tuesday evening, Choombies was searching frantically for his trademark jacket.

He appeared on Radio 6PR's Breakfast Show to make an impassioned plea for the suit's safe return on Wednesday morning.
Steve Bannon, chief strategist for Trump, was registered in two states to vote. Credit:Bloomberg The address in Sarasota County was at the home of Breitbart News writer Andrew Badaloto. Bannon ran the conservative news outlet until August. But Bannon did not vote in Sarasota County either. On October 14, he registered to vote at an address on West 40th Street in New York City, Thomas Connolly, a spokesman for the New York State Board of elections, said. Treasury Secretary-designate Steven Mnuchin. Credit:Scott Applewhite Bannon remains registered to vote in New York and voted in the November 8 election, Barbara Brunson, a clerk at the New York City Board of Elections, said. He voted by mail.

Florida Division of Elections deputy counsel Lydia Atkinson wrote in a January 11 letter to the person that filed the complaint that the state would take no further action after looking into it. Donald Trump walks through the Crypt at the Capitol in Washington. Credit:AP "These allegations are neither facially sufficient or do not set out an incident of 'election fraud' as defined," she wrote. Kendall Coffey, a Democrat and election law expert in Florida, said voters commonly do not take the time to cancel a voter registration when they move and re-register in a new location. That's common for college students, for example. Protesters' signs in Iowa. Credit:AP

"It is not a crime to be registered in two states as long as, at the time of each registration, the voter's residency was claimed truthfully," Coffey, a former US attorney in Miami, said. "Residency is principally a matter of the voter's intent as long as there is some accompanying physical movement to the new location. If one intends the new location to be his or her residence, and has a residence in the new jurisdiction to which movement has been made, courts will usually find that to be sufficient." Protesters gather outside the World Trade Centre in Portland, Oregon. Credit:AP Trump tweeted Wednesday morning: "I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!" Trump has repeatedly claimed widespread national voter fraud, but there is no evidence to support his claims.

On November 27, he tweeted that he "won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally". The fact-checking website PolitiFact rated his claim "Pants on Fire". Trump probe Trump's pledge to call for an investigation comes after he told members of Congress on Monday at a private reception that he believed he lost the popular vote because millions of undocumented immigrants cast ballots for his opponent, his press secretary said on Tuesday. Trump believes as many as 5 million people voted illegally in the last US election, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters. Democrat Hillary Clinton won the national popular vote by about 2.9 million ballots, but Trump won enough states to secure 306 Electoral College votes and the presidency. Since his election, he has repeatedly said he would have won the popular vote if not for massive voter fraud that benefited Clinton.

Trump has repeatedly made the unsubstantiated claim that the 2016 election was tainted by massive voter fraud. He has not provided any credible evidence to back up the claim. He didn't specify which agency would handle the inquiry and didn't say whether he had already issued such a directive. The allegation has been disputed by Democratic and Republican officials, including the state officials who run the nation's election systems. Several said Trump's allegations of voter fraud undermine confidence in US democracy. Previous probes by academic researchers, the Department of Justice and other government agencies have found little evidence of large-scale voter fraud in the US. The National Association of Secretaries of State said there was no evidence of such fraud in 2016. "We are not aware of any evidence that supports the voter fraud claims made by President Trump," the group of state elections officials, a majority of them Republicans, said in a statement on Tuesday. "In the lead-up to the November 2016 election, secretaries of state expressed their confidence in the systemic integrity of our election process as a bipartisan group, and they stand behind that statement today."

Republicans disagree Trump's own legal team said that the 2016 election "was not tainted by fraud" in response to a recount effort by Green Party candidate Jill Stein in Michigan. "All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake," Trump's lawyers said in a legal filing on December 1. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican, said in a reply to Trump's tweet that it would be difficult for illegal voters to cast ballots. "We conducted a review 4 years ago in Ohio & already have a statewide review of 2016 election underway," he said in a tweet on Wednesday. "Easy to vote, hard to cheat."

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Trump's call for an investigation was a sign of his insecurity. "I frankly feel very sad about the president making this claim," Pelosi, a California Democrat, said. "I felt sorry for him. I even prayed for him, but then I prayed for the United States of America." House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, told reporters on Tuesday that he had seen "no evidence" of massive fraud in November's elections. Spicer on Tuesday referred to a study "that came out of Pew in 2008 that showed 14 per cent of people who have voted were non-citizens" as evidence that 2016 voter fraud was widespread. Pew Charitable Trusts spokeswoman Kelly Hoffman said that no such study exists.

"We did not publish a report in 2008 on that topic," she said in an email. "Our work has focused on inefficient and inaccurate voter registration processes, which are not evidence of fraud at polling places." Trump has previously cited a separate study from 2014 that found 14 per cent of non-citizens may have been registered to vote in 2008. The widely disputed study, first described in a 2014 Washington Post opinion piece, found that some of those non-citizens might have voted. The newspaper, at the time, published a series of rebuttals questioning the data and conclusions and has since posted a note on it saying that another peer-reviewed article argued the findings "were biased and that the authors' data do not provide evidence of non-citizen voting in US elections". A 2012 study by Pew found that as many as one in eight voter registrations in the US either had significant inaccuracies or were no longer valid. The author of that study, David Becker, said the research did not back up Trump's claim of vote fraud. "As I've noted before, voting integrity better in this election than ever before," Becker, now the executive director of the Centre for Election Innovation & Research, said in a Twitter post on Tuesday. "Zero evidence of fraud."

Asked repeatedly on Tuesday whether Trump would pursue an investigation into the alleged large-scale voter fraud, Spicer said "anything is possible", before turning to other issues. "Maybe we will [investigate]," Spicer said. "We'll see where we go from here but right now the President's focus is on putting people back to work." Matthew Miller, former director of the Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs during the Obama administration, called Trump's planned investigation "dangerous". "The federal government is now going to launch an investigation into something where there is no evidence any wrongdoing has occurred, all because the President's ego is hurt," he said.
Happy days are here to stay longer? Exxon Mobil's Billings Refinery in Billings, Montana. Credit:AP Trump's move on the two pipelines was part of a first-days-in-office smashing of things precious to his predecessor  who for all his sober handling of so many issues was passionate on the issue of climate change. So, within minutes of Trump swearing the oath of office on Friday, the White House website that showcased the Obama administration's climate change policies disappeared into the ether, and was replaced with a statement on Trump's energy policy, which promises to reduce "burdensome regulations on our energy industry". Oklahoma Attorney-General Scott Pruitt, nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Credit:Bloomberg And within hours, a government-wide memo was dispatched by Trump's White House chief of staff Reince Priebus  he was ordering a freeze on new or pending regulations, halting a raft of Energy Department efficiency standards that analysts argue will save consumers billions of dollars over time in reduced energy consumption by air conditioners, walk-in coolers, freezers, boilers and some power supply systems.

And within days, an Environmental Protection Agency for environmental research and improvement, worth about $US4 billion a year for environmental research and improvement, was snap-frozen. Ford Motors CEO Mark Fields, left, and General Motors CEO Mary Barra outside the White House in Washington. Credit:AP Here, in a few words, are Trump's many plans on environmental issues  he had vowed to cancel the Paris global accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 28 per cent by 2025. He wants to shred a raft of energy and environmental regulations. He is committed to opening swaths of federal land to oil, gas and coal drilling and production. He thinks the Environmental Protection Agency should be all but neutered. And he plans to put an axe through Obama's Clean Power Plan, which was to pressure electricity firms to reduce carbon emissions and the Waters of the US rule, which protects the country's big rivers and their smaller tributaries. A semi-submersible drilling unit arrives in Port Angeles, Washington. Credit:AP

In the transition team and the cabinet he is assembling Trump has included a small army of climate change sceptics. Trump's pick for EPA administrator is one of the agency's greatest enemies  Oklahoma Attorney-General Scott Pruitt, who repeatedly led or joined legal challenges seeking to block Obama's efforts to regulate climate change. Pruitt's LinkedIn profile boasts that he's a "leading advocate against the EPA's activist agenda". He twice sued the EPA, trying to derail regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He opposed a bid to make coal-fired power plants reduce mercury emissions and later, he led the charge against Obama's Clean Power Plan. He fought the EPA's expanded oversight of water pollution. And according to reports on his record in Oklahoma, his decisions on how to handle cases seemed to have been made on the basis of the political donations he received.

Some environmentalists seem utterly defeated  Bill McKibben, founder of the climate action group 350.org, told The Washington Post: "I really don't know ... We'll do what we can, but truthfully, the path forward is not all that clear to me." Others are girding for a fight. Recalling the early days of the George W. Bush administration, Friends of the Earth president Erich Pica said: "[We] utilised the courts, the Senate filibuster, watchdogged political appointees and galvanised the public to take action  we'll have to take these same actions ... the environmental movement is stronger than we've ever been." Both Pruitt and Rick Perry, the former Texas governor who as a presidential candidate could not remember the name of the Energy Department he intended to abolish, but who will lead that department under Trump, conceded in their Senate confirmation hearings that human activity had an impact on the climate, but they also showed themselves to be sceptics  either waffling or by bouncing questions as "academic" or "immaterial". All but the last 330 metres of the 1880-kilometre Dakota Access pipeline, to move oil from the North Dakota shale oil reserves to Illinois, has been built  but in December a stop was ordered to allow alternate routes to be considered for the last stretch in the face of Native American protests that their water supplies could be affected. Analysts say that the potential for job creation or environmental damage from the Keystone XL pipeline, which is intended to carry 800,000 barrels a day from Canada to the Gulf Coast, is minimal  but the project became a lightning rod as a test of Washington's preparedness make a call either to promote energy production or act to protect the environment. Obama dithered for years, but ultimately rejected the project on the eve of the Paris emissions conference, arguing that to proceed would have diminished US leadership in weaning the world off fossil fuels.
The 32nd Session of the Scientific Sub-Committee (SSC) was held from 17 to 20 January 2017 and was attended by Customs laboratory staff from 33 WCO Member countries and the European Union (EU). The World Health Organization (WHO), the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) also participated in the meeting. The Sub-Committee examined the Harmonized System (HS) classification of around 200 new pharmaceutical substances with a generic name, so-called INNs (International Nonproprietary Names), scrutinized the possible amendments to the Nomenclature (HS 2022 edition) in respect of substances controlled by the Chemical Weapons Convention and provided replies to several questions in technical areas, such as chemistry, biology and biochemistry, raised by WCO Members, the HS Committee and the HS Review Sub-Committee.

The 2017 Edition of the HS entered into force on 1 January 2017. In order to reflect the changes arising from the new edition of the HS, the SSC tackled the reclassification of certain INNs as well as the consequential amendments to the HS Explanatory Notes in the area of the chemical or allied industries.

Moreover, the SSC considered the importance of cooperation and networking between Customs laboratories and the role that the Customs laboratories could play in the protection of the national mineral resources. In that connection, the Delegate of Japan made a presentation in order to illustrate the regional cooperation and networking among Customs laboratories in the WCO Asia-Pacific region. The Chairperson of the SSC and the Secretariat encouraged the laboratories to further strengthen the cooperation at regional and world level.

Furthermore, the Delegate of Thailand made a presentation on analysis of the water absorption coefficient in ceramic tiles; the Observer from the OPCW explained the objectives of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed, on 13 January 2017, by the WCO and the OPCW, with the aim of tightening national and international controls of the trade in toxic chemicals relevant to the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Observer of the BIPM made a presentation on the work of his organization.

Finally, the modernization and updating of the Customs Laboratory Guide was also discussed by the Sub-Committee.
The 2017 Legislative Session is well underway and again, Nebraskans will hear rhetoric around charter schools, vouchers, opportunity scholarships and their suggested success over time. As we begin a new chapter of this journey, I want to caution all of you that there is much more to these concepts than meets the eye.

In many cases charter schools, vouchers, and opportunity scholarships are vehicles for the privatization of education. In most cases these organizations or programs perform at or below their public school counterparts.

Further, these organizations and programs are highly selective in the students they accept, often leaving out children with high needs, while operating under minimal regulations. This can lead to zero accountability to local taxpayers.

The good news is school choice is alive and well in Nebraska, especially in the Omaha metro area. Nebraskas school choice system is one of the strongest in the country. The process leverages quality public schools through the option enrollment program as well as regulated private, parochial, and home-school educational systems.

January 22-28 is National School Choice Week and Im very proud of all the school choices we already offer in Nebraska. According to data from the Nebraska Department of Education:

 22,148 students use their option enrollment choice throughout the state. Within Ralston Public Schools, 30% of our enrollment choose us from other metro area districts and beyond. That adds up to just more than 1,000 students. As a district we welcome those students like every other. They make our community stronger, enhancing opportunities for everyone.

 37,762 students use their non-public school choice with an estimated 8,290 of them home-schooled. Ralston Public Schools currently has 36 home-school students and we enjoy a solid relationship with St. Geralds Catholic School in Ralston. We partner to provide support services for identified students as well as participation in some extracurricular activities.

As we move through the next several months, I urge you to do your research and be informed on the facts. I encourage you to engage on these critical issues. Consider exercising your right and obligation to speak out. Education and other highly important services define the quality of life we enjoy and shape the future opportunities we desire. Special interest groups will communicate that public schools overspend and under-deliver, but I want you to know that is simply not the case in Nebraska.

 Nebraska has one of the highest graduation rates in the country at 89%.

 Nebraska students excel on the annual National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessments. We are currently among the top 12 states in all categories.

 Nebraska students have the highest average ACT score in the nation, for the 15+ states with at least 80% of their students taking it.

I do not take issues like charter schools, vouchers, opportunity scholarships, or any other special interests or legislation lightly when it threatens our educational system. Quality schools in Nebraska have been cultivated by local control through elected school boards, ensuring efficiency and accountability to taxpayers. While doing all of that, Nebraska public schools accept all students, meeting them where they are and designing educational programming to help them grow, both academically and as individuals. I am proud of the work being done in classrooms across Ralston Public Schools. Currently, 28 Ralston students are registered as homeless. Although their designation is homeless, do not be mistaken, these kids have a home right here with us. I know we will serve them. That is the simple difference between a charter school and what we do: it's about serving all students, not the special interests of others.

School choice is alive and well in Nebraska: It's called public schools.
Good riddance.

Bill Kintner of Papillion finally did something right. He resigned from his seat in the Legislature.

His colleagues deserve credit for pushing him out the door. Kintner delivered his resignation less than hour before the Legislature was scheduled to begin debate on Kintners expulsion.

That would have been a first for the state. But other state senators finally had enough of the damage that Kintner was doing to the reputation of the Legislature and the state of Nebraska.

Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer said on Tuesday that he was positive there were enough votes for the supermajority to toss Kintner out of office.

The tipping point came when Kintner shared a tweet from California radio talk show host Larry Elder which mocked a photo of three women protesters holding signs that said Not My P - - y and Not Mine Either. Ladies, I think youre safe, Elder tweeted.

The signs were a reference to the 2005 recording in which Donald Trump said that When youre a starYou can do anythingGrab them by the p - - y.

But the list of offensive actions by Kintner stretched back for years, with the low point Kintners cyber-sex scandal, when he engaged in mutual masturbation with a woman he met online.

Senators  Democrat, Republican, moderates, conservatives, experienced, neophytes  couldnt take it anymore. Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln, sworn in earlier this month, said she stands in solidarity with my sisters in the Legislature to ask Kintner to resign.

In that request  perhaps it should be considered a demand  Geist joined a host of others than included Lincoln Sens. Kate Bolz, Patty Pansing Brooks, Adam Morfeld and Matt Hansen, as well as Gov. Pete Ricketts.

In making his resignation, Kintner paraphrased former President Richard Nixon, saying You wont have Bill Kintner to kick around anymore.

Kintners difficulties, however, were self-inflicted. It wasnt his opponents that ruined his effectiveness as a legislator. It was Kintner himself.

Ricketts said he will begin the process of finding a new senator to represent Kintners district.

It wont be difficult to find a replacement to do a better job than Kintner.

In his years as a state senator Kintner managed to win passage of only one piece of legislation. His constituents and the state of Nebraska are better off without him.
Sen. Bill Kintner of Papillion is an embarrassment to himself, his family, his constituents, his colleagues in the Legislature and the state of Nebraska.

If Kintner had any shame, or sufficient awareness to comprehend that his ability to function as a senator has been damaged beyond repair, he would have stepped down after his cybersex scandal.

His latest breach of conduct came when he used his personal Twitter account to share a tweet from California radio talk show host Larry Elder that mocked a photo of three women protesters holding signs that said Not My P - - y and Not Mine Either. Elder tweeted: Ladies, I think youre safe.

The signs were a reference to the 2005 recording in which Donald Trump said that When youre a starYou can do anythingGrab them by the p - - y.

No one should believe under any circumstances that sexual assault is a fitting topic for humor.

"This is an issue about people feeling unsafe in our communities, in our state," said Lincoln Sen. Kate Bolz.

Its time that the Legislature put itself on record that it doesnt condone such egregious behavior. Even better would be action by state senators to remove Kintner from the Legislature.

On Tuesday the voices urging Kintner to resign rose to a crescendo. They included newly installed Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer, who said that Kintner had lost the respect of the body. Sen. Jim Smith of Sarpy County, who previously had defended Kintner, said on Tuesday that he believes there's a supermajority of votes to do what's necessary."

Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks said the volume of emails and phone calls in response to Kintner's situation was making it impossible to conduct state business.

Kintner said he deleted his Twitter account after he learned that the tweet was being misconstrued.

That lame attempt to justify his behavior isnt even true. Kintner spent hours in back-and-forth exchanges with people offended by the tweet before he finally took it down.

Its unbelievable that Kintner would engage in such behavior after the uproar he created when he used his state-owned computer for a session of mutual masturbation with a woman he met online, and who later tried to blackmail him.

Judging from the comments from Kintners legislative colleagues on the floor of the chamber Tuesday state senators finally have had enough. Lets hope they dont lose their will before the question comes to a vote.
I agree with the Journal Star's Jan. 17 editorial, "Sheridan County decision wrong for Whiteclay." Nebraska's beer policies in Whiteclay have created a monster. Should we continue to feed the monster by spending millions of dollars to prop up four beer stores or simply cut the head off the monster? As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "It is always the right time to do the right thing." Shut those beer stores down!
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In his column in the Journal Star on Jan. 14, Cal Thomas criticized Meryl Streep for her diatribe against Donald Trump, but he never mentioned the reason for Streep's speech ("Stars...and political agendas"). She was bringing attention to the fact that Donald Trump openly and gleefully mocked a man with a disability. He was not just mocking the man, who has been a reporter for the Washington Post and the New York Times, he was mocking the disability. The fact that Cal Thomas is more interested in criticizing Meryl Streep for being an actress with an agenda than criticizing the man who is to be our next president for mocking a person with a disability is revealing.
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Tyler Technologies, Inc. provides integrated information management solutions and services for the public sector. The company operates in three segments: Enterprise Software; Appraisal and Tax; and NIC. It offers financial management solutions, including modular fund accounting systems for government agencies or not-for-profit entities; utility billing systems for the billing and collection of metered and non-metered services; products to automate city and county functions, such as municipal courts, parking tickets, equipment and project costing, animal and business licenses, permits and inspections, code enforcement, citizen complaint tracking, ambulance billing, fleet maintenance, and cemetery records management; and student information and transportation solutions for K-12 schools. The company also provides a suite of judicial solutions comprising court case management, court and law enforcement, prosecutor, and supervision systems to handle multi-jurisdictional county or statewide implementations, and single county systems; public safety software solutions; systems and software to automate the appraisal and assessment of real and personal property, as well as tax applications for agencies that bill and collect taxes; planning, regulatory, and maintenance software solutions for public sector agencies; software applications to enhance and automate operations involving records and document management; and data and insights solutions. In addition, it offers software as a service arrangements and electronic document filing solutions for courts and law offices; software and hardware installation, data conversion, training, product modification, and maintenance and support services; and property appraisal outsourcing services for taxing jurisdictions. The company has a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services for cloud hosting services. Tyler Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.
The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services apparently will strike a paragraph from its proposed execution protocol that would authorize the supplier of lethal injection drugs to remain confidential.

The department has reviewed testimony from a Dec. 30 public hearing on execution protocol, proposed at least one change and forwarded its proposed protocol to Attorney General Doug Peterson. Now, it's in the hands of Gov. Pete Ricketts' Policy Research Office.

The protocol was revised shortly after Nebraskans voted in November to continue using the death penalty. That vote came after the Legislature voted to repeal it and substitute life in prison for first-degree murder convictions.

The newly revised protocol would allow the Corrections Department to use available drugs for lethal injection of condemned inmates and would have kept the source of those drugs confidential. It would give only the inmate information on what drug(s) would be used and in what quantity 60 days before a request for a death warrant.

That use of appropriate available drugs was substituted for a three-drug combination of sodium thiopental to render the inmate unconscious, pancuronium bromide to stop breathing and potassium chloride to stop the heart.

The department issued an explanatory statement Jan. 12, summarizing testimony given during the Dec. 30 public hearing and responding to issues and questions raised there.

Testimony -- the majority of it expressing concerns about the proposed protocol -- came from pharmacists, Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, a representative of the media, physicians, pastors, members of the public and ACLU of Nebraska. In addition, 25 letters and documents were submitted.

Many of the concerns were about secrecy in the revised protocol and use of pharmacy personnel in the process.

The department responded this way.

* Because of opposition to keeping the source of execution drugs confidential -- opponents cited a violation of Nebraska's public records laws and lack of transparency -- the Corrections Department said it will strike this paragraph: "... the director may authorize any records or information identifying a person, company, or entity supplying the substance or substances to be employed in an execution by lethal injection to be confidential."

Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell has introduced a bill (LB661) that would make confidential any records that could lead to the identity of a person or entity that manufactures, supplies, compounds, or prescribes the drugs to perform a lethal injection. That bill has been routed to the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, where it is more likely than in the Judiciary Committee to be advanced to the full Legislature.

* In response to concern about using unknown drugs in unknown doses, the department said the protocol does not do that. While the drugs are not specifically named in the protocol, the inmate will be notified of the drug(s), the quantity and the order they will be administered at least 60 days prior to the request for an execution warrant, the department said.

* The Corrections director, not the Legislature, is responsible by law for selecting the drugs and quantities to be used, and that will not change.

* As far as the concern that pharmacists involved in any way in the execution would be violating their code of ethics, the department cited state law saying a pharmacist or other person licensed by a board or department is exempted from disciplinary action.

* State law exempts the lethal injection process from the Pharmacy Practice Act, so references to pharmaceutical chemists can be used in the protocol, the department said. Pharmacists had objected because the practice act says only pharmacists, pharmacist interns and technicians may compound drugs. Also, pharmacists can provide the drugs without a medical order from a prescriber because of the exemption.

* No fiscal impact is anticipated beyond what exists in the current rule.

* The department proposes to retain provisions that would allow a county coroner to determine whether an inmate is dead.

Corrections Director Scott Frakes said on Jan. 11 his department was working diligently to review all testimony, and that he would take the time necessary to make sure the review was done correctly.

He turned it over to Attorney General Peterson the next day.

Corrections spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith said the department's chief attorney spent considerable time drafting the hearing summary and the responses, and that by the close of business on Jan. 11, Frakes had received and reviewed the summary of testimony and the responses to each issue.

"The testimony was, in fact, carefully considered, which will be reflected in the final rule," Smith said.
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By Adam Morton Jan. 24, 2017 | 07:58 PM | PADUCAH, KY

The Paducah Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance to abolish the Paducah Riverfront Development Authority, and create a five-member Paducah Riverfront Advisory Board.Previously the Riverfront Authority was a standalone department. The new Riverfront Advisory Board will be part of the city's planning department.The Paducah Riverfront Advisory Board will meet at least quarterly. Along with appointed members, it will also include a city commissioner who will serve as an ex officio member.At this point the timeline for board appointments is unknown.Commissioner and Mayor Pro-Tem Sandra Wilson served on the previous board for the past four years. "It's a really positive change," Wilson said. "It will be just as strong of a board as it was. We have a lot of opportunities for riverfront development, and so we're looking forward to continuing with that."Wilson added that the board is looking at tax increment funding to see if they might want to pursue it.The Advisory Board will assist with the development of a tax increment financing district; assist with the implementation of strategies outline in the Renaissance Area Master Plan; Assist with the review of development proposals for city-owned properties along the riverfront; and select its chairperson and secretary.

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By Richard Nelson, Commonwealth Policy Center

Jan. 24, 2017 | CADIZ, KY

By Richard Nelson, Commonwealth Policy Center Jan. 24, 2017 | 06:28 PM | CADIZ, KY

Marches, Planned Parenthood and Fair Reporting - by Richard Nelson



It's been a week of marches and protests and major policy shifts, but in the pursuit of a story that seemed the pinnacle of "what's important," the institutional media neglected some major news The Women's March on Washington, while an important event attracting nearly a half-million marchers, received an inordinate amount of attentionat the expense of weightier news. The New York Times carried at least seven stories about the march with at least three trumpeting how much larger it was than the inauguration.



Withdrawing the United States from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)? A presidential review of NAFTA? The executive order reinstating the "Mexico City Policy" that prohibits federal funds for groups involved with abortions in other countries? Nope. The March dominated and still does. Marchers dressed in costumes of female body parts received plenty of media attention. I'm still trying to figure out how a protest against objectifying women by people dressed in outfits of female genitalia helps their cause.



Saturday's Women's March, which might have been called the March for Certain Kinds of Women, was an event with an ideological tilt to the far left. It was comprised of women who support LGBT rights (conservative women's organizations like Concerned Women for America were not invited), women who support abortion (Feminists for Life were excluded), and opposed Pres. Trump. It didn't include the 53 percent of white women or 32 percent of Latinas who voted for Trump.



Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards told the crowd "We're not going to take this lying down, and we will not go back. For the majority of the people in the country, Planned Parenthood is not the problem, we're the solution." Of course, Planned Parenthood's political activity amounted to around $30 million dropped into electing Hillary Clinton. Her victory would have ensured that the federal pipeline of federal grants and contracts ($528.4 million in fiscal year 201314) would keep flowing to the nation's biggest abortion provider.



Richards and company make it sound as if Planned Parenthood loses federal funding women will be on the brink of a second-class healthcare. Truth is, they provide less than two percent of the nation's cancer screenings and breast exams and less than one percent of the nation's pap tests. There are only 665 Planned Parenthood's clinics nationwide. Compare this to 13,540 federally qualified health-care centers FQHCs (358 in Kentucky) which do the same thing as Planned Parenthood, minus the abortions.



You will not hear much about alternatives to Planned Parenthood or their executives caught on tape making deals over baby body parts from entrenched, left-leaning media that refuses to report news that inconveniences their narrative. You will not hear much about the 471-page report of illegal activity recently released by Congress. If big media had fairly reported such scandals from the beginning, Planned Parenthood may have been defunded years ago and not remained a campaign issue.



Our society is so divided that allegations of wrongdoing at one of the left's cherished institutions are flatly rejected. Congressional reports are dismissed. While established media often feeds those doubts, they no longer have the luxury of grossly biased reporting without challenge. That's because the bottleneck is broken. In the digital age of multiple news sources, the general public isn't as dependent on a handful of media outlets so they will move to another channel when they detect an agenda that supersedes good reporting.



The U.S. Press Corps admitted as much in an Open Letter to Donald Trump last week. "We credit you with highlighting serious and widespread distrust in the media across the political spectrum. Your campaign tapped into that, and it was a bracing wake-up call for us. We have to regain that trust."



There will be another march this Saturday. This time it will celebrate the pro-life cause. If past coverage is any indication, this stepchild of an issue for the institutional media will not be treated fairly. Last year, one headline in the New York Times said the march was in the hundreds. Hundreds. A Washington Post story indicated that marchers were vaguely in the thousands. Professional estimates had it around 40,000. Truthful reporting about pro-life issues and events is so skewed that an organization formed last year called The Alliance for Fair Coverage of Life Issues.



Institutional media made a big deal about comparing Donald Trump's inaugural turnout to the Women's March on Washington. Let's see how they report this weekend's March for Life. It will be an indication of just how serious they are about their commitment about regaining the people's trust.



Richard Nelson is the executive director of the Commonwealth Policy Center, a nonprofit public policy group. He resides in Cadiz with his wife and children.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 25, 2017 | 09:53 AM | FRANKFORT, KY

mortgage lender and servicer HSBC to address mortgage origination, servicing and foreclosure abuses will receive payment in February.

Attorney General Andy Beshear today announced that Kentuckians who filed claims in the settlement with

The $59.3 million settlement is to provide direct payment to approximately 1,407 eligible Kentucky borrowers whose loans were serviced by HSBC and who lost their homes to foreclosure from Jan. 1, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2012, and encountered servicing abuse.

Beshear said the amount of payment will depend on how many borrowers filed claims late last year with the national third-party administrator, Rust Consulting.

As attorney general, I am committed to protecting Kentucky families, Beshear said. This settlement holds HSBC accountable for its past abusive practices, and it provides relief to hundreds of Kentuckians, many who lost their homes or filed bankruptcy. Kentucky families have been waiting for this relief for years, and now they are finally going to receive actual payments.

The HSBC agreement requires the company to provide certain Kentucky borrowers with loan modifications or other relief, and the settlement requires HSBC to substantially change how it services mortgage loans, handles foreclosures, and ensures the accuracy of information provided in federal bankruptcy court.

Beshear said the terms will prevent past foreclosure abuses, such as robo-signing, improper documentation and lost paperwork.
Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world
With Barcelona said to be sniffing around, Liverpool have gone and cinched up Philippe Coutinho to a meaty new contract.

The Brazilian forward has signed a new five-year deal, reportedly worth somewhere in the region of 150,000-a-week  thus making him the highest earner at the club

 Its the news youve been waiting for  @Phil_Coutinho has signed a new deal with the club!  Read more: https://t.co/SC3OdLiGre pic.twitter.com/QjxLG3zj03  Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 25, 2017

According to James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo, there is no release clause inserted into Coutinhos new deal.

All in all, its fairly reminiscent of the time Luis Suarez signed an enormous new long-term contract at Liverpool, roughly six months before he left for Barcelona for a freshly re-inflated fee.

Just saying
It didnt take long for Hannah Nagel to shed a tear of joy on her wedding day. Thats exactly what happened when she saw Nathan Mohr, the love of her life and her best friend, waiting for her at the altar on Sept. 10, 2016, in the DeKoven Center Chapel.

He just looked so handsome and perfect at the end waiting for me, said the blushing bride. Seeing the look on my soon-to-be-husbands face when I turned that corner was priceless.

Heres their story, according to Hannah:

How did the two of you meet?

Nathan and I met in Spanish class our freshman year of high school.

How did he propose?

We were with some friends at the mall one day and Nathan went missing. When we found him he was at Rodgers and Holland talking to one of the ladies, asking about rings. We really didnt talk about it, but I got the feeling that he might be thinking about proposing so I wanted to let him know that I didnt want him to feel pressured. The next day he asked me if I would come to dinner with him. We ended up at Rodgers and Holland 20 minutes before closing, leaving way past closing time and engaged.

Who did most of the planning for the wedding?

I did, but Nathan was really great when it came to the wedding planning. He let me pick out everything I wanted and needed to have on our special day. I did, however, consult him about everything and if he felt a different way he would let me know and we would make the changes together. He made this process incredibly easy understanding that every girl, including me, has dreamed of this day.

How many attendants did you have?

We had 16 people total in our wedding party including us and two ushers.

How many guests?

We had about 170 guests.

What were your biggest challenges in planning the wedding?

Deciding where it would be, since I am from Michigan and Nathan is from Racine, and the money that it takes to put on a wedding.

In what areas did you splurge?

The venue, food, honeymoon and the photographer. It was very important to me that the venue be held in a hotel since my family is from out of state. A nice dinner is always a good ice breaker and who doesnt love free food? The photographer was important because I wanted to have as many pictures and memories of this amazing day. A honeymoon is a must, even if its short and sweet  even if you have been together and dont think it will make a difference or the money isnt there. Its the final part to an amazing wedding. Getting to unwind with your partner after this stressful time is key. You wont regret it.

What did you do to save money?

Things that we could go without, like chair covers or save-the-dates, were little things that saved money and didnt make a difference while we were overjoyed on our special day. As for the other purchases that I couldnt part with and needed, we paid ahead or had a budget. Things got put on hold, our families helped with some expenses, and our taxes were what made us get through to have the day of our dreams.

What personal touches did you have in the ceremony and/or reception?

For the reception I pretty much did everything that I could to make it my own. We had a country theme with wood and mason jar center pieces. Nathan cut the wood pieces and I painted all the jars with help. You will need help with a lot, even if its just support, and I happened to have an amazing matron of honor. I had to have my hands on every piece. I made the bouquets from fake flowers that I had created myself. Every linen and ribbon was planned. Every string of lights, candle and table was perfect.

What song did you have for your first dance?

The song for our first dance was All of Me by John Legend.

Who did your cake and what was it like?

Our cake was from O&H Danish Bakery and it was amazing. We had a two-tiered cake to cut that was red velvet and lemon danish. Then we had a sheet cake that was strawberry Danish, chocolate with chocolate silk filling, white cake with vanilla silk filling, and carrot, which was my favorite.

What was your favorite memory of the day?

If you asked us both during that day, I guarantee we would have said our favorite part was when the ceremony was over. Nathan was so nervous about the wedding and me? Well, lets just say I lost it going down the aisle, bawled my eyes out and put my bouquet in my face. He just looked so handsome and perfect at the end waiting for me  that was my favorite part. Seeing the look on my soon-to-be husbands face when I turned that corner was priceless. Now, for Nathan, he would tell you his favorite part was when he got to drive his truck with all the guys through mud puddles, getting to eat (because that was the joke, that he was only coming for the food) or pretty much anytime after the stress of the ceremony.

Tell us a little bit about your honeymoon.

We spent seven lovely, stress-free days in Florida, where we got to swim in the ocean, go snorkeling, parasailing and not have a care in the world.

Any advice for other couples planning a wedding?

Start planning early. The thing that helped me the most was when we got engaged I started planning. I started looking at things and finding exactly what I wanted and what meant the most. This also helps with the money aspect of it. When you start early you can pay things a little at time, you dont have to rush your judgments or feelings, and it will be less stressful. Weddings are very expensive, but you can do it. Look in magazines and on the internet; just look at pictures in general. All you have to do is set your mind to it and it will happen.
RACINE  Police say an uncollected debt led a man to hold a woman at knife point at the door of her Racine home, before being arrested a short time later on Monday.

Eric Sullivan, 35, of the 2300 block of Russet Street, was charged Tuesday with first-degree recklessly endangering safety and armed burglary with a dangerous weapon.

According to the criminal complaint:

Sullivan wore a hooded sweatshirt when he knocked on the victim's door on Oregon Street Monday asking to see her husband about $150 the he was owed. Allegedly Sullivan held a knife to her throat and threatened to "gut" her dog.

The victim told Sullivan where to find her husband and he left with men who were also waiting with an SUV. Responding officers conducted a traffic stop a short time later, during which they discovered the knife and arrested Sullivan.

According to electronic jail records, Sullivan remained in the Racine County Jail, 1717 Wisconsin Ave., as of Tuesday evening. Bond was set at $5,000.

If convicted on the most serious charge Sullivan could spend 10 years in prison and up to a $50,000 fine. Sullivan has three other theft convictions on his record in 2010 and 2011, according to court records.

Sullivan is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 1.
RACINE  Racine firefighters spent more than three hours early Wednesday battling a stubborn fire in a garage at a car dealership.

The fire was reported at about 1 a.m. Wednesday at Auto Hut of Wisconsin, 1620 Racine St., and no one was in the building at the time, according to the Racine Fire Department.

Fire Department Lt. Michael Moss said the fire most likely started inside a car that was parked inside of the garage. He added it does not seem like the fire was started intentionally, but the investigation was ongoing as of Wednesday. Damage was estimated at $18,000, including the car.

It took the Fire Department over three hours to extinguish persistent flames, officials said.

Michael Ratchford, owner of Auto Hut, said he received a call at 1 a.m. from the Fire Department informing him of the fire.

Ratchford said he has no idea how the fire started and was surprised when he got the call.

The only car that was damaged was the one parked in the garage. Ratchford said cars on the lot were free of damage and the business continued to operate Wednesday.

Ratchford said Wednesday afternoon that had yet to contact a contractor regarding repairing the garage or possibly replacing the structure.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 26/01/2017 (2109 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Big Fun Festival is back for its sixth edition, hosting more than 40 artists and bands of various genres at eight venues over five days.

The fest is also attracting music executives from across the country for a mini-conference that should give Winnipeg bands a chance to showcase their songs and stage skills in front of industry power brokers.

The fest kicks off tonight at the Ballroom with New York-based violinist/electronic-pop artist Hannah Epperson and Winnipeg lo-fi/shoegaze artist Tansy, an apt introduction to a festival that puts as much weight, if not more, on promoting the citys music scene as it does bringing in outside artists to complement it.

One of the most anticipated shows is a double-headliner featuring two local bands, Mise En Scene and the Living Hour, who take the stage (along with Urban Vacation) at the West End Cultural Centre Friday, Jan. 27.

Its kind of cool to have two local bands be in our top billing spots and theyre so, so great, says Lauren Swan, one of the founders of Big Fun and the festivals marketing director.

Living Hour

Swan says she is also excited about the hip-hop show at the Sherbrook Hotel with the OB, Pip Skid and 3PEAT, which also happens Friday night.

Due to the success of last years collaboration, Big Fun will once again take over the RAW:almond space at The Forks, though this time for one night only, on Saturday, Jan. 28. Last year, the unseasonable warmth prevented the Red River from freezing solidly enough to hold the restaurant, forcing organizers to go to a land-based Plan B instead, so this will be the first time the musicians get to perform on the ice.

People loved it, it was just a really cool experience, says Swan of last years event, even with the change of location. I feel like a lot of people dont get to experience that space when its in the restaurant form because the tickets sell out so quickly, so its just another way of transforming that space and embracing the winter aspect of the festival. It was sold out every night; it was really fun.

January Music Meeting:

For the fourth time, Manitoba Music hosts its annual January Music Meeting  a mini-conference focused on the business of music  in tandem with Big Fun Festival.

During the four-day conference, the not-for-profit association welcomes a crew of industry professionals who come to town to offer advice on a variety of topics, such as project-pitching, release strategie, touring tips, royalties and copyrights and beyond. The format includes panel discussions, group discussions, one-on-ones and mixers to encourage networking with a cross-section of national experts and local peers.

We bring in a bunch of folks from outside, including a bunch from Toronto and others, and really try to set up an environment where theres a little bit of controlled chaos, says Sean McManus, executive director of Manitoba Music. We pack as many people as we can into our small space and sort of enjoy the benefits that come from that. From having more people around and having more dynamic conversations, we try to set up an environment where some folks get to have one-on-one meetings with our panellists, but also really be involved in discussion groups.

And because the meeting runs at the same time as Big Fun, it gives Manitoba musicians the opportunity to show off a bit of the citys music scene, as well as giving out-of-town industry folks who are visiting for the meeting the chance to see many up-and-coming bands in a small amount of time.

3peat

To program that and do it during Big Fun really meant that we could also benefit from that spirit of new music discovery and celebrating new music that Big Fun does and share some of that really adventurous programming that theyre doing, make sure some of the folks coming in get out and see some of whats happening culturally, musically in the city, says McManus. And all the participants that we have locally have something as a backdrop, something to really be proud of in terms of showcasing the music culture of Winnipeg.

The majority of the information sessions and panel discussions start Thursday and run through Saturday, and all events take place at the Manitoba Music offices (1-376 Donald St.) unless otherwise noted. The registration fee is $55 for members of Manitoba Music and $80 for non-members. Registration information and the full conference schedule can be found at mantiobamusic.com/jmm.

Safer spaces panel:

One of the new additions to the January Music Meeting is the Safer Spaces panel, which will tackle the topic of how to create safer spaces in the music community.

The event will be moderated by Free Press columnist Jen Zoratti, and features Alexa Potashnik, creator of Black Space and also known as performer MC Woke; Ashley Au, a local musician, composer and teacher; Jodie Layne, founder of Safer Spaces Winnipeg; award-winning MC and songwriter Leonard Sumner; Uzoma Asagware, entrepreneur and founder of QPOC (Queer People of Colour); and Tyler Sneesby, co-owner of the Good Will Social Club, a venue that has implemented a set of house rules intended to make the space welcome and safe for everyone.

I was at Sled Island (music and arts festival) and SASS  Society for the Advocacy of Safer Spaces  a group in Calgary, they put on a safer spaces panel at the festival it was great and informative, says Swan. When we came back and met with Manitoba Music to talk about their plans for the January Music Meeting and how to integrate it more with the festival, I suggested we host this panel because it is a really important topic thats pretty vital to the community.

The panellists will be discussing many aspects of the concept of safer spaces, including what it takes to create and maintain them, with a focus on gender, sexual orientation, and the experiences of black people, indigenous people, people of colour, and the people who exist at those intersections, says the Manitoba Music website.

My goal for the panel is to bring that conversation more into the public and talk about the kind of work thats going on with safer spaces right now and how far weve come and where we have to go.

The panel takes place at Fools & Horses, 375 Broadway, Thursday, Jan. 26 at 5:30 p.m. The event is free and open to all ages.

Disco Needs a Squeeze:

A new partnership was developed this year between Big Fun and Disco Needs a Squeeze; the new punk/hardcore festival that had its first run in August 2016, and will curate a showcase at Handsome Daughter on Friday night.

The event was a big success, says co-founder Mischa Decter, noting every show was completely packed.

Its something that people have been talking about doing here for a while and its never really happened, and we decided to just go for it and it went really well, and everyones really excited for us to do it again, says Decter. Were just trying to do more stuff throughout the year to build more hype for it and get attention from bands around Canada to know its worth it to come out to play.

The partnership with Big Fun was a natural one  Decter has worked with the Big Fun founders in various capacities (hes the general manager at the Handsome Daughter, one of Big Funs venues), and he says the festival is a good opportunity to introduce punk and hardcore music to a crowd that may not necessarily be inclined to attend one of their shows otherwise.

And its a nice look for Big Fun to help out a smaller festival thats doing sort of what they were doing when they started six years ago, he adds. Just a small, little DIY festival, and theyve grown a lot.

The Disco Needs a Squeeze showcase will include Triage, a female-fronted hardcore punk band from Toronto, and Winnipeg bands Genex, Whip and Craterface.

More information on Big Fun, including the full festival schedule, is available at bigfunfestival.com.

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @NireRabel

If you value coverage of Manitobas arts scene, help us do more.

Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow the Free Press to deepen our reporting on theatre, dance, music and galleries while also ensuring the broadest possible audience can access our arts journalism. BECOME AN ARTS JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project.

Mise En Scene
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/01/2017 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the snowy prairies of Western Canada, not even temperatures below -40 C have stopped Stampede Drillings 60 recently rehired workers from manning the oil-service providers rigs after a nine-month dry spell for the business.

Once oil hit $50, everybody started phoning again, Bill Devins, the drilling companys 57-year-old owner, said in a phone interview from his office in Estevan, Sask., a town bordering North Dakota right at the heart of the Bakken shale formation. We started to have some activity come our way.

From the tight-oil plays of Saskatchewan to the oilsands of northern Alberta, Canadas energy producers are returning to growth mode after more than two years enduring the worst market rout in decades. They are leaner and more efficient after cutting staff, shelving projects and reducing costs since the downturn. Cheaper crude doesnt feel so painful any longer.

Larry MacDougal / The Canadian Press files With the price of oil stabilizing around US$50 per barrel and new government-approved projects on the horizon, the economies of both Alberta and Saskatchewan are looking better than they have in a few years.

Companies such as MEG Energy Corp., Canadian Natural Resource, Cenovus Energy, and Encana have all announced plans to expand production. Calgary-based Precision Drilling Corp. hired and recalled about 1,000 field workers to reactivate rigs in Canada and the United States.

The renewed focus on expansion happens as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cuts output and after the Canadian government in November approved construction of two expanded oil pipelines that will add almost a million barrels a day of export capacity to Western Canada.

The industry got another vote of confidence Tuesday when U.S. President Donald Trump took steps to advance construction of the Keystone XL pipeline while foreshadowing a renegotiation of terms and insisting developers use U.S. steel. The Keystone line would add a further 830,000 barrels a day of capacity.

A lot of companies have started increasing capital budgets, Amir Arif, a Calgary-based analyst at Cormark Securities Inc., said by phone. They are getting more comfortable in the $45-to-$60-oil world. The stability in the oil price is a key factor.

Crude has rallied on the back of the OPEC-led supply cuts, trading mostly above US$50 a barrel in New York since a Nov. 30 agreement. While thats nothing like the industrys heyday years of about US$100 before the crash, its a big improvement from the near-US$25 doldrums of a year ago.

MEG plans to spend US$446 million in operations this year, almost five times more than in 2016, as it expands production at the Christina Lakes oilsands site by about 25 per cent. Cenovus will proceed with a 50,000-barrel-a-day expansion of its own Christina Lake project and Canadian Natural is moving ahead with its 40,000-barrel-a-day Kirby North project. The three ventures represent the first oilsands expansions to be announced since the downturn began.

The rosier outlook is filtering into Western Canada. Albertas economy will grow 2.1 per cent this year, tying with British Columbia for second-fastest among Canadian provinces behind Ontarios 2.3 per cent, according to the median of forecasts compiled by Bloomberg. The growth follows two straight years of economic contraction in the oil-rich province and will be largely because of the rebuilding of Fort McMurray, the gateway to the oilsands that was devastated by wildfires last year. Saskatchewan, the countrys second-largest oil-producing province, will also emerge from a two-year recession to grow 1.7 per cent.

Oil companies that form the backbone of the Western Canadian economy cut capital spending 50 per cent in the past two years to C$17 billion in 2016, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers projections. About 110,000 jobs were lost between late 2014 and April of last year, the group said.

But the number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas in Canada has jumped almost 40 per cent from a year ago, after falling to the lowest since the early 1990s last year, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc.

 Bloomberg News
RACINE  When Kelli McDonald lost two of her three cats in late 2015, she knew that her next pet was going to be a therapy cat.

She got the idea after her own grandmother passed away in hospice, requesting to see her cat  a wish that couldn't be fulfilled.

"It broke my heart, so I knew that I had to do something," McDonald said.

After visiting her parents in Wausau, 32-year-old nurse McDonald began her search in North Central Wisconsin. She looked at cats in various shelters and pet stores in Wausau, Stevens Point, Merrill and Antigo, but after a visit to the Langlade County Humane Society, McDonald had narrowed her choice down to three cats. Ultimately, Gracie, a black and tan female tortoiseshell with six toes, was chosen on Dec. 28, 2015.

Born in August 2015, Gracie seemed to have the perfect temperament to be a therapy cat.

The path to registration

Gracie is a registered therapy cat through Pet Partners, a nationwide organization specializing in registering therapy animal teams of nine species, including dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, guinea pigs, llamas and alpacas, birds, pigs and rats.

The road to becoming a therapy cat takes a lot of preparation. According to The Pet Partners website, prospective animals must be at least 1 year old at the time of evaluation, have lived with their owner for at least six months, be house trained, up-to-date on shots, have no history of aggression towards people or other animals, demonstrate basic obedience skills, welcome interactions with strangers and be comfortable with wearing Pet Partners approved equipment, like a harness.

McDonald was also required to take an online course to be a pet handler, but ultimately, she is glad she went through the process. "It [the registration through Pet Partners] makes us more credible and allows us to do more things in the community," she said.

During Gracie's initial screening, she was given a perfect score  something that is unusual. "She said she never usually gives perfect scores," McDonald said. "But she said she deserved it."

Gracie, whose favorite snack is pumpkin seeds, enjoys traveling so much that she purrs when McDonald pulls out her carrier or puts her harness on her.

A friendly feline in the community

And Gracie's presence in the community continues to grow. The feline makes frequent appearances at a special education class where McDonald works as a school nurse at Johnson Elementary School, 2420 Kentucky St., volunteers at the Racine Public Library, 75 Seventh St., as part of the Ruff Readers & Cat Chats program in which children read to and cuddle with her and even enjoys frequent visits to the pet store where she gets along with all humans and other animal visitors alike.

"One time, we happened to come into a pet store during a puppy training class. Gracie just laid there and let the dogs sniff her," McDonald said.

Another one of Gracie's favorite activities includes traveling with "mom" McDonald to Ridgewood Care Center, 3205 Wood Road, to visit residents.

Carol Fox, an 81-year-old Ridgewood resident, was glad to see Gracie after the holidays. "I missed her. It's been a while," Fox said. "She's just the sweetest. I used to have cats at home, but they didn't sit on my lap like Gracie does."

81-year-old Helen Rogers also enjoys Gracie's visits. "She's such a nice kitty. She's just so good!" Rogers said.

Ridgewood Director of Recreation and Volunteers Krista Kennedy said that Gracie's visits have filled a void in the nursing home for residents. "Our residents absolutely love it. She's our one and only cat."

At home, Gracie is an extremely playful and loving cat, who is pretty independent. "She sat on my lap this morning while I blow dried my hair and put makeup on  She isn't afraid of anything!" McDonald said.

"But when we go out on therapy visits, she knows what her job is. She may be tempted to want to just play or sniff around the room, but she knows that is not what she is there for. I don't have to force her to sit on people's laps at the nursing home or to read with the kids. She just knows what her job is  to comfort and cheer up the people there. She is so smart and special."
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/01/2017 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg-based Polar Windows of Canada has been acquired by a group of investors including management, private equity and strategic investors from the U.S.

Details of the acquisition were not released, but Stephen Segal, the companys president, said it will mean new growth opportunities.

Polar Windows has done well for 40 years, and we have really turned it around since 2013, said Segal, who is an investor and will remain president. We are on a growth trajectory, and we want to take it to the next level. We have capacity at the plant, and we want to ramp up what we are doing.

The two new partners are Henry & Wallace and Morris Capital Management, both based in Tennessee.

Segal said while they will be passive investors, they have the potential to bring American work to Polar, which currently does business predominantly in Western Canada.

It has about 100 employees, generating $10 million to $25 million in annual revenue. Most of its workforce is in Winnipeg, but it also has offices in Edmonton and Calgary.

Polar has typically been most active in the retrofit market but has become more attractive to new homebuilders. It has been owned since 2007 by the Cleveland-based private equity firm the Riverside Company.

Segal said the new ownership will bring some strategic capital investment in technology and equipment.

We are very excited to be a part of Polar Windows and look forward to supporting the future growth of the business. Polar Windows has been established in its markets for decades, and we plan on Polar being a strong competitor in future decades to come, said Tim Morris of Morris Capital Management.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/01/2017 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Police have a 16-year-old boy in custody following online threats aimed at a city high school.

Police revealed Wednesday at a press conference that theyd neutralized the threat before West Kildonan Collegiate had opened for classes Monday morning.

They been tipped off to the online threat late Sunday and arrested the suspect overnight, Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Rob Carver told media.

It was effectively all wrapped up by the time school started the next day, Carver said.

Carver would not say if the suspect had attended the school but he did say the boy was not currently a student.

Police were deployed to the school 101 Ridgecrest Avenue Monday morning. But that was by way of a follow-up, so officers could be on hand in person to update school authorities and parents.

The school sent a note home to parents following the scare and police reported they got messages from concerned parents about it on Twitter.

Police used the incident to say social media is not anonymous when it comes to crime.

People have the sense they can make comments online and that there is a fair bit of anonymity, Carver said.

Thats not true and this incident was a good example of what can happen when comments on social media cross the line into crime.

Your comments dont remain anonymous if your comments are criminal, he said.

The suspect remained in custody Wednesday, charged with uttering threats and failing to comply with court-ordered conditions on previous charges.

Police did not disclose the nature of the threats or the previous charges.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/01/2017 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba NDP says the province should not leave a southeastern Manitoba heart attack patient in the lurch over a six-figure U.S. medical bill.

Robin Milne of Sprague was handed a bill for the equivalent of $118,000 after receiving treatment in a North Dakota hospital.

The Manitoba Health Department has refused to cover it. Matt Wiebe, the NDPs health critic, says thats wrong.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Matt Wiebe, MLA for Concordia and opposition health critic.

Through no fault of his own, Robin Milne was handed a huge medical bill after being sent from his home in Sprague to the U.S., where doctors saved his life, Wiebe said. The Pallister government should pay that bill and ensure that no other Manitobans face the same traumatic shock when fighting for their lives.

Milne suffered a heart attack at his home in Sprague on Oct. 2. As per standard practice in the area, which is just a few minutes from the U.S. border, he was taken by ambulance to a health clinic in Roseau, Minn. A doctor there tried to arrange transportation to St. Boniface hospital in Winnipeg, where doctors were on standby to operate.

When no transportation could be arranged within a safe timeframe and because of his serious condition, the Minnesota doctor transferred Milne to Grand Forks, N.D, where doctors saved his life, the NDP said.

A provincial government spokeswoman said Manitoba does not have a reciprocal health agreement with either Minnesota or North Dakota.

Generally, health coverage under the provincial health insurance plan for Manitoba residents outside of the country is limited to Manitoba rates for emergency services. If a service is unavailable elsewhere in Canada, the Health Department has to sign off on out-of-country care for costs to be approved, and the patient needs a referral from a Manitoba specialist, she said.

In southeastern Manitoba, however, the province has made arrangements to pay in full for emergency services and primary care at two clinics just across the border in Roseau, Minn. and Warroad, Minn., the provincial spokeswoman said.

Milne was told by the government that he had elected to receive medical treatment out of country; that it was up to him to negotiate payment directly with U.S. hospitals; and that Manitobans living in his area should obtain private health insurance, according to the NDP.

All Manitobans will see this treatment of Mr. Milne as unacceptable, Wiebe said. We urge the Pallister government to pay Mr. Milnes bill immediately and ensure rural Manitobans get timely access to health care. No patient should have to worry about paying such a huge bill when their life is on the line.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/01/2017 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police have released more details about two pepper spray attacks that occurred Sunday night, including three children were taken to hospital for treatment.

Police said Wednesday the three children, all under age five, were in the home where the first attack occurred. All seven residents were taken to hospital as a precaution, but none was seriously injured.

Police also confirmed pepper spray, not bear spray, was used in the two Maples-area attacks. Pepper spray is restricted to law enforcement. Bear spray is sold to the public as a safety device for hikers. Its intended to deter bears and in Canada it is not legal to use it for self-defence.

No arrests have been made, but police said they believe its likely both attacks were carried out by the same suspect.

The suspect is described as aboriginal, between 20-30 years old and approximately 5-foot-10. He was wearing a black jacket and had a neck warmer pulled up to cover his face.

Police still dont know the motive, but there is no indication theyre related to gang activity.

The first incident occurred in the 700 block of Sheppard Street at about 9:20 p.m. The victim was sprayed by an unknown assailant when he answered the door. He was able to close the door and had no further contact with the attacker.

The second incident occurred around 10 p.m. in the 1200 block of Jefferson Avenue. A man was in a parking lot of an apartment block when the attacker first sprayed and then tried to physically assault him. The victim was able to get into the building without further injury. He later drove himself to hospital for treatment, though he was not seriously injured.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

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This article was published 24/01/2017 (2111 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A political party lives or dies with its brand. Strong brand, and youre competing to form government; weak brand means charter membership in the political wilderness.

Thats all well and fine, but how can a party sustain or build a strong brand? The adage go big or go home is a good start.

There is a reason why, in a digital age where everything from a university degree to an income tax return can be completed remotely, political parties still insist on holding large gatherings of party members. Draw a big crowd, and youve created a symbolic reminder that youre a going concern and worth supporting come election time.

PHIL HOSSACK / FREE PRESS FILES Bernadette Smith will be the only candidate when Point Douglas New Democrats nominate a representative for this summer's by-election.

Fail to attract a large crowd, and youve just told the broader public that you arent really ready to govern.

Over the next year, no party in Manitoba will face more events at which it will have to show up in force than the NDP.

First, there will be an important convention in March, the first since the NDP was summarily trounced in last springs general election. This years annual convention is being held at the Indian & Metis Friendship Centre, a much smaller and more intimate venue than the big downtown hotel ballrooms that normally serve as a backdrop for these kinds of gatherings.

Then, there is the fall convention to choose a new leader. The NDP will not only have to draw a horde of delegates and sell a whack of memberships, it also must conjure up a slate of multiple candidates vying to serve as leader.

Somewhere in between, the NDP will fight a byelection to retain the riding of Point Douglas, made vacant when NDP MLA Kevin Chief resigned his seat late last year. If the byelection process is any indication, the NDP is going to have trouble showing people it can draw a crowd.

This week it was revealed that Bernadette Smith, co-founder of the Manitoba Coalition of Missing and Murdered Women and the Drag the Red Initiative and a recipient of the Order of Canada, would be the only candidate when Point Douglas New Democrats gather Jan. 31 to formally nominate someone to represent the riding in the byelection that must be held some time before late June. Why there is only one candidate is a matter of some debate.

At least one party member has accused the riding executive of manipulating the process, pointing out that the date for the nomination meeting was not publicly announced until after the deadline for nominations had passed.

Was there skulduggery at work here? Keith Bellamy, provincial secretary for the Manitoba NDP, noted that despite having more than a month to organize, no one else stepped forward. In fact, there isnt much evidence to suggest the party elites, as the dissident called them, conspired to ensure an acclamation. Although there were some within the NDP caucus who certainly made it clear that once Smith was in the race, there wasnt much need for a full-blown nomination battle.

On the day Smith announced her candidacy, NDP MLA Nahanni Fontaine suggested it would be unacceptable in this period of reconciliation and extremely disrespectful for anyone to run against her.

It is not wrong for Fontaine to personally support Smith. However, her suggestion that it would be inappropriate for anyone to run against her is dangerously misguided.

As a member of the NDPs elected caucus, Fontaine should have tried to encourage others to join the race with the knowledge a competitive nomination race would have given the ultimate winner a healthy dose of credibility and made the NDP look like a going concern.

Instead, there is a possibility that, as a high-profile member of the elected caucus and an opinion leader in the indigenous community, Fontaine may have driven other worthy candidates out of the race. As she considers that possibility, Fontaine would be well advised to look to how Manitobas other political parties fared when they could not draw a crowd.

The Manitoba Liberals faced many setbacks during last springs election, but they did not fully acquire the smell of death until it was learned that many of their candidates had to be acclaimed or directly nominated by the leader. The acclamations and the loss of candidates from scandal and flawed nomination paperwork raised a worrisome question among voters: how many people would vote for a party that could not find 57 viable candidates? The answer was, predictably, very few.

The Progressive Conservatives also learned first-hand the brand damage that accrues from not being able to generate a show of force around leadership transitions.

In the 17 years the NDP ruled the province, the Tories twice acclaimed leaders: Stuart Murray in 2000; and Brian Pallister in 2012. Only Hugh McFadyen (2006-12) had to face an actual vote at an actual convention.

The acclamations hung around the neck of the Tory party like a millstone, creating the impression it was unprepared for government. (Of course, voters lost interest in Pallisters acclamation once the NDP became embroiled in the slow, painful process of political harikari in its last few years in government. But I digress.)

The NDP party executive, along with the riding executive in Point Douglas, should have done all it could to recruit good candidates to compete for the nomination. Failure to do that has created two huge problems.

It has put the soon-to-be-acclaimed Smith in a disadvantage going into a byelection where her opponents are sure to seize every opportunity to remind voters that only one person stepped forward to represent one of the safest NDP seats in the province.

Furthermore, it has confirmed that despite falling some distance, the NDP hasnt quite hit rock bottom yet.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 24/01/2017 (2111 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tim Smith / Brandon Sun files Sustainable development minister Catherine Cox expressed concern about the sustainability of the moose population.

Manitobas sustainable development minister refused to say Tuesday whether there is any possibility she might ban night hunting in Manitoba, despite calls to end the dangerous practice.

Catherine Cox met for about 45 minutes with a delegation of rural councillors who demanded she ban night hunting. She later said she is hoping to meet with all concerned parties and find ways to make hunting safe for everyone.

We want to include all parties, she told reporters. Everyone is concerned about safety, and ensuring the sustainability of our big-game population. We want to work together and do consensus-building  I cant say what the outcome will be.

RM of Sifton Coun. Scott Phillips emerged from Tuesdays meeting to say progress had been made towards a total ban. Sifton is located in the southwest corner of the province.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Manitoba's Sustainable Development Minister Catherine Cox met with rural councillors that are calling for a ban on the practice of night hunting in the province.

They havent said no. I dont know why they would  its in everyones best interests, Phillips said. Me, personally, I think were on second base, I think well get to home.

However, Phillips said Cox is keeping the governments promise made in November to hire more conservation officers.

Firing a gun at night is not safe, said Phillips, who insisted that the proposed ban has nothing to do with indigenous hunting rights  some leaders have argued its a protected right  and everything to do with everyones safety.

We want everybody to feel safe at night, he said.

RM of Pipestone Reeve Archie McPherson said there is no need for anyone to hunt at night: Theres 365 days a year they can hunt.

Cox said no one has made a case to her that indigenous hunters need to hunt at night in order to feed their families.

Everyone agrees that night hunting is not safe, the minister said. Its a complex and very emotional issue. Weve relocated conservation officers into areas where we know there have been problems.

Cox said she is now contacting leaders of indigenous organizations to meet with her and with municipal officials.

MKO Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Derek Nepinak, and Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand did not respond to interview requests Tuesday.

While Cox is concerned about the sustainability of the moose population, she did not have figures available to show how many moose and other large game have been lost to night hunting.

New Democrat Wab Kinew said Tuesday night hunting is an indigenous right and an ancient practice.

The province cant act unilaterally. They have to be sure theyre reaching out to indigenous rights holders, he said.

It is not just indigenous people hunting at night, said Kinew, who added that as an indigenous hunter he doesnt hunt past dusk.

Liberal interim leader Judy Klassen, a member of St. Theresa Point First Nation, said she was unsure why hunters need to hunt at night: They havent said what the specific advantages are, just that its a protected right.

Klassen said in an interview that hunters in northern communities share the meat among the community, and they hunt in a safe manner, knowing where people and buildings are. Generally, Klassen said, wild game avoids settled areas.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

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This article was published 25/01/2017 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Greg Mason has done a great service to the research community by finally making available the Mincome data collected at a cost of $17 million to Canadian taxpayers (Revisiting Manitobas basic income experiment, Jan. 23).

His research group received $1 million in 1980 to make these data widely available to the research community. Digitization was completed in 1984 and the tape circulated among a few labour economists before it became obsolete in the late 1980s. On Jan. 3, 2017 the data were deposited in the University of Manitoba library.

Dauphin was the minor site in the Mincome experiment; Winnipeg was the most important site. Four factors, however, made it impossible to assess Winnipeg health outcomes. First, only a small proportion of Winnipeg citizens participated in Mincome. Second, as Mason assures us, Mincome did not collect any significant health data. Third, many of the participants in the experiment dropped out before it was completed, so any data collected was incomplete. And fourth, the state-of-the-art design incorporated into Mincome chose too small a sample size to generate significant effects. That meant a second wave of participants was introduced into the study mid-term, further muddying data analysis.

How was it possible, then, to determine that health improved significantly in Dauphin? Dauphin was a saturation site, dismissed by Mincome researchers as unimportant. In fact, it was this design that salvaged the results.

As a saturation site, anybody who lived in Dauphin during the Mincome experiment received the promise they could receive support from Mincome if their income fell below the prescribed threshold. This meant even people who didnt receive money from Mincome were relieved of the stress associated with the fear of income insecurity.

Moreover, the Mincome researchers were not able to design a reasonable control group for Dauphin, so they couldnt figure out how to ensure the results observed were due to Mincome. In the 40 years since Mincome, statistical design has improved a great deal.

I was able to find three control subjects for every Dauphin resident  matched not only on age and sex, but on every variable in the long-form census. So we can be sure that observed results were due to Mincome.

Finally, I was able to draw on a database not available to Mincome researchers  medicare data, routinely collected every time anyone in Manitoba goes to the hospital or visits a family doctor. This is objective data, based on billings, rather than the self-reported data collected by Mincome researchers and subject to all the distortions of memory that limit self-reported data.

So what did the Dauphin data show? Hospitalizations fell by 8.5 per cent, largely due to improvements in mental health. The number of visits to family doctors fell significantly, largely due to improvements in mental health. High school completion rates increased, based on Department of Education data. All these are relative to the control group.

These data are not based on the dusty boxes of records from the Mincome project, but the boxes do, nonetheless, contain lots of data not yet digitized. David Calnitsky, then a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin, used some of these data to show that stigma associated with collecting welfare was not experienced by Mincome recipients, and that family relationships improved.

As Ontario, Finland, the Netherlands and Oakland begin new experiments, people want to know how quality of life improves and how expenditures on other social programs decline with a basic income. They are interested in results beyond the demonstration that people dont quit their jobs, as Wayne Simpson and Derek Hum showed in 1983 based on Masons digitized data.

Evelyn Forget is a health economist at the University

of Manitoba. Her re-examination of Mincome and ongoing work on guaranteed annual income is supported by CIHR and SSHRC.
I am excited to be on these committees and look forward to serving the people of Wisconsin," Wichgers said in the release. "Through these committees I will be able to fight for a decrease in government regulation and interference, and increase the amount of say that the people have in local issues that affect them. The sooner that we get government out of the way of the people, the better.
Opinion

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This article was published 25/01/2017 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Its the economy, stupid.

That simple statement, which helped Bill Clinton win the 1992 United States presidential election, sums up the way many have responded to the introduction of a national carbon price in Canada by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Many even acknowledge that climate change is a pressing problem but wonder why Canada would hamstring, kneecap or (insert whatever extremity-restricting metaphor you choose here) its economy when the country accounts for such a small portion of global greenhouse gas emissions. Why would we not wait for other countries to take action first and mirror their policies to avoid getting too far out in front?

KEVIN FRAYER / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Under Ontarios cap-and-trade systems, emissions permits can be distributed to firms at no cost, rather than asking them to purchase permits through an auction.

This argument formed the basis of national climate change policy under the previous federal government and has been continued by provincial politicians such as Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and opposition politicians in Alberta.

A price on carbon will create costs for Canadian businesses and industries that their competitors will not face if other governments do not institute comparable policies.

However, too often competitiveness concerns have led to rhetorical statements about the destruction of the economy and massive job losses rather than a debate about what the other countries are likely to do, what the costs will be if Canada takes action on its own and whether these costs can be mitigated.

The U.S. is a major competitor to Canada in many sectors of the economy. With Donald Trump becoming president of the U.S., the prospects of a national price on carbon in the U.S. are slim to none, and that is being optimistic. For many, this has reaffirmed and increased concerns about placing Canadian companies at a disadvantage relative to their southern counterparts.

However, it is worth remembering that under former president Barack Obama, there was little chance of a federal carbon-pricing policy either, as the Republican-controlled Congress was vociferously opposed to the idea. Even the Obama administrations Clean Power Plan, which mandated GHG emission reductions in power plants across the country, was subject to legal challenges by many states and industries. At the beginning of 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked implementation of the plan pending resolution of these challenges.

So, while the prospects for a harmonized North American carbon price and other climate change policies might be worse under Trump, they were never very good to begin with. In reality, waiting for the U.S. to adopt new climate change policies could mean Canada does nothing or very little on the file.

If Canada does take action on its own, what will be the impacts on our competitiveness? A 2015 report by Canadas Ecofiscal Commission examined the proportion of provincial economies that are emissions-intensive (industries that will face high costs under a price) and trade-exposed (industries that must compete with firms outside their jurisdictional borders).

The report shows that across Canada, only specific economic sectors will face competitiveness concerns under carbon-pricing policies. Alberta and Saskatchewan are likely to be more affected than other provinces. But even in these jurisdictions, the portion of provincial GDP that faces high costs and is trade-exposed is not overwhelming at 18 per cent.

Regardless of the numbers, the fever pitch of the rhetoric adopted by many politicians does little to address the concerns of these industries. A more constructive debate is one focused on how well-designed policy can address competitiveness issues.

In provinces such as Quebec and Ontario, which have cap-and-trade systems, emissions permits can be distributed to firms at no cost, rather than asking them to purchase permits through an auction. In Alberta, which has adopted a tax to price emissions, rebates will be provided to firms based on their emissions per unit of production (emissions per barrel in the oil industry) relative to their industry peers. This incentivizes better performance on GHG emissions while assisting firms in adjusting to the tax.

Some approaches may prove to be more effective than others, but that is the direction the discussion in Canada should take, as opposed to the debate on whether a price on carbon signals impending doom for the country.

There is no denying that decisions about carbon pricing affect the Canadian economy, but those looking for a way to reduce the countrys GHG emissions, while minimizing the impact on competitiveness, are not stupid.

Brendan Boyd is a post-doctoral scholar at the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary.
Opinion

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This article was published 25/01/2017 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It isnt hard to see the wisdom behind the push to extend child and family services for kids in care up to the age of 25. Theres research that has been done that indicates it would result in savings in the long run for various levels of government.

Manitobas childrens advocate, Darlene MacDonald told a legislature committee Monday two other provinces have already done this: Ontario and British Columbia. In Ontario in 2012, its estimated every dollar the province spent extending support to youth in care would save both the provincial and federal governments $1.36 in future spending.

Thats because young people who are aged out of care experience homelessness and unstable housing and are often transient. They also experience lower rates of employment, lower wages and lower post-secondary enrolment, as well as lower completion at the high school level. They have higher-than-average issues with mental health, including post-traumatic stress disorder. Many children in care may also experience higher levels of substance abuse and struggle with addiction issues.

SUPPLIED Childrens advocate Darlene MacDonald

Additional supports for those in care as they mature may provide some assistance. The problem is in Manitoba, this is very much like trying to treat a brain tumour with an Aspirin. By extending the length of care to 25 without addressing why kids end up in care in the first place, the province is just treating the symptoms without working on a cure.

This province has the among the highest number of children in care, most of them indigenous. A recent study conducted at the University of Manitoba suggests of the more than 10,000 kids seized, the majority of them are taken when they are less than a year old, and one-quarter of those stay in care for longer than 12 years.

Another study indicates 70 per cent of kids in care never make it through high school within six years of entering. These kids will have problems at 21 or at 25 when they are trying to find meaningful and sustainable employment without a high school diploma.

Offering an expansion of care for foster children so they have access to services to the age of 25 is something to consider, but the provincial government would also be wise to tackle the larger problem of the number of kids entering care in the first place. That takes a lot more determination and a lot more work.

The province can look beyond Canadas borders for programs that work. In Scandinavian countries, governments have spent resources and time reducing child poverty and family violence, and it has had a positive effect.

But this is not something that can be boiled down to key performance indicators with outcomes charted neatly in a graph. Its ugly. Its messy. Its expensive, and it will take time. This is not something a government hell-bent on reducing the deficit will embrace easily, particularly when the previous government, which was hell-bent on building the deficit, failed at it as well. However, putting the numbers of kids kept in care on the provinces most-improved list would be an important legacy for this government  perhaps even more important than balancing the budget and certainly more cost-efficient in the long run.
A two-day jury trial has been scheduled in a Fountain City case involving alleged sexual assault of a 13-year-old boy.

Buffalo County Circuit Judge James Duvall scheduled a jury trial to begin June 1 for 56-year-old Thaddeus A. Powers, a former Fountain City man accused of felony second-degree sexual assault of a child under the age of 16.

Powers pleaded not guilty after a preliminary court hearing in September, where a sheriffs department investigator testified to sexual abuse allegations raised by the boy.

Powers has sold his house in Fountain City and now lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, according to new address information in filed in circuit court.

A complaint filed against Powers says the boy was molested at Powers residence in June. Powers has since been free on a $10,000 cash bail bond with orders to stay away from minors under 18.

Buffalo County District Attorney Thomas Clark is prosecuting the case and Keith A. Belzer is defense attorney for Powers. The case is scheduled to have another motion hearing on Feb. 23 and a final pre-trial conference on May 3.

The assault was reported to the sheriffs department on July 7, and a sheriffs investigator interviewed the boy on July 11, according to court records.

Powers allegedly put his hand down the front of the boys pants and underwear and fondled him, the boy told authorities.

The violation charging Powers is a serious sex offense because it involved conduct seeking his own sexual arousal or gratification, the investigator said in his report.
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and a bipartisan group of senators have introduced legislation to help fight synthetic drugs, Klobuchars office announced Wednesday.

The Synthetic Abuse and Labeling of Toxic Substances (SALTS) Act would make it easier to prosecute the sale and distribution of analogue drugs, which are synthetic substances that are substantially similar to illegal drugs.

Current law makes it difficult to prosecute new synthetic drugs, as analogues because they are often labeled not intended for human consumption despite their well-known use as recreational drugs with dangerous side effects.

New synthetic drugs constantly come onto the market. We need to give our law enforcement agencies the tools they need to combat them, Klobuchar said in a statement. This commonsense bipartisan legislation makes it easier to crack down on new synthetic drugs the minute they hit the market.

The SALTS Act amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow for consideration of a number of factors when determining whether a controlled substance analogue was intended for human consumption, including the marketing, advertising, and labeling of a substance, and its known use.

In addition to Klobuchar, the legislation was introduced by several Democratic and Republican senators.

In 2014, a resolution Klobuchar wrote to promote awareness among youth about the dangers of synthetic drugs passed the Senate. In 2012, her provisions outlawing harmful synthetic substances such as 2C-E, which led to the death of a Minnesota teenager and hospitalized several others, were passed into law as part of the larger Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act.
Today

Auditions: 4-5:30 p.m. for grades 4-6, 5:30-7 p.m. for grades 7-12, Stage III Theatre for Youth, Baraboo Civic Center, 124 Second St., Baraboo. Auditions will take place for the production Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. No singing required. Tech crew sign-up will also take place. For more information, email Sue Eldred-Kujawa at stage3forkids@gmail.com or call 608-434-6544. Show dates will be April 7-9.

Free meal: 4:30-6:30 p.m., La Valle area churches, Advent Christian Church, 200 LaValle St., La Valle. Free community meal with scalloped potatoes and ham, roll, and dessert. The public is welcome.

Thursday, Jan. 26

Book club: 1 p.m., Sauk City Public Library, 515 Water St., Sauk City. January pick: In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume. All are welcome. For more information, call 608-643-8346.

Book sale: 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Reedsburg Public Library, 370 Vine St., Reedsburg. Library book sale includes books, videos, magazines, DVDs and more.

Play: CAB Theatre presents Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune at the Ringling House Bed & Breakfast at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $15 and are available at the door or at cabtheatre.org.

Friday, Jan. 27

Book sale: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Reedsburg Public Library, 370 Vine St., Reedsburg. Library book sale includes books, videos, magazines, DVDs and more.

Blood drive: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., American Red Cross, Sauk Prairie Healthcare, 260 26th St., Prairie du Sac. To make an appointment or for more information, call 800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or visit www.redcrossblood.org.

Play: CAB Theatre presents Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune at the Ringling House Bed & Breakfast at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $15 and are available at the door or at cabtheatre.org.

Chair yoga: 10-10:45 a.m., Baraboo Area Senior Center, 124 Second St., Room 21, Baraboo. Instructor Tatsiana ONeil will lead the group in stretches while seated. There is a $1 fee. For more information, call Diane Pillsbury at 608-356-8464.

Blood drive: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., BloodCenter of Wisconsin, Reedsburg Area Medical Center, 2000 N. Dewey Ave., Reedsburg. All blood donors will receive a $10 coupon redeemable at Noodles & Co. For more information and to schedule an appointment, call 877-232-4376 or visit www.bcw.edu.

Lyme disease support group: 6:30-8 p.m. Hillsboro Public Library, 819 High Ave., Hillsboro. Monthly meeting for people afflicted with lyme borrelia burgdorferi and other tick-bourne diseases in Vernon, Monroe, Sauk and Richland counties. For more information, call Gary Cepek at 608-489-2725 or email garycepek@yahoo.com.

Fish fry: 5-7 p.m., Emanuel United Methodist Church, 101 14th St., Baraboo. The menu includes fried cod and baked haddock, potato, salad, coleslaw, baked beans, bread and dessert. Cost is $10 for adults, kids four and older are $1 per year of age up to $10 and kids 3 and younger are free. Proceeds will go to Emanuels mission trip to Guatemala to support La Escuela Integrada school for impoverished children. Delivery is available by calling, 608-963-7807.

Saturday, Jan. 28

Ice fisheree: 6-9 a.m., Schoepps Cottonwood Resort, N586 Schoepp Road, Sauk City. The Cottonwood Club Ice Fisheree registration is $10 per person on the day of the event. The event will feature food, raffles, game camera and varmint air rifle and door prizes. For more information, call Schoepps at 608-643-4200 or Ron Opitz at 608-643-8433.

Play: CAB Theatre presents Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune at the Ringling House Bed & Breakfast at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $15 and are available at the door or at cabtheatre.org.

Wine event: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wollersheim Winery, 7876 Highway 188, Prairie du Sac. The Port Wine Celebration will feature self-guided tours and wine tasting, winemaker talks, live music featuring Gin, Chocolate & Bottle Rockets and wine and food for purchase. Celebration is open to the public, and there is no admission fee. For more information, visit www.wollersheim.com.

Listening session: 10:30-11:30 a.m., Sauk City Public Library, lower level program room, 515 Water St., Sauk City. Listening session with state Sen. Jon Erpenbach and state Rep. Dave Considine. For more information, contact Sen. Erpenbachs office at 608-266-6670 or 888-549-0027 or email sen.erpenbach@legis.wi.gov; Rep. Considines office can be reached at 608-266-7746 or rep.considine@legis.wi.gov.

Listening session: Noon-1 p.m., Baraboo Public Library, downstairs program room, 230 Fourth Ave., Baraboo. Listening session with state Sen. Jon Erpenbach and state Rep. Dave Considine. For more information, contact Sen. Erpenbachs office at 608-266-6670 or 888-549-0027 or email sen.erpenbach@legis.wi.gov; Rep. Considines office can be reached at 608-266-7746 or rep.considine@legis.wi.gov.

Senior card party: 1-3:30 p.m., Baraboo Area Senior Center, 124 Second St., Room 24, Baraboo. Winterfest Card Party will include Euchre and Sheepshead. The fee is $4 with a 75 percent payback. Soda and coffee will be available for $1 with free snacks. For more information, call Diane Pillsbury at 608-356-8464.

Childrens theater: 2 p.m., CAL Center, La Crosse Community Theater, 1100 S. Albert Ave., Reedsburg. The Snowy Day and Other Stories will be presented. Tickets are $10 for adults/seniors and $5 for children 12 and younger. Tickets can be purchased online at www.calcenterpresents.org. or at Reedsburg area banks, Viking Village Foods and the Reedsburg Area Chamber of Commerce office.

Book sale: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Reedsburg Public Library, 370 Vine St., Reedsburg. Library book sale includes books, videos, magazines, DVDs and more.

Sunday, Jan. 29

Card party: 1 p.m., St. Joes CCW, St. Josephs School Gym, 310 Second St., Baraboo. Euchre and Bridge played. $3 admission, snacks available. For more information or to register, call Dottie Slota at 356-4669.

Book sale: Noon to 3 p.m., Reedsburg Public Library, 370 Vine St., Reedsburg. Library book sale includes books, videos, magazines, DVDs and more.

Monday, Jan. 30

Senior potluck luncheon: Noon to 1 p.m., Baraboo Area Senior Center, 124 Second St., Room 24, Baraboo. Speakers will be Pastors Matt and Rachelle Fearson from the warming center. There is no cost but bring a side dish to pass and a donation of a paper product such as paper towels, plates, napkins or plastic ware. For more information, call Diane Pillsbury at 608-356-8464.

Community impact night: 4-7 p.m., Baraboo Area Senior Center, Dairy Queen, 701 Highway 12, Baraboo. Ten percent of the evenings profits will be donated to the senior center. For more information, call Diane Pillsbury at 608-356-8464.

Adult coloring: 6:30 p.m., Baraboo Public Library, 230 Fourth St., Baraboo. Coloring for Adults program. Coloring pages and colored pencils will be provided, or participants may bring their own. This program is free. For more information, call 608-356-6166.

Tuesday, Jan. 31

Senior computer class: 10:15-11:15 a.m., Baraboo Area Senior Center, 124 Second St., Room 24, Baraboo. Baraboo High School computer science students will demonstrate computer-based puzzles and activities. Bring a laptop computer or use the computers students will be bringing. There is no cost. For more information, call Diane Pillsbury at 608-356-8464.

Kids event: 4 p.m., Ruth Culver Community Library, 540 Water St. in Prairie du Sac. Kids can help decorate and dedicate the new tree mural during This Tree is for Me. Children age 6 and younger must be accompanied by an adult. For more information, call Beth at 643-8318.

Adult storytime: 6:30 p.m., Baraboo Public Library, 230 Fourth St., Baraboo. Fireside Storytime for Adults will feature short stories read aloud by readers be Molly Arbogast, Nijole Etzwiler, and Mike Pullen. Free program. For more information, call 608-356-6166.
Jurors in the homicide trial of 29-year-old Jae M. Robinson visited the scene of the alleged crime Tuesday morning.

A bus dropped off the 12 jurors and two alternates around 9 a.m. outside the Walnut Street Tavern in Baraboo where they began the walking tour.

Robinson, of North Freedom, is charged with homicide and battery as a party to a crime in connection with an October 2015 fight that resulted in the death of 36-year-old Anthony Inman, also of North Freedom. Tuesday was the second of what is scheduled as a 10-day trial.

During the tour, Baraboo Police Officer Eric Oakeson led the jury to areas marked by orange cones. At each location, he pointed to the cone and read from a script that had been agreed upon by the defense and prosecution.

Robinson, his attorney, prosecutors, the judge, and court security joined the walking tour, which started near the Walnut Street Tavern and ended at the intersection of Walnut and Lynn streets, near where the fight occurred.

The tour took place in the street, and spectators were permitted to watch from the sidewalk along the west side of Walnut Street. Officers blocked off roads leading to the area.

Baraboo Police Capt. Rob Sinden said outside agencies provided backup while local officers managed the jurys visit to the scene.

Officers testimony

After returning to court, the prosecution called Oakeson, the Baraboo officer, as its first witness. He was the first officer on scene, and prosecutors showed the jury a video that documented his arrival around 2:30 a.m.

During the roughly 10 minutes played, Oakeson exited his vehicle, and check on two men identified as Inman and his friend, Anthony J. Peterson, 33, of Mauston. Peterson was injured in the fight, and was lying near Inman.

Also on scene was a man who had come upon the fight and called 911.

Prosecutors allege Robinson and his two friends lured Inman and Peterson to the intersection, then ambushed them from around the corner with blunt force weapons. Robinsons defense attorney has said there was no luring, both parties decided to fight, and that Inman attacked Robinson first.

The defense says Robinson disarmed Inman of his knife and only used it to stab him after he continued to attack. Prosecutors say Inman was stabbed 17 times.

Oakesons squad car video showed him trying to assist Inman, who he said was not responsive at the time. Over the course of the 10 minutes that were played, other emergency vehicles arrived and assisted.

Madison defense attorney Michael Coveys questioning of Oakeson was brief in comparison to the prosecution. It mainly elicited from Oakeson that he did not observe the circumstances of the fight, because he was not there when it occurred.

Inmans knife

Also Tuesday, Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Michael Screnock ruled that Inmans knife  which had a six-inch blade  may be described as illegal in court. Prosecutors had objected to the term, saying it maligned Inmans character.

Theres really only one purpose for this knife, and thats as a weapon, Covey said.

Screnock ruled on how witnesses may be questioned about the knife.

Prosecutors have charged Robinson, his two male friends, and the woman that allegedly drove them from the scene all with homicide and battery as parties to a crime. All but Robinson face additional miscellaneous charges. They were all arrested within hours of the incident.

The cases of Matthew T. Harvey, 32, Christopher L. Nash, 38, and Amanda N. Rotar, 23, all of Baraboo, are pending. Robinson is the first to go to trial.
If you didnt watch Friday's Inaugural Address of President Donald J. Trump, but tuned in to the violent protests that followed, you saw two different Americas.

One America was of hope and determination, while the other offered fear and destruction. Clearly not a great America.

Since Election Day, the progressive left has portrayed Trumps election as being predetermined by the Russians because Americans are not smart enough to know fake news from real news. The Russians may have hacked John Podestas email account, but they didnt force Hillary Clintons campaign to write those emails nor did they steal the primary elections from Bernie Sanders.

The protesters violently smashed windows and torched vehicles just blocks from the White House. Those protesters are as misguided as anyone who believes the left gave Sanders a fair shot at the Democratic nomination. Instead of trashing the streets of Washington, D.C., maybe they should have listened to the new president.

Trump threw down the gauntlet. Not against the people, but against the Washington establishment.

We are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American people," he said. "For too long, a small group in our nation's capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.

The president continued, Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists.

President Trump was correct in his assessment. Since the boom of World War II, the post-war era has seen our factories shuttered while criminals, gangs and drug lords have stolen the futures of too many of our youth. In his words, This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.

Trump summed up what has led to the problems we have in this nation. We've made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon. One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, without even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind. The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world.

Trump committed to fighting for us and committed himself to not letting us down. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families.

This is a good strategy for moving America forward. Granted, his speech lacked detail, but applying a principle that puts America first ultimately will benefit all Americans. Its a simplistic approach that, whether we are black or brown or white assures every American gets an opportunity to participate in our nations dream of freedom and prosperity.

Trump should not move away from the importance of the United States role in the world. It is our leadership that has led mostly to peace around the globe. However, this president understands that peace through strength prioritizes not just the American agenda, but the agenda of our allies in maintaining a global peace. His tone signifies were tired of paying for the bulk of this massive cost at the expense of American taxpayers.

Trumps inaugural was also inclusive. When he said it was time to get our people off of welfare and back to work, he didnt say, or mean, just the white people. In fact, he reminded us that When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.

The president also didnt exclude gays or lesbians. He is the first president in history to openly support gay marriage when coming into office. Despite claims he is anti-Semitic, a first Orthodox Jewish rabbi offered a benediction at his inauguration. In fact, the only group he attacked, other than politicians, was radical-Islamists." whom he pledged to eradicate.

Trump didnt spend his time blaming his predecessor for the challenges he will face over the next four years. He spent his time delivering a vision for America: a vision that puts Americans back to work and in control of their own destinies.

The untold message of Trumps speech was that it is time to move past the divisive politics of the past eight years. He acknowledged, We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity.

In quoting the Bible, President Trump reminded us, "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity." And yes, together, we will make America great again.
The Beaver Dam Community Development Committee recommended plans for Larsen Family Dental to move into a building near the dam and to install a small adjacent parking lot Tuesday night.

Work on the building at 210 Madison St. is expected to begin as soon as possible, according to architect Ian Wilson from Nolan Carter Architectural Design, pending Beaver Dam Common Council approval.

Andrea Larsen, owner, told the committee that the current office is at 215 N. Spring St. and is moving because her practice is growing. But, she said, staying and expanding in downtown Beaver Dam is important.

The new property is between Beaver Dam Lake Historic Lofts and the Beaver Street Bridge. There is a small area of green space next to the building that Wilson said will partially be converted into parking. The office will have one ADA compliant stall. All of the stalls will be diagonal. Additional parking will be on Madison Street.

Larsen said that Beaver Dam Lake Historic Lofts would allow for dental staff to use the Lofts lot on the other side of the apartment building.

Philip Fritsche, committee member, said that he wants to keep as much green space in downtown because he sees it as an asset to the area and to the dental office. Wilson said some green space would be preserved.

Larsen didnt comment on the sale price, but said that it will be an investment.

The property stands inside Tax Incremental Finance District 6, which encompasses the majority of downtown Beaver Dam. TIF 6 was adopted in 2008 in order to expand the economic base of the downtown area through business development.

In a tax incremental finance district, property taxes collected in a district are used to pay for the costs of the improvements there over a specified time.

Based on previous projections TIF 6 will generate $25,000 per year through 2020. The mandatory end date for the district is 2036.

The committee unanimously recommended the agreement between TCR Estates LLC and the city to move the dental office into the Madison Street property. The resolution will move to the common council for final approval. Larsen said that contractors are already looking at the project and she expects to accept patients at the new office by summer.
The UW-Madison alumnus who co-created ABCs Modern Family will be the keynote speaker at the universitys spring graduation ceremony.

Steven Levitan, who is also the shows executive producer and a nine-time Emmy award winner, will return to the campus where he got his bachelors degree in 1984 for the May 13 commencement at Camp Randall Stadium, university officials said.

Before he co-created Modern Family, Levitan wrote and produced several comedies that will likely be more familiar to parents in the stands than the new graduates in front of him, such as Wings, Frasier and The Larry Sanders Show. Levitan created the show Just Shoot Me as well.

He has had a very successful career in a tough and competitive business, UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said. As someone who is responsible for entertaining millions of people with his comedies, I also suspect this years graduates will get a few laughs along with some good advice.

A video UW-Madison posted Wednesday afternoon, made in the style of a Modern Family interview, introduces Levitan as the graduation speaker with help from actor Ty Burrell, in character as the shows Phil Dunphy.

I am really looking forward to graduation, I cant wait to see you guys there, Levitan said in the video.

Were going to have so much fun, he said.

UW-Madison senior class officers selected Levitan to address this years graduates. The university will cover his travel expenses but will not pay a fee or honorarium for Levitans speech, campus officials said.

Levitan received a communication arts degree from UW and worked as a reporter at Madisons WKOW-TV after graduation.

Along with his Emmy wins, Levitan has also won a Peabody award, five Writers Guild Awards and a Distinguished Alumni Award from the Wisconsin Alumni Association, among other honors.
Madison streets, state highways and the campuses of UW-Madison and Epic Systems could soon be laboratories for driverless cars, after federal regulators gave a team of UW researchers approval to test the emerging technology at sites around Wisconsin.

UW-Madisons Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory was one of 10 groups nationwide that the U.S. Department of Transportation designated last week as proving grounds for autonomous vehicles, as the cars are also known.

The lab doesnt have any driverless cars of its own, and it has not yet partnered with a company that wants to test the technology in Wisconsin  so dont count on seeing an empty car piloting itself around city streets on your next commute.

But researchers say the federal designation boosts Wisconsins profile in research that will likely shape the future of transportation.

It really helps put our name out there, said Peter Rafferty, a researcher in the transportation lab.

The lab is in talks with companies about testing vehicles here, Rafferty said. If they do, he said, theres no reason why we couldnt be months away from seeing driverless cars in Wisconsin.

Test sites in Madison

The sites where companies and UW researchers can test autonomous vehicles range from closed courses to busy state highways, and are meant to match the different capabilities of driverless cars.

Vehicles with technology still in the early stages of development would start at the MGA Research Corp.s large test facility near Burlington or the Road America race track near Elkhart Lake.

Researchers will use those closed facilities to ensure the cars  which employ a mix of GPS, cameras and laser-sensing systems to detect other cars, road signs, traffic signals and pedestrians  are ready for use at the next level of testing sites: UW-Madison and the Epic Systems campus in Verona.

The most advanced vehicles would be tested on Madisons city streets and on state highways.

Driverless cars will face an array of challenges on different roads  from the complex, low-speed flow of people, bicycles, mopeds and cars at UW-Madison to the high-speed trial of freeway driving.

But Rafferty said researchers will rigorously test the technology to ensure its ready to interact with the public, and cars will still have human attendants who can take over the controls if necessary.

Safety really is an underlying, fundamental priority of all of this, Rafferty said.

Other organizations chosen as proving grounds for autonomous vehicles include transportation and government agencies in California, Texas and Florida, as well as the city of Pittsburgh, where the ride-hailing company Uber started ferrying passengers in a fleet of driverless cars last year.

Federal officials say the proving grounds will advance the technology by sharing information and findings about how to safely test and operate the vehicles.

Plenty of research questions

Along with the convenience of hopping into a car that can drive itself, proponents of autonomous vehicle technology say it has the potential to make roads much safer by cutting down on crashes caused by mistakes, inattention or intoxicated driving.

UW is also partnering with engineers from the city of Madison to explore how driverless cars could make the city more equitable.

One potential use for the technology is self-driving mini-buses that could provide another transportation option for people who cant afford cars and live far from bus lines.

Testing the technology in Wisconsin could also answer questions about how autonomous vehicles perform in cold and snowy conditions, researchers noted in their proposal to the Department of Transportation.

Theres plenty of research questions that were eager to tackle, Rafferty said.

Raffertys lab is doing more technical research as well into how the cars could affect an age-old scourge of human drivers  traffic jams  since autonomous vehicles faster reaction times could increase the capacity of roads. And researchers are looking into the transitional period that will soon be upon us, when the shift from all-human to all-driverless transportation means people and autonomous cars will share the same roadways, Rafferty said.

This is coming whether we do anything or not, and we are eager to be a bigger part of this, Rafferty said.

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Items are listed under the day of the event only, running as space permits prior to the event. To submit items, call 745-3511, email jcutsforth@capitalnewspapers.com or visit www.portagedailyregister.com . Include name and phone number.

TODAY

Bingo: 5:30 p.m. 131 Restaurant, North Main Street, Pardeeville. Bingo will be played every Wednesday, except the first one of the month.

Clinic: 8 a.m. to noon, Columbia County Public Health Walk-In Clinic, Columbia County Division of Health, 2652 Murphy Road, Portage. Use door No. 4. Bring childs immunization record. Visit www.co.columbia.wi.us for more information.

Endeavor Sharing Supper: 5 to 6:30 p.m. Endeavor Elementary School, Endeavor. Come help us celebrate our third anniversary. A free meal will be served. Informational booths and free blood pressure checks will be available. Kids Corner will have activities for children. This months supper is sponsored by Trecek Automative and the food is being prepared by the Hitching Post.

Free blood pressure screenings: 1 to 5 p.m. Divine Savior Healthcare, 2817 New Pinery Road, Portage. No appointment necessary. Call 745-6405 for more information. Do not eat, smoke, drink caffeine or exercise for 30 minutes prior.

Fundraiser: 4 to 9 p.m. fundraiser for Carol Heisz, B&B Hitching Post, West Wisconsin Street, Portage. Dinner buffet for $9.99. All proceeds will benefit Carol and her family.

Jewelry and Gift Item Sale: noon to 5 p.m. Divine Savior Healthcare, 2817 New Pinery Road, Portage. More than 1,000 unique products for men, women and children. Great values on fashion and seasonal accessories, jewelry, gadgets, gifts and more. Name brand, top quality products at values up to 80 percent below retail.

Library event: 10 a.m. Preschool Story Time for children ages 3 to 5 (younger siblings welcome), Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Story Time is 30 to 40 minutes and focuses on books, songs, movement and other learning experiences. This week the theme is E is for Elephant. Registration is recommended to ensure enough supplies and can be done by calling the Childrens Department at 742-4959 ext. 211 or online at www.portagelibrary.us. Portage Womens Civic League: 9 a.m. Board meeting, Clubhouse, West Edgewater Street, Portage. St. Vincent de Paul free medical clinic: 9 a.m. to noon. Wilz Drugs lower level, 140 E. Cook St., Portage. No appointments needed. Information needed is name, date of birth and a contact number. A chiropractor is available from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesdays. A foot clinic is available every week. The clinic can do exams and prescribe medications. Physical therapist available. Discounted medications are available at Wilz and Walmart. Call Bonny Oestreich, RN, at 608-234-0159 for information. Zumba/Zumba Toning: 5 p.m. Montello. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com.

Zumba: 5:30 p.m. 1208 Northport Road (the former Freedom Carpeting building). This is a $5 drop-in class. For more information, contact Deb at

THURSDAY, JAN. 26

DJMACK00001@yahoo.com or Rena at 697-6713.

Blood drive: Portage Red Cross blood drive, 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. United Methodist Church, 1804 New Pinery Road, Portage. Download the American Red Cross Blood Donor app, visit www.

redcrossblood.org or call 800-733-2767 to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed. A blood donor card or drivers license or two other forms of identification are required.

Brown Bag Lunch Series: noon, Portage Center for the Arts, 301 E. Cook St., Portage. Join Janet Price as she remembers The Little Golden Books that figured prominently in many of our childhoods. Brown Bags are generally held the fourth Thursday of each month at noon. The cost is $5 at the door. Bring a lunch if you wish. Student groups welcome; call for group pricing. This event is sponsored by Ellen Schieber.

Museum: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Portage World War II Museum, 119 E. Cook St., Portage. Free tours for veterans every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The tours take 2 1/2 hours. For information, call 608-697-3690.

FRIDAY, JAN. 27

Euchre Card Party: Portage Presbyterian Church, 120 W. Pleasant St., Portage. Luncheon at 6 p.m., and cards at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $5 for food, cards and prizes. This is a benefit to support the Yakutat Presbyterian Church in Yakutat, Alaska. Public welcome. A donation to the food pantry would be appreciated.

Library event: 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. Pre-K Klub for children ages 4 to 6, Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Pre-K Klub is for children enrolled in a prekindergarten program or home schooled (it is not intended for preschoolers attending weekly library story times) and is a STEM-based program. Each month a different component is featured: science, technology, engineering or math with a hands-on activity and an accompanying story. For January, we will explore our five senses using the book My Five Senses by Aliki, and using our senses to taste, touch, see, hear and smell every day items. Registration is required and can be done in person at the Childrens Desk, by calling the Childrens Department at 742-4959 ext. 211 or registering online at

Seniors Bowling Social: 1 p.m. Fireball Lanes, 817 E. Wisconsin St., Portage. Cost is $6 and includes three games of bowling and shoe rental.

Unique Singles: 5 p.m. Pizza Ranch, New Pinery Road, Portage. All single men and women older than age 50 welcome. The group is strictly social with no dues or officers.

SATURDAY, JAN. 28

Jacks Tap Anniversary Bash: 3 to 4 p.m. Jacks Tap, Dunn Street, Portage. Jacks Tap celebrates their one year anniversary with an open bar from 3 to 4 p.m. with rail and domestic beer, lots of giveaways, complimentary appetizers and more.

Religion class: 5 p.m. Deliverance ministry classes with Pastor Dale Smalley, Outreach Bible Church, 235 Northridge Drive, Portage. All welcome.

St. Mary School Spaghetti Dinner: 4:30 to 7 p.m. St. Mary School, Portage (use West Conant Street entrance). This event will feature all-you-can-eat spaghetti, salad and bread, a bake sale of homemade treats, and a mini-raffle. Children age 12 and younger are $5 and adults are $8.

Zumba Fitness Party Fundraiser: 9 to 10:30 a.m. Bartels Middle School gymnasium, Portage. Raffles and silent auction. Proceeds will benefit the Portage Music Boosters. Cost is $10 per person at the door (cash or check payable to Portage Music Boosters).

SUNDAY, JAN. 29

Student Recital Series: 1 p.m. Portage Center for the Arts, 301 E. Cook St., Portage. This Student Recital Series features performances from students of independent music teachers located throughout the surrounding region. Open to the public. Cost is $5 at the door. This event is sponsored by Portage Soundworks.

Zumba: 5:30 p.m. Rusch Elementary School, Portage. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or

MONDAY, JAN. 30

Clinic: 8 a.m. to noon, Columbia County Public Health Walk-In Clinic, Columbia County Division of Health, 2652 Murphy Road, Portage. Use door No. 4. Bring childs immunization record. Visit

Euchre card party: 6:30 p.m. Bethlehem Lutheran Church, W8267 Highway 33 East, Portage. Public welcome. Contact: Cloe, 429-2363.

TUESDAY, JAN. 31

Portage Family Skatepark Project fundraiser at Papa Murphys Pizza, 2936 New Pinery Road, Portage. Mention the PFSP and 10 percent of your purchase will benefit the PFSP.5 to 6:30 p.m. Bartels Middle School, Portage. Food and conversation. Kids Corner for young people to do a craft and hear a story, as well as informational tables for adults. All welcome.6 p.m. Harrisville. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com

Zumba Toning: 4:30 p.m. Woodridge Primary School, Portage. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or
A Lodi man has been sentenced to four years in prison after entering pleas of no-contest to charges of misdemeanor fourth-degree sexual assault and felony causing mental harm to a child.

George Zeimet, 67, appeared Tuesday in Columbia County Circuit Court for his sentencing hearing, accused of inappropriately touching girls between the ages of 5 and 7 with whom he lived in 2011.

The no-contest plea was roughly the end of agreement between the two sides as the prosecution and defense argued for nearly an hour about what would be appropriate punishment.

This is a case where there were two little girls who were sexually assaulted and mentally harmed, said Assistant District Attorney Cliff Burdon. At first he denied touching (the two girls), but then he said, as a basis to prove it wouldnt be possible, that there were other 8 and 10-year-olds who had asked him to be his first, which is shocking speech and fairly delusional.

Zeimet, who had been in custody for 604 days prior to the hearing, was arrested in June 2015 after Lodi police responded to a call from the Sauk County Department of Human Services. The criminal complaint described an interview with one of the girls in which she told social workers that he had inappropriately touched her while making her touch him at the same time.

Over time, Burdon told the court, according to the girls father, both have been to counseling with one having responded with selective mutism.

Burdon, exceeding the Department of Corrections sentence recommendation, asked that Judge Alan White sentence Zeimet to six years in prison and five years of extended supervision.

Defense attorney Amanda Riek told White that she was suggesting a sentence of four months in jail followed by probation.

Actually, when I got this case there was a gaping hole in the discovery that I received that really, still hasnt been filled, said Riek. We had no idea why these girls reported this  it was years later and there wasnt any explanation given and the original report is only a couple of pages long. We were left wondering how it came about.

The impetus, as staff at the State Public Defenders Office put together through investigations, had been an unrelated incident which led to questions, which led to the girls saying this had happened four years earlier.

The incident to which Zeimet confessed, although he is uncomfortable with that word, said Riek, had a significant amount of description that did not overlap with testimony from the girls.

Even in speaking with (their) mother, said Riek, she seemed pretty uncertain as to how this even came about.

The home where the alleged abuse happened, Riek explained, included at least five adults living in relatively close quarters, with Zeimet living in the basement that did not have a door to separate it from the rest of the house.

Referring to accounts from the girls mother, social services and Zemets sister, Riek said there was agreement on it being an unhealthy environment for small children, with random people coming and going, and that there was sexually explicit material on the mothers phone that the girls had seen.

I think all of that plays a part in understanding the nature and severity of the offense in this case, Riek said.

The risk that Zeimet would pose to the public, said Riek, quoting psychological analysis of the defendant, would be based singularly on accusations made against him, and that no other evidence has appeared to suggest him to be a threat to anyone in the public.

Eventually the court turned to Zeimet who, spoke on his own behalf. He gave a clear explanation of an earlier case in which he was convicted of theft from a Lodi library where he worked, saying that he was having a hard time making ends meet and that the staff thought it was someone else, so he admitted to taking from the till.

Speaking on the case at hand, he appeared to be able to produce only snippets of an explanation: I did these things  Ive been around young children too long  I would go out of my way to make children happy  I would see them bully each other and pull them aside ... and  I dont know what to say.

After Riek stood up to briefly speak with him, Zeimet recomposed himself and said, One thing I can t  if I had done it, I would have admitted to it, he said.

White said he agreed with Riek that a knee-jerk reaction would be inappropriate in the case, referring to the positive analysis of Zeimet, a complicated case history and his ambivalent confession.

As far as the court is concerned he did admit to it, said White. And very importantly, that he felt (the girl) wanted him to do it.

Despite partial agreement with Riek, White explained that probation would depreciate to an extraordinary degree the seriousness of the charges.

White sentenced Zeimet to four years in prison and five years of extended supervision, with placement on the sex offender registry for 15 years.
Wisconsin landowners wont give up more land to Enbridge without a fight, Rio resident Kevin Stoddard told the Columbia County Board last week.

Stoddard summarized for the board his experiences with the Canadian companys oil pipeline that runs through his property in rural Rio, warning that possible pipeline expansions would provide little (economic) benefit to the people of Wisconsin while posing significant risk to the environment.

Theres been 800 spills since 1999 in Enbridges pipes, he told the Daily Register on Monday. Its something that happens a lot.

For the next 50 or 60 years, Wisconsinites will have to live with the risk of those oil pipes breaking.

Enbridge Energy Partners controls land running 80 feet wide for 300 miles across the length of Wisconsin, according to the website 80feetisenough.org. Beneath that land are three pipelines carrying more than 2 million barrels of oil a day and another pipeline carrying diluent pumped northward to extract oil from Canadas tar sands.

And now they want more, Stoddard warns. Stoddard and other Wisconsin landowners on Friday will present their case to the Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA) Agriculture, Environment and Land Use Steering Committee. The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. in Wisconsin Rapids at Hotel Mead and Conference Center, 451 East Grand Ave.

Columbia County Supervisor Kevin Kessler is a member of that committee and will be in attendance. Im very concerned, and many others are, too, Kessler said, noting Enbridge has yet to make expansion efforts official. Supervisor Nancy Long, while not a member of WCAs committee, will also attend Fridays meeting.

As residents gear up to oppose that potential expansion in Wisconsin, President Donald Trump moved swiftly to advance the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines elsewhere. On Tuesday, he signed executive actions to aggressively overhaul Americas energy policy and invited the Keystone builder, TransCanada, to resubmit its application to the State Department for a presidential permit to construct and operate the pipeline.

Enbridge built its three Wisconsin oil pipelines in 1968, later adding a fourth  Line 61, which traverses Columbia County  and is reportedly surveying for the possible installation of a twin to Line 61. Enbridge has a pumping station off Dumke Road near Portage.

Enbridge is trying to sneak (expansion) through, calling it a change to their existing line. Thats (false), Stoddard said. They want more land. Its a new pipeline.

So far, Enbridge has not declared its intention to build the twin line.

We have not received any information that, yes, they are proposing a pipeline and this is their timeline and this is what they are looking at  nothing like that, Ben Callan, a water regulations and zoning specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said in June. All weve received is a letter in February 2014 that they intended to do surveying.

The ground work for the expansion project, originally announced in October 2015, is finished, Enbridge spokeswoman Jennifer Smith said in June, though she said that the company has not yet decided whether it will move forward with construction of the Line 61 twin.

If Enbridge officially moves forward with a new pipeline project, the company will need DNR approval.

"If a decision were made to move forward with a new pipeline, the company would announce its plans to the public and provide landowners and other stakeholders with information about the project and opportunities for input," Smith stated in an email Wednesday. She added the "extensive regulatory process" involved would likely take many years to complete.

About six years ago workers came through Stoddards property within the 80-foot easement but took an extra 100 feet, calling it temporary workspace, Stoddard said. So its more than what they want for the easement. Its a lot more than that.

When work is finished, Enbridge doesnt have to restore anything back to normal, Stoddard said, as proven when workers cut down several of his 200-year-old oak trees. They call it temporary. I call it permanent, he said. They destroyed my land.

Stoddards wife, Darcy, said in addition to the wiping out of many trees, Enbridge drained a pond that left fish flopping around in the dirt.

They were supposed to be here for three months, but they were here for at least six, she said of the work crews. The family eventually planted several pine trees to obscure their view of the destruction.

At issue, Stoddard said, is Enbridges use of lobbyists who have convinced the state Legislature to change eminent domain law so that a foreign, for-profit company can condemn more land.

I cant even tell them no, he said. When he tried to fight Enbridge  a company estimated to be worth $44 billion  Stoddard said he was threatened with an $800,000-a-day lawsuit.

A private entity

Kessler said Stoddard and other area residents painted an alarming picture of the situation to the countys Planning and Zoning Committee in September. I think its something that needs to be further investigated, Kessler said. It sounds like there needs to be perhaps better restrictions on the use of eminent domain authority for private gain.

This is not like an electric or gas utility or something for roads  this is something for the gain of a private entity. So I think we need to be very careful in using eminent domain for that purpose. It looks to me like the state statutes need to be strengthened in this regard.

Kessler, vice chairman of Planning and Zoning, said he would like to see local ordinances strengthened in respect to oil pipelines and the committee is already working for such changes. Present county ordinance does require conditional-use permit, but I think (adding) more detail about that is appropriate.

WCAs steering committee has its own lobbyists, Kessler said, so if theres legislation introduced this committee can take positions for or against it and, just as importantly, can exchange information between counties. Its a complicated situation, he said. The safety of oil pipelines is regulated by the federal government and the federal government alone, he added. The state also cannot regulate rates related to the pipeline.

Local power, then, exists solely in zoning, Kessler said.

Stoddard said stopping Enbridge from expanding begins with educating the public.

This is tar sands oil and is so thick they have to mix it with stuff, and it actually sinks, he said. If we have a pipe break in a river or lake, that oil is just about impossible to clean up. Stoddard referred to a big spill in the Kalamazoo River in Michigan in 2010  and theyre still cleaning it up almost seven years later.

The landowners dont want to give them anymore, Stoddard said.

The Kalamazoo River in 2014 was declared clean by both state and federal officials and fully re-opened to the public, Smith said, though the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported earlier this month that traces of the tar-like crude still exist on the riverbed.

To learn more about opposition efforts involving Wisconsin residents, Stoddard encourages the public to visit wisconsineasementactionteam.org and 80feetisenough.org.

Daily Register reporter Jonathan Stefonek and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
There are students in the Sauk Prairie School District that go without basic, everyday items some people might take for granted. But with the help of the community, at least some of these needs are being met.

At the Jan. 9 Sauk Prairie School Board meeting, the board approved a $5,200 donation from the local organization Women on a Mission to purchase undergarments.

If a family is making a choice between food, heat or outer garments, one thing other people wouldnt see would be underwear, said Sauk Prairie schools alcohol and other drug abuse treatment coordinator Susan Baumann-DurenSusa. People go without a lot of things and its easiest to go without something not a lot of people see.

The donation goes toward the purchase of socks, underwear, undershirts and bras for a variety of ages for both male and female students, age 4 through grade 12.

You can just imagine the array of sizes, styles and colors, Baumann-Duren said. I have every size as though Im a store.

How it started

In 2014, St. Johns Lutheran Church Pastor Fred Rilling offered a homily about the different needs at school, and said undergarments sometimes are one of the last things people can afford. Led by Nancy Kaufman, members of the congregation raised $1,400  and a local business donated a matching $1,400  for a $2,800 donation to the district for the purchase of undergarments for students.

Soon after, word spread and another local organizations chapter of Women on a Mission donated $8,600 to the district for undergarments.

We were very lucky, Baumann-Duren said.

She collects more than undergarments for district families. Baumann-Duren also accepts clothing, boots, shoes, back packs, school supplies and other items.

We receive a myriad of things from companies and people from all around the community, she said. The only things I dont take used are the undergarments; they are too personal. Those things need to be new.

Baumann-Duren hears of student needs from a variety of sources. Sometimes families tell her directly. Other times its something a teacher, school nurse or school counselor notices.

They let Baumann-Duren know of the need, and she gets to work making those connections happen.

The goal of the district is to provide a safe environment where families can make these requests and not be judged, said Superintendent Cliff Thompson. Sometimes the need is long term. Other times its a short-term need, for instance during a period of job loss.

Baumann-Duren said the process is confidential.

The social workers I meet from around the state ask me how we do it, Baumann-Duren said. They come from larger communities and we have two, small twin towns. There is just a real joy of giving in this district. Wherever there is even the smallest need someone is calling me.

The district also received an $8,000 donation to help students who need dental work done. Although St. Vincent de Paul has a dental clinic, it operates on a sliding fee scale. Sometimes parents cant afford dental care that way.

When we received that I broke out into tears, Baumann-Duren said. It helped students who were in severe pain and needed things like root canals and teeth pulling.

Thompson said school districts use the free and reduced lunch program as a benchmark for poverty. Sauk Prairies is at 30 percent. Thompson said other districts have even greater needs.

There is definitely a partnership between the school and the community and an enthusiasm to meet the needs of children and families, Thompson said.
Sauk Prairie High School students will have more classes to choose from next year, as the district plans to introduce 14 new courses for 2017-18.

When the courses are added, the high school will have 150 offerings from which students can choose.

A planned change to a trimester schedule made the additional course offerings possible at the school, which this year has 833 students.

The students will have an extra trimester per year to take an extra course, said Sauk Prairie High School science teacher Melani Guentherman.

In their current schedule, high school teachers teach five classes during the seven periods in each day. Starting with the next school year, that will change to four classes out of five periods.

Simply put, the students need somewhere to go.

It gives us the opportunity to do some things, said Sauk Prairie High School Principal Chad Harnisch. First, we get to reduce class size. Secondly, we can offer more classes. And finally, we will be able to offer interventions.

Course work

In each department, teachers meet and discuss whether or not a new class is needed and what it might look like. Standards and career options tied to the new class are researched.

They look to see if something is missing; if there is an obvious gap in our curriculum, Harnisch said.

If a gap is discovered, a course title is selected and the costs associated with a new class such as staffing and textbooks are considered. A form is then submitted to the team leaders  a group made up of 14 teachers  who consider whether to move the class to the next step: Harnisch.

Harnisch said if he approves it, the proposal moves on to Jeff Wright, assistant superintendent of instruction and curriculum. Next its onto the school board's Policies and Instruction Committee and finally, to the full board for approval.

A lot goes into adding a new course, Harnisch said.

But hes proud of the new classes his team has developed.

Theres a lot of interesting courses there; some even I would like to take, he said.

Joel Chrisler, who teaches social studies at the high school, said teachers consider what courses theyd like to teach and what the students would enjoy.

For the most part we looked around and asked ourselves was something missing from the curriculum? Chrisler said.

Guentherman said the district's main mission is to serve the students and help them be as prepared as possible to pursue whatever interests them.

We just talk to them," Guentherman said. "We ask, 'If you had all these choices what would be the classes youd be most likely to take?'"

She said additional interest in healthcare fields has led to the addition of some courses.

Switching to a trimester is going to be different and a little bit of a challenge, Chrisler said. But the good thing is that students will have opportunities to take classes they wouldnt normally get to. Its a good opportunity for them.
In the last column, it was written that Donald Trump exhibited the symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder. NPD is defined as a personality disorder in which the individual has a distorted self image, unstable and intense emotions, is overly preoccupied with vanity, prestige, power, and personal adequacy, lacks empathy, and has an exaggerated sense of superiority.

The Mayo Clinic explains, NPD is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration, and lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of ultra confidence lies a fragile self-esteem that is vulnerable to the slightest criticism.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV lists nine characteristics of NPD. It further states that if an individual exhibits at least five of those traits they are most likely to suffer from NPD. Trump has shown characteristics of all nine categories.

Is it then logical to assume that as Trump has nominated individuals for cabinet posts, those people become in a sense, a de facto extension of his own personality? The third of the nine characteristics of NPD is that the person believes they are so special they can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high status people or institutions.

Look no further then the nominee for the Department of Education, Betsy DeVos. DeVos will head a department that oversees the education of 50 plus million children.

She has no, zero, experience in public education. In fact, in a recent speech, DeVos said that public education was a dead end.

She does have extensive experience throughout Michigan with for profit and charter schools.

As has been reported, for profit schools have shown themselves to underachieve and in many instances gone bankrupt leaving students not only behind academically, but forced to be brought back to appropriate grade-level standards in public schools.

The Detroit Free Press and Stanford University have both reported that overall, the charter schools of Michigan fall behind their public school counterparts. The charter school laws of Michigan are so vague that the Detroit Free Press writes that Michigan lacks any mechanism for shutting down, or even improving, failing charters. During her hearing, she was asked about accountability for both public and charter schools, DeVos would only respond that she believed in accountability. When pressed harder to clarify herself and include charter schools in the accountability process, she only repeated herself, never committing to accountability for charter or for profit schools.

Yet, charters and for profit schools are exactly what DeVos wants to do to the nations school system. During the confirmation hearings, DeVos stated that, We must open it [schools] up to entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur makes money. Your child must then, by definition, now become a product.

She stated in the hearings that states should have the right to decide whether or not to enforce the Individual Disabilities Education Act. Small school districts in particular are needy of those federal dollars to educate disabled students.

Just some of the disabilities listed under IDEA are autism, blindness, speech and language impairment, learning disabilities, and children with emotional problems.

She even went so far as to suggest that she would consider cutting all federal aid to public schools. Federal dollars fund Head Start.

Head Start is an early education program aimed at low-income families who do not have the means to provide their child with the type of early intellectual developmental tools that many middle class, and certainly upper class parents provide as a matter of course.

It would eliminate grant money for special education children. It is impossible to fathom having a mentally disabled child, having access to a trained professional to assist with that child, and now having that taken away.

It would eliminate the National School Lunch Program. The program provides low-income children with specially prepared, nutritious meals. The program reaches about 31 million children in both public and private schools.

DeVos is not sure if guns should be allowed in schools. Her reasoning was that some school in Wyoming may need a gun because, I would imagine there is probably a gun in the school to protect it from potential grizzlies. No really, she did say that.

The sixth step in the list of NPD characteristics is interpersonal exploitativenesstaking advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends.

DeVos certainly has a personal agenda, as she will surely become head of the Department of Education.

Unfortunately, that agenda has little to do with the true education and compassion for children. It does have everything to do with her own personal needs and beliefs.
Every presidential election is memorable, but the race for the office of our 45th president will go down in history as, the great surprise. But it is over. Why is that so hard for some people to understand? Donald Trump was elected. We have had an inauguration.

Presidents do not come from molds. They are all different and they are all human. They made mistakes before they were elected and they make mistakes while in office. However, most of our presidents served before the media knew everything there was to know about them. Thank God, our country was founded before technology reared its ugly head and peeked into closets, bedrooms, liquor cabinets, wastebaskets and more and allowed endless daily TV exposure.

George Washington and John Adams were pathfinders and lived relatively private lives. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and our third president, was brilliant, but he was also a man who took a 14-year-old slave girl as his mistress. The affair went on for many years and the girl, Sally Hemmings, had at least one child by Jefferson.

Abraham Lincoln suffered from depression. Today, he might be considered unfit to serve. Many of our presidents drank too much. It is rumored that John Adams drank a 20-ounce tankard of hard cider for breakfast each morning. Even Washington, who preferred wine, ordered that the men in his fighting army be given one cup of rum a day. Ulysses Grant drank Old Crow whiskey during the civil war. Lyndon Johnsons press secretary described the president as a heavy drinker. President Harry Truman liked a shot of Old Grand Dad to start his day. George W Bush had a drunken driving charge in his youth. However, he stopped drinking and still does not imbibe. President Barack Obama drank and used drugs while a student at Columbia. To this day, his grades from his time at Columbia cannot be accessed.

We know that many of our presidents had affairs while in office. Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy both did. President Dwight Eisenhower had a special relationship with his female secretary. We know that President Bill Clinton was accused of many affairs and had one provable sexual affair with Monica Lewinski in the oval office of the peoples White House.

President Trump has been married three times and may have stolen a few kisses between wives. He was once taped speaking disrespectfully about women, but has made it clear he very much regrets what he said and never acted upon it.

Trump is our oldest president. He tells us that he doesnt smoke or drink or use drugs of any kind. He is defensive with his critics and comes across as conceited, which probably means he has some personal insecurities. Many of us hope that he will soon turn his tweeting over to his new press secretary or abandon it completely.

The point is, President Trump brilliantly designed a method to win and followed his plan to victory. I personally hope that he stops telling us about it. But remember how President Obama used the We won phrase for a long time after his first election? I think its a male thing.

Now however it is time to move on to the business at hand. It is time for the protestors to go home, get jobs and go to work and for both parties to reorganize into working bodies, hired and paid for by the people. St. Padre Pio advises us in all things, to Pray, hope and dont worry, and maybe we could add, And start to work together for solutions. The time for boasting and complaining is over. Its show time and there will be tests and grades. Unity is paramount to success and only fools wish for their country to fail.
Tax filers making more than $100,000 a year are claiming two-thirds of a private school tuition tax cut enacted four years ago, according to data from the Department of Revenue.

The tax cut is costing the state about $12 million a year, far less than the $30 million projected when it was slipped into the 2013-15 state budget. The $18 million adjustment to the estimate was already factored into the states financial bottom line in 2016, DOR spokesman Casey Langan said, so its not an amount that can be tapped for new spending in the 2017-19 budget.

Families sending students to private school can reduce their adjusted gross income by up to $10,000 for high school tuition and up to $4,000 for elementary school tuition. The private school tuition exclusion, similar to an exclusion for a retirement account contribution, reduces a tax filers income before deductions and credits are applied, so the actual amount in tax savings is a few hundred dollars per tax filer. Unlike a tax deduction, filers dont have to itemize to benefit from it.

Almost $8 million of the total cut went to families in the top 13 percent of income earners in the state in 2015. A total of 20,560 tax filers making more than $100,000 claimed the exclusion, receiving a tax cut of about $388 per filer, according to DOR.

Another 16,750 filers earning less than $100,000 claimed the exclusion. Their average tax savings was $235.

The 37,310 tax filers who claimed the exclusion represent 1.2 percent of all tax filers. A similar 36,007 tax filers claimed the exclusion in 2014, reducing their taxes by $11.5 million. About 65 percent of that amount went to those making $100,000 or more.

That wealthier tax filers receive a greater benefit is not surprising because they are more likely to send their children to private school, said Todd Berry, president of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.

(Tax breaks) like this are more for political rhetoric and positioning than actually giving much in the way of benefits, Berry said. For most of us, all they do is add lines and instructions to tax booklets, complicating filing for the rest of us.

Pattern of tax cuts

Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, said the private school tuition tax break is part of a pattern for Republicans of supporting tax cuts that benefit the wealthy.

Democrats have also criticized the Manufacturing & Agriculture tax credit for wiping out tax liability for wealthy individuals and corporations without any requirement they create jobs.

All of this is tax money that could be going to our public schools, Shilling said.

Jon Peacock, executive director of the left-leaning Wisconsin Budget Project, said the tuition tax cut hurts low- and moderate-income families in two ways: by tilting the tax code in favor of wealthy Wisconsinites, and also by eroding support for the public schools that less affluent families typically use.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said in 2013 the tax cut would boost private school enrollment, reducing the huge tax burden of educating students in public schools. His office declined to comment Wednesday without further information.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Gov. Scott Walker didnt respond to a request for comment.

Sharon Schmeling, executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools, said its not clear the tax cut has increased enrollment among low-income families because it represents a small amount of tuition costs. She characterized it as seed money to support private schools, which educate students who would otherwise cost taxpayers $1 billion to educate in public schools.

Were all better off with more choices because there are children with lots of different enrollment needs, Schmeling said.

She added that only parents can claim the tax break, so the Legislature could make changes so that grandparents and other relatives who pay tuition could benefit.

Its unknown how many of the families claiming the exclusion were already enrolled in private school.

In the 2014-15 school year, private school enrollment increased for the first time after six straight years of decline, from 119,801 to 123,104, or about 3,300 students. Enrollment stayed about the same in the 2015-16 school year. The states private school voucher program expanded statewide during the same period, adding 1,008 students in 2014-15 and another 1,506 in 2015-16.

Slipped into budget

The tax break was added to the 2013-15 budget by the Legislatures Joint Finance Committee as part of what is known as a 999 motion. The catch-all motion doesnt identify the lawmaker who authored each proposal, though U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah, then a state senator and member of the budget committee, advocated for it.

The 999 motion has come under bipartisan criticism in recent years, especially after the last budget when Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans tried, unsuccessfully, to gut the states Public Records Law.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers said his biggest concern with the tax credit was that it was passed without a public hearing. He also noted the number of referendums school districts have passed in recent years to raise money for public schools.

If indeed a whole bunch of people in Wisconsin think they need to go to referendum in order to offer the education kids need, that tells me the state isnt meeting its obligation, Evers said. If the state is not meeting its obligation to schools, then how can we afford to subsidize private education for above-average income people?

John Humphries, who is challenging Evers in the upcoming spring election, said about the tax cut the governor and Legislature are clearly committed to helping parents make the right choice for their children, regardless of what school they select.

Low-income parents who qualify for free vouchers for schools are unlikely to qualify for significant tax deductions, Humphries said. Its not surprising that parents with higher incomes, who pay higher taxes, are more likely to qualify.

Rick Melcher, another candidate for state superintendent, called the tuition tax cut a benefit package for wealthy individuals who would send their children to private school anyway. He recommended capping eligibility for the tax cut at those making less than $100,000.

Lowell Holtz, another candidate who is a former district superintendent, didnt respond to a request for comment.
Liberal Churches are Confused

About Evil and Guns

By Greg Hopkins. January 6th, 2017

Article Source

The Presbyters of Pittsburgh of the Presbyterian Church, USA, have demanded that the Pennsylvania legislature ban all assault weapons, .50 cal sniper rifles, and armor-piercing handgun ammo. They base this action on the Orlando nightclub slaughter of last year. They suggest a political remedy for a problem that is, alas, a personal problem of heart, mind, and value systems.

The presbyters (elders) call for a ban of Modern Sporting Rifles the correct term for the semi-auto rifles they call assault rifles. Their demand is flawed from the outset. Let me list the ways.-

No crime (to my knowledge) has ever been committed with a .50 caliber rifle since the civil war.

Armor-piercing handgun ammo has been banned in most states for decades.

Assault rifles have been used in so few crimes that the Federal Assault Rifle ban of 1994 failed to be renewed by in 2004 by Congress because there was no evidence that crimes with these rifles had been reduced in the previous ten years. In fact, the instances of them being used in crimes were so low that nation-wide criminal use of assault weapons amounted to about one-half of one percent of all firearms used in crimes. These rifles which the uninformed say were solely designed to kill people, were actually designed to WOUND on the battlefield rather than kill. The death rates from being shot with these modern sporting rifles are about the same as death by handguns. Only one in four people shot with a modern sporting rifle will die.

Long guns are seldom used in violent crime. The FBI Uniform Crime Reports show that each year, more people are murdered with hands, fists and feet than ALL rifles and shotguns combined

This demand by the Presbytery fails on many levels. The facts about firearms and crime is only the first. The Presbyterian Church, USA is the liberal wing of the Presbyterian Church in America. They are liberal in both their politics and their interpretation of Scripture. Their leadership doesnt hold the Bible to be the accurate and complete Word of God. Many of their spiritual positions over the years reject the Bible in favor of liberal and Marxist orthodoxy, as shown by their demand in this same lobbying statement of the exercise of social justice by the legislature. Social justice is merely a code phrase that means that government should favor some groups over others based on Marxist orthodoxy. It is the direct opposite of the Constitutional model of equal justice for all.

I disagree with their politics, but share their outrage over the horrible rampage murder in an Orlando nightclub. I also differ in what I view as a solution. Ive worked in law enforcement and in our legal system for years. I suggest the Pennsylvania presbytery focus on the individual who committed this massacre. The murderer was a Muslim who, because of his religious beliefs, hated gays. The murderer believed Allah would bless him for slaughtering as many homosexuals as possible. The Muslim murderer passed many FBI background checks. The presbytery proposes we disarm the victims in the face of this deliberate evil. I dont see that as a solution at all.

The Presbyters point is fundamentally flawed by their focus on the instruments of crime rather than the murderous intent of the criminals involved. I studied criminals as a prosecutor. I also studied the Bible. If the Bible teaches anything from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible shows us our individual responsibility for our actions and their consequences.

The false pacifism behind their demands is not supported by the Bible. In my book, A Time To Kill: The Myth of Christian Pacifism, I demonstrate that God not only allows, but commands, that we defend the innocent with all legal force. Moreover, Jesus never taught pacifism. I explain the biblical phrases turn the other cheek and live by the sword, die by the sword in their full biblical contexts. There are many other instances where Jesus endorses physical defense of home and property.

Jesus tells us murder begins in the heart. Matt. 5:21-22; 1 Jn. 3:15. So does our redemption. Perhaps if Modernist churches returned to preaching Biblical standards instead of promoting the latest sociological studies, then our culture would rediscover personal responsibility. The consequences are good for everyone.

Instead, outfits like the Presbyterian Church, USA, blame society for peoples sins, faults and crimes. They ignore the Biblical call for self examination, confession of sin, and repentance. The results are all too clear. There is no more graphic example of our moral decay than the recent videoed kidnap and 48-hour torture of a a mentally disabled teen for political purposes. This atrocity was done by supposedly normal young adults from Chicago ! The Bible says there is a specific place for such people. Lev. 19:14; Matt. 18:6; Matt. 25: 31-46. This moral decay and vicious conduct is what the Pittsburgh Presbyters should be addressing, instead of the non-issue of assault rifles. Cain didnt use a weapon to kill Abel. It takes a mind and a will to commit crime, and the Bible tells us how to discipline both.

This is how we achieve the slaughterhouse of Chicago and the crime-ridden, largely vacant lot called Detroit. In January of 1960 the last Republican mayor of Detroit left office. On that day, Detroit had the highest per-capita standard of living in the country with the highest per-capita standard of living in the world. From 1960 to the year 2000, greed and hubris by auto makers, unions, and corrupt politicians had destroyed the city.

Biblical standards were dumped, and liberal standards replaced them. Crime ran rampant and the vital middle class ran in fear. Entitlement and liberal standards became the watchword, while honesty and responsibility were cast aside. Detroit and Chicago show us the logical end of liberalism.

In his attempt to create Heaven on Earth, man forgets God and creates Hell. In 1960, everyone had a chance to make a good life in Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles. Liberal policies then turned our cities into killing fields. Today they face the real problems of alienation caused by the welfare state, the destruction of the family, the resulting rampant crime, the failure of the culture to value education, and the drug culture. Businesses fled, unemployment climbed, abortion rates soared and frustration grew as each generation respected life less and cynicism abounded.

Those are the real problems we need to address. The solution comes from our churches as much as the ballot box. DeTocqueville said, America is great because she is good. Churches need to return to the Bible and teach the value of life and individual responsibility. Promoting gun control is only a political distraction from our real problems.

~_~_

Greg Hopkins was a lawyer, judge, and use-of-force trainer.

Once again we see the implement of crime getting all the blame, with seemingly little regard for the perpetrators - they are the evil doers. Plus, these supposed ''wicked weapons have rarely been exploited in many crimes statistically.

Rabbi Bendory in this article "The Ten Commandments, Killing, and Murder" makes the profound distinction between 'killing' and 'murder' - in the former case it can be pure self defense and fully justified - in the latter it is killing with malice and intent.

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CoreLogic, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides property information, insight, analytics, and data-enabled solutions in North America, Western Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Property Intelligence & Risk Management Solutions (PIRM) and Underwriting & Workflow Solutions (UWS). The PIRM segment combines property information, mortgage information, and consumer information to deliver housing market and property-level insights, predictive analytics, and risk management capabilities. It also offers proprietary technology and software platforms to access, automate, or track the information and assist its clients with decision-making and compliance tools in the real estate and insurance industries. This segment primarily serves commercial banks, mortgage lenders and brokers, investment banks, fixed-income investors, real estate agents, MLS companies, property and casualty insurance companies, title insurance companies, government agencies, and government-sponsored enterprises. The UWS segment combines property, mortgage, and consumer information to provide comprehensive mortgage origination and monitoring solutions, including underwriting-related solutions, and data-enabled valuations and appraisals. This segment also provides proprietary technology and software platforms to access, automate, or track the information and assist its clients with vetting and onboarding prospects, and meeting compliance regulations, as well as understanding, evaluating, monitoring property values. It primarily serves mortgage lenders and servicers, mortgage brokers, credit unions, commercial banks, fixed-income investors, government agencies, and property and casualty insurance companies. The company was formerly known as The First American Corporation and changed its name to CoreLogic, Inc. in June 2010. CoreLogic, Inc. was incorporated in 1894 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.
Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; prepaid programs and management services; commercial credit and debit payment products and solutions; and payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts. It also provides value-added products and services comprising cyber and intelligence solutions for parties to transact, as well as proprietary insights, drawing on principled use of consumer, and merchant data services. In addition, the company offers analytics, test and learn, consulting, managed services, loyalty, processing, and payment gateway solutions for e-commerce merchants. Further, it provides open banking and digital identity platforms services. The company offers payment solutions and services under the MasterCard, Maestro, and Cirrus. Mastercard Incorporated was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York.
The following companies are subsidiares of Sherwin-Williams: Acquire Sourcing LLC, CTS National Corporation, Comex North America Inc., Compania Sherwin-Williams S.A. de C.V., Contract Transportation Systems Co., Dongguan Lilly Paint Industries Ltd, Duron, EPS B.V., EPS Shanghai Trading Co. Ltd., Geocel Holdings, Guangdong Valspar Paints Manufacturing Co Ltd., Inver East Med S.A., Inver France SAS, Inver GmbH, Inver Industrial Coating SRL, Inver Polska Spoka Z O.O, Inver Spa, Invercolor Bologna Srl, Invercolor Ltd, Invercolor Roma Srl, Invercolor Torino Srl, Invercolor Toscana Srl, Isocoat Tintas e Vernizes Ltda, Isva Vernici Srl, Leighs Paints, M.A. Bruder & Sons, Omega Specialty Products & Services LLC, Oy Sherwin-Williams Finland Ab, PT Sherwin-Williams Indonesia, PT Valspar Indonesia, Paint Sundry Brands, Pinturas Condor S.A., Pinturas Industriales S.A., Piton Paints Limited, Plasti-Kote Co. Inc., Plasti-kote Limited, Productos Quimicos y Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Quest Automotive Products UK Limited, Quetzal Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Ronseal Ireland Limited, SWIMC LLC, SWIPCO  Sherwin Williams do Brasil Propriedade Intelectual Ltda, Sherwin Williams Colombia S.A.S., Sherwin-Williams Argentina I.y C.S.A., Sherwin-Williams Aruba VBA, Sherwin-Williams Australia Pty. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams Balkan S.R.L., Sherwin-Williams Bel Unitary Enterprise, Sherwin-Williams Belize Limited, Sherwin-Williams Benelux NV, Sherwin-Williams Canada Inc., Sherwin-Williams Caribbean N.V., Sherwin-Williams Cayman Islands Limited, Sherwin-Williams Chile S.A., Sherwin-Williams Coatings India Private Limited, Sherwin-Williams Coatings S.a r.l., Sherwin-Williams Czech Republic spol. s r.o, Sherwin-Williams Denmark A/S, Sherwin-Williams Deutschland GmbH, Sherwin-Williams France Finishes SAS, Sherwin-Williams Ireland Limited, Sherwin-Williams Italy S.r.l., Sherwin-Williams Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Sherwin-Williams Nantong Coatings Technology Co. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams Nantong Company Limited, Sherwin-Williams Norway AS, Sherwin-Williams Paints Limited Liability Company, Sherwin-Williams Peru S.R.L., Sherwin-Williams Pinturas de Venezuela S.A., Sherwin-Williams Poland Sp. z o.o, Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings, Sherwin-Williams Realty Holdings Inc., Sherwin-Williams Services Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Sherwin-Williams Shanghai Limited, Sherwin-Williams Spain Coatings S.L., Sherwin-Williams Sweden AB, Sherwin-Williams Thailand Co. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams UK Coatings Limited, Sherwin-Williams UK Limited, Sherwin-Williams Vietnam Limited, Sherwin-Williams West Indies Limited, Sherwin-Williams do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., Southland Paint Company, Spanyc Paints Joint Stock Company, Specialty Polymers Inc., Syntema I Vaggeryd AB, Taiwan Valspar Co. Ltd., The Sherwin-Williams Acceptance Corporation, The Sherwin-Williams Headquarters Company, The Sherwin-Williams Manufacturing Company, The Sherwin-Williams US Licensing Company, The Valspar Asia Corporation Limited, The Valspar Australia Corporation Pty. Ltd., The Valspar Corporation, The Valspar Corporation Limitada, The Valspar Finland Corporation Oy, The Valspar France Corporation S.A.S., The Valspar France Research Corporation SAS, The Valspar Malaysia Corporation Sdn Bhd, The Valspar Nantes Corporation S.A.S., The Valspar Singapore Corporation Pte. Ltd, The Valspar South Africa Corporation Pty Ltd, The Valspar Switzerland Corporation AG, The Valspar Thailand Corporation Ltd., The Valspar UK Corporation Limited, The Valspar Vietnam Corporation Ltd., UAB Sherwin-Williams Baltic, Valspar Aries Coatings S. de R.L. de C.V., Valspar Automotive Australia Pty Limited, Valspar Automotive UK Corporation Limited, Valspar B.V., Valspar Coatings Guangdong Co. Ltd., Valspar Coatings Shanghai Co. Ltd., Valspar Coatings Tianjin Co. Ltd, Valspar D.o.o Beograd, Valspar India Coatings Corporation Private Limited, Valspar Industries GmbH, Valspar Industries Ireland Ltd., Valspar Industries Italy S.r.l., Valspar LLC, Valspar Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Valspar Powder Coatings Limited, Valspar Rock Company Limited Japan, Valspar Shanghai Management Co. Ltd., Valspar Specialty Paints LLC, Valspar Uruguay Corporation S.A., Valspar WPC Pty Ltd, and ZAO Sherwin-Williams.

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Juniper Networks, Inc. designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide. The company offers routing products, such as ACX series universal access routers to deploy high-bandwidth services; MX series Ethernet routers that function as a universal edge platform; PTX series packet transport routers; wide-area network SDN controllers; and session smart routers. It also provides switching products, including EX series Ethernet switches to address the access, aggregation, and core layer switching requirements of micro branch, branch office, and campus environments; QFX series of core, spine, and top-of-rack data center switches; and juniper access points, which provide Wi-Fi access and performance. In addition, the company offers security products comprising SRX series services gateways for the data center; Branch SRX family provides an integrated and next-generation firewall; virtual firewall that delivers various features of physical firewalls; and advanced malware protection, a cloud-based service and Juniper ATP. Further, it offers Junos OS, a network operating system; Contrail networking, which provides an open-source and standards-based platform for SDN; Mist AI-driven Wired, Wireless, and WAN assurance solutions to set and measure key metrics; Mist AI-driven Marvis Virtual Network Assistant, which identifies the root cause of issues; Juniper Paragon Automation, a modular portfolio of cloud-native software applications; and Juniper Apstra to automate the network lifecycle in a single system. Additionally, the company provides software-as-a-service, technical support, maintenance, and professional services, as well as education and training programs. It sells its products through direct sales, distributors, value-added resellers, and original equipment manufacturers to end-users in the cloud, service provider, and enterprise markets. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
BlackRock, Inc. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks. It also provides global risk management and advisory services. The firm manages separate client-focused equity, fixed income, and balanced portfolios. It also launches and manages open-end and closed-end mutual funds, offshore funds, unit trusts, and alternative investment vehicles including structured funds. The firm launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and real estate mutual funds. It also launches equity, fixed income, balanced, currency, commodity, and multi-asset exchange traded funds. The firm also launches and manages hedge funds. It invests in the public equity, fixed income, real estate, currency, commodity, and alternative markets across the globe. The firm primarily invests in growth and value stocks of small-cap, mid-cap, SMID-cap, large-cap, and multi-cap companies. It also invests in dividend-paying equity securities. The firm invests in investment grade municipal securities, government securities including securities issued or guaranteed by a government or a government agency or instrumentality, corporate bonds, and asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. It employs fundamental and quantitative analysis with a focus on bottom-up and top-down approach to make its investments. The firm employs liquidity, asset allocation, balanced, real estate, and alternative strategies to make its investments. In real estate sector, it seeks to invest in Poland and Germany. The firm benchmarks the performance of its portfolios against various S&P, Russell, Barclays, MSCI, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch indices. BlackRock, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is based in New York City with additional offices in Boston, Massachusetts; London, United Kingdom; Gurgaon, India; Hong Kong; Greenwich, Connecticut; Princeton, New Jersey; Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Sydney, Australia; Taipei, Taiwan; Singapore; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington, District of Columbia; Toronto, Canada; Wilmington, Delaware; and San Francisco, California.
National Bank Holdings Corporation operates as the bank holding company for NBH Bank that provides various banking products and financial services to commercial, business, and consumer clients in the United States. It offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts, including fixed-rate and fixed maturity time deposits. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans and leases, such as working capital loans, equipment loans, lender finance loans, food and agriculture loans, government and non-profit loans, owner occupied commercial real estate loans, and other commercial loans and leases; non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans consisting of loans on commercial properties, such as office buildings, warehouse/distribution buildings, multi-family, hospitality, and retail buildings; small business administration loans to support manufacturers, distributors, and service providers; term loans, line of credits, and real estate secured loans; residential real estate loans; and consumer loans. In addition, it offers treasury management solutions comprising online and mobile banking, commercial credit card, wire transfer, automated clearing house, electronic bill payment, lock box, remote deposit capture, merchant processing, cash vault, controlled disbursements, and fraud prevention services, as well as other auxiliary services, including account reconciliation, collections, repurchase accounts, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts. As of January 20, 2022, the company operated through a network of 81 banking centers located in Colorado, the greater Kansas City region, New Mexico, Utah, and Texas. It also operates 121 ATMs. The company was formerly known as NBH Holdings Corp. and changed its name to National Bank Holdings Corporation in March 2012. National Bank Holdings Corporation was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.
Morgan Stanley is the 6th largest financial institution in the US. The company is ranked 61st on the Forbes Fortune 500 list and is the 39th largest bank in the world. A financial holding company, Morgan Stanley provides a full range of financial services to clients around the world.

Morgan Stanley was formed in 1935 as a result of the Glass-Steagall Act. Glass-Steagall separated commercial and investment banking in a way that forced the then-largest bank J.P. Morgan & Co to split into two groups. J.P. Morgan & Co. chose to retain the commercial side of the business while partners Henry S. Morga, grandson of J.P., and Harold Stanley took the investment end. In its first year, Morgan Stanley did 24% of the IPO business and maintains a lions share of the market to this day.

The original company existed and grew through acquisitions until 1987 when it merged with Dean Witter Discover & Co. The new Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Discover & Co existed for 14 years until 2001 when the name was shortened back to Morgan Stanley.

The bank is credited in part with both beginning and ending the financial crisis of 2007/2008. The Process Driven Trading unit lost $300 million in one day due to a short-squeeze that popped the bubble in the housing market. After teetering on the brink of failure Morgan Stanley agreed to become a bank holding company regulated by the Federal Reserve, a key factor in the original decision to split from parent J.P. Morgan & Co. Ironically when given the chance, present-day J.P. Morgan refused to buy Morgan Stanley but that was for the better.

Today, Morgan Stanley operates through three segments via offices in 41 countries and employs more than 75,000 people. Revenue in 2021 topped $49 billion and total assets topped $1.15 trillion.

The operating segments are Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments. The Institutional Securities segment is by far the largest and most profitable. It offers a range of services and products for businesses, institutions, and entities that include capital raising, strategic advisory, underwriting, advice on M&A, restructuring, and real estate. The Wealth Management segment provides brokerage and investment advisory services for individuals and employers. The services include brokerage, financial planning, company stock-plan administration, insurance, mortgage loans, lines of credit, and retirement planning. The Investment Management segment provides investment products to a range of institutions, organizations, corporations, and governments.
Everest Re Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States, Bermuda, and internationally. The company operates through Reinsurance Operations and Insurance Operations segments. The Reinsurance Operations segment writes property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines of business through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies in the United States, Bermuda, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The Insurance Operations segment writes property and casualty insurance directly, as well as through brokers, surplus lines brokers, and general agents in Bermuda, Canada, Europe, South America, Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The company also provides treaty and facultative reinsurance products; admitted and non-admitted insurance products; and property and casualty reinsurance and insurance coverages, including marine, aviation, surety, errors and omissions liability, directors' and officers' liability, medical malpractice, mortgage reinsurance, other specialty lines, accident and health, and workers' compensation products. In addition, it offers commercial property and casualty insurance products through wholesale and retail brokers, surplus lines brokers, and program administrators. Everest Re Group, Ltd. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Motorola Solutions, Inc. provides mission critical communications and analytics in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Products and Systems Integration, and Software and Services. The Products and Systems Integration segment offers a portfolio of infrastructure, devices, accessories, and video security devices and infrastructure, as well as the implementation, and integration of systems, devices, software, and applications for government, public safety, and commercial customers who operate private communications networks and video security solutions, as well as manage a mobile workforce. Its land mobile radio communications and video security and access control devices include two-way portable and vehicle-mounted radios, fixed and mobile video cameras, and accessories; radio network core and central processing software, base stations, consoles, and repeaters; and video analytics, network video management hardware and software, and access control solutions. The Software and Services segment provides repair, technical support, and hardware maintenance services. This segment also offers monitoring, software updates, and cybersecurity services; and public safety and enterprise command center software, unified communications applications, and video software solutions through on-premise and as a service. It serves government, public safety, and commercial customers. The company was formerly known as Motorola, Inc. and changed its name to Motorola Solutions, Inc. in January 2011. Motorola Solutions, Inc. was founded in 1928 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Vermilion Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of petroleum and natural gas in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company owns 81% working interest in 636,714 net acres of developed land and 85% working interest in 301,026 net acres of undeveloped land in Canada; 130,715 net acres of land in the Powder River basin in the United States; 96% working interest in 248,873 net acres of developed land and 86% working interest in 134,160 net acres of undeveloped land in the Aquitaine and Paris Basins in France; 53% working interest in 901,791 net acres of land in the Netherlands; 54,625 net developed acres and 920,723 net undeveloped acres in Germany; 975,375 net acres land in Croatia; 946,666 net acres land in Hungary; and 48,954 net acres land in Slovakia. It also owns 20% interests in the offshore Corrib natural gas field located to the northwest coast of Ireland; and 100% working interest in the Wandoo offshore oil field and related production facilities that covers 59,553 acres located on Western Australia's northwest shelf. As of December 31, 2021, the company had 401 net producing conventional natural gas wells and 2,132 net producing light and medium crude oil wells in Canada; 167.6 net producing light and medium crude oil wells in the United States; 297.0 net producing light and medium crude oil wells and 3 net producing conventional natural gas wells in France; and 47 net producing natural gas wells in the Netherlands. Vermilion Energy Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
EPAM Systems, Inc. provides digital platform engineering and software development services worldwide. The company offers engineering services, including requirements analysis and platform selection, customization, cross-platform migration, implementation, and integration; infrastructure management services, such as software development, testing, and maintenance with private, public, and mobile infrastructures for application, database, network, server, storage, and systems operations management, as well as monitoring, incident notification, and resolution services; and maintenance and support services. It also provides operation solutions comprising integrated engineering practices and smart automation; and optimization solutions that include software application testing, test management, automation, and consulting services to enable customers enhance their existing software testing and quality assurance practices, as well as other testing services that identify threats and close loopholes to protect its customers' business systems from information loss. In addition, the company offers business, experience, technology, data, and technical advisory consulting services; and digital and service design solutions, which comprise strategy, design, creative, and program management services, as well as physical product development, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and virtual reality. It serves the financial services, travel and consumer, software and hi-tech, business information and media, life sciences and healthcare, and other industries. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
The college that's a university

Thomas Jefferson's honorary degree diploma to be on display at the Muscarelle Museum

The following story originally appeared in the winter 2017 issue of the W&M Alumni Magazine - Ed.

The President and professors of the University or College of William & Mary to all to whom these present letters shall come, greetings.

Thats the warm welcome proffered, in Latin, at the beginning of the 1783 honorary degree bestowed upon Thomas Jefferson, naming him doctor in civil law.

Stretching across the centuries to the entire William & Mary community, the greeting will prove even warmer when the diploma is exhibited here in 2017.

The honorary degree diploma, on loan from the Massachusetts Historical Society, will be on view at William & Marys Muscarelle Museum of Art at the beginning of February, providing a highlight for the 2017 Charter Day celebration on Feb. 10. The diploma will remain on display until Commencement.

It will be wonderful to exhibit Thomas Jeffersons diploma, an institutional treasure, in time for William & Marys birthday. We are exceedingly grateful to the Massachusetts Historical Society for lending it to us, says Jeremy Martin Ph.D. 12, assistant to the president and provost.

It is Martin who led efforts on the diplomas exhibition and is the latest person to research the documents most curious aspect, apparent immediately to those who know Latin, or at least Google Translate: the use of university.

Its fascinating that in 1783, less than 100 years after the royal charter was issued and not long after the grammar school for boys and the Brafferton Indian School ceased operating on campus, W&M was already calling itself a university. The grammar school in particular usually had a larger student body than the college proper.

This official document  the only diploma Jefferson received from his alma mater  demonstrates the acceptance of calling William & Mary either the University or the College, Martin explains. It wasnt the first time, nor was it a one-off. There were consistent and deliberate references to William & Mary as a university in the 1700s, not unlike efforts to communicate W&Ms status today.

Universitatis seu collegii?

Of course, the 1693 royal charter states flatly that the institution shall be called and denominated, forever, the College of William & Mary, in Virginia.

But Susan Kern Ph.D. 05, executive director of the Historic Campus and noted Jefferson scholar and historian, has found early references to W&M as a university. Eighteenth-century letters suggest that as far as William & Mary President James Madison, Law Professor George Wythe, George Washington and Jefferson were concerned, William & Marys status as a university was settled on Dec. 4, 1779, with the adoption of reforms creating professorships of anatomy and medicine, modern languages, and law and police.

At the time, Jefferson was governor of Virginia and a member of W&Ms Board of Visitors. He pressed the changes that also disbanded the divinity school and the grammar school. The Brafferton Indian School had been closed since the 1777 advent of rebellion, when its funding from the Brafferton estate in Yorkshire, England, ceased to flow.

Jefferson wanted to do away with the grammar school because it was a distraction to the scholars, as he called the college-level students, Kern says. He wanted to change the Brafferton to send missionaries among the Indian tribes, instead of bringing boys to Williamsburg. He revised the philosophy school program  what we would say is the undergraduate curriculum  and he hoped to do away with the divinity school; his ideal model was secular education.

Its clear that Jefferson knew exactly what he was doing when he pushed to add Americas first law school at William & Mary. Earlier that year he had introduced state legislation, the famous Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge that, in addition to other measures, proposed to amend W&Ms constitution to include more science in the curriculum and to make it in fact an University, he recounted in his autobiography.

That bill stalled for more than a decade, until a weakened version passed in 1796 as an Act to Establish Public Schools. But Jefferson had already largely met his goals at W&M through the 1779 reforms, though he failed to excise the church entirely, Kern says.

Jeffersons unhappiness on that last score grew as William & Mary remained essentially a church school, leading to his decision to establish the wholly secular University of Virginia. Unlike W&M, which remained private until 1906, U.Va. was a state school from its outset.

Almost immediately after the 1779 reforms, those in and around William & Mary began regularly calling it a university. (Interestingly, Carlo Charles Bellini, a year before the reforms, identified himself in a letter as Professor of modern languages in this University of Williamsburg.)

Five days after the Board of Visitors adopted the reforms, on Dec. 9, 1779, student John Brown, worried about increased expenses, wrote to inform his uncle that William & Mary has undergone a very considerable Revolution; the Visitors met on the 4th Instant and formd it into a University, annuld the old Statutes, abolishd the Grammar School

Then the following year, writing to the president of Yale about William & Marys finances and operations, W&M President James Madison stated, The Doors of the University are open to all, nor is even a knowledge in the Ant. Languages a previous Requisite for Entrance  The public Exercises are 1st, weekly. The whole University assemble in a convenient apartment

In the same letter, however, Madison said, The first Plan of our College was imperfect, reflecting a tendency to use the terms college and university interchangeably, Kern notes. This continued over the next few years.

In 1781, W&Ms Madison updated his cousin in the Continental Congress, James Madison, who would later become president of the United States: The University is a Desert. We were in a very flourishing way before the first invasion  we are now entirely dispersed. The student is converted into the Warrior

Wythe wrote something similar to George Washington around the same time, telling him, Last year, until the british (sic) invasion, the university was in a prosperous state. But then a few sentences later, Wythe switched it up, referring to the college.

Washington also held to the pattern in his correspondence. On Oct. 17, 1781, he wrote to John Blair, You may be assured Sir that nothing but absolute Necessity could induce me to desire to occupy the College with its adjoin (sic) Buildings for Military Purposes. But 10 days later, Washington sent a note that he accepted kindly the address of the President and Professors of the University of William and Mary.

Whats in a Name?

Interestingly, before 1776, some colonial colleges werent even trying to be acknowledged as such, much less promoting themselves as universities. James Axtell, W&M history professor emeritus, who in 2016 published Wisdoms Workshop: The Rise of the Modern University, writes that some of the institutions avoided even calling themselves college. Almost all of the nine colonial colleges lacked royal charters; their charters were signed by governors or colonial legislatures, causing some concern as they assumed the ability to award degrees. Yale, for example, not daring to incorporate, originally called itself a collegiate school, Axtell notes.

But by the late 1770s, William & Mary wasnt alone in trying to establish itself as a university. Martin says the University of Pennsylvania has a particularly strong claim as the first American university.

Penn was founded as the Academy of Philadelphia in 1749, becoming the College of Philadelphia six years later. In 1765, it established a medical department (the first American medical school), awarding its first Doctor of Medicine degrees in 1771.

After introducing medical education, the College of Philadelphia began speaking of itself as a university, though without officially changing its name, says Martin.

In the late 1700s, the state legislature and school fought for control of the institution. In 1779, the state established the University of the State of Pennsylvania  the first American institution named University  from the college, but the schools leadership rejected the action. For more than a decade, the College of Philadelphia and University of the State of Pennsylvania operated separately, until they were combined to form the University of Pennsylvania in 1791.

Harvard wasnt called a university until the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution referred to it as the University of Cambridge and The University while still retaining use of Harvard College. Its medical school was established in 1782. (The Code of Virginia takes a similar approach in defining W&Ms legal name as The College of William & Mary, but uses The University in subsequent references.)

In the 1840s, Harvards governing corporation discussed the use of its various names, voting in 1849 that the name Harvard College is the legal and proper name of the university, to be used in legal and formal acts and documents It remains so for its undergraduate liberal arts program.

In the 19th-century antebellum period, American higher education as a whole wouldnt reflect Harvards restraint. Academies, grammar schools and others began to declare themselves universities, to the consternation of many in academia. By European lights, there were few, if any, bona fide universities in America, writes Axtell.

A University named College

Of course, W&M is today unequivocally ranked as a research university by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. In 1964, William & Mary introduced Ph.D. programs in marine science and physics. Today, it offers doctoral degrees within humanities and social sciences, natural and computational sciences, the School of Education and the School of Marine Science. (See It Takes a Research University, Spring 2016.)

But like Johnny Cashs Boy Named Sue, being a university named College can complicate things for faculty and staff who face outward from campus.

Henry Broaddus is W&M vice president for strategic initiatives and public affairs. Before that, he was dean of admission and associate provost for enrollment. So hes been representing William & Mary to various parts of the world for more than a decade.

Broaddus says he suspects that W&M sometimes gets short shrift for the public good it does and the caliber of its research when not recognized as a bona fide university. W&Ms communications office periodically has to call members of the national and international media to request corrections of constructions such as William & Mary College.

From 2006 through 2014, Broaddus was part of a State Department-funded program that sent admission deans to American international schools outside of the U.S. to meet with their students  about one-third each from America, the host country and rest of the world  about stateside universities.

Foreign students in particular struggle to make sense

Of Americas higher education system. Broaddus recalls speaking with the daughter of a diplomat in the Ethiopian Embassy in India who was already flummoxed by the fact that Pennsylvania is a state but the University of Pennsylvania is private.

Plus, there are plenty of liberal arts colleges calling themselves universities, Broaddus says. And among U.S. News & World Reports top-50 national universities, there are seven that dont use the word university. Four of them are institutes. Three of them are colleges in name. Only one of those leads with the word college in its formal title. You can guess which.

Universitatis commune

As members of the W&M community will see for themselves this spring, Jeffersons degree praises him for his ability in law, his humility and patriotism illustrious not only in other matters but especially in championing American liberty.

All the fine arts seem to foregather in one man, reads the diploma signed by W&M President Madison; Wythe as professor of law and police; Robert Andrews, professor of mathematics and philosophy and Bellini, professor of modern languages.

Historians believe Wythe authored the diploma out of admiration and affection for Jefferson, its wording a salve for the cuts Jefferson endured when his actions and inactions as a wartime governor were criticized. For a deed well done he seeks his reward not from popular acclaim but from the deed itself, Wythe wrote.

There is one final use of university at the end of Jeffersons diploma, in reference to the William & Mary seal. Since the document opens with university and closes with university, perhaps the references were intended to signal to Jefferson that W&Ms leadership appreciated his efforts to elevate his alma mater above its royal name and colonial brethren.




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EDF agrees to Fessenheim closure compensation protocol

25 January 2017

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The board of directors of French utility EDF yesterday approved the terms of the protocol negotiated between the company and the government for setting compensation for the closure of the Fessenheim nuclear power plant. Under France's energy policy, Fessenheim - the country's oldest nuclear power plant - must close when the Flamanville EPR is commissioned in late 2018.

Fessenheim's two 880 MWe pressurized water reactors have been in operation since 1977 and 1978, respectively (Image: EDF)

French President Francois Hollande's 2012 election pledge was to limit nuclear's share of French generation at 50% by 2025, and the closure of Fessenheim by the end of 2016. In June 2014, following a national energy debate, his government announced the country's nuclear generating capacity would be capped at the current level of 63.2 GWe. It will also be limited to 50% of France's total output by 2025. The French Energy Transition for Green Growth Law was adopted in August 2015. Nuclear currently accounts for almost 75% of the country's electricity production, making closures of power reactors appear inevitable.

While not calling for the closure of any currently operating power reactors, the new policy means that EDF would have to close older reactors in order to bring new ones online. The utility is constructing an EPR unit at Flamanville which is currently expected to start up in late 2018. EDF would therefore be forced to shut one of its reactors - most likely Fessenheim - by that time in order to begin operating the Flamanville unit.

Yesterday, EDF's board of directors approved the terms of the protocol negotiated between the company and the state setting the terms "governing compensation for damage suffered by the company" as a result of the closure of the Fessenheim plant. The board authorised EDF president and CEO Jean-Bernard Levy to sign it on behalf of the company "in due course".

The protocol will provide two elements of compensation: a fixed initial portion and a further variable portion. The initial fixed portion - currently estimated at some 490 million ($527 million) - will cover the anticipated costs associated with the closure of Fessenheim. This will include such costs as retraining of staff, decommissioning the plant, the basic nuclear facility tax and post-operational costs. Some 20% of this initial payment will be made in 2019, with the remainder due in 2021.

Further variable payments will be made to reflect EDF's operating income shortfall up to 2041 due to the closure of Fessenheim. This will be determined on the basis of market prices and EDF's 900 MWe generation volumes, without Fessenheim, as established over that period. EDF said its partners in the Fessenheim plant - Germany's EnBW (17.5%) and Swiss group CNP (15%) - will be entitled, "under certain conditions, to receive a share of the shortfall compensation in proportion to their contractual rights over the generation capacity of the power plant".

EDF noted the closure of Fessenheim also requires a decree revoking the plant's operating licence, to be issued at its request and which, in accordance with France's energy transition law, will take effect at the same time as the commissioning of the Flamanville 3 EPR.

The utility said it had requested the revocation of Fessenheim's operating licence "subject to entry into effect of the permissions necessary to proceed with the construction of Flamanville 3 and the continued operation of Paluel 2 ... and also confirmation from the European Commission that the protocol complies with state aid regulation".

Levy said, "With this decision on the part of its board of directors, EDF is guaranteeing compliance with legislation imposing a ceiling for France's installed nuclear electricity generation capacity, while at the same time safeguarding to the utmost the interests of the company and its customers."

Energy Minister Segolene Royal welcomed EDF's decision to accept the protocol. "The decision taken today will enable EDF to save the investments that would have been necessary for the extension of the plant and thus give priority to investments in its major industrial projects (hydroelectricity, other renewable energies, Flamanville 3, the Grand Carenage life extension program, and export projects)," she said. The State will "accompany" the company in the implementation of this industrial strategy, the minister added.

In a statement, Royal called on German Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel to set up a joint Franco-German commission to implement new industrial projects in the Haut-Rhin region in Southern Alsace. These include a Franco-German factory for a new generation of batteries; an application for the establishment of a plant to produce Tesla electric vehicles; and, the establishment of an industrial dismantling sector.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
Nuclear's role in UK's low-carbon, industrial strategies

25 January 2017

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The UK government has highlighted the role of nuclear power among its responses to a report by the Energy and Climate Change Committee. The parliamentary committee published its Third Report of Session 201617, The energy revolution and future challenges for UK energy and climate change policy, last October.

The government's response, which was received by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee on 19 December, was published on 20 January.

Meanwhile, in its Green Paper on post-Brexit industrial strategy, published on 23 January, the government has warned there are acute and urgent skills shortages in key industrial sectors in the UK, including the nuclear industry. In the UK, a Green Paper is a preliminary report of government proposals that is published in order to provoke discussion.

SMRs

The government said it recognises the potential benefits that small modular reactors (SMRs) could offer the UK, in terms of the possibility of shorter deployment times, reduced costs of nuclear energy and industrial opportunities. To explore this potential, in March last year, it launched phase one of its SMR competition, with the objective of gauging market interest in developing, commercialising and financing SMRs in the UK. Over the summer, officials met with 32 eligible phase one participants, including technology vendors, service providers and potential investors.

"As the Committee suggested in its 2014 report Small nuclear power, it is important to establish the commercial viability of SMRs. To gain a better understanding of this and other key aspects of SMR technologies, the government is drawing on the outcome of Phase One meetings, the Expressions of Interest documents submitted by applicants, the findings of the Techno-Economic Assessment, and our continuing discussions with regulators," the government said in its response. "It is only through a robust evidence base that the potential benefits of SMRs can be accurately evaluated, and it is this evidence that is now shaping the government's considerations for the future of the competition," it added.

SMRs are "only one element within the wider field of nuclear innovation" that the government is looking to support, it stressed.

As part of the nuclear research and development program announced by the government in the 2015 Spending Review, Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has now invited the first tenders to access funding worth more than 20 million ($25.18 million).

"This financial support will help foster the next generation of nuclear innovation, in areas such as reactor safety and efficiency, fuel research and materials science. The progress made in these and other areas will deliver benefits to the whole nuclear sector, including in the development of any future UK SMR," the government said.

Fusion



Nuclear fusion power reactors are not currently available for commercial deployment and it may be a "number of decades" before this changes, the government said. The UK remains a "key actor" leading global innovation in fusion, hosting the world's largest and most capable fusion reactor, the Joint European Torus, at the UK Atomic Energy Authority's site in Culham, it added.

This has "informed understanding" of how to control and produce energy from fusion fuels for over three decades, it said, and "spearheads the way" towards developing a high capacity fusion power plant. It is essential to the development of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor - the next phase of an international collaborative program to develop fusion energy, which is being constructed in France and to which the UK has access through its Euratom membership, it noted.

The UK is also home to the developers of other innovative fusion energy systems, which may offer "more compact, efficient devices", as well as alternative approaches to heating and handling the fusion fuel, the government said. Phase one of the SMR competition has attracted and included developers of innovative fusion energy systems alongside those of fission systems, it added.

Tripartite collaboration

On the Committee's recommendation that there be "tripartite collaboration" between academia, industry and government where projects help to address the UK's long-term decarbonisation goals, the government noted that, since 2011, it has supported at least 1.27 billion in low-carbon innovations across the energy sector. In the 2015 Autumn Statement, the government announced it would double the UK's energy innovation over the next five years, such that by 2021, it would amount to more than 400 million per year. This also forms part of the UK's commitment to the global clean energy research and development initiative, Mission Innovation, it added.

To deliver these innovation programs, the government said it is working closely with partner bodies including Innovate UK, the Energy Systems Catapult, and the Offshore Renewables Catapult, National Nuclear Laboratory as well as with industry and academia, including through the Energy Technologies Institute and Energy Research Partnership.

The transition to the low-carbon economy offers "real economic and investment opportunities" that the government says it will also be working to maximise as part of its Industrial Strategy. As an example, it said cutting energy use can cut costs and raise productivity, as well as cut emissions, and developing low-carbon sectors such as offshore wind, storage and nuclear offer "huge economic opportunities" for the UK.

The merger last year of the business and energy portfolios under BEIS is a "significant opportunity to develop cohesive policies for all UK businesses in this area", it said.

Industrial Strategy

In its Green Paper on post-Brexit industrial strategy, the government said skills shortages specific to certain sectors "force some employers to look overseas to fill certain vacancies".

"Even with shortfalls in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills and technical education addressed, we could be left with shortages in particular specialisms - such as those faced by the nuclear industry - unless we develop a better system to identify and fix emerging gaps," it said.

"We recognise that previous efforts by the government and industry to forecast skills shortages have lacked the accuracy to enable timely and effective action, and that further action could be taken to ensure that we can better identify and address future shortages. Part of the problem has been the lack of a single authoritative source: the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, the Low Pay Commission, the Migration Advisory Committee, and individual sectors have produced assessments focused on their specific remits.

"But no organisation has been tasked with identifying persistent or emerging sector specific gaps and proposing action. We will now work towards a single, authoritative view of the gaps faced by the UK now and in the future."

The government is also working on a new approach to nuclear skills, it said, "with a view to taking a holistic approach to the needs of the government and industry".

Leadership from business has been key to the success of sectoral policies in the UK and other countries, it noted, and suggests setting an 'open door' challenge to industry to come to government with proposals to transform their sectors through 'Sector Deals'. The government will work with sectors that "organise themselves behind strong leadership to help deliver upgrades in productivity", it said. This could involve: addressing regulatory barriers; promoting competition and innovation; working together to increase exports; and working together to commercialise research.

"Sector deals will be driven by business to meet the priorities of business," it said, adding that it welcomed initial work on early sector deals, including from Lord Hutton on improving UK competitiveness and skills in the nuclear industry.

Infrastructure

On supporting private sector infrastructure investment, the government said it is "taking the necessary decisions to drive forward progress on specific critical projects". These include confirmation of Hinkley Point C - the first new nuclear power station to be built in the UK for a generation.

In addition to taking the decisions on major projects, the government said it is creating a framework to enable higher levels of private investment in infrastructure. This includes infrastructure bonds and loans, and Public-Private Partnerships.

"The Autumn Statement also committed to the exploration of a new pipeline of projects suitable for delivery through the Public-Private Partnership scheme PF2, to be set out in early 2017. This will provide new opportunities for the private sector to play a role in delivering infrastructure," it said.

During the last decade, energy policy in the UK was often discussed through the framework of a 'trilemma' - the need simultaneously to find policies that would contribute to meeting climate change targets, guaranteeing security of energy supply and minimising energy costs, the government noted.

"Nearly ten years on from the Climate Change Act, that framework requires updating," it said. "Security of supply is, of course, foundational - and the lack of a long-term energy strategy over previous decades saw the planned closure of energy generating capacity without its adequate replacement being secured. Much progress has been made through the successful launch and operation of Capacity Auctions, as well as Contracts for Difference bringing forward substantial renewable capacity, and more recently the decision to proceed with Hinkley Point C," it added.

The government is committed to meeting its legally-binding targets under the Climate Change Act and how it will continue to meet its obligations will be set out, as required, in the forthcoming Emissions Reduction Plan, it said.

"This means that in the years ahead two important areas of energy policy require a higher priority: the affordability of energy for households and businesses, and securing the industrial opportunities for the UK economy of energy innovation," it said. "Some types of energy, such as nuclear power, require upfront investments that are too large for the market alone to deliver," it added.

Harnessing the industrial opportunities from new energy technologies, Britain is well-placed to benefit from the transition to a low-carbon economy, it said.

"In many parts of the energy sector - from decommissioning to new build - the UK has a depth of expertise and experience that present a major opportunity for domestic employment and export earnings. The role of the industrial strategy is to make the connections between public policy decisions and industrial opportunity so that the full value can be obtained," it said.

"In nuclear, the decision to proceed with the first new nuclear power station in a generation at Hinkley Point is accompanied by a commitment to develop a strong UK supply chain to support the sector, with EDF expecting over 60% of the project's construction value to be placed with UK companies.

"In turn investment in nuclear skills - at college and university level - is upgrading both the domestic capacity to provide the labour required and the level of skills and income in the local workforce," it said.

Good news for industry

The UK's Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) welcomed the government's Green Paper setting out its vision for a modern industrial strategy, including a focus on improving competitiveness and skills in nuclear new build. The UK's civil nuclear industry employs over 65,000 people and generates a fifth of its electricity.

In a 23 January statement, the NIA said, "With plans in place for a new nuclear power program, there is considerable opportunity for the supply chain across the UK, boosting not only their capability, but maximising the economic befits as we replace retiring power stations."

The UK is also at the forefront of the development of SMR technology, it said, adding this "could be an important part of ensuring the UK's nuclear industry realises its full economic and industrial potential".

Lord Hutton, co-chair of the Nuclear Industry Council and chairman of the NIA, said in the same statement: "The nuclear sector has great potential to contribute to the UK economy. I look forward to working with the nuclear industry and the government to develop proposals for this sector as part of the new Industrial Strategy."

The NIA represents more than 260 companies including nuclear power station operators, new build developers and vendors, those engaged in decommissioning, waste management, all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, supply chain and consultancy companies.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
With over 80% of the US citizens living in urban area, the challenge to make sure that the natural resources are protected, conserved, and valued by the people is becoming more complex and challenging.The US is home to a high biodiversity defining its ecosystem. Wildlife conservation is given top priority by the government to protect both the native and the endangered species in the country. Conservation laws such as Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Conservation Act have been put up to define the US stance on conservation. Another system established as a conservation measure is the National Wildlife Refuge System. The NWRS is a system in the US whereby the particular protected areas such as public land and marine are set aside to conserve the US biodiversity such as fish, wildlife, and plants.

Overview Of The National Wildlife Refuge

The NWRS maintains and preserves the integrity, diversity, and safety of the environment and natural resources and enables the safe enjoyment of these resources by the public. The NWRS manages a broad range of habitat types such as the wetlands, coastal areas, prairies, boreal forest, and marine areas among other habitats. The management of each habitat forms a web which controls or eradicates evasive species and assuring adequate water resources while assessing external threats. The national refuges house about 700 birds species, 220 mammalian species, and over 250 species of reptiles. Endangered species are given priorities with over 60 refuges established with the primary aim of protecting 285 endangered species. NWRS are also established so that the public can take part in several recreational activities with the facilities hosting over 50 million people annually. The employees of the NWR are responsible for the planning, monitoring, and conservation of the habitat

History Of The National Wildlife Refuge

President Theodore Roosevelt established Pelican Island NWR through an executive order in 1903 after series of plans hatched by members of the Boone and Crockett Club to set refuge systems across the US. However, the concept of protecting wildlife through preservation of habitat dates back to the mid-19th century by the Western explorers.The first Federal action intended to protect wildlife in designated areas was through the Act of Congress of June 30, 1864. The Act transferred Yosemite Valley to the state of California from the public domain. The earliest efforts to set aside a federally owned area for wildlife occurred in 1868 when the action was taken to protect Pribilof Island in Alaska. The provisions of the Forest Reserves Act of 1891 allowed for the creation of Afognak Island Forest and Fish Culture Reserve under the executive order of President Benjamin Harrison. The increased awareness of the importance of fish and wildlife resources led to the creation of several reserves and protected areas and establishment of departments and organizations to champion for these conservation measures.

Management Activities

The NWRS works internally and externally to achieve effective conservation by leveraging on resources. It works collaboratively with other federal agencies and non-governmental organizations through meaningful engagements at regional and integrated levels. Some of the management activities conducted by the NWRS include monitoring plant and animal populations, preventing and controlling wildlife disease outbreak, restoring the natural habitats, and assessing water quality and quantity among other activities
A mother of three young children was jailed after having sex with young teenagers.

29-year-old Amber Bradley was sentenced to 5 years in prison for having sex and giving alcohol and drugs to teenagers who were between 14 and 16 years old.

Police in Utah, said that the mother was found passed out on the street at 4:00 a.m.

When officers found her, the mother said that a 15-year-old boy was babysitting her children.

Officers who arrived at her home in Layton, found four teens who were unconscious next to alcohol and drugs in her apartment, according to the Davis County police.

Her children, who are 4, 5, and 8 years old, were sleeping in another room.

One teenager told police that he had sex with Bradley.

In a plea deal with prosecutors, Bradley pleaded guilty to four counts of attempted child endangerment.

She also pleaded guilty to a separate case in which she admitted to having sex twice with a 15-year-old boy while his family allowed her to live with them.

Police recovered many explicit text messages between the two. In some messages, Bradley referred to the boy as aDaddy.a

Second District Court Judge Glen R. Dawson sentenced Bradley to 5 five years in prison for the two cases, which will run concurrently.
966 families without land titles denied housing aid

At least 966 earthquake-affected families from Bhumlutar and Phalante VDCs in Kavre could not get the housing reconstruction aid as they were unable to furnish land titles to become eligible for the aid distributed by the National Reconstruction Authority.
An abusive husband was placed behind bars after being accused of biting off his wifeas ear during an altercation, according to police in Nigeria.

Kano police said that they have arrested 33-year-old Abubakar Ali, after being accused of assaulting his wife, Hadiza Ibrahim, after he came home late one night.

Ali has been charged with one count of causing grievous bodily harm (GBH). In court, Ali pleaded guilty. He was booked into jail, pending sentencing.

According to the criminal complaint, Ali came home around 12:30 a.m., and he was confronted by his wife. Ibrahim demanded to know why he came home so late, but Ali refused to answer and began insulting her.

Ali then punched her and bit off her ear.
$20 million in box spring of bed

By: Mason White WorldWideWeirdNews.com

(Scroll down for video) A man worked with the founders of TelexFree, and hid millions of dollars in stolen cash inside the box spring of a bed, according to police in Massachusetts.

Approximately $20 million in cash was found hidden inside the box spring in a Westborough apartment.

It was seized and a Brazilian man was arrested in connection with conspiring to launder proceeds of the massive TelexFree pyramid scheme.

Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, 28, was charged with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering.

According to the complaint, several years ago, federal agents searched the headquarters of TelexFree, Inc., in Marlborough.

Later that day, Carlos Wanzeler, one of the founders of the company, allegedly fled to Brazil, where he has remained.

Wanzeler and TelexFree co-founder James Merrill were indicted on charges that they operated TelexFree as a massive pyramid scheme.

Merrill pleaded guilty to those charges.

The complaint alleges that an intermediary working on Wanzeleras behalf, contacted an associate for help transferring millions of dollars of TelexFree money, still hidden in the greater Boston area, from the United States to Brazil.

The associate, who subsequently became a cooperating witness for the government, allegedly arranged with Wanzeleras nephew in Brazil to launder the cash through Hong Kong, convert it to Brazilian reals, and transfer it to Brazilian accounts.

According to court documents, Rocha, who was acting as a courier for Wanzeleras nephew, flew from Brazil to JFK Airport in New York City a few days ago.

Yesterday, Rocha met the cooperating witness at a restaurant in Hudson, and allegedly gave him $2.2 million in a suitcase.

After the meeting, agents followed Rocha to an apartment complex in Westborough.

That night, federal agents searched an apartment at the Westborough complex and seized a massive stockpile of cash hidden in a box spring.

The cash appears to total approximately $20 million.

Rocha faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.
(Scroll down for video) A woman was rewarded with a cruise to the Bahamas for reaching sales goal at her job selling adult-themed products.

However, her excitement over the trip was short-lived as she was arrested and removed from the Norwegian cruise ship.

23-year-old Karine Gagne of Montreal, Canada, was arrested for having sex with a 15-year-old boy who is reportedly six foot tall.

Karine Gagnes mother, Chantale Auclair, said that her daughter met the boy who is from the United States, in the bar area on the cruise ship.

Auclair said that the boy told her daughter that he was 18 years old, and believed him as he was drinking alcoholic beverages at the bar in the casino, which is restricted to minors.

The two danced together before going into a bathroom, where they had sex.

The boyas mother saw them coming out from the bathroom and confronted the two.

When she learned about the sex acts, she called police despite her sonas alleged pleas for her not to get authorities involved.

Gagne, who has a boyfriend and three children ages 3, 4, and 5, was arrested and is being held in a jail in the Bahamas.

She is being held without bail on charges of unlawful sex with a minor. If convicted, she faces seven years behind bars.
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
Caan flouts rules in awarding lease

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan) has decided to lease out its land at Sinamangal to the Bed Upreti Trust without following procedure.
Number 6 Bus Service Reinstated For Villagers

This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Jan 25th, 2017

A bus service will return to use for villagers in the South of Wrexham as a new operator takes on the former route.

The No.6 service, which serves Ruabon, via Bersham to Wrexham became vacant in the winter  but will now be operated by D Jones and Son.

Cllr David A. Bithell, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, said: We recently re-tendered this service, and I know residents will be pleased that it has been reinstated and I thank them for their patience.

We are looking to have the service running from February 6.

We are working with the new operator on finalising the timetable which will be a two-hourly service, six days a week  but this will first need to be registered with the Traffic Commissioner.

Cllr Bithell added, We are very pleased to see that our tendering exercise for the No 6 was successful, and I would like to thank officers for their work throughout. The council continues to work to replace services lost and we are doing all that we can.

Nobody likes to be left without transport services, but the service will resume soon.

Cllr Phil Wynn from the Brynyffynnon ward added I am pleased WCBC officers and the Lead Member David A Bithell have persevered with retendering for someone to operate route no 6. Ive been approached by a number of Bryn Offa residents who relied on the no 6 route to get into town, thus avoiding the need to walk a distance to the nearest bus route, which is on Victoria Road.

Cllr Joan Lowe, from the Ruabon South ward, said she was delighted that the new bus service would be introduced in particular residents in Pont Adam who have been affected by the loss of their service, saying she had been liaising with the Lead member and officers trying to restore the service.
Wrexham Bid For Iconic Poppy Sculpture to Come to Chirk Castle

This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Jan 25th, 2017

An iconic installation commemorating British servicemen who died in the First World War could come to an iconic setting in Wrexham in 2018 if a bid to bring it to the area is successful.

Wrexham County Borough Council and The National Trust have submitted a joint bid to host the commemorative Weeping Window installation at Chirk Castle.

The Weeping Window, along with another sculpture known as The Wave, comprises of hundreds of Poppies commemorating the war dead of the First World War, and is currently touring locations across the United Kingdom as part of NOW14-18 commemorations  a campaign by the Royal British Legion to mark 100 years since the war.

If successful, the installation  which has already been displayed at Caernarfon Castle, St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, the Woodhorn Museum in Northumberland and St Georges Hall, Liverpool  will come to the medieval castle, which overlooks the border between England and Wales.

This is the third time that Wrexham Council has bid to for the Poppy Sculpture, with previous submissions for the Weeping Window at St Giles Church  home of the regimental chapel of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers  and for The Wave at Llwyn Isaf green, near the Guildhall, being unsuccessful.

Cllr Hugh Jones, Lead Member for Communities and Partnerships said he was hopeful that the panel will accept the joint bid to host the Weeping Window at Chirk Castle.

He added: The castle would form an incredibly impressive and sombre backdrop to the Weeping Window, and it would pose a fitting location for the sculpture.

I also want to thank our partners at Chirk Castle and the National Trust, who have been incredibly supportive in helping us to prepare this joint bid, and Im sure they share our hope that this submission is a successful one.

Cllr David A Griffiths, Armed Forces Champion, said: I am very pleased to see that we will be bidding once more for the Poppy Sculpture to come to Wrexham. Chirk Castle would provide a suitable setting for the Weeping Window, which has proven to be a very evocative and fitting memorial for all British servicemen who lost their lives during the First World War.
China hits back at US over South China Sea claims

China has asserted its "indisputable sovereignty" over parts of the South China Sea after the Trump administration vowed to prevent China from taking territory in the region.
The nominees for the 89th Academy Awards were announced Tuesday morning. Damien Chazelles quasi-musical La La Land received 14 nominations, tying a record. Moonlight, directed by Barry Jenkins, about a gay black youth growing up in Miami, and the science fiction film Arrival (Denis Villeneuve) were both named in eight categories.

Lion, directed by Australian Garth Davis, about an adopted Indian man looking for his biological family, took another six nominations, along with Mel Gibsons World War II drama, Hacksaw Ridge, and Manchester by the Sea, a tale of personal and social tragedy written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan.

Fences (four nominations), dealing with black working class life in Pittsburgh in the 1950s, directed by and featuring Denzel Washington, David Mackenzies Hell or High Water (also four nominations), a heist film touching on social inequality in the US, and Theodore Melfis Hidden Figures (three nominations), about African American women scientists working for NASA, also did well.

Three of the most honest and socially provocative films released in the US in 2016, Gary Rosss Free State of Jones, Oliver Stones Snowden and Jeff Nicholss Loving, received one solitary nomination between them, for Ruth Negga as best actress in the last-named work.

The awards ceremony will be held on February 26, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

The American media is now so conditioned to treat every major (and not so major) social and cultural phenomenon in racial, ethnic or gender terms that questions of artistic quality or social truthfulness barely receive a mention or a consideration.

The general reaction of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the film industrys upper echelons was summed up by the Hollywood Reporter: a sigh of relief over that fact that it [the Academy] retired, at least for this year, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. As the Washington Post commented, Redemptionor at least a whiff of itwas in the air on Tuesday when nominations for the 89th Academy Awards were announced. Alls right with the world!

The nominees in the acting categories include African Americans Washington and Viola Davis (Fences), Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris (Moonlight) and Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures), along with Negga (Irish-Ethiopian) and Dev Patel (Lion), born in England to Indian parents.

In addition, as the Hollywood Reporter noted, Jenkins, an African American, received writing and directing nominations for Moonlight; Bradford Young, for his work on Arrival, became the first black cinematographer to be nominated; Joi McMillon, nominated along with Nat Sanders for Moonlight, became the first black woman to be nominated for film editing; and Kimberly Steward ( Manchester by the Sea ) became only the second black female producer, following Oprah Winfreys nomination for Selma, to be nominated for best picture.

The Post pointed out as well, Four out of the five films nominated for best documentary were made by filmmakers of color, including Roger Ross Williamss Life, Animated, Raoul Pecks I Am Not Your Negro, about James Baldwin, and Ezra Edelmans O.J.: Made in America, a sprawling, 7 1/2-hour film about O.J. Simpson.

The Academy came under sharp criticism in 2016 for its failure to nominate a single non-white performer for the second year in a row. In response, the film body announced in June that it had invited a record 683 new members to join its ranks, 46 percent of whom were women and 43 percent people of color. The number of invitees was more than twice as many as the highest previous total.

The broadening of the Academys membership may be welcome, but the racialization of the film award process has nothing progressive about it whatsoever. Almost every media account of the nomination announcement Tuesday brushed past the question of artistic merit and proceeded to the real matter at hand, race and, to a lesser extent, gender. Whatever the opinions of Academy voters, it now seems taken for granted by the industry and the media that race and gender are the leading, if not the principal factors to be taken into account when nominations and awards are at stake. A de facto quota system has been put in place that will have dire consequences if it is enforced in the coming years.

A number of the films and performances nominated are deserving, to one degree or another. Whatever may be their failings, Manchester by the Sea, Fences, Moonlight and Hell or High Water are serious efforts. Hidden Figures has moving moments, as does Lion. Negga in Loving, Washington and Davis in Fences, Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams in Manchester by the Sea, Ali and Harris in Moonlight and Spencer in Hidden Figures are certainly worthy of recognition.

Fire at Sea (Gianfranco Rosi) from Italy, devoted to the horrifying refugee crisis in the Mediterranean, nominated for best documentary, is also deserving.

On the other hand, La La Land is an essentially trivial work, with a few bright or charming elements, while the nominations for Arrival and Hacksaw Ridge are simply inappropriate. Rogue One, the latest empty-headed Star Wars entry, along with two animated films, Moana and Kubo and the Two Strings, gained more nominations than Loving.

In any event, in the cases where worthwhile work has been recognized, the race or ethnicity of the artists involved was not a determining factor. To the extent that the social questions break through, including the struggle against racism, in Manchester by the Sea, Loving, Hell or High Water, Fences or Moonlight, the films gain whatever power they have.

The sighs of relief, from wealthy, insulated figures in the film world, over the diversity of the Academy Award nominations deserve the scorn of anyone serious about truth and reality in art. This relief reflects the immediate, perhaps temporarily improved state of the corrupt relationship between the film studios and various upper-middle-class outfits and individuals. Other groups were not so pleased, including organizations claiming to speak for Latinos, Asians, gays and others.

According to USA Today, Daniel Mayeda, chair of the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition, applauded the number of black actors and actresses in the nominations list, but deplored the few opportunities for Asians in Hollywood and the lack of Latinos among the nominees this year. He [Mayeda] said its obvious that studio heads need more help in diversifying the industry, and should work more closely with multi-ethnic coalitions such as his to achieve that. Precisely. Affluent layers of African Americans, Latinos and gays would like to pry a portion of profits and privileges away from the current studio officialdom and film celebrities. The cause of artistic truth and social progress does not stand to gain one jot by this.

In response to Tuesdays nominations announcement, Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday wrote, Its clear that, unlike recent years when the red carpet looked lily white, this years Oscars will resemble the outside world much more vibrantly.

But this is not true, or true only in a secondary or superficial sense (a greater range of skin tones).

For filmmaking truly to resemble the outside world much more vibrantly, or simply accurately, is not a racial or ethnic question, but a social one. Films would first of all need to take on, through artistic means, the realities confronted by tens of millions of people: the sharp decline in conditions of life and growing social wretchedness, the bleak future facing young people, the growing and immense danger of war and dictatorship. They would have to reflect life in general more vibrantly, and not simply the concerns of self-centered layers of every ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.

More than 40 million people in the US work in the 25 occupations with the largest employment. Those occupations range from clerks and nurses to truck drivers and teachers, sales representatives and carpenters to team assemblers and receptionists. Is the artistic representation of their lives, the exploration of their thoughts and feelings, a worthy undertaking? At present, they are almost totally excluded from filmmaking and art generally.

The self-satisfaction of the film world is entirely out of place. The Los Angeles Times reports, But with a crowd-pleasing Hollywood confection like La La Land dominating the nominations and the #OscarsSoWhite controversy abated for now, the awards themselves promise a return in many ways to the old-school and the feel-good.

We want to inspire people with memories of what a best friend the movies have been over the course of their life, and we want to have a lot of laughs, Oscar telecast producer Michael De Luca told the Times in November. Get in, get out. No homework. All joy.

Racial-gender quotas plus no [mental] homework. Hollywood in 2017.
For the second time, New Years Eve events in Cologne have been used to spread deliberate lies and exaggerations about refugees, and to justify the construction of a police state.

In 2015, the extent of pickpocketing and bullying was massively exaggerated and exploited for a campaign against refugees and Muslims. To this day, no hard evidence has been produced to justify the claims of mass sexual assaults.

This year, the police conducted a large-scale operation with 1,700 state police, 300 federal police and 600 Cologne city security guards deployed to check IDs and harass foreign-looking men.

Police circulated reports about several hundred Nafri (North Africans) having their IDs checked at the citys main railway station. They stopped four trains in Cologne Deutz and forced passengers to get off, even though there had been no assaults, according to Deutsche Bahn.

Later, police commissioner Jurgen Mathies apologized for the use of the racist term Nafri. However, he did not deny the reports that over 2,000 North Africans had banded together in Cologne, many of whom had been at the main rail station last year.

On the contrary, according to Spiegel Online, the police chief reported, the men had travelled from all over Germany and arrived almost simultaneously. The police wanted to check whether there had been any collusion and to check the particulars of those present.

From this, leading politicians then blathered about a conscious showdown with the police. The Saxony state interior minister, Markus Ulbig (CDU, Christian Democratic Union), demanded clarification: I am concerned about the fact that there was a large gathering of young men from the Maghreb states of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria in several cities. According to Ulbig one must pose the question, are these just spontaneous or random gatherings, or organized meetings?

WDR radio announced, There they were again, hordes of men intent on violence. Christian Social Union (CSU) General Secretary Andreas Scheuer warned in the tabloid Bild, We cannot allow starry-eyed multiculturalism to pose a security risk for our population. And on the web site of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the blogger Don Alphonso posed to Nafri the question: Why are you and your friends a cause for aggression?

Calls for more police, more video surveillance and the faster deportation of rejected North African asylum seekers gained hurricane strength.

It has now emerged that such agitation was based on outright lies. On January 13, the Cologne police corrected their report about the men whose IDs they had checked on New Years Eve.

While immediately after New Years Eve they had spoken of 2,000 young men of North African appearance who had come to the main railway station in Cologne and to the station in Cologne Deutz, now they disclosed that they had only checked the IDs of 674 people. Of a total of 2,500 ID checks carried out by the police, it appears the same people were checked several times.

Of the 425 persons whose nationality the police could so far establish, just 30 came from North Africa17 from Morocco and 13 from Algeria. Ninety-nine were Iraqis, 94 Syrians, 48 Afghans and 46 Germans. According to the evidence available to the investigators concerning those whose IDs were checked, there was not a single suspect from New Years Eve 2015.

So there can be no possibility of a banding together, a showdown with the police or of a conspiracy to commit crimes by several thousand men. According to one investigator, quoted by the Kolnische Rundschau, what is most likely is that many men from various refugee centres in Germany, or in the state, simply knew each other and had arranged to celebrate New Years Eve 2016 in the nearest big city.

The media, which had reported extensively on the police raids on New Years Eve, made little or no mention of the police correction. Although they eagerly express their ire about fake news on the Internet, when they themselves are caught spreading lies they bury it as quickly as possible.
Failure to identify poor affects health insurance plan

The Ministry of Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation (MoCPA)s failure to distribute poverty ID cards to the poor has affected the ongoing health insurance programme.
The confirmation of Trumps pick for education secretary, billionaire proponent of school privatization Betsy DeVos, is being rushed through despite blatant conflicts of interest and her ignorance of basic federal education laws. In a letter Monday, Tennessee Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, rejected Democratic Party requests for a second hearing. The Republican-controlled Senate will vote on the confirmation January 31.

DeVos and her husband are estimated to have a net worth of $5 billion. Her family has donated a quarter of million dollars to four of the senatorsincluding Alexanderpresent at her first education committee hearing on January 17. The family has paid nearly a $1 million to 21 Republican senators who will vote on her confirmation next week, in addition to the $2.25 million the DeVos gave last fall to the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC tied to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The first hearing took place before the Office of Government Ethics was able to review the immense DeVos financial holdings for potential conflicts of interests. Both Dick and Betsy DeVos have investments and political ties to numerous organizations committed to school privatization and right-wing religious objectives, which could directly benefit from her confirmation.

One involves the student loan collection agency Performant, which does business with the Department of Education. The familys private investment and management firm, RDV Corporation, is affiliated with LMF WF Portfolio, a limited liability corporation listed in regulatory filings as one of several firms involved in a $147 million loan to Performant Financial Corporation, the Washington Post reported.

Performant had 14 contracts worth more than $20 millionequivalent to 23 percent of its revenuewith the Department of Education. It recently lost a contract bid and is now protesting the decision with the Government Accountability Office.

If confirmed, the Post reported, DeVos would be in a position to influence the award of debt collection, servicing and recovery contracts, in addition to the oversight and monitoring of the contracts. She would also have the authority to revise payments and fees to contractors for rehabilitating past-due debt.

Rejecting the request for a second hearing, Alexander said DeVos was currently answering 837 written follow-up questions and that she has already spent considerably more time answering questions of committee members than either of President Obamas education secretaries. I do not know why our committee should treat a Republican nominee so differently than the nominee of a Democratic president.

During the January 17 hearing DeVos demonstrated her hostility towards public education and the basic democratic principle that all children, regardless of socio-economic background, race or disabilities, should be provided a high-quality public education.

After being asked if she agrees that all schoolspublic, charter or privatethat receive federal funding should be required to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a federal civil rights law, she responded that it would be a matter  best left to the states. She then referred to a Florida program that requires parents to sign away their IDEA rights in exchange for a private school voucher.

When asked by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) if all schools receiving federal funds, whether public, charter or private schools receiving voucher money, should be held to the same standards of accountability, she repeatedly evaded the question, stating only that she supports accountability.

When questioned about gun-free zones around schools, proposed after the Sandy Hook, Connecticut school massacre in 2012, DeVos gave a bizarre answer citing the need for guns to protect against grizzly bear attacks in a Wyoming school.

As the World Socialist Web Site detailed in its series, Betsy DeVos: Religion and profit in the war on public education (Part One and Part Two), the appointment of DeVos is aimed at destroying public education and funneling even more public money into the hands of for-profit charter operators, religious institutions and other businesses. She is one of several Trump cabinet and sub-cabinet selections, including for the departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development and Labor, as well as the EPA, who are tasked with destroying social reforms that the corporate and financial oligarchy considers illegitimate deductions from their profit.

DeVos, the former Republican Party chairwoman in Michigan and chair of the school privatization group American Federation for Children, pushed for laws for the use of public funds to pay for private school tuition and the spread of charter schools, with little or no oversight. Michigan now has one of the highest number of charters and largest percentage run by for-profit companies in the country.

Last week, the state School Reform Office announced that 38 schoolsincluding 24 in Detroitcould soon be closed because they have ranked in the bottom five percent for academic performance since 2014. If the schools are not closed, under the states law, academics can be put under the control of a CEO, the principal and half the staff can be replaced or the school could be converted into a charter school.

The grandstanding of the Democrats as the defenders of public education, however, is completely fraudulent. The stage was set for DeVos by the Democrats who have colluded with the Republicans in a decades-long assault on public education. In the 1990s, President Bill Clinton first adopted the right-wing, pro-market nostrums of school choice long promoted by the Republican right and it has been central to the Democratic Party, on the federal, state and local level, ever since.

For eight years, the Obama administration and congressional Democrats worked with Republicans to implement and intensify the anti-public-school measures contained in the Bush administrations No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The use of standardized tests to scapegoat teachers for the educational problems caused by decades of school cuts and the growth of poverty escalated under Obama. Restrictions on allocations of Title I funding, intended to increase financial support to schools serving high percentages of students in poverty, were replaced by competitive grants known as Race To The Top, pitting poor schools against each other in a competition for desperately needed Title I funds. The number of students in charter schools more than doubled under Obama and his education secretary, Arne Duncan.

Far from grilling DeVos at the hearing, Democrats never asked about her financial and political ties to organizations such as the Acton Institute, which is dedicated to ending compulsory education for children and legalizing child labor. In the end, this was political theater.

Committee members include Patty Murray (D-Washington), who has long experience collaborating with Republicans to enact deep social cuts, Hillary Clintons former running mate Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), who called for a 26 percent reduction in funding to public colleges and universities in Virginia in his final term as Governor, and Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) who, in her book, The Two Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents Are Going Broke, (2003), called for the introduction of a universal school voucher that would allow families to send their children to any public school, which would to the closure of many inner-city schools.

The handing of the education secretarys position to a billionaire and avowed enemy of public education will lead to an immense escalation of the war against this most basic democratic right. Neither the Democrats nor the teacher unions will do anything to oppose these attacks. The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, which openly collaborated with Obama, will, if anything, be more willing to offer up their services in suppressing the opposition by teachers, out of fear that they will be cut out of the process of pro-business school reform.

The coming months and years will see the eruption of social opposition to the destruction of public education. This must be politically independent from both corporate-controlled parties and advance an anti-capitalist program against the domination of society by the corporate and financial aristocracy, which is now putting one of its own in charge of public education.
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, J.D. Vance, Harper Collins, 2016.

Hillbilly Elegy, a memoir by J.D. Vance, a lawyer at a leading Silicon Valley investment firm, topped the New York Times Best Seller list in August 2016. It has been met with much praise by both liberal and conservative critics.

In a New York Times review, Jennifer Senior suggests the reader should admire him [J.D. Vance] for his head-on confrontation with a taboo subject. Huffington Post reviewer Lella Moshref-Danesh went further, writing July 11 that the book creates a sense of a shared experience that crosses cultural, political and class lines. Hillbilly Elegy, at its core, is the story of a family and all the harsh, beautiful complexity that comes with it.

The book deals with Vances experiences growing up in Jackson, Kentucky, and Middletown, Ohioand many of the passages evoke genuine sympathy. However, in the end, the book is decidedly hostile to the working class and the poor, and the intellectual foundation upon which it rests is rotten.

Vance, 31, narrates the conditions of not only his life, but his familys as well. The story begins before he was born, when his grandmother (Mamaw) and grandfather (Papaw) left Jackson to seek better opportunities. The couple relocated in Middletown, where his grandfather secured a job at Armco Steel (renamed AK Steel Holding in 1993). They had several children, his mother being the youngest.

Vances childhood was tumultuous, violent, and insecure. His mother struggled with addiction and often beat and belittled him. Vance suggests that such conditions were common for a great many youth in Appalachia and the Rust Belt. Had it not been for the intervention of his grandmother, and in smaller doses, the love of his sister, he suggests he might not have been able to make it out.

While he acknowledges that poverty and drug addiction are rampant in Appalachia and the Rust Belt, these realities are never seriously examined in Hillbilly Elegy. He writes: [F]air enough, I worry about those things [the social crisis] too. But this book is about something else: what goes on in the lives of real people when the industrial economy goes south. Its about reacting to bad circumstances in the worst way possible. Its about a culture that increasingly encourages social decay, instead of counter-acting it.

The author cites data documenting skyrocketing poverty rates among working-class whites, and notes that many are stuck with homes worth less than they paid for them. He concedes that the people who are trapped are usually those with the least cash. He also cites a Pew Economic Mobility Project study which found that There is no group of Americans more pessimistic than working-class whites, with only 44 percent expecting their economic lives to improve.

Unfortunately, these crushing realities mean little to Vance. In essence, according to our author, laziness causes social misery. The author attempts to bolster this claim by referring to his experience working in a grocery store at age 17. His work as a checkout clerk convinced him that poor people game social assistance programs like food stamps, while daring to purchase items like red meat and cell phones.

His stupid and stale argument comes down to this sort of upper-middle-class moralizing about the misbehavior of those living in poverty: We spend our way into the poor house. We buy giant TVs and iPads. Our children wear nice clothes thanks to the high-interest credit cards and payday loans. We purchase homes we dont need, refinance them for more spending money, and declare bankruptcy, often leaving them full of garbage in our wake. Thrift is inimical to our being. We spend to pretend that were upper class. And when the dust clearstheres nothing left over.

In addition to arguing that Appalachian and Rust Belt workers need to cure their laziness, he offers four other means by which one can improve ones lot in life: religion; the military; education; and networking to attain better employment prospects. Though continuing along the memoir path, the book begins to read like that tritest of American literary products, the self-help guide. This reviewer had to fight the urge to sleep.

The religious component of Vances memoir, unsurprisingly, involves a God who rewards those who work hard. His grandmother was devout, and he writes that the theology she taught was unsophisticated, but it provided a message I needed to hear. To coast through life was to squander my God-given talent, so I had to work hard. I had to take care of my family because Christian duty demanded it.

Escape is another component of the Vance methodand for him, it took the form of joining the US Marine Corps. Military service is presented as the antidote to learned helplessness rife among the poor.

After serving in the Marine Corps, studying as an undergraduate at Ohio State and graduating Yale Law, Vance began to wonder why none of his high school friends from Middletown made it out. He concludes that successful peopledont flood the job market with resumes. They network. In other words, they work with social capital. Urging workers whose families and friends live in the same dire conditions they do to network is worse than useless advice.

His analysis is impressionistic and self-serving, and most importantly, ignores the history of class struggle in Appalachia and the Rust Belt. The word history appears only nine times in the book. Furthermore, one finds the word strike only four times. And only once is it related to working-class struggle, in this particular instance, to a documentary about Harlan County, Kentucky. Vance instead suggests that Appalachians are isolationist and xenophobic, as well as homogeneously made up of people of Scots-Irish ancestry.

The reality is quite different. One of the largest labor uprisings in American history took place in Logan County, West Virginia. The Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921 saw 10,000 mountaineers, black sharecroppers who fled the Deep South and immigrants (mostly Hungarian and Italian) battle 3,000 coal thugs, and eventually the US military, over the course of five days.

Vance also disregards the objective impact of social devastation on the consciousness of workers. What are the consequences of the collapse of the coal industry and the shattering of entire communities? One-third of the 100 poorest counties in the United States are concentrated in the coalfields of Central Appalachia. Joblessness is rampant; home values have plummeted; public schools, clinics, and charity organizations have shuttered. Double-digit poverty rates are typical of counties in the region. Deep poverty is accompanied by an epidemic of ill health, addiction, environmental devastation caused in large measure by the profit drive of the coal companies, and poor prospects for youth.

The role of the trade unions, particularly the United Mine Workers, is central to any understanding of the economic and social decline of the region. Its abject, decades-long betrayal of the traditions of the miners is perhaps the single most important factor in the demoralization and degradation of the regions population. Vance says nothing about this.

In the conclusion of his memoir, Vance throws up his hands and implores Appalachians and Rust Belt workers to wake the hell up. He rather mawkishlyand it must be said, lazilyargues that communities in these areas should empower members with a sense of control over ones destiny with lessons of Christian love, family, and purpose through the church. He finally asks if we (hillbillies) are tough enough to do what needs to be done to save their communities.

I dont know what the answer is, he admits, but I know it starts when we stop blaming Obama or Bush or faceless companies and ask ourselves what we can do to make things better.

His solution would involve: joining the US imperialist military, getting a law degree from Yale, and publishing a memoir, perhaps as a possible prelude for a political career a la Barack Obamas Dreams from My Father (1995). One is left to conclude that those looking for answers to the problems that plague Appalachian and Rust Belt workersor any other section of the working classwill hardly find them in this book.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, speaking on January 14 before the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, threatened to declare martial law in the Philippines.

Duterte has made this threat in the past and, as part of his murderous drug war, has already invoked a state of national emergency, granting significant extra-constitutional powers to the police and military. The recent remarks, however, are a further escalation of the danger of dictatorial rule in the country.

Duterte began publicly threatening to declare martial law in August, during the second month of his presidency. With each renewed warning, he has further elaborated the grounds for his dictatorship, and manner in which it would be implemented.

The Philippine constitution, drawn up in 1987 following the ouster of the Marcos dictatorship, established that a president may declare martial law only in the event of an invasion or rebellion, and subject to congressional review within 60 days.

In his speech, Duterte rejected both legal limits for declaring martial law, as well as any judicial or legislative review of his dictatorial powers. He stated that any declaration would be to escalate his war on drugs, adding: If I have to declare martial law, I will declare it. Not about invasion, [or] insurrection  Wala akong pakialam diyan sa Supreme Court [I dont care what the Supreme Court says]  I will declare martial law if I want to. Walang makapigil sa akin. [No one can stop me]  If you ask for the basis, you son of a bitch, I dont care.

Duterte doubled down on these statements in a speech on January 18, making his murderous intentions clear, insisting that the 60-day legislative review gave him too short a period to complete the slaughter.

Solicitor General Jose Calida defended the legality of such measures, declaring that Duterte, as father of the nation, would use martial law to take power away from certain functionaries in the legislature and judiciary, and calling Duterte a political genius actually.

During a press conference on January 24, US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim articulated the perspective of the newly-installed Trump administration toward the Duterte government. He declared Washingtons endorsement of Dutertes war on drugs, citing behind-the-scenes support for this campaign from the Obama administrations Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) over the past six months as one of the bright spots in bilateral relations.

The ambassador stated that these relations had gone through a rough patch, as the Obama administration had publicly raised human rights concerns over the campaign. However, he admitted Washington had secretly continued funding and supporting the campaign.

Washington used the pretext of human rights to pressure Duterte to pursue an aggressive policy against China in the South China Sea, but Duterte responded by denouncing the Obama administration and seeking improved economic and diplomatic relations with Beijing and Moscow.

Duterte hailed Trump as someone with whom he is eager to work, and repeatedly declared that Trump endorsed his war on drugs during a phone call held in early December.

Ambassador Kim, asked by the press about the Trump administrations position on the drug war and the explosion of extrajudicial killings under Duterte, cited Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who declared that he wanted more information before passing judgment on the matter. Washington would continue its support for Dutertes war on drugs, Kim declared.

Questioned about Washingtons response to Dutertes repeated threats to declare martial law, Kim said he would not comment on hypothetical situations.

Duterte announced on Tuesday that Trump had sent regards and a statement of support for the Duterte administrations policies via the head of the Miss Universe pageant, which is currently being staged in Manila, and which was owned by Trump until 2015.

The official body count from Dutertes war on drugs has risen to more than 7,000 in the past seven months. Over 2,000 of those killed were shot by police on unsubstantiated charges that they were somehow part of the drug trade. The remaining victims have been killed by vigilantes and paramilitary forces.

Duterte has used the drug war to increase the powers of the executive branch over all aspects of government via the police and military. He released a list of mayors throughout the country whom he claimed were involved in the drug trade, ordering local police chiefs two weeks ago to shoot-to-kill anyone on the list.

Throughout all of this murder, and as his preparations for military dictatorship advance, Duterte has enjoyed the warm support of the Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its front organizations. On the basis of nationalism, they have endorsed his policies as progressive and have entered into an alliance with his administration. They appointed four of his cabinet members from their ranks, including the secretaries of agrarian reform and social welfare and development.

The CPP and the Duterte administration have just concluded their third round of peace talks in Rome, where both parties worked to end the 48-year-old armed struggle of the CPPs New Peoples Army (NPA). Joma Sison, founder and head of the CPP, declared that the party and the government could reach an agreement to achieve a progressive national economy and conclude a complete peace deal by 2020.

During his prepared remarks, delivered on January 19 at the opening of the third round of negotiations, Sison said Duterte can prove in real and concrete terms that he is truly a patriotic and progressive president and fights against the imperialists and oligarchs for the benefit of the people. Sison made these declarations several days after Dutertes most recent threats to declare martial law and carry out slaughter in the Philippines.
Polands leading conservative newspaper Rzeczpospolita (Republic) believes the country faces a tragic decision in the wake of Donald Trumps inauguration as US president. Given the rapidly intensifying tensions between Washington and Europe, Poland must, according to the newspaper, make a devilish decision between an alliance with Washington and an alliance with Germany. The comment provides an indication of the conflicts taking place within Polish ruling circles over foreign policy.

In the January 19 comment, Jedrzej Bielicki summed up the radically changed situation in which the Polish ruling elite finds itself since the Trump election: For the first time the [interests of] the United States and Europe are in conflict. Should we rely on an alliance with the US or prefer Germany? What is more important, NATO or perhaps the EU? Poland will certainly soon have to answer these fundamental questions. And all of this because of Donald Trump.

Bielicki referred to the interview that Trump gave to the Bild newspaper and Britains Times, in which he became the first US president to openly question the EUs existence, openly attacked Germany and welcomed Brexit. The newspaper then cited German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who answered Trumps radical statements by declaring, We Europeans have our fate in our own hands.

Bielicki warned of a possible deal between Washington and Moscow at Europes expense and predicted Ukraine, a close Polish ally, would be the first victim of a US foreign policy reorientation towards the Kremlin. Bielicki surmised that the choice between Germany and Europe, on the one hand, and the US, on the other, posed the Polish ruling elite with a practically irresolvable dilemma. The situation, according to Bielicki, was tragic.

Bielicki emphasised the importance of the EU for Poland and wrote that a decision between Washington, Brussels and Berlin was not easy and requires detailed consideration. Significantly, Bielicki then indicated that an alliance with Germany would make more sense.

Although the US had in the past been the only country capable of protecting Poland militarily from Russia, it may no longer be prepared to do so under Trump for political reasons. By contrast, according to Bielicki, Germany is much less inclined to leave its neighbour to Putin. His argument amounts to the view that Germany, with the vast expansion of its military and plans for a European army, could soon be in a position to replace the US as Polands protector.

He concluded by criticising the monopolisation of all foreign policy decisions by the PiS (Law and Justice) government under Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz. According to Bielicki, this had excluded the foreign ministry. He ended with the remark, It is certainly realistic that the dilemma posed to Poland by Trump will [now] be decided for decades, over a period of time in which PiS will no longer be in power. One must always consider that.

The article exposes the tensions within the Polish ruling class over foreign policy. The Polish bourgeoisie has always been dependent upon imperialism, especially that of the United States. Between the two world wars, the regime of Josef Pilsudski sought to manoeuvre between the great powers, above all Germany, the Soviet Union, Britain and France. This attempt ended with the occupation of Poland by the Nazis in World War II, which, when one excludes the numerous deaths of people from other countries on Polish territory, claimed the lives of some 8 million Poles.

With the intensification of the conflicts within Europe and in particular between Germany and the US, the Polish bourgeoisie is once again objectively in the same position. As a deputy of the liberal opposition Nowoczesna party (Modern), Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus, remarked, I fear that the geopolitical situation recalls what happened in the 1930s.

Since capitalist restoration, the bourgeoisie has been united on a close orientation to the United States. In 1997, Poland joined NATO. In 2004, it wasnot least thanks to pressure from the USbrought into the EU. Washington has systematically developed the country over the past quarter century into a bulwark against Russia and provided it with military supplies. The stationing of the first contingent of US troops took place on Russias doorstep in eastern Poland this month, with a total of 3,500 soldiers to be sent to the region.

In this context, a break with the US would be a radical step, which would not only have huge consequences for Poland, but for the entire balance of forces within the EU.

Along with the fear of a deal between Washington and Moscow at Warsaws expense, hard-nosed economic interests and dependencies are playing an important role in the foreign policy conflicts. Polands most important economic relations are with EU countries, above all Germany, the largest trading partner by far. Compared to this, trade ties with the US, apart from the military sector, are minimal. Since Polands entry into the EU in 2004, the volume of German-Polish trade has more than tripled.

At the end of 2015, foreign direct investment in the Polish economy amounted to 159 billion. Of this, 30.3 billion came from the Netherlands, 27.3 billion from Germany, 19.3 billion from Luxembourg and 17.9 billion from France. The largest share of foreign investment goes to the industrial sector (53.8 billion in 2015), followed by the finance and insurance sector (31.4 billion). According to the central state statistics office (GUS) there were 26,464 firms with foreign capital. In 2014, 89.7 percent of foreign capital came from the EU. In the industrial sector, 45.8 percent of all workers were employed in firms with shares held by foreign capital.

PiS has begun to re-Polandise the banks with a new law, but German, Italian and Swiss capital continues to play a crucial role in the financial sector. Of particular importance are Kommerzbank, Raiffeisenbank and the Italian bank Pekao. Germany also plays an important role in the media. Many influential media outlets, including opposition newspapers like Newsweek Polska, are owned by the Springer company.

In addition there is the substantial amount of EU funding, which helps in Poland to secure minimal standards in social infrastructure and maintain low levels of unrest among the impoverished population. The single market is not only important for selling products, but also with regard to the several million Polish workers who earn money in other countries and make it easier for their families in Poland to survive.

PiS is currently pursuing a future foreign policy alliance with Britain, which is soon to exit the EU, and the US government under Trump.

Over recent months, the PiS government has undertaken deliberate efforts to expand these ties and at the same time establish close ties with the Brexit government of Theresa May. In November, the first bilateral conference took place in London at which high-ranking officials of both governments participated to discuss a Polish-British alliance.

Marek Magierowski, from the chancellery of the president Andrzej Duda, told Wpolityce.pl, The better the military and political relations between the US and Britain are, the better the relationship we can expect between Poland and the United States. At the same time, PiS hopes that an improvement in US-Russian relations will not materialise, not least because of the opposition from both Democrats and Republicans to Trumps position on this.

The news portal also cited politicians who noted that Barack Obamas period in office had begun with pledges to reset relations with Russia, but these had very rapidly deteriorated.

But PiS is also opening the door to a closer alignment with Germany, with which relations have worsened under the PiS government. Party leader Jarosaw Kaczynski, who has emerged as one of the sharpest critics of Germany and of the pro-German orientation of the liberal opposition, has in recent times, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, adopted a more conciliatory tone.

Leading party representatives have repeatedly expressed the hope that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be re-elected this year. President Andrzej Duda has met with outgoing German President Joachim Gauck more often than with any other head of state.

The FAZ commented that, given the threatened break-up of the EU and the coming to power of the Trump government, Germany was just as dependent on an alliance with Poland as Warsaw was on securing its partnership with Berlin. The German government was therefore working to, according to the FAZ, summarise points of dispute. Referring to an upcoming meeting between Merkel and Jarosaw Kaczynski in February, the FAZ wrote that pragmatic progress in the bilateral relationship was possible.
In his final appearance before the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday, Rep. Tom Price (Republican of Georgia), Donald Trumps nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), arrogantly dismissed questioning from committee Democrats about the new administrations planned assault on Medicare, Medicaid and health care in general.

Queried on whether he supported block-granting of Medicaid, privatization of Medicare, and certain guarantees of health care coverage, Price responded with the stock answer: People will have access to the highest quality of health care at an affordable price. He rejected any suggestion that millions of people would be denied coverage due to the simple fact that they cannot afford it.

Price, a Tea Party Republican and current chair of the House Budget Committee, opposes the Affordable Care Act (ACA), President Obamas signature domestic legislation, from the right. In 2015, Price presented his Empowering Patients First Act, which calls for repealing the ACA and all its mandates, and cutting $449 billion over the next decade from Medicare, the government insurance program for seniors and the disabled, and $1.1 trillion from Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor jointly administered by the federal government and the states.

Democrats posturing as opponents of the Republicans attack on health care had little to offer in their own defense, except a degree of exasperation at Prices stonewalling. The program popularly known as Obamacare, while providing modest government subsidies and guaranteeing some essential services and protections against discrimination in coverage, is based on the for-profit health care system, with its individual mandate requiring individuals without insurance to purchase coverage from the private insurers.

The HHS nominees performance before the Senate committee was characterized by smug obfuscation and a refusal to go on the record with any of his health care beliefs or policies. Having served more than a decade in the House, much of it spent crusading for his far-right health care agenda, he repeatedly insisted that his job as HHS secretary would be as an administrator and not a legislator.

Thus he repeatedly refused to answer yes or no to questioning by Sen. Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, on whether he would support block-granting of Medicaid, saying that would be up to Congress to legislate. In fact, Prices Empowering Patients bill calls for both repeal of the expansion of Medicaid under the ACA (which newly insured about 10 million people) and block-granting the health program for the poor.

While under current law the federal government picks up a percentage of states Medicaid costs, under block-granting states would receive a capped dollar amount that would not keep pace with health care costs, due to increased enrollment caused by rising unemployment or other factors.

The end result would force states to handle their Medicaid funding crises by making draconian cuts to eligibility, benefits and provider payment rates. Millions of the poorest Americans who are eligible for Medicaid would thus be denied benefits. This is the intended aim of those promoting block-granting, despite claims that it would give power back to the states to better administer the program.

Trump, who vowed during the presidential campaign that he wouldnt touch Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, now openly supports block-granting. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway confirmed this in an appearance on NBC News Sunday morning, saying the president supports block grants, and that with them you really cut out the fraud, waste and abuse, and you get the help directly to beneficiaries. In other words, federal funding will be slashed as a result.

To questions put by Sen. Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey: Do you not seek to privatize Medicare? and Do you not seek to ultimately offer a voucher as your way of providing a greater affordability for Medicare? Price answered no to both. In reality, congressional Republicans, including Price and House Speaker Paul Ryan, have long eyed the program, which covers more than 55 million elderly Americans, for privatization.

Price refused to answer questions from Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the committee, on whether people would be worse off or lose coverage under an ACA repeal, and whether there would be a replacement in place if and when Obamacare is repealed. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that more than 30 million Americans could lose their health insurance coverage if the ACA is repealed without a replacement.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, queried Price on whether recent Trump statements were true that Price was working with Trump on a replacement plan for the ACA which is nearly finished and will be revealed after your confirmation. Price cynically replied, Its true that he said that, yes, drawing laughter from the hearing room.

Earlier in the days hearing, Price also defended himself against new allegations contained in a bipartisan staff memo circulated among Finance Committee members. The memo alleges that he undervalued the amount of stock he owned in an Australian biotech firm on his financial disclosure forms and that he did not properly disclose late tax payments on rental properties.

Price responded to questioning by Wyden on the investments: The reality is that everything that I did was ethical, above board, legal and transparent. It is unlikely that this issue and earlier questioning on other investments by Price will turn any of the Republicans on the Finance Committee against the nominee.

Concluding the hearing, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the committee, said of Prices performance: Weve never had a witness that has performed as well as you have, and bemoaned the hyper-politicization of the nomination process. He called the Democrats questioning on Prices ethics specious and distorted.

Hatch summed up the attitude of the ruling elite and its most right-wing political representatives on health care and social spending in general. Weve got to end this liberal clap-trap that we dont have to pay the piper, he said. The chairman said he was tired of the idea that weve got to do everything for everybody, adding, Money doesnt grow on trees.

A vote will take place on Prices nomination this week in the Finance Committee, which is expected to be in his favor, largely along party lines. The nomination will then go to the full Senate for a vote.
Britains Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Parliament must agree to begin the process of exiting the European Union.

The decision followed an appeal to the Supreme Court by the government of Prime Minister Theresa May challenging a November High Court decision. The High Court had likewise ruled that only Parliament has the right to invoke Article 50 of the EUs Lisbon Treaty, under which a member state can begin the process of exiting the EU.

A pro-EU group of claimants led by Gina Miller, a London-based investment manager, brought the legal challenge at the High Court. Miller won the support of all three High Court judges, who submitted that when the UK passed the 1972 European Communities Act paving the way for Britain to join the EUs predecessor organization, rights were conferred on citizens via that act of Parliament. Therefore, it was not within the powers of Royal Prerogativeenacted by a government minister, as proposed by Mayto take away those rights.

The Supreme Court dismissed the governments appeal by an 8-3 majority. Reading out a statement, Lord Neuberger, the Supreme Court president, said that because of the UK leaving the EU and ceasing to be party to EU treaties, UK domestic law will change and the rights of UK residents will be affected. Therefore, the statement declared, the government cannot trigger Article 50 without Parliament authorising that course.

The statement concluded, The Supreme Court holds that an act of Parliament is required to authorise ministers to give notice of the decision of the UK to withdraw from the European Union.

The ruling was widely anticipated. In response, the government stated that it planned to proceed with a timetable of triggering Article 50 by the end of March. In a statement to MPs, Conservative Brexit Secretary David Davis said a bill allowing the government to trigger Article 50 would be introduced within days. This would be the most straightforward Bill possible...

While the Supreme Court came down in favour of Parliament, nothing has been resolved politically by its verdict. Indeed, it lays the basis for the schism within ruling circles over Brexit to deepen and for the conflict to be fought out on the new terrain dictated by the ruling.

Given these divisions, the pro-EU wing does not want to be seen as seeking to overturn a Leave vote made by more than 17 million people.

The Supreme Court justices were careful to stress that their ruling would not overturn the decision to leave the EU. Neuberger said, The issues in these proceedings have nothing to do with whether the UK should exit from the EU, or the terms or timetable for that exit.

The ruling was crafted to make possible the government putting the briefest bill forward in order to allow Article 50 to proceed on the basis of its timetable. The pro-Remain Guardian newspaper commented, Ministers willbe reasonably happy: the Supreme Court ruled an act of Parliament was required to trigger article 50, but it made no statement on what that act should look like, allowing a very brief bill to be put before MPs.

The central concern on which no compromise is possible for the Remain forces is to ensure that UK corporations and financial institutions maintain access, post-Brexit, to the strategically vital European Single Market and Customs Union.

On this score, the judgement in favour of Parliament still ensures that pro-Remain MPs can make amendments to whatever Bill the government proposes. Even more importantly, the decision serves to ensure that MPs can vote onand seek to substantially amend or even blockwhatever agreement the government reaches with the EU at the conclusion of negotiations expected to extend over the course of two years.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn plans to hold Labour MPs to a three-line whip to ensure that Article 50 is passed, but he responded to the judgement by insisting on Single Market access for British corporations and a final vote on the deal that is eventually reached.

Labour will seek to build in the principles of full, tariff-free access to the Single Market and maintenance of workers rights and social and environmental protections, he said. Labour is demanding a plan from the Government to ensure it is accountable to Parliament throughout the negotiations and a meaningful vote to ensure the final deal is given Parliamentary approval.

Even so, a minority group of 39 cross-party MPs, led by 18 (mainly Blairites) within the Labour Party and supported by six Liberal Democrats and 13 from the Scottish National Party, are pledged to vote against triggering Article 50. One of the Labourites, Owen Smith, challenged for party leadership against Corbyn to spearhead last years attempted coup, centring his campaign on accusations that Corbyn lost the vote for Remain because he was not sufficiently enthusiastic in his backing for the EU. Smith pledged in a Guardian article Tuesday to oppose Article 50 in any parliamentary vote.

His first argument for doing so was to reject Mays assertion of a buccaneering Britain striking advantageous trade deals across the globe, accusing her of placing party politics over the national interest. He predicted a protracted and painful withdrawal from the Single Market and Customs Union...

The ruling is also meant to oppose the danger of Brexit leading to the breakup of the United Kingdom, but fails in this respect too.

All 11 Supreme Court justices rejected the argument made by claimants representing the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that they should be consulted before the government triggers Article 50. The judges summary decision said that the various acts of devolution creating the devolved administrations were passed by Parliament on the assumption that the UK would be a member of the EU, but they do not require the UK to remain a member.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) have repeatedly threatened to hold a second referendum on independenceless than three years after the previous oneif Scotland loses access to the Single Market as a result of the EU exit. Only a week ago, after Prime Minister May confirmed that the UK would leave the Single Market in a hard Brexit, the Scottish parliament passed an SNP motion stating that Alternative approaches within the UK should be sought that would enable Scotland to retain its place within the Single Market and the devolution of necessary powers to the Scottish Parliament.

In response to the Supreme Court ruling out any veto rights over Article 50 for the devolved powers, SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon declared, It is becoming clearer by the day that Scotlands voice is simply not being heard or listened to within the UK.

She added, Is Scotland content for our future to be dictated by an increasingly right-wing Westminster government with just one MP hereor is it better that we take our future into our own hands?

The SNP, who have 56 MPs at the Westminster Parliament, plan to put forward 50 amendments to the Article 50 legislation of a serious and substantive character.

The situation is made more fraught still by the fact that Northern Ireland voted in favour of Remain and the pro-EU Sinn Fein has precipitated a general election. Having brought to the forefront the prospect of a united Ireland, it will contest bitterly against the pro-British and pro-Brexit Democratic Unionist Party.
For the first time in six years of the bloody conflict provoked by the US and its allies in pursuit of regime change in Syria, representatives of the government of Bashar al-Assad and those of the armed rebels backed by Washington met face-to-face this week in Russian and Turkish-brokered talks held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

The US was conspicuous by its absence, declining to send any official delegation and present only in the person of the US ambassador to Kazakhstan, who acted as an observer.

While the talks accomplished little beyond an agreement between Russia, Turkey and Iran to establish mechanisms for monitoring the cease-fire that was declared at the end of last year, the fact of the meeting itself was an expression of the debacle suffered by Washington in its strategy to overturn the Assad regime and of the strategic reversal inflicted upon the rebels by the Syrian army, backed by Russia and Iran, in retaking the former Islamist stronghold of east Aleppo.

The face-to-face meeting took place between a Syrian government delegation led by Bashar al-Jaafari, Syrias ambassador to the United Nations, and a rebel contingent headed by Mohammed Alloush, the leader of Jaysh al-Islam, a virulently sectarian Islamist militia backed by Saudi Arabia that even former Secretary of State John Kerry referred to as a terrorist sub-group.

Each side denounced the other as terrorist and the same question that has stymied previous attempts at peace talks, the future of Syrias President Assad, emerged early in the talks, with the rebels demanding his ouster as a pre-condition for a peace settlement, and the government insisting that his status is not up for discussion.

Both sides accused the other of violating the Russian-Turkish-brokered cease-fire initiated on December 30. Like earlier abortive cessations of hostilities negotiated between the US and Washington, the agreement does not cover either the Islamic State (ISIS) or the Fateh al-Sham Front, which was formerly known as the Al Nusra Front, Al Qaedas Syrian affiliate.

Jaafari insisted that the Syrian army would continue to carry out combat operations in the strategic Barada River Valley to break the grip of Al Qaeda forces over the village of Ain al-Fijah, which is the source of the water supply for the 7 million inhabitants of Damacus. The Islamist militia has cut off water to the city since December 23.

The final statement issued by the meeting was signed by Russia, Iran and Turkey, the sponsors of the talks, but not by either the rebels or the Assad government. It commits the three countries to establish a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the cease-fire, prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the cease-fire.

The communique signed by the three countries expressed support for the armed rebel groups participating in UN-sponsored peace talks set to take place in Geneva on February 8.

While declaring their commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, the document omitted the previous definition of Syria as a secular state. Ambassador al-Jaafari said that the reference to secularism was taken out at the insistence of both Turkey, which is ruled by an Islamist party but claims itself to be secular, and the armed groups, which virtually all call for the establishment of an Islamic regime.

Despite the absence of an official US delegation, Moscow has expressed optimism that it will reach a rapprochement with Washington over Syria following the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president.

Moscows Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev, who led the Russian delegation at the talks, told reporters Tuesday: Trumps recent statements on him prioritizing not only the issues of internal policies, but also fighting terrorism, give hope. We think that the US leadership will take the right decisions towards coordination of efforts on the international level, to coordinate efforts to fight terrorism.

At the beginning of the week, Russias Ministry of Defense claimed that the US military had provided targeting information for a joint US-Russian airstrike against ISIS positions in Syria. The Pentagon, however, vigorously denied any such collaboration. US Air Force Col. John Dorrian, chief spokesman for the US-led coalition in Baghdad, called the claim by Moscow rubbish.

Earlier this month Russia did carry out joint airstrikes with Turkey against ISIS in the area around al-Bab, a strategic town in northern Syria that Turkey is determined to capture as part of its military campaign to prevent Syrian Kurdish forces from consolidating a contiguous enclave on Turkeys border. The unprecedented joint action by Turkey, a NATO member, with Russia underscored the sharp tensions between Ankara and Washington, which has utilized the Syrian Kurdish militia, the YPG, as its main proxy ground force in the campaign against ISIS.

Russias hopes for improved relations with Washington appeared to get a boost on Monday when Sean Spicer, Trumps White House press secretary, answered a reporters question on potential US-Russian collaboration in Syria by declaring, I think if theres a way that we can combat ISIS with any country, whether its Russia or anyone else, and we have a shared national interest in that, sure, well take it.

At the same time, however, both Trump and his key cabinet appointees, including his recently confirmed defense secretary, Gen. James Mad Dog Mattis, have signaled the incoming administrations intentions to ratchet up tensions with Iran, including through the possible withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal concluded between Tehran and the so-called P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security CouncilChina, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United Statesplus Germany) last July and the re-imposition of sanctions lifted as part of the deal.

Such a provocative action could lead to Iran resuming its nuclear program and the reigniting of the threat of a far wider war in the region, including possible US-backed airstrikes by Israel, which could draw in Russia as well.

Significantly, the Syrian rebel representatives in Astana voiced their acceptance of Russias role as a mediator in the Syrian conflict, but strongly opposed that of Iran. Whether or not this stance was worked out in collaboration with their CIA and Saudi patrons, its apparent aim is to harness the incoming Trump administrations anti-Iran policy to further their own drive for regime change in Syria.

In a further indication that the incoming administrations America First policy is one not of isolationism, but rather an explosive escalation of global militarism, in his remarks Saturday at the CIA headquarters, Trump reiterated the statement he made during the 2016 presidential campaign that the US should have taken Iraqs oil after the 2003 invasion.

In his rambling address to the assembled CIA functionaries, Trump declared: 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 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 [emphasis added].

Asked to clarify Trumps statement, Spicer, the White House press secretary, stated, We want to be sure our interests are protected. Were going into a country for a cause. He wants to be sure America is getting something out of it for the commitment and sacrifice it is making.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued a fairly subdued reaction to Trumps implicit threat, declaring that Iraqs oil is constitutionally the property of the Iraqis, and claiming he had commitments from the new administration for increased aid.

Whether Trumps offhand comment about another chance for seizing oil was directed at Iraq or is an indication of the threat of new and even bloodier wars of aggression against Iran or even Russia is unclear.
President Donald Trump has ordered US government agencies to expedite approval of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, running roughshod over opposition by environmentalists and Native American tribes.

The Dakota Access Pipe Line (DAPL) has encountered impassioned opposition, with thousands gathering despite the deep freeze of the North Dakota winter to block completion of the 1,200-mile-long pipeline, which is to bring oil from the Bakken fields to refineries in the Midwest and South. The pipelines final link would cross the Missouri River just north of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, threatening its water supply and tearing up land deemed sacred in tribal culture.

After violent assaults on protesters last fall by heavily armed security guards hired by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline company, as well as North Dakota state troopers and local sheriffs, the Obama administration ordered a review of the project by the Army Corp of Engineers, effectively postponing the final confrontation until Trump took office.

The Trump administration has numerous business and political ties to DAPL. The nominee for secretary of energy, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, was on the board of Energy Transfer Partners, while Trump himself owned stock in the company. One of his biggest financial backers during the campaign was Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Energy, expected to be one of the largest users of the pipeline.

Construction of the Keystone XL pipeline was halted in late 2015 by the Obama administration after a lengthy campaign by environmental groups opposed to both the pipeline itself and the increased extraction of highly polluted tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, which was to flow through the pipeline to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Trumps executive orders do not immediately revive either project, but they set the revival into motion. TransCanada, the builder of Keystone XL, is invited to resubmit to the State Department its application to complete the pipeline. In the case of DAPL, Trump has instructed the Army Corps of Engineers to consider, to the extent permitted by law and as warranted, whether to rescind or modify the Obama administration decision to impose various procedural delays. There is little doubt what the outcome of that review will be.

The pipeline decrees were only two of the five executive orders issued by the White House Tuesday, all aimed at furthering Trumps efforts to eliminate environmental and safety regulations and boost the profits of American corporations. Two more orders required expedited permitting and environmental reviews of infrastructure projects designated as significant by the Trump administration.

The final order required that all pipeline construction use US-made steel products as much as possible, a largely superfluous directive since the US steel industry no longer produces many of the required items. This order is a bone thrown to the United Steel Workers and other unions that have backed Trumps policy of economic nationalism and will be used to claim that Trumps policies are helping put unemployed industrial workers back to work.

While Trump claimed that the Keystone project would provide a lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs, great construction jobs, industry estimates suggest that the remaining construction work will employ 10,000 short-term workers, but only 50 full-time workers will be needed to operate the highly automated pipeline once crude oil begins to flow through it. Even smaller numbers of jobs are involved in the DAPL project, since major construction is nearly completed.

This did not stop Trump from staging a media circus in connection with the signing of the orders, holding up the documents to television cameras and declaring, We will build our own pipeline, we will build our own pipes, like we used to in the old days.

Native American and environmental protesters promised stepped-up opposition to the Dakota pipeline in response to Trumps actions, which had been widely expected. Several hundred reinforcements arrived at the main protest campsite near Cannon Ball, North Dakota last weekend, and last Wednesday police arrested 21 demonstrators outside the construction site.

At a press briefing after the issuance of the executive orders, White House press spokesman Sean Spicer was asked about the protests and the likelihood that they would continue, but he evaded the question. Given the tenor of Trumps inaugural address and his vicious attacks on all critics, it is likely that the administrations response to such protests will be brutal and violent.

Trumps action had bipartisan support from the North Dakota congressional delegation, with both Republican Representative Kevin Cramer and Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp praising the decision. Heitkamp issued a statement declaring her support for DAPL and other projects that support our energy, economy, and national security.

Trump made clear that the pipeline approvals and the orders to expedite permitting and environmental review were only a down payment on a much broader effort to raze all regulations on American corporations. He called the current system of environmental regulation out of control after meeting Tuesday morning with the CEOs of the three major auto manufacturersGeneral Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. He promised immediate changes to expedite such reviews.

Were gonna make a very short process, and were going to either give you your permits or were not gonna give you your permits, he told the auto bosses. But youre gonna know very quickly. And generally speaking, were gonna be giving you your permits. So were gonna be very friendly.

The meeting with the auto executives followed a larger meeting on Monday with the CEOs of a dozen of the largest manufacturing companies. At that meeting, Trump declared his determination to do everything possible to clear away all regulatory restraints on their operations, including both environmental restrictions and workplace safety rules.

These words have already been translated into bureaucratic actions. The Federal Register posted notes Tuesday from federal agencies withdrawing 23 separate regulations. These included a new rule by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limiting mercury discharges by dental offices, energy efficiency standards for federal buildings, and poverty guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Trump administration has imposed a media gag on the EPA and barred its staff from awarding any new contracts. EPA employees have been barred from issuing press releases, updating the agency blogs or posting to the agencys social media accounts. Trump has nominated to head the EPA the Oklahoma state attorney general, Scott Pruitt, who is currently engaged in 14 lawsuits against the EPA on behalf of Oklahoma-based polluters, mostly in the oil and gas industry.

Besides deregulation, Trump has pledged to cut taxes massively for American corporations. He told Mondays meeting of CEOs that he would keep his campaign pledge to cut the corporate tax rate from the present 35 percent to 15-20 percent. He added that his advisers think we can cut regulations by 75 percent, maybe more.

While this pro-corporate wrecking operation proceeds in relation to environmental and health and safety regulations, the US Senate is proceeding with the confirmation of Trumps nominees.

Senate Democrats, who hold 48 of the 100 seats, have rubberstamped nearly all of Trumps nominees to national security positions, including Tuesday evenings near-unanimous 96-4 vote to confirm South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as the US ambassador to the United Nations.

Three more Trump nominees were cleared by Senate committees, with the Senate Banking Committee approving the nomination of Dr. Ben Carson to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development on a unanimous vote, and the Senate Commerce Committee on a voice vote approving the nomination of Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to run the Department of Transportation.

The Senate Commerce Committee approved as well the nomination of billionaire asset-stripper Wilbur Ross to be secretary of commerce, also on a voice vote, meaning that no Democratic opposition was recorded.

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The political issues in the Standing Rock protests

[8 December 2016]
Confronted by mounting public hostility to its crackdown on supposed welfare fraud, the Australian government is nevertheless stepping-up its assault on recipients, declaring that its measures will be extended from unemployed workers to sole parents and aged and disability pensioners by July.

Public sector workers inside Centrelink, the welfare office, have made a series of increasingly damaging leaks, exposing official instructions to send recipients threatening debt letters demanding repayment of alleged over-payments despite knowing that the accusations are false. These workers have taken a courageous stand, defying government threats that could see them punished, sacked or prosecuted for divulging internal communications.

Since last July, the governments Online Compliance Intervention has already dispatched 232,000 letters to welfare recipients, primarily on Newstart or Youth Allowance unemployment benefits. At least another 900,000 letters will follow.

The letters place the onus on recipients to disprove discrepancies or overpayments said to arise from computer-generated data-matching of Centrelink records with Australian Tax Office (ATO) tax returns. Welfare recipients are forced to start paying back the disputed amounts, even if they have lodged an appeal against the claim.

According to the governments budget estimates, more than three million aged pensioners, single parents and disability support pensioners will be targeted next. Over four years, the government is seeking to claw back $1.1 billion from aged pensioners, $400 million from disability pensioners and $700 million from sole parent support payments.

By terrorising welfare dependents, the Liberal-National Coalition government is seeking to meet the demands of the financial elite to slash social spending and at the same time lower corporate taxes. Altogether, the aim is to extract $4 billion in budget savings from some of the poorest members of society.

The latest damning leak, an eight-page letter released last Thursday, said the compliance teams were being ordered not to fix errors generated by the system, even when they could see the debts were wrongly alleged.

Within the organisation it is well known that there are errors in the program and compliance officers are directed to ignore incorrect debts without being permitted to correct them, the letter said.

Im writing because I along with so many of my co-workers have tried to stop the wrong that is being done to thousands of our customers on a daily basis and I can no longer live with what we are doing I am risking my job sending this information in the desperate hope that exposing such an  unjust system might just make a difference.

Income that is exempt from Centrelink assessment, such as meal, laundry and uniform allowances, is being included. Paid parental leave is also being wrongly counted. The system is also generating debts based on welfare payments that were never made, and duplicating income where a termination or leave payment was made.

An earlier anonymous leak said the system was particularly harsh on those who received a sickness allowancea benefit paid to those unable to work temporarily due to serious illness.

The ATO matched data will show that they worked the entire financial year and will apportion the gross payments over that financial year without taking into account their time off. This means the system raises a debt for the entire sickness allowance they received. For many that is a debt of over $1,000.

Although we may have documented evidence of their medical issues on the system, we are not allowed to look into the system to find any of that evidence. Instead customers must obtain all their pay information for that financial year.

Some recipients had to search for pay slips issued by defunct employers from six years ago.

In an internal memo that was also quickly leaked, the Department of Human Services last week threatened whistleblowers with disciplinary action or criminal prosecution. Sections of the Crimes Act make it a serious crime for a public servant to leak information, or a journalist or third party to receive it.

Trying to deflect the mounting outcry, Human Services Minister Alan Tudge last week promised cosmetic improvements. Admitting that some welfare recipients had not even received letters before being confronted by debt collectors, Tudge said the letters would now be sent by registered mail, and addresses would be checked against the electoral roll.

At the same time, Tudge insisted that the government had to act because welfare constitutes a third of the budget now. He renewed his previous threats to see welfare recipients jailed, stating: If you deliberately seek to get more money than youre entitled to, then yes, that is a fraud.

Centrelink workers said the automated system discriminates against those in casual jobs. The compliance process fails to take into account precarious patterns of employmentinto which growing numbers of workers have been forced.

Last September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that in four years, the number of casualised workers has risen by 110,000. In the late 1970s, only 15 percent of jobs were part-time. Now the figure stands at 31.9 percent.

In one Centrelink Ballarat case, a recent university graduate who had worked casually full-time for a single month, had that amount averaged as a yearly income and was then deemed to have been overpaid $6,000.

A single mother received a $24,000 debt notice just before Christmas because the automated system mistakenly recorded her as having two jobs and undeclared income. She told the media: They want to get money back from us low-income Australians instead of the Murdochs. A lot of people wont have the means to question it and are just going to go and pay, or freak out and get very stressed.

This did not begin under the current ruling Coalition. A Labor government initiated the framework for it in 1991, introducing stricter work-seeking tests for the unemployed, as well as data-matching processes that had been trialled in Sweden during the 1980s.

Since then, every government, Labor and Liberal-National alike, has witch-hunted so-called welfare fraud. In 2008, the Rudd Labor governments first budget included $138 million for data matching and surveillance measures and claimed that improved compliance would net $600 million over four years.

In 2011, the Gillard Labor government introduced the full automation of welfare debt recovery. Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten, who is now Labor Party leader, said: The new matching data link is expected to increase the number of former customers identified for this process by an additional 65,000, above current detection levels, over four years.

Labor is now cynically calling for the temporary suspension of the automated process, yet it is also counting on the $4 billion in budget savings for its proposed austerity measures, designed to curry favour with the corporate elite. Labor supported the governments abolition of a six-year statute of limitations on welfare debts and last September helped the government pass an omnibus savings bill, cutting $6.3 billion from social spending over four years.

Likewise, the trade union covering public sector workers, the Community and Public Sector Union, is feigning concern for its members who are being instructed to enforce the governments assault. But it has proposed no action or campaign to halt the offensive and is promoting illusions that a Labor government would be less draconian.
Indian support should not be taken as interference: Rae

Indian ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae has said that the support India has given to Nepal should not be construed as interference.
TAMPA, Fla. (WTXL) - A new medical cannabis dispensary will be opening up in Tampa this Thursday.

The dispensary will be Trulieve's third one to open in Florida.

CEO of Trulieve Kim Rivers says As the first licensee to be authorized to dispense medical cannabis in Florida, we are pleased to serve an expanding Tampa market."

According to company, the dispensary will offer customers both low THC and high THC medical cannabis in a variety of forms, from oral capsules and drops to vaporizers.

Trulieve will be holding a press conference on Thursday, January 26 at 10:00a.m. with tours of the Tampa dispensary immediately following.
Tallahassee, Fla. (WTXL) - The Senate's Regulated Industries committee will hear legislation to make a deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

The Senate hosts a four-hour gambling hearing Tuesday. Previously attempted deals have not yet met success due to size and competition.

This year, the Seminoles sued the state and won rights to continue offering casino black jack. This win improves the odds of passing legislation.
GADSDEN COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - It's more than just a business, it's jobs and opportunity coming to Gadsden County.

Truck dealer Four Star Freightliner broke ground on its 7th location this afternoon.

Four Star Freightliner has other locations in the southeast, including Tallahassee, Tifton and Valdosta.

Today, the Gadsden County Development Council, along with Governor Scott and other local officials, celebrated, welcoming another company to the county.

The governor applauded the community for encouraging economic growth in the Sunshine State.

"What does every family care about? Jobs. They want to get to work. I have not met anybody getting out of high school that said, 'You know, I'm really looking forward to unemployment. That public housing is where I want to live. Food stamps are for me.' They don't. Everybody wants to work," said Governor Rick Scott. "I travel the state and try to do everything I can to promote job creation, and this community has clearly done that -- the city, the county, everybody involved."

Four Star Freightliner will start construction in mid-February at its location on brickyard road east, bringing 10 jobs to the county.
Insurance to double for migrant workers: PM

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Tuesday unveiled a highly ambitious plan to provide insurance cover for Nepali migrants going to work in India and double that for those leaving for other 110 work destinations abroad.
Investors reluctant to adopt ASBA

Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) last week launched the Applications Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA)a platform aimed at enabling investors to subscribe to primary share issuance without having to wait in serpentine queuesamid much fanfare.
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Its quite possibleand we'll never know about itthat one of the most delightful and exciting occasions for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the moment when he says to himself, or at least thinks: Look around, who can replace me? The weak Isaac Herzog? The frantic Naftali Bennett? Moshe Kahlon, who I have yet to speak out against? Yair Lapid, the political rookie?

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At this moment, the prime minister calms down. As far as he is concerned, the land will now have peace for at least forty years. He and his family will get to move to the new prime ministers residence, which has recently been approved. He will get to see his son, Yair, sworn in as his replacement-successor at the Knesset plenum. All it takes is a little patience.

The answer to the question who can replace Netanyahu can be found in a Jewish question: Did anyone imagine so and so years ago that Ehud Olmert, No. 30 something on the Likuds Knesset list, would become prime minister? (And many believe he was an excellent prime minister.) And did anyone imagine in the past that the Air Force commander would go on to become the IDFs chief of staff? (Oh, he quit because he didnt do very well in the Second Lebanon War? Did we do very well in the first Lebanon War? And when have we ever had, like now, 10 consecutive quiet years on the Lebanon border?)

Netanyahu. Apart from he himself, his parents and his brother, who ever thought he would become prime minister? (Photo: Amit Shabi)

So the answer to the question who can replace Netanyahu is: Everyone, including those who are not on the list or in the minds of the crowners right now. The next prime minister could come from politics, from agriculture, from the academia, from the army, from anywhere. He could arrive at the helm from the periphery or from the wealthy city of Savyon. He could be Ashkenazi or Sephardic or mixed. He could be everything and everyone. The best recent example is Donald Trump. There is not a single person in America who did not chuckle about two years ago when Trumps name was first raised as a candidate for the most important position in the world. Now, he is having the last laugh.

The problem here is that the bar was set by a short but great man: David Ben-Gurion, whose many virtues were acknowledged even by his rivals (although he had quite a few shortcomings too). When Ben-Gurion resigned as prime minister the first time, in 1954, everyone panicked: What will happen now? Who will replace the one and only in his generation? And then he was replaced by Moshe Sharett and later by Levi Eshkol, and the sky did not fall, and some will say they were as good in that job as Ben-Gurion was or even better (I personally dont think so, by the way).

Its true that Netanyahu is an intelligent person with a deep understanding of the state of mind in the Israeli society, and mainly an excellent campaigner who is capable of selling tuna fish to tuna fishermen and even making a significant profit out of it. But its the positionprime ministerwhich makes the person. What was Netanyahu before he went into politics? A sales agent at the Rim furniture company. Apart from he himself, his parents and his brother, who ever thought he would become prime minister?

The only conclusion is that no one is irreplaceable, even if he is prime minister. In Israel, this is a very difficult and complicated job, perhaps more than any other public position in the world, but the fact is that quite a lot of people are eying the house on Jerusalems Balfour Street.

Not a word has been written yet, and not a word will likely be written in this context, about one person, among the most talented ones. Pay attention to the person whose term in a senior IDF position has been quietly extended by one year and then by another year. He too will likely be a worthy candidate. Nows the time for guessing.
Myagdi folk face shortage of life-saving Medicines

People in Myagdi are compelled to buy essential medicines that should be available for free of cost at government health facilities.
When the lecturer at the military rabbis course explained to the cadets that one of the greatest dangers faced by the IDF is the integration of women, none of them batted an eyelid. After all, the war of rabbis from the Chardal (nationalist ultra-Orthodox) sector on the enlistment of women in general , and the incorporation of women in combat units in particular, is no longer being waged in utmost discretion. It is completely open.

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In practice, says a person who participated in the course, the real danger to the IDF is these rabbis, who even in everyday life put the Halacha (Jewish law) as they see it, radically, before the armys policies.

Cadets who have participated in courses training military rabbis in recent years reveal a very problematic atmosphere, which is not in line with the IDF spirit. The courses lecturers, they say, consistently preach against the enlistment of women and speak out against the enlistment of non-JewsDruze, Bedouins and non-Jewish immigrants from former Soviet countries.

Haredi soldiers. 'Radical rabbis are inciting soldiers against the military spirit' (Illustration photo: Elad Gershgorn)

In addition, the lecturers also convey messages that seriously contradict the rules of engagement. They state, for example, that the Halacha permits harming civilians and even innocent children during fighting. The rabbis reportedly make these comments in other military frameworks as well, in different lectures they give to soldiers and officers.

These are radical rabbis who, on the one hand, receive a salary from the IDF, while on the other hand harm the IDF and incite the soldiers against the military spirit, says a graduate of the rabbis course. They dont want women in the IDF, they dont want gentiles, they hate Reform Jews and they do not hide the fact that they are deep in the ideological right. It doesnt surprise me, because those are their opinions, but the question is how are they permitted to do so in an IDF framework.

Female soldiers are off limits

The military courses rabbi, Tzvi Kostiner, serves as head of the Mitzpe Ramon Yeshiva. He is considered a national Orthodox and a Zionist rabbi, but he is also one of the students of the rabbi leading the battle against the IDFs liberalism, Zvi Israel Tau, president of the Har Hamor Yeshiva. In a lesson he delivered to his students last month, Rabbi Tau harshly criticized IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gadi Eizenkot and the head of the IDFs Personnel Directorate, Major-General Hagai Topolansky (who resigned in the meantime), over the examination of integrating women as fighters in the Armored Corps, referring to them as a military junta.

Who ever dreamed of a girl inside a tank? Rabbi Tau cried out. Today there are pillboxes, guard posts, in different junctions in Judea and Samaria. They are manned by four soldiers, and some have two boys and two girls. They are locked in there for a long time. We cannot let this pass, we must not keep quiet. People are failing and sinning on a daily basis. There are two beds on the top and two beds at the bottom. It will reach cohabitation. They will have to build maternity hospitals there. Even today, there are abortions at the IDFs expenses. Every female soldier can get two abortions a year at the IDFs expense. It will continue and there will be big amounts. You will do reserve service and will be told to enter a tank with a woman. We are loyal to the IDF, we are prepared to fight and sacrifice ourselves, but when it comes to this issue it is unthinkable that someone would do anything against the Torah.

This stance, according to cadets who participated in the course, is voiced by Rabbi Kostiner himself. He usually says the problematic stuff during lessons in the early hours of the morning, says a retired military rabbi who graduated from the course. To his credit it must be said that he wakes up at 4 am, delivers a lesson and speaks a bit about everyday issues. He told us more than once that womens service was a serious problem for the IDF.

You must understand that these are his opinions. He cant hide them. In his eyes, from a pure halachic point of view, women are simply not supposed to serve in the IDF. Definitely not religious women, and definitely not with men, in combat roles. I believe he should be appreciated for not giving up, like others in the military system, who change their views for jobs. On the other hand, its possible that this is less appropriate for the IDF.

The result, according to another course graduate, is a negative attitude towards women. In general, they tried to avoid having girls lecture us, he says. The few who arrived were interrupted and treated badly. It may have to do with their specific role in the IDF, but I believe it has to do with the source the future military rabbis get their world view from.

No mercy for women and children at times of war

The cadets in the courses, the last of which ended a few months ago, further claim that their lecturers did not hide their world view on the rules of engagement at routine times or at a time of war.

They made sure to clarify that the rules of engagement are in no way connected to what is happening on the ground, says a retired military rabbi. Their practical interpretation of the Halacha goes against IDF procedures. The message they convey is that even women and children should be spared at a time of war. The problem is that they see us, the military rabbis, as messengers who should convey these messages to the soldiers as well. In other words, in the event of an operation in Gaza, for example, we have to face soldiers and give them motivation speeches which contradict IDF values. According to my personal interpretation, because it happened after I completed the court, they believe that we should encourage the soldiers to be Elor Azaria (a soldier convicted of manslaughter for shooting a neutralized terrorist in Hebron).

Messages like these, say students of the courses rabbis, are conveyed not only during the military course but also outside the course: In regular lectures to officers, in conversations with soldiers and in responses to students questions.

These are not empty words, says a former cadet who took the course. There are clear halachic arguments. We are talking about famous rabbis, a spiritual and well-known authority in the depths of the Halacha. They dont just use terms like under no circumstances. As far as they are concerned, this is the Halacha and it cannot be played with.

In one case, the graduate continues, a famous lecturer in those courses criticized the IDF and its commanders. He explained to us that in the context of stopping terrorists, the rules of engagement are irrelevant to what happens during an incident. In his opinion, one cannot sit in an office and decide how the soldiers on the ground should act when they feel threatened. Im not sure its a halachic stand, more like an ideological-security perception.

The atmosphere in the course, the cadets say, is very anti-leftist, including comments against the New Israel Fund and against leftists who are destroying the country.

One cannot expect anything else, says a retired military rabbi. Thats what they generally think. I have personally heard many such comments at the course from cadets too, because thats the education they receive at home. It has nothing to do with the IDF. Its just the way they are.

Since Chief of Staff Eizenkot took office, the IDF has been trying to deal with the phenomenon of religious radicalization in the army. The national-Orthodox rabbis are furious. According to Rabbi Tau, the recent steps that have been taken are part of a foreign-funded trend aimed at weakening the army and uprooting the sanctity from the soldiers hearts. It started with the LGBT people and we kept quiet, so they are carrying on, he said.

In this context, commanders and cadets who participated in the court have reportedly expressed public support for the famous lecture given by Rabbi Yigal Levinstein from the religious army preparatory academy in Eli last summer, in which he branded homosexuals and lesbians as perverts.

Letters of support for Katsav

In recent years, the national religious public has undergone a process of splitting into different streams. Despite being a minority, specially politically, the nationalist Haredim have a lot of public influence. Their rabbis relations with the IDF are complicated, and one of the reasons for that is that the split between them and the national religious Jews was the result of a battle over modesty and segregation in the Bnei Akiva movement.

One the one hand, the Har Hamor Yeshiva in Jerusalem, one of the most prestigious Torah institutions in Religious Zionism and the place rabbis receive their nationalist Haredi ideology from, is known for its purist, fanatic and isolationist approach on religious issues, and its people are particularly sensitive to any deviation from the ideological or halachic line they have adopted.

On the other hand, another dominant component in the yeshivas world view is a messianic national perception which sanctifies the State of Israel as the Jewish kingdom announcing the arrival of salvation. As a result, the Nationalist Haredim have a lot of respect for the states leaders as people in positions with a supreme religious meaning, and once they are elected they have complete faith in them and give them almost unlimited credit. One of the most famous expressions of this approach was the letter of support sent by senior rabbis to former President Moshe Katsav after he was convicted of rape.

Being clear national, the Har Hamor Yeshiva strictly objects to causing any harm to the states institutions, led by the IDF. At times of crisis with the army, even extremely serious crises, they will avoid refusing orders, and will at most trywith consentto evade participation in controversial missions that go against their conscience. That is what they did in the most extreme case of the past few yearsthe disengagement from Gaza.

At the same time, they seek to integrate into the armys top echelon and the public service and influence society and the state from the inside. Accordingly, most religious military preparatory academies that have been established in the past 30 years originate in the same house of study and are usually loyal to its path.

The holy balance in the relationship between Har Hamor and the IDF, fanatic religiosity alongside messianic nationality, was violated only recently: Curbing religionization, restraining the Military Rabbinate, incorporating women in combat roles, exposing officers and soldiers to liberal Jewish values and the joint service order have all created significant cracks in the rabbis trust in the military authorities, and harsh public attacks were soon to follow. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, one of the camps most prominent figures, even stated that the new order would be obeyed under no circumstances. While he did not actually rule that a soldier must violate the armys orders in regards to this issue even at the cost of death, he did place it at the top level of the most serious offenses in the Torahidolatry, bloodshed and incest.

Explosive stuff

And there is one more thing that some of the nationalist Haredi rabbis, including Rabbi Kostiner, are preoccupied with: The military service of gentilesDruze, Bedouins and immigrants from former Soviet countries who are not Jewish under the Halacha.

Its explosive stuff, says a source involved in the matter. There is some kind of perception, which is increasingly receiving a place of honor, while only on the margins, that there is no room for non-Jewish soldiers in the IDF.

During the course, cadets say, they often heard comments against the service of non-Jews and were told that the halachic stand is that such soldiers must not be promoted to an officers class, and moreover, that non-Jewish soldiers should be encouraged to drop out of the IDF.

Rabbi Kostiner, for example, reportedly opposes the military service of non-Jews for fear of assimilation and because he is concerned that religious soldiers will be tempted to use them to desecrate the Sabbath. In his view, these soldiers hit on female Jewish soldiers, and he finds that intolerable of course, says a retired military rabbis. He refers to the Druze, but he also spoke about Russians. As for Shabbat desecration, there is the concept of a Shabbat goy (a non-Jew who performs tasks on Shabbat that Jews are forbidden to do), and he is afraid that they will use them for unnecessary things too, like switching on the air conditioner, for example.

As for members of the Druze sector, which still has high enlistment rates, another former course participant says that its part of their radical approach. These are not people you can convince with the sacrifice and blood of the Druze. According to their perception, the Druze are not doing it for us, but because they have an interest, and the moment they can they will turn over and direct their weapon at us.

The course trains rabbis for IDF units and is designed for reserve soldiers interested in serving as military rabbis, while training soldiers as rabbis in compulsory service. Its main purpose is to train rabbis for the IDFs reserve units, and some of the courses graduates go on to career service. The course is held regularly in the summer months at the Bahad 1 military training base and is divided between a regular officers course and a part run by the Military Rabbinate.

MK Azaria. The nationalist Haredim have decided to mark the army as a takeover target (Photo: Ido Erez)

Knesset Member Rachel Azaria (Kulanu), a member of the Knessets Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, recently encountered stories about nationalist Haredi rabbis war on the IDFs liberalism.

The IDF is the peoples army, she says. Its our source of strength, its the way we manage to defend ourselves. Our nation is comprised of different, diverse populations: Religious, secular, ultra-Orthodox, traditional, including women. The nationalist Haredim have decided to mark the army as a takeover target and are trying to impose their world view on the entire army. We are being exposed to an attempt to turn the Military Rabbinate into their executive arm.

At the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, IDF representatives reiterate that women are an essential part of the military system, Azaria says. Moreover, the rate of women in combat roles is doubled every year, so the content we are exposed to here completely contradict the armys orders and plans. The graduates of the military rabbis course move on to all units of the army and aim to influence and instill their values in the units and in the soldiers. Therefore, the content presented there must match the armys values.

Whoever undermines the chief of staffs authority regarding the enlistment of women might also undermine his authority on other issued like rules of engagement. The Israeli society has groups that think they can take over, dictate and impose their specific ways on everyone. The IDF has always known how to stay out of disputes that dissolve the society despite the great complexity and maintain the armys unity. This phenomenon, therefore, is intolerable.

1st Lt. Omer Nahmany, who leads a project aimed at doubling the number of women and gay soldiers in combat roles, adds: It must be clear that whoever hates IDF soldiers cannot be a commander and definitely not a military rabbi. The IDF serves as the Israeli societys meeting points, a fact which for some reason is unclear to certain lecturers at the military rabbis course, who incite against IDF soldiers in the armys own courses. Their students are in many cases a captive audience in the hands of dangerous people, and we expect the chief of staff, who has already stood up to radical elements, to urgently intervene.

The IDF Spokespersons Unit offered the following response: Rabbi Kostiner has been involved in the military rabbis course for many years and we are unaware of any appeals regarding his comment. The things that were allegedly said by Rabbi Kostiner do not match the spirit of the Military Rabbinate or the rabbis serving there, as well as the spirit of reserve rabbis and the rabbis involved in the military rabbis course. Any complaint about a comment which does not match the spirit of nationality and unity in the IDF will be looked into and handled accordingly. Chief Military Rabbi Brigadier-General Eyal Karim (who took office after the end of the latest course) has therefore ordered an investigation into the case revealed in the report.
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump says India is a "true friend" of the United States in addressing global challenges and has invited its prime minister to visit later in the year.

The White House says Trump spoke Tuesday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A statement says the two leaders discussed opportunities for cooperation in economy and defense, and security in South and Central Asia. They resolved that their nations "stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism."
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted Tuesday to adopt a report accusing Israel of apparent "systematic and illegal killing" in the Gaza Strip.

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The vote was held in Strasbourg, France and passed by a majority of 45-12, with two abstentions.

The report states that Israel is responsible for the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, including "Cases of the deliberate fatal shooting of individuals who posed no imminent danger to life amounts to an appalling pattern of apparently systematic unlawful killings."

It calls on the countries of the European Union to back a formal investigation by the International Criminal Court.

Damage in the Gaza Strip following Operation Protective Edge (Photo: AP)

The Chairman of the Knesset delegation to the meeting, Aliza Lavie (Yesh Atid), and MK Eli Alaluf (Kulanu) were present during the meeting. The two worked with the Foreign Ministry in recent days to convince delegations to object to the report's conclusions, to no avail.

The report also called for an end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip so that medical supplies and vital goods can be provided for residents of the strip. The report also demanded that Palestinians be allowed to seek work in Israel and that Israel prepare a long-term plan to establish a Palestinian state.

MK Aliza Lavie (center) and MK Eli Alaluf (right) (Photo: Knesset)

The report also stated, "Since the 2014 Israeli military operation in Gaza, the (humanitarian) situation has worsened significantly: over 2,200 people have died, of whom most were civilians, including 551 children; more than 11,000 people have been injured; over 12,620 houses have been totally destroyed and 6,455 severely damaged; and 28 percent of the population of Gaza has been displaced."

The report also made demands of the Palestinian Authority, including the need to prevent acts of terrorism and condemn them.

MK Aliza Lavie spoke before the assembly and called on it to reject the report. "This is a misrepresentation that selectively distorts reality," she said. "This report is based on hearsay and not facts. We removed our citizens and even our dead from Gaza in 2005 and in return, we were immediately hit with missiles. Israel provides a third of the electricity, worth billions of dollars, to the Gaza Strip free of charge, while 130,000 Palestinians were given medical aid for free in Israel last year alone, including family members of (Hamas leader) Ismail Haniyeh, and we are the ones being blamed for a humanitarian crisis?"

"Where are the millions sent from the European Council to the Palestinians to rebuild the Gaza Strip? Where did the money go?" demanded Lavi while confronting Swedish parliament member Eva Janson.

MK Alaluf added, "Israel wants to live in peace with its neighbors. Gaza is not under siege, but regulated in order to protect the citizens of the State of Israel, Jews and Arabs alike. I hope that one day we can seriously discuss these issues together in order to build a better future for the region."
Students from the Kfar Silver youth village joined a Holocaust commemoration campaign by the World Jewish Congress, spelling out the words "We Remember" on the school grounds on Tuesday using their bodies.

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Approximately 300 students gathered in the central courtyard and formed the writing as part of a campaign to raise the awareness of the Holocaust among teens all over the world head of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day that will be marked on Friday.

Their picture will be distributed among the schools on the World Ort network, to which the school belongs.

'We Remember' campaign (Phoo: Zurik Letinger)

"I was moved and proud of the fact that I was taking part in such a big international project," said Gal Shashoshvilli, an 11th grader who took part in the project. "It is very important to remember the Holocaust and make sure it is never forgotten. For me, the writing we created today is connected to my participation in a joint youth project of our school together with German youth, where we interview people connected to the Holocaust and document the interviews to create a joint video."

The director of Kfar Silver, former MK Shimon Solomon, noted that "A people without the knowledge of their past is like a tree without roots, and so we see tremendous importance in actively immersing the students in the preservation of the memory of the Holocaust, and in many additional educational activities related to love of the land, tolerance, community involvement, etc."

Dr. Benny Fisher, head of the Administration for Rural Education and Youth Immigration, added, "this is our victory picture as a people. In the youth villages, established dozens of years ago in order to accept Holocaust refugee children, are to this day educating tens of thousands of children, who are a reminder of the Holocaust's shame but also of the glory of revival."
The leaks from the Security Cabinet discussion, as published by Yedioth Ahronoth on Tuesday, preceded the public discourse on the state comptrollers report on Operation Protective Edge . Beyond the political and personal attacks, there are three fundamental issues that should be addressed in this context: The interests, the alternatives and the thoroughness.

A Security cabinet discussion on any new issue must begin with a definition of and an agreement on Israels interests. Everything that is decided after that should be examined according to that criterion. A national interest is not a hearts desire, but something vital that we will be willing to pay a price to achieve. For example, in regards to Gaza, both in 2014 and today all we have is a security interest. We have no territorial, economic or political interest regarding who will control Gaza. If there are other opinions, that is exactly what the cabinet discussion should focus on.

Ministers arrive at Security Cabinet meeting. The quality of the discussions must be addressed (Archive photo: Gil Yohanan)

The Israeli security interest (that there will be a calm and that Hamas will have trouble arming itself) is faced by Hamas interest, and it has only one interest in the coming yearsto remain in power. For that purpose, it needs two things: an improvement in the economic situation and international legitimacy. The conflict of interests between Israel and Hamas is not big, which is highly significant when it comes to the question of whether to launch a military operation or whether the conflict could be prevented in a different way.

The second thing has to do with the alternatives. In most cabinet discussions, after the ministers listen to annoying intelligence briefings, the nitty gritty stage allegedly arrives: The prime minister asks the army to present its plan, the chief of staff or his representatives present it, and then a free discussion begins. Most ministers fall into the detail trap and start asking micro-tactical questions. The military leaders actually like it, as mastering the details is not a real challenge.

What the ministers should do is always ask one opening question: What were the other alternatives you considered and why did you favor the one you just presented to us? If this question is not asked, it creates a dangerous situation in which the cabinet allegedly has only two optionsto approve the armys plan or reject it.

It would be better, of course, for the army to arrive with all the alternatives, regardless of the one it recommends. In the case of Protective Edge, for example, it could have presented four alternatives: One, to settle for airstrikes; two, to add ground activity as deep as 1 kilometer for the sake of neutralizing the tunnels; three, to include a ground encirclement of a significant territory (Gaza City, for example); and four, to occupy the entire strip.

A full presentation of alternatives will require the army to elaborate on each alterative. The second alternative, for example, would have required the army to provide a full explanation on the neutralization of the tunnels. The armys recommendation will be an important factor in the decision, but such a method of presentation provides legitimacy for other alternatives as well.

The third thing has to do with the thoroughness of the discussion. On a tactical level, there is almost complete congruence between the extent of delving into details and the thoroughness level. A thorough company commander is a commander who makes sure before a battle that all his soldiers have calibrated their weapon, that their equipment is intact and that every soldier is fully prepared to carry out their mission. The higher one goes, the thoroughness is inverted: On a strategic level, the more one goes into details, the more the discussion becomes superficial rather than thorough.

There are those who are impressed by the fact that a cabinet discussion lasts seven hours. My impression is different: It usually points to dealing with irrelevant issues. Moreover, an extension of cabinet discussions, particularly at times of fighting, creates a huge burden on the chief of staff and senior army officials, who should rather dedicate these precious hours to issues under their responsibility.

I have yet to see the state comptrollers report on the cabinets performance, but from the leaks it seems that the comptroller missed the most important thing too: addressing the quality of processes in the cabinet discussions.
Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto was released from prison Wednesday morning after serving a one year sentence for the bribery of Assistant Commissioner Ephraim Bracha, a senior police officer who committed suicide when the affair broke out.

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Pinto served his sentence in the Nitzan Prison medical center and his behavior throughout his sentence was considered good and he didn't incur a disciplinary infraction.

Rabbi Pinto upon his release (Photo: Dana Kopel)

Pinto began serving his sentence in February after pleading guilty as part of a plea bargain.

The Lod District Court had previously accepted the prosecution's appeal against early release and did not grant the parole board's recommendation to deduct a third of Pinto's sentence. After serving two thirds of his sentence, Pinto applied for early release again and the board granted it based on the condition that he undergo therapy and house arrest.

Photo: Dana Kopel

The parole board noted that Pinto committed to continue therapy beyond the mandated sentence. "I feel like a criminal," said Pinto in a meeting with the parole board. "Several people left religion because they saw a rabbi give a bribe. I live in constant fear. I retired from public life and I am not a rabbi until I feel that I am worthy and that definitely won't happen in the next year or two. I was serious when I said I made a mistake."

In the prosecution's petition, they argued that the parole board erred when they determined that Pinto met the requirements for early release despite the serious circumstances of his offense, his attitude toward the crimes, the potential danger in his early release and additional classified information the prosecution was privy to.

The Israel Police joined the prosecution's assessment that the parole board did not properly consider the information presented and they still considered Pinto a future danger.
Former defense minister Moshe Ya'alon has reportedly gave his testimony to the police as part of the investigation into the decision to acquire submarines and naval vessels for Israel from a German shipyard that the Iranian government owns shares in , according to Channel 2.

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According to the report Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not a suspect in the case.

Ya'alon was asked by police investigators about three topics. Primarily, he was asked about suspicions of tender bias in the acquisition of naval vessels to protect Israel's offshore gas drills in favor of the German conglomerate thyssenKrupp, whose representative in Israel were David Shimron Netanyahu's personal lawyer , and businessman Miki Ganor

Former defense minister Moshe Ya'alon (Photo: TPS)

The second topic he was asked about, according to the report, was the talks on the deal to purchase three submarines for the Israeli Navy, which Ya'alon previously stated he had no knowledge of

Finally, he was asked about the purchase of two anti-submarine warships that Netanyahu sought to acquire without first bringing it to the defense establishment for discussions.

Channel 2 also reported that the prime minister is due to be questioned for the third time in the coming days. The report claimed that Netanyahu's lawyers advised him to declare his meetings with Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes and the recordings of these meetings were done under their legal council.

Mozes himself was questioned again on Tuesday on suspicion he and Netanyahu discussed changing Yedioths coverage of the prime minister in returning for weakening rival newspaper Israel Hayom.
The Palestinian leadership reportedly received messages from Washington according to which US President Donald Trump has gone back on his plans to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Asharq Al-Awsat quoted a Palestinian official as saying on Wednesday morning.

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According to the paper, PLO official Ahmed Majdalani claimed there were initial signs to indicate Trump's declaration regarding the move was merely a campaign slogan.

US Embassy in Tel Aviv (Photo: AFP)

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said after the new president's inauguration that the issue is still being examined.

During his first briefing with reporters at the White House, Spicer was asked about Trump's intention to transfer the embassy to Jerusalem, and replied, "There is no decision yet, we are at very early stages."

Photo: AFP

In a meeting earlier this week with Jordan's King Abullah II, Abbas said that the potential embassy relocation "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 residents of Amona threatened on Tuesday to return to the illegal outpost it is evacuated after the prime minister's bureau chief announced the compromise deal signed between them and the government could not be implemented.

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"A day after the evacuation we'll come back here, again and again," announced Avichai Buaron, the head of the Amona struggle, during an emergency meeting.

"The hand that evacuates Amona is not that of the police or the army, but of (Education Minister) Naftali Bennett and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," Buaron added. "If you can't solve the problemresign. The public won't forget this."

Photo: Gil Yohanan

Regulation Bill , which would retroactively legalize Jewish outposts in the West Bank that were built on privately-owned Palestinian land with government help.

The settlers demanded the government to honor their side of the agreementwhich would see the construction of 24 alternatives homes on a nearby plot in return for a peaceful evacuationand warned of a painful and difficult evacuation otherwise.

"Thirty-six days after signing the agreement and 14 days before the evacuation of Amona, and so far construction has yet to begin," Buaron said.

The emergency meeting was also attended by head of the Samaria Regional Council Yossi Dagan, Rabbi Haim Drukman, Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, and the residents of nine houses in the nearby settlement of Ofra that are also set for evacuation.

"We call on everyone to come here next week and support us. This is a war for justice," declared Ofra resident Esther Brot.

Photo: Gil Yohanan

Rabbi Elyakim Levanon sent a message to Prime Minister Netanyahu, saying "Our hearts are with you in the difficult days you are experiencing. Your future rests on the balance. If you show your love for the land of Israel, your term will continue," referring to the ongoing police investigations against Netanyahu.

Former MK Ya'akov "Katzele" Katz addressed the ministers of the Bayit Yehudi party, saying "Naftali Bennett must go to the prime minister and tell him 'We won't take part in a government that demolishes communities.' Those who hurt the land of Israel will disappear from the political map. The public will not forgive you."

Photo: Gil Yohanan

He called on "all students, the thousands and tens of thousands, to come up on the mountain (to Amona), but heaven forbid not raise a hand" on police or military personnel who will take part in the evacuation.

"We came here because of an injustice," said Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan. "It's clear to all that no one stole land. What might happen here is an uprooting for the sake of uprooting."

He rejected the prime minister's criticism of the Regulation Bill , saying "there is no international pressure, and anyone who says there is, is lying. The residents here don't want a conflict. They were and remain willing to do unusual things to save this mountain."

The High Court of Justice decided to freeze construction of the alternative houses and a hearing on the matter was scheduled for next Tuesday.
Two months have passed since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan claimed Israel was under a slew of "arson terror attacks."

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This claim was based, among other things, on presentations and reports prepared by Fire & Rescue Authority officials, which pointed to dozens of fires they claimed were the result of arson.

On the other side of the political map, MKs from the left wing, and particularly from the Joint List, said these allegations constituted incitement. They based their claims on police reports according to which the dozens arrested on suspicion of arson were released and only eight were indicted, but were not attributed nationalistic motives.

A fire rages in Haifa (Photo: AFP)

A comprehensive examination that reviewed the findings of the Fire & Rescue Authority's investigations into the fires that ravaged Israel for five days , however, reveals a far more complex picture.

On the one hand, it transpired that in many of the cases fire investigators labeled as arson, this determination was based on evidence that was not sufficiently established.

In other cases, the investigators labeled the fire as arson without any evidence to support that determination, explaining that "all other options were ruled out."

Furthermore, several of the incidents that were labeled as arson happened near Arab communities, which raises doubt concerning a nationalistic motive.

Besides the fire in Zikhron Ya'akov and one of the fires in Nataf, the other giant fires, among which is the one in Haifa, there are no clear findings. In addition, fire investigators' reports only include partial findings for some of the fires, general information, missing dates and findings opens to interpretation, such as photos of wood piles presented as "tools for arson."

The fire in Zikhron (Photo: Elad Gershgoren)

On the other hand, the claim that all those arrested have been released and that no indictment was filed for nationalistic arson is incorrect, and it refers only to those arrested by the police.

The Military Advocate General recently indicted three Palestinians who were held by the Shin Bet for nationalistically-motivated arson near Ariel. According to the indictment, one of the arsonists was quoted saying to one of his friends after the fact that "the arsonists' intifada has commenced."

The Shin Bet is holding three other detainees against whom evidence accumulated for the fires in the vicinity of Tal-El and Gilon. Moreover, substantial evidence indicating arson has been presented in over 14 fire events close to the separation barrier.

No explanations

Reviewing the reports and surveys offered by the principal investigators from the Fire & Rescue Authority indicates misinformation with regard to the evidence and findings that led to the conclusions on the circumstances surrounding some of the fires.

(Photo: Yaniv Schwartz)

One of the reports presented two weeks ago to fire officials is very similar to the one that was presented to them immediately following the fires. At the time, it was said that the report was low on information due to its initial stage.

Despite the time that has passed, about half of the slides in a presentation of the report had not been updated. In fact, 18 out of 38 slides were copied directly from the presentation prepared two months earlier. Many findings are general, and some are missing dates and present no details regarding the final findings.

The first report's presentation, first published on Ynet, was put together by the Fire Department's Operations Directorate soon after the events and indicated 39 of the fires were declared arson. The second presentation, which is more recent, indicated that 71 of the fires were declared arson.

However, a more careful perusal of the up-to-date presentation reveals that it is almost completely identical to the first one, and even though much time has passed, it does not indicate any progress in the investigation or that any additional substantial evidence have been collected, other than a change in the numerical data relating to the number of arsons, without any explanation.

Neve Shalom fire (Photo: Jerusalem fire department)

In the number of fires, the fire investigators determined that if a fire has several points of origin, it is enough to determine that the it is the result of arson, even though several fires started by negligence would also often have several points of origin. At times, an event is determined arson due to the fact that the fire reignited in the area several times, though the fire investigators themselves have testified that there were cases in which the fire spread and restarted on its own.

Both reports' presentations explained that in the Savion Junction fire, a "suspect was arrested" (without explanation, evidence, or specification), and in the following slide, it was stated that the security camera captured "a figure emerging during a fire at a car wash," with no explanation as to why this would indicate arson.

The presentation showcased that the Fire & Rescue Authority has established a few of the findings: the number of points of origin, lighter fluid or Molotov cocktails found, the existence of security camera footage, kindling and aerial footage.

Talmon fire (Photo: Nettanel Slymovics/TPS)

"We have an official stance about each and every fire incident, especially when it comes to arson," says Ran Shelef, the head of the Investigations Department in the National Fire & Rescue Authority, in response to a query from Yedioth Ahronoth and Ynet.

"I can't release these reports since cases suspected of arson are transferred for further handling by the Israel Police. Every red point you see on the map represents an investigated case. The (released) report was intended to provide an overview since it is of national importance. We usually do not do that. It is important to provide a general picturenot only about these particular fires. Perhaps in the future, the Ministry of Public Security or the police will approve the release of the material."

Shelef agreed to review the main fire findings with us and explain how the conclusions were reached.

Dolev fire (Photo: Ehud Amiton)

Beit Meir

The fire at Beit Meir, like four other fires, was defined by Shelef as a "mishap." On the morning of the fire, the police released an official statement that it was apparently caused by arson and suspects were seen fleeing the area and were later arrested.

A firefighter at a blaze in Beit Meir (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Later on, it was reported that Air Force footage had identified the suspects in the act. In spite of that, during the afternoon hours, after the suspects' interrogation, it turned out that "the fleeing figures" were illegally in Israel, and that the fire was started by a flare bomb shot by a Border Police force, even though the Fire & Rescue Authority prohibited the use of such weapons due to the risk of fires.

Even though these conclusions were known to the police on the day of the fire, it neither denied nor confirmed the findings. In fact, to this day, no official statement has been released regarding the fire investigation at Beit Meir.

Shelef, on his part, views the investigation as proof of the fire investigators' credibility. "The Fire & Rescue Authority's Investigation Department, the police and the prosecution could have very well closed the case on the three arrested men," he said.

Nirit fire (Photo: Naama Hirsch)

"And I'm telling you, had we brought these suspects to court, there is a good chance they would have been sitting in jail for arson. Why? Because they were in a place they shouldn't have been. A fire started, and really, they were just walking around? I'm telling you, the court could have jailed them for the arson and the damage. We checked, and as it turns out, the military force fired a flare bomb. We went and searched the fire site and found residue of the flare bomb."

Haifa fire (Photo: Aviv)

Zikhron Ya'akov

In the updated presentation, it was specifically determined as well that the fire was caused by arson. On one of the slides, it says "the fire in Zikhron Ya'akovgasoline was found at the fire site," and on another, "gasoline was found after a sniffer dog was sent out."

In this case as well, two months had passed since the fire and no new findings were specified regarding the investigation: how the arson was done and how the sniffer dog was used.

Fire rages in Zikhron Yaakov (Photo: AP)

"The fire started in an open area near route 77," Shelef explained. "We brought a dog and it identified a point of origin with a substance that was sent to the lab. We didn't rely on the dog. We sent the findings to the lab and discovered it was gasoline. Gasoline has no place in such an open area; it was also found at the center of the fire."

Nahf

Another section of the presentation was dedicated to cases in which the fire was determined as arson based on photos received from the Air Force. According to the presentation, the footage depicted three points of origin where the fire spread between the Arab village of Nahf and the Jewish town of Halutz, which led to the conclusion that it was caused by arson. But the points of origin are actually very close in proximity to the Arab town, and those residents were the ones evacuated from their homes, which raises questions about the hypothesis according to which it was a nationalistically-motivated arson.

Nahf fire (Photo: Fire department)

Shelef rejected the claims, saying "These are three unconnected locations. You do the math and understand that whoever did it did not act randomly, he was aware of the direction of the wind and knew where it leads."

Regarding the claim that Nahf was the one to be eventually evacuated, he said, "During the weekend, a report was issued by a senior officer who said that the military helped put out the fire in a Palestinian village adjacent to Talmon as the fire spread. It happens. The wind was not correctly taken into consideration, and the fire started spreading into the village. In most cases, we see people leaving their homes in the village, walking a few hundred meters, starting the fire, and then going back."

Neve Shalom and first Nataf fire

The investigation led to the conclusion that both of these fires were the result of negligence. The fire in Neve Shalom started as a result of a hookah coal smoked by teenagers near the town. A special task force investigator on behalf of the Jerusalem District Fire Department, Cpt. Moshe Elazary, documented the remnants left by the teens and what was left of the hookah.

Firefighter putting out blaze in the Neve Shalom area (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

A day later, a fire broke out in the Nataf area that lasted almost 48 hours, spread to Neve Ilan and almost reached the gas station in Sha'ar HaGai.

The Jerusalem District's fire investigators reached the distinct conclusion that the fire started due to a bonfire lit by National Roads Company workers to warm up. The fire's residue was documented by the investigators, and four workers were arrested for suspected negligence, but they were released by the court since no evidence could link them to the fire as dozens of workers had been in the area.

The second fire in Nataf

This time, the Fire & Rescue Authority obtained unequivocal evidence that it was caused by arson. The fire consumed about 25,000 acres in the area between the separation barrier near the villages Qatanna and Nataf. Damage was caused to two buildings, among them a restaurant called Rama's Kitchen.

The American Supertanker putting out the blaze in Nataf (Photo: AFP)

Nature and Park Authority observers testified that they identified Palestinians throwing Molotov cocktails near the barrier when the fire started. Jerusalem District fire investigators reported finding clear signs of Molotov cocktails on the scene, as well as a bottle that did not shatter since it got stuck in the fence.

In the presentation that Shelef signed off on, much like in the first presentation, two pictures of the stuck bottle appeared. After the fire, a suspect was arrested from Qatanna. The Shin Bet told Yedioth Ahronoth that the detainee was transferred to the police.

Talmon, Dolev and Halamish

Based on the reports and the Judea and Samaria District fire investigators' findings, there is substantial evidence indicating arsons in fires in the West Bank area, but the presentation file is lacking in information. It stated that the fire in Halamishwhich caused serious damage to 18 housesis the result of arson, since it started in two locations close to the town. The presentation provided a map showing the origin points near the fence, which meas it is less likely that it was caused by another factor.

The Talmon fire was also caused by arson, according to the report, but it did not state the way in which the investigators reached that conclusion, while the fires in Dolev were determined as arson, according to Shelef, due to the fact the event was repetitive, meaning the fire reignited. At the time, a security video was released showing several figures in the entrance to the village, but in Shelef's review, there was no reference to the video.

Security footage of arson suspects in Dolev

X

Shai Turgeman, head of the Investigations Department in the Fire & Rescue Authority's Judea and Samaria District, told Yedioth Ahronoth that the fire in Halamish was determined to be arson since two points of origin were found near the fence.

"One of the points of origin was near lands cultivated by Palestinians and near a Palestinian village," he said.

Regarding Talmon, he said that "no cause for the fire was found, but we reached the conclusion that it was arson by eliminating all other possibilities. We have thirty optionsfrom electric failure to kids play. Once all other options have been eliminated, it cannot be anything but arson. The area is sterile with regard to other reasons."

Similar conclusions were reached regarding the fire in Dolev. "There, too, we eliminated all other options. Sometimes, arson is highly probable. You can say: 'All those things are not there.' What is left then is manmade. There is no coincidence. In Dolev, we found glass bottles suspected to be Molotov cocktails, but after an investigation, no kindling was found."

Regarding the video that was released but not referenced, he said, "It relates to the second incident, which is a continuation of the first. Yes, a fleeing figure is identified but we did not reference the video since it's an ongoing, repetitive incident. Open area fires are difficult to completely extinguish. Sometimes, a gust of wind or an ember may cause it to reignite, and you go back to work."

The mystery of Haifa

In the most up-to-date report there is no information regarding the giant fire in Haifa, and it doesn't appear at all on the list of fire sites. In the first report, on the other hand, an entire section was devoted to the fire along with a map, and it was explained that the fire broke out in three points of origin: One broke out at 9:30am at the Heletz station, the second at 10:04am at the Ofer Bridge, and the third at 11:54am at another location east of Ramat Hen. Regarding the third location, it also clearly states that there was "an arson attempt and the fleeing of a suspect from the site."

Fire rages in Haifa (Photo: AFP)

In the updated report, the Haifa fire is missing entirely, and the findings of the investigation are shrouded in mystery. It did not state which findings led the Fire & Rescue Authority to conclude that the third origin point was arson and why the investigation is missing from the conclusions presented to senior fire officials by Shelef two weeks ago.

"The review is currently undergoing auditing by the Coastal District's legal advisor and is near completion," Shelef said when asked to comment on the matter. "We suspect that there were more than three points of origin. It has been written and is in the last stage of legal counselling."

(Photo: Yoav Zitun)

Events in the vicinity of the fence

Both of the Fire & Rescue Authority's reviews presented a map, according to which 14 arson events occurred in the Seam Zone, among them on route 443, near Ispro Center in Modi'in, in Matan, in Megiddo, in Mevaseret Zion (near the separation barrier) and in Har Hadar.

For an inexplicable reason, the fire in Gan Vradim in Rishon Lezion was also included on this list, and it was also determined to be arson.

For some of these fires, the findings leading to this conclusion were also presented, such as in Nataf (signs of Molotov cocktails at the site and lookouts), Megiddo (three points of origin and a pile of wood) and Horshim (a vehicle with "tools for arson" from which suspects were seen fleeing). Meanwhile, for other fires, no evidence or conclusions were presented.

Either way, the arsons map indicating multiple cases adjacent to the separation barrier served as one of the factors that led the fire investigators to suspect that these events were caused by deliberate arson.

Regarding fence adjacent fires, Shelef expained that "Many fires on the eastern side of the Seam Zone started with the intention that the eastern wind would lead the fire to Nirim, Oranit and Har Hadar-Mevaseret. Some of these fires developed while others didn't. That is the case if it comes from a village named Abu-Salman, and it is very close to Nirit, and you find two tires that started the fire."

Regarding the claim that the fire origin points on their own are not evidence of arson, Shelef said, "We saw a fire start in Tal-El, followed by one in Achihod forest a few days later, and then another fire in Gilon some days after that. Take the map. In this case, the Shin Bet has two detainees who confessed and reenacted the fire. We made sure to run a very thorough investigation. I repeatedly appeared in the media, and every time I was extremely cautious with my words saying that some cases were the result of negligence and some, arson. Others have said it was all arson. But when you get the final picture, after a thorough review, I can tell you that we insisted on reaching the truth. Every opinion is written down and will stand the legal test. I don't know which files I will read, but if the Shin Bet has detainees, and even if they confessed, my experts will have to come and present the case file."

Are the fires presented in the report likely the result of arson?

"Yes, each fire has findings."
Capital gains tax issue: PAC fiat not to issue 4G licence to Ncell

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has directed the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) and Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) not to allow Ncell to introduce 4G and other services until its capital gains tax issue is resolved.
US President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders starting on Wednesday that include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries, say congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter.

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Trump, who tweeted that a "big day" was planned on national security on Wednesday, is expected to ban the entry of refugees into the United States for several months, except for religious minorities escaping persecution, until more aggressive vetting is in place.

Photo: AFP

Another order will block visas being issued to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, said the aides and experts, who asked not to be identified.

The sources say the first of the orders will be signed on Wednesday. With Trump considering measures to tighten border security, he could turn his attention to the refugee issue later this week.

Stephen Legomsky, who was chief counsel at US Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama administration, said the president had the authority to limit refugee admissions and the issuance of visas to specific countries if the administration determined it was in the public's interest.

Refugees (Photo: Reuters)

"From a legal standpoint, it would be exactly within his legal rights," said Legomsky, a professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. "But from a policy standpoint, it would be terrible idea because there is such an urgent humanitarian need right now for refugees."

Both Trump and his nominee for attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, have since said they would focus the restrictions on countries whose migrants could pose a threat, rather than a ban on those of a specific religion.

Legal challenges possible

Detractors could launch legal challenges if all the countries subject to the ban are Muslim-majority nations, said immigration expert Hiroshi Motomura at UCLA School of Law.

Legal arguments could claim the executive orders discriminate against a particular religion, which would be unconstitutional, he said.

"His comments during the campaign and a number of people on his team focused very much on religion as the target," Motomura said.

Photo: AFP

To block entry from the designated countries, Trump is likely to tell the State Department to stop issuing visas to people from those nations, according to sources familiar with the visa process. He could also instruct US Customs and Border Protection to stop any current visa holders from those countries from entering the United States.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday the State and Homeland Security Departments would work on the vetting process once Trump's nominee to head the State Department, Rex Tillerson, is installed.

Other measures may include directing all agencies to finish work on a biometric identification system for non-citizens entering and exiting the United States and a crackdown on immigrants fraudulently receiving government benefits, according to the congressional aides and immigration experts.
BEIRUT -- The jihadist group Fateh al-Sham has taken over areas held by a Free Syrian Army rebel faction in northwestern Syria, effectively crushing it, two FSA officials said on Wednesday.

Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front, launched a major attack on FSA groups in northwestern Syria on Tuesday, including the Jaish al-Mujahideen group which the FSA officials said had been wiped out.

Fateh al-Sham was al Qaeda's official affiliate in the Syrian war until it officially broke the ties with it last year. The factions it attacked on Tuesday had representatives at a Russian-backed peace conference in Kazakhstan.
An exhibition of photos from the archives of the World Zionist Organization presents major Zionist and state leaders in informal moments. 30 photos capture a list of leaders including Theodor Herzl, David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Moshe Sharett, Chaim Nahman Bialik, Menachem Begin and others.

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"The exhibition reflects a fresh, unpretentious perspective of our leaders and engages the public in the events of the past," said the archive manager Yigal Sitri. "The photos immortalize forgotten relationships and moments of levity and we invite the public to visit and learn more about the famous figures behind these photographs."

Begin playing chess

Ben-Gurion in the desert

Among the photographs in the exhibition: A rare photo of David Ben-Gurion in 1951, taken during a trip to Eilat. The intense heat and thirst did not stop him visiting Kibbutz Yotvata. Ben-Gurion was photographed wearing a bandana to protect himself from the blazing sun.

Young Golda Meir

Golda Meir's car breaks down

Another rare photograph shows Golda Meir in southern Israel in 1947. The dust plumes didn't stop the heads of the Jewish Agency from seeking to show donors and foreign representatives the Jewish settlements in the Negev. When the American cars got stuck in the desert sand, a local Bedouin stopped to help.

Herzl in the Austrian Alps

The Jewish Brigade

Moshe Sharett visiting troops

Additional photographs depict Herzl with his bike in the Austrian Alps and Moshe Sharett in the Jewish Brigade while in northern Italy fighting the Nazis with the British Army.

Menachem Ussishkin (center), Nahum Sokolow (left) and Chaim Weizmann (right)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responds to his many critics within the Knesset on Wednesday, going on the attack from the Knesset podium and declaring his innocence.

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Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein prohibited MKs from asking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about ongoing police investigations during a Q&A session on Wednesday afternoon. Edelstein warned MKs that any questions not related to government activities will not be allowed, which sparked intense outbursts and shouting matches among parliament members.

Prime Minister Netanyahu taking questions from the Knesset (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

After answering several questions on other matters, Netanyahu himself raised questions regarding the current investigations against him. "I've heard several things here. About certain supposed contacts, about disbanding the government. I hear the mockery and defiance. What a celebration of hypocrisy. Why don't you wait, I mean what a carnival of self-righteousness."

"Anyone with eyes in their head can see there is an unprecedented, hypocritical witch-hunt going on, asserting its pressure to change the government through media pressure on the attorney general, so that he will submit an indictment at any cost," added Netanyahu. "People, by the way, are saying this. Politicians, those in the media, commentators are saying this. (These people) are terrorizing those in charge of enforcing the law, and their message is clear: if you don't indict Netanyahu, you no legal expert. They tell them: bring me the head of Netanyahu, and if not, you're no attorney general, you're no state attorney."

"In responding to you, I cannot refer to the details of the investigations," added Netanyahu. "So instead I'd like to tell you a story."

Netanyahu then mentioned a former bill that sought to only allow Israeli citizens to own Israeli newspapers. "Its intent was obvious: to sabotage Israel Hayom, the only right-wing newspaper in the country of a national caliber, the only large-scale media organization to not be controlled by the left. I fought with all my strength, and indeed, only ten MKs voted for this twisted bill."

Netanyahu continued to say that to his surprise, several years later another bill came along aiming to shut down Israel Hayom, which he also opposed. He stated the Justice minister at the time, current MK Tzipi Livni, ignored the opinion of the attorney general, who found the bill to be unconstitutional. "Instead," said Netanyahu. "She relies on the opinion on Noni Mozes, something she admits to. Surprisingly, I find out she has the necessary backing in the Ministerial Committee."

Netanyahu continued to detail how he found himself "in the shining minority," with 43 MKs willing to vote for the bill. "Not only is there a complete lack of decency or balance in the media, but they try to close the only media outlet that presents the different opinion of a large public." He stressed that after seeing an overall attempt to stifle other media opinions and an attempt to go after him as prime minister, he decides to disperse the Knesset.

"And after these elections and during their campaign, when my family and I, my wife and also my children, as we take awful, daily hits from Yedioth Ahronoth and hourly hits from Ynet, and after winning the elections, I insist that the new government adhere to an agreement that prohibits such a bill from being permission without my activity, and indeed they did not," said Netanyahu.

"No one has fought harder than I did against the Israel Hayom Bill out of the importance of freedom of the press, diversity and pluralism. I have to say to the leaders sitting here now and to those who aren't, that in reality no one fought for it. And I'm being investigated? I'm being accused? That's a lousy joke. Before investigating me, they should investigate the 43 MKs who voted for the bill and got a cushy deal from Noni Mozes," added Netanyahu.

MKs Dov Khenin (Joint List) and Revital Swid (Zionist Union) of the opposition asked the prime minister questions about the various affairs for which he is being investigated, including conflict of interest at the Ministry of Communication.
Jerusalem district attorney's office has filed an indictment against an 18-year-old and three teenagers aged 15  17 on Monday for attacking and threatening Palestinian farmers. The crimes are said to be racially motivated.

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According to the indictment, in the early hours of the morning, the four marched from the Geulat Tzion outpost in the West Bank towards an agricultural field tended to by Palestinian farmers. The four then allegedly threatened the farmers while masked and holding metal rods to stop working and leave the area.

The indictment also claims the four threw stones at the farmers, threatening and driving them away. Undercover policemen then identified themselves to the four and ordered them to stop, but they escaped back towards Geulat Tzion.

One of the suspects at the scene of the crime (Photo: Zakaria Sada)



Judea and Samaria District Police officers who are in charge of the case stated that "during a planned police activity, while several Palestinian farmers plowed their land near the Turmus Ayya village, undercover policemen spotted several masked individuals wielding metal clubs coming towards the farmers from the direction of Geulat Tzion and started throwing rocks at the workers. After a foot chase three teenagers and one adult were caught. The four were arrested and questioned."

The suspects' capture was documented by Rabbis for Human Rights Field Coordinator Zakaria Sada, who said that just two days after the incident settlers enacted acts of revenge in areas close to Turmus Ayya.

Hebrew graffiti spelling out 'Revenge' written two days in an area near the incident (Photo: Yesh Din)

"This clarifies the severity of the situation in the area" said Sada. "It is the duty of the security forces to protect the Palestinians and their property from repeated attacks against them in the West Bank."
Zehava Shaulthe mother of Oron Shaul, whose body was abducted by Hamas after he was killed during Operation Protective Edgeparticipated Wednesday in discussions marking the establishment of a pressure group led by MKs Amir Peretz (Zionist Union) and Shuli Moalem (Bayit Yehudi) to expedite the return of soldiers abducted during the operation.

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Simcha Goldin, whose son Hadar was also abducted after being killed in the Gaza war, also participated in the discussion.

Hadar Goldin (L) and Oron Shaul

I am demanding, not asking. I am demanding: stand up and act. It is unthinkable that after two-and-a-half years we dont know what his situation is, Zehava lamented. Is he alive? wounded? Does he eat well? Does he sleep well? I dont know. One thing I do know is that I dont sleep at night. I do not know how much longer i can take this.

Zehava urged the state to take steps to bring Goldin and her son back to Israel, saying that if it failed to do so she did not know when she would next see them.

Pressure group discussions (Photo: Ezra Gabai)

Her late husband, Herzl, she continued, believed in the prime minister and the defense minister to bring about their release from captivity. I told him that they were fooling us. When he was lying down in the house before he died he said to me you were right. They fooled us.

Simcha Goldin also delivered a statement before the MKs and attendants. I am proud to be in the legislative house of the state. The time has come for the Knesset to join the struggle, he declared, telling the MKs that both civilians and enemies are listening.

Zehava Shaul (Photo: Elad Gershgoren)

Words are the beginning. This will lead to action and action will lead to decision. We dont need strengthening. We asked to establish the pressure group in order to strengthen you. The statement that the government is doing everything in order to return our sons is an empty statement, Simcha claimed.

Just yesterday, MK Ahmad Tibi (Joint List) spoke about the importance of bringing fallen soldiers to their graves. Does that apply to Muslims only?, he asked.

Simcha Goldin (Photo: Ido Erez)

It is a crime and a sin to hold on to soldiers and not bring them for burial. The soldiers of the future must know that they will not be left behind.

Arriving late to the discussions, Knesset Chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud) said that typical declarations such as We will do all within our capabilities must be avoided. If we dont say anything we will avoid empty statements altogether.

Bayit Yehudi Leader Naftali Bennett also spoke during the talks. In 2014, I participated in the security cabinet and raised my hand in favor of sending Hadar and Oron, together with thousands of other soldiers, to the line of fire, Bennett said before stating that the war only ends when Hadar and Oron come home.

Turning to the parents themselves, Bennett lauded them for what he described as their brave decision.

You could have requested that terrorists are released in order to bring about the return of the boys but you chose the hard way. You opposed the release of terrorists and asked that the state pressure organizations to release the boys. Precisely because of this we are even more obligated... We will not rest until (the boys are brought home, he promised.

A number of other people spoke at the discussions, including, inter alia, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi), leader of the opposition and the Zionist Union Isaac Herzog, and other members of the Goldin family.
Unidentified vandals have spray-painted Nazi graffiti at a memorial cemetery in Ukraine where some Poles are buried.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin denounced the vandals' action Wednesday at the Bykivnia memorial on the outskirts of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. Bykivnia is a burial place for victims of the Soviet secret police, including some Poles, who were executed in the 1920s-1940s.

Vandals spray-painted the name of SS division Galicia, a Nazi unit consisting of Ukrainian volunteers, on one tombstone at Bykivnia. They also put the name of UNA-UNSO, a Ukrainian far-right nationalist organization.

Poland and Ukraine have friendly ties, but some in Poland harbor bitter memories about the killings of up to 100,000 Poles by Ukrainian nationalists in 1943-1944 in Volyn and the eastern Galicia regions, which are now part of Ukraine.
The ZAKA emergency response organization stated Wednesday that it has succeeded in gathering $120,000 in less than 24 hours to go toward the release of Ben Hassin, who is currently under arrest in a Muslim country with the threat of death or life imprisonment hanging over his head.

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The incident, which was revealed in a Facebook post two months ago by Knesset Member Ayoob Kara (Likud) before being censored by Israeli Military Censor (IMC), was released to the press on Tuesday. In its center is Ben Hassin, 22, who fought abroad against ISIS and was arrested for murder in June 2015 in a Muslim country which Israel has no diplomatic relations with.

Hassin

The incident occurred while Hassin, who was setting out to take a break from fighting ISIS, took a local cab. The driver found out that he is Israeli and tried to kill him. Hassin, who was armed at the time, shot and killed him in self defense. He was subsequently arrested and indicted for murder, and there is a real concern that, if convicted, he will be sentenced to death.

The campaign to gather the funds for his release started in the late hours of Tuesday. ZAKA Chairman Yehuda Meshi zahav, came out in an emotional petition to raise the funds. Hundreds of people responded, and the requested money was raised.

"We got an emotional plea from the father and Foreign Affairs Ministry to get invovled and aid in raising the amount needed for his release. We realized right away that time was not on our side, since the trial was due to take place this coming Sunday. If the the ransom would not have been paid according to an agreement reached in negotiations with the authorities, the would be a big chance that he would get the death penalty. Working with warm-hearted people from Israel and around the world, we managed to meet our goal and raise the necessary sum. The money will be transferred to the foreign country in the next few days, and hopefully he will be released," said Meshi Zahav.
Two separate terror attacks occurred near the Binyamin region on Wednesday, both near Ramallah, invloving one vehicular and one shooting attack. The perpetrators of both were neutralized by security forces.

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In the first attempt, a Palestinian driver attempted to ram his vehicle into a group of Israelis standing at a hitchhikers bus stop on Wednesday evening near a gas station in Kokhav Ya'akov in the West Bank, before being shot and killed by people present at the scene.

Scene of attempted terror attack (:   , TPS)

X

Injuries were prevented in the attack as the Israelis standing at the station were waiting behind a concrete block positioned at the station as a result of the wave of terror which englufed the country over the last two years.

Photo: Hillel Meir/TPS

Upon searching the vehicle, a knife was found in the drivers possession, indicating that he may have intended to carry out a double attack.

Scene of the attempted vehicular attack (Photo: Elazar Israeli)

Wednesday's second terrorist attack also occurred near Ramallah when a drive-by shooting was carried out against IDF forces, promting them to return fire and neutralize the terrorist. There were no reported injuries.

Earlier in the day, a number of Molotov Cocktails were hurled at Kibbutz Migdal Oz in the Gush Etzion region.

Photo: Hillel Meir/TPS

Three firefighting service teams were called to the scene to extinguish the flames. No one was injured in the attack.

Photo: Elazar Israeli

In the morning, police units scoured the Jerusalem area in pursuit of a driver who smashed his vehicle through Hizma checkpoint in the city as security forces were carrying out security checks.

According to security forces, the security personnel stationed at the checkpoint began the process of engagement and attempted to stop the suspect, who managed to flee the scene.
Germany, in unusually strong criticism of Israel, said on Wednesday that Israel's plan to build 2,500 more homes in the West Bank puts in doubt Israel's stated commitment to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

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Israel announced the plans on Tuesday in the second such declaration since US President Donald Trump took office. Trump has repeatedly signalled he eould likely be more accommodating toward such projects than his predecessor, former president Barack Obama.

Martin Schaefer, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry, said the announcement went "beyond what we have seen on it in the last few months both in terms of its scale and its political significance".

Construction in the West Bank settlement of Givat Ze'ev (Photo: Nofe Yisrael)

He said the German government doubted whether the Israeli government still stood by its official goal of a peace agreement under which Palestinians would get a state in territory captured by Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War and co-exist peacefully with it.

If Israel were to move away from this goal, the basis of the whole Middle East peace process would be thrown into question, Schaefer added. The last round of US-brokered peace talks collapsed in 2014.

The European Union has also warned that Israel's settlement plans threaten to undermine the chances of peace with the Palestinians.

Prime Minister Netanyahu tells Knesset to expect more West Bank construction announcements(Photo: Gil Yohanan)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament on Wednesday to expect more announcements on settlement-building and earlier this week told senior ministers that there were no more restrictions on construction.

"We can build where we want and as much as we want," an official quoted Netanyahu as telling the ministers.
Prithvi Man Shrestha is a political reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering the governance-related issues including corruption and irregularities in the government machinery. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2009, he worked at nepalnews.com and Rising Nepal primarily covering the issues of political and economic affairs for three years.
About 200 German police searched a dozen homes in six states on Wednesday as part of an investigation into a far-right extremist group suspected of planning armed attacks against Jews, police and asylum seekers, stated the chief federal prosecutor's office.

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Two of seven suspects were detained and weapons, munitions and explosives were found during the raids, said Frauke Koehler, a spokeswoman for the office.

A spokesman for the German Justice Ministry said the raids underscored the government's determination to crack down on ultra-right extremists, whose numbers are rising across Germany.

Far right-wing NPD supporters in Germany (Photo: Reuters)

"This is an important signal against the far-right extremist scene in Germany, which shows that our investigative agencies are vigilant and will proceed with great resolve against extremists," he said at a government news conference.

The prosecutor's office said the early morning raids included searches of the homes of six people believed to have founded the new group, and that of a seventh person who is suspected of helping the group obtain supplies.

"The goal of today's search measures was to obtain further evidence of the actual creation of a formal group, as well as the alleged planned criminal acts and any potential tools," it said in a statement.

It said the suspects were largely connected via social media and were believed to have begun planning armed attacks in the spring of 2016.

German officials said the raids were directed against people associated with the "Reichsbuerger," or Citizens of the Reich movement, which rejects the modern German state as an illegitimate successor to Nazi-era Germany.

German police (Photo: AFP)

Koehler said a certain ideological closeness to the Reichsbuerger was perceptible, but that it was necessary to check whether there were actually such connections and how close they were.

Germany's BfV domestic intelligence agency put the group under observation in November, weeks after one of its members shot dead a policeman during a raid at his home.

The agency warned last year, following the arrival in Germany of more than a million migrants, that ultra-right extremistsmany with links to groups in Europe and the United Stateswere increasingly ready to commit acts of violence.

The BfV also called for action to halt the emergence of what it called "right-wing terrorist structures."

The number of far-right extremists seen at risk of committing violent acts jumped to 12,100 in 2016 from 11,800 in 2015, according to a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry.

German authorities broke up a suspected ultra-right militant group known as "Oldschool Society" last year.

Wednesday's raids occurred in Berlin and the states of Baden-Wuerttemerg, Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate and Sachsen-Anhalt.
Israel has issued a travel warning for its citizens on visiting Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

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Tuesday's notice comes amid intelligence of imminent militant attacks on the anniversary of Egypt's 2011 upheaval that toppled former autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Egyptian army fighting in Sinai (Photo: AP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's counterterrorism office says there is a "high level" threat of attacks on January 25. It recommends Israelis leave the area immediately and those planning on visiting change plans.

Neighboring Sinai with its pristine beaches and Red Sea coral reefs is a popular tourist destination for Israelis.

Israel issues occasional travel warnings, based on intelligence reports.

Since 2013, when the military overthrew Mubarak's Islamist successor, Egyptian authorities have cracked down on Islamists and scores of secular activists. The crackdown has also coincided with an escalation of a Sinai-based insurgency by Islamic militants.
Even though it was a short week in the legislature, it was certainly a busy week as well.

Wednesday was the 10th and last day for bill introduction, and it is usually the day where the most legislative bills are introduced, and this year did not disappoint. On the 10th day, 177 bills were introduced. In total, 667 legislative bills and five constitutional amendments were introduced by the 49 senators. I personally introduced 25 bills, with 11 of those dealing with retirement issues. Here is a list of all the bills I introduced this session. If you would like more information about each bill, please visit the Nebraska Legislature website at: www.nebraskalegislature.gov.

LB18 - Change licensure and scope of practice for dental assistants and dental hygienists

LB19 - Change requirements for the practice of acupuncture

LB20 - Change provisions relating to homestead exemption certifications

LB29 - Eliminate the Class V School Employees Retirement Cash Fund

LB30 - Provide for a cash balance benefit plan by cities of the metropolitan and primary classes for certain police officers or firefighters as prescribed

LB31 - Change school retirement plan provisions relating to service credits

LB32 - Eliminate a duty of the Public Employees Retirement Board and change provisions relating to prior service retirement benefit payments for county employees

LB61 - Adopt the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact

LB92 - Require health carriers to provide coverage for telehealth services

LB94 - Increase amount of funds offered by the state investment officer to financial institutions as deposits under the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act

LB110 - Change duties and requirements relating to certain retirement plan reporting and change duties of the Auditor of Public Accounts and the Public Employees Retirement Board

LB166 - Change provisions of Uniform Controlled Substances Act and Pharmacy Practice Act

LB231 - Authorize disciplinary action under the Insurance Producers Licensing Act for failing to maintain a license in good standing

LB232 - Provide a property tax exemption for property leased to the state or a governmental subdivision

LB278 - Redefine disability and change disability retirement application and medical examination provisions for various retirement acts

LB323 - Adopt the Palliative Care and Quality of Life Act

LB324 - Adopt the Pharmacy Benefit Fairness and Transparency Act

LB359 - Authorize damages for property taxes and special assessments paid on property lost through adverse possession

LB360 - Adopt the Surgical Technologist Registry Act

LB406 - Change provisions relating to notice of cancellation, nonrenewal, or nonpayment of a premium for automobile liability policies

LB413 - Change a retirement application timeframe for judges and Nebraska State Patrol officers as prescribed and change supplemental lump-sum cost-of-living adjustments under the Judges Retirement Act

LB414 - Change a retirement application timeframe for judges and Nebraska State Patrol officers as prescribed and change supplemental lump-sum cost-of-living adjustments under the Judges Retirement Act

LB415 - Provide and change notification requirements and duties and benefits for certain retirement system members, change certain annuity and disability benefit provisions, and provide duties for school districts and the Public Employees Retirement Board relating to retirement

LB486 - Change continuing education requirements for insurance licensees

LB532 - Change provisions relating to a military service credit for certain retirement plans as prescribed

Committee hearings began on Tuesday and public testimony was heard on six of my bills. Much of this week on the floor was spent debating referencing a few bills committee designations and debating the rules. Chief Justice Michael Heavican also delivered the State of the Judiciary on Thursday. Chief Justice Heavican stressed the need for the legislature to adequately fund justice reinvestment programs. He also discussed the state of the Office of Public Guardian, juvenile justice, and technological updates in the courts.

As always, if we can be of assistance to you in any way, please do not hesitate to contact my office. My door is open and I have made it a goal to be accessible to the constituents of our district. Please stop by any time. My e-mail address is mkolterman@leg.ne.gov, and the office phone number is 402-471-2756. David and Katie are always available to assist you with your needs. If I am not immediately available, please do not hesitate to work with them to address any issues that you may need assistance. Please continue to follow me on Facebook at Kolterman for Legislature and on Twitter at @KoltermanforLegislature.
YORK  A mitigation hearing has been set for March, with re-sentencing set in April for man convicted of killing his sister when he was still a juvenile.

Sydney Thieszen will be transported to York County District Court on both occasions  the first times in many years that he will be in the county where he committed murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

Thieszen killed his 12-year-old sister in the Henderson-area home in 1987 when he was 14.

In 1988, he was convicted of second degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

In 1996, he was resentenced after the first conviction was challenged. The second time around, he was convicted of first degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Thieszen filed a motion for post-conviction relief in 2013 in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared mandatory life-without-parole sentences unconstitutional for juvenile offenders. A district court judge granted Thieszens motion and prosecutors appealed.

On Dec. 9, 2016, the Nebraska Supreme Court ordered the resentencing for Thieszen.

This week, York County District Judge James Stecker (who will re-sentence Thieszen) met with Thieszens attorney, Jeffery Pickens, and Corey OBrien representing the Nebraska Attorney Generals office.

All parties agreed that the calculation of good time could be achieved by the judge consulting with the Nebraska Department of Corrections.

OBrien said he would be including victim impact statements in the pre-sentence report.

The last pre-sentence report would be part of the record, with current materials from expert witnesses and details of Thieszens behavior while in prison.

The mitigation hearing will be held March 15 at 9 a.m.

Sentencing proceedings are expected to last two hours, starting at 9 a.m., on April 21.

Pickens will be filing a transport order so Thieszen can be escorted from the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution.
YORK  York Public Works Director Mitch Doht will fill in as the interim city administrator until a new administrator is hired.

The council approved the interim appointment during a special meeting held Tuesday night.

Doht said he spoke with other department heads and staff members prior to offering his services in the interim.

We all agreed that this could keep things moving along smoothly and Tara (Vasicek, current city administrator) will get me up to speed before she leaves, Doht said.

Vasicek will be leaving her position in a few weeks as she is taking the city administrator position inColumbus.

It just made sense to have someone who is already here to step in as the interim administrator as we are already involved in the current city business, Doht said in a private interview. We are hoping that will make the transition go smoothly asTara leaves and a new administrator is hired.

Doht has been the citys public works director since January, 2014. Prior to his current position, he was the highway superintendent forYork County.

Mayor Orval Stahr said he had been in contact with another person, who is not employed with the city, about possibly serving in the interim.

But then, in talking with Mitch and Tara and the city council, I think its in the best interest for the city to go with Mitch for a smooth transition. And we will save some money, which I am always for  until we have a new administrator in place.

Last week, I offered to do this because I dont want the city leadership to go through two changes, Doht said. I only have the citys best interest in mind. We will keep things going. I get along great with Taraand she will keep us informed.

A constituent wants to know  do you want the administrators job? Stahr asked Doht.

Well, I previously didnt think so, I just dont know. Lets just see how this goes, Doht responded.

Councilman Mat Wagner made the motion for Doht to be the interim administrator, with Council member Sheila Hubbard seconding the motion. All the members voted in favor, with the exception of Clarence Hoffman who was not present.
John Cunningham, president of the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW), has urged Gladys Berejiklian, the states newly appointed premier, to review the tax system, especially stamp duty.

According to Cunningham, former premier Mike Baird had taxation reform firmly on his agenda.

It's time for his successor to deliver something back to property consumers, Cunningham said. The NSW government has seen windfall after windfall in recent years and it is time to give back. We urge Premier Berejiklian to recognise that stamp duty has not been reviewed for 30 years.

Berejiklian previously stated that housing affordability would be one of her top three priorities as premier, but ruled out reductions to stamp duty.

Stamp duty is one of the biggest issues affecting housing affordability in Sydney, where buyers paying the median house price have to fork out around $36,000 in taxes and fees to the state government. Research indicates that between 35-40% of the cost of new homes in NSW comes from taxes, fees, and charges levied by all levels of government, with the state government levying the heaviest taxes.

Cunningham wants Berejiklian to reinstate incentives for first-home buyers who want to purchase existing properties costing less than $1 million, reducing their stamp duty by 50%.

We also urge her to provide the ability to pay the stamp duty over timeto ease the housing affordability crisis that we are experiencing.

The NSW government currently enjoys a budget surplus, projected to be $4 billion in the current financial year  a feat achieved largely by taxing the housing industry.

By cutting stamp duty we are not asking [the] government to reduce its revenue, Cunningham said. To the contrary, we believe, based onexperiences in other states, that a reduction in the stamp duty rate will generate additional market activity.

Related stories:

Rising Stamp Duty Rates Are Blocking Homeownership In Sydney And Melbourne

Stamp Duty Now Costing The Typical Australian Family Over $36,000
Potential hydro investors will attend London meet

The year 2016 marked 200 years of establishment of diplomatic relationship between Nepal and the UK. In the last two centuries, the British government has supported Nepal to strengthen social sector,
As a homeowner, you probably already know that you should be working to maintain your home. But, chances are, you Read More
Local level restructuring dispute: Prolonged banda in Nuwakot affects farmers, quake victims

The indefinite banda in Nuwakot, enforced by the people of Likhu region to protest the report of the Local Level Restructuring Commission (LLRC), continued for the 10th consecutive day on Tuesday.
VILLANOVA, Pa.  Villanova Universitys College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has been selected to receive a 2017 Beckman Scholars Program Award, the purpose of which is to support undergraduate students engaged in scientific research. One of 11 conferred nationally for 2017 by The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, the award provides a total of $130,000 to support the work of five research students from May 2017-August 2020.

The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation is a nonprofit foundation established to support basic scientific research, primarily in the fields of chemistry, biochemistry and medicine. In 1997, the Beckman Foundation initiated the Beckman Scholars Program to support the research potential of outstanding undergraduate students in these fields. Each year, the Beckman Foundation invites select universities within the United States to apply, and selects approximately 10-12 universities to provide continuous 18-month support to exceptional undergraduate students.

Students selected for the program will receive a stipend to support independent research over an 18-month period spanning two summers and one academic year. Additional funding is supplied for mentoring support, research supplies, and student travel. Also funded is travel and lodging to the National Beckman Symposium in California, where Beckman scholars present their research findings to Beckman scholars, mentors and other scientists. The first Beckman Scholar will be selected during the Spring 2017 semester to begin their research in Summer 2017. Another student will be selected to begin in Summer 2017, with two additional students selected in each of the next two years.

Villanovas selection as a Beckman Scholars Program Award recipient underscores the Universitys commitment to research and the important role it plays in the academic experience of our students, said University Provost Patrick G. Maggitti, PhD. At Villanova, faculty and students are true partners in the discovery process and are committed to the collaborative pursuit of knowledge. This commitment provides a challenging educational experience that prepares our graduates for success in their chosen field.

Beckman Scholars will perform research under the supervision of one of 11 full-time faculty members identified by the University. The faculty mentors were selected based upon their experience in supervising undergraduate research students, research productivity, and external funding support. Villanova science faculty have a long history of mentoring undergraduate research students. Students are often co-authors on faculty publications, and regularly present their research at national and international science conferences.

Villanovas longstanding commitment to mentoring and supporting undergraduate research students was a major factor in Villanovas selection as a Beckman Scholars Program Award winner. Each summer, approximately 50 undergraduate students perform faculty-mentored research projects in the sciences, supported by federal, industrial, and institutional support. Students completing a research experience at Villanova often earn fellowships to attend doctoral programs at major research institutions, or gain acceptance at top-ranked medical or dental schools. The Beckman Award provides yet another means to support student research through hands-on, individualized research training.

Our faculty are known for their commitment to mentoring undergraduate students, and especially for the opportunities they provide students as participants in their cutting-edge research, said Adele Lindenmeyr, PhD, Dean, Villanova University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The Beckman Award will enable some of our most outstanding science students to spend even more time collaborating with faculty on research that advances scientific knowledge and contributes to human flourishing.

All sophomore students majoring in Chemistry, Biology, Geography and the Environment, or Biochemistry with a cumulative GPA of 3.80 or higher are eligible to apply. Beckman Scholars will be selected after a rigorous evaluation, considering the students academic performance, research potential, and commitment to a future career in science.

Additional information about Villanovas Beckman Scholars Program can be found at http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/artsci/research/beckman.html.

About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova Universitys Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six collegesthe College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nations top universities, Villanova supports its students intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu.
Shortage of masons threatens to hamper reconstruction efforts

The shortage of technical staff, ranging from engineers, sub-overseers to trained masons is likely to further delay the rebuilding efforts of the damaged houses after the Gorkha earthquake, according to the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA).
Hello dearies! This is the Mistress of Spize, cooking up a lot of salt n sour, sweet n saucy stories and observations for you. Sniff! Can you smell, my preparation? Aroma is in the air and smoke is already rising from my hot pot.<br/><br/>Lets talk about eye-candy! The latest would be Hrithiks sword brandishing scene from Jodhaa Akbar. Man! how his muscles flexed as he challenged Aishwaryas defiance. That perfectly carved body language said it all without a word. It drew sighs from women across all ages. It was so amusing to hear a huddled group of aunty jis chatting about that perfectly chiselled body. And I was shocked to see the teeny-weeny teenagers just ogling. The sword-brandishing scene kind of bonded all females. And, let me tell you, it is that scene which will be remembered when all would be forgotten about Jodhaa Akbar. <br/><br/>For the male species, well, the latest eye-candy is the catty eyed Katrina Kaif and her sizzling item-numbers.<br/><br/>Dearies, I am sure you would be bursting with excitement to relate such stories and add on to the story-churning pot. Do interact and relate your rare observations through comments. Mistress of Spize is all ears! <br/>Love ya!<br/>
Tax, non-tax receipts up 69 percent in 1st half

The governments tax and non-tax revenue surged by 69 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year, as imports and consumption normalised in the aftermath of the trade embargo imposed by India.
India is shining... the Indian economy is blooming (till recently at least)... our country is on the way to becoming a world superpower very soon... our great democracy is the worlds largest... Well! When I hear all these statements  I choose to call them statements because they dont reflect the reality  I find it difficult to decide to discern my emotions:, about whether to: Feel proud or disgusted! <br><br> When I see five-year-olds begging at traffic signals, kids picking rags from just about every garbage bin that you can find in this world-class metropolitan city (Delhi), when I see under-privileged children standing in front of schools looking at few privileged kids dressed in their school-dress and enjoying a cup of ice cream during their lunch break, and thinking what crime they had committed in their previous life that they did not get the luck to enjoy all these luxuries, I feel shattered. And all those tall claims of a shining, rising India crumble in front of my eyes. <br><br> We, as a country, are progressing; but as a society, may be regressing. Many of you may not agree with me, and I agree that the picture Im trying to paint here is not exactly the day-to-day reality that we come across, but the fact is while we are growing by leaps and bounds, we are leaving many of our own countrymen behind. While we pay lakhs in donations and fees to get our children admitted to top schools of the country, we forget to give even a thought to the fact that so many kids of our childrens age dont have the means to even join a government-run school. In some cases, there are no schools at all to join. <br><br> Here the blame does not lie just on the government but also on us  because as a society, we are failing collectively. <br><br> For instance, how many times have we asked a mother begging at traffic signal with his four-year-old son or daughter that whether she would like to get some help in getting the latter admitted to a school? How many times have we approached a mithaiwalah or canteenwallah and told him sternly that child labour is banned in this country and you should, instead of hiring kids as workers, spare some of your profits for their education. <br><br> We dont find 10-year-old chotus or gudiyas in schools, but in the homes of the rich and even middle-class families employed as domestic labour, doing jobs ranging from cleaning and dusting to cooking food. How many times have we asked our own 10-year-olds to do tasks like these? <br><br> I was at a marriage party recently and saw five- to eight-year-old kids carrying heavy lamps that you see in every baraat procession. While the law banning child labour is clearly flouted there, the worst thing is that these small children are exposed to high voltage wires that can shock them anytime. <br><br> Right to enjoy childhood is not a luxury but the basic human right of every child on this earth. Depriving even a single child of this right is the biggest crime that humanity can commit on this earth. Just think for a minute if you went through the same childhood that a kid working in a factory or tyre-repair shop goes through; what beautiful childhood memories you would have to cherish all your life! <br><br> A life like this is not life but hell. I am not intending to preach here, but merely trying to stir some emotions inside all of us, to make that little difference, to save a childhood. Lets ponder over how we through small, invisible actions can bring a smile to the faces and lives of millions of under-privileged kids. <br><br> Only then will we be able to justify the claim that India is shining...
Thapa, Rana to fight for RPP chair

Chairman Kamal Thapa and National Chairman Pashupati Shumsher Rana are most likely to contest for leadership during the first unity convention of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party scheduled to be held in the Capital next month.
A few weeks ago, before the release of either Ghajini or Rab ne .., a friend of mine asked which film I thought would do better. I paused, and after much hawing and hmming, looking distractedly around and rubbing my chin, I delivered the verdict that it would be Rab ne <br><br> The film was a love story, with a sweet, mushy feel - made not just for individuals but families. <br><br> Going by the posters, Ghajini seemed to be one of those brawn and gone stories with enough violence to make your hair stand on ends. <br><br> If Rab ne was really all about how this boring shy chap gets the hep girl to fall for him; well half the male population, including me, would turn up to watch. <br><br> Now that both films have released and Ghajini has beaten the boots off Rab ne with its box office collection, I am going to revise my opinion, and give my reasons thereof. <br><br> Rab Ne turned out to be a disappointment. For the past several films now, Shah Rukh seems to have breezed through his roles with crushing sameness. The guy, it seems, doesnt try. <br><br> One couldnt decide if the story was meant to be funny or romantic. Was it a romantic comedy? Then what was that serious stuff, involving Surinders angst for not getting the love of his wife, all about? <br><br> Are we supposed to believe in a woman who could drive a motorbike like a racer, without the benefit of the kind of suspension of disbelief that a Golmal requires? Were we really supposed to think that if a man changes his clothes, spikes his hair and shaves off his mo, he would become so unrecognizable that his wife would not be able to recognize him? <br><br> Rab Ne as a film, falls between two stools. It is neither a serious, sentimental look at love between mental strangers, nor a happy gag. <br><br> Aamir, wrote a columnist while talking of Ghajini, knows the importance of being earnest. Yes he hams, yes his repertoire of expressions are rather limited; but give it to the chap, what he does, he does with all his heart. <br><br> And he has that courage of conviction that makes him pick out movies that are different. Tare Zameen Par is a case in point. Sarfrosh, in which he acted for a debutant director, is another case in point. He is making films that he likes, and he is trying to take the audience along with him. <br><br> Therein lies a world of difference between Aamir and Shah Rukh. <br><br> Shah Rukh, in many respects the better actor, (see Chak De if you dont believe me) seems to have no compunctions about making and selling trash to the audience on the strength of his marketing and his star appeal alone (Om Shanti Om), which is something that Aamir Khan consciously avoids. <br><br> In his attitude, there is a certain contempt for the audiences intelligence. It seems that he believes the audience will gape through his well marketed capers if there is Shah Rukh Khan, the star (which by the bye, is a necessary distinction, he seems to treat the stardom accruing to his person different from himself), in it. <br><br> There is a conflict going on between the two types of film making, exemplified in the rivalry between the two stars. Now that Aamir has brought to his game that same sort of media management (just see the pre release hype around Ghajini) that Shah Rukh Khan has routinely employed, Ghajini has wiped the floor with Rab ne.. <br><br> What does that say about the future of film making in India?
Two robbers arrested

Police on Tuesday arrested two of a gang of robbers in Lalitpur. The arrestees have been identified as Ashok Giri, 22, of Belabaiju, Motihari district in India and Tanka Bahadur Tamang, 23, of Ramechhap.
US President Donald Trump invites Narendra Modi

US President Donald Trump has invited India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the United States after a phone call between the two leaders.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. American actor Miguel Ferrer, best known for playing Owen Granger on NCIS: Los Angeles, passed away aged 61 after battling cancer, ABC reported.

Miguel's cousin George Clooney paid tribute to the veteran actor saying in a statement: '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,'

Clooney continued: '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, 'We love you Miguel. We always will.'

Ferrer died at his Los Angeles home, surrounded by family and friends. Ferrer's other notable roles include Dr. Garret Macy on Crossing Jordan, , Vice President Rodriguez in Iron Man 3, and FBI forensic pathologist Albert Rosenfield in Twin Peaks.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on January 25 took part in the opening ceremony of the Solar Energy Investment Conference held on the sidelines of the Energy Week 2017 events that were organized by Armenia Renewable Resources and Energy Efficiency Fund and Expomedia Center of Exhibition Projects, press service of the Presidents Office told Armenpress.

The conference aims at presenting the latest developments in Armenias energy efficiency and renewable energy sector, existing problems, possible sources of finance, investment opportunities, technological and engineering solutions and perspective projects. More than 30 foreign companies from various countries are taking part in the conference which are interested in the opportunity of constructing solar power plants in Armenia.

The series of events include an exhibition in which local producers and sectors specialized companies will be represented. The organizers of the exhibition said the event will enable the visitors to get acquainted with samples of lighting and heating energy efficient systems, solar technologies and the proposed services in the field.

President Sargsyan delivered a welcoming speech at the conference.

"Armenpress" presents his full speech:

Distinguished Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I cordially salute the participants of the Solar Energy Investment Conference which is being held in the framework of the Energy Week-2017 event.

As one of the most important areas of the Armenian economy, the energy area in recent year has registered substantial achievements. The works conducted in this area are aimed at raising the level of the energy security of Armenia, providing dependable and uninterrupted services.

With the assistance of the international financial institutions, the high-voltage substations of structural importance have been almost totally renovated. Constant and persistent activities aimed at the creation of new capacities, construction of new power lines, and introduction of new technologies are being carried out in this area. In the regional context, we are efficiently cooperating with our neighbors  the Islamic Republic of Iran and Georgia. Armenia-Iran and Armenia-Georgia power lines will be put into operation in 2019 which will allow to elevate the energy system of Armenia to a qualitatively new level. The implementation of the mentioned above programs will allow to carry out the transit of energy power, seasonal sub-flows and swaps, as well as other commercial deals.

As a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, Armenia can become a unique bridge between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union. This factor creates excellent opportunities for the implementation of various investment projects by the state as well as private sectors.

In the long-run, the economies based on green principles are more promising and stable. For that very reason, in the development strategy of this particular area, we especially stress the importance of the development of the renewable energy such as solar, wind, thermal and hydro energy.

According to numerous of scientific explorations, Armenia possesses a great potential for the development of solar energy. In order to create an attractive milieu for the investors, in recent period of time we have implemented a number of legislative reforms, using the best world practices.

It is necessary to note that in recent years the cost of technologies for solar photovolt panels has decreased by nearly 80%. For that very reason, compared to other technologies for energy production, the industrial-scale technology for solar photovolt panels has become competitive. The preliminary studies show that thanks to these modern technologies currently it has become possible to get a competitive price for solar photovolt panels which in turn will allow to avoid negative impact on the set energy price for the ultimate consumers.

Thus, the world famous companies have every opportunity to participate at the tenders in Armenia and to build great capacity solar photovolt panels.

In coming years, we are planning to dramatically increase the share of renewable energy in the general energy balance sheet through the construction of solar, wind, and thermostations.

Distinguished Colleagues,

This Conference may become an excellent platform to discuss the latest developments in the area of renewable energy in Armenia and investment opportunities.

I wish you productive work and every success. I am confident that the results will not be long in coming.






YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. A BMW-320 crashed into the concrete wall of a building in the 39th km of the Yerevan-Armavir highway on January 25.

The Police HQ told ARMENPRESS the 25 year old driver died instantly upon impact.

Police are investigating the accident.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. According to Prime Minister Karen Karapetyans decision, Martin Kyurkchyan was dismissed from the post of acting Director of Urban Development Program Implementation Unit state agency under the State Urban Development Committee, reports Armenpress.

The PMs decision is posted in e-gov.am.

Martin Kyurkchyan was appointed in that post in May, 2016.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. Turkeys Prime Minister, Chairman of the ruling Justice and Development party Binali Yildirim said they will not act together with the Nationalist movement party in the upcoming campaign ahead of the constitutional referendum, T24.com.tr reports.

There is no joint campaign with the Nationalist movement party. We will carry out our campaign in coordination with the countrys president, the Turkish PM said.

Yildirim informed that during this week the date of the constitutional referendum will be announced. It is planned in the first half of April.

The Constitutional changes, proposed by Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (JDP) are comprised of 18 points. Opposition Nationalist movement party approved them.

After the Parliaments approval, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will sign the document which will be followed by a referendum.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. The UN attaches a great importance to the involvement of the Arab countries in the negotiation process on Syria, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura told RIA Novosti.

The involvement of the Arab states is very important for the UN. I am planning to inform the Arab states: after all, Syria is in the Arab world rather than on the Moon or Antarctica. We must make them understand what has been the essence of Astana meeting and what can be done to reduce threats to ceasefire, de Mistura said.

I am also planning to depart for the League of Arab States and inform them, he said, adding that the format of Geneva talks will be clear after the meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as well as the upcoming consultations in the UN Security Council.

I will depart for New York to inform about the Astana meeting which was very successful, and to ask them for advice on how to start the next talks, he said.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. Authorities are taking supervisory actions towards outdoor trade in Yerevan city.

Deputy Mayor of Yerevan Davit Ohanyan said the matter was mainly regarding salesmen of fresh fruits and vegetables.

In accordance to the Mayors assignment, 28 mini markets have been opened in Yerevans administrative districts, where outdoor salesmen are able to freely sell their products, he said.

Speaking about the problem of stray dogs/cats in the city, the Deputy Mayor said significant works have been undertaken in the past two years, and actions will be continuous.
We will build Mexico border wall: Donald Trump

Donald Trump has said a "big day" is planned on national security, including an announcement to build a wall on the border between the US and Mexico.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. Since the establishment of the Armenian Armed Forces, the military-medical service has passed a glorious path. Initially the military-medical service included military doctors who returned to Armenia from the Soviet Army, followed by specialists from the healthcare system, who remained in the Armed Forces after active participation in the war. As result, the military-medical service was established, along with its substructures, Colonel Kamavor Khachatryan, head of the military-medical department of the Armed Forces of Armenia told a press conference in ARMENPRESS. He divided the path of the military-medical service into several stages: formation, development and new era.

When the service was established, a couple of hospitals were formed, then the number of hospitals increased, followed by providing the hospitals with modern equipment. Necessary technical means were acquired in the new period, significant works were undertaken for the improvement of the conditions, Khachatryan said. The Colonel stressed that todays military-medical service performs any task.

In terms of trainings of the personnel, significant works were done during previous years. In 1994 a military-medical faculty was established on the basis of the M. Heratsi medical university, which produced many military doctors with time.

In 2016, with the assistance of the United States it was able to establish a training facility for paramedics. The first graduate group consists of 49 people. They are servicemen, trained especially as paramedics.

Military doctors carried out their duties on high level during the April War as well. According to Colonel Khachatryan, the military-medical system acted effectively, there wasnt even necessity to call back one hospital crew which was taking part in military exercises in Germany.

We carried out evacuation of the wounded during combat operations according to the Armenian model, designed by our specialists. As result, we surpassed the expected indicators. Sanitary losses were minimal, we maintained the golden hour of taking the wounded to the hospital, high level treatment was carried out in hospitals, and as result it was possible to save numerous lives, Khachatryan said.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. The rescue service of Yerevan received a call on January 25 that a resident of an apartment building in the citys Davitashen district is unresponsive in the apartment. First responders were dispatched to the scene immediately and opened the door, discovering the 62 year old man dead in the balcony.

The Yerevan Police Department told ARMENPRESS an explosion occurred in the apartment, which killed the resident.

Police are currently investigating the scene in order to determine the cause of the explosion.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. Armenia has a specific program in terms of actions in the fight against corruption, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said in an interview to the multinational MIR 24 TV.

When summarizing the Governments 100 days of activities, we presented the undertakings of that period. 9% of these normative were aimed at anti-corruption programs, around 10% at changing the business environment. Overall, our strategy for the fight against corruption is changing the environment which might create corruption risks, the PM said.

The PM said the Governments doesnt suggest establishing an anti-corruption organization, because as experience shows, such organizations dont eliminate corruption.

We want to create such an environment, where corruption risks become minimal, the PM said.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. The memorandum of cooperation signed by the Minister of Economic Development and Investments of Armenia Suren Karayan and Minister of Trade and Industry of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov in the presence of Armenian PM Karen Karapetyan and Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev is aimed at deepening Armenian-Russian cooperation in industry and trade.

Armenpress reports by the mentioned memorandum the sides will work for increasing trade volumes between the two states and improving the structure, increasing the share of both conventional and high technologies and innovative products in bilateral trade, as well as elaborating programs for diversification. By the document signed between the ministers a working group will be set for drawing a roadmap aimed at expanding and deepening cooperation between industrial companies of Armenia and Russia.

Suren Karayan and Denis Manturov also signed a document on Regional cooperation 2016-2021 plan.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan commented on an online footage, which went viral upon release, where he was playing the drums. In an interview to the multinational MIR 24 TV, the Prime Minister said the video was shot in Nagorno Karabakh, during a meeting with friends.

Karapetyan said the tremendously talented youth from the Children of Artsakh music band were also present at the meeting, and he experienced a musical creative outburst.

I didnt imagine that the footage will ever appear. I didnt learn to play anywhere, I just played in a rock band back when I was young. I dont play anymore, I dont have great experience, I would like to play but I dont get the chance, the PM said.

Asked what he likes to do in his spare time, Karapetyan mentioned he has become a very boring man during the last 4 months, he doesnt even get the time for reading.

Currently I am in either one of the two conditions  either at work or in bed, trying to sleep. But I will correct that, Karapetyan said.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. On January 23, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved President Donald Trumps Secretary of State nomination of Rex Tillerson by a party line vote of 11 to 10, clearing the path for approval by the full Senate, the news blog of the Armenian Assembly of America reports.

Rex Tillerson said the establishment of peaceful and stable relations between Armenia and Turkey is in the interests of the US.

In response to a question by New Jerseys senior Senator, Bob Menendez, Rex Tillerson said: The tragic atrocities of 1915 remain a painful issue in the relationship between Armenia and Turkey, and it is in the U.S. interest to ensure peaceful and stable relations between the two countries. If confirmed, I will support a full accounting of the historical events and an open dialogue between Armenia and Turkey in the interest of regional stability.

As for the violations of fundamental freedoms in Turkey, the new Secretary of State said he is concerned about the actions taken by the Turkish government. Religious freedom is a core American principle and an important aspect of international peace and stability. If confirmed, I will work with Turkey to safeguard religious minorities and promote respect for their cultural heritages, Tillerson said.

President Trumps U.S. Representative to the United Nations nominee Nikki Haley responded to Senator Menendezs question about supporting a U.S. declaration calling the Armenian Genocide as such, by stating: I will never shy away from calling out other countries for actions taken in conflict with U.S. values and in violation of human rights and international norms.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan who is in Russia on an official visit has met with Russias Armenian businessmen. The Premier introduced the summery of the 100 days of the Cabinets activities, as well as the reform process, focusing on precise steps aimed at improving the investment environment. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia, the PM stressed that the Government will ensure transparent, equal and competitive conditions for both domestic and foreign investors aimed at attracting foreign investments to Armenia. At the same time a number of investment projects directed at the development of the priority branches of the economy were introduced to the business circle.

At the end of the meeting over three dozens of Armenian businessmen in Russia issued a statement over their readiness to participate in the business projects and initiatives of the Government of Armenia.

Below is the text of the statement of the Armenian businessmen in Russia.

We, the representatives of the business circles of the Armenian Diaspora of Russia,

- Being interested in the improvement of the social-economic conditions in Armenia and recording progress in our historical Fatherland,

- Expressing our common desire and wish to jointly direct our enthusiasm, resources and experience to the sustainable economic development of Armenia to counter the external and domestic problems and challenges,

- Getting acquainted with the 100 days of the Armenian Cabinets activities, as well as its plans and projects for the long-term economic reforms,

WE ANNOUNCE

1. We express our full support to the efforts made by the leadership of the country headed by President S. Sargsyan and K. Karapetyan, aimed at conducting deep-rooted reforms in Armenia based on the potentials of the entire Armenian nation.

2. We share the goals and tasks of the mentioned reforms the implementation of which will transform Armenia into a safe, fair, modern, high-tech and dynamically developing country.

3. Confident in the principles of solidarity and partnership of all the Armenians, we express our readiness to participate jointly with the Armenian Government within our capacities in its initiatives and business projects.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian met with IOF Secretary General Michael Jean on January 25 in Paris.

As Armenpress was informed from MFA Armenia, the meeting attended by the Secretary General of the Organization and other high ranking officials addressed the issue of the preparatory works of the Francophonie Summit planned to be held in Armenia.

Edward Nalbandian informed Michael Jean that Armenia fully realizes the responsibility of hosting the Francophonie Summit and that issue was included in the December agenda of the session of the National Security Council of Armenia under the President of the Republic by the results of which the President assigned to set an inter-agency committee for the coordination of the preparatory works of the summit.

The sides discussed the possible time frame for holding the event, as well as made a detailed reference to the content of the summit and organizational issues.

During the meeting the sides also touched upon the results of the Francophonie Summit hosted in Antananarivo in November, 2016, the implementation process of the decisions, and exchanged ideas over various directions of IOFs activities.
There are currently eight Trump hotels in the United States.

Amid calls for US President Donald Trump to divest from his real estate empire, his namesake luxury hotel chain said Wednesday it plans to expand primarily in the US market while he is president.

"We see significant growth opportunity in the United States for both our hotel brands," a Trump Hotels spokesperson told AFP in an email, referring also to the newly announced Scion brand of more moderately priced hotels.

That statement came after comments from the chain's chief executive at a hotel conference Tuesday saying he plans to move into many major US cities.

"There are 26 major metropolitan areas in the US, and we're in five," Trump Hotels CEO Eric Danziger said at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles, Bloomberg reported.

"I don't see any reason that we couldn't be in all of them eventually," he said, adding that the company is looking at Dallas, Seattle, Denver and San Francisco.

And with President Trump lambasting any company offshoring jobs, Danziger said previous plans to take the hotel brand into China are "pretty much off."

"Both brands and any others we create will have a domestic emphasis for the next four or eight years," he said.

Trump refused to divest from his businesses, but turned over operations to his two older sons, and pledged to have a compliance officer review any proposed deal.

There are eight Trump hotels currently in the United States.

The company has properties in Hawaii and Virginia, as well as Chicago, New York (two), Las Vegas, Miami and the newest site just blocks from the White House.

The lower-priced Scion chain will be located in smaller cities, with the first due to open this year, Danziger said during the panel discussion.
An MIT review estimated that a 1,000 mile steel and concrete wall on the US-Mexico border would cost $27 to $40 billion

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order designed to start fulfilling his campaign pledge to build a wall along the US border with Mexico.

The stated goal of this gargantuan project is to keep out undocumented migrants, drugs and criminals. Here is a look at the feasibility of erecting such a barrier.

- How much would it cost? -

Billions. But exactly how much is not known.

Part of the 2,000 mile (3,200 km) border -- 653 miles of it, to be exact -- already features fencing that blocks people and/or vehicles. But just building 413 more miles of fencing would cost $11.4 billion, according to the Washington Office on Latin America, a non-profit research and rights group that quoted an estimate by US Customs and Border Protection.

Trump himself has been vague about the cost. His estimates have ranged from $4 billion to "around $10 billion." But architects and engineers have said it would cost much, much more.

In an article entitled "Bad Math Props up Trump's Border Wall," MIT Technology Review estimated late last year that a 1,000 mile steel and concrete wall would cost $27 to $40 billion.

The review put it this way: "Set aside the questions of whether it's wise to put a wall along the US-Mexico border or who should pay for it. It simply can't be done at the price Donald Trump has claimed."

- Where would he get the money? -

This is not very clear, either.

For now, the White House can only divert existing funds toward the project. The Republican-controlled Congress would need to supply new money if the wall is to be anywhere near completed. And Trump's party has spent the last decade preaching fiscal prudence.

Trump's executive order instructs Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to: "Identify and, to the extent permitted by law, allocate all sources of Federal funds for the planning, designing, and constructing of a physical wall along the southern border."

It also requests that he: "Project and develop long-term funding requirements for the wall, including preparing Congressional budget requests for the current and upcoming fiscal years."

Story continues

"There are a lot of funding mechanisms that can be used," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Wednesday.

"At this point his goal is to get the project started as quickly as possible using funds and resources that the department currently has, and then to move forward and work with congress on an appropriations schedule," Spicer said.

Trump has vowed repeatedly to make Mexico pay for the wall, perhaps by dipping into the remittances that Mexican migrants send home. These totalled $25 billion last year.

But Mexico has categorically ruled out paying for the wall or reimbursing the United States for it.

- What would it look like? -

Trump's executive order defines the proposed wall as "a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous, and impassable physical barrier."

At one point Trump had called for prefabricated concrete panels reinforced with steel rods, heavy materials that present immense logistical challenges: paving roads for access, building multiple sites for pouring concrete and hiring armies of workers over several years.

The wall would require foundations deep enough to ensure stability and discourage tunneling.

Again, that means lots of money.

A 40-foot concrete wall using a "post and panel" system sunk 10 feet below ground would cost at least $26 billion, according to Todd Sternfeld, CEO of a Texas company that makes precast concrete fence and barrier products.

- Other obstacles to the wall -

Take the Rio Grande River, for instance. It forms the natural border between Mexico and Texas. Laws prohibit construction that would impede flood management or interfere with the sharing of resources. And a treaty bars either country from diverting any flow of water.

What is more, Trump cannot just do as he pleases with the land along the border because much of it is privately owned. So building a wall would entail messy legal proceedings, political blowback, and substantial expropriation payments.

- Do Americans like the idea? -

They seem divided by the wall. A Morning Consult/Politico poll released Wednesday said 47 percent of voters support building a wall, with 45 percent against.

Critics say the wall proposal is pointless because, among other things, most drugs smuggled into the United States pass through legal entry points and are not transported through the desert.

And if the goal is to keep out unauthorized migrants, that flow is already down to near the level of the early 1970s, according to the Washington Office on Latin America.
Outer ring road construction: Works on Chobhar-Satungal stretch to start in Feb

The construction of the 6.8km segment from Chobhar to Satungal of the Outer Ring Road is likely to start from next month.
UPDATE: Add Virginia to the list of states which have passed this absurd resolution, and NCOSE claims its got five more states about to do so.

PIERRE, S.D.On Tuesday, January 24, state senators and representatives in South Dakota unanimously passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 4, declaring that "pornography is a public health crisis leading to a broad spectrum of individual and public health impacts and societal harms."

In all, 50 legislators voted for the bill, with Sen. Jenna Netherton (R-Sioux Falls), who originally introduced the resolution, telling KFGO News that "South Dakota should join other states in trying to educate the public about the harms of porn and prevent children from watching it."

The resolution, which is virtually identical to the one passed in Utah last March, was written by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), and that pro-censorship group seems to be shopping similar bills to legislatures around the countryincluding, most recently, Tennessee, where Sen. Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet), perhaps coincidentally, refiled on that same day the same NCOSE-written resolution which she had introduced last year. The Tennessee bill is designated Senate Joint Resolution 35.

Beavers claimed, however, that the impetus for her refiling the bill was having having received "calls from a group in Memphis providing information on pornography's effect on youth, including 'hyper-sexualization in teens and even pre-pubescent children.'" (NCOSE is currently based in Washington, D.C.)

"My goodness, you can't even look at Facebook anymore without seeing something," Beavers said in an interview.

While neither resolution would change either state's statutes regarding sexually explicit material, merely "recognizing the public health crisis created by pornography, the State of (Tennessee)(South Dakota) is acknowledging the need for education, prevention, research, and policy change at the community and societal level in order to address the epidemic that is harming the people of our State and our country as a whole," such resolutions form the basis for introducing various types of censorious legislation down the road. That would include Utah Sen. Todd Weiler's recent announcement that he was in the process of creating a bill that would allow Utah residents to sue adult producers, distributors and possibly even performers if the resident claimed that the explicit material had caused him/her to become "addicted" to pornography. (As family therapist Dr. Marty Klein has recently noted in his book His Porn, Her Pain, the concept of "pornography addiction" is a myth.)

And in yet another possible coincidence, the same night that South Dakota passed its anti-porn resolution, the Romantix adult boutique in Sioux Falls (Netherton's home town) was robbed by an armed bandit.

"An employee reported that a male entered the business, showed a gun, and left with cash," reported KDLT News. "The suspect is described as a Hispanic or Native American male around 20 years old with acne. He was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt and jeans." The bandit is still at large.

Oh, yeah: And that same South Dakota legislature is refusing to enact a ballot measure, passed by 60 percent of voters, instituting campaign finance, lobbying reforms, public financing for campaigns and creating the first independent ethics commission in the states history.
Health officers use mobile phones to input data during a trachoma mapping project in Ethiopia. / Dominique Nahr, Sightsavers

Editor's Note: The following blog provides information about a federal partner's digital efforts. Throughout the year we will share information from other federal HIV programs.



From health officers conducting contact tracing with mobile phones in Ebola-affected countries to TB patients using apps to fulfill their treatment regimen, digital technology is playing an increasingly central role in global health.



In fact, over the past decade, the use of mobile and web-based technologies to improve health has grown significantly  not only in developed countries but in emerging economies as well.



The field of digital health, as it is now known, has seen an uptake in financial investments and the projects launched around the world, according to a recent Exit Disclaimer by Exit Disclaimer. Strong health systems are built around reliable data. As such, digital technologies are becoming an integral component of efforts to achieve and measure progress toward ensuring people have access to affordable and quality health care, a principle enshrined in the United Nations Exit Disclaimer.

A woman holds a mobile phone in Ghana. /John OBryan, USAID



In our time leading the USAID Global Development Lab and Global Health Bureau, respectively, we have witnessed key transformations in the way USAID invests in and uses digital technologies to improve global health programming and outcomes. The Agency is moving away from business as usual and supporting game-changing initiatives like the Rumor Tracker, a two-way, mobile phone communications system that can facilitate the exchange of real-time data between Ministries of Health and frontline health workers.



The good news is that we are institutionalizing the best of what we have learned through years of project implementation, as captured in the Exit Disclaimer. In the past, digital health funding flows were driven by projects and programs in silos. We are gradually moving away from this, so we can make better-coordinated and aligned investments in scalable, sustainable and interoperable digital systems. Interoperability describes the extent to which systems and devices can exchange data and interpret shared information.

In Haiti, USAID has supported delivery of vouchers that can be read by a simple barcode reading app. / Naomi Logan, USAID



This past April, during a workshop organized by USAID, Dr. Sas Kargbo, director of the Department of Policy, Planning and Information at Sierra Leones health ministry spoke about his countrys experience in dealing with fragmented information during the Ebola crisis and how that impeded the ministrys ability to have an accurate and reliable picture of what exactly was happening on the ground. His vision, he underscored, is to have an integrated health information system, down to the community level, to improve the coverage, quality and reporting of service delivery. His vision is our vision.



Many promising open source technologies are showing the potential to scale in a sustainable manner, enabling country governments to manage the use of the technology over the long term. Yet these tools often suffer from a lack of core funding as they are largely driven by disease-specific problems whose interests lie only in finding disease-specific solutions.



This is why in September of this year, the Lab and Global Health Bureau created a new funding mechanism that will bring funds together across disease-driven platforms to break down silos in health programming. Our new digital health mechanism will dedicate a portion of its funds to financing some of these most promising tools and help them transition to sustainable business models.

Health education efforts in Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak. / World Bank Group



Our bet is that by better aligning digital health investments and increasing adherence to best practice for digital health tools, we can accelerate global health outcomes and ultimately save more lives. As these digital systems grow, we expect to see a flourishing of best practice examples driven by an increased demand for data for decision-making at all levels of the health system, from central health ministries to remote health worker posts.



But here is a word of caution. Experience has taught us that the effective use of digital technologies relies not just on connectivity, software and devices, but also on the capacity of individuals and institutions. This means that training is as important as hardware.



This lesson must permeate all of our future investments. Training will be a central activity of our new digital health funding mechanism as it supports digital health implementations in specific countries.

This USAID project supports local manufacturing of smart phones and digital devices in Haiti. / Naomi Logan, USAID



Our vision for the future builds on these lessons to optimize our investments and increase global health returns. At the end of the day, we are accountable to two audiences: American taxpayers who are committed to ending extreme poverty and building resilient and democratic societies, and people in developing countries who measure returns in the number of lives saved.

About The Author:

Ann Mei Chang, Chief Innovation Officer & Executive Director at The Global Development Lab, and Jennifer Adams, Acting Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Global Health

Related Links:
By Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico will fight for free trade with NAFTA partners Canada and the United States in talks with the new U.S. government, as well as seek bilateral trade deals with other nations, President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Monday. In a keynote foreign policy speech aimed at reassuring the Mexican public about the impact of Donald Trump's presidency, Pena Nieto set out his priorities and underlined the importance of frank, open dialogue with the new U.S. administration. "Neither confrontation nor submission. The solution is dialogue and negotiation," Pena Nieto told business and political leaders at his official residence. "Trade between the three countries should be free of any tariff or quota." Trump wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada in order, he says, to bring back jobs, and has threatened to dump the accord if the talks do not yield a "fair" deal. Separately, on Monday, a businessman named by Trump to head a business advisory council, Stephen Schwarzman, said Canada has a "very special status" and is not a target of changes sought to the NAFTA accord. Trump, who took office on Friday, has threatened to slap hefty taxes on companies that produce in Mexico for the U.S. market, and to build a border wall to combat illegal immigrants that he says Mexico will pay for. "Mexico doesn't believe in walls. Our country believes in bridges," Pena Nieto said. Pena Nieto listed 10 objectives for talks with Trump, including getting U.S. pledges to guarantee Mexican migrants' rights, ensuring the free flow of remittances from the United States into Mexico, and adding sections on telecommunications and energy to NAFTA. During his election campaign, Trump had threatened to stop allowing wire transfers of money out of the United States from Mexican nationals unless Mexico agreed to fund a border wall. Mexico will also immediately seek bilateral deals with countries that signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal, Pena Nieto said. Trump formally withdrew the United States from the TPP on Monday. Pena Nieto said Mexico would work more closely with Brazil and Argentina and other Latin American countries, as well as strengthening its business ties with Asia. This week, senior U.S. and Mexico officials will meet in Washington to discuss trade, security and immigration. Pena Nieto and Trump will meet at the end of January. Mexico's peso was little changed by Pena Nieto's announcements. The currency was gaining ground for a second session in a row after Trump refrained from specifically mentioning Mexico in his inauguration speech last Friday or taking initial actions that would disrupt trade with Mexico. (Additional reporting by Mexico City Newsroom; Writing by Christine Murray; Editing by Simon Gardner and Leslie Adler)
Reuters

BENGALURU (Reuters) -WhatsApp is globally rolling out a feature called Communities to organize various chat groups in larger structures, as well as other features such as bigger group video calls and in-chat polls, the messaging service owned by Meta Platforms said on Thursday. The Communities feature will bring together various chat groups under bigger umbrellas where administrators could send alerts to a community of thousands  a feature that could be used by workplaces or schools. The app will now also allow chat groups to have up to 1,024 users, much higher than the 256 participants restriction it had until recently, according to a company statement.
By Julia Edwards Ainsley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders starting on Wednesday that include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries, say congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter. Trump, who tweeted that a "big day" was planned on national security on Wednesday, is expected to ban for several months the entry of refugees into the United States, except for religious minorities escaping persecution, until more aggressive vetting is in place. Another order will block visas being issued to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, said the aides and experts, who asked not to be identified. In his tweet late on Tuesday, Trump said: "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!" The border security measures probably include directing the construction of a border wall with Mexico and other actions to cut the number of illegal immigrants living in the United States. The sources say the first of the orders will be signed on Wednesday. With Trump considering measures to tighten border security, he could turn his attention to the refugee issue later this week. Stephen Legomsky, who was chief counsel at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama administration, said the president had the authority to limit refugee admissions and the issuance of visas to specific countries if the administration determined it was in the publics interest. "From a legal standpoint, it would be exactly within his legal rights," said Legomsky, a professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. "But from a policy standpoint, it would be terrible idea because there is such an urgent humanitarian need right now for refugees. The Republican president, who took office last Friday, was expected to sign the first of the orders at the Department of Homeland Security, whose responsibilities include immigration and border security. On the campaign trail, Trump initially proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, which he said would protect Americans from jihadist attacks. Both Trump and his nominee for attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, have since said they would focus the restrictions on countries whose migrants could pose a threat, rather than a ban on those of a specific religion. Many Trump supporters decried former President Barack Obama's decision to increase the number of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States over fears that those fleeing the country's civil war would carry out attacks. LEGAL CHALLENGES POSSIBLE Detractors could launch legal challenges if all the countries subject to the ban are Muslim-majority nations, said immigration expert Hiroshi Motomura at UCLA School of Law. Legal arguments could claim the executive orders discriminate against a particular religion, which would be unconstitutional, he said. "His comments during the campaign and a number of people on his team focused very much on religion as the target," Motomura said. To block entry from the designated countries, Trump is likely to tell the State Department to stop issuing visas to people from those nations, according to sources familiar with the visa process. He could also instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to stop any current visa holders from those countries from entering the United States. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday the State and Homeland Security Departments would work on the vetting process once Trump's nominee to head the State Department, Rex Tillerson, is installed. Other measures may include directing all agencies to finish work on a biometric identification system for non-citizens entering and exiting the United States and a crackdown on immigrants fraudulently receiving government benefits, according to the congressional aides and immigration experts. To restrict illegal immigration, Trump has promised to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and to deport illegal migrants living inside the United States. Trump is also expected to take part in a ceremony installing his new secretary of homeland security, retired Marine General John Kelly, on Wednesday. AUSTRALIA DEAL UNDER THREAT Trump's executive order threatens a refugee resettlement deal with Australia signed late last year, and could leave more than 1,000 asylum seekers in limbo. The U.S. agreed to resettle an unspecified number of refugees being held in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the tiny South Pacific island nation of Nauru on Australias behalf, under a deal to be administered by the U.N. refugee agency. "Any substantial delay in the relocation of refugees...would be highly concerning from a humanitarian perspective," Catherine Stubberfield, a spokeswoman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, told Reuters by email. "These men, women and children can no longer afford to wait." The deal followed agreement by Australia in September to join a U.S.-led program to resettle refugees from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador as part of its annual intake. Australia's tough border security laws mandate that asylum seekers intercepted trying to reach the country by boat go for processing to detention camps on PNG's Manus island and Nauru. Australia does not provide information on the nationalities of those held, but around a third of the 1,161 detainees were from countries covered by the executive orders, lawyers and refugee workers for the asylum seekers told Reuters. "We already didn't have much hope the U.S. would accept us," Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian refugee who has spent more than three years on Manus island, told Reuters. "If they do not take us, Australia will have to." A spokeswoman for Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declined to comment. (Reporting by Julia Edwards Ainsley; Additional reporting by Mica Rosenberg; Additional reporting by Colin Packham in Sydney; Editing by Leslie Adler and Clarence Fernandez)
As Canada celebrates its 150th year of Confederation, Mi'kmaq Warrior Chief John Levi says First Nations people are still struggling with poverty and he's made a call to action to remind the country of its shortcomings.

"Where we are right now, like the frustration with Canada, we are struggling," said Levi, from Elsipogtog First Nation. "The First Nations are struggling. We're pretty much living in Third World countries.

"It's kind of insulting to me and  I imagine all the First Nations also

"While we are struggling here and the government is spending millions of dollars on celebrating 150 years, think about the First Nations that are struggling and going without."

Levi said equal resource-sharing would go a long way in helping to solve his community's problems, a goal the community set out to achieve by filing a rights-and-title claim for more than one-third of the province in New Brunswick's Court of Queens Bench on Nov. 9, 2016.

"With all the resources here in New Brunswick, speaking for us in New Brunswick, we should have a share of the resources," he said. "We wouldn't have to rely on their money with all the resources in New Brunswick.

"We wouldn't have to rely on their money if they gave us the equal share."

Call to action

Over the weekend, Levi put a call out for all First Nations to have a day of action on Canada Day.

He's calling on Indigenous people and their supporters and hopes a powwow will be a reminder that not everything about Canada's history is worth honouring.

Levi said the history of Canada being celebrated includes a history of rights violations and environmental degradation in First Nations territories, including his own.

"Look at it this way, we were here thousands of years and just within the last 500 years of the Europeans, pretty much our water is contaminated, the land is contaminated and it didn't take long for them to do it," said Levi.

Story continues

He remembers as a child drinking from lakes and rivers, but today the water is contaminated, he said.

- Elsipogtog facing overcrowding crisis due to housing shortage

"Our children here on the reserve, like a lot them, go to bed at night hungry and drink poor quality water, and some of them barely have a roof over their head and Canada should think about that first, instead of celebrating 150 years," said Levi.

New Brunswick reaching out

The government of New Brunswick said it will be reaching out to First Nations to participate in the 150-year celebrations.

"Government is committed to building a positive and respectful relationship with First Nations and working collaboratively with the chiefs," said Valerie Kilfoil, a spokeswoman for the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture.

"Nation-to-nation reconciliation with Indigenous people is a key theme of Canada 150 celebrations and the province is reaching out to New Brunswick First Nation communities."

The federal Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs hadn't responded to a request for comment by late Tuesday afternoon.

Get Aboriginal perspectives

Jessica Christmas from Membertou First Nation in Nova Scotia said that as Canada marks its 150th anniversary, she would like to see non-Indigenous people taking time to learn more about Indigenous people.

"They can educate themselves, they can take our workshops that we provide, like powwows or sweats," she said. "Like non-natives, they can get Native perspectives by attending these things," said Christmas.

And Christmas was also concerned about the loss of Indigenous languages.

Julia Augustine, a Mi'kmaq woman from Elsipogtog, said she hopes Aboriginal people will one day be seen as equals by non-native people.

"The fact that we live in reservations and they're poor  lives are not great here," said Augustine.
Career and Technical Education

Contest Extends Help to Expand CTE Programs

A new competition promises technical support for projects intended to expand career and technical education (CTE) programs for underserved and high-needs youth. The program comes from a partnership between Social Finance and Jobs for the Future. The first is a nonprofit that finds ways to use capital to "drive social progress." The second is a non-profit that addresses the needs of underserved populations in the areas of college readiness and career success. A United States Department of Education grant is the primary funding sources for the initiative.

The "Pay for Success" competition, as it is titled, hopes to woo applicants running community CTE programs that have shown some measure of success and could be expanded. In the pay-for-success model, private investors put up capital for the delivery of services by service providers and are repaid (most often by the government) based on the outcomes achieved, covering the cost of the services along with a modest return. "Social impact bonds" provide the means to shift the financial risk from those providing the services to those funding them. In the ideal scenario, those outcome payments are just a fraction of the expense that would be incurred by a government entity providing comparable services.

In the case of this program, the outcomes might be increased high school graduation rates or improved earnings for young people, according to Tracy Palandjian, chief executive officer and co-founder of Social Finance. "This competition supports the development of the first pay-for-success projects in K12 education," she said in a prepared statement.

Applications for the competition are being accepted until March 17, 2017. The two organizations will choose four applicants from among the contenders, which will receive help in developing a feasibility study and support for developing a project based on organizational characteristics and track record, strength of application and the potential for impact on outcomes for those to be served. Applicants may be local education agencies, postsecondary institutions and consortia.

The organizations are hosting an informational webinar for potential applicants on Friday, Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Additional information is available on the competition website here.
Trump border

The Mexican peso has back-peddled on some of its earlier gains.

The Mexican peso is up by 0.9% at 21.3318 per dollar as of 12:44 p.m. ET.

It was up by 1.1% at 21.2929 per dollar around 11:48 a.m. ET.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump told ABC News that the construction of the border wall between the US and Mexico would begin in "months."

On Tuesday, Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told the Televisa network, "There are very clear red lines that must be drawn from the start" as he prepared to meet with US officials in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday.

Asked whether the Mexican delegation would walk away from the negotiating table if the wall and remittances are an issue, Guajardo said: "Absolutely."

President Donald Trump wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada.

On Tuesday evening, the president tweeted "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"

As for the rest of the world, here's the scoreboard as of 7:47 a.m. ET:

The US dollar index is down by 0.3% at 99.97. "Participants appear to be growing increasingly frustrated with emerging priorities of the new US Administration," Marc Chandler, the global head of currency strategy, wrote. "They want to hear more details and discussion of the tax reform, deregulation, and infrastructure plans. However, the priority today is on authorizing the construction of a wall between the US and Mexico and possible action on immigration from "terror-prone" countries, according to press reports."

The British pound is up by 0.5% at 1.2588 against the dollar. The currency is at its best level since mid-December. Still, a group of analysts at UBS argue that the pound's recent mini-rally will be short lived. "Our strategists are pricing in more weakness to come. Again, we've gone a long way, and yet the uncertainty that the Article 50 procedure is likely to bring further weakness," UBS Investment Bank's Chief European Economist Reinhard Cluse said.



The euro is up by 0.2% at 1.0753 against the dollar. Earlier, the German Ifo Business Climate index came in at 109.8 in January, below expectations of 111.3, and below the prior month's reading of 111.0.

The Russian ruble is little changed at 59.2213 per dollar, while Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, is down by 1% at $54.88 per barrel.

Weiterlesen

NOW WATCH: Here's how to use one of the many apps to buy and trade bitcoin





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Donald Trump

President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for a "major investigation" into his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud  but his own lawyers are on record saying there is no such evidence that such fraud exists in the US.

Late last year, attorneys representing Trump wrote as much in court filings submitted to squash recount efforts by Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein in Michigan and Pennsylvania, The Washington Post reported in December.

In the filing submitted in Michigan on behalf of Trump's campaign, Trump's lawyers made a direct statement that no evidence pointed to voter fraud existing in the 2016 election.

"On what basis does Stein seek to disenfranchise Michigan citizens?" the filing said. "None really, save for speculation. All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake."

The lawyers wrote that the purpose of Stein's recount effort was "to sow doubts regarding the legitimacy of the presidential election."

The filing in Pennsylvania did not go quite as far, limiting its analysis only to the state.

"On what basis does Stein seek to disenfranchise the voters of the Keystone state?" it said. "None really. There is no evidence  or even any allegation  that any tampering with Pennsylvania's voting systems actually occurred."

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

Trump secured the presidency in the November 8 election with 306 electoral votes to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's 232. Clinton, however, won the popular vote by nearly 3 million.

In late November, Trump first made the baseless claim that "millions" had voted illegally in the election and had swung the popular vote in Clinton's favor. He also claimed without evidence that "serious voter fraud" occurred in Virginia, New Hampshire, and California  all states that he lost. The secretaries of state for each of those three states strongly rebuked Trump's assertion and said no such fraud took place.

Weiterlesen

Trump's false assertions were brought back to the forefront this week when he made a similar claim during a meeting on Monday evening with congressional leaders, much to the dismay of several Republicans. Trump's claims that voter fraud had an impact on the election have repeatedly been shot down by fact-checkers and voting officials.

Reporters grilled the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, about Trump's claims on Tuesday, with Spicer saying the voter-fraud claim was "a longstanding belief he's maintained." He added that the "belief" was based on "studies and evidence" Trump had been presented. Spicer said the president believed that as many as 3 million to 5 million people voted illegally in November's election.

The study cited by Spicer, and one previously cited by Trump during the campaign, did not prove Trump's assertions. Authors of both studies have said they did not prove Trump's assertions.

When asked whether this belief would spark an investigation, Spicer said "maybe we will." He did not answer whether he personally believed that millions voted illegally.

Trump followed up on Wednesday morning by announcing his intention to start an investigation.

"I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and," he said in an initial tweet, adding, "even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

NOW WATCH: Here's how President Obama starts every morning



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PHILADELPHIA--Promising, early studies of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease have paved a path for future clinical trials, but there are unique ethical challenges with this vulnerable population regarding decision making and post-study treatment access that need to be addressed as they ramp up, Penn Medicine researchers argue in a new review in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

Does the patient still have the capacity to make an informed decision half way through the trial? Are there any misconceptions about its therapeutic benefit? Will the device remain after the trial ends, and who will pay for it?

These are the questions posed in an ethics review piece that also lays out guidelines for investigators to consider when enrolling Alzheimer's patients in DBS trials. The article is authored Andrew M. Siegel, MD, an assistant professor of Clinical Psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Marna S. Barrett, PhD, an adjunct associate professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at Penn, and Mahendra T. Bhati, MD, a former assistant professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Penn, who is now at Stanford University, in an ethics review piece that also lays out guidelines for investigators to consider when enrolling Alzheimer's patients in DBS trials.

Approved for the treatment of movement and neuropsychiatric disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, DBS is an invasive, surgical procedure involving the implantation of a microstimulator that sends electrical impulses to specific targets in the brain. Driven by the urgent need for effective therapies and the success of recent studies, DBS has now emerged as a possible treatment for Alzheimer's.

"As the number of people affected by Alzheimer's continues to grow, along with its substantial costs to individuals, their families, and society, novel therapies are urgently needed. DBS is one such treatment modality that has shown promising early results," Siegel said. "However, this enthusiasm should be tempered by prudent ethical considerations to help better protect the patients."

The authors call out three ethical issues that should be addressed and recommendations.

Ensuring the trial subjects possess adequate decision-making capacity is important, the authors said, because such individuals have cognitive deficits that may reasonably limit that capacity and thereby compromise informed consent. DBS for trials must have a robust mechanism for both detecting loss of decision-making capacity and protecting the interest of the patients during the trial, they wrote. Suggestions include an Institutional Review Board (IRB)-mandated use of a validated decision-making capacity assessment, such as the MacCAT-CR interview, and an "auxiliary consenter," someone not affiliated with the study to determine the patient's knowledge about the procedures, risks, and the device.

Therapeutic misconception is another concern. Patients with Alzheimer's, desperate for relief and without an effective alternative, may agree to DBS as a last resort. Such desperation may alter their perception that the primary goal of the study is for health benefits and not knowledge about the efficacy of the device. Left unchecked, it could distort patients' understanding of the risks and benefits of DBS.

"It may be necessary to directly inform patients during study consent that 'scientific goals will have priority over therapeutic goals'," the authors wrote. A "cooling off" period, where patients have adequate time to process all the information that has been given to them, may also prove effective.

Another question to be asked at the end of the trial is whether patients who have benefited from the device should continue to receive treatment. This question is particularly salient considering the high cost of DBS and the fact that the device may be with the patient for many years after the trial ends. The authors believe denying a patient access to the only intervention known to alleviate their suffering is tantamount to violating the sacrosanct principle of "do no harm."

"Providing post-trial access to the subset of patients shown to benefit in a failed trial is not only ethically appropriate," Siegel said, "but it would allow for the collection of longitudinal safety and efficacy data not captured in the original study."

Once post-trial access is accepted by a research team, the challenge is financial responsibility. Patients, together with sponsors, investigators, health care systems, insurance, governments, and non-profit organizations must partner to share responsibility and negotiate continued access arrangements prior to study enrollment, the authors said.

This model has worked in the past -- the HIV Netherlands, Australia, Thailand Research Collaboration is one example.

"We hope this review facilitates the development of study designs and IRB oversight procedures that best protect research subjects," Siegel said. "A reasonable next step is for research centers and hospitals to examine their current practice and policies guiding DBS in Alzheimer's research. Our review could act as a guide in helping them ask the relevant questions about their current state of oversight and to consider changes as appropriate."

###

Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania(founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $5.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 18 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $373 million awarded in the 2015 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center -- which are recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report -- Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Wissahickon Hospice; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional affiliated inpatient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region include Chestnut Hill Hospital and Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a partnership between Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and Penn Medicine.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2015, Penn Medicine provided $253.3 million to benefit our community.
The Best Little Floorhouse in Texas Your choice for flooring in Central Texas! Your flooring is more than just the surface you walk on  it's an integral part of your home. With over 35 years of flooring experience, The Best Little Floorhouse in Texas has the resources and knowled
By Richard Balmforth and Ingrid Melander PARIS (Reuters) - Frontrunner Francois Fillon faced a crisis in his campaign for the French presidency on Wednesday when prosecutors opened an inquiry for misuse of public funds after a press report that his wife drew a salary as his assistant but never actually worked. Fillon, a right-wing former prime minister, said he was outraged at the report by the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine which he said showed "contempt and misogyny". "I see the stink bomb season has started," the 62-year-old told journalists in the city of Bordeaux. Fillon is running for The Republicans party in the presidential election on April 23 and May 7. While he faces a strong challenge from far-right leader Marine Le Pen, second in the polls, and from independent centrist Emmanuel Macron, Fillon has generally been seen to be on a smooth ride to the Elysee. That lead could be affected by how he handles a crisis that risks denting his image as a devout Catholic and family man with a relatively scandal-free record in office. Hours after Wednesday's report, financial prosecutors in Paris said they were opening an inquiry into misuse of public funds relating to the matter. "Following the publication ... in the Canard Enchaine of a story calling Mrs Penelope Fillon into question, the financial prosecutor's office today opened a preliminary investigation into misappropriation of public funds, misuse of company assets and concealment of these offences," a statement said. The opening of a preliminary investigation is a first step in the judicial process and does not mean that either Fillon or his wife will eventually be charged or even placed under formal investigation. Fillon said in a statement that he wanted to meet investigators as soon as possible to establish the truth and defend his honour. "This particularly fast decision (to open an investigation) will silence this campaign of slander and will put an end to these baseless accusations," he said. It is common practice for French parliamentarians to employ wives, children and even mistresses in their office. But the allegation that Fillon's British-born wife, Penelope, was paid for fake jobs - a charge to which he did not reply directly on Wednesday - could undermine his pledge to pursue an honest and transparent campaign and hurt his ratings as the race for the presidency gathers pace. For the French voter, the case has echoes of similar past scandals over "phantom" jobs. Alain Juppe, another former prime minister whom Fillon visited in Bordeaux on Wednesday, was convicted over use of public funds for fake jobs more than 10 years ago in a case that also led to conviction of former President Jacques Chirac. CANDIDATE OF HONESTY Polls have for months highlighted voter discontent with the political elite and any hint of improper use of public finances could worsen that perception at Fillon's expense. Socialist former prime minister Manuel Valls, who hopes to win his party's ticket as presidential candidate, urged Fillon to explain himself on the matter. "You can't be the candidate of honesty and transparency and not respond," Valls told France Inter radio. Le Pen usually trades in voter distrust of mainstream leaders but she and other top FN officials remained very discreet. Asked to comment, Le Pen told Europe 1 radio she would not take part in "the politics of stink bombs." Her own National Front party is under judicial investigation over allegations of improper employment of assistants by its lawmakers in the European Parliament. Analysts were divided on how much the disclosures could affect Fillon's election fortunes. With three months still to go before the April 23 first round, Fillon had time to shrug it off, said Frederic Dabi of Ifop pollsters. But Fillons image of honesty was a key factor in him securing the Republicans' nomination, said Jean-Daniel Levy, of Harris Interactive pollsters, and he would run into trouble if voters now began doubting his character. Le Canard Enchaine, which has lifted the lid on political shenanigans for decades, reported that Penelope Fillon had been paid 600,000 euros (511,421) for many years of employment as a parliamentary assistant to him and later to his replacement as a National Assembly lawmaker, and for work at a cultural journal. It said that its research had showed there was no evidence she had ever really worked. Fillon's public relations team have emphasised there is nothing illegal about her working for her husband in the National Assembly. They said her apparent lack of presence in the work-place by saying she preferred to work "in the background", in keeping with her self-effacing style. Fillon and his wife, who is from Wales, were married in 1980 and have five children. Last October, she told a newspaper, Le Bien public: "Up to now, I have never been involved in the political life of my husband." The image conveyed by glossy magazines and television shows is of a woman leading a country life and keeping home for her family in their 12th century chateau near Le Mans, west of Paris. (Reporting by Claude Canellas in Bordeaux, Chine Labbe, Emmanuel Jarry, Sophie Louet, Brian Love and Leigh Thomas in Paris; Writing by Richard Balmforth; Editing by Alison Williams and Dominic Evans)
thuan pham uber

Shortly after Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, the chief technology officer of Uber rattled off an explosive email meant for a small group of employees that quickly spread like wildfire within the company, Business Insider has learned.

In the message, CTO Thuan Pham blasted Trump as a "deplorable person" and called his election a huge step backward  even comparing it to the rise of ruthless dictators such as Mao Zedong in China and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia after the Vietnam War.

The email was being circulated internally among employees again in the past week, as Uber has come under fire for its link to the Trump administration. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was recently named as one of 19 executives who will advise President Trump on economic issues, joining Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Disney CEO Bob Iger.

The visceral reaction by a top executive at one of the world's most valuable private companies reflects Silicon Valley's ongoing struggle to come to terms with a president who is deeply unpopular within the industry. Even Uber, whose outspoken CEO and aggressive business tactics have long courted controversy, appears to be divided by a crisis of conscience within the ranks as some employees weigh the costs of being perceived as a pro-Trump shop.

Uber's ties to the Trump administration made headlines on Friday after protesters barricaded the doors of its San Francisco headquarters to denounce Uber's "collaboration" with Trump.

At the weekly Uber all-hands meeting on Tuesday, Kalanick addressed the Trump issue and the blowback it had created for the company. Kalanick pushed back against the criticisms, explaining that he was joining many other business leaders on Trump's council looking to create job opportunities and to improve urban mobility:

"The CEO of Disney, the CEO of IBM, the CEO of GM, the CEO of Uber, the CEO of Tesla, and maybe 15 other companies you've heard of ... We have a party  our political party is called the Urban Mobility Party. The shorthand is UMP. We're a coalition party; we'll partner with anyone in the world as long they're about making transportation in cities better, creating job opportunities, making it easier to get around, getting pollution out of the air and traffic off the streets. And so that's what this is about. It's about the leaders we have to work with around the world, not just here in the United States but everywhere. And being optimistic  asking can we make urban mobility better? But does it [the board/protests] make great headlines? Of course."

Story continues

Still, employees are "pissed" that they are being connected to Trump, whose comments about immigrants and women have upset many people, one insider at the company said.

"Uber takes great pride in their diversity, and being connected to Trump paints a bad image about us," the person said. While Kalanick's association with Trump is an affront to some employees, for many others the worry is that the company is now viewed as being aligned with Trump  a reputation they believe is unjustified and does not reflect the opinions of employees and executives.

'I am embarrassed'

Uber protest

On Friday, when protesters chained themselves to Uber's front door, the company emailed its employees advising them to work from home but pointedly avoided commenting on the fact that Uber was being targeted because of its connection to Trump, calling it "an election-related, anti-Uber protest."

Uber responded publicly to the protest, saying it was looking forward to working with the new administration as it did the Obama administration: "As a company we're committed to working with government on issues that affect riders, drivers and the cities where we operate. Just as we worked with the Obama Administration, we'll work with the Trump Administration, too."

Related:

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One employee who supported the national protests against Trump remains upset that the company is being viewed as pro-Trump and targeted as well. "I am embarrassed that my CEO's actions have caused people outside the company to view me as collaborating with this unreasonable administration," the employee said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because employees are not authorized to speak to the press. "I am not in a position to leave my job, but I'll be watchful for signs of direct collaboration."

Kalanick has yet to meet Trump, according to the company, despite being named to the president's 19-member Strategic and Policy Forum. When Trump held a summit with tech leaders in December, Kalanick kept his travel plans to go to India. Some view his appointment to the economic advisory council as a necessary step for the business.

"I think Uber is full of nonideological pragmatic capitalists who realize that autonomous vehicles will have enormous regulatory hurdles to overcome (some legitimate, some nostalgic)," a former employee said. "As such, working with Trump's administration is about securing the future and making sure that stupid laws aren't passed. Put another way, there's a lot of stupid and ignorant rules that can be put in place by crony protectionists, and Travis's involvement is a hedge against that possible outcome."

'I will not even utter the name of this deplorable person'

The company's ties to Trump remain an ongoing conversation. One employee said the subject had come up often in conversations with leaders, as it did again in Tuesday's all-hands meeting.

"Most people I know at work are deeply disturbed by what's going on with the US government, myself included," another employee said. "I'm proud of our company's efforts to support marriage equality and reduce racial discrimination. I believe that we'll do the right thing [with] the Trump administration as well. As much as we can anyway."

Despite the outward appearance of working with the administration on economic efforts, it's clear that there is still a shadow of the election hanging over the company.

Pham's missive, which was sent sometime after the November election to an internal Uber email list for LGBTQ employees that's estimated to have "hundreds" of subscribers, continues to circulate. It was also shared in an internal chat room. Though the note is proof that the company wasn't all in Trump's corner, one source at the company felt it was still inappropriate for an executive to spout off political beliefs.

"He is probably one of the most loved employees, and this was a lapse of judgment," the source said. "If you read up on Thuan, he is a refugee from Vietnam, so a lot of the rhetoric really hits home for him."

While Kalanick might have to keep close ties with the administration for the good of the company, Pham's email  and his pledge to never even utter Trump's name  is an example of a company's internal struggle to come to terms with this administration. Here is the message, which seems to have been in response to a previous email:

Likewise, I could hardly sleep at night. I am still shocked and numbed from the absolutely illogical outcomes of this election. When the election outcome certifies the dumbing down of America, the racist, divisive and hateful attitudes, the politics of obstruction and destruction, our country has taken a huge step backward that might take decades to course correct (especially when it comes to the make up of the Supreme Court justices and the issues that will come before them).

It is absolutely illogical and insane to believe that we can solve the hardest diplomatic, policy, and societal problems by putting in charge a person who doesn't know much about any such thing. How can we sleep peaceful at night for the next 4 years knowing that the biggest societal problems rests on his lack of intellectual curiosity, judgment and temperament? It is indeed terrifying! This is an emperor with no clothe [sic], and things will get very ugly before his reign is over.

We can weep at this momentary loss, but we cannot allow ourselves to wallow in misery for long. We need to call up our inner resolve to get back up and keep fighting for a better world. The fight will be hard and long, but we just have to do it. In two years, all the people who were conned into voting for this person will see the harm he will have done and there will be an opening to move the Senate toward the blue side to check his power. And then we'll have to work hard to make sure the next president in 4 years will be a Democrat and wins in a landslide.

Unless this ignoramus triggers a nuclear holocaust that wipes out civilization as we know it, the long arc of history will continue to bend toward more social justice and equality and a better lives [sic] for people around the world. We are already living in a far more tolerant and inclusive world today than 50 years ago, than 100 years ago, etc... And the quality of life and comfort for an average person today already far exceeds the Kings and Queens just a few centuries ago (we have telephone, electricity, modern medicines, car & plane transportation, etc.). But we all need to keep charging forward to create and fight for the future that we want, technologically and socially.

Occasionally, the world takes a step backward with such things as world wars, Mao Tse-dong, Khmer Rouge, Darfur, W. Bush and his wars, etc., and now this. But I am optimistic that the world will correct itself, even if [sic] takes another catastrophe for American [sic] to usher in the next Obama as our president. In the mean time, for the next four years, I will not even utter the name of this deplorable person because I do not accept him as my leader. I will instead do everything I can to help defeat him and his destructive agenda over the next few years.

Time to put on our Champion's Mindset and pick ourselves off the floor. There is much work that we can do to help make this world a better place, through what we do here at work and in our society.

/Thuan

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More From Business Insider
john kerry

The State Department is reviewing a last-minute decision by former Secretary of State John Kerry to send $221 million dollars to the Palestinians late last week over the objections of congressional Republicans.

The department said Tuesday it would look at the payment, one of the Obama administration's final acts in office, and might make adjustments to ensure it comports with the Trump administration's priorities.

Kerry formally notified Congress that State would release the money Friday morning, just hours before President Donald Trump's inauguration.

"I was tracking President Obama's 11th-hour moves on the Palestinians, and this issue never came up once ... Most analysts and observers didn't think Obama would or could do this," Dr. Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told Business Insider.

Congress had initially approved the Palestinian funding in budget years 2015 and 2016, with the US Agency for International Development sending the Palestinians $355 million in 2015.

But at least two GOP lawmakers Ed Royce of California, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Kay Granger of Texas, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee had placed holds on the funds as the Palestinian Authority had pursued "a unilateral tract towards statehood and they were not trying to work with Israel," said Schanzer.

Congressional holds are generally respected by the executive branch but are not legally binding after funds have been allocated. "Most analysts and observers didnt think Obama would or could do this," said Schanzer.

"The easiest way to sum it up is that Congress had been looking at various behaviors from Palestine  unilateral attempts at statehood, corruption, incitement of violence, and paying salaries to people in jail for terrorism  and that's why the hold has been there," said Schanzer.

Story continues

mahmoud abbas yasser arafat

Granger released a statement Tuesday saying, "I am deeply disappointed that President Obama defied congressional oversight and released $221 million to the Palestinian territories."

She added: "I worked to make sure that no American taxpayer dollars would fund the Palestinian Authority unless very strict conditions were met. While none of these funds will go to the Palestinian Authority because of those conditions, they will go to programs in the Palestinian territories that were still under review by Congress. The Obama Administration's decision to release these funds was inappropriate."

The Obama administration had for some time been pressing for the release of the money, which comes from the US Agency for International Development and is to be used to fund humanitarian aid in the West Bank and Gaza, to support political and security reforms and to help prepare for good governance and the rule of law in a future Palestinian state, according to the notification sent to Congress.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

Obama's unilateral attempt to send the money came as he closed his presidency with a critical eye toward Israel. In December, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding that Israel stop building settlements on Palestinian land. The US refused to vote on the resolution, effectively allowing it to pass.

Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, which Abbas has urged against.

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Vietnamese English

NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New York City Regional Center (NYCRC) is pleased to announce the full repayment of the $60 million EB-5 loan in its Brooklyn Navy Yard Phase I Project. The borrower of the EB-5 capital was the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. All 120 EB-5 investors are receiving full repayment of their $500,000 investment. The $60 million EB-5 investment and resulting job creation enabled 359 individuals (EB-5 investors and family members) to receive permanent green cards under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. They are among the more than 2,400 individuals that have received permanent green cards through NYCRC projects to date.



The NYCRC works exclusively in Vietnam with USIS Group, the most trusted name in immigration consulting services in Vietnam.

The $60 million of EB-5 capital helped fund a key phase of redevelopment at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the New York City government-owned industrial park. EB-5 capital assisted the transformation of a 215,000 square foot industrial building into New York Citys leading hub for green manufacturing and sustainable design. EB-5 capital was also used to assist with surrounding infrastructure improvements in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

We are very pleased that all investors in the project are receiving full repayment of their $500,000 investment, said Paul Levinsohn, Managing Principal of the NYCRC. This represents a total of $60 million of capital returned to 120 EB-5 investors. This repayment and the hundreds of individuals who have achieved permanent residency in this project are major milestones for the NYCRC and, of course, for our EB-5 investors and their families. The NYCRC takes very seriously our responsibility to assist our EB-5 investors and their families begin a new life in America. We extend our best wishes to them on their continued journey and we look forward to helping all our investor families in the future.

The NYCRC was approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2008 to secure foreign investment for real estate and infrastructure projects within Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. The NYCRC was the first EB-5 regional center approved in New York City. To date, the NYCRC has secured over $1.3 billion of EB-5 capital for 21 economic development projects throughout the city.

In addition to seven projects in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the NYCRC has provided EB-5 capital to assist with the redevelopment of the George Washington Bridge Bus Station and the construction of a wireless infrastructure network in New York Citys subway stations. The NYCRC is providing EB-5 capital for the redevelopment of a new cargo facility at JFK Airport and the construction of Fresh Directs new headquarters in the South Bronx. NYCRC funding is also being used for construction of the City Point development in downtown Brooklyn, a new medical office/hotel complex in Washington Heights, and the expansion of the Hutchinson Metro Center in the Bronx.

The NYCRC is currently securing EB-5 capital to help fund the construction of LinkNYC, the public-private initiative that is bringing the nations largest and fastest public Wi-Fi network to the streets of New York City.

In addition to helping fuel economic development in New York City, NYCRC projects have produced thousands of immigration approvals for its EB-5 investors and family members. These include:

Over 2,400 permanent green cards

Over 5,100 conditional green cards

Over 2,340 I-526 petition approvals

Over 800 I-829 petition approvals

We are extremely proud of the NYCRCs stellar track record over the past eight years. We look forward to continuing this success in conjunction with USIS Group, our exclusive partner in Vietnam, said Mr. Levinsohn.

For more information about the NYCRC, please visit www.nycrc.com

For more information about USIS Group, please visit www.usis.us
Swedish English Finnish

Solidium's return on equity holdings was 24.8% for the six-month review period and 18.0% for the full calendar year 2016

Solidium's net asset value increased by EUR 981 million due to the increase in the value of the equity holdings during the review period and was EUR 7,109 million at the end of the period

Solidium's profit distribution to the State for the financial period ending 30 June 2016 was EUR 278 million

A new Board of Directors of Solidium was elected as of 1 August 2016 and Solidium received new Guidelines on 15 September 2016

Solidium's Managing Director Kari Jarvinen will leave his position in 2017

Kari Jarvinen, Managing Director of Solidium Oy, comments the review period:



"In the second half of year 2016 the equity markets rebounded clearly, and especially the stock price development in the steel companies Outokumpu and SSAB was strong. The recovery of the steel markets as well as the actions to improve profitability made by these companies were reflected in their value development, which was better than for the peer companies.



Solidium received new Guidelines and a new Board of Directors was elected during the review period. These steps establish a firm basis to continue the valuable work as a Finnish anchor owner.



My task as the Managing Director of Solidium will end on 31 January 2017 after which I will act as an advisor to Solidium until the end of July 2017. The past 8 years as the Managing Director of Solidium have been very interesting and I have had the opportunity to establish and develop a new way to manage Finnish ownership in listed companies. A new phase will be starting in Solidium to which the new Board of Directors and the new Guidelines provide excellent conditions."



SOLIDIUM'S HOLDINGS



Development of holdings and key indicators



The total value of Solidium's holdings (equity holdings and money market investments) was EUR 8,536 million on 31 December 2016 (EUR 6,970 million on 30 June 2016 and EUR 7,296 million on 31 December 2015). The total return on Solidium's holdings was 22.4% for the review period and 16.2% for the last twelve months.



Detailed information on the breakdown and the returns of the holdings are attached to this report.



Equity holdings

The value of Solidium's equity holdings on 31 December 2016 was EUR 7,848 million (EUR 6,308 million on 30 June 2016 and EUR 6,836 million on 31 December 2015). The total return on the equity holdings was 24.8% for the review period and 18.0% for the last twelve months. The best returns during the review period were generated by Outokumpu and SSAB, whereas the development of Elisa and Telia were among the weakest.



Money market investments

On 31 December 2016, Solidium's money market investments totalled EUR 688 million (EUR 662 million on 30 June 2016 and EUR 459 million on 31 December 2015). The return on money market investments was 0.2% for the review period and 0.4% for the last twelve months.



Participation in nomination boards



Solidium actively participates in the work of the nomination boards responsible for preparing board elections and in developing this process further. The board elections of the portfolio companies of Solidium are a fundamental way for Solidium to influence as an owner, and the participation in the board elections through the nomination boards either as a chairperson or a member, an effective way to exercise influence over a company's strategic direction and to increase overall shareholder value.



Managing Director Kari Jarvinen has been serving as Solidium's representative in the shareholders' nomination boards of Elisa, Metso, Outokumpu, Outotec, Stora Enso, Talvivaara Mining Company and Valmet as Chairman, as well as in the nomination boards of Kemira, SSAB, Telia Company, and Tieto as a member. These nomination boards prepare proposals for the 2017 Annual General Meetings on the election of board members and their remuneration.



Sale of shares



In August 2016 Solidium sold class B shares in SSAB to the market for EUR 7.9 million. The shares were subscribed for in June 2016 in the secondary subscription of SSAB's rights issue for EUR 4.1 million. After the sale Solidium holds 17.1 % of the total shares and 11.0 % of the total votes in SSAB.



SOLIDIUM OY DURING THE REVIEW PERIOD



General Meetings of Shareholders



The Extra General Meeting of Shareholders of Solidium was held in Helsinki on 29 July 2016 electing a new Board of Directors of Solidium as of 1 August 2016. To the Board of Directors were elected: Chairman Harri Sailas, Vice Chairman Eija Ailasmaa, and members Aaro Cantell, Markku Hyvarinen, Paula Lehtomaki, and Marjo Miettinen.



The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Solidium was held in Helsinki on 7 September 2016. The AGM adopted the company's financial statements for the financial period of 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016 and discharged the members of the Board of Directors and the Managing Director from liability. The AGM resolved in accordance with the proposal of the Board that a dividend and a capital distribution totaling EUR 278 million will be paid for the financial period. Harri Sailas was re-elected as Chairman of the Board, Eija Ailasmaa as Vice Chairman and Aaro Cantell, Markku Hyvarinen, Paula Lehtomaki and Marjo Miettinen as Board members. The AGM kept the remuneration of the Board unchanged confirming that the Chairman of the Board of Directors shall receive a fee of EUR 5,500 per month, the Vice Chairman EUR 3,000 per month and the members EUR 2,500 per month. In addition, a meeting fee of EUR 600 was confirmed for each meeting. The firm of authorised public accountants KPMG Oy Ab, with APA Raija-Leena Hankonen as the principal auditor, was appointed as Solidium's auditor to serve for a term expiring at the end of the next AGM.



New Guidelines for Solidium



The Cabinet Committee on Economic Policy considered the new Guidelines of Solidium on 15 September 2016. According to the Guidelines Solidium is a Finnish anchor owner, which has a national interest in its activity. Solidium has both the right and the obligation to develop its holdings, and both the investments and the divestments have to be economically arguable. The funds from the share sales by Solidium shall be utilized to new investments or to strengthen current ones. In addition, Solidium shall have the readiness, if so decided, to account for the capital management of the portfolio companies and to participate in any rights issues or other financing arrangements in accordance with its ownership share.



Solidium's Managing Director



Solidium's Managing Director Kari Jarvinen will leave his position in 2017. Mr. Jarvinen's duties will end on 31 July 2017. Jarvinen will continue his work as the operative Managing Director of Solidium until 31 January 2017, after which he will act as an advisor to Solidium until the end of July 2017.



Key figures



Solidium's operating profit for the review period was EUR 0.0 million. Solidium's operating expenses totalled EUR 1.6 million during the review period, resulting in a management cost ratio of operations of 0.05%. The capital gain from the sale of the SSAB shares was EUR 1.6 million.



Financial items include a total amount of EUR 705 million relating to reversal of value impairments in accordance with the accounting principles, of which EUR 449 million is related to shares in Outokumpu, EUR 26 million is related to shares in Outotec and EUR 231 million is related to shares in SSAB. Solidium's net asset value was by the end of the review period EUR 7,109 million. The net asset value increased during the review period despite the profit distribution of EUR 278 million due to the increase in value of the equity holdings by more than EUR 1.5 billion.

1 Jul 2016-

31 Dec 2016

(6 months) 1 Jul 2015-

31 Dec 2015

(6 months) 1 Jul 2015-

30 Jun 2016

(12 months) Operating profit, EUR million 0.0 -1.7 -3.5 Profit for the period, EUR million 643.1 -439.8 11.2 Return on investment at fair values, % 22.4 -2.5 -7.4 Management cost ratio of operations, % 0.05 0.05 0.05 Net asset value, EUR million 7,109.2 6,389.6 6,127.9 Shareholders' equity, EUR million 4,200.6 3,384.4 3,835.5 Financial debt, EUR million 350.0 350.0 350.0 Equity ratio, % 85.6 90.6 91.6 Average number of employees 10 12 12

This half-year report is available at http://www.solidium.fi/en/publications-and-media/half-year-report/. This report is unaudited.



Solidium Oy



Further information: Kari Jarvinen, Managing Director, tel. +358 (0)10 830 8905



Solidium is a limited company wholly owned by the State of Finland. Its mission is to strengthen and stabilise Finnish ownership in nationally important companies and increase the value of its holdings in the long term. The basis and core objective of Solidium's strategy is proper, value-enhancing asset management of its current holdings. Through its stakes, Solidium is a minority owner in twelve listed companies: Elisa, Kemira, Metso, Outokumpu, Outotec, Sampo, SSAB, Stora Enso, Talvivaara Mining Company, Telia Company, Tieto and Valmet. The market value of Solidium's equity holdings is approximately 8.0 billion euros at the date of this press release. Further information: www.solidium.fi/en.



The complete half-year report can be found here:

Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/edf769d3-297a-4f44-91d2-b020a41de140
Finnish English

Tikkurila Oyj

Stock Exchange Release

January 25, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. (CET+1)

Tikkurila Nomination Board's proposals for the members of the Board of Directors and their remuneration

The Nomination Board of Tikkurila proposes to the Annual General Meeting, which is planned to be held on April 4, 2017, that the number of Board members would be six and that Eeva Ahdekivi, Harri Kerminen, Riitta Mynttinen, Jari Paasikivi, Pia Rudengren, and Petteri Wallden would be re-elected. Board members' term lasts until the end of the next Annual General Meeting.

In addition, the Nomination Board proposes that Jari Paasikivi would be elected as Chairman and Petteri Wallden as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors.

The Nomination Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors would stay at the current level. The suggested annual remuneration would be as follows: EUR 64,000 for the Chairman, EUR 40,000 for the Vice Chairman and the Chairman of the Audit Committee, and EUR 32,000 for other members of the Board of Directors. Approximately 40 percent of the annual remuneration would be paid in Tikkurila Oyj's shares acquired from the market and the rest in cash. The shares would be acquired directly on behalf of the Board members within two weeks from the release of the interim report for January 1-March 31, 2017.

Furthermore, a meeting fee for each meeting of the Board and its Committees (excluding decisions without a meeting) would be paid to the members of the Board of Directors as follows: EUR 600 for meetings held in the home state of a member and EUR 1,200 for meetings held outside the home state of a member. If a member participates in a meeting via telephone or video connection the remuneration would be EUR 600. Travel expenses would be paid according to the travel policy of the company.

The members of the Tikkurila Nomination Board are Pekka Paasikivi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oras Invest Oy; Timo Ritakallio, President and CEO of Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company; and Reima Rytsola, Executive Vice President, Investments of Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company. The fourth member of the Nomination Board is Jari Paasikivi, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tikkurila Oyj, who acts as an expert member.

Tikkurila Oyj

Erkki Jarvinen, President and CEO



For further information, please contact:

Antti Kiuru, Tikkurila Oyj, Group Vice President, Legal, mobile +358 400 686 488, antti.kiuru@tikkurila.com

Pekka Paasikivi, Chairman of the Tikkurila Nomination Board, mobile +358 50 501 0666



Tikkurila is the leading paints and coatings professional in the Nordic region and Russia. With our roots in Finland, we now operate in 14 countries. Our high-quality products and extensive services ensure the best possible user experience in the market. Sustainable beauty since 1862.

www.tikkurilagroup.com
NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Rio Tinto plc (Rio Tinto or the Company) (NYSE:RIO) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and docketed under 16-cv-09572, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Rio Tinto American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) between March 16, 2012 and November 14, 2016, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.



If you are a shareholder who purchased Rio Tinto ADRs during the Class Period, you have until February 10, 2017 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.

[Click here to join this class action]

Rio Tinto, a mining and metals company, finds, mines, and processes mineral resources. The Company mines and produces aluminum products, including bauxite, alumina, and aluminum; copper, gold, silver, and molybdenum, as well as nickel; diamonds, titanium dioxide feedstocks, borates, and salt, as well as high purity iron, metal powders, zircon, and rutile; uranium; iron ore; and thermal coal, and coking or metallurgical coal. Rio Tinto has operations in Australia, North America, Asia, Europe, Africa, and South America. At all relevant times, Rio Tinto has held a significant stake in the Simandou iron mine, located in southern Guinea.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Companys business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Rio Tinto violated anti-corruption laws in connection with its operations with respect to the Simandou project; (ii) the foregoing violations would expose the Company to significant scrutiny and large fines; and (iii) as a result of the foregoing, Rio Tintos public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant time

On November 9, 2016, Rio Tinto announced that on August 29, 2016, Rio Tinto became aware of email correspondence from 2011 relating to contractual payments totalling US$10.5 million made to a consultant providing advisory services on the Simandou project in Guinea, that the Company had suspended Energy & Minerals chief executive Alan Davies, and that the Companys Legal & Regulatory Affairs group executive Debra Valentine had resigned from her role.

On November 14, 2016, post-market, Bloomberg News published an article entitled Rio CEO Says Staff Shocked by Probe That May Take Years. On this news, as the market processed the significance and scope of the investigation that the Company faced, Rio Tintos ADR price fell $1.52, or 3.83%, to close at $38.13 on November 15, 2016, the following trading day.

On November 15, 2016, post-market, Rio Tinto announced the termination of Mr. Davies and Ms. Valentine. On this news, Rio Tintos ADR price fell $0.77, or 2.02%, to close at $37.36 on November 16, 2016.

On November 18, 2016, pre-market, Bloomberg News reported that Guineas Mines and Geology Minister, Abdoulaye Magassouba, had written a letter to Rio Tintos Chief Executive Officer, Jean-Sebastian Jacques, asking him to provide details of the internal inquiry. On November 18, 2016, pre-market, Bloomberg News also published an article entitled Rio Tinto Offered Bribe for Mine, Ex-Guinea Minister Says, reporting that the head of Rio Tintos Guinea operation had offered the countrys former mining minister a bribe in connection with the Simandou project.

On these disclosures, Rio Tintos ADR price fell $1.01, or 2.69%, to close at $36.55 on November 18, 2016.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com
SAN DIEGO, Jan. 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. announces that a lawsuit was filed in New York on behalf of certain purchasers of shares of General Cable Corporation (NYSE:BGC) over alleged Securities Laws Violations by General Cable Corporation.

Investors who purchased shares of General Cable Corporation (NYSE:BGC) have certain options and for certain investors there are short and strict deadlines running. Deadline: March 6, 2017. (NYSE:BGC) investors should contact the Shareholders Foundation at mail@shareholdersfoundation.com or call +1(858) 779 - 1554.

The plaintiff alleges that the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that General Cable Corporation (General Cable) paid millions of dollars in bribes to government officials in foreign countries, including Angola, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Indonesia, India, and Thailand, in order to secure business, that the foregoing conduct was in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1997 (FCPA), that General Cables revenues were therefore in part the product of illegal conduct, and, as such, subject to disgorgement and unlikely to be sustainable, that the foregoing conduct, when it became known, would subject the Company to significant regulatory scrutiny and financial penalties, and that as a result of the foregoing, the Companys statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On September 22, 2014, General Cable disclosed some of its staff had issued payments to officials of Angola government-owned public utilities, which some considered a violation of the FCPA. On February 26, 2015, General Cable announced that in connection with a possible settlement of FCPA offenses, the Company expected to disgorge $24 million in profits from bribe-tainted sales in Angola.

On February 10, 2016, General Cable revealed that it may have incurred more than $33 million in profits through transactions potential in violation to the FCPA.

On December 29, 2016, General Cable revealed that the Company has agreed to pay $82.3 million to resolve the U.S. governments investigation into inappropriate payments to government officials in Egypt, Angola, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and Thailand.

The U.S. Department of Justice stated [b]etween 2002 and 2013, General Cable subsidiaries paid approximately $13 million to third-party agents and distributors, a portion of which was used to make unlawful payments to obtain business, ultimately netting the company approximately $51 million in profits.

Those who purchased General Cable (NYSE:BGC) shares should contact the Shareholders Foundation, Inc.

The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. is a professional portfolio legal monitoring and a settlement claim filing service, which does research related to shareholder issues and informs investors of securities class actions, settlements, judgments, and other legal related news to the stock/financial market. The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. is not a law firm. The information is provided as a public service. It is not intended as legal advice and should not be relied upon.
News_release

Having a loved one go through a critical illness is a stressful and traumatic experience that may have lasting effects months after the patient is discharged from the intensive care unit (ICU). To improve the well-being of both patients and family during this vulnerable time, a set of new guidelines has been released, providing physicians with evidence-based strategies to optimize outcomes for the critically ill and those at their bedside.

The guidelines promoting family-centered care in neonatal, pediatric and adult ICUs were published in Critical Care Medicine and presented at the Society of Critical Care Medicine's (SCCM) 46th annual Critical Care Congress.

There is increasing awareness that support for family can also improve patient outcomes, said Judy Davidson, lead author of the guidelines and a nurse at UC San Diego Health. "Families in the ICU aren't visitors  they are an integral part of the care and the care team.

Based on an analysis of more than 450 qualitative and quantitative studies, a multidisciplinary, international panel of 29 health care experts developed a series of recommendations for family-centered care, defined as an approach to health care that is respectful of and responsive to individual families' needs and values. The experiences and perspectives of former ICU patients and family members from UC San Diego Health, the University of Maryland (UOM) School of Medicine, patient advocacy organizations and the LGBTQ community were used to develop the new guidelines.

The 23 recommendations grouped into five categories include: space for loved ones to sleep; educational programs to teach family how to assist with care; encouraging family members to be part of the decision-making process; implementing ICU diaries to reduce a familys anxiety and post-traumatic stress; and involving a multi-disciplinary team, such as psychologists, social workers and spiritual advisors.

UC San Diego Health is among the first hospitals in the nation to embrace the concept of implementing a family diary in the ICUs.

Structured interventions and approaches to support family members of critically ill patients are needed both to mitigate the impact of the crisis of critical illness and to prepare family members for decision-making and caregiving demands, said Davidson. Up to half of families with a critically ill loved one experience psychological symptoms. A robust program built around family-centered care may decrease the negative impact surrounding critical illness. It is a matter of public health.

The guidelines suggest that clinicians and institutions need to decide which intervention or combination of interventions are likely to be the most successful in specific circumstances.

We have developed a self-analysis tool that ICUs can use to build a customized family-centered plan that will bring change, said Robert El-Kareh, MD, MPH, hospitalist at UC San Diego Health and associate professor at UC San Diego of Medicine, who was instrumental in building translational tools to help ICUs move recommendations into practice.

UC San Diego Health has already implemented the family-centered care approach, partnering with family members to inform physicians about personal experiences and ways to improve practices. The ICUs at UC San Diego Health encourage a culture of families being present, even during physician rounds and the resuscitation of a loved one. All 52 rooms in the neonatal intensive care unit at the new Jacobs Medical Center at UC San Diego Health are private to encourage parents to touch and hold their infants and reduce the risk of infection.

UC San Diego Health is also one of the first in the nation to operationalize a post-ICU clinic to support patients and families after their hospital stay, going above the current recommendations for practice, said Davidson.

Additional co-authors include: Mary Wickline, and Alexander Kon, UC San Diego; Rebecca Aslakson, and Sandra Swoboda, Johns Hopkins; Ann Long, Erin Kross, and J. Randall Curtis, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington; Kathleen Puntillo, and Linda Franck, University of California San Francisco; Joanna Hart, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; Christopher Cox, Duke University; Hannah Wunsch, University of Toronto; Mark Nunnally, University of Chicago and New York University; Giora Netzer, and Elie Azoulay, University of Maryland School of Medicine; Nancy Kentish-Barnes, Hopital Saint Louis; Charles Sprung, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center; Christiane Hartog, Jena University Hospital; Maureen Coombs, Victoria University of Wellington; Rik Gerritsen, Medisch Centrum; Ramona Hopkins, Brigham Young University and Intermountain Medical Center; Yoanna Skrobik, MSc McGill University; Elizabeth Scruth, Kaiser Permanente; Maurene Harvey, Lake Tahoe; Mithya Lewis-Newby, University of Washington, Seattle Childrens Hospital; Douglas White, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; Colin Cooke, University of Michigan Hospitals; and Mitchell Levy, The Warren Alpert School at Brown University.
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
The stunning white and blue photo made by a Ukrainian photographer Taras Dut shows an ice castle on top of the Pip Ivan mountain in the Carpathians. This photograph has been selected to the finale of the international Wiki Loves Earth photo competition, Joinfo.com reports.

Ukrainian photographer made this fabulous photo of the snow-covered observatory on top of the Pip Ivan mountain together with his friend. The mountain is 2,028 meters high above sea level. The weather conditions are harsh there in winter: deep snow and frost of -20C. The friends spent a night on the mountain in order to take a picture at dawn.

The Pip Ivan mountain is very beautiful but very dangerous as well. A group of tourists got stuck on the mountain in December because of the difficult weather conditions. A rescue team had to help the tourists descent from the mountain.

According to the contest site, 15 finalists of the third-year Wiki Loves Earth contest were selected among more than 13,600 participants. The top 15 photos of the gorgeous landscapes this year come from Serbia, Bulgaria, Nepal, Estonia, Ukraine, Spain, Austria, Brazil, Germany, and Thailand.

National judging in 26 regions sorted through 115,000 photos and sent the best to international judges from Ghana, Germany, South Africa, Kosovo, France, India, Estonia, Indonesia, and Bulgaria.

See also: International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival 2016 in Harbin.

The Carpathian Mountains is a mountain range system forming an arc roughly 1,500 km (932 mi) long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe (after the Scandinavian Mountains, 1,700 km (1,056 mi)).

They are very picturesque and photogenic, as you can see in this breathtaking video below:
From a group of 16 contestants, five teams are officially moving forward into the final stretch of the Google Lunar X Prize competition  an international contest to send the first private spacecraft to the surface of the Moon, The Verge reports.

To win the competition, one of these finalists has to be the first to launch a spacecraft to the Moon by December 31st, 2017, and then explore the lunar surface.

The five teams moving ahead are SpaceIL, Moon Express, Synergy Moon, Team Indus, and Hakuto, according to an announcement by the X Prize Foundation today. The groups are based in various countries across the globe, spread from the US West Coast to Japan. In order to advance to this stage of the competition, each team had to secure a verified launch contract before the end of 2016. That entailed booking a rocket to launch the teams spacecraft in 2017 and then having that launch contract verified by the X Prize Foundation.

The first group to get one of these verified contracts was the Israel-based team SpaceIL. In October 2015, SpaceIL announced that its lunar lander, named Sparrow, would ride to space as a secondary payload on one of SpaceXs Falcon 9 rockets by the second half of 2017. The next to secure a contract was Moon Express based out of California, which has a long-term ambition of mining the Moon for resources. The company announced in December 2015 that its MX-1E lander would launch on top of a smaller, experimental rocket called the Electron, manufactured by aerospace startup Rocket Lab. The Electron has yet to fly for the first time, but test launches are supposed to happen sometime in early 2017. Moon Express has alsoreceived approval from the US government to fly its mission.

The remaining three teams secured launch contracts in the second half of 2016. Synergy Moon, an international team made up of members from more than 15 different countries, announced in August that it would be launching its lunar lander and rover on top of a Neptune 8 rocket. That vehicle is being manufactured by Interorbital Systems, but like the Electron, the rocket has yet to fly to space.

As for the India-based Team Indus and Japan-based team Hakuto, the two have decided to share a ride to space. Team Indus booked a ride for its lunar lander and rover on a PSLV rocket  a proven vehicle developed by Indias space agency, the Indian Space Research Organization. However, it turned out that Team Indus had room to spare on its spacecraft, so the group struck a deal with Hakuto. Team Indus lander will now carry the Japanese teams rover to the Moon as well.

Todays announcement means that a few other hopefuls are no longer officially in the race.One team based out of Germany called Part-Time Scientists was seemingly close to advancing to the next round, too. The group announced at the end of November that it had signed a contract with Spaceflight Industries, a company that helps find rockets for spacecraft launchings. The deal was for PT Scientists rover to launch as a secondary payload on a yet unidentified rocket, according to Space News, but it seems that the contract was not officially verified by X Prize before last years deadline.

However, all 16 teams, including the ones that didnt advance to the next round, will be receiving a money prize, too. X Prize announced today that groups would all be splitting a $1 million Diversity Prize as a reward for their unique approaches to spaceflight and all the educational outreach that the teams have done leading up to the final stage of the competition. Each of these teams has pushed the boundaries to demonstrate that you dont have to be a government superpower to send a mission to the Moon, while inspiring audiences to pursue the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, Chanda Gonzales-Mowrer, senior director of the Google Lunar X Prize, said in a statement.

Established in 2007, the Google Lunar X Prize is just one of many global contests created by the X Prize Foundation aimed at addressing specific needs for society. Other competitions have focused on mitigating the effects of climate change or improving health care, but the ultimate goal of the Google Lunar X Prize is to come up with ways of lowering the cost of spaceflight.

Photo: SpaceILs Sparrow lander.
This is terrible. I ache thinking about the useful work that (presumably) the civil rights division of the Justice Department could be doing instead. BUT, I'm almost glad of it. I think there are a lot of things that could be done that are not just wastes of time, but worse than that. I know everyone says, this will lead to more voter suppression. I don't see how. They are already doing as much as they can and will continue to do so as long as they control the state legislatures. It is time for everyone who opposes this to take a week of vacation (if you have it) and volunteer to do voter registration. Help people get the documents they need. Give people rides to the offices that are only open for 4 hours every other Monday to do it. Put together the hard facts that the ACLU needs to prove these requirements are legally identical to a poll tax. If they can find 10 cases of in person voter fraud (that weren't caught), I'll eat a hat - figuratively, not literally.
Ask Andres Oreamuno 14 what makes San Jose special, and hell begin rattling off fun facts about Costa Ricas capital city. For instance, did you know that it still holds a piece of the Berlin Wall, or that it was the third city in the world  behind Paris and New York  to have electricity?

In just under two years, the 25-year-old College graduate has founded and developed City Square Tours, a hop-on, hop-off tour bus company that connects tourists with the rich history and culture of San Jose.

Every hour and a half, seven days a week, the bus embarks on a journey featuring 50 of the citys most notable attractions, includ- ing the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, the Jade Museum, the Old Solera Pharmacy Flat Iron Building and the Central Market, to name a few. There are 12 stops and two different routes, and patrons can begin and conclude the tour wherever they choose. This past May, City Square Tours expanded its list of offerings with a guided tour of two microbreweries  Cervecera del Centro, famous for its Cerveza Ambar beer, and the Costa Rica Craft Brewing Company. Both are located in San Jose.

The former College business student operates his business with a tight-knit team of five, which allows him to work directly with customers. It also lends some versatility to his schedule.

My daily role is very dynamic, Oreamuno says during a rare moment of early-morning peace at the office. On any given day, Im not sure what Ill be doing. I could be leading the tour or popping by different hotels in San Jose to promote City Square Tours.

On an average day, 12-15 or 25-30 travelers who hail mostly from the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and other cities in Costa Rica might register for a tour.

When Oreamuno serves as a guide, he volunteers his cell phone number and dis- tributes wristbands that have City Square Tours main number on them, should anyone get separated. His team also shuttles customers from their hotels to business head- quarters and back again, which, on occasion, has required the ordering of Uber vehicles.

The Costa Rica natives commitment to his customers symbolizes the dedication he has to his business and the city he calls home.

Its a challenge, but starting your own business is something you have to really believe in. Every day you have to want to give it your all, he says.

Oreamuno founded City Square Tours in October 2014, but it was in the works long before then. Four years earlier, he took a hop-on, hop-off tour of Chicago, and was inspired. After fine-tuning his skillset at Manhattan, he pooled the money hed earned from summer jobs, birthdays and graduations throughout the years to build its foundation. To purchase the company tour bus, he sold his car.

Last winter, Oreamuno was able to share the knowledge hes absorbed in two years with students in the Colleges School of Business, who spent a week observing the market strategy and management of different companies in Costa Rica. They spent three days in San Jose during the study abroad trip in January.

Carolyn Predmore, Ph.D., a marketing and management professor at the College, led the trip to Latin America, where she made sure her students spent ample time touring San Jose with Oreamuno.

Andres was beaming when he talked about City Square Tours, and he was so eager to show it off. He wanted to make sure that we saw and experienced the best of the city, she says.

When Predmore taught Oreamuno as an undergrad, he was already developing great business sensibility.

He was always focused, and I knew that once he found what he really was interested in and saw how all the parts would work, hed succeed, she remembers.

The same can be said of his Manhattan education. When Oreamuno looks back on his years in Riverdale, he considers all of his experiences significant because theyve made him the company owner he is now  the professors he had, the knowledge he gained, and the collaboration with other students.

Manhattan College helped me to develop into an innovative entrepreneur by providing me great professors, like Dr. Predmore, who became my mentors, he says. It also gave me an awesome family of friends, some of whom have already visited Costa Rica.

Overall it was an awesome life experience.
Improvised explosive devices and associated blast injuries have left over 350,000 U.S. service members in Iraq and Afghanistan with an invisible wound: traumatic brain injury.

"Soldiers get blown on their butt from an improvised explosive device. Often they lose consciousness for 30 seconds to six minutesbut there's no penetrating injury," said David K. Johnson, associate professor of clinical psychology at the University of Kansas. "The military has great body armor now that keeps them from dying in these blasts, but the head and brain are still injured. Soldiers who otherwise would've died in previous wars now suffer head injuries. IEDs are cheap, easy to make and effective. This is why they are the signature weapon of terrorist organizations."

Johnson is the principal investigator of a team of researchers on a two-year, $500,000 clinical trial to improve soldiers' quality of life supported by the Department of Defense to assess intensive cardiorespiratory exercise as a way to help wounded warriors recover from mild traumatic brain injury, or mTBI.

"By far, mTBI is the most common brain injury," Johnson said. "There's a lot of soldiers with pretty significant problems. It's not just the initial injury that causes so much damage but also the biochemical reaction that unfolds over time afterward. You develop migraines, blurry vision, motor problems. Parts of the brain can die, and it takes a long time to recoverweeks, months, sometimes never."

On a visit to Irwin Army Community Hospital at Fort Riley, home of the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division, the KU researcher found soldiers recently deployed to the Middle East might not realize they've experienced mTBI.

"I asked maybe 30 guys hanging out in a barracks common room, 'Have any of you ever gotten a head injury?'," he said. "And they answered, 'No, none of us. There's a guy in the other brigade that maybe did.' Basically, they were saying there was one soldier of over 20,000 at Fort Riley with a TBI."

But accompanying Johnson was retired Lt. Colonel Randy Masten, assistant director of the Graduate Military Program at KU, who told him, "You asked it the wrong way."

Masten queried the same group, "How many of you have been blown up?"

That's when more than half of the soldiers in the room raised their hands.

"This means they'd been near an explosion that had knocked them off their feet and they became disoriented or lost consciousness," Johnson said. "This moment was eye opening. It really helped me realize the prevalence of mild traumatic brain injury in our war fighters."

Johnson's research focuses on Alzheimer's disease (AD), the form of dementia that erodes thinking skills and memory, and affects as many as 5 million Americans. He directs the Neuropsychology and Aging Laboratory and serves as the director of neuropsychological assessment at the KU Alzheimer's Disease Center.

He said mTBI and Alzheimer's disease share common symptomsmemory and thinking problems but also depression and anxiety. What's more, mTBI triggers a buildup of amyloid plaque and tau tangles in neuronal cell bodies and injured axons, which happen to be the hallmark brain lesions of Alzheimer's disease.

"An awful lot of the biochemical process in mTBI appears to be related to Alzheimer's disease," Johnson said. "There's basically no drug therapy for mTBI. But we know aerobic exercise can reduce the amount of biochemicals associated with Alzheimer's disease, reduce the plaques and tangles, so we think it will work with mTBI as well. Aerobic exercise helps the brain heal itself. In fact, the KU ADC was one of the first research centers in the country to demonstrate improved cardiorespiratory fitness also improves cognition in older adults and improves functional capacity in people who already have Alzheimer's symptoms."

Boosting the cardiorespiratory fitness of active duty service members at the "Big Red One" will be different than increasing fitness for older adults. Seniors tend to be sedentary while these soldiers already are physically fit. Johnson said his research focuses on testing the effectiveness of a fitness routine dubbed "ICE."

"ICE is a more intensive workout regimen," he said. "Instead of lifting weights, we want the soldiers running more to improve their aerobic capacity. They'll do rowing machines and bikes to relieve boredombut ultimately they'll become runners. We're trying to get them to run more miles more quickly."

To assess the benefits of the ICE exercise program, more than 100 volunteers at Fort Riley will go through cognitive and physical fitness testing before and after ICE.

"I am very excited about investigating the link between Alzheimer's disease and mild traumatic brain injury," Johnson said. "We use a battery of cognitive tests that we've found to be very sensitive to Alzheimer's disease. We expect to see improvement in these men and women's cognitive abilitiesthey'll be sharper and more focusedbut the pattern of improvement should be the same as our older adults at the ADC who are also fighting off Alzheimer's disease. We expect to see patterns emerge from the data that will help us understand if we are attacking the Alzheimer's pathological process."

Along with Masten, Johnson's partners in the research include Col. John Melton, commander of the Irwin Army Community Hospital at Fort Riley, Dr. Jeffrey Burns, who co-directs the KU Alzheimer's Disease Center, and retired Col. Mike Denning, director of the Office of Graduate Military Programs.

"What's good for Alzheimer's disease in older adults we hope is good for this mTBI," Johnson said. "Because mTBI shares so much biologically with early Alzheimer's disease, I hope that what is working in our older adults also works in these young men and women. It's an incredible privilege to work with these soldiers, and I'm excited by the chance of improving their lives in any way, shape or form I can."
A study just published in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics suggests that an alternative vaccine might bring clinical benefits and cost savings if used on a large scale when compared to the one currently in widest use.

Influenza is one of the biggest public health concerns, accounting for up to 5 million severe cases and half a million deaths every year worldwide. Therefore, vaccination against influenza has been a part of immunization programs throughout the world. While the most widely used vaccine is the trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV), the World Health Organization has been recommending the quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV) as of 2013.

There are four influenza strains in circulation that cause the majority of cases: two of type A and two of type B. TIV contains both type A strains and one type B, which are determined prior to the influenza season every year. QIV, which includes all four strains, was developed with the aim to provide broader protection with lower variability from season to season.

Researchers modelled the impact that QIV would have had if it had been used instead of TIV in recent years in three Latin American countries. They estimated the numbers of influenza cases, doctor visits and associated work absenteeism, hospitalizations and deaths due to influenza, as well as associated costs.

"Our study provides the first quantitative estimates of the potential benefits of QIV should it replace TIV in the national immunization programs in Brazil, Colombia and Panama. We found that QIV would provide health benefits in the three countries when considering influenza circulation from the last seasons. For instance, an annual average of 120,000 influenza cases would be avoided with QIV in the targeted population in Brazil, avoiding in turn about 2,350 hospitalizations and 275 deaths," says the lead author Aurelien Jamotte of Creativ-Ceutical.

The total societal cost savings were estimated between $1,000 and $34,000 per 100,000 person-years.

"We hope our study will be particularly useful for policy makers since its scope has been based on the current national recommendations of Brazil, Colombia and Panama." according to Aurelien Jamotte.

These results are in agreement with similar modelling studies from Europe and Australia.

"QIV is expected to provide benefits in most parts of the world since B strains represent on average 20-30% of circulating strains around the world. These proportions can be as high as 87% during some seasons in some countries. Whatever the country considered, QIV is expected to further reduce the public health and economic burden of influenza compared with TIV." concludes Aurelien Jamotte.

More information: Aurelien Jamotte et al, Public health impact and economic benefits of quadrivalent influenza vaccine in Latin America, Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (2017). Aurelien Jamotte et al, Public health impact and economic benefits of quadrivalent influenza vaccine in Latin America,(2017). DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2016.1256928

Provided by Taylor & Francis Group
(HealthDay)Exercise can help cancer patients cope with their treatment, but as many as 75 percent reduce their physical activity after diagnosis, according to a study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Cancer Survivorship Symposium, held from Jan. 27 to 28 in San Diego.

The study included 662 cancer patients being treated at 12 Philadelphia clinics. Most of the patients (65 percent) were overweight or obese women. Their average age was 60.

Surveys revealed that 75 percent of patients said they had reduced their physical activity since being diagnosed with cancer. Sixteen percent said they had kept up the same level of activity as they had before diagnosis, and 4 percent said they had increased their exercise since diagnosis.

"We have about 25 million cancer survivors in the United States, and there is mounting evidence that suggests that physical activity and exercise improve many outcomes in patients with cancer," lead researcher Jun Mao, M.D., chief of integrative medicine service at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, told HealthDay. Doctors need to ask their patients about physical activity and encourage them to be active, he said.

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
A depiction of the double helical structure of DNA. Its four coding units (A, T, C, G) are color-coded in pink, orange, purple and yellow. Credit: NHGRI

The largest ever genetic study of children with previously undiagnosed rare developmental disorders has discovered 14 new developmental disorders. Published today in Nature, the research led by scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute also provided diagnoses of rare conditions for over a thousand children and their families.

These diagnoses allow families with the same genetic conditions to connect and access support, and help inform better clinical management. The study also accelerates research into disease mechanisms and possible therapies.

Each year, thousands of babies are born who do not develop normally because of errors in their genetic makeup. This can lead to conditions such as intellectual disability, epilepsy, autism or heart defects. There are over 1,000 recognised genetic causes, however many individual developmental disorders are so rare that the genetic causes are not known. The Deciphering Developmental Disorders (DDD) study aims to find diagnoses for children with as yet unknown developmental diseases, and demonstrate that new genomic technologies can provide improved diagnostic tests.

Working with 200 NHS clinical geneticists, the researchers screened all 20,000 human genes from more than 4,000 families, from across the UK and Republic of Ireland, with at least one child affected by a developmental disorder. The DDD team focused on spontaneous new mutations that arise as DNA is passed on from parents to children. The children's conditions were also clinically assessed and the team combined the results to match up children with similar disorders to provide diagnoses.

The study team was able to diagnose children who had new mutations in genes already linked to developmental disordersapproximately one quarter of the patients in the study. In addition, they identified 14 new developmental disorders, all caused by spontaneous mutations not found in either parent.

Dr Jeremy McRae, first author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said: "Each of these disorders is incredibly rare, so the large number of patients in this study was crucial to diagnosis. An individual doctor may see only one case, but by collaborating with hundreds of NHS staff and researchers we were able to link children from clinics across the British Isles. This allowed the team to match up children with similar disorders within the project and provide diagnoses for them."

Professor David FitzPatrick, a supervising author from the MRC Human Genetics Unit at the University of Edinburgh, said: "Families search for a genetic diagnosis for their children, as this helps them understand the cause of their child's disorder. This can help doctors better manage the child's condition, and gives clues for further research into future therapeutics. In addition to this, a diagnosis can let parents know what the future holds for their child and the risk of any subsequent pregnancies being affected with the same disorder, which can be an enormous help if they want a larger family."

Overall, the researchers estimated that for 42 per cent of the children in the study, a new mutation in a gene important for healthy development is likely to be the underlying cause of their condition. The DDD study also estimated that, on average, 1 in 300 children born in the UK have a rare developmental disorder caused by a new mutation. This adds up to 2,000 children a year in the UK.

They also demonstrated that older parents have a higher risk of having a child with a developmental disorder caused by a new mutation. The chances rose from 1 in 450 for 20-year old parents having a child with a rare developmental disorder to 1 in 210 for 45 year-old parents.

From this, the researchers calculated that nearly 400,000 of the 140 million annual births across the world will have a developmental disorder caused by a spontaneous new mutation that is not carried by either parent.

Dr Matt Hurles, who led the study from the Sanger Institute, said: "This study has the largest cohort of such families in the world, and harnesses the power of the NHS, with 200 clinical geneticists and 4,000 patients. The diagnoses we found were only possible because of the great collaborative effort. Finding a diagnosis can be a huge relief for parents and enables them to link up with other families with the same disorder. It lets them access support, plug into social networks and participate in research projects for that specific disorder."

More information: Nature, nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature21062 Journal information: Nature
There are no good tools to assess the risk that people who get knee and other joint replacement procedures will need to return to the hospital, a new study finds. Credit: Pixabay

About one million Americans each year undergo total knee or hip replacements, but complications bring as many as 1 in 12 back to the hospital and result in higher use of post-acute services within 90 days.

To compel hospitals to do better, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) program in April 2016, which penalizes hospitals for readmission of joint replacement patients within 90 days. But a new study finds that CMS and care providers lack the predictive models needed to assess the risks patients face that necessitate readmission.

Some hospital systems are apprehensive of getting penalized inadvertently because CJR's current payment model does not include a risk adjustment method to account for patients' medical complexity or their functional status, said study lead author Amit Kumar, a postdoctoral research associate at the Brown University School of Public Health.

In the new study, Kumar and co-authors tested the three best candidate risk adjustment indicesincluding one developed by CMSbut found that none were useful in predicting readmissions among patients who underwent joint replacement to address osteoarthritis.

There is therefore a need for a model, or index, that can accurately predict the risk of readmission to improve patient care and to help CMS judge hospitals on the quality of their care rather than on how inherently risky their patients are, Kumar said.

"In the absence of that risk adjustment, when sick patients have worse outcomes, hospitals will be penalized," said Kumar, whose paper appears in Arthritis Care & Research. "If we could find an index that was working for this population, we could recommend thatbut unfortunately none of them are working very well."

Three blind models

Kumar and former colleagues at the University of Texas Medical Branch tested the applicability of the three industry-leading indices for predicting mortality and health care utilization: the Charlson Comorbidity Index, the Elixhauser Comorbidity Index and CMS's Hierarchical Condition Category.

He analyzed Medicare data on every beneficiary who survived for 90 days after a total knee or total hip replacement performed because of osteoarthritis between January 2009 and September 2011. In all, the study covered a total of 605,417 patients. The data showed that 46.3 percent of patients were discharged home, 40.9 percent went to skilled nursing facilities and 12.7 percent stayed in inpatient rehabilitation.

Kumar's analysis sought to determine whether any of the three indices made a meaningful difference in predicting where patients would be discharged and whether they'd return to the hospital within 30, 60 or 90 days.

The analysis showed that the indices made no useful difference at all. In fact, none significantly improved upon a "base model" of merely accounting for a mix of demographic and medical factors.

To rate the base model and the three indices, Kumar relied on the calculation of a number called the "C-Statistic," which essentially measures the probability that an index would identify as high risk a person who actually turned out to be high risk. By convention, a C-statistic has to be higher than 0.7 to be considered clinically relevant. The base model scored in the 0.63 to 0.65 range, and the indices only nudged those numbers up in the hundredths place, never rising above the 0.7 threshold.

What to account for

Kumar said the models, which he acknowledged weren't created for this exact purpose, likely break down in the case of joint replacement because they don't account for patients' functional status or other relevant health conditions.

Functional status includes measures of post-operative pain, their ability to move the affected joint and able to perform activities of daily living. Medicare doesn't require hospitals to report it, but in a study earlier this year he was able to obtain inpatient rehabilitation data for patients who had strokes, hip fractures and some joint replacements. Kumar and co-authors found that adding functional status data into a predictive risk model yielded a substantial improvement.

"The reason we do joint replacements is to reduce pain and improve functional status, but this information is missing from our risk indices," Kumar said.

In the current study, Kumar and his co-authors were able to assess other relevant health conditions. He found the health conditions most frequently associated with hospital readmission were diabetes, pulmonary disease, arrhythmias and heart disease. In addition, prior research suggests obesity is likely an important determinant, though that wasn't tracked in the study.

In the near term, Kumar said, CMS should begin tracking functional status of patients who undergo joint replacements. Ultimately, he said, that data should be tried in a new index that will help hospitals assess which patients are at greatest risk to struggle and will help CMS assess which hospitals are taking on such riskier patients.

More information: Amit Kumar et al, Current Risk Adjustment and Comorbidity Index Underperforms in Predicting Post-Acute Utilization and Hospital Readmissions after Joint Replacements: Implications for Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model, Arthritis Care & Research (2017). Journal information: Arthritis Care & Research Amit Kumar et al, Current Risk Adjustment and Comorbidity Index Underperforms in Predicting Post-Acute Utilization and Hospital Readmissions after Joint Replacements: Implications for Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model,(2017). DOI: 10.1002/acr.23195
If ADHD is a neurobiological disorder, a childs birthdate or gender should have no bearing on their chances of being diagnosed. Credit: www.shutterstock.com.au

New research has found the youngest children in West Australian primary school classes are twice as likely as their oldest classmates to receive medication for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Published in the Medical Journal of Australia, the research analysed data for 311,384 WA schoolchildren, of whom 5,937 received at least one government subsidised ADHD prescription in 2013. The proportion of boys receiving medication (2.9%) was much higher than that of girls (0.8%).

Among children aged 610 years, those born in June (the last month of the recommended school-year intake) were about twice as likely (boys 1.93 times, girls 2.11 times) to have received ADHD medication as those born in the first intake month (the previous July).

For children aged 1115 years, the effect was smaller, but still significant. Similar patterns were found when comparing children born in the first three months (July, August September) and the last three months (April, May, June) of the WA school year intake.

The ADHD late birth date effect was fist demonstrated in four large scale studies conducted in the US, Canada and Taiwan. The prescribing rate for children in the WA study was 1.9%, slightly larger than that reported in the Taiwanese study (1.6%). The late birth date effects identified in WA and Taiwan were of similar strength to those in the three North American studies, where the reported prescribing rates were much higher (4.5%, 5.8% and 3.6%).

We need further research on the ADHD late birth date effect in other Australian states, which unlike WA, allow greater flexibility for parents in deciding when their child starts school. It could be that allowing parents to decide when their child is ready for school prevents misdiagnosis. Alternatively, the greater age range within a class that occurs when there is increased flexibility could exacerbate the late birth date effect.

Why does birth date effect ADHD diagnosis?

A likely cause of the late birth date effect is that some teachers compare the maturity of their students without due regard to their relative age, resulting in higher rates of diagnosis among younger class members. Of course, teachers don't diagnose ADHD; that can only be done in most Australian states by a paediatrician or child psychiatrist.

In the majority of cases teachers are the first to suggest a child may have ADHD. Credit: www.shutterstock.com

But research has demonstrated in many cases that teachers are the first to suggest a child may have ADHD. Even when they don't encourage parents to have their child assessed for ADHD, teachers still play a central role in the diagnostic process by providing information about a child's behaviour compared to "age appropriate standards".

Questioning ADHD as a diagnosis

The late birth date effect is not the only factor creating unease about ADHD. Multiple studies, including the WA study, have established boys are three to four times more likely to be medicated for ADHD. If, as is routinely claimed, ADHD is a neurobiological disorder, a child's birthdate or gender should have no bearing on their chances of being diagnosed.

Other risk factors for receiving medication for ADHD include race, class, postcode and clinician, teacher and parental attitudes; none of which have anything to do with a child's neurobiology.

In addition, sleep deprivation, bullying, abuse, trauma, poor nutrition, toxins, dehydration, hearing and eyesight problems, giftedness (boredom), intellectual disadvantage (frustration) and a host of other factors can cause the impulsive, inattentive and hyperactive behaviours central to the diagnosis of ADHD.

Another common criticism of ADHD as a pathological condition is that the diagnostic criteria "medicalise" normal - if somewhat annoying - childhood behaviours. Critics contend teacher and parent reports of children "often" fidgeting, losing toys and pencils, playing loudly, interrupting, forgetting, climbing or talking excessively, being disorganised and easily distracted, failing to remain seated, and being on the go (as if driven by a motor) should not be construed as evidence of a psychiatric disorder best treated with amphetamines.

Proponents counter that stimulant medication for ADHD children is like "insulin for a diabetic" or "eyeglasses for the mind". There is no doubt low dose stimulants often make rowdy children more compliant. However, a 2010 WA Health Department study found ADHD diagnosed children who had used stimulants were 10.5 times more likely to fail academically than children diagnosed with ADHD but never medicated.

As evidenced by rapidly increasing child ADHD prescribing rates in Australia and internationally, ADHD proponents seem to be winning the very public and ongoing ADHD debate. But history has taught us that as societal values change, definitions of mental illness change. It wasn't long ago that the inventors of ADHD as a diagnostic entity, the American Psychiatric Association, classified homosexuality as a disease treatable with electric shock and other forms of aversion therapy.

Perhaps in the future playing loudly, talking and climbing excessively, fidgeting and disliking homework will no longer be regarded as evidence of a psychiatric disorder, best treated with amphetamines and similar drugs.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
YEREVAN.  The Court of Cassation of Armenia has received another appeal to the case into the murder of Avetisyan family in Gyumri.

Attorney Aramazd Kiviryan, who represents the interests of some of the victims successors, told Armenian News-NEWS.am that this appeal is already at the aforesaid court.

Earlier, human rights activist Artur Sakunts, who is the representative of the other successors of the victims, likewise had submitted a cassation appeal on this murder case.

On December 19, 2016, the Court of Appeal had upheld the lower court decision on this case.

The legal successors of the murdered Avetisyan family are appealing the court decision. One appeal is about compensation for the damages caused. The other appeal is the re-examination of the case, and based on the theory that Valery Permyakov, a serviceman of the 102nd Russian Military Base in Gyumri and who has been found guilty of committing the murder, could not have acted alone.

The murder took place on January 12, 2015. According to the indictment, Permyakov entered the Avetisyan family home on that day, and he killed home residents Aida Avetisyan, Hasmik Avetisyan, Seryozha Avetisyan, Armen Avetisyan, Araksya Poghosyan, and little girl Hasmik Avetisyan. Subsequently, he stabbed 6-month-old Seryozha Avetisyan five times. The baby boy died in the hospital one week later.

Permyakov was apprehended by the Russian border guards near the Armenian-Turkish borderand nearby Bayandur villageon the same night, he was arrested on January 14, and held in custody at the Russian military base.

Armenia and Russia instituted criminal cases on charges of murder and military desertion, respectively.

On August 12, 2015, the Russian court sentenced Permyakov to ten years in prison. And on October 16 of the same year, Armenia formally brought criminal charges against the Russian soldier.

And on August 23, 2016, the Shirak District Court of First Instance found Valery Permyakov guilty of all chargesmurder, robbery, and attempt to cross the Armenian state borderthat were brought against him, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
13 dead in cafe fire in Russia

Armenia Security Council chief to head for Poland, Netherlands, Lithuania

Rishi Sunak: State cannot fix all problems

Newspaper: To what extent Armenia adheres to sanctions on Russia?

Biden accuses Twitter of spewing lies

Newspaper: There are active political processes in Karabakh

Qatar FM slams hypocrisy of calls to boycott World Cup

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
YEREVAN.  Within the framework of a cooperation agreement between the Offices of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia and of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of Russia, the latters representatives paid a special visit to the Russian prison where Armenian citizen Hrachya Harutyunyan is serving his sentence, and they checked his confinement and health conditions.

It was found out that Harutyunyan is under medical supervision, the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. And the health workers deemed his health condition as satisfactory.

During this visit, however, Hrachya Harutyunyan complained of back pain. And based on this, an agreement was reached with the medical administration of the said detention center that the needed medical examinations of and the appropriate treatment for Harutyunyan be carried out in a civil medical facility, in January and February.

In addition, the Russian High Commissioner for Human Rights, Tatiana Moskalkova, informed with a response letter that the protection of Harutyunyans rights is taken under a special oversight.

Armenian citizen Hrachya Harutyunyan had pleaded guilty to causing a major traffic accident in Russia. The truck he was driving had crashed into a passenger bus in July 2013, outside capital city Moscow. The impact of the crash was so powerful that the bus, which was carrying 64 passengers, had split in two. The accident had claimed 18 lives and injured more than 40 others.

In April 2015, a Moscow district court sentenced Harutyunyan to 6 years and 9 months in prison on charges of violating traffic and vehicle operation rules and causing death. And the Moscow Municipal Court upheld this verdict.

The Armenian side, however, is seeking to have Hrachya Harutyunyan extradited to Armenia.
STEPANAKERT.  President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), Bako Sahakyan, on Wednesday chaired the first Cabinet meeting in 2017.

In his remarks at the event, Sahakyan touched upon the socioeconomic figures, the carried out activities, accomplishments and challenges in the year past, Central Information Department of the Office of the NKR President informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The President stressed that 2016 was a quite difficult and hard year for Artsakh, and its people and economy. As per Sahakyan, the four-day war in early Aprilwhen Azerbaijan had unleashed a large-scale military aggression against the NKRwas a blow to the normal economic development of the country, affecting virtually every branch of its economy.

But Bako Sahakyan noted that notwithstanding all the difficulties, Artsakh managed to maintain the stipulated pace of the economic development in 2016, the positive dynamics in the main branches of the economy, and record a 9-percent GDP growth.

At the same time, however, the President assigned to the Cabinet of Ministers to carry out a deep analysis of the results of the year past, paying special attention to the issues and shortcomings that took place in the work, and undertake necessary steps to eliminate them.

Speaking of the plans for 2017, the NKR President highlighted the need for maintaining high the quality of work to be carried out, the degree of coordination, the implementation of the duties, and efficient utilization of financial means.

Everything that was outlined and adopted by the appropriate laws and government decisions should be implemented unconditionally and in a consistent manner, noted Bako Sahakyan, and gave specific instructions for proper implementation of the planned programs.
The Prosecutor General's Office on granting Bakus request for Russian Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshins extradition to Azerbaijan was appealed in the Minsk city court. The closed session will take place on January 26, at 14:00.

Lapshins attorney informed Armenian News-NEWS.am about the decision.

The complaint was filed on January 24, and the court very quickly assigned date of its reviewing. In the future, City Court's decision can be appealed in the Supreme Court of Belarus.

After his visits to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in 2011 and 2012, famous blogger Alexander Lapshin was blacklisted by Azerbaijan.

In June 2016, however, he paid a visit to Azerbaijan, but with a Ukrainian passport. Subsequently, he issued several articles criticizing the Azerbaijani authorities. Afterward, the Azerbaijani authorities issued an international search for this famous blogger.

On December 15, 2016, he was detained in the Belarus capital city of Minsk, and based on this international search.

Baku demands his extradition to Azerbaijan, and for visiting Artsakh.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and US Department of State Spokesperson John Kirby, however, had spoken against Lapshins detention and such extradition, noting the importance of upholding freedom of speech.

And on January 17, the Prosecutors Office of Belarus decided to grant the Baku authorities request for Alexander Lapshins extradition to Azerbaijan. It is noteworthy, however, that the prosecutors office had concealed this information for about two days.
All the citizens who visit Belarus should know that visiting this country can cost them their freedom, and they might appear in an Azerbaijani jail, the Union of Informed Citizens noted in a statement.

On January 20, at the request of Azerbaijan, the Prosecutor Generals Office of the Republic of Belarus made a decision to extradite the famous blogger Alexander Lapshin arrested in Belarus. Note that Azerbaijan was demanding that Lapshin be extradited because of visiting Nagorno Karabakh Republic. Azerbaijan considers it as an illegal crossing of its state border.

Lapshin and his lawyers have 10 days to appeal against the decision from the moment it was made. And though the blogger is still in Belarus and there is a possibility that his Israeli and Russian passports will save him from being extradited to Azerbaijan, we can already make a few conclusions from this story.

Level of Safety in Belarus

The decision of Minsk to extradite Lapshin shows that cooperation with Azerbaijan is more important for Belarus than its international image as a country where at least the foreigners rights are protected. In fact, if Belarus can extradite a person with Russian and Israeli citizenship to Baku, then it can take the same action towards any person that will visit Nagorno Karabakh

What about Armenian Citizens

Apparently, Armenian citizens who visit Karabakh can also appear in the same situation. In fact, there is no difference between an Israeli and Russian blogger visiting Karabakh and any other person. In both cases, people cross the Karabakh border which, according to Azerbaijan, is an illegal crossing of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

This means that from now on, any person who has been to Nagorno Karabakh will face the danger of being extradited to Azerbaijan if he ever visits Belarus.

In such a situation, the Armenian Foreign Ministry should not spare efforts in informing people who are in Azerbaijans black list or those who have ever visited Nagorno Karabakh Republic that it is not safe for them to visit Belarus anymore.

Moreover, in the first place, the Armenian Foreign Ministry should warn its citizens about such a risk as many of Armenian citizens have been to Nagorno Karabakh. All the citizens who visit Belarus should know that visiting that country can cost them their freedom and they might appear in an Azerbaijani jail.

Friends

In the current situation, the most important circumstance that should concern Armenia is that Belarus is periodically taking anti-Armenian actions despite officially being Armenias ally within the framework of the EAEU and the CSTO.

Naturally, Lapshins extradition has political reasons and is related to close relations between Belarus and Azerbaijan. We cannot rule out the possibility that other countries which have close relations with Azerbaijan will follow the example of Belarus.

This claim particularly refers to Turkey, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, which may also receive such requests of extradition of people who have illegally crossed the border of Azerbaijan and satisfy the request, reads the statement by the Union of Informed Citizens.
YEREVAN. - Although the cooperation between Armenia and Belarus is productive in individual areas, the current volume of the commodity turnover is not satisfying yet for both sides, there being a need to develop and make it larger.

Ambassador of Belarus to Armenia, Igor Nazaruk, said the aforementioned at the Armenian-Belarus business meeting held in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of Armenia on Wednesday.

The meeting was held by the Embassy of Belarus in Armenia, Mogilev branch of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Yerevan.

According to the President of the CCI of Yerevan, Andranik Alexanyan, who is also the Executive Director of the CCI of Yerevan, this meeting was first of all aimed at gaining an access to a third country via Armenia and Belarus.

The best products and interests of the Belarusian companies were presented by a slideshow.

Since prior to the meeting the Armenian and Belarusian companies had specified the tasks of the meeting by means of about 250 phone arrangements, the round-table meeting in Yerevan was apparently more than productive.
The year ahead will likely mean more business for big banks advising the Big Pharma universe on matters of M&A, as companies such as Pfizer (PFE) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) operate with a political backdrop that offers no shortage of drivers to strike more deals.

Based on recent assignments, the banks that may very well continue to benefit from new mandates includes the top four ranking firms on The Deal's2016 M&A league table, with 104 transactions valued at $100 million or higher -- JPMorgan Securities (JPM) , Morgan Stanley (MS) , Goldman Sachs (GS) and Barclays Capital (BCS) , in that order.

"I've been in this industry now almost a decade, and it's been an industry that has been consolidating, I think still is consolidating, and will continue to," Pfizer CFO Frank D'Amelio said during a fireside chat at the 35th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference held earlier this month in San Francisco.

Indeed, President Donald Trump has pledged to police the drug industry and bring down prices, adding pressure to pharma companies to continue adding new products to account for a potential slowdown in revenue growth among key existing drugs. His administration is also more likely to support legislation allowing the repatriation of foreign profits, which would leave a number of the industry's most sizable companies with even more cash to go after smaller U.S. peers. Add to that the recently passed 21st Century Cures Act, legislation intended to make the FDA drug-approval process a more friendly one, and the pool of enticing early-stage companies up for grabs could grow even larger.

Editors' note: This article was originally published by The Deal on Jan. 24, a sister publication of TheStreet that offers sophisticated insight and analysis on all types of deals, from inception to integration. Click here for a free trial.

While tuck-in M&A will undoubtedly continue, Pfizer's D'Amelio went only so far as to call the "big galactic deals" that we saw in 2016 as "possible" at the conference. The view that strategy will center on small- to mid-sized transactions is one echoed by many of D'Amelio's peers during the first few weeks of the year.

Pfizer itself has indicated it will steer towards revenue-generating targets in a "now or soon" time frame. If history repeats itself, the drug giant is likely to turn to firms including Guggenheim Securities (ranked 22 in The Deal's league tables), Centerview Partners (16) and Goldman when it seeks outside banking advice on such deals.

Both Centerview and Guggenheim advised Pfizer on two notable transactions in 2016, including when it spent $14 billion to win the hotly contested auction for cancer treatment developer Medivation and $5.2 billion for Anacor Pharmaceuticals, which is currently developing a treatment for eczema.

Guggenheim has also worked with Pfizer on the sell side, advising the company alongside Goldman when it sold its Hospira Infusion Systems business to ICU Medical (ICUI) for $1 billion last year. If Pfizer were to move forward with a potential sale or spinoff of its consumer health unit, as speculated in recent months, both firms may find themselves in a good position yet again.

Among notable specialty pharma players is Allergan (AGN) , whose management indicated at the J.P. Morgan conference is poised to tilt its attention to accretive M&A and away from the early-stage pipeline acquisitions of which many investors have been highly critical over the last several months.

While CEO Brent Saunders has by and large spearheaded many of Allergan's recent tuck-in purchases, the company has turned to Guggenheim, Barclays and JPMorgan in past transactions.

Allergan is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AGN? Learn more now.

Guggenheim and Barclays advised the company on its $2.9 billion deal for LifeCell, announced in December, though JPMorgan has repeatedly worked with Allergan on both the sell side and buy side. JPMorgan advised the drugmaker on the sale of both its generics business and Anda to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA) last year, as well as on its $2.1 billion acquisition of Kythera Biopharmaceuticals in 2015. When Actavis bought Allergan for $70.5 billion in early 2015, retaining the Allergan name, JPMorgan also scored Saunders' business.

JPMorgan could win even more advisory fees from Johnson & Johnson on future M&A endeavors.

Johnson & Johnson, which is reportedly close to sealing a $26 billion-plus deal for Swiss biopharma Actelion, is viewed as being among the biggest potential beneficiaries if Trump's "tax holiday" is enacted. How exactly corporate taxes might change is still uncertain, though CEO Alex Gorsky at the J.P. Morgan conference did acknowledge that it would be a "real positive" should there be more flexibility in the long run to deploy capital that was less influenced by tax regulations.

On Tuesday's first-quarter conference call, the CEO reiterated that the company continues to evaluate deals, but is concentrating on bolt-on and early stage licensing opportunities. Gorsky also suggested that further streamlining could follow the eight divested units we saw in 2016.

As a seller, Johnson & Johnson has sought advice from JPMorgan, which advised the multinational on both its $1.9 billion divestiture of Cordis to Cardinal Health (CAH) and its $4.15 billion sale of its Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics business to Carlyle (CG) .

On recent purchases, Johnson & Johnson worked with Morgan Stanley, which assisted the company on its $4.3 billion cash deal for Abbott Medical Optics Inc. from Abbott Laboratories (ABT) .

Merck (MRK) will also have much more cash at its disposal if profits held overseas are brought back to the U.S. The company enlisted Goldman when it spent $9.5 billion on Cubist Pharmaceuticals in 2015, while it turned to Credit Suisse (CS) (No. 6 on our list) on its $3.85 billion deal for Idenix Pharmaceuticals the same year.

On the generics front, Teva also has its sights set on tuck-in deals, looking to bolster its core therapeutic areas as well as opportunities in specialty pharma, CEO Erez Vigodman told attendees at the J.P. Morgan conference.

Its focus on smaller scale M&A and a priority to reduce its net ratio of debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to 3.5 times ought to be no surprise, having shelled out $33.4 billion in cash and $5.4 billion in stock deal for Allergan's generics drug business in a deal that closed in August.

In its megadeal for the Allergan generics business, Teva turned to Greenhill (GHL) (No. 24 on the list) and Barclays. On comparatively smaller M&A matters, it has worked with Goldman Sachs, which advised Teva on its $3.2 billion purchase of Auspex Pharmaceuticals in 2015, and Evercore (EVR) , which advised the company on its $212 million purchase of NuPathe in 2014.
Editors' pick: Originally published Jan. 24.

This column originally appeared at 9 a.m. ET on Real Money, our premium site for active traders. Click here to get great columns like this from Jim Cramer and other writers even earlier in the trading day.)

Want to buy a house in Hong Kong? As a fresh graduate, you can expect to wait years to be able to afford one.

Things aren't much better in Sydney, Australia, or Vancouver, Canada, which are next in line for the least-affordable housing in the world, according to the latest figures from the statisticians at Demographia. And it will take you more than a decade's worth of saving 100% of your income to pay cash for a pad in Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara in California, as well as buy a place in Auckland, New Zealand.

Demographia's latest report represents the 13th time the group has priced out housing affordability globally. Figures compare median household incomes with the median price for a home in 406 cities around the world. The data were taken as of 2016's third quarter, and while the study didn't account for a home's size or quality, they do provide an easily compared measure of how affordable accommodation is in your city of choice.

Many of the cheapest cities the Demographia found are in the United States, still feeling the effects of the global financial crisis. In fact, with the average home costing 3.9x income, the United States is the cheapest major market to buy a home. Look to the Midwest or Northeast for your best bets. The cheapest cities are led by Racine, Wisc., Bay City, Mich., Decatur, Ill., Elmira, N.Y., and East Stroudsburg, Penn.

Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland and Singapore round out the list of locales with more-positive news for house hunters. By contrast, Hong Kong has led the least-affordable list ever since it was first included seven years ago. Sydney is second in the rankings for the second year in a row.

In Hong Kong, it would take you 18.1 years of saving your entire income to pay cash for a place to live, with the midrange price at $5.4 million. The high values, and therefore thick profit margins, are good news for Hong Kong's major developers, led by Sun Hung Kai Properties (SUHJY) , Sino Land (SNLAY) , Swire Properties (SWROY) , Cheung Kong Property (CNGKY) and Kerry Properties (KRYPY) .

Sun Hung Kai should see strong earnings growth of more than 10% through 2019, according to analysts. Sino Land is a company with high earnings visibility and a war chest of cash that allow for acquisitions of properties and land. Kerry has a 70% discount to net asset value, making it one of the cheapest Hong Kong developers.

Swire consistently produces some of the cities highest-quality apartments. Cheung Kong is at the opposite end in terms of quality and finishing -- but as a company that makes some of the smallest apartments in the city, it is a defensive play that caters to first-time buyers.

Hong Kong developers face a sudden slowdown in the market, after the government in November introduced a 15% transaction tax on the value of any home that is not bought by a first-time buyer. That's on top of another 15% tax that applies to people who aren't permanent residents, status that takes seven years to attain. Transactions in the city have halved since the introduction of the second tax at the end of last year. Interest rates, with a currency pegged to the U.S. dollar, are on the rise.

Hong Kong's level is at least down from 19.0x annual income last year, a record high. Sydney's homes are substantially lower in price than Hong Kong, at $1.1 million. But it will still take 12.1 years' worth of income before you could pay all-cash for a roof over your head.

Many of Australia's largest property companies and pretty much all its A-REITs (real-estate investment trusts) concentrate on commercial, retail and industrial properties, rather than homes. But Westfield (WFGPY) and Lend Lease (LLESY) are the biggest developers in the country and offer some residential exposure, as well as conveniently being listed in the United States. Australand (AUAOF) is also U.S.-listed.

Peet Ltd. A:PPC and Sunland Group A:SDG are two of the handful of companies entirely devoted to residential development, but are only listed Down Under. Likewise, Austcorp A:AUU, Cedar Wood Properties A:CWP, Finbar Group A:FRI, Folkestone A:FLK, Metroland A:MTD and Payce Consolidated A:PAY are all worth a look for portfolios that include at least some home-development exposure.

Vancouver retained its third-place spot in Demographia's latest ranking. It is gaining fast, however. At 11.8 times earnings, its affordability has leaped an entire year's worth of income in just 12 months. That leaves a mid-range home costing $830,100.

Of course, cities are more than just numbers and statistics. Demographia notes that many measures of "livability" highlight cities that may not be at either end of the ranking, and may separate cities that appear at first glance to have similar characteristics. The group highlights Dallas-Fort Worth and Kansas City as places that "have achieved the objective of putting people over place."

At the time of publication, Alex McMillan had no positions in the stocks mentioned.
While Verizon Communications (VZ) may have the best wireless network in the world, the company told investors Tuesday that it won't be able to grow wireless services revenues until 2018. Previously, the company hoped to return its wireless business to growth in 2017.

Generating meaningful expansion at a company with a $126 billion top line is challenging, and will take more than the pending $4.8 billion purchase of Yahoo! (YHOO) .

"We're in a no-growth environment for the wireless business," said CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino. "The business will continue to be pressured."

Verizon, headed by chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam, is positioning itself as a mobile media and ad tech company. Yahoo! would fit into the company's digital media technology unit, which includes AOL and is one of the telecom's growth niches. The unit generated just over $1 billion in the last half of 2016. Verizon has not disclosed sales for the entire year.

Last year, the telecom teamed with media conglomerate Hearst Corp. to invest in millennial-minded digital media companies AwesomenessTV and Complex Media. The businesses supply content for Verizon's go90 mobile app.

Keep in mind that the Yahoo! deal has not closed. The companies had aimed to close the deal in the first quarter, though Yahoo! said after the close Monday that consummation will slip to the second quarter as the buyer and seller look into embarrassing subscriber hacks.

Yahoo!'s $3.5 billion in annual sales would substantially expand the digital media business. Still, the unit would remain a sliver of Verizon's total revenues. The wireless business, by comparison, accounts for $89 billion of the total.

Internet of things is another source of growth. Last year, Verizon bought telematics company Fleetmatics Group for $2.4 billion and Telogis for an undisclosed sum.

Verizon has also expanded into smart cities, or the application of Internet of things to municipality development. Last year Verizon bought Sensity Systems, which develops networked LED lighting systems for airports, cities and large venues, and LQD WiFi, which makes smart kiosks that can provide directions, transit updates, public safety announcements and other services.

The Internet of things group generated just $1 billion in 2016 sales. As with the digital media group, it isn't going to move the needle for Verizon anytime soon.

There are large prey that could dramatically change Verizon's outlook. Speculated targets range from Charter Communications (CHTR) , Dish Network (DISH) , Sprint (S) , T-Mobile USA (TMUS) or even Walt Disney (DIS) , Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson noted in a Tuesday report.

A complicated and costly bet on pay-TV could shackle Verizon to another business in decline, however.

"The simplicity of Verizon's business is a virtue, not a drawback," Moffett wrote. "Unfortunately, neither the wireless nor wireline business is particularly hospitable at the moment."

Rival AT&T (T) went in a different direction, and invested heavily on content and content distribution systems. The company bought DirecTV for $67 billion in 2015 and is buying Time Warner (TWX) for $107 billion, both prices including assumed debt.

AT&T's DirecTV Now streaming service has hit 200,000 subscribers, and the fast-growing mobile service will doubtless be a topic of interest when the telecom reports earnings Wednesday.

"When you look at what AT&T is doing, they are acquiring as much content as they can and being more creative with the value proposition they are offering wireless customers and looking for new revenue streams," Zino said.

Verizon wants to return its leverage ratios to the levels before its $130 billion purchase of Vodafone Group's (VOD) minority stake in 2014. The company, which declined to comment on its strategic ambitions, is not likely to announce a blockbuster on the scale of AT&T's deals anytime soon.

Still, CFRA's Zino suggests a shift in strategy is coming. Verizon could sell landline systems or other assets to help fund a purchase without disrupting its plans to reduce debt. "Expect them to get more aggressive more on the content side of things than we've seen in the last two or three years," he said.
The Freeze Has Begun

The president's hiring freeze on non-DoD executive departments is in effect until an OMB long-term plan to reduce the federal workforce through attrition has been implemented. Meanwhile, a moratorium on federal rulemaking actions is already apparent.

Nine weeks ago, Cass R. Sunstein, who headed the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs during part of Barack Obama's presidency, explained how President Donald Trump could slow down the federal bureaucracy. There were 159 regulations pending before OIRA as of Nov. 22, 2016an "unusually high" number, Sunstein wrote in a column for Bloomberg that dayand he pointed out that the new administration "could work to cut staff, if only by refusing to fill vacancies, and it could certainly work with Congress to reduce appropriations. Far more important, Trump could do a lot to reduce agency activity."

If the number of rules pending at OIRA dropped below 25, "we have something very close to a moratorium," Sunstein explained. And that has now happened.

As of Jan. 24, there were 24 proposed rules under OIRA review, none of them from the U.S. Department of Labor or EPA.

At the same time, the president has ordered a hiring freeze on non-DoD executive departments that is in effect until an OMB long-term plan to reduce the federal workforce through attrition has been implemented. The text of his memorandum dated Jan. 23 says, "As part of this freeze, no vacant positions existing at noon on January 22, 2017, may be filled and no new positions may be created, except in limited circumstances. This order does not include or apply to military personnel. The head of any executive department or agency may exempt from the hiring freeze any positions that it deems necessary to meet national security or public safety responsibilities. In addition, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) may grant exemptions from this freeze where those exemptions are otherwise necessary.

"Within 90 days of the date of this memorandum, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in consultation with the Director of OPM, shall recommend a long-term plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government's workforce through attrition. This order shall expire upon implementation of the OMB plan. Contracting outside the Government to circumvent the intent of this memorandum shall not be permitted. This hiring freeze applies to all executive departments and agencies regardless of the sources of their operational and programmatic funding, excepting military personnel.
Milwaukees hottest chefs, some from the citys newest restaurants, and 88Nine Radio Milwaukee DJs will serve up one-of- a-kind music-and-food pairings at the stations sixth annual SoundBites fundraiser at 5:30 p.m. Thursday Feb. 9 at the Iron Horse Hotel.

SoundBites lets food and music lovers savor unique pairings at 13 tasting and listening

stations. Attendees will meet the chefs and DJs while enjoying unparalleled flavors from

Milwaukees diverse food scene and creatively matched tunes playing on earbuds.

Taking inspiration from the ingredients of their food and music, the paired chefs and DJs

have collaborated to combine superb small plates with the perfect songs, harmonizing

them to create unique dining and listening experiences.

Participating chefs and their 88Nine music counterparts are:

Karen Bell, chef/owner at Bavette, and Dori Zori, morning show host and promotions manager

Nick Boyd at Company Brewing, and Program Director Jordan Lee

Caitlin Cullen, chef/owner at The Tandem, and Marcus Doucette, midday host, imaging manager and host of "Sound Travels"

Yollande Deacon, owner and chef of Irie Zulu, and DJ Kenny Perez

Jonna Froelich, executive chef at I.d. Delafield, and Sarah Fierek, director of underwriting partnerships and weekend host

Dan Jacobs, chef/owner at DanDan, and Tarik Moody, digital director, evening music host and Rhythm Lab Radio host

Greg Leon, chef/owner at Amilinda, and Amelinda Burich, digital content coordinator and musician

Kevin Marx, executive chef at Parkside 23, and Makenzie Boettcher, community stories producer and weekend host

Joe Muench, executive chef at Story Hill BKC, and award-winning musician Trapper Schoepp

Nathan Radar, executive chef of Kindred on KK, and Justin Barney, music director, host of "Five Songs" and weekend host

Joshua Rogers, executive chef of Smyth, and Nate Imig, managing producer, community stories, community partnership manager and evening host

Adam Siegel, executive chef at Lake Park Bistro, and Laura Kezman, video producer

Kevin Sloan, executive chef at The Pabst Theater Group, and Ken Sumka, afternoon host and assistant program director

One example of a pairing comes from I.d. Delafields Froelich and 88Nines Fierek, who

have joined the song "Spill Your Colours" by Milwaukee-based alternative band REYNA,

and a unique dish of beet and goat cheese agnolotti pasta squares with fennel, poppy

seeds and citrus.

Recently opened restaurants with chefs at SoundBites include DanDan, The Tandem, I.d. Delafield and Kindred on KK.

"When DJ Tarik Moody, our resident foodie, first suggested this idea, we knew itd be a

hit," Program Director Jordan Lee said. "The event has become one of our staffs favorites, and our fans most popular. The artistic challenge of pairing a great song with a great dish is one that our team is always excited to step up to."

In addition to tasting food and music pairings, guests will enjoy a champagne welcome reception and a sampling of Wisconsin cheese and craft beverages. Several Milwaukee DJs will spin tunes all night. Guests can bid on unique food, music and Milwaukee experiences, including an exclusive 88Nine rooftop reception package, in the SoundBites Silent Auction.

Tickets for the event are $125, and corporate tables are available. Tickets are limited in

quantity. All proceeds directly benefit 88Nine Radio Milwaukee.

For more information and to view photos from last years event or to purchase tickets, visit radiomilwaukee.org.
Credit: Richard Ling/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND

From Brexit to Donald Trump's first acts as US president, the news has been full of discussion about trade agreements recently. But trade agreements aren't just relevant to human politics. Exchange of commodities happens in the animal world too, both within and between species. And by applying theories derived from human economics, we can understand why some animals behave as they do.

One example of trade between animals is the way some females exchange sex for a nice present. Among the Pisaura mirabilis spiders, females are much more likely to give in to a suitor if he brings her a nuptial gift: a tasty insect prey wrapped in spider silk. While the female is preoccupied unwrapping and eating the gift, the male can start mating with her. In the spider world it's usually a good idea for males to mate with females that are busy doing something else, like feeding, to avoid the female just eating him instead.

But it's cheaper for him to just bring her a fake gift: a piece of something inedible, such as a plant seed, also wrapped in silk. The nice wrapping often still convinces her to copulate. But she gives him a worse deal. As she spends less time preoccupied with the gift, he has much less time to insert his sex organs. The message to the males is clear: if you bring a more expensive present, you'll be paid with better sex.

Animal trade goes beyond mating pairs, however. Some biological systems can be understood as a marketplace where the concepts of supply and demand from economic theory govern the prices paid for traded commodities. This is the case at cleaning stations in the Great Barrier Reef, where cleaner fish, Labroides dimidiatus, provide their client fish with a parasite-removal service in return for the food reward that are the parasites.

Cleaner fish quickly learn to treat their more choosy customers to a better service. Some clients have small territories and therefore access to only one station, while others move about more and have more options available. This means they can afford to shop around for the best deal and be choosy. Cleaners are sure to attend to these choosy clients first, happily making other clients wait around, as they learn that clients will accept the bad deal of waiting when having nowhere else to go to get de-bugged.

It also turns out that animal societies where individuals breed cooperatively can be viewed as biological market places.Many mammals are cooperative breeders, including meerkats and mongooses, as are some birds, fish and insects. Their social groups consist of a single breeding pair, or a single breeding dominant female, and a number of subordinate helpers.

Subordinates care for the offspring of the dominants, bring food and help defend against predators, all while agreeing to not breed themselves. Interestingly, subordinate helpers in these kinds of societies are all perfectly capable of reproducing, but they choose not to.

Division of labour

One of the great questions in behavioural ecology is this: why do these helpers stay in the group and help someone else to reproduce? After all, evolution favours selfish strategies of passing on one's own genetic material. Biological market theory proposes that subordinates trade their services for the benefits of group membership. The amount of help they provide should then be affected by the supply and demand for help in the population.

Paper wasps, Polistes dominula, also live as cooperative breeders. In return for the hard work of building the nest and collecting food for the precious larvae babies of the dominant wasp, a subordinate receives the small chance of eventually becoming the dominant herself or perhaps sneaking in a few of her own eggs among the colony's brood. To show that this exchange of behaviours is a biological market place, we need to show that changes in the supply and demand of helping behaviour affects the price subordinates pay for group membership.

In a new large field study in southern Spain, my colleagues and I tracked thousands of wasps from hundreds of nests over three months. We increased the supply of outside options available to subordinate wasps by freeing up suitable nesting spots and releasing extra potential nesting partners.

Subordinates now had more options available for leaving their current group and starting up new groups with others, allowing them to be more choosy as to which group to belong to. We found that changing the state of the market in this way clearly affected cooperative behaviour within groups: the subordinates foraged less for their group. Competition for help in the population had likely intensified, so the dominant breeders had to accept a worse deal to retain their subordinate trading partners.

Market theory is far from the only concept from economics that offer valuable insights into biological systems. In fact, Charles Darwin himself found inspiration in economics when formulating his theory of evolution. But if biologists can learn from the emerging properties of human markets, perhaps humans can also learn from the biological systems. For example, if we cut the ties to major trading partners, will this narrow down our options for trade? If so, we will end up having to accept worse deals. Which would be a pertinent lesson for today's politicians.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
CRISPR technology allows researchers to edit our genetic code, with the potential of eliminating diseases. Credit: Thinkstock

An enzyme found in many bacteria, including the bacterium that gives us strep throat, has given mankind a cheap and effective tool with which to edit our own genes. This technology, called CRISPR, is also being used to understand how the immune system responds to a viral attack.

It has been called the century's biggest biotech breakthrough, and you might as well learn the name right off the bat: CRISPR.

It may sound like the name of an American breakfast cereal, but it actually refers to a cheap, efficient and highly accessible method of modifying the genes of all living organisms, whether fish, humans, insects or mammals.

This genome editing tool can be used in mosquitoes to stop the spread of malaria, or it can cut out cancer. Only ethical considerations limit its uses. Who knows where this technology will lead? And who should decide? The possibilities are vast. Inherited diseases can be removed forever.

The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board has held many discussions on how to handle genetically modified foods. Genetically modified maize for animal feed  yes or no? Genetically modified soy  yes or no?

Now, the question looms even larger. Yes or no to genetically engineered humans?

To date, the Biotechnology Advisory Board has decided that Norwegian scientists can conduct research on genes in fertilized human eggs.

Many scientists from around the world have contributed their individual pieces of the CRISPR puzzle to the point where genome editing technology is now here  and ready to use. But it was Jennifer Doudna's and Feng Zhang's breakthrough with the Cas9 (CRISPR associated protein 9) enzyme in 2012 and 2013 that really started the ball rolling.

This enzyme comes from the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes. This little bug is responsible for hundreds of millions of illnesses in the world every year. These include skin irritations, strep throat, ear infections and flesheating bacteria.

The research group found that they could copy what the bacterium does, whereby a small RNA molecule guides the Cas9 proteins to the target DNA molecule that is to be cleaved.

The journal Science named CRISPR technology the scientific breakthrough of the year in 2015.

There is disagreement as to whether or not we should modify the genes of plants and animals that we use for food. A new genetic technology called CRISPR raises a larger question: should we modify our own genetic code? Credit: Thinkstock

The body's minute-by-minute defences

Numerous researchers have begun to use CRISPR around the world. One of them is Associate Professor Richard Kandasamy at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's (NTN) Centre of Molecular Inflammation Research (CEMIR). He conducts research on inflammatory reactions that occur in many diseases.

Using large amounts of data, his research reveals what happens minute-by-minute when the immune system responds to a virus. The results of his team's research were recently published in the respected online journal Systems Biology and Applications.

When the flu or any other virus attacks the body, it has to react with lightning speed.

"It's not like defence cells are just sitting around waiting in some corner of the body to gobble up viruses  and boom, it's all taken care of," says Kandasamy.

As Kandasamy explains, "What happens inside the defence cells is a very comprehensive step-by-step reaction. Signals are sent to the nucleus to initiate a production of new proteins that will take part in the inflammatory reaction and that the cell will use to destroy the virus. This all takes some time. But even a tiny chemical modification of proteins in the cell also enables the cell to start reacting super quickly."

He and his team can map these reactions in extreme detail from the moment a virus infects a cell. By frequently repeating the mapping process in the hours after infection, they can create a detailed map of the cell's reactions.

Most scientists who are working on CRISPR research either proceed by analysing one gene at a time, or upwards of 20,000 genes at a time. Kandasamy uses both approaches. He also uses large computing systems to analyse this complex dataset. This approach of combining modern technologies and mapping reactions minute-by-minute is one of the unique approaches his research group uses to understand reactions in the cell.

Kandasamy came to NTNU through the Onsager Fellowship programme, which is designed to recruit some of the most talented international young researchers to the university. Just before Christmas, Kandasamy was awarded a generous grant for independent research from the Research Council of Norway's FRIPRO programme for promising young researchers.

Time will tell what this discovery, and CRISPR, will lead to in fighting and treating the world's diseases. But one thing you can be sure of  the research has already come to a place near you.

More information: Richard K Kandasamy et al. A time-resolved molecular map of the macrophage response to VSV infection, npj Systems Biology and Applications (2016). DOI: 10.1038/npjsba.2016.27 Journal information: Science

Provided by SINTEF
This computer generated handout image released by the European Space Agency (ESA) on May 15, 2015 shows the impact of the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) projectile on the Didymos asteroid

A mission to smash a spacecraft into an asteroid moon to alter its trajectory, a possible dry-run for an exercise in saving the Earth from Armageddon, has run into a cash crunch.

The proposed joint European-US mission, which sounds like it could form the plot for a sci-fi Hollywood blockbuster, has been dubbed AIDA (Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment).

In 2022, the idea is to launch a 600-kilogramme (1,300-pound) NASA spacecraft at Didymos, an asteroid some 13 million kilometres (eight million miles) from Earth, after a two-year self-guided journey through space.

The craft will crash into the 800 metre-wide Didymos' tiny satellite, Didymoon, at a speed of about six kilometres (3.7 miles) per second.

The aim would be to "redirect" the 160-metre moonthe first time humans would have altered the course of a Solar System body.

For the European part of the futuristic project, a small craft dubbed AIM (Asteroid Impact Mission), will move in close to the action, observing the crash up close and analysing its impact on the moon's structure and orbit.

AIM will be fitted with a camera to capture images of the impact, which is likely to leave a large crater on Didymoon and unleash a massive cloud of debris.

"The goal is to test the technology so that if an asteroid threatens our planet one day, we will have the capability of changing its trajectory," Ian Carnelli, AIM project head at the European Space Agency (ESA), told AFP.

The mission suffered a major setback, however, when European space ministers gathered in Switzerland in December for a regular policy and budget meeting, rejected funding for AIM.

The ESA had sought 250 million euros ($269 million).

Not giving up

ESA director general Jan Woerner says he remains hopeful and stressed "the mission was not cancelled."

"We are still working on it and I am not giving up," he told journalists in Paris last week. "The member states, the ministers, asked me not to give up."

Design of the AIM craft was on track, said Woerner, but several cost-cutting options were being consideredincluding reducing the number of scientific instruments on board.

"By doing this, the budget may be lowered to about 150 million euros, launch excluded," AIM scientific head Patrick Michel told AFP.

The original design for AIM includes a camera, radio equipment, a tiny lander, mini-satellites and radar instruments.

For AIM, the clock is ticking.

Project development contracts with European companies come up for renewal soon.

"We have about two months left to... find the money," Carnelli said.

The $150-million mission can go ahead with or without Europe. Either way, the deep space collision will be observed with instruments on Earth.

Scientists believe more than 1,700 asteroids are on trajectories that may pose a collision danger to Earth.

"We have to keep an eye on them," said Michel. While strikes by large asteroids are rare, the fallout can be dire.

"If an asteroid of 150 metres falls on Earth, it will be like 10,000 Hiroshima (atomic) bombs in terms of energy released."

In 2013, an asteroid exploded in a blinding fireball over Russia, sending debris plummeting to Earth.

The shockwave exploded windows, injuring some 1,600 people, and a burst of ultraviolet light left more than two dozen people with skin burns.

The December meeting in Lucerne ended a long period of uncertainty for two key European projectsthe ExoMars mission to place a life-seeking rover on the Red Planet, and maintaining a presence on the International Space Station.

Last October, a 230-million-euro test lander, designed to lay the groundwork for the planned rover, smashed into Mars, prompting the ESA to seek additional cash to keep the project alive.

 2017 AFP
Credit: Maya Edelman/CALeDNA

Would you like to become a volunteer citizen scientist helping to document and analyze California's rich biodiversity? If so, you can be among 1,000 volunteers who will collect 18,000 samples of soil and aquatic sediment from across the state through a new University of California program called CALeDNA that intends to revolutionize conservation in California by the end of this year.

Volunteers who sign up on the program's website will receive training, a sample collection kit and a phone app to guide them. The program's scientific team hopes about half of the participants will deploy the kits on hikes in any of the 39 UC natural reserves, and that the other half will sample broadly across California's stunning and fragile ecosystems. CALeDNA will hold several "BioBlitz" events; the first will be held on Feb. 8 at Northern California's Pillar Point near Half Moon Bay.

To figure out what lives in a placefor example, from an undeveloped lot in the desert, a grassland being considered for cattle range or a patch of coastal sage scrub experiencing drought teams of life scientists have traditionally had to survey the area intensively for up to four years, but they still could not identify everything.

By using DNA-sequencing technology that traditionally has been used to inventory species in marine systems, CALeDNA scientists will be able to reconstruct an entire habitat from a vial of soil. The kit samples will be sent to a team of UCLA molecular biologists, who will extract DNA and prepare the sample for permanent archiving.

This technique captures fragments of DNA, called environmental DNA or eDNA, from cells shed by animals as they scamper by, from plants as fallen leaves compost, and from all the small critters, bacteria and fungi that live underground. High-tech DNA sequencers generate hundreds of thousands of DNA barcodes that scientists will compare to a global database of all barcodes of life. They can then extrapolate hundreds of species with even a trace amount of DNA in a gram of soil.

The CALeDNA program was created under the UC Conservation Genomics Consortium supported by UC President Janet Napolitano's catalyst grant program.

"With more extreme climate sweeping the state, and nearly 1,000 species on endangered or watch lists, California can't afford to wait to take action," said Robert Wayne, a UCLA professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who is leading the consortium.

Conservation International has named California as one of the world's biodiversity hotspots, with a large number of species whose existence is threatened by human activity. California's wildlife is particularly at risk because more than 70 percent of natural habitat has been lost due to development and land degradation, Wayne said.

One of the main challenges facing conservation biologists is effectively monitoring species distribution and establishing reliable baselines of a region's biodiversitywhich is critical for early detection of species decline. CALeDNA aims to address these challenges by collecting and analyzing samples to establish a baseline of California's biodiversity.

"We will create an environmental DNA museum," Wayne said. CALeDNA will openly disseminate information about its progress with data collection and analysis to make biodiversity monitoring easier and more effective.

And you can be a part of this important biodiversity project.
University of Alberta researchers Daniel Alessi (L) and Greg Goss (R) are studying the effects of hydraulic fracturing on aquatic animals in the first ever study of its kind. Credit: John Ulan for the University of Alberta

Researchers at the University of Alberta have conducted the first-ever study to use hydraulic fracturing fluids to examine effects on aquatic animals, such as rainbow trout. Horizontal drilling with high-volume hydraulic fracturing is a practice used globally for extracting oil and gas from tight reservoirs. Hydraulic fracturing uses large quantities of water and poses many environmental hazards in water, from contamination to spills.

A recent study examines the impact of the fluids produced by hydraulic fracturing on freshwater rainbow trout. Conducted in collaboration with industry partner Encana, the study was led by Daniel Alessi and Greg Goss in the Faculty of Science and Jon Martin in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.

"The end goal is to understand the effects of the spills, should they occur, on native aquatic animals," explains Greg Goss, professor in the University of Alberta's Department of Biological Sciences. "This will help in both environmental policy, water treatment options for onsite water management and improved mitigation policy and programs."

This is the first-ever study to use fluids actually produced by hydraulic fracturing to examine their impact on aquatic animals. Comparable to many other species in northern countries, rainbow trout are a freshwater fish with cultural and economic implications, making them the ideal subject to study.

"To our knowledge, we are the only toxicology researchers with access to examine these fluids as they are actually produced in the well," says Daniel Alessi, assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. "We are fortunate enough to have a company such as EnCana provide us the fluids to perform this study as a means to improve their environmental stewardship."

In their study, they found that fluids produced by hydraulic fracturing have significant negative effects on rainbow trout, even at greater than 100 fold dilutions and these effects include oxidative stress, endocrine disruption, and biotransformation which may lead to longer term impacts on populations where spills have occurred.

The results provide a basis for both regulators and industry to develop policies and procedures that will help reduce the negative effects of spills, as well as ensure that the clean up of the zone of impact is done appropriately.

The team of researchers plan to conduct long-term studies to examine the potential effects of these hydraulic fracturing, fluids being present in a stream, mimicking the actual values present after a spill.

"We are only just starting to examine these effects and examine some of the other characteristics of spills," says Goss. "From here, we hope to inform industry, government and the public alike about the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing, on our water and the animals who live there."

The paper, "Effects on Biotransformation, Oxidative Stress, and Endocrine Disruption in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Exposed to Hydraulic Fracturing Flowback and Produced Water", was published in Environmental Science and Technology.
ALMA 0.88 mm (Band 7) dust continuum images of MG 0414+0534. A faint spot inside a red circle (left) is the "object Y". Credit: Inoue et al., 2017.

(Phys.org)Astronomers have spotted a mysterious faint object in the vicinity of a quadruply lensed quasar designated MG 0414+0534. The object, which was discovered using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), appears to be a dusty, dark dwarf galaxy or an ultra-diffuse galaxy (UDG). The findings were presented January 19 in a paper published on arXiv.org.

MG 0414+0534 is a quadruply lensed, radio-loud quasar that showcases a strong sign of anomaly in the flux ratio and reddening in the optical and near-infrared band. This anomaly baffles scientists as its origin is not fully understood yet.

In order to reveal more insights into this mysterious anomaly, a team of researchers led by Kaiki Taro Inoue of Kindai University in Japan conducted continuum observations of MG 0414+0534 with ALMA. The observational campaign, which was carried out in June and August 2015, resulted in the discovery of a faint object with a flux of about 0.3 mJy in the vicinity of the quasar. For the purpose of the research, this newly found object was designated "object Y."

According to the paper, "object Y" has an ellipticity of about 0.7 at a redshift between 0.5 and 1.0 and its linear size is at least 16,300 light years. The scientists estimate that the dark matter plus baryon mass associated with the object is about one billion solar masses, while its dust mass is approximately 10 million times greater than that of the sun.

The images obtained by ALMA allowed the researchers to draw conclusions that the newly detected object is most likely a dusty dark dwarf galaxy, previously undetected in either optical, near-infrared or radio bands.

"Our findings suggest that the object is a dusty dark dwarf galaxy," the paper reads.

However, the astronomers also explore the possibility that "object Y" could be an UDG. With stellar masses typical of dwarf galaxies, UDGs are extremely-low-density galaxies. The largest UDGs have sizes comparable to the Milky Way but contain only about one percent as many stars as our home galaxy. Notably, the phenomenon of UDGs still puzzles scientists as they try explain why these faint but large galaxies are not ripped apart by the tidal fields of their host clusters.

The researchers explain that if "object Y" is a UDG, then its stellar components may have been expanded due to outflow caused by starburst or active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity. Therefore, the surface brightness in the optical and near-infrared band can be extremely small despite being gas-rich, which makes this object difficult to spot.

The team concluded that more detailed analysis of the newly found object could provide important information about the origin of past starburst activity. They also noted that if "object Y" is residing in the intervening line of sight, many faint submillimeter galaxies may be classified in the future as gas-rich dusty dark dwarf galaxies.

"A substantial portion of faint submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) in the universe may be attributed to such dark objects," the researchers wrote in the paper.

More information: Evidence for a Dusty Dark Dwarf Galaxy in the Quadruple Lens MG0414+0534, arXiv:1701.05283 [astro-ph.GA] arxiv.org/abs/1701.05283 Abstract

We report the 4 detection of a faint object with a flux of ~ 0.3 mJy, in the vicinity of the quadruply lensed QSO MG0414+0534 using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter array (ALMA) Band 7. The object is most probably a dusty dark dwarf galaxy, which has not been detected in either the optical, near-infrared (NIR) or radio (cm) bands. An anomaly in the flux ratio of the lensed images observed in Band 7 and the mid-infrared (MIR) band and the reddening of the QSO light color can be simultaneously explained if we consider the object as a lensing substructure with an ellipticity ~ 0.7 at a redshift of 0.5z1. Using the best-fit lens models with three lenses, we find that the dark matter plus baryon mass associated with the object is 109M, the dust mass is 107M and the linear size is 5kpc. Thus our findings suggest that the object is a dusty dark dwarf galaxy. A substantial portion of faint submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) in the universe may be attributed to such dark objects.

 2017 Phys.org
Soybean fungus infected with mycovirus (left) has little effect on leaves, while uninfected fungus (right) damages leaves. Credit: University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Viruses are everywhere. They affect all forms of life, from complex mammals down to the mere fungus. We may not give much thought to fungal viruses, or mycoviruses, but new research from the University of Illinois suggests they deserve a closer look.

"There's been a lot of work done with human and animal and plant viruses. There isn't as much known about fungal viruses or insect viruses, because if they get infected with a virus, no one cares," explains U of I and USDA ARS virologist Leslie Domier.

It turns out there are good reasons to care about mycoviruses. Fungal diseases account for approximately 10 percent yield losses annually in corn and soybean. When certain mycoviruses infect those fungi, they can become less virulent  good news for crop yields. These forms were the targets of a recent investigation by Domier and his colleagues.

"In addition to viruses that make fungi less virulent, we were also looking for those that might be transmitted outside of the fungus the way a cold virus is transmitted, where you can pick it up off a surface without having direct contact with another person. Therefore, we were particularly interested in viruses that were encapsidated, or that formed virus particles," Domier explains.

The team extracted genetic material, DNA and RNA, from five major types of plant-pathogenic fungi and used computers to search for genetic sequences that resembled those of known viruses.

"We found a lot of sequences that were very similar to previously described fungal viruses, but we also found some encapsidated forms that were similar to plant viruses. Those were the ones we were most interested in, because they reduce fungal virulence and can be transmitted outside the fungus," he says.

This key combination may make it possible for these viruses to be used as biological control agents. "Some mycoviruses have been shown in laboratory or greenhouse studies to be very effective biocontrol agents," Domier says. One day, the encapsidated forms they discovered may be sprinkled on a field to kill pathogenic fungi and improve soybean yield.

Interestingly, the research could also improve medical treatment options for human fungal diseases.

"The biochemical pathways in fungi are relatively close to humans, so it's often difficult to find something that will kill a fungus and not damage the person. Ultimately, we are hoping to explore whether we can use mycoviruses to reduce the severity of human disease to the point where normal immune response could clear the disease from the body," Domier says.

The article, "Identification of diverse mycoviruses through metatranscriptomics characterization of the viromes of five major fungal plant pathogens," is published in the Journal of Virology.

More information: Shin-Yi Lee Marzano et al. Identification of Diverse Mycoviruses through Metatranscriptomics Characterization of the Viromes of Five Major Fungal Plant Pathogens, Journal of Virology (2016). DOI: 10.1128/JVI.00357-16 Journal information: Journal of Virology
Sex-changing wrasses called sheephead are a critical part of the kelp forest ecosystem. Credit: Scott Hamilton

Marine reserves play an important role in sustaining ecosystem diversity and abundance. Their presence enables certain species to return to a natural size structure, which enables predators to control destructive prey.

A case in point is the California sheephead. The colorful fish inhabit kelp forests ranging from Monterey Bay to the Gulf of California in Mexico. Scientists have known for some time that these sex-changing wrasses are a critical part of the kelp forest ecosystem.

And now they've shown how.

New research from UC Santa Barbara demonstrates the importance of predator size to kelp beds' ability to recover when an overabundance of urchins creates areas of low diversity and productivity, or barrens. Large sheephead eat large urchins, helping to keep the urchin population under control and to rejuvenate kelp forests. The findings appear in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"We found a lot more sheephead within the marine reserves at Catalina Island, which was our primary area of study," said co-author Robert Warner, a research professor in UCSB's Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology. "Particularly striking was how many more there were in terms of the larger individuals. Those are the ones we actually observed eating urchins of various sizes."

The team performed feeding experiments in the field, both inside and outside marine reserves. They wanted to determine what sizes of urchin could be handled by sheephead of various sizes and which type of urchin they preferred. It turns out sheephead favor purple urchins, the ones responsible for barren formation.

The researchers also found that sheephead of a certain size can't eat urchins at all. Once they grow to about a foot long, that changes. "We simply observed which sizes of sheephead were eating what kind of urchins and whether they tried and failed or tried and were successful," said co-author Steve Gaines, dean of the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. "The bottom line is that only the largest sheephead could handle and eat the largest urchins. The smaller sheephead either didn't try or ate only smaller urchins."

Warner, Gaines and lead author Rebecca Selden, a former UCSB graduate student who is now a postdoctoral researcher at Rutgers University, found that this feeding behavior caused urchin mortality to differ both inside and outside marine reserves. Mortality for medium and large urchins was low outside reserves, simply because the predator capable of eating them wasn't present. Greater overall urchin mortality existed inside the reserves, thanks to a greater abundance of sheepheadboth large and small.

"The critical point is that large sheephead can handle large urchins," Warner said. "What that means in the long run is that we need to pay attention to management that is concerned with size structure within the predator populations, not just their numbers.

"One way to restore size structure is to not kill them," Warner continued. "And one way not to kill them is to set up reserves. Once a reserve is established, once the animals are big, it is highly likely that kelp beds will be much more resistant to the formation of urchin barrens, which makes it easier for kelp forests to flourish. But that doesn't happen right away. We have to wait for individual predators to get large enough to handle the largest prey."

In places like New Zealand, a lack of predators has allowed urchins to grow so big that they're become invulnerable. The only way to reduce such populations would be a disaster such as heavy wave action or disease. But according to Warner, in Southern California, even the largest urchins can be controlled if enough big predators are around.

The study also made comparisons with the northern Channel Islands, where the overall number of sheephead is lower, largely due to the fact that the Santa Barbara Channel is the northern edge of their range.

"The differences you see inside and outside reserves is even larger in the northern Channel Islands," Gaines said. "Up here the differences are much more striking so the presence of reserves is likely even more critical to enabling increased resilience within the kelp beds."

More information: Rebecca L. Selden et al. Protection of large predators in a marine reserve alters size-dependent prey mortality, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2017). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.1936 Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B
New research led by the University of Leicester has made a novel breakthrough in understanding how solidification cracking occurs during the welding of steel, an important engineering alloy.

In a new study, which has been published in the journal Scientific Reports from Nature, the team from the University of Leicester Department of Engineering propose that solidification cracks grow by linking micro-porosities in the meshing zone in the solidifying weld pool.

This is the first time that researchers have observed solidification cracking in steel and sheds new light on why the alloy may crack during the process.

Professor Hong Dong from the University of Leicester Department of Engineering said: "Welding is the most economical and effective way to join metals permanently and it is a vital component of our manufacturing economy.

"It is estimated that more than 50 per cent of global domestic and engineering products contain welded joints. In Europe, the welding industry has traditionally supported a diverse set of companies across the shipbuilding, pipeline, automotive, aerospace, defence and construction sectors. Solidification/hot cracking is the most common failure mode during metal processing, such as welding, casting and metal additive manufacturing (metal 3-D printing)."

The team used synchrotron X-ray beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) to observe the crack formation at the real time.

With modern advances in synchrotron X-ray and imaging techniques, the team was able to see through metals, providing details analysis of the alloy.

Weaknesses in welded parts can have many disastrous effects including putting lives at risk and harming the economy because of damages and insurance payouts for faulty products.

They can also cause environmental catastrophes such as pollution if imperfectly welded parts are used in environmentally sensitive areas such as the ocean.

More information: L. Aucott et al. Initiation and growth kinetics of solidification cracking during welding of steel, Scientific Reports (2017). DOI: 10.1038/srep40255 Journal information: Scientific Reports , Nature
Early prototype of 'smart glasses' with liquid-based lenses that can automatically adjust the focus on what a person is seeing, whether it is far away or close up. The lenses are placed in battery-powered frames that can automatically adjust the focal length of the lenses based on what the wearer is looking at. Researchers expect to have smaller, lighter frames with the technology in as early as three years. Credit: Dan Hixson/University of Utah College of Engineering

The days of wearing bifocals or constantly swapping out reading glasses might soon come to an end.

A team led by University of Utah electrical and computer engineering professor Carlos Mastrangelo and doctoral student Nazmul Hasan has created "smart glasses" with liquid-based lenses that can automatically adjust the focus on what a person is seeing, whether it is far away or close up. Research on the adaptive lenses was published this week in a special edition of the journal, Optics Express. The paper was co-authored by U electrical and computer engineering associate professor Hanseup Kim and graduate researcher Aishwaryadev Banerjee.

"Most people who get reading glasses have to put them on and take them off all the time," says Mastrangelo, who also is a professor for USTAR, the Utah Science Technology and Research economic development initiative. "You don't have to do that anymore. You put these on, and it's always clear."

The human eye has a lens inside that adjusts the focal depth depending on what you look at. But as people age, the lens loses its ability to change focus, which is why many people ultimately require reading glasses or bifocals to see objects up close and regular eyeglasses to see far away, also known as farsightedness and nearsightedness, respectively.

University of Utah electrical and computer engineering professor Carlos Mastrangelo, right, and doctoral student Nazmul Hasan have created 'smart glasses' with liquid-based lenses that can automatically adjust the focus on what a person is seeing, whether it is far away or close up. Credit: Dan Hixon/University of Utah College of Engineering

So Mastrangelo and Hasan have created eyeglass lenses made of glycerin, a thick colorless liquid enclosed by flexible rubber-like membranes in the front and back. The rear membrane in each lens is connected to a series of three mechanical actuators that push the membrane back and forth like a transparent piston, changing the curvature of the liquid lens and therefore the focal length between the lens and the eye.

"The focal length of the glasses depends on the shape of the lens, so to change the optical power we actually have to change the membrane shape," Mastrangelo says.

The lenses are placed in special eyeglass frames also invented by Mastrangelo, Hasan and other members of the research group with electronics and a battery to control and power the actuators. In the bridge of the glasses is a distance meter that measures the distance from the glasses to an object via pulses of infrared light. When the wearer looks at an object, the meter instantly measures the distance and tells the actuators how to curve the lenses. If the user then sees another object that's closer, the distance meter readjusts and tells the actuators to reshape the lens for farsightedness. Hasan says the lenses can change focus from one object to another in 14 milliseconds. A rechargeable battery in the frames could last more than 24 hours per charge, Mastrangelo says.

Video of a liquid-based lens adjusting and readjusting its focal length. University of Utah engineers have created 'smart glasses' with liquid-based lenses that can automatically adjust the focus on what a person is seeing, whether it is far away or close up. Credit: Carlos Mastrangelo

Before putting them on for the first time, all users have to do is input their eyeglasses prescription into an accompanying smartphone app, which then calibrates the lenses automatically via a Bluetooth connection. Users only needs to do that once except for when their prescription changes over time, and theoretically, eyeglass wearers will never have to buy another pair again since these glasses would constantly adjust to their eyesight.

Currently, the team has constructed a bulky working prototype that they put on display at last month's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but expect to constantly improve the design to make them smaller and lighter. Mastrangelo said a lighter, more attractive pair could hit the marketplace in as early as three years and that a startup company, Sharpeyes LLC, has been created to commercialize the glasses.

Closeup of a liquid-based lenses that can automatically adjust the focus on what a person is seeing. Credit: Carlos Mastrangelo

More information: Nazmul Hasan et al, Tunable-focus lens for adaptive eyeglasses, Optics Express (2017). DOI: 10.1364/OE.25.001221 Journal information: Optics Express
The crypt-keeper wasp, Euderus set, is a parasite that takes advantage of another parasite, the gall wasp. It infects the maturing gall wasp in its crypt and modifies its victim's behavior, forcing the gall wasp to make its escape hole too small. E. set then escapes through the gall wasp's body and emerges to freedom through its head. Credit: Andrew Forbes/University of Iowa

Gall wasps may feel confident as they infest oak trees for shelter and sustenance, but their wasp enemy has an even more insidious agenda, according to Rice University scientists.

The wasp known as Euderus set, or E. set, deposits an egg in the developing gall wasp's woody haven. The young E. set eventually chews its way to freedom - through its host's head.

Rice researchers nicknamed it the "crypt-keeper" wasp and said it's a rare example of hypermanipulation, in which a parasite is manipulated by another parasite.

E. set and its gory emergence are described in two papers led by Rice evolutionary biologists Kelly Weinersmith and Scott Egan.

The first paper, in the open-access journal ZooKeys this month, describes the new wasp species in detail. The second, released today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, details the species' ghoulish strategy.

The discoverers named their wasp for Set, the Egyptian god of evil and chaos who trapped his brother Osiris in a crypt, killed him and then cut him into little pieces.

The tiny, iridescent parasite hijacks its host, Bassettia pallida, which would normally mature inside the crypt (aka the gall) and tunnel its way out to freedom in the spring. A female E. set deposits an egg into the crypt, where it manipulates the growing gall wasp, typically making its emergence hole too small.

When the wasp tries to escape, its head lodges in the hole. E. set can then consume the gall wasp's internal organs and emerge, "Alien"-like, from its head case.

"It could be the parasitoid cues hosts to excavate early, but makes them do it less well than usual," said Weinersmith, who studies parasites. "They only go part way and then they get stuck.

"That's what I love about parasite manipulation of host behavior," she said. "So many of the stories that have been uncovered are just as cool as the coolest science fiction movie."

Credit: Rice University/Artwork by Boulet

Egan originally discovered the wasp on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the summer of 2014 before finding it in trees at Rice and in an oak tree in his front yard. As part of this study, E. set has now been found in Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana.

"I was walking on a path through the sand dunes with my daughter that summer while on a family vacation and of course, I can't not grab bugs everywhere I go," said Egan about spotting a tree branch of interest. "It ended up being this rare cynipid (gall wasp) that I don't see around here very often, and in a much higher density. Then I couldn't stop myself."

Weinersmith first saw it while chatting with Egan during one of their initial meetings at Rice. "He had this cup of stuff on his desk," she recalled. "Anytime Scott sees a gall, he cuts it off, sticks it in a cup, puts a coffee filter over it and waits to see what emerges."

"A couple of weeks later, animals started coming out," Egan said. "I did some dissections, shaved off the head with a razor blade, got into the wood and in the belly of these beasts was another little tiny larva, sitting in the abdomen. I immediately called Kelly."

The researchers hope to discover how E. set triggers the change in Bassettia's behavior. "One hard thing is that we can't see what's happening until they come out," Weinersmith said. "We're talking to people to see if we can CAT scan the branches in various stages."

But they already know how badly E. set needs its host. To see how well it could tunnel, they taped thin strips of bark over the dead heads and waited. The experiments showed the crypt-keeper was about three times more likely to die in the crypt if it had to dig through the head case and the bark.

Because close to 600 species in the Eulophid family are found in North America, and many attack or serve as biocontrol agents for agricultural pests, the researchers would also like to know if E. set's manipulations are more common.

The new parasitic wasp species Euderus set named after the ancient Egyptian god of evil and chaos Set. Its common name is the crypt-keeper wasp. Credit: Ryan Ridenbaugh and Miles Zhang

"Euderus set represents one of many millions of undescribed parasitic wasps with peculiar lifecycles," said Andrew Forbes, co-author on both papers. His lab at the University of Iowa studies the evolution of parasitoid wasps, which he described as one of the most species-rich groups of animals on the planet.

Weinersmith noted the gall wasp victim is hardly unknown. Literally millions of specimens are in the possession of the American Museum of Natural History, most brought there by the entomologist Alfred Kinsey, who later earned renown for his human sexuality research.

"Scott was going through some of those museum samples and saw this phenomenon in those branches," she said. "So it's been in museums for years, there for people to see. But we couldn't find any evidence that other people noticed this phenomenon and thought, 'Maybe something weird is happening here.'"

Provided by Rice University
A male North American Habronattus jumping spider shows off his brightly colored face, legs and knees as he prepares to flash his kaleidoscope of colors during an elaborate mating dance ritual. Credit: Thomas Shahan

While most arachnophiles will likely find tiny spider dancers who can "swagger like Jagger" entertaining, it's more than the dance that captures the fascination of one NSF-funded University of Cincinnati researcher.

It's their ability to see color and the bright and bold color patterns on the male body parts that has Nate Morehouse, UC biologist, looking inside the many eyes of two groups of vividly colored jumping spiders.

"It's rare to see bright colors on most spiders, as they don't usually have the visual sensitivity to perceive color beyond drab blues, greens and browns," says Morehouse. "But certain groups of jumping spiders deviate from this pattern.

"They not only possess a unique ability to see reds, yellows and oranges, but the males display those same bright colors on the exterior of their faces and other body parts [that] they use in their elaborate courtship dances."

Love at first sight

Looking at the two groups of Salticidaebetter known as jumping spiderswhich possess this rare ability to see color, Morehouse, an assistant professor of biology in UC's College of Arts and Sciences, found that these two groups see color using two completely different mechanisms.

These tiny arachnids classified as the Habronattus jumping spiders of North America and the Maratus "peacock" jumping spiders of Australia, are no larger than a ladybug.

A maleMaratus speciosus 'peacock' jumping spider flashes his colorful abdomen flap in preparation for his rhythmic mating dance ritual. Credit: Jurgen Otto

Habronattus spiders possess a red filter on the retina that combines with their green sensitive retinal cells to be able to see reds, yellows and oranges. In contrast, he found Maratus spiders have evolved a completely new type of retinal cell that is sensitive to red, no filter needed.

"This is a remarkable discovery, as two different groups of jumping spiders have evolved on opposite ends of the globe. Both have the rare ability to see long wavelength colors like red, orange and yellow," says Morehouse. "But each group has arrived at independent solutions for seeing the color."

Morehouse, who recently joined UC's Department of Biology from the University of Pittsburgh, moved his Morehouse Lab and NSF-funded sensory ecology research to work with the biology department's faculty concentration in sensory biology, behavior and evolution.

Now representing the University of Cincinnati, Morehouse recently presented the findings from this study at the 2017 Annual Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference in New Orleans in January.

Shake, rattle and roll

While many male jumping spiders perform sophisticated rhythmic displays when trying to woo little lady spiders, most species cannot see in color. Most simply use their booty-shaking dance moves to get her in the mood.

Since other species just see in the range from ultraviolet to green, Morehouse says this explains the mostly drab colors found on those particular arachnid bodies. Why be colorful if your prospective mates can't see your true colors?

Researchers in the Morehouse Lab capture the colorful and rhythmic courtship dance of a pair of North American Habronattus pyrrithrix jumping spiders. Credit: Morehouse Lab

By contrast, Morehouse describes the colorful Habronattus group from North and Central America and the Australian Maratus or "peacock" spiders as two groups that have deviated rather conspicuously from that rule.

The males in both colorful groups are talented dancers with fancy footwork, have bright oranges, pinks, reds and yellows in their physical display, and the peacock spiders also have an elaborately decorative abdomen flap that they raise up and down like a flag. And both sexes possess the ability to see those colors.

One of these things is not like the other

"Unlike closely related groups of jumping spiders that are drab in appearance, Habronattus spider males have brightly colored faces, legs and knees. And both sexes see these colors thanks to a bright ruby red filter in the middle of their retinas," says Morehouse. "The Maratus males are also colorful, and they too flash those vibrant body parts to attract their mates, but they don't have the red filter in their retinas like the Habronattus."

Instead, Morehouse says the savvy peacock spiders see color through ultraviolet, blue, green and red sensitive cells within their eyes, which is most similar to birds.

The reason may lie in part because Australian peacock spiders are not related to the Habronattus spiders in North America. While they look similar, Morehouse says they are about as far from the Habronattus group as humans are from hyenas.

"These Australian peacock spiders have independently arrived at a way of seeing color that is different from the North American spiders," says Morehouse.

A close-up of the octovision of a Maratus "peacock" jumping spider. The retinas of the principal eyes, the largest ones on the front of the head, are positioned at the end of long tubes and have multiple layers of cells, each sensitive to different colors of light. By angling each of their two primary front eye tubes just so, the spiders have binocular vision with excellent acuity and full color perception. The six secondary eyes on the side of their heads give them more or less 360-degree vision. Credit: Jurgen Otto

To characterize the sensitivities of both novel color visual systems [the way in which the eye itself perceives color] Morehouse used:

Microspectrophotometry  measures directly how photoreceptor cells in the retina absorb light differently.

Visual system modeling  uses mathematical models to estimate how the retina perceives color.

Morehouse has identified two distinct solutions for how these animals see color and both solutions are found within the retina of the principal eyes.

Habronattus employs a red filter to create a third type of photoreceptor cell predominantly sensitive to red light.

Maratus uses no filters, but has two additional types of photoreceptors  one is blue sensitive, one is red sensitive.

"These additional photoreceptor cells are likely a product of a gene duplication that has subsequently evolved to be sensitive to a different range of colors, similar to the way humans and other higher primates evolved to see color," explains Morehouse. "Somewhere early in primate evolution the gene responsible for the protein that gives us our green sensitivity got duplicated into two copies.

"One of these genes called an opsin gene mutated without affecting the other and those mutations eventually led to one of the copies becoming red sensitive. This may be what happened in the Maratus."

Colorful male Australian (Maratus speciosus) "peacock" jumping spider displays his vibrant colors as he begins his elaborate mating dance. Credit: Peacockspiderman (Jurgen Otto)

Visual diversity shares common goal

Gene duplication is increasingly credited as a mechanism for evolving functions, Morehouse says, including new visual functions. In the case of the jumping spiders, color vision provides a valuable new trait for not only luring their mates, but is especially critical for successful foraging.

He explains these fuzzy fur balls as voracious predators eating a wide variety of small insects and some of their prey are brightly colored, which can signal their toxicity to other predators like birds and dragonflies. So fortunate spiders that can see these warning colors are also at an advantage for discriminating between brightly colored toxic prey and non-toxic prey.

"We think that more effective foraging is the major reason for the evolution of color vision," says Morehouse.

But what about the bright colors of males? Wouldn't this lead them to be more obvious to spider predators? Morehouse points out that bright male body colors are usually only observable from the front when the spiders are face-to-face.

The males may wave their legs around in a kaleidoscope of colors but Morehouse says it typically only shows on the underside. When birds observe these rare, multi-hued spiders from above they only see their mottled drab colors of brown, black and tan patterns on the surfaces facing upward.

The result is a clever solution: camouflage on top for predators and bright color displays in front for members of their own species.

Morehouse hopes to continue this research by looking at a group of spiders in India that are brightly colored and unrelated to either of these two groups. "If we increase our knowledge of additional groups that have transitioned to more sophisticated color vision, we're in an exceptional position to understand why color vision evolves in the first place and what consequences it has for color signaling behavior and the ecology of these species," says Morehouse.

"And who knows, perhaps we will find inspirations for novel color sensing technologies."
A work of fiction gives an interesting insight into the real world of science research. Credit: Shutterstock/Julija Sapic

Have you ever wondered what inspired the United States to initiate the mission to put a man on the Moon? Or who first thought of building the Large Hadron Collider or the massive Square Kilometre Array radio telescope?

What is it that prompts these multi-billion-dollar scientific projects to start?

This is the issue explored by Australian author Thomas Barlow in his first novel, A Theory of Nothing, published last November and which I had the chance to revisit over the summer holiday.

Barlow's previous work tends to focus more on the factual coverage of science and innovation in Australia and beyond, including the regular Barlow Advisory on the Australian research and development system with a particular focus on universities.

His first work of fiction, though, clearly draws on his experience of dealing with people in scientific research. Barlow touches on some sensitive issues that we scientists don't always like to acknowledge.

But A Theory of Nothing didn't start out as a Barlow publication. Barlow originally self-published this novel with the title Critical Mass as a fictional autobiography of the protagonist, Professor Duronimus Karlof.

Early feedback from scientists and administrators gave Barlow the confidence to tighten up the story a little, to change some character names to protect the innocent and republish with a new title under his own name.

Into the novel

The novel begins with Prof Karlof, a physicist and rising star of Harvard University. The inspiration for setting up his major project is the death of a colleague, Sandra Hidecock, a renowned professor of natural law with many accolades.

Hidecock apparently jumped to her death from her office window as she challenged the laws of nature because she was opposed to their "soulless and frigid constraints".

In support of Hidecock, Karlof somewhat reluctantly initiates the Ooala Project, a billion-dollar project to, as he puts it, "have a go at the laws of nature".

Securing his first million dollars from the president of Harvard's slush fund, Karlof goes about creating his handpicked multidisciplinary team of five of the leading second-rate scientists at Harvard.

They were the "disaffected scholars" who "rarely published in the top journals and whose careers had never lived up to their self-imagined promise". These were the ones who wanted to "feel important again" and "their backing would be easy to obtain". In return they would receive "kudos [] and re-ignite in their hearts a sense of mission and destiny".

Having assembled his B-team, they decide that the focus of the Ooala Project should be creating sub-stationary motion. They would create an environment that slows matter down to being stationary compared to all other points of the universe and then slow the matter down more to be "beyond stationary!"

And so it begins.

Karlof builds an international research community including a professional society and a journal. He secures secret defence funding and creates international collaborations.

Karlof attracts additional funding of more than a billion dollars. He builds an extraordinary facility in the Nevada desert, complete with a new-concept electricity generator. He has a community of students living on site in a Manhattan Project-style remote community, all working together to show that the laws of physics are not as they seem.

He even discovers a new "negatronium particle", an invisible, massless entity that reduces the mass of anything with which it collides.

More than just a story

But the satirical novel is more than a fun raspberry blown at the establishment of international science. Barlow has woven several important themes into a very engaging and humorous story.

He shows how the human element is a critical requirement in the scientific process to build a new research field. He suggests how supporting the best and brightest leader, regardless of the quality of the team, can lead to an extraordinary and unexpected impact on society.

Although it's a cynical view of how to set up a major research project, Barlow delves into the investment in science by politicians based on a scientist's reputation.

He shows too clearly how to buy collaborators, revealing that scientists follow the research money and jump on research bandwagons regardless of what they think of the research quality and whether it's "good" science.

Barlow also has a dig at the public service and the silly consequences of secrecy and the unexpected ways that fundamental research can impact society due to completely unforeseen applications in disparate fields.

In this case, because the "negatronium particle" affords a mechanism to "cross the boundary between the physical and the psychological", the US Treasury uses the impact of this new particle on controlling human emotion to match government financing failures with policymarkers' expectations. In doing so they create compliance.

And, finally, Barlow demonstrates his strong underlying support for women in science. On trying to find a female to make up a diverse B-team, Karlof "didn't know any second-rate women".

He finds Assistant Professor Millicent Parker on the recommendation of the Dean of Engineering and Applied Sciences, who describes the female professor as "very good  very competent". Parker adds:

[] but she's too generous with her time. She takes on too many responsibilities [] She writes half my papers for me, she has twice the teaching load of the male assistant professors and if any student runs into trouble, she's always the one they go to. She doesn't leave any time for herself.

Based on Barlow's experience of real people in the research community, perhaps?

But for Karlof, Parker is a "perfectly sensible person: conscientious, considerate [] a women with excessive helpfulness". He believes she will create a great culture, encouraging everyone to pitch in and work together for a common goal.

Fiction or faction?

This book could be seen as a shift for Barlow from his razor-sharp evaluation of innovation in his non-fiction books The Australian Miracle: An innovative nation revisited (2006) and Between the Eagle and the Dragon (2013).

I see this as Barlow using his novel as a different genre to make us think about how science is "done". It questions if we are really approaching the creation of new knowledge in the best way via the constructs built up over the years to create a science industry of sorts.

He also reveals the bitterness of a scientist when their success leads to loss of control of their work once it is taken over to be applied to practice.

A Theory of Nothing is, above all else, a great read. It is funny and the characters (intentionally or not) do capture the personalities of science, not just in Australia but internationally.

Barlow also captures the human dimension of multidisciplinary research teams, personal ambitions and the rise and fall of a scientific career that is dependent on your latest project's success.

If you are a scientist, you will love the cynical description of a clever person playing the system. And for the non-scientist it provides a hilarious expose of the way major projects start.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
First American Payment Systems, VetOfficeSuite.com Bring Secure Payment Solutions to Vets

FORT WORTH, TX  JANUARY 24, 2017

First American Payment Systems, a leader in the payment processing industry, has partnered with VetOfficeSuite.com, a premier online veterinary practice management system, to deliver integrated payment solutions within their cloud-based software. The partnership will be announced at the upcoming North American Veterinary Community conference in Orlando, FL from February 4-8, along with available appointments for veterinarians to review the software.

By partnering with First American, VetOfficeSuite.com provides a wide variety of payment options backed by advanced security technology. Payment acceptance has been built into VetOfficeSuite.coms software allowing veterinarians and their staff to process payments easily with just a few clicks. Payment options available include EMV, credit, debit, online payments and recurring payment options all backed by First Americans award-winning customer service.

By partnering with VetOfficeSuite.com, we are bringing a secure, integrated set of payment features to their users that allows customers to pay in any way they prefer including EMV, debit, credit, or contactless, said Bill Lodes, EVP of Business Development and Strategy for First American Payment Systems. Veterinarians and their staff are very focused on animal health and the last thing they think about are payment technologies. We are happy to provide our integrated payment solutions making the payment process quick and easy.

Our team has spent months interviewing many different payment processing companies to find the right fit for our users. We are proud to introduce First American Payment Systems as our newest partner, said Eddie Whalen, VP of Sales at VetOfficeSuite.com. We are confident in our choice, and cant wait to show our current and new users how easy it will be to process payments directly through our platform.

For more information, visit https://first-american.net/partnerexchange/referrals/vetofficesuite/.

About First American Payment Systems

First American Payment Systems, L.P., based in Fort Worth, Texas, is a BBB Accredited payment processor, with over 25 years of experience that provides comprehensive electronic transaction processing services for more than 140,000 merchants throughout the United States and Canada. In addition to credit, debit, and EBT card processing, First American offers a complete line of proprietary business solutions, including 1stPayPOS tablet-based point-of-sale system, 1stPayMobile, Secur-Chex check services, FirstPay.Net e-commerce solutions, and Velocity Payments government solutions. For more information, visit http://www.first-american.net. 1stPayPOS, 1stPayMobile, and 1stPayBlaze are trademarks of 1stPayGateway, LLC.

About VetOfficeSuite.com

VetOfficeSuite.com, founded in March 2010 by Eric Bregman, VMD, is the premiere online veterinary practice management system. The online, cloud based solution offers an affordable program for veterinary practice management, saving veterinary offices and animal hospitals thousands of dollars on hardware installation, IT fees, and administration costs. The platform is extremely user friendly, and data is always backed up and safely secured in the cloud. To learn more, call us at 855-838-6334 or visit our website at http://www.vetofficesuite.com.

Other point of sale articles of interest:
PURCHASE, N.Y.  January 18, 2017

Mastercard has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gilead Sciences, Inc. to explore the potential use of the Mastercard Aid Network to simplify the delivery of hepatitis C treatment in a resource limited setting with high disease burden.

The Mastercard Aid Network is a non-financial digital solution that helps facilitate the distribution and tracking of aid funds. Organizations such as World Vision and Save the Children have successfully used this technology for emergency and ongoing humanitarian relief efforts in the Philippines and Yemen.

The collaboration with Gilead is the first instance where the closed-loop, points-based Mastercard Aid Network would be used in a healthcare context.

An estimated 150 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C, with the vast majority of those people living in low- and lower-middle income countries. Many of these countries lack government funded national treatment programs for hepatitis C, the majority of healthcare expenditure being through out-of-pocket payments.

This initiative builds on an ongoing effort to use our technology to advance the Sustainable Development Goals  and to enable people to lead better, more autonomous lives, said Leigh Amaro, senior vice president, Enterprise Partnerships, Mastercard. In slightly more than a year, the Mastercard Aid Network has helped international aid organizations increase their impact in some of the most distressed communities. By combining our digital technology with Gileads medical expertise, we look to have the same effect in delivering health services to those people who need it the most.

Under the MoU, the parties will discuss the development of a digitized tool, including a monitoring and evaluation feature, that healthcare providers can use in a small-scale pilot to facilitate successful treatment outcomes.

This is how the Mastercard Aid Network works:

The Mastercard Aid Network consists of Android-enabled devices, card readers, and EMV standard chip cards

Android-enabled devices run specially built applications tailored to both implementer field staff and service providers

Implementers set up and manage programs via a portal that may provide a simple and powerful tool for monitoring and evaluation of treatment outcomes

Backed by Mastercard safety and security, non-financial, non-personalized interactions are authenticated via PIN and processed entirely offline

Service providers periodically synchronize their terminals in order to receive updates and send interaction histories to the implementer

Our goal is to expand access to effective treatment for chronic hepatitis C, said Gregg Alton, executive vice president, Corporate and Medical Affairs, Gilead Sciences. In exploring the potential use of this technology in a resource poor setting, we hope to better provide essential medicines and services to patients.

Unlike in so many disease areas, in hepatitis C we have a cure, said Charles Gore, president of the World Hepatitis Alliance. The issue is facilitating affordable access to treatment for the tens of millions who need it. We have to explore smart and innovative mechanisms that simplify the treatment process, cut out inefficiencies and help drive down costs. This initiative, which combines access to hepatitis C treatment with the Mastercard Aid Network platform and civil societys ability to deliver on the ground, is exactly the sort of public-private partnership that we need to explore.

About Mastercard

Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a technology company in the global payments industry. We operate the worlds fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. Mastercard products and solutions make everyday commerce activities  such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances  easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter @MastercardNews, join the discussion on the Beyond the Transaction Blog and subscribe for the latest news on the Engagement Bureau.

Other point of sale articles of interest:
January 24, 2017 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

PARIS  Neopost, a leading supplier of communication solutions, can now offer a range of digital solutions  Neopost Business Solutions  specifically designed to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) transform their business operations. The Neopost Business Solutions range, developed to meet the particular challenges faced by SMBs in both the US and UK markets, draws on Neoposts 90 years of experience in helping its clients stay connected with their customers.

Limited time, budgets and in-house digital expertise means that many small businesses still rely on disconnected, manual processes to communicate with their customers, suppliers and prospects. This reliance puts them at a competitive disadvantage compared to larger organizations. The Neopost Business Solutions range enables SMBs to boost their competitiveness and grow their operations by helping them to be more efficient, save costs and free up resources to focus on serving customers.

In 2014, the company began the process of creating a digital portfolio to meet the specific needs of SMBs. As the second largest global supplier of mailing solutions, Neopost utilized its knowledge and understanding of the communications challenges faced by businesses as they grow. Since then, it has developed its own Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions and forged partnerships with best-of-breed technology solutions providers to offer a range of affordable, cloud-based applications that are easy to deploy, manage and scale. The portfolio of solutions can be customized to meet the individual needs of each business and includes quoting, invoicing and customer relationship management (CRM), as well as inventory, project and multi-channel communications (MCC) management.

As a trusted provider of mail and document management solutions for more than 90 years, Neopost prides itself on knowing how to help SMBs make the right choices for both their customers and their businesses; we understand the challenges smaller firms face on a daily basis, said Nikolaus Scholz, Chief Strategy Officer at Neopost. Small businesses often start out with manual processes and traditional channels of communication but over time can find that these cant sustain their growth and may hamper their ability to compete. Neopost Business Solutions is ideally placed to help these businesses digitize their operations in a way that suits them, saving them money, improving efficiency and accelerating their growth.

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Further information on Neopost Business Solutions can be found here.

About Neopost

Neopost is the number two global provider of mailing solutions and a major player in digital communications and shipping solutions. Its mission is to guide and support organizations in how they send and receive communications and goods, helping them better connect with their business environment through hardware, software and services. Neopost supplies innovative user-friendly solutions for physical and digital communications management for large enterprises and SMEs, as well as shipping processes for supply-chain and e-commerce players. With a strong local presence in 31 countries and over 6,000 employees, Neopost works closely with a network of partners in order to market its solutions in more than 90 countries. In 2015, Neopost reported sales of 1.2 billion.

Neopost is listed in Compartment A of Euronext Paris and belongs notably to the SBF 120 index.

Find out more at www.neopost.com

Other point of sale articles of interest:
Retail Industry Veteran Chris Allan Appointed as SmartFocus CEO

SmartFocus, the global leader in intelligent marketing, today announced the appointment of Chris Allan as its new CEO, in a move that sees the companys former CEO, Rob Mullen, join the SmartFocus board.

Rob Mullen, SmartFocus board member, says: SmartFocus has arrived at the point where we have the people, brand, product and finances in place to build on the growth we have achieved in the last few years and it is time to bring in a new, long-term CEO.

Chris was the natural choice to lead SmartFocus into its next phase of growth and will take over from me immediately. While I am on the board, I will be working with Chris and his team to ensure a smooth transition for our customers. Chriss record of leading innovative retail technology providers, paired with his success at building client-centric organisations makes him the ideal choice as we look at the next phase of the SmartFocus story.

Chris Allan, SmartFocus CEO, says: SmartFocus are at the forefront of ensuring brand marketing is engaging, personalized and real-time. Our technology is ahead of the curve, and proves again and again that marketers are living in the past if they dont see the possibilities of real-time cross-channel marketing. Im delighted to be joining SmartFocus at such an exciting period in the companys history, and I look forward to building on the tremendous work Rob and the team have done.

I have been extremely impressed with the enthusiasm, expertize and passion of the team members that I have met so far. I plan to meet everyone in the business, as well as visit all of our offices in the next couple of months.

Prior to his appointment at SmartFocus, Chris was CEO of Quantum Retail Technology, where he had previously served as Chief Customer Officer and Chief Strategy Officer. Previously, Chris was Managing Director at Accenture where he led the Products Analytics organization in the UK and Ireland. Chris also served as Director of Strategy at Retek (now part of Oracle).

The SmartFocus industry leading Message Cloud solution enables contextual customer experiences delivered in real-time to any channel a customer is interacting with  irrespective of whether its via email, web, in-store, retargeting display, social or mobile. The Message Cloud technology gives brand marketers a holistic view of their customers and enables them to deliver even more personalized marketing interactions that increase brand engagement and sales.

About SmartFocus

Smart Focus is a digital marketing innovator working with the worlds leading brands. The Message Cloud platform listens to and learns from your customers. Our insights drive your business strategy, which allows you to improve your customer understanding and connection. Web: smartfocus.com

Other point of sale articles of interest:
TD Bank, Americas Most Convenient Bank, in partnership with Cardtronics, recently branded 189 ATMs in Walgreens locations across Florida, specifically the Miami and Tampa-St. Petersburg metro areas, increasing its ATM population in the state by 96 percent. This provides TD Bank customers with added convenience and fee-free access to their cash in more places.

Fast, convenient access to cash is a priority for consumers, said Ernie Diaz, Regional President, TD Bank. Weve expanded our ATM footprint to select Walgreens locations in Florida to provide our customers even more options for accessing funds where, when, and how they need to. And with TD ATMs in more locations, were also helping our customers avoid fees.

More ATMs make life easier

A new study by TD Bank found that although the majority of respondents (71 percent) primarily use their debit card for everyday purchases like gas, coffee, and groceries, visiting the ATM for cash is still a regular part of their routine.

More than half of respondents (61 percent) visit the ATM once a month or more.

Baby boomers lead the way, with 65 percent visiting the ATM for cash regularly (at least once a month), holding a slight edge over Gen Xers (63 percent) and millennials (60 percent).

Of those visiting ATMs monthly, more than one-third (35 percent) are returning once a week or more. Gen Xers are the most frequent visitors, with 40 percent stopping by at least weekly, while 36 percent of boomers and 26 percent of millennials do the same.

Men are burning through cash at a faster rate, with one in four reporting that they visit an ATM at least once a week, compared to 17 percent of women.

Its all about the Benjamins

Americans arent carrying big bills: when visiting the ATM, 70 percent of respondents withdraw $200 or less.

Of those withdrawing $200 or less, more than three out of four respondents (78 percent) withdraw $100 or less.

Women lead the way here: 83 percent withdraw $100 or less, compared to 74 percent of men.

The bank branch is alive and well

Although consumers are increasingly choosing digital and online options to manage their daily tasks, sometimes theres no substitute for a face-to-face interaction. Consumers visit bank branches slightly more often than they visit ATMs, with boomers again leading the way.

64 percent of respondents visit a bank branch at least once a month.

68 percent of boomers go to the bank once a month or more, followed by Gen X and millennials (both 63 percent).

About TD Bank, Americas Most Convenient Bank

TD Bank, Americas Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing more than 8.9 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at more than 1,275 convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, TD Bank and its subsidiaries offer customized private banking and wealth management services through TD Wealth, and vehicle financing and dealer commercial services through TD Auto Finance. TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more, visit www.tdbank.com. Find TD Bank on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TDBank_US.

TD Bank, Americas Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company in North America. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol TD. To learn more, visit www.td.com.

Survey Methodology

The study polled a nationally representative group of Americans from November 14 to November 17, 2016. The total sample size was 1,000 respondents with a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percent. Google Survey conducted the survey.

Image source: http://www.drugstorenews.com



Other point of sale articles of interest:
Time Strapped SMEs Set to Benefit from Appointedd and AEVI Strategic Partnership

Edinburgh, 25/01/17  AEVI and Edinburgh-based online scheduling specialist, Appointedd, have today announced a partnership to bring Appointedds industry leading online booking system to AEVIs Global Marketplace. The rapidly growing appointment booking start-up, founded by chief executive Leah Hutcheon, is one of over 50 software developers currently working across AEVIs open ecosystem.

This strategic partnership will see Appointedds scheduling software made available globally across all AEVI-enabled devices, ensuring that time sensitive SMEs can manage their online bookings, on multiple devices, anywhere in the world. Appointedd, already used by over 500,000 small merchants worldwide, is the ideal solution for appointment based businesses such as salon owners, personal trainers and health care professionals, as well as service providers and enterprise organisations.

Appointedds easy-to-use platform gives businesses a fully integrated online booking suite that enables 24/7 bookings, instant and secure online payments, as well as a range of employee management tools.

AEVIs Global Marketplace offers merchant banks and acquirers a complete cloud-based suite of value-added B2B apps and services. This enables them to provide their SME customers with an all-in-one business solution that goes beyond simply making payments.

At Appointedd we are passionate about enabling businesses and being one of the selected partners for AEVIs innovative Global Marketplace is a fantastic platform, said Leah Hutcheon, founder & CEO of Appointedd. We like to work with businesses that care about their customers and we know that we will build a strong working partnership with AEVI as they care so much about the security and efficiency of small businesses.

We are really excited to be bringing Appointedds dynamic online booking software to all our merchant banks and acquirers, said Mike Camerling, Chief Product Officer, AEVI. This latest edition to our Global Marketplace displays our ongoing desire to collaborate with some of the worlds top developers to transform the payments industry.

AEVI continues to pioneer and lead the payments community towards an open ecosystem championed by collaboration. They bring banks closer to their merchants, and merchants closer to their customers by offering greater choice and flexibility.

About AEVI:

AEVI has developed a unique, open Ecosystem to bring merchant banks and merchant acquirers closer to their merchants, and merchants closer to their consumers. AEVI provides a global gateway for secure payment transactions together with a marketplace for high-quality value-added apps and services (VAAS) providing new business opportunities beyond payments, which enables fast and effective innovation, plus enhanced control and flexibility. This combination delivers a reduced total cost of ownership for clients.

AEVI works with customers to help them embrace collaboration and adopt open solutions that have the power to deliver more value and better meet the needs of todays. In short, AEVI enables businesses to DO MORE. AEVI International GmbH is a subsidiary company of Diebold Nixdorf and is headquartered in Germany with operations in the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.aevi.com.

Other point of sale articles of interest:
News

Microsoft Cites January Improvements to Office 365

Microsoft announced a few new enhancements for Office 365 subscribers available this month.

Consumer Office 365 subscribers using Excel, PowerPoint or Word on Windows devices can now preview a new "activity feed" feature. It lets them see the history of documents stored via the consumer OneDrive storage service, including when document changes were made. This feature is already available to commercial Office 365 subscribers using Windows devices, Microsoft's announcement indicated.

In addition, Office Lens, an application for mobile devices that makes it easier to crop and store readable photo images from blackboards or whiteboards using Microsoft's OneNote clipping application, is getting enhanced for use with other Office applications. Office Lens now works with PowerPoint and Word on Android devices, Microsoft's announcement indicated. Microsoft is planning integration with Excel, too, but no timeline was described. The Office Lens application currently works with Windows Mobile, Android and iOS devices.

Microsoft also announced the expansion of its Office Insider testing program to iPad and iPhone users. The public has to request an invitation to this limited program. Details are described in this Microsoft blog post.

Outlook Group Send Options

In related news, Microsoft's Exchange team announced today that its Outlook e-mail application has two new messaging options for organizations that can simplify communications with external recipients. Messages can be sent from a group in the organization using the "send on behalf" option or the "send as" option. These two options are designed to make it easier for organizations using Outlook to deliver support to external customers.

One advantage of using these send options for organizations is that external recipients will see a general group address that they can reply to. If the external recipient replies to a message sent via these group options, then any member of the group can respond. Microsoft also conceives of these send options as being useful for internal groups where one person in an organization doesn't want to get overloaded by replies.

IT pros have to turn on these send options for Outlook. It gets done using the Exchange Admin Center, as described here.

Office 365 Germany Goes Live

In other news, Microsoft announced the "general availability" of Office 365 Germany this week. It's Microsoft's datacenter facility for delivering Office 365 services that's designed to meet privacy, compliance and legal restrictions (such as in-country data storage requirements) of "Germany, the European Union (EU), and the European Free Trade Association," Microsoft explained, in an announcement. The center employs a separate data trustee, T-Systems International, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, that controls access to customer data.

The new Office 365 services in Germany come on top of Azure services already offered from Microsoft's datacenters in "Frankfurt/Main and Magdeburg, Germany," the announcement added. Power BI services also are currently available from "Microsoft Cloud Germany."

Dynamics 365 services will be arriving in Germany sometime "in the first half of this year," Microsoft indicated.
Singaporeans love cars: although cars in Singapore can can cost five to six times more than they do in other countries, there has been a steady demand for new cars in the country. Land Transport Authority records show that more than 87,000 new cars were registered in 2016, up 52% from 57,000 new registrations in 2015. The strange thing is that this has been happening despite the fact that Singapore has one of the best public transportation systems in the world: its not like you need a car to get around the city.

If you have decided to buy a car or are seriously considering doing so, here are some tips that could help you in the process. If you think you will be needing help financing your purchase, you can also read about the best car loans that you can get in Singapore and how much they cost on average.

1. Decide Whether Your Budget Can Afford A Car

As cars are so expensive, a majority of buyers take a bank loan to finance their purchase. However, you still have to arrange a substantial sum as a down payment. If you decide to buy a Toyota Corolla Altis, one of the most popular models in Singapore, not only do you need to arrange about S$31,000 just for the down payment, you also need to pay a monthly instalment for your five-year car loan in excess of S$1,000.

But why should a car cost so much? A Toyota Corolla Altis costs S$102,988 in Singapore, while its open market value (OMV), which indicates the purchase price and associated costs for delivery of the car to Singapore, is only S$18,690. The remaining amount consists of taxes and duties. Some of the additional taxes and duties come from a few major pieces:

Additional registration fee  this is calculated at a tiered rate, which ranges from 100% of the OMV to 180%.

Certificate of entitlement  anyone who wishes to register a new vehicle in Singapore must first buy a certificate of entitlement (COE) from the Land Transport Authority. This represents a right to use the vehicle for a period of 10 years. The COE for a Toyota Corolla Altis? A hefty S$50,889.

Car buyers also have to bear GST, excise duty, and the dealers profit margin.

Story continues

The high prices deter many Singaporeans from buying cars. If you have the budget to easily afford it, there's not much to worry about. However, if you need to take out a loan to buy a car, really make sure you can afford the monthly instalments for the duration of your loan. Otherwise, it could really have devastating effect on the quality of your life.

2. Use Your Negotiating Skills At the Car Dealership

Car dealers in Singapore have substantial profit margins, and you should always ask for a discount on the price that you are offered. Even if this is not forthcoming, it is still possible to get free service credits and free or substantially discounted accessories. There are few things to keep in mind when negotiating with the dealership. First, you should check the year and month in which the car that you are buying was manufactured. If it was manufactured many months or a year ago, you can ask for a discount. You could also try to buy a car that the dealer has been using for providing prospective customers a with test drive. While there will be no discernible difference in the cars condition, you could get a hefty discount.

You should also be very careful about the documents that you sign at the dealership. Read each pre-printed form that you are given and ask for clarifications if you need them. The Singapore Motor Traders Association has issued a brief guide that describes the sales contract that you will need to enter into with the dealer. This contract lists various details including the model of the car that you are buying, its engine capacity, the year of manufacture, and the colour. Study the sales contract carefully before you sign it. The price stated on the contract should be the same as the price that you have negotiated. If there is a difference, it is important that you enquire with the salesperson.

3. Dont forget about running costs

According to the Singapore governments Ministry of Communications and Information, the amount that you will spend every year on your car will be about S$14,000. That is the sum for an entry-level car and the figure excludes the monthly loan instalment, which can easily add more than a S$1,000 per month on top of these costs. Before buying a car, you should remember to budget for these expenses (at least S$2,000 per month including car loan instalment). Here are the various costs that you will have to incur: (yearly figures)

Road tax  S$564

Insurance  S$2,000

Servicing & repairs  S$2,000

Petrol  S$2,880

Parking  S$5,280 (includes HDB season parking, office season parking, and parking at malls and other locations)

Electronic road pricing (ERP)  S$2,112

4. Should you get a used car instead?

You can save a significant amount of money by opting for a used car. However, arriving at a fair price for a car that is several years old is not easy. This handy guide to Understanding Car Value Depreciation in Singapore will give you an idea about how to calculate the price of a used car.

You should test drive the car that you intend to buy. Not only that, you shouldn't just drive a few hundred metres down the road. Instead, take the car for a long drive so that you can get an idea about how it handles in different conditions. Are you comfortable driving it in heavy traffic? Does it vibrate at high speeds? In fact, it may be a better idea to have a friend or colleague who is very familiar with cars to test-drive it with you. If you invest some time and effort, it is possible to find great bargains in the used car market.

Shop around and drive a hard bargain

In your search for a car, you should never make the mistake of visiting only one dealer. Draw up a list of at least three different car models that you like. Then, enquire about the price of each car and the accessories that you want, at three different dealers. By doing this, you will understand the different options that you have and likely be able to negotiate better with each of the dealers. Once you have all the information that you need, you can ensure that you get the best deal possible and make your final purchase decision.

The article 4 Tips on Buying a Car in Singapore originally appeared on ValuePenguin.

ValuePenguin helps you find the most relevant information to optimise your personal finances. Like us on our Facebook page to keep up to date with our latest news and articles.

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Editor's pick. This article was originally published on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017.

President Donald Trump has broken a promise to declare China a currency manipulator on the first day of his presidency.

We should all be grateful, according to the Swiss bank UBS.

Such a move, a repeated oath by Trump during his campaign, likely would have signaled the start of a nasty trade war between the United States and China, the world's two largest economies, that could have sent global markets reeling.

China's closely-managed exchange rate probably would have weakened, adding to pressure on that country's already-fragile economy and threatening global growth. Chinese authorities, faced with an insult from a foreign leader as the ruling Communist party prepares for elections of top positions later this year, eventually would have slapped steep retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exporters that send more than $100 billion a year of goods to the Asian country. U.S. manufacturers' profits and stock prices would take a big hit. Chinese stocks also would nosedive.

The resulting market swoon would have looked a lot like that of January a year ago, when investor jitters about the possibility of a steep Chinese currency devaluation helped drive the S&P 500 down by 5% in a single month.

Even though the declaration wouldn't, by itself, have triggered any immediate trade penalties or tariffs, investors would have seen the move as the start of an all-out assault by the Trump administration on Chinese trade and economic policies. Many investors probably would have rushed to pull money out of China -- before the situation got any worse.

"The market would have thought about it in the context of what type of actions would have followed," said Bhanu Baweja, a strategist at UBS in London. "Initially, China would have very likely done nothing, but the market would have aggressively speculated against the currency, and that would have put more pressure on capital flight, perhaps making the currency more likely to depreciate."

Story continues

Labeling China as a currency manipulator was considered such a drastic -- and unjustified -- step that most traders had written it off as a possibility in the days leading up to Trump's inauguration Friday. That's why markets barely budged Monday as the first full business day of the new president's first term came and went without such a declaration.

Trump's broken campaign promise adds to a growing list since his victory on Nov. 8. Late last year, he retreated on his pledge to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton. Other uncompleted items from his promised Day One agenda include moving 2 million "criminal aliens" out of the country during his first hour in office and imposing term limits on members of Congress.

Instead, Trump's most public comments during his first weekend in office were devoted to asserting -- falsely -- that his inauguration-day turnout was bigger than former President Barack Obama's in 2009.

To be fair, Trump has taken immediate actions on some stump pledges, from freezing federal hiring to withdrawing from Obama's proposed multinational Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and taking the initial steps toward renegotiating the two-decade-old North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. This week, the president announced plans to build a Mexican border wall -- another repeated vow from the campaign trail.

His spokesman, Sean Spicer, signaled this week that the U.S. government will push back against China's claim to disputed islands in the South China Sea -- a key international shipping route that's believed to hold rich oil and natural-gas deposits.

Trump has also rattled Chinese officials by opening a public dialogue with leaders of Taiwan, viewed by China as a wayward province.

But on Chinese trade issues, the new administration has been more muted in recent days.

The currency-manipulator allegation dates back at least to November 2015, when the president wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal that his Treasury Department would apply the label to China "on day one of a Trump administration."

More recently, Steven Mnuchin, Trump's still-unconfirmed nominee for Treasury Secretary, said in written statements to U.S. senators that he would only commit to reviewing the issue of Chinese currency manipulation, according to Reuters.

Spicer, when asked about the matter at a press briefing on Monday, said that "part of it is to make sure that we don't spend our entire day signing executive orders."

"There's a way that we can do this to make sure that we're getting all of those things that he promised the American people done in short haste and doing it in a way that doesn't just jam them out in a fire hose," Spicer said.

When a country gets the designation, U.S. officials must begin special negotiations that could ultimately result in import duties on goods or other penalties from the offender.

Typically the Treasury makes the assessments twice a year; the last time China was declared a currency manipulator was in 1994 under Bill Clinton, according to Bloomberg. In the Treasury's most-recent semiannual report in October, China was included on a "monitoring list" but failed to meet the full test.

"I still think that sooner or later, either President Trump or the U.S. Treasury will decide that China is manipulating its currency," said Mark Williams, chief China economist for Capital Economics in London. "But trying to gauge exactly what's behind the various statements that comes from President Trump is a fool's game."

Under the Treasury Department's test, currency manipulators must meet certain criteria, including a finding that they're intentionally devaluing their local currencies to help make domestic industries more competitive internationally.

Yet even the Treasury says that China is currently intervening in foreign exchange markets to prevent the yuan from falling faster as its economy slows. Since mid-2014, the country has sold almost $1 trillion of foreign reserves to support the currency.

Even so, the yuan has weakened 4.6% in the past year to 6.88 per U.S. dollar, and the investment bank Morgan Stanley predicts it will depreciate further to 7.3 per dollar by the end of 2017. Trades in the currency, whose value was little changed this week, are part of a lucrative business for financial institutions like Goldman Sachs , JPMorgan and Citigroup .

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If China stopped intervening, "there's a good chance that you would get an unruly devaluation, and since they're the second-largest economy in the world, it would be quite disruptive," said David Dollar, a former U.S. Treasury economic emissary to China who now works as a senior fellow for the Brookings Institution. "In other words, they're playing a useful role in the world by intervening to keep their currency high. So why would you provoke them?"

A weaker yuan would make it even cheaper for China to produce goods locally for sale abroad, according to Michael Hirson, a former chief representative in Beijing for the U.S. Treasury. At the same time, a stronger dollar would make it less profitable for U.S. manufacturers to export goods to China.

"From a practical standpoint, making this move risks blowing back on Trump's key objective, which is to increase competitiveness of U.S. firms," said Hirson, who now leads China coverage for the consulting firm Eurasia Group in New York.

Another question is whether going after China on trade would distract from Trump's broader economic goals of cutting taxes, building infrastructure to stimulate growth and rolling back federal regulations on companies.

Typically, U.S. presidents focus on domestic issues during their first term and foreign policy during their second, said Jan Dehn, head of research at money-manager Ashmore in London, which oversees $52 billion of investments in developing countries like China, Brazil, Russia and India. International financial matters can seem arcane to voters who care more about jobs, wages and other pressing domestic issues.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the chamber, urged Trump this week to go ahead with the currency-manipulator designation if he really wants to "put America first."

"It would be a bit of a mistake to get into a major policy conflict with a major overseas power like China on day one," Dehn said. "Maybe he's just realized that actually being chief executive of the United States of America is a pretty involved job, and there's a lot of priorities out there."

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A top European court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by Russian missile-maker Almaz-Antey against EU sanctions imposed for its role in the Ukraine conflict. As the crisis deepened in 2014, the European Union imposed asset freezes and travel bans on Russian and Ukrainian individuals and entities held responsible for supporting pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine. The Luxembourg-based General Court, second only to the European Court of Justice, said it dismissed the appeal because Almaz-Antey had not shown the EU acted disproportionately. As an arms manufacturer for the Russian government, which "itself supplies weapons to the separatists in Eastern Ukraine, Almaz-Antey materially supports actions which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine," the court said in a statement. In July 2014, a Malaysian Airlines jet with 298 people on board was shot down over rebel-held territory by what Almaz-Antey later said was likely to have been a BUK missile system similar to those it had stopped making in 1999. Who ordered the attack remains unknown, with Russia and Ukraine blaming each other. The General Court said the downing of flight MH17, whether attributed to the rebels or the Ukrainian military, was "irrelevant" to the ruling since it was not decisive in the reasons given by the EU for imposing the asset freeze in the first place. Shortly after the MH17 tragedy, the EU agreed to impose separate and much more damaging sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy, including the oil, defence and finance industries.
A view of the Supreme Court building in the backdrop of the skyline of Singapores central business district May 27, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su/Files

As the lawyers and online journalists involved in the Appeal Courts verdict on Mindef celebrate, a Singaporean who is the heartbeat of the legal tussle was in a very different mood.

I feel betrayed, inventor and doctor Ting Choon Meng, 57, said as he looked back on his six-year legal battle over the patent of his invention, a safety vehicle to be used during military emergencies. In an emotional interview, he added, I have lost all faith, trust in and respect for institutions.

Tings fight with the Defence Ministry goes back to the surprise that awaited him at the National Day Parade in 2011, an annual event that is a proud moment for every citizen. Not for Ting. Actually, that was where his nightmare started: he saw what he claims was his invention taking pride of place in the march past.

To cut a long story short, an angry Dr Ting went to court for what he felt was an infringement of his patent. He gave up his fight half way because the legal bills kept mounting. I cant remember the exact amount but its around $200,000.

Mindef maintained that it did not infringe any patent, since the patent was not valid in the first place. It also said that it is simply a buyer of the equipment, and that Ting should have taken up his dispute with the manufacturer. After Ting dropped the suit and also abandoned his defence to Mindefs counterclaim that the patent was invalid, his patent was declared invalid and revoked by the High Court.

Part Two of the saga came four years later when in an interview with The Online Citizen he let fly at the ministry.

Both the website and Ting were taken to court over the resulting article under the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA), an anti-harassment law. The verdict hinged on a narrow definition of whether the Government could be considered a person under Section 15 of the Protection from Harassment Act after a protracted legal battle.

Two of the three judges on the Court of Appeal who heard the case said no and threw it out. What made it rare was that the Chief Justice gave a dissenting view from that of the other two judges.

Story continues

Tings story seems to run counter to the countrys multi-billion dollar effort to turn Singapore into an innovation and business haven. The irony of it all was that I was appointed to the board of IPOS (Intellectual Property Office of Singapore) six months before (the case) and the task was to transform Singapore into an IP hub.

His experience does not seem to have struck a chord here. I did a quick and informal survey with 10 people who are very interested in what is happening in Singapore. Five have not heard of Dr Tings story.

But there may yet be another twist in the tale of David against Goliath, one that may affect online speech. On the very day of the verdict, the Law Ministry weighed in with a hint that POHA could be changed. One of Tings lawyers, Eugene Thuraisingam, said: I expect the government to change the law.

In response to the Workers Party urging authorities not to amend POHA, the Ministry of Law issued a statement on Monday (23 January) to clarify that the government does not intend to amend POHA to protect itself from harassment.

At the same time, it said that the case brought against Ting was not about harassment, but false statements. The government needs to take steps to protect the public and Singapores institutions from the very real dangers posed by the spread of false information.

If the government were to amend POHA or enact new laws, it cannot ignore one crucial point that the two Appeals Court judges made in their judgement, Mindef was anything but a helpless victim. It is a government agency possessed of significant resources and access to media channels.

Let us see how Law Minister K. Shanmugam gets around this.

P N Balji is a veteran Singaporean journalist who was formerly chief editor of Today, as well as an editor at The New Paper, and currently a media consultant. The views expressed are his own.
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
AFP News

Pope Francis warned the world is on the edge of a "delicate precipice" and buffeted by "winds of war" as he held inter-faith talks with one of Sunni Islam's top leaders in Bahrain on Friday. The 85-year-old Argentine decried the "opposing blocs" of East and West, a veiled reference to the standoff over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in a speech to religious leaders in the tiny Gulf state. "We continue to find ourselves on the brink of a delicate precipice and we do not want to fall," he told an audience including Bahrain's king and Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo's prestigious Al-Azhar mosque. "A few potentates are caught up in a resolute struggle for partisan interests, reviving obsolete rhetoric, redesigning spheres of influence and opposing blocs," he added. "We appear to be witnessing a dramatic and childlike scenario: in the garden of humanity, instead of cultivating our surroundings, we are playing instead with fire, missiles and bombs." The pope's visit, aimed at strengthening relations with Islam, comes with the Ukraine war in its ninth month, and as tensions grow on the Korean peninsula and in the Taiwan Strait. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who met Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in September, told journalists that there had been "a few small signs" of progress in negotiations with Moscow, warning that peace initiatives should not be "exploited for other goals". Francis, who is on his second visit to the wealthy Gulf, later met privately with al-Tayeb, with whom he signed a Muslim-Christian manifesto for peace in the United Arab Emirates in 2019. "This meeting has great symbolic importance, both locally and internationally, for promoting peace and peaceful co-existence between different religions and civilisations," said Hala Ramzi Fayez, a Christian and member of Bahrain's parliament. - Sunni, Shiite talks? - Leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics, Francis has placed inter-faith dialogue at the heart of his papacy, visiting other Muslim-majority countries including Egypt, Turkey and Iraq. Al-Tayeb, who met with the pope on previous Middle East visits, also called on Friday for talks between Islam's two main branches, Sunni and Shiite, to settle sectarian differences. Later, the pope addressed 17 members of the Muslim Council of Elders, an international group of Islamic scholars and dignitaries, at the mosque of the Sakhir Royal Palace. He told them dialogue was "the oxygen of peaceful coexistence". "In a world that is increasingly wounded and divided, that beneath the surface of globalisation senses anxiety and fear, the great religious traditions must be the heart that unites the members of the body," he said. He also struck out at the arms trade, a "commerce of death" that he said was "turning our common home into one great arsenal". The pope, who is using a wheelchair and a walking stick due to long-standing knee problems, began the first papal visit to Bahrain on Thursday by hitting out at the death penalty and urging respect for human rights and better conditions for workers. Sheikh Salman bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, Bahrain's minister of finance and national economy, insisted the country has "led the region" with its criminal justice reforms. "We have some of the most robust and wide-ranging human rights and criminal justice protections in the region," the minister told AFP on Friday. "There are very well-established channels through which any of these critics can go, well established institutions of accountability," he said, adding that the pope's comments on the death penalty did not single out Bahrain. "It is important to note that that reference... was a general reference to countries around the world," the minister said. Bahrain has executed six people since 2017, when it carried out its first execution in seven years. Some of the condemned were convicted following a 2011 uprising put down with military support from neighbouring Saudi Arabia. cmk-lar/par/ho/th/dwo
FILE - In this July 13, 2016, file photo, Laurie Holt holds a photograph of her son Joshua Holt, who has been jailed in Venezuela for several months, at her home, in Riverton, Utah. Laurie issuing another tearful plea for help, this time to President Donald Trump. She said in her new YouTube video that her son Joshua = did nothing wrong and is being used as "political pawn" by Venezuela's government. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  The mother of a Utah man jailed in Venezuela for the last seven months has issued another tearful plea for help to free her son, this time to President Donald Trump.

Laurie Holt's reiterated this week in her new YouTube video her belief that that her son Joshua Holt is being used as a "political pawn" by Venezuela's government. The video was posted a week after U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah mentioned the case in a meeting with Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson.

During his confirmation hearing last week, Tillerson did not mention Holt by name but said he plans to demand that Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro release all political prisoners.

Joshua Holt and his Venezuelan wife were arrested on June 30 on weapons charges. Venezuelan officials alleged he was stockpiling weapons at his wife's apartment and have suggested his case is linked to other unspecified attempts by the U.S. government to undermine President Nicolas Maduro's socialist rule amid deep economic and political turbulence.

Laurie Holt, of Riverton, Utah, has staunchly refuted that claim. She says her son, a former Mormon missionary, travelled to Venezuela to marry a woman he met online while looking for Spanish-speaking Mormons to help him improve his Spanish.

In the video, she criticizes former President Barack Obama's administration inability to win freedom for her son and tries to appeal to Trump's patriotism.

"President Trump, my son's only offense was that he was an American citizen. I know that you surely agree that being a citizen of this great nation should mean something," Holt said. "Josh and his wife and our entire family have been living in a hellish fog for the last months. My son has undergone the most horrifying and degrading physical and mental abuse."

Laurie Holt has endured a series of disappointments in recent months as four different hearings scheduled about her son's case in Caracas were cancelled. No new hearings are scheduled.

Story continues

The U.S. State Department is concerned about the postponements and is following Holt's case closely, said Will Cocks, spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs.

The department has raised the case to the highest levels of Venezuela government, urging respect for Holt's human rights and an expedited effort to resolve the case, he said in a statement.

Consular officers most recently visited Holt on Jan. 16 and will continue to make regular visits, he said.

The U.S. House passed a resolution in September calling for the release of Holt and other political prisoners in Venezuela.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry raised Holt's jailing during a meeting with Maduro in September, and a senior State Department official traveled to Caracas twice in recent months in part to push for his release.

The pressure has so far yielded no tangible results. Human rights groups contend Maduro's government is using Holt and his jailed wife, an Ecuadorean national, as bargaining chips to extract unspecified concessions from the United States.

Holt is being held in a prison in Caracas run by Venezuela's intelligence police. The facility also holds a number of activists that the opposition considers political prisoners.

___

Associated Press writer Joshua Goodman in Bogota, Colombia contributed to this report.
AGIOS ATHANASIOS, Greece (AP)  As a member of a persecuted minority in Iraq, 24-year-old Shaker Mahie has seen his people massacred, raped and scattered across a new continent. Now, the Yazidi  whose faith is older than Christianity  are at the center of a new European dilemma.

Portugal has offered to take in several hundred of the 2,500 Yazidi refugees living in Greece, arguing that their mistreated community merits special protection. Athens has rejected the offer, worried that other countries might start cherry-picking asylum applications based on religion or ethnicity.

Does that make the Yazidis victims of discrimination or nondiscrimination? It's a question that could be keeping some of them in limbo.

Ana Gomes, a European Parliament member from Portugal who has been an outspoken advocate of the resettlement proposal, says Greek concerns are misplaced. Yazidis, she noted, were targeted for slaughter by Islamic State militants at home and face ongoing harassment from fellow Iraqis stranded in migrant camps.

"These people have been victims of negative discrimination in resettlement to other European countries when they should be having positive discrimination in recognition of the barbarity they have suffered," Gomes told the Associated Press after returning from a visit to refugee camps in Greece.

The dispute comes as the European Union wrestles with how to protect the most vulnerable refugees while making sure that member nations are sharing the cost of taking in newcomers. Delays and political obstruction have impeded an emergency relocation program meant to ease the disproportionate load carried by Italy and Greece.

Over centuries, Yazidis have been the victims of purges by rulers who regarded their religious symbols and practices as devil worship. Islamic State militants used the same explanation when they targeted the insular community for conversion and elimination.

Iraq's remote Sijar region, the Yazidi minority's heartland, is where thousands of civilians were massacred and thousands more fled in 2014. The United Nations has described the attacks as genocide.

Story continues

In a small hotel room near the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, Mahie watches his son and daughter play on the floor with a toy dump truck, and struggles to find words to recount the horrors witnessed by his young family. He remembers IS fighters entering his village two years ago.

"They (took) girls and women and killed the men," he said.

He and his family fled into the mountains of Sijar before crossing into Turkey and paying smugglers to get them to Greece.

The Yazidis' recent plight has been highlighted by the revelations of women being captured by IS fighters for sexual slavery. Two Yazidi women, Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar, received an annual award for human rights last month from the European Parliament.

But old prejudices also have followed the Yazidi to Europe, where they have reported being attacked by other refugees at camps and are often housed separately.

"We take the issue of Yazidis very seriously because they have suffered such violence and persecution. We are doing everything we can to ensure their protection," Greek Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas told The Associated Press.

Greece says more than 60,000 refugees and migrants who arrived there hoping to make it further into Europe are stranded in the country, after EU and Balkan countries closed their borders last year. Athens is struggling to shelter them over the winter and pressing other European Union countries to honor relocation commitments.

Portugal so far has taken in about half of the 1,618 asylum-seekers it pledged to accept under the EU's embattled relocation scheme. Nevertheless, it's Yazidi-specific invitation is unacceptable, Mouzalas said.

"No government can discriminate on a racial basis," he said. "And those making a lot of noise around this issue are not helping the Yazidis."

Yazidi refugees themselves are split on the offer from Portugal. Some worry about further dispersing the members of a minority group thought to number only several hundred thousand worldwide.

"I don't want to go to Portugal," Mahie said. "My mother and my brother are in Germany and my father is in Iraq. It's difficult for one family someone to (be) in this country and someone to (be) in another country."

To others, the idea of a safe haven is appealing.

Like Mahie, Riad Salo sought refuge from IS in the mountains of Sinjar; his father-in-law died there. The younger of Salo's two daughters, Xzidxan, was born in a tent at a refugee camp near Mount Olympus in northern Greece.

Salo said he feared continued persecution from other Iraqis even if another EU country agrees to relocate his family.

"I don't want to go to a country where there are many (other refugees)," he said. "I want to go to Portugal because it's very safe."

___

Online:

U.N. rights panel conclusion on IS group attacks: http://bit.ly/2jfoBCG

___

Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed. Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Follow Kantouris at http://www.twitter.com/CostasKantouris and Hatton at http://twitter.com/hattonlisbon
AFP News

Zhang Yao recalls the moment he realised something had gone deeply wrong at the Chinese mega-factory where he and hundreds of thousands of other workers assembled iPhones and other high-end electronics. In early October, supervisors suddenly warned him that 3,000 colleagues had been taken into quarantine after someone tested positive for Covid-19 at the factory. "They told us not to take our masks off," Zhang, speaking under a pseudonym for fear of retaliation, told AFP by telephone. What followed was a weeks-long ordeal including food shortages and the ever-present fear of infection, before he finally escaped on Tuesday. Zhang's employer, Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, has said it faces a "protracted battle" against infections and imposed a "closed loop" bubble around its sprawling campus in central China's Zhengzhou city. Local authorities locked down the area surrounding the major Apple supplier's factory on Wednesday, but not before reports emerged of employees fleeing on foot and a lack of adequate medical care at the plant. China is the last major economy committed to a zero-Covid strategy, persisting with snap lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines in a bid to stamp out emerging outbreaks. But new variants have tested officials' ability to snuff out flare-ups and dragged down economic activity with the threat of sudden disruptions. - Desperation - Multiple workers have recounted scenes of chaos and increasing disorganisation at Foxconn's complex of workshops and dormitories, which form a city-within-a-city near Zhengzhou's airport. Zhang told AFP that "positive tests and double lines (on antigen tests) had become a common sight" in his workshop before he left. "Of course we were scared, it was so close to us." "People with fevers are not guaranteed to receive medicine," another Foxconn worker, a 30-year-old man who also asked to remain anonymous, told AFP. "We are drowning," he said. Those who decided to stop working were not offered meals at their dormitories, Zhang said, adding that some were able to survive on personal stockpiles of instant noodles. Kai, a worker at in the complex who gave an interview to state-owned Sanlian Lifeweek, told the magazine Foxconn's "closed loop" involved cordoning off paths between dormitory compounds and the factory, and complained he was left to his own devices after being thrown in quarantine. TikTok videos geolocated by AFP showed mounds of uncollected rubbish outside buildings in late October, while employees in N95 masks squeezed onto packed shuttle buses taking them from dormitories to their work stations. A 27-year-old woman working at Foxconn, who asked not to be named, told AFP a roommate who tested positive for Covid was sent back to her dormitory on Thursday morning, crying, after she decided to hand in her notice while in quarantine. "Now the three of us are living in the same room: one a confirmed case and two of us testing positive on the rapid test, still waiting for our nucleic acid test results," the worker told AFP. Many became so desperate by the end of last month that they attempted to walk back to their hometowns to get around Covid transport curbs. As videos of people dragging their suitcases down motorways and struggling up hills spread on Chinese social media, the authorities rushed in to do damage control. The Zhengzhou city government on Sunday said it had arranged for special buses to take employees back to their hometowns. Surrounding Henan province has officially reported a spike of more than 600 Covid cases since the start of this week. - Distrust - When Zhang finally attempted to leave the Foxconn campus on Tuesday, he found the company had set up obstacle after obstacle. "There were people with loudspeakers advertising the latest Foxconn policy, saying that each day there would be a 400 yuan ($55) bonus," Zhang told AFP. A crowd of employees gathered at a pick-up point in front of empty buses but were not let on. People in hazmat suits, known colloquially as "big whites" in China, claimed they had been sent by the city government. "They tried to persuade people to stay in Zhengzhou... and avoid going home," Zhang said. "But when we asked to see their work ID, they had nothing to show us, so we suspected they were actually from Foxconn." Foxconn pointed to the local government's lockdown orders from Wednesday when asked by AFP if it attempted to stop employees from leaving, without giving any further response. The company had on Sunday said it was "providing employees with complimentary three meals a day" and cooperating with the government to provide transport home. Eventually, the crowd of unhappy workers who had gathered decided to take matters into their own hands and walked over seven kilometres on foot to the nearest highway entry ramp. There, more people claiming to be government officials pleaded with the employees to wait for the bus. The crowd had no choice as the road was blocked. Buses eventually arrived at five in the afternoon -- nearly nine hours after Zhang had begun his attempt to secure transport. "They were trying to grind us down," he said. Back in his hometown, Zhang is now waiting out the home quarantine period required by the local government. "All I feel is, I've finally left Zhengzhou," he told AFP. bur-tjx/oho/je/mca/cwl
Belgian model Hanne Gaby Odiele exits the Vera Wang show in on September 15, 2015, in New York City. (Photo: Getty Images)

Hanne Gaby Odiele is intersex, the model revealed in an inspiring interview with USA Today published Monday.

Intersex people are born with sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads, and chromosome patterns) that do not fit typical ideas of male or female bodies, according to the United Nations.

Odiele is part of the (up to) 1.7 percent of the population born with intersex traits. Thats about the same percentage of the population that has red hair.

Known for her edgy street style and work with fashion houses like Versace, Marc Jacobs, Dior, and Alexander Wang, Odiele was born with an intersex trait known as androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) in which a woman has XY chromosomes more typically found in men, according to USA Today. She also had internal, undescended testes.

The fierce runway walker is one of the first high-profile people to reveal their intersexuality. It is very important to me in my life right now to break the taboo, the 29-year-old supermodel from Kortrijk, Belgium, told USA Today. At this point, in this day and age, it should be perfectly all right to talk about this.

Her main reason for sharing this, besides normalizing the biological variation, is to shed light on the unnecessary and detrimental procedures practiced frequently on intersex children to try to make their appearance conform to sex stereotypes, according to the UN. I am proud to be intersex, Odiele said, but very angry that these surgeries are still happening.

Story continues

She speaks from experience. When doctors discovered her undescended testes, they told her parents if she did not have her testicles removed, she might develop cancer and she would not develop as a normal, female girl.

Dear #intersexyouth , doctors and parents, Whats up #intersex #StopIGM (Intersex Genital Mutilation) #intersexHanne #intersexy A video posted by Hanne Gaby Odiele (@hannegabysees) on Jan 23, 2017 at 2:07pm PST

At 10, she had surgery to remove her testes, which she said she could barely process at the time. I knew at one point after the surgery I could not have kids, I was not having my period. I knew something was wrong with me, she revealed. Then, at 18, around the same time she was first discovered and signed as a model, Odiele underwent vaginal reconstructive surgery  an equally distressing procedure.

Odiele made a point to clarify that the trauma was caused by the two surgeries, not being intersex, which she said isnt that big of a deal.

To help raise awareness and remove the stigma, Odiele will partner with interACT Advocates for Intersex Youth.

It is an important part of my life to talk about this, Odiele said. The blond beauty has been more open about her status in the past year with close friends and confidantes, but this is her first public announcement. She isnt worried about the fashion industrys reaction. They will see me as they have before, she said. Nothing should change.

And with the direction fashion is moving in, as gender-neutral clothing becomes more popular, she will fit right in  a first for her. But thats kind of whats beautiful about the creative world that the fashion industry can be; I didnt have to fit into certain roles, she said. I was able to kind of have a sense of being more of an individual. She wants intersex youth to feel the same way, whether or not they are surrounded by creative people.

Odiele will continue to tell her story  next being an interview in the issue of Vogue that hits newsstands Wednesday.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.




A screenshot of a YouTube video showing a woman allegedly harassing a neighbour. (Photo: YouTube/Jane Smith)

A woman was charged Wednesday (25 January) in the State Courts with hurting the religious feelings and harassment of her neighbours at an HDB block in Tampines last year.

Lee Dji Lin, 63, faces one charge of wounding the religious or racial feelings of Marliah Jonet for throwing a piece of raw pork from a lift to outside the victims flat at Blk 247 Tampines Street 21 on 18 June 2016. If convicted, Lee faces a jail term of up to three years, or a fine, or both.

The accused also faces two other charges of harassment. One charge alleged that Lee waved a pig-shaped figurine and shouted insults in Malay at one of Marliahs daughters including pig, pig, pig, piglet, one by one (your) children die on 24 April 2016. The other charge alleged that Lee used a bamboo pole attached with a female underwear and swung it towards Marliahs flat on 14 June 2016.

Lee faces a fine of up to $5,000 for one harassment charge, and a jail term of up to six months, or a fine of up to $5,000, or both for the other harassment charge.

In July last year, Yahoo Singapore interviewed Marliah about the incidents. According to Marliah, Lee had been harassing her family for six years.

Former model Hanis Hussey, Marliahs sister-in-law, posted a video on YouTube last year allegedly showing Lee being caught in the act.

A woman was seen shouting in the direction of Marliahs ninth-storey flat from a floor below in the video. She also used a water hose to spray water towards Marliahs laundry poles. CCTV footage showed the woman throwing a plastic bag allegedly containing pork onto the corridor of Marliahs flat.

Marliah had reported the matter to the police and other relevant authorities about the incidents. She said that she had also sent an email to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who then referred her matter to the Tampines town council.

Lee was ordered by the court to be remanded for two weeks to undergo psychiatric evaluation. When asked for her response to the court order, the petite and frail-looking Lee claimed that she was innocent.

Story continues

The case will be mentioned again on 8 February.

-Additional reporting by Safhras Khan

Watch the YouTube video of the alleged incidents below:
From the eMail Bag: Abrupt Climate Change in Greenland's Past?

Posted on 25 January 2017 by David Kirtley

We occasionally receive excellent questions and/or comments by email or via our contact form and have then usually corresponded with the emailer directly. But, some of the questions and answers deserve a broader audience, so we decided to highlight some of them in a new series of blog posts.

In 2008 the U.S. Department of Energy's six National Laboratories began a new research program investigating "abrupt climate change" called IMPACTS: Investigation of the Magnitudes and Probabilities of Abrupt Climate Transitions. A blogpost on the Lawrence Berkeley Lab's website describing this program had this to say about the Younger Dryas, one of Earth's best-known periods of abrupt climate change:

[C]limate change has occurred with frightening rapidity in the past and will almost certainly do so again. Perhaps the most famous example is the reverse hiccup in a warming trend that began 15,000 years ago and eventually ended the last ice age. Roughly 2,000 years after it started, the warming trend suddenly reversed, and temperatures fell back to near-glacial conditions; Earth stayed cold for over a thousand years, a period called the Younger Dryas (named for an alpine wildflower). Then warming resumed so abruptly that global temperatures shot up 10 C in just 10 years.

A Skeptical Science reader noticed this passage and wrote to us asking if this was accurate, especially that last sentence about an alarming 10 degree jump in just 10 years. I googled around a bit and came upon a NOAA Paleoclimatology webpage (also from 2008) which had a very similar passage:

About 14,500 years ago, the Earth's climate began to shift from a cold glacial world to a warmer interglacial state. Partway through this transition, temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere suddenly returned to near-glacial conditions. This near-glacial period is called the Younger Dryas, named after a flower (Dryas octopetala) that grows in cold conditions and became common in Europe during this time. The end of the Younger Dryas, about 11,500 years ago, was particularly abrupt. In Greenland, temperatures rose 10 C (18 F) in a decade.

The NOAA webpage had a graph of Greenland temperatures, snow accumulation and other climatological measurements. This graph also listed a number of references, including Alley, R.B. 2000. The Younger Dryas cold interval as viewed from central Greenland. Quaternary Science Reviews 19: 213-226. In that paper Alley described the abrupt increase in Greenland temperature at the end of the Younger Dryas as a "5-10C step warming...with much of the change in a few decades or less".

Figure 1. Locations of Greenland Ice Core Stations. From: 800,000 Year Ice-Core Records of Isotopes 2H, 18O, and other isotopic species, Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy.

The temperature recordings in question come from ice cores from the Greenland ice sheet, drilled by the Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP) and the Greenland Ice Sheet Project II (GISP2) in the 1990s. As snow on the ice sheet accumulates and is compressed over time the compressed ice forms annual layers, which can be read much like the tree rings of a tree. By carefully analyzing the geochemistry of these layers scientists can find past temperatures, greenhouse gas concentrations and other climatic information:

...the ice cores collect indications of local climate (snow accumulation and temperature), regional climate (wind-blown materials from well beyond the ice sheet), and broader climates (trapped-bubble records of concentrations of trace gases involved in global biogeochemical cycles), which can be related to each other with little or no uncertainty. (Alley, 2000.)

Figure 2. One meter-long section of an ice core from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Note the dark layer of volcanic ash. Copyright Heidi Hoop (source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ice_drilling/5595529294/in/photostream/)

So, to sum up, in 2000, Alley's research on Greenland found an abrupt local temperature increase of 5-10C over a period of a few decades or less. By 2008, the NOAA Paleoclimatology page still described this as a local increase of 10C (rather than a temp. range of 5-10C) and had decreased the time frame to "a decade". Also in 2008, the Lawrence Berkeley Lab website had described this event as a global temperature increase of 10C spanning a mere 10 years. What's going on here?

To answer that question I contacted Dr. Alley who responded that the temperature increase was "for Greenland, and applies moderately well around the North Atlantic, primarily as a wintertime change because there was a rapid shift from wintertime sea ice to wintertime open water in important regions." He continued:

I can provide lots of chapters and verses on all of this, but the skinny version is that when the abrupt shifts happened, they primarily involved circulation rather than greenhouse gases, they didnt do a lot to global mean temperature, but they did do a lot to regional climates in many places, with large, rapid changes in north Atlantic temperatures, rapid shifts in monsoonal rains and in the edges of the tropical rain belts, smaller shifts in northern temperatures away from the North Atlantic, and lagged and opposite shifts in southern temperatures (so northern warming was followed by southern cooling).

So the Greenland ice cores record a regionally abrupt temperature change, not global. It would appear that the Berkeley Lab post mistakenly took the Greenland data as a proxy for a global average temperature jump. A small mistake perhaps, but one with large consequences. Much confusion and misinformation about Earth's climate can come from simple mistakes, sometimes intentionally. I have no doubt that the Berkeley Lab post was not trying to mislead its readers about the Earth's past climate changes. But I can imagine that someone could spin this as "proof" that the climate is always changing, even abruptly, so there is nothing for us to worry about concerning our present climate change. In fact, we have dealt with a similar misuse of the Greenland temperature records in this rebuttal: Most of the last 10,000 years were warmer.

The lesson here is to always check for references for facts which seem extraordinary, even for facts which come from trusted sources like Berkeley Labs. Google is your friend, and may be all you need to get started. Searching for answers to confusing information may lead back to the original research and the scientists who produced it.

In his response to me, Dr. Alley pointed me to a 2010 Dot Earth blogpost in which he answered similar questions about misunderstandings of the Greenland data. Here he shows how the past should be properly used to inform our future:

...that there have been large climate changes in the past without humans in no way demonstrates that humans are not now responsible. Many people have died naturally but murder still exists; it is up to the police to learn whether a given mortality was natural or not, and up to climate science to learn what is causing ongoing changes (and we have good confidence that most of what is happening to climatic global average surface temperature is being caused by humanity now). Similarly, demonstration that life, and humans, survived warmer temperatures in the past in no way shows that warmer temperatures in the future are good for us. If you dont care about humans and other things with us here, making a big change in climate might be an interesting experiment. Evolution does respond to climate change and produce novel results. I just happen to have a personal bias (shared, I believe, by the majority of the six-plus billion people on the planet) that we should ask what is best for humanity, and pursue that. An opinion, surely, and not purely scientific, but thats my bias.

Thanks to Dr. Alley for taking the time to answer our emailer's question.

I highly recommend Dr. Alley's book, The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change and, Our Future which is a hands-on account of drilling ice cores on the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, and a "general-reader" account of the science gathered from studying them.

Finally, here is our Denial101x interview of Richard Alley:
Amazon and WordPress are among the most trusted brands among small businesses. And Yelp and Web,com are among the least.

At least thats the conclusion of Alignable Inc., an online networking site for small and local business owners. The company recently released its kickoff 2017 list of most trusted brands by small and local businesses in North America.

Other high ranking brands with small businesses include Google, Mailchimp and Authorize.net.

Meanwhile other brands to fair not nearly so well with small business owners were Yext, YP and Craigslist.

Alignable regularly tracks brand ratings and reviews from small and local business owners in real-time, so you can see which brands are trusted by business owners versus which ones are not.

Most Trusted Brands of 2017

But what Alignable maintains may be most interesting about the latest results is the narrow group of categories into which the 10 most popular brands fell.

Together the more than 88 brands included in Alignables trust ranking list can be fit into a total of 22 categories. However, the top 10 ranking brand fell into only five.

They are:

Digital marketing companies including companies ranging from Amazon to Instagram and making up 22 percent of the companies in the top 10,

including companies ranging from Amazon to Instagram and making up 22 percent of the companies in the top 10, Website companies including brands like WordPress and making up 10 percent of those most popular companies,

including brands like WordPress and making up 10 percent of those most popular companies, Shipping companies like FedEx, making up another estimated 10 percent of those most popular brands,

like FedEx, making up another estimated 10 percent of those most popular brands, Payment companies say, like PayPal and Square, making up about 29 percent of those top companies, and

say, like PayPal and Square, making up about 29 percent of those top companies, and Email marketing companies the likes of Mailchimp, again making up 10 percent of that top tier.

Business owners love these 10 brands, wrote Dan Slagen, Chief Marketing Officer at Alignable, in a post announcing the report findings on Alignables Mains Street Insights blog.

But could the categories these companies fall into also say a lot about the kinds of services small businesses are focusing on these days?

Importance of Brand Trust Ratings

Alignables latest small and medium sized brand ratings reportedly included input from over 15,000 small and local business owners.

Last year, Alignable ranked Instagram, FedEx, Twitter, Amazon and Google among the most trusted brands of 2016. Comcast and Web.com were ranked among the least trusted brands.

Slagen noted that while it can be helpful to read online reviews and reports about brands from third party rating companies, the most meaningful information comes from fellow business owners who have experience with the specific brand/vendor being considered.

Here is a complete list of best and worst. First, the 10 most trusted brands with small business owners:

10. LinkedIn

9. PayPal

8. Square

7. FedEx

6. Instagram

5. Authorize.net

4. Mailchimp

3. Google

2. WordPress

1. Amazon

Least Trusted Brands in 2017

The 10 least trusted brands with small business owners:

10. Angies List

9. Groupon

8. Comcast

7. Thumbtack

6. ShipStation

5. Craiglist (for hiring)

4. YP

3. Yext

2. Web.com

1. Yelp

Alexa Photo via Shutterstock
Learning Resources

Smart Technologies, Choose2Matter Partner to Foster Classroom Collaboration Worldwide

In an effort to help K12 students work together to unlock their learning potential, Smart Technologies is donating its software, hardware and services to various classrooms.

The company has partnered with Choose2Matter, a nonprofit organization, to host various events around the world, at select school districts, that taught students to use the Smart Learning Suite. The education suite combines lessons, assessment, students collaboration and game-based learning to foster collaboration. Students at participating schools used the tools to attempt to solve real-world issues like bullying and inequality.

Such efforts are in line with the Choose2Matter philosophy, which supports and explores students passions and guides them in how to be effective learners and citizens by drawing connections to what they do in school to the broader community, according to a prepared statement.

A teacher at Manteca Unified School District in CA has illustrated the impact that the Choose2Matter philosophy has had on her fifth grade classroom in a three-part blog series. Part one is available here.

Further information is available on the Smart Technologies site.
Professional Development

Texas District Sets Up PD, Micro-credential Program Through BloomBoard

A Houston, TX school district has gone public with its use of a more personalized professional development program for its 2,400 educators. Spring Branch Independent School District has signed on with BloomBoard, a company that makes professional learning content available online along with a micro-credentialing program. The content is curated by experienced educators and organized around problems of practice.

Among several hundred topics available in the BloomBoard service, the district has set up six learning pathways for the current school year for its teachers to follow:

New teacher induction;

Leadership training;

Blended learning;

Instructional practices;

Subject-specific content areas (including math, science, humanities and visual and performing arts); and

Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS).

Each program connects teachers to curated collections of online learning resources and collaboration tools allowing them to connect with each other. The T-TESS program specifically is intended to train the educators on the school system's new teacher appraisal system, which is recommended by the state; individual lessons tie into each of 13 T-TESS dimensions. As individual teachers work through the T-TESS domains, such as planning or instruction, they'll have the chance to demonstrate their mastery of topics and earn micro-credentials.

"We are excited to move all our staff towards a competency-based professional growth plan," said Associate Superintendent Jennifer Blaine in a prepared statement. "BloomBoard gives us the flexibility to give support around important district initiatives such as T-TESS, while still enabling us to provide our educators choice and personalized professional development opportunities to support their individual growth goals."

Fifty-nine new teachers and mentors from the district are also participating in a pilot for a national program called, "Teach Like a Champion," and led by Uncommon Schools. The pilot is intended to equip teachers with a set of techniques, a shared vocabulary and a framework for practice that adheres to Doug Lemov's popular book by the same title. BloomBoard will serve as a platform to give Spring Branch access to collections of online learning and collaboration experiences tied to the techniques from the book.
NEW YORK (AP)  A federal appeals court said Tuesday it won't rehear a panel's decision letting companies like Microsoft refuse to turn over to the government customer emails stored overseas.

The judges of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals split their votes 4-4, meaning the full court will not take the rare step of rehearing a case that resulted in a victory for Microsoft and other high-tech companies in the cloud computing business.

Four judges wrote opinions dissenting from the decision not to rehear the case at the government's request. In July, a three-judge panel said prosecutors cannot force corporations to release customers' emails and other data stored on servers overseas.

Circuit Judge Susan L. Carney, who wrote the July decision, said in an opinion Tuesday that the original panel recognized the gravity of concerns that U.S. law enforcement will be less able to access electronic data when a judge decides it is probably connected to criminal activity.

She said the Stored Communications Act of 1986, which governed the case, "has been left behind by technology."

"It is overdue for a congressional revision that would continue to protect privacy but would more effectively balance concerns of international comity with law enforcement needs and service provider obligations in the global context in which this case arose," Carney said.

Prosecutors had sought information in 2013 from an email account stored in Dublin, Ireland, saying they thought it was being used in narcotics trafficking.

The government had no immediate comment Tuesday, a spokesman for lawyers in the case said.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith said the company welcomes the ruling and that U.S. needs to update its laws.

"This decision puts the focus where it belongs, on Congress passing a law for the future rather than litigation about an outdated statute from the past," Smith said in a statement.

Story continues

Microsoft stores data from more than 1 billion customers and over 20 million businesses on servers in over 40 countries.

Ashley Gorski, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a brief in the case, said Microsoft "deserves credit for standing up for its users' rights in court in order to ensure that government demands for private information are justified and lawful."

Judge Dennis Jacobs noted in his dissent, joined by three judges, that the information sought by prosecutors was easily accessible in the United States at a computer terminal even though it was stored in Ireland.

He found privacy arguments unconvincing: "Privacy, which is a value or a state of mind, lacks location, let alone nationality," he said.

"Territorially, it is nowhere," he added. "If I can access my emails from my phone, then in an important sense my emails are in my pocket, notwithstanding where my provider keeps its servers."

He said the judges who ruled in Microsoft's favor treated the data stored electronically as if it were paper documents.

"But electronic data are not stored on disks in the way that books are stored on shelves or files in cabinets," he said. He called the approach by his colleagues in their July ruling "unmanageable, and increasingly antiquated."
Prosecutors in Milan have confirmed an investigation into allegations of false accounting and embezzlement at BT's Italian arm.

It is being led by Fabio De Pasquale - a veteran of high-profile investigations, including a long-running inquiry into the former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The announcement was made a day after the group suffered its worst ever one-day share price fall on revealing a massive uplift in the cost of its problems in Italy and downward revisions to its profit forecasts.

The company's present boss in Europe, Corrado Sciolla, will leave BT in the near future.

Sky News understands he is presently finalising the terms of his departure, but has relinquished any involvement in the running of the company.

His responsibilities will now be assumed by Spaniard Luis Alvarez, who is BT's chief executive of global services and one of the company's most trusted executives.

Mr Alvarez joined BT in 2012 and reinvigorated its global division after a period of underachievement.

Senior (Other OTC: SNIRF - news) sources at the company have been at pains to say that Mr Sciolla is not considered to have any involvement in, or knowledge of, the corruption scandal at BT's Italian operation, but that he took "executive responsibility".

Mr Sciolla offered his resignation after accepting that his position was no longer tenable.

:: BT warning calls City confidence into question

BT announced on Tuesday morning that an investigation by forensic accountants from KPMG had uncovered a series of "improper" transactions that were going to cost the company over 500m.

The company's shares fell by around a fifth in the coming hours - the most ruinous days BT has seen since it first listed in 1984.

The investigation into the irregularities first began in the summer, after a whistleblower approached BT's management in London.

The wrongdoing is said to date back years and involve a network of complicated and obscure transactions.

In particular, auditors have been looking at allegations of widespread invoice fraud, involving payments to non-existent companies posing as normal suppliers.

Story continues

Sky News has been told this was "a highly sophisticated exercise designed to avoid detection".

The senior management team who led BT in Italy have now left the business.

A new leader for BT Italia is also being appointed, and is also likely to be a company insider with experience of the European market.

KPMG is still continuing with its forensic audit and has produced an interim set of recommendations concerning management of the Italian business.

PwC, the firm responsible for auditing BT's accounts in Italy, has made no comment so far but BT is likely to review that relationship, and will demand to know how such a big hole in the accounts could have been overlooked.
SANTIAGO, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The chief executive of Chilean mining firm Antofagasta (Other OTC: ANFGF - news) said on Wednesday that there are fundamentals to support copper prices of $2.40-$2.70 per pound.

"There are elements of support for prices between $2.40-$2.70. I don't see elements to think about prices much higher than that," CEO Ivan Arriagada said.

Copper on the London Metal Exchange jumped 18 percent in last year, its first annual rise since 2012, but a lack of clarity on China demand, which consumes half of global production, have tempered some 2017 price projections. (Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing Anthony Esposito)
A sign of the Odebrecht Brazilian construction conglomerate is seen at their headquarters in Lima, Peru, January 5, 2017. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo

By Mitra Taj and Teresa Cespedes

LIMA (Reuters) - A top Latin America executive of Brazil's Odebrecht SA [ODBES.UL] pushed back against calls to bar the company from countries where it has admitted to bribery across the region, warning "radical" reactions would jeopardize its ability to pay penalties.

Odebrecht is "struggling to survive" in the wake of a growing graft scandal in Latin America and wants to set an example by helping authorities and paying fines, Mauricio Cruz, the new president of Odebrecht's investment arm in Latin America, Odebrecht Latinvest, said in an interview on Tuesday.

"The company is trying to cure itself of this sickness that affects many companies," Cruz said. "Making a company that's collaborating with authorities disappear is going to dissuade others, and in the end everything would go on as before."

Since acknowledging that it doled out hundreds of millions in bribes to win public work contracts in Latin America, countries from Panama to Peru have canceled key projects and barred the company from bidding on public works in the future.

Cruz said that Peru, where Odebrecht Latinvest is headquartered, has still not approved its November deal to sell its Olmos irrigation business to Brookfield Asset Management Inc (BAMa.TO). The lack of a government permit for land use has also frozen its Chavimochic III irrigation project in northern Peru, which was 80 percent finished when work stopped in December, Cruz added.

"Our priority is that public work projects don't suffer," said Cruz. "Here in Peru there's a lot of pressure ... and people start to take on radical attitudes."

Some in Peru have called for authorities to seize Odebrecht's assets and arrest employees, as was done in neighboring Brazil.

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said earlier on Tuesday that Odebrecht, which lost its $5 billion natural gas pipeline in Peru this week after missing a financing deadline, must sell off its remaining projects and leave the country - his toughest remarks for the company since the scandal broke.

Story continues

It was unclear what Kuczynski's government might do to force the company to leave.

Odebrecht has received more than five offers to buy its Chaglla hydroelectric project in northern Peru since putting it up for sale months ago, but the company wants to keep its other projects in the Andean country, Cruz said.

Odebrecht has said it is trying to sell 12 billion reais ($3.3 billion) in assets globally.

The family-run company was once one of the region's biggest builders, but has since come to symbolize the kind of white collar corruption that many Latin Americans say is met with impunity.

Cruz said that fewer than 100 Odebrecht employees were involved in corruption out of 200,000 workers across the world last year. The company now has just 100,000 workers, Cruz said.

"There are a couple bad apples, but the rest are good, and that needs to be preserved," Cruz said.

Cruz stressed that the leniency deal that Odebrecht struck with Brazil, the United States and Switzerland in December was designed to allow the company to continue its operations so that it can pay off the record $3.5 billion fine.

"No project in Brazil or the U.S. was halted ... no business was forced to be sold. The company kept its right to survive, to exist, to keep working to pay its obligations," Cruz said.

But that agreement did not include reparations for nine Latin American countries outside of Brazil where bribes were distributed, or details of who was part of its kickback schemes - stoking fears that little money will be left to pay fines across the region.

Cruz said he expected a final plea deal with Peruvian prosecutors to take between two to four weeks, and asked Peruvians to be patient in the meantime.

"We ask for forgiveness," Cruz said.

(Reporting by Mitra Taj and Teresa Cespedes; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Lisa Shumaker and Bill Rigby)
By Waverly Colville and Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS/VALLETTA (Reuters) - The European Union's executive said on Wednesday emergency border controls imposed within the bloc's free-travel zone over the migration crisis should get a final three-month extension to mid-May, but Germany wants to keep them in place longer. The European Commission proposed that Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Norway extend border checks inside the so-called Schengen zone beyond their current expiry in February. "We currently have temporary border controls in place. These are exceptional measures for an exceptional situation," the bloc's migration commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos said in proposing the extension. He made it clear, however, he wanted to restore the chief achievement of European integration in full from then on: "It's a question of three months to come back to normal." However Germany, which holds elections on Sept.24 in which immigration and security will be prominent issues, wants to be able to extend the measures for longer, diplomatic sources said. With immigration into the European Union under tighter control than at the height of the crisis, that may be hard to justify. That is why Germany's interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere, will propose on Thursday changing the legal justification for the border checks to security issues. After a series of attacks in France, Belgium and Germany in 2015 and 2016, Berlin sees this as a more solid ground for ensuring it could keep internal border checks for longer. More than a million refugees - mainly fleeing the war in Syria - and migrants arrived in Europe in 2015. While the number fades compared to the bloc's 500 million people, it triggered bitter disputes between EU states over how to provide for them. The bloc has since tightened its border controls and is toughening its stance on granting asylum. Only some 360,000 people made it to Europe last year after a deal with Turkey that cut the number of arrivals in Greece. AFRICA The key route to Europe now leads from the coast of the lawless Libya to Italy. It has been used mostly by labour migrants from Africa seeking a better living in the wealthy Europe. The EU is determined to curb these flows as well and is increasingly offering money and other assistance to African countries of origin and transit to prevent people from embarking for Europe. EU leaders will discuss that on Feb.3 in Malta and the European Commission on Wednesday also proposed additional funding for the training of the Libyan coast guard. Other projects include providing more funds to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) to improve the dire conditions in which migrants live in Libyan camps - run by the government and militias alike - increase voluntary returns from Libya to where the migrants came from, help manage Libya's southern border and better assist those with a strong case for asylum in Europe. Libya's neighbours Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria are also on the radar and the EU is looking at expanding its presence in Agadez, a desert town in Niger that is a key point of transit in Sahara for those on the move to Africa's northern coast. All of that is fraught with security and logistical risks as the Libyan state collapsed after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and a new, U.N.-backed government does not exercise control over its territory. (Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Dominic Evans)
KAMPOT, Cambodia (AP)  A nearby sea, flanking mountains, a quartz-rich soil: It's the perfect spot on earth, devotees say, to yield a product they describe in that rapturous vocabulary usually reserved for fine wines: "aristocratic, virile, almost aphrodisiacal," with subtle notes of caramel, gingerbread and mild tobacco.

Celebrity chefs from Paris to Los Angeles swear by Kampot pepper, a southwestern Cambodian spice with a tragic past that is now reclaiming its global pre-eminence. It is also proving to be "black gold" for some of its once-impoverished farmers, thanks in part to Kampot pepper last year being awarded a Protected Geographical Indication by the European Union. This identifies unique products  like Stilton cheese, Champagne or Darjeeling tea  as originating in a very specific region.

So far Kampot pepper production is a mere dusting  just 70 tons last year. Vietnam, the world's top pepper producer, churned out some 145,000 tons of the spice. But more plantations are springing up while Kampot quality is rated as high as ever and hitherto slack markets, like the United States, are getting hooked on the spice. A New York chef has even concocted a Kampot pepper ice cream while Michelin three-starred French chef Olivier Roellinger rhapsodizes about its "olfactory richness" and broad spectrum of flavors.

The spice's EU designation "has permitted a renaissance of pepper in Kampot. ... This not only recognizes the singularity of this pepper but helps protect it from imitations," says Nathalie Chaboche, a Frenchwoman who with her Belgian husband, Guy Porre, owns La Plantation, where pepper plants entwine 20,000 posts on a rolling green landscape fronted by the Gulf of Thailand.

The couple, who started the enterprise four years ago after lucrative careers in the computer industry, aim to boost production from 6 tons last year to 50 tons in 2018. They intend to grow without weakening quality control or endangering Kampot's status as a "premier cru," a French term for wine and other produce signifying impeccable quality  and hefty price.

Story continues

Kampot red pepper was recently selling in Germany for as much as 378 euro per kilogram ($185 per pound), compared to an average import price of about $8 for one kilo in Europe for Vietnamese pepper. The farm-gate price for the three pepper varieties  red, white and black  averages around $10 per pound.

Believed to have originated in southern India, pepper became a widely traded item across Asia and Europe. Pepper farming in Cambodia was first recorded by a Chinese traveler in the 13th century, and energized centuries later by French colonialists. By the early 1900s, annual production peaked at 8,000 tons.

War disrupted the industry and after their 1975 victory, the murderous Khmer Rouge turned farmers into slave laborers. Deeming the "king of spice" too decadent for their ultra-revolution, the regime left plantations to decay.

A Japanese aid worker, Hironobu Kurata, pioneered a revival in the mid-1990s, but the scars of the Khmer Rouge era took long to heal. As late as 2000, only 2 tons were grown annually, but now about 450 farms produce Kampot pepper. Most belong to the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association, which assists in price-setting and marketing while policing strict standards, including adherence to organic practices.

Cultivators use methods tested over 700 years, with some injecting new techniques.

Sorn Sothy, a former teacher and social worker, tries to reproduce the jungle environment native to the pepper plant on her small plantation. Palm leaves are used as shade; the soil is enriched with bat and cow manure mixed with bloodied animal bones. To ward off predatory insects, she sprays plants with a bitter extract from the leaves of neem trees.

The plantation run by Chaboche and Porre is Cambodia's first semi-automated pepper operation, but its more than 100 employees still do much of the work by hand. "Our growing is traditional. The processing is modern," says Porre.

Jean-Marie Brun, a French agricultural development expert, says the advent of large plantations could lower prices, and possibly quality. "The future will tell us if the large plantations are as successful as the smallholder farms," he says.

Ngoun Lay, the association's head and a fourth-generation pepper farmer, waxes bullish about the future despite potential problems and ongoing robust sales of fake Kampot pepper, mostly from Vietnam.

A recent report, he says, shows European demand for the brand at around 200 tons while production next year is expected at some 100. Farm gate prices have tripled over the past seven years, keeping once-poor farmers on the land rather than seeking menial work in neighboring Thailand.

Stephane Arrii, producer of the Marquis de Kampot label, worries that extensive deforestation has degraded the region's soil. He says huge plantations on the still-fertile lands of northeast Cambodia could one day offer competition.

But will they match Kampot's quality?

"As a Frenchman, I can attest that tasting Kampot pepper is like making love," says Arrii. "Once you start, you can't stop."
By Anthony Esposito SANTIAGO (Reuters) - The worst wildfires in Chile's modern history are ravaging wide swaths of the country's central-south regions, as a massive Boeing 747-400 Super Tanker arrived on Wednesday on loan from the United States to help extinguish the blazes. "We have never seen something of this size, never in Chile's history. And the truth is the (firefighting) forces are doing everything that is humanly possible and will continue to do so until the fires are contained and controlled," President Michelle Bachelet said, as she visited the hard-hit Maule region. Forest fires are a regular feature of Chile's hot, arid summers, but a nearly decade-long drought combined with historically high temperatures have created tinder-dry conditions. International help from France, the United States, Peru and Mexico has been pouring into Chile as the fires swept through forested hills and into neighboring towns, scorching homes, industry and the region's world-renowned vineyards. The country last week declared a state of emergency. As of Wednesday, 85 separate fires had been recorded, covering some 190,000 hectares (469,500 acres) - more than twice the area of New York City. Chile's Conaf forestry service said that 35 of the fires were still out of control. At least some of the fires may have been started intentionally and there had been a number of arrests in relation to ongoing investigations, said Bachelet. Three firefighters were killed on Jan. 15 and another three gravely injured. Local media reported on Wednesday that another firefighter had died. Some Chileans, such as Susana Molina, 82, a boutique wine producer, have seen their livelihoods destroyed. "All my fields burned, there were four hectares that I had and it all burned," she said, from Cauquenes in the Maule region. Around 100 small vineyards in Cauquenes alone had been damaged so far, said the local industry association. The forestry industry has also been impacted, with smaller outfits the most vulnerable. Chile's forest products industry, the country's second biggest by exports after copper mining, is led by Empresas Copec subsidiary Arauco, Empresas CMPC, and Masisa. Chile, along the seismically-active Pacific Rim, is no stranger to natural disasters. It is often walloped by earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and strong storms. As a result, its emergency response teams, building codes and residents are usually well-prepared to confront such situations. But the scale of this season's fires have overwhelmed authorities. (Reporting by Anthony Esposito, additional reporting by Reuters TV; editing by Rosalba O'Brien, G Crosse)
By Luis Jaime Acosta BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's second largest rebel group, the ELN, is ready to call a bilateral ceasefire with the government while they negotiate an end to five decades of war, a guerrilla negotiator said on Tuesday. The government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) will begin formal peace talks in Ecuador on Feb. 7, once the insurgent group frees a kidnapped politician and authorities pardon two jailed rebels. The sit down will end three years of back and forth between the two sides and hopefully stop a conflict that pit leftist rebels against right-wing paramilitaries and the military, killing over 220,000. President Juan Manuel Santos was awarded the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts after negotiating peace with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the nation's biggest rebel group. "We are willing to have a bilateral ceasefire from the beginning," ELN negotiator Aureliano Carbonell told Reuters in a telephone interview from Ecuador. "That would help create another climate to the peace process; send the nation a positive message." Carbonell is not a well-known ELN commander and he declined to provide personal details. Juan Camilo Restrepo, chief government negotiator, has said he will seek a "de-escalation" of the conflict. An early bilateral ceasefire would contrast with the FARC talks, which stretched for four years in Cuba and were conducted mostly amid fighting and bomb attacks. A bilateral ceasefire was called in the final stages of talks. Carbonell said the ELN, which has battled a dozen governments since it was founded in 1964 and is considered a terrorist group by the United States and European Union, would allow former President Alvaro Uribe's participation in the talks. "We agree that Uribe, or a representative, participates at the negotiating table. Peace is made with adversaries and Uribe leads the biggest war mongering sector." Uribe is the strongest opponent of the FARC accord and demands that rebel commanders are jailed for their crimes. Both the ELN and the FARC funded their operations from drug trafficking, extortion and kidnapping. The ELN has engaged in repeated attacks against oil installations, as well as combat. Inspired by the Cuban revolution and established by radical Catholic priests, the ELN has about 2,000 fighters. Carbonell said that agreeing the six-point peace accord may take time, but the ELN is willing to continue talks with a new government if things are not concluded when Santos leaves office next year. (Writing by by Helen Murphy; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
MALABO (Reuters) - Equatorial Guinea confirmed on Tuesday it was hosting ousted Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh, who fled his country after West African troops threatened to remove him by force if he did not concede his election defeat. Information Minister Eugenio Nse Obiang confirmed that Jammeh was in the country in a statement sent out to journalists. He gave no further details. Jammeh plunged Gambia into turmoil in December when he refused to accept losing to Adama Barrow, demanding a new poll. But the former soldier finally relinquished power on Saturday under strong diplomatic pressure backed up by several thousand West African troops who crossed into Gambia and were poised to enforce the election result. Many Gambians are angry that Jammeh fled into what they assume to be a luxurious exile rather than face trial for alleged human rights abuses. Gambia's parliament on Tuesday revoked a state of emergency that Jammeh had imposed last week before he fled, as the tiny West African country slowly recovered from its political crisis. "The National Assembly hereby resolved ... to approve the revocation of the declaration of the state of public emergency," said majority leader Fabakary Tombong Jatta of the unanimous vote. Barrow has not yet returned to Gambia from neighbouring Senegal, where he took the oath of office on Thursday. He is due back in Gambia's capital Banjul in the coming days. The turmoil prompted some 76,000 people to flee to Senegal. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said about 8,000 had returned home and more were expected to follow. (Reporting by Bernardino Ndze Biyoa; Additional reporting by Lamin Jahateh; Editing by Tim Cocks and James Dalgleish)
Policemen from the rapid deployment forces stand alert at Tahrir Square, the focal point of the Egyptian uprising, in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. Egypt on Wednesday marked the sixth anniversary of the popular uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak but failed to bring the country the democracy and freedom the young, pro-democracy youths who fueled it had dreamt of. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

JERUSALEM (AP)  Israel has warned citizens visiting the Sinai Peninsula to leave the area immediately and those planning on visiting to change their plans over fears of attacks coinciding with Wednesday's anniversary of Egypt's 2011 uprising.

Prime Minister's Benjamin Netanyahu's counterterrorism office said there was a "very high concrete threat level" on the sixth anniversary of the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

Unlike past Jan. 25 anniversaries marred by deadly clashes between police and protesters, this one has been mostly quiet, with the deployment of a larger-than-usual number of security forces in Cairo and elsewhere in the country.

Sinai, with its pristine beaches and Red Sea coral reefs, is a popular tourist destination. However, the northern part of the strategic region has for years been home to an insurgency dominated by Islamic militants, who have carried out occasional attacks on tourist sites in the south that are frequented by Israeli and other tourists.

There has not been a major attack in southern Sinai since October 2015, when a Russian airliner crashed soon after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 226 people on board. The Islamic State group, whose local affiliate is active in northern Sinai, said it downed the aircraft with an explosive device planted on board.

The Israeli travel warning, which is an upgrade on routine security advisories, follows the departure in mid-December of the Israeli ambassador in Egypt and his staff over security concerns.

Cairo airport officials say the ambassador, David Govrin, and his staff routinely fly home on Thursdays and return to their post on Sunday. However, they have not been back since they left last month.

Egyptian security officials said the embassy had informed authorities in Cairo that it had received intelligence suggesting that there was an imminent security threat to its personnel. The officials said the embassy did not divulge details of the threat, and that Egyptian authorities did not have similar intelligence of their own.

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The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has declined to comment.

___

Associated Press writer Hamza Hendawi in Cairo contributed to this report.
Geir Oeivind Nygaard, chief investment officer for asset strategies at the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, poses for a picture at the fund?s headquarters in Oslo, Norway January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Gwladys Fouche

By Gwladys Fouche

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's $890-billion sovereign wealth fund is concerned about the dearth of market liquidity and is increasingly seeking "dark pool" trading platforms where deals are only revealed after taking place, a senior official told Reuters on Wednesday.

The fund is one of the world's largest investors with stakes in around 9,000 firms globally and some $310 billion placed in fixed income at the end of the third quarter of 2016.

This means that when liquidity is thin, its transactions can move prices - at a cost to the fund - while they are being undertaken.

"It is a continuous challenge to source the liquidity both on the fixed income side and on the equities side," Geir Oeivind Nygaard, chief investment officer for asset strategies at the fund, said in an interview.

"Also on the cash management side, the repo market is getting more challenging liquidity-wise as well. So being able to execute efficiently is my main concern ... We see there is less liquidity out there. It is more costly to do the trades."

The fund is keen to be able to conduct large trades without them being too noticeable on the market and being able to find counterparts who have the ability to make large trades.

Hence, one way the fund has coped with the development has been to back the formation of some dark pools - exchanges whose transactions are only revealed once they are completed to avoid unduly moving prices.

Dark pools have come under scrutiny from regulators who want more transparency in trading.

"Given the size that we are, liquidity will be a challenge. Compared with a few years ago - go back 6-7 years on the fixed-income side - it was completely different, there was a lot of liquidity, now we are struggling a lot more to find the same (liquidity)," said the official.

"You see the same on the equities side, it is more challenging to be able to trade in size," he said, citing the fact that there are fewer market participants now than before.

Story continues

"The market is getting more consolidated, with the BlackRocks and the Vanguards. The market as a whole has become more homogenous," said Nygaard.

In Europe the fund is one of the backers of the Plato Partnership, which includes Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, AXA Investment Managers and Franklin Templeton, which signed a cooperation agreement with the London Stock Exchange unit Turquoise in September.

In the United States, the fund has done trading on the IEX dark pool, made famous by the book Flash Boys by Michael Lewis, whose purpose is to shield investors from predatory high-frequency traders.

"We encourage platforms where we can have "large-in-scale trades" so we can find ... the other side ... where those who trade in scale meet," said Nygaard.

And of course you have the dark pools where you are trying to find the natural other side of the trade."

(Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
By Joyce Lee and Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - The woman at the center of a corruption scandal gripping South Korea angrily protested her innocence on Wednesday, shouting that she had been made to confess as she was forcibly summoned for questioning. Choi Soon-sil, who has been indicted for meddling in state affairs through her friendship with impeached President Park Geun-hye, made the protest at the special prosecutor's office, before being pushed into an elevator by correctional officers. The dramatic scenes came as the outgoing chief judge of the Constitutional Court urged the bench to wrap up Park's impeachment trial by March 13, when the retirement of another judge will reduce the nine-judge court to seven and could raise questions about the verdict. His comments were the clearest indication of the timing of a decision on Park, either to remove her from office with an election to be called 60 days later, or for her to be reinstated. Park was impeached amid the influence-peddling scandal that has engulfed her administration over recent months. If the impeachment is upheld, she will become the first democratically elected leader to be removed from office. Choi was brought into the special prosecutor's office on an arrest warrant after refusing to answer several summons. "I am being forced to confess committing crimes jointly with the president," she shouted to reporters. "I don't deserve to be treated like this. And my baby and my grandson," she said as guards pushed her into the elevator. The special prosecutor's office dismissed her protests. "Regardless of such groundless claims of hers, the special prosecutor will thoroughly carry out the investigation by law and principle," office spokesman Lee Kyu-chul told a regular briefing, adding that Choi was trying to discredit the investigation. As part of their investigation, prosecutors are looking into Samsung Group's [SAGR.UL] sponsorship of the equestrian riding career of Choi's daughter, Chung Yoo-ra, 20, who was arrested in Denmark after being sought by South Korean authorities. Chung has been accused of criminal interference related to her academic record and other unspecified charges. Park was impeached by parliament in December after accusations that she colluded with Choi to pressure big businesses, including Samsung, to donate to two foundations set up to back the presidents policy initiatives. Park, 64, remains in office but has been stripped of her powers while she awaits her fate. Park, Choi and Samsung have all denied wrongdoing. Prosecutors said on Wednesday they had summoned Samsung Group President Kim Jong-joong and Samsung C&T Corp <028260.KS> President Kim Shin for questioning as witnesses. The prosecution has now summoned seven different executives at Samsung Group or an affiliate of the countrys top conglomerate and have so far identified two of them  leader Jay Y. Lee and Samsung Group Vice Chairman Choi Gee-sung  as suspects in the widening graft scandal. Chief Judge Park Han-chul, who retires on Jan. 31, urged the Constitutional Court to wrap up the impeachment trial by March 13, when the retirement of another judge will reduce the nine-judge bench to seven. Speaking on the ninth day of the hearing, the chief judge said the retirement of two judges may distort the impartiality of the court. "If another judge's seat is vacated, that is not just a matter of one vacated seat but could distort the outcome of the decision," he told a public hearing. The court has previously stressed the need to balance a speedy resolution of the crisis with proper deliberation, but this was the first time the court has mentioned a specific timeline. Seven sitting judges are the minimum required by law to rule on an impeachment, with six needed to vote to uphold the motion for Park to be removed. Sources with intimate knowledge of the court's inner workings told Reuters that seven judges, for a landmark ruling such as this, were too few and could invite questions of the ruling's legitimacy, especially if it is not unanimous. The sources declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. (Additional reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Reuters

Britain's King Charles will not go to the COP27 U.N. climate summit in Egypt as new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has not been in office long enough for the logistics to be arranged for the monarch to go, Sunak's spokeswoman said on Thursday. Buckingham Palace and Downing Street have said that there has been "unanimous agreement" that Charles would not go to COP27, with the king focussed instead on hosting a climate reception at the palace on Friday. But Sunak's spokeswoman suggested that if Sunak, who only became prime minister last week, had been in office longer, Charles might have gone to COP27 after all.
Mohammed Alloush, head of a Syrian opposition delegation, center, speaks to the media after the talks on Syrian peace in Astana, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Russia, Iran and Turkey _ sponsors of talks in Kazakhstan between Syria and rebel factions _ pledged Tuesday to consolidate the country's nearly month-old cease-fire and set up a three-way mechanism to ensure compliance of all sides. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

BEIRUT (AP)  Al-Qaida-linked militants attacked a prison Wednesday where its fighters are held by other Syrian rebels in escalating violence in northern Syria after Russian-led talks urged mainstream insurgents to break with the extremists.

The infighting, some of the worst in recent years, is likely to weaken the rebellion but also could help isolate the extremist group.

The fighting pits the al-Qaida-linked Fatah al-Sham Front against several other groups, including its former ally, Ahrar al-Sham, one of the most powerful insurgent organizations in Syria's nearly 6-year-old civil war.

Some of the rebels involved in the fighting were represented at talks this week in Astana, Kazakhstan, which were brokered by Russia and Turkey and aimed at shoring up a shaky Dec. 30 cease-fire with President Bashar Assad's forces. The talks brought the armed rebel factions face-to-face with Assad's representatives for the first time.

The two-day talks ended Tuesday with an agreement among Russia, Turkey and Iran to consolidate the cease-fire, take joint action against extremist groups and jumpstart peace negotiations.

Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said that if the al-Qaida-linked group comes out on top in the fighting, the rebels would be more inclined to cooperate with calls for dissociating with its militants.

The Fatah al-Sham violence sought to protect its dominance in northern Syria, one of the remaining strongholds of the opposition, he added.

"I think (Fatah al-Sham) found itself surrounded by potential threats and in an environment which politics suddenly was trumping military activities," Lister said.

Before the talks, Fatah al-Sham described them as a "conspiracy" to divide the al-Qaida-linked group from the other rebels.

"Ironically, we may now eventually see just that scenario play out in the future," Lister said.

But the rebel groups, who had been reluctant to dissociate with al-Qaida-linked militants in part because of their fighting ability and the lack of discipline in others, already are reeling under the offensive. One of the rebel groups in Astana, the Army of Mujahedeen, has lost a number of its ammunition depots to Fatah al-Sham.

Story continues

Ahrar al-Sham already blamed Fatah al-Sham for starting the infighting, calling it "the greatest service" to those seeking to isolate the al-Qaida-linked group. It said it had deployed its own fighters to bring the situation under control.

Despite Ahrar al-Sham's attempts to control the fighting, Fatah al-Sham clashed with other rebel groups outside Idlib's central prison. Opposition activists said Fatah al-Sham apparently tried to free its members detained there recently.

A Twitter account of the central prison issued a call for help, asking civilians to march to the facility. It posted video of prisoners inside urging Fatah al-Sham "to fear God" and stop the violence.

Fatah al-Sham accused the rebel groups of "unprovoked" attacks on its bases in Idlib that left six fighters killed. It blamed Suqour al-Sham and the Army of Islam  both represented in Astana.

The clashes began earlier this week between Ahrar al-Sham and a faction associated with Fatah al-Sham, and has escalated since then. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebel groups had seized Fatah al-Sham checkpoints in four villages by late Tuesday.

Ahrar al-Sham, an ultraconservative group and one of the most powerful in northern Syria, refused to attend the Astana talks, in part because of attempts to isolate Fatah al-Sham, with which it was discussing a merger.

By going on the offensive, Fatah al-Sham is likely to turn its guns on other groups, something that will probably force Ahrar al-Sham "to declare war in defense of the opposition," Lister said.

The Syrian government and its ally, Russia, have long referred to the entire armed opposition as "terrorists," in part because they have fought alongside Fatah al-Sham. In a way, the Astana talks challenged that label when the government agreed to sit with at least 13 rebel factions.

Fatah al-Sham claimed to have severed ties to al-Qaida when it changed its name from the Nusra Front last year, but it did not change its leadership or strategy and is still widely seen as an extension of the global terrorist network.

Fatah al-Sham was excluded from the current and previous cease-fires, along with the Islamic State group, but until now the other rebel factions have been reluctant to break with the al-Qaida-linked group.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Ukraine must have a say in any deal struck between Russia and the United States aimed at ending violence in eastern Ukraine, its deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday. Ukraine, which has been battling pro-Russian separatists in its eastern Donbass region for nearly three years, is worried that U.S. President Donald Trump will cut Kiev out of any peace negotiations as he attempts to improve ties with Moscow. "Because we are talking about the future of our country, we don't want to be excluded from the negotiations," Deputy Foreign Minister Olena Zerkal told Reuters. "We don't want to be a card (to be played). We want to be an actor." "I don't believe in gentleman's agreements anymore," Zerkal said, noting Russia had violated an earlier deal - the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, under which Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan gave up nuclear weapons in exchange for assurances of territorial integrity - when it annexed Crimea. Zerkal reiterated Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's call for the West to maintain sanctions imposed against Russia over the 2014 annexation of Crimea and its support for the separatists in the Donbass. "This is the only tool we all have in order to prevent (Russian President Vladimir) Putin from a further spree of aggression," she said. Trump, who took office on Jan. 20, has suggested he might do away with some sanctions if Russia helps in battling terrorists and achieving other goals important to Washington. In another setback for Ukraine, the frontrunner in France's presidential election, Francois Fillon, said during a visit to Berlin on Monday that sanctions against Russia were "totally ineffective" and suggested they could be lifted. Zerkal, in Berlin for talks with German government officials, said she hoped Chancellor Angela Merkel would continue to press for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. "She is the only person in the world who can communicate and persuade Putin to make something work, or not to do something," she said. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Sabine Siebold and Andreas Rinke; Editing by Gareth Jones)
888poker 2017 Super XL Series Day 5: Germany's 'Xp3ctNoMerc1' Wins First Omaha Event

January 25 2017 Eric Mertens

After a great first weekend of the 888poker 2017 Super XL Series, the players couldn't get much rest before the series continued on Monday. There were six new events starting and all of them played down to a winner within a day. Who started out the week with a great Monday? Let's see the results.

Event #22 $15,000 Super XL - Omaha Event

Buy-in Date Players Prize Pool $109 Jan. 23 164 $24,500

A new day of the 888poker 2017 Super XL Series started with the $109 Omaha Event, the highest buy-in event of Day 5. A total 164 paid this amount of money to play this event to create a prize pool of $24,500. For the winner of this event, there was a first prize of $5,635 while the six finalists would all be guaranteed at least $1,004.50.

Place Player County Prize 1 Xp3ctNoMerc1 Germany $5,635 2 EvnomiYa Russia $3,920 3 PARARANGE Germany $2,940 4 Brttyy Sweden $1,960 5 hajniak Poland $1,470 6 utex77 Austria $1,004.50

When the tournament was down to seven players they were on the final table bubble. Finnish player "kyosti_i" missed out on the official final table after he busted in seventh place for $698.25. On the final table, the tournament saw "utex77" and "hajniak" bust in quick succession to get down to four players.

From there on "Brttyy" busted in fourth place for $1,960 and "PARARANGE" from Germany didn't make the final heads-up after finishing in third place for $2,940. The heads-up between "EvnomiYa" and "Xp3ctNoMerc1" played until 05:27 GMT and the latter won it for $5,635.

Event #23 $5,000 Super XL - Mini Omaha Event

Buy-in Date Players Prize Pool $12 Jan. 23 433 $6,899.70

For the players who couldn't afford the Omaha Event, there was a Mini Omaha Event starting at the same time. The buy-in for this event was just $12 and in total 433 players registered to build a prize pool of $6,899.70. After seven hours, the tournament crowned a winner after a heads-up deal; Czech Republic's "Der_Baron32" won Event #23 for $1,249.63.

Dutch runner-up "h12star" finished in second place and got $1,151.86 after the deal.

Place Player County Prize 1 Der_Baron32 Czech Republic $1,249.63 2 h12star Netherlands $1,151.86 3 MuhubanaShek Czech Republic $758.96 4 quaha Belarus $524.37 5 theslothpack Malta $382.93 6 magigydra Germany $244.93

Event #24 $10,000 Super XL - Monday Royal

Buy-in Date Players Prize Pool $22 Jan. 23 968 $19,360

At 20:35 GMT there were 968 players starting in Event #24 of the tournament series - the Monday Royal. The guaranteed prize pool of $10,000 was almost doubled to $19,360. The first prize was $3,484.80. "tuanpham81" from the Netherlands won that exact figure as he defeated "mkyplain" from Canada in the deciding battle after more than eight hours.

Place Player County Prize 1 tuanpham81 Netherlands $3,484.80 2 mkyplain Canada $2,516.80 3 Razvyb Romania $1,877.92 4 GoFighTer Belarus $1,403.60 5 TOP1LTU Lithuania $975.74 6 Foreverpunk Germany $774.40 7 tikanis2 Germany $580.80 8 newty_music Canada $387.20 9 1Odessa Ukraine $232.20

Event #25 $10,000 Super XL - Monday Flush

Buy-in Date Players Prize Pool $22 Jan. 23 905 $18,100

On Monday it wasn't a day of five-figure prizes and Event #25 wasn't any different. Nine-hundred-and-five players registered for the Monday Flush with a buy-in of $22 to create a total prize pool of $18,100. There was an original first prize of $3,258 but no one received this amount of money.

The last four players made a deal where third-place finisher "alexeiv2009" got the most money - $2,366.43. The honors and the XL Series title were for "alwaysstrap" from the Czech Republic, who got $2,243.22 in prize money.

Place Player County Prize 1 alwaysstrap Czech Republic $2,243.22 2 KellerA Germany $2,023.15 3 alexeiv2009 Russia $2,366.43 4 relyinonluck United Kingdom $2,046.15 5 sirkarev Russia $912.24 6 BYLIA Canada $731.24 7 kikasazv Slovakia $550.24 8 Erik_Ajax Netherlands $371.05 9 Nzol888 Ukraine $226.25

Event #26 $15,000 Super XL - Snap Event

Buy-in Date Players Prize Pool $55 Jan. 23 252 $20,650

For the fans of Turbo tournaments, there was Event #26 $15,000 Super XL - Snap Event. In this tournament, the blinds increased every six minutes so the tournament got down from 252 players to a winner in just three hours and 10 minutes. Those players all paid $55 to compete in this event and it created a first-place prize of $4,222.92.

Poland's "Slipknott14" will be a fan of Turbo tournaments after this day because he finished up top. He made a deal with his last competitor "Gagagawa" and received $3,737.06. The runner-up from Norway had to settle for a prize of $3,583.47.

Place Player County Prize 1 Slipknott14 Poland $3,737.06 2 Gagagawa Norway $3,583.47 3 NevilleWeeee Brazil $2,333.45 4 gandalf_mrs United Kingdom $1,755.25 5 Srdn77 Russia $1,197.70 6 jnboye Norway $929.25 7 PonyDarker Czech Republic $722.75 8 HappyHour4U United Kingdom $516.25 9 krystek1212 Poland $392.35

Event #27 $5,000 Super XL - Mini Snap Event

Buy-in Date Players Prize Pool $5 Jan. 23 1,011 $7,402.85

The fifth day of the series was completed by a Mini Snap Event with a buy-in of $5. A massive field of 1,011 players registered for this tournament and it only took four hours and one minute to get a winner. "nitur" from Malta won the first prize of $1,332.51 after defeating Norway's "tassenusen" in the heads-up.

Place Player County Prize 1 nitur Malta $1,332.51 2 tassenusen Norway $949.78 3 Torreli1111 Czech Republic $710.67 4 v1966 Russia $533 5 Berillus Germany $370.14 6 PumpkinKing United Kingdom $296.11 7 heldoor Norway $222.08 8 Boysibad888 Netherlands $148.05 9 dvakuba Ukraine $88.83

Leaderboard

Place Player Points 1 PuntSonPunt 728.02 2 Mindcrushers 715.16 3 GoFighTer 655.64 4 DrMiKee 624.11 5 trojanmouse 621.89 6 Ti0373 594.97 7 summuNNN 591.45 8 TheRudimeer 576.90 9 Tacuara87 523.84 10 b.szaszko 521.26

Upcoming Tournaments

Date Time (GMT) Event Buy-in Jan. 24 19:00 Event #28 $350,000 Super XL - High Roller $2,100 19:00 Event #29 $100,000 Super XL - Mini High Roller $215 19:35 Event #30 $40,000 Super XL - Tuesday Challenge $109 21:00 Event #31 $50,000 Super XL - Turbo High Roller $160 Jan. 25 19:00 Event #32 $50,000 Super XL - 8-Max $109 19:00 Event #33 $10,000 Super XL - Mini 8-Max $12 19:35 Event #34 $25,000 Super XL - Wednesday Challenge $35 21:00 Event #35 $8,000 Super XL - Turbo 8-Max $30 Jan. 26 0:00 Event #36 $20,000 Super XL - Americas Event $160 2:00 Event #37 $5,000 Super XL - Turbo Americas Event $55 18:00 Event #38 $50,000 Super XL - R&A Event $55 18:00 Event #39 $10,000 Super XL - Mini R&A Event $5 19:00 Event #40 $100,000 Super XL - Quarterback $215 19:00 Event #41 $30,000 Super XL - Mini Quarterback $44 19:35 Event #42 $25,000 Super XL - Thursday Challenge $12 21:00 Event #43 $30,000 Super XL - Turbo Quarterback $109

Sharelines Let's check out if any players had a 'case of the Mondays' at the 888poker 2017 Super XL Series.
are we going in 2017?

Weve been making travel plans, and have some great trips in the works! In March, well be heading up to Napa for a long weekend to celebrate my 60th. We havent been since 2010, when I snapped the photo above during an early morning hot air balloon ride. Le monsieur has been busy making dinner reservations and well definitely visit some wineries. Still mapping out rest of the itinerary.

Later in the Spring, we are going back to Italy! We visited for the first time in 2011, and have been wanting to go back ever since. Ive noticed that the second visit to any destination is often SO much better than the first. We return better oriented, and with more of a sense of the place. Weve often ticked off the list the most obvious tourist spots, and on subsequent visits can be more targeted with how we spend our time.

On that first trip to Italy, we spent the most time in Florence, sandwiched between 2-1/2 days in Rome and finishing with 3 days in Venice. I feel as though we gave Rome short shrift, so were going back for a few more days this time, and will have a more focused itinerary. (I swear, that first visit we spent an entire afternoon walking in circles trying to find one particular gelateria that our neighbor had insisted we try)

Then were heading up to Lake Como for three days, as its been on my travel wish list for decades. Weve learned to pace ourselves on these trips, and build in a couple of days that are a little more restful, and Lake Como would seem to be a good spot for this.

After that: Venice! I had not expected much from Venice before our first visit, but fell in love with it. Yes, there are the crowded touristy bits, but its SO easy to get off the beaten path and this city is truly magical. On our first visit, Id tripped over a lintel in a dark church and hurt my knee, so lost the first day there because I wasnt able to get around easily. Theres so much I still want to see here.

We may take another shorter trip in the fall. Were batting around some ideas, and keeping an eye on airfares. Weve been thinking about Vienna/Salzburg, but havent yet decided.

Ive begun compiling a Paris City Guide with my recommendations; should have the first installment posted in a week or two.

Do you like to re-visit favorite travel destinations?

Lake Como image via Pinterest.

Packing List: March In Wine Country

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The National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students (NISTS) will host its 15th annual conference Feb. 15-17 in Atlanta to discuss initiatives centered on collegiate transfer students.

Founded in 2002 by University of North Georgia (UNG) President Bonita C. Jacobs in response to a lack of professional development opportunities and research literature focused specifically on transfer students, NISTS's annual conference has grown to include more than 500 attendees from more than 200 institutions representing 38 states and two provinces in Canada.

"Transferring between institutions as a pathway to degree completion is becoming a significant part of the national conversation on college affordability, accountability and access," said Dr. Janet Marling, executive director of NISTS and vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at UNG. "The conference equips professionals, through the information shared and the dialogues it generates, to successfully implement transfer initiatives on campuses nationwide."

The keynote speaker is founder and executive director of the College Excellence Program at the Aspen Institute, Joshua Wyner. He will open the conference with an address on "Adapting in a Changing Higher Education Landscape."

This year, NISTS will present the Bonita C. Jacobs Transfer Champion Award to Charlene Stinard, former director of Transfer Services at the University of Central Florida (UCF).

The award is given to spotlight those who have demonstrated exceptional advocacy and leadership in the development and implementation of transfer-focused activities, making a significant contribution to the improvement of transfer student access, persistence and success.

Stinard has served transfer students for more than 28 years. Prior to retiring from her role at UCF, she created a nationally recognized peer mentor program and the university's first Transfer Experience Committee to promote campus-wide collaboration in support of transfer students, building a lasting culture of transfer-student support. Her programming initiatives were focused on the retention, success and graduation of transfer students at a campus that enrolled more than 13,000 transfer students annually.

Other honorees include:

Kathy Silberman, transfer project coordinator at Maricopa Community Colleges in Tempe, Arizona

Maria Campanella, director of student services for the health sciences office at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York

Artis Gordon, director of the Transfer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia

Dr. Carmen Robinson, assistant dean of student services for the College of Arts, Letters and Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Rajan Shore is the transfer program coordinator at Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave, Virginia.

Through research, education and service, NISTS supports professionals who directly serve transfer students, as well as those who create transfer policy and conduct transfer-related research. The institute bridges knowledge, policies and practice by bringing together a wide range of stakeholders to explore the issues related to the transfer process in order to facilitate student success and degree completion. NISTS partners with two- and four-year institutions, state agencies, higher education associations, foundations, and others committed to transfer student success.

Since NISTS first began hosting the conference 15 years ago, the organization has fostered the national conversation about transfer students by offering grants to support transfer-related research, recognizing outstanding transfer professionals and hosting the only national conference exclusively focused on transfer.

For more information on the NISTS Annual Conference or to register to attend, visit the NISTS site.
WASHINGTON  Its the first full work week for the Trump administration, and the talk is all about emoluments, executive orders, a border tax, TPP and much more.

If youre rusty on some of those terms, grab this glossary to help get up to speed on whats afoot.

ADVICE AND CONSENT

Under the Constitution, the Senate has the final say on President Donald Trumps choices for his Cabinet. That includes nominations for 15 department secretaries and six people selected by Trump to lead agencies or serve in roles with Cabinet-level status, such as the EPA and U.N. ambassador. So far, three nominees have been confirmed by the Senate, including CIA Director Mike Pompeo on Monday. With Republicans in control of the Senate by a 52-48 margin, most of the rest are expected to easily win confirmation. Democrats will put up a fight on some, but theres a limit to what they can do. Under rules changes approved in 2013  when Democrats were in charge of the Senate  Cabinet picks can be confirmed with a simple majority, preventing Democrats from demanding 60 votes to move forward.

Trump also will need Senate approval for his choice to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court, a selection he hopes to announce next week. He met with Senate leaders from both parties Tuesday to discuss the vacancy. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell referred to the chambers advice and consent role in describing it as a good meeting.

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

The first thing to know: The Affordable Care Act is the same thing as Obamacare. The latter was a nickname coined by opponents of the health law, but President Barack Obama eventually embraced it. The law reduced the nations uninsured rate to a historic low of around 9 percent but failed to win broad public support. With Republicans in control of both the White House and Congress, undoing the law is a top priority for Republicans. But lawmakers arent sure what should take its place.

In the meantime, Trump has signed an order that gives federal agencies broad leeway to chip away at the measure. The law requires individuals to carry health insurance or face fines, and provides subsidies to help people who cant otherwise afford insurance. Trump has said he wants to keep some of the measures more popular provisions, including allowing young people to stay on their parents insurance until age 26 and preventing insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-exiting conditions. But critics say Trump cant cherry-pick to keep popular portions of the law and get rid of the requirement for everyone to have insurance. Democrats say that requirement, called the individual mandate, is what pays for expanded coverage.

BORDER TAX

Trump said Monday there will be advantages for companies that make their products in the United States and suggested he will impose a substantial border tax on foreign goods entering the country. There are lots of questions about exactly what he wants, though.

House Republicans are pushing a so-called border-adjusted tax that would exempt a companys exports from taxation but include imports. That could encourage companies to remain in the U.S. Trump has said he doesnt love the tax, calling it too complicated. Confusing matters, he has also threatened companies that shift jobs overseas with a border tax on their products. His nominee for treasury secretary says Trump is referring to a more specific levy on those companies that outsource jobs, rather than the House Republicans broader proposal.

EMOLUMENTS CLAUSE

Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution prohibits any Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under (the United States) from accepting any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. This clause was designed to prevent foreign interference in the U.S. political system by ensuring that foreign powers dont curry influence by knighting U.S. officials or giving them gifts, money or other things of value.

The liberal-funded watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed suit against Trump on Monday for violating the emoluments (ee-MOLL-you-ments) clause, alleging that Trumps business interests are creating countless conflicts of interest, as well as unprecedented influence by foreign governments. Trump said the suit was without merit. His advisers say there is no conflict of interest in fair-value exchanges such as accepting payment for hotel rooms or office space.

EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Its payback time.

Obama made aggressive use of executive orders, actions and presidential memoranda in his pen-and-phone strategy to get around the Republican-controlled Congress that blocked his legislative agenda. With no cooperation from Congress, he pushed his executive powers as far as he could. Now, its Trumps turn to use executive orders and actions to score some quick victories  in some cases simply by reversing Obama. You know the great thing about executive orders  I dont have to go back to Congress, Trump said during the presidential campaign. Were going to be un-signing a lot of executive orders.

Just hours after being sworn in, Trump signed the order targeting Obamas health law. Executive orders only go so far, though. Trump will have to go through Congress to do away with the law for good. On Monday, Trump signed memos freezing most federal government hiring, except for the military, and reinstating a ban on providing federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information on the procedure. He also signed a memorandum to pull the United States out of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.

On Tuesday, he added five more to the stack, including documents to: advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, require materials for the pipelines to be made in the U.S., streamline the permitting process for manufacturing and expedite environmental reviews.

TPP

The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership is a 12-nation trade deal that was the cornerstone of Obamas attempt to counter Chinas influence in Asia. Trumps memorandum pulling the U.S. out of the deal was basically a formality since the agreement had yet to receive congressional approval and faced significant opposition in the House and Senate. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer says the new president wants to negotiate bilateral trade deals with U.S. allies rather than joining in big multilateral pacts. Trump has blamed past trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and Chinas entrance into the World Trade Organization for a decline in U.S. factory jobs.

___

Associated Press writer Chris Rugaber contributed to this report.

___

Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nbenac
South Dakota Republicans are on the verge of doing something that backfired spectacularly for congressional Republicans earlier this year: Getting rid of an independent ethics commission.

What is a politically tricky endeavor for any lawmaking body could be even more precarious for the states lawmakers, given the commission they want to cut was approved by 51 percent of voters in a ballot initiative this November. The independent commission was part of a larger ethics reform package voters approved that put limits on campaign finance and lobbying access.

State lawmakers met Monday to debate repeal of the entire law, and Republican leaders say the bill could be on the governors desk by the end of the week. Gov. Dennis Daugaard, R, has indicated hed sign a repeal. In his December budget address, he lambasted the ethics package, declaring voters were hoodwinked by scam artists who grossly misrepresented these proposed measures.

As Daugaards rhetoric suggests, Republican opposition to the voter-approved ethics package has been fierce.

Days after the election, 25 GOP lawmakers and a conservative lobbying group challenged the law in court, declaring voters were tricked into supporting something that could be unconstitutional, for a variety of reasons. A South Dakota judge subsequently paused it from going into effect. Though the judge said some parts of the law could be saved, GOP lawmakers decided it was better to start from scratch.

It would only stand to reason from that logic that we repeal it in its entirety, said state Rep. Larry Rhoden, one of the Republicans leading the repeal effort.

Rhoden said lawmakers are considering other ethics reform legislation and added there was no rush to do something: We are pretty squeaky clean and I can say that with a great deal of pride in South Dakota, the ethics among the people that serve the state in the legislature, I would call impeccable.

Lawmakers are also debating a bill that would double the required signatures to get an initiative on the ballot in South Dakota.

Democrats and progressive groups in South Dakota dont see it that way. They are accusing Republicans of picking apart the law to get out of having an independent ethics commission look over their shoulder.

Support for the anti-corruption act was wildly nonpartisan, said Doug Kronaizl, spokesperson with the grass roots group Represent South Dakota, which advocated for the ethics package. He pointed out that no ballot initiative in South Dakota can pass without Republican support, because there simply arent enough Democrats in the state. At least two former Republican state senators campaigned for the reform package. Its troubling when legislators tell us we were hoodwinked or dont know what we were voting for.

Did I agree with everything in Initiative Measure 22? said state Senate Minority Leader Billie Sutton, D. Probably not, but I think its our job to respect the will of the voters and to fix pieces that may be considered unconstitutional.

The nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity recently ranked South Dakota 47th in the nation for accountability, largely because of its lax lobbying laws. Little to none of [state legislative and lobbyist interaction] is reported to the public in any detail, the report said.

Proponents of the ethics commission say South Dakota has earned its F rating on integrity. The state has been wracked by two major ethics scandals in the past two years: Investigations into misuse of the federal green card program for wealthy immigrant investors and the theft by a private company of more than $1 million of federal grant money to help Native Americans get ready for college.

As a grim aside, people implicated in both scandals either committed suicide or murder or both.

Republicans counter this new ethics commission wouldnt have been able to stop those scandals because they were misuse of federal, not state, funds.

The whole saga has echoes of what happened three weeks ago here in Washington.

On the eve of Congress first day back in session of 2017, Republicans in control of the House of Representatives pushed a provision that would have gutted an independent ethics office that investigates them. Republicans abruptly dropped the plan after public backlash from their constituencies and two tisk-tisk tweets from then-President-elect Donald Trump.

In South Dakota, the battle is largely along partisan lines. More than two-thirds of Republican lawmakers have signed onto their repeal effort; not one Democrat has. (That may also be a function of just how small the Democratic Party is in South Dakota: There are 16 Democrats in the entire 105-person legislature.)

All that proponents of the ethics law can do is watch Republicans undo it  and try to point out what, from their vantage point, looks like irony. More than a century ago, South Dakota was the first state in the nation to create a referendum process as a check on its legislature.

This isnt the first time South Dakota lawmakers have tried to change a voter-approved ballot initiative. In 2014, voters passed a ballot measure increasing the minimum wage; GOP lawmakers again claimed voters didnt realize what they had done and passed legislation excluding anyone under 18 from the paycheck boost.

Minimum wage advocates successfully got a referendum on Novembers ballot to override the legislatures changes to the law. That referendum passed by 71 percent, and the minimum wage went back up to $8.50 an hour for all workers.

We think its pretty clear that the voters dont like when the legislature comes in and messes with our laws, Kronaizl said.

Advocates wont get a second chance to reinstate their ethics package. Lawmakers are considering the repeal under a protection known as state of emergency, which effectively prohibits a referendum on it.
PHOENIX  Sentencing was postponed Tuesday for an American-born Muslim convert convicted of supporting the Islamic State group and helping to plot a 2015 attack on a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas.

Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem appeared for an hour-long sentencing hearing in a federal court in Phoenix, but U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton delayed imposing his punishment and instead ordered attorneys to hand in legal briefs in preparation for a new sentencing hearing on Feb. 8.

Bolton asked prosecutors and Kareems lawyer to provide opinions on whether a sentencing calculation used by federal judges to punish criminals should be increased in Kareems case because the offenses were considered acts of terrorism.

Kareem said nothing during the hearing except No when asked by the judge whether he wanted a new lawyer.

Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence, while Kareems lawyer has asked for less than six years of prison time.

Kareem provided the guns that two friends used to open fire outside the anti-Islam event in suburban Dallas and hosted the two Islamic State followers at his home to discuss the upcoming attack, authorities have said.

Kareem, 45, grew up in a Baptist household, but converted to Islam as an adult. He abandoned his birth name of Decarus Lowell Thomas and legally became Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem in 2013.

Kareem watched videos depicting violence by jihadists with the two friends, encouraged them to launch violent attack to support the terrorist group and researched travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State fighters, prosecutors have said.

Kareem also inquired about explosives to blow up the Arizona stadium where the 2015 Super Bowl was held, but later set his sights on the cartoon contest after the stadium plan fell through, the prosecutors said.

The verdicts against Kareem 10 months ago marked the second conviction of someone within the United States on charges of supporting the Islamic State.

Kareem was convicted of conspiring to support a foreign terrorist organization, interstate transportation of firearms and other charges.

His brother, who is expected to testify at the Feb. 8 hearing, has said Kareem was a Muslim throughout his adulthood, but that his faith deepened over the last five years after he was jailed on a drunken driving conviction.

His friends, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, were killed in the May 2015 police shootout outside the cartoon contest in Garland, Texas. A security guard was wounded, but no one else was injured. The contest featured cartoons that are offensive to Muslims.

It is unknown whether the Texas attack was inspired by the Islamic State or carried out in response to an order from the group.

Kareem testified at his trial that he did not know his friends were going to attack the contest and did not find out about the attack until after Simpson and Soofi were killed.

Kareem told jurors that he evicted Simpson from his home because he believed Simpson was putting tracking devices in his car. He also said he strongly disapproved of Simpson using Kareems laptop to watch al-Qaida promotional materials.

Prosecutors said Kareem tried to carry out an insurance scam to fund a conspiracy to support the Islamic State group and attempted to indoctrinate two teenage boys in his neighborhood on radical jihadism.

___

Follow Jacques Billeaud at twitter.com/jacquesbilleaud. His work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/jacques%20billeaud.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, Colo.  A record 4.5 million people visited Rocky Mountain National Park in 2016, an increase of 8.7 percent over the previous year.

The park said Tuesday that visitor numbers were up 40 percent since 2012.

Rocky was the third most-visited national park in the country in 2015, after Great Smoky Mountains and Grand Canyon. The 2016 rankings werent available.

Last year, park managers restricted vehicle access on the busiest days on two heavily traveled roads, to Bear Lake and in the Wild Basin area. Officials say theyll continue addressing overcrowding issues.

The 415-square-mile park is near Colorados Front Range urban corridor, including Denver, population 683,000.

Autumn is becoming one of the parks most popular seasons because of the changing colors and the distinctive mating call of bull elk, called bugling.
PHOENIX  A Republican lawmaker is renewing his effort to allow concealed carry permit holders to carry guns into some public buildings.

The proposal comes from Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, after a bill he pushed last year failed to pass. Efforts in previous years also failed.

Senate Bill 1243 would require operators of public establishments to allow permit-holders to carry their firearms unless the business employs security guards and has metal detectors at entrances.

Courtrooms, federal buildings, high schools and universities, and the Maricopa Medical Center would be exempt.

Kavanagh said Tuesday that people screened for weapons permits can be trusted in public buildings.

Theres no reason why people who have been screened and tested and are proficient cant carry guns in public buildings, when people are carrying guns almost everywhere else, Kavanagh said. And criminals are already carrying guns in public buildings.

Democratic Sen. Steve Farley said theres plenty of buildings without screenings where guns should be banned, citing places such as the Department of Child Safety, where emotions can run high. He also said most gun owners dont believe looser gun laws are needed in Arizona.

He said having armed people in buildings will just make things more difficult for police if they are called to a building for an emergency.

A good guy with a gun isnt something that law enforcement tells me is really easy to pick out, Farley said. When they come onto a shooting scene, they dont know whos the good guy and the bad guy.

An analysis of last years bill showed the costs to secure state buildings at up to $6 million a year and up to $13 million a year at Maricopa County facilities alone. More than 300,000 Arizona residents have a concealed weapons permit, although one isnt needed to carry a concealed gun.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday announced new measures aimed at addressing the states growing opioid epidemic, including proposals to limit prescriptions for pain medications and increase prison terms for drug dealers convicted of distributing opioids that result in lethal overdoses.

Hogan, R, also signed an executive order establishing a central command center to coordinate local and state efforts to combat opioid abuse, a problem that resulted in 1,400 fatal overdoses in Maryland last year.

The governor, whose cousin died of a heroin overdose, said he will introduce legislation to restrict opoiod prescriptions to a seven-day supply, with exceptions for certain types of treatment such as for cancer and hospice care. Many experts say a growing number of heroin addicts started using the drug as less-expensive way to feed an addiction to prescription painkillers.

We have to cut that pipeline of new users, said Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford, R, who joined the governor during the announcement at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. Rutherford headed a heroin and opioid task force that Hogan established during his first year in office.

At least seven states have enacted strict limits on opioid prescriptions over the past two years, including Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Kentucky adopted such legislation in 2012.

The governor also promised legislation to create a new felony category allowing sentences of up to 30 years for sales of opioids or synthetic opioids resulting in a lethal overdose, with an exemption for those who sell the drugs to sustain an addiction.

States have approached sentencing for such drug transactions differently, with some using felony-murder statutes to increase penalties while others use manslaughter or depraved-heart laws.

Hogans proposed exception for addicts aligns with a sweeping criminal-justice overhaul approved in Maryland last year as part of an effort to shift from punishing drug addiction to treating it.

The governor said he will also propose a bill that would allow the state to take action against drug prescribers and dispensers based on investigations by licensing boards and federal authorities.

Hogan noted that he has increased the number of treatment beds in the state by 50 percent compared to the previous administration, and that his 2018 budget includes $4 million in new funding to boost efforts to treat addiction.

Several advocacy groups applauded the governors latest efforts but said the state needs to do more.

Lisa Lowe, director of the Heroin Action Coalition of Maryland and the mother of an opioid addict, described Hogan as a champion for many of her groups causes, but she said the state could do more to expand access to treatment and provide oversight of existing centers to make sure theyre effective.

We can give $4 million for treatment, but what if the provider has no oversight? she said.

Lethal opioid overdoses have skyrocketed across the nation in recent years. In Maryland, the number of heroin-related overdose deaths rose 72 percent, to 918, during the first nine months of last year, compared to the same period in 2015. Fatal overdoses related to prescription opioids jumped 17 percent, to 270, during that span.

The most dramatic surge seen in recent years involves deaths from fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that killed rock legend Prince last year.

The number of overdose deaths in Maryland related to that drug nearly tripled during the first three quarters of 2016, rising to 738.

Anne Arundel County States Attorney Wes Adams, R, who attended Tuesdays announcement, said his brother-in-law died of an opioid overdose this month after becoming addicted to pain medications.

My family has not been able to be exempt from the opioid crisis, Adams said. I look forward to our legislators standing behind this legislation so we can continue this battle as an entire community.
Regarding Perry regrets his call to eliminate DOE, published in the Journal on Jan. 19, concern about the possibility of abolishing the U.S. Department of Energy has produced a short circuit in logic.

A false concern has been generated that abolishing the DOE necessitates wholesale cancellation of projects and firing of contractors.

In New Mexico the biggest worry in this matter involves the future of the national laboratories, which are directed by a dysfunctional DOE bureaucracy.

Decades ago, Congress created a top-heavy Cabinet-level energy department in response to a short-term oil embargo. When this bloated bureaucracy proved to be extraordinarily inept it was enlarged.

An agency within the DOE bureaucracy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, was created. Then an onerous internal regulatory process that lacked risk perspective was imposed.

Adding insult to injury, a totalitarian Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board supported by hundreds of martinets running amok in DOE facilities was created.

This convoluted bureaucracy took the art of bungling to a new level. Dozens of project failures and tens of billions of wasted tax dollars were the result.

A recent example is the WIPP project fiasco where a typographical error led to a long shutdown at a cost to the taxpayers of a billion dollars. A paramount criterion in the original WIPP waste acceptance criteria was a ban on organic material in the waste drums.

Somehow the waste drum packaging procedure inadvertently specified an organic material instead of inorganic material. Because of this typo, a drum ruptured and the underground was contaminated with radioactive material.

The tangled DOE oversight process failed to identify the error.

The former Advisory Committee on Nuclear Facility Safety got it right in their final report.

They recommended a risk management process that could produce greater safety and security with less cost to the taxpayers. Regrettably this wise proposal was ignored.

The DOE fiscal millstone can never be lifted from the national labs and other contractors unless congressional action is taken to abolish the DOE. The bureaucratic regulatory process and the totalitarian Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board should be abolished.

This irrational system should be replaced with a risk management process implemented by a streamlined government organization in which line managers are held accountable for safety.

Otherwise it would be fitting to rename the DOE as DOZE  the Department of Zero Energy.
WASHINGTON  President Trumps visit to the CIA on his first day in office mystified some agency veterans because of its combative, political tone. But several said they were glad that Trump seemed to have stopped demonizing the intelligence community and was presenting himself as its best friend.

The CIA likes to think of itself as apolitical, serving the president of either party. So Trumps ingratiating message was welcome after months of attacks, including an outrageous comparison of intelligence community leaders to Nazis.

But CIA veterans said that his private tour of CIA headquarters went better than his recorded public comments in front of the wall of stars commemorating fallen officers.

I am so behind you, Trump proclaimed. And I know maybe sometimes you havent gotten the backing that youve wanted. And youre going to get so much backing. He blamed reports of his antagonism toward the agency on the dishonest media, evidently hoping that the audience had amnesia about Trumps own critical tweets.

Trump seems to understand that he will need a confident and supportive intelligence community if he hopes to be successful with his ambitious and disruptive global agenda.

The trickiest issue will be gaining the agencys trust for his rapprochement with Russia. This is a workforce whose identity remains bound up with the Cold War, and whose deepest secrets involve intelligence collection from inside the Kremlin.

He said some of the right things, but it still had a bizarre quality to it, said one former top CIA official. Trumps comments included way too much campaign-related things and attacks on the media [that] did not fit, and were wrong.

It was Trumps ebullient self-promotion that most troubled this former official and others I contacted.

Overall, the self-obsession and campaign-style language was not appropriate in that place, he said. It should not be all about you, at a place that memorializes people for whom it was about others and about mission.

Trump lauded his great transition, his amazing team, his personal vigor (I think Im young) and his intelligence (Im like a smart person).

This rambling braggadocio is part of Trumps style, and the country (including the CIA) will have to get used to it. The more disturbing part of his address was the attempt to treat agency employees, whose mission is supposed to transcend elections, as political soul mates, along with military and law enforcement.

You know, the military and the law enforcement generally speaking  gave us tremendous percentages of votes. We were unbelievably successful in the election with getting the vote of the military. Probably almost everybody in this room voted for me, but I will not ask you to raise your hands if you did. But I would guarantee a big portion. Because were all on the same wavelength, folks.

A former division chief said: It was good that he came, but it came across as very political. He didnt understand his audience, which is the most apolitical crowd in Washington.

This former officials first reaction was that it was so inappropriate, what he said and where he said it. But later, after surveying a range of colleagues, he said that the reaction overall was a mix of cautious gratitude and bemused acceptance, along with disappointment and worse.

A veteran paramilitary officer said Trump and his chosen CIA director, Mike Pompeo, were seen as a welcome change by many CIA operations officers who have chafed under the leadership of John Brennan. The visit was well received by the worker bees, he said, adding that the videotaped part was not reflective of the visit. Many were pleasantly surprised by how he is in person.

But, mused one former station chief in the Middle East, What was he thinking? What did he intend to accomplish? He noted the odd discordance of a boastful, sometimes misleading presentation to an audience whose focus in life is to see through lies and deception.

But for a CIA that is tired of having a kick me sign on its backside, it was obviously nice to be massaged.

Copyright, Tribune Media Services Inc.
Furor has arisen over President Donald Trumps charges that our intelligence agencies are politicized.

Spare us the outrage. For decades, directors of intelligence agencies have often quite inappropriately massaged their assessments to fit administration agendas.

Careerists at these agencies naturally want to continue working from one administration to the next in the king is dead; long live the king! style. So they make the necessary political adjustments, which are sometimes quite at odds with their own agencys findings and to the detriment of national security.

After Barack Obama won the 2008 election, George W. Bush intelligence adviser John Brennan stayed on as Obamas homeland security adviser. He is currently the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Under Obama, Brennan loudly criticized the use of enhanced interrogation techniques under the Bush administration. Brennan praised his new boss for his superior approach to combating terrorism.

Brennan, who had served a year as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center under Bush, later assured the nation that enhanced interrogation techniques had helped save lives and were an important tool in combating terrorism.

In 2010, Brennan inexplicably declared that jihad was a legitimate tenet of Islam, meaning to purify oneself or ones community, rather than the use of force against non-Muslims to promote the spread of Islam, as it is commonly defined in the Middle East.

Brennan assured the nation that the Obama administrations drone assassination program had not resulted in a single collateral death  a claim widely disbelieved even by administration supporters.

Compare the similar odyssey of James Clapper, former undersecretary of defense for intelligence under George W. Bush.

During his Bush tenure, Clapper had declared that weapons of mass destruction in Iraq indeed had existed but were unquestionably sent to Syria shortly before the war began  a hypothesis perhaps favorable to the Bush administration but unsupported by his own intelligence officers.

Clapper also stayed on in the intelligence community under President Obama and eventually was promoted to director of national intelligence  and soon made the necessary transformations to adapt to an entirely new approach to radical Islamic terrorism.

Clapper asserted in congressional testimony that the National Security Agency under the Obama administration did not collect intelligence on Americans. Later, he confessed that such an inaccurate response was the least untruthful way of answering.

Clapper was also faulted by military intelligence officers at CENTCOM for purportedly pressuring Pentagon officials to issue rosy reports about the supposed decline of the Islamic State  not accurate, but an administration talking point.

Former CIA Director George Tenet stayed on from the Bill Clinton administration to serve under George W. Bush. He soon became a chief proponent of the claim that Saddam Hussein had inventories on hand of weapons of mass destruction.

Tenet assured the president that WMD in Iraq was a slam dunk case  a conclusion that turned out not to be based on solid intelligence but was certainly welcomed by the administration.

Few believed early intelligence talking points that the American deaths in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 were the result of a spontaneous riot caused by a right-wing filmmaker residing in the U.S.

But that implausible intelligence narrative dovetailed with the Obama re-election themes of an al-Qaida on the run and the dangers of Islamophobia in America.

The media should spare its current outrage at any suggestion that politics affects the administration of some 16 major intelligence agencies. Journalists should instead listen to Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, who cynically warned Trump that intelligence agencies have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you.

Careerism and ideology at the top sometimes undermine the work of patriotic and gifted case officers in the rank and file. The integrity of intelligence depends on the probity of individual intelligence chiefs  and the degree to which administration operatives are kept away from intelligence directors.

Reform requires honesty rather than the present self-righteous hypocrisy.

There are far too many separate intelligence agencies and thus too many agendas. Directors should have term limits. They should not reinvent themselves to bounce between various directorships from administration to administration.

Issuing absurd politically driven hypotheses should be grounds for dismissal  and giving false testimony to Congress should earn perjury charges.

Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University; e-mail: author@victorhanson.com.
There is an important caution thats worth keeping in mind regarding impulse control in this electronic age, and its a version of the old take a deep breath and count to 10 when emotions are involved. In that vein, when you are upset or hurt or angry, it is almost always smarter to let some time pass and re-read your missive before hitting send or stepping up to a microphone.

Somebody who can get through to him needs to tell the president.

Because now that the inauguration is over, America looks to Washington, D.C., for leadership, to tackle the very many big, serious, scary issues our nation faces  not to argue about crowd estimates or ratings or alleged voter fraud or to question the validity of peaceful protests.

Unfortunately, the latter is exactly how Donald J. Trump has spent some of his first days as leader of the free world, bragging Friday at the CIA that his inauguration crowd on the National Mall stretched all the way back to the Washington Monument when photos and video clearly showed it didnt. And taking to Twitter on Sunday to comment on television ratings for his swearing-in ceremony (Wow, television ratings just out: 31 million people+ watched the Inauguration, 11 million more than the very good ratings from 4 years ago!) and global protests of his inauguration (Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didnt these people vote?). And spending Monday and Tuesday telling congressional leaders that millions of people voted illegally in the November election, costing him the popular vote when only four documented cases of voter fraud exist and one was a woman who voted twice  for Trump.

Of course in many states, including New Mexico, there is no real check on legal voting. Its largely an honor system absent voter ID  which should be required. But thats a legitimate issue for another day.

Meanwhile, Trump needs to quit while hes ahead, recognize that he won the presidency, and for the sake of a nation and a democratic system that has never been defined by the popularity of one individual, move the nation forward as he promised during his campaign. To date his important acts as president  canceling the Trans-Pacific Partnership on trade, opening up controversial but necessary oil pipelines and freezing federal hiring  have been overshadowed by acts less presidential and more like a kid lashing out because he was picked last for kickball.

For their part, after some violent protests on Friday, almost all of Trumps protesters are respecting democracy by exercising their First Amendment rights and protesting peacefully. In Washington alone, more than 500,000 people rallied Saturday  and as night fell, not a single arrest was reported. There were more than 600 inauguration sister protests across the globe, an estimated 250,000 people in Chicago, well over 100,000 in New York, more than 100,000 on Boston Common, a similar number in Los Angeles, and crowds in Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, London, Prague and Sydney. Protesters also gathered in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and other towns across New Mexico.

That peaceful dissent is democracy in action as intended by the Founding Fathers.

Trump seemed to get that later Sunday, when he tweeted, belatedly, 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.

And the best way to change their views is through actions, not snarky words.

In the long run it matters little what Madonna or Cher or Ashley Judd or Whoopi Goldberg say about the president. Many simply find them offensive and vacuous. Ditto for the Saturday Night Live writer who trashed the presidents 10-year old son and the comedian Chelsea Handler, who dissed first lady Melania Trump as someone who can barely speak English. In fact, she speaks at least five languages.

But what does matter are the decisions and actions that come out of our White House  because, as first lady Jacqueline Kennedy once said, it is the peoples house.

Trump isnt one to take advice but here is some anyway: focus on the business of the nation, and listen to the concerns of those protesters. Positive actions and positive changes regarding our economy, social fabric, national security and foreign relations will do much more for America and the American people  with the potential side benefit of making Trump more popular with his foes than a tweet ever could.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
She was wearing one of those Love Trumps Hate buttons that became popular during a presidential campaign so acrimonious that at times the slogan seemed pure fantasy.

But Laura Martinez of Albuquerque was ever the optimist. She still believed in the message of the button. Last weekend, as we prepared to join the millions on the move at the Womens March on Washington and its 673 sister marches around the world, that button seemed the perfect accessory.

If you joined, too, you got that feeling.

If you joined, you were part of what is being hailed as one of the largest days of protest of any kind in U.S. history.

If you joined, you helped exceed all predictions and did so peacefully and without violence. On Saturday, it felt like love had trumped hate.

Organizers in Washington, D.C., had expected 200,000 pink-hatted and purposeful women (and men) to show up. Instead, an estimated 500,000 came  men, women and families.

In New Mexico, about 1,700 had pledged on Facebook to attend the sister march in Albuquerque about a week before the event. On Saturday, widely varying estimates pinned attendance on Civic Plaza from 3,000 to 6,000.

The Las Cruces event attracted about 1,500 participants, according to published crowd estimates.

Even in New Mexicos smaller communities, especially those in bright-red areas that voted for Donald Trump, turnout exceeded expectations. In Fort Sumner, a rural eastern New Mexico village with a population under 1,000, organizer Alexis Roth said she feared she might be marching alone. Roth said some had discouraged her from holding a march at all.

They told me my husband could lose his job over this, we might be run out of town, people would stop talking to me and there might even be violence, she said. But thats why it was important to march  to show we are not afraid, that we wont be intimidated, that being inclusive and uplifting can be unifying and powerful.

That love can trump hate.

On Saturday, 16 people showed up, one man traveling from Clovis to march in support of his daughter marching in Washington.

That may not seem like many, Roth said. But for our little town, it was amazing.

About 50 people showed up in Deming, another Trump stronghold, marching until wintry winds nearly blew participants away.

We almost had to end it then, organizer July McClure said. But then a woman in the group stepped up with keys to an old building big enough to accommodate us, so we continued in there. It was one of those things you couldnt plan better.

Weather was also a concern for march organizer Lindsay Conover in Santa Fe, where snow had fallen overnight and continued to fall Saturday morning.

Conover said she would have been happy with a crowd of 3,000. Instead, about 11,000 marchers showed up, according to police.

The sun showed up, too.

It was beyond anything I imagined, Conover said. It turned out to be a beautiful day.

Martinez, she of the Love Trumps Hate button, was there, too. The button, pinned to a plaid scarf, started many a conversation, including one with a sweet, small woman with smiling blue eyes named Mary Kaine.

Kaine and her husband, Al, were on vacation from Kansas City and staying at the same hotel as Martinez. She learned about the sister march in Santa Fe from others in the hotel and decided to march, too.

Kaine, we later learned, is the mother of Tim Kaine, a U.S. senator from Virginia, Hillary Clintons running mate and the man who would have been vice president had things turned out differently in November.

Had things turned out differently, there would not have been a Womens March on Washington. There would not have been a peaceful wave of women finding their voice, some for the first time. Sometimes, it takes a jolt of reality on one side to energize the other. There has been a lot of hate thrown around on both sides. Sometimes, it takes the hate to energize the love.

If you joined, too, you got that feeling. If you didnt, perhaps you will accept that the millions in the streets protesting peacefully and purposefully marched for everyone.

After the march, Martinez noticed that somehow in the excitement she had lost the plaid scarf on which she had pinned her Love Trumps Hate button.

That button is gone now, but Martinez doesnt need it anymore. She knows the meaning it carried is true, because she saw it in the faces of the people she marched with.

UpFront is a front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Joline at 823-3603, jkrueger@abqjournal.com or follow her on Twitter @jolinegkg. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump plans to sign executive orders Wednesday enabling construction of his proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and targeting cities where local leaders refuse to hand over illegal immigrants for deportation, according to White House officials familiar with the decisions.

The actions, part of a multi-day focus on immigration, are among an array of sweeping and immediate changes to the nations immigration system under consideration by the new president. The moves represent Trumps first effort to deliver on perhaps the signature issue that drove his presidential campaign: his belief that illegal immigration is out of control and threatening the countrys safety and security.

Trumps immigration blitz this week is widely seen inside the White House as a victory for the self-described populist wing of his inner circle  which includes chief strategist Stephen Bannon, attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions and top policy adviser Stephen Miller.

But discussions were ongoing Tuesday about just how far to go on some policies, in particular the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. The 2012 initiative has given temporary protection from deportation to hundreds of thousands of people who arrived in the United States as children. Trump vowed during the campaign to reverse it.

It was not yet clear late Tuesday whether DACA would be addressed as part of Trumps immigration actions, according to a White House official, because of differing views among Trumps advisers and associates about the timing, scope and political benefits of ending the program or suspending it for new entries.

Many options are being worked through on DACA, the official said.

Officials are considering, but have not decided yet, whether to indefinitely shut down the program that allows refugees from war-torn Syria into the United States. Trump may also put the entire refugee program for all countries on hold for four months, according to an administration official familiar with the options under discussion.

This official said that Trump will also potentially bar for 30 days any travel to the United States from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen  all Muslim-majority countries  until new visa procedures are developed. Residents from many of these places are already rarely granted U.S. visas. Trump may ask DHS and the director of National Intelligence to evaluate whether immigrants are being adequately screened for potential terrorist ties.

On Wednesday, Trump plans to speak to a town hall of employees at the Department of Homeland Securitys headquarters in Washington, where he is expected to sign the orders relating to the wall and sanctuary cities. The effort to crack down on these localities will resonate with the Republican base, which has long criticized local officials who refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Several people familiar with the discussions emphasized that the weeks actions are intended to start fulfilling Trumps campaign promises on immigration and bring Republicans behind Trump on the issue, one day before he speaks at Thursdays congressional GOP retreat in Philadelphia. These people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the executive orders were still being finalized.

White House aides said Trump planned to meet Wednesday with several parents of children who were killed by immigrants who are in the country illegally. These activists, who refer to themselves as angel moms, were frequently featured during Trumps campaign rallies and during the Republican National Convention.

Any immigration measures announced by the president will set up a fierce battle in Trumps first week between the White House and advocates for immigrants, who were reacting with alarm Tuesday as word spread that immigration was on the table.

The planned visit to DHS will be Trumps second to a Cabinet-level agency since he took office Friday. He spoke to employees at the CIAs headquarters in Northern Virginia on Saturday.

The presidential visit to DHS would symbolize some of the more controversial parts of Trumps agenda. He centered his campaign to some degree on his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to keep out illegal immigrants, a plan that has been vehemently opposed by Democrats and immigrant advocates.

Trumps proposed wall is perhaps his most famous and disputed campaign proposal, and he feels so strongly about it that he told The Washington Post in an interview last year that building the structure is easy. . . . Its not even a difficult project if you know what youre doing.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will visit the U.S. next week to meet with Trump. The Mexican government has said that it would not pay for Trumps border wall despite Trumps insistence that the country would provide funding at a later date.

House Republicans have said they plan to fund the barrier, which some experts have estimated will cost more than $20 billion. But experts say the wall would face numerous obstacles, such as environmental and engineering problems and fights with ranchers and others who would resist giving up their land.

Trump has also promised to beef up immigration enforcement along the border and inside the United States  including a tripling of the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents  in an expensive and logistically difficult operation to remove millions of people from the country.

Perhaps most in dispute were Trumps campaign comments on Muslims. He called at one point for a ban on all Muslims entering the United States as a counterterrorism measure and said he would halt immigration from Syria and deport Syrian refugees already in the country.

It is unclear how this weeks executive actions, orchestrated from the White House, will sit with the man who would enforce them: Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly. Kelly, a retired Marine general who was confirmed Friday, struck a markedly different tone from the president during his confirmation hearing, saying the controversial southwest border wall might not be built anytime soon.

Kelly noted that when he was a Marine officer in Iraq, his forces secured stability in part by reaching out to clerics and other Muslim leaders. He vowed to promote tolerance and said he didnt think it was appropriate to target any group of people solely based on religion or ethnic background, including through the development of a registry.

DHS declined to comment on Tuesday. But people familiar with the matter said Kelly, known for his blunt manner, is already under intense pressure from the White House to enforce the immigration crackdown on which Trump built his campaign.

  

The Washington Posts Karen DeYoung, Ashley Parker and David Nakamura contributed to this report.
The University of New Mexico will have two new regents  former Republican state lawmakers John Ryan of Albuquerque and Don Tripp of Socorro  pending state Senate confirmation.

Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, announced their appointments in a news release Tuesday afternoon.

They will replace Regents Jack Fortner and Brad Hosmer.

Chris Sanchez, the governors spokesman, said leaders of the states higher education institutions need to understand the importance of fiscal responsibility and data-driven education reforms.

(Former) Speaker Tripp and (former state) Sen. Ryan have dedicated their lives to public service  their wealth of experience and selfless dedication to our state will serve our students well, Sanchez said.

The student regent position remains open on the seven-person board. Regents are appointed by the governor and must be confirmed by the state Senate. They also will select the new UNM president, a process that is currently ongoing.

Regents President Rob Doughty praised the appointments.

I am looking forward to working with our new regent nominees, both of whom are respected statesmen with reputations for strong leadership, Doughty said.

The appointment of two Republicans to the board makes for a total of four. The other two are Doughty and Regent Marron Lee. Regents Suzanne Quillen and Tom Clifford are Democrats. A state law says no more than four regents can be from the same political party.

Acting President Chaouki Abdallah said he looks forward to working with the regents on the universitys budget challenges and the solvency of the lottery scholarship fund.

Their experience in public service and knowledge of our state will be a great asset to UNM, Abdallah said.

Tripp, 70, recently served as the speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives and recently resigned from that position. Tripp earned a degree from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.

Ryan, 54, served three terms in the state Senate. He has previously served as the executive director of the Republican Party of New Mexico.

They both said they would like to see a focus on student graduation rates as well as making it easier to transfer course credits between schools in the state. And both expressed enthusiasm about being nominated for the post.

Regarding the recent controversy over UNM President Bob Franks departure and tensions with the board, Tripp said he didnt know the details and that it was time to move forward. Ryan said he didnt know about the situation beyond what he read in the paper.

Fortner didnt have a comment Tuesday afternoon. Hosmer said he didnt apply to serve another term.

Clifford was appointed to the board by recess appointment and still needs to be confirmed by the Senate.
Two women whose children were seen by an Albuquerque pediatric urologist facing a federal child pornography charge filed a class-action lawsuit Saturday alleging that the patients were treated by a depraved sexual predator who used his position to engage in pedophilia and voyeurism.

Dr. Guy Rosenschein was arrested in November and remains in federal custody pending trial on charges of possession and distribution of child porn, according to court records. He and his former employer, Presbyterian Healthcare Services, are named as defendants in the lawsuit filed in state District Court.

Federal court documents indicate that agents found images in Rosenscheins home of naked children and Bernalillo County detectives reported finding a flash drive on his keychain containing pornographic images of children.

The lawsuit alleges that a cellphone seized from Rosenscheins home contained around a dozen images taken in a hospital or medical setting. But U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez, whose office is prosecuting Rosenscheins federal case, wrote in a letter to PHS officials early this month that there was no evidence to suggest the photos were taken at Presbyterian or even that taking the photos was not clinically appropriate.

The plaintiffs argue, on the other hand, that, based on the time that the images were taken, the children in the photographs were most likely Presbyterian patients. And that no legitimate basis exists to claim that pictures of boys and girls genitalia and a childs exposed chest on the personal iPhone of an admitted pedophile is clinically appropriate.'

Lee Hunt, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, said that the identity of the children in the photographs remains unclear, a fact that has his clients concerned and afraid.

The plaintiffs are identified as Jane Does in the lawsuit. One is the mother of one of Rosenscheins patients and the other is the legal guardian of another patient.

The purpose of this lawsuit is really to address the breach of trust by Dr. Rosenschein and Presbyterian, Hunt said. And we think that exists for all parents (of children) who were seen by him, really without regard to whether or not they were photographed.

Along with allegations of invasion of privacy, lack of informed consent and intentional infliction of emotional distress, the lawsuit holds that PHS was negligent in its hiring, retention, supervision and credentialing of Rosenschein, and was aware that the children he examined were at risk of abuse or exploitation.

The very position that Presbyterian bestowed upon Dr. Rosenschein gave him hands-on contact with minors genitalia on an almost daily basis, the lawsuit said.

It is not clear who is representing Rosenschein in the civil case.

In a statement, PHS did not specifically address the new lawsuit, but said that the organizations number one priority is the safe and effective care of our patients.

As soon as we learned of the initial allegations, we took immediate action to ensure that this physician no longer practiced in our facilities, the statement said. We continue to work closely with law enforcement. We will keep our focus on the patients we serve and comment on legal proceedings in the appropriate venues.

But plaintiffs argue that PHS sent letters to patients assuring them that Dr. Rosenschein was not engaged in inappropriate conduct at Presbyterian and also allowed a pedophile access to minors at its facility.

The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump moved aggressively to tighten the nations immigration controls Wednesday, signing executive actions to jumpstart construction of his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall and cut federal grants for immigrant-protecting sanctuary cities. As early as Thursday, he is expected to pause the flow of all refugees to the U.S. and indefinitely bar those fleeing war-torn Syria.

Beginning today the United States of America gets back control of its borders, Trump declared during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security. We are going to save lives on both sides of the border.

The actions, less than a week into Trumps presidency, fulfilled pledges that animated his candidacy and represented a dramatic redirection of U.S. immigration policy. They were cheered by Republicans allies in Congress, condemned by immigration advocates and triggered immediate new tension with the Mexican government.

I regret and reject the decision of the U.S. to build the wall, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Wednesday in a nationally televised address.

Trump is expected to wield his executive power again later this week with the directive to dam the refugee flow into the U.S. for at least four months, in addition to the open-ended pause on Syrian arrivals.

The presidents upcoming order is also expected to suspend issuing visas for people from several predominantly Muslim countries  Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen  for at least 30 days, according to a draft executive order obtained by The Associated Press.

Trump is unveiling his immigration plans at a time when detentions at the nations southern border are down significantly from levels seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The arrest tally last year was the fifth-lowest since 1972. Deportations of people living in the U.S. illegally also increased under President Barack Obama, though Republicans criticized him for setting prosecution guidelines that spared some groups from the threat of deportation, including those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

As a candidate, Trump tapped into the immigration concerns of some Americans who worry both about a loss of economic opportunities and the threat of criminals and terrorists entering the country. His call for a border wall was among his most popular proposals with supporters, who often broke out in chants of build that wall during rallies.

Immigration advocates and others assailed the new presidents actions. Omar Jadwat, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Immigrants Rights Project, said the presidents desire to construct a border wall was driven by racial and ethnic bias that disgraces Americas proud tradition of protecting vulnerable migrants.

How Trump plans to pay for the wall project is murky. While he has repeatedly promised that Mexico will foot the bill, U.S. taxpayers are expected to cover the initial costs and the new administration has said nothing about how it might compel Mexico to reimburse the money.

In an interview with ABC News earlier Wednesday, Trump said, There will be a payment; it will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form.

Pena Nieto said Wednesday, I have said time and again, Mexico will not pay for any wall. He has been expected to meet with Trump at the White House next week, although a senior official said Trumps announcement had led him to reconsider the visit.

Congressional aides say there is about $100 million of unspent appropriations in the Department of Homeland Security account for border security, fencing and infrastructure. That would allow planning efforts to get started, but far more money would have to be appropriated for construction to begin.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, in an interview Wednesday on MSNBC, said Congress will work with Trump on the upfront financing for the wall. Asked about estimates that the project could cost $8 billion to $14 billion, Ryan said, Thats about right.

Trump has insisted many times the border structure will be a wall. The order he signed referred to a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous and impassable physical barrier.

To build the wall, the president is relying on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The presidents orders also call for hiring 5,000 additional border patrol agents and 10,000 more immigration officers, though the increases are subject to the approval of congressional funding. He also moved to end what Republicans have labeled a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are released and given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

Trumps crackdown on sanctuary cities  locales that dont cooperate with immigration authorities  could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars. But the administration may face legal challenges, given that some federal courts have found that cities or counties cannot hold immigrants beyond their jail terms or deny them bond based only a request from immigration authorities.

Some of the nations largest metropolitan areas  including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago  are considered sanctuary cities.

The president also moved to restart the Secure Communities program, which was launched under President George W. Bush and initially touted as a way for immigration authorities to quickly and easily identify people in the country illegally who had been arrested by local authorities.

The program helped the Obama administration deport a record high of more than 409,000 immigrants in 2012. But Obama eventually abandoned the program after immigration advocates and civil libertarians decried it as too often targeting immigrants charged with low-level crimes, including traffic violations.

Among those in the audience for Trumps remarks at DHS were the families of people killed by people in the U.S. illegally. After reading the names of those killed, Trump said, Your children will not have lost their lives for no reason.

Trumps actions on halting all refugees could be announced sometime this week. Administration officials and others briefed on the plans cautioned that some details of the measures could still be changed, but indicated that Trump planned to follow through on his campaign promises to limit access to the U.S. for people coming from countries with terrorism ties.

___

AP writers Alicia A. Caldwell, Vivian Salama, Andrew Taylor and Erica Werner in Washington and E. Eduardo Castillo in Mexico City contributed to this report.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trumps peace through strength could mean more U.S. military power in Asia, reassuring allies about Americas resolve to counter China. That is, if theyre still looking to Washington for reassurance.

Trump called his speedy withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership a victory for American workers hurt by multilateral trade pacts. But his reversal of years of U.S.-led efforts may mean the loss of Asian nations trust and support in confronting an increasingly assertive Beijing after many of them, under Washingtons pressure, barreled through similar domestic concerns over jobs and competition.

And a weakened partnership with East Asias key commercial powers could have wide-ranging consequences for Americans, beyond them missing out on the trade pacts potential for lower prices and additional jobs.

Its not as if we can send a bunch of ships and be protectionist at the same time, said Sheila Smith, an expert on Japan at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Asians dont see economics and military power as separate, she said, and flexing U.S. muscles with Navy boats and other assets while retrenching on free trade just wont translate into American influence.

The 12-nation trade agreement was the centerpiece of President Barack Obamas outreach to Asia, cutting tariffs and setting new environmental and labor standards in countries representing about 40 percent of the global economy. While Trump said he wants to pursue bilateral trade deals instead, he may find U.S. credibility significantly dented after pulling out of a deal that took years to negotiate.

Losing the United States from the TPP is a big loss, there is no question about that, Australian Prime Minister Turnbull told reporters, trying to salvage the deal without Washington. But we are not about to walk away from our commitment to Australian jobs.

On bilateral deals replacing TPP, New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English said, theres a pretty low chance of that happening in a form that wed find satisfactory.

Governments calculus would be different in a one-on-one negotiation. Japan, for example, may have less interest in opening up its agriculture and automobile sectors to American competition. Vietnam may balk at demands to allow independent trade unions. And instead of new deals that better advantage American workers, as Trump has vowed, the result could be a regional shift to an alternative, Chinese-backed trade pact promising more access to the worlds biggest consumer market.

Every country that went through the process of TPP had to do politically difficult things at home, said Vikram Singh at the Center for American Progress.

Trumps withdrawal shows he cares not a whit about what counterparts in the Asia-Pacific have done to push forward with what was a top U.S. political priority, added Singh, a former Obama administration official.

For Asia, the U.S. turn inward is not without irony.

For decades, Washington was the prime purveyor of free markets, pressuring U.S. friends and foes alike to set aside regional rivalries and ideological incompatibilities for the mutual benefit of enhanced economic integration. This vision guided Democratic and Republican administrations, helping spur Japans post-World War II redevelopment, the high growth rates of liberalized economies like Singapore and South Korea, and communist Chinas eventual absorption into the world capitalist order.

Under Obama and President George W. Bush, his predecessor, the American goal for Asia shifted somewhat to creating a fairer trading system that regulated China and didnt let it write the rules for global commerce.

But Trump and his top aides have emphasized military containment, with plans to increase the Navy by more than 20 percent and curbing Chinas dominance of resource-rich maritime areas also claimed by neighbors.

Walter Lohman, director of Asian studies at the conservative-oriented Heritage Foundation, said the U.S. must be a full-spectrum power.

Its great he wants to rebuild the U.S. military and get us up to 350 ships, but we have got to be there in other ways too  economically and diplomatically, Lohman said.

Details of Trumps policy in Asia are unclear beyond the desire to take a tougher stand on China, which enjoys a large trade surplus with the U.S. and has increasingly militarized its hold over parts of the disputed South China Sea. On Monday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said, We are going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country.

Trump has tried to galvanize Asian allies. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was Trumps first post-election meeting with a foreign leader. On Tuesday, Trump spoke by phone with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who shares concerns about China, and invited him to visit the United States later this year.

As much as they need Trump, he needs them as well.

If the administration tries to develop a strategy for pushing back against China, said Michael Green, a former senior Asia adviser to George W. Bush, theyre going to find that they have no strategy without allies.
ROSWELL, N.M.  Police in Roswell say a suspect has been arrested in Arizona in connection with a 2004 murder case in New Mexico.

They say 33-year-old Juan Olivares Jr. was arrested Tuesday in the Phoenix suburb of Avondale, where hes been living for the past three years.

Police say Olivares is being held in an Arizona jail on suspicion of first-degree murder and awaits extradition.

Olivares is accused in the February 2004 killing of 22-year-old Jonathan Ledesma in southeast Roswell.

Investigators believe Olivares shot Ledesma while the two men were in the alley near the home of another acquaintance.

Police believed a prior personal dispute between the men led to the shooting.

They say Olivares allegedly wounded himself to fabricate a story to authorities about an unknown assailant shooting him and Ledesma.
LAS CRUCES  A 21-year-old man was found dead Monday morning at the base of Tortugas A Mountain in what police believe was a suicide.

Officers from the New Mexico State University Police Department were dispatched to the Sunset Parking Lot shortly after 7 a.m. Monday. When officers arrived on the scene, they found the dead man, NMSU police Chief Stephen Lopez said.

The investigation is still ongoing, but there are no signs of foul play and several different indicators from different locations pointing to this having been a suicide, Lopez said.

Lopez said the mans body was sent to the Office of Medical Investigator in Albuquerque for an official determination of death.

The mans name has not been released.



2017 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)

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Construction of a highway loop aimed at easing truck traffic on the east side of Eddy County is coming closer to reality as funding for its planning and right of way has been approved by the Eddy County Board of Commissioners.

The bypass route would be constructed between U.S. Highway 285 and U.S. Highway 62 and 180 in Eddy County, to reroute industrial vehicles out of Carlsbads downtown streets and lessen traffic in the city.

The board unanimously approved $225,000 for early planning stages and right of way Tuesday at its biweekly meeting. Funding will be appropriated by the county and reimbursed by the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

Community Services Director Wesley Hooper said that while the project is important to the people of Carlsbad and Eddy County, planning and construction could take years pending multiple environmental and impact studies.

I think its very important, he said. Theres a lot of truck traffic that comes into town. Hooper said because of budget shortfalls in the county and across the state, the project was broken up into several smaller initiatives that will culminate into the final relief route over years.

He said decisions in the New Mexico State Legislature will ultimately determine the future of the project.

Aside from the road construction, various other improvements will be done to the roads near where the loop will ultimately be built, Hooper said.

Road widening, fencing and upgrades to the roads will be included in future projects.

It will be a long time, Hooper said. If we can divert that traffic, it would really free up downtown.

Chairwoman of the board Stella Davis also worried about low funding hindering the projects completion. She said diverting industrial traffic from downtown is a big concern of the community.

We have to get the traffic off North Canal Street, Davis said. We have to get it off downtown.

Davis looked back on the heavy traffic seen in Carlsbad during the 2014 oil boom, hoping the county will be better prepared should the industry recover.

During the boom, it was bumper to bumper, she said. I think in the long run, this will be good, but its not going to be overnight.

With more and more public dollars being taken from the New Mexico counties by the state to overcome its budget deficit, Davis questioned if the project will even be feasible before the state recovers.

Funding is going to be an issue, she said. But if we ever get to do this, it will help the citizens.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.



2017 the Carlsbad Current-Argus (Carlsbad, N.M.)

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LOS ANGELES  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.

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 startups 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 percent of Meitus revenue comes from phone sales, and analysts question how fast the software business can grow.

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, Calif., 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.



2017 Los Angeles Times

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WINDOW ROCK, Ariz.  Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye has voiced opposition to President Donald Trumps actions today to expedite approvals for the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.

Environmental groups and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have heavily protested against the Dakota Access project. Demonstrators, who use the term water protectors, remain at the site near the Cannonball River in North Dakota and continue to clash with law enforcement. The tribe, whose traditional land is in the pipelines pathway, has stated the project threatens their drinking water source and would destroy sacred sites.

President Begaye expressed concern about the potential for an oil spill and the impact that would have on water for humans, animals and agriculture.

We hope President Trump understands that Native Americans will always stand to protect our land, water, air and resources given to us by our creator, Begaye said in statement today.

He also called on Native Americans to stand together, especially if similar actions are taken in the next four years, and to refrain from violence if pipeline construction proceeds.

Navajo Nation Vice President Jonathan Nez joined Begaye in calling for Native Americans to unite and protect natural resources.

Begaye and Nez were among the hundreds of Native Americans who last year visited the demonstration site in North Dakota, where they spoke to Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II.

In December, the Navajo Nation Councils Naabikiyati Committee issued a resolution supporting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and its efforts to secure an environmental assessment by the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

New Mexicos Democratic federal lawmakers also expressed concerns about Trumps actions.

Sen. Tom Udall, who serves as vice chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said in a statement that he is extremely worried about what the abrupt reversal means for the Trump administrations approach to issues in Indian Country.

I recognize the major role that oil and gas still plays in our nations economy, including in New Mexico, but this decision is dangerously shortsighted, Udall said in prepared remarks. President Trump is choosing short-term political gains and corporate profits when we should be seizing the opportunity to lead in the global clean energy economy.

Sen. Martin Heinrich said in a statement to The Daily Times that Trump showed blatant disregard for tribal sovereignty and responsible energy development.

When making decisions about energy development and the siting of pipelines, the administration must establish better tribal consultation and take environmental risk analysis seriously, Heinrich said.

Noel Lyn Smith covers the Navajo Nation for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-564-4636.



2017 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)

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LAS CRUCES  President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Wednesday mandating construction of the border wall he promised so vehemently during his campaign.

Late Tuesday, Trump tweeted from his personal Twitter account about a big day planned on national security. He said, Among many other things, we will build the wall!

New Mexicos southern border includes 180 miles of border with Mexico, including urban areas with 18-foot steel fencing and rural stretches of Normandy vehicle barriers. Much of the states rugged, mountainous border country remains unfenced.

In the Border Patrol sector that includes New Mexico and West Texas, about 68 percent of the 268 miles of border features either fencing or vehicle barriers.

Border Patrol is finishing up an $11 million project to replace about a mile and a half of dilapidated chain link in Sunland Park with 18-foot steel columns, reinforced with steel panels five feet underground. The new fence walls off the last unwalled urban area on New Mexicos southern border.

We as Border Patrol agents talk about infrastructure on the border, a fence, a wall  same difference, said Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero. Its an obstacle to buy time for us to respond to any intrusion.

Trumps executive order is expected to come on the same day that two top members of Mexico President Enrique Pena Nietos cabinet are expected to meet with members of the Trump administration. Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo and Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray travel to Washington today.

Pena Nieto, who is expected to meet with Trump next week, said in a speech earlier this week that he aimed to meet his counterpart from a posture of neither confrontation, nor submission.

The solution is dialogue and negotiation, he said.
Donald Trump is quadrupling down on his lie that millions of ballots were illegally cast in the November election. Wednesday morning he ensured that the mainstream media will spend another day focused on this issue by calling for an investigation:

I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and. even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!

That the president of the United States is challenging, with no credible evidence, the integrity of an election he won is extraordinarily reckless.

As The Washington Posts Dan Balz explains this morning, There is no benign explanation . . . It is either a deliberate attempt to undermine faith in the democratic process, an exhortation to those who favor new restrictions on access to the ballot box or the worrisome trait of someone with immense power willing to make wild statements without any credible evidence. By repeating as president what he had said as a candidate, for whatever purpose, Trump is now striking at the foundation of a democratic society. This is yet another example of Trump being willing to cast doubt on information, individuals or institutions that he believes threaten his legitimacy, challenge his authority or question his actions . . . This is not a debate about the size of the crowd at last weeks presidential inauguration. That is a piddling controversy compared to his claim that the election system overseen by the states is somehow riddled with fraud. Trump prefers his own reality, even if that damages the very system of government atop which he now sits.

 While Trumps claims of voter fraud are certainly newsworthy, they are also a distraction from an aggressive effort by this new White House to quickly transform the government and dramatically change the direction of public policy in ways will directly impact tens of millions of Americans.

As John Mitchell famously said when he became Richard Nixons attorney general, Watch what we do, not what we say.

That maxim is truer now more than ever.

Weve all been drinking from a firehouse since noon last Friday. To help you not lose track, here are several moves by Team Trump that would lead the news in any ordinary time but have gotten relatively little public attention:

1. MOVING TO LIFT THE BAN ON CIA BLACK SITES

The Trump administration is preparing a sweeping executive order that would clear the way for the Central Intelligence Agency to reopen overseas black site prisons, like those where it detained and tortured terrorism suspects before former President Obama shut them down, the New York Timess Charlie Savage reports. President Trumps three-page draft order, titled Detention and Interrogation of Enemy Combatants . . . would also undo many of the other restrictions on handling detainees that Mr. Obama put in place in response to policies of the Bush administration. If Mr. Trump signs the draft order, he would also revoke Mr. Obamas directive to give the International Committee of the Red Cross access to all wartime detainees in American custody -another step toward reopening secret prisons outside of the normal wartime rules established by the Geneva Conventions. . .

The draft order does not direct any immediate reopening of C.I.A. prisons or revival of torture tactics, which are now barred by statute, Charlie notes. But it sets up high-level policy reviews to make further recommendations in both areas to Mr. Trump, who vowed during the campaign to bring back waterboarding and a hell of a lot worse  not only because torture works, but because even if it doesnt work, they deserve it anyway.'

2. MUZZLING AGENCIES:

Trump administration officials instructed employees at multiple agencies in recent days to cease communicating with the public through news releases, official social media accounts and correspondence, raising concerns that federal employees will be able to convey only information that supports the new presidents agenda, Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis report. The Environmental Protection Agency as well as the Agriculture and Interior departments now have formal policies restricting what they should convey to the public about their work. . . . Many new administrations  including former president Barack Obamas  have moved quickly to take control of the U.S. governments public relations machinery and centralize decision-making upon taking office. But the sweeping nature of some of the new controls is unusual.

At the EPA, communications staff received a memo instructing them that no social media will be going out and a digital strategist will be coming on board to oversee it. It added, Incoming media requests will carefully screened.

At the EPA, communications staff received a memo instructing them that no social media will be going out and a digital strategist will be coming on board to oversee it. It added, Incoming media requests will carefully screened.

The Interior Department reactivated its official Twitter accounts after an abrupt shutdown that followed the National Park Service account retweeting two items viewed as unsympathetic to the new president. One referred to the size of the inauguration crowd on the Mall, while another addressed policies that were excised from the White House website after Trumps swearing in.

The Interior Department reactivated its official Twitter accounts after an abrupt shutdown that followed the National Park Service account retweeting two items viewed as unsympathetic to the new president. One referred to the size of the inauguration crowd on the Mall, while another addressed policies that were excised from the White House website after Trumps swearing in.

The National Institutes of Health issued an email to its Institute and Center directors informing them they should not communicate on public forums and with public officials on new or pending regulation, policy or guidance that is under review.

The National Institutes of Health issued an email to its Institute and Center directors informing them they should not communicate on public forums and with public officials on new or pending regulation, policy or guidance that is under review.

At the Agriculture Department, a slew of officials received a memo instructing them to clear any media communications with the secretarys office. Employees of the agencys scientific arm, the Agriculture Research Service, were ordered in a separate memo to cease publication of outward facing documents and news releases. (The Washington Posts Jose A. DelReal)

At the Agriculture Department, a slew of officials received a memo instructing them to clear any media communications with the secretarys office. Employees of the agencys scientific arm, the Agriculture Research Service, were ordered in a separate memo to cease publication of outward facing documents and news releases. (The Washington Posts Jose A. DelReal)

3. AN ASSAULT ON CLIMATE SCIENCE:

Its not surprising that Trump followed through on promises to issue executive orders to revive the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines, but the administration is making a much harder play below the radar to eviscerate Obamas environmental legacy.

Theyve instructed EPA officials to freeze all grants and contracts, a move that could affect everything from state-led climate research to localized efforts to improve air and water quality to environmental justice projects aimed at helping poor communities. Each year the EPA awards more than $4 billion in funding for grants and other assistance agreements. For now, it appears, that funding is on hold, casting a cloud of uncertainty over one of the agencys core functions, as well as over the scientists, state and local officials, universities and Native American tribes that often benefit from the grants, The Posts Brady Dennis and Juliet Eilperin report.

Last Friday, the Trump team deleted any reference to global warming on the White House web site. Now theyre going much farther. The White House has ordered the EPA to remove the climate change page from its own website, which contains links to scientific global warming research and detailed data on emissions, Reuters reports. The page could go dark as early as today. If the website goes dark, years of work we have done on climate change will disappear, one EPA staffer said, adding that some employees were scrambling overnight to download the information on personal devices so it cannot be deleted.

With little warning and no explanation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention canceled a major climate change conference that had been scheduled for next month in Atlanta. The Climate and Health Summit, which had been in the works for months, was intended as a chance for public health officials around the country to learn more about the mounting evidence of the risks to human health posed by the changing climate, Brady notes.

The new president even hinted Tuesday that hell soon try to roll back fuel economy standards. He told CEOs of the largest automakers during a meeting Tuesday that environmental regulations are out of control and said he will curtail the unnecessary ones to encourage more manufacturing in the U.S.

Several scientists are now trying to organize another march on Washington, akin to last weekends womens march, to raise awareness about what they see as Trumps hostility to science.

4. BLOCKING REGULATIONS, INCLUDING ONE TO PREVENT PLANE CRASHES:

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus issued an order on Friday night to freeze all regulations that havent yet been formally published in the Federal Register. Politicos Josh Gerstein reports that at least 62 new regs have already been withdrawn, and the number could go far higher: Some of the matters are weighty, like planned cancellation of sanctions against Burma (now on hold) or rules to give military spouses preferences in federal hiring. Some have already drawn public attention, like a delay in new rules about mistreatment of horses. Other actions suspended by the White House move seem less than earth-shattering, like the planned campground fee for public land in Richland County, North Dakota. However, at least a few of the halts seem troubling, like the withdrawal of a rule about inspecting aircraft fuselages for cracks. The Department of Housing and Urban Development also pulled new rules to streamline income tests for federally-subsidized housing.

5. KEEPING THE DOOR OPEN TO ENTITLEMENT CUTS:

Trumps nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., defended his support of cuts to popular entitlement programs that Trump vowed to keep intact during the campaign. From The Posts Ylan Q. Mui: In appearances before the Senate budget and homeland security committees . . . Mulvaney presented himself as a straight shooter and said he would continue to warn about the growing costs of Social Security and Medicare. .. My job . . . is to be completely and brutally honest with him, he said. . . . Mulvaney said he remains in favor of raising the retirement age for Social Security to 70 but emphasized that he would not reduce benefits for current recipients. He also reiterated his support for means-testing to qualify for Medicare.

6. DECLINING TO COMMIT THAT CONSUMERS WILL BE BETTER OFF UNDER OBAMACARE REPLACEMENT:

Trumps choice for health secretary repeatedly refused during his own testy confirmation hearing to promise that no Americans will be worse off under Trumps executive order to ease provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Democrats targeted most of their questioning on the direction that Tom Price, if confirmed, would try to take the health-care system. Price demurred repeatedly. For instance, he sidestepped a series of questions about the effects of the sweeping order Trump issued just hours after his swearing-in that directed agencies to lift or soften federal rules implementing aspects of the ACA. Price declined to commit that no one would be harmed, that no one would lose insurance coverage or that the regulations would be rewritten only after a plan exists to replace the 2010 health-care law.

Price said one way to cover people with pre-existing conditions under an Obamacare replacement would be to push them into high-risk pools, in which people with high medical costs are pooled together to avoid having their expenses drive up premiums for healthier consumers. That hasnt worked well in the past, providing costly coverage to limited numbers of people, the Associated Press notes.

The Georgia congressman also kept the door wide open to turning Medicaid into a block grant, something hes supported as chairman of the House Budget Committee. In one particularly heated exchange with Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, Price was asked whether turning Medicaid into a block grant program would mean fewer people would be eligible in the future, CNN notes. The decades-old entitlement program extends health coverage to low-income Americans, and Menendez noted that as an entitlement program, anyone who meets the criteria currently has the right to be covered. When you move to a block grant, do you still have the right? Menendez asked. No, I think it would be determined by how that was set up, Price said. Prices apparent acknowledgement that some low-income Americans may not be covered if Republicans move Medicaid over to a block grant system would mark a radical shift in the purpose that the program is supposed to serve.

7. RETAINING COMEY:

Hillary Clinton believes very strongly that FBI director James Comey cost her the election with his two announcements during the run-up to Nov. 8, and shes angry that he did not publicly discuss evidence of Russian interference on behalf of Trump. Comeys decisions to discuss the Clinton probe publicly are currently being investigated by the Justice Department inspector general. At a White House reception on Sunday, Trump literally embraced Comey. Hes become more famous than me, the president said.

Then the news broke Tuesday that Trump has asked Comey to stay on. Normally, this would not be surprising because hes only four years into a 10-year term. But the president had said previously that he would not decide whether he should stay on until they had a private meeting.

And this is all playing out against a very awkward backdrop: Comey briefed Trump last month on the dossier that alleged that Moscow had gathered compromising financial, political and personal material about him. The ensuing conversation came with seemingly unavoidable conflicts, Matt Zapotosky, Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller note. It is not clear whether Comey told Trump that the FBI had or was still pursuing allegations made in the dossier, but doing so would have involved telling an incoming president with significant power over the FBI that his associates were potential investigative targets.

His greatest looming challenge will be presiding over ongoing investigations whose dimensions and direction are unclear. Those alleged entanglements continue to expand, The Posts Matt Zapotosky, Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller write. U.S. officials said this week that the FBI has scrutinized communications between Trumps national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. . . . U.S. officials, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said they have seen no evidence of wrongdoing. . . . The FBI for several months has been investigating allegations that Trump associates or acquaintances, including his former campaign manager Paul Manafort, might have had improper contact with Russian officials or intermediaries, U.S. officials said. The bureau is also still examining allegations in the dossier that Comey discussed with Trump in New York last month, according to a U.S. official.

8. SESSIONS REFUSING TO RECUSE HIMSELF:

Attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions wont commit to recusing himself from potential Justice Department investigations into controversies involving Trump  from Russia to business conflicts of interest  despite his vigorous campaigning on behalf of Trump during the 2016 election season, Politicos Seung Min Kim reports. In written responses to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sessions said repeatedly that he is not aware of a basis to recuse myself from issues surrounding Trump such as potential violations of the Emoluments Clause, a constitutional ban on officials accepting payments from foreign governments. That differs from Sessions vow to recuse himself from any ongoing issues involving the federal probe into Clintons use of a private email server. Sessions said during his confirmation hearing that he would step aside from any such investigations because his political rhetoric against Clinton during the campaign could place my objectivity in question.

The Posts Editorial Board says the Senate should not confirm Sessions until he agrees to such a recusal: Mr. Trump has tapped Rod J. Rosenstein, a respected career prosecutor, to be deputy attorney general. Mr. Sessions should have no qualms about entrusting him with these politically vexing issues. It would raise confidence in his Justice Department and save him plenty of headaches.

Another reason this matters: Sessions could wind up being the point man on the investigation into voter fraud that Trump promised on Twitter this morning.As Matt Zapotosky and Sari Horwitz note, Sessions has in the past asserted that voter fraud exists, though he has declined to endorse Trumps assertion that millions of fraudulent votes were cast in the 2016 election. I dont know what the president-elect meant or was thinking when he made that comment or what facts he may have had to justify his statement, Sessions said at his confirmation hearing earlier this month, asked point blank by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) whether he agreed with Trump. I would just say that every election needs to be managed closely and we need to ensure that there is integrity in it. And I do believe we regularly have fraudulent activities occur during election cycles. . . .

President-day civil liberties advocates fear Sessions and Trumps views on voter fraud could serve as a basis for them to support voter ID laws that disenfranchise poor or minority voters, such as the one in North Carolina that was overturned by the Supreme Court last summer. Studies have shown in-person voter fraud, which the laws are designed to prevent, is exceptionally rare. They are also concerned that Sessions hailed as good news, I think, for the South a Supreme Court decision that gutted a critical section of the Voting Rights Act. . . . One of Sessionss early tests will be how  if he is confirmed  his Justice Department handles a voter ID law in Texas considered one of the strictest in the country.

9. CURTAILING ABORTION:

Flanked by a group in the Oval Office that consisted entirely of men, Trump reinstated the so-called Mexico City policy. The Reagan-era policy bans American assistance to organizations that offer abortion services, including counseling and referrals.

Poor women in sub-Saharan Africa stand to be the biggest losers from Trumps order, our Kevin Sieff reports from Nairobi: In practice, experts say, that policy will freeze millions of dollars in funding that has gone to critical health treatment, including HIV testing and neonatal care. The United States does not fund any abortion services overseas, but many health groups receive American assistance to provide other womens services, while using different funding sources to provide abortion counseling and procedures. Now, those organizations will have to stop providing abortion services if they want to continue to receive U.S. aid for their other programs. The policy is known as the global gag rule because it even restricts references to abortion in counseling sessions. . .

In Kenya, public health experts raised immediate concerns about the new policy.Women here often resort to dangerous methods to end their pregnancies, including drinking battery acid and using wire coat hangers. In parts of rural Kenya, young women have hired local healers to stomp on their stomachs until the pregnancy is deemed over. Trumps policy means even fewer services will be offered, said Chimaraoke Izugbara, a researcher at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) in Nairobi. Some women will not be reached, and providers may not be available to offer services. I think we are headed to a major disaster. Nearly 8,000 women in Kenya die every year from complications caused by pregnancy and childbirth. At least a fifth of those deaths are caused by self-induced abortions, according to Izugbara.

Then, Tuesday, House Republicans passed a bill that would prevent the District of Columbia from using local tax dollars to subsidize abortion services for low-income women.Jenna Portnoy and Aaron C. Davis report: Although the Senate has never passed the bill, the vote was an ominous sign that the District could become an afterthought as Congress considers targeting laws regulating guns, assisted suicide and marijuana in the nations capital. The stakes are particularly high for the District this year, as it can no longer rely on a Democratic presidential veto.

10. RENEGING ON PROMISES OF TRANSPARENCY

During the presidential campaign, Trump said repeatedly that he could not release his returns because he is undergoing an audit and that he would do so once that process is complete. The audit has always been a flimsy excuse. Nothing is stopping him from releasing the returns any way, and he could release previous years not under audit.

Regardless, now that hes in the Oval Office and will soon get to appoint one of his own people to run the IRS, Trumps team is changing course.

The White House response is that hes not going to release his tax returns, Kellyanne Conway said Sunday on ABCs This Week. She said the issue was settled in the election. People didnt care, she said. They voted for him.

The next day she claimed that this is consistent with what was said during the campaign, but it is not. A majority of Americans in every poll also still want the president to release his returns, just as they did before the election.

11. TAKING THE OIL

Speaking crassly in front of the honor wall at CIA headquarters in Langley, Trump said Saturday that the U.S. should have kept the oil after the liberation of Iraq. To the victor belong the spoils, he said. So we should have kept the oil. But, OK, maybe youll have another chance.

No one knows how seriously to take Trumps threat to seize Iraqs oil: The recycled campaign comment is raising concerns about Trumps understanding of the delicate Middle East politics involved in the U.S.-led effort against extremist groups, the AP reports in a story that just moved over the wire. The statement ignores the precedent of hundreds of years of American history . . . Taking the oil would also require a permanent U.S. occupation, or at least until Iraqs 140 billion barrels of crude run out, and a large presence of American soldiers to guard sometimes isolated oil fields and infrastructure. Such a mission would be highly unpopular with Iraqis, whose hearts and minds the U.S. is still try to win to defeat groups such as IS and al-Qaida.

Serious Republicans like Bob Gates and John McCain chortle at the idea.

Rather than try to walk it back, however, Sean Spicer defended Trumps take the oil line during his briefing on Monday. He wants to be sure America is getting something out of it for the commitment and sacrifice it is making, the press secretary said.
The White House this morning disavowed a document stating that the Augustin Plains Ranch water project proposal in New Mexico is among 50 major infrastructure projects under consideration by President Donald Trumps administration.

On Tuesday night, the Journal linked to the document  first reported by the Kansas City Star of the McClatchy newspaper group  in a story on its website. The original post on abqjournal.com was removed late Tuesday night after a Politico Pro report questioned the documents authenticity.

It is not a White House policy document, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in an email this morning, responding to a Journal request for comment.

However, McClatchys Washington bureau still had the story on its website this morning with an update providing additional details about its sourcing.

From McClatchy: President Donald Trumps team has compiled a list of about 50 infrastructure projects nationwide, totaling at least $137.5 billion, as the new White House tries to determine its investment priorities, according to documents obtained by McClatchys Kansas City Star and The News Tribune.

The preliminary list, provided to the National Governors Association by the Trump transition team, offers a first glimpse at which projects around the country might get funding if Trump follows through on his campaign promise to renew Americas crumbling highways, airports, dams and bridges. The governors association shared that list with state officials in December. The group told the officials the projects on that list were already being vetted.

The list in question includes the Augustin Plains Ranch water project that has been in the development stages for years. The project would pump 54,000 acre-feet of water each year from the Augustin Plains of west-central New Mexico up to the Middle Rio Grande Valley is a step closer to public hearings.

The infrastructure list first reported by McClatchy describes the Augustin project like this: A state-of-the-art, eco-friendly project (that) will be unique producing its own power and operations through hydro and solar energy. But more importantly, the project will create a new sustainable and abundant source of water independent of compacts with other states,

The Journal reported in August that the existing plan calls for Augustin Plains Ranch to drill 37 wells on the 17,000 acres of property it owns near Datil. The company says the property sits atop an aquifer with a volume of about 50 million acre-feet of water. An acre-foot is the amount of water it takes to cover an acre at a depth of one foot.

According to the company, water pumped from the aquifer would be delivered via a 140-mile-long pipeline to Bernalillo County and available for purchase by all users along the way to supplement water shortages, enhance stream flows and benefit fish and wildlife, including such endangered species as the silvery minnow.

Augustin Plains Ranch proposes to sustain the aquifer by building structures to capture rain runoff and snow melt from nearby mountains.

But many ranchers on the Augustin Plains are opposed to the project because they fear it will suck all the groundwater out of the basin, rendering their own wells useless and killing their livelihoods. Some environmentalists dont care for the plan either.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats on Tuesday offered a plan to spend $1 trillion on transportation and other infrastructure projects over 10 years.

Democrats estimate their plan would create 15 million jobs. The plan includes $210 billion to repair aging roads and bridges and another $200 billion for a vital infrastructure fund to pay for a variety of transportation projects of national significance.

It wasnt immediately clear which, if any, New Mexico projects would be included in the Senate proposal.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trumps flurry of new orders and reported plans to further reshape national policy drew strong rebukes Wednesday from lawmakers in both parties.

Democrats responded sharply to Trumps plans to sign executive orders that would jumpstart construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and to halt visas to visitors from some countries  moves that are expected as soon as Wednesday, according to White House officials.

There is also bipartisan criticism for a White House draft proposal to allow the CIA to reopen overseas black site prisons and Trumps plan to ask for a major investigation into his unproven accusations of widespread voter fraud.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called Trumps focus on voter fraud really strange  especially because his own lawyers disputed allegations of ballot irregularities when Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein challenged the results in some states last fall.

I frankly feel very sad for the president making this claim, Pelosi added. I felt sorry for him. I even prayed for him  but then I prayed for the United States of America.

Pelosi spoke as Congress wrapped up a short work week in order to attend separate party strategy sessions outside Washington.

Republicans are decamping to Philadelphia, where they are scheduled to spend the next two days planning and meeting with Trump, Vice President Pence and British Prime Minister Theresa May, among others. Top GOP leaders are likely to weigh in on Trumps plans later Wednesday. Senate Democrats are headed to Shepherdstown, W. Va. for a similar closed-door retreat. Pelosi and House Democrats will meet in Baltimore next month.

The White House draft order to reverse a ban on black site prisons doesnt immediately reopen them or allow interrogators to use waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques that are currently banned by law. But the order would allow the CIA to begin reviewing current policy and techniques.

Such talk earned a swift response from an old Trump foil, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who was tortured and held captive during the Vietnam War.

The President can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America, he said in a statement.

McCain noted that Mike Pompeo, the new CIA director, vowed during his recent confirmation hearing to comply with the law that applies the Army Field Manuals interrogation requirements to all U.S. agencies, including the CIA. So did James Mattis, the new defense secretary, McCain said.

McCain is a longtime critic of using torture or other enhanced techniques to interrogate war prisoners or detainees. McCains personal experience with the issue earned Trumps attention during his presidential campaign, when he said that the Arizona senator was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who werent captured. Those comments were condemned by Republican leaders, but did not blunt Trumps ascendancy.

Democrats also warned against reviving a controversial cornerstone of former president George W. Bushs national security policy.

This would be a step backward and Im not alone in thinking that the path hes going down is wrong, Pelosi said at a news conference.

Dont ask me, just ask John McCain and others, she added. Reverting to that again does not support our values, but also endangers our people, whether its from a security standpoint, the intelligence community or the military. Its wrong and I hope he will listen to even some Republican leaders on this subject.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said that revisiting the creation of black sites or permitting the use of enhanced interrogation techniques would be a tragic mistake for the country to revisit and make the same mistakes all over again.

These are colossal mistakes that will cost us relationships in the long run, he said at an event hosted by the liberal Center for American Progress.

On immigration and border security, Trump is widely expected to order the end of a federal program providing temporary legal protections to the children of undocumented immigrants. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), and a companion policy protecting thousands of adults, have faced legal challenges and formed the basis of much of Trumps attacks on Obama-era immigration policies.

He may also potentially bar for 30 days the issuance of U.S. visas to people from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen  all Muslim-majority countries  until new visa procedures are developed.

Members of both parties have been anticipating Trumps immigration plans for weeks, and in the last several days mostly have withheld comment. Pelosi said Wednesday that she wouldnt respond to rumors of his plans.

Anticipating that Trump will end DACA, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Durbin, D-Ill., have introduced legislation that would provide similar protections to people currently protected by the program. The Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy Act, or BRIDGE Act, is believed to have broad bipartisan support across Capitol Hill.

Trumps calls for a broader investigation into voter fraud also perplexed Republicans and Democrats alike on Wednesday.

The White House has yet to provide details on a probe, but Trump said in back-to-back tweets that the investigation would cover those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Trump used all capitals  VOTER FRAUD  for emphasis.

Depending on results, Trump tweeted, we will strengthen up voting procedures!

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he believes that the prime jurisdiction to investigate voter fraud will be at the local and county level, but that there is a federal function since states also decide whether to pass voter identification laws.

I dont see the evidence of fraud, he said. But hes the president and if he thinks its there, have at it.

Democrats responded by announcing that theyre asking state election chiefs and attorneys general to provide lawmakers with information on all cases of voter fraud committed this past November.

President Trump wants a major investigation of voter fraud-well now he has one, said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.). He continues to be obsessed with false numbers and statistics, but these are not alternative facts, and there is no evidence to support these claims.



Karoun Demirjian, Karen DeYoung, Ellen Nakashima and Lisa Rein contributed to this report.
PRISTINA, Kosovo  A senior European Union official held an urgent meeting with the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo and encouraged them to work harder to normalize their relations following a recent spike in tensions.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called on them to put aside their differences during meetings and a dinner in Brussels, according to a statement from her office issued late Tuesday.

I underlined that progress in the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia is essential: for Kosovo and Serbia, for the European Union itself, and the Western Balkans region as a whole, Mogherini said.

Mogherini described the meeting as open and very constructive and said they discussed the developments over the past days, agreed to leave the tensions behind and to focus on the work ahead.

Her meeting was with Prime Ministers Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia and Isa Mustafa of Kosovo, and Presidents Tomislav Nikolic of Serbia and Hashim Thaci of Kosovo.

Thaci on Wednesday described the meeting as difficult and grave adding that he was pleased the main goal of the meeting, lowering tension and avoiding unnecessary provocation, was achieved.

In an interview with The Associated Press Thaci said he was more optimistic developments will go along the proper direction, faster, in a more qualitative way under the leadership of Mrs. Mogherini.

I believe that peace achieved between Kosovo and Serbia will be a stable one for the whole Western Balkans, he said.

Tensions starting building in December when the Serb minority erected a wall at a bridge in Mitrovica, saying it was a barrier to prevent landslides. But ethnic Albanians and others in the ethnically divided northern town said it was erected to keep them out.

The friction increased in early January with the detention of Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovo prime minister, and days later when a Serbian train with signs reading Kosovo is Serbia was turned back from the border with Kosovo.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but that hasnt been recognized by Belgrade.

Serbia, backed by Russia, has sought to maintain influence, especially in Kosovos north where most of the countrys Serb minority lives. NATO-led troops have controlled Kosovos territory since a three-month air war in 1999 to stop a bloody Serbian crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists.

For years, Brussels has been facilitating a Serbia-Kosovo dialogue to normalize their ties, coping with confrontational stands in both countries where some political groupings have called to end it.

Thaci said there are many things we could cooperate based on the European values and criteria because integration into the EU is the goal of both our countries.

He said the talking was important: People and states in times of crisis, conflicts, problems, tension, even wars, sit down and discuss.

Mogherini said both sides agreed to take the dialogue forward in a spirit of respect, cooperation and mutual understanding, intensifying it over the next days with a series of high-level rounds.

___

Llazar Semini contributed to this report.
Former FDC presidential candidate Dr Kiiza Besigye is to petition the Constitutional court over his continuous appearances before lower courts with no powers to try capital offences.

This followed Nakawa grade one magistrate Noah Sajjabi said he lacked jurisdiction to try treason advising him to raise his concerns before the trial High court where he reports every month for fulfillment of his bail terms.

Besigye told presiding grade one magistrate Noah Sajjabi that today was his last appearance in court unless he is brought again as a prisoner.

This came after prosecution requested to have his treason case adjourned to another mention date as police inquiries were still on-going.

Court has adjourned the case to the 27th/ Feb/2017 for further mention

The former FDC leader was 8 months ago arraigned before Nakawa Magistrates court and charged with Treason accused of trying to ascend himself into the office of the president of Uganda without following the renowned legal processes.

The DPP further states that Besigye committed this offence through numerous acts including his usual utterances that he won the February 2016 polls on top of swearing in himself as president of the Republic of Uganda.
TOKYO  Japan is warily welcoming Donald Trump as the U.S. president, wondering what his administration will mean for their security alliance and already seeing what it means for their trade relationship.

But there are no such mixed feelings about Trumps eldest daughter: Ivanka Trump is widely revered as the perfect woman here.

Among some Japanese women, Ivanka Trump is seen as an aspirational figure who has combined motherhood and career while managing to look perfectly put-together all the time (although her glamorous Instagram photos never show the retinues of nannies and assistants and hairdressers that answer the question of how does she do it all?).

Japan remains a highly patriarchal society, where men spend long hours at the office and women are often expected to give up their jobs after getting married or having babies.

But Trump offers an example of how to be strong but not scary, said Yuriko Shinzato, 32, a freelance writer and mother of a 6-year-old daughter. She is a good example that a woman can do an outstanding job and handle a misogynist father like Trump, without pushing too much of a feminist agenda or confronting men too much, Shinzato, who blogs about Ivanka Trumps fashion and lifestyle, told the Japan Times. That is something that Japanese women want but have a hard time doing in a still male-dominated society.

As a result, the Trump daughter has quite a following here. The Japanese internet was abuzz after the election at a tabloid report that Trump might be the next American ambassador to Japan, and she won Japanese fans when she posted a video of her daughter, Arabella Rose, performing the song Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen by the Japanese comedian known as Piko Taro.

Japanese women gush about her on social media. This is the woman I like now. Ivanka Trump. I love it that shes not only beautiful but also clever and has a graceful air. I think women should be kind and gentle, wrote Sachiko W. on a portrait that Trump had posted on Instagram.

On Twitter, news announcer Mari Maeda posted a photo of Trump in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York. Trumps eldest daughter Ivanka-san, who made it into the administration transfer team. She waved at me when I called out to her at the Trump Tower, Maeda wrote. What a figure she has even after having three children. So frank and cute! Her jewelry brand is popular but some fans say they want her to become the president because of her intelligence and beauty.

This popularity is translating into increased demand for Ivanka Trumps fashion business in Japan. Sales have skyrocketed since Donald Trumps victory in the U.S. presidential election  although from a very low, almost negligible, base.

Ivanka Trump, a woman gifted with both intelligence and beauty, is gathering attention as a daughter of the next U.S. president Donald Trump. She introduces dresses, jewelry and bags under her own brand, Waja, a popular Japanese online retailer, says on its Ivanka Trump page, which sells handbags and dresses. Her brand, though in a reasonable price range, is well-reputed for its high quality and enjoys tremendous popularity among working women thanks to its feminine and elegant designs and silhouette.

The Ivanka Trump page on Waja used to average some 30 hits a day before the Nov. 8 election. By Nov. 14, it was racking up 10,000 hits a day, although that has since tapered off to about 500 hits a day. Sales are booming in relative terms. Before the election, Waja sold only a few Ivanka Trump dresses a month, said spokeswoman Yukie Suzuki. But it sold 170 dresses in November  28 times as many as the year before  and another 140 frocks in December.

Suzuki thinks sales will continue apace because the brand perfectly matches Wajas target demographic  working women in their 40s who are looking for something they can wear to work and then out afterward. Its sophisticated, elegant and feminine yet reasonably priced, Suzuki said.

The Ivanka Trump site on Buyma, the Japanese equivalent of eBays fashion pages, has also been enjoying a post-election boost, although from a very low base, a spokesman said.

In the United States, Ivanka Trumps sales suffered during the presidential campaign amid revelations of statements that her father had made about women. Trump found herself in hot water in November after it emerged that she had been in talks with a Japanese company, partly owned by a Japanese government agency, when she attended a meeting between her father and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe the week after the election.

The New York Times reported that Trumps clothing company had been in talks about a licensing deal with Sanei International, a clothing company owned by TSI Holdings. TSIs biggest shareholder is the Development Bank of Japan, a financial institution owned by the Japanese government.

Kohei Yamada, a spokesman for TSI Holdings, said Tuesday that the negotiations were still ongoing and that nothing had changed since the meeting between the Trumps and Abe.

Since her fathers election and her husbands appointment as a White House adviser, Trump has stepped away from her name-brand fashion, jewelry and licensing companies.

  

Yuki Oda contributed reporting.
WASHINGTON  Activists affiliated with Greenpeace climbed atop a 270-foot construction crane in downtown Washington on Wednesday and unfurled a large orange and black banner with a message positioned for the newest occupant of the White House but meant for those opposed to its agenda: Resist.

District of Columbia police waited out the seven protesters, shutting down traffic at a major intersection through the morning commute and into the evening and suspending work on new offices for Fannie Mae.

The action is one of several protests in the District since just before the presidential inauguration, and more are planned in the coming weeks.

By Wednesday evening, the protesters, all expert climbers according to Greenpeace and dressed with helmets and safety harnesses, had rolled up the 35-foot-by-75-foot banner but had not begun to descend a steep stairway to the ground, where police were waiting to arrest them.

Five protesters spent the day on the arm, or jib, of the crane, while two chained themselves to the tower, blocking potential arrest efforts by police and preventing the crane operator from reaching the controls. They started their ascent about 4 a.m. and by 9 a.m. had unfurled the banner, using safety ropes to descend from the arm.

Greenpeace, an international environmental group, said the organization was protesting the Trump administration and his decision to push forward with the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines.

On Wednesday, dozens of onlookers gathered, clutching coffee cups and peering upward at the site, the location of the former Washington Post headquarters. Greenpeace said it chose the location because the hanging banner could be seen a half-mile away at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Firefighters from Rescue 1, the departments elite rescue team, were on standby if needed, but police preferred to let the protest proceed. Police Capt. Robert Glover of the special operations team said investigators had the ability to talk with at least one of the demonstrators and were in contact with Greenpeace.

Safety is our primary concern, Glover said early into the demonstration. Time is on our side.

D.C. police did not discuss possible charges, saying that would be left up to the U.S. attorneys office.

One of the protesters, Pearl Robinson, 26, of Oakland, California, identified herself as an expert climber and said in a phone interview from atop the crane, Were here to resist the normalization of this [Trump] administration.

Robinson, a national organizer for the Rainforest Action Network, noted that live-streams of the protest were trending on social media, which she called a success. She said some of President Trumps recent executive orders were a slap in the face to U.S. residents.

Cassady Sharp, a spokeswoman for Greenpeace, a group known for activism that sometimes involves confronting authorities and corporations, said the organization wanted to send a message to the people who are feeling discouraged after just a few days of Trumps administration. She said protesters were from around the country, including New York, San Francisco and the Washington area.

Lee DeLong, a senior vice president for Bethesda, Maryland-based Clark Construction, the lead contractor for the Fannie Mae building project, said workers discovered the protesters about 6 a.m. and called police. He said the group broke into the secured site by breaking a lock, adding that getting into the crane and up onto the arm requires knowledge of how a crane works.

These arent amateurs, DeLong said.

He said he supports the decision by police to not send officers and firefighters up the crane to pull the protesters off, calling that a dangerous maneuver.

Our primary concern is safety, DeLong said. I think the police and EMS response has been appropriate.

DeLong said some workers were able to reach part of the construction sites perimeter, but most work was halted for the day. He said the crane will need to be reinspected before it can be put back into use. He would not say how much money the company is losing but said, It is a significant impact.

Erica White, 39, who lives around the block from the site, said she was out walking when she saw the banner. Its got to be crippling for people to not be able to come down L Street. It definitely sends a message, for sure. She backed the message: People are going to hold his feet to the fire. Theyre not going to back down.

Dawn Reed, 35, who works in information technology in Arlington, Virginia, said: I wish Trump would take notice of it. But I dont think hes going to care. She also said she supported Greenpeace. I just had a baby, and I want her to grow up in a world thats not polluted.

Steve VanAusdall, 50, who works at a nearby construction site, was trying to exit a parking garage to go home but was blocked in by police vehicles. He said the garage was also hurt financially because it could not let in additional vehicles.

Im all for freedom of speech and protesting peacefully and lawfully, but these guys could be here for two days, VanAusdall said Wednesday morning. Its going to be a long waiting game, Im afraid.

VanAusdall said that he was trying to get to another job in North Carolina on Thursday and that the delay was costing him. This is hurting people financially, he said.

Wednesdays protest comes after Trumps inauguration last week, when demonstrators were present in large numbers throughout the city, particularly near Franklin Square, where windows of businesses were smashed and a limousine was set on fire.

More than 230 people were arrested Friday. Many were charged with felony rioting.

  

The Washington Posts Dana Hedgpeth contributed to this article.

  

Video: Several protesters have climbed a 270-foot high crane at a construction site at 15th and L streets NW. (The Washington Post)

URL: http://wapo.st/2j4Mttm

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WASHINGTON  Mondays first official White House news conference got lots of attention for the way press secretary Sean Spicer handled the media. At first skipping major news outlets such as the Associated Press, which traditionally receives the first shot at a question, Spicer turned to the New York Post and the Christian Broadcasting Network before giving reporters in the front row their turn.

To most Americans, this little breach of decorum may seem harmless. As my colleague Dave Weigel tweeted, Nobody at home gives a crap if they call on the big [mainstream media] organizations. But Spicers eagerness to toss out the traditional playbook is important in more ways than one, particularly in connection with something else he said Monday that received far less coverage.

As part of the new regime in the briefing room, Spicer said the White House will be setting up four online Skype seats for reporters from outside the nations capital to participate in the daily news conferences. By logging in remotely, many regional or local news outlets may get the chance to interact directly with the presidents staff.

I think this can benefit us all by giving a platform to voices that are not necessarily based here in the Beltway, Spicer said.

The White House already allows out-of-town reporters to come in and ask questions, said Martha Kumar, a retired professor of political science at Towson University who has written several books on the presidency.

The rules for day passes are very loose and have been used by bloggers and news organizations you never heard of, said Kumar. The rule has been to let in as many people as possible who are in the press community as broadly interpreted. So having people come in through Skype fits in with what has normally been done.

But the addition of Skype seats represents a technological upgrade to that precedent, potentially expanding White House access to a vast swath of the country that until now may have lacked the time, manpower or money to send a reporter to the nations capital. In that respect, the remote videoconferencing could mark a historic turning point, both for the media and our democracy, experts say.

Whether youre a liberal or a conservative, the idea of expanding access to the press briefings is a good one, some media experts say. It potentially gives more power to the public to keep politicians accountable, said John Tisdale, an associate professor at Texas Christian Universitys Schieffer School of Journalism, and brings more diversity to the White House press corps. It also potentially levels the playing field, giving smaller outlets who may not be able to send a reporter to Washington a shot at competing with bigger media outlets. The press briefings could also act as a way for less prominent outlets to elevate local issues to the national stage.

But, he warns, the experiment could go quickly off the rails without strong ethical and professional guidelines. How the Skype seats are put into practice will go a long way toward determining whether the project ultimately strengthens our public discourse. One telling indicator? Who gets to select the publications that can claim the seats, said Tisdale.

I would be wary of having the White House pick these out, he said. If the White House controls it, I think theyre going to use it as a political tool.

This is where Spicers initial preference for what Tisdale called more Trump-friendly outlets could have an important effect. In an increasingly fragmented media world, Tisdale said, the Trump administration may find it tempting to give the Skype seats to fringe bloggers or outlets that are likely to ask softball questions and run out the clock for everyone else.

Asked on Monday how the outlets would be selected, a deputy press spokesperson from the Trump administration did not seem to know.

Well have more for you as we roll this out, the spokesperson said.

So how should a system like this really work?

To ensure that the selection process works fairly and representatively, said Tisdale, an ideal approach would establish a lottery that could be managed independently of the White House itself. You would want input from members of the White House Correspondents Association, newspaper groups from middle America and the southwest, broadcast TV organizations and other media groups.

In addition to determining what kind of outlets should be eligible for the Skype seats, this self-governing group of journalists would also need to decide how to select among them. Should the system be weighted toward rural outlets? Outlets whose communities are disproportionately affected by whatever is in the days news? Some mixture of both? For example, said Tisdale, if the Keystone XL pipeline is in the news (which it is) perhaps youd give a news organization from Sioux Falls, South Dakota one of the Skype seats for the day.

The idea of having four people from a Nebraska TV station, a newspaper from Bismarck and a blogger from New Mexico is really a good idea, said Tisdale. Implementing it fairly and to where everyone has a representative voice is going to be a difficult task.



The Washington Posts David Nakamura contributed to this story.
DENVER  A spokeswoman for Colorado Republican congressman Scott Tipton says the cleanup of a massive mine waste spill in southwestern Colorado wont be affected by the Trump administrations freeze on some environmental spending.

Liz Payne said Wednesday that Tiptons office got assurances from the White House that restoration work and water quality monitoring after the Gold King Mine spill will continue.

The spill polluted rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

The administration ordered a temporary suspension Tuesday of new business activities at the Environmental Protection Agency, including work assignments to contractors.

The EPA oversees the Gold King cleanup. The agency inadvertently triggered the 3-million-gallon blowout in August 2015.

The freeze created widespread confusion about its reach. Tiptons statement was the first word on whether the Gold King would be affected.
Half a century ago, dressed for Sunday church services, Wesley Paulson traveled from the Maryland suburbs into Northwest Washington aboard a swaying, squealing, rail-riding vehicle called a trolley.

It ran along an overhead wire, gliding smoothly like a rider on a zip line, from a roundabout at 16th Street Heights south toward Columbia Heights, where Paulson and his family hopped off and walked one block to Central Presbyterian Church.

The trolley, like the church, is gone. Its tracks have been pulled out of the road. Its wire has come down. Almost all thats left are the memories of people such as Paulson  and, at a museum hidden in the woods of Colesville, Maryland, scraps of history and a few of the old trolleys themselves.

Theres a lot of history here, Eric Madison, a board member and volunteer at the National Capital Trolley Museum, said on a recent weekend. The museum, where Paulson is also a board member, has tried to keep the memory of Washingtons trolleys alive ever since they were discontinued on January 28, 1962.

On that day this year, the museum will host D.C. Transit Day, when kids can ride Streetcar 1101, which rolled along the now-vanished 14th Street tracks beginning in 1937. The vintage streetcar (streetcar is a more general name for a trolley, which usually refers to a streetcar running on an overhead wire rather than on a wire buried in the street) will run on tracks behind the museum, traveling on a 10-minute loop through the woods.

The Trolley Museum has a collection of more than a dozen streetcars from Washington and around the world. It keeps them in the barn, a large, unheated room next to the museums main exhibition area on trolley history. Its called a barn, Madison says, because the first streetcars were pulled by horses that were kept in the same barn as the trolleys themselves.

Horse-pulled streetcars were popular after the Civil War, when they carried Washingtonians along steel rails set on unpaved streets for about a nickel a ride. Steam-powered cable cars replaced horses in the 1880s, and by the turn of the 20th century, riders traveled the city on an electric streetcar system that was soon mirrored by todays Metrobus routes.

When you see a number on a bus route, Madison says, pointing to a map to show the 50/54 routes on 14th Street and the 90/92 routes on Florida Avenue, it was probably once a streetcar route.

During rush hour in the 1920s, when streetcars were at their peak, the average wait time for a car was about 90 seconds. But the system had its problems. Streetcars sometimes got stuck in ice and snow, and buses proved cheaper to operate and maintain.

Ridership also declined as more people moved to the suburbs.

After World War II, streetcars were being converted to buses or abandoned, though cities like San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston and New Orleans all kept some of their lines, Madison says.

In Washington, streetcars have made a mild resurgence. Madison works at the D.C. Department of Transportation, where he helped the city start a new, $200 million streetcar line on H Street Northeast. Its trolley cars dont come quite as often as those of the 1920s, but for now you can ride free, by wire and rail.



IF YOU GO:

National Capital Trolley Museum, 1313 Bonifant Rd., Colesville, Maryland

For more information: A parent can call 301-384-6088 or visit dctrolley.org.
Breast-feeding is a very personal choice. However, the realities of breast-feeding and, later, returning to work as a pumping mother present a new set of very real challenges for a woman.

Workplaces that support a mother in her return to work by bringing her back with ease always win. Committed employers are not only supporting infant health, they are also establishing a powerful statement of collaboration, underscoring how much they value their employee. Although the repeal of the Affordable Care Act might mean organizations no longer legally have to provide the space or time for women to pump at work, many companies know that providing this is not only kind, but also simply a smart business move. Birch Box, for example, offers hospital grade pumps, snacks and a comprehensive booking system for its growing population of mothers in the workplace.

Lauren Pfeiffer was out for 12 weeks after the birth of her second daughter. When she returned to New Jersey-based Association Headquarters, she was greeted with brand new private mothers room that held comfortable seating, a sink, refrigerator, a mirror and even a shared calendar for booking the space. The space made her return to work much more seamless, and the fact that her company set it up made her feel supported and grateful. The room was set up for quiet but also allowed for Pfeiffer to catch up on emails as she pumped breast milk for 20 minutes two to three times a day.

It is this piece of the puzzle that is my focus at the Its Working Project. Not only do we gather and share stories of how parents in the U.S. transition back to work, the project also partners with workplaces to help them establish easy-to-execute programs to support working families.

As was the case with Association Headquarters, not only was the pumping room a wise thing for her company to do, but its also the law.

Washington D.C. has recently passed legislation and joined 18 states to pass enhanced pregnancy and nursing protections that offer strong protections (and also serious penalties for offenders) for a wide range of workers and situations. Many of these state statutes, including D.C.s law, also clarify and strengthen the rights of nursing mothers.

Unfortunately, there is still a tremendous amount of confusion about the rights of pregnant workers, said Dina Baskt, co-president of A Better Balance, an organization that works with lawmakers to enact legislation to help pregnant and nursing workers. Thankfully, a growing number of states and localities, including D.C., have stepped in to guarantee pregnant workers a clear, statutory right to reasonable accommodations  the same standard in place for workers with disabilities. Many of these statutes also clarify and strengthen the rights of nursing mothers. Ensuring that pregnant workers and new mothers can avoid the impossible choice between a paycheck and a healthy pregnancy is undoubtedly a win-win for women, families and our economy, she said in testimony.

But smart businesses are many steps beyond just compliant. We know it can be a challenging for parents to transition back to work and want to do everything we can to make the transition as smooth as possible, said Annie Lavigne, human resources director at Edelman Inc. This is one of the reasons why we are committed to providing a pumping space for nursing mothers that is private, clean, and comfortable. The happier our employees are, the more likely they are to stay. We cant achieve our business objectives without retaining our talent, and our employees ability to manage family and work effectively is a key part of that equation.

So how do you get what you need at work?

Employees should emphasize the bottom-line benefits to employers of providing first-in-class benefits to nursing mothers, advises Baskt. These programs increase retention and productivity, while also demonstrating the companys commitment to working families.

It takes very little for an organization to move from simply compliant to best is class. And the effort and results in a high level of return in the form retention and continued commitment.

What does a pumping room look like anyway?

First, and most critical 

It does NOT look like a bathroom stall, not only is this not legal it is disgusting.

So, what does compliance mean:

 Private  not a bathroom

 Clean  sanitary space

 Close to workspace  not in a separate building or floors away

 Reasonable break times  enough to pump and get milk stored and parts cleaned

And what about best in class:

 Locking Door  both sides

 Comfortable Seating

 Clear Surfaces

 Ottoman

 Outlets for pumps

 Sink for cleaning pump parts

 Refrigerator for keeping milk  separate from general staff fridge

 A place where mothers can display images of baby

 Mirror

 Personal storage space

 Snacks and water

 Sign-up system
Nikki Little gave birth via C-section at 33 weeks to her sons Nolan and Evan, this after five-and-a-half weeks in the hospital on strict bed rest. The premature baby boys stayed in the NICU for an additional 13 days. During that time, Little, a director of social media at a Detroit-based firm, benefited from being able to work with a lactation consultant, had access to a pump and accessories in the hospital, and another rental pump once she left to go home. Little took an eight-month break from work and returned to her agency, which offers a private space for pumping.

The majority of her care, the care of the babies, her pumps, the lactation support, and the space to pump along with break times were all provided thanks to a single paragraph in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

When President Barack Obama signed the highly complex bill into law in 2010, the ACA opened a new world for new mothers. Now that it appears the ACA may be repealed the provisions that aim to benefit new moms and their children may disappear forever. (There is a change.org petition to keep the provision.) While we dont know what will happen, we do know the support that Little and millions of other breast-feeding mothers have had with ACA resulted in greater success in breast-feeding rates, as well as the ability for employers to bring pumping mothers back to work with ease and success for both the companies and their families.

The ACA includes a singular clause that is specific to breast-feeding and covers:

 lactation support and counseling, such as lactation education and consulting services;

 equipment and supplies, such as pumps

 infrastructure, such as pump rooms and break time.

The equipment and the space and time to pump became an embraced standard that leaned right into the surgeon generals Healthy People 2020 objectives. The objectives include increased breast-feeding initiation and retention rates, as well as workplace lactation spaces. This leads to healthier mothers and babies and reduced absenteeism at work, and provides a path for keeping families in the workplace.

The fine print within the ACA that points to infrastructure is critical: This guarantees a private space for pumping (not a germ-infested bathroom, for example), complete with a lock and access to a sink and a refrigerator. A space like this not only keeps a babys food safe but also helps women decide that breast-feeding can be continued. This was originally part of the Fair Labor Standards Act and was moved over as an amendment to ACA.

What do nursing mothers, and, therefore, families, stand to lose without the ACA? I spoke with some of the most respected leaders in lactation for insight about breast-feeding to help make sense of what the ACA has meant for breast-feeding in the United States, and what might come next.

 Diane Spatz, Director of Lactation at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.

Diane L. Spatz, PhD, RN-BC, FAAN, is a nurse researcher and director of the lactation program at CHOP. She also shares an appointment as the Helen M. Shearer Term Chair in Nutrition and Professor of Perinatal Nursing at the University of Pennsylvanias School of Nursing. In addition, Spatz sits as a representative on the United States Breastfeeding Committee. She characterizes that organization as woefully underfunded and underrepresented in terms of lobbying power, compared with the formula industry, and she feels this lack of power resulted in ACA breast-feeding provisions being not as carefully constructed as they should have been. The services were not set up to meet the specific needs of the mom, she says. For example, a hand pump is not an electric pump, and an electric pump is not a hospital-grade pump, and the nuances between them further define what a woman might need to meet her breast-feeding goals. A woman who has given birth to a preemie and needs a strong, hospital-grade pump might be given a weaker, much less effective hand pump that would lead to her premature infant not getting a reliable milk supply. So perhaps there is positive change on the horizon, Spatz speculates. However, Spatz says, A pivot could go in another direction, too. She said she is nervous with the majority Republican Congress regarding services for women and children.

 Cheryl Petran, CEO of the Pump Station & Nurtury, Santa Monica, Calif.

The Pump Station, established in 1986, is known as the West Coasts answer to all things for new mothers. Cheryl Petran is an industry elder statesman who has been focused on the well-being of new mothers for the last 10 years.

In general, Petran feels that ACA was good for breast-feeding. The level of dialogue and care around issues central to the lives of new, nursing mothers rose. But despite all of that, Petran felt that the ACA and its breast-feeding provisions were far from perfect. The lines needed to be much more clearly defined. What is covered needs to be explicit and spelled out, there should be more options, and more attention to actual maternal needs. In some ways, the ACA made her job of helping families more difficult. Less powerful pumps were suddenly in the hands of our customers  pumps we were not trained in meant we could not provide the high level of support we are known for. It is difficult to train a new mother on a pump [if] neither you nor she has ever seen the model or even the brand before. Also, the ambiguous level of reimbursement became a major undertaking for the Pump Station. We learned how to assure our clients had the care and attention they needed at such an important time. But it got tricky. Still, Petran notes, ACA kept the breast-feeding conversation top of mind, kept the initiation rates high and continues to keep employers well aware of what new mothers need to pump and feel balanced in the workplace. A major plus within the law is that it requires employers to provide adequate break time and a private place to express milk. No more pumping in bathrooms or broom closets! And, yes, that is a major advancement.

 Amanda Cole, founder of Yummy Mummy, New York

Amanda Cole is not only a leading voice and advocate for breast-feeding, her New York City retail operation is certified as a Durable Medical Equipment (DME) shop, which means she is able to provide insurance-covered pumps and services. This has put her at the epicenter of the new ACA normal. She has seen moms take advantage of the ACA benefits that have created supports for nursing women. And she has seen the immediate rewards of this greater access, which she describes as both good for business and good for moms. Cole finds it hard to imagine that the positive cost savings of healthier babies as a result of consuming breast milk are lost on anyone. Just think  one fewer trip to the doctor or ER for an ear infection. This means mom doesnt have to skip work and baby can skip a trip to the doctor and antibiotics. Considering the cost savings associated with breast-feeding, it makes sense for plans to keep the benefits intact. This fact, she says, is what she believes will protect the clause. Im confident the preventative benefit will outlast a repeal if such a thing happens. Access to breast pumps and support are creating healthier moms and babies.

Regardless of what comes next, the standard of care and the quality of conversation around pumping has come a long way since 2009. Increased societal transparency has led us to elevate our expectations of employers, airports, restaurants and even retailers when it comes to nursing or pumping mothers. Private sector employers, for example, understand the economic value of developing internal policies to regularly cover pumps, lactation services and certainly pumping spaces  no regulation required. The public now has a much greater understanding of why we must keep pumping women out of bathroom stalls and other ill-equipped spaces that are unsanitary, demoralizing and lead to greater drop-off rates.

We have already agreed that the progress that has been made should not be lost. But even more essential is the protection of our national care to support parents in a way that keeps the Healthy People 2020 momentum going for all of us, not just a lucky few.

  

Beck is the founder of the Its Working Project and Forty Weeks. Beck is based in Washington, D.C., where she is the matriarch of a blended family that includes a loving husband, a loyal golden retriever and four children  all of whom are her favorite.
Representatives from New Mexico Workforce Connection and several of its partners Wednesday morning kicked off a $4 million initiative that will train people for information technology jobs and develop their skills.

The TechHire New Mexico program, announced in July, is open to young adults in central New Mexico between the ages of 17 and 29 with a high school or equivalency diploma who have barriers to job training, employment or education. The program aims to provide job placement, customized accelerated training, apprenticeships and work experience for more than 400 qualified individuals through 2020.

About 100 people joined Mayor Richard Berry at Rural Sourcing Inc. in downtown Albuquerque to officially launch TechHire. Berry said the training, which will be offered to residents of Bernalillo, Sandoval, Valencia and Torrance counties, is a good way to address the skills gap and prepare candidates for the types of jobs that will be expanding.

We must invest in workforce development to have economic growth, said Berry. Without a trained workforce in place, it will be hard to attract new companies like Facebook to the region, he said.

Each training site will use its share of the federal grant to assist future IT workers and seek employer partners willing to help participants gain work experience and then hire them.

The program will make veterans and their spouses placement priorities.

TechHire training sites include Central New Mexico Community College, CNM Ingenuity Inc., Innovate+Educate/Talent ABQ and the New Mexico Technology Council.

There may be other educational partners, such as coding camps and distance learning providers, said Tawnya Roland, TechHire program director.

Roland said eligible students may receive help in the form of mentoring as well as financial assistance to pay for course fees, certification fees and other support costs.

Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labors Employment and Training Administration, TechHire New Mexico was one of only 39 programs chosen from 215 grant proposals submitted.
SANTA FE  After days of wrangling, a $216 million solvency package intended to fix New Mexicos budget problems  at least for this year  and bolster the cash-strapped states depleted reserves is headed to Gov. Susana Martinezs desk.

Both the House and Senate signed off Wednesday on compromise versions of two solvency bills after a legislative conference committee made up of delegates from both chambers struck a deal.

A third bill has already been sent to the governors desk.

In all, the bills would plug a $69 million projected deficit and give the state some budget cushion by reducing funding for school districts and taking money from various state government programs and accounts.

They address the immediate crisis, House Appropriations and Finance Committee Chairwoman Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, told the Journal after Wednesdays conference committee meeting. I think its good bipartisan work.

However, concerns simmered about several provisions in the bills, including a plan to take roughly $46 million from school districts statewide.

Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Logan, said other state programs, including public works dollars allocated annually and a state film incentive program thats capped at $50 million per year, should have been targeted before schools.

Were going to ask schools to do the same job with less cash, and that puts some of them in a pretty desperate situation, said Roch, who works as a school superintendent.

What our constituents ask us to do is fund essential programs first, he added.

The final version of the schools legislation would exempt districts that have cash reserves of less than 3 percent of their budgets and would require that the money  a roughly 2 percent reduction  for those affected come out of reserve funds, not core budgets.

Martinez, the states two-term Republican governor, had previously proposed taking an even larger amount  $120 million  out of school district reserves.

The plan would mean a $12.5 million loss for Albuquerque Public Schools, a loss of $1.9 million for Santa Fe, and a loss of $1.5 million for Rio Rancho.

The other solvency bill approved Wednesday would generate about $82 million in savings by sweeping unspent money from various state accounts.

Included in that amount would be $4 million from a state closing fund intended to offset the costs of business expansion and relocation. The original Senate bill had called for $11.6 million to be taken, but the Martinez administration and House Republicans pushed back against the plan.

House GOP members also objected Wednesday to a provision, added in the conference committee process, to earmark $2 million in closing fund dollars for a Roswell airport hangar project.

However, the conference committees recommendation was approved on a party-line vote of 36-32, with Democrats voting in favor and Republicans opposed.

Martinez, the states two-term GOP governor, will now have three days to act on the legislation once it reaches her desk.

The two solvency bills approved Wednesday and sent to the governors desk are Senate Bill 113 and Senate Bill 114. The already approved bill is House Bill 4.

A fourth solvency bill, House Bill 5, is now on hold, and action on it might not be taken until sometime next month, Lundstrom said.

Martinez has vowed to veto any tax increase bills approved by the Legislature, despite poll findings that most New Mexicans would prefer a combination approach of tax hikes and spending reductions to just spending cuts to solve the states budget problems.

New Mexicos budget crunch is caused largely by plummeting oil and natural gas prices, which have led to the state taking in less revenue than expected for two consecutive years. The states top bond rating was also downgraded in November.

Lawmakers enacted sweeping spending cuts and other one-time budget fixes last year, but more action was required after revenue estimates showed the state was still on track to have a budget deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends in June.

With the solvency package complete, lawmakers are now expected to shift their focus to crafting a budget for the coming year.

Although new revenue estimates will be unveiled next month, Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, has said the state could be facing a shortfall of at least $300 million  and perhaps as large as $500 million  for next year.

School cuts

The solvency package on its way to Gov. Susana Martinezs desk includes a bill that would reduce funding for most New Mexico school districts. Heres the proposed hit for the states largest districts:

Albuquerque  $12.5 million

Gadsden  $2 million

Santa Fe  $1.9 million

Las Cruces  $1.9 million

Gallup  $1.7 million

Farmington  $1.5 million

Rio Rancho  $1.5 million

Roswell  $1.4 million
MEXICO CITY  As Mexicos foreign minister was flying toward Washington on Tuesday for his first visit with the new administration, news broke that President Donald Trump, the very next day, planned to order construction of a giant wall across the Mexican border.

The outrage in Mexico was swift and emphatic. Trumps wall project has been widely condemned here since he announced it during his campaign. But many saw the timing of Trumps presidential action as an added insult  with top Mexican officials in town and with President Enrique Pena Nieto scheduled to visit next week.

Former officials and top Mexican politicians across the political spectrum demanded that Pena Nieto cancel his visit with Trump after what many considered a slap in the face. Mexican news media was reporting Wednesday afternoon that Pena Nieto would indeed cancel, but spokesmen for the presidents office and the foreign ministry would not immediately confirm that.

The welcome that the Mexican government envoys are receiving is slamming in the door on their noses, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, a former presidential candidate, said in a statement. It seems to me that the least that could be done in these conditions is to not attend, to cancel the visit to the United States as a matter of dignity for Mexico.

Former foreign minister Jorge Castaneda said in an interview that if Pena Nieto doesnt cancel the meeting, he runs a risk of having a new slap in the face, or being under such enormous pressure from public opinion in Mexico to stand up to Trump after todays insults, that hes going to have to be unpleasant and hes going to have to be macho and hes going to have to be strident.

And first of all he doesnt know how to do any of that, Castaneda added. Hes just not very good at it. And second of all, thats not conducive to a productive visit.

Without the full State Department structure in place, Castaneda added, Pena Nieto would have been doing it without a net. It was precipitated. It was premature.

Margarita Zavala, a likely presidential candidate and the wife of former President Felipe Calderon, wrote on Twitter that Trumps announcement was an offense to Mexico.

Foreign minister Luis Videgaray, who was recently appointed in part because of his relationship with Trumps team and his skills as a negotiator, was still in Washington on Wednesday, Mexican officials said. But it was unclear if he planned to stay.

Given the announcement about the wall, the visit of [Videgaray] today only makes sense as a way to announce that there will be no meeting between Pena Nieto and Trump on Jan. 31, wrote Roberto Gil Zuarth, a Mexican senator from the National Action Party, on Twitter.

Another senator from the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, described Trumps announcement as an act of hostility and emnity and that Pena Nieto should call off his trip.
The Uganda prisons commissioner General Dr Johnson Byabashaija decries the reduction of the institutions budget for financial year 2017/2018 as the number of prisoners continues to rise.

While appearing before the parliamentary defense committee, Dr Byabashaija said that the prisoners have increased by 15% and a reduction in the budget poses a challenge on feeding, utilities medical care among others.

He said that feeding the current 57,336 prisoners each at Shillings 3000 daily require a budget of 62.7 billion and yet only 28.7 billion has been provided creating a short fall of 34.3 billion.

Byashaijja adds that they need extra money to buy security equipment to handle terrorism suspects because they do not fear death and thus prove to be very dangerous.
DENVER  Colorados Republican secretary of state is expressing confidence in the integrity of the states elections after President Donald Trump again claimed fraud in Novembers presidential vote.

Secretary of State Wayne Williams released a statement Wednesday detailing the numerous steps his office takes to prevent fraud, which he says is rare.

Trump tweeted Wednesday that he was ordering a major investigation into voter fraud. Hes falsely asserted that millions of immigrants living here illegally provided Hillary Clintons margin in the popular vote.

Trumps own attorneys have dismissed claims of voter fraud, and secretaries of state across the country have rejected the claims as baseless.
RICHMOND, Va.  Virginia House and Senate budget leaders on Wednesday announced plans to give 3 percent raises to state employees and an even bigger boost to state troopers, who have been leaving the agency in droves.

Starting pay for troopers would rise from $36,200 a year to $43,000 under the agreement struck by the Republicans who control the money committees for both chambers. In addition to the 3 percent raise, existing troopers would see their annual salaries jump by more than $6,700 to keep pace with the new hires.

The state employee raises, which would not apply to teachers, would cost the state about $70.6 million a year and would not be contingent on revenue collections.

The announcement was rolled out fairly early in the budget process, before the rest of the House and Senate budget plans have been hammered out. The deal would need the approval of both chambers and Gov. Terry McAuliffe, D.

McAuliffe has proposed a one-time, 1.5 percent bonus for state workers. He has expressed a desire to provide bigger raises but has said that might not be possible as the state struggles to close a $1.2 billion budget shortfall.

No one wants to get state employees the compensation they deserve more than Governor McAuliffe, said Brian Coy, a spokesman for the governor. He will evaluate this proposal carefully as soon as General Assembly leaders announce how they will pay for it. He is open to proposals to increase state employee pay, as long as they do not require cuts to core services of government or threaten the structural balance of the budget and Virginias AAA bond rating.

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee and House Appropriations Committee provided few details about how they would pay for the raises when they unveiled their plan at a Wednesday morning news conference.

Youll see the budget a week and a half from now, Del. S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, chairman of the House panel, told reporters when pressed.

The legislators did specify that they would not propose raising any taxes. Sen. Emmett Hanger Jr., R-Augusta, co-chairman of the Senate panel, said they were resigned to accepting a budget gimmick related to sales tax collections that McAuliffe has included in his proposed budget.

Hanger was referring to an accounting trick known as accelerated sales-tax collections. Highly unpopular with retailers, it requires certain merchants to prepay a portion of their July sales-tax remittance one month early.

Hanger also said the raises would prevent the state from funding some good bills related to criminal justice and mental health. He noted, however, that the budget leaders were committed to including a significant mental health package in the spending plan.

As trooper salaries have lagged behind those of other law enforcement agencies, state police have lost an average of 14 troopers a month over the past year. The department has 218 vacancies out of an authorized force of 2,118 troopers.

M. Wayne Huggins, executive director of the Virginia State Police Association, said local and federal law enforcement agencies have been luring away troopers after the state has invested $55,000 to recruit and train each one.

Weve become nothing more than a glorified training academy, Huggins said.

He said the raises, if approved, will help stem those losses.

Its definitely going to, I think, have a major, major impact on the hemorrhaging that weve been experiencing, he said.
The bail bond industry poured $87,000 into the campaign coffers of Maryland politicians in 2016, according to a report released Wednesday by Common Cause Maryland.

The influx of donations  which Common Cause said was significantly larger than in previous years  came as the General Assembly prepared to consider whether to alter or eliminate cash bail for most poor defendants.

The largest portion of the 2016 contributions, $21,000, went to Sen. Robert Zirkin, D-Baltimore County, chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. That panel will play a key role in deciding the fate of the states money-based bail system.

Jennifer Bevan-Dangel, the executive director of Common Cause Maryland, said the report shows how special interests seek special influence in Maryland.

Zirkin said Wednesday that the campaign contributions from the bail bond industry represent a small fraction of the $483,000 he has in his campaign account. The money, he said, has zero to do with how I vote on bills.

I hope people contribute to me because when they look at the whole picture they respect me as a legislator, and they respect that I make decisions based on what is the best public policy, he said. And if they dont, then they shouldnt contribute to me.

Zirkin said he is in favor of reforming the bail system, and believes the state needs more pretrial services, including drug and mental health treatment.

According to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, Maryland politicians received more from the bail bonds industry between 2011 and 2014 than their counterparts across the country. The advocacy group said Maryland took in $168,166, ahead of second-place California ($114,875) and third-place Texas ($78,005).

The Common Cause report says that Gov. Larry Hogan, R,took in $11,300 from the bail bond industry in 2016, the second-highest total after Zirkin. Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford, R, followed, with $6,000.

Sen. Anthony Muse, D-Prince Georges, and Sen. Wayne Norman, R-Harford, who both sit on judicial proceedings, each received $5,000. Del. Joseph Vallario, D-Prince Georges, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which must approve any bills dealing with bail reform before they can be considered by the full House, received $2,250 from the industry.

The report does not detail donations by groups that are pushing for a reduction in the use of cash bail, which advocates say is discriminatory because it keeps poor people locked up awaiting trial on relatively minor charges while more affluent defendants can post bond and return home until they have to appear in court.

An official with the Maryland Bail Bonds Association did not return an email seeking comment.

Lawmakers in Annapolis have tried to make major changes to the bail system for almost a decade. The issue came to the forefront last year after five Democratic lawmakers asked Attorney General Brian Frosh, D, to weigh in on whether the current system was constitutional. Several class-action lawsuits have been filed in San Francisco and the suburbs of St. Louis over whether cash bail unfairly discriminates against the poor.

Frosh said the system could violate due process. As a result of Froshs decision, District Court Chief Judge John Morrissey advised judges and commissioners in October to impose the least onerous conditions on those awaiting trial.

Frosh also asked the Maryland Court of Appeals, the states highest court, to consider a rule change to ensure that defendants who arent a public safety risk dont remain in jail simply because they are poor. The court has said it will act on the request next month. In the meantime, lawmakers have said they plan to propose legislation this session to address bail reform.

On Tuesday, members of the House Judiciary Committee took a field trip to Anne Arundel County District Court to observe the bail system firsthand. They watched as defendants appeared on a flat-screen television on the side wall of Courtroom No. 2. A camera, mounted on the top of the screen, faced Judge H. Richard Duden III, who decided whether the defendants should remain in jail or be released.

A 16-year-old charged with first-degree assault and reckless endangerment was ordered held with no bond. The prosecutor said the teenager, who was living in a motel in Laurel, was allegedly involved in drug distribution and prostitution and supplied his victim with drugs.

Duden decided to lower the bond of a 33-year-old Prince Frederick man charged with driving under the influence of drugs after his public defender said that any bail is no bail for him  meaning he had no money to pay even a small amount.

Duden told the defendant that he would have to pay 10 percent of a $1,000 bond to get out of jail, and could not drive or use drugs. He would be subject to an in-person meeting with a case manager each week; one check with the case manager by phone each week; two mandatory urine tests each month on a random basis; and other stipulations made by the court or case manager.

After the bail review hearings ended, Duden told his class of legislators that they had witnessed the most difficult thing a district court judge faces.

Del. Pam Queen, D-Montgomery, asked Duden why he didnt consider house arrest instead of bail for the Prince Frederick man, who had no job and no income. He said house arrest is something that is generally used with more violent crimes.

I didnt consider it, but maybe I should have, Duden said.
NowFloats, a discovery platform which helps businesses get online and find more customers using proprietary auto-SEO technology, has closed a Series B funding of USD 10 Million via Iron Pillar and IIFL (Seed Ventures Fund I & Cash Opportunities Fund), along with Blume Ventures & Omidyar Network, who had invested in Series A as well. The company plans to invest this capital primarily on Customer Support & Engagement and on increasing the value proposition of the technology provided to SMEs.

NowFloats will invest the capital to further improve the new technology stack that drives customer support, it would now be a hybrid of automated and human interaction support system. Also NowFloats plans to enable the larger enterprises to leverage automated SEO on top of their existing websites. With respect to SMEs, NowFloats aims to now also go beyond discovery by simplifying online and offline transactions. The company plans to continue to invest in Digital Desh Drive which has been in instrumental in understanding the market, especially the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India.



Commenting on the announcement, Neeraj Sabharwal, Co-founder, NowFloats said, At NowFloats, we have always believed that an SME needs to talk about their business regularly (talk about product features, new offers/events, reviews, etc.) to attract more customers online. Our product is geared towards making it as simple as possible for business owners to interact and add updates to their online identity. This is what primarily fuels the automated SEO engine of NowFloats. We started with simple SMS as the tool to manage website, and today 95% of our merchants prefer using Boost (a smartphone app) to manage their online business. There are also other players in the market which enable SMEs with an online identity that only aggregates basic business information and their product catalog. This strategy does not drive ROI over a longer time-span as the content becomes non-relevant with time. We at NowFloats want to re-define the market for business websites, where the business owners only have to worry about the content on the website, and the technology takes care of other aspects like design, performance, discovery (SEO), marketing (SEM), enabling transactions (payment gateway) and customer/lead management, etc. We are investing in creating a product that would be one day used by all the SMEs across the globe, and built out of India.



Adding his bit, Anand Prasanna, Managing Partner, Iron Pillar, said, NowFloats focus on product, and fundamental business sense resonates well with Iron Pillars beliefs that great businesses need to be built on solid foundations. We love working closely with this high energy team, and are eager to help them specifically in structuring and focusing sales efforts, growth initiatives in the next few years, and improving pre-identified key business metrics. We also look forward to help building the business meaningfully beyond India through Iron Pillars networks, especially in Asia Pacific and the US.



The USP of NowFloats lies in the fact that its a frictionless mobile technology that connects online consumers to local offline businesses. With innovation deeply embedded in its very DNA, every 3 months NowFloats travels across India to uncover new tech behaviors and smartphone adoption, via its Digital Desh initiative.



Presently, the online discovery platform has an instant presence across 230,000+ customers, among which up to 80% are paid customers across all channels. The platform also registers over 11 million unique visitors a month, and has 474K unprompted SKUs in its credit.



Furthermore, NowFloats has a host of prestigious industry recognitions to its name, including the Microsoft BizSpark award, Nasscom Emerge 50 2013 award, Best App award by Google, and several other equally impressive titles.
Percept ICE, the Special Projects, Events and Conventions Domain Company of Percept Limited, bagged the prestigious mandate of conceptualizing and executing a Camp Jeep Off Road Drive Experience for the very first time in India. The Camp Jeep Off Road Drive Experience was held from 9th December to 11th December, 2016 at a private farmhouse located in the Bandhwari Village mapped around 20 kilometers from Delhi on Gurgaon-Faridabad highway. This unique event witnessed an attendance of 300 people over 3 days.

The legendary American carmaker, Jeep, made its entry into the Indian car market a few months ago and launched its highly capable cars in this extremely competitive market space, which is already occupied by a number of luxury car makers. Recently, the company organized a Jeep camp in the suburb of the Indian capital city which offered the look and feel of the brand and an off road experience for potential customers.

The aim of the Camp Jeep Off Road Drive Experience event was to provide a firsthand experience of the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and Grand Cherokee through a customised track to potential customers in an endeavour to convert their interest into purchase.

Percept ICEs scope of work spanned planning, designing and executing the entire First ever Camp Jeep Off Road Experience in India which included conceptualizing the theme, customizing the decor, handling all logistics inclusive of food & beverage, managing Guest Invites and RSVPs, seamless co-ordination between the Nikhil Jaspal - design partner and client on the track design, managing the entire venue set up, show flow management, and overseeing a flawless technical production of the event.

The USP of the event was the event set up which showcased a luxury feel and yet displayed an adventurous DNA that matched the brands positioning. Additionally the client vendor designed the track in a unique jeep off road experience manner such that only jeep cars can drive through it.

Commenting on the success of the event, Nazneen Karimi, Chief Executive Officer, Percept ICE said, It was an honour to design and execute the primary event of the Camp Jeep off Road Drive Experience in India. We are always committed when it comes to delivering on our clients expectation and we are happy that we could deliver on both the client and guests expectations on ground. The experience of the off road drive was magnificent and left every attendee on a high. Kudos to the Percept team for their dedication and hard work for making this event a grand and successful one.
The last 9 months have been action-packed for Publicis Media India which has added over Rs.1000 crore in billings. Publicis Media India through its brands Starcom, Zenith, Performics.Resultrix and Performics.Convonix will now handle a number of new accounts which includes Parle Products, Mars, Fiat Chrysler, Citibank, OnePlus, Singapore Tourism Board, Fox Media amongst others. Publicis Media also won multi-agency pitches to retain its two key accounts, Micromax and Sun Pharma. Sun Pharma has in fact, added to the mandate, digital duties as well.

Anupriya Acharya, Group CEO of Publicis Media India said, Its a great beginning for the Publicis Media proposition in India. Under the new structure, we have a great team of very energetic and highly talented leaders that run very motivated teams. We have been able to also focus our product and services to better serve our clients requirements and priorities. Our refreshed narrative on scale and added synergies on best in class data, tools and insights have all been well received by our clients. And I believe that these account wins are also a testimony to the same. As we move ahead in 2017, our focus will be on scale, and future ready services like Performance marketing, Data and Analytics, Content, that provide business transforming solutions. We are already some of these services to markets like the US and the UK and this international hub helps us to scale up talent in these areas quite quickly.

Publicis Media India has also won many awards in year 2016 such as the Festival of Media Asia Pacific (FOMA) Gold for Tata AIG, Grand Prix at Campaign India Digital Crest Awards for work on Nestle India, Gold at Asia Pacific Customer Engagement Forum Awards for McVities (United Biscuits), Innovative Agency of the Year at the Media Ace Awards for Performics and Radio Advertiser of The Year at Golden Mikes.
DB Corp Limited (DBCL), Indias largest print media company and home to flagship newspapers Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Divya Marathi and Saurashtra Samachar, announced today that the company has appointed Mr. Satyajit Sengupta as Chief Corporate Sales & Marketing Officer.

Satyajit will be responsible for spearheading the Corporate Sales & Marketing Vertical for Dainik Bhaskar. He brings with him over 18 years of extensive experience in print media  a segment that enabled him to chart a high-growth revenue trajectory for the organisations he has been a part of. He also has to his credit several awards and recognitions particularly during his tenure with the Times Group, which lasted for almost 12 years.

Prior to joining Dainik Bhaskar, Satyajit served as Associate Vice President, The Times Group in Gurgaon where he was responsible for leading the Metro Response team and generating revenue for all Times Group publications from corporate clients. At the Times Group, he was also responsible for the Telecom verticle as the National Verticle Head and earlier served as National Response Head  Magazines. Hestarted his career with the Indian Express Newspapers Bombay Limited in 1998.

Satyajit is an Economics (Hons) Graduate from Shri Ram College of Commerce and has a PGDM from IIM Bangalore.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Girish Agarwaal, Non-Executive Director, DB Corp said We welcome Satyajit on board. The expertise, experience and knowledge that Satyajit brings to DBCL further strengthens our Marketing and Corporate Sales function and reinforces our position as one of Indias largest and dynamic media conglomerates. Dainik Bhaskar is at an exciting stage of growth with several milestones to be achieved. We are confident that his proven ability to drive strategic growth, explore exciting avenues, and his leadership skills will contribute to the Groups ambition of further strengthening the Bhaskar brand as we move forward.

Mr. Satyajit Sengupta, Chief Corporate Sales & Marketing Officer said, I am excited to lead an immensely passionate and talented group pf prefessionals at Dainik Bhaskar. Dainik Bhaskar is extremely well positioned to expand and tap significant opportunities within the Indian media landscape. I look forward to working with the entire Bhaskar team as we embark on this exciting journey."
The Federal Council

Bern, 25.01.2017 - On 25 January 2017, the Federal Council approved an agreement between Switzerland and France on the tax system applicable to the EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg (EAP) as well as a protocol to the agreement detailing how the French Directorate General for Civil Aviation will be compensated for services provided in the Swiss area of EAP.

At its meeting on 25 January 2017, the Federal Council approved the agreement between Switzerland and France on the tax system applicable to the EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg. Switzerland is now ready to sign and implement the agreement as soon as the Council of the European Union has accepted the application for VAT exemption which France submitted in 2015, which is to allow Swiss value-added tax is to be levied in the Swiss area of EAP. The European Commission has recently submitted a proposal to France in this regard. The agreement will be made public as soon as it has been signed.

The Federal Council has also approved a protocol to be concluded between the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation and Frances Directorate General for Civil Aviation, which details how the French Directorate General for Civil Aviation will be compensated for services provided in the Swiss area of the airport. This protocol to the agreement will be signed in the days to come.

2 November 2016 saw the successful conclusion of negotiations between France and Switzerland begun in early 2016 to seek an intergovernmental agreement on the tax system applying to the EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse. The agreement provides a legal framework for what was agreed in the joint declaration adopted by the then President of the Swiss Confederation, Johann N. Schneider-Ammann, and the President of the French Republic, Francois Hollande, in Colmar, France, on 23 January 2016.

The main points of the agreement are:

- Swiss value-added tax is to be levied in the Swiss area of EAP.

- France and Switzerland will split the receipts from corporation tax paid by EAP, with all stakeholders taking a share.

- The French Directorate General for Civil Aviation will be compensated for services provided in the Swiss area of EAP.

- Companies in the Swiss area will pay French income tax and Swiss capital tax but will not therefore be liable for the main local ancillary taxes levied in France, to which the Swiss tax is considered equivalent.

This agreement enables the establishment of a long-term legal regime for tax, ensuring that the airport and its businesses remain attractive, and promoting their development in line with Switzerlands objectives. Under the new regime, the overall tax burden on businesses in the Swiss area will remain similar to what it is currently. The government of Basel-City, which was closely involved in the negotiation of the agreement, has reiterated its full support to the Federal Council for the implementation of the arrangements. The agreement will enter into force as soon as France has completed its internal approval procedures.

Address for enquiries

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info@eda.admin.ch

Publisher

The Federal Council

https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html



Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html



General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications; General Secretariat DETEC

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Federal Department of Finance

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We can help you make sense of the agribusiness industry, extending from chemicals and fertilizers used as inputs into agriculture, to the commodities, food and by-products that are an output to farming, with policy and regulation applied at every step of the value chain.
Soriano was a global figure in 20th-century art whose work resonated with European and Latin American surrealism, said curator Elizabeth Thompson Goizueta, a faculty member in the Boston College Romance Languages and Literatures Department.

Sorianos early work in the geometric abstract movement met with great acclaim in Cuba in the 1950s but it was his later, biomorphic and organic imagery that launched him on an international path. The Artist as Mystic seeks to reveal the complete trajectory of his uvre, both the physical in his early geometrics as well as the metaphysical in his later search for the universal.

An English-Spanish catalogue edited by Goizueta includes contributions from American, Cuban-American, and Cuban scholars, and examines the effect of the Cuban Revolution on Sorianos art as well as his aesthetics in general.

It begins with a contextual analysis of Sorianos relationship to the Cuban avant-garde and his position within the emerging mid-century modernists. Essays trace his evolving styles, examining his work through the lens of surrealism and European and Latin American transnational aesthetics. The idea of exile and struggle is a leitmotif, framed within questions of transcendence and spirituality. The contributions suggest both Sorianos rootedness in Latin America and his striving for universality.
The Parliaments committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises that is investigating the controversial presidential handshake involving the payment of 6 billion shillings to 42 government officials is set to meet the commissioner general Uganda revenue including and other key URA staff.

Yesterday the committee, meet the the mover of this motion Michael Tusiime presented evidence of cash transactions showing that the said money was shared by 35 beneficiaries contrary to the stated number of 42.

Now according to the committee chair Hon Abdul Katuntu,the committee has a lot of people to meet including the president himself.

He said that other people to meet include the secretary to treasury, governor bank of Uganda, minister of finance,Uganda low society , NGO forum, director Budget and others.

This committee is meant to windup its investigations with in two month.
The Jobs Minister has warned that any laws to ban ticket touting may not benefit Irish customers.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor says any measures could mean tickets going on sale for higher prices abroad, instead of in Ireland.
Modified On Feb 24, 2017 06:59 PM By Rachit Shad for Nissan GTR

Creates worlds largest-ever outline of a country map on the dry lakebed of the Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan

Over the years, the Nissan GT-R has broken many a track record around the globe. It landed on Indian shores in December last year and, in less than two months, it has achieved a record-breaking feat here. To celebrate Indias 68th Republic Day, the beast from the east is set to enter the Limca Book of Records for carving out the worlds largest-ever outline of the map of a country.

Nissan chose the level and dry lakebed of the Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan to achieve this unique feat. The company said that the soil on the surface was soft enough to leave a deep impression for cameras to capture the making of Indias map. The dimensions of the map were about 3km in length and 2.8km in width, with a total periphery of 14.7km. Officials from the Limca Book of Records were present on site to validate the process. Once certified, this one-of-a-kind record will find a place in the 2018 Limca Book of Records.

The Nissan GT-R is nothing less than a benchmark in the world of performance cars. It is renowned the world over for its precise and crisp responses. Based on this alone, the GT-R was an ideal candidate to recreate the twisty borderline of our country in shrunken proportions. To ensure accuracy, the map was created by plotting the co-ordinates on a GPS device, and it required multiple laps to carve out the best approximation of the actual map.

Popularly known as the Godzilla of the automotive world, the Nissan GT-R is priced at Rs 1.99 crore (ex-showroom, Delhi) in India. It comes as a direct import from Japan and is available for sale and service at Indias first official Nissan High Performance Centre (NHPC) in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

Recommended Read:

Nissan GT-R: 5 Things You Didn't Know!

Official: Nissan GT-R Pre-Bookings Open In India

Nissan Launches GT-R At Rs 1.99 Crore

Read More on : GT-R price
Published On Jan 25, 2017 12:55 PM By Khan Mohd.

We caught the lifestyle pickup truck from Toyota, the Hilux, ferrying on Delhi roads. For the uninitiated, the new Fortuner is based on the pickup and this reason is strong enough to get anyone curious about it. The Hilux received the next-gen model months before the new Fortuner was launched. It might be an unheard term in this part of the world but the Hilux isnt an alien term globally, and has proven its worth since its inception in 1968. Till now, over 16 million units of the Hilux have been sold worldwide.

As the Hilux shares most of the parts with the Fortuner and the Innova Crysta, assembling the Hilux in India shouldnt be a difficult task for the Japanese automaker. Since the Fortuner 4x4 version is priced above Rs 30 lakh, expect a similar price point for this monster.

The lifestyle vehicles have lately become more important, with the fast changing perspective of Indian buyers no longer viewing a vehicle just as a source to commute from point A to B. With the number of millennials increasing, the buying capacity of the market has gone up. People are now more open to opt for vehicles like hot hatches, compact SUVs, executive saloons, lifestyle pickups and other premium cars.

Not only Toyota, we think the other globally recognised pickup trucks like the Ford Ranger and the Chevrolet Colorado should also be considered for introduction in India as the market is fast developing an appetite for this.

The Ford Ranger has been rallying around the globe for several generations now. Sharing several cues with the Ford Everest/Endeavour, the Ranger is no short of a practical vehicle as it carries the charismatic looks, powerful engines and proven capabilities of the Endy. Having started its journey in 1983, the Rangers price can be expected to fall near the Trend AWD version of the Endeavour (Rs 26.6 lakh).

Similarly, the Colorado lifestyle pickup truck is yet another pickup-cousin of an SUV, the Trailblazer. Showcased at the 2016 New Delhi Auto Expo, it was meant to assess the eyeballs it manages to grab, and it certainly did catch enough of them. Introducing the Colorado in India shouldnt be difficult as Chevy already sells the Trailblazer and the pickup shares most of the structure with the SUV.

Presently, we have the Tata Xenon XT and Mahindra Scorpio Getaway in this segment, not to forget the lately launched Isuzu D-Max V-Cross. Among the three, its the D-Max that costs the maximum  Rs 13.30 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Lets know which one is your favourite lifestyle pickup in the comments below.
The following companies are subsidiares of Novartis: 1 A Pharma GmbH, Abadia Retuerta S.A, Admune Therapeutics, Advanced Accelerator Applications, Advanced Accelerator Applications, Advanced Accelerator Applications International SA, Advanced Accelerator Applications S.A., Advanced Accelerator Applications S.r.l., Advanced Accelerator Applications USA Inc., Aeropharm GmbH, Alcon, Alcon  Couvreur NV, Amblyotech, Amblyotech Inc., Arctos Medical, Arctos Medical AG, Australia Pty Ltd, Beijing Novartis Pharma Co. Ltd., BioMedical Research Co. Ltd., CELLforCURE, Cadent Therapeutics, Cadent Therapeutics Cambridge, Cellerys, Cellerys AG, CellforCure, Chiron Corporation, Ciba-Geigy Japan Limited, Co. Ltd, CoStim Pharmaceuticals, CoStim Pharmaceuticals Inc., Coalesce Product Development Limited, Corthera, Development Co. Ltd., EBEWE Pharma Ges.m.b.H Nfg. KG, Encore Vision, Endocyte, Endocyte Inc., Eon Labs Inc., Farmanova Saglik Hizmetleri Ltd, Fougera Pharmaceuticals, Fougera Pharmaceuticals Inc, Gyroscope Therapeutics, HEXAL AG, Hexal, IDB Holland BV, Iberica S.L.U., Ilaclari Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S, JSC Sandoz, Japat AG, Kedalion Therapeutics Inc., Lek Pharmaceuticals d.d., Lek S.A., Manufacturing Pte Ltd , Navigate BioPharma Services Inc, Neutec Pharma Limited, Novartis (Hellas) S.A.C.I., Novartis (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Novartis (Taiwan) Co. Ltd, Novartis (Thailand) Limited, Novartis Argentina S.A., Novartis Australia Pty Ltd, Novartis Austria GmbH, Novartis Biociencias S.A., Novartis Biosciences Peru S.A., Novartis Bioventures AG, Novartis Business Services GmbH, Novartis Capital Corporation, Novartis Chile S.A., Novartis Corporation, Novartis Corporation Sdn. Bhd., Novartis Deutschland GmbH, Novartis Ecuador S.A., Novartis Farma S.p.A., Novartis Farma  Produtos Farmaceuticos S.A., Novartis Farmaceutica S.A, Novartis Farmaceutica S.A. de C.V., Novartis Finance Corporation, Novartis Finance S.A., Novartis Finance Services Ltd, Novartis Finland Oy Espoo, Novartis Gene Therapies, Novartis Gene Therapies EU Limited, Novartis Gene Therapies Inc., Novartis Grimsby Limited, Novartis Groupe France S.A., Novartis Healthcare A/S, Novartis Healthcare Philippines Inc., Novartis Healthcare Private Limited, Novartis Holding AG, Novartis Hungary Healthcare Limited Liability Company, Novartis India Limited, Novartis Inflammasome Research, Novartis Integrated Services Limited, Novartis International AG, Novartis International Pharmaceutical Investment AG, Novartis Investment Ltd, Novartis Investments S.a r.l., Novartis Ireland Limited, Novartis Israel Ltd, Novartis Korea Ltd., Novartis Middle East FZE, Novartis Netherlands B.V., Novartis Neva LLC, Novartis New Zealand Ltd, Novartis Norge AS, Novartis Ophthalmics AG, Novartis Optogenetics Research Inc., Novartis Overseas Investments AG, Novartis Pharma (Logistics) Inc., Novartis Pharma (Pakistan) Limited, Novartis Pharma AG, Novartis Pharma B.V. , Novartis Pharma GmbH, Novartis Pharma GmbH, Novartis Pharma K.K., Novartis Pharma LLC, Novartis Pharma Maroc SA, Novartis Pharma NV, Novartis Pharma Produktions GmbH, Novartis Pharma S.A.E., Novartis Pharma S.A.S., Novartis Pharma Schweiz AG, Novartis Pharma Schweizerhalle AG, Novartis Pharma Services AG, Novartis Pharma Services Romania S.R.L., Novartis Pharma Stein AG, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Limited, Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Limited, Novartis Poland Sp. z o.o., Novartis Portugal S.G.P.S. Lda., Novartis Ringaskiddy Limited, Novartis Saglik Gida ve Tarim Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S, Novartis Saudi Ltd., Novartis Securities Investment Ltd, Novartis Services Inc., Novartis Slovakia s.r.o., Novartis South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Novartis Sverige AB, Novartis UK Limited, Novartis US Foundation, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Inc, Novartis Vietnam Company Limited, Novartis de Colombia S.A., Novartis de Venezuela S.A., Novartis s.r.o., Oriel Therapeutics Inc., PT. Novartis Indonesia, Protez Pharmaceuticals, Pte Ltd, Research Inc, Salutas Pharma GmbH, Sandoz A/S, Sandoz AG, Sandoz B.V., Sandoz Canada Inc., Sandoz Egypt Pharma S.A.E., Sandoz Farmaceutica S.A., Sandoz Farmaceutica Lda., Sandoz GmbH, Sandoz Hungary Limited Liability Company, Sandoz Ilac Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Sandoz Inc, Sandoz Industrial Products S.A, Sandoz International GmbH, Sandoz K.K., Sandoz Limited, Sandoz Manufacturing Inc., Sandoz NV, Sandoz Pharma K.K, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals AG, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals d.d., Sandoz Philippines Corporation, Sandoz Polska Sp. z o.o. , Sandoz Private Limited, Sandoz Pty Ltd, Sandoz S.A. de C.V, Sandoz S.A.S., Sandoz S.R.L., Sandoz S.p.A., Sandoz South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Sandoz Ukraine LLC, Sandoz d.o.o. farmaceutska industrija, Sandoz do Brasil Industria Farmaceutica Ltda, Sandoz s.r.o., Selexys Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Shanghai Novartis Trading Ltd., Societe par actions SANDOZ, Spinifex Pharmaceuticals, The Medicines Company, The Medicines Company, Triangle International Reinsurance Limited, Trinity River Insurance Co Ltd, Vedere Bio, Vedere Bio ll, Xiidra, Ziarco, and Ziarco Group Limited.

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Ulstein Verft in Norway has been awarded the contract to build a hybrid ferry for Color Line to service the Sandefjord to Strmstad route, starting in 2019.

She will be the largest plug-in hybrid ferry, 160 meters long and have a capacity for 2,000 passengers and about 500 cars.

The ferry is a plug-in hybrid, where the batteries are recharged via a shorepower with so-called green electricity from shore or can be recharged onboard by the ship's generators.

The vessel, with the working name Color Hybrid, will run on battery power into and out of the fjord to Sandefjord. Thus not generating any air emissions in the area, nor engine or exhaust sounds.

Commenting on the contract, Ulstein CEO Gunvor Ulstein said: This is an important milestone for us, and we are very pleased that we have been chosen as partner in this very exciting project.

This is a welcome order for Ulstein, which has seen its workload for the offshore market drop.

The building cost is said to be approximately $125 million (NOK 1 billion).
Regent Seven Seas Cruises today announced 2018 deployment along with early 2019, with 113 total itineraries across four ships.

Twenty-eight maiden calls are scheduled, according to a statement from the company.

Weve created a highly impressive array of voyages worldwide that will delight and awe our guests, said Jason Montague, president and CEO of Regent Seven Seas Cruises. For the intrepid traveler, we also introduced a new Grand Voyage that delves into the Northern Atlantic and Arctic Circle, as well as our 13th annual World Cruise. There is no better inclusive-luxury experience than Regent and we look forward to sharing the world with our guests.

The Seven Seas Explorer returns to Europe for a second consecutive summer season in May 2018. The ship will sail throughout the Mediterranean, North and Baltic seas on seven- to 12-night voyages and make maiden calls at Portimao, Portugal; Lysekil, Sweden; and Bodo and Haugesund, Norway.

The Seven Seas Explorer then starts its maiden Africa season on two epic voyages that showcase the continents west coast, a 24-night, Lisbon (Portugal)-to-Cape Town (South Africa) itinerary, followed by a 15-night, round-trip New Years voyage. The ship then heads west to South America, around to Los Angeles via the western coast.

The Seven Seas Voyager also will sail the Mediterranean in summer 2018, with many seven-night itineraries with maiden calls at Korcula and Hvar, Croatia; Saint-Raphael, France; Lipari, Sicily, Italy. The ship will winter in the Caribbean, alternating seven- to 12-night, Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries.

The Seven Seas Mariner will be in Alaska in summer 2018. The ship then moves to Asia and Australia. From Sydney, guests can board the Seven Seas Mariner on the Grand Aussie Adventure, a new 36-night circumnavigation of the continent, sailing Dec. 15, 2018.

And, the Seven Seas Navigator, will offer three programs, starting with an 89-night, Grand Arctic Splendor voyage that begins and ends in New York. The Grand Artic Splendor voyage is comprised of six sailings that call at 63 non-repeating destinations in Canada and New England, Greenland and Iceland, North and Baltic Seas, as well as into the Arctic Circle to reach the White Sea.

The ship will then sail a range of Canada and New England cruises between New York and Montreal.
The U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia granted the NCUAs motion to dismiss an Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) lawsuit against the agency and its member business lending (MBL) rule Tuesday. CUNA, along with National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU), filed an amicus brief in support of dismissal.

The court made the right decision in granting NCUAs motion to dismiss ICBAs groundless lawsuit. We had maintained all along that this was nothing more than a frivolous and ill-conceived effort by the bankers. Todays decision is a clear message that NCUA acted well within its statutory authority when it issued its member business lending rule. The CUNA/League system and NAFCU applaud todays ruling because it is a huge win for Main Street businesses which look to credit unions to secure much-needed access to capital, said Dan Berger, president/CEO of NAFCU, and Jim Nussle, president/CEO of CUNA.

Perhaps the bankers should put more effort into serving their own customers instead of filing meritless lawsuits that only result in wasted time and money.

The court dismissed the suit on procedural grounds but also indicated the suit would have been dismissed on the merits as well.
Lets face it, 2016 was tough. International unrest, divisive politics and banking scandals painted a pretty bleak picture of the world (and I didnt even mention the untimely deaths of Prince, Juan Gabriel, Carrie Fisher). It wasnt smooth sailing for credit unions either. Yes, membership grew at the fastest rate for a generation but more than 200 credit unions closed or merged nationally, and billions of dollars were invested in FinTech  products and services designed specifically to disrupt our market.

The coming 12 months wont be any easier. Put simply, credit unions must adapt and evolve to meet the challenges ahead. But there is a core element of our movement that must remain true throughout: supporting the communities we serve.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan.16), countless credit union members, advocates and employees demonstrated that social commitment by volunteering in their communities. Im proud to say more than 400 CUNA Mutual Group employees signed up to volunteer, although several inches of freezing rain in the Midwest put a damper on some of our plans.

Across our country and beyond, it was a day when roadsides were cleared of litter, community centers spruced up, and food pantries restocked. But just as importantly it was an opportunity for us, as a collective credit union movement, to demonstrate firsthand that our communities really matter. That member or not, it is we who belong to them, not the other way round.

Of course, for all credit unions it is a fine line to walk. As not-for-profit financial cooperatives, we must cautiously balance our business needs with those of our founding social principles, particularly in times of economic and legislative uncertainty when it can be easy to prioritize the former. However, as MLK Day volunteers will likely attest, it is both a professional and personal privilege to give back through work. This cannot be relegated to something we do just once or twice a year.

Dr. King himself once said, Lifes most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others? I truly believe that as we face the challenges of 2017 and beyond, continued credit union growth and prosperity can only be achieved by emphasizing our heritage. By demonstrating  time and again  who we are and what we do. There will always be competitors, and there will always be difficulties, but in the financial arena, it will always be credit unions that put people first.
Talking Points

- German business confidence fell unexpectedly in January, hitting its lowest level since September

- The Munich-based Ifo economic institute said its business climate index fell to 109.8 from 111.0 in December; the January reading compared with a consensus forecast of a rise to 111.3

- However, the news was shrugged off by traders in EURUSD, which climbed gently

- See the DailyFX Economic Calendar and see what live coverage for key event risk impacting FX markets is scheduled for the week on the DailyFX Webinar Calendar.

German business confidence fell unexpectedly in January, according to Germanys Ifo institute. It said its business climate index, based on a monthly survey of around 7,000 firms, fell to 109.8 from 111.0 in December rather than rising to 111.3 as expected by analysts.

The German economy made a less confident start to the year Ifo President Clemens Fuest said in a statement. Companies expressed greater satisfaction with their current business situation, but were less optimistic about their six-month business outlook, he added. Ifos current conditions index was in line with the consensus forecast, at 116.9, but its expectations index hit 103.2 rather than the 105.8 predicted.

Nonetheless, EURUSD edged higher in Europe Wednesday.

Chart: EURUSD 5 Timeframe (January 25, 2017)

According to Ifo economist Klaus Wohlrabe, there has been no impact so far on German business sentiment from the first few days in office of US President Donald Trump. He said German firms were waiting for actions from Trump, not just words, and that nothing has yet been decided on protectionist measures. There is no Trump effect seen in these numbers as export expectations have risen, even in the car industry, he said.

Trump has warned German car companies such as BMW that he plans to impose a border tax of 35% on vehicles imported to the US.

--- Written by Martin Essex, Analyst and Editor

To contact Martin, email him at martin.essex@ig.com

Don't trade FX but want to learn more? Read the DailyFX Trading Guides.
Emirates destinations

Flights to South Africa

The sheer diversity of South Africa, a country with 11 official languages, has earned it the nickname of the Rainbow nation, and no matter where youre headed once your flight to South Africa lands, youll find beauty and wonder at every turn.



First, theres the urban sprawl of Johannesburg, a buzzing metropolis with a thriving dining and nightlife scene, and a favourite celebrity haunt. Then you have Durban, a quieter destination on the coast, with beach-side cafes, restaurants and surf shops. And then, right at the southern-most tip of Africa is Cape Town, a melting pot of cultures, with beautiful beaches, vineyards and national parks, all overseen by the iconic Table Mountain.



Cape Town is one of the best destinations for learning more about South Africas past, and the history of apartheid. From the coast you can take a ferry to Robben Island, where the late former president Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 27 years, and see the cell where he was imprisoned. On the mainland, cultural institutions like the renowned District Six Museum shine a light on the countrys past. Regardless, South Africa is a resilient nation, filled with welcoming residents who are always looking to the future.



Beyond the city boundaries, the natural beauty of the landscape is breath-taking, as is the sheer scope of wildlife that inhabits it. For a true bucket list experience, book a safari at the Kruger National Park. This nature reserve is one of the largest in Africa, and the best place in the world to see the continents Big Five: elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo. For a more foodie-focused experience of the outdoors, the wine routes from Cape Town cannot be beaten.


WASHINGTON, DC -- Publishers of scholarly journals should take additional steps to get more women to serve as peer reviewers of manuscripts, according to a new analysis by the American Geophysical Union showing women across all age groups have fewer opportunities than men to participate in this career-building activity.

Peer review is an essential part of scholarly publishing and building a scientific career. Scientific journals rely on reviews of manuscripts by experts to ensure the standards, quality and significance of the papers published in their journals. Reviewing manuscripts helps scientists develop their own writing and expertise and foster relationships with others in the field.

Now, a new comment piece by AGU authors published in the journal Nature finds women are less likely to contribute to this important activity than their male counterparts across all age groups.

The new research finds that from 2012 to 2015 there were fewer female reviewers for papers published in AGU journals than expected for most age groups. Overall, women accounted for 20 percent of all peer reviewers. This was significantly lower than the percentage of women who were accepted first authors on journal papers - 27 percent - and lower than the percentage of AGU members who are women - 28 percent. These differences extended across most age groups. In contrast, papers with women first authors were accepted at a higher rate than papers with male first authors across all age groups.

The lower number of female peer reviewers is a result of fewer women being suggested or asked to review journal articles by authors and editors, especially men. Slightly more women across all age groups also declined to be a peer reviewer when asked, according to the new research.

The new analysis considered both age and gender of authors and reviewers. Accounting for age is necessary to explore bias because the proportion of women geoscientists decreases greatly with age.

"With this study, we are really trying to show the data and let people start having a conversation that something as little as requesting reviewers can add up to a large impact on people's careers," said Jory Lerback, a former data analyst at AGU and lead author of the comment piece. "Previously, we never even knew this was a problem. Some people may have suspected it and asked about it, but to be able to show this is a real problem is a big moment."

The new analysis highlights the problem of gender bias in science, which has been identified as an important cause of the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Previous studies have found women and minorities are disadvantaged in hiring or promotion decisions, awarding of grants, invitations to conferences, nominations for awards and forming professional collaborations.

Getting more women involved in peer reviewing journal articles could help in advancing and retaining women in science. It also could lead to the inclusion of more diverse viewpoints in scientific studies, said Lerback, who is now a graduate student at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

The results of the new study are likely representative of a trend occurring across scholarly publishing, and highlight the need for journal publishers to make additional efforts to train and educate their staff in combating gender bias in peer review, according to Lerback and co-author Brooks Hanson, AGU's director of publications. For example, publishers should encourage authors and editors to invite more women to review manuscripts, especially younger women.

"A better understanding and awareness of the issue of implicit bias across career-building activities will lead to better advancement and retention of women in the sciences," said AGU President Eric Davidson. "As the world's largest society for Earth and space scientists, AGU is committed to fostering inclusivity and greater diversity in the talent pool, and this study is one of several inclusivity efforts that we are leading. We encourage other organizations and institutions to analyze their own data for biases so that we can better address the issue as a community."

The new study used information from AGU's 20 scientific journals and its member database to look at the gender and age of authors and peer reviewers of papers submitted to the society's journals. AGU published more than 6,000 papers in 2016 and has 60,000 members worldwide.

The authors encourage other scientific societies, funding agencies and publishers to consider similar audits, and consider how other underrepresented groups might be affected in similar ways to women.

"It is relatively easy for us to gather this binary gender data, but other underrepresented groups are not so easily measurable," Lerback said. "As part of the conversation, I hope people will think about these mechanisms affecting women that may affect other underrepresented groups."

###

The American Geophysical Union is dedicated to advancing the Earth and space sciences for the benefit of humanity through its scholarly publications, conferences, and outreach programs. AGU is a not-for-profit, professional, scientific organization representing 60,000 members in 137 countries. Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and our other social media channels.

AGU Press Contacts:

Caitlyn Camacho

+1 (202) 777-7423

ccamacho@agu.org

Nanci Bompey

+1 (202) 777-7524

nbompey@agu.org

University of Utah Press Contact:

Lisa Potter

+1 (801) 585-3093

lisa.potter@utah.edu
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- About one million Americans each year undergo total knee or hip replacements, but complications bring as many as 1 in 12 back to the hospital and result in higher use of post-acute services within 90 days.

To compel hospitals to do better, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) program in April 2016, which penalizes hospitals for readmission of joint replacement patients within 90 days. But a new study finds that CMS and care providers lack the predictive models needed to assess the risks patients face that necessitate readmission.

Some hospital systems are apprehensive of getting penalized inadvertently because CJR's current payment model does not include a risk adjustment method to account for patients' medical complexity or their functional status, said study lead author Amit Kumar, a postdoctoral research associate at the Brown University School of Public Health.

In the new study, Kumar and co-authors tested the three best candidate risk adjustment indices -- including one developed by CMS -- but found that none were useful in predicting readmissions among patients who underwent joint replacement to address osteoarthritis.

There is therefore a need for a model, or index, that can accurately predict the risk of readmission to improve patient care and to help CMS judge hospitals on the quality of their care rather than on how inherently risky their patients are, Kumar said.

"In the absence of that risk adjustment, when sick patients have worse outcomes, hospitals will be penalized," said Kumar, whose paper appears in Arthritis Care & Research. "If we could find an index that was working for this population, we could recommend that -- but unfortunately none of them are working very well."

Three blind models

Kumar and former colleagues at the University of Texas Medical Branch tested the applicability of the three industry-leading indices for predicting mortality and health care utilization: the Charlson Comorbidity Index, the Elixhauser Comorbidity Index and CMS's Hierarchical Condition Category.

He analyzed Medicare data on every beneficiary who survived for 90 days after a total knee or total hip replacement performed because of osteoarthritis between January 2009 and September 2011. In all, the study covered a total of 605,417 patients. The data showed that 46.3 percent of patients were discharged home, 40.9 percent went to skilled nursing facilities and 12.7 percent stayed in inpatient rehabilitation.

Kumar's analysis sought to determine whether any of the three indices made a meaningful difference in predicting where patients would be discharged and whether they'd return to the hospital within 30, 60 or 90 days.

The analysis showed that the indices made no useful difference at all. In fact, none significantly improved upon a "base model" of merely accounting for a mix of demographic and medical factors.

To rate the base model and the three indices, Kumar relied on the calculation of a number called the "C-Statistic," which essentially measures the probability that an index would identify as high risk a person who actually turned out to be high risk. By convention, a C-statistic has to be higher than 0.7 to be considered clinically relevant. The base model scored in the 0.63 to 0.65 range, and the indices only nudged those numbers up in the hundredths place, never rising above the 0.7 threshold.

What to account for

Kumar said the models, which he acknowledged weren't created for this exact purpose, likely break down in the case of joint replacement because they don't account for patients' functional status or other relevant health conditions.

Functional status includes measures of post-operative pain, their ability to move the affected joint and able to perform activities of daily living. Medicare doesn't require hospitals to report it, but in a study earlier this year he was able to obtain inpatient rehabilitation data for patients who had strokes, hip fractures and some joint replacements. Kumar and co-authors found that adding functional status data into a predictive risk model yielded a substantial improvement.

"The reason we do joint replacements is to reduce pain and improve functional status, but this information is missing from our risk indices," Kumar said.

In the current study, Kumar and his co-authors were able to assess other relevant health conditions. He found the health conditions most frequently associated with hospital readmission were diabetes, pulmonary disease, arrhythmias and heart disease. In addition, prior research suggests obesity is likely an important determinant, though that wasn't tracked in the study.

In the near term, Kumar said, CMS should begin tracking functional status of patients who undergo joint replacements. Ultimately, he said, that data should be tried in a new index that will help hospitals assess which patients are at greatest risk to struggle and will help CMS assess which hospitals are taking on such riskier patients.

###

In addition to Kumar, the study's other authors are Amol Karmarkar, Brian Downer, Deepak Adhikari, Dr. Soham Al Snih and Kenneth Ottenbacher of the University of Texas in Galveston and Dr. Amit Vashist of Mountain States Health Alliance in Johnson City, Tenn.

The National Institutes of Health funded the study.
Touch your toes. Feel that familiar tension in your leg muscles? A new Brown University study suggests that one source of the tension might be something that scientists have always known was in your muscle fibers, but never accounted for: fluid.

In every animal, including humans, each muscle fiber is both filled with incompressible fluid and sheathed in a winding mesh of collagen connective tissue. When a muscle stretches in length, the surrounding mesh lengthens and becomes narrower in diameter.

What follows is like what happens in one of those woven "finger trap" toys, reports doctoral student David Sleboda, lead author of the study published in Biology Letters. Just like the toy squeezes your sheathed fingers when you stretch it far enough, the collagen mesh eventually squeezes down on the muscle fiber. Because the fiber is full of incompressible fluid, Sleboda discovered, it's volume pushes back against the narrowing mesh, creating a tension that makes further stretch much more difficult.

"The fundamental problem here is a conflict of volumes," Sleboda said. "The mesh sleeve can change volume but the fiber is a constant volume. Eventually the two are going to run into each other and that's where you see the tension really shoot up."

Other previously posited factors also contribute to the tension you feel when you stretch, Sleboda acknowledged. One is tension created by kinks in the collagen mesh itself and another is a stretchy protein in muscle fibers called titin. But the fluid-filled nature of muscle fibers appear to play a role, too.

A model and a muscle

Sleboda works in the lab of study co-author Thomas Roberts, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who studies muscle structure and performance. Sleboda was looking at electron microscope pictures of animal muscle fibers and their collagen sheaths, and decided to build a simple model himself (he also made his own microscope pictures, including one that recently earned a featured mention on the blog of NIH director Francis Collins).

Materials for Sleboda's model weren't hard to come by. The collagen mesh is well simulated by Techflex braided sheathing (typically used to neatly bundle computer cables together) and the muscle fiber could be made from a water-filled condom bought at the corner drug store.

Rather quickly the model revealed that the fluid played a significant role in the mechanical properties of the muscle - the resistance of the water-filled condom made the Techflex harder to stretch. Scientists have rarely modeled muscle mechanics to account for fluid in the fibers, Sleboda said. They had largely assumed that the fluid played only a chemical role within cells.

But did Sleboda's model really say anything meaningful about actual physiology? He conducted experiments to find out. In the study, Sleboda and Roberts report careful measurements of lengthwise stretch and the resulting tension in not only the model, but also in real bullfrog muscle as they varied the amounts of fluid in the muscle fibers (and the condoms).

The model and the real muscle both displayed the same characteristic curve in their plots: The more fluid volume in the muscle fibers, the more tension for a given length of stretch. The fluid makes a specific, measurable, mechanical difference.

"We could get the exact same behavior using just a simple model," Sleboda said. "Our study provides the first empirical evidence of fluid influencing muscle tension."

Sleboda said his findings argue for accounting for fluid in models of muscle mechanics. For example, after exercise muscle fibers appear to take on more fluid. Adding fluid's effects to models of muscle behavior could then improve understanding of how muscles behave after exercise.

There are also medical conditions that affect how the collagen mesh is structured or performs, Sleboda said. Knowing how it interacts with fluid-filled muscle fibers could also prove important in future research.

Studies in other areas of animal physiology provide a ready-made roadmap, in fact, because fiber-reinforced fluid cavities, called "hydrostatic skeletons" are common structural elements in some organisms, Sleboda said. It's not a stretch to think the lessons learned there, could now be applied to studying muscle.

###

The National Institutes of Health funded the study (grant number AR055295).
Researchers have coated normal fabric with an electroactive material, and in this way given it the ability to actuate in the same way as muscle fibres. The technology opens new opportunities to design "textile muscles" that could, for example, be incorporated into clothes, making it easier for people with disabilities to move. The study, which has been carried out by researchers at Linkoping University and the University of Boras in Sweden, has been published in Science Advances.

Developments in robot technology and prostheses have been rapid, due to technological breakthroughs. For example, devices known as "exoskeletons" that act as an external skeleton and muscles have been developed to reinforce a person's own mobility.

"Enormous and impressive advances have been made in the development of exoskeletons, which now enable people with disabilities to walk again. But the existing technology looks like rigid robotic suits. It is our dream to create exoskeletons that are similar to items of clothing, such as "running tights" that you can wear under your normal clothes. Such device could make it easier for older persons and those with impaired mobility to walk," says Edwin Jager, associate professor at Division of Sensor and Actuator Systems, Linkoping University.

Current exoskeletons are driven by motors or pressurised air and develop power in this way. In the new study, the researchers have instead used the advantages provided by lightweight and flexible fabrics, and developed what can be described as "textile muscles". The researchers have used mass-producible fabric and coated it with an electroactive material. It is in this special coating that the force in the textile muscles arises. A low voltage applied to the fabric causes the electroactive material to change volume, causing the yarn or fibres to increase in length. The properties of the textile are controlled by its woven or knitted structure. Researchers can exploit this principle, depending on how the textile is to be used.

"If we weave the fabric, for example, we can design it to produce a high force. In this case, the extension of the fabric is the same as that of the individual threads. But what happens is that the force developed is much higher when the threads are connected in parallel in the weave. This is the same as in our muscles. Alternatively, we can use an extremely stretchable knitted structure in order to increase the effective extension," says Nils-Krister Persson, associate professor in the Smart Textiles Initiative at the Swedish School of Textiles, University of Boras.

The researchers show in the article that the textile muscles can be used in a simple robot device to lift a small weight. They demonstrate that the technology enables new ways to design and manufacture devices known as "actuators", which - like motors and biological muscles - can exert a force.

"Our approach may make it possible in the long term to manufacture actuators in a simple way and hopefully at a reasonable cost by using already existing textile production technologies. What's more interesting, however, is that it may open completely new applications in the future, such as integrating textile muscles into items of clothing," says Edwin Jager.

###

The research has received financial support from, among others, the Carl Trygger Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, the Smart Textiles Initiative (VINNOVA), the European Scientific Network for Artificial Muscles and the EU's 7th Framework Programme.
New Rochelle, NY, January 25, 2017--Targeting therapeutic genes to the lungs offers the potential to manage serious lung diseases that do not respond to other forms of treatment and to use the lungs as metabolic factories to produce therapeutic proteins for treating systemic diseases. The current status of lung gene therapy, technological advances, future directions, and remaining challenges are presented in a comprehensive review article published in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Human Gene Therapy website until February 28, 2017.

Dolan Sondhi, Katie Stiles, Bishnu De, and Ronald Crystal, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, describe the progress and promise of lung gene therapy in the article entitled "Genetic Modification of the Lung Directed Toward Treatment of Human Disease"). Preclinical and human clinical studies have targeted genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis, complex disorders including asthma, allergy, and lung cancer, infections such as respiratory syncytial virus and Pseudomonas, lung injury, transplant rejection, and pulmonary arterial hypertension. The authors discuss topics including the effects of lung anatomy on successful gene transfer, various viral and non-viral vector gene delivery strategies, routes of gene administration to the lung, as well as approaches to antisense gene silencing.

"This comprehensive review of preclinical and clinical experience with AAV gene transfer to the lung promises to be a tremendous resource for investigators entering this field," says Editor-in-Chief Terence R. Flotte, MD, Celia and Isaac Haidak Professor of Medical Education and Dean, Provost, and Executive Deputy Chancellor, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA.

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About the Journal

Human Gene Therapy, the Official Journal of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy, French Society of Cell and Gene Therapy, German Society of Gene Therapy, and five other gene therapy societies, is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly in print and online. Led by Editor-in-Chief Terence R. Flotte, MD, Celia and Isaac Haidak Professor of Medical Education and Dean, Provost, and Executive Deputy Chancellor, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Human Gene Therapy presents reports on the transfer and expression of genes in mammals, including humans. Related topics include improvements in vector development, delivery systems, and animal models, particularly in the areas of cancer, heart disease, viral disease, genetic disease, and neurological disease, as well as ethical, legal, and regulatory issues related to the gene transfer in humans. Its companion journals, Human Gene Therapy Methods, published bimonthly and focused on the application of gene therapy to product testing and development, and Human Gene Therapy Clinical Development, published quarterly, features data relevant to the regulatory review and commercial development of cell and gene therapy products. Tables of contents for all three publications and a free sample issue may be viewed on the Human Gene Therapy website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, Tissue Engineering, Stem Cells and Development, and Cellular Reprogramming. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.
Fossil with Sketch

The wisdom of crowds is not always perfect. But two scholars at MIT's Sloan Neuroeconomics Lab, along with a colleague at Princeton University, have found a way to make it better.

Their method, explained in a newly published paper, uses a technique the researchers call the "surprisingly popular" algorithm to better extract correct answers from large groups of people. As such, it could refine wisdom-of-crowds surveys, which are used in political and economic forecasting, as well as many other collective activities, from pricing artworks to grading scientific research proposals.

The new method is simple. For a given question, people are asked two things: What they think the right answer is, and what they think popular opinion will be. The variation between the two aggregate responses indicates the correct answer.

"In situations where there is enough information in the crowd to determine the correct answer to a question, that answer will be the one [that] most outperforms expectations," says paper co-author Drazen Prelec, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management as well as the Department of Economics and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

The paper is built on both theoretical and empirical work. The researchers first derived their result mathematically, then assessed how it works in practice, through surveys spanning a range of subjects, including U.S. state capitols, general knowledge, medical diagnoses by dermatologists, and art auction estimates.

Across all these areas, the researchers found that the "surprisingly popular" algorithm reduced errors by 21.3 percent compared to simple majority votes, and by 24.2 percent compared to basic confidence-weighted votes (where people express how confident they are in their answers). And it reduced errors by 22.2 percent compared to another kind of confidence-weighted votes, those taking the answers with the highest average confidence levels.

The paper, "A solution to the single-question crowd wisdom problem," is being published today in Nature. The authors are Prelec; John McCoy, a doctoral student in the MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences; and H. Sebastian Seung, a professor of neuroscience and computer science at Princeton University and a former MIT faculty member. Prelec and McCoy are also researchers in the MIT Neuroeconomics Laboratory, where Prelec is the principal investigator.

A capital idea

To see how the algorithm works in practice, consider a case the researchers tested. A group of people were asked a yes-or-no question: Is Philadelphia the capital of Pennsylvania? They were also asked to predict the prevalence of "yes" votes.

Philadelphia is not the capital of Pennsylvania; the correct answer is Harrisburg. But most people believe Philadelphia is the capital because it is a "large, historically significant city." Moreover, the people who mistakenly thought Philadelphia is the state capital largely thought other people would answer the same way. So they predicted that a very high percentage of people would answer "yes."

Meanwhile, a certain number of respondents knew that Harrisburg is the correct answer. However, a large portion of those people also anticipated that many other people would incorrectly think the capital is Philadelphia. So the people who themselves answered "no" still expected a very high percentage of "yes" answers.

That means the answer to the two questions -- Is Philadelphia the capital? Will other people think so? -- diverged. Almost everyone expected other people to answer "yes." But the actual percentage of people who answered "yes" was significantly lower. For this reason, the "no" answer was the "surprisingly popular" one, since it deviated from expectations of what the answer would be.

And since the "surprisingly popular" answer differed in the "no" direction, that tells us the correct answer: No, Philadelphia is not the capital.

The same principle applies no matter which direction responses deviate from expectations. When people were asked if Columbia is the capital of South Carolina, the opposite happened: More people answered "yes," compared to their expectations of how many people would say "yes." So the surprisingly popular answer was, correctly: Yes, Columbia is the capital.

The wisdom of subsets of crowds

In this sense, the "surprisingly popular" principle is not simply derived from the wisdom of crowds. Instead, it uses the knowledge of a well-informed subgroup of people within the larger crowd as a diagnostically powerful tool that points to the right answer.

"A lot of crowd wisdom weights people equally," McCoy explains. "But some people have more specialized knowledge." And those people -- if they have both correct information and a correct sense of public perception -- make a big difference.

This is the case across scenarios that the researchers tested. Consider art. The researchers asked art professionals to guess the price range for different contemporary artworks. Individually, art experts selected price ranges that were typically too low, perhaps because selecting a lower range is a reasonable, safe answer for an artwork that the expert does not recognize. Collectively, this makes the majority opinion of an expert panel even more biased in the direction of low prices.

And this is where the "surprisingly popular" principle makes a difference, since it does not depend on an absolute majority of expert opinion. Instead, suppose a relatively small number of experts believe a piece sold for $100,000, while anticipating that most other people will think it sold for less. In that case, the evaluations of those experts will lead the "surprisingly popular" answer to be that the artwork was more expensive than most people thought.

"The argument in this paper, in a very rough sense, is that people who expect to be in the minority deserve some extra attention," Prelec says.

Recovering truth

The scholars recognize that the "surprisingly popular" algorithm is not theoretically foolproof in practice. It is at least conceivable that people could anticipate a "surprisingly popular" opinion and try to subvert it, although that would be very hard to execute. It is also the case, as they write in the Nature paper, that "These claims are theoretical and do not guarantee success in practice, as actual respondents will fall short of ideal."

Still, the researchers themselves hope their work will be tested in a variety of settings. In the paper they express confidence that the "surprisingly popular" principle will prove durable, asserting: "Such knowledge can be exploited to recover truth even when traditional voting methods fail."

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Additional background

ARCHIVE:

Views you can use? How online ratings affect your judgment

ARCHIVE:

My connectome, myself

ARCHIVE:

Wisdom of crowds
The combination of CRISPR and analysis of big datasets provides important insights into how the body reacts to a viral attack

Numerous researchers around the globe have begun to use the gene editing tool CRISPR to understand human biology. One of them is Associate Professor Richard Kandasamy at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's (NTNU) Centre of Molecular Inflammation Research (CEMIR). Kandasamy is working on understanding inflammatory reactions that occur in many diseases.

Using large amounts of data, his research reveals what happens minute-by-minute when the immune system responds to a virus. The results of his team's research were recently published in the respected online journal Systems Biology and Applications.

When the flu or any other virus attacks the body, it has to react with lightning speed.

"It's not like defense cells are just sitting around waiting in some corner of the body to gobble up viruses - and boom, it's all taken care of," says Kandasamy.

As Kandasamy explains, "What happens inside the defense cells is a very comprehensive step-by-step reaction. Signals are sent to the nucleus to initiate a production of new proteins that will take part in the inflammatory reaction and that the cell will use to destroy the virus. This all takes some time. But even a tiny chemical modification of proteins in the cell also enables the cell to start reacting super quickly."

He and his team can map these reactions in extreme detail from the moment a virus infects a cell. By frequently repeating the mapping process in the hours after infection, they can create a detailed map of the cell's reactions.

Most scientists who are working on CRISPR research either proceed by analysing one gene at a time, or upwards of 20,000 genes at a time. Kandasamy uses both approaches.

He also uses large computing systems to analyse this complex dataset. This approach of combining modern technologies and mapping reactions minute-by-minute is one of the unique approaches his research group uses to understand reactions in the cell.

Kandasamy came to NTNU through the Onsager Fellowship programme, which is designed to recruit some of the most talented international young researchers to the university. Just before Christmas, Kandasamy was awarded a generous grant for independent research from the Research Council of Norway's FRIPRO programme for promising young researchers.

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Reference: A time-resolved molecular map of the macrophage response to VSV infection. n Richard K Kandasamy, Gregory I Vladimer, Berend Snijder, Andre C Muller, Manuele Rebsamen, Johannes W Bigenzahn, Anna Moskovskich, Monika Sabler, Adrijana Stefanovic, Stefania Scorzoni, Manuela Bruckner, Thomas Penz, Ciara Cleary, Robert Kralovics, Jacques Colinge, Keiryn L Bennett & Giulio Superti-Furga. npj Systems Biology and Applications 2, Article number: 16027 (2016). doi:10.1038/npjsba.2016.27
Oral health is a key foundation of good overall health. There is an urgent need to understand how to get all residents sufficient access to dental care services.

Oral health is an integral part of general health, and adequate dental care is important for individuals to help maintain good oral health. However, there are far too many people who do not have sufficient access or utilization of dental care services. Disparities are attributed to challenges racial and ethnic minorities face in comparison with non-Hispanic whites.

However, of these racial and ethnic minorities, there is very little research on Asian immigrants and the different subgroups that fall into that category. With the Asian population being the second-fastest growing group in the U.S., there is a call for more comprehensive research on what inhibits their dental care.

To answer this call, Bei Wu, PhD, of the New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing (NYU Meyers) and her colleague, Huabin Luo, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Public Health, East Carolina University, conducted a study, "Acculturation and Dental Service Use Among Asian Immigrants in the U.S.", using data from the National Health Interview Surveys to assess dental service utilization across different Asian immigrant groups and examine the relationship between acculturation and dental service utilization among Asian immigrants in the U.S. The study appeared in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

"Untreated oral health problems can cause pain, difficulty eating, and speech problems, affecting self-esteem and quality of life. It is imperative to examine dental care use within Asian groups," said Dr. Wu.

Dr. Wu and her research team, studied both predisposing and enabling characteristics affecting dental service utilization like, age, sex, marital status, and education level combined with family income level and dental insurance coverage, and used these characteristics and whether these adults had a dental visit in the previous twelve months as the basis of their data.

The results of the study indicated that the acculturation variable - length of stay in the US - had the strongest association with having a dental visit in the previous twelve months among Asian immigrants. This finding remained significant even after controlling for family income level and dental care insurance status, further suggesting its important impact.

"We hypothesize that this could be because longer stays in the U.S. allow for immigrants to gain improved familiarity with health care system, increases health literacy, and social support networks," said Dr. Luo.

Researchers note that the second acculturation variable, English language proficiency, was significantly related to dental visits. However, it became insignificant after controlling for family income and dental insurance. While language barriers are often thought of as one of the most important factors, this highlights the larger impact of length of stay over English language proficiency, and has important implications.

Overall, this study found that Asian immigrants, with exception of Filipinos, had significantly lower use of dental services. Despite cultural differences and different attitudes towards dental care within Asian subgroups, enabling factors like affordability, familiarity with health-care system, and oral health status had important effects on dental services utilization. The most prominent factor affecting utilization proved to be dental insurance coverage.

This study suggests that health-care professionals need to pay more attention to providing oral health education among newer immigrants, and that interpretation services could be necessary There is an apparent need for more dental care promotion among these groups, especially in the beginning stages of their arrival.

Drs. Wu and Luo note a few limitations of this study, including self-report bias, examination of only Chinese, Filipino, and American Indian Asian groups, and no distinction between reported dental visits for treatment of a problem versus preventative care.

"Length of stay in the U.S. is a significant factor affecting dental service utilization among Asian immigrants. Variation in dental service utilization exists across adult Asian immigrant groups. As Asian immigrant populations continue to grow in the U.S., it is important to increase oral health awareness, promote dental care, and provide affordable dental coverage for them, especially new immigrants," said Dr. Wu.

There is an important need for more research to gain a comprehensive understanding of these disparities, and allow for further education among health-care professionals on how to best combat this problem. Improving oral health is imperative, and a big step to improving overall health.

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Author's Contributions: Dr. Huabin Luo is the study's First Author, and Dr. Bei Wu is the Corresponding Author of the study.

Researcher Affiliations: Bei Wu1, Huabin Luo2,

1. New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York, New York

2. Department of Public Health, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina;

About the NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing

NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing is a global leader in nursing education, research, and practice. It offers a Bachelor of Science with a major in Nursing, a Master of Science and Post-Master's Certificate Programs, a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and a Doctor of Philosophy in nursing research and theory development.
The future of quantum computing is a hot topic not only for experts but also in many commercial and governmental agencies. Rather than processing and storing information as bits in transistors or memories, which limit information to the binary '1' or '0', quantum computers would instead use quantum systems, such as atoms, ions, or electrons, as 'qubits' to process and store "quantum information" in, which can be in an infinite number of combinations of '1 and 0'. Large technology corporations, such as Google, Microsoft, Intel, and IBM are investing heavily in related projects that may lead to realize the quantum computer and technologies. At the same time, universities and research institutes around the world are researching novel quantum systems, adoptable for quantum computing. The Quantum Dynamics Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), has recently made novel findings about electrons floating on the surface of liquid helium, a quantum system which may be a new candidate for quantum computing into reality. These results were published in Physical Review B.

One of the common problems in quantum computing research using solids is that it is very difficult to make perfectly identical qubits because intrinsic defects or impurities in the materials used randomly affect each individual qubit performance. "Our motivation for pursuing a liquid helium system is that it is intrinsically pure and free of defects, which theoretically allows for the creation of perfectly identical qubits. Additionally, we can move electrons in this liquid helium system, which is difficult or nearly impossible in other quantum systems," explained Prof. Denis Konstantinov, head of the Quantum Dynamics Unit. Therefore, it is believed that adopting this system for quantum computing might bring the whole field to the next level.

Utilizing electrons on a liquid helium surface for quantum computing requires isolating individual electrons on a helium surface and controlling their quantum degrees of freedom, either motional or spin. It may also require the movement of electrons to different locations, thus it is also important to understand the physics of the interaction between electrons and the helium surface. It was previously discovered that electrons on helium can form a two-dimensional crystal, and some unique phenomena occur when this crystal moves along the helium surface, due to the interaction between electrons and surface waves. The OIST scientists, however, are the first to probe how these phenomena depend on the size of the electron crystal. To test this, Dr. Alexander Badrutdinov, Dr. Oleksandr Smorodin and OIST PhD student Jui-Yin Lin, built a microscopic channel device that contained an electron trap within to isolate a crystal of a relatively small number of electrons. This crystal would then be moved across the liquid helium surface by altering electrostatic potential of one of the device electrodes. This motion would be detected by measuring image charges, which are induced by the moving electrons, flowing through another electrode using a commercially available current amplifier and lock-in detector. "This research gave us some insights into the physics of the interaction between electrons and the helium surface, as well as expanded our micro-engineering capabilities" states Dr. Alexander Badrutdinov, a former member of the Quantum Dynamics Unit and the first author of the paper. "We successfully adopted a technology to confine electrons into microscopic devices, on the scale of few microns. With this technology we studied the motion of microscopic two-dimensional electron crystals along a liquid helium surface and saw no difference between the movement of large electron crystals, on the scale of millions to billions of electrons, and crystals as small as a few thousands of electrons, when theoretically, differences should exist".

This research is the first step at OIST in the prospect of using this system for quantum computing. According to Konstantinov, "the next step in this research is to isolate an even smaller electron crystal, and ultimately, a single electron, and to move them in this system. Unlike other systems, this system has the potential to be a pure, scalable system with mobile qubits." In theory, this type of system would have the potential to revolutionize the quantum computing research field.

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CORVALLIS, Ore. - New research shows that patient "navigators" are a valuable resource for American Indians and Alaskan Natives with cancer as they try to overcome barriers to diagnosis and care, and may offer a path to improved treatment outcomes.

The findings, recently published in the Journal of Primary Prevention, are important because American Indians and Alaskan Natives are stricken with cancer at the same rate as non-Hispanic white people but have lower five-year survivorship rates, and are more likely to die of cancer in general.

Indigenous patients in the Pacific Northwest working with a navigator were almost four times more likely to have a definitive diagnosis within a year of an abnormal screening result than patients without a navigator, the research indicated.

In addition, patients in the study praised their navigators' ability to provide emotional and logistical support throughout the complicated and often-confusing treatment process. A navigator coordinated patients' care between multiple providers and agencies and helped connect patients to support groups and other resources.

Megan Cahn, a postdoctoral research associate in Oregon State University's College of Public Health and Human Sciences, was a co-author of the study along with scientists from the Northwest Tribal Epidemiology Center. The center, one of 12 in the nation, collaborates with the region's tribes on health-related research, surveillance, training and technical assistance.

The patients in the study all received care through tribal community health clinics, which receive funding from the Indian Health Service. The project was part of a larger program by the National Cancer Institute examining the effectiveness of the patient navigator model in populations with sub-optimal cancer outcomes.

"One of the big concerns for tribal populations is that they have lower screening rates," Cahn said. "If you don't screen, then you don't detect cancer until someone is showing symptoms. A big part of the program was to see if there was a way to get individuals with an abnormal screening result to get a definitive diagnosis, to shorten that window and get treatment in a timely fashion.

"We found that patients enrolled in a navigator program were 3.6 times more likely to have a definitive diagnosis within a year."

The researchers also learned that not only was the navigator program measurably effective, the patients liked it - an important indicator of the program's long-term success potential.

"If the patients don't find it acceptable, the program won't continue to work," Cahn said.

A patient navigator was hired by the tribe at each of three tribal clinics in Idaho and Oregon, and researchers interviewed 40 patients for their perceptions of the program. The average age of the participants was 54.4, and 65 percent were female. Thirty-four of the 40 rated the navigator program as "good" or "excellent," and one added she felt the navigator had saved her life.

In addition to the screening and diagnosis issue, the research found that the main barriers to cancer treatment cited by tribal members were physical and emotional obstacles - symptoms of the cancer itself or side effects from treatment, and "also the emotional response to the diagnosis."

"There's a lot of fear and anxiety and shock, and those fears often lead patients to be reluctant to continue with treatment," Cahn said. "Some of them felt like they had received mistreatment or had been misdiagnosed, plus there were financial barriers: the cost of care and a lack of coordination regarding payment for the services.

"Other barriers were concerns around transportation - some people would have to travel several hours to get treatment, and the availability and cost of public transportation were problems. Navigators could help come up with strategies that were effective for addressing these logistical barriers."

Sometimes a navigator would accompany a patient to an appointment and help the patient understand what the doctor was saying. Navigators also provided direct emotional support as well as referring patients to support groups.

"Patients said they valued that navigators were part of their communities and respected their culture," Cahn said. "It made them feel like the navigators were invested in the community and the patients and their families."

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As travelling in the 21st century is easier than ever, so is for species to make their way to new areas, sometimes increasing their distributional range, or even establishing whole new habitats. On the other hand, when they leave their natural predators and competitors behind, and find abundance of suitable resources somewhere else, they are running the risk of becoming invasive.

Nevertheless, such is not the case of a small, darkish brown moth from the southern hemisphere that is now resident in central Portugal. There, the species do not exhibit invasive behaviour, and so far has been only observed in very low numbers. The discovery is published in the open access journal Nota Lepidopterologica by an international research team, led by Martin Corley, CIBIO-InBIO, Portugal.

In 2012, Jorge Rosete, one of the co-authors of the study, spotted a female specimen that he could not identify near his house. When Martin took a look at it, he placed it in the concealer moth family (Oecophoridae), but was unable to recognise neither its species, nor its genus. It did not took long before a few more specimens were found, including males.

Initially, Martin thought the moth might originate from Australia, given the abundance of eucalyptus plantations in the area where it was found, and the fact that there are more concealer moth species in Australia than on any other continent. However, despite their efforts and contacts with other researchers, they failed to find an Australian species to match the Portuguese specimens. As a result, the mystery remained for the next four years, until a molecular study into moth DNA pulled the curtains.

A fragment of DNA, also called DNA barcode, matched three other genetically identical unnamed specimens, originally collected from South Africa, in the DNA database BOLD. Further collaboration with Alexander Lvovsky, Russian Academy of Sciences, allowed the assignation of the specimens to a species name: Borkhausenia intumescens, known from South Africa. However, it did not end there. Further research into museum collections showed that in fact this species had been previously described from Argentina as Borkhausenia crimnodes, and therefore should be named as such.

The origin of the Portuguese specimens remain a mystery, but it is evident that the species is now established in central Portugal. The larvae of other species in the same genus feed on decomposed plants, so this is likely the case with the moth species as well. It might be that it has entered the country through Figueira da Foz port along with imported timber from South America intended for the paper industry.

It is not known if this is a South African species that had first been transported to South America, and then - to Portugal, or if it is originally South American. It is also possible that it is not native in neither of these areas, and instead originates from another country, where it has not even been discovered yet. The moth favours warm temperate zones and potentially might appear anywhere in the world with suitable climate.

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Original source:

Corley MFV, Ferreira S, Lvovsky AL, Rosete J (2017) Borkhausenia crimnodes Meyrick, 1912 (Lepidoptera, Oecophoridae), a southern hemisphere species resident in Portugal. Nota Lepidopterologica 40(1): 15-24. https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.40.10938.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC - A new program offering free elective genetic testing for newborns, developed at RTI International, will become available to North Carolina parents starting in 2018, thanks to a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

The program, called Early Check, grew from RTI's research on newborn screening, done in partnership with the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. All three sites are part of a national consortium of institutions that have received funding from the NIH through the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program.

NIH, through the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), will provide $1 million per year over five years to launch Early Check statewide, offering testing for one or more genetic conditions to up to 120,000 families each year. Early Check will function as a research study, helping enable research on genetic conditions and potential treatments. This project is one of seven innovation awards funded by National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

"We hope to offer to every baby born in North Carolina the opportunity to participate in this study," said Don Bailey, Ph.D., Distinguished Fellow at RTI and the project's principal investigator.

Shortly after birth, most babies in the United States go through a series of screenings for genetic disorders. The tests help doctors act quickly to help babies with conditions that can be treated, but that might otherwise go unnoticed and could be deadly.

The panel of conditions currently included in standard newborn screening tests leaves out some diseases that could be detected early. In some cases, tests are available, but expensive.

"The conditions left out of standard newborn screening do not have enough evidence that early treatment changes outcomes, something necessary for a public health program that is done universally," said Lisa Gehtland, M.D., a physician and public health analyst at RTI and the project director. Early Check researchers will provide information about whether some of these conditions are appropriate for newborn screening.

"Early Check is an exciting an innovative project to not only improve health outcomes, but to expand our scientific knowledge about detection and new approaches to treatment," said Alex Kemper, M.D., a pediatrician who serves as the principal investigator at Duke. "This is a complex project that only works by bringing together the State Public Health Laboratory and major research institutions across North Carolina funded through the CTSA network."

The Early Check team currently plans to offer screening for spinal muscular atrophy, a significant cause of death among infants, and fragile X syndrome, the leading inherited cause of intellectual disability.

"The North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health is excited to be advancing the science of newborn screening through our partnership with RTI," said Scott J. Zimmerman, DrPH, MPH, director of the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health.

Parents could also gain peace of mind from the results. If a child does have one of the conditions, the early test will prevent families from going through a long diagnostic process. But most babies will turn out to be unaffected, eliminating some of the worries of new parents.

"From a family's point of view, these tests offer pros and cons," Bailey said. "Some families may not want to know right away if their baby will face a difficult illness. Others will see advantages, including the ability to plan for early intervention services for the affected child, or to decide whether to have more children if they might also inherit a genetic condition."

Early Check also differs from the standard newborn screening panel because it is designed as a research study, Gehtland said. Researchers will follow up with the families of babies who are found to have one of the conditions, offering the chance to participate in longitudinal studies or clinical trials.

"Without early screenings, it is extremely hard to conduct clinical studies to help infants with rare conditions," Gehtland said. "This creates a barrier to developing new therapies. Early Check will fill this gap, benefitting science as well as patients."

The team also hopes Early Check will make an impact on public policy. The results could lead to changes in the standard newborn screening panel, and the program itself could serve as a model for other states.

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HOUSTON - (Jan. 24, 2017) - Gall wasps may feel confident as they infest oak trees for shelter and sustenance, but their wasp enemy has an even more insidious agenda, according to Rice University scientists.

The wasp known as Euderus set, or E. set, deposits an egg in the developing gall wasp's woody haven. The young E. set eventually chews its way to freedom - through its host's head.

Rice researchers nicknamed it the "crypt-keeper" wasp and said it's a rare example of hypermanipulation, in which a parasite is manipulated by another parasite.

E. set and its gory emergence are described in two papers led by Rice evolutionary biologists Kelly Weinersmith and Scott Egan.

The first paper, in the open-access journal ZooKeys this month, describes the new wasp species in detail. The second, released today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, details the species' ghoulish strategy.

The discoverers named their wasp for Set, the Egyptian god of evil and chaos who trapped his brother Osiris in a crypt, killed him and then cut him into little pieces.

The tiny, iridescent parasite hijacks its host, Bassettia pallida, which would normally mature inside the crypt (aka the gall) and tunnel its way out to freedom in the spring. A female E. set deposits an egg into the crypt, where it manipulates the growing gall wasp, typically making its emergence hole too small.

When the wasp tries to escape, its head lodges in the hole. E. set can then consume the gall wasp's internal organs and emerge, "Alien"-like, from its head case.

"It could be the parasitoid cues hosts to excavate early, but makes them do it less well than usual," said Weinersmith, who studies parasites. "They only go part way and then they get stuck.

"That's what I love about parasite manipulation of host behavior," she said. "So many of the stories that have been uncovered are just as cool as the coolest science fiction movie."

Egan originally discovered the wasp on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the summer of 2014 before finding it in trees at Rice and in an oak tree in his front yard. As part of this study, E. set has now been found in Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana.

"I was walking on a path through the sand dunes with my daughter that summer while on a family vacation and of course, I can't not grab bugs everywhere I go," said Egan about spotting a tree branch of interest. "It ended up being this rare cynipid (gall wasp) that I don't see around here very often, and in a much higher density. Then I couldn't stop myself."

Weinersmith first saw it while chatting with Egan during one of their initial meetings at Rice. "He had this cup of stuff on his desk," she recalled. "Anytime Scott sees a gall, he cuts it off, sticks it in a cup, puts a coffee filter over it and waits to see what emerges."

"A couple of weeks later, animals started coming out," Egan said. "I did some dissections, shaved off the head with a razor blade, got into the wood and in the belly of these beasts was another little tiny larva, sitting in the abdomen. I immediately called Kelly."

The researchers hope to discover how E. set triggers the change in Bassettia's behavior. "One hard thing is that we can't see what's happening until they come out," Weinersmith said. "We're talking to people to see if we can CAT scan the branches in various stages."

But they already know how badly E. set needs its host. To see how well it could tunnel, they taped thin strips of bark over the dead heads and waited. The experiments showed the crypt-keeper was about three times more likely to die in the crypt if it had to dig through the head case and the bark.

Because close to 600 species in the Eulophid family are found in North America, and many attack or serve as biocontrol agents for agricultural pests, the researchers would also like to know if E. set's manipulations are more common.

"Euderus set represents one of many millions of undescribed parasitic wasps with peculiar lifecycles," said Andrew Forbes, co-author on both papers. His lab at the University of Iowa studies the evolution of parasitoid wasps, which he described as one of the most species-rich groups of animals on the planet.

Weinersmith noted the gall wasp victim is hardly unknown. Literally millions of specimens are in the possession of the American Museum of Natural History, most brought there by the entomologist Alfred Kinsey, who later earned renown for his human sexuality research.

"Scott was going through some of those museum samples and saw this phenomenon in those branches," she said. "So it's been in museums for years, there for people to see. But we couldn't find any evidence that other people noticed this phenomenon and thought, 'Maybe something weird is happening here.'"

###

Undergraduate Sean Liu of Rice and undergraduate Ryan Ridenbaugh and graduate student Miles Zhang of the University of Central Florida are co-authors of the ZooKeys paper. Liu is co-author of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B paper. Egan is an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Rice. Weinersmith is an adjunct faculty member and the former Huxley Fellow in Ecology and Evolution at Rice. Forbes is an associate professor at the University of Iowa.

Rice University, through the Huxley Faculty Fellowship in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the BioSciences Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Undergraduate Fellowship, funded the research.

Read the ZooKeys paper at http://zookeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=11117

Read the Proceedings of the Royal Society B abstract at http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rspb.2016.2365

This news release can be found online at http://news.rice.edu/2017/01/24/insidious-wasp-gets-ahead-by-tunneling-through-hosts-head/

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wjWJseml7A

The crypt-keeper wasp, Euderus set, is a parasite that takes advantage of another parasite, the gall wasp. (Video produced by Brandon Martin/Rice University)

Related materials:

The Egan Lab: https://sites.google.com/site/scottpegan/

Kelly Weinersmith: http://www.weinersmith.com

Forbes Lab: https://forbes.lab.uiowa.edu

BioSciences at Rice: https://biosciences.rice.edu

Images for download:

http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/01/0130_WASP-Graphic2-web-vfi5i2.jpg

GRAPHIC: Artwork by Boulet

http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/01/0130_WASP-1-web-27zh9xq.jpg

The crypt-keeper wasp, Euderus set, is a parasite that takes advantage of another parasite, the gall wasp. It infects the maturing gall wasp in its crypt and modifies its victim's behavior, forcing the gall wasp to make its escape hole too small. E. set then escapes through the gall wasp's body and emerges to freedom through its head. (Credit: Andrew Forbes/University of Iowa)

http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/01/0130_WASP-2-web-2n3d7m9.jpg

Bassettia pallida is a parasite that infests oak trees and is itself infested by another newly discovered wasp. Bassettia pallida is a species of gall wasp that manipulates trees into forming a crypt in which its larva matures. (Credit: Andrew Forbes/University of Iowa)

http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/01/0130_WASP-3-web-2hahxqy.jpg

The crypt-keeper wasp, Euderus set. (Credit: Andrew Forbes/University of Iowa)

http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/01/0130_WASP-4-web-1rq8eam.jpg

This image shows a hole plugged by the head of an infested Bassettia pallida gall wasp. (Credit: Egan Lab/Rice University)

http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/01/0130_WASP-5-web-1vdrl3y.jpg

This image shows a hole in the head capsule of an infested Bassettia pallida gall wasp. Its nemesis, Euderus set, has eaten its way through the gall wasp and escaped through its head capsule. (Credit: Egan Lab/Rice University)

http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/01/0130_WASP-6-web-1y15gyh.jpg

Rice University researchers, from left, Scott Egan, Sean Liu and Kelly Weinersmith. They discovered a wasp that victimizes gall wasps by modifying their behavior and tunneling to freedom through their heads. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/01/0130_WASP-7-web-22oqkio.jpg

Rice University student Sean Liu meticulously numbered thousands of crypts formed by gall wasps in branches from oak trees on the Rice campus and elsewhere. He is part of the team that discovered the "crypt-keeper" wasp, a parasite known as Euderus set that manipulates gall wasps into trapping themselves in the crypt for its benefit. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/01/0130_WASP-8-web-1ia7dsp.jpg

Rice University student Sean Liu holds an oak twig infested by gall wasps. Liu and his mentors at Rice found a that the gall wasp, a parasite, is in turn taken advantage of by a newfound wasp called Euderus set. It's a rare example of a parasite infecting a parasite, a process known as hypermanipulation. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,910 undergraduates and 2,809 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for happiest students and for lots of race/class interaction by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/RiceUniversityoverview.
DNA analysis has revolutionised forensic science; helping to catch prolific murderers and exonerating innocent people wrongfully convicted of serious crimes. But as DNA profiling has become increasingly sensitive and is used in more investigations, it is essential that public and professional expectations of this technology come not from TV crime fiction, but from reality.

To address existing misconceptions and share exciting new developments, researchers from the European Forensic Genetics Network of Excellence (EUROFORGEN) are launching a guide in partnership with the charity Sense about Science. Making Sense of Forensic Genetics shares what DNA analysis can currently do in the criminal justice system, what its limitations are, and what might be possible in future. It includes case studies, both where DNA evidence has been a game changer in investigations and where its misinterpretation has led to miscarriages of justice.

The researchers share their insights:

Despite claims to the contrary, predicting visible traits such as face shape from DNA is not currently possible. There are reports of police departments using tests that claim to predict face shape, but these tests are not scientifically validated. The latest advances in forensic genetics are beginning to enable some externally visible characteristics including hair and eye colour to be predicted from someone's DNA. This could be a powerful investigative tool in future. But there are limits to what we can currently tell from DNA.

Your DNA could be in a room even if you weren't. Our DNA is everywhere - it can be transferred by saliva from talking, sneezing, coughing and by shedding skin cells. There is even DNA present in house dust. So DNA from individuals who have nothing to do with a crime might be present at a crime scene.

DNA alone doesn't solve crimes. Advancements in forensic DNA techniques mean that we can now detect minute traces of DNA. The presence of DNA doesn't establish guilt - and doesn't necessarily tell us when or how it got there or the body tissue it came from (particularly for very small amounts). Therefore, context has become increasingly key, and now more than ever, DNA needs to be viewed within a framework of other evidence. It's an important detection tool, but it's certainly not a detective.

The report makes reference to landmark cases including cases where DNA has been a game changer; helping to catch prolific serial killer Gary Ridgway (page 15), and where it has caused miscarriages of justice; Adam Scott being detained and charged with rape due to a contamination error whilst subsequent phone records placed him in a different city at the time of the crime (page 7).

For more information about the guide and partnership with EUROFORGEN, contact: Emily Jesper at Sense about Science +4420 7490 9590 / out of hours: +447863 140387 ejesper@senseaboutscience.org

Comments

Manfred Kayser, Professor of Forensic Molecular Biology, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre, Rotterdam and EUROFORGEN researcher: "Currently eye colour, hair colour and skin colour can be predicted reliably and with practically useful accuracy from crime scene DNA. However, our knowledge of the genetic basis of human facial structure is not advanced enough for us to reconstruct a face from DNA. For responsible use of forensic DNA phenotypic tests, it is essential that methods and validation studies are published in peer reviewed journals and are open to scrutiny."

Denise Syndercombe Court, Reader in Forensic Genetics, King's College London and EUROFORGEN researcher: "We all enjoy a good crime drama and although we understand the difference between fiction and reality, the distinction can often be blurred by overdramatised press reports of real cases. As a result most people have unrealistic perceptions of the meaning of scientific evidence, especially when it comes to DNA, which can lead to miscarriages of justice. As we developed this guide, even readers who were professionally involved in criminal justice were surprised by some of the information it contained: this particularly showed me how important the guide is in explaining science that, though complex, really does need to be widely understood."

David Bentley QC, criminal defence specialist, Doughty Street Chambers, London: "As criminal cases come increasingly to rely on DNA evidence, getting to grips with this challenging and rapidly developing topic is becoming an essential skill for the criminal lawyer to have. This excellent guide provides clear and accessible information that will help lawyers (and others) to understand both the strengths and the limitations of forensic genetics, and to be able to recognise and deal effectively with issues that may arise at trial."

Peter Schneider, Professor of Forensic Molecular Genetics, Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital of Cologne, Germany and EUROFORGEN coordinator: "The collaboration with Sense about Science made a big difference for us; it was positive beyond expectations. They worked smoothly and efficiently to convert very complex information into simple and straightforward messages, and instructive graphics. Continuously receiving feedback from key audiences including police, lawyers, judiciary, journalists and interested readers during this process was essential to allow the EUROFORGEN researchers to adapt the guide to make it as accessible as possible for a wide audience."

Emily Jesper-Mir, Sense about Science "It's fantastic to see researchers caring about the impact of their research has on wider society, making important information clear and accessible for those that need it - in this case from lawyers, police, judges through to potential jurors and crime fiction fans. Throughout the process, researchers listened and adapted content especially for these audiences. This is one of several public engagement partnerships we've worked on - to share sound science where there are high costs of getting it wrong. We commend EUROFORGEN for taking on this approach, and want to see more researchers involving the public to develop understandable resources."

###

Notes to editors

1. An embargoed copy of the guide, Making Sense of Forensic Genetics, can be downloaded: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7ltssy9u2wydvec/EMBARGOED-UNTIL-00.01-GMT-Wed-25-Jan-2017-MS-of-Forensic-Genetics.pdf?dl=0 After 00.01 GMT 25th January 2017, an electronic version will be available to download: http://senseaboutscience.org/activities/making-sense-of-forensic-genetics/

2. European Genetics Network of Excellence (EUROFORGEN)

Making Sense of Forensic Genetics is the final output of our European Union Seventh Framework Programme funded research and networking project, which has spanned five years and ranged in expertise from forensic geneticists and social scientists to representatives of the judiciary. The European Forensic Genetics Network of Excellence will continue to exist independently from EC funding to provide information and training both to the scientific community and to the interested public. This project was financially supported from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n 285487 (EUROFORGEN-NoE).

The EUROFORGEN contributors on this guide include: Professor Peter Gill, Professor Manfred Kayser, Dr Christopher Phillips, Professor Peter Schneider, Dr Denise Syndercombe Court, Dr Matthias Wienroth and Professor Robin Williams. The contributors also included Linda Geddes, Freelance science and medical writer.

3. Sense about Science

Sense about Science is an independent charity that challenges misrepresentation of science and evidence in public life. We advocate openness and honesty about research, and ensure the public interest in sound science and evidence is recognised in public debates and policymaking.

Sense about Science's public engagement team helps researchers to discuss and present research information, guided by the public and people who will use it. We draw from our extensive public networks and over a decade of working with the public on some of the trickiest issues of evidence. Our ethos is public led, expert fed, which means engaging early and directly addressing what people are thinking. These partnership projects are only available for socially or scientifically difficult issues where researchers make a convincing case that it is a matter of public interest and evidence is neglected, conflicting or misunderstood. The public engagement team includes Tracey Brown, Director; Emily Jesper-Mir, Head of partnerships and governance and Joanne Thomas, Projects and events coordinator. Contact ejesper@senseaboutscience.org for more details.

Our office in Brussels, which is led by Sofie Vanthournout, monitors the use and abuse of scientific evidence in EU policy. Launched in July 2016, Sense about Science EU is calling for EU citizens, researchers and the European Parliament to scrutinise and share evidence behind European policymaking.
NEW YORK (Jan. 25, 2017) - The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) reduced inpatient antibiotic use by 12 percent and decreased use of broad-spectrum antibiotics through a multi-year, system-wide antimicrobial stewardship initiative, according to a study published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. The study outlines the development and implementation of the effort to improve antibiotic use through the VHA's more than 140 medical facilities.

"Leadership buy-in and support is critical to the success of any implementation program -- whether it be antimicrobial stewardship or other activities. However, leadership support alone is not enough," said Allison Kelly, MD, VHA National Antimicrobial Stewardship Initiative Manager. "A cadre of committed professionals from multiple disciplines needs to be nurtured to bring expertise and passion for the safe use of antibiotics to help make such programs a success."

In 2010, the VHA began the VHA Antimicrobial Stewardship Initiative to provide national guidance and resources for the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) at local VHA medical centers to improve antibiotic use. From 2010-2015, the Initiative held a series of in-person educational conferences, assembled multi-disciplinary champions, created online resources, as well as sample policies and interventions, and hosted monthly webinars. In 2014, the VA solidified its commitment to optimize antibiotic use and improve the care of veterans by publishing Directive 1031 requiring all facilities to implement, maintain, and annually evaluate ASPs.

As a result of the Initiative, inpatient antibiotic use decreased 12 percent from 2010 through the first quarter of 2015. Three broad-spectrum antibiotics, prescribed for highly antibiotic-resistant infections and considered the drugs of last resort, showed decreased use. These drugs are potential markers of decreased presence of resistant-infections.

The resources and interventions were available to all VHA medical centers for elective use as each facility deemed appropriate. The local stewardship champions who know and understand the unique needs and resources at the local level, and who also have leadership buy-in and support, were empowered to take an "a la carte" approach to incorporate varied, accepted stewardship practices for implementation at their local facility. This customization delivers an optimal local practice method.

"One of the key findings of this report is that a 'one-size fits all' strategy to implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship program is not necessary to assure success," said Kelly.

The Antimicrobial Stewardship Initiative continues to lead ongoing efforts to optimize antibiotic use to meet the goal of reducing inpatient antibiotic use by 20 percent by 2020, as established in the National Action Plan for Combatting Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria.

###

Allison Kelly, Makoto Jones, Kelly Echevarria, Stephen Kralovic, Matthew H. Samore, Matthew B. Goetz, Karl J. Madaras-Kelly, Loretta A. Simbartl, Anthony P. Morreale, Melinda M. Neuhauser, Gary A. Roselle. "A Report of the Efforts of the Veterans Health Administration National Antimicrobial Stewardship Initiative." Web (January 25, 2017).

About ICHE

Published through a partnership between the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and Cambridge University Press, Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology provides original, peer reviewed scientific articles for anyone involved with an infection control or epidemiology program in a hospital or healthcare facility. ICHE is ranked 13th out of 158 journals in its discipline in the latest Web of Knowledge Journal Citation Reports from Thomson Reuters.

SHEA is a professional society representing physicians and other healthcare professionals around the world with expertise and passion in healthcare epidemiology, infection prevention, and antimicrobial stewardship. SHEA's mission is to prevent and control healthcare-associated infections, improve the use of antibiotics in healthcare settings, and advance the field of healthcare epidemiology. SHEA improves patient care and healthcare personnel safety in all healthcare settings through the critical contributions of healthcare epidemiology and improved antibiotic use. The society leads this specialty by promoting science and research, advocating for effective policies, providing high-quality education and training, and developing appropriate guidelines and guidance in practice. Visit SHEA online at http://www.shea-online.org, http://www.facebook.com/SHEApreventingHAIs and @SHEA_Epi.

About Cambridge Journals

Cambridge University Press publishes over 350 peer-reviewed academic journals across a wide spread of subject areas, in print and online. Many of these journals are leading academic publications in their fields and together form one of the most valuable and comprehensive bodies of research available today.

For further information about Cambridge Journals, visit journals.cambridge.org

About Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University's mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

Its extensive peer-reviewed publishing lists comprise 45,000 titles covering academic research, professional development, over 350 research journals, school-level education, English language teaching and bible publishing.

Playing a leading role in today's international market place, Cambridge University Press has more than 50 offices around the globe, and it distributes its products to nearly every country in the world.

For further information about Cambridge University Press, visit cambridge.org.
An international project, led by Spain's National Research Council, (CSIC) provides information on the effects a projectile impact would have on an asteroid. The aim of the project is to work out how an asteroid might be deflected so as not to collide with the Earth. The research, published in The Astrophysical Journal, focuses on the study of the asteroid Chelyabinsk, which exploded over Russian skies in 2013 after passing through the atmosphere.

The probability that a kilometre-sized asteroid could have devastating consequences after impact with the Earth is statistically small. What is more frequent, and repeatedly discovered, is that objects a few tens of meters across reach the Earth's atmosphere.

The results of this study indicate that the composition, internal structure, density and other physical properties of the asteroid are "fundamental in determining the success of a mission in which a kinetic projectile would be launched to deflect the orbit of a dangerous asteroid."

On February 15, 2013, an asteroid with a diameter of approximately 18 metres exploded over the Russian town of Cheliabinsk producing thousands of meteorites which fell to Earth. The fragmentation of this object in the atmosphere exemplified that Earth's atmosphere acts as an efficient shield, even though more than a thousand meteorites, each with a total mass exceeding one ton hit the ground. Despite being a small asteroid, the shock wave it produced when penetrating the atmosphere at hypersonic speed caused hundreds of injuries and considerable material damages.

"Studying the chemical and mineralogical composition of the Chelyabinsk meteorite allows us to grasp the importance of the collision compaction processes that asteroids suffer as they near the Earth. The results of this work are extremely relevant for a possible mission in which we want to efficiently deflect an asteroid which is close to Earth", says CSIC researcher Josep Maria Trigo of the Institute of Space Sciences. Thus, following rigorous and systematic work, the new study has discovered the properties of the materials that the asteroid is made of. In particular, their hardness, elasticity and their fracture resistance which could all be determinant for the impact of a kinetic projectile attempting to deflect an asteroid's orbit. The experiments

The Chelyabinsk meteorite belongs to a group known as ordinary chondrites. The CSIC researchers chose it because it was considered representative, in terms its component materials, of the most potentially dangerous asteroids. Potentially hazardous asteroids which threaten the Earth suffer many collisions before reaching our planet, therefore their consistency increases and their minerals appear battered.

These experiments have been carried out using an instrument known as a nanoindentor. This consists of a small piston tipped with in a diamond head which applies a predefined pressure on, and generates small notches in, the material, while measuring both the depth achieved and the material's elastic recovery time. Therefore, it is possible to determine key parameters such as fracture strength, hardness, elastic recovery time, or Young's modulus. As the researcher Carles Moyano explains: "As ordinary chondrites are quite complex and heterogeneous rocks consisting of minerals with different properties, showing varying degrees of collision damage, a comprehensive study is required. In this case, the study required around two years of work".

The measurement of the mechanical properties of the Chelyabinsk meteorite was carried out at the nanoindentation laboratory which is led by the ICREA researcher Jordi Sort from Barcelona's Autonomous University. The study also included several European experts involved in the European Space Agency's proposed Asteroid Impact Mission. Thanks to these experiments being conducted by these meteorite pioneers, we are possibly closer to successfully facing any future encounter with asteroids.

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Influenza is one of the biggest public health concerns, accounting for up to 5 million severe cases and half a million deaths every year worldwide. Therefore, vaccination against influenza has been a part of immunization programs throughout the world. While the most widely used vaccine is the trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV), the World Health Organization has been recommending the quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV) as of 2013.

A study just published in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics suggests that QIV might bring clinical benefits and cost savings over TIV if used on a large scale.

There are four influenza strains in circulation that cause the majority of cases: two of type A and two of type B. TIV contains both type A strains and one type B, which are determined prior to the influenza season every year. QIV, which includes all four strains, was developed with the aim to provide broader protection with lower variability from season to season.

Researchers modelled the impact that QIV would have had if it had been used instead of TIV in recent years in three Latin American countries. They estimated the numbers of influenza cases, doctors visits and associated work absenteeism, hospitalizations and deaths due to influenza, as well as associated costs.

Our study provides the first quantitative estimates of the potential benefits of QIV should it replace TIV in the national immunization programs in Brazil, Colombia and Panama. We found that QIV would provide health benefits in the three countries when considering influenza circulation from the last seasons. For instance, an annual average of 120,000 influenza cases would be avoided with QIV in the targeted population in Brazil, avoiding in turn about 2,350 hospitalizations and 275 deaths, says the lead author Aurelien Jamotte of Creativ-Ceutical.

The total societal cost savings were estimated between $1,000 and $34,000 per 100,000 person-years.

We hope our study will be particularly useful for policy makers since its scope has been based on the current national recommendations of Brazil, Colombia and Panama. This study also provides the first quantitative estimates on the additional public health and economic impact of QIV when included in the national immunization programs, according to Aurelien Jamotte.

These results are in agreement with similar modelling studies from Europe and Australia.

QIV is expected to provide benefits in most parts of the world since B strains represent on average 20-30% of circulating strains around the world. These proportions can be as high as 87% during some seasons in some countries. Whatever the country considered, QIV is expected to further reduce the public health and economic burden of influenza compared with TIV, concludes Aurelien Jamotte.

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Young and middle-aged patients with colon cancer are nearly 2 to 8 times more likely to receive postoperative chemotherapy than older patients, yet study results suggest no added survival benefit for these patients, according to a study published online by JAMA Surgery.

Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States, with an expected 134,490 new cases and 49,190 deaths in 2016. While incidence and mortality rates among adults 50 years and older have decreased in the United States in recent years, the same trend has not been observed for patients 20 to 49 years of age. Treatment options for patients with young-onset colon cancer remain to be defined and their effects on prognosis are unclear.

Kangmin Zhu, Ph.D., M.D., of the John P. Murtha Cancer Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., and colleagues examined whether age differences in receiving chemotherapy matched survival gains among patients diagnosed as having colon cancer in an equal-access health care system. The study was based on data from the U.S. Department of Defense's Central Cancer Registry and Military Heath System medical claims databases. There were 3,143 patients ages 18 to 75 years with histologically confirmed primary colon cancer diagnosed between 1998 and 2007.

Of the patients, 59 percent were men. Young (18-49 years) and middle-aged (50-64 years) patients were two to eight times more likely to receive postoperative systemic chemotherapy compared with older patients (65-75 years), regardless of tumor stage at diagnosis. Young and middle-aged adults were 2.5 times more likely to receive multi-agent chemotherapy regimens. While young and middle-aged adults who only underwent surgery had better survival compared with older patients, no significant differences in survival were seen between young/middle-aged and older patients who received surgery plus postoperative systemic chemotherapy.

"Most of the young patients received post-operative systemic chemotherapy, including multi-agent regimens, which are currently not recommended for most patients with early-stage colon cancer. Our findings suggest overtreatment of young and middle-aged adults with colon cancer," the authors write.

###

(JAMA Surgery. Published online January 25, 2017.doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2016.5050. This study is available pre-embargo at the For The Media website.)

Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
PHILADELPHIA -- In the last three years, researchers have shown that diabetic patients with head and neck cancer, may have better outcomes than non-diabetic patients when they are taking the drug metformin for their diabetes. In order to examine this relationship further and understand how metformin changes the biology of cancer cells, researchers at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University tested tumor cells before and after metformin treatment in non-diabetic cancer patients. The pilot clinical trial results were published today in the journal The Laryngoscope.

"This study is the first step in showing how metformin acts on head-and-neck tumors, and we are excited that it could eventually offer patients a method of improving their outcomes with few side effects," says senior author Ubaldo Martinez-Outschoorn, M.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University and researcher at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.

Dr. Martinez-Outschoorn and colleagues showed that metformin not only changes the pathways that cancer cells rely on to make fuel for growth, but also alters the cancer microenvironment -- the cells that surround and support the tumor. "Because tumors need a lot of energy to grow quickly, throwing a wrench in their energy-production pathway makes this kind of cancer more susceptible to standard therapies," says first author Joseph Curry, M.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at Jefferson.

The researchers treated 39 patients with metformin and examined their tumor samples before and after metformin treatment. Patients received doses of metformin that were about half of what is given to diabetic patients for a short time-span.

The study looked at molecular markers of cell death, or apoptosis, and changes in metabolic pathways that might make the cancer more susceptible to standard therapy. The patients treated with metformin had a significant increase in tumor cell apoptosis. The cells surrounding the cancer, the so called cancer-supporting fibroblasts, also showed signs of deterioration, indicating that the cells were less capable of helping neighboring cancer cells grow and metastasize to other parts of the body.

Metformin is well-tolerated and has a long track record of being a safe medication, that is much less toxic that traditional cancer treatments. In this study, few patients had side effects from metformin and those that were reported were considered low grade such as gastrointestinal upset. No patients experienced high grade adverse events.

"This study demonstrates that metformin has effects on head-and-neck cancers, at safe doses, that are at or lower than what is given to diabetic patients and that it changes head-and-neck tumor biology in a way that likely makes the cancer easier to kill," says co-author Madalina Tuluc, M.D., Ph.D., an Associate Professor and Director of Surgical Pathology in the Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology at Jefferson. "Metformin disrupts the cancer's most efficient method of generating fuel for its growth and shuts off the cancer's support system." In addition, other work suggests that metformin could have immunotherapeutic effects on tumors as well.

"The next step would be to test these doses of metformin in phase II clinical trials with a greater number of patients," says Dr. Martinez-Outschoorn.

###

The research was funded by a 2014 Young Investigator Award from the American Academy of Otolaryngology and American Head and Neck Society and by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health K08 CA175193-01A1 and 5P30CA056036-17. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Article reference: Joseph Curry et al., "Metformin effects on head and neck squamous carcinoma microenvironment: window of opportunity trial." The Laryngoscope. DOI: 10.002/lary.26488, 2017.

About Jefferson

Jefferson, through its academic and clinical entities of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, including Abington Health and Aria Health, is reimagining health care for the greater Philadelphia region and southern New Jersey. Jefferson has 23,000 people dedicated to providing the highest-quality, compassionate clinical care for patients, educating the health professionals of tomorrow, and discovering new treatments and therapies to define the future of care. With a university and hospital that date back to 1824, today Jefferson is comprised of six colleges, nine hospitals, 34 outpatient and urgent care locations, and a multitude of physician practices throughout the region, serving more than 100,000 inpatients, 373,000 emergency patients and 2.2 million outpatients annually.
CLEVELAND: Two internationally recognized medical research leaders from University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have received Outstanding Investigator Awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The 7-year, $6.7 million dollar awards, which are the highest honor and largest individual support grants conferred by the NIH, will advance promising molecular studies of colon cancer and age-related cardiovascular risks, respectively. The honored physicians are:

Sanford Markowitz, MD, PhD, head of the GI Cancer Genetics Program at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Markowitz-Ingalls Professor of Cancer Genetics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and medical oncologist at UH Seidman Cancer Center, received a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award.

Mukesh K. Jain, MD, Chief Scientific Officer, University Hospitals and Harrington Discovery Institute; Chief Research Officer, UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute; Vice Dean for Medical Sciences and Professor of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, received a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Outstanding Investigator Award.

NCI Outstanding Investigator Award: Sanford Markowitz, MD, PhD

The NIH describes the NCI Outstanding Investigator Award as a highly competitive award that supports investigators with outstanding records of productivity in cancer research to continue or embark on projects with significant potential for major breakthroughs.

Awardee, Sanford Markowitz, MD, PhD, is a medical oncologist who is internationally recognized for making many landmark discoveries in the genetics of gastrointestinal cancers. His research identified two key colon cancer tumor suppressor genes, TGF-beta RII and 15-PGDH, that explain how and why colon cancer develops in certain families in whom the disease is inherited. In addition, Dr. Markowitz discovered why taking aspirin can prevent colon cancer in some individuals but not others and developed a promising new drug that in mice speeds tissue repair after injury, including speeding recovery from colitis and speeding recovery after bone marrow transplantation. He moreover pioneered the development of the first stool DNA tests for early detection of colon cancer and the first esophagus DNA test for early detection of Barrett's esophagus (a precursor to esophageal cancer).

Dr. Markowitz is Principal Investigator of the NCI-funded Case GI Cancers Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE), one of only five such centers of excellence recognized across the country. The Outstanding Investigator award will work together with the SPORE to advance Dr. Markowitz's studies to harness the 15-PDGH colon cancer suppressor gene pathway to improve the ability to identify individuals at high risk of colon cancer and to develop new methods and drugs for colon cancer prevention and treatment. Dr. Markowitz's contributions have also been recognized by his recently winning an international award for achievements in medical research conferred by the ruling family of Dubai.

"Sandy's work has transformed our understanding of how colon cancers develop, leading to new ways to assess risk and detect cancers early when they are highly curable." said Neal J. Meropol, MD, Chief, Division of Hematology and Oncology, UH Cleveland Medical Center and the School of Medicine and Associate Director for Clinical Research, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. "This Outstanding Investigator Award will enable him to continue revolutionizing his field."

NHLBI Outstanding Investigator Award: Mukesh K. Jain, MD

The NIH describes the NHLBI Outstanding Investigator Award as a highly competitive award that promotes scientific productivity and innovation by providing long-term support and increased flexibility to principal investigators conducting heart, lung, blood and sleep research.

Awardee Mukesh K. Jain, MD, is a practicing cardiologist who is internationally renowned for the identification of a family of proteins, known as Kruppel-like factors (KLFs), as key regulators of immunity and metabolism. His work defined KLFs as essential determinants of nutrient availability and utilization in physiology (fasting, exercise, circadian biology) and disease (myopathy, metabolic syndrome). Studies focused on the immune system have provided insights into acute (bacterial infection) and chronic inflammatory states (atherothrombosis). Finally, he established KLFs as essential regulators of cardiovascular health and stress adaptation. He has translated this body of work into animals and humans, efforts that have garnered significant recognition including recent election to the National Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Jain's recent findings, that serve as the basis of this new award, suggest that KLF proteins exert control over lifespan and general health from worms to mammals, including humans. This award from the NHLBI will support investigations to determine which KLFs are linked to aging and to understand how manipulating specific KLFs impacts cardiovascular health and age-associated disease. Ultimately this work may succeed in providing a foundation for novel therapies targeted to delay or prevent the onset and progression of age-related disorders.

"Mukesh's lifelong commitment to investigating the molecular mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases has led to discoveries that forever changed how we think about many fundamental biological processes that affect human health and aging," said Marco Costa, MD, PhD, President, Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute, UH Cleveland Medical Center and Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine. "Receiving this prestigious award is an acknowledgement of the breadth and depth of his work, and our promise to a healthier future for humankind."

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About University Hospitals

Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of over 1 million patients per year through an integrated network of 18 hospitals, more than 40 outpatient health centers and 200 physician offices in 15 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system's flagship academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, located on a 35-acre campus in Cleveland's University Circle, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The main campus also includes University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children's hospitals in the nation; University Hospitals MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. UH is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics, radiology, neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, digestive health, dermatology, transplantation and urology. UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including "America's Best Hospitals" from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals - part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development. UH is the second largest employer in northern Ohio with 26,000 employees. For more information, go to UHhospitals.org.

About Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Founded in 1843, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is the largest medical research institution in Ohio and is among the nation's top medical schools for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The School of Medicine is recognized throughout the international medical community for outstanding achievements in teaching. The School's innovative and pioneering Western Reserve2 curriculum interweaves four themes--research and scholarship, clinical mastery, leadership, and civic professionalism--to prepare students for the practice of evidence-based medicine in the rapidly changing health care environment of the 21st century. Nine Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the School of Medicine. Annually, the School of Medicine trains more than 800 MD and MD/PhD students and ranks in the top 25 among U.S. research-oriented medical schools as designated by U.S. News & World Report's "Guide to Graduate Education." The School of Medicine is affiliated with University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, MetroHealth Medical Center, the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic, with which it established the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University in 2002. case.edu/medicine.
After big winter storms, clumps of kelp forests often wash ashore along the Southern California coast. Contrary to the devastation these massive piles of seaweed might indicate, new research suggests the kelp may rebound pretty quickly, with help from neighboring beds.

The study, conducted by UC Santa Barbara scientists and colleagues at UC Santa Cruz, UCLA and the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, found that kelp forests can bounce back from destructive storms when the forests are in reasonably close proximity to healthy beds. In much the same way that the wind scatters plant seeds over the land, ocean currents carry trillions of microscopic spores from one kelp forest to another, where they create life for ailing populations. The marine scientists' findings appear in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"Historically, researchers thought that kelp forest resilience depended on only the local environment," explained lead author Max Castorani, a postdoctoral scholar at UCSB's Marine Science Institute. "However, that turned out to be wrong, as we showed that kelp forests from miles away influence whether a local kelp forest persists or goes extinct. Declining kelp forests can be rescued or recolonized by neighboring populations, so the proximity among forests is very important."

For example, kelp forests off the coast of Santa Barbara are linked to neighboring beds near Montecito and Goleta Beach but also to those farther away -- as far south as Carpinteria and as far north as Isla Vista and the Gaviota coast.

"From year to year, the ocean currents change and the size of kelp populations expand or contract," Castorani said. "In a given year, we could estimate how many spores were sent among all the hundreds of kelp forests in Southern California, allowing us to identify important rescuing populations."

To measure kelp abundance from San Diego to Point Conception, the researchers used data from a 32-year time series assembled from Landsat satellite images. This was calibrated to kelp abundance and spore production gathered from diving expeditions.

Also included was more than a decade of Southern California oceanographic modeling performed by co-authors David Siegel and Rachel Simons of UCSB's Earth Research Institute.

The analysis overall showed that the chance of a population being rescued depends on the size of the neighboring forest, the number of spores it produces and the strength of ocean currents that carry the spores.

"Of these factors, year-to-year changes in spore production turned out to be the most important to successfully rescuing neighboring kelp populations," Castorani noted. "This is valuable to ocean conservation because it can inform which kelp forests should be prioritized for protection or where coastal restoration efforts could be most effective."

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Taking a new approach toward tuberculosis therapy, a UCLA-led research team has devised a potential drug regimen that could cut the treatment time by up to 75 percent, while simultaneously reducing the risk that patients could develop drug-resistant TB.

To identify the regimen, the researchers launched a systematic search for an optimal drug treatment using the Parabolic Response Surface Platform, a data analysis method that identifies which drug combinations work synergistically -- that is, with individual drugs working together in a way that is more potent than the sum of their individual potencies.

The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications, is the first to use the platform to identify more effective TB drug regimens and one of the first to focus on a communicable disease.

TB is one of the world's deadliest diseases, killing more people than any other disease caused by a single infectious organism. Worldwide, about 10 million people develop active TB each year and about 1.5 million people die of the disease, with India, Indonesia, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa accounting for 60 percent of the total, according to the World Health Organization. The United States saw 9,557 cases in 2015 and, according to the most recent data available, 493 deaths from the disease in 2014. More than 2 billion people have latent infections of the disease-causing bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, meaning they could ultimately develop active disease.

The current standard for treating TB is a four-drug regimen that has been in use since the 1980s. It was developed through trial and error, with physicians adding or substituting one drug at a time to existing regimens, rather than through a systematic search for synergistic drugs.

The regimen is unusually onerous, requiring six to eight months of therapy, said Dr. Marcus Horwitz, Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the study's senior author.

"The lengthy course increases the likelihood of drug toxicity and often leads to poor patient adherence to the drug regimens, which in turn prompts the emergence of drug-resistant TB," he said. "Drug-resistant TB, which requires up to two years to treat with current regimens, is difficult to treat and carries a high fatality rate."

The PRS technology can be applied to any disease and has been used in oncology, infectious diseases, immunosuppression and other areas in both the lab and the clinic, said Chih-Ming Ho, Distinguished Research Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and principal investigator of this study.

"This makes it possible to identify the most effective drug and dose combinations to treat a disease by sampling a relatively small number of different drug-dose combinations among billions of possible combinations," Ho said. "It greatly reduces the time and effort required to identify optimal drug combinations."

In a previous study, the researchers assessed the effectiveness of about 500 combinations of drugs and doses using a cell culture model. That enabled them to identify several highly synergistic three- and four-drug regimens that would likely be more potent than the standard regimen used to treat TB.

In the current study, the researchers first used the parabolic response surface approach to determine the optimal drug doses in mice for each of four drugs in two combinations. They then tested those combinations -- PRS Regimens I and II -- in mice infected with a highly virulent strain of M. tuberculosis. The PRS I and II regimens killed TB bacteria in the lungs and cured the mice up to four times faster than the standard regimen. To verify whether the animals were cured, treatment was halted after various treatment periods, and when a three-month waiting time elapsed, confirmation was made that the mice had no TB bacteria in their lungs.

If the new regimens are as successful in treating TB in humans as they were in mice, the much more effective of the two regimens, PRS Regimen II, made up of the drugs clofazimine, bedaquiline, ethambutol and pyrazinamide, would reduce treatment time by 75 percent -- from the six to eight months required under the standard regimen to about six weeks to two months.

"As a result, patients are more likely to adhere to the drug regimen, suffer less drug toxicity, and be less likely to develop drug-resistant TB," Horwitz said. "The PRS regimens are also suitable for treating most cases of drug-resistant TB because they do not contain the two drugs to which people with the drug-resistant disease typically develop resistance. These cases are anticipated to be treatable as rapidly as drug-sensitive cases with the PRS regimens," he added.

The next step is to test the drug combinations in humans. A pilot study of PRS Regimen I has already begun; this regimen consists of generic drugs only, which was a requirement for this particular study. Preliminary results indicate that four months of treating drug-sensitive TB with this regimen would be at least as effective as six months of treatment with the standard regimen. In addition, in laboratory studies, the researchers are using the PRS analysis against a larger number of TB drugs, including experimental drugs not yet approved for human use, to try to identify even more potent regimens.

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The study was a collaboration between the Horwitz laboratory and the laboratory of co-author Ho, which developed the parabolic response surface approach. The co-first authors of the paper are researcher Bai-Yu Lee and Daniel Clemens, professor in the UCLA Department of Medicine. Other authors are Aleidy Silva of the UCLA Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Barbara Jane Dillon, Sasa Maslesa-Gali? and Susana Nava of the UCLA Department of Medicine, and Xianting Ding of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Several of the authors are inventors on patents filed by UCLA covering the technology.

The study was supported by a sub-grant from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, a grantee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Media Contact:

Enrique Rivero

310-267-7120

erivero@mednet.ucla.edu
When it comes to predators, scientists find larger sheephead that consume bigger urchins help keep that population under control

Marine reserves play an important role in sustaining ecosystem diversity and abundance. Their presence enables certain species to return to a natural size structure, which enables predators to control destructive prey.

A case in point is the California sheephead. The colorful fish inhabit kelp forests ranging from Monterey Bay to the Gulf of California in Mexico. Scientists have known for some time that these sex-changing wrasses are a critical part of the kelp forest ecosystem.

And now they've shown how.

New research from UC Santa Barbara demonstrates the importance of predator size to kelp beds' ability to recover when an overabundance of urchins creates areas of low diversity and productivity, or barrens. Large sheephead eat large urchins, helping to keep the urchin population under control and to rejuvenate kelp forests. The findings appear in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"We found a lot more sheephead within the marine reserves at Catalina Island, which was our primary area of study," said co-author Robert Warner, a research professor in UCSB's Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology. "Particularly striking was how many more there were in terms of the larger individuals. Those are the ones we actually observed eating urchins of various sizes."

The team performed feeding experiments in the field, both inside and outside marine reserves. They wanted to determine what sizes of urchin could be handled by sheephead of various sizes and which type of urchin they preferred. It turns out sheephead favor purple urchins, the ones responsible for barren formation.

The researchers also found that sheephead of a certain size can't eat urchins at all. Once they grow to about a foot long, that changes. "We simply observed which sizes of sheephead were eating what kind of urchins and whether they tried and failed or tried and were successful," said co-author Steve Gaines, dean of the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. "The bottom line is that only the largest sheephead could handle and eat the largest urchins. The smaller sheephead either didn't try or ate only smaller urchins."

Warner, Gaines and lead author Rebecca Selden, a former UCSB graduate student who is now a postdoctoral researcher at Rutgers University, found that this feeding behavior caused urchin mortality to differ both inside and outside marine reserves. Mortality for medium and large urchins was low outside reserves, simply because the predator capable of eating them wasn't present. Greater overall urchin mortality existed inside the reserves, thanks to a greater abundance of sheephead -- both large and small.

"The critical point is that large sheephead can handle large urchins," Warner said. "What that means in the long run is that we need to pay attention to management that is concerned with size structure within the predator populations, not just their numbers.

"One way to restore size structure is to not kill them," Warner continued. "And one way not to kill them is to set up reserves. Once a reserve is established, once the animals are big, it is highly likely that kelp beds will be much more resistant to the formation of urchin barrens, which makes it easier for kelp forests to flourish. But that doesn't happen right away. We have to wait for individual predators to get large enough to handle the largest prey."

In places like New Zealand, a lack of predators has allowed urchins to grow so big that they're become invulnerable. The only way to reduce such populations would be a disaster such as heavy wave action or disease. But according to Warner, in Southern California, even the largest urchins can be controlled if enough big predators are around.

The study also made comparisons with the northern Channel Islands, where the overall number of sheephead is lower, largely due to the fact that the Santa Barbara Channel is the northern edge of their range.

"The differences you see inside and outside reserves is even larger in the northern Channel Islands," Gaines said. "Up here the differences are much more striking so the presence of reserves is likely even more critical to enabling increased resilience within the kelp beds."

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While most arachnophiles will likely find tiny spider dancers who can "swagger like Jagger" entertaining, it's more than the dance that captures the fascination of one NSF-funded University of Cincinnati researcher.

It's their ability to see color and the bright and bold color patterns on the male body parts that has Nate Morehouse, UC biologist, looking inside the many eyes of two groups of vividly colored jumping spiders.

"It's rare to see bright colors on most spiders, as they don't usually have the visual sensitivity to perceive color beyond drab blues, greens and browns," says Morehouse. "But certain groups of jumping spiders deviate from this pattern.

"They not only possess a unique ability to see reds, yellows and oranges, but the males display those same bright colors on the exterior of their faces and other body parts [that] they use in their elaborate courtship dances."

Love at first sight

Looking at the two groups of Salticidae -- better known as jumping spiders -- which possess this rare ability to see color, Morehouse, an assistant professor of biology in UC's College of Arts and Sciences, found that these two groups see color using two completely different mechanisms.

These tiny arachnids classified as the Habronattus jumping spiders of North America and the Maratus "peacock" jumping spiders of Australia, are no larger than a ladybug.

Habronattus spiders possess a red filter on the retina that combines with their green sensitive retinal cells to be able to see reds, yellows and oranges. In contrast, he found Maratus spiders have evolved a completely new type of retinal cell that is sensitive to red, no filter needed.

"This is a remarkable discovery, as two different groups of jumping spiders have evolved on opposite ends of the globe. Both have the rare ability to see long wavelength colors like red, orange and yellow," says Morehouse. "But each group has arrived at independent solutions for seeing the color."

Morehouse, who recently joined UC's Department of Biology from the University of Pittsburgh, moved his Morehouse Lab and NSF-funded sensory ecology research to work with the biology department's faculty concentration in sensory biology, behavior and evolution.

Now representing the University of Cincinnati, Morehouse recently presented the findings from this study at the 2017 Annual Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference in New Orleans in January.

Shake, rattle and roll

While many male jumping spiders perform sophisticated rhythmic displays when trying to woo little lady spiders, most species cannot see in color. Most simply use their booty-shaking dance moves to get her in the mood.

Since other species just see in the range from ultraviolet to green, Morehouse says this explains the mostly drab colors found on those particular arachnid bodies. Why be colorful if your prospective mates can't see your true colors?

By contrast, Morehouse describes the colorful Habronattus group from North and Central America and the Australian Maratus or "peacock" spiders as two groups that have deviated rather conspicuously from that rule.

The males in both colorful groups are talented dancers with fancy footwork, have bright oranges, pinks, reds and yellows in their physical display, and the peacock spiders also have an elaborately decorative abdomen flap that they raise up and down like a flag. And both sexes possess the ability to see those colors.

One of these things is not like the other

"Unlike closely related groups of jumping spiders that are drab in appearance, Habronattus spider males have brightly colored faces, legs and knees. And both sexes see these colors thanks to a bright ruby red filter in the middle of their retinas," says Morehouse. "The Maratus males are also colorful, and they too flash those vibrant body parts to attract their mates, but they don't have the red filter in their retinas like the Habronattus."

Instead, Morehouse says the savvy peacock spiders see color through ultraviolet, blue, green and red sensitive cells within their eyes, which is most similar to birds.

The reason may lie in part because Australian peacock spiders are not related to the Habronattus spiders in North America. While they look similar, Morehouse says they are about as far from the Habronattus group as humans are from hyenas.

"These Australian peacock spiders have independently arrived at a way of seeing color that is different from the North American spiders," says Morehouse.

To characterize the sensitivities of both novel color visual systems [the way in which the eye itself perceives color] Morehouse used:

Microspectrophotometry -- measures directly how photoreceptor cells in the retina absorb light differently. Visual system modeling -- uses mathematical models to estimate how the retina perceives color.

Morehouse has identified two distinct solutions for how these animals see color and both solutions are found within the retina of the principal eyes.

Habronattus employs a red filter to create a third type of photoreceptor cell predominantly sensitive to red light. Maratus uses no filters, but has two additional types of photoreceptors -- one is blue sensitive, one is red sensitive.

"These additional photoreceptor cells are likely a product of a gene duplication that has subsequently evolved to be sensitive to a different range of colors, similar to the way humans and other higher primates evolved to see color," explains Morehouse. "Somewhere early in primate evolution the gene responsible for the protein that gives us our green sensitivity got duplicated into two copies.

"One of these genes called an opsin gene mutated without affecting the other and those mutations eventually led to one of the copies becoming red sensitive. This may be what happened in the Maratus."

Visual diversity shares common goal

Gene duplication is increasingly credited as a mechanism for evolving functions, Morehouse says, including new visual functions. In the case of the jumping spiders, color vision provides a valuable new trait for not only luring their mates, but is especially critical for successful foraging.

He explains these fuzzy fur balls as voracious predators eating a wide variety of small insects and some of their prey are brightly colored, which can signal their toxicity to other predators like birds and dragonflies. So fortunate spiders that can see these warning colors are also at an advantage for discriminating between brightly colored toxic prey and non-toxic prey.

"We think that more effective foraging is the major reason for the evolution of color vision," says Morehouse.

But what about the bright colors of males? Wouldn't this lead them to be more obvious to spider predators? Morehouse points out that bright male body colors are usually only observable from the front when the spiders are face-to-face.

The males may wave their legs around in a kaleidoscope of colors but Morehouse says it typically only shows on the underside. When birds observe these rare, multi-hued spiders from above they only see their mottled drab colors of brown, black and tan patterns on the surfaces facing upward.

The result is a clever solution: camouflage on top for predators and bright color displays in front for members of their own species.

Morehouse hopes to continue this research by looking at a group of spiders in India that are brightly colored and unrelated to either of these two groups. "If we increase our knowledge of additional groups that have transitioned to more sophisticated color vision, we're in an exceptional position to understand why color vision evolves in the first place and what consequences it has for color signaling behavior and the ecology of these species," says Morehouse.

"And who knows, perhaps we will find inspirations for novel color sensing technologies."

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Funding:

This work is partly funded by a current, NSF grant (IOS-1557549).

Acknowledgment for this research: Nathan Morehouse expresses tremendous appreciation for his colleague photographers Thomas Shahan for the North American Habronattus spider images and Jurgen Otto for the Australian Maratus spider images and video.
Our personality may be shaped by how our brain works, but in fact the shape of our brain can itself provide surprising clues about how we behave - and our risk of developing mental health disorders - suggests a study published today.

According to psychologists, the extraordinary variety of human personality can be broken down into the so-called 'Big Five' personality traits, namely neuroticism (how moody a person is), extraversion (how enthusiastic a person is), openness (how open-minded a person is), agreeableness (a measure of altruism), and conscientiousness (a measure of self-control).

In a study published today in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, an international team of researchers from the UK, US, and Italy have analysed a brain imaging dataset from over 500 individuals that has been made publicly available by the Human Connectome Project, a major US initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health. In particular, the researchers looked at differences in the brain cortical anatomy (the structure of the outer layer of the brain) as indexed by three measures - the thickness, area, and amount of folding in the cortex - and how these measures related to the Big Five personality traits.

"Evolution has shaped our brain anatomy in a way that maximizes its area and folding at the expense of reduced thickness of the cortex," explains Dr Luca Passamonti from the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge. "It's like stretching and folding a rubber sheet - this increases the surface area, but at the same time the sheet itself becomes thinner. We refer to this as the 'cortical stretching hypothesis'."

"Cortical stretching is a key evolutionary mechanism that enabled human brains to expand rapidly while still fitting into our skulls, which grew at a slower rate than the brain," adds Professor Antonio Terracciano from the Department of Geriatrics at the Florida State University. "Interestingly, this same process occurs as we develop and grow in the womb and throughout childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood: the thickness of the cortex tends to decrease while the area and folding increase."

In addition, as we get older, neuroticism goes down - we become better at handling emotions. At the same time, conscientiousness and agreeableness go up - we become progressively more responsible and less antagonistic.

The researchers found that high levels of neuroticism, which may predispose people to develop neuropsychiatric disorders, were associated with increased thickness as well as reduced area and folding in some regions of the cortex such as the prefrontal-temporal cortices at the front of the brain.

In contrast, openness, which is a personality trait linked with curiosity, creativity and a preference for variety and novelty, was associated with the opposite pattern, reduced thickness and an increase in area and folding in some prefrontal cortices.

"Our work supports the notion that personality is, to some degree, associated with brain maturation, a developmental process that is strongly influenced by genetic factors," says Dr Roberta Riccelli from Italy.

"Of course, we are continually shaped by our experiences and environment, but the fact that we see clear differences in brain structure which are linked with differences in personality traits suggests that there will almost certainly be an element of genetics involved," says Professor Nicola Toschi from the University 'Tor Vergata' in Rome. "This is also in keeping with the notion that differences in personality traits can be detected early on during development, for example in toddlers or infants."

The volunteers whose brains were imaged as part of the Human Connectome Project were all healthy individuals aged between 22 and 36 years with no history of neuro-psychiatric or other major medical problems. However, the relationship between differences in brain structure and personality traits in these people suggests that the differences may be even more pronounced in people who are more likely to experience neuro-psychiatric illnesses.

"Linking how brain structure is related to basic personality traits is a crucial step to improving our understanding of the link between the brain morphology and particular mood, cognitive, or behavioural disorders," adds Dr Passamonti. "We also need to have a better understanding of the relation between brain structure and function in healthy people to figure out what is different in people with neuropsychiatric disorders."

This is not the first time the researchers have found links between our brain structure and behaviour. A study published by the group last year found that the brains of teenagers with serious antisocial behaviour problems differ significantly in structure to those of their peers.

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Reference

Riccelli, R et al. Surface-based morphometry reveals the neuroanatomical basis of the five-factor Model. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience; 25 Jan 2016; DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsw175
PITTSBURGH -- One of the most prestigious awards in the field of medicine will be presented to University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine faculty members Yuan Chang and Patrick S. Moore.

The duo, whose Chang-Moore Laboratory is credited with discovering two of the seven known human viruses that directly cause cancer, will receive the 2017 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize. The award is given annually to medical researchers who have made significant contributions in the fields of immunology, cancer research, microbiology, and chemotherapy.

"Drs. Chang and Moore's contributions to cancer research have been significant and lasting, touching the lives of people around the world," said Arthur S. Levine, Pitt's senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and the John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of the School of Medicine. "They are the first Pitt faculty members to ever be honored with the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize. The University community congratulates them and celebrates this well-deserved tribute to the pioneering work that has come to define their careers."

Chang and Moore discovered the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes virus, or human herpesvirus 8 (KSHV/HHV8) in 1994. The virus causes Kaposi's sarcoma, the most common AIDS-related malignancy and one of the most frequently occurring cancers in Africa. Prior to this discovery, medical researchers had worked for nearly 15 years to find an infectious agent associated with Kaposi's sarcoma. The pair also identified Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV)--the cause of Merkel cell carcinoma, one of the world's most clinically aggressive skin cancers--in 2008.

The two have been widely recognized for their work, which has garnered some of the highest national and international honors in medicine, infectious disease, and cancer. Together they have been honored with the 2012 Marjorie Stephenson Prize from the Society of General Microbiology in the United Kingdom, the 2003 Charles S. Mott Award from the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, the 1998 Robert Koch Prize, and the 1997 Meyenburg Prize. Chang and Moore are also elected fellows of the National Academy of Sciences.

Chang's current research centers on viral oncogenesis with efforts specifically focused on KSHV, MCV, and new pathogen discovery. Moore's research focuses on addressing cancers caused by viruses and how this information can be used to understand molecular causes for noninfectious cancers.

The award honoring Chang's and Moore's work is named for renowned German scientists Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter. The prize is given by the Paul Ehrlich Foundation, which is managed by the Association of Friends and Sponsors of the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. The foundation presents the honor annually in Frankfurt on Ehrlich's birthday, March 14.

Yuan Chang:

A pathologist and virologist, Yuan Chang is an American Cancer Society Research Professor and a Distinguished Professor of Pathology in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Chang has been a faculty member in Pitt's School of Medicine since 2002. Prior to joining Pitt, she held faculty positions in Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgery and at Stanford University Medical Center. Chang also served as a research scientist at the DNAX Research Institute of Molecular Biology in Palo Alto, Calif.

In 2015, then-president Barack Obama appointed Chang to serve on the United States' National Cancer Advisory Board, which advises the National Institutes of Health on promising cancer research. Her other notable honors include elections to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the Association of American Physicians. Chang was a past recipient of the 2010 Howard Taylor Ricketts Award from the University of Chicago and the 2003 Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Chang earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology at Stanford University in 1981 as well as her Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Utah's College of Medicine in 1987.

Patrick S. Moore:

An epidemiologist and virologist, Patrick S. Moore is the director of the Cancer Virology Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. He is an American Cancer Society Research Professor, a Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, and the Pittsburgh Foundation Chair in Innovative Cancer Research in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Last year, the National Cancer Institute recognized Moore's contributions to medical research with its Outstanding Investigator Award.

Before coming to Pitt in 2002, Moore was a faculty member in the Division of Epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. He also has served as the deputy commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and the chief of the Epidemiology Section of the Arboviral Diseases Branch at the Centers for Disease Control in Fort Collins, Colo.

Moore earned a Bachelor of Science in biology at Westminster College, a master's degree in chemistry at Stanford University, a Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Utah, and a Master of Public Health degree at the University of California, Berkeley.

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The study of Palaeolithic art is "one of the few tools we have to find out about the culture and society of prehistoric groups," said Blanca Ochoa, researcher in the UPV/EHU's department of Geography, Prehistory and Archaeology. Knowing who the representations were meant for "could indicate the intended use of cave art for prehistoric groups: whether it was something for the whole group, shared by all its members, or whether it was limited to small groups, or even to just one individual," she explained.

In her research the aim was to specify whether there were any preferences in terms of choosing the spaces where the Palaeolithic representations were drawn or engraved in nine caves on the Cantabrian coast located in Asturias and Cantabria. "It is an aspect that has been analysed very little until now," remarked the researcher. They developed an in-house methodology to analyse the visibility of the figures depicted, which covers not only variables relating to the space where they are located (room size, accessibility, presence of natural light etc.) but also characteristics relating to the depictions themselves: "The size of the works, the height they are at, and, above all, the technique used to execute them (painting or engraving) largely determines visibility," said Ochoa. "The paintings are much more visible than the engravings, and even more so if the engraving is not very deep".

Differences in location, possible change of use

As Ochoa explained, one of the most interesting results they have extracted in the research are the chronological differences observed: "Throughout the Upper Palaeolithic the topographical distribution of the works gradually changed: during the early phases of the Upper Palaeolithic there is a preference for executing medium-sized and large drawings in the main galleries of the caves. During the Magdalenian, between 20,000 and 12,000 years ago, there was an increase in the use of spaces located in places far from the main cave route, in small, sometimes concealed rooms; what is more, there was a preference for a smaller size when it came to creating the figures and an increase in the use of the engraving as a technique. Art may have been used to be seen in community during the Pre-Magdalenian. The use of smaller spaces during the Magdalenian, however, could indicate that art became something more restricted or that it performed another kind of function".

As it is a new type of study and conducted in a limited geographical area, Ochoa stresses the preliminary nature of the results obtained. Nevertheless, she believes it will "help to establish the bases to find out who Palaeolithic art was intended for. We have confirmed that the methodology developed does in fact work and that it can continue to be applied in other areas of the Cantabrian region or outside it. I would like to continue with the research, because the results for this area have been very interesting, and I would like to see whether the conclusions we have drawn can be extended to other areas. Although there will probably be geographical differences as well and the different groups may have had other uses of art".

###

Additional information

This study was part of the PhD thesis of Blanca Ochoa (Salamanca, 1987), entitled 'Espacio grafico, visibilidad y transito cavernario: el uso de las cavidades con arte paleolitico en la Region Cantabrica' (Graphic Space, Visibility and Cave Passage: the use of caves with Palaeolithic Art in the Cantabrian Region) and conducted in the Prehistory IT-622-13 research group of the UPV/EHU's department of Geography, Prehistory and Archaeology; it was supervised by Marcos Garcia-Diez (UPV/EHU lecturer and researcher) and Alvaro Arrizabalaga-Valbuena (tenured UPV/EHU lecturer). Ochoa spent a period of time during her research at the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle/Institut de Paleontologie Humaine (Paris).

Bibliographical reference

Garcia-Diez, M., Ochoa, B., Vigiola-Tona, I., Garrido-Pimentel, D., Rodriguez-Asensio, J.A. (2016.) Temps et reseaux de l'art paleolithique: la grotte de La Covaciella (Asturies, Espagne). L'Anthropologie: 120 (5). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anthro.2015.11.001
Jan. 25, 2017 - The days of wearing bifocals or constantly swapping out reading glasses might soon come to an end.

A team led by University of Utah electrical and computer engineering professor Carlos Mastrangelo and doctoral student Nazmul Hasan has created "smart glasses" with liquid-based lenses that can automatically adjust the focus on what a person is seeing, whether it is far away or close up. Research on the adaptive lenses was published this week in a special edition of the journal, Optics Express. The paper was co-authored by U electrical and computer engineering associate professor Hanseup Kim and graduate researcher Aishwaryadev Banerjee.

"Most people who get reading glasses have to put them on and take them off all the time," says Mastrangelo, who also is a professor for USTAR, the Utah Science Technology and Research economic development initiative. "You don't have to do that anymore. You put these on, and it's always clear."

The human eye has a lens inside that adjusts the focal depth depending on what you look at. But as people age, the lens loses its ability to change focus, which is why many people ultimately require reading glasses or bifocals to see objects up close and regular eyeglasses to see far away, also known as farsightedness and nearsightedness, respectively.

So Mastrangelo and Hasan have created eyeglass lenses made of glycerin, a thick colorless liquid enclosed by flexible rubber-like membranes in the front and back. The rear membrane in each lens is connected to a series of three mechanical actuators that push the membrane back and forth like a transparent piston, changing the curvature of the liquid lens and therefore the focal length between the lens and the eye.

"The focal length of the glasses depends on the shape of the lens, so to change the optical power we actually have to change the membrane shape," Mastrangelo says.

The lenses are placed in special eyeglass frames also invented by Mastrangelo, Hasan and other members of the research group with electronics and a battery to control and power the actuators. In the bridge of the glasses is a distance meter that measures the distance from the glasses to an object via pulses of infrared light. When the wearer looks at an object, the meter instantly measures the distance and tells the actuators how to curve the lenses. If the user then sees another object that's closer, the distance meter readjusts and tells the actuators to reshape the lens for farsightedness. Hasan says the lenses can change focus from one object to another in 14 milliseconds. A rechargeable battery in the frames could last more than 24 hours per charge, Mastrangelo says.

Before putting them on for the first time, all users have to do is input their eyeglasses prescription into an accompanying smartphone app, which then calibrates the lenses automatically via a Bluetooth connection. Users only needs to do that once except for when their prescription changes over time, and theoretically, eyeglass wearers will never have to buy another pair again since these glasses would constantly adjust to their eyesight.

Currently, the team has constructed a bulky working prototype that they put on display at last month's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but expect to constantly improve the design to make them smaller and lighter. Mastrangelo said a lighter, more attractive pair could hit the marketplace in as early as three years and that a startup company, Sharpeyes LLC, has been created to commercialize the glasses.

###

The project was funded with a grant from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. The full paper can be viewed at https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/fulltext.cfm?uri=oe-25-2-1221&id=357441

This news release and photos may be downloaded from: http://unews.utah.edu/i-can-see-clearly-now/
New research indicates that people who had more infections as babies harbor a key marker of cellular aging as young adults: the protective stretches of DNA which "cap" the ends of their chromosomes are shorter than in adults who were healthier as infants.

The findings, published Jan. 25 in the American Journal of Human Biology, shed new light on how the intricate interplay between genetics and environment impacts human health.

"These are important and surprising findings because -- generally speaking -- shorter chromosome 'caps' are associated with a higher burden of disease later in life," said lead author Dan Eisenberg, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Washington.

The 'caps' Eisenberg and his co-authors measured are called telomeres. These are long stretches of DNA at the ends of our chromosomes, which protect our genes from damage or improper regulation. One Nobel Prize-winning scientist who studies telomeres has compared them to aglets -- the plastic or metal sheath covering ends of shoelaces. When aglets wear down, the shoelace is exposed to fraying and degradation from environmental forces.

Like aglets, telomeres don't last forever. In most of our cells, telomeres get shorter each time that cell divides. And when they get too short, the cell either quits dividing or dies.

That makes telomere length particularly important for the cells of our immune system, especially the white blood cells circulating in our bloodstream. When activated against a pathogen, white blood cells undergo rapid rounds of cell division to raise a defensive force against the infectious invader. But if telomeres in white blood cells are already too short, the body may struggle to mount an effective immune response.

"Many studies -- in laboratory animals and humans -- have associated shorter telomeres with poor health outcomes, especially in adults," said Eisenberg.

But few studies have addressed whether or not events early in a person's life might affect telomere length.

To get at this question, Eisenberg turned to the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey, which has tracked the health of over 3,000 infants born in 1983-1984 in Cebu City in the Philippines. Researchers collected detailed data every two months from mothers on the health and feeding habits of their babies up through age two. Mothers reported how often their babies had diarrhea -- a sign of infection -- as well as how often they breastfed their babies.

As these babies grew up, scientists collected additional health data during follow-up surveys over the next 20 years. In 2005, 1,776 of these offspring donated a blood sample. By then, they were 21- or 22-year-old young adults.

Eisenberg measured telomere length in cells from those blood samples. He then combined the data on adult telomere length with information about their health and feeding habits as babies.

He found that babies with higher reported cases of diarrhea at 6 to 12 months also had the shortest telomeres as adults. This six-month period is the typical age for weaning infants, as well as a time of increasing mobility and exploration. It is also a time when infectious diseases in infants reach their peak. Based on the environment and public health situation in Cebu City at the time, these cases of diarrhea were most likely brought about by infection, Eisenberg said.

Diarrheal infection is a very serious global health concern as it is the second leading cause of death in children under age five. The association Eisenberg found between this infection and telomeres is large enough that it might influence aging in important ways. For example, those with an average level of diarrheal infection as babies, compared to those who with no reported infections, showed the equivalent of three additional years of telomere "aging" -- based on the rate of telomere shortening among middle-aged adults.

One explanation is that the adults have shorter telomeres because they had more infections as infants. Infections spur increased cell replications and inflammation, both of which can shorten telomeres. But, Eisenberg said, another explanation is also possible.

"It could also be that they had shorter telomeres at birth," said Eisenberg. "And perhaps as a result, they were more susceptible to infections at 6 to 12 months and maintained these short telomeres into adulthood." If this were the case, then telomeres may be an important determinant of whether or not children around the world succumb to diarrheal infections.

Surprisingly, he found no association between breastfeeding by mothers and telomere length in their offspring as adults.

"We were expecting to see a relationship between breastfeeding and telomere length because babies receive maternally-produced antibodies through breastmilk, which can help them fight off pathogens while their own immune systems are developing," said Eisenberg. "In addition, breastfed babies are less likely to be exposed to infectious agents through contaminated food and water."

In addition, one study from 2016 reported that, among 121 Latino children in California, exclusive breastfeeding in the first six weeks after birth was associated with longer telomeres at age 4 or 5. But there are many reasons that could explain the difference between the 2016 study in California and this new study from the Philippines, Eisenberg said.

"If breastfeeding does effect telomere length, it could be that the effect goes away by age 21," said Eisenberg. "Also, infants in these studies were from vastly different parts of the world -- which likely affects the pathogens they were exposed to and the other typical parenting habits of women who breastfeed."

Only more data on health, telomere length and environment can resolve the debate, Eisenberg concluded.

###

Co-authors on the study include Christopher Kuzawa and Geoffrey Hayes at Northwestern University and Judith Borja with the University of San Carlos in the Philippines. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and Northwestern University.

For more information, contact Eisenberg at 206-221-9056 or dtae@uw.edu.

Grant numbers: BCS-0962282, 8111, TW05596, DK078150, RR20649, ES10126 and DK056350.
In the cold depths along the sea floor, Antarctic Bottom Waters are part of a global circulatory system, supplying oxygen-, carbon- and nutrient-rich waters to the world's oceans. Over the last decade, scientists have been monitoring changes in these waters. But a new study from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) suggests these changes are themselves shifting in unexpected ways, with potentially significant consequences for the ocean and climate.

In a paper published January 25 in Science Advances, a team led by WHOI oceanographers Viviane Menezes and Alison Macdonald report that Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) has freshened at a surprising rate between 2007 and 2016--a shift that could alter ocean circulation and ultimately contribute to rising sea levels.

"If you change the circulation, you change everything in the ocean," said Menezes, a WHOI postdoctoral investigator and the study's lead author. Ocean circulation drives the movement of warm and cold waters around the world, so it is essential to storing and regulating heat and plays a key role in Earth's temperature and climate. "But we don't have the whole story yet. We have some new pieces, but we don't have the entire puzzle."

The puzzle itself isn't new: past studies suggest that AABW has been undergoing significant changes for decades. Since the 1990s, an international program of repeat surveys has periodically sampled certain ocean basins around the world to track the circulation and conditions at these spots over time. Along one string of sites, or "stations," that stretches from Antarctica to the southern Indian Ocean, researchers have tracked the conditions of AABW--a layer of profoundly cold water less than 0C (it stays liquid because of its salt content, or salinity) that moves through the abyssal ocean, mixing with warmer waters as it circulates around the globe in the Southern Ocean and northward into all three of the major ocean basins.

The AABW forms along the Antarctic ice shelves, where strong winds cool open areas of water, called polynyas, until some of the water freezes. The salt in the water doesn't freeze, however, so the unfrozen seawater around the ice becomes saltier. The salt makes the water denser, causing it to sink to the ocean bottom.

"These waters are thought to be the underpinning of the large-scale global ocean circulation," said Macdonald, a WHOI senior research specialist and the study's co-author. "Antarctic Bottom Water gets its characteristics from the atmosphere--for example, dissolved carbon and oxygen--and sends them deep into the ocean. Then, as the water moves around the globe, it mixes with the water around it and they start to share each other's properties. It's like taking a deep breath and letting it go really slowly, over decades or even centuries."

As a result, the frigid flow plays a critical role in regulating circulation, temperature, and availability of oxygen and nutrients throughout the world's oceans, and serves as both a barometer for climate change and a factor that can contribute to that change.

A past study using the repeat survey data found that AABW had warmed and freshened (grown less saline) between 1994 and 2007. When Macdonald and Menezes revisited the line of stations, they measured how AABW has changed in the years since.

During the austral summer of 2016, they joined the crew of the research ship R/V Revelle and cruised north from Antarctica to Australia, braving frequent storms to collect samples every 30 nautical miles. In a shipboard lab, they analyzed the samples using data from conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensors, which measure the water's salinity, temperature and other properties, with support from study co-author Courtney Schatzman of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who processed the raw data.

The team found that the previously detected warming trend has continued, though at a somewhat slower pace. The biggest surprise, however, was its lack of saltiness: AABW in this region has grown fresher four times faster in the past decade than it did between 1994 and 2007.

"I thought, 'Oh wow!' when I saw the change in salinity," said Menezes. "You collect the data and sometimes you spend 2 to 3 years to find something, but this time we knew what we had within hours, and we knew it was very unexpected."

Such a shift, were it global, could significantly disrupt ocean circulation and sea levels.

"The fresher and warmer the water is, the less dense it will be, and the more it will expand and take up more space - and that leads to rising sea levels," Macdonald said. "If these waters no longer sink, it could have far reaching affects for global ocean circulation patterns."

Questions remain around the cause of the shift. Menezes and Macdonald hypothesize that the freshening could be due to a recent landscape-changing event. In 2010, an iceberg about the size of Rhode Island collided with Antarctica's Mertz Glacier Tongue, carving out a more-than-1,000-square-mile piece and reshaping the icescape of the George V/Adelie Land Coast, where the AABW observed in this study is thought to form. The subsequent melting dramatically freshened the waters there, which may have in turn freshened the AABW as well. Future studies could use chemical analysis to trace the waters back to the site of the collision and calving and confirm the hypothesis.

###

This research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, non-profit organization on Cape Cod, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean's role in the changing global environment. For more information, please visit http://www.whoi.edu.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017

The Herman Trend Alert

January 18, 2017

Off-the-Grid Refrigeration

When our author Joyce was in Myanmar on a Viking River Cruise, she was fortunate enough to visit one special village that was privileged to have a refrigerator; it was a really big deal to have one and its owners shared the appliance with their neighbors.

We take electricity for granted

Most of us take the availability of electricity for granted. Yet more than 1.2 billion people around the world live with intermittent- or no electricity. In fact, in the rural areas of most developing countries, up to 85 percent of the populace lives in the dark.

The lack of electricity has a significant negative impact on four continents

Specifically, the continents of Asia, South America, and Africa are negatively affected from the lack of electricity. Moreover, this deficit is one of the major causes for the reduced economic development, as well as sustained high unemployment.

A tremendous need

The United States International Energy Agency estimates that to bring universal energy access to the Sub-Sahara region alone by 2030 would cost $300 billion USD. This figures does not even include the continents of Asia and South America that have similar off-grid needs.

Enter Solar Cool Cube

With two models of solar-powered, walk-in refrigerators called Solar Cool Cubes, DGridEnergy, LLC is a social benefits company based in Maryland, USA. Their units are being sold to Zambia and The Democratic Republic of Congo. In addition, they are in discussion with Angola and more than 13 other countries in the world.

Working model on display

The unique product is on display at the University of the District of Columbia Redbird Muirkirk Experimental Farm in Beltsville, Maryland, USA. Manufactured in the US and shipped in kits, Solar Cool Cubes may be assembled, serviced, and maintained locally to create jobs and employment. Designed primarily for small and medium size businesses, farmers, dairy and fishery cooperatives, horticulture, military use and more, its internal space can be organized for rental of cold space to community users. The system can cool dairy, produce, beverages, seeds, meat, medicine, vaccines, and even the remains of love ones.

Leading edge optional features

Optional features include a video display screen for training, public interest, or advertising and its smartenabled applications allow it to be operated by cell phone for remote operation and mobile payment. It is an energy station that includes LED lighting and cell phone- and computer-charging capability for rural areas.

What's next for the technology?

Modular Solar Cool Cubes are currently available in two sizes: 20 or 40 cubic meter capacity and beyond. Though the products are stackable, we expect the company to expand its product offerings with artificial intelligence, so that the product can independently sell space to locals and take payments without human involvement. The AI from x.ai that currently schedules meetings could be adapted for this purpose. (Look for information on this software and other AI products in a subsequent Herman Trend Alert.)

For more information about The Solar Cool Cube, call Gene Faison at DGridEnergy at240.426.9604 or email him at emfaison@dgridenergy.com.
Alcott Farm

Accommodation Details

Alcott farm is run by hostess Jane Poole and International trainer and rider John Poole (producer of Olympic horses). The farm is set in 65 acres of rolling Worcestershire countryside only a short drive from the motorway network as well as the NEC, Birmingham city centre and airport. Motorcyclists are are assured a friendly welcome. CCTV is installed for your security.



This beautiful country home has a fantastic location, luxurious bed and breakfast facilities with en-suite bedrooms, good pubs and restaurants nearby, and within striking distance of Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Accommodation Location




Blaencar Farm

Accommodation Details

This Five Star farmhouse is situated 8 miles west of the historic market town of Brecon. The ambience is relaxed and informal and offers exceptional accommodation and comfort for discerning guests looking for something special. The peace and tranquility of this quiet but accessible location provides an ideal base whether your priority is relaxation or active exploration of the surrounding, unspoilt countryside.



Having been lovingly refurbished to a high standard, this traditional Welsh farmhouse has a wealth of charm and character with exposed beams and stonework, inglenooks and original oak doors.



Enjoy delicious farmhouse breakfasts based on local fresh produce, or something lighter if you prefer. Evening meals are available locally at the friendly country pub, a pleasant 15 minute walk from Blaencar.



The charming en-suite bedrooms, with king-size beds, offer all facilities providing a unique blend of comfort and luxury.



In addition, Blaencar now has a new luxury suite, completely self-contained, adjoining the farmhouse. Retaining much of the original character of the old stable, the spacious suite comprises a double room with king-size four poster bed and a bathroom with bath and shower. A cozy lounge with television and video adjoins a well equipped oak kitchen.



Guests in the Stable have the option of bed and breakfast, taking breakfast in the farmhouse or self-catering, if preferred.

Accommodation Location




Hucklesbrook Farm

Accommodation Details

3 new forest holiday cottages

Welcome, we have four New Forest holiday cottages. Fallow, Roe and Badger cottage sleep 4 - 6.Changeover is Friday or Saturday. Short breaks and discounts for couples are available.



peaceful new forest holidays

Within the New Forest where ponies roam free you will find our New Forest cottages on our family farm. The cottages are a short drive from the historic city of Salisbury and the sandy beaches of the South Coast.

beautiful and tranquil new forest cottages

All the cottages are set within a courtyard of lawns and flowers behind our beautiful 17th Century farmhouse. Views from the South facing windows look over farmland, woodland and the New Forest beyond.



all inclusive new forest self catering

Clean, light, and warm, our New Forest cottages are spacious and attractively furnished to a country look and feel. Linen, towels, electricity and full central heating are all inclusive. However, apologies, no smoking and no dogs in the cottages.

Accommodation Location




Little Gaerfields

Accommodation Details

Large holiday home to sleep up to 20 in the Herefordshire Wye Valley also close to the Forest of Dean and the border of Wales, with a swimming pool, swim jet and sauna. A lovely large holiday home to stay for the Ryder Cup in 2010.



A Superb barn conversion to a large holiday home sleeping from 2 to 20 on a working farm now called Little Gaerfields but once let as two cottages called Littlefields - Gaerfields.



* Retained period charm through our careful attention to detail.

* Inglenook with cosy wood burner

* All dine together in one room.

* 3 bedrooms en-suite

* 3 further bedrooms

* 2 bathrooms one with a slipper bath

* Wonderful views towards Herefordshire, The hills of Wales

and The Malvern Hills from the farm.

* Family farm location

* Ideal for large family get togethers, reunions,hen/stag or that special party

* Hereford, Ross-on-Wye, The Royal Forest of Dean, Monmouth and Wales

are within 10 to 20 minutes drive.

* Try the home cooked food delivered to your kitchen or the fresh baked cakes.

* Indoor swimming pool, swim jet and Infrared sauna.



Enjoy a fresh farm egg for breakfast and after take a walk around the footpaths or enjoy all the many things that Herefordshire has to offer.



There are optional guided walks to find & identifiy wild food and mushrooms (when in season) with an expert guide Rauol.

The two best know walks are Offa's Dyke footpath and The Wye Valley walk but Herefordshire has many others as well. The Blossom trail and the Herefordshire Trail are just two to tempt you with. There are books and maps in the self catering holiday cottages to help you plan your routes Mappa Mundi, The Black and White villages, The Golden Valley, The Cider Route, Symonds Yat Rock are just a few places to experience while you are on holiday in Herefordshire.

Accommodation Location




Peak House Farm

Accommodation Details

Peak House Farm is a 120 year old farmhouse with unspoilt country views in the North Hampshire Downs, an area of outstanding natural beauty. We have been successfully running our B&B business here for over 10 years.



We offer a warm welcome, delightful, well appointed ensuite rooms and a traditional farmhouse breakfast.



Peak House Farm is the hub of a traditional family run working dairy farm set in over 100 acres, 2 miles outside the small Hampshire town of Whitchurch.

We milk approximately 120 cows, have a horse, a pony a few sheep, 2 cats and hens. All of which you are welcome to observe with supervision.

We have 2 double ensuite rooms in the main farmhouse and one self-contained ground floor twin bath ensuite situated in the refurbished annexe. All facilities are non-smoking and all our rooms have colour TV, radio alarm clocks, hairdryer and hospitality tray.



A variety of breakfasts are available, using mainly locally sourced produce, cooked on a traditional farmhouse range. We provide a separate dining room and cosy sitting room with woodburner for the evenings.

Accommodation Location




Green MEPs have received test results confirming the presence of weedkiller glyphosate in their urine.

Glyphosate is the worlds most widely used herbicide. Scientific opinion on it is divided, however, the World Health Organisation confirmed last year that the substance is "probably carcinogenic" to humans.

Keith Taylor, MEP for the South East, Molly Scott Cato, MEP for the South West, and Jean Lambert, MEP for London, were among a group of 48 MEPs that took part in a urine test ahead of the European Parliament vote last month to oppose the EU Commissions proposal to relicense the controversial toxic substance until 2031.

The inspiration behind what was labelled the #MEPee test was the results of a recent study in Germany which found that 99.6% of people tested were found to have glyphosate residue in their urine.

The results reveal that every MEP tested has been found to have glyphosate traces in their urine, with the average concentration being 1.73ng/ml.

That level is more than 17 times the safe limit for drinking water. The lowest level found among the group was 0.17ng/ml, almost double the safe level.

Keith, Molly, and Jean have written to Liz Truss urging the UK government to respect the decision of the European Parliament when it is asked to vote on re-approval next week.

Keith Taylor, a member of the European Parliaments Environment and Health Committee whose personal test results show a glyphosate contamination level of 0.4 ng/ml, said:

"The urine test might seem like an attention-grabbing stunt, but it has proven our worst fears about glyphosate.

"I, and every one of my colleagues, have been found to be contaminated by the controversial substance, at levels far higher than those deemed safe for drinking water.

"This is rather worrying considering the World Health Organisation has concluded, following a comprehensive review of the published scientific data, this toxic substance is 'probably carcinogenic'.

"That's why I am calling on the European Commission to consider not only the widespread opposition to reapproving the weedkiller but also just how prevalent it is in our environment."

'Fundamental' that the agricultural sector is able to use glyphosate

However, the European Parliament voted in favour of re-authorising the use of glyphosate last month, but limited this approval to seven years.

Glyphosates current European license was set to expire in June, but following last month's vote, it has been granted authorisation until 2023.

Nearly 700 MEPs voted on the licensing of glyphosate and the vote was passed by 374 votes in favor to 225 votes against.

The NFU said it was pleased with the result, following intense discussions on the importance of the herbicide between the NFU President and MEPs in Strasbourg and letters sent to MEPs from the farming community.

NFU President Meurig Raymond said: "Its fundamental that the agricultural sector is able to use glyphosate responsibly in order to produce healthy products across the sector entering the food chain, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and continue to farm sustainably.

"We prioritised meeting with MEPs ahead of the vote in Strasbourg this week to make absolutely sure that they are aware of the importance of glyphosate for farming and adding balance to any skewed views on the issue.

What is glyphosate?

Glyphosate is an active substance widely used in herbicides.

Patented in the early 1970s, it was introduced to the consumer market in 1974 as a broad-spectrum herbicide and quickly became a best seller.

Since its patent expired in 2000, glyphosate has been marketed by various companies and several hundred plant protection products containing glyphosate are currently registered in Europe for use on crops.
The Liberal Democrats have warned that leaving the Single Market will risk putting farmers out of business, posing a risk to the family farm 'as we know it'.

Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron also warned that opening up Britains food markets to cheap imports will risk lower animal welfare rules,

The stark warnings come as Theresa May prepares for her summit with President Trump where a UK-US trade deal is expected to be at the top of the agenda.

Farron is visiting West Illand Farm today (Wednesday 25th January) in Launceston, Cornwall to discuss the implications of a hard Brexit on UK farming. He will also be accompanied by the Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for North Cornwall and former Defra minister Dan Rogerson.

'Hard Brexit and Trump'

Speaking ahead of the visit, Tim Farron said hard Brexit and a free trade deal with Trump 'pose a threat to the family farm as we know it'.

He said: Pulling Britain out of the Single Market would hit UK farmers especially hard, as tariffs for agricultural products are far higher than in other sectors.

The US also has far lower animal welfare and food standards than we do, including on factory farming, the use of growth hormones and antibiotics.

British farmers therefore risk facing a perfect storm, losing tariff-free access to vital European markets while being undercut by imports from the US and elsewhere.

Farron concluded: The Liberal Democrats will fight to hold Theresa May to account over her plans for a hard Brexit and ensure the British people are given a say on the final deal.

The public did not vote to weaken animal welfare standards or put British farmers out of business.
Welsh farmers have renewed calls to tackle bovine TB in badger populations, calling for a more 'robust' approach.

Speaking at the 17th Farmhouse breakfast, Farmers' Union of Wales president Glyn Roberts told Welsh assembly members that farmers should not expected to shoulder the burden of ineffective bovine TB control measures.

Mr Roberts acknowledged that whilst farmers see some progress in terms of dealing with diseased badgers, the group said it strongly urges the Welsh government to address the issue more robustly.

He said: "Nearly 10,000 cattle were slaughtered last year, in a one-sided approach to dealing with the problem.

"The results of the recent consultation show that the farmers of Wales are expecting a more robust solution that also deals with wildlife," he told Assembly Members and breakfast guests.

Facts not emotions

The group stressed that Britain was in danger of falling into the trap of forming strategy based on emotions rather than facts in political and public life.

Appreciating that we are living in different times, challenging times, and perhaps the most uncertain times that many of us will have experienced in decades, Mr Roberts further said that the decision to leave the European Union will have a profound effect on the Welsh economy, none more so than the agricultural sector.

"Although we must be optimistic and hope for the best possible outcome following the referendum result and the plans laid out by Prime Minister Theresa May, we cannot hide from reality: 90% of Welsh agricultural exports go to the EU, and 80% of farmers income is derived from the Common Agricultural Policy," added Mr Roberts.
A 4m support package for Northern Ireland livestock farmers to remove animals infected by Bovine virus diarrhea (BVD) will come into operation within weeks, agriculture minister Michelle McIlveen has announced.

The package is provided under EU exceptional adjustment aid.

The Minister said: "The EAA package includes a scheme to incentivise the humane removal of BVD infected animals, as well as schemes to improve pig meat quality, manage soils and nutrients more effectively, and receive training in business planning and risk management.

"The required regulations were made and laid in the Assembly on 16 January 2017 and will come into operation on 1 February 2017. My Department plans to open the BVD incentivisation scheme as soon as possible after that date."

To be eligible for payment herd keepers must ensure that each animal meets certain criteria including not being moved from the farm on which it was born and been humanely destroyed.

DAERA is keen to emphasise that Herd Keepers are responsible for ensuring the death of the animal is confirmed via APHIS-on-line or by MC1 submitted to DAERA. The Department would also remind Herd Keepers that they should not assume that the death will be recorded by the disposal agent or rendering plant.

The rate of financial assistance which will be available is:

160 for a beef calf;

130 for a dairy heifer calf;

50 for a dairy male calf.
South Africa has been eyeing up the UK in the event of Brexit, with the country wanting to sell more of its agricultural produce under a free trade agreement.

The U.K. doesnt have the sensitivities of some of the countries from southern Europe that see us as competitors, South Africa's Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davie said.

Referring to wine and fruit, Mr Davie said: In the longer and medium term it may well be that we can improve our access into the U.K. market for those products.

Mr Davies, who spoke in an interview on Tuesday (24 January), is in the United Kingdom for talks to ensure that trade isnt interrupted when the country leaves the European Union.

The Economic Partnership Agreement, signed last year between the EU and the five-nation Southern African Customs Union, will form a template for new U.K.-South Africa trading rules, Davies said.

Black-spot disease

Exports of South African citrus to the EU have been periodically blocked in recent years due to objections from farm groups in Spain, which competes with South Africa as a producer of the fruits, who said they were concerned about the possibility of black-spot disease from South Africa infecting their trees.

South Africa and Spain are major suppliers of oranges and other citrus fruit globally and the African country is the worlds seventh-biggest wine producer.

The bulk of the EPA will remain in place but the countries will have to renegotiate quotas for some products before the Brexit process is complete, Davies said. Theres nothing thats going to require a huge amount of negotiating effort on both sides.

The Southern African Customs Union consists of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland.
The UK has formally pledged to try and cut its food waste by 50% by 2030, with campaigners calling for the target to be binding.

Pressure from Friends of the Earth and people across the continent, including 60,000 petition signatories, has resulted in new targets which aim to cut food waste in half by 2030.

In the UK alone last year, over 10 million tonnes of food was thrown away.

The vote means that countries across the EU, including the UK, have formally pledged to try and cut their food waste by 50% by 2030.

Vitally, these targets aim to halve food waste right from primary production stage to the consumer, whereas a version proposed by the Commission last year pledged only to halve retail and consumer food waste.

'Significant vote'

Britain is set to leave Europe by 2019, by which time these changes should come into force, and put pressure on the UK government to take responsibility for food waste.

Kierra Box, food campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: This is a significant vote because for the first time, we have a really clear, shared plan of how food waste can be reduced and prevented. With the UK throwing out so much edible food, its clear that waste on this scale has to stop.

However, if were serious about slashing food waste we need to stop just aiming for change, and instead make it happen. It was a lost opportunity that todays targets arent binding which means countries can wriggle out of their commitments.

Last week, European Union action to combat food waste was described as 'fragmented' and 'intermittent', according to a report from the European Court of Auditors.
Portland We Buy Houses Co Launches Site How to Sell My House Fast For Cash

We Buy Portland Houses Co celebrates the launch of new site - How to sell your Portland house for all cash fast! No matter the reason, situation, condition or price range or in any area. Max Home Offer pays all cash and can close quickly.

--

MaxHomeOffer.com

How to sell your Portland house fast for all cash is the theme for the newest website launched by Local Portland real estate company Max Home Offer. The site states that Max Home Offer shows you how to sell your house fast for all cash. They buy houses in any condition, any situation any reason and any price range. They assure potential sellers that there are no fees, no commissions, no hassles, no obligation and no brokers. The seller can get a fair all cash offer in 24 hours, and have their house sold in a matter of days.

Portland homeowners are rejoicing at the fact that they can now sell their houses quickly in exchange for cash with the simple push of a button. Gone are the days in which homeowners need to worry about keeping their house tidy, while leaving their house on the market for months,. With Max Home Offer's simple 4 Step process, homeowners can have cash in their hands in as little as seven days. In a statement about the website release, local real estate investor and CEO of Max Home Offer Dale Lauder, States, "The website was launched to let homeowners know Max Home Offer will buy their Portland area house fast for all cash. They will get a fair, all cash offer with no obligation. They can simply fill out the sell fast form. It makes the process simple and hassle free. There is never any obligation or pressure"

Homeowners simply start by filling out a quick, easy, and free online form listing the specifics about their house. As long as the house matches Max Home Offer's buying criteria, an appointment will be set and an offer will be presented often within 24 hours. Selling their house fast with their no hassle guarantee is an appealing attribute to all homeowners that find themselves in a difficult situation. Max Home Offer assures its customers that there is no hassle and no obligation when requesting a quote from their site. They simply offer a fair, all cash offer and then allow their clients to decide what is best for them. The clients can, in turn,accept or reject the offer.

Just as the website claims, Max Home Offer pays cash for Portland, Oregon homes. There is no need to worry with additional fees or real estate brokers. They pay cash for houses no matter what condition the house is in. Oregon homeowners are overjoyed that they can sell their houses fast without having to worry with repairs or clean-up. Since Max Home Offer purchases the houses themselves rather than listing them, homeowners are able to sell their house fast for all cash. When asked what kinds of problems Max Home Offer can solve Lauder replied " Max Home Offer will buy houses in any situation, such as facing foreclosure, Little or no equity, or maybe the homeowner is behind on payments. It doesn't matter if there are costly repairs, problem tenants, the house is vacant or maybe its not even livable. Max home Offer will buy their house as is. The seller does not even need to clean it. Just take their personal property and Max Home offer will take it from there. With Max Home Offer, there are no commissions, no fees, no repairs, no inspections, no appraisals, no closing costs and no hassles. Portland homeowners can now sell their houses faster than ever before, making listing their houses a thing of the past.

Max Home Offer will be observing their website launch with a live streaming event on Facebook on February 8, 2017 and would like to invite any interested parties to attend the celebration.

Contact Info:

Name: Dale Lauder

Email: info@maxhomeoffer.com

Organization: MaxHomeOffer.com

Address: 2373 Northwest 185th Avenue Suite 127, Hillsboro, 97124 United States

Phone: +1-503-342-7889

For more information, please visit http://www.maxhomeoffer.com/

Source: MarketersMedia

Release ID: 164201

For more information visit r



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Haiti - FLASH : High school students in the streets, violence in Petit-Goave





Since last week in Petit-Goave, several high schools are paralyzed by a teachers' strike (Faustin Soulouque, EFACAP and the Nissage David National School). Some claim wage arrears, others their letter of appointment and others are in solidarity...



Early Monday morning, the students of Lycee Faustin Soulouque sparked a protest movement to demand the resumption of classes in the classrooms.



The situation became tense when a group of high school students went to the college Pierre Baptiste to ask the college students to join them in solidarity and an exchange of stones and bottles suddenly began between students of both institutions. A clash that lasted nearly 30 minutes before the arrival of the police who was welcomed by copiously throwing stones from all sides.



The police apprehended a student from the College Pierre Baptiste on the public road that they brought to the Commissariat of Petit-Goave. Faced with this arrest, the two students of the two institutions united against the police and demanded with one voice the immediate release of their comrade.



Information spread rapidly in the city and the group of protesters grew with the arrival of other schoolchildren and young people to join them. The demonstrators forced the leaders of EFACAP, the Sisters' School and Wesleyen College to release their students.



The demonstration, which had become imposing and highly motivated, went to the police station, threatening the police officers if their comrade was not released within 5 minutes... The time elapsed, they began throwing stones at the police officers and the police station.



Faced with the intensification of the confrontation and the risk of overflowing, the police finally released the arrested student. It was the journalists on the scene who took him to their angry comrades.



The students continued their protest in other streets of the city and the police finally had to use tear gas to disperse the protests and restore law and order.



The high school students have given themselves rendezvous for this Tuesday, January 24 on the streets to pursue their claim.



HL/ HaitiLibre / Guyto Mathieu (Correspondant Petit-Goave)






















Haiti - News : Zapping politics...





The CEP closely follows the file of Guy Philippe

Uder Antoine announces the forthcoming publication of the conclusions of the administrative inquiry into the elected Senator Wilfrid Gelin (Central Plateau), accused of having been convicted in the United States. Moreover, with regard to the case of Senator Elect Guy Philippe (Grand'Anse), who was arrested and extradited to the United States on 5 January, he also indicated that the CEP was closely following his case https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19796-haiti-flash-guy-philippe-pleads-not-guilty.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19721-haiti-flash-senator-guy-philippe-extradited-to-the-usa.html



New session of interpellation

After the failure of the last session of interpellation of the Ministers Camille Junior Edouard (Justice) and Daphnee Benoit Delsoin (Health) last Thursday https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19852-haiti-politics-ministers-of-justice-and-health-defies-senate.html a new interpellation session was scheduled for Tuesday, January 31, 2017. Senator Jean Renel Senatus recalled that once a quorum is established in the Senate, the law and case law confer on the Senate Assembly the right to censure a minister even in its absence. To be continued...



The EU and the OAS visit the Senate

Monday, EU Ambassador Vincent Degert and Frederic Bolduc, the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Haiti, paid a courtesy visit to the Senate. During the visit, they exchanged views with the senators on issues relating to the January 29 elections, the election of elected President Jovenel Moise, the political situation in Haiti and cooperation between the European Parliament and the EU and the OAS. Bolduc hopes that good relations will be established between the Haitian Parliament and the next Administration in view of the development of Haiti, stressing that the OAS is awaiting the establishment of the next Government to define the new priorities of its cooperation with Haiti.



Cancellation of the visit of the President of Chile

Veronica Michelle Bachelet Jeria, President of the Republic of Chile, due to pay a visit to Haiti Thursday 26 January to participate in the inauguration of the National School Republic of Chile https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19869-haiti-news-zapping-politics.html canceled her visit and her participation in the Fifth CELAC Summit https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-19885-icihaiti-politics-privert-at-the-5th-celac-summit.html because the violent forest fires that ravaged several regions of Chile, official sources in Chile said on Monday.



Publication of the decree creating the IGAENF

The Order creating at the Ministry of National Education, a General Inspectorate of the Administration of National Education and Vocational Training (IGAENF) was published in the official journal "Le Moniteur" N12 dated Monday 23 January 2017.



The CEP calls on voters to vote

Uder Antoine, Executive Director of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), calls on voters to vote on Sunday 29 January to elect the Boards of Directors of the Communal Sections (CASEC), the Administration of the Communal Sections (ASEC), the city delegates as well as the senators, recalling that this election will make it possible to fill posts that have not been elected for too long.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Driver in fatal crash had history of speeding

District Attorney Greg Newman plans to present the investigation of the Dec. 22 crash that killed a high school senior to a grand jury in March.

A State Highway Patrol crash report shows that Matthew Joseph Schmieder was driving 60 mph when he attempted to pass a vehicle on a double-yellow line and collided head-on with a 1991 Chevrolet pickup driven by 17-year-old Derek Lane Miller, who died as a result of the crash. Schmieder was airlifted to Mission hospital in Asheville and hospitalized for four weeks with multiple injuries.

Ive asked for more evidence from the State Patrol, Newman said this week. With Schmieders medical condition we dont feel like we need to be in a real huge hurry and Ive been in contact of course with the family.

I think a grand jury is what were going to be doing. Were not exactly sure what the charge is going to be right now. Misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and manslaughter are among the possible charges, he added.

Investigators have not been able to interview Schmieder, who has hired Hendersonville attorney Roy Neill.

I was told he got home last week, Newman said of the driver. They went to try to obtain an interview and his family members did not feel like he was in a position to do an interview. His medical condition is not great.

A search of public records by the Hendersonville Lightning turned up a total of 15 traffic violations or cases resulting from moving violations such as failure to appear in court or failure to pay fines from 1998 to last November.

Schmieder, 36, has had a habit of driving fast from age 17, the records showed.

He was stopped for driving 80 mph in a 50 mph zone and failing to stop for a siren and flashing lights in Henderson County January 1980. He received eight more speeding tickets from that time until 2013, according to court and Division of Motor Vehicles records. He was also caught driving 84 mph in a 65 mph zone in 2013 in Rutherford County. In 2005, a Laurel Park police officer charged him with possessing a half-ounce of marijuana after a traffic stop, records show. Records reviewed by the Lightning showed no charge for driving while impaired. Newman, the district attorney, said he was not aware of a DWI charge against Schmieder. His license was revoked at the time of the crash.

Troopers investigating the crash said they suspect Schmieder was under the influence of alcohol or drugs in the crash, which occurred at 8 oclock at night on Kanuga Road between Erkwood Drive and Crooked Creek. As of Monday, the State Highway Patrol had not received a toxicology report on blood drawn from Schmieder, Highway Patrol Sgt. Sgt. C.M. Goodson said. Highway Patrol troopers are working closely with the district attorney on the investigation and will follow his guidance on charges, Goodson said.

Were just trying to get our ducks in a row to make sure, he said.

Schmieder could not be reached for comment.

Derek Millers mother said that on the advice of the familys attorney she was not commenting on the case.

Newman said courtrooms are filled with motorists caught speeding once in a lifetime or very rarely in their driving history. Although habitual speeders usually get their licenses revoked, that doesnt guarantee that they stay off the road.

The charge for somebody like him is the state will revoke his license but they cannot take his car, Newman said. As long as he has access to a car and chooses to drive theres not much the state can do. Theyre not required to turn in their car.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Windy. A steady rain in the morning, with showers continuing in the afternoon. High near 65F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Low 41F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
Israel is no Democracy: A letter to Jimmy Panetta by Sheila Carrillo

A letter I sent to Jimmy Panetta regarding his his recent vote for HR 11, the non-binding resolution opposing UN sanctions of Israel. I filled my letter with eye witness information from my recent trip to Palestine to try to explain the subterfuge around the claim that Israel is a Democracy.

Israel is no Democracy: A Letter to Jimmy Panetta



Israel refers to itself as nuclear ambiguous, which is code for having a large nuclear arsenal (dating back to the 60s,) and pretending that they dont. Referring to Israel as the only Democracy in the Middle East as you did in your statement justifying your signature on the non- binding H. R 11, has much the same flavor to me. In the former the rule is: if you dont acknowledge it, it doesnt exist; in the latter, the rule is: giving something a label makes it real. It is this double talk around Israel that makes my head spin, not to mention the thought of billions in U.S. aid to Israel--aid which is forbidden by law for the U.S. to provide to nuclear nations that havent signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty! But then again, Israel is nuclear ambiguous.



I returned a couple of months ago from an Inter-Faith Peace Builders delegation to Palestine/ Israel and find myself unconvinced that a nation without a constitution guaranteeing civil and human rights and whose laws are based on Jewish religious affiliation, can be called a Democracy. The fact alone that it is against the law for a Jew to marry a non-Jew in Israel and civil ceremonies are illegal is for me testimony to the sham of Israeli Democracy. Mixed marriages must occur outside of the country, and on return, the non-Jewish spouse is not afforded the same rights as their Jewish mate. Further, if an Arab Israeli should happen to marry a Palestinian, they could live together in Palestine, but would be prevented by law from living together in Israel.



I am an American Jew, born in 1942 New York and bathed in the agony of revelations of the horrors that had taken place in Germany. I grew up absorbing both my parents anguish and their awe and gratitude that the Jewish people of the world had acquired a homeland, Israel, in 1948. I remember being intrigued and inspired by Israels accomplishments and the Kibbutz concept as a young adult. But over the years, I became increasingly alarmed and confused as I observed Israel taking on the role of the oppressor.



I joined the IFBB delegation in the hope of understanding the situation in Palestine/Israel, and I wanted to know more about the BDS movement that is so controversial in our local Jewish community.

For most of the trip, we stayed in a hotel in East Jerusalum, and our first drive was from there to the city of Bethlehem, located in the West Bank. We traveled on a road known as a Superhighway, constructed by Israel through Occupied Palestine to facilitate settler travel from West Jerusalem to Illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Our guide pointed out that Israelis and Palestinians are assigned different color license platesIsraelis are yellow with black and Palestinians white with green. Surprisingly, all the vehicles in sight had yellow plates, yet it was a road through Palestinian land. He explained that it is theoretically not against the law for Palestinians to use this road built on their land, but they are required to pass through a checkpoint, where they would be held up for two to three hours to drive on it. So they choose to take a separate (and definitely not equal) road below it.



We sped past the 25 tall concrete barrier wall, learning that in constructing it, Israel took 10 percent more Arab land than designated in the 1994 Oslo Accord, meanwhile separating Palestinian families and cutting farmers off from their farmland. With illegal settlements scattered throughout Palestinian land so that there is no contiguous Palestinian community, our guide told us how to distinguish between settler and Palestinian housing:  The building complexes that have black tanks on the roof are Palestinian homes. The tanks are to store water for the times when the Israelis, who are in control of the water in the region, cut off the Palestinians water supply.



At one point we turned off the highway and drove onto a rustic road into a section that is designated Area A which means that it is an area under the governance of the Palestinian Authority, and the only West Bank area with no settlements. (Oslo designatedsupposedly temporarily3 areas in the West BankArea A , Area B under joint jurisdiction and Area C under Israeli Jurisdiction.) There was a big sign at the entry to Area A stating that it is dangerous and illegal for Israeli citizens to enter Area A, which includes 8 major West Bank cities, effectively segregating Israelis and Palestinians. (Ironically, our guide pointed out 2 cars with yellow license plates that had come to have their cars repaired in the forbidden territory.) Does this sound like the freedom and equality characteristic of a Democracy? We visited the first Organic farm to have a CSA program in the West Bank, and I stood on a knoll admiring rows of beautiful eggplants, beyond which was an amphitheater of settlement homes. It felt eerily like being in a fish bowl with a shark.



Last week, here in Santa Cruz I went to a presentation called No Child behind Bars at Peace United Church by a Palestinian American woman who is a student at UCSC and an African American minister from out of state. They had planned to feature testimony from a 16 year old Palestinian non-violent peace activist regarding her experience growing up in Occupied Palestine. The organization sponsoring her had applied for her Visa last July but it was never granted, so instead they showed a film of her talking candidly about her experience with arrests, checkpoints, curfews, night raids. We learned that an average of 2 Palestinian children are arrested each night and that children are tried in military courts and often held for months without charges. The 2 women described eloquently what they called the intersectionality of the black struggle for justice in the U.S. and the Palestinian struggle for justice.



I arrived home the night before the election, weighed down with the realization that the Zionist government of Israel is an apartheid government and infused with the knowledge that, as in South Africa, BDS is the most powerful non-violent strategy to dismantle the system. I understood viscerally that without justice and equality for the Palestinian people there can be no peace. I experienced that, as Israel continues to frantically build settlements unchecked on Palestinian land, the reality of a two state solution is rapidly fading. As a Jew I care deeply and pray for transformation and healing.



I implore you, Mr. Panetta, to explore beyond the double talk and uncover the facts about Palestine/Israel.


The latest suit by Apple, which it filed last week, alleges that Qualcomm has unfairly used the power of its patents, which cover the fundamentals of phone systems, and its chip business to prop up its dominant position in the industry.

Apples legal actions follow regulatory investigations and fines on three continents, including a lawsuit announced last week by the US Federal Trade Commission.

It feels like another coordinated attack on Qualcomm, said Mike Walkley, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity. The mobile phone business is a mature industry, theyve got to get their margins higher.

Qualcomm shares fell as much as 14% yesterday, the most in 15 months, while Apple shares were little changed. Underpinning the US government actions is a drive to shake loose Qualcomms grip on the smartphone business.

In its last five fiscal years, Qualcomm has turned $37bn (34.5bn) of licensing revenue into $32bn of pretax profit. Its gross margin, or the percentage of revenue remaining after deducting the cost of production, is 61% and is predicted to widen.

Contrast that with Apples gross margin of 39% in its most recent fiscal year, a number thats predicted to narrow in 2017.

Samsung Electronics, the biggest maker of mobile phones ahead of Apple, also had a margin of 39% in its most recent fiscal year.

Apple, Samsung and LG Electronics have all been hit by slowing growth. Handset shipments likely increased 0.6% to 1.45 billion units in 2016, according to researcher IDC. As recently as the second quarter of 2015, the market was growing in double-digit percentages.

Samsung and LG are based in South Korea, where antitrust regulators announced in December a record 1.03 trillion won (822m) fine against Qualcomm for violating antitrust laws and called for the chipmaker to change its business practices.

In China, the biggest mobile phone market, antitrust regulators accused Qualcomm of abusing its dominant position. Rather than risk being locked out, Qualcomm in February 2015 paid $975m to settle the case and was given the right to charge handset makers licensing fees, at a lower rate, for phones sold in the country.

Apple last week added its weight to the call for a change in the way licensing revenue is calculated.

 Bloomberg
The court heard the accused watched a film with her before trying to have sex with her.

The 36-year-old Donegal man, described by the defence as a vulnerable person with few social skills, saw the teenager as his girlfriend, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday.

The man pleaded guilty to one count of sexually exploiting a child in a Dublin apartment between January 3 and 4, 2015. Another count of meeting a child for the purpose of child exploitation was taken into account. This is a child grooming offence, the court heard.

Garda Maria Cox told Eilis Brennan BL, prosecuting, the man was living in Dublin in late 2014 when he got chatting to the girl on Talklife, a messaging app for young people with mental health issues.

They told each other their ages and met a few times, occasionally kissing and cuddling, the court heard.

In January 2015, he invited her to his friends apartment in Dublin, as his friend was away. They met at 9am on January 3, went to the apartment, and watched a film.

They then went into the bedroom, where they engaged in some sexual acts and he tried to have sex with her but she was too tense and afraid, the court heard.

He told her he didnt want to cause her pain, Ms Brennan said.

The next day, her parents picked her up and she told them what had happened. All contact between the pair ceased and the man was later arrested and charged. In a victim impact statement, the girl said she found it hard to cope after the incident.

Defence barrister Tara Burns SC, said the man wished to apologise to the victim, whom he had viewed as his girlfriend. She submitted that he felt it was a serious relationship.

She urged Judge Melanie Greally to impose as lenient a sentence as possible.
It comes as a Garda operation yesterday prevented an imminent attack and saved lives after up to 20 firearms linked to the Kinahan crime cartel were seized.

In a separate operation, gardai arrested a man in relation to the murder by the Kinahan cartel of Eddie Hutch in Dublins north inner city last February.

The Policing Plan 2017 has set targets for An Garda Siochana to cut burglaries by 5%, assaults by 6%, and robberies by 10%.

For the first time, each garda is to be subject to a formal performance evaluation in relation to their contribution to community engagement and public safety.

In a new bid to protect national security, gardai will conduct outreach work to build trust and confidence in minority communities and mitigate threats posed by extremism.

The plan was developed by An Garda Siochana in consultation with, and the approval of, the Policing Authority.

Under the plan, gardai are expected to:

Increase victim satisfaction rates to 65% in 2017 (57% to 2015);

Increase public opinion regarding the forces ability to tackle crime to 60% in 2017 (57% in 2015);

Increase satisfaction with the service provided to the local community to 72% (70% in 2015).

The Policing Authority told the gardai last November that it was disappointed with its draft plan and urged the organisation to adopt meaningful targets.

However, there are a number of objectives in the plan with no specific targets.

These include improving detection levels for burglaries, assaults, robberies, and sexual assaults  which have fallen in recent years  as well as increasing reporting of sexual offences and identification of victims of human trafficking.

Similar unspecified calls are made regarding drugs and firearms offences, increasing garda visibility, reducing fear of crime, and improving response times.

The plan also sets an objective of encouraging the reporting of hate crime.

A performance appraisal process is to begin by the end of the year regarding the contribution of each garda member to community engagement and public safety.

The plan states the organisation is acutely aware of the threat posed by European citizens returning home from conflict zones. It says the force will work with minority groups to mitigate threats posed by extremism and to build trust and confidence with those groups.

It said the Garda Traffic Corps, to be renamed the Roads Policing Unit, will receive a 10% increase in resources this year.

The publication of the plan comes as a Garda surveillance operation resulted in the seizure of between 15 and 20 firearms linked to the Kinahan crime cartel.

The cache included at least one assault rifle and one sub-machine gun, as well as handguns and semi-automatic pistols.

The seizure was made at an industrial unit in west Dublin and three males were arrested.

Detective Superintendent Tony Howard of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau said he had no doubt they had disrupted an imminent attack and saved lives. He said a number of the firearms were loaded and ready to be used. He said the firearms had the capability of killing multiple individuals.

It is the latest blow to the Kinahan cartel, which was hit with the seizure of almost two tonnes of cannabis herb, worth up to 37m on the street, at Dublin Port last Friday. It was the biggest cannabis seizure in the State for 20 years.
The appeal is by a Burmese man who lived in Direct Provision for more than eight years before getting refugee status. The case is against the Minister for Justice, with the Attorney General and Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission as notice parties.

The man argued that, while living in Direct Provision on a 19 weekly allowance, he suffered depression and almost complete loss of autonomy and being allowed work was vital to his development, personal dignity, and sense of self-worth.

After coming here in late 2008, he was refused refugee status but appealed. After the High Court found errors in how his applications were decided, rehearings were held before the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, which last September granted him refugee status.

This means he can now legitimately seek work here. The State says the Supreme Court should therefore dismiss as pointless his appeal against the Court of Appeals 2/1 rejection of his case.

When the appeal opened yesterday, Michael Lynn SC, for the Burmese man, urged the court not to declare the case moot but instead decide the core issues. He argued that the Minister for Justice has discretion to let asylum seekers in a position similar to the man work, including on a temporary basis.

Counsel disputed the Ministers claims that that could act as an incentive for others to enter the State. No sane person would want to live in Direct Provision for more than eight years, he said.

Feichin McDonagh SC, for the Commission, argued that the Minister has discretion to permit an asylum seeker to work and there is no absolute legal bar on the Minister doing so.

Opposing the appeal, Nuala Butler SC, for the Minister, argued a non-Irish national present in the State on a conditional basis has no constitutional right to work.

In exchanges with counsel, some of the judges asked why, if asylum seekers have constitutional rights including the right to bodily integrity and fair trial, they have no right to work.

Ms Butler said asylum seekers here have certain rights but not the same right to work as Irish citizens. The State was entitled to control permission to enter its territory and to control non-nationals while they are here, she said.

She also said this case involved unusual and extraordinary delays which she said do not represent the experience of the majority of asylum seekers.

Hard cases make bad law and the State is concerned that permitting a right to work to some asylum seekers would lead to migrants flooding into the State, she said.

In dismissing his case, two Court of Appeal judges ruled the open-ended nature of the ban on work did not mean Section 9.4.b of the Refugee Act is unconstitutional and it rejected as too broad a proposition that non-Irish citizens enjoy the same general rights as Irish citizens.

Mr Justice Gerard Hogan disagreed with his two colleagues and ruled the man has a personal right under Article 40.3 of the Constitution to work here and Section 9.4.b of the Refugee Act unconstitutionally struck at the very substance of that constitutional right.

The Supreme Court appeal has been adjourned to resume on February 15.
Mohammed Abduljabbar, aged 29, a karate enthusiast from Saudi Arabia, broke into student accommodation in the early hours of the morning and assaulted his victim, with whom he had a history of animosity, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.

Abduljabbar, with an address in Willow Park Avenue, Glasnevin, Dublin, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated burglary and two counts of criminal damage to two glass doors at Gateway Student Village in Ballymun on June 25, 2016.

Officials from the Saudi Arabian embassy were in court for the sentence. The embassy had indicated it would pay 2,000 in damages caused to the doors, said James OBrien, defending.

Judge Pauline Codd said the offence was aggravated by the fact Abduljabbar armed himself with nunchucks before entering the apartment.

However, she took into account his remorse, his immediate admission of guilt, and a Probation Services report which said he had a low risk of reoffending.

She sentenced Abduljabbar to two years in prison, but suspended the final 21 months on a number of conditions, including that the 2,000 in damages is be paid within 28 days.

Garda Conor Garland told Fiona Murphy, prosecuting, he was called to the apartment block early on June 25, where Abduljabbar came running towards him shouting: I did it.

Abduljabbar has eight previous convictions, including burglary and criminal damage.

The court heard Abduljabbar has been in custody for this and another matter since June.

As a foreign student, he had to pay 18,000 for the masters and was facing the ruination of his education, the court heard.
Exhausted and alone, a well-worn mountain bike between my legs, I stood marvelling at the vastness of the Vietnamese countryside.

From this nauseating height, I could see the countrys iconic terraced fields extending far into the distance, broken only by the occasional sight of a winding dirt road  some were sections I had already traversed, others were eagerly awaiting my tracks.

I waited there for a few minutes in perfect silence, catching my breath from the steep and relentless ascent, and vaguely wondered where the other cyclists in my group had gone.

Later, I would find out they stopped for food some way back, accidentally enabling my solitary adventure.

Had she known, my mother may have been slightly worried to find out I was suddenly separated from the safety of my pack, deep in the northern mountains of Vietnam, but I was unconcerned. I wasnt lost  there was only one road up and down the mountain  and I wasnt afraid. This was only my fourth day in the country, but already the people had put me at ease.

It may sound like a dramatisation, but ever since my arrival, every person I met showed me the warmth of a thousand suns.

Less so, admittedly, in the hustle and bustle of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, where locals are relatively used to western faces, but way up here, in the remote Ha Giang, Quan Ba, Yen Minh and Dong Van regions, and later Meo Vac and Bao Lac, some residents go years without seeing a Caucasian. Some have never seen one.

But instead of fearing the unknown, the Vietnamese people seem to embrace it. Without fail, villagers would stop their chores to smile at our group of cyclists as we passed, bare foot children would shout Xin chao at us in greeting, and would wave us both hello and goodbye with beaming, gap tooth faces.

On more than one occasion we had to stop and eat with locals who invited us to their houses (it would have been considered rude not to accept these invitations) and we also accompanied locals into markets and to special night time performances of dancing, singing and playing odd looking musical instruments.

Out of all of the 19 countries I have been lucky enough to visit, the Vietnamese are, hands down, the friendliest nation of people I have ever encountered.

I originally found myself in their mountains, just north of Hanoi and, at points, roughly 3km from China, having agreed to a 250km charity cycle in aid of Plan International Ireland  a worldwide organisation which works on improving facilities and education in developing countries.

Hanoi, Vietnam, has many amazing restaurants where you can get both Western and Asian cuisine, but as you get further from the capital the food options and pickings get slimmer.

For almost a week, our group of 13 participants could be seen trudging up mountains in first gear, and speeding down them in fifth with joyous abandon.

The first day of it, we attempted to conquer a mountain three times the size of Carrauntoohill in 40 degree heat and high humidity.

Over the following days, fuelled by blood, sweat and tears, the cycle alternated between excruciating uphill slogs and exhilarating downhill freewheels, all set to the backdrop of a stunning Vietnamese countryside.

I told myself I was a machine, repeating it over and over again in my head, and sometimes out loud when I thought nobody was around, convincing myself I didnt really feel the pain seeping through my legs and arms and hands and groin. The mantra may seem odd, but it was strangely comforting.

While it was a gruelling trek, the awe-inspiring landscapes more than made up for it. This, coupled with the intense sense of achievement when, at the end of each day, we made it to the next village, made it one of the best experiences of my entire life.

Others visiting Vietnam may opt for a cycle adventure, of which there are many, complete with extremely friendly and competent guides who cycle with you and ensure you get to where youre supposed to go, or they may opt for a less exerting holiday experiencing the hustle and bustle of Hanoi.

Whichever the case, the most daunting aspect of such a trip can often be the cost of flights, the long haul flight time, and the number of connections.

I left from Dublin and flew to London, Bangkok, and then on to Hanoi.

Depending on the airline and the time of year you fly, flights can cost upwards of 600 return. It is worth noting, however, that you will not spend much money, or Vietnamese Dong, while on the trip as the cost of living is extremely low.

Even if you buy a suitcase full of souvenirs, and tip the locals exorbitantly, youll still come home with more money than you ever thought you would.

Women wearing traditional non la hats going about their daily business in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.

In terms of food, however, you should be prepared to pack your iron stomach if youre going anywhere off the beaten track.

Hanoi has a number of amazing restaurants where you can get both Western and Asian cuisine, but as you get further from the capital the pickings get slimmer.

At the start of my trip, I would ask what certain food items were, and I would be careful of eating anything that might have been washed in the local water such as lettuce or other vegetables.

I would avoid drinks with ice cubes in them, and steer clear of the mystery meat we were occasionally served.

As the trip went on, however, and the cycle became tougher, I began shovelling pretty much everything into my mouth. If it was placed in front of me and I thought it was edible, it went in.

And you know what? I was fine. I had no tummy upsets, no sickly feelings the next day. Granted, not everything tasted amazing, and the mystery meat is disturbing if you think too long on it, but it wasnt inedible, and I even discovered a love of spring rolls.

Chopsticks were a challenge, of course. Towards the end of the trip, just when I thought I was getting a handle on how to use the damned utensils, a Vietnamese girl laughed at my poor efforts and told me I held chopsticks like her baby brother who cant even walk or talk yet.

The group from Ireland who went on the 250km cycle across the northern mountains of Vietnam with Plan International Ireland

Needless to say, upon my return to the Emerald Isle I went back to forks with a new found appreciation. Should I ever find myself in Asia again, and I certainly hope I do, a packet of plastic utensils is definitely the first thing Ill pack.

All said and done, while it can be costly, and tiring, to get to Vietnam, more travellers should consider the country when searching for their next holiday destination.

The landscape is amazing, the culture is eye-opening, the locals are incredibly friendly, theres no shortage of adventures to be had And, while you might not always be sure what kind of meat youre eating, you can be sure about one thing  its one trip like no other youve ever taken, and one youll never, ever forget.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Jan. 25, 2017) - Eurasian Minerals Inc. (the "Company" or "EMX") (TSX VENTURE:EMX)(NYSE MKT:EMX) is pleased to provide an update on the Company's Leeville royalty property that covers portions of Newmont Mining Corporation's ("Newmont") underground mining operations in the Northern Carlin Trend. EMX has noted an increase in Leeville royalty revenue and equity gold ounces starting in mid-2016. In addition to royalty income from gold production, the Leeville property also provides the Company with upside exposure to Newmont's ongoing exploration advancements at the Rita K and Full House gold deposits. Newmont expects initial resources for Rita K in 2018, and has already outlined resources at Full House1. EMX congratulates Newmont on its ongoing successes, and looks forward to further growth and development resulting from their efforts on the Company's Leeville royalty property. Please see www.eurasianminerals.com for more information.

Leeville Royalty Property. EMX retains a 1% gross smelter return ("GSR") royalty on the Leeville property, which was acquired in August, 2012 (see EMX news release dated August 20, 2012). The Leeville royalty property includes much of the Leeville mine and Four Corners deposit, and lesser proportions of the Turf and Carlin East mines. Since acquiring the Leeville royalty, EMX has received approximately US $9 million in gross royalty revenue from more than 6,560 equity ounces of gold production (current as of September 30, 2016).

Newmont achieved a major milestone in late 2015 with the completion and commissioning of the Turf Vent Shaft project, which totaled approximately $330 million in capital expenditures. Newmont has previously stated that the project will provide the ventilation required to "increase production", "unlock" additional resources, and impact "greater Leeville" (see Newmont's 2014-2015 10-Q filings), which includes portions of EMX's royalty property. In mid-2016, Leeville royalty revenue and gold ounces started to noticeably increase, and in the most recent quarter reported (i.e., Q3, 2016), EMX received approximately US $572 thousand in gross revenue from over 430 equity gold ounces, which represents a year-on-year increase from Q3, 2015 of ~100% in revenue, as well as ~70% more gold ounces.

Rita K and Full House Exploration Advancements. Newmont has delineated a prospective northwest-southeast trend of sediment-hosted gold mineralization that extends from the Leeville underground mining complex to the Pete Bajo mine. Segments of this trend are covered by Eurasian's Leeville royalty property, which include portions of the Rita K and Full House projects. Newmont recently provided an update on their exploration successes at Rita K and Full House in its Investor Presentation of December, 2016 (the "Newmont Presentation", see footnote (1) reference).

As given in the Newmont Presentation, the Rita K deposit is outlined as a west-northwest trend of gold mineralization that extends from the area of the Leeville mine ~850 meters to the southeast. The mineralization is portrayed by Newmont as sub-horizontal zones hosted in folded and faulted Paleozoic sedimentary rocks that include the Roberts Mountains and Popovich Formations, which are classic ore hosts of the Carlin Trend. As schematically represented in the Newmont Presentation, the mineralized intercepts occur at depths of approximately 450-650 meters below the surface. Newmont reported Rita K drill intercepts "typically vary in thickness from 5 to 30 meters with grades from 3 to 30 g/t" (true widths not reported). A total of 9,500 meters of drilling was planned for 2016, with the first resource expected in 2018 according to Newmont.

1See 13-December-2016_Investor-Deck_final.pdf pages 37-38 available at www.newmont.com.

Southeast of Rita K is the Full House deposit, which is outlined by Newmont as a northwest trend of discrete lenses of gold mineralization. As depicted in the Newmont Presentation, the trend of gold mineralization at Full House extends to the southeast towards the Fence deposit, and away from EMX's property position. The mineralization at Full House also occurs in sub-horizontal zones hosted in the Roberts Mountains and Popovich Formations at depths of approximately 450-650 meters below the surface. Newmont stated that the Full House/Fence drill intercepts "typically vary in thickness from 3 to 40 meters with grades from 5 to 40 g/t" (true widths not reported). The Newmont Presentation outlined reserves and resources for Full House/Fence, and stated 10,500 meters of drilling were planned for 2016.

Newmont's exploration successes at the Rita K and Full House gold deposits, which are in part contained within the Leeville royalty property, highlight EMX's upside exposure to ongoing discoveries in the Northern Carlin Trend.

About EMX. Eurasian Minerals leverages asset ownership and exploration insight into partnerships that advance our mineral properties, with EMX retaining royalty interests. EMX complements its generative business with strategic investment and third party royalty acquisition.

Mr. Michael P. Sheehan, CPG, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and employee of the Company, has reviewed, verified and approved the disclosure of the technical information contained in this news release.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 25, 2017) - Ely Gold & Minerals Inc. (TSXV: ELY) (OTC: ELYGF) ("Ely Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive option agreement with Bitterroot Resources Ltd. (TSXV: BTT) ("Bitterroot"), through their wholly owned U.S subsidiary, whereby Bitterroot can acquire a 100% interest in the Hackberry North Project, located in Mohave County, Arizona. (the "Option") The total Option amount (if completed) is US$150,000 and 600,000 Bitterroot common shares. The closing of the Option is subject to TSX-V approval and delivery of final documentation which is expected shortly (the "Closing").

The three (3) North Hackberry unpatented lode claims cover 24 ha (60 acres) and host the Silver King past-producing high-grade silver mine. The Silver King high-grade deposit was discovered in 1879 and was mined from 1879 to 1884. The Silver King mine is an important part of the main Hackberry mineralized system, which also hosts the Old Hackberry (Sunshine) and South Hackberry Mines. Bitterroot now controls lands covering over 4.2 kilometres (2.6 miles) of prospective strike length along the Hackberry silver-mineralized structure.

The Option

Pursuant to the terms of the Option, subject to TSX Venture Exchange ("Exchange") approval, Ely Gold through its wholly owned subsidiary, Nevada Select Royalty, Inc. ("Nevada Select") has granted the exclusive option to Bitterroot to acquire the Company's 100% interest in and to the North Hackberry Project by making the following payments and share issuances over 4 years:

At Closing - US$20,000 cash and the issuance of 200,000 Bitterroot common shares;

Year 1 - US$30,000 cash and the issuance of 100,000 Bitterroot common shares;

Year 2 - US$50,000 cash and the issuance of 150,000 Bitterroot common shares;

Year 3 - US$50,000 cash and the issuance of 150,000 Bitterroot common shares; and

If the Final Option Payment is made Nevada Select will retain a total 3% net smelter returns royalty on the North Hackberry claims. Nevada Select will retain a .5% NSR on unpatented claims within a 2.66 mile area of interest. There are no work commitments or additional expenditures required other than Bitterroot's obligation to maintain the underlying agreements and claim maintenance fees per year of approximately US$600.

Bitterroot will pay Nevada Select annual advance royalty payments as follows:

US$10,000 on the first through third anniversary dates of the Final Option Payment;

US$15,000 on each anniversary date of the Final Option Payment thereafter.

Trey Wasser, President and CEO of Ely Gold commented on the Option, "We are very pleased to add another cash-flowing option agreement to the Nevada Select portfolio. Bitterroot has worked very hard to consolidate the Hackberry District for the first time since mine production in the late 1800's. The team at Bitterroot are proven asset builders and we are pleased to have concluded the Option for cash and Bitterroot shares while retaining a significant royalty interest."

Stephen Kenwood, P. Geo, is director of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Kenwood has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.

About Ely Gold

Ely Gold is focused on developing recurring cash flow streams through the acquisition, consolidation, enhancement, and resale of highly prospective, un-encumbered North American precious metals properties. Ely's property development efforts maximize each property's potential for acquisition, while reserving significant royalty interests. Additional information about Ely Gold is available at the Company's website, at www.elygoldinc.com.
A jump in China's coal imports from North Korea in December is probably attributed to Pyongyang's push to increase shipments ahead of Beijing's decision to temporarily suspend the purchase of the energy resource from its neighbor, a Seoul official said Wednesday.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported on Monday that China imported 2 million tons of North Korean coal in December, up 13 percent from a year earlier, citing China's customs data.

The shipments surged even though China's commerce ministry imposed a three-week-long ban on imports of North Korean coal to implement the latest sanctions by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Seoul's unification ministry believes North Korea might have boosted its outbound shipments to China in early December before the temporary ban was put in place, a spokesman said.

"Also, export prices of coal have been on the rise, which might have served as a factor (in boosting North Korea's coal exports)," said Jeong Joon-hee, ministry spokesman, told a regular press briefing.

On Nov. 30, the UNSC adopted a set of sanctions over North Korea's September nuclear test, including a significant cap on Pyongyang's exports of coal.

The move is aimed at cutting North Korea's annual coal outbound shipments by more than 60 percent or around $700 million each year.

Under the March resolution, North Korea's coal exports for "livelihood" purposes were allowed, an exception that was exploited by the country. (Yonhap)
Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung with his mother Koo Ho-myung and wife Kim Hea-kyung before declaring his presidential bid at a watch factory where he worked in his teens in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. / Yonhap



By Choi Ha-young

Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung announced his bid for the presidency, Monday, with vows to reform family-controlled conglomerates.

In an emotional press conference held at a watch factory where he worked in his teens, Lee said he will focus on enhancing workers' rights if elected.

"I used to be a child worker, but I'm now dreaming of becoming the president. This place reminds me of bitter memories I had as a laborer," Lee said, drawing wild cheers from some 1,000 supporters.

Lee is expected to join the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's primary to challenge the party's former Chairman Moon Jae-in, who has been leading polls.

The outspoken mayor gained popularity rapidly through speeches against President Park Geun-hye and corporations during recent street rallies. He gained the nickname of "cider," a local brand similar to Sprite, because of his hawkish and hard-hitting speeches.

He has emerged as the third-favorite presidential contender after Moon and Ban Ki-moon.

While working at the watch factory, he suffered injuries to his arm and finger, he recalled.

"They are still not normal," Lee said. "I will put a priority on establishing an equal society where workers can enjoy the treatment they deserve."

Lee pledged to provide 1 million won to 28 million citizens a year by raising corporate taxes. Calling it his version of a "New Deal" policy, he said the measure will boost spending and thus reinvigorate the economy.

Lee targeted the nation's largest conglomerate Samsung and corrupt political power. "Under the Lee Jae-myung administration, President Park Geun-hye and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong will never be forgiven," he said.

He also touched on President Park's diplomatic legacies and longstanding alliance between Seoul and Washington, stressing the rule of "equality."

"We should dismiss the U.S. call to pay excessively for its troops, withdraw the decision to deploy its missile defense system, and retrieve wartime operational control from the U.S.," he said.

Regarding Japan, he vowed to nullify the comfort women agreement made in late 2015 and General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), an intelligence-sharing deal signed last year.
Washington, DC At least one labor law attorney predicts that no At least one labor law attorney predicts that no California overtime changes will occur anytime soon with the new presidency, although there is some speculation of abolishing the final overtime rule.

Labor law experts indicate that significant changes to overtime law, if any, would happen at a federal level. But in all likelihood, California employers and employees would be the least affected by any changes because labor laws in the state are amongst the most stringent in the country and they have been set to protect California employees. Even if overtime changes are made under the new administration, workers wont necessarily be affected because California overtime lawsand minimum wages--are more generous to employees than federal law. (Although it will take a few years, New York and California are among the first states to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. California is now second only to Washington, D.C., where minimum wage is $11.50 per hour.)New legislation that could have made 4.2 million employees eligible for overtime was blocked last November by a federal judge in Texas. The Department of Labor rule that the final overtime law, supposed to take effect December 1, 2016, meant that certain exempt and salaried employees would have their income almost doubled or they would get paid an hourly wage and become eligible for overtime. The law would have required companies to pay overtime to their workers who work more than 40 hours per week but made under $47,476 per year. Under current law, employers are not required to pay overtime to salaried/exempt workers if they make more than $23,660.The sudden reversal at the end of 2016 left many small business owners in a quandary, some of whom had already re-classified their workers to hourly status or increased salaries in order to avoid overtime changes. And this issue does affect businesses in California. For instance,(Nov 2016) reported that Bryan Pate, CEO of Elliptigo, a bicycle manufacturer in San Diego with 22 employees said that, due to changes in overtime regulations, workers must be paid hourly rather than give them salaried positions.Although the DOL is appealing the judges decision, it could take months. And not knowing the outcome has left businesses like Elliptigo in limbo. According to attorney Sara Boynsis, with Fenton & Keller in Monterey, the DOL will likely abandon the appeal after Trump announced that Andrew Puzder, a critic of minimum wage increases, is the new secretary of labor. Therefore, if employers have not already implemented changes to exempt employee salaries or classifications in response to the DOL rule, they should continue to follow the California overtime exemption and employee classification laws, she told thePuzder argued that Obamas rule to expand overtime for millions of workers diminishes opportunities for workers, and that significant minimum wage increases would hurt small businesses and lead to job losses, according to the. On the other hand, Puzder said he was opposed to raising the minimum wage rationally; Im opposed to raising it to the point where lower-skilled workers, working-class Americans, young people, minorities, are losing the jobs they need to get on the ladder of success. Only time will tell if he will be have the workers interests first and foremost.
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Libby Superfund asbestos victims have reached a $25 million asbestos settlement with the State of Montana, according to numerous news sources. This settlement will provide compensation to over 1,000 people who were exposed to asbestos by W.R. Grace and Co.s mine and later diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases.

These diseases include asbestosis and mesothelioma, which causes scarring of the lungs. However, due to the prolonged latency period, the span between exposure and diagnosis can be 20 to 50 years long.

The latency period average is 35 to 40 years and most adult mesothelioma cases are diagnosed in patients between the ages of 40 and 70 years old. This contributes to a patients prognosis. If the cancer is caught earlier in development, it will respond much better to treatment.

According to health officials, about 400 Libby residents have died as a result of the mines asbestos exposure and another 3,000 have become sickened.

The Cascade County District Court ruled Montana health officials did fail to warn Libby miners about the dangers of the vermiculite mine. The state had claimed it had no legal obligation to give warning of the hazards, but despite denying liability, the state government managed to reach a settlement with victims.

Vermiculite produced at the W. R. Grace mine was contaminated with a deadly form of amphibole asbestos known as tremolite. Tremolite is among the most deadly of all asbestos fibers and poses a danger to anyone inhaling it.

This settlement stemmed from 100 asbestos-related lawsuits representing 1,026 individuals. This includes former employees of the mine as well as some of their family members. The asbestos fibers were brought back to peoples homes on workers clothing.

The Libby mine in Montana closed in 1999. Almost $600 million has gone toward cleanup since then. Its the biggest and longest asbestos project in U.S. history. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has cleaned up over 7,100 properties and is estimated to complete another 700 before the project comes to a close.

In 2002, victims claims against the state were dismissed. In 2004, the State Supreme Court overturned the decision in Orr v. State of Montana.

This was a significant Montana Supreme Court case as it ruled the state had a duty to Libby miners, their family members, and the community. State officials supposedly knew about the problems since the 1950s.

In 2011, a $43 million settlement was reached for more than 1,000 victims because state officials knew the asbestos was killing people, but failed to say anything.

W.R. Grace and Co. filed bankruptcy shortly after the extent of the asbestos contamination became known. As a result, the company has removed itself from most liability.
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The following companies are subsidiares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.: 2235158 Alberta Limited, A.J. 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Susanin Inc., EHE Holdings LLC, EHS Holdings Limited, Elantis Premium Funding (NZ) Limited, Elantis Premium Funding Limited, Elite Benefits Insurance Marketing Services, Employee Benefits Analysis Corp., Employee Benefits of The Carolinas, Encore Insurance & Bonding, Everett James, Evolution Risk Services Limited, Evolution Technology Services Limited, Evolution Underwriting Group, Evolution Underwriting Group Limited, Evolution Underwriting Limited, Excel Insurance Services, FYI Direct Canada Corporation, FYI Direct LLC, Farallone Pacific Insurance Services, Fenchurch Faris Limited, Fidelity Benefits & Insurance Services, Financial Profiles Inc., Finergy Solutions Pty Ltd, First Agency, First Iowa Insurance Agency, First Premium Inc., First Premium Insurance Group, Fish & Schulkamp, Fishermans Insurance Services, Foley Healthcare Limited, Fortress Financial Solutions Pty Ltd, Fortress Insurance LLC, Foundation Strategies, Fox Lawson & Associates, Franklin-Case Agency LLC, Fraser MacAndrew Ryan Limited, Friary Intermediate Limited, Fuller & O'Brien, G.S. Chapman & Associates Insurance Brokers, G.S. Levine Insurance Services, GBS (Australia) Holdings Pty Ltd, GBS Administrators Inc., GBS Insurance and Financial Services Inc., GBS Retirement Services Inc., GBS Specialty Markets LLC, GGB Finance 1 Limited, GGB Finance 2 Limited, GGB Finance 3 Limited, GGB Finance 4 Limited, GPL Assurance, GPL Assurance Inc., Gabor Insurance Services, Gale Smith & Co. Inc., Gallagher (Bermuda) Insurance Solutions Ltd., Gallagher - Grace/Mayer Insurance Agency, Gallagher Bassett Aires Inc., Gallagher Bassett Canada Inc., Gallagher Bassett Insurance Services Ltd., Gallagher Bassett International Ltd., Gallagher Bassett NZ Pty Ltd., Gallagher Bassett Services Inc. , Gallagher Bassett Services Pty Ltd., Gallagher Bassett Services Workers Compensation Victoria Pty Ltd., Gallagher Benefit Services (Canada) Group Inc., Gallagher Benefit Services (Holdings) Limited, Gallagher Benefit Services Inc., Gallagher Benefit Services Management Company Limited, Gallagher Benefit Services Pty Ltd, Gallagher Benefits Consulting Limited, Gallagher Bomford Couch Wilson, Gallagher Burgess, Gallagher Canada Acquisition Corporation, Gallagher Caribbean Group Limited, Gallagher Clean Energy LLC, Gallagher Communications Limited, Gallagher Community Clinic RPG LLC, Gallagher Consulting Ltda, Gallagher Corporate Services LLC, Gallagher Coyle, Gallagher CyberRisk, Gallagher Energy Risk Services Inc., Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC, Gallagher Holdings (UK) Limited, Gallagher Holdings Bermuda Company Limited, Gallagher Holdings Four (UK) Limited, Gallagher Holdings Three (UK) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (Barbados) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Kitts & Nevis) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Lucia) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Vincent) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers Jamaica Limited, Gallagher International Cash Management s.r.l., Gallagher International Holdings (US) Inc., Gallagher Investment Advisors LLC, Gallagher Inwest Group, Gallagher Koster, Gallagher Lambert Group, Gallagher Madison Risk & Insurance Services, Gallagher Mauritius Holdings, Gallagher Mississippi Brokerage LLC, Gallagher RE Colombia Ltda Corredores de Reaseguros SA, Gallagher Risk & Reward Limited, Gallagher Risk Group LLC, Gallagher Risk Placements Pty Ltd, Gallagher SKS, Gallagher Service Center LLP, Gallagher-Tarantino, Galtney Group, Game Day Insurance Inc., Gardner & White Corp., Gardner Marine Agency, Garza Long Group, Gatehouse Consulting Limited, Gault Armstrong Kemble Pty Ltd, Gault Armstrong SARL, Giles Group, Giles Holdings Limited, Giles Insurance Brokers, Gillis Ellis & Baker Inc., Goodman Insurance Agency, Grandy Pratt Co., Greenseed Alternative Mangaers Platform Ltd, Grossman & Associates, Group Benefits of Arkansas, Group Insurance Associates, Gruppo Marcucci, HLG Holdings Limited, HMG-PCMS Limited, HPF Investments LLC, HR Owen Insurance Services Limited, Hagan Newkirk Financial Services, Hagedorn & Company, Hardman & Howell Benefits, Harlequin Insurance PCC Limited, Hartstein Associates Inc., Healthcare Professionals Purchasing Group LLC, Healthcare Risk Solutions, Heath Lambert Group Ltd., Heath Lambert Limited, Heath Lambert Overseas Limited, Heiser Insurance Agency, Henderson Phillips Fine Arts Insurance, Herbruck Alder & Co., Heritage Insurance Brokers (CI) Limited, Hesse & Partner AG, Hesse Consulting, Hexagon ICC Limited, Hexagon Insurance PCC Limited, Hill Chesson & Woody, Hogan Insurance Services, Home & Travel Limited, Honour Point Limited, Horseshoe Corporate Services Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services (Cayman) Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services USA Inc., Horseshoe ILS Services UK Ltd, Horseshoe Insurance Advisors US LLC, Horseshoe Insurance Advisory Ltd., Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings Ltd, Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings US Inc., Horseshoe Management (Gibraltar) Limited, Horseshoe Management (Ireland) Ltd, Horseshoe Management Ltd., Horseshoe PCC Limited, Horseshoe Re Limited, Horseshoe Services (Cayman) Ltd, Horseshoe Services (Pty) Ltd, Horton Insurance Agency, Housing Authorities Services Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Human Resource Management Systems, I-Protect Underwriting Pty Ltd, IBIS Advisors, IBS Reinsurance Singapore Pte Ltd, ILS Fund Services Ltd., ISG International, ITI Solutions, Igloo Insurance PCC Limited, Independent Benefit Services, Independent Fiduciary Services, Ink Underwriting Agencies Limited, InsSync Group Pty Ltd, Inspire Underwriting Limited, Instrat Insurance Brokers, Instrat Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd, Instrat Integration Holdco Pty Ltd, Insurance Acquisitions Holdings Limited, Insurance Associates Inc., Insurance Dialogue Limited, Insurance Dialogue Ltd., Insurance Plans Agency, Insurance Plus Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Insurance Point, Insurance Risk Managers of Missouri Inc., Insure My Villa Limited, Insure Pty Ltd, Integrated Healthcare Strategies, InterNational Insurance Group, InterPacific Underwriting Agencies, Intermountain Financial Benefits, Interstate Insurance Underwriters, JPGAC LLC, James F. Reda & Associates, James R. Weir Insurance Agency, Jenkins and Associates, Joe E. Martin Inc., John P. Woods Co. Inc., Jones Brown, Jones Brown Group Inc., Jones Brown Insurance Solutions Inc., Joseph Distel, Joseph James & Associates Insurance Agency, Just Landlords Insurance Services Ltd, KDC Associates, KRW Insurance Agency, Kahl Insurance Services, Kaler Carney Liffler & Co. Inc., Kane Group - Insurance Management Operations, Kelly Financial, Kent Kent & Tingle and RBS, Keyser Benefits Corp., Kingspark Enterprises Pty Ltd, L&R Benefits, LSG Insurance Partners, Learn About Money Limited, Lewis & Associates Insurance Brokers, Leystone Insurance & Financial, Life Plans Unlimited, Lincoln Financial Management, Longfellow Financial, Lucas Fettes Limited, Lucas Fettes and Partners Limited, Lutgert Insurance, MA Underwriting Pty Ltd, MDM Insurance Associates, MG Advanced Coal Technologies-1 LLC, MGA Insurance Services, MRS Holdings Ltd., Madison Scott & Associates, Managed Healthcare Solutions, Mannequin Insurance PCC Limited, Marchetti Robertson & Brickell Insurance, Marine Insurance Service, Martin Gordon & Jones Inc., McDowall Associates Human Resource Consultants, McIntyre Risk Management, McLean Insurance Agency, McNeary, McPherson Benefits Group, McRory & Co., Mecacem Insurance SPC Ltd, MedInsights Inc., Melton Insurance Associates, Memberworks Canada LLC, Merit Insurance, Metcom Excess, Metzler Bros. Insurance, Meyers-Reynolds & Associates, Mid America Group, Midwest Surety Services, Mike Henry Insurance Brokers, Mike Henry Insurance Brokers Limited, Mike Henry Insurance Funding Limited, Miller Buettner & Parrott, Miller-Harrison Insurance Services, Milne Alexander Pty Ltd, Minvielle & Chastanet Insurance Brokers, Monument Insurance (NZ) Limited, Monument Llc, Monument Premium Funding Limited, Mortgage Insurance Agency, Murphy Consultants, Mutual Insurance Services, NationAir Aviation Insurance, National Administration Co., National Ethics Association, National Transportation Adjusters, Nelson/Monarch Insurance Services, Nicoud Insurance Services, NiiS/Apex Group Holdings, Nonprofit Insurance Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Noraxis Capital Corp, Nordic Forsakring & Riskhantering AB, North Alabama Insurance, Nourse Insurance Brokers, O'Gorman & Young, OAMPS (UK) Limited, OAMPS Gault Armstrong Pty Ltd, OAMPS Limited, OAMPS Special Risks Ltd, Offshore Market Placements Limited, Optimum Talent, Orb Financial Services, Orb Financial Services Limited, Osprey Insurance Brokers Limited, Oval Group, Oval Healthcare Limited, Oval Insurance Broking Limited, Oval Limited, Oval Management Services Limited, Oxygen Insurance Managers, P2 Group, PEN Insurance Management Advisors Ltd, PT IBS Insurance Broking Service, Pacific Insurance Agency, Palmer Atlantic Insurance, Palmer Atlantic Insurance Ltd, Palmer Atlantic Risk Services Ltd., Park Row Associates, Parkstar Enterprises Pty Ltd, Parmia Pty Ltd, PartnerSource, Pastel Holding (NZ) Company, Pastel Holdings Pty Limited, Pastel Purchaser (NZ) Limited, Pastel Purchaser Pty Limited, Pavey Group Holdings (UK) Limited, Pavey Group Holdings Limited, Pavey Group Limited, Pearson Dunn Insurance Inc., Pen Underwriting Canada Limited, Pen Underwriting Group Pty. Ltd., Pen Underwriting Limited, Pen Underwriting Pty Ltd, Persing Dyckman & Toynbee Inc., Personal Advice Services Pty Ltd, Petty Burton Associates, Pointer Insurance Agency, Portmore Insurance Brokers (Wilshire) Limited, Portmore Insurance Brokers Limited, Potter-Holden & Co., Powell Insurance Agency, Premier Insurance Services Inc., Premier Risk Services, Premium Finance Corporation, Preston-Patterson, ProSource Financial, Professional Agents Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Professional Claims Managers, Proinova AB, Proinova Agency AB, Pronto California Agency LLC, Pronto California General Agency LLC, Pronto Florida Claims LLC, Pronto Florida General Agency LLC, Pronto Franchise LLC, Pronto General Agency Ltd, Pronto General Agency Management LLC, Pronto Holdco Inc., Pronto Holding California LLC, Pronto Holding Florida LLC, Pronto Insurance Agency of Laredo Inc., Pronto Premium Finance LLC, Property & Commercial Ltd., Property Insurance Initatives Limited, Property and Commercial Limited, Protected Insurance Company, Protection Plan Association Inc., Protek Group Limited, Providium Consulting Group, Ptarmigan Underwriting Agency Limited, Ptarmigan Underwriting UK Limited, Purple Bridge Claims Management Limited, Purple Bridge Finance Limited, Purple Bridge Group Limited, Purple Bridge Investments Limited, Purple Bridge Online Services Limited, Purple Bridge Publishing Limited, Quantum Underwriting Solutions Limited, Quillco 226 Limited, Quillco 227 Limited, R. L. Youngdahl & Associates, R.G. Speno Inc., R.W. Scobie, RA Rossborough (Guernsey) Ltd., RA Rossborough (Insurance Brokers) Ltd, REGENCY Group inc., RGA Referencing Limited, RGA Underwriting Limited, RIL Administrators (Guernsey) Ltd., RJ Dutton Inc., RSM Insurance Services Limited, Reassurance Holdings Inc., Rebholz Insurance Agency, Reid Manson Ltd., Reimbursement Services, Rentguard Limited, Reward Management Limited, Reynolds & Rodar Insurance Group, Riley & Associates, Rio 587 Limited, Rio 588 Limited, Risk & Reward Group, Risk Management Partners Limited, Risk Placement Services Inc., Risk Planners, Risk Services (NW) Limited, Risk Services (NW) Ltd., Risk Solutions Group Limited, Robert A. Schneider Agency, Robert Keith & Associates, Roberts & Roberts Insurance Service, Robinson-Adams Insurance, Rossborough Healthcare International Ltd, Rossborough Insurance (IOM) Ltd., Rossborough Insurance Services Ltd. (Jersey), S. A. Freerks & Associates, SEG Insurance Ltd, SGB-NIA Insurance Brokers, SHILLING Ltd, SKANCO International, SMERI AB, SRS Underwriting Pty Ltd, Secure Enterprises Pty Ltd, Securitas Re, Sellers Group, Sentinel Indemnity LLC, Septagon Insurance PCC Limited, Shuford Insurance Agency, Sigma II Insurance Agency, Sinclair Billard and Weld Limited, Sobieski & Bradley, Solid Benefit Guidance, Spanjers Insurance Agency, Spataro Insurance Agency, Specialised Broking Associates, Specialty Risk, Stackhouse Poland, Stackhouse Poland Bidco Limited, Stackhouse Poland Group Limited, Stackhouse Poland Holdings Limited, Stackhouse Poland Midco Limited, Stackouse Poland Limited, Stanton Group, Stark Johnson & Stinson Inc., Steel Agency, Strata Solicitors Ltd, Strategic Health Plans Corp., Strathearn Insurance Brokers, Strathearn Insurance Brokers (Qld) Trading Trust, Strathern Insurance Group Pty Ltd, Strathern Integration Holdco Pty Ltd, Strathern Unit Trust, Strong Financial Resources, Summit Insurance Group, Sunday and Associates, Sunderland Insurance Services, Super Advice Corporate Services Pty Ltd, Taylor Benefits, Texas Insurance Agency, Texas Insurance Managers, The BeneTex Group, The Buchholz Planning, The Chapman Group, The Commonwealth Consulting Group, The Daniels Group Inc., The EHE Group LLC, The EHE Insurance Agency LLC, The Eagle Insurance Agency LLC, The Eriksen Group, The Forker Company, The Gleason Agency, The Great Lakes Agency, The HR Group, The Hawk Agency, The Human Capital Group, The Lance Group, The Levitt/Kristan Co., The MW Bagnall Company, The Old Greenwich Consulting Group, The Parks Johnson Agency, The Plus Companies Inc., The Presidio Group, The Producers Choice, The Rains Group, The Splinter Group, The Titan Group, The Treiber Group, The Woodsmall Companies Inc., Title & Covenant Brokers Ltd., Title Investments Limited, Tom Sherwin Insurance Agency, Total Reward Group, Total Rewards Group (Holdings) Limited, Towle Agency, Transwestern, Tri-State General Insurance Agency, Triad Insurance Agency, Triad USA, Tribeca Strategic Advisors, Trinder & Norwood, Trip Mate, Trissel Graham & Toole, Tropp & Co., Tudor Risk Services, Tyloma Holdings Limited, Uni-Care Inc., Unison Inc., Universico Group, Unoccupied Direct Limited, V2V Holdings LLC, VEBA Service Group, Vasek Insurance Services Limited, Velo ACU LLC, Velo Holdings Inc., Verbag AG., Vertrue LLC, Victory Insurance Agency, Vincent L. Braband Insurance, Vital Benefits, Voluntary Benefits Solutions, W. E. Kingsley Co. Inc., WM. W. George & Associates, Walker Taylor Agency, Welling Associates, Wesfarmers Insurance - Insurance Brokerage Operations, Western Benefit Solutions, White & Company Insurance, Whitehaven Insurance Group, William Gallagher Associates Insurance Brokers, William H. Connolly & Co., Williams Insurance Agency Inc., Williams-Manny Insurance Group, Winn & Company Insurance Brokers, Wischmeyer Benefit Partners, Woodbrook Underwriting Agencies, Woods & Grooms, WorkCare Northwest, Worksite Communications, Y. S. Liedman & Associates, YOA Capsicum Reinsurance Broker Limited, Zenor Limited, Zuber Insurance Agency, and e3 Financial.

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United Parcel Service, Inc. provides letter and package delivery, transportation, logistics, and related services. It operates through two segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery of letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States. The International Package segment provides guaranteed day and time-definite international shipping services in Europe, the Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East, and Africa. This segment offers guaranteed time-definite express options. The company also provides international air and ocean freight forwarding, customs brokerage, distribution and post-sales, and mail and consulting services in approximately 200 countries and territories. In addition, it offers truckload brokerage services; supply chain solutions to the healthcare and life sciences industry; shipping, visibility, and billing technologies; and financial and insurance services. The company operates a fleet of approximately 121,000 package cars, vans, tractors, and motorcycles; and owns 59,000 containers that are used to transport cargo in its aircraft. United Parcel Service, Inc. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Suncor Energy Inc. operates as an integrated energy company. The company primarily focuses on developing petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; explores, acquires, develops, produces, transports, refines, and markets crude oil in Canada and internationally; markets petroleum and petrochemical products under the Petro-Canada name primarily in Canada. It operates through Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; Refining and Marketing; and Corporate and Eliminations segments. The Oil Sands segment recovers bitumen from mining and in situ operations, and upgrades it into refinery feedstock and diesel fuel, or blends the bitumen with diluent for direct sale to market. The Exploration and Production segment is involved in offshore operations off the east coast of Canada and in the North Sea; and operating onshore assets in Libya and Syria. The Refining and Marketing segment refines crude oil and intermediate feedstock into various petroleum and petrochemical products; and markets refined petroleum products to retail, commercial, and industrial customers through its other retail sellers. The Corporate and Eliminations segment operates four wind farms in Ontario and Western Canada. The company also markets and trades in crude oil, natural gas, byproducts, refined products, and power. The company was formerly known as Suncor Inc. and changed its name to Suncor Energy Inc. in April 1997. Suncor Energy Inc. was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
ANGOLA  Trine University will host a series of events to celebrate Black History Month.

The schedule is listed below. Events are sponsored by the Trine Multicultural Student Organization and are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.

5 p.m. Feb. 3 Soul Food Fest dinner in Whitney Commons. See related story.

7 p.m. Feb. 3 Still We Rise 26th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Black History Month Celebration in Fabiani Theatre. See related story.

7 p.m. Feb. 7  Lets Talk presentation in the Presidents Dining Room. The event features speaker Jennifer Smith, a Goshen Police Department patrol officer who is a 2014 criminal justice graduate from Trine and former MSO president.

5 p.m. Feb 9  Soulful music by Chris Worth, a Fort Wayne musician, in Whitney Commons.

7 p.m. Feb. 14  Lets Talk presentation in the Presidents Dining Room. The event features speaker Dr. Elicia Harris, MD/OB-GYN, who will explain the process and expectations of getting into medical school.

6 p.m. Feb. 17  Open Mic Night in Fabiani Theatre. Trine students are invited to show off their talents for the community.

7 p.m. Feb. 21  Lets Talk presentation in the Presidents Dining Room. The event will feature speaker Andre Ebron, a 2004 criminal justice graduate of Trine and former MSO president who is currently the dean of students at the Cornerstone Charter School in Detroit.

7 p.m. Feb. 28  Lets Talk presentation in the Presidents Dining Room, featuring Dr. Alan McGee, an orthopedic surgeon based out of Fort Wayne.
Royal Bank of Canada operates as a diversified financial service company worldwide. The company's Personal & Commercial Banking segment offers checking and savings accounts, home equity financing, personal lending, private banking, indirect lending, including auto financing, mutual funds and self-directed brokerage accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, credit cards, and payment products and solutions; and lending, leasing, deposit, investment, foreign exchange, cash management, auto dealer financing, trade products, and services to small and medium-sized commercial businesses. This segment offers financial products and services through branches, automated teller machines, and mobile sales network. Its Wealth Management segment provides a suite of advice-based solutions and strategies to high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals, and institutional clients. The company's Insurance segment offers life, health, home, auto, travel, wealth, annuities, and reinsurance advice and solutions; and business insurance services to individual, business, and group clients through its advice centers, RBC insurance stores, and mobile advisors; digital, mobile, and social platforms; independent brokers; and travel partners. Its Investor & Treasury Services segment provides asset servicing, custody, payments, and treasury services to financial and other investors; and fund and investment administration, shareholder, private capital, performance measurement and compliance monitoring, distribution, transaction banking, cash and liquidity management, foreign exchange, and global securities finance services. The company's Capital Markets segment offers corporate and investment banking, as well as equity and debt origination, distribution, advisory services, sale, and trading services for corporations, institutional investors, asset managers, private equity firms, and governments. The company was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
The following companies are subsidiares of Tyson Foods: APF Legacy Subs LLC, Advance Food Company LLC, AdvancePierre Foods, AdvancePierre Foods Holdings Inc., AdvancePierre Foods Inc., Aidells Sausage Company Inc., Allied Specialty Foods Inc., American Proteins Inc, Artisan Bread Co. LLC, Australian Food Corporation Pty Limited, Australian Food Corporation Trust, BRF, Barber Foods LLC, Bosco's Pizza Co., Bryan Foods Inc., C.S. Grain LLC, C.V. Holdings Inc., CBFA Management Corp., Central Industries Inc., Chefs Pantry LLC, Clovervale Farms LLC, Cobb (Hubei) Breeding Co. Ltd., Cobb (Shanghai) Enterprise Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Cobb Ana Damizlik Tavukculuk Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Cobb Columbia S.A.S., Cobb Europe B.V., Cobb Europe Limited, Cobb Peru (Andina) S.A.C., Cobb-Heritage LLC, Cobb-Vantress Brasil Ltda, Cobb-Vantress Inc., Cobb-Vantress New Zealand Limited, Cobb-Vantress Philippines Inc., Coominya AFC Pty Limited, Coominya AFC Trust, DFG Foods Inc., DFG Foods L.L.C., Don Julio, Egbert LLC, Equity Group - Georgia Division LLC, Equity Group - Kentucky Division LLC, Equity Group Eufaula Division LLC, Equity Meat Corp., Flavor Corp., Flavor Holdings Inc., Foodbrands America Inc., Foodbrands Supply Chain Services Inc., Gallo Salame Inc., Global Employment Services Inc., Grow-Out Credit LLC, Grow-Out Holdings LLC, Haimen Tyson Poultry Development Co. Ltd, Hudson Foods Company, Hudson Midwest Foods Inc., Hybro Genetics Brasil Ltda, IBP Caribbean Inc., IBP Foodservice L.L.C., IBP Inc., International Affiliates & Investment LLC, Jiangsu Tyson Foods Co. Ltd, Keydutch Finance B.V., Keydutch Holdings I LLC, Keydutch Holdings II LLC, Keydutch Investments B.V., Keystone CLJV Holdings Limited, Keystone County House Road LLC, Keystone Foods, Keystone Foods (AP) Limited, Keystone Foods Holdco LLC, Keystone Foods Intermediate LLC, Keystone Foods LLC, Keystone Foods Pty Limited, Keystone Management Inc., Keystone Trading (Shanghai) Company Limited, LD Foods LLC, M & M Express LLC, M&M Restaurant Supply (MI/OH) LLC, MFG (USA) Holdings Inc., Mac Food Services (Malaysia) SDN. BHD., Madison Foods Inc., McKey Food Services (Hong Kong) Limited, McKey Food Services (Shandong) Limited, McKey Food Services (Thailand) Limited, McKey Food Services Limited, McKey Luxembourg Holdings APMEA S.a.r.l., McKey Luxembourg Holdings S.a.r.l., McKey Luxembourg S.a.r.l., McKey VI Holdings Limited, Myung Seung Food Company Ltd., National Comp Care Inc., New Canada Holdings Inc., Oaklawn Capital Corporation, Oaklawn IT Solution Private Limited, Original Philly Holdings Inc., PBX inc., Pierre Holdco Inc., River Valley Ingredients LLC, Rizhao Tyson Foods Co. Ltd, Rizhao Tyson Poultry Co. Ltd, Rural Energy Systems Inc., Sara Lee - Kiwi Holdings LLC, Sara Lee Diversified LLC, Sara Lee Foods LLC, Sara Lee Household & Body Care Malawi Ltd., Sara Lee International LLC, Sara Lee International TM Holdings LLC, Sara Lee Mexicana Holdings Investment L.L.C., Sara Lee TM Holdings LLC, Sara Lee Trademark Holdings Australasia LLC, Saramar L.L.C., Shandong Tyson-Da Long Food Company Limited, Smart Chicken, Southern Family Foods L.L.C., Southwest Products LLC, TF 20 B.V., TF 5201 B.V., TFA Leasing LLC, TFA Opportunity Zone Fund LLC, TFI of California Inc., Tecumseh Poultry LLC, Texas Transfer Inc., The Bruss Company, The Hillshire Brands Company, The IBP Foods Co., The Pork Group Inc., TyNet Corporation, Tyson (Shanghai) Enterprise Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Tyson Americas Holding Sarl, Tyson Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Tyson Breeders Inc., Tyson Chicken Inc., Tyson China Holding 2 Limited, Tyson China Holding 3 Limited, Tyson China Holding Limited, Tyson Deli Inc., Tyson Europe Holding Company, Tyson Farms Inc., Tyson Farms QOZB LLC, Tyson Foods Brasil Investimentos Ltda., Tyson Foods Canada Inc., Tyson Foods Europe (Netherlands) B.V., Tyson Foods Europe GmbH, Tyson Foods France S.A.R.L., Tyson Foods Germany GmbH, Tyson Foods Group Limited, Tyson Foods Holland B.V., Tyson Foods Huadong Development Co. Ltd, Tyson Foods Iberia Alimentos S.L.U., Tyson Foods Italia S.p.A., Tyson Foods Korea, Tyson Foods Netherlands B.V., Tyson Foods Products Limited, Tyson Foods Scotland Europe Limited, Tyson Foods Scotland Sales (Europe) Limited, Tyson Foods UK Limited, Tyson Foods Wrexham Limited, Tyson Foods oosterwolde B.V., Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., Tyson Fresh Meats Sales and Distribution LLC, Tyson Global Holding Sarl, Tyson Hog Markets Inc., Tyson India Holdings Ltd., Tyson International APAC Ltd., Tyson International Company Ltd., Tyson International Holding Company, Tyson International Holding Sarl, Tyson International Service Center Inc., Tyson International Service Center Inc. Asia, Tyson International Service Center Inc. Europe, Tyson Mexican Original Inc., Tyson Mexico Trading Company S. de R.L. de CV., Tyson New Ventures LLC, Tyson Opportunity Zone Fund LLC, Tyson Pet Products Inc., Tyson Poultry Inc., Tyson Prepared Foods Inc., Tyson Processing Services Inc., Tyson Refrigerated Processed Meats Inc., Tyson Sales and Distribution Inc., Tyson Service Center Corp., Tyson Shared Services Inc., Tyson Storm Lake Holdings LLC, Tyson Warehousing Services LLC, Tyson of Wisconsin LLC, Uninex SA, Universal Meats (UK) Limited, WBA Analytical Laboratories Inc., Wilton Foods Inc., Xamol Consultores e Servicos, and Zemco Industries Inc..

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KIMMELL  Humanitarian projects on two continents will benefit from the efforts of a group of local farmers and agricultural businesses who support Common Ground  Noble Countys growing project in conjunction with Foods Resources Bank (FRB). The first project will provide services in both Argentina and Bolivia in South America, and the second will support a project in Burkina Faso, Africa.

FRB raises money to help people in developing countries grow their own food. Each year nearly 200 U.S. growing projects, volunteers, companies, and organizations raise over $3 million to support 50-60 overseas programs. To administer these programs, FRB works through a network of 16 member organizations and local partner organizations in more than 30 countries around the world. Its mission: As a Christian response to hunger, FRB links the grassroots energy and commitment of agricultural communities around the world with the capability and desire of smallholder farmers in developing countries to grow lasting solutions to hunger.

During Common Grounds annual meeting held at Sparta United Church of Christ on Jan. 15, Bill Emmert, who has coordinated the local growing project, reported that FRB is in the midst of expanding its services and is working to engage additional sponsors in the corporate world and other donors with the goal of doubling available funding for projects around the world.

This is a lofty goal, and if accomplished, will have a huge impact toward addressing nutritional needs and food sustainability in many areas of the world, Emmert said.

The Argentina Bolivia  Gran Chaco program is uniquely structured to work in two different remote areas of the Chaco with two different partners, based in two different countries. This is done to increase the visibility of the work being done in these often ignored regions and to create more opportunities for mutual learning between the two partners. Due to differences in the political context in each country, the approaches are necessarily different.

In the Argentina region of the Chaco, the local partner is working to demonstrate to the national and local governments that rain water harvesting systems, climate smart agricultural techniques, and training in animal husbandry is a sustainable and viable approach to increasing food security and economic development for indigenous and criollo families living in the Chaco. The idea is that this component of the program will be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach and then base further advocacy with the national government to bring in future funding for this type of development work. The local partner is uniquely positioned to do this as their former director is now in the office of Social Welfare under the countrys new president. In Bolivia, the approach will be continuing the work of the local partner CERDET. In the previous phase, CERDET worked with communities to create community development plans. In this phase they will work to further strengthen the leadership skills of indigenous women and youth through training. 33 different communities in the program area will then be invited to submit proposals for small scale income-generation or agricultural projects (average grant of less than $850).

The third phase of the Burkina Faso Central project aims to improve food security within families by building the capacity of women through promotion of conservation agriculture (CA) practices, seed production, off season vegetable production and nutrition education.

Common Ground has supported projects in Burkina Faso on four other occasions since the local growing project was organized in 2005  in part because one of the founders, the late David Knopp, served in the U.S. Peace Corps in that country.

One way to look at these projects is that we are providing funds to help others do the same things we do in farming, except at a different stage, said Alan Osterlund, Common Grounds treasurer.

Osterlund reported that income from sale of 2016s soybean crop netted $21,710 available for FRB. Of that amount, $17,368 will be dedicated to the two projects listed above, $3,039 will go to Foods Resource Bank for general use, and $1,303 will go the FRBs operations fund. Since its founding in 2005, Noble Countys Common Ground growing efforts have generated a total of $316,020 that has been donated to Foods Resource Bank. Of that amount, $252,001 went directly to humanitarian projects. The rest for FRBs general and operations funds.

Currently, various Noble County landowners have made 45 acres available to Common Ground. They are: Bill and Marilyn Emmert, Helena Chemical, Farmers Grain of Kimmell, Wayne and Ina Moore and Whiteshire Hamroc. Donating seed, chemicals and application, tillage, planting and harvesting equipment, labor and grain marketing services were: Bill and Marilyn Emmert, Helena Chemical, Farmers Grain of Kimmell, Frick Services, TruHorizons, Gay and Loren Cunningham, Kent Simmons, Pioneer Hybreds-Nancy Jacob and Mike Cunningham.

It should be noted that Sparta United Church of Christ has been the home base for meetings of Common Ground since its inception - not only providing a location for meetings, but also preparing food for workers as well as meeting refreshments.
La La Land will be the one to beat at this year's Oscars, having scored a record-equalling 14 nominations.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are up for best actor and actress for their roles in the modern musical romance.

It is also one of nine films up for the best picture award.

Sci-fi film Arrival and coming-of-age drama Moonlight have eight nominations each, with the latter's citations including a supporting actress nod for Britain's Naomie Harris.

The actress, who plays Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond films, said she was "over the moon" and "couldn't be more thrilled".

"Moonlight is touching many hearts at a time when people are seeking compassion and connection in the world," she continued in a statement.

Other British contenders include Dev Patel, up for best supporting actor for Lion, and musician Sting, nominated for best song.

Slumdog Millionaire star Patel told the BBC it felt "amazing" to receive his first Oscar nomination.

La La Land's 14 nominations puts it on the same footing as All About Eve and Titanic, which both received 14 nominations in 1951 and 1998 respectively.

It is now the most nominated musical in Oscar history, having topped the 13 nods that Mary Poppins and Chicago received.

Damien Chazelle is nominated both for his direction and original screenplay, while his film has two nominations in the best song category.

Films with most nominations La La Land 14 Arrival 8 Moonlight 8 Hacksaw Ridge 6 Lion 6 Manchester by the Sea 6

The film, which received 11 Bafta nominations earlier this month, gets additional nods for its score, editing and cinematography.

It is also shortlisted for its costume and production design and for its sound editing and mixing.

Yet its double best song nomination means it is unlikely to pull off a clean sweep - unless, that is, there is a tie in that category .

Ben-Hur, Titanic and the third Lord of the Rings film share the record for Oscar wins, having each won 11 awards.

Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, Lion and Manchester by the Sea join Arrival, La La Land and Moonlight on the best picture shortlist.

Britain's Andrew Garfield is nominated alongside Gosling in the best actor category for his role in war drama Hacksaw Ridge.

Casey Affleck, Viggo Mortensen and Denzel Washington are also shortlisted for Manchester by the Sea, Captain Fantastic and Fences respectively.

Meryl Streep gets her 20th Oscar nomination, in the best actress category, for her role in Florence Foster Jenkins.

Image copyright ALTITUDE

Image caption In Moonlight, Mahershala Ali plays a drug dealer who takes a young boy under his wing

Natalie Portman, Ruth Negga and France's Isabelle Huppert are also in contention for their roles in Jackie, Loving and Elle.

In a statement, Emma Stone said she was "so grateful" for her best actress nomination and "overjoyed" La La Land had "connected with audiences".

"The greatest part of life is connecting with people, and I love the deeply talented, kind and passionate people I was lucky enough to work with on this movie."

Harris is joined in the supporting actress category by Fences star Viola Davis and Manchester by the Sea's Michelle Williams.

Williams said making the film was "incredibly rewarding" and that it was "truly an honour to be included among such amazing women".

Previous Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Octavia Spencer also receive nominations for Lion and Hidden Figures.

Lion tells the true story of an Indian-born man who, having been adopted and raised in Tasmania, uses Google Earth to find the family he was parted from as a child. 'Vulnerable place'

In a statement, Kidman thanked Ampas (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) "for all of the acknowledgements you have given this heartfelt film".

"But, most importantly, I want to thank the Brierley family for putting themselves in such a vulnerable place and sharing their story with the world."

Moonlight's Mahershala Ali, Manchester by the Sea's Lucas Hedges and Hell or High Water's Jeff Bridges are also up for best supporting actor.

The line-up is completed by Michael Shannon, a surprise nominee for his role as a grizzled sheriff in Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals.

Many had expected his British co-star Aaron Taylor-Johnson to be nominated following his triumph at the Golden Globes earlier this month.

Shannon said: "I am thrilled! Loved making this film. I would work with Tom Ford anytime, anywhere."

If Chazelle wins best director, he will be the youngest person ever to receive the award.

Mel Gibson is also up for the director prize, as is Arrival's Denis Villeneuve, Moonlight's Barry Jenkins and Manchester by the Sea's Kenneth Lonergan.

Gibson, shortlisted for Hacksaw Ridge, is the only previous Oscar winner to be shortlisted, though both Chazelle and Lonergan have been previously nominated for their writing.

"What could be more exciting than listening to the nominations being announced while holding my newborn son!" said Gibson, who became a father for the ninth time last week.

Jenkins, who is also recognised for writing Moonlight's screenplay, said he was "moved beyond words by the love that was shown by the Academy" on Tuesday.

Non-white talent is well-represented in this year's acting nominations, with at least one non-white actor included in each of the four categories.

This contrasts with 2015 and 2016's nominations, which were criticised for having all-white line-ups in the acting categories.

Other familiar names to have received nominations include pop star Justin Timberlake, who is up for best song for his chart-topping Trolls track Can't Stop the Feeling.

Sting's citation in that category comes for The Empty Chair. The song appeared in Jim: The James Foley Story, a documentary about the American photojournalist killed by Islamic State militants in 2014.

Image copyright PARAMOUNT

Image caption Streep's nomination for Florence Foster Jenkins is her 20th Oscar nod

How Far I'll Go, from Disney animation Moana, joins La La Land tracks Audition and City of Stars on the five-strong best song shortlist.

Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who co-wrote How Far I'll Go, celebrated his nomination with a series of Twitter emojis .

Moana gets a second nomination for best animated feature alongside fellow Disney release Zootopia - released as Zootropolis in the UK.

French film My Life as a Zucchini, Japanese animation The Red Turtle and US release Kubo and the Two Strings are also shortlisted.

Kubo gets an additional nomination in the visual effects category - the first animated film to do so since 1993's The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Films from Australia, Denmark, Germany, Iran and Sweden make up the shortlist in the best foreign language film category.

They include the German comedy Toni Erdmann and Tanna, the first film shot entirely in the group of South Pacific islands known as Vanuatu, which is Australia's entry.

The best score category sees Britain's Mica Levi shortlisted for her work on Jacqueline Kennedy biopic Jackie.

Her competition includes Thomas Newman, who receives his 14th Oscar nomination for his work on Passengers.

The nominees also include the late playwright August Wilson, up for best adapted screenplay for Denzel Washington's film Fences.

US comedian and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel will host this year's Oscar ceremony on 26 February.
Joyce Avadzi, a 20-year-old fruit seller, last month got what she described as the biggest treat of her life when UTV's My Health My Life (MHML) crew picked her up for a shopping spree.

She was in addition assisted to select some clothing and sandals from a classic boutique, have her hair styled, as well as a facial make-up to brighten her outlook.

Joyce who also received a basket full of provisions and other items was given the opportunity to feature in a live broadcast during the show.

According to Abigail Ashley, host of MHML, the gesture was an effort by the crew to identify and support vulnerable members of society who make an effort within their constraints to earn a decent living.

Our effort in doing this is to sensitise the public on the dangers associated with stress and anxiety, while at the same instance we use such platforms in to campaign for people to show brightness of countenance as a health therapy, she disclosed.

Speaking to NEWS-ONE, Joyce Avadzi said she started her business as a fruit seller six years ago moving from one highway street within the metropolis of Accra to the other in a bid to make more money.

She sells fruits when they are in season and switches on to other items such as pastries and sachet water during off season.

I believe that God gives success and it is for this that I prefer to give out my unsold pawpaw to children and other people, she revealed.

Ms Avadzi said she came to the Accra to receive formal education, but when her plans did not materialise, she resorted to her trade; hoping that she would one day own a big shop.

By Solomon Ofori
Actress Yvonne Nelson has lost her biological father, Mr Oko Nelson.

Earlier reports said he died on Monday, but NEWS-ONE's checks yesterday revealed that he actually died on Sunday.

Yvonne confirmed the sad news early Tuesday, but didn't give further details.

The popular actress has not been that close to her father while growing up, and her mum has always occupied that father space.

Currently, information on Mr Nelson is scanty, but he owned some key businesses in town.

The actress father's death has come at a time she has started promoting second season of her popular TV series titled 'Heels & Sneakers'.

Mr Nelson no doubt produced one of the illustrious daughters of the Ghana as his daughter Yvonne remains one of the topmost relevant entertainers in the country at the moment.

An actress, model, film producer, and entrepreneur, she has starred in several movies in both Nigeria and Ghana. Her first lead role was the title character in the movie 'Princess Tyra'. She shot about five more movies and then went to Nigeria to shoot her first collaboration with Genevieve Nnaji in 2007, which launched her career in Nollywood. She has since been a household name.

Yvonne produced her first movie, 'The Price' in 2011, followed by 'Single & Married' the next year. The latter won Best Picture at the Ghana Movie Awards and Best Ghanaian Movie in Nigeria at the 2013 City People Awards. She followed these up with 'House of Gold' in 2013. She also produced 'Single, Married & Complicated' and the emotional epic, 'If Tomorrow Never Comes'.

Yvonne was tagged a stunner actress because she stuns in her act. She is currently the country's leading personality on most of the social media platforms.

By Francis Addo (Twitter: @fdee50 Email: [email protected] )
The man with the world's biggest penis has been offered his first big movie role  in a porn film.

Roberto Esquivel Cabrera, from Saltillo, Mexico, recently turned down a reduction operation on his 18.9 inch penis, claiming that pursuing a career in the porn industry was more important to having sexual relationships.

And now it seems he has got his wish, with the The LAD Bible revealing the man behind 'YouPorn' and the 'Fake Taxi' series is interested in working with Roberto and his near half-metre member.

'The YouPorn Guy' said, We would fly him over to Prague and he can come see our doctors and nurses at our FakeHospital.com.

We would make the scene quite comical, and would get a female doctor and two or three nurses all trying to have a go on it.

He would have the time of his life. Everyone would want to see the scene for sure, whether they would get off on it is another matter

Cabrera recently spoke of his desires to break into the adult film industry , explaining, I am happy with my penis and I wish to go back to the USA and spend the rest of my life over there.

I would like to be a porn star and I think I would make a lot of money over there.

While the x-rated film version may be more enjoyable for Cabrera, his penis was recently thoroughly examined by real doctors who confirmed that the bulk of his 20 inch manhood is foreskin.

Radiologist Jesus Pablo Gilmore said, Our findings on the CT scan were that he has very large foreskin, it goes almost to the knee.

The glands themselves are only six to seven inches from the pubic. It doesn't go all the way through the foreskin.

 thesun.co.uk


A South African model, kwen Maye has expressed discontentment at rapper Sarkodie for using his photograph without his permission.

The model is up in arms with the rapper for failing to seek his or his managements permission before going ahead to use the image for promotion.

Sarkodie recently announced that he is giving opportunity to his fans and the general public to audition to be a part of his new music video.

He announced that Be part of my new video ... Come promo your Art, and the accompanying advertisement read, CALLING!!! Calling all Avant Garde hipsters and creative artists to be a part of an African superstar music video.

Kwen May venting his anger on Instagram urged the rapper to desist from acts that he doesnt want others to do to him.

 @sarkodie1 you didn't ask for my permission or contact my agency @20modelmanagement before using my picture for some cast promo..

I'm aware you don't like when someone use ur pics without your permission___ please take it down or crop me out___ speaking for myself and don't know about other models___ this is so wrong___ @ameyaw112 please speak to this guy to get it down____No disrespect, if you don't accept this from anyone don't do it to others____ #RespectMyJob I'm not looking for such publicity___ #CropMeOut , he urged.

Sarkodie is yet to respond to the models accusation.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Ernest Dela Aglanu (Twitter: @delaXdela / email: [email protected])
Being the President of the most powerful country is not an easy job, most people would agree. It is even more so when from the very first day, powerful opposition lined up against you and vowed that their major task was to make sure you fail. Not only did they say it, they even went as far as going against their own ideas when adapted for the sake of compromise for bipartisan agreement. Against all odds, Yes We Can still turned to Yes We Did.

In many countries, woken up from slumber and complacency, spontaneous demonstrations sprung up among women with little planning. There is this innate feeling among the only being God gave the power of creation when human survival is at risk. There is a nature of man to take hard work of others for granted. Just like the fruit of our labor, the germ we appreciate is the one worked hard for. Since we do not have Obama to kick around anymore, Obamacare is hot!

You see, whatever progress we make in life must not be taken for granted. Our grandfathers and mothers die for our civil liberties, economic survival and progressive accomplishment but we sometimes think WE do not have to fight as hard to keep them. This is true not only in the western or Eastern world but also in Africa. We think that after Independence, we are all set and done. Economic freedom will fall into our laps. Not so Buraimo!

Look at America, the progress Obama made in eight years can be wiped away unless the rise of women by that rally is translated into substance in the form of action from the grassroots to the peak of power. Africans have produced many Obama that have never seen the light of the day, have been suffocated within the thorns of flowers that glitters; and where they have succeeded like Nkrumah, Lumumba, Nyerere, Awo, Biko etc. have never been sustained or encouraged.

In African local language, whoever that Babalawo was that washed the head of Obamas father before leaving Africa, we need more of them. We have our honest man or woman in every village. Most black managers in America would not be surprised at the almost insurmountable oppositions Obama faced. It was beyond that of an opposition party or adversary relationship in a democracy. Black managers are doubted and worked against hoping they fail.

The same people and financial companies that brought United States on its knees that people were asking for their heads, are back. This time not as campaign donors but in charge of Govt.! Since Obama succeeded, every Jack or Harry thinks if a black man could do it, so could he. But for Obama, United States could have slipped into a depression and could have taken the rest of the world with it. It is no more a discussion topic since Obama succeeded where others failed.

The people that benefited most from Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare, voted against their self-interest because some do not want government in their Medicare. Even when they know Medicare is Government, they voted for the Party that will privatize healthcare as long as they were told it is going to be cheaper, better and accessible to all. Well, just like lottery and billion dollars are accessible to everyone but only a few got it!

The naked truth about healthcare in United States is that more money is spent than any other country but life expectancy is lower than some developing countries. The whole truth is that the rich and upper middleclass have life expectancy like the rest of the western world while the poor are worse off than the poor African or Asian countries: dragging down the average life expectancy of United States. In short, the anger is about the rich paying for Obamacare (ACA).

The amount of brothers locked up for drugs, equally abused by whites and blacks, cannot be restored while private sector made money off private jails. Even after Obama pardoned more of them than any President in history. They lost the most productive times of their lives behind bars. Politicians claimed they were being tough on crime. Whenever minorities are involved, the only solution is more police, more jails, tougher sentences and throwing away the keys.

A little experiment if performed in high school or college could have demonstrated the lives of two or four mice in a pen compared to the consequences of throwing too many in the same pen with limited space, food and water. When we are talking about human, children born by women that found themselves condemned into ghetto, underfunded schools and recreation, in dilapidated lead poisoned invested homes and water; we must all share the blame with victims.

Just like healthcare, American schools are flushed with money but not equally distributed . The best healthcare and schools are not for minorities in the cities. The police are asked to do the impossible job of repression in depressed areas of the cities while others in the same country enjoying a nourished environment get treatment in rehabilitation hospitals not jails. Obama did not create unjust communities. He, like any other black man had been stereotypically accosted.

Where Obama met the Country and where he left off will be a tough act for any President to follow. His accomplishments have been distorted and repainted even when America leads economic recovery, better than any other country. Obama may have lost the public relations game when in power, they have inadvertently sent themselves up for failure by comparing what they would accomplish to his record. Facts are stubborn; there are no alternative facts.

Though unemployment among African American has been cut in half, it remained the highest of any social-economic group. They should be angry. But the promise is to solve carnage among African Americans in the cities with more force, law and order; while the rural areas have been promised jobs they know have been taken over by automation, skills and maximum profits. It is maximum profit that looks for cheap labor all over the world, not Obama and not Unions.

Indeed, United States gains more jobs from selling talents, products, machineries, or weapons abroad than any country in the world. If every country decides on its own community for jobs, workers and materials first; African countries will be the richest. African consumers of all goods, even food and producers of little; provide more foreign jobs for exporters than for themselves.

If Africans want their own Obama to do what he has done for America in Africa, that man in every village must be respected for his honesty, skills and selflessness in leadership positions. Africa needs to replace ethnic war with free trade. It replaced war in Europe, Asia and America.
Although Vodafone Ghana says it is exploring a myriad of opportunities to get into the 4G LTE space in Ghana, it has flatly denied partnering Netherlands-based telecoms player Afrimax for the purpose.

Responding to a questionnaire from Adom News, Head of Communications at Vodafone Ghana, Ebenezer Amankwah stated "Vodafone Ghana has NO partnership with Afrimax to provide 4G services in Ghana."

In November, 2014 the Vodafone Group and Afrimax issued a joint press statement announcing a non-equity strategic partnership for 4G LTE deployment in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in countries where Vodafone had operations.

The focus was to partner in 12 sub-Saharan African countries covering an estimated 222 million people.

The joint statement also noted that the framework agreement will complement Vodacom Groups operations in South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique.

So far, the two telcos have deployed 4G services in Uganda, Zambia and Cameroun, with more deployments expected.

But Ebenezer Amankwah explained that the Vodafone Group has a partnership with Afrimax to provide services to some countries in sub-Saharan Africa but that excludes Ghana.

As of now, Afrimax and Vodafone Group run a joint website , where they share information about how their partnership is growing.

On that website, Afrimax named Busy Ghana as its partner in Ghana, and not Vodafone Ghana. Indeed, there is a news item on that website headlined "Afrimax launches 4G services in Ghana under the Busy brand".

Meanwhile, Vodafone seems to be looking elsewhere as news recently emerged that it presented a partnership proposal with local 4G player Surfline to the National Communications Authority (NCA).

NCA confirmed receiving the proposal but could not approve it because there are no policies and regulatory framework for such partnerships.

Ebenezer Amankwah said, "there are myriad of opportunities we are exploring but these are business decisions and we prefer to keep them at that."

Contrary to earlier media reports that Vodafone had decided to stay away from the 4G space, Amankwah said "our desire is to be deploying 4G at this material moment; however, we cannot because we still hold the position that the $67.5 million price tag on the spectrum set by the regulator is excessively high.

Vodafone is not the only industry player who thinks the 800MHz spectrum price at $67.5million per slot was a political rather than a realistic price; all the other telcos, including MTN that eventually bought one, have expressed similar sentiments.

Eben Amankwah said Vodafone is still in talks with the regulator to find a way into the 4G space because it believes the value of spectrum depends on its deployment to the benefit of people and businesses.

Indeed, due to the widely acclaimed high cost of the spectrum, the NCA could sell only one out of toe slots, which means the remaining slot now lies idle.

"Inaccessible spectrum is of no value to the government and people of Ghana," the Vodafone Head of Communications said.

This is consistent with what Vodafone Ghana CEO, Yolanda Cuba said, that spectrum is an essential commodity like water so it must be moderately priced to make it easily accessible.

He said Vodafone believes spectrum must be allocated to entities capable of making efficient use of it to improve Quality of Service, adding that access to spectrum feeds into the growth of today's modern economy and the regulator needs to take this into account going forward.

"We are open to a transparent and fair industry; one that is committed to supporting telecommunication entities provide modern and quality services to all Ghanaians," he said.

But whereas Vodafone Ghana flatly denied any partnership Afrimax in Ghana, Adom News gathered some international organisation is on a recruitment drive, hiring locals with expertise in telecoms and other relevant skills on behalf of Afrimax/Vodafone in Ghana.

It remains to be seen how that pans out.
25.01.2017 LISTEN

Repeat, it is imperative that all critically-minded Ghanaians move beyond coup-plotter narratives. Without doubt, Gbedemah contributed to the initial successes of Nkrumah's CPP. However, we must examine actual records related to the CPP government under Kwame Nkrumah, all the way to the end. And, whatever you find during your search, humbly consider the idea that negatives are never a reflection on any group of people. Rather, they are a poor and sad reflection on the individuals at the center of the stories they created, managed, massaged for their own selfish purposes, and those others they used to achieve those purposes.

For instance, as the record in the essay below shows, even the imprisonment of Gbedemah was staged by the British for their own purpose. In a Daily Graphic feature (Issue 547, August 9 1952), most likely directed by Gbedemah (and/or the British), they make sure to project Gbedemah as natural leader after Nkrumah. And so, under the "Prison Graduate No. 1" caption, they made sure to teach that "...To many Africans and Europeans, Gbedemah symbolizes all that is best in the CPP...". However, oddly, they ignored the fact Gbedemah in fact owned one of the biggest poultry farms in Ghana. All this, in the heat of the struggle for Ghana's independence. Near the time Gbedemah was appointed Finance Minister, he sold his businesses and secretly invested the proceeds in a bank in Geneva).

Continuing from Part 1, .....

"THE TRUTH ABOUT KOMLA GBEDEMAH BY A NON-GHANAIAN INTELLECTUAL", 1964.......

READ:

"" THE PRISON GRADUATE "":

"The British are good experts at planting their agents' in the governments of other countries. Placing their stakes on Gbedemah they decided to create a false nationalistic nimbus around him. With that aim in view, they put him in prison in 1949 for ""trying to instigate a rebellion"".

We do not know the contents of the conversations held by the representatives of the British authorities with Gbedemah in prison.

What is known for certain is that very soon Gbedemah was set free. On the day of his release from prison the headquarters of the Convention People's Party was raided by the police while Nkrumah and other leaders of the Party were arrested. Since that time Gbedemah calls himself a ""prison graduate"". In Nkrumah's absence, he became leader of the Convention People's Party, head of its printed organ-the Accra Evening News, and carried out preparations for municipal elections. It was very strange that in those stormy and dangerous times everything

went on so smoothly with Gbedemah. It was literally before the very eyes of the British authori-ties that Gbedemah carried on his work for which other people would have paid with their lives while he, Gbedemah, remained unscathed. He even managed to organise regular correspondence with Nkrumah who was then languishing in prison and who thought at the time that only he and Gbede-mah were in on it.

THE BRITISH COUNTED ON A VERY SIMPLE THING:

They wanted to remove Nkrumah in whom they saw a dangerous enemy who did not wish to come to any compromise and create the seeming of independence in the form of a self-governing colony under the supervision of a governor. In this farce the ""prison graduate"" was assigned the post of premier of the ephemeral Gold. Coast Government. The intelligence service supported this plan and gave him a loyalty certificate. The British authorities did not interfere with Gbede-mah's activities and were by no means abashed when the Convention People's Party won at the municipal elections in 1950. They thought that everything was under control and that nothing unexpected could ever happen.

BUSINESS AGAIN:

The people of the Gold Coast have passed their own judgement, however. The people demanded that Nkrumah be set free. Unrest spread through- out the entire country. It was in Nkrumah, and not in Gbedemah, that they saw their leader and the triumph at the elections gave them new strength in their struggle for the liberation of the leader of the victorious party. Having no wish to make a martyr

of Nkrumah, the British thought it best to set him free and even reconcile themselves to his appoint-ment to the Cabinet as the chief spokesman for government affairs. Gbedemah had no other choice, but to be satisfied with a seat in the Legislative Assembly and the post of Minister of Health and Labour.

In 1952 when Nkrumah succeeded in securing British consent to introduce the post of Prime Minister instead of the vague title of the chief spokesman for government affairs, Gbedemah became Minister of Trade and Industry and follow- ing the 1954 elections, received the portfolio of Minister of Finance.

It should be mentioned here that since the time of Nkrumah's release from prison, Gbedemah's promotion was hampered. He did not succeed in becoming either the first man among the nationalists of the Gold Coast or even Nkrumah's closest associate. In the following years Gbedemah always occupied ministerial posts, but he never played the role of the second man in the Republic, except during a very short period in the summer of 1961, when Nkrumah and his closest followers

made their trip abroad. The British still persisted in supporting Gbedemah's ambitious plans and mercenary schemes. But eventually they no longer pinned their main hopes on him in their struggle against Nkrumah. London was more impressed by the leader of the opposition Dr. Busia who seemed to the British more significant a figure than "" the prison graduate "".

Gbedemah was afraid that he would lose political weight and would be reduced to an ordinary, though well-versed, informant.

Incidentally, as a Minister of Trade and Finance he was in a position to do much more. And indeed he did everything the British authorities asked him to. He did his best, of course, under all kinds of pretexts to prevent the Africanization of the state apparatus and arranged deals profitable for foreign businessmen but ruinous to the Gold Coast. He did not forget his own business and deposited large sums of money in his accounts whenever trans-actions were profitable.

Just one "" operation "" of buying 24 locomotives from the Swiss businessman Johann Bernard Litscher brought him 10,000 Ghanaian pounds transferred to his account by the Henschel Firm in one of the Swiss banks. And yet the future worried Gbedemah. He did not share Nkrumah's socialist ideas although he had some vague notion about sociology and particularly socialism. But being a businessman by nature he believed in capitalism, in a society based on private initiative. While clearing his way for attaining the ministerial post in Accra he thought that his qualities of an adroit businessman and his connections in the British business circles would prove useful to him in the future capitalist Ghana.

He saw very quickly, however, that Nkrumah tried to create welfare for all and not just for a handful of the government elite. He understood then that their roads diverge. By 1957, when Ghana declared its independence, he lost all hope of find- ing any political contacts with Nkrumah and noticing a lack of interest on the part of the British in himself began to think of additional sources of increasing his personal wealth.

In 1957 Gbedemah established his own private business in Ghana-a poultry farm at which he employed over 50 Ghanaian labourers. The farm brought annually 5 million eggs and 300 tons of fresh-frozen chicken meat. The Finance Minister obtained over 40,000 Ghanaian pounds a year by selling eggs alone. Gbedemah became partner in the Mallam Issa Transport Company and a number of smaller enterprises. Using his ministerial post, he became the initiator and participant of

puzzling financial machinations, both in Ghana and abroad. Notwithstanding considerable profits Gbedemah received through his business, his thirst for money was not fully satisfied.

THE NEW PATRON:

In 1958 Gbedemah went to the U.S. where he negotiated with the American Government on some aspects of technical assistance to Ghana and a loan for the Volta River Project. It should be pointed out that by that time the Americans took very great interest in the young Republic and Gbedemah's arrival, whose leanings towards the West were well known, proved quite an asset for Washington.

Negotiations ended successfully, not for Ghana naturally, but for the U.S. and Gbedemah. The latter understood that apart from the British, there were other generous supporters with their hand-outs. Besides, certain conditions of carrying through the Volta project spelled very great opportunities for Gbedemah's personal enrich- ment. American businessmen, in turn, were very pleased with Gbedemah.

Ghana's Finance Minister demonstrated a rare understanding of their interests, and agreed to defend in the Cabinet a number of terms favourable for American business circles, such as the joint construction project of an aluminum plant in the vicinity of the Volta river with subsequent transfer of the controlling interest to the Americans, granting the "" Star Kissed "" Co. a monopoly on catching the tuna-fish in Ghana's territorial waters, the use of the local, in other words, cheap labour, etc. In general, the Ghanaian Minister proved quite a tractable man who agreed to meet in Accra with Allan Dulles's agent as a confirmation of his loyalty to the U.S.

Great was the astonishment of Gbedemah when several days after his return from the U.S. his personal assistant, Victor de Grand Brempong, entered his study and gave him the first instructions on behalf of his overseas boss. Under these instruc- tions Gbedemah was to compromise Nkrumah and ensure conditions for his overthrow..........//....".

.........//....".

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!, Part 2, re-post of "THE TRUTH ABOUT KOMLA GBEDEMAH BY A NON-GHANAIAN INTELLECTUAL", 1964, with commentary by Prof Lungu.

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https://www.change.org/p/ghana-fair-trade-oil-share-psa-campaign-ftos-gh-psa/ .

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Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society---Mark Twain

Our clothing is one of our most elemental forms of communication, says Duane Litfin an American Evangelist and the former seventh president of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

According to Mr. Litfin what we wear tell people about us i.e who we are even before we get the opportunity to be heard.

Long before our voice is heard, our clothes are transmitting multiple messages. From our attire, others immediately read not only such things as sex, age, national, social economic status, and social position but also our mood our attitudes, our personality, our interests and our values, Duane said.

That is so true. Our society is wrought by gossip when it comes to the issues above-mentioned. We unleash instant justice, make hasty generaliisation and draw our own conclusions to suit our whims.

So think about that for a second. Why would you let some people prosecute you with their thoughts, crucify you with their tongues and write your obituary when youre naturally not dead yet?

Why would you put yourself in that situation or give someone who doesnt know you from Adam the licence to draw an inaccurate impression about you, badmouth you or judge you, just because of what you wear?

The irony is you wouldnt even have the same platform to tell your own story let alone validate it.

And youd think that would douse the flame. No, there are people who have developed a thick skin and dont really care what people say about them. They believe that what they wear to social functions, be it Church, funeral, movie theatre, tavern etc. is nobodys business.

After all, they argue, God does not look outward he looks inside. He doesnt care about what one wears and how one looks. What he cares about is our faith/trust in Him, showing love to our neighbour, being merciful, being compassionate and caring for one another.

The Bible says it eloquently: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him defile him, but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man, Mark 7:15 (KJV).

Im personally not a Bible-thumb Christian. I dont look at what people wear to form an opinion or make a judgement. Ive always asked myself this-: who am I?

Who am I to judge or pass judgment or question ones moral behaviour? Had it not be His grace and mercies who am I? We are all not perfect and can never be perfect. Yes, I know I am right. We live not because of our supposedly pious deeds but we live because of his amazing grace and unbending love.

The parable of the Good Samaritan is a didactic story Jesus told in Lukes book. It speaks about a traveler (believed to be a Jew) who was attacked by some thugs and left half dead. A Jew supposedly passed by and a priest walked by too. Both of them didnt care about the condition of the traveler. But the Samaritan attended to the man. And I think you know how the whole story ended. Therefore, its needless to ask who showed love to the traveler. But why did the Jew fail to take care of his fellow Jew? And I guess the priest with his long cassock and the scroll tucked under his armpit was racing to the pulpit to preach about love, mercy, caring for our neighbour and paying tithe.

Jesus concluded that it took the unchurched or the least ---the Good Samaritan to save the troubled-soul.

So often, it is not who we say we are that truly defines us. It isnt by our status or nationality or profession and not by our religion but by doing Gods will. By following the things Apostle Paul mentioned in the book of Galatians.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, gentleness and self-control, Gal 5:22).

The Samaritan showed mercy, he showed compassion and gave love. Obviously, that is more important than showing up at Church with flashy clothes every Sunday. It is more important being in tarps with pure heart and good conscience than paying lip-service.

Thing is those who are lashing out at you might have nice clothes and drive the best cars to Church but they might be wearing uncircumcised hearts. We dont see it but God sees it. God sees us and knows us all!

That said lets now put this into perspective. Lets ponder on a couple of questions first. Would you show up in an interview dressed in tattered clothes if you had good clothes? Would you do the same when youre meeting your first date or visit your in-laws?

I agree it isnt what we wear that wholly defines us but first impression counts and youd always like to put your best foot forward. So, I dont think youd like to appear scruffy for an interview when youre desperate looking for a job. Your clothes could be old and dirty, yet youd wash them with some sweet-scented detergent and have them well-ironed. All set ready to kick it.

Indeed I dont think youd go to the house of your in-laws-to-be looking unkempt and broke, because you fear you might lose your suitor. Thats right youd surely fall out of the perking order.

There is a moral and spiritual dimension to human clothing. Our clothes serve a variety of practical, social and cultural functions. Protection and modesty spring first to mind, but our clothes do far more, notes Duane.

We witnessed loads of that at the just ended an historic funeral of the Asantehemaa in Kumasi. The public was informed about the dress codes---what to wear and what not to wear. For instance, attendees were not supposed to wear necklaces and jewelry. And I dont think anybody that showed up there dared.

I dont think churches make dress codes a big deal. Most Churches are more flexible, there might be some that are deep in bed with the Mosaic Law. However the majority is tolerant as to what the congregants wear.

But for Christ sake, why would you put on a flip-flop (Chalewate), or a dress that barely covers your front gate or torso to go to worship the Holy One. Why would you wear a T-shirt that has the words Im Satans Agent, or has the F-world scrawled at its back to the church house?

If you and I agree that we serve an awesome and all-powerful God, the Lord of Lords, the Conqueror of the universe, the Master Designer, the Alpha and Omega why would you go to worship or praise Him dressed in something that speaks evil, smells evil and highlights evil?

So get this, much as God doesnt care about what we wear he is also not oblivious of what our motives are. More often than not our intents are what cause us to sin. Remember what Jesus said in Mark, it is not what goes into our mouths that makes us sin. Rather what comes from within us? He knows whats in our hearts.

Perhaps it is this new trend of dressing creeping into the Ghanaian clothing arena that has prompted a renowned Ghanaian priest to sound a note of caution to the Christendom particularly the youth of the country.

On Sunday 23 January 2017 the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Most Reverend Charles Gabriel Palmer Buckle couldnt hide his disappointment at what he described as the bad dress code of the Ghanaian youth. The nobler was worried that the youth are losing their relationship with God because of their appearance in church.

Speaking at the chapel rededication of the St. Theresas Catholic Church in Accra, the clergyman charged parents to correct their childrens dress code at home.

Take control of sons and let them know what they can wear, where they wear it and where they cannot wear it period.

They come to church with T-shirts written in front kick me and at the back is written 37, adding some of the inscriptions are obscene with writings such as kiss me.

He wants the youth to be told that such clothes are not entertained in the church.

You dont even go anywhere decent with it how much more the presence of God,

He explained that the human body is a temple of the holy spirit, for which reason it must be kept clean with appropriate lifestyle pleasing to God.

Most Reverend Buckle also cautioned about he called over-dressing, urging ladies to ensure that their dresses are befitting for whatever occasion they are dressed for.
Guwahati: Newly crowned US President Donald Trump last night called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed hope to host the hardliner Indian premier in the United States later this year.

In a telephonic conversation with PM Modi on 24 January 17, President Trump also termed India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world.

Both the powerful politicians discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India in broad areas such as the economy and defense.

They also discussed security in the region of South & Central Asia and finally resolved that the United States and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism.
President Akufo-Addos nominee for the Minister of Education portfolio, Matthew Opoku Prempeh has said there is the need for an alternative examination body to provide competition to the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and ensure it operates effectively.

Answering questions posed by members of Parliaments Appointments committee on Tuesday, January 24 in Parliament, Opoku-Prempeh said the NPP government will promote the teaching and learning of technical and vocational education in the country.

Below is an infographic with other key mentions he made at his vetting.



By: Mawuli Tsikata/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Ernest Thompson, has been relieved of his post.

DAILY GUIDE's sources said the sacking of the SSNIT boss was communicated to him on Monday.

According to sources, Mr Thompson's dismissal was greeted with excitement by the staff who were of the view that SSNIT was run down under the outgoing Director General, with most of its priced assets, including banks, being disposed of.

The staff also accused Mr Thompson of showing nepotism in employment, as well as promotions, saying some of them had been on one grade for more than eight years.

A member of the Appointments Committee of Parliament and Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia South, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, at the committees sitting last Friday, made a startling revelation about the rot at SSNIT which he said had happened with alleged endorsement of its Board of Directors.

The outgoing SSNIT board is reported to have given approval for the Trust to put a number of its expensive management residential facilities in Accra for sale.

The buildings, including six residential properties and two guest houses, are located in plush areas like North Ridge, Cantonments and Airport Residential Area  all in Accra.

But there are concerns that the state facilities will be sold at very cheap rates to cronies.

The decision is raising public concerns because some observers believe that SSNIT needed to protect the properties and not dispose of them. Others claim the powerful management members and the board will turn around to buy the said properties for peanuts.

Currently, an inspection report of the state of the buildings has already been given to the management by an ad hoc committee the SSNIT Board set up and a memo has been issued by the company secretary, giving details of the report.

The memo, which was signed on Friday, January 6, 2017  the eve of the inauguration of President Akufo-Addo  and copied to the SSNIT Director General  indicates that the board had considered the report of the ad hoc committee.

At its 300th meeting held on 5th January, 2017, the Board considered a report by the ad hoc committee of the Board which undertook an inspection tour of some of the Trust's Management residences at North Ridge, Cantonments and Airport Residential Area in Accra, the memo signed by Mrs. Gifty J. Annan, company secretary said.

According to the memo, the designated Director General's residence was not included in the decision of the Board.

The document, sighted by DAILY GUIDE, gave vivid descriptions of the facilities located on 0.74, 0.11 and 0.35 acres of land that were to be sold.

Ms Gifty Annan indicated that first is a two-storey main building with a detached outhouse, launderette, garage and security post and that the main building provides accommodation for a living/dining, bedrooms, kitchen, store, sanitary and circulatory areas at North Ridge House No 7.

The remark of the committee approved by the Board said, The property was recently renovated to be maintained as Director General's residence.

Also, there is a two-storey main building with a detached outhouse, boys quarters and security post where the main building provides accommodation for a living/dining, bedrooms, kitchen, store, sanitary and circulatory areas at No. 58 Ridge.

The document said the property was previously used as an executive guest house being occupied by Mr Thompson.

The committee said the facility was fairly renovated to be sold.

The memo described another facility as a two-storey main building with a detached outhouse and security post located at No. 58A, North Ridge, adding, The property has similar designs as the one described above and was occupied by a former Director General.

It said the board had approved the facility to be sold because it's in a poor state.

Another two-storey semi-detached main building with an outhouse providing accommodation for a living/dining, bedrooms, kitchen and sanitary areas located at No. 17, Cantonments, has been listed to be sold while five other 2-storey semi-detached main buildings  all with outhouses located at Nos. 18, 20, 21, 22 and 24 in Cantonments  are also being sold.

The committee remarked, The limited plot size hampers its potential for redevelopment into a modern residence for optimal returns, and therefore, they are to be sold.

According to the memo, there is another 2-storey main building with an outhouse and a detached garage on a 0.35-acre land at Airport Residential Area; and the committee recommended that The property should be demolished and redeveloped into a modern apartment to generate optimal returns.

The memo said the management was going to engage Architectural and Engineering Service Limited to value the properties to be disposed of and revert to the Board.

It also asserted, The sale is to be advertised and bidders should be required to submit bid bonds as was done in the case of the disposal of the Wa and Bolgatanga properties, adding that due process should be followed accordingly.

SSNIT on January 13, 2017 issued another memo signed by Gabriel N.O. Sackey requesting for the necessary title documents on the properties to enable us engage Messrs AESL to determine the market values of same.

By William Yaw Owusu


The Igbo tribe of Eastern Nigeria is one of the three leading ethnic groups in Nigeria. There are so many good and amazing things about them but like it is in many situations negative perception usually overshadow the good ones. This is the same with the Igbos. Nigerians have this perception about the Igbos which are usually false and have been over flogged. Jumia Travel shares some of these stereotypes which many Nigerians are tired of hearing.

Igbos Love Money

The love of money cannot be restricted to the Igbos alone. Hausa, Yorubas and the individuals belonging to the other over 200 ethnic groups in Nigeria love money. As far as any Nigerian earn their monies legally, there is no problem.

Igbos prefer to do business rather than going to school

Give to the Igbos, they are one of the most industrious and hardworking people in this country. Some persons have gone as far as saying that they are the ones who will help revamp the Nigerian economy via their Abba made goods. Despite this, not all Igbos prefer to do business. They have personalities like Chinua Achebe and Chief Alex Ekwueme who are well educated and known all over the world even though they are into business.

Marrying an Igbo woman is expensive

This may be slightly true because some Nigerians have complained about the demands of Igbo parents for wedding their daughters. Regardless, weddings are quite expensive in Nigeria and this cut across all tribes. So, before you date or marry Igbo girl, there are some things you should know so that you wont complain when the bills start coming. Nigerians love to party and they do not mind borrowing money to celebrate a talk-of-the-town wedding and lodge in one of the best hotels in Lagos after the wedding .

Igbos don't have respect

Yorubas have been tagged the most respectful tribe in Nigeria. Hence, oftentimes, many Yorubas brand Igbos as disrespectful. The fact is anyone can be disrespectful. It is unfair to single out the Igbos as disrespectful. Nigerians have heard this so many times and it has become a cliche.

All Igbo girls are fair skinned

Yes, many Igbo girls are fair skinned. But you can not generalize and just conclude that all of them are light in complexion. There are also many dark-skinned Igbo girls around.
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The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the attack against the camp of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in Aguelhoc, in the north of Mali, on 23 January 2017, which caused the death of a Chadian peacekeeper and injured others.

The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest condolences and sympathy to the family of the victim, as well as to the Government of Chad and to MINUSMA. They paid tribute to the peacekeepers who risk their lives.

The members of the Security Council called on the Government of Mali to swiftly investigate these attacks and bring the perpetrators to justice. They underlined that attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law.

The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. The members of the Security Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice. They stressed that those responsible for these killings should be held accountable, and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard.

The members of the Security Council reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed. They reaffirmed the need for all States to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other obligations under international law, including international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

The members of the Security Council reiterated their full support for MINUSMA and the French forces that support it. They reiterated their strong support for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Mali, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, and for MINUSMA to assist the Malian authorities and the Malian people in their efforts to bring lasting peace and stability to their country, including through MINUSMAs support to the implementation of the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali.

The members of the Security Council expressed their concern about the security situation in Mali, including the violations of the ceasefire arrangements. They urged the Malian parties to fully implement the Agreement without further delay. They noted that the full implementation of the Agreement and the intensification of efforts to overcome asymmetric threats can contribute to improving the security situation across Mali.

The members of the Security Council further stressed the importance that MINUSMA has the necessary capacities to fulfill its mandate and promote the safety and security of the United Nations peacekeepers, pursuant to Security Council resolution 2295 (2016).

24 January 2017
Lobbying is almost an industry today.

A new government is being minted and so it is imperative that President Nana Akufo-Addo picks the membership of his team. Persons who want to serve in the new government must lobby for consideration, a normal phenomenon in all democracies directly or through proxies.

Those seeking to serve must subscribe to the ideals of the President and the party or put alternatively have an un-blemished loyalty to the new political order even when it was campaigning for power but not sabotaging it.

Our commentary today relates to the appointment of security chiefs, an area which the President must be very serious about. Indeed we need not remind him about the need to do extra background checks about those who are being considered for command of the security services.

The President is yet to choose the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), Service Commanders and the Inspector General of Police, delay of which has encouraged intense lobbying either directly or by those interested in the positions or their assigns.

Word has been received, however, and as captured in one of the stories in this edition that some persons are engaged in intense lobbying for the head of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to be considered for the command of one of the security services.

We do not have anything against the Brigadier but have something against his loyalty to the new political order in the country. Although a uniformed person, his political colours should be concealed by his appointment to head the disaster management body; the concealment is no longer effective: it is enough basis to consider him an NDC adherent.

Be it as it may, considering him for the position of Chief of the Army Staff, (COAS) as being demanded by some persons, would not be in the best interest of the President, troops' morale and the nation.

We have in the past few days been somewhat obsessed with commenting on matters relating to the security of the nation, because the peace and stability of the country is hinged on the morale and quality of our Armed Forces and the Police Service.

The majority of the security agents like their civilian counterparts voted for change, and we do not expect the President to do his appointments in a manner that would not reflect the change Ghanaians in general are craving for.

Nobody was appointed to command the security services who did not show affinity for the ruling NDC. That is an indisputable fact which we ignore at the peril of the security of the Presidency.

There are persons who are suffering painful ordeals such as being sent outside the country so they would not be considered for appropriate elevations, because they were being professional and therefore not ready to dance to the dangerous tunes of politicians at the helm.

Isn't it preposterous that those responsible for the suffering of their colleagues have the guts to even seek to be retained in the security services and even offered elevated appointments?

The dampened morale of personnel of the security services must be raised for improved performance.

The changed Ghana must reflect in everything, including appointments.

Ghana must work again and presto.


FORT WAYNE  Carroll High Schools graduation rate rose slightly in 2016, climbing from 96.3 percent to 96.7 percent.

When you add in the 1 percent of kids who earned a certificate of IEP completion, Carroll saw 97.7 percent of its senior class graduate last spring. Another 1.8 percent are students continuing to work towards earning a diploma after four years, leaving just 0.5 percent of students as not having graduated.

While the state handed out school accountability grades and district accountability grades over the last six weeks  items based largely on standardized test scores which the district takes little stock in  NACS Superintendent Chris Himsel is pleased to have real data in his hands that paints a more accurate picture of the districts success.

The reality is, graduation is the only summative data point there is in K-12. Everything we do is pointed towards getting our kids to graduate so they have doors open in life, Himsel said. My frustration with the state is they dont provide us with data on strengths and weaknesses to help us get better. Thats why we have to do internal assessment because the state doesnt provide it. My goal is not to get kids to pass the 4th grade ISTEP. My goal is to get kids to graduate form high school with the skills and abilities they need to be successful in life.

Himsel said Carrolls rate increase may only account for 1-2 students and that the goal is to maintain its rate in the upper 90 percent range.

Himsel is also proud of the schools increase in students graduating with an honors diploma  either academic (college ready) or technical (career ready). Last year, 47.7 percent of graduates earned on of the two honors diploma, up from 42.9 percent in 2015. In fact, that number has increased nearly every since Himsel took over as superintendent in 2011. In 2010, that number was 28.7 percent.

The percentage of graduates who earned a Core40 diploma was 41.8 and 10.5 percent earned a general diploma.

My goal is to increase the number of kids who earn an honors diploma, because in todays world, you have more doors available to you if you complete an academic honors or a technical honors. You have more options in life and we want to provide as many options for kids, Himsel said. From a counseling perspective, we are being more aggressive with pushing kids toward honors diplomas. We been more aggressive in identifying kids who are 1-2 courses away from an honors diploma and instead of settling for a Core 40, lets get them in these other courses and if they are successful, then they have opened more doors for themselves.

The main difference between the Core40 and the general diploma is more stringent math and science requirements, Himsel said.

When you look at our data and see how many kids are so close to a technical honors diploma, we think getting close to 60 percent (graduating with honors diploma) is a reasonable goal for us to have, Himsel said. We think its a reasonable goal to get to a single digit percentage in the general diploma. We will never eliminate it completely, because there are some kids who gave it everything they had, but algebra II is just hard for them. They will still find a way to be successful and we are proud of those kids who earn a general diploma, it just doesnt open as many doors.

Himsel also said that one of the bills being considered at the Statehouse is to remove the kids who receive a IEP certificate from the overall graduation rate tally, which would raise the Carrolls rate.

Those kids have completed graduation, for how graduation was defined for them by federal law for special education. They shouldnt count against the schools graduation rate, because they have done everything they are asked to do. If they are doing what they are asked to do, then why do they count against the school, Himsel said.

In Allen County, East Allen University had the highest graduation rate at 100 percent, although it had just 77 students graduate. Carroll was second followed by Homestead (96.6 percent). Other graduation rates for Allen County were: North Side (82.3 percent); Snider (93.0 percent); South Side (84.7 percent); Wayne (92.1 percent); Northrop (92.3 percent); Leo (94.9 percent); Heritage (92.4 percent); Woodlan (87.8 percent) and New Haven (87.4 percent).

Among schools in the state with 400 or more graduates, Carrolls graduation rate ranked eighth. Brownsburg had the highest percent (98.9).

Every school that had 100 percent graduation rates had very small graduating classes, Himsel said. The bigger the classes get, the more likely you are to have a unique story and the more likely you are to run into the child who needed the fifth year or the additional support class.

Indianas overall graduation rate rose to 89.1 percent, up from 88.9 percent in 2015. Those rates include students who received waivers from completing certain graduation requirements. The 2016 rate for students without waivers is 82.36 percent, down from 82.8 percent in 2015.
Napo exchanging pleasantries with the Apagyahene and other dignitaries who followed him to the parliament

Minister-designate for Education, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, popularly called Napo, has assured that he would not breach the law by single-handedly closing down educational institutions that do not meet the criteria of the National Accreditation Board (NAB).

Napo stated categorically that he would allow the relevant bodies in the educational sector to carry out their duties without any interference from him, when he is duly approved as Minister for Education by parliament.

I will make sure that the regulatory bodies in the education sector do their work without any interference. I will not be a minister who runs to close down schools, which dont meet accreditation board criteria, he promised.

According to him, he would provide effective, visionary, productive and transparent leadership as a minister, whereby the views and suggestions of all and sundry aimed at transforming the educational sector would be welcomed.

Napo, who is the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Manhyia South in Kumasi, gave the assurance when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament for vetting yesterday.

Chiefs' Support

Prominent chiefs in Kumasi, including Oheneba Owusu Afriyie IV, Otumfuos Apagyahene; Baffuor Yaw Boateng, Dominasehene; Ing. Nana Poku Agyeman, Urban Roads Director for Kumasi and Richard Ofori Atta, aka Tomtom, among others, were there to support him.

Innovation

The MP, who was composed and relaxed and did justice to the barrage of questions posed to him, stated that he would work tirelessly to bring innovations to help boost the educational sector so that Ghana could produce the best human resource for development.

According to him, a special attention would be given to the basic level of education, stressing that any attempt to uplift the education sector would be in vain if the basic level  which is the foundation  was not well constructed and positioned.

Fight Poverty

Napo maintained that the poverty canker in Ghana can best be uprooted or controlled through education, stressing that everything must be done to help make education flourish in the country once again  as it used to be in the past.

Promises

He noted that the NPP administration would fulfill its promise of making education, especially at the basic level, free and accessible, through to the top, adding that ICT would be extended to as many schools as possible to enhance learning.

According to him, President Nana Akufo-Addos government would also fulfill its promise of restoring the teacher trainee allowance in order to make life comfortable for them, whilst they are still in school.

Vocational Skills

The Minister-designate also stressed the need for the colleges of education to start offering courses in vocational and technical skills so that teachers could impart in children skills at the basic level, adding that community libraries would be built across the country to engage the kids in reading after school hours.

He announced that the learning of Ghana's history would be isolated from Social Studies and be made a proper subject on its own so that children would better understand the countrys history and become patriotic and responsible citizens as they grow up.

According to him, the education sector should be reformed and properly structured so that students who would be produced could function at any place or position that they might find themselves without problems.

School Feeding Programme

Napo was not happy about situations whereby the school feeding programme is politicised without attention being given to nutrition and the health of the children, noting that contracts with providers of the programme would be respected because the NPP government respects the law.

E-Block

Mr Mathew Opoku Prempeh said some of the E-Block projects, started by the NDC administration, would be turned into vocational and technical institutions where appropriate, adding that boarding houses would be attached to some of them to enable the students benefit fully.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr, Parliament House


The story of the `Minister-designate for Energy, Boakye Kyeremateng Agyarko, that he went into exile when he became a victim of military coup after some 'heartless soldiers' had fetched him from his house and shot him in the groin, sent chills down the spines of members of the Appointments Committee of Parliament as well as the audience at his vetting on Tuesday.

The Minister-designate, who was narrating his ordeal at the hands of the military after a failed coup staged by Corporal Halidu Gyiwah in 1984, nearly burst into tears and was choked on his narration.

Struggling to contain his emotions, the nominee stated that he left the country in 1984 after some soldiers had come for him for allegedly 'fighting' against the then military regime, in a clear mission to eliminate him.

He was forced to tell his story after a member of the committee and National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP), for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, had asked him (nominee) why on his CV, there was nothing to show for the year between 1984 and 1986  which implied that he was not engaged in any work during that period.

The Minister-designate indicated to the committee that there was a coup attempt by Halidu Gyiwah to topple the Rawlings's military regime but when it failed the military rulers fetched him as a civilian and shot him; and when they thought he was dead he was left to his fate until his sisters and other relations came to his aid and sent him to the hospital.

He said that since he was a target of the military regime, the family members had to arrange for him to escape to the United States of America where his mother was sojourned, to seek further medical attention and also seek political asylum.

Mr Boakye Agyarko claimed that he stayed in the US for 25 years but he never acquired a US citizenship.

I went to the US as a political refugee and qualified as such. In a matter of two years, I was able to upgrade my status from a refugee to that of a resident permit holder. This is because I had a number of equity situations, namely; my sister could apply for me to hold a Green Card as well as my mother, who had become a naturalised American citizen. Throughout the period, I stayed in America on a Green Card, and at no point in time did I become a citizen of the United States, he recounted.

He told the committee that between 1984 and 1986, he had to undergo a series of surgeries and waited to fully recuperate before getting on with his life again; and therefore within that period he could not do anything for himself.

Boakye Agyarko told the committee, I was employed by Management and Investment Consultants in 1980 after my national service. In June 1983, for those who will recall, there was a mutiny led by Lance Corporal Halidu Giwa. I was picked up by the Military and sent to the Airforce Station and put against the wall and shot. I almost lost my life, and through the intervention of Monsieur Le Veloire and my two sisters, I was able to leave Ghana through London to France, and then settled in the United States under very difficult circumstances. So for that period, I was close to being an invalid; and I didn't do any work.

Even though I left officially in 1983, Management and Investment Consultants wrote to me officially saying that as at the end of 1984 I was no longer employed with them, so my employment with them ended in 1984, and the next two years I was going through a series of surgeries and recuperation, he recalled.

The MP who asked the question greatly sympathized with the nominee and said, This is a touchy story indeed.

Boakye Agyarko said despite the political incident that nearly took his life, he still had the zeal to serve his country and that was the reason why he left his well-paid job in the USA to come home and fully engage in national politics.

Mr Boakye Agyarko attended Mfantsipim School for his 'O' and 'A Levels and proceeded to the University of Ghana to read economics and political science before undergoing further studies in financial economics at the Pace University, USA.

By Thomas Fosu Jnr
25.01.2017 LISTEN

The word financial inclusion has gained currency within the policy and development circles over the past decade. It means that individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs  transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance  delivered in a responsible and sustainable way (World Bank).

Financial inclusion has been identified as a facilitator for 7 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Put differently, the achievement of the goals is contingent upon effective financial inclusion. The G20 has affirmed their pledge to financial inclusion by stimulating the Financial Inclusion Action Plan for 2015 onwards and endorsing the G20 High-Level Principles for Digital Financial Inclusion. The Group sees financial inclusion as an essential tool to reduce extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity, and it is committed to a global work plan to achieve Universal Financial Access (UFA). The UN through its intervention has prioritized financial inclusion as a necessary vitamin for every billion of people who have been left out from the tide of the banking wave.

Globally, an estimated 2 billion adults don't have a basic account. Ghana has made relative progress in the area of financial inclusion. About 40.5% of Ghanaians have access to bank accounts which is still 2% lower than countries in the lower middle-income group. By extension, about 60% of the Ghanaians are excluded from the formal financial system. In the area of mobile money penetration, 13% of the population have mobile money account which is 2% higher than Sub-Saharan average.

Value Creation and Poverty Reduction

In an economy where 60% of the population doesnt have bank account and more than 80% of transactions are in form of cash, the country loses out on the multiplier effects of broad money. The UK for example has 97% money held in the form of deposits with banks, rather than currency in the hands of the public. By having more money in the hands of the people than in bank and other instruments, the country misses out on the multiplier effect of money and its attendant blessings to the economy. Banks act as conduit for the exchange of money. Someone comes to deposit his money and the bank lends it to another and charges interest. Whether it is a consumer or business loan, it stimulates consumption; increases revenue for local producers which in turn increases production and increases employment thereof. This value creation and the multiplier effect would not have been if the money in the first placed had not entered the banking system.

World Bank data suggests a little of under a billion people lives below $1.90 a day. An absence of access to basic financial services makes it troublesome for these individuals to take control of their financial lives. Around the world, 67 % of grown-ups living in the wealthiest 60 percent of family units claim some sort of formal ledger, contrasted with 54 percent of grown-ups living in the poorest 40 percent of families. The very first SDGending extreme povertyaptly mentions the importance of access to financial services. When people are included in the financial system, they are better able to climb out of poverty by investing in business or education. A farmer in Ghana who keeps his money on his mobile money wallet earns interest from the operator. In India, a state-led bank expansion in Indias rural unbanked locations significantly reduced those in rural poverty by 14 to 17 percentage points. By providing the poor and the vulnerable with access to some form of financial services, they are able to make an investment and oversee unforeseen costs.

Digital Finance

Erstwhile, providing access to formal finance was considered as infrastructure heavy and expensive task. However, the scenario has changed with the advent of mobile money. Mobile money allows people to collect money from relatives and friends in far and near during times of needs and wants, reducing the likelihood that they will fall into poverty to begin with. In Ghana, for example, mobile money continues to become the real-time lifeline to many people. I recently engaged a carpenter to make a bookshelf for me after seeing one he had made for a friend. The transactions were concluded over the phone and never had to visit his workshop. When it came to payment of money, I used mobile money to remit the carpenter. In Kenya, ability to undertake mobile payments has reduced poverty by two percentage point.

Farmers with access to financial services are more advantaged and are able to produce far in excess than those without the same, thereby reducing hunger and promoting food security. The UN and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) admits a correlation between about 795 million people globally undernourished and lack of access to financial system

Going Forward

In spite of the progress that the country has made, there remains much to be done to be able to harness the blessings of financial inclusion. The abundance of banks in the country does not correlate with increased financial inclusion. Ghana seems to have more banks per capita in West Africa and yet there are millions of unbanked people. Policy intervention is required and the gradual transition of a mostly informal sector to a more formal sector can increase the demand side of financial inclusion.

Government must support through tax incentives local technology start-ups working to promote electronic and mobile financial products to allow them to bring their services to the underserved market. This cannot work efficiently without a proper national identification system. It is therefore the need in this regard for CSOs to generate awareness about benefits of formal finance, identifying bottlenecks and work with regulators to reduce them, and building a coalition of stakeholder to move towards financially included society.

Appiah Kusi Adomako is the Country Coordinator for CUTS International Ghana. CUTS Ghana is a research and advocacy policy think tank which works in the areas of consumer protection and education, economic regulation, trade and development, regional integration, competition policy and law, etc. CUTS can be contacted through | Office: +233-30-224-5652 | Email: [email protected] , Website: http://www.cuts-international.org/ARC/accra
25.01.2017 LISTEN

It is unimaginable that gross financial losses intentionally perpetrated by certain members of the hierarchy of Ghana Cocobod have contributed sufficiently to the desperate economic situation that the nation finds itself in. It is an unmistakable necessity that the gangrene of the system that had taken over almost every aspect of management under the thieving leadership of Dr Opuni must be nabbed to arrest the freefall that our cocoa industry was plunged into. This institutionalised malfeasance, sometimes played very smartly to appear to be misfeasance, a lesser harm of the former, embedded itself firmer than it ever had been. Having taken root with the implementation of evil machinations of mischievous and unrepentant silly people in the immediate past NDC government, some human elements must be expunged from the roster of the richest institution in Ghana, the Cocobod.

Of particular relevance to the topic in discussion is the cocoa health department headed by one Dr Baah. It is reprehensible, to say the least, that such a character of supposed high education should superintend over the dirtiest mismanagement and shenanigan riddled business of the cocoa industry. Why does it not surprise me, then, that cocoa production, put on the appropriate path to recovery by the Kufuor government, should dwindle from one million tonnes, annually, to seven hundred thousand in 2015, and six hundred thousand in 2016?

If Dr Baah would approve the use of ineffective fertiliser that killed cocoa trees and significantly affected the production of Ghanas brown gold, how could he be allowed to remain in office? It is no news that the cocoa industry suffered major setbacks under the administrative incompetence of Opuni and his surrogate thieves like Dr. Baah, but to suffer the farmer whose livelihood is being compromised by the greed of string pullers and demagogues, is unspeakably unjust. Dr. Baah seems to be infected with Human Sensodefficiency Virus (HSV) that has created a vacuum of insensitivity, apathy, greed, wickedness, and thievery.

Why would chemicals otherwise used to fight cocoapod disease and other ailments of this produce be expired, ineffective, and grossly harmful to humans? Why would the health of the farmer not be taken into consideration when procuring the necessary ingredients for the industry?

Why is it that even when such chemicals are brought in, most find their way onto the private agro-chemical market though they are specifically intended for distribution to the cocoa farmers? Why is it, also, that these same chemicals are served the farmers in tots, seven farmers to one bottle, when under the Kufuor administration one bottle was shared amongst two? Under Dr. Baah, why is it that fertiliser and chemicals are being smuggled into the Ivory Coast for his benefit and that of Dr Opuni, Lordina Mahama et al in this malicious web of nation wreckers?

By this article, I ask the tried and tested Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, the freshest CEO, to fire this belligerent ingrate, immediately. His presence at the Cocobod would maintain the playing field that Opuni and his criminal gang created to continue siphoning the blood of the nation.

We shall come with further and better particulars, but in the meantime, Dr Baah must vacate his office immediately or he will be forced to. Especially that he showed gross disrespect to the President, His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo, by denying certain high level people access to ask relevant questions to complement a report that is being put together, exposed his rancorous demeanour and distasteful belligerence, a double jeopardy of malice in light of the indisputable fact that he is highly incompetent, too.
Mogadishu (AFP) - At least seven people were killed after two car bombs exploded outside a popular Mogadishu hotel Wednesday, and gunmen forced their way inside the building and opened fire, police said.

The attack, claimed by the Al-Qaeda-aligned Shabaab insurgent group, began when a car loaded with explosives rammed the gate of the Dayah Hotel near the Somali parliament and state house.

Gunmen then stormed the hotel and exchanged fire with security guards, according to police official Ibrahim Mohammed.

A second massive blast went off after ambulances and journalists had already rushed to the scene, leaving at least four reporters injured, including an AFP photographer who suffered shrapnel wounds to his shoulder and leg.

AFP images showed security forces and civilians milling about outside the devastated hotel -- its windows and doors blown out -- after the first explosion, when a second car exploded with a massive blast, sending thick plumes of smoke into the air and sending people fleeing.

Gunfire rang out from the hotel as civilians and rescue workers carried away the injured.

"So far we have counted about seven dead, most of them civilians and security guards. There are also many people who were wounded in the two blasts," said Mohammed.

"Two gunmen were killed and the area is under control of security forces," he said.

Residents carry an injured man wounded during a complex car bomb attack targeting a Mogadishu hotel on January 25, 2017

The Shabaab group claimed responsibility in a statement distributed on its Telegram messaging account.

"The mujahideen fighters have attacked a hotel and have managed to enter the hotel after detonating a car loaded with explosives," it said.

The Shabaab is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government of Somalia and regularly stages deadly attacks on state, military and civilian targets in the capital and elsewhere in the war-torn country.

'Limited' election

The hotel attack is the deadliest so far in Somalia in 2017 and comes as the country is in the midst of a drawn-out election process to choose a new government.

In December 2016, more than 20 people were killed when a truck laden with explosives was detonated near a military base close to the Mogadishu port.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of president Siad Barre's military regime which ushered in decades of anarchy and conflict in a country deeply divided along clan lines.

The clan rivalries and lawlessness provided fertile ground for the Shabaab to take hold and seize territory, frustrating efforts to set up a central administration.

After a series of transitional governments were formed abroad, a previous parliament was chosen by 135 clan elders and set up in Mogadishu in 2012.

Somalis were promised a one-person, one-vote election in 2016.

But political infighting and ongoing insecurity due to the presence of Shabaab meant Somalis were handed a "limited" election, in which 14,025 specially picked delegates voted for 275 parliamentary seats distributed according to clan.

Another 72 seats in a new upper house were shared out according to region.

The newly-elected lawmakers will soon vote for a new president, however a date has not been set for the election, which has been delayed numerous times.

The 2016 process is seen as taking the country a step closer to a universal suffrage election now planned for 2020.
A new Kenya Hospitality Industry Report by Jumia Travel, Africas leading online hotel booking site sheds light on major travel trends in the country, looking at how the local sector compares with counterparts on the global map; its rapid development, impending barriers and the impact of technology on the changing domestic travel landscape.

The findings, compiled from data gathered from the more than 2,000 Kenyan hotels partnering with Jumia Travel, show not only an increase in the absorption of technology in the sector, but also remarkable growth in domestic travel spending Remarked Cyrus Onyiego, during the launch.

According to the report, Kenyans still prefer searching for hotels online via their laptops, accounting for 59% of traffic to the website. This is compared to 37% of traffic from mobile phones, and only 4% from through tablets. Additionally, 70% of visitors book via computers while the other 30% click on their smartphones. Interestingly, the number of men visiting the website stands at 60%, surpassing that of women who take up the remaining 40%.

The annual report further breaks down the means of payment, in a bid to understand what is influencing the travelers choice. For instance, and despite the continued adoption of mobile payments, 52% of guests still opt for pay-at-hotel, a notable increase from the 47% recorded in the premier report (2015). Mpesa, as the major mobile money transfer platform takes up 32% of overall hotel payments, while 15% of the local domestic travel consumers pay via card.

Kenya - A last minute, three-star nation?

Not very surprising, a whooping 44% of domestic travellers hit their gadgets for hotel and destination search barely a week ahead of set travel date; a small fraction of travellers however seem to prefer planning ahead of time at 7% for more than two months (prior to travel date) and 15% for one-two months. However, its worth of note that once settled on the hotel, more than 20% will book a week in advance, while same day booking (less than 24 hours) carries the day at 25%.

In what now seems like a trend and lifestyle devotion, Kenyans still prefer staying in three star hotels as compared to any other rating. This however, is a sharp drop from 2014/2015, where three star accommodation recorded a 50% share. Two star hotels seem to have bitten into the share, to exhibit a sharp rise from the previous year to the current 31%.

Estelle Verdier, the Managing Director for Jumia Travel-East & Southern Africa attributes this shift to the growing number of properties now enjoying online, thus global presence. Through the last 3 years we have developed a unique solution for hotel managers to gain online visibility even when they are not connected to internet, by virtue of joining our platform, this enables them to get bookings which are actualized through our customer service team and travel advisors.

Carmen Nibigira, the Chief operations Officer at East Africa Tourism Platform, (EATP) notes that 53% of Kenyan Tourism is purely domestic and points it as an encouragement to the rest of the EA nations to aggressively market tourism at the local and regional level. EAC partner states simply complement each other, hence the need to repackage the bloc as a single destination This, as she explained has been highly boosted by the adoption of the single EA passport, which she says adds value to any tourist visiting the region.

The report further discusses the place of Travel and Tourism on the global economic, social and cultural map, noting that the 1 billion economy recently hit 1.3 billion international arrivals, and continues to exhibit growth, even when faced by multiple challenges. According to the UNWTO, tourism contributes 10% of the global GDP, while accounting for 1/10 jobs. These figures were well portrayed locally, with the sector taking up 1/11 jobs and contributing to 10% of Kenyas GDP (2015).

Full report here
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas), Dr. George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, has proceeded on terminal leave.

A press statement issued in Accra and signed by the Corporate Communications Manager, Alfred Ogbamey, said the Board last week approved a request by the CEO to proceed on terminal leave, effective February 1, 2017 and terminating in May 2017.

Dr Yankey supervised the construction and operations phases of the company, and has served as a board member and CEO of the company since it was established.

The Atuabo-based gas company directly employs about 300 people and provides thousands of ancillary jobs in the service, hotelier, marketing and transport industries, as well as in the delivery and retail of LPG and Condensates across Ghana.

Deals

However, an alleged fictitious deal related to the construction of the second phase of the Ghana Gas Plant at Atuabo with mind-blowing contract figures has raised eyebrows at the Ghana Gas Company.

The yet-to-be-signed contract is in connection with funding for Mainline Compressor Station and Feed for Second Gas Processing Plant (GPP.)

Ideally, the contract should cost about $5 million, but strangely a staggering $8.3 million has been quoted.

The incoming board chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), CEO and the new Minister of Energy and Petroleum Resources have therefore been advised to critically scrutinize the contract.

Some gurus in the immediate-past National Democratic Congress (NDC) government are said to be behind the alleged fishy contract.

The top politicians (names withheld) would unjustifiably benefit from the project at the expense of the state in case the contract is signed, according to reports.

These top politicians reportedly pushed hard to get the contract signed before the assumption of office of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, but their efforts proved futile.

DAILY GUIDE has sighted a copy of a letter authored by Dr. George Sipa-Adjah Yankey dated December 19, 2016 concerning the said contract with the heading 'Re; Funding For Mainline Compressor Station And Feed For Second GPP.'

Part of the letter reads Please note that the Public Procurement Authority has approved the sole sourcing of Messrs Pietro Fiorentini to undertake the front and engineering design (FEED) for the second train gas processing plant at Atuabo.

We wish to advise you that we have completed both the technical scope and commercial negotiations with Messes Pietro Fiorentini local representative, Messer Fiorentini Ghana Limited and are in the process of awarding them the contract.

The contract price has been set at eight million three hundred thousand united state dollars ($8,300,000). In order to meet the agreed schedule for the feed, the contractor must commence work in January 2017.

The immediate funding requirement is the Advance payment of 30% of the contract sum against an advance payment guarantee and performance guarantee.

Kindly advice us of the amount GNPC can make available for immediate drawdown and when you will be in a position to fund the entire 30% drawdown.

From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi


A 20-year-old apprentice is in the grips of the police in Ho, the Volta Regional capital, for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl in the bush.

A police source said David Azumah, a junior high school pupil who does part-time work as an undertaker to support his sick father, allegedly raped the victim in a bush near Anfoega-Gborgame.

The source said in October last year, Azumah was asked by his master in the undertaking business to pick the victim on motorbike from Anfoega-Gbogame to Tsome in the Ho-West District.

According to the source, halfway through the journey, Azumah stopped the motorbike and allegedly dragged the victim into the bush and raped her.

The police source said the victim, upon reaching home, narrated her ordeal to her parents who made a report to the police, leading to Azumah's arrest.

GNA
After two years of investigations into the 2015 recruitment scam, the former Director General in-charge of Human Resource at the Ghana Police Service, COP Patrick Timbilla has been fired.

The former senior Police officer was interdicted following his alleged role in one of the biggest Police recruitment scams in January 2015.

Hundred of prospective recruits turned up at various Police training schools across the country only to discover that their letters of admission were fake.



By: Franklin Badu Jnr/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Dakar (AFP) - President Adama Barrow is set to return to The Gambia on Thursday after his predecessor Yahya Jammeh finally quit power under threat of a military intervention, west African political sources said.

A source close to the Senegalese presidency and a diplomatic source in The Gambia's capital Banjul on Wednesday confirmed the announcement made on a Facebook page linked to the new president that Barrow is due to arrive on Thursday at 4:00 pm (1600 GMT).

Barrow won December's election, but for weeks Jammeh refused to step down, setting off a crisis that saw the new president take his oath of office in neighbouring Senegal last week.

The Gambia

Jammeh went into exile in Equatorial Guinea at the weekend, under threat of a regional military intervention.

Barrow, who has been in Senegal since January 15, had put off his return to The Gambia until his safety could be guaranteed by thousands of soldiers from five African nations currently deployed in the tiny nation, but unease had been growing over his prolonged absence.
FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital opened up to 15 Ghanaian journalists last week to empower them on Orthopaedic healthcare delivery in sub-saharan Africa.

Officially opened in 2012, FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital currently has a capacity of 50 beds, which can be expanded in future.

The hospital, described as one of very few state-of-the-art, full service specialty hospitals in all of Africa, is equipped with two operating theatres, an outpatient clinic, laboratory, physiotherapy centre, radiology centre and patient wards.

It has facilities such as a state-of-the-art Surgical Theatre, Radiology, Laboratory, Pharmacy and Physiotherapy departments

Founder and CEO of FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital, Prof Oheneba Boachie-Adjei said Orthopaedic surgery which involves operation on the musculoskeletal system, costs about $10,000 in Ghana compared to about $100,000 and though health insurance did not cover Orthopaedic healthcare delivery it was his wish that the government would pay at least 10% for Ghanaians in future.

He was worried about the lack of advocacy for Orthopaedic healthcare in Ghana considering it being the fourth cause of death and disability in the world according to the WHO.



Credit: FOCOS Orthopaedic hospital
The President Nana Akufo-Addo is asking the Ambassador to Saudi Arabia to ensure that the friendly relationship between the two countries reflects in how Ghanaian citizens are treated in Saudi Arabia.

The Ghanaian leader is not happy with the way citizens of his country are treated in the Gulf state.

President Akufo-Addo expressed the concern when the head of the Saudi Arabia mission in Ghana Hisham Mishal Al-Suwailem, paid a courtesy call on him at the Flagstaff House in Accra, Wednesday.

Diplomatic relationship between the two countries is high but same cannot be said about treatment meted out to Ghanaians when they go to Saudi Arabia.

In 2015, a 21-year-old lady named only as Amina was gang raped and deported to Ghana by the Saudis when she had only gone for greener pastures.

It added to the tall list of domestic abuse many Ghanaians have suffered in the hands of Saudi authorities.

Saudi Arabia was not the only culprit in the act of maltreating Ghanaian citizens. An inter-ministerial taskforce made up of officials of the Foreign Affairs, Interior, Labour and Employment was constituted in 2016 and tasked to investigate the causes of the dehumanizing treatment meted to Ghanaians when they travel to the Gulf states.

The taskforce had, as one of its core duties, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Arabian countries to treat Ghanaian workers with dignity.

President Akufo-Addo told Saudi Arabian Ambassador Hisham Mishal Al-Suwailem they must begin to walk the talk on diplomacy between the two countries.

"You make sure that as much as possible, the very friendly relations between our two nations is reflective in the way in which our people are also treated," he said

The Saudi Arabian Ambassador had paid a courtesy call on him at the Flagstaff House, Wednesday.

Also to bid good bye after a five year stay in Ghana was the Brazilian Ambassador, Irene Vida Gala, Ambassador.

The president wished her well but appealed to her to fast track existing agreement between Ghana and Brazil on the development of a sickle cell centre at the Komfo Anokye teaching hospital and ongoing road projects.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah
Over the weekend, International Business Leader and former CEO of Tigo DRC, Uche Ofodile, hosted some young professional women to brunch at the plush Urban Grill restaurant in Accra to talk about excelling in their careers.

The session brought together about 20 young professionals including entrepreneurs.

Others were from the telecom and financial sectors, the media and the creative arts.

At the 3-hour interactive session, the ladies asked for career guidance on several topics including staying motivated, taking their careers to the next level up, becoming better line managers and excelling in their respective fields.

The entrepreneurs were particularly focused on how to build a strong brand for their business and themselves.

In an interview Uche after the discussion, Uche, who is passionate about nurturing and empowering the next generation of African leaders hoped it would be a regular forum where young professionals will share their experiences, network and motivate each other.

Uche Ofodile is a senior business leader with extensive expertise in building businesses in emerging markets.

With 10 years in CEO, CMO, and CCO roles, she has been the driving force behind transformative change in blue-chip multinational companies.

Up until 2014, she was the Chief Marketing Officer for Vodafone Ghana limited.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
The Inspector General Officer of Police (IGP ) , John Kudalor, is expected to leave office today [Wednesday]. He will be replaced by a new IGP who will be announced by the President later today.

Citi News' Sammy Wiafe made this known when Mr. Kudalor visited President Nana Akufo-Addo today, to bid him farewell.

Mr. Kudalor was appointed by former President, John Dramani Mahama to the position in an acting capacity in November 2015.

He was later confirmed IGP in February 2016.

Changes under Kudalor

The outgoing IGP, during his tenure, made Chief of Police (COP) Rose Bio Atinga, former Director-General/ Administration as the new Director General, Research and Planning at the National Police Headquarters.

He also made COP Prosper Kwame Agblor the Director General of the CID National headquarters, and DCOP Awuni as the Eastern Regional Police Commander after he previously headed the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD).

DCOP Ransford Ninson , formerly the Central Regional Police Commander was elevated as the Director General of Medics at the Police headquarters in Accra, with DCOP Yaagy Akuribah heading the regional command.

However, the Police leadership in the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Volta, Western, Upper East and Upper West region remained unchanged.

COP David Asante Apeatu, the former Director General in charge of Research, was moved to head the General ICT Department of the police headquarters in Accra.

The Director General Public Affairs, DCOP Nenyi Ampah Benin, also took charge of the Police Investigations and Professional Standards Bureau (PIPS) Cephas Arthur was maintained as the Director of Public Relations of the service.

Timbilla fired over 2015 recruitment scam

Meanwhile, Mr. John Kudalor whiles leaving office, has approved a major decision, which has led to the dismissal of the former Director General in-charge of Human Resource at the Ghana Police Service, COP Patrick Timbilla, for his alleged role in a botched police recruitment scam in 2015.



By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @EfeAnsah
Some fishermen in the six coastal districts of the Western Region have appealed to the Minister-designate for Fisheries, Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, to help ensure the total ban of pair-trawling in Ghana's territorial waters.

According to the fishermen, the pair-trawling, which had depleted Ghana's marine stocks, persists partly because successive governments did not have the courage to ban the practice.

The fishermen asserted that successive governments only paid lip service to tackling the menace.

They believed strongly that banning of the practice of pair-trawling in the countrys territorial waters would help revamp the fishing industry.

They have, therefore, called on the current government to muster the courage to ban pair-trawling in the countrys waters.

If that is not done, the marine stocks would be depleted, but we must protect it for future generations, they indicated.

This came to light when DAILY GUIDE visited the Half-Assini beach yesterday and interacted with some of the fishermen, most of whom had traveled from the various coastal areas in the region to the Jomoro District to ply their trade.

They maintained that the total ban of pair-trawling would save the fishing industry from collapse.

One of the fishermen, John Amissah, indicated that the Fisheries Management Committee established by the previous Kufuor administration to oversee fishing activities in the country should be restored.

He explained that Fisheries Management Committee ensured that issues related to premix fuel and outboard motors were managed directly by fishermen.

Mr Amissah revealed that the distribution of premix fuel, which the government had subsidized for fisher folks, had been fraught with a lot of corrupt practices.

He alleged that some premix committee members who are authorized to sell the commodity deliberately hoard them and sell to fishermen in other fishing communities, thus leading to temporary shortage of the product in the designated landing beach sites.

He called on the incoming Minister of Fisheries to ensure that the interference by political party executives and activists in the distribution of premix fuel would be a thing of the past.

Again, the vessel monitoring system that was introduced by ex-President Kufuor to monitor the activities of vessels within Ghana's territorial waters, beyond certain metres zone, should also be reintroduced, he opined.

He appealed to the current government to make use of all the equipment brought in by the late Gladys Asmah, Minister for Fisheries under President Kufuor, for the construction of cold stores, which were allegedly abandoned by the immediate-past Mahama administration.

We are also calling on the NPP government to make good the promise of constructing mini harbours at Axim in the region and other sites, for which drawings were ready but had gathered dust under the previous government.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Half-Assini
Since the travel of President Muhammadu Buhari to the UK for medical reasons, the nation has been rife with the rumoured death of the president which, thankfully, his spokespersons, Femi Adeshina and Garba Shehu, have debunked. In fact, there is a picture in the cyberspace showing the president to be relaxing and watching TV over there in the UK.

While some, for whatever reason, had celebrated the rumoured death, some others have given knocks to such people for rejoicing over the rumoured demise of another. Thankfully, our president is alive, or, so we are made to believe. Only time will tell, and in a short while, too.

Then comes the issues of actual death where the Air Force under the command of General Buhari (rtd), as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, bombed an IDP camp in Rann, Borno State, and it was mischievously termed a mistake.

One wonders what manner of mistake could that be when this same military had told us many times in the past that they had refrained from attacking Boko Haram camps because the terrorists were using women and children as human shield.

The question that arises from here is when did the air force stop seeing women and children from the skies that they did not notice that the camp they were about to bomb was filled with vulnerable women and children queuing for food and especially as the camp was not new and was well known to the military?

It is even more disheartening to hear from one of the survivors, Abdulwahab Adam, while recounting the incident of that day, that the fighter jet involved dropped the bombs thrice. The bombs were dropped on us thrice and there was no way a mistake could be made thrice, he said.

That incident committed by an arm of the military under Buharis watch should have elicited enough empathy from Buhari to compel him to visit the camp himself, commiserate with those who lost loved ones and give them his assurances on a number of issues bedeviling the IDPs. But like a majority of Nigerains, Buhari seems to have also lost his own sense of humanity!

Having stolen their foods and medicines, the only way the IDPs could get compensated by government was to get bombed. Thrice!

Beyond rumours, deaths in the IDP camps are real. Although official figures tended, as usual, to reduce the number of casualties, the chairman of Kala Balge Local Government Area, where the incident occurred, Babagana Malarima, revealed that a whopping 234 persons were killed in the mistaken expedition.

It was for this reason that I became apprehensive when it was announced that Nigeria would be sending a contingent of military personnel to The Gambia to help oust that countrys erstwhile dictator, Yahya Jammeh.

My apprehension came from the fact that our military might end up bombing Ghana by mistake instead of Gambia. Such a mistake would have had very fatal consequences for Nigeria. Thankfully, Jammeh relinquished power without a jet being flown or a bullet being shot.

On Friday, 20th January, 2017, our security agents also went berserk in Port Harcourt in an attempt to repress pro-Biafra supporters on a peaceful rally in support of Donald J. Trump on the occasion of his inauguration as the 45th president of the United States.

On that day, it was reported that 11 or more pro-Biafra peaceful demonstrators lost their lives to the raging bullets of Nigeria Police. This is surely the umpteenth time such most unfortunate incident would be happening without provocation, and again, under Buharis watch.

The attempted justification by anyone of such murderous act by the police shows how far we have lost our sense of humanity and citizenship as Nigerians. Some have blamed the demonstrators for holding the rally in Port Harcourt instead of a state in the south east and for making Trump the subject of their demonstration. The question is, is there any law that forbids any Nigerian from exercising his/her rights and expressing him/herself peacefully anywhere in Nigeria? Or is anyone restrained by our laws from supporting or opposing a president of the United States for whatever reason?

When Nigerians are supposed to be alarmed at the murderous clampdown of peaceful demonstrators by state agents but choose to blame the victims of state-organised-carnage for attempting to express themselves peacefully, then we know we have lost our humanity. Is it then a surprise that some Nigerians rejoiced at the rumoured death of president Buhari while some are still waiting with restrained enthusiasm for the confirmation of such rumour?

It is even more ironical and befuddling that while the police were allegedly mowing down pro-Biafra supporters of Trump in cold blood in Port Harcourt, anti-Fayose demonstrators were at the same time receiving royal treatment from our security agencies in Abuja. What a nation!

My take is this, Buhari must not die. He must live to face the shame and take responsibility for leading a once prosperous nation into abject poverty where malnourishment, hunger and disease of civil war scale are now the order of the day. Dying now would be a cheap escape for Buhari from disgrace that comes with crass ineptitude, gross incompetence, brazen tribalism, humongous and asinine official stealing of our commonwealth and from the IDPs, double standard in the acclaimed war against corruption, barefaced persecution of political opponents, religious bigotry, economic hardship, extra-judicial killings, massacres of fellow citizens by his tribesmen, the Fulani herdsmen, and others too numerous to mention.

Buhari has to live to cringe in shame for all these. It would be a painful thing if he dies now. How can he lead us thus far, sailing our collective ship of destiny towards abyss and escape through the backdoor? No, he brought this upon us and he has to be alive to be haunted by the wailing blood of the innocent ones he failed to protect; those who have died out of hunger and mistaken bombings; those he has persecuted out of vengeance, vendetta and or for not belonging to the same tribe as him or for belonging to a different sect of Islam from his, or for expressing different opinions from his. Whichever way, Buhari must live to carry his cross.

He must learn while alive that power is nothing but a privilege which must be used to serve people and that there would always be consequences when it is used to enslave them.

Finally, Buhari and his marabouts, both political and spiritual, must not be astonished at the seeming joy gripping Nigerians at his rumoured death. How the people react to a mans demise is totally dependent on how the man treated his people while alive and in power. If he used power for the benefit of the people, sorrow would naturally engulf the people when he dies, but if he misused power while alive, joy will fill the city at his demise, for the Holy Bible says The whole city celebrates when the godly succeed; they shout for joy when the wicked die (Proverbs 11:10 NLT).

[email protected] ; Twitter: @StJudeNdukwe
If all, or most of, the Members of Parliament, were selfless in pursuit of rendering service to mother Ghana and the people of Ghana, in accordance with their mandate, there would be less corruption and suffering in the country. If all were like Hon. Kennedy Agyepong, who is nationally known by his actions to seek the collective interests of Ghanaians, by vigorously exposing and condemning institutional corruption and abuse of power in orchestration and perpetration by our political leaders and their cronies, Ghana would be far better than it is presently.

Official corruption in all its forms and shapes is the bane of the economic development of the third world countries of which Ghana is included, consequently, the higher degree of mass poverty and poor conditions of living faced by their citizens. Therefore, whoever does anything lawful; to go the extra mile to fight that canker must be highly praised if not revered.

Subsequently, I take my hat off to Honourable Kennedy Agyepong, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central in the Central region. He has excelled at attempts to fighting official corruption in Ghana more than all the other MPs put together, but only to be rivalled by Hon. Martin Amidu and ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

What are the other MPs doing, if I would not be tempted to ask? I am without any intention to denigrate them but for the satisfaction of curiosity, I just want to know! Had it not been Kennedy, most of the official corruptions masterminded and perpetrated by former President Mahama and his government, cronies and family, as shrouded in shady awards of contracts and contracts at inflated costs, awards of judgment debts in what has come to mean to the ordinary Ghanaian as create, loot and share etc., would never have become a public knowledge.

People are not voted to go to parliament only to draw fat pay cheques for themselves but to make laws that are in the best interest of the nation and the citizenry. Is it what the majority of the Ghana MPs are doing concluding from how corruption has engulfed the nation to the detriment of the ordinary Ghanaians?

All the while that President Mahama was knowingly abusing his powers through all manners of corruption; we had MPs, mostly the NDC MPs, defending him to the hilt, exonerating him from blame. Is that sort of practice the quality and purpose of a Member of Parliament?

Honestly speaking, I feel ashamed of the way most Ghanaian MPs have become, sorry to say, dummies and supporters of evil, either consciously or unconsciously. Most of them are there only to pursue their selfish interests and those of their political party but not the collective interests of Ghanaians. This was made evident during the administration of former President John Dramani Mahama, the allegedly most corrupt and incompetent President Ghana has ever had. The NDC MPs always in their bloc did rally behind him without a single one of them ever opposing some of his corrupt create, loot and share initiatives.

I hope the MPs will learn their lesson, emulate Hon. Kennedy Agyepong, although without the raining of insults which extreme conditions do push him into, and their contemporary White MPs in the advanced world. They should be able to condemn their government and party, cross carpet during voting on bills that are not in the long term interest of the nation but dubiously intended or crafted to benefit their party or a few people.

I hope Ghanaians will rally behind him in his fight against corrupt officials instead of condemning him.

Once again, I say, bravo to Hon. Kennedy Agyepong. Keep up the good job!

Rockson Adofo
A pro-New Patriotic Party (NPP) Forum has lauded the appointment of Salifu Saeed as the Northern Regional Minister.

The Forum which is made up of 31 NPP constituency Youth Organisers say this is the first time an appointment of a Regional Minister has been done with no controversy.

They described Mr Saeed as a "true party man" who they said understands the terrain and dynamics of the party in the Region.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday announced his ministerial nominees for the ten regions.

The Constituency Youth Organisers Forum of the New Patriotic Party at a meeting received the news with wield cheers commending the president Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo Addo for making a good choice for the region.

They described Mr. Saeed as a true party man who understands the terrain and dynamics of the party in the region.

They include Sulemana Alhassan for the Upper West, Kwaku Asoma-Cheremeh for Brong Ahafo, Rockson Bukari for Upper East, and Dr. Kwaku Afriyie for Western Region.

The others are Eric Kwakye Darfour for Eastern Region, Salifu Sawed for Northern Region and Dr, Archibald Letsa for the Volta Region.

The Forum which represents the mouth piece of the NPP youth in the region said it received the announcement of the Northern Regional with pride.

The Youth organisers for Tamale South, Tamale North, Karaga, Salaga, Kumbungu and Yapie Kusugu pledged their support for the incoming minister to develop the region.

In a related Development the Gmantambo NPP Youth Wing commended President Akufo-Addo for appointing two illustrious sons from the Nanumba land to serve in his government.

The group said the nomination of Dominic Nitiwul as Defence Minister-designate and Salifu Saeed as Northern Regional Minister-designate is an honour to the people of the area.

A statement signed by the secretary of the group Muniru Abdul Latif said "Nanung has produced a lot of great people like Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambers, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Alhaji T.B Damba and the Late Alhaji Iddi Saani who have served the country Ghana in various capacities."

It argued that the last time such an honour was done to the people of Nanung was during Dr Hilla Limann government who appointed Mahama Abdulai as Northern Regional Minister.

"Dr Ibn Chambers was also appointed Deputy Foreign Minister under the erstwhile Former President Jerry John Rawlings led NDC government," the group added.

It pledges support for the two to succeed.

The Gmantambo NPP youth wing Tamale appealed to the President to consider upgrading the Nanumba North District into a municipality since their number surpasses what is stated in the local government act 1993 act 462.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
Accra, Jan. 25, GNA - Dr Benjamin Anyagre, Executive Director, Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute (KNII), says The Gambian political situation calls for a Continental Union Government.

He said a continental Union would come with a vast strength of a standing Amy like the one espoused by Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's First President to deal rapidly on tendencies of civil unrest in any part of Africa.

It said: 'Africa must rise to the realisation that the weight of Africa in a more competitive future is bosomed in her advantages of a Union Government, enriched with a Pan Africa High Command, Inter and Intra African Trade and Industry, Pan Africa Common Currency and the Pan African Bank, among others.

'The programmes and policies of a Union Government premised on in a common pool of knowledge, skills and expertise will indeed run down poverty, hunger and diseases. The new African political system will not be different from that of the United States where two or more ideological orientations are encouraged.'

It said the Pan African system and model of governance would demystify the current state powers of Presidents of various states in Africa.

The statement said: 'In fact, contemporary, many structures and systems are in place for a take off, for example the African Union (AU) Commission could be transformed to the Union Government with its existing Pan African Parliament including Sub-regional protocols for a single currency, free movement of goods and services and more carried out.

'There is the urgent need for the AU, to put together experts to quickly review what has been put together already to facilitate the implementation of efforts towards a Continental Union Government.

'On the political drive, the KNII, calls on President Alhaji Mahamadu Buhari, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, President Yoweri Museveni, of Uganda, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo of Ghana to consider the Continental Union Government Agenda in the next AU summit, with a tentative time frame for its complete implementation.

The statement said: 'This is a must pursue task on their laps to ensure a better and a dignified human rights desire of the African people to preserve her national and human resources now and for the future.'

GNA
Accra, Jan. 25, GNA - Kenya Airways has marked its 40th anniversary as a dedicated and highly successful airline, since its incorporation in 1977.

From a humble beginning, Kenya Airways has grown to become a leading player in Africa connecting the region to the world and the world to Africa through its hub in Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi.

Mr Mbuvi Ngunze, Kenya Airways' Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer said: 'Today Kenya Airways connects directly from Nairobi to more than 54 destinations in four continents, with a fleet of 36 aircrafts from the initial four.

He said it has been an interesting journey and the company believe their best years were ahead.

He was speaking during the celebrations held at JKIA Terminal 1A with customers and partners.

He said Kenya Airways' growth has been characterised by a strategic network expansion focusing on Africa, fleet modernization and high quality service among other facets of development.

'Kenya Airways is the first African flag bearer carrier to be privatized in 1996, a move that saw it listed across East Africa,' he added.

The airline has commercial partnerships with various global carriers, including a joint venture with KLM and codeshares with airlines in Europe, Asia and Africa.

He said through its membership in the Sky Team Alliance, Kenya Airways offered service to 1,057 destinations in more than 177 countries.

Beyond Kenya, Mr Mbuvi said that the growth and economic transformation of the region and African continent was largely tied to success of Kenya Airways owing to its pivotal role in promoting trade; cultural exchanges, enabling an exchange of ideas as well as promoting peaceful co-existence among people of different beliefs and cultural backgrounds.

He said the journey was made possible by the tremendous support from staff, guests, partners and shareholders.

'We sincerely thank everyone who have been a part of this journey in the past and today, and look forward to many more years of being the Pride of Africa. Kenya Airways is committed to continue serving the region, promoting trade, and offering quality service to our guests,' he said.

As part of the celebrations, Kenya Airways had launched a sales campaign offering customers up to 40 per cent discounts on tickets to various destinations across its network. The offer also includes a special $1977 price for its business class tickets to Europe; Paris, London and Amsterdam.

The airline launched its inaugural flight on 4th of February, two weeks after the company was incorporated on 22nd January 1977.

Over the last, four decades Kenya Airways, has emerged as an important economic drive in Kenya and the region as a whole.

GNA
By Dorothy Frances Ward/Florence Afriyie Mensah, GNA

Kumasi, Jan 25, GNA - The nomination for approval of Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah as Ashanti Regional Minister, has received widespread backing by people in Kumasi, the regional capital.

Many spoke highly of the nominee and applauded President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for what they said was the 'right choice'.

Mr. Kofi Agyemang, an accountant, said he was confident that the two term Member of Parliament (MP) for Bosomtwe, would do a good job.

His professional background - economist/banker, was going to work to the advantage of the region, he added.

Ms. Abena Amoakoaa, a teacher, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that she was impressed with the caliber of people the President was appointing to his Administration.

'It is a clear demonstration that the government wants to put its best foot forward and this is something I personally find refreshing.'

Mr. Kyei Baffour, who described himself as staunch supporter of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), stated that Mr. Osei-Mensah was the right man for the position and called on the people to give him their total support.

He was convinced that the nominee would make a difference to sustain the goodwill of the people in the region, which has traditionally, remained loyal to the governing party.

Madam Adwoa Oforiwaa, a trader, said she had no reason to doubt that the Regional Minister-designate would work with passion to help the President to implement his development agenda.

She reminded him and all other political appointees to avoid any traits of arrogance of power.

Mrs. Judith Akosua Asantewaa, a nurse, said 'we all have to back him to succeed'

Mr. Kwaku Nyamekye, an electrician, said he was not a fun of the NPP but could only wish the appointee and the government well.

GNA
The National Democratic Congress (NDC), has accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of ostensibly deceiving its way into power, with hyperbolic and alarmist propaganda over the state of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

The NPP, in the health section of its 2016 manifesto, held that the previous NDC administration had collapsed the NHIS over the past eight years, and reiterated this point on the campaign trail.

But yesterday [Tuesday] Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, during his vetting for the position of Health Minister, admitted that the use of the word collapsed was harsh and not entirely accurate.

Kwaku Agyemang-Manu

He said he wouldn't have used the word collapsed if he was writing that section of the partys manifesto.

Speaking on the matter to Citi News, the National Organiser of the NDC, Kofi Adams, indicated that, Mr. Agyemang-Manus admission gave the defeated NDC Flagbearer, John Mahama, some measure of vindication.

Mr. Adams also expressed hope that, the vetting would bring out similar admissions and make Ghanaians realize they didnt understand the change they voted for.

I am happy that having been elected and having gone to the ministry and engaged the various agencies, the Minister-designate for Health is telling us that it was politics they were doing then, and that the use of the word collapsed was too serious to be used.

The vetting is bringing the truth, and Ghanaians who were deceived into believing that President Mahama was not working for them are being told the truth by at least some of these nominees who are not being arrogant, who fear God and who understand that they are speaking under oath and not on a political platform. At least they have been very candid.

Many people were yearning for a particular change that they didn't even know, and today they have seen it and I believe that many have regretted not voting for President Mahama, Mr. Adams said.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana


President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has named COP David Asante-Apeatu as the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP).

The former IGP, John Kudalor earlier today (Wednesday), went to the Flagstaff House to bid the president farewell having officially retired from the service.

Mr. Kudalor was appointed by former President, John Dramani Mahama to the position in an acting capacity in November 2015.

He was later confirmed IGP in February 2016.

The appointment of IGP has been political since independence.

A substantive IGP will named subsequently by the President in consultation with the Council of State.

Roles played by the new IGP

Director General Research & Planning of the Ghana Police service

He was once the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the service.

In 2007 he was appointed Director of the Specialised Crime and Analysis (SCA) Unit at the INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon France.

Internationally, he had worked at the Sarajevo Police Academy as an Instructor in Human Dignity, Police Ethics and Criminal Investigations under the auspices of the United Nations Task Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1997 to 1998.

He was the team leader in a successful homicide investigation under the request of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNAMIL).

He was the team leader in investigations into the mass murder of more than 50 people, mostly West African nationals, in The Gambia.

In Ghana, he was the Lead Investigator in the serial killing of more than 30 women that led to the arrest of a culprit who had been prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to death.

Under the supervision of Mr Asante-Apeatu and based on intelligence, the CID successfully conducted an operation that resulted in the seizure of 588 kilogrammes of cocaine with the street value of about $38 million.

-Citifmonline
The nuclear energy expansion is not limited to building power plants and related infrastructure. Nuclear technologies provide access to the latest nuclear medicine developments that aid to fight cancer and serious cardiovascular diseases. Russias Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation is to promote innovative nuclear medicine technologies via its new Rusatom Healthcare subsidiary.

Rusatom Healthcare is also set to promote radiation technology designed for use in irradiation and sterilization centers. The new company will integrate Russian offers in the area of nuclear medicine and their promotion on world markets.

Nuclear medicine remains one of the cornerstones of Rosatom innovative technologies. In cooperation with the leading manufacturers in the industry, Rosatom creates the entire medical production complex, from isotopes to providing medical care using high-tech equipment. In 2016, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Rosatom signed an agreement on extra-budgetary contributions to the implementation of a cancer treatment program.

Nuclear medicine involves the use of radioactive substances in diagnostics and treatment of diseases. Other applications include medical tool and food sterilization.

In 2016 Rosatom signed an agreement to take part in an Indian program tasked with creating an integrated sterilization center network in the Asian country. A similar agreement had been reached with Brazil, while Russia and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology, medicine in particular, in 2015.

Earlier, establishment of radiopharmaceutical cluster on the basis of the Russian Research Center Kurchatov Institute was announced. The facility is aimed at development and production of domestic radioactive drugs and medical equipment exploited in positron emission tomography.

As Rosatom views Africa as an important frontier in the developing world the global expansion of cutting-edge Russian nuclear medicine technologies will definitely have beneficial effect for Rosatom local partners. Indeed, according to the WHO, only 17% of African countries have access to the technologies required for cancer diagnosis and treatment. In Nigeria, about 10,000 cancer deaths and 250,000 new cases of cancer are recorded each year. In Ghana, 16,000 cases of cancer are diagnosed annually. In Kenya, the cancer mortality rate was 33 cases per 100,000 people from 2010 through 2014. By 2026, it may increase to 64.

In 2016 Rosatom and Nigeria have signed an agreement on cooperation in construction of the Center for Nuclear Research and Technology in Nigeria. The Center will allow Nigeria to begin work on familiarization with nuclear technologies and their implementation especially in the fields of science, medicine.

Moreover, the MoU was signed between Rosatom and Kenya with a view of construction and operation of nuclear energy and research reactors, main providers of radioizotopes for nuclear medicine.

Through the comprehensive technical cooperation in sphere of medicine and radio isotopes, African countries with the assistance of Rosatom may gradually develop their capacities to establish and maintain innovative nuclear medicine.
The Center for Progressive Governance (CenProG) has noted with deep concern news making the headlines with regards to EOCO inviting appointees of the erstwhile John Mahama administration for reasons best known only to members of the current government.

CenProG has been of the view that due to the exemplary leadership exhibited by the late President Mills and his successor, President John Mahama as regards to political witch hunt, the current administration would have taken a cue and proceeded to deliver on the numerous promises made to Ghanaians.

However, the first few days of the NPP government has been characterized by character assassination, seizure of facilities and chasing persons out of office all in an effort to flex muscles.

A case in reference is a Daily Guide report of EOCO inviting Dr. Opuni, former CEO of Cocobod for questioning. The said report pronounced Dr. Opuni guilty even before the EOCO report is made public by erroneously citing an allegation of rot by a section of workers at Cocobod.

This, CenProG, believes is an attempt to justify claims made during the campaign to the extent that the then NDC government was corrupt. This is however a recipe for disaster and chaos and so we advise the Nana Addo Government to hasten slowly.

We have credible information that in the coming days, a lot of corruption allegations will be put out in the public domain against appointees of the NDC government. We are also reliably informed that scores of NDC activists are ready to protest vehemently against these acts of witch hunt.

Ghanaians deserve better than the pollution of our airwaves with needless banter between the two largest political parties in this country. We expect decorous discourse by all political actors especially when His Excellency, the President admonished us to be 'CITIZENS' in his inaugural address.

Ghana has been on this path before to the extent that people like Tsatsu Tsikata were wrongly jailed and harassed and if such instances are repeated, competent and capable minds will not risk joining politics for fear of witch hunt (in the event their party is out of power) which, in the end, will affect the forward march of this great country.

It is early days yet and CenProG will like to give the Akuffo Addo government the benefit of the doubt but acts of witch hunting will in no way benefit this nation and the earlier steps are taken to curb this, the better it will be for our dear nation.

As a matter of urgency, the current government should shift it's focus to alleviating the plight of Ghanaians by reducing taxes, introducing free education at all levels, restoring the nursing and teacher training allowances, and provision of jobs since that is what Ghanaians are expecting from this administration.

God Bless our homeland Ghana and make it GREAT and STRONG.

Signed

Sawadogo Mahmoud

Executive Secretary, CenProG

0504607005

Mallam Yahya Mohammed

Executive Director, CenProG

0243728659
Aside war, another devastating thing that stampedes development is corruption. It is the main reason aside political instability that is behind the struggle of Africa over the years to capturing commanding height in global economic development. It is not too ambitious a dream to controlling and dictating the pace of economic development in the developed economies since Africa contributes significantly in the world market in terms of raw materials. We get chunk of money from our exports but our national coffers continue to leak hence our inability to experience a significant growth in our lives. We keep on envisaging all sorts of lofty economic policies in our quest to bring about progress and prosperity but one issue we fail to fight against as a people is corruption. In my piece today, I consider corruption, only as a crystal manifestation of a society that is characterized by moral degringolade.

In my view, corruption in Africa has grown to a daedal stage that it is quite problematic to understand. Yes we have come to know of the tendencies of individuals to use national resources for their selfish gains though we have all developed a lackadaisical attitude to nibbling the bud. It is not as though we lack the wherewithal to fight it but the approach we often adopt is absolutely hypocritical, discriminatory and purely pretentious. You cannot fight such a dangerous canker with such approaches. We are only creating a breeding ground for this canker to escalate. In fact, it has escalated to the extent that no methodology has been invented yet to measure the amount of resources we continue to lose as a continent. Not even the corruption perception index reports have been able to give accurate reports on the effects of this silent enemy called corruption. It is high time we developed new approaches to tackle it. Any canker that is largely attitudinal requires a long term approach in fighting against it. Lets all agree that we have all been wrong and create a new path again through a positive attitudinal approach.

The worse I fear about corruption has started manifesting in those who are supposed to lead us to wage a continental war against this canker. It would be very hazardous and perilous, should that development is not curbed with urgency. I am talking about mental corruption, a situation that is affecting our reasoning abilities to the extend we take joy in thinking negatively and producing negative results. We lack the sense of logical reasoning and sense of fair judgement. In my view, this is caused by our political history that was largely shredded with intimidation and force to the extent that people had to speak to satisfy their political masters. The African culture is older than western democracy and we should not swallow democracy hook line and sinker. This is what the late KOBINA SAKYI of Ghana warned us about, decades ago. No wonder people just say anything today even when they know it is not the truth. That is the mental corruption which is rather precipitating famine, poverty and sometimes war in our continent. We can fight corruption better through culture and tradition. We have a rich culture that used to churn out honest citizenry.

Politicians have largely been blamed for the growing levels of the canker. Though I share the view that most African politicians are corrupt, they cannot be solely blamed. Politicians are the direct product of society and if they are corrupt as we see it, then the canker has really engulfed the whole society. Always pointing fingers at politicians cannot be the ideal way to go. Over the years, the top button approach has failed to produce any positive results. We must begin to think of the button top approach where growing a more honestly patriotic citizen right from school going age, should be a long term priority.

I say this because, many of we the ordinary citizenry have equally engaged in the act either consciously or unconsciously. To me, the civil servant is the worst offender of this act. They have the technical long hands to professionally perpetuate the act. Ironically, we concentrate too much on the vulnerable politician, creating a comfortable room for the old experienced civil servants to orchestrate the act with impunity. In Africa, you hear of so many accusations and counter accusations from incumbent and previous governments but that never minimize corruption. The fact is that government goes and government comes, but the civil servant remains in the office. They are so experienced in the field that any government who fails to endorse their diabolic plans would be sabotaged. They easily incite the public against the government. This is enough a demonstration that, we need to be fair to ourselves and at least, adopt a holistic long term approach in our quest to combating the situation.

The holier than thou attitude over the years has been a catalyst to the canker and the earlier we adopt the long term attitudinal change approach, the better. We are all at fault. The most annoying thing is that, though there is a seeming proliferation of churches all over the corners of Africa, so called men of God preach little about attitude. They preach prosperity and demand humongous offers. That in itself is fuelling corruption. Pastors do not care where their congregants get their wealth from. Rather they are interested in gargantuan donations from members and in some cases, those who donate more are considered more religious and often received all sort of positive prophesies from their pastors. Men of God in most cases are not even accountable to their church members. The congregants see nothing wrong with that and that is a recipe for others to consider corruptions as normal.

I hope you have seen where we have all gone wrong? Lets agree that we have all gone wrong and rejuvenate the whole society by ensuring discipline, real citizenship that has Africa at heart. Building a very ideally principled society cannot always be a night day wonder, as has always been the method adopted by our leaders. We need a long term approach.

Shall be back soon

Denis Andaban

Source: [email protected]

0549734023.
25.01.2017 LISTEN

"Not a single soul has been prosecuted, let alone jailed for the genocide in Southern Kaduna and you are blaming someone for preaching self defense? You are INSANE. Yes, INSANE"- Olufemi Korode, Twitter, 24th January 2016.

Can anyone dispute the fact that Mr. Korode is right? Are those that say that Christians should not defend themselves or complain when they are being slaughtered not completely insane?

The truth is that had it not been for the fact that eight more innocent and defenceless people were butchered by Fulani militants in Samaru Kataf, Southern Kaduna on 17th January, that six young students of the College of Education, Gidan Waya, Southern Kaduna were massacred on 23rd January and that twenty innocent souls, including women and children, were slaughtered by the same pack of beastly savages in the village of Ohimini in Benue state on that same day I may not have written this piece.

Yet I am constrained to do so because the animals in human flesh and Islamist demons that are on the rampage in Kaduna state and indeed all over the country have not satisfied their lust for Christian blood and their carnage persists. As a matter of fact the cancer is spreading.

When you add the thirty four that were murdered in the last few days to the 808 innocent souls that were killed by the same creatures on Christmas eve and Christmas day you cannot come to any other conclusion than the fact that this is genocide and that it is time to resist it.

Unfortunately some do not wish to hear that. They would prefer the people of Southern Kaduna to continue to be the sacrificial lambs that they have always been. Permit me to share just one example of their mindset here.

In reaction to the suggestion that the people of Southern Kaduna ought to defend themselves from mass murder and genocide given the fact that the state government has refused to protect them, Mallam Uba Sani, a four foot dwarf and the political advisor to Kaduna state's dimunitive Midget-in-Chief, Governor Nasir El Rufai, wrote the following in Thisday and a number of other newspapers:

''The greatest challenge to peace in Kaduna State now is the antics of political jobbers and opportunists who have gone as low as spreading hate speeches; telling communities in Kaduna State to defend themselves. This, of course, is an unmistakable call on the people of Kaduna State to procure arms and ammunitions and start killing themselves. This is not just very low but extremely dangerous. This call on the citizenry to take the laws into their own hands totally undermines all on-going efforts to achieve lasting peace in Kaduna State.''

These are strong words from the dwarf who appears to be expressing the frustration, angst and cold rage of his employer, the Chief Midget.

Instead of showing remorse for their woeful failures and begging for forgiveness for the oceans of innocent blood that has been shed under their watch, the government of Kaduna State is lashing out at those of us that have called them out and that are deeply concerned about the annihilation and decimation of human life and sheer carnage that is taking place in Southern Kaduna.

The dwarf pours scorn on the suggestion that a man should protect his family, loved ones and home from cold-blooded murderers who are attempting to maim and kill them.

He is suggesting that the people of Southern Kaduna should keep quiet, fold their arms and happily welcome, with a warm smile, those that have come to rape their wives, slaughter their children, burn their homes, wipe out their faith and possess their land. Is that how to make Kaduna great again?

Is that how to get back to the glorious days of Abubakar 'Dangiwa' Umar, Ahmed Makarfi and Patrick Yakowa when Kaduna state was presided over by men of substance and character.

Is that the way to get back to the days when Kaduna state was blessed with kind and compassiomate governors who were balanced, mature, sensitive, caring, gentle, cosmopolitan, inclusive and fair to all regardless of faith, tribe or ethnic nationality?

Is that how to get back to the peaceful days of Kaduna when those of us that play polo used to look forward to going there to play a few chukkas at the annual Kaduna Polo tournament?

Is that how to get back to the days when Kaduna was one of the best places to live in or visit in the country?

I doubt it very much. The truth is that nothing could be more insensitive, irresponsible, callous and utterly absurd than the dwarf's counsel and suggestion.

If that is the kind of advice that the midget has been getting from his aides and advisors ever since he was elected as governor one needs to look no further to know why he has failed so woefully.

Under his watch Kaduna state has become more divided than it has ever been in its entire history and the pungent smell and rotten stench of fresh human blood and fly-infested bloated corpses fills the air.

That is the shameful legacy that the midget and his dwarf are desperately trying to white-wash and defend.

Instead of going on their knees and begging God, the Christian community, the Shiite Muslims and the Nigerian people for forgiveness for what can, at best, be described as their irresponsible, incompetent and criminally negligent behaviour and, at worse, their willfull and premeditated attempt to wipe out, exterminate and cleanse the land of the entire Christian community and every ethnic and religious minority group in Southern Kaduna and Zaria, they are throwing bricks at their perceived enemies and flying into childish tantrums.

The dwarf spoke of "political jobbers" and "oppprtunists". One wonders just who they are? Again one wonders precisely what the "ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace in Kaduna" that he mentioned are given the fact that his boss the midget does not appear to give a damn about the fact that thousands of innocent and defenceless people, including women and children, have been butchered during his watch and right under his nose.

At the end of 2015 over 1000 Shiite Muslims were slaughtered in cold blood and buried in mass graves by the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna state. Many Shiites have accused the midget of covertly playing a sordid and questionable role in the whole affair and when one hears the facts one cannot blame them.

For example is it true that it was he that fingered Sheik Ibrahim El Zak Zaky, the Shiite leader, by phoning him and ascertaining his whereabouts for the military before they tracked him down, shelled, shot and murdered hundreds of his people in the sanctity of their homes and proceeded to shoot him and his gentle Yoruba wife in the eye and stomach before whisking them both away.

Since that time they have kept both husband and wife incommunicado and in detention despite court orders to release them. One wonders what efforts the midget has made to get them out?

One wonders why he, a Sunni Muslim, hates the Shiite so much? One wonders why he has been tormenting, arresting, persecuting, outlawing, proscribing and locking them up ever since their leaders arrest even though they have never sought to harm or attack anyone?

Another example of the sheer depravity of this man was provided approximately one month ago over the Christmas holiday.

On Christmas eve and Christmas day alone, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), no less that 808 Christians were killed by the midget's friends and brothers, the Fulani militia (aka herdsmen), in Southern Kaduna.

The midget and his government provided security and enforced a curfew in the Muslim areas of the state but they refused to do the same for Southern Kaduna which is Christian. Consequently the Fulani militia not only struck but they struck very hard indeed leaving nothing but death and destruction in their path.

Evidently the Chief Midget and his government are more interested in insulting, undermining, discrediting and threatening with arrest its critics and those that have expressed outrage about what the people of Southern Kaduna have been subjected to under his watch than in protecting and saving innocent Christian lives.

One wonders why he hates Christians so much to the extent that the only hospital in the relevant Christian community was shut down by his government on the days that the attacks took place in order to ensure that the wounded could not be treated and that as many Christians suffered casualties and died as possible.

Is the midget not vicariously liable and criminally culpable for those deaths even if he did not take part in the attacks himself? What is the source of and reason for his hatred for our Christian brothers and sisters? Are they not human beings as well? Are they not worthy of life? Do they not deserve to be protected?

These questions must be answered whether they like it or not. Yet instead of doing so they are spewing out more and more garbage by the day.

For example in his essay the midget's dwarf went even further by saying that "a Yoruba ex- Minister who should know better" and who is "being sponsored" held a series of meetings in his Abuja home with various delegations from Southern Kaduna where they planned how to effect "a violent attack on others" in Kaduna state.

Though he did not have the courage to mention the name of that Yoruba ex-Minister it is obvious that the dwarf was referring to yours truly.

As a rule I do not respond to hired help and the aides of public office holders no matter how short they are because they are too small for me. This is especially so when they are stunted not just in physical growth but also in mental capacity.

When the midget himself dares to open his mouth and talk rubbish I will give him the full measure of my pen and tongue but I cannot bring myself to the very low level of joining issues with a frustrated dwarf or any of the other hired guns of an embittered and drowning midget.

What I will say to the dwarf however is this. If it was me that he was accusing of having meetings in my Abuja home with various delegations from Southern Kaduna he is absolutely right.

I have many friends in and from Southern Kaduna from both the Shiite Muslim and Christian community who deemed it necessary to pay me a visit in Abuja over the Christmas holidays and tell me about the genocide that they were being subjected to by the Fulani Janjaweed terrorists and military forces, with the full support and knowledge of the midget-in-chief.

I was proud to host them and I will continue to do so whether the little dwarf and his paymaster likes it or not.

I should also mention the fact that at no time did I discuss any violent attack on the Fulani or anyone else in Kaduna state with any of them though I told them plainly that if the government failed in its duty to protect them they must go ahead and defend themselves.

That is my view and it will always be my view and I will continue to share it with whoever I deem fit.

For this counsel I have no apology. If it gives the midget governnor and his little dwarf sleepless nights that the people of Southern Kaduna will no longer sit back and allow their loved ones to be slaughtered by their Fulani friends and kinsmen that is their problem. For all I care they can go and hug a transformer or jump in the lagoon. (TO BE CONTINUED).
The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), has urged the government to tread cautiously in getting an alternative to the country's only examination body, the West African Examination Council (WAEC).

The Minister of Education nominee, Matthew Opoku Prempeh at his vetting in Parliament on Tuesday [January 25], proposed that as part of reforms to address the phenomenon of examination question leakages, an alternative examination management body be established.

But according to GNAT, any such move must be carefully considered to ensure that the certificates students obtain after completion of their primary and secondary education, are of value across the sub-region.

Speaking to Citi News, the General Secretary of GNAT, David Ofori Acheampong, said we should tread cautiously with that approach. We have to go back and look at the history of WAEC; why was it established and why does it focus on English-speaking West African countries. I believe that it is to ensure that standardization of education

If we are opening up the space to bring another examination body, will the certificate they issue be acceptable in only Ghana or other West African countries. If in Nigeria, WAEC is not the only examination body, then the question is, is it the same syllabus being used or both have their respective syllabus and how are admissions to higher institutions of learning done?

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) was established 1952 after the Governments of Ghana (then Gold Coast), Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia enacted the West African Examinations Council Ordinances in 1951. Liberia became the fifth member of the Council in 1974.

The enactment of the Ordinances was based on the Jeffrey Report, which strongly supported the proposal for the setting up of a regional examining board to harmonise and standardise pre-university assessment procedures in the then British West Africa.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), has thrown its weight behind the minister nominees proposal.

The President of NAGRAT, Christian Addai Poku, said the proposal was in the right direction.

According to him, it is not right for a single examination management body to be imposed on everybody, and whatever they give us, whether its good or bad we take it.

He told Citi News that having another examination management body will present students with an option on which examination they prefer to take.



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @jnyabor
Airtel Ghana, the Smartphone Network has introduced the Connected Classroom project to encourage collaborative learning in schools with active STEM Clubs under its Evolve with STEM initiative.

Powered by the companys superior data services, STEM Clubbers from three schools  the La Wireless, Abossey Okai and Mataheko Roman Catholic Schools were connected via Skype to co-create, exchange ideas, knowledge and projects they are working on in their various clubs. The session involved over eighty pupils across JHS 1  3.

The STEM Club members were also mentored by a team from Airtel Ghana led by the Companys CEO, Lucy Quist who encouraged them to be relentless in their pursuit for excellence in whatever they do. The teams demonstrated how technology enables daily activities like communication via mobile phones and introduced participating pupils to the use of Social media platforms such as Skype for educational purposes.

During the session, Airtel Ghanas Acting Director for Networks, Thelma Quaye, used basic science principles to explain how mobile phone calls are initiated, connected and terminated. She also took participants through a basic course in coding and programming.

The Evolve with STEM initiative was launched in December 2015 to demystify and inspire greater participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Since inception more than 3000 pupils have benefitted from the initiative across four regions.

Speaking at the session, Airtel Ghanas CEO, Lucy Quist said STEM is both an enabler and a leveller especially for Africa. To drive the transformation our continent needs, we must empower the minds that will lead that transformation. Since 2015, we have been working with these young people through our Evolve with STEM initiative to inspire and encourage greater participation and adoption of STEM.

Today, harnessing the power of technology, we connected clubs across three schools, encouraged debate, collaboration and shared learning in a truly engaging way.

Todays session is a clear indication that when our children are empowered and encouraged, they will be better placed to lead the major shift our continent needs.

She continued Airtel is committed to enriching lives and empowering young people to fully realise their potential. This is a passion at the heart of our business and we will continue to pursue this well into the future.

Airtel Ghanas CSR programme won the Best CSR initiative at the Africa and Global Carrier Awards in 2016.

About Bharti Airtel

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers.

In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 359 million customers across its operations at the end of July 2016. To know more please visit, www.airtel.com

About Airtel in Africa

Airtel is driven by the vision of providing affordable and innovative mobile services to all. Airtel has 17 operations in Africa: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Airtel International is a Bharti Airtel company. For more information, please visit www.airtel.com , or like the Airtel Ghana Facebook page via www.facebook.com/airtelgh or follow us on Twitter via the handle @airtelghana.
Fire has gutted two slums at Suame Magazine in Kumasi in the Ashanti region leaving 200 people, mostly women and children homeless.

There was no loss of live but properties including cash running into thousands of cedis were also lost in a separate blaze at Kotoko and Suame Magazine Zone 1 settlements also in Kumasi.

The cause of the fire is yet to be established but residents say this is the fifth of such incidents in the area within the last two weeks.

More soon...

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
The president, Nana Akufo-Addo has directed the Chief Executive of the Ghana Tourism Authority Gideon Aryeequaye to, with immediate effect step down and handover to the Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister designate Catherine Afeku.

The decision is consonance with Section 14(1) of the Presidential Transition Act 2012 (Act 845), a letter authored and signed by the Executive Secretary to the president, Nana Asante Bediatuo stated.

The letter dated January 24, 2017 also asked the him to proceed to collect any terminal benefit due him relevant under the law.

In view of the urgency attached to the matter, please ensure that you handover and cease to act as Chief Executive of the Ghana Tourism Authority not later than 5:00pm on January 26, 2017, the letter said.

A similar letter was sent two weeks ago to former CEO of COCOBOD Stephen Opuni to hand over.

By law, CEOs of such institutions were expected to hand over power with the coming into power of a new government.

Gideon Aryeequaye was appointed by ex-president John Mahama in October 2016 and has barely settled in his new role.

A consummate broadcaster, a failed MP aspirant, Aryeequaye is well remebered for his hosting of the Ghana Most Beautiful programme on TV3.

-Myjoyonline
Two police officers have been injured protecting nomadic Fulani herdsmen from angry residents of Sokode Ando in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region.

According to Citi News Volta Regional Correspondent, King Norbert Akpablie, there were clashes between the Fulani herdsmen and the Sokode Ando residents today [Wednesday], after they accused the herdsmen of killing a local resident on a farm two weeks ago.

The angry residents, wielding cutlasses and guns, have threatened to drive out all Fulani herdsmen out of the community.

They have also constructed roadblocks to check cars for Fulani herdsmen.

The police tried to intervene in the situation to protect some of the Fulani herdsmen, but this didn't go down well with the locals, who they attacked the police officers.

One of the injured policemen sustained stab wounds, whilst three police rifles were also seized, and are still in the possession of the locals.

Citi News King Norbert indicated that, a mediation team has since been sent by the Ho Municipal Assembly to engage with the locals, as they threatened to hurt anyone who attempts to retrieve the guns.

Norbert added that, some police personnel from Anyrawase, also in the Volta Region, were also attacked after trying to rescue some other Fulani herdsmen under threat from locals.

The police officers were attacked, their phones were seized and they were forced to abandon their cars in some bushes. Attempts are being made to tow the car Norbert stated.

He added that, a police reinforcement has been dispatched from the Volta Regional Police Command to restore order.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Oyem (Gabon) (AFP) - Egypt qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals Wednesday with a 1-0 victory over Ghana in Port-Gentil.

Roma attacker Mohamed Salah rifled a free-kick into the net on 11 minutes for a win that lifted his team to the top of the final Group D standings, one point ahead of fellow qualifiers Ghana.

Egypt stay in Port-Gentil for a last-eight showdown with Morocco Sunday and Ghana face the Democratic Republic of Congo in Oyem the same day.

On Saturday, Burkina Faso meet Tunisia and Senegal tackle Cameroon in the other quarter-finals.
25.01.2017 LISTEN

Accra, Jan. 25, GNA - President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appointed Commissioner of Police David Asante-Appeatu as the Acting Inspector-General of Police.

Mr Asante-Appeatu, who until his appointment was the Director-General of Research and Planning of the Ghana Police Service, would act in that capacity pending the reconstitution of the Council of State before his confirmation as substantive Inspector-General.

President Akufo-Addo, who made the announcement at the Flagstaff House, in Accra, said he had to make the appointment to fill the vacuum created by the exit of Mr John Kudalor, who had earlier paid a call on him to inform him of the end of his term of office and to bid him farewell.

He said that office was a sensitive one that should not be vacant at any given time and that in pursuance of the dictates of the Constitution he had appointed Mr Asante-Appeatu to act in that capacity.

President Akufo-Addo said he had every confidence in the ability of Mr Asante-Appeatu to deliver a professional police service that would be accountable to the State and the people Ghana.

He said the resolve of his administration was to ensure that the country had a Police Service that was professional and owed its allegiance to the people of Ghana rather than to a political administration.

"My Administration would do everything to ensure the Police Service is professional...,will carry out its duties in enforcing the laws of our country and to make sure the laws are upheld in a dispassionate, impartial and professional manner," the President said.

The President wished Mr Asante-Appeatu well in his new capacity.

The President earlier thanked Mr Kudalor for the cooperation and support he received after the President took over the reins of governance.

The President also thanked him for his meritorious service, especially during the recent elections, which he said was peaceful, and wished him well, saying that the country would draw on his vast experience in the near future.

Mr Kudalor was appointed by Former President John Dramani Mahama in 2015.

Profile of Acting IGP David Asante Appeatu

COP Apeatu served as the Director of the Specialised Crime and Analysis (SCA) Unit at the INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon France.

He holds a Masters' Degree in Chemistry from the Kharkov State University in Russia and is a trained Forensic Scientist in various disciplines, such as Document Examination, Firearms and Ballistics, and Controlled Drug Analysis.

He is a Government of Ghana gazette Firearms Examiner and also a gazetted Controlled Drug Analyst.

Mr Asante-Apeatu has performed various assignments in Ghana, as well as outside Ghana.

Internationally, he had worked at the Sarajevo Police Academy as an instructor in Human Dignity, Police Ethics and Criminal Investigations under the auspices of the United Nations Task Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1997 to 1998.

He was the team leader in Homicide Investigation under the request of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNAMIL).

He was the team leader in investigations into the mass murder of more than 50 people, mostly West African nationals, in The Gambia.

In Ghana, he was the Lead Investigator in the serial killing of more than 30 women that led to the arrest of a culprit who was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to death.

Under the supervision of Mr Asante-Apeatu, and based on intelligence, the CID successfully conducted an operation that resulted in the seizure of 588 kilogrammes of cocaine with the street value of about $38 million.

GNA
25.01.2017 LISTEN

By Rachel Fosuah Osei, GNA

Nyinahin (Ash), Jan 25, GNA - A total of 3,208 people in 705 households in the Atwima-Mponua District are benefitting from the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP).

They are spread across 54 communities and they have been receiving between GH64.00 and GH106.00.

LEAP, a social intervention to provide a safety net for the poorest of the poor, was introduced in year 2006 by the Kufour Administration.

Mr. Carlton Daniel Mawuli, the District Director of Social Welfare, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that it had brought significant relief to the beneficiaries.

He labeled it as one of the best social interventions and said every effort was being made to ensure that those genuinely in need were captured.

GNA
By Bertha Badu-Agyei, GNA

Kukurantumi, Jan. 25, GNA - Ofori Panin Senior High School (Opass) has celebrated its 55th anniversary with a call on the students to justify the investments being made in them to help shape the country's development.

Mr Otutu Adu-Larbi, an old student of the school and Board Chairman of the Beige Capital, who was the guest speaker, said the students had to build on the integrity and good name of the school to become assets to the nation.

He reminded them that success is not achieved in a day but it is the end results of hard work, investments and commitment adding; 'success is like a cocoa farmer who tills and nurture his farm and patiently waits until it fruits'.

Mr Adu-Larbi, speaking on the theme: 'OPASS at 55 - The Role of Stakeholders,' said the stakeholders include the state, teachers, parents, old and current students and that they had to work hard to ensure that the objective for their education was achieved.

He thanked the successive head teachers of the school for their commitment and good administrative decisions that had brought the school that far and maintained its academic credentials among the best schools in the country.

He commended the school for its vibrant choir which provided songs at the ceremony and donated an amount of Gh10, 000.00 on behalf of Beige Capital to the choir to purchase an organ and other musical equipment.

Ofori-Panin, situated between Kukurantumi and Tafo in the Eastern Region, was established as a Ghana Education Trust School in September 1961 and was then called Tafo-Kukurantumi Secondary School to address the educational needs of the indigenes of the two towns.

In May 1962 the name was changed to Ofori Panin in honour of the then Okyenhene, Nana Sir Ofori-Atta of Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area.

The Headmaster of the school, Dr Edmund Fianu, said the school continued to make strides in the academic front by recording a 100 per cent pass at the just ended West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination in which 736 students were presented.

He said out of the 736, seven failed in core mathematics, one failure each in core English and Integrated Science and nine failures in Social Studies while all the other subjects saw a 100 per cent pass.

Dr Fianu said in spite of such academic achievements the school was faced with challenges and mentioned the lack of boarding facilities, especially dormitories, and that over the years teachers bungalows had been converted into dormitories to accommodate the over 95 per cent of the students who came from Accra and other regions.

He said the structures put up in the 1960s to house the students had not been expanded except for one additional block constructed for the boys in 2010 and appealed to all stakeholders, especially the old students, to assist.

Mr Prince Kofi Amoabeng, the school's Board Chairman, called on the old students to form a vibrant association to support the school and donated Gh10,000.00 to support a fundraising for a school project.

GNA
Gomoa Abonyi (C/R), Jan. 25, GNA - A total of 8,200 Ghana cedis was realised at a fundraising organised by the chiefs and people of Gomoa Abonyi in the Central Region towards the construction a water closet toilet facility.

The fund raising also coincided with the Annual Akwambo Festival of the chiefs and people of Abonyi aimed at ensuring the provision of the modern toilet facility that had eluded the residents over the past years.

It also coincided with the 25th Anniversary celebration of the installation of Nana Osuan Asare VI, Nguntuahene of Gomoa Akyempim Traditional Area and Chief of Abonyi.

Nana Asare commended Obrempong Yamfo Krampah, the Omanhene of Gomoa Ajumako Traditional Area and the people for their contributions and communal spirit towards the construction of the Community Centre which was commissioned during the festival.

He said the fundraising for the toilet facility was necessitated due to the open and indiscriminate defecation alongside the Agona Swedru / Winneba mainroad and other areas in the town.

He said it was time to have decent places of convenience for the towns to avoid the outbreak of cholera and other communicable diseases.

Nana Asare said the project had already been started and expressed the hope that the funds raised could be used to support the project to reach appreciable level.

Naana Eyiah , the MP for Gomoa Central, thanked the chiefs and the people of Abonyi for voting massively for her and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on December 7, 2016 elections.

She said President Nana Akufo-Addo's Government would never disappoint them, but would ensure that all promises made were fulfilled.

She, therefore, donated 10 water closet seats towards the construction of the toilet facility which form part of her contribution towards the project.

Nana Obokum Atta, the Chief of Gomoa Dasum, commended the people of Gomoa Abonyi for their unity and tenacity of purpose that had resulted in the construction of the community centre.

He, therefore, urged the people not to rely on the Central Government and District Assembly alone for developmental projects but strive hard to initiate their own projects.

Nana Obokum Atta, who is also Amankrahene of Gomoa Akyeampim Traditional Area, called for peace and understanding among the people to promote development.

He asked the chiefs and people of the area to prioritise education of their children adding that education is the key to assisting their children to grow to become responsible adults. GNA
By A.B. Kafui Kanyi, GNA Ho, Jan. 25, GNA - The Ho Municipal Assembly on Wednesday drove the media away from covering its Emergency General Meeting.

Mr Jack Jones Faniyi, the Municipal Coordinating Director prevailed on the Sub-Committee Chairpersons of the Assembly to keep the media away from the meeting, saying: 'The issue is not of public interest.'

A source at the Assembly told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the Emergency General Meeting was to decide the fate of the Assembly in some GH500,000.00 judgment debt saga.

The source said the Assembly's account had a garnishee order placed on it due to the judgment debt case, compelling the Assembly to allegedly operate a secret account.

The GNA was told that the Emergency Meeting was expected to find the way forward in safeguarding the Assembly's landed properties and vehicles.

Earlier, some Assembly members threatened to boycott the session, blaming the Assembly for not giving them a Christmas package.

GNA
25.01.2017 LISTEN

By Morkporkpor Anku, GNA

Accra, Jan. 25, GNA - The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has recommended the development of modern seeds with traditional taste, attributes and resilience.

The Association says the current seeds being developed by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture were hybrid seeds which farmers reject.

Mr Charles Nyaaba, the Programmes Officer of PFAG, speaking at a stakeholder's workshop, said those modern seeds, when developed, should be made affordable through subsidies.

The Association commissioned a research to ensure that farmers have access to quality inputs leading to high productivity in Ghana.

He said the research showed that a lot of study and seed variety development had been carried out, however, there was emphasis on hybrid varieties at the expense of traditional varieties.

He said farmers interviewed during the study said they preferred traditional seed varieties for a number of reasons.

The Programme Officer said the National Seed Policy indicated that the private sector would need incentives and credit facility to design and procure seed plants suited to their own commercial needs, however, their study showed that most of the policy proposals were still not being implemented.

Mr Nyaaba said many farmers still relied on traditional methods of seed storage despite the fact that those methods were unreliable to crop production.

He said the study indicated that farmers accessed seeds from diverse sources including their own harvest, borrowing from colleague farmers and families and buying.

He said about 53.4 per cent of 528 farmers interviewed obtained seeds from their own harvest, while another 18.8 per cent obtained seeds and planting materials from other farmers.

'Some farmers also complain about the existence of fake certified seeds in the open market,' he said.

Other problems cited were barriers to accessing good quality seeds, unavailability of preferred seeds and poor quality seeds.

He said as a policy recommendation more local seed growers should be trained, especially mid-size farmers, with capacity to sustain production.

'Also policy makers should be cautious in handling GMOs to avoid rejection by farmers and the Ghanaian consumers,' he said.

Mr Nyaaba said government should also build an effective and efficient seed value-chain by making sure the state provided the foundation in terms of infrastructure and breeder seeds.

He said government should scale-up promotional packages using experience of Asian Green Revolution package systems.

On fertilizer, Mr Nyaaba said despite claims that government had subsidised fertilizer, only 31.7 per cent of farmers had benefitted.

He said the inability of farmers to get adequate supply of inputs was generally due to low governmental support, calling on government to set up fertilizer distribution shops to serve cluster of communities, thereby reducing the distance covered to buy both market and subsidised ones.

Madam Sarah Aryee, a farmer, told the GNA that: 'l prefer my own traditional seed which will give me more yields compared to the hybrid seeds.'

GNA
25.01.2017 LISTEN

By Theophania Dzadza/ Priscilla S. Djentuh

Accra, Jan.25, GNA - Some residents of Accra have expressed satisfaction with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's nomination of Mr Ishmael Ashitey as the Greater Accra Regional Minister.

They also said the President was right in choosing only males as nominees as Regional Ministers because the task was too much for a female.

'As a native from Labadi, he is abreast with the dos and don'ts of the people, so I believe he will be able to perform effectively,' opined Emmanuel Tettey, a public servant.

'I am very happy the President appointed this particular man,' he added.

The Ghana News Agency interviewed a cross-section of residents on their views in terms of the choice of Mr Ashitey as the Region's boss and gender balance of the Regional nominees as they were all men.A lawyer, who declined to give his name, said the Regional Ministry was not an easy job, therefore, it would not be easy for a woman to occupy that position.

'I am not saying a woman cannot perform but the Regional Minister has all the regional departments on his head and the responsibility is too much work for a woman,' he explained.

He said a man would be able to exercise effective political authority on all the Departments so the President made brilliant choices by making it an all male affair.

An immigration officer who also declined to give his name said: ''I think the President's appointment of Mr Ashitey is in the right direction,' adding that, 'He is a typical native of this town so he will be able to perform'.

He said he was hopeful the nominee would be able to fulfil his duty as a Regional Minister.

'Maybe, the President nominated only males because there is a lack of women in the Party who have the requisite qualification to occupy that position,' he stated, adding that the Deputy Regional Ministers may be female.

Mr Tettey also said he believed that: 'Women could only perform up to a certain level, so the job may be too ample for a woman to head.'

Mr Isaac Quincy, a teacher, stated that the appointment of Mr Ashitey was appropriate considering his background as a former Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Minister of Fisheries.

Ishmael Ashitey, 62, is a product of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where he graduated in 1977 with a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering.

He also holds an Executive Masters Degree in Governance and Leadership from GIMPA.

GNA
An Onalaska angler caught with more than 2,500 panfish pleaded no contest Tuesday to four citations for exceeding possession limits.

Stanley Paalksnis, 74, faces fines totaling $24,683, although prosecutors agreed to ask a La Crosse County Circuit judge impose a $10,000 fine, revoke his fishing privileges for 12 years and order Paalksnis forfeit his 15-foot boat seized by authorities. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wardens Nov. 4, 2015, on Lake Onalaska saw Paalksnis keep 47 bluegills, according to court records. The daily limit is 25.

In his boat and house, authorities found 2,066 bluegills, 418 perch and 88 crappies, reports stated. The possession limits are 50 for each species.

Paalksnis told a warden that for 20 years he was selling bags of fish for $5 in Chicago, reports stated.

The DNR issued Paalksnis seven citations for exceeding possession limits between 1989 and 2011 in Buffalo and La Crosse counties. His fishing privileges were revoked twice.
25.01.2017 LISTEN

By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA

Accra, Jan. 25, GNA - The Centre for Local Governance and Advocacy (CLGA), a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) with interest in local governance and research, has reminded the Government to meet the 40 percent appointment of women to the public sector.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, Madam Gladys Gillian Naadu Tetteh, the Deputy Executive Director of the CLGA, urged the Government to give meaning to gender mainstreaming and positive discrimination in governance by appointing competent women as deputy ministers and district chief executives.

''We wish to propose that out of six metropolitan chief executives to be appointed, at least two must be reserved for women. Out of the 49 municipal chief executives to be appointed , at least 15 must be reserved for women, while the 161 district chief executives to be appointed, 65 must be women,' she said.

She commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for appointing nine women as ministers in the first round of the ministerial appointment, representing 25 per cent of the 36 ministerial nominations.

She appealed to the President to fast-track the appointment of metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) to ensure effective and efficient administration of the various assemblies.

Madam Tetteh said the absence of the MMDCEs, aside making it practically difficult to make certain important policy decisions relating to procurement, would also affect the approval of the 'Warrant' for the composite expenditure.

She appealed to the President, Members of Parliament and the incoming Minister of Local Government and Rural Development to, as a matter of urgency, amend the new Local Governance Act, (Act 936) promulgated in 2016, because the law sought to re-centralise the decentralised local governance system.

According to her, some provisions in the legislation undermined effective citizens' participation in governance at the local level and contradicted certain provisions in the 1992 Constitution which promoted grassroots participation.

Madam Tetteh said: 'We are not happy with the provisions of Section 2.2 of the legislation which scraps the zonal councils as part of the sub district structures within the local government system.

'Decentralised governance will not only suffer but will be meaningless if the local government system operates without zonal councils, especially when the unit committees have not been properly resourced to perform their functions.

'Currently, per the new law, the zonal councils have been scrapped without indicating how the assemblies are going to function without them. Therefore, the CLGA is calling for re-introduction of the zonal councils into the local governance structure of Ghana''.

She said the NGO would continue to put duty bearers and the Government on their toes to deliver on their mandate and manifesto promises, especially those on local governance and decentralisation.

Dr Eric Oduro Osae, a governance expert and a Board Member of the CLGA, expressed some reservations over the creation of certain ministries which, he believed, would result in duplication of resources.

He cited the creation of the Ministry of Inner Cities and Zongo Development which, he said, would have its functions conflicting with some responsibilities assigned to the Local Government and Rural Development Ministry.

'For instance, if a metropolitan assembly has allocated portions of its budget for urban upgrading at the Zongo and the Ministry for Inner Cities and Zongo Development, which will draw its budget from the presidency, also makes allocation for the same Zongo development, of course, it will result in duplication of cost,'' he said.

He, therefore, called for effective collaboration and harmonisation between the two ministries in order to avoid such scenarios from happening.

GNA
Theres no denying it

Golds overpromised and under-delivered for years. The yellow metal has been trapped in a six-year bear market.

Most punters have got burnt during this time.

For example, the gold promoters argued the bull market was back in early 2016. It wasnt the first time they had turned bullish during a rally.

Watching gold move higher, the mainstream got on-board. So did some of the most famous investors in the world. They told you to buy  the bull market was back. Yet, despite the positivity, the yellow metal crashed at the end of 2016. Most precious metal stocks nose-dived.

Are we back to square one?

Golds shown lots of promise this year.

Its not that surprising

On 5 January, I warned Resource Speculator readers that gold could rally multiple times this year. The fake rallies are designed the trap the herd  again  before gold finally cracks below the US$1,000 per ounce level. That wont fare well for a lot of egos and wallets.

Were witnessing our first fake rally right now. Before its finished, gold could scream towards the US$1,260 per ounce level. So, while you shouldnt buy the yellow metal for investment purposes, it could offer a great short-term trading opportunity.

Ill explain

Trade the trade; not your emotions

Lets start with Donald Trump.

Gold rallied into Trumps inauguration on 20 January. Take a look at the chart below:



Source: Tradingview.com

Click to enlarge

As The Donalds inauguration date loomed, uncertainty rose over his policies. Punters started to worry about the future and bought gold  the hedge against the confidence in government.

That said, did gold rally thanks to Trumpor was it history repeating?

Bloomberg provided a bullish answer on 21 January:

Gold bulls wagering the bullion rally has more room to run may have history on their side with the arrival of a new U.S. president. A look at recent presidential transitions supports optimism among traders over the metals prospects. Gold has averaged gains of almost 15 percent in years marking the inauguration of a new president since the 1970s, advancing in five of those seven years. In contrast, the S&P 500 index of equities declined in four of those years for an average loss over the period of 0.9 percent. From Presidents Gerald Ford to Barack Obama, bullion has often served as a haven in times of political flux. The metal has climbed almost 5 percent this year as questions over the possible economic impact of Donald Trumps policies add to investor angst over Brexit and mounting trade frictions. Bulls reason that gold will extend its gain as scant details of Trumps fiscal stimulus program and tensions with trading partners including China unnerve investors.

To some, it was a long time coming. Lots of people believed that a Trump victory would have broken markets on the day of the US election. But that didnt happen. Traders realised his economic plans  namely slashing corporate tax rates to 15%  would be bullish for stocks and bearish for gold.

That Trump Trade seems to be flipping.

How to trade Gold in the coming months

The reality  and uncertainty  of a new president and his policies is hitting home. And, while some policies look great on paper, the smart punters are taking the cautious approach. The wait and see trade is the play of the day.

Punters are bailing out of stocks. Its not a surprise. In Markets and Money on 10 January, I warned that stocks have peaked for now, and that they would fall into the inauguration date.

That happened on target.

Capital moved out of stocks and into gold. For the record, that trade doesnt seem like ending anytime soon.

Looking at the story today, stocks could be preparing for a major 1015% correction. If capital keeps flowing into gold, it could rally towards the US$1,260 per ounce resistance level  at the very least  before the move is finished.

Now, the stock market correction probably wont start until early February. The market needs time to figure out what it wants to do. It wont correct straight away. If its preparing to make a big move to the downside, stocks could be volatile into early February. In fact, they could do the exact opposite of what Im telling you now.

Who knows!

The market always make fake moves  both up and down  before revealing its true hand.

The key takeaway: Golds likely to do the mirror opposite of stocks.

If stocks rally in the fortnight ahead, look to go short. If gold pulls back, there could be a great short-term buying opportunity. This could be a great trade. Remember, lots of gold companies have already rallied tremendously off their lows. So, if you can pick the best of the lot, you can make the most gains. For some juicy penny gold stock ideas, check out Jim Rickards Gold Stock Trader here.

Regards,

Jason Stevenson,

Analyst, Resource Speculator

From the Port Phillip Publishing Library

Special Report: The Lazarus Project Your best chance to double every dollar you invest this year [More]
- Declassified CIA reports said issues of Buhari's slowness, appointment of mostly northern officers into positions and lack of a strong economic savvy were all reasons that could cause a countercoup quickly while he was military head of state

- Although Buhari stayed for over a year in office before he was removed by a coup in August 1985, CIA felt his ouster could have come sooner because he allowed his own fall by giving too much room for doubts among his officers in the supreme military council

- The United States of America had expected General Muhammadu Buhari not to last up to six months in office as head of state because of the many issues he appeared unable to solve at the time

CIA analysts said Buhari was not doing well to keep his promises and was in danger of being quickly ousted by a countercoup in 6 months in 1984

The military government of Muhammadu Buhari in 1984 was tipped to last just about six months, latest declassified files of analysis by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have revealed.

READ ALSO: CIA released declassified files of its projection on Nigeria 2 years after independence (LIST)

The files which were acquired by Legit.ng gave reasons for its prediction to include slowness of the Buhari government in picking military officers for positions as well as resentment of southern military officers that most of the political appointments went to the northerners.

The US also expressed total lack of confidence in the ability of then General Buhari to strengthen the Nigerian economy which had been depleted by the Shehu Shagari regime that was ousted in December 1983.

The report read: But Head of State General Buhari still appears unsure of how to begin tackling Nigerias economic and political problems.

The CIA files draw the conclusion that Prospects for an economic turnaround are poor, mainly because of the soft world oil market.

It added that one thing the Buhari administration would succeed well in is enforcing austerity measures previously created by the Shagari regime.

We have serious doubts the military will prove more effective than its civilian predecessors in stemming the economic decline. At best, we believe the military will be forced to preside over the implementation of austerity measures drawn up during the Shagari administration.

READ ALSO: Declassified CIA files revealed possible political development in Nigeria

It wraps it up with the statement that: "Whatever approach the government pursues, we expect increased grumbling and plotting within the military that will a countercoup a growing possibility during the near term.

Every successful coup in Nigeria has been followed within six months by an attempted countercoup, and we believe Buhari may have even less grace time.

See snapshots of the CIA files below:

A snapshot of the front page of declassified CIA files on Buhari in 1984.

Second page of the report on Buhari by CIA in 1984.

Page three of the report giving a summary of the CIA's analysis on Buhari's military regime in 1984.

Source: Legit.ng
Michael Collins Ajereh, who is popularly known as Don Jazzy or Don Baba J, is a Nigerian record producer, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He co-founded the now defunct record label Mo' Hits Records in 2004. Following the closure of the aforementioned record label, Don Jazzy set up Mavin Records on May 8, 2012. What else do we know about this hitmaker? Read on for more details.

Don Jazzy smiles for a photo. Photo: donjazzy

Source: Instagram

Here are all the interesting facts from Don Jazzy biography.

Profile summary

Real name: Michael Collins Ajereh

Michael Collins Ajereh Birthdate: 26 November 1982

26 November 1982 Don Jazzy age: 38 years old (as of 2020)

38 years old (as of 2020) Birthplace: Umuahia, Nigeria

Umuahia, Nigeria Star sign: Sagittarius

Sagittarius Education: Ambrose Alli University

How old is Don Jazzy?

Don Jazzy was born as Michael Collins Ajereh on the 26th of November, 1982. This means that he is 38 years old (as of 2020).

Interestingly, Don Jazzy and his father actually share a birthday! For his birthday this year, the artist posted a photo of himself on Instagram and captioned it saying:

Its my birthday today. Dear lord I do not take it for granted. Its been one crazy year. I give GOD all the glory for life and the many blessings. Pls guys help me wish my dad @mavingrandpa a happy birthday also as we share the day. Thank you guys for all the wishes already I feel loved hehe. I love yall too.

Where is Don Jazzy from?

The hitmaker was born in Umuahia, Abia State, but he hails from Isoko in Delta State. His mother is an Igbo princess from Abia state, while Don Jazzy father, Collins Enebeli, is from Isoko.

The artist has three siblings: James Collins Enebeli, Joy Solano and Charles Collins Enebeli. His brother, Charles Enebeli, is also a musician and a businessman who is popularly known as D'Prince.

His family moved from Abia State to Ajegunle, Lagos, where he was raised.

Education

He attended the co-educational high school, Federal Government College Lagos. He is also an alumnus of Federal Government College, Lagos and has a degree in Business Management from Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma.

Don Jazzy posses for a photo to celebrate his birthday. Photo: donjazzy

Source: Instagram

Career

Don Jazzy found an interest in music early in life. In fact, it is reported that he started playing the drums before the age of 4 and at age 12, he began to play the bass guitar. He also gained knowledge of traditional and percussion instruments.

In 2000, Jazzy visited London when his uncle invited him to play the drums for the local church. While in London, Don Jazzy gained employment at McDonald's as a security guard. He continued nurturing his interest in music, associating with Solek, JJC, Kas, The 419 Squad and D'Banj.

He then learnt how to produce from Emeka Infiniti at O-Town record company. He was preparing himself while waiting for the right opportunity.

Mo' Hits Records

Inspired, the man started planning on opening his own record label. Thanks to his business management education along with experience in watching professionals, he partnered with D'Banj in 2004 to establish MoHits Records.

Mo'Hits became such a success that in two years, Don Jazzy had already wrapped up two albums, No Long Thing and Rundown/Funk You Up, and was on the third, Curriculum Vitae.

In 2008, Don Jazzy was credited in the production of The Entertainer by D'Banj. He also contributed to the production of Wande Coal's Mushin 2 MoHits.

Although Don Jazzy did not take credit as a singer, he performed background vocals for the artists he produced, including D'Banj, Sauce Kid, Dr SID, Ikechukwu, Kween, D'Prince, and Jay-Z.

In 2011, Don Jazzy was employed by Kanye West as a producer at Very Good Beatz. Here, Don Jazzy worked with Jay-Z and Kanye West on the production of Lift Off, featuring Beyonce on the album Watch The Throne, which was released on 8 August 2011.

In March 2012, Don Jazzy and D'Banj abandoned their partnership, citing artistic differences.

Don Jazzy in his studio. Photo: donjazzy

Source: Instagram

Mavin Records

On 7 May 2012, Jazzy announced a new record label, Mavin Records. He said,

"I see Mavin Records being the power house of Music in Africa in the shortest possible time."

The label has signed talented artists such as Dr.SID, DPrince, Korede Bello, Reekado Banks, Dija, Poe, Jonny Drille, and the DNA twins.

Don Jazzy albums

Some of the albums produced by Don Jazzy include:

Dbanj  No Long Thing (2005)

(2005) Dbanj  RunDown Funk U Up (2006)

(2006) Mo Hits All Stars  Curriculum Vitae (2007)

(2007) Dbanj  The Entertainer (2008)

(2008) Wande Coal  Mushin2Mohits (2008)

(2008) Dr Sid - Turning Point (2010)

(2010) MAVINS  Solar Plexus (2012)

(2012) DPrince - Frenzy

Tiwa Savage - Once Upon A Time & RED

Dr Sid - Siduction

Reekado Banks - Spotlight

Korede Bello - Belloved

Don Jazzy songs with Mo' Hits artists

They include:

D'Prince

Omoba

I like What I See

Ooze

Give It To me

D'Banj

Tongolo (2005)

Soko (2005)

Mobolowowon (2005)

Why Me (2006)

Run Down (2006)

Kimon (2008)

Olorun Maje (2008)

Gbono Feli (2008)

Entertainer (2008)

Suddenly (2008)

Fall in Love (2008)

Mr Endowed (2010)

I do This

Scape Goat (2010)

Mr Endowed (Remix) (2010)

Wande Coal

Bumper 2 Bumper

You Bad

Kiss Your Hand

Who Born the Maga

Dr SID

Something About You (2009)

Winchi winchi (2009)

Pop Something

Over The Moon (2010)

Chocolate

Y.O.L.O

C.P.R

Afefe

Chocolate West African Remix (ft Ice Prince Sarkodie Elom Adablah Lynxxx)

Chocolate East African Remix (ft Musik Maestro)

Lady Don Dada

Love Mine

Talented

Baby Tornado

Baby Tornado Remix (ft Alexandra burke)

Singles with other artists

Darey  Escalade part 2

Darey  Stroke Me

Shank  Never Felt

Naeto C  Asewo

Ikechukwu  Like You

Sauce Kid  Under G

Kanye West & Jay-Z  Lift Off

Weird MC  Ijoya

Don Jazzy latest song

Don Jazzy new song is Ife. The song, which is a collaboration between Don Jazzy, Teni, and DJ Big N, was released on the 15th of May, 2020.

Don Jazzy net worth

According to Celebrity Net Worth, the artist has a net worth of $10 million.

Don Jazzy house

The hitmaker has property in Banana Island, an artificial island that lies beside the Lagos shore. His mansion in this location is said to be valued at around 150M. He also has another property nicknamed Lekki Office in Lekki.

Is Don Jazzy married?

In an exclusive telephone chat with Saturday Beats in 2019, the Dorobucci crooner noted that although he is in a relationship at the moment, he is not in a hurry to get married.

He noted:

It is not difficult to find a wife; there are many beautiful women out there. It is not like I am ready; I am not the perfect version of what I would like to be to my wife and family. I want to work on myself until I am ready. By the time I am ready, if someone still wants to be with me, that would be great. It is not like I am looking for a wife and cannot find one. There are lots of nice and beautiful ladies out there. I dont think I am there yet. I am not in a hurry."

Don Jazzy is undeniably one of the biggest names in the Nigerian entertainment industry, but his fame does not stop there. He is well known all over the world for his excellent music producing skills. He is, without a doubt, an artist worth emulating.

READ ALSO: Fireboy DML biography: Age, real name, girlfriend, Apollo album

Legit.ng recently covered the story of Fireboy DML, one of the fast-rising Afro-Life singers from Nigeria. The musician became popular following the success of his single titled Jealous.

You will be surprised to find out that the celebrity is only 24 years old, but he has made significant achievements in his career. The musician recently released his sophomore album, Apollo. Apollo was released on August 20, 2020, under the YBNL Nation record label. The 17-track album comes after the success of his debut album Laughter, Tears & Goosebumps, which was released on November 29, 2019.

Source: Legit.ng
As participants in the MMM scheme are still very scared for their funds. The guiders continue to allay fears, telling members that all will be well.

The NEW model will be ready in a few days - MMM Guider gives 7 tips

There have been announcements that a new model of the scheme is being worked on, and a guider posted the following information on the MMM Nigeria team support Facebook group:

1. The much anticipated New Model is completed, approved and ready for full deployment in days. The wait is almost over. Be patient with us!

2.The technical glitches/errors/limits you are encountering now are as a result of the testing and partial deployment of the New Model.

READ ALSO: Top MMM guider Chuddy Ugorji allegedly flees Nigeria

3. If you are matched to fulfill a PH order you created & you're not willing to make payment, kindly & quickly click "I Refuse To Make Payment", Doing that will speed up the system of rematching the order and also recipient won't have to wait forever for a payment not forthcoming.

4. Kindly note that Account BLOCKING is PERMANENT now as thousands of participants are willing to make payments.

5. Once again, you are implored to cancel any PH order you are not willing to make payment for before it is matched. Don't upload #FakePOP!

6. Do not create PH order you don't have the #SpareMoney handy. You can be matched any time. BLOCKING is PERMANENT now (You lose every mavro).

READ ALSO: MMM participants threaten founder over delayed payments, benefits

7. With the New Model, #FakePOP issues will be resolved within 48hours and Uploader of #FakePOP will be permanently BLOCKED. Be warned.

Meanwhile, the Redeemed Christian Church of GOD (RCCG) has warned that it will henceforth take disciplinary action against church members who use the platform of the church to promote Ponzi schemes.

The warning was issued by the church in a memo addressed to pastors in charge of regions and provinces, by the general secretary of the church, Pastor Johnson Odesola, on Wednesday, January 18, 2017.

Below is a video made by the Ponzi scheme:

Source: Legit.ng
Boko Haram terrorists have killed not fewer than eight people and abducted several others in an attack on a village in Askira Uba local government of Borno state.

Boko Haram fighters have killed eight people in Dzaku village.

The Punch reports that the rampaging terrorists invaded Dzaku village on Monday, January 23 night killing eight and abducting seven women.

Sources in the village revealed that some terrorists invaded the village two Hilux vehicles carrying armed Ak-47 rifles and petrol bombs.

READ ALSO: CIA files tipped Buhari to be ousted by a coup in 6 months in 1984

An indigene of the village in Maiduguri, Amos Ali, said that one of his sisters was amongst those abducted by the attackers.

He said: Because of lack of telecommunication service, we could not be contacted that night. We later received a distress call from our community on Tuesday (yesterday) that Boko Haram insurgents attacked our people and killed eight before abducting several others, including my sister.

We are worried, especially now that the military said it has eliminated terrorists from the region.

The police has yet to confirm the attack or the casualty.

But in its own report, The Nation says only three people were killed.

It quotes a resident of the village Ibrahim Askira as saying our correspondent that the villagers are now at the mercy of the insurgents because of inadequate security for people in the area.

He said:As I speak with you now, many people who fled to the bush have not returned. We are not sure what has happened to them. They took away many women that we are not yet sure of the number."

The people in this village are completely traumatized due to this attack. We cannot be sure of our next sleep, I call on the security to be more proactive in dealing with these Boko Haram boys. If the security agents leave us like this, they will finish us, a local hunter Aminu added.

READ ALSO: PDP's Makarfi exposes those behind behind Buhari's death rumour

Meanwhile, at least three persons have been confirmed dead in two separate bomb attacks that occurred in Maiduguri on Wednesday, January 25 morning, security sources said.

But for the vigilance and sacrifice of security operatives, more casualties, mostly civilians would have been recorded, witnesses said.

Source: Legit.ng
Minnesota is taking yet another stab at solving the taxation issues for those traveling to Wisconsin to work.

It's a plan that doesn't 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.
Following the attempted arrest of Apostle Suleman by DSS operatives in the early hours of today January 25, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti has made known some statements that suggest he is the president's match.

Governor Fayose and Apostle Suleiman

Apostle Johnson Suleman of the Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide had become wanted for the things he said about the Fulanis killing the Christians and the need for the latter to defend themselves by striking their attackers.

The pastor was also alleged to have preached against Islamizing Nigeria while urging members of his church in Auchi, Edo state to refute any tongue that condemn them and for them to resist the suspected Fulani herdsmen who are on a mission to expunge them.

Apostle Suleman was on a two-day crusade in Ado Ekiti when the DSS operatives tried to arrest him. The governor of the state had attended his program earlier and the spirit-filled man of God had paid him a visit at the government house too.

The DSS operatives almost forced their way into his room but the security men of the hotel delayed them. The man of God called the state governor who arrived just in time to save him from being whisked away by the operatives.

After the incident, Governor Fayose who is also the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorss Forum made some weighty remarks that show how powerful he is in the country as against the presidency. He foiled the DSS operatives' plan by becoming Apostle Suleman's knight in shining armour.

Check out some of the things he said after the incident:

1. His insinuation on shady deals

The governor said he expected the security operatives to invite him  if they have any issue with him instead of arresting him in the dead of the night after a powerful and spirit-filled crusade in my State."

READ ALSO: Fayose stops DSS from arresting Apostle Johnson Suleman in Ekiti

2. The government being biased in their judgement

"Are Christians and Moslems under different dispensation of the rule of law?"

That is some serious issue to be reflected upon.

3. They saw his vehicle and fled

"Thats why I went there to rescue him. Let them kill two of us together. But when they saw my vehicles and the crowd, they fled."

With these statements, Fayose revealed how powerful he is. He was ready to lay down his life for the man of God. The federal officials from Abuja fled when they saw his vehicles as a state governor.

4. He schooled the Federal Government

"We are not in a fascist state, Federal Government must learn to respect the rights of Nigerians and freedom of expression.

The governor said the operatives came from Abuja; he thwarted their plans and also expressed his opinion about the administrative prowess of the present government.

5. Punch line

"This is unacceptable, We are in a democracy and Nigerians should warn the Presidency against putting this country on fire because religion is an emotional thing."

Fayose stated the obvious and reminded the people about the state of affairs. Religion according to him is an emotional thing. This is perhaps the governor's way of asking the presidency not to be sentimental about things.

READ ALSO: Imo becomes the first Nigerian state to have its own airline

6. A word for the presidency

"The constitution guarantees freedom of worship."

It was apparent that the state governor was embittered by the issue and stressed what is and what is not acceptable with the constitution.

Source: Legit.ng
Nigerians woke up to the news this morning that attempts by the Department of State Security (DSS) to arrest Apostle Johnson Suleiman were foiled by Ekiti state governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose.

A picture of Apostle Suleman being ushered out of a car by Governor Ayo Fayose early this morning

Suleman is the General Overseer of The Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide, a fast-growing church with its headquarters in Auchi, Edo state.

He was in Ekiti state for a two-day crusade and was lodged at Midas Hotel, Iworoko road, Ado Ekiti when the DSS stormed the place.

The DSS action might be as a result of a widely circulated video of Apostle Suleman in which he asked his church members to deal ruthlessly with any Fulani herdsman whose mission is to attack him or the church.

Apostle Suleman video had sparked debate among Nigerians as some people accused the cleric of inciting violence, while others called for his arrest.

READ ALSO: Opinion: Apostle Johnson Suleiman: Please leave my God out of your killing business

The foiled arrest of the fiery cleric has however sparked another debate on Legit.ng Facebook page and micro-blogging site, Twitter, with many condemning the DSS for its action.

Read some of the interesting reactions below:

Obinna Matthew Nwosu wrote:

''So if you kick against the fulani herdsmen and their evil agenda, DSS will come after you right? which means Buhari and co are in support of all this, Nigeria is dead and buried.''

Okey Okonkwo went prophetic, he wrote:

''I pray that whosoever ordered the arrest of the man of God should run mad before 4pm today.''

Emmanuel Chijioke Osuji also went spiritual, he wrote:

''Going after men of God marks the end of their evil programs. God will arise now and fight for his people. Watch it. Whoever touches his servants is only touching the apple of his eyes and you know what that means.''

Henry Asarapo Oluwole has a message for Christians in Nigeria, he wrote:

''I pray that this government with DSS will not outstep their boundary.Nobody pray for religious war.lf they set this country on fire,it will be the end of this country.Let all Christians arise and Pray. We made a big mistake by voting wrongly.''

Amaechi Ifeanyi Darlington has a message for President Muhammadu Buhari, he wrote:

''This is so sad! The President should please call DSS to order. These actions portray the regime in a very bad light and is capable of causing an uproar.''

Twitter is also buzzing with the topic and as at the time of this report, it is the number three trending topic in Nigeria.

A warning....

Those in support of Apostle Suleman....

Those against....

Should Christian leaders join the bandwagon?

Is Acting President Yemi Osinbajo aware of the DSS action?

Source: Legit.ng
- The White House team of President Donald Trump have removed the Spanish language from the website

- Checking for the Spanish content on the website returns an error message to web surfers

- Sean Spicer, Trump's press secretary says they are still working on the website

No Spanish language page on the White House website

Will the Trump presidency make the White House website just for English language speakers?It is not immediately clear, but from the website his White House launched on Friday, January 20, all other languages have been removed.

During the Obama administration, the White House website had content in Spanish and English language.

But under Trump visiting the old White House website address for content 'en Espanol' brings you an error page.

READ ALSO: What Trump has done in 2-days, Buhari has not done in 2-years" - Nigerians react

According to Daily Mail, while speaking on the matter, the chairman and CEO of U.S. English, said that the Trump administration shouldn't give Spanish-speakers any special dispensation.

Mauro Mujica said: "Maybe if they're going to do it in Spanish, they should also use all 323 languages spoken in the United States, right? Why just one and not the other 322?"

Mujica also said: "While, we have no problem with it, the English-only White House website might only be temporary as the new administration comes up to speed.

"I would assume they're deciding in how many languages they want to do it,' he said, but 'English is the de-facto official language of this country.'

"I know many of those people including the president, but nobody has asked us what they should do."

The Spanish language page under Obama

READ ALSO: Stephanie Linuss husband was at Donald Trumps inauguration

Sean Spicer, who is the White House press secretary had this to say about the website:

"We are continuing to build out the website both in the issue areas and then that area.

"But we've got the IT folks working overtime right now to continue to get all of that up to speed. And trust me, it's just going to take a little bit more time but we're working piece-by-piece to get that done."

Meanwhile, as Trump continues to make changes, reports suggest that the new administration has also deleted large swathes of Barack Obama's pet policies from the White House website.

So far, some of the deleted phrases from the website includes: 'LGBT' (gay) rights and 'climate change'.

Source: Legit.ng
Yemi Osinbajo is currently presiding over the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in the capacity of the acting president.

Yemi Osinbajo became acting president after Buhari visited the United Kingdom for medical reasons.

The council meeting which is the first of the year 2017, has almost all ministers in attendance.

It started at about 10.02am January 24, with Osinbajos arrival, The Punch reports.

READ ALSO: Only Buhari has prerogative to re-jig his cabinet - Adesina

The minister of defence, Mansur Dan-Ali; and the minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun; took the opening prayers before the meeting went into closed door.

Osinbajo became the acting president after President Buhari left Abuja on Thursday, January 19, on a medical visit to the United Kingdom where he is expected to seek medical attention within the period of his 10-days annual leave.

Details later....

Source: Legit.ng
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is responsible for peacekeeping, search, and rescue missions in the county's aerial space. The NAF uses helicopters, airplanes, and other aerial machines to achieve its mission. Like other jobs, there are various Nigerian Air Force ranks, including junior and senior levels.

PAY ATTENTION: heck out news that is picked exactly for YOU  find the Recommended for you block on the home page and enjoy!

The NAF logo. Photo: @Nigerian Air Force HQ

Source: UGC

Many children claim they want to climb the Nigerian Air Force ranks when they grow up. This dream is valid with hard work and determination. Each rank has a set salary scale that is reviewed periodically by the relevant authorities.

Nigerian Air Force ranks and their salary structure

There are various air force ranks in Nigeria. They are broadly categorised into commissioned and noncommissioned cadre.

Commissioned air force ranks and their salaries

The commissioned ranks comprise all officers enlisted through the Short Service Commission, Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA), or the Direct Short Service Commission (DSSC).

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These officers normally have a diploma or degree certificate from a recognised institution. There are 11 categories of commissioned Nigerian Air Force ranks, as explored below. They are in ascending order.

Rank Monthly salary Pilot Officer 187,159 Flying Officer 218,400 Flight Lieutenant 232,484 Squadron Leader 248,004 Wing Commander 342,586 Group Captain 352,631 Air Commodore 677,895 Air Vice-Marshal 1,376,343 Air Marshal 1,486,451 Air Chief Marshal 1,724,283 Marshal of the Nigerian Air Force Undisclosed

Noncommissioned air force ranks and their salaries

There are various noncommissioned air force ranks in Nigeria. Noncommissioned officers are those that enlisted through the direct recruitment process, commonly known as Airmen.

These officers usually have O-level certificates or other lower diplomas from recognised institutions. Check out the nine noncommissioned Nigerian Air Force ranks and their salaries below. They are listed in ascending order.

Rank Monthly salary Recruit 10,237 Aircraftman 53,892 Lance Corporal 55,832 Corporal 58,634 Sergeant 69,261 Flight Sergeant 87,119 Warrant Officer 101,974 Master Warrant Officer 165,697 Air Warrant Officer 171,793

Points to note

It is clear that there are various ranks in the Nigerian Air Force. Many people dream of joining NAF. Below are points you should note regarding the compensation packages offered at various levels.

Each rank has a unique salary scale.

The salaries at each level are heavily dependent on the educational qualification of the officers.

Special benefits and allowances are offered to officers sent on special assignments, operations, or duty tours.

The above Consolidate Armed Forces Salary Structure (CONAFSS) is subject to revision as the relevant authorities deem fit.

A picture of three NAF jets. Photo: @Nigerian Air Force HQ

Source: Facebook

What are the ranks in the Nigerian Air Force?

The commissioned ranks are Pilot Officer, Flying Officer, Flight Lieutenant, Squadron Leader, Wing Commander, Group Captain, Air Commodore, Air Vice-Marshal, Air Marshal, Air Chief Marshal, and Marshal of the Nigerian Air Force.

On the other hand, the noncommissioned NAF ranks are Recruit, Aircraftman, Lance Corporal, Corporal, Sergeant, Flight Sergeant, Warrant Officer, Master Warrant Officer, and Air Warrant Officer.

What rank will I be in the Nigerian Air Force with a bachelor's degree?

You will start as a recruit or trainee in the commissioned cadre. After completing your training, you will work your way up the ranks.

What is the work of the Air Force in Nigeria?

The work of the air force is to protect and defend the country from foreign or domestic threats. It also provides comprehensive support to the civil authorities during national emergencies.

Is the air force hard to get in?

Joining the air force is not overly difficult if you meet the specified criteria. You require discipline before you begin training and should be ready for an intense training period.

There are various Nigerian Air Force ranks. Some are commissioned, while others are noncommissioned, and each level offers a competitive monthly compensation package.

DISCLAIMER: This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional help or advice and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. Any action taken upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!

READ ALSO: Nigerian Army ranks, symbols, and salaries: Top facts and details

Legit.ng recently published a list of Nigerian Army ranks, symbols, and salaries. The military protects Nigerian citizens, and becoming an armed forces officer is a dignifying goal for anyone who wants to serve their country.

The Nigerian Armed Forces are responsible for protecting citizens from internal and external threats. It also maintains the structural integrity of the country.

Source: Legit.ng
Steve Maus 300 for 300 meeting in Hokah took a more collaborative effort as La Crescent-Hokah Superintendent Kevin Cardille gave his December state of the school presentation and Jerry Steffes spoke about his work with the districts lobbyist group.

The three presenters represented the three education heavyweights in the La Crescent-Hokah school district: the school district, 300 for 300 and Schools for Equity in Education.

The meeting was an outreach to the Hokah community.

When I came here in July of 2015, they handed me a La Crescent Lancers lanyard, Cardille said. That wasnt right. I changed out all gear to La Crescent-Hokah because thats what this district is. I understand theres a long history, I grew up in northern Minnesota. My dad was a miner and my mom was a kindergarten teacher for 39 years, I didnt grow up with a silver spoon. Our district has hard-working families with a variety of jobs and we need to respect that, Im trying hard to do that.

He went through the districts failed operating levy, the demographers study that indicated the schools declining enrollment would plateau and the schools marketing outreach. He also presented information about student achievements and the schools high ACT scores.

While presenting the current budget situation, Cardille said the formally balanced budget was now tilted. The unexpected roofing costs$180,000 more than budgetedare the mechanism behind the now unbalanced budget.

I know in remote townships students may be going to Caledonia or Houston, but what that tells me is that we need to get out to those groups, he said. I appreciate you coming out tonight, and hope you can continue the conversation.

He addressed the question of, Why the school would need more money if they are struggling with declining enrollment?

According to Cardille, the school receives $2,500-$2,600 from the state for declining enrollment while each student enrolls brings roughly $7,000. For every student the district loses, they also lose $7,000.

The presentation ended with the currently unused elementary school building in Hokah.

We dont know exactly what we are going to do with the building but we are looking at some things, he said. We were looking at maybe moving fourth and fifth grade there or creating an environmental center. The only thing killing us is transportation costs. Its been empty since July. Weve asked if the city (Hokah) would be interested in it. Whatever happens we will make sure its the best thing for Hokah.

The building was rented from HVED last summer and is empty except for an aerobics class once a week. The heat has been kept down to lower operating costs.

300 for 300

Steve Mau, founder of the 300 for 300 campaign, started with an explanation.

I firmly believe that people who voted against the operating levy will support this cause because if they come to understand the ramifications the cuts will have then they will want to help.

The group is trying to raise $300,000 to offset any potential cuts the district will have to make. It is a one-time effort.

As Mau handed out the 300 for 300 flier detailing the groups goals, he emphasized the districts competition.

I know one guy who sends his kids to Wisconsin because they have a program there that we dont. People opt out, he said.

The presentation ended with Mau encouraging attendees to spread a positive word not only about the campaign but the school as well.

A lot of the good gets lost in the mess, he said.

The campaign has raised between $22,000 and $23,000.

SEE

Jerry Steffes, a community liaison with the districts lobbying group Students for Equity in Education, presented his long-term solutions.

Ive lived here my whole life, since 65, born and raised, he said. I asked myself when the school was asking for a levy, Why? I sat down with Kevin (Cardille) and he explained declining enrollment, operating costs. I asked, Does any other school district have this problem? It turns out all rural districts have the same funding problems.

To clarify his point, Steffes compared the $7,000 La Crescent-Hokah receives to the $15,000 a district in the Twin Cities receives. Steffes and SEEs end goal is to see some of the $1.4 billion surplus applied to rural education.

The system seems to be broken, he said. We need property tax relief. Farmers are getting hit hard, theyre paying double what metro people do.

Steffes, along with SEEs Deb Griffiths, will be presenting more information at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26. The presentation will repeat some of the information from the last meeting but will hold a workshop on contacting state representatives.

Some key words are equalization, property tax relief and special needs program relief. Cardille added that the district is also trying to push for state funded LED lighting for the schools.

The destination for the states surplus will be determined in the next 90 days.

Community Reaction

The meeting was held at the Hokah Fire Station. There were around 15 people in attendance.

I wish more people were here, Hokah resident Melissa Nissalke said. I went to the state of the school in La Crescent but I wanted to hear from Jerry about contacting representatives. I dont think the ramifications (of the levy) were understood.

Nissalke has three children; her daughter is a sixth-grader in the La Crescent-Hokah district.

Hokah resident Lindsey Martell came to the meeting to learn more.

My son is going to start kindergarten next year, Martell said. Its sad that it didnt pass. I think if people were aware, like Steve (Mau) is saying, if people knew everything they would be willing to help.

Al Huntwho lives on the border between Caledonia and Hokahhas 60 acres of land and is feeling the extent of his property taxes.

I know what my taxes are and I have to look at what it costs us too, he said. We can only take so much.
- The national publicity secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, has criticised the way President Buhari handled the allegation of corruption against Babachir Lawal

- A vice-president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Monday Ubani, suggests that Buhari should have asked the EFCC or the ICPC to investigate the SGF

Babachir Lawal is alleged for have inflated contracts for he awarded to a firm meant to carry out humanitarian projects in the northeast.

The decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to absolve the secretary to the government of the federation, Mr. Babachir Lawal, of allegations of corruption has been crisitcised by prominent lawyers, civil rights groups and individuals.

READ ALSO: Presidency lied in President Buharis letter to Senate - Shehu Sani

The Senate had demanded the removal and prosecution of the SGF, for allegedly inflating contracts he awarded to a firm contracted to carry out humanitarian projects in the northeast.

However, Buhari in a letter to the Senate on Monday, January 23, explained that he could not honour the request by the lawmakers to prosecute Lawal because the report on the SGF which was forwarded to him was lacking in substance.

But Buharis stance over the issue has attracted cristcism from some concerned Nigerians.

According to Punch, the national publicity secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, in his reaction, said the presidents handling of the allegations against the SGF was tragic.

He said: "It is tragic that a Presidency, whose sole credential is anti-corruption, would treat a monumental allegation against one of its principal officials this way."

The Presidency that has all the time to investigate the number of committee members, who did not sign a report, could not find time to investigate the grass-cutting activities of the SGF. It is the lowest low for the anti-corruption war.

Similarly, a vice-president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Monday Ubani, argued that the president did not handle the allegations against Lawal well.

Ubani suggested that Buhari should have asked the EFCC or the ICPC to investigate the SGF.

He said: "Since the issue was an issue between the legislature and the executive, I expected the President to have directed the police or the EFCC to carry out the investigation instead of another member of the same cabinet.

Although, both the police and the EFCC are agencies under the executive, it would have given the whole investigation some sense of independence if it was handled by either of the two agencies.

I also expect the Presidency to give details of its basis for clearing the SGF to the public. Dont forget that the SGF himself has admitted that the company actually took the contract.

The Presidency needs to convince the public that the whole contract was done and did not put the SGF in a situation of conflict of interest.

This also brings us to the issue of the need to put in place an enduring structure for fighting corruption that will remain even when there is a change in governments.

On his part, an activist and a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Jiti Ogunye, described the defence of the SGF by the presidency an inexplicable stunt.

READ ALSO: Northern governors blame immigrants for herdsmen attacks

He said that the president, on receiving the Senates report, ought to have directed either the EFCC or the ICPC to investigate the allegations against the SGF.

He charged the Senate to take the step of forwarding the report to any anti-corruption agency to prove that it genuinely intended to join the fight against corruption

In related news, the co-convener of the Bring Back Our Girls, BBOG, group, Aisha Yesufu has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign for absolving Babachir Lawal of corruption allegations.

Aisha in a series of tweets on Tuesday, January, 24 and Wednesday, January 25, called out the president saying if he can clear someone that stole N200m from vulnerable IDPS in this type of recession then imagine what he would have done in abundance.

Source: Legit.ng
Adama Barrow, the new president of Gambia, is set to return to Bangul, the countrys capital city on Thursday, January 26, after his predecessor Yahaya Jammeh stepped down.

It was reported earlier that Barrow was supposed to have arrived in Gambia on Tuesday, January 24.

President Adama Barrow to return to Gambia on Thursday

The announcement which was made on a Facebook page linked to the president said Barrow will arrive Gambia at 4:00pm.

Barrow assumed office on January 19, after an election where he was declared winner against Jammeh on December 1.

However, after conceding defeat, Jammeh made a U-turn refusing to let go power as president.

READ ALSO: Yahya Jammeh opens up why he stepped down as he goes into exile (video)

He finally left the country on Saturday, January 21, with President Alpha Conde of Guinea, to begin a new life in exile.

Meanwhile, Fatoumata Tambajang has been appointed as the vice president of the Gambia.

Her appointment was announced on Monday, January 23, by Halifa Sallah, the spokesperson of President Adama Barrow at a Press Conference held in Banjul.

Born in on October 22 1949 in Brikama, Tambajang played a great role in uniting opposition members to defeat the former dictator Yahya Jammeh in the December 2016 presidential election.

Source: Legit.ng
- United States President Donald Trump is expected to sign different executive orders on national security on Wednesday, January 25

- The orders will include construction of a wall along the border with Mexico

- Some Muslim countries including three African nations will have their visas suspended by the president

Donald Trump is set to sign some executive orders today banning citizens of some countries from entering the US

Donald Trump is expected to start fulfilling his campaign promises as he is set to sign different executive orders on national security.

According to The Guardian, Trump will today sign an order for the construction of a wall along the Mexico border.

READ ALSO: Hurricane Trump hits America: President 'deletes' gay rights, other laws scrapped as Taliban threaten US

Additionally, Trumps volley of executive orders will also include an imposition of temporary ban on most refugees, suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern.

In one of his characteristic tweets, Donald Trump told his followers to expect spectacular announcement from him: Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!

With this action, Trump has started fulfilling some of the pledges he made on the campaign trail.

According to experts, Trumps latest orders are likely to involve restricting access to the US for refugees and some visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

READ ALSO: Black priest ignores Donald Trump's handshake during church service (photos,video)

Meanwhile, the White House team of President Donald Trump has removed the Spanish language from the website.

Checking for the Spanish content on the website returns an error message to web surfers.

Source: Legit.ng
The first school board meeting of 2017 started with some spring cleaning.

Newly elected and re-elected members  Aaron Abnet, Chrissie Alioto, Eric Morken and Jill Rodeberg  took the oath of office.

There were the election of school board positions. Nate Byom is the new board chair and president; Wade Welper is the new vice-chair; Jill Rodeberg is the new clerk and Kent Summerfield is the new treasurer.

Committee duties were doled out. Tenured members jumped between their previous committees commitments and tried some new ones, while the new members felt out their new commitments.

Rodeberg joined the curriculum committee, the kids company, net manager and administration committee, staff development committee, technology committee and the district 300 foundation committee.

Alioto joined the cooks, custodians and secretaries committee, the common council committee, staff development committee, community education committee and the calendar committee.

Abnet joined the buildings, grounds and transportation committee and the finance committee.

There was no community input given at the meeting.

The board went into closed session halfway through the meeting to discuss available land for purchase.

The land in question was a property on Spruce Street adjacent to the La Crescent High School. The owners had contacted the school for an offer.

When the room reconvened, the board voted against purchasing the land.

According to La Crescent-Hokah Superintendent Kevin Cardille, the offer would have been a good purchase but the school could not afford it at this time.

Business manager Todd Netzke was absent due to an illness. The board decided to table any action on the 2016-17 budget revisions.

Cardille presented an overview of the budget.

Revenue and expenditures are higher than last year, he said. The balanced budget is out the window. The general fund projection for June 2017 is around $1.4 million.

The projected budget for June 2017 is $180,309 less than last years total general fund. Cardille attributed the difference to the $180,000 spent on the roofing project.

Activities director and Assistant Principal Jeff Copp presented course registration changes to the board.

If you change up the courses, then kids think, I want to take that course,  Cardille said. It gives options. We have algebra one and two, we have honors. Thats for students who want to go to college with science- and math-heavy loads.

While the discussion about the course changes was approved, the board discussed the potential use of the block system.

We have a scheduling committee looking into it, Copp said. There could be efficiencies in that students could take more options but there are potential efficiencies for staff also. There could be six semester options, not just five.

Cardille presented a change in the boards agenda.

If we move board member reports earlier in the meeting it would be better, he said. That way if something is coming up in action items, we could possibly have more information to make better decisions on our action items.

The change was approved by the board.

La Crescent Chief of Police Doug Harpenau stopped by the meeting to present a cooperative agreement to the board.

Id like to thank and recognize the administration and their working relationship with the police but Im here because of an issue that has been circling, he said. The intersection of 3rd Street and Oak Street; some students have to walk through those four lanes.

Although there has been no accidents involving students, Harpenau said it would be best to put rapid-flash beacon stop signs at the intersection before an accident occurred.

Itd be like the south side of La Crosse, he said. What we have right now with a person holding a stop sign is not effective.

He asked the school district to contribute $3,000 to 4,000 for the stop signs. The county has agreed to pay the engineering costs, while the city council agreed to cover all costs of perpetual maintenance.

A concern I have is that in the communities Im involved in Wisconsin, the school board would never be involved board member Nate Byom said. In my professional career Ive been involved in 20-plus installations and there will still be the same issues there.

Board member Wade Welper proposed the board approve up to $4,500 for the installation.

The board approved it.

Strategic plan

Cardille presented the board with a request to have a retreat in two weeks. It will be open to the public at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1, in the high schools media center.

We are close to completing the strategic plan, he said.

The plan has been presented at a staff development committee and had a positive reception.

The retreat will not only help finalize the strategic plan  something that came to fruition after Decembers retreat  but will let the board go over community suggestions for reductions.

Other business

The schools enrollment has stayed steady with 1,146 students.

La Crescent-Hokah school district has the highest per capita of students involved in robotics in the state. The school will be competing in the FIRST robotics competition in La Crosse in April.

The Discovery Preschool has received $15,000 in funding from the Minnesota Department of Education and is eligible for $22,500 each year for the next two years. The grant will help continue the Pathways 2 Early Learning Scholarship program.

The board members discussed the recent snow days and decided that for the next school year they will look into developing an online learning day program for those days.

In the board reports, Byom said he was optimistic for the future.

I think its more positive than people think, he said.

Summerfield took the opportunity to ask those at the meeting to contact their local representative to block the nomination of Betsy DeVos for U.S. secretary of education.

Whatever your viewpoints, it is time to get off dead center and let your voice be known, he said.
Apostle Johnson Suleiman of the Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide has opened up on the attempt to arrest him by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

Suleiman was on a two-day crusade in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti state when the DSS operatives tried to arrest him but he was saved by Governor Ayodele Fayose who arrived in time and stopped the operatives from whisking him away.

Apostle Suleiman said the DSS tried to force their way into the hotel

Sources said the security officials wanted to arrest him early on Wednesday morning, for inciting his audience to rise up against Fulani herdsmen.

Speaking recently in Auchi, Edo state, the man of God called on his members to defend themselves and kill any Fulani herdsmen they find near him or his church.

Suleiman has spoken after the incident and are some things he said.

READ ALSO: Fayose stops DSS from arresting Apostle Johnson Suleman in Ekiti (photo, video)

1. I called some people that there are some men here who say they want to see me at this dead hour of the night, something is fishy.

2. They came with trucks and all that but the governor came and took me out.

3. They tried to break into the place but the crowd scared them.

4. If I spend one day with the security operatives, the damage that will happen in Nigeria will take one year to repair.

READ ALSO: 6 things Fayose said that proves he's President Buhari's match

5. I have churches in 42 countries and I have alerted them. Every Nigerian embassy in those countries will be in trouble.

6. In this country alone, I have over half a million people and there are reactions already.

Meanwhile news of the foiled arrest of Pastor Suleiman has been generating reactions from Nigerians with many condemning the DSS for its action.

Source: Legit.ng
- Charles Oputa has said that the dreams of nationhood is lost on the alter of deception

- He called on Igbos to focus on developing the South-East region

- Referring to Biafra as an illusion, Charly Boy said, docility has eroded humanity from Nigerians

Charly Boy has said that the dreams of nationhood has been lost on the alter of deception

One of Nigerias controversial musician and television presenter Charles Oputa popularly known as Charly Boy has finally addressed the issue of Biafra, the civil war and leadership in Nigeria.

Charly Boy in a recent statement said President Muhammadu Buhari, Yorubas or even Hausas are not the problems of the Igbo man.

While accepting that he is a proud Igbo man, Charly Boy, said the failure of an Igbo nation is the fault of the elites and decision maker from the South-East region.

Charly Boy said: The Igbos may have short circuited their political growth, but it doesn't take away the fact that we are great Nigerians.

I have learnt to be more Igbotic than I ever expected. As an igbo man, I have learnt to be more profitable in the things that I do. I have perfected the art of being tenacious in any dream I chase; to be industrious, consistent and powerfully focused.

READ ALSO: Keep your Igbo presidency campaign, on Biafra we stand, Igbos tell Obasanjo

All the lessons I learnt from my brothers in the tribe have made me dogged, hardworking and exhibiting the ability and capacity to survive in any kind of weather. I am an original Nwa Biafra, Charly Boy said.

He said while the Igbo man has entrepreneurial abilities, he fails to develop his home and focuses on developing other peoples environment.

See how we have migrated to different parts of Nigeria and the world which is good, made it home and developed our immediate environment. Why are we neglecting our home base, why are we running away from developing the South East?

Also referring to Biafra as an illusion, Charly Boy said docility has eroded humanity from Nigerians.

Why have we not poured our energy, capacity and Ability into making the South East the Dubai of the Nation as well as the engine room of the Nigerian Economy? Who would be our leaders when the south east is infested with political power grabbers, 419ers, mindless criminals and looters of our commonwealth and resources? Need I mention names?

Our problem may not after all be the man in Aso Rock from Daura or the ordinary Hausa or Yoruba man on the Streets of Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Warri or Ogbomosho. The problem is the lack of men of integrity and a progressive mind set.

We lack the right kind of leadership that will fight for the interest of the people. Let it be clear to all that the suffering of the People from the South East is also the suffering of the people from the other geopolitical zones in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: We wont fold our hands and watch our children massacred, Ohaneze Ndigbo reacts to killing of IPOB members

It is therefore retrospectively insane to begin to think that a people with a problem would suddenly be relieved when they are attached with a tag #BIAFRA; What Nonsense and Insanity!

Now how do you begin to imagine that while the agitation for the state of Biafra is being demanded by the gullible Ibo youths, those who have been or are in position of authority are either not interested or are continuing their expansive investments in other part of Nigeria?

Who dem dey deceive? They divide us daily with Religion, Tribalism, Ethnicity and Petty Bigotry even among the Tribes and Ethnic composition in the South East there is divisiveness.

Why is Nnamdi Kanu yet to realize that the dreams of nationhood are lost in the altar of deception.

Have we even considered that the population of my people from the south east outside the Region is twice the population of those in the south east? How can we who are supposed to be looking at making the South East the centralised Industrial Hub of the Nigeria Nation be the ones who are driving a wedge of unrealistic fantasy between Nigeria and our own people? When President Muhammadu Buhari sings the localization and Nigerianazation song; we should be the ones to drive the narrative, because We Can.

READ ALSO: FG lied! Nnamdi Kanus co-accused guns were licensed  Lawyer

When you have a willing Partner, who is interested in the Nigerianization of the Nigerian Economy; Why are some of my people busy creating or Poisoning the environment that are ordinarily designed to favour that which will promote the industrialization of the South East. Why have we become the enemy of our own home? Why hasn't the "think home mentality arrested every igbo billionaires and millionaires?

Why are we eliminating the chances of Ibonising the Nigerian Economy by Nationalizing the Ibo Thought for a United and Prosperous Nigeria as well as for the benefits of all?

I cannot STAND here and tell you there are no problems of trust in Nigeria. I will be the last to say that the Ibo nation has not undergone persecution.

READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu ready to drag Buhari, FG to ICC - Lawyer

I will be foolish to ignore the hunger that was used as a tool to starve the Ibo Nation during the civil war.

I am perfectly in the know about the problems of the Nigeria structure, Abeg make we know our History but use am to work today to perfect tomorrow.

No one can argue the facts, and the facts are clear. The major problem of the Ibo Nation is also the major issue with the Nigeria State.

'The Mindset', the mind must first be liberated, the thoughts must be harmonized and the people of the South East, my dear brothers and sisters must know that the development of the region is horrible because the leaders in the region have failed.

Politically, religiously, societally and communally. Over the past decades; where is the accountability from the leadership with regards," he said.

Source: Legit.ng
The removal of Yahya Jammeh after a 22-year rule of Gambia was not done by Adama Barrow alone. Fatoumata Tambajang is the woman who pulled a lot of strings behind the scenes.

Fatoumata Tambajang

Mrs Tambajang, is a former UN official and health minister. She was also the chair of the coalition that defeated Jammeh in the December 1 presidential polls.

It was no surprise that Barrow named her vice president. Here are 9 things to know about Gambia's new vice president:

1. Early life

Fatoumatta Tambajang was born on October 22, 1948. She will be 68 years of age this year. Tambajang was born in Brikama, the Gambia.

2. Education

She has a Bachelor of Arts In French language, from the University of Nice, Sophia Antipolis, France. She was educated in the Gambia, Dakar and France.

3. Family

Tambajang is from the Fula ethnic group and resides in Kanifing District. She is the mother of eight children.

READ ALSO: Adama Barrow picks vice president

4. Career

Tambajang was an advisor to Dawda Jawara, the 1st President of the Gambia, on women's issues and children's affairs.

She also chaired the Gambia national womens council and represented it in the Gambia national economic and social council for six years.

Tambajang served as the secretary of state for health and social welfare from 1994 to 1995 in the armed forces provisional ruling council cabinet.

She was one of two female ministers in the cabinet, alongside Susan Waffa-Ogoo. She addressed the international conference on population and development in September 1994 on behalf of the Gambia.

READ ALSO: Gambia's new president speaks on Jammehs exile, presidential term limit

5. Politics

Tambajang joined the United Democratic Party (UDP) in April 2015, during the Fass stand-off with security forces.

Tambajang once served as Minister of Health under former President Yahya Jammeh. She is a prominent pro-democracy activist.

6. Advocacy

Like we said earlier, she was the driving force behind forming a coalition of opposition parties that rallied behind Barrow during the December 1 presidential election.

Below is a video of Tambajang:

Source: Legit.ng
Ekiti state governor Ayo Fayose has warned the federal government to be careful with the way it handles issues of religion in the country in order to avoid religious crisis.

Governor Fayose warns the federal government to treat Christian leaders with care.

Fayose said attempt by armed men of the Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest Apostle Johnson Suleiman of The Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide in Ado Ekiti would have caused serious trouble.

READ ALSO: MURIC orders the arrest of Apostle Suleiman

Speaking through his special assistant on public communications and new media Lere Olayinka, the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, accused the federal government of indirectly supporting attack on Christians and other Muslim sects like the Shiites.

Fayose said: Nigerians, either Muslim or Christian deserve to be protected by the federal government, which controls all security apparatus in the country and the moment the federal government can no longer protect Nigerians from being killed by rampaging herdsmen, citizens of the country will have no option than to defend themselves.

If the federal government had acted swiftly like it acted on Apostle Suleiman so-called inciting comments when people were being killed by herdsmen across the country, so many lives would have been saved.

It is on record that the APC in Ekiti State issued press statements and went on social media to disparage the Redeemed Christians Church of God (RCCG) Worldwide General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye just because he praised me when he came to Ekiti. And curiously, it was immediately Pastor Adeboye came to Ekiti State and praised me that he was forced to relinquish his position as the General Overseer of the RCCG.

Apostle Johnson Suleiman openly condemned the killing of Nigerians across the country and went on to say that Christians should rise and defend themselves if the federal government, which controls all security apparatus will not defend them and the next thing that happened was the DSS moving swiftly to arrest him.

READ ALSO: Fani-Kayode salutes Fayose for blocking DSS arrest of Apostle Suleman

Isnt it ridiculous that instead of running after those herdsmen that have killed over 3,000 Nigerians in just one year, the DSS opted to arrest a man of God, who merely expressed his frustration on the inability of Nigeria to protect its citizens?

Or who should be arrested between those killer herdsmen and Apostle Suleiman who merely expressed his readiness for self-defence and called on Christians to defend themselves if they are attacked by the herdsmen?

We were all in this country when cattle breeders openly said over 1,000 Agatu people of Benue State were killed because over 10,000 cows were killed. We were also told that the Southern Kaduna genocide was as a result of killing of cows. Up till today, none of those cattle breeders have been arrested.

Meanwhile, the Omega Fire Ministries has responded to the attempted arrest of the churchs General Overseer Apostle Johnson Suleiman in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital, on Wednesday, January 25, morning.

The churchs media director, Dr. Sule Emmanuel and the coordinator of the churchs legal team, Samuel Amune, in a jointly signed statement, said Apostle Suleiman is safe and the attempted arrest that was ordered from Abuja was unsuccessful.

Source: Legit.ng
ST. PAUL, Minn.  A ban on Sunday liquor sales that has been Minnesota law for more than eight decades could face a more aggressive challenge than usual this year due to an influx of new legislators and a push by one of the states most powerful politicians.

Its a perennial topic at the Legislature, where advocates hopes of repealing the Sunday sales ban are routinely crushed by wide margins, keeping Minnesota as one of just 12 states that ban liquor stores from opening on Sundays. Last year, the House voted down a repeal attempt on a 70-56 vote.

But an election that shifted control of the Legislature also brought in nearly four dozen new lawmakers, and a majority of those who left the Capitol through retirement or defeat had voted to uphold the ban. And the repeal effort has a louder, more powerful champion than ever before: Republican House Speaker Kurt Daudt, once a Sunday sales opponent who this year co-authored a bill and has boldly predicted that the House would finally vote to repeal the ban in 2017.

Its a populist issue. I think its something people want, and theres not a really good reason not to do it, he said last week. I feel like its something we can do that people will say, See, government is listening to us.

Legislation made its first steps in a House committee Jan. 17 and passed on a 15-4 vote, including four representatives voting yes who helped uphold the ban last year. As it heads for a full vote on the House floor, half of the 20 newcomers contacted by The Associated Press said theyd likely support the repeal effort, while another seven remained undecided. Just three said they were leaning toward upholding the ban.

The state should not be in the business of dictating when your doors are open, said Sen. Mark Koran, a freshman Republican from North Branch and steadfast proponent of allowing Sunday sales.

Korans argument has echoed around the Capitol for a decade or more but gained little traction among lawmakers. Even last weeks hearing of a bill was a sign of progress for advocates  for years, failing votes have been contained to parliamentary maneuvers that forced hurried votes on the House and Senate floors.

Liquor industry officials and unions have fought against the change, arguing that that the states current setup protects smaller, family-operated stores who wouldnt see more revenue from an extra day of business, just more expenses. Democratic Sen. Nick Frentz said thats what businesses in his Mankato-area district have told him.

Allowing Sunday liquor sales faces tougher odds in Senate, where resistance may have only grown since it last shot down a repeal attempt 35-28 in 2015. Several House Democrats with a record of voting to uphold the ban moved up to the Senate this year.

Sen. David Osmek, R-Mound, said its no slam dunk, but hes optimistic he can get enough senators on board to legalize Sunday sales. Hes encouraged by cities such as Lakeville, which runs its local liquor stores, and has resisted a repeal, recently moving to support the effort.

When your cities say I want this, its very hard to say no, Osmek said.

Gov. Mark Dayton said last week he wont join the push for a repeal, but vowed he wouldnt veto a bill if it makes it to his desk.

Its a populist issue. I think its something people want, and theres not a really good reason not to do it. I feel like its something we can do that people will say, See, government is listening to us. House Speaker Kurt Daudt
Controversial OAP Daddy Freeze has once again reacted to a trending issue, this time he has a word for the founder of Omega Fire Ministry, Apostle Johnson Suleman.

Freeze blasts Apostle Suleiman

Recall that Ayodele Fayose, the Ekiti state governor and the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorss Forum, in the early hours of Wednesday, January 25, thwarted operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) efforts to arrest the Apostle.

READ ALSO: OAP Daddy Freeze calls Nigerian pastors liars

Reacting to the situation, Freeze put Suleman on the blast saying, he is not above the law.

On his Instagram page @daddyfreeze, the OAP wrote: Dear Apostle Suleiman, Im very disappointed in this statement! Are you now above the law? Why should you threaten the government stating that you will do what to embassies? Really? Do you realize that this amounts to treason? Are you trying to start a war?

Like I earlier stated, I understand that you are angry and you have a right to be, however, this is not the way to go about it. I still hold you in high esteem for your spirit of giving but I must say sir, this is ABSOLUTELY WRONG!

Lets be very careful when agitating for war, because war never solves ANYTHING!!! The war in Iraq, Libya and Syria has solved NOTHING.

Life was much better under Sadam and Ghadaffi than it is now. ISIS was born as a result of the war in Iraq, and millions died in the war and in the aftermath.

Let me educate those of you shouting about the war where David killed Goliath. Later on, he had to fight the giants brother and sons and up until today Goliaths people the philistines, are still bombing Israel! Can we truly say that war was won?

When Jesus was killed, NOBODY was killed in retaliation, the war was won in the spirit and the victory is everlasting!

Lets be like Jesus, all he asks does for us to love one another, and yes, that includes love our enemies.

READ ALSO: Freeze shares family photos with son

Apostle Johnson Suleman became a wanted man after he asked his church members to deal ruthlessly with any Fulani herdsman whose mission is to attack him or the church.

Source: Legit.ng
- BSO says Apostle Suleiman spoke the mind of the Christian community over his comments on the killings in Southern Kaduna

- The deputy director of the BSO, Chief Blessing Agbomhere, urges the federal government and the DSS to focus on stopping the menace of herdsmen in parts of the country instead of causing crisis for the administration

- Agbomhere states that arresting Suleiman would imply that the federal government was encouraging the activities of the herdsmen

Apostle Suleiman recently had urged his church members to kill any herdsman that come near his church.

The Buhari Support Organizations (BSO) has warned that any attempt by the Directorate of State Security (DSS ) to arrest Apostle Johnson Suleiman could cause anarchy in the country.

READ ALSO: If I spend 1 day with DSS: Apostle Suleiman spits fire (video)

The deputy director of the BSO, Chief Blessing Agbomhere, in a press statement issued in Benin City on Wednesday, January 25, said Apostle Suleiman spoke the mind of the Christian community over his comments on the killings in Southern Kaduna.

Agbomhere urged the federal government to and the DSS to focus on stopping the menace of herdsmen in parts of the country instead of causing crisis for the administration, The Nation reports.

He said: Everybody has a right of free speech, any attempt to arrest him can cause a lot of setback for the Buhari administration. As a supporter of the president and a believer in this administration, I dont want the presidency or the DSS to be drawn into a religious battle.

Everybody is angry about the killings in Kaduna. Everybody is entitled to express his feelings including those following the leader. Apostle Suleiman is a leader of the Christian community. They should focus on how to stop the menace of herdsmen in Nigeria because arresting Suleiman is like the Federal Government encouraging the activities of the herdsmen.

READ ALSO: 6 things Fayose said that proves he's President Buhari's match

The DSS and the Federal Government should not cause anarchy in this country. The arrest of Suleiman is capable of putting Nigeria into crisis. That will pitch the Christian community against the Federal Government which we will not like.

We hope the attempted arrest is a lie. If it is a lie we urge the DSS to issue a statement to disown the alleged arrest.

Recall that Governor Ayodele Fayose had told newsmen in Ekiti State that he foiled attempt by operatives of the DSS to arrest Apostle Suleiman who is in the state for a crusade.

The alleged attempt to arrest Apostle Suleiman might be connected with a video that gone viral in which he urged his church members to kill any herdsman that come near his church because he received information of plans to assassinate him.

Source: Legit.ng
Following his unguarded rant over herdsmen, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has lashed out at the Senior Pastor of the Omega Fire Ministries, OFM, Apostle Johnson Suleiman.

BREAKING! MURIC orders the arrest of Apostle Suleman

MURIC says the clergy is out to make the country unsafe for law abiding Muslims and Fulanis.

Recall that Suleiman has been in the news lately after he asked his members to kill any Fulani herdsmen seen around him and his church.

In the early hours of this morning, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose had foiled an attempt by operatives of the Department of States Services, DSS, to arrest the clergy man in Ado-Ekiti.

But MURIC, in a statement by its Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, condemned the hate speech by Sulieman, urging security agencies to do the needful.

Describing Suleimans speech as provocative, irresponsible and unpatriotic, MURIC urged Nigerians not to allow some misguided spiritual leaders who have hidden agenda to becloud their sense of assessment.

The statement sent to Daily Post, on Wednesday reads: The founder of Omega Fire Ministries, Johnson Suleman, recently instructed members of his church to kill Fulanis. An attempt by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) to arrest him in Ado Ekiti yesterday was foiled by Governor Ayodele Fayose.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) strongly condemns Pastor Johnson Sulemans vituperations. It is provocative, irresponsible and unpatriotic. In the same vein, we are nonplussed by Governor Fayoses penchant for preventing security agents from performing their lawful duties. By shielding such a high profile suspect, Fayose has manifested blatant disregard for the rule of law, encouraged lawlessness and exhibited executive brigandage.

Pastor Johnson Suleman wants to make the country unsafe for Muslims and law abiding Fulanis. It is not in our character to issue threats. We are mature enough to control our emotions. Yet it is not out of cowardice that we prefer to tow the path of peaceful coexistence. Muslims have never been known to fear death or to compromise their faith. But we do not want to join issues with belligerent people who are always bullying Muslims and Fulanis by telling lies and issuing threats. Neither do we want to heat up the polity.

What will ordinary Muslims do when we exchange banters with firebrand Christian extremists like Johnson? Why should religious leaders speak as if they have stocked heaps of weapons in hiding? Why should spiritual guides incite their followers to kill and maim? What do religious leaders gain from goading their followers to shed blood?

The victims are usually the poor masses who are hypnotized by the rhetoric and mesmerized by the oratorical skills of their fanatical leaders. This is why leaders must weigh every word they utter. Leaders are models. They must live by example and teach their followers to learn how to love, to tolerate, to forgive and to peacefully coexist.

MURIC charges Nigerians to objectively and critically examine the Fulani herdsmen phenomenon. They should not allow some misguided spiritual leaders who have hidden agenda to becloud their sense of assessment. Fulanis have been coming to Nigeria before the 1914 amalgamation. Their nomadic and pastoral flow has never waned since the first Fulanis came from Futa Toro in Senegal in the 11th century. We should therefore not be surprised that the criminal elements among the herdsmen are not even Nigerians. They are Senegalese and Malians.

It is therefore unwise of us as Nigerians to allow a few lawless foreigners to cause religious or ethnic war in our land. Let us separate criminals from their tribe or religion. We should resist the temptation to stigmatise Fulanis or Muslims because a few herdsmen take the law into their hands. For the avoidance of doubts, we denounce the criminal activities of these herdsmen but we should mind where we point accusing fingers.

Are Nigerians unaware that the same Fulani herdsmen have are also been attacking and killing Muslims in Zamfara, Niger, Kano, Bauchi and other Northern states? Why have we been ignoring this angle if we are sincere? Has the status of a herdsman changed when he attacks a Northern farmer or a Muslim and steals his cattle? Let us be objective. Let us stop criminalizing Fulanis and demonizing Muslims. It is the height of hypocrisy and absolute lack of patriotism to give the criminal activities a religious or ethnic colouration.

We therefore call on the Nigerian security agencies to do the needful. Nobody is above the law. Fayose or no Fayose, Pastor Johnson Suleman must still be questioned and cautioned for his vituperations and provocative statements. He cannot remain tied to Fayoses apron string forever.

Condemning Fayoses action, the organisation said, Even Fayose should be told point blank that his days as a free man are numbered. He must answer for his executive rascality and lawlessness. No governor in the history of Nigeria has abused his office like Fayose has done. His cup of executive recklessness has been filled to the brim. The people of Ekiti State have indeed entered a one chance bus. Or what do we say about a state governor who is seldom sober? We do not need a micro-biologist to tell us whether or not Fayose has the area boy syndrome virus.

We charge the Nigerian security agencies to spare no effort in dealing decisively with the notorious herdsmen who have brought untold hardship to Nigerian farmers. The full wrath of the law must be unleashed on them for killing innocent farmers and destroying their farms. We appeal to Muslims to go about their lawful duties and to remain calm and law abiding. We invite religious leaders to douse tension in their areas of influence in order to allow peace to reign.

As we round up, we remind the United Nations Organisation, the European Union and the African Union to take note of the hate speeches emanating from Nigeria and their authors for the day when the come will come to become.

Source: Legit.ng
- The presidency has denied rumours that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is under pressure to resign

- The position of Aso Rock was made by President Muhammadu Buhari's political adviser, Senator Babafemi Ojudu

- Ojudu described the rumours as a fabrication

The presidency has denied rumours that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is under pressure to resign.

The position of Aso Rock was made by President Muhammadu Buhari's political adviser, Senator Babafemi Ojudu.

Senator Babafemi Ojudu, political adviser to President Buhari

While speaking to The Punch, Ojudu described the allegation as ridiculous adding that it was nothing but a fabrication.

READ ALSO: Osinbajo briefs Buhari on national, other issues

His words: ''I have read many ridiculous stories the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo is being held hostage by some governors who are trying to compel him to resign.

''I have equally received several calls regarding this, The story is simply not true. It is a fabrication. Don't be a purveyor of fake news.

''The Vice President is behind his desk carrying out his task. The Federal Executive Council presided over by him has just ended and he has been busy receiving visitors and holding meetings.

Some unconfirmed reports on peddled on social media had claimed the vice president was under pressure to resign from some northern governors.

READ ALSO: Only Buhari has prerogative to re-jig his cabinet - Adesina

Meanwhile, Professor Osinbajo presided over the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) today, Janaury 25 in his capacity as Nigeria's acting president.

Source: Legit.ng
Editor's note: Again, the former minister of aviation Femi Fani-Kayode has condemned the continued killing of residents in Southern Kaduna.

The former minister also condemned the inability of the state government to take up the responsibility of protecting it people.

Former minister Femi Fani-Kayode has said that the continued killing in Southern part of Kaduna state is a shameful legacy

"Not a single soul has been prosecuted, let alone jailed for the genocide in Southern Kaduna and you are blaming someone for preaching self defense? You are INSANE. Yes, INSANE"- Olufemi Korode, Twitter, 24th January 2017.

Can anyone dispute the fact that Mr. Korode is right? Are those that say that Christians should not defend themselves or complain when they are being killed not completely insane?

The truth is that had it not been for the fact that eight more innocent and defenceless people were butchered by Fulani militants in Samaru Kataf, Southern Kaduna on 17th January, that six young students of the College of Education, Gidan Waya, Southern Kaduna were massacred on 23rd January and that twenty innocent souls, including women and children, were killed by the same pack of beastly savages in the village of Ohimini in Benue state on that same day I may not have written this piece.

Yet I am constrained to do so because the animals in human flesh and Islamist demons that are on the rampage in Kaduna state and indeed all over the country have not satisfied their lust for Christian blood and their carnage persists. As a matter of fact the cancer is spreading.

READ ALSO: Fani-Kayode reacts to Fayose's saving Apostle Suleman from DSS

When you add the thirty four that were murdered in the last few days to the 808 innocent souls that were killed by the same creatures on Christmas eve and Christmas day you cannot come to any other conclusion than the fact that this is genocide and that it is time to resist it.

Unfortunately some do not wish to hear that. They would prefer the people of Southern Kaduna to continue to be the sacrificial lambs that they have always been. Permit me to share just one example of their mindset here.

In reaction to the suggestion that the people of Southern Kaduna ought to defend themselves from mass murder and genocide given the fact that the state government has refused to protect them, Mallam Uba Sani, a four foot dwarf and the political advisor to Kaduna state's diminutive Midget-in-Chief, Governor Nasir El Rufai, wrote the following in Thisday and a number of other newspapers:''The greatest challenge to peace in Kaduna state now is the antics of political jobbers and opportunists who have gone as low as spreading hate speeches; telling communities in Kaduna State to defend themselves.

This, of course, is an unmistakable call on the people of Kaduna state to procure arms and ammunition and start killing themselves. This is not just very low but extremely dangerous. This call on the citizenry to take the laws into their own hands totally undermines all on-going efforts to achieve lasting peace in Kaduna state.''

These are strong words from the dwarf who appears to be expressing the frustration, angst and cold rage of his employer, the Chief Midget.

Instead of showing remorse for their woeful failures and begging for forgiveness for the oceans of innocent blood that has been shed under their watch, the government of Kaduna state is lashing out at those of us that have called them out and that are deeply concerned about the annihilation and decimation of human life and sheer carnage that is taking place in Southern Kaduna.

The dwarf pours scorn on the suggestion that a man should protect his family, loved ones and home from cold-blooded murderers who are attempting to maim and kill them.

He is suggesting that the people of Southern Kaduna should keep quiet, fold their arms and happily welcome, with a warm smile, those that have come to abuse their wives, slaughter their children, burn their homes, wipe out their faith and possess their land. Is that how to make Kaduna great again?

READ ALSO: Resist them, Fani-Kayode urges Christians over alleged fresh violence in Kaduna

Is that how to get back to the glorious days of Abubakar 'Dangiwa' Umar, Ahmed Makarfi and Patrick Yakowa when Kaduna state was presided over by men of substance and character.

Is that the way to get back to the days when Kaduna state was blessed with kind and compassionate governors who were balanced, mature, sensitive, caring, gentle, cosmopolitan, inclusive and fair to all regardless of faith, tribe or ethnic nationality?

Is that how to get back to the peaceful days of Kaduna when those of us that play polo used to look forward to going there to play a few chukkas at the annual Kaduna Polo tournament?

Is that how to get back to the days when Kaduna was one of the best places to live in or visit in the country?

I doubt it very much. The truth is that nothing could be more insensitive, irresponsible, callous and utterly absurd than the dwarf's counsel and suggestion.

If that is the kind of advice that the midget has been getting from his aides and advisors ever since he was elected as governor one needs to look no further to know why he has failed so woefully.

Under his watch Kaduna state has become more divided than it has ever been in its entire history and the pungent smell and rotten stench of fresh human blood and fly-infested bloated corpses fills the air.

That is the shameful legacy that the midget and his dwarf are desperately trying to white-wash and defend.

Instead of going on their knees and begging God, the Christian community, the Shiite Muslims and the Nigerian people for forgiveness for what can, at best, be described as their irresponsible, incompetent and criminally negligent behaviour and, at worse, their willful and premeditated attempt to wipe out, exterminate and cleanse the land of the entire Christian community and every ethnic and religious minority group in Southern Kaduna and Zaria, they are throwing bricks at their perceived enemies and flying into childish tantrums.

READ ALSO: After visiting Bishop Oyedepo, Femi Fani-Kayode showers praises on TB Joshua

The dwarf spoke of "political jobbers" and "opportunists". One wonders just who they are? Again one wonders precisely what the "ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace in Kaduna" that he mentioned are given the fact that his boss the midget does not appear to give a hoot about the fact that thousands of innocent and defenceless people, including women and children, have been butchered during his watch and right under his nose.

At the end of 2015 over 1000 Shiite Muslims were killed in cold blood and buried in mass graves by the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna state. Many Shiites have accused the midget of covertly playing a sordid and questionable role in the whole affair and when one hears the facts one cannot blame them.

For example is it true that it was he that fingered Sheik Ibrahim El Zakzaky, the Shiite leader, by phoning him and ascertaining his whereabouts for the military before they tracked him down, shelled, shot and murdered hundreds of his people in the sanctity of their homes and proceeded to shoot him and his gentle Yoruba wife in the eye and stomach before whisking them both away.

Since that time they have kept both husband and wife incommunicado and in detention despite court orders to release them. One wonders what efforts the midget has made to get them out?

One wonders why he, a Sunni Muslim, hates the Shiite so much? One wonders why he has been tormenting, arresting, persecuting, outlawing, proscribing and locking them up ever since their leaders arrest even though they have never sought to harm or attack anyone?

Another example of the sheer depravity of this man was provided approximately one month ago over the Christmas holiday.

On Christmas eve and Christmas day alone, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), no less that 808 Christians were killed by the midget's friends and brothers, the Fulani militia (aka herdsmen), in Southern Kaduna.

READ ALSO: Herdsmen are also victims of Southern Kaduna crisis - Miyetti Allah

The midget and his government provided security and enforced a curfew in the Muslim areas of the state but they refused to do the same for Southern Kaduna which is Christian. Consequently the Fulani militia not only struck but they struck very hard indeed leaving nothing but death and destruction in their path.

Evidently the Chief Midget and his government are more interested in insulting, undermining, discrediting and threatening with arrest its critics and those that have expressed outrage about what the people of Southern Kaduna have been subjected to under his watch than in protecting and saving innocent Christian lives.

One wonders why he hates Christians so much to the extent that the only hospital in the relevant Christian community was shut down by his government on the days that the attacks took place in order to ensure that the wounded could not be treated and that as many Christians suffered casualties and died as possible.

Is the midget not vicariously liable and criminally culpable for those deaths even if he did not take part in the attacks himself? What is the source of and reason for his hatred for our Christian brothers and sisters? Are they not human beings as well? Are they not worthy of life? Do they not deserve to be protected?

These questions must be answered whether they like it or not. Yet instead of doing so they are spewing out more and more garbage by the day.

For example in his essay the midget's dwarf went even further by saying that "a Yoruba ex- minister who should know better" and who is "being sponsored" held a series of meetings in his Abuja home with various delegations from Southern Kaduna where they planned how to effect "a violent attack on others" in Kaduna state.

READ ALSO: OPINION: The Fulani Republic of Nigeria (part 2) by Femi Fani-Kayode

Though he did not have the courage to mention the name of that Yoruba ex-Minister it is obvious that the dwarf was referring to yours truly.

As a rule I do not respond to hired help and the aides of public office holders no matter how short they are because they are too small for me. This is especially so when they are stunted not just in physical growth but also in mental capacity.

When the midget himself dares to open his mouth and talk rubbish I will give him the full measure of my pen and tongue but I cannot bring myself to the very low level of joining issues with a frustrated dwarf or any of the other hired guns of an embittered and drowning midget.

What I will say to the dwarf however is this. If it was me that he was accusing of having meetings in my Abuja home with various delegations from Southern Kaduna he is absolutely right.

READ ALSO: The Fulani Republic of Nigeria: I believe in Biafra and Oduduwa nation  Open letter by Fani-Kayode

I have many friends in and from Southern Kaduna from both the Shiite Muslim and Christian community who deemed it necessary to pay me a visit in Abuja over the Christmas holidays and tell me about the genocide that they were being subjected to by the Fulani Janjaweed terrorists and military forces, with the full support and knowledge of the midget-in-chief.

I was proud to host them and I will continue to do so whether the little dwarf and his paymaster likes it or not.

I should also mention the fact that at no time did I discuss any violent attack on the Fulani or anyone else in Kaduna state with any of them though I told them plainly that if the government failed in its duty to protect them they must go ahead and defend themselves.

That is my view and it will always be my view and I will continue to share it with whoever I deem fit.

For this counsel I have no apology. If it gives the midget governor and his little dwarf sleepless nights that the people of Southern Kaduna will no longer sit back and allow their loved ones to be killed by their Fulani friends and kinsmen that is their problem. For all I care they can go and hug a transformer or jump in the lagoon. (TO BE CONTINUED).

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.

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Source: Legit.ng
- Tony Anenih condemned those spreading rumour of President Buhari's death

- The PDP chieftain said he has also been a victim in the past

- Lai Mohammed described the rumour as silly

The former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) board of trustees has condemned the rumour circulating that President Muhammadu Buhari was dead.

The rumour which began circulating after the presidents visit to the UK was refuted by Garba Shehu, the spokesperson to Buhari.

READ ALSO: Former militant urges Nigerians to pray for President Buhari

In spite of that, this has not stopped reports that the presidents health was diminishing.

The Cable reports that Anenih said he has also been a victim of death rumour and said those peddling it should ask God for forgiveness.

Tony Anenih condemns rumour about Buhari's death

He said: This attitude of doing false reports about the death of our leaders has become characteristic in the media and it is not good. I was a victim of this in May last year when I was reported to have died in a London hospital.

Former President Ibrahim Babangida was also a victim of such sinister rumoured death last year. I wonder what those behind the false and mischievous reports intended to gain from them.

Fabricating such negative and false reports of death about fellow human beings is wicked and ungodly. It is clearly against Biblical admonition that we should pray for leaders and people in authority.

At this time of economic recession, rather than wish President Buhari dead, Nigerians should fervently pray for him to enjoy good health to be able to take the country out of the woods.

The masterminds of these false reports should desist from such despicable act that only portrays them as inhuman. They should fear God, ask for His mercy and forgiveness so that they do not invite the wrath of God upon their heads.

In his reaction, Lai Mohammed who is the minister of information described the rumour as silly and said it is only in Nigeria people wish the president dead.

READ ALSO: Opinion: Who wants President Buhari dead?

He said: I dont want to lend my voice to a very silly thing. I will not join this debate. I think there are more serious issues of state to discuss than this issue.

Its only in this part of the world that you wake up in the morning and you say the president of the country is dead. I will not join that kind of debate at all.

Source: Legit.ng
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.
- Muslims in New York city are set to protest in anticipation of a travel ban by Trump

- The protest is fixed for 5pm at Washington Square park on Wednesday, January 25

- Trump is set to sign executive orders for a ban on refugees entering the US

Trump protests

President Donald Trump is expected to sign multiple executive orders on immigration this week, beginning with the construction of his infamous, Mexican border wall on Wednesday, January 25.

He is also seeking to prevent Muslim immigrants from entering the United States. According to his administration officials, Trump will begin rolling out executive actions that include preparations for his wall on the US-Mexico border along with other enforcement plans.

The president tweeted this on Tuesday, January 24:

According to CNN, on Wednesday, January 25, afternoon, the president will travel to the Department of Homeland Security to direct the agency begin construction on the wall and repair fencing along the border.

Muslims have concluded plans to protest against Trump's anticipated ban, one of the organizers tweeted:

Below was a post made by one of the protesters:

"Wednesday in Washington Square Park at 5 pm there will be a rally against the executive order Trump is reportedly signing today, banning immigrants, refugees and visa holders from seven countries.

"The ban or restriction would hinder people traveling from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from coming to the United States. This could last months or longer, depending on what the term Extreme Vetting Process actually means."

Meanwhile, President Trump has done something else that scares Americans. The White House team of have removed the Spanish language from the official website.

Below is a video of Trump calling for a Muslim registry:

Source: Legit.ng
Oversaturation has affected Western markets in the past five years. Given the amount of food Western citizens buy, it is no surprise that growth has come to a halt. In Western Europe, packaged food value sales increased by 9 percent between 2010 and 2015, while volume sales decreased by 3 percent; in North America, similar value increases were matched again by volume declines.

Yet, the world of snacks presents a breath of fresh air. Far from being tired, snacking is arguably the liveliest product class in foods at the moment. Compared to overall food sales in Western Europe, savory snacks achieved volume sales growth of 14 percent in the same time; snack bars and fruit snacks grew by 10 and 37 percent, respectively, albeit from a low base. So, how and why are snacks experiencing such a boom?

A Broad Church of Products Getting Broader

Partly, the answer lies in defining what a snack is. If one gives a limited definition and incorporates, for example, only sugar and chocolate confectionery alongside chips and cookies, then the outlook for snacks, at least in North America and Western Europe, suddenly grows darker. In Western Europe, chocolate confectionery has seen 0.5 percent volume sales compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2010 and 2015; cookies saw even lower growth, and sugar confectionery sales declined. Asia Pacific saw a CAGR of 6 percent in chocolate confectionery.

Chart

U.S. Snacking Products' Value Sales 2016 and Value CAGRs 2011-2016/2016-2021

Undoubtedly, there has been a shift to healthy snacksor at least, snacks perceived to be healthy. Hence, while cookies struggle, Mondelez's Belvita brand has grown by 183 percent in a five-year period, equivalent to US$166 million in additional sales. That is just in Western Europeglobally, the brand has become a priority for the company, achieving nearly $700 million in sales in 2015. Growth remains rapid, in part, because it has successfully communicated that it is a "healthy" brand.

Healthy" is an amorphous term; is a Belvita cookie healthy" because it is not chocolate, or does a product have to have legitimate, certified health benefits to be considered healthy? This looseness of terminology is something manufacturers have been able to capitalize on, with Kellogg and Mondelez, for example, promoting their products as generally healthy without possessing specific claims; Nakd, acquired this year by Belgian cookie manufacturer Lotus Bakeries for EUR70 million, promotes itself as gluten-, wheat- and dairy-free, appealing to the recent popularity of free-from products.

More recently, products from companies such as Clif Bar & Co. have become more visible across the West, particularly in the United States, the U.K. and Germany. These brands promote themselves as high-protein energy bars, and target gym-goers and mountain hikers. Clif packaging, for example, displays a man hiking, with the tagline feed your adventure." The brand more than doubled its market share and sales in five years, and was on course to account for 7 percent of global snack bar sales by the end of 2016.

The Future of Snacking

The scope of what can be considered a snack is shifting, with many dairy products moving into a snacking position. Danish dairy producer Arla is one leading example, having launched Scandinavian delicacies quark and skyr in Finland and, since then, elsewhere in Europe, in single-serve snack pots. Like Clif, these products forcefully communicate their high protein content on the packaging. Since launching in Germany and the U.K., Arla has achieved 2 percent in both countries' fromage frais and quark segment. Alongside the United States, these two countries tend to dominate new snacking trends, and both have a high spend on traditional snacks. Euromonitor International research indicated markets with a high spend on conventional snacks are more willing to branch out and try new products.

Of course, the idea of traditional snacks is heavily geared toward Western snacking habits. In Asia Pacific, for example, traditional snacks tend to be pastries, cakes and cookies. There is certainly room for expansion for chocolate and sugar confectionery in these markets. But it will be tough to achieve this growth outside wealthier classes who are able to afford, for example, chocolate, which is roughly 2 to 3 times more expensive than cookies, pastries and cakes.

Globally, there will be room for traditional" snacks. The average German consumes 160 50 g bars of chocolate per year at a rate of three a week. While they will eat less by 2020 (per capita consumption will decline by 200 g over the next four years), it is important to emphasize that these still have a significant role to play. In truth, however, the movement toward more snacking occasions will result in a more diversified array of snacks available. Snacks will continue to be one of the most innovative segments of packaged food for years to come.

Jack Skelly is a food analyst at Euromonitor International.
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SUAKOKO, Liberia  For days this month, the ambulances from the Ebola treatment unit here went out in search of patients, only to return with just one or two suspected cases. And many times, those people ended up testing negative for the disease.

Where are the patients? an aid worker wondered aloud as colleagues puzzled over the empty beds at the International Medical Corps treatment unit here in Bong County, Liberia, which opened in mid-September.

Around the country, treatment centers, laboratory workers who test for Ebola, and international and national health officials trying to track the epidemic have noticed an unexpected pattern: There are far fewer people being treated for Ebola than anticipated.

As of Sunday, fewer than half of the 649 treatment beds across the country were occupied, a surprising change in a nation where patients had long been turned away from Ebola units for lack of space.
TUNIS  A Spanish judge has ruled that 11 Moroccan former officials should stand trial on charges of genocide in connection with killings and torture in the former Spanish protectorate of Western Sahara from 1976 to 1991.

Judge Pablo Ruz ruled Thursday that there was evidence of crimes that amounted to genocide against the Sahrawi people during the period when the territory was annexed and controlled by Morocco. He specifically called for seven of the former Moroccan military and political officials to be arrested and extradited to Spain.

The decision, in the tradition of previous rulings that cross international boundaries, is rooted in Spains universal justice law, which has allowed Spains high court to hear cases of human rights violations committed anywhere in the world. Legal reforms introduced in 2013 after protests from China reduced the scope of the law, but Judge Ruz ruled that charges of genocide could still be brought in this case because many of the victims were considered Spanish citizens from the period when Western Sahara was a Spanish protectorate.

Morocco invaded and forcibly annexed Western Sahara in 1976 and fought a long war against a pro-independence movement, the Polisario Front, forcing several hundred thousand Sahrawis to flee into exile.
BRF Capital LLC/TDW Brokerage, LLC will receive $157,000 from tax increment district number three after the Black River Falls Common Council approved the request in their meeting last Wednesday.

The money will aid in developing the land BRF Capital LLC/TDW Brokerage, LLC purchased in front of Walmart to build a mini-mall.

This [money] came from taxes levied against the businesses in that district, so right now that is only Walmart, said Brad Chown, Black River Falls city administrator.

Tax increment district number three primarily encompasses Walmart and is a special taxing district that Black River Falls is able to levy to assist with economic development including infrastructure upgrades or cash grants for developments that occur.

The 7,000 square foot commercial building will house several retailers and be located in front of Walmart next to the new Arbys.

The development asked for $180,000. After the financial consultants analyzed this development, we recommended $157,000 because that is what the district could support, said Chown.

The motion was moved by alderperson Pete Olson and seconded by alderperson Joel Busse. The motion carried with a 6-to-1 vote, with alderperson Laura Colloton Chrest opposed.

The city will now draft a development agreement between Black River Falls and the developer, which will need to be approved by the city council. Part of that agreement will outline that the $157,000 will be payable after the developer obtains an occupancy permit for the new building, this insures the development is complete before any money is provided from the tax increment district, said Chown.

I think it is a good thing to see the economic development that is happening in Black River Falls and seeing some new retail options and new jobs coming to the city, said Chown.
The stronger Podemos looks, the more its opponents try to link the party to Venezuela, where the economy is collapsing and Mr. Maduros increasingly authoritarian government has declared a state of emergency. The message is meant to be scary and clear: Venezuela is a mess, and it can happen here.

One of the four parties that is competing in the campaign in Spain was hosted and formed in Venezuela, so if they want to bring that model here, they have to explain why, Albert Rivera, the leader of Ciudadanos, an emerging center-right party, told a group of foreign correspondents this month, shortly after returning from Venezuela. It is Podemos which brought Venezuela to Spain, not us.

The leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, fired back in a televised debate that his opponents were ignoring the issues that could really affect Spain, starting with a possible British exit from the European Union.

Podemos had its first electoral success in May 2014, when it won 8 percent of the votes in European Parliament elections. In its early days, Podemos looked to Syriza, the Greek party that came to power in early 2015, as an example of how a new and far-left party could overhaul the political establishment.

Podemos may be poised to do just that. After recently forming an alliance with a radical party, United Left, it could now leapfrog over the Socialists into second place, behind the conservative Popular Party of the caretaker prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, according to recent opinion polls. Such an outcome would overturn the two-party political order that has prevailed since Spains return to democracy in the late 1970s.
Over this same time, blacks and the poor have been moving in large numbers to the suburbs. Today, more of metropolitan Americas poor live in the suburbs than in cities. Chicago, frequently mentioned by Mr. Trump, lost 17 percent of its black population from 2000 to 2010 alone. Nationwide, a majority of blacks in large metropolitan areas now live in the suburbs, a huge demographic shift, particularly among the black middle class.

And as they have moved out, in some gentrifying neighborhoods, the rich have been moving in.

Inner city, in short, is imprecise in describing todays urban reality. It captures neither the true geography of poverty or black America, nor the quality of life in many communities in central cities. But politically, its 1970s-era meaning lingers.

I think its actually very useful, and its useful as a synonym for black, said N. D. B. Connolly, a historian at Johns Hopkins University who never uses the phrase himself. It doesnt matter, he says, that the term as Mr. Trump uses it is no longer demographically accurate.

The point is, it doesnt have to be, because what it does is it conjures a narrative about what happened in America during and after the 1960s, Professor Connolly said. The inner city is the place that burned when King was assassinated. It was Watts. It was the place Ronald Reagan had to try to conduct the war on drugs.

The phrase can also imply, Professor Connolly argues, that the problems of inner cities are of their own making  and are not the result of decades of policies that withheld mortgages, abetted discrimination or undermined schools. It might be more accurate to call them disinvested neighborhoods. That language acknowledges that society actively chose to withhold investment from these places (but that not all urban neighborhoods suffered that fate). Or neighborhoods of concentrated poverty might be a better phrase: If what we really want to talk about is deep poverty, this recognizes that it can be found anywhere, whether in rural Appalachia, suburbia or Detroit.

Mr. Trump, to be fair, is far from alone in using inner city this way. Two years ago, it got the current House speaker, Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, in trouble, when members of the Congressional Black Caucus accused him of dog-whistling in comments on the inner-city culture of men who dont work. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont also talked about inner cities, in trying to make the case for investing in them. President Obama has deployed the phrase himself. Just a few weeks ago, at the dedication of the new National Museum of African American History and Culture, he said, A museum alone will not alleviate poverty in every inner city or every rural hamlet.
Kara Waite, an English teacher at Bunker Hill Community College in Charlestown, Mass., made a rule for herself: For every political rant she posts on Facebook, she must pick up the phone and call a legislator.

Its kind of a swear jar for political action, Ms. Waite said recently.

Ms. Waite, who volunteers for liberal causes and who created a widely shared document last week to teach others her methods, figures that a phone ringing off the hook is more difficult for a lawmaker to ignore than a flooded inbox.

Activists of all political stripes recommend calling legislators, not just emailing  and certainly not just venting on social media. Several lawmakers, along with those who work for them, said in interviews that Ms. Waite is right: A phone call from a constituent can, indeed, hold more weight than an email, and far outweighs a Facebook post or a tweet.

To understand why, it helps to know what happens when someone answers the phone at a legislators office.
Eddie Kamae, who expanded the realm of possibility for the ukulele and helped lead a resurgence of traditional Hawaiian music and culture, died on Jan. 7 at his home in Honolulu. He was 89.

His death was confirmed by Myrna Kamae, his wife of 50 years, with whom he also made a series of highly regarded documentary films.

Mr. Kamae was one of the most influential Hawaiian musicians of the second half of the 20th century, at once an innovator and a diligent steward of folkloric customs. He is best remembered as a founder of the group the Sons of Hawaii, which made a handful of widely emulated albums in the 1960s and 70s that set the terms for the revivalist movement known as the Hawaiian renaissance.

The Sons of Hawaii originally featured Gabby Pahinui on vocals and slack-key acoustic guitar, with Mr. Kamae on ukulele, Joe Marshall on upright bass and David Rogers, known as Feet, on steel guitar. Drawing from the cadences and content of Hawaiian chants as well as the consonant twang of country music, the group combined historical reverence with show-business appeal.
Byron Dobell, an editor at Time-Life, Esquire and New York magazine who played a pivotal role in the careers of Tom Wolfe, Mario Puzo and other writers, died on Jan. 21 at his home in Manhattan. He was 89.

The cause was complications of Parkinsons disease, his daughter, Elizabeth, said.

In the early 1960s Mr. Dobell (pronounced dough-BELL) was a managing editor at Esquire, under Harold Hayes, when Tom Wolfe approached the magazine offering to write about Southern Californias subculture of car customizers.

Exhaustive reporting led to a severe case of writers block. With the deadline fast approaching, Mr. Wolfe called Mr. Dobell to say that he could not produce the article. O.K., he tells me, just type out my notes and send them over and he will get somebody else to write it, Mr. Wolfe wrote in the preface to his first book, The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby.

Under the salutation Dear Byron, Mr. Wolfe began typing out his notes overnight, in a mounting frenzy as inspiration grabbed hold. I wrapped up the memorandum about 6:15 a.m., and by this time it was 49 pages long, he wrote. I took it over to Esquire as soon as they opened up, about 9:30 a.m. About 4 p.m. I got a call from Byron Dobell. He told me they were striking out the Dear Byron at the top of the memorandum and running the rest of it in the magazine.
It is time to write yet another chapter in the nearly eight-year legal journey of Sergey Aleynikov, the former Goldman Sachs programmer whose arrest in summer 2009 helped put high-frequency trading on the map.

An appeals court in New York on Tuesday reinstated Mr. Aleynikovs conviction in 2015 on a single charge of stealing confidential computer code for Goldmans high-speed trading business just before leaving to take a job with a hedge fund.

The decision overturned a state trial judges decision to throw out the jurys verdict after determining the 1967 law under which Mr. Aleynikov was convicted was inapplicable because it was written before the advent of much of the digital age.

But the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Judicial Department ruled the trial judge had overstepped in tossing out the conviction because the law was drafted broadly enough to cover the taking of computer code, even if that technology did not exist at the time.
Snap could go public with a Google-like structure and then issue out no-vote shares later. But why deal with all those pesky shareholders who may challenge such a conversion?

Instead, Snap is apparently going to make sure that the public has no vote and hence never the opportunity to have a say in the companys governance. While public shareholders will be totally disenfranchised, Mr. Spiegel and Mr. Murphy are reportedly going to have 70 percent of the total vote despite owning only 40 percent of Snap.

The discrepancy is not bad compared with other companies. At Facebook, for example, Mark Zuckerberg currently casts 53.8 percent of Facebooks votes while owning 15 percent of the company.

Snaps rationale for wanting its co-founders to have this power has not been explained. But from news media reports and otherwise, we can figure out the gist. Snap is likely to argue that Mr. Spiegel, 26, is a visionary who knows how to sell to teenagers and 20-somethings. He is the one who can lead the company to join the superpower ranks of Facebook and Google, justifying Snaps valuation of over $20 billion.

Indeed, that appears to be why Snapchat changed its name to Snap, so it could mimic the big boys like Google and be an umbrella company for other innovative and presumably lucrative products. Mr. Spiegel, the argument goes, needs total control over the company to ensure that this ambitious vision is executed.

There are warning signs that the hype over Snaps initial public offering is going to be extreme. Already the company is indicating that it will focus not on revenues or profits, but on alternative metrics like user engagement.

Weve seen these gimmicks before. Groupon and Zynga were big users of these alternatives, for which I coined the names Grouponomics and Zyngametrics.
Vicki Lansky, a best-selling author who dispensed recipes and practical advice that helped a generation of parents cope with child-rearing challenges and housekeeping, from cradle cap to divorce, died on Jan. 15 at her home in Plymouth, Minn. She was 75.

The cause was nonalcoholic cirrhosis, her husband, Stephen Schaefer, said.

Ms. Lanskys path to publishing was serendipitous, but she churned out more than 30 books, wrote newspaper and magazine columns and produced a newsletter. She championed natural, do-it-yourself versions of store-bought baby food and more healthful alternatives to sugary snacks, and offered homespun counseling drawn from her experience.

Her first book, Feed Me Im Yours, began inauspiciously as an anthology of favorite recipes that she organized with several neighbors in 1974 as a stay-at-home new mother. The collection was intended to raise money for the Minneapolis chapter of the Childbirth Education Association, which advocates family-centered maternity care. Later published widely, the book sold millions of copies.

I think my mother would be astonished to know that I gave out cleaning and household advice to millions of people for nine years as a columnist for Family Circle magazine, Ms. Lansky wrote in The Huffington Post. After all, she  not I  had made a career of homemaking.
Corporate executives often talk about the need for boardroom diversity, but few do much about it. Women still hold slightly less than 20 percent of public corporate board seats. African-Americans hold less than 9 percent, Asians even less, about 5 percent, and Hispanics only about 4 percent.

On Wednesday, Starbucks, the coffee giant, plans to announce it is adding three new directors to its board and in doing so will create what will be among the nations most diverse corporate boards.

The new directors, who will require shareholder approval, will be Rosalind Brewer, an African-American woman who is president and chief executive of Sams Club and vice president of Walmart Stores; Satya Nadella, an Indian-American who is chief executive of Microsoft Corporation; and Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, the Denmark-born executive chairman of the Lego Brand Group.

With the additions, the Starbucks board would grow to 14 people; would be 29 percent female and 36 percent ethnic minority; and would include a range of ages from millennials to baby boomers.
Anthony Colombo, a mobsters son who successfully agitated to keep out even a single reference to the Mafia during the entire 175 minutes of the film The Godfather, died on Jan. 6 at his home in San Diego. He was 71.

The cause was complications of diabetes, his son Joseph A. Colombo said.

Mr. Colombo was a 26-year-old military school graduate in 1971 when he helped persuade the producer of The Godfather, the sponsors of the network television series The F.B.I. and even the Nixon administrations Justice Department under Attorney General John N. Mitchell to expunge the term Mafia and its Sicilian counterpart, La Cosa Nostra, from the screenplay, weekly scripts and official lexicon.

At the time, Mr. Colombo later said, his power of persuasion was derived from his position as the vice president of the Italian-American Civil Rights League, the anti-discrimination group founded by his father, the organized crime figure Joseph A. Colombo Sr.

Had the Mafia withheld its unofficial blessing from the film, any number of unexpected impediments might have interfered with the production of The Godfather, like labor troubles, missing scenery or even missing cast members.
As you walk in, there is the indescribable clean scent of barbicide in the air and the sound of clippers buzzing like a bumble bee. You look around the room and see the history on the walls and can imagine all of the stories that have been told there.

Everyone is a part of Duane Steiens family when they sit down in his barber chair, whether the chair is in Melrose, Taylor or in their own home.

I had a gentleman that was celebrating his 100th birthday and so I went up to his house, cut his hair and stayed for supper that evening, said Steien reminiscing about that night. This is where Steien first heard his most treasured story in over 40 years of barbering.

Alvin Nelson and his wife, Laura, milked 12 cows, and they had a nail on the beam of the barn. As they milked the cows, they moved the lantern light in the barn on those nails. In 1938, he wired the barn and that night he and Laura went to the barn and Alvin flipped the light switch. The whole barn lit up. He put his arm around his wife and looked her right in the eye and said, Laura, what is this world coming to? said Steien, continuing to discuss the many things people take for granted today.

Steien doesnt take much for granted anymore, not the electricity that turns on the light bulb in his shop or how much the landscape of barbering has changed over the years.

Steien started barber school in 1968 and after 1,248 hours of schooling, went to La Crosse to complete his apprenticeship, journeyman, masters and shop managers courses. In 1973, he was able to open his first barbershop in Taylor, where he continues to barber every week on Wednesday.

He came to Melrose a year later when he bought out Lowell Wegner in Melrose. When he started there were 47 barber-barbers, as he calls them, in La Crosse. After the Beatle-era came in, that all changed.

A lot of men during that time went to beauty shops and got permanents, said Steien. That left me and other barbers right out of that part of the profession.

In 2015, Steien estimates there were a total of six barber-barbers left in La Crosse. Steien went on to explain, it is a profession where in time you wont have what I call us old-time barbers anymore.

Duane gives a lot of credit to his wife, Joyce Steien, for helping his family make ends meet and carrying health insurance. She was a fifth-grade teacher at Black River Falls for 32 years and is now retired. Steien explained, The success of my barbering career is equally shared with her as it is with me because without the benefits I would have probably had to find another job to support the family.

Steiens family is now all grown up, and he has grandchildren of his own. His daughter, Sarah, is currently a dentist in Oklahoma. She is married to Mike Denos, who she has a son with named Rafael. His younger daughter, Dana, is a doctor living in Michigan. She is married to Jeff Weatherhead and together they have a daughter name Sadie.

Children are a common sight in Steiens shop, which is special for Steien because in most cases he can remember cutting hair for their previous generations. In Taylor, Steien is now cutting hair on the fourth generation. I started out with Orville Knudtson. Then I cut Gary Knudtson, which is his son. Then I cut Josh Knudtson, with is Garys son and then now Im cutting Joshs little boy, said Steien.

Steien credits his connection to his customers as the reason they keep coming back. At Steiens barbershop, there are always laughs and good stories. It is common to see his patrons standing at the door when you walk in, not able to leave because of the good conversation and stories being shared in the barbershop. That is, unless it is deer hunting season.

The month of December is always the best haircutting month of the year, said Steien. The deer hunting haircuts are an extra week or two weeks long compared to what they should be and everybody wants to get trimmed up for Christmas.

Steien has never been one to turn down cutting someones hair, no matter how difficult it was. Over the years he has cut a smiley face, lightning bolts and even names into someones hair.

I had a guy that wanted me to shave his name on the side of his head and I spelled it wrong, said Duane. I was able to correct it. It didnt look good, but you couldnt see that I had made a mistake.

Even with over 40 years of barbering under his belt and a few mistakes here and there, Steien isnt ready to hang up his clippers for the last time.

I get asked once a month when Im going to pull the plug completely and be done, but if my health permits Ill probably stay here until one of two things happensI give out such bad haircuts nobody comes back in or for some reason my health doesnt allow me to continue. Im just not ready to go home and do nothing yet.

In his words, there really is only one reason he hasnt retired yet.

In my opinion, I have the best job in the world.
They were opposed primarily by Tone Balzano Johansen, a 50-year-old Norwegian artist and musician who is the widow of Sunny Balzano, the last in the direct line of Balzanos involved in the bar. Ms. Johansen had helped save the bar after it was wrecked (and she was nearly trapped in the basement) by flooding during Hurricane Sandy.

Image Sunny Balzano in August 2013 at the bar, which has long been a neighborhood institution.



Credit... Benjamin Norman for The New York Times

I cant let this be torn down for a view of the Statue of Liberty, Ms. Johansen said. Its old Brooklyn wanting to hand it over to new Brooklyn. Ironically, I am fighting to keep the story of old Brooklyn alive.

Until last week, Sunnys and a neighboring townhouse were at serious risk of being sold at a public auction. For high-octane bile, nothing can compare to a family fight over an estate.

Anything that has to do with family, its heartaching, heartbreaking, Ms. Johansen said.

Sunny Balzano died last March, but the dispute over the property began years earlier. After the death of a grandfather, the family did not divide the estate. Most of the 18 descendants who own the property, on Conover Street, have wanted to sell it since the 2012 storm. But Ms. Johansen and Sunny refused, along with two Balzano sisters and a brother. Together, they held about 20 percent of the shares.

After the storm, Sunny and Ms. Johansen had camped out in their building, which had no electricity for months. A giant gash had been cut into the foundation. Friends and customers showed up to help them rebuild. A benefit concert was held at the Bell House in Gowanus. Internet fund-raising drives raised more money. In all, about $100,000 was contributed. Many small donations, and a few large ones, Ms. Johansen said.
The British Supreme Courts ruling that Parliament must have a say in starting the process of leaving the European Union is unlikely to block it. A majority of lawmakers, even some who would rather see the country remain in the union, have shown a reluctance to challenge the result of the June referendum in which voters chose Brexit. But the court ruling at least restores some order to the process.

That is important, because many of the potentially costly consequences of withdrawing from the European Union were lost in the contentious and often demagogic referendum campaign, which focused largely on emotional objections to the free movement of people within the union. Much has changed since then, most notably the recognition  acknowledged in Prime Minister Theresa Mays speech last week  that Britain cannot pick and choose among the central tenets of the E.U. Closing Britains doors to European citizens, it is now clear, means rejecting other facets of the union, like the elimination of barriers to trade and to the movement of goods, services and capital.

Mrs. May had initially hoped to keep Parliament out of the separation process, partly because a majority of members had been against Brexit. But in a case brought by private citizens, a three-judge High Court panel ruled in November that since it was Parliament that originally voted in 1972 to join the predecessor of the union, the government could not withdraw unless Parliament voted to do so.

That raised a storm of protest from Brexiteers and was appealed to the Supreme Court. But even before Tuesdays decision, Mrs. May had dampened some of the passions on both sides by pledging that she would send the agreement to both houses of Parliament for approval, but only after it was finished. The court blocked another potential problem for Mrs. May by ruling that the government does not need separate approval from the regional legislatures of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland to invoke Article 50, which officially begins the process of separation.
Kellyanne Conway, counselor to Mr. Trump and his chief obfuscator, told ABC News on Sunday that hes not going to release his tax returns, adding that the election showed that people didnt care. On Monday, she pulled back a tad, tweeting that POTUS is under audit and will not release until that is completed. Of course, even that comment is a ruse. The Internal Revenue Service has made clear that being under audit wouldnt preclude Mr. Trump from making his returns public.

Yet, the Trump campaign used that excuse over and over, and now Mr. Trump has carried it into the White House. White House officials are probably hoping that the longer they stonewall, the more likely that public demands on this matter will be pushed aside as torrents of controversial policies and statements from Mr. Trump dominate the news cycle. Even so, voters and members of Congress who care about ethics in the nations highest office should not let up.

Releasing the returns would provide important insight into Mr. Trumps finances and businesses. They would reveal if he is as wealthy as he claims to be, what his effective income tax rate is (he said during the campaign that not paying taxes meant he was smart) and how much he gives to charity. The documents would also identify the sources of his income and debt, helping to answer questions about his links to businessmen, banks and governments in places like Russia and the Middle East, and putting a spotlight on potential conflicts of interest.

Presidential candidates have voluntarily disclosed their tax returns since the Watergate scandal ushered in an era of greater transparency. Mr. Trump, whose checkered past as a businessman includes a string of bankruptcies and a $25 million settlement compensating students who said they had been defrauded by Trump University, has chosen to buck this trend, perhaps because he has something to hide.

Congress can force his hand by supporting a bill that Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Chris Murphy of Connecticut introduced this month. It would require the current and all future presidents to release their tax returns. State lawmakers could also head off this problem in the future by forcing presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns to get on the ballot. There is one such bill pending in New York.
Tenant: Cabinets by Stanley

Tenant broker: Mark Caso, Pinnacle Realty

Landlord: Atlantic Properties II

Landlord broker: Jeffrey Unger, Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates

FOR SALE

$16 MILLION

Chelsea Arts Tower

545 West 25th Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues)

Manhattan

Two condominiums are available, together or separately, in this 22-story 2006 building, a block from the High Line in West Chelsea. Two full floors, at $9.65 million, include a 4,219-square-foot space with a large balcony on the 21st floor, connected to a 1,000-square-foot space with a terrace on the floor above. The other space, 4,883 square feet on the entire 14th floor, is priced at $6.35 million. The owner-occupied spaces can be delivered vacant, or with tenant in place as a sale-leaseback.

Seller: Chelsea Development Group

Brokers: Jeff and Erik Nissani, Eastern Consolidated
The surface of the moon may soon be dotted with corporate logos, and its craters labeled with slogans. Families might be able to send their loved ones ashes  or even their pets remains  for lunar burial.

Entrepreneurs hope that commercial ventures expand in lucrative ways in later years. In a farther, fanciful future, for example, the moon could be mined for platinum, a valuable metal, or helium-3, to be used as fuel for fusion energy reactors that do not yet exist.

Private access to the moon grew a little closer to reality on Tuesday, when the X Prize Foundation, with prizes financed by Google, chose five teams of private entrepreneurs who say they can get to the moon by the end of this year.
The drinking water in Flint, Mich., is now in compliance with federal regulations on lead and copper content, officials said on Tuesday. But they cautioned that it could be a year or more before it is safe for residents to drink from their faucets, because lead-tainted pipes need to be replaced.

We are not out of the woods yet, Mayor Karen Weaver said in a statement. She called the results of water tests encouraging but said residents should continue to drink bottled water or use filters.

She said that the city was making progress toward its goal of removing an estimated 20,000 lead-tainted water pipes and that it hoped to replace 6,000 of them by the end of the year.

We still need help and support from the state and federal government so that all of the estimated 20,000 lead-tainted pipes remaining in the city will be replaced, Ms. Weaver said. Until then, free bottled water and filters will continue to be available at distribution points around the city, she said.
An anti-abortion group released a video this week purporting to show that Planned Parenthood does not offer comprehensive prenatal services, an accusation that the womens health organization said deliberately misrepresented its mission.

The group, Live Action, said that of 97 Planned Parenthood centers it had contacted, only five said they provided prenatal care, one of the many medical services offered by the organization, which has approximately 650 health centers operated by 57 affiliates across the country.

In an interview on Tuesday, Mary Alice Carter, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, pointed out the groups history of being targeted with selectively edited videos, and said that the new video, which was released on Monday, tried to hold the organization to a standard it had not set for itself.

It is safe to say that not every single one of our health centers provides prenatal care, and weve never said otherwise, Ms. Carter said.
The Trump administration has not yet announced a nominee to be assistant attorney general for the civil rights division. But the administration has installed two deputies as acting chiefs to run it in the interim.

One new deputy is Thomas Wheeler, who was general counsel to Vice President Mike Pence when Mr. Pence was the governor of Indiana. According to Mr. Wheelers cached biography on the website of his former law firm, he has extensive experience defending schools and municipalities against employment discrimination lawsuits.

The other deputy, John M. Gore, helped with his law firms defense of several states redistricting plans, and was among the lawyers who represented Florida when it was sued over a disputed attempt to purge its voter rolls close to an election. He also sought to get the University of North Carolina dropped from a lawsuit challenging a state law barring transgender students from using bathrooms that correspond with their gender identities.

Ms. Clarke expressed concerns about both men and sought to link the delayed hearings to Mr. Trumps baseless claim at a meeting on Monday with congressional leaders that millions of unauthorized immigrants illegally voted for Hillary Clinton in Novembers election. She called that claim an invitation for voter suppression tactics to be put on the books.

Her attack came as Democrats forced a one-week delay on a Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Mr. Sessionss confirmation. Ultimately, Mr. Sessions appears almost certain to be confirmed by the Senate, where he has served as a Republican from Alabama since 1997.

Democrats have made Mr. Sessionss civil rights record in Alabama and Washington one of their main points of attack, reviving questions that have dogged him for 30 years about his racial attitudes and his handling of civil rights litigation.
All the signals are there is no limit to what they are capable of doing to give the big special interests behind them control of the court, said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, a Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee.

But Republicans are already differentiating their handling of Mr. Garlands nomination from whatever is to come with the announcement by Mr. Trump. They argue that the situations are not comparable, given the timing of the presidential election.

Theres a big difference between not approving a Supreme Court nominee in the middle of a highly contested presidential election, and the beginning of a four-year term, Mr. McConnell said on Tuesday, noting that Republicans did not filibuster Supreme Court nominees in the first term of either President Bill Clinton or Mr. Obama. Mr. McConnell took pains on Tuesday to note that both Republicans and Democrats were invited to the White House to discuss the coming nomination with Mr. Trump as part of the requirement for seeking the Senates advice and consent.

Many Republicans and their conservative allies would prefer not to abolish the filibuster on Supreme Court nominees, knowing that it could come back to haunt them by allowing a future Democratic majority a free hand  essentially the same reason Democrats left high court nominees out of the 2013 change. It is also unclear whether Republicans would even have the votes to do so through a simple majority vote on an arcane procedural maneuver. But the question will hang over the entire confirmation fight and could force a showdown.

If the Democrats filibuster,  then I guess well see what steps need to be taken at the time, said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, a member of the Republican leadership. But I think the one thing that were committed to is getting a Supreme Court justice confirmed.

Democrats say that one result of the stalemate over Judge Garland is that it has shown that the Supreme Court can function, though imperfectly, without a full complement of nine members, relieving the party of some guilt for keeping the court short-handed if it comes to that over a Trump nominee.
WASHINGTON  In a heated confirmation hearing that focused on ethical issues, President Trumps nominee for secretary of health and human services, Representative Tom Price, defended his trading of medical and pharmaceutical stocks on Tuesday, saying, Everything that I did was ethical, aboveboard, legal and transparent.

Democrats accused Mr. Price of a potential conflict of interest at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, saying he held more than $100,000 in stock in companies that could have benefited from legislation he promoted. Mr. Price, a Georgia Republican, denied any wrongdoing.

He also avoided being pinned down on the future of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid, programs that insure more than 100 million people.

While Mr. Price faced vigorous questioning from Democrats, he and other cabinet nominees have benefited from solid support among Republicans, who hold a 52-48 majority in the Senate.
With the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Western Wisconsin dissolving June 30 due to La Crosse County Human Servicess withdrawal from the program, the Jackson County Board of Supervisors approved Monday a proposal to begin the process towards becoming an independent ADRC.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Jackson County could receive an estimated $443,943 in revenue from the state, covering the addition of a full-time ADRC disability benefit specialist and an ADRC lead worker. The current part-time aging and disability resource center manager and two full-time ADRC professionals would also be retained.

The Jackson County Department of Health and Human Services seeks to assure clients that they will be served in the most seamless and effective way possible as Jackson County transitions to an independent ADRC. We have experience in providing services as an independent ADRC in the past, prior to joining with the ADRC-WW and are hopeful that the State will approve our contract so that we may be a successful independent ADRC in the future, said Christine Hovell, the director of Jackson County Health and Human Services.

ADRCs are a resource to get accurate, unbiased information to help people understand the various long-term care options available to them, help people apply for programs and benefits and serve as a starting point for publicly-funded, long-term care.

From 2012 to 2015, the Jackson County branch of the ADRC-WW has increased traffic by 24 percent, noting a total of 1,058 initial contacts in 2015 for persons seeking information and assistance.

The disability benefit specialist employed through ADRC provides additional free and confidential services to solve problems related to Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Insurance, Medicare (including Part D), Medicaid/Medical Assistance, health insurance, Veterans Benefits and other public and private benefits. In 2015, the disability benefit specialist located in the ADRC-WW Black River Falls office served 299 clients, of which 186 were new. With the exception of La Crosse County, the Black River Falls disability benefit specialist opened more clients in 2015 than any other county in the ADRC-WW service area.

With the approval from the Jackson County Board of Supervisors on Monday, the Jackson County Health and Human Services department will now need to apply with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to become a separate and independent ADRC.

The Jackson County Department of Health and Human Services seeks to assure clients that they will continue to be served in the most seamless and effective way possible as they transition to an independent ADRC. For questions, please contact Christine Hovell or Todd Gunderson at 715-284-4301.
MEXICO CITY  Not long ago, any suggestion that Mexico might walk away from the North American Free Trade Agreement would have been met with utter disbelief.

That was before Donald J. Trump was elected president of the United States.

Free trade is a mantra of Mexicos political elite, the core of the countrys development strategy.

But now that Mr. Trump has said he wants to renegotiate Nafta, a growing number of Mexican officials and businesspeople are asking what price is worth paying to stay in it. Many of them are concluding that Mexico could have more to lose from years of haggling and economic uncertainty than from simply opting out.

There could be no other option, Mexicos economy minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, said on Tuesday in a televised interview. If we go for something that is less than what we have, well, then there is no sense in staying.
Welcome to an experiment in journalism and community  a newsletter that will help shape The New York Times expansion in Australia. Follow along by signing up to receive it by email, and tell us what you think at nytaustralia@nytimes.com.

This is the easiest place to live in the world, said the dark-haired woman with a nose ring and London accent who was cutting my hair the day I arrived in Sydney two weeks ago. Compared with Morocco, England and a few other places she used to call home, Australia was clearly the most relaxed, she said, and perhaps the hardest to engage.

Its so nice here. Its hard to get people to think about all the terrible things in the world, she said. Then she laughed: Or maybe its just my friends; maybe youll find a different crowd.

To some degree, we hope to actually bring those crowds together  to get the disengaged and the engaged talking to us, and one another. Were early on in the process of opening a new bureau in Sydney  Im the bureau chief  and expanding our coverage of a place that is sometimes called The Lucky Country: for many, because of its blinding beauty and resource-rich fortunes; for others, including the writer who coined the phrase, because of its ongoing effort to define itself beyond the accident of its location and youth as a nation.
MOSUL, Iraq  After three months of fighting, the battle to retake Mosul has entered a new chapter, but the Islamic States vast arsenal of car bombs and suicide vests is far from spent and most of the civilian population is still trapped.

By Friday, the government forces had pushed the militants across the Tigris River, which divides the city. With a partial victory in sight, a small group of journalists were invited by the government to report from the besieged city.

The mood among the troops was mostly celebratory: The Islamic State was on the run. But the fighting was far from over, and the danger still all too real. On the other side of the Tigris  just a few hundred yards away and home to 750,000 people  the militants were still in control.
Francis Picabia, the Surrealist artist who is being honored with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, once contended, Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction. Douglas Dunn may well agree. Speaking of his Antipodes, his new work for Douglas Dunn & Dancers, he has said, If we could see ourselves from behind, or look out of the backs of our heads, would our minds flip?

Mr. Dunn promises that his choreography, music and design will parallel and entangle one another. His score is by Steven Taylor and Laura Brenneman. And his designer is Mimi Gross, an artist who has designed more than 25 productions for him and who is known for urban scenes  some of which are included in Inventing Downtown: Artist-Run Galleries in New York City 1952-1965, an exhibition at the Grey Art Gallery at New York University. (Thursday, Feb. 2, through Saturday at Danspace Project; danspaceproject.org.)
A Massachusetts couple have donated seven Rembrandt drawings to the Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as part of an estimated $25 million gift of art and financial support.

The donation, made by Sheldon Peck, a retired orthodontist and former Harvard professor, and his wife, Leena, encompasses 140 works on paper valued at $17 million, including 134 European old master drawings, along with an $8 million endowment to support development of the museum.

The gift is transformational for the museum, said its director, Katie Ziglar.

Its certainly the most generous and largest gift the Ackland has ever received; its just mind-blowing, Ms. Ziglar said in a telephone interview. To be honest, it would be a big gift anywhere, even at the Metropolitan Museum of Art or another huge institution. Ive been working in museums for 30 years, and its the largest gift that has been given to any museum Ive worked for.
More than a year ago, the New York City Parks Department inaugurated the program Parks Without Borders. The idea? An obvious one: There are thousands of forbidding, disused, gated corners, squares and parks in town. They should be opened up, made accessible, inviting and useful. The Parks Department asked New Yorkers to propose sites.

In recent weeks, Republican lawmakers have laid the groundwork for giving away hundreds of millions of acres of federal land. And these last few days have reminded us that we express who we are, and what we believe, in public spaces, not just big ones like the National Mall. Every year, five million people visit the American Museum of Natural History in Theodore Roosevelt Park. The park stretches from 77th to 81st Streets, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. Increasing numbers of pedestrians have made those blocks along Columbus  with a Shake Shack serving as a de facto museum cafeteria, and a farmers market during weekends  among the busiest on the Upper West Side.

The roughly acre-size southwest quadrant of the park has long been gated and closed to the public. Around the time Parks Without Borders was announced, the museum unveiled plans for a large expansion facing Columbus. The expansion will take over a precious quarter-acre of parkland near 79th Street. In return, I wrote back then, the museum ought to nudge the Parks Department and neighborhood representatives to unlock the closed area at Columbus and 77th Street  and also offer to chip in for landscaping and maintenance. The area could get the same treatment as the north side of the park, which is a network of winding paths through gated lawns under pretty, old trees.

In other words, add just a path and some benches, with the lawns fenced off for security and to keep costs down.
Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla will conduct at Carnegie Hall for the first time in May 2018.

Credit... Tina Fineberg for The New York Times
This isnt new for Mr. Chazelle, who in all of his directorial efforts, including the Oscar-nominated Whiplash, has used jazz  or more specifically, debates about jazz  as a narrative motif. On the surface, he treats jazz as an object of affection, but really its not much more than a stand-in for white male self-flagellation, a proxy for how white men come to understand themselves.

In La La Land, the white protagonist (Ryan Gosling) charges himself with saving jazz, but his pursuit feels loveless, didactic, abusive. His enemies are ignorance, both from his paramour, Mia (Emma Stone), and the public; the cruel passage of time; and black musical pragmatists, in the form of Keith (John Legend), an old nemesis who plays an improbably popular funked-up, synth-heavy jazz hybrid with his band, the Messengers.



There are plenty of modern-day innovators making music conscious of jazz history while looking forward for inspiration (see Kamasi Washington, Steve Lehman). But Mr. Chazelle cant entertain that complexity  the Messengers are nothing but a straw band. In leaning so hard on Sebs jazz classicism as a proxy for unvarnished artistic truth, La La Land ends up having very little respect for jazz as a living art form. Looking backward, not forward, is prized  anyone who advocates change is mocked.

Seb detests Keiths band, and his artistic ethics, but joins the group anyhow, selling out for $1,000 a week and a cut of the ticket and merchandise revenue, playing some demon digital keyboard with red keys that makes noise like a cartoon bug zapper. The Messengers are a grim band  loosey-goosey enough that even Mia enjoys them  existing primarily to reinforce Sebs savior narrative. Even if Keiths music was good, Sebs indignation would drown it out.
Lee ODenat, an internet entrepreneur who founded the website WorldStarHipHop.com  which came to represent the pure id of hip-hop with its mix of music videos and street fights, superstars and unknowns, the grotesque and (very occasionally) the feel-good, and which at its peak was among the most heavily trafficked properties on the internet  died on Monday in San Diego. He was 43.

The cause was atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, a spokeswoman for the San Diego County medical examiners office said.

Lee Quinn ODenat, better known as Q, was born on Nov. 2, 1973, and raised in the Hollis section of Queens. He lived around the corner from Salt, of the trio Salt-N-Pepa, and grew up obsessed with hip-hop.

A Haitian ghetto nerd, as he described himself to New York magazine in 2012, he was raised by a single mother and dropped out of high school in the ninth grade. Soon he was working at Circuit City, where he nurtured a love of computers.
One, which is an official one, is that he died of cholera, having drunk untapped water in a restaurant. At the funeral, his coffin was open. People close to him were kissing his forehead, when they were saying goodbye to him. One wouldnt do that with a case of cholera.

Then there is one that is defended by many people, which is suicide. That theory is that his relationship with a young man from high society was in danger of being known. There was a court of honor, and he was given two choices: Either his name would be destroyed or he would take his own life. This is quite a choice, no?

Scholars have disagreed on this, but how is it reflected in the symphonys coda, or at least in how we hear it today?

Im not going to defend one or the other, because no one can prove it. One can believe what one chooses to believe. But I cannot see a man who is 53 years old, who was not fatally ill, would accept the idea of dying so early. So in the final page, or two pages, I find that idea of acceptance is not valid.
After a little over two months of waiting Donald Trump was officially sworn in Friday as the nations 45th president.

While Washington, D.C., saw protests and unrest, the mood in the Republican Partys office in Jackson County was one of elation.

A group of people had gathered with coffee and donuts to watch the inauguration take place and welcome in their new president. It was easy to see the they were excited to finally start a new chapter in the nations history and move on. Cheers were let out and smiles broke across faces as Trump put his hand on Lincolns bible and took the official oath.

The excitement in Jackson County seemed to match the crowds in D.C. said Brian Westrate, chairman of the Third Districts GOP, who was at the inauguration.

The atmosphere was enthusiastic, Westrate said, Never having been to an inauguration before I cant speak to how other crowds have reacted, but it seemed that the crowd was largely made up of enthusiastic Trump supporters, rather than just Republicans or other interested observers.

The inauguration speech was a high point for some, those in attendance noted Trumps use of phrases like we the people as signs of unity and his commitment to bringing America together.

I think it was exciting, said state Rep. Treig Pronschinske. It shows that not just rural Wisconsin, but rural America is going to have a chance to improve their lifestyle.

Pronschinske also said how the speech gave hope to some people who might have been struggling in past years and helped grow the confidence he has in the now-president.

I was encouraged to hear him take on the establishment while literally surrounded by the men and women who generally make up the establishment in D.C., Westrate said.

Others saw the speech in a different light.

I was hoping for a more positive and unifying speech, and what it turned out to be was a dark assessment of an America that I do not recognize, said Hunter Shawley of the Jackson County Democrats.

While some viewed the coming administration as a welcome change from the eight previous years, there were vocal protests against it as well.

In total, according to D.C. police, around 217 protesters were arrested and could face felony riot charges that would land them in prison for 10 years.

People on both sides of the political spectrum, though, recognize that while the right to protest is important violence will not help solve anything.

I was disappointed in the protesters who took the opportunity to smash business windows and endanger others and I felt law enforcement handled it quickly, Shawley said. Our political rivals are not our enemies and political tides take unexpected turns that are unforeseen. We are one American family and I fear weve forgotten that.

No matter what side youre on others argue that Trump deserves a chance to be president before any judgements are made.

Eight years ago we had to give someone else a chance, Pronschinske said. I think hes building trust in this country. The polls say hes unfavorable, but I think its going to be judged on his success.

For me the inauguration on Friday wasnt about Donald Trump, it wasnt about the Republican Party, and it wasnt about conservatism, Westrate said. For me the inauguration was about the American people, and the American spirit that has allowed our nation to become a shining city on a hill to guide the rest of the world.

The transition of power is always an uncertain time and the administration has already hit a few bumps in the road in the days after the inauguration, but Trump still has four years to shape what his legacy as president will be.
The influence of Ms. Moores Mary Richards can be seen in the performances of almost all the great female sitcom stars who followed her, from Jennifer Aniston to Debra Messing to Tina Fey, who has said that she developed her acclaimed sitcom 30 Rock and her character, the harried television writer Liz Lemon, by watching episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Many nonactresses also said that Ms. Moore  by playing a working single woman with such compassion and brio  inspired their performances in real life.

Ms. Moore had earlier, in a decidedly different era, played another beloved television character: Laura Petrie, the stylish wife of the comedy writer played by Dick Van Dyke on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Also on CBS, the show ran from 1961 to 1966.

Ms. Moore was the lesser star in those days, but she shared Mr. Van Dykes background in song and dance, and as a comedy duo they magnified each others charm. Ms. Moore transformed and tamed the vaudeville style that had dominated sitcoms, perfecting a comic housewifely hysteria in Laura, made visible in the way she often appeared to be fighting back tears. Her Dick Van Dyke Show performance won her two Emmys.

I heard something in her voice that got to me, Carl Reiner, who created and produced the show, once said. I think the fact that Mary and Dick were dancers gave the whole program a grace that very few programs have.

Mary Tyler Moore was born on Dec. 29, 1936, in Brooklyn Heights. After living in Queens and Brooklyn, her family moved to California when she was 8. Her father, George Tyler Moore, a clerk, and her mother, the former Margery Hackett, were both alcoholics and, Ms. Moore often said, imperfect parents. The eldest of their three children, Mary would outlive both her sister, Elizabeth Moore, who died of a drug and alcohol overdose in 1978, and her brother, John Hackett Moore, who died of cancer in 1992 after Ms. Moore had assisted him in an unsuccessful suicide attempt.

While she was still a child in Los Angeles, Ms. Moore arranged to live with an aunt, choosing to see her parents only on special occasions.
Lets get her some sex.

Susan Silver says that was one of her chief contributions as a writer on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Playing the beloved young housewife Laura Petrie a few years earlier, Ms. Moore and her TV husband, Dick Van Dyke, had been made to sleep in separate beds. But it was the 1970s now. Even good girls had sex. Ms. Silver and the other women writing for The Mary Tyler Moore Show made sure of it.

[ Read Mary Tyler Moores obituary | How she changed fashion ]

As Ms. Moores new sitcom character, the independent, single career woman Mary Richards, put it in one episode: Im hardly innocent. Ive been around. Well, all right I might not have been around. But Ive been nearby.
Riverdale, the new high school noir on CW, is a dark, weird reimagining of the Archie Comics franchise. Which raises the question: What was the non-weird version?

The comics I read as a kid were an unstuck-in-time palimpsest, in which kids with 70s haircuts and 50s lifestyles tooled around in Archie Andrewss 20s-era jalopy. Recently, the franchise has been redesigned and reconceived. In one series, an adult Archie dies. In another, he and the gang flee an outbreak of zombies, one of whom is his old pal Jughead Jones.

The steamy Riverdale, which begins Thursday, owes more to those newer iterations. (The showrunner, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, is the chief creative officer of Archie Comics.) It chucks the comics old cliches for a new pastiche, drawn from decades of moody teen dramas, that occasionally adds up to something new.

The familiar characters are back, as are landmarks like Pops Chocklit Shoppe. But its a dark, bitter milkshake that Riverdale concocts, built on the suspicion that any town this squeaky clean must be hiding decay, corruption and secrets.
3. The election of Mr. Trump may have enabled Seth Meyers to find his voice on Late Night, even as the chaotic news cycle threatens to make a show that tapes at 6:30 p.m. obsolete by the time it airs at 12:35 a.m.

If Mr. Trumps presidency has raised Mr. Meyerss art, it has had the opposite effect on Christo. The artist is walking away from a vast public work he had planned for public land in Colorado, on which hed spent $15 million of his own money over 20 years. I cant do a project that benefits this landlord, he said, meaning the federal government.

Meanwhile, Peter Thiel, the billionaire tech founder and a rare Trump supporter in Silicon Valley, has raised a furor in New Zealand by taking Kiwi citizenship without residing there.

The Times has more coverage related to Mr. Trump than this briefing can highlight. Heres our full coverage.
 President Trump is expected to order the construction of a Mexican border wall today and slash immigration of refugees from terror prone nations, White House officials said.

He pressed automakers to increase jobs in the U.S., but a new projection that has the federal budget deficit expanding to almost $10 trillion over 10 years could complicate his agenda to cut taxes and ramp up spending.

Mr. Trump also revived two pipelines blocked under President Obama: the Keystone XL pipeline, the focus of years of debate over energy needs and climate change; and the Dakota Access pipeline, the target of Native American protests.
(Want to get this briefing by email? Heres the sign-up.)

Good morning.

Heres what you need to know:

 Steps toward an immigration crackdown.

President Trump is expected to announce plans today for one of his campaigns signature promises, the construction of a wall along the Mexican border.

Mr. Trump also intends to slash the number of refugees who can move to the U.S., including from Syria and other majority-Muslim nations.
The total disenfranchisement of public shareholders has been a long time coming in the technology sector.

But it may be just around the corner.

We will find out when Snap, the parent company of the messaging app Snapchat, discloses its share-class structure before its initial public offering, which could be as soon as March.

Since Google started the trend of making public shareholders lesser citizens when it comes to voting rights, it has become the norm among notable companies, from Facebook to Shake Shack, to give founders and insiders stock that has more voting rights.

Some even solved the problem of losing control if they sold their stock to fund other ventures by creating shares with no votes.
At least six journalists were charged with felony rioting after they were arrested while covering the violent protests that took place just blocks from President Trumps inauguration parade in Washington on Friday, according to police reports and court documents.

The journalists were among 230 people detained in the anti-Trump demonstrations, during which protesters smashed the glass of commercial buildings and lit a limousine on fire.

The charges against the journalists  Evan Engel, Alexander Rubinstein, Jack Keller, Matthew Hopard, Shay Horse and Aaron Cantu  have been denounced by organizations dedicated to press freedom. All of those arrested have denied participating in the violence.

These felony charges are bizarre and essentially unheard of when it comes to journalists here in America who were simply doing their job, said Suzanne Nossel, the executive director of Pen America. They werent even in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were in the right place.
SAN FRANCISCO  Cauliflower-based pizza dough. Chocolate-covered quinoa. Bagel balls stuffed with flavored cream cheese. Vegan, paleo, dairy-free frozen dessert that is a bit hard to describe other than to say it is not ice cream.

Nothing says American ingenuity like the eager food entrepreneurs who think their scrumptious concoctions can make it in a culinary landscape that favors big corporations. Earlier this week, 1,400 exhibitors set up shop at the Winter Fancy Food Show in the cavernous Moscone Center here, including some mom-and-pop operations determined to defy the odds.

Its possible we do fail, said Rachel Geicke, 25, who was there with her business partner, Mariana Ferreira, 22, peddling their non-ice cream, Snow Monkey. The product, which comes in two flavors, cacao and goji berry, came to market eight weeks ago  with vast ambitions.

Snow Monkey is a vehicle to spark change, said Ms. Geicke, who met Ms. Ferreira when they were undergraduates at Boston University. They describe their fruit-based creation as a superfood ice treat, ice cream so good you can have it for breakfast.
Japan may eventually agree to bilaterals with the U.S. to ensure that the U.S. stays engaged in Asia  both economically and to provide a security counter to China, said Glen S. Fukushima, a former United States trade official who is now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a think tank in Washington.

Officially, Japan has not given up on the TPP, or on keeping the United States involved.

The day after Mr. Trump signed his executive order committing to withdrawal, Mr. Abe said in Parliament he would resolutely continue to seek understanding from Washington of the deals strategic and economic importance. Mr. Abes advisers express hope that members of Mr. Trumps cabinet with business and national security experience will lend their voices to the effort.

Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of Keidanren, the lobbying group representing Japans largest corporations, encouraged Mr. Abe this week to take a two-pronged approach. Mr. Abe, he said, should try to keep the deal alive while engaging the United States directly, if necessary, with the goal of eventually broadening negotiations to a multilateral level.

Barring a drastic change in Mr. Trumps views on trade, however, that could mean stringing matters out for years  possibly until the next administration, if not longer.

The TPPs demise doesnt pose an immediate threat to Mr. Abe, whose poll numbers remain high. About as many Japanese voters favored the trade deal as opposed it.

But none of Japans other trade options serve Mr. Abes goals the way TPP does.

Japan and others could move on without Washington, which would require changing a condition that requires the United States to ratify the deal before it can take effect. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia said on Tuesday that he had been promoting that idea to Mr. Abe and several other leaders. Japan, with the second-largest economy in the group, after the United States, would be a crucial participant.
My wife Steph and I were sitting in the car about to leave for the last time from our home in Columbus, Ohio.

It had been a long week full of finalizing things with our previous jobs and getting ready to move. This frigid, early morning was the precursor to a 10-hour drive back to our hometown area of Jackson County where we were high school sweethearts after meeting at the fair. For many reasons we had been excitedly waiting for this moment, but in this exact moment we couldnt stop cryingwe couldnt stop crying because we were leaving her.

A little less than four years earlier, my wife and I had just moved to Columbus in search of jobs and a new adventure after graduating from college. We were excited about what was to come and didnt think the 10-hour car ride back home was that bad.

The city life was exciting. We quickly found the best places to eat and the best movie theater in town, which was never too busy and came with padded reclining chairs. We loved to go to the local zoo, which was on several lists as the best zoo in the nation. We were loving the city life, but something was missing.

We had been married for a little more than a year at this point and we wanted children in our lives. We had been trying for a while and were having issues, which caused us concern. We consulted a doctor and we went through countless tests, which didnt lead to any conclusive answers.

Being the brash millennials that we are, we decided to begin fostering children. We had always wanted to do this and we figured there was no reason to wait until after we had children of our own. We started the classes and by November 2013, we had the first foster children in our home.

We came to find out that children were not easy, as I am sure most of you already know. It was a struggle to just get out the door in the morning. Eventually several months had passed and we had welcomed four different children into our homes. All of them stayed for relatively short periods of time, but nonetheless making goodbyes hard.

After about a year in Columbus, we decided to buy our first home. It was a sensible 1,200-square-foot home in a good neighborhood. We painted the walls a light gray, changed the Ohio State Buckeye room downstairs into a movie room and moved in to a house we fell in love with.

A few months later, we got the call that changed our lives. It was a sweet, five-week-old baby girl that needed a foster home. She was just perfect, with her beautiful blue eyes and this perfect bobbed haircut that you could sweep to one side. Most importantly, she had this amazing, sassy personality. We loved her as our own.

Our perfect, little family was creating memories together when we suddenly discovered that Steph was pregnant. It was truly a miracle. It was just like the story you hear all the time, where as soon as you grow to love another child, you have one of your own.

Eight months later, we had our son Carter James-Thomas. Even though he came a month early, he was normal size and had these huge feet, which didnt even fit on the paper the nurse stamped them on. We were ecstatic that we had two amazing children, and were raising a family in Ohio.

Our daughters case was progressing nicely and we were readying ourselves to adopt her. She had learned to walk, knew all of the animal sounds and was enthralled with reading books. You could tell she and Carter were creating a brother-sister bond. He would follow and do everything with her.

One day, we received notice that our perfect little family could be changing.

Our daughters biological paternal grandma wanted custody.

Six months of gut-wrenching court cases and paternity-test drama ensued. It was a roller coaster nearly every day, full of jubilation and gut-punching revelations. We fought for our daughter and her well-being. We fought for our daughter as any parent would doafter all, to us she was our daughter.

We were always told that you shouldnt see foster children as your own childrenthat it was easier that way. The foster parents giving us these suggestions were right, but I dont know how I couldnt get attached, how I couldnt love her.

After our six-month roller coaster, it was done. The judge had made a decision.

Nearly 48 hours later, there was this void.

No one reading the kids books under the TV. No one to sing the ABCs to while washing their hands. No one to play animals with. There were all of these girly toys lying around, but no girl to play with them.

We boxed up the things we didnt send with her, thinking it would help remove the memories. We took down her pictures and returned her Christmas presents. Nothing really helped fill the void.

It was in these trying times that we realized the value of family. We realized we wanted Carter to be closer to his grandparents, his aunt and uncle and his future cousins. We wanted him to have the childhood we had where you could drive 10 minutes and see Grandma and Grandpa.

So here we were sitting in the car on a frigid morning in January, ready to take off on a new adventure in Jackson County, Wis. Even though we knew we needed to do this for the family we now had, we still felt like we were leaving behind a family member.

We reflected that morning on everything we had achieved while we were in Columbus: owning a home, having children and experiencing heartbreak.

The crazy thing is, I wouldnt change anything. I wouldnt change the fact that we moved to Columbus or bought our first home there. I wouldnt change the fact that we decided to foster children. All of these things we did provided us with many fond memories. And most importantly, Columbus provided us with our son.

So now I sit here as editor of the Jackson County Chronicle, falling in love with Jackson County again. Remembering the great, hard-working people that live here. Jackson County is a diverse county full of great promise and opportunity. Several years ago, I would have never guessed I would be in this moment.

She may not be with us in Jackson County, but she is the reason my family moved back home. So today, I challenge you to find your why for living in this gorgeous part of the state. I am excited to get to learn your why every week while talking with all of you as I report on the news of Jackson County.

As you may know, the Jackson County Chronicle has some new faces. Not only am I the new editor, we also have a new reporter, Stephen Knoll. This week is also the last week for our advertising guru, Sally Paitl, who is retiring at the end of this week (congratulations, Sally!).

We would like you to meet all of the new faces of the Jackson County Chronicle. We invite you to join our new team for free coffee at Donna Ks in downtown Black River Falls on Monday, Jan. 30 from 9-10 a.m. Stop in and Id be glad to share a cup of coffee and conversations with you.
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. Tejal Rao has a thrilling new article in The Times today about the pleasures of burning your food (up to a point, anyway) to reveal new and exciting flavors that you might otherwise never taste. It is accompanied by a fascinating recipe for toast soup that is built on bread that is, in Tejals words, so diligently carbonized that your average toast prude might be tempted to carry it to the sink and scrape it clean with a knife. (Resist, please.)

Maybe you could try that soup for dinner tonight or, if youre in the mood for a bigger meal, you could explore this recipe for grilled pork and peaches, which the chef Francis Mallmann gave me along with an exhortation to cook both the meat and the peaches to the uncertain edge of burned. (Making this dish in January with canned peaches is no crime!)
PARIS  Less than five hours after she was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Lion, the actress Nicole Kidman was carefully making her way down the steps of the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, surrounded by a scrum of reporters, photographers and onlookers wielding their cellphones, to the front row of the Armani Prive fashion show. The nomination was the fourth of Ms. Kidmans career (she won the best actress award in 2003 for her role as Virginia Woolf in The Hours), but she still sounded excited about being in the running.

Im so happy. Really, just delighted, she said about the nomination for best supporting actress, where she is up against Viola Davis and Michelle Williams, among others.

The strangest thing is that the older I get, the more excited I feel. Its such an honor to be recognized for this film  a project which was such a heartfelt achievement for everyone involved  and a movie that is obviously so close to my heart, Ms. Kidman added, perhaps referring to her adoption of two children with her former husband, Tom Cruise. The movie tells the story of a lost Indian boy who is adopted by an Australian couple before, as an adult, finding his biological mother.

As she made her way to her seat, clad in a long black dress with a bow in the middle, Ms. Kidman was greeted by the Vogue editor, Anna Wintour, who said, Congratulations.
We see our efforts as strategic long-term investments, not short-term costs, he said, rebutting the idea that sustainability and luxury cannot go hand-in-hand because the industry is built on consumption.

As a human being, you breathe, you eat, you dream. You cannot not dream. And luxury sparks that, Mr. Pinault said. Real luxury is based on authenticity and sincerity  product is almost secondary to the experience. But if your products are not in sync with a higher set of values, then you arent going to survive in this business.

Kering does not disclose financial statements related to its sustainability efforts. In part, that may be because while brands have started cleaning up their acts, fashion is second only to the oil industry in the amount of pollutants it emits. Many of its best-known high-end names  those able to capture consumer imagination and position themselves as influencers  have long been vocal proponents of the sustainable fashion movement and the strategic benefits of going green, but without necessarily clarifying what that means.

According to Diana Verde Nieto, the chief executive of Positive Luxury, which awards a trust mark to brands that have a positive impact on society and the environment, luxury players have stepped up social and environmental issues in recent years, in part to protect their resources. But, she added, companies also face greater scrutiny from those who buy their products, as well as occasional accusations of greenwashing  spending more time and money on marketing environmental credentials than on actually putting sustainable business practices in place.

Mr. Pinault did not entirely agree: The standard for todays consumer is that everyone is sustainable, so they arent really going to buy more from you just because they see you as normal, he said. They will absolutely penalize you if they think you dont care, but they certainly wont reward you for being first in class.
In 1986, Herve Pierre was a fashion student in Paris when he learned that he had been commissioned to whip up a dress for the reproduction of the Statue of Liberty on the Pont de Grenelle. It was the first dress I made in my life, 25 feet across, Mr. Pierre said wryly, and Im just speaking of the width of the ladys bosom.

Fast-forward three decades to find the designer dressing another icon, this one more animated, and certainly more svelte.

She is, of course, Melania Trump, a beacon at the inaugural balls in Washington last Friday night, sheathed in a vanilla silk crepe evening column that Mr. Pierre had confected expressly for her.

On Monday, having returned to New York with his client, Mr. Pierre sat in a conference room at The New York Times recounting the chain of events that had brought him to this moment. He was pinching himself, quite literally. I still have goose bumps, he confided.
Television viewers of this years Super Bowl on Feb. 5 may notice something unusual amid the usual onslaught of macho-themed commercials for beer, snack chips and pickup trucks.

In a 60-second ad scheduled to run shortly before kickoff, the actor John Malkovich appears as a fashion designer named John Malkovich who discovers that the web domain JohnMalkovich.com is controlled by another John Malkovich  this one a fisherman behind the ULTIMATE Fishing Site!!

How is it that JohnMalkovich.com is taken? Mr. Malkovich (the actor) asks, sitting before a computer in what appears to be a Paris atelier.

His elegant French assistant stops draping a dress form to answer: Somebody already snatched it.

But Im him, the actor says. There is a film about me being me.
PARIS  They make an odd couple, Thom Browne and Rick Owens, with apparently little to link them beyond nationality. Yet as Americans showing in Paris, the two designers are united in joining a long line of their countrymen who have chosen to present groundbreaking work in a city that opens its arms to select immigrants, if not exactly to all.

Thom started showing here because he knew there was space in Paris for what he was doing, Miki Higasa, a New York-based brand strategist who has been with Mr. Browne from the start, said before his mens wear show last Sunday, held in an event center on the citys desolate perimeter.

Far from the historic heart of Paris, this section of the 19th Arrondissement often has the look of a metropolis unraveling. Syrian refugees panhandle by the roadsides near the Avenue de la Porte de la Villette, while encampments of homeless African men warm themselves over fires on a highway median. The choice of location for the Browne show sharpened a viewers sense of untenable contrasts: on one hand, a masterly demonstration of audacious skills by a designer obsessed with control and order, and on the other, a feeling that, just outside the Paris Event Center, the center barely holds.
A few hours after the 2017 Oscar nominations were streamed live on YouTube, the best supporting actress candidate Nicole Kidman materialized on the steps of the Palais de Chaillot in Paris.

Clad in a bell-sleeved black dress, blond hair pulled back in a high ponytail, statement jewels dangling from her ears, she was trailed by a posse of frenzied photographers. Roberta Armani, Giorgio Armanis niece, clutched her by the arm as if she were a prized chicken and guided her into the bowels of the museum for the Armani Prive show.

Downstairs they took their seats next to a small woman in a sky-blue trouser suit and black mock turtleneck  who happened to be the best actress nominee Isabelle Huppert (who wore Armani when she won her best actress Golden Globe). As these things go, it was a fashion moment in the making.
Simon Spurr stood on his tippy toes to fetch a shoe box from a wardrobe in his West Village apartment. There were 20 dark blue boxes there in an otherwise clutter-free aerie given over to Modernist furniture, coffee table books and art. As he cracked open the box, the smell of fresh Italian leather filled the room.

Beautiful, Mr. Spurr said, as he caressed the handmade, black-and-white horsehair Chelsea boot that he spent the last year perfecting. This $1,195 boot is not only an example from the first run of a luxury footwear brand, March NYC, that Mr. Spurr is unveiling this week, but it also reflects the 43-year-olds return to the fashion spotlight.

Five years ago, Mr. Spurr was an ascendant star in the citys fashion firmament. Alongside Patrik Ervell, Billy Reid and Thom Browne, he was a promising young designer in a rapidly expanding mens wear market. Handsome and with a plummy English accent, Mr. Spurr embodied a sort of fine tailored Savile Row-meets-rock n roll swagger that bewitched American mens wear.

But his progress ended suddenly in 2012, when Mr. Spurr shocked the fashion industry and announced that he was walking away from his brand. Now he is trying to make a creative comeback. Its basically like being back at square one again, he said.
Western culture has a long tradition of emasculating Asian men, from Fu Manchu to Charlie Chan to Hop Sing on Bonanza. So it was unfortunate, but not entirely surprising, to see the comedian Steve Harvey making jokes at their expense earlier this month in a TV segment, for which he later apologized.

But one of the earliest and most enduring pop-culture refutations of those stereotypes comes from Bruce Lee, who starred in just five feature films before his death in 1973.

The Tony-winning playwright David Henry Hwang, who devoted an entire play to Lees life, said he was the first Asian man to manifest all of the conventional American movie markers of masculinity. He creates a new archetype in the West, he said. The Asian-American male hero.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorneys office have interviewed Mayor Bill de Blasio in connection with an investigation into his fund-raising practices, the mayor said on Wednesday, his first acknowledgment of direct contact between himself and investigators in a set of overlapping inquiries.

The Manhattan D.A.s office asked for an interview and we did an interview, Mr. de Blasio said in response to a question from a reporter at an unrelated news conference on traffic safety. Asked to clarify who was present, he said, pressing his hand to his chest, Me, and my lawyers.

He did not provide the precise date of the interview, saying it had occurred a few weeks back, or offer any details of what was discussed, referring questions to his lawyers.

Two people with knowledge of the matter said the interview took place on Dec. 23, lasted 90 minutes and focused on the mayors fund-raising in connection with his unsuccessful effort to help Democrats take control of the State Senate in 2014. One of the people said that prosecutors presented the mayor with a variety of documents related to the fund-raising during the questioning.
GOOD NEWS read the text with a short article about how our pension funds grew 8.5%. My friend forwarded the article with a cryptic note, apparently the lies keep working.

In what seems to me to be an effort to get ahead of a bad story, the agency responsible for investing almost $100 billion in pension funds  the largest single pot of money anywhere in state governmentissued a press release touting an 8.5% increase in its core fund.

As radio commentator Paul Harvey used to say, heres the rest of the story.

Yes, things are better in 2016. However, in 2015, the state pension funds lost money. An increase over a loss is good but not nearly as good as continual year-to-year growth. Especially when the fund is assumed to return over 7% a year!

Recently the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) released several audits related to the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS). Among many findings, auditors reported 20-year returns fell from over 10% in 2006 to about 7% in 2015.

To understand how well Wisconsin is doing compared to other states, auditors contrasted performance in ten comparable state pension plans. Wisconsins performance ranked ninth of ten states in nearly every measure. Wisconsins core fund five-year return was also considered third most volatile of all of ten plans.

Wisconsin had a history of ranking well compared to other states. For example, in 2013, Wisconsin ranked fourth of nine states in five-year returns.

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) oversees management of WRS and five other state insurance and trust funds. The governor appoints seven of the nine member board  six members directly and the governor-appointed secretary of administration.

In 2011, the governor and legislative majority gave SWIB authority to set its own budget and positions. No other state agency has this authority. Since 2011, the operating budget of SWIB grew by 78% and the number of positions grew by 48 or a 38% increase.

Some out-sourcing of fund management was brought back in-house. It is still unclear if this practice saved money.

Despite the fact the fund lost money in 2015, the board waived its own policy of not giving bonuses when the funds lost money. The board awarded bonuses of $1,100 to $468,300 to employees.

One of the reasons the funds lost money was poor performance in high-risk investments. Over the past few years, Wisconsin increased investment in risky financial devices like hedge funds and derivatives. These investments are among the speculative instruments that led to the financial crash in 2008.

Hedge funds, managed by an outside firm, cost the funds a staggering $57 million for a meager .6% return  about what you might get from a savings account. Auditors note that several other large public pensions eliminated the use of hedge fund investments.

Wisconsin also uses a risky strategy of borrowing to leverage assets. The use of debt to leverage assets lost money in all periods as of December 2015 including a negative 30% return in 2015. The leverage strategy contributed to the fund losses in 2015. Despite this, SWIB still has a goal of leveraging a staggering 20% of its funds.

Other audit findings raise questions about the structure and oversight the board provides the funds. Especially concerning is a finding that the board does not review final budget-to-actual expenses.

In addition, a recent audit of the Department of Employee Trust Funds, which manages the operations of the WRS, found a number of accounting errors, including mistakes in reporting over $90 million and bank reconciliations that were not done on a monthly basis for several months.

The state investment board oversees the retirement benefits of over 600,000 public employees and is now largely out from under legislative oversight. These recently released audits give us red flags about how things are going. Legislators have a responsibility to ask hard questions and insist on responses to protect the investments made by employees and retirees.
The government has made it clear that theyre going full bore with this, said David O. Markus, who negotiated the 2006 guilty pleas for Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, Colombian brothers who helped found the Cali cartel. For El Chapo, if theres no offer on the table and its life if you go to trial and life or near it if you plead guilty, its pretty easy  hell go to trial.

Before Mr. Guzman has to make that decision, however, a number of complicated issues are certain to arise. Given that he has been indicted not only in Brooklyn, but also in six other federal districts, his legal team is likely to question whether he is being prosecuted in the appropriate jurisdiction. They could also attack the manner in which he was sent to New York, some lawyers said, casting doubt on whether he was properly extradited.

Then there is the question of his hiring a private lawyer. For the moment, Mr. Guzman is being represented by two seasoned public defenders, Michael Schneider and Michelle Gelernt. While there is a so-called narco bar of lawyers, mainly in Florida and Texas, who regularly handle cartel cases, many of them are already representing people who may appear as witnesses at Mr. Guzmans trial. Further complicating matters, the federal government has said that it wants to seize $14 billion in profits that Mr. Guzman was said to have made while running the Sinaloa cartel, leaving his financial situation unclear.

Many good criminal defense lawyers may shy away from the case not only because of the conduct thats been charged, but because its hard to get paid if the government argues that all his money is quote-unquote tainted, said Benjamin Brafman, one of New York Citys top defense lawyers.
ALBANY  The Independent Democratic Conference, whose collaboration with Republicans in the State Senate has allowed that party to control the chamber despite being outnumbered by Democrats, added an eighth member on Wednesday.

By recruiting Senator Jose R. Peralta of Queens this week, and two other members in the fall, the conference has evolved from a breakaway group of Democrats into a full-fledged independent faction in the State Senate and the fulcrum of a four-year-old coalition.

The 63-seat Senate now comprises 31 Republicans and 32 Democrats. In addition to the eight Democrats who now belong to the breakway conference, another, Simcha Felder of Brooklyn, caucuses with the Republicans. That leaves the traditional Senate Democratic Conference with just 23 members.

Mr. Peraltas defection does more than siphon power from the Democratic conference; it puts the independent group in position to expand its sphere of influence, pulling Republicans toward the political middle and offering John J. Flanagan, the Senates Republican leader, an unbreachable bulwark against liberal policies favored by the Democrats who dominate the State Assembly.
A man whose conviction in the 1990 killing of a tourist on a Manhattan subway platform was thrown out after evidence emerged raising doubts about his role in the crime will not be retried, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The Manhattan district attorneys office said it continued to believe that the man, Johnny Hincapie, was part of a group that attacked a Utah family in town for the United States Open, killing a 22-year-old man as he tried to defend his parents.

The prosecutors said they would not put Mr. Hincapie on trial because of the 25 years he spent in prison and the diminished likelihood of another conviction given that witnesses who testified at the original trial had died or no longer remembered the episode as clearly as they once did.

Mr. Hincapie, standing in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday, said the case, which started when he was 18, had consumed most of his adult life, destroyed his confidence in the justice system and tested his faith in God. But, he added, he now felt relieved. I thank God for this day, he said.
The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted on Wednesday to raise fares and tolls across its network of trains, buses, bridges and tunnels. On March 19, the base fare on subways and buses will remain $2.75, but riders will receive a lower bonus when buying a pay-per-ride MetroCard. Here is a look at what New Yorkers can expect:

How much will it cost to ride the subway?

The base fare will still be $2.75, but when you put at least $5.50 on a MetroCard, you will get only a 5 percent bonus. It used to be 11 percent. The bonus is a discount for people who do not buy an unlimited pass.

What about weekly and monthly passes?

A weekly MetroCard will increase by $1 to $32. A monthly pass will increase by $4.50 to $121.

Didnt we just have a fare increase? Why are fares rising again?

The last fare increase was two years ago when the base fare rose to $2.75 from $2.50. Officials at the authority have said they must raise fares every two years to pay for the rising costs of providing service. State leaders agreed to regular increases as part of a financial rescue plan approved by the New York Legislature in 2009.

What about tolls at tunnels and bridges?

The E-ZPass toll at the Queens-Midtown Tunnel and the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, for instance, will rise by 22 cents to $5.76. At the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, where tolls are collected only when entering Staten Island, the E-ZPass toll will increase by 44 cents to $11.52, and the cash toll will increase by $1 to $17. Additional information about tolls on specific tunnels and bridges is available on the authoritys website.
New York Citys crime rate continues to plummet, even though the city has backed away from abusive policing strategies that the Police Department once viewed as essential to keeping people safe. With a proposed court settlement filed on Monday, the city is trying to turn the page on a period when black and Latino New Yorkers in some neighborhoods were routinely stopped and frisked by police officers or issued unjustified criminal summonses for minor offenses, like disorderly conduct, trespassing or public drinking.

Under the settlement in the case of Stinson v. City of New York, the city agreed to pay up to $75 million to resolve a federal class-action lawsuit that accused it of issuing hundreds of thousands of criminal summonses without legal justification. In some cases, officers would go so far as to sniff peoples coffee cups or orange juice cartons in search of evidence of public drinking.

The suit challenged the constitutionality of the summons process and argued that the Police Department had pressured officers to issue sham summonses  an allegation that the city denied. Nonetheless, as part of the deal, the city agreed to send out notices to restate that summons quotas are banned and supervisors who use such measures could be subject to disciplinary action.
BEIJING  President Trump and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, are in a bind. Mr. Trumps slogan is to Make America Great Again, while Mr. Xis motto is Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation. The phrases have the same meaning: Each leader suggests his country has declined and claims that he will restore it to the top position in the world. But the triumph of one country is built on the failure of the other. Its a zero-sum game.

Mr. Trumps move on Monday to abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership  an Obama administration trade proposal meant to strengthen Americas economic power at Chinas expense  leaves little doubt that the president will follow through with his campaign promises to upend American trade policies, including those toward China. Taken with Mr. Trumps postelection telephone chat with the leader of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, a major break with diplomatic protocol, we can expect a jolt to United States-China relations.

But while a trade war, military skirmishes in the South China Sea or Taiwan Strait, or other diplomatic crises could cause a hiccup in Chinas rise, the Trump era will offer plenty of opportunities for Beijing. China has a chance to become a full-fledged superpower if it responds to the Trump presidency by opening up more to the world economically and politically.

China has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of globalization, which helped bring hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty in the past three decades. And as much as Mr. Trump would like to freeze the forces of free trade, the world will keep globalizing.
When President Trump declared on Saturday that reporters are among the most dishonest human beings on earth, it was not the first time he had disparaged the press. Nor was it out of character when, later that same day, his press secretary threatened to hold the press accountable for reporting truthful information that was unflattering to Mr. Trump. Episodes like these have become all too common in recent weeks. So its comforting to know that the Constitution serves as a reliable stronghold against Mr. Trumps assault on the press.

Except that it doesnt. The truth is, legal protections for press freedom are far feebler than you may think. Even more worrisome, they have been weakening in recent years.

The First Amendment provides only limited protection for the press. Over the centuries, courts have affirmed that it prohibits government censorship and offers some protection against defamation lawsuits. But journalists themselves have few constitutional rights when it comes to matters such as access to government sources and documents, or protection from being hounded by those in power for their news gathering and reporting. In those respects, journalists are vulnerable to the whims of society and government officials.

Americas press freedom, in other words, is something of a mishmash. There are some legal protections, but the press also relies on nonlegal safeguards. In the past, these have included the institutional medias relative financial strength; the good will of the public; a mutually dependent relationship with government officials; the support of sympathetic judges; and political norms and traditions.
To the Editor:

Re The Lord of Misrule (column, Jan. 17):

I applaud David Brooks on his decision not to comment on Donald Trumps tweets and confine himself to commenting instead on what he does. I hope more mainstream media will follow his example.

These early-morning ramblings are evidence of an impulsive, sleep-deprived, attention-addicted, incoherent and undisciplined mind. They might be entertaining for their inconsistencies were they not so potentially dangerous, but they do not rise to the level of news.

However media-savvy Donald Trump is as a provocateur, the public interest is not served when citizens are distracted from serious discussion and analysis of policy decisions and their implications. If coverage of his comments on social media were withheld, Mr. Trump would need to use a public forum to convey his thoughts.

He might realize that a more serious and sober assessment is required before making pronouncements, especially relating to foreign policy. Please, Mr. Trump, surprise us once again. Show us that you are worthy of the office you hold.
LONDON  Ive actually been watching the early Trump presidency from London. (I would have gone to the moon, but I couldnt get a ride.) Even from here I have vertigo.

My head is swirling from alternative facts, trade deals canceled, pipelines initiated, Obamacare in the Twilight Zone and utterly bizarre rants about attendance on Inauguration Day and fake voters on Election Day. Whatever this cost Vladimir Putin, hes already gotten his moneys worth  a chaos president. Pass the vodka.

But moderate Republicans, independents and Democrats who opposed Donald Trump need to beware. He can make you so nuts  he can so vacuum your brains out  that you cant think clearly about the most important questions today: What things are true even if Trump believes them, and therefore merit support? And where can Democrats offer smarter approaches on issues, like jobs, for instance  approaches that can connect to the guts of working-class voters as Trump did, but provide a smarter path forward.
Cute, cuddly and covered in soft brown fur, otters look like teddy bears that can swim. But travel back six million years to the wetlands of southwestern China, and there roamed an ancient relative to these creatures that was more fearsome than adorable.

Known as Siamogale melilutra, this newly discovered extinct otter was about the size of a wolf and had strong-looking jaws. A team of scientists from China and the United States described the new species based on a cranium, a mandible and some teeth they found in a coal mine.

Its huge, its bigger than anything Ive ever seen in terms of otters, said Denise Su, the curator and head of paleobotany and paleoecology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and an author of the paper that appeared Sunday in The Journal of Systematic Paleontology.

Many otters today, like the marine otter or North American river otter, are about the size of a small dog. Some, like the sea otter or giant river otter, can grow to more than 75 pounds. But none are as large as S. melilutra was; the team thinks the otter measured about six feet long from snout to the tip of the tail and weighed about 110 pounds.
With over 70 people in attendance at the Melrose-Mindoro school board meeting Monday, residents were angered by the increase in their taxes caused by the recent $24.7 million Melrose-Mindoro referendum for a proposed consolidated campus.

According to the referendum, residents were told their taxes would go up an additional $222 per $100,000, but residents were reporting increases over $400 when compared to 2015.

Besides the surprise of the Fund 10 [general fund] increase, which has been added to the referendum 39 increase, many taxpayers say their bills are even higher than these two combined amounts. This has generated a cause for concern, said Paul Nau as he opened with a statement to the board.

This issue caused several concerns for residents in the Melrose-Mindoro School District, prompting the open forum for the school board meeting to last for over an hour. School board members and Del DeBerg, Melrose-Mindoro superintendent, were peppered with questions requesting more information about the referendum.

Many residents questioned the timing of the tax, which was placed on the 2016 tax bill. Most attendees felt it would have been beneficial to be able to save or escrow this increase over 2017 and begin the increased tax next year.

During the open forum, DeBerg said that wasnt an option, we need to have that money collected so we can start paying those bills in June and in the fall. If theres one thing I could have done differently in the information and in those meetings, (it) is to make that more of a point of emphasis.

While the timing was a concern for many in attendance at the meeting, many were also concerned how this would affect utilities in Melrose and Mindoro, especially if everyones water bill would increase.

Luckily Tory Lockington, the Melrose village president, was in attendance at the meeting. The rumor is that the water rates will go up in Melrosethey will not. When school is in session, they have never reached four percent of the total bill that we [Melrose] bring in every month," he said.

The fact that the tax bills in the Melrose-Mindoro school district went up so much just happened to be a perfect storm, including increases from the referendum, the operating budget and a general increase in the fair market value of homes in the area.

In Wisconsin, the fair market value on a home is what is used to determine the taxes levied against the citizens of a school district. If the fair market value on your home increases, so does your tax bill from the school district.

In the Melrose-Mindoro School District, fair market value for homes in the district went up four percent from $317 million in 2015 to $330 million in 2016. This increase, coupled with the increase from the referendum and a general expense fund increase, helped to cause the major sticker shock for residents when they opened their property taxes this year.

The way the tax bill was presented made it easy for residents to compare 2015 taxes to 2016 taxes, which is like comparing apples to oranges.

That might be where people are making the mistake, they look at the difference instead of looking at the total, said DeBerg, while trying to explain why Melrose-Mindoro residents shouldnt be comparing their taxes to 2015.

Creating further confusion, the Melrose-Mindoro school board also instituted a general fund mill rate of 10.792, an increase of 0.729. This was not widely disclosed in publications prior to the referendum vote and added an additional $73 to the property taxes for Melrose-Mindoro residents per $100,000 in fair market value.

Starting with the base year of 2015, a homes fair market value is $100,000 and the total taxes related to the school would be $1,079.10. If you fast forward to this year and the fair market value stays the same, you would have an increase of $294.70, which accounts for the referendum and general fund increases.

However, if your fair market value increases significantly more to $108,000, you would be paying $404.60 more than the previous year.

While there may be the reasons for the large increases in taxes, some residents are still feeling the squeeze in their pocket books.

Theres a lot of people here and they escrow their money per month so they can pay those taxes. Now all a sudden, they have to come up will all of that extra money to try to pay the taxes that are due right now, said Arlen Stern while speaking to the board.

The group against the consolidated campus has started a full petition drive in an effort to stop construction of the school. They came into the meeting intending to get the attention of the board and encouraging them to place the referendum back on the ballot. While they didnt accomplish everything they set out to do, Stern was happy with the results of the night.

We got their attention and that was the whole purpose of this. You cant rush into a project like they have done without informing the people of everything, said Stern.
Over four decades, from the 1960s onwards, the artist Jo Brocklehurst painted the nocturnal life of London in all its peacock finery. A new exhibition, Nobodies and Somebodies, shows unseen portraits  many thought lost  of cabaret artists, bohemians, New Romantics, Punks, drag queens and fetish fans, as well as her drawings from the Berlin stage.

She was drawing every kind of scene, recalls Isabelle Bricknall, a longtime model and collaborator of Brocklehursts, and co-curator of Nobodies and Somebodies. Being in a situation like that and being non-judgmental, youd meet all kinds of artists and designers  there was always a fashion show  and youd see everything that you wouldnt expect to.

Image Jo Brocklehurst Credit... Fershid Bharucha

A precocious talent, Brocklehurst won a scholarship to St Martins School of Art in 1949, shortly before her 14th birthday. (She maintained close ties to the school, and later taught illustration, often in outrageous dress, to future generations of fashion designers.) Of Sri Lankan and white British parentage, and remembered as an extraordinary beauty, Brocklehurst felt an outsider, and in the 1960s, her interest in traditional fashion illustration gave way to a fascination with Londons club life. Dressed all in black, with her face hidden behind Cutler & Gross sunglasses, she would take large sheets of paper out with her in the evening and draw in situ: first in hashish-scented jazz dives and the strip joints of Soho; later at the Blitz club, where Londons New Romantics took pains to outdo one another in the wild extravagance of their dress.
If you like New Zealand enough to want to become a citizen, the countrys Internal Affairs Department noted on Wednesday, one requirement is to have been physically in New Zealand for a minimum of 1,350 days in the five years preceding the citizenship application. Another requirement is that you continue to reside there after becoming a citizen.

Mr. Thiel, 49, does not appear to have done either.

The investor, who retains his American citizenship, was a founder of the online payments site PayPal and the data company Palantir. He secretly funded the lawsuit that killed off Gawker Media, the network of gossip sites that outed him as gay.

When Mr. Trump won, Mr. Thiel emerged as a key adviser. He has spent much of the time since the election in New York as part of the transition team. People from Mr. Thiels network are under consideration for significant jobs in Trumps cabinet.

As a byproduct of his singular support for Mr. Trump in Silicon Valley, Mr. Thiel has become famous, a fate many of his peers go out of their way to avoid. He has been reported as a possible Supreme Court justice, as a potential Republican candidate for governor of California, and most recently, as President Trumps potential ambassador to Germany. (He denied the first, and the others appear unlikely.)

Mr. Thiels admiration for New Zealand is longstanding. Utopia, he once called it. He has an investment firm in the country that has put millions into local start-ups. He also owns lavish properties there, which his Silicon Valley friends hope to fly to in the event of a worldwide pandemic.
Seven environmental activists who climbed a crane near the White House early Wednesday morning in a protest against the policies of President Trump were arrested and charged, the police said on Thursday.

The protesters, who volunteer for Greenpeace, began scaling the approximately 300-foot crane around 4 in the morning, and once they reached the top, unfurled a 70-by-35-foot banner embossed with a single word: RESIST.

Travis Nichols, a spokesman for Greenpeace, the environmental advocacy organization, said the protesters were there to resist the environmental, economic and racial injustice that Trump and his administration have already laid out and put into practice.

Mr. Nichols said they wanted to be sure that the banner would be visible from the White House.

Obviously, I have no idea if Trump has seen it, but that would be great if he did, he said.
Adults are back in charge

The event is only jarring if youve been living in a liberal bubble of hand-wringing and hyperventilation. The apocalypse isnt coming. The adults are back in charge, thats all.  Chris Cleveland, chairman of the Chicago Republican Party

This is a sea change in politics

The tide that swept Trump in was this overwhelming feeling that America is not working, and certainly the government is not working as well as it should be. But I see already the possibility of substantial changes on efficiency and the use of government resources that have been off the table until now. This is a sea change in politics and American governance probably equivalent to the Carter-Reagan transition.  Texas State Senator Paul Bettencourt of Houston, who served on the Trump campaigns Texas Strategic Advisory Board

The fact that things are different now is really more of the same

History has always held surprising turns and weirdness, if you want to call it that, so this is not really anything new. The fact that things are different now is really more of the same. When I look at the ability of a president to make much of a difference in my day-to-day life and the day-to-day life of my business in a four-year term, thats quite constrained.  Paul Morris, president of Jack Morris Auto Glass, Memphis

Strange bedfellows

This is how weird it has become: As a lifelong liberal, I am now comforted by the thought that at least the C.I.A. and the military are peopled by sane and experienced individuals. Strange bedfellows indeed.  Laraine Kelley, Buffalo

This is not the first time were fighting for our rights

I think right after the election, it was definitely fear and definitely a lot of disbelief. And now I personally have heard from folks saying were ready for this. This is not the first time were fighting for our rights. Now the difference is that we more than ever need to redouble our efforts. Now people may be thinking that its O.K. to sexually harass a domestic worker, or steal the wages of an immigrant worker because you think you dont have to pay them. This election is validating what people have done for years. A lot of people are like, Oh, now we see it. And were like, Weve been telling you about this for years.  Analia Rodriguez, executive director of the Latino Union of Chicago, representing day laborers and domestic workers

Were in uncharted waters

I dont think weve ever seen a president take office under these circumstances with this many unknowns, people on both sides with a sense that were in uncharted waters. We have to remember what kind of revolutionary period were living through. Were really living through a digital revolution that I think has upended our economy, its upended our society and now we see it clearly revolutionizing our politics and creating all of these circumstances that are new to us, that as a democracy, were going to try to get a hold of. My inclination is that were in this kind of disarray  this kind of messiness is going to be the new normal  for the foreseeable future. Joseph Crespino, history professor at Emory University, Atlanta
The draft order does not direct any immediate reopening of C.I.A. prisons or revival of torture tactics, which are now banned by statute. But it sets up high-level policy reviews to make further recommendations in both areas to Mr. Trump, who vowed during the campaign to bring back waterboarding and a hell of a lot worse  not only because torture works, but because even if it doesnt work, they deserve it anyway.

Elisa Massimino, the director of Human Rights First, denounced the draft order as flirting with a return to the enhanced interrogation program and the environment that gave rise to it. She noted that numerous retired military leaders have rejected torture as illegal, immoral and damaging to national security, and she said that many of Mr. Trumps cabinet nominees had seemed to share that view in their confirmation testimony.

It would be surprising and extremely troubling if the national security cabinet officials were to acquiesce in an order like that after the assurances that they gave in their confirmation hearings, she said.

A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to an email inquiring about the draft order, including when Mr. Trump may intend to sign it. But the order was accompanied by a one-page statement that criticized the Obama administration for having refrained from exercising certain authorities about detainees it said were critical to defending the country from radical Islamism.
At the minimum, this creates the appearance of cashing in the presidency and selling direct personal access to the president, he said. It is unacceptable. And it demeans the office of the presidency.

The new initiation fee went into effect on Jan. 1, although the annual dues remained the same  $14,000 a year, he said.

The club has 482 members, with a cap of 500.

It enhances it, Mr. Lembcke said of Mr. Trumps new job and its impact on the value of the membership. His presidency does.

But we are very careful in vetting them, he added.

News about the change in the initiation fee was reported by CNBC.

Whos a fraudulent voter now?

By President Trumps definition, his senior White House adviser, Steve Bannon, is apparently committing voter fraud.

So is his nominee to be the next Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin.

So, apparently, is one of his daughters, Tiffany Trump.

Mr. Trump was pretty broad with his definition of voter fraud when he took to Twitter Wednesday morning to request an investigation of the nefarious conduct of the 2016 electorate  with no evidence to support it.
Mr. Kelly said that a wall would be effective only to the extent that it was backed up by far more sweeping measures.

It has to be a layered defense, Mr. Kelly said during an exchange with Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona. If you build a wall, you would still have to back that wall up with patrolling by human beings, by sensors, by observation devices.

Rather than depending on a wall, Mr. Kelly said the key to stopping drug smugglers was to attack the problem at its source.

I believe the defense of the southwest border starts 1,500 miles south and that is partnering with great countries as far south as Peru who are very cooperative with us in terms of getting after the drug production transport, he said.

Mr. Kelly has made similar statements about protecting the border when he led the United States Southern Command, overseeing about 1,000 military personnel.
His mornings, he said, are spent as they were in Trump Tower. He rises before 6 a.m., watches television tuned to a cable channel first in the residence, and later in a small dining room in the West Wing, and looks through the morning newspapers: The New York Times, The New York Post and now The Washington Post.

But his meetings now begin at 9 a.m., earlier than they used to, which significantly curtails his television time. Still, Mr. Trump, who does not read books, is able to end his evenings with plenty of television.

In between, Mr. Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office and has meetings in the West Wing.

They have a lot of board rooms, he said of the White House, an apparent reference to the Cabinet Room and the Roosevelt Room.

The White House is the only property that Mr. Trump has slept in that is more famous than one of his own, and he seems in awe. Although he made his name building extravagant, gilded properties, the new president has marveled to aides about the splendor of the White House and the lengths he must walk to retrieve something from a far-flung room.

His preference during the day is to work in the Oval Office. And to stare at it, still. So do his staff members and relatives. Ive had people come in; they walk in here and they just want to stare for a long period of time, Mr. Trump said.
WASHINGTON  President Trump on Wednesday began a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration, ordering the immediate construction of a border wall with Mexico and aggressive efforts to find and deport unauthorized immigrants. He planned additional actions to cut back on legal immigration, including barring Syrian refugees from entering the United States.

At the headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Trump signed a pair of executive orders that paved the way for a border wall and called for a newly expanded force to sweep up immigrants who are in the country illegally. He revived programs that allow the federal government to work with local and state law enforcement agencies to arrest and detain unauthorized immigrants with criminal records and to share information to help track and deport them.

He also planned to clamp down on legal immigration in another action expected as early as Thursday. An eight-page draft of that executive order, obtained by The New York Times, would indefinitely block Syrian refugees from entering the United States and bar all refugees from the rest of the world for at least 120 days.

When the refugee program resumes, it would be much smaller, with the total number of refugees resettled in the United States this year more than halved, to 50,000 from 110,000.
Longtime employees at three of the agencies  including some career environmental regulators who conceded that they remained worried about what President Trump might do on policy matters  said such orders were not much different from those delivered by the Obama administration as it shifted policies from the departing White House of George W. Bush. They called reactions to the agency memos overblown. On Wednesday, Douglas Ericksen, a spokesman for the E.P.A., said that grants had been only briefly frozen for review, and that they would be restarted by Friday.

Ive lived through many transitions, and I dont think this is a story, said a senior E.P.A. career official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media on the matter. I dont think its fair to call it a gag order. This is standard practice. And the move with regard to the grants, when a new administration comes in, you run things by them before you update the website.

But the White House and State Department did delete nearly all mentions of climate change policy  which had been a top priority for Mr. Obama  and have begun replacing them with pages detailing Mr. Trumps plans to roll back those policies  a top priority for the new president.

It is standard practice for new administrations to make changes to their websites to reflect their different policy positions. The full contents of the Obama administrations White House and State Department websites, including working links to climate change reports, have been archived and are readily available to the public.

But environmental advocates and Democrats took advantage of the moves, noting that they appeared to target agencies that focus on environmental protection and scientific research, and calling them a chilling signal that the Trump administration intends to suppress communication about science and environmental policy, and possibly scientific data.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly shifted his view of the election system. As a candidate, he frequently railed against what he called a rigged election. When he became president-elect, he complained about serious voter fraud, but later reversed himself and mocked Ms. Steins recount efforts as a scam and a waste of time and money.

This week, he flip-flopped again, telling lawmakers at a White House reception that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote because millions of immigrants in the country illegally voted for her. Mr. Spicer declined to elaborate on what Mr. Trump meant but did not back away from the assertion.

The president does believe that, Mr. Spicer said. Its a belief that hes maintained for a while, a concern that he has about voter fraud. And thats based on information thats provided.

It remains unclear what form a federal investigation may take. While the F.B.I. has the authority to look into voter fraud, that appears not to be what the president has in mind. Mr. Spicer said it was too early to know, but mentioned the possibility of a task force or commission.

He cited studies that he said showed that voter rolls contained the names of millions of people who should not be there because they had moved, were not citizens or had since died. But the author of one of those major studies said Wednesday that Mr. Spicer and the president appeared to be misunderstanding the numbers.

David Becker, who for six years was in charge of the election initiative for the Pew Center on the States, said that voter rolls often had out-of-date information, but that there was virtually no evidence that many of those names were used to vote illegally.

It does exist, but it happens in very, very small numbers and nothing like what is claimed by the president, Mr. Becker said. He said systems across the country to prevent voter fraud would have caught any huge effort to vote illegally. We would have seen that well before the election, he said. We would have seen a swelling of the voter rolls and records.
WASHINGTON  The Trump administration is preparing executive orders that would clear the way to drastically reduce the United States role in the United Nations and other international organizations, as well as begin a process to review and potentially abrogate certain forms of multilateral treaties.

The first of the two draft orders, titled Auditing and Reducing U.S. Funding of International Organizations and obtained by The New York Times, calls for terminating funding for any United Nations agency or other international body that meets any one of several criteria.

Those criteria include organizations that give full membership to the Palestinian Authority or Palestine Liberation Organization, or support programs that fund abortion or any activity that circumvents sanctions against Iran or North Korea. The draft order also calls for terminating funding for any organization that is controlled or substantially influenced by any state that sponsors terrorism or is blamed for the persecution of marginalized groups or any other systematic violation of human rights.
The Secret Service said it would take quick and appropriate action after a conservative Washington newspaper reported that an agent had posted Facebook comments in 2016 suggesting she would prefer to go to jail than risk her life for Donald J. Trump.

The agent was identified on Tuesday in the report by The Washington Examiner as Kerry OGrady, 46, of the Denver field office. The Examiner said she posted that remark in October, before Mr. Trump was elected president, and referred to what she called her struggle not to violate the Hatch Act, which bars political activity by federal employees.

Ms. OGrady also indicated her support for Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trumps Democratic opponent. She wrote: As a public servant for nearly 23 years, I struggle not to violate the Hatch Act. So I keep quiet and skirt the median. To do otherwise can be a criminal offense for those in my position. Despite the fact that, I am expected to take a bullet for both sides.

But this world has changed and I have changed. And I would take jail time over a bullet or an endorsement for what I believe to be disaster to this country and the strong and amazing women and minorities who reside here. Hatch Act be damned. I am with Her.
President Trump threatened federal intervention in Chicago on Tuesday night if the city does not do more to address violent crime, resurfacing a criticism he made during the presidential campaign.

If Chicago doesnt fix the horrible carnage going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds! he said on Twitter just before 9:30 p.m.

The tweet came after the evening broadcast on Fox News of The OReilly Factor, which featured a segment in which the host, Bill OReilly, explored whether and how the federal government could intervene in combating violent crime by having federal authorities prosecute some cases or calling in the National Guard.
MOGADISHU, Somalia  When the first explosion rang out, the men on the hotel patio looked up for a moment, then at one another  and kept on eating breakfast. Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, long ago grew accustomed to such jarring sounds, and nobody seemed surprised by a loud bang somewhere not too far away.

It took another, even louder explosion a few minutes later to get everyones attention. Something fatal was going on.

A half-dozen of the militiamen who guard the hotel piled into a pickup with their Kalashnikovs and ammunition vests while the photographer Tyler Hicks and I grabbed our gear  cameras, notebooks, bulletproof vests, press credentials, bottles of water  and climbed into an armored truck, slamming the door tight behind us. We headed for the hospital.

I have been to Mogadishu many times, but this was my first visit in several years, and when I got to town, I was struck by how much progress the capital seemed to be making. There was still plenty of evidence of the chaos-racked city of old  the crushed houses, craters and shot-up walls  but there were also new apartment complexes, crowded markets and freshly painted shops selling flat-screen TVs. It was even possible to go out for pizza Tuesday night, something I would never have dared before.
As of Friday morning, about 130 active fires remain, 51 of which have been contained, according to the National Emergency Bureau of Chile. They cover an area of about 920 square miles.

More than 2,700 people have lost their homes, and thousands have been evacuated from the affected areas.

At least 10 people have been arrested in connection with the fires, as some are being investigated as having been intentionally lit.

Fierce winds and smoldering ash have complicated the challenge of containing the blazes, which on Wednesday destroyed the small hamlet of Santa Olga in the Maule region.
The period of reform and opening up that began in December 1978 under the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping is widely seen as the foundation of todays China, with its socialist market economy. The influence of Western economists on Chinese experiments at that time is a little-known aspect of the history. Julian Gewirtzs Unlikely Partners: Chinese Reformers, Western Economists, and the Making of Global China, published this month by Harvard University Press, looks at some of the ideas and relationships that paved the way for Chinas transformation. In an interview, Mr. Gewirtz, who is a Rhodes scholar and doctoral candidate in history at the University of Oxford, discussed the lessons for China and the United States today.

Which foreign scholars had the most influence on Chinese policy makers in the Deng era?

The Chinese engaged with an extraordinary range of foreign economists. Some of the most influential had grown up in socialist systems and knew firsthand about transitions away from central planning. These people included the Hungarian Harvard professor Janos Kornai, the Czech emigre Ota Sik and the Polish-born Oxford don Wlodzimierz Brus. But Deng Xiaoping also called for the study of the successful experiences of capitalist countries. Thus, economists such as the American Nobel laureates James Tobin and Milton Friedman were also invited to China for high-level engagements.

The Chinese learned a great deal from these foreign economists, but they did not seek simply to copy Western ideas. So-called influence in this period was a process of constantly negotiated receptivity and debate about new ideas. And the Chinese side was firmly in charge.

Which personal relationship between foreign and Chinese thinkers in this period did you find to be the most interesting?
The opinions the defendant expressed in her book can invite criticism and objections and can even be abused by those who deny that the comfort women were forcibly mobilized, said the justice, Lee Sang-yoon. But academic expressions must be protected not only when they are right but also when they are wrong.

Justice Lee said Ms. Parks book should ultimately be judged by academics and citizens through free debate.

The issue of the women has been one of the most emotional disputes between South Korea and Japan. Historians say that at least tens of thousands of women, many of them Korean, were in the brothels from the early 1930s until 1945. A total of 238 women have come forward in South Korea, but fewer than 40 are still living, all of them in their 80s and 90s.

Prosecutors, who had asked the court to sentence Ms. Park to three years in prison, have a week to appeal the verdict.

When the judge read the verdict on Wednesday, Lee Yong-soo, 89, one of the nine women, stood up and denounced it. She also called Ms. Park a pro-Japanese traitor, according to South Korean news reports.
NEW DELHI  Pressure mounted on Wednesday on Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India to push for a campaign finance overhaul, with a New Delhi nonprofit reporting this week that almost 70 percent of contributions to the nations political parties come from undisclosed sources.

The lack of transparency in Indian election financing is well known, but the report by the nonprofit, the Association for Democratic Reforms, quantifies it for the first time.

The pressure on Mr. Modi is all the more intense because election finance is considered to be the main driver of black money, undeclared cash income that the prime minister targeted in November by banning 86 percent of the nations currency.

Many experts say they believe that Mr. Modis cash ban, or demonetization, will have little impact in the long term in reducing undisclosed money unless he pushes through other key changes, including ones to campaign finance.
The best way to force change in the isolated North, he continued, is to disseminate outside information there to help ordinary citizens eventually rebel. South Korean TV dramas and movies smuggled from China are already popular in the North, he said.

Another sign of Mr. Kims weakening control, Mr. Thae said, is evident at the unofficial markets in North Korea where women trade goods, mostly smuggled from China. The vendors used to be called grasshoppers because they would pack and flee whenever they saw the police approaching. Now, they are called ticks because they refuse to budge, demanding a right to make a living, Mr. Thae said.

Such resistance, even if small in scale, is unprecedented, he added.

The spread of outside news and market activities could eventually doom Mr. Kim because his government can be held in place and maintained only by idolizing Kim Jong-un like a god, Mr. Thae said. If he tries to introduce a market-oriented economy to North Korean society, then there will be no place for Kim Jong-un in North Korea, and he knows that.

But the leaders efforts to clamp down on information and products from outside North Korea have been unsuccessful because the police accept bribes in exchange for freeing smugglers and people caught watching banned movies and dramas.

Kim Jong-uns days are numbered, Mr. Thae said on Wednesday.

After months of debriefing by the authorities in South Korea, Mr. Thae used meetings with the countrys politicians and the news media to suggest that North Korea was determined to be recognized as a nuclear power, just as India and Pakistan are.

Last year, the North conducted two nuclear tests and launched more than 20 ballistic missiles, and it has openly vowed to develop the ability to hit the United States with a nuclear warhead.

It wont happen, Donald J. Trump, then president-elect, said at the time. During the election campaign, Mr. Trump had said he was willing to sit down with Mr. Kim and perhaps have a hamburger with him.
Sparta and Bangor students may be celebrating their day off from school Wednesday, but they won't be so excited for make-up days this summer.

The two school districts are among a number of Coulee Region districts that will have to add days to the school calendar this year. Most districts have one or two days built in for inclement weather, but with this winter's number of snow and freezing rain storms, some have burned through the buffer.

Wednesday was the fifth snow day for the Bangor School District, District Administrator Dave Laehn said, with at least two more months of winter to go. The calendar has two built-in days, and the district will make up the other three by holding school on Monday, April 17, and adding extra days in June.

Things become a little trickier due to state rules requiring so many hours of classroom time, not days. Schools must provide 437 hours of direct pupil instruction in kindergarten, at least 1,050 hours in grades one through six and at least 1,137 hours in grades seven to 12.

The Sparta School District had four school closures including Wednesday, Superintendent John Hendricks said, and will have to add two of those to the end of the calendar. The district has also had two late starts and one early release, but he said they lost enough time to run up against the state requirements.

Both Laehn and Hendricks spoke about how disruptive missed class time due to the weather can be on student learning. If the day is shortened, that can lead to less class time students have to learn their material.

Laehn said adding days in June isnt an ideal solution because students are already restless for the school year to be over. And the change in the calendar also disrupts the schedule for final examinations.

"Missing school due to the weather does have an impact," he said. "But it is winter and it is Wisconsin and the safety of the student comes first, so we work around it."

Weather and road conditions were much better in the La Crosse metropolitan area, with schools in La Crosse, Holmen and Onalaska holding school as normal on Wednesday. Kids at Emerson Elementary got to play in the falling snow at recess.

La Crosse Superintendent Randy Nelson said the district has only used one snow day this year and won't have to go late this summer unless the district uses any more.

Nelson said the decision whether to hold school is one of the most difficult he makes because he has to weigh a number of criteria and make judgment calls based on imperfect data. He considers whether buses will be able to make it to school safely and also what the different weather forecasts are predicting.

He also has to consider what will happen after the storm is over, such as dangerous drops in temperature, icy conditions or the potential for blowing and drifting snow. If the district decides to hold school, he said staff respects parents' decisions to bring their kids to school late and will excuse the absence.

"In my six years here, I've found that no storm is the same," he said. "You have to take each one on its unique basis."
LONDON  When Nicola Thorp reported to work awhile back as a temporary receptionist in the financial center here, she was shocked when her temp supervisor said her flat shoes were unacceptable. She would need to get herself shoes with heels at least two inches high.

When she refused, she was sent home from the accounting firm PwC without pay. But that was not the end of it. Five months later, Ms. Thorp, an actress originally from the northern seaside city of Blackpool, started a petition calling for a law that would make sure no company could ever again demand that a woman wear heels to work.

The petition garnered more than 150,000 signatures, helped spur a popular backlash  dozens of professional women posted photographs of themselves on Twitter defiantly wearing flats  and prompted an inquiry overseen by two parliamentary committees.

On Wednesday, more than two years after Ms. Thorp, now 28, strode into that office in her chic but sensible black flats, the committees released a report concluding that Portico, the outsourcing firm that had insisted she wear high heels, had broken the law. It added that existing law needed to be toughened to overcome outmoded and sexist workplace codes.
ROME  First there was the roar, then the darkness and crush of debris that turned their four-star resort hotel into a wintry tomb. For the next three days, they shivered on a sooty sofa and sucked on packed snow.

When rescuers finally came, recalled Giorgia Galassi and Vincenzo Forti, they had to be pulled out by their feet.

They were among the 11 known survivors of an avalanche that crushed the Hotel Rigopiano in central Italy a week ago. At least 25 others were killed. As of Wednesday evening, four people were still missing, with hopes dwindling that they would be found alive.

Mr. Forti, 25, and Ms. Galassi, 22, were finally extricated at 5 a.m. on Saturday.

When we first heard a voice it was a moment of joy, Mr. Forti said on Wednesday as he and Ms. Galassi recounted their story. We were miraculous survivors.
MOSCOW  Russian lawmakers on Wednesday moved to decriminalize some forms of domestic battery for first-time offenders who do not do serious physical harm to their victims.

Members of the State Duma passed the controversial amendment to the Russian criminal code in its second reading, which essentially assures it will go to President Vladimir V. Putin for his signature.

The amendment treats a first conviction for domestic battery as an administrative offense, carrying a penalty of a $500 fine or 15 days in jail. If Mr. Putin signs the measure into law, only injuries like concussions or broken bones, or repeated offenses committed in a family setting, would lead to criminal charges.

Defenders of the measure say it will protect parents rights to discipline their children and generally reduce the states role in domestic life.
A senior official in the Russian cyberintelligence department that American officials say oversaw last years election hacking has been arrested in Moscow on charges of treason, a Russian newspaper reported Wednesday.

The arrest of Sergei Mikhailov, a senior officer of the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., the main successor agency to the K.G.B., is a rare instance of turmoil in the countrys usually shadowy cybersecurity apparatus slipping into public view.

Mr. Mikhailov served in the F.S.B.s Center for Information Security, the agencys cyberintelligence branch, which has been implicated in the American election hacking. But it is not clear whether the arrest was related to those intrusions.

He was detained along with one of Russias leading private-sector cybersecurity experts, Ruslan Stoyanov, the head of computer incident response investigations at the Kaspersky Lab, which makes antivirus programs.
LONDON  Kuwaiti authorities hanged seven prisoners on Wednesday in a mass execution, including a member of the royal family.

Five of the prisoners were foreigners: one each from Bangladesh, Ethiopia and the Philippines, and two from Egypt, according to the state-run KUNA News Agency.

The prince who was executed was Faisal Abdullah al-Jaber al-Sabah, a captain in the Kuwaiti Army. He was convicted of premeditated murder and illegal possession of a firearm, the government said in a statement.

The murder victim was the princes nephew. The motive for the killing was unclear, though Kuwaiti authorities concluded that it was not political, according to local news reports.
Detroit has its Mustang. Munich has its Bimmer. Bielsko-Biala will always have the Maluch.

The Maluch, or little one, is officially the Fiat 126p hatchback. Drab and cramped, it lacks either girth or pretension. But it has a perversely special place in Polish hearts.

The Maluch was the beginning of an automotive revolution in Poland, said Jacek Krywult, the mayor of Bielsko-Biala, Poland.

Before the Maluch appeared, cars meant for ordinary Poles were rare, expensive and difficult to get. That changed in 1973 when the Polish manufacturer FSM began to churn out its version of the Fiat 126 under license from the Italian carmaker. Poles snapped them up, and they were soon exported throughout the Soviet bloc.
MILLIONS of Americans live in areas where auto insurance is unaffordable, according to a new analysis from the federal government.

The report, from the Federal Insurance Office, analyzed premiums for basic liability automobile coverage in more than 9,000 ZIP codes with high proportions of underserved consumers, including minorities and people with low to moderate incomes. It found that rates were unaffordable in 845 of such ZIP codes, or about 9 percent of them. Nearly 19 million people live in the unaffordable areas, the report found.

The study defined unaffordable areas as those where the ratio of the average auto premium to household income exceeded 2 percent. Nationally, the average household spends about 2 percent of its annual income on auto insurance.

The Treasury Department, the insurance offices parent agency, did not respond to requests for an interview about the report, which was published last week and did not make specific policy recommendations. The insurance office was created in 2010 by the Dodd-Frank financial reform law to study insurance markets, which are largely regulated by state governments.
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***@irelandswildlife.com Calvin Jones

End

-- A new book featuring a collection of wildlife and nature writing by West Cork based author Calvin Jones celebrates the incredible diversity of life on and around the island of Ireland.Volume one offeatures wildlife profiles and articles covering a wide selection of species from humpback whales to dandelions and a range of wildlife topics from whale watching to exploring the backyard jungle.According to the author the catalyst for compiling this first volume in the collection came from readers."My series on Irish Wildlife has been running on the back page of weekly magazine Ireland's Own since 2001," said Calvin. "Over the years I've had numerous requests from readers asking if they could buy a collection of the profiles in book form. The answer to that question was always no until now."As well as the species profiles the collection also contains selected wildlife and nature writing that has featured in high profile national and international publications like BBC Wildlife Magazine, The Irish Independent, The Countryman, The Irish Examiner and Wild Ireland, among others.Calvin, who also runs Discover Wildlife Experiences on the West Cork Coast, hopes the book will encourage readers to get out and enjoy the wild side of ireland. He plans to release the next volume in the series later this year.Calvin Jones is a lifelong wildlife enthusiast, founder and managing editor of Ireland's Wildlife (www.irelandswildlife.com), and a wildlife guide on Discover Wildlife Experiences on the stunning West Cork stretch of Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way.He is the bestselling co-author of the highly acclaimed business books "Understanding Digital Marketing" and "The Best Digital Marketing Campaigns in the World" both published by Kogan Page, And is currently talking to publishers Bloomsbury about his next business book.Calvin started Ireland's Wildlife in 2011 to share his lifelong passion for nature with others, raise the profile of Irish wildlife and to encourage more people to engage with the natural world around them. Under the Ireland's Wildlife banner he runs guided Discover Wildlife Experiences on the West Cork coast, which have the added bonus of allowing him to get outside with a pair of binoculars and legitimately claim to be working.Originally from the North Wales coast, Calvin now lives in an old schoolhouse in rural West Cork, Ireland with his wife, three daughters, seven chickens and an irritatingly self-assured cockerel.Living in the country was supposed to be peaceful, but so far it's not working out that way....Ireland's Wildlife was launched in 2011 as an online hub for wildlife and nature content covering the island of Ireland. It has grown to become Ireland's leading online wildlife and nature destination, with an eclectic mix of content including feature articles, news, how-to's, product reviews, blog posts and much more.The primary aim of the site is to foster a broader understanding of and love for Irish wildlife, and to encourage people to get closer to the wild side of Ireland. An extension of that aim led to the creation of guided Discover Wildlife Experiences based on the West Cork stretch of Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way. From residential weekends to custom guided tours and wildlife walks the experiences give people the opportunity to get out and enjoy the wonder of Ireland's Wildlife first hand with a professional local guide.Find out more about the site, and sample some of the content on http://www.irelandswildlife.com
Apostle Suleman Calls on World Leaders To Save Christians In Nigeria

By: Omega Fire Ministries International, Inc

Apostle- Johnson- Suleiman

Contact

Pastor Collins Aifuwa

***@gmail.com Pastor Collins Aifuwa

End

-- The Nigerian Government continued a clampdown on Christianity in Nigeria by ordering the arrest of Dr. Johnson Suleman among others. Operatives from the Department of State Security (DSS) on Wednesday morning, January 25 stormed Midas Hotel, Iworoko, Ado-Ekiti, to arrest the man of God, Apostle Johnson Suleman's arrest claims The Icon, a Nigerian newspaper. Suleman was about to open a two-day evangelistic meeting attended by the Governor of Ekiti State in Ado-Ekiti when a truckload of armed operatives swarmed on the hotel continues the newspaper.However, when the state governor, Ayodele Fayose got wind of the DSS presence at the hotel where Suleman was lodged, raced there and prevented him from being taken away. Speaking during the incident, Suleman insisted that it was the handiwork of the federal government, and he would not be cowed. "I'm not a partisan person, I'm not a politician. I'm sent by my Father to deliver messages and I'll not be intimidated."He reaffirmed his earlier claim that President Buhari is enabling his cohorts who have vowed to Islamize Nigeria. The Boko Haram militancy continues to be an embarrassment to Nigeria, yet, the government has not shown any ability to contain the terrorism.Members of the Omega Fire Ministries International present in 51 nations of the world continue to protest the harassment of their president and founder. In addition to prayer vigils, protests are being organized at relevant embassies to register their displeasure, tagging the development as 'War against Christianity'. Suleman wants the world, Nigerians and the Christian world to know that it is the Nigeria's presidency that seeks after his life for his stand against a system that oppresses Christians. A petition to world leaders seeks the support of all Christians on http://www.change.org The church calls on all world leaders to including the President of the United States of America, The American Congress, The Pope, The European Union, the United nations, and all democracies to intervene on behalf of all Christians in Nigeria who remain under persecution and being decimated in their thousands.To learn more about Omega Fire Ministries International, please contact:Pastor Collins AifuwaOmega Fire Ministries International, Inc777 South Central Expressway, Suite 2A, Richardson, Texas 75080.432.599.1751ofmdallastx@gmail.com
There are fewer guidelines and regulations which need to be followed and Browsers called the CA/B Forum that CAs must follow to be trusted by the browsers.

By: SSL Certificate

Ssl Certificate

Contact

SSL Certificate Australia

info@sslcertificate.net.au

03 9005 1234 SSL Certificate Australia03 9005 1234

End

-- Certificate Transparency has been a major moment for the SSL Industry because it gives the certificate even more factors to count on the trust level and the ability to make the entire SSL Ecosystem safer and more transparent. Certificate Transparency (CT) is an initiative that aims to make the entire SSL ecosystem safer. Thus, you can entirely trust the security of your website with SSL certificate Australia.The initiative of CT was originally proposed by Google, it is designed to provide a greater deal of insight into the practices of Certificate Authorities (CAs). CAs are the companies that issue SSL Certificates. Now that Google has set a hard deadline and Mozilla has announced its intention to support the mechanism as well, CAs is going to be forced to comply.Compliance with Certificate Transparency appears as a significant step forward in the online trust ecosystem. The investments made by CAs adopting CT, and Chrome requiring it in some cases have already gathered quite an attention. Chrome have even paid tremendous dividends in providing a more secure and trustworthy internet.We as the company to offer you services in SSL certificate Australia, we will help to shine light on CAs that have been guilty of misconduct or that have been compromised. The idea behind CT is that the logs will be monitored in order to quickly identify fraudulently issued certificates.We are viewed as the transparent system because we follow the entire guidelines thoroughly and therefore, it becomes more effective for the website. We make website completely secure, thus, when it becomes more widely used, the browsers are moving towards making it mandatory. The use of Certificate Transparency has profoundly altered how browsers, site owners, and relying parties are able to detect and respond to misissuance, therefore, we as a company are trusted so much.If you know more about please visit our website: https://www.sslcertificate.net.au
Book a trip to Tuscany with Essential Italy and make the most of the special offers available online this January.

Contact

Essential Italy

***@essentialitaly.co.uk Essential Italy

End

-- Book a trip to Tuscany with Essential Italy and make the most of the reductions available online this January. The personalised experience of booking through Essential Italy make it the perfect holiday provider for families, ensuring that everything is sorted to your specifications in good time. There are currently reductions of up to 25% off some of the luxury family villas in Tuscany, which can sleep from 2-12 people, depending on your needs.Villa Cretole in Tuscany is one of the properties that have a special offer currently running, at a 25% discount on any holidays booked within 25 days of travel. The villas features include a private pool, 15-hectars of land and complete privacy, making it an ideal villa for families, ensuring safely and security within the enclosed space. Amenities nearby offer a wide range of attraction and restaurant offers also. Book a last minute holiday and take the stress out of the experience, the spring time is a wonderful time to visit Italy as the tourist crowds have not yet arrived and there will be an authentic experience to be had.Another villa that is on offer at a great rate is Villa Angelica. Sleeping a maximum of 13; this villa is set right in the heart of the village, with bars and shops within a few minutes walk, offering something for all the family. The discounted rate on offer is for a 10% discount for those travelling between 4January and 1July. Those traveling between these dates will also be offered a complementary walking tour along with a trip to a local wine cellar with wine tasting opportunities.Book your trip now to avoid disappointment, and take a look at the Essential Italy ( http://www.essentialitaly.co.uk/ ) website to browse the wide range of villas, hotels and apartments available in areas all over Italy  not just in Tuscany. Your dream holiday is waiting!
By: East and Greenwell

Jennifer Overfield gets keys to Ford Fiesta

Contact

East and Greenwell

***@allstate.com East and Greenwell

End

-- Jeff East and Kevin Greenwell of East and Greenwell Insurance took part in the donation of a salvaged vehicle from Allstate Insurance Corporation to Jennifer Overfield and her family last week. The newly refurbished 2015 Ford Fiesta was made possible through a collaboration of several organizations. Allstate worked with Gerber Collision & Glass, Recycled Rides, Charity Cars, and Family Promise of South Sarasota County to provide the family with a car they couldn't otherwise afford. The presentation celebration was held last week at Gerber Collision, located at 10491 Corkscrew Commons Drive in Estero in conjunction with the Estero Chamber of Commerce.Jennifer and Stan Overfield and their four boys aged 6 to 14 of Englewood, Florida had been striving to get back on their feet in recent months. They both have jobs but had no car for transportation to and from work, school and elsewhere.Thanks to generous local businesses and a nationwide program called "Recycled Rides" developed by the National Auto Body Council, the Overfield's need for a reliable car was met. The National Auto Body Council comes together with insurers, collision repairers, paint suppliers, parts vendors and others collaborate to repair and donate vehicles to deserving individuals and service organizations in local communities throughout the country.Allstate Corporation's Florida claims department had identified a 2015 Ford Fiesta located in Fort Myers as a good candidate to donate to the Recycled Rides program. They contacted Charity Cars http://www.800charitycars.org/ and Family Promise of South Sarasota County http://www.familypromisessc.org/ for help in identifying a local family who needed a car.Steve Laszlo, Florida Regional Operations Manager for Gerber Collision & Glass and his Estero mechanics picked up the salvaged car and donated time and materials to refurbish it for the program. Parts were donated by Ford Motor Company, body work was completed, and every system was checked for condition and safety to put it back in like-new condition."It was great to see how much this new car meant to the Overfield family, and we were thrilled to be a part of the donation," said Jeff East.It takes a generous and caring community of individuals and businesses willingly coming together to connect families with available cars to make the Recycled Rides program such a success. Together their generosity benefits so many struggling families far and wide by providing vehicles to help them overcome hard times. For more information about Recycled Rides, visit http://www.nationalautobodycouncil.org/East and Greenwell Insurance Agency offers personalized insurance services to residents of Estero, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, and the islands. It offers insurance for property (homeowners, condo and renters), auto, flood, boat, umbrella, and life. Offices are located next to Miromar Outlets at 20321 Grande Oak Shoppes Blvd., Suite 308, Estero, FL 33928 and at 841 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Naples, FL 34108. For more information, call 239.672.4304 or visit www.EastandGreenwell.com.The Allstate Corporation is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer, protecting approximately 16 million households from life's uncertainties through its Allstate (http://www.allstate.com/), Encompass (http://www.encompassinsurance.com/), Esurance (http://www.esurance.com/)and Answer Financial (http://www.answerfinancial.com/)brand names and Allstate Financial (http://www.allstate.com/financial) business segment. Allstate is widely known through the slogan "You're In Good Hands With Allstate."The Allstate brand's network of small businesses offers auto, home, life and retirement products and services in the United States and Canada.Gerber Collision & Glass of Estero is a subsidiary of The Boyd Group Inc., one of the largest operators of non-franchised collision repair centers in North America, providing collision and auto body repairs, auto glass and windshield replacement services nationwide at 367 locations. For more information, call (239) 949-6050 or visit https://www.gerbercollision.com/locations/estero-fl.
An outbreak is like a wildfire; the sooner it's caught, the easier it is to fight, said Vips Halkjaer-Knudsen, a lab design expert at Sandia National Laboratories.

To detect an outbreak early -- whether Ebola, Zika or influenza -- healthcare workers must have a local, trustworthy diagnostic lab. For the past five years Sandia's International Biological and Chemical Threat Reduction group has served as a trusted adviser for design of diagnostic labs around the world that are safe, secure, sustainable, specific and flexible.

Now Bill Arndt, a systems analyst at Sandia, has developed a new method to speed up the critical initial stages of the lab design process used by Sandia, without sacrificing results. Arndt and his team used his Prototype Lab tool in Iraq to support the initial design of the central veterinary lab.

"We have all these laboratory and support space modules, and the idea is like going back to when you were a kid with Lego bricks. We work with the in-country partners to actually put the pieces together to build a functional lab," said Arndt.

The Prototype Lab tool, funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Cooperative Biological Engagement Program, greatly speeds up Sandia's lab design process. It was first used to design a foot-and-mouth disease diagnostic lab in Kenya.

Since details within each module generate drawings that are nearly a third construction-ready, the international partners can have blueprints for builders in about half the time, said Arndt.

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The modules are all the same dimensions -- for ease and speed of design and construction -- with designs of secure entryways, loading docks, restrooms, office spaces and many different types of laboratories. The labs include seven different molecular diagnostic modules for testing patient samples for telltale DNA or RNA signatures of various diseases and four clinical collection modules for sample collection, sorting and processing.

Each lab design process Sandia participates in expands the catalogue of modules. For instance, the Iraqi central veterinary lab required large animal diagnostic modules, which will be available for subsequent design processes. The handover of the final lab design conceptual drawing for the Iraqi central veterinary lab occurred last summer.

Laboratory modules with biosafety and biosecurity best practices built in

The primary goal of biosafety is to make sure infectious pathogens stay contained and "the staff only go home with their salary and nothing else," said Halkjaer-Knudsen.

Personal protective equipment, standard operating procedures, administrative controls and engineering controls all help reduce the risks of working with pathogens. And by building in these controls during the lab design process, the work performed in the lab will be safer.

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Sandia's lab design experts and their partner HDR Inc. of Omaha, Nebraska, an international architecture and engineering company, have designed biosafety and biosecurity best practices into each module. This includes putting sinks near the exits so staff can wash their hands as they exit the lab, placing key laboratory equipment away from high traffic areas so that they function properly and pre-selecting easy-to-clean floors and benchtop surfaces.

Careful placement of modules is another way to make certain biosafety best practices are being followed. Two examples include placing breakrooms away from labs with hazardous or infectious materials and ensuring that labs that generate a lot of infectious waste are located close to sterilization facilities.

Another important aspect of lab design is biosecurity, including physical security. Sandia's process supports secure access to the building and between public space and laboratory space, though it's not expressly built into the prototype modules themselves.

Building labs that are specific yet flexible to adapt to future needs

In addition to being safe and secure, a new lab must meet the needs of international partners and be flexible enough to adapt to evolving diagnostics over the next several decades of operation.

The design process brings all the stakeholders to the table -- the end-users, lab design experts, biosafety experts, sponsors and architects -- and determines the activities and needs of the facilities, and how best to achieve them. The end-users know the most about the diagnostics and services their labs provide, but often they're limited by preconceived ideas influenced by their old lab. The external experts have a comprehensive understanding of lab design, but they don't know what does and does not work in the specific country and environment.

All of the stakeholders meet for three or four intense sessions that last several days each, spread over about six months, and plan everything from defining the general mission of the new building all the way to developing a detailed conceptual layout. Sandia doesn't advance the designs to full construction-ready blueprints; instead the conceptual designs are turned over to architects for completion.

To guarantee that the final lab is going to actually meet the needs of the users and conform to international best practices, Sandia continues to play an advisory role by reviewing and providing comments on the construction-ready blueprints. Also, this support builds local design and construction capacities and helps ensure biosafety and biosecurity best practices are taken into consideration in future design projects, even if Sandia isn't involved, said Arndt.

The tool "is a very tangible, hands-on, visual tool to help understand and sharpen the dialogue, because very few facilities are actually identical when you begin to grind down, but they all consist of the same blocks in different permutations," said Halkjaer-Knudsen. Each module comes with a 3-D rendering of what the space will look like, which helps the end-users and sponsors envision the final product.

Beyond meeting the basic facility needs, Sandia's lab design process focuses on adaptability. Using open labs for activities that are not endangered by cross-contamination or need for specialized ventilation is one way to build in flexibility. Another is to use mobile instead of fixed casework such as benches and cabinets. An open lab with sections for three different bacterial diseases can adapt to a cholera outbreak by scooting equipment over a bit, whereas three small, specialized bacteriology labs lack that surge capacity, Halkjaer-Knudsen explained.

Establishing sustainable labs for the local environment

Making sure a lab lasts 30 or 40 years in the relatively harsh climates of Iraq, Kenya or Cambodia and other tropical locales demands attention to hazards and environment. In many developing countries, frequent blackouts and brownouts turn biosafety cabinets and other critical equipment into nothing more than "modern art," said Halkjaer-Knudsen. Backup generators, uninterrupted power supplies for vital equipment, even solar panels are potential solutions, but only if fuel for the generator is readily available and the solar panels can withstand local sandstorms.

"You cannot take something we have in the U.S. and just plop it down as copy-paste," said Halkjaer-Knudsen. "Asia is extraordinarily humid, everything grows mold and fungus. In the Middle East everything is dusty and dry."

That is why Sandia's process and prototype tool promotes the use of local architects and engineers. They know the finishes that can mitigate mold growth and air filters that can survive a sandstorm. They know the materials and construction methods that locals can use, repair and maintain, explained Arndt.

The prototype design tool also helps ensure that the lab is an affordable and sustainable size. Each module has its own entry in a cost estimation spreadsheet that includes the cost to build and equip it. Very early in the design process, well before the lab is laid out, the spreadsheet can generate a quote for a lab built with those modules. The estimation tool can even be adjusted using local construction costs to improve the accuracy of the quote. This gives the sponsors and the end-users a benchmark figure early in the design process, so they can consolidate or adjust the plan as needed.

During outbreaks, foreign donors sometimes fund temporary labs. These labs can be deployed quickly to critical situations, but are often only a short-term solution. They are typically designed and built in a foreign country, under radically different environmental conditions. Thus, they can meet short-term needs but are not as durable. Local contractors may not know how to repair the labs or have the right parts.
Researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center have found that high doses of drugs commonly used to fight high cholesterol can destroy a rogue protein produced by a damaged gene that is associated with nearly half of all human cancers.

Tomoo Iwakuma, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Cancer Biology, and his team have published the first research showing how the use of statins, such as Lipitor (atorvastatin), Crestor (rosuvastatin) and Mevacor (lovastatin), can shut down structurally mutated p53 proteins that can accelerate cancer progression, while not harming proteins produced by healthy p53 genes. Although statins are not a cancer treatment per se, the understanding of how they affect mutated forms of p53 could lead to new medications designed specifically to knock out the damaged p53.

"I could have kept working for 20 years or longer without any big finding," said Iwakuma, whose work appeared in the November 2016 issue of Nature Cell Biology and has been recommended for F1000Prime, a peer-review service that identifies research that is likely to influence biomedical and clinical knowledge. "This is the most exciting work of my science life, because it will contribute to treating cancer."

P53 gene and cancer

Cancer is essentially caused by mutations to the genes that regulate cell growth or cell death. Of the hundreds of genetic culprits that have been implicated with causing various cancers, p53, dubbed the "guardian of the genome," is the mightiest of them all. Mutant forms of p53 have been found in nearly half of all malignant tumors and nearly every type of human cancer.

When p53 works properly, it produces proteins that keep cells from growing and dividing too quickly. When p53 becomes mutated, either spontaneously or through heredity, its regulating abilities no longer work and cells can grow out of control, forming tumors and invading normal tissues -- that's cancer.

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Compounding the problem that mutant p53 can no longer suppress the growth of tumors is that fact that it can also actually accelerate the progression of cancer and drug resistance.

The challenge for Iwakuma and his team was to find out how to eliminate the misbehaving protein, while leaving cells containing healthy p53 needed for normal cell growth unharmed.

Hunting for a weapon

Four years ago, Iwakuma and his lab team collaborated with the High Throughput Screening Laboratory (HTC) on the University of Kansas Lawrence campus to screen compounds to find out which ones might degrade mutant p53. Of the nearly 9,000 compounds they tested, about 2,400 were Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs, while the others were non-FDA approved and uncharacterized compounds.

When Iwakuma got an email from the HTC listing the 10 compounds that the screenings had shown promise in reducing mutant p53 levels, he was shocked to see that some of them were statins.

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"At first I thought, 'What? This must be wrong,'" said Iwakuma, who first became interested in p53 as a post-doctoral student at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Early screenings often produce false positives, so Iwakuma had to verify the lab results, first testing them in cells and then in mice. The KU researchers injected the mice with cells expressing mutant p53, waited for tumors to form, and then treated them with high doses of statins for 21 days. They found that tumors did not grow well in mice treated with statins compared to the controls, and they learned the statins worked only on structurally mutated (misfolded) p53, as opposed to p53 mutated at the spot where it binds to DNA. This was an important discovery, particularly since clinical research with statins had not considered the type of p53 mutation.

"We found that only the structural mutation is affected," Iwakuma said. "Which explains why clinical studies with statins were inconclusive."

Just the beginning

While the team was elated with its findings, the researchers knew their work was just beginning.

"Once we knew for sure statins degraded mutant p53, we still had to figure out how," explained Atul Ranjan, Ph.D., a post-doctoral researcher in cancer biology at KU and co-author on the study. "We needed to find out exactly how the statins work for p53 degradation; which other proteins are involved in the mechanism."

So Alejandro Parrales, Ph.D., another co-author on the study and a post-doc in Iwakuma's lab, began looking at heat shock proteins, which are known for their efforts to correct misfolded proteins, as a possible piece to the puzzle. The researchers identified DNAJA1 as a heat shock protein that binds to misfolded mutant p53 and thus protects the mutant p53 from an enzyme that flags damaged or misshapen proteins for destruction.

It turned out that the same mechanisms that help statins reduce cholesterol are at work preventing mutant p53 from binding to DNAJA1, leaving these mutant proteins unprotected. As a result, mutant p53 is free to attach to the enzyme that leads to its degradation. And since mutant p53 is not usually present in normal cells, all this happens without affecting healthy cells.

Going forward, researchers know that many challenges await them, including finding ways to target DNAJA1 directly, now that they know its absence results in mutant p53 being degraded. Iwakuma also sees potential to use statins or another p53-degrading drug in conjunction with chemotherapy.

Mutant p53 makes human cancer cells more metastatic and resistant to chemotherapy," he said. "That's a primary reason to get rid of it -- to improve survival in cancer patients."
A study from the University of California, Irvine has found a correlation between teacher professional development and improvements in academic writing by English learners in grades 7-12.

Students of teachers who participated in the Pathway Project -- 46 hours of training in the "cognitive strategies" instructional approach -- scored higher on an academic writing assessment and had higher pass rates on the California High School Exit Exam than students whose teachers did not receive the training.

The academic writing assessment, in which secondary school students composed timed, on-demand essays interpreting themes from fiction and nonfiction texts, was designed for the Pathway Project to measure analytical literacy skills. The high school exit exam -- since suspended -- gauges California students' competency in reading, writing and mathematics.

Carol Booth Olson, professor of education, creator of the Pathway Project and director of the UCI Writing Project, is lead author of the two-year study, which appears in the January issue of the Journal of Educational Psychology.

"On average, students of the Pathway teacher group showed moderate improvement from pre-test to post-test the first year, and students in the second-year Pathway group showed high improvement," Olson said. "These robust findings demonstrate the impact of teacher training on student outcomes. There is stronger growth in student achievement after two years of teacher participation, highlighting the importance of sustained professional development."

The study, conducted in 2012-13 and 2013-14, involved 95 teachers in 16 Anaheim Union High School District schools. They and one of each participant's classes were randomly assigned to either the Pathway group or a control group. Before the beginning of school each year, the Pathway teachers learned how to integrate cognitive strategies into their existing language arts curriculum, while instructors in the control group did not.

"Cognitive strategies are tools and resources that help students improve their academic literacy and writing skills," Olson explained. "Reading and writing are taught as a process that includes pre-reading, during-reading and post-reading activities that enhance students' abilities to summarize, make inferences, interpret, draw conclusions, evaluate, assess, revise and reflect as they read and write about complex texts. We use a tool kit analogy and visual aids that identify the different techniques for reading comprehension and analytical writing. Students are encouraged to think of themselves as craftsmen who reach into their mental tool kit to construct meaning from, or with, words."
New research indicates that people who had more infections as babies harbor a key marker of cellular aging as young adults: the protective stretches of DNA which "cap" the ends of their chromosomes are shorter than in adults who were healthier as infants.

The findings, published Jan. 25 in the American Journal of Human Biology, shed new light on how the intricate interplay between genetics and environment impacts human health.

"These are important and surprising findings because -- generally speaking -- shorter chromosome 'caps' are associated with a higher burden of disease later in life," said lead author Dan Eisenberg, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Washington.

The 'caps' Eisenberg and his co-authors measured are called telomeres. These are long stretches of DNA at the ends of our chromosomes, which protect our genes from damage or improper regulation. One Nobel Prize-winning scientist who studies telomeres has compared them to aglets -- the plastic or metal sheath covering ends of shoelaces. When aglets wear down, the shoelace is exposed to fraying and degradation from environmental forces.

Like aglets, telomeres don't last forever. In most of our cells, telomeres get shorter each time that cell divides. And when they get too short, the cell either quits dividing or dies.

That makes telomere length particularly important for the cells of our immune system, especially the white blood cells circulating in our bloodstream. When activated against a pathogen, white blood cells undergo rapid rounds of cell division to raise a defensive force against the infectious invader. But if telomeres in white blood cells are already too short, the body may struggle to mount an effective immune response.

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"Many studies -- in laboratory animals and humans -- have associated shorter telomeres with poor health outcomes, especially in adults," said Eisenberg.

But few studies have addressed whether or not events early in a person's life might affect telomere length.

To get at this question, Eisenberg turned to the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey, which has tracked the health of over 3,000 infants born in 1983-1984 in Cebu City in the Philippines. Researchers collected detailed data every two months from mothers on the health and feeding habits of their babies up through age two. Mothers reported how often their babies had diarrhea -- a sign of infection -- as well as how often they breastfed their babies.

As these babies grew up, scientists collected additional health data during follow-up surveys over the next 20 years. In 2005, 1,776 of these offspring donated a blood sample. By then, they were 21- or 22-year-old young adults. Eisenberg measured telomere length in cells from those blood samples. He then combined the data on adult telomere length with information about their health and feeding habits as babies.

He found that babies with higher reported cases of diarrhea at 6 to 12 months also had the shortest telomeres as adults. This six-month period is the typical age for weaning infants, as well as a time of increasing mobility and exploration. It is also a time when infectious diseases in infants reach their peak. Based on the environment and public health situation in Cebu City at the time, these cases of diarrhea were most likely brought about by infection, Eisenberg said.

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Diarrheal infection is a very serious global health concern as it is the second leading cause of death in children under age five. The association Eisenberg found between this infection and telomeres is large enough that it might influence aging in important ways. For example, those with an average level of diarrheal infection as babies, compared to those who with no reported infections, showed the equivalent of three additional years of telomere "aging" -- based on the rate of telomere shortening among middle-aged adults.

One explanation is that the adults have shorter telomeres because they had more infections as infants. Infections spur increased cell replications and inflammation, both of which can shorten telomeres. But, Eisenberg said, another explanation is also possible.

"It could also be that they had shorter telomeres at birth," said Eisenberg. "And perhaps as a result, they were more susceptible to infections at 6 to 12 months and maintained these short telomeres into adulthood." If this were the case, then telomeres may be an important determinant of whether or not children around the world succumb to diarrheal infections.

Surprisingly, he found no association between breastfeeding by mothers and telomere length in their offspring as adults.

"We were expecting to see a relationship between breastfeeding and telomere length because babies receive maternally-produced antibodies through breastmilk, which can help them fight off pathogens while their own immune systems are developing," said Eisenberg. "In addition, breastfed babies are less likely to be exposed to infectious agents through contaminated food and water."

In addition, one study from 2016 reported that, among 121 Latino children in California, exclusive breastfeeding in the first six weeks after birth was associated with longer telomeres at age 4 or 5. But there are many reasons that could explain the difference between the 2016 study in California and this new study from the Philippines, Eisenberg said.

"If breastfeeding does effect telomere length, it could be that the effect goes away by age 21," said Eisenberg. "Also, infants in these studies were from vastly different parts of the world -- which likely affects the pathogens they were exposed to and the other typical parenting habits of women who breastfeed."

Only more data on health, telomere length and environment can resolve the debate, Eisenberg concluded.
After big winter storms, clumps of kelp forests often wash ashore along the Southern California coast. Contrary to the devastation these massive piles of seaweed might indicate, new research suggests the kelp may rebound pretty quickly, with help from neighboring beds.

The study, conducted by UC Santa Barbara scientists and colleagues at UC Santa Cruz, UCLA and the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, found that kelp forests can bounce back from destructive storms when the forests are in reasonably close proximity to healthy beds. In much the same way that the wind scatters plant seeds over the land, ocean currents carry trillions of microscopic spores from one kelp forest to another, where they create life for ailing populations. The marine scientists' findings appear in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"Historically, researchers thought that kelp forest resilience depended on only the local environment," explained lead author Max Castorani, a postdoctoral scholar at UCSB's Marine Science Institute. "However, that turned out to be wrong, as we showed that kelp forests from miles away influence whether a local kelp forest persists or goes extinct. Declining kelp forests can be rescued or recolonized by neighboring populations, so the proximity among forests is very important."

For example, kelp forests off the coast of Santa Barbara are linked to neighboring beds near Montecito and Goleta Beach but also to those farther away -- as far south as Carpinteria and as far north as Isla Vista and the Gaviota coast.

"From year to year, the ocean currents change and the size of kelp populations expand or contract," Castorani said. "In a given year, we could estimate how many spores were sent among all the hundreds of kelp forests in Southern California, allowing us to identify important rescuing populations."

To measure kelp abundance from San Diego to Point Conception, the researchers used data from a 32-year time series assembled from Landsat satellite images. This was calibrated to kelp abundance and spore production gathered from diving expeditions.

Also included was more than a decade of Southern California oceanographic modeling performed by co-authors David Siegel and Rachel Simons of UCSB's Earth Research Institute.

The analysis overall showed that the chance of a population being rescued depends on the size of the neighboring forest, the number of spores it produces and the strength of ocean currents that carry the spores.

"Of these factors, year-to-year changes in spore production turned out to be the most important to successfully rescuing neighboring kelp populations," Castorani noted. "This is valuable to ocean conservation because it can inform which kelp forests should be prioritized for protection or where coastal restoration efforts could be most effective."
Marine reserves play an important role in sustaining ecosystem diversity and abundance. Their presence enables certain species to return to a natural size structure, which enables predators to control destructive prey.

A case in point is the California sheephead. The colorful fish inhabit kelp forests ranging from Monterey Bay to the Gulf of California in Mexico. Scientists have known for some time that these sex-changing wrasses are a critical part of the kelp forest ecosystem.

And now they've shown how.

New research from UC Santa Barbara demonstrates the importance of predator size to kelp beds' ability to recover when an overabundance of urchins creates areas of low diversity and productivity, or barrens. Large sheephead eat large urchins, helping to keep the urchin population under control and to rejuvenate kelp forests. The findings appear in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"We found a lot more sheephead within the marine reserves at Catalina Island, which was our primary area of study," said co-author Robert Warner, a research professor in UCSB's Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology. "Particularly striking was how many more there were in terms of the larger individuals. Those are the ones we actually observed eating urchins of various sizes."

The team performed feeding experiments in the field, both inside and outside marine reserves. They wanted to determine what sizes of urchin could be handled by sheephead of various sizes and which type of urchin they preferred. It turns out sheephead favor purple urchins, the ones responsible for barren formation.

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The researchers also found that sheephead of a certain size can't eat urchins at all. Once they grow to about a foot long, that changes. "We simply observed which sizes of sheephead were eating what kind of urchins and whether they tried and failed or tried and were successful," said co-author Steve Gaines, dean of the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. "The bottom line is that only the largest sheephead could handle and eat the largest urchins. The smaller sheephead either didn't try or ate only smaller urchins."

Warner, Gaines and lead author Rebecca Selden, a former UCSB graduate student who is now a postdoctoral researcher at Rutgers University, found that this feeding behavior caused urchin mortality to differ both inside and outside marine reserves. Mortality for medium and large urchins was low outside reserves, simply because the predator capable of eating them wasn't present. Greater overall urchin mortality existed inside the reserves, thanks to a greater abundance of sheephead -- both large and small.

"The critical point is that large sheephead can handle large urchins," Warner said. "What that means in the long run is that we need to pay attention to management that is concerned with size structure within the predator populations, not just their numbers.

"One way to restore size structure is to not kill them," Warner continued. "And one way not to kill them is to set up reserves. Once a reserve is established, once the animals are big, it is highly likely that kelp beds will be much more resistant to the formation of urchin barrens, which makes it easier for kelp forests to flourish. But that doesn't happen right away. We have to wait for individual predators to get large enough to handle the largest prey."

In places like New Zealand, a lack of predators has allowed urchins to grow so big that they're become invulnerable. The only way to reduce such populations would be a disaster such as heavy wave action or disease. But according to Warner, in Southern California, even the largest urchins can be controlled if enough big predators are around.

The study also made comparisons with the northern Channel Islands, where the overall number of sheephead is lower, largely due to the fact that the Santa Barbara Channel is the northern edge of their range.

"The differences you see inside and outside reserves is even larger in the northern Channel Islands," Gaines said. "Up here the differences are much more striking so the presence of reserves is likely even more critical to enabling increased resilience within the kelp beds."
Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial are just two of the attractions you can visit in South Dakota after arriving from your cheap flights to Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP). Located less than 10 miles from Rapid City, this airport sees more than 50,000 planes arrive and depart on most days. Flying to the airport puts you close to the Black Hills region and attractions like Wall Drug and Bear Country USA.

Facilities at Rapid City Regional Airport

Cheap flights to Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP) are available from Delta Air Lines, Allegiant Air, Delta Connection and United Express. American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express expand their flights during the busy season. Though the airport is small, it has rental counters that will let you rent a car from Alamo, Enterprise or Budget.

Rapid Shuttle offers taxi service to and from the airport starting at $25 for those heading to downtown Rapid City. You can also look for hotels that offer free shuttle service from the airport, but keep in mind that those shuttles only run during certain hours of the day. The last flight of the day typically arrives before midnight.

Things to Do Near Rapid City Regional Airport

Many of the top attractions near the Rapid City airport are in the Badlands region. Badlands National Park has acres of natural rock formations on display, and you can tour the park on foot or by car. Both Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial are worth a visit if you've never been to either before. Travelers also like driving to Custer State Park, the Black Hills National Forest, Black Hills Playhouse and the Chapel in the Woods.

Rapid City has a population of fewer than 70,000 residents and lacks traditional neighborhoods like you might find in other cities. After your flights to Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP), you can stay in town or travel to nearby Deadwood, which is home to casinos and historic sites. You can even tour the bar where Wild Bill Hickok took his last breath and view both his gravesite and the final resting place of Calamity Jane.

Travel Tips for Rapid City Regional Airport

Many of the restaurants in Rapid City cater to travelers, and you'll find a variety of cuisines represented, including American, Mexican and Chinese fare. The average cost of dinner for two in the city is around $30, but you'll find restaurants charging $50 or more, too. When searching for flights to Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP), look for those arriving around major events, including the Deadwood Jam, the Black Hills Powwow, the Great Downtown Pumpkin Festival or the Wild West Songwriters Festival. As part of the Great Plains region, Rapid City experiences average temperatures ranging from the teens to the 30s in the winter, the 40s through the 60s in the spring, the 70s and 80s in the summer and the 60s in the fall. Business travelers will find free high-speed wireless internet access in many downtown cafes and business centers that let them hold meetings, send faxes and contact their head offices.
Great Rivers United Way and The Salvation Army are readying checkered flags, but not white ones of surrender, as deadlines for their major fundraisers approach Tuesday, and both lag by tens of thousands behind goals.

United Way staffers punched a lot of figures into the calculator to compute that they could make up their $145,000 shortfall toward its $2.09 million goal if each of the 254,078 people in the agencys six-county service area kicked in 57 cents. (The per-person donation would rise to 90 cents if it excluded the 106,824 people a United Way study deemed too cash-strapped to afford it.)

The Salvation Army has a smaller gap to fill, being $100,000 short on a goal that is a tad under half of United Ways.

This is the first time the corps has set a $1 million target for its Red Kettle campaign.

Both organizations faced similar plights last year, when fundraising also went down to the wire, but both went a tad over their goals.

The agencies last-minute pleas somewhat echo each other, with United Way Executive Director Mary Kay Wolf saying, We base our goal on historic need. If we dont make the goal, we cant meet the need.

As we try to emphasize throughout the course of our campaign, success is about people coming together and giving what they can to better our community, Wolf said.

Nick Ragner, the Salvation Armys public relations coordinator, also had said some programs might have to be cut because the campaign accounts for about one-third of the corps annual budget.

At one point, we were projecting a shortfall, Ragner said. Now, were convinced that we can reach this goal and continue offering help to those who need it the most, without the worry of Red Kettle Campaign funding.
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The Syrian government is complaining, to anyone who will listed, that Israeli missiles were used against an airbase outside Damascus and another hit a target in Damascus in December 2016 and again in mid-January 2017. Syria declared these attacks, and another in August 2016 were illegal Israeli aggression. Yet several days after the latest attack Russia broadcast a statement approving of the Israeli action, pointing out that the weapons these missiles destroyed (rockets and missiles from Iran) are an obvious threat to Israel and are meant for use by Hezbollah (the Iran backed Shia terror group in Lebanon) against no one else. Technically the Syrians may have a point but as the Russians made clear, in practical terms that the Israelis have little choice but to carry out these attacks. Recently the head of Hezbollah and Iranian military officials boasted openly about how Iran supplies Hezbollah with long range rockets and guided missiles for use in destroying Israel.

There is plenty of evidence that the targets of these attacks on buildings and trucks near Syrian airbases are weapons that explode. Cellphone videos of the recent Damascus attacks and subsequent explosions circulated widely. That video indicated the larger blast was a secondary explosion, as in a missile setting off ammunition or missiles stored in a warehouse. Israel rarely acknowledges air strikes like this but in early 2016 the Israeli government did reveal that it had carried out dozens of air raids in Syria and Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah weapons sent by air freight from Iran. In Lebanon Israeli aircraft also use smart bombs and missiles to attack Hezbollah weapons storage facilities that are found to contain new (usually Iranian or Russian) missiles. This sort of thing is nothing new. For example in February 2016 Israeli warplanes fired three missiles at a Syrian army base south of Damascus. This created more explosions as ammunition and explosives exploded as well. That was the first such attack in 2016 and there were several in 2015. Israeli warplanes have made dozens of attacks in Syria since 2013, several of them to destroy Russian weapons being moved to Lebanon (by Hezbollah) from airbases in Syria.

The most dangerous of these Iranian missiles is the Fateh 110. This began as an Iranian copy of the Chinese DF-11 ballistic missile, which used conventional warheads, GPS and solid fuel, which enables a missile to be made ready in less than 30 minutes compared to several hour for liquid fueled missiles like the older SCUD.

The Fateh 110 is an 8.86 meter (27.5 foot), 3.5 ton rocket with a half-ton warhead. The first version appeared after in 2002 and had a range of 200 kilometers. By 2010 there had been to improved models (often called Fateh 111 with ranges of 250 and 300 kilometers plus improvements in reliability and accuracy. The Fateh 110 developed to replace the liquid fueled SCUD ballistic missiles Iran had been using since the 1980s. SCUD was developed from the German World War II era V-2. In 2008 Iran licensed Syria build the Fateh-110 as the M600. In 2010 some of these were transferred to Hezbollah. Apparently the first Fateh-110 type missiles to be fired in combat were two Syrian M600s fired at rebel targets in 2012.

So while Iran is accurate in saying it sends a lot of these high-tech missiles and rockets to Hezbollah, at lot of them dont reach their destinations and that is unlikely to change unless Iran moves its new Russian S-300 anti-aircraft systems into Syria. Apparently Israel has made arrangements with Russia to prevent that. This has something to do with what Israel knows about the S-300 and how to make it look bad in combat. Israel and Russia have many such deals since Israel was created after World War II. Russia, then the Soviet Union, was one of the first countries to recognize the state of Israel and one of the largest minorities in Israel are Russian Jews that were allowed to leave the Soviet Union in the last years of the Cold War.
January 23, 1945, Sgt. William Phelps of San Antonio, Texas, a tanker of the 42nd Tank Battalion, mends his combat clothes in Steinbach, Belgium. He uses a sewing machine in front of tank and snow covers the ground.

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by Austin Bay January 24, 2017

Since the 1990s, China has insistently waged a slow and deliberate imperial war of territorial expansion in the South China Sea.

"Imperial war" is the apt description. China exhibits classic imperial ambition. Using economic, diplomatic and military muscle (camouflaged by propaganda), Beijing adds territory to its imperial dominion at the expense of less powerful neighbors.

In 1950, the newly installed Communist regime in Beijing took Tibet. The Communists defended their action by claiming that "traditionally" Tibet was a Chinese province. As progressive Communists they were liberating Tibet from non-progressives. If that sounds like old time Communist propaganda gospel, it was.

Invading Tibet took two weeks. By mid-1951, Beijing had full control of the country.

Weeks and months were the time metric for China's Tibet operation. Soldiers armed with rifles and artillery pieces were the means.

Reporters and headline writers understand the pace and weaponry of that kind of war -- rapidly seizing objectives while firing guns.

Tibet is a destination for Buddhist pilgrims and mountain climbers, not an international trade route. So who cared? India cared. Tibet is an invasion route into India. India felt threatened. In 1962, the Sino-Indian War flared over control of southern Himalayan passes. China won. So China's invasion of Tibet stood and still stands.

Beijing's South China Sea invasion moves at a different pace: decades. That makes recognizing the invasion difficult and confronting it even more problematic.

News media focus on hours, days and weeks, perhaps a year or two. Politicians, particularly in democracies, focus on electoral time. U.S. presidents have a four to eight year policy window -- not even a decade.

Over the last 30 years, China's principal weapon systems in the South China Sea haven't been bayonets, aircraft and warships, though Beijing is making increasing use of those classic means of coercion and menace.

China's principal weapons have been offshore construction barges, construction crews and exploratory oil drilling rigs, all supported by shepherding coast guard vessels and swarms of fishing boats.

The barge-borne construction crews usually begin with a "sea feature" like a reef or a rock in the South China Sea. A sea feature is not habitable. A sea feature is not, in and of itself, sovereign territory.

No matter. Only power matters to Beijing. The construction crews add thousands of cubic meters of dredged sand and reinforced concrete to the sea feature. Voila, an artificial islet. The crews top their manufactured islet with military-grade runways capable of handling high-performance combat aircraft. If the final product looks something like a stationary naval aircraft carrier surrounded by a strip of sand, that isn't a glitch, it's a feature.

The counterfeit archipelago Beijing has created now extends south from the Chinese coast and Hainan Island to close to Borneo and the Filipino island of Palawan.

Beijing has added a political coup de grace: the counterfeit archipelago is now sovereign Chinese territory, like Shanghai. Beijing's claim is utter fraud. It has no legitimate historical claim to the area.

China's man-made islands encroach on the sovereign territory and Exclusive Economic Zones of the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. The islets and Beijing's claim to sovereignty also challenge Indonesian territorial sovereignty. Singapore is wary, and Singapore sits on the Strait of Malacca, the primary shipping route between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Every year, ships hauling goods worth some five trillion dollars traverse the South China Sea. China's counterfeit islands disrupt this traffic.

This isn't the distant Shangri-La of Tibet. This is a non-theoretical threat to global trade.

China's aggression has provoked intense resistance, particularly from Vietnam and the Philippines. But 2017 finds the Philippines buckling, despite its court victory. During the Obama Administration, the U.S. Navy did conduct Freedom of Navigation Operations to assert maritime right of passage. However, I think Beijing read the Obama Administration as feckless and unwilling to lead. Its island-creation program intensified.

The Trump Administration has said China's South China Sea invasion won't stand. In many quarters this is read as provocative. I say this response from Washington is long overdue.
In Mogadishu al Shabaab used two bombs, one of them a suicide car bomb and gunmen to attack another hotel used by foreigners and wealthy Somalis. Police were soon on the scene and the fighting continues. There were two similar attacks in 2016. Attacks like this makes people aware of the fact that Mogadishu is not as safe has it appears these days.

There are other dangers in Mogadishu one of which demonstrates why Somalia is somewhat unique. For example Somalia has been rated the corrupt nations in the world for a decade and maintains that status in the latest (for 2016) rankings. This is surely a record, but not one any nation cares to brag about. Corruption in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index is measured on a 1 (most corrupt) to 100 (not corrupt) scale. The most corrupt nations (usually North Korea and Somalia) have a rating of under ten while of the least corrupt (usually Denmark) is often 90 or higher. African nations are the most corrupt, followed by Middle Eastern ones. What is happening in Somalia is happening throughout Africa and for the same reasons. But Somalia is the worst case and thus the most difficult challenge.

Election Delays And Greed

Parliamentary elections finally took place and the new legislature was installed at the end of December. This was supposed to have taken place months earlier but did not because too many of the current politicians regard elections as a threat to their income (from corruption). Some foreign donors correctly saw the delays as a ploy so the interim government could stay in power longer and steal more aid money. This led to threats to halt aid if elections for parliament and president were not held. That worked, sort of, and the electoral process lurches forward, if only to keep the free money coming. The presidential election (or selection, by the parliament) was supposed to take place by the end of January and it still has not happened. Part of the problem is political with many of the clans (tribes) maintaining armed militias and refusing to abide by a one man, one vote system. That is, some clans demand more (foreign aid and other resources) than their numbers justify. A compromise had been achieved to accommodate that. In effect the new parliament was created by a selection rather than a national election. The national parliament has 275 members who were elected by 14,025 voters selected by 135 clan elders. The 54 members of the upper house of parliament are selected by local (state or regional) assemblies. A Western style election (in which all adult citizens can vote) is not expected until the early 2020s, if ever. The new president is selected by the new parliament and what means all manner of deals are being quietly (or openly) offered in return for support of one candidate or another. The major aid donors have quietly made it clear if the new government does not curb the rampant theft of foreign aid, there will be a lot less of it and thus the new president is expected to be more effective in curbing corruption.

Alternatives

Many if not most Somalis agree that Islamic radicalism (and terrorism to enforce it) doesnt work but still have doubts about democracy. Nevertheless Western nations are willing to finance another attempt at democracy and Somalis have always been opportunists. If nothing else all that foreign aid provides splendid opportunities for personal gain. Thus corruption remains the biggest problem. Poverty, economic backwardness, drought, overpopulation and Islamic terrorism are all results of rather than the causes of the corruption. For example the biggest problem facing Somali security forces is logistics (keeping soldiers and police supplied with working vehicles, weapons and other gear). The logistics problems are a direct result of corruption (most commonly seen in commanders or government officials stealing money and equipment meant for the security forces). No one has come up with a workable solution and that makes it impossible to suppress al Shabaab quickly. This is all about the fact that too many Somalis still see power as a license to steal thus anyone getting control over foreign aid or any government assets will tend to steal some or all of it. Changing that widely held attitude has proved difficult in many parts of the world, but particularly in Africa and according to international surveys of corruption places like Somalia and Afghanistan are rated as the worst of the worst.

What keeps a lot of foreign aid in the country is the fear that if abandoned Somalia would turn into a terrorist (and outlaw) haven. This has happened before and not just in Somalia. So it was no surprise that the U.S. admitted in 2016 that it has been using its armed UAVs to provide surveillance and ground support (using missiles and smart bombs) for key (to the Americans) counter-terror operations carried out by Somali forces. This air support is apparently used for the American decapitation (finding and killing key al Shabaab leaders) program. Until 2016 this was mostly done from the air or occasionally American commandos would come in and carry out raids. By early 2016 it was revealed that American Special Forces (and other NATO trainers) had created some Somali commando units deemed effective enough to use on raids that American commandos would normally be required for. There have been many (a dozen or more) of these raids in 2016 and they got little publicity unless they capture or kill a very senior Islamic terrorist leader or specialist. Most of these raids do not require any American airstrikes, which is a sign of progress.

Meanwhile al Shabaab insists that any form of democracy is un-Islamic and threatens to kill those who participate in it. Al Shabaab represents ancient, pre-Islamic, customs and traditions that have long defined Somali culture. Thus someone with greater power, especially if some of it is supernatural, should be in charge. Thats a tradition that is not unique to Somalia but many Somalis have remained enthusiastic and loyal practitioners of this sort of thing. Thats why the corruption and disunity continue to flourish.

Follow The Money

A 2014 UN audit of billions in aid money spent on Somalia revealed why foreign aid was largely wasted on Somalia. Much of the aid sent to Somalia was not properly accounted for. This was largely the result of the violence and corruption that is endemic in Somalia. This situation became particularly difficult when al Shabaab gained control of central and southern Somalia in 2010. Al Shabaab then began interfering with foreign aid deliveries. In 2011 NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) that manage most of the food aid world-wide, demanded that donor governments either send in troops (very unlikely) or pay al Shabaab whatever they demand in order to get more food delivered to starving Somalis. Meanwhile al Shabaab was itself split on food aid, with some factions not wanting any of it under any circumstances. At the time nearly four million Somalis were very short on food, and about half of them were in al Shabaab controlled areas. Food was getting into the famine areas, but most was only available at markets that al Shabaab taxed. The problem was that the famine had destroyed the livelihood (farming or herding) of many, and these people had no money to buy food. Some al Shabaab factions blamed infidels (non-Moslems) for somehow causing the drought, while other factions insisted there was no drought and whatever happens (including mass starvation) was God's will anyway. In 2011 starvation deaths were becoming more common in drought-ridden central and southern Somalia. Al Shabaab had banned most foreign aid efforts (as not "coming from God.) The lack of food aid was leading to more deaths from starvation. Aid groups were willing to pay al Shabaab but the Islamic radicals kept asking for more money and goods. Al Shabaab had tried to ban the aid groups entirely but that created unrest even among some of their armed followers, whose families were often dependent on foreign food aid. In effect, the aid groups were major suppliers of food and cash to al Shabaab, and an informal and unpublicized compromise was worked out where the UN allowed over 80 percent of the aid for Somalia to be given to Somali NGOs unaudited as long as something was done to avoid mass starvation. There was a lot of death (from malnutrition and starvation) but al Shabaab kept journalists and foreigners away from areas where this was happening. The UN kept quiet and downplayed the stories (from refugees) about what was really going on. The aid money helped keep al Shabaab going and made some Somali aid officials rich. Between cash stolen outright and food aid diverted (sold) to markets the amount of money misused was well in excess of $100 million. Since then aid donors have insisted on much more verification of the food getting to the people in need. But more and more aid donors have simply refused to give, pointing out that the demand for such aid worldwide is greater than the donor money available. Why give to Somalia when so much of it will disappear when you can send the aid elsewhere and see much more of it get used. More and more Somali leaders have come to understand that this is not an empty threat. While the international mass media will still make a bid deal about another threat of mass starvations in Somalia, that will not cause the aid donors to send anything.

January 24, 2017: In the south, near the Kenyan border, Kenyan peacekeepers inside Somalia went after al Shabaab gunmen who had taken control of a mosque and police station in the town of Badhadhe. The attack killed seven of the Islamic terrorists. Al Shabaab was using the mosque to store weapons and assemble bombs. A year ago Kenyan peacekeepers abandoned two camps near the towns of Badhadhe and el Adde and moved to new camps closer to the Kenyan border. Al Shabaab forces quickly moved into Badhadhe and took control, at least until some soldiers or peacekeepers came by. Kenya said the movement was a normal redeployment of troops in the area and not a retreat triggered by the January 15 al Shabaab capture of another Kenyan army camp near el Adde. Despite that defeat Kenyan troops soon returned and drove al Shabaab out of el Adde and have to constantly patrol the area to ensure that al Shabaab has not quietly set up secret bases in mosques or elsewhere in the area. .

In central Somalia (30 kilometers west of Mogadishu) al Shabaab set off a bomb in a police base, killing seven policemen. Earlier al Shabaab gunmen had attacked a large farm and killed a prosperous farmer who apparently wound not pay protection money to al Shabaab. Four others on the farm were wounded while fighting off the attack. These two incidents took place in the town of Afgoye which has been attacked three times this month by al Shabaab, which feels it is strong enough to seize a town this close to Mogadishu. The residents disagree and many of them are armed.

January 23, 2017: In the south, across the border in Kenya (Mandera) eight al Shabaab gunmen were preparing to attack several targets (a hotel, a bank and the home of a prominent politician) but police detected and disrupted the effort. One policeman was killed in a gun battle with the al Shabaab men who then fled back to Somalia. Al Shabaab has made ten attacks in Kenya since mid-2016 and most of them have been in Mandera and other Christian neighborhoods near the border. Al Shabaab has long sought to drive all non-Moslems out northeastern Kenya because a lot of ethnic Somalis and Moslems live there. Most Kenyans (over 80 percent) are Christian and only twelve percent are Moslem (most of them ethnic Somalis). The area around Mandera is near the Somali border and has long been the scene of fighting between the Kenyan Murule (ethnic Somali Moslems) and the Marhan from across the border in Somalia. In 2015 about a hundred armed Marhan crossed the border and raided Murule territory and despite Kenya sending more soldiers and police to Mandera the violence continues. The Marhan have long been accused of supporting al Shabaab while the Murule oppose Islamic terrorism and al Shabaab efforts to chase Christians from the Mandera region.

January 21, 2017: In the southeast (Lower Shabelle region) an al Shabaab death squad killed a local (Jowhar town) police commander and his bodyguard. Several other people were wounded by the explosion.

January 17, 2017: Al Shabaab released a video showing the execution (by two bullets in the head) of a Ugandan soldier they captured in September 2015. Two earlier videos featured the soldier pleading for his government to rescue him. The senior officers in charge of the camp that was attacked have been accused of incompetence and not handling camp security properly. The attack took place on September 1st 2015 at a Ugandan base some 70 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu. Several hundred al Shabaab gunmen attacked the Janale base even though it contained 200 Ugandan troops. The night attack began with a car bomb at the main entrance followed by dozens of al Shabaab gunmen entering the camp and seeking to kill all the troops there. Most of the Ugandan soldiers apparently fled and Uganda later admitted that twelve troops were killed with another 30 or so wounded and one captured. Al Shabaab looted the camp and then left. While this was going another al Shabaab team destroyed a nearby bridge that troop reinforcements would use, thus delaying the arrival of more peacekeepers to the camp. Uganda refused to pay ransom for the captured soldier and efforts to locate and rescue the captured soldier failed.

January 15, 2017: In central Somalia (the Bakool region) four al Shabaab men were killed and several others wounded when they were ambushed by soldiers as troops and peacekeepers seeking to clear the Islamic terrorists out of the area.

January 13, 2017: The U.S. State Department warned Americans visiting Kenya to avoid the Somali border area because of the continued presence of al Shabaab raiders and armed smugglers who might be tempted to grab a foreigner or two and sell them to al Shabaab.

January 7, 2017: In Mogadishu a remote control bomb went off in a restaurant frequented by soldiers. Three people died and 17 were wounded. Al Shabaab was believed responsible.

In the south (outside Kismayo) American and Somali commandos raided an al Shabaab base in Gaduud, a small town that had long been visited by the Islamic terrorists. No details of this raid were provided but it appears similar to nine other raids that took place in 2016. The United States is training a Somali special operations unit of some 500 troops. It takes years of training and combat experience for new recruits to achieve skills that make them exceptional (and not just better infantry or commandos in name only). Apparently the American Special Forces troops take their most promising students out on these carefully planned and rehearsed operations.

January 3, 2017: In central Somalia (the Bakool region) al Shabaab gunmen fled the town of Mooragaabey as troops and peacekeepers approached. The security forces have to regularly patrol the area to clear the Islamic terrorists out of the area.

January 2, 2017: In Mogadishu two al Shabaab suicide car bombers were used to attack a hotel in the city and a checkpoint near the airport. The two bombs killed the two suicide bombers and wounded nine security personnel and civilians.

December 25, 2016: In the north (Puntland) al Shabaab assassins shot dead a government prosecutor. This is the third such attack in the area this month.
Five years ago Richard OBrien gave up his 70th birthday to fundraise for the Starship Foundation, and hes doing it again this year.

On March 24, the Rocky Horror Picture Show creator will be taking to the stage at Baycourt in Tauranga holding a 75 Years of Frock n Roll fundraising event in celebration of his 75th birthday, which also coincides with Starships own 25 year celebrations.

Ten years after Richard entered the world, he says his parents decided to come to New Zealand and thankfully they decided to bring me and my siblings along with them, what joy.

I sailed through puberty and adolescence in a stereotypical, rebellious, text-book fashion, leaving no cliched stone unturned in my quest to further my stupidity.

Richard says reaching three quarters of a century has, so far, been easy, the secret is to keep breathing.

I encourage others to come and spend the evening of March 24 with me at the Baycourt Theatre as I natter with my old chum and moustachioed, media man of the people, Mark Sainsbury, Richard says in a statement on taurangamusic.com.

Starship Foundation Chief Executive Brad Clark says Richard is a wonderful supporter of Starship Foundation.

We are so honoured he has chosen to support us again by giving up his 75th birthday for Starship.

Its a brilliant concept, and one we hope will inspire others to jump on board and give up their own birthdays to help children, young people and their families from all over New Zealand.

Tickets for the show are available through Baycourt or Ticketek.
The following editorial appeared in The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday, Jan. 24:

So whats next?

This past weekends massive Womens Marches across the country (and beyond) brought together supporters of diverse political agendas: Womens reproductive rights. Climate change. Public education. Immigration. Voting and human rights. And thats just for starters. Added together, it has been called the largest demonstration in American history.

In a nation that seems perpetually divided, getting more than a million people to rally in dozens of cities is no small feat. Even the tea party movement, which had its own Taxpayer March on Washington in 2009 and has been influential ever since, paled in comparison.

How the passion from the Womens Marches is channeled will determine whether the marchers voices will have a lasting impact or become a historical footnote to the early days of the Trump administration. Its one thing to take issue with the new presidents style and policies; focusing that passion into sustained political and social engagement is quite another.

Count us among those who believe that peaceful constructive protests followed up with serious political and community involvement make for a better America. The million-plus people who gathered over the weekend showed how protests can be family events and a lesson in how democracy should work.

Already, event organizers have unveiled a 10 Actions for the first 100 Days campaign to keep those who supported the march focused on activism, with a new project every 10 days. For the first action, theyve asked participants to write postcards to lawmakers explaining issues that matter most to them, such as health care, LGBTQ rights and immigration. Downloadable versions of the postcards are available online, at womensmarch.com/100.

And it doesnt all have to be political. Volunteer, to share your passion with those closest to you. It could be as simple as volunteering at your neighborhood school, donating clothes to the nearest shelter, or assisting high school students in filling out financial aid forms. The bottom line is to be an engaged citizen, to show what can be accomplished when you get off the sidelines. And to keep it up.
Last October, a baby brushtail possum was found lying on the side of the road in a suburban neighborhood in Australia. He was covered in blood, and had a deep wound on the side of his face. A woman scooped him up, but she thought he was going to die.

Amaroo Wildlife Shelter

"The lady knew right away that the little possum was too young to be away from his mum, and that he wasn't looking good," Nicola Rae, founder of Amaroo Wildlife Shelter, a rescue and rehabilitation center that cares for Australian wildlife, told The Dodo. The woman then rushed the possum to Rae, who was devastated to see how bad his injures were. "The wound on the left side of his face was covered in blood," Rae said. "We clipped his fur away to see how bad the wound was, and realized he had a deep puncture wound into his skull just above his eye socket."

Amaroo Wildlife Shelter

Rae gave the possum - whom she named Tamala - a shot of antibiotics and pain relief right away. After putting him on the scales, she discovered that he weighed less than half a pound, which helped her determine that Tamala was about 5 months old. "He was so frightened and the wound in his head was so deep, I thought he would pass away overnight," Rae said. "But I was determined to give him a chance."

Dodo Shows Little But Fierce Pocket-Sized Kitten Grows Up To Be A Wild Woman

Amaroo Wildlife Shelter

The nature of Tamala's wounds led Rae to suspect that a cat had bitten him. Unfortunately, domestic cats kill a lot of wildlife in Australia, especially babies who can't defend themselves very well. For this reason, it's recommended that people keep cats indoors. Not only does this keep wildlife safe, but it keeps cats safe, too. After treating him, Rae tried to keep Tamala warm.

Amaroo Wildlife Shelter

"I placed his cold little body in a fleecy pouch and put him straight down my shirt to warm him up, where he could feel my heart beating and feel safe," she said. "Once he warmed up, I could feel him stretching out and relaxing while he slept. I think he really enjoyed being cuddled up to me, safe and warm." At first, Tamala didn't eat - he was too sick. But after about eight hours, he finally took his first bottle.

Amaroo Wildlife Shelter

"I proceeded to feed him every four hours around the clock, and he drank as much as an orphan at his age should, which was really surprising!" Rae said. Things were looking good for Tamala, but he wasn't out of the woods yet. In fact, a few days after his rescue, he started to have seizures.

Amaroo Wildlife Shelter

"At one point, I was very close to euthanizing him as he was behaving in a very odd way and seemed to have something very seriously wrong with him," Rae wrote shortly after Tamala's rescue. "Then he seizured." But Rae refused to give up on Tamala. She continued treating him, hoping he'd pull through. Miraculously, he did pull through. The seizures stopped, his wounds healed and he started gaining weight.

Amaroo Wildlife Shelter

"Sometimes I can't believe he actually made it this far," Rae told The Dodo. "I'm so glad I made the decision to persist with treatment." Tamala is still too small to be released, but Rae hopes he'll be ready in about a month - after he's gained more weight and muscle.

Amaroo Wildlife Shelter

"Hand-reared possums need to be fit and brave before we send them out again," Rae explained. "We don't want them going out and getting beaten up by other adult wild possums, or attacked by cats and foxes because they are not fit enough to get away."

Amaroo Wildlife Shelter
These sweet, goofy pugs - named Pixie, Pierre, Seamus and Rooney - have spent months pining for that one special person whom they love above all others. But lucky for them, he just got home.

Tina Finnegan

Last Friday night, U.S. Navy Airman Michael Schiela returned to his parents' house in Philadelphia for the first time since heading to training out of state in October. There, his family had prepared the sweetest surprise for him - and for the four curly-tailed canines who'd been missing him so dearly.

Dodo Shows Soulmates Growling Little Kitten Becomes Her Mom's Best Friend

Tina Finnegan

"My younger son put the dogs in a bedroom upstairs when we pulled up to the house from the airport. When Michael came in, he released them," Schiela's mom, Tina Finnegan, told The Dodo. Here's an adorable video of the wiggly pug-pile that ensued.
Ever since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, over 400,000 people have lost their lives - and 11 million men, women and children have fled the country to save themselves. One such family walked, like so many others, hundreds of miles across Turkey. And that family, like some others, included their cat. The little kitten's life had started in the middle of the fighting. His mother was killed by a bomb soon after he was born.

Luckily, the kitten was pulled from the ruins of a bomb-ravaged house in Damascus by a family who would love him forever. The family named him Tabboush, which means "chubby" in Arabic. When the family realized they had to flee their home, they walked hundreds of miles to get to Idomeni, Greece. They, of course, brought Tabboush with them.

Dodo Shows Wild Hearts Orphaned Deer Runs Back To The Wild With Her Best Friend

At the migrant camp, Tabboush brought joy to the other families and children, living in tents, whose lives were in limbo. "He eats with us, drinks with us, sleeps with us and wakes up with us," the family toldInternational Rescue Committee (IRC), an organization that met them when they were stranded in a migrant camp on the Greek border last spring.

"He is my life," one of the young girls in the family said. "I couldn't live without Tabboush."
A Toronto judge has fined elevator company ThyssenKrupp Canada $375,000 for breaching safety rules.

The judge said she found it surprising the prosecution had asked for so little but called it reasonable.

The fine follows a conviction related to an incident in 2009 in which a man was injured.

Evidence was that ThyssenKrupp failed to act on a badly worn but critical part in an elevator in a west-end condominium.

The lift plunged just as the man was getting on, trapping his foot.

The company, a first-time offender, tried to blame the victim as well as others for the incident.

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U.S. President Donald Trumps decision to revive TransCanada Corp.s Keystone XL pipeline may herald a new era of pipeline abundance for Canadian oil producers after years of bottlenecks, while lowering the discount on the regions crude.

The president signed documents to advance the project Tuesday, more than a year after his predecessor Barack Obama rejected it on grounds it would contribute to climate change. The decision follows the Canadian governments approval in November of Kinder Morgan Inc.s Trans Mountain line to the Pacific and Enbridge Inc.s expansion of Line 3 to the Midwest.

The three lines would add 1.8 million barrels a day of crude export capacity, enough to handle Western Canadas growing oil production for 20 years, according to National Energy Board projections.

That would add more than $5 billion a year to Western Canadas economy by making the regions crude more valuable relative to other grades, Tim Pickering, founder and chief investment officer of Auspice Capital Advisors Ltd. in Calgary, said in a phone interview. Because of the lack of capacity, refiners havent paid as much for Canadian crude.

Too much capacity is not a big concern for the Canadian marketplace and producers right now, Pickering said. It gives us room down the road to increase production.

Canadian oil producers such as Suncor Energy, Cenovus Energy and Imperial Oil have sold their heavy crude at discounts to West Texas Intermediate futures of as much as $50 a barrel in recent years amid constraints in pipeline space. Western Canadian Selects discount to WTI averaged about $18 a barrel over the past year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That may shrink to $7 to $9 a barrel should all three lines get built, Pickering said.

More pipelines from Canada would also generate greater competition for crudes of comparable quality such as those imported from Mexico or Venezuela, Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodity-markets strategy at BNP Paribas in London, said in an instant message.

The administration moved to expedite approval and construction of the Keystone XL pipeline as well as the Dakota Access line through North Dakota. Trump said he wanted to renegotiate terms to get a better deal for the U.S., including more U.S.-made materials in the lines.

The 830,000-barrel-a-day Keystone XL has been blocked since it was first proposed in 2008. TransCanada said in a statement it will reapply for the project.

The approval of Keystone XL and other lines will mean better netbacks to producers, Tim McMillan, chief executive officer of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said in a phone interview Tuesday. Its really just a more efficient system for our economy.

Kinder Morgans TransMountain line and Enbridges Line 3 are scheduled for completion by the end of the decade, both companies have said. TransCanada also plans to build the Energy East line from Alberta to the Atlantic Coast.

The pipelines may be more than the industry needs, according to Wood Mackenzie.

While we forecast continued growth in Canadian oil production; there might be too much pipe if Trans Mountain Expansion and Line 3 Replacement (approved in Nov 2016) and Keystone XL all start-up by 2020, according to a note Tuesday from analyst Afolabi Ogunnaike. At best we would expect TransCanada to build Keystone XL or Energy East but not both.

Trans Mountain, which still faces at least two legal challenges, has the added advantage of opening up access to Asian markets for Canadian crude. Canada now sells nearly all its oil to the U.S.

Our view has been first of all that we need to diversify our markets, we cant rely on one market and one market only, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley told reporters in Edmonton Tuesday.

TransCanada has declined to comment on the timing of construction. In a best-case scenario, work could start this year, said Dennis McConaghy, former executive vice president of corporate development at the company and a current shareholder.

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The U.K. must do more to protect women from discriminatory workplace dress codes, a panel of lawmakers said, after more than 150,000 people signed a petition calling for it to be illegal to make employees wear high heels.

Female retail staff are being told to unbutton blouses more and wear short skirts to increase sales, and some workers face demands to wear ill-fitting high heels that cause disabling pain, the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee said in a joint report with Parliaments Petitions Committee published in London on Wednesday. While the demands are already illegal, the law is not being enforced, the panel said.

The lawmakers started an inquiry in response to a petition by Nicola Thorp, who was sent home without pay after refusing to wear high heels while working as a receptionist for Portico, a front-of-house agency that also required female staff to use and regularly re-apply makeup. The petition was backed by 152,420 people, forcing Parliament to consider it for debate.

Its not enough for the law to be clear in principle  it must also work in practice, Helen Jones, the chairperson of the petitions committee, said in an emailed statement. The government has said that the way that Thorp was treated by her employer is against the law, but that didnt stop her being sent home from work without pay. Its clear from the stories weve heard from members of the public that Nicolas story is far from unique.

British Prime Minister Theresa Mays government should improve the effectiveness of the 2010 Equality Act so people are not forced to comply with outlawed dress codes, the panel said. Increased financial penalties should be considered, and employees should be made aware of their rights.

It is clear that many employees do not feel able to challenge the dress codes they are required to follow, even when they suspect that they may be unlawful, the lawmakers said. We therefore recommend that the government develop an awareness campaign to help workers to understand how they can make formal complaints and bring claims if they believe that they are subject to discriminatory treatment at work, including potentially discriminatory dress codes.

Some women reported being required to carry food, drinks and stock up and down stairs while wearing heels, while others said they had to climb ladders, move heavy baggage and carry out emergency airplane evacuations, the panel said after studying hundreds of contributions to its website.

On average, women say they suffer pain from ill-fitting high heels within one hour, six minutes and 48 seconds of putting them on, the report said, citing evidence from the College of Podiatry. A fifth of respondents to a survey by the college said they were in pain after just 10 minutes.

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Michael Jackson was a loving father who was absolutely murdered, his 18-year-old daughter claims in an unguarded new interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

Paris Jackson was 11 when her superstar dad died at 50 from an overdose of a powerful sedative on June 25, 2009  an outwardly accidental death that saw his physician, Conrad Murray, convicted of involuntary manslaughter the next year  and hasnt really spoken in public since she proclaimed him the best father you could ever imagine at his funeral.

The model and sometime actress lets it all out to Rolling Stone in its Feb. 9 issue, however, in a lengthy cover story titled Life After Neverland, in which she discusses growing up with her famous father at Neverland Ranch in great detail, as well as her struggles with depression and drug addiction, her multiple suicide attempts  including one made public in 2013 when the then 15-year-old slashed her wrists and took 20 Motrins  and her sexual assault by a stranger at 14.

The most titillating tidbit of all nevertheless comes near the end of the interview, when she asserts her staunch belief that Michael was not the victim of an unfortunate, fatal mishap but was actually murdered.

He would drop hints about people being out to get him, she tells writer Brian Hiatt And at some point he was like, Theyre gonna kill me one day.

The younger Jackson makes no specific claims as to who might have been out to get him, merely saying a lot of people wanted him dead and that she absolutely believes someone had him killed.

Because its obvious, she says. All arrows point to that. It sounds like a total conspiracy theory and it sounds like bullsh--, but all real fans and everybody in the family knows it. It was a setup. It was bullsh--.

Paris also has no kind words for concert promotion giant AEG Live, which she accuses of overworking her late father in preparation for a run of comeback dates at Londons 02 Arena that, sadly, never happened.

AEG Live does not treat their performers right. They drain them dry and work them to death, she tells Rolling Stone, adding that she saw echoes of her debilitated father in Justin Bieber during a performance on his last tour and felt scared for him. He was tired, going through the motions. I looked at my ticket, saw AEG Live, and I thought back to how my dad was exhausted all the time but couldnt sleep.

The Jackson family eventually lost a wrongful-death suit against AEG.

As to the allegations of child sexual abuse that plagued Michael Jackson at various points during his career, Paris states her unequivocal belief in her fathers innocence. He would cry to me at night over such damning smears to his reputation, she claims.

Picture your parent crying to you about the world hating him for something he didnt do, she says. And for me, he was the only thing that mattered. To see my entire world in pain, I started to hate the world because of what they were doing to him. Im like, How can people be so mean?

For the record, too, Paris Jackson pooh-poohs the rumours that Jackson was not actually her biological father, says she identifies as black and  although she and brothers Prince and Blanket were raised by Michael alone  has been in contact with her mother, Debbie Rowe, since she was 13. Despite the fact that she grew up on an estate with its own amusement park and zoo, she also paints a picture of a thoroughly normal upbringing at the hands of a dad who tried very hard to keep his children out of the public eye.

Nobody but my brothers and I experienced him reading A Light in the Attic to us at night before we went to bed, she says. Nobody experienced him being a father to them. And if they did, the entire perception of him would be completely and forever changed.

Correction  January 26, 2017: This article was edited from a previous version that misstated the name of the writer. The Rolling Stone article was written by Brian Hiatt, not, photographer David LaChapelle. LaChapelle photographed Paris Jackson for Rolling Stone.

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On the first full working day of Donald Trumps presidency, a chilling picture emerged from the Oval Office.

There was President Trump, sitting at his desk, flanked by six white men of immense privilege, signing a global gag order which forbids America giving any international financial aid to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that counsel women on abortion or perform them.

This gag order comes and goes depending upon which party commands the White House.

But I was struck by how symbolic and threatening the image itself was. This is what the white male patriarchy used to look like folks, and astonishingly in 2017, still does.

As a tweet by a British male journalist said: As long as you live youll never see a photograph of 7 women signing legislation about what men can do with their reproductive organs.

Set your clocks back a few hundred years. Or refuse to.

Wasnt that what Saturdays enthralling marches were all about? They started with a simple visual statement: Were here, or in the Stars memorable headline, She the People.

Organized mainly, as American writer Rebecca Traister pointed out in New York magazine, by women of colour, the Womens March last Saturday drew an unprecedented 4 million women  and men  out on streets all around the world to protest the election of Donald Trump, and to state, in funny signs and angry speeches, a variety of grievances and goals.

As Traister brilliantly summed up the irony, a lot of people predicted that women were going to change Americas political history in January of 2017. But pretty much no one anticipated that theyd be doing it as leaders of the resistance.

Many thought wed instead be celebrating the arrival of power, the election of the first woman president.

Instead women everywhere suited up with pink pussycat hats and got on planes, trains, buses and subways to take to the streets and say we can do better than this as a society.

I really wasnt sure about all that pink. Why girlie up such an important democratic moment, I thought, until I saw the pictures and found the sea of pink actually moving.

The signs, brash and funny, were aimed at a vulgar, intemperate and dangerous new president who has bragged of assaulting women and so far gotten away with it: Think Outside My Box.

They were targeting an administration committed to rolling back abortion rights: Girls just want to have Fun-damental rights. They spoke to a new government intent on limiting immigration and tone deaf to racial equality: Respect existence or expect resistance.

Almost every woman I know who marched used the word exhilarating to describe how it felt to show up for one of the largest world wide one day demonstrations in history.

Thats certainly how I felt as I marched, with a close friend amidst thousands, from Queens Park past the U.S. Consulate. There were lots of chants, but because the two of us were journalists, we made up our own in solidarity with our American colleagues: Ho ho, hey hey, freedom of the press has got to stay.

It was peaceful, positive and inspirational, especially talking to other marchers, one of whom, a young academic, said she had done her thesis on the stalled Occupy Wall Street movement, but her feeling now is women will lead this movement for change.

Such conversations were not only a highlight of the march, but one of its purposes. As feminist icon Gloria Steinem, 82, honorary co-chair of the Washington D.C. march replied, when questioned by the New York Times about rifts developing between white women of privilege and women of colour: Its about knowing each other, which is what movements and marches are for.

Its a sign of progress that the demonstrators had different agendas. How could there not be tension between women of colour and white women of privilege? The movement for change needs a more inclusive direction if its going to morph into a new massive and assertive civil and human rights movement.

No one should doubt taking to the streets will be necessary again. But right now its our American friends who have to get up every morning, as documentary maker Michael Moore suggested, and bug congress or get involved by community organizing or running for office.

Only days later, the march was subsumed by the minutiae of an unpredictable (to put it mildly) new presidents first days in office as Trump began signing away Barack Obamas legacy.

Donald Trumps embattled new press secretary, Sean Spicer, was on Monday, offensively obtuse about the marchers, saying they werent really marching against anything. Get real. It was almost as if its historic peacefulness in the U.S. capital  no arrests  was something this angry new administration didnt understand.

A moment or a movement? asked a CNN host, maddeningly offering only a binary choice. It was both, but also, admittedly, a therapeutic interlude.

Mothers and daughters, aunts and nieces, best friends, kids, newborns. Fathers, husbands, friends  all out on the street when they could have been doing a thousand other Saturday things in a show of strength, resilience and spirit.

On my subway ride to Queens Park, a marcher held her three-month-old daughter in a carrier close to her chest, kissing the top of her babys head. She admitted: I didnt bring a sign.

Yes you did, I replied looking at her infant daughter, Shes your sign.

Judith Timsons column will move to Friday Life section on Feb. 10. She writes weekly about cultural, social and political issues. You can reach her at judith.timson@sympatico.ca and follow her on Twitter @judithtimson

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Is the head of Humber College worth a hefty half a mil?

What about the presidents of Algonquin, George Brown, Seneca or Sheridan?

Thats the question college boards across Ontario are considering in light of proposals to boost the pay of their executives. If adopted, five of the 24 presidents could potentially be earning $494,000, and even the lowest-paid could earn $325,000  including the head of Northern College, which has about 1,900 students.

Eight could be in line for raises of more than $100,000  or double the average yearly salary of an Ontario worker.

It takes a certain skill level to be a president of a college, and especially one in the north, said George Kemp, chair of board of Timmins-based Northern College, whose president earns $258,663 but could make $325,000.

To suggest it is based on size . . . you dont pay your president one-tenth of what the other presidents get.

He said the proposed rate is the top-end only, and not a done deal  especially at Northern, where to give a president a $65,000 increase, thats the difference between balanced and not at budget time.

News of the proposed pay hikes come as Premier Kathleen Wynne is on a weeklong tour of Ontario colleges and universities. On Monday, she visited Humber, whose president earns $432,765.

The new frameworks for executive compensation are required by the provincial government, now that a pay freeze for senior executives has ended. All of Ontarios colleges received the help of the same outside consultant, and used many of the same 12 public-sector executive salaries for comparison, setting a median from among leaders at large entities like the LCBO, Torontos University Health Network and York University. Colleges considered less complex, with fewer staff or students, then discounted their top salary from that median.

So while Northern used York University as a comparator  York has 45,000 full-time students  Kemp said discounts were used in determining salaries.

We think the comparators are appropriate, he said. We are quite comfortable as a board with whats been done.

Just last week, post-secondary minister Deb Matthews said college presidents should compare salaries among one another. But that did not faze any of the colleges contacted by the Star, who held firm in the work done by the outside consultant and their own boards.

NDP education critic Peggy Sattler said her party has long called for a hard cap on public sector executive compensation. She said student tuition should in no way be subsidizing college administrators salary increases, and the only way these kinds of wages can be funded are through tuition dollars or government dollars, and we believe government investments in post-secondary should go into operating the colleges.

She noted that colleges are already under enormous financial pressure, and that staff are largely contract faculty with little job security.

For this discussion about this significant increase in college presidents salaries to be taking place at this time is very troubling, she said. Its a big concern when we see proposals like this being floated.

For all colleges, roughly 20 per cent of the proposed new pay rate is considered at risk, and could be docked in whole or in part if certain conditions arent met.

As a citizen, you have to recognize that our executives have been frozen since 2012, salary wise, said Charlie Regan, who chairs Centennials board of governors.  . . . When we looked at ours, relative to us retaining and getting the talent that we need to keep our business running effectively as we have, the compensation is appropriate.

Colleges insist the amounts are maximum, and that obviously you dont start off at the top when you are hiring somebody new, said Scott Blakey, chief administration officer of Durham College. However, he added, over time the amount could reach the maximum.

When I look at the requirement for the president, the skills, knowledge and expertise required to be a president at Durham is not dissimilar to what it would be at Humber or York University, Blakey said. The set of skills for those positions is similar.

At Sheridan College, communications director Christine Szustaczek noted that its former president  Sheldon Levy  went on to be president of Ryerson University, and a vice-president of York has joined Sheridan. Thats where we compete for talent, she said, adding the two schools run a joint degree program.

Colleges will be examining the salary proposals over the coming months, and have been asking for public input via their websites.

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OTTAWAPrime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline as an early good sign in dealing with Donald Trumps administration but cautioned that much discussion lies ahead with the new president on the Canada-U.S. relationship.

Speaking at the end of a two-day retreat where cabinet ministers sought to get a handle on Trumps potential impact on cross-border relations, Trudeau said the presidents approval of the new pipeline will mean good jobs and economic growth.

Trudeau said the issue of the Keystone XL project had come up in the two telephone conversations hes had so far with Trump. We spoke about the project and I underlined I was in favour of this project, Trudeau said.

The project to move Alberta oil to U.S. Gulf coast refineries had been held up under Barack Obamas administration, angering then Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who called it a complete no-brainer and said its approval was inevitable.

It took a change of president but on Tuesday Trump signed an executive order to get the project moving again, subject to some conditions.

The prime minister voiced his support for the plan, saying that moving oil by pipeline is safer and better for the environment than shipping it by rail. This is what Canadians expect of us, he said.

The cabinet gathering in Calgary was a chance for ministers to reflect on their priorities for the coming months, a period they acknowledge will be dominated by Canada-U.S. issues as the new president settles in and campaign promises become policy south of the border.

But Trudeau said preliminary discussions by Canadian officials with top aides in Trumps administration have been positive. And he said those talks have highlighted the extraordinary economic ties between the two countries.

Millions of good middle-class jobs on either side of the border depend on the close trade relationship we have. That has really been at the centre of all of our discussions, Trudeau said.

The response were getting is very much positive in terms of understanding the extent to which the relationship between Canada and the United States is particular and unique, the prime minister said.

We know there is much to discuss, he said.

Its early days in the Trump presidency but already clear ideological splits with the priorities of the Trudeau government are becoming apparent.

For example, on Tuesday as he signed executive actions to revive Keystone and another pipeline in the U.S., Trump also took steps to streamline what he called the incredibly cumbersome, long, horrible environmental process.

The regulatory process in this country has become a tangled-up mess, Trump said.

The president drove home the message later in the day during a meeting with auto executives, where he declared that the environmental processes were out of control.

Trade is another potential flashpoint between Canada and the U.S. Trump has declared he wants to either renegotiate or tear up the North American Free Trade agreement. On Monday, he signed an order executive order to quit the Asia-Pacific free trade deal known as the trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Asked about that on Tuesday, Trudeau said his government is a proponent for trade and pointed to the free trade pact recently signed with the European Union and early talks with India, Japan and China on the topic.

We know that increasing our engagement with the growing economies of Asia is a good way to ensure good jobs and prosperity, Trudeau said.

The federal Liberals are even having to tiptoe around questions about Trumps character. On Tuesday, the prime minister was asked pointblank whether he thought Trump was a misogynist. Trudeau says it's not his job to opine on the American electoral process.

It is the job of the Canadian prime minister to have a constructive working relationship with the President of the United States. Thats exactly what I intend to do, Trudeau said.

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Donald Trump approved of the Keystone XL pipeline project Tuesday. Sort of. Stephen Harper always said it was a no-brainer, and, well, here we are.

The Liberal cabinet was meeting in Calgary, and reaction was muted. Perhaps surprisingly so. They campaigned in 2015 on getting Keystone XL approved, if they could. Youre forgiven if you dont recall. They campaigned on a lot of things. Like, a lot. But for as long as Barack Obama was president, not all the bromance mojo in the world could get Justin Trudeau an inch further down the road than Harper had managed to get.

But now, here we all were, some distance further down the road. Some fundamentally indeterminate distance. Measurable perhaps by quantum physicists, or absurdist playwrights, if at all. In Washington, Trump and his spokesperson, brave Sean Spicer, were making noises about conditions on the approval, with an eye toward getting the best possible deal. A requirement that the pipeline use American steel, for instance. Maybe more.

We are still at the stage where gifts from the White House are being carefully scrutinized for their meaning. Am I completely unconcerned? No, Alberta premier Rachel Notley said in a not-quite-celebratory news conference. Do I continue to monitor this? Very closely.

Later on Twitter, she welcomed the news that the U.S. has taken an important step towards moving forward with Keystone. This was in keeping with her general policy of welcoming steps toward moving forward.

Hows Jim Carr feeling about it all? Hopeful, the natural resources minister told reporters as he headed into a second day of cabinet meetings at the Palliser hotel. A sense of optimism.

If we can move, as briskly as possible, away from the mysteries of Keystone for now and toward more general matters, Carrs comments in fact reflect the general mood of Liberals as they wrapped up two days of pondering their future on a continent with Donald Trump. Hopeful. Optimistic. Maybe not completely unconcerned. Monitoring this closely.

For the moment, the Trudeau government actually has something few countries have and most envy: the beginnings of a working relationship with the Trump administration. Several hours of meetings in New York with the people who seem to have keys to the kingdom  senior adviser Steve Bannon, son-in-law Jared Kushner  led to a visit in Calgary from billionaire adviser Stephen Schwarzman, who said such nice things about Canada in his remarks to reporters that the whole Trudeau crew was noticeably more chill afterward.

Kushner would have come, but it is not easy to get from Washington to Calgary, especially if one is suddenly discouraged from using ones private jet, as Kushner has been since he landed a White House gig.

Other world leaders are either mystified by Trump, disdainful of him or disdained by him. Sometimes all three at once. It was excellent theatre for Angela Merkel to be photographed visiting an art gallery while Trump was receiving the oath of office. Some day when the definitive history of Trump is written, Merkels gesture will merit a mention. But her staff cannot get calls returned, and the German chancellor heads into an election year pretty sure that neither the Kremlin nor the White House intend to let her win.

Trump is picking enough fights of his own and has enough others on his plate whether he wants them or not, that he will be pleased if there is some corner of a world map he can both recognize and not have to worry about. Trudeau is volunteering to make Canada that spot. Schwarzmans comments during his visit amounted to a guarantee that the administration does not view Canada as a problematic trade partner. This contrasts with how it views Mexico. The three countries are partners in NAFTA, which Trump has promised to renegotiate.

Does this mean Mexico will have to go? The Canadians hope not. Mexicos tariff wall against third-party, non-NAFTA countries is high: it would not be painless if Canada suddenly found itself outside that wall. And if we shucked NAFTA and reverted to the Reagan-era bilateral Canada-U.S. trade deal, wed need to negotiate to get back all the extra chapters that exist in NAFTA only. That would require another dance with Trump the dealmaker, with its attendant uncertainty.

Its shaping up to be an odd relationship. Washingtons key contacts in Ottawa are a woman journalist with hundreds of hours of CNN airtime, Chrystia Freeland, and a guy in a turban, Harjit Sajjan. And, well, Justin Trudeau. They must seem terribly exotic to their opposite numbers in Washington. But politics always did make strange bedfellows.

Paul Wells is a national affairs writer. His column appears Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

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OTTAWAPrime Minister Justin Trudeau admitted Tuesday that he took an earlier private helicopter trip to the Aga Khans Bahamian island in 2014, when he was an opposition MP, following weeks of questions about his more recent vacation to the tropical destination that has prompted an investigation by the federal ethics commissioner.

Trudeau did not publicly disclose the 2014 trip, according to the commissioners online registry  meaning he may have breached the conflict of interest code as an MP, before potentially violating the rules again during his more recent vacation as prime minister, which is under investigation.

Trudeau revealed his earlier sojourn to Bell Island during a press conference in Calgary, after refusing to detail any prior trips with the Aga Khan during his public tour in New Brunswick last week.

In Christmas of 2014, I spent some time with (the Aga Khan) on Bell Island as well, Trudeau said, after also describing his first vacation with the billionaire philanthropist and spiritual leader, which was in Greece when he was 12.

As you know, the Aga Khan is a longtime friend, he added in French.

Cameron Ahmad, press secretary in the Prime Ministers Office, refused to say whether Trudeau had disclosed his 2014 trip to the ethics commissioner.

I can only refer you to the prime ministers answers at his press conference today, and reiterate that we are happy to answer any questions from the commissioner, Ahmad said in an email.

The Aga Khan is the chair of a foundation that has landed more than $300 million in federal aid contracts since 2004. Trudeaus recent family vacation to the 80-year-old Ismaili Muslim leaders island was kept secret from reporters for several days over the holidays.

Since admitting where he was vacationing, the prime minister and his staff have slowly revealed more information about the trip, including that he was accompanied to Bell Island by Newfoundland Liberal MP Seamus ORegan and Liberal party president Anna Gainey.

After he admitted that he had taken the Aga Khans private helicopter to get to the island, opposition parties asked ethics commissioner Mary Dawson to investigate the trip. They argued the helicopter ride broke the Conflict of Interest Act, which bars cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries from accepting travel on privately owned aircraft unless its necessary to carry out their duties, they have permission in advance from the ethics commissioner or they are facing exceptional circumstances.

Dawson is currently investigating whether Trudeaus recent trip to Bell Island breached the act.

While the Conflict of Interest Act didnt apply to Trudeau in 2014  because he was then just an MP, not a minister  he was still bound by the conflict of interest code for members of Parliament.

The code allows MPs to accept sponsored travel when it arises from or relates to his or her position. If an MP accepts sponsored travel, they must declare the travel to the ethics commissioner within 60 days, the code says.

The online registry that shows MPs declarations of sponsored travel doesnt include anything for Trudeaus 2014 trip to Bell Island.

Trudeaus record shows a single instance when he declared sponsored travel: when an Italian political party paid for his trip to Rome for a parliamentary leaders conference in 2011.

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OTTAWAIn the face of anger from Albertas oilsands and its advocates across the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau backtracked on comments he made in Ontario last week, when he said we have to phase them out in reference to the greenhouse gas-intensive industry.

Speaking to reporters during the Liberal cabinet retreat in Calgary on Tuesday, Trudeau said he misspoke, while reiterating his message that Canada must eventually wean itself off fossil fuels.

I said something the way I shouldnt have said it. I talk about phasing out our dependency on coal, I talk about phasing out our use of fossil fuels, Trudeau said, describing a time-line of 100 years to end the use of oilsands bitumen as energy.

But the petrochemicals involved, and the potentiality of these fossil fuel resources, are always going to be valuable.

Trudeau made the comments on a day when the new American president, Donald Trump, signed an executive order to push for the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry Alberta oil to the ocean off Texas.

The prime minister also contrasted his governments progress on securing oilsands pipelines with that of his Conservative predecessor, Stephen Harper. Late last year, the Liberals announced their approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to carry twice as much oil through B.C. to Vancouver, as well as the Enbridges Line 3 project from Alberta to Wisconsin.

People are happy to jump on words and try and make political hay out of it and I understand that, Trudeau said.

But I am proud of the fact that I have been able to do a few things that the previous government was unable to do, including approving two significant pipelines and possibly having Keystone XL move forward as well in the coming years.

One of the fundamental responsibilities of any Canadian government is to get our resources to market and we need to do that in a responsible and sustainable way, he said.

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Donald Trump is no environmental icon, but Catherine McKenna thinks she can win him over.

Canadas environment minister is holding out hope the new U.S. administration wont derail global efforts to cut emissions  even amid jarring differences in approach.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government has beefed up regulatory review of pipeline approvals and is pressing ahead with a national carbon price despite warnings of creating, or exacerbating, competitive disadvantages. Trump, meanwhile, rolled back steps Barack Obama had taken and fast-tracked the Keystone XL and Dakota Access projects on Tuesday.

Read more:Trumps EPA freeze, gag order spark fears about environmental defunding

McKenna shrugs off the divergence. In an interview, she pointed to U.S. progress on tackling acid rain a generation ago under Ronald Reagan as a case study for how Trump might be wooed on climate.

Its very early days, so its hard to know where this administration is going, she said. Its much more about the markets. I guess I just believe in the market. And when the market moves and sees opportunities, its going to be smarter to invest in renewables than it may be in other sectors.

Competitive Concerns

McKenna spoke during a cabinet retreat in the oil hub of Calgary, where Trudeaus ministers gathered with Trump at the top of their agenda. The cabinet hosted Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive officer at Blackstone Group LP and head of the presidents strategic and policy forum, and was reassured by his pledges that Canada is a special case for the U.S. and isnt the main target of new protectionist measures.

But Canadas ties with the U.S. go beyond trade. Derek Burney, a former ambassador and aide to former prime minister Brian Mulroney, has warned that Trudeaus government may have to abandon some of its initiatives in light of Trump to avoid creating a crippling imbalance of regulations, taxes and environmental measures that drive investment south of the border.

There may be policies that weve put in place or that were contemplating that will have to be recalibrated in order to meet that objective, Burney, who has been advising Trudeau on dealing with the new president, said in an interview this month.

Canada and the U.S. signed the acid rain pact in 1991, nearly a decade after Mulroney  who is also advising Trudeau  first raised it with the Reagan administration.

Thats an important example, McKenna said. Mulroney thought initially there was not much traction with Ronald Reagan but he was able to make the case, that it made sense and they could do it together and it was the right thing to do.

Renewable Push

Canada will appeal to Trump that renewable energy is an opportunity to add U.S. jobs, as countries such as China move to sharply cut emissions. Everyones moving forward, she said.

Canada has introduced a minimum national carbon price that will take effect in 2018, though the most populous provinces have already implemented their own programs. McKenna puts faith in that piecemeal approach, noting California has introduced a cap-and-trade program regardless of who is in the White House.

Trudeau  a pro-trade, pro-immigration avowed feminist  has revamped his team and messaging to deal with Trump and has avoided direct critiques of the president. Instead, hes sought to cultivate common ground by likening his campaign message around supporting the middle class to Trumps mandate. McKenna echoed that.

Were looking for the same thing, she said. were looking for jobs, were looking for growth, and so thats the case that were going to be making.

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Jail authorities were negligent to house rival gang members in the same unit and therefore liable for the injuries one of them sustained in a beating, Ontarios top court ruled Monday.

The ruling upholds a lower court finding that found the guards at Torontos Don Jail largely liable for what happened to Jason Walters, who spent months in hospital, more than a year in rehabilitation, and was left with permanent brain damage.

Walters was a low-level member of Torontos east end Malvern Crew, which was involved in an ongoing turf war with the Galloway Boyz, which had Tyshan Riley as leader or senior member.

RELATED:Money underlines misjudgment leading up to jailhouse attack: DiManno

The security risks that Riley posed ought to have been known to all members of the justice system, the Appeal Court said. This information should have influenced (the) decision on Walters placement.

Correctional authorities at the jail put Walters in Rileys unit in November 2008 despite knowing about their gang affiliations. Walters was soon badly beaten by fellow inmates in an attack directed by Riley. The victim sued for damages, claiming the guards had negligently failed to prevent the assault.

At trial, a lower court judge agreed with Walters, who maintained he was only 15 per cent responsible for what happened to him because he could have asked to be placed in segregation for his own protection.

In that ruling in August 2015, Superior Court Justice Arthur Gans found the guards primarily responsible for what happened because they should have known Riley would likely attack members of rival gangs.

Ontario appealed, arguing Gans made several errors, including his assessment that the guards had been negligent. The province also argued that the courts had no right to review the decision to put Walters in the same unit as Riley because it was reasonable choice based on a policy of dispersing gang members throughout the jail.

The Court of Appeal disagreed with the province. It also sided with Ganss finding that the Don Jails on-duty admitting manager, Steve Aspiotis, should have foreseen the problem of putting Walters and Riley in the same unit.

Aspiotis should have known that Riley was an unusually dangerous inmate, the Appeal Court said. The trial judges finding that Aspiotis breached the standard of care had a sufficient evidentiary basis.

A senior corrections official testified that if an admitting officer was aware of any believed or perceived conflict between a new inmate and an inmate already on the relevant range, the Appeal Court found, the officer should not place the newcomer on the unit.

The court also ordered the province to pay Walters $35,000 for his legal costs.

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A private donor, moved by the suicides of two, 12-year-old girls in remote Wapekeka First Nation, will fund the $380,000 that Health Canada refused to give them for youth mental health workers.

Wapekeka Chief Brennan Sainnawap wrote Health Canada last July, begging for funding as they feared a youth suicide pact in the community but the federal department refused.

The donor, who contacted Wapekeka last week, is a private citizen who wishes to remain anonymous. The donor has already wired $30,000 to Wapekeka to help pay for emergency mental health crisis team needs and the rest of the money will follow later this week to reinstate the youth mental health program.

RELATED:

Wapekeka First Nation feared suicide pact, say they were denied help

Trudeau meets with Ontario Indigenous leaders in wake of girls suicides

Since the deaths of Jolynn Winter on January 8 and her friend Chantell Fox, who followed Winter two days later, another four girls were medevaced out of the community and are still receiving treatment. Another 26 students have been classified as high risk for suicide and are being watched.

Both Sainnawap and Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, who has spearheaded the call for a national suicide strategy in the wake of the girls deaths, are overwhelmed and grateful to the donor.

We are overwhelmed with this act of generosity and cannot express how grateful we are that this donor is stepping in to help our people. Our community is in crisis and there is an urgent need to get this program back in place as soon as possible, said Sainnawap in a statement.

Chantell Fox was Sainnawaps granddaughter. He wrote the letter to Health Canada in July, 2016, asking for mental health supports for their youth. The community said they were told Health Canada couldnt fund the request because it came at an awkward time in their budget cycle.

Words cannot express how grateful we are that this donor has committed to helping our young people with their mental health struggles. We are extremely disappointed that despite the loss of two of our youth we have never received a commitment from Health Canada or the Government of Canada to get this program back in our community.

Wapekeka is a community of nearly 400 people, 600 km north of Thunder Bay. The First Nation has struggled with a suicide crisis before and with sexual abuse issues. Wapekeka was one of the remote indigenous communities targeted by convicted pedophile Ralph Rowe in the 1970s and 1980s. Rowe, a former Anglican Church minister, used to fly into First Nations and take boys camping. It is estimated his victims number in the hundreds. The Anglican Church announced last Friday it would nationally apologize to Rowes victims.

Since the recent suicides, NAN, provincial and federal authorities have swooped in to try and respond to the crisis, but indigenous leaders maintain a national mental health strategy is urgently needed to stop the youth suicide epidemic in many First Nations. Fly-in squad response teams are not an answer to sustained, national funding, Fiddler said.

The anonymous donation does not replace the need for Ottawa and the province to do their part and properly fund indigenous mental health and health care, he said.

We will still go after both the Feds and the province to support our communities, Fiddler said and added that they fully respect the donors wish to remain anonymous, but I would like to express our appreciation for this tremendous response to a community in crisis.

The fact remains that two young children died because Ottawa cut funding to programs, said New Democratic Party MP Charlie Angus, whose riding of Timmins-James Bay, has faced a suicide crisis for decades.

They were warned children could die. Last week (at an Ottawa press conference), they were warned more children could be at risk and they have done nothing. Is this how we celebrate Canadas 150th birthday? Angus asked.

This is about political will. The prime minister could state this (a national suicide strategy) is a policy in our country and make sure the funds are there, Angus added.

Instead, they are defending themselves against Cindy Blackstock and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, in a decade-long human rights tribunal case about Canadas failure to adequately fund services for indigenous kids. Thursday is the one-year anniversary of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling that found the Canadian government is discriminating against 163,000 First Nations kids by not providing equitable child welfare services that other Canadian children receive.

This government is willing to spend half a million dollars on lawyers to fight Cindy Blackstock to deny services to children and they wont give money to help a community to stop children from dying Angus added.

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CALGARYPrime Minister Justin Trudeau launched an impassioned defence for balancing the environment and economy at a raucous town hall in the heart of oil country Tuesday.

A man wearing a shirt with I Love Oil Sands written on it and a hat emblazoned with U.S. President Donald Trumps Make America Great Again campaign slogan took Trudeau to task for earlier oilsands comments.

At a town hall in Ontario earlier this month, Trudeau was criticized for saying the oilsands would need to be phased out eventually. At the close of a Calgary cabinet retreat earlier Tuesday, he said he misspoke.

The questioner at Tuesday nights gathering accused the prime minister of making inconsistent statements depending on whether he was in eastern or western Canada.

Youre in Alberta right now, sir. Youre not in Ottawa, the man shouted. Yet when you come to Calgary, you tell people youre sorry.

You are either a liar or youre confused. And Im beginning to think its both.

The man asked Trudeau whether he would take back the remark, prompting cheers from some in the crowd of more than 1,700.

Trudeau replied that he has been consistent in his oilsands message.

I have repeatedly said that yes, the responsibility of any Canadian prime minister is to get our resources to market and yes, that includes our oilsands fossil fuels, he said.

Ive also said that we need to do that in a responsible, sustainable way  that you cannot separate whats good for the environment and whats good for the economy.

Trudeau said even former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper recognized the world would have to get off fossil fuels eventually.

He asked the crowd of mostly students to put up their hands if they think climate change is real and virtually everyone did.

A few other questions at the town hall touched on the economic pain Alberta has been going through in recent years as a result of low oil prices.

The unemployment rate in Alberta, where the economy largely centres on the oil and gas sector, was at 8.5 per cent in December, higher than the national rate of 6.9 per cent. Tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs over the past few years.

Trudeau was also grilled on Canadas future peacekeeping role, trade, violence against indigenous women and strategies to tackle poverty.

A handful of hecklers interrupted Trudeau throughout the event at the University of Calgary. Trudeau responded by drawing on his past life as a teacher, telling one man he didnt want to reward bad behaviour by giving it too much attention.

Trudeau and the federal cabinet wrapped up a two-day retreat in Calgary earlier Tuesday that was focused largely on how to deal with an unpredictable new administration south of the border.

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Cutting through the dark nights from Jan. 27 to March 12 The Distillery District will be host to 13 acres of lights.

Its that time of the year when theres not that much happening, says Matthew Rosenblatt, executive producer of the Toronto Light Festival. So we thought this would be fun.

The festival will see 17 large light artworks by Canadian, European and American artists, Rosenblatt says. Some of the installations are up to nine metres long.

The inspiration for the Toronto Light Festival is the Amsterdam Light Festival, which started in 2011.

This year, the Amsterdam Light Festival runs from Dec. 1, 2016 to Jan. 22, 2017. It showcases over 35 artworks from international artists, designers and architects, according to its website.

Rosenblatt says he wanted to make sure that the light festival is accessible and affordable. The light festival is a lot more passive than Nuit Blanche, and all in one place rather than across the city, he explains. With a mix of light installations and sculptures, people can choose to learn about them or simply look at them, he says.

I didnt want to make people feel like they were going into an obtuse gallery, he says.

The Distillery District looks beautiful when its lit up, so the light festival seemed like the natural next step, Rosenblatt says. Coming off the Christmas market, which has a yesteryear feel to it, the organizers wanted something more urban and cool, he adds.

And, Rosenblatt says with a chuckle, I like shiny objects.

The Light Festival runs in the The Distillery District Jan. 27 to March 12, Sundays to Wednesdays, sundown to 10 p.m.

Thursdays to Saturdays, sundown to 11 p.m.

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Toronto police said that they have recovered nine fire arms and high-capacity magazines as part of a firearm investigation that resulted with the arrest of three people on Tuesday.

At a press conference Friday at 4:00 p.m., Inspector Peter Moreira announced that police had recovered on Tuesday several guns including six semi-automatic guns and a vintage revolver.

Junior Richardson, 38, of Toronto was charged with nine counts of possession of an unauthorized firearm, possession for the purpose of weapons trafficking, possession of a prohibited device, unauthorized possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm. Richardson faces in total nine charges.

38-year-old Kathryn Concepcion was charged with a total eight charges. Concepcion faces nine counts of five charges alike or similar to the charges Richardson faces.

Everton Curling, 52, of Toronto was charged with possession of cocaine.

All three individuals are scheduled to appear in court at Old City Hall Wednesday.

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Job candidates with Asian names and Canadian qualifications are less likely to be called for interviews than their counterparts with Anglo-Canadian names even when they have a better education, a new study has found.

Using data from a recent large-scale Canadian employment study that examined interview callback rates for resumes with Asian and Anglo names, researchers found Asian-named applicants consistently received fewer calls regardless of the size of the companies involved.

Although a masters degree can improve Asian candidates chances of being called, it does not close the gap and their prospects dont even measure up to those of Anglo applicants with undergraduate qualifications.

Compared to applicants with Anglo names, Asian-named applicants with all-Canadian qualifications had 20.1 per cent fewer calls from organizations with 500 or more employees, and 39.4 per cent and 37.1 per cent fewer calls, respectively, from medium-sized and small employers.

The disadvantage of an Asian name is less in the large organizations, although it has not disappeared, said the joint study by the University of Toronto and Ryerson University, titled Do Large Employers Treat Racial Minorities More Fairly? It will be released Wednesday at a forum at U of Ts Munk School of Global Affairs.

The challenge, the report said, is that more than 70 per cent of private sector employees in Canada work for companies with fewer than 100 employees.

Paul Nguyen, 36, who was born in Canada to Vietnamese parents, said he was not surprised by the findings, as he has seen first-hand how a visible minority colleague with a doctoral degree was passed over for promotion in favour of a Caucasian with a bachelors degree.

In fact, Nguyens parents decided to change his name to Paul when he was in Grade 8 because his original name, Phuong, was frequently misspelled or mispronounced.

It just makes it easier for me to navigate in the system, he said.

The new study follows earlier research led by University of Toronto economics professor Phil Oreopoulos, who found that for every 100 calls received by applicants with Anglo names, applicants with Asian names got only 72. However, his study did not break down company size and occupational skill level.

The applicants in the study had fictitious names that were English (Greg Johnson and Emily Brown), Chinese (Lei Li and Xuiying Zhang), Indian (Samir Sharma and Tara Singh) and Pakistani (Ali Saeed and Hina Chaudhry).

Researchers in the current study further dissected Oreopouloss data, which was collected from a field audit that involved sending 12,910 invented resumes to employers for 3,225 real job postings.

Using a standard occupational status scale, researchers classified the job postings into high-skill positions such as accountant, civil engineer or sales and marketing manager; average-skill jobs such as financial adviser and claims adjuster; and lower-skill jobs that included bookkeeper, accounts payable clerk, restaurant manager or cashier.

While the study found the extent of discrimination against Asian-named applicants with all Canadian qualifications was roughly the same for both high-skill and lower-skill jobs (32.9 per cent less likely to get a call versus 30.7 per cent), skill level mattered much more when the Asian-named candidates have some foreign qualifications.

Whereas the Asian-named applicants overall had about a 53.3-per-cent lower chance of getting a call for an interview if they had some foreign qualifications, this rate rose to 58.5 per cent for applicants to high-skill jobs, and fell to 45.7 per cent if the openings were for lower-skill jobs.

The less favourable response to Asian-named and foreign-qualified applicants at higher skill levels may arise because in those jobs, more is at stake in the credential assessment, so avoiding the issue by not calling is seen as the safer option, said the study.

Researchers went one step further by looking at how Asian-named applicants with higher levels of qualifications fared compared to Anglo-named candidates with lower qualifications.

For Anglo applicants citing a masters degree in resumes, the study found, the chance of an interview improved from 69.9 per cent to 81 per cent, or 11.1 percentage points  about the same percentage point increase as for their Asian counterparts (from 45.9 per cent to 56.5 per cent).

Although the positive effect of the extra education was notable, it was not enough to offset the overall disadvantage of having an Asian name. The callback rate for Anglo applicants without the additional degree was still 13.4 percentage points higher than for their Asian counterparts with the additional degree (69.9 per cent versus 56.5 per cent).

Jeffrey Reitz, a co-author of the current study and sociology professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs, said the findings call for the adoption of whats known as an anonymized resume review process  coding candidates without identifying their names  by Canadian employers.

Some people are concerned this is something we are doing to accommodate minorities, giving an advantage to minority people by deferring to them, said Reitz. But no matter what political correctness is doing, it is not offsetting the problems.

Blind recruitment can have a huge impact on eliminating some of the employers biases, as in the case of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra when it began auditioning musicians behind a screen in 1980, according to a CBC report. The orchestra today is almost half female and more diverse than in the 1970s, when it was dominated by white men.

Rupa Banerjee, another co-author of the paper and a professor at Ryerson Universitys Ted Rogers School of Management, said she is not aware of any Canadian employers using blind recruitment practices.

Legislation such as employment equity measures will not eliminate name discrimination, which can only be addressed through education and training of hiring managers, she said.

A name matters because it draws on implicit response and activates stereotypes on what a job candidate would be when you only have less than seven seconds to look at a resume. People judge by the name they see, said Banerjee.

Anonymized resume reviews cant eliminate discrimination completely. Thats just the initial hurdle. When you go into an interview, you cant hide who you are and remove your ethnic markers.

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For years, Sean Spicer waged a lonely war.

Long before he sparred with reporters as White House press secretary for President Donald Trump, Spicer turned his ire toward an unlikely foe: Dippin Dots, a frozen treat described by their maker as tiny beads of ice cream.

In a series of posts on Twitter from 2010 and 2015, Spicer asserted that Dippin Dots were not  despite their slogan  the ice cream of the future. One of the tweets was an article in The Wall Street Journal on the 2011 bankruptcy of the Dippin Dots company that Spicer shared, as if to say, See? Im not alone. Other people think youre not the ice cream of the future, too. (The company reorganized its debt, stayed in business and kept selling its product.)

It seems likely, however, that Spicer eats the beaded ice cream at least on occasion: In 2015, he tweeted angrily at the companys corporate Twitter account to complain that a concession stand at Nationals Park in Washington had run out of vanilla-flavored Dippin Dots.

Twitter users stumbled upon tweets from Spicers private war against Dippin Dots over the weekend after Spicer gathered reporters at the White House to complain about their reporting on the size of the crowd at Trumps inauguration. William Hughes, a writer for the website AV Club, wrote on Sunday that Saturdays news briefing was a trial by fire for Spicer.

Could he get through an entire five-minute speech to the press without slipping in an attack on his arch-enemy Dippin Dots, The Ice Cream Of The Future? Hughes asked.

The answer was yes. But Dippin Dots was not going to take any chances. On Monday, the company felt compelled to respond to Spicers years-long public dislike of its product, calling for a truce in an Open Letter to Sean Spicer on its website.

Weve seen your tweets and would like to be friends rather than foes, wrote Scott Fischer, the companys chief executive. After all, we believe in connecting the dots.

Fischer also offered to send the White House free Dippin Dots, saying the company could afford to treat the White House and press corps to an ice cream social and promising that all their favourite flavours could be amply provided.

All joking aside, Trump has used his large social media platform  more than 21 million followers on his personal Twitter account  to bash corporations, including an attack on Boeing in December that sent its stock price down roughly 1 per cent.

Perhaps with that in mind, Fischer also took pains to emphasize that Dippin Dots was a successful and growing company based in the U.S.

As you may or may not know, Dippin Dots are made in Kentucky by hundreds of hardworking Americans in the heartland of our great country, he wrote. That means were creating jobs and opportunities. We hear thats on your agenda, too.

Billie Stuber, a spokeswoman for the company, said it responded because its certainly easy to get pulled into the wrong conversation, inadvertently.

Stuber said the company wanted to remain transparent and authentic with our message in response to Spicers online negativity.

The fact is, were ice cream, she later added. Were all about fun and fun experiences, and our response in this situation or any other should remain true to who we are.

Dippin Dots are not the only sweet treat about which Spicer has strong feelings.

In 2016, he told The Washington Post that he chews dozens of pieces of cinnamon-flavored gum each day, swallowing each one whole.

Two and a half packs by noon, Spicer told The Post. I talked to my doctor about it, he said its no problem.

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Four days into a presidency seemingly bereft of impulse control, one can only wonder who among Donald Trumps constellation of feuding aides knows how to apply the brakes to this newly minted White House.

But if things do settle down  and by that we mean real stuff like foreign policy, not tantrums over whose rally was bigger  you could do worse than look to the Middle East for clues.

Its a wild card because everything about Trump is a wild card. But taking his transition at rhetorical face value, Trump seemed to view the Mideast, to the extent that he thought of it at all, as a mess of someone elses making.

What harm can come from a new bull rolling through a china shop already shattered to smithereens? How could it be worse?

Less than a week in, conflicting signals involving the movement of an embassy and the building of Israeli settlements suggest Team Trump may be getting its first whiff of humbling realpolitik  as messed up as the Middle East is, it actually could get worse. And if it does, Trump will own it.

Exhibit A is the absence of a rapid-fire decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to disputed Jerusalem.

Breathless press accounts from Israel over the weekend suggested the writ on this symbolically momentous move to Jerusalem would come Monday. But White House spokesman Sean Spicer, in an uncharacteristically restrained message to reporters, soon splashed cold water on the notion, saying, We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject.

Suddenly, Spicer was sounding a lot like the spokespeople for the last eight American presidents. Delay delay delay has been the policy for decades on the embassy question. And now, the holding pattern continues, at least until the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is scheduled to meet Trump in Washington in early February.

Regional blowback against the threatening embassy relocation  a move that would provide de facto recognition of Israels hold over the Holy City against all Palestinian objections  has been noisy, as youd expect. Sunni Muslim neighbours like Jordan, a close U.S. ally and beset with a population that is now predominantly Palestinian refugees, fear a conflagration on their streets.

On Tuesday, the fury tipped across to the Shiite side, with influential Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr warning that any such embassy shift would amount to a declaration of war against Islam. The Najaf-based cleric vowed to unilaterally close the U.S. Embassy in Iraq and mobilize his Mahdi Army military in the formation of a special division to liberate Jerusalem.

With the stroke of a pen, al-Sadr and others warned, Trump would make America hated again, awakening a new wave of vitriol against Big Satan/Little Satan, all the while isolating the U.S. from its own allies in Europe.

But then came Exhibit B: Israels approval Tuesday of a new wave of settlement construction in the face of global pressure, with 2,500 new Israeli homes to be built in the occupied West Bank. Together with an earlier announcement of 566 new housing units slated for East Jerusalem, the message from Israel was that of an emboldened government freed up to embark on a Trump-approved building spree.

More than half of the cabinet in Israels hawkish government now is opposed to any Palestinian state. And quite apart from the construction boom, the Israeli political mood is swinging toward unilateral annexation of some of the larger settlement blocs. A proposed bill to annex Maale Adumim, a key Israeli suburb on the eastern side of Jerusalem, is on hold, awaiting Netanyahus summit with Trump.

Israelis in ever greater numbers appear to see peace as a lost cause. Palestinians, conversely, see the territorial pie that negotiations are meant to divide into two states as vanishing before their eyes as the facts on the ground  expanding Israeli civilian communities on land they claim for a state  grow larger.

Truth is, the five-decade settlement project  this June will see the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War that ended in Israeli occupation  grew apace even under Barack Obama, notwithstanding a temporary freeze. More than 4,000 housing units sprouted in the Obama years, about the same number (4,191) that were built during the George W. Bush era, according to the anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now.

What they add up to now is more than 400,000 Israeli civilian settlers in the West Bank, in addition to about 200,000 living in parts of East Jerusalem  an approximate doubling since the Oslo peace process of the 1990s. Its a massive population  more people, arguably, than those who came to witness Trumps ascension to the presidency.

The argument for what remains of Israels dwindling peace community is that the entire enterprise is leading the country off a demographic cliff  beyond a two-state solution, beyond peace, to a place where Israel ultimately will have to choose between democracy, Jewish identity and apartheid. Too many Palestinians will live stateless among them to provide Israel with more than two of those three options.

Its an argument the Obama administration embraced  and lost. Its an argument that Trump may not even yet understand. But his learning curve is here. How he navigates it is going to tell us a lot about whats really to come.

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To quote the president of the United States: So sad.

Overwhelmed with sadness, actually, with despondency, for the opening un-grace notes of Donald Trumps thuggish presidency.

A question for the media, however: Isnt six days into Trumps term too soon to be jumping the shark?

Its as if somebody fired a starters pistol and the race is on  between Trumps maladroit comportment and the overwrought push-back from a Fourth Estate girded for battle.

Already what should be the immediate gist of the matter  Trumps assault on multilateral trade pacts (killing U.S. participation in the Trans Pacific Partnership) and dismantling Barack Obama policy (blocking NGOs that perform abortion-related services from receiving federal funding)  has been sidelined by the trivialities of mutual loathing.

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Even in Trumpian terms, this is getting very far from normal: DiManno

Aside: I would remind that Trumps aversion for global trade agreements is more in line with Bernie Sanders than the Republic Party, while the Global Gag Rule (as its known by critics) essentially forcing health-oriented NGOs to choose between funding or so much as providing abortion information, has been back-and-forth rescinded/reinstated by Democratic and Republican administrations since the Ron Reagan era.

But these were among Trumps first executive orders.

And that was getting down to the business of Trumps manifesto following a weekend of outright duplicity by the president and a mobilized media scrambling to keep pace with his non-stop dissembling.

From Trump ignominiously using the background of the CIAs memorial wall, hallowed ground, to bang on about journalists as the most dishonest people on the earth, to the medias feverish deconstruction of his inauguration address, neither side has acquitted itself particularly well.

In the 24-hour news cycle last Saturday, for instance, Trumps fulmination over the neither-here-nor-there dispute about the size of the inauguration crowd managed to largely shove aside the significance of the massive Womens March protest in Washington and indeed in cities around the world. At the very least, media  especially TV coverage  pulled off a weird newsworthy equivalency between the two: obvious falsehoods and alternative facts asserted by the president and his press spokes-thingies versus an obsessive need by the media to get in the last word about driblets.

Trump, sorest winner ever, has shown no willingness to let the little things go. That tendency, of course, was a core theme of his presidential campaign and stayed Twitter out-front in the weeks after his election. Yet the media tactically accommodated Trump by taking the bait, not merely documenting the tweet yips, which is quite proper  the drivel is coming from the American president, after all  but endlessly fixating on the how-could-he? angle. How could he? The same way he has for month after month over the past year and a half. Because, despite being a 70-year-old who apparently doesnt even use email, Trump  in essence a showboat salesman (The Art of the Spiel)  instinctively grasped the power of his social media pulpit, shooting his blurts straight over the head of his perceived enemies, speaking directly to the base that catapulted him into the White House.

Trump may be a vainglorious bloviator and sleazy narcissist  Lounge Lizard Goes to Washington  but hes also cunning. Bashing the media played well with a public that distrusts us. It rendered him a tilter at institutional windmills, the anti-hero who vowed to drain swamps, though hes brought in a rogues gallery of crocodilian billionaires and oligarchs similarly ill-suited for cabinet positions. Has there been a murmur of displeasure from the Trump constituency? No. Its just us, the anti-Trumps, chanting: Told-you-so told-you so. As if derision and hectoring is going to change anybodys mind.

You think we would have learned a lesson from the spectacularly misleading polls and the smug consensus that Trump didnt have a chance in hell of becoming the Republican candidate or the 45th president. The Trumpists handed Big Media their hat. But were no more chastened then, well, Trump, still disastrously out of touch with millions upon millions of Americans who preferred this cuckoo maverick to the establishment option of Hillary Clinton.

They doubtless nodded their heads in agreement when press secretary Sean Spicer pronounced, on the tenor of Trumps coverage: Ive never seen it like this. The default narrative is always negative and its demoralizing.

Not half as demoralizing as Trump Un-plugged at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Much as we may have wished that the Orange-a-tan would about-face pivot once he formally occupied the Oval Office, did anybody really expect him to transition into presidential and statesman-like and measured in his words? This is what worked for him in dispatching Clinton, so palpably more suitable for the job, with a public service resume from here to next week. And while she may have won the popular vote, her team was strategically inept, outmanoeuvred by the Trump campaigns focus on electoral college votes, particularly in states which the Democrats wrongly believed in the bag and ruinously ignored by Clinton.

All right, thats in the past. We are where we are.

Engaging with Trump on minutiae is getting a little silly. We know Trump is a liar. We know he doesnt care about being caught out in mendacity. We know that claiming he never had a war going with the intelligence community  an invention of the media, he claimed with a straight face  was a jaw-dropping nose-stretcher.

And in these preamble days, it clearly doesnt matter. Echo chamber, us.

It is the medias role to speak truth to power, to hold those in power accountable. Yet that noble responsibility has been blunted, like a splintered sword, against the anvil of the Trump phenomenon.

Who are we trying to convince from the loftiness of our self-assured faultlessness? Allow me to cite Voltaire: Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.

A chronically aberrant Trump might get himself impeached, as many of us fervently hope, though the likelihood is slim to nil with Republicans controlling both houses.

Otherwise, four years of this monstrosity lie ahead.

If we dont dial down the day-to-day outrage, well expire from exhaustion before Trump passes the first month pole.

Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

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WASHINGTONEmboldened by a Republican in the White House, the GOP-led House on Tuesday backed legislation that would permanently bar federal funds for any abortion coverage.

The measure, which passed 238-183, would also block tax credits for some people and businesses buying abortion coverage under former president Barack Obamas health care law. Republicans passed a similar bill in 2015 under veto threat from Obama and the legislation went nowhere.

Days into the new all-GOP monopoly in Washington, Republicans are moving aggressively on anti-abortion legislation as well as targeting elements of the health care law. The GOP figures the bill would have a better chance under new President Donald Trump, a Republican and an abortion opponent. But it would have to first get through the Senate, where it would need 60 votes and face considerable Democratic opposition.

The House vote was timed to come just after the Jan. 22 anniversary of the Supreme Courts 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States and ahead of Fridays march against abortion.

Pro-life Americans struggle for the day when abortion violence will be replaced by compassion and empathy for women and respect for weak and vulnerable children in the womb, said Republic Rep. Christopher Smith who sponsored the original bill.

If signed into law, the bill would permanently ban the use of federal money for nearly all abortions  a prohibition thats already in effect but which Congress must renew each year.

It would also go further. The bill would bar individuals and many employers from collecting tax credits for insurance plans covering abortion that they pay for privately and purchase through exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act.

Democrats said that the legislation would unfairly target low-income women.

This bill is about taking women who cant afford an abortion, and not allowing them to use taxpayer money to get it, said Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen.

The legislation comes a day after Trump reinstituted a ban on providing federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information about abortions.

That ban has been a political volleyball, instituted by Republican administrations and rescinded by Democratic ones since 1984. Most recently, President Barack Obama ended the ban in 2009.

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WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump moved aggressively to tighten the nations immigration controls Wednesday, signing executive actions to jumpstart construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall and block federal grants from immigrant-protecting sanctuary cities.

Beginning today the United States of America gets back control of its borders, Trump declared during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security. We are going to save lives on both sides of the border.

Trump cast his actions as fulfilment of a campaign pledge to enact hard-line immigration measures, including construction of a wall paid for by Mexico. With the families of Americans killed by people living in the U.S. illegally sitting in the audience, Trump said, When it comes to public safety, there is no place for politics.

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Funding for the border wall project is murky. While Trump has repeatedly promised that Mexico will pay for it, U.S. taxpayers are expected to cover the initial costs and the new administration has said nothing about how it will compel Mexico to reimburse the money. One of the executive actions Trump signed Wednesday appears to signal that he could restrict aid to Mexico.

In an interview with ABC News earlier Wednesday, Trump said, There will be a payment; it will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who has insisted his country will not pay for a wall, is expected to meet with Trump at the White House next week, despite calls from some lawmakers for him to cancel his visit.

Congressional aides say there is about $100 million of unspent appropriations in the Department of Homeland Security account for border security, fencing and infrastructure. That would allow planning efforts to get started, but far more money would have to be appropriated for when construction got underway.

Trump has insisted many times the border structure will be a wall. The order he signed referred to a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous and impassable physical barrier.

The presidents orders also call for hiring 5,000 additional border patrol agents, though the increase is subject to congressional approval. He also moved to end what Republicans have labeled a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are released and given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

Later in the week, Trump is expected to sign orders restricting the flow of refugees into the United States. His current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as a temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim-majority countries, according to a source from a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues. The person was briefed on the details of that proposed action by a government official and outlined the plan to The Associated Press.

The public policy organization source insisted on anonymity in order to outline the plans ahead of the presidents official announcements.

Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten U.S. immigration policies, including strengthening border security and stemming the flow of refugees. His call for a border wall was among his most popular proposals with supporters, who often broke out in chants of build that wall during rallies.

In response to terrorism concerns, Trump controversially called for halting entry to the U.S. from Muslim countries. He later turned to a focus on extreme vetting for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

To build the wall, the president is relying on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred miles of fencing along the 3220-kilometre frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 1125 kilometres of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-President George W. Bush, and the majority of that fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office. The last remnants were completed after President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

The Trump administration also must adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built. The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the U.S.-Mexico border along Texas and 39 kilometres in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint U.S.-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.

Trumps order to crack down on sanctuary cities  locales that dont co-operate with immigration authorities  could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars. But the administration may face legal challenges, given that some federal courts have found that local jurisdictions cannot hold immigrants beyond their jail term or deny them bond based only a request from immigration authorities.

It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still being finalized. The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the U.S. for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though the person cautioned the details could still change.

There is also likely to be an exception for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.

As president, Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing. Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.

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MOGADISHU, SOMALIAAt least 11 people were killed and 50 injured Wednesday as Somali security forces ended a siege by extremist fighters who stormed a hotel in the capital, police said.

Four al-Shabab attackers were also killed in the attack on Dayah hotel, which is often frequented by government officials, said Capt. Mohamed Hussein, a senior police officer. The death toll may rise, he said.

Survivors described chaotic scenes in which hotel residents hid under beds and others jumped out of windows of the four-story building to escape the attackers.

They kicked down room doors and at some point posed themselves as rescue teams by telling those inside to come out (only) to kill them, said Hassan Nur, a traditional Somali elder.

He said two well-known clan elders were among those killed.

The assault on the hotel started when a suicide car bomb exploded at its gates. A second explosion soon followed.

Dozens of people, including lawmakers, were thought to have been staying at the hotel at the time of the morning attack, said Capt. Mohamed Hussein.

A nearby shopping centre caught fire and dozens of people helped save goods from the flames.

Somalias homegrown Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack via its online radio, Andalus, saying its fighters succeeded in entering the hotel.

Al-Shabab frequently targets hotels and other public places often visited by government officials and foreigners. Al Qaedas East African affiliate is fighting to impose a strict version of Islam in this Horn of Africa nation.

In June, gunmen stormed the Nasa-Hablod hotel, killing at least 14 people. Two weeks before that, gunmen killed 15, including two members of parliament, at the Ambassador hotel.

Despite being ousted from most of its key strongholds, al-Shabab continues to carry out deadly guerrilla attacks across large parts of south and central Somalia.

Earlier this month, a bomb explosion at a restaurant in Mogadishu killed three, and a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint near the international airport, killing at least three. That blast occurred a few hundred meters (yards) from the main base of the African Union peacekeeping mission.

Al-Shababs assaults have threatened this nations attempts to rebuild from decades of chaos. The presidential election, a key step toward recovery, already has been delayed several times because of security and other concerns.

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KUWAIT CITYKuwait hanged seven prisoners in a mass execution on Wednesday, including a royal family member and a woman convicted of killing 58 women and children when she set fire to a wedding tent  the first death sentences carried out in several years in the oil-rich emirate.

Those executed included a Bangladeshi, a Filipina, an Ethiopian, two Kuwaitis and two Egyptians, according to a statement carried on the state-run KUNA news agency.

KUNA said that all had been convicted of murder except the Bangladeshi man, who was convicted of rape, kidnapping and theft.

Kuwaits ruler, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, authorized the executions, which were carried out in the morning in the countrys central prison.

The royal was identified as Faisal Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah, who killed his nephew Basil Al Sabah in 2010.

Executions of royals in Gulf Arab countries are rare but do happen. In October, Saudi Arabia executed a prince who fatally shot another man in a melee.

The second Kuwaiti national executed on Wednesday was Nasra al-Enezi. She was convicted of setting fire to a wedding tent in 2009 after her husband took a second wife.

The blaze killed 58 women and children, her lawyer Zaid al-Khabbaz said. The Bedouin-style tent, put up so women attending could be uncovered for the event, had only one entrance. Dozens of others were injured in a stampede during the fire, which later led Kuwait to ban the tents.

The lawyer said he last spoke to his client a month ago.

She sounded very fragile, very shaken, more than any other time, al-Khabbaz told The Associated Press. Its impossible to say that she intended to kill all those women and children. ... It was a tragedy.

In the Philippines, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose identified the Filipina hanged as Jakatia Pawa, who was convicted of killing her employers daughter.

Pawas brother, Air Force Lt. Col. Gary Pawa, said his sister called early morning Wednesday, crying as she informed him of her scheduled execution.

My sisters only request was for us to take care of her two children, he said.

Ernesto Abella, a spokesman for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, said in a statement that the authorities used all efforts to preserve her life, including diplomatic means and appeals for compassion.

Execution, however, could no longer be forestalled under Kuwaiti laws, he said. We pray for her and her bereaved family.

Kuwait is home to 250,000 Filipino workers, with about 158,000 of them working as domestic helpers, Philippine ambassador to Kuwait Rene Villa said.

Executions are fairly rare in Kuwait, which has the worlds sixth-largest oil reserves. The last were carried out in 2013, when a Pakistani, a Saudi and a Bidoon  a name used in the emirate for people without citizenship  were hung.

Wednesdays executions drew immediate criticism from Amnesty International, which opposes the death penalty.

The mass execution is a shocking and deeply regrettable step backward for Kuwait, Amnesty official Samah Hadid said in a statement. By choosing to resume executions now, the Kuwaiti authorities have displayed a wanton disregard for the right to life and signalled a willingness to weaken human rights standards.

Its not clear what sparked the timing of the executions. However, it comes 10 days after Bahrain announced it put three men to death in its first executions since 2010.

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Rosalynd Harris arrived at work on Monday morning still high off the energy from the Womens March. She is a waitress at Busboys and Poets, a Washington restaurant with a distinct social justice mission, and her customers Saturday had been abuzz with an optimism that was contagious.

So she was especially cheery when she greeted a table of three white men in her section midmorning. They chatted warmly. They told her they were from West Texas. One was a dentist and complimented her on her smile. They were jovial and fun.

She admits now that she probably prejudged them, assuming they were in town for U.S. President Trumps inauguration.

And based on the note they left her, she was probably right.

When the men finished their meals they left Harris, a 25-year-old African American woman, a personal message on the receipt that noted their apparent differences. They also left her a $450 tip on their $72.60 bill  nearly a 625 per cent tip.

We may come from different cultures and may disagree on certain issues, but if everyone would share their smile and kindness like your beautiful smile, our country will come together as one people, the note reads. Not race. Not gender. Just American. Then he added, God Bless!

The men were gone before Harris saw the receipt. She read the words before she saw the tip, and the words alone were enough to overwhelm her.

You automatically assume if someone supports Trump that they have ideas about you, she said, but [the customer is] more embracing than even some of my more liberal friends, and there was a real authenticity in our exchange.

The windfall also came at a time when Harris could really use it, she said. A professional dancer, she started waitressing about a year-and-a-half ago to make extra money to pay her bills. She needs to move to a new apartment soon and has worried about how shell have enough cash to pay any upfront costs. She scheduled herself to work extra shifts to ensure she had enough, and the extra $450 is a huge weight off my shoulders, she said.

But she said the men left her with so much more. Their words were a reminder not to make assumptions. And that so many Americans want unity, regardless of their politics, and to not be afraid to connect with someone as human beings, she said.

This definitely reshaped my perspective. Republican, Democrat, liberal are all subcategories to what we are experiencing, she said. It instills a lot of hope.

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Family, friends and fans of the internationally known Toronto hairdresser and beauty company executive Fabio Sementilli are devastated after he was found beaten and stabbed at his home in Los Angeles on Monday.

Hes touched so many people, hes helped so many people in their careers, inspiring them, said Sementellis son, Luigi.

Detectives did not immediately provide a possible motive, but friends and family said 49-year-old Sementilli walked in on a home invasion in the upscale Woodland Hills neighbourhood.

I dont doubt for a second in my mind that he wouldnt have let these people invade his home without defending his honour, defending his family, said his 24-year-old son.

Police said Sementilli was bleeding profusely and died at the scene after he was found in the outdoor patio of his gated home. His black 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera was missing from the home, they added.

The Toronto born and raised Sementilli began his career in the city, inspired by his older sisters work as a hairstylist. He worked for decades as a trendsetting hairstylist himself, won international awards, and served as vice-president of education for beauty products giant Coty Inc.

On Friday, Sementilli posted a photograph on Facebook of his 1987 hairstylist certification and reminisced about how his 30-year career was aided by a strong work ethic and support from colleagues.

Im optimistic, Im driven and I dont accept the habit of negativity around me, he wrote.

We are devastated by this tragedy, said a Coty spokesperson in a statement. Fabio was an icon in the hairdressing industry, a pillar of his team at Wella and our dear friend. He will be very sorely missed.

Sementilli had established himself as a mentor and positive role model to so many, said Alison Alhamed, editor in chief of the journal Modern Salon.

He could barely walk a few feet on a trade show floor without someone stopping him to take a selfie with him and share how much he impacted their career, Alhamed said.

Sementellis nephew Anthony Picillo recalled his uncle as a social man who loved his friends and family and enjoyed cigars and golfing.

Sementelli had been planning a golf escape at the Pebble Beach Lodge to celebrate his upcoming 50th birthday with close friends and family.

He was like the head, the captain of our family, he said. He was a selfless human being. He was always asking how we were doing, he wanted to make sure that we were OK.

Joe Mercurio, one of Sementillis oldest friends, grew up across the street from him and remembers his love for those closest to him and his early passion for hairstyling.

I remember him cutting my hair when he first started in the basement, recalled Mercurio, whose nickname for Sementilli was Ravioli when they were kids.

Joe Filippellli, a childhood friend of Sementillis, remembered his positivity, drive to succeed and passion for his career.

He was always a hardworking guy, always. Never missed a day of work and he really wanted to develop a name and a career in the hairstyling business. And thats what he did.

A service is planned for Sementilli in Los Angeles and in Toronto.

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The Trump administration is preparing a sweeping executive order that would clear the way for the CIA to reopen overseas black site prisons, like those where it detained and tortured terrorism suspects before former president Barack Obama shut them down.

U.S. President Donald Trumps three-page draft order, titled Detention and Interrogation of Enemy Combatants, and obtained by The New York Times would also undo many of the other restrictions on handling detainees that Obama put in place in response to policies of the Bush administration.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer, questioned about the draft order at a press conference on Wednesday, said it was not a White House document, but he would say no more about it.

If Trump signs the draft order, he would also revoke Obamas directive to give the International Committee of the Red Cross access to all wartime detainees in U.S. custody  another step toward reopening secret prisons outside of the normal wartime rules established by the Geneva Conventions.

And while Obama tried to close the Guantanamo prison and refused to bring new detainees there, the draft order directs the Pentagon to continue using the facility for the detention and trial of newly captured detainees  including not just more suspected members of Al Qaeda or the Taliban, like the 41 remaining detainees, but also detainees aligned with Daesh, also known as ISIS and ISIL. It does not address legal problems that might raise.

The draft order does not direct any immediate reopening of CIA prisons or revival of torture tactics, which are now barred by statute. But it sets up high-level policy reviews to make further recommendations in both areas to Trump, who vowed during the campaign to bring back waterboarding and a hell of a lot worse  not only because torture works, but because even if it doesnt work, they deserve it anyway.

Elisa Massimino, director of Human Rights First, denounced the draft order as flirting with a return to the enhanced interrogation program and the environment that gave rise to it. She noted that numerous retired military leaders have rejected torture as illegal, immoral, and damaging to national security, and said many of Trumps Cabinet nominees had seemed to share that view in their confirmation testimony.

It would be surprising and extremely troubling if the national security Cabinet officials were to acquiesce in an order like that after the assurances that they gave in their confirmation hearings, she said.

A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to an email inquiring about the draft order, including when Trump may intend to sign it. But the order was accompanied by a one-page statement that criticized the Obama administration for having refrained from exercising certain authorities about detainees it said were critical to defending the country from radical Islamism.

Specifically, the draft order would revoke two executive orders about detainees that Obama issued in January 2009, shortly after his inauguration. One was Obamas directive to close the Guantanamo prison and the other was his directive to end CIA prisons, grant Red Cross access to all detainees, and limit interrogators to the Army Field Manual techniques.

In their place, Trumps draft directive order would resurrect a 2007 executive order issued by President George W. Bush. It responded to a 2006 Supreme Court about the Geneva Conventions that had put CIA interrogators at risk of prosecution for war crimes, leading to a temporary halt of the agencys enhanced interrogations program.

Bushs 2007 order enabled the agency to resume a form of the program by specifically listing what sorts of prisoner abuses counted as war crimes. That made it safe for interrogators to use other tactics, like extended sleep deprivation, that were not on the list. Obama revoked that order as part of his 2009 overhaul of detention legal policy.

One of the Obama orders Trumps draft order would revoke also limited interrogators to using techniques listed in the Army Field Manual. But Congress later enacted a statute locking down that rule as a matter of law, so that limit would remain in place for the time being.

Still, the draft order says high-level Trump administration officials should conduct several reviews and make recommendations to Trump. One was whether to change the field manual, to the extent permitted by law. Another was whether to reinitiate a program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States by the CIA, including any legislative proposals necessary to permit the resumption of such a program.

It is not clear whether the CIA would be enthusiastic about resuming a role in detaining and interrogating terrorism suspects after its scorching experience over the past decade. In written answers to question by the Senate Intelligence Committee, Trumps CIA director, Mike Pompeo, said he would review whether a rewrite of the field manual was needed and left the door open to seeking a change in the law if experts believed current law was an impediment to gathering vital intelligence to protect the country.

While Trumps order says no detainee should be tortured or otherwise subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment as prescribed by U.S. law, it makes no mention of international law commitments binding the United States to adhere to humane standards even if Congress were to relax domestic legal limits on interrogations, such as the Convention Against Torture or the Geneva Conventions.

Another core national security legal principle for Obama was to use civilian court, not military commissions, whenever possible in terrorism cases  and to exclusively use civilian law enforcement agencies and procedures, not the military, to handle cases arising on domestic soil. The draft order also signals that the Trump administration may shift that approach as well.

In 2012, after Congress enacted a statute mandating that the military initially take custody of all foreign Al Qaeda suspects, Obama issued a directive that pre-emptively waived that rule for most domestic circumstances, such as if the FBI had arrested the suspect and was already interrogating him.

But Trumps draft order calls for the attorney general, in consultation with other national-security officials, to review that directive and recommend modifications to it within 120 days.

Many Republicans  including Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trumps attorney general nominee  criticized the Obama administrations approach as weak, even though the civilian court system has regularly convicted terrorists at trial while the military commissions system has proved to be dysfunctional. During the campaign, Trump said he would prefer to prosecute terrorism suspects at Guantanamo  including U.S. citizens, although the law currently limits the commissions system to foreign defendants.

Against that backdrop, Trumps draft order would direct Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, along with the attorney general and the director of national intelligence, to review the military commissions system and recommend to the president how best to employ the system going forward to provide for the swift and just trial and punishment of unlawful enemy combatants detained in the armed conflict with violent Islamist extremists.

Tom Malinowski, who was assistant secretary of state for human rights in the Obama administration, said the draft order showed that everyone who thought the office of the presidency or the advice of Cabinet secretaries like Mattis would temper Trump is being shown wrong again.

Hell listen to his worst instincts over his best advisers unless restrained by law, Malinowski said.

With files from the Associated Press

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WASHINGTONThe Trump administration is mandating that any studies or data from scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency undergo review by political appointees before they can be released to the public.

The communications director for U.S. President Donald Trumps transition team at EPA, Doug Ericksen, said Wednesday the review also extends to content on the federal agencys website, including details of scientific evidence showing that the Earths climate is warming and man-made carbon emissions are to blame.

Former EPA staffers said Wednesday the restrictions imposed under Trump far exceed the practices of past administrations.

Ericksen said no orders have been given to strip mention of climate change from www.epa.gov , saying no decisions have yet been made.

Were taking a look at everything on a case-by-case basis, including the web page and whether climate stuff will be taken down, Erickson said in an interview. Obviously with a new administration coming in, the transition time, well be taking a look at the web pages and the Facebook pages and everything else involved here at EPA.

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Asked specifically about scientific data collected by agency scientists, such as routine monitoring of air and water pollution, Ericksen responded, Everything is subject to review.

Trump press secretary Sean Spicer appeared to distance the president from the issue Wednesday, telling reporters the communications clampdown at EPA wasnt directed by the White House.

George Gray, the assistant administrator for EPAs Office of Research and Development during the Republican administration of president George W. Bush, said scientific studies were reviewed usually at lower levels and even when they were reviewed at higher levels, it was to give officials notice about the studies  not for editing of content.

Scientific studies would be reviewed at the level of a branch or a division or laboratory, said Gray, now professor of public health at George Washington University. Occasionally things that were known to be controversial would come up to me as assistant administrator and I was a political appointee. Nothing in my experience would go further than that.

Theres no way to win if you try to change things, Gray said.

The EPAs 14-page scientific integrity document, enacted during the Obama administration, describes how scientific studies were to be conducted and reviewed in the agency. It said scientific studies should eventually be communicated to the public, the media and Congress uncompromised by political or other interference.

The scientific integrity document expressly prohibits managers and other Agency leadership from intimidating or coercing scientists to alter scientific data, findings or professional opinions or inappropriately influencing scientific advisory boards. It provides ways for employees who know the science to disagree with scientific reports and policies and offers them some whistleblower protection.

The AP and other media outlets reported earlier this week that emails sent internally to EPA staff mandated a temporary blackout on media releases and social media activity, as well as a freeze on contract approvals and grant awards.

Ericksen said Tuesday that the agency was preparing to green light nearly all of the $3.9 billion in pending contracts that were under review. Ericksen said he could not immediately provide details about roughly $100 million in distributions that will remain frozen.

The uncertainty about the contract and grant freeze coupled with the lack of information flowing from the agency since Trump took office have raised fears that states and other recipients could lose essential funding for drinking water protection, hazardous waste oversight and a host of other programs.

The agency also took a potential first step Tuesday toward killing environmental rules completed as President Barack Obamas term wound down. At least 30 were targeted in the Federal Register for delayed implementation, including updated pollution rulings for several states, renewable fuel standards and limits on the amount of formaldehyde that can leach from wood products.

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WASHINGTONNo one knows how seriously to take U.S. President Donald Trumps threat to seize Iraqs oil.

Doing so would involve extraordinary costs and risk confrontation with Americas best ground partner against the Daesh group, but the president told the CIA this weekend, Maybe youll have another chance.

The recycled campaign comment is raising concerns about Trumps understanding of the delicate Middle East politics involved in the U.S.-led effort against extremist groups. Trump has said he was opposed to the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Husseins dictatorship. But on the campaign trail and again on Saturday, the day after his inauguration, he suggested the costly and deadly occupation of the country might have been offset somewhat if the United States had taken the countrys rich petroleum reserves.

To the victor belong the spoils, Trump told members of the intelligence community, saying he first argued this case for economic reasons. He said it made sense as a counterterrorism approach to defeating the Daesh group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, because thats where they made their money in the first place.

So we should have kept the oil, he said. But, OK, maybe youll have another chance.

The statement ignores the precedent of hundreds of years of American history and presidents who have tended to pour money and aid back into countries the United States has fought in major wars. The U.S. still has troops in Germany and Japan, with the permission of those nations, but did not take possession of their natural resources. And taking Iraqs reserves, the worlds fifth largest, would require an immense investment of resources and manpower in a country that the United States couldnt quell after spending more than $2 trillion and deploying at one point more than 170,000 troops.

U.S. enemies and friends would oppose the move. While Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has accepted U.S. help to retake Daesh-held territory in his country, he has repeatedly asserted Iraqi sovereignty. He said of Trumps oil vow in November, I am going to judge him by what he does later.

Asked about the matter Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer stressed Trumps economic argument.

We want to be sure our interests are protected, he told reporters. Were going into a country for a cause. He wants to be sure America is getting something out of it for the commitment and sacrifice it is making.

There is uncertainty as to where Trumps idea derives from, though the president has noted that taking the oil is something I have long said. Hints of this notion existed in some of the pre-2003 rhetoric from the Bush administration about the Iraq War paying for itself. But top advisers to President George W. Bush have stressed how the future of Iraqs resources were pointedly left out of decision-making related to the invasion so as not to fuel a perception that the war was driven by oil concerns.

Bush almost bent over backwards not to make a special effort to gain access for us to the oil resources, John Negroponte, who was Bushs director of national intelligence, told CNN.

Regarding Trump, former CIA Director and Defence Secretary Robert Gates told NBC, I have no clue what hes talking about.

Taking the oil would require a permanent U.S. occupation, or at least until Iraqs 140 billion barrels of crude run out, and a large presence of American soldiers to guard sometimes isolated oilfields and infrastructure. Such a mission would be highly unpopular with Iraqis, whose hearts and minds the U.S. is still try to win to defeat groups such as Daesh and Al Qaeda.

This is totally wrong, said Zaher Aziz, a 42-year-old owner of a market stand in Irbil. They came here by themselves and occupied Iraq. And now they want the Iraqis to pay for that?

However unrealistic Trumps suggestion, intelligence officials believe more has to be done to cut off Daesh oil revenues. The group seized significant oil when it stormed across Syrias border in 2014 and seized the city of Mosul and large swaths of Iraqi territory. The U.S. Treasury Department estimated that Daesh raked in $500 million from oil and gas sales in 2015. That figure is likely lower now as a result of U.S.-led operations, but officials say oil continues to fund the groups recruitment and far-flung terrorist activities.

In terms of oil helping establish ISIS, of course thats oversimplification, said Hassan Hassan, co-author of the book ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror, using an alternate acronym from the militants. He said oil was a small part of the groups origins and early years, when it morphed from an Al Qaeda branch to an organization claiming a worldwide caliphate.

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As U.S. President Donald Trump settles into his first week in the White House, the first paying guests will begin checking in tonight into the lavish suites of the Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver, a glass skyscraper developed by the son of one of Malaysias wealthiest business executives.

The tower, the first foreign business launch of the Trump brand during the new presidency, is an early test of Trumps controversial decision to retain ownership of his businesses while promising to combat ethical conflicts by removing himself from the management. It also shows how Trump properties around the world are likely to become focal points for protest or other forms of expressions aimed at the U.S. president and his policies.

Read more:Amid calls to divest, Trump Hotels is instead planning a major U.S. expansion

Trump and his family do not own the Vancouver project, but the president has a stake in its continued success. The developers have paid Trumps company for the use of his name while they also pay fees for his company to manage the hotel, according to federal financial disclosures filed by Trump.

Developers say that the hotel, where workers pulled the covers off its imposing Trump lettering the day before Fridays inauguration, has seen an overwhelming amount of reservations. Deep-pocketed buyers have also scooped up condos. Buyers include an American tech billionaire who paid $7.6 million Canadian for three luxury flats.

To many locals, the building is something of a political symbol. Some, including Vancouvers mayor, have protested the name that appears in lights above the skyline. Eggs were thrown at a Trump hotel window during the Womens March there on Saturday that filed past the property.

Trumps association with overseas hotels was cited in a lawsuit brought this week by ethics experts, who argued that permits or other benefits granted to Trump-branded properties could violate a constitutional ban on foreign government payments to the U.S. president.

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New lawsuit alleges Trump businesses violate Constitution

Donald Trump talks about leaving my great business

The details of how Trumps company will relate to his presidency have not been clear in the two weeks since Trump and his attorney outlined his separation plan in a news conference, during which they stood beside stacks of papers they said detailed the next moves.

Neither Trump nor officials at his private company, the Trump Organization, have named the company ethics adviser they have said will be key to overseeing new deals. They have declined to share the trust agreement in which Trump pledged that his sons and an executive would run the company.

And they have not provided documentation to back up weeks-old claims, including that Trump sold all of his shares in private companies whose fortunes he could potentially steer from the Oval Office.

Adding to the mystery surrounding Trumps profits during his presidency is his refusal to release his tax returns, which would presumably offer a detailed accounting of his income sources.

A Trump Organization representative said Tuesday that the company has appointed an in-house chief compliance officer and an outside ethics adviser and that more information on these appointments will be released this week.

The company on Tuesday also provided a list, signed by Trump and dated one day before his inauguration, in which he agreed to resign as an officer from more than 400 companies tied to his real estate and branding holdings, including those linked to the Vancouver project. The company is updating business records in the states where the various entities are registered, as required by law, the Trump Organization representative said.

Those resignations, the person said, reflect Trumps interest in relinquishing management of his business.

The Trump company also said it will no longer actively utilize President Trumps image or likeness for the marketing or promotion of the Trump company and its business interests across the world.

The person said the company is confident that we will establish a very clear distinction between active promotion and pure fact.

Independent ethics experts say the lingering mysteries over Trumps corporate involvement, even as he begins making decisions as president, are a worrying sign for transparency over the next four years.

Its extraordinary. There are still so many questions, said Trevor Potter, a former counsel for presidential campaigns of Sen. John McCainand George H.W. Bush. He hasnt announced a recusal policy. There has been no announcement of who that ethics person is. All those piles of paper they had, we havent seen them. Who knows? Maybe they were all blank.

Those concerns have a real-life home in the new Trump tower in Vancouver, which quietly opens its doors to its first overnight guests Wednesday. A grand-opening gala featuring members of the Trump family is scheduled for late February.

It will be a really, really big event, said Zhang Yan Chen, an assistant to Joo Kim Tiah, the heir of one of Malaysias wealthiest families and chief executive of the Holborn Group, the development firm leading the project.

The official opening has been delayed, she said, as workers complete two hotel attractions, including an Ivanka Trump-branded luxury spa. We want to make sure that everything is perfect, she said.

Trumps sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, are expected to attend the official opening, where they will be joined by Joo Kim Tiahs father, Malaysian billionaire Tony Tiah Thee Kian, and other members of the Tiah family, flying in from their base in Kuala Lumpur, the developers said.

President Trump is not expected to attend, the developers said. Neither is his daughter Ivanka, who is stepping away from active involvement in the family business, and whose husband, Jared Kushner, has been taken on as one of Trumps key White House advisers.

The Vancouver tower is one of the newest and more visible in Trumps branding network, which includes Trump-branded hotels, condominium developments and other projects around the world.

The 63-story tower is the second-tallest skyscraper in Vancouver, with roughly 217 condo units and 147 hotel rooms. Developers have advertised the tower, which cost $360 million Canadian to build and is notable for its twisting sides, as Vancouvers most anticipated hotel and residences.

Zhang Yan Chen, of the Holborn development firm, said the hotels meeting and banquet rooms have been busy with convention and wedding business since they opened in November. All the condo units have been sold, with the exception of three penthouses, she said.

Although developers said the hotel is reporting high demand, rooms can be reserved online starting at about $188 a night plus taxes, a significant discount off posted rates.

Perks include Trump Signature Pet Amenities that, for $30 Canadian a night, include in-room provision of gourmet dog or cat treats, a water bowl with fresh bottled water, toys and special maps highlighting dog-friendly parks.

The towers name has sparked controversies across Canada. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson led a fierce campaign to have the Trump name removed, telling the developers in late 2015 that Trumps name has no more place on Vancouvers skyline than his ignorant ideas have in the modern world.

That anger has not subsided in the weeks since Trump won the U.S. presidential election.

Two pediatric-health professors at the University of British Columbia wrote a Vancouver Sun column last week calling for the removal of the Trump name, saying it represents a socially contagious condition that endangers the health and well-being of our children and youth.

The developers say they have a good relationship with the Vancouver Police Department and have contracted for a high level of private security. Jason Doucette, a Vancouver police spokesman, said the force will continue to monitor the situation and adjust resources as/if required for the opening.

Since the towers chrome Trump sign was unveiled last week, it has become one of the citys most contentious attractions, drawing curious onlookers to the buildings fortress-like layer of construction fencing. Next to the entrance is Mott 32, a luxury restaurant serving Hong Kong cuisine, as well as a Trump-brand champagne lounge swaddled in velvet.

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U.S. President Donald Trump declared Wednesday he believes torture works as his administration readied a sweeping review of how America conducts the war on terror. It includes possible resumption of banned interrogation methods and reopening CIA-run black site prisons outside the United States.

In an interview with ABC News, Trump said he would wage war against Daesh militants with the singular goal of keeping the U.S. safe. Asked specifically about the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, Trump cited the extremist groups atrocities against Christians and others and said: We have to fight fire with fire.

Trump said he would consult with new Defence Secretary James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo before authorizing any new policy. But he said he had asked top intelligence officials in the past day: Does torture work?

And the answer was yes, absolutely, Trump said.

He added that he wants to do everything within the bounds of what youre allowed to do legally.

A clip of Trumps interview was released after The Associated Press and other news outlets obtained copies of a draft executive order being circulated within his administration.

Read more:Trump poised to lift ban on CIA Black Site prisons, which were used for torture

Beyond reviewing interrogation techniques and facilities, the draft order would instruct the Pentagon to send newly captured enemy combatants to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, instead of closing the detention facility as President Barack Obama had wanted. Altogether, the possible changes could mark a dramatic return to how the Bush administration waged its campaign against al-Qaida and other extremist groups.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer, questioned about the draft order, said it was not a White House document but would not comment further.

House Speaker Paul Ryan told MSNBC the draft order was not written by the Trump administration. My understanding is this was written by somebody who worked on the transition before. ... This is not something the Trump administration is planning on, working on, Ryan said.

The draft says U.S. laws should be obeyed at all times and explicitly rejects torture. But its reconsideration of the harsh techniques banned by Obama and Congress raises questions about the definition of the word and is sure to inflame passions in the U.S. and abroad.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, President George W. Bush authorized a covert program that led to dozens of detainees being held in secret locations overseas and to interrogation tactics that included sleep deprivation, slapping and slamming against walls, confinement in small boxes, prolonged isolation and even death threats. Three detainees faced waterboarding. Many developed psychological problems.

While some former government leaders insist the program was effective in obtaining critical intelligence, many others say the abuses weakened Americas moral standing in the world, hurt morale among intelligence officers and proved ineffective before Obama shut it down.

The AP obtained the draft order from a U.S. official, who said it had been distributed by the White House for consultations before Trump signs it. The official wasnt authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.

The Pentagon didnt immediately comment and Spicer, Trumps press secretary, said, I have no idea where it came from. But reports of the upcoming order quickly sparked alarm among Republicans and Democrats.

The president can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law, said Republican Sen. John McCain, tortured himself as a prisoner during the Vietnam War. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America.

On the campaign trail, Trump spoke emphatically about toughening the U.S. approach to fighting Daesh . He said he would authorize waterboarding and a hell of a lot worse. After winning the election, however, he appeared to backtrack, pointedly citing Mattis advice that torture is ineffective.

Pompeo, Trumps CIA director, said in his confirmation hearing that he would abide by all laws. But he also said hed consult with CIA and other government experts on whether current restrictions were an impediment to gathering vital intelligence to protect the country or whether any rewrite of the Army Field Manual is needed.

Specifically, Trumps draft order calls for reinstating an executive order  to the extent permitted by current law  that President Bush signed in 2007 and Obama later revoked.

Trumps draft would reverse two other executive orders of Obamas. One called for closing Guantanamo Bay. The other ordered the CIA to shut any detention facility it operated and prohibited the U.S. from using any interrogation technique not listed in the Army Field Manual, demanding treatment in compliance with the Geneva Conventions, including timely access for the International Red Cross to all detainees.

Among the interrogation techniques banned by the manual were forced nakedness, hooding, beatings, sexual humiliation, threatening with dogs, mock executions, electric shocks, burning and waterboarding.

Any changes would face steep legal and legislative hurdles.

McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committees chairman, may be the most formidable opponent in Congress, but he is not the only one.

It is wrong and I hope he will rethink it, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said.

On Guantanamo, the draft order says detention facilities are a critical tool in the fight against international jihadist terrorist groups who are engaged in armed conflict with the United States, its allies and its coalition partners. About 40 detainees remain in Guantanamo.

The document says over 30 per cent of detainees whove been released have returned to armed conflict, with at least a dozen conducting attacks against U.S. personnel or allied forces in Afghanistan. Six Americans, including a civilian aid worker, died as a result of those attacks.

U.S. intelligence agencies say 17.6 per cent of detainees released from Guantanamo are confirmed to have re-engaged in conflict. An additional 12.4 per cent are suspected of re-engaging.

Trump pledged on the campaign trail to load it up with some bad dudes.

But its unclear who the new detainees would be. As American ground troops have stepped back this decade from the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan, captures of high-level detainees have become much rarer, and Obama tried to direct them through the U.S. justice system.

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U.S. President Donald Trump, who flew across the country on hundreds of nights during the 2016 campaign to sleep in his own bed, has now spent five straight days in the unfamiliar surroundings of the White House. His aides said privately he seemed apprehensive about the move to his new home, but Trump has discovered there is a lot he likes.

These are the most beautiful phones Ive ever used in my life, Trump said in a telephone interview Tuesday evening.

The worlds most secure system, he added, laughing. The words just explode in the air. What he meant was that no one was listening in and recording his words.

The president sat at his desk  the one used by former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy, among others  at the end of his fourth full day in office.

His mornings, he said, are spent as they were in Trump Tower. He rises before 6 a.m., watches television tuned to a cable channel in a small dining room in the West Wing, and looks through the morning newspapers: The New York Times, The New York Post and now The Washington Post.

But his meetings now begin at 9 a.m., earlier than they used to, which significantly curtails his television time. Still, Trump, who does not read books, is able to end his evenings with plenty of television.

In between, Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office and has meetings in the West Wing.

They have a lot of board rooms, he said of the White House, an apparent reference to the Cabinet Room and the Roosevelt Room.

Among modern American presidents, Trump may be best situated to work where he lives. For decades, he has lived in a penthouse apartment on the 58th floor of Trump Tower and taken an elevator down to the 26th floor, where he has a corner office with views of Central Park. Many presidents have complained of being cooped up inside the White House  George W. Bush in particular said he missed the outdoors  but Trump can go for days without breathing in fresh outside air.

Trumps wife, Melania, went back to New York on Sunday night with their 10-year-old son, Barron, and so Trump has the television  and his old, unsecured Android phone, to the protests of some of his aides  to keep him company. That was the case after 9 p.m. Tuesday, when Trump appeared to be reacting on Twitter to the Bill OReilly show on Fox News, which was airing a feature on crime in Chicago.

At 9:25 p.m., Trump posted: If Chicago doesnt fix the horrible carnage going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!

In the interview, Trump demurred when asked about whether it is hard having his family away from him, and pointed to Thursday, when Melania Trump and Barron, who is finishing the school year in New York, are expected to return.

Theyll come down on weekends, said Trump. Shell come down on Thursdays and stay.

He said he is enjoying himself so far, despite his visible displeasure with the coverage of his inauguration and the first performance of his press secretary, Sean Spicer, who shouted at the media and made numerous false statements about Trumps inaugural crowds in the White House briefing room Saturday. Trump and his chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, and his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, watched Spicers do-over Monday while eating lunch in the West Wing dining room, where the president murmured approval of Spicers Monday performance and called his press secretary a superstar.

His first breakfast at the White House was Saturday morning  a buffet in the residence spread with fresh fruit, pastries and other treats  where his adult children and their families joined him. The kitchen has been stocked with the same type of snacks that Trump had on his private plane, including Lays potato chips and Doritos.

His oldest daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, the presidents senior adviser, stayed with him in the White House through Sunday. They left for their own new home at the end of the weekend to get their children ready for their new schools. Trump has not brought along any new household staff, an aide said.

The president spent a part of Tuesday poring over artwork from the White House collections, settling on a portrait of Andrew Jackson  Americas first populist president, who has been invoked by Trumps aides as inspiration  to hang in the Oval Office.

Now, Im working, Trump said in the interview, punctuating his focus by cataloging the work of the day: an executive order restarting the Keystone XL pipeline and his plans for border-related actions over the next days.

Trump is in the meantime pondering his first break away from the White House, a potential trip to Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, possibly the weekend of Feb. 3.

Until then, he is breaking in the residence, which Melania Trump is still working on decorating.

Its a beautiful residence, its very elegant, the president said, deploying one of his highest forms of praise.

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Donald Trump can be thin-skinned and obnoxious. He plays fast and loose with the facts. He has adopted much of the worst of the Republican agenda, including opposition to womens reproductive rights. At times, he is gauche and ostentatious.

These are some of the reasons why so many people  including so many Canadians  detest the new U.S. president.

But he is also oddly realistic. His America First rhetoric may conjure up memories of 1930s isolationism. It may signal a retreat to Fortress America.

But it also reflects what is going on. America no longer dominates the Western world in the way it has done since 1945.

The post-war era is over.

The signs are everywhere. In the Middle East, it is not the U.S. that is brokering an end to the devastating Syrian civil war. Rather that role has been taken on by Russia, Iran and Turkey.

And while their success is far from certain, the new trio has managed to do something Washington was never able to do  convince the two sides to meet, albeit briefly, in the same room.

In the Korean peninsula, it has become clear that any solution to the problem of a nuclear-armed North lies not in Washington but Beijing.

The U.S. is not irrelevant there; it still has about 28,500 troops in South Korea. But it is less relevant than it was.

Even Americas former colony, the Philippines, is pivoting away from the U.S. and towards China.

Economic integration? Trump officially killed the Trans Pacific Partnership this week when he withdrew from the tentative 12-country trade and investment pact (technically, it cannot proceed without American participation).

But he was merely delivering the coup de grace. Opposition to the deal was so strong in the U.S. that even Democratic Party presidential contender Hillary Clinton, a former fan, had vowed to kill it.

Meanwhile, China is forging ahead to create its own economic zone. Its Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which the U.S. has refused to join, now has 57 members  including Britain, Germany and France. Canada is applying to sign on.

Trump has questioned NATOs relevance, at one point calling it obsolete. Hes also called it very important to me.

How the president squares these remarks is not entirely clear. But he is not the first to question the need for a military alliance set up to counter a Soviet Union that no longer exists.

Those who see Vladimir Putins Russia as a modern-day version of the U.S.S.R. argue that NATO remains desperately relevant. But Trump doesnt appear to share those views. Indeed, he appears to think that Russia should be granted the same leeway in its backyard that the U.S., via the Monroe Doctrine, claims for itself in the Americas.

More to the point, he is reluctant to foot so much of the bill for an alliance that may no longer suit U.S. requirements.

And that is the key to what may eventually be called the Trump Doctrine: Americas position in the world has changed.

Indeed, the idea of America First is hardly new. Franklin Roosevelt did not lend Britain armaments to fight Hitler in March 1941 simply out of generosity. He did so because he perceived, correctly, that a Hitler who dominated Europe would threaten the U.S.

Similarly, America did not take on a leadership role in the post-war world economy just to be nice. It backstopped the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and eventually the World Trade Organization for two reasons.

First, it was the only country rich enough to do so. Second, it reckoned that creating a coherent set of global rules was in the best interests of American capitalism  and therefore of Americans.

But that, too, is changing. The crisis of 2008-09 demonstrated that America alone is no longer able to solve global economic problems. The election of Trump showed that American workers are no longer willing to assume that what suits U.S. business will suit them.

The rise and decline of great powers is rarely neat. My guess is that America Firster Trump will intervene far more in the world than his critics think.

But his fundamental instincts are not foolish. The U.S. no longer dominates the globe in the way it did. These days, international leadership is not something it can so easily afford.

Thomas Walkoms column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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Criminals, kleptocrats, and tax evaders are taking advantage of Canadas stellar reputation as an open and honest place to conduct business. Today, Transparency International released its annual Corruption Perception Index, giving Canada a commendable 82 out of 100 transparency score and ranking Canada as the ninth least corrupt country out of 177. Canada owes this ranking to our peoples expectations of ethical behaviour, strong public institutions, a free press, and an engrained rule of law.

However, look beyond Canadas low corruption ranking and within its institutions, real threats hide in plain sight. Our system is being used as a getaway vehicle for corrupt politicians, drug traffickers, tax evaders, and every kind of thief to launder the money from their criminal enterprises. There are few places on Earth where it is easier to set up an anonymous company. That makes Canada an attractive place for people looking to avoid the scrutiny of law enforcement or tax authorities. A corrupt foreign politician can come to Canada and have a nominee set up a company or trust for their benefit, and make it nearly impossible for anyone to determine its true ownership.

On the surface, the Canadian government appears to be aware of the problem. It has made pledges at the G8 and G20 to close off the loophole of anonymous ownership. But while other G20 partners  including EU member states and Australia  take steps towards making companies and trusts transparent, Canada, with its clean reputation, becomes an increasingly attractive place to park illicit money.

The threats posed by anonymous ownership of companies and trusts are being flagged by law enforcement and civil society. A study of RCMP proceeds of crime cases found that nominees  individuals who front for anonymous owners  are used in more than 60 per cent of cases where real estate is bought with criminal proceeds.

Another study based on RCMP data found that corporate structures are used in more than 70 per cent of money laundering cases in Canada. The Charbonneau Commission into corruption in Quebecs public works sector identified multiple instances where anonymous companies were used to defraud the government.

The RCMP recently acknowledged that they know of multiple cases of Chinese government officials laundering the proceeds of corruption through Vancouver real estate. The Chinese government has also flagged Canada as a major destination for corrupt funds it plans to recover. A recent Transparency International Canada report profiling Vancouver real estate dug into the issue and identified several cases that show how individuals who embezzled millions of dollars from banks and other businesses overseas have brought the money into Canada and invested it in real estate. An influx of proceeds of crime could be a factor in driving up property values in Vancouver and other Canadian cities.

In the absence of beneficial ownership disclosure on property titles, Canada is seeing widespread use of nominees on titles in order to take advantage of principle residency tax exemptions and to avoid foreign ownership taxes. This problem could be addressed by requiring beneficial owners to be listed on title.

Trusts are also being widely used to avoid tax obligations. There are around 210,000 trusts registered with the Canada Revenue Agency, but the government estimates there to be millions of trusts with assets in the country. The exact number of trusts is unknown, as registration is not required by law and only carried through self-reporting for tax purposes. Potentially millions of trusts could be used for tax evasion. The Canadian and provincial governments are losing millions in revenue to support public coffers due to their own legal gaps.

A low-cost, high-impact solution to the anonymous ownership problem would be to introduce a public registry of companies, trusts and their beneficial owners. This step has support from Canadian law enforcement, business, and civil society. It will cut down on red tape in police investigations, save the government money, reduce business risk and make it more difficult for criminals to launder money and remain anonymous.

Canada does not yet have a reputation abroad for being a haven for money laundering and tax evasion, but the conditions are there for it to become one. We have acknowledged through our international commitments what needs to be done. Now we need to make the necessary reforms.

James Cohen is Interim Executive Director of Transparency International Canada.

Adam Ross is a corporate investigator and the author of TI Canadas recently published report, No Reason to Hide: Unmasking the Anonymous Owners of Canadian Companies and Trusts.

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A York Region trustee who admitted to using a racial slur must step down for her complete disrespect of a black parent, demands a new petition that quickly garnered more than 1,600 signatures.

Nancy Elgie was absent on Tuesday night during that York Region School Boards regular meeting, but the Georgina trustee offered a public apology that was read by the vice-chair, trustee Corrie McBain, and made no mention of stepping down.

It is plainly unacceptable that anyone in public office would intentionally use such a word to describe another person, Elgie wrote in her apology, which said she was absent from the meeting for medical reasons. That is why it is important for me to explain clearly what happened  not to excuse it, but so that you can understand, and so I can in some way start to heal the harm I have caused.

In her apology, Elgie said when she made the comment in November, she was still suffering from the after-effects of a head injury earlier in the fall and struggled for words to identify parent Charline Grant, who had previously filed a human rights complaint about alleged discrimination facing her child. The words came out horribly wrong.

The trustee said that she wanted to apologize earlier, but couldnt do so because of an investigation. She has also asked the board to retain an expert in equity and restorative justice to review this situation and make recommendations on what I  and we  should do to promote healing.

Elgie, who just last week issued a private, emailed apology to Grant and fellow trustees for using the word n-----, in public after a meeting last November, has faced mounting pressure to leave the board from community members and the Vaughan African Canadian Association.

If the York Region District School Board has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination, how then can they allow Ms. Elgie to represent them? says the online petition. Thus, we are calling for the immediate resignation of Ms. Elgie for her violation of (policy)  her complete disrespect of a black parent and our community, and her blatant use of the racist and violent slur n-----.

Parents attending the meeting Tuesday spoke about their experience with racism and challenged the boards director of education, J. Philip Parappally, who has largely remained silent, to respond.

We have been to so many of these meetings, and the director just says and does nothing like he doesnt care, said Garth Bobb, Grants husband.

It prompted a response from Parappally, who said: I am absolutely sorry. It pains me and hurts my heart to hear your stories.

He added: I am available any time to meet.

Grant said while she appreciates the apology, its not enough.

At this point, its beyond an apology, she said. We need people to know there are solid consequences  when people are racist. Whether its a student, a teacher or a trustee, she said.

Grant said her complaint to the board does not involve any racial slur, but rather discriminatory treatment her son faced at his high school.

Elgie did not respond to requests for comment.

The new school board chair, Loralea Carruthers, said that she has heard from many concerned parents, but that she has no power to force Elgie out.

I am truly sorry for the hurt this incident has caused. It was utterly unacceptable, said Carruthers. I have had a conversation with Trustee Elgie and believe that she understands the seriousness of her actions, has learned from this experience and that her apology was sincere, but I also know people are still rightfully upset and hurt by it. That said, there is no provision to remove a trustee from her position under Ontario law.

I have strongly urged my colleague to do what is required to make this right because  we need to work to ensure we hold ourselves accountable and continue our focus on student achievement and well-being.

On Tuesday, Carruthers said trustees want to sit down with Elgie and figure out how to move forward.

In her private apology to Grant, Elgie said that she had not been referring to Grant, but to the complaint she made to the board.

There is no excuse for what I said, only the explanation that I was clumsily trying to refer to your concerns as reported in the media, not to you personally, she said. As soon as my brain registered what I had said, I was overcome with shock and dismay. I felt heartsick and deeply ashamed to have said something so hurtful  even unintentionally  and so foreign to the values I have held throughout my entire life, wrote Elgie, 82.

It also sickened me that I could have reinforced the systemic racism that so many have experienced in our society.

Elgies apology came shortly after the conclusion of an independent investigation called by the board, after a small group of staff and trustees overheard the comment and complained.

Normally, trustees are subject to a code of conduct complaint, which must be brought forward by a fellow trustee. Under the code, a trustee is investigated and can be sanctioned by colleagues.

However, in this case, Parappally, decided to pursue an independent investigation under the boards Respectful Workplace and Learning Environment Policy, intended for staff.

The subsequent report, which was finished three weeks after it was supposed to have been completed, was shared internally with the staff who complained and with Elgie.

The York board is already in hot water with the province after a string of controversies, including numerous complaints about racist incidents and Islamophobia that were ignored, as well as a lack of transparency.

Education Minister Mitzie Hunter is in the midst of reviewing the boards response to her demand that it outline how it will address racism and improve openness about trustee spending.

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Headline risk is something to avoid when picking a stock. If you opened The Wall Street Journal and found out that a company's flagship product bursts into flames, you'd probably want to steer clear of that company's stock.

Reading that another product from the same company shakes itself so much that it breaks would only increase your aversion.

If you then found out that authorities wanted to arrest the vice chair of the company on charges related to bribery and embezzlement linked to a national political scandal, you'd probably think that company was headed for dissolution.

All these things have happened to Samsung Electronics over the past year, yet the company's Korea-listed stock is near all-time highs, and Samsung just reported its strongest quarterly profit in more than three years.

Perhaps headline risk isn't so bad if you know what's what. The way to deal with headline risk is to understand a company before you buy the stock. Always ask yourself what will go wrong. Then look back in the history of the company and see how it got through its challenges in the past and how shareholders were affected. One of the best ways to make money over the long haul is to think like a contrarian and go against the herd mentality.

Now, North American retail investors will have a hard time investing in Samsung Electronics. As CNN Money has noted, the company has no shares listed on a U.S. exchange and no official American Depository Receipts. Its U.S. over-the-counter stock (ticker: (SSNLF) ) is so illiquid as to be a very risky investment.

That said, looking at the company and its Korea-listed stock provides important lessons.

Samsung Electronics in the past year has seen a flagship smartphone incinerate forcing a global recall. And its appliance division saw a recall when some of its washing machines shook themselves to pieces. And Lee Jae-yong, the son of Chairman Lee Kun-hee and assumed to be the next top executive, was sought for arrest this month on bribery and embezzlement charges, although a court later rejected the arrest warrant.

Yet, none of this Samsung hasn't dealt with before. Back in the 1980s the company had various recalls and faulty phones. Lee Kun-hee regrouped and shifted resources to component manufacturing before redoubling efforts to make class-leading phones that now are the global leaders.

And European regulators have charged the company more than once with price fixing, yet Samsung has paid the related fines and moved on.

These and other apparent company killers have challenged the world's leader in several technology markets, but shareholders continue to come out on top. Samsung's Korean-listed stock (Korea Exchange:005930) have risen a whopping 63% over the past year while the local Kospi Composite Index has risen only 9.9%.

For comparison, shares of archrival Apple (AAPL) -- the stock that seems to be on everyone's buy list -- is up 18%.

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The background here is that Samsung, the company without cheering analysts, is the global go-to source for four core product lines.

First, its digital devices and appliances are found in homes and offices around the planet far more than Apple's. And despite the recall on those aforementioned washing machines, its products are considered top of the line in most cases.

Second, its telecommunications products are market leaders. For phones, Samsung is the No. 1 seller, with a smartphone market share of 21% for the third quarter of 2016, according to IDC. No. 2 Apple had a 12.5% market share.

Third, its chips and processors are found in nearly every electronic gizmo and device out there under other brands, including Apple. That's right: Despite bitter patent litigation between the two companies, Samsung has long been a top supplier for Apple's iPhones.

Fourth, when it comes to LCD panels -- from phones to tablets to televisions and every other screen -- Samsung is the No. 1 maker for just about everyone else's products. And either for its brand or under contract by others, Samsung is the top television maker.

Little hard technology is built or sold anywhere without Samsung's development assistance and production, including Apple -- which would be flat on its face without Samsung over the past decade. And that's why despite the headlines noted above, the company keeps delivering and the Korean stock market recognizes the stock as a bargain.

Famous tech companies tend to trade at multiples of trailing revenue, and Apple has a trailing 12-month price-to-sales ratio of 2.9. But Samsung's Korea-listed shares traded at a trailing price-to-sales ratio of only 1.3.

That makes Samsung stock a bargain for those able to purchase it. It also shows that the market is responding rationally to the company's increased sales, but it's not getting ahead of itself. Apple's higher valuation leaves it highly vulnerable to be sold off on a market whim, or on one quarter of disappointing results.

Meanwhile, Samsung's national pension plan has 9% of its own portfolio invested in Samsung Electronics stock. That's something that Apple doesn't have to defend it in the U.S. market.

And a few more good things. Samsung has been working with institutional investors to increase shareholder returns. First, it has announced that it will boost its dividend. Second, it is buying back shares.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics is becoming a Texas resident of sorts. The company is in the process of building a massive semiconductor factory in Austin and has said that it will invest $1 billion in it. This could win it favor with a Trump administration, which has said it wants to increase manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

In sum, this company has turned itself into a global manufacturing powerhouse able to brush off recalls and scandals. Look to compare and contrast Samsung with the next company you think might have headline risk. And if some U.S. activist investors get their way, someday you just might be able to profit by buying U.S.-listed shares of this successful electronics company.

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This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
From all indications, Ajit Pai is a nice guy.

Those who have interviewed Pai, whom President Donald Trump promoted to chairman of the Federal Communications Commission on Monday, say he's mild-mannered, a good listener and believes very strongly in open, vigorous debate. For evidence of his congeniality, they often cite that Pai was raised in Kansas (though I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean).

When it comes to net neutrality, however, the public may soon see a very different Ajit Pai -- maybe the one who has spent the past 10 years in Washington.

Despite his magnanimous reputation, Pai is being urged to take an ax to the 2015 Open Internet Order, better known as net neutrality. Rather than restart another multiyear debate topped by the inevitable court ruling, Pai could use his newfound Republican majority on the five-member FCC to hammer through an "advisory opinion" that would have the nullifying impact of suspending the agency's legal authority to enforce the Open Internet Order.

(The agency always has three members of one party to two from the other, which means there's an opening on both sides of the aisle following the resignation of Pai's predecessor, Democrat Tom Wheeler, and the failure to reconfirm Jessica Rosenworcel, also a Democrat. Republican Michael O'Rielly and Democrat Mignon Clyburn are the other commissioners.)

In other words, Pai could let the order stand but would provide "a safe harbor for internet service providers and tech companies who wish to operate under the light-touch regulatory regime that was in operation prior to 2015," wrote Brent Skorup, a research fellow at George Mason University's Mercatus Center, a research institute funded in part by the Koch Brothers, in "How to neuter Title II on Day 1 of a Trump FCC."

If Pai chooses to issue such an advisory order, possibly as soon as the FCC's March meeting, he likely would tickle AT&T (T) , Comcast (CMCSA) and Verizon (VZ) , where he once held the position of associate general counsel. But in doing so, Pai risks being accused of the same heavy-handedness that he often charged was a hallmark of the FCC under Wheeler.

"There's a tension here," said Berin Szoka, president of TechFreedom, a Washington think tank that often has sided with Pai. "He absolutely criticized Wheeler for ignoring input, but this whole enterprise, the Open Internet Order, rests on mistaken legal claims, so it's going to be difficult for Pai not to undo them."

In other words, Pai might abandon his congenial standing to do what he feels is right and overdue, which is to turn the FCC away from enacting protections and rules aimed at aiding consumers in their dealings with large for-profit corporations. As he probably knows, such an advisory order likely would spark many of the same street marches and colorful demonstrations that took place outside the FCC's headquarters in the run-up to the February 2015 vote that secured net neutrality.

It might also force the question of net neutrality back to Congress, which is what Pai and others have argued is long overdue. Needless to say, such a debate would get political very quickly.

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Pai, as well as Szoka and Skorup, broadly argue that the FCC under Wheeler overstepped its mandate and that the job of making sure broadband providers don't block or slow web traffic, or favor a particular user over another, is the role of the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice's antitrust division. Alternatively, net neutrality advocates have long argued that the FCC is the only agency built to actually enforce a code of conduct for an entity that has become as integral to modern life and the modern economy as the internet.

Just before announcing his resignation in December, Wheeler took a shot across the bow of AT&T, charging that the country's largest cable TV provider was violating net neutrality by not counting its mobile phone customers' use of its new online pay-TV platform, DirecTV Now, against their data plans. In industry jargon, that's called zero-rating.

That is, AT&T was making its digital pay-TV platform more attractive to its millions of mobile phone users over competing services such as Sony's undefined PlayStation Vue or Dish Network's (DISH) Sling TV. Wheeler had a similar objection to Verizon zero-rating its digital platform, Go90. With Pai in control of the FCC, it's unclear whether AT&T and Verizon will be forced to pull back.

Yet the debate over zero-rating is sure to remain hot given that AT&T is pushing Trump regulators to approve its acquisition of Time Warner (TWX) . Critics of that $85.4 billion merger contend that AT&T will have all sorts of ways to quietly favor Time Warner content on its broadband network. Similar arguments are still being made about Comcast's ownership of NBCUniversal.

An FCC order suspending net neutrality also might wake the sleeping giants of Silicon Valley, which were largely quiet two years ago save for Netflix (NFLX) . The internet's largest users -- Alphabet (GOOGL) , Apple (AAPL) , Facebook (FB) and Netflix -- have the most to win or lose if the FCC removes itself from enforcing net neutrality.

For their part, Silicon Valley's largest players are largely staying quiet. Netflix declined to comment for this story, while Alphabet, Apple and Facebook weren't immediately available for comment.

Nonetheless, their principal Washington lobbying group, the Internet Association, diplomatically said this week that while Pai "doesn't always agree with our industry on every issue, he is both thoughtful and willing to listen. The internet industry is a significant stakeholder before the FCC, and we look forward to a productive working relationship with Chairman Pai."

Thankfully, they didn't mention he's from Kansas.
Don't forget about the dividends.

That's the message that investors need to keep in mind as U.S. markets make another attempt at all-time highs in January. Sure, when markets are sitting on double-digit returns over the trailing 12 months, it's easy to forget about income stocks. But investors who ignore dividends do so at their own peril - in the long-run, dividend checks make up a much bigger piece of your portfolio than most people realize.

For instance, over the last ten years, dividends have accounted for 40% of the S&P 500's performance, handing investors the difference between 57.8% gains, and 95.6% gains when reinvested dividends are factored in.

So, it's not hard to see why passing on stocks that pay investors cash puts you at a huge disadvantage.

But to find the biggest benefit from dividends, it's not enough to simply buy names with big payouts today - you've got to think about which names are going to be paying more tomorrow too. So instead of chasing yield, we'll try to step in front of the next round of stock payout hikes.

For our purposes, that "crystal ball" is composed of a few factors: namely a solid balance sheet, low payout ratio, and a history of dividend hikes. While those items don't guarantee dividend announcements in the next month or three, they do dramatically increase the odds that management will hike their cash payouts to shareholders. And they've helped us grab onto dividend hikes with a high success rate in the past.

Without further ado, here's a look at four big stocks that could be about to increase their dividend payments in the coming months. Think of it as your dividend preview.

Las Vegas Sands

Up first on our list of potential dividend hikers is Las Vegas Sands (LVS) . This $44 billion casino resort operator has been in rebound-mode for the last year, rallying 51% on a total returns basis over the trailing 12 months. Dividends have been an important contributor to that performance, basically acting like a nearly 20% bonus to the stock price appreciation in Las Vegas Sands alone. And the good news for income investors is that this high-yield casino stock could be about to give shareholders a raise in 2017.

Currently, Las Vegas Sands pays out a 72 cent quarterly dividend that adds up to a 5% annual yield.

Don't let the name fool you - Las Vegas Sands' bread and butter isn't Vegas anymore. While the firm does own a valuable collection of properties here in the U.S., including the Venetian and Palazzo in Las Vegas and the Sands Bethlehem in Pennsylvania, the real money is in Asia. Sands owns half a dozen properties in Macau, Singapore, and Cotai, and those ex-U.S. resorts contribute around 90% of the company's profits.

Because Sands operates in a highly regulated environment in Asia, it has a significant economic moat: it's the owner of one of only two gaming licenses in Singapore, and one of the six licenses issues to operate casinos in China. The profitability of those regions is also prompting ther countries to consider keeping more money at home by issuing gaming licenses of their own - and Sands' high-end positioning and track record means that it's likely to win new licenses as more regions become friendly to gaming. Las Vegas Sands has held its dividend payout at 72 cents for the past four quarters - if history is any indication, investors are likely to see a boost to their payout in the weeks ahead.

TJX Companies

You may not think of discount retailer TJX Companies (TJX) as a "dividend stock" - and strictly speaking, it's not. The firm pays a 26-cent quarterly dividend that works out to a 1.4% yield. But longer-term, TJX's dividend growth has helped to drive a cost yield that's nearly triple today's nominal yield, evidence that dividends can be game-changers even in stocks that aren't staples for income seekers.

TJX is one of the biggest off-price retailers in the world, selling bargain-priced brand-name merchandise through a handful of big-box store chains that include T.J. Maxx, Marshall's, Sierra Trading Post and HomeGoods. The firm operates approximately 3,600 stores worldwide, although the U.S. and Canada still contribute 86% of TJX's overall revenues. The firm's business model is what sets it apart from conventional full-price retailers. TJX buys massive unsold inventory from the full-price peers, helping them clear their warehouses, while giving consumers the chance to pick up desirable brands on the cheap. By offering other stores the ability to liquidate inventory and giving shoppers high quality merchandise at a low cost, TJX sits in an attractive, high-moat corner of the retail world.

Financially, TJX is in good shape. The firm currently carries almost $600 million net cash on its balance sheet, giving it considerable dry powder for both expansion and shareholder payouts. TJX looks likely to announce a hike to its dividend in February.

Southern Co.

Utilities and dividends are historically quite a pairing - the consistent revenue generation of the regulated utility business means that there aren't many surprises, and that's a good thing for dividend stability. Case in point: Southern Co. (SO) . This $47 billion utility stock currently pays out a hefty 4.6% annual dividend check to investors. And the good news for shareholders is that an even bigger payout could be on the way in the near-term.

Southern is the local power company for more than 9 million customers in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi. The firm also owns more than 44,000 megawatts of generating capacity, and more recently, seven gas distribution companies through its acquisition of AGL Resources, which closed last summer. The potential for more infrastructure investing during the Trump administration could bode well for Southern Co. - for example, a stimulus program for higher rate assurances as a means of spurring investment from SO would be a very good thing for investors.

Southern has paid out a 56-cent dividend for the past four straight quarters. That's important for dividend-watchers, because this company has hiked its payout annually like clockwork every year since 2002. Keep an eye out for the next boost to SO's payout in the quarter ahead.

Waste Management

If you're an income investor, it's a good idea to have some garbage in your portfolio - garbage as in trash collection, that is. Cue Waste Management (WM) , the biggest integrated waste services provider in the country. Waste Management's scale is immense, with more than 252 landfills, nearly 300 transfer stations, and 21 million customers in the U.S. and Canada.

It's also been a stellar price performer in the past year, rallying more than 31% since this late January 2016...

Size is an important advantage for Waste Management. While the firm competes in a very fragmented industry, WM is able to service larger national accounts that smaller competitors can't. Like with the utilities business, the consistent demand for waste services has provided a consistent ability to pay a growing dividend check to investors. Over the last five years, Waste Management has gone from paying over 90% of its income as a dividend to around 60% in the most recent quarter. The extra disposable income leaves plenty of room for a dividend hike in the weeks ahead.

Waste Management has paid out a 41-cent dividend to investors for the last four straight quarters. Be on the lookout for another dividend hike in Feburary.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in the stocks mentioned.
Toyota Motor (TM) said Wednesday it would invest $600 million and add 400 jobs in its Indiana plant where it assembles the Highlander midsize SUV, only weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened the Japanese automaker over its plans to build a new plant in Mexico.

Japan's biggest company by market value said the investment would be aimed at upgrading the plant in Princeton, Indiana, with new equipment and advanced technologies and would add 40,000 Highlanders per year. The investment comes as part of Toyota's plan to invest $10 billion in the U.S. over the next five years. The new investment in Indiana would start in 2019.

President Trump lashed out at Toyota early January and said it would need to pay 'big border taxes' if it went ahead with its plan to build a new plant in Mexico for selling Corolla models in the U.S.

In its statement today, Toyota reminded the market that over the last 60 years it had produced more than 30 million cars and trucks in North America, where it has 14 plants and created 44,00 0 jobs. Of those, the company has contributed to setting up 10 plants and 34,000 jobs in the United States, it said.
Starbucks (SBUX) has nominated three new board members with leadership experience at Walmart (WMT) , the LEGO Group and Microsoft (MSFT) , as Howard Schultz prepares to step down as CEO on April 3.

Rosalind Brewer, Jorgen Vig Knudstorp and Satya Nadella are all up for election to the board at Starbucks's annual shareholder meeting on March 22.

Schultz, who first joined the Seattle-based company in 1982, will relinquish his role as CEO the following week to COO Kevin Johnson.

The three incoming board members bring with them years of experience in technology and retail.

Nadella is currently the CEO of tech giant Microsoft. Knudstorp was CEO of LEGO until December, and Brewer is retiring as CEO of Walmart's Sam's Club on February 1 after five years of leading the warehouse retail chain.

"By welcoming three world-class, values-based leaders to Starbucks Board of Directors upon their election at the Annual Meeting, we will strengthen our leadership and add unmatched expertise in technology, strategy, and retail to the company at a time of unprecedented change for our industry," Schultz said in a statement.

Schultz will remain at Starbucks after he steps down as CEO, and will focus on developing high-end Starbucks Reserve coffee stores.

Here's what to look for when Starbucks reports quarterly results on Thursday after the closing bell:

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Activist investor Tom Sandell said Wednesday he was pleased by Bob Evans Farms (BOBE) move to sell its restaurant chain business for $565 million, a move that came after three years of public agitations.

However, the insurgent shareholder may not be done with his activist campaign. It is very possible that once the restaurant business deal is closed, Sandell and his Sandell Asset Management may soon start pushing for a sale of the company's sausage and side dish unit, BEF Foods, which will remain after the deal is consummated.

Bob Evans announced Tuesday that buyout shop Golden Gate Capital had bought its restaurant chain at the same time that the remaining Bob Evans packaged foods business will acquire Pineland Farms Potato Co. for $115 million.

The sale and purchase comes after Sandell had been pressing Bob Evans, in a three-year public insurgency, to separate its restaurant chain from the packaged foods unit, known as BEF Foods. However, Sandell's statement Wednesday and a presentation the fund produced in October suggest that there likely will be more on the activist fund's plate when it comes to Bob Evans in the coming months.

Sandell noted on Wednesday that the restaurant unit's sale may also allow for a tax-efficient acquisition of BEF Foods by "way of the purchase of the stock of Bob Evans at some point in the future." Also, an October presentation, Sandell issued a slide entitled "Separation (sale) of Restaurants followed by Acquisition of Parent Company Stock" suggesting that a sale of the restaurant business to a private equity financial sponsor could be followed by a sale of the packaged foods business.

The presentation also suggests that BEF Foods on a standalone basis could be valuable to a number of potential buyers including Tyson Foods (TSN) , Hormel Foods (HRL) and Pinnacle Foods (PF) .

Other potential bidders could include General Mills (GIS) , Conagra Brands (CAG) , Kellogg (K) , Pilgrim's Pride (PPC) and Post Holdings. (POST)

Analysts agree that there are a number of companies that could be interested in buying the remaining packaged foods business, especially after the company completes its acquisition of Pineland Farms Potato.

Stephen Anderson, analyst at Maxim Group, suggests that larger food industry acquirers could make a play to buy the remaining Bob Evans business, once the restaurant sale is consummated, because such a deal would fit into "a larger theme of consolidation in the food products industry."

Anderson added that the BEF Foods is a higher-margin business that would be an attractive acquisition for a potential acquirer, and that Pineland Farms Potato's focus on environmental sustainability and local suppliers could on the margin make an acquisition of the overall remaining business more attractive. Anderson estimates that the BEF Foods business could be sold for roughly $62 a share, or $1.2 billion.

"The higher valuations have come from food companies that stress better-for-you options, as well as ones that stress sustainability and purchasing from local suppliers," Anderson said. "On the margin it could make it more attractive. It makes the case a little bit stronger for Bob Evans."

Anderson notes that a sale could happen soon or at some date down the road. "This is just chapter one," he said.

Already the investment looks like a win for Sandell, which acquired its initial stake in September 2013 at prices ranging from $55.29 and $55.94 a share. Bob Evans shares are up about 21% in late trading Wednesday at $58.05 a share. Sandell recently reported owning an 8.1% stake.

Bob Evans CEO, Saed Mohseni, who has a restaurant industry background, will continue to oversee the restaurant business once it is acquired by Golden Gate. Mike Townsley, president of the packaged foods,business will become Bob Evans CEO.

Bob Evans plans to use about $150 million of the sale proceeds to pay a special $7.50 a share dividend. With an 8.1% stake, Sandell is likely pleased with that result.

Sandell in 2014 succeeded at installing a minority slate of four dissident directors to Bob Evans' board in a contest that went the distance. Should he decide to try to put more directors on the board, in a move to press for a sale of the BEF Foods business, the deadline to nominate director candidates for the 2017 annual meeting would be May 17.
Walker & Dunlop, Inc., through its subsidiaries, originates, sells, and services a range of multifamily and other commercial real estate financing products and services for owners and developers of real estate in the United States. The company offers first mortgage, second trust, supplemental, construction, mezzanine, preferred equity, small-balance, and bridge/interim loans. It also provides multifamily finance for manufactured housing communities, student housing, affordable housing, and senior housing properties under the Fannie Mae's DUS program; and construction and permanent loans to developers and owners of multifamily housing, affordable housing, senior housing, and healthcare facilities. In addition, the company acts as an intermediary in the placement of commercial real estate debt between institutional sources of capital, including life insurance companies, investment banks, commercial banks, pension funds, CMBS conduits, and other institutional investors, as well as owners of various types of commercial real estate. Further, it advises on capital structure; develops the financing package; facilitates negotiations between its client and institutional sources of capital; coordinates due diligence; and assists in closing the transaction. Additionally, the company offers property sales brokerage, underwriting and risk management, and servicing and asset management services. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.
- The US has approved the sale of up to 12 Air Tractor AT-802L planes and two AT-504 trainer aircraft, a weapons package in a deal that also included technical support and program management

- The planes' aesthetics have, however, got many talking wondering whether or not they are worth the Sh43 billion ($418 million) set to be spent on them

A number of Kenyans have taken to social media to criticise the purchase of American military air crafts used in combat among other duties.

A US military Air Tractor AT-802L

READ ALSO: KDF and US Special Forces launch dawn attack humiliating al-Shabaab

The concerned lot had its attention particularly drawn to 12 Air Tactor AT-802L pictured above that is part of a deal comprising weapons, two AT-504 trainer aircraft, technical support and program management.

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So, looks aside, what are the capabilities of this plane - Air Tactor AT-802L

READ ALSO: Trump boosts KDF with more air crafts and LETHAL weapons

The plane has a higher speed than most Kenyan helicopters

The AT-802L is a light attack aircraft that the Kenya Defence Forces is planning to use in the war against terror.

Weapons including guns and bombs can be fixed under the aircraft's wings and can still move at a higher speed than most helicopters used by KDF suring certain aerial attacks on al-Shabaab in Somalia.

READ ALSO: El Adde truth finally comes out including number of DEAD and captured KDF soldiers

One of Kenya's F-5 fighter jets

The plane can be deployed in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), precision-strike, command and control, counter-insurgency (COIN), close-air support, weapons training, forward arming and refuelling point missions, airforce-technology.com reports

READ ALSO: Joho drops bombshell concerning KDF and election rigging

Kenya Air Force troops attend to an F-5 fighter jet

Kenya is set to use the planes to supplement the old F5-fighter jets since the new aircrafts are cost-effective and only need a short runway of less than 300 metres to land and take off.

This means, that unlike F5-fighter jets, the Air Tractor can be deployed to Somalia from a small airstrip in Mandera.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
In early February, a group of experts of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Finland will arrive in Kyiv on an official visit so that to develop new joint energy efficiency projects, according to Vice Prime Minister - Minister for Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utility Services Hennadiy Zubko.

"On February 7-8, a working group of experts from the Economy Ministry of Finland will arrive in Kyiv to develop joint projects in the sphere of energy efficiency, Zubko wrote on Twitter. iy
The issue of the next tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the EFF program to Ukraine has not been put on the agenda of the upcoming sittings of the IMF Executive Board until February 3.

The calendar of the upcoming formal meetings and seminars of the IMF Executive Board includes issues regarding the cooperation with Indonesia, Myanmar, Kenya, Spain, Somalia, Australia and Laos, reads a report on the IMF website. iy
Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Rozenko states that Ukraine will not be able to become rich and pay large pensions, while 50% of working citizens do not pay taxes.

He said this to reporters after a Cabinets meeting on Wednesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Today, the pension system cannot ensure in full the rights of Ukrainians. This system cannot develop without additional resources. Ukraine will never be able to pay large pensions, and Ukraine will not become a rich country, while 50% of working citizens do not pay taxes or pay them not in full," the deputy PM said.

Rozenko has added that it is also necessary to restore order in this system. According to him, it is necessary to find a normal and appropriate response to current challenges  to launch financial defined contributions.

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Poland supports international anti-Russian sanctions over its international law violations in Ukraine.

President of Poland Andrzej Duda said this in an interview to TV Republika.

"We are the country that supports sanctions [against Russia] in connection with the situation in Ukraine and due to the fact that Russia has illegally occupied Crimea, in violation of all the international law," Duda said.

He expressed hope that the active position of Poland and Polish politicians on the international arena, of the entire international community in all the dimensions, including the major players such as the US and its president, will make Russia start to adhere to the norms of the international law.

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Ukrainian students have patented 160 inventions in various fields of science and technology.

Education and Science Minister of Ukraine Liliya Hrynevych said this at the World Education Forum, which takes place in London on January 23-25, the press service of the Education and Science Ministry of Ukraine reports.

"Ukraine traditionally has a system of institutions of out-of-school education, which are financed from state and local budgets. 10% of children, who participate in such activities after school, visit the Minor Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Young Ukrainian researchers have already received more than 160 patents for inventions in computer, technical and natural sciences, physics and astronomy," Hrynevych said.

She noted that the experience of activity of the Minor Academy of Sciences is unique world and is one of the most effective tools for finding Ukrainian talents among the youth.

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President Trumps nominee to become the nations budget director, Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), defended Tuesday his support of cuts to popular entitlement programs that Trump vowed to keep intact and emphasized that he would bring a fact-based approach to the role.

In appearances before the Senate Budget and Homeland Security committees, Mulvaney acknowledged that several of his key positions on spending and the national debt directly contradict Trumps campaign pledges and statements made by some of the presidents top advisers. But Mulvaney presented himself as a straight shooter and said he would continue to warn about the growing costs of Social Security and Medicare.

I have no reason to believe the president has changed his mind on not touching entitlement programs, Mulvaney said. But, he added, My job . . . is to be completely and brutally honest with him.

Mulvaney would bring a stridently hawkish voice to the Office of Management and Budget. On Tuesday, he said he remains in favor of raising the retirement age for Social Security to 70 but emphasized that he would not reduce benefits for current recipients. He also reiterated his support for means-testing to qualify for Medicare.

Democratic lawmakers voiced concerns that Mulvaneys nomination signaled that Trump was backing away from his promise to leave the programs unchanged.

The idea and opinions of Mr. Mulvaney are way out of touch, Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) said. And more importantly, they are way, way out of touch with what President Trump campaigned on.

During his hearings, Mulvaney confronted recent revelations that he neglected to pay $15,000 in taxes in connection with a household employee. Mulvaney said he discovered the error during the vetting process connected with his nomination, drawing sharp rebukes from some Democratic lawmakers. Similar problems plagued several of former president Barack Obamas nominees, including former senator Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), who was a nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

We made a mistake in my family, Mulvaney said Tuesday, adding that he has paid the taxes he had neglected to pay.

On the fiscal front, Mulvaney has challenged the need to raise the national debt ceiling, and on Tuesday, he said that he believed the federal government should consider prioritizing payments if it were again in danger of breaching the limit. In Mulvaneys hearing before the homeland committee, ranking Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill (Mo.) pointed out that the nominees remarks contradicted testimony from Trumps nominee to lead the Treasury Department, Steven Mnuchin, who said during his confirmation hearing last week that there should be no uncertainty that we are paying the bills.

What will happen if your views and proposals are adopted wholesale? McCaskill asked Mulvaney. If that happens, I fear that the American people and the global economy are in for a rude awakening.

Mulvaney also faced scrutiny from his own party Tuesday. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) questioned Mulvaneys support for reductions in defense spending. McCain also called the 2013 government shutdown a shameful chapter in history.

Youve spent your entire congressional career pitting the debt against the military, McCain said. I am deeply concerned about your lack of support for our military.

Elected to Congress during the tea party wave of 2010, Mulvaney has become known as one of the most vociferous deficit hawks in House GOP ranks. He was a founding member of the conservative Freedom Caucus and a key driver of the groups efforts to oust then-Rep. John A. Boehner (Ohio) from the speakership in 2015. He supported the government shutdown in 2013 amid an impasse over the Affordable Care Act and proved willing to do so again two years later as part of an effort to defund Planned Parenthood.

He is known as an anti-deficit crusader who backs the controversial penny plan that would cut 1 percent of federal spending every year for five years. Supporters say it would eliminate the deficit, but critics say it is a haphazard way of chiseling away at popular entitlement programs.

He has to tell the president exactly what things cost, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said of Mulvaney on Tuesday. The president of course sets the agenda, but he deserves a clear-eyed view  not rose-colored glasses.

Many of Trumps economic advisers have touted the presidents plans to overhaul the tax code and renegotiate trade agreements, measures that they argue will boost annual economic growth to 4 percent or higher. The White House has also proposed an infrastructure package that could total $1 trillion in public and private financing, although the details of the program remain unclear. Mulvaney, along with other key GOP lawmakers, have opposed infrastructure spending in the recent past.

Trumps advisers have said relatively little about how they might pay for his agenda  and it could fall to Mulvaney to make sure the numbers add up. Several independent analyses estimate that Trumps tax plan alone, which includes slashing the corporate rate and lowering individual taxes, could reduce federal revenue by trillions of dollars over the next decade.

Asked about whether tax cuts should be allowed to increase the deficit, Mulvaney said that reforming the tax code could generate economic growth.

Trump should look first and foremost on the effect on the overall economy, Mulvaney said. I think the best chance you have to reduce the deficit or balance the budget is to accomplish economic growth.

Kelsey Snell contributed to this report.
GM CEO Mary Barra, left, accompanied by Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, center, and Ford Motors CEO Mark Fields speak with reporters outside the White House in Washington Tuesday following a meeting with President Trump in the Roosevelt Room. (Evan Vucci/AP)

President Trump told executives from the countrys largest automakers Tuesday that he would ease environmental rules and other regulations to encourage the return of manufacturing jobs to the United States, a pledge that some analysts question will be as effective as promised.

Just the day before, Trump told business leaders he would cut regulations by 75 percent and massively cut corporate taxes. When meeting the chief executives of General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler, he specifically targeted environmental regulations, which he called out of control.

Though Trump spoke often on the campaign trail about the need to revive manufacturing across the economy, he narrowed in on the automotive industry in particular in the weeks following his election. He separately criticized Ford, GM and Toyota for plans to build certain cars in Mexico and then sell them in the United States.

But even the positive overtures Trump offered during the White House meeting  which came after weeks of taunting the automotive industry over Twitter  may not compensate for the fact that automakers can produce vehicles more cheaply in Mexico and will probably see softening demand for cars in the coming years, analysts say.

No matter how many incentives you offer automakers or [whether you] give them tax breaks, you still have the labor issue to deal with,said Michael Harley, an executive analyst at Kelley Blue Book. And youre never going to be able to meet that on a one-to-one basis.

Trump called himself an environmentalist when he sat down with the leaders of General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler and said his administration will focus on real regulations that mean something while eliminating those that he finds inhospitable to business.

Executives declined to answer questions after the meeting, including whether the president cited any specific regulations he would cut. Only a portion of Tuesdays gathering was open to the news media.

Industry leaders contend that complying with increasingly stringent fuel economy standards increases the cost of making cars, which must then be passed on to buyers or compensated for with job cuts. Those regulations were introduced during President Barack Obamas first term to reduce pollution and encourage investment in eco-conscious technology. The Environmental Protection Agency upheld them in a review concluded two weeks ago.

Safe Climate Campaign Director Daniel Becker said job creation doesnt need to come at the expense of regulations that have a positive impact on the environment. The fuel economy standards, in particular, help to save consumers money at the gas pump and reduce the countrys dependence on oil, he said.

Despite the rhetoric, there is often reason behind regulations, and in this case there is overwhelming evidence of how beneficial they are for consumers, the industry and overall Americans, Becker said.

Analysts have speculated that Trump could ease those regulations or others that impact the industry as a reward for companies creating more jobs in the United States.

There is a huge opportunity working together as an industry with government that we can improve the environment, improve safety, and improve jobs creation and the competitiveness of manufacturing, General Motors chief executive Mary Barra told reporters after the meeting.

Ford chief executive Mark Fields and Fiat Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne also attended Tuesdays meeting.

Vice President Pence, Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Senior Adviser Jared Kushner attended on behalf of the administration.

Though regulatory changes could make it more appealing to manufacture in the United States, companies will still find there are significant economic and trade advantages to building in Mexico, including cheaper labor and fewer export restrictions, said Kelley Blue Books Harley.

The big automakers also make investments knowing they will outlive any single president, regardless of what policies or regulations are put in place, said Kristin Dziczek, director of the industry, labor and economics group at the Center for Automotive Research.

This industry has been around for 100 years, and plants last for 40 or 50 years or more, Dziczek said. They cant be swerving left and right every time there is a political change.

Trump has threatened automotive companies that build abroad with a 35 percent tariff on goods imported to the United States for sale. Whether Trump has the power to impose such a tax on select companies has been called into question.

Trump met Monday with business leaders from a smattering of industries, including Fields and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk. The automotive leaders were told to devise a series of actions that will boost U.S. manufacturing and submit those plans to Trump within the next 30 days.
Sherlock Holmes is always among us. Since he first appeared in print in 1887, the legendary detective has been a continual presence on stage, radio, screen and television. BBCs Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, is one of the latest in the characters innumerable reincarnations.

For those who cant get enough, Michael Simss engaging new book, Arthur and Sherlock, describes how Arthur Conan Doyle invented his famous detective. Sims reminds us that both Conan Doyle and Holmes were creatures of their times. The rise of modern detection was a product of Victorian London, and Charles Dickens was one of those fascinated by its impact. In a story, Dickens explained how different the Detective Force was from the earlier Bow Street Police, who were men of very indifferent character, and far too much in the habit of consorting with thieves. In contrast, modern detectives used a scientific method to capture the criminals clogging Londons fog-filled streets. Sims writes that by the 1870s these sleuths  both real and fictional  had become heroic figures in the public imagination.

Young Conan Doyle was riveted by the new detective writings of Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Although trained as a medical doctor, he always fancied himself an author. In his 20s when he opened a surgery in Portsmouth, England, he spent every spare moment writing stories of mystery, adventure, and the supernatural. Sherlock Holmes made his debut in A Study in Scarlet.

[Do we need another book about Sherlock Holmes?]

Sims agrees with other scholars that Edgar Allan Poe was a major literary influence on the creation of Holmes. Conan Doyle was first drawn to Poes story The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) and particularly to the intellectual acuteness that led to an unraveling of a puzzle by means of reason and observation. Later, Conan Doyle wrote, On this narrow path the writer . . . sees the footmarks of Poe always in front of him.

Sherlock Holmes was also influenced by one of Conan Doyles medical school professors. Joseph Bell used a rigorous method of observation and deduction to diagnose illness, and Conan Doyle once told an interviewer: I began to think of turning scientific methods . . . onto the work of detection. . . . If a scientific man like Bell was to come into the detective business, he wouldnt do these things by chance. Hed get the thing by building it up scientifically. Conan Doyle even appropriated some of Bells physical attributes for Holmes, giving him the professors sharp and piercing gray eyes and thin, aquiline nose.

Although Sims has carefully tracked Holmess origins, he glosses over Conan Doyles own evolving character. Notably, he fails to explore how the science-oriented Conan Doyle embraced spiritualism the same year that A Study in Scarlet was published. According to biographer Andrew Lycett, Conan Doyles passion for spiritualism overtook his other pursuits and ultimately left him a figure of ridicule.

When The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was published in 1892, Conan Doyle dedicated the collection to my old Teacher Joseph Bell, M.D. Sims abruptly ends his enlightening but limited study at this point  far before Conan Doyle was through with Sherlock. Readers can hope for a second volume.

Amy Henderson is historian emerita of the National Portrait Gallery and writes frequently about media and culture.

Read more: Sherlock Holmes and the vanishing copyright


The kebabs at Dolan Uyghur have smaller pieces of meat than you may be used to, but they pack flavor. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

Mom's Lagman features a stir-fry of beef and peppers over noodles. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

(Good)

Do Gulziba Ekber a favor. Dont refer to the new restaurant she manages as Chinese. While her people come from Xinjiang in northwestern China, they speak their own language (Turkic) and, being Muslim, follow their own customs.

Our food is more Middle Eastern, says Ekber, whose father, Ekber Keyser, is the chef-owner at the establishment, Dolan Uyghur (doh-LAN WEE-ger), named in part after the historically brave, hard-working people of Xinjiang. The air inside the two-floor dining room in Cleveland Park supports her testimony. Cumin, chilies and charred meat greet your nose.

Do yourself a good turn. Take a seat at Dolan Uyghur. With the guidance of a husband-and-wife coaching team from the same part of the world, the owner is offering Washington an uncommon taste of Uyghur cuisine, a style of cooking informed by the borders Xinjiang shares with Afghanistan, India, Mongolia, Russia and other countries.

Expect dumplings, in other words. And meat kebabs and portions that sneer at diets.

Theres no escaping dough, and thats a good thing. The noodles, pulled by hand from a white ball, will give you a new appreciation for the possibilities of flour, water and salt.



Tunisha Amuti has been making noodles by hand for more than 36 years. The noodles at Dolan Uyghur start as a white ball of flour and water, then are hand stretched for use in dishes. The same dough also becomes dumpling wrappers. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

See for yourself, and ask for a dish called Moms Lagman. What follows are long and tensile noodles, thick as bucatini, tossed with smoky squiggles of beef and red and green pepper strips that have been stir-fried to keep their bite. Lo mein, meet your competition: The dish eats like a charm, thanks mostly to elastic noodles that need no sauce to improve them but nevertheless benefit from the rest of the mix, including a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Theres also a fried version of the dish, sui rou lagman, whose noodles are slightly firmer, if not truly crisp. Moms plays on the fact every Uyghur home has its own way of making lagman, says Gulziba Ekber, and whatever version your mom makes is the preferred one.

Noodles are also the prize beneath some tender chicken in a stew billed as da pan ji. Wide like Italian pappardelle, the ribbons soak up the goodness of everything in the shallow bowl, nip of heat included.

Dumplings are coaxed from the same dough. Kawa manta come seven crimped buns to a plate. Inside the steamed purses are ground beef, onion and bits of soft pumpkin. A dusting of pepper kick-starts the party.

Among the soups that left me eager to eat here with a spoon again is chuchure, a big bowl of clear broth, hinting of beef and strewn with cilantro, with delicate tortellini bobbing on it. The soft white orbs contain ground beef and onion. Playing up the cuisines Silk Road connection in another bowl are lentils transformed into a thin puree and finished with dried mint.



Kawa manta are the dumplings of the region. These are steamed and stuffed with beef and pumpkin. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

A platter of lamb chops. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

That lentil soup is part of one of the best combination packages around, a $16 spread featuring the pilaf called polo. Make that rice shaped into an oiled dome with carrots and onions and flanked with a forgettable salad and a fine beef kebab.

The kebabs at Dolan Uyghur involve smaller pieces of meat, usually shaved, preferably lamb, than what you might see at your usual Lebanese or Persian standby. But they are no less pleasing, pulsing with cumin and juicy from a brush with onion sauce.

Like greyhounds out of the gate, the food at Dolan Uyghur races to the table. Order a few dishes at a time, then, to prevent your entire meal from showing up in minutes. The staff is good about pushing tables together to accommodate orders, but the word about this restaurant is out, and not every night finds spare tables.

Some real estate should be devoted to goshnan, the Uyghur equivalent of a pizza. The size of a vinyl record (theyre coming back!), the crust is basically pan-fried pastry stuffed with ground beef, red peppers and sweet onions. Imagine Hamburger Helper in a crisp golden sleeve.

Ekber Keyser, 42, last cooked at a chain Chinese restaurant, City Wok at Washington Dulles International Airport. His mentors, Ainiwaer Abuduwayiti and Tunisha Amuti, bring richer resumes to Dolan Uyghur, where the couple train the kitchen staff in the ways of noodle pulling and meat grilling. Natives of Xinjiang, they have both worked as executive chefs in Turkey, where they incorporated Uyghur dishes into the menus of their employers.



Goshnan is a Uyghur style pizza stuffed with beef, onions and red peppers. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

Every visit produces a fresh favorite. Magic Chili Chicken, available only on weekends, is my most recent obsession: succulent broiled chicken, hacked to pieces and served with red chilies beneath a green carpet of chopped scallions. The heat of the feast numbs the lips, but the fire isnt so intense you cant forge on. Priced at $25, the strapping platter could feed a small family.

That old black magic isnt everywhere on the long menu. Fried spring rolls look like cigars on steroids, but each bite oozes as much hot oil as shredded cabbage. Sweet and sour fish turns out to be lightly battered tilapia in a sauce thats missing signs of the tag team. (Battered dishes are not the kitchens forte. Too often, the food leaves the fryer tasting like nothing more special than a spongy version of itself.) Pale, steamed broccoli, on the other hand, benefits from a light wash of garlic sauce that doesnt hold back on the stinking rose.



Chefs Ainiwaer Abuduwayiti and Ekber Keyser plate a lamb dish at Dolan Uyghur. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

Desserts will surprise those who think Asian desserts are the least interesting part of a meal. We baked this today, says a proud server as she introduces a wedge of Kat-Kat cake. Eyes pop. A single slice is the size of a brick. Tender as pound cake, the multiple pale-yellow levels sandwich a filling of sugar and milk. Just as generous is a dagger of the rustic walnut cake. Fried, honey-glazed walnuts are so good, we order extra for the Uber home.

Dolan Uyghur should be pouring beer and wine by now. If not, a pot of steaming Uyghur tea helps chase back this robust food.

Amenities are few, limited to a painting of musicians on a wall here and some pillows plumping a window banquette there. A wrought-iron railing near the entrance leads to a similarly plain, yolk-yellow room upstairs, where diners near the fancy fencing can watch the comings and goings below. (The moment it opened in the former Sorriso space last month, the restaurant became the best place for takeout in the neighborhood.)

Xinjiang translates from Chinese to new frontier. Dolan Uyghur encourages diners to hit the road  and open wide.

For stories, features such as Date Lab, Gene Weingarten and more, visit WP Magazine.

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Email us at wpmagazine@washpost.com.
Chef Alice Waters team prepared oysters as part of this 2014 dinner. The ninth annual Sips and Suppers fundraiser, benefiting D.C. Central Kitchen and Marthas table, takes place this weekend. (Kate Warren/For The Washington Post)

THURSDAY

BEER DINNER: Four courses paired with Dogfish Head beer. 6:30 p.m. $70, including tax and gratuity. Monza, 9405 Battle St., Manassas. 703-368-5522. eatmonza.com.

COOKING CLASS: Chef Wendi James teaches how to make hand rolls, small rolls, vegetarian rolls and inside-out rolls. 6:30-8:30 p.m. $65. Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. 202-549-4172. programs@ hillcenterdc.org. hillcenterdc.org/home/programs/2293.

SATURDAY

SIPS: Cocktail reception featuring local artisans and bartenders. Proceeds benefit D.C. Central Kitchen and Marthas Table. VIP tickets also available. 7:30 p.m. $150. Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. sipsandsuppers.org/sips.

SUNDAY

SUPPERS: Fundraising dinners taking place in more than 35 area homes, featuring chefs Alon Shaya, Carla Hall, Tim Ma, Amy Brandwein and more. Proceeds benefit D.C. Central Kitchen and Marthas Table. 6 p.m. $600. sipsandsuppers.org/suppers.

THE YEAR OF ITALY: CUISINE AND CULTURE: Small plates and Tuscan wine, plus a discussion by author L.M. Elliott on Leonardo da Vincis first portrait. 5-7 p.m. $25. Cesco Osteria, 7401 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda. 301-654-8333. cesco-osteria.com.

RESERVE NOW

FEB. 1

COOKING CLASS: Cooking instructor Sheila Crye teaches how to make Super Bowl party food. 6:30 p.m. $50-$65. Nancy H. Dacek North Potomac Community Recreation Center, 13850 Travilah Rd., Rockville. 240-773-4800. bit.ly/2jtyA7s.

FEB. 4

CHOCOLATE LOVERS FESTIVAL: Two days celebrating chocolate. The festival includes chocolate tastings, chocolate for sale and art made from chocolate. Some events require a fee. Old Town Hall, 3999 University Dr., Fairfax City. 703-385-7858. parksrec@fairfaxva.gov. chocolatefestival.net.

 Kara Elder

Send event listings to food@washpost.com with CALENDAR in the subject line.


A scene from food writer Signe Johansens book How to Hygge. (St. Martins Griffin)

Every Friday morning, Cynthia Sanford gets to work early. Shes not there to sell more mid-century Danish furniture  although thats what shoppers can find at the Kensington, Md., branch of Modern Mobler, where Sanford is store manager. Instead, she enjoys some quiet time with a friend before opening up for the day. They drink coffee and knit among handcrafted teak sideboards, splayed-leg coffee tables and never-let-you-go lounge chairs.

In other words, Sanford explains, were having hygge.

Its a term she hadnt heard until about a year ago. Almost no one had  except for the people of Denmark, who use it incessantly, according to Danish Ambassador Lars Gert Lose. Hygge is part of our DNA, he said.

[Scandinavian design is more than just Ikea]

Roughly translated into English, hygge means coziness. But, Lose adds, its as hard to define as it is to pronounce. (HOO-gah gets you close enough.) To him, hygge is a combination of three factors: the space youre in, the people youre with and the intention to create a sanctuary. Nail the details, and it adds up to an all-encompassing sense of comfort and well-being. In Denmark, which boasts eight months of weather forecasts that might make you want to stay in bed, hygge has served as the ultimate coping strategy.

Now the secrets out.

Hygge has been anointed the latest lifestyle trend, inspiring luxury tea blends (hooglytea.com), designer wallpapers (hyggeandwest.com) and a Philly brewpub (barhygge.com). Its also the subject of an entire library of new books, which is fitting, given how hyggelig it is to curl up and read, preferably by the glow of a fireplace while wearing woolen socks and sipping something steaming.

Blame the buzz on current events, says food writer Signe Johansen, author of How to Hygge, which explains how she maintains her Nordic traditions while living in London. People are worried and anxious about the future  2016 was a discombobulating year for many reasons, she says.

Thats certainly true in Washington, where the recent spike in political divisiveness is palpable. Some hygge-style socializing could help, Lose says.

Its almost like meditation, but its a collective exercise rather than an individual one, he explains. Distractions such as phones are shut off. Topics that could devolve into shouting matches are shelved. The point would be to say: This is all about having a good time now. Its time to talk about what we enjoy about life.

Hygge can even play a role in policy discussions, Lose adds, noting that he participated in a group bike ride along Pennsylvania Avenue in the District this month as part of an event on Rethinking Urban Transportation. The vibe was informal, partly because of the gear involved. When you put on a biking helmet, you have to laugh at yourself, Lose says.

A conducive environment is key to experiencing hygge, says Lose, who suggests Washingtonians take an evening stroll through Georgetown or picnic by Mount Vernon. And, of course, theres the Danish Embassy, which is hygge by design. The building was the work of Danish architect Vilhelm Lauritzen, who inserted hygge-friendly touches, such as the chandeliers that hang throughout the residence. Their playful circles of bulbs, each inside a glass, can be dimmed to adjust the mood.



The Danish Embassy residences living room features warm but playful lighting. (Pernille Florin Elbech/Danish Embassy)

As Happiness Research Institute chief executive Meik Wiking points out in The Little Book of Hygge, proper lighting is essential. That means there should be several light sources, scattering pools of warm light throughout a space. When in doubt about how to achieve that, he says, just add candles.

Kira Fortune, a Dane who now lives in Chevy Chase with her family, frequently finds herself fielding questions about candles. There are 14 in her living space at the moment, not counting the ones inside lanterns in her yard. She lights all of them.

To her, thats hygge, which demands that you go out of your way to be uber-cozy, she says. When she has the time, Fortune lights not only the candles but also her two Morso wood-burning stoves. She prepares hot chocolate and glogg, or mulled wine, and bakes rye bread from scratch. Then she savors sitting around with no real plans  just board games, books and blankets.

[We spend a lot of time in our bedrooms. Put some effort into making it a pleasant place to be.]

Setting up such a hyggelig scene requires energy and attention, but its a process she enjoys because she knows how wonderful the result will feel. Living in Washington, we work long hours. This is one way to switch off, go down in gears, Fortune says.

That seems like a good thing to know how to do, even if you cant pronounce it.

Here are some ways to hygge at home:

Keep it simple

The Arne Vodder 67-inch Danish Modern Teak Sideboard at Modern Mobler ($3,475, modernmobler.com). (Modern Mobler)

Nordic interiors are minimalist. So to prep for going hygge, you might want to try the KonMari Method, Modern Moblers Sanford says. The goal is to tame clutter by keeping only things that spark joy. To Sanford, a sleek sideboard fits that bill  you can use it to display items and tuck away a few of your favorite things for easy access. I always want my knitting and yarn near me, she says.

[Does that object spark joy? The Japanese art of decluttering and how it can change your life]

Go green

Bring nature home with a houseplant. How to Hygge author Johansen recommends aloe vera  theyre a funky shape, theyre low-maintenance, and theyre useful. Its the best thing for applying on a burn, she says. If youre picking up a bouquet from the florist, go monochromatic. Too many colors can feel hectic, she explains.

Add a personal touch

The Little Book of Hygge author Wiking promotes a hands-on approach to furniture shopping. Consider not only how things look, but how they feel, says Wiking, who prefers the touch of wood over steel and glass. Danish-style decorating doesnt have to be pricey, he adds, noting that his favorite pieces are a pair of stools he made with his uncle. Their value comes from his memories. You can attach stories to your belongings even if theyre purchased. Just consider the source, Wiking says: Youre in a flea market in Paris. Its already different from Bed Bath & Beyond.

Kira Fortune, a Dane who now lives in Chevy Chase, loves the Kahler brand of ceramics. (Kahler)

Use candles  with caution

A few flickering candles on a table is fine, but for a cozier effect, use surfaces at varying heights, Johansen says. Experiment with window ledges and bookshelves. Always use candleholders, and be careful: Johansens dress caught on fire at a party when she accidentally brushed up against a tea light on a low shelf.

Find your sources

Fortunes strategy for creating a Copenhagen house in Washington involves knowing where to shop. She hits up Ikea every two weeks to restock her candle supply. (Only plain white ones are acceptable  Were very much into less is more, Fortune says.) The Swedish store also sells rye bread mix and holiday foodstuffs. Rodmans in Friendship Heights is her source for marzipan and chocolates. For Kahler-brand striped vases and other ceramic accessories, she orders from royaldesign.com. And when shes desperate for other goodies from home, she turns to design emporium Illums Bolighus (illumsbolighus.com), which ships to the United States.
President Trump signed executive actions Tuesday to move ahead on building the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines.

Former president Barack Obama killed the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in 2015, saying it would have hurt U.S. efforts to reach a global climate-change deal. The Keystone line would run from Canada to the Gulf Coast; it requires presidential approval because it would cross the U.S. border.

Federal officials decided last year to seek other routes for the Dakota pipeline after the Standing Rock Sioux tribe said it threatened drinking water and Native American cultural sites.

Trump favors both projects to help supply energy and to create jobs.

Republicans in Congress cheered the decisions.

Todays news is  proof that President Trump wont let radical special-interest groups stand in the way of doing whats best for American workers, said Senator John Cornyn of Texas.

Environmentalists blasted Trumps actions.

Donald Trump has been in office for four days and hes already proving to be the dangerous threat to our climate we feared he would be, said Michael Brune of the Sierra Club.

Brune and other activists said the fight against the projects is not over.
Anne Arundel County

The following incidents were reported by the Anne Arundel County police. For information, call 410-222-8050.

LAUREL AREA

WEAPONS

Laurel View Ct., 2:49 p.m. Jan. 17. A male was seen firing a gun into the air. Shell casings were found in the road. An investigation was ongoing.

ODENTON AREA

HOMICIDES

Conquest Way, 2200 block, 10:45 p.m. Jan. 13. A man fatally shot an Odenton man, 24. A Baltimore man, 29, was charged with first- and second-degree murder, armed robbery, first-degree assault and other charges.

Annapolis

These were among incidents reported by the Annapolis Police Department. For information, call 410-268-9000.

HOMICIDES

Newtowne Dr., 700 block, 3:08 p.m. Jan. 16. A Severn man, 40, was shot. The man died of his wounds at a hospital.

ROBBERIES

Jackson St., 1000 block, 7:15 p.m. Jan. 19. An armed male attempted to rob a female who was delivering pizza. She said she have no cash, and the male fled.

Melrob Ct., 9:15 p.m. Jan. 12. Two males stole a wallet and keys from a mans pockets and fled.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Bunche St., 4 p.m. Jan. 16 to 11:30 a.m. Jan. 18. Two power washers were stolen. An Annapolis man, 22, was charged with third-degree burglary and theft.

Fourth St., 500 block, 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14. A purse was taken from an unlocked vehicle.

Hicks Ave., noon, Jan. 12 to 7 a.m. Jan. 13. Copper wire and copper tubes were stolen from a home under renovation.

Royal St., 900 block, 1-2:30 p.m. Jan. 18. Electronic devices, jewelry and a drone were stolen from a home.

Silopanna Rd., 3:35 a.m. Jan. 17. Two males fled a garage after the homeowner saw a light on and confronted them; nothing was stolen.

State St., 400 block, 8 p.m. Jan. 15 to 2 p.m Jan. 16. Power tools and hand tool were stolen from an unlocked vehicle.

Wardour Dr., Dec. 15 to Jan. 14. Copper downspouts were stolen from a residence.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

Eastern Ave., noon to 3 p.m, Jan.15. A silver 2008 Nissan Titan truck was stolen.

Howard County

These were among incidents reported by the Howard County Police Department. For information, call 410-313-2236.

CLARKSVILLE AREA

ASSAULTS

Narrow Leaf Ct., 13500 block, 7:43 p.m. Jan. 13. An armed male hit another male with the weapon and fled.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Indian Summer Dr., 5900 block, Jan. 15. A safe was stolen from a home.

COLUMBIA AREA

SHOOTINGS

Majors Lane, 6000 block, 9:40 p.m. Jan. 18. A Columbia man, 18, was found with a gunshot wound and taken to a shock trauma center.

ROBBERIES

Cedar Lane, 5500 block, 12:35 a.m. Jan. 14. Five armed males stole cash and pizza from a delivery driver.

Cedar Lane, 5200 block, 11:05 p.m. Jan. 15. Two armed males accosted a woman, stole her purse and fled.

Harpers Farm Rd., 5600 block, 12:30 a.m. Jan. 16. Two males robbed a pizza delivery driver of cash, pizza and a cellphone.

Hawkeye Run, 6600 block, 10:16 a.m. Jan. 13. Two masked males broke into a home, stole cash and fled on foot.

ASSAULTS

Eden Brook Dr., 7300 block, 10 p.m. Jan. 15. A group of males punched a man and fled.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Harmel Dr., 10800 block, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Jan. 16. A basement door at a house was broken; nothing was reported stolen.

Oakland Mills Rd., 7000 block, Jan. 15-16. Cash was stolen from a restaurant.

Smooth Meadow, 5300 and 5600 blocks, West Running Brook Rd., 5200 block, 1-6:30 a.m. Jan. 12. Airbags and tools were stolen from vehicles.

Stevens Forest Rd., 5700 block, Jan. 14-16. Electronic devices were stolen from a maintenance room at an apartment complex.

Wooded Run Dr., 6100 block, 2 to 8 p.m. Jan. 16. Jewelry was stolen from a home.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

Brinton Ct., 5100 block, 12:40 a.m. Jan. 19. A red 2011 Mini Cooper was stolen.

Eden Brook Dr., 7300 block, 7:24 a.m. Jan. 13. A 2015 white Toyota Camry was stolen.

Summer Park Ct., 9700 block, 7:46 a.m. Jan. 12. A 2008 black Lexus was stolen.

ELKRIDGE AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Furnace Ave., 5600 block, 11 a.m. Jan. 14. A cooler and food were stolen from a food pantry.

Santa Barbara Rd., 6600 block, 7:56 a.m. Jan. 14. A safe was stolen from a business.

Woodland Forest Dr., 6300 to 6400 block, Highbanks Ct., 6400 block, Huntshire Dr.,6500 block, Old Hollow Lane, 7800 block and Mayfair Ct., 7900 block, Jan. 16 to 17. Items were stolen from vehicles. An Elkridge man, 25, was charged with theft and rogue and vagabond.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

Euclid Ave., 6300 block, 1:57 p.m. Jan. 18. A blue 2008 Jeep Wrangler was stolen.

ELLICOTT CITY AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Baltimore National Pike, 8500 block, 3:13 a.m. Jan. 12. Two tires were stolen from a vehicle at a dealership. A Windsor Mill man, 19, was charged with theft and trespassing.

Huntley Dr., 4600 block, 10:32 p.m. Jan. 18. Two males entered a home through a rear window; nothing was reported stolen.

Live Oak Ct., 4600 block, 10:35 p.m. Jan. 18. Cash and gift cards were stolen from a home.

Westminster Rd., 2700 block, 11:45 a.m. Jan. 12. An attempt was made to break a basement door at a house; nothing was reported stolen.

GLENELG AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Meadow Lake Dr., 14200 block, 9:41 p.m. Jan. 15. A safe was stolen from a residence.

LAUREL AREA

ROBBERIES

Washington Blvd., 9800 block, 11:23 p.m. Jan. 18. Two males tried to rob a man in a parking lot. A Hyattsville man, 24, and a Beltsville man, 27, were charged with firearm and drug-related charges.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Kings Grant Rd., 9400 block, 9:45 a.m.- to 2 p.m. Jan. 13. Electronic devices and firearms were stolen from a home.

Rowan Lane, Jan. 13 to 14. Bathroom fixtures were stolen from a house under construction.

MOUNT AIRY AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Frederick Rd., 16800 block, 3:17 p.m. Jan. 17. Tools were stolen from a shed. A Randallstown man, 29, was charged with destruction of property, theft and burglary.

ARSON

Frederick Rd., 16800 block, 1:09 a.m. Jan. 17. A vehicle was set on fire. An investigation concluded that a woman, who was charged, had stolen items from a vehicle and three sheds. A Mount Airy woman, 30, was charged with arson, destruction of property, burglary and theft.

WOODBINE AREA

ROBBERIES

Lisbon Center Dr., 700 block, 11:57 a.m. Jan. 14. A man with a knife robbed a bank and fled. A Lusby man, 41, was charged with armed robbery, assault and theft.

 Compiled by Bonnie Smith
House Republicans on Tuesday passed a bill, by a vote of 238 to 183, that would prevent the District from using local tax dollars to subsidize abortion services for low-income women.

When the GOP announced the bill last week, Democrats vowed to fight it and decried federal interference with a local issue.

But on the House floor, just three Democratic members of Congress  and the Districts nonvoting delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton  stood up on behalf of the city.

Although the Senate has never passed the bill, the vote was an ominous sign that the District could become an afterthought as Congress considers targeting laws regulating guns, assisted suicide and marijuana in the nations capital.

The stakes are particularly high for the District this year, as it cannot rely on a Democratic presidential veto. Republican President Donald Trump has said he would sign a bill blocking federal funding for abortion, known as the Hyde Amendment.

Norton downplayed concerns that the abortion bill would ever become permanent.

This bill always bothers the hell out of me and by now it shouldnt, she said after the vote. Its an annual bill that always comes up as almost the first ideological bill of the Congress, timed to the March for Life. It has never become law.

The bill came up for a vote Tuesday in time for abortion opponents annual march on the mall.

One of the speakers will be Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.), the House sponsor of the bill, who noted that congressional authority puts the citys laws in play like nowhere else. Otherwise, he said, he would go after the states, too.

We do have a constitutional jurisdiction, he said. The children here are just as important as children everywhere. If we could reach states, I would be doing it. This bill would have had it in there.

On the floor, he spoke beside a sign that read, Hyde Amendment has saved 2 million lives #WhyWeMarch.

Although he did not cite a specific path to reach the 60 votes necessary to pass the measure in the Senate, Smith said he was optimistic.

We have a new president who will sign it, he said. I think theres a growing chorus of pro-lifers, not diminishing. Were going to find some ways of getting this to the presidents desk.

In addition to Norton, only Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) specifically advocated for the District during debate on the bill. Raskins district is anchored by Montgomery County.

A few days ago millions of Americans made history by marching for freedom and equality against an administration that keeps threatening to grab women by their privacy rights, said Raskin, who is on leave from his job as a constitutional law professor.

In D.C., he said, this extreme legislation constitutes a special assault on liberty.

The bill could make permanent the Hyde amendment, which some members noted is already effectively the law because it is attached to annual appropriations bills.

In addition to blocking federal Medicaid dollars from funding for abortion, the bill says plans associated with the Affordable Care Act  or the program Republicans come up with to replace it  cannot cover abortion.

The bill would have a more dramatic effect in the nations capital. It would make permanent a prohibition on the District spending its own locally raised tax revenue  as 17 states now do  to subsidize abortions.

Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), whose district spans Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria, said the completely crazy bill flies in the face of the Republican idea that the federal government should have less  not more  authority of local issues.

Its just not right, he said. We need to do the best possible job to make sure they dont get to 60 votes in the Senate.

Beyer said he did not speak on the floor because Democrats tapped members from relevant committees, even though Democrats ran out speakers before their time expired.

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), whose district includes Fairfax and Prince William counties, submitted remarks opposing the bill but those did not mention the District.

I think we gain more political traction broadening the issue to womens rights, not just an issue of D.C. control, he said. This is about womens rights everywhere.

Norton offered an unsuccessful amendment to Smiths bill that would have allowed the District to spend its local funds on abortion services for low-income women.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), one of five co-sponsors of the amendment, submitted it Monday night in a committee meeting. Norton had a scheduling conflict.

D.C. Major Muriel E. Bowsers chief of staff, John Falcicchio, said the mayors office welcomed support from those who did stand up and defend the District.

He said that since the bill was introduced last week, the mayors office had been consulting with allies both inside and outside of Congress on how to best defend the interests of the District.

Council member David Grosso, (I-At large) said he believed antiabortion groups were saving their energy for a series of votes in the Senate, where if Democrats stick together, they should be able to defeat the bills targeting abortion rights, including the one limiting access in the District.

My No. 1 ask of Congress is the same as the mayor said the other day, to leave us alone, Grosso said.  I think that is the appropriate ask, and its consistent with the congressional philosophy of states rights  but for D.C. they just seem to want to make us a little petri dish and experiment.
Cars are backed into spaces in an underground parking garage on L Street NW. It seems like more motorists are backing in these days. (John Kelly/TWP)

How often do you back into a parking space, as opposed to pulling in frontward?

I ask because Im guessing you do it more than you used to. Thats my totally unscientific  but not totally unwarranted  observation.

I base this conclusion on an underground garage near my office that I park in a few days a week. Every time I descend into its bowels, I notice that nearly every vehicle has backed into its space.

It looks so neat and orderly. Im sure parking lots didnt use to be this way. Two parking experts agreed, though they stressed that their observations were strictly anecdotal.

Gary Cudney is president of Carl Walker Inc., a parking design firm in Kalamazoo, Mich. Mary Smith is senior vice president of Walker Parking in Indianapolis. (Are all parking consulting firms called Walker? These two happened to have been founded by the same guy, who sold the first then opened the second.)

Mary said that research in the 1980s suggested that Americans were half as likely to back into a space as Britons. She feels this is because U.S. drivers arent taught to back in, while motorists in other countries are.

What we call a parking space, parking engineers call a stall. A well-designed parking garage gets people in and out of the stalls safely and quickly. Reversing a car  in or out  takes longer. More people seem to be doing it when they arrive rather than when they leave. Why? We kicked around some ideas:

Its easier. These days, backup cameras and collision-avoidance systems come as standard equipment in more and more vehicles. While a camera doesnt make you a better driver, it can help with the two- or three-point turns needed to back into a stall.

Because of SUVs. Backing into a stall means that you can pull forward out, which is much safer, said Mary. Its so much harder to see pulling out when youre parked near SUVs. More SUVs means more drivers wanting to position themselves for maximum visibility.

Were finally allowed to. Gary said he has designed parking garages where motorists were told they could not back in. Garage owners often require front-in parking if a monthly parking voucher is displayed on the rear windshield. Some garages have changed their payment methods.

Sometimes, Gary said, garages prohibit back-in parking because the rear overhang of a car  from the back wheel to the back bumper  is usually longer than the overhang at the front. If you back in and use a curb to feel the space, your rear bumper may hit a wall.

Were protecting our stuff. Mary said some people have told her they back in so that their trunk is against the wall, making it difficult for a thief to pop it open.

We know well be tired at the end of the day. In the morning, were relatively fresh, able to muster the brain power and coordination to back in. In the evening, all we want to do is split. We plan accordingly.

Gary said there might be something to this theory. People arrive at different times in the morning, while, At the end of the day, its more of a peak flow. Theres peer pressure: Everybody else is backing in. If I dont, Im screwed. 

But heres the weird part: I sometimes park in an aboveground, county-owned lot near the Metro in Silver Spring. Not even a third of the cars there are parked rear-in. Why the difference?

I think thats because aboveground garages are roomier and, since theyre open at the sides, less claustrophobic. Backing out isnt that much of a hardship.

Obviously, more study is needed.

Cold comfort

Good news for custard lovers: The Dairy Godmother will return. Liz Davis, founder of the 17-year-old custard emporium in Alexandrias Del Ray neighborhood, tells me so many people expressed interest in taking over her business that she is certain it will be able to reopen in March.

[The fairy tale is over at Alexandrias Dairy Godmother frozen custard shop]

Liz said she heard from many interested parties, including some with Wisconsin pedigree as well as government workers trying to reinvent themselves.

Well, there is a federal hiring freeze on. Maybe those people would rather work at a place where something else gets frozen.

Bye for now

Im taking a week off to work on some important projects (Squirrel Week is coming in April, dont forget). Watch for me back in this space on Feb. 6.

Twitter: @johnkelly

For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.
Thursday, Jan. 26

Carousel The musical includes a cast of more than 60 and more than 20 members of the orchestra. Thursday and Friday 7:30 p.m. Saturday 2 and 8 p.m. Sunday 3 p.m. Lake Braddock Secondary School, 9200 Burke Lake Rd., Burke. 703-426-1000. fcps.edu/LakeBraddockSS. $12. Tickets available at brownpapertickets.com.

Fairfax Genealogical Society meeting From Blank Page to Story-Writing: A Terrific Family History, by speaker Leslie Anderson. 7:30 p.m. Kilmer Middle School, 8100 Wolftrap Rd., Vienna. fxgs.org. Free.

McLean Citizens Association forum The topic is transportation issues. Fairfax County transportation director Tom Biesiadny will be available for questions. 7:30 p.m. McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean. 703-448-9187. Free.

Gentle kundalini yoga For beginners to advanced practitioners. Thursdays 6:30-7:45 p.m., followed by individual consultation. Emmaus Church, 900 E. Maple Ave., Vienna.

571-213-3192. edimprovement.org. One session free; senior discounts available.

Friday, Jan. 27

McLean Art Society meeting Featured presenter is oil painter Pattie Hipscher. 10 a.m.-noon, McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean. 703-790-0123. Free.

Saturday, Jan. 28

Tai chi beginners practice Open to everyone. Saturdays 7:55-9 a.m., St. Luke Catholic School, 7005 Georgetown Pike, McLean. 703-759-9141. freetaichi.org. Free.

Gentle kundalini yoga For beginners to advanced practitioners. Saturdays 9:30-11 a.m., Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, 2709 Hunter Mill Rd., Oakton.

571-213-3192. edimprovement.org. One session free; senior discounts available.

Falls Church winter farmers market Features 38 vendors. Saturdays 9 a.m.-noon, Falls Church Farmers Market, 300 Park Ave. (City Hall parking lot), Falls Church.

703-248-5077. fallschurchva.gov.

Fairfax Genealogical Society education class Presentation on analyzing and writing obituaries. 10 a.m. Dunn Loring Fire Station, 2148 Gallows Rd., Dunn Loring. fxgs.org. Free.

Giving Circle of HOPE program Includes speakers who have successfully re-entered the community after incarceration. Sponsored by Giving Circle of HOPE and the Reston-Herndon branch of the American Association of University Women. 10 a.m.-noon, Reston Town Center, 11900 Market St., Reston. info@givingcircleofhope.org. Free.

Pohick history lecture Weems-Botts Museum staff members will give a lecture on parson Mason Locke Weems. 1-2 p.m. Pohick Episcopal Church, 9301 Richmond Hwy., Lorton. 703-926-8184. dickhamly@aol.com. pohick.org. Free.

Broadway Desserts performance Presented by J.E.B. Stuart High Schools choral department. Includes a performance by Glasgow Middle Schools chorus at the 2 p.m. show. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. J.E.B. Stuart High School, 3301 Peace Valley Lane, Falls Church. 703-824-3970. brownpapertickets.com/events/2791958. $15; teachers, staff and students $10; age 5 and younger $5.

Author talk Brooke C. Stoddard will talk about Steel: From Mine to Mill, the Metal that Made America. 2 p.m. Martha Washington Library, 6614 Fort Hunt Rd., Alexandria. 703-768-6700. fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/mw. Free.

Flamenco 101: An Overview of Flamenco History and Styles Includes a lecture and Q&A session with educator Estela Velez de Paredez. 6:30 p.m. McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean. 703-790-0123. mcleancenter.org. $5; MCC tax-district residents $3.

Village Gallery artist reception Hosted by Fairfax Art League. 7-9 p.m. Fairfax Village Gallery, 3950 University Dr., Fairfax. 703-587-9481. fairfaxartleague.net. Free.

Sunday, Jan. 29

McLean Chocolate Festival The fifth annual event features chocolate vendors, a childrens game room, musical performances, vendors and a chocolate-making demonstration. Hosted by the Rotary Club of McLean to benefit local charities. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean. 703-790-0123. mcleanchocolatefestival.org. $2 admission; age 6 and younger free.

Meal-packing drive Help pack 75,000 meals for Stop Hunger Now. Sessions are 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., 2-4 p.m. and 4:30-6:30 p.m. Vale United Methodist Church, 11528 Vale Rd., Oakton. 703-371-7665. memartin213@gmail.com. valechurch.org. Free.

Groundhogs Day Out Find out whether groundhogs really can predict the weather. Visit a groundhog burrow, learn cool groundhog facts, enjoy games and make your own groundhog friend to take home. Dress for the weather. Hot chocolate provided. Children must be accompanied by an adult registered in the program. 2-3:30 p.m. Frying Pan Farm Park, 2739 West Ox Rd., Herndon. 703-437-9101. parkmail@fairfaxcounty.gov. fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/fryingpanpark/classes.htm. $8.

Burke Historical Society meeting Includes a talk on the 1898 looting of Burke by troops from Camp Alger during the Spanish-American War. 4:30 p.m. Lutheran Church of the Abiding Presence, 6304 Lee Chapel Rd, Burke. slawski_brian@yahoo.com. burkehistoricalsociety.org. Free.

Concert by the Havenwood Trio 6 p.m. Calvary Hill Baptist Church, 9301 Little River Tpk., Fairfax. 703-323-1347. Free.

Monday, Jan. 30

Diva Central Dress Drive for Prom Donations of dresses, shoes, purses, jewelry and other items are being accepted through Feb. 28 for students. Donations are tax-deductible and may be dropped off at RCC Hunters Woods or RCC Lake Anne 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays. 703-476-4500. restoncommunitycenter.com.

Little Acorns winter program Includes finger plays, stories, activities and  weather-permitting  outdoor activities on the theme of mittens. Children must have an adult present. Monday at 9:45-10:30 a.m. and 11-11:45 a.m. Hidden Oaks Nature Center, 7701 Royce St., Annandale. 703-941-1065. fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/hidden-oaks. $6.

Climate change and energy presentation Environmental Achievements in Arlington and How Fairfax Can Go Green. Presented by the Sierra Club Great Falls Group and the Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions. 7-8:30 p.m. Reston Regional Library, 11925 Bowman Towne Dr., Reston. s.weitz@yahoo.com. Free.

Tuesday, Jan. 31

Herndon Regional Wind Ensemble practice For adults and advanced high school and college students. Tuesdays 7-9 p.m. Herndon Middle School, 901 Locust St., Herndon. herndonregionalwindensemble@gmail.com. 703-904-4800. Free.

Jewish disability awareness and inclusion month program Author Liane Kupferberg Carter gives a talk, Ketchup is My Favorite Vegetable: A Family Grows Up with Autism. 7 p.m. Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, 8900 Little River Tpk., Fairfax. 703-323-0880. jccnv.org. $11; age 65 and older and age 30 and younger $8.

Wednesday, Feb. 1

Annandale National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association meeting Discussion on 2016 federal and Virginia tax returns with Linda Demarlor of Tax Masters. 10 a.m. Mason District Government Center, 6507 Columbia Pike, Annandale. 703-390-6861. Free.

Caregivers support group First and third Thursday of each month. Offered by Shepherds Center of Oakton-Vienna. 10-11:30 a.m. Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, 2709 Hunter Mill Rd., Oakton. 703-821-6838. jtarr5@verizon.net. Free.

Citizenship classes Classes are now in session and will be held Wednesdays through April 5. 7-8 p.m. English classes are also available Mondays and Wednesdays 7-9 p.m. Fairfax United Methodist Church, 10300 Stratford Ave., Fairfax. 703-591-3120. Citizenship classes $20 for the semester; English classes $30.

Authors discussion A Sacred Walk, by Donna Authers. 7:15 p.m. Sydenstricker United Methodist Church, 8508 Hooes Rd., Springfield. 703-451-8223. sydenstrickerumc.org. Free.

 Compiled by Bonnie Smith

TO SUBMIT AN EVENT

Email: fxliving@washpost.com

Details: Announcements are accepted from nonprofit and public organizations only and must be received at least 14 days before the Thursday publication date.
Fairfax County

These were among incidents reported by the Fairfax County Police Department. For information, call 703-246-2253.

Fair Oaks District

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Fair Oaks Shopping Center, 11000 block, Jan. 18. Cash was stolen from a business.

James Swart Cir., 11200 block, Jan. 17. Food was stolen from a business.

Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy., 11200 block, Jan. 17. An iPad was stolen from a hotel.

Lee Hwy., 11100 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

Lee Hwy., 11200 block, Jan. 17. A wallet was stolen from a bus.

Lee Hwy., 12700 block, Jan. 17. Clothes and cash were stolen from a motel.

Lightfoot St., 3800 block, Jan. 18. A package was stolen from a residence.

Virginia Center Blvd., 9400 block, Jan. 17. A ladder was stolen from a storage.

Franconia District

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Backlick Rd., 8400 block, Jan. 17. A gun was stolen from a vehicle.

Commerce St., 6700 block, Jan. 18. A wallet was stolen from a vehicle.

Franconia Rd., 6100 block, Jan. 17. Gas was stolen from a business.

Frontier Dr., 6500 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

Glenwood Mews Ct., 5600 block, Jan. 16. A resident told police someone had broken the basement window and rummaged through the house, but nothing appeared to be missing. There is no suspect information.

Glenwood Mews Ct., 7300 block, Jan. 14. Officers responded to a house alarm and saw a broken basement window and a screen door removed from the rear of the house. They cleared the house, which appeared to be vacant. While in the area, they saw a broken basement window on the house next door. Police contacted the residents, who had just come home and realized items were missing. There is no suspect information.

Kingstowne Blvd., 5700 block, Jan. 18. Merchandise was stolen from a store.

Kingstowne Center, 5800 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

Little River Tpk., 7300 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

Mersey Oaks Way, 6000 block, Jan. 17. Tools were stolen from a worksite.

Rose Hill Dr., 6100 block, Jan. 18. Alcohol was stolen from a store.

Springfield Mall, 6400 block, Jan. 18. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

Springfield Mall, 6500 block, Jan. 17. A phone was stolen from a restroom.

Springfield Mall, 6500 block, Jan. 18. Merchandise was stolen from a store.

Springfield Mall, 6600 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

Springfield Mall, 6600 block, Jan. 17. A phone was stolen from a business.

Springfield Mall, 6600 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

Springfield Plaza, 6400 block, Jan. 17. Alcohol was stolen from a business.

Telegraph Rd., 7500 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

Wellington Commons Dr., 6100 block, Jan. 17. Clothes and shoes were stolen from a vehicle.

Mason District

ASSAULT

Vista Dr., 6000 block, Jan. 17.

ROBBERY

Glen Carlyn and Vista drives, 3:40 a.m. Jan. 15. Armed robbery.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Arlington Blvd., 6200 block, Jan. 17. Guitars were stolen from a business.

Arlington Blvd., 7200 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

Center Lane, 5700 block, Jan. 17. A car was stolen from a business.

Jefferson St. S., 3500 block, Jan. 17. Cash was stolen from a business.

Leesburg Pike, 5800 block, Jan. 17. A phone was stolen from a business.

Leroy Pl., 8700 block, Jan. 17. Cash was stolen from a business.

Little River Tpk., 6200 block, Jan. 18. Alcohol was stolen from a store.

Seven Corners Center, 6300 block, Jan. 17. A wallet was stolen from a purse.

Tobin Rd., 8300 block, Jan. 17. Tools were stolen from a storage.

McLean District

ROBBERY

Nutley St., 3000 block, 3:20 a.m. Jan. 16.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Nutley St., 3000 block, Jan. 17. A purse was stolen from a vehicle.

Chain Bridge Rd., 1300 block, Jan. 18. Merchandise was stolen from a store.

Chain Bridge Rd., 1900 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

Chain Bridge Rd., 1900 block, Jan. 18. Merchandise was stolen from a store.

Chummley Ct., 7400 block, Jan. 14. Police responded to a report that someone entered a home and took coins and keys.

Lee Hwy., 7300 block, Jan. 17. Tools were stolen from a shed.

Leesburg Pike, 8100 block, Jan. 17. Alcohol was stolen from a store.

Leesburg Pike, 8400 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

Strawberry Lane, 8100 block, Jan. 18. Property was stolen from a building.

Tysons Corner, 8000 block, Jan. 17. Cash was stolen from a business.

Tysons Corner, 8000 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

Tysons Corner, 8100 block, Jan. 17. Cash was stolen from a purse.

Tysons Corner, 8100 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

VEHICLE THEFTS

Haycock Rd., 6700 block, Jan. 17. A 2010 black Toyota Prius.

Juniper St., 2800 block, Jan. 17. A 2013 burgundy Hyundai Santa Fe.

Mount Vernon District

ROBBERY

Richmond Hwy., 8300 block, Jan. 17. Robbery reported.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Beekman Pl., 8600 block, Jan. 17. A phone was stolen from an office.

Belleview Blvd., 1600 block, Jan. 18. Merchandise was stolen from a store.

Cameron Run Terr., 5800 block, Jan. 17. Tools were stolen from a parking area.

Frye Rd., 8400 block, Jan. 17. Food was stolen from a store.

Kings Hwy. S., 6300 block, Jan. 18. Merchandise was stolen from a store.

Mount Vernon Memorial Hwy., 5600 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a store.

Redcoat Dr., 2600 block, Jan. 17. A wallet was stolen from a vehicle.

Richmond Hwy., 5900 block, Jan. 18. Property was stolen from a residence.

Richmond Hwy., 6700 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a store.

Richmond Hwy., 7400 block, Jan. 17. A phone was stolen from a business.

Richmond Hwy., 8200 block, Jan. 17. Food was stolen from a store.

Richmond Hwy., 8200 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a store.

Richmond Hwy., 8500 block, Jan. 17. Groceries were stolen from a store.

Roxbury Lane, 3700 block, Jan. 17. An Xbox was stolen from a vehicle.

Russell Rd., 8200 block, Jan. 17. Beer was stolen from a store.

Reston District

WEAPON

Clover Field Cir., 2400 block, Jan. 18. Missile in an occupied dwelling.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Centreville Rd., 2100 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

Fountain Dr., 1800 block, Jan. 17. Merchandise was stolen from a business.

Fountain Dr., 1800 block, Jan. 18. Property was stolen from a business.

Freetown Ct., 2300 block, Jan. 17. Cash was stolen from a vehicle.

Pennycress Lane, 1500 block, Jan. 17. A wallet was stolen from a vehicle.

Shaker Dr., 1200 block, Jan. 17. A gun was stolen from a vehicle.

Southgate Sq., 2200 block, Jan. 18. Property was stolen from a residence.

Thomas Jefferson Dr., 2400 block, Jan. 17. A phone was stolen from an office.

Sully District

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Beaumeadow Dr., 14700 block, Jan. 17. A wallet was stolen from an office.

Carlbern Dr., 14700 block, Jan. 17. Cash was stolen from a vehicle.

Chantilly Crossing, 14300 block, Jan. 17. An electronic device was stolen from a business.

Frosty Winter Ct., 6200 block, Jan. 16. Burglary.

Lee Hwy., 14100 block, Jan. 17. Keys were stolen from a purse.

Westfields Blvd., 5100 block, Jan. 18. Alcohol was stolen from a store.

VEHICLE THEFT

Poplar Woods Ct., 13400 block, Jan. 17. A 2000 white Ford F-450.

West Springfield District

ROBBERY

Burke Center Pkwy., 6000 block, Jan. 17.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Alban Rd., 8000 block, Jan. 17. Tools were stolen from a business.

Little River Tpk., 7300 block, Jan. 17. Electronic devices were stolen from a business.

Oakland Park Dr., 5900 block, Jan. 17. Items were stolen from a vehicle.

Old Keene Mill Rd., 8300 block, Jan. 17. Beer was stolen from a business.

Old Keene Mill Rd., 8400 block, Jan. 17. A phone was stolen from a bus.

Portsmouth Rd., 5300 block, Jan. 17. A purse was stolen from a vehicle.

Roberts Common Lane, 10200 block, Jan. 17. A camera was stolen from a vehicle.

View Point Ct., 10000 block, Jan. 18. Property was stolen from a vehicle.

VEHICLE THEFTS

Evangel Dr., 8700 block, Jan. 17. A 1999 black Mercedes-Benz.

Tanworth Dr., 7100 block, Jan. 18. A 2014 blue Mazda CX-9 SUV.

Fairfax City

These were among incidents reported by the Fairfax City Police Department. For information, call 703-273-2889.

ASSAULT

Chain Bridge Rd., 4000 block, 1:53 a.m. Jan. 15. The victim, a 32-year-old Fairfax City man, reported that a male acquaintance approached him as he was about to enter a vehicle. He said the acquaintance struck him in the head and face multiple times, breaking his glasses. The suspect then left the area on foot. The victim declined medical treatment at the scene.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Lee Hwy., 11000 block, 1:49 p.m. Jan. 16. Larceny.

Main St., 9600 block, 9:16 p.m. Jan. 13. From vehicle.

Maple St., 10700 block, 9:06 a.m. Jan. 16. From vehicle.

University Dr., 3900 block, 12:36 a.m. Jan. 14. Shoplifting; arrest made.

FRAUD

University Dr., 3900 block, 2:29 p.m. Jan. 17. Counterfeiting.

VANDALISM

Main St., 9800 block, 4:10 p.m. Jan. 15.

Scott Dr., 10800 block, 6:02 p.m. Jan. 13.

Falls Church

These were among incidents reported by the Falls Church Police Department. For information, call 703-248-5056.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Broad St. W., 200 block, Jan. 10. Credit card theft.

Broad St. W., 1200 block, Jan. 9. Shoplifting.

FRAUD

Broad St. W., 400 block, Jan. 11. Credit card/ATM fraud.

VANDALISM

Broad St. E., 100 block, Jan. 15.

Columbia St. E., 100 block, Jan. 14.

Herndon

These were among incidents reported by the Herndon Police Department. For information, call 703-435-6846.

ASSAULTS

Florida Ave., 500 block, 12:13 a.m. Jan. 13. Simple assault.

Shannon Pl., 1100 block, 8:22 a.m. Jan. 11. Simple assault.

ROBBERY

Florida Ave., 500 block, 12:16 a.m. Jan. 15.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Artic Quill Rd., 1100 block, 5:58 p.m. Jan. 13. From vehicle.

Bayshire Lane, 1400 block, 3:12 p.m. Jan. 13. From vehicle.

Bond St., 1200 block, 6:42 p.m. Jan. 9.

Dulles Ct., 800 block, 8:20 p.m. Jan. 10. From building.

Elden St., 400 block, 12:41 p.m. Jan. 15. Shoplifting.

Elden St., 1100 block, 7:19 a.m. Jan. 15. Trespassing.

Elden St., 1100 block, 9:49 p.m. Jan. 15.

Hunt Way Lane, 500 block, 10:56 a.m. Jan. 13. From vehicle.

Park Ave., 800 block, 4:03 p.m. Jan. 10.

Queens Ct., 1000 block, 9:45 a.m. Jan. 11.

Reneau Way, 300 block, 2:48 p.m. Jan. 14.

Van Buren St., 500 block, 12:58 p.m. Jan. 11. Tampering with a vehicle.

VANDALISM

Dulles Ct., 800 block, 8:20 p.m. Jan. 10.

Elden St., 700 block, 12:24 p.m. Jan. 9.

Elden St., 1000 block, 11:37 p.m. Jan. 10. Graffiti.

Elden St., 1200 block, 9:59 a.m. Jan. 13.

Grace St., 800 block, 11:56 a.m. Jan. 11.

Legacy Pride Dr., 600 block, 5:22 p.m. Jan. 11.

Park Ave., 900 block, 1:24 p.m. Jan. 9.

Tway Lane, 1100 block, 7:58 a.m. Jan. 15.

Worldgate Dr., 12900 block, 3:10 p.m. Jan. 9. Graffiti.

Vienna

These were among incidents reported by the Vienna Police Department. For information, call 703-255-6396.

ASSAULT

Patrick Street SE, 10:08 p.m. Jan. 17. A resident requested a welfare check on his neighbor after observing injuries to her face. Officers spoke to the neighbor, who said she was assaulted by her roommate after a verbal dispute escalated. The officers noted minor injuries on the woman, but she declined to pursue charges.
Kelly McClanahan, 32, center, hugs Paul store manager Shaunice Rodriguez and thanks her for providing shelter for and Molly Cristl, 38, left, during Inauguration Day disturbances outside the store on K Street NW. (Clarence Williams/The Washington Post)

After a red-eye flight from Los Angeles and a short recovery nap, Molly Crist and Kelly McClanahan really needed a cup of coffee before a visit to the National Portrait Gallery.

But after the friends arrived at the Paul patisserie at 1275 K Street NW the afternoon of Inauguration Day, they found more than French pastry. They soon became trapped by a turbulent clash between D.C. police and protesters on the street.

A chaotic scene unfolded outside the shops windows as the women saw demonstrators hurling objects at officers in riot gear and police responding with pepper spray and crowd-control devices that thundered with loud bangs. Inside the restaurant some patrons began to worry that the danger could reach them.

Yet Crist and McClanahan soon found their fears eased when the store manager quickly stepped forward to lock the door. On Monday afternoon they returned to the shop, carrying a bouquet of flowers as a token of gratitude to that manager, Shaunice Rodriguez.

She was running it; she just handled it, McClanahan said in an interview. She was so great.

Rodriguez said that her staff had seen clashes between police and protesters and that she had received reports of windows being broken and other damage occurring on nearby blocks. So when the unrest swept from around the corner and filled the street outside her shop, Rodriguez immediately decided to lock the shops front doors.

McClanahan and Crist said the manager told everyone they would be safe inside and could stay as long as necessary. She provided a small, but important gesture, in a tense moment.

Honestly, I was scared.  The protesters were knocking over [newspaper] boxes and destroying property, Crist said in an interview. I took videos and my hands were shaking. Everybody was really upset.

Crist, 38, who works in merchandising and design for Forever 21 stores, and McClanahan, 32, a Disney animator who worked on films such as Frozen and Zootopia, arrived in the city for Saturdays Womens March on Washington. On Friday, they left their Akwaaba Bed and Breakfast Inn in search of coffee.

Rodriguez said the first sign of trouble came when a customer hustled in and asked for milk to pour over the eyes of a demonstrator who had been stung by pepper spray.

Outside the window, the three women saw a line of police officers with riot helmets and shields pushing hundreds of protesters and journalists west along K Street NW. The boom of the crowd-control devices echoed through the streets, and smoke filled the air from those devices and trash cans ignited by small groups of vandals.

Everyone was in utter disbelief, Rodriguez said. All of a sudden it went kind of hooey.

So she decided to lock the doors.

About 90 minutes later, the manager connected with D.C. police, and Assistant Chief Robert Alder helped to escort Crist and McClanahan out the back door and through an alley to safety.

As Crist and McClanahan carried a boxed bouquet of white roses and other flowers into the shop on Monday, Rodriguez emerged from the kitchen. She smiled as she recognized the pair.

They hugged as the Californians thanked the manager. Rodriguez handed them business cards and urged them to stop in for coffee on their next D.C. visit.

Hopefully, if I ever find myself in that situation or any situation, Ill remember her example, McClanahan said in the interview.

Rodriguez, a District native and Petworth resident, said that as a newly minted Catholic she was acting in line with her faith and doing what any good manager would.

We felt really blessed we came out unscathed. It was really heartwarming what they did, but I was really just doing my job, Rodriguez said. If I love God, I have to take care of his sheep.
Jazz Lewis, a former campaign director to Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) who was Maryland political director for Hillary Clintons presidential campaign, was nominated Tuesday night to succeed former state delegate Michael L. Vaughn in the General Assembly.

Lewis was chosen by the Prince Georges County Democratic Central Committee after a packed, hours-long meeting at which nine candidates were grilled on everything from ethics to revitalizing inner-Beltway communities to whether theyd support legislation to repeal a 2013 state law giving County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) broad powers to oversee the local public school system.

Eighteen committee members voted for Lewis to represent the 24th legislative district; the remaining 11 votes went to Maurice Simpson, president of the Prince Georges County Young Democrats, who has raised eyebrows among establishment Democrats by supporting candidates who have not been endorsed by party leaders. Three central committee members were not present for the vote.

Committee members questioned Simpson about his support for U.S. Rep. Donna F. Edwards in the 2016 U.S. Senate Democratic primary race. Edwards lost the contest to now-Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who received broad support from leading Democrats in Prince Georges and statewide.

Simpson said that he took a political hit for backing Edwards but that he thought she was the right person for the state.

Sen. Joanne Benson (D-Prince Georges), the top elected official in the 24th District, testified in favor of Lewis but also took a moment to praise Vaughn, whose departure from the legislature was unexpected. She called Vaughn a tremendous asset to the community and said he will be sorely missed for his work with children and the districts homeless and hopeless.

Vaughns letter of resignation was delivered to the office of House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) on Jan. 11, less than an hour before the start of the 2017 legislative session. It came days after federal authorities announced a long-running corruption investigation based in Prince Georges County that they said had implicated at least one sitting lawmaker.

The lawmakers name has not been released. But descriptions in court filings appear to match Vaughns legislative record, fueling speculation in Annapolis that he may be involved. Vaughn, in office since 2003, has not responded to repeated requests for comment. His resignation letter said he was stepping down for unspecified health reasons.

The Central Committee will send a letter nominating Lewis to Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who has 15 days to consider appointing him.

Vaughns seat is one of several recent vacancies in the General Assembly. On Tuesday, Hogan appointed Jheanelle Wilkins (D) to the House seat left empty when then-Del. Will Smith (D-Montgomery) was tapped to succeed newly elected U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D) in the state Senate.

There is a Senate seat formerly held by Lisa Gladden (D-Baltimore), who resigned after a long illness; and two delegate seats, one vacated by former delegate Jill Carter (D-Baltimore) and another by Barbara Robinson (D-Baltimore), who filled the Senate seat vacated by Catherine Pugh when Pugh became mayor of Baltimore.

With so many open seats, the General Assembly has delayed taking up overrides of Hogans 2015 vetoes. On Tuesday, the House of Delegates postponed action until next week on two bills; one would expand the use of wind and solar power and another would create oversight for the Maryland Transit Administration.

The Senate is scheduled to consider overrides Thursday.

Ovetta Wiggins contributed to this report.
The bail bond industry poured $87,000 into the campaign coffers of Maryland politicians in 2016, according to a report released Wednesday by Common Cause Maryland.

The influx of donations  which Common Cause said was significantly larger than in previous years  came as the General Assembly prepared to consider whether to alter or eliminate cash bail for most poor defendants.

The largest portion of the 2016 contributions, $21,000, went to Sen. Robert A. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County), chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. That panel will play a key role in deciding the fate of the states money-based bail system.

Jennifer Bevan-Dangel, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, said the report shows how special interests seek special influence in Maryland.

Zirkin said Wednesday that the campaign contributions from the bail bond industry represent a small fraction of the $483,000 in his campaign account. The money, he said, has zero to do with how I vote on bills.

I hope people contribute to me because when they look at the whole picture they respect me as a legislator, and they respect that I make decisions based on what is the best public policy, he said. And if they dont, then they shouldnt contribute to me.

Zirkin said he is in favor of reforming the bail system, and believes the state needs more pretrial services, including drug and mental-health treatment.

According to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, Maryland politicians received more from the bail bonds industry between 2011 and 2014 than their counterparts across the country. The advocacy group said Maryland took in $168,166, ahead of second-place California ($114,875) and third-place Texas ($78,005).

The Common Cause report says that Gov. Larry Hogan (R) took in $11,300 from the bail bond industry in 2016, the second-highest total after Zirkin. Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford (R) followed, with $6,000.

Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D-Prince Georges) and Sen. Wayne Norman (R-Harford), who both sit on the judicial proceedings panel, each received $5,000. Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr. (D-Prince Georges), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which must approve any bills dealing with bail reform before they can be considered by the full House, received $2,250 from the industry.

The report does not detail donations by groups that are pushing for a reduction in the use of cash bail, which advocates say is discriminatory because it keeps poor people locked up awaiting trial on relatively minor charges while more affluent defendants can post bond and go home until their court dates.

[This woman spent five days in jail because she didnt have $1,000]

An official with the Maryland Bail Bonds Association did not return an email seeking comment.

Lawmakers in Annapolis have tried to make major changes to the bail system for almost a decade. The issue came to the forefront last year after five Democratic lawmakers asked Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) to weigh in on whether the system was constitutional. Several class-action lawsuits have been filed in San Francisco and the suburbs of St. Louis over whether cash bail unfairly discriminates against the poor.

Frosh said the system could violate due process. As a result of Froshs decision, District Court Chief Judge John P. Morrissey advised judges and commissioners in October to impose the least onerous conditions on those awaiting trial.

Frosh also asked the Maryland Court of Appeals, the states highest court, to consider a rule change to ensure that defendants who are not a public safety risk do not remain in jail simply because they are poor. The court has said it will act on the request next month. In the meantime, lawmakers have said they plan to propose legislation this session to address bail reform.

On Tuesday, members of the House Judiciary Committee took a field trip to Anne Arundel County District Court to observe the bail system firsthand. They watched as defendants appeared on a flat-screen television on the side wall of Courtroom No. 2. A camera, mounted on the top of the screen, faced Judge H. Richard Duden III, who decided whether the defendants should remain in jail or be released.

A 16-year-old charged with first-degree assault and reckless endangerment was ordered held with no bond. The prosecutor said the teenager, who was living in a Laurel motel, was allegedly involved in drug distribution and prostitution and supplied his victim with drugs.

Duden decided to lower the bond of a 33-year-old Prince Frederick man charged with driving under the influence of drugs after his public defender said that any bail is no bail for him  meaning he had no money to pay even a small amount.

Duden told the defendant that he would have to pay 10 percent of a $1,000 bond to get out of jail, and could not drive or use drugs. He would be subject to an in-person meeting with a case manager each week; one check with the case manager by phone each week; two mandatory urine tests each month on a random basis; and other stipulations made by the court or case manager.

After the bail review hearings ended, Duden told his class of legislators that they had witnessed the most difficult thing a district court judge faces.

Del. Pamela E. Queen (D-Montgomery) asked Duden why he didnt consider house arrest instead of bail for the Prince Frederick man, who had no job and no income. He said house arrest is something that is generally used with more violent crimes.

I didnt consider it, but maybe I should have, Duden said.
Rep. Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Montgomery), right, greets Prince Georges County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D), left, after the Maryland General Assembly opens for the 2016 session. (Bill OLeary/The Washington Post)

Prince Georges County Executive Rushern L. Baker III said Tuesday that he is moving closer to a yes on whether to run for Maryland governor in 2018, but wont make a final decision until after the legislative session in Annapolis ends in mid-April.

In an wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post, Baker, 58, said he has been touring the state to assess whether a gubernatorial run is the next step for him after his second and final term governing Marylands second-most populous jurisdiction.

I think there are some things Id like to do as governor, said Baker (D), who served eight years as a lawmaker in Annapolis before being elected chief executive.

The way I make decisions is deciding whether in fact I think I can do a better job than the person in there or whether I think I can do the job to move either the county or the state forward. Once I make that decision, I go.

Baker is one of several Democrats weighing whether to seek their partys nomination to challenge first-term Gov. Larry Hogan (R), a moderate who is one of the most popular governors in state history.

Prince George's County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) and Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) at a pre-session Democratic legislative luncheon in Annapolis on Jan. 10, 2017. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

In addition to approval ratings above 70 percent, Hogan has more than $5 million in his campaign coffers, 20 times what Baker has on hand.

But Baker seemed undaunted by those numbers, noting that Hogan himself lacked campaign cash and name recognition when he ran an upstart campaign three years ago against then-Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D).

Citing the enthusiasm he witnessed at the Womens March in Washington this weekend, Baker said reinvigorated Democratic turnout in Maryland and elsewhere could carry candidates like him into office in the 2018 midterm elections.

Baker said Hogan hasnt made any mistakes of significance during his two years in office, but also has failed to take advantage of his popularity to advance a broad vision or agenda.

I dont know what hes done, Baker said of the governor, who has said he will seek a second term. If youre at a 74 percent approval rating, you use that to change the issues you care about. It is not simply for reelection, it is about what do you change. Thats the problem I have with it.

Doug Mayer, a spokesman for Hogan, disputed Bakers characterization, pointing to the governors actions on Tuesday, when he unveiled a set of proposals to fight the states opioid crisis.

The governor respects Baker and has appreciated their productive working relationship over the last two years, which includes providing record funding for education across the state and in Prince Georges County as well, Mayer said.

In the interview, Baker criticized Hogan for not funding schools beyond existing formulas, and staked out different positions from him on key transit projects as well.

The Democrat said he would have approved the proposed Red Line light rail system in Baltimore, which Hogan killed in 2015 and declared a wasteful boondoggle, and said he would revive the project if elected governor.

He also said he would not have hesitated, as Hogan did, in supporting the light-rail Purple Line project in the Washington suburbs. Hogan told project planners to cut costs and insisted that Montgomery and Prince Georges counties contribute more money to the light-rail line.

You need transportation that allows people to get to the job centers and expand the commercial tax base, Baker said.

Baker said hes been encouraged by recent visits to Baltimore City and Baltimore, Frederick, Montgomery and Charles counties, where he said he had conversations with prospective voters on public education, economic development and transportation concerns.

If he decides to run, he said, he believes that his record boosting economic development, reducing crime and rebuilding neighborhoods in Prince Georges, and asserting more control over the countys public schools, would form the foundation of his campaign.

That record would leave him open to criticism, however, about continued problems with education, poverty and public safety in the county. Baker has also suffered some stinging political defeats as county executive, including a failed attempt to dramatically raise property taxes to generate more money for public schools.

The key to his decision on the governors race, Baker said, will be: Do I have a passion to do something and do I have the talent to do it?

He said he decided to run for county executive after watching his political mentor, the late Wayne K. Curry, lead Prince Georges, and was so determined to capture the office that he ran and lost twice before winning in 2010. His potential opponents in a Democratic primary include Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz (D), U.S. Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) and others.

When [Hogan] ran, he didnt have any money or any name recognition and the person that was supposed to win was Anthony Brown, Baker joked. And I think Hillary Clinton is president?
An explosion occurred Wednesday afternoon inside a drug vault at a D.C. police warehouse in Southwest Washington where evidence is stored, according to police and fire officials.

The incident occurred shortly after 2 p.m. in a building near the police training academy in Blue Plains, at the far southwestern tip of the District, near I-295.

One civilian suffered minor injuries and was taken to an area hospital, officials said.

The cause of the explosion on D.C. Village Lane SW was being investigated by the D.C. Fire Department and was undetermined Wednesday afternoon. Dustin Sternbeck, the chief police spokesman, said the blast occurred inside the drug vault.

The extent of damage to the vault and to potential evidence could not immediately be determined.
Jesse Morton made national headlines when he was accused in federal court of using his Revolution Muslim website to encourage attacks against the creators of South Park and others he said were enemies of Islam.

After he was convicted, the Virginia man became an FBI informant. Once released from prison, he joined a D.C.-area think tank focused on studying extremism, saying he hoped to make amends through his work.

But Morton, now 38, again faces legal troubles after being arrested and accused of bringing cocaine to meet a prostitute. He is due in court next week and could return to prison.

Morton is no longer working as a research fellow at George Washington Universitys Program on Extremism, a spokesman confirmed.

Morton was once deemed by federal prosecutors as dangerous to the very freedoms on which our society is based. But even before leaving prison, he has said in an interview, he began working undercover on counterterrorism operations. He was released in 2015 after serving less than a third of his 11 -year prison sentence and hired by GWU the following year.

According to court documents, Morton was arrested on Dec. 28 in a sting operation by Fairfax police. He answered an ad on Backpage.com for a prostitute, police said. When he showed up at the Governor House Inn & Suites in Falls Church, he was arrested. Police say they found cocaine and a glass pipe in his pack of Marlboro cigarettes. In his car, they said they found another device for smoking crack cocaine. He is charged with possession with manufacturing a controlled substance and residing in a bawdy place.

[The feds billed him as a threat to American freedom. Now theyre paying him for help.]

Morton could not be reached for comment, and his lawyer did not return a request for comment. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in Alexandria on Tuesday and in Fairfax County court on April 19.

Mortons violent exhortations on the Revolution Muslim website were blamed for inspiring Colleen LaRose, who tried to kill a Swedish cartoonist, and Jose Pimentel, who plotted a New York City bombing, among others. Morton pleaded guilty in 2012 to conspiring to solicit murder, making threatening communications and using the Internet to place others in fear.

In an interview last fall with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Morton said that after his plea and while in prison, he began doing work for federal agents. According to court documents and a defense attorney involved, after his release Morton was paid by the FBI to help build a case against a supporter of the Islamic State.

[George Washington University hires a former al-Qaeda recruiter]

The FBI also relied on Morton to help demystify the radicalization process, and he took on a similar role at GWU.

In a 2016 interview with The Washington Post, Morton said he hoped that work would give him a bit of an ability to make amends.

He explained how what he described as a traumatic childhood and substance abuse issues left him alienated, searching for a personal transformation and a countercultural worldview. He said he found it first by reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X during a brief jail stint at age 20. During a second incarceration, Morton converted to Islam.

A fellow prisoner told him a war was coming between Muslims and non-Muslims, and he took up that cause, he told CSIS, fusing extremist politics to his new religious fervor. After his release, even as he graduated from Metropolitan College of New York and earned a masters degree in international affairs from Columbia University in 2008, Morton associated with violent ideologues and became one himself.

Before his arrest in the federal case, Morton told CSIS, he had begun questioning his views. The way he was treated by agents, he said, made him start to see the good in the U.S. justice system.
Its been nearly 10 months since Raymond Surratt Jr.s unusual case was argued before 15 judges at a Richmond-based federal appeals court.

Surratt was serving a mandatory life sentence for a nonviolent drug crime, a penalty that his sentencing judge, prosecutors and defense team agreed was overly harsh but still could leave the 42-year-old North Carolina man locked up forever.

On Jan. 19, Surratt was left momentarily speechless by a call from one of his attorneys telling him that on Barack Obamas last full day in office, the president had granted Surratt early release as one of the record number of commutations for inmates sentenced under severe mandatory minimum laws passed in the 1980s and 1990s.

Obamas order reduces Surratts life sentence to 200 months, leaving him with less than three years behind bars if he completes a drug rehabilitation program.

Still pending are his appeals case and the overarching legal questions Surratt brought to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit about how many times federal prisoners should be able to challenge their sentences  particularly when sentencing rules later become more lenient.

Ray was literally the poster child for why Congress should not tell a judge exactly what they have to do, said Surratts longtime attorney Tony Scheer, who cried when he learned Surratt was on Obamas final clemency list.

When Surratt heard the news in a call, Im not sure he really believed it, Scheer said Wednesday.

It is not clear how Surratts commutation affects his court challenge and the issues his case raises about revising convictions and correcting sentencing errors. At least 15 other federal inmates with similar North Carolina cases have been awaiting a ruling.

[All agree his sentence was too harsh, but he may still stay locked up forever]

In general, the court would not dismiss an appeal until it heard from the two sides. Surratts appellate attorney, Ann Hester of the Federal Defenders of Western North Carolina, declined to comment Wednesday.

Surratt was sentenced to life in 2005 for his role in a cocaine-distribution conspiracy in western North Carolina.

Although sentencing guidelines recommended a maximum penalty of about 20 years, the sentencing judge said he had no choice but to impose a mandatory life term because of Surratts previous drug convictions. The judge called the penalty undeserved and unjust.

Six years later, judges on the 4th Circuit, which includes North Carolina, issued a decision overruling past practice. The decision corrected the way defendants previous state-level convictions in North Carolina are factored into a judges calculations for determining the length of prison terms.

For Surratt, the ruling meant his prior convictions should not have triggered a mandatory life term. He asked for a chance to be resentenced under the new rules.

The government and the defense agreed Surratt should have another shot. If Surratt were resentenced today, he would face a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, probably making him eligible for immediate release from a federal facility in western Virginia.

With the prosecution and the defense in agreement, the appellate court appointed Georgetown University law professor Steven H. Goldblatt to make the counterargument in the case.

An initial three-judge panel at the 4th Circuit agreed 2 to 1 with Goldblatts argument that there is value in having finality in the legal system and that Congress allows challenges on that matter in the narrowest of circumstances.

At oral arguments in March before a panel of 15 judges, many appeared sympathetic to Surratts case, but some also seemed concerned about opening the door to a flood of similar inmate challenges.
Two robberies were reported Tuesday night on Capitol Hill, and one in the downtown area of the District, all within about an hour, according to police. An arrest was made in the downtown robbery, police said.

The downtown robbery occurred about 8:30 p.m. at Vermont Avenue and K Street NW, the police said. The address is near the northeast corner of McPherson Square.

The first of the Capitol Hill robberies occurred about 8:20 p.m. in the 200 block of 12th Street SE. One of the two robbers was described as a black man, in his 20s, about 6 feet 3, with a dark complexion, and wearing a blue hoodie.

The second Capitol Hill robbery was reported about an hour later and a few blocks away, at 9:16 p.m. on Eighth Street SE just south of East Capitol Street. Two robbers were involved in that robbery too, police said.

Police said it was too early to determine whether the same pair of robbers were involved in both cases.
Calvert County

These were among reports received by the Calvert County Sheriffs Office and the Maryland State Police. Anyone with information about these crimes is asked to call the Criminal Investigation Division at 410-535-2800 or 301-855-1194, the Crime Solvers line at 410-535-2880, or the state police Prince Frederick Barrack at 410-535-1400.

CHESAPEAKE BEACH AREA

VANDALISM

Bayside Rd., 3 p.m. Jan. 12. An electric train and lights were damaged at Town Hall.

HUNTINGTOWN AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Elberta Lane, 4:45 p.m. Jan. 10. Two people were seen leaving a vehicle at a home; nothing was reported stolen.

LUSBY AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Anchor Dr., Jan. 10. A door frame and jamb were broken in an effort to kick open a door at a house.

NORTH BEACH AREA

VANDALISM

Dayton Ave., Jan. 8. Screws were put into tires on a trailer.

PRINCE FREDERICK AREA

ASSAULTS

Augustus Dr., 1:51 a.m. Jan. 16. Two people were injured during a burglary. A Prince Frederick man and woman, both 29, and a Lexington park man, 30, were arrested and charged with first-degree assault and first-degree burglary.

Duke St., 3:30 p.m. Jan. 9. A wallet was stolen from a vehicle.

Tranquil Ct., Jan. 13. A man was shot in the shoulder. A male youth was charged with attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery, first-degree assault, and use of a firearm in a violent crime. Four other males were charged with armed robbery, first-degree assault, home invasion, use of a firearm in a violent crime, false imprisonment and theft of less than $1,000.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Squaw Valley Lane, 6:10 p.m. Jan. 10. Prescription medication was stolen from a package inside a mailbox.

SUNDERLAND AREA

CARJACKINGS

Dalyrmple Rd., 9:20 a.m. Jan. 17. A male pretending to be in distress pulled a gun on a motorist who stopped to avoid hitting him. When he demanded that she get out of the vehicle, she drove away.

Charles County

These were among reports received by the Charles County Sheriffs Office and the Maryland State Police. For information, call 301-932-2222 or 301-870-3232. The website ccso.us has crime statistics and information on crime prevention programs.

REWARDS FOR INFORMATION

Crime Solvers will pay a reward for information leading to an arrest and indictment. The 24-hour hotline is 866-411-8477. Callers may remain anonymous.

LA PLATA AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Crain Hwy., 5900 block, 10:45 p.m. Jan. 16. A man stole candy from a gas station and fled. A La Plata man, 39, was found at a hotel and was charged with theft and possession of illegal drugs.

WALDORF AREA

ASSAULTS

Homestead Pl., 11900 block, 6:48 p.m. Jan. 16. Two male youths entered a home and punched an acquaintance in the face with metal knuckles. Two Waldorf youths, 16, were charged with second-degree assault and possession of a concealed dangerous weapon.

Quillen Cir., 4400 block, 1:47 p.m. Jan. 14. During a struggle, a man tried to stab an acquaintance. A Waldorf man, 38, was charged with first-degree assault.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Crain Hwy. and Mall Cir., 6:29 p.m. Jan. 14. A stolen and loaded handgun was found when a vehicle was stopped for having expired tags. A Clinton man, 22, was charged with theft and concealing a dangerous weapon.

WHITE PLAINS AREA

ASSAULTS

White Plains, 3:14 a.m. Jan. 15. A man was taken to a hospital with stab wounds. The investigation was ongoing.

St. Marys County

These w ere among reports received by the St. Marys County Sheriffs Office and the Maryland State Police. For information, call 301-475-8008. To submit a tip, call Crime Solvers at 301-475-3333. The Leonardtown Barrack of the state police has an anonymous tip line at 301-475-2936.

CALLAWAY AREA

VANDALISM

Callaway Village, Jan. 17. Pavement at a shopping center was spray-painted.

GREAT MILLS AREA

VANDALISM

Jillian Ct., Jan. 13. A pet waste station was spray-painted.

HOLLYWOOD AREA

ASSAULTS

Clarkes Landing Rd., Jan. 15. A man pushed an acquaintance against the wall and scratched the persons face. A Hollywood man, 39, was charged with second-degree assault.

VANDALISM

Sandy Bottom Rd., Jan. 14. Asphalt was spray-painted with graffiti.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

Mount Pleasant Rd., Jan. 15. Someone borrowed an acquaintances vehicle to go to a store but did not return.

LEONARDTOWN AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Megan Lane, Jan. 13 to 14. Property was stolen from a home.

DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY

Bayside Rd., Jan. 13. Vehicle tires were slashed.

LEXINGTON PARK AREA

VANDALISM

Indian Way, Jan. 13. A vehicle was spray-painted.

MECHANICSVILLE AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Morganza Turner Rd., Jan. 15. Property was stolen from a shed.

Three Notch Rd., Jan. 17. Property was stolen from a business.
A woman in a wheelchair is helped through the crowd of hundreds of thousands of people at Saturdays Women's March on Washington. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Phoebe Smith didnt hold up a sign in Washington on Saturday. She couldnt.

She cannot walk, talk or move most of her body.

But that has not stopped her  and thousands of others with disabilities  from making their fears about President Trump heard. Organizers with the Womens March on Washington estimate that among their remarkable attendance numbers were tens of thousands of people with disabilities, marking what may have been the communitys largest organized gathering.

But for all those who attended, there were others who wanted to be there but remained homebound, unable to stand for too long or navigate the trip in a wheelchair or handle the crowds. They, too, found a way to be vocal, if not visible.

When Sonya Huber launched the website Disability March as a way to give people like herself, who wouldnt be able to physically attend a demonstration, a place to express themselves online, she envisioned maybe 50 people would participate. Instead, she and other volunteers heard from several thousand who didnt just share their perspective for the weekend event but have kept talking on social media, questioning how they can continue to remain involved.

Their activism reveals how Trump  who before the election mocked a reporters disability and since becoming president has taken immediate steps toward dismantling the Affordable Care Act  is mobilizing even those who arent easily mobile.

The clear question were hearing now from folks is Whats next?  said Huber, a professor in Connecticut who suffers from chronic pain as a result of autoimmune diseases. It makes you just think about how no matter what condition a person is in, they are part of the body politic and they want a voice.

Some of those who joined the Disability March live in the Washington region, so close to Saturdays gathering that they could have taken Uber. Others hail from places where no marches were being held. Some have physical disabilities; others, mental impairments.

Some, like Smith, cant talk, even if they have much to say.

The 44-year-old from Wisconsin has locked-in syndrome and can move only one eye. She looks up for yes, and down for no. She also spells using eye movement and the assistance of her mother, Priscilla Smith. Together, they wrote the short essay that appeared on the Disability March site.

I worry about the health of America, it reads. In it, Phoebe Smith, who was in college studying to be a teacher when she developed a blood clot in her brainstem, expressed concern that Trump picked Betsy DeVos for education secretary. She also wrote that she shudders at the idea of being in the same room as the 45th president. He, and other Republicans, now plan to lessen medical, Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid coverage for the elderly, poor and disabled. They claim to represent Christians, but do not follow Christs lead.

She ended the essay with a famous quote: You measure the degree of civilization of a society by how it treats its weakest members.

Huber said she and 20 volunteers continue to work to post all the responses they received, about 3,000 from people ages 5 to 92. Many, she said, expressed fears about health-care instability and the loss of Medicaid benefits. Others told of concerns about what will happen under Trumps administration to children with disabilities in public schools.

Almost all of them, Huber said, expressed gratitude to be able to participate in the protests.

It almost brings me to tears, Huber said. For many people, its the first time they have been really visible in a public way. That was something I hadnt thought about when I started it.

Huber, 45, said the idea for the website came to her as she looked for a way to attend a march and knew that if she tried to go, it would leave her physically exhausted and recovering for up to a month.

Andrea Scarpino, who knew Huber from graduate school and helped her start the site, said she was surprised by the number of responses but not with the fears expressed in them. Scarpino, who suffers from chronic pain, said that people with disabilities already feel marginalized and that Trump has not done much to ease their worries. The day after the inauguration, the White House removed pages on its website that under the Obama administration dedicated to the rights of people with disabilities.

We feel vulnerable with this administration, more vulnerable than we have in a very long time, Scarpino said. The task now, she said, is making sure people can remain involved in the conversation. I think we all have a sense of wanting to continue this movement and wanting to continue to make our voices heard.

Mia Ives-Rublee, who headed the disabilities caucus for the Womens March, said that an estimated 45,000 people with disabilities attended the event, a number organizers are basing on how many people expressed a need for a special accommodations. The march had an Americans with Disabilities tent and provided handicapped accessible port-a-potties and American Sign Language interpretation, among other services. It also dedicated 200 volunteers to helping the disabled.

I think we are extremely pumped to be included in this march, and it is a starting point for other social movements to really see how we can start to integrate accessibility needs and disability rights, said Ives-Rublee, who has brittle bone disease and uses a wheelchair. She said women with disabilities should be at the table for discussions on womens rights because they have much at stake: They are more likely to be victims of sexual violence and get paid 39 cents to every dollar a man earns.

Ives-Rublee said she was also encouraged to see the online representation of people who couldnt make it to the march.

I want to create more of a collaboration with them and really ensure that all voices are heard, she said. I think it is important that we realize that there are people who arent able to get to these marches.

Tara Plutz spent the night before the march sobbing.

It was so close. She could drive from her house in Gainesville, Va., to the District less than an hour, and her brother is a lawyer in city. But she knew what it could cost her if she tried. She has a rare genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow in her endocrine system and has lost calcium in her bones as a result. Grocery shopping can leave her exhausted, let alone standing for hours.

In the end, she thought of how she needed to stay healthy for her 4-year-old daughter and turned to the online Disability March.

I believe I shouldnt have to choose between life saving treatments and bankrupting my family, Plutz, 34, wrote for the site. I March for my LGBQT family members and the inherent rights that they are entitled to. Because love is love is love. I March because I have a daughter and I want her to be respected for her mind not her body. Because womens rights are human rights.

She then spent Saturday watching the scene play out on the Mall on television, explaining to her daughter what was being talked about and sending a text message to her 40 friends who made it to Washington.

Each simply read: I appreciate you being there for those of us who cant be.
The Democrats running D.C. just went too far left and left me behind, said Ralph Chittams Sr., a D.C. resident who has been a Republican since 1988. (Courtesy of Ralph J. Chittams)

Ralph Chittams Sr. is something of an anomaly  a Republican in the District, where three out of four registered voters are Democrats. He is also among the estimated 14 percent of African American men who voted for Donald Trump in the U.S. election.

I visited Chittams at his home in Southeast Washington to learn more about his way of thinking.

A native of Manhattan, Chittams came to Washington in 1978 to attend Howard University. He was a registered Democrat back then, having made the choice because my parents were Democrats. Ten years later, in 1988, he registered as a Republican.

The Democrats running D.C. just went too far left and left me behind, said Chittams, 56. Debt was rising, schools were failing and everybody was a victim. There was too much reliance on government to fix what people could do for themselves if they took more personal responsibility.

After earning a degree in political science, Chittams started Black Elephant Consultants. At a meeting of the D.C. Republican Committee before the November presidential election, Chittams predicted that Trump would win with 300 votes in the electoral college.

Trump got 304 when electors gathered last month to formally vote.

Although Trump got relatively few black votes, his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, didnt get as many as she had hoped. Chittams, like Trump, saw the no-shows as, in effect, votes for Trump.

If you step back and take a dispassionate look at Trumps 10-point plan for urban America, you will see that it is transformational, Chittams said. If Trump can get 10 percent of his plan passed by the midterm elections and another 15 percent by 2020, hell make believers out of African Americans and he will win reelection in a landside.

Trumps proposal struck me as implausible, as I wrote on Saturday. He promises to invest $1 trillion for repairing the nations infrastructure, of which the inner cities will be a major beneficiary. But the money will supposedly come from cuts in climate change spending and savings from cuts in services to immigrants in the country illegally.

[Trumps plan to help black America doesnt look like much of a deal]

On Trumps campaign website, the 10 promises are followed by a link to the actual plan. But when I clicked on the link, all I got were the same 10 promises. No plan.

Of course, the devil is in the details, Chittams conceded.

Then he echoed Trumps view that blacks had nothing to lose by voting for him. When it came to helping black people, he gave President Barack Obama an A for talk and an F for action. After getting blacks hooked on government programs, he said, Democrats began taking their support for granted.

He did blame Republicans for ignoring black people, saying the GOP didnt believe they could ever win the black vote.

Moreover, Chittams said, many black Democrats are getting turned off by liberal elitists. He contended that womens groups that did not believe in abortion were not welcomed at the Womens March in Washington on Saturday.

That left out a lot of black women, said Chittams, who is also an ordained minister.

He also cited the suffrage movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, in which black women had not always been welcomed. Those wounds still havent been healed, he said. The words of Sojourner Truth, Aint I a woman? still resonates with black women.

[The Womens March started with a retiree]

I noted that Republicans had a bigger race problem. For instance, racist dog whistling is now standard operating procedure for mobilizing the conservative white vote.

The reason black people think white Republicans are racist is because theyve never met any, Chittams said. If they got to know them personally, theyd come away with an entirely different view.

He said that every black person who has been invited to meet with President Trump has come away impressed.

Not saying they trust him, but they are willing to give him a chance.

Not everyone is so forgiving.

In a recent essay posted on his website, Chittams wrote, I have been subject to the full panoply of insults from the Black community. I have been called all of the following, and a few more: Coon, Uncle Tom, Sellout, Lap Dog, and House N-gga. My Black Card has been revoked.

At a community meeting in the District not long ago, Chittams offered his suggestions for addressing the citys social ills. He said children should have access to whatever kind of schooling that prepares them for the future  meaning school choice. He said churches should become more involved in reducing poverty and crime, and the role of government reduced. More emphasis should be placed on personal responsibility and accountability, he said.

About 40 attendees, nearly all black, nodded in agreement. Chittams had, in fact, echoed some long-standing beliefs among many African Americans. But in discussions after the meeting, Chittams came out of the closet, as he put it.

I let people know that I was a Republican, he said. Then it was like everything I had said became garbage.

To read previous columns, go to washingtonpost.com/milloy.
A trooper talks to the driver of a car that was stopped for speeding on I-95 South in this file photo. (Juana Arias/The Washington Post)

Virginia House and Senate budget leaders on Wednesday announced plans to give 3 percent raises to state employees and an even bigger boost to state troopers, who have been leaving the agency in droves.

Starting pay for troopers would rise from $36,200 a year to $43,000 under the agreement struck between the Republicans who control the money committees for both chambers. In addition to the 3 percent raise, existing troopers would see their annual salaries jump by more than $6,700 to keep pace with the new hires.

The state employee raises, which would not apply to teachers, would cost the state about $70.6 million a year and would not be contingent on revenue collections.

The announcement was rolled out fairly early in the budget process, before the rest of the House and Senate budget plans have been hammered out. The deal would need the approval of both chambers and Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D).

McAuliffe has proposed a one-time, 1.5 percent bonus for state workers. He has expressed a desire to provide bigger raises but has said that might not be possible as the state struggles to close a $1.2 billion budget shortfall.

No one wants to get state employees the compensation they deserve more than Governor McAuliffe, said Brian Coy, a spokesman for the governor. He will evaluate this proposal carefully as soon as General Assembly leaders announce how they will pay for it. He is open to proposals to increase state employee pay, as long as they do not require cuts to core services of government or threaten the structural balance of the budget and Virginias AAA bond rating.

[McAuliffe submits cautious budget that closes shortfall and boosts mental health programs]

The proposal drew an angry response from the Virginia Education Association because teachers were not included. Budget leaders, who are still working on much of the budget, did not rule out raises for teachers for teachers in the final spending plan. But VEA President Jim Livingston said the budget committees seemed to be signaling that teachers would be left out.

We are outraged, Livingston said in a written statement. The state has now only proposed funding for teacher salary increases in two of the last 10 years  that shows a clear lack of respect and value for the work school employees do every day.

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee and House Appropriations Committee provided few details about how they would pay for the raises when they unveiled their plan at a Wednesday morning news conference.

Youll see the budget a week and a half from now, Del. S. Chris Jones (R-Suffolk), chairman of the House panel, told reporters when pressed.

The legislators did specify that they would not propose raising any taxes. Sen. Emmett W. Hanger Jr. (R-Augusta), co-chairman of the Senate panel, said they were resigned to accepting a budget gimmick related to sales tax collections that McAuliffe has included in his proposed budget.

Hanger was referring to an accounting trick known as accelerated sales-tax collections. Highly unpopular with retailers, it requires certain merchants to prepay a portion of their July sales-tax remittance one month early.

Hanger also said the raises would prevent the state from funding some good bills related to criminal justice and mental health. He noted, however, that the budget leaders were committed to including a significant mental health package in the spending plan.

As trooper salaries have lagged those of other law enforcement agencies, state police have lost an average of 14 troopers a month over the past year. The department has 218 vacancies out of an authorized force of 2,118 troopers.

M. Wayne Huggins, executive director of the Virginia State Police Association, said local and federal law enforcement agencies have been luring away troopers after the state has invested $55,000 to recruit and train each one.

Weve become nothing more than a glorified training academy, Huggins said.

He said the raises, if finally approved, will help stem those losses.

Its definitely going to, I think, have a major, major impact on the hemorrhaging that weve been experiencing, he said.
The Republican and Democratic leaders of the National Governors Association on Wednesday blasted President Trumps call for a major investigation of voter fraud as a distraction from the nations pressing matters, while raising concerns about the impacts of his health-care and immigration policies on their states.

At a Washington gathering, the chairman of the governors group, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), dismissed the presidents false claims of millions of illegal votes cast in November as lunacy, something he made up and hocus-pocus.

That delegitimizes the president, it delegitimizes, embarrasses the United States of America in the worlds eyes that we had 5 million illegal votes  and its just plain not true, McAuliffe later told The Washington Post.

What I worry about is they use these types of comments and tactics to deny peoples access to the voting booths, make it harder for people to vote, to justify more stringent voter ID laws, he said.

[McAuliffe enters final year as governor with eye on legacy]

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R). (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via Associated Press)

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, the Republican vice chair of the governors association, said that there was no evidence of illegal voting in his state and that a federal investigation into voting fraud is not worth the governments time.

Its over, he said. Lets move on and lets get to the job of governing this country.

Their remarks came after largely positive state of the states addresses at the Newseum, where they stressed opportunities for cooperation between states and the federal government to shore up the nations infrastructure and cybersecurity.

Earlier in the day, both governors met with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) to discuss health care. They said Ryan told them that states would be better suited to administer the federal Medicaid program for the poor and disabled, while reassuring them that the health-care system would stabilize after the repeal of the federal health-care law.

McAuliffe told the gathering at the Newseum that a repeal of the Affordable Care Act combined with converting Medicaid to block grants would hurt the states.

There has been no shortage of heated political rhetoric on this issue, but I do feel confident speaking of my colleagues when I say that repealing the Affordable Care Act without offering an adequate replacement will have far-reaching consequences for our states and the people who live there, McAuliffe said in his address.

[HHS nominee skirts questions about impact of Trumps order on ACA]

Virginia stands to lose $300 million over the next two years with the laws repeal and if Medicaid is turned over to the states, McAuliffe said.

Sandoval said he welcomed any federal revisions that would give states greater flexibility to meet the health needs of their residents.

But he and McAuliffe questioned the wisdom of Trumps Wednesday orders to begin construction on a Mexican border wall and to explore ways to limit funding to sanctuary cities that do not enforce federal immigration policies.

I dont want to see anyone punished, Sandoval said. Ive always believed in gates versus fences.

McAuliffe said Ryan has also reassured him that Congress will relax automatic federal defense spending cuts stemming from sequestration. That would be welcome news in Virginia, home to large military bases, defense agencies and contractors.

But he said Virginias economy could suffer as a result of the Trump administrations trade policies and freeze on hiring federal employees, many of whom live in Northern Virginia and elsewhere throughout the state.

Nearly two-thirds of Virginias trade involves countries that had signed on to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, McAuliffe said. Trump on Monday signed an order withdrawing from the deal crafted under the Obama administration, and China is now negotiating its own trade blocs.

We cant be protectionist in this country, said McAuliffe, who has gone on dozens of trade missions since taking office in 2014. We cant sell our products to just Americans. We have to sell on a global marketplace.
Chris Buchanan watches the overflow at a dam on Vasona Lake after a series of storms Tuesday in Los Gatos , Calif. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

NATIONAL SECURITY

Microsoft ruling stands in overseas email case

A federal appeals court said Tuesday it wont rehear a panels decision letting companies such as Microsoft refuse to turn over to the government customer emails stored overseas.

The judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit split their votes 4 to 4. Four judges wrote opinions dissenting from the decision.

Judge Dennis Jacobs noted in his dissent, which was joined by three other judges, that the information sought by prosecutors in a 2013 narcotics trafficking investigation was easily accessible in the United States at a computer terminal even though it was stored on a server in Dublin.

The government had asked the 2nd Circuit to make the rare move of letting all its judges hear the case after a three-judge panel last July said prosecutors cannot force corporations to release customers emails and other data stored on servers overseas.

Last summers ruling was a victory for high-tech companies in the cloud computing business. Microsoft stores data from more than 1 billion customers and over 20 million businesses on servers in more than 40 countries.

 Associated Press

MICHIGAN

Lead levels abating

in Flints water system

Flints water system no longer has levels of lead exceeding the federal limit, a key finding that Michigan state environmental officials said Tuesday is good news for a city whose 100,000 residents have been grappling with the man-made water crisis.

The 90th percentile of lead concentrations in Flint was 12 parts per billion from July through December  below the action level of 15 ppb, according to a letter to Flints mayor from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. It was 20 ppb in the prior six-month period.

Residents, whose distrust of government remains high almost three years after a fateful switch of the citys water source in April 2014, are being told to continue using faucet filters or bottled water because an ongoing mass replacement of pipes could spike lead levels in individual houses. The pipe replacement is expected to take years.

Flints public health emergency began when officials failed to properly treat lead lines for corrosion while the city was under state management.

State officials acknowledged the lead problem in October 2015. Lead from old pipes leached into the water supply after corrosion-reducing phosphates were not added because of an incorrect reading of federal regulations.

Elevated levels of lead, a neurotoxin, were detected in children, and 12 people died in a Legionnaires disease outbreak that experts suspect was linked to the improperly treated water. An ongoing investigation has led to charges against 13 government officials, including two managers whom Gov. Rick Snyder (R) appointed to run the city.

 Associated Press

Minn. governor says he has prostate cancer: Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton announced Tuesday that he has prostate cancer, revealing the diagnosis hours after collapsing while delivering his State of the State address the night before. The 69-year-old Democratic governor said he plans to finish the final two years of his term, during which he faces a unified GOP front after Republicans took control of the Senate and strengthened their House majority in November.

 Associated Press
ITALY

Death toll in avalanche that hit hotel rises to 17

Hopes faded Tuesday that any more survivors of the avalanche that buried an Italian resort hotel would be found after the death toll more than doubled to 17.

As rescue crews in Italys central Abruzzo region coped with the emergency, a second tragedy unfolded nearby when an emergency helicopter crashed at a ski resort, killing six people.

The twin disasters, which followed a series of earthquakes and weeks of heavy snow, have brought the region to its knees. Thousands of people have been without electricity for over a week, and emergency crews have been working round-the-clock.

The helicopter was ferrying an injured skier off the slopes of the Campo Felice ski area when it slammed into a mountainside in thick fog. Five crew members and the skier were killed.

Meanwhile Tuesday, crews discovered 10 more bodies of people killed in the Jan. 18 avalanche. Twelve people remained missing. Nine people have been pulled out alive from the rubble, the last one Saturday.

Prosecutors are investigating whether missed messages, underestimations of risks and delays in responding to days of heavy snowfall contributed to the toll from the avalanche.

 Associated Press

FRANCE

Fillon answers report on wifes employment

The front-runner in Frances presidential election race, conservative Francois Fillon, acknowledged Tuesday that his wife had worked for him when he was a legislator, but denied a media report that she had been paid for fictitious employment.

Fillon, 62, a former prime minister who is tipped to win the presidency in May, acted quickly after a satirical weekly reported that Penelope Fillon had drawn about $536,300 in salary over eight years for working as an assistant to her husband when he was a lawmaker in the National Assembly and later to the man who replaced him.

It is not illegal for French lawmakers to employ a family member in their office.

However, the newspaper Le Canard Enchaine, which has been lifting the lid on scandal in high places in France for decades, said it had found no sign that Penelope Fillon had actually done any work.

Responding to the suggestion that Penelope Fillon had not really worked, Benoist Apparu, an official in Fillons camp, said: She has always worked in the shadows because it is not her style to put herself forward.

 Reuters

PANAMA

17 are charged in Odebrecht scandal

Panamas chief prosecutor said 17 people have been charged with money laundering in connection with a bribery scheme involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

Kenia Porcell said Tuesday that those charged included eight Panamanian businessmen, five foreigners, three former Panamanian officials and a former private bank official.

In a plea agreement with the U.S. Justice Department, Odebrecht acknowledged paying almost $800 million in bribes to win business in 12 countries.

Colombia has made two arrests as part of the probe. Argentina said Tuesday that it was investigating the countrys spy chief after a news report linked him to the corruption scandal.

 Associated Press

Romes mayor faces questions: Prosecutors are seeking to question Romes mayor over one of several appointments that have tarnished her young administration. Mayor Virginia Raggi confirmed the probe in a Facebook post Tuesday. Prosecutors are investigating the appointment of Renato Marra as director of Romes tourism department. His brother headed City Halls personnel office until his arrest in a corruption probe last month. Both brothers have been removed from their jobs.

Prisoners escape in Brazil: Brazilian authorities said more than 150 prisoners escaped a semi-open prison during a riot and that more than 60 remain at large. The Department of Penitentiary Administration for Sao Paulo state said Tuesdays riot at the lockup in the city of Bauru began when a guard confronted a prisoner using a cellphone. During the melee, 152 inmates escaped. Military police caught 90 and were looking for the rest.

State of emergency lifted in Gambia: Gambias parliament ended the state of emergency imposed a week ago amid a political crisis. It also revoked the three-month extension of defeated leader Yahya Jammehs term that it approved last week. Jammeh fled into exile over the weekend, ceding power to new president Adama Barrow.

 From news services
THE TRANS-PACIFIC Partnership trade agreement was already politically dead by the time President Trump buried it Monday, via a formal notification that the United States would withdraw. After Mr. Trumps victory in November, Congress made no attempt to ratify the 12-nation tariff-slashing pact when President Barack Obama, the TPPs intellectual author, was still in office. Mr. Obama argued, correctly  and consistently with post-World War II American foreign policy  that the United States had much to gain, economically and strategically, from thickening the network of connections with friendly countries such as Japan, Australia and Mexico.

China, which would have been left out of the TPP, is the immediate winner from Mr. Trumps move; it is already acting to fill the gap that Mr. Trump blithely created without offering any plausible alternative. Beijing must be doubly pleased that the same result might have occurred even if Hillary Clinton had been elected, since she backed off her previous support of the TPP in the face of a simplistic Democratic backlash led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Several Democratic senators, joined by the president of one of their partys most powerful interest groups, the AFL-CIO, hailed Mr. Trumps decision. Unfortunately, the formerly bipartisan consensus in favor of international engagement and responsibility is morphing into a bipartisan consensus against them.

Mr. Trump now turns his attention to the North American Free Trade Agreement, under which the flow of goods and services among the United States, Canada and Mexico has multiplied many times over since the pact took effect in 1994. Mr. Trump talks endlessly and extravagantly of jobs stolen by Mexico under NAFTA, and much manufacturing work has migrated from American factories to Mexican ones. A renegotiation of NAFTA, which Mr. Trump claims to want, beginning with upcoming conversations with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, is not inherently a bad idea. What relationship wouldnt benefit from a tuneup after a quarter-century? Specifically, there may be a need to revisit NAFTAs domestic content rules to make sure products that flow tariff-free among the three countries truly originate within one of them.

That assumes Mr. Trump comes to the table in good faith and with a balanced view of relevant facts. His fixation on high-profile automobile plant sitings in Mexico  coupled with his repeated threats of a border tax on firms that exercise their rights to produce there  does not inspire confidence.

Automation, not trade, is the real culprit in manufacturing job loss. And while NAFTA has surely created winners and losers within the United States, overall it has not been the horrific deal Mr. Trump suggests. The combined trade deficit with Mexico and Canada was $73.4 billion in 2015 (the most recent full year for which data exist). Subtract petroleum and it shrinks to $13.9 billion, a rounding error for the $18 trillion U.S. economy. Chances are that the deficit will shrink as American oil producers crank up for exports.

A smart negotiator would take all that into account before risking trade wars that might do far more damage to American companies, workers and consumers than the status quo allegedly does.
President Trumps embrace of Israel poses an unlikely dilemma for leaders of the Jewish state: They have to decide what they want from America, and on that question, theres sharp disagreement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moved to seize the Trump moment Tuesday by announcing that Israel plans to construct 2,500 housing units in West Bank settlements. Just two days before, he and Trump had what the new president called a very nice phone conversation. Were building  and will continue to build, an emboldened Netanyahu proclaimed Tuesday.

But Netanyahus quick move angered some other Israeli officials, who argue that more settlements will push Israel toward annexation of the West Bank that would mean the end of the two-state solution. Isaac Herzog, head of the largest opposition bloc, said his supporters would resist a pro-settlement agenda that they see as a threat to Israels status as a Jewish democratic state.

Trumps election offers what many Israelis have dreamed of  a relaxation of U.S. pressure on Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians. But for some, its a case of be careful what you wish for. Israels views may now be decisive  but the country remains conflicted 50 years after the West Bank was seized in the 1967 war.

A panoramic view of the puzzles facing Israel in the age of Trump was presented this week at a conference hosted by the Institute for National Security Studies. The gathering was attended by nearly every top Israeli official other than Netanyahu. The voices were sharply divergent.

Israel must make a choice between separation and annexation, argued Tzipi Livni, a parliament member who is one of the strongest advocates for a peace deal. With a new administration, there is no longer the same pressure from Washington that Israel experienced previously. Israel now has the opportunity  indeed, the obligation  to decide what kind of future it seeks.

Proposals for what Israel should request from Trump ranged across the spectrum. Naftali Bennett, who heads the right-wing Jewish Home party, used Trumps signature line, Youre fired, to describe what he would say to Israeli officials who advocate what he described as a failed peace process. He presented a plan to formally declare Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank.

Herzog, in sharp disagreement, told the conference that Israel should start moving toward an eventual Palestinian state. He outlined a 10-year transition plan that would conclude with resolving final status issues such as Jerusalem and the rights of refugees. The alternative to such a separation process, he said, was Israels suicide as a democratic Jewish nation.

Israeli public opinion is divided, but according to a poll presented at the conference, 59 percent of Jewish citizens favor a two-state solution and more than 60 percent support withdrawal from at least some settlements. Most Israelis, including peace advocates, favor retention of large settlement blocks around Jerusalem in any final deal.

Americans attending the conference urged Israel to be cautious in its requests to Trump. Its hard to say what Donald Trump will do, because Im not sure he himself knows, said Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel who was the Obama administrations special envoy during its push for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement.

As a sign of Trumps start-up uncertainty, Indyk noted that within the past week, the new administration seemed to have moved from advocating a quick relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem (which could trigger incendiary reaction in the Muslim world) to saying that the issue was in the very early stages of decision.

Walter Russell Mead, a prominent foreign policy scholar who teaches at Bard College, cautioned that Trump took office with a low popularity rating and a minority of the vote. Mead urged that Israelis not get identified with Donald Trump in the popular mood in the U.S. and that he not be seen as Israels man.

Trump has proclaimed his desire to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian agreement that, if he succeeded, would truly demonstrate the art of the deal. But Itamar Rabinovich, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States and a veteran of peace negotiations, warned the conference, You cannot be a broker . . . by making a deal thats 90 percent pro-Israel. It wont fly.

Shlomo Avineri, a prominent Israeli academic, offered a stark summary of his nations dilemma: Israel after 1967 didnt make up its mind what kind of country it wanted to be, in geography or demography. . . . This year we should say what kind of Israel we want. Thats the conundrum Trump presents: What should Israelis ask for?

Read more from David Ignatiuss archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
A jogger passes by the Arlington Memorial Bridge at sunrise in Washington last March. The bridge is on a list of possible projects to be funded by President Trumps infrastructure package. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

A document provided last month to the nations governors offers an early glimpse of the wide array of projects that could be funded by a big infrastructure package promised from the Trump administration.

Projects listed in the document include rehabilitation of some major airports and rail stations, such as Union Station in Washington. It includes highway and bridge projects, such as an overhaul of the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Virginia. And it includes mass-transit projects, such as the proposed Purple Line light-rail system in Maryland.

There are also potential overhauls of the nations air traffic control system, hydroelectric plants and energy grid, as well as ports and waterways.

The document was provided to The Washington Post by the National Governors Association. A spokeswoman for the nonpartisan organization said it received it from Donald Trumps transition team and characterized it as a list of sample projects.

The NGA subsequently sent letters to states asking for help in compiling three to five projects apiece to forward to Trumps team.

[Senate Democrats unveil a Trump-size infrastructure plan]

As of Wednesday, 45 states had responded, though those requests are not being made public, said Elena Waskey, a spokeswoman for the NGA.

The NGA letter characterized the effort as an initial information-gathering request and said that once the new Administration officially takes office, there will be a more formal process for states to submit information.

Still, the list  which the White House did not immediately authenticate  provides an early look at the potential of an ambitious pledge by Trump to mobilize anywhere from half a trillion to a trillion dollars into upgrading the nations aging roads, bridges and transportation hubs. One significant obstacle is Republicans in Congress, who have shown little enthusiasm for additional spending.

The preliminary list includes the overhaul and expansion of several airports, including in St. Louis, Kansas City, Mo., and Seattle. There are several potential repairs to major highways, including Interstate 95, in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida.

Mass-transit upgrades are listed for New York, New Jersey, Texas, Maryland, Michigan and Illinois. The list also includes a half-dozen electricity and transmission projects.

There are no dollar figures attached to the individual projects on the list, which was provided in the form of a spreadsheet.

Rather than rely solely on direct federal spending, advisers to President Trump have said they would probably use tax credits and public-private partnerships. The letter sent by the NGA says the initial spend on projects is expected to be $150 billion during 2017, with the effort continuing over additional years.

According to the NGA letter, the vetting of funded projects would be done by a bipartisan infrastructure commission overseeing investments that would be similar in some respects to commissions that have overseen military base closures and realignments.

Trump has already started assembling a task force related to infrastructure projects.

While much of the new presidents agenda has not won bipartisan support, governors from both parties have expressed a desire to work with him on plans to invest in the nations infrastructure.

Every single governor in this nation has roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and more that could be repaired or replaced  creating jobs and economic opportunity along the way, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), the chairman of the NGA, said at an event hosted by the organization in Washington on Wednesday.

Democrats in Congress are pushing for more direct federal spending. That was reflected in a $1 trillion plan released Tuesday by a group of senior Senate Democrats. They said their plan would create 15 million jobs over a decade.
President Trump has narrowed his choices for the Supreme Court, consulted with congressional leaders and says he will announce a nominee next week.

Trump has said he will choose from a list of 21 possibilities released during the campaign, and sources involved in the process say a handful of federal appeals court judges have emerged at the top: William Pryor of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, Neil Gorsuch of the 10th Circuit in Denver, Thomas Hardiman of the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia and Raymond Kethledge of the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati.

In a tweet early Wednesday, Trump said he would make the decision on the Supreme Court pick on Feb. 2.

We have outstanding candidates, Trump said in the Oval Office on Tuesday, adding that he would make a decision this week and announce it next week. Well pick a truly great Supreme Court justice.

Trump previously said he had an idea of whom he would pick but had not made a final decision.

Democrats and liberal groups are preparing for a fight, no matter Trumps choice. They believe that the seat should have been filled by former president Barack Obama, who nominated Judge Merrick Garland. But the Republican-led Senate refused to hold hearings on Garland and said the vacancy should be left to the next president.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said a fter a meeting Tuesday with Trump and Senate leaders that he told the president that Senate Democrats would fight any nominee that was outside of the mainstream.

He said in a brief interview that specific potential nominees were not discussed.

Schumer had previously told CNN that its hard for me to imagine a nominee that Donald Trump would choose that would get Republican support, that we could support.

One candidate on the shortlist that probably would not meet Schumers test is the one Trump has specifically mentioned.

That is Pryor, 54, a protege of Trumps choice for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions. Pryor followed Sessions as Alabamas attorney general and had a contentious Senate confirmation after President George W. Bush nominated him to the bench. Bush eventually made him a rare recess appointment in 2004, and he was finally confirmed by the Senate as part of a compromise deal.

Pryor thrilled supporters at his hearing by not backing away from a previous observation that the Roe v. Wade decision was a constitutional abomination. His past comments on gay rights and stalwart support of the death penalty have made him the nominee that liberal groups say they would most fiercely oppose.

He has long been considered the front-runner for the job but lately has drawn fire from some staunch conservatives. Several groups have objected to a decision he joined that upheld the right of a transgender woman to sue over being fired. The appeals court panel based its decision on Supreme Court precedent, but conservative groups said Pryors decision was unwarranted.

John G. Malcolm of the Heritage Foundation, one of the groups that supplied Trump with names of potential nominees, defended Pryor in the National Review. Criticism of the judge from the left was expected, Malcolm wrote, but the attack from the right is a strange development.

Gorsuch, 49, would not bring the outsider credentials represented by others on Trumps list. His mother, Anne Gorsuch Burford, headed the Environmental Protection Agency under President Ronald Reagan, and he was raised in Washington. His resume includes Columbia University, Oxford and Harvard Law.

He is seen as a reliable conservative, with a reputation for clear and lucid writing. His law clerks regularly move on to the Supreme Court  not just for conservative justices but also for liberals such as Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Gorsuch is an originalist, like Scalia, meaning he attempts to interpret the words of the Constitution as they were understood at the time they were written. He is protective of religious rights and found that they could be infringed by requirements of the Affordable Care Act requiring employers to provide contraceptive services.

Hardiman, 51, has more of the backstory Trump might find appealing. He was the first in his family to go to college, and for a time, he drove a taxi to finance his education at Notre Dame and Georgetown University Law Center. He is a lifelong Republican who married into a Pennsylvania family with prominent Democratic roots.

Hardiman serves on the 3rd Circuit with Trumps sister Maryanne Trump Barry. Conservatives praise his record on gun rights  he dissented from a decision that upheld New Jerseys restrictive law on who may receive a permit to carry a gun. The Supreme Court declined to review the decision.

But the justices on a 5-to-4 vote upheld one of his decisions that said jails were justified in strip searches for those being committed, no matter the seriousness of the charge.

Kethledge, 50, is less well-known than the others but is said to have support among senators. He is a University of Michigan graduate who, like Gorsuch, clerked for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. His nomination was opposed by Michigans Democratic senators, but he was confirmed in 2008 as a result of a compromise deal in the Senate.

A Wall Street Journal editorial bestowed opinion of the year on a 2014 ruling against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The agency had brought an action against Kaplan Higher Education Corp. alleging discrimination, but Kethledge shot down the testimony of an expert the EEOC had relied upon.

He also ruled for a group called the NorCal Tea Party Patriots in a class-action case the group had filed against the Internal Revenue Service alleging that conservative groups had been targeted.

Sean Sullivan contributed to this report.
President Trump speaks during a reception for House and Senate leaders at the White House on Jan. 23. (Susan Walsh/Associated Press)

President Trumps flurry of new orders and reported plans to further reshape national policy drew strong rebukes Wednesday from lawmakers in both parties.

Democrats responded sharply to Trumps plans to sign executive orders that would jump-start construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and halt visas to visitors from some countries  moves that are expected as soon as Wednesday, according to White House officials.

There is also bipartisan criticism for a White House draft proposal to allow the CIA to reopen overseas black site prisons and Trumps plan to ask for a major investigation into his unproven accusations of widespread voter fraud.

[Trump seeks major investigation into unsupported claims of voter fraud]

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called Trumps focus on voter fraud really strange  especially because his own lawyers disputed allegations of ballot irregularities when Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein challenged the results in some states last fall.

I frankly feel very sad for the president making this claim, Pelosi added. I felt sorry for him. I even prayed for him  but then I prayed for the United States of America.

Pelosi spoke as Congress wrapped up a short workweek in order to attend separate party strategy sessions outside Washington.

Republicans are decamping to Philadelphia, where they are scheduled to spend the next two days planning and meeting with Trump, Vice President Pence and British Prime Minister Theresa May, among others. Top GOP leaders are likely to weigh in on Trumps plans later Wednesday. Senate Democrats are headed to Shepherdstown, W.Va. for a similar closed-door retreat. Pelosi and House Democrats will meet in Baltimore next month.

The White House draft order to reverse a ban on black site prisons doesnt immediately reopen them or allow interrogators to use waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques that are banned by law. But the order would allow the CIA to begin reviewing current policy and techniques.

Such talk earned a swift response from an old Trump foil, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was tortured and held captive during the Vietnam War.

The President can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America, he said in a statement.

McCain noted that Mike Pompeo, the new CIA director, vowed during his recent confirmation hearing to comply with the law that applies the Army Field Manuals interrogation requirements to all U.S. agencies, including the CIA. So did retired Gen. James Mattis, the new defense secretary, McCain said.

McCain is a longtime critic of using torture or other enhanced techniques to interrogate war prisoners or detainees. McCains personal experience with the issue earned Trumps attention during his presidential campaign, when he said that the Arizona senator was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who werent captured. Those comments were condemned by Republican leaders, but did not blunt Trumps ascendancy.

Democrats also warned against reviving a controversial cornerstone of former president George W. Bushs national security policy.

This would be a step backward, and Im not alone in thinking that the path hes going down is wrong, Pelosi said at a news conference.

Dont ask me, just ask John McCain and others, she added. Reverting to that again does not support our values, but also endangers our people, whether its from a security standpoint, the intelligence community or the military. Its wrong and I hope he will listen to even some Republican leaders on this subject.

Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said that revisiting the creation of black sites or permitting the use of enhanced interrogation techniques would be a tragic mistake for the country to revisit and make the same mistakes all over again.

These are colossal mistakes that will cost us relationships in the long run, he said at an event hosted by the liberal Center for American Progress.

On immigration and border security, Trump is widely expected to order the end of a federal program providing temporary legal protections to the children of undocumented immigrants. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), and a companion policy protecting thousands of adults, have faced legal challenges and formed the basis of much of Trumps attacks on Obama administration-era immigration policies.

He may also potentially bar for 30 days the issuance of U.S. visas to people from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen  all Muslim-majority countries  until new visa procedures are developed.

[Trump to sign executive orders enabling construction of proposed border wall and targeting sanctuary cities]

Members of both parties have been anticipating Trumps immigration plans for weeks, and in the past several days they mostly have withheld comment. Pelosi said Wednesday that she wouldnt respond to rumors of his plans.

Anticipating that Trump will end DACA, Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) have introduced legislation that would provide similar protections to people protected by the program. The Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy Act, or BRIDGE Act, is believed to have bipartisan support across Capitol Hill.

Trumps calls for a broader investigation into voter fraud also perplexed Republicans and Democrats alike on Wednesday.

The White House has yet to provide details on a probe, but Trump said in back-to-back tweets that the investigation would cover those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Trump used all capitals  VOTER FRAUD  for emphasis.

Depending on results, Trump tweeted, we will strengthen up voting procedures!

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he believes that the prime jurisdiction to investigate voter fraud will be at the local and county level, but that there is a federal function because states also decide whether to pass voter identification laws.

I dont see the evidence of fraud, he said. But hes the president, and if he thinks its there, have at it.

Democrats responded by announcing that theyre asking state election chiefs and attorneys general to provide lawmakers with information on all cases of voter fraud committed this past November.

President Trump wants a major investigation of voter fraud  well now he has one, said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.). He continues to be obsessed with false numbers and statistics, but these are not alternative facts, and there is no evidence to support these claims.

Karoun Demirjian, Karen DeYoung, Ellen Nakashima and Lisa Rein contributed to this report.
Donald Trump, having propelled his presidential campaign to victory while often disregarding the truth, now is testing the proposition that he can govern the country that way.

In the first five days of his presidency, Trump has put the enormous power of the nations highest office behind spurious  and easily disproved  claims.

He began with trivial falsehoods about the size of the crowds at his inauguration but has since escalated a more grave claim that undermines the trustworthiness of the nations electoral system. In a White House reception Monday night for congressional leaders, Trump alleged that as many as 5 million illegal votes were cast in the 2016 election, denying him a popular-vote majority.

It was a claim that Trump had made in the aftermath of the election, with no evidence to back it up. As unsettling as that was in a president-elect, the implications are far greater when something clearly untrue is spread by a commander in chief  and when the weight and resources of his administration are brought to bear in amplifying such information.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer, whose own credibility has been undercut during his first week on the job, offered no verifiable evidence Tuesday to back up the presidents claim.

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.

The president does believe that, Spicer said. He has stated that before. I think hes stated his concerns of voter fraud and people voting illegally during the campaign, and he continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence that people have presented to him.

Beliefs, however, are not the same as facts. Pressed to produce that evidence upon which Trump bases his assertion, Spicer said that a 2008 study by the Pew Charitable Trusts showed 14 percent of people who voted were noncitizens. Theres other studies that have been presented to him. Its a belief he maintains.

Pew made no such finding. Its study, it has noted, was issued in 2012 and dealt with inaccurate, outdated voter registration rolls. It did not address large-scale voter fraud.

Trumps attraction to conspiracy theories and his contempt for facts that tarnish his pride may have serious implications for his ability to govern.

At the California State Capitol on Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) used his annual State of the State address to criticize the new president for his refusal to tether himself to the facts.

Above all else, we have to live in the truth, Brown said. When the science is clear or when our own eyes tell us that the seats in this chamber are filled or that the sun is shining, we must say so, not construct some alternate universe of non-facts that we find more pleasing.

Trump allies  and adversaries  had hoped that with his inauguration, he would leave behind the hyperbolic reality-show culture that made him a celebrity. In the late stages of his presidential campaign, Trump had disavowed his years-long promotion of the racially tainted falsehood that Barack Obama, the nations first African American president, was born outside the United States and therefore an illegitimate president.

(Reuters)

But the first days of his presidency show that, for Trump, old reflexes are hard to change.

Veterans of previous White Houses say they can recall no precedent for what Trump and his top aides are doing. They worry about the implications of this untethering from the truth when big decisions must be made about dealing with terrorism or charting the course of the economy.

The degree to which they are creating their own reality, the degree to which they simply make up their own scripts, is striking, said Peter Wehner, a Trump critic who was a top strategist in the George W. Bush White House. Its a huge deal, because in the end you really cant govern, and you cant persuade people, if you do not have a common basis of fact.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who was a stalwart Trump supporter, told Fox Business Network on Tuesday that he was mystified by Trumps claim about illegal voters  and by his motivations for bringing it up.

I have no evidence whatsoever, and I dont know that anyone does, that there are that many illegal people who voted, Huckabee said. And frankly it doesnt matter. Hes the president, and whether 20 million people voted, it doesnt matter anymore.

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said that Trumps claim undermines faith in our democracy. Its not coming from a candidate for office. Its coming from the man who holds the office. So I am begging the president, share with us the information you have about this, or please stop saying it.

What made Trumps claim more exasperating to fellow Republicans was that it had come as his new administration seemed to be getting back on track after a set of embarrassments during its first weekend.

On Saturday, the new president stood at CIA headquarters, before a wall of stars memorializing slain officers, and said that a dishonest media had refused to report the true size of the crowd on the Mall for his inauguration. Trump offered his own estimate of a million, a million and a half people.

Later that day, he dispatched Spicer to the White House briefing room, where the press secretary  in his first formal encounter in that setting with the reporters who cover the president  rattled off another round of unproved figures and contended that the crowd represented the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period  both in person and around the globe.

On Sunday, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway compounded the damage in a contentious interview with NBCs Meet the Press in which she said: Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts.

Show moderator Chuck Todd responded: Alternative facts arent facts. They are falsehoods.

Until Trumps comments Monday night about illegal voters, it had appeared that the new administration might be regaining its footing after that wobbly start.

During the day, Trump signed a set of executive orders and stayed on message during meetings with leaders from business and organized labor. Spicer had handled his Monday briefing with aplomb, taking questions from reporters for more than an hour.

The failure by Trump and his team to maintain that discipline will do long-term damage, said Matthew Dowd, who was the chief strategist for George W. Bushs 2004 reelection campaign. I dont think he realizes how much he is hurting himself.

Then again, Trump may well believe that this is the style which brought him to the White House, in defiance of every expectation. Americans knew what they were getting when they elected him.
President Trump at his inauguration Friday. Trumps false assertion that millions of people voted illegally in the last election is striking at the heart of democracy. (Jonathan Newton /The Washington Post)

There is no benign explanation for President Trumps false assertion that millions of people voted illegally in the last election. It is either a deliberate attempt to undermine faith in the democratic process, an exhortation to those who favor new restrictions on access to the ballot box or the worrisome trait of someone with immense power willing to make wild statements without any credible evidence.

By repeating as president what he had said as a candidate, for whatever purpose, Trump is striking at the foundation of a democratic society. This is yet another example of Trump being willing to cast doubt on information, individuals or institutions that he believes threaten his legitimacy, challenge his authority or question his actions  from attacks on phony polls or the dishonest media to assertions now of vast voter fraud.

This is not a debate about the size of the crowd at last weeks presidential inauguration. That is a piddling controversy compared with his claim that the election system overseen by the states is somehow riddled with fraud. Trump is chipping away at a shared public confidence in a system that is fundamental to a representative government for no apparent reason other than that hes bothered by the fact that, although duly elected and now in the White House, he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by almost 3 million votes.

Trump has virtually no elected allies in this assault on the election system. A smattering of Republicans might be willing to say that what Trump claims is at least plausible, as Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) did on MSNBC on Tuesday. But the vast majority of those in Trumps party share the view of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), who told reporters Tuesday that he has seen no evidence to buttress what Trump said at a meeting with the bipartisan congressional leadership Monday at the White House

Pelted on Tuesday with questions about Trumps claim, White House press secretary Sean Spicer danced his way through the daily briefing. Asked for evidence to back up what Trump said, Spicer responded by saying simply that this is something the president has long believed. Tellingly, Spicer, the former chief strategist at the Republican National Committee, would not put his own credibility on the line by saying he believed what his boss had said. What does it mean for democracy? CNNs Jeff Zeleny asked Spicer. It means Ive answered your question, Spicer responded, then moved to another reporter.

(Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) implored Trump to stop repeating the indefensible. He said Trump could find himself in a situation where he undermines his own credibility. People will begin to doubt what Trump says, Graham warned. Many already do. But Graham must know that the president isnt listening to that kind of advice. Trump will say what he wants when he wants. However, now that he is president, his words matter more than ever. Candidate Trump complained that the system was rigged. A president who says that, without evidence, is playing with fire.

[What the studies of voter fraud and voter rolls have shown]

Democrats have been quick to condemn Trump. To Trump, thats to be expected and probably will reinforce in him the belief that hes onto something real. Republicans, while not agreeing with the president, appear to want to pretend that what he is doing, if not exactly harmless, does not warrant their serious attention or a confrontation. They prefer to turn away, shake their heads about their president and hope that he stays focused on the issues on which he campaigned. Vice President Pence was among those Tuesday who wanted no part of the discussion about voter fraud.

Trump has claimed that studies back up his belief. Those studies, however, prove no such thing. A 2012 Pew study found that about 1.8 million deceased people were still on the rolls and that 2.75 million people were registered in two states. The study called for states to clean up their voter rolls but did not draw conclusions about voter fraud.

Spicer incorrectly claimed that the Pew study showed that 14 percent of voters were noncitizens. That was a different study that was later debunked by other social scientists. One attempt to quantify cases of voter impersonation fraud over a period of years found just three handfuls of cases out of about a billion ballots cast. Dartmouth College conducted a post-election study of the 2016 results and found no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

[Fury, tumult and a reboot: Inside the White House]

Still, in a time of hyper-partisanship, doubts about the credibility of elections exist. Pre-election polling by The Washington Post and ABC News found that between 1 in 5 and 1 in 6 Americans said voting by people who were ineligible happened very often. A September survey found that, overall, 47 percent of likely voters said it happened either very or somewhat often.

(Reuters)

Before the election, Democrats expressed more confidence in the accuracy of the voting system than did Republicans. After the election, based on polling by the Pew Research Center, Democrats and Republicans were about equally confident in the credibility of the vote counts. Democrats had become less confident, Republicans more confident as a result of Trumps victory. Many Trump supporters agree with the president that voting by undocumented immigrants is commonplace and widespread.

In some ways, Trump is off to a fast start to his presidency, with the signing of executive orders that have cheered various parts of his disparate constituency. His Cabinet isnt fully in place but his nominees appear likely to win confirmation. He will offer a Supreme Court nominee next week, he said Tuesday. That nomination will probably touch off a partisan battle but further cement his standing with the Republican base.

Early Wednesday, the president tweeted that he would ask for a major investigation into voter fraud. But it is far from clear what the scope of this possible investigation would be, what Trumps real intentions are in calling for it (though he suggested strengthening voting procedures as a possible goal) or who would conduct it. Everyone should wait to hear more. The president has preferred his own version of what happened in November in the popular vote, even if that damages the very system of government atop which he now sits.

The next move is now his.

An earlier version of this report incorrectly referred to Dartmouth College as a university.
The White House on Tuesday reiterated President Trumps false contention that he lost the national popular vote because of 3 million to 5 million illegal votes, as yet another untruth swelled into a distraction that threatens to undermine his first week in office.

Trump repeatedly has claimed there was widespread voter fraud in the November election, most recently telling congressional leaders on Monday night that he thinks it is why he lost the popular vote to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Although the presidents theory has been broadly discredited, White House press secretary Sean Spicer held up debunked research Tuesday to support it and left open the possibility of a federal investigation.

The president has believed that for a while based on studies and information he has, Spicer said. When pressed, Spicer would not state whether he personally agrees with Trump, only that it is the presidents long-standing belief.

As a candidate, Trump played fast and loose with the facts, frequently exaggerating and peddling falsehoods  or in some cases lying  to promote himself and undermine his adversaries. As president, Trumps behavior has not been much different. He is alleging voter fraud on such a large scale that, if true, it would amount to a massive scandal. He and Spicer also overstated the size of last Fridays inauguration crowd despite clear evidence to the contrary.

Trump has been fixated on his public image and preoccupied with doubts about his legitimacy as president, which advisers say he has found frustrating and demoralizing.

President Trump, right, welcomes Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-Ky.), center, and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), left, at a White House reception on Monday night. (Ron Sachs / Pool/EPA)

If Trump is worried whether losing the popular tally by nearly 3 million votes could snarl his legislative agenda, his allies say he need not be concerned: His party controls Congress, and Trumps legislative agenda is being treated by Republicans as if he had won a sweeping mandate and enjoyed high approval ratings.

But Republican strategists argue that Trump has not psychologically adjusted to becoming president and that he risks eroding his stature and damaging his credibility if he continues to assert falsehoods under the microscope of the White House.

You dont want to be a president whose word trades at a discount rate  and when it comes to measures of his personal popularity, President Trumps words seem to trade at a discount rate, said Ari Fleischer, a White House press secretary under former president George W. Bush.

[Fact Checker: Spicer uses repeatedly debunked citations for Trumps voter fraud claims]

On Monday night at a White House reception for congressional leaders, Trump privately told lawmakers that he would have won the popular vote had it not been for 3 million to 5 million illegal votes, according to people familiar with the conversation.

But elections officials in most states  many of them Republican  have reported no instances of widespread election problems, including fraud.

Despite Trumps repeated claims, his own campaigns attorneys stated in a recent court filing: All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), right, and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) speak to journalists after a Senate Democratic Caucus luncheon on Tuesday. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Democrats fear that Trumps allegations of voter fraud are about more than his ego. They say he might be signaling support for a systematic Republican effort in the states to suppress voting rights.

When Trump talks about 3 [million] to 5 million people voting illegally, he is sending a message to every Republican governor in this country to go forward with voter suppression, said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who caucuses with the Democrats.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was asked about Trumps claims, he would not say whether he agrees, only that he believes voter fraud is a problem generally around the country.

Most states have a done a better job on this front, but the notion that election fraud is fiction is not true, said McConnell, who like many Republicans has voiced support for voter ID laws.

Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, accused Trump of pushing fake news about our democracy.

It is unprecedented in the countrys history for the president and the White House spokesman to push a lie of this magnitude about voting, Waldman said in a statement. These are not random conspiracy theorists on the Internet. These are the highest officials in the land.

[The first days inside Trumps White House: Fury, tumult and a reboot]

Trumps fact-challenged brush fires are creating awkwardness for his supporters on Capitol Hill, where many Republicans are unwilling to second his unsubstantiated claims but also are taking pains to not be seen as rebuking the president.

On Tuesday, lawmakers were visibly uncomfortable when asked whether they agree with Trumps theory.

I cant tell Donald  uh, President Trump how to speak or what he wants to focus on, said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), catching himself being too casual with titles. I dont agree with that. And if theres evidence of that, it should be investigated.

Other senators refused to engage on the subject.

I dont think about it, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said. Its not important to me.

A few took Republicans took a harder line. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), long a thorn in Trumps side, told CNN that the presidents allegations were undermining faith in the democratic system.

I would urge the president to knock this off, Graham said. This is the greatest democracy on Earth. Were the leader of the free world. And people are going to start doubting you as a person if you keep making accusations against our electoral system without justification.

From the earliest days of his campaign, Trump has been infatuated by his crowd sizes. He tweeted Tuesday that he would hang a panoramic photograph of his inaugural crowd, given to him by a supporter, on a wall of the West Wing.

Trumps focus on numbers is a holdover from his decades as a marketer and businessman, when he would toss around figures for his personal wealth or the value of his buildings or the ratings of his television shows as validations of the power of his brand.

Its a combination of ego and a successful track record of always marketing everything hes done in his business as the biggest, the best, the superlative,  Fleischer said. Its just ingrained in him.

Fleischer likened Trump to the dragon in J.R.R. Tolkiens fantasy work The Hobbit. It flies around and is all-powerful, nearly covered in armor save for one unarmored patch. Trumps unarmored patch, he posited, is his obsession with proving his personal popularity.

One well-placed arrow can take him down, he said.

Correction: Fleischer, in his comparison, likened Trump to a dragon he described as from The Lord of the Rings series, but the dragon he describes was from another related Tolkien work, The Hobbit. The reference above has been corrected.
Republicans arrived here hoping to forge a game plan to reshape the health-care system and overhaul tax policy, finally envisioning that their legislation could be signed into law after years of confrontation with the Obama White House.

Instead, they found themselves in an all-too-common battle, trying to explain, defend and deflect the latest round of controversial statements by President Trump. Do they agree that as many as 5 million people voted illegally in November? Do they support a proposal to revive secret CIA prisons and possibly torture? What about a draft ban on resettling refugees?

Any hope that Trump would avoid distracting fights once he entered the Oval Office faded on the fifth full day of his presidency as several hundred GOP lawmakers loaded onto a rented Amtrak train to head north for a two-day retreat half a mile from Independence Hall.

Filing down an escalator and onto the platform at Washingtons Union Station, House and Senate Republicans smiled and largely avoided questions from the assembled members of the news media waiting to board their own trains. At one point, the words stepping on his own message could be plainly heard as a half-dozen Republicans filed past.

Formally known as the Congress of Tomorrow, the GOP retreats early steps felt a lot like the campaign of last year.

President Trump, accompanied by Vice President Pence, left, and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly, speaks at the Department of Homeland Security Wednesday. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

Soon after arriving in Philadelphia, two senior Republicans found themselves on the defensive over Trumps latest comments regarding voter fraud that doesnt appear to exist and an executive action reopening the contentious issue of secret sites for using enhanced interrogation tactics against terrorism suspects.

At their annual retreat, Hill Republicans want answers. Will Trump give them?

Of the first five questions to Sen. John Thune (S.D.) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers (Wash.), four involved reactions to Trump controversies. Thune called the issue of using torture settled law despite the draft executive order to review those tactics.

As hosts of the retreat, the chairs of the respective House and Senate conferences were most uncomfortable dealing with Trumps call for a major probe into his assertion that upward of 5 million votes were illegally counted in November.

Ill wait . . . until I see more of what hes proposing before I comment, McMorris Rogers said.

I havent seen any evidence to that effect, Thune said of Trumps assertion that massive voter fraud occurred Nov. 8. Thune reasserted his faith in the 2016 elections  which, he said, left a decisive outcome with Republicans firmly in control of Congress and the White House. He said Republicans must focus on legislating.

After another question about Trumps call for a voter fraud investigation, Thune simply said, Weve moved on  the elections over with.

(Bastien Inzaurralde,Jayne Orenstein/The Washington Post)

An aide then yelled out, Last question.

A similar refrain occurred throughout the 2016 campaign. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), beginning at last years congressional GOP retreat, crafted a conservative agenda under the banner Better Way. Republican candidates regularly found themselves being asked to respond to Trumps comments, such as his promise to ban Muslims or his accusation that a federal judge from Indiana handling a lawsuit against him carried an unfair bias because hes a Mexican American.

Ryan openly struggled with Trump, at first declining to endorse his candidacy after he locked up the nomination and then unequivocally backing him weeks before the Republican National Convention.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) proved remarkably adept at ignoring Trumps controversies, comfortably tuning out the news media in his slow, steady walks through the Capitol corridors.

After Trump surprised even Republicans with his victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton, GOP leaders and the president-elect had a two-month run of fairly solid relations. Vice President Pence, a former member of the House and close friend of Ryans, emerged as a key player in keeping Capitol Hill looped in on emerging legislative ideas and key personnel moves.

But earlier this month, Trump started giving media interviews that complicated the plans that Republicans were beginning to prepare  for instance, on whether to impose tariffs on companies that take jobs overseas and when to craft legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Trump declared that he was close to releasing a plan that would create insurance for everybody. That was well ahead of the actual Republican pace of unveiling proposals; it also sounded rhetorically close to former president Barack Obamas goal of universal health care.

[Trump vows insurance for everybody in Obamacare replacement plan]

McConnell appeared to try to square things up with Trump at Fridays inaugural luncheon. The Senate leader, who is famous for expressing himself only when he needs to, took another lawmakers seat so he could sit next to the president. For more than 15 minutes, McConnell did a vast majority of the talking, positioning himself in a such way that no one else could join the discussion.

This weeks trip to the City of Brotherly Love was meant to create harmony between the Senate, the House and the president, getting them on the same page on top policy priorities, the pacing of major legislative initiatives and the parliamentary procedures that will be needed to pass the bills.

Then, over the weekend, Trumps press secretary, Sean Spicer, sparked a national debate with his declaration that the inauguration had been the most watched ever  period. Then, on Monday, Trump began a bipartisan reception for House and Senate leaders at the White House by reiterating his belief that between 3 million and 5 million people had voted illegally. That explained, he said, how Clinton defeated him in the popular vote.

Republicans have mostly ducked the issue since then, and they were hoping for a reprieve of Trump questions as they headed for Philadelphia. Instead, Trump created a third day of media firestorm early Wednesday, before the lawmakers had even loaded luggage onto their buses, by declaring a major investigation would occur on voter fraud.

A few hours later, Thune was asked whether the presidents remarks were distracting the effort to coordinate a unified message with his fellow Republicans.

Its a work in progress, Thune said.

Read more from Paul Kanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Thae Yong-ho, former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom, defected to South Korea with his family in 2016. They have been under the protection of the South Korean government. (Jun Michael Park/For The Washington Post)

The diplomats decision to defect from a regime he had spent his whole life defending did not happen overnight.

Instead, his misgivings had been simmering for two decades, even as he went around Europe espousing the superiority of the North Korean system. They finally reached a boiling point when Thae Yong-ho realized that this regime, to which he had been so loyal, expected him to lie to his children.

Ive known that there was no future for North Korea for a long time, Thae told The Washington Post in his first interview with the foreign media since his escape from the North Korean Embassy in London, where he served as deputy ambassador.

But last summer, he realized his hopes had been misplaced that supreme leader Kim Jong Un, who was educated in Switzerland and is only 33, would turn out to be a reformer. Thae fled, together with his wife and his two sons, now ages 19 and 26.

Kim Jong Un is still young, Thae said. I was afraid that even my grandsons would have to live under this system. I decided that if I didnt cut the chains of slavery off [my sons], they would complain, Why didnt you let us be free? 

Thae is the highest ranking diplomat to defect from North Korea. After several months being debriefed by the South Korean intelligence service, he was in Seoul speaking out against the regimes reign of terror.

[North Koreas deputy ambassador to Britain defects from London]

Over the past month, Thae has predicted to South Korean media the demise of North Korea with the same fervor with which he once extolled its glories. His hard-line statements happen to fit nicely with the hawkish stance taken by the South Korean government over the past eight years. But Thae said he was not being expedient and was speaking his real mind  and was intent on using his influence for good.

Everyone knows about my defection. Just staying at home or living a quiet life would not effect any change in North Korea, Thae, a genial 54-year-old who speaks impeccable English, said during an interview in a hotel here.

South Korean authorities are concerned about Thaes safety and the possibility of an attempt on his life. North Korea released a tirade against him after his defection, calling him human scum and a criminal, and has made attempts  once successfully  on the lives of other high-profile defectors. Thae was accompanied by an entourage of bodyguards and intelligence officials to the interview.

Time for a Korean Spring

He spent more than two hours describing his disappointment with Kim, his fears for his children, and his conviction that giving North Koreans information about the outside world would help sow the seeds of dissent  just as it had for him and his family.

The regime can only stay in place by preventing outside information, he said. People there are not educated about the outside world and have no opportunity to experience freedom or a system that is different.

1 of 69 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  What life looks like inside North Korea View Photos From playing soccer to going to the zoo, a glimpse inside the Hermit Kingdom. Caption From mass dances to going to the zoo, a glimpse inside the Hermit Kingdom. Sept. 9, 2018 Soldiers march in Pyongyang as part of a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of North Koreas foundation. DANISH SIDDIQUI/Reuters Wait 1 second to continue.

In North Korea, the Internet is banned for all but a handful of elites, radios and televisions play only state propaganda, and the newspapers are full of the leaders great feats. South Korean dramas are increasingly being smuggled into North Korea, but people watch them in secret, fearing severe punishment if they are caught.

Thae said that anything to break the information blockade in North Korea should be encouraged, from USB drives containing foreign films to radios that can be tuned to news broadcasts from abroad.

I would like to make it possible for people to rise up, he said. We should educate the North Korean people so that they can have their own Korean Spring.

Thaes grandfather and father were devoted to the Kim dynasty, and Thae grew up knowing only North Koreas peculiar brand of communist personality cult. Then in the 1990s, as a relatively young diplomat, he was posted to Denmark, where his younger son was born, and after that to Sweden.

In Scandinavia, home to the flagbearers of European socialism, Thaes eyes began to open.

During my first foreign posting in Denmark, I came to doubt and question whether North Korea could say that it was a true socialist or communist system, he said. Thaes time there coincided with a devastating famine in North Korea that killed as many as 3 million people.

North Korean society doesnt have the concept of comparing, he said. The more time you spend in the outside world, the disbelief in your system grows more and more.

Doubts about the supreme leader

Thae then did two stints in the embassy in London, first between 2004 and 2008, then from 2013 until his defection last summer. It was during this second stint in London, in the second year of Kim Jong Uns regime, that Thaes concerns started to become unbearable.

Not only me but other North Korean elites were hopeful that because Kim Jong Un had studied abroad and was young, he might change the policy direction and modernize North Korea, he said.

But Kim soon showed his intention to continue his fathers pursuit of nuclear weapons and his reluctance to introduce the economic reforms the impoverished country badly needs.

Kim Jong Un made it very clear that North Korea should complete the path toward nuclear development, Thae said. This kind of policy is regarded by most North Korean elites like me as very fanatical because it pushes North Korea into a corner of self-destruction.

[Two more North Koreans said to defect, but dont hold your breath for regimes collapse]

The doubts heightened after Kim had his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, executed at the end of 2013. Although executions are not rare in North Korea, there was something disturbingly arbitrary about this one, Thae said.

Still, he continued his duties in London, voicing the idea that North Korea was a peoples paradise with free housing, health care and education.

But at home, Thaes younger son, who was still in high school and hoped to study computer science at a top London university, was asking why North Korea doesnt allow the Internet, why North Koreans are not allowed to watch foreign films, why North Koreans cant read any books they want.

As a father, it was hard for me to tell lies, and it started a debate within the family, Thae said. This North Korean system is a really inhuman system. It even abuses the love between parents and their children.

So, last July, after much preparation and as the end of his posting was approaching, Thae escaped with his wife and both their sons.

Thae declined to discuss the specifics of how his family fled, saying that giving away details could close off the escape route for other North Korean officials abroad.

Shame over previous role

His arrival in South Korea was the most high profile of what is said to be a string of elite defections. Last year, the government in Seoul hinted that there had been numerous defections from the military and diplomatic service, as well as among officials charged with raising money for Kim himself.

The South Korean government, and some analysts, have portrayed the defections as signs of cracks in Kims regime, which has endured despite repeated predictions of its imminent collapse. A former intelligence official told The Post that about 100 elite defectors have been debriefed at a secret residential center run by the government.

There is no sense of solidarity or loyalty between Kim Jong Un and senior officials, Thae said. Senior officials know that this system cant continue.

Still, Thae described feeling shame about his previous role, saying he was an actor who pretended to love the system.

Now, he is trying to fix that. Ive decided to spend the rest of my life meaningfully and I want to do something significant not just for my family but also my country.

Read more

The secret life of Kim Jong Uns aunt, who has lived in the U.S. since 1998

She fled North Korea and turned to online sex work. Then she escaped again.

Defying skeptics, Kim Jong Un marks five years at the helm of North Korea

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Activists with Indias Hindu Sena party pose with posters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Trump in New Delhi. (Sajjad Hussain/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

One man came from privileged beginnings and went to all the right schools, the other was the son of a tea seller.

Yet both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Trump rose to power as populist outsiders willing to disrupt entrenched power systems in their respective capitals.

The two men spoke Tuesday, their first interaction since a brief congratulatory phone call after Trumps election in November. In a summary of the call, the White House said that Trump called India a true friend and partner and that the two discussed the economy, defense and the fight against global terrorism. Trump said that he looked forward to hosting Modi in a visit later this year, and Modi returned the favor after the warm conversation in a tweet later.

The change of power in Washington comes at a time when the relationship between the worlds two largest democracies has gained momentum in recent years, with growing investment and military ties.

We believe they mean well by us and we mean well by them, said Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Indias foreign secretary. We are quite confident well get off to a good relationship, so there is no anxiety here at all.

Yet some Indian leaders have expressed concerns privately about Trumps unpredictability and tendency to lash out.

On the campaign trail, Trump occasionally praised India in speeches  I am a big fan of Hindu, and I am a big fan of India, he said at a fundraiser in October, and he said India was a natural ally.

But he also mimicked the accent of Indias call center workers, vowed to keep American jobs in the United States and criticized the H-1B high-skilled worker visa program, worrying the Indian tech industry. The Trump Organization is also involved in at least four real estate projects here in India, valued at an estimated $1.5 billion.

Theres a lot of uncertainty in the air, said Milan Vaishnav, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the author of a recent book on politics in India. Nobody really knows beyond some vague outlines what Trump foreign policy looks like. He hasnt said a lot about India, and what he has said is very vague. So Indias objective is to figure out where he stands.

The two men are likely to find common ground going forward on terrorism and security, particularly in regard to the terrorist threat from neighboring Pakistan, experts said. Judging from Tuesdays telephone call, clearly terrorism was front and center, Vaishnav said.

In his inaugural address, Trump pledged to stamp out Islamist terrorism around the world. But he earlier engaged in a chummy telephone call with Pakistans Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif  calling him a terrific guy who does amazing work  which also troubled Indian officials.

Modi, 66, has long been associated with the Hindu nationalist movement Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and for a time was denied a U.S. visa for failing to stop anti-Muslim riots while serving as a state chief minister.

He went only after his partys victory in 2014. He and President Barack Obama developed a rapport, and the next year he asked Obama to be the chief guest at Indias Republic Day parade. By the end of that visit, he was calling the president Barack.

Like Trump, Modi has a brash side and communicates largely on Twitter, with an innate distrust for the mainstream media. One of his first acts as prime minister was to do away with a traveling press pool on foreign trips.

His supporters in the Hindu right have stoked nationalistic fervor in the country  at times with violent results  and last year India became immersed in a debate over patriotism and free speech after protests on college campuses. Most recently, the Supreme Court mandated that moviegoers must stand as the national anthem plays before films.

Modi remains a popular figure, however, despite a recent move to ban large-denomination currency notes  to combat tax cheats  that left the economy reeling. Indians have suffered job losses and waits in long bank lines during the more than two-month crisis, but Modi has repeatedly played on nationalist sentiment, exhorting Indians to have patience for the long-term good of the country.

Read more:

India welcomes foreign companies, but is the nation ready for them?

U.S. military wants India to counterbalance Chinas rise as a sea power

Trumps extensive deals in India raise conflict-of-interest concerns

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Martin Schulz, former president of the European Parliament, speaks to reporters Jan. 24, after being named the Social Democrats candidate to challenge German Chancellor Angela Merkel in parliamentary elections in September. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Germanys second-largest party has sought to inject new life into its election hopes with a surprise move to select a combative former E.U. official to challenge Chancellor Angela Merkel.

But the bid by the Social Democratic Party to unseat Merkel in September does not appear to play on the populist and anti-immigrant sentiments rocking the political systems in places such as France.

Both the Social Democrats and Merkels Christian Democrats strongly favor keeping together the European Union amid internal strains from Britains decision to leave and the rise of right-wing groups questioning E.U. powers. The new Social Democrats leader, former E.U. Parliament president Martin Schulz, had backed Merkels policies to allow in more than 1 million migrants since 2015, including many from war-battered nations such as Syria and Iraq. Schulz is also a fervent backer of the European Union.

[Europes right-wing populist leaders to confer in Germany]

The Social Democrats reshuffle highlights its challenge to carve out a different identity from Merkels political base. Schulz replaces the deputy chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, who had been widely seen as the most likely challenger in Sept. 24 parliamentary elections.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (Michael Sohn/AP)

At a joint news conference Tuesday in Berlin, Gabriel said he was convinced that Schulz had the best chances, adding, Im sure hes the right one.

Schulz, accepting the nomination, said he was deeply moved.

Members of the Christian Democratic Party appeared to take the unexpected news calmly. Neither are we going to panic now, nor fall into depression, party deputy chairman Thomas Strobl told the DPA news agency.

Jurgen Falter, a political science professor at the University of Mainz, said he did not view Schulz as a serious threat to Merkel and her center-right party. Merkels party currently heads the polls with 37 percent; 21 percent of voters support the Social Democrats.

But Falter agreed with the Social Democrats assessment that Schulz is a better candidate than Gabriel to try to cut into Merkels lead. He comes across as more human, more authentic, less distant than Gabriel, he said.

[German politicians demand new deportation centers, more police powers and revetting of migrants]

Schulz, who served as E.U. Parliament president for four years until his term ended this month, has spoken openly about his past personal life, including periods of unemployment and alcohol abuse.

He has a reputation of not mincing his words, and observers expect him to lead a tough-minded campaign.

While Schulz has advocated for a tightknit and more democratic Europe, his domestic policy agenda is unclear. At Tuesdays news conference, he remained vague. We want the hardworking people in this country, who stick to the rules, to live safely and well here in Germany, he said.

Falter said that Schulz is unlikely to strongly oppose Merkel on one of the most contentious political issues in Germany: how to deal with the large influx of asylum seekers. One effort sought to spread the migrant burden across the 28-nation European Union.

He supported Merkels refugee policy on an E.U. level and failed due to a lack of support of the quotas among the member states, Falter said.

Green Party lawmaker Jurgen Trittin weighed in on the announcement, telling reporters: As a response to [new U.S. President] Trump, we must keep Europe together. And Martin Schulz is not the worst candidate for that.

Falter suggested the visibility and prestige of Schulzs former position as president of the E.U. Parliament is likely to help Schulz. He was among the E.U. officials who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the European Union in 2012.

It will only harm him with a minority of E.U. skeptics, he said.

Read more:

As Europe braces for the Trump era, a showdown looms over values

Most Europeans predict a rocky future for the U.S. and Europe, a new study says

As Cold War turns to Information War, a new fake news police combats disinformation

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Wendell P. Weeks of Corning listens to President Trump during a meeting with business leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Jan. 23, 2017. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

The Trump administration plans to start vetting would-be immigrants and visitors to the United States based partly on their opinions and ideology, and will immediately cease the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the United States, according to a draft executive order leaked Wednesday to civil rights advocates and obtained by The Washington Post.

The order, if enacted, would signal the beginning of the extreme vetting that President Trump promised on the campaign trail, as well as partial implementation of the Muslim ban, according to civil rights advocates.

[Read the draft of the executive order on immigration and refugees]

The order calls for an immediate 30-day halt to all immigrant and nonimmigrant entry of travelers from certain countries whose citizens would be detrimental to the interests of the United States. Once signed, it would allow those with visas to be turned away at U.S. airports and other entry points.

The countries  designated under several provisions of law that have already singled them out for terrorism links  include Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia. While all are Muslim-majority countries, the list  and the ban  do not include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and numerous other Muslim-majority countries.

(Zoeann Murphy/The Washington Post)

Additionally, all refugee admission and resettlement would be halted for 120 days  and until further notice, from Syria  while vetting procedures are reviewed. Once restarted, annual refugee admissions from all countries would be cut from the currently authorized level of 100,000 to 50,000.

Asked Wednesday about the draft, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said actions dealing with refugees and other U.S. admissions would be signed later in the week, and as we get into implementation of that executive order, we will have further details. Trumps guiding principle, he said, is to prevent entry to people who are from a country that has a propensity for doing harm.

Civil rights and refugee advocates immediately expressed alarm over the policies, and said that the news has thrown groups that handle refugee resettlement and immigrant rights  including U.N. agencies  into disarray.

These actions taken by Donald Trump are tantamount to a Muslim ban, Abed A. Ayoub, the legal and policy director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said during a Wednesday conference call with refugee and immigrant advocates and journalists. Regardless of how they try to frame it . . . this is the Muslim ban that was promised by him on the campaign trail.

In justifying its actions, the order states that hundreds of foreign-born individuals have been convicted or implicated in terrorism-related crimes since September 11, 2001.

Most terrorist or suspected terrorist attacks since 9/11 have been carried out by U.S. citizens. The 9/11 hijackers hailed primarily from Saudi Arabia, as well as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon  all U.S. allies, and none of which would be affected by the immediate ban.

Since the emergence of the Islamic State in 2014, federal prosecutors have also charged 106 people in connection with the group, many of them for planning to travel from the United States to Syria or Iraq to join it. It is unclear how many were foreign-born.

Along with ending all Syrian refugee resettlement until such time as I have determined that sufficient changes have been made to vetting programs, Trumps order directs the secretaries of state and defense to deliver within 90 days a plan to provide safe areas inside Syria and in the surrounding region where displaced Syrians can await firm resettlement, such as repatriation or potential third-country resettlement.

Waivers to the ban on refugees and overall priority for admission would be given to those claiming religious persecution, provided that the religion of the individual is a minority religion in the individuals country of nationality.

Some Republican lawmakers have called for special protection for Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities fleeing the Islamic State, although the vast majority of those killed and persecuted by the militants are Muslims.

Additional provisions under the order, entitled Protecting the Nation from Terrorist Attacks by Foreign Nationals, would require all travelers to the United States to provide biometric data on entry and exit from the country, instead of current entry-only requirements. It would immediately suspend a waiver system under which citizens of certain countries where U.S. visas are required do not have to undergo a face-to-face interview at a U.S. consulate.

The entry-exit requirement resembles provisions previously in place under the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), the registry program that targeted mostly Muslim men and which the Department of Homeland Security ultimately found to be redundant with existing protocol, and ineffective for identifying terrorists.

As president, Barack Obama dismantled the legal framework for the NSEERS program. But Shoba Wadhia, a clinical professor of law at Penn State University and the director of its Center for Immigrants Rights Clinic, described the draft executive orders provisions as NSEERS on steroids.

It definitely far exceeds what we saw with NSEERS, she said. NSEERS itself was a complete disaster. It had no security value; it really overwhelmed government offices and officials who were unprepared.

A key question for U.S. courts, if the order is challenged, will be whether the new policies exceed the reasonable boundaries of the presidents executive authority on immigration or violate portions of the Constitution, legal experts say.

The draft order instructs the U.S. government to screen visa applicants for their ideologies. In order to protect Americans, we must ensure that those admitted to this country do not bear hostile attitudes toward our country and its founding principles, the draft order reads.

The order says the United States should screen visa applicants to block access to those who would place violent religious edicts over American law and those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred including honor killings, violence against women, and persecution on the basis of religion, race, gender and sexual orientation, a description that human rights groups say also appears to be geared toward Muslims, without naming Islam explicitly.

Joanne Lin, the senior legislative counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union, said the wording raises the prospect of ideological tests for admission to the U.S. It could potentially be used to screen out critics of U.S. policy, and could violate Americans First Amendment right to hear from speakers that oppose the governments official views.

In addition to questions about what they will do, whom they will see and how they will pay for a U.S. visit, visa applicants can be asked if they seek U.S. entry to engage in terrorism or other illegal activities, and whether they have committed or been convicted of crimes. Those requesting immigrant or permanent residence status are also asked about Communist Party membership.

This article has been updated to correct the spelling of the last name of Joanne Lin, the senior legislative counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union.
A Palestinian man reads by the beach as fishermen cast their nets off the shore in Gaza City on Jan. 24. (Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images)

The State Department is conducting a review of all foreign aid parceled out in the final two months of the Obama administration, including the controversial last-minute release of $220 million to Palestinians announced just hours before Donald Trump was sworn in as president.

The review involves dozens, if not hundreds, of foreign aid allocations made after Trump was elected. According to State Department officials, most if not all of the money has already been transferred. Unless the review turns up any instances where protocol was not strictly followed, it is unlikely that any adjustments can be made, even if the aid does not mesh with the emerging policies of the Trump administration.

The Obama administration made a flurry of decisions in its final weeks in an attempt to lock in many of its policies and initiatives before Trump took office and changed or reversed them. The Trump administration has spent much of its first week in power doing exactly that.

[Trumps unquestioning support means trouble for Israel]

Just three days before Trump's inauguration, the State Department announced a $500 million contribution to the U.N. Green Climate Fund. The money, which came from the State Departments Economic Support Fund, was the second installment of a total of $3 billion the United States had promised to the fund under President Obama.





But the remaining $2 billion may not be forthcoming. Republicans have criticized the spending, and Trump has vowed to cancel the Paris climate agreement and stop all payments to U.N. global-warming programs.

In another case under review, the day before the inauguration, outgoing Secretary of State John F. Kerry awarded $1 million in humanitarian aid to UNICEF, earmarked for helping people affected by floods in North Korea.

But by far the most controversial late aid award was the $220.3 million granted to Palestinians. In his final act as secretary of state, Kerry officially notified Congress on Friday morning, Inauguration Day, that the money was being released. It is unclear how much of the money has been transferred already.

The funding had been approved by Congress, but GOP lawmakers in the House placed holds on it, in response to moves by the Palestinian Authority to become full members of international organizations such as the United Nations and UNESCO.

Funding for the U.S. donation came from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The State Department notification to Congress said it would be used for humanitarian aid, to support political and security reforms, and to lay the groundwork for the rule of law in a future state of Palestine.

Now that allocation is a prime target for review  essentially meaning that State Department officials are going over the decision to document whether all legally required steps were followed.

The Department is reviewing a number of programs notified to the Hill over the past two months, and will make adjustments as appropriate to ensure they align with the priorities of the Trump-Pence administration., State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.

View Graphic Everything you ever wanted to know about the U.S. foreign assistance budget

The United States is Israels closest ally, but it also has made large donations to international groups trying to help Palestinians rebuild after conflicts.

Privately, and in recent months publicly, Kerry was extremely critical of settlement construction in the West Bank, where Palestinians aspire to build an independent state. The State Department had been increasingly strident in its criticism over the past year, saying the Jewish settlements were undermining the chances for a negotiated, two-state peace deal.

Trump and his senior aides have sounded far more sympathetic to the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which Kerry called the most right-wing government in Israeli history. Trump has selected a prominent backer of settlements as ambassador to Israel, and the administration is weighing whether to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Read more:

Israel plans West Bank settlement expansion amid policy shifts in Washington

Fact-checking John Kerrys speech on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The CIA could potentially restart an interrogation program that was dismantled in 2009 after using methods widely condemned as torture. (Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press)

An executive order apparently drafted by the Trump administration calls for a policy review that could authorize the CIA to reopen black site prisons overseas and potentially restart an interrogation program that was dismantled in 2009 after using methods widely condemned as torture.

The document, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, would revoke former president Barack Obamas decision to end the CIA program and would require national security officials to evaluate whether the agency should resume interrogating terrorism suspects.

The unsigned draft represents the clearest signal from President Trump that he intends to at least explore ways to fulfill campaign vows to return the CIA to a role that supporters claim produced critical intelligence on al-Qaeda but that ended in a swirl of criminal investigations, strained relationships with allies, and laws banning the use of waterboarding and other brutal interrogation tactics.

[What are black sites? 6 key things to know about the CIAs secret prisons overseas.]

The proposal also puts a renewed focus on the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying it should be used for newly captured prisoners. No detainee has been sent there since Obama took office in 2009 and attempted to close the facility.

(Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post)

White House press secretary Sean Spicer cast doubt on the provenance of the draft document Wednesday, saying that it is not a White House document and I have no idea where it came from.

The document was provided to The Post by a person who said it had been circulated among agencies in Washington for comment. The immediate feedback, this person said, helped convince the White House counsel that the document needed wider distribution and review before being finalized. It was unclear which agencies received the document, but those with the most direct stake would include the CIA, the Pentagon, and the State and Justice departments.

Its not yet clear whether Trump will sign the draft order, or whether senior members of his administration who have been skeptical of such plans, including Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo, were consulted.

Democratic lawmakers at a caucus retreat, including Sen. Mark R. Warner (Va.), ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that Mattis and Pompeo were caught off guard by the draft order.

Members of Congress denounced the draft order, which was first reported by the New York Times on Wednesday. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said that Trump can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America.

Human rights organizations expressed outrage.

The draft order authorizes the CIA to restart their detention program, which was the source of so much of the torture that undermined our national security, said Elisa Massimino, president of Human Rights First. Those policies made fighting the war harder and strengthened the resolve of our enemies. Thats whats at stake here.

The draft, labeled Detention and Interrogation of Enemy Combatants, notes that the United States has refrained from exercising certain authorities critical to its defense in the war against terrorism, including a halt to all classified interrogations by the Central Intelligence Agency.

[Read the draft of the executive order on CIA black sites]

The document stops short of instructing the CIA to rebuild prisons or resume interrogating terrorism suspects. Instead it calls for reviews leading to recommendations to the president on whether he should reinstate a program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States and whether such a program should include the use of detention facilities operated by the Central Intelligence Agency.

The order would vacate Obamas decisions to dismantle the CIA program during his first days in office and would restore a 2007 order issued by President George W. Bush that sought to salvage the CIAs ability to capture and hold terrorism suspects after it had abandoned waterboarding and other extreme tactics.

Any attempt to resume the CIAs use of coercive methods at overseas prisons would face major obstacles. Among them is whether another country would be willing to allow such a facility after those that did so more than a decade ago  including Lithuania, Poland and Thailand  faced international condemnation for their complicity.

CIA veterans have said the agency has no desire to return to an assignment that continues to have damaging repercussions. A lawsuit against the architects of the program has forced the agency to release embarrassing documents, including internal memos showing that some employees were deeply troubled by the interrogation program from the outset.

I just have to think there would be huge resistance and pushback, said John Rizzo, the former acting general counsel of the CIA. I think, personally, it would be a huge mistake for CIA to get anywhere near a new detention and interrogation program given the years of histories and controversies and investigations.

The order would also presumably face opposition from senior figures in the Trump administration. Mattis, in particular, has argued against deviating from the techniques outlined in the Army Field Manual, a position that Trump said had caused him to reexamine his views after discussing the issue with Mattis in November

The draft executive order, which states that it shall be implemented consistent with applicable law, would not overturn any law banning torture. The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act reaffirmed laws limiting interrogation techniques to those used in the Army Field Manual and barring the use or threat of use of force.

Some legal experts cast the draft order as part of moves by Trump, including his plan to limit visas from Muslim countries, as cynical political gestures designed to energize his most ardent supporters while changing little in practice.

The president would get a huge symbolic boost with his base while not violating the law and while changing nothing of substance, Jack Goldsmith, a former head of the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel and a Harvard Law School professor, said in an interview. He would get maximum symbolic value while doing nothing. Trumps a genius at this.

But Goldsmith, who as the OLC chief rescinded some of the Bush administrations torture memos, also predicted that Trump would regret this executive order, if it is issued, and that the symbolic bang that Trump sought would backfire on the administration.

The document acknowledges that existing laws provide a significant statutory barrier to the resumption of the interrogation program.

Congresss authorization of the fiscal 2016 defense budget turned into law sections of Obamas 2009 executive orders on detention and interrogation. It prohibits the use of any interrogation techniques not authorized or listed in the Army Field Manual on anyone in the custody of or controlled by any agency or employee of the U.S. government.

The law requires that the manual itself must be available to the public and that the International Committee of the Red Cross be notified and given prompt access to anyone detained in an armed conflict by any agent of the U.S. government, including contractors and subcontractors.

[The rise and fall of the CIAs secret overseas prisons]

The draft order copy obtained by The Post contains editing marks and significant errors, including a reference to the atrocities of September 11, 2011, missing the actual date of the 2001 attacks by a decade.

Some of the edits seem driven by a political impulse to distance Trumps administration from those of Obama and Bush. Trump frequently accused Obama of being reluctant to call certain attacks radical Islamic terrorism. Edits to the draft add references to Islam.

The phrase global war on terrorism, coined by the Bush administration, is also struck out and replaced with fight against radical Islamism.

There are other problematic assertions in the draft. It states, for example, that more than 30 percent of the detainees released from Guantanamo Bay have returned to armed conflict. But statistics from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which tracks detainee matters, suggest that figure is closer to 18 percent.

Karen DeYoung, Ellen Nakashima, Missy Ryan, Ed OKeefe and Julie Tate contributed to this report.

Read more:

Senate report on CIA program details brutality, dishonesty

The hidden history of the CIAs prison in Poland

A staggering map of the 54 countries that reportedly participated in the CIAs rendition program
Last Friday, January 20, marked the 75th anniversary of the notorious Wannsee Conference, in which 15 influential representatives of the Nazi regime discussed at a villa in the suburb of Berlin the organization and implementation of the so-called final solution of the Jewish question.

The meeting was called by Reinhard Heydrich, director of Reich Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshaupt, RSHA). Among those invited were representatives of the General Government in Poland, the Foreign Office (Auswartiges Amt), the Reichskanzlei (Reichschancellory), the Main Office for Questions of Race and Settlement, as well as a series of SS leaders.

The Wannsee Conference marked the beginning of a concerted effort of the German state, the army and big business to exterminate European Jews. Its central purpose was to establish the main principles for the implementation of the plan and coordinate all key agencies of the German state in this criminal endeavor. While no written order by Adolf Hitler was ever found, there is no question that he must have authorized the plan for the final solution and the conference itself, as was the case with every other step taken in the persecution and murder of European Jewry.

In July 1941, Reichsmarshall Hermann Goring officially made Reinhard Heydrich the man responsible for the solution of the Jewish question. After month-long preparations by Heydrich and his assistant, Adolf Eichmann, who had inspected early attempts to use gassing as a method of mass murder in the fall of 1941, the discussants at the Wannsee Villa agreed in a meeting of only about 90 minutes that the removal of the Jews from the German Lebensraum required their total annihilation. Much of the protocol of the discussion is devoted to a definition of who counts as a Jew and therefore needs to be murdered. Of central significance was the decision to murder not only the Eastern European Jews, generally considered by the Nazis to be inferior, but also the German Jews and what the Nazis termed Mischlinge (mixed-blood).

Europe, so the protocol stated, had to be combed through from West to East, and all the Jews were to be evacuated to the Easta euphemism for their planned annihilation. Those who were fit for work were to be sparred temporarily to exploit them for the benefit of the German war effort. However, they too in the end were to be treated accordinglyanother term, as Adolph Eichmann later admitted, for killing them. The targeted number of victims set at the conference was 11 million.

The main authority in organizing and planning this historically unprecedented mass murder was to rest with Heydrichs Reich Main Security Office. Founded in 1939 to combat the Reichs internal and external enemies, the RSHA comprised the elite SS organizations Security Service (SD) and the Security Police (SIPO) and was largely staffed with convinced Nazi academics, many of them trained doctors and lawyers.

The Wannsee conference, originally scheduled for December 9, 1941, took place amid a staggering crisis of the Nazi regime. Just a few weeks earlier, Nazi Germany had declared war on its main imperialist rival, the United States, which, as the Nazi elites very well knew, had a technologically superior economy and army. In the war against the Soviet Union, the Wehrmacht found itself deadlocked before Moscow and Leningrad, facing increasing resistance from the Red Army and the Soviet population. With the economic crisis and food situation dramatically worsening in Germany itself, the regime was in the midst of a much-feared war on two fronts, and growing layers of the military were reckoning with the possibility of losing the world war.

Under these conditions, the Nazi leadership felt that it was both necessary and, for perhaps only a brief period of time, still possible to follow through with the extermination of European Jewryan outcome of the war that Adolf Hitler had infamously announced in early 1939.

The conference did not mark the beginning of what has come to be called the Holocaust. German Jews had been progressively stripped of basic civil rights and politically persecuted by the Nazi regime since its assumption to power in 1933. In October 1938, the first mass deportation of Jews from Nazi Germany took place, targeting about 17,000 men, women and children with Polish citizenship. Following the Nazi invasion of Poland in September 1939, ghettos were built throughout occupied Eastern Europe, in which about three million Polish Jews lived under horrifying circumstances. In late 1939, thousands of Jews were killed in massacres by the Einsatzgruppe Woyrsch and in smaller massacres by the Wehrmacht in Poland. A systematic policy of starvation by the Nazi occupation authorities claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Polish Jews before the gas chambers were in operation.

The anti-Jewish policies reached a genocidal dimension with the Nazi assault on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. In the following months, a substantial portion of Soviet Jewryresiding in what is today Ukraine, Belarus, and the Balticswas murdered in mass shootings that turned entire strips of land into graveyards. Among the most notorious atrocities of this period were the massacre of Kamenets-Podolsk (August 27-28, 1941, with around 24,000 dead), and of Babi Yar (September 29-30, 1941, with over 33,000 dead). Both took place in what is today Ukraine.

However, it is only after Wannsee that the mass gassing of millions of Jews in the extermination camps began. Over half of the six million Jews that were murdered in World War II were killed between March 1942 and March 1943. Almost two out of three million Polish Jews were murdered in 1942, most of them in the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka, Chemno, Sobibor and Bezec. Hundreds of thousands of Jews from countries like Greece, France, Yugoslavia, Slovakia and Bohemia were killed. As one of the last Jewish communities in Europe, some 400,000 Jews from Budapest were gassed in Auschwitz within just a few weeks in the summer of 1944.

Only a few of the participants of the Conference were ever held accountable and, if so, then usually not for their role in the Holocaust. Reinhard Heydrich was already assassinated in 1942; one died in the war; two others committed suicide; and two died briefly after the war. The SS leaders Eberhard Schongarth and Josef Buhler were both sentenced to death and executed for other crimes they committed. Adolf Eichmann was tried and sentenced to death in Israel in 1961-1962 after years of peaceful exile in Argentina.

Otto Hofmann, the representative of the Race and Settlement Main Office at Wannsee, was tried in Nuremberg and sentenced to 25 years in prison, but he was pardoned in 1954. The SS leader Wilhelm Stuckart, who was also one of the authors of the Nuremberg Laws, was sentenced in a postwar trial to less than four years in prison. In fact, however, he never served his sentence and was eventually classified by German officials as a mere follower of the regime. An unrepentant rightist, he resumed a successful political career in West Germany that was ended only by his death. Several other conference participants, like so many high-ranking Nazi war criminals, were never put behind bars.

Although decades have passed since the end of World War II and although literally thousands of volumes have been produced on various aspects of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, these horrors today now raise even more questions than ever. For millions of workers and youth, the questionhow was this possible?has remained unanswered. Yet an even more troubling question has arisen recently: After all these horrors, how can the very forces who have historically been responsible for these crimes raise their heads once again throughout Europe and internationally?

In the Baltics, the Latvian and Estonian Waffen SS, which played a central role in murdering 90 percent of the regions Jewish population, are now being celebrated as heroes by the ruling class. In Lithuania, streets and memorials are named after Nazi collaborators. Under the Ukrainian regime brought to power in the Western-backed coup in February 2014, forces like the far-right party Svoboda that stand in the tradition of the Ukrainian Nazi collaborators have been integrated into official political life, while any symbols relating to Communism and the struggle of the Red Army against fascism have been criminalized.

In Poland, which the Nazis turned into the center stage of the Holocaust, the right-wing government of the Law and Justice Party (PiS) has been encouraging anti-Semitic tendencies and historical revisionism, while integrating far-right paramilitary forces into the state apparatus.

Most disturbingly, in Germany itself there is a concerted effort underway by academics at the countrys most prestigious universities to falsify history in order to whitewash the horrendous crimes of German imperialism in the 20th century. Simultaneously, the German bourgeoisie is trying to reassert itself as a global power. Politicians from all bourgeois parties, including the so-called Left Party, are supporting not only a massive expansion of the military and the buildup of a police state, but also far-right policies against immigrants.

The question of how the crimes of the Nazi regime were possible is closely bound up with the question of why the far-right policies and parties now experience a renewed upsurge. The rise of fascist regimes in the interwar period cannot be understood outside the reaction of the bourgeoisie to the existential crisis it confronted and the threat posed to its rule by the first workers state in world history established in Russia in 1917.

It is a historical fact that the worst crimes in human history were perpetrated by a regime that had set at its main goal the destruction of Marxism as a political force. No one formulated this more clearly than Hitler himself. In a speech given before a select audience of the wealthy Hamburg business and political elites in 1926, Hitler declared that the destruction of Marxismfirst and foremost in Germany itselfwas the question of fate for Germany and the precondition for its resurrection and the rebuilding of a Reich. He declared: It is on the basis of this recognition that the movement was once founded which I try to make great and bring to power ( emporzubringen ). Its task is very narrowly defined: the destruction and annihilation of the Marxist world view.

The anti-Semitic and racist ideology of the Nazis was a particularly sharp form of the ideological reaction against the rise of the socialist workers movement. Historically, the rise of modern political anti-Semitism was closely bound up with the reaction against first the French Revolution and then, above all, against the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917. The Civil War of 1917-22 saw the bloodiest anti-Jewish pogroms hitherto recorded in history, carried out by Russian White troops, but also by Polish and particularly Ukrainian nationalists fighting against the workers state.

When the Nazis launched the war against the USSR in 1941 and escalated the anti-Jewish massacres in Eastern Europe, they could base themselves on the very nationalist forces in Eastern Europe that had fought Bolshevik Russia merely twenty years before. Once again, the ideological basis for the mobilization of these forces was the bogeyman of the Jewish Bolshevik.

It is therefore no coincidence that someone like Jorg Baberowski from Berlins Humboldt University, who stands at the forefront of the attempt to relativize the crimes of Nazi Germany, started his academic career with historical falsifications and denunciations of the October Revolution. Within just a few years, Baberowski went from attacking the Bolshevik regime as an essentially criminal enterprise, to relativizing the crimes of the Wehrmacht against the Soviet Union as a mere reaction forced upon it by the violence of the Red Army. In an article in early 2014, Baberowski even bluntly stated that Hitler was not cruel and that the revisionist historian Ernst Nolte, who in that very same article argued that the Jews themselves bore a responsibility for the Holocaust, was historically right.

If the rise of the far right in Europe after World War I was a response to the revolutionary movement of the working class throughout Europe and its seizure of power in Russia, the conscious encouragement of the far right by the bourgeoisie and the accompanying falsifications of history today have very much a preemptive character. Facing the most serious crisis of the world capitalist system since the 1930s and historically unprecedented levels of social inequality, the bourgeoisie is anticipating major revolutionary struggles of the working class throughout the world and seeks to overcome its crisis by resorting to war, fascism and dictatorship.
Its been well reported that Miss France, 23, was crowned Miss Universe on Sunday evening. Iris Mittenaere, a dental student, became the first French woman to earn the crown in more than 60 years.

But did you know that on Jan. 22, the world crowned a Mrs. Grandma Universe?

Agnes Jakosalem is the first Filipino woman to win the Mrs. Grandma Universe pageant. (Photo: Facebook).

Filipino beauty Agnes Jakosalem won the 2017 pageant  held in Sofia, Bulgaria  beating out contestants from 14 other countries (the U.S.A.s contestant placed second).

Jakosalem, a mother of three and grandmother of one, was the first Filipino woman to win the honor  not bad for someone who had never entered a beauty contest before.

The 51-year-old mother and grandmother had never competed in a beauty pageant before (Photo: Instagram).

Miss Grandma Universe is organized by Mrs. Universe Ltd., which also produces Mrs. Universe, Mrs. Europe, and Children of Universe  a few of the many pageants held across the world that command spotlights of their own.

Just last week, we watched the Miss Tatarstan beauty pageant, which proved eventful as contestants wore orbital dresses, what resembled to be bondage accessories, and outfits that definitely made you look twice.

Miss Tartarstan contestants wore headpieces that appeared as if they were designed to look like planetary orbits. (Photo: Getty Images).

Zulfia Sharafeyeva won the crown in a navy blue evening dress. (Photo: Getty Images).

While the Mrs. Grandma Universe contest is basically a joyous celebration of grandmothers everywhere, we have to admit we have seen some pretty interesting beauty pageants around the world. Watch the video above for the nine most unusual ones we could find.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
Considering Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte's anti-American bluster and human rights violations, I don't imagine a lot of my fellow citizens will be signing up to attend the third edition of Madrid Fusion Manila (themed "Our Sustainable Gastronomic Planet") this April. This morning's kickoff sessions of Madrid Fusion Madrid, however, made a strong case for the event. There are some top chefs from around the world coming, for one thing  among them Simon Rogan of the Michelin-two-star L'Eclume in the English town of Cartmel, top Spanish chefs Jordi Roca and Pedro Subijana, New Nordic pioneer Magnus Ek from Oaxen Krog & Slip in Stockholm, and chefs Kamilla Seidler and Michelangelo Cestari of the groundbreaking Gustu in La Paz, Bolivia. More to the point, though, ebullient Manila-based chef and cookbook author Myke "Tatung" Sarthou made a strong case for a rich vein of Filipino cuisine that is only just now being rediscovered.

His session was titled "Reencounter with Lost Flavors: Pre-Hispanic Filipino Cuisine"  but after some introductory remarks about the importance of salt in traditional Filipino condiments (and the unfortunate fact that 80 percent of the salt his country uses is industrial stuff imported from China and Australia), his concentration was on the little-known food traditions of the Philippines' Muslim population, based largely on the island of Mindanao. Islam indeed first reached this 7,107-island nation in the late thirteenth century, roughly 200 years before the Spanish, but outside the Muslim community, its culinary contributions are largely unknown. This is a shame, Sarthou said, "because they make Filipino cuisine more interesting than we think it is now."

One unique feature of this cooking is the use of coconut that has been charred black in an open fire, something Sarthou says is done in no other culture. The burnt coconut is ground into a powder and added to pastes and sauces, where it contributes a smoked flavor still redolent of the basic fruit. Two uses Sarthou demonstrated were a paste of the powder with chiles, garlic, and ginger juice as a marinade for beef to be cooked in a rich broth, and a marinade for chicken of burnt coconut, garlic, chiles, lemon grass, and coconut milk; the poultry pieces are braised in the liquid, then grilled.

Story continues

Madrid Fusion

Madrid Fusion

Sarthou's seafood rice in a sea urchin shell with marinated sea bass and green mango.

Sarthou's own modern use of this unusual ingredient involved rice cooked in coconut milk and ginger, then mixed with blackened coconut powder, palapa (a condiment made with black coconut, scallions, ginger, and birds' eye chiles), crab, shrimp, sea urchin, and chile salt, then stuffed into urchin shells, wrapped in banana leaves, and steamed. While the rice is steaming, he rolls sea bass chunks in palapa, then fries them. The fish goes atop the finished rice in its shell, along with shredded green mango, salt, and vinegar. "These things are not very popular in mainstream Filipino cooking," Sarthou admits, "but they are really worth knowing."

This unusual presentation was followed by a curious session called "The Best Sushi in the World?" featuring Takayuki Otani of Ootaninosushi in Tokyo, with commentary by food writer Julia Perez. Otani seemed agreeable, noting that after 25 years of cutting fish he still felt like a beginner, and proposing that the perfect nigiri contained exactly 100 grains of rice; but Perez's contribution was to say things like, "He's just like a samurai," and "Like everything else in Japan, there is a ceremony with making sushi," and at one point to ask if one could use just any part of the tuna for sushi. Otani demonstrated his prowess by making his nigiri, start to finish, in 10 to 11 seconds (one was timed at 9.86), suggesting that he might have a future on some competition cooking show but not necessarily answering the session's title question.

Mohawked avant-garde Spanish darling Dabiz (formerly David) Munoz, of the three-star DiverXO in Madrid, who has recently opened StreetXO (pronounced "Street Show") in London, made three dishes from his London menu, announcing that his new place was revolutionary in the staid English dining scene, since "we are loud music, energy, food for sharing  fine food to eat with your fingers." His constructions have many parts, but all the various garnishes aren't for aesthetic reasons, he says; each adds flavor, and his dishes are like puzzles in that there are many pieces but they all fit together into a whole.

The first dish Munoz served to his guest onstage diners (including Juan Mari Arzak, Pedro Subijana, and Martin Berasategui) was hardly finger food  a take on chile crab, involving crab stock, chipotles, spiced spider crabs, egg threads, sherry beurre blanc, crab coral, fried onions, fried turmeric leaves, fennel sprouts, and slices of buttered croissant. Next came grilled baby squid in a strained mortar-and-pestle sauce involving shrimp heads, lemongrass, black garlic, lime segments, coconut vinegar, lemon juice, palm sugar, and dried hibiscus. This was spooned over the squid, then green papaya, crushed peanuts, halved cherry tomatoes, black garlic powder, and a scattering of miscellaneous herbs and flowers were added. Finally, pigeon breast marinated in annatto and miso, charred in the oven, then served over breadcrumbs seasoned with chorizo and pimenton and mixed with fermented brined duck egg, with pigeon leg confit on the side and a topping of Chinese chive flowers, bitter greens, and grated truffle. Whew!

A feature of many of the presentations this year has been a bartender at a bar off to one side of the stage, sort of like the set-up on Andy Cohen's Watch What Happens (sometimes nothing). Some chefs  like Sarthou  seem to forget about this addition (he had to be reminded to acknowledge Madrid mixologist Dennis Barela) while others, including Munoz, engage constantly. He brought a bartender (unannounced) from StreetXO, who energetically whipped up both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, variously employing such ingredients as mango syrup, licorice, green miso, bottarga, truffles, olive oil, cuttlefish ink, and caramelized baby shrimp (the ones who had lent their heads to Munoz's chile crab sauce).

Almost as revelatory as Sarthou's appreciation of Filipino Muslim food was Tomas Kalika's celebration of the Jewish culinary traditions of Buenos Aires. Argentina was the second-largest destination for Jewish emigration after the U.S. in the twentieth century, he said, and the "Cocina de Immigrantes" he serves at his restaurant, Mishiguene  and, yes, that's the Spanish rendering of the Yiddish meshuganah, meaning crazy or eccentric  pays tribute to the cooking of his generation's Jewish mothers and grandmothers, though with a modern vocabulary.

Kalika's dishes included herring with vinegared potatoes, caviar, and "gribenes" (usually chicken skin cooked in chicken fat) made with fish instead of poultry; sauteed chicken hearts and livers with pickled onions, chiles, fried garbanzos, tahini, toasted ground almonds, and liquefied hummus; and an irresistible-looking whole beef rib "pastrami," "mixing what being Argentinean and being Jewish means." On the basis of these creations, I suspect Kalika deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with Michael Solomonov and Alon Shaya as purveyors of top-level tradition-based contemporary Jewish food.

Elsewhere at Madrid Fusion today, the usual profusion of riches  Joan and Josep Roca on "Human Relations as Keys to the Cooking of the Future"; workshops on cooking for diabetics, the use of "superfoods" (superalimentos), and dining room management; tutored tastings of Ribera del Duero, Spanish garnachas, and the wines of the big Catalan-based producer Torres; and, of course, more than 100 exhibitors offering samples and information around everything from farmed abalone to jamon Iberico to Schweppes tonic. A feast of food and drink, impossible to ingest fully but great fun to snack on.
Colombia is famous for its coffee but ought to be equally well-known for the quality and astonishing variety of its tropical fruits (there are an estimated 95 basic varieties). Charlie Otero of Restaurante la Comunion in Cartagena and mixologist Carlos Moreno from Charly's Bar in Madrid paid...

Colombia is famous for its coffee but ought to be equally well-known for the quality and astonishing variety of its tropical fruits (there are an estimated 95 basic varieties). Charlie Otero of Restaurante la Comunion in Cartagena and mixologist Carlos Moreno from Charly's Bar in Madrid paid tribute to some of the country's bounty in a fascinating morning program on the third and final day of Madrid Fusion.

The session began with a video paying tribute to mongo mongo, a kind of mixed fruit porridge that is a specialty of the department of Cordoba on the country's Caribbean side. The exact recipe varies, but it is basically red plantains, guava, papaya, and mamey (sapote) cooked down into a marmalade-like consistency with sugar and various spices. It is homey food, nursery food, evocative of the past. "When I have a spoonful of mongo mongo," Otero said, "I dream. It is because of mongo mongo that I became a chef." Paying tribute to Colombia's extreme range of climates and soil types, Otero noted that his country is considered the second-most biodiverse in the world (Brazil is No. 1).

Otero had planned to bring an assortment of fruits from home, but they didn't make it past the airport  the one in Cartagena, where officials apparently thought he was smuggling merchandise out of the country. Fortunately, Madrid today is cosmopolitan enough that he was able to find substitutes, and he used some of these to make three unusual tamales, based on masa dough, smoked Andean trout, and three different varieties of passion fruit. These he wrapped them in corn husks and steamed them, serving them with sliced black figs cooked in vanilla syrup with vinegar, chiles, and salt and pepper. Moreno, meanwhile, concocted some of the more reasonable-sounding cocktails of the show  one with rum, ginger, lemongrass, egg whites, and Amazonian passion fruit; another with rum, granadilla passion fruit, corn syrup, and coffee.

Story continues

Singapore-based pastry chef and confectionary artist Jenny Wong, twice named best pastry chef in Asia, is trying to make creations "without references"  that is, totally original and not based on what has come before. Judging from a number of her works shown on video, I'd say a major reference for her must have been Albert Adria, more than a decade ago, but never mind. Her incorporation of unexpected ingredients (like bamboo shoots marinated in mirin and soy and compressed into candy-like forms), her ideas of the relationship between pastry and fashion ("Why can't pastry have 'collections' like fashion?" she asked), and her chocolate games (one is a tic-tac-toe set in which Xs and Os are decided by whether or not you guess the flavor of each bonbon) show a lively imagination and great technical skill at work.

Andrew Wong (no relation) is arguably the most interesting Chinese chef in London, at his A. Wong in Pimlico. He undertook to educate his audience on the true seriousness and scope of Chinese cuisine ("It's recognized for being cheap, unskilled, and not particularly good," he proposed, "but I'm going to try to convince you of its beauty.") Chinese cooking is so good, he added, because his people have been at it for 4,000 years so have been able to get all the mistakes out of the way. There are vast areas of China where people eat noodles or steamed buns and never touch rice, he told the auditorium, and a third of the population of China is Muslim, something nobody realizes.

Wong then made little translucent circles of dough based on three starches  tapioca, potato, and wheat (basically the same recipe as for Play-Doh, he said)  flattening them with the side of a cleaver ("You can't put this through a pasta machine because it will stick"), then deftly filling them with seasoned chopped shrimp and forming them into pot-stickers. (A well-made pot-sticker, he revealed, should have 13 pleats, six on one side, seven on the other.) Next, Wong demonstrated his "very high-tech" means of drying pork belly: with a stand fan. Finally, he showed us how noodles are made in Lanzhou, in northwestern China, working the dough then forming it into a long rope and repeatedly banging the rope on his work surface, each time separating it into more and more strands  really an incredible display of ancient technique.

A key part of Madrid Fusion every year is Enofusion, a selection of hundreds of Spanish wines arrayed for casual appraisals and a series of more formal tastings built around individual grape varieties, producers, regions, or other themes, not exclusively Spanish. (Some wine-related products are also on display, like the curious Botella Beronesa, "More Than a Bottle," a new kind of wine container that is stackable, nestable  that is, the neck of one bottle fits neatly into the punt of another  and hermetically sealed and fashioned so that the cork remains in constant contact with the wine.)

One of the more interesting ranges of wines were those made from the airen grape in Castilla La Mancha in central Spain. Airen is a little-known grape in the international wine community, but it was once the most widely planted single cultivar in the world (it's now estimated to be No. 3)  a fecund, utilitarian variety that carpeted vast tracts of the Spanish interior and was turned into cheap everyday wine and distilled into low-grade brandy. Today, an increasing number of producers are treating it seriously and turning it into fragrant, well-rounded wines that should find favor among lovers of viura and verdejo. Cristo de la Vega's Yugo 2016, 100 percent airen, was particularly attractive, as aromatic as a torrontes but crisp and a little petillant. Sandoval No. 1 2016 was nice, too, a 50-50 blend of airen and verdejo, more restrained than the Yugo but with an attractive, steely elegance.

Some other random finds in the tasting areas (I avoided most chardonnays, cabernets, merlots, and  an increasingly large category in Spain  petit verdots to concentrate on more typical varieties): the mineral-tinged, fleshy La Sastreria 2015, 90 percent garnacha blanca, 10 percent chardonnay, from Carinena; the racy treixadura-based Priorato de Razamonde 2015 and the elegant, slightly flinty Gran Alanis 2015 (85 percent treixadura, 15 percent godello), both from Ribeiro; Avelino Vegas' very pretty pink Nicte 2016, an immensely flavorful and aromatic rose made from the prieto picudo grape in the Tierras de Leon region; Vega Tolosa Los Halcones Bobal 2013, from old vines in Manchuela, tart and peppery; the austere but multi-layered Bodegas Arraez Vivadon 2015 from the Valencian countryside, 85 percent bobal, the rest syrah and garnacha; Pagos del Moncayo Prados Collecion 2015, from Campo de Borja in Aragon, a rich, elegant garnacha; another garnacha, Pago de Ritos Valle de Ritos 2015 from Tierras de Madrid, young, supple, and peppery; and also from the Madrid area, Cien y Pico 2012, a dark, extracted, tannic, black-cherry-ish garnacha tintorera (the grape also called alicante bouschet).

With Argentina, the Philippines, Colombia, Singapore, and so many other international destinations represented, it is good to remember that we are in Spain here, and there are always plenty of Spanish chefs and other food and drink folk, both famous and less so, present  and one of the last programs of the day was devoted to "The 10 Dishes and Products That Define Spanish Cuisine." Conducted by suave Madrid Fusion president Jose Carlos Capel, the session revealed the results of more than two months of voting by Spaniards alerted via social media and asked to identify the foods they considered essential to their country's culinary identity.

The top 10 products, ranked from low to high, were: citrus fruits; beer; marzipan, turrones (nougat), and montecados (sugar cookies); shellfish; pimenton (smoked paprika); cheeses; red wine; saffron; extra-virgin olive oil; and jamon iberico de bellota (the fabulous ham from acorn-fed Iberian pigs). The definitive dishes, again from low to high: bacalao al pil pil (salt cod in an emulsion of its own juices); stewed oxtail; pulpo a feira (octopus cooked with potatoes in the Galician style); croquettes in all their variety, a tapas bar staple; fabada asturiana (a cassoulet-like dish of white beans and various forms of pork); roast suckling pig; cocido madrileno (the boiled dinner with chickpeas that exists in some form all over Spain); Andalusian gazpacho; paella valenciana; and (greeted by applause) tortilla de patata (also called tortilla espanola), the flat cake-like potato omelette that says "home cooking" to so many Spaniards.

The presentation finished with images of the tortilla and the ham side by side. Um, I thought, that sure looks like dinner.
Amy Schumer, Gloria Steinem, and Madonna at the Women's March on Washington on Jan. 21. (Photo: Getty Images)

Massive crowds of women across the country participated in various Womens Marches on Saturday to protest the election of Donald Trump, and now the 45th president has responded to their efforts.

Using his personal Twitter account  rather than the official @POTUS account  the 70-year-old business mogul questioned if the protesters had voted in Novembers election.

Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didnt these people vote? he wrote on Sunday morning. Celebs hurt cause badly.

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

Less than two hours later, Trump added a less fiery tweet that said he acknowledged citizens right to protest, a right protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy, he said. Even if I dont 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

Although Trump received the necessary amount of electoral votes needed to clinch the election, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote with 65.8 million votes on Nov. 8 while Trump obtained 63 million, according to CNN.

In the midst of the massive protests, which dwarfed Trumps inauguration crowd numbers according to crowd scientists, First Daughter Ivanka Trump shared a more unifying message  although she didnt address the protests directly.

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Very proud of my father @realdonaldtrump who will be a great President for all Americans, she captioned footage of him being sworn in on Instagram.

Very proud of my father @realdonaldtrump who will be a great President for all Americans. A video posted by Ivanka Trump (@ivankatrump) on Jan 21, 2017 at 8:12pm PST

Another #WomensMarch marcher spotted Joshua Kushner, asked if he was Jared's brother. He (reluctantly) admitted yes, said he was "observing" pic.twitter.com/2ppR0mWV6B

However, her brother-in-law Joshua Kushner was spotted at the event in the nations capital, where he told a marcher that he was observing.

Another #WomensMarch marcher spotted Joshua Kushner, asked if he was Jared's brother. He (reluctantly) admitted yes, said he was "observing" pic.twitter.com/2ppR0mWV6B  Jessica Sidman (@jsidman) January 22, 2017

Although he and his older brother Jared have been life-long Democrats, Jared will serve as a senior White House adviser to his father-in-law.
Photo credit: Getty

From Esquire

While 3 Doors Down was teaching Abe Lincoln a thing or two about America on Thursday night, the Mexican government announced the extradition of notorious drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the United States. Quickly, we learned the cocaine and heroin kingpin was already in the air on his way to New York City. He landed on Long Island and, according to The Los Angeles Times, traveled in a 13-car motorcade to perhaps the most no-joke jail available on U.S soil: Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Located just south of Chinatown, the facility is, by the Times' account, a fortress:

Built in 1975, the 12-story structure has slit-shaped windows with frosted glass that prevents prisoners from peering out at the busy city. A tunnel leads to the adjacent federal courthouse, allowing prisoners to be moved without seeing daylight, though it is unclear whether Guzman will ever pass through it since he is being tried across the East River in Brooklyn.

It has held high-profile suspects like John Gotti, Bernie Madoff, and terrorists Omar Abdel Rahman and Ramzi Yousef, along with countless organized crime and terrorism figures. Those notorious types were held in the "10 south wing," for prisoners who need to be segregated from the general population-as Guzman likely will.

Photo credit: Getty

The prison's harsh conditions are featured in a book on solitary confinement, Hell Is A Very Small Place, in which a former prisoner is quoted saying that in his cell, the bed, desk, and chair were all made of concrete. "The cells were the coldest places because the metallic sheets on the walls turned the cells into ice boxes, freezing us inside instead of insulating us from the outside weather, and food items would freeze if I kept them in some parts of my cell," said the prisoner, Uzair Paracha, a Pakistani convicted of assisting al Qaeda. "The summers made the cells into ovens."

New York attorney Joshua Dratel, who has defended terrorism suspects housed at the Center, did not mince words with the Times: "It is worse than Guantanamo. It is about as soul-negating existence as there is in this country in the federal system."

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"I assure you no tunnel will be built leading to the bathroom," said Angel Melendez, a Homeland Security agent, referencing Guzman's (alleged) daring escape from a Mexican federal prison in 2014-his second escape from such a facility. (In the first, he snuck out in a laundry cart. Cartel expert Don Winslow refuses to believe either story.) Prisoners have tried to escape the Center: In 1978, three prisoners did so successfully by sawing through the bars of their cell. Three years later, a hijacked sightseeing helicopter tried to scoop an inmate off the rooftop recreation area without success.

Photo credit: Getty

The conditions will be tough, but likely necessary, to house Guzman. Not only does he boast an (alleged) escape record, he is thought to be one of the most prolific drug traffickers and killers in North American criminal history. He faces 17 indictments in New York-where he was sent over the other states pressing charges against him, including California, Florida, Illinois, New Hampshire and Texas-and is thought to have transported 440,000 pounds of cocaine into the United States and to be responsible for an untold number of murders. It's estimated he made $14 billion in the process, which the U.S. is trying to seize as a penalty-along with a sentence of life in prison. The U.S. agreed to waive the death penalty, which Mexico opposes, to expedite the extradition.

It's unclear how long Guzman will call the Metropolitan Correctional Center home, but it's unlikely to be a pleasant stay.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

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Photo credit: Mike's Corner/Facebook

From Cosmopolitan

Indiana state senator Jack Sandlin has been trying to get rid of evidence that he shared a fat-shaming, Michelle Obama-dissing meme about the Women's March on Saturday, reports Select All.

Sandlin apprently shared the meme, which was first posted on Facebook by Mike's Corner, a right-wing page that frequently shares misogynist or racist imagery to its 180,000 followers.

Photo credit: Mike's Corner/Facebook

The meme, which references the historic size of Saturday's Women's March demonstrations and aims to negate former first lady Michelle Obama's achievements through her Let's Move! campaign, went up on Mike's Corner on Saturday, and it's since been shared over 360,000 times. Sandlin seems to have shared the photo on Sunday without adding any commentary, according to a screenshot captured and posted on Twitter. Facebook users, meanwhile, have been criticizing Sandlin in comments on his Facebook page.

Jack Sandlin is a member of the Indiana State Senate. This is what we're dealing with. pic.twitter.com/7ZW1bnibnN - whitney (@its_whitney) January 23, 2017

Sandlin later tried to explain what happened, writing another post on his Facebook page that has since been deleted. According to screenshots captured by Select All and IndyStar, Sandlin wrote, "Apparently there is an offensive post on Facebook that's attributed to me about women in Washington marching. Not sure how that ended up on my Facebook wall but that certainly does not reflect my opinion of women. People who know me will know that's not my view."

"I don't believe that I put it there," Sandlin told IndyStar. "There's always an outside chance that I could have hit something. I know others that have had stuff show up on their Facebook wall as well."



The Republican state senator is a former police officer and Army veteran who currently runs a private investigating firm. He is anti-abortion and a member of the NRA, according to Ballotpedia. Cosmopolitan.com was not able to reach him for comment.

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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.
These 11-month-old conjoined twins are doing well after being successfully separated in an intense, 21-hour surgery.

Read: Twins Conjoined at the Heart Are Separated in Miracle Surgery: 'The Outlook Is Extremely Optimistic'

Twin girls Ballenie and Bellanie Camacho are "in stable condition" and "doing very well" after more than 50 doctors, nurses and other medical staff of Maria Fareri Children's Hospital in Valhalla, New York, worked on separating the pair in a rare and complex procedure.

"At this point, the girls are doing very well," Dr. Samir Pandya, who was part of the surgical team, said in a press conference broadcast on Facebook Live.

Parents Laurilin Celadilla Marte and Marino Abel Camacho of Moa, Dominican Republic, were unaware their twin daughters were conjoined until after their birth on February 4, 2016.

"As a mother, we love our children no matter how they are, no matter what they have, we love them," the twins' mom Marte said at the press conference through a translator. "But it was difficult because their condition was not normal."

Ballenie and Bellanie were conjoined in the lower back, and they shared parts of their spinal cords, bladders, and reproductive systems.

According to physician-in-chief Dr. Michael Gewitz, the hospital became aware of the conjoined twins in the spring of last year, and doctors were able to do preliminary evaluations on the twins to see if they could be good candidates for treatment via teleconference.

Read: Conjoined Twins - Now Separated - Mark 2nd Birthday as Healthy Toddlers: 'So Much to Celebrate'

The family was then flown into the New York hospital for further evaluation by the end of summer, and doctors mapped out a course of action soon after.

"I knew it was going to be okay because we were given this opportunity to have this dream realized here," Marte said.

While the main separation surgery occurred last Tuesday into Wednesday, Dr. Whitney McBride, another leading surgeon on the case, explained doctors had performed many smaller operations leading up to the big separation, which doctors deemed a success.

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"While the separation is done and a major component of their recovery is under way, there is still a long way to go," McBride said.

He went on to explain the girls will need physical therapy for the foreseeable future, and Pandya said he expects to see lasting effects on their gastrointestinal tract, as well as in their reproductive organs.

Read: Formerly Conjoined Twins Josie and Teresita, 14, Reunite With Doctors Who Separated Them

"They're feeding well and thriving well," Pandya explained. "We'll have to see how they recover in the long term."

Doctors said they will continue to monitor the girls' recovery, but were not able to say when the family will be able to return home.

"Our family does not know how we can repay everyone with the happiness we've been given," Marte said.

Watch: Youngest Ever Conjoined Twins Are Successfully Separated at Just 8 Days Old

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PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands (AP)  At least 12 Haitian migrants drowned in the Turks & Caicos Islands after their small and crowded boat capsized near the British Caribbean territory, officials said Wednesday.

The majority of victims were female and were found near the northwest point of Providenciales island, police spokesman Keith Clarke told The Associated Press.

The boat was carrying 69 people, and officials said the U.S. Coast Guard is helping with an ongoing search for possible survivors.

"This is a tragic incident with significant loss of life," said Police Commissioner James Smith, who extended condolences to the victim's families.

Police said in a statement that they arrested a 23-year-old Haitian man who told them the single-engine boat left Haiti's north coast on Sunday and was carrying 50 men and 19 women. He said he swam to land after the boat struck a rock near the Turks & Caicos Islands early Tuesday and began to sink, police said.

Authorities said an unknown number of migrants made it to land.

The Turks & Caicos Islands are located between Haiti and the Bahamas and have long been a destination and smuggling route for Haitian migrants. Newly elected Turks & Caicos Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson pledged to crack down on this practice.

"Whilst we are saddened at this great loss of human life, measures must be put in place to protect persons from themselves, potential victims from human traffickers and our borders from breaches by illegal entrants," she said. "Firm policy positions will be taken and strict enforcement of the laws of these lands will follow."
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f361966%2f40f6b600-bf5d-4e8d-a65a-ffa185dfdc04

If you love unlikely friendships, have we got a story for you: Enter Norma Cook, an 89-year-old California woman, and her BFF, 31-year-old Chris Salvatore.

The pair met when he moved into the apartment complex in West Hollywood four years ago. She invited him in for a glass of champagne and theyve been inseparable ever since. Chris told People, I love her, shes my best friend. I would do anything for her."

the headband, the sass, thee Norma.  I love her. #myneighbornorma A photo posted by Chris Salvatore (@chrissalvatore) on Dec 20, 2016 at 3:50pm PST

Norma, an interior decorator who has had leukemia for 10 years, experienced a sharp decline in her health last year and spent two months in the hospital. After she was released she was given only a few months to live and needed around-the-clock care. Chris, an actor and musician, stepped into the role of her full-time caregiver.

Hes posted some of their adventures on social media and amassed a bit of a following using the hashtag #MyNeighborNorma.

When insurance would not cover the cost of her care, Salvatore called upon their online fans to help. In November, he set up a GoFundMe page aimed at raising $40,000 for his ailing pal. They exceeded their goal and have since raised it to $60,000 in hopes of extending Norma's time (who is still continuing to THRIVE! according to a recent update to the page).

Norma does, indeed, seem like the greatest neighbor ever. And Chris is pretty much a dream come trueI mean, he plays the keytar and starred in the gay sex comedy "Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat" for heavens sake. This story is almost too cute to be believed.

Yes, there is every chance that Salvatore is in it as much for his own publicity as he is for building up Normas bank account. But Norma, for her part, seems to be a willing participant who's getting a kick out of all this. So probably no need to start a #FreeNorma campaign just yet.

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In these very dark times, we could all stand to believe in the basic decency of our neighbors. So lets just ignore the shirt emblazoned with Chriss bulging bicep behind them in this video and instead delight in Normas sizable stuffed bear collection, OK?
Got lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows?

Doesnt quite have the same marketing zing as the traditional four-letter word for moo juice, but according to the Food and Drug Administration rule 21 CFR 131.110, that is the legal definition of milk.

But the definition should be upheld, according to 32 members of Congress  including six from Wisconsin  who recently sent a letter to U.S. Food and Drugs Administration Commissioner Robert Califf to crack down on almond-, coconut- and other plant-based fluids.

We strongly believe that the use of the term milk by manufacturers of plant-based products is misleading to consumers, harmful to the dairy industry and a violation of milks standard of identity, the letter states. We request that the Food and Drug Administration exercise its legal authority to investigate and take appropriate action against the manufacturers of these misbranded products.

Meanwhile in the Senate, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, has introduced the Defending Against Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, Milk and Cheese to Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday Act  DAIRY PRIDE Act  that would require pretty much the same thing.

I think she could have shortened the name of her legislation to the MILC Act  Make Imitation Lactate Contraband  for a little more punch.

So why the harassment of hemp and hazelnut and the assail of soy? Theres a lot at stake in the $36 billion national dairy industry and the $5 billion in Wisconsin dairy sales. And plant-based fluid is growing on consumers, with the letter stating sales grew by 250 percent in the past five years to more than $894.6 million  while milk sales fell 7 percent in 2015.

The legislators are asking the FDA to require plant-based products to adopt a name that does not include the word milk.

I am in full favor of this request. My bias comes from growing up on a dairy farm and consuming gallons and gallons of raw milk. We removed the cream from the top and drank our own version of skim. And theres no proof the lack of pasteurization had any effect on my brain cells, despite rumors to the contrary.

It doesnt seem fair that any product that didnt involve someone being forced to dodge manure-laden tails in order to obtain the lacteal secretion should be called milk. Simply pulverizing a pistachio with some water and putting it into a bottle seems unfair.

This is not the first time that udder secretions have battled imposters. In 1869, a French chemist concocted a spread made from beef tallow. He called it oleomargarine  coined from the Latin word oleum meaning beef fat and the Greek word margarite, meaning pearl, which probably was due to its white luster.

The original marketing slogan was got fat with that?

When the product landed in America, the war began. In order to make the wallpaper-paste product seem more palatable, margarine producers wanted to dye it a butter-like yellow. The color of butter  at least that from milk produced by grass-fed cows  comes from the plant carotene.

The dairy industry pushed for the passage of the federal Margarine Act in 1896, which resulted in taxes on margarine and stiff licensing fees for the oleo producers. Six states  including Wisconsin  banned the sales or use of colored margarine.

Wisconsin Sen. Joseph Quarles defended his dairy states honor, according to a National Geographic article.

I want butter that has the natural aroma of life and health, he said. I decline to accept as a substitute caul fat, matured under the chill of death, blended with vegetable oils and flavored by chemical tricks.

Wow. I could have partied with that guy.

Wisconsin held strong until 1967, when it became the last state to permit colored margarine. Even today its the law in Wisconsin that restaurants must serve butter unless a customer requests margarine.

So far the FDA has not responded to the legislator letter. Similar milk-definition efforts have been launched in recent years as well. None apparently has risen to the top.

Aside from nut farmers objections, theres another problem with the current milk definition that smacks of discrimination.

What about lacteal secretions from ovines and caprines?

Ewe better believe some would call for a doe investigation into that oversight.
Nuclear weapons remain the most powerful weapons on the planet and how President Donald Trumps team manages nuclear issues is critical to our security. These are hard challenges; none were perfectly addressed under President Obamas leadership. But we made them a priority from day one. Whether or not the new team puts them at the top of the to-do list, here are five issues that will demand their attention before too long.

1. Dealing with a nuclear North Korea. This is a hard problem. I know. Ive been working on it since the early 1990s, including when I was the U.S. government lead monitor at the Yongbyon nuclear facility in 1995-1996. Despite Americas best efforts, North Koreas nuclear and missile programs could soon threaten the United States directly. Having crossed the nuclear threshold in the early 1990s, North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un has made clear possession of nuclear capabilities and advancement of missile technology are his definition of power and control. He will not willingly give them up. President Trump drew an early red line Tweeting that a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) flight wont happen, practically daring Kim to test the new U.S. leadership. How President Trumps national security team decides to address this creeping crisis  through deterrence, containment, enhanced pressure, or even military prevention  while reassuring our critical allies, South Korea and Japan, will be a key challenge. Kim will want their answer sooner than they think.

2. Nuclear relations with Russia. It remains unclear how President Trump intends to deal with Russias aggression in Europe and nuclear saber-rattling. During the final years of Obamas term, we were increasingly concerned that any crisis with Moscow could spiral out of control and lead to early use of nuclear weapons by Russia. Putins paranoia that our goal was regime change was that strong. Why do you think we worked so hard to avoid a military accident over the skies of Syria? Softer words between Presidents Trump and Putin are nice but wont ease Moscows fear that Washington seeks an ability to conduct a splendid first-strike that could eliminate most Russian nuclear missiles using advanced conventional weapons, leaving only handful to be mopped up by increasingly capable missile defense. How the White House navigates its desire to advance missile defense and military spending while defusing Russian nuclear fears also remains to be seen.

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3. The nuclear future of Iran. Republicans made no secret of their hatred for the nuclear deal with Iran known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. They may as well have called it ObamaDeal. Of course, now that we are out of office those who demanded the deal be killed dont think it quite so bad. In reality, if the JCPOA is implemented it will prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon for decades, if not permanently. But the agreement requires constant care and feeding. And we have seen Republicans torpedo similar effective nonproliferation agreements before. The 1994 Agreed Framework with North Korea  also negotiated by a democratic president and hated by GOP  froze that countrys nuclear program for 8 years, until Newt Gingrichs Congress froze funds to implement the deal. Instead of begging for a new deal, North Korea developed new nuclear facilities and was off to the races. Repeating this death by 1,000 cuts with Iran would be the definition of insanity  doing the same but expecting a different result. Whether President Trumps team will have their heart in preserving the JCPOA remains to be seen, but allowing it to collapse has predictable results.

4. Preventing nuclear terrorism. Among the many successes of the Obama administration, perhaps none is as underappreciated as the Nuclear Security Summit process. Over eight years, four summits and countless hours of hard, under-the-radar work, enough nuclear material for hundreds of weapons from dozens of countries is no longer at risk of theft by nuclear terrorists. But there remain many caches of nuclear stocks in places where it should not be allowed to remain. How Trump convinces these states with nuclear materials to comply with global standards and give up their goods is a key question. How he does it when he seems to also be willing to undermine our relations with allies and global partners is a better question.

5. Walking the razors edge on disarmament. How does the old adage go? You catch more nuclear diplomats with honey than with vinegar? There are an increasing number of countries that have grown impatient with the pace of nuclear disarmament  and for some reason. Several of these states have launched U.N.-sponsored negotiations to create a legally binding global ban on nuclear weapons. Now if the Trump team was irritated at the U.N. before, wait until they hear about this! But this centrist approach  to defend the step-by-step pace of disarmament that has reduced the number of U.S. nuclear weapons to a 50 year low  may not be popular with the Ban crowd, or with key actors in the new administration, but it has been essential to keeping wavering U.S. allies in Japan, Germany, Holland, and others from backing the ban movement. Losing allied states to the dangerous extreme of a global ban treaty could put the existing nonproliferation regime under pressure and weaken the norms at the very moment we need them most. How we get states like India, Pakistan, China, and North Korea to show nuclear restraint when we are throwing the old rules under the bus will be a pretty dicey proposition.

* * *

There are too many ways in which nuclear weapon issues can go sideways. Accidents, mistakes, conflicts that get out of control  these can happen at any time, and no administration is ever fully prepared. But these five issues are real and persistent and will test the new team soon. Getting out of the gate cleanly  something they have not been able to do on foreign policy  is essential. Without it, the new team can find themselves playing Whac-a-mole with nuclear weapons. Not a great way to make America great again.

Photo credit: CHUNG SUNG-JUN/Getty Image
Embracing the great outdoors can be revitalizing. After all, taking in awe-inspiring scenery along classic routes can help you unwind, recharge and boost your overall well-being and connectivity to the world at large. So, if you're ready to admire spectacular landscapes across the country, get your hiking gear, sketch pad and walking stick in gear and pack up the car for a road trip to remember.

[See: 11 Can't-Miss Hiking Trails in the USA.]

The Blue Ridge Parkway

Take a week to drive 469 miles along this winding and scenic mountain range named for its misty blue color. Connected by two national parks -- Shenandoah National Park and Great Smoky Mountains National Park -- the parkway stretches from Front Royal, Virginia to Cherokee, North Carolina. In Front Royal, make sure to check out the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center to hike along part of the parkway, and visit Fox Hollow and Snead farm for an exhilarating adventure. At Shenandoah National Park, which is just west of the District of Columbia, you'll find 500 trails filled with scenic paths and thick forests. Plus, there are many unique cabins, restaurants and antique shops along the route. Many people use this parkway to visit other major attractions, but the views and natural sights (including more than 1,400 known species of plants) of the Blue Ridge Parkway merit a trip all on their own.

The Loneliest Road (Route 50)

Despite its melancholy name, the Loneliest Road in America is an awe-inspiring route for bonafide nature lovers. Set off on a wild adventure that stretches from Sacramento, California, to Ocean City, Maryland. Driving across the country, you'll experience diverse weather conditions and beautiful scenery. This road trip weaves through brilliant mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevada, Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. Camp out and stargaze in iconic national parks like the Great Basin National Park in Nevada, where you can spot thousands of stars on a clear night and catch jaw-dropping views of the Milky Way.

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[See: 10 Stops to Make on a Vermont Road Trip.]

Route 66

This scenic stretch is perfect for car lovers and nature lovers, alike. The drive begins in Pontiac, Illinois, where the Route 66 Association Hall of Fame and Museum and the Pontiac Oakland Auto Museum pay tribute to the classic brand. However, the backdrops along Route 66, all the way from Illinois to California, are especially spectacular. You'll pass by legendary natural wonders, such as the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River and the Black Mountains. This nostalgic route is also legendary for its link to pop culture. It's been featured in iconic poems, rock songs, television series and even John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Grapes of Wrath."

The Great River Road

Follow the might of the Mississippi River as it winds north from Minnesota and south to Louisiana. You'll cover 3,000 miles through 10 states, along with plenty of off-the-beaten-path towns. Another iconic road trip that taps into national nostalgia, this route will take you to interesting heights and takes about 10 days to complete. Wisconsin and Iowa offer striking and hilly terrain, and the Delta region spanning Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans yields unforgettable views. If you're a history aficionado, you won't want to skip stopping in Vicksburg, Mississippi, which features stories attractions like the Vicksburg National Military Park, along with a myriad of shops and restaurants. If you make it to New Orleans, toast a well-traveled road trip with the world's first mixed drink -- the Sazerac, which was first created in the Crescent City.

[See: 6 Amazing All-American Road Trips to Take This Summer.]

The Overseas Highway (Route 1)

The Overseas Highway, a 113-mile drive along Route 1 connecting the Florida Keys offers the ultimate road trip for nature lovers and wildlife enthusiasts, alike. The highway was historically developed for the Florida East Coast Railway in 1912, but it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1935. As a result, road construction turned the route into a beautiful, winding highway. This trip only takes a few hours, spanning from Miami to Key West, Florida. Make sure to carve out some stops for fishing, eating freshly caught seafood, enjoying a picnic and catching beautiful sunsets along the way. And don't skip stretching your legs and taking in spectacular scenery at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Seven Mile Bridge and Bahia Honda State Park.

Kacey Mya is a travel and lifestyle blogger for The Drifter Collective, an eclectic lifestyle blog that expresses various forms of style through the influence of culture and the world around us. Kacey graduated with a degree in Communications while working for a lifestyle magazine. She has been able to fully embrace herself with the knowledge of nature, the power of exploring other locations and cultures, all while portraying her love for the world around her through her visually pleasing, culturally embracing and inspiring posts. You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.
Thanks to longer days -- and sub-100-degree temperatures -- spring in Las Vegas is a peak time for house hunting. But that doesn't mean putting your house on the market once the weather starts to warm is a guaranteed sale.

To help you sell quickly at the best price, U.S. News connected with some of Las Vegas' top real estate agents, as identified by Agent Explore, a real estate technology company (and a U.S. News partner), to bring you five things you can do to make your property more competitive.

[Read: 4 Ways to Sell Your Las Vegas Home Fast.]

Get the price right.

Even before a new countertop or a freshly cleaned carpet, a buyer will first notice the property's price, so it's important to get it right. Your real estate agent will run a report to help you understand what comparable homes in your area are selling for to ensure your price is in line with the market.

Real estate agent Deven Carlock with Synergy Sotheby's International Realty recommends another approach: appraise before you list. Usually, the official appraisal happens after the house is under contract, and the buyer pays for it. But Carlock suggests the seller pay for an appraisal (the cost depends on square footage but starts around $400) before even listing the property. "That way you cut out the guessing game," he says. Typically, a bank will only lend a percentage of the appraised value, often 80 percent, so getting one upfront could reduce the risk of your buyer backing out.

Increase the curb appeal.

Curb appeal factors heavily into whether a buyer decides to view a home. "A great thing to do that is low-cost and where you'll yield your highest return is landscaping," Carlock says. Those types of fixes don't necessarily require help from a professional. Do-it-yourself projects such as adding color with flowers, clearing out dead foliage, power-washing the driveway and even putting a fresh coat of paint on the front door could be enough to increase buyers' interest in your property.

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Declutter the house.

Buyers are attracted to spacious homes they can imagine themselves living in, but clutter can distract from that vision. You may love your hot pink toaster, but you want buyers focused on the expansive counter space. Plus, because there is a large inventory of new homes on the market in Vegas, you want to do everything you can to make your home feel like a model home.

"The new home market increased by 50 percent last year as far as sales go, so that is a true competitive issue for the resale market," says Corey Geib of Re/Max Benchmark Realty. To be competitive, sellers should scale down, he says. "Anything you don't absolutely have to have to live your daily life, pack it and store it now." As Geib tells his clients, you will be packing it up anyway if all goes well.

[Read: Planning to Put Your Home on the Market This Spring? How to Prepare Now.]

Rinse and repair. Repeat until ready.

Experts agree that making your house feel clean and new will go a long way toward selling your home quickly and at the best price. "Realistically, it comes down to keeping the macaroni and cheese off the stove when it's time to show," Geib says. "If a house is kept clean and shows nicely, you will be competitive."

Carlock explains, "Repairs, repairs, repairs. Any little thing that needs to be fixed or replaced, maybe a door hinge or a squeaky window, whatever it may be, fix it. And, touch up paint -- hit those corners and those edges, maybe where the dog brushes up against the wall."

Invest in the right upgrades.

With so many upgrades you could make to your home -- from installing new laminate floors to remodeling the kitchen -- it's best to focus on the improvements most likely to yield a return.

Neutralizing the paint scheme is good place to start, but even with neutrals, there are trends. Lately, the trend is gray. "If you walk into any new home or any model home, they will have a lot of grays. You also see it in home magazines," Carlock says. As a result, buyers like homes with gray walls and accents, so if your budget has room for paint, go gray.

Updating a home's counters also can pay off for sellers, Geib says. "Last year in three different instances, I had people put in granite countertops, and it ended up being cost-effective. We sold all of those homes relatively quickly because it was something the neighbors didn't have," Geib says. He adds that if you can upgrade your countertops for less than $3,000, it's worth the investment.

[Read: 100 Best Places to Live in the USA.]

But, if all this seems like too much to accomplish before spring, don't fret. "The only time we're really slow is the second week of December through the end of the year," Geib says. "Other than that, Las Vegas does not get affected by Mother Nature too much, so we're pretty much an 11-month market."

Looking for a real estate agent in Las Vegas? U.S. News' Find an Agent tool can match you with the person who's most qualified for the job.

Misti Yang is a freelance writer and public speaking professor in Las Vegas. From stolen HVAC units days before closing on her home in Las Vegas to a faulty title on the home she sold in Atlanta, Yang understands the challenges of buying and selling a home. Yang previously wrote Yelp's weekly newsletter for Las Vegas and continues to pen stories about food and travel. You can visit her website and connect with her on Twitter.
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong has been called the worlds richest doctor. He might soon be among its most influential doctors, too, as sources tell STAT he is pitching himself to the Trump administration as a sort of health care czar.

If he gets the job, it will be just the latest line on his long, colorful resume. Here, six things to know about the man who wants to remake the American health care system.

1. He likes the limelight

Soon-Shiong, 64, does not mince words when talking about how he plans to save the world. He has declared that he will win the war on cancer. He even used to tweet at the handle @SolveHealthCare.

And Soon-Shiong  who might be the wealthiest man in Los Angeles  has considerable star power: Several employee reviews on Glassdoor mention frequent celebrity sightings at his Los Angeles-area companies. He gets around on a private plane, where he sometimes conducts meetings at 30,000 feet, one former employee told STAT last year. Unlike most biopharma CEOs, hes employed a personal bodyguard for years.

Soon-Shiong may be palling around with Trump these days, but this isnt his first foray into the political sphere. He worked with the Obama administration to increase awareness about cancer. And last May, Soon-Shiong joined former Vice President Joe Biden  and the Pope  at a star-studded conference on cancer and regenerative medicine.

Oh, and his wife used to be on MacGyver.

2. He can be divisive

Soon-Shiong started his career as a pioneering transplant surgeon. But he now has a reputation for talking more than doing. Every time I hear his name uttered by an academic oncologist, its with an eye roll, Dr. Vinay Prasad, an oncologist at Oregon Health and Science University, told STAT late last year. If you asked a dozen oncologists what they think of him, his general reputation is that of a shameless self-promoter.

Consider, also, his oft-cited claim that one of his companies could use supercomputers to analyze a genome in 47 seconds, far outstripping many other industry leaders. That is technically the average speed, but it doesnt give the full picture: Forbes reporter Matthew Herper described the claim as a little like expecting McDonalds to give you 800 Happy Meals the moment you pull up to the drive-through because McDonalds serves 800 burgers a second worldwide.

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Soon-Shiong is represented by an elaborate web of public relations professionals to control his image, but the messaging doesnt always go to plan. The rollout of his much-touted Cancer MoonShot 2020 last year was quite chaotic; the PR team even bungled the list of pharma companies that had signed up as partners. Either by accident or by design, the name itself was confusing, too: Biden announced a federal Cancer Moonshot right around the same time.

Adding an odd little twist to the story, it turns out that the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has had its own Cancer Moonshot for years. Its now suing Soon-Shiong and his businesses for having willfully, intentionally, and/or knowingly infringed or otherwise violated the trademark.

Read more: Billionaire doctor to take another of his mysterious companies public

3. His business iscomplicated

The core of Soon-Shiongs enterprise is called NantWorks, from which at least 10 interconnected biotech companies have grown. Each has raised hundreds of millions of dollars, and each tends to make deals with other firms under Soon-Shiongs umbrella.

But not one has successfully developed a drug, and investor enthusiasm has waned.

NantKwest, the first to go public, raised more than $200 million in a 2015 initial public offering, but its valuation has plummeted in the ensuing year. Soon-Shiong repeatedly delayed plans to take public NantHealth, which developed a diagnostic technology that appears to be the anchor of much of the Nant empire. The firm finally made its Wall Street debut last year, on a tight deadline  if it had waited a few weeks more, one of its biggest investors would have had the legal right to bail on the company. It has since lost more than 30 percent of its value.

But Soon-Shiong personally has done well. In 2015, NantKwest paid him more than $148 million in stock and options, and he still owns a roughly 50 percent share of the company. He also owns about 57 percent of NantHealth, according to a regulatory filing, a stake worth more than $500 million.

All told, Bloomberg estimates hes worth $8.8 billion.

And Soon-Shiong says the Nant empire is still growing. In June, he promised two more IPOs, for NantBiosciences and NantOmics. Those offerings have yet to materialize.

4. Hes backed by some unusual investors

Most health care entrepreneurs have a hard enough time securing financing from specialist investors. But Soon-Shiong has the star power to attract funding from sources who usually dont invest in health-care companies.

Case in point: The sovereign wealth fund of Kuwait in 2014 poured a total of $250 million into NantHealth, securing at least 10 percent ownership of the company. The head of the countrys investment authority reportedly decided to invest after being impressed by Soon-Shiong during in meeting in California.

Another unconventional source of Soon-Shiongs funding: the telecom industry. Verizon Communications invested in NantHealth in 2012, and BlackBerry bought a minority stake in 2014. Soon-Shiong has also partnered with Vodaphone and with AT&T on health technology projects.

Read more: The worlds richest doctor just got a very rich payout

5. His tastes are certainly diverse

Soon-Shiongs interests stretch well beyond traditional health care and pharmaceuticals.

In the past year, hes gained a substantial stake in the news business: Soon-Shiong now owns about 16 percent of the shares in tronc, the oddly named publisher of the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and other newspapers.

Soon-Shiong has grand plans for the news biz as well  saying that its time to bring the legacy publishing business into the modern era. He wants to incorporate technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence into journalism.

Hes been a Lakers fan since the 1980s, and now holds a 4.5 percent stake in the NBA team. Hes often seen sitting courtside during games at the Staples Center.

Then theres his take on more alternative medicines: Hes been an avid proponent of the medicinal qualities of cannabis  telling Larry King that theres great validity in medical marijuana. Former Sony CEO Michael Lynton even corresponded with Soon-Shiong on the subject, as we know courtesy of WikiLeaks, which published emails indicating the two moguls set up a time to talk about Lyntons idea for a device that could monitor marijuana use while driving.

As for politics, while he called it an incredible honor to dine with Trump shortly after the election, Soon-Shiongs political contributions have skewed heavily toward the Democratic Party, including $50,000 in donations to Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign and joint fundraising committee.

6. He was involved in one of the earliest drug pricing controversies

It seems a little quaint now: More than 10 years ago, Soon-Shiongs signature cancer drug, Abraxane, came under fire for being too costly. The medical community was outraged at Abraxanes $4,200 price tag, describing the drug as old wine in a new bottle because its an updated version of the long-used chemotherapy drug paclitaxel. Of course, considering the pricing of cancer drugs today, thats practically a bargain.

Thanks to the commercial success of Abraxane, Celgene bought Soon-Shiongs company, Abraxis, for a stunning $2.9 billion. Thats where he got most of his wealth.




On Tuesdays Conan, Aaron Paul promoted his show The Path and revealed that he has a hair-trigger gag reflex. He said a snake used on set let itself go on him, causing him to dry heave.

That got him into trouble with his co-star Christian Bale on the set of Exodus: Gods and Kings. The camels and horses were spooked during the scene in which Moses parts the Red Sea, so they did what many animals do when theyre frightened. Paul recounted, We were shooting in this little cove for two solid days. It was a toilet bowl. It was disgusting. Anytime we would say cut Im walking back with the horses and dry heaving, and Christians laughing at me.

Conan airs weeknights at 11 p.m. on TBS.

Watch: Triumph the Insult Comic Dog roasts the Trump inauguration:

Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram  or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Cynthia LuCiette, on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
In deep-red Kentucky, a reproductive-rights group is urging Democratic state legislators to introduce a resolution that declares, in a very blue-state manner: abortion is health care.

Abortion shall be recognized as an essential component of womens health care, the model legislation reads.

In Republican-dominated Arizona, meanwhile, State Senator Katie Hobbs plans to introduce a bill that would allow more insurance plans to cover abortions and would help rape victims access emergency contraceptives. The measure is another brainchild of the same reproductive-rights group, the Public Leadership Institute.

The Institute hopes to see introductions of these pro-choice and pro-contraception billsmany of them authored with PLIs helpin 18 states in the coming weeks. It and other pro-choice groups are steeling themselves against a federal government thats solidly pro-life. The majority-Republican Congress hopes to de-fund Planned Parenthood, President Donald Trump has said women who get abortions should be punished (he later walked it back), and Trump is expected to appoint a pro-life conservative justice to the Supreme Court soon.

Recommended: On Pitying Melania

In response, pro-choice groups are looking to the statesand mirroring their opponents, who have passed some 300 restrictions on abortion in the states in the past five years.

The [pro-life] opponents are engaging in some incredibly distasteful behavior to try to achieve their means, said Gloria Totten, the founder of the Public Leadership Institute. We have to arm progressive policymakers with bills that will help mainstream some of these issues. We are not going to let you cut this service off, and marginalize and villainize [abortion] and the women who decide to have this procedure.

Abortion foes have long used bills pre-written by lobby groups to enact abortion restrictions in the states. To name just one example, in 2015 Arkansas enacted HB 1578, based on Americans United for Lifes Womens Right to Know Act, which requires doctors performing abortions to describe the probable anatomical and physiological characteristics of the unborn child.

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Just like Americans United for Life, the Public Leadership Institute uses a playbook of model pro-choice bills, which it hands over to advocacy groups and legislators. Some of their ideas strike aggressively at the other side. One bill would force crisis pregnancy centers to state plainly that they dont provide abortions or other medical servicesa blow to the organizations, many of which attempt to imitate abortion providers in an effort to persuade women to keep their babies.

Recommended: The Doomsday Clock Issues Its Most Dire Warning Since the Cold War

Americans United for Life spokeswoman Kristi Hamrick acknowledged the similarity between the two, saying via email, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, meaning that pro-life legislators and advocates nationwide should be flattered by the abortion industry's backhanded acknowledgment that protecting life at the state level has been effective.

Nan Little Kirkpatrick, from the Texas Equal Access abortion fund in Dallas, said PLIs help was instrumental for her tiny, mostly volunteer staff. I know how to get the people out, but writing a resolution is not really in my wheelhouse, she said. PLI said it wants to get the Abortion is Health Care resolution introduced in Texas, as well.

In Minnesota, Representative Erin Murphy on Monday introduced the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act, which would enshrine insurance coverage of birth control in state law. Murphy said she worries the Affordable Care Act will be repealed by the Trump administration, taking the laws free access to birth control with it. (The contraceptive bill is not from PLIs playbook. However, PLI believes Minnesota lawmakers will introduce another of its bills this month.)

PLI and other pro-choice groups, Murphy said, bring together the legal research, policy work, and on-the-ground strategies and organizing in order to move people to support legislation like this. A coalition of abortion-rights groups lobbied for the introduction of a similar contraception-coverage bill in New York recently.

Recommended: Thanks to Trump, Scientists Are Planning to Run for Office

In addition to PLIs work, the Center for Reproductive Rights, famous for litigating the Whole Womans Health Supreme Court case that struck down abortion restrictions in Texas last year, is convening a gathering of progressive state legislators this June to discuss pro-choice legislation. In Virginia, the group pushed for the Whole Womans Health Act, which prohibits the enforcement of any abortion restriction that doesnt have a legitimate health benefit.

Leaders from CRR and PLI said their opponents had beat them to the state-by-state proactive legislation game. After abortion was legalized under Roe v. Wade, pro-choice groups at first celebrated, then remained constantly on the defensive, fighting off abortion restrictions in courts. Its a little bit of a frog in boiling water, said Kelly Baden, the interim senior director of U.S. policy and advocacy at CRR. We had the right to abortion, so we stepped back and our opponents took that as a sign to start organizing at the state and local level.

Baden and Totten realize many of their bills will face an uphill battle in the current political climate. But they hope that with each new bill introduction, the idea of radically pro-choice policies will seem more normal. The point is to build a movement that supports the effort, Baden said. People need something to rally for, and not just to rail against.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
ROME (Reuters) - Italian magistrates have opened an investigation after video was posted on the Internet showing an African man drowning in Venice's Grand Canal as onlookers watched from nearby boats, local media said on Wednesday. At least three life rings were thrown into the water near the man, who was named as Pateh Sabally, a 22-year-old Gambian, but he did not appear to reach for them, raising speculation he wanted to commit suicide. No-one jumped in to help him. Police said the incident happened on Sunday. A video recording shown on various news websites appeared to pick up some bystanders yelling at the flailing man. "He is stupid. He wants to die," says one person. More than 181,000 migrants arrived in Italy by boat in 2016, most of them from sub-Saharan Africa, an increase of almost 18 percent compared with 2015. Italian media said Sabally had residency papers for Italy. (Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Catherine Evans)
Al-Shabab claims responsibility for deadly hotel attack in Mogadishu, Somalia A Somali government soldier walks near the scene of an explosion in front of Dayah hotel in Somalias capital Mogadishu, January 25, 2017. (REUTERS/Feisal Omar)

At least eight people were dead and 14 injured Wednesday as Somali security forces ended a siege by extremist fighters who stormed a hotel in the capital, police said.

Four al-Shabab attackers were also killed in the attack on Dayah hotel, which is often frequented by government officials, said Col. Mohamoud Abdi, a senior police officer.

Survivors described chaotic scenes in which hotel residents hid under beds and others jumped out of windows of the four-story building to escape the attackers.

They kicked down room doors and at some point posed themselves as rescue teams by telling those inside to come out (only) to kill them, said Hassan Nur, a traditional Somali elder.

He said two well-known clan elders were among those killed.

The assault on the hotel started when a suicide car bomb exploded at its gates. A second explosion soon followed.

Dozens of people, including lawmakers, were thought to have been staying at the hotel at the time of the morning attack, said Capt. Mohamed Hussein.

A nearby shopping center caught fire and dozens of people helped save goods from the flames.

Somalias homegrown Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack via its online radio, Andalus, saying its fighters succeeded in entering the hotel.

Al-Shabab frequently targets hotels and other public places often visited by government officials and foreigners. Al-Qaidas East African affiliate is fighting to impose a strict version of Islam in this Horn of Africa nation. (AP)

See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr.
By Ellen Francis and Lisa Barrington BEIRUT (Reuters) - Nur Hasan al Faraj's already slim hopes of a new life in the United States have all but died since she heard that President Donald Trump would temporarily ban refugees coming from some Muslim states. Her flight from the civil war in Syria has taken her only as far as the southern Turkish city of Hatay near the border with her homeland. Like other Syrians, Iraqis and Yemenis who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday, Faraj was alarmed by media reports that Trump will impose a temporary ban on most refugees and suspend visas for citizens of Syria and six other countries. The reports have heightened fears that a new era of hostility from the West is dawning, she and other refugees said. "This reflects the hateful point of view of America, it reflects enmity, in fact it reflected enmity to all humanity," Faraj said outside an immigration office in Hatay where dozens of refugees were queuing in the hope of obtaining a Turkish residence permit. Asked if she would like to go to the United States, Faraj said: "If there had been such a possibility before, yes, I would like to have gone. But now, after Trump has come, no, I think I will never go" Faraj, who wore a brightly colored headscarf and black coat, said she hoped relatives who have already reached the United States would return "because staying there would be a terrible thing". Abdulhalim Bekro, a Syrian man who stood nearby, was also concerned by what he depicted as a worsening mood against refugees in the United States. "Everyone in the world knows that this decision contains hatred. This hatred is not limited to seven countries," he said. "I definitely do not think of going (to the United States), not under Trump's administration, nor the previous, because they are all of the same mentality." DIVIDED FAMILIES Before becoming president, Trump proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, which he said would protect Americans from jihadist attacks. He later said the focus would be placed on restrictions on countries whose migrants could pose a threat, rather than a ban on those of a specific religion. Such moves could affect millions of refugees fleeing civil wars and political or religious oppression. "I was hoping God would let me see my sister again. But now the situation became very difficult. Certainly this decision is not at all humane," said Barsha, a Syrian refugee in Lebanon whose sister now lives in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Holders of passports from the seven countries affected already face severe restrictions on travel to the United States. "It was difficult in the first place, and now Trump is in power it has become impossible," said Abdulhamid Zughbi, a Syrian refugee in Lebanon. One Iraqi refugee, an engineer living in the Burj al-Barajneh camp in Lebanon, said his application to join his parents in the United States was still under consideration but that he now expected it would be rejected. The United States has taken about 12,000 Syrian refugees compared to 2.8 million who are now in Turkey, approximately a million in Lebanon and 650,000 in Jordan. More than 650,000 Syrians have arrived in Europe and requested asylum, mostly in Germany and Sweden, EU figures show. The perceived difficulty of reaching the United States, including a long visa application process that involves extensive interviews and paperwork, has dissuaded many Syrians and people from other Middle East from even seeking to do so. Islamist attacks in Europe and the United States, mostly carried out by Muslims already resident in the West, has boosted support among Americans for Trump's position. But some Syrian refugees said Trump's stance had reinforced the impression among them that he is opposed to Muslims. They disputed the idea that Syrian refugees posed a militant threat. "Trump's pretext is a fear that there could be terrorists among migrants. This is a lie," said Rami Halloum, another refugee in Lebanon. (Additional reporting by Maher Chmaytelli in Baghdad, Noah Browning in Dubai, Yesim Dikmen in Istanbul, Tom Perry in Beirut and Reuters TV reporters in Lebanon, Writing By Angus McDowall, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
The state of our state is strong.

More people were employed in Wisconsin last year than at any point in the history of our great state. Unemployment levels are the lowest in more than 15 years. And the percentage of people working in Wisconsin is one of the highest of any state in the country.

This begs the question, Are the people of Wisconsin better off than we were six years ago? The answer is a resounding yes.

It may seem hard to believe now, but during the four years before we took office, Wisconsin had lost more than 133,000 jobs and the unemployment rate peaked at 9.2 percent.

Today, weve more than recovered the jobs that departed during the recession,wages are up, and more than 50,000 new businesses have been created. In fact, our biggest challenge is not creating jobs, but finding people to fill them. We went from a focus on jobs, jobs, jobs to talking about workforce, workforce, workforce. This is my top priority for 2017 and beyond.

We are working and winning in Wisconsin.

In addition to a growing economy, I am pleased to note that our finances are stable. We finished the fiscal year, yet again, with a surplus. Our rainy day fund is 165 times bigger now than it was when we first took office, and Wisconsin has the fourth lowest overall long-term debt obligation of any state in the country.

Getting our finances under control allows us to reduce the burden on the hard-working taxpayers. Since taking office, weve cut taxes by more than $4.7 billion. That means a cumulative income tax reduction of $1,159 for a typical family.

We also cut property taxes. Since December of 2010, the cumulative reduction is $426 for a median-valued home. In the decade before we took office, property taxes went up 27 percent. If that trend had continued, the difference is a savings of $1,700. Thats real money.

Just as I promised when running for re-election, property and income taxes will be lower in 2018 than they were in 2010.

Throughout the past year, I held listening sessions in every county to hear about where citizens would like the state to be in 20 years. Several major issues came out of these listening sessions. Student success, accountable government, and rewarding work were consistent themes. These areas will be the focus of our state budget.

As promised, we will provide a significant increase in funding for public education. We will also help rural schools that have unique challenges such as transportation costs, broadband access, and declining enrollment.

College affordability was also a major issue at our listening sessions. Over the past four years, we froze instate tuition for all undergraduates at University of Wisconsin (UW) campuses. Compared to the previous trend, a typical student saves more than $6,300 over four years. We will go even further as we will actually cut tuition. It will be paid for in the state budget and we will add more resources to the UW System.

Access to high speed and reliable internet service is something we hear about repeatedly throughout the state. Thats why I am proposing the state invest $35.5 million more to expand our broadband access grant program and for our efforts to help upgrade technology and train teachers from small and rural school districts. That would bring our total investment to $52 million to help connect everyone in the state.

On transportation, we will provide local governments with the largest increase in transportation aids since the 1990s. They can use these funds to fix roads and bridges and potholes in their communities. We will also provide more money for state highway rehabilitation than ever before.

We can do all of this without a gas tax or vehicle registration fee increase. I will keep the promise I made to the voters in the last election. Whether you agree with me or not, I hope you can respect that I will keep my word. We did not get elected by the people of Wisconsin to raise taxes.

As mentioned, more people are working than ever before in our state. Our schools continue to be some of the best in the country. The UW just went up in another ranking. Our improvement in the tax climate is one of the best in the nation. Health care systems in our state are ranked in the top three in the country. And our farmers continue to grow and produce some of the best food on the planet. Heck, we just won the gold medal for the best cheese in the world.

Lets face it. There is plenty to celebrate in Wisconsin.

The state of our state is strong. Wisconsins future is bright. But were not done yet. There is more work for us to do. Together, we can move Wisconsin forward.
British Vogue Editor Alexandra Shulman is stepping down from her position at the fashion publication.

Shulman will leave the magazine this June, after 25 years at its helm, reports Vogue.co.uk.

"It was difficult to decide to leave but 25 years is a very long time and I am tremendously excited that I will now look forward into a different future," Shulman said. "But I know that nothing will be quite like the years I have spent at Vogue."

Shulman first joined the UK fashion bible in 1988, before being made Editor in 1992. She previously worked at Tatler and GQ. A successor to the role has yet to be announced.
New York (AFP) - Butch Trucks, one of two drummers for The Allman Brothers Band who brought a steady, powerful rhythmic backdrop to their hit Southern rock, has died, the group said Wednesday. He was 69.

A band statement said Trucks died Tuesday in West Palm Beach, Florida, without specifying a cause of death. He left behind a wife and four children.

Founded in 1969 in the northern Florida city of Jacksonville, the Allman Brothers jammed to a classic rock sound that incorporated folk, jazz, R&B and country.

Since the band's inception, it had two drummers -- Trucks, who provided a hard-hitting rhythm that drove the band, and Jaimoe, who pushed forward with jazz touches.

Named after brothers Duane and Gregg Allman, the band saw tragedy at the start of its success when Duane, the lead guitarist, was killed in a motorcycle accident.

But the band, whose members lived communally in a house in Macon, Georgia, quickly recovered and became a leading live act in the early 1970s with hits such as "Ramblin' Man."

In an interview last year, Trucks said the band was "spreading the gospel of this music we had discovered" and resisted a more commercial approach.

"We never thought that we would be more than an opening act," Trucks told Rolling Stone magazine.

Trucks said the band successfully fought its record label who wanted frontman Gregg Allman to "stick a salami down his pants and jump around the stage like Robert Plant."

The group played its final show in 2014 at New York's Beacon Theatre, where the band had a regular residency. Trucks' nephew, Derek Trucks, joined the Allman Brothers in its final decade as a guitarist.

The drummer remained active and his group Butch Trucks and the Freight Train Band had been scheduled to start a US tour in March.

But Trucks, for years a heavy drinker, said in a 2009 interview that he gradually decided on a more mellow life and had bought a farmhouse in the south of France surrounded by wild boar as a second family home.

Story continues

"I've finally come to the conclusion that the great American dream, that all we have to do is buy stuff, is not necessarily the key to happiness," he told The Florida Times-Union.

The Allman Brothers were often considered at the forefront of Southern rock but they disliked the term, saying it was limiting and incorrectly associated them with Confederate imagery.

The band had a close relationship with former president Jimmy Carter and later campaigned for Barack Obama.
Miami (AFP) - A new approach to slowing the ravages of Alzheimers disease has shown promise in early studies on mice and monkeys, and is "worth investigating" in humans, US scientists said Wednesday.

The method involves injecting a synthetic compound in the brain that reduces the amount of a protein called tau which can accumulate, damage cells and lead to failures of memory.

"We've shown that this molecule lowers levels of the tau protein, preventing and, in some cases, reversing the neurological damage," said senior author Timothy Miller, professor of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine.

The molecule, known as an antisense oligonucleotide, works by targeting genetic instructions for tau before it is ever made, said the report in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

"This compound is the first that has been shown to reverse tau-related damage to the brain that also has the potential to be used as a therapeutic in people," added Miller.

Much more work is needed to test whether it is safe in humans, and whether it works the same in people as in animals.

"But everything we've seen so far says that this is worth investigating as a potential treatment for people," said Miller.

Researchers are cautious because mouse models of Alzheimer's are not exactly the same as the disease that affects humans.

Past research has failed to find an effective treatment for Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia.

According to the World Health Organization, 47.5 million people have dementia worldwide.

- What it did -

In mice, the treatment "significantly reduced" tau compared to mice given a placebo, said the report.

The compound appeared not only to stop but reverse some of the tau buildup. In 12-month-old mice, levels of total tau and tau tangles in the brains were lower than in untreated nine-month-old mice.

"The treated mice lived an average of 36 days longer than untreated mice, and they were better at building nests, which reflects a combination of social behavior, cognitive performance and motor capabilities," said the report.

Story continues

In monkeys, researchers injected two doses of placebo or oligonucleotide, one week apart, directly into the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the spinal cord and brain.

Two weeks later, tau protein in the monkeys' brains and cerebrospinal fluid was reduced.

Other treatments using oligonucleotide have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for Duchenne's muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy.

California-based Ionis Pharmaceuticals discovered the oligonucleotide for spinal muscular atrophy, and partnered with Miller to develop the oligonucleotide treatment for reducing tau.

Human trials are already under way, using oligonucleotides against Huntington's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Gordon Wilcock, Emeritus professor of geratology at the University of Oxford, described the tau work as "important."

"However, results in animal models are a long way from treating humans," said Wilcock, who was not involved in the study.

"Not only will the treatment's safety have to be established before clinical trials can take place, but also an alternative and more practical way of delivering this treatment to the brain is needed."
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP)  The Anti-Defamation League is creating an award for law enforcement in the memory of former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden.

The News Journal of Wilmington reports (http://delonline.us/2jZgAl7 ) that in March, the ADL Beau Biden SHIELD Award will honor law enforcement in Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey who have collectively combated hate groups, extremism and terrorism; presented and responded to hate crimes and bias-motivated activity; and promoted civil rights.

Philadelphia ADL regional director Nancy K. Baron-Bear says the award is named after Biden because he "was a champion for the most vulnerable."

The inaugural ceremony will be held March 29 in Wilmington.

The Anti-Defamation League is the foremost non-governmental organization in the U.S. training law enforcement on terrorism, extremism and hate crimes.

Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, died of cancer in 2015.

___

Information from: The News Journal of Wilmington, Del., http://www.delawareonline.com
Arnold Schwarzenegger, former governor of California and action movie giant, greeted Pope Francis at the Vatican during the weekly General Audience.

Schwarzenegger has been promoting his NGO, R20  Regions of Climate Action which helps sub-national governments around the world develop low carbon projects, Vatican Radio reports. Schwarzenegger showed Pope Francis some of the NGOs work in a brief exchange.

Schwarzenegger, who rose to fame as a bodybuilder and actor, had previously met Pope John Paul II. He tweeted a picture of the meeting and called the Pope a a true leader for the Church.

It was my great honor to meet His Holiness @Pontifex. I am a huge fan  a true leader for the Church & a steward for all of God's creatures. pic.twitter.com/dq50MyjHFE  Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) January 25, 2017

Schwarzenegger recently inherited a role as the face of The New Celebrity Apprentice from President Donald Trump  who quickly taunted him on Twitter after his ratings didnt live up to when Trump hosted the show.
Our dairy economy is improving, while our corn and soybean economy is struggling, according to the expert analysts at the annual Ag Economic Outlook Forum on Thursday, Jan. 19. Wisconsin farm net incomes are down for the fourth consecutive year and the question on everyones mind at the forum was  how many years can we continue to operate this way?

Each year, I attend the Ag Economic Outlook Forum that is hosted by the Renk Agribusiness Institute at the University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. This forum offers an analysis of the national and Wisconsin farm economy and forecasts for the future of agriculture over the next year. If you would like to review the data, information and ideas presented, please visit: http://www.aae.wisc.edu/

The good news is that Wisconsins dairy outlook is improving. Even though liquid milk consumption is on the decline, the consumption of cheese by consumers is growing. Last year, we crossed the threshold to consume 35 pounds of cheese per capita in the United States. This is more than double the consumption from 40 years ago. This may seem like a lot of cheese, but compared to France and Germany where they consume about 50 pounds per capita, we have some room to grow.

Our cows are producing more milk. The average dairy cow produces an average of about eight gallons of milk per day. To meet our domestic need, we need about 8 million cows, but there are more than 9.3 million in the US herd. The production from 1.3 million cows must be exported.

Dr. Mark Stephenson, the director of Dairy Policy Analysis at the UW forecasts that Class III milk will be up $2.50 per 100 pounds of milk, and Class IV milk will be up $3.40. This should bring a WIAll Milk Price up about $2.45/cwt.

Milk production in Wisconsin is expected to exceed 30 billion pounds in 2017. Wisconsin set a goal to produce 30 billion pounds by 2020 in order meet the needs of our cheese producers and other dairy-related businesses. Several years ago, Wisconsin cheesemakers were actually importing milk from other states to meet the demand for their product. Dr. Stephenson predicts that we will reach this goal three years ahead of goal.

The outlook for our corn and soybean farmers is not good for 2017. Corn production in 2016 was at record levels. The carryover of corn (ending stocks) is at the highest level since 1987-88. The price projection for corn for the 2017 crop is $3.65/bushel. The average break-even cost for corn in Wisconsin for many farmers is $4.20-$4.60/bushel. It is anticipated that some acres of corn will be converted to soybeans in 2017.

According to Todd Hubbs from the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois, the world is awash in soybeans. The U.S. soybean production was a record in 2017. Soybean yields hit record levels. Brazil also had a strong soybean production year. The U.S. carryover of soybeans is at a record level. The average Wisconsin break-even costs for many farmers for soybeans is $9.20-$9.60/bushel. Mr. Hubbs projects the market price of soybeans for the 2017 crop to be $8.90/bushel.

The economic impact of the agricultural economy reach far beyond the farmer and producer in Wisconsin. Many very good paying jobs are related to food production, processing, packaging and equipment manufacturing. For example, heavy tank hauling is hugely impacted by the agricultural economy. One of the premier manufacturers of stainless steel tankers is Walker Stainless Equipment in New Lisbon. Walker employs a lot of people in very good-paying jobs. These jobs are impacted by agriculture as much as the income of the farmer.

Overall, the forum was a very helpful and informative deep dive into agricultural economics. My senate district is heavily dependent on agriculture. All aspects of the agricultural economy from the farmer in the field to the worker on the packaging line are important to our rural communities.
Today in 5 Lines

President Trump signed two executive orders to advance the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines. The administration has instituted a temporary media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer doubled down on Trumps claims that millions of votes were cast illegally in the presidential election, but did not offer more detail. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill questioned Representative Tom Price, the nominee for health and human services secretary, Representative Mick Mulvaney, Trumps pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, and Linda McMahon, Trumps choice to lead the Small Business Administration. House Speaker Paul Ryan invited Trump to address a joint session of Congress on February 28.

Today on The Atlantic

Checking Things Off: Donald Trump has shown a perverse ability to overshadow his own message with chaos and disorder, writes David A. Graham. But the Trump administration appears to be off to a successful start by securing a number of victories that work toward his campaign promises.

The Right to Choose: As the GOP struggles to find a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, a group of Republican senators introduced legislation Monday that would give states the option of preserving Obamacare, securing federal support for a more conservative health-insurance system, or opting out of any assistance from Washington. (Russell Berman)

Whats in a Name?: The idea of the United States as the leader of the free world continues to hold resonance today. Dominic Tierney defines the concept, traces its history, and questions whether it still applies to a world in which Donald Trump is the U.S. president.

Follow stories throughout the day with our Politics & Policy portal.

Recommended: Trump's Presidency Is Off to a Successful Start

Snapshot

Parents, students and administrators take part in a rally in support of school choice, Tuesday, in Austin, Texas. Eric Gay / AP

What Were Reading

Becoming an American: Andrew Sullivan shares his experience toward becoming an American and what he saw in Donald Trumps candidacy as a unique threat to the America I loved, a dangerous turn in the tumultuous history of this experiment in self-government. (New York)

Story continues

Back to Life: Can a terrorist assimilate back into normal civilian life? Researchers, who have developed controversial deradicalization programs in Europe and North America, believe its possible. (Brendan I. Koerner, Wired)

Recommended: The Narcissist

Fury, Tumult and a Reboot: Interviews with White House officials reveal that the presidents first days on the job have been rife with power strugglesfrom the new administrations communications shop to the expansive role of the presidents son-in-law to the formation of Trumps political organization. (Ashley Parker, Philip Rucker, and Matea Gold)

After the Womens March: The womens marches held across the country were empowering for their participants, writes David Brooks, but it focused on Planned Parenthood and pink hats instead of a modern, forward-looking patriotism based on pluralism, dynamism, growth, racial and gender equality and global engagement. (The New York Times)

The Art of Dealing With Trump: After being under an unusual amount of scrutiny from Donald Trump on Twitter, American auto companies are now working to understand the president by making connections in his administration, monitoring his Twitter account, and even studying his book. (Mike Colias, Christina Rogers, and Joann S. Lublin, The Wall Street Journal)

Visualized

The Obama Years: Take a guess at how the Obama presidency fared with unemployment, illegal immigration, national debt, and health care; then compare your perception to the actual data with these interactive charts. (Larry Buchanan, Haeyoun Park, Adam Pearce, The New York Times)

Question of the Week

On Monday, President Trump issued a proclamation declaring January 20, the day of his inauguration, to be a National Day of Patriotic Devotion. In 2009, former President Obama declared his inauguration to be a Day of Renewal and Reconciliation.

If you were elected president, what would your Inauguration Day be called?

Send your answers to hello@theatlantic.com, and our favorites will be featured in Fridays Politics & Policy Daily.

-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) and Candice Norwood (@cjnorwoodwrites)

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Photo credit: Getty

From Cosmopolitan

President Donald Trump has only been in office for less than a week, and he's already made it very clear he will be the opposite of a champion for climate change reform. But despite his recent gag orders on the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it appears one very bold social media manager for South Dakota's Badlands National Park has refused to stay silent - and whoever it is has quickly become the internet's newest hero.

Badlands National Park went rogue on Twitter today. Here are some of the tweet they did that are now deleted. pic.twitter.com/3hGeaCnTpf - Bryan Hansel (@bryanhansel) January 24, 2017

On Tuesday, the Twitter account for Badlands National Park - a subsidiary of the National Park Service, which was ordered to stop posting to Twitter last week after retweeting a couple less-than-favorable posts about the new administration - appeared to go rogue, and started tweeting out rapid-fire facts about climate change.



Badlands National Park posted a basic scientific fact that defied Trump. Now, it's been deleted. Retweet anyway. pic.twitter.com/tqxeSErJHL - Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) January 24, 2017

About four hours later, the tweets had been deleted - but not before going massively viral, with many applauding Badlands National Park for sharing such terrifying statistics and taking such a strong stance against the current administration's views (or lack thereof) on climate change.

Before long, the person behind the tweets - who Buzzfeed reports was "a former employee who was not currently authorized to use the parks account" - became a hero on Twitter for choosing to risk their job in the name of tweeting science.

Story continues

Godspeed, Badlands National Park social media manager. May thousands more follow your example. pic.twitter.com/3YGzZ9hqJw - Kelsey D. Atherton (@AthertonKD) January 24, 2017

badlands national park savagely elbows the grand canyon out of the way to become the national park I most want to fuck - Patricia Lockwood (@TriciaLockwood) January 24, 2017

I salute you, Badlands National Park tweeter who is probably going to get fired but is going out in style. https://t.co/LrcH91IOuJ - Kate Sheppard (@kate_sheppard) January 24, 2017

Adding Badlands National Park Service to the increasingly unlikely Mt. Rushmore of heroes that includes Tic Tacs and Teen Vogue - Pinboard (@Pinboard) January 24, 2017

Badlands National Park, fully sentient now, lumbers towards Washington, DC to exact its revenge. pic.twitter.com/ZLoL6ajq6t - pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) January 24, 2017

After today, Badlands National Park will be henceforth be known as Badasslands National Park.  #resist - Nasty Women (@WomenG4Hillary) January 24, 2017

The Badlands National Park account is currently engaged in an act of radical political resistance by tweeting -facts and science-

 https://t.co/83gd506c71 - Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) January 24, 2017

As Mother Jones points out, it's actually not too unusual that Badlands National Park tweeted about climate change. In fact, they tweet about it all the time - as proven by a few examples below from the past month alone (screenshotted just in case they get taken down, too).



Photo credit: Twitter

Photo credit: Twitter

Photo credit: Twitter

Photo credit: Twitter

Photo credit: Twitter

Photo credit: Twitter

Photo credit: Twitter

But what is unusual is that Badlands National Park would delete their tweets - and so far, it has raised some major red flags about government censorship.

Is the deletion of the tweets on the Badlands National Park account a violation of federal records retention laws? - Glenn Fleishman (@GlennF) January 24, 2017

Jesus fucking Christ, the US Government has actually censored the badlands National park twitter account from tweeting science facts. - Alex Halpern (@HalpernAlex) January 24, 2017

The censoring of Badlands National Park & EPA is proof we're about to enter another dark age. - leftgear (@leftgear) January 25, 2017

At this time, neither the White House nor Badlands National Park has released an official statement about what exactly happened behind the scenes that caused the tweets to be removed - but a National Parks official claims, "The park was not told to remove the tweets but chose to do so when they realized that their account had been compromised."



Updated 1/25 at 8:30 p.m.: It appears a couple other national parks have taken a cue from Badlands and also started going rogue on Twitter.

On Monday, Golden Gate National Park Service tweeted a NASA and NOAA report about climate change which states that "2016 was the hottest year on record for the third year in a row."

2016 was the hottest year on record for the 3rd year in a row. Check out this @NASA & @NOAA report: https://t.co/rLJUC56xqi pic.twitter.com/AKhFzYw6l6 - Golden Gate NPS (@GoldenGateNPS) January 23, 2017

Meanwhile, Death Valley National Park offered several tweets about Japanese internment camps during the 1940s, seemingly in response to the news that Trump intends to enact a Muslim registry.

During WWII Death Valley hosted 65 endangered internees after the #Manzanar Riot. #JapaneseAmericanInternment - Death Valley NP (@DeathValleyNPS) January 25, 2017

"We want the opportunity they have to prove their loyalty. We are asked to accept a denial of that privilege in the name of patriotism." pic.twitter.com/4JedTyfX57 - Death Valley NP (@DeathValleyNPS) January 25, 2017

Togo Tanaka: interned at Manzanar and Cow Creek (Death Valley) during WWII #JapaneseAmericanInternment pic.twitter.com/hvqtv6rynV - Death Valley NP (@DeathValleyNPS) January 25, 2017

Follow Gina on Twitter.



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President Donald Trump and Bana Alabed. (Photos: Ron Sachs; Adem Altan/Getty Images)

Bana Alabed, the 7-year-old girl whose tweets about life in Aleppo touched hearts around the world, penned an open letter to President Trump beseeching him to do something to help children still suffering in Syria.

I know you will be the President of America so can you please save the children and people of Syria? You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you, she wrote. If you promise you will do something for the children of Syria I am already your friend.

The complete handwritten letter, which was written shortly before Trumps inauguration, opens with Bana introducing herself as a girl who fled eastern Aleppo in December and is now finally enjoying peace in Turkey. She said that her Syrian school has been bombed and that several of her friends had died.

I am very sad about them and wish they were with me because we would play together by (sic) right now. I could not play in Aleppo. It was a city of death, Bana wrote.

Although she now lives in peace and attends a new school, she continued, millions of Syrian children are still suffering throughout Syria and need help.

Bana Alabed, known as Aleppos tweeting girl, during an interview with Reuters in Ankara, Turkey, Dec. 22, 2016. (Photo: Umit Bektas/Reuters)

Bana uploaded a picture of the full letter to Twitter on Wednesday, with a caption directed at Trump: I beg you, can you do something for the children of Syria? If you can, I will be your best friend. Thank you.

Banas mother, Fatemah Alabed, helped her launch and manage the Twitter account while they were still stranded in rebel-controlled eastern Aleppo. They gained hundreds of thousands of followers (362,000 as of Wednesday afternoon) while documenting the horrors of daily life in Syria.

Followers would see Banas routine as a regular 7-year-old  playing with her siblings, reading Harry Potter novels, etc.  repeatedly disrupted by bombardments and chaos of Syrias civil war. For many, Bana became an international symbol for the toll that modern warfare takes on children, and her tweets were likened to Anne Franks diary entries while she was hiding from the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Story continues

Trump has spoken out against the United States relocating more refugees in the United States. He is expected to sign executive orders Wednesday imposing a temporary ban on most refugees, as well as a suspension of visas for people from Syria and several other countries in the Middle East and Africa.

In a follow-up tweet, Bana told Trump banning refugees is very bad.

To @realdonaldtrump: Dear Trump, banning refugees is very bad. Ok, if it's good, I have an idea for you. Make other countries peaceful.  Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) January 25, 2017

Read more from Yahoo News:
Chaparral 2J

Last year, in the dead heat of a Texas summer, photographer Kevin McCauley and I drove six hours to visit the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum in Midland to see one thing: the Chaparral 2J. We took a Corvette convertible, Z51 package, seven-speed manual, painted a shade of red that announced our presence to state troopers and orbiting satellites alike. It seemed appropriate. After all, the mighty Chaparrals themselves employed Chevy power, and furthermore, most of them didn't have roofs. (Looking back, this may have been the flimsiest of pretenses.)

One could reasonably assume that the longevity and cult-like fame of the Chaparral race cars would have seen them wind up in a renowned automotive museum, or some eccentric billionaire's private collection, or a combination of the two. But Hall grew up in Midland, built his cars in Midland, still lives practically down the street in Midland. And for a museum devoted to the perforation of the Earth's crust for the explicit extraction of dead dinosaurs, the Chaparral Gallery is a hidden gem, one worth visiting via Corvette, driving 300 miles away across one huge state. Turns out, it also makes for some great photos.

Kevin McCauley
China said on Tuesday it had irrefutable sovereignty over disputed islands in the South China Sea after the White House vowed to defend international territories in the strategic waterway.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer in his comments on Monday signaled a sharp departure from years of cautious U.S. handling of Chinas assertive pursuit of territorial claims in Asia.

The U.S. is going to make sure that we protect our interests there, Spicer said when asked if Trump agreed with comments by his secretary of state nominee, Rex Tillerson. On Jan. 11, Tillerson said China should not be allowed access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea.

Its a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yeah, were going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country, Spicer said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing on Tuesday the United States is not a party to the South China Sea dispute.

China claims most of the South China Sea, while Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei claims parts of the sea that commands strategic sealanes and has rich fishing grounds along with oil and gas deposits.

Chinas sovereignty over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea was irrefutable Hua said. But China was also dedicated to protecting freedom of navigation and wants talks with nations directly involved to find a peaceful solution.

We urge the United States to respect the facts, speak and act cautiously to avoid harming the peace and stability of the South China Sea, Hua said.

Our actions in the South China Sea are reasonable and fair. No matter what changes happen in other countries, what they say or what they want to do, Chinas resolve to protect its sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea will not change, she added.

Story continues

Bar Access to Islands

Tillersons remarks at his Senate confirmation hearing prompted Chinese state media to say at the time that the United States would need to wage war to bar Chinas access to the islands, where it has built military-length air strips and installed weapons systems.

Tillerson was asked at the hearing whether he supported a more aggressive posture toward China and said: Were going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.

The former Exxon Mobil chairman and chief executive did not elaborate on what might be done to deny China access to the islands.

But analysts said his comments, like those of Spicer, suggested the possibility of U.S. military action, or even a naval blockade. Such action would risk an armed confrontation with China, an increasingly formidable nuclear-armed military power. It is also the worlds second-largest economy and the target of Trump accusations it is stealing American jobs.

Read More: Donald Trump Could Be Starting a New Cold War With China. But He Has Little Chance of Winning

Spicer declined to elaborate when asked how the United States could enforce such a move against China, except to say: I think, as we develop further, well have more information on it.

Tillerson narrowly won approval from a Senate committee on Monday and is expected to win confirmation from the full Senate.



Risk of dangerous escalation

Military experts said that while the U.S. Navy has extensive capabilities in Asia to stage blockading operations with ships, submarines and planes, any such move against Chinas growing naval fleets would risk a dangerous escalation.

Aides have said that Trump plans a major naval build-up in East Asia to counter Chinas rise.

Chinas foreign ministry said earlier this month it could not guess what Tillerson meant by his remarks, which came after Trump questioned Washingtons longstanding and highly sensitive one-China policy over Taiwan.

Washington-based South China Sea expert Mira Rapp-Hooper at the Center for a New American Security called the threats to bar Chinas access in the South China Sea incredible and said it had no basis in international law.

A blockadewhich is what would be required to actually bar accessis an act of war, she added.

The Trump administration has begun to draw red lines in Asia that they will almost certainly not be able to uphold, but they may nonetheless be very destabilizing to the relationship with China, invite crises, and convince the rest of the world that the United States is an unreliable partner.

Bonnie Glaser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank called Spicers remarks worrisome and said the new administration was sending confusing and conflicting messages.

Dean Cheng, a China expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Spicers remarks showed the South China Sea was an important issue for the Trump administration.

He said it was significant that neither Spicer nor Tillerson had been specific as to what actions would be taken and this left open the possibility that economic measures  instead of military steps  could be used against China and firms that carry out island building.
BRUSSELS (AP)  Belgian police have detained seven people in a series of anti-terror raids in the Brussels area relating to an investigation into the possible return of fighters from Syria.

The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement that the detentions came during eight dawn raids, but stressed that the investigation wasn't linked to the Brussels or Paris attacks over the past two years.

A court will decide later Wednesday whether the seven will be arrested or released.

Belgian authorities have been on high alert since suicide bombers attacked the Brussels airport and subway system on March 22, killing 32 people.
Brussels (AFP) - Belgian police on Wednesday were holding seven people for questioning after raids in the Brussels region as part of an on-going counter-terrorism operation, prosecutors said.

The searches of eight houses were linked to returning jihadi fighters from Syria and separate from investigations into the Islamic State attacks in Paris in November 2015 and the bombings in Brussels in March last year, a statement said.

"No weapons or explosives were found. In all, seven persons were arrested and taken for questioning," it said.

Belgium is the EU country with the highest per capita number of fighters who have gone to wage jihad in Syria and Iraq, a figure estimated at 465.

The authorities have tried for years to clamp down on their recruitment, fearing they will return home battle-hardened and even more dangerous.

Belgium has been on high alert since the Paris and Brussels attacks, with investigators believing they were planned and carried out by the same IS cell based in the Belgian capital.
BRUSSELS (AP)  Belgium is joining the Netherlands in backing the creation of an international fund to finance access to birth control, abortion and sex education for women in developing countries in an attempt to make up for U.S. President Donald Trump's ban on U.S. funding.

Alexander De Croo, Belgium's minister for foreign trade and development, says he is fully behind the initiative of his Dutch counterpart to set up an international fund for safe abortions. De Croo says Wednesday that "this decision of the White House has an immediate impact on the lives of millions of girls and women in developing nations."

Trump's executive memorandum signed Monday reinstituted a ban on U.S. funding to international groups that perform abortions or even provide information about abortions.

A day later, The Netherlands said it wanted to set up the fund and invited governments, businesses and social organizations to join in to "compensate for this financial setback."

The ban on performing or even talking about abortions has been instituted by Republican administrations and rescinded by Democratic ones since 1984. Former President Barack Obama last lifted it in 2009.

Belgium already has teenage pregnancy programs in Mali and Niger and works with U.N. organizations in Guinea for better family planning.

De Croo insisted Trump would only achieve the opposite of what he wanted.

"Research shows that ending support to these organizations leads to less access to contraceptives. Hence, it increases the numbers of abortions" and often in unsanitary conditions, he said. "The result of the measure is that many teenage girls will be scarred for the rest of their lives, or even lose their lives."

De Croo's Dutch counterpart, Lilianne Ploumen, said Trump's measure would undermine the progress of the last few years.

"We cannot let this happen," she said.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) announced Jan. 10 a data-sharing partnership with Waze (http://www.waze.com), the free, real-time crowdsourced traffic and navigation app powered by the worlds largest community of drivers. This is part of a next generation traveler information system that the department is launching in 2017.

Designed as a free, two-way data share of publicly available traffic information, the Connected Citizens Program promotes greater efficiency, deeper insights and safer roads for citizens of Wisconsin. The program helps WisDOT get more information on real-time road activity, empowering partners to harness real-time driver insights to improve congestion and make better informed planning decisions.

Waze provides partners with real-time, anonymous, Waze-generated incident and slow-down information directly from the source: drivers themselves. In exchange, WisDOT provides real-time government-reported construction, crash and road closure data from 511 Wisconsin to Waze.

Waze data will be incorporated in to a redesigned 511 Wisconsin website coming online this spring. The new site will provide users with more features, to include: dynamic route planning; real-time transit information, personalized camera feeds; weather events and forecasts; and truck parking information. With the addition of Waze and these new features, the department hopes users will be able to better plan their routes and help reduce congestions in metropolitan areas.

The addition of Waze crowd-sourced data is another big step for the departments traveler information system. The website and phone system was originally launched in 2004 and has since grown to include a free smartphone application and Twitter feed.

The Waze map evolves with every driver and data point it receives, promoting safer roads and sharing more knowledge with Wazers about potential delays to their commutes. The Connected Citizens program yields even more data, giving local citizens a greater ability to get around road closures and traffic jams within the app. WisDOT can also provide Wazers with advanced notice of major traffic events, such as parades and major sporting events that will affect their daily routes.

To find out more about Connected Citizens, visit http://waze.com/ccp. To download the free Waze app for iOS or Android, visit http://www.waze.com/get.

For up-to-the-minute traveler information, visit www.511wi.gov, follow @511WI on Twitter, download the free 511 Wisconsin mobile app or dial 511.
President Donald Trump is slowly filling out his cabinet despite Democrats' best efforts to stall his newly formed administration from moving forward. So far only a handful of his nominees have made it through the Senate confirmation process, but more votes could be held this week.

The Senate Banking Committee approved Tuesday the nomination of Dr. Ben Carson to oversee the Department of Housing and Urban Development, while South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's nomination for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations got the green light from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Both nominations are headed to the U.S. Senate for a vote. Transportation Secretary pick Elaine Chao and Commerce Secretary-in-waiting Wilbur Ross are also up for a full vote from the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday Democrats would continue to put up a fight.

"Some people say Carson is not controversial," Schumer told reporters, but "he's controversial to me."

The Senate has voted and confirmed only two of Trump's picks so far: retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to run the Department of Defense and retired Marine Gen. John Kelly for Homeland Security.

"I am pleased by the confirmation votes of Generals Mattis and Kelly. 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," Trump said in a White House statement. "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."

The Senate also confirmed CIA Director Mike Pompeo Monday night after Democratic lawmakers delayed last week the vote, and while the high-level position isn't actually part of the presidential cabinet, it's still another win for Trump.

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Berlin (AFP) - A Syrian family of pastry chefs, the Sakkas, once delighted the people of Homs with their sugar-soaked Levantine delicacies, until a rain of bombs turned them into refugees.

Now, after a four-year odyssey, they have reopened the family's sweet-tooth haven in Berlin, a baklava shop called the "Damaskus Konditorei".

In a bittersweet tale of war, loss, exile and rebuilding, the family was granted asylum in Germany and, against the odds, opened their new patisserie last summer.

"Even though it's very difficult to find a job in Germany, we said, 'let's go and try!'" said Tamem, 42, the youngest of three brothers.

Four years have passed since the Sakkas fled Homs, Syria's third biggest city, which became a rebel bastion early in the war that started in 2011.

Suffocated by a long army siege, the city saw fierce fighting that pushed many of its residents to leave everything behind and run.

The family of 16 -- the three brothers, Salim, Rami and Tamem al-Sakka, with their parents, wives and children -- first fled to Lebanon, then Egypt.

They made it to Berlin over two years ago with hopes for a better life, like more than 600,000 fellow Syrians who have gained safe haven in Germany.

- Master artisans -

In their flight, all they could carry was the know-how passed down by their father, Suleiman, 83, who founded the Homs pastry shop more than 40 years ago.

The sweet fruits of their labour are on mouth-watering display on large metal trays -- pyramids of small green nut cakes, covered with shredded pistachio and moistened with rose water.

The aromas of orange blossom and almond waft through the room, the eye lingers on shredded pastry bird nests called esh al-bulbul, and maamoul shortbread filled with dates, pistachios or walnuts.

Before Syria's deluge of fire and death, the country was known throughout the Middle East for the refinement of its sweets.

"This is due to the quality of raw materials, such as Aleppo pistachios," explains French-Syrian pastry maker Myriam Sabet, who runs the Maison Aleph patisserie in Paris.

Story continues

"And to the ancestral know-how of the master artisans who jealously guard their manufacturing secrets."

In Syria, different cities -- whose names now evoke the horrors of war and suffering -- have long been associated with their regional specialities.

While the capital Damascus loves barazek honey pistachio and sesame cookies, the commercial centre of Aleppo was known to have a weakness for nougats and almond.

The jewels of central Homs and Hama are sweet cheese rolls known as halawet el-jibn.

"At first my brother said to me, 'Let's not make this dessert, the Germans won't like it, it's too heavy for a pastry," said Tamem.

But he was proved wrong and now says Berliners can't get enough of his sugar treats.

- 'Music, language, pastry' -

During a recent visit, most customers were Syrians eager for a taste of home, a cheese pastry called knafeh soaked in sticky syrup.

Some who have lost everything say they feel taken back to peacetime Syria, the memory of afternoons in the shade of bougainvillea.

"Only music, language and pastry can transport you to these pleasant memories, it's universal," smiled Sabet.

Many German customers, who gingerly peek into the shop, go on to take their first steps on a new culinary journey of discovery.

"When they come in here, they watch, sometimes they seem afraid!", laughed Tamem.

"What they like is the baklava", he added, pointing to Syria's signature pastry made of layers of filo, stuffed with chopped nuts and held together with honey.

The artisan's eyes grow misty when he thinks about Syrian pistachios -- "the best in the world" -- which he can no longer grate to produce his delicacies.

The Sakkas now get their nuts from Turkey, and their cheese from Italy.

"In Homs, our shop employed 40 people, the pastry was laid out on 150 square metres (1,614 square feet) on two floors, and on top of that we had a big workshop", Tamem recalled with nostalgia.

The more modest Damaskus Konditorei is located on a Berlin avenue nicknamed the capital's "Arab street" -- a long way from the 13th century souks of Homs, filled with the scent of spices, perfumes and pastries.

For now, home is just a sweet memory for the Sakkas.
Sydney (AFP) - BHP Billiton Wednesday said it reached record Australian iron ore production in the last six months of 2016, allowing the world's largest miner to benefit from the recent price surge.

Commodity prices for key metals like iron ore have jumped in recent months after a slump, bolstering producers such as Anglo-Australian BHP.

The firm said its mines in Western Australia produced record volumes of 118 million tonnes in the second-half of last year, up four percent from the same period in 2015.

Iron ore prices surged by 28 percent to US$55 between the two periods, BHP said.

For the December quarter, iron ore output rose nine percent to 60 million tonnes compared to the previous year.

"We have performed well during a period of higher prices, with record iron ore volumes achieved at (Western Australia Iron Ore)," BHP Billiton chief Andrew Mackenzie said in a statement.

"Our consistent delivery of operating and capital productivity, and strict adherence to our capital allocation framework have positioned us to maximise shareholder value."

As it ramps up its iron ore production, BHP -- a major player in the oil and gas industry -- has wound back its petroleum output as it deferred developments at onshore US fields on the back of falling prices.

The miner reported a 15 percent decline in total petroleum output to 105.9 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) for the six months to December 31.

BHP added that it was not yet able to provide an update on the financial impact of Brazil's Samarco dam disaster for the half-year to December.

BHP and Vale, which co-own Samarco, said last week they struck a deal with prosecutors to negotiate by June 30 the settlement of a 155 billion reals ($47.5 billion) claim over the fatal mine collapse.

Mine operations have yet to be restarted after the November 2015 tragedy in which 19 people died.

Rio Tinto, the world's second-biggest miner, last week reported a ramp up in iron ore shipments on the back of rising prices.
Brasilia (AFP) - Brazil is fighting an outbreak of yellow fever that has killed at least 40 people in two months, officials say.

The health ministry said in a report Tuesday that it was the highest rate of deaths recorded from the disease in 14 years.

Yellow fever is carried by monkeys and can be transmitted to humans by mosquito bites.

It can be prevented by a common vaccine.

But the ministry's infectious diseases chief Eduardo Hage told AFP that 22 infections had recently been detected in Espirito Santo state, where vaccines are not carried out because it is considered a low-risk area.

Hage said it was not likely to reach urban non-vaccine areas since there were not enough mosquitos to spread it.

"We are in a state of alert, but there is no cause for panic," Hage said.

The fever cause shivers, aches and vomiting. In severe cases it can be deadly, causing kidney and liver failure and hemorrhages.

Brazil is recovering from an outbreak of the Zika virus, which authorities say has caused brain damage in thousands of newborn babies over the past year.
The U.K. Supreme Court's ruling that parliament must vote on whether the British government can start the Brexit process marks the start of a tumultuous period of legal disputes for U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May.



The Supreme Court ruled against the government with a majority of eight to three on Tuesday in a landmark case with potentially significant political ramifications.









Downing Street confirmed on Tuesday that May's pledge to trigger Article 50 of the European Union 's (EU) Lisbon Treaty, the formal step required to begin the process of exiting the bloc, before the end of March would not be impacted by the Supreme Court ruling.

The U.K. Prime Minister announced last week that parliament would get a say on the final Brexit deal too. This means that the Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday effectively bookends the U.K.'s Brexit negotiations with votes in parliament.

"There is a serious question of how valid a (final Brexit deal vote in parliament) would be. Unfortunately for the U.K., the two-year deadline and Article 50 process is designed to give the much bigger EU more leverage than the exiting country," Kallum Pickering, senior U.K. economist at Berenberg Bank told CNBC in an email.

"Once the U.K. triggers Article 50, likely in March, the two-year countdown begins. If the U.K. doesn't agree to the terms of the post-Brexit deal and likely transitional arrangements then it may suffer a cliff-edge Brexit and find itself trading with the EU on World Trade Organization terms. That would be the worst outcome for the economy," he added.

However, the British government has more legal hurdles in the pipeline too. A Dublin court is due to hear whether Article 50 could be reversed while two campaigners have filed a lawsuit claiming May does not have the power to take Britain out of the single market. The U.K. Prime Minister confirmed the government's desire to take Britain out of the single market in the most important speech of her premiership last week.



Story continues

"The court case in Dublin, which looks at whether the UK could reverse its decision to leave after triggering Article 50  for example if it is not satisfied with the deal agreed with the EU  is interesting from a legal point of view, but unlikely to be of much political significance," Larissa Brunner, analyst for Western Europe at think-tank Oxford Analytica, told CNBC in an email on Monday.

"There is currently no indication that there is any political will, either on the government's part or among the electorate, to stay in the EU," she concluded.





More From CNBC


London (AFP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday she would publish her Brexit plan in parliament so that MPs can scrutinise it, but insisted the government's timetable was on track.

The announcement is a concession to lawmakers angered at what they say is the lack of detail so far in May's proposals for leaving the European Union.

It also came a day after Supreme Court judges ruled against May's government and said the prime minister must win parliamentary approval before starting formal talks to exit the bloc.

The Conservative leader said MPs would be presented with a "white paper" policy document outlining her negotiating strategy, though she did not say when it would be published.

"I recognise that there is an appetite in this house to see that plan set out," she told parliament's lower House of Commons in her weekly questions session.

White papers outline proposals for future legislation and form a basis for consultation and discussion.

"I can confirm to the house that our plan will be set out in a white paper published in this house," May said.

However, the white paper was a "separate issue" from a draft law that will give MPs a vote on formally beginning the Brexit process.

- Landmark judgement -

Downing Street confirmed it will introduce the bill on triggering Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty -- serving notice of Britain's intention to leave -- on Thursday.

May's Downing Street office later said that the white paper would "be based on the speech" she gave last week, in which she announced Britain's intention to leave the EU's single market.

Tuesday's Supreme Court ruling was a landmark judgement and a setback for May just before she flies to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump.

In angry exchanges in parliament with Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main Labour opposition party, May said she would protect workers' rights in leaving the EU and was "not afraid to speak frankly" with Trump.

Story continues

The legal case on leaving the EU has revived divisions within Britain -- after last June's referendum saw 52 percent vote to exit, splitting the country and presenting a potential constitutional crisis.

May had wanted to start the two-year Brexit process -- invoking Article 50 -- without a vote in parliament, but she failed to overturn a High Court ruling that said lawmakers must be consulted.

As the appeal was being heard in December, May managed to win a parliamentary vote that MPs would stick to her March deadline for triggering Brexit in return for explaining her plans.

- 'A bold vision' -

"The house has overwhelmingly voted that Article 50 should be triggered before the end of March 2017," May told MPs.

"Following the Supreme Court judgement, a bill will be provided for this house and there will be the proper debates in this chamber," and in the upper House of Lords revising chamber, she said.

"There is then the separate question of actually publishing the plan that I have set out: a bold vision for Britain for the future.

"I will do that in a white paper and one of our objectives is the best possible free trade arrangement with the European Union."

A series of high-profile Conservative MPs who backed Britain staying in the EU, including former finance minister Ken Clarke, had called for May to produce a white paper.

There had been concerns that rebel Conservatives could team up with opposition parties to amend the Article 50 bill to force ministers into publishing a white paper if they did not do so voluntarily.

May's Conservative government currently has a working majority of 16 in the 650-member parliament.

May flies to the United States on Thursday and will hold talks at the White House with Trump on Friday.
Brussels (AFP) - The jihadists behind the Paris and Brussels terror attacks had planned to kidnap well-known figures in a bid to trade them for their brethren jailed in Belgium, media outlets reported Wednesday.

Investigators came to the conclusion after discovering a recorded conversation in a laptop found in a dustbin in the Brussels neighbourhood of Schaerbeek, from where the perpetrators of the March 22 attack on the Belgian capital's airport had left, public broadcasters RTBF and VRT reported.

The conversation was between an Islamic State group jihadist in Syria and Ibrahim El Bakraoui and Najim Laachraoui, who blew themselves up at the airport, and Khalid El Bakraoui, a suicide bomber who attacked the Maelbeek metro station.

The investigators have identified the jihadist in Syria as Osama Atar, a Begian-Moroccan veteran extremist in his 30s who served time in US prisons in Iraq, RTBF said.

The three men, who had been hiding in Brussels, planned several terrorist acts including kidnapping "one or two" personalities to demand the "liberation of brothers and sisters" jailed in Belgium, including Mehdi Nemmouche, who killed four people during a May 2014 attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels.

"It will be a great victory" for IS, Lachraoui was quoted as saying.

Belgian prosecutors refused to comment on the reports when contacted by AFP.

The men finally did not carry out the kidnapping plan but killed 32 people and injured hundreds more in their attacks on the airport and the metro station.
Photo credit: Marcelo Horn / Getty

From Popular Mechanics

It's a lot more fun to buy a car on Craigslist than it is to sell one. But buying comes with plenty of its own pitfalls-even if you avoid cashier's checks and bank wires to Nigeria. Fortunately, many brave auto-buying pioneers have forged a reliable path to success when looking for online auto wares.

Here are some tips that keep your internet car-buying dreams from being run off the road.

Find Your Car

Photo credit: Getty

The first step is starting with an aggregator like AutoTempest to search all Craigslist listings. This is much quicker than searching manually, even if there are lots of dead links. Just beware that AutoTempest makes it all too easy to talk yourself into ideas like, "yeah, maybe 800 miles isn't that far away."

If you find a car online from a dealer, check to see if the dealer has a website (or, in the case of the really small operators, a Facebook page). Also check whether the website price matches the Craigslist listing. If not, negotiate from the lower number.

Beware: It's all too easy to talk yourself into ideas like, "yeah, maybe 800 miles isn't that far away."

Now to dispel a popular myth: The truth is, sometimes dealers can be cheaper because they simply don't know what they have. Perhaps they bought a car at an auction but are unaware that it has an ultra-rare option. Take the 1993-1997 Toyota Land Cruiser. Most private sellers will state up front whether their car has the coveted locking differentials. Dealers seldom care because they can't know every single detail of every car they sell. So if you're looking for a specific feature, a dealer could be the way to go.

But if the listing includes in-the-know jargon like model codes ("E39" BMW 540i), that can be a bad sign-the dealer actually knows what they're talking about.

Filter Out Scams

The first thing to look for is a location. If there isn't one specified in the ad, send an email to see whether the seller will disclose the location. If they respond with a story, but still don't offer up a location, it's a scam.

Story continues

Here are some more hints that you maybe have just entered the scam zone:

A price that's way too low

A photo that clearly doesn't match supposed location (mountains in Miami?)

A price that's bizarre ($1,523)

Grammar mangled beyond even the typical Craiglist norm

A personal e-mail address pasted into the main photo-nobody does that

A listing that's been active for only a few minutes. The scammiest listings tend to be the newest because they haven't been flagged yet.

Here's an example: This 2006 Jetta GLI has been popping up on Craiglist in Charlotte, NC (pictured above). The ad meets most of the above criteria, with a $1,500 asking price that's about a third of what the car actually should cost. A Google Image search turns up the same Jetta on a site called Autozin-everyone sells their car on Autozin, right?-with a location listed as "Echo Lake Road, Alaska." The listing is also five months old. This guy must be having quite a tough time selling this Jetta.

Close the Deal

It's best to start the conversation over e-mail, but switch to phone calls once you're serious about buying. Asking questions in real time will help you get a sense of the seller's motivation (and possibly veracity). Picking up the phone also helps to establish you as a serious buyer rather than a time-wasting texter.

I once had a seller proactively drop the price $350 once he realized he was talking to someone who would actually come buy his truck. That doesn't happen over text or e-mail. In another case, a phone call revealed that an almost-too-good deal was probably actually for real, which brings us to our next point.

I once had a seller proactively drop the price $350 once he realized he was talking to someone who would actually come buy his truck.

If you're convinced you've found a car that you want, go get it. Don't wait. For example, I once found a 1970 Chevelle SS396 4-speed, seen here, for $9,900. The seller wasn't sure if it ran, and the owner passed away with no family and his brother-in-law was flying in to sell it. It all sounded legit, but if you waver on something like that, you inevitably regret it.

Once you've decided to commit, you now have to worry about the pick-up, so make sure you work out the conditions of the sale before you meet. Not just price, but whether the seller is keeping any accessories. I once bought a truck with a front bumper made out of a guardrail, and the seller wanted to keep that. Well, OK.

Always pay in cash. Unless you're doing big money and a bank wire, that's still how a transaction goes down. You'll probably need to notarize the title anyway, so go with the seller to a bank and hand over the cash at the same time you get the title.

Remember, public places are good places, and bringing along a friend is even better. Also some police departments offer safe zones for conducting online transactions, that can also work in a pinch. Here are two scenarios to avoid: Once, when selling a car, I found myself with the buyer (whom I'd just met), riding through a sketchy neighborhood with $14,000 cash in my pocket. I also once accepted a personal check for my 1979 BMW in a McDonald's parking lot. Don't be me.

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After all that, try to enjoy your new ride-until you have to start this process all over again.

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A new Spanish language version of the Wisconsin Donor Registry now makes it easier for Spanish speaking residents to register online as organ, tissue and eye donors at DoneVidaWisconsin.org.

Hispanics/Latinos are the second largest and fastest growing minority racial and ethnic population in Wisconsin and more than 60 percent of the states 370,000 Hispanics/Latinos speak a language other than only English in their homes. Nationally, ethnic minorities comprise more than half of all patients on the transplant waiting list and nearly 20 percent of the total patients waiting are Hispanic Americans.

Multicultural communities are more affected by illnesses that increase risk for serious health problems, including organ failure, said Luis Fernandez, MD, director of the adult liver transplant program at UW Health. UW Health is a member of Donate Life Wisconsin, a nonprofit statewide collaborative of organ, tissue and eye recovery organizations, transplant hospitals, patient advocacy organizations and other professionals. Hispanic Americans have high rates of diabetes and heart disease. Mexican Americans in particular suffer disproportionately from obesity, which contributes to diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Both Hispanic men and women have a chronic liver disease rate that is twice that of the white population.

The encouraging news is health professionals note transplant success rates increase when organs are matched between members of the same ethnic background.

Diversity is critical among those who register as organ, tissue and eye donors. It helps improve and save more lives in our multicultural communities, said Jose Franco, MD, a Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin transplant hepatologist. The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network is also a member of Donate Life Wisconsin. Just one donor can save up to eight lives through organ donation and save and heal more than 75 lives through tissue and eye donation.

Currently, nearly 2 million eligible Wisconsin residents are not yet included in the Donor Registry. The new Spanish language Wisconsin Donor Registry is one of several efforts underway statewide and nationally to make it easier for donors to register their decision. Earlier this fall, Apple and Donate Life America announced that iPhone users can sign up as donors in the health app with the release of iOS 10.

In Wisconsin, anyone 15 or older can register to be an organ, tissue and eye donor at the Wisconsin DMV or online at DoneVidaWisconsin.org in Spanish or DonateLifeWisconsin.org in English.
Geneva (AFP) - The World Health Organization on Wednesday picked three finalists for the role of its next director-general, a high-stakes choice for the powerful agency described as facing an "existential crisis".

After a day of interviews, WHO's executive board chose UN veteran David Nabarro of Britain, ex-Pakistani health minister Sania Nishtar and senior Ethiopian politician Tedros Adhanom.

France's former foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy and Italy's Flavia Bustreo, a current WHO deputy chief, were eliminated.

The three finalists will campaign for votes among WHO's 194 member-countries before a final poll in May.

"This is an enormously important election," the director of Harvard University's Global Health Institute, Ashish Jha, told AFP.

"It really is an existential crisis for WHO," added Jha, co-author of a 2015 report calling for sweeping agency reform.

WHO may be the United Nations' most influential body, coordinating responses to pandemics like Ebola and Zika, but also setting standards for national healthcare systems including in advanced Western countries.

Since 2006, it has been led by Hong Kong-born Margaret Chan, whose tenure has suffered from accusations of inadequate transparency and accountability.

Those complaints boiled over with the 2014 Ebola epidemic in west Africa, when WHO was found to have missed glaring warning signs about the severity of the crisis that ultimately killed more than 11,000 people.

"When you look at the debacle of the Ebola response, no one in Geneva lost their job over that," further fuelling concerns over accountability, said Jha.

WHO officials often lament their funding constraints, but the Harvard professor said financing problems are caused by the fact that "donors don't fundamentally trust WHO to do a great job".

Among the criticisms of the Ebola response was that WHO deferred to governments in the region, notably Guinea, as they initially sought to downplay the dangers of the outbreak.

Story continues

The editor of The Lancet medical journal, Richard Horton, told AFP the election was "make-or-break time" for the Geneva-based WHO, especially after the failures linked to Ebola.

"We need a director-general who has got courage, who is independent and who puts people before governments", he said.

- The finalists -

Nabarro, 67, is an Oxford-educated doctor who has held a series of high-level WHO posts. With the Ebola crisis raging in August 2014, Nabarro was tapped to take over the botched UN response and won praise for helping contain the outbreak.

Among the top priorities listed on his campaign website is aligning WHO to respond outbreaks and emergencies.

Nishtar, the only woman in the group, has high-level experience within the UN but also founded and has led Heartfile, a respected non-profit focused on healthcare in Pakistan, possibly giving her the outsider credential that some say the agency needs.

The senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, Yanzhong Huang, told AFP the 53-year-old Nishtar has impressed by voicing a clear commitment to shaking up WHO's internal governance.

Tedros, a former foreign and health minister, is also a renowned malaria researcher, applauded for expanding access to healthcare in Ethiopia.

He is being strongly backed by the African Union and, if elected, would be the first African to lead the global health body.

While experts urged WHO members to pick the most qualified candidate, they conceded that the lobbying ahead of the May poll will inevitably be highly politicised.

"Voting... will likely be driven more by foreign policy concerns than by health goals," said Huang, warning over the prospect of "vote buying and deal striking" among member states.
(This story corrects title of Vladimir Budker to financing consultant, not chief executive, in paragraph 13) By Andrea Hopkins OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian exporters are scrambling to find ways to avoid a potential 10 percent import tax promised by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, including the possible shifting of production or supply lines south of the border. Amid warnings from the Bank of Canada on Wednesday that protectionist policies brought in by Trump could drive companies to invest in the United States rather than Canada, executives said their search for options has already begun. Canadian exporters are not alone, with global business leaders talking up the benefits of local production to shield themselves from criticism from Trump, who will be sworn in as president on Friday. "We're a Canadian company, we like to build things in Canada and export them ... but you can't sell stuff and not make money," said Jim Rakievich, chief executive of Edmonton-based McCoy Global, which makes oil and gas industry equipment. "We could move our production down into the U.S. fairly quickly, we could absorb that production (in our U.S. plants) if we had to." National Bank Financial estimated a 10 percent border tax could cause Canada's total goods exports to the United States to drop by about 9 percent, with non-petroleum goods sinking almost 11 percent. Exports are expected to drive about a third of Canada's economic growth in 2017, behind only consumption and government spending, according to the Bank of Canada's forecast this week. The United States is Canada's largest export market with about 74 percent of all goods heading south. Canadian companies with U.S. affiliates may be best placed to weather a shift in tariffs, if they can shift production or investment to their U.S. plants to avoid an import tax. Foreign affiliate sales to the United States rose to C$298.4 billion in 2014, the latest year for which data is available, from C$285.8 billion in 2013, according to Export Development Canada. Some exporters without U.S. subsidiaries have already begun to search for new investments. One such company is Mehadrin Group, which includes Canada's biggest kosher meat processor. Mehadrin had planned to sell Canadian-certified kosher meat in the United States but is now moving quickly to find U.S. sources of kosher meat as well as wholesale space in New York and Massachusetts to warehouse it rather than try to import it from Canada and then raise prices to cover the cost of a tariff. Now, the company is "looking at a couple of places," including a slaughterhouse in California, "that can produce some volume for us," according to Vladimir Budker, financing consultant of Mehadrin Group. "Plan B is to look at a couple of local (U.S.) producers - we've looked but didn't approach them yet -- to see if there is any change in policy, in NAFTA or taxes. We'd be looking at this avenue pretty fast," Budker said. For others, their cross-border business is far too integrated and specialized to easily separate U.S.-bound goods to avoid a tax. Veso Sobot, director of corporate affairs at plastic pipe maker IPEX Inc, said products can cross the border between IPEX's 18 plants in Canada and seven in the United States before they are even ready for market, making a shift in production to make products in the United States for U.S. customers impossible. Instead, he's hoping Trump will come to see that Canada is not a low-cost competitor that needs to be targeted. "We feel very hopeful that ... we will have an exemption to Trump's Buy American policy. We believe Canada is not America's problem." (Reporting by Andrea Hopkins; editing by Alan Crosby)
Anna Crollman's reverse hair timeline says it all: Her short, stylish, frosted haircut 10 months after chemotherapy, her bald-as-an-egg scalp during chemotherapy and her thick, flowing brown locks before she began treatment for breast cancer.

In the hair-journey images on her My Cancer Chic blog, intended to help young women braving breast cancer and beyond, Crollman, now 29, exudes a sense of confidence. But through all the hardships of diagnosis, chemotherapy, mastectomy, breast reconstruction and more, Crollman says losing her hair was among the most traumatic.

[See: What Not to Say to a Breast Cancer Patient.]

Distressing Side Effect

With some types of chemotherapy, an unfortunate side effect is that hair follicles are killed along with the target cancer cells. Hair loss may occur only on the head or include eyelashes, eyebrows and body hair as well. Certain drugs used to treat breast cancer intravenously, such as Taxotere and Adriamycin, are more likely to cause hair loss or thinning.

Some chemotherapy regimens used for later-stage breast cancer or other types of cancer don't cause hair loss, says Dr. Kathryn Ruddy, an oncologist, researcher and associate professor of oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. However, she says, "the standard therapy regimens we give for early-stage breast cancer -- meaning we think we can cure the disease with the chemotherapy -- those unfortunately almost do universally cause hair loss."

Ruddy tells her patients it usually takes about six months after the last dose of standard chemotherapy for the hair to grow back and for most people to feel comfortable without a wig. "Thankfully, most patients regain a full head of hair," she says. Hair usually grows back curlier, at least initially, and sometimes the color is different. While hair looks thinner while growing back, she says, most people end up with as much thickness as they had before.

Chemo-related balding tends to bother women more than men. For some patients, Ruddy says, hair loss "can be the most troubling and difficult side effect of chemotherapy."

Story continues

Beating Chemo to the Punch

Crollman, a graduate program coordinator with the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill, was diagnosed in July 2015. She was well-informed about chemotherapy side effects, including the impending hair loss.

"As women, we use hair to define who we are," Crollman says. "And feeling like that part of your identity is going to be stripped away makes you feel very vulnerable and almost naked. To feel like you don't have that to hide behind. So I was very scared about that aspect of the chemotherapy."

She decided to shave her head. "Cancer takes so much from you in terms of choices that you have, opportunities lost," she says. "Your body is going to be changing and you have to go through these treatments. Shaving my head was a way for me to regain some control of the situation and for me to choose when it was going to happen."

Crollman and her husband hosted a head-shaving party at a local hair salon, which they had to themselves for the occasion. They served wine and cheese to family and friends. First, Crollman shaved her husband's head. Next, a professional stylist gave Crollman a buzz cut. As prepared as she felt, she says it still felt traumatic. "Lots of tears," she recalls.

The other shoe dropped when chemotherapy left its mark, Crollman says: "Then when it starts to fall out, you realize: OK, now I'm officially bald."

[See: 10 Lessons From Empowered Patients.]

"Most cancer centers recognize that this is a major psychological issue and we need to do as much as we can to support patients," Ruddy says. Nurses and other team members do a lot to educate patients on resources for hair loss. One step is writing a prescription for a wig, which is usually covered by insurance.

The Mayo Clinic has an onsite wig shop. Even if patients chose not to get a wig there, Ruddy says, it's helpful to stop in because the staff is so knowledgeable about hair loss and hair coverings. Ask what your cancer center can do for you.

Caps that cool the scalp during chemotherapy may help some women preserve their hair. An industry-funded study, reported in December at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, found among women with breast cancer who underwent four cycles of chemotherapy, those who used the scalp-cooling apparatus while receiving chemo were more likely to retain at least some of their hair. But the close-fitting caps can cause headaches and are costly at more than $1,000 throughout treatment.

Results vary with the caps, partially depending on the individual chemotherapy regime, Ruddy says, and it's unclear whether they're effective enough to make the discomfort worthwhile. "It's not that comfortable to wear basically an ice cap during chemotherapy, and it does extend the amount of time someone needs to get the infusion," she says.

Coping in Style

Doctors at the N.C. Cancer Hospital in Chapel Hill, where Crollman was treated, referred her to the in-hospital boutique to view the selection of wigs, scarves, wraps and hats. Crollman found that she preferred not having a wig in the same style or color as her pretreatment hair. When she first tried matching that look, she says, "It was horrible. It felt like a fraud." Instead, a shorter, lighter-colored wig felt much more comfortable, she says -- like creating a new persona instead of trying to re-create what she'd lost.

[See: 12 Seemingly Innocent Symptoms You Shouldn't Ignore.]

Individuality and sense of style don't disappear with a woman's hair. Many women use head scarves, some homemade, although Crollman preferred not to. "Some women I know wear the head scarf and look beautiful and rock it and feel really confident that way, so more power to them," she says.

About halfway through her treatment, Crollman decided to shed her wig and break out bald. "It was itchy," she says. "I was tired of wearing it. And I had spent the weekend at home sick, laying around. Something in me just switched, and I said, 'I'm just going to wear the bald head.'" Wigless, she went to work, where colleagues were supportive as ever. From that point on, she never wore a wig or scarf again.

Crollman wants to help other young women as they continue to work, socialize and simply care about their appearance in the midst of cancer treatment. In addition to blogging, she serves as a Living Beyond Breast Cancer Young Advocate. She's still receiving some treatment, and while she has good days and bad days, she says, "Mentally, I'm in a really good place now."

Lisa Esposito is a Patient Advice reporter at U.S. News. She covers health conditions, drawing on experience as an RN in oncology and other areas and as a research coordinator at the National Institutes of Health. Esposito previously reported on health care with Gannett, and she received her journalism master's degree at Georgetown University. You can follow her on Twitter, connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at lesposito@usnews.com.
San Jose (AFP) - While President Donald Trump is scrapping or revising major trade accords, Central America believes a pact it has with the United States will go on unscathed.

Government officials and businesses said that the Central America Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA, or CAFTA-DR with the later inclusion of the Dominican Republic, is so favorable to the US that it makes no sense to get rid of it.

But some apprehension has nevertheless clouded the prediction, given Trump's stated penchant to cut new deals, and to prefer bilateral trade accords to multilateral ones.

"All of us have to be ready to face the consequences in economic or other terms," Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said.

"Where many see a crisis, those who are more optimistic should see opportunities," Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales said.

Trump's executive order on Tuesday formally withdrawing the United States from the yet-to-be-ratified Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and his pledge to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) underline his intent to upend trade arrangements to win more advantages for his country.

He has made no mention of CAFTA so far. That deal, started a decade ago, was the first between the United States and small developing nations. The countries involved are: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

- Watching Trump -

According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, there was $53 billion of trade under the pact in 2015, with the US exporting $4 billion more of its goods than it imported from Central America.

"It doesn't cause (the US) any trade distortion and it wouldn't be a good idea to renegotiate the terms of this accord," Sergio Alfaro, minister for Costa Rica's presidency, said.

However, he added, his government is "constantly monitoring what is happening in the United States."

An economic adviser to Nicaragua's government, Bayardo Arce, also said the region was following Trump's moves carefully.

Story continues

"With the US president, he needs to be watched -- nobody knows where he might go with his measures," he said.

The head of the Union of Producers in Nicaragua, Michael Heally, noted that while NAFTA's renegotiation was a campaign promise by Trump, there was no mention that CAFTA might be in his sights.

"I don't believe that CAFTA will be affected like other treaties might," said Heally, whose association mostly represents farmers.

Yet the head of a similar Nicaragua organization, Alvaro Fiallos of Nicaragua's Union of Farmers and Livestock Producers, admitted there was "uncertainty."

"We just don't know what's going to happen. First we are made to sign CAFTA and then we might need to leave it."

- Migration a bigger issue -

Rafael Medina, president of the Chamber of Commerce in Honduras' capital Tegucigalpa, stressed that the difference between CAFTA and NAFTA "are enormous."

He said CAFTA was very favorable to the United States, which exports tariff-free, while Central America gained access to a huge market for its manufacturing, which in Honduras generated 135,000 jobs.

A bigger impact on US-Central American relations would instead likely come from Trump's vows to greatly limit migration and step up deportations, Medina said.

In 2016, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador -- major sources of undocumented migrants to the US -- received nearly $16 billion in remittances.

That money accounts for between 10 and 17 percent of the gross domestic product of the three poor Central American countries.
James Hogan Etihad

On Tuesday, Etihad Aviation Group announced that its president and CEO James Hogan will leave the company he helped build.

According to the Abu Dhabi-based airline and aviation conglomerate, Hogan  along with CFO James Rigney will leave Etihad in the second half of 2017 to join an, as yet unnamed, investment firm.

"Along with the Board and my 26,000 colleagues, I am very proud of what we have built together at Etihad and of the companys substantial contribution to the UAE and to the development of Abu Dhabi," Hogan said in a statement.

"The last decade has seen incredible results but this only represents a first chapter in the story of Etihad."

Rumors of Hogan's departure surfaced in late 2016 after the company experienced heavy losses to due to the CEO's global expansion strategy that saw Etihad make expensive equity investments in more than half a dozen airlines around the world.

Airbus A380 Etihad

Over the past few years, Hogan has embarked on a equity acquisition spree that has seen Etihad take substantial ownership stakes in "partner airlines"Alitalia, Air Berlin, Air Serbia, Jet Airways, Virgin Australia, Air Seychelles, and Etihad Regional.

In September 2016, the partner airlines along with Etihad Airways and its accompanying subsidiaries were reconfigured to form Etihad Aviation Group.

Hogan, 60, joined Etihad Airways in 2006 and has presided over the airline's incredible growth from an upstart regional player with 22 aircraft to a global power with more than 120 aircraft and another 204 on order. Including the partner airlines, Etihad Aviation Group owns equity in a fleet of more than 700 aircraft.

Prior to his arrival at Etihad, the Australian served as CEO of Bahrain-based Gulf Air.

Etihad Alitalia Deal

In addition, Etihad has garnered critical acclaim for its high standard of service and is one of just nine airlines to received a five-star rating for consumer aviation website Skytrax.

Story continues

However, Etihad's critics in Europe and the US allege that much of the airline's explosive growth and plush appointments can be attributed to billions of dollars of subsidies from the Abu Dhabi government. These are allegations that Hogan has repeatedly denied.

NOW WATCH: An inside look at the most luxurious airport lounge in New York





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TV host Chelsea Handler has been accused of bullying Melania Trump after she poked fun at the first lady during a recent interview.

Read: Women's March Protesters Give Cops High-Fives and Thanks During Rally

The comedian lashed out at the first lady when asked by Variety if she'd ever have President Trumps third wife on her Netflix talk show.

To talk about what, she can barely speak English," Handler replied.

The first lady is fluent in five languages, including French, Italian, German, Slovene and English.

Now, Handler is now being accused of "immigrant shaming," and the backlash online has come fast and furious.

"Chelsea Handler is fluent in stupid," one tweet read.

Handler was interview by Variety at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah where she led a Women's March in the city.

The backlash against Handler comes as actor Jon Voight, an outspoken Republican and Trump supporter, is furious at fellow celebrities like Shia LaBeouf and Miley Cyrus, who both participated in the Women's March.

When you see the young people, like Shia LaBeouf and Miley Cyrus, and they have a lot of followers, a lot of young people, what are they teaching?" the 78-year-old actor asked a TMZ cameraman. "They're teaching treason. They're teaching going up against the government, not accepting the will of the people on this presidency. It's a very sad day really when I see this."

Celebrities speaking out against the new administration have caused much anger among some citizens. Just ask Madonna, whose music was banned indefinitely from a Texarkana, Texas, radio station Wednesday.

Read: Creator of Pussyhat Seen at Women's March Says She Wanted Them 'to Be a Symbol for Everybody'

During the Womens March on Washington, D.C., Saturday, the Material Girl said she had thoughts of blowing up the White House, which led to outcry among some Americans.

Story continues

"Banning all Madonna songs at Hits 105 is not a matter of politics, it's a matter of patriotism," the station said in a statement. It just feels wrong to us to be playing Madonna songs and paying her royalties when the artist has shown un-American sentiments."

Days after Madonna's comments, she took to Instagram, in a now deleted post, to clarify her remarks.

"I am not a violent person," she wrote. "I do not promote violence and it's important people hear and understand my speech in its entirety rather than one phrase taken wildly out of context.

Watch: Madonna Says Her Comments About Blowing up the White House Are 'Metaphor' Amid Calls for Her Arrest

Related Articles:
Comedian Chelsea Handler has come under fire for saying First Lady Melania Trump can barely speak English.

Handler, who has been openly critical of President Trump and helped lead a womens march in Utah after his inauguration, made the remark during a recent interview with Variety. When asked if she would ever invite the new leader of the free world on her show, Handler said she wouldnt. Asked whether she would ever interview his wife, the comedian said: To talk about what? She can barely speak English.

I dont respect either one of those people, Handler added.

The First Lady was born in Slovenia, according to her White House biography. She can speak five languages, including Slovenian, English, French, Serbian and German, CBS News has previously reported.

Many Trump supporters on social media rushed to point out Melania Trumps multi-lingual skills while slamming Handler.

For more celebrity videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.
BEIJING (AP)  Drowning in debt, metals trader Sinosteel Corp. got an unprecedented lifeline last month from the Chinese government  a multibillion-dollar debt-for-equity rescue that could be the first of many for struggling state-owned companies.

China's economy is still growing relatively quickly, but a prolonged slowdown is raising fears that companies in many industries have borrowed and invested too much, too fast, posing a serious risk for the world's second-largest economy.

The government hailed the Sinosteel deal, in which state-owned banks agreed to accept shares in the company to repay half the 60 billion yuan ($9 billion) it owes, as a model for debt reduction. Analysts are more skeptical. They say such maneuvers are typical of the ruling Communist Party's tendency to avoid bold action and support politically favored state industry.

"They are still tinkering at the edge of the problem instead of tackling it head on," said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist for Capital Economics.

Total debt owed by companies and households in China is estimated by private sector analysts to amount to 250 percent of annual economic output  high for a developing country and close to the levels of the United States and the European Union before the 2008 crisis.

Debt has risen at double-digit annual rates since the crisis as Beijing repeatedly used infusions of credit to shore up economic growth and avoid politically risky job losses.

In 2016, lending grew by 17 to 18 percent, outpacing the rise in savings by China's famously thrifty households, according to Standard & Poor's. It said that leaves banks with slimmer "funding buffers."

Explosive economic growth that peaked at 14.2 percent in 2007 helped China power its way out of previous financial quandaries. That is no longer assured now that growth has tumbled to less than half that level  at 6.7 percent for the first nine months of last year the weakest since 1990.

Story continues

The bank regulator reported in October that loans on which borrowers have made no payments in 90 days had passed 2 trillion yuan ($300 billion).

That is equivalent to a relatively modest 2.15 percent of total lending, but private sector analysts say the true level is far higher at up to 19 percent, or nearly 18 trillion yuan ($2.5 trillion). They say banks fail to include loans to state companies in their count because they assume the government will bail them out.

A banking crisis like those that hit Japan and South Korea in the 1990s is unlikely because both Chinese lenders and major borrowers are state-owned, so as a last resort, the government could order creditors to keep lending and then replenish their balance sheets, economists say.

That would keep banks solvent, but might divert money from investment in productive companies or from paying for schools, health care and other public services needed in China's rapidly aging society.

"You can get away without a crisis over the next few years, but you won't be able to avoid slower growth," Williams said.

The latest plan for Sinosteel calls for transforming some of its debt into "convertible bonds" that creditors can redeem later for stock, according to Bank of China Ltd., which led a consortium of lenders. It said regulators would press the company for "internal reform."

The business magazine Caixin reported that half of Sinosteel's debt would be turned into such bonds.

Lenders that accept Sinosteel stock still can lose money if its finances fail to improve, said Sheng Hong, director of the Unirule Institute in Beijing, an independent economic research group.

"Banks should have refused the deal right from the start," he said.

The debt dilemma reflects the leadership's conflicting desires for the prosperity that comes from free-market competition and for ensuring state companies will still dominate the economy.

Under President Xi Jinping, the Communist Party has pledged to clear up debt and get banks to finance productive activity instead of subsidizing state companies. But the debt burden has kept rising as Beijing avoided taking painful, decisive action.

Regulators say they will use market forces to force state companies that control industries including steel, utilities, telecoms, airlines, banking and insurance to become more efficient. But they have ruled out allowing any to go bankrupt: The ruling party's latest economic blueprint for 2017 promises "financial stability," which suggests Chinese leaders might be leery of pushing companies so hard they might collapse.

Bailing out companies such as Sinosteel that are deemed strategically important could set back efforts to shrink bloated heavy industries.

A glut of production in steel, aluminum and other industries where supply exceeds demand has led to price-cutting wars and complaints that low-cost Chinese exports are threatening jobs in the United States and Europe.

Instead of state-engineered bailouts, the companies could just sell off equity stakes and use the proceeds to pay debts, Citigroup economists Li-Gang Liu and Xiaowen Jin said in a report.

Sinosteel has operations in mining, steel trading and engineering. It came close to defaulting on a 2 billion yuan ($315 million) bond payment in 2015 before regulators intervened and persuaded creditors to wait.

Bank of China described the Sinosteel debt-for-equity deal as a model for future debt restructuring.

But some companies that get such relief might "lose motivation to improve," said Zhang Yingjie, research director for China Chengxin International Credit Rating Co. "The key lies in how to select the enterprises."

"They are selling this as dealing with the debt problem and creating viable businesses," said Williams, "but it seems to me it is aimed at making sure state-owned firms can continue to dominate."

___

AP researcher Yu Bing contributed.
Zhang Ling was dressed like a revolutionary from the Spanish Civil War. With a long braid emerging from a scarlet beret and clad in trousers a color she described as communist red, Zhang had driven her Honda from her home in upstate New York the night before, inspired rather than frustrated by hours of traffic jams: every passing car, she said, seemed to have been driven by a woman. Women occupy the highway now, and the city tomorrow, she said.

Swallowed in a sea of pink pussy hats, Zhang, a professor of cinema studies at the State University of New York, smiled when she saw American protesters raising banners with the Maoist slogan, Women hold up half the sky. But the reference saddened her too; a flashback to the Peoples Republic where she had grown up, one where rosy-cheeked iron ladies had worked farms and factories alongside male comrades, until China took a turn toward capitalist individualism and away from (sometimes honored and sometimes ignored) socialist ideas of gender equality.

Ling was one of several dozen activists in Chinas feminist movement who traveled across the country for the Womens March on Washington on to join millions of Americans as they took to the streets protesting Donald Trump, a day after his Jan. 20 inauguration. Trumps policies look destined to resonate far beyond Americas borders; millions of womens rights advocates staged their own protests worldwide, in cities from Copenhagen to Riyadh. Mainland China, where protests are often harshly punished, was not among them. For Chinese activists living Stateside, that presented an irresistible opportunity.

Many Chinese feminist activists appear to have taken Trumps campaign rhetoric personally, as an extension of the straight man cancer (read: everyday sexism) so widespread, and so reviled, in China. Shortly after the election, prominent feminist Zheng Churan posted on Twitter an image of her looking sternly into the camera, holding a sign in English: feminists are watching you. Although we are far away in China, we have seen the news reports of you being constantly involved in gender discrimination, Zheng wrote in an open letter posted to WeChat. Just like cancerous cells, straight-man cancer spreads everywhere damaging feminist movements and undermining social equality. It is pervasive.

Zheng knew well the dangers of patriarchal authoritarianism: the year before, she and four other high-profile activists  who would become known as the Feminist Five  were detained for months, before international outrage triggered their release. (None of them attended the Womans March.)

Now, as promised, more than 30 mainland Chinese women living in the United States had organized over WeChat, a social-networking app massively popular in China, and traveled to the capital. Few of them had met in real life before, but almost all of them wore the same t-shirt, spelling out in bold Chinese characters, This is what a feminist looks like.

I never had this kind of experience before, said Huang Yuhan, 29-year PhD student. Huang had come from Indiana, where she researches pop-cultural representations of the Cultural Revolution, and where she said she had become acutely aware of U.S.-style threats to womens reproductive rights. In China too, female bodies remained politicized, though in an almost diametrically opposed manner. A few weeks earlier, many Chinese women had condemned their governments offering to remove  free of charge  the contraceptive implants it had forcibly implanted in hundreds of millions of women as part of the (now-discarded) One-Child Policy, while giving no public apology for having required the implants in the first place.

The biggest draw for Huang was perhaps the thrill, and catharsis, of partaking in her first large-scale protest. Thats also why Im here: I want to see, to experience what its like to be in such a huge crowd. In China we dont have that many demonstrations.

Wang Zheng, Professor of Womens Studies and History at the University of Michigan, grew nostalgic about the battles of her youth as she overlooked the masses perched on a metal pole, clutching a Keep Abortion Legal sign. Now in her 60s, her last protest had been a pro-choice rally in Los Angeles in the 1980s; a time when she felt China was a beacon of egalitarianism compared to the United States. For my generation, we are all feminists, Wang recalled. I always felt pity for those American women  they didnt even have maternity leave.

Growing up in socialist China, Wang had taken gender equality for granted, only to see it regress. To some Chinese activists, Beijing is now less interested than bringing women in the workforce and more interested in a return to neo-Confucian family structures, revealed in the popular notion that any unmarried women older than 27 are leftover women.

The harsh treatment of Chinese feminists and the state-run effort to harden gender roles convinced Wang and others that they have something to offer their American counterparts.

Shortly after the election, Liu Xintong, a 26-year graphic designer based in New York, helped pen a note on a Chinese feminist Facebook page to all Feminists impacted by Trumps Triumph, advising them to not let the disappointment turn you against one another. The day after the march, the page ran a message to readers that Chinese feminists had put our bodies on the streets to amplify the brown, black, and beautiful voices.

Liu told Foreign Policy she felt very privileged to be in D.C. Imagine others in China doing frontline work  they are facing far more pressure. With experience fighting an often repressive government unburdened by notions of free speech and assembly, the Chinese Feminists offered advice via Facebook to U.S. readers; Dont wait for the system to correct itself for you, because now we all have walls to tear down.

While their turn-up in Washington was intended to signal solidarity with U.S. allies, it was also a message to Chinese President Xi Jinpings administration, who had detained the Feminist Five for disturbing public order following subversive campaigns against sexual harassment on buses and for more readily accessible womens bathrooms. The pictures of the group posing with a whirlwind of colorful banners outside Trump International Hotel  Nasty Chinese women say no! and, Mr. President: sexism and misogyny is a disease; feminism is your cure  were generously shared on Chinese social media.

Living overseas had been what Liu called a feminist awakening, allowing her to explore layers of her own identity  as Asian, a woman, and queer, to name a few  in a country where dissidence was not a crime. Though Chinese opponents have sometimes dismissed Chinas womens movement as the result of foreign meddling and external forces, Liu saw feminism as engaging problems that had to be understood globally. They always said democracy is a western disease  thats their way of wording their propaganda, Liu said about the Chinese leadership. But for us, we never think of feminism as a Western term.

The night culminated at a Cheesecake Factory on the D.C. outskirts. Over dessert, amidst applause, Lu Pin, a visiting scholar at Columbia, stood up to announce the launch of a new U.S.-based NGO, the Chinese Feminist Collective, which had just acquired legal status. She envisioned it as a support network for the next generation of Chinese activists, and a launching pad for activist initiatives back home.

We need to create new front lines, Lu said. Even if were in the United States, we can still contribute to Chinese feminism: the topics we can freely discuss here, we may not be able to talk about in China. With over 328,000 Chinese currently studying in the United States, Lu was optimistic that U.S.-based advocacy could inspire at least some to advance feminist causes when they returned home.

In the meantime, Lu hoped they could share with Americans what they had already learned.

The Chinese feminist movement has always progressed in this harsh reality, she said. Chinese people are very knowledgeable about how to fight a dictatorship.

Image: Mengwen Cao
Mike Pompeo was sworn in Monday as director of the CIA. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

CIA director Mike Pompeo was blindsided by a draft executive order that could open the door for American intelligence agencies to resume waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques at newly reopened CIA black site prisons overseas, according to a source familiar with conversations he has had about the document.

Trump, in an interview with ABC News anchor David Muir released Wednesday night, indicated he is in fact considering reinstating waterboarding because he believes it absolutely works. While saying he will rely on Pompeo and Mattis advice, Trump told Muir: Were not playing on an even field. When theyre chopping off the heads of our people, and other people  when theyre chopping off the heads of people because they happen to be a Christian in the Middle East  when ISIS is doing things that nobody has ever heard of since medieval times, would I feel strongly about waterboarding? As far as Im concerned, we have to fight fire with fire.

Pompeo, who was confirmed as CIA director late Monday, was never consulted about the draft executive order and was unaware of its existence before it was publicly disclosed by the New York Times Wednesday morning, the source said. Neither was Defense Secretary James Mattis, who has openly disputed the effectiveness of such techniques. Another source disputed that Pompeo used the word blindsided in describing his lack of knowledge of the draft order.

The publication of the draft order prompted intense, and bipartisan, criticism from members of Congress who said the executive order, as drafted, would violate federal law and lead to a resumption of discredited interrogation practices that were barred by President Barack Obama during his first full day in office.

But White House press secretary Sean Spicer sought to cast doubt on whether the order represented settled administration policy. It is not a White House document. I have no idea where it came from, Spicer told reporters at a press briefing Wednesday. He declined to answer further questions about it, or shed any light on who might have drafted and circulated the document.

Story continues

The draft order would revoke two Obama directives  one limiting interrogation practices to those codified in the Army Field Manual and banning CIA overseas prisons, and another directing that the U.S. military detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, be closed. (Obama promised to close Guantanamo but was never able to achieve it.) The Army Field Manual in its current form bans torture, but the new order calls for high level policy reviews to determine if there are grounds for modifications and additions to the document to allow for safe, lawful and effective interrogation of enemy combatants captured in the fight against radical Islamism.

The language in the draft order could create particular problems for Pompeo, who appeared to rule out any such steps in response to direct questions by California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in his Jan. 12 confirmation hearing.

If you were ordered by the president to restart the CIAs use of enhanced interrogation techniques that fall outside the Army Field Manual, would you comply? Feinstein asked him.

Senator, absolutely not. Moreover, I cant imagine I would be asked that by President Trump, Pompeo replied. He noted that he had voted for a law passed by Congress  a defense authorization bill  that limited interrogations to those in the Army Field Manual, and added that he is deeply aware that any changes to that will come through Congress and the president.

But in written responses after that hearing, Pompeo appeared to open the door to proposing changes in the Army Field Manual if it was necessary to protect the country  a step that would allow the Trump administration to resume techniques that congressional leaders, notably Sen. John McCain, an outspoken critic of torture, intended to ban.

Asked in a written question whether there should be uniform rules for military and intelligence interrogations, Pompeo responded in writing: If confirmed, I will consult with experts at the Agency and at other organizations in the U.S. government on whether such uniform rules are an impediment to gathering vital intelligence to protect the country. If he determined that differences between military and CIA interrogation techniques were necessary, it would be based on a clear, justified need, he said, and he promised to consult with the congressional intelligence committees about any such adjustments, including any required changes to law.

Read more from Yahoo News:
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Helen Clark, the highest ranking woman at the United Nations, is stepping down as director of the UN Development Programme in April, according to an email seen by AFP on Wednesday.

The former prime minister of New Zealand told UNDP staff that she had notified UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres of her intention to leave the top post on April 19, at the end of her second four-year term.

"It has been an honour and privilege for me to lead UNDP for eight years," Clark wrote in the email addressed to "dear colleagues."

Clark's departure opens up a race to lead the UN's largest agency.

Former British foreign secretary David Milliband, who now heads the International Rescue Committee, has been tipped as a possible successor as has French ecology minister Segolene Royal.

Clark, 66, took the helm at UNDP in 2009 and in April last year launched a campaign to run as UN secretary general, which she lost to Guterres.

The new UN chief is weighing a series of appointments in the coming months to key positions at the world body, but uncertainty over the US stance has slowed down those decisions.

Aside from the new UNDP chief, Guterres will appoint new faces to head the UN peacekeeping department as well as political affairs and may decide to create a new senior post as head of counter-terrorism.

To satisfy US demands for major reforms at the United Nations, Guterres may offer to appoint a US national to head the management department, diplomats said.
Tinkering with the sky to fight climate change would make it more difficult for astronomers and skywatchers to observe the heavens, a new study suggests.

Spraying particles into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight and help cool the Earth down  a strategy known as stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI)  would brighten city night skies considerably and decrease light clarity in rural areas, the study said.

SAI would be "very, very bad news for astronomy," said study author Charles Zender, a professor in the departments of Earth system science and computer science at the University of California, Irvine. [Changing Earth: 7 Ideas to Geoengineer Our Planet]

A warming world

Earth's average surface temperature has risen by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since record-keeping began in the late 19th century, according to new analyses by scientists at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Furthermore, 16 of the 17 hottest years in recorded history occurred from 2001-2016, and the last three years have been the hottest of all, the researchers found.

This warming trend  which climate scientists attribute primarily to the huge amounts of heat-trapping carbon dioxide that humanity pumps into the atmosphere every year has already affected the planet in significant ways.

Glaciers are retreating around the globe, for example, and more and more Arctic sea ice is melting every summer. A variety of plant and animal species are shifting their ranges toward the poles or up mountain slopes as their habitats warm, and some birds are migrating significantly earlier in the spring than they used to.

Such impacts will intensify the more that Earth warms, scientists have said. Indeed, the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommended that humanity work to keep average global temperatures from rising more than 3.6 degrees F (2 degrees C), in order to stave off climate change's worst effects.

Story continues

Climate engineering

SAI provides one possible way to help accomplish this goal, some researchers have said. The basic idea involves using planes, balloons or artillery to seed the atmosphere with sulfates or other particles that would reflect sunlight back into space.

SAI and other "climate engineering" concepts have not yet been widely applied; scientists are still trying to determine how effective such efforts would be, and identify likely side effects, before putting the ideas into practice.

Zender's new study, which he presented last month at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco, is part of this sussing-out effort. He used computer models to estimate how a large-scale SAI project would affect humanity's view of the night sky.

The results should interest professional and amateur astronomers alike, he said. For example, Zender found that SAI would increase the brightness of urban night skies by about 25 percent, bouncing artificial light back down to Earth and making it even harder for city dwellers to appreciate celestial sights.

"Basically, take a magnitude or two off the faintest visible galaxies and stars," he told Space.com at AGU.

Zender's modeling work also indicated that SAI would make rural night skies slightly darker, by reflecting starlight back into space. This would cause a large drop in light clarity, Zender said.

"It would be considerably more challenging to do optical ground-based astronomy," Zender said, though he noted that infrared instruments, which collect longer wavelengths of light, would not be affected.

Some astronomers may be willing to accept this trade-off  as long as SAI works as advertised.

"Fixing global warming is more important than astronomy," David Grinspoon, an astrobiologist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, said during a panel discussion at the 229th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Grapevine, Texas, earlier this month.

"There's no question to my mind that saving our civilization and many other species is more important than our ability to do ground-based astronomy for a few decades," Grinspoon added.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.

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By Ange Aboa ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Cocoa is backing up at Ivory Coast's warehouses and ports, international exporters told Reuters, saying that domestic companies have been securing export rights at auction for beans they can no longer afford. Three exporters estimated that 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes of cocoa were in trucks outside the top grower's ports of Abidjan and San Pedro. Another 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes, they said, were in merchants' warehouses in the interior waiting for buyers. "We're buying the volumes we need, conforming to our export permits, but others are not. It's pushing co-operatives and middlemen to come with their bean cargoes looking for potential clients," said the director of one export company in Abidjan. Exporters told Reuters that the bottleneck was partly because of increased caution at banks, making it more difficult for smaller businesses to obtain lines of credit. However, they also said that much of the problem had been caused by exporters who failed to lock in prices with counterparties, speculating that global prices would rise. Ivory Coast's marketing board, the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC), sells forward its cocoa in an auction system in which companies bid on the right to export specific volumes during a fixed time period - a permit known as a deblocage. It then uses the average auction price to fix a guaranteed price to be paid to farmers. The CCC auctioned the 2016/17 crop from September 2015 to September 2016 and global cocoa prices have since fallen. POTENTIAL DEFAULTS? "There are companies with deblocages but who don't want to buy beans because they speculated and would be hit by losses if they bought and exported," one European cocoa trader said. "Sooner or later the CCC will have to take a decision, because it's clear that certain exporters ... can no longer honour their engagements." The CCC's head of sales denied that exporters had circumvented regulations meant to prevent price speculation. "The (CCC) verifies the counterparty contracts that are furnished by the exporters," Eric Koffi told Reuters. "That doesn't mean that there won't be cases of default. In those cases, the foreseen measures will be applied." However, the measures applied by the CCC in such instances would be a less costly option for the companies than exporting at the lower prices. The CCC last week denied a Reuters report that it plans to cancel about 300,000 tonnes of cocoa contracts on the verge of default and resell them. [nL5N1F83CF] According to CCC data seen by Reuters, the 14 biggest domestic exporters secured the rights to export 365,000 tonnes of cocoa for the October-March main crop. By the end of December, they had bought 141,000 tonnes of beans. The GNI, one of two Ivorian exporter associations, voiced concern over the situation in a letter last week. "Given that only export permit holders can buy and export the corresponding physical cocoa, as long as the CCC doesn't cancel these export permits by declaring defaults ... we'll have a blockage in the buying system," it stated. (Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by David Goodman)
Bogota (AFP) - Colombia said Wednesday it hopes the country's last active rebel group will release a key hostage this weekend to clear the way for formal peace talks.

A peace deal with the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) would cap an earlier deal with the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to seal an end to a half-century civil conflict.

The government and ELN have said they are ready to start talks on February 7.

They agreed to talks on condition that the rebels free former congressman Odin Sanchez and that the government grant pardons to certain imprisoned ELN members.

"The protocol for his release has been initiated," Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said on Radio Nacional.

"So I hope Mr. Sanchez's release will be completed quickly this weekend."

ELN chief negotiator Pablo Beltran said on Twitter that the force would provide instructions Saturday on how Sanchez will be released.

The ELN, like the FARC, took up arms against the government in 1964.

The many-sided ideological and territorial conflict has left 260,000 people dead, according to official data.

FARC militants are due to start disarming and demobilizing under UN supervision.

Their leader Rodrigo "Timochenko" Londono warned the government on Wednesday over delays to the process.

It was supposed to start on December 31 but has been postponed by a month. Londono said the government had not yet provided material for building the demobilization camps.

"If the government does not immediately set up the necessary infrastructure, it will be necessary to reconsider the date of the FARC's arrival" in the demobilization zones, he said on Twitter.
Chicago (AFP) - Two years after the last USA Pro Challenge brought top cyclists to the Rocky Mountains, organizers announced plans Wednesday for the Colorado Classic to return pro riders to the region.

RPM Events Group announced the four-stage men's event will be contested August 10-13, rolling through Denver, Colorado Springs and Breckenridge with a women's event August 10-11.

No circuits were revealed but promoters said the race will last more than 300 miles with each day's start and finish in the same location.

"I can't wait to once again show off this wonderful state to the world during the Colorado Classic," said Ken Gart, Chairman of RPM Events Group.

Stage one will be contested in Colorado Springs with stage two in Breckenridge and the final two stages in Denver. Women will open in Colorado Springs and ride a concluding Denver circuit on day two.

"I'm excited to see Colorado once again leading the way forward for men's and women's pro racing," said Connie Carpenter Phinney of Boulder, who won the first-ever women's Olympic road race.

Organizers expect the race will attract 18 world-class teams of six riders each
Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - The Council of Europe on Tuesday voiced concern at the rising levels of violence against journalists throughout the continent, notably in Turkey and Russia.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution decrying "the many cases of serious threats to media freedom in Europe," highlighting the deaths of 16 journalists since January 2015 in member states.

The body, which met in Strasbourg, found the situation particularly worrying in Turkey and the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula.

PACE called on Turkish authorities to "release from detention all journalists who have not been indicted for actively participating in terrorist acts" and "review emergency decrees" which ordered the seizure of media companies and allowed the arrest of staff.

The parliamentarians also highlighted "the worrying situation in the Russian Federation, the Crimean Peninsula occupied by Russia, and in the eastern parts of Ukraine".

PACE called on the Russian authorities to allow Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov to return home.

Sentsov was convicted of terrorism in 2015 for arson attacks on pro-Kremlin party offices in Russian-annexed Crimea.

The independence of public broadcasters from governments must be guaranteed, the Council of Europe parliamentarians agreed.

The Council of Europe's "platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists" has recorded more than 230 attacks on media staff since it was set up in 2015.

The Council of Europe is a pan-European body made up of 47 countries, including Turkey and 28 EU member states.

It describes itself as Europe's leading human rights organisation and all its members have signed the European Convention on Human Rights.
By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - An investigation into an oil spill on an aboriginal reserve in western Canada will include checks of leak-detection measures, Saskatchewan's energy minister said on Tuesday, as crews prepare to excavate the site to confirm the spill's source. "We need to obviously as part of that investigation make that determination of when exactly the leak did take place and whether the monitoring system that the company employs is adequate enough," Dustin Duncan told reporters in Regina, the provincial capital. Some 200,000 liters (52,834 gallons) of oil leaked last week onto the Ocean Man First Nation, 140 km (87 miles) southeast of Regina. Vacuum trucks are on site to remove oil and contaminated soil, with excavation expected to begin on Wednesday. Authorities were notified of the leak on Friday, when an area resident who had smelled the scent of oil for a week located the spill and alerted the band's chief, who notified Tundra Energy Marketing Ltd. Tundra has a line adjacent to the spill and is leading cleanup efforts, but has not publicly confirmed its pipeline as the source of the leak. Crescent Point Energy Corp , which also has assets in the area, said Tundra notified them on Friday of a "suspected anomaly on a portion of their system". If the problem persists, Crescent Point may have to divert around 1,000 barrels a day of its crude heading to facilities in neighboring Manitoba, spokesman Trent Stangl said. Tundra, part of Canadian grain trading and energy conglomerate James Richardson and Sons Ltd, said late on Monday it is cooperating with all levels of government and will ensure "the affected land is restored appropriately." "There has to be a time frame set that they follow up every week, every month, every season depending on what the weather can cause, and every year, until Ocean Man is satisfied that yes, everything is okay," Chief Connie Big Eagle said. No residences are close to the spill site but it is near a cemetery which is considered sacred land by the band. Pipelines are viewed by the oil-rich provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan as critical lifelines, but draw fierce opposition from environmental and indigenous groups. "It just raises the issue yet again, that if you are going to build these pipelines, you're going to be placing communities and water and land at risk," said Gretchen Fitzgerald, national program director at the Sierra Club Canada Foundation. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; editing by Alan Crosby and Tom Brown)
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Scientists are taking a cue from last week's Women's Marches and planning their own protests in Washington, D.C., and far beyond.

Frustrated and alarmed by what they said were President Donald Trump's "clear anti-science actions," march organizers told Mashable they hoped to bring together people from across the political spectrum to stand up for scientific progress.

"This is not a partisan issue," the March for Science team said by email. "Scientific research moves us forward."

SEE ALSO: Government scientists are caught between new gag order and their own ethics policies

Organizers haven't yet picked a date for the D.C. demonstration. But a planning team is meeting on Saturday to develop a firmer mission statement and ensure the movement is "inclusive of all people (and all fields of science)," they said.

It has never been more important for scientists of all stripes to come together and have their voices heard in government.  ScienceMarchonDC (@ScienceMarchDC) January 25, 2017

Separately, environmental and climate groups are planning a People's Climate March in April to protest Trump's plans to scrap former President Barack Obama's climate policies and advance construction of controversial oil pipelines.

Both climate activists and scientists said they were bolstered by the Women's Marches, which drew millions of women and men around the world, from Washington down to Antarctica.

Next to signs promoting women's reproductive rights and dismissing Trump's past xenophobic and misogynistic statements, many demonstrators carried posters urging participants to "Stand Up for Science" or declaring that "Climate Change is Real"  a fact that Trump said he doesn't fully accept.

Don't believe in climate change? Ask an Earth Scientist (I'm right here) #SciWomensMarch pic.twitter.com/vOckmR2HUr  Jean Dixon (@GeoJeannie) January 25, 2017

Amid those events, several scientists were talking on Reddit last weekend about how they could respond to an administration that has vowed to scrap environmental and climate change programs and is generally hostile to science.

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A participant suggested scientists hold their own march, and the idea quickly snowballed. Scientists and concerned civilians alike have since shown an outpouring of support.

The March for Science's private Facebook group, which started with just a couple hundred members last week, had nearly 263,000 members as of Wednesday afternoon. Its related Twitter account, @ScienceMarchDC, was up to 47,000 followers. A public group, meanwhile, has 35,000 followers.

The numbers ratcheted up in recent days after the Trump administration took steps to silence arms of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Meta moment when you ask press dept if they can say whether they're allowed to talk to you. (They did not comment.) https://t.co/eaPbOV9lJZ  Kate Sheppard (@kate_sheppard) January 24, 2017

Officials also froze the EPA's environmental grants and contracts, and this week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention abruptly canceled a major climate change conference planned for February.

On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive action to revive the Keystone XL pipeline, which the Obama administration rejected in 2015 on the grounds of climate change. He also signed an action to help Energy Transfer Partners complete its Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota.

Environmentalists on Wednesday vowed to double down their opposition to those pipelines with the People's Climate March  slated for April 29 in Washington  and other related actions across the country.

"Our planet is in crisis, and voices from around the nation must and will be heard," Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said in a statement.

If you are a scientist who is worried about your research during the Trump administration, please send an email from your personal account to science@mashable.com.
On this day in 1787, Shays rebellion effectively ended in Springfield, Mass., when its forces failed to capture a federal armory. The uprising was one of the major influences in the calling of a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

Daniel Shays and Job Shattuck

The tax protest showed the federal government, under the Articles of Confederation, couldnt put down an internal rebellion. It had to rely on a state militia sponsored by private Boston business people. With no money, the central government couldnt act to protect a perpetual union guaranteed by the Articles.

The events leading to and including Shays rebellion alarmed Founders like George Washington, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton to the point where delegates from five states met in Annapolis, Maryland in September 1786 to discuss changing the Articles of Confederation.

The group in Maryland included Madison, Hamilton and John Dickinson, and it recommended that a meeting of all 13 states be held the following May in Philadelphia. The Confederation Congress agreed and the Constitutional Convention of 1787 effectively ended the era of the Articles of Confederation.

Daniel Shays, a former Continental Army captain, led a group of upset western Massachusetts residents that clashed with the state government over the forgiveness of wartime debt and high taxes. In some cases, Army veterans who had never received pay for their service saw their property seized.

In August 1786, the protesters mobilized and seized several local courts after the state government refused to consider debt-relief provisions. Shays led a force of about 1,500 men in an attempted raid of the Springfield armory on January 26. The group was intercepted on the day before its planned attack; four protestors died in a brief conflict with the militia and the group dispersed.

When learning of the conflict, Washington remarked that it threatened the tranquility of the Union.

If three years ago any person had told me that at this day, I should see such a formidable rebellion against the laws & constitutions of our own making as now appears I should have thought him a bedlamite  a fit subject for a mad house, he wrote to Henry Knox.

Story continues

At that time, Washington was leaning against attending the constitutional convention, but the impact of Shays rebellion and the influence of his friends led Washington to change his mind.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton on Tuesday proposed massive expansions to education options, health insurance offerings and more this year.

Major portions of Dayton's wish list will be whittled down or erased entirely by Republicans who control the Legislature. Republicans say they'll push for lower spending and to put more of a $1.4 billion budget surplus toward tax relief. The governor's nearly $46 billion proposed budget was largely overshadowed by his collapse during Monday night's State of the State address and his announcement Tuesday that he was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Here's a look at some of Dayton's ideas:

BY THE NUMBERS

Dayton's proposed budget clocks in at $45.8 billion, a roughly 10 percent increase from the state's current budget. His first offer kicks off the push-and-pull with the Legislature as they try to set the next two-year budget.

Much of the new money would go toward education, with $75 million set aside to expand a new preschool program to more schools and an additional $371 million to increase the state's per-pupil funding formula by 2 percent in each of the next two years. Republican legislative leaders said there were things to like in the governor's proposal but said they were dismayed by the topline number.

"Do I think 10 percent is too much? Yes," Republican House Speaker Kurt Daudt said. "I probably think 5 percent is too much."

The budget work won't begin in earnest until after lawmakers get a final update on the state's financial position in late February. The Legislature has to pass a new budget by late May.

HEALTH INSURANCE

Dayton's announcement of his most dramatic proposal was derailed by his collapse Monday evening.

His prepared remarks for the State of the State, which he finished out Tuesday, laid out his plan to create a public health insurance option by allowing every Minnesota resident to purchase MinnesotaCare, one of the state-sponsored programs for low-income families.

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If passed, residents could start buying state-negotiated plans in 2018. State officials say it wouldn't require ongoing state funding, but would need $12 million in startup costs. They estimate it would double MinnesotaCare enrollment to more than 200,000. Dayton pitched it as an answer to the skyrocketing costs and instability for shoppers who buy coverage on their own.

"Why would we deny our citizens that chance to get a better deal?" Dayton said.

It would be the first so-called public option in the country, and would require federal approval even as President Donald Trump's administration looks to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Some top Republicans called Dayton's idea a non-starter.

"Starting another potential government program at that time doesn't seem like a great idea," Peppin quote.

REHASH

Dayton's proposal will bring familiar debates back to the Minnesota Legislature.

Lawmakers are well-versed in Dayton's preschool initiative, having approved a slimmed-down version that put out $25 million for schools in impoverished districts to set up early education programs. Dayton urged lawmakers that more funding was needed to help thousands more of Minnesota's youngest learners.

Also, he's reviving his push for a gasoline tax  another non-starter for Republicans, who say it's unnecessary  to fund a major bridge and road repair effort. His proposal calls for a per-gallon tax increase of 10 cents would help improve infrastructure across the state.
While many policy analyses since President Donald Trumps election attempt to predict how his administration will conduct international relations, few indicate what Trump should specifically do in a comprehensive way. The United States needs policies that defend its vital national interests, defined as conditions strictly necessary to safeguard and enhance the countrys survival as a free and secure nation. These policies should:

1. Prevent and deter the use, and reduce the threat, of nuclear and biological weapons, catastrophic terrorist attacks, and cyberattacks against the United states or its military forces abroad.

2. Prevent the slow global spread of nuclear weapons, secure nuclear weapons and materials, and reduce further proliferation of intermediate and long-range delivery systems for nuclear weapons.

3. Maintain a regional and global balance of power that promotes peace and stability through domestic American robustness, U.S. international primacy, and strengthening and defending U.S. alliance systems, including the alliance with Israel.

4. Prevent the emergence of hostile major powers or failed states on U.S. borders.

5. Ensure the viability and stability of major global systems: trade, financial markets, supplies of energy, and climate.

U.S. power is substantial and far-reaching, but not unlimited. The United States should promote and defend these vital interests, but show instinctive restraint elsewhere. In the Middle East, for example, the United States must confront the Islamic State and other terrorist groups, but without deploying significant numbers of U.S. ground troops or participating in nation building. Regarding Iran, rather than dismantling the nuclear agreement, the United States should work with international partners to strengthen enforcement of the deals terms and more vigorously confront Irans regional hegemonic designs. The United Sates should also support a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but without devoting substantial diplomatic efforts to it, and not move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

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The United States should allocate significant resources currently used in the Middle East to Asia. While engaging and containing China, America should increase freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea to counter Chinese territorial claims and militarization. Much more intensive U.S.-China exchanges on national interests and strategic goals would help both countries develop principles for mutual cooperation and conflict resolution. Maintaining the One China policy is a prerequisite for this. To meet the North Korean threat, America should bolster regional defenses and isolate banks that finance the Kim regime. Both challenges, along with many others, require substantially larger U.S. military budgets, along with stronger security and economic ties with Asian allies and India.

The pivot to Asia should not come at the expense of Europe, and the United States must not ignore the threats Russia poses. As with China, the United States should engage and contain Russia, while re-opening channels of strategic communication with Russia to manage disputes. Suspending European missile defense and ceasing NATO expansion will aid this process. At the same time, the United States and Europe must maintain sanctions on Russia  for its actions in Ukraine until Russia implements the Minsk agreement, and for Russian interference in U.S. elections. NATO nations should also increase military spending and permanently deploy an armored division to Poland and brigades to each of the Baltic States. Stronger coordination with European allies will be crucial for this strong response to Russian aggression.

The United States also must undertake other crucial tasks while addressing the Chinese and Russian challenges in Eurasia. These tasks include strengthening U.S. economic growth, in part through exploration of domestic oil and gas resources; renegotiating and passing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and the North American Free Trade Agreement to spur U.S. manufacturing jobs while stabilizing global markets and combating Russian and Chinese geoeconomic coercion; bolstering U.S. cybersecurity; reducing instability in Mexico; addressing climate change; and strengthening international institutions that maintain a U.S.-led world order.

Even if Trump implements the above policies, the United States will face global crises. Let us wish him well in his efforts to secure vital U.S. national interests.

Blackwills entire list of proposed policy actions can be found here.

Photo credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Republican hawks in Congress are already at odds with President Donald Trumps budget czar, a fiscal conservative who has made clear he will reject spending more on defense if it results in a bigger deficit.

As a candidate, President Donald Trump promised to dramatically increase military spending to pay for tens of thousands of troops, scores of ships, and hundreds of new warplanes. But his pick to oversee the Office of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney, is a dyed-in-the-wool budget stickler who as a lawmaker repeatedly voted against defense spending hikes, referring to one Pentagon account as a slush fund.

Mulvaney, a former congressman from South Carolina and member of the Tea Party Freedom Caucus movement, has a long record of opposing defense spending increases without corresponding cuts elsewhere in the federal budget. And its not at all clear how his Tea Party outlook fits in with Trumps plans to drastically expand the Pentagons funding.

The first salvo in the coming budget battle came last week, when Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) launched a proposal to set the defense budget at $640 billion for 2018 fiscal year  a big jump from the $551 billion in base budget funding for 2017  cash they said would jumpstart Trumps planned military buildup. Money to fund Washingtons wars and counterterrorism operations would come later.

The pair likely went public with their number to get out in front of the White House and Mulvaney on the issue, Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said. They want to frame the debate whether we have $640 billion or not, he said.

Foreign Policy has also learned that if confirmed, Mulvaney is prepared to drop what two sources said is being called a skinny budget, early next month, which will set topline budget numbers for non-discretionary federal spending for each federal department, but without specific spending lines included.

Story continues

Details are scarce, but one source said that the number for the Pentagon might be as high as $640 billion, which would match the number that McCain and Thornberry called for.

But theres a big difference: Wartime funding for combat operations, like in Iraq and Afghanistan, will now have to come out of the overall kitty. In fiscal year 2017, those operations were funded separately, to the tune of $58 billion. McCain and Thornberry would keep the war funding separate, while Mulvaney, long an opponent of the extra-budgetary measure, is likely to push to move it into the overall request.

In his opening statement before a panel of outside experts on the 2018 defense budget on Tuesday, McCain said theres no hiding the fact that buying tens of billions of dollars worth of new equipment and adding tens of thousands of servicemembers will not be cheap. McCain and Thornberrys plan calls for defense budgets to grow by an additional $430 billion above what has been planned for the next five years.

Aware that the defense budget is going to face a stiff competition for funds under a Trump administration that is looking to spend big on a variety of programs, McCain added that national defense must be a political priority on par with repealing and replacing Obamacare, rebuilding infrastructure, and reforming the tax code  indeed, more so, because national defense is job one for the federal government.

Mulvaney has long been a particularly fierce critic of the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account, which funds the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria and elsewhere, and has often been used by the Pentagon as a budgetary gimmick to modernize its forces and pay for spare parts and training efforts outside of normal budgetary processes.

But in his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Mulvaney tried to walk the line between his budget-cutting ideology and some Republican Senators desire to spend big on defense.

When Sen. Bob Corker, (R-Tenn.) asked if the Pentagons current use of the OCO account was dishonest, Mulvaney agreed, saying, thats just the word I was going to use. He has also previously called OCO a slush fund to skirt Congressionally-mandated budget caps that have slowed the growth of the defense budget in recent years.

For much of the presidential campaign, Trump promised to undo the Budget Control Act which set the spending caps, but the reality it it would take a change in the law to work around the limits, requiring 60 votes in the Senate. Republicans currently hold 52 seats, requiring several Democrats to buck their party, along with a host of Republican fiscal hawks unlikely to vote to scuttle the law.

And Mulvaney has long made common cause with Democrats on defense budget cuts, especially when it comes to the OCO account. I will look forward to explaining to the president why I think its not a good way to spend taxpayer dollars, he told Sen. Chris Van Hollen, (D-Md.), a longtime ally on the subject.

Mulvaney said he was encouraged by talks he has already held with Defense Secretary James Mattis, who I believe shares your, my and apparently the presidents commitment to drive efficiencies into operations the Defense Department.

Those comments will likely alarm defense hawks, but Mulvaney extended a peace offering to McCain and other Pentagon backers. Asked by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) if he supports Trumps plans to increase defense spending, Mulvaney said, I do, adding he is absolutely in lockstep with President Trumps plans to expand the military. But if he slashes the OCO and puts operational funds into the regular budget, that will greatly shrink the amount of extra money available to pay for all the defense goodies Trump has promised.

Mulvaney has also said that any Pentagon spending increases would have to be offset by cuts to non-military spending. Thats a non-starter for Democrats, who, like Mulvaney and his fellow Freedom Caucus Republicans on the Hill, also have no desire to get rid of budget caps that have been placed on the federal budget, including the Pentagon.

Given this, and Mulvaneys willingness to ally with Democrats on the Hill to cut defense spending, hell likely tighten the noose on OCO, according to Mackenzie Eaglen, a budget expert at the American Enterprise Institute.

That sets up a potential collision between Trump and the GOP hawks desire to beef up the military, on the one hand, and the administrations own deficit hounds, on the other. On Tuesday, Republicans managed to paper over differences in defense spending plans, but that wont be so easy once wrangling begins in earnest over the budget this spring.

Photo Credit: Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images
House Speaker Paul Ryan has invited President Trump to address a joint session of Congress on February 28. This is a genius move. If Democrats boycott the gathering, as some surely will, they will commit political suicide.

More positively, maybe Trump can convince members of both parties to do what is right for the country: enact tax reforms that benefit small and large businesses, reduce the regulations that inhibit investment, and push healthcare reform that will actually give middle-class families access to medical care.

Related: The Smart Money Is Betting Against Full Obamacare Repeal

Ryan announced the invitation in his weekly press conference, explaining, This will be an opportunity for the people and their representatives to hear directly from our new president about his vision and our shared agenda. In other words, unfiltered through the mainstream media. A Ryan spokesman earlier said, The Speaker and President Trump are eager to continue moving forward on their shared agenda to jumpstart the economy and get the country back on track.

Will Democrats play ball? Maybe not. Democrats have so far opposed every single proposal from Trump, demeaned and criticized nearly every cabinet nominee, sat out the inauguration in large numbers and generally conducted themselves as sore losers. If they persist, they will further alienate the group that elected Donald Trump  middle-class Americans who have traditionally supported Democrats -- and relinquish any hope of rebuilding their decimated party.

The Trump agenda is beginning to roll forward, picking up followers like a snowball picks up snow. In particular, labor unions and American workers are cheering some of the very first measures signed by the president  walking away from the TPP and green-lighting the Keystone Pipeline. On Monday, shortly after announcing the official termination of the multi-nation trade agreement, the president met with labor leaders who applauded his move. Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa said in a written statement, With this decision, the president has taken the first step toward fixing 30 years of bad trade policies that have cost working Americans millions of good-paying jobs.

Story continues

Related: How Donald Trump Is Winning His War on Hollywood

Sean McGarvey, president of the North Americas Building Trades Unions, said after the confab (most of which was private), He intends to do the work on the issues he discussed on the campaign trailIt was by far the best meeting Ive had in Washington.

This new-found harmony between the GOP and Big Labor should have Democrats shivering in their Guccis. The party is in the midst of the sort of intensive self-analysis that accompanies a colossal defeat. They continue to pin Hillary Clintons loss on Vladimir Putin and James Comey, ignoring the real reason for their defeat: the defection of their core constituency, blue collar workers.

Moreover, anxious Democrats are looking in the wrong places for salvation. There are some who see in last Saturdays large and news-grabbing womens march the seeds of renewal. They liken the outpouring of millions of exuberant demonstrators to the stirrings of the Tea Party in the early days of the Obama administration. They are wrong. The activists who railed against rising deficits and debts, kicked into action by Rick Santellis famous on-air rant and call for a Tea Party, did indeed rouse Republicans from the depths of despair and help put the party back on the map. But the call to action was a national call, appealing to all Americans who worried about the countrys soaring debts and unsustainable spending.

Related: Heres How Inflation Could Suck the Wind Out of Trumps Economy

By contrast, the marchers in Washington and other cities around the world had no unifying theme. It was not pro-women; after all, pro-life womens groups were excluded. It was a crew of often vulgar anti-Trump sloganeers who were championing the kind of identity politics that Democrats have embraced to their peril for the past eight years. This was the weekend of a presidential inauguration; for most Americans a time of national pride. There was no such sentiment offered up by the women in the streets.

Columnist David Brooks points out that the marchers could have offered a red, white and blue alternative patriotism, a modern, forward-looking patriotism based on pluralism, dynamism, growth, racial and gender equality and global engagement. Instead, the protests offered the pink hats, an anti-Trump movement built, oddly, around Planned Parenthood, and lots of signs with the word pussy in them.

Not quite the cohesive message that will start a political movement, which is the only kind that matters.

The same issues arise as Democrats consider who will lead their party out of the darkness. There are now three African-Americans, two whites and one Hispanic vying for the position. At a recent candidates forum, Sally Boynton Brown, who is white, garnered attention by saying that if successful, her job will be to shut other white people down; she lambasted fellow Democrats for not talking enough about Black Lives Matter and said if selected, she would make sure that [white people] get that they have privilege. Is that really the burning issue for Democrats today? Or for the country?

Related: Why Trump Cant Turn Back the Clock on Clean Energy Transition

President Obama left office with high approval ratings even though he arguably never put the countrys overriding concern  job creation  at the top of his agenda. Instead, Obama catered largely to environmental and minority issues, leaving behind a nation more divided that when he took office. Hillary Clinton lost in part because she mistook Obamas personal popularity for approval of his policies.

In 2018, there are 10 Democratic senators up for reelection in states that Trump won; five in states that Trump won decisively. Some, like West Virginias Joe Manchin, have already started to back Trumps policies. Others may follow suit, undermining the current brick wall of Democrat opposition to Donald Trump. If they dont climb aboard the Trump train, the GOP could well enter 2019 with a filibuster-proof majority.

Democrats have a chance to work with President Trump to boost the economy and raise incomes. So far, newly elected Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised no cooperation and pledged no backing down. He could play the part of Bill Clintons Newt Gingrich or Ronald Reagans Tip ONeil, the loyal opposition helping to pass popular legislation and at the same time build up his party. If he does not, Democrats will be in the wilderness for some time to come.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Defeated and in the minority, Democrats in Congress have few options to push their own agenda. But Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has led a new effort in recent days to find areas where they agree with President Trump  and Republicans do not.

Democrats such as Senators Bernie Sanders, Tammy Baldwin and Sherrod Brown have put forward a series of proposals that could expose rifts between President Donald Trump and the GOP on building roads, buying American goods and labeling China a currency manipulator.

Last week, Brown introduced legislation that would require taxpayer dollars on government projects be spent on American-made goods. On Monday, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy asked Trump to take similar executive actions. On Tuesday morning, Schumer went on the Senate floor to call for Trump to label China a currency manipulator, which Democrats, as well as some Republicans, see as an important first step to solving trade imbalances with China.

Later, a cadre of leading Democrats unveiled a plan for $1 trillion in infrastructure spending over 10 years, an idea Republicans have opposed but Trump has enthusiastically supported. And Baldwin asked Trump in an open letter to stick to his campaign message on trade agreements and buying American goods.

All those economic proposals are ones that many Democrats have long supported but which have divided Republicans. Without Trumps support, the measures stand little chance of making headway in the Republican-controlled Congress, but for now, Democrats are relishing the confusion it could sow among the Republican conference.

Trump said Buy American, hire American, and he said Lets get rid of unfair trade deals, said Baldwin. We have to hold him accountable. If that makes it uncomfortable for Paul Ryan and House Republicans, she said, that needs to be exposed too.

For Republicans, the risk is in losing consensus in their caucus and ceding some control of the agenda to Schumer.

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Do they gain some political advantage if they can split us from the President? Obviously, yes, said Republican Senator John McCain. The Democrats are trying to find some traction which they have lost and obviously to call for, and the infrastructure bill is something very popular.

On infrastructure in particular there are differences between Republicans and Trump, who throughout his campaign called for massive infrastructure spending. We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals, Trump pledged in his victory speech early in the morning of Nov. 9.

Senior Republicans are unenthusiastic about major infrastructure spending, and aides have pointed to the infrastructure spending authorized in 2015 and 2016, including a water infrastructure bill and a five-year $305 billion highway-construction package.

The new, $1 trillion Democratic plan includes $200 billion for a vital infrastructure fund and $210 billion to repair bridges and roads.

I dont think we ought to borrow almost a trillion dollars and plus up a bunch of federal accounts and incur additional debt and dont build any projects to speak of, said Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday. I can tell you what Im against is a replication of the Obama stimulus package in 2009.

Rank-and-file Republicans are also skeptical of an infrastructure spending plan. Asked if he would support the Democratic plan, Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, sounded skeptical. It depends on how theyre going to pay for it. You cant do that unless you increase the debt, can you? So, no, he said.

Democrats claim their plan could create 15 million jobs. We have a President who called for a large, large infrastructure bill, and were challenging him to join us even if his Republican colleagues in the House and Senate arent for it, said Schumer on Tuesday.

Weve wanted a strong infrastructure bill to rebuild America for several years, said Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow. It has been Republicans in the House and Senate blocking that. Were glad that President Trump understands this is a job creator.

The infrastructure plan Trump proposed during the campaign would leverage $137 billion in tax credits to generate $1 trillion in private spending on infrastructure projects over 10 years; private investors would choose to spend on toll roads. But some criticized the plan, saying it would not generate the spending required to fix a wide range of projects.

On other measures like trade, Democrats see an opening to ally with Trump against traditional Republican orthodoxy. Trump vehemently opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership during his campaign, among other trade agreements that Republicans have historically supported.

Now is the time to develop a new trade policy that helps working families, not just multinational corporations, said Sanders after Trump signed an executive order on Monday officially withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. If President Trump is serious about a new policy to help American workers, then I would be delighted to work with him.

Trump said in his Inauguration speech that he would follow two simple rules: buy American and hire American. After last years election, Republicans stripped a Buy America provision from a water resources infrastructure bill that would have required taxpayer-funded construction projects use American-made steel. Democrats protested the move, but Trump did not object.

Democrats now want to push Trump to commit to supporting Buy America laws. Brown, who represents Ohio, a manufacturing state where Trump won by 8 percentage points, asked the President in an open letter to commit to Buy America rules. I strongly support your commitment to Hire American, Buy American,' he said in his letter.

Sanders has led Democrats in demanding that Trump hold to his commitment during the campaign not to cut Social Security and Medicare; Republicans have called for revisiting entitlement programs, and several of Trumps Cabinet picks, including Representative Tom Price for Health and Human Services Secretary and Representative Mick Mulvaney as head of the Office of Management and Budget, have sought overhaul the programs in the past.

Is the President-elect, Mr. Trump, going to keep his word to the American people and not cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid? Or did he lie to the American people? Sanders said last week in the Senate confirmation hearing for Price.

For Democrats, the agenda will depend in large part on what Trump is willing to support. Schumer has been lobbying the President on many of the issues in recent meetings. Hes promised to label China a currency manipulator on his first day in office. Were still waiting. Last night at the White House I mentioned this to the President. He didnt say no, said Schumer on Tuesday. Im not going to say what he said. He didnt say no.
Los Angeles (AFP) - Toronto Raptors star DeMar DeRozan faces at least two games on the sidelines after spraining his right ankle against the Phoenix Suns, his team confirmed Tuesday.

DeRozan, Toronto's leading scorer this season, was injured in the defeat to Phoenix when he stepped on another player's foot. He attempted to play through the injury but suffered a reaction on Monday.

"When it rains, it pours sometimes," said DeRozan, who is averaging 27.9 points per game for the Raptors this season.

"Once you get through that part of it, it always comes out to be worth it. That's how I always look at it. I think I'm just an optimistic type of guy and that's how I look at everything."

DeRozan's injury comes with the Raptors struggling to snap out of a run of three straight defeats.

They face the San Antonio Spurs later Tuesday at the Air Canada Centre.
When it comes to international diplomacy, President Donald Trump is not known for discreet language.

"We cant continue to allow China to rape our country, and thats what theyre doing, he told a rally in Indiana.

And in an interview with GQ: "I will have a military that's so strong and powerful, and so respected, we're not gonna have to nuke anybody."

And who can forget this tweet?

Heres how some world leaders have responded to Trumps brazen behavior:

In France, President Francois Hollande said Trumps excesses make you want to retch after the American president-to-be went after the parents of Humayun Khan, a Muslim-American soldier who died in the Iraq war. A few months later, after Election Day, Holland said American voters had opened a period of uncertainty.

French Ambassador to the U.S. Gerard Araud had a simple word for Trump in 2015: Vulture.

In Great Britain, Prime Minister Theresa May congratulated Trump after his election: "We are, and will remain, strong and close partners on trade, security and defense" she said.

Not all British politicians have been so diplomatic. Conservative Member of Parliament Marcus Fysh called Trump the orange prince of American self-publicity.

Let's be clear, Donald Trump is an idiot. I have tried to find different, perhaps more parliamentary adjectives to describe him, but none was clear enough. He is an idiot," said MP Gavin Newlands of the Scottish National Party.

A British MP from Northern Ireland pitched in too: "The person you are dealing with may be a successful businessman, but he's also a buffoon," said Gavin Robinson, who represents the Democratic Unionist Party.

British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson seemed to swirl 180 degrees after Trumps election. "The only reason I wouldn't visit some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump," he said before Nov. 8; but after, he claimed he was looking forward to meeting Trump.

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The relationship between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump has been widely reported, especially concerning Trumps admiration of Putin despite allegations of Russian interference in the U.S. election  not to mention a dossier with unsubstantiated claims about Trumps sexual exploits in Moscow and financial dealings.

After the U.S. election, Putin said: "We heard the campaign statements of the future U.S. president ... about the restoration of relations between Russia and the United States. It is not an easy path, but we are ready to do our part and do everything to return Russian and American relations to a stable path of development.

Officials in China reportedly were unsettled after Trump took a call from Taiwans leader.

An editorial in the Communist Party-affiliated newspaper Global Times stated Trumps behavior was lagging far behind the White House spokespersons.

Referring to Trump's tweets claiming that China had stolen a U.S. drone  another spat between Trump and China  the editorial went on to say: China has so far practiced restraint at Trumps provocations as hes yet to enter the White House. But this attitude wont last too long after he officially becomes the U.S. president, were he still to treat China in the manner he tweeted today.

In Denmark: He changes opinions like the rest of us change underwear," said Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel  known for her level-headedness  offered a cautious congratulations to Trump after he was elected: Germany and America are connected by values of democracy, freedom and respect for the law and the dignity of man, independent of origin, skin color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political views, she said in a statement. I offer the next president of the United States close cooperation on the basis of these values.

During the election, Elmar Brok, German member of the European Parliament and chair of the its foreign affairs committee, was not so kind: He is not predictable and this unpredictability is a danger. And therefore it is not in the common interest, nor in the interest of the West, that we have President Donald Trump.

In Israel and Palestine, reactions have been mixed.

When Trump proposed a Muslim ban, Isaac Herzog, Israeli opposition leader, said, "Trump's statements are shocking and disgusting."

But after the election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted his congratulations to Trump.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas too congratulated Trump after his victory but has warned him against moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

North Koreas reaction also has been varied.

"Donald Trump's remarks are totally absurd and illogical," said Ri Jong Ryul, deputy-director general of the Institute of International Studies in North Korea, after Trump suggested that Japan and South Korea arm themselves with nuclear weapons.

North Korean Ambassador to Britain Hyon Hak Bong seemed to chalk up Trumps behavior to theatrics: "We see it as the dramatics of a popular actor."

Despite those statements, a state-run website ran an editorial last year, praising Trump as "a prescient presidential candidate"

Trump has also had a contentious relationship with Mexico  especially after claiming he would build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and make the latter pay for it. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto retorted in January that of course Mexico will not pay for the wall.

Trump doesnt seem to be especially popular in Mexico, anyway: When an apples red, it is red. When you say ignorant things, youre ignorant, said Mexicos top diplomat, Foreign Affairs Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu, who also called Trump racist.

In Canada, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked whether Americans could move to his country after Trump was elected, Trudeau said: "The fact is, Cape Breton is lovely all times of the year and if people do want to make choices that perhaps suit their lifestyles better, Canada is always welcoming and opening."

And in the Netherlands, its not a politicians remarks that are getting attention, but a video from a comedy show parodying Trumps inauguration speech.

People tell us, very important people, they tell us weve got the best tax evasion system God ever created. Its just unbelievable. You should tell your sons to put all your  sorry, all their  business here, said the narrator imitating Trump on the video. Toward the end, he added a plea: If you screw NATO, youre going to make our problems great again.

Related Articles
President Trump. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

We know President Trump has strong feelings about Twitter (TWTR). But his thoughts on the rest of the tech industry remain a guessing game five days after his inauguration, and more than a year and a half after he announced his candidacy.

Tech policy experts spent Monday in Washington discussing whats in store under the Trump administration at the State of the Net Conference, and struggled to get past guesses and hypotheticals. Thats not just a problem for the tech policy wonks at the annual conference held by the Internet Education Foundation, either. See, the Trump administrations policies will shape everything from your choices of internet providers, the market for streaming video, your online privacy and security and more.

Its difficult to predict whether the White House will take a primary leadership, or whether Congress will, or whether these issues will be on the front burner for any part of government, R Street Institute senior policy analyst Mike Godwin explained during an interview at the conference.

Net neutrality

The Federal Communications Commissions net neutrality rules, which prohibit internet providers from blocking, slowing or surcharging websites, something Sen. John Thune (R.-S.D.) called an aggressively activist and partisan agenda during a speech at State of the Net, have looked dead since Election Day. Trumps recent promotion of FCC commissioner Ajit Pai to chairman of the agency made net neutralitys death all but official.

Pai has denounced net neutrality regulations from the start. And now that Obama Democratic appointees Tom Wheeler and Jessica Rosenworcel have left the commission, Pai can start undoing those rules.

But reversing an FCC rule happens no faster than enacting a new one, and net neutrality remains a popular concept. Thune suggested that the way forward was a bipartisan bill upholding narrower open-internet rules. Another speaker, Sen. Brian Schatz (D.-Hi.), endorsed that goal but said the timing was wrong: Its too polarized.

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In the meantime, dont be surprised to see internet providers push the boundaries of the current rules  picture things like exempting their own video services from their wireless data caps, something AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) already do.

Broadband

Even Trump opponents have sounded relatively optimistic in talking about the presidents desire to rebuild the nations infrastructure  especially if they include extending broadband internet access to more Americans. But will they? Great question!

A panel discussion about rethinking telecom policy had no answers. According to Larry Downes, a fellow with Georgetown Universitys Center for Business and Public Policy, the core problem with Trumps infrastructure plan is We dont know anything about it.

Trumps inaugural address only mentioned roads, tunnels, bridges, railroads and airports, so counting on broadband might be a mistake. But panelists suggested that having an infrastructure bill mandate that those new projects include facilities for future broadband expansion  so-called dig once rules  would represent a valuable improvement.

Cybersecurity

The new administration takes cyber very seriously and its a top priority, said Technology CEO Council executive director Bruce Mehlman in a panel titled Stopping the Hacks. I cant tell you where it will end up.

Still, even with abundant evidence of Russian attempts to hack into U.S. institutions, beyond just the Democratic party, the same panel couldnt agree if Trump would continue existing sanctions against Russia.

Speakers did seem confident that Trump would not seek to compel tech companies to weaken encryption systems to allow access for law enforcement. In the days opening panel, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (D.-Va.) and Cybereason CEO Lior Div agreed that such a move would be, as Goodlatte put it, not a realistic way of looking at this problem.

Then again, the written answers Trumps attorney-general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions (R.-Ala.) provided to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D.-Vt.) include the assertion that its critical that national security and criminal investigators be able to overcome encryption.

I sat down with Div after his panel to ask if he had any insight about Trumps cybersecurity agenda. The cybersecurity executives answer? We dont have any information about it.

Privacy

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act, a 1986-relic that lets law-enforcement investigators access peoples mail stored online for more than 180 days without a warrant, remains pathetically overdue for replacement. Can Congress finally do that, and what will Trump say about it? Two more fine questions we dont have answers for.

In an onstage interview Rep. Suzanne DelBene (D.-Wash.) said some kind of change should finally happen, noting that the House voted unanimously for a reform bill last year. Trump, however, has been silent on the subject.

Another conference speaker, Adam Klein of the Center for a New American Security, suggested that the past opposition to ECPA reform might lead Trumps business-friendly administration to support replacing this law.

Its easy to bet on continued gridlock, and to some in Silicon Valley that would be fine. We like to be ignored as much as possible, Downes during his panel appearance.

But as Schatz noted in his own talk, the decisions of private companies set policy in their own right. He pointed to the growing ranks of household devices shipping with their own form of connectivity and their own privacy agreements  which without rules of the road enforced by government might yield a world that requires that I click agree to participate in life.

More from Rob:

Email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro.
Paris fashion can't get enough of its new enfant terrible Demna Gvasalia, whose rebel Vetements label has been ridiculing its conventions for the last two years.

But the trendsetting Georgian -- who now also designs for Balenciaga -- outdid himself at a haute couture week show on Tuesday by presenting a homeless man with a coat fastened with a tie.

His sleeping bag also bore a Vetements logo.

Couture clothes -- which are handmade to measure -- are eye-wateringly expensive, the preserve of the richest people on the planet.

To twist the knife, he put his "Vagabond", as Gvasalia called him, in a raggy-necked blue pullover with the EU flag on the front.

The down-and-out look, given a post-Brexit twist, was one of a parade of Paris stereotypes that Gvasalia -- tongue very much in cheek -- sent down the escalators of the Pompidou Centre art gallery.

This was the "City of Light" in all its grandeur and naffness.

Down the runway came the ferociously snooty fur-coated upper class matron, a black bouncer, a German tourist in see-through rain mac and shorts with brown socks and trainers, the office worker in ill-matched suit and anorak as well as the Filipina nanny in her Sunday best knock-off Chanel suit.

Gvasalia, 35, appeared to be holding an ironic mirror up to his adopted home, the world's fashion capital, and to himself -- selling the clothes of the poor to the rich.

- Tongue in cheek -

Gvasalia, who fled his then war-torn homeland as a child for Germany, said he gets his inspiration from riding the metro through one of the poorest and most ethnically diverse parts of Paris.

He also skewered the hipster "Parisienne" in her trench and coat and scooter helmet gentrifying those neighbourhoods, contrasting her with working class "Chav" twins in reworked shellsuits -- playing on the age-old prejudices against the poor.

There were a few laugh out loud moments, like the ageing Johnny Hallyday-like Parisian cowboy with "Vetements" stamped across the gusset of his jeans.

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Or the German tourist's green sweatshirt emblazoned with the title of the schlager pop song "I am so lucky to come from Osnabruck".

But there were also touching moments, the disoriented "Granny" being elbowed out of the away on the catwalk by the other urban tribes, the "Stoner", the "Secretary", the "Emo" and "Miss Webcam".

Haute couture week shows often traditionally finish with a wedding dress. And Gvasalia, ever the provocateur, could not resist the temptation.

His bride was a Generation Z version of "Great Expectations" spinster Miss Havisham, a ball of white tulle who looked like she had just been jilted at the altar.

- 'Gorilla sleeves' -

Vetements, the uber cool collective Gvasalia leads, has always flirted at the edge of taste, with his Frankenstein suits and Stasi officer post-Soviet chic.

And purists find it hard to swallow that someone who often recuts and reworks existing clothes should be allowed into couture week.

Just to rub salt in the wound, Vetements called their collection ready-to-wear.

But Gvasalia's every innovation -- appropriating logos to trailing "gorilla sleeves", and pushing Belgian fashion designer Raf Simons' oversized look to the limit -- is followed avidly and more often than not copied.

The brand's rising status was confirmed when Korean K-pop rapper G-Dragon -- who had earlier paid homage to Karl Lagerfeld at his Chanel show -- rushed back to his hotel to change into a Vetements hoodie so he could pay tribute to Gvasalia.

The sense of a changing of the guard was palpable.

Vetements' big new thing this time is overlong men's belts that trail down to the toes. Watch out for versions of them catching in car and metro doors across the world in the coming months.
A draft executive order purportedly written by the Trump administration which leaked Wednesday promised to revive the searing debates of the mid-2000s over torture and secret CIA prisons where al Qaeda suspects were kept for weeks at a time outside the bounds of international law.

The document, of which the White House disavowed knowledge, calls for the Defense Secretary and other national security chiefs to reexamine the justifications for torture, and orders a review of the Army field manual, which all U.S. agencies must, by law, use when interrogating suspects.

In an interview with ABC News airing Wednesday night, Trump said he would confer with Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo before implementing any new policy. But he said that he had asked top intelligence officials this week, does torture work?

And the answer was yes, absolutely, Trump said.

If Trump does follow through with such an order, it would run smack into existing law and the stated views of Trumps just-confirmed Cabinet secretaries and top national security chiefs, including Mattis and Pompeo, as Sen. John McCain, (R-Ariz.), reminded the president.

The President can sign whatever executive orders he likes, said McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee who himself was tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and co-authored the law to make the torture ban permanent. But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump repeatedly promised to work to bring back techniques a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding and other forms of coercion employed by the CIA during George W. Bushs administration.

U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said Wednesday that a ban on torture is not simply a matter of policy  it is U.S. law. I will not accept any attempt by this Administration to circumvent that policy, directly or through others.

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He added that he spoke Wednesday morning with Pompeo and Mattis to reaffirm that any attempt by this Administration to restart torture is absolutely unacceptable, and I will strongly oppose it.

According to drafts of the orders that have been circulating, Trump would direct that Guantanamo remain open and take in new detainees. He would also order a review of whether to resume the classified CIA black site detention program, as well as reviewing the U.S. Army field manual that by law bars U.S. officials from using enhanced interrogation techniques widely considered to be torture.

The executive orders would kick off a review of whether to reinstate the program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States, and whether such a program should include the use of detention facilities operated by the C.I.A, according to the New York Times. But another section of the draft states no person in the custody of the United States shall at any time be subjected to torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as described by U.S. or international law.

The Defense Department declined to comment on the leaked draft, referencing White House spokesman Sean Spicers comments Wednesday morning that it is not a White House document, I have no idea where it came from.

Trump made his own campaign pledges to load [Guantanamo] up with some really bad dudes. While hes since toned down his vows about reinstating government torture  in part at the behest of Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general, who told him torture wasnt effective  he hasnt ruled it out. Hes never backed off his plan to keep Guantanamo open, and has doubled down on expanding it, even suggesting he may try U.S. citizens in military commissions there.

On President Obamas first day in office in January 2009, he issued executive orders on interrogations and detentions at the U.S. military center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Soon after, the Obama administration set up an interagency High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) under the FBI that studies best practices in ongoing U.S. interrogations and investigations. In an August 2016 report, the group found that taking time to understand the detainees motivations and building rapport is generally accepted as the most successful component of a successful interrogation, as opposed to aggression and forceful techniques.

With the order, Obama effectively froze military commissions considering the cases of detainees at Guantanamo; mandated a review of every prisoners case; and ordered that the detention facilities be closed no more than one year later. He did not ultimately succeed; today, 41 detainees remain at Guantanamo, and government lawyers defending the alleged Sept. 11, 2001 co-conspirators in military commissions say a trial is still years away.

One of those lawyers, James Connell, a Pentagon-contracted attorney, said that despite legislation that codified Obamas ban on torture and lawmakers outcry to the reports on Wednesday, Trump could still find a way around the law with the stroke of a pen. It would not be very difficult for a new office of legal counsel to construe some very, very severe treatment that violates American values and American law by working on the language to skirt the intentions of Congress, he said.

Photo Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Moatize (Mozambique) (AFP) - Under a lone baobab tree, a group of Mozambican men tell of their struggles in a new settlement where they were relocated from their village to make way for the country's biggest coal mine.

The small community of former subsistence farmers feel robbed of their livelihood since being resettled by Brazilian giant Vale six years ago.

Their new neighbourhood, named 25 de Setembro, is a cluster of shoddy houses in a dusty and arid corner of the western coal mining town of Moatize in Tete province.

It falls far short of their expectations of "urban living" promised by the firm.

"Nobody is happy here," said Arnaldo Chirimba, who heads a committee representing the relocated families.

The community claim their dream of a new urban life has turned into an ordeal, with leaking water pipes and street lights that never come on.

"We don't have jobs, the houses were poorly finished, water doesn't come out of the pipes," said Chirimba, who used to earn a living as a farmer.

The community of 1,300 families were relocated 40 kilometres (25 miles) in 2010 from a village near the mine to allow work on one of the country's biggest investments to begin.

According to the law, relocated people had to be given better living standards or at least conditions similar to their previous homes.

But the people in 25 de Setembro -- named after the date when the country's independence war started in 1964 -- believe they have been short-changed by Vale and the government.

Chirimba walks around the settlement pointing at crumbling houses without proper foundations that have cracks on the walls, water leaks, lamps that never light and faulty water pumps.

- 'Before we had fields' -

"On top of everything, there is nothing here that we can do to survive," said Fernando Elias, an ex-weaver in a tattered T-shirt bearing the name of Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.

"Before we had fields, we could fish, we had sheep, coal, money," he said. "This whole resettlement is a fiasco."

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The plight of the residents of 25 de Setembro is also a legislative challenge for the government.

"We only had proper resettlement legislation in 2012," said Arnaldo Dgedge, the national director for the ministry of territorial planning.

"This weakness could not stop development from happening, so companies had to carry on without it," he stated, admitting that the government also shared responsibility in the matter.

In the wake of 25 de Setembro and other resettlement problems, the government has since 2015 been working to monitor 51 other development projects that involve the relocation of people.

"Later this year we will sit down with the companies and address the issues that have to be resolved so the law is respected," said Dgedge.

In the years after 2010, Mozambique experienced a resources boom that attracted an influx of international investors.

The flood of money ramped up infrastructure development in the country, which is one of the poorest in southern Africa and is still recovering from a long civil war that ended in 1992.

But a decline in prices of commodities, including coal, since 2014 has dampened the rush, with large-scale job cuts and shrinking margins.

In Tete alone, a region believed to hold approximately 23 billion tonnes of coal, 4,000 jobs were cut in 2016.

In 2014 and 2015, Vale recorded more than $1 billion in cumulative losses.

Vale's competitor Rio Tinto withdrew from the country two and a half years ago, selling off for $50 million the mines that it had bought for $4 billion only three years earlier.

Commodity prices may be turning around since last year but dismal living condition at 25 de Setembro show no sign of changing.

Vale did not respond to several requests for comment by AFP.
Amsterdam (AFP) - A man accused of a worldwide cyberbullying racket that got young girls to pose naked before blackmailing them went on trial Wednesday in Amsterdam, saying he is innocent of the charges.

The defendant Aydin C. is suspected of forcing dozens of young women from as far as Britain, Canada, Norway and the United States into performing sex acts in front of their webcams.

"I deny all charges and will remain silent until my closing statement," a defiant Aydin C. -- identified only by his first name because of Dutch privacy rules -- told judges at a high-security courthouse.

The 38-year-old Dutchman faces 72 charges including computer sex crimes such as making and storing of child pornography, blackmail, fraud and hard drug possession, prosecutors said.

Aydin C. is also wanted for trial in Canada in the case of teen Amanda Todd who committed suicide in October 2012 after being tormented by an anonymous cyberbully.

- Sexual acts -

"He posed online as a young woman and established trust relationships with 34 young girls, eventually getting them to pose naked in front of a webcam," Dutch public prosecution service spokesman Lars Stempher told reporters outside the courtroom.

Once Aydin C. obtained the images, his tone changed and he would start to threaten the girls, telling them he would show the images to parents, relatives and school friends if they did not do as told.

"This included performing sexual acts and in the end the girls became trapped in his web," Stempher said.

Five gay men -- mainly in Australia -- were also lured in, when Aydin C. allegedly posed as a young boy and "eventually he threatened them that he would expose their sexuality, leading to blackmail."

In one case, an amount of 1,000 euros ($1,100) was then paid into an account, the court heard.

Aydin C. used dozens of aliases like "Tyler Boo" and "Kelsy Rain" and employed different computer tricks, including a program to fool young girls into thinking they were chatting live to a girl of similar age.

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Investigators found some 204,000 images on hard disks belonging to the accused, but prosecutors did not say what the images depicted.

Aydin C., who leaned back in his chair during the hearing, his long greying hair slicked back behind his ears, did not respond to questions posed by the judge.

He was arrested after Facebook rang alarm bells in 2013, telling Dutch police a "sextortionist" -- somebody who uses sex to blackmail others -- was at work in The Netherlands.

- Teen suicide -

Canada has asked for Aydin C. to be extradited in the case of teen Amanda Todd who committed suicide in October 2012 after being tormented by an anonymous cyberbully.

"The notorious case, that of Amanda Todd regularly pops up in this case docket," Judge Karel Brunner said.

"That case is not before the court today. Obviously the Canadian authorities are planning to prosecute," the judge said.

A Dutch court in June last year ruled in favour of Aydin C.'s extradition to Canada to stand trial in connection with Todd's death. The extradition case is under appeal before the Dutch highest Supreme Court.

The 15-year-old's suicide sparked a worldwide debate about appropriate online behaviour, and prompted calls for cyberbullying to be criminalised.

In a YouTube video watched by millions worldwide, Todd said before her death that she suffered from anxiety, "major depression" and panic attacks after a photo of her breasts, flashed in an online video chat with a stranger, was distributed in her community.

If extradited, Aydin C. however will be sent to Canada only after the end of his trial in the Netherlands prosecutors said, meaning it could still take years.

Commenting on the Dutch case, Aydin C.'s lawyer Robert Malewicz told AFP outside the courtroom "we are disputing that there is a proper link between the evidence presented and my client."

"We will ask for an acquittal," he said.
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Netherlands is launching a global fund to help women access abortion services to compensate for U.S. President Donald Trump's ban on U.S. federal funding for foreign groups providing abortions or abortion support for family planning abroad. The Dutch government has held preliminary discussions on the initiative with other European Union members who have responded positively, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday. Governments outside the EU, companies and social institutions will also be approached to participate. Trump on Monday reinstated a policy that requires foreign NGOs who receive U.S. global family planning funds to certify that they do not perform abortions or provide abortion advice as a method of family planning. Dutch officials estimate that Trump's restrictions will cause a funding shortfall of $600 million over the next four years. Women's rights and health campaigners have reacted with anger at Trump's move. They say restrictions on abortion endanger women's lives. Trump has also pledged to withdraw funding from U.S. domestic abortion services. The policy was announced on Tuesday by Liliane Ploumen, minister for international development cooperation, whose Labour Party - the junior coalition partner in the government - is traditionally staunchly favor of abortion rights. The Netherlands's laws on reproduction and reproductive health are among the world's most liberal. The Dutch vote in parliamentary elections in March. Foreign ministry spokesman Herman van Gelderen said he was confident relations with the new U.S. administration would not be damaged by the measure. "Where decisions are taken that are bad for women in developing countries we should help those women," he said. "It's not about the politics, it's about those women." The policy also prohibits U.S. federal assistance for foreign groups that use non-U.S. funds for those abortion services or lobby foreign governments to legalize abortion, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, which looks at U.S. global health policy. Intermittently implemented by U.S. governments since 1984, Barack Obama lifted the measure at the start of his own presidency in 2009. It does not apply to abortion or abortion advice in cases where a pregnancy is a risk to the life of the mother or has resulted from incest or rape. (Reporting by Thomas Escritt and Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
For the first time in its history, the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, the sister company to the The Economist newspaper, has listed the U.S. as a "flawed democracy" in its annual Democracy Index.

The Economist Intelligence Unit downgraded the U.S. from a "full democracy" to a "flawed democracy," due to the "further erosion of trust in government and elected officials there," according to the group's website. Joan Hoey, editor of the report, told EurActiv.com that the lower ranking wasn't a direct result of Trump. "On the contrary, the election of Mr. Trump as U.S. president was in large part a consequence of the longstanding problems of democracy in the U.S." she said.

The 2016 Democracy Index report, called "Revenge of the "deplorables," looks at "the deep roots of today's crisis of democracy in the developed world," and explores how the state of democracy in every region. According to the Index, democracy had a tough year in 2016, with no global region having an improvement in its average score and almost twice as many countries, 72, declining in score. Eastern Europe experienced the most severe backward movement.

Of the 167 countries scored, Norway took the top spot, while North Korea remains rooted to the bottom of the table.

The Index looks at "60 indicators across five broad categories: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, democratic political culture and civil liberties," according to the Economist.

A British company, The Economist Group aims to help businesses, financial firms and governments grasp how the world is changing, as well as the risks and opportunities that change provides.

Devon Haynie is news editor, international for U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at dhaynie@usnews.com.
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f360776%2fd59ddc97-5d04-488c-9a28-65f7f9fd7099

Something strange is happening to Elon Musk.

First, he joined President Donald Trump's orbit as a business advisor. Now, the evangelist for clean energy who oversees Tesla, SolarCity and SpaceX has endorsed Trump's controversial secretary of state pick, the longtime ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson.

This is the equivalent of the Wright Brothers endorsing the inventor of the horse and buggy.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk's SpaceX absolutely needs its satellite internet business to work

The endorsement is surprising because Tillerson's views on climate and energy are diametrically opposed with Musk's. (And that's an understatement.)

Tillerson has never held a job outside of Exxon, and due to his fossil fuel industry ties, he is opposed by virtually every environmental group as well as most Senate Democrats.

In a series of Tweets on Tuesday, which were prompted by The Economist's endorsement of Tillerson, Musk explained his reasoning.

@TheEconomist This may sound surprising coming from me, but I agree with The Economist. Rex Tillerson has the potential to be an excellent Sec of State.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 24, 2017

When asked to expand on why he has this view, Musk said:

@danahull I share The Economist's opinion that he should be given the benefit of the doubt unless his actions prove otherwise  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 24, 2017

Musk's stance toward Tillerson, who led the world's largest publicly traded oil and gas company since 2006, contrasts with his stated priorities of advocating and working toward a carbon neutral world.

"Global warming is a serious crisis, and we need to do something about it," Musk said in October of 2016. "We need to do everything we possibly can to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy."

Story continues

Exxon, where Tillerson spent his entire career, has been shown to have researched climate science since the 1970s and then paid groups to try to convince the public that climate science was uncertain.

This tactic, which was revealed through investigative reporting by several media outlets, is currently under investigation by two state attorneys general and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017.

Image: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

In a speech at the Sorbonne in France in 2015, Musk decried the climate change disinformation campaign from the fossil fuel industry, urging the young audience in attendance to "fight the propaganda" from the carbon industry. He compared that campaign to the tobacco industry's bid to convince the public that the link between smoking and cancer was tenuous.

Interestingly, that precise analogy, which invokes a federal law known as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, is now being used by investigators in the Exxon case, known by the hashtag #ExxonKnew.

Unlike Musk, Tillerson does not see climate change as an urgent threat, let alone a high priority for the State Department.

During his confirmation process he said he does not see greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning as the main cause of global warming.

"The increase in the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are having an effect," Tillerson said during the hearing on Jan. 11. "Our ability to predict that effect is very limited."

In response to written questions from Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland), Tillerson departed even further from the scientific consensus, saying that greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning are "a factor in rising temperatures." However, he said: "I do not believe the scientific consensus supports their characterization as the "key factor."

In reality, there is virtually no debate in the scientific community about whether greenhouse gas emissions are the main cause of global warming since the preindustrial era. The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in its most recent report in 2013, said as much, as have numerous other authoritative reports.

Tillerson and Musk do agree on one thing when it comes to climate change, however. Both men think the most economically efficient solution to the problem would be to place a carbon tax on fossil fuels to discourage their use.

"The fundamental problem is the rules today incent[ivize] people to create carbon; this is madness," Musk said during his address in France.

"So what can you do? Whenever you have the opportunity, talk to your politicians, ask them to enact a carbon tax."

While a carbon tax is viewed as an elegant solution to climate change from an economic standpoint, it has long been seen as politically impossible, at least in the U.S.
Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave a surprising endorsement for Rex Tillerson, the former Exxon Mobil CEO, for secretary of state.

Musk tweeted that Tillerson has the potential to be an "excellent" secretary of state in reply to an Economist article published in December titled, "Give Rex a chance."

"Rex is an exceptionally competent executive, understands geopolitics and knows how to win for his team. His team is now the USA," Musk said on Twitter.

Musk acknowledged that his endorsement may be "surprising" on Twitter. Considering Tesla makes zero-emissions vehicles and recently made a big investment in solar energy, surprising may be somewhat of an understatement.

@TheEconomist This may sound surprising coming from me, but I agree with The Economist. Rex Tillerson has the potential to be an excellent Sec of State.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 24, 2017

Musk pointed out on Twitter that Tillerson, a former climate change denier, has said the best way to cut greenhouse gas emissions is with a carbon tax, something they are aligned on.

Rex Tillerson supports a carbon tax. This is what is really needed to move the needle. https://t.co/6ne01TOzs1  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 25, 2017

Tillerson narrowly won approval by the Republican-led Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Tillerson would be the first Secretary of State without experience in the public sector if he is confirmed by the full Senate.

@danahull Rex is an exceptionally competent executive, understands geopolitics and knows how to win for his team. His team is now the USA.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 24, 2017

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio also announced his support for Tillerson just a few hours before the Foreign Relations Committee cast its votes, despite saying he had reservations about Tillerson due to sympathetic views toward Russia.

Tillerson's ties to Russia go back nearly two decades, back to when he met with President Vladimir Putin in 1999 when he first represented Exxon's interests in Russia. He has done business with Russia and has worked with Rosneft, a major Russian state-run corporation, since the 1990s.

President Donald Trump himself has come under fire for having potential ties to Russia. Those ties came under particular scrutiny after the publication of a 35-page dossier from a former British intelligence officer alleging the campaign colluded with the Kremlin to undermine Hillary Clinton. Those claims not been verified.

Trump has publicly said he thinks Russia was behind the hacking and release of emails from within the Democratic National Committee as well as Clinton's campaign chair.

@danahull I share The Economist's opinion that he should be given the benefit of the doubt unless his actions prove otherwise  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 24, 2017

Musk said in a Tweet that he shares the same opinion as The Economist in that Tillerson should be given the "benefit of the doubt unless his actions prove otherwise." The article states that Tillerson should be given a chance because he has experience working with "notoriously slippery world leaders" and has a reputation for "evidence-based decision-making."

NOW WATCH: Tesla is powering an entire island with clean energy





More From Business Insider


Even though Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump do not see eye to eye when it comes to climate change, the former doesnt have any problem working with the latter. Musk is also one of the big names to immediately approve of Trumps pick for his secretary of state.

Just this Tuesday, the 45-year-old business magnate and inventor expressed his support for Trumps pick, retired ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson. Given that Musk is an outspoken promoter of electric vehicles and clean energy, he himself admitted that his support for the former CEO of the multinational oil and gas corporation does come as a surprise.

This may sound surprising coming from me, but I agree with The Economist. Rex Tillerson has the potential to be an excellent Sec of State, Musk tweeted upon stumbling upon The Economists post about Tillersons possible major role in Trumps cabinet, as first reported by The Hill.

Explaining further why he is vouching for Tillerson, Musk pointed out that the 64-year-old businessman is exceptionally competent and someone who truly understands geopolitics and knows how to win for his team. He furthered that everyone should give Tillerson the benefit the doubt before judging him based on his actions when he assumes the role.

Tillerson was formerly a non-believer of climate change. However, he has since retracted his stance and is now a firm believer of the dangerous effects of carbon emissions to the planet. This is a big change of heart for Tillerson, who worked for ExxonMobil for four decades and served as the oil giants CEO since 2006. Quartz says Tillerson has a chance to establish a clean reputation if he confronts geopolitical issues when he officially becomes a part of Trumps cabinet.

As for Musk, he is seen by many as the polar opposite of Trump. However, the former has since expressed statements that confirm his support for the latter, at least on the business side of things. Last December, Musk was even among the 15 tech executives who met with Trump. At the time, Musk confirmed that SpaceX and Tesla are expanding their manufacturing footprint in the county. This, of course, involves opening more jobs for Americans to grab. Electrek has learned that at least 3,000 jobs will be opened at the Fremont, California factory, 1,000 at the Buffalo, New York solar panel factory and 9,000 at the Nevada Gigafactory.

Story continues

Early this week, Musk was back at the White House. This time, the visionary attended the meeting with the U.S. president alongside Ford, Lockheed Martin and Johnson & Johnson executives. Though Musks alliance with Trump is seen as unlikely, CNBC admits it will give benefits for both sides in the long run. For one thing, having a visionary technologist on Trumps side could help him win the support of the Silicon Valley tech community.

Related Articles
President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning declared himself an environmentalist in public remarks before meeting with automobile manufacturers, but as the day wore on, he and his new administration seemed intent on realizing the worst fears of the broader conservation movement.

In the same breath in which he characterized himself as an environmentalist, Trump said that he believes that the movement is out of control and promised a very big push to have more cars built in the United States. He also promised for the second day in a row to roll back regulations that he said are stifling the productivity of U.S. businesses. On Monday, he told a different group of business leaders that he believes he could do away with 75 percent of federal regulations or more.

Related: Trump v. Truth: How Will the New Administration Make Policy?

Just a few hours after the meeting with automakers, Trump signed executive orders that, according to the White House, direct federal agencies to clear the way for construction of two controversial oil pipelines, Keystone XL and the Dakota Access Pipeline. Both are adamantly opposed by environmental groups that say they promote the use of highly-polluting fuels and pose the danger of leaks and explosions.

The Obama administration had essentially killed the Keystone project, and Trumps plan invites Trans Canada, its builder, to re-submit its application. The Dakota Access Pipeline, subject of intense protests this fall and winter, was indefinitely delayed by the Obama administration before Trump was sworn in last Friday.

As if that wasnt enough to send environmental activists to the barricades, multiple federal agencies dealing with the environment, agriculture and public health received instructions from Trump administration officials to cease all communications with the public -- and in some cases even with members of Congress.

Speaking from the podium at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that what many began referring to as a gag order was simply an effort by the Trump administration to assure that the messages coming out of various government agencies were in line with the new presidents policies.

Story continues

Related: How the Senate Could Stop Trump's Drive to Slash Federal Spending

However, the fact that scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency, parts of the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Health and Human Services were instructed to cease all public communication on Tuesday -- a move that appeared to include the publication of new data to the agencies websites -- played right into existing fears among many in the scientific community.

Of particular concern is what the new administrations policies will be with regard to climate science. Trumps decision to appoint Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the EPA made it seem clear to many that those policies will not track with the preferences of environmental groups. Pruitt spent much of his time as attorney general filing lawsuits against the EPA, claiming that the agencys regulations on the oil and gas industry are unconstitutional.

In the months between Trumps unexpected election victory and his swearing in last Friday, environmental groups and scientific organizations had begun an unofficial effort to gather and safeguard research data and other government information related to the subject of global warming and climate change. The fear among many was that the Trump administration would reduce the focus on climate science within the federal government and that it might also make federally collected data that outside academics and researchers rely on unavailable.

Todays announcements came just as news outlets began widely reporting on a National Institutes of Health conference on the public health threats posed by global warming that was cancelled, apparently out of concern that the new administration would not approve of it.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
MALABO (Reuters) - Equatorial Guinea confirmed on Tuesday it was hosting ousted Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh, who fled his country after West African troops threatened to remove him by force if he did not concede his election defeat. Information Minister Eugenio Nse Obiang confirmed that Jammeh was in the country in a statement sent out to journalists. He gave no further details. Jammeh plunged Gambia into turmoil in December when he refused to accept losing to Adama Barrow, demanding a new poll. But the former soldier finally relinquished power on Saturday under strong diplomatic pressure backed up by several thousand West African troops who crossed into Gambia and were poised to enforce the election result. Many Gambians are angry that Jammeh fled into what they assume to be a luxurious exile rather than face trial for alleged human rights abuses. [nL5N1F85S6] Gambia's parliament on Tuesday revoked a state of emergency that Jammeh had imposed last week before he fled, as the tiny West African country slowly recovered from its political crisis. "The National Assembly hereby resolved ... to approve the revocation of the declaration of the state of public emergency," said majority leader Fabakary Tombong Jatta of the unanimous vote. Barrow has not yet returned to Gambia from neighbouring Senegal, where he took the oath of office on Thursday. He is due back in Gambia's capital Banjul in the coming days. The turmoil prompted some 76,000 people to flee to Senegal. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said about 8,000 had returned home and more were expected to follow. (Reporting by Bernardino Ndze Biyoa; Additional reporting by Lamin Jahateh; Editing by Tim Cocks and James Dalgleish)
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Africa's no. 3 oil producer Equatorial Guinea has held "fruitful" discussions and expects a decision soon on an offer to join the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the country's energy minister told Reuters on Wednesday. "We've held fruitful discussions. This is going to move faster than we expect," said Mines and Hydrocarbons Minister Gabriel Mbaga Obiang, responding to emailed questions. On Monday the energy ministry said the country had applied to join the oil producers' cartel, seeking to become OPEC's 14th member and the sixth from Africa, an addition that would help raise the continent's influence and profile in the corridors of global oil production and pricing. [nL5N1FD2KP] The offer to join was made when Obiang traveled to Vienna last Friday to meet OPEC officials, including representatives from OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia and Nigeria's Mohammad Barkindo, the current secretary general of the cartel. He also met officials from key non-OPEC producer Russia. Obiang said the small West African nation, which agreed to production cuts in 2017 as part of a coordinated agreement with OPEC and non-OPEC countries, wanted a stable global oil price and was willing to discuss further cooperation with OPEC to achieve this. "We are eager to see a stabilisation of the petroleum market, and we were happy to cooperate with the current production cuts to do our part in reducing the global oversupply. We would be open to discussing future endeavours of cooperation," Obiang said. Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday ahead of weekly U.S. inventory data on evidence the global market was tightening as lower production by OPEC and other exporters drains stocks. [nL4N1FE162] (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by TJ Strydom and Kenneth Maxwell)
Luxembourg (AFP) - A top European court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by Russian missile-maker Almaz-Antey against EU sanctions imposed for its role in the Ukraine conflict.

As the crisis deepened in 2014, the European Union imposed asset freezes and travel bans on Russian and Ukrainian individuals and entities held responsible for supporting pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine.

The Luxembourg-based General Court, second only to the European Court of Justice, said it dismissed the appeal because Almaz-Antey had not shown the EU acted disproportionately.

As an arms manufacturer for the Russian government, which "itself supplies weapons to the separatists in Eastern Ukraine, Almaz-Antey materially supports actions which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine," the court said in a statement.

In July 2014, a Malaysian Airlines jet with 298 people on board was shot down over rebel-held territory by what Almaz-Antey later said was likely to have been a BUK missile system similar to those it had stopped making in 1999.

Who ordered the attack remains unknown, with Russia and Ukraine blaming each other.

The General Court said the downing of flight MH17, whether attributed to the rebels or the Ukrainian military, was "irrelevant" to the ruling since it was not decisive in the reasons given by the EU for imposing the asset freeze in the first place.

Shortly after the MH17 tragedy, the EU agreed to impose separate and much more damaging sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy, including the oil, defence and finance industries.
Brussels (AFP) - The EU should prolong border controls in the passport-free Schengen area for another three months as the bloc is still working on steps to deal with the migrant crisis, the European Commission said Wednesday.

Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and non-EU Norway first introduced the checks in 2015 as a record wave of refugees and migrants from Syria, the Middle East and Africa streamed across Europe.

The current measures were imposed in November and are due to lapse in mid-February.

"Significant progress has been made to lift internal border controls, but we need to solidify it further," European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said in a statement.

"This is why we recommend allowing member states concerned to maintain temporary border controls for a further three months."

Brussels had earlier said it wanted to restore full functioning with no border controls across the Schengen area -- which includes 22 EU countries as well as Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein -- by the end of 2016.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, added that "conditions... allowing for a return to a normally functioning Schengen area have not yet been entirely fulfilled."

The EU's 28 member states must formally approve the extension.

Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos insisted that the Schengen area -- one of the EU's proudest achievement and a cornerstone of its principle of freedom of movement -- would get back to normal.

"These controls cannot go on for ever and they will not go on for ever," Avramopoulos told reporters in Brussels, adding that the extension was a "last resort".
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(4) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (7) Feb 03 (9) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (9) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (6) Jan 29 (5) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (6) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (6) Jan 14 (7) Jan 13 (7) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (8) Jan 07 (11) Jan 06 (9) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (7) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (8) Jan 01 (8) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (6) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (7) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (5) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (6) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (6) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (6) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (4) Nov 25 (4) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (7) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (6) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (5) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (6) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (8) Nov 09 (8) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (2) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (8) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (6) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (4) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (5) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (3) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (3) Sep 11 (3) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (5) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (4) Aug 07 (3) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (3) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (4) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (5) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (4) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (5) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (5) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (3) May 28 (4) May 27 (5) May 26 (7) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (3) May 19 (5) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (4) May 14 (4) May 13 (5) May 12 (4) May 11 (5) May 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Brussels (AFP) - The EU unveiled plans Wednesday to increase training for the Libyan coast guard as part of new measures to stop African migrants leaving for Europe in a feared spring surge.

The European Commission, the EU executive, said the fragile UN-backed government in Tripoli should receive 3.2 million euros ($3.4 million) in fees and grants for an EU programme launched last October to train and equip the coast guard.

"The proposal is to increase significantly the training of the Libyan coast guards," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a press conference in Brussels.

Her comments came ahead of an EU summit in Malta next week to tackle migration and other issues. EU interior ministers meanwhile meet in Valetta on Thursday and Friday to discuss the issue.

EU states are debating ways to get Libya to do more to curb migrant departures as the EU's naval operation "Sophia", launched in 2015 to crack down on smugglers on the high seas, is not able to intervene in Libyan waters.

The commission also called for mobilising 200 million euros ($214 million) -- an increase of 50 million euros from earlier plans -- to help Libya and its neighbours with general migration-related projects.

The money would go towards improving conditions for migrants in Libya and arranging for accelerated voluntary returns to their countries of origin with help from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

A European official told journalists on condition of anonymity that reception conditions for hundreds of migrants in Libya were "deplorable" and failed to meet international standards.

The commission also called for EU aid to the Libyan authorities to curb the arrival of Europe-bound migrants on its southern borders, and for working more closely with Libya's neighbours Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has warned there could be an "unprecedented" migrant flow in the spring.

Muscat wants a Libya deal that copies aspects of a controversial EU aid-for-cooperation deal with Turkey but it will be tough due to the political chaos in Libya since the 2011 overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi.
Brussels (AFP) - Bulgaria and Romania must do more to meet European Union standards on crime, corruption and judicial reform, the EU's executive arm said Wednesday.

The two former Communist states joined the bloc in 2007 promising to come up to EU standards by completing a Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) process, but progress has been slow, especially in Bulgaria.

European Commission vice president Frans Timmermans said Bulgaria could expect to conclude the CVM process by 2019, as pledged by Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker.

"The momentum built up so far allows the focus to shift to the key remaining steps," Timmermans said in a statement.

"The speed of this depends on how quickly the Bulgarian authorities are able to take the identified remaining steps in an irreversible way, in a way that does not call into question the progress made so far," he added.

The Commission said "one of the most significant tests" for Bulgaria for this year would be the open and transparent election of a new Supreme Judicial Council, which oversees the judiciary.

The council "will have to develop a track record of impartial and professional decision-making in key areas," it said.

On corruption, Bulgaria needed to produce results the public could have faith in. And while organised crime might not be as much a problem as before, Sofia still had to show it could bring cases to a conclusion in court.

The Commission concluded that Bulgaria's overall progress since 2007 "has not been as fast as hoped for... Therefore, this report cannot conclude that the benchmarks are at this stage satisfactorily fulfilled."

- Vowing to reform -

In response, Bulgaria's main parties vowed to implement the reforms after early general elections on March 26.

The country is still seen as the EU's most corrupt member state, according to an annual global ranking released Wednesday by Transparency International.

Story continues

A Eurobarometer survey also published Wednesday showed that 72 percent of Bulgarians want the CVM process to stay in place to ensure authorities clear up graft.

Meanwhile, the Commission's report on Romania was more positive, citing the need for only "a very limited number" of recommendations and "major progress" over the past 10 years, to the point where 2017 could prove decisive.

"I hope in 2017 we will see the speed, determination and internal safeguards needed to complete the necessary reforms and ensure the irreversibility of the results," Timmermans said.

However, the report cautioned Bucharest against moving ahead with plans to push through decrees that would pardon corrupt politicians and decriminalise other offences.

Brussels said the approval of the legal amendments would lead to a "re-evaluation of the achieved progress".

More than 15,000 Romanians including President Klaus Iohannis protested against the controversial proposals on Sunday.

Iohannis warned Wednesday that "these negative developments" could derail the government's hoped-for lifting of the CVM.
Ewan McGregor is taking a stand against Piers Morgan. The T2 Trainspotting actor took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to reveal that he was skipping his appearance on Good Morning Britain for a very specific reason.



"Was going on 'Good Morning Britain,' didn't realise @piersmorgan was host. Won't go on with him after his comments about #WomensMarch," McGregor wrote.

Was going on Good Morning Britain, didn't realise @piersmorgan was host. Won't go on with him after his comments about #WomensMarch  Ewan McGregor (@mcgregor_ewan) January 24, 2017

WATCH: Madonna Clarifies Her Comments About Blowing Up White House Given During Women's March Speech



Morgan, whose current Twitter avatar features a photo of himself and Donald Trump, replied, saying, "Sorry to hear that @mcgregor_ewan  you should be big enough to allow people different political opinions. You're just an actor after all."

Sorry to hear that @mcgregor_ewan - you should be big enough to allow people different political opinions. You're just an actor after all.  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 24, 2017

Morgan's co-host, Susanna Reid, who often shares drastically different opinions from Morgan, also replied to McGregor with a different take, tweeting, "Such a shame. Challenge views where there's difference. Would have liked to see that debate on air  it's an important one. #WomensMarch."



Reid also defended herself after several critics said she didn't speak out enough against Morgan's controversial views.



"I'm a feminist. #WomensMarch = powerful way to protest Trump's comments & highlight issues. But @piersmorgan's views are also widely held," she wrote.

Story continues

Such a shame. Challenge views where there's difference. Would have liked to see that debate on air - it's an important one. #WomensMarch https://t.co/dSsMZ9mc46  Susanna Reid (@susannareid100) January 24, 2017

Morgan first voiced his opinion on the topic over the weekend when he tweeted in opposition to the global Women's Marches.

I'm planning a 'Men's March' to protest at the creeping global emasculation of my gender by rabid feminists. Who's with me?  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 21, 2017

WATCH: Blake Lively Explains Why She Joined the Women's March in Touching Instagram Post



"I'm planning a 'Men's March' to protest at the creeping global emasculation of my gender by rabid feminists. Who's with me?" he tweeted.



For more from the Women's Marches around the world, watch the clip below!

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By Mitra Taj and Teresa Cespedes LIMA (Reuters) - A top Latin America executive of Brazil's Odebrecht SA [ODBES.UL] pushed back against calls to bar the company from countries where it has admitted to bribery across the region, warning "radical" reactions would jeopardise its ability to pay penalties. Odebrecht is "struggling to survive" in the wake of a growing graft scandal in Latin America and wants to set an example by helping authorities and paying fines, Mauricio Cruz, the new president of Odebrecht's investment arm in Latin America, Odebrecht Latinvest, said in an interview on Tuesday. "The company is trying to cure itself of this sickness that affects many companies," Cruz said. "Making a company that's collaborating with authorities disappear is going to dissuade others, and in the end everything would go on as before." Since acknowledging that it doled out hundreds of millions in bribes to win public work contracts in Latin America, countries from Panama to Peru have cancelled key projects and barred the company from bidding on public works in the future. Cruz said that Peru, where Odebrecht Latinvest is headquartered, has still not approved its November deal to sell its Olmos irrigation business to Brookfield Asset Management Inc . The lack of a government permit for land use has also frozen its Chavimochic III irrigation project in northern Peru, which was 80 percent finished when work stopped in December, Cruz added. "Our priority is that public work projects don't suffer," said Cruz. "Here in Peru there's a lot of pressure ... and people start to take on radical attitudes." Some in Peru have called for authorities to seize Odebrecht's assets and arrest employees, as was done in neighbouring Brazil. Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said earlier on Tuesday that Odebrecht, which lost its $5 billion natural gas pipeline in Peru this week after missing a financing deadline, must sell off its remaining projects and leave the country - his toughest remarks for the company since the scandal broke. It was unclear what Kuczynski's government might do to force the company to leave. Odebrecht has received more than five offers to buy its Chaglla hydroelectric project in northern Peru since putting it up for sale months ago, but the company wants to keep its other projects in the Andean country, Cruz said. Odebrecht has said it is trying to sell 12 billion reais ($3.3 billion) in assets globally. The family-run company was once one of the region's biggest builders, but has since come to symbolize the kind of white collar corruption that many Latin Americans say is met with impunity. Cruz said that fewer than 100 Odebrecht employees were involved in corruption out of 200,000 workers across the world last year. The company now has just 100,000 workers, Cruz said. "There are a couple bad apples, but the rest are good, and that needs to be preserved," Cruz said. Cruz stressed that the leniency deal that Odebrecht struck with Brazil, the United States and Switzerland in December was designed to allow the company to continue its operations so that it can pay off the record $3.5 billion fine. "No project in Brazil or the U.S. was halted ... no business was forced to be sold. The company kept its right to survive, to exist, to keep working to pay its obligations," Cruz said. But that agreement did not include reparations for nine Latin American countries outside of Brazil where bribes were distributed, or details of who was part of its kickback schemes - stoking fears that little money will be left to pay fines across the region. Cruz said he expected a final plea deal with Peruvian prosecutors to take between two to four weeks, and asked Peruvians to be patient in the meantime. "We ask for forgiveness," Cruz said. (Reporting by Mitra Taj and Teresa Cespedes; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Lisa Shumaker and Bill Rigby)
By Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis (Reuters) - Keysight Technologies Inc , a provider of software and equipment to the electronics and wireless communications industries, is in talks to acquire U.S. data technology company Ixia , according to people familiar with the matter. A deal would come as the increasing volume of data traffic flowing through social media, smartphones and cloud computing tests the resilience and integrity of networks, making Ixia's equipment and applications more popular with its clients and coveted by its peers. Keysight is not the only bidder participating in an auction for Ixia, and there is no certainty that its bid will prevail, the people said this week. The negotiations are expected to continue for several more days, the people added. The sources asked not be identified because the negotiations are confidential. Ixia, which has a market capitalisation of $1.4 billion, declined to comment. Keysight did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Based in Calabasas, California, Ixia makes equipment that monitors and tests networks so enterprise customers can have their data travel smoothly without bottlenecks. Its customers include the world's largest networking gear maker, Cisco Systems Inc. Ixia also makes hardware that helps secure networks. Its chief executive officer said on its latest earnings conference call that 35 percent of its total business was tied to security products. Ixia was founded by Errol Ginsberg in 1997 and went public in 2000, as internet traffic started to increase. Ixia's former chief executive, Vic Alston, resigned in 2013 for misstating academic credentials and other details such as his age and job history, the company said at the time. The company recruited a senior networking executive from Hewlett Packard, Bethany Mayer, to be its chief executive in 2014. Ixia generated revenue of $123.9 million in the third quarter, down from $125.9 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Based in Santa Rosa, California, Keysight helps companies test products that have electronic components. It has a market capitalization of $6.3 billion. Reuters first reported last month that Ixia was exploring a sale. (This story corrects Ixia CEO surname to Mayer from Meyer in eighth paragraph.) (Reporting by Liana B. Baker in San Francisco and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
An expat magazine for Americans looking to move abroad says that traffic to their website has more than doubled since the US election, suggesting that for some Americans, the threat of leaving with a Donald Trump victory wasn't all talk.

Between November 2016 and the January inauguration, InternationalLiving.com says the number of Americans looking for information about moving overseas jumped 105 percent.

The website, which serves expats and retirees, averages more than one million visitors a month.

"Before the election, both celebrities and regular folks on both sides of the aisle were saying, If this candidate or that candidate is elected, I'm leaving the country,'" said International Living executive editor Jennifer Stevens in a statement.

"Clearly a certain number of people -- an increasing number of people -- are thinking seriously about doing it."

The most sought-after destination? Mexico, which also tops the magazine's Annual Global Retirement Index 2017 for reasons that include the current low value of the peso to the US dollar, and the ease of assimilation.

English is widely spoken throughout the country, and it's estimated that more than one million North Americans already live in the country.

"Watching a divisive election from abroad can lend some calm and perspective," added senior editor Dan Prescher.

"I've been through four US presidential elections so far while living abroad, and they're a bit like watching a bar fight from outside the bar. You understand the issues, but you don't have to worry about the flying chairs or glassware."

After Mexico, the top-rated expat and retirement countries are Costa Rica, Ecuador, Italy and Panama.
As a doctor who lost his vision due to cataract disease, Dr. Emmanuel Ita Bassey says he learned quickly that disability was not a recognized concept in his native Nigeria. He says the educational curriculum there also wasn't accessible for people with disabilities.

Wanting to pursue a master's degree in disability policy and practice, Bassey sought educational options overseas at Flinders University in Australia.

"I browsed through the school website, and I discovered that the school disability services offer a wide range of support for students with disabilities, including students with visual impairment," says Bassey.

The term "disability" typically refers to a physical or mental impairment that may limit a student's access to education. While students with disabilities may be hesitant to go abroad, many countries have laws requiring universities to support the needs of all disabled students.

For example, under the United Kingdom's Equality Act 2010, all universities must make "reasonable adjustments" to their services so that domestic and international students with disabilities aren't placed at a substantial disadvantage. In Australia, the Disability Discrimination Act protects all students with disabilities from discrimination.

Prospective international students with disabilities may be unsure of available support services. Here are three key factors they should look for when exploring global universities.

1. Detailed information online: Most universities have a dedicated webpage devoted to students with disabilities. For example, the University of San Francisco Student Disabilities Services' webpage details the many ways USF accommodates students.

Tom Merrell, assistant dean and director of SDS at the school, says the website provides an overview of the program philosophy; general information on disabilities, laws, rights and responsibilities; contact and registration information; document requirements; and descriptions of various available accommodations.

Story continues

Other universities, including the University of Leeds in the U.K., devote a page specifically to disabled international students. The Leeds page welcomes international applicants with disabilities and provides detailed information on the university's academic and financial support services.

Armineh Soorenian, a disabled international student from Iran who graduated in 2011 from the University of Leeds with a doctorate in disability studies, says researching a school's website prior to attending can help students obtain information on everything from campus accessibility to specific support, "such as braille or audio handouts, sign language interpretation, mentoring and personal assistance schemes."

[Discover three ways to evaluate a global university without visiting.]

2. Strong support services: Some schools, like USF and the University of Liverpool in the U.K., have an international students office that works with the institution's disability team to support international students with disabilities.

Merrell says the SDS office at USF offers pre-admission counseling and a Skype orientation to international students with disabilities. He says that once students are accepted to the school and have requested services, "they are assigned a specialist who evaluates their request and coordinates any reasonable accommodations or academic program modifications."

While other schools may not have those two offices partner up, they may still offer strong support services. Lorraine Ishmael-Byers, head of student disability at King's College London, says the school's disability advisers provide a daily drop-in service for students to help answer any immediate concerns.

[Learn what to look for in international student services.]

She says the school has specialist learning support that provides online resources and group study sessions, as well as one-on-one study skills development and assistive software.

Kirsten Read, a disability adviser at Flinders University, says the school provides "the same services for domestic and international students with a disability" to meet their campus-related needs.

For example, Read says the university funds captioning and transcription of lectures and other audio and video academic content online for students who have hearing impairments. She says they also provide computers to students who cannot handwrite exams in a timely manner due to their disability as well as access to disability-related software on campus computers, such as voice-recognition software.

3. Active student disability organizations: Committees and clubs for disabled students at global universities can provide prospective international students with assistance and advice about campus life and support services.

For example, groups like Flinders University's Disability Committee can be good resources and include campuswide staff and students with disabilities who work together to make the institution accessible for all students. Read says the Disability Committee's student representatives speak from experience and are "strong advocates for access and inclusion."

While a student at the University of Leeds, Soorenian was president of the Disabled Students Society. She based her doctoral thesis on the experiences of disabled international students at U.K. universities, later expanding this into a book.

She recommends prospective international students with disabilities communicate with course tutors, disability coordinators and students to "find out the reality of the support offered" and get "an indication of how much the university is willing to take into consideration their disability needs."

British national Bam Thomas, a University of Sheffield undergrad with dyslexia, reached out to disability staff at France's Sciences Po before her year abroad, but says she never received responses to her emails. Upon her arrival, she was also unable to find support staff to assist her. A professor, though, directed her to the right contact to receive accommodations.

Students should be "persistent to ensure that they receive all the support they need," Thomas says.

"I had an excellent experience with the disability services at Flinders University," says Bassey who earned his master's in 2016 and plans to pursue a doctorate in disability studies. "All my needs and required supports to enable me to undertake my studies were met."

See the complete rankings of the Best Global Universities.

Anayat Durrani is a Los Angeles-based freelance education reporter for U.S. News, covering global universities, including those in the Arab region.
Nearly a week after Donald Trumps inauguration, social media is still fixated on a certain figure who walked during the parade  a Secret Service agent.

Read: White House Makes It Loud and Clear - Lay Off Barron Trump

The agent caught the attention of TV and online parade viewers, who claim his hand was not moving.

Some say it was a prosthetic hand known as a "tactical fake arm," which led many to believe his real hand was holding a gun tucked inside his jacket.

However, some have debunked the theory, citing certain moments when the agent appears to move his hands and later closes the limousine door. His fingers are clearly moving, and he was also photographed buttoning his jacket with both hands.

Read: Kellyanne Conway Allegedly Punched Guest at Inaugural Ball



Security around Trump has been air-tight since the campaign. After moving into the White House, the president has maintained a key member of his private security team, retired New York City police officer Keith Schiller.

Watch: Woman Booted Off Plane After Berating Trump-Supporting Passenger

Related Articles:
Loved ones of a Missouri woman who disappeared months ago discovered the decomposing body of a missing man during one of their many searches for the young woman, police said.

Family members and volunteers were searching a Kansas City creek bed for any sign of 21-year-old Jessica Runions, when they uncovered the body of a man police have since identified as Brandon Herring, officials said.

It was not yet clear how the 21-year-old Raytown man died, but authorities are investigating the death as a homicide, a Kansas City police spokesperson said.

Authorities were also working to determine how long Herrings body had been there.

Herring was last seen alive on November 22, at which time his mother said she spoke with him.

"He was just going, hanging out with friends," Rhonda Herring told InsideEdition.com. "I always said 'well God, take him away safely and bring him back safe.' This time, people made other choices for us."

She told her son  known as Mac Bear by those who knew him  that she loved him and he said it in return. She never heard from him again.

Two days later, when he didnt come home for Thanksgiving dinner, the family realized something was very wrong, his mother said. Saturdays discovery confirmed the familys worst fears.

I already knew my son had already gone home to God... but the selfish part of me just wanted confirmation and closure, Rhonda Herring said.

Read: Man Missing From Party Found Stabbed To Death Inside Shallow Grave

"Im okay; Ive still have my son with me, she continued, saying her son leaves behind an infant son of his own.

Herring's child, King, will turn two months old on February 7, and with each passing day, he looks more and more like his father, she said.

"He was so excited, Rhonda Herring said of her son. He was getting ready for the baby. He never got to see his son. 

Story continues

A memorial service for Herring will be held at 3 p.m. Friday at Watkins Brothers Memorial Chapel in Kansas City, his mother said, noting the day is meant to be a celebration of her sons life.

"He was a very loving, caring, person; hed do anything in the world for you," she said. "He had goals  he and his cousin wanted to do music. And he just wanted to take care of his family. Were all hurting right now."

Tributes to Herring poured out on social media from loved ones who were devastated by the loss.

"This s*** hurts me to my f****** core... bro I love you so, so, so much man! one friend wrote on Facebook.

I cant believe youre really gone! another friend posted. Im so going to miss your awesome smile! You were such a sweet loving and very respectful young man!! This should NOT have happened to you!!

Runionss father and his cousin discovered the body, covered in debris and face up in the creek, about 12 feet from the road, the Kansas City Star reported.

I knew right off the bat when I saw the person that it wasnt her, John Michael Runions, the missing young womans father, told the paper.

Jessica Runions was last seen alive when she left a group of friends in South Kansas City about 9:30 p.m. on September 8, police said.

Her burned vehicle was found in a nearby wooded area two days later, but Runions was nowhere to be found.

One day later, 28-year-old Kylr Yust was arrested and charged with knowingly burning Runionss car, cops said.

Yust was previously questioned in the 2007 disappearance of his on-and-off again girlfriend, Kara Kopetsky, according to the Kansas City Star.

So life hasnt been the greatest for me lately, over the last 9 months of my life iv(sic) dedicated my life to kylr... I made no other time for any of my friends nor my family," Kopetsky wrote in a April 24, 2007 post to MySpace. "Over those 9 months i forgot the person that I was. im trying to find that person again."

Read: Death of Woman, Whose Body Grandson Kept in Garbage Bags, Ruled a Homicide: Cops

Kopetsky filed for an order of protection against Yust days before she went missing on May 4, 2007.

Yust has been in and out of the court system on allegations of killing cats, abusing girlfriends and stealing from a tattoo parlor, the Star reported.

He pleaded guilty in 2011 to assault after choking a pregnant girlfriend, online court records show.

The woman, then 18 and apparently 7 1/2 weeks pregnant with twins, reportedly told police that he dragged her by her hair to their bedroom, where he repeatedly choked her until she almost lost consciousness and then would punch her to keep her from passing out.

She also told police that six weeks earlier she had come home from work and found Yust in the bathroom holding a kitten, which he repeatedly slammed to the floor and then beat to death after locking her out of the room, the Star wrote.

He was charged with assault in connection to the attack on the young woman, for which he received two years' probation. Court records show his probation later was revoked and he was sentenced to 180 days in jail, but he ultimately served 120.

In 2013 he was sentenced to 45 months in federal prison on a drug trafficking charge after he was found guilty of receiving a shipment of designer drugs from China, the Star reported. He was released earlier this year.

Yust has never been charged in Kopetskys disappearance and has not been charged in connection to Runions disappearance, either, officials said.

Family and friends reportedly search for Jessica Runions on an almost weekly basis, and Saturdays discovery has only reinforced their resolve to continue looking, her father said.

I told everybody that this should be motivation that what we are doing is good, John Michael Runions said. We may not have found Jessica, but somebody elses family is going to get some answers.

The next time the Runions go out looking for their daughter and sister, they can count on a few more people to help in the search: The Herrings.

They were looking for their daughter and they found my son. I let her [family] know I very much appreciated that and Ill be there to help them look for her," Rhonda Herring said. "It doesnt stop here."

Anyone with information on either Herring's death or Runions' disappearance is asked to call Kansas City Police's TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477(TIPS).

Watch: Child's Body Found in Icy Pond Days After Amber Alert Issued

Related Articles:
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- The first legal cargo from Cuba in more than 50 years has arrived in the United State.

The Miami Herald (https://goo.gl/PZLZz8 ) reports that two containers of artisanal charcoal arrived Tuesday morning at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale aboard a Crowley Maritime ship called the K-Storm.

The special charcoal is made from Cuban marabu by private, worker-owned cooperatives. Marabu is an invasive woody species from Africa that is considered a nuisance on the island.

The exports are legal under a rule change by the Obama administration that allows the importation of some products produced by independent Cuban entrepreneurs. The United States has imposed a trade embargo on Cuba for more than half a century.

Port officials are preparing to receive a business delegation from Cuba later in the week.

___

Information from: The Miami Herald, http://www.herald.com
A veteran Florida sheriffs deputy tried to murder a 79-year-old woman he had befriended during a fraud scheme in which he made out checks in her name and gave away her dog, investigators allege.

Authorities claim Frankie Eugene Bybee  an 18-year member of the Sarasota County Sheriffs Office  broke into the victims home on Jan. 12 and force-fed her pills before leaving her unconscious with her car running in the garage.

He attempted to kill the victim and make it appear to be a suicide, the Sarasota sheriffs office alleged in a statement to PEOPLE.

Bybee, 46, was arrested Monday and faces several criminal charges, including forgery and attempted murder. He has been investigated five times since joining the sheriffs office and has been suspended multiple times, the sheriffs office said.

The victim originally came forward on Dec. 20, weeks before she was attacked, to claim Bybee was harassing her. He had befriended her in late October, after responding to her home on a service call, the sheriffs office said.

Bybee began making regular visits to the victims home while on- and off-duty and also introduced the victim to several members of his family, according to the statement.

Authorities allege that on Jan. 9, four of the victims personal checks, totaling $65,000, were made out to Bybee and his three children. But the woman told investigators she had never written those checks.

Forensic scientists were able to pull fingerprints from the checks and matched that evidence to Bybee, the sheriffs office statement alleges. Bybee was suspended without pay.

Investigators also discovered that Bybee had previously taken temporary possession of the victims dog and was given $1,000 in the event that the dog had any medical needs while the victim was away. But, instead of minding the dog, Bybee allegedly deposited the check into his personal bank account and then rehomed the pet  giving the animal away on Craigslist.

The victim told detectives that Bybee only had permission to watch the dog while she was away and was not entitled to keep or sell it, the sheriffs office said. The dog was later located and returned.

Story continues

 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

In January, three days after the allegedly fraudulent checks were created, the victim claimed that Bybee came to her home in dark clothing, wearing latex gloves, and forced her to the floor inside. She accused him of  prescription medication in her mouth, causing lacerations and abrasions to her face, and bruising to her body.

The victim passed out from the pills and when she awoke, called 911.

Investigators determined her home had filled with carbon monoxide after the internal door to her garage was left open and her car was left running.

Sheriff Knight escorts long-time employee Frankie Bybee to sallyport door, faces slew of felonies including Attempted Murder #Accountability pic.twitter.com/Hik7SZgSK6  SarasotaSheriff (@SarasotaSheriff) January 23, 2017

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Bybee is charged with attempted murder, battery, burglary, exploitation of the elderly, grand theft, forgery and petit theft. He is being held on $1 million bond. He is next scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 24.

To use that uniform to be sent to her home to provide her help and then exploit it is unacceptable, Sarasota Sheriff Tom Knight said at a news conference Monday.

Court records do not indicate if Bybee has hired an attorney. He has not entered a plea to his charges.

Investigators urge anyone who may have been victimized by Bybee to call 941-861-4932 or 941-861-4935.




The U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal won't just leave the U.S. on the outside looking in, it will devastate American agriculture, a former U.S. Trade Representative told CNBC.

"We're now going to be competing against other countries who are going to reduce over 18,000 tariffs. Those tariffs will now stay in place for the U.S.," Ron Kirk, who was the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) from 2009-2013, told CNBC's " Squawk Box " on Tuesday. "This is going to be devastating for American farmers and ranchers and businesses."

Newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday formally pulled the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership , or TPP, which would have created a 12-country free-trade bloc. The TPP, which was negotiated during President Barack Obama's term in office, hadn't yet been voted on or ratified by Congress.

Kirk, who is currently senior of counsel at law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, said it was difficult to understand the rationale of pulling out of TPP.

"It's the equivalent of building the largest duty-free shopping zone in the world and then declaring we don't want to participate," he said, noting that the deal was "the most modern state-of-the-art trade agreement," including enhanced intellectual property and anti-counterfeiting protection.

By exiting TPP, the U.S. has lost the ability to shape the direction of trade, Kirk said.

"First to market means something," he said. "The U.S. being in on the ground floor, along with Chile and Singapore and Brazil and New Zealand and Mexico and Canada and others, really put us in an advantageous position to have this agreement reflect our values and made sure it protected our workers and our businesses and gave us fair access to those markets."

Sending the deal to the circular file has meant that the other 11 participants in the deal can now adopt the deal without the U.S., he said.

"Short-term and long term I see this as not positive for U.S. interests economically and certainly not in terms of our prestige and our leadership in Southeast Asia," Kirk said.

Story continues

In place of the TPP, Trump has said he planned to ditch multi-lateral trade deals in favour of negotiating bilateral agreements.

But Kirk noted that negotiating trade deals was already a difficult proposition and it's much more efficient to negotiate them on a multi-lateral, rather than a bilateral, basis.

It remains to be seen whether the Trump administration can negotiate more favorable terms with trade partners without slowing the cross-border flow of goods and services.

Analysts have serious concerns about how more protectionist policies could impact the U.S. economy.

For example, in a report dated Monday, Deutsche Bank estimated that if the U.S. introduced a "border adjustment" for imported products, that would increase the cost of the average vehicle by $2,300, reducing U.S. demand by 1.2 million units a year in the short term.

John W. Schoen contributed to this article.

By CNBC.Com's Leslie Shaffer; Follow her on Twitter @LeslieShaffer1



Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.


Santiago (AFP) - A fourth firefighter died Wednesday while battling vast forest blazes in central Chile, the emergency services said.

The man died after getting stuck while trying to help a family escape from their home near the city of Constitucion, a source in the fire service told AFP.

Three others have died and another three were injured fighting the wildfires over the past week, authorities said earlier.

The multiple blazes have ravaged 190,000 hectares (730 square miles), the National Forestry Corporation said in a statement.

Frantic locals have been joining in efforts to tackle the blaze to save their homes, animals and farmland.

President Michelle Bachelet Tuesday ordered extra funds to fight what she called the country's worst forest fires ever.

At least 4,000 people have been evacuated, the National Emergency Office said on Tuesday.

The fires have struck mainly in sparsely populated rural areas in the central regions of O'Higgins and El Maule, where the fourth victim died on Wednesday.

The United States has offered $100,000 for the firefighting effort and France and Mexico have sent personnel to help.

Fires are common in Chile's parched woods during the Southern Hemisphere's summer. Most are caused by human activity.

But this year was considered worse because of a drought attributed by environmentalists to climate change.
Paris (AFP) - French investigators launched a preliminary probe Wednesday into claims presidential frontrunner Francois Fillon gave his wife a fake job for years, paying her 500,000 euros ($538,000).

The investigation for "misuse of public money" was triggered by the Canard Enchaine newspaper, which claimed that British-born Penelope Fillon had a fictitious role as a parliamentary aide to her husband, a conservative MP for the northern Sarthe region.

The paper, which mixes satire and investigative reporting, said it had been unable to find anyone who remembered her working in parliament.

Fillon said the claims, which dominated headlines throughout the day, were "mudslinging" and "misogynistic".

"I see that the mudslinging season has started," he told reporters at a campaign event in Bordeaux.

"I won't comment because there is nothing to comment on and I would like to say that I am outraged by the disdain and misogyny in this article."

In a statement later on Wednesday, Fillon said he hoped to be auditioned by investigators "as soon as possible" to "set out the truth", adding that the claims were "baseless."

- 'Not against the rules' -

Fillon's spokesman Thierry Solere confirmed to AFP Tuesday that Penelope had worked for her husband, an arrangement he said was "common" among French MPs.

Hiring family members is not against the rules if the person is genuinely employed, but attention is focused on what work Penelope carried out for a salary of sometimes around 7,000 euros a month.

The silver-haired mother-of-five has kept a low profile in Fillon's nearly four-decade political career and was thought to have been focused on bringing up the couple's children at their chateau in the Sarthe region.

The 62-year-old candidate for the rightwing Republicans party is campaigning on a promise of radical economic reforms and the protection of French culture.

Story continues

Manuel Valls, who is bidding to be the Socialist party presidential candidate, said Fillon had to "explain himself".

"You can't say you're the candidate of honesty and transparency and not be able to respond to these issues," the former prime minister told France Inter radio on Wednesday.

Other opponents highlighted how Fillon frequently rails against the bloated French state and wasteful public spending, which he plans to tackle by cutting 500,000 public servants if elected.

Employing a family member is banned for MPs in Germany or in the European parliament, but is allowed in Britain where nearly one in four lawmakers has such an arrangement, public records show.

The French investigative website Mediapart reported in 2015 that one in five MPs had employed a family member at some point.

France's election in April and May is seen as highly unpredictable, with Fillon, far-right leader Marine Le Pen, 39-year-old centrist independent Emmanuel Macron and others in a large field of candidates.

Le Pen, whose party faces its own scandal about the use of public funds in the European Parliament, declined to attack Fillon over the issue when asked on Wednesday.

The Socialist party is set to finalise its presidential candidate this Sunday, with Valls up against leftist ex-education minister Benoit Hamon, who is seen as the frontrunner.

The two will go head-to-head in a televised debate later Wednesday.

- 'Very involved in campaigns' -

Citing payslips, the Canard Enchaine said Penelope, nicknamed "Penny", was paid from 1998 to 2002 from funds for parliamentary assistants.

From 2002 to 2007, when Fillon took up a cabinet post under then president Jacques Chirac, she became an assistant to the man who carried out Fillon's parliamentary duties in his place, earning 6,900-7,900 euros per month.

The paper said Penelope was again paid "for at least six months" in 2012 when Fillon, then prime minister, left government.

The paper also claimed that Penelope was paid around 5,000 euros a month between May 2012 and December 2013 by a periodical, Revue des Deux Mondes, which is owned by a friend of Fillon.

Fillon told a television interviewer in November that his wife had brought up their first four children in the Sarthe while he was in Paris as an MP, but she had helped him with some of his political duties.

"She was very involved in the campaigns, handing out flyers and attending meetings with me," he said.

Penelope also told Britain's Sunday Telegraph in 2007 after her husband became prime minister that she was uneasy in Paris and preferred looking after her children and horses in the countryside.

"I'm just a country peasant, this is not my natural habitat," she joked.

The couple met when Fillon was 23 and married three years later as he entered parliament for the first time.

In an unusual twist, Fillon's brother is married to Penelope's sister.
What's the best form of debt relief for a student loan borrower? Never needing to borrow in the first place.

That's one of the reasons the free-college movement sparked so much interest during the presidential campaign, with both Democratic candidates proposing tuition-free or debt-free public college. The 44 million Americans who already owe $1.3 trillion in student loans are warily watching higher education costs , knowing they'll likely be still repaying their own education debt when it comes time to put their kids and grandkids through college.

[Learn tips and advice on paying for college.]

But efforts to make free college a reality nationwide hit a major stumbling block this past November when Republicans, who by and large oppose the idea on the argument that taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill, won both the presidency and the Congressional majority.

Stymied on the federal front, it looks like the free - college initiative will go back to individual states. In recent weeks, both New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo unveiled bold plans to make public college more affordable.

The proposal before New York's legislature would make two to four years of state and city college tuition free for Empire State residents earning less than $125,000 per year. The slightly less ambitious plan in Rhode Island would provide two tuition-free years for full-time students in public higher education, regardless of income.

[Discover why New York may join other states in offering tuition-free college.]

Free - college proponents haven't been deterred by the election's outcome, though. They point out that in recent years the return to free or reduced -price public college -- some colleges used to provide free or lower cost tuition but the practice was widely abandoned by the 1970s-80s -- was initially sparked at the state level. While President Barack Obama made headlines in 2015 with his America's College Promise plan for national free community college, that proposal drew its inspiration from efforts in states such as Tennessee, Michigan, Oklahoma and Oregon.

Story continues

And it's not just governments ponying up. The Campaign for Free College Tuition estimates more than 50 local promise-type scholarship programs are available across the country, many of which incorporate some level of private funding. Foundations and businesses in Arkansas to Michigan and Pittsburgh to Los Angeles are stepping up to ensure greater college affordability.

These state and municipal plans have some common characteristics that prospective college students should keep in mind. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators detailed these in Assessing Tuition- and Debt-Free Higher Education T ask Force Report. For example, most plans require participants to maintain a 2.5 or higher high school GPA and be attending classes at least half-time. Additionally, most plans limit eligibility to in-state residents or to students from a particular geographic location.

[Check out 10 reasons to attend a community college.]

To be eligible, participants generally must attend a public rather than a private college, but plans vary as to the type of institutions eligible. Some require students to be enrolled in a community college or technical school and only cover two years, while others include four-year institutions. Most plans require enrollment to begin the fall term immediately following high school graduation. And most plans were restricted to students from families who earned below a specific yearly income, ranging from $85,000 to $200,000.

A majority of the plans are "last dollar," meaning the student must apply for other grant aid first, like the federal Pell Grant, and if awarded, the institution must apply the other aid to tuition costs before a promise program kicks in.

So, are promise programs working? According to the Campaign for Free College Tuition, the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research has extensively studied the Kalamazoo Promise in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the results are promising, citing a significant decrease in high school suspensions and an increase in the GPAs of African-Americans.

Further, according to the Campaign for Free College tuition, since the program's inception in 2006, more than 90 percent of eligible students went on to college. Compared with 37 percent of all U.S. high school graduates between the ages of 25 to 29, 41 percent of the class of 2006 Kalamazoo Promise scholars have a bachelor's degree.

Meanwhile, the Tennessee Promise plan is credited with helping to boost freshman enrollment by 20 percent at colleges of applied technology and by 24.7 percent at community colleges. The plan's requirement that all participants complete the Federal Application for Free Student Aid propelled the state to number one in the nation for FAFSA completions.

Critics of free tuition plans, however, abound along all points of the political spectrum, with those on the right arguing it's too expensive for taxpayers and those on the left saying funding could be more effectively targeted to those in need. Americans, though, are generally supportive of the idea. Based on a post-election poll completed on behalf of the Campaign for Free College Tuition, 54 percent of Trump voters and 88 percent of Clinton voters support initiatives at the state level for tuition-free college.

In its task force report, NASFAA said, "The 2016 election results make it improbable that the push for a national-level promise program will continue, either from the White House or Congress, at least in the near future. However, the proliferation of state and local college promise programs may well be the next wave of innovation and could pave the way for a national program in the future."

Allesandra Lanza is the director of corporate public relations for American Student Assistance. She has nearly 20 years of experience in the student loan industry, and has answered students' questions about their federal loans; conducted on-campus loan counseling sessions for students as they enter and exit school; and written about loan repayment, debt management, budgeting and more. Lanza received a B.S. in journalism from Boston University.
Greenpeace USA activists scaled a construction crane to unfurl a giant banner reading Resist several blocks from the White House Wednesday morning.

Branding acts of protest and dissent as part of a larger resistance has become increasingly common in the months since Donald Trump was elected president. The banner is yellow with red rays of stylized sunlight beaming out from the dark horizon.

The 70-by-35-foot banner, 300 feet in the air, appears to dangle above the White House when viewed from the Ellipse of the South Lawn.

Activist Pearl Robinson, of Oakland, Calif., was still sitting on the crane boom above the banner, looking out over the city, when she spoke to Yahoo News by phone about her grievances against the Trump administration.

Id like people to focus on why were doing this, not the how or [whether] this is the right form [of protest], but really think about whats happening in this country at this moment and wanting to know if people are going to stand and let our rights, our environment and our mental wellness be in jeopardy, she said.

Greenpeace activists survey the banner they unfurled from a construction crane near the White House. (Photo: Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Robinson said shes concerned with the effects Trumps policies will have on the global climate as well as what she characterized as his inaugurations normalization of white supremacy.

The real reason were here is that were resisting what Trump wants to sell America. Already weve seen alarming things happen within the few days of his administration, she said. Starting with the lies told by his press secretary to executive orders that are taking the rights away from millions of people in this country.

Robinson said that she felt completely safe because she and the others involved in the protest are experienced climbers.

Environmentalists are outraged over President Trumps actions on Tuesday to advance the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. They are also troubled by reports that on Monday the White House ordered the Office of Administration and Resources Management at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop awarding contracts and grants, pending a review.

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Greenpeace spokesperson Cassady Craighill told Yahoo News what her organization was trying to convey with the sun imagery on the banner.

The Greenpeace protest banner flies high enough to be seen from beyond the White House. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

The sun has really risen on a new country this week, but it is not Donald Trump. It belongs to the millions of people who are dedicated to building a better country every day, despite what Trump is trying to sell us and what hes already done with less than a week in office, Craighill said. We have a man in the White House determined to move America backwards, but there are people who are going to resist every day to move us forwards.

Karen Topakian, chairman of the board for Greenpeace Inc., said in a statement that people in the U.S. are ready to resist and rise up in ways we havent seen before.

The Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C., confirmed that a small group of protesters was demonstrating near 15th & L streets N.W., describing it as dangerous and unlawful behavior that was blocking streets and tying up multiple government resources.

Greenpeace activists also fear the impact Trumps cabinet nominations might have on the environment, particularly ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of state and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt for EPA administrator.

Earlier this month, on the eve of Tillersons confirmation hearing, activists from Greenpeace and several other environmental organizations projected Reject Rex and similar messages on the side of the State Departments headquarters.

Greenpeace protesters unfurl a banner from a crane near the White House. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP)

On Monday, a Greenpeace activist literally brought Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a human spine model to protest his vote to confirm Tillerson as secretary of state despite having serious reservations. Rubio had asked pointed and critical questions about the longtime oilmans ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin during his confirmation hearing.

The Greenpeace protesters join hundreds of thousands of people who have demonstrated against Trump nationwide, most notably during the Womens March on Jan. 21.

Trump, who lost the popular vote and has the lowest approval rating of any incoming president since Gallup started polling this metric, seems sensitive to any criticism or hint of unpopularity. The White House did not issue a statement in response to the banner.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Each year countless Americans resolve to save money. In fact, the Nielsen's Global Health & Wellness Survey found that Americans' third most popular resolution in both 2015 and 2016 (after staying fit and losing weight) was spending less and saving more. That can be a worthwhile goal, but if we take thriftiness to extremes or don't pay attention to what's happening, we may regret that choice -- or wind up spending even more money than we'd planned.

[See: 10 Financial New Year's Resolutions.]

Just ask Tiffany Aliche, founder of The Budgetnista and a former U.S. News contributor. Aliche freelances from home and for three years resisted buying a printer. Instead, she drove to Staples and paid 10 cents a page every time she needed to print and scan a contract or other document. "When I went to Staples and they knew me, [and] when I found myself helping the patrons with the machines, I realized I was there too much," Aliche says. "There was an opportunity cost. It was costing me money in time not working," she adds. Now that she spent the money on an all-in-one printer, scanner and copier for her home office, she says it's saved her a lot of time and unnecessary headaches.

"There should be a purpose behind the savings," Aliche says. "You're saving because you're putting that money towards retirement, or saving with a goal in mind to make sure that you're not just saving for savings' sake," she explains. Otherwise, "you can get into the habit of not enjoying life ," she adds.

Read on for stories from savvy consumers whose resolve to live frugally and cut costs may have gone too far.

The Internet Abstainers. Roughly two years ago when Mike Shubbuck and his wife, Tara, the authors behind the travel blog TwoTravelaholics.com, returned from an around-the-world trip, they got an apartment in the District of Columbia and decided to see how long they could go without paying for internet. "We thought work access and library or cafe access would be enough," Shubbuck says. Turns out, it wasn't. Shubbuck was freelancing at the time, so after doing a video or photography shoot, he'd have to upload footage to get it to a client and needed internet access. Plus, in the afternoons, after school let out, kids would fill the library, making it hard for Shubbuck to focus on work. After a few months, the couple got internet installed at their home and wished they'd made the switch sooner instead of trying to penny pinch.

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[See: 8 Big Budgeting Blunders -- and How to Fix Them.]

The Great Coupon Mix-Up. When Crystal Stemberger, who lives outside the Houston area and blogs at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, tried to use a coupon for kitty litter last year, she ran into an unfortunate snag. "[The cashier] rang up the coupons incorrectly, but I didn't notice they had also rang up the wrong size of kitty litter," she says. That error meant that Stemberger paid an extra $8 overall. "It was a 'Doh!' moment," she adds. Whether you're using a coupon or not, it never hurts to inspect your receipt for errors before you leave the store.

The Cocoa Worm's Revenge: Bargain shoppers love stockpiling food and pantry staples when they go on sale. But that strategy hasn't paid off for Chelsea Lowe, a professional writer and editor who lives outside of Boston. "Every time I've tried stocking up when a favorite item's gone on sale, I've ended up throwing away most of the purchase," she says. This summer, she bought about 20 stevia-flavor chocolate bars, most of them at half price. But cocoa worms got into the cabinet where she was storing the chocolate bars, and she estimates that she had to toss roughly half of the bars. Of course, cocoa worms aren't the only potential problem with stockpiling; limited storage space, excessive heat or expiring foods can also foil a well-intentioned bargain shopper. Plus, if your storage area floods or you decide to move before using up the items, you could wind up wasting money.

[See: 25 Fast Financial Fixes.]

The Newlywed Bed Debacle: Last year, when Bailey Cummins and her new husband let family members know they were looking for secondhand furniture, one relative offered a mattress and box spring. "Unfortunately, we discovered a few months later that we had bed bugs," Cummins says. She's not sure if they came from the mattress and box spring or the temporary apartment where they were staying before moving into military housing, but they wound up tossing the mattress and box spring and buying new ones. Fortunately, because they're now in military housing, pest control was free, but the incident still caused a major headache for the newlyweds, who live in the Midwest. Cummins took it in stride. "It makes for funny stories that we'll look back on when we've been married for ages," she says. But if they'd had to pay for pest control themselves, it could have been cheaper and easier to buy a new mattress from the start.

Before you drive out of your way to save a few bucks or otherwise economize, Aliche suggests asking yourself: "Does it diminish another part of my life?" If the sacrifice is too great or involves health or safety concerns, you may want to cough up the extra cash and cut back in other areas instead.

Susan Johnston Taylor has contributed to the money section of USNews.com since 2011, covering everything from personal finance apps and spending strategies to mortgages, insurance and estate planning. Her articles on business and personal finance have also appeared in or on The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, Learnvest, Entrepreneur and Fast Company. Susan's goal is to offer readers new insights and practical ways to save money, advance their careers or improve their lives. You can find her on Twitter @UrbanMuseWriter.
Dakar (AFP) - The Gambia's new president will return to the capital on Thursday, aides said, ending a prolonged political crisis sparked by disputed elections that forced him to flee to neighbouring Senegal.

The announcement capped days of anxious waiting in the tiny former British colony that was thrown into chaos when long-time president Yahya Jammeh refused to step down after losing elections.

New President Adama Barrow is coming "tomorrow at 4pm (1600 GMT)," a senior government official told AFP. "It is important for him to come to avoid the void."

The official said the priority would be "putting into place the pillars of reform and human rights," adding "people are very happy and it's elating."

Speaking to AFP in Dakar on Wednesday, Barrow's aide Mai Fatty confirmed the president would be arriving "tomorrow afternoon."

Diplomats had urged Barrow to return quickly to ensure the tourist-reliant economy, already in a fragile state, does not fall into further disrepair.

And residents in the capital Banjul said Barrow's arrival would mark the beginning of the healing process after divisions created by Jammeh's regime.

"Not only the government has to change but all the Gambian people have to change, working hand in hand, and change our attitude," said one Gambian, who declined to give his name.

Barrow's first job is to deal with an internal crisis after it emerged his pick for vice president, Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, may be constitutionally too old for the role.

Around 4,000 west African troops remain in The Gambia charged with ensuring safety, as it is believed rogue pro-Jammeh elements remain in the security forces that were once under his personal control.

Marcel Alain De Souza, head of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), told a briefing in Nigeria on Tuesday that the troops were working to secure Banjul and the surrounding area for Barrow's return.

Story continues

Jammeh finally left the country for exile on Saturday by which time Barrow had been sworn in at the Gambian embassy in Dakar, the Senegalese capital.

After more than two decades in power, he went into exile in Equatorial Guinea under threat of a regional military intervention.

Barrow has assured Jammeh he will have all the rights legally ensured to an ex-president, which under Gambian law includes immunity from prosecution, barring a vote by two-thirds of the national assembly.

The new government has also confirmed Jammeh will be permitted to keep a fleet of luxury cars, while authorities have accused the former strongman of plundering state coffers before heading into exile, making off with $11 million (10 million euros).
Dakar (AFP) - The Gambia's new president will return to his country's capital Thursday, aides said, ending a prolonged political crisis sparked by disputed elections that forced him to flee to neighbouring Senegal.

The announcement capped days of anxious waiting in the tiny former British colony that was thrown into chaos when long-time president Yahya Jammeh refused to step down after losing elections.

Speaking to AFP in Dakar on Wednesday, Barrow's aide Mai Fatty confirmed the president would be arriving home "tomorrow afternoon."

A senior government official told AFP in Banjul. "New President Adama Barrow is coming "tomorrow at 4:00pm (1600 GMT)," adding "it is important for him to come to avoid the void".

The official said the priority would be "putting into place the pillars of reform and human rights," adding "people are very happy and it's elating".

Diplomats had urged Barrow to return quickly to curb the impact of the political crisis on the tourist-reliant economy, already in a fragile state.

In New York, the UN envoy for West Africa, Mohamed ibn Chambas, briefed the Security Council on The Gambia during a closed session and stressed that the United Nations was working to bolster stability.

Chambas is due to accompany Barrow on Thursday when he returns to Banjul.

Swedish Ambassador Olof Skoog, who holds the Security Council's presidency, said: "We shouldn't just turn our back on Gambia now and walk away to the next situation but really make sure that we stay the course and support democracy."

- Divisions -

Barrow will be staying at his own residence until further notice while State House, Jammeh's former seat of power, is assessed for potential risks.

His first job is to deal with an internal crisis after it emerged his pick for vice president, Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, may be constitutionally too old for the role.

Around 4,000 west African troops remain in The Gambia charged with ensuring safety, as it is believed rogue pro-Jammeh elements remain in the security forces that were once under his personal control.

Story continues

He must also deal with latent ethnic tensions between Jammeh's minority Jola people and the majority Mandinkas, to whom Barrow belongs.

Three residents of Foni Bajana in the country's central region told AFP Wednesday a group of children and a family were set upon by a Jola gang while celebrating Jammeh's departure on Saturday.

"These people came out to attack them," said another resident. "The children said they were being chased. I met one of the assailants running and holding a bicycle chain," he added.

The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) supporters armed with machetes and cutlasses then attacked and threw stones into the residence, injuring seven people including a child.

"They thought Jammeh was there for them only. They think Barrow is there for Mandinkas," added the second villager.

Jammeh finally left the country for exile on Saturday by which time Barrow had been sworn in at the Gambian embassy in Dakar, the Senegalese capital.

Marcel Alain De Souza, head of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), told a briefing in Nigeria on Tuesday that the troops were working to secure Banjul and the surrounding area for Barrow's return.

Residents in the capital Banjul said Barrow's arrival would mark the beginning of the healing process after divisions created by Jammeh's regime.

- 'Change our attitude' -

"Not only the government has to change but all the Gambian people have to change, working hand in hand, and change our attitude," said one Gambian, who declined to give his name.

After more than two decades in power, Jammeh went into exile in Equatorial Guinea under threat of a regional military intervention.

Barrow has assured Jammeh he will have all the rights legally ensured to an ex-president, which under Gambian law include immunity from prosecution, barring a vote by two-thirds of the national assembly.

The new government has also confirmed Jammeh will be permitted to keep a fleet of luxury cars, while authorities have accused the former strongman of plundering state coffers before heading into exile, making off with $11 million (10 million euros).
By Emma Farge DAKAR (Reuters) - Gambia's President Adama Barrow, who was inaugurated in neighboring Senegal as mediators engineered an exit deal for longstanding ruler Yahya Jammeh, is to return to Gambia on Thursday, a senior aide said. Barrow has asked a regional force of several thousand soldiers to stay and help him restore democratic governance after they entered Gambia last week to enforce election results that brought an end to Jammeh's 22 years in power. Jammeh's government gained a reputation for the torture and killing of perceived opponents and many Gambians are furious that he will not face trial at home for those abuses. "He (Barrow) is leaving tomorrow and will arrive in Banjul at around 4 p.m. (1600 GMT)," aide Amie Bojang told Reuters. Jammeh pitched Gambia into turmoil in December when he refused to accept his loss in an election to Barrow and demanded another vote. The former soldier finally stepped down on Saturday and went into exile in Equatorial Guinea under diplomatic pressure and after West African Ecowas troops crossed into Gambia. Those forces are still there, and Barrow spokesman Halifa Sallah told Reuters on Wednesday that he had requested they stay for six months. He said this was still under discussion. Gambians cheered them on when they arrived but Barrow's government is aware of the possibility of tensions if they stay much longer. "The Ecowas forces are to collaborate with forces in The Gambia to ensure the safety of the president, the government and the Gambian people," he said. "The plan is to integrate (them) ... so they can see the issue is not another country invading or occupying Gambia." Many Gambians assume that Jammeh has fled into a luxurious exile rather than face trial for alleged human rights abuses. (Additional reporting by Lamine Jahateh; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Tim Cocks; Editing by Louise Ireland)
By Stephen Jewkes

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's Assicurazioni Generali <GASI.MI> said on Wednesday its chief financial officer Alberto Minali would be leaving at the end of the month, at a time of uncertainty for the country's biggest insurer.

The departure of Minali comes a day after Italy's biggest retail bank Intesa Sanpaolo <ISP.MI> said it was considering the idea of a tie-up with Generali in a move that could reshape the country's financial landscape.

Generali, whose biggest shareholder is influential investment bank Mediobanca <MDBI.MI>, said on Monday it had bought voting rights equal to 3.01 percent of Intesa, in a defensive move.

In a statement, Generali said Minali, who is also general manager at the group, would be replaced as CFO by head of corporate finance Luigi Lubelli.

It added Minali would receive a severance package of around 5.78 million euros ($6.2 million), plus a payment related to his long-term bonus package that was yet to be quantified, and said his role as general manager would not be replaced.

Last year, Minali lost out to Philippe Donnet in the race to replace Mario Greco as CEO of Europe's No. 3 insurer and sources close to the matter told Reuters tensions have built up between the two.

Recent leadership changes at Generali and political weakness in Rome have helped kindle bid talk about the 186-year-old company which for years has been at the crossroads of Italian finance.

Italian newspapers have said Intesa's move is in part aimed at fending off interest in Generali from foreign companies such as France's AXA <AXAF.PA> and Germany's Allianz <ALVG.DE>.

Donnet was formerly an executive of AXA.

Generali and Allianz have declined to comment, while AXA CEO Thomas Buberl said in remarks published Wednesday he was not interested in a bid for Generali.

Italian market regulator Consob, which met Intesa managers on Wednesday, is due to meet on Thursday executives of Generali and lender UniCredit <CDRI.MI>, the top investor in Mediobanca.

Story continues

Like other European insurers, Generali has had to cope with falling investment returns and stiffer competition.

The company, which generates most of its revenues and earnings in Italy, France and Germany, said in November it was looking to leave unattractive markets and cut costs to improve profits and boost capital.

(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes and Valentina Za; Editing by Valentina Za and Mark Potter)
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany, in unusually strong criticism of Israel, said on Wednesday plans to build 2,500 more settlement homes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank put in doubt Israel's stated commitment to a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Israel announced the plans on Tuesday in the second such declaration since U.S. President Donald Trump took office signaling he could be more accommodating toward such projects than his predecessor Barack Obama. Martin Schaefer, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry, said the announcement went "beyond what we have seen on it in the last few months both in terms of its scale and its political significance". He said the German government doubted whether the Israeli government still stood by its official goal of a peace agreement under which Palestinians would get a state in territory now occupied by Israel and co-exist peacefully with it. If Israel were to move away from this goal, the basis of the whole Middle East peace process would be thrown into question, Schaefer added. The last round of U.S.-brokered peace talks collapsed in 2014. The European Union has also warned that Israel's settlement plans threaten to undermine the chances of peace with the Palestinians. Germany went to great lengths to make amends for the Nazi era genocide of Jews, including establishing strong relations with Israel, which now considers Germany to be among its most important European allies. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament on Wednesday to expect more announcements on settlement-building and earlier this week told senior ministers that there were no more restrictions on construction. "We can build where we want and as much as we want," an official quoted Netanyahu as telling the ministers. Most countries consider settlements illegal and an obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace, as they reduce and fragment the territory Palestinians need for a viable state. Israel disagrees, citing biblical, historical and political connections to the land - which the Palestinians also assert - as well as security interests. (Reporting by Andreas Rinke in Berlin and Ori Lewis in Jerusalem; writing by Michelle Martin; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f361768%2f02840701-d16b-4555-ae69-8ad6875a7248

The largest offshore wind farm in the United States is one step closer to becoming a reality.

The 90-megawatt project planned near Long Island, New York, would be only the second offshore wind farm to operate in the country, which lags way behind Europe and China when it comes to offshore wind.

The wind farm cleared a major hurdle on Wednesday after Long Island's public utility unanimously approved a long-term contract to buy its electricity. Without this deal, the project's developers would have a harder time convincing banks to finance the wind farm's construction.

SEE ALSO: Obama says clean energy's momentum is 'irreversible,' even under Trump

"This is a big day for clean energy in New York and our nation," said Jeffrey Grybowski, CEO of Deepwater Wind, the wind farm's developer.

"There is a huge clean energy resource blowing off of our coastline just over the horizon, and it is time to tap into this unlimited resource to power our communities," he said in a statement to Mashable.

It's official! Thrilled to receive unanimous approval for our 90MW, 15 turbine #SouthForkWindFarm, the largest #offshorewindfarm in the US  Deepwater Wind (@DeepwaterWind) January 25, 2017

While Europe and China have installed thousands of wind turbines in their waters in recent years, the U.S. has built only five. Over the last decade, a handful of proposed U.S. offshore wind farms were canceled or indefinitely delayed.

State and federal agencies initially lacked regulations and guidelines for such projects, which caused set-backs, as did lawsuits from local opposition groups. Utilities were reluctant to sign contracts for offshore wind power, which is generally more expensive than on-shore power. Banks and investors were skittish when it came to spending hundreds of millions of dollars on projects they weren't sure would pay off.

Story continues

After its own fits and starts, Deepwater Wind won the race to build America's first offshore wind farm in August, with its 30-megawatt project near Block Island, Rhode Island.

The company's new 90-megawatt project will stand in federal waters off Long Island's South Fork Peninsula.

Deepwater Wind's proposed 90-megawatt offshore wind farm near South Fork, Long Island.

Image: Deepwater wind

Deepwater Wind said its $740 million installation will have up to 15 turbines and produce enough power to light up roughly 50,000 homes. Depending on the permitting schedule, construction could start as early as 2019, and the wind farm could start operating as early as 2022.

The company envisions developing an additional 210 megawatts in the area, which would bring the Long Island wind farm to 300 megawatts when completed.

The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) signed the 20-year power purchase agreement with Deepwater Wind on Wednesday largely to help meet its targets for increasing renewable energy supplies.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo this month set a statewide goal to develop up to 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind projects by 2030. The target  enough to power about 1.25 million homes  is a vital piece of Cuomo's vision to get 50 percent of New York's electricity needs from renewables within 13 years.

LIPA's decision "in particular is going to really be remembered as a pivotal moment in launching the offshore wind industry in New York, and probably on the East Coast," Lisa Dix, the Sierra Club's New York State campaign director, told Mashable.

Workers stand near over-sized racks holding sections of Deepwater Wind's wind turbine towers at a staging site in Providence, R.I., July 2016.

Image: AP Photo/Steven Senne

Sierra Club and other environmental organizations have been pushing state policymakers and utility companies to embrace offshore wind as part of the state's clean energy future.

In densely populated areas like New York City and Long Island  where land is at a premium  turbines spinning in the water offer one of the few realistic options for providing large amounts of renewable electricity to energy-hungry communities.

Offshore wind proponents also teamed up with major labor organizations, including the AFL-CIO and International Brotherhood of Electric Workers. Towering offshore turbines include thousands of components that must be assembled at ports, providing a potential boon for local manufacturing, supporters say.

Gov. Cuomo said in a statement that the planned South Fork wind farm would "create high-paying jobs" while helping to advance New York's efforts to combat climate change.
Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - The German government on Wednesday maintained its growth forecast for 2017, even as a monthly survey showed firms increasingly nervous about the future in the face of global uncertainty.

Europe's largest economy should expand by 1.4 percent in 2017 after hitting 1.9 percent last year, the economy ministry in Berlin said in a statement.

"The German economy is in very good condition," said Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, adding that "the effect of a lower number of working days" compared with 2016 would account for most of the fall in growth.

But he acknowledged that "despite the extremely good economic situation, many people are concerned" about their own and the country's prospects.

Earlier in the day, a survey from the Munich-based Ifo institute showed business confidence at its lowest level since September.

The Ifo index stood at 109.8 points in January, a fall of 1.2 points after months trending upwards.

Analysts surveyed by Factset had predicted a slight increase to 111.3 points.

"Companies expressed greater satisfaction with their current business situation, but are less optimistic about their six-month business outlook," Ifo president Clemens Fuest said in a statement.

"Germany is getting increasingly concerned about the possible impact from US president Trump's suggested trade sanctions," wrote analyst Carsten Brzeski of ING Diba bank.

The US dislodged France as Germany's biggest export customer for the first time in many years in 2015, he noted.

According to the federal statistics office Destatis, Germany sold 174 billion euros ($187 billion) of goods to the US in 2015, while importing around 60 billion euros of American goods.

- 'Everyone poorer' -

Combined with the threat to German exports from Britain's decision to quit the EU, Brzeski said "the German economy will continue to be highly dependent on domestic demand" in the year ahead.

Story continues

Trump claims that competition from foreign imports destroys jobs in the US, and this week ditched plans for a free trade area stretching across the Pacific Ocean.

The new president also used an interview with British and German newspapers ahead of his inauguration to attack German carmaker BMW over its plans to open a new plant in Mexico.

"Closing ourselves off makes everyone poorer," economy minister Gabriel said in his statement Wednesday. "The global inclination to protectionism seen in the Brexit decision and the words of the new American president is the wrong way."

Under Germany's presidency, this year's G20 meetings of the world's largest economies would "kick off a discussion of the opportunities and risks of globalisation," the economy ministry report read.

Germany "continues to support the goal of an ambitious and balanced trade and investment agreement between the EU and the US," it added.

Trump is however widely expected to drop any attempt to seal a free trade deal between the EU and US called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP.
Greenpeace protesters scaled a 270-foot crane just blocks from the White House Wednesday and unfurled a massive banner bearing the word Resist.

Seven demonstrators climbed the crane at a downtown Washington construction site, police said. After several hours, activists dangling from the structure's arm unrolled a 70-foot protest sign.

Read: Donald Trump Tells Democrats Boycotting His Inauguration: Give Me Your Tickets

Greenpeace spokesman Travis Nichols said the environmental group opposes President Donald Trump and his policies.

Police cordoned off the area and were waiting at the bottom of the crane for the demonstrators to come down.

Read: Trump Tweets at Wrong Ivanka as He Weighs In on TV Special Featuring Daughter

Safety is our foremost mission, Capt. Robert Glover of the Metropolitan Police Department told reporters, according to The Associated Press.

Since Trumps inauguration Friday, mass demonstrations and protests have erupted across the country.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched Saturday in support of womens rights and against the new president.

Protesters in several cities took to the streets Tuesday night and in opposition to Trumps executive orders to move forward with the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.

Watch: Women's March Protesters High-Five Officers to Say Thanks During Rally

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Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (Cuba) (AFP) - A US military judge at Guantanamo Bay paused pre-trial hearings Wednesday for the alleged plotters of the September 11, 2001 attacks after the lead attorney for one defendant had broken her wrist.

The delay means almost the entirety of court action scheduled to last two weeks at the notorious military prison was postponed until March, yet another delay in one of the longest prosecutions in US history.

Accused of plotting America's deadliest terror attack, the so-called "Guantanamo Five" were making their the first appearance since President Donald Trump was sworn in less than a week ago.

Renewed focus is on Guantanamo and the glacial legal process after Trump famously vowed while campaigning that he would load the jail with "bad dudes," and said it would be "fine" if US terror suspects were sent there for trial.

Cheryl Bormann, the "learned counsel" for a defendant called Walid bin Attash, broke her arm in a fall over the weekend, which prevented her from flying to the US naval base on the eastern end of Cuba.

Because it's a death penalty case, each defendant has the right to a learned counsel, or capital expert, during almost every step of the process.

Military judge Colonel James Pohl agreed that a series of motions should be delayed until Bormann's recovery, but he did grant a prosecution request to depose an 84-year-old relative of three September 11 victims.

His testimony, set to be taken in closed session Friday, will describe the death of the man's son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

They were killed aboard United Airlines Flight 175 when it was flown into the World Trade Center.

"He will say very quickly, he will say very plainly, that he watched on television while his family was murdered," prosecutor Ed Ryan said.

The testimony could eventually be used to provide evidence at the sentencing phase following a conviction, where prosecutors would ask for death.

Story continues

The defendants are alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali -- Mohammed's nephew -- and Mustapha al-Hawsawi.

- Second learned counsel -

Attash has repeatedly tried to fire Bormann and his entire defense team, alleging they are working against him.

"In the future, I imagine we might find out they work with the CIA or some other agencies," he said through an interpreter.

Attash was seated behind KSM, who has grown an enormous beard and somehow managed to dye it bright orange -- the Pentagon has previously said he used fruit juices and berries to do so.

The defendants wore traditional white robes and head scarves. Two sported camouflaged military jackets.

Bormann's absence highlights a critical weakness in the ongoing case, which is called a military commission.

In the event a learned counsel were to become seriously incapacitated or die, the proceedings could face a many-month delay while their replacement got up to speed.

Defense lawyers for each of the five defendants have asked for a second learned counsel on each team, but given Trump's federal civilian hiring freeze and annual costs of about $500,000 for each extra lawyer, it is unclear the judge would grant the request.

A multitude of procedural and legal problems, exacerbated by the logistical challenge of hosting a court in Guantanamo, have slowed the case to a crawl.

"We are just as determined as ever to try these individuals under the rule of law," lead prosecutor Brigadier General Mark Martins said this week. "We will do that -- however long it takes."

The general said the government will be ready for jury selection in March 2018, but defense lawyers scoffed at the idea, saying 2020 is more realistic.

- 'Don't know what we don't know' -

One of Obama's first acts as president was to issue an order to close Guantanamo's jail, but he failed to do so in the face of Republican opposition and the reluctance of US allies to take in the detainees.

The remaining prison population is now 41, down from 242 when he took office.

Underpinning everything is the CIA's handling of the 9/11 Five and other prisoners in the years following the September 11 attacks.

Some evidence came through the use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, which critics equate to torture.

Agents deployed an array of measures including waterboarding, chronic sleep deprivation and force-feeding -- either orally or anally.

Since the 9/11 Five were first charged in 2008, the taint of torture and of alleged wrongdoing -- including claims the government spied on defense teams -- soured proceedings.

Much evidence remains classified in a government report on torture, which defense teams are infuriated they can't see.

Without it, they say they cannot fully understand what evidence the government has against their clients.

"We don't know what we don't know, and that's the problem," Hawsawi's defense attorney, Walter Ruiz, said Tuesday.
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (Cuba) (AFP) - They spent seven years locked up under George W. Bush, then eight more under Barack Obama -- yet the five alleged terrorist plotters were convicted of nothing.

Now, the so-called "9/11 Five" are starting the next phase of their Guantanamo Bay legal odyssey under the presidency of Donald Trump.

Accused of plotting the September 11, 2001 attacks, the men are due in a military courtroom Wednesday, the first time the secretive tribunal has been in session since Trump was sworn in less than a week ago.

Renewed focus is on the military prison and the glacial legal process after Trump famously vowed while campaigning that he would load Guantanamo with "bad dudes," and said it would be "fine" if US terror suspects were sent there for trial.

It's been nine years since the United States first charged the 9/11 Five with plotting the September 11 attacks and killing nearly 3,000 people.

A multitude of procedural and legal problems, exacerbated by the logistical challenge of hosting a court in Guantanamo, have slowed the case to a crawl.

"We are just as determined as ever to try these individuals under the rule of law," lead prosecutor Brigadier General Mark Martins said.

"We will do that -- however long it takes."

The general said the government will be ready to begin jury selection in March 2018, but defense lawyers scoff at the idea, saying 2020 is more realistic.

The defendants are alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali -- Mohammed's nephew -- and Mustapha al-Hawsawi.

- 'Don't know what we don't know' -

One of Obama's first acts as president was to issue an order to close Guantanamo's jail, but he failed to do so in the face of Republican opposition and the reluctance of US allies to take in the detainees.

The remaining prison population is now 41, down from 242 when he took office.

Story continues

On Wednesday, military judge Colonel James Pohl will consider whether hearings can even happen during this session's two allotted weeks.

Bin Attash's chief lawyer, Cheryl Bormann, broke her arm over the weekend, which prevented her from flying to the US naval base on the eastern tip of Cuba.

Because it's a death penalty case, each defendant has the right to a "learned counsel," or capital expert, during every step of the process.

Prosecutors want to crack on with the hearings if bin Attash waives his right for Bormann to be present, but defense teams worry doing so could set a precedent for future proceedings.

On Friday, a father whose son, granddaughter and daughter-in-law were killed aboard United Airlines Flight 175 when it was flown into the World Trade Center, is slated to give a recorded deposition.

The government wants to create a permanent record of such testimony -- the man is now in his 80s -- for use during the sentencing phase at an eventual conviction.

But if bin Attash declines to waive his right for counsel to be there, even that deposition could be nixed -- causing yet another delay in a case that sometimes seems terminally bogged down.

Underpinning everything is the CIA's handling of the 9/11 Five and other prisoners in the years following the September 11 attacks.

Some evidence came through so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques," which critics equate to torture.

Agents deployed an array of measures including waterboarding, chronic sleep deprivation and force-feeding -- either orally or anally.

Since the 9/11 Five were first charged in 2008, the taint of torture and of alleged wrongdoing -- including claims the government spied on defense teams -- soured proceedings.

An ongoing issue is the fact that much evidence remains classified in a government report on torture. Defense teams are infuriated they can't see the report, and thus cannot fully understand what evidence the government has against their clients.

"We don't know what we don't know, and that's the problem," said Hawsawi's defense attorney, Walter Ruiz.
When avid traveler and national Catholic radio show host Teresa Tomeo visited Italy with her husband to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, she was shocked to find herself booted off a train at night in an unfamiliar setting. If it weren't for a fellow English-speaking traveler who advised her and her husband to get back on the train, which ultimately returned them to where they wanted to go, she says she could have been lost for hours.

Unfortunately, Tomeo's situation is a common snag, even for the most seasoned international travelers. For this reason, U.S. News compiled expert tips from European train companies and frequent travelers to help you navigate traveling by train with ease.

[See: 12 Great Destinations in Europe You Can Afford.]

Pick Your Transportation Strategically

First, decide if traveling by train is truly the best option to get from point A to point B. Jeff Wilson, host of "Real Rail Adventures" on Public Television, says that it can sometimes be more affordable to travel by rental car, especially with a group of three or more. "When I tried to string together trains for four from Prague to Krakow to Budapest, down through Croatia and up through Slovenia back to Prague, I found them to be more expensive than renting a car for a month," he explains. Still, in major cities, train travel may be your best bet as parking fees can be cost-prohibitive, he cautions.

Services like Rail Europe, the major distributor of European rail products in North America, can help you purchase tickets in multiple destinations in Europe and can be purchased before arriving overseas. You can also purchase tickets for high-speed trains like Eurostar online ahead of time. Alternatively, you can purchase tickets at a local station in Europe.

Book Early to Cut Costs

Melanie Albaric, marketing and communications manager for Rail Europe, advises booking your tickets early to score the best discounts. Plus, some routes and fares have limited availability and may sell out closer to your travel dates. James Cave, who writes the Portugalist.com blog, cautions that in Portugal if you book a train more than five days in advance, you can score a 40 percent savings on most routes.

Story continues

Another way to cut costs is to take an overnight train. "When you wake, you'll have an entire day to see the sights," Albaric says. "Save even more by booking a couchette, which is a shared compartment with six beds. Think of it as a hostel on-the-go," she adds. Albaric also recommends traveling with at least one other person, as that allows you to book a Saver rate, which is a discount for groups of two to five passengers traveling together. But be forewarned, there are some caveats. "Discounted rates may be restrictive when it comes to refunds or changes, with less flexibility than a full fare ticket," she says.

Justin Uselton, one of the writers behind ACouplefortheRoad.com, suggests buying round-trip tickets up front, explaining that travelers can typically save 20 to 30 percent more than buying the legs separately. He also suggests looking for the local "cards," which are aimed at locals versus tourists and are less expensive. For example, get an Oyster Card for the Tube in London or a DART card when in Dublin. Multi-attraction passes like the Paris Pass and Omnia Pass, which covers sights across Rome and Vatican City, also offer free travel on local metro trains in addition to admittance to key attractions.

[See: 10 Secret European Spots to Visit This Year.]

Seek Out Assistance

Tomeo says even Italians get confused at train stations, citing a trip where a local spent 30 minutes trying to buy tickets. For that reason, having a person on hand who speaks the local language can be invaluable to get where you want to go in the most efficient and economical way possible.

"I travel to Italy at least two times a year, and when I need to use the train, I always bring an Italian-speaking companion to the station," Tomeo says. "Many of the passages from Rome can be purchased via machine, but if you don't speak the language, you could end up in Venice when you're trying to get to Naples," she adds. You can always ask a local for assistance, but at train stations people tend to be very busy and in a hurry, so it's best to plan ahead.

Maintain Personal Safety

Italian trains are rampant with pickpocketing, so it's best to keep a close eye on valuables, Tomeo cautions. Uselton also advises keeping a small bag with you rather than checking it. "Pack less than you think, as most European cities are very accommodating with laundry. You simply don't need an outfit a day," Uselton explains.

Look for Family-Friendly Promotions and Perks

"With space on board to move around, traveling by train gives families a much more relaxing and enjoyable experience, and it can also be an excellent way to save money," says Jane Ashman, head of sales and business development at Eurostar. Eurostar allows kids younger than 4 to travel free, and Eurail passes offer free travel for up to two children ages 4 to 11 per adult pass holder. Plus, with the Swiss Family Card and the Swiss Travel Pass that accompanies several BritRail passes, kids under the age of 15 can travel for free or at a discount, Albaric says. Swiss trains are especially family-friendly, Wilson says, recalling a time he even traveled on a line that had a pirate-themed treasure hunt for kids to keep them entertained.

Avoid Common Mistakes

If you're planning to travel between countries, remember to carry your passport. Arriving early is also a wise idea, as departure times and routes change frequently in Italy, Tomeo says. Also, keep in mind, the latest check-in time for Eurostar routes is 30 minutes, but it's a smart idea to allow for extra time to ensure you are in the right place and ready should a train depart ahead of schedule.

[See: 9 Ways to Travel Better.]

Buy Your Attraction Tickets on the Train

To save time, Ashman recommends heading to the bar buffet aboard Eurostar trains, where passengers can buy metro or underground passes along with tickets to key attractions. "It means that you can get on with your trip as soon as you step off the train, without queuing for tickets," she explains. Because Eurostar has partnerships with top museums and galleries across various destinations, you can enjoy two-for-one entry to top sights simply by presenting the Eurostar ticket, Ashman says.
Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Haiti's President-elect Jovenel Moise on Wednesday dismissed accusations that he had laundered money as an "invention," after spending hours answering questions from an investigating judge.

Set to take power in the impoverished Caribbean nation next month, Moise blamed the suspicions that have swirled around him for months on a smear campaign by his political enemies.

Echoing one of his campaign slogans on Wednesday, he called investigators' files on him "an invention by some, like many files they have invented to prevent the people from getting food on their plates and money in their pockets."

Moise, a former banana exporter who has never held political office, survived the country's year-and-a-half electoral nightmare to win the election in November.

Although electoral authorities declared him the first-round winner earlier this month, opposition lawmakers are demanding that the investigation finish before he assumes office on February 7.

The investigation was launched in 2013 as a routine bank-regulation procedure. The Central Financial Intelligence Unit (UCREF) forwarded a secret report about the inquiry to prosecutors last summer.

However, the investigating judge took no action until four opposition senators recently demanded information about the findings.

Moise spoke to the judge in a Port-au-Prince court on Wednesday, unaccompanied by lawyers.

"I went in all humility to see the judge so he could ask questions for four hours, and I answered him for four hours," he told reporters.

"Certain people should not be allowed to exploit the law, to decide that the only way to engage in politics is to accuse others of lying," he added. Moise said that his presidency would be characterized by "order and discipline."

UCREF, an independent state agency, held an unusual news conference last week to assert its impartiality.

"No one has been allowed to exploit UCREF since I became general director," said the organization's chief, Sonel Jean-Francois.

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It is unclear whether the judge leading the secret investigation will issue his conclusions before Moise takes office.

The case reflects the country's ongoing political divisions.

Moise's three main rivals in the election contested the results in court, to no avail; they have refused to concede.

Some members of parliament are threatening to boycott next month's inauguration ceremony.
Miami (AFP) - Bernedy Prosper is afraid his 23-year-old son Harold will die if he is deported from the United States back to Haiti.

Prosper, 52, had hoped Harold could benefit from a special status granted to Haitian immigrants in 2010 after a devastating earthquake struck the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Instead, Harold is one of more than 4,000 Haitians awaiting deportation due to a sudden policy reversal late last year as then-president Barack Obama was preparing to leave office.

With President Donald Trump now in power, elected on a vow to build a wall on the Mexican border and halt illegal immigration, Harold's situation looks bleak.

"I ran away for my life and now my kid had to do the same," said a despairing Prosper as he stood in an immigration aid center in Little Haiti, the heart of the Haitian diaspora in dilapidated north Miami.

Prosper himself arrived in Florida on a boat without immigration documents in 2000 and obtained political asylum.

He tried to bring his son over to join him, but Harold got tired of waiting for the legal process to run its course, and decided to try his luck crossing the Mexican border illegally.

Instead he was caught in San Diego, California, just as deportations of Haitians are ramping up dramatically compared to last January when, according to government figures, only 267 Haitians were awaiting deportation.

"I believe that if he is put back to Haiti, I have no more son," said Prosper, his head down and voice a low monotone.

"I know they will kill him," he said.

- 'Haiti has improved' -

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, and has not fully recovered from the earthquake -- some 55,000 people still live in temporary housing, most in appalling conditions.

But late last year, Obama decided Haitians no longer qualified for Temporary Protection Status (TPS), as the status reserved for victims of natural disasters is known.

"The situation in Haiti has improved sufficiently to permit the US government to remove Haitian nationals on a more regular basis, consistent with the practice for nationals from other nations," said then-Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in announcing the policy change September 22.

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A few weeks later, on October 4, Hurricane Matthew tore through southwestern Haiti. The powerful Category 4 hurricane killed more than 500 people, left thousands homeless, and triggered a cholera outbreak.

US authorities halted deportations for a month, but in early November began to "significantly expand removal operations," Johnson said in a subsequent statement.

Randy McGrorty, an attorney with Catholic Legal Services -- a group that offers legal aid for immigrants -- says it is inhumane to deport Haitians to their storm-ravaged, earthquake-damaged country.

The TPS will remain in effect until July, and Haitians who are already protected do not risk deportation.

But since October more than 1,600 other Haitians have been deported.

"We get desperate phone calls from people. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do," said Steve Forester, who works for the non-profit Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.

"It is simply wrong, insensitive, immoral, even obscene, to be deporting people now, knowing the suffering of the people there and that the government does not have the ability in Haiti to care for these people," he said.

- 600,000 Haitians in US -

Following the earthquake many Haitians migrated to Brazil. But as the South American giant's economy took a downward turn, they are picking up stakes and heading to Central America in hopes of making it to Mexico and then slipping across the border into the United States.

As of 2012, some 600,000 Haitian immigrants were in the United States, most of them in Florida, or about 1.5 percent of all foreigners in the country, according to the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute.

Forester believes that US treatment of Haitian migrants -- especially when compared to the benefits that Cuban immigrants have received since 1966 -- is essentially racist.

"Haitians are black. They do not have the political power of Hispanics in general in the US because they dont have the numbers. They don't have the political power in Florida," said Forrester.

Now the fate of the Haitians is in the hands of Trump, who has vowed to deport as many as three million immigrants who are in the country illegally and have criminal records.

"I hope he will decide that it is wrong to deport anyone to Haiti now, that a strong and secure Haiti is in our national interest," said Forester.
PARIS (Reuters) - Hardline French Socialist Benoit Hamon was seen as more convincing in a television debate on Wednesday with ex-Prime Minister Manuel Valls ahead of a runoff vote at the weekend to pick the party's presidential candidate, an Elabe poll showed. The survey, conducted for BFM TV shortly after the debate was over, found 60 percent of those polled found Hamon more convincing compared with 37 percent for Valls. Hamon, a former education minister who was kicked out of Valls' government in 2014 for differences on economic policy, won the first round of the party primary vote on Sunday with Valls coming in second. Regardless of who wins Sunday's runoff, polls suggest neither stands much chance of getting past the first round of France's April-May presidential election after five years of unpopular rule by Francois Hollande. However, the winner of the Socialist primary will have an impact on other candidates and notably popular independent Emmanuel Macron, who could pick up support from Valls voters if Hamon wins. In the tense two-hour debate, Hamon defended his plans for a basic monthly welfare payment for all and said environmental decline was a bigger danger than budget deficits because "we can negotiate with bankers, but not with nature." Valls, a Spanish-born pro-business reformer, sought to paint Hamon's plans as a reckless use of public funds that could not be financed without adding to France's already hefty tax burden and considerable debt. "There is a difference between dreams and illusions, and a (political) program's credibility. That's what interests me and that's what the French are going to make their decisions over," Valls said. Hamon fought back by questioning Valls' left-wing credentials in government with tax breaks on share options and a contested labor reform law to make firing easier for employers. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Andrew Hay)
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f360682%2f41ecd60a-f50b-4192-b8eb-c45ec0e1eea6

New federal health rules will give the U.S. government more leeway to put people in quarantine during an epidemic  a fact that has some public health experts worried as President Donald Trump begins his term.

The regulations, released on former President Barack Obama's last full day in office, were created to better protect the public from communicable diseases like the Ebola virus or avian flu.

But in the wrong hands, the measures might lead to unnecessary and unfair detentions, public health lawyers wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed.

SEE ALSO: Trump explores vaccine commission with prominent anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Their scary speculation is mainly designed to pressure policymakers to enlist science-focused, highly qualified people  not political appointees  to head the nation's public health agencies. While there's no reason to fear widespread quarantines right away, the experts told Mashable that they want people to know just what's at stake in Donald Trump's administration.

So, what are the rules?

The new quarantine rules don't expand the authority of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)  only Congress can do that.

The CDC told Mashable the regulations won't change the agency's current practices for responding to a public health crisis. But the measures do spell out a broader range of actions the agency can take.

For instance, the CDC can restrict interstate travel during a health crisis.

A young girl is taken to an ambulance after showing signs of the Ebola infection in the village of Freeman Reserve, Liberia, Sept. 30, 2014.

Image: AP Photo/Jerome Delay

Until now, state and local governments have been primarily responsible for imposing quarantines to protect local residents from diseases. The CDC is mostly active at the U.S. border, where it conducts health screenings of immigrants, or in special zones like airports, where it screens passengers during outbreaks, like the 2014 Ebola crisis.

The CDC published its final quarantine rule on Jan. 19, ending more than a decade's worth of discussions on the issue. The rules take effect on Feb. 21.

Story continues

What's the problem?

The federal quarantine rules aren't the issue per se, said Scott Burris, who directs the public health law research program at Temple University in Philadelphia.

It's the matter of who will implement these rules that has public health experts concerned.

In the Times op-ed, Burris and other lawyers argued that the Trump administration could potentially abuse the updated quarantine rules by detaining people solely to look strong during a crisis  even if such decisions aren't medically necessary.

"There's definitely pressure on public health leaders to take action that looks reassuring, including potentially locking somebody up who shouldn't be locked up," Burris told Mashable in an interview.

Trump's own responses to public health issues have tended to stem from emotional reaction, not scientific evidence.

In 2014, he urged the government to ban all flights from "Ebola-infected countries" to stop the "plague" from spreading inside U.S. borders, an approach that medical experts didn't think was needed. On the campaign trail in 2015, he wrongly accused Mexican immigrants of bringing "tremendous infections disease" across the border.

Signs that read in Spanish "No more wars," "No more deportations" and "No racism." hang from a fence in front of the U.S. Embassy, during a march against U.S. President Donald Trump in Mexico City, Jan. 20, 2017.

Image: AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo

"The government needs to be able to protect public health, but they're not going to protect public health if this authority is used in a manner that is based on fear-mongering, as opposed to science," said Wendy Parmet, who co-authored the Times op-ed and directs the health policy and law program at Northeastern University in Boston.

Mashable asked the CDC to comment on concerns that federal officials could apply the new regulations based on politics and fear, not evidence of illness. A spokesperson replied by email:

What should we do?

For Burris, Parmet and other public health experts, the answers are clear: Policymakers should appoint a CDC leader with deep experience and solid scientific knowledge, and stave off sweeping budget cuts that would undermine the agency's ability to respond in a crisis.

"We're really interested in making sure that when the next crisis hits, the CDC has the resources and the experts that it needs to respond on the basis of the real evidence and science, and not on the basis of public fear and politics," said Kyle Edwards, who has a doctorate in public health from Oxford University, is studying at Yale Law School, and was the op-ed's lead author.

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, arrives to his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, Jan. 24, 2017.

Image: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call VIA ap images

Trump's pick for health secretary, Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, would oversee the CDC appointment if confirmed. The orthopedic surgeon and six-term Republican congressman faced a second Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

Burris said that, despite his concerns about Trump, he wanted to "give a chance" to the president and his future health secretary.

"I'm urging the Trump administration to make sure the world's greatest public health agency has the world's greatest public health leader to run it," he said.

BONUS: The moment Donald Trump became president of the United States
It is probably too early and too strong to say that parallel governments are emerging in Washington  one disturbing, the other reassuring  but in its first week, the Trump administration is showing two faces.

Related: US No Longer a Full Democracy, but Its Not Trumps Fault: Report

On one side of the Potomac, there is the never-ending carnival that took the crazy train from Trump Tower to the White House: Kellyanne Conway spouts alternative facts and Sean Spicer plays the calliope as the stream-of-consciousness barker goes on about mounting an investigation into how the illegals" cost him the election, about crowd size at the inauguration, about going back into Iraq to snatch the oil, about TheWall and about whatever else pops into his presidential head.

On the other side, newly installed Defense Secretary James Mattis, the former Marine general whom some conservatives once talked about as a candidate to challenge Donald Trump, has hit the ground running like a gung-ho recruit on Parris Island.

In contrast to a White House said to be beset by back-biting and turf wars, Mattis appears to be thoughtfully assembling a team and making smart strategic moves. That may help offset the show on Pennsylvania Avenue that the wide-eyed world is watching -- sometimes appalled and trembling, sometimes pointing and giggling.

As the Military Times reported on Monday, Mattis has made three key appointments. Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work, another former Marine officer and a Pentagon professional who served in the Obama administration, has been asked to stay on to smooth the transition and manage the bureaucracy, at least for the short term.

Rear Admiral Craig Faller will be the chief uniformed adviser to Mattis. A combat veteran with deep experience in the Middle East and Asia, Faller once worked for the late Senator Ted Kennedy and has dealt with lawmakers on Capitol Hill as the Navys chief of legislative affairs.

As his chief of staff, Mattis has appointed retired Rear Admiral Kevin Sweeney, who the Military Times said is seen as a manager familiar with the inner workings of the Pentagon.

Story continues

Related: How an Important NATO Ally Is Dealing With Putin -- and Trump

More important, the Military Times quoted a Pentagon spokesman as saying Mattis had reached out to NATO allies, including the NATO secretary general and the British and Canadian defense ministers. CNN said he reassured them of Americas unshakeable commitment to the alliance.

That was no doubt intended to counter-balance Trump, who rattled NATO with talk during the campaign about alliance partners not paying their fair share and has repeatedly offered warm words for Russian President Vladimir Putin, NATOs chief antagonist.

When asked about Mattis outreach, Press Secretary Spicer said on Tuesday: "I think that Secretary Mattis and others have some ideas about how to reform and make organizations like NATO more effective and benefit the amount of money that the United States is putting [in] whether it's NATO or the UN or other organizations like that. But I think [Trump] is not pleased in terms of what he sees in terms of the U.S. contribution and the output it's getting."

Earlier this week, Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership as he promised during the campaign, but as numerous news stories and commentaries have pointed out, one of the goals of TPP was to counter the influence of China. By pulling back from the 12-nation trade deal, the new President gives an opening to Beijing, whom he also repeatedly railed against on his way to the Oval Office.

Almost on cue, it was announced that Mattis will visit Japan and South Korea next month in his first official visit outside the U.S. as Defense Secretary. The purpose, according to The Financial Times, is to reassure Americas Asian allies.

In his first memo to the Defense Department, issued on Inauguration Day, Mattis also signaled that he would work closely with the Intelligence Community, which took a beating from Trump both as a candidate and as the president-elect. Even a conciliatory visit by the president to the CIA wound up hitting an off note, with Trump standing in front of a wall commemorating fallen and largely unsung officers to complain about the media distorting attendance figures for the inauguration.

With former Republican congressman Mike Pompeo, a West Point graduate, now confirmed as CIA director and the nomination of former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state moving forward, Mattis may soon have other grown-ups governing, too. But Tillerson has no Washington experience and wont be immediately up to speed.

Related: 9 Things to Know About Trump's Pick for CIA Director, Mike Pompeo

Pompeo, on the other hand, was a member of the House Intelligence Committee and should be more immediately ready to stand with Mattis, who in his memo called the military and the Intelligence Community the sentinels and guardians of our nation.

At least someone will be watching Americas back while Trump and his troupe are careening toward the formation of a government.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump met with auto executives on Tuesday and gave the energy industry a boost with action on pipelines. Highlights of the day follow: PIPELINES Trump signs orders smoothing the path for the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, aiming to expand energy infrastructure and roll back key Obama administration environmental actions. IMMIGRATION Trump is expected to sign executive orders starting on Wednesday that include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries, according to several congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter. AUTO INDUSTRY Trump urges the chief executives of General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV to build more cars in the country. MANUFACTURING AND REGULATION Trump signs an executive order directing that the permitting process and regulatory burden for domestic manufacturers should be streamlined to reduce what he calls an "incredibly cumbersome, long, horrible" system. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Agriculture Department will hold off on some rules as part of a freeze on regulations imposed by the Trump administration, trade groups say. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES Trump's administration has moved since last week to curb the flow of information from several government agencies whose mandate affects environmental issues, in actions that appear designed to tighten control and discourage dissenting views. {nL1N1FE5FE] SUPREME COURT Trump, poised to restore the Supreme Court's conservative majority, says he will announce his choice next week to fill the seat left vacant since the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia more than 11 months ago, with three federal appeals court judges among those under close consideration. FBI Trump intends to retain FBI Director James Comey amid reports that law enforcement and intelligence agencies are scrutinizing Trump associates over their ties to Russia. CABINET The U.S. Senate votes overwhelmingly to confirm South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as ambassador to the United Nations. Representative Tom Price, Trump's nominee for health secretary, tells a Senate panel he wants to ensure people with pre-existing conditions have access to insurance and he does not support Medicare privatization. TRADE Mexico could pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement if a renegotiation of terms does not benefit the country, its economy minister says. ELECTION The White House says Trump stands by his belief that millions of people voted illegally in the presidential election but offered no evidence to support the contention. (Compiled by Bill Trott and Jonathan Oatis; Editing by Leslie Adler and Peter Cooney)
By Claire Milhench LONDON (Reuters) - Africa, famously short of new roads, ports and power stations, is increasingly leaning on its own sovereign investment funds to help fix its infrastructure gap. The funds - which have around $150 billion between them, according to research firm Preqin - are digging in themselves and offering co-investment opportunities and guarantees to attract foreign capital. The scale of the problem is huge - some 600 million Africans, or half the continent's population, still lack reliable power, according to a panel discussion at last week's World Economic Forum in Davos. Meanwhile, consultancy McKinsey has estimated that investment in African infrastructure is so poor it needs to double to $150 billion a year. But while investors worldwide are queuing up to finance planned overhauls of transport and energy infrastructure in the West - part of a global search for returns - they have largely bypassed Africa, still considered the preserve of development agencies or specialist funds. Africa is still viewed in some circles as a difficult investment, hampered by corruption, war and political risk. Now home-grown sovereign wealth funds are seeking to change this perception and kickstart projects themselves. Morocco's $1.8 billion Ithmar Capital state fund, for example, is seeking to raise $1 billion-$2 billion from infrastructure specialists and other sovereign funds for its Africa green infrastructure fund. This will focus on clean energy and water projects and is co-sponsored by the World Bank. "Energy is probably the biggest impediment to the development of the continent," said Tarik Senhaji, Ithmar's chief executive, said. "The energy cost is so high you can't develop anything else. "A lot of the sovereign funds and pension funds we are speaking to are extremely interested in infrastructure - the question is how do you bring the risk perception of Africa down so they can co-invest with us?" Senhaji said. It is early days. Last year three Africa-focused infrastructure funds raised $665 million, according to Preqin  just one percent of the total $61.2 billion raised by 54 infrastructure funds globally. Yet the 15-20 percent returns on offer in Africa are higher than the 8-12 percent offered in developed markets. "If people haven't invested in the region before, they probably perceive more risk than there actually is," said Adrian Mucalov, a director in the energy business at Actis, an emerging markets investor that has invested over $3.5 billion in Africa. BIGGEST CHALLENGE Fund managers say the biggest challenge may not in fact be raising capital, but finding investable projects. Public-private partnerships between government agencies and private companies are under-used, accounting for only 4.5 percent of African infrastructure projects by value between 2000 and 2014, McKinsey estimates. That compares with 8.6 percent for a group of emerging markets. But there are examples of sovereign funds stepping in. Angola's sovereign fund, FSDEA, has just committed $180 million to a new deep sea port project using a PPP structure. "PPPs are very difficult to carry out because you're talking about two different parties with two different views," FSDEA chairman Jose Filomeno dos Santos told Reuters. In early 2015, another sovereign fund, Senegal's FONSIS partnered with Meridiam, an infrastructure fund manager with some 5 billion euros ($5.37 billion) under management, to develop a solar farm. Meridiam, which raised 300 million euros for its Infrastructure Africa Fund in 2015, targets greenfield investments in transport, power generation and public buildings such as hospitals and universities via PPPs. Meridiam's Mathieu Peller, director, West Africa said governments needed to focus on a limited number of essential projects: "There is a huge pipeline of projects that are difficult for foreign investors to assess." Sovereign funds, meanwhile, are also trying to tap local pension fund capital. The long-term nature of infrastructure investments tends to be a good fit for pension funds which need a steady income stream to fund payments to retirees. Canada's pension funds provide a guide, having invested in everything from the Port of Melbourne to British high speed rail lines. And African pension pools are growing quickly - Nigeria's local pension market for instance is expanding by $5 billion a year - but they can be prevented from investing in domestic infrastructure bonds because of the issuer's weak credit rating. To address this, Nigeria's Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), has announced a tie-up with local currency guarantee firm GuarantCo to enhance the credit quality of Nigerian infrastructure bonds. ($1 = 0.9305 euros) (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
In November 2016, the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security unveiled a bombshell: After spending 11 years and $3.1 billion, the automated immigration processing system designed to prevent terrorists from entering the United States simply didnt work.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services new Electronic Immigration System, ELIS, was supposed to speed up the cumbersome, complex system for processing immigrants seeking legal status. Instead, it did the opposite because of a spate of technical problems and poorly conceived specifications. Operational deficiencies ranging from frequent power outages to the inability of ELIS to access or add information to existing digital platforms added hours of human labor. Naturalization cases frequently got stuck in the ELIS workflow and applicant interviews were often mistakenly canceled.

Related: Are Mass Deportations Coming in the US? Paul Ryan Says No

Worst of all: ELIS is so highly flawed that it could grant citizenship to people who pose national security threats. Not only could ineligible immigrants be approved, you might not know if they had a criminal record or ties to terrorism because of the glitches in the system. And heres the kicker: ELIS had erroneously issued nearly 20,000 green cards, granting legal status to live and work in the US to people who were almost certainly improperly vetted.

Since its deployment on April 13, 2016, ELIS has impaired the ability of USCIS Immigration Services Officers and field personnel to conduct naturalization processing, said John Roth, the inspector general. Roth thought he had received assurances from USCIS that it would mothball the pricey computer system until the multitude of problems had been ironed out.

But late last week, Roth was forced to issue a cease and desist order to Leon Rodriquez, Director of USCIS, after learning that the agency intended to resume operation of ELIS before all the kinks were worked out.

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Related: Trump Stands Alone Calling for Mass Deportation of Illegal Immigrants

The Homeland Security Inspector was no doubt spitting bullets by this time, since he had issued multiple warnings over many months to Rodriguez who had not only ignored Roths recommendation but also denied the problem, according to a report in NextGov.

Roth said that during an ongoing follow-up investigation by his staff in the USCIS headquarters and field operations he had discovered alarming security concerns regarding inadequate applicant background checks, as well as significant problems in using ELIS to process naturalization benefits for immigrants.

Homeland Security is not the only federal agency to spend taxpayer money freely with little to show for it. In 2015, the Brookings Institution assessed government investment in IT projects and concluded, U.S. government spent 75.6 billion dollars on IT projects in 2014. That is enough to save the world and still have 600 million dollars to spare. A study by the Standish Group revealed that only 6.4 percent of federal IT projects costing $10 million or more were successful.

Federal IT Spending

At a time when the debate over immigration and terrorism has reached a fevered pitch, the debacle over a vital new computer system for vetting immigrants seeking to enter the country is remarkable.

Related: Trump Will Deport Millions of Illegal Immigrants with Criminal Records

President Donald Trump won the election on a pledge to crack down on illegal immigrants and deny entry to the U.S. by Muslims or people from countries experiencing rampant terrorist violence. Today, Trump signed an executive order to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, and he has promised to beef up border patrols and immigration services. Like President Obama before him, Trump also plans to deport millions of illegal immigrants with criminal records. But Trump is going further by proposing that immigrants from countries that are experiencing terrorism be barred from the U.S.

Trump might want to look as well at a failing immigration computer system that the Homeland Security inspector general says poses a threat to national security. The USCIS press office declined to comment for this story.

ELIS dates back nearly a decade as a system originally designed and budgeted to cost $536 million. Those numbers went out the window long ago as costs are now projected to be 480 percent higher. Promises of state of the art vetting and administrative efficiencies never materialized, while the long-delayed website wont be fully operational for another two years or more, if ever.

(This article was updated on January 26, 2017)

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Marie Stopes International sets up clinics in Kampalas most vulnerable communities. (Mikaela Conley/Yahoo News)

About 4 miles north of Ugandas capital of Kampala lies the 8-acre slum known as Kimombasa, where thousands of families live without running water or proper sanitation in one-room shacks made of rusty tin. Drugs and crime run rampant, and homes sometimes double as brothels. Living conditions are grim, girls marry early and life expectancy is significantly lower than the national average of 58 years old.

Health care access, though, while still rudimentary, has been a bright spot in the community during the past several years, as access to free family planning services has increased. Nongovernmental family planning organizations such as Marie Stopes International (MSI) have been able to offer reproductive health care to people in places like Kimombasa and other at-risk communities in the developing world. By regularly setting up makeshift clinics under blue plastic tarps, and even sometimes using three-wheeled vehicles known as tuk-tuks to reach places inaccessible by roads, MSI health care workers provide free gynecological screenings, HIV and STI testing, maternal health care, vasectomy procedures for men, contraception and abortions to some of the worlds most vulnerable people. Kimombasa is one of the thousands of communities  both urban and rural  that NGO health services like MSI are able to reach. Often, it is the only health care that is accessible to people in such communities.

But MSIs ability to provide health care in Kimombasa and throughout the world has been threatened now that President Trump, in one of his first moves as chief executive, reinstated the U.S.s global gag rule, which bars foreign aid to any NGO that offers abortion services, or even discusses abortion options, to its patients, ever. The rule is also known as the Mexico City Policy, named after the host city of the U.N. International Conference on Population where the U.S. announced it in 1984.

MSI sets up accessible clinics in the middle of communities like Kimombasa in Kampala, Uganda. (Mikaela Conley/Yahoo News)

The U.S. does not fund abortion services overseas, even in countries that legally offer abortion in cases of incest, rape or life-threatening complications for the mother. The money used for any abortion service is very, very separate from USAID funds, said Maaike van Min, strategy and development director with MSI. But under the Mexico City rule, American aid would be denied to organizations like MSI if it also provided abortions through separate funding sources.

President Ronald Reagan enacted the policy in 1984, and it has gone in and out of effect since, depending on which party holds the Oval Office. Bill Clinton immediately rescinded the policy in his first week as president. George W. Bush reinstated it, and Barack Obama nixed it again. Trumps move to reenact the policy falls in line with his campaign promise to restrict abortion rights, both domestic and abroad.

The worlds most vulnerable women will suffer as a direct result of this policy, which undermines years of effort to improve womens health, tweeted Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, following the news.

The worlds most vulnerable women will suffer as a direct result of this policy, which undermines years of effort to improve womens health.  Cecile Richards (@CecileRichards) January 23, 2017

Antiabortion groups and Republican leaders praised the move.

Family Research Count President Tony Perkins said in a statement, This is a vital step in the journey to make America great again, recognizing and affirming the universal ideal that all human beings have inherent worth and dignity, regardless of their age or nationality.

Van Min said she wasnt surprised by Trumps executive action, but because USAID accounts for 17 percent of Marie Stopes funding ($30 million last year), the organization is now working very hard to fund that gap, but its going to be a significant challenge to ensure care for all the patients were currently serving around the world. She was also quick to note that the vast majority of MSI services are not related to abortion or even the discussion of abortion.

Currently, 20.9 million men and women around the world use contraception provided by MSI, which estimates it has prevented 6.3 million unintended pregnancies and 4 million unsafe abortions. Its work also has thwarted an estimated 12,600 maternal deaths. Even with the work of such NGOs, more than 225 million women globally do not have access to family planning services.

Marie Stopes International offers services to Ugandas urban and rural regions. (MIkaela Conley/Yahoo News)

MSI projects that with the loss of USAID for its contraception and family planning services, there will be as many as 2.1 million additional abortions in the areas it serves during the next three years.

In a statement from the U.N. Foundation, an organization that connects the goals of the U.N. with NGOs around the world on issues on female empowerment, UNF CEO Kathy Calvin said: This action will do more than change policy; it will make it more difficult for millions of girls and women to access the contraception and health care they need to determine their futures.

When the policy was last enacted, during the George W. Bush administration, health care clinics in many countries were forced to close, and outreach services for the most vulnerable populations were eliminated, Calvin said. Millions of people around the globe were left without critical health services, including maternal and child health care, HIV testing and counseling, and contraceptives, including condoms. Without these life-saving services, more women and infants died due to pregnancy-related complications, she said.

In fact, banning abortions doesnt reduce abortion, according to several studies conducted by the World Health Organization. Cutting access to contraception increases pregnancy rates and the incidence of illegal, makeshift and unsafe abortion practices.

But the cut goes far beyond health care access, said van Min. Once basic screenings and contraception and exams arent accessible, a domino effect begins for women, and in turn, communities.

NGOs regularly offer health services to people living in Kimombasa. (Mikaela Conley/Yahoo News)

When half of the people in a population arent able to fulfill their potential because they dont have control of their fertility and they dont have the ability to protect themselves from pregnancies or STIs, that means theyre less likely to finish their education, have a career, control the number of children they can have and raise into strong adults, said van Min.

That has debilitating and costly effects on a country as a whole.

Basic health care is the base of everything else in our lives, and in our Western societies, we are lucky to be able to take it for granted, said van Min. Its not even something most people think about in their day, but I think if men and women step back and think about where theyd be without any sort of access to family planning, theyd find it striking.

When discussing and thinking about broad policy issues, its difficult to appreciate how many people are actually affected, said van Min. Those women in Kampala could just as easily be you or me.
Khazir (Iraq) (AFP) - Hundreds of families who fled Mosul last year left displacement camps Wednesday to head back to their homes, in the biggest wave yet of returns to the city, officials said.

Displaced Mosul residents hurled bags and foam mattresses into vans and onto buses, many smiling as they prepared to forsake a place they often first reached scared, hungry and exhausted.

Iraqi forces recently completed their recapture of eastern Mosul, which tens of thousands of people had fled since the October 17 start of a massive offensive against the Islamic State (IS) group.

According to the United Nations, more than 180,000 people have been displaced since the start of the offensive but at least 22,000 have since returned to their homes.

The authorities have been organising returns from Khazir and Hasansham displacement camps twice a week.

"We are now taking 500 families, which means 2,700 people, to their liberated houses," local official Mustafa Hamid Sarhan told AFP at the Khazir camp, which lies southeast of Mosul.

"This is the biggest wave," he added, as at least 50 buses lined up for families cleaning up their tents and packing their belongings for the journey home.

One of them was Dhabbah Mohammed Khader, a 45-year-old woman from the neighbourhood of Al-Zahraa who was about to return to her home with two of her sons.

"I'm so happy we finally got rid of Daesh," she said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

"We can go back home now," said the woman, tears running down her wrinkled face.

- 'Paradise' -

The continued presence in east Mosul of hundreds of civilians as Iraqi forces advanced through the streets has restricted all sides in their choice of weapons and the city has suffered relatively limited destruction.

"I am so happy to be going home, close to my people," said Salha Ahmed, a widow and mother of seven, as she rolled up the rug covering the gravel in shelter number 81 of Khazir camp.

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When she finished packing, she left her poky shelter with no regrets but said she was a little nervous at the idea of returning to Mosul.

Her house was damaged in the fighting and several of her children and grandchildren were still living in another displacement camp further south.

"We have suffered a lot, we have been shattered," she muttered absently, her eyes watering. She said that one of her sons was killed by the Islamic State group for an unknown reason.

"We're tired, we don't know what to do. Should we stay or should we go? I'm confused."

Salima Khdeir, who lived in the tent next to hers, came to say goodbye.

She also made a request to go home but she and her four children were not included in Wednesday's batch.

"It's nice to see them go, it means our turn will come. But I'm also sad I have to stay here while they're allowed to go home," she said.

Some level of normalcy is returning to parts of east Mosul, especially areas far from the Tigris, along which elite forces are preparing a likely cross-river assault on the city's jihadist-held west bank.

The scars of the conflict are everywhere however, electricity and water are scarce, as are some basic goods.

Salah Ahmed said she knew her new life in Mosul would be tough.

But as she waded in the mud to clamber onto the truck with her bags and waved goodbye to her camp neighbours, the grandmother was adamant: "Despite the circumstances, Mosul is a paradise."
Paris (AFP) - Subversive rape thriller "Elle" starring Isabelle Huppert topped the nominations list Wednesday for the "French Oscars" -- the Cesars -- hit by controversy over the decision to ask Roman Polanski to preside at the awards.

The director of "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" was forced to step down from the honorary role Tuesday after pressure from women's groups and parts of the French government over a child rape case that has haunted him for four decades.

"Elle", the story of a woman who turns the tables on her rapist so she can draw her own pleasure from him, won the Golden Globe for best foreign film earlier this month.

It has helped revive the career of veteran Dutch director Paul Verhoeven and earned Huppert an Oscars nod for best actress Tuesday.

With 11 nominations, the film shares pole position at the Cesars with Francois Ozon's romantic drama "Frantz", set just after World War I when a young German women meets a mysterious Frenchman while visiting her fiance's grave.

- French 'Erin Brockovich' -

Huppert -- who already holds the record for the most best actress nominations -- faces stiff competition from Danish actress Sidse Babett Knudsen, star of the TV series "Borgen" for her role in "La Fille de Brest".

The film, which has been compared to "Erin Brockovich", tells the real-life story of a whistleblower who uncovered a French medical scandal in which hundreds of people died after being given a highly controversial medicine.

However, the awards, the biggest event in the French cinematic calendar after the Cannes film festival, have already been overshadowed by the furore over Polanski.

Despite the row, the head of the French Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques on Wednesday defended the decision to ask Polanski to preside at the ceremony.

Alain Terzian said Polanski was "one of the great figures of world cinema" and that the academy was "only interested in artists' work".

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Last month, Polanski won his legal fight to end efforts by the United States to extradite him from his native Poland for unlawful sex with a minor.

Polanski had admitted the charge in 1977 as part of a plea bargain, but fled to France a year later convinced a judge was going to scrap the deal.

The other leading Cesars contenders include Bruno Dumont's surreal historical tragi-comedy "Slack Bay" (Ma Loute) starring Juliette Binoche, and "Divines", a gritty girl's buddy movie set in the Paris suburbs which won its maker Houda Benyamina a Golden Globe nomination and the Camera d'Or at Cannes.

It is hot favourite to take the best first film prize at the awards on February 24.
Budapest (AFP) - On posters around Budapest right now is the determined face of an African-born tram driver with a doctorate, the star of a poignant new Hungarian film about immigration, integration and xenophobia.

"A stranger ran up to me one day after I finished my shift and asked if I wanted to be in a movie about refugees," Marcelo Cake-Baly, a former teenage soldier from Guinea-Bissau, told AFP at a tram stop on the outskirts of Budapest.

"I said 'yes' on the spot."

That stranger was Hungarian film director Roland Vranik, whose well-received "The Citizen" tells the story of an African refugee's quest to obtain Hungarian citizenship and premieres on Wednesday.

Filmed just before Europe's migration crisis hit in 2015, the movie highlights the plight of non-European migrants trying to settle in the predominantly white country.

Cake-Baly, 58, came to Hungary in 1976 after the army in Guinea-Bissau offered him the chance to study in neighbouring Senegal, where he won a scholarship to study in then-communist Hungary.

He only gained Hungarian citizenship in 1994, however, and says the struggles experienced by the film's lead character, Wilson, mirror his own.

Wilson encounters casual racism, grapples with bureaucratic hurdles and helps a fellow refugee in trouble, all the while trying to hold down a security guard job and get by in the Magyar language, one of Europe's trickiest tongues.

In the opening scene, he is told by an official to "come back in a year" after failing yet another citizenship exam, which included a grilling on the Hungarian constitution and medieval history.

Cake-Baly, who holds a doctorate in economics, lost his job in a bank in 1989 because he did not have citizenship. For years he struggled to find work, in part due to his skin colour, he suspects.

"I had so much rejection in the job market I threw away my pride. I couldn't tell you where my economist diploma certificate is, at the back of a drawer probably," he said ruefully.

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- 'Go home' -

Since 2005 he has worked as a tram driver and sometimes gets abuse, with people shouting at him to "go home" -- despite having a Hungarian passport and proficiency in the language.

The temptation to pull his passport from his coat pocket is strong, he says, but he always resists.

"Most people here are friendly, but there's always one who's not. Still there is no point in getting into conflicts," Cake-Baly said.

Hungary is home to around 5,000 Africans, a tiny percentage of the foreign-born population of 150,000, itself mostly Europeans and 1.5 percent of the 10-million-strong country.

According to surveys, hostility to non-whites in Hungary has grown during Europe's migration crisis, which swept through the country two years ago.

Hungarian polling firm, Tarki, said recently that xenophobic attitudes were at their highest in 25 years.

Over 400,000 people trekked through Hungary in 2015 to reach richer countries further west and north.

In response, the hardline anti-immigration Prime Minister Viktor Orban built border fences and put up billboards warning foreigners not to take jobs from Hungarians.

These days, "migrant" is used as a term of abuse that Cake-Baly hears more and more.

"Someone at a bus stop blew smoke in my face recently, and said it would have been better if I'd been drowned in the sea like the other migrants," said Cake-Baly, who has three children with his Hungarian wife.

- Critics' praise -

Vranik said he began working on the film's screenplay in 2012, well before the refugee crisis erupted and the government's anti-migrant "propaganda got going".

"It wasn't so hard to predict what might happen... I wouldn't change the movie if I started writing it today," the 48-year-old told AFP.

"I was just curious about the life of a vulnerable African refugee trying to integrate in Hungary," he added.

Vranik approached Cake-Baly on the street after spotting him in a driver's uniform as "it is not easy to find a middle-aged African who speaks Hungarian".

Critics have called the movie "one of the best and important Hungarian films" made to date, comparing it to the work of acclaimed British director Mike Leigh.

"It doesn't conform to stereotypes," Adam Kovats, a 22-year-old student, told AFP after an advance screening in Budapest last week.

"The refugees and Hungarian characters in the movie come across as real, complex people, not just one-dimensional angelic refugees and racist Europeans".

Looking forward to the premiere, Cake-Baly, who still hasn't seen the completed film, told AFP he hopes to do more acting.

"I've got a taste for it now," he smiled.
You people just dont get it  you dont realize whats coming, said a fervent Trump supporter to me over dinner earlier this month, a dinner that included someone Trump had named as a key foreign policy advisor during the campaign.

My dinner companions proceeded to outline an agenda that has thus far hewed closely to President Trumps emerging foreign policy template: aggressive economic nationalism, opposing China as a key threat to U.S. interests, testing the waters of cooperating with Russia, and pushing back against radical Islam.

The overall package wasnt strategically coherent, and it didnt seem like they had thought through the risks and possible blowback of certain moves. It amounted to a disparate set of initiatives aimed at jarring the world and disrupting traditional ways of doing business in the same way that Trump has shaken the foundations of Americas politics, media, and social conventions.

If there was a central theme, it was under the America First slogan Trump reiterated in his inaugural address last week. One of the Trump supporters told me, At a time of low growth and slow growth with twin deficits, the focus is at home  in fact, it is on only a few hundred counties in a few states that will be central to the 2020 campaign. Another one said, We want to pull back from the Middle East  what good will it do for America to stay deeply involved?

Trump tapped into sentiments among key parts of the American public and ran on one of the vaguest foreign policy platforms America has ever seen. Yet key parts of the package he presented resonated with many Americans, as I noted last spring. He doesnt fit into any of the traditional foreign policy schools of thought, and thats what some Americans like about him.

But, as commander-in-chief, he is now responsible for keeping America safe. So here are three things he should do to live up to that responsibility:

Look before you leap. Game out the possible consequences of disruptive shifts that the administration might make on national security. Thinking through how other countries and non-state actors might respond will be important to giving the national security strategy more content and definition than it currently has.

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Tap into the agency expertise. The transition has been slow to fill key national security positions, but there is a wealth of expertise inside the career ranks of the U.S. government. Take some steps to make sure the interagency process is bringing that expertise to the table and giving the president the best options. (Theres some useful tips on how to do this in this recent report by Kori Schake and Will Wechsler.)

Educate the American public about the value of U.S. global engagement. An effective America First approach will keep U.S. engagement in the world. America simply cant be strong and prosperous at home without being strong abroad. This not the dominant message coming from the administration in its early days. There are some voices singing a different message, however: advisor Anthony Scaramucci told the World Economic Forum in Davos last week that Trump may be one of the last great hopes of globalism. It remains to be seen if thats the case.

Making provocative statements and gestures may knock our adversaries and allies off balance and gain some short-term leverage, but to keep Americans safe and create lasting jobs and economic growth will require you to have more of a plan and to use all of the tools at your disposal.

Photo credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)  A judge questioned Haiti's president-elect on Wednesday about a confidential report leaked during campaigning that suggests he might have laundered money and received special treatment to get loans in years before the businessman ran for the country's highest political office.

Jovenel Moise, who is scheduled to be inaugurated as Haiti's next leader Feb. 7, met with a Haitian judge in a closed-door session that lasted four hours. Moise said he decided to go to the court voluntarily without an attorney because he has nothing to hide and respects the law.

Moise asserts all of his business dealings are above board. He blames rivals of manufacturing the allegations to "create instability" in the deeply divided nation with a long history of political tumult and damage his reputation before his swearing-in ceremony.

"Under my administration no one will be able to use the justice system to destroy someone," he told reporters following the session with the judge of instruction, adding that he believed that institutional weakness was also a reason behind the report by Haiti's Central Financial Intelligence Unit and separate allegations that he received sweetheart loans from a state-owned bank.

Judge Bredy Fabien, who is also hearing testimony from others, will have to decide whether there's evidence for a case to proceed or if the matter should be dismissed. It's a secretive process akin to a U.S. grand jury that can take months.

Four opposition senators who recently revived questions about the report are pressing for it to be fully investigated before Moise's oath-of-office ceremony in about two weeks.

The watchdog agency's leaked report examines bank accounts held by Moise, his wife and his businesses from 2007 until 2013. Before being hand-picked in 2015 by ex-President Michel Martelly to become his political faction's presidential candidate, Moise was an entrepreneur from northern Haiti who started an auto parts company, a water-distribution business and a public-private banana plantation launched in 2014 called Agritrans.

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Among other things, the administrative report questions sizable deposits into the accounts and purchases of 45 vehicles registered in Moise's name.

The judge is also weighing allegations that the state-owned Haitian Popular Bank lent Moise cash without going through the normal procedures, which is a longstanding perk for politically-connected Haitians.

Members of Moise's Tet Kale party have suggested that the report was leaked at the height of campaigning for a presidential election redo at the urging of outgoing caretaker President Jocelerme Privert's administration. Privert's government denies any involvement.

Moise easily won a November election redo with 55 percent of the votes amid low turnout. The first-round victory came more than a year after Moise topped an initial presidential vote that was eventually thrown out for suspicions of alleged fraud, leading to a lengthy period of political limbo.

___

David McFadden on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dmcfadd
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP)  A charity controlled by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has disclosed the names of donors who collectively gave $1 million toward 2015 events celebrating his time in office, two months after missing a deadline for doing so.

The filing reveals that 68 Iowa companies, lobbying groups or individuals gave $5,000 or more to pay for events celebrating Branstad's inauguration to an unprecedented sixth term and, months later, to his becoming the nation's longest-serving governor. The charity will use the proceeds for college scholarships and grants to promote Iowa history under Branstad's name.

The largest donor was Des Moines-based Principal Financial Group, which gave $125,000. Other powerful Iowa companies dot the list, such as the Hy-Vee grocery store chain; the state's two largest power companies, MidAmerican and Alliant; farm equipment maker John Deere; and gas station chains Casey's and Kum & Go. Groups representing real estate agents, soda companies, nursing homes and bankers also chipped in, as did a number of casino interests.

The late filing could mean thousands of dollars in IRS late penalties for the charity, the Branstad-Reynolds Scholarship Fund, which has so far reported spending ten times as much on events celebrating Branstad as it has on scholarships.

The filing comes as the Republican governor prepares to resign to become U.S. Ambassador to China under President Donald Trump.

The Associated Press reported Jan. 2 that the charity, created in 2010 to raise money for Branstad's inauguration to a fifth term, filed its 2015 tax return as required Nov. 15 after receiving the maximum six months in extensions. But the filing failed to list donors, as is required for foundations.

Tax experts said the lack of disclosure invited penalties of $100 per day retroactive to Nov. 15 because the IRS considers incomplete filings to be late. Foundations can try to avoid penalties by showing cause for failing to meet deadlines, but experts doubt the justification offered by Branstad's group would qualify.

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In the amended filing, the charity told the IRS that "certain records pertaining to contributors were unavailable" when the filing was due Nov. 15. "Those records have now been obtained," the filing said, allowing it to disclose "a complete list of reportable contributors."

The charity's initial incomplete filing falsely reported that Principal had given $25,000 and listed no other donors.

Branstad spokesman Ben Hammes said the amended filing was mailed to the IRS last week. He disputes that it would be considered late, noting that taxpayers have three years to file amended returns, and said the group doesn't expect penalties. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds serve as president and vice president of the charity.

Marcus Owens, former director of the IRS division overseeing nonprofit groups, said the incomplete filing would likely bring a fine and that the group may have more significant compliance issues that could threaten its tax-exempt status.

He noted that the IRS has held for decades that an organization formed to conduct inauguration activities is not operated for charitable purposes and that contributions to that entity are not tax-deductible. The fund has told the IRS that more than $400,000 it spent on 2011 inauguration activities was for "charitable purposes."

Through 2015, the fund has reported awarding $97,500 in college scholarships while spending more than $1 million on operating and administrative expenses, mostly on the two inaugurals. Hammes said the fund has since awarded $40,000 more in scholarships, and that it was set up as a long-term endowment. It reported having $1.7 million in the bank.

The IRS declined to comment. A spokesman for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, said that unlike many states, his office has limited jurisdiction over nonprofits and generally defers to the IRS for any enforcement action.

___

Follow Ryan J. Foley on Twitter at https://twitter.com/rjfoley
In the post-Obama era, leading American politicians are again playing up the threat emanating from Iran. During James Mattiss confirmation hearing for secretary of defense, Sen. John McCain warned that Iran continues to remake the region in its image from Syria, to Iraq, to Yemen. Mattis, who supports the Iran nuclear deal, has described Iran as a revolutionary cause devoted to mayhem and the single-most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East. The hyperbole on Iran is complemented by silence on Saudi Arabias role in promoting global Salafi-inspired terrorism.

Although Iranian hard-liners relish this aggrandizement by the Washington establishment, a closer look at Irans activities in the Mideast reveals that it is hardly the military or ideological giant it is made out to be, and not only because its military spending is dwarfed by that of its neighbors. Any assumption that the regions Shiite communities are subservient to Tehran, and cooperating with it to further Irans power, involves a grave misreading of Mideast history and politics.

The Iranian Revolution was matched by Shiite unrest in Saudi Arabias Eastern Province in 1979 and the continuing rise in prominence of the Lebanese Amal and Hezbollah movements. Iran explored the idea of exporting its revolution by establishing the Office of Islamic Liberation Movements (OILM) in 1981. Overseen by Ayatollah Montazeri, who at the time was the closest confidant of Ayatollah-Ali Khomeini, it fell completely under the umbrella of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps but over time transitioned into a department of the Foreign Ministry.

During the 1980s, the OILM was allied closely with Saudi students of Ayatollah Shirazi, an Iranian-born cleric who ran a religious seminary in Kuwait. It was here that Saudi Shiite activists would form the Shiraziyyun movement and advocate for greater Shiite autonomy in the country. Long ignored by Mideast scholars, this movement was brought to the Wests attention in Toby Matthiesens 2014 book The Other Saudis. It was during this period that the kingdom began to view its Shiites as an Iranian fifth column, just as their Ottoman predecessors had viewed the Gulf Shiites with suspicion as possible agents of the Safavid dynasty.

In Lebanon, Shiite resistance movements predated the Islamic Republic altogether. The Amal (hope) movement was founded in 1974 by the Iranian cleric Musa al-Sadr. Rather than promulgate a revolutionary ideology, he mainly focused on raising Lebanons Shiite community out of their crippling poverty under the rule of Maronite and Sunni elites. His vision for Iran and Lebanon diverged greatly from Ayatollah Khomeinis. Historian Andrew Scott Coopers recent biography of the shah, The Fall of Heaven, even made the provocative claim that this may have led to Sadrs demise in Libya just before the revolution. Despite a split between Hezbollah and Amal, Musa al-Sadr remains an ideological father of both movements. Thus, it is a common misconception dually perpetuated by Tehran and Washington that Hezbollah is a fruit of the Islamic Republic. This myth serves Tehrans desire to take credit for Shiite empowerment and jihad against Israel, while in Washington it makes for a simple scapegoat for the problems endemic to Lebanons system of confessional politics.

The OILM initially had strong ambitions to foment regional revolution until 1987, when it was restrained by Khomeini in favor of political pragmatism. Iran was engrossed in a brutal war with Iraq and learned the consequences of adopting a radical foreign policy as every Arab nation except Syria sided with Saddam Hussein. The OILMs leadership, including Montazeri, was tainted by revelations of their direct involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal by soliciting the release of American hostages from Hezbollah on behalf of Washington. Ultimately, the Islamic Republic chose survival over an entropic revolutionary policy.

Today, Iran is complicit in serious crimes committed by Syrias Assad regime. But to interpret Irans actions in Syria as an aggressive expansion of power is misguided. Rather, Iran is trying to maintain its place in the region as well as contribute its share to an old alliance formed when Saddam was using chemical weapons against Iran. In Yemen, the Houthi rebels may welcome the patronage of Iran in the form of material support, but to paint believers in the Zaidi Shiite a faith  a different sect from the one practiced in Iran  as subservient to the Supreme Leader is incorrect, a point the U.S. intelligence community is well aware of.

The same rings true for Iran-sponsored Hashd and Sadrist militias in Iraq that remain checked by the Iraqi Army and Najafs leading cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Although he holds no political position, al-Sistani is a marja-e taqlid  a religious figure worthy of emulation  which is the highest rank attainable within the informal world of Shiite seminaries. Khamenei also claims this title but enjoys less doctrinal authority. For his part, al-Sistani tacitly rejected the export of an Iranian-style Islamic Revolution and strongly supports a parliamentary democracy.

Current Shiite activists in Saudi Arabia maintain only symbolic relations with Iran, and most adhere to the edicts of Sistani rather than Khamenei. Even the Shiraziyyun rejected Khomeinis concept of the guardianship of the jurist and therefore the essence of the Islamic Republic. The single exception to this trend  the Hezbollah al-Hijaz  is now defunct. The Saudi Shiites have taken every opportunity to display their loyalty to the Kingdom. During the Gulf War, Saddam urged them to rise up in the Eastern Province, but this was rejected even before it was obvious that Iraq would lose. Even the radical Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr displayed that he was not a pawn of Iranian ambitions when in a speech he implored God to destroy the Assad regime in contradiction with the position of Iran. Meanwhile, Shiite dissent in Saudi Arabia has shifted almost entirely to a human rights discourse.

In contrast with the largely forgotten Shiites of Saudi Arabia, Lebanons Hezbollah has strategic ties to Tehran. Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, called for an Islamic Republic in Lebanon throughout the 1980s. South Beirut remains saturated with symbols of Iranian influence, from murals of Khamenei to new construction that resembles a postcard from Tehran.

However, to depict present-day Hezbollah as a puppet of Iran or even a revolutionary movement is inaccurate. Ever since Hezbollah adopted a policy of infitah, or openness, it has become entrenched in Lebanese politics and even buried the hatchet with the Amal Movement led by Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri. Today, Hezbollah serves as an extension of Iranian foreign policy in exchange for military support as long as that policy does not conflict with its domestic goals. Hezbollah is reliant on, but not beholden to, Iran.

Many segments of Lebanese society detest Hezbollahs high-handed presence in Lebanese politics and its overshadowing of the Lebanese Armed Forces. The absence of a president in Lebanon from 2014-2016 until the pro-Hezbollah Michel Aoun was chosen in the 46th round of parliamentary elections is one such example of its influence. Nevertheless, large swaths of Lebanese society view Hezbollah as a savior rather than a puppet to a foreign state, and it enjoys support from many Lebanese Christians who argue that in its absence, much of the country would unravel into a failed state.

All in all, it is a dangerous mistake to give Tehran more credit than is due for the rise of Shiite movements across the region. It is only natural that these movements would gain prominence in Iraq and Lebanon because of demographic realities. Iran has also avoided stoking unrest in Saudi Arabia and proven unwilling to escalate hostilities in Yemen. Meanwhile, anti-Western terrorist groups, ranging from the Islamic State in Syria to Lashkar-e Taiba in Pakistan, are ideologically inspired by Gulf-funded madrasas. They have their ranks swelled by Gulf-born recruits, and in some cases receive state sponsorship for their terrorism from so-called Gulf allies.

Exaggerating the military or ideological power of Iran may serve the goal of pushing the United States to take military action against Iran. But a singular focus on Iran  while deliberately ignoring the role of Saudi Arabia and Qatar and their spread of Salafism  will neither provide stability for the Middle East nor further any of Washingtons other interests in the region.

Photo credit: MAJID/Getty Images
By Maher Chmaytelli BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters have taken up sniper positions in buildings on the west bank of the Tigris river ahead of an expected government offensive into that side the city, locals said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday his forces had taken complete control of eastern Mosul, and the commander of the campaign to retake Islamic State's last major stronghold in Iraq has said preparations to cross the Tigris are under way. IS fighters have moved in recent days into Mosul's main medical complex made up of a dozen buildings located between two of the city's five bridges - positions that can be used for observation and sniper fire, local residents told Reuters. The tallest is seven storeys, one resident said, asking not to be identified as the militants execute those caught speaking with the outside world. Some 750,000 people live in western Mosul, according to the United Nations which has voiced grave concerns for civilians in an area beyond the reach of aid organizations. It took 100,000 Iraqi troops, members of regional Kurdish security forces and Shi'ite Muslim paramilitaries, backed by air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition, almost 100 days to retake eastern Mosul in what has become the biggest battle in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. Taking the west side - the location of Mosul's Grand Mosque where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a "caliphate" in 2014 - could prove even tougher as it is crisscrossed by streets too narrow for armored vehicles. The Sunni Muslim jihadists are expected to put up a fierce fight as they are cornered in a shrinking area but the narrow streets could also deprive them of one of their most effective weapons: suicide-car bombs. The group released drone footage on Wednesday of cars driving at high speed into clusters of army Humvees and armored vehicles before blowing up. In some cases, Iraqi soldiers can be seen running away as the car bombs speed toward them. The recordings also show munitions dropped from the drones. Iraqi forces estimated the number of militants inside Mosul at 5,000-6,000 at the start of the battle, and have said 3,300 have been killed in the fighting. More than 160,000 civilians have been displaced since the start of the offensive in Mosul, which had a pre-war population of about 2 million, U.N. officials say. Aid agencies estimate the dead and wounded - both civilian and military - at several thousand. "The reports from inside western Mosul are distressing," U.N. humanitarian coordinator Lise Grande said on Tuesday. "Prices of basic food and supplies are soaring ... Many families without income are eating only once a day. Others are being forced to burn furniture to stay warm." (Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
By Ori Lewis JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel announced plans on Tuesday for 2,500 more settlement homes in the occupied West Bank, the second such declaration since U.S. President Donald Trump took office signaling he could be more accommodating toward such projects than his predecessor. A statement from the Israeli Defence Ministry, which administers lands Israel captured in a 1967 war, said the decision was meant to fulfil demand for new housing "to maintain regular daily life". Most of the construction, it said, would be in existing settlement blocs that Israel intends to keep under any future peace agreement with the Palestinians. However, a breakdown provided by the prime minister's office showed large portions of the planned homes would be outside existing blocs. Trump spoke by phone on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Tuesday, the new president's chief spokesman refrained from stating a position on the settlement announcement but said the two leaders would discuss settlement building when they meet in Washington next month. Asked whether Trump supports the latest settlement announcement, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters: "Israel continues to be a huge ally of the United States. He wants to grow closer with Israel." Pressed again on the issue, he said: "We'll have a conversation with the prime minister." The muted response from the Trump White House, which has promised an approach more aligned with Israel's government, was a clear departure from Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, whose aides routinely criticized settlement construction plans. U.N. Middle East envoy Nikolay Mladenov is due to brief the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors on Wednesday at the request of council member Bolivia, diplomats said. About 350,000 settlers live in the West Bank and a further 200,000 in East Jerusalem, which Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war. Beyond the major blocs, most of which are close to the border with Israel, there are more than 100 settlement outposts scattered across hilltops in the West Bank. Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the Israeli announcement and said it would have "consequences". The West Bank and East Jerusalem are home to more than 2.6 million Palestinians. "The decision will hinder any attempt to restore security and stability, it will reinforce extremism and terrorism and will place obstacles in the path of any effort to start a peace process that will lead to security and peace," he said. Palestinians want the West Bank and Gaza Strip for an independent state, with its capital in East Jerusalem. Israeli troops and settlers withdrew from Gaza in 2005. OBSTACLE TO PEACE The European Union said Israel's settlement plans "further seriously undermine the prospects for a viable two-state solution". Most countries consider settlements illegal and an obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace as they reduce and fragment the territory Palestinians need for a viable state. Israel disagrees, citing biblical, historical and political connections to the land - which the Palestinians also assert - as well as security interests. During the U.S. election campaign, Trump indicated he would dispense with Obama's opposition to settlement building, a stance that delighted Netanyahu's government. He was sworn in on Friday. On Sunday, Israel announced plans for hundreds of new homes in East Jerusalem, and the right-wing Netanyahu told senior ministers he was lifting restrictions on settlement construction across the board. "We can build where we want and as much as we want," an official quoted Netanyahu as telling the ministers. Following Tuesday's announcement, the prime minister's office listed some of the West Bank areas scheduled for new construction. Not all were in settlement blocs. "I have agreed with the defense minister to build 2,500 new homes in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) - we are building and will continue to build," Netanyahu wrote in a tweet. Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman is himself a settler. The Defence Ministry statement said 100 of the new homes would be in Beit El, a settlement which has received funding from the family of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, now a White House adviser. David Friedman, Trump's choice for ambassador to Israel and a staunch supporter of settlers, has served as president of the American Friends of Beit El, a group that raises funds for the settlement. (Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; writing by Ori Lewis; editing by Mark Heinrich, Howard Goller and Andrew Hay)
Jerusalem (AFP) - An Israeli tank fired shells towards the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, following an attack on an Israeli patrol, the army announced.

"A short while ago, shots were fired towards IDF forces on routine activity near the border with the southern Gaza Strip," the army said in a statement

In response an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) tank "targeted a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip".

Hamas, the main Palestinian Islamic movement which controls the Gaza Strip, confirmed that three Israeli tank shells had been fired towards an "observation post" near the Al-Maghazi refugee camp without causing any casualties.

Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008 and the coastal enclave has been under an Israeli blockade for a decade.
ROME (AP)  Lawmakers from across Italy's political spectrum are calling for quick elections after the constitutional court ruled the current electoral law can be used.

The majority Democratic Party, the leading opposition 5-Star Movement, the smaller anti-immigrant Northern League all called for immediate elections after the court ruled Wednesday.

The 2015 law under review governs elections for the lower, 630-seat Chamber of Deputies. Among other things it assigns a bonus to the majority party if it reaches a 40 percent threshold. That prize was upheld by the court, though some other measures were ditched.

The law was adopted under the assumption that parliament's upper Senate chamber would be reformed. Italians, however, overwhelmingly rejected the proposed Senate reforms in a Dec. 4 referendum, leading to Matteo Renzi's resignation as premier.
Rome (AFP) - The number of bodies recovered from the ruins of an Italian hotel buried by an avalanche rose to 24 on Wednesday, local authorities said.

Another five people were still unaccounted for, presumed dead, as a result of the January 18 disaster, which saw the Hotel Rigopiano ripped from its foundations by the force of a wall of tree and mud-packed snow hurtling down the hillside into which it was built.

Eleven people, including all four children at the hotel at the time, survived.

The deadly avalanche followed the heaviest snowfall seen in the mountains of central Italy in decades and may have been triggered by a series of powerful earthquakes which rocked the region earlier the same day.

The combination of the extreme weather and the quakes has claimed at least 11 lives unrelated to the hotel disaster.

Six of them came in a helicopter crash at the Campo Felice ski resort on Tuesday.

Rescuers have vowed to continue combing through the wreckage of the Rigopiano but sub-zero overnight temperatures meant there was little hope of finding anyone else alive on what was the seventh day of the rescue effort.

The last survivors extracted from the rubble were pulled out on Saturday after having been located on Friday morning. They were all suffering from mild hypothermia.

A prosecutor is examining whether the disaster could have been avoided with better risk-assessment procedures.

But Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni has warned against launching a hunt for scapegoats to assuage the grief of those who have lost loved ones.

"Every possible effort was made to reach the hotel," Gentiloni told parliament Wednesday.

"We are proud of the emergency services who were confronted with absolutely exceptional snowfalls and two of whom gave their lives," he added, in a reference to two mountain rescuers who died in the helicopter crash.
Paris (AFP) - Raoul Peck's Oscar-nominated documentary "I Am Not Your Negro" presents the raw, "unfiltered" voice of US civil rights stalwart James Baldwin through his own words, the Haitian filmmaker says.

"He invented a language of incredible force," Peck told AFP at his Paris office, calling the novelist, essayist and poet the literary "father of everyone" who influenced authors from Beat Generation idol Allen Ginsberg to Nobel literature laureate Toni Morrison.

"The title is obviously a provocation," said Peck, president of La Femis, France's most prestigious film school.

He summed up the thinking of Baldwin, who was black and gay, by saying: "You can't park me in the ghettos and lynch me without becoming monsters."

Baldwin escaped American racism and homophobia in 1948, taking refuge in Paris for more than a decade before returning home to lead a nationwide campaign against segregation.

It was in Paris that the Harlem-born Baldwin wrote his semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story "Go Tell It on the Mountain".

Three years later he authored the frank, homoerotic "Giovanni's Room", one of the first acclaimed literary works to explore the gay experience.

Back in the United States, Baldwin became friends with African American civil rights icons Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Medgar Evers -- all three assassinated before they reached their 40th birthday, as Peck notes.

In 1963, Baldwin's deeply personal exploration of racial injustice in "The Fire Next Time" fanned the flames of the American civil rights movement as it was exploding in the segregated South.

Peck could not bear the idea of Baldwin falling into oblivion, that history would inherit his ideas "without quoting him".

- Unpublished notes -

The filmmaker combed through Baldwin's novels and correspondence on the way to creating what he called a "confrontation" between the man and today's world.

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Black and white footage from scenes of more recent racial strife such as Ferguson, Missouri -- which saw a wave of protests after the police shooting of an unarmed African-American man -- remind viewers of the subject's continuing relevance.

The work, which Peck said is "high-stakes artistically and politically", aims to challenge the racism of "(US President Donald) Trump and all those like him".

But he said Baldwin's discourse is too politically incorrect for American television, predicting that his documentary would never reach the small screen.

Actor Samuel L. Jackson, whose breakthrough role was as a crack addict in Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever" (1991), voices Baldwin in the US version.

French rapper JoeyStarr does the French voiceover for the documentary, soon to be released on the German-French cultural channel Arte.

"They act from within" Baldwin's black skin, said Peck, who is in his early 60s and whose own family fled Haiti under the Duvalier dictatorship.

The idea of the documentary, which will hit US cinemas on February 3, enjoyed the "unflagging support" of Baldwin's younger sister and assistant Gloria, Peck said.

Now more than 80 years old, she gave Peck access to all the archives.

After four years of exchanges, she handed over 30 pages of notes that Baldwin made for "Remember This House", a book that remained unfinished when he died aged 63 in 1987.

She told Peck: "You'll know what to do with them," the director recalled.

The previously unpublished notes gave him an "entrance" into the film project he had begun several years earlier.

In the film, Peck envisions the book on US race relations through the lives and assassinations of King, Evers and Malcolm X.

The documentary is entirely in Baldwin's words, "unfiltered" so the audience can hear them, he said.

The film also takes on Hollywood for "fabricating the Negro", Peck said, asserting that the US film industry was built on the history of "two unspeakable genocides" -- that of Native and African Americans.

Film critics have their share of blame for the "missing image" of the black man in films. "They collaborated" whether or not they meant to, Peck argued.

"The dominant white male has a stranglehold on history," he said.
Sweden made womens inclusion its top priority from the start of its one month-long presidency of the U.N. Security Council in January. But now January is coming to a close, and Swedens temporary presidency is ending with it. Which raises the question: Did Sweden achieve what it set out to do?

Carl Skau, spokesperson for the permanent mission of Sweden to the United Nations, said Theres not been one meeting where weve not raised this issue in one way or another.

Swedens aim, he says, is not to have women be a thematic initiative on its own, but rather thread it into every top issue the U.N. works on (this is known in policy circles as mainstreaming  integrating womens issues into more general conversations).

This has been true, he explains, in high-level events and discussions with the new U.N. Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, who beat women candidates for the top job, but appointed women to his top three cabinet positions. Sweden also brought civil society organizations from Nigeria and Somalia to draw attention to the plight and political promise of women. And they have tried to make it true in implementation  attempting to emphasize the importance of involving women on following up on the political agreement determining the future of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Nevertheless, the issue of women, peace, and security, or WPS,  even when discussed as part of peace processes more generally  comes with potential pitfalls. Elizabeth Weingarten, director of New Americas Global Gender Parity Initiative, says that discussion of women in peacekeeping can often serve to stereotype them  for example, that women are more peaceful  or turn people off the discussions.

What is more helpful than simply bringing up women, she says, is to think of the perspectives that are lacking in a particular group, rather than just ticking a box. Mainstreaming as just forcing something isnt a sustainable strategy, she said

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There are still other hurdles, such as skepticism from other countries to buy into famously progressive Swedens gender agenda. Skau told Foreign Policy that Sweden takes a listening approach to other countries. Further, the permanent mission believes that, actually, it is helpful that Sweden is walking the talk on gender equality in politics (see: the aforementioned female foreign minister) at home. Thats more than the United Nations itself can say. As of December, 32 of the top 45 top U.N. jobs were held by men.

Theres also the challenge of the U.N.s host country, the United States. Although Nikki Haley, Trumps recently confirmed U.S. ambassador the U.N., said in her confirmation hearings that she supported the U.N.s global work on women, one would be forgiven for wondering, given her bosss rhetoric on women, if she will make it a priority.

Finally, theres the potential threat of becoming a one-issue country, a pitfall every new country coming into the Council faces, at least according to Skau. Sweden becoming the country that just talks about women isnt useful to Sweden  or to women. The inclusion of women, per Skau, has to be part of a broader approach.

After January, the Swedish permanent mission intends to focus on how to move from words to actions, including ensuring a bigger role for women in the peace process, said Skau. But maybe theres still time for Sweden to put more meat on the bones of its womens initiatives.

Were not done with January yet, Skau said.

Photo credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images
By Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - Heavy fighting erupted in northwestern Syria on Tuesday between a powerful jihadist organisation and more moderate rebel groups, threatening to further weaken the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad in its biggest territorial stronghold. Rebel groups fighting under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner, some of which attended peace talks in Kazakhstan, accused the jihadist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham of launching a surprise attack on their positions. Fateh al-Sham, previously known as the Nusra Front, issued a statement which said it had been forced to act preemptively to "thwart conspiracies" being hatched against it. The group accused rebels attending the Kazakhstan talks of conspiring against it, but did not refer to Tuesday's fighting directly. One of the biggest groups in the insurgency, Fateh al-Sham has been targeted in a spate of U.S. air strikes in the northwest since the new year. It was left out of a ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey that came into effect on Dec. 30. The group changed its name after announcing it was cutting ties with al Qaeda last year. FSA officials said the attack targeted FSA groups in areas west of Aleppo and the adjacent rebel-held province of Idlib. One FSA commander said that in response "a comprehensive war" was now underway against Fateh al-Sham. Long-standing tensions between Fateh al-Sham and more moderate rebels, a number of them backed by Turkey and other states that have opposed Assad, have surfaced again since government forces helped by Russian air power and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias drove the rebels out of Aleppo last month. The commander of Jaish al-Mujahideen, one of the FSA groups, told Reuters the "extremely fierce" Fateh al-Sham attack aimed to "eliminate the revolution and turn it black", a reference to the black flag flown by the jihadists in Syria. He said the group had seized "some positions", though these were far from its headquarters. In a statement, Jaish al-Mujahideen called for rebels to unite against the group. "DIVERTING THE REVOLUTION" The aim of the meeting in the Kazakh capital Astana, organised by Russia, Turkey and Iran, was to shore up the ceasefire that excludes Fateh al-Sham. The jihadist group said rebels had been forced to attend on "humilitating" terms. The Fateh al-Sham statement, which was dated Jan. 23 but published on Tuesday, said "conferences and negotiations" were "trying to divert the course of the revolution towards reconciliation with the criminal regime (of Assad)". It accused rebel factions that attended the Astana talks of agreeing to "isolate" and fight it, and accused its foes of giving away its positions to the U.S.-led coalition. Fateh al-Sham said it was forced to act militarily and politically to "thwart the conspiracies and to confront them before they happen". Fateh al-Sham has a history of crushing FSA groups in the conflict that began in 2011. The U.S. air strikes mounted against Fateh al-Sham in recent weeks included an attack by a B-52 bomber last week that killed dozens of its fighters. The Pentagon said more than 100 al Qaeda militants had been killed in the attack in Idlib province. Ahrar al-Sham, an Islamist group widely believed to be backed by Turkey, accused Fateh al-Sham of attacking other groups without justification. It said that it was deploying fighters to prevent further fighting and to stop "Jabhat Fateh al-Sham or others" from launching attacks. An official in Jabha Shamiya, another FSA group, told Reuters the attack began overnight, describing it as a large assault in several areas. The official said it was the first time Fateh al-Sham had attacked the FSA groups in that area. "What they are doing serves Iran and the regime - so there is no FSA left in the north - particularly with the factions' delegation now in Astana where the regime offered nothing with regards to the ceasefire," said the Jabha Shamiya official. (Additional reporting by Ali Abdelatti in Cairo; Editing by Gareth Jones)
By Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - A powerful jihadist group has crushed a Free Syrian Army rebel faction in northwestern Syria, in an attack that threatens to deal a critical blow to the more moderate wing of the Syrian rebellion and derail new Russian-backed peace talks. The Jabhat Fateh al-Sham jihadist group, formerly known as the Nusra Front, launched an attack on a number of FSA groups in northwestern Syria on Tuesday, accusing them of conspiring against it at peace talks in Kazakhstan this week. The fighting has engulfed the rebels' last major territorial stronghold in northwestern Syria, prompting a major Islamist insurgent faction to warn on Wednesday that it could allow President Bashar al-Assad and his allies to capture the area. Officials with two FSA factions said Fateh al-Sham had overrun areas held by the Jaish al-Mujahideen group west of Aleppo. One of the officials said he expected other FSA factions to face the same fate unless they could get better organized to defend themselves - something they have so far failed to do. Fateh al-Sham later on Wednesday attacked the central Idlib prison on the outskirts of the city which has been controlled by another rebel group, partly in an attempt to free inmates there, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported. Fateh al-Sham said in an online statement the Alwiyat Suqour al-Sham group had handed it control of the prison, and rebel fighters guarding it had been allowed to withdraw without being detained. Reuters could not independently verify the statement. The Syrian insurgency has been hamstrung from the outset by divisions among rebel groups fighting Assad, including the ideological split over whether to pursue Sunni jihadist goals or the more nationalist agenda backed by FSA groups. "Nusra wants to end the FSA," said the FSA official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. If it succeeded, "the ones who attended Astana will be finished", he added, referring to the talks in Kazakhstan. Those talks were backed by Assad's two main allies - Russia and Iran - and by Turkey, which has supported many of the FSA groups in northern Syria. Russia mobilized the new talks after helping Assad to defeat the rebels in Aleppo last month. ISLAMIST AHRAR AL-SHAM CALLS UP FIGHTERS Fateh al-Sham was al Qaeda's official wing in the Syrian war until it announced it had cut those ties last year. Internationally viewed as a terrorist group, it has been excluded from all diplomatic efforts to end the Syrian conflict, including a recent truce brokered by Russia and Turkey. Since the new year, Fateh al-Sham has been targeted by a spate of U.S. air strikes. That included an attack by a B-52 bomber which the Pentagon said killed more than 100 al Qaeda militants. Fateh al-Sham said in a statement published on Tuesday it had been forced to act preemptively to "thwart conspiracies" being hatched against it. It said "conferences and negotiations" were "trying to divert the course of the revolution towards reconciliation with the criminal regime (of Assad)". It also accused rebel factions that attended the Astana talks of agreeing to "isolate" and fight it, and said its foes were giving away its positions to the U.S.-led coalition. Fateh al-Sham is one of the most powerful groups in the remaining territory held by the rebels in northwestern Syria, including Idlib province. While it has often fought in close proximity to FSA rebels against Assad, it also has a record of crushing foreign-backed FSA groups. Ahrar al-Sham, a major Islamist faction that also fights in the Idlib area, issued a general call-up of fighters to "stop the fighting in any form". Coming down on the side of the FSA groups, it accused Fateh al-Sham of rejecting mediation efforts that the FSA groups had accepted. Ahrar al-Sham, a conservative Islamist group, is widely believed to be backed by Turkey. In a voice message posted on YouTube on Wednesday, Ahrar al-Sham leader Abu Ammar al-Omar said: "If the fighting continues and if one party continues to do an injustice to another, then we will not allow this to pass, regardless of the cost, even if we become victims of this." (Additional reporting by John Davison and Ali Abdelaty in Cairo; Editing by Larry King and Dominic Evans)
From Popular Mechanics

In his blueprint for increased defense spending released last week, Senator John McCain, head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, recommends building what he calls a high/low mix of aircraft carriers. The high end we already have. These are the Nimitz and now Ford-class of supercarriers. But what is the low end of the mix, and what would it look like? It would look like ships we have now.

Last week, Senator McCain released "Restoring American Power: Recommendations for the Fiscal Year 2018-2022 Defense Budget". The Senator from Arizona endorsed growing the U.S. Navy to 355 ships, a number that the Chief of Naval Operations, the military head of the Navy, supports. But McCain doesn't want all of the funds to go towards traditional big-deck aircraft carriers like the ones that we have now. McCain says:

"The Navy should also pursue a new "high/low mix" in its aircraft carrier fleet. Traditional nuclear-powered supercarriers remain necessary to deter and defeat near-peer competitors, but other day-to-day missions, such as power projection, sea lane control, close air support, or counterterrorism, can be achieved with a smaller, lower cost, conventionally powered aircraft carrier. Over the next five years, the Navy should begin transitioning from large deck amphibious ships into smaller aircraft carriers with the goal of delivering the first such ship in the mid-2030s."

McCain is almost certainly talking about the America-class amphibious assault ship. The America class is 844 feet long and displaces 45,000 tons fully loaded. Designed to carry the better part of a Marine Expeditionary Unit, it has a full-length flight deck, aircraft elevators, and a large hangar to support aircraft. The America class typically carries a mixture of Marine aircraft on cruises, including F-35B Joint Strike Fighters, AH-1Z attack helicopters, UH-1Y utility helicopters, V-22 Osprey tiltrotor transports, and CH-53E Sea Stallion heavy lift transports.

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The America looks like a carrier, and for all intents and purposes it is a part-time carrier for the U.S. Marines. The Navy could go one step further and actually make it a real carrier by building them to carry the Marine Corps' version of the Joint Strike Fighter, the vertical takeoff and landing F-35B. The amphibious assault ships could be easily converted to carry up to 23 Navy F-35Bs at a time, or just under half as many fighter planes as a supercarrier.

[contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="Here%20Is%20Every%20Aircraft%20Carrier%20in%20the%20World" customimages="" content="gallery.2412"]

Building such carriers would be an acknowledgement that the hulking Nimitz and Ford-class supercarriers are not the solution to every crisis. In big war situations that require large amounts of airpower-against Russia or China, for example-supercarriers are indispensable. While the likelihood of a big, conventional war has gone up in recent years, there are still existing conflicts, such as Syria, Iraq, and Libya, that could be serviced by a less capable America-class carrier.

These smaller, low-end carriers do come with tradeoffs. The small size and the lack of a full-length flight deck and aircraft launching catapults would make it incapable of hauling other aircraft that supercarriers carry, like the E-2C/D Hawkeye airborne early warning and control aircraft and EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft. The lack of the former would restrict the carrier's ability to detect distant threats and manage the battle in the air and the latter would make suppressing enemy air defenses more difficult. But those situations are more common in big wars, and for that we have the supercarriers. Smaller carriers could also not launch and recover near carrier-borne drones like the MQ-25 Stingray refueling and reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle.

Cost is another major issue that drives the argument. The first of the Ford-class carriers will cost an estimated $13 billion dollars. USS America, on the other hand, cost $3.4 billion. That's a pretty good number for being able to field half as many aircraft, with the caveats mentioned above. You could buy three America carriers for one Ford.

Still, a force of America-class carriers might be more expensive to run on a daily basis just because of manpower costs: Ford has 4,660 crew overall. The three smaller carriers would have a total 3,600 crew members plus their air wing personnel, which would probably be at least another 500 or so each. That's at least another 500 personnel manning the smaller carriers-which, incidentally, could be sent to three different trouble spots around the world.

Just like any other complicated issue, there are arguments both for and against a high/low mix of carriers. America can get by on an all-supercarrier force, and it could also live with a high/low mix. That having been said, unless the costs of supercarriers is brought under control we could be forced into a high/low mix of ships. It wouldn't be a bad place to be.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  Rep. Lynn Jenkins, a low-profile Kansas Republican and five-term House veteran, said Wednesday that she will retire from Congress in two years.

Jenkins is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which will be in the middle of this year's GOP effort to recast President Barack Obama's health care overhaul and revamp the federal tax code.

In announcing her decision on her campaign's Facebook page, Jenkins said she will not seek any office in 2018 and will look for a private sector job. That surprised some Republicans in the state who anticipated she might run for governor.

Jenkins, 53, represents a largely rural slice of eastern Kansas that leans Republican. She was easily re-elected with 61 percent of the vote last November.

Jenkins has had a conservative voting record in Congress, but has faced challenges in GOP primaries by candidates from the more conservative wing of the party. Before stepping aside this year, she had a minor post in the House Republican leadership.

In her statement, Jenkins suggested that Republican control of the White House and Congress contributed to her decision.

"This is a time for action and serious policy making. This is a time for fighting for Kansas and making the tough calls, not fundraising and campaigning," she said.
Paris (AFP) - When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 there were 16 major walls protecting borders around the world. In 2016 that number had grown to 66, according to researcher Elisabeth Vallet of the University of Quebec.

As US President Donald Trump took the first step Wednesday towards fulfilling his pledge to build a wall along the Mexican border, here are some of most recent and significant frontier barriers from around the globe.

-- Hungary: Facing Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War II, Hungary's right-wing government built a 110-mile (177-kilometre) fence along its border with Serbia last September, followed by one along its border with Croatia. Other countries in the region including Slovenia, Austria, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Greece took similar steps, albeit mostly on a smaller scale.

-- Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara: The oldest functioning security barrier in the world, this 1,700-mile sand wall (or "berm") separates the Moroccan territory from land controlled by Polisario rebels, who have been fighting and negotiating for control of the Western Sahara since the 1970s.

-- Saudi Arabia-Iraq: Responding to the rise of the Islamic State group, the Saudis added to an existing seven-metre-high (23 feet) sand berm on the Iraqi border with a 560-mile fence, 78 watchtowers, eight command centres, 10 mobile surveillance vehicles, 32 rapid-response centres, and three rapid intervention squads.

-- Israel-West Bank: Israel began building its security barrier in 2002, saying it would stop attacks by Palestinian insurgents, though critics say it has been used to seize land and establish a de facto border in breach of international law.

-- US-Mexico: Then US president Bill Clinton launched concerted efforts to tighten the border in the 1990s. Fears that the porous border could be exploited by Al-Qaeda led to more and tougher barriers. After passing the Secure Fence Act in 2006, the United States over the next few years built a more than 1,000 km long barrier along the Mexico border to prevent illegal immigrants and drug trafficking, equipped with floodlights and surveillance cameras.

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--Greece-Turkey: A side-effect of improving relations with Turkey and the removal of landmines along their border was that Greece became the leading entry point for migrants into Europe at just the moment when its economy was collapsing. So in 2012 it built the seven-mile Evros wall along the boundary.

-- Northern Ireland: Belfast has 99 "peace lines" designed to separate working class Protestant and Catholic communities, the earliest dating back to 1969. They are focused on the north of the city, known as "murder mile" during the period of The Troubles, which lasted until the 1998's Good Friday Agreement. Despite the ceasefire, the walls have only increased in size and number since.

-- Spain-Morocco: The Spanish-owned enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the North African coast are protected by high-tech border fences. Many have died trying to storm the fences, some shot by Moroccan forces.

--India-Bangladesh: Since 1993, India has been gradually surrounding Bangladesh with a barbed-wire fence aimed at restricting immigration, leading to drawn-out arguments over the precise line of the frontier and leaving up to 100,000 people abandoned in a no-man's land with no public services.

-- Cyprus: A wall continues to split the island and its capital Nicosia between its Turkish and Greek Cypriot halves, dating back to Turkey's invasion in 1974.
VATICAN CITY (AP)  Pope Francis on Wednesday seized control of the Knights of Malta, and action that amounts to one sovereign country annexing another, if on a very small scale.

Here's what led to the takeover and what it means for the Knights, the Vatican and the Catholic Church.

___

WHO ARE THEY?

The Knights of Malta is an ancient lay Catholic religious order that runs hospitals and clinics around the world. It counts 3,500 members and 100,000 staff and volunteers who lend first aid in war zones, natural disasters and conflict areas; members also make regular pilgrimages bringing the sick to Catholic shrines.

The Knights trace their history to the 11th-century Crusades and are known for the aristocratic lineage of their members, their fancy, fringed uniforms, and the big Maltese cross that adorns their liturgical robes. Despite their name, they are based in Rome, where their headquarters has the same status as a foreign embassy.

___

WHAT'S BEHIND THE DISPUTE?

The headline-grabbing issue that prompted the takeover involves condoms: Several years ago, the order learned that its charity branch Malteser International was involved in aid programs that were distributing thousands of condoms in Myanmar. Church teaching forbids artificial contraception.

The order's health minister at the time, Albrecht von Boeselager, stopped two of the three programs immediately and the third after the Vatican intervened. Boeselager went on to be elected grand chancellor  essentially the order's interior and foreign minister.

This was raised when the Knights' leader, Matthew Festing, asked Boeselager to resign Dec. 6. After Boeslager refused, Festing opened a disciplinary process against him and suspended him. The two were known to not get along, and the order, like many private clubs, has factions along national and ideological lines.

Festing's camp says Boeslager's refusal to obey the resignation order was "disgraceful" given Festing is the religious superior. Boeselager says Festing offered no valid reason for him to resign, and that he was therefore under no obligation to obey.

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___

ENTER THE POPE

The Vatican announced Dec. 22 that Francis had named a five-member commission to investigate Boeselager's ouster. The Knights refused to cooperate, citing their sovereignty and insisting that the pope had no business interfering since the removal of Boeselager was an act of internal governance. The Vatican doubled down and demanded cooperation.

On Monday the pope heard the commission's report; on Tuesday the pope met with Festing; on Wednesday, the Vatican announced that Festing had resigned, that the pope had accepted the resignation, and that a papal delegate would be named to run the order.

___

WHY IS THE VATICAN'S INTERVENTION PROBLEMATIC?

Canon lawyers have said from the start that even the pope's investigation was problematic given the Knights' sovereign status. Now that the pope has taken over the order, the legal questions mount.

Take, for example, the Vatican statement announcing the developments: It said the pope had "accepted" Festing's resignation, when under the order's own legal code, the pope has no role whatsoever in accepting or rejecting resignations of grand masters. "It's not for the Holy Father to accept the resignation of the Grand Master, it's for the sovereign council to accept it," noted Kurt Martens, a professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America.

As if to drive home that point, the Knights issued a statement Wednesday saying the sovereign council would meet Jan. 28 to formally accept the resignation. In theory, the sovereign council could also reject it.

___

THE BIGGER PICTURE

The showdown has unfolded against the backdrop of Francis' increasing clashes with more conservative elements in the church, especially those for whom sexual ethics and doctrinal orthodoxy are paramount.

It once again pitted Francis against Cardinal Raymond Burke, a leading conservative and critic of Francis who also happens to be the pope's envoy to the order. Burke was in the meeting when Festing asked Boeselager to resign. Burke is also one of four cardinals who have publicly called for the pope to clarify his position on the divisive moral issue of whether civilly remarried Catholics can receive Communion.

On a more personal level, Francis is known to have had poor relations with the Knights in his native Argentina, and while he certainly appreciates the Knights' charitable works, he has made clear he loathes the aristocratic pomp that the Knights relish.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield
Though many Australians will celebrate their national holiday on Thursday with fun events like barbecue and fireworks, the history behind the Jan. 26 festival is not entirely festive.

The most basic reason why the national holiday falls when it does, as explained by the National Australia Day Council, is that it marks the day in 1788 when the so-called Father of Australia, Captain Arthur Phillip, and his First Fleet of 11 ships arrived at Sydney Cove and raised the Union Jack. They thus staked out Britains claim to the eastern half of the continent that had been claimed by Captain James Cook about two decades earlier, and Phillip became the first governor of the New South Wales territory.

Those ships, however, were carrying convicts, who turned Australia into essentially the worlds largest prison. Experts say that, in some ways, thats Americas fault.

In the late 1700s, Britain was in the early stages of an industrial and agricultural revolution. As consumer culture grew, so did the wealth gap and the rate of property crime (e.g. theft). When British jails filled up, a handy solution was to send prisoners to the colonies in North America. Convicts were seen as a potential labor pool.

The government effectively passed control of convicts to contractors responsible for shipping them over to North America, and once the shipping companies took them to North America, they effectively sold them off to private employers, who could use them for the [duration of their] sentencea kind of indentured labor, says Francis Bongiorno, a historian at Australian National University.

Then the American Revolution happened, and the old destination would no longer work. Looking for another place to house those convicts, they turned to Australia. That solution that would be used for many decades, until the last convicts transported went to Western Australia in 1867. Bongiorno says convicts, owned by the government, worked for the government in Australia building roads or were passed onto private employers who would manage their meals, housing and discipline. Many convicts ended up working on sheep farms.

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And, though states and territories began marking Australia Day in 1935, it wasnt until 1994 that Australians began to celebrate Australia Day consistently as a public holiday on Jan. 26. After all, not all Australians have been proud of the countrys past as a penal colony.

Until the 1970s Australians who had a convict ancestor kept quiet about it, says Douglas Craig, another historian at the Australian National University, who says that such family trees were said to bear the convict stain.



Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter

And that period in history is controversial for another reason, too.

Phillip is generally seen to have taken a progressive stance toward relations with the aboriginal peopledespite a famous incident during which he was stabbed during a disputeduring his four years as Governor, a time during which the colony was constantly running short of supplies. But the coming of large numbers of British convicts nevertheless heralded a long period of much suffering for the people they displaced. For example, the arrival of those convicts preceded a smallpox outbreak that experts say had a disastrous effect on the indigenous population.

Bongiorno says academic discussions about Australia Day are similar to those often held about Columbus Day in the U.S.: Its not a terribly important event in a way, and a double-edged kind of national day. Its something that people enjoy celebrating, its in the summer, the period before children go back to school. Yet its obviously commemorating an act of dispossession and British settlement, the taking of land, a history of tragedy. Australia sees itself as multicultural, but [the holiday] commemorates an old Australia.

Such tensions between British Australia and the more modern, multicultural Australian society persist around the holiday. For example, a billboard depicting two girls in hijabs waving the countrys flag on Australia Day 2016 at Docklands in Melbourne was taken down by a vandal. Australians launched a $200,000 crowd-funding campaign to raise money for a new one.

As for the nations history as a place for convicts, however, the modern Australia is showing signs of shedding its embarrassment, says Craig. Old ideas that an ancestors criminality could be inherited had faded away, while nationalism increased as Australians identities became less intertwined with that of the British Empire. In the last four or five decades, people have begun to realize that this particular slice of Australias pastthe part commemorated by Australia Daycould be the basis for a powerful national myth.



A nation founded by criminalsliterally the refuse of Britainbecame one of richest and most law-abiding nations on Earth, he says. They should have been proud.
President Donald Trump green-lighted construction of a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico he repeatedly called for while campaigning via an executive action issued on Wednesday.

The wall plan is just one component of sweeping action Trump took on Wednesday to make good on campaign promises to clamp down on immigration to the U.S.

Building this barrier is more than just a campaign promise, its a common-sense first step to really securing our porous border. This will stem the flow of drugs, crime, illegal immigration into the United States. And yes, one way or another, as the President has said, Mexico will pay for it, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.

Among the other actions taken on Wednesday: ending federal grant funding to sanctuary cities and states, which opt out of reporting undocumented immigrants; ordering the Department of Homeland Security to allocate funds or establish contracts for the construction or operation of detention facilities; ending of the policy known as catch and release, under which some immigrants are released from detention while they await a hearing with an immigration judge; and prioritizing the deportation of immigrants who have committed crimes.

The wide-ranging orders align with statements Trump made over the course of the campaign, though his promise to reverse President Obamas orders that granted deportation reprieve to immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children was noticeably absent from Wednesdays round of orders. During the White House press briefing on Wednesday, Spicer reiterated earlier statements that the Presidents priority would be on criminals.

His priorities, first and foremost, are the people in this country that seek to do us harm, he said. The President understands the magnitude of this problem. Hes a family man. He has a huge heart.

Reactions to Trumps actions were swift. A bevy of immigration and refugee-rights groups joined a conference call on Wednesday morning to denounce them, arguing they would make the U.S. less safe and tear apart families and communities across the country. Advocates said the executive orders are anti-immigrant, antirefugee and antireligious freedom and signaled a relinquishing of American leadership across the world.

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None of the advocacy organizations that were on the call  there were eight groups in total  said they had been briefed or received any guidance from the Trump Administration on the orders and future immigration plans. Marielena Hincapie of the National Immigration Law Center characterized it as a complete lockout. Advocacy groups are preparing to take legal action and provide lawyers to protect people who are concerned about pending visa applications, hate crimes and ongoing confusion at the U.S. border.

Mayors of U.S. cities that have adopted sanctuary policies are also planning a call on Wednesday afternoon and many have already signaled they are ready and willing to push back on Trumps funding plans. At Wednesdays briefing, Spicer said the Presidents order would be directing officials to find and close funding streams to sanctuary cities.

It directs the Secretary to look at ways  look at funding streams that are going to these cities, federal money, and figuring out ways to stop those streams, he said.

One of the biggest promises Trump made while campaigning for office was the construction of a big, beautiful wall along the southern border, which immigration advocates and some hard-liners have both argued should not be a priority. Christian Ramirez of the Southern Border Communities Coalition called the wall political theater on Wednesdays call. Trumps Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly has even said the wall alone wouldnt secure the border.

A physical barrier, in and of itself, will not do the job, Kelly said during his Senate confirmation hearing. It has to be a layered defense.

Under the order, Trump will direct the Department of Homeland Security to move money around to start construction of the wall. Spicer said Wednesday the President would be working with Congress to determine additional funding for the wall. At this point, his goal was to get the process started as quickly as possible using existing funds and resources that the department already has and then to move forward with Congress on an appropriations schedule, Spicer said.

In an interview set to air on ABC News on Wednesday, President Trump insisted Mexico will pay for the border wall. The Mexican President has said the country will not pay for the wall, and government officials have indicated that the wall could push the country away from the negotiation table on trade. We will be, in a form, reimbursed by Mexico, Trump said, adding that construction would begin in months.

The Presidents actions do not include an outright ban on Muslims entering the U.S., but he also ordered the State Department to withhold visas and use other tools to make sure foreign governments accept and return criminals that came from their country, according to Spicer. When asked about the so-called Muslim registry floated by Trump on the campaign trail, Spicer hinted there could be more action on keeping America safe down the line.

I think the guiding principle for the President is keeping this country safe, and allowing people who are from a country that has a propensity to do us harm, to make sure that we take the necessary steps to ensure that the people who come to this country, especially where areas that have a predisposition, if you will, or a higher degree of concern, that we take the appropriate steps to make sure that theyre coming to this country for all the right reasons, he said.
South Korea's top judge urged his colleagues to come to a quick verdict on the impeachment of President Park Geun-Hye Wednesday, at his last hearing before stepping down.

The rapidly dwindling number of judges at the country's Constitutional Court could throw Park a lifeline, after millions of people have taken to the streets to demand her resignation and she was impeached by parliament last month.

Pak Han-Chul will retire as the court's chief justice next week at the end of his six-year term, with another of his colleagues following suit on March 13.

That will leave the court with only seven sitting judges, but by law six votes -- a two-thirds majority of the full court -- will still be needed to uphold Park's removal from office.

As such, Park would need the backing of only two justices to return to the Blue House and see out her term.

The outgoing judges will not be replaced until a new president is elected.

The absence of two justices "could seriously distort the court's decisions", warned Park Han-Chul, who was appointed by the impeached politician.

The president was impeached over a corruption and power abuse scandal centred on her friend and confidante Choi Soon-sil.

The Constitutional Court has until June to decide whether to approve the decision, in which case new elections must be held within 60 days, or reinstate her.

An opinion poll by Real Meter published Wednesday put the main opposition Democratic Party's presidential hopeful Moon Jae-In well ahead of a pack of five other candidates including former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

Moon polled 29.1 percent against Ban's 19.8 percent, followed by another Democratic Party runner Lee Jae-Myung with 10.1 percent.
In the weeks after the election, tech companies scrambled to shoo fake news off of their platforms. It was too late to stave off pernicious false rumors about Hillary Clintons health problems, or her involvement in a nonexistent underground child-prostitution ring, but the companies still moved to make it harder to spread similar misinformation in the future.

Facebook and Google quickly took aim at the most egregious offenders: websites that peddled deceptive news stories in order to attract hordes of readers and make money off of advertising. Both companies banned those types of sites from their powerful ad networks.

But theres a category of often-misleading news sources that seems to have escaped the notice of tech companies: state-sponsored outlets like RT, a TV network and online news website thats funded by the Russian government.

As my colleagues Julia Ioffe and Rosie Gray wrote in the Columbia Journalism Review and BuzzFeed, respectively, RTformerly known as Russia Todayroutinely shapes its coverage portray Russia in the best possible light, and to make the West, and especially the United States, look bad. As part of a landmark report released last month, the intelligence community concluded that RT was part of a state-run propaganda machine that spread misinformation about the U.S. election. The report said RT actively collaborated with WikiLeaks, and gave its founder, Julian Assange, a platform from which to publicize documents stolen from top Democrats. (Some experts say, however, that the intelligence community may have overstated the channels influence.)

Recommended: Thanks to Trump, Scientists Are Planning to Run For Office

RT stories regularly appear toward the top of Google search results. Earlier this month, when I Googled ODNI hacking report on my smartphone, I was inundated with links to RT news stories and video clips from its TV broadcasts. (ODNI stands for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which released the document.)

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A screenshot of Google search results for "ODNI hacking report."

The first two items in the carousel of featured news stories, the top three listed search results, and seven of the ten featured videos on the page linked to RT content. One story presented the Kremlins line on the report: It is truly reminiscent of a witch hunt. In another story, Assange called the report quite embarrassing to the reputations of the U.S. intelligence services. The stories and videos arent factually inaccurate; theyre simply framed to discredit the hacking report and distance Russia from the accusations it contains.

A Google spokesperson declined to comment on whether the company had any policies for how to rank and display news stories and videos from state-sponsored outlets like RT. But since I reached out to the company, searching for ODNI hacking report no longer displays sections for featured news stories or videos. On Tuesday, only one link on the first page of Google results for the search pointed to RT.

Recommended: The Photo Details That Show the Truth About Inauguration Attendance

Google came under fire in November when searches for final election results prominently featured a page from an amateur website that falsely claimed that President Donald Trump had won the popular vote. (In fact, Clinton received nearly 2.9 million more votes than Trump.) In this case we clearly didnt get it right, a spokesperson for Google told me at the time. But we are continually working to improve our algorithms.

Real estate on the all-important first page of Google results is a zero-sum game.

Google searches for other political issues also turn up plenty of RT content, but none featured as many as the hacking report search earlier this month. The top news result in a search for how big was womens march is an RT article focused on criticism of the mess left behind by demonstrators. A search for Trump inauguration attendance returned an RT story as a featured news article, with the headline, You are wrong: Trump & spokesperson blast media over inaugural attendance figures.

Data about Facebook engagement and reach isnt public, beyond the number of people who like RTs Facebook page: more than 4 million. That pales in comparison to Facebook pages of major American news networks, but eclipses the audience of smaller news sites and magazines. I asked a spokesperson for Facebook, which has taken an aggressive approach to slowing the spread of misleading news stories, if articles or videos from state-sponsored outlets are treated the same way as content from The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal. The spokesperson only pointed me to changes the company has already announced, which suppress the circulation of links to news stories that users report as false. But since RTs stories are more likely to be biased than to be purposefully fake or deceitful, as Facebooks reporting tool puts it, its users may not report them that way.

Recommended: Donald Trump Still Can't Admit He Lost the Popular Vote

Before Trumps inauguration last week, RT was briefly banned from posting links, photos, and videos to Facebook. The network decried the ban as an act of censorship, but a Facebook spokesperson said that suggesting that the move was in any way linked to outside factors or events is entirely inaccurate. RT said the ban may have stemmed from a copyright claim.

Theres a bright line between discussing how technology companies circulate news stories from state-funded outlets and advocating for media censorship. RT and other foreign state-sponsored sources can legally broadcast and publish in the United States without fear of reprisal or meddling.

But todays gatekeepers of online information, like Facebook, Google, and Twitter, get to decide what information deserves to be elevatedin Googles Top Stories box, for exampleand which, by extension, get suppressed. Real estate on the all-important first page of Google results is a zero-sum game: Only about ten links will ever appear on it for any one search, and if four of them point to one news site, those slots cant be used to direct users elsewhere.

Russia is far from the only country to sponsor a media organization. The U.K. helps fund the BBC, France 24 is paid for by the French government, and the U.S. funds publishers and broadcasters like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The problem isnt RTs funding sources, but rather its record of skewed, pro-Moscow reporting.

Speaking to The Atlantic in 2015, Ann Cooper, a professor of journalism at Columbia University and an expert on Russian media, said that the government shouldnt designate RT as a foreign agent. You dont want to get into a situation where youre trying to set up categories and define different news agencies and basically say, These ones are good, these ones are not, Cooper said. She argued that the public should be allowed to choose what news source they want to listen to.

And RT, of course, isnt about to swallow up a significant portion of the U.S. news landscape. According to The Economist, the network routinely inflates the size of its TV audience, and its performance on Facebook and Twitter falls way behind mainstream news networks like CNN and the BBC, newspapers like The New York Times, and news services like Reuters and the Associated Press.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Kuwait City (AFP) - Kuwait on Wednesday hanged seven people including a member of the ruling family and a woman who burned dozens of people to death at a wedding party, the authorities said.

The three women and four men are the first to be executed in the oil-rich Gulf state since mid-2013.

They included two Kuwaitis, two Egyptians and one each from Bangladesh, the Philippines and Ethiopia, a statement by the public prosecution office said.

Sheikh Faisal Abdullah Al-Sabah, the first royal to be executed in the emirate, was convicted of shooting and killing his nephew, another member of the ruling family, in 2010 over a dispute.

Nusra al-Enezi, the other Kuwaiti, set fire to a tent in 2009 during a wedding party in an apparent act of revenge against her husband for taking a second wife.

Many of the 57 people killed were women and children.

Enezi, who was 23 years old at the time, threw petrol on the tent, where people were celebrating inside, and burned it down in one of the most devastating crimes in the history of Kuwait.

The Filipina and Ethiopian women were domestic helpers convicted of murdering members of their employers' families in two unrelated crimes.

Philippines presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the presidential palace was saddened by the execution of Jakatia Pawa.

Abella said the government had done everything it could to save Pawa, including legal assistance to ensure that her rights were respected and all legal procedures were followed.

Manila "exerted all efforts to preserve her life, including diplomatic means and appeals for compassion. Execution, however, could no longer be forestalled under Kuwaiti laws... We pray for her and her bereaved family," he added.

Around 240,000 Filipinos are working and living in Kuwait, some of them domestic helpers.

The two Egyptians were also convicted of premeditated murder while the Bangladeshi was convicted of abduction and rape.

- First executions since 2013 -

Story continues

Kuwait resumed executions in 2013 after a moratorium of six years.

In April 2013, authorities hanged three men convicted of murder.

Two months later, two Egyptians, convicted of murder and abduction, were executed.

One of them, Hajjaj Saadi, was convicted of abducting and raping 17 children below the age of 10. He denied the charges in court.

Human rights group Amnesty International condemned the executions as "shocking and deeply regrettable."

"By choosing to resume executions now the Kuwaiti authorities have displayed a wanton disregard for the right to life and signalled a willingness to weaken human rights standards," Samah Hadid, Amnesty's deputy campaigns director, said.

The group urged Kuwait to review abolishing the death penalty.

Reprieve, a London-based rights group, also criticised the executions and urged countries to call on Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to halt executions.

Kuwait has executed 74 men and six women since it introduced the death penalty in the mid-1960s. Most of those condemned have been murderers or drug traffickers.

Around 50 prisoners are on death row.

Courts in Kuwait, which has an elected parliament and an active political scene, have in the past handed down death sentences to members of the Al-Sabah family that has ruled the country for two-and-a-half centuries.

Capital punishment is widespread in the Gulf region, particularly in Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Every year Tehran and Riyadh execute hundreds of people, mostly for murder and drug trafficking.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Kuwaits foreign minister made a rare visit to Tehran on Wednesday and called for frank dialogue between Iran and its regional neighbors, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. Tensions have risen between predominantly Shi'ite Iran and the mainly Sunni Arab countries of the Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, over their support for opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen. Sabah Khaled al-Sabah's visit, which included delivering a written message from the emir of Kuwait to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, appeared to be a step toward decreasing tension. IRNA did not report any details of the message. Its necessary that the differing views and misunderstandings between the countries of the region should come to an end in a calm atmosphere and through frank dialogue, Sabah said, according to IRNA, a reference to Gulf Arab states who worry that Iranian influence in the region is growing at their expense. Rouhani expressed support for improving relations in the region, based on "mutual respect, positive neighborhood ties and Islamic brotherhood," according to IRNA. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in January 2016 cut diplomatic relations with Iran and some other Gulf states recalled their ambassadors in solidarity with the kingdom after its embassy in Iran was torched by protesters. But long-standing trade links and shared access to oil and gas fields have stopped many Gulf states from shutting the door on Iran. (Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Dominic Evans)
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Kuwaits foreign minister made a rare visit to Tehran on Wednesday and called for frank dialogue between Iran and its regional neighbours, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. Tensions have risen between predominantly Shi'ite Iran and the mainly Sunni Arab countries of the Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, over their support for opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen. Sabah Khaled al-Sabah's visit, which included delivering a written message from the emir of Kuwait to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, appeared to be a step toward decreasing tension. IRNA did not report any details of the message. Its necessary that the differing views and misunderstandings between the countries of the region should come to an end in a calm atmosphere and through frank dialogue, Sabah said, according to IRNA, a reference to Gulf Arab states who worry that Iranian influence in the region is growing at their expense. Rouhani expressed support for improving relations in the region, based on "mutual respect, positive neighbourhood ties and Islamic brotherhood," according to IRNA. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in January 2016 cut diplomatic relations with Iran and some other Gulf states recalled their ambassadors in solidarity with the kingdom after its embassy in Iran was torched by protesters. But long-standing trade links and shared access to oil and gas fields have stopped many Gulf states from shutting the door on Iran. (Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Dominic Evans)
Los Angeles (AFP) - Romantic showbiz musical "La La Land" topped the Oscars nominations list on Tuesday with a whopping 14 nods, tying an all-time record, as black actors were honored in all acting categories for the first time.

Damien Chazelle's whimsical tribute to Hollywood's Golden Age of musicals scored nods for best picture, best director and for its two stars, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Its 10 other nominations came in nine categories.

The haul ties the film with "Titanic" and "All About Eve" for the most nominations ever.

"When you mention those movies, it makes my head spin even more than it's spinning. I'm a little speechless," Chazelle, in Beijing to promote his film, told trade magazine Variety.

In second place were sci-fi thriller "Arrival" and coming-of-age drama "Moonlight," tied at eight nominations each.

The 89th Academy Awards will be held on February 26 -- the climax of Hollywood's awards season, to be hosted by late night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel.

With a record six black actors nominated, this year's crop clearly reflected a push by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters to show more diversity after the #OscarsSoWhite controversy of the past two years that had prompted calls for a boycott of the annual bash.

Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris are first-time nominees for "Moonlight," while two-time winner Denzel Washington and multiple nominee Viola Davis are in the running again for their performance in "Fences."

"I hope I wasn't nominated because I was black. That has no relevance," Ali told The Hollywood Reporter. "I hope I was nominated for my work."

Also nominated are past winner Octavia Spencer, a best supporting actress candidate for "Hidden Figures," and Ruth Negga, in the best actress category for "Loving."

"This is not necessarily a message," Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said about the list of nominees.

Story continues

"It really has to do with the talent. Each year, we recognize talents and films of a particular year. And this year has been just fabulous."

- Nine best picture nominees -

Industry watchers had predicted that Chazelle's "La La Land" -- buoyed by a record seven Golden Globe awards earlier this month -- would triumph at the nominations, but few thought it would tie for the all-time record.

"Titanic" went on to win 11 Oscars, while "All About Eve" -- starring Bette Davis -- won six.

"La La Land" will vie for best picture honors with eight other films, including "Arrival," grim family drama "Manchester by the Sea" and "Moonlight," the coming-of-age tale of a black man in Miami.

Others in the coveted top category are the film adaptation of August Wilson's play "Fences," Mel Gibson's bloody WWII drama "Hacksaw Ridge," the western crime drama "Hell or High Water," the real-life tale of NASA's black female mathematicians "Hidden Figures" and Garth Davis's family drama "Lion."

- Streep dancing for joy -

For best actor, Gosling will battle for a golden statuette with Golden Globe winner Casey Affleck ("Manchester by the Sea"), Andrew Garfield ("Hacksaw Ridge"), Viggo Mortensen ("Captain Fantastic") and Washington.

In the best actress category, France's Golden Globe winner Isabelle Huppert was nominated for her performance in the rape-revenge thriller "Elle," along with Stone, Negga, Natalie Portman ("Jackie") and Meryl Streep, who earned her record-breaking 20th nomination for "Florence Foster Jenkins."

Streep's nod delighted social media users, who called it a fitting rebuke to President Donald Trump, who described her as "overrated" after she denounced him at the Golden Globes.

The 67-year-old actress -- who broke her own record as the person with the most acting nominations -- reacted with a GIF featuring her dancing for joy.

- Comeback for Mel Gibson -

In the best supporting actress category, Davis, Spencer and Harris will compete against past Oscar winner Nicole Kidman ("Lion") and Michelle Williams ("Manchester by the Sea"), who was nominated three times before.

In the best supporting actor category, Ali will take on Jeff Bridges ("Hell or High Water"), Lucas Hedges ("Manchester by the Sea"), Michael Shannon ("Nocturnal Animals") and Dev Patel ("Lion") -- a British actor of Indian descent.

The foreign films nominated are "Land of Mine" (Denmark), "A Man Called Ove" (Sweden), "The Salesman" (Iran), "Tanna" (Australia) and "Toni Erdmann" (Germany).

In the best director category, Gibson's surprise nomination for the critically acclaimed WWII biopic "Hacksaw Ridge" marks his comeback a decade after being ostracized by Hollywood for an anti-Semitic tirade captured on tape.

Tuesday's nominations were also notable in that they marked the first time a streaming service -- Amazon Studios -- earned a best picture nod, for "Manchester by the Sea."

Also noteworthy was Patel's nomination, which marks only the third time that an actor of Indian descent has received an Oscar nod.
GREAT ABACO, Bahamas (AP)  Andrew Landry took a step toward returning to the PGA Tour on Wednesday by closing with a 5-under 67 for a three-shot victory in the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic.

Landry, who shared the 54-hole lead with Chase Parker, took the lead for good with a birdie on the 13th hole and then made eagle on the par-5 14th to start to pull away. He finished three shots ahead of Jimmy Gunn, who closed with a 68.

Zecheng Dou of China shot 67 to finish third, with Parker (72) another shot behind.

Landry won for the second time on the Web.com Tour. He also won in 2015, which got him onto the PGA Tour. He had the 18-hole lead at the U.S. Open at Oakmont last year and tied for 15th.
New York (AFP) - Local authorities approved the largest offshore wind farm in the United States on Wednesday, to be located near Long Island and capable of powering some 50,000 households.

Construction on the site, which could begin by 2019, is set to install an initial 15 turbines with a capacity of 90 megawatts.

The South Fork Wind Farm will be located some 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of the tip of Long Island off Queens and Brooklyn.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who announced the initiative alongside the Long Island Power Authority, said the turbines would not be visible off the island's coast.

Project operator Deepwater Wind told AFP it aims to have the farm up and running by 2022, saying it had not yet decided on a manufacturer for the turbines.

South Fork will be only the second offshore wind farm in the United States. The first, located off Rhode Island's Block Island in the northeastern United States, has been operational since December.

Its five turbines -- manufactured in France by GE Renewable Energy -- provide energy to 17,000 homes on the island and across New England.

"There is a huge clean energy resource blowing off of our coastline just over the horizon, and it is time to tap into this unlimited resource to power our communities," Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski said in a statement.

The area where South Fork is located has the potential to host up to 1,000 megawatts of wind power, Cuomo said.

The New York governor has already committed to a target of generating 2.4 gigawatts of offshore wind energy -- enough to power 1.25 million households -- by 2030.

According to the agreement between the Long Island Energy Authority and Deepwater Wind, the government will pay for the energy generated but none of the costs for the site's construction and management.
KLAMATH, Calif. (AP)  The Latest on two California prisoners who walked away from a minimum security facility (all times local):

6:00 p.m.

California authorities say they have captured the second of two inmates who walked away from a minimum security facility in Northern California.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says 27-year-old Brian Schueren of Orange County was taken into custody without incident Wednesday near the Alder Conservation Camp.

He was serving a four-year sentence at the camp near Klamath, an hour's drive from the Oregon border.

They say 47-year-old Eddy Edwards was detained earlier Wednesday.

The inmates were last accounted for late Tuesday in their housing unit.

They were part of an inmate firefighting crew.

Officials say they will no longer be eligible to be housed in a conservation camp.

___

2:15 p.m.

California authorities are on the lookout for an escaped prisoner serving time for assault with a deadly weapon.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported Wednesday that they've captured one of two prisoners who walked away the night before from a Northern California minimum-security facility for inmate firefighters.

They say 27-year-old Brian Schueren of Orange County remains on the loose.

He was serving a four-year sentence at Alder Conservation Camp near Klamath, an hour's drive from the Oregon border.

They say 47-year-old Eddy Edwards was taken into custody without incident Wednesday morning along a road not far from the camp.

Authorities say the captured inmate is being taken to a state prison in Susanville, no longer eligible to serve his sentence at the camp.

___

10:15 a.m.

State prison officials say they're looking for two inmates who walked away from a minimum security facility in far Northern California.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports the two men were last accounted for late Tuesday in their housing unit.

They were part of an inmate firefighting crew based at Alder Conservation Camp near Klamath, a coastal community an hour's drive from the Oregon border.

Story continues

Authorities say Eddy Edwards is a 47-year-old from Glenn County. He's serving a six-year sentence for making criminal threats and drunken driving.

And 27-year-old Brian Schueren of Orange County is serving four years following a conviction for assault with a deadly weapon.

Authorities ask anybody who knows their whereabouts to call local law enforcement.
RENO, Nev. (AP)  The Latest on the death of a ski patrol member at Lake Tahoe killed in an accident involving explosives used to trigger avalanches (all times local PST):

12:40 p.m.

A ski resort at Lake Tahoe has reopened a day after a ski patrol member was killed in an accident involving explosives used to artificially trigger an avalanche.

Squaw Valley Ski Holdings CEO Andy Wirth says they reopened the resort north of Tahoe City, California, on Wednesday in honor of Joe Zuiches. He says the decision was made after consulting with members of the Squaw Valley Ski Patrol, who said the 42-year-old California man would have wanted it that way.

As of midday Wednesday, an online memorial fund already had raised more than $130,000 for his surviving wife and infant son.

Authorities say Zuiches was carrying an undisclosed amount of ammonium nitrate based charges when the explosion occurred at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday before the slopes were scheduled to open to the public.

Placer County Sheriff's Lt. Alfredo Guitron says the emergency response required a team of explosives specialists to safely recover undetonated charges. That delayed the removal of the victim's body from the mountain until late Tuesday afternoon.

___

A ski patrol member was killed Tuesday in an accident involving explosives used to artificially trigger an avalanche at a Lake Tahoe ski resort, resort officials said.

Joe Zuiches, 42, of Olympic Valley, California, was killed while working with an avalanche-control crew to try to reduce the threat of a sudden, natural avalanche before the slopes were scheduled to open to the public later Tuesday morning at the Squaw Valley ski resort north of Tahoe City, California, the resort said.

The Placer County Sheriff's Office and the North Tahoe Fire Department are investigating the accident and official cause of death. But the resort said in a statement Tuesday afternoon the "cause is believed to be the detonation of an explosive charge."

Story continues

Squaw Valley, which hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics, was closed Tuesday as a result of the death. Neighboring Alpine Meadows remained open.

Zuiches, who died at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, had been a member of the Squaw Valley professional ski patrol since 2012.

The resort says he left behind a wife and infant son. Family and friends have established the Joe Zuiches Memorial Fund through Go Fund Me to help cover funeral expenses.

"The team at Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows is deeply saddened by this tragic event, and we extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends affected," the resort said in a statement.

More than 3 feet of snow fell Monday on the Sierra Nevada. More than 23 feet of snow has fallen at some area resorts since Jan. 1.

The area had been under an avalanche warning much of the past two weeks, but the Sierra Avalanche Center listed the risk as "moderate" on Tuesday.

Early Monday, two California men were trapped in their car for about an hour when an avalanche buried the vehicle on State Highway 89 a few miles from Squaw Valley, which is south of U.S. Interstate 80 between Tahoe City and Truckee, California.
(Reuters) - Lead levels in Flint, Michigan's drinking water, the focus of a public health crisis, have fallen below federal limits, state officials said on Tuesday, although they cautioned residents to keep using filtered water as the city's old lead pipes are replaced. Tests showed lead levels in the city's drinking water were 12 parts per billion (ppb) between July and December, below the federal limit of 15 ppb, Michigan officials said in a statement. The water crisis erupted when tests in 2015 found high amounts of lead in blood samples taken from children in Flint, a predominantly black city of about 100,000. Flint was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager when it switched its water source to the Flint River from Lake Huron in April 2014. The more corrosive river water caused lead to leach from pipes and into the drinking water. Lead poisoning stunts children's cognitive development, and no level of exposure is considered safe. Flint's contamination prompted dozens of lawsuits and criminal charges against former government officials. The city switched back to the previous water system in October 2015. Flint's lead levels are now comparable to levels in cities of similar size and with infrastructure of similar age, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said in a statement. Even with the test results, programs that provide water filters and related services will continue, he said. "This is not the end of our work in Flint, but it is one more step along the path toward Flint's future," said Snyder, a Republican who has been sharply criticized by residents for his handling of the crisis. Flint's mayor, Karen Weaver, said in a statement she would continue efforts to replace the estimated 20,000 lead-tainted pipes that remain in the city. "We are not out of the woods yet. My goal has not changed. All of the lead-tainted pipes in Flint still need to be replaced," she said. Flint resident Melissa Mays, a plaintiff in a drinking water lawsuit, said the results were misleading because only one-third of Flint homes had been tested and the state had not identified which homes have lead pipes. "Until they get every home to test zero, they should not be making these statements," she said. "It's giving residents a false sense of security." In December, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette charged four former officials with conspiring to violate safety rules, bringing to 13 the number of current and former officials charged in connection with the crisis. (Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington and David Ingram in New York. Additional reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago.; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Peter Cooney)
Learn To Ride Faster - 2017 California Superbike School Schedule

If you truly want to learn to ride a sportbike like its meant to be ridden, you should make plans to attend a California Superbike School. Theyre the premier training program for knee draggers during the past 30 years and they have classes at over 100 race tracks around the globe. Even if you are an excellent, experienced or seasoned track rider, a weekend with CSS is a great way to get familiar with a new circuit, knock the cobwebs off before the start of racing season or simply to have the opportunity to ride on tracks you have never seen before. If you are interested in the international school dates, please contact California Superbike School directly from their website.

In addition to having classes on world class tracks, knowledgeable and experienced instructors the school features the BMW S1000RR as training bikes. If you havent ridden one of these Bavarian bullets you owe it to yourself to join the school for that if for no other reason. Below is the 2017 schedule for classes in the United States, which includes about a dozen more reasons to sign up. Hell, if you want to send me a gift certificate then I will be happy to attend on your behalf. Ill be anxiously awaiting your contribution

2017 California Superbike School Schedule - United States

Feb 11-12 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Las Vegas - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike

Mar 16-17 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike

Mar 18 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - Single Day/All Levels - $390/$675

Mar 19 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - Single Day/All Levels - $390/$675

Mar 20-21 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - Code R.A.C.E - $1850/$2550

Mar 23-24 - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - Monterey - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2650 Bike

Apr 8-9 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Las Vegas, NV - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike

Apr 13-14 Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike

Apr 15 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - Single Day/All Levels - $390/$675

Apr 16 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - Single Day/All Levels - $390/$675

Apr 18-19 - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - Monterey - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2650 Bike

May 8 - Virginia International Raceway - Alton, VA - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

May 9 - Virginia International Raceway - Alton, VA - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

May 10-11 - Virginia International Raceway - Alton, VA - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike

May 15 - New Jersey Motorsports Park - Millville, NJ - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

May 16 - New Jersey Motorsports Park - Millville, NJ - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

May 17-18 - New Jersey Motorsports Park - Millville, NJ - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike

May 22 - National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park - Bowling Green - Single Day - $475/$675

May 23 - National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park - Bowling Green - Single Day - $475/$675

May 27 - Barber Motorsports Park - Birmingham, AL - Single Day/All Levels - $490/$690

May 28 - Barber Motorsports Park - Birmingham, AL - Single Day/All Levels - $490/$690

May 29 - Barber Motorsports Park - Birmingham, AL - Single Day/All Levels - $490/$690

May 30-31 - Barber Motorsports Park - Birmingham, AL - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2650 Bike

June 8-9 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike

June 10 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - Single Day/All Levels - $390/$675

June 11 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - Single Day/All Levels - $390/$675

June 13 - Buttonwillow Raceway - Buttonwillow, CA - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

June 16 - Thunderhill Raceway - Willows, CA - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

June 17 - Thunderhill Raceway - Willows, CA - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

June 19-20 - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2650 Bike

June 21-22 - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2650 Bike

Jul 6-7 - Utah Motorsports Campus - Tooele, UT - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike incl.

July 10 - The Ridge Motorsports Park - Shelton, WA - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

July 11 - The Ridge Motorsports Park - Shelton, WA - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

July 12-13 - The Ridge Motorsports - Park Shelton, WA - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike

July 14 - The Ridge Motorsports Park - Shelton, WA - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

July 31 - New Jersey Motorsports Park - Millville, NJ - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

Aug 1 - New Jersey Motorsports Park - Millville, NJ - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

Aug 2-3 - New Jersey Motorsports Park - Millville, NJ - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike

Aug 7 - Virginia International Raceway - Alton, VA - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

Aug 8 - Virginia International Raceway - Alton, VA - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

Aug 9-10 - Virginia International Raceway - Alton, VA - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike

Aug 14-15 - Circuit Of The Americas - Austin, TX - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $3750 Bike

Aug 16 - Circuit Of The Americas - Austin, TX - Single Day/All Levels - $900/$1100

Aug 21 - New Jersey Motorsports Park - Millville, NJ - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

Aug 22 - New Jersey Motorsports Park - Millville, NJ - Single Day/All Levels - $475/$675

Aug 23-24 - New Jersey Motorsports Park - Millville, NJ - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike

Sept 6-7 - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - Monterey - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2650 Bike

Sept 9 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - Single Day/All Levels - $390/$675

Sept 10 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - Single Day/All Levels - $390/$675

Sept 11-12 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike

Sept 25-26 - Sonoma Raceway (Sears Point) - Sonoma - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2650 Bike

Oct 7-8 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Las Vegas, NV - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike

Oct 16-17 - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - Monterey - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2650 Bike

Oct 18-19 - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - Monterey - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2650 Bike

Oct 21 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - Single Day/All Levels - $390/$675

Oct 22 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - Single Day/All Levels - $390/$675

Oct 23-24 - Streets of Willow Springs - Rosamond, CA - Code R.A.C.E - $1850/$2550

Oct 30-31 - Sonoma Raceway (Sears Point) - Sonoma - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2650 Bike

Nov 8-9 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Las Vegas, NV - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike

Nov 11-12 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Las Vegas - 2-Day Camp/All Levels - $2450 Bike
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fstory%2fthumbnail%2f34693%2f5464cb5f-b194-4f74-8a67-fccd987638bf

Empathy will heal us all (they say).

Florida teenager Kaley Ramsberger got a little taste of therapeutic compassion from her younger brother Josh with one adorably thoughtful note.

SEE ALSO: Can we please stop branding compassion as 'liberal elitism?'

Ramsberger, in quintessential teenage fashion, shouted "I hate myself" inside the safe confines of her bedroom. Two minutes later, her empathetic younger brother slipped a simple message beneath her door.

I just screamed "I hate myself" and 2 minutes later I hear my little brother sliding this note under my door pic.twitter.com/WNhWX3ez3a  Kaley (@kaleyrams) January 23, 2017

"I hate myself too," he revealed in solidarity.

Let's just hope they gave each other a big hug after this.
Tweets by federal employees that seem to run counter to President Donald Trump's agenda are spreading around the National Park Service. Some have been deleted, but many could still be found on Wednesday.

One, by Redwood National Park in California, notes that redwood groves are nature's No. 1 carbon sink, which capture greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming:

"DYK redwood groves are #1 carbon sink / acre in nature? About 200 tons an acre. More redwoods would mean less #climatechange #climate"

___

Golden Gate National Park in California directed readers to a report by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also known as NOAA, about climate change:

"2016 was the hottest year on record for the 3rd year in a row. Check out this @NASA & @NOAA report: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-no "

___

And the tweets went beyond climate. Death Valley National Park tweeted photos of Japanese Americans interned there during World War II, a message that some saw as objecting to Trump's pledge to ban Muslims from entering the country.

"During WWII Death Valley hosted 65 endangered internees after the #Manzanar Riot. #JapaneseAmericanInternment," the official account tweeted.

___

The Defense Department highlighted a story about an Iraqi immigrant who returned to his native country to fight as a U.S. Marine, which many noted came hours after Trump aides said the president was working on a plan to restrict refugees from coming into the country.

"From refugee to #Marine. @USMC Cpl Ali J. Mohammed takes the fight to the doorstep of those who cast his family out. http://go.usa.gov/x9GCB https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C29D2HlUkAAftzN.jpg"
As of midday trading Monday, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was set to log its worst day of the year, as President Donald Trump 's brash words and anti-free-trade moves appeared to spook investors.

On Monday morning, Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement with 11 countries that had yet to be ratified. He is also expected to sign an order stating his intent to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. And in a meeting with CEOs, he reiterated his plan to impose some sort of tax on goods created outside the United States.

Amid the headlines, the S&P slipped as much as 0.6 percent. While a small move in the scheme of things, that would actually make for the market's largest drop since Dec. 28, when the S&P closed 0.84 percent lower.

"Trump's approach to trade is finally catching up to the market," Max Wolff, market strategist at 55 Capital, told CNBC in a Monday interview.

To Gina Sanchez of Chantico Global, the decline is not about the moves against free trade specifically; rather, "this is a general sense of concern that is driving this move."

After confrontational Trump speeches at his inauguration and at CIA headquarters dampened expectations he would become more temperate postelection, "the markets are starting to get nervous that the first 100 days [of Trump's presidency] are off to a rocky start," she wrote to CNBC.

Boris Schlossberg, macro strategist and trader at BK Asset Management, is of a similar mind, writing on Monday: "Markets have clearly been taken aback by his confrontational style of politics and unless the U.S. economy shows some rapid improvements in growth, the enthusiasm that accompanied Mr. Trump into the office will quickly turn into fear as investors begin to consider the costs of his protectionist policies and bare knuckles style of governing."

Wolff put it a bit more starkly: After a significant rally after Trump's election, "the honeymoon is over, and investors just woke up and took a long look at the bride."

Of course, some context is important. Even at Monday's lows, the S&P is just 1 percent away from its peak.

"What's crazy is that it feels like the world is on the verge of collapse but SPUs are less than 15 handles from the Jan. 6 all-time high," Michael Block, of Rhino Trading Partners, mused in a Monday morning missive.
Blantyre (Malawi) (AFP) - US pop superstar Madonna appeared in person at a court in the Malawian capital Lilongwe on Wednesday to apply to adopt two more local children, a court spokesman told AFP.

Madonna, who runs a charity called Raising Malawi in the southern African nation, adopted Malawian children David Banda in 2006 and Mercy James in 2009.

Local media reports said the singer appeared before Justice Fiona Mwale amid tight security, accompanied by two unidentified children and several other people, before being driven away in an SUV vehicle.

"The court is looking at the application now to determine whether Madonna can adopt these two children," said Mlenga Mvula, spokesman of the Lilongwe High Court.

"The... process requires the court to make a ruling on the adoption."

The 58-year-old singer last visited Malawi in July, taking her two adopted Malawian children with her.

She also inspected her charity's work, including progress at a surgical unit for children at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in the commercial capital Blantyre.

It was Madonna's first visit in nearly two years to Malawi, where she has at times been embroiled in controversy after her earlier adoptions.

- Adoption controversy -

She was stripped of VIP status by former president Joyce Banda's government in 2013 and accused of being "uncouth" and wanting eternal gratitude from the impoverished country for adopting the two children.

But Banda was ousted in 2014 elections and the new president, Peter Mutharika, moved to repair relations, saying "my government has always been grateful for the passion Madonna has for this country".

Last July, Madonna said she would not revive plans for a $15 million academy for girls in Malawi, which was cancelled amid allegations of mismanagement -- leading to her tiff with Banda.

The singer, who divorced film director Guy Ritchie in 2008, reportedly landed in Malawi by private jet and was staying at a exclusive lodge outside Lilongwe.

Story continues

Madonna, who has four children, is reportedly among the biggest individual donors to children's projects such as orphanages in Malawi, which is ranked by the UN Human Development Index as one of the world's 20 least developed countries.

On Saturday, she made an unannounced appearance in Washington at a rally protesting against US President Donald Trump a day after his inauguration.

Madonna had campaigned for Hillary Clinton to become America's first woman president, and told Billboard Magazine after the Democrat's loss that women had a "tribal inability" to accept a female president.
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP)  A Mississippi judge has sentenced a man to death for the killing of a 5-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted and hanged with the use of her socks.

Local news organizations report that 32-year-old Alberto Julio Garcia was sentenced Wednesday for the 2014 killing of Ja'Naya Thompson.

Garcia had pleaded guilty to capital murder on Jan. 18.

Harrison County Circuit Court Judge Lisa Dodson could have sentenced Garcia to the death penalty or to life without parole.

The child's body was found in an abandoned trailer in July 2014.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain bluntly warned the White House on Wednesday that we are not bringing back torture amid news reports that President Trump is preparing an executive order that might do just that.

The New York Times and the Associated Press reported earlier in the day that the Trump administration was readying a three-page order that could reopen CIA black site prisons overseas  secret facilities where suspected terrorists were held, tortured, and sometimes killed in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Former President Barack Obama shut them down and ordered an end to torture, but resisted what he described as sanctimonious calls to prosecute or punish officials involved. The new order would open a review into whether the U.S. should reopen black sites.

McCain, who was tortured extensively after being shot down over what was then North Vietnam, has led the fight in Congress against abusive interrogation practices.

The president can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America, he said in a statement issued by his office in response to the reports.

McCain noted that bipartisan legislation signed in 2015 limits U.S. officials to interrogation techniques listed in the Army Field Manual, which would prohibit tactics such as waterboarding, in which a prisoner is subjected to controlled drowning.

The news emerged two days after the Senate confirmed Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas as CIA director. During his confirmation hearing, Pompeo promised he would absolutely not obey a presidential order to resume using methods that meet international definitions of torture. But in late 2014, Pompeo had said CIA interrogators who used such tactics are not torturers, they are patriots. And in written responses to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Pompeo left the door open to revising interrogation rules in the future.

Story continues

President Trump and Sen. John McCain. (Photos: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP, Cliff Owen/AP)

Throughout the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to bring back waterboarding and techniques he described as a hell of a lot worse. He also declared that torture works, and even if it doesnt work, they deserve it anyway.

In his statement, McCain said that Pompeo had promised during both our personal conversations and his confirmation hearing that he will comply with the law that applies the Army Field Manuals interrogation requirements to all U.S. agencies, including the CIA, while Defense Secretary James Mattis said military interrogators would stick to the field manual.

I am confident these leaders will be true to their word, McCain said.

During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, White House press secretary Sean Spicer repeatedly dismissed the three-page document, which the Times published in full, as not a White House document. But he did not say the Trump administration opposed its contents. Executive orders frequently begin as drafts at federal agencies, and only become formal White House documents later in the process.

In an interview set to air Wednesday night, Trump said that torture works and that we have to fight fire with fire, according to the Associated Press.

The wire service reported that Trump told ABC News he would talk to Mattis and Pompeo about their legal options in the fight against terrorism. He was further quoted saying that radical groups chop off the citizens or anybodys heads in the Middle East, because theyre Christian or Muslim or anything else.

Trump added, We have that and were not allowed to do anything. Were not playing on an even field.
President Trump, who has promised to utterly reshape the United States economic relationship with the rest of the world, has named the man who will be the public face of that change for many of the countrys top partners and allies.

The Wall Street Journal reported early Tuesday that Kenneth I. Juster, a managing partner with the private equity firm Warburg Pincus, has been named deputy assistant to the president for international economic affairs. He will fill a policymaking position with responsibilities that extend across multiple federal departments and agencies, including the departments of State, Treasury and Commerce, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Related: It Looks Like Trump Is Serious About Starting a Trade War With China

Juster will also be in charge of managing the White Houses relationship with key international bodies, including the Group of Seven, made up of the largest industrialized economies, and the G20, made up of the 20 largest economies in the world. That by itself will be a challenging role given Trumps intention to radically rewrite trade policy.

Further, Juster will have to navigate a Trump administration in which some traditional roles have been scrambled, particularly when it comes to issues of international trade.

Juster brings considerable experience to the role. A Harvard-trained lawyer, he has served multiple stints in the federal government, including several years as deputy and senior adviser to Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger in the final years of the George H. W. Bush administration. He returned to government service in 2001, serving in the first term of the George W. Bush administration as an undersecretary of Commerce in charge of the Bureau of Industry and Security, which overseas export control and trade-related treaty compliance, among other things.

After leaving the government, he worked as a senior executive at the software firm Salesforce until joining Warburg Pincus in 2010.

Story continues

Related: Democrats Block Trump at Their Peril as Labor Climbs Aboard Trump Train

Juster will enter a White House that from an international trade perspective looks different from those he may have been familiar with in the past. President Trump has promised to tear up multilateral trade deals, both long-standing agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement and others that have not even been ratified, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which he effectively killed shortly after taking office.

The administration has said that the president believes the U.S. ought to negotiate trade deals country by country, because he believes that maximizes the leverage the White House has to extract the best possible terms for the country.

In addition, Trump has set up a structure in the White House in which the traditional duties of the USTR have been thinned out somewhat. For example, incoming Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is expected to play a larger-than-normal role in setting trade policy.

Trump has also created an entirely new entity in the West Wing, the National Trade Council, and has named University of California-Irvine economist Peter Navarro to run it. When the creation of the council was announced, transition team members suggested it would occupy status similar to the National Security Council in Trumps hierarchy of advisors.

Related: Trump v. Truth: How Will the New Administration Make Policy?

Officials said that the mission of the National Trade Council would be to work collaboratively and synergistically with the National Security Council, the National Economic Council, and the Domestic Policy Council to fulfill the Presidents vision of peace and prosperity through military and economic strength and to think strategically about the health of Americas defense industrial base and the role of trade and manufacturing in national security.

If Juster finds himself parachuting into uncertainty, it wont be the first time. In addition to his work in the private sector, he has been very active working on economic development and civil society promotion in the developing world and in post-communist Eastern Europe.

David Kramer, president of Freedom House, said Juster has great personal integrity and character, a wealth of knowledge ... and a proven track record of leadership.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
(Reuters) - A Michigan man whose drug-related prison sentence was commuted by former President Barack Obama was shot dead this week at a federal halfway house, according to local media reports.

Demarlon Thomas, 31, was shot and killed on Monday night by a man with an assault-style rifle in Saginaw, Michigan, around 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Detroit, according to local CBS affiliate WNEM.

A spokesman for the Michigan State Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Two masked men with assault-style rifles entered the facility where around two dozen people were staying, Michigan State Police Lt. David Kaiser told local news website MLive.com.

"One person watched over a group of them while another subject located the victim and executed him," Kaiser said, according to the website. "They were looking for this person."

No one else was injured in the attack, Kaiser said.

Thomas was sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2008 for distribution of cocaine after being caught in a three-year federal investigation called "Operation Sunset," aimed at taking down Saginaw's Sunny Side Gang, the website reported.

His sentence commuted by Obama in November as part of a larger commutation of 79 sentences, MLive.com said. His sentence was set to be completed in late March.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

Stymied by Congress in efforts to pass comprehensive criminal justice reform, Obama focused on reducing the sentences of drug offenders who would have served less time if convicted under current laws.

A day before leaving office, Obama commuted the prison sentences of 330 federal inmates, particularly drug offenders.

The commutations were the most ever performed in a single day, the White House said, and brought the total number of sentences reduced by Obama to 1,715.

Obama granted more commutations than any other president in U.S. history and, the White House said, surpassing the number granted by the past 13 presidents combined.

Story continues

(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago, editing by G Crosse)
YouTube

Divas legend and onetime murder victim Mickie James is finally back in WWE, the company that made her famous. After a match at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, shes now back full-time as of last weeks Smackdown Live. But it wasnt such a simple journey from free agency to main roster member for

On this weeks edition of Making Their Way To The Ring With Lilian Garcia on AfterBuzz TV, Mickie revealed that she actually rang up WWE several times about a return after she left TNA. She had to work to put herself on their radar before she got the opportunity to actually come back.

I had been [calling]. About a year before that I had been doing that a couple of times. I think I talked to you about it a little bit too, and Im just like, aw maybe they just dont want me. Maybe its not my time kind of thing. It wasnt until I just kind of let it go and  Im sitting in Orlando airport, waiting for our flight and [Mark] Carrano calls me and Im like, are you serious right now? Are you ribbing me?!

She also said that she doesnt think it will be difficult working with John Cena again, following their infamously messy breakup before she left the company the first time.

Were all adults, and you know obviously this business is what it is. Weve all had our share of relationships failed. I think that being adults and being professionals  I would hope that, and Im pretty sure that its going to be pretty awesome, because Im sure that Im going to have to work with Nikki in the ring and I know that we could do some really amazing stuff.

Of course, the whole interview goes all over the place, including James saying that as a fan, she misses the much-maligned Divas gimmick matches, like evening gown matches and bikini battles royal. So  you know, its a big old world out there. You can watch the full James appearance on Lilians show below.
Thousands of people wearing thick coats and clutching suitcases line up in freezing conditions at Beijing Railway Station in the hope of snagging a ticket home for China's Lunar New Year.

They are among hundreds of millions of migrant workers travelling to far-flung towns and cities to see their families and celebrate the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar, which falls on January 28 this year.

The demand for tickets is so high that some people spend days trying to snare seats on public transport for the annual mega migration. Qi Xi is one of the lucky ones.

Unable to nab a high-speed rail ticket to whisk him from Beijing to his hometown in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang in just four hours, Qi will have to spend almost a full day on a hard, uncomfortable seat to reach his destination.

But he's not complaining.

"My coworker who's from Harbin still hasn't been able to buy a train ticket and doesn't know how else to get home, so he might just not go back at all this year," Qi said, chain-smoking outside the station as endless hordes of passengers carrying rucksacks and suitcases streamed past.

The holiday, also known as Spring Festival, is a time for families to gather their members for plentiful food and fireworks.

Travellers taking part in the world's largest annual human migration must be home by Friday to usher in the new year on Saturday.

Transport officials predict that Chinese passengers will make almost three billion trips during the 40-day Lunar New Year period, including more than 2.5 billion journeys by road, the official Xinhua news agency said.

High travel volumes mean that navigating stations can be as much of a nightmare as nabbing a ticket in the first place.

Without internet access or a smartphone, 65-year-old Wang Wentai asked a more plugged-in friend to help him buy his train ticket back to Handan city in neighbouring Hebei Province.

Excited to go home after a year of washing dishes at a Korean restaurant to supplement his son's income from a factory job, he arrived at the station two hours early -- but still ended up missing his train due to the crowds.

Story continues

"There were so many people in line, and I just didnt know which line to wait in, so I wasted a lot of time," he said.

The next available ticket was for a train that left 14 hours later.

"I can't wait inside the station because it's still too early, but I don't know where else to go," he said, standing in front of the entrance with his hands in his pockets to protect them from the sub-zero chill.

"During the trip, you sometimes look at your phone, get bored, sleep a bit, though you can't really sleep well on the train, and just hold out until it's over," said a woman surnamed Qian who was about to embark on a 20-odd hour train ride to the distant southwestern province of Yunnan.

"But then, there are so many people crammed around you on the train that you can always chat to make it less boring."
Thousands of people wearing thick coats and clutching suitcases line up in freezing conditions at Beijing Railway Station in the hope of snagging a ticket home for China's Lunar New Year.

They are among hundreds of millions of migrant workers travelling to far-flung towns and cities to see their families and celebrate the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar, which falls on January 28 this year.

The demand for tickets is so high that some people spend days trying to snare seats on public transport for the annual mega migration. Qi Xi is one of the lucky ones.

Unable to nab a high-speed rail ticket to whisk him from Beijing to his hometown in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang in just four hours, Qi will have to spend almost a full day on a hard, uncomfortable seat to reach his destination.

But he's not complaining.

"My coworker who's from Harbin still hasn't been able to buy a train ticket and doesn't know how else to get home, so he might just not go back at all this year," Qi said, chain-smoking outside the station as endless hordes of passengers carrying rucksacks and suitcases streamed past.

The holiday, also known as Spring Festival, is a time for families to gather their members for plentiful food and fireworks.

Travellers taking part in the world's largest annual human migration must be home by Friday to usher in the new year on Saturday.

Transport officials predict that Chinese passengers will make almost three billion trips during the 40-day Lunar New Year period, including more than 2.5 billion journeys by road, the official Xinhua news agency said.

High travel volumes mean that navigating stations can be as much of a nightmare as nabbing a ticket in the first place.

Without internet access or a smartphone, 65-year-old Wang Wentai asked a more plugged-in friend to help him buy his train ticket back to Handan city in neighbouring Hebei Province.

Excited to go home after a year of washing dishes at a Korean restaurant to supplement his son's income from a factory job, he arrived at the station two hours early -- but still ended up missing his train due to the crowds.

Story continues

"There were so many people in line, and I just didn't know which line to wait in, so I wasted a lot of time," he said.

The next available ticket was for a train that left 14 hours later.

"I can't wait inside the station because it's still too early, but I don't know where else to go," he said, standing in front of the entrance with his hands in his pockets to protect them from the sub-zero chill.

"During the trip, you sometimes look at your phone, get bored, sleep a bit, though you can't really sleep well on the train, and just hold out until it's over," said a woman surnamed Qian who was about to embark on a 20-odd hour train ride to the distant southwestern province of Yunnan.

"But then, there are so many people crammed around you on the train that you can always chat to make it less boring."




Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton collapsed onto the podium at the Capitol building in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 23 during his State of the State address.

A press release from Governor Daytons Chief of Staff stated that the governor briefly fainted during the State of the State, but quickly recovered, walked out of the Capitol, and returned home. The statement also read that Governor Dayton would continue with his scheduled meetings and events on January 24.

A tweet from Governor Daytons son stated that the 69-year-old is doing great. Credit: YouTube/MNHouseInfo via Storyful
A Florida mom has been charged with child neglect after she allegedly left her child in her car for more than an hour while she was at work, police said.

Jasmine Denis Allen, 25, reportedly parked her car in the parking lot behind the building where she worked in St. Petersburg and left her son with the windows rolled up and doors locked on Thursday, police said.

Read: Nanny Who Allegedly Burned 3-Year-Old With Red-Hot Iron: 'It Was a Long Week and I Was Tired'

Police said Allen was inside working at a call center, AGR Group, and the boy had no way of contacting his mom inside.

A security guard spotted the boy about an hour and a half after hed allegedly been left, according to police.

The outside temperature reached 80 degrees at the time and police said the child was drenched in sweat and his mouth was white.

Someone reportedly called an ambulance but Allen left with the child before police came, authorities said.

Read: Cop Who Left Police Dog in Hot Patrol Car Also Investigated in Fatal Shooting of Previous K9 Partner: Cops

She was later arrested and charged with neglect.

The child was examined and said to be okay, according to a report.

Allen has since been released on $10,000 bond.

AGR Group told InsideEdition.com that Allen has since been fired.

Watch: Mom Charged With Felonies After Leaving 3 Young Kids In Hot Car While Shopping

Related Articles:
Saturday Night Live writer Katie Rich has been suspended after posting a negative tweet mocking Donald Trumps 10-year-old son, Barron.

During Trumps inauguration ceremony on Friday, Rich tweeted, Barron will be this countrys first homeschool shooter.

According to a person familiar with the situation, Katie was suspended immediately after her tweet and the suspension is indefinite.

Although all past tweets have since been deleted, Rich issued an apology to her Twitter account on Monday. I sincerely apologize for the insensitive tweet. I deeply regret my actions & offensive words. It was inexcusable & Im so sorry, she wrote.

I sincerely apologize for the insensitive tweet. I deeply regret my actions & offensive words. It was inexcusable & I'm so sorry.  Katie Rich (@katiemaryrich) January 23, 2017

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

For more celebrity videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

After learning about the cyberbullying that was aimed at Barron, Monica Lewinsky came to the defense of Donalds youngest son.

All children need to be protected from bullying + mockery. (incl #barrontrump). lets be better than this, Lewinsky, 43, tweeted Monday.

all children need to be protected from bullying + mockery. (incl #barrontrump). let's be better than this. https://t.co/CH3IfdpQpu  Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) January 23, 2017

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Chelsea Clinton, who was 12 when she first moved into the White House, also came to the defense of Barron on social media.

Barron Trump deserves the chance every child does-to be a kid. Standing up for every kid also means opposing POTUS policies that hurt kids, Clinton, 36, wrote Sunday on Facebook.

Story continues

Barron Trump deserves the chance every child does-to be a kid. Standing up for every kid also means opposing @POTUS policies that hurt kids.  Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) January 22, 2017

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

On Friday, Donald took the oath of office to become the 45th President of the United States in an official swearing-in ceremony on the Capitol steps.
MOSCOW (AP)  Moscow has "no illusions" about a quick thaw under President Donald Trump, but is ready to take its share of efforts needed to improve the strained ties with the United States, Russia's foreign minister said Wednesday.

Sergey Lavrov acknowledged that "time and serious work will be needed to repair the heavy damage inflicted to Russia-U.S. cooperation under Barack Obama."

"We have no illusions that there will be a new reset with the U.S., we don't have any naive expectations," Lavrov said in parliament. "We know that Trump is considered a master of the deal but Vladimir Putin knows how to make deals, too, in the interests of Russia."

"Reset" was the term that Obama's administration coined in 2009 to describe a drive for repairing ties with Russia. After a brief period of warmer ties, tensions flared up again and ties eventually plunged to post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. elections.

Trump's victory has heartened Russian political elites, who have greeted his promises to mend ties with Moscow. The Kremlin has been careful, however, warning that rebuilding ravaged ties will take time.

Lavrov said that Moscow and Washington could find a way to cooperate while protecting national interests with "decency and predictability."

He voiced hope that, unlike the Obama administration, Trump would refrain from "meddling into affairs of other countries."

Lavrov also called for improving Russia's ties with the European Union, which he said are in a "deplorable" state now because of the past U.S. administration's efforts.

The EU has followed the U.S. in slapping Moscow with economic sanctions over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and support for a pro-Russia insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

"We are seeing that there is a growing demand in EU business and social circles for normalizing relations with Russia," Lavrov said, expressing hope that Brussels will stop following demands of a "small but aggressive group of Russophobes."

Lavrov also rejected the allegations by some politicians and media in the West that Moscow is interested in weakening and splitting the EU.

"We never have been interested in the EU breakup," Lavrov said. "We want the EU to be strong, united and independent."
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  The mother of a Utah man jailed in Venezuela for the last seven months has issued another tearful plea for help to free her son, this time to President Donald Trump.

Laurie Holt's reiterated this week in her new YouTube video her belief that that her son Joshua Holt is being used as a "political pawn" by Venezuela's government. The video was posted a week after U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah mentioned the case in a meeting with Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson.

During his confirmation hearing last week, Tillerson did not mention Holt by name but said he plans to demand that Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro release all political prisoners.

Joshua Holt and his Venezuelan wife were arrested on June 30 on weapons charges. Venezuelan officials alleged he was stockpiling weapons at his wife's apartment and have suggested his case is linked to other unspecified attempts by the U.S. government to undermine President Nicolas Maduro's socialist rule amid deep economic and political turbulence.

Laurie Holt, of Riverton, Utah, has staunchly refuted that claim. She says her son, a former Mormon missionary, travelled to Venezuela to marry a woman he met online while looking for Spanish-speaking Mormons to help him improve his Spanish.

In the video, she criticizes former President Barack Obama's administration inability to win freedom for her son and tries to appeal to Trump's patriotism.

"President Trump, my son's only offense was that he was an American citizen. I know that you surely agree that being a citizen of this great nation should mean something," Holt said. "Josh and his wife and our entire family have been living in a hellish fog for the last months. My son has undergone the most horrifying and degrading physical and mental abuse."

Laurie Holt has endured a series of disappointments in recent months as four different hearings scheduled about her son's case in Caracas were cancelled. No new hearings are scheduled.

Story continues

The U.S. State Department is concerned about the postponements and is following Holt's case closely, said Will Cocks, spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs.

The department has raised the case to the highest levels of Venezuela government, urging respect for Holt's human rights and an expedited effort to resolve the case, he said in a statement.

Consular officers most recently visited Holt on Jan. 16 and will continue to make regular visits, he said.

The U.S. House passed a resolution in September calling for the release of Holt and other political prisoners in Venezuela.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry raised Holt's jailing during a meeting with Maduro in September, and a senior State Department official traveled to Caracas twice in recent months in part to push for his release.

The pressure has so far yielded no tangible results. Human rights groups contend Maduro's government is using Holt and his jailed wife, an Ecuadorean national, as bargaining chips to extract unspecified concessions from the United States.

Holt is being held in a prison in Caracas run by Venezuela's intelligence police. The facility also holds a number of activists that the opposition considers political prisoners.

___

Associated Press writer Joshua Goodman in Bogota, Colombia contributed to this report.
What would you want to listen to in your final days and moments?

One cancer patient, a woman in her 40s, chose Frank Sinatra as her life ebbed in a New Jersey hospice. In the woman's waning days, hospice staffers and volunteers wore out the CD player in her room, activating Sinatra standards like "Strangers in the Night," "The Way You Look Tonight" and "That's Life," says Bob Orozovich, a volunteer at Villa Marie Claire Hospice in Saddle River, New Jersey. The woman drew her final breaths as her husband held her hand and they listened to "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers -- their wedding song, Orozovich says.

Allowing terminally ill people to program the soundtrack to their last days can be therapeutic for those nearing the end of their life. Music won't improve a dying patient's prognosis, says Ann Hannan, a certified music therapist and director of the music therapy program at Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis, but it can provide a positive distraction for such patients and help them relax.

[See: When Health Treatments Go From Hospital to DIY.]

Hannan is one of more than 7,100 certified music therapists in the U.S. who are accredited by the Certification Board for Music Therapists. In hospice and palliative care, music therapists use such approaches as song writing, improvisation, guided imagery and music, lyric analysis, singing, instrument playing and music therapy relaxation techniques to treat the array of needs of patients and their family members. This can include alleviating isolation, loneliness and boredom; emotional issues, such as depression, anxiety, fear, frustration and anger; and physical pain and shortness of breath. Music therapists are also trained to assist with spiritual needs, such as the desire to make spiritual connections or to engage in spiritual-based rituals.

Relaxation

Music therapists use music as a treatment tool to decrease a patient's anxiety and conjure happy memories. Hannan and many clinical workers who treat terminally or gravely ill people believe that, whether it's live or recorded, music can help lower the heart rate and blood pressure of agitated patients. In fact, it's common for medical monitors to show the heart rates and blood pressure levels of dying patients stabilize to normal levels when a music therapist is singing or playing an instrument or when patients are exposed to recorded music, clinical workers say.

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Jorge Murillo, an intensive care nurse at Lakeland Medical Center in St. Joseph, Michigan, says he commonly plays soft "mall music" or jazz for patients under sedation and on a ventilator to help them breathe. "Some of them get agitated when they realize they have a tube down their throat," he says. "I do believe the music helps them relax. Patients become less agitated and become more in sync with the ventilator when the music's playing."

And there's not just anecdotal evidence -- research, too, suggests music therapy helps dying and severely ill or injured patients relax. Listening to music before, during and after surgery was beneficial to patients and significantly reduced pain, anxiety and the need for pain medication, according to a meta-analysis of 72 clinical trials published in 2015 in The Lancet. Another study, published in 2015 in Deutsches Arzteblatt, a German medical journal, found music therapy is effective in promoting relaxation for terminally ill patients undergoing palliative care, specialized medical treatment for people with a serious illness or condition that focuses on providing relief from symptoms and stress.

[See: Creative Ways Hospitals Reach Diverse Populations.]

Lifting Spirits

In addition to relaxing them, music can lift the spirits of dying patients, Murillo says. When his father was in the hospital, terminally ill with cancer, his mother brought him a cassette player and fired up his favorite Glenn Miller Orchestra and salsa songs, he says. Though his father was exhausted, "you'd see a little light in his eyes" when the music played, Murillo recalls. Positive feelings can extend to the family members of dying patients, says Suzi Johnson, vice president of Sharp Hospice Care in San Diego, California. Music "helps people gather around as a family and to celebrate the person who's ill and dying. It also creates a sense of cohesiveness and celebration."

Not every family member and loved one will feel a sense of celebration or cohesiveness from music, Hannan says, and they can derive other benefits. "It can mean whatever the family member needs it to mean at the time," she says. "If they feel the need to be relaxed at the moment, that's what they feel. If they need to feel comforted, or connected to the presence of God or a higher power, that's what it means to them."

In one instance, Hannan's music helped a young couple feel connected to -- and let go of -- their baby girl, who'd been in Riley's intensive care unit for several months due to a metabolic condition that affected her ability to breathe, process nutrition and grow, Hannan says. At the request of her parents, who were originally from Mexico, Hannan played her guitar and gently sang lullabies in Spanish to the infant. For weeks, the parents had resisted abandoning life support. When they made the agonizing decision to stop extraordinary measures, Hannan sang and played her guitar for the baby one last time as the mother held the infant. As she played, a nurse told the mother that terminating life support wasn't necessary -- the baby was gone. It was a small mercy for the parents to know they didn't end their child's life.

As a music therapist, Hannan is trained in how to read body language and emotions and to respond to those cues, she says. In the moments after the baby died, Hannan caught the dad's eyes. "Musica or no musica?" she asked. " Musica, por favor," he replied. For a few minutes, Hannan strummed her guitar as the parents wept and held their daughter's body. Musical therapists are trained to observe and reflect emotions, and Hannan says she did that, assuring the grieving parents their daughter had received their love.

Feelings can understandably run high when a loved one is nearing the end of his or her life. People can feel helpless and bereft as they watch the life ebb from a spouse, parent, child, sibling or close friend. Music can help patients and those close to them process their emotions -- and can also serve as a final gift for the patient. Here's what to consider before opting to play music for a patient with a terminal condition:

Ask about resources. Most hospitals and hospices won't have their own music therapists, but they should be able to find musicians or groups who have experience playing for people near the end of life -- within their health group or not, Hannan says. These musicians don't necessarily have to be certified music therapists, but it's important they have experience playing for people at the end of their lives, so they'll know, for instance, to gather information about the patient's likes and dislikes and avoid playing any songs that might cause him or her emotional distress, Hannan says. One musical group that fits that bill is the Threshold Choir, an organization that has a cappella teams in about 150 regions nationwide. The Threshold Choir primarily sings original songs but will also take requests, says Kate Munger, the organization's founder.

Volunteer musical preferences. If you want access to music at a hospital or hospice for yourself or a loved one, tell caregivers what kind of music you or the person being cared for likes and dislikes, says Linda Chlan, associate dean for nursing research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Some people might prefer recordings of nature sounds instead of music, she says. If that's the case, it's important to communicate what kinds of sounds might be distressful, Chlan says. "You wouldn't want to play the sound of water for someone who's afraid of drowning," she says.

[See: How Music Helps People With Alzheimer's Disease.]

Ask if you can bring your own music. Many health care providers allow patients to bring their own CDs or have loved ones provide them, Chlan says. If the patient shares a room, bring earbuds or headphones or ask hospital caregivers for that kind of gear, she advises. "Don't be shy about asking," she says. "It's a simple request, but it could be comforting to have music you love available."

Ruben Castaneda is a Health & Wellness reporter at U.S. News. He previously covered the crime beat in Washington, D.C. and state and federal courts in suburban Maryland, and he's the author of the book "S Street Rising: Crack, Murder and Redemption in D.C." You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him at LinkedIn or email him at rcastaneda@usnews.com.
Paris (AFP) - Personality traits such as moodiness or open-mindedness are linked to the shape of one's brain, a study said Wednesday.

Researchers said they found a striking correlation between structural brain differences and five main personality types.

"The shape of our brain can itself provide surprising clues about how we behave -- and our risk of developing mental health disorders," said a statement from the University of Cambridge, which took part in the study.

Psychologists have previously developed a "Big Five" model of main personality types: neuroticism (how moody a person is), extraversion (how enthusiastic), open-mindedness, agreeableness (a measure of altruism) and conscientiousness (a measure of self control).

Using brain scans from over 500 people aged 22 to 36, the new study looked at differences in the cortex -- the wrinkly outer layer of the brain also known as grey matter.

Specifically it focussed on combinations of thickness, surface area, and the number of folds in different people.

"We found that neuroticism... was linked to a thicker cortex and a smaller area and folding in some brain regions," said study co-author Roberta Riccelli of Italy's Magna Graecia University.

Conversely, openness, "was associated with a thinner cortex and greater area and folding".

Neuroticism, the team said, was a trait underlying mental illnesses such as anxiety disorders, whereas "openness" reflects curiosity and creativity.

The deep folds in the human brain were the evolutionary solution to fitting such a large, super-computer into a relatively small skull.

"It's like stretching and folding a rubber sheet -- this increases the surface area, but at the same time the sheet itself becomes thinner," co-author Luca Passamonti of the University of Cambridge explained in a statement.

- Nature vs Nurture? -

The study was the first to clearly link the "Big Five" personality traits to differences in brain shape, Riccelli told AFP.

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This, in turn, was "a crucial step to improving our understanding of mental disorders," she said.

"It may give us the opportunity to detect those who are at high risk of developing mental illnesses early, which has obvious implications for prompt intervention."

The research touches on a question that has occupied the minds of philosophers and scientists for centuries -- are humans more a product of their genes, or of their upbringing and exposure?

The study, published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, could not conclude that brain shape determines a personality type, its authors said.

"We cannot answer the question: 'What came first, the chicken or the egg?'," said Riccelli.

"Hence we can't say if we have a specific personality type because our brain has a specific shape."

Brain shape, in itself, is determined by genetic as well as environmental factors, she pointed out.

The team hypothesised that brain differences may be even more pronounced in people likelier to suffer from neuro-psychiatric illnesses.
By Ian Simpson

(Reuters) - Nebraska state Senator Bill Kintner resigned on Wednesday after he retweeted a disparaging post about women protesters holding signs criticizing comments U.S. President Donald Trump once made about sexual assault.

The Republican legislator stepped down ahead of a vote scheduled for Wednesday by fellow state lawmakers on whether to expel him. An expulsion would have been the first in the unicameral legislature's history.

"As much as my heart says to fight, my head says it's time to step away from the legislature," Kintner, 56, told a news conference.

He said he had hesitated because he knew his resignation, which takes effect on Monday, would be hailed as a victory by "the progressive liberal movement."

Kintner also was fined last year for having cybersex using a state computer.

Republican Governor Pete Ricketts said in a statement that Kintner had done the right thing and that he would move quickly to fill the vacancy.

Kintner, who has represented a district south of Omaha since 2012, was criticized after he retweeted on Sunday a post by conservative radio host Larry Elder that insulted protest marchers.

Elder's tweet included a photograph of three women at a weekend Women's March carrying signs protesting President Donald Trump's 2005 comments about grabbing women by the genitals, the Lincoln Journal Star newspaper reported.

"Ladies, I think you're safe," Elder wrote.

Kintner had argued that the posting was misconstrued and that the backlash he received for retweeting it was part of a "liberal activist campaign" against him, the newspaper said.

Kintner's Twitter account has since been deleted, as has the original tweet by Elder.

The Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission had fined Kintner $1,000 in August for improper use of state property after he admitted having cybersex with a woman in 2015 using a state laptop.

At the time, Kintner resisted calls to step down from fellow politicians, including Ricketts, the newspaper reported.

(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Daniel Wallis and David Gregorio)
ABUJA (Reuters) - The Nigerian government said on Wednesday that President Muhammadu Buhari is in good health, urging people to disregard what it said were false and subversive messages on social media after he traveled to Britain last week for medical checks. News of the president's medical leave sparked a flurry of talk in Nigeria that Buhari, 74, was unwell, and potentially very sick. Those claims have been fueled by a previous illness, when he spent nearly two weeks in London last June treating an ear infection. Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohamed said the government urged Nigerians "to disregard the subversive messages being circulated via text messaging and the Social Media, saying the fabricated messages are being orchestrated by those who feel threatened by the emerging order." "There is no iota of truth in the messages being circulated on the health of the President, who is hale and hearty, and the purported emergency meetings of the State Governors in Abuja or anywhere," he said in a statement. Sources of the allegations about Buhari's wellbeing are being investigated, the minister said. Buhari's predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, was sworn in after the death in 2010 of President Umaru Yar'Adua. His illness created a power vacuum that was only filled by Jonathan, his vice president, after three months of political infighting. Buhari is expected to resume work on Feb. 6, his spokesman said when the president departed last week. When Buhari had been in London for medical treatment last June, the People's Democratic Party, Nigeria's main opposition, had said that he was "critically ill" and he had returned to Abuja to continue treatment, without giving a source for the information. (Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by Paul Carsten)
President Donald Trump has pledged a new era in U.S.-Russian relations. But his recently confirmed U.N. envoy, outgoing South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, is having none of it.

In a Senate hearing and in written responses to questions from Foreign Relations Committee members, Haley has made it clear that Russia could never be a fully trusted friend of the United States as long as President Vladimir Putin remains in power.

The lesson to learn from the failed Russian reset is that as long as Vladimir Putin is in charge, Russia will never be a credible partner for the United States, Haley wrote. I do not see, at present, the conditions that would allow the U.S. to forge a new relationship with Russia at the U.N. Security Council.

Far from pledging to rally forces with Russia in the war on terror, Haley vowed to use her U.N. megaphone to counter what she described as Russias malign influence in the elections of the United States and other Western powers. She said she would also rally support from like-minded allies to maintain pressure on Russia to reverse its grab for land in Ukraine and to halt its brutal repression of opposition groups in Syria.

The stark contrast with Trumps views reflects the through-the-looking-glass nature of foreign policy under a new American president whose vision has, so far, been largely repudiated by those whom he has charged with making it a reality. Top advisors from Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson to Secretary of Defense James Mattis have differed with Trump on issues including Russia, climate change, and the effectiveness of torture.

But no one in Trumps cabinet has taken stances that appear as starkly at odds with Trumps worldview as Haley has. The 45-year-old Indian-American politician acknowledged the differences in confirmation hearings last week as she expressed her opposition to a registry for Muslims and highlighted the importance of preserving NATO. But she voiced confidence that she and other foreign-policy advisors could persuade Trump to change his stripes.

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She doubled down on those tough sentiments in her written responses to the panel, further underscoring the differences between her and Trump.

Russias actions in eastern Ukraine  and its invasion and illegal occupation of Crimea  establish a very dangerous precedent only last seen in Europe during World War II, she wrote. This could lead to a complete breakdown in the postwar settlement that has largely endured peace and stability throughout much of Europe since 1945. This would have a profound negative impact on U.S. national interests.

The big question is whether Haley, from her cabinet seat and through day-to-day diplomacy in the U.N. trenches, can actually prevail upon Trump to revise his foreign-policy priorities, and to view Putin more as Americas adversary than a partner, or whether she will be steamrolled by his radically different view of U.S. foreign policy.

If Haley is going to push back against some of her bosss ideas, she has a potentially powerful perch. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has long served as Americas face before the world, a high-visibility diplomat who projects American values to 193 member states.

The post has functioned as a weigh station for big-name politicians in need of a job and as a critical springboard to higher office for political up-and-comers.

George H.W. Bush did time at Turtle Bay long before ascending to the presidency, and Madeleine Albright moved on to secretary of state while her onetime protege Susan Rice became former President Barack Obamas national security advisor. Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, is viewed by many as a rising Republican star with the potential to become president or vice president in the future. But it is rare for a U.N. envoy to take positions so much at odds with the president he or she serves.

But by publicly challenging Trump, she may run the risk of squandering whatever influence she might have over a political leader she sharply criticized during his presidential campaign.

In New York and Washington, Democratic stalwarts and foreign delegates are rooting for Haley to succeed. They see her brand of establishment Republicanism as more firmly rooted in the mainstream, reaffirming the U.S. commitment to promote human rights and embracing the need to work with allies.

She has reaffirmed bedrock principles that a week ago would have been unremarkable: that climate change is not a hoax; that Russias annexation of Crimea is illegal; and that Russian pilots have committed war crimes in Syria. On Tuesday, Haley breezed through the confirmation process, with only four Senators  including Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)  opposing her.

Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was impressed by Haleys pledge to promote U.S. values, including universal human rights, good governance, and press and religious freedom.

The United States is stronger when we have a seat and a voice at the U.N., and the U.N. is better off with American leadership and values on display, he added, calling the body an indispensable force for good in the world that bolsters American national security.

But some observers worry that Haley will have little real influence in the White House. Her commitments to uphold free speech and human rights frontally collide with an administration that just tried to place a gag order on some federal workers and which is mulling the prospect of re-establishing black site detention centers.

I have no reason to assume she is going to have a lot of influence on policymaking in the administration, said one European ambassador. But I think there is a general consensus here that she is probably the least bad option we could have got among the names floated.

The chances of Nikki Haley having a great deal of influence on the president are not large, said Michael Doyle, a Columbia University law professor who served as a top advisor to former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, noting that she lacks a close personal relationship with Trump and has no experience in international affairs.

But when it comes to Russia, she wont be alone in the administration and her views could ultimately prevail, some experts say. Previous administrations, including those of Obama and George W. Bush, sought to forge a new relationship with Moscow. But those efforts foundered, said Bruce Jones, the vice president for foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, because Russian interests and American interests dont align.

Trump may have a different view of Americas interests, and he may push this further than other presidents, he said. But some cabinet members are also skeptical of Russia, including Mattis and retired Gen. John Kelly, the secretary of homeland security, as are nearly all Republicans in Congress, he noted.

Trump may find himself having much less room to maneuver on Russia than he thinks, Jones said.

One issue that unites Trump, Haley, and the Republican-controlled Congress is Israel. Haley has echoed Trumps outrage over a U.N. Security Council resolution in December condemning Israeli settlements. The United Nations will have to reach some sort of accommodation with Washington on Israel, said Peter Yeo, the president of the Better World Campaign, a U.N. advocacy group.

But Haley has also pushed back on legislation proposed by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that threatens to withhold all U.S. financial assistance to the United Nations if the Security Council fails to repeal its settlements resolution  a demand diplomats at Turtle Bay view as a nonstarter.

Saying she opposes slash-and-burn cuts, Haley urged Congress to consider targeted and selective withholding to secure specific goals, such as pressuring the U.N. Human Rights Commission to stop introducing resolutions denouncing Israels human rights abuses.

As ambassador, she said she would recommend that Trump announce that the United States no longer supports that resolution and would veto any U.N. Security Council efforts to implement it or enforce it and block any future U.N. sanctions based on it.

But the prospect of resolving the settlement standoff appeared increasingly remote Tuesday, as Israel announced its approval of a large new wave of 2,500 housing units to be built in the occupied West Bank.

Haley also pledged to negotiate a deal reducing the U.S. share of the U.N.s nearly $8 billion peacekeeping budget, down to 25 percent from about 29 percent presently. The annual peacekeeping tab for the United States is more than $2.5 billion.

Photo credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Washington (AFP) - The US Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly confirmed Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina, as US ambassador to the United Nations, delivering new President Donald Trump one of his most potent diplomatic tools.

The nomination of Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, sailed through the Senate by a vote of 96 to four.

The 45-year-old will assume the job at UN headquarters in New York with a clear early task: reassuring nervous governments around the world that Washington will remain engaged in international diplomacy during the era of Trump.

The new US president had just three cabinet members in place prior to the Haley vote: Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who was confirmed and sworn in late Tuesday.

Trump has signaled he would like to slash US funding for United Nations climate change programs, and he opposed a recent UN Security Council resolution critical of Israel that Barack Obama's administration had declined to veto.

Haley won the backing of Democratic Senator Ben Cardin because, he said, "she does not support efforts to slash American funding to the UN and that she would consistently vocalize US values, including universal human rights, good governance and press and religious freedom."

She also acknowledged in her hearing testimony that "Crimea is not Russian" and spoke "very strongly" about defending Ukrainian sovereignty, Cardin said, referring to the Kremlin's annexation of the region in Ukraine.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Haley exhibited great competence as governor during trying times, notably a horrific flood and the racially charged murder of nine parishioners at a historically black church in Charleston.

"The skill set she has for bringing people together, I have seen," Graham told the chamber.

One can learn the intricacies of foreign policy, he added, "but diplomacy is something you either have or you don't."

Former ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson, Trump's pick for secretary of state who many observers say is the most important member of the president's cabinet, has yet to be confirmed.

Tillerson visited the State Department for the first time on Tuesday.
By James Pearson SEOUL (Reuters) - The North Korean elite are outwardly expressing their discontent towards young leader Kim Jong Un and his government as more outside information trickles into the isolated country, North Korea's former deputy ambassador to London said on Wednesday. Thae Yong Ho defected to South Korea in August last year and since December 2016 has been speaking to media and appearing on variety television shows to discuss his defection to Seoul and his life as a North Korean envoy. "When Kim Jong Un first came to power, I was hopeful that he would make reasonable and rational decisions to save North Korea from poverty, but I soon fell into despair watching him purging officials for no proper reasons," Thae said during his first news conference with foreign media on Wednesday. "Low-level dissent or criticism of the regime, until recently unthinkable, is becoming more frequent," said Thae, who spoke in fluent, British-accented English. "We have to spray gasoline on North Korea, and let the North Korean people set fire to it." Thae, 54, has said publicly that dissatisfaction with Kim Jong Un prompted him to flee his post. Two university-age sons living with him and his wife in London also defected with him. North and South Korea are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The North, which is subject to U.N. sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs, regularly threatens to destroy the South and its main ally, the United States. Thae is the most senior official to have fled North Korea and entered public life in the South since the 1997 defection of Hwang Jang Yop, the brains behind the North's governing ideology, "Juche", which combines Marxism and extreme nationalism. Today's North Korean system had "nothing to do with true communism", Thae said, adding that the elite, like himself, had watched with unease as countries like Cambodia, Vietnam and the former Soviet Union embraced economic and social reforms. Thae has said that more North Korean diplomats are waiting in Europe to defect to South Korea. North Korea still outwardly professes to maintain a Soviet-style command economy, but for years a thriving network of informal markets and person-to-person trading has become the main source of food and money for ordinary people. Fully embracing these reforms would end Kim Jong Un's rule, Thae said. Asked if Kim Jong Un's brother, Kim Jong Chol, could run the country instead, Thae remained skeptical. "Kim Jong Chol has no interest in politics. He is only interested in music," Thae said. "He's only interested in Eric Clapton. If he was a normal man, I'm sure he'd be a very good professional guitarist". (Reporting by James Pearson; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Oslo (AFP) - Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, has removed US arms giant Raytheon from its blacklist after it stopped manufacturing cluster weapons, Norway's central bank announced on Wednesday.

The fund, worth around 7.42 trillion kroner (830 billion euros, $892 billion) and which is subject to strict ethical guidelines, excluded Raytheon from its portfolio in 2005 because of its role in the production of these weapons.

International campaigners have long sought a ban on cluster weapons because of the serious danger they pose to civilian populations.

"The Council on Ethics has received confirmation from Raytheon Co that the company no longer has any activities associated with production of cluster munitions (and) has on the basis of this information recommended the bank to revoke the exclusion," said the bank, which is tasked with managing the Norwegian fund.

The fund holds stakes in around 9,000 companies worldwide.

Its investment policy is focused on sustainable economic, environmental and social development.

Ethical rules bar it from investing in companies accused of serious violations of human rights, child labour or serious environmental damage, as well as manufacturers of "particularly inhumane" arms, tobacco firms and companies who generate more than 30 percent of their sales from coal production.

More than 130 companies have been blacklisted, including heavyweights such as Airbus, Boeing, Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Rio Tinto.

While it is commonly called a state pension fund, the fund is designed to meet the future needs of Norway's welfare state and is fuelled by the country's oil and gas revenues.
Robert Mugabe, everyones favorite Zimbabwean geriatric dictator, doesnt have many friends left in the world. After over 30 years in power, hes turned Zimbabwe into an international pariah  a country saddled with corruption, economic woes, and human rights abuses. One might think, then, that he would be a bit more respectful to the friends he has left, even if their support wanes.

But one would be wrong. Mugabe is currently embroiled in a colorful war of words with former political supporters in neighboring South Africa.

It started on Monday, when Julius Malema, the leader of South Africas radical socialist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) political party, called for Mugabe to step down. We say this out of love, not because we hate him. We celebrate Mugabe, we celebrate what he has done. But, grandpa, its enough, Malema said. You must let go and let others continue with that legacy, he added, encouraging members of Mugabes ruling ZANU-PF party to take the reins of the country from its 92-year-old ruler.

Mugabes government didnt take that too well. And so it released a press statement that is equal parts scathing and, perhaps unintentionally, entertaining. Julius Malema shines as a loud-mouthed Gucci revolutionary who acquired the infamy of deserting and betraying politics of liberation, Mugabes Minister of Information Christopher Mushowe said in a statement released Tuesday.

He is nothing more than a shrunken, talkative joke.what an embarrassment, what miserly little grasp of continental politics he exhibits in the process! he added.

The EFF, a fringe socialist party, was a longtime supporter of Mugabe for standing up to what Malema calls imperialist puppets (read: Western governments and any leaders who work with them). But even friends forever can be fickle, and the EFF started to distance itself from the nonagenarian dictator in recent months as his health slipped. But Mugabes party, undeterred, is stubbornly backing him for Zimbabwes 2018 elections (despite Mugabes poor health and penchant for falling asleep in meetings) and arresting anyone who might predict his death.

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On Tuesday, the EFF hit back with a press statement of its own. What is revolutionary about being led by a person in old age; who sleeps all the time in meetings, can no longer even hold a pen or write half a page? the EFF asked. Insistence that President Mugabe must lead to the grave is a sign that ZANU-PF is drowning in cowardice, it added.

And, because things werent dramatic enough, Malema apparently now has a new friend in Stanley Goreraza, Mugabes wifes ex-husband. Hypocrites are usually cowards and cowards are always liars who dont mean what they say and say what they dont mean. There is absolutely no defense for putting a 93 year old man to the punitive job of President, Goreraza said (though Mugabe is actually 92).

So, to recap: Mugabes longtime friend in South Africa called on him to step down, Mugabes minister of information called him a joke, his now-ex friend made fun of him for falling asleep, and then his wifes ex-husband joined in to belatedly drop the proverbial mic.

If only all petty political spats brought with them such sick burns.

Photo credit: JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images
(Reuters) - Novartis, lagging some other big drugmakers in the first wave of immunotherapy drugs that are revolutionizing cancer treatment, hopes to catch up by focusing on the next wave of immune system-boosting medicines. Setting out its research objectives in slides for a press conference on Wednesday, it said it aimed for "a leadership position in oncology" by focusing on second-generation immunotherapy. The Swiss drugmaker said it was rapidly progressing 18 checkpoint and other novel targets and expected to be running 20 exploratory studies in immuno-oncology by early 2017. Merck & Co, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Roche are in the lead with cancer immunotherapies already on the market, but the field is developing fast and new treatments are expected to play an important role in drug cocktails. Novartis is already developing a novel cell therapy for childhood leukemia called CTL-019, which is on track for submission to regulators for approval early this year, although this initial market opportunity is small. Outside cancer, Novartis has a closely watched new drug for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis called BAF-312, which it hopes to file for approval in the first half of 2017, pending consultations with regulators. It is also looking to new products for heart and eye conditions and other serious diseases to help offset generic competition to its old blood cancer drug Glivec. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler, editing by Louise Heavens)
Kochav Yaakov (AFP) - Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank shot dead a Palestinian who drove at a bus stop in an attempted car-ramming attack Wednesday, a military spokeswoman told AFP.

Nobody on the Israeli side was injured in the incident near a Jewish settlement southeast of the Palestinian city of Ramallah.

"A Palestinian rammed a vehicle into a bus stop at the entrance to Kokhav Yaakov," the army said in a statement.

"In response to the immediate threat, forces fired at the attacker, resulting in his death. A knife was found in the attacker's possession."

The spokeswoman said soldiers and civilians had been standing at the stop.

The Palestinian Red Crescent named the dead man as Hussein Abu Ghosh, 24, from Qalandia refugee camp between Jerusalem and Ramallah.

An AFP journalist at the scene said the alleged attacker's vehicle, a white pickup with green Palestinian licence plates, had bullet holes in its windscreen and rear window.

It had come to a halt in front of the bus stop, just outside the settlement's closed entrance.

Later Wednesday, a Palestinian gunman opened fire at an army post near Abud village, northeast of Ramallah, the military said in a separate statement.

"Shots were fired from a passing vehicle," it said. "No injuries were sustained."

It said troops returned fire, wounding the assailant, who was given medical treatment on the scene. The extent of his injuries was not disclosed.

Since October 2015, 249 Palestinians, 40 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities.

Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some died in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip.

On January 8 a Palestinian rammed a truck into a group of Israeli soldiers standing at the roadside as they visited a popular tourist spot in Jerusalem, killing four and wounding 17.

Many analysts say Palestinian frustration with Israel's occupation and its settlement building in the West Bank, comatose peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have helped feed the unrest.

Israel says incitement by Palestinian leaders and media is a leading cause.
As this Illinois couple welcomed their twins into the world in April, they were flabbergasted to find their new babies looked remarkably different  and were even of different races.

Read: 11-Month-Old Twins Joined at the Lower Back Are Successfully Separated

Kalani has light skin and blue eyes and her twin sister, Jarani, has brown skin and brown eyes.

Her mother, Whitney Meyer, told Inside Edition: It is a miracle. They are miracle babies.

The babies were born in April to Whitney and her boyfriend, Thomas Dean.

The mother is white and the father is black. They live together in Quincy and were shocked to see what the girls looked like when they arrived.

"Jarani had a little tan to her. But when Kalani came out, I did ask the nurses if she was albino because she was so white, lighter than her sister," she said. "The doctors were thinking that she would probably get some color later on but she never has."

Dean told Inside Edition he believed his daughters would look similar to him.

"When Kalani came out, she didn't look like me," he said.

Dean also claimed that the doctor never told them the children could arrive in different skin tones.

Read: Before She Was Famous: Oscar Nominee Emma Stone Seen in Rare Videos From Her Childhood

Whitney says while she was pregnant with the girls, she saw a story about the world famous British twins, Lucy and Maria Aylmer. One of the English twins is white and the other is black.

I was like, it would never happen to me," Meyer said, laughing. "And look what happened to me."

"We dont see color. Love is love."

Watch: Peta Murgatroyd Reveals Photo Just Days After Giving Birth: 'I Left the Hospital Looking 5 Months Pregnant'

Related Articles:
Paris (AFP) - Penelope Fillon, the British-born wife of French presidential frontrunner Francois Fillon, has long kept out of the public eye -- but she has now become a story in the campaign.

Investigators opened a preliminary inquiry Wednesday into claims by the Canard Enchaine newspaper that she received about half a million euros ($538,000) for "fictitious work" as a parliamentary aide to her husband over a number of years.

The paper wrote that it could find no one who could recall her working in parliament.

Last year, during the rightwing primary campaign in which her husband pulled off a surprise win to clinch the nomination, Penelope Fillon told regional newspaper Le Bien Public: "Until now, I have never got involved in my husband's political life."

In 2008, when her husband was prime minister, she told French TV that her role was limited to "accompanying him (on some functions), and it is limited to that".

Francois Fillon, who most polls currently show is likely to reach the runoff of the presidential election in which he could face far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, dismissed the allegations Wednesday as "mudslinging".

- 'Always in the shadows' -

In November, Fillon paid tribute to his wife, saying: "She has been with me in political life for 30 years and she is a councillor in (our) village... a role she fulfils discreetly and without fuss."

He added: "She has done many campaigns with me, but always in the shadows."

Penelope Fillon, who like her husband is 62, has since 2014 been a local councillor in Solesmes, the village of 1,000 people in the Sarthe area where the couple live in a chateau. They raised their five children there.

The mayor of Solesmes, Pascal Lelievre, told AFP she "never misses a meeting".

The silver-haired Penelope also told Britain's Sunday Telegraph in 2007, after her husband became premier, that she preferred caring for her children and horses in the countryside to the bright lights of Paris.

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"I'm just a country peasant, this is not my natural habitat," Penelope joked.

Glossy magazine spreads at the time showed the family sitting in the grounds of their impressive home.

Penelope, from the market town of Abergavenny in south Wales, met her future husband when she was studying law in Le Mans. She was 23 and they married three years later, when he entered parliament for the first time.
Washington (AFP) - US Defense Secretary James Mattis plans to travel to Japan and South Korea next month on his first trip as the Pentagon's new chief, a spokesman said Wednesday.

He is set to depart on February 1 for South Korea before traveling to Tokyo on February 3.

"The trip will underscore the commitment of the United States to our enduring alliances to Japan and the Republic of Korea, and further strengthen US/Japan/Republic of Korea security cooperation," Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said.

The trip comes amid worries among the two long-standing American allies about the direction of US policy in their region under President Donald Trump.

During his campaign, Trump threatened to withdraw US forces from the two countries if they do not step up their financial support.

Mattis will be the Trump administration's first senior official to shed light on specifics of Washington's intentions in the region.

He will meet with his counterparts and other senior officials, Davis said.

Tensions are also rising with China over its moves to assert sovereignty in disputed areas of the South China Sea, and over North Korean threats to test an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the US mainland.

Trump has angered China with a hard line against Beijing, threatening an economic trade war and upending decades of US policy over Taiwan.

In another jarring note for the region, the president this week withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade agreement signed by former president Barack Obama but never ratified by Congress.

The agreement was signed by 12 countries bordering the Pacific. In addition to the United States, signers include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Since his appointment earlier this month, Mattis has sought to reaffirm Washington's major alliances.

On Monday, he emphasized its "unshakeable commitment" to NATO.

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During his Senate confirmation hearings, he stressed the US strategic interest in its alliances with Japan and South Korea.

"The United States is stronger when we uphold our treaty obligations," he said.

However, he added, "we expect our allies and partners to uphold their obligations as well."
A third round of peace talks between the Philippines and communist rebels ended Wednesday with no deal on a permanent ceasefire the government had billed as its primary goal.

Both parties described a week of Norwegian-brokered negotiations on the outskirts of Rome as "successful" in a joint statement that was delayed by last-minute wrangling over wording.

In their statement, the parties noted that "their unilateral indefinite ceasefires remain in place," but added that "there are issues and concerns related thereto."

Despite the failure to tie down a permanent ceasefire after agreement on a temporary one in August, diplomats involved in bringing the two sides together told AFP the latest discussions had been cordial and that efforts to bring the two sides closer to a deal had advanced.

Both parties agreed to meet for a fourth round of formal talks in Oslo April 2-6. Officials dealing specifically with the ceasefire issue will meet again sooner, in Utrecht in the Netherlands on February 22-27.

The communist insurgency in the Philippines, launched in 1968, is one of the longest running in the world and has claimed an estimated 30,000 lives, according to the country's military.

The government's chief negotiator, Silvestre Bello, had voiced hopes at the beginning of the Rome talks that obstacles to a joint ceasefire agreement could be overcome during this round of talks.

They were held in Rome because one thing both sides could agree on was that Oslo in January was too cold for any kind of Philippine negotiation, a Norwegian source told AFP.
Warsaw (AFP) - Poland's state-owned defence consortium PGZ on Wednesday said it had signed a partnership agreement with French naval shipbuilder DCNS, notably to build submarines.

The cooperation marks the first military agreement between the countries since Poland's shock decision last October to drop a deal with Airbus to buy 50 of its Caracal helicopters for an estimated more than 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion).

"I'm glad that it turns out potential problems in the domain of Polish-French cooperation are purely theoretical," said PGZ head Arkadiusz Siwko in the statement.

DCNS for its part confirmed to AFP that it had signed an industrial agreement "to see how to cooperate in the domain of Polish naval programmes".

The partnership could see the two sides work together on submarines, coastal defence ships and minesweeper patrol vessels for Poland, the PGZ statement said.

It "foresees a technology transfer and advanced participation by Poland's naval industry in realising these projects", the statement said.

Poland's Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz last week outlined major defence spending including an anti-missile system, helicopters, submarines and jet fighters, amid concern over NATO and US policy from a new White House.

Warsaw hopes to buy three new submarines "to secure the Polish part of the Baltic" as jitters grow over Russia's heightened military presence in the region.

Macierewicz also confirmed that Poland is looking at offers from Lockheed Martin, Leonardo/Finmeccanica and Airbus for 16 military helicopters, without specifying the value of the contract.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  The Ohio teen accused of shooting a classmate in school expressed surprise his victim was still alive, apologized and then turned his shotgun around and asked the student to kill him, according to a police account of the attack released Wednesday.

"You're not dead!" the suspect said, after seeing that Logan Cole hadn't been killed, according to the report.

The suspect then placed the barrel of the 12-gauge shotgun against his forehead and the trigger assembly toward 16-year-old Cole and asked him to shoot him, the report said.

The report says Cole refused to shoot his attacker Friday at the high school in in West Liberty, about 55 miles northwest of Columbus.

The 17-year-old suspect said he acted alone and didn't involve anyone else, according to an interview with the suspect by Sheriff's Det. Glenn Kemp.

The Associated Press isn't naming the suspect because it generally doesn't identify juveniles charged with crimes.

A message was left with the suspect's public defender.

Cole is being treated at the Columbus children's hospital, where he has been in stable condition.

The suspect has been charged in juvenile court with several charges including attempted murder, felonious assault and improperly discharging a weapon at or into a school safety zone. A second student also was slightly injured when he was struck by a shot from the gun, the report said.

Champaign County Prosecutor Kevin Talebi has filed a motion to transfer the case to adult court.

The report provided the following timeline of events:

 The suspect said "he did not sleep during the night time hours" and around 5:42 a.m. Friday he sneaked into his mother's bathroom after seeing her go outside to smoke a cigarette. Inside, he and took the shotgun, a Christmas gift from his grandparents two years ago, from its plastic case.

 About an hour later the suspect went into his mother's bedroom while she was showering and retrieved ammunition for the gun from a bedroom closet. He used a screwdriver from his stepfather's tool box in the basement to dissemble the shotgun before placing it in a school bag along with a vest, mask and ammunition, which he placed in the vest's pockets.

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 The suspect and his sister drove to the school, which sits surrounded by fields about two miles from the village of West Liberty, at about 6:50 a.m. The suspect's sister was not aware of his plans.

 Inside a boys bathroom, the suspect waited until a student inside left, then entered a stall and assembled the weapon.

 After assembling the shotgun, the suspect "said the Lord's prayer," and donned a camouflage vest and a homemade mask with an anarchy symbol and an expletive written on it.

 The suspect waited several minutes until the first class bell rang before he emerged, saw Cole and shot him with two rounds. The suspect then fired shots into the windows of two classrooms where he retreated to the bathroom and found Cole still alive.

 Hearing principals' voices in the hall, the suspect went back into the bathroom stall, took off the vest, put the shotgun on the floor and kicked the gun away.

 A principal who found the suspect in the bathroom pressed him facedown onto the floor. The suspect told the principal he was a screw-up, using an expletive. The principal held the suspect down until police arrived.

___

Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/andrew-welsh-huggins
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis will appoint a personal delegate to run the Knights of Malta temporarily following the resignation of the embattled head of the Rome-based Catholic chivalric and charity institution, the Vatican said on Wednesday. Grand Master Matthew Festing, 67, resigned after the pope asked him to step down at a meeting on Tuesday. Grand masters of the institution, which was founded in the 11th century, usually keep their positions for life.[nL5N1FE7OX] Festing quit after a bitter two-month dispute with the Vatican over his sacking of a senior Knights of Malta leader, ostensibly because he had allowed the use of condoms in a medical project for the poor. The showdown reflects broader conflicts inside the Roman Catholic Church, with Pope Francis facing concerted opposition to his efforts to modernise the Holy See and gently unravel the legacy of his conservative predecessors. A Vatican statement said the Knights of Malta's number two, would run the group until the pope chose his own delegate. Sources said the papal delegate would remain in charge until the order was ready to elect a new Grand Master. The all-male top leaders of the Knights of Malta are not clerics, but they take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to the pope. The institution has 13,500 members, 25,000 employees and 80,000 volunteers worldwide. The order, formed to provide protection and medical care for pilgrims to the Holy Land during the crusades, has the status of a sovereign entity. It maintains diplomatic relations with over 100 states and the European Union and has permanent observer status at the United Nations. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Crispian Balmer)
LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's parliament rejected on Wednesday a government proposal to cut the social security tax companies pay on the minimum wage, in the first such defeat for the administration after two far-left allies opposed the move. The minority Socialist government came to power at the end of 2015 with the backing of the Communists and Left Bloc with a promise of reversing austerity and returning more income to workers after a 2011-14 international bailout. Parliament speaker Ferro Rodrigues said the Communists, Left Bloc and opposition centre-right Social Democrats voted against the measure. The Communists and Left Bloc have long objected to compensating companies for minimum wage rises and say the tax cut would only serve to encourage employers to pay lower wages. The 1.25-percentage-point tax cut to 21.5 percent was designed to compensate for a rise in the minimum wage this year to 557 euros a month from 535. It had been agreed with employers and unions and was approved by the president last week. "The government will now analyze the situation and naturally talk to its social partners and we will then see what results from that," Labour Minister Jose Vieira da Silva said after the vote. While both leftist parties opposed the bill, the leader of the Left Bloc said on Tuesday she still backed the government and expected their political alliance to endure. Analysts have said the two parties' vote could be linked to positioning ahead of local elections this year. The government had hoped the opposition centre-right Social Democrats would support the measure, but it withdrew backing in a bid to highlight government disunity. (Editing by Louise Ireland)
(WASHINGTON)  President Donald Trump is asking for a review of Americas methods for interrogating terror suspects and the possible reopening of CIA-run black site prisons outside the United States, according to a draft executive order obtained by The Associated Press.

The order would also reverse Americas commitment to closing the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The document instructs top national security officers to recommend to the president whether to reinitiate a program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States and whether such program should include the use of detention facilities operated by the Central Intelligence Agency.

The document says U.S. laws should be obeyed at all times and explicitly rejects torture. But its reconsideration of the harsh interrogation techniques banned by President Barack Obama and Congress is sure to inflame passions in the United States and abroad. While some former government leaders insist the program was effective in obtaining critical intelligence, many others blame it for some of the worst abuses in the war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

The AP obtained the draft order from a U.S. official, who said it had been distributed by the White House for consultations before Trump signs it. The official wasnt authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.

On the campaign trail, Trump spoke emphatically about toughening the U.S. approach to fighting the ISIS. He spoke he would interrogate terror suspects with the outlawed practice of waterboarding, which simulates drowning, and a hell of a lot worse. Since becoming president, however, he has tempered those calls, noting his Defense Secretary James Mattis advice that torture is ineffective.

The reports of an upcoming order were already sparking significant alarm among Democrats and Republicans.

The president can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law, said Republican Sen. John McCain, who was held captive during the Vietnam War. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America.
(WASHINGTON)  President Donald Trump moved aggressively to tighten the nations immigration controls Wednesday, signing executive actions to jumpstart construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall and block federal grants from immigrant-protecting sanctuary cities.

Beginning today the United States of America gets back control of its borders, Trump declared during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security. We are going to save lives on both sides of the border.

Trump cast his actions as fulfillment of a campaign pledge to enact hard-line immigration measures, including construction of a wall paid for by Mexico. With the families of Americans killed by people living in the U.S. illegally sitting in the audience, Trump said, When it comes to public safety, there is no place for politics.

Funding for the border wall project is murky. While Trump has repeatedly promised that Mexico will pay for it, U.S. taxpayers are expected to cover the initial costs and the new administration has said nothing about how it will compel Mexico to reimburse the money. One of the executive actions Trump signed Wednesday appears to signal that he could restrict aid to Mexico.

In an interview with ABC News earlier Wednesday, Trump said, There will be a payment; it will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who has insisted his country will not pay for a wall, is expected to meet with Trump at the White House next week, despite calls from some lawmakers for him to cancel his visit.

Congressional aides say there is about $100 million of unspent appropriations in the Department of Homeland Security account for border security, fencing and infrastructure. That would allow planning efforts to get started, but far more money would have to be appropriated for when construction got underway.

Trump has insisted many times the border structure will be a wall. The order he signed referred to a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous and impassable physical barrier.

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The presidents orders also call for hiring 5,000 additional border patrol agents, though the increase is subject to congressional approval. He also moved to end what Republicans have labeled a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are released and given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

Later in the week, Trump is expected to sign orders restricting the flow of refugees into the United States. His current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as a temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim-majority countries, according to a source from a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues. The person was briefed on the details of that proposed action by a government official and outlined the plan to The Associated Press.

The public policy organization source insisted on anonymity in order to outline the plans ahead of the presidents official announcements.

Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten U.S. immigration policies, including strengthening border security and stemming the flow of refugees. His call for a border wall was among his most popular proposals with supporters, who often broke out in chants of build that wall during rallies.

In response to terrorism concerns, Trump controversially called for halting entry to the U.S. from Muslim countries. He later turned to a focus on extreme vetting for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

To build the wall, the president is relying on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-President George W. Bush, and the majority of that fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office. The last remnants were completed after President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

The Trump administration also must adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be buil. The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the U.S.-Mexico border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint U.S.-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.

Trumps order to crack down on sanctuary cities  locales that dont cooperate with immigration authorities  could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars. But the administration may face legal challenges, given that some federal courts have found that local jurisdictions cannot hold immigrants beyond their jail term or deny them bond based only a request from immigration authorities.

It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still being finalized. The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the U.S. for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though the person cautioned the details could still change.

There is also likely to be an exception for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.

As president, Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing. Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.

___

Zoll reported from New York. AP writer Alicia A. Caldwell in Washington contributed to this report.
President Trump on Wednesday morning announced that he would launch an investigation into voter fraud, perpetuating his false claims that millions of people illegally voted in the U.S. presidential election.

Since November, Trump has repeatedly made unfounded claims that millions of non-citizens voted illegally in the election and cost him the popular vote to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. But there is no evidence to support such claims.

Notably, Trumps own lawyers dismissed claims of fraud when responding to a recount effort by Green Party candidate Jill Stein. All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake, they wrote in a legal filing last month.

But Trump has repeated the claims anyway.

I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and.even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures! he said in tweets on Wednesday morning.

Heres what you need to know.

There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud

While there is no evidence that millions of people voted illegally in the election, there is evidence that voter rolls are often outdated  which can lead to voters being registered in multiple states or dead people remaining on voter lists.

Neither is automatic evidence of fraud. In fact, senior White House adviser Stephen Bannon is registered to vote in Florida and New Yorkwhere he cast his ballot in November  the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.

In confirming Trumps beliefs on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer referenced a 2012 Pew Center on the States report about the need to upgrade the voter registration system. According to the report, more than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters, and about 2.75 million people are registered to vote in more than one state. Neither data point is evidence of fraud.

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The report focused on how outdated voter registration systems are costly, inefficient and can lead to the perception that voting systems lack integrity.

Researchers refute Trumps claims

The primary author of that report, David Becker, has refuted Trumps claims of fraud. As Ive noted before, voting integrity better in this election than ever before. Zero evidence of fraud, Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said in a tweet Tuesday.

His findings have been echoed by others. A 2007 report by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law found that incidents of voting fraud are rare, occurring just 0.00004 percent and 0.0009 percent of the time.

And in December, the Washington Post analyzed news reports across the country and found just four documented cases of voter fraud in the 2016 election.

Democrats are sounding alarms about voter suppression

Democratic lawmakers and voting rights activists have countered Trumps claims and warned that his promise to strengthen up voting procedures will lead to voter suppression.

House Democrats on Wednesday sent letters to election officials in all 50 states, requesting information about any individual cases of voter fraud. The letters were signed by Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, Pennsylvania Rep. Robert Brady and South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn.

President Trump wants a major investigation of voter fraud  well now he has one, Cummings said in a statement. He continues to be obsessed with false numbers and statistics, but these are not alternative facts, and there is no evidence to support these claims. What is a fact is that Republicans in statehouses across America have passed restrictive laws that impair the ability of legitimate voters to participate, and they use the myth of voter fraud to justify their abuses.

At a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon, Spicer said the investigation will cover more than just the 2016 election. He said Trumps lawyers never looked into potential fraud in big states that were not part of Steins recount effort, naming New York and California as examples.

This is about the integrity of our voting system, he said. I think we have to understand where the problem exists, how deep it goes, and then suggest some remedies to it.
Chuck Cooper is a veteran of the culture wars with a long legal career arguing hot-button social issues cases before the Supreme Court. In 1982, he wrote a brief on a case arguing in favor of giving tax breaks to private schools that discriminated based on race; in 2013, he defended Californias ban on same-sex marriage.

George Conway, by contrast, is the consummate New York corporate lawyer. With a long career at the white-shoe firm of Wachtell Lipton, Conway has specialized in the very cosmopolitan area of securities litigation. He has only argued before the Supreme Court once, winning a unanimous decision on an important but decidedly un-sexy securities law case involving an Australian bank.

Now the two men are embroiled in a quiet but fierce competition behind the scenes for one of the most important but least known positions in the Justice Department: Solicitor General. Both are finalists for the post, sources say, and the outcome of the contest will matter. Long-called the tenth Justice, the Solicitor General represents the federal government in Supreme Court cases, and has broad authority in picking which cases to fight and which sides to take.

The choice of SG is a huge thing, says Lisa Blatt, a partner at Arnold & Porter, Kaye Scholer LLP who has argued 34 cases before the Supreme Court. Theyre the face of the Administration before one of our branches of government. Its the face of the United States.

Making the contest particularly intense is the fact that Cooper and Conway both have close personal ties to the new Administration. A D.C. insider, Cooper is a longtime friend of Attorney General-designate Jeff Sessions. Conway is married to Kellyanne Conway, one of President Trumps most trusted advisers.

But the contest is about more than connections: in some ways its a pick between two sides of President Trumps own political identityhardline conservatism on social issues or a background in business. Which is why, as President Trump prepares to name his first Supreme Court nominee, people inside the Beltway are watching the Solicitor General race for signs of which way Trumps judicial appointments will go.

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Cooper is the more conservative choice of the two on social issues, which could make him a natural pick for a president who broke with the tradition of not applying litmus tests to judges and promised a staunchly pro-life justice for his first Supreme Court pick.

Cooper is perhaps best known for defending Proposition 8, Californias ban on gay marriage, before the Supreme Court in 2013. (Coopers daughter has since married a woman, and he has said his views on same-sex marriage are evolving.)

Charles Fried, who served as Solicitor General under President Ronald Reagan from 1985 to 1989, says hes very fond of Cooper, who worked in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and then in the Office of Legal Counsel at the time. Hes a true movement conservative, no question about it, Fried said. We had a lot of fights, because he wanted to go much further than I did So we shouted at each other. But its all right, I always liked it.

Fried cited a case from 1989 as an example: the Supreme Court held in City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. that the citys minority set-aside program, which gave preference to minority-owned businesses in awarding municipal contracts, was unconstitutional. Fried says Cooper was a vigorous advocate for his boss William Bradford Reynolds position at the time, which was that any remedy for racial discrimination has to be victim-specific. In other words, if there is evidence of racial discrimination in a program, the only person entitled to a remedy is the one who has been actually discriminated against. (Affirmative action, for example, does not fit this view.)

But its a different case from Coopers years working under Reynolds in the Department of Justice that could come back to haunt him in the nomination process. In 1982, Cooper helped get the Reagan Administration reverse a federal policy that denied tax exemptions to segregated private schools. The issue made its way to the Supreme Court with Bob Jones University, a school that had imposed a ban interracial dating. Cooper and Reynolds both signed a brief arguing in favor of giving tax breaks to schools that discriminate on the basis of race. The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 against them.

Still, in Coopers career spanning from his time in the Civil Rights Division and the Office of Legal Counsel to now as a founding member and chairman of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, many who know him say his pointed legal positions dont translate to personal relationships.

Hes unfailingly polite, says John Malcolm at the Heritage Foundation. Hes not a flamethrower kind of guy.

While Cooper is an insider of the Washington legal scene, Conway is a New Yorker, currently a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz while also managing things at home with four children as his wife, Kellyanne, assumes a role in the White House. His relative lack of experience with the Supreme Court and federal government would in certain ways make him an unconventional pick for the job, but then again, Trump likes outsiders. A person with knowledge of Conways vetting process said he hasnt met with Trump about becoming Solicitor General, but he did speak to Sessions for about an hour in December about the position.

Conway is an expert in securities litigation, arguing for his only time before the Supreme Court in 2010 in Morrison v. National Australia Bank. The Court ruled unanimously in favor of Conways side, holding that the Securities and Exchange Act does not apply to investment deals that occur outside the country, even if they have an impact in the U.S.

Robert Giuffra, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, says Conways broad background in litigation areas like securities, mergers and acquisitions and contracts makes him a Solicitor General pick who could be uniquely suited to the new Commander-in-Chief. For a president with a business-oriented perspective who wants to pick someone who will be a Solicitor General for business and economic issues, George Conway would have to be at the top of your list, he says.

More broadly, Conways legal expertise could help him fit into the new political landscape being formed under Trump. I think he would be able to talk the same language as the business lawyers [and] the people the Administration is populating Washington with, says Lewis Liman, a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP who has known Conway since they were classmates at Yale Law School.

While Conways professional background doesnt overlap with many social issues, acquaintances say Conway is relatively moderate on those topics.

George has a lot of different friends across the political spectrum in the legal community, says one litigator in New York who has worked closely with Conway. Ive never considered him to be a hardcore right-winger, Ive just considered him to have a somewhat more conservative outlook.

Echoes Liman: I dont view him as an ideologue.

Those who know both lawyers say that either of them would prioritize pragmatism and fine legal reasoning over idealism in facing a 5-4 split Court.

I believe in what I would call the Rex Lee test for Solicitor General, says Richard Bernstein, an attorney at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. He was Reagans very conservative Solicitor General but he was not a polemicist. He didnt go down in flames losing a case just to make the people in the peanut gallery happy. And I think from my dealings with [Cooper and Conway], theyre incredibly talented and honest people, honest about the current state of the law, and honest in describing the facts. I think they both pass the Rex Lee test.

Trumps pick could also end up signaling something more concrete than a vision for the Justice Department: the Solicitor General post can be a launching pad for a seat on the Supreme Court. (One current justice, Elena Kagan, served as Solicitor General before her appointment.) So even as Trump prepares to announce his lead-off batter for the highest court in the land, D.C. insiders are watching who may be moving into the on-deck circle.
President Donald Trumps tweeted threat to send in the Feds to deal with what he called the horrible carnage' in Chicago immediately raised questions about what, exactly, that would mean. To some observers, the first thought was the possibility of National Guard troops roaming the citys streets.

Historically that is what that has meant, says Kami Chavis, a Wake Forest University criminal justice professor who studies policing. Typically when hear send in the feds, youre thinking about the National Guard.

On Wednesday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer elaborated on what Trumps Tuesday night tweet could mean in practice.

Read more: 53 People Were Shot Over the Holiday Weekend in Chicago

What he wants to do is provide the resources of the federal government, and it can span a bunch of things, Spicer said, adding that federal efforts could include aid.

Chicago has been beset by gun violence in recent years, with homicides at their highest numbers in two decades. In 2016, there were 762 homicides in the city. This year, police say there have already been 35 homicides through Jan. 22, a 13% increase from last year. While overall crime nationwide still remains near record lows, Chicagos rising murder rate is responsible for much of the uptick in homicide rates nationally.

There are a number of actions the federal government could take outside of ordering some sort of martial law for a handful of neighborhoods on the citys south and west sides. Art Lurigio, a Loyola University Chicago criminal justice professor, says one way would be directing federal funding to Chicago police to increase the size of its workforce. Washington could also provide equipment. Chavis adds that the Trump administration could give the department additional money to fund community policing training programs to help officers build stronger ties in some of Chicagos most violent neighborhoods.

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Read more: Chicago Just Had Its Deadliest Month in 2 Decades: 90 People Were Murdered

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel strongly opposes deploying the National Guard, reportedly saying it has nothing to do with public safety, and suggesting that the emphasis should be on existing partnerships between federal agencies and local law enforcement.

In a statement, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the department was more than willing to work with the federal government to build on our partnerships with the D.O.J., F.B.I., D.E.A., and A.T.F. and boost federal prosecution rates for gun crimes in Chicago.

Some of that is already happening. The FBI, ATF, and DEA already work with Chicago police on issues like tracking gun trafficking across state lines, which Chicago police routinely point to as one of the factors behind the citys gun violence.

But the president at least appears to be signaling that the National Guard should be a possibility. Indeed, his tweet followed a segment on Fox News The OReilly Factor in which Bill OReilly referred to the possibility of bringing in the National Guard to reduce crime in Chicago. (The tweet also came a day after Emanuel, who served as President Barack Obamas chief of staff before running for mayor, criticized Trumps focus on the crowd size at his inauguration.)

While there are many instances of the National Guard coming into cities to keep the peace, especially during the Civil Rights era of the 1960s, its often a temporary move following riots or violent protests. In 2015, for instance, Marylands governor requested the troops after riots over the death of Freddie Gray in police custody.

Lurigio adds that the neighborhoods with the highest crime rates already feel under siege, which would likely be exacerbated by federal troops patrolling the streets. This is ongoing local criminal activity, he says. It makes no sense unless there are massive riots in the street that are beyond the departments to manage.

There is also the matter of protocol: the National Guard is deployed to a state following a request from its governor to the president, not the other way around.
By Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Under pressure from President Donald Trump, Mexico is preparing to discuss changes to trade rules about a product's country of origin to try to avoid a disruptive fight with the United States over commerce. As the two countries begin a difficult new relationship, Mexico sees possible common ground with Trump on the "rules of origin" of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that binds the two countries and Canada, several sources said. Rules of origin are regulations setting out where trade products are sourced from. Although formal negotiations about NAFTA have not begun, the rules could eventually be altered to favor U.S. industry over competitors from outside North America, particularly in Asia. Changes to those rules could help align Mexico with Trump's industrial strategy of boosting U.S. manufacturing jobs and dovetail with the Mexican government's calls to strengthen North American competitiveness. It could also help pave the way for a broader deal with Trump over border security and immigration, Mexican officials believe. Talks about NAFTA rules of origin will be a "very important" point of discussion between the two countries now that Trump is in office, a Mexican official said. A White House official said: "As a general rule, it is in the best interests of the U.S. to insist on strong rules of origin provisions in pursuing bilateral negotiations. Lax rules of origin in proposed treaties like the now defunct Trans-Pacific Partnership shrink and weaken our supply chain and contribute to the offshoring of American jobs." Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo will hold talks with top Trump officials in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday, where security, migration and trade will be discussed. Fears of economic disaster have haunted Mexico since Trump won the presidency in November threatening to tear up NAFTA, impose protectionist tariffs and build a wall on the United States' southern border to halt illegal immigration. While Mexico is reluctant to alter the 1994 trade accord, officials concede that some changes may be necessary to help keep trade open with the United States, which absorbs 80 percent of its exports. "What we want is to maintain free access for Mexican products, without restrictions, without tariffs and quotas," Videgaray, the spearhead of the government's outreach to Trump, said on Monday. LESSER EVIL Speaking on condition of anonymity, two Mexican government officials and four other people familiar with ongoing discussions said Mexico saw rules of origin as an important avenue to brokering a deal with Trump, provided a fair compromise can be reached. In trade agreements, content rules or rules of origin are often used to determine import duties. Under NAFTA, 62.5 percent of the material in a car or light truck made in Mexico must be from North America to be able to enter the United States tariff free. If the countries agree in negotiations, that percentage could be increased, potentially giving an advantage to U.S. industry at the expense of Asian competitors. For Mexico, changing the rules of origin could be a lesser evil than Trump's threat to impose a 35 percent tax on certain goods made by foreign companies in Mexico for sale in the United States. Trump's pressure on U.S. automakers such as Ford to build more cars at home worries Mexico, where the industry has been one of the main drivers of growth and accounted for 18.5 percent of manufacturing GDP in 2015. Trump on Tuesday told the chief executives of the Big Three U.S. automakers - General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler - that he wants to see more auto plants in the United States. Mexico warned it could pull out of NAFTA if a renegotiation of the pact does not benefit it. Trump's team is behind the push for changes in the origin rules, seeing it as a means of reducing imports from China, two of the Mexican sources familiar with the matter said. Trump's nominee for Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, spoke of the importance of content rules in protecting the automotive industry during Senate hearings last week, and Canadian media reported that Ross had told Canada rules of origin would be central to NAFTA talks. U.S. HARD LINE NAFTA rules of origin apply to goods made in any of the three countries. Two Mexican sources said the Trump administration could push for national content requirements that would ensure that the United States benefits from changes in rules of origin, and not just the NAFTA region as a whole. However, that would be more complex to manage, they added. So as not to hurt companies, any changes would need to be phased in gradually, and the more items that were targeted, the trickier negotiations would be, one of the sources said. Any deal would need to ensure rules changes applied to all countries, not just to Mexico, one Mexican official said. Of the foreign carmakers in Mexico, Toyota might be able to handle a higher NAFTA content ratio better than others. Its Camry car, for example, has very high North American and U.S. content. Other Japanese automakers such as Mazda have a larger proportional reliance on Asia-based suppliers. Kristin Dziczek, a labor analyst at the Center of Automotive Research, said deepening rules of origin could have some impact on U.S. jobs and would hit some foreign automakers harder - especially those that produce more parts and vehicles outside North America. The NAFTA rules are in place to prevent China or other lower wage countries from being able to produce the majority of content in a vehicle and export it to another country to assemble it without paying tariffs. U.S. automakers have not backed tougher rules of origin previously because they wanted flexibility on sourcing parts. (Additional reporting by David Shepardson and Ayesha Rascoe in Washington; editing by Simon Gardner, Alistair Bell and Bernard Orr)
Samy Mohammed El-Goarany, a New York college student who prosecutors say died fighting for Islamic State is pictured in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters January 18, 2017. U.S. Attorney's Office/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal prosecutor on Wednesday urged jurors to convict an Arizona man who she said played a vital role in helping a New York college student travel to Syria, where he died fighting for Islamic State.

In her closing argument, Assistant U.S. Attorney Negar Tekeei told a federal jury in Manhattan that Mohammed El Gammal, 44, was a "steadfast and enthusiastic supporter" of Islamic State who in an online message had said he was "with the State."

Tekeei said the Egyptian-born Phoenix resident shared his support in encrypted messages with Samy Mohammed El-Goarany, a 24-year-old student at Baruch College in Manhattan, who like El Gammal had become "obsessed" with Islamic State.

She said El Gammal, settled in his American life, decided to guide the student toward his goal, traveling to New York in October 2014 to vet El-Goarany before putting him in touch with a friend in Istanbul who helped him get to Syria.

"It was the defendant who paved the way for that," she said.

But Sabrina Shroff, El Gammal's lawyer, said he did not know about El-Goarany's plan, saying the student misled people into believing he was planning to do humanitarian work in Syria and followed steps in an Islamic State manual to join it.

While El Gammal was not shy in his views, Shroff said no evidence existed showing he took any actions. She also said El Gammal's friend in Turkey belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood and would not have helped El-Goarany join Islamic State.

"Samy, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is the only terrorist in this case," she said.

El Gammal is one of more than 100 people to face U.S. charges since 2014 in cases related to Islamic State, which controls parts of Syria and Iraq and has claimed responsibility for bombings and shootings of civilians in other countries.

According to prosecutors, El-Goarany ultimately flew to Istanbul from New York in January 2015, and sometime after arrived in Syria, where he received religious and military training and fought with Islamic State.

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Prosecutors said that in November 2015, an unidentified person via an instant messaging platform contacted El-Goarany's brother to report that he had been killed fighting in Syria.

In a photograph of the hand-written note shown to jurors, El-Goarany wrote that "if you're reading this then know that I've been killed in battle and am now with our Lord Insha'Allah."

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Bernard Orr)
Paris (AFP) - Paris Saint Germain confirmed Wednesday they had signed Portuguese forward Goncalo Guedes from Benfica for around 30 million euros ($32 million).

The rangy Guedes, just 20 and blessed with mazy dribbling skills, impressed last season as Benfica motored to the title and PSG have captured him on a four-and-a-half year deal.

Guedes broke into the Portuguese national side in 2015, but he did not feature at Euro 2016.

PSG published a photo of their new recruit clad in a club shirt and scarf as they unveiled him after he successfully completed a medical.

Publicly quoted entity Benfica confirmed the deal independently, adding they will receive seven million euros in the event PSG sell Guedes on to another club before 2021.

With two caps for Portugal, Guedes can play on either wing but most recently played either centre-forward or playmaker at Benfica.

Guedes will become the latest foreign acquisition by the French champions, who signed 23-year-old German international Julian Draxler from Wolfsburg two weeks ago for a reported 36 to 40 million euros.

Guedes came through the youth ranks at Benfica, whom he joined aged just nine, and made his debut in October 2014.

He will be unable to feature in the Champions League, where PSG take on Barcelona in the last 16, having already featured for Benfica in the event this season.
Britains Liberal Democrats are attempting to make a comeback on a wave of anti-Brexit sentiment.

The minority partner in the coalition U.K. Government in 2010-15, the center-left party was punished by its core voters in the 2015 election for propping up a right-wing administration led by the Conservative Party. Virtually wiped out, with just eight lawmakers returned to the House of Commons, the party has since undergone a resurgence under new leader Tim Farron after the countrys shock vote to leave the European Union in June.

Most impressively, the Lib Dems swept to victory at the Richmond Park by-election in south-west London last month, defeating popular incumbent Zac Goldsmith, partly due to a vocal anti-Brexit platform. With the Labour opposition struggling under hard-left leader Jeremy Corbyn, Farron has arguably emerged as the leading political voice for the 48.1% of the U.K. that wanted to stay in the E.U.

In this interview with TIME, Farron explains that the electorate respects his partys brave stance on the E.U., why the U.K. will be outmuscled by President Donald Trump in any deal with the U.S., and how British lamb could suffer as a result of a post-Brexit trade agreement with New Zealand

Prime Minister Theresa May outlined plans for a hard Brexit last week, ending speculation that the U.K. could remain a member of the E.U.s lucrative single market. What will this mean for the country when it leaves the E.U. in two years time?

I see it as all but impossible for Britain to get a deal from negotiations that is anything like as good a deal as weve currently got as a full member of the E.U. The most clear distinction between a hard and soft Brexit is whether one is in the single market. Were not to fool ourselves that access to the single market is the same  pretty much everybody in the world has access to the single market, its a question about whether you have non-tariff and tariff barrier free access to the biggest, most lucrative market on planet earth. Outside the single market there will be more red tape, more costs for business, it will hit prices in British shops, it will hit the people who are on lower and middle incomes.

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But you dont just want to be in the single market, you also want U.K. to remain a member of the E.U. Doesnt that position ignore the referendum result?

If May thinks the 51.9% who voted to leave the European Union all meant that we wanted the hardest version of Leave, then that is a massive assumption, a dishonest assumption, and is a theft of democracy. The deal we get back [from the E.U.] will certainly not be something that was on the ballot paper last June. It will very likely be a deal that pretty much all the Remain voters and, lets say, half the Leave voters will say thats not what they voted for. If three-quarters of them think theyre being betrayed, thats a terrible way to end this. The only way to end this is to have a referendum on the terms of the deal with staying put as a default option, the second option on the ballot paper. Wanting to be in the E.U. will be in our manifesto whatever the state of play by the next general election.

But doesnt Brexit give the U.K. new opportunities, particularly with the U.S. now that President Donald Trump has committed putting the country at the front of the queue for trade?

America is a very significant partner and important friend, and irrespective of what one thinks about Donald Trump, you dont go walking off in a huff when you want to deal with people. You dont react to the world as youd like it to be, you react to the world as it is. I think the problem that weve got is that we are not equipped to do negotiations. We dont have enough negotiators to do the negotiations with Europe, never mind starting on something else. The danger is that although we are a very capable, strong, independent country  and we will be whether were in or out of Europe  we are a lot smaller than the United States. Donald Trump is good at doing deals and hes good at doing deals that are good for Donald Trump.

But its not just about deals with the U.S. The U.K. and New Zealand have lined up a post-Brexit free trade agreement. Isnt that a sign the U.K. can be more successful outside the E.U. than within it?

I love New Zealand: its wonderful place with great people. But its population is 1% of the population of the E.U. and the notion that somehow that is an answer [to loss of single market membership] is nonsense. The doing of a deal seems to be enough to placate the very, very hardline Brexit people, irrespective of the fact that a deal in New Zealand probably screws British sheep farmers, for example.

The French ambassador has complained that her citizens are being abused in the U.K, even those who have lived and worked there for decades. Has Brexit legitimised the countrys worst tendencies?

The referendum has both revealed and created a level of unpleasantness  we saw not dissimilar signs of it in the U.S. election. Social media allows people to be as unpleasant as theyre capable of being without any filter. I dont think the U.K.s position is worse than anybody elses. Its a reflection of something that is a very unpleasant trait in the Western world and getting stroppy about it is not the answer, being morose about it is not the answer. Among the things that Trump and Brexit have in common are that neither of them were inevitable, and neither of them need to be the case forever.

How have the Lib Dems ended up leading the fight against Brexit?

The thing is youve got two groups of people in the Labour Party. Youve got people who are of an ideological view, like Jeremy Corbyn, whose thoughts on the E.U. is that its a capitalist club The other group probably do believe in the E.U., but theyre too chicken. At a time like this theyre more worried about protecting themselves, their careers. Theyre just completely giving up and waving the white flag. The Liberal Democrats being the only [national] voice of opposition to hard Brexit are trying to give a voice to a Britain that is internationalist and outward looking. This is brave and its potentially taking the minority side. [But] theres clarity in having a purpose, being seen as the plucky people saying what a lot of other people are thinking.
Rome (AFP) - Hundreds of Italians whose homes were devastated in a series of deadly earthquakes protested in Rome Wednesday at the slow pace of government aid, as the death toll from an avalanche-hit hotel rose to 25 with four people still missing.

The demonstrators, many of them from mountain villages left in ruins by the earthquakes which rocked Italy in August and October, urged the government to move faster on providing aid to populations still reeling from disaster.

With some wearing sashes in the red, white and green of the Italian flag, they marched through Rome's historic city centre toward the Montecitorio parliament building, carrying signs reading: "To rebuild, we need hearts and hands. Where are yours?"

Another held up a placard reading: "Bureaucracy kills more than the earthquake."

"We came to protest the government's delays on reconstruction work," protest coordinator Mirko Fioravanti told AFP, saying little had been done in since August.

"Few things have been accomplished in five months, not even the essential," he said.

"Even if the task is great, things could have been done in a manner better suited to the situation, and definitely much faster."

Among the crowd were survivors from Amatrice, the mountain town devastated by the August quake which left nearly 300 people dead, while others came from the towns of Accumoli, Norcia, and Arquata del Tronto.

Last year's quakes left thousands of homes in ruins or structurally unsafe, emptying a string of villages and small towns across Italy's mountainous central regions, with an estimated 40,000 people forced to find shelter.

- 'Cumbersome procedures' -

Writing on Facebook, former prime minister Matteo Renzi said the delivery of temporary homes for quake victims was due to take place "before Easter".

But Francesca Mileto, another protest coordinator, said the pace was too slow. "We want to shock the bureaucracy into speeding up these cumbersome procedures," she told AFP.

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The protest came as rescuers struggled to find the last four people still unaccounted for, presumed dead, at the Hotel Rigopiano in central Italy which was buried by a wall of snow on January 18.

So far, rescuers have found the bodies of 13 men and 12 women, but until now, only half of them have been formally identified, officials said.

Post mortems on the first six victims found concluded that they died either by being crushed, suffocated or through cold, although hypothermia was never the sole cause of death, prosecutor Cristina Tedeschini said.

Eleven people, including all four children who were at the hotel with their families, survived.

The deadly avalanche followed the heaviest snowfall in the central mountains in decades and may have been triggered by a series of earthquakes which rocked the region earlier the same day.

Aside from the hotel disaster, the combination of the extreme weather and the quakes has claimed another 11 lives.

Six of them died when a helicopter crashed at the Campo Felice ski resort on Tuesday.

- PM hails the rescuers -

Rescuers have vowed to continue combing through the wreckage of the Rigopiano but sub-zero overnight temperatures meant there was little hope of finding anyone else alive on the seventh day of the search.

The last survivors extracted from the rubble were pulled out on Saturday after being located on Friday morning. They were all suffering from mild hypothermia.

A prosecutor is examining whether the disaster could have been avoided with better risk-assessment procedures and has opened a manslaughter probe to determine if anyone was responsible for the deaths, through negligence or otherwise.

But Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni has warned against launching a hunt for scapegoats to assuage the grief of those who have lost loved ones.

"We are proud of the emergency services who were confronted with absolutely exceptional snowfalls and two of whom gave their lives," Gentiloni told parliament Wednesday, referring to two mountain rescuers who died in the helicopter crash.

"Authorities mobilised with all their energy," he added.
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel has announced a major expansion of settlements following US President Donald Trump's inauguration. Here are some key questions and answers on settlement building:

- What are settlements? -

Settlements are Jewish villages, towns and even cities built on territory Israel seized during the 1967 Six-Day War.

Some 400,000 Israeli settlers currently live in the occupied West Bank, alongside 2.6 million Palestinians.

A further 200,000 Israelis live in annexed east Jerusalem, along with at least 300,000 Palestinians, who want to make Arab east Jerusalem the capital of their future state.

Israel also seized part of the Golan Heights from Syria and the Gaza Strip from Egypt and established settlements in both. It evacuated the Gaza settlements in 2005.

- What is their legal status? -

From the 1970s, Israel established a network of settlements throughout the West Bank.

The Oslo autonomy accords of the 1990s divided the territory into Israeli and Palestinian-governed zones meant to lay the ground for a future Palestinian state, but Israel has continued to build and expand settlements there.

Palestinian violence has also led to calls from some Israelis to build more settlements as punitive measures in response.

The United Nations and most of the international community see all Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem -- which Israel annexed in 1980 -- as illegal.

Israel differentiates between those it has approved and those it has not, often called outposts or wildcat settlements.

- Who are the settlers? -

Many Israeli settlers moved to the West Bank and east Jerusalem in search of affordable housing.

The government encouraged them to move to cities such as Ariel, Maale Adumim and the ultra-Orthodox settlements of Beitar Ilit and Modiin Ilit.

There are also many religious nationalist hardliners who see living in the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria as fulfilling a divine promise.

Hundreds of them live near the Cave of the Patriarchs in the city of Hebron, a holy site for both Jews and Muslims and a focal point of violence between Israelis and Palestinians

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- How do Palestinians see settlements? -

Palestinians consider Israeli settlements a war crime and a major obstacle to peace.

The Palestinians want Israel to withdraw from all land it occupied in 1967 and to dismantle all Jewish settlements, although they have accepted the principle of land swaps equal in size and value.

Israel rules out a full return to pre-1967 borders but has expressed willingness to pull out of some parts of the West Bank while annexing its largest settlement blocs which are home to the majority of the settlers in the territory.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys civil-rights office has made a rare finding of discrimination, saying the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality treated African American residents of Flint unfairly during the permitting of a power plant more than two decades ago.

In a letter dated Jan. 19, the last full day of the Obama administration, the EPAs External Civil Rights Compliance Office said the evidence showed that African Americans were treated less favorably than non-African Americans during permit hearings for the Genesee Power Station  which burns wood waste and other debris  from 1992 through 1994. A preponderance of the evidence in EPAs record would lead a reasonable person to conclude that race discrimination was more likely than not the reason , office director Lilian Dorka wrote to the complainant, Father Phil Schmitter of the St. Francis Prayer Center in Flint.

In a statement, Schmitter said, Communities of color and schoolchildren have had to grow up near this horrible power plant and be subjected to its harmful emissions. Its unbelievable that it took EPA decades to make this finding, but its important to send a clear message to MDEQ, even now, that it needs to change the way it does business.

A Center for Public Integrity investigation in 2015 detailed the EPAs anemic enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin by recipients of federal funding. The analysis showed that the civil-rights office hadnt made a finding of discrimination in 22 years  apart from a preliminary one in 2011  despite having received hundreds of complaints. Last year, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights cited the Centers work in a performance review that found the EPA was failing to meet its obligations under the act.

In last weeks letter to Schmitter, the EPA found that MDEQ officials deviated from  standard operating procedures [at public hearings] on more than one occasion to the detriment of African Americans. For example, it said the department used armed guards to intimidate speakers and closed hearings before all who wanted to speak had done so. The letter recommends, among other things, that the MDEQ improve its public-participation policies and add information about non-discrimination laws to its website. The department has failed to operate a foundational nondiscriminatory program for almost 30 years, the letter said.

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In a statement, the department said it disagrees with the EPA assertion that MDEQ has not taken sufficient action to address public participation, especially in minority communities Above all, our purpose is to respect Michigan residents and to protect public health and the environment.

The EPAs finding on the Genesee plant is separate from additional and current serious concerns the agency has expressed about the MDEQs handling of the drinking-water crisis in Flint. There is no public record of any civil-rights cases having been filed, but the EPA told BNA it received at least two emailed complaints alleging discrimination by state, county and city officials after Flints water supply was tainted with brain-damaging lead in 2014.

This story is part of Environmental Justice, Denied. A look at the environmental problems that disproportionately affect communities of color. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.

Don't miss another Environment investigation: Sign up for the Center for Public Integrity's Watchdog email.

In another letter on Jan. 19, the EPA announced that the New Mexico Environment Department had agreed to take steps to improve the public-participation process for a proposed hazardous-waste disposal site in the southeastern part of the state. A group called Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping had filed a civil-rights complaint against the department in 2002, alleging it had shown a pattern of discrimination against Spanish-speaking residents. Under the agreement, the department said it would develop, publish and implement written procedures to ensure meaningful access to all of NMEDs programs and activities by all persons, including access by limited English-proficient individuals

Deborah Reade, who filed the complaint on behalf of the citizens group, said in a statement, It took far too long to get to this point. But finally theres an agreement in place that should lead to more equitable public participation so communities voices are heard when permits to pollute are being considered. Well be watching to make sure that New Mexico implements the agreement.

The EPAs findings in the Michigan and New Mexico cases represent an uptick in activity by a civil-rights office  recently moved into the agencys Office of General Counsel  long criticized for failing to act on complaints alleging Title VI violations.

Credit for the EPAs movement on civil rights complaints goes to the communities and groups that pushed hard for discriminatory practices to be addressed, said Marianne Engelman Lado, a visiting professor at Yale Law School and a former attorney with the public-interest law firm Earthjustice, which has lodged several complaints with the office on behalf of minority communities.

The EPA did not respond to requests for comment.

This story is part of Environmental Justice, Denied. A look at the environmental problems that disproportionately affect communities of color. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.

Related stories

Copyright 2017 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
Washington (AFP) - US Republican lawmakers headed to Philadelphia Wednesday for their winter retreat to solidify policy goals and huddle with President Donald Trump, whose busy but provocative first week in office has sent jitters through some conservatives.

Trump -- whose arguments over inauguration crowd size, war of words with the media, and revival of his claim of massive voter fraud has led to concerns within his own party that he is straying off message right from the start -- will address the gathering Thursday in his first presidential foray outside the Washington region.

The meeting will feature another high-profile guest: British Prime Minister Theresa May, who will become the first foreign leader to meet Trump since his inauguration.

May, who addresses the Republican retreat shortly after Trump's joint session, will almost certainly discuss the prospects of a key post-Brexit trade deal with the United States.

Trade is likely to feature highly at the retreat in a downtown Philadelphia hotel.

Trump upended global trade policy -- and ran counter to his party's decades-old positioning in support of free trade pacts -- on Monday when he fulfilled a campaign promise to torpedo a sweeping Pacific trade deal with 12 nations including Australia, Canada, Japan and Vietnam.

As the party aims to set its political course for 2017 and beyond, the Republican members of the Senate and House of Representatives will also discuss their efforts to repeal and replace former president Barack Obama's health care law.

The likelihood of such action has swelled since Trump won last November's election, and Trump has described acting on Obamacare as a top early priority.

- 'Jam-packed agenda' -

But concern has grown within the party over how to accomplish such a repeal of the health reforms along with a simultaneous replacement of the law so as not to leave millions of people uninsured.

Other issues on the "jam-packed agenda" will be tax reform and national defense, House Republican Conference chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers said as the retreat kicked off, describing the gathering as "a moment to think big and advance conservative policies."

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But the retreat comes as Trump continues his unorthodox, campaign-style of communication, including a series of petty tweets and a wild accusation that three to five million people voted illegally in the November election.

"I haven't seen any evidence to that effect," Senate Republican John Thune said at the retreat, echoing a similar message put forward by House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Trump has clearly triggered anxiety within his own party by peddling such largely debunked claims, uttering falsehoods about crowd size at the inauguration, and making a campaign-style speech before a memorial to fallen CIA officers.

"I was disappointed in that," House Republican Adam Kinzinger told CNN on Monday about Trump's comments at the CIA, where he lashed out at the media and spoke of his Time magazine covers instead of focusing on loftier issues.

"It's taking the message you want as a new president and derailing it," Kinzinger said, adding there was a "big danger" of losing support among Republicans if he continued challenging established fact.

Adding to the sense of unease, Trump threatened to "send in the feds" to Chicago if America's third-largest city could not rein in its gun violence, a move that would appear to directly counter Republican wariness of federal intervention in local matters.

But it remained unclear whether any Republican lawmakers will feel comfortable enough to urge Trump to strike a more measured and presidential tone, especially given his popularity with base Republican voters.

For many Republicans, it is their first opportunity to serve in Congress under a Republican president.
Kinshasa (AFP) - Human rights violations went up by almost a third last year in DR Congo due to "restrictions on democracy" and an increase in the activities of armed groups, the UN said Wednesday.

The United Nations Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) "has recorded at least 5,190 human rights violations across the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo," its director Jose Maria Aranaz said.

"This is a significant increase of nearly 30 percent over 2015," he said.

Political tensions have mounted in the country over longserving President Joseph Kabila's reluctance to step down.

Kabila, who has been in power since 2001, was to step down on December 20 at the end of his second and final mandate, but has shown no signs of wanting to leave office.

DR Congo's resource-rich eastern provinces have suffered years of brutal conflict, with neighbouring states backing rebel groups in a civil war against Kinshasa's authority, and roaming armed militias triggering the mass flight of terrorised civilians.

As political protest against Kabila peaked last year, the police and security forces launched a massive crackdown killing scores of people.

Aranaz said the increase in violations were due "restrictions in the democratic space" and noted that "freedom to gather peacefully was particularly restrained".

The report said that local officials and security forces responded differently to demonstrations, "banning those by the opposition but clearing the ones" in support of Kabila.

It said that security forces were responsible for 480 extra-judicial deaths, and that 718 civilians had been killed by armed groups last year.

Government spokesman Lambert Mende refused comment, saying "For the past three years, it has always been the same type of conclusions" from the body.
By Daniel Trotta NEW YORK (Reuters) - Immigrant and refugee advocates on Wednesday denounced White House plans to temporarily stop receiving refugees and suspend visas for people from seven Middle Eastern and North African countries, saying they target Muslims and will make America less safe. A draft executive order seen by Reuters that Trump is expected to sign in the coming days would block the entry of refugees from war-torn Syria and suspend the entry of any immigrants from Muslim-majority Middle Eastern and African countries Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen while permanent rules are studied. Trump is also expected to order a multi-month ban on allowing refugees into the United States except for religious minorities escaping persecution, until more aggressive vetting is in place, said the aides and experts, who asked not to be identified. The administration's aim is to head off Islamist violence in the United States, but critics say the measures soil America's reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants of all kinds. "The president needs to know he's an absolute fool for fostering this kind of hostility in his first few days. This will inflame violence against Americans around the world," said Seth Kaper-Dale, a pastor at the Reformed Church of Highland Park, New Jersey, which he said helped resettle 28 refugee and asylum-seeking families in the state last year. Before his Nov. 8 election victory, Trump, a Republican, pledged to stop taking refugees from Syria and immigrants from countries deemed to pose a terrorism risk. "Muslims, we believe, are the sole targets of these orders," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group. "These orders are a disturbing confirmation of Islamophobic and un-American policy proposals made during the presidential election campaign," Awad told a news conference in Washington. During the campaign, Trump originally proposed a ban on all Muslims entering the country, a measure that almost certainly would have faced legal challenges for discrimination on the basis of religion. He later altered his stance to target countries known to be sources of terrorism. About 100 protesters gathered in New York City's Washington Square Park chanting, "Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are here to stay." They also blasted the Trump administration as "too male, too pale and too stale." "We reject policies that turn their backs on those who have suffered," U.S. Representative Nydia Velazquez, a New York City Democrat, shouted to protesters. (Additional reporting by Julia Edwards Ainsley in Washington and Gina Cherelus and Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Peter Cooney and Alan Crosby)
By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is "closing the door" on people fleeing Islamic State, and may try to re-open secret detention centers where torture can be used, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday, calling on Congress to intervene. A temporary ban on refugees that Trump is expected to sign this week is a "particularly ugly" policy among a range of populist initiatives that could also breach the U.S. Constitution, the rights group said. Trump looks set to "stop refugee admissions to the United States, ostensibly on security grounds," HRW head Kenneth Roth told a news briefing in Geneva. "But in order to score a political point at home, Trump is closing the door on them. That is one particularly ugly aspect of what he is doing." "It's as if Trump is indifferent to the extraordinary suffering that many of these refugees have been through. Many of these people are fleeing ISIS (Islamic State), or the ISIS equivalents around the world," he said. HRW, one of the biggest international human rights groups, based in the United States, said it feared Trump would "start refilling Guantanamo" and possibly use "dark sites" on foreign soil for detainees. "One thing we expect either today or later this week is an order from Trump to begin exploring ... the resumption of CIA dark sites," said Roth, an American. The Washington Post published on Wednesday a draft executive order, "Detention and Interrogation of Enemy Combatants", that could open the way for terrorism suspects to be interrogated in secret prisons abroad. "Last time, these black sites were often in democracies - they were in Poland, Latvia, Romania, if you look around the world, they were in places like Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Thailand, Afghanistan," Roth said. "I hope all these governments and the other prospective governments say 'no' this time around, that they don't want to be complicit in any new U.S. torture scheme." Obama closed black sites and ordered a halt to waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning, which experts say constitutes torture banned under international law. Trump promised during his campaign to bring back waterboarding and "a hell of a lot worse". "If Trump is going to start toying with the Army Field Manual and weakening its preclusion of torture or other forms of inhumane and cruel interrogation, that would be very problematic," Roth said. He called on Congress to exercise oversight over the new administration and "stand up for the Constitution and international human rights law". "Obviously people are afraid of Trump at this stage because he does have the bully pulpit, but that's when an independent Congress standing up for principles is particularly important." (Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Rio Tinto has sold most of its underperforming Australian coal assets to China-backed Yancoal in a deal worth up to US$2.45 billion as part of a divestment drive analysts expect will lead to a complete exit from the sector.

In the face of tumbling prices and wild volatility in commodities markets the Anglo-Australian firm, the world's number-two miner, has embarked on a cost-cutting programme and reduced spending to shore up its bottom line.

The latest deal will see Coal & Allied, operator of several mines in New South Wales, sold to Yancoal Australia, which is majority controlled by China's Yanzhou Coal, one of China's largest mining groups by market capitalisation.

The agreement would mean Rio has now sold more than US$7.7 billion in assets since early 2013.

Fat Prophets resources analyst David Lennox told AFP it was likely Rio would also sell its remaining coal assets, which are in Queensland state.

"If you have a look at the assets that are inside Coal & Allied, the profits that it generates, it's obviously not reaching the hurdle rate that Rio would have on its assets," he said.

"Hence they probably reckon it's probably better to... take the cash and deploy it elsewhere in the business. It's primarily a move away from that sector.

"It looks purely like Yancoal are wanting to get more critical mass in the industry," Lennox told AFP.

"They've seen a lift in the coal price from early last year and they believe that the Coal & Allied operations, which are very much near their own, would be a good match."

And Richard Knights, a mining analyst at Liberum Capital Ltd. in London, told Bloomberg News: "It was kind of getting to the point where thermal was irrelevant, theyre an iron ore, copper, aluminum and industrial-minerals business. Now is a fantastic time to offload coal assets.

- 'Outstanding value' -

The agreement is subject to regulatory approval in Australia, China and New South Wales and is expected to be completed in the second-half of this year.

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But Lennox said he did not expect authorities would block it as Yancoal already operates several mines across the country, including in New South Wales.

There has been growing concern in Australia about the purchase of local infrastructure and land by foreign interests, particularly China.

Canberra last year blocked the sale of Ausgrid to foreigners after rejecting a bid by China's State Grid Corp and Hong Kong's Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings in August.

And in 2015 concern about valuable assets passing into foreign hands led MPs to tighten scrutiny on overseas investment in agricultural land.

In a statement Rio chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said: "This sale delivers outstanding value for our shareholders and is consistent with our strategy of reshaping our portfolio to ensure the most effective use of capital.

"Our world-class assets, strong balance sheet and relentless focus on cash will ensure that we deliver superior returns for our shareholders."

Shares in Rio rose 3.8 percent in Sydney, but Yancoal were flat having given back early gains.

Rio reported in August underlying profits -- investors' preferred measure -- fell 47 percent year-on-year to US$1.56 billion in the six months ending June 2016, the lowest since 2004.
The UK's Royal Academy of Dance will be exchanging its riverside address in Battersea, London, for a brand new complex just over a mile down the road.

In a form of "house-swap", the Royal Academy of Dance has agreed to exchange its long outgrown original premises for a new location owned by York Place Buildings, currently the site of a warehouse and car park. The new headquarters will be designed by architects Patel Taylor.

The Royal Academy of Dance

The RAD, established in 1920, is one of the world's most prestigious and influential dance academies and education boards, specializing in traditional ballet. The RAD is currently active in over 80 countries worldwide, but has its headquarters in London.

A purpose-built dance academy

The current address, at London's chic Battersea Square, has long been too small for the RAD's various activities. The new headquarters on York Road, also in the Wandsworth borough, will be constructed to custom requirements, almost double the size of the RAD's current premises, with better facilities, a convertible performance space, rehearsal studios, library, archive and cafes.

The Patel Taylor architecture agency has been selected to design the new York Road building, which will house the RAD on the first floor (level 0) with apartments above. The site will also see the construction of 275 new homes. Patel Taylor are specialists in urban regeneration projects, including two new mixed-use buildings on the Southbank, and London masterplans for the districts of Wembley, Earls Court, White City and Wapping.

London: challenges for a growing city

This decision to create a mixed-use building is a response to London's growing housing crisis. Director of Patel Taylor, Pankaj Patel, explains that "London's challenge, in place-making terms, is to create mixed-use buildings which genuinely make contributions at local and cultural levels." The former RAD HQ on Battersea Square will be converted into flats and town houses.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's space agency said on Wednesday it had ordered extra checks to be made on its Proton-M rockets, meaning it might be forced to delay some satellite launches this year. Roscosmos, the Russian equivalent of NASA, made the announcement after the Kommersant daily reported that manufacturing problems had been detected in some Proton-M rockets and that some launches were likely to be delayed by several months "in a best case scenario." European, U.S. and Asian firms rely heavily on Russia to launch their commercial satellites, and a Roscosmos source told Kommersant that Moscow planned to launch 27 rockets this year, eight of which were Proton-Ms. "Additional tests (on the Proton-M) are being carried out. That explains the possible delay in launches," said a spokesman for Roscosmos, without providing details. Igor Burenkov, a spokesman for the corporation, said it would become clear after the tests if there would definitely be delays and for how long. Kommersant reported that the problem was linked to components used in the rockets' engines and concerns that some of them were not sufficiently heat-resistant. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down the problems, saying Roscosmos did suffer some setbacks, but that it also had great success in many areas. An unmanned Russian cargo ship loaded with supplies for the International Space Station broke apart about six minutes after lift off in December. It was carried by a Soyuz rocket. (Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov/Denis Pinchuk; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
MOSCOW, Russia  A stocky 39-year-old Korean man in a white sweater with a snowflake pattern bustled around the kitchen, adding vinegar to a seaweed salad and spices to a pot of soup. He bowed and shook hands with everyone who entered, smiling and repeating Hello! and Thank you! in broken Russian.

It was the last night in Moscow for Kim  a pseudonym he uses to avoid retaliation against the relatives he left behind in North Korea  and the end of a saga that began during his native countrys great famine in the 1990s in which millions of his compatriots starved to death. Kim fled not once but twice. The first time he tried to defect, he made it to China, but was sent to one of Kim Jong Uns infamous labor camps. The typical sentence for a defector was 10 years, essentially a death sentence, given that it meant 18 hours of hard labor a day, on three spoonfuls of rice each meal. But he managed to escape, this time to Russia, where his life became a constant struggle to avoid again being deported, to an almost certain death.

After living on the margins of legality in Russia for three years, always at risk of being captured by North Korean agents or handed over by local authorities, Kim finally flew to safety that night from Moscows Sheremetyevo airport to the United States, where he would enjoy the political asylum he was never granted by Russia.

But there are many other North Koreans in Russia, and few are likely to be as lucky as Kim. As political and economic ties have improved in recent years between Moscow and Pyongyang, the two neighbors have signed treaties promising to repatriate criminals and all those who have illegally entered and are illegally located in each others countries. Days before Kims departure, Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced two out of the three agreements to Parliament for ratification.

Russias signing of these treaties shows the beginnings of a substantive commitment to developing ties with the North, according to Anthony Rinna, an analyst on Russian foreign policy for the Sino-NK research group in Seoul.

Story continues

If Russia can help stop the defections of North Koreans on its territory, then it can possibly help prop up the regime and preserve stability in North Korea, particularly as the risk of deportation makes China less attractive, while at the same time life in South Korea is not the bed of roses so many imagine it to be, Rinna said. It mitigates the risk that Russia may somehow become a new destination for defectors, particularly as North Korea-Russia economic ties continue to grow.

Although few Russians are likely to flee to the Hermit Kingdom, these agreements could be a death warrant for North Korean defectors in Russia. The respected refugee group Civic Assistance says dozens if not hundreds of North Koreans are living illegally in villages in Siberia and the Far East, putting Russia behind only China and South Korea as a destination for them. Defections from North Korea are reportedly again on the rise, with the majority of escapees saying living conditions have deteriorated under Kim Jong Un. North Koreans who are forcibly repatriated commonly suffer torture, arbitrary detention, summary execution, forced abortions, and other sexual violence.

Finding refuge in Russia is already a long shot: It gave two out of 211 North Korean applicants permanent asylum between 2004 and 2014, according to Civic Assistance. An additional 90 received temporary asylum out of 170 who applied, but this lasts for only one year.

All our agreements with North Korea are a crime against people who come to us for help, and Im ashamed that our country, like in Soviet times, will hand people over for torture and death, said Civic Assistance head Svetlana Gannushkina. Defectors are only a small subset of the 10,000 North Koreans estimated by the United Nations to be living in Russia, most of whom were sent by North Korea to toil in harsh Siberian logging camps, farms, and construction companies under the gaze of their own minders in slave-like conditions, according to the U.N. (Others put the number higher, saying tens of thousands of migrants are part of state labor programs at any given time, some of whom try to stay after their term ends.)

The labor program is a seven-decade-old practice, a vestige of the close Cold War alliance between the Soviet Union and North Korea that was never entirely extinguished. After a cooling in relations in the 1990s, Russia and North Korea have intensified their cooperation more recently, especially after Kim Jong Un sent his second-in-command to meet Putin at the Sochi Olympics in February 2014.

That spring the two countries signed an agreement to raise bilateral trade from $112 million to $1 billion by 2020 and to use North Korean labor at agricultural and timber enterprises in the Amur region in Russias far east. A $340 million joint venture has built a new railway from the Russian border to the North Korean port of Rajin. There are hopes of integrating the North Korean rail system with the Trans-Siberian and even trying to build a gas pipeline through to South Korea, though the latter is something of a pipe dream, given the long-running hostility across the demilitarized zone that separates the Korean peninsula. Bolstered by economic ties and historical affinity, North Korea was one of only a handful of countries to support Russias annexation of Crimea.

For North Koreans fleeing their countrys brutal repression and starvation, this closeness is a death knell. Gannushkina is haunted by the fate of another North Korean refugee, Ryu En Nam, whom Civic Assistance volunteers tried to help in 2008. He was handed over to North Korean representatives near the border. Later, volunteers learned that he had been tortured to death by being roped to the back of a moving train.

Others have narrowly avoided a similar end. Gannushkina recounted the story of a defector named Jung, who lived illegally for seven years in a village in the Orenberg region, built himself a home, married a Russian woman and had a child. In 2005, he appealed for asylum, but was abducted and taken to Vladivostok by Russian agents when he went to the federal migration service office in Moscow. He was handed over to the North Korean Embassy. Eventually he escaped from the guards at a North Korean construction company in the Russian far east and flew to the safety of a Western country.

All the stories I know from North Koreans are incredible. You could make films, Gannushkina said. Journalists dont believe them. There are too many coincidences, but you have to understand that the only survivors are the ones for whom those coincidences lined up.

Kims story is one of heroic daring and miraculous survival. He was born to a fishermans family, but both his parents died by the time he was 12. He was adopted into another family, but the great famine of the mid-1990s was taking hold. His family soon stopped receiving its monthly rice ration. Kim remembered eating the seed meal left over from the harvest of fields where grain was grown to feed prisoners, but eventually there wasnt enough to sustain six children. The head of the family sent him to an orphanage, telling him that from now on his fate was in his own hands.

Kim lived and studied there until he graduated from high school and was put out on the street. He said he had a choice: Stay and starve to death, or flee across the river to China.

I knew it was a country where I wouldnt die from hunger, a country where there is rice, a country where people dont die on the street, Kim said.

Though he worked in China for about eight years, he couldnt get legal status there since it isnt a party to the U.N. Convention on Refugees. He decided to flee to Russia, having heard that he could get asylum there, but plotted his route with a Soviet-era map. He was caught on the border between China and Kazakhstan and sent back to North Korea, where he was interned in a labor camp.

Eventually, he and some 30 others in his group decided to make a break for it when they were led out for their daily break to relieve themselves in the bushes. One morning, as only one guard was escorting them, they ran in different directions and climbed the two barbed-wire fences. He met up with two other prisoners and hid with friends in a nearby village. The woman who was hiding them said the other escaped prisoners had been caught and that she had heard the gunshots of their executions.

After two weeks in hiding, the three fled to China over the river, then frozen, that serves as the international border. He went back to doing odd jobs and construction work in China, but had the same problem with legalization as before. In 2013, he fled to Russia, this time taking the right route, crossing the Amur River near Blagoveshchensk.

He ran into a border guard patrol and turned himself in, trying to explain that he wanted to apply for asylum. Instead, they arrested him. After four months in pretrial detention, a judge fined him $165 for illegally crossing the border and then waived the fine. A Civic Assistance lawyer in Blagoveshchensk, Lyubov Tataretz, noticed North Koreans waiting outside the hearing. Fearing they would detain Kim, she said she persuaded the bailiffs to take him back into custody on the pretext of needing him to sign documents. Then she spirited him away to her country home, where she hid him until he could be transported to Moscow. In the capital, Kim worked at a Korean restaurant and tried to obtain asylum. He was repeatedly refused on the grounds that he couldnt convincingly prove that if he was returned to his motherland he would be shot. After four tries, Kim was finally granted temporary year-long asylum in May 2016.

Unsure of his future here, Civic Assistance was at the same time in talks to try to persuade a Western country to take him in. The International Organization for Migration helped him obtain asylum in the United States.

But once the three treaties between Russia and North Korea are rubber-stamped by Russias compliant Parliament as expected, Koreans will likely be deported before they can receive asylum, Gannushkina said. Organizations such as Civic Assistance, Human Rights Watch, and Memorial, Russias oldest human rights group, have condemned the treaties. Many have argued that they violate Russias recognition of the 1951 U.N. Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. But such groups are increasingly marginalized in Russia, and both Civic Assistance and Memorial have been declared foreign agents, a classification synonymous with spy for many Russians that subjects organizations to onerous audits.

When I met Kim, he was flying to the United States to begin his new life, at a time when the highest office in the country is about to be occupied by a man known for his anti-immigrant rhetoric. Civic Assistance activists said Kim cried while watching the U.S. election results on television, afraid Donald Trumps win would end his hopes of asylum.

Speaking to him, I wondered if he would ever again feel truly at home. He said he still misses his native country, even though it considers him a traitor, and hopes to go back someday.

Im a Korean. I grew up there. My brother, sister, mom, and dad are all there, Kim said.

But he may not ever return, and perhaps hes lucky. Other North Koreans will likely be going back against their will, repatriated by the Russian authorities.

North Korea has labeled other defectors human scum and threatened to physically remove those who slander their homeland. Moscow has made no such statements, but its repatriation agreements put it on the same side as Pyongyang. At the very least it is indifferent to those, like Kim, who escape in hopes of a new life.

Photo Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
London (AFP) - A Russian aircraft carrier used to wage a massive offensive on the Syrian city of Aleppo is on its way back to Russia, Britain's defence minister said Wednesday, calling it a "ship of shame".

"We will keep a close eye on the Admiral Kuznetsov as it skulks back to Russia," Defence Minister Michael Fallon said in a statement.

The Russian warship travelled through the North Sea to Syria last year, to help Moscow ally President Bashar al-Assad's troops recapture rebel areas of Aleppo city after four years of fighting there.

The offensive forced thousands of civilians and rebels to flee the city, after years of intense bombing and clashes that ravaged swathes of Syria's former economic capital.

Fallon called the aircraft carrier "a ship of shame whose mission has only extended the suffering of the Syrian people".

"We are man-marking these vessels every step of the way around the UK as part of our steadfast commitment to keep Britain safe," he said.

Britain is deploying Typhoon jets and a frigate to shadow the Admiral Kuznetsov, which is accompanied by a Russian cruiser and salvage tug, the ministry said.

Moscow criticised the escort and accused Fallon of hitting out at the Russian navy in a bid to distract the British public.

"The aim of this type of statement and the 'show' performed by the naval escort of our vessels is designed to turn the attention of British taxpayers away from the real state of Britain's military fleet," Igor Konachenkov, spokesman for the Russian defence ministry, said in a statement.

"I would like to point out that in the first place, the Russian military vessels did not require this kind of senseless escort, they know how to find their way through this stretch of sea.

"And secondly, we recommend, Mr Fallon, you pay more attention to the British fleet, as the English press have for good reason also stressed," he added.

Story continues

The jibe was in reference to media reports on Sunday of a failed test of Britain's nuclear weapons deterrent last year, which the British government has refused to confirm or deny outright.

- Russia scales down deployment -

Russia's military said earlier this month that it had begun scaling down its deployment in Syria under a drawdown ordered by President Vladimir Putin on December 29.

Aircraft from the carrier hit 1,252 "terrorist" targets during a two-month mission, Russia's main commander in Syria, Andrei Kartapolov, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.

The Syrian regime and its allies have consistently referred to all of Assad's opponents -- jihadist or otherwise -- as "terrorist" since a conflict erupted in 2011.

The fall of Aleppo in December last year was the regime's biggest victory since the war began with anti-Assad protests.
Moscow (AFP) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will hold talks with officials from Syria's political opposition on Friday, Moscow said, seeking to reinvigorate efforts for a peace settlement.

The meeting comes after Russian-brokered indirect talks involving the Syrian regime and armed rebel leaders in Kazakhstan ended Tuesday without a major breakthrough.

But it appeared that representatives from armed Syrian rebel groups had not been asked to attend.

"We have invited on Friday all the opposition representatives from the political opposition that wish to come to Moscow and we will brief them about what happened in Astana," Lavrov told lawmakers on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry could not name which opposition groups from Syria's vast array -- some of whom are dismissed by rebels fighting on the ground as not genuine -- would be represented.

A rebel negotiator from the armed opposition delegation that attended the Astana talks said they had not been invited to Moscow but did not rule out heading there if asked.

"We did not receive an invitation," Fares Buyush told AFP from Istanbul.

"The problem isn't the invitation, it's the topic of discussion. If it's serious and we'll be discussing a national issue, we'll go to the end of the world," Buyush said.

Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed in Astana to establish a joint "mechanism" to shore up a shaky three-week truce in Syria, but offered few concrete details on how it would work.

Representatives from Damascus and the armed rebels in the Kazakh capital were expected to hold their first face-to-face talks since the conflict erupted in 2011, but the rebels refused and mediators had to shuttle between the two sides.

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the meetings, saying they offered a "good basis for continuing" the process in Geneva, referring to United Nations-led talks due to take place February 8.

Story continues

"Thanks to our joint efforts, the process is developing on the basis of a very important decision that we managed to achieve - the ceasing of military action, a ceasefire between the government forces and the armed opposition," Putin said at a meeting in Moscow with Jordan's King Abdullah II.

Russia has sidelined the West with its diplomatic push to find a political settlement to the war in Syria, after its military intervention to support President Bashar al-Assad turned the tables on the battlefield.

Rebel forces are reeling after regime troops, backed by Russian and Iranian firepower, dealt them the biggest blow in over five years of fighting, capturing their eastern Aleppo stronghold last month.

The war in Syria has cost at least 310,000 lives and forced millions to flee the country since Assad's brutal crackdown on protesters turned into an armed conflict in 2011.
(Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Wednesday the House would fund a wall President Donald Trump wants to build along the U.S.-Mexico border. "We're going to pay for it and front the money up," Ryan said in an interview with MSNBC when asked who is going to pay for the wall. "There are a lot of different ways of getting Mexico to contribute to doing this," Ryan said. (Reporting by Rick Cowan in Philadelphia; Editing by Eric Beech)
Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia unveiled its next-generation fighter-bomber on Wednesday, nearly two years after beginning a controversial air war in Yemen.

At a ceremony and air show in the Saudi capital, a hangar opened to reveal one of the F-15SA Eagle aircraft made by US manufacturer Boeing.

A missile was attached to the belly of the plane displayed against the backdrop of a giant Saudi flag.

Watched by King Salman and his son, Defence Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the unveiling at the King Faisal Air Academy was part of a ceremony to mark the school's 50th anniversary and the graduation of its latest class.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, whose country is part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen, also attended.

The coalition began air strikes over Yemen in March 2015 after Iran-backed Huthi rebels and allied troops loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh overran much of Yemen.

Riyadh feared the Huthis would seize all of Yemen and move it into the orbit of Shiite Iran, Sunni Saudi Arabia's regional rival.

The bombing campaign has faced repeated criticism from rights groups over civilian casualties.

Saudi Arabia is to add 84 F-15SA warplanes to its air force under a nearly $30 billion deal signed in 2011 that also included Black Hawk and Apache helicopters.

According to IHS Jane's Defence Weekly, the first of the F-15SAs -- the most advanced version of the Eagle built so far -- arrived in December.

Saudi Arabia also has Eurofighter Typhoons and Tornados, which joined several F-15s -- including the newest version -- in the air show held over the skies of Riyadh.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported in April that Saudi Arabia was the world's third-largest defence spender.

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Saudi Arabia had an air force of 20,000 personnel and 313 combat-capable aircraft. Most are versions of the F-15.
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP)  A New Jersey high school is weighing whether it should allow students to utter racial slurs during performances of the musical "Ragtime."

Cherry Hill school district officials had planned to remove the N-word from the show that's due to debut March 10 at High School East, following complaints from a parent and some area civil rights groups. They also said disparaging lines from the play targeting other ethnic groups also would be removed.

But that has been met with resistance by many students and community members of all races who say it would be wrong to "sanitize" the show. They argue it's an accurate portrayal of the racist attitudes that many people held in the early 20th century, when the Tony Award-winning musical is set. Some Broadway actors and arts groups agree with that argument.

The issue was the focus of a lengthy public meeting Tuesday attended by about 100 people, but no decision has been made on how to proceed.

Officials have noted that if the script is altered in any way, the agency that licenses the play will likely rescind its permission for the district to perform the show, which is based on the 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow and includes themes of racism, intolerance and injustice.

Ezra Nugiel, a white student who plays a character who utters the N-word several times, was among several cast members who said they oppose changing the script, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

"I don't say (the N-word) happily, but I know I have to," Nugiel told the board, which has two minority members. "We want to hear these words to not let history repeat itself."

Cedric Middleton, a black student who also performs in the play, said he also supports using the script unaltered.

"I fully understand the feelings of discomfort," he said. "'Ragtime' is how we get through such ugliness."

Carey Savage, vice president of the Camden County East Branch of the NAACP, told the board that civil rights leaders don't "need to be refreshed on what racism is" by the unfettered use of the word.

"You can't call me the N-word and then tell me it's art. I don't care what your rationale is," Savage said. "I've been through too much for that."
A movement by scientists to march on Washington as a protest against the Trump White Houses treatment of science has gained traction, with more than 115,000 supporters joining a Facebook group for the cause.

The move follows a slew of measures from President Donald Trump that scientists and policymakers have said could undermine science and its role in society. It is time for scientists, science enthusiasts, and concerned citizens to come together to make ourselves heard! organizers wrote on the page.

Trump transition officials have prohibited scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency from speaking to the media, removed climate change references from the White House webpage and said that they will require to submit their work for review before its published. Other targeted agencies include the Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior.

Read More: Climate Scientists Fear Trump May Fatally Undermine Their Work

The plan for a march came out of a Reddit thread that grew in the wake of last weekends womens march on Washington which drew hundreds of thousands of people to the nations capitol. Environmental activists have also announced plans for their own march in Washington D.C. late April to be organized in similar fashion to the womens march.

Read More: Donald Trumps Victory Could Mean Disaster for the Planet

Even before the push for a scientists march, many environmental activists said they planned to target Trump with mass protest. University of Virginia Lecturer Ann Reimers, a former fellow at the Department of Energy, marched on Washington during the womens march carrying a support climate research sign.

I can be here every weekend, she said before the march.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Secret Service may discipline a senior official who suggested on Facebook that she did not want to "take a bullet" for President Donald Trump, the agency and a newspaper said.

The online comments, which were first reported by the Washington Examiner newspaper on Tuesday, were made over seven months ago by Kerry O'Grady, special agent in charge of the agency's Denver district.

In a recent post, O'Grady made the logo for the anti-Trump Women's March in Denver her Facebook cover backdrop on Friday, the day Trump was sworn in as president in Washington, the newspaper said.

"The U.S. Secret Service is aware of the postings and the agency is taking quick and appropriate action," the agency said in a statement on Tuesday. "Any allegations of misconduct are taken seriously and swiftly investigated."

O'Grady could not be reached for comment. The Secret Service is in charge of security for the U.S. president and his family, as well as other high-profile political figures including presidential candidates who request protection. Trump, a Republican, won the presidential election on Nov. 8 after a bruising campaign.

According to a screenshot of one of the postings published by the Examiner, O'Grady wrote in October that she had struggled not to violate the Hatch Act, which bars political activity by federal workers.

"But this world has changed and I have changed. And I would take jail time over a bullet or an endorsement for what I believe to be disaster to this country and the strong and amazing women and minorities who reside here," O'Grady wrote. "Hatch Act be damned. I am with Her."

The post did not mention Trump by name, but "I'm with her" was a campaign slogan for his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

O'Grady told the Examiner she deleted the post after two to three days of greater reflection.

"It was an internal struggle for me but as soon as I put it up, I thought it was not the sentiment that I needed to share because I care very deeply about the mission," the paper quoted O'Grady as saying.

Story continues

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Frances Kerry)

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.
By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The confirmation process for Republican President Donald Trump's choice to chair the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission appears to be moving forward without any hiccups. Jay Clayton, a lawyer whose specialties include mergers and acquisitions, met privately with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Michael Crapo on Tuesday. They discussed the SEC's role in facilitating capital formation and ways to reduce "unnecessary burdens" for small companies, Crapo said in a statement that he posted on Twitter. "Had a great conversation," Crapo added. In recent days, he and other Senate Republicans have issued glowing statements about Clayton's qualifications and plans to help companies raise capital. While Democrats will probably raise questions about Clayton's ties to Wall Street at his confirmation hearing, they will not be able to block him without some support from Republicans. Clayton's hearing has not yet been scheduled but could come as early as the week of Feb. 6, according to several people familiar with the committee's plans. Private meetings with senators are typically held in advance of confirmation hearings so that the lawmakers can get a chance to vet the candidate and ask questions. Last week, Clayton met with three other Republican lawmakers on the panel - Senators Richard Shelby of Alabama, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania. He also met separately on Tuesday with Senator David Perdue of Georgia, who wrote on Twitter: "Jay knows capital formation. He wants to create a level playing field & make things fair and efficient. I fully support his nomination." Clayton is expected to have one-on-one meetings with some of the panel's Democrats sometime next week, according to one of the sources. Some Democrats on the committee, including Sherrod Brown, the committee's senior Democrat and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, have already expressed reservations about Clayton because of his legal work at Sullivan & Cromwell representing major Wall Street clients such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc, where his wife works as a wealth manager. Before Clayton accepted Trump's nomination, his family decided his wife would step down from her post at the investment bank if he is confirmed, one of the people familiar with the matter said. In the meantime, the SEC's lone Republican commissioner, Michael Piwowar, is acting as chairman, according to people familiar with the matter. The SEC, typically a five-member commission, is down to two members until Clayton is confirmed. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
Brussels (AFP) - Kosovo's and Serbia's leaders agreed to ease tensions that have risen in past weeks and pursue intensive high-level talks following EU-brokered efforts in Brussels to normalise their relations.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said she was encouraged by the talks involving Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci and Prime Minister Isa Mustafa with their Serb counterparts Tomislav Nikolic and Aleksandar Vucic.

The leaders "agreed to leave the tensions behind and to focus on the work ahead," Mogherini said in a statement, adding intensive, high-level talks will start in a few days.

She said progress toward normalising ties is essential if the two sides want to pursue closer relations with the European Union.

Ties between the two Balkan countries have reached their lowest level since they opened talks to improve relations back in 2011.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian insurgents fought Serbian forces in 1998-1999 and the former province unilaterally declared independence in 2008, but Serbia denies Kosovo's sovereignty.

Earlier this month, Belgrade sent a train towards Kosovo painted in the colours of the Serbian flag, covered in the statement "Kosovo is Serbia" in multiple languages and decorated inside with Serbian Orthodox imagery.

Kosovo said it was a "provocation." Vucic said the train was stopped from crossing the border over fears it would be attacked.

Vucic called the meeting in Brussels a "good step" as he told reporters the two sides agreed to avoid irresponsible behaviour and provocative language, according to Tanjug news agency.

"We asked for respect for the territory of Kosovo and not to have provocations by Serbia's parallel structures," Kosovo's Mustafa said.

Members of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority were also outraged by the arrest in France in early January of former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, under an international warrant issued by Serbia.

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Belgrade wants to try him for alleged war crimes committed against civilians during the 1990s conflict.

Relations have further deteriorated in the town of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo, where Serb authorities have started erecting a concrete wall on the banks of the Ibar river.

The wall's construction, by a bridge that divides the town's Serb-dominated north and largely ethnic Albanian south, has angered Pristina, which says it is cementing the town's divisions and must be knocked down.
STUART, Fla. (AP)  Authorities say a central Florida deputy shot and wounded a man during an undercover narcotics operation.

Local media organizations say the shooting occurred Tuesday afternoon in a hotel parking lot off Interstate 95 near Stuart.

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder says the shooting appeared to be in self-defense. He says the suspect was involved in a major narcotics buy, rammed his car into several sheriff's office vehicles and drove at one deputy.

Snyder says deputies opened fire on the man, hitting him at least once. The suspect crashed his car and attempted to flee on foot before being captured, according to authorities.

Officials haven't identified the suspect, the deputies or the races of those involved. The suspect's condition wasn't immediately known.

No deputies were hurt.
By Andrew M. Seaman (Reuters Health) - It's unclear whether everyone should be screened for a common sleep-related breathing problem, a government-backed U.S. panel says. There is insufficient evidence to say whether doctors should be routinely screening for obstructive sleep apnea in people who don't have any symptoms, said Dr. Alexander Krist, a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the airway collapses and keeps air out for seconds to minutes at a time. The condition is linked with increased blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and other health conditions. Data from the 1990s suggests about one in 10 people in the U.S. have mild obstructive sleep apnea while about 4 to 7 percent of people have more severe forms of the disease, according to the USPSTF. The disorder may be more common now due to higher rates of obesity. To see whether the existing research on obstructive sleep apnea supports screening everyone for the disorder, the USPSTF commissioned a systematic review of the scientific literature. No studies have examined whether using questionnaires to screen people for the disorder led to changes in their health, according to the USPSTF's statement published in JAMA. People who were treated for obstructive sleep apnea with continuous positive airway pressure - known as CPAP - and mandibular advancement devices did have some improvement in their blood pressure, daytime sleepiness and the severity of their disorder. Whether those benefits would apply to people screened without symptoms of the disorder is unknown. As for harms, there was some evidence that CPAP and mandibular advancement devices may cause nasal dryness, nose bleeds, mucus, eye or skin irritations and discomfort. While the USPSTF can't recommend that everyone be screened for obstructive sleep apnea, Krist said it shouldn't stop people with symptoms from being tested. Loud and chronic snoring, choking during the night, morning headaches, cognition problems, mood changes, frequent nighttime bathroom use and dry mouth or sore throats in the morning are all symptoms of the disorder, according to the National Institutes of Health. "If someone is suffering from that, they should talk to their doctor about whether sleep apnea is something they should be concerned about," said Krist, who is also a family physician affiliated with Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. The new statement from the USPSTF is a call for more research into the disorder, he told Reuters Health. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2jyrL1h and http://bit.ly/2jyfvhq JAMA, online January 24, 2017.
Liverpool (AFP) - Southampton reached the League Cup final for the first time since 1979 as Shane Long grabbed the goal that sealed a memorable 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the semi-final second leg on Wednesday.

Leading by Nathan Redmond's goal from the first leg two weeks ago, Claude Puel's side showed great resolve to survive a barrage of second-half pressure at Anfield before securing their 2-0 aggregate triumph when Long struck late on.

The visitors spurned three good chances to extend their aggregate lead in the first half, but were grateful Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge missed two excellent opportunities after the interval.

Saints will face Manchester United or Hull at Wembley on February 26 as they bid to win the competition for the first time.

United are their likely opponents as they hold a 2-0 lead heading into the second leg at Hull on Thursday.

Southampton arrived at Anfield without their reliable centre-back Virgil van Dijk, ruled out with the ankle injury he sustained during Sunday's win over Leicester.

In Van Dijk's absence, Jack Stephens made only his fourth start for the club and, having begun nervously by miscuing a back pass out for a corner, he grew in confidence, making a timely interception to prevent a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross from reaching Roberto Firmino.

Liverpool defender Joel Matip, his eligibility dispute with FIFA resolved, started a game for the first time since December 11, but the Cameroon international looked very shaky.

In the first half, Liverpool laboured as Southampton defended solidly and even when chances came the hosts couldn't convert them.

Ryan Bertrand was caught in possession by Adam Lallana and that allowed Philippe Coutinho to set Sturridge for a shot that rolled straight to Saints goalkeeper Fraser Forster.

Then Roberto Firmino cut in from the right to test the goalkeeper once more, but it was another routine save for Forster.

Southampton coped with Liverpool's early attempts to cut through them, then sought a counter punch.

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- Scrambled -

They almost found it on the half-hour mark, as Redmond's burst down the left ended with a cross that was only half-cleared towards the advancing Steven Davis, whose shot would have nestled in the corner of the net but for James Milner's fine block.

Redmond's threat down the left surfaced again moments later, as a surging run ended with a square pass towards an unmarked Dusan Tadic, who just had to check to get to the ball, and was unable to get the power into his shot to slide it beneath the advancing Loris Karius.

Liverpool, beaten in last year's final by Manchester City, were caught out once more down that flank by Redmond before half-time, with Davis this time blasting a shot high into the Kop.

From the other side, Redmond played a short corner that James Ward-Prowse rolled just wide from outside the penalty area.

Yet all of Southampton's solid first-half work was almost undone eight minutes after the interval, when Forster misfielded Emre Can's long-range effort in the wind, and scrambled back just in time to flap the ball away as it bounced towards the goal.

Sturridge then hooked over the bar from six yards after Can had guided a Coutinho delivery back across goal, before steering Jordan Henderson's ball beyond the near post.

Then Coutinho whizzed a long-range shot just wide from distance as Liverpool's desperation grew.

The home fans were convinced their team should have had a penalty with seven minutes left, but Long survived a loud appeal for handball as he helped defend a corner.

Long then popped up at the other end in stoppage-time to thump in fellow substitute Josh Sims' pass and secure Southampton's place at Wembley.
Tuberculosis in mice can be cured much faster than normal by simply tweaking the standard regimen of antibiotics, new research shows.

Scientists reduced treatment time in mice by up to 75 percent; they did so by optimizing the combinations and doses of the standard drugs. The finding may lead to a markedly shorter course of treatment for tuberculosis in humans and may reduce the risk of the infection becoming resistant to the antibiotics.

Treating tuberculosis in humans can be long and onerous; the infected person must take a regimen of antibiotics for eight months or more. As a result of this lengthy treatment, patients often fail to complete the full course of medication; this is particularly true in poor countries, where people may not have easy access to medical care. Failing to complete the course of antibiotics can lead to disease relapse, further spread of the illness and drug resistance. [27 Devastating Infectious Diseases]

The newly optimized combinations of antibiotics could reduce the spread of even the most virulent strains of tuberculosis, the researchers said. Their findings were published today (Jan. 24) in the journal Nature Communications.

Tuberculosis, or TB, is a leading cause of death worldwide, with more than 10.4 million cases and 1.8 million deaths in 2015, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The disease is caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium. TB is an airborne disease spread by coughing, sneezing or any exchange of saliva.

Most worrisome to infectious-disease experts is the rise of multi-drug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant TB, against which few if any drugs are effective. There were more than 500,000 such cases in 2015, according WHO, mostly in China, India and Russia.

In the United States, 10 drugs are approved to treat TB. And the first line of defense is a set of four antibiotics: isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol and pyrazinamide. These are usually given together for eight weeks, often followed by just isoniazid and rifampin for the next 16 to 24 weeks. [6 Superbugs to Watch Out For]

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This standard regimen evolved from the 1950s to the present by a process of adding or replacing drugs one by one, rather than by a systematic search to identify the most highly synergistic drug combinations, explained the research team in the new study.

Given the literally billions of possible combinations of drugs and doses, the team set out to find which combination could be most effective at killing M. tuberculosis. The researchers were led by Dr. Marcus Horwitz, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) David Geffen School of Medicine. The team used a special drug-screening technique developed at UCLA to rapidly identify the most promising drug combinations, and then tested them in a cell culture. That work was reported in March 2016.

This approach allowed the scientists to rank more than 1,000 three- and four-drug combinations in order of their potency in killing M. tuberculosis, Horwitz said.

In the new study, the team tested the most promising combinations on mice that were infected with TB. Two regimens stood out: One had four common and inexpensive drugs (clofazimine, ethambutol, prothionamide and pyrazinamide) and cured the mice in 12 weeks. The other had a similar set of four drugs but with a less-common, more-expensive drug (bedaquiline) replacing prothionamide. It cured the mice in only four weeks, a 75 percent reduction in time compared to the standard treatment. [7 Bizarre Drug Side Effects]

Dr. Daniel Clemens, an adjunct professor of medicine at the Geffen School of Medicine and a co-first author on the study, said he is guardedly optimistic that the regimens could work in humans.

"Showing markedly greater efficacy than the standard regimen in the mouse model makes our regimens very promising for further study in humans, but does not guarantee that they will be more effective in clinical trials," Clemens told Live Science.

"There are differences between TB in mouse and human that could cause our mouse model to overestimate the clinical efficacy of our regimens," he said. "On the other hand, the mouse model might underestimate the efficacy [because] whereas a few residual bacteria in a mouse can cause relapse, the stronger human immune response may control a small number of bacteria and prevent relapse."

Clemens said his team found other drug combinations in the cell-culture studies that hold potential as "universal regimens for treatment of multi-drug-resistant TB" and that the researchers hope to test in mice and ultimately in humans.

Follow Christopher Wanjek @wanjek for daily tweets on health and science with a humorous edge. Wanjek is the author of "Food at Work" and "Bad Medicine." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on Live Science.

Editor's Recommendations
Paris (AFP) - A proposal by leftwing French presidential candidate Benoit Hamon for a universal basic income received the seal of approval from star French economist Thomas Piketty on Wednesday.

In an op-ed in the daily Le Monde, Piketty and nine colleagues praised the idea, saying it would be a "key building block" of a fairer economy.

The pledge to pay everyone a living wage has been a hot potato in France's Socialist primary, which will pit Hamon against centre-left former prime minister Manuel Valls in a runoff on Sunday.

Former education minister Hamon argues that growing automation is squeezing jobs, making it critical to find ways of supplementing or replacing wages.

While a poll showed most leftwing French voters supporting a basic income, Valls has slammed it, saying it would "ruin" the country.

Piketty, the left-leaning author of a 2013 international bestseller on capital, and the nine other economists came to Hamon's defence in the op-ed.

A basic income for the young, the unemployed and the low-paid "could be economically credible and socially audacious", the academics said.

"If properly designed and clarified, the universal basic income could be a key building block in the reorganisation of our social model," wrote the economists, who included Emmanuel Saez of the University of California Berkeley.

"Benoit Hamon never said he would pay 500 euros a month to 50 million adults," they claimed, adding that it would "only concern salaries under 2,000 euros".

Hamon has said however that everyone would eventually receive the payment.

He has said he would begin in 2018 by giving 18-to-25-year-olds and the jobless poor 600 euros a month, increasing it over time to 750 euros and to all the French.

Valls and other presidential contenders have argued that giving the rich a state handout would be a colossal waste and that a universal income would diminish the value of work.

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The economists however denied that such a safety net would encourage idleness.

Low-paid workers would benefit from receiving an automatic state salary top-up, they said.

A basic income for 18-25-year-olds would also "give autonomy back to our young people", they said.

The idea of a universal income is gaining traction in parts of the West.

Finland this month began a two-year experiment paying 2,000 unemployed workers a basic income.

A similar measure was also put to Swiss voters last year in a referendum -- but they rejected the idea.
Disney pleasantly surprised Star Wars fans by revealing the official title of Episode VIII on Monday: The Last Jedi. With 11 months to go until the movie launches, that title practically ensures that people will be debating what it must mean. Forget about who Reys parents are. We want to know what this last Jedi thing means. Thats just brilliant trolling from Disney.

Don't Miss: Old Android malware still infecting millions of users

There are various interpretations for the title already.

For example, Luke might be rightly perceived as the last Jedi. Yoda told him so. But thats before he recruited others whom he wanted to train. That essentially meant he wasnt the last Jedi any longer. Both Rey and Kylo Ren  or at least Kylo Ren  were his disciples.

Some of those Jedi-in-training died, some took to the Dark Side, and some were left on a deserted planet.

Technically, Luke is still the last Jedi, but hes probably training Rey after their meeting. Shes very strong with the Force, just as he was. Plus, recent spoilers told us that shes going to train with him.

So the last Jedi might refer to Luke and Rey after she receives her Jedi degree. Jedi, after all, is used for both singular and plural.

But what if Luke dies in Episode VIII? That would make Rey the last Jedi, wouldnt it? Apparently, plenty of people saw the title as an indication that Luke dies. Even if thats the case, its not a bad thing. In fact, Jedi deaths are somewhat of a recurrent theme in Star Wars. And its all but expected considering what kind of life they tend to live.

What if the movie is actually about Kylo Ren somehow? Maybe he completed his training before turning to the Dark Side? Such an interpretation also makes sense. Even in such a case, wed have at least three Jedi on the set, including Luke, Rey, and Kylo Ren. Each of them would have different Jedi proficiency levels, but together theyd be the last Jedi.

Some believe that Finn might be Force-friendly too. What if he is the last Jedi?

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Lets not forget that gifted people who feel the Force are born every day. Even if the Jedi all but disappear in the following episodes, there will come a time when someone will just wake up one day realizing he or she has special powers and a great heart. Surely such a person would come up with a marketing term for themselves, and the Jedi order would be reborn.

Regardless of what your interpretation of The Last Jedi might be, one thing is certain, Disney found a great title for Episode VIII  CNET has a great collection of additional Twitter reactions for Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fstory%2fthumbnail%2f34830%2fcd0770e3-49d2-4c14-a944-fb296016e049

We interrupt your regularly scheduled selection of depressing news stories and dismaying tweets to bring you the most amazing thing that happened on the internet today.

The amount of cute animals you are about to see is almost unhealthy. Almost.

SEE ALSO: Red panda cub is very attached to a fluffy toy that looks just like her

Zoos and aquariums across the nation participated in a very important #CuteAnimalTweetOff today. And the winner of the tweet off is everyone. Every single person alive.

It all started when Smithsonian's National Zoo released a press release announcing the birth of the most adorable baby grey seal in the world.

We welcomed a gray seal pup Jan. 21. The pup appears to be nursing, moving & bonding well w/ mom. https://t.co/l0Bzu7g8ek #Squee pic.twitter.com/nEhuJe6vBk  National Zoo (@NationalZoo) January 25, 2017

Sarah Hill, who lives in Virginia, saw the press release and tweeted a taunt at the Virginia Aquarium.

The Virginia Aquarium is not one to back down when a challenge is issued.

Thus, a Twitter war began between the Virginia Aquarium and the National Zoo. What a war it was.

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.@VAAquarium This is Redd, our endangered Bornean orangutan infant. And he is the cutest. Do you fold yet? #challengeaccepted pic.twitter.com/ED6WiZun1R  National Zoo (@NationalZoo) January 25, 2017

Upon seeing this epic struggle of baby animal portions, zoos and aquariums across the nation joined in, tweeting out achingly cute photos of their animal friends. What started as a simple little cute-off became a national cute-off, and we are not complaining.

Here we have an otterly adorable submission to #CuteAnimalTweetOff #OtterlyAdorable pic.twitter.com/GQzgUP19BQ  Aquarium of Pacific (@AquariumPacific) January 25, 2017

I got here as fast as I could... #cuteanimaltweetoff pic.twitter.com/wPWHHoPaS1  Los Angeles Zoo (@LAZoo) January 25, 2017

Leapin' Lemurs the #cuteanimaltweetoff is going strong. Behold our baby sifaka lemur. He's kind of cute, right?  pic.twitter.com/9dNfyeJJ2d  Maryland Zoo (@marylandzoo) January 25, 2017

This is social media done right. We hope everyone takes note of this amazing movement.
President Donald Trump will meet Senate Republican leaders this week about his Supreme Court nominee, in a sign that process is moving ahead. But will the nomination face enough delays to prevent a new Justice from hearing arguments this term?

President Trump said last week he expected to announce his selection to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia about two weeks after the presidential inauguration. Trump also said at a ceremony on Tuesday the nomination announcement will be next week. (Editors Note: Trump said on Wednesday morning the announcement will be on February 2.)

Even if President Trump releases the nominees name, at a conventional announcement ceremony or on Twitter by February 3  two weeks after inauguration day  there are still a few roadblocks that could prevent a nominee from being confirmed by mid-April.

The Supreme Courts last scheduled days for arguments are between April 17 and April 26. The Courts term will likely conclude in late June, after the Justices write opinions and take care of other court business. As of today, the Senate is scheduled to start a state work period where its members arent in Washington on April 10.

That timing would allow for a little over two months for the Supreme Court nomination to get through the traditional process of investigations and hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee and a vote by the full Senate. Since 1975, the average length of the process between a presidential nomination and a final Senate vote has been 67 days. In comparison, it would be a 63-day period between February 3 and April 7 of this year.

In recent years, the Supreme Court nomination process has been a bit longer. According to official Senate records, Elena Kagans nomination process lasted 87 days, while the period between Sonia Sotomayors nomination and confirmation was 66 days. Samuel Alitos nomination process was 86 days.

The confirmation process for President Trumps nominee faces two possible hurdles. One is the availability of the Judiciary Committee to fully take up the Supreme Court nomination process. The Senate Judiciary Committee isnt scheduled to take a vote on Senator Jeff Sessions nomination for Attorney General until at least January 31, after Democrats asked for a one-week delay under committee rules on Tuesday. A full Senate vote would likely follow the committees recommendation.

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The Judiciary Committee plays a critical role in the nomination process. Under Senate standing rules going back to 1868, the nomination is sent to the Judiciary Committee after receiving a letter from the President, unless the nominee is a current or former Senate member. The Senate Judiciary chair, Charles Grassley, would then direct the committee to undertake a pre-hearing investigative stage, followed by public hearings and a decision on a recommendation to the full Senate.

The Congressional Research Service says that since 1975, it has taken 39 days on average for the pre-hearing investigative process to be completed and confirmation hearings to begin. Nomination hearings have averaged four or five days in length, with the Judiciary Committee vote occurring about a week after the hearings have ended.

To be sure, Senator Grassley could expedite part of this process, which also could happen faster if the nominee is a federal judge or another public official who has been vetted and voted on by the Senate before.

Once the Judiciary Committees recommendation is sent to the full Senate, a second possible delay would a decision by Democrats in the Senate to filibuster the nomination until Republicans secure a cloture vote to end the filibuster. The Congressional Research Service says that only four cloture votes have been taken in the Senate since 1968 and only one had a direct impact on a nominations outcome. (In 1968, Democrats couldnt overcome a cloture vote related to the nomination of Abe Fortas as Chief Justice.)

The Republicans also have the option available to kill the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees, using the same parliamentary tactics employed by Harry Reid in 2013 to eliminate other Senate filibusters. But it also believed Senate Republican leaders are working to avoid that scenario by appealing to Senate Democrats up for re-election in 2018.

In all, the CRS says it has taken two weeks, on average since 1975, for the full Senate hold a confirmation roll-call vote once the Judiciary Committees recommendation is received. If confirmed, the new Justice will take their two oaths shortly after the vote. Kagan and Sotomator took their public oaths about two days after their Senate confirmation votes. But the White House and the Court could expedite that process, too.

For now, the Supreme Court has a private conference scheduled for April 13, where new cases are considered for the Court, and arguments set for April 17. The Court could also decide to extend arguments beyond April, and even extend the current term beyond late June if needed. But the practical matter of writing opinions after April arguments would seem to make such extensions unlikely.

Scott Bomboy is the editor in chief of the National Constitution Center.

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott escalated a standoff with Austin's sheriff over so-called sanctuary cities on Wednesday, vowing to oust the elected Democrat from office even though he doesn't have the power to do so.

His pledge came hours before President Donald Trump signed an executive action to also crackdown on immigrant-protecting sanctuary policies by cutting federal dollars.

Abbott, a Republican, already has plans to cut off some state grants by Feb. 1 because Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez says her jails in Texas' most liberal city will no longer honor all detainer requests from federal immigration authorities.

"If she doesn't, we will remove her from office," Abbott said during an interview on "Fox and Friends."

Abbott said the Texas Legislature is working on anti-sanctuary bills that would remove officeholders and impose criminal and financial penalties. His threat goes beyond one prominent anti-sanctuary bill that proposes blocking taxpayer money as punishment.

A spokeswoman for Hernandez didn't immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.

Democratic state Rep. Rafael Anchia said "unless the governor wants to be king and remove people from office unilaterally," it's up to voters to decide.

Trump plans to curb funding for cities that don't arrest or detain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, which could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars. But the administration may face legal challenges, given that some federal courts have found that local jurisdictions cannot hold immigrants beyond their jail term or deny them bond based only a request from immigration authorities.

Hernandez has said she will still honor detainer requests for murder, aggravated sexual assault and human trafficking charges. But she has said complying with all requests ties up her deputies and sows distrust between officers and county residents, who may fear deportation.

___

Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber
(Courtesy of Transparency International)

Somalia received the dubious honor of most corrupt country in the world for the 10th straight year in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 released on Wednesday.

The index, which is published by Berlin-based Transparency International, aims to rank nations based on how corrupt a countrys public sector is perceived to be. The index ranked 176 countries on a scale of 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean).

The group estimates that corruption, bribery, theft and tax evasion, cost developing countries US $1.26 trillion per year. According to Jose Ugaz, the chair of Transparency International, in the most corrupt countries we often see democracies in decline and a disturbing pattern of attempts to crack down on civil society, limit press freedom, and weaken the independence of the judiciary.

In total 122 of the 176 countries ranked finished with a score below 50, which Transparency International identifies as having a serious corruption problem.

Here is the bottom 46:

176. Somalia: 10

175. South Sudan: 11

174. North Korea: 12

173. Syria: 13

170. Libya: 14

170. Sudan: 14

170. Yemen: 14

169. Afghanistan: 15

168. Guinea-Bissau: 16

166. Iraq: 17

166. Venezuela: 17

164. Angola: 18

164. Eritrea: 18

159. Burundi: 20

159. Central African Republic: 20

159. Chad: 20

159. Haiti: 20

159. Republic of Congo: 20

156. Cambodia: 21

156. Democratic Republic of Congo: 21

156. Uzbekistan: 21

154. Turkmenistan: 22

154. Zimbabwe: 22

153. Comoros: 24

151. Tajikistan: 25

151. Uganda: 25

145. Bangladesh: 26

145. Cameroon: 26

145. Gambia: 26

145. Kenya: 26

145. Madagascar: 26

145. Nicaragua: 26

142. Guinea: 27

142. Mauritania: 27

142. Mozambique: 27

136. Myanmar: 28

136. Nigeria: 28

136. Papua New Guinea: 28

136. Guatemala: 28

136. Kyrgyzstan: 28

136. Lebanon: 28

131. Iran: 29

131. Kazakhstan: 29

131. Nepal: 29

131. Russia: 29

131. Ukraine: 29

Somalia has not had a functioning central government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The East African nation held a parliamentary vote late last year, but the process was marred by violence, corruption, vote buying and clan disputes.

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Transparency International ranked Somalia as the most corrupt nation in the world. (Photo by Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images)

The countries at the top of the list are generally clustered in Central Asia and Africa. Several war-torn nations, such as South Sudan, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan and Iraq are ranked in the top 10.

There is also a strong correlation between poverty and corruption. According to Ugaz, in too many countries, people are deprived of their most basic needs and go to bed hungry

every night because of corruption, while the powerful and corrupt enjoy lavish lifestyles with impunity.

One outlier at the top of the list is Russia. The U.S. Treasury singled out Russian President Vladimir Putin for criticism last year for enriching his friends, his close allies, and marginalizing those who he doesnt view as friends using state assets.

Several critics claim Putin has used his political power to amass a fortune that would make him one of the richest men in the world.

The U.S. Treasury directly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being corrupt last year. (Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Denmark (90 points) was ranked as the least corrupt nation in the world for the fifth straight year. New Zealand tied for the top spot, while Finland, Sweden and Switzerland round out the top five.

The index has been criticized in the past for its methodology. Transparency International is open about the fact that the index measures the perception of corruption, as opposed to actual corruption.

The Washington Post notes: While knowing more about how citizens perceive a phenomenon certainly has its uses, it is also plausible that perception and reality might differ considerably. This gulf may well mean that the CPI is actually (and inadvertently) distorting reality, simply reinforcing stereotypes and cliches.

The United States (74 points) ranked 18th. It was ranked 16th last year, its highest position since the index began in 1995.

MORE: The 4 least corrupt countries in the world
Three eastern Europeans were jailed for five years in Taiwan Wednesday over a $2.6 million cyberheist that used malware to hack into a major local bank's ATM network.

The attack, the first of its kind in Taiwan, targeted the First Commercial Bank's ATM network in July and saw money withdrawn from dozens of machines in three cities.

The suspects had uncovered a security loophole in a server at the bank's London branch office and used it to plant the malware, according to Taiwanese authorities.

Latvian Andrejs Peregudovs, together with Mihail Colibaba from Romania and Niklae Penkov from Moldova, were convicted of causing damage to the public by breaching computer security, said the Taipei district court.

They were also each fined Tw$600,000 ($19,00) and will be deported after completing their sentences, the court said. They can appeal the ruling.

Prosecutors had sought 12-year jail terms, saying their multiple actions had "seriously disrupted financial order and caused public panic".

But court spokesman Liao Chien-yu said the judges had considered the illegal bank withdrawals as one case, which carries a maximum five-year sentence.

Prosecutors have said it was the first case of a multinational crime ring hacking into a bank's computer system to plant malware.

Thai police said a gang of foreign criminals stole millions of baht by hacking a local bank's ATM network in a theft last year believed to be linked to the one in Taiwan.

Taiwan's government has added 19 other suspects, including one Australian, one French national and an unknown number of eastern Europeans, to the wanted list after they fled the island following the heist.

Surveillance images released by the bank showed masked robbers working in two-man teams targeting 41 ATMs in three cities from July 9-11. Within five to 10 minutes, the thieves were seen walking away with bags full of stolen cash.

Police arrested the trio in Taipei and northeastern Yilan county several days after the heist and recovered most of the stolen money.
By Rory Carroll, Robin Respaut and Andy Sullivan

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's attempt to strip municipalities of federal dollars for shielding illegal immigrants threatens $2.27 billion in annual funds for the nation's ten largest cities, a Reuters analysis of federal grants found.

Trump plans to make good on his campaign pledge to block federal funding to states and cities where local law enforcement refuse to report undocumented immigrants they encounter to federal authorities, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said.

"The American people are no longer going to have to be forced to subsidize this disregard for our laws, Spicer said.

Spicer said an executive order signed by Trump on Wednesday directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to look at federal funding to cities to figure out "how we can defund those streams."

Mayors and city councils of those cities have said that they will not be pressured to report illegal immigrants to federal agents. For a graphic of risks to sanctuary cities, see: http://tmsnrt.rs/2jSYT4I

While Trump has the authority to cut some kinds of funding to the cities, cuts to other federal funding would require an act of Congress.

Reuters analyzed federal grant records to tally the estimated federal funding at risk among the 10 largest cities which totaled an estimated $2.27 billion.

The total amount remains unclear, as federal money can be filtered through state governments or granted directly to social-service organizations or other groups.

The numbers do not include federal money for law enforcement, which was excluded in the executive order, and programs like Medicaid, which are administered by state governments.

Though details remain vague, the order could jeopardize billions of dollars in housing, health, education and other types of federal aid.

Among the funds at risk are $460 million that the federal government gave out to fund Head Start pre-school programs in the 10 largest 'sanctuary cities' in the most recent fiscal year, the analysis found.

Story continues

Washington also sent $238 million to municipalities to fund airport improvements and $153 million for HIV prevention and relief.

Local governments in Los Angeles County, for example, received $582 million in federal aid in the most recent fiscal year. That aid included $207 million for the Head Start preschool program, $70 million last year for airport improvements, and $114 million for community development funds used for housing and other needs.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, on Tuesday, said he is going to put an additional $250 million a year away in reserves for four years because of a "huge amount of uncertainty" emanating from Washington.

If the Trump administration actually moved to cut funding, we would be in court immediately to stop it, de Blasio told reporters.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel reiterated the city would remain a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants. In December he pledged $1 million to assist immigrant families.

NOT AN OFFICIAL DESIGNATION

Sanctuary city is not an official designation.

Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, and Seattle have not declared themselves so-called sanctuary cities. But each city has vowed some sort of protection to undocumented residents.

Boston's city council in 2014 directed local law enforcement not to detain individuals based on immigration status except in cases where there is a criminal warrant. Boston expects to receive approximately $65.5 million in federal revenue this year.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said in a statement on Wednesday he was "deeply disturbed" by the Trump's actions.

"I will use all of my power within lawful means to protect all Boston residents - even if that means using City Hall itself as a last resort," he said.

Denver, too, does not have a formal policy of non-cooperation with the federal government on immigration enforcement, but the city does not support unlawful detention in our jails, said Mayor Michael Hancock. Denver received about $39 million in federal funds in fiscal 2016.

Trump's plans to spur job growth and boost the economy would likely be harmed by federal funding cuts in many cities. Many public workers salaries could be in jeopardy as well as the facilities and institutions that keep American trade moving, such as ports.

Seattle received approximately $72.7 million of federal dollars in fiscal year 2016. If the Port of Seattle were to shutter from a lack of federal funding, thats going to impact the economy and trade in a really big way, said Kevin Schofield of Seattle City Council Insight, an independent website focused on the city issues.

"(Trump) has vastly overstated the funding that could be at issue with these sanctuary policies. Any attempts to withhold funds will certainly be the source of litigation and the courts, not the president, will be the ultimate arbitrator," said Peter Markowitz, a professor at New York's Cardozo School of Law, who focuses on immigration.

(Additional reporting by Hilary Russ in New York; Editing by Daniel Bases and Alistair Bell)
WASHINGTON (AP)  Defense Secretary James Mattis will travel to Japan and South Korea next week for his first overseas visit since taking office, the Pentagon said Wednesday. A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said Mattis would meet with his Korean counterpart in Seoul on Feb. 2 and his Japanese counterpart the following day. The U.S. has thousands of troops based in both countries. "The trip will underscore the commitment of the United States to our enduring alliances with Japan and the Republic of Korea, and further strengthen U.S.-Japan-Republic of Korea security cooperation," Davis said. At his Senate confirmation hearing and in his first days in office, Mattis, a retired Marine general, has stressed the importance of maintaining international alliances.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  A lawyer for the jailed woman at the center of the biggest South Korean political scandal in decades said Thursday that prosecutors threatened to "annihilate" her family and used other abusive language during questioning. The woman, Choi Soon-sil, a longtime friend of President Park Geun-hye, has been arrested for allegedly interfering in state affairs and extorting money from businesses. Park was impeached last month over the scandal and the Constitutional Court is reviewing whether to formally end her rule. Choi created a stir Wednesday by shouting out accusations about prosecutors when she was brought to the office of prosecutors.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark told her staff on Thursday that she's stepping down from her senior role at the United Nations when her term expires in April. The move comes three months after Clark failed in her bid to land the U.N.'s top job. Clark has headed the U.N. Development Program for the past seven years. The 66-year-old wrote a message to staff saying she was leaving April 19 at the conclusion of her second four-year term. "These are times of change across the UN system," Clark wrote. She said that making progress on sustainable development goals "must continue unabated." The U.N.

Story continues

WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump's "peace through strength" could mean more U.S. military power in Asia, reassuring allies about America's resolve to counter China. That is, if they're still looking to Washington for reassurance. Trump called his speedy withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership a victory for American workers hurt by multilateral trade pacts. But his reversal of years of U.S.-led efforts may mean the loss of Asian nations' trust and support in confronting an increasingly assertive Beijing after many of them, under Washington's pressure, barreled through similar domestic concerns over jobs and competition. And a weakened partnership with East Asia's key commercial powers could have wide-ranging consequences for Americans, beyond them missing out on the trade pact's potential for lower prices and additional jobs.

WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump moved aggressively to tighten the nation's immigration controls Wednesday, signing executive actions to jumpstart construction of his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall and cut federal grants for immigrant-protecting "sanctuary cities." As early as Thursday, he is expected to pause the flow of all refugees to the U.S. and indefinitely bar those fleeing war-torn Syria. "Beginning today the United States of America gets back control of its borders," Trump declared during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security. "We are going to save lives on both sides of the border." The actions, less than a week into Trump's presidency, fulfilled pledges that animated his candidacy and represented a dramatic redirection of U.S.

KAMPOT, Cambodia (AP)  A nearby sea, flanking mountains, a quartz-rich soil: It's the perfect spot on earth, devotees say, to yield a product they describe in that rapturous vocabulary usually reserved for fine wines: "aristocratic, virile, almost aphrodisiacal," with subtle notes of caramel, gingerbread and mild tobacco. Celebrity chefs from Paris to Los Angeles swear by Kampot pepper, a southwestern Cambodian spice with a tragic past that is now reclaiming its global pre-eminence. It is also proving to be "black gold" for some of its once-impoverished farmers, thanks in part to Kampot pepper last year being awarded a Protected Geographical Indication by the European Union.

BEIJING (AP)  China has released a new list of items banned for export to North Korea, following a new round of United Nations sanctions and complaints from President Donald Trump that Beijing was not doing enough to pressure its communist neighbor. A statement from the Commerce Ministry late Wednesday said the items included dual-use technologies that could aid the North's programs to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons as well as the missiles to deliver them. While largely comprising specialty chemicals and rare alloys, the list also included computer software, machinery, high-speed cameras, aircraft engines and six-axle truck chassis. The ban on "dual-use measures related to weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery" takes effect immediately, the announcement said.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  The highest-level North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea said Wednesday he decided to flee last year because he didn't want his children to live "miserable" lives in the North. Thae Yong Ho, a former minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, told reporters that he was lucky to have been able to bring both of his sons to London, unlike other North Korean diplomats who are forced to leave some of their children at home as "hostages." After his sons, now 20 and 27, learned about life in Britain, they began asking him questions such as why North Korea barred use of the internet and executed people without proper legal procedures, he said.

BEIJING (AP)  Authorities in China have shuttered the website and social media accounts of a prominent economics think tank amid a mounting assault on liberal academic voices. The Unirule Institute of Economics in Beijing has become the latest target of a government crackdown after the forced retirement of a professor who criticized Mao Zedong and sacking of a provincial official who called communist China's founder the "devil." Liberal intellectuals and Chinese political observers have grown increasingly alarmed by the government crackdown, which overlaps with the rise of an increasingly cohesive and confident movement both online and on China's streets dedicated to defending Mao's reputation and his hardline policies.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  In a long rambling letter, the spokesman for the Taliban is telling U.S. President Donald Trump that it's time to leave Afghanistan. The letter, emailed to journalists Wednesday, was written on behalf of the so-called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban's spokesman, warns Trump that peace will be elusive as long as foreign troops are on Afghan soil. He adds that independence from foreign dominance is "the only asset" that an impoverished nation like Afghanistan truly has. Written in English, as well as Afghanistan's two prominent languages Dari and Pashto, the four-page letter waxed on about Afghanistan's history, its numerous defeats of invading armies and the reported corruption widespread in Afghanistan today.
Toyota said it will invest $600 million and create 400 jobs at one of its US plants - just weeks after Donald Trump criticised the Japanese auto giant for planning to open a factory in Mexico.

The US president has pressured automakers, both American and foreign, into boosting production and hiring in the United States, threatening them with punitive tariffs if they move factories and jobs overseas.

"This expansion project is part of Toyotas localisation strategy to build vehicles where they are sold," the automaker, which was singled out by Trump in a Twitter broadside, said in a statement Tuesday.

The investment is aimed at boosting SUV production at a factory in Indiana, the home state of Vice President Mike Pence.

Toyota currently has 5,000 employees in the plant in the small city of Princeton, part of the approximately 40,000 people it directly employs in the US, a Toyota spokeswoman told AFP.

Toyota said its planned investment of $10 billion in the US over the next five years "shows Toyotas commitment to continued US investment".

The project to modernise the plant and increase its competitiveness is set to begin in 2019, Toyota said.

Earlier this month, while still president-elect, Trump threatened Toyota with tariffs over a planned new vehicle plant in Mexico.

"NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax," he tweeted.

Toyota has said it will build a new factory in Mexico, which is expected to begin production in 2019.
Competitors from six countries will attempt to complete an obstacle course called The Beast in late February's ten episode show "Ultimate Beastmaster."

Executive produced by Sylvester Stallone and provided in six language-specific editions -- hosts' backgrounds are in acting, sports, and TV presenting -- contestants hail from Brazil, Germany, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and the USA.

The first season starts February 24, 2017.

Ultimate Beastmaster - Official Trailer: https://youtu.be/9gwO4qX_tRg
By Jonathan Landay and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to order a review that could lead to bringing back a CIA program for holding terrorism suspects in secret overseas "black site" prisons where interrogation techniques often condemned as torture were used, two U.S. officials said on Wednesday. The black sites were used to detain suspects captured in President George W. Bush's "war on terrorism" after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and were formally closed by former President Barack Obama. Any return to the Bush administration's initial anti-terrorism tactics - including secret prisons and interrogation methods considered torture under international law - would likely alienate key U.S. allies in the fight against militant groups like al Qaeda and Islamic State. Aides to Obama said during his tenure that his prohibition against torture and efforts to close the Guantanamo prison in Cuba helped increase counterterrorism cooperation from U.S. allies in the Arab world. The now-defunct program's practices dubbed enhanced interrogation techniques, which included simulated drowning known as waterboarding, were criticized around the world and denounced by Obama and other senior U.S. officials as torture. The officials said Trump is expected to sign an executive order in the next few days. It would call for a high-level review into "whether to reinitiate a program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States" and whether the CIA should run the facilities," according to a copy of the draft published by the Washington Post. The document ignited a bipartisan outcry in Congress. Many people in U.S. intelligence agencies and within the military are opposed to reopening the harsh interrogation program, according to multiple serving officers. The President can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America," Senator John McCain, a Republican who underwent torture as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said in a statement. Trump administration spokesman Sean Spicer said the draft was not a White House document. The draft published by the Washington Post appeared to have sections missing, suggesting that it may not have been a full version ready for Trump to sign. The CIA black sites were located in Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Thailand and Afghanistan. In 2006, Bush ended the use of harsh interrogation techniques and closed all the black sites except for one in Kabul. Asked whether he wants waterboarding as president, Trump answered in an interview with ABC News: "I will rely on (CIA director Mike) Pompeo and (Defense Secretary James) Mattis and my group. And if they dont want to do it, thats fine. If they do want to do it, then I will work toward that end," Trump said. "I want to do everything within the bounds of what were allowed to do if its legal. If they dont want to do it, that's fine. Do I feel it works? Absolutely I feel it works." Mattis and Pompeo had not been aware such plans were in the works, according to a congressional source. KEEP GUANTANAMO OPEN Trump's draft order would authorize a review of interrogation techniques that U.S. officials could use on terrorism suspects, keep open the detention center at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and send new prisoners there. Trump's draft also revokes directives by Obama to grant the International Committee of the Red Cross access to all detainees in U.S. custody and restrict interrogation methods to those in a U.S. Army field manual. Trump vowed during the 2016 election campaign to resume waterboarding and a "hell of a lot worse" because even if torture does not work, "they deserve it anyway." He has also said that he wanted to keep Guantanamo open and "load it up with some bad dudes." Of the 41 prisoners left at Guantanamo, 10 face charges in war-crimes proceedings known as military commissions, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and his alleged co-conspirators. Bush established the military commissions, which Obama later changed. The draft order said that, "No person in the custody of the United States shall at any time be subjected to torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as proscribed by U.S. law. It does not mention international laws to which the United States is a signatory that prohibit torture. Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act in 2015, which reaffirmed a prohibition on torture and required U.S. interrogators to adhere to techniques in the Army field manual. However, the Justice Department under Trump could issue an interpretation of U.S. law that allows for the use of harsh interrogation techniques as occurred in the so-called torture memos drafted under the Bush administration in 2002 and subsequently withdrawn. Despite the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden during Obama's presidency, the dramatic spread of groups like Islamic State has exacerbated the threat from violent Islamist organizations. In a statement accompanying the draft order, the administration criticizes Obama's policies, saying, "The United States has refrained from exercising certain authorities critical to its defense." But it acknowledges that the National Defense Authorization Act "provides a significant statutory barrier to the resumption of the CIA interrogation program". "WORRISOME" Human rights groups decried any attempt to bring back the black sites. "This is an extremely disturbing and outrageous attempt to open the door again to systematic torture and secret detention. This is the Trump administration making good on its most worrisome comments during the campaign, said Naureen Shah, Amnesty International USAs director of national security and human rights. Critics say a return to harsh interrogations would enflame tensions in Muslim countries and be counterproductive. In the draft document, references to the "global war on terrorism" were edited and replaced with the phrase "fight against radical Islamism," reflecting language Trump often uses. A former senior U.S. intelligence official, who requested anonymity, said many CIA officers would oppose reinstatement of "black site" interrogations, in part because they were forced to obtain lawyers after the withdrawal of the Justice Department memos that legalized the harsh techniques. People felt they were hung out to dry, the former official said. There is a lack of trust there. Moreover, he said, it would be extremely difficult to persuade other governments to allow the CIA to establish secret prisons on their soil. Where are you going to do this? he asked. How many countries are going to jump back into the U.S. lap? Trump's order, if enacted, could put new CIA Director Pompeo in a tight spot given that his workforce, according to multiple serving officers, largely opposes reinstating the "black sites" program. It could also complicate the confirmation of Trump's nominee for the job of director of national intelligence, former U.S. senator Dan Coats. As a conservative Republican congressman from Kansas, Pompeo defended the CIAs use of harsh interrogation techniques, arguing that they produced useful intelligence. During his confirmation hearing for CIA director, he pledged he would "absolutely not" reinstate those methods. Yet in written responses to questions from Senate Intelligence Committee members, he appeared to leave the door open to restoring them. "If experts believed the current law was an impediment to gathering vital intelligence to protect the country, I would want to understand such impediments and whether any recommendations were appropriate for changing current law," Pompeo wrote. (Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Additional reporting by Warren Strobel, Matt Spetalnick and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Alistair Bell and Jonathan Oatis)
Environmental Protection Agency climate change

The Trump administration told the Environmental Protection Agency to take down its website with educational resources and links to climate-change data, according to a Reuters report.

The EPA, a federal agency charged with safeguarding clean, livable air and water, funds and conducts research into the effects of climate change on public health, the environment, and natural disasters.

Much of that data is available on its website and is part of the toolkit scientists use to study the health, safety, and future of the planet.

The White House has not put out an official statement confirming the order, just as it has not confirmed that it has frozen grants and contracts at the agency, that the agency is not allowed to communicate with the public, or that the EPA will be barred from funding original science.

A later report, based again on anonymous sources, suggests Trump's team is "standing down"  for now  from the order. What does that mean? I have no idea!

Reuters writer Valerie Volcovici reported on Wednesday that the news agency heard of the order to take down the website from two agency employees who were defying the gag order.

Scientists are not resting easy. There was a significant effort before Trump took office to download climate data from government websites to private servers. It is not clear whether all of the key data on the EPA website is backed up elsewhere, and researchers encouraged one another over Twitter on Wednesday morning to continue copying as much as possible:

The @EPA climate indicators site is a treasure trove of info on how our world is changing. Screenshot NOW! https://t.co/cakbVlF6CR  Katharine Hayhoe (@KHayhoe) January 25, 2017

For now, there's still time to download the EPA's amazing climate change data https://t.co/ES1d3WzZE1 #savethefacts  Alicia Newton (@G_ruber) January 25, 2017

Update Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 12:15 p.m.: Inside EPA is reporting that the Trump administration has decided to "stand down" on the website removal plans for now.

Story continues

NOW WATCH: Volkswagen faces a possible $18 billion EPA fine for cheating on emissions tests





More From Business Insider


On Tuesday evening, the Netherlands announced it would launch an international fund to help women access abortions around the world.

The move came after President Donald Trump wasted no time in showing where he stood on the issues for which millions of women around the world recently marched. One of his first orders in office was to reinstate a global gag rule prohibiting U.S. federal funding for abortion and family planning, stirring cries of outrage and resistance. Now, the Dutch say they will help pay where the United States will not.

Filling that shortfall will be no short order. Dutch officials predict Trumps new executive order may leave a $600 million gap in foreign aid over the next four years, but others say it could mean up to $9.5 billion in healthcare funding is at stake. Trumps rule is even more restrictive than the gag rule (also known as the Mexico City Policy) under Presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, which prohibited NGOs with any involvement on abortion from receiving U.S. family planning funds. Trumps executive order expands that rule rule to all global health funding, even those working on other issues like HIV or malaria.

Obviously, the Netherlands cannot do this by ourselves. We need support, Lilianne Ploumen, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation who announced the fund, told the BBC.

She said she has been in preliminary talks with almost 20 different countries and received interest from foundations and private citizens about contributing to the initiative. She did not say how much the Dutch government plans to commit.

The Netherlands is known to have some of the worlds most liberal reproductive policy laws, and will likely count on partners in other northern European countries with similarly staunch womens rights traditions. On the other hand, some European countries, like Poland, have been going through their own abortion-rights battles recently.

Story continues

While Ploumen plugged the Netherlands commitment to womens access to healthcare and equality, the Dutch government steered clear of calling out Trump directly.

Where decisions are taken that are bad for women in developing countries we should help those women, Herman van Gelderen, a Dutch Foreign Minister spokesman, said. Its not about the politics, its about those women.

The Dutch have had some fun at Trumps expense. On Monday day, a Dutch television show aired a spoof video explaining the country to the new president in bombastic, Trump-like utterances. Still, there are some issues on which the Dutch dont sound quite so different from the American president: On Tuesday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told immigrants, act normal or go away.

Photo credit: DEAN MOUHTAROPOULOS/Getty Images
President Trump says he will call for a major investigation into the widely debunked claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election.

I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and  even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time), Trump tweeted early Wednesday. Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!

I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

The presidents call for an investigation came a day after White House press secretary Sean Spicer defended without evidence Trumps claim that millions of people voted illegally in the November presidential election.

The president does believe that, Spicer told reporters at the White House during a press briefing. Hes stated his concerns about voter fraud and people voting illegally during the campaign, and he continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence that people have presented to him.

Fact-checkers and independent analyses have found no evidence of significant voter fraud. All 50 states and the District of Columbia have finalized their election results with no reports of the kind of widespread fraud that Trump is alleging, the Associated Press said.

Reporters then pressed Spicer, asking whether the Trump administration would launch an investigation into the alleged massive electoral fraud.

Story continues

Maybe we will, Spicer said. I think lets not prejudge what we may or may not do in the future.

Trump, who had previously made the debunked claim, reportedly repeated it again Monday during a White House reception, where he said 3 million to 5 million votes were cast by people who illegally immigrated to the United States. The president used this assertion to argue that he would have won the popular vote against Hillary Clinton, who beat him by nearly 3 million votes overall.

Lawmakers on both sides have refuted Trumps claims, which are striking as they appear to undermine the legitimacy his own victory.

At his weekly press conference Tuesday, House Speaker Paul Ryan was asked if he felt the need to correct the presidents baseless claim about voter fraud.

Ive already commented on that, Ryan said. Ive seen no evidence to that effect, and Ive made that very, very clear.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called Trumps claim of 3 million to 5 million delusional.

That is a total nonsensical statement. But what I fear about that statement and what is something we should all worry about is when Trump talks about 3 to 5 million people voting illegally he is sending a message to every Republican governor in this country to go forward with voter suppression. The great political and Democratic crisis we face now in this country is not voter fraud. It is voter suppression.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the GOP has an obligation to reject Trumps falsehoods.

You cannot keep America safe if you dont actually admit to the facts, Schumer said.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican, warned Trump not to undermine confidence in American democracy.

The claim of widespread voter fraud, shakes confidence in our democracy  he needs to disclose why he believes that, Graham told CNN on Tuesday. I would urge the president to knock this off; this is the greatest democracy on earth, were the leader of the free world, and people are going to start doubting you as a person if you keep making accusations against our electoral system without justification.

Graham added: This is going to erode his ability to govern this country if he does not stop it.

Trump wants to investigate the results of the election he won. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Read more from Yahoo News:
donald trump

President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that he would ask for a "MAJOR INVESTIGATION into voter fraud." He has faced days of criticism over his repeated false claims that millions of illegal ballots were cast in the presidential election.

"I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time)," Trump said. "Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

There is no evidence to support Trump's repeated assertion that he lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton in November's election because people voted illegally, independent experts and analysts have said.

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican official charged with overseeing state voting procedures, said Wednesday that Ohio "conducted a review four years ago ... and already have a statewide review of 2016 election underway."

"Easy to vote, hard to cheat," he continued.

Trump tweeted the comments one day after his press secretary, Sean Spicer, defended the president's baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. Trump secured the presidency with 306 electoral votes to Clinton's 232, but Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million.

The assertions of voter fraud, which Trump first made shortly after the election, gained traction this week after Trump, as president, repeated them during a closed-door meeting with congressional leaders on Monday.

"The president believes what he believes," Spicer told reporters on Tuesday when asked what evidence Trump had that millions of illegal ballots were cast. "I think he's stated his concerns of voter fraud and people voting illegally during the campaign. He continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence that people have presented to him."

Story continues

Reporters asked Spicer why Trump wouldn't launch an investigation into voter fraud if he believed it had affected the election, to which Spicer replied, "Maybe we will." Spicer said the president believed that as many as 3 million to 5 million people voted illegally in November.

'Zero evidence of fraud'

Trump and his aides have cited a 2012 Pew study and a debunked report published in The Washington Post in 2014 to back up the false claims that voter fraud affected the election.

During a rally in October, Trump cited "the highly respected Pew," which he said found that "there are 24 million voter registrations in the United States that are either invalid or significantly inaccurate."

"There are 1.8 million dead people that are registered right now to vote," Trump said. "And folks, folks, some of them vote."

But the author of that study, David Becker, has repeatedly pushed back against Trump's claims that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election.

"As I've noted before, voting integrity better in this election than ever before. Zero evidence of fraud," Becker tweeted on Tuesday.

The president tweeted in late November: "In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally. Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California  so why isn't the media reporting on this? Serious bias - big problem!"

Becker, the author of the Pew study, replied to Trump on Twitter: "We found millions of out of date registration records due to people moving or dying, but found no evidence that voter fraud resulted."

'There has been a tendency to misread our results'

Trump's transition spokesman, Jason Miller, subsequently pointed to a disputed report published by a Washington Post blog in 2014 that said 14% of noncitizens said they were registered to vote in 2008 and 2010.

Trump's son Eric also cited the Washington Post report in an October interview with ABC after he was asked whether his father would accept the results of the election if he lost.

"My father will accept it 100% if it's fair ... 14% of all noncitizens in this country are registered to vote," Trump claimed.

The authors of that study have downplayed its findings, saying that while "we stand by our finding that some non-citizens have voted in recent elections," the study's findings about noncitizen voting had been exaggerated and misrepresented.

One of the study's authors, Old Dominion University professor Jesse Richman, wrote a response to the use of his data by the Trump campaign, saying that "on the right there has been a tendency to misread our results as proof of massive voter fraud."

The Washington Post blog was ultimately revised with an editor's note: "The post occasioned three rebuttals (here, here and here) as well as a response from the authors. Subsequently, another peer-reviewed article argued that the findings reported in this post (and affiliated article) were biased and that the authors' data do not provide evidence of non-citizen voting in U.S. elections."

NOW WATCH: Watch protesters and Trump supporters get into a fiery argument on the National Mall right after the new president was sworn in





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Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump threatened to send in the "feds" if America's third-largest city of Chicago failed to bring its rampant crime rate under control.

The Republican, who made law and order a key issue in his White House campaign, cited the city's latest shooting and homicide statistics as reported by the Chicago Tribune.

"If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible 'carnage' going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!" Trump said in a post on his personal Twitter account.

The city, former president Barack Obama's adopted home town, has the worst violent crime statistics of any major US metropolis.

It wasn't clear if Trump meant he would federalize the local police force, send in federal reinforcements, or some other action.

The Chicago Police Department said in a statement that it was "more than willing to work" with federal agencies such as the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to "boost federal prosecution rates for gun crimes in Chicago."

On January 2 Trump tweeted that Mayor Rahm Emanuel -- a Democrat who was Obama's chief of staff during his first term -- should ask for federal help if he was unable to stop the skyrocketing murder rate.

According to Chicago police statistics, 2016 was the city's deadliest year in nearly two decades, with 762 murders and 3,550 shooting incidents.
Donald Trump executive order Keystone XL pipeline

As Donald Trump signed an executive order to advance construction on the Keystone XL Pipeline on January 24, he said the measure would create a "lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs, great construction jobs.

But, like many of the numbers the administration has thrown out in its early days, its unclear how the president arrived at that estimate.

The Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the project, which was published by the State Department in January 2014, lays out a projected overview of economic activities related to the construction and operation of the pipeline. The project would create approximately 3,900 construction jobs in Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas during the one or two years it takes to build the pipeline, the report suggests.

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

That number is seven times less than the one Trump suggested earlier today, though its possible the president was including other types of jobs the pipeline construction could create. In total, the report estimates that the firms that get awarded contracts for goods and services (including the construction) would add 16,100 jobs. Those people in turn could create another 26,000 jobs depending on how they spend their wages  a phenomenon the report calls indirect and induced spending.

However, none of those numbers match the one Trump used, and the report defines the term "job" as one position that is filled for one year.

The number of permanent employees the pipeline would require after construction ends is dismally low: just 35.

After a wave of protests from environmentalists, who pointed out the severe environmental damage the Keystone XL Pipeline could cause, Barack Obama rejected the proposal for the pipeline in 2015, saying the project would not serve the long-term interests of the United States because of its negative impact on the environment.

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However, since Trump signed the executive order to proceed with the project this morning, TransCanada, the Alberta-based company behind the pipeline, has said it intends to reapply for approval.

Environmental activists are gearing up to fight that pipeline, as well as the Dakota Access Pipeline, which Trumps new executive orders also aim to advance.

NOW WATCH: Animated map shows all the major oil and gas pipelines in the US



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Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., seen here with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., speaks to members of the media at a news conference during the Republican congressional retreat in Philadelphia, on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. (Matt Rourke/AP Photo)

PHILADELPHIA  Republican lawmakers faced questions over President Trumps potential executive action on torture and his baseless statements alleging massive voter fraud as they kicked off their Congress of Tomorrow two-day retreat.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chairs of their Republican conferences, announced that they were planning out their 200-day agenda in working groups, and would focus on repealing and replacing Obamacare, tax reform and a transportation bill.

[We have an] aggressive plan to set into motion a unified Republican government, McMorris Rodgers said to the dozens of reporters staked out across the street from their retreat in downtown Philadelphia.

But the lawmakers were soon barraged with questions over Trumps drafted executive action asking top administration officials for a policy review that could lead to the use of waterboarding and the re-opening of CIA black sites for terrorist suspects.

Those issues are settled law, Thune said of Trumps proposed torture review. Congress has spoken.

Asked if he would personally object to the reinstatement of waterboarding, he said Itd take a change of the law. He added that he would be happy to take a look at a legislative proposal from the administration.

The lawmakers were also peppered with inquiries about the presidents claim, which has been debunked, that millions of people voted illegally in the presidential election.

Its very important that people have confidence in elections and the outcome of those elections, McMorris Rodgers said.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah told reporters he didnt see any evidence of Trumps claims but the president was welcome to have at it if he wanted. Chaffetz said he would not direct his oversight committee to look into the claims, however.

I havent seen evidence to that effect, Thune said, when asked about the widespread voter fraud. I believe our election system is the cornerstone of our democracy.

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Thune said he would cooperate in any investigation the administration called for. But he added: Weve moved on. The elections over with.

Moving on is proving tough, however, as the lawmakers are also still working through the shockwaves set off by their populist presidents campaign promise not to cut government entitlements. The promise has complicated Republicans plans to repeal and replace Obamacare, since most plans will involve a reduction in Medicaid spending.

Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., admitted to reporters that there was disagreement in the caucus about whether to leave entitlements alone, in line with Trumps campaign rhetoric, or whether they need to be reformed to address the deficit.

We have to deal with entitlement reform, Collins said.

The president and Vice President Mike Pence are visiting the lawmakers Thursday afternoon at the retreat.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Washington (AFP) - Amid calls for US President Donald Trump to divest from his real estate empire, his namesake luxury hotel chain said Wednesday it plans to expand primarily in the US market while he is president.

"We see significant growth opportunity in the United States for both our hotel brands," a Trump Hotels spokesperson told AFP in an email, referring also to the newly announced Scion brand of more moderately priced hotels.

That statement came after comments from the chain's chief executive at a hotel conference Tuesday saying he plans to move into many major US cities.

"There are 26 major metropolitan areas in the US, and we're in five," Trump Hotels CEO Eric Danziger said at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles, Bloomberg reported.

"I don't see any reason that we couldn't be in all of them eventually," he said, adding that the company is looking at Dallas, Seattle, Denver and San Francisco.

And with President Trump lambasting any company offshoring jobs, Danziger said previous plans to take the hotel brand into China are "pretty much off."

"Both brands and any others we create will have a domestic emphasis for the next four or eight years," he said.

Trump refused to divest from his businesses, but turned over operations to his two older sons, and pledged to have a compliance officer review any proposed deal.

There are eight Trump hotels currently in the United States.

The company has properties in Hawaii and Virginia, as well as Chicago, New York (two), Las Vegas, Miami and the newest site just blocks from the White House.

The lower-priced Scion chain will be located in smaller cities, with the first due to open this year, Danziger said during the panel discussion.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump will begin rolling out executive actions on immigration Wednesday, beginning with steps to tighten border security  including his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border  and other domestic immigration enforcement measures, according to two administration officials.

Later in the week, the president is expected to restrict the flow of refugees to the United States. The proposed plans include at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim majority countries, according to a representative of a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues. The person was briefed on the details of that proposed action by a government official and outlined the expected steps for The Associated Press.

The officials and the public policy organization's representative insisted on anonymity in order to outline the plans ahead of Trump's official announcements. The president is expected to sign the first actions Wednesday during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security, with additional actions being rolled out over the next few days, according to one official.

It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still to be finalized. The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the U.S. for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though the person cautioned the details could still change.

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

There is also likely to be an exception in the refugee stoppage for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.

Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten U.S. immigration policies, including beefing up border security and stemming the flow of refugees. He also called for halting entry to the U.S. from Muslim countries, but later shifted the policy to a focus on what he called "extreme vetting" for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

Story continues

As president, Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing. President George W. Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.

While the specific of Trump's orders were unclear, both administration officials said Wednesday's actions would focus in part on the president's plans to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico. Trump's insistence that Mexico would pay for the wall was among his most popular proposals on the campaign trail, sparking enthusiastic cheers at his raucous rallies.

Mexico has repeatedly said it will not pay for any border wall. Earlier this month, Trump said the building project would initially be paid for with a congressionally approved spending bill and Mexico will eventually reimburse the U.S., though he has not specified how he would guarantee payments.

Trump will meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the White House next week.

In claiming authority to build a wall, Trump may rely on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-President George W. Bush and the majority of the fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office. The last remnants were completed after President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

The Trump administration also must adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built along the border. The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the U.S.-Mexican border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint U.S.-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.

Other executive actions expected Wednesday include bolstering border patrol agents and ending what Republicans have argued is a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

If Trump's actions would result in those caught being immediately jailed, the administration would have to grapple with how to pay for jail space to detain everyone and what to do with children caught crossing the border with their parents.

_

Zoll reported from New York. AP writer Alicia A. Caldwell in Washington contributed to this report.

_

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC , Vivian Salama at http://twitter.com/vmsalama and Rachel Zoll at http://twitter.com/rzollAP
By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen, a Republican on the Federal Trade Commission, has been named the FTC's acting chairman, the agency said on Wednesday. In addition to Ohlhausen, the commission has two Democrats, outgoing Chairwoman Edith Ramirez who steps down early next month and Democrat Terrell McSweeny. It has two vacancies. The appointment was made by a White House order, the FTC said on its website. "I am deeply honored that President Trump has asked me to serve as acting chairman of the FTC and to preserve America's true engine of prosperity: a free, honest, and competitive marketplace," Ohlhausen said in a statement. Ohlhausen became a commissioner in April 2012 with her term set to expire in 2018, according to the FTC website. The commission works with the Justice Department to enforce antitrust law and pursues companies involved in deceptive advertising as well as those accused of fraud. As a member of the Republican minority in the commission, she has often dissented, sometimes arguing that there was insufficient evidence to justify FTC action. In the past few days, she dissented on a $20 million settlement with the ride-hailing app Uber, which was accused of luring drivers with promises of inflated earnings, and the decision to sue Qualcomm for allegedly using its market power to maintain a monopoly on key semiconductors. Also this month, she dissented on the FTC's decision to file lawsuits against two companies accused of striking deals aimed at delaying generic medicines from coming to market. Ohlhausen has also been skeptical of the Federal Communications Commission's move to oversee aspects of security and privacy in the Internet, arguing the FTC should do the job. But she signed on to an FTC lawsuit against Wyndham Hotels for being sloppy in its treatment of consumer data. The chain suffered three data breaches in less than two years, and subsequently settled. She also voted against the FTC's lawsuit to stop food distribution giant Sysco Corp from buying US Foods Inc, a fight the agency won in court. She voted in favor of the lawsuit to stop office supplies superstore Staples Inc from buying Office Depot Inc, which was also successful. Before becoming a commissioner, Ohlhausen was a partner at the law firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP. Ohlhausen has had a long list of posts at the FTC, including director of the Office on Policy Planning and attorney adviser for a former commissioner. (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Bernard Orr and Alan Crosby)
President Trump signed a pair of executive orders on Wednesday stepping up immigration enforcement efforts and calling for the immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border. Trump touted the actions in a speech at the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday afternoon.

As Ive said repeatedly to the country, we are going to get the bad ones out, the criminals, and the drug deals, and gangs, and gang members, and cartel leaders. The day is over when they can stay in our country and wreak havoc. We are going to get them out. We are going to get them out fast, Trump said.

In his speech, Trump argued that the U.S. is in the middle of a crisis on our southern border owing to the unprecedented surge of illegal migrants from Central America and drug cartel activity. He also stressed that his immigration reform measures would improve the U.S.s relationship with Mexico and help both nations by deterring illegal immigration from Central America and by disrupting violent cartel networks.

I believe the steps we will take starting right now will improve the safety in both our countries, going to be very, very good for Mexico, Trump said. A nation without borders is not a nation. Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders, gets back its borders.

One of Trumps executive orders called for the immediate construction of a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous, and impassable physical barrier on the border with Mexico. The border wall  and having Mexico pay for it  was one of Trumps signature campaign promises.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer discussed the order in his daily press briefing earlier in the day. He called it a commonsense first step to really securing our porous border and insisted that Mexico will pay for it, as Trump had vowed. Trump has called for construction of the wall to begin before any money comes in from Mexico, which has said it will not finance the project.

Story continues

When he took questions from reporters, Spicer was asked specifically how Mexico would pay for the wall and whether he believes Republicans in Congress would fund the project in the meantime. Spicer suggested that there are multiple mechanisms through which Mexico could finance wall construction and indicated that, just days after taking office, Trump has had multiple discussions with congressional leaders in which he urged them to make sure there is funding.

I think the president is working with Congress and other folks to figure out opportunities for that to happen. There are a lot of funding mechanisms that can be used. At this point, his goal was to get the project started as quickly as possible using existing funds and resources that the [Department of Homeland Security] currently has and then to move forward and work with Congress on an appropriations schedule, Spicer said.

President Trump center, flanked by Vice President Mike Pence and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, takes the stage to deliver remarks at Homeland Security headquarters. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Trumps executive orders also call for the defunding of so-called sanctuary cities, in which officials refuse to hand over undocumented immigrants for deportation. One of the orders granted the homeland security secretary and attorney general the power to ensure that those cities are not eligible to receive federal grants, except as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes.

The American people are no longer going to have to be forced to subsidize this disregard for our laws, Spicer said.

Trump is also seeking an end to what his administration calls the current catch and release policy, under which undocumented immigrants are released while they wait for a hearing or an immigration judge. One of the orders noted that officials should prioritize the removal of undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of crimes. The order also allows for visa sanctions against countries that refuse to take back people deported by the United States.

Tens of thousands of removable aliens have been released into communities across the country, solely because their home countries refuse to accept their repatriation. Many of these aliens are criminals who have served time in our Federal, State, and local jails. The presence of such individuals in the United States, and the practices of foreign nations that refuse the repatriation of their nationals, are contrary to the national interest, the order said.

Trump is also calling for the construction of detention facilities on the border in order to speed deportations.

Were going to create more detention space for illegal immigrants along the southern border to make it easier and cheaper to detain them and return them to their country of origin, Spicer said.

Trump wants to hire 10,000 immigration officers and 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents, as well as the establish an Office for Victims of Crimes Committed by Removable Aliens in the Department of Homeland Security. He is ordering the department to publish weekly reports of criminal actions committed by aliens and jurisdictions that ignore or refuse to comply with orders to detain undocumented immigrants.

The executive orders do not address the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows some undocumented immigrants who came to the country before the age of 16 to obtain work permits. The program is one of the most hotly debated aspects of immigration policy, and Trump once vowed to undo it, but has since muddled his position.

In his briefing, Spicer was asked whether Trump is planning any executive orders that would affect DACA. He reiterated that Trumps top priority was deporting criminals.

Hes a family man. He understands. He has a huge heart and he understands the significance of this problem, but hes going to work through it with his team in a very humane way, Spicer said. He understands that. He respects the situation that many of these children are in. They were brought here.

Trump is also expected to sign an executive order that would block Syrian refugees from entering the country. According to the New York Times, that order would also place a monthlong ban on allowing any person into the United States from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen. During the briefing, Yahoo News asked Spicer if any order banning refugees or immigrants from specific countries would include provisions that might affect those already in the United States, potentially placing them on a registry or deporting them. Spicer did not rule out those measures.
President Donald Trump was set to sign an executive order temporarily banning entry to the U.S. for people traveling from a number of predominately Muslim countries, according to a new report. The executive order was expected to be signed Wednesday and would be the latest campaign promise the newly sworn in president made good on during what has already been a busy first full week in office.

The ban was expected to affect several countries in the Middle East as well as in Africa, according to a report by Reuters published Tuesday evening. Those countries follow below:

Iran

Iraq

Libya

Somalia

Sudan

Syria

Yemen

Specifically, the U.S. will automatically block any visa held by a person traveling from any of the above listed countries. Also included in the temporary immigration ban are refugees.

While the ban was expected to be temporary, it was not immediately clear when the ban would be lifted after it is enacted. However, Reuters reported the ban would likely stay in place until the U.S. immigration vetting process was overhauled to be more thorough.

The executive action could present somewhat of a conundrum for the president, though it would not be against the law, a former immigration official told Reuters.

From a legal standpoint, it would be exactly within his legal rights, said Stephen Legomsky, the former chief counsel at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under former President Barack Obama. But from a policy standpoint it would be terrible idea because there is such an urgent humanitarian need right now for refugees.

Trump has had a busy first full week as president, starting almost immediately after his inauguration Friday.

He has taken steps to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the national healthcare law and signature accomplishment of Obama that is more commonly known as Obamacare; he has severed ties with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade deal between 12 countries meant to strengthen economic ties between North American and Asian nations; and he has ordered a federal hiring freeze aside from the military; he signed an executive order to reinstate the Mexico City Abortion Rule, which stipulates that a foreign non-governmental organization funded by the U.S. cannot provide abortions or promote abortion services.

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Trump also signed an executive order Tuesday to advance the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Oil pipelines, a blow to environment advocates. That was one day after Trump's administration announced the president planned to slash the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Related Articles
Washington (AFP) - With Donald Trump and the news media unable to agree even on the weather, the war over truth is on.

In the first few days of his presidency, Trump and his aides have been accused of spreading outright lies. The response: the "dishonest" media is out to get him.

Since the weekend, Trump has been embroiled in controversy over the crowd at his swearing-in, with both he and the White House overstating its size -- and dismissing conflicting evidence as biased against him.

New York Times fact-checkers called out Trump for claiming the rain stopped and the weather turned "sunny" after his inaugural speech -- noting that in reality a light rain fell throughout his remarks.

The same day, Trump falsely asserted that his well-documented feud with the US intelligence services was made up by the media.

And two days later, on Monday, he told congressional leaders that as many as five million people could have voted illegally in November -- a claim backed by no public evidence.

During his campaign, Trump's loose interpretation of truth kept fact-checkers working around the clock -- PolitiFact found 70 percent of his statements "mostly" false or worse.

His first steps in the White House have followed a similar pattern: as news organizations called out the several falsehoods uttered over the weekend, his aide Kellyanne Conway defended what she called "alternative facts" -- leaving much of America speechless.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer, in his first official media briefing on Monday, claimed that much of the press is opposed to the new president and itself fudges facts.

He cited one report -- which turned out to be inaccurate and was later corrected -- indicating a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. had been removed from its place in the White House.

"Over and over again there's this constant attempt to undermine his credibility and the movement that he represents," Spicer said.

Story continues

"And it's frustrating for not just him, but I think so many of us that are trying to work to get this message out."

Spicer appeared to soften the tone, calling for an improved relationship with journalists after Trump, on his first day in office, dubbed them "among the most dishonest human beings on Earth."

- 'Full Orwell' -

But at next day's briefing, Spicer stood by Trump's unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, called out as a "lie" by leading media including the New York Times.

Spicer told reporters the president "has believed that for a while based on studies and information he has," without giving evidence.

Trump has previously cited two studies documenting voter registration errors, neither of which makes any claims about fraudulent voting.

Summing up the view of many stunned observers, Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan wrote this week that Spicer was sent to "brazenly lie" from the White House podium.

"We've gone full Orwell," she wrote, drawing a parallel to the distortion of facts in the dystopian classic "1984" -- sales of which have spiked since the weekend.

In these tussles over facts, some commentators see a deliberate strategy of delegitimizing the press, in order to curtail future scrutiny of the new administration.

"His war isn't with the media. Trump lives off media attention and delights in press coverage. His war is with facts," argued Vox.com editor-in-chief Ezra Klein.

"The Trump administration is creating a baseline expectation among its loyalists that they can't trust anything said by the media. The spat over crowd size is a low-stakes, semi-comic dispute, but the groundwork is being laid for much more consequential debates over what is, and isn't, true."

- Credibility at stake -

Stony Brook University political scientist John Ryan said the new administration appears to understand that increasingly, "in politics, the facts do not matter."

Ryan, in a CNBC column, said many people believed unemployment went up under president Barack Obama when the opposite was true.

"The Trump administration knows this and believes it allows them to say whatever they want," Ryan said. "Because the facts will not play much of a role in how the public view his administration."

Some analysts warn, however, that Trump's apparent willingness to bend facts is eroding his credibility, and could durably undermine trust in the US government.

"While I am much more concerned about policy than I am about crowd-size controversies, White House credibility is of paramount importance," said Andy Wright, a law professor and former White House staffer under Bill Clinton, writing for the Just Security blog.

"The Trump presidency has already ignited a crisis of confidence," he said.

"Without a credible White House, our allies cannot rely on our promises and our adversaries doubt our threats. Everything gets more dangerous."
By Steve Holland and Ayesha Rascoe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump formally withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on Monday, distancing America from its Asian allies, as China's influence in the region rises.

Fulfilling a campaign pledge to end American involvement in the 2015 pact, Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office pulling the United States out of the 12-nation TPP.

Trump, who wants to boost U.S. manufacturing, said he would seek one-on-one trade deals with countries that would allow the United States to quickly terminate them in 30 days "if somebody misbehaves."

"We're going to stop the ridiculous trade deals that have taken everybody out of our country and taken companies out of our country," the Republican president said as he met with union leaders in the White House's Roosevelt Room.

The TPP accord, backed heavily by U.S. business, was negotiated by former Democratic President Barack Obama's administration but never approved by Congress.

Obama had framed TPP, which excluded China, as an effort to write Asia's trade rules before Beijing could, establishing U.S. economic leadership in the region as part of his "pivot to Asia."

China has proposed a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific and has also championed the Southeast Asian-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Trump has sparked worries in Japan and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific with his opposition to the TPP and his campaign demands for U.S. allies to pay more for their security.

His trade stance mirrors a growing feeling among Americans that international trade deals have hurt the U.S. job market. Republicans have long held the view that free trade is a must, but that mood has been changing.

"It's going to be very difficult to fight that fight," said Lanhee Chen, a Hoover Institution fellow who was domestic policy adviser to 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. "Trump is reflecting a trend that has been apparent for many years."

Story continues

Harry Kazianis, director of defence studies at the Centre for the National Interest think tank in Washington, said Trump must now find an alternative way to reassure allies in Asia.

"This could include multiple bilateral trade agreements. Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam should be approached first as they are key to any new Asia strategy that President Trump will enact, he said.

Trump is also working to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement to provide more favourable terms to the United States, telling reporters he would meet leaders of NAFTA partners Mexico and Canada to get the process started.

BUSINESS LEADERS

The new president met with a dozen American manufacturers at the White House on Monday, pledging to slash regulations and cut corporate taxes - but warning them he would take action on trade deals he felt were unfair.

Trump, who took office on Friday, has promised to bring factories back to the United States - an issue he said helped him win the Nov. 8 election. He has not hesitated to call out by name companies he thinks should bring outsourced production back home.

He said those businesses that choose to move plants outside the country would pay a price. "We are going to be imposing a very major border tax on the product when it comes in," Trump said.

He asked the group of chief executives from companies including Ford Motor Co, Dell Technologies Inc, Tesla Motors Inc and others to make recommendations in 30 days to stimulate manufacturing, Dow Chemical Co Chief Executive Officer Andrew Liveris told reporters.

Liveris said the CEOs discussed the border tax "quite a bit" with Trump, explaining "the sorts of industry that might be helped or hurt by that."

"Look: I would take the president at his word here. He's not going to do anything to harm competitiveness," Liveris said. "He's going to actually make us all more competitive."

At part of the meeting observed by reporters, Trump provided no details on how the border tax would work.

The U.S. dollar fell to a seven-week low against a basket of other major world currencies on Monday, and global stock markets were shaky amid investor concerns about Trump's protectionist rhetoric.

"A company that wants to fire all of its people in the United States, and build some factory someplace else, and then thinks that product is going to just flow across the border into the United States - that's not going to happen," he said.

CUT TAXES AND REGULATIONS

The president told the CEOs he would like to cut corporate taxes to the 15 percent to 20 percent range, down from current statutory levels of 35 percent - a pledge that will require cooperation from the Republican-led U.S. Congress.

But he said business leaders have told him that reducing regulations is even more important.

"We think we can cut regulations by 75 percent. Maybe more," Trump told business leaders.

"When you want to expand your plant, or when Mark wants to come in and build a big massive plant, or when Dell wants to come in and do something monstrous and special  you're going to have your approvals really fast, Trump said, referring to Mark Fields, CEO of Ford.

Fields said he was encouraged by the tone of the meeting.

"I know I come out with a lot of confidence that the president is very, very serious on making sure that the United States economy is going to be strong and have policies - tax, regulatory or trade - to drive that," he said.

Trump told the executives that companies were welcome to negotiate with governors to move production between states.

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom, Doina Chiacu, Susan Heavey, Ayesha Rascoe and David Shepardson; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the United States later this year, during a phone call on Tuesday in which the leaders discussed economic and defense cooperation. In its readout of the conversation, the White House said the two leaders also discussed security in South and Central Asia. The region includes Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are still battling Taliban militants, and Pakistan. The two leaders "resolved that the United States and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism," according to the readout that was posted on the White House website. Tweeting from his personal account, Modi said his conversation with Trump had been "warm", and that they would work closely in the coming days to further strengthen bilateral ties. He also invited Trump to visit India. The U.S.-India relationship has flourished of late and New Delhi is hopeful that this will continue under Trump, who courted the votes of the Indian diaspora in his presidential run. Trump's pledge to ban immigration by Muslims from countries he says harbor Islamic militants has also played well among Modi's Hindu-nationalist base, which is hostile to Pakistan. There are concerns, though, that Trump may pull back the U.S. security umbrella from the region, exposing India to a rising China. His tough line on immigration and "America First" jobs policy could make it tougher for India's information technology sector to send staff to the U.S. to do project work. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Douglas Busvine; Editing by G Crosse and Christian Schmollinger)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, asked about the practice of waterboarding as an intelligence-gathering tool, said: "Absolutely I feel it works, but added he would defer to his Cabinet on whether to use it. Trump told ABC in an interview to be broadcast later on Wednesday he would rely on the advice of CIA Director Mike Pompeo and U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, among others, about using the illegal technique. "And if they dont want to do it, thats fine. If they do want to do it then I will work toward that end. I want to do everything within the bounds of what were allowed to do if its legal ... Do I feel it works? Absolutely I feel it works. Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, signed an executive order in 2009 banning waterboarding - a form of simulated drowning - and other Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, which are denounced by many lawmakers and rights groups as torture. (Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Eric Beech)
Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump will take a first step toward fulfilling his pledge to "build a wall" on the Mexican border Wednesday, as he rolls out a series of immigration-related decrees.

The White House said Trump will make the announcements during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security in the afternoon.

"Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!" Trump tweeted late Tuesday.

Trump is also expected to sign measures targeting US "sanctuary" cities, where local officials refuse to help round up people for deportation.

And according to CNN, he plans to expand the number of customs and border agents.

Stemming immigration was a central plank of Trump's election campaign. His signature policy prescription was to build a wall across the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border between the United States and Mexico.

Some of the border is already fenced, but Trump says a wall is needed to stop illegal immigrants entering from Latin America.

In 2014, there were an estimated 5.8 million unauthorized Mexican migrants in the United States, according to Pew, with fewer arriving each year.

Experts have voiced doubts about whether a wall would actually stem illegal immigration, or if it is worth the billions it would be expected to cost.

But the policy has become a clarion call for the US right and far-right -- the core of Trump's support.

Still, any action from the White House would be piecemeal, diverting only existing funds toward the project.

The Republican-controlled Congress would need to supply new money if the wall is to be anywhere near completed, and Trump's party has spent the last decade preaching fiscal prudence.

Furthermore, much of the land needed to build the wall is privately owned, implying lengthy legal proceedings, political blowback, and substantial expropriation payments.

A Morning Consult/Politico poll released Wednesday said 47 percent of voters support building a wall, with 45 percent against.

Story continues

- Make Mexico pay? -

Trump again promised "100 percent" to make Mexico pay for the wall Wednesday, something that the Mexican government has repeatedly said it will not do.

"Ultimately it will come out of what's happening with Mexico, we're going to be starting those negotiations relatively soon. And we will be, in a form, reimbursed by Mexico," he told ABC.

"All it is, is we will be reimbursed at a later date from whatever transaction we'll make from Mexico."

"I'm just telling you, there will be a payment, it will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form."

"What I'm doing is good for the United States, it's also going to be good for Mexico. We want to have a very stable, very solid Mexico"

Trump aides have weighed hiking border tariffs or border transit costs as one way to "make Mexico pay." Another threat is to finance the wall by tapping into remittances that Mexican migrants sent home, which last year amounted to $25 billion.

Mexico's foreign minister Luis Videgaray and the country's economy minister are currently in Washington to prepare a visit by President Enrique Pena Nieto scheduled for January 31.

"There are very clear red lines that must be drawn from the start," Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told the Televisa network in Mexico just ahead of the trip.

Asked whether his country would walk away from talks if the wall and remittances are an issue, Guajardo said: "Absolutely."

Trump also wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada, warning last week that he would abandon the pact unless the United States gets "a fair deal."

Mexico has said it is willing to "modernize" the pact, which came into force in 1994 and represents $531 billion in annual trade between Mexico and the United States.

Some 80 percent of Mexico's exports go to the US market.

- Ban on Muslims? -

Trump has also floated the idea of a ban on Muslims coming to the United States.

Trump this week is set to slash the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the United States, according to the New York Times, particularly from Syria and other Muslim-majority countries.

Around 4.8 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries alone, according to the United Nations.

An estimated 18,000 Syrians have come to the United States.

Former officials said Trump could slow the flow down by moving resources away from processing visa requests, or cutting migrant quotas and programs.

The orders would restrict immigration and access to the United States for refugees and visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, according to the Washington Post.

Citizens from those countries already face large obstacles in obtaining US visas.

But the move has prompted a fierce backlash even before it was announced.

"A ban on refugees would not make America safer," said Stephen Yale-Loehr of Cornell Law. "Refugees from Syria already go through a 21-step screening process that takes 18-24 months."

"The head of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services told Congress in September 2016 that not a single act of actual terrorist violence has been committed by a refugee since 9/11."


Britains Supreme Court says Parliament must approve plans to start the British withdrawal from the European Union (EU).

The ruling comes the same week that British Prime Minister Theresa May is to visit the United States. She will be the first world leader to meet with newly inaugurated President Donald Trump.

The high court ruled that the prime minister must consult Parliament to begin the withdrawal process.

Supreme Court President David Neuberger announced the decision on Tuesday. The court ruled eight to three that May cannot invoke Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon by herself. The treaty is the agreement that sets rules for agencies that govern the E.U.

Putting that article into effect officially begins the withdrawal process, which is expected to take two years.

The withdrawal has been called Brexit, short for the words British and exit. May had argued that, as prime minister, she had the powers to start the process.

The high court said Parliament must approve the Brexit measure because withdrawing from the E.U. would cut off part of British law. It said the move also would change the rights of British citizens.

Britains Attorney General, Jeremy Wright, said the government will follow the ruling and, in his words, do all it can to implement it.

Wright said now Brexit was a political issue, and not a legal one.

Last June, British citizens approved a special referendum to leave the E.U. in a close vote.

Brexit means new trade deals must be negotiated

May has supported calls for what is being called a hard Brexit -- leaving the huge European single market completely.

The British government says it wants the nation to trade freely with countries around the world, including China and India.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson recently visited several cities in India. He said that although Britain is leaving the E.U., it is not withdrawing from trade.

We may be leaving the E.U., we may be taking back control of our borders. But, my Indian friends, I say to you that does not mean we want to haul up the drawbridge, he said.

However, critics say Britain is closing itself off from the world.

For example, education is a major British product. But the numbers of students from India in Britain are falling. India blames Britains visa system.

Pratik Dattani is the British director for the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He says trade goes both ways.

It's not all one way traffic -- that the U.K. can sell internationally and not bring anything in. There has to be an open policy in terms of allowing immigration...

With Brexit, Britain will have to negotiate a trade deal with India independent of the E.U. Indian officials said they were willing to discuss a deal last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. But official talks can take place only after Britain leaves the European Union.

Dattani adds that a trade deal could take years to negotiate. He says India and the E.U. have been negotiating a freed trade deal for seven or eight years. He says that Britains concerns have been among the issues slowing the talks.

British officials say they will look to the Commonwealth group of nations for new trade deals after Brexit. The Commonwealths more than 50 members are mostly former British colonies.

A meeting of Commonwealth heads of government is to take place later this year in London. However, experts say Britain may find it difficult to reach quick trade deals after leaving the E.U.

Concerns over what Brexit will mean for Britain and the E.U. continue to affect financial markets around the world.

The move would require Britain to renegotiate trade rules with all its trading partners -- not only in Europe, but around the world.

Trade is expected to be one of the main issues discussed when Teresa May meets with Donald Trump this week. Although it is unclear how long negotiations will take, Trump has said he supports Britains move.

Im Mario Ritter.

This report is based on stories from VOANews.com. Mario Ritter adapted the stories for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. What do you think the British Prime Minister and the U.S. President should discuss about Brexit? Let us know in the comment section.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

inaugurated  adj. to have officially been sworn into office

consult  v. to discuss something in order to make a decision

invoke  v. to formally announce the use of something such as a law or rule

implement  v. to put into action

referendum  n. a vote in which all voters cast ballots to decide an issue rather than representatives in government
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to advance the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Oil pipelines (DAPL).

Trumps executive order reverses President Barack Obamas 2015 rejection of the TransCanada Corp.s Keystone and Septembers stalling of DAPL. Trumps executive actions come after protests, along with social justice and environmental organizations speaking out against the project.

"The Dakota Access pipeline would fuel climate change, cause untold damage to the environment, and significantly disturb sacred lands and the way of life for Native Americans in the upper Midwest," said a petition on CredoAction.com against DAPL.

What is DAPL?

The 1,172 mile long pipeline would cross four states. It will transport crude oil from the Bakken field in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois. The pipeline would deliver about 470,000 barrels of oil daily, with a maximum of 570,000 barrels per day. The company trying to construct DAPL is Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP.

Is DAPL Bad For The Environment?

These are some ways DAPL can affect the environment, according to Grassroots Global Justice Alliance and a letter sent to Obama by environmental groups last August.

Pipeline Spill

DAPL could break and spill crude oil which can impact communities, farms, tribal land, sensitive natural areas and wildlife habitats where the pipeline crosses through. A spill can affect drinking water for thousands of people, including the majority of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation.

If there were to be a spill  which history has taught us is not a question of if but when  it would constitute an existential threat to the Tribes culture and way of life, environmental groups said in the letter.

Threat To Drinking Water

The pipeline would cross below the Missouri River, near the Tribes drinking water supply. DAPL could disrupt clean water for more than 10,000 tribal residents.

Contamination

Construction work for the project as it crosses the Missouri River will spike the toxic levels of contaminants and may cause the release of diesel fuel or other pollutants into the waters, the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance warned.

Story continues

Increase CO2 Levels

The pipeline could lead to 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year, which is the same as 10 million cars or 15 coal plants.

Keystone XL Pipeline And DAPL Maps

Where is the Keystone pipeline? DAPL. Below are the maps of routes for both pipelines.

dapl pipeline map

Photo: Dakota Access Pipeline Facts

keystone pipeline map

Photo: TransCanada

Related Articles
Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump ordered work to begin on planning and building a wall on the Mexican border, sounding a hardline tone on immigration as he moved to fulfill a key campaign pledge.

The US leader instructed officials to begin to "plan, design and construct a physical wall along the southern border" and -- perhaps more problematically -- see how it could be funded.

"A nation without borders is not a nation," Trump said, echoing former president Ronald Reagan, as he visited the Department of Homeland Security to sign two executive orders.

"Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders," the Republican president said.

Stemming immigration was a central plank of Trump's election campaign.

His signature policy prescription was to build a wall across the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border between the United States and Mexico.

Some of the border is already fenced, but Trump says a wall is needed to stop illegal immigrants entering from Latin America.

The policy has become a clarion call for the US right and far-right -- the core of Trump's support.

A Morning Consult/Politico poll released Wednesday said 47 percent of voters support building a wall, with 45 percent against.

Experts have voiced doubts about whether a wall would actually stem illegal immigration, or if it is worth the billions it is expected to cost.

"I suspect that a lot of Trump supporters would be just as happy with a big statue of a middle finger pointed south," said Congressman Luis Gutierrez.

"Both are about equally effective as national security strategies."

Despite the high octane rhetoric, Trump's action was piecemeal, looking to identify existing funds that could be diverted toward the project.

The Republican-controlled Congress would need to supply billions of dollars more if the wall is to be anywhere near completed.

Trump's party has spent the last decade preaching fiscal prudence, so cuts to existing programs would likely be required.

Story continues

Trump also ordered a survey of the border to be completed within 180 days.

Much of the land needed to build the wall would have to be seized from private citizens in Texas, the state of Texas or tribal authorities.

That could lead to lengthy legal proceedings, political blowback and substantial expropriation payments.

"The only real solution to reform our immigration system is to pass comprehensive immigration reform that provides a path to citizenship for the 11 million" undocumented people in the United States, top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said.

- Make Mexico pay? -

Trump has promised to make Mexico pay for the wall, something the Mexican government has repeatedly said it will not do.

"Ultimately it will come out of what's happening with Mexico, we're going to be starting those negotiations relatively soon. And we will be, in a form, reimbursed by Mexico," Trump told ABC earlier Wednesday.

Trump aides have weighed hiking border tariffs or border transit costs as one way to "make Mexico pay."

Another threat is to finance the wall by tapping into remittances that Mexican migrants send home, which last year amounted to $25 billion.

"There are a lot of different ways of getting Mexico to contribute to doing this, and there are different ways of defining how exactly they pay for it," House leader Paul Ryan said in an interview on MSNBC, while also conceding that the United States is "going to pay for it and front the money up."

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and the country's economy minister are currently in Washington to prepare for a visit by President Enrique Pena Nieto scheduled for January 31.

"There are very clear red lines that must be drawn from the start," Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told the Televisa network in Mexico just ahead of the trip.

Asked whether his country would walk away from talks if the wall and remittances are an issue, Guajardo said: "Absolutely."

- Ban on Muslims? -

Trump is also said to be floating the idea of a ban on refugees from Muslim-majority countries, including Syria.

Around 4.8 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries alone, according to the United Nations. An estimated 18,000 Syrians have come to the United States.

Former officials said Trump could slow the flow down by moving resources away from processing visa requests, or cutting or freezing migrant quotas and programs.

The move has prompted a fierce backlash even before it was announced.

"A ban on refugees would not make America safer," said Stephen Yale-Loehr of Cornell Law. "Refugees from Syria already go through a 21-step screening process that takes 18-24 months."

"The head of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services told Congress in September 2016 that not a single act of actual terrorist violence has been committed by a refugee since 9/11."
President Donald Trump will seek to make good on a series of campaign promises this week, starting Wednesday by ordering the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, ending so-called sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, and restoring the controversial Secure Communities program that the Obama administration nixed.

The two executive orders Trump signed Wednesday afternoon at the Department of Homeland Security are part of a flurry of first-week executive actions designed to rapidly erase much of former President Barack Obamas legacy, especially in the fight against terror.

Other imminent moves will reportedly freeze the entry of refugees from Syria and other terror prone countries, at least for a time. Additional draft orders show the president is at least considering adding new detainees to Guantanamo, as well as resuming the CIAs black site detention program and amending the U.S. Army field manual to bring back enhanced interrogation techniques outlawed under the federal ban on torture. The White House did not respond to requests for comment, and has disavowed the documents.

For too long your officers and agents havent been allowed to properly do their jobs, you know that right? Absolutely, Trump said at DHS headquarters, pausing for awkward applause. A nation without borders is not a nation, and today the United States of America gets back control of its borders, it gets back its borders.

The proposed refugee ban, if not derailed by potential legal challenges, would upend decades of U.S policy on asylum seekers, and threatens to complicate the U.S. fight against extremists in the Middle East and North Africa. The order to build a wall, meanwhile, promises to ratchet up tensions with Mexico, already irate at Trumps plans to renegotiate the NAFTA trade pact with dire consequences for the Mexican economy.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo traveled to Washington on Wednesday to meet with Trump for talks on on NAFTA, immigration, and security. Mexican media reported that President Enrique Pena Nieto may scrap his planned trip to Washington next week if Trump carries out the order to begin the wall. Videgaray was already sacked once because of Trump  he organized a much-criticized meeting between Pena Nieto and the Republican before the election  but was recently reinstated.

Story continues

Trumps orders are intended to beef up federal enforcement of U.S. immigration law, including hiring 5,000 additional Border Patrol officers, and tripling the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

But by directing federal funds toward the construction of a barrier on the United States southern border, which also requires congressional appropriation, the executive order belies one of Trumps biggest campaign promises: that Mexico would pay for the estimated $20 billion wall.

Mexican officials, including current President Pena Nieto and former president Vicente Fox, have repeatedly said that Mexico will not pay for the wall.

Still, White House spokesman Sean Spicer insisted Wednesday: Mexico will pay for it  without offering details. The executive orders text doesnt make the funding mechanism clear.

For all the theatrics behind Trumps tweets and executive orders, any border barrier will be partial and a long time coming. DHS chief John Kelly said in his confirmation hearing that the wall wont be built for some time, and will likely consist of added technology, border patrol, and reinforcements to the existing barrier.

Trump has railed against the Obama administration for what he calls its illegal executive amnesties on immigration, even as he promised to deport the some 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. On Wednesday, he made unilateral changes on his own, but several aspects arent entirely new.

One order will prioritize deporting undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes. Its still unclear how that will be implemented, given the text of the executive order could reasonably include a range from criminal convictions to the act of entering the country illegally. The directive is also in keeping with the same prosecutorial discretion used by the Obama administration and that many Republicans have long decried, directing finite resources toward prioritizing undocumented immigrants with criminal records.

Obama ended Secure Communities, under which local law enforcement handed over information about or held undocumented immigrants for federal authorities, amid concerns that it discouraged undocumented immigrants from reporting crimes and cooperating with local officials.

And its yet to be determined how the Trump administration will force other countries to accept the return of foreign nationals deported by the U.S., though the order stipulates using potential sanctions and diplomatic pressure against Recalcitrant Countries.

On the campaign trail, Trump called for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States  whether as refugees or legal immigrants or visitors  until authorities can figure out whats going on. But Trump later appeared to soften that stance, with his initial call for a Muslim ban morphing into something he calls extreme vetting. He said safe zones should be created within Syria instead, and in the draft order, he calls for a plan to do so, though military experts and Obama administration officials determined it would require immense resources, and potentially U.S. military forces, to enforce.

Attorney General-designate Jeff Sessions, a hardliner on immigration who as Alabama senator opposed congressional measures to block Trump from trying to enact such a ban, seemed to back off during his confirmation hearing. I have no belief and do not support the idea that Muslims as a religious group should be denied admission to the United States, he said. Kelly also said in his hearing that, The President-elect is not proposing new limits for Muslim travel and immigration to the United States.

But Sessions reportedly had a close hand in drafting the immigration executive orders explicitly targeting Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa, meant to sharply curtail the numbers of asylum seekers who can come to the United States after a grueling, 18- to 24-month screening process.

The drafted ban takes aim at countries the administration labels terror prone, a term which has no legal meaning, and includes Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. But while allegedly aimed at protecting the United States from possible terrorists, the ban will not apply to other countries that have also suffered  and exported  years of Islamist terrorism, including Algeria, Egypt, or Saudi Arabia, nor does it apply to non-Muslim countries that have endured decades of terror. It also reportedly will carve out provisions for persecuted religious minorities, namely Christians, who conservative politicians have claimed do not commit terror.

It represents a sharp break with decades of U.S. policy, and could well make the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe and the Mediterranean even more acute, by throwing would-be asylum seekers back into already jam-packed countries in the region who have taken them in. Turkey holds more than 2.8 million refugees, and much-smaller Lebanon and Jordan, more than 1 million and 650,000, respectively.

The refugee program in this country has had bipartisan support since 1975, said Eskinder Negash, who served as director of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2015. This is a dramatic departure from what we have been doing for the past 30 years.

The expected moves will also likely have a chilling effect on the United States own efforts to get other countries to accept more refugees as the migrant crisis has ballooned to its largest proportions since World War Two.

When the U.S. government retreats from this commitment, other countries will follow the U.S. lead, Negash said. That will be a disaster for refugees, and for our leadership in the world.

It could also make the U.S. counterterrorism mission and other diplomatic initiatives tougher to carry out. The U.S. is nominally allied with Iraq and Libya to fight Islamic State right now, and U.S. troops are supporting the Iraqi armys push into the ISIS-held city of Mosul. Sudan and South Sudans concurrent crises stem in part from the U.S.-brokered secession of Juba from Khartoum in 2011. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is bombing Yemen using U.S. weapons and refueling tankers.

Executive actions like thesewhich are intended to penalize citizens of certain countriestarnish the U.S. reputation at a time when we need the support of many of these countries in our fight against global terrorism, said Muzaffar Chishti, director of the Migration Policy Institutes office at NYU School of Law.

Controversial as the executive orders may be, opponents will likely find them tough to overturn.

Its pretty undisputed that is one of the few absolute prerogatives of the president with limited consultation with Congress, said Chishti.

However, the focus on Muslim countries  as promised during the campaign trail  might provide an opening for an uphill legal challenge, from U.S. citizens or residents, said Jennifer Gordon, an immigration law expert at Fordham University.

Could there conceivably be a challenge? she said. Absolutely, on the basis of discrimination by religion, a First Amendment challenge.

But under the Refugee Act of 1980, Congress granted the White House and State Department almost complete authority over how many refugees to admit and from what countries. Similarly, sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which dates to 1952, give the president very broad power to permanently or temporarily suspend admission of foreign nationals from any country or category he deems detrimental to U.S. interests. Obama used it several times himself, and courts have given the White House a free hand in the past.

After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the George W. Bush administration required special registration for nationals from 25 countries entering, exiting, and living in the United States  all Muslim-majority except North Korea. Legal challenges brought at the time failed, though the Obama administration ended the program in 2011.

If the president presents any hint of a rational reason or justification  for example, terror prone countries,' said Gordon, its likely it will be upheld.

Even if lawyers argue that the bans target religion, rather than terrorism per se, that will likely have little legal traction, Chishti said.

For non-citizens and especially for people not in this country as yet, issues of discrimination in our immigration laws have very limited application, he said.

The Trump administration has argued that the refugee bans are needed because of the difficulties in vetting potential asylum seekers to ensure that they arent terrorists or have ties to militant groups. But immigration and security experts say the current system, which involves repeated interviews, biometric screening, and input from DHS, the State Department, the FBI, the National National Counterterrorism Center, the Defense Department, and UNHCR, is already thorough. Its unclear if a workable system including even more screening could be implemented.

While intelligence officials have testified they are concerned about potential loopholes in the vetting process, particularly for refugees from war-torn Syria, theyve also said that is little chance a terrorist posing as a refugee could get through the vetting process for the United States. DHS has already put extra screening layers in place for Syrians, beginning two years ago.

Refugees are the most vetted people who come to this country, Negash said, noting over 3 million refugees have been resettled here.

Of the some 12 million people displaced from Syria alone, the United States only accepted 13,120 by the end of last year. According to the Obama White House, as of late 2015, not a single one of those accepted from Syria have ever been arrested under suspicion of terrorism. A total of 38,901 Muslim refugees came to the United States in 2016 according to Pew Research Center  about half of the total of 85,000 refugees the United States accepted.

Most Syrians have fled to neighboring countries, including Jordan and Turkey, though hundreds of thousands have gone to Europe. There are much less stringent screening processes there, and it is easier to cross borders between European Union member states. In the 2015 Paris attacks, one of the assailants was fingerprinted in Greece after arriving from Turkey with the flood of refugees, inspiring Trumps call for a ban during the campaign and potentially putting in motion his executive actions as president this week.

We want dignity and equality for everyone, Trump said Wednesday at DHS. And I will be president for everyone.

Kavitha Surana, Emily Tamkin and Robbie Gramer contributed to this report.

This is a developing piece and it has been updated.

Photo credit: Drew Angerer / Staff
Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump has issued a number of decisions and decrees since being sworn in to office on January 20, beginning with a proclamation declaring his inauguration a "National Day of Patriotic Devotion."

Here is a brief chronology:

January 20: First decree against Obamacare

- Trump proclaims his inauguration day January 20, 2017, a "National Day of Patriotic Devotion." He did this, the proclamation said, "in order to strengthen our bonds to each other and to our country -- and to renew the duties of government to the people."

"When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice," Trump said in his inaugural speech.

In 2009, his predecessor Barack Obama proclaimed his inauguration day a "National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation."

- Trump signs his first decree targeting Obama's signature healthcare reform, commanding government offices to grant all possible exemptions to limit the "economic and regulatory burden" of the law, as a prelude to full repeal.

January 22: Towards a NAFTA renegotiation

- Trump announces he will begin renegotiating the North American Free Trade Accord (NAFTA) with the leaders of Canada and Mexico. He is scheduled to meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on January 31.

January 23: Withdrawal from TPP, aid cuts to pro-abortion NGOs

- Trump formally withdraws the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a huge free trade agreement signed by Obama but never ratified by the US Congress.

Seen as a counter to China's growing influence, the treaty was signed in 2015 by 12 countries from the Asia-Pacific region representing 40 percent of the world economy.

- Trump signs a decree reinstating a Reagan-era rule that bans US foreign aid money from going to NGOs overseas that provide abortions or advocate for abortion rights.

The decree comes the day after the 44th anniversary of Roe v Wade, the emblematic Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in the United States, and two days after millions march worldwide in defense of women's reproductive rights.

Story continues

- The new president also signs a decree freezing hiring of new federal workers, excluding members of the military.

January 24: Oil pipeline projects revived

- Trump gives new life to the gigantic Keystone XL pipeline linking Canadian oil sands in Alberta to refineries on the US Gulf coast.

Obama had blocked construction of a 1,179-mile (1,900-kilometer) section of the pipeline for environmental reasons.

Trump said restarting the project would depend on terms being renegotiated with Canadian firm TransCanada.

- He also signs a decree clearing the way for construction of a pipeline project in North Dakota. Energy Transfer Partners had its permit blocked in December after protests by Native Americans and environmentalists.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe charged that the so-called Dakota Access Pipeline threatened to contaminate their water and disturb land they consider sacred, as well as sacred objects and burial sites.

January 25: Erecting barriers to immigration

- Trump signs decrees taking the first steps toward building a wall between the United States and Mexico, a major theme of his campaign.

The president is also expected to issue executive orders restricting immigration and access to the United States for refugees and visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, according to the Washington Post.

Trump has also pledged to suppress a program put in place by Obama in 2012 allowing more than 750,000 undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children to obtain residency and work permits.

To come: Reopening the CIA's secret prisons?

- Trump has said he will announce on February 2 his choice to fill a Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia nearly a year ago.

- The new administration has drafted an order that could lead to the reopening of secret overseas CIA prisons closed by Obama, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump has signed an executive order designed to start fulfilling his campaign pledge to build a wall along the US border with Mexico.

The stated goal of this gargantuan project is to keep out undocumented migrants, drugs and criminals. Here is a look at the feasibility of erecting such a barrier.

- How much would it cost? -

Billions. But exactly how much is not known.

Part of the 2,000 mile (3,200 km) border -- 653 miles of it, to be exact -- already features fencing that blocks people and/or vehicles. But just building 413 more miles of fencing would cost $11.4 billion, according to the Washington Office on Latin America, a non-profit research and rights group that quoted an estimate by US Customs and Border Protection.

Trump himself has been vague about the cost. His estimates have ranged from $4 billion to "around $10 billion." But architects and engineers have said it would cost much, much more.

In an article entitled "Bad Math Props up Trump's Border Wall," MIT Technology Review estimated late last year that a 1,000 mile steel and concrete wall would cost $27 to $40 billion.

The review put it this way: "Set aside the questions of whether it's wise to put a wall along the US-Mexico border or who should pay for it. It simply can't be done at the price Donald Trump has claimed."

- Where would he get the money? -

This is not very clear, either.

For now, the White House can only divert existing funds toward the project. The Republican-controlled Congress would need to supply new money if the wall is to be anywhere near completed. And Trump's party has spent the last decade preaching fiscal prudence.

Trump's executive order instructs Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to: "Identify and, to the extent permitted by law, allocate all sources of Federal funds for the planning, designing, and constructing of a physical wall along the southern border."

Story continues

It also requests that he: "Project and develop long-term funding requirements for the wall, including preparing Congressional budget requests for the current and upcoming fiscal years."

"There are a lot of funding mechanisms that can be used," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Wednesday.

"At this point his goal is to get the project started as quickly as possible using funds and resources that the department currently has, and then to move forward and work with congress on an appropriations schedule," Spicer said.

Trump has vowed repeatedly to make Mexico pay for the wall, perhaps by dipping into the remittances that Mexican migrants send home. These totalled $25 billion last year.

But Mexico has categorically ruled out paying for the wall or reimbursing the United States for it.

- What would it look like? -

Trump's executive order defines the proposed wall as "a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous, and impassable physical barrier."

At one point Trump had called for prefabricated concrete panels reinforced with steel rods, heavy materials that present immense logistical challenges: paving roads for access, building multiple sites for pouring concrete and hiring armies of workers over several years.

The wall would require foundations deep enough to ensure stability and discourage tunneling.

Again, that means lots of money.

A 40-foot concrete wall using a "post and panel" system sunk 10 feet below ground would cost at least $26 billion, according to Todd Sternfeld, CEO of a Texas company that makes precast concrete fence and barrier products.

- Other obstacles to the wall -

Take the Rio Grande River, for instance. It forms the natural border between Mexico and Texas. Laws prohibit construction that would impede flood management or interfere with the sharing of resources. And a treaty bars either country from diverting any flow of water.

What is more, Trump cannot just do as he pleases with the land along the border because much of it is privately owned. So building a wall would entail messy legal proceedings, political blowback, and substantial expropriation payments.

- Do Americans like the idea? -

They seem divided by the wall. A Morning Consult/Politico poll released Wednesday said 47 percent of voters support building a wall, with 45 percent against.

Critics say the wall proposal is pointless because, among other things, most drugs smuggled into the United States pass through legal entry points and are not transported through the desert.

And if the goal is to keep out unauthorized migrants, that flow is already down to near the level of the early 1970s, according to the Washington Office on Latin America.
By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Tundra Energy Marketing Ltd on Wednesday confirmed its pipeline was the source of a leak of some 200,000 liters (52,830 gallons) of crude oil onto aboriginal land in Saskatchewan that was discovered by a member of the community last week. "An excavation of the release site has confirmed Tundra Energy Marketing Ltd as the operator of the pipeline," the company said in a statement, adding that it was working with regulators and the Ocean Man First Nation indigenous group to determine the cause. The provincial government said on Tuesday that it will be investigating how long the spill went unnoticed and what leak-detection measures were in place at the site, some 140 km (87 miles) southeast of Regina. It said on Wednesday that it hoped to send the affected section of pipeline for testing on Thursday, and that 174,000 liters (45,970 gallons) of oil had been recovered and 185 cubic meters (240 cubic yards) of soil had been removed from the site. The spill was discovered just days before U.S. President Donald Trump signed executive orders that will move forward two controversial oil pipelines that have long been the target of opposition from indigenous and environmental groups, and could embolden protests against pipeline projects on both sides of the border. The leak occurred on a feeder artery of the more than 1,600-km- (994-mile-)long southeast Saskatchewan pipeline system that Tundra, part of Canadian grain trading and energy conglomerate James Richardson and Sons Ltd, purchased from an affiliate of Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc late last year. "The spill confirms the worst fears of indigenous communities and environmental organizations and no doubt strengthens their resolve to resist and fight back the approved Kinder Morgan and Line 3," said Rauna Kuokkanen, an associate professor of political science and indigenous studies at the University of Toronto. The federal Canadian government in November approved Kinder Morgan Inc's hotly contested plan to build a pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to the Pacific Coast and Enbridge Inc's replacement of Canadian segments of its aging Line 3 from Alberta to Wisconsin. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Sandra Maler and Jonathan Oatis)
The first-ever direct China-to-Britain freight train arrived in London last week.

It was the latest evidence of Chinas efforts to redevelop the Silk Road trade routes that once stretched from Asia to Europe.

The train arrived in London after an 18-day, 28,000-kilometer trip. It traveled from China through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France and then crossed under the English Channel. Inside the 68 containers were household goods, clothing, cloth, bags and suitcases.

Philippa Edmunds works at the British Campaign for Better Transport.

This is twice as quick as sea, so its got an important role there. And, as I said, Its much, much cleaner and cheaper than air freight -- I mean, its 20 times less pollution than air freight.

But the train itself may be more important than the goods it was carrying. Observers say the trip had a political message: that China is developing new trade routes and new markets. Freight trains from China already bring goods to 15 European cities.

China needs to find more places to sell the goods it makes. That is the belief of Jie Yu of the London School of Economics.

The domestic market in China now seems to be very much stagnated. So the Chinese (are) desperately looking for the new markets, and being able to absorb that excessive amount of production capacity. And obviously that freight train serves (as) a very good vehicle for the Chinese manufacturers and (may help) restore the business confidence inside China.

Jie Yu says Chinese leaders believe they can use trade to gain more influence in the world.

History opened a new era. And China has shown its willingness much more to shoulder more responsibility on the global stage and try to become a kind of responsible leadership.

Another historic trip was taking place as the Chinese train arrived in London: Xi Jinping became the first Chinese president to attend the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. At the meeting, he spoke about the importance of globalization and free trade.

Chinas government made strong statements in support of free trade and globalization in the days after Donald Trump became president of the United States. Trump says Chinas trade policies have hurt the American economy. Some experts believe Xis words were an answer to the new presidents criticism of Chinese policies.

Im Christopher Jones-Cruise.

Henry Ridgwell reported this story for VOANews.com. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his report into Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

route  n. a way that someone or something regularly travels along

cheap  adj. not costing a lot of money; less expensive; less costly

stagnate  v. to stop developing, progressing, moving, etc.; to be or become stagnant

absorb  v. to take in and make (something) part of a larger group, country, etc.

capacity  n. the ability to hold or contain people or things (usually singular)

globalize  v. to make (something) cover, involve or affect the entire world; to begin to operate throughout the world
By Tom Westbrook SYDNEY (Reuters) - The United States will send extra military aircraft to Australia's tropical north this year, a U.S. Marine Corps spokesman said on Wednesday, bolstering its military presence close to the disputed South China Sea. The Marines' deployment in the strategic city of Darwin, agreed in 2011, was a critical part of former U.S. President Barack Obama's "pivot" to Asia amid China's increased assertiveness in the region. The move also cemented close ties with staunch ally Australia and gave the U.S. a foothold in the area. President Donald Trump's new administration has struck a hawkish tone over Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea Asia, but it has abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact negotiated by Obama. Marine Corps spokesman Major Chris Logan said there would be an increase in aircraft this year, including sending four MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor planes, which boost the range of the marine force and five AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters. Logan added that Marine numbers would remain at 1,250. "The size and composition of each Marine rotation to Australia is mutually determined ... and is balanced against other resource commitments and respective national priorities," Logan said. The number of soldiers sent to Australia's north has stalled well behind plans for a force of 2,500 by 2020, a goal that was delayed last year from 2017 as originally intended. Australia and the U.S. agreed last October to share more than A$2 billion ($1.5 billion) in infrastructure investment and other costs linked to the 25-year deployment. They have also discussed basing U.S. long-range B-1 bombers in Darwin, a move which drew concern from China's foreign ministry. Australia's defence department did not respond to a request for comment, but said in October that both nations intend to reach the 2,500-marine target "over the coming years". Euan Graham, director of the International Security Program at Sydney-based think tank the Lowy Institute said the delay in ramping up troop numbers was unsuprising, given slow progress in negotiations on costs. "The infrastructure that will accommodate the enhanced marine presence couldn't be done before the cost sharing was agreed, and that's not going to ramp up overnight, that will have to be a steady progression," he said. Training exercises in 2016 included joint manouvres with soldiers from Japan and China and a program involving officers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, the department said then. ($1 = 1.3257 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
By Andrew Chung and Dan Levine (Reuters) - Legal advocacy groups seeking to challenge President Donald Trump in court over alleged conflicts of interest said filing lawsuits is part of a larger strategy to highlight their concerns and put political pressure on the White House. In a lawsuit on Monday, ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington contended payments to Trump's businesses for hotel rooms and office leases run afoul of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which forbids U.S. officeholders from accepting various gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval. Trump on Monday called the lawsuit "without merit," and legal experts have noted significant barriers to success in court, such as whether the plaintiffs have standing to sue. The American Civil Liberties Union is also preparing a lawsuit over Trump's alleged violations of the emoluments clause, said ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero. Beyond winning favorable rulings, cases can serve to "gum up the machinery of the government and rob the Trump administration of momentum," he said. Lawsuits can also serve to frame the public debate and gain the attention of Congress and government officials, Romero said. "This should be an area where we let a thousand legal flowers bloom," he told Reuters on Tuesday. Laurence Tribe, one of the attorneys representing CREW, said the purpose of its lawsuit was to force Trump to abide by the Constitution, and that he felt confident they would achieve a favorable outcome in court. He also said bringing the case can accomplish other goals. "One of the things that this lawsuit will achieve is increased public understanding of what the issue is," he said. Aside from the emoluments clause, conflict of interest laws that govern the executive branch generally do not apply to the president or vice president, said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Irvine School of Law and another of CREW's lawyers. Presidents largely enjoy immunity from lawsuits arising from their official duties. The Office of Government Ethics sets policy for executive branch employees, but it does not investigate complaints or bring lawsuits. If OGE officials find evidence of wrongdoing, they refer it to the Department of Justice for civil or criminal prosecution. CREW also filed a complaint with the General Services Administration over Trump's hotel in Washington D.C., which he leases from the federal government. The complaint alleges the business violates the terms of the lease, which says it cannot be held by an elected officeholder. It is unclear whether that issue will ultimately be litigated in the courts. Federal courts maintain strict rules about who has the legal right, or standing, to sue. The U.S. Department of Justice will likely raise a standing challenge to CREW's case in the form of a motion to dismiss, said Deepak Gupta, another attorney representing the group. A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said it is reviewing the complaint and would respond as appropriate. In its lawsuit, CREW argued that it should be allowed to bring the emoluments case because it has been forced to spend money and divert resources away from its traditional agenda of tracking campaign contributions and ethics monitoring. Legal experts have said that will be a difficult argument to win. ADDITIONAL PLAINTIFFS Tribe, a professor at Harvard Law School, said CREW felt confident it would win on standing. He also noted that additional plaintiffs "have expressed interest in bringing litigation, either as part of our case or others." He declined to identify them or discuss strategy details. Romero also said the ACLU is seeking a "suitable plaintiff." Andy Grewal, a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law, said that adding a plaintiff with more concrete allegations, such as a hotel that claims it has lost business to Trump's hotels, would still be an uphill battle. It would be hard to prove, for instance, that a diplomat would have stayed at another hotel instead of Trump's, he said. Ultimately, no court has determined whether ownership by a president or government official of a corporation that sells products to a foreign government would violate the Constitution, he said, and that could present an additional barrier to success. (Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York and Dan Levine in San Francisco; Editing by Amy Stevens and Cynthia Osterman)
By Cod Satrusayang and Panarat Thempgumpanat BANGKOK (Reuters) - The highest ranking U.S. officer to visit Thailand since a 2014 coup will attend a military exercise next month in what the Thai army hailed on Wednesday as a sign of improving relations. The United States scaled down its presence at Cobra Gold, Asia's largest annual multinational military exercise, as one of the former U.S. administration's measures to pressure the Thai government to restore democracy. Relations have since improved as the junta has taken steps towards holding elections - and as Thailand has grown closer to dominant regional power China. The U.S. embassy confirmed that Admiral Harry Harris, the head of Pacific Command, would open Cobra Gold on Feb. 14. More junior officers attended the exercise in the past two years. Harris's attendance was planned before the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose policy moves on Asia are closely watched after signals of potential confrontation with China over trade, Taiwan and claims in the South China Sea. The U.S. embassy said Cobra Gold would only return to its original scope and scale once Thailand restores democracy. "We are eager to see our cooperation fully resume with the restoration of a democratically elected civilian government," Melissa Sweeney, a spokeswoman at the U.S. embassy in Bangkok, told Reuters. The United States will send 3,500 personnel to the war games - slightly fewer than last year. Thailand's army said that Harris's attendance at Cobra Gold sent an important signal. "It is not common for an officer of Admiral Harris' rank to attend these sorts of events," said General Thanchaiyan Srisuwan, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "It is a good signal for Thai-American relations and shows that the U.S. has given importance to this region and this exercise," he told Reuters. Thailand has hosted the war games since they began in 1982. This year's event will be attended by 8,333 personnel from 29 countries. Thailand's links with China have grown ever stronger since the 2014 coup. Thai officials said on Wednesday the government had approved 13.5 billion baht ($380 million) to buy a submarine from China after putting the purchase on hold last year. It will also buy new tanks and other vehicles from China. The Thai junta held a referendum last year on a constitution to allow a general election. It was originally due to take place this year but it is not widely expected to happen before 2018. (Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
LONDON (Reuters) - British armed forces escorted a Russian aircraft carrier dubbed "the ship of shame" by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon as it passed through waters close to the English coast on its way back from bombing raids in Syria. Images released by the British defense ministry showed RAF Typhoon jets and the Royal Navy's HMS St. Albans frigate escorting the Admiral Kuznetsov and its support vessels in the English Channel on Wednesday as they headed toward the North Sea. "We will keep a close eye on the Admiral Kuznetsov as it skulks back to Russia; a ship of shame whose mission has only extended the suffering of the Syrian people," said Fallon in a statement. "We are man-marking these vessels every step of the way around the UK as part of our steadfast commitment to keep Britain safe," he added. Planes on the aging carrier had been taking part in Russian bombing of rebel forces in Syria's civil war, a campaign which was widely accused in the West of indiscriminately targeting civilians. The Kuznetsov, Russia's only aircraft carrier, had passed through the English Channel on its way to Syria last October. (Reporting by Ritvik Carvalho; editing by Stephen Addison)
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday she hoped all countries involved in the Paris Climate Agreement would ensure it is implemented. During his election campaign, President Donald Trump said he would pull the United States out of the agreement, intended to curb global warming by cutting emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, within 100 days of taking office. He has since said he would keep an open mind about the deal. Asked by opposition Labor lawmaker Ed Miliband whether she would use her meeting with Trump this week to tell him not to withdraw from the agreement, May said: "The Obama administration obviously signed up to the Paris climate change agreement, we have now done that, I would hope that all parties would continue to ensure that that climate change agreement is put into practice." (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, editing by Elizabeth Piper)
London (AFP) - High heels, blonde hair and make-up are among dress codes for women in the British workplace, despite gender discrimination being illegal, a parliamentary report released on Wednesday has found.

The inquiry into women's experience at work was sparked after a receptionist was sent home without pay last year by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Nicola Thorp refused to wear two-to-four-inch (five-to-10-centimetre) heels, arguing men were not required to abide by the same rule.

The incident in London prompted a petition which gained more than 150,000 signatures, leading to the report from the Petitions Committee and Women and Equalities Committee.

"We heard from hundreds of women who told us about the pain and long-term damage caused by wearing high heels for long periods in the workplace, as well as from women who had been required to dye their hair blonde, to wear revealing outfits and to constantly reapply make-up," the report said.

British law allows firms to set dress codes, but says companies must not discriminate against women in doing so.

The committee argued the current legal framework is not fully effective and called on the government to review the law and, if necessary, change it.

Thorp said the current system is "failing employees" and needs to be amended.

"This may have started over a pair of high heels but what it has revealed about discrimination in the UK workplace is vital, as demonstrated by the hundreds of women who came forward," she said.

The Fawcett Society, a women's rights group, told the committee of women being criticised for wearing loose clothing on a hot day, or being asked to look "sexy" in the workplace.

Responding to the report, a government spokesman said the findings would be considered by the Equalities Office.

"Dress codes must be reasonable and include equivalent requirements for both men and women," he said.
Glasgow (AFP) - Celtic equalled a 50-year-old club record on Wednesday as the Scottish champions beat St Johnstone 1-0 to extend their unbeaten run to 26 matches.

Dedryck Boyata's 72nd minute strike at Celtic Park ensured Brendan Rodgers' side stretched their unblemished start in all domestic campaigns this term.

The Glasgow team's unbeaten streak draws them level with the run achieved in the most successful season in Celtic's history -- the 'Lisbon Lions' 1966-67 campaign, which ended with a clean sweep of trophies including the European Cup.

The win -- Celtic's 16th consecutive victory in the league -- also sees the runaway league leaders extend their advantage to 22 points over rivals Rangers in second place.

"To be 22 points ahead at this stage of the season, I'm very happy. The overall performance was very good," said Rodgers.

"Tonight, we should tip our hat to the players because they've been absolutely brilliant."

St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright said defeat was a bitter blow.

"I think my side couldn't really have done much more tonight," he said. "Unfortunately we couldn't get a goal as I think they deserved something from the game for all the effort and commitment they put in."

Neither side showed any signs of rustiness as they returned to league action for the first time in 2017 following a three-week winter break and both had early chances to open the scoring early on.

Scott Sinclair thought he had given Celtic a 10th minute lead when he headed James Forrest's cross past Zander Clark but his celebrations were cut short by the assistant referee's flag who adjudged that the ball had gone out of play in the build-up.

Celtic captain Scott Brown, making his 400th appearance for the club, then set up Kieran Tierney for a chance but he blazed his effort over.

St Johnstone were unfazed and Steven Anderson came close for the visitors when his hooked shot was tipped over by Craig Gordon as play spread from one end to the other.

Story continues

Zander Clark made a fingertip save to keep out a fizzing strike from Stuart Armstrong and from the resultant corner Boyata saw his header knocked off the line by Saints defender David Wotherspoon.

Moments later, Danny Swanson saw his volley crack off the base of the post as Celtic failed to clear their lines from a corner.

As the half drew to a close, Celtic laid siege to the St Johnstone goal with Moussa Dembele twice firing narrowly wide before Clark was forced to turn a Forrest strike round the post at full-stretch.

Celtic dominated possession at the start of the second half as they kept St Johnstone pinned down in their own half but failed to really test 'keeper Clark.

Forrest sent a shot well over and Clark easily held a long-range effort from Brown as the visitors soaked up the pressure.

Patrick Roberts replaced Forrest on the hour mark and the on-loan Manchester City winger almost made an immediate impact as he burst into the box and cut the ball back from the by-line for Sinclair who somehow prodded his shot wide from close range.

The breakthrough finally came following a period of intense pressure.

Boyata saw a goal-ward bound header frantically turned round the post by Clark but the Belgian wasn't to be denied from the resultant corner from Armstrong as he rose above his marker to bullet a header into the net.


Former President Jimmy Carter says he wants to have a good relationship with President Donald Trump.

Carter served a single term as president of the United States. The Democratic Party nominated him as its presidential candidate in 1976. He won the election, but lost when he sought reelection four years later.

Carter is one of only two presidents in the past 40 years who has served only one term. The other is George H.W. Bush.

Carter has lived longer after leaving the White House than any other U.S. president. Trump is the sixth president he has seen take office since the swearing-in of Ronald Reagan in 1981.

Carter talks about his Christian beliefs at the Maranatha Baptist Church in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he lives. On a recent Sunday, Carter said he and his family did not want Donald Trump, a Republican, to become president.

We have 22 voters in our family. None of our family voted for him.

Some former and current Democratic lawmakers did not attend Trumps swearing-in last Friday. President George H.W. Bush was too sick to attend the ceremony. But all the other former presidents, including Jimmy Carter, came to Washington.

I was the only former president for a long time that said he was going! But I felt like we needed to get to know the new president. I think we need to give him support.

Carter spoke to VOA reporter Kane Farabaugh at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The former president explained his way of thinking about the countrys new leadership.

We want to be helpful to them when they get in office so we hope that this relationship of supporting President Trump and his new administration will be both beneficial to them, and also to help when they think its appropriate, us to reach our goals in those particular areas of the world.

Carter says he can help the Trump administration by sharing information gathered at Carter Center events.

Were preparing a, a brief memorandum from me to the new secretary of state and new secretary of defense, for instance, on our mapping program inside Syria and what we have learned from President Putin and that sort of thing.

When he was president, Carter helped Israel and Egypt agree to end their disputes. The 1978 Camp David Accords were the first permanent peace agreement between the two countries. Carter says he hopes Trump will work to end conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

We've had a full-time office in Jerusalem and in Ramallah in the West Bank and also in Gaza now for 35 years. And we have a lot of inside information on what's going on inside the boundary of what we call the Holy Land. And I want to share the information with them.

Carter was elected in 1976, a time when the United States was recovering from the scandals of the administration of Richard Nixon. Many Americans were angry with the government -- as they are now. They voted for Carter. Like Trump, he had never served in the federal government. In fact, while Carter served one term as governor of Georgia, Trump had never campaigned for political office until he ran for president.

"He never has been involved in politics before. So he has a lot to learn, he'll learn sometimes the hard way like I did"

Im Pete Musto.

VOA Correspondent Kane Farabaugh reported this story. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his report into Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

beneficial  adj. producing good or helpful results or effects; producing benefits

appropriate  adj. right or suited for some purpose or situation

particular  adj. used to indicate that one specific person or thing is being referred to and no others

memorandum  n. a usually brief written message or report from one person or department in a company or organization to another

scandal  n. an occurrence in which people are shocked and upset because of behavior that is morally or legally wrong
New York (AFP) - US authorities have decided not to charge an heir to the Fiat auto fortune who was arrested for allegedly faking his own kidnapping to pay for a weekend of debauchery, officials said Wednesday.

According to several US media outlets, Lapo Elkann, the grandson of legendary Fiat founder Gianni Agnelli, tried to make his family believe he had been kidnapped when he ran out of money during a two-day bender of sex and drugs.

The 39-year-old Italian playboy reportedly spent that time with a transgender prostitute, with whom he consumed alcohol, marijuana and cocaine before running low on funds, the reports said.

He reportedly came up with the plan to ask his family for $10,000 in ransom to pay for more drugs, US media said.

The family alerted police, who arrested Elkann after determining his claims were false.

Elkann was ordered to appear in a New York court for falsely reporting an incident. Police have not said if Elkann was found with a prostitute or whether drugs were involved.

But Manhattan prosecutors ultimately decided not to charge him and to drop the case, a spokesman for their office told AFP.

Elkann's brother John took over the helm of the Agnelli empire in May 2008, becoming the head of the company that manages the family's holdings.

The Agnelli family controls about a 30 percent stake in Fiat, and 44 percent of the voting rights.

Elkann made headlines in 2005 when he slipped into a coma after a drug overdose -- also reportedly while in the company of a prostitute.

Elkann briefly held a job in Fiat's marketing department, but then moved on to other projects. He is one of the founders of the eyewear brand Italia Independent.
Beijing (AFP) - If Donald Trump's hawkish new administration follows through on threats and tries to cut Beijing off from artificial islands in the South China Sea, it could face a stiffer pushback than many imagine, experts say.

The US president and his team have made much of their desire to put Beijing in its place, including in the strategically vital waterway, which China claims almost entirely and where it has reclaimed -- and fortified -- thousands of acres of land, according to the Pentagon.

Trump's nominee for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, told his confirmation hearing the US needs to send a clear signal that China's access to the islands is "not going to be allowed".

Observers quickly pointed out the full-scale blockade this would require was likely to provoke a military response from Beijing -- a response that might be enough to make the US think twice.

While Beijing may have a poorer and less well-equipped military, it is stocking its arsenal with submarines, anti-ship missiles and other weapons tailor-made to neutralise Washington's most valuable naval assets, they say.

"Beijing knows that it cannot win a conventional frontal conflict with the US," with its vastly superior military, Valerie Niquet of French think tank Foundation of Strategic Research told AFP.

Instead, it is developing "capacities that would restore its freedom to manoeuvre by pushing Washington to hesitate before a potentially costly intervention in Asia."

- Flexing muscles -

China's island building programme in the South China Sea has irked neighbours -- many of whom also have claims to parts of the sea -- and caused global concern.

Beijing has ignored international condemnation over its construction of airstrips and installation of anti-aircraft batteries on one-time reefs.

It has dismissed an international arbitration court that ruled last year there was no basis for its claims over the South China Sea.

Story continues

Former US President Barack Obama occasionally sent warships and planes through the area in so-called "freedom of navigation" exercises, but critics say he did not do enough to prevent China gaining a substantial foothold.

Trump, who threaded anti-China rhetoric throughout his election campaign, has indicated he is going to be a lot firmer.

"If those islands are, in fact, in international waters and not part of China proper, yeah, we'll make sure we defend international interests from being taken over by one country," new White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday.

Beijing is flexing its military muscle in response to the warnings.

Three days after Trump's inauguration, China's navy announced the delivery of the CNS Xining destroyer, nicknamed the "carrier killer" for its large load of anti-ship and land attack cruise missiles.

Beijing also possesses DF-21 and DF-26 anti-ship missiles that could secure it "a credible denial of access" against the US Navy, a source with knowledge of Chinese military activities told AFP.

While the US has around a dozen aircraft carriers, Beijing has just one: the second-hand, Soviet-built Liaoning. A second is under construction.

The Liaoning conducted its first live fire drill in December before heading to the South China Sea.

China's naval capacities "might not be enough to decisively destroy hostile modern navies, yet they are enough to deny or impede their access to some extent," Noboru Yamaguchi of the International University of Japan told AFP.

- 'Bring China more respect' -

While China has made significant progress in developing its military over the past two decades, it remains far behind the US, whose military budget is three times higher, at nearly $600 billion.

"Most analysts agree that it is 20 or 30 years behind the US in terms of military capabilities," said James Char of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

A major Achilles heel for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is that it has not fought a real battle since a war with Vietnam in 1979, and has a questionable mastery of modern military techniques, according to some Western experts.

And while the West has NATO as a channel through which to share military experiences, China has no similar outlet, despite periodic joint exercises with other countries such as Russia.

As Niquet sees it, "Beijing must play a delicate balancing game so as not to go too far in their threats and provoke an American intervention" with unthinkable consequences.

So far, China is playing it cool in the face of Washington's rhetoric, with the foreign ministry largely avoiding any statements that might raise the temperature.

But "there certainly exists the worst-case probability of a destructive showdown" over access to China's artificial islands an editorial in the state-run China Daily warned Wednesday.

And "if there is to be 'war' in the South China Sea it will be because of actions by the US military."
Washington (AFP) - The US State Department is reviewing a decision made in the final hours of former president Barack Obama's administration to release $220 million to help Palestinians rebuild the war-scarred Gaza strip.

Officials said some of the money has already been transferred but that President Donald Trump's new administration would investigate last minute spending decisions to see if they can be adjusted.

"In a final act, then-secretary of state John Kerry instructed USAID to release $220.3 million for Gaza recovery programs," acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

"The Department of State is currently reviewing last minute spending approved by the previous administration and will make adjustments if needed to ensure that it aligns with the priorities of the Trump-Pence administration."

While a close ally of Israel, the United States is also a major donor to international efforts to help Palestinians to recover from recent conflicts.

In his final weeks in office, Kerry was critical of Israel's building of settlements on occupied Palestinian land, warning that it undercuts efforts to negotiate a two-state final peace deal.

Trump's administration is expected to be more sympathetic to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and the new president has chosen an ambassador with a track record of backing settlements.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - US President Donald Trump is considering drastic funding cuts to international organizations and a review of treaties that could lead to a US withdrawal, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The new administration is preparing two executive orders, drafts of which were obtained by the newspaper, that could deprive the United Nations and other organizations of billions of dollars.

The first draft order calls for scrapping all funding to any UN agency or international body that gives full membership to the Palestinians, or supports programs that fund abortion or any activity that circumvents sanctions against Iran or North Korea.

It would also terminate funding to organizations that are "controlled or substantially influenced by any state that sponsors terrorism," or are blamed for systematic violations of human rights.

The order calls for an overall decrease of at least 40 percent in all other US funding to international organizations and sets up a committee to look specifically at US financial contributions for UN peacekeeping operations.

The United States is by far the UN's biggest financial contributor, providing 22 percent of its operating budget and funding 28 percent of peacekeeping missions, which currently cost $7.8 billion annually.

A US funding cut to peacekeeping would deal a severe blow to the 16 peace missions worldwide, most of which are in Africa.

The second order calls for a review of all current and pending multilateral treaties and requests recommendations on which negotiations or treaties the United States should leave.

This review applies to treaties that are not "directly related to national security, extradition or international trade," according to the draft.

The Paris climate deal could be affected by the proposed order.

Trump has openly questioned climate change and campaigned on a pledge to renege on US commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help finance the transition to a green economy.

"Taken together, the orders suggest that Mr. Trump intends to pursue his campaign promises of withdrawing the United States from international organizations," wrote the Times.
Paris (AFP) - Former French prime minister Manuel Valls will seek to rescue his ailing presidential bid on Wednesday in a final TV duel with his leftist rival for the Socialist nomination, Benoit Hamon.

Valls, 54, goes into the runoff of the Socialist primary as the underdog after being beaten by Hamon, 49, in a first round of voting at the weekend that whittled seven candidates down to two.

Hamon won 36 percent of the vote to Valls' 31 percent.

Former education minister Hamon surged from behind with a raft of radical proposals aimed at breathing new life into a party adrift after five years of the spectacularly unpopular rule of President Francois Hollande.

His call for a universal basic income to offset the growing automation of work dominated the campaign, forcing his rivals to take positions for or against.

Valls, who served as Hollande's premier from April 2014 to December 2016, has warned that Hamon's programme would "ruin" France.

Picking Hamon to represent the Socialists would mean "certain defeat", he declared after the first round.

But polls show both men as rank outsiders in the presidential race.

The surveys show the April-May election as a three-way contest between conservative candidate Francois Fillon, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist former economy minister Emmanuel Macron.

The far left's Jean-Luc Melenchon and the Socialist candidate are shown trailing in fourth and fifth place respectively.

- 'Rogue secularism' -

The primary has highlighted deep ideological divisions within the Socialists, of the kind seen in the US Democrats and Britain's Labour.

Hamon, who was sacked as education minister in 2014 for joining a rebellion against what he saw as the government's rightward drift, represents a hard-left faction, while Valls champions a more business-friendly approach.

On Tuesday, the tough-talking ex-premier attempted to corner Hamon on the place of Islam in public life -- a sensitive issue following a series of attacks by Islamist radicals.

Story continues

Valls, an arch-defender of France's strict brand of secularism, painted the mild-mannered Hamon as too "accommodating" with ultraconservative Muslims who try to impose their customs on others.

Alluding to remarks by Hamon playing down the existence of cafes in high-rise suburbs that refuse entry to women, Valls declared: "No French cultural tradition allows for women to be refused entry to a public place."

Hamon hit back, accusing Valls of pushing a "rogue version of secularism" for having backed controversial bans imposed by some towns last summer on the Islamic body-concealing "burkini" swimsuit.

With the Socialists given little chance of hanging onto the presidency, the primary has failed to generate much excitement.

Around 1.6 million people cast votes in Sunday's first round, according to the organisers -- a far cry from the four million who voted in the first round of November's conservative primary.

The opposition has accused the Socialists of massaging the turnout figure, pointing to inconsistencies in the numbers of ballots cast and the various candidates' tallies.

The primary's organisers have vehemently denied the allegations.
New Orleans is the next US city to get a Virgin Hotels property, a brand that was voted the best in the US by discerning travelers within a year of opening.

The group has announced plans to open a new property in the city's Warehouse District, an up and coming area home to a growing number of new restaurants, galleries and shops.

The hotel outpost will feature 225 rooms, the brand's flagship lounge space called The Commons Club, rooftop pool, gym and dedicated meeting and event spaces.

Nola is the latest city to be added to the group's expansion map, after the opening of their inaugural hotel in Chicago in 2015.

Aimed at young, creative, connected travelers, the brand offers free Wifi, flexible check-in and check-out times, and a nightly "social hour."

Within a year of opening, the hotel skyrocketed to the top of Conde Nast's annual Readers' Choice Awards, scoring the highest mark among its guests and snagging the title of #1 hotel in the US.

Designed as an alternative to the traditional hotel model, rooms at Virgin Hotels are divided into two separate spaces with sliding doors to give a sense of apartment living.

For business travelers, beds are ergonomically designed to allow business travelers to set up shop and allow guests to comfortably watch a movie from their laptop.

The Virgin hotel experience isn't far off from Starwood's Aloft, InterContinental's Indigo and Canopy by Hilton, which were also launched with the Millennial, tech-savvy guest in mind with their modern, open spaces, free wifi, and hyper-local philosophies.

After hotels, planes and trains, Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson also has his sights on launching a cruise line that will sail under the banner of Virgin voyages.

The first of three ships is expected to drop anchor in Miami by 2020.

Doors to Virgin Hotels New Orleans are expected to open in 2019.

Virgin Hotels is also opening properties in Nashville, Dallas, Palm Springs, New York, and Silicon Valley and is in talks for developments in Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Austin, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington DC, and London.
Police are searching for a young Virginia Beach, Virginia, mother and her two children who disappeared Saturday after a she went on a date.

Before she was reported missing, a fire broke out in her house that killed her dog and cat.

The disappearance of Monica Lamping, 29, and her two children, 7-year-old Kai and 9-month-old Oria, was updated Tuesday to a missing/endangered persons case under suspicious circumstances, Virginia Beach Police Department master officer Linda Kuehn tells PEOPLE.

Keuhn cited the extended period of time that has elapsed since there has been any contact.

A police press release states, Although they are missing under suspicious circumstances at this time, there is no information developed in the investigation indicating foul play.

 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

Police say family members have not heard from Lamping since Saturday afternoon.

Shes never been out of communication with all of us for this length of time, Lampings mother, Sheila Bogart, told the Virginian-Pilot.

Hours before Lamping was reported missing, a fire broke out at her home around 3:30 a.m. Sunday. While her dog and cat died, no person was home at the time of the fire.

Initially the Virginia Beach Fire Departments investigators were looking into the possibility that a space heater may have been linked to the cause of this fire, but that has not been confirmed, fire department spokesperson Art Kohn tells PEOPLE, adding that the investigation into the fire is ongoing.

Lampings friend, Anne Shell, told the Pilot she may have been the last person to see her friend. Shell said she babysat Lampings two children Saturday afternoon while her friend went on a lunch date.

 Pick up PEOPLEs special edition True Crime Stories: Cases That Shocked America, on sale now, for the latest on Casey Anthony, JonBenet Ramsey and more.

Story continues

Shell said she and Lamping exchanged text messages that night, with the last one being sent by Lamping at about 10:30 p.m Saturday, the paper reported.

Meanwhile, police are trying to identify a person named Chad, according to the press release. They are also on the look-out for Lampings green 2002 Jeep Cherokee, which was spotted traveling through the Portsmouth Downtown Tunnel, although police did not say when the vehicle was spotted.

That is what she is believed to be operating but we cant confirm that she was last seen driving it, says Kuehn.




A new report says countries that elect populist leaders can have increased problems with inequality and government corruption.

Watchdog group Transparency International (TI) released its findings Wednesday in an annual report on worldwide corruption.

The Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 cited examples of how corruption and inequality have helped fuel growing populist movements around the world.

Many traditional politicians promise to get rid of corruption, but end up failing in the end, according to the report. This can cause unhappy voters to turn to populist candidates to break the cycle of corruption and privilege, it added.

In many cases, the election of populist candidates worsens the same corruption that helped launch the populist movements, the report concludes.

In countries with populist or autocratic leaders, we often see democracies in decline and a disturbing pattern of attempts to crack down on civil society, limit press freedom, and weaken the independence of the judiciary, said TI chairman Jose Ugaz.

The best and the worst

The watchdog ranked 176 countries on a scale of 0-100. Zero has the highest level of corruption, while 100 has the least corruption. Nearly 70 percent of all the countries scored below 50.

At the top of the list were Denmark and New Zealand, both with a score of 90. Finland came next with a score of 89, followed by Sweden with 88. The report said each of these countries had an open government, free press and independent judicial systems.

Coming in last was Somalia  with a score of 10  which TI concluded had the worst corruption problems. It has received the lowest score for the past 10 years. The report cited corruption problems in Somalias parliamentary and presidential elections.

Other nations at the bottom were South Sudan (11), North Korea (12), and Syria (13).

TI said low-ranking countries were found to have police and court systems that are not trusted by the public. In addition, many of these nations lacked basic services because government money is mismanaged. Anti-corruption laws either do not exist or are ignored, and people often face extortion, the report added.

Two examples of nations that dropped on the list in recent years are Turkey and Hungary. The report said the reason was that both countries saw a rise in autocratic leaders. On the other hand, Argentina improved in the rankings after electing a new president to replace a populist government.

The United States came in at number 18 on the list - down from 16 the previous year - with a corruption score of 74.

Finn Heinrich is the research director for Transparency International. He said the organization will be watching the direction of the U.S. government under President Donald Trump.

He said Trump had repeatedly promised to get rid of corruption in Washington, D.C., by draining the swamp. However, Heinrich told the Associated Press, the people in his Cabinet have many conflicts of interest. They are not people who stand for transparency."

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from VOA News, the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

privilege  n. a right or benefit given to some people and not to others

autocratic  adj. relating to a ruler who has absolute power

disturbing  adj. upsetting or unsettling

extortion  n. to get money from someone by threatening harm

transparency  n. the quality of being transparent, or clear
Buiding on two memoirs written by the human rights leader and South African president himself, three part Nelson Mandela mini-series "Madiba" is being readied for broadcast from February 1, 2017.

Following up on its award-winning series "The Book of Negroes" (four accolades from the Directors Guild of Canada plus an Image Award,) BET is preparing to debut Nelson Mandela drama "Madiba."

Emmy winner Laurence Fishburne, well known for his turns in "The Matrix," "Apocalypse Now," "Boyz n the Hood" and the "Hannibal" series, is in place as Nelson Mandela, here seen planning to dismantle a nationwide program of racial segregation.

Joining Fishburne are David Harewood ("Homeland," "Sleepy Hollow,") Orlando Jones ("Sleepy Hollow,") and Terry Pheto, who featured as a different true-life character in 2013 biopic "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom."

As such, it is an examination not only of Mandela and his considerable achievements, but also those around him who were committed to the same ends -- and a new clip shared by Shadow and Act demonstrates as much.

In accordance with Xhosa family tradition, Mandela was often referred to by his clan name Madiba, hence the show's title.

Watch - Clip from BET's "Madiba": vimeo.com/201005472
Actress Mary Tyler Moore died on Wednesday at the age of 80. Known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, a pioneering television show in the 1970s, Moore became a TV icon.

Playing Mary Richards, a single, never-married career-minded woman, Moores show set the stage for the female-led shows we see today, especially ones that centered on work and friendship, such as Sex and the City, Girls and 30 Rock. Through the show, Moore established that programs focused on women pursuing their own lives were not only watchable, but an example for a generation of women who craved independence.

The seven-season show is available to stream on Hulu for subscribers to the service. It is also available for purchase on Amazon and iTunes, and several episodes can be streamed via YouTube.

Classic episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show include Chuckles Bites the Dust, from the shows sixth season, which revealed the macabre, funny side of death and Moores broad performance capabilities.

Other notable episodes were Will Mary Richards Go to Jail?, in which Mary chose to be arrested over revealing a source who provided her secret documents to a judge, and the emotional finale, The Last Show. And newcomers to The Mary Tyler Moore Show must start with the pilot, Love Is All Around, in which audiences meet Mary Richards and hear the famous line from her fictional boss, Lou Grant: I hate spunk.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump's "peace through strength" could mean more U.S. military power in Asia, reassuring allies about America's resolve to counter China. That is, if they're still looking to Washington for reassurance.

Trump called his speedy withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership a victory for American workers hurt by multilateral trade pacts. But his reversal of years of U.S.-led efforts may mean the loss of Asian nations' trust and support in confronting an increasingly assertive Beijing after many of them, under Washington's pressure, barreled through similar domestic concerns over jobs and competition.

And a weakened partnership with East Asia's key commercial powers could have wide-ranging consequences for Americans, beyond them missing out on the trade pact's potential for lower prices and additional jobs.

"It's not as if we can send a bunch of ships and be protectionist at the same time," said Sheila Smith, an expert on Japan at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Asians don't see economics and military power as separate, she said, and flexing U.S. muscles with Navy boats and other assets while retrenching on free trade "just won't translate into American influence."

The 12-nation trade agreement was the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's outreach to Asia, cutting tariffs and setting new environmental and labor standards in countries representing about 40 percent of the global economy. While Trump said he wants to pursue bilateral trade deals instead, he may find U.S. credibility significantly dented after pulling out of a deal that took years to negotiate.

"Losing the United States from the TPP is a big loss, there is no question about that," Australian Prime Minister Turnbull told reporters, trying to salvage the deal without Washington. "But we are not about to walk away from our commitment to Australian jobs."

Story continues

On bilateral deals replacing TPP, New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English said, "there's a pretty low chance of that happening in a form that we'd find satisfactory."

Governments' calculus would be different in a one-on-one negotiation. Japan, for example, may have less interest in opening up its agriculture and automobile sectors to American competition. Vietnam may balk at demands to allow independent trade unions. And instead of new deals that better advantage American workers, as Trump has vowed, the result could be a regional shift to an alternative, Chinese-backed trade pact promising more access to the world's biggest consumer market.

"Every country that went through the process of TPP had to do politically difficult things at home," said Vikram Singh at the Center for American Progress.

Trump's withdrawal "shows he cares not a whit about what counterparts in the Asia-Pacific have done to push forward with what was a top U.S. political priority," added Singh, a former Obama administration official.

For Asia, the U.S. turn inward is not without irony.

For decades, Washington was the prime purveyor of free markets, pressuring U.S. friends and foes alike to set aside regional rivalries and ideological incompatibilities for the mutual benefit of enhanced economic integration. This vision guided Democratic and Republican administrations, helping spur Japan's post-World War II redevelopment, the high growth rates of liberalized economies like Singapore and South Korea, and communist China's eventual absorption into the world capitalist order.

Under Obama and President George W. Bush, his predecessor, the American goal for Asia shifted somewhat to creating a fairer trading system that regulated China and didn't let it write the rules for global commerce.

But Trump and his top aides have emphasized military containment, with plans to increase the Navy by more than 20 percent and curbing China's dominance of resource-rich maritime areas also claimed by neighbors.

Walter Lohman, director of Asian studies at the conservative-oriented Heritage Foundation, said the U.S. must be a "full-spectrum power."

"It's great he wants to rebuild the U.S. military and get us up to 350 ships, but we have got to be there in other ways too  economically and diplomatically," Lohman said.

Details of Trump's policy in Asia are unclear beyond the desire to take a tougher stand on China, which enjoys a large trade surplus with the U.S. and has increasingly militarized its hold over parts of the disputed South China Sea. On Monday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said, "We are going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country."

Trump has tried to galvanize Asian allies. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was Trump's first post-election meeting with a foreign leader. On Tuesday, Trump spoke by phone with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who shares concerns about China, and invited him to visit the United States later this year.

As much as they need Trump, he needs them as well.

"If the administration tries to develop a strategy for pushing back against China," said Michael Green, a former senior Asia adviser to George W. Bush, "they're going to find that they have no strategy without allies."
White House press secretary Sean Spicer would not say on Wednesday whether President Trumps executive order curbing immigration from terror prone countries could include measures to deport or register people from those nations who are already inside the United States.

The executive order will reportedly limit access to the country for visa holders and refugees from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Yahoo News asked Spicer whether the order could include any steps that will affect people from those countries who are already here, including perhaps registering them or beginning deportations.

Spicer said the White House would reveal further information about the executive order later this week. He also pointed to Trumps campaign trail comment that he would mandate extreme vetting for immigrants from regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism.

Look, the presidents talked extensively about extreme vetting  and youll see more action this week on keeping America safe. This has been something he talked about in the inaugural address. He talked about it in the campaign. As we get into the implementation of that executive order, well have further details, Spicer said.

He continued, But I think the guiding principle for the president is keeping this country safe and allowing people who are from a country that has a propensity to do us harm  to make sure that we take the necessary steps  to make sure that theyre coming to this country for all the right reasons. And I think well have further information on that fact later this week.

During his presidential campaign, Trump called for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. That proposal subsequently evolved into the promise of extreme vetting. Trump and top members of his administration have repeatedly not ruled out the possibility they would establish a registry for Muslims residing in the United States.

Story continues

The executive order blocking immigration from terror prone countries is one of several national security directives Trump expects to issue this week. He already signed on Wednesday an order calling for the construction of a wall along the border with Mexico.

Read more from Yahoo News:
(WASHINGTON)  The Trump administration is mandating that any studies or data from scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency undergo review by political appointees before they can be released to the public.

The communications director for President Donald Trumps transition team at EPA, Doug Ericksen, said Wednesday the review also extends to content on the federal agencys website, including details of scientific evidence showing that the Earths climate is warming and man-made carbon emissions are to blame.

Former EPA staffers said Wednesday the restrictions imposed under Trump far exceed the practices of past administrations.

Ericksen said no orders have been given to strip mention of climate change from http://www.epa.gov, saying no decisions have yet been made.

Were taking a look at everything on a case-by-case basis, including the web page and whether climate stuff will be taken down, Erickson said in an interview with The Associated Press. Obviously with a new administration coming in, the transition time, well be taking a look at the web pages and the Facebook pages and everything else involved here at EPA.

Asked specifically about scientific data collected by agency scientists, such as routine monitoring of air and water pollution, Ericksen responded, Everything is subject to review.

Trump press secretary Sean Spicer appeared to distance the president from the issue Wednesday, telling reporters the communications clampdown at EPA wasnt directed by the White House.

George Gray, the assistant administrator for EPAs Office of Research and Development during the Republican administration of President George W. Bush, said scientific studies were reviewed usually at lower levels and even when they were reviewed at higher levels, it was to give officials notice about the studies  not for editing of content.

Scientific studies would be reviewed at the level of a branch or a division or laboratory, said Gray, now professor of public health at George Washington University. Occasionally things that were known to be controversial would come up to me as assistant administrator and I was a political appointee. Nothing in my experience would go further than that.

Story continues

Theres no way to win if you try to change things, Gray said.

The EPAs 14-page scientific integrity document, enacted during the Obama administration, describes how scientific studies were to be conducted and reviewed in the agency. It said scientific studies should eventually be communicated to the public, the media and Congress uncompromised by political or other interference.

The scientific integrity document expressly prohibits managers and other Agency leadership from intimidating or coercing scientists to alter scientific data, findings or professional opinions or inappropriately influencing scientific advisory boards. It provides ways for employees who know the science to disagree with scientific reports and policies and offers them some whistleblower protection.

The AP and other media outlets reported earlier this week that emails sent internally to EPA staff mandated a temporary blackout on media releases and social media activity, as well as a freeze on contract approvals and grant awards.

Ericksen said Tuesday that the agency was preparing to greenlight nearly all of the $3.9 billion in pending contracts that were under review. Ericksen said he could not immediately provide details about roughly $100 million in distributions that will remain frozen.

The uncertainty about the contract and grant freeze coupled with the lack of information flowing from the agency since Trump took office have raised fears that states and other recipients could lose essential funding for drinking water protection, hazardous waste oversight and a host of other programs.

The agency also took a potential first step Tuesday toward killing environmental rules completed as President Barack Obamas term wound down. At least 30 were targeted in the Federal Register for delayed implementation, including updated pollution rulings for several states, renewable fuel standards and limits on the amount of formaldehyde that can leach from wood products.
After enduring threatening tweets and campaign-trail disparagements, CEOs of the two-and-a-half domestic automakers finally sat down with now-President Donald Trump to tell their side of the story. Its a good bet they mentioned fuel-economy standards.

Trump, of course, is in the midst of a public-private negotiation with the auto industry about how to create more American jobs. Trump has blasted automakers for building some US models in Mexico. General Motors (GM) Ford (F) and Italian-American hybrid Fiat-Chrysler (FCAU) have responded by announcing new investments in the United States and touting the thousands of Americans they already employ. Trump has tweeted his approval, signaling a sort of detente.

But Trump is far from finished, and his next big step could be a threat to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement unless theres solid evidence of a rebound in US manufacturing employment. Ending NAFTA would wreck automaker profitability, push up car prices and possibly kill as many US jobs as it would create. Trumps modus operandi, however, is to threaten ruin but settle for something far less draconian, as long as he can declare victory. His meetings and statements are all part of the deal being made.

We know what Trump wants: more manufacturing jobs he can claim credit for. So what do the automakers want? For starters, theyd be delighted if Trump slashed the corporate tax rate, as promised, and threw a few other tax breaks their way. Theyd also love some relief from onerous fuel-economy standards President Obama put in placeand tried to make irrevocable right before leaving office.

Easing fuel-economy standards

Trump advisers have suggested hed consider lowering fuel-economy standards. Trump may have been referring to this during the meeting with the auto CEOs, when he said environmental regulations are out of control. Supporters of the current rules are certainly worried Trump will undo Obamas work. Trumps EPA will be looking for ways to lower the standards, says Timmons Roberts, a professor of environmental studies at Brown University.

Story continues

In 2012, Obama pushed through new rules that would raise average fuel economy for all cars sold to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. That was a huge increase, and automakers played nice only because Obama promised that the government would review the whole regimen in 2018. If the new technology needed to meet those standards didnt materialize by then, or was too expensive, the number could be lowered, or other terms adjusted.

The Obama administration decided to speed up that mid-point review, completing it last November in an obvious effort to lock in the Obama standards before Trump took office. Auto executives expecting to contribute to the review felt ignored by regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation. They basically just gave us the finger, one auto exec said privately at the Detroit auto show in early January.

The question isnt really whether automakers can meet the strict new standards. They probably can, with a combination of better internal-combustion technology and alternative-energy vehicles such as electrics. But new technology is expensive, and consumers arent always willing to pay for it through higher prices. Most automakers are working on electric vehicles, for instance, but they probably wouldnt be if not for the credits they get toward fuel economy and government rebates that make the cars cheaper. The market alone generally doesnt support the investment.

Trump is obviously sympathetic to corporate complaints of federal overreach, and he has promised to slash many federal regulations so businesses can operate with a freer hand. It wont be easy to change the Obama fuel-economy standards, and legal challenges by environmental groups could tie up any attempted changes for years. But litigation doesnt faze Trump, and he could plausibly tell the automakers he did his share, and dealing with the courts is their problem.

Consequences of eliminating NAFTA

The more confrontational alternative to this kind of horse-trading is a pretty ugly scenario. For the automakers, any deal with Trump needs to retain NAFTA in something similar to its current form. Virtually all automakers selling cars in the United Statesincluding the European and Japanese brandsoperate factories in Mexico, where they typically make small vehicles with low profit margins. Many such vehicles cant be made profitably in the United States, because of high labor costs, no matter what Trump says. Trumps idea regarding a border tax, or tariff on cheap imports, would raise small-car prices, which in theory would provide more revenue for automakers. But fewer people would buy them, and production would become less efficient, pushing costs up.

Nearly 2 million vehicles are shipped to the United States from Mexico each year, about 11% of all cars sold here. And automakers plan to add more capacity in Mexico during the next several years than in the United States. But if Trump killed NAFTA and shackled the Mexican auto industry, those jobs would be more to likely migrate to other low-cost countries than to the United States, according to a new report by the Center for Automotive Research.

Killing NAFTA would also cause widespread disruption in auto-industry supply chains, since most automakers ship parts back and forth between the US, Mexico and Canada. That would destroy more than 30,000 US jobs, according to the CAR report. Inefficiency alone would push car prices up, even without tariffs. Automaker stocks would plummet and Trump would face a PR nightmare as he tried to explain why wrecking auto-industry profits and hiking prices is good for American workers.

Far better to negotiate some kind of win-win with the automakers, which have already boosted fuel economy substantially since the Obama rules went into effect. If gas prices stay cheap, consumers probably wouldnt object to reduced MPG standards, either, judging by booming sales of low-mileage SUVs during the last few years. Trump can get what he wants without wrecking NAFTA, as long as the automakers get something, too. You can bet theyll be asking.

Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.
Members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are seeking to move forward with the trade agreement after the United States withdrew.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday pulling the United States out of the TPP. Leaders from some TPP nations pledged Tuesday to make attempts to continue the agreement even without the U.S.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he had discussed the TPPs future with the leaders of Japan, Singapore and New Zealand. He told reporters that while the U.S. leaving was clearly a big loss, he is hopeful the trade deal will survive.

The United States negotiated the TPP under former President Barack Obama. But the deal faced opposition in the U.S. Congress, which never approved the deal.

Turnbull added that with America now out of the agreement, Certainly there is potential for China to join the TPP.

The Obama administration had said one goal of the TPP was to counter Chinas growing regional influence in the Asia-Pacific.

In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokeswoman would not say whether China would now attempt to join the TPP. She said China believes that all nations should keep going down the path of open, inclusive, continuous economic development.

In the past, China has proposed an alternative to the TPP, a trade group called the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP).

The foreign ministry spokeswoman said efforts to form the FTAAP should now be increased.

China has also supported another group, the Southeast Asian-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Analysts say other nations may now seek to join alternative trade agreements to take advantage of the U.S. withdrawal from the TPP.

Trumps rejection of the TPP was expected. He repeatedly condemned the agreement during his presidential campaign, saying it was not a fair trade deal for America. Trump has said he favors one-on-one agreements with other nations rather than multinational deals like the TPP.

Carl Thayer is a political scientist at Australias University of New South Wales. He said he believes Americas withdrawal from the TPP will greatly reduce Washingtons influence in the region.

At the moment he (Trump) has given away multilateral (agreements) so the U.S. has no longer a leadership role using the economic lever in Southeast Asia.

There are 11 remaining TPP members, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. The others are Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru and Brunei.

A Malaysian government trade official said the remaining TPP countries would meet in the near future to discuss what steps to take next. The official said there are still many possibilities for the remaining 11 nations to push ahead with the TPP.

Last week, Japans parliament approved the TPP. But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said that without the U.S., it would become meaningless.

On Tuesday, Abe told lawmakers during a parliamentary debate he still had hope that Trump might change his position. He said he plans to seek Trump's "understanding" on the importance of the TPP. Abe added that he plans to meet with Trump as soon as possible.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn adapted this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from VOAs Ron Corben, the Associated Press and Reuters. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Do you think TPP member nations should move forward with the agreement without the United States? Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

executive - adj. a decision made by the person in charge

inclusive  adj. including or covering everything

alternative  n. something that can be chosen instead of something else

advantage  n. something that helps make something else better

lever  n. a handle that can be pulled or pushed to make a machine work
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After a controversial image was posted on wikiHow, the site full of easy, step-by-step informative instructions, it's taking some direction from its "How to make a genuine apology" article.

The website recently came under fire after being called out for posting a cartoon image of a meeting between Beyonce, Jay Z and former president Barack Obama that depicted the three with white skin.

SEE ALSO: Solange bought 250 books for fans because she is an angel

The whitewashed image, based on a photograph taken at a 2012 fundraising event in New York, was featured in an article entitled "How to Become a Congressman.

Though it was quickly removed and wikiHow offered an apology on Twitter, that didnt stop the Beyhive from getting in formation to stand up for their queen and all people of color.

Wikihow turned Obama, Beyonce, and Jay Z white to explain "How to become a congressman." pic.twitter.com/QNTGz5wjaq  FORMATION (@beyupdates_) January 22, 2017

On Tuesday afternoon, in response to backlash comparing original photograph to the altered skin and hair colors in the cartoon image, wikiHow addressed its 69.3K Twitter followers in a series of tweets explaining the situation.

wikiHow wrote it was disgusted and ashamed by the image and admitted it never should have made it to the site in the first place.

1/ When we saw the whitewashed image of Obama, Jay Z & Beyonce, we were disgusted & ashamed. It never should have been on wikiHow. https://t.co/tCIgpPpD2R  wikiHow (@wikiHow) January 24, 2017

"Within minutes of the first tweet, a volunteer removed the image. We then started investigating how it got on wikiHow at all," the account explained.

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wikiHow then went on to describe that the image was made three years ago by a team of illustrators who work as one. "One person sketches, the other person colours," and there was a lack of communication between the two.

@wikiHow 5/ The colorist wasnt aware it was Obama and Beyonce. We dont think the illustrator intentionally whitewashed here.  wikiHow (@wikiHow) January 24, 2017

"The colourist wasn't aware it was Obama and Beyonce," the account shared, adding the whitewashing is not believed to have been intentional. "This doesn't excuse the fact that we hosted a terrible image on wikiHow and we needed more diversity on that article period."

The thread concluded with a vow to discuss the matter and encourage diversity among illustrators to prevent situations like this the from occurring again in the future.
By David Ingram

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York prosecutors have dropped charges that Lapo Elkann, grandson of late Fiat patriarch Gianni Agnelli, falsely reported he was kidnapped in November in an effort to get ransom money.

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said on Wednesday it had declined to prosecute the case but gave no other details.

Elkann, 39, had apparently concocted a fake abduction scheme after running out of cash during a drug-fueled partying binge, a law enforcement source said.

A U.S. defense lawyer for Elkann, Randy Zelin, confirmed there would be no prosecution and said his client was grateful justice had prevailed.

He declined to provide details of what the investigation showed. Earlier reports about the incident had amounted to "false news," he added.

"Today's decision is so heartening and reinforces the faith I have always placed in American justice," Elkann said in a statement, adding he had gone through a difficult period but had been able to reflect over what happened and about the future.

"I'm clear in my determination to continue to work on myself," he said.

Elkann, along with his older brother, Fiat Chrysler <FCHA.MI> Chairman John Elkann, is an heir to Italy's biggest industrial dynasty. Lapo Elkann nearly died of a drug overdose in 2005 after collapsing in the apartment of a transsexual prostitute.

While the elder Elkann is known as shy and reserved, Lapo's flamboyant style has made him a celebrity in Italy, where he owns a stable of luxury sports cars and is dedicated to his family's soccer club, Juventus <JUVE.MI>.

In November, Elkann told New York City police he had been held against his will at a Manhattan apartment for more than a day. A law enforcement source said Elkann met a 29-year-old man through an escort website and that they used drugs together before the kidnapping report.

Elkann was released after his arrest and had been due in court on Wednesday until the charges were dropped. He now wants to leave the episode behind him, his lawyer said.

Story continues

"I want the wind at his back," Zelin said. "Look at him as the creative, brilliant and philanthropic person that he is."

Elkann no longer holds any positions at Fiat, but is on the board of directors at luxury carmaker Ferrari <RACE.MI>, one of the companies controlled by his family.

In 2007 he founded sunglasses company Italia Independent <IINT.MI>, which debuted on the Milan stock market in 2013 and in which he had to invest more money in late 2015 to cover losses.

The Agnelli family's investment holding company Exor <EXOR.MI> also owns reinsurer PartnerRe and has holdings in truck and tractor maker CNH Industrial <CNHI.MI>.

(Reporting by David Ingram; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond in New York and Valentina Za in Milan; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Sandra Maler)
Actress Mary Tyler Moore, whose iconic 1970s TV series was a turning point for the portrayal of feminists in pop culture, died in Connecticut on Wednesday at the age of 80 due to cardiopulmonary arrest after developing pneumonia.

The Brooklyn native had retreated from the public eye in recent years due to poor health from her battle with diabetes. But for decades she was ubiquitous, on both TV and the silver screen. Here, some important things to know about the beloved star:

1. She portrayed arguably the first feminist character on television

Moore with her costars Valerie Harper and Cloris Leachman in the last episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1977. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Her role as Laura Petrie, Dick Van Dykes wife on The Dick Van Dyke Show, first got her noticed in 1961. But it was her star turn in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in which she plays a single working woman  a news producer in Minneapolis  that would arguably have the most lasting impact.

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, author of Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And All the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic, has called the show TVs first truly female-dominated sitcom. It spawned three popular spinoffs with similarly strong women  Rhoda, Phyllis, and Lou Grant.

It was produced by MTM Enterprises  a production company named for her by her husband at the time, Grant Tinker  and had a logo that featured the stars tabby cat, Mimsie.

MTM and Moores cat. (Photo: Hulu)

The image of Moore tossing her tam into the air at the end of the shows intro is iconic for anyone who remembers it, perfectly capturing the feeling of being a newly independent woman. A bronze statue in Minneapolis, erected in 2002, is a homage to that moment, frozen in time.

(Photo: Hulu)

2. She was a teen mom

Moore had her first and only child, Richard Meeker Jr., when she was 19, just months after marrying Richard Carlton Meeker, whom she had described as being the boor next door. They divorced in a few years, and Moore married twice after, to Tinker and then later to a doctor, Robert Levine, who had treated her mom (and who survives his wife).

Story continues

Moore with her son, Richard Meeker Jr., in 1968. (Photo: Frank Edwards/Fotos International/Getty Images)

3. She was no stranger to grief

Moore won a Golden Globe for her chilling performance in the 1980 film Ordinary People, in which she plays a mother grieving for her son, who drowned, while also trying to connect with his brother, who is suicidal.

Moore with co-star Donald Sutherland in Ordinary People, 1980. (Photo: Paramount Pictures/ Everett Collection)

It would prove a painfully prescient role for Moore, whose son, Richard, would die later that same year of an accidental shooting. Just two years before that, Moores sister died of a drug overdose.

4. She was an animal rights activist

Over the years the actress worked closely with Farm Sanctuary, a haven for farm animals saved from slaughter, and was an outspoken vegetarian. It may take a while, she told Time magazine, but there will probably come a time when we look back and say, Good Lord, do you believe that in the 20th century and early part of the 21st, people were still eating animals?' She was also a co-founder, with Bernadette Peters, of the annual New York City charity event Broadway Barks, promoting animal adoption from shelters.

Moore with Bernadette Peters at the 11th Annual Broadway Barks, in 2009 in New York City. (Photo: Bobby Bank/WireImage)

5. She was a recovering alcoholic

Even though I was accomplishing things by myself, it was all so uncomfortable that I anesthetized myself at the end of the day. Nothing was so tough I couldnt get through it until 5:30 or 6. Then the effects of vodka on the rocks made it all go away, she wrote in her 1995 memoir, After All, which was excerpted in People the year of its publication. A second memoir, in 2009, discussed being diagnosed at 33 and living with type 1 diabetes  another cause for which she became active.

With her memoir After All in 1996. (Photo: Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)

6. She did not, in real life, consider herself to be a feminist

In a 2013 PBS interview, Moore revealed that she was recruited to join the 1970s movement by Gloria Steinem, but that she had differing views  believing that women have an important role in child rearing. And though she supported Jimmy Carters reelection campaign in 1980, appearing in a TV spot, she said in 2009 that she watched Fox News and self-identified as a libertarian centrist.

7. She was an award-winning actress

Moore was honored with the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011; previously, she had won a Golden Globe award and six Emmy Awards. She once summed up her career by declaring, My grandfather once said, having watched me one entire afternoon, prancing and leaping and cavorting, This child will either end up onstage or in jail. Fortunately, I took the easy route.

Accepting her Lifetime Achievement Award at the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. (Photo: John Shearer/WireImage)

Related: A Tribute to Mary Tyler Moores Groundbreaking Career and Style

Lets keep in touch. Follow Yahoo Style on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
Photo credit: AP

From ELLE

President Donald Trump moved to advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines Tuesday, a pair of projects that were blocked by the Obama administration due in part to environmental concerns. Both orders are subject to renegotiations of the agreements.

Trump also signed a notice requiring the materials for the pipelines to be constructed in the United States, though it was unclear how he planned to enforce the measure.

"From now we are going to start making pipelines in the United States," Trump said from the Oval Office.

Trump has sought to focus his first full week in office on jobs and the economy. Republicans, as well as some unions, have cited the pipeline projects as prime opportunities for job growth.

Former President Barack Obama stopped the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in late 2015, declaring it would have undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal that was a centerpiece of his environmental legacy. The pipeline would run from Canada to Nebraska where it would connect to existing lines running to U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast. The U.S. government needs to approve the pipeline because it would cross the nation's northern border.

Separately, late last year, the Army Corps of Engineers declined to allow construction of the Dakota Access pipeline under Lake Oahe, saying alternative routes needed to be considered. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters say the project threatens drinking water and Native American sites, though Energy Transfer Partners, the company that wants to build the pipeline, disputes that and says the pipeline will be safe.

Photo credit: Getty

The pipeline, which would carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois, sparked months of protests near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, where thousands of people opposed to the pipeline converged in a standoff with authorities.

After their initial victory in December, leaders of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe asked protesters to leave by February 19, according to The Wall Street Journal. But many are staying on with the idea that Trump might kick start the project despite the protests. And last week, the Journal noted, more protesters began showing up at the site ahead of Trump's inauguration. The president's executive order will likely spur on further demonstrations-and an influx of new demonstrators-at the site.

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Apple isnt backing down from its stand against Qualcomm, and today the company filed a pair of new lawsuits in Beijing against its new legal adversary. The actions come in the immediate wake of Apples first volley against Qualcomm, which happened last week with a $1 billion suit over patent royalties and fees.

Don't Miss: Facebook is copying Snapchats best-known feature

Apples new lawsuits follow a similar narrative to the first, with the company claiming that Qualcomm exploited its position in the mobile chip market to strong-arm Apple into bad deals. In one suit, Apple also alleges that Qualcomm failed to provide reasonable terms for licensing its most crucial standard patents. Apple is requesting one billion yuan in compensation, which echoes its $1 billion request here in the US, but when converted the new lawsuit demands are actually significantly less at somewhere around $145 million.

According to Reuters, Qualcomm isnt planning on taking the lawsuits lying down. Qualcomm VP Don Rosenberg reportedly promised that his company would fight back against Apples claims in the Chinese court system. These filings by Apples Chinese subsidiary are just part of Apples efforts to find ways to pay less for Qualcomms technology, Rosenberg alleged in a written statement. Apple was offered terms consistent with terms accepted by more than one hundred other Chinese companies and refused to even consider them.

Its worth noting that Qualcomm provides several other major electronics manufacturers with its wireless chips, including Samsung. If Apple does indeed get a favorable ruling in either the United States or China, its certainly possible that Qualcomms other clients might see that as an open door to challenge the company on various other licensing agreements.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission slapped Qualcomm with a fine of Tw$23.4 billion ($774 million) for harming market competition and manipulating prices following an investigation launched in 2015 (AFP Photo/Ethan Miller) (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File)

Apple has taken its legal war with Qualcomm to China, filing lawsuits there accusing the chip-making giant of illegally wielding monopoly power.

Apple confirmed the suits and referred AFP to comments it released when it filed an antitrust suit against Qualcomm in the United States last week.

"For many years, Qualcomm has unfairly insisted on charging royalties for technologies they have nothing to do with," California-based Apple said in the statement.

"Qualcomm built its business on older, legacy, standards but reinforces its dominance through exclusionary tactics and excessive royalties."

Qualcomm, also based in California, told AFP that it had not seen the legal complaints but that a press release from a Beijing court said one of the filings accused the company of violating China's anti-monopoly law. The other asked for a determination regarding terms of a patent license agreement, the company said.

"These filings by Apple's Chinese subsidiary are just part of Apple's efforts to find ways to pay less for Qualcomm's technology," Qualcomm general counsel Don Rosenberg said in a statement.

"Qualcomm is prepared to defend its business model anywhere in the world."

- High stakes -

Apple last week sued Qualcomm in US federal court, accusing the chipmaker of abusing its market power to demand unfair royalties, echoing recent charges by US antitrust regulators.

The suit accuses Qualcomm of building a business model based on its rights to technologies that are considered telecommunication industry standards and then ramping up royalties when Apple innovated its mobile devices with features such as TouchID fingerprint recognition or digital wallets.

Tech giant Apple said in the US court filing that it has been overcharged "billions of dollars" by its chipmaking partner's "illegal scheme."

The company also claimed Qualcomm owes it a billion dollars but is refusing to pay in retaliation for Apple's cooperation with South Korean antitrust regulators looking into the chipmaker's actions in that country.

Story continues

South Korea's anti-trust watchdog last month slapped Qualcomm with a record fine over $850 million for abusing its dominant market position as a maker of baseband chipsets used in mobile phones.

Qualcomm will appeal the decision, seeking a stay in the Seoul High Court while the process takes place, according to Qualcomm president Derek Aberle.

"Apple has been actively encouraging regulatory attacks on Qualcomm's business in various jurisdictions around the world... by misrepresenting facts and withholding information," Rosenberg said in an earlier statement.

- Just the chips -

Apple noted in the US suit that Qualcomm's business practices have come under scrutiny by antitrust regulators in an array of countries for selling its smartphone chipsets only to makers agreeing to its "preferred license terms" for essential mobile telecom patents.

Apple relies on Qualcomm for chip-based modems that enable iPhones and iPads to communicate with telecommunication networks.

Modem chips are separate from processors that act as the brains or graphics engines for mobile devices.

Apple's legal complaints in China and California argue that Qualcomm should only be able to charge royalties on the prices of modem chips and not on what is paid for smartphones, Aberle said Wednesday during an earnings call with analysts.

He contended that the positon was at odds with longstanding industry practice.

"Apple's complaint contains a lot of assertions, but in the end, this is a commercial dispute over the price of intellectual property," Qualcomm chief executive Steve Mollenkopf said on the earnings call.

"We intend to remain a good supplier to Apple even while this dispute continues."
A man speaks on a mobile phone underneath a BT logo outside of offices in the City of London, Britain, January 24, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville (Reuters)

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - BT Group Plc was hit on Wednesday with at least two shareholder lawsuits in the United States, after one-fifth of the telecommunications company's market value was wiped out in a single day amid a growing accounting scandal in Italy.

The lawsuits accusing the British company and three top executives of securities fraud were filed in the U.S. District Courts in Manhattan and in nearby Newark, New Jersey, on behalf of BT investors over the last few years.

Both lawsuits were brought by individuals seeking class-action status, and also name Chief Executive Gavin Patterson, his predecessor Ian Livingston, and Finance Director Tony Chanmugam as defendants.

A spokeswoman for BT declined to comment on behalf of the defendants. BT had launched an internal probe into its Italian business after a whistleblower flagged concerns.

The price of BT's shares in London and American depositary receipts in New York fell nearly 21 percent on Tuesday.

This came after BT boosted an expected writedown tied to its Italian division to 530 million pounds (US$669 million) from 145 million pounds (US$183 million), with Patterson expressing disappointment with the "inappropriate behavior" uncovered.

BT on Tuesday also reported slowing demand from government and corporate customers following last June's vote by Britons to leave the European Union. It said that slowdown, together with the accounting problems, would weigh on results for two years.

The lawsuits accuse BT of having concealed or made misleading statements about the accounting practices in Italy, causing it to inflate earnings and its stock price.

Both lawsuits seek unspecified damages.

The New York case was brought on behalf of investors in ADRs, while the New Jersey case also covers other securities.

It has become harder to pursue U.S. securities fraud lawsuits targeting non-U.S. companies over securities issued outside the country, since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010 narrowed the reach of U.S. securities laws.

Story continues

Companies are frequently sued in the United States after releasing negative news that investors say they did not expect.

The cases are Sarraf v BT Group Plc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 17-00558; and Christian v. BT Group Plc et al, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, No. 17-00497.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Alan Crosby)
(Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc reported a lower-than-expected 3.9 percent rise in quarterly revenue on Wednesday, and defended its licensing model in the face of multiple legal challenges over its alleged "anticompetitive" tactics. The company's shares were down 3.8 percent at $54.75 in aftermarket trading. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Apple Inc have sued Qualcomm accusing it of resorting to "anticompetitive" tactics to maintain a monopoly over chips used in smartphone. Apple also filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm in Beijing on Wednesday, alleging that the chip supplier abused its clout and is seeking 1 billion yuan ($145.32 million) in damages. Qualcomm executives firmly defended the company's licensing model on its quarterly conference call, and said its revenue forecast did not include any impact from the dispute with Apple. "Apple's attack on Qualcomm's business model is not only an attack on Qualcomm, but also an attack on the smartphone competition that Qualcomm's business model enables," the company's president Derek Aberle said. Qualcomm said it expects to continue to supply to Apple during the dispute, and that the company's contracts with the iPhone maker's suppliers were still valid. South Korea's antitrust regulator, The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), fined Qualcomm 1.03 trillion won in December for what it called unfair business practices in patent licensing and modem chip sales. The company said on Wednesday the latest quarter included an $868 million charge related to the KFTC investigation. The company's licensing business generates royalties earned through the licensing of wireless patents to the mobile industry. Qualcomm is a major supplier to both Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, with the two accounting for 40 percent of its 2016 annual revenue. The San Diego-based company also forecast current-quarter adjusted profit of $1.15-$1.25 per share and revenue of $5.5 billion-$6.3 billion. Analysts on average were expecting a profit of $1.20 per share and revenue of $5.90 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Net income attributable to the company more than halved to $682 million, or 46 cents per share, in the first quarter ended Dec. 25, due to the charge. (http://bit.ly/2jqEoha) Revenue rose to $6 billion from $5.78 billion, but missed analysts' estimate of $6.12 billion. Excluding items, Qualcomm earned $1.19 per share, slightly above analysts' estimates of $1.18. Qualcomm's shares had risen nearly 20 percent in the past 12 months, compared with the 62.1 percent gain in the broader Philadelphia Semiconductor index. (Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shounak Dasgupta)


Turkey, Russia and Iran have agreed to set up a process to help enforce a partial ceasefire in Syria.

Negotiators for the three sides met for two days of talks with Syrian government and rebel representatives in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

The three also agreed to support efforts to find a political solution to the Syrian civil war.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Wednesday that the meetings were, in his words, a serious diplomatic success.

Yildirim said that any resolution of the conflict should involve a new Syrian government that represents all factions.

A major point of disagreement in earlier talks has been the influence of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in any new government. Turkey supports the Syrian rebels. They want Assad to leave power. But Assads supporters, including Russia, want him to remain as president.

A statement released at the end of the talks said the Syrian government and opposition should meet next month in Geneva, Switzerland.

After the talks in Astana, opposition groups expressed concern about the plan developed by Turkey, Russia and Iran to ensure all sides obey the ceasefire.

Issam Alrayyes represents the Free Syrian Armys Southern Front. He said his group has always expressed concern about promises made by foreign governments. He added, We hope this time that Russia is taking a different role.

The leader of the Syrian opposition delegation, Muhammad Alloush, said he gave Russia a detailed proposal for a peace deal. He said he expects an answer within a week.

Syrian government and opposition did not talk directly

The Syrian government, Russia and Iran all welcomed the trilateral plan. However, the government said its forces would push forward with an offensive against rebels close to Damascus. Syrian officials said the military is fighting terrorist groups allied with al Qaida.

The Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar al-Jaafari, also was the governments negotiator at the Astana talks. He said all sides had agreed on the final declaration.

However, any major agreement remains unlikely because the Syrian rebel delegation refused to talk directly to the government. Also, some rebel groups were not invited to the talks because of their links to Jihadist groups.

The U.N.s special diplomat for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said there are many groups, including extremists, fighting in Syria. Making progress between the government and rebels, he said, is difficult.

Russia, Iran and Turkey negotiated the current ceasefire in Syria in late December. However, the Syrian government and rebels have repeatedly broken the truce, which does not cover the whole country.

The talks in Astana were the first negotiations organized by Iran, Russia and Turkey. Some observers are concerned the peace effort may overtake Syrian negotiations that have taken place in Geneva.

However, Syrian expert Noah Bonsey says the new negotiations are more likely, in his words, something in-between. Bonsey is with the International Crisis Group. He said the Astana talks offer something different from the Geneva peace talks, but also provide new energy to negotiations there.

The rebel groups in Astana said they will not attend the next meeting in Geneva if the current ceasefire fails. The next meeting is expected to take place on February 8.

Syrian opposition representatives met in Kazakhstan in 2015. U.N. diplomats organized peace talks involving other nations including the United States. They resulted in earlier, unsuccessful ceasefires.

Russia and Turkey invited the U.S. government to the Astana talks. But the State Department said new President Donald Trump was setting up his administration. The U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan did attend the talks as an observer.

Im Mario Ritter.

Daniel Schearf and Chris Hannas reported this story for VOANews.com. Mario Ritter adapted their report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

faction  n. group that has different ideas or opinions that those of the larger group of which it is a part

role  n. the part someone plays in a situation or system

jihadist  adj. describing someone or something linked to religious war mainly against non-Muslims

trilateral  adj. involving three people or groups
Cox Communications, the third largest cable provider in the country, has just expanded its efforts to cap the data usage of its customers in a major way. Cox, which boasts over four and a half million subscribers, will now charge customers in Kansas, Connecticut, and Arkansas an additional fee if they go over their plan limits of either 1TB or 2TB, depending on their level of service. The change will also affect users in Omaha, Nebraska, and Sunny Valley, Idaho.

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Cox had already been testing data caps in select areas starting with Cleveland last year and then expanding to customers in both Florida and Georgia. As The Verge reports, customers in affected states have already begun receiving usage alerts notifying them of their data limits, and Cox has updated its support page to reflect the data cap being enforced in the new areas.

As Cox notes on its website, users who surpass their monthly plan limits will be automatically provided with additional blocks of data in 50GB increments. Each additional 50GB a customer users will appear on their bill as an extra $10 charge. The company promises that no throttling will occur, and that the speed and quality of the service will remain constant whether a customer goes over their data limit or not.

Whats particularly interesting about Coxs decision to expand its data caps is the timing. President Donald Trump just appointed Ajit Pai to head the FCC, and its no secret that Pai is a stern critic of net neutrality and an open internet. With an FCC chief that is firmly opposed to what he perceives as too much regulation, cable companies like Cox may feel emboldened to push the envelope and see just how many restrictions they can roll out before receiving blowback. Lets hope its not too much.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
(Reuters) - Data storage company Western Digital Corp reported higher-than-expected revenue and profit on Wednesday, helped by demand for its products amid stabilizing PC demand and a shift by businesses to cloud storage. Western Digital has benefited from its shift to high-performance and cost-effective NAND flash drives, which is fast replacing the traditional magnetic storage method. The company bought SanDisk in May to bolster its NAND flash technology. Demand for the company's cloud-based data storage products has also increased as businesses increasingly move to the cloud. The Irvine, California-based company is also reaping rewards from royalty agreements. It signed agreement with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> last month for a semiconductor patent portfolio. Excluding items, the company earned $2.30 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $2.12 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Rival Seagate Technology Plc reported a higher-than-expected profit on Tuesday and raised its revenue forecast for the current quarter, buoyed by strong demand for its cloud-based storage products. Western Digital's revenue rose to $4.89 billion in the second quarter ended Dec. 30 from $3.32 billion a year earlier. Analysts on an average had expected revenue of $4.76 billion. The company's net income, however, fell to $235 million, or 80 cents per share, from $251 million, or $1.07 per share, a year earlier. Western Digital's shares, which have gained more than 80 percent in the past year, were down 1.8 percent at $78.81 in after-market trading. (Reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
PARIS (Reuters) - France's central bank governor called on French insurers to enhance cyber risk coverage for their clients, as hack attacks and data privacy laws in Europe spur rising demand. "With the help of reinsurers, insurers should be able to meet demands of cyber risk coverage, a concern that affects all businesses," Francois Villeroy de Galhau said during a conference in Paris. Though growing fast, the European cyber insurance market remains dwarfed by that in the United States, but is likely to expand in the coming years as new EU regulations come into force requiring firms to disclose when they have been the victim of an attack. Around 28 percent of companies in Europe have been subject to a cyber attack over the past 12 months, but only 13 percent of companies have purchased cyber insurance, Marsh & McLennan Co's (MMC.N) Marsh broker unit said in a survey, published in October 2016. The value of global cyber insurance premiums outstanding is estimated by Marsh & McLennan Co's (MMC.N) Marsh broker unit to be around $3.5 billion with 3 billion coming from the United States, and around $300 million coming from Europe. "Insurance companies should learn from their own experience ... in order to create a more mature market in France and Europe for insurance against cyber risks," Villeroy added. (Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva and Myriam Rivet; Editing by Leigh Thomas)
By Vera Eckert BERLIN (Reuters) - Solarwatt, a German manufacturer of batteries that store power generated by domestic solar panels, expects revenue to grow 40 percent this year as sales more than double, Chief Executive Detlef Neuhaus told Reuters in an interview. Battery sales of Solarwatt's MyReserve brand in 2017 could reach 5,000 units after it sold 2,000 in 2016, Neuhaus said on Tuesday. He expects revenue of 90 million euros ($96.80 million) this year, after 30 percent growth last year. Most of the batteries will be sold in Germany, and the rest in France, Italy, Spain, Benelux, Britain and Australia. But industry projections for total 2016 sales of 40,000 to 50,000 in Germany had proved optimistic, because of uncertainty over small state incentive payments, which were extended but created bureaucracy, and consumers hesitating before taking the decision to spend thousands of euros on a new gadget. "We estimate the German market at a size of 20,000 to 25,000, where we have achieved a market share of between 7 and 10 percent, which is very pleasing," Neuhaus said. Last year, Solarwatt linked up with giant utility E.ON in a project combining the Dresden-based firm's technical expertise in photovoltaics and batteries with the retail market access and commodity trading experience of a traditional energy supplier. This is not an exclusive partnership, rather a sideline for Solarwatt, which mainly sells via tied tradesmen, while for E.ON it means testing a potential long-term partner. "We will remain partners this year, then we'll give each other feedback and decide how to proceed," Neuhaus said. E.ON, which has six million households as customers, sells Solarwatt products under its Aura brand. The battery maker is not yet profitable. Neuhaus said it was the intention of its main owner, BMW heir Stefan Quandt, to create a long-term business, involving heavy early investment in brain power. With batteries, Germany's 1.5 million small solar operators could eventually become independent of central power suppliers and sell surplus power to the grid, which will accelerate when a generous 20-year subsidy scheme starts fading from 2020. There is economic pressure to buy batteries because bought-in power is expensive. Other contenders vying for market share include Bavaria-based sonnen GmbH, Varta Microbattery, South Korea's LG Chem and U.S. company Tesla. (Editing by Susan Thomas)
Paris (AFP) - Image-scanning software developed at Stanford University can distinguish deadly skin cancers from benign ones as accurately as top dermatologists, according to a study published Wednesday.

The potentially life-saving technology could soon be incorporated in a smart phone, the researchers said, an advance reminiscent of the diagnostic device wielded by Dr McCoy in the 1960s Star Trek sci-fi series.

Adapting a Google algorithm designed to distinguish between categories of objects based on images -- telling a cat from a dog, for example -- the Stanford team compiled a database of nearly 130,000 photos of skin disease.

To be effective, the software would need to tell a benign lesion from a malignant carcinoma.

Computer scientists "trained" the algorithm to combine visual processing with a type of artificial intelligence called deep learning.

From the very outset, the results were startlingly good.

"That's when our thinking changed," said senior author Sebastian Thrun, a professor in the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

"We said, 'Look, this is not just a class project for students; this is an opportunity to do something great for humanity'."

Fine-tuned with the help of physicians, the app they created performed just as well as a panel of 21 board-certified dermatologists, the researchers reported in the science journal Nature.

In the United States alone, more than five million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed every year.

For melanoma detected in its earliest stages, the five-year survival rate is about 97 percent. If the disease is uncovered only later, that drops to about 14 percent.

- The next level -

Dermatologists inspect skin for signs of cancer, relying on their training and experience.

If a lesion is spotted, the next step is typically a closer look with a hand-held microscope called a dermatoscope.

If doubt remains, the final phase of diagnosis is a biopsy -- taking a skin sample to be tested in a lab.

Story continues

The images used in the new app -- representing over 2,000 different skin diseases -- were gathered from the internet and vetted by dermatologists.

"There's no huge dataset of skin cancer, so we had to make our own," said Brett Kuprel, co-author and Stanford graduate student.

In a final contest, the app was pitched against 21 dermatologists to identify cancerous and non-cancerous lesions in over 370 images.

Human and machine performed equally well.

The next step is to create a smart phone version, the researchers said.

"Everyone has a supercomputer in their pockets with a number of sensors in it, including a camera," noted co-lead author Andre Esteva, also a graduate student.

A smart phone app of this kind "might enable effective, easy and low-cost medical assessments of more individuals than is possible with existing medical-care systems," Sancy Leachman of Oregon Health and Science University and Glenn Merlino of the US National Cancer Institute wrote in a comment also published in Nature.

"Star Trek presented a vision of the future in which (McCoy) used a portable diagnostic device known as a tricorder, to assess the medical condition of Captain James Kirk and other Enterprise crew members.

"Although fanciful then, machines capable of the non-invasive diagnosis of human disease are becoming a reality," they added.
Telomeres, highlighted in green, serve as protective DNA caps for the cells chromosomes. (Illustration courtesy of BioViva USA)

Frequent bouts of diarrhea can be bad news for babies, even decades later: A new study has found a correlation between childhood infections and significant shortening of telomeres, a phenomenon thats linked to the cellular aging process.

The findings, published today in the American Journal of Human Biology, point to a potential linkage between the environmental and genetic factors that play a role in human health.

They also point to the importance of initiatives aimed at curbing infant diarrhea, such as those funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Researchers led by University of Washington anthropologist Dan Eisenberg found the correlation by sifting through the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey, a database that tracked the health of more than 3,000 infants born in the Philippines in 1983 and 1984.

The babies mothers provided details about their childrens health and feeding habits every two months, from birth through the age of 2. The data included statistics showing how often the mothers breastfed their babies, and how often the babies suffered from diarrhea, a sign of infection.

Follow-up health surveys were conducted for 20 years. In 2005, when the kids were in their 20s, 1,776 of them donated blood samples for analysis.

Eisenberg analyzed the genetic makeup of cells from those samples, focusing on snippets of DNA known as telomeres.

Telomeres are protective caps that sit at the ends of each of the chromosomes in a cell, like the protective plastic ends on shoelaces. As people age, and their cells divide over and over again, those telomeres become shorter, reducing their protective benefit. Scientists have found that shorter telomeres are associated with cancer and age-related diseases.

The analysis of the Philippine health database showed that babies who suffered the most cases of diarrhea at the age of 6 to 12 months had the shortest telomeres at the age of 21 or 22. Babies who had the average number of diarrheal infections showed the equivalent of three extra years of telomere aging as adults, compared with those who had no reported infections as babies.

Story continues

These are important and surprising findings because  generally speaking  shorter chromosome caps are associated with a higher burden of disease later in life, Eisenberg said in a news release.

One possible explanation for the correlation is that frequent infections force increased cell replication and inflammation, both of which can shorten telomeres.

Another explanation could be that the babies chromosomes had shorter telomeres at birth, and that somehow left them more vulnerable to childhood infections.

Eisenberg expected to find that the babies who were breastfed had longer telomeres as adults, because breastfeeding is thought to provide infants with beneficial antibodies and leave them less vulnerable to water-borne infections. But that didnt turn out to be the case.

More research will be required to answer the questions raised by the study, Eisenberg said.

Regardless of the effect on telomeres, childhood diarrhea is a serious public health concern, particularly in developing countries. The World Health Organization says its the No. 2 cause of death for children younger than 5, killing 760,000 annually. (Pneumonia is considered No. 1.)

The Gates Foundation has provided tens of millions of dollars in grants aimed at reducing the global burden of diarrheal diseases and other gastrointestinal diseases, through measures ranging from better sanitation to the development of new vaccines to microbiome research.

Thanks in part to the foundations funding, Seattle-based PATH is making progress on a campaign to make anti-diarrheal treatments more widely available and create new drugs to fight the disease.

More from GeekWire:
You can already buy just about anything you need at Walmart, and now the mega retailer is going to start selling something you probably never expected: cars. Yep, the countrys biggest store chain will provide car-buying services at 25 of its largest stores in Texas, Arizona, and Oklahoma, allowing you to walk into the store for a gallon of milk and walk out with a new gas-guzzling SUV. Isnt America wonderful?

Don't Miss: T-Mobile employees share horror stories of lies and bill cramming in wild outlaw stores

As Automotive News reports, selected Walmart stores wont actually be operating themselves as dealerships, however, but will instead partner with dealership groups to provide access to car-buying terminals within its stores. Much like Walmart provides spaces for banks, credit unions, fast food chains and even doctors to operate within its stores, the auto sales will be conducted from a small shop in the front of the store. Customers will be able to purchase cars via CarSaver, a digital platform which utilizes touchscreen kiosks so shoppers can browse a selection of new and used vehicles and even get approved for financing and insurance right from within the Walmart.

It sounds like a slick little system, but heres the catch: the cars arent actually at Walmart at all. Customers cant test drive them or kick the tires at the store, but instead have to travel to the actual car dealership that has the car they wanted. If a customer actually follows through and purchases the vehicle, CarSaver gets a success fee of $350 or thereabouts. I dont know about you, but Ive never tried to get approved for an auto loan before even sitting in the car I wanted to buy, but hey, its Walmart after all.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
Shutterstock/Getty Image

Amid what would seemingly be considered a puff piece by the New York Times about how Trump is enjoying the White House, a side note has alarmed tech researchers, security experts, and national security employees alike: Trump still owns, and regularly uses, an unsecured Android phone. While the President is still a private citizen, and can legally use any phone he wishes, an unsecured Android is an enormous security risk, and likely a disaster waiting to happen.

Security experts have been taking Google and Android device manufacturers in general to task for years over security problems. Obama, in complying with national security directives, spent eight years with a phone that couldnt even send a text. The Android operating system can be modified, outside of certain files, any way the user wishes. That creates a problem with security updates, as each manufacturer has to tailor each security update to each devices slightly different software. Even somebody using a stock Android phone from a trusted manufacturer has a nearly 90% chance of being vulnerable to one of 11 serious security vulnerabilities according to a recent University of Cambridge study.

Android is so insecure, a vulnerability found in 2015 revealed that 80% could be compromised with a simple text you dont even bother to look at. Even the simple act of connecting to a poorly secured WiFi point could compromise your phone. And all this assume the software hasnt been breached at the level of the manufacturer. For all we know, Trump is using one of the three million phones hackers embedded with rootkit software that lets them remotely take over the phone.

Another issue is the legal netherworld Trump may be floating in. Many apps will collect various forms of data and deliver it to the developer for various purposes. To use Twitter on your phone, you need to agree to let it track your location, modify your phones storage, and collect data on your app usage. If Trump visits a top secret facility, phone in tow, he could be broadcasting its location to the entire world. If Trump downloads the selfie app Meitu, he might have just sent everything on it to China.

This mixture of breaches and easy access almost certainly means Trumps phone, if its not compromised already, soon will be by foreign intelligence services. The FBI has the capability to flip on your phone and listen at a moments notice, and itd be foolish to assume other governments dont have the same tools. If Trump connects to any government services through his phone, he may be transmitting that data accidentally as well.

An unsecured Android phone in the White House is an enormous security risk, no matter who owns one. Hopefully, its time in the Oval Office will be short.




Mary Tyler Moore, whose touchstone of a 1970s sitcom ushered in a new era for women on and off camera, has died. She was 80.

Related: Mary Tyler Moores Greatest Roles

After achieving fame on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Moore won four Primetime Emmys for her work as the spunky and unrepentantly single TV news producer on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which ran from 1970 to 1977. She later earned an Oscar nomination as the icy mother in Ordinary People and co-founded MTM Productions, the influential production company behind iconic series like The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart, Hill Street Blues, and St. Elsewhere.

Related: Ken Tucker Remembers Mary Tyler Moore: The Gracious, Graceful Groundbreaker

More than anything, though, Moore made her mark as Mary Richards. I think she represents an indomitable spirit  that she believes, as everyone can, in possibilities, Moore told CNN of her alter ego in 2002.

Unlike primetime women who came before her, the Mary Tyler Moore Show heroine was nobodys wife, widow, mother, or girlfriend. All this, and she was on the other side of 30, too. The womens movement more or less broke when we went on the air, series co-creator Allan Burns told the Associated Press in 1973. Rather than fight it, Mary has become increasingly independent.

Related: How the Iconic Mary Tyler Moore Show Opening Came to Be

Today Mary Richards and her DNA can be found in nearly every major female character in primetime. Moores behind-the-scenes influence can be felt, too  she was a pioneering female executive whose series jump-started the careers of women writers. Tina Fey, who would write, produce and star in her own sitcom about a single woman working in TV, said her 30 Rock team literally studied The Mary Tyler Moore Show. We talked about that show a lot, as a template, obviously, of a great show, Fey told The New York Times in 2007, but also a show that is all about the relationships in the workplace, but not the making of television so much.

Story continues

(Credit: Everett Collection)

Born Dec. 29, 1936, in Brooklyn, Moore danced in dishwasher commercials, and bared her legs on the 1950s P.I. series Richard Diamond before achieving stardom with her role as a housewife in New Rochelle, New York. On The Dick Van Dyke Show, Moore was Laura Petrie, the supportive suburban spouse of TV writer Rob, played by namesake star Dick Van Dyke. Considered the smartest TV comedy of its day, the 1961-66 series led Moore to the first two of her seven career acting Emmys. After its run, Moore worked in film, most notably in the 1967 Julie Andrews musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and most notoriously in the 1969 Elvis Presley vehicle, Change of Habit.

In 1970, The Mary Tyler Moore Show debuted. The first episode saw Moores Mary Richards, fresh from a broken engagement, take a job in the newsroom at Minneapolis WJM-TV. In the pilot, she declared her independence by spurning her former fiance; the sentiment was reiterated in each weeks opening credits when Mary was seen tossing a tam into the air as the theme song declared, Youre gonna make it after all! (In 2002, Moore was present for the unveiling of a bronze statue in Minneapolis that immortalized that iconic hat throw.)

(Photo By Mike Ekern/Getty Images)

Ratings, though still strong, slipped in Mary Tyler Moore Shows sixth season, and just as Carl Reiner ended The Dick Van Dyke Show before it lost its luster, Moore decided her sitcoms seventh season would be its last.

Related: Watch Mary Tyler Moore in Scenes From Her Greatest Film Performances

In 1980, Moore put Mary Richards in deep freeze to star in Robert Redfords Ordinary People. The jarring portrayal of a withholding, bitter mother earned her a Best Actress Academy Award nomination, and, for a time, a renewed film career. Meanwhile MTM Enterprises, which Moore founded in 1969 with then-husband Grant Tinker, produced a number of well-regarded shows into the 1980s, each ending with the companys signature kitten meow.

Off-camera, Moore was private and more reserved than her public persona. I tend not to be quite as optimistic as Mary Richards, she said in 1980. In her 1995 memoir, After All, she revealed that she had been molested by a family friend at the age of 6.When she was 33, soon after suffering a miscarriage, Moore was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes  a condition she would battle the rest of her life  a condition she would battle the rest of her life. She also struggled with addictions to alcohol and Valium. The cruelest blow came in 1980 when Richard C. Meeker Jr., Moores only child, died of an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 24.

Looking back, Moore said she was happy to have been a Mary Richards role model for one generation, just as she was happy to have been a Laura Petrie role model for another. In 2002, Moore called The Mary Tyler Moore Show the best seven years of my life. In 1988, her sister, Elizabeth, died at age 21 from a drug overdose. And her brother, John, died of liver cancer in 1992 at age 47.
Scarlett Johansson is reportedly back on the market.

The 32-year-old actress split from her husband of two years, Romain Dauriac, over the summer, according to People.

WATCH: Scarlett Johansson, America Ferrera and More Deliver Powerful Speeches at Women's March on Washington

While the Ghost in the Shell star has yet to officially comment on the status of her relationship, she was not wearing her wedding ring when she was spotted out and about in New York City on Wednesday, or at the Women's March on Washington over the weekend.

INSTARimages

The pair, who secretly tied the knot in Philipsburg, Montana, in October 2014, was last spotted together at the grand opening party for their new popcorn shop, Yummy Pop, at Theatre du Gymnase in Paris, France, on Dec. 16, 2016. Johansson was all smiles at the fete, posing for pictures with the French journalist.

Getty Images

RELATED: Scarlett Johansson Married Romain Dauriac in Secret Ceremony

ET has reached out to Johansson's rep for comment.

Earlier this month, ET caught up with the actress at a press junket for her latest live-action film, where she couldn't stop gushing about Dauriac's interest in the Rupert Sanders-directed movie, in which Johansson portrays a typically Japanese manga character known as the Major.

"[Romain] loves this world," she said at the time. "The whole Memphis design thing, he loves all that stuff. It's right up his alley. Yeah."

She also opened up about what life is like at home with her and Dauriac's 2-year-old daughter, Rose, telling ET, "Right now she's really into Frozen, which lives on and on and on. It just never goes away."

"She's really good at singing 'Let it Go,'" Johansson continued. "She's got a good ear."

WATCH: Scarlett Johansson Bonds With 2-Year-Old Daughter Rose Through Music

Related Articles
Staff of the Korle Bu Teaching hospital in Accra have cried foul and have demanded an investigation into what they said were unauthorized Christmas bonuses received by the hospitals higher management.

Get the latest local news here

READ ALSO: Actress Yvonne Nelson loses her father

General Secretary of the Korle Bu Senior Staff Union (KOSSA), Mr. James Clifford Oblitey, stated that staff have taken the words uttered by President Akufo at heart and will esteem to be active citizens.

The staff wants to be the citizens of Korle-Bu in the first place.

According to Mr. Oblitey, staff at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital are calling for the immediate interdiction of the hospital's Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Gilbert Buckle, Director of Finance, Mr. Bright Korkuyie, and its Chief Internal Auditor Mr. Stephen Ayer Perdison over the alleged Christmas bonuses.

Pay Attention: Get all the latest news on yen.com.gh

We want to be citizens of Korle-Bu before being citizens of Ghana by exposing the rot at Korle-Bu.

Speaking to Onua FM's Bright Asempa, host of Yen Sempa, Mr. Oblitey did point out that the teaching hospital CEO's official mandate would come to an end on February 1st, 2017, and that due to this he was un-sure that Mr. Buckle - the CEO - would still be at post.

I know the term of the CEO ends of February 1 so by the end of this month; we dont expect to see him at post.

READ ALSO: Osu Mantse hauled to court over claims to stool

Pay Attention: Get news whenever and wherever you go with YEN NEWS android app here

Source: YEN.com.gh
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NOTE: THIS BLOG IS NO LONGER BEING UPDATED. You can leave comments but no new posts will appear.





Please visit my other blog lewstringercomics.blogspot.com which will continue.





Running from 2006 to 2019, BLIMEY! was dedicated to British comics past and present. The images of old comics on my blog are copyright their respective publishers and are only used here for review purposes. They have been scanned from my own personal comics collection, in over 50 years of collecting.The prose articles, with the exception of press releases, are Copyright  Lew Stringer and must not be reproduced without permission.




ELMCREEK A local father and daughter team will share their extraordinary experience of a lifetime Sunday evening, Jan. 29, at the Williamsburg United Methodist Church.

James and Jordan Marshall recently returned from the mountains of Honduras, where they helped install a water supply to homes.

The two are both graduates of Elm Creek High School and the University of Nebraska. James is a self-employed professional mechanical engineer in product and facility design and forensic investigations. Jordan is a cognitive behavior lab manager at UNL.

According to James, one of the best things about the trip was seeing people live with much less, but do it with grace and dignity.

I admired their sense of community and family unity, James said, and was humbled by how hard they work.

He also gained a new appreciation for hot showers and flushing toilets. Ten days without a cell phone or internet is pretty good too!

Through it all James reaffirmed his belief that in the eyes of God, we are all equal.

According to Pastor Doug Gahn, it was a unique opportunity for the ECOW parish (Elm Creek, Overton and Williamsburg churches) to support two members from the Williamsburg United Methodist Church on this UMC Volunteer-In-Mission trip.

We often take access to clean drinking water for granted, said Pastor Gahn. Its wonderful that we can help provide something that important to others.

Everyone is invited to share in this special one-hour presentation and fellowship at 7 p.m. on Sunday. James and Jordans talk will include a slide show as well as opportunity to ask questions.

Our One Sunday events seek to bring us together to honor those who built our community and to continue their values and traditions to make our community a place our children and grandchildren will want to stay and raise their families, said Linda Crandall, Williamsburg outreach chair. We are so excited to have James and Jordan share their insight and experience.

Refreshments will be served after the program.

The church is located at 74656 J Road. From Overton, take G Road toward Loomis to Road 747, turn east to J Road, turn south one-half mile to the church.
LINCOLN For the second time in six years, the Department of Economic Development has recognized Elwood, population 707, for earning certification as an Economic Development Certified Community.

On Jan. 20, DED Business Development Consultant Ashley Rice-Gerlach honored village leaders during Elwoods Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet.

Elwood is one of 38 communities to earn EDCC certification in the program, which is sponsored by the Nebraska Diplomats and administered by DED. State officials established the program in 2005 to recognize communities for preparedness to attract new industries and grow existing businesses. The community earned original certification in 2010 and was recertified in November 2016.

As part of the certification process, a qualifying community must identify a well-defined program that actively engages with its existing business community and offers a supportive environment for welcoming new economic development projects. This includes documenting available sites and buildings, local financing and incentive programs, and a strategic plan for economic development, such as implementing a progressive strategy to grow the communitys labor market.

Over the past six years, Elwood earned national recognition for its Free Lot Program, designed to recruit new residents to the community through homesteading efforts. Since 2011, the program initiated the construction of seven new homes and eight additional lots are currently available for construction. The program gained praise on the late Paul Harveys radio show and PBSs This Old House television series; Consumer Reports also mentioned Elwood in an article about Americas top five towns that still offer homesteading.

The leadership and innovation that made this program possible embody the collaborative spirit a community needs to be part of Nebraskas EDCC program, said Nebraska Diplomats President Dean Hart. Elwood continues to set a great example for other communities through efforts to grow new and creative housing opportunities.

In addition to Elwoods Free Lot Program, the village also developed a Speculative House Risk Sharing Program, which allows contractors to share the risk of interest during a homes construction. In 2015, the community completed a housing market study; in 2016, Elwood was selected to participate in a NIFA supported initiative to create workforce housing. Elwood is currently working with Dawson Area Development and the communities of Lexington and Cozad on a regional housing program.

Efforts to create a viable workforce are growing within Gosper and Dawson counties. Over the past five years, the Elwood Area Foundation has raised $55,000 annually to contribute to community improvement projects. The villages Redevelopment Authority funds have also been used to recruit talent through payment assistance of student loans, housing costs, and business start-ups. Since 2011, program leaders have successfully recruited an attorney, a new beauty salon, and a day care to the area.

Fourteen full-time employee positions have been created through the development of several new businesses in the community, including Elwood Hometown Cooperative Market, Northern Agri Service, Elwood Auto Sales, Turkey Creek Seed Solutions, Scharf Construction, and Weissert Hardwood Floors.

Community development projects continue to contribute to Elwoods strong quality of life. Local leaders worked together to earn Community Development Block Grant Downtown Revitalization Funds in 2012, which resulted in the completion of a new library accredited through the Nebraska Library Commission. Elwoods downtown revitalization plan paved the way for commercial rehab assistance to 12 local businesses and was recognized at the 2013 Nebraska Planning and Zoning Conference. In addition, a Nebraska Civic and Convention Center Financing Act grant began efforts to construct a new community wellness center spearheaded by school and village officials. Private donations allowed for structural and energy improvements at the Gosper County Senior Center. In 2015, voters enacted a one percent sales tax increase to fund village development projects.

Without the EDCC certification, projects that have improved Elwood would not have been possible, said Former Village Board Chair Sharlette Schwenninger. Its a testament to the pride we have in Elwood and the hard work of the Redevelopment Authority and others in this community that we were certified in 2010, and again in 2016. This puts Elwood in a position to obtain funding for future projects to grow our community.

For additional information on the Economic Development Certified Community Program, contact Lynn Kohout at 402-440-2599, or lynn.kohout@nebraska.gov, or visit http://www.opportunity.nebraska.gov/economic-development-certified-community.
The Dawson County Fairgrounds will undergo improvements to be more accessible for the elderly and disabled thanks to a grant.

The Nebraska Department of Economic Development announced on Tuesday that it had awarded $350,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to Dawson Countys fairgrounds project as an investment in an effective and affordable tourist attraction.

The grant will be matched with $110,800 from Dawson County, through a combination of dollars and in-kind donations.

The work will start as soon as the weather is suitable, said Scott Russman, president of the Dawson County Agricultural Society, Inc., the group that oversees the fairgrounds and applied for the grant.

He said county workers have already been bringing in fill dirt in preparation for a planned project to build a new set of restrooms with showers and a storm shelter on the north end of the fairgrounds near the camping facilities.

With the receipt of the CDBG funding the Ag Society will be able to tackle more improvements, said Russman, noting many aspects of the project will be bid out.

Its a worthwhile project, said Jen McKeone, executive director of Dawson Area Development, who helped write the grant pro-posal.

She said the Ag Society came to her when they wanted to build restrooms to serve the outdoor arena and campgrounds and fundraising was underway.

She recommended a more comprehensive approach of looking at all the needs at the fairgrounds. An engineer and Americans with Disabilities coordinator walked through the fairgrounds with Ag Society members and assisted in the needs assessment.

The improvements will make the Dawson County Fairgrounds friendlier for those with mobility issues, said McKeone.

By receiving the grant, were able to do a lot more than what the initial scope of the project was, said McKeone. It raises the budget and stretches those fundraising dollars.

Were pretty excited. Its something that has needed to happen. The whole board is excited because these changes are needed at the fairgrounds, said Russman.

The improvements to the fairgrounds and facilities will remove accessibility barriers and meet ADA regulations, said Russman.

The east entry of the Open Class Building will be made ADA accessible, with ADA parking.

The entry to the 4-H building will also be made ADA accessible with an automated push button and new door handles and the interior restrooms will be upgraded. The slope of the sidewalk in approach to the building will also be changed.

The sidewalk will be widened on the south side of the Stevens Arena, away from the waterline when rain drips off the roof, and the slopes on ramps will be changed to meet ADA requirements and there will be the addition of wheelchair seating.

The Grandstand by the fair office will have also have ADA ramps installed and wheelchair accessible seating.

It really was fascinating to me how important that facility is and all the revenue it brings in as it attracts people to Dawson County, said McKeone.

She said the fairgrounds are used for much more than the county fair and 4-H events. As I was doing the grant for them I was extremely surprised by all the events held there throughout the year, she said, noting the site is used year round and attracts people from multiple states and even other countries.

The fairgrounds host more than 20 annual events, which bring in regional visitors along with people from more than 20 states. The racetrack draws 700 to 1,000 attendees each week from a tri-state region, plus the county fair attendance averages around 12,000 annually.
COZADCozad Fire and Rescue held its annual banquet on Saturday night at the Elks Club in Cozad.

Christopher Albright was awarded the honor of Fireman of the Year.

Cozad Chamber of Commerce Director Sandy Bappe, presented the award to Albright on behalf of the chamber. Bappe said Albright serves with bravery, caring and compassion.

"He has been involved in the departments training and is always willing to lend a hand whenever and wherever needed. Going above and beyond is an understatement. He makes great efforts to answer a call, whether fire or rescue, and he sees what needs to be done and handles it professionally," Bappe said.

Albright is somone who knows what equipment to have ready and putting it into use has become second nature. Being able to do this saves valuable time when seconds count, she said.

Marlene Williams, outgoing rescue chief, said Albright has grown into his role during the five years he has been in the department.

Williams said he has given many hours of his own time checking and maintaining fire trucks and equipment. All of the extrication training has been done with the use of vehicles from H&H Auto Parts in Cozad, where Chris is employed, she noted.

"Chris takes the time to ask how we want to set up the training scenario and tailors the vehicle or vehicles with dents and bends wherever needed to recreate a life like scenario.

Chris, like many of the members, works long hours and yet makes the majority of the fire and rescue calls throughout the year. He is a true asset to the fire department being so versatile volunteering on each side, fire and rescue," Williams said.

Williams, who retired from the department at the end of last year, received two awards at the banquet: a Distinguished Service Award and an Admiral Award from Gov. Pete Ricketts.

"The entire evening was bittersweet to me knowing this would be the last celebration with this team that I would be sharing. When Fire Chief Dan Niles was announcing the Distinguished Service Award I sat there thinking of how proud I was for Cozad to have someone this dedicated serving their community, not having a clue they had chosen me. Very humbled. Each board member was standing up front to present and had a grin of we got you," Williams said.

After receiving the Distinguished Service Award, Williams said she was told to stay up front.

"Then I saw the Admiral's Award and melted. The tears started flowing and I don't even know if I heard a word that was spoken for the next few minutes. This award along with the Distinguished has truly touched my heart," she said.

When she began in EMS 33 years ago, Williams said she never thought of or wanted recognition. I just wanted to be a little better than my best, she said.

"I wanted to serve people in need of guidance and help, no matter what level of care was needed. As I look back I believe in my heart of hearts that I can say "mission accomplished," Williams said.

Cozad Fire And Rescue member Scott Schmidt said members of the department decided to nominate Williams for the Admiral Award as a way to recognize her 13 years of service as an EMT in Cozad and also the 20 years she served as an EMT in Loomis.

"It's an honorary recognition, an Admiralship in the Navy of the Great State of Nebraska," Schmidt said.

The Rookie of the Year Award went to Dane Linden.

Williams said Linden had perfect attendance for all meetings and trainings and has answered a majority of the calls, both fire and rescue. He is also enrolled in the EMT class at Central Community College and is excelling like no other, she said.

The Business of the Year Award went to Dale and Donna Holbein with Awards Plus in Lexington.

"Dale and Donna are committed to supporting fire departments throughout the area and have been advocates of volunteers," Williams said.

Scott Schmidt was named the EMT of the Year.

"Scott has shown top qualities and displayed professionalism with every patient that he is caring for. Scott is eager to learn more following each call that he has concerns about and will go that extra mile to find the answers which in turn will make him better on the next," Williams said.

Schmidt said it was an honor to be recognized for his effort with the department.

"I was not expecting it. You make a lot of calls through out the year and try to help as many people as you can," Schmidt said about how he approaches his duties as an EMT.

A State of Nebraska Department of Health and Human Serives Trauma Program's Life Saving Efforts Recognition Award was given to Marlene Williams, PJ Jacobson and Travis Lee.

Williams said this was a call that took place on Aug. 10, 2016, when a call for the need of CPR went out. The three acted quickly and were able to restore heart rate and breathing to an infant, she said.

The infant was flown to a higher level care hospital for pediatrics, Williams said.

Sharol Banzhaf received an award for 10 years of service. Rod Carlson received an award for 56 years of service. The trio of Ozzie Romero, Chris Allbright, and Brian Bazata received awards for five-years of service.

Perfect Attendance awards for fire department members attending all trainings and meetings went to Dane Linden and Brian Woldt.
President Donald Trump will use his executive authority Wednesday to jump start construction on his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall - one of his signature campaign promises.

Trump to use executive authority to jump starter border wall

US-Mexico border wall was a signature campaign promise

Trump to meet with Mexican president next week, discuss border wall costs

Trump to also weigh details on curbing refugees from entering US

According to administration officials, Trump is also expected to target so-called sanctuary cities and potentially restrict the flow of refugees to the United States.

Trump first tweeted out his plan Tuesday night:

Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

Trump's promise to build a wall is what energized his supporters throughout the race for the White House.

"On day one, we will begin working on an impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, southern border wall," said the former reality TV star and real estate giant.

And in the first week of his presidency, Trump is poised to begin delivering on that promise.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer commented Tuesday on Trump's plans.

"Today's announcement is just the beginning of what's set to be a multi-day roll out of immigration actions by the president," Spicer said.

The president is said to still be weighing the details of plans to curb the number of refugees coming to the U.S.

The current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as a temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim-majority countries, according to a source from a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues.

Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten U.S. immigration policies, including strengthening border security and stemming the flow of refugees.

While the specifics of Trump's orders were unclear, administration officials said Wednesday's actions would focus in part on the president's plans to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico.

Trump has insisted that Mexico will pay for construction of the border wall, but has not detailed how he plans to make that happen.

Trump is expected to discuss the matter with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto when he visits the White House next week.

Information from CNN and AP contributed to this report.
Iran is proving to be an increasingly popular destination with air travellers, experiencing growing passenger numbers from around the world  a trend that looks like continuing during 2017, according to a study by ForwardKeys, the leading travel intelligence analyst.

Total international arrivals were up 18.3% last year, sustaining an upward path since 2013 (up 2.7%), 2014 (24.8%) and 2015 (12.7%). The pattern is reflected by a consistent year-on-year increase in total scheduled seats: 2014 (up 10.5%), 2015 (18.3%), 2016 (17.3%).

Source: The Bench

The study is timely, coming just weeks ahead of the inaugural Iran Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference (IHTIC) on 7-8 February 2017 in Tehran, which will be attended by numerous international investors and hotel industry experts.

ForwardKeys, which monitors future travel patterns by analysing 16 million flight reservation transactions each day, also found that international arrivals to Iran saw positive monthly growth throughout 2016, with the exception of June because of the timing of Ramadan.

Source: The Bench

The main source regions for air travel to Iran are North America, Europe and the Middle East. Together, they made up 83.7% of international arrivals during 2016. Germany, with a 14.3% market share, was up 8.3%, followed by the USA (10.7% share) up 9.3%. Bahrain, Canada and the UK, all with significant market shares, also showed healthy growth in visitors to Iran.

Among the 12 top origin countries, only China and Pakistan were outside these main regions. ForwardKeys' data also shows that 40% of Chinese visitors to Iran last year were on business trips.

Source: The Bench

Looking ahead, forward bookings for the first half of 2017 are ahead 14.8%, based on those issued at the beginning of January, suggesting the upward surge of international visitors to Iran is still growing in momentum.

Source: The Bench

Arrivals in Iran during 2017 are being boosted by increased air connectivity from a number of centres:

Italy is benefiting from Alitalia and Iran Air tripling their scheduled seats since November last year.

The Netherlands is connected by one more daily flight from Amsterdam to Tehran by KLM since October 2016.

An increasing number of Belgian travellers are using Amsterdam to transfer to Iran, while Swiss travellers tend to route via Vienna, from where Austrian Airlines is doubling its scheduled seats during the first half of 2017.

Source: The Bench

Olivier Jager, CEO of ForwardKeys, said: "Our findings support the conclusion that political change in Iran is making the country more approachable  an attractive place to visit and potentially do business. The image of Iran around the world is changing. Its many tourist attractions, historic, religious and spectacular, are once again being emphasised. I expect visitor numbers to increase, so long as Iran's airport capacity can keep pace."

About ForwardKeys

ForwardKeys predicts future travel patterns by crunching and analysing 16m booking transactions a day. It is used by travel marketers, retailers, hotels, destination marketing organisations (DMOs), financial institutions, car rental companies, tour operators, online travel agents (OTAs), and other traveller-focussed businesses worldwide to monitor and anticipate traveller arrivals and stay ahead of the trends from a particular origin market at a specific time. The analysis enables them to anticipate the impact of events, better manage their staffing levels, fine tune supply requirements, adjust and measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts and predict future market trends. ForwardKeys' data is retrieved daily from all the major global reservation systems worldwide.

About The Bench

The Benchhas established a legacy for delivering world-leading investment forums and conferences in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. The key principle behind these platforms has remained "dealmaking'. Transforming the way business connect, Bench has developed a reputation for creating innovative and high-impact meeting spaces for the industry.

For over two decades - government leaders, tourism ministries, global travel & tourism associations, the world's most influential hospitality brands, hotel owners & investors, renowned restaurant groups, airlines & aviation authorities, destination developers, asset managers, financial groups and consultants  have been participating in The Bench's events for their respective objectives. These include AHIC, AHIF, GRIF, FHS, AHF, IDEEA, AviaDev and RENEW where industry players showcase their brands, position themselves as thought leaders or innovators, and connect with the right opportunities and knowledge.

Learn more on thebench.com

About MEED

Launched on International Women's Day 1957, the Middle East Economic Digest, MEED, is a well-known and trusted brand used by governments and businesses operating in the region.

Encompassing a business intelligence service, digital media, publications and events MEED provides exclusive daily news, data and analysis. We are responsible for keeping our audiences of subscribers, registered users and event attendees informed, helping to facilitate decision making and connections.

Our marketing solutions team provides clients with access to our audiences. We partner with local and international companies who need to reach our high-value communities. In consultation with our clients we utilise tried and tested methods to target and engage decision makers to announce and explain, lead and grow and to contact and convert business leaders into customers.

MEED is wholly owned by data and intelligence company GlobalData Plc which means that our marketing solutions clients are also able to access a network of over 13m digital users per month across 18 different sectors.

Learn more on meed.com

Future Hospitality Summit (FHS)

Date: 19-21 September 2022

Location: Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, UAE

Sponsors

Host Sponsor: Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts

Platinum Sponsors: Accor, Dur Hospitality, Hilton, Marjan, Millennium Hotels & Resorts and Radisson Hotel Group

Emerald Sponsors: Emaar Hospitality Group, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, NEOM, Rotana, Royal Commission for AlUla, SMIT Morocco and Taiba Investments.

Gold Sponsors: Aleph Hospitality, CBRE, Colliers, Compass Project Consulting, Dentons, ELAF Group, ENVI Lodges, GG&Grace International, Hospitality Management Holding, HVS, The Indian Hotels Company, Insignia, Interior360, Ishraq Hospitality, IT Hospitality Group, Knight Frank, Louvre Hotels Group, LXA, Mapal Group, Minor Hotels, OBMI, PwC Middle East, QUO, SSH, STR, Valor Hospitality Partners and Voltere by egis.

Silver Sponsors: Deutsche Hospitality and Katch.

Supporters: The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA), Sustainable Hospitality Challenge, and Women in Hospitality (WiH).

David Tarsh

+44 (0) 20 7602 5262

The Bench
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The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sonia Chan, dodged lawmakers questions at the Legislative Assembly yesterday regarding her alleged influence over former top prosecutor Ho Chio Meng and whether this resulted in the hiring of at least one of Chans relatives.

Ng Kuok Cheong and Pereira Coutinho both queried the secretary on how the government would act to prevent such cases of nepotism and personal favoring from happening again.

Regarding my case, Ive made a public clarification already, Chan replied, adding, The CCAC [Commission Against Corruption] has also received a complaint that is under investigation, hence it is not convenient and I should not report to that case.

Chan shielded herself behind her prior statement in order to avoid replying to any questions, even those with a generalist scope, and based her reply on the recruitment laws and regulations as well as the rights and duties of civil servants.

The lawmakers persisted.

Im not pleased at all with your answer. I didnt ask to know how civil servants are recruited. What I wanted you to tell me is how to prevent that such actions from high ranked officials, Ng said. The phenomena has already been proved by the actions of the two Secretaries [the current and former]. The government should regulate these acts to prevent a boycott to the access of jobs in the administration. Do you have any measure to tackle this? Ng questioned, and further suggested that the secretary should publicly apologize for a situation that has affected the image of the administration.

Pereira Coutinho also regretted that the secretary had not apologized and advised that she resign.

If I were you, Id have [offered] my resignation. Instead you are pushing the problems for the director of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau [SAFP], said Coutinho. He added, Ng Kuok Cheong asked you three simple questions, please respond if you please, and remarked that what is at issue in this case are conflicting interests that could be solved with a declaration such as that existing in both Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Gabriel Tong made a short remark to say; [Whether] we should discuss or not the details since the case has entered in CCAC [is also] a matter that deserves discussion.

As for the reply to Coutinhos spoken enquiry, Chan questioned if it was necessary to reply since her response would be the same as she provided for Ng, before she followed with the reading of a similar reply document.

Coutinho remarked that according to the news aired from the previous day, this case [involving Sonia Chan and Florinda Chan] was just the tip of an iceberg, as reports stated at least another 14 similar cases are emerging all related to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP).

In his follow-up questions Coutinho said that different issues shouldnt be amalgamated. The CCAC has its duties and is investigating but how about the government? Keep the arms crossed without doing anything? There isnt a need for disciplinary action? he asked, pointing out that if the case had occurred with an inferior ranking official he was certain that such action would already be in process. Coutinho called once more, like Ng, for a clarification from the secretary on how to prevent future cases like these.

As such questions remained unanswered Ng decided to take a different approach and direct the questions to the director of the SAFP, Kou Peng Kuan, questioning him if the services had opened an internal inquiry.

In the reply Kou did not add much to the discussion either, remarking only on the competencies and constant efforts of the SAFP to improve its accountability regimes.

Lawmakers Leong Veng Chai and Au Kam San also made remarks. The first noted that such a case is a bad example for the youngsters and the new generations, and asked, How are we going to clean that image?

Au reaffirmed the need to close the loopholes that are proven to exist by the referred cases, and urged the secretary to steer away from commonplace answers and start to address the problem from the point-of-view of how to solve it.

Govt wants to expand territory southwards

A recent report from the Policy Research Office (GEP) on a so-called 4th Space of the MSAR, presented last December to the Urban Planning Council, grabbed the attention of lawmaker Si Ka Lon. Si questioned the government about such a plan during yesterdays Legislative Assembly plenary session.

The spoken enquiry sought clarification regarding the governments intentions on this matter. In the reply of the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosario acknowledged the existence of such a project which was to be included in the secretariats biggest task, the Master Plan, as mentioned by Raimundo do Rosario.

Rosario also mentioned that such an idea is a part of the long-

term future planning of the territory that takes into account the territorys role within a more comprehensive regional plan.

For more details, the Secretary delegated further explanations to the representative of the GEP, Ma I Kin.

With noted difficulty, Ma tried to explain that for now the 4th Space is a bit of an abstract thing, that is still in a conceptual state. Still, he noted that it will be a space where the population can live.

In response to the question of where exactly it is going to be located, Ma remarked: There isnt a full conclusion yet but the studies indicate that we will develop at [the south part] of Coloane Island in a first phase and potentially expand to [the] west. He noted that such a project is not in the hands of the MSAR since there is a need to develop lots of works, which will necessarily be in cooperation with the Central Government.

The descendants [of the current residents] are the ones that will enjoy this idea, Ma remarked. He unveiled that such a place should be possibly dedicated to technologies and more advanced industries, the financial sector and quality tourism and remarked on the idea of preparing the future of Macau.
Joao Botas, the author of several books on the history of Macau and the Macau Antigo online blog, has launched a crowd-funding campaign to cover the costs of producing his latest work, a biography on Macau polymath Manuel da Silva Mendes. According to a statement released by Botas, potential donors can contribute any amount starting from 1 euro. With a donation of 5 euros, the benefactor will have their name printed in the list of the books supporters. For 10 euros, donators will also receive an autographed book, while 15 euros will grant a 50 percent discount on the purchase of additional copies of the book up to a maximum of three. In accordance with the rules of the company managing the crowd-funding campaign, the appeal will only be considered a success if a total of 2,000 euros (about MOP17,160) is raised before the deadline. If this does not happen, the donations will be returned.

Female police officer reports police husband

A female police officer from the Public Security Police Force (PSP) filed a report to the police after having been pushed and injured by her husband, who is also a PSP officer. The victim submitted a report to the PSP on January 16, saying that she and her husband had quarreled and that her husband had pushed her during the fight, causing her to become injured. Following investigations, the Judiciary Police (PJ) defined the case as assault, as opposed to domestic violence. The victim decided to withdraw her report during the PJs investigation.

Woman loses USD50,000 in online scam

A local woman lost USD50,000 after falling for an online scam.

The woman met a self-proclaimed male Taiwanese resident through a mobile app last October. Just one month later, in November, the suspect told the woman that he was a consultant in a big Taiwanese investment company, and asked her to buy financial products from his company. The woman then transferred, in four installments, a total of USD50,000 to a Hong Kong bank account that the suspect had given her the details of. One week after the transfer was made, she lost contact with the suspect.
China and the Philippines have agreed on USD3.7 billion worth of projects to boost cooperation, state media cited a senior Chinese official as saying, highlighting the improvement in their formerly frosty relations.

Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said after a meeting with a Cabinet delegation from the Philippines that the projects are aimed at improving peoples living standards, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

No specific details on the projects were released, though Xinhua cites Gao as saying a formal agreement on how to implement the projects would be signed before the Philippine delegation left Beijing.

Under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who took office in June, the Asian neighbors have seen ties that had been tense over longstanding South China Sea territorial disputes undergo rapid improvement.

Duterte visited Beijing in October, during which he repeatedly criticized former colonial power and traditional ally the United States, while praising China as an Asian nation that respects Philippine sovereignty, shared its values and understood its development needs. Philippine officials said during the visit that the two sides would sign $13.5 billion of deals and that Xi had committed more than $9 billion in low-interest loans to the country.

Duterte is planning another China trip in May to attend an international conference on Chinas project to revitalize the ancient Silk Road trade routes through vast investments in infrastructure.

Tensions ran high last year after the Philippines won an arbitration ruling in July declaring Chinas maritime claims in the South China Sea invalid. China has refused to recognize the arbitration decision and has warned the United States and other countries not involved in the territorial row not to meddle in the disputes, which Beijing wants to settle through one-on-one negotiations.

In seeking to improve ties, Duterte has largely avoided mentioning the ruling and expressed his desire cooperate with China on projects in the area.

Still, the Philippine foreign secretary recently filed a rare verbal protest to China over Beijings placing of anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons on its man-made islands in the South China Sea.

Beijing says the artificial islands are intended to boost maritime safety in the region while downplaying their military utility. They also buttress Chinas claim to ownership of practically the entire South China Sea.

The two sides also agreed to a speedy resumption of a dialogue on economic and trade cooperation, according to China Daily, a state-run newspaper. That and other bilateral talks had been frozen since 2012 amid rising tensions. AP
President Donald Trumps pursuit of an America first foreign policy is raising questions about who, if anyone, will fill the void if the U.S. relinquishes its traditional global leadership role. China and Russia are among the aspirants for greater economic and military influence, while an ambivalent Germany could emerge as the Wests moral compass.

For generations, the U.S. has largely set the terms for the global economy, policed international security threats and spearheaded the response to crises like Ebola and Haitis earthquake. But after sweeping into office with an isolationist-tinged message rooted in the idea the U.S. needs to refocus on itself, Trump has said and done little to dispel the notion that he wants the rest of the world solve its own problems.

In his inaugural address, Trump said the U.S. for too long has been invested in other countries industries, militaries, borders and infrastructure while letting its own fall into disrepair and decay.

That is the past, Trump said.

In one of his first acts, Trump formally withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a project launched under President George W. Bush and negotiated by President Barack Obama to set trade rules with Asia and counter Chinas growing economic influence

Trump said he was doing a great thing for U.S. workers by tearing it up. But Sen. John McCain, a fellow Republican, said the withdrawal abdicates U.S. leadership in Asia to China.

China isnt the only country that could profit from U.S. retrenchment. In their own ways, Russia and Germany also could stake a claim to a greater global role. But no one can simultaneously match Americas economic, military and moral might, and a more isolationist U.S. could mean a power vacuum.

Theres no country or collection of countries that can do what the U.S. has done for the last half-century, said Jon Alterman, a former State Department official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Its partly a question of resources and capacity, and its partly a question of ambition.

A huge number of things will simply not be done, he said.

While U.S. rivals like China and Russia would relish the opportunity to try to replace the United States, many countries in Asia, Europe and elsewhere are fretting the prospect of an American retreat. Even Germany is unsettled about being increasingly looked to as a moral example.

China, which has been investing billions in Africa and Latin America to curry influence in the developing world, could become an increasingly dominant economic power. It already is aggressively pursuing a multicountry trade deal that would appear the likeliest alternative to TPP, a scenario Obamas administration had warned would let China write the rules and lead to worse labor and environmental standards.

Beijing has used Trumps inauguration as an opportunity to ridicule Americas democracy and tout its own communist system as superior. And many of Chinas neighbors share its fears about Trumps threats to trigger a trade war with the Asian powerhouse by taxing Chinese products.

Whether you like it or not, the global economy is the big ocean that you cannot escape from, Chinese President Xi Jinping said last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, laying out his plans for growth, overseas investments and expanded trade opportunities. It was the type of agenda the U.S. might have previously touted.

Americas military alliances are no sure thing, either.

Trump has suggested a broad rethink, calling NATO obsolete and challenging U.S. allies to bear greater cost while beefing up their military forces in the Pacific, and Russia exerts military power in Eastern Europe, which suffered for decades under Soviet domination.

Its not the only place the Kremlin is flexing its muscles. In Syria, Russia has backed more than a year of successful Syrian government offensives against rebels and is currently directing peace talks between the two sides. The U.S. was but a bystander at the negotiations Monday, while the White House said it could partner with Russia to fight the Islamic State group in Syria. Such an arrangement could significantly enhance Russias reputation in the Middle East.

With the election of Donald Trump, the old world of the 20th century is finally over, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier wrote in the Bild newspaper, reflecting a broader European lament about confused international leadership and increased disorder.

Trumps push has mirrored a broader global debate about globalization vs. isolation. British Prime Minister Theresa May will visit Trump later this week, seeking cooperation from an American leader who cheered her countrys vote to leave the European Union  which Obama campaigned against.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who once cursed Obama for the Americans criticism of his countrys war on drugs, has embraced Trumps America first approach and expressed relief the U.S. will no longer lecture others on how to behave. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, long accused of undemocratic tendencies, echoed that message, declaring the end of multilateralism in the age of Trump.

While Chinas increased economic strength and Russias military vigor may appeal to some, few Western-looking nations will turn to either for moral leadership. Germany has tried to fill that void, embracing hundreds of thousands of refugees and championing a dwindling multilateralism 70 years after being culpable for some of historys greatest atrocities in World War II.

But Germany, Europes economic motor, has a glaring shortcoming: An inability to match the hard power of aspiring leaders in Moscow and Beijing. And for all her efforts, German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a tough re-election later this year, where she will find out if her Germany is immune to the new populist surge. Josh Lederman, AP
The Second Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly met to discuss a law bill regarding the merging of the Security Forces Coordination Office (GCSEG) and the Unitary Police Services (SPU).

Those in attendance included the commissioner-general of the SPU, Ma Io Kun. Chan Chak Mo, the chairman of the committee, was available after the meetings end to talk to the media and provide details regarding the matter discussed.

Currently, there are 75 people working for SPU and 27 working for GCSEG.

According to Chan, following the merging of the two departments, the resulting number of employees will remain the same as the current total of the two departments.

The government representatives explained to the Committee that, after the merge, any employee can return to their old position, if they decide to do so.

The merge will not change any policies, including for promotion of employees.

Currently, there exists a Civil Protection Operational Centre belonging to GCSEG. They hope the center can operate 24 hours [per day], in the future, to immediately detect emergencies, said Chan, who also said that the Committee was concerned about whether the merged SPU could handle the expected number of issues.

Twenty-seven people presently work for the center. The lawmakers questioned whether the future SPU would be able to run operations concerning civil protection issues smoothly.

In Chans words, the government responded by stating that once the restructuring of the police force is complete, it will suggest an amendment to the laws regarding SPUs structure and role.

Related bills, in fact, have been forwarded to the Chief Executive Council, Chan disclosed.

A Civil Protection and Coordination Centre will be added to the future SPU, and it will be managed by an extra director assistant.

Two offices, including a computer and information technology division, and a news and public relations division, will both become official divisions after the merger is complete.

Chan said that no schedule has been drafted regarding the future 24-hour civil protection operation.

According to Chan, in order to accomplish said purpose, the police force has already found a place five times the size of the current Civil Protection Operational Centre.

Chan also said that the 24-hour operation will be established soon after the related laws are passed.

The Civil Protection Operational Centre is currently located in the Public Security Forces Affairs Bureau (DSFSM) building at Calcada dos Quarteis.

Commisioner-general Ma said last year that the police force would suggest either expanding their current facilities or building new ones for the center.
MGM began celebrating Chinese New Year through Haircut for Love and Spring Clean for Love programs, involving 365 senior citizens from Asilo de Santa Maria and Centro de Dia Brilho da Vida in mid-January.

For the sixth year, MGM visited Centro de Dia Brilho da Vida of Caritas Macau to clean the homes of senior citizens, stated the gaming operator in a press release.

On January 20, MGMs senior executives led a team of 160 volunteers to Fai Chi Kei Social Housing Unit and cleaned 220 homes, in a bid to welcome the Year of the Rooster with the senior citizens.

MGM prepared its homemade Chinese New Year Red Banners (Fai Chun) and placed them on doors and windows as decorations. In addition, a Goodie Bag with a specially designed MGM 9th Anniversary towel set was given to every home.

For the fourth year running, the gaming operator also hosted the Haircut for Love program on January 9, 10 and 12.

A total of 30 volunteer haircut team members went out to two local elderly centers, Asilo de Santa Maria and Centro de Dia Brilho da Vida, and provided complimentary haircuts to 145 senior citizens, including those with health issues and mobility impairment.

Ikea recalls Mysingso beach chair

IKEA urges customers who bought a mysingso beach chair before February 2017 to return it to any IKEA store or Merchandise Pickup Point for a full refund, or to any IKEA store for replacement.

After washing the fabric seat it is possible to re-assemble the chair incorrectly, leading to the risks of falling or trapping a finger.

According to the company, IKEA has received five incident reports involving the beach chair collapsing during use due to incorrect re-assembly.

All five reports included injuries to fingers that required medical attention.

The reported injuries happened in Finland, Germany, USA, Denmark and Australia.

Mysingso beach chair originally went through the relevant mechanical, fabric and chemical tests with approved results.

Upon receiving the reports of injuries, a full investigation was initiated.

This led to an improved design to further mitigate the risks of incorrect re-assembly and injuries. The updated chair is set to be available in IKEA stores from February 2017.
Authorities in Indonesia are investigating allegations of weapons smuggling by dozens of its peacekeepers who were arrested in Sudan, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

Sudanese media reported on Friday that the North Darfur state administration arrested Indonesian police officers who were suspected of trying to smuggle out 29 Kalashnikov rifles and about 70 guns in their luggage at El-Fasher airport.

Ministry spokesman Armanatha Nasir said the initial information they received was that the luggage did not belong to the Indonesian police unit and the U.N. is currently conducting an investigation.

There are a number of incongruities in the information we have received, Nasir said in a statement.

He said an Indonesian police team will leave for Sudans capital, Khartoum, to provide legal assistance and seek clarification of the incident.

Indonesia deployed 140 officers last week to join a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Sudan to replace the outgoing group.

National Police spokesman Martinus Sitompul said the Indonesian police officers are being held in a transit camp in Sudan.

He insisted that the luggage that contained guns did not belong to the Indonesian group, citing the chief of the Indonesian police unit as saying it did not bear the identification stickers they use.

Two containers of luggage belonging to the Indonesians ended up next to the luggage containing the guns after the Indonesian luggage had been scanned by U.N. security forces, Sitompul said.

Indonesia has bolstered its contribution to international peacekeeping since 2006 after decades of very limited involvement under the Suharto dictatorship. AP
President Donald Trumps decision to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, as promised, is prompting other member countries to seek ways to salvage the trade pact.

Leaders of some of the 11 other nations involved in the initiative said they hope to push ahead with the agreement in some form, with or without the U.S.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said yesterday he had discussed the pacts future recently with the prime ministers of Japan, Singapore and New Zealand, all TPP members, and believed the pact could survive without the U.S.

Losing the United States from the TPP is a big loss, there is no question about that, Turnbull told reporters. But we are not about to walk away from our commitment to Australian jobs.

Trump says he favors one-on- one agreements with other nations rather than multinational pacts like the TPP, which would have included markets comprising 40 percent of world GDP and was eventually meant to be the foundation for a wider pan-Pacific trading bloc.

As expected, earlier yesterday [Macau time] the new president officially abandoned the trade deal in one of his first acts after taking office.

Advocates of the TPP said it would set a gold standard for modern trade rules, with stringent requirements for intellectual property, labor and environmental protections. A key goal was to lead in shaping trade rules for this century, and also to counter the growing influence of China, which is not part of the pact.

Critics said the TPP would put corporate interests ahead of public and national sovereign interests.

The U.S. about-face on the deal is a setback for leaders of other TPP countries who invested political capital in fighting to get it ratified.

That includes Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who told lawmakers during parliamentary debate that he hoped to gain Trumps understanding on the TPPs importance. Abe has said he hopes to meet with Trump as soon as possible.

Japan completed the TPP ratification process last week, well aware Trump planned to drop out. Abe said its goals were still important for Japan and the TPP could be a model for trade deals with other nations, including those in Europe.

The remaining 11 TPP members will meet to discuss the next steps, said Malaysias Second Trade Minister Ong Ka Chuan.

Twelve countries signed the [TPP], but now one wants out. The other 11 can continue by making change to the clauses. There are many possibilities that these 11 countries can still proceed with, the Bernama news agency quoted him as saying. He didnt elaborate.

Other TPP members are Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Vietnam and Brunei.

Turnbull said that in theory China could join the pact following the U.S. departure. But that would require a revamp of the deal. In its current form, the TPP can only take effect after it is ratified by six countries that account for 85 percent of its members combined gross domestic product. The U.S. made up 60 percent of the TPPs combined GDP, so it could not be implemented as it stands now.

Though he didnt suggest Trump himself would reverse his position, Turnbull did say the U.S. eventually might.

You have to recognize that his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has been a longtime advocate for it, Turnbull said, referring to Trumps nominee. The Republican Party in the Congress have been strong supporters of the TPP. It is possible that U.S. policy could change over time on this, as it has done on other trade deals.

Whatever the deals fate, the region shows no sign of retreating from the market-opening trend that helped transform its many developing nations into a relatively stable zone of affluent, middle-income economies.

New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English said he agrees with his predecessor John Keys view that the U.S. risks ceding some influence to China in the Pacific without the TPP.

English evinced little enthusiasm for the sort of one-on- one bilateral trade deal with the U.S. that Trump said he prefers.

If you ask me today, Id say theres a pretty low chance of that happening in a form that wed find satisfactory, Prime Minister Bill English told reporters in Wellington. But we wouldnt want to rule it out, any more than wed want to rule out other versions of progress on free trade, with TPP or not.

Although losing the U.S. as part of the TPP means losing nearly two-thirds of its market, English said the initiative was still advantageous for New Zealand and therefore worth pursuing.

Trumps threats to impose tariffs of up to 45 percent on some imports are a big worry for most Asian countries, given the regions heavy reliance on exports. The U.S. is the largest single market for China and Japan, and indirectly a huge source of demand for many of the commodities and goods produced across the region.

All of us are working to see how we can ensure we maintain this momentum toward open markets and free trade, Turnbull said. Believe me, protectionism is not a ladder to get you out of the low growth trap. It is a shovel to dig it deeper. Kristen Gelineau, Sydney, AP
Zhu Congqian, a PhD student from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Macau (UM), recently won a national award for Best Young Screenwriter at the 2016 Next Idea Youth Screenplay Competition. The award was for a screenplay adapted from his own science-fiction story titled The Autumn, the Dinosaur- man and I Left Behind.

The story emphasizes the importance of children learning how to face reality as they grow up.

Zhu, from mainland China, has been studying for five years in Macau and he participated in the competition as a representative of UM.

Macau Daily Times (MDT)  Can you tell us more about the winning story? What led you to participate in the competition and what did you expect from it?

Zhu Congqian (ZC)  I have no experience in screenwriting, and I had never written one before. This screenplay is based on a novel I wrote in the past. I made some changes to it and rewrote it as a screenplay. The original book was published in mainland China earlier this year. Around June or July, I came to know about the existence of this competition and I decided to participate. I feel like it [the screenplay] was incredible. Based on my personal judgments, cartoons and screenplays about youth struggle, I dont usually reach the final rounds of such competitions. Normally, these topics might be awarded for their artistic achievement, or given excellence awards. This is why I feel really happy.

MDT  Where does your screenwriting hobby come from and what kind of stories do you like to create?

ZC  When I was little, my grades were not that good. My world sounded safer when I imagined it rather than living in it for real. I started writing when I went to university, having started by writing poems and literature reviews. Poems are [for me] too formalized. I like writing childrens novels or books for young adults [] I [also] prefer to construct a realistic world in my literature which can reflect reality itself.

MDT  Is there anything in your life that changed after you won the prize?

ZC  Some things changed. Wining the competition provided me with many opportunities. There are a few mainland media companies looking for my cooperation. However, awarded stories need more time to be produced, and need a full [production] plan. [I would] first choose some media and drawing companies which relatively suit the market best in order to start writing screenplays with them. No companies from Macau have reached me yet.

MDT  What do you think of Macaus potential if it wants to develop its film and television industries?

ZC  I think Macau has blessed advantages. The city draws a lot of attention to the cultural industry. In turn, the gaming industry has a natural connection with US companies. Macaus actors and actresses have a more southern specialty, and Macaus acting industry has communicated relatively more with Hong Kong. Its location is an obvious advantage.

MDT  How do you expect Chinese films and television to compete in the global market?

ZC  I am not worried about that. One needs to admit that Asian culture has inspired film and television products that seemingly cannot be accepted by Western audiences. If you look at the market from the perspective of Western audiences, [Western films and television programs] have their own stable market.
Britains government must get parliamentary approval before starting the process of leaving the European Union, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday, potentially delaying Prime Minister Theresa Mays plans to trigger negotiations by the end of March.

The ruling forces the government to put a bill before Parliament, giving pro-EU politicians a chance to soften the terms of Brexit  Britains exit from the EU. Leave campaigners had objected, saying Parliament shouldnt have the power to overrule the electorate, which voted to leave the bloc in a June 23 referendum.

May had said she would use centuries-old powers known as royal prerogative to invoke Article 50 of the EU treaty and launch two years of exit talks. The powers  traditionally held by the monarch  permit decisions about treaties and other issues to be made without a vote of Parliament.

The referendum is of great political significance, but the act of Parliament which established it did not say what should happen as a result, so any change in the law to give effect to the referendum must be made in the only way permitted by the U.K. Constitution, namely by an act of Parliament, the president of the Supreme Court David Neuberger said in reading the judgement.

To proceed otherwise would be a breach of settled constitutional principles stretching back many centuries, he said.

The case was considered the most important constitutional issue in a generation, clarifying who ultimately wields power in Britains system of government: the prime minister and her Cabinet, or Parliament.

Financial entrepreneur Gina Miller sued to force the government to seek Parliamentary approval before invoking Article 50. Leaving the EU will change the fundamental rights of citizens and this cant be done without a vote of lawmakers, she argued.

May had argued the referendum gave her a mandate to take Britain out of the 28-nation bloc and that discussing the details of her strategy with Parliament would weaken the governments negotiating position.

Significantly, the court also ruled that parts of the United Kingdom  Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland  do not need to be consulted. Had the court ruled that the devolved Parliaments needed a say, a significant delay to the process would have been likely as lawmakers from the regions piled in with concerns.

The decision doesnt mean that Britain will remain in the EU. But it could delay the process.

The government moved quickly to say it would offer its plans in detail to the House of Commons. Legal experts suggest that May will try to keep the scope of the legislation narrow  focusing solely on triggering Article 50  in order to limit the chance for amendments that could delay a vote.

But opposition became evident immediately. Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the party would seek to amend the legislation to make sure the government is accountable. The Scottish National Party, the third largest party in the House of Commons, promised to offer 50 amendments.

Todays result comes as a surprise to no one. Unfortunately for businesses and other institutions, Brexit still means uncertainty, said Phillip Souta, head of U.K. public policy at law firm Clifford Chance. Parliament remains divided and the outcome of the negotiations remain unknown.

The bill could also be subject to delay in the unelected House of Lords.

Defeat in the House of Lords would not stop Brexit from happening, but it could delay it until mid-2020, Souta said.

Miller, an online investment manager, had argued the case wasnt about blocking Brexit. Instead, she said, it was about democracy and the dangerous precedent that a government can overrule Parliament.

For Miller, the 8-3 verdict from the Supreme Court judges brought vindication after months of threats to her security that followed her involvement in the case.

No prime minister, no government can expect to be unanswerable or unchallenged, she said. Parliament alone is sovereign.

The case revolved around an argument that dates back almost 400 years to the English Civil War as to whether power ultimately rests in the executive or Parliament.

Underscoring the importance of the case, May put Attorney General Jeremy Wright in charge of the legal team fighting the suit. Wright had argued the suit is an attempt to put a legal obstacle in the way of enacting the referendum result. Danica Kirka, London, AP

FAQ | What the Supreme Court ruling means for Brexit

Britains Supreme Court ruling is a setback for Prime Minister Theresa Mays plan to start the process by the end of March, but government officials say they can still meet the timetable.

Some fundamental questions and answers about the decision:

DOES THIS RULING MEAN THE PROCESS WILL STOP?

The June 23 referendum vote that produced majority support for leaving the EU has changed minds in Parliament because members dont want to be seen as thwarting the will of the people, making it very unlikely Parliament will stop Brexit in its tracks.

The majority Conservative Party favors the move out of the EU, and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has said the opposition partys lawmakers will back the process, although some have rejected his call to do so.

Corbyn indicated that Labour would seek to amend the bill the government proposes, and the Scottish National Party said it would introduce around 50 amendments. There is scattered opposition, but Parliament is expected to endorse the governments proposal.

It isnt clear, however, if the government will get approval as quickly as it wants. Extended debates, and amendments, could slow things down.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The government will now seek a vote in Parliament authorizing the use of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would start the two-year process of removing Britain from the 28-nation EU.

Ministers had already drafted several possible pieces of legislation in anticipation of losing the Supreme Court case, which upheld a lower court ruling.

The government could submit legislation this week and seek quick passage of a bill. May has sought to reassure Parliament by stating that legislators will be given a chance to vote on Brexit at the end of the negotiation process when there is a proposed agreement with the EU.

Vocal opponents of Brexit will certainly be given the time to make their case in Parliament, but it will be difficult to sway legislators who feel bound by the referendum results.

WAS THE RULING A TOTAL LOSS FOR THE GOVERNMENT?

No. The government was able to convince the Supreme Court that the Scottish Parliament and the legislatures in Northern Ireland and Wales wont be given a direct say in the process.

Ministers had feared that giving the Scottish Parliament or the Northern Ireland Assembly a direct role might have slowed the process considerably given political uncertainty in Northern Ireland and strong opposition to Brexit in Scotland.

The decision allows May and her senior team to focus solely on the British Parliament. AP
AFGHANISTAN-US In a long rambling letter, the spokesman for the Taliban tells U.S. President Donald Trump that its time to leave Afghanistan. The letter, emailed to journalists, was written on behalf of the so-called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Talibans spokesman, warns Trump that peace will be elusive as long as foreign troops are on Afghan soil.

CHINA Authorities have shuttered the website and social media accounts of a prominent economics think tank amid a mounting assault on liberal academic voices.

SOUTH KOREA Prosecutors say they plan to question impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye and search her office by early next month over a huge corruption scandal involving Park and her longtime confidante. Earlier in the day, Parks confidante, Choi Soon-sil (pictured), called the investigation unfair.

KUWAIT hangs seven prisoners, including a royal family member, a Filipina and a woman convicted of killing more than 40 people, in a mass execution, the first death sentences carried out in several years in the oil-rich emirate.

CAMBODIA Celebrity chefs from Paris to Los Angeles swear by Kampot pepper, a southwestern Cambodian spice with a tragic past that is now reclaiming its global pre-eminence.

AUSTRALIA The premiere of Tanna, Australias first-ever Oscar nominee for a foreign language film, was as far from Hollywood glamor as one can get. The guests gathered not in an opulent theater, but in a cyclone-flattened village on a remote island.

RUSSIA A manager in charge of investigating hacking attacks at Russias biggest cybersecurity firm has been arrested, the company said. Kaspersky Lab confirmed reports in Kommersant newspaper that Ruslan Stoyanov, head of its computer incidents investigations unit, was arrested in December. Stoyanov was arrested along with a senior Russian FSB intelligence officer and that they both face charges of treason.

RUSSIA-US Moscow has no illusions that strained relations between Russia and the United States can quickly improve under President Donald Trump, Russias foreign minister told the parliament yesterday. Russian officials previously cheered Trumps election and expressed hopes of better ties between the two countries.

MIGRANT CRISIS The European Commission urged European leaders to endorse sweeping measures to help stop tens of thousands of desperate people from leaving Libya in search of better lives in Europe, with thousands dying during the perilous journey. The Commission said that the leaders should deploy the full range of EU missions and projects to help Libyans manage their borders and protect migrants.
fine motor skills

self-expression & imagination

communication skills

aesthetics





such as folding the panels in a circle to create a house! We did that for Noahs's room & we also got the You can do a lot with this space dividersuch asfolding the panels in a circle to create a house! We did that for Noahs's room & we also got the felt wool berries - which I LOVE!! I must admit, he hasn't quite mastered the creativity aspect of it, but I think the more we practice.... the more he will understand that play time is about imagining & creating!

















Check out more cool toys and tools on edu2toys

Hey guys! I wanted to highlight a new learning toy we got recently. edu2toys is a company based out ofthat believes in the power ofeducation. They understand that each child has his or her own unique greatness. So, they developed tools & toys that nurture & empower kids to become their best self! I'm totally down with that!As a mom, I find myself wondering what types of activities to do with myI've tried playing ball, coloring & even making a spider out of a craft materials, he wasn't that interested. Throughout the 'trying' I found myself wondering if I was doing something wrong? - I've had better luck when he & I painted together & read books. As a mom, I am realizing more & more that early childhood is an important stage of development where my little guy is exploring & curious about every single thing! He's obsessed with looking into everything.I came across edu2toys & I love that they believe that developing creativity in our children is a duty to be shared by both teachers & parents.They also explain that in order to understand children we need to try & listen closely to what they say, their facial expressions, the look in their eyes & even analyze their drawings. KIDS tend to communicate via emotions, shadow play, music, art of sculpture, storytelling, drawing, drama and a multitude of other verbal and non-verbal means of self-expression. So, my husband I wanted to bring more creativity into Noah's play area where he would be able to express himself more....so, we chose a few items from edu2toys The one Ill be sharing with you today is theIt's a modular space divider. It helps develop sensory skills & also imagination! You can also use this to divide an area in their room and create activity zones & quiet reading time. I love toys that help Noah develop skills, for example this space divider is valuable because it helps with:-pics by jen ramos
TWIN FALLS  It started out as a group of friends who like to run.

Jaime Tigue has fostered a lifelong passion for fitness and helping others achieve their goals. The health recreation and fitness professor at the College of Southern Idaho is also the director and founder of the Magic Valley Trail Enhancement Committee.

Tigue and some friends started the group about nine years ago when they put together a committee that hosted fun runs in Twin Falls. It wasnt long before they decided what to do with the money: bring connectivity to the community through trails, specifically the Canyon Rim Trail.

Thats the one that makes sense, Tigue said. It doesnt have connectivity.  Getting people active in the community in a safe place is what this trail will bring.

MaVTEC donated about $10,000 for the last extension of the Canyon Rim Trail along the Pillar Falls development. This section connects the trail to Pole Line Road East near Eastland Drive North.

Tigues latest project: Raising $600,000 by March to gain access to Gary Storrers property above Pillar Falls. This will allow the city to complete the final 1.6 miles of trail needed to create a continuous 7-mile trail along the canyon rim.

Its so beautiful out there, Tigue said. You cant beat that.

As of Jan. 16, MaVTEC had raised $437,501 from community partners for the final section.

Were this close, she said. And our community is just amazing.

MaVTEC has 18 members hosting six fun runs a year. The group is a subcommittee of the Twin Falls Community Foundation.

Typically, each fun run has an entry fee of $55, and more than 300 runners and walkers participate.

The next fundraiser will be a dinner auction in collaboration with Title One on Feb. 24. A Falls 2 Falls race is planned for April 22.

Several mornings a week, Tigue and some friends can be found running the Canyon Rim Trail. And the winter weather hasnt stopped them  except when the snow is too deep to run in.

And its no longer just about the physical benefit.

Its more of a mental relief, she said.

MaVTEC still has a ways to go to secure funding for the final trail extension, but Tigue has confidence that the committee will get the money.

Once this (Canyon Rim Trail) is complete, our next goal would be to start working on the Rock Creek Canyon trail, she said.

The trail in Rock Creek Canyon has two portions in city and county property  the former dead-ends into rugged canyon below houses. MaVTEC member Shelley McEuen would like to see the two ends of trail connect.

But it will take time and collaboration. While the former Daydream Ranch at the end of the trail is for sale, Rock Creek Canyon runs through other private lands and a dichotomy of interests.

Tigue sees a lot of potential in tackling the trail in Rock Creek Canyon.

If anybody could do it, I think MaVTEC could get people interested, McEuen said.
BURLEY  A jury trial for a Declo man charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife has been pushed back to May to allow a chance for the parties to mediate the case.

The jury trial for Ronnie Gene Kincaid Jr., 36, was reset for May 1 in Cassia County District Court and the state and Kincaids attorney have filed requests to try and mediate the case, court records said.

A mediator has not been selected.

Cassia County Prosecutor Doug Abenroth declined to comment on the case.

Kincaid is also charged with felony mayhem, two counts of penetration with a foreign object, concealing or destroying evidence and a charge enhancement for being a persistent violator.

The trial has been delayed four times over the course of a year.

Kincaid was charged after sheriffs deputies found his wife, Melissia Kincaids body in a back bedroom of the familys single-wide mobile home between Burley and Declo. Kincaid told police she was having female medical problems when she became unresponsive after the couple had sex at 2:30 a.m.

Kincaid told investigators he put her in the shower to wake her up but he did not call the police until 9 a.m.

Kincaids son, Ronnie Kincaid III, was initially charged with accessory to murder and destroying and concealing evidence after police said he helped his father wash blood and DNA from his step mothers body.

Abenroth dismissed the charges in April after a judge was unwilling to delay the trial. At the time, Abenroth said he planned to refile the charges at a later date. He also declined to comment on this case.
BOISE  A Twin Falls woman was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court to two years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.

Mary Galan, 66, falsified scores of tax returns for clients and deposited refunded credits into her own accounts, federal prosecutors said.

Galan will also serve three years of supervised release once shes out of prison, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorneys Office in Boise.

She pleaded guilty Oct. 19 to one count of conspiracy.

Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ordered Galan to forfeit and pay restitution of $336,926 to the IRS.

This prosecution and sentence send the clear message that those who defraud the federal government by claiming tax credits to which they are not entitled will be swiftly and surely brought to justice, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson said in a statement.

This defendants scheme cheated all taxpayers, and therefore all Americans.

Galan owned and operated Galan Accounting in Twin Falls since 2006. She prepared tax returns for clients.

Beginning around 2013 and continuing through 2015, Galan conspired to defraud the IRS in its collection of her clients income taxes, according to the statement.

She claimed education credits on tax returns through the American Opportunity Credit, the statement said, knowing her clients didnt qualify.

Galan asked clients if they had college-aged children, according to the statement. For some clients, Galan prepared tax returns directing the IRS to deposit refunds  belonging to taxpayer clients  into personal bank accounts belonging to Galan and her co-conspirators.

In total, Galan received direct deposits of taxpayer client refunds of $219,490.

Galan and co-conspirators prepared 187 tax returns for 165 clients claiming $342,901 in education credits from the College of Southern Idaho.

These returns claimed $787,630 in qualified expenses from the school. CSI records show of those expenses claimed, only $8,905 for six students were actually paid, according to the statement.

The IRS investigated the case in conjunction with the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.
TWIN FALLS  New state legislation could help adults whove taken college classes but havent earned a degree finish their education.

The House Education Committee introduced a bill Monday seeking to create an adult postsecondary completion scholarship. Adults whove been out of school for at least three years and who have at least 24 college credits could get up to $3,000 per year.

It could have an impact at the College of Southern Idaho, which has a large population of non-traditional students  those who arent right out of high school.

I appreciate the efforts of the legislature to move the needle on completion, CSI executive vice president Todd Schwarz said.

During fall semester, about 28 percent of CSIs students were 18 or 19 years old. That doesnt include high schoolers taking dual credit classes.

But 1,071 students  or 23.4 percent of the student body  was 30 or older.

Regardless of what the state does, CSI officials have talked about ways to reconnect with people whove accumulated college credits, but havent finished, Schwarz said.

Its not the first time a proposal for an adult completer scholarship has come up. The topic was debated during 2016 legislative session, but didnt end up becoming law.

If approved, the initiative could cost the state about $3 million per year.

Idahos colleges, universities and state officials are pushing to get more students to pursue higher education and finish successfully to help meet workforce needs.

The Idaho Board of Educations Complete College Idaho plan aims for 60 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds to have a post-secondary degree or certificate by 2020.

About half of Idahos high school seniors pursue higher education within a year after graduating.

One purpose of the legislative bill is to provide financial incentives for adults to finish earning a certificate or degree.

Filer resident Angie Allen returned to college this summer at age 47. As a 19-year-old, she dropped out of a community college in Centralia, Wash. She had been working on pre-requisites to go into dental hygiene.

After spending nine years as a school secretary, Allen decided she wanted to become a teacher  something she has always been interested in.

Without a degree, you really dont get to qualify (for) a good amount of money to make a living, she said.

Despite working full time as a secretary, she was making less than $20,000 per year.

Allen said this summer was a good time to enroll at CSI because she and her husband paid off all of their debt except their house.

After enrolling at CSI, she signed up for the colleges new Bridge to Success program. For $125, the eight-week offering allowed students to earn their first seven college credits. They also received textbooks, tutoring, leadership training, academic advising and daily lunches.

Allen, whos now 48, said she learned where to access resources at CSI. The more you know about your surroundings, the better prepared youll be.

But still, going back to college was kind of scary, she said. These young kids have these brains that just came out of high school.

Allen had to re-acclimate to being a student. But she loves CSI. I think its been a great place for me to come back to.

Plus, she said shes noticing more older students on campus and its a comforting feeling.

After earning an associates degree, Allen plans to pursue a bachelors degree in elementary education through Idaho State Universitys Twin Falls program.

If legislators approve the completer scholarship, eligible adults would need to demonstrate financial need and could receive financial help for up to eight semesters. Preference would be given to veterans of the U.S. armed forces.

Some adults who are employed may not qualify for federal financial aid, Schwarz said. And if they have a family to support, they may rely on the income from a job.

A college scholarship would need to be fairly significant to tempt someone to walk away from a job or scale back at work, he added.

And if a scholarship covered tuition only, Schwarz said, it may not be too helpful.

But Allen said theres already a lot of help and support available for people wanting to go back to college. Its just tapping into it.
BOISE  The Trump administration has indicated investing in Americas infrastructure will be one of its top priorities, but Idahos transportation director worries the state could get shortchanged if the presidents plan emphasizes private spending.

Donald Trump promised when he was running for president to pursue an up to $1 trillion plan to spend on transportation and utility infrastructure. While he has yet to unveil anything much more specific since becoming president Friday, he has in the past talked about using tax credits to private developers to fund much of the work.

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on the Charlie Rose Show on PBS last week he would like to see $40 of private spending for every federal dollar, while the U.S. Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled their own $1 trillion proposal and said they would oppose a plan that relies on tax credits.

Meanwhile, McClatchy newspapers reported Tuesday on a list of 50 top priority projects Trump is circulating, and proposing to pay for them with a mix of public and private investment. None of the 50 are in Idaho, except for a couple of nationwide electricity projects.

According to The Hill both Democrats and some rural Republicans in Washington D.C., have expressed concerns that relying on private investment would only attract projects that can recoup their costs through means such as tolls, thus discouraging investment in states such as Idaho that dont have the traffic volumes. Idaho Transportation Department Director Brian Ness expressed the same concerns Tuesday.

We really dont have the traffic to generate that kind of revenue to pay that back, Ness told the Idaho Legislatures House and Senate Transportation committees.

Responding to a question from Rep. Brandon Hixon, R-Caldwell, Ness said he has had contacts with Trumps transition team but has not gotten any specific commitments on what might happen in Idaho. Ness said everyone would have to wait to see what comes out of Washington, D.C., but that a plan that relies on private money could put Idaho at a disadvantage.

Huge mega-projects may be good on one coast or the other, but the rural states and the Western United States really dont benefit from projects like that, Ness said.

U.S. Sen. Mike Crapos spokesman Lindsay Nothern said his boss has generally been supportive of infrastructure spending, and of making sure Idaho gets its share of federal funding, in the past, but he would have to wait to see the specifics of what Trump wants to do, the cost and where the money would come from.

Since we dont yet know specifics of President Trumps proposal, it is too premature for speculation, said Kaylin Minton, spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Jim Risch. Well be watching closely and Idaho will remain our top priority.

Gov. C.L. Butch Otter has been in contact with the Trump team to discuss a number of issues  Otter was vetted for a job in the cabinet and they have had discussion on sage grouse and health care  but transportation hasnt been one of the topics, said Otter spokesman Jon Hanian.

Ness was before the committees to update them on his department. Otter has proposed a $666 million transportation budget for 2017-18, a $10 million increase over the last budget. A little more than half of the states transportation money comes from state revenues, the rest from the federal government.

Transportation funding has been a contentious issue in recent years  lawmakers spent about two weeks longer in Boise in 2015 than they had planned before hammering out a $96 million deal to raise fuel taxes and registration fees and temporarily shift some surplus revenues to transportation. Ness said Tuesday his department is still short on $165 million a year for what it needs just to keep up with maintenance and short $281 million to pay for the expansion projects it would like.

Ness spent much of his presentation on the strides ITD has made in recent years, saying the department has been able to do more even while reducing staff sizes by encouraging employees to innovate. He pointed to statistics showing the department is doing a much better job of keeping the highways clear of snow than in 2010, and told lawmakers about the many national awards the department has won in recent years.

We took risks with the goal of making things better, and it worked, Ness said. We improved our performance with a smaller workforce.
HEYBURN  When Gloria Wells walked into the OATS Family Center for the first time she had an attitude that screamed: Do not mess with me.

The hardened outlook developed over time after Wells was treated unfairly as a Native American Chippewa woman and after enduring judicial injustices stemming from the tender age of 13  when she was arrested for fishing without a license and raped in jail.

Now, shes finding recovery and a new self-worth through the OATS Family Center, which stands for Opposites of Addiction Through Service. It opened in 2009 and last year served 269 clients. The clients are sometimes referred to the center by judges or by other agencies but the center also accept clients who just walk in the door asking for help.

The center offers licensed group and individual substance abuse counseling, case management, family counseling and drug testing, along with teaching anger management skills, parenting and life skills. Treatment for about half of the clients is paid for through Medicare. The center also helps people connect with other services in the community for housing, transportation and access to food.

May of the centers clients have endured staggering hardships. Wells eyes still pool with tears at the memory of the jailhouse rape. She struggled to find her place in the world afterward and to quiet the thoughts in her mind that told her she was dirty, unworthy and worse.

Eventually, Wells became a successful businesswoman owning art galleries in Montana and Wisconsin. But she had also become embroiled in the drug culture in her 30s, and she admits I made wrong decisions and was with the wrong people.

Cocaine and methamphetamine were her drugs of choice.

It calls for us, she said of the drug, and its straight from the Devil himself.

A new way

Gloria was angry, says Verda Hutchison, one of the founders of the center. Shes more trusting now and she sees that she has worth.

Wells, 61, of Twin Falls, was in the Mini-Cassia jail in 2015 on charges of drug possession when an inmate told her to go to the OATS center if she wanted to reclaim her life.

They opened up a door when I didnt have a place to go, said Wells, who collected her motorhome from Montana after she was released from jail and parked it in front of the center while she completed the paperwork for the program. Where else would I have gone? I didnt even have a place to live.

The center has an open-door policy  when someone comes in looking for help, they get it right away. In some other treatment facilities, clients sometimes have to wait weeks for their first appointment.

The center also holds a community dinner every Friday evening open to all who want to join, and it holds a Walk for Wellness community event on May 6 to bring awareness of substance abuse and mental health to the community.

Its a place to belong, said Sally Hall, a counselor and another of the centers founders. There is no definite end to treatment, and the aftercare and support can go on as long as needed.

When people use (drugs) for 20 years, they may need continuing support for a long time, Hall said.

Providing a sense of belonging for the clients and teaching them how to give back to the community are important components of the program, Hall said. We get back to basics and teach them how to treat others.

The basis of the program is a set of six life skills, Hall said. The more they practice those skills, the better they get at living life.

About 90 percent of the clients have substance abuse problems, but most also suffer from mental health problems, too.

Rupert resident Alfredo Ybarra walked through the doors eight months ago looking for help.

It has helped me realize there is more to life than drinking and drugging, Ybarra said. I was at a point where my life was going nowhere.

At the center on Monday, Ybarra took a red dry-erase pen and wrote words of inspiration on a board for other clients to read.

Its really emotional for me, he said. It helped me understand that Im not the only one struggling.

Part of the treatment involves counseling, but clients also learn to get involved in the community and how to give back. They are taught to perform community service, including making quilts in a sewing room at the center that are given to underprivileged people in the community or sent to hospitals.

Wells called the centers atmosphere homey.

If you want to enact change in someone you get their attention by reaching out, listening and caring for them, Wells said.

Hall and Hutchison, she said, have been role models for her, and they have shown her a gentler way of reacting to life.

I let others define who I was for so long, she said. I dont deserve to be called filthy names and I dont deserve to be defined by my disease.

She still struggles internally when she experiences injustice.

Its like getting raped at 13 all over again, Wells said.

But, every day, she said, she wakes up in prayer and with hope for the future.

Sometimes, its hard to be truthful about all the things in your life, Wells said. So you just keep chipping away at those parts you dont like and rebuild it.
Kenneth Richard Arrington

November 10, 1923 - January 22, 2017

TWIN FALLS - Kenneth Richard Arrington, 93, of Twin Falls Idaho passed away peacefully in his sleep on January 22, 2017 at Crestwood Rehabilitation in Ogden, Utah. He was born Nov. 10, 1923 in Twin Falls to Noah Wesley and Edna Corn Arrington.

He graduated from Twin Falls High School in 1942. Kenneth enlisted in the US Navy in 1944. He served on the USS Louisville and fought in the pivotal sea battle at Okinawa. Kenneth was sealed to Doris Baldwin in the Idaho Falls Temple in 1953 and they settled in Twin Falls. Kenneth worked as a farmer his entire life. Kenneth was active in Republican politics and served as the Campaign Chairman for Rep. George Hansen for five election cycles. Kenneth was also active in the LDS church as an Elder, Seventy, and High Priest. He served faithfully as an Assistant Stake Clerk and home teacher for the Ken and Gay Patterson family. Though Kenneth never had the opportunity to attend college, he was a voracious reader and loved studying LDS Church History. Perhaps what will be most missed about Kenneth will be his wit, self-effacing humor, and the twinkle in his eye.

Kenneth was preceded in death by his wife Doris Baldwin and son Richard Baldwin. Kenneth is survived by his sons Farlin (mother Juanita Nix),and his sons from Doris including David (wife Anne), Jeffrey (wife Sheryl), Steven, eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Funeral services for Kenneth will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, January 27, 2017 at the LDS Chapel, 723 Hankins Road N, Twin Falls, Idaho. President Rustin Hatch will preside and Bishop Mark Lambert will conduct. Military honors by the Magic Valley Honor Guard and US Navy Honor Guard. Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Park. A viewing for family and friends will take place on Thursday evening from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at White Mortuary, 136 4th Ave. East in Twin Falls as well as on Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 9:45 a.m.

Services are under the direction of White Mortuary, Chapel by the Park, Twin Falls.

Condolences may be left for the family by visiting www.whitemortuary.com.
Sierra Nevada, the nations third-largest craft brewery, is voluntarily recalling eight beers sold in 12-ounce bottles in 35 states plus Washington, D.C., because of a bottle flaw that could cause glass-related injuries. The recall includes several of the companys most popular brands, including Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Hop Hunter IPA and Torpedo Extra IPA, which were bottled and packaged at its brewery in Mills River, N.C., between early December and mid-January. The problem, according to a news release from the brewery, is a very limited number of bottles with a flaw that may cause a small piece of glass to break off and possibly fall into the bottle, creating a risk for injury.

Mike Bennett, Sierra Nevadas chief supply chain officer, said in a news release that the company believes the condition exists in 1 in 10,000 bottles, though no consumers have reported injuries related to the flaw. Bottles included in the recall have a packaging code that includes an M, for Mills River, printed on the shoulder of the bottle, above the label, or on the outside of a 12-pack or 24-bottle case. Any bottles with a code that includes the letter C, designating the companys original plant in Chico, Calif., are safe, as are all cans and draft versions.

Beers affected are Sierra Nevada Pale Ale bottled between Dec. 5 and Jan. 8, and bottles of Beer Camp Golden IPA, Hop Hunter IPA, Nooner pilsner, Otra Vez gose, Side Car Orange Pale Ale, Torpedo Extra IPA and Tropical Tornado packaged between Dec. 5 and Jan. 13. Customers who purchased recalled bottles should visit sierranevada.com/qualitymatters to find more information about deciphering the bottle codes and applying for a full refund.
Bilateral trade between the Philippines and Australia doubled to A$3.9 billion in 2016 from A$1.5 billion in 2010, the Australian Embassy said.

Australian Embassy senior trade commissioner Elodie Journet said Tuesday during the annual reception night at the Ambassadors residence in Forbes Park that trade between the two countries continued to improve.

What is interesting for us is the shift in the sectors traded. Traditionally, Australia has been active in the commodities sector, in terms of food and beverage. Now, one of the areas we see a lot of traction is the services area  the BPOs and KPOs, she said.

Journet said Australia has been investing a lot in the Philippines BPO industry.

She said there were 280 Australian companies investing in the Philippines. As of 2016, investments by Australian companies hit A$10 billion while their total employment reached 30,000 workers.

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Companies such as Telstra and start-ups like Canva are looking for increased footprint and bigger exposure in the Philippines, she said.

Telstra with its contractor in the Philippines employs about 15,000 Filipinos.

Were not thinking anymore of the Philippines as your basic call center type of BPO. Were looking at elevating the services, making them more technical, more knowledge-based, she said.

She said Australia aimed to bring in more Australian providers that specialize in the jobs of the future such cyber security and data analytics.

Its good news on the part of Australia or any economy to move into services, develop this sector as additional source of revenue, said Journet.

Meanwhile, the Australian government is seeking increased cooperation with the Philippines Environment Department on the mining sector.

Australia offers to share knowledge with the Environment Department on how it created its mining policy.

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US President Donald Trump on Tuesday revived two pipeline projects blocked by his predecessor on environmental grounds, signalling his determination to undo Barack Obama's legacy.

Trump gave a conditional go-ahead to the Keystone XL pipeline  which would carry oil from Canadian tar sands to US refineries on the Gulf Coast  and an equally controversial pipeline crossing in North Dakota.

Both had been put on hold by Obama's administration.

True to his claim to be a hard-charging dealmaker, Trump said both pipeline projects would only be built subject to renegotiated terms and conditions.

"We are going to renegotiate some of the terms and, if they like, we'll see if we can get that pipeline built," he said.

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Since being sworn in on Friday, Trump has begun rolling out an orthodox Republican agenda.

He has moved to curb funding for abortions, embraced Israel, frozen government hiring and sought to loosen environmental regulations.

His administration has also sought to place a tighter grip on departments that may not be sympathetic to his politics.

On day one, Trump's Interior Department ordered staff to report any correspondence from Congress, governors, environmental groups or industry organizations, according to an internal memo obtained by AFP.

Certain meetings, regulations and environmental notices are also to be reported to the department's executive secretariat.

"No correspondence should be cleared to go to Congress or to any Governor until it has been reviewed by the Acting Chief of Staff and/or Senior White House Advisor," the document states.

Trump has sought to put his nationalist and populist print on policy, especially on the economy and trade.

 Made in USA 

The freshly minted president indicated that one possible focus of renegotiation for the revived pipeline projects could be who makes the actual piping.

In a separate executive order issued Tuesday, Trump decreed that pipes should be American made  echoing his "America First" doctrine.

"I am very insistent that if we are going to build pipelines in the United States the pipes should be made in the United States," Trump said.

"We want to build the pipe, put a lot of steel workers back to work."

Most, although not all, oil pipelines are buried underground and made of carbon steel.

Obama had rejected a permit from Calgary-based firm TransCanada to build the 1,179-mile (1,900 kilometer) Alberta-Nebraska section of the project.

Environmentalists have assailed the project, arguing that the Alberta deposits produce some of the "dirtiest" crude in the world.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has helped lead the international charge against climate warming, but his government has firmly supported the pipeline, seeing it as a means of boosting business.

"In both the conversations I've had with President Trump, Keystone XL came up and I reiterated my support for the project," Trudeau said at a retreat in Calgary, Alberta  Canada's oil industry hub.

"I've been on the record for many years supporting it because it leads to economic growth and good jobs for Canadians," he said.

Ahead of Trump's announcement, Resources Minister James Carr said the move would create 4,500 construction jobs.

The project will also mean less oil being transported by rail. "The fact is we know that oil in railcars is more expensive, more polluting and, most importantly, more dangerous," Trudeau noted, alluding to the 2013 derailment of a train carrying crude that leveled most of a Quebec town in 2013.

 Dakota chill 

The Dakota Access Pipeline is more of a political hot potato in the United States.

Native Americans and their supporters strongly protested against the project, prompting the US Army Corps of engineers  which has approval authority  to nix the plans under the Obama administration.

Thousands of protesters had camped in freezing winter temperatures to block the pipeline's planned route which the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe says creates a risk of water pollution and endangers areas with sacred historic artifacts.

The standoff  which included some 2,000 military veterans who joined the protest  set off violent clashes with law enforcement as well as sympathetic demonstrations nationwide.

But Trump has supported the 1,172-mile (1,886-kilometer) oil pipeline, which would snake through four US states.

Environmental groups vowed to keep fighting the pipeline in court and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe accused Trump of violating treaty rights.

"We are not opposed to energy independence. We are opposed to reckless and politically motivated development projects that ignore our treaty rights and risk our water," said Dave Archambault, chairman of the group.

The sheriff of Morton County, North Dakota, where the main protest camp is located, issued a statement urging protesters to remain "peaceful and lawful" in their actions, and saying he intended to ask the Trump administration for law enforcement backup.

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THE government will ask the United States to remove Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison from its list of international terrorists to pave the way for his return to the Philippines without being arrested, an official said Wednesday.

Labor Secretary and government chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III said the delisting of the CPP from the US list of international terrorist organizations would allow Sison to keep his promise to Duterte to return to the Philippines as part of the ongoing peace negotiations.

As an asylum seeker in The Netherlands, Sison could be barred from reentering Europe once he travels outside the continent.

Maybe the talks can be held in the Philippines because we are trying to get support from the people, Bello, who is in Rome for the ongoing peace talks, said in a statement.

Jose Ma. Sison

The US, through its control of the International Police, can always have Sison arrested outside the EU, which protects the rights of people seeking political asylum in its member countries.

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Sison, whose inclusion in the US terrorist list has become a stumbling block for his return, has been living in Utrecht after the Philippine government under President Corazon Aquino canceled his passport in 1987.

Duterte and Sison had earlier agreed to meet in any neutral Asian country once Sison was removed from the list of international terrorists.

The European Union had long ago taken Sison out of its terrorist list.

Bello said with new US President Donald Trump, Sison could be removed from the list of personalities considered by the American government as terrorists.

Meanwhile, Bello said the government and the NDF had agreed to separately discuss the joint bilateral ceasefire when both negotiating panels meet in February in time for the depositing of identification documents of rebel leaders who are to be covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantee.

He said the meeting for the bilateral ceasefire will be held in Utrecht.

NDF chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said they will study the draft government proposal and submit their own draft.

A joint bilateral ceasefire can be reached and signed on or before the fourth round of negotiations set for April in Oslo, according to both panels.

The negotiating panels agreed to expand the agenda of the February special meeting after intense back-channeling by panel members from both sides, and after the NDF initially declined to include the bilateral ceasefire in the agenda of the third round of talks.

The names and proper identification of a sealed document that will contain the names of 87 NDF leaders who will be immune from government arrests will also be deposited in a Netherlands bank to replace the Jasig list reconstituted last year.

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Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Jakatia Pawa has been executed in Kuwait.

This was confirmed by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Spokesperson Charles Jose.

Jose said, the DFA made appeals even on the last minutes before the execution on Wednesday, but to no avail.

The execution by hanging was carried out at 10:39 Kuwait time or at 3:19 pm Philippine time on Wednesday at Sulaibiya Central Prison.

The announcement on Pawa's fate was made by the DFA in a press conference at 3:30 pm Wednesday.

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Jose said the family of Pawa's employer was not interested in accepting blood money in exchange for pardoning the OFW.

(Photo shows the Kuwait Tower. Credit: Visit Kuwait website)

Pawa's brother, Philippine Air Force Lt. Col. Gary Pawa, said his sister had called him at dawn on Wednesday.

She was allowed to place the phone call to her family for the last time from her detention cell.

She told her brother that she was set for execution and asked him to take care of her children.

Pawa was first sentenced to death by the Court of the First Instance in Kuwait for allegedly killing her employers 22-year-old daughter while she was asleep on May 14, 2007.

Her employer's daughter died of 28 stab wounds.

Kuwaits Court of Cassation (Supreme Court) upheld the lower courts ruling on April 13, 2008.

The two verdicts were handed down, despite the defense of Pawa that her fingerprint was absent from the crime scene and the blood stains found did not match her blood samples.

The 32-year-old OFW from Zamboanga del Norte had been working as a household helper for her employer for five years prior to the incident.

Pawas family claims, it was the victims mother who killed her own daughter after discovering the daughter's relationship with a boyfriend.

President Rodrigo Duterte had previously sent a letter of appeal to Kuwait seeking forgiveness for Pawa.

This is the first time a Filipino was executed in Kuwait.

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Reports have emerged that a Hamas delegation led by Ismail Haniya, head of the groups political bureau, has been meeting with Egyptian officials in Cairo since Sunday and that the meetings are expected to continue over the next few days.

A Hamas source said the delegation arrived from Doha and the talks are a sign of awareness on both sides that establishing a better communication with Cairo is the only alternative to ending the tension between them. The source added that the positive relationship between Hamas and the Egyptian government is increasing.

Haniya, whose last official visit to Egypt dates back to 2013 when Mohammed Morsi was President, hinted that major issues are expected to be discussed.

Morsi was a strong supporter of the Palestinian Cause until his ousting by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a military-backed coup detat. The resulting tension that marked Cairos relations with Hamas climaxed when an Egyptian court ruled in 2015 that the Gaza-based Hamas movement was a terrorist group and interferes in Egyptian domestic affairs.

Hamas refuted such claims and alleged that the ruling was politically motivated and a dangerous decision that supports the Israeli occupation. The ruling was reversed in June, before the same court froze Hamas assets and ordered the seizure of the organizations Cairo offices.

We fully understand the conditions Egypt is going through and are also concerned about the security of the Egyptian state, so there is no need for conflict, the Hamas source commented.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces claimed they were targeted by gun shots during routine activities near the security fence with Gaza and said they retaliated by shelling and destroying a Hamas position, although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

President Sisis administration could be on the verge of facing a political challenge in the parliament after opposition figures revealed plans to form a new National Assembly by unifying their forces against him with the support of some Gulf States.
Even though Morocco and Saudi Arabia are bound by a strong friendship and political partnership, their economic exchanges remain weak.

The two countries shared determination to boost trade in 2017 was the elan of the meeting of the Morocco-Saudi Arabia business council held in Casablanca Monday.

The year 2017 should mark a renaissance for trade between the two kingdoms, participants in the meeting underscored. To pave the way for the wished revival, the council has already planned two major events; a meeting of the high joint commission in May as well as a visit by a Saudi businessmen delegation in February.

Since 2014, year of the first Moroccan-Saudi economic forum that was meant to promote trade exchanges and consolidate economic ties, things have not moved as planned due to institutional challenges or administrative and technical hurdles.

Yet, among the major projects expected to be materialized this year is the setting up of an investment fund whose mechanisms have been studied and elaborated but whose execution remains awaiting a political decision. The objective is to create a Moroccan-Saudi public-private fund with a budget of around $500 million. The fund will mainly support Saudi and Moroccan SMEs in their investment in the host country.

The opening of a new direct maritime line between the two countries is also among the projects businessmen are longing for. This new link will enhance the competitiveness of Moroccan exports to Saudi Arabia, mainly agricultural products. Since these products are perishable, the lack of a fast and adapted direct line to this type of products penalizes greatly the Moroccan offer. Besides, the line will constitute a hub to service other African countries.

Moroccos exports to the Saudi kingdom in 2015 were estimated only at 1.2 billion dirham while imports stood at 9.6 billion dirham. Saudi exports to Morocco consist mostly of crude oil and other hydrocarbons as well as various materials (plastics, paper and cardboard).
Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank.
Equatorial Guineas opposition parties on Monday have expressed reservations over the governments decision to welcome former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh in the Central African nation.

According to one of the opposition groups, the Convergence for Social Democracy, President Teodoro Obiang will be held responsible for whatever happens with the presence of Jammeh in the oil-rich nation.

Another group, the Democratic Opposition Front, was of the view that Jammeh did not qualify for asylum given that he refused to accept the results of the polls that brought Adama Barrow to power.

We are not against Pan-Africanism, but we are in favor of a more objective Pan-Africanism that does not consist in just bringing over the waste of Africa, the group said.

Former President Yahya Jammeh exiled in Equatorial Guinea, is accused of emptying the coffers of Gambia before leaving on Saturday.

He is believed to have acquired a huge fortune, including a fleet of Rolls-Royces and an estate in a wealthy suburb of Washington, D.C during his rule.

Upcoming investigations into Jammehs regime raise the possibly he may be forced to return to Gambia in the future to face charges. Barrow said it was too soon to speculate whether the former president could face trial in Gambia, before the International Criminal Court or elsewhere.

Analysts say his exile in Equatorial Guinea is likely due at least in part to the fact that the country is not a party to the International Criminal Court as Morocco, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia who had reportedly offered him asylum.

Note that a 7000-man military is expected to stay in Gambia to search for hidden weapons and secure the country for an unspecified period.
The U.S. State Department has approved a possible $418 million sale to Kenya of aircraft with weapons and related support, a Pentagon agency told Reuters on Monday.

According to the The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the approval was for the possible sale of up to 12 Air Tractor AT-802L planes and two AT-504 trainer aircraft, a weapons package, technical support and program management.

Kenya, once seen as a stable ally of the United States in East Africa, a popular destination for American tourists to go on safari and sunbathe on the beaches of the Indian Ocean; has been facing threats from Al-Shabab terrorists over the last 3 years.

The group has waged an insurgency in Somalia since 2006 to impose its version of Islamic law. It used the country as a staging ground to carry out attacks in Kenya, East Africas largest economy, and Uganda.

Kenya is the fourth largest recipient of U.S. aid for civilian counterterrorism operations, with $43 million earmarked over the past four years, and an additional $117 million for counterterrorism and border security programs.
Experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and of the Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) on Monday commended Ghana for its preparation so far for nuclear energy.

Ghana has established effective mechanisms to involve a wide and comprehensive range of national stakeholders in the relevant activities, the experts indicated after an eight-day peer review of phase one of Ghanas nuclear power program.

This ensures an inclusive process in the studies required for the government to make a knowledgeable decision on a nuclear power program, the review team noted.

During the review dubbed, the International Peer Review, the team noted that Ghana had already completed or initiated a significant number of studies.

The Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), Professor Benjamin J.A. Nyarko, contended that even though there might be adverse effect with nuclear power, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.

The Director of Renewable of Alternate Energy of the Ministry of Energy, Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo, assured the experts of the governments commitment to include nuclear in the energy mix, recalling that the government took a Cabinet decision on the issue in 2007.

Ghana, West Africas third-biggest economy after Nigeria and Cote dIvoire, was briefly one of the fastest-growing in the world. In 2011, when gold and oil prices hit record highs, economy posted a 15% growth.

However, the West African nation is now facing its worst economic and energy crisis in the recent years.

The cuts known as dumsor in the country have been a hot political topic with many residents suffering 24-hour blackouts that cut off household water supply.

The new President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced a merger of the Ministries of Energy and Petroleum and Power earlier this month and promised to provide Ghanaians with reliable energy during his first term in office.
Kuwait Fund finances road rehabilitation in Adjara region

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has offered the equivalent of $27 million to Georgia to improve road infrastructure in Georgias Adjara region.A loan agreement was signed yesterday in Georgias capital of Tbilisi between Georgia and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, whereby the Fund will extend a loan of 8 million KD to Georgia.The money will be spent on the rehabilitation of the 29km-long stretch of the Khulo-Goderdzi section of the Batumi-Akhaltsikhe road. The works will also include the construction of concrete culverts and roadside channels for water drainage, the reconstruction of four bridges and traffic safety signs.Thanks to these efforts the road leading to Georgias Goderdzi resort will be restored and will reduce transport cost and time for passengers headed to the winter resort.Georgias Finance Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili believes road reconstruction will boost tourism development in Goderdzi, encourage the local sector to build more hotels, tourist facilities and attractions and create more jobs.Fixing the Khulo-Goderdzi road section is part of a government-initiated Spatial Arrangement Plan and four-point reform plan, which includes new tax benefits, infrastructure plans, governance reforms and an overhaul of the education system.The total cost of the project is about 93 million GEL (about $35 million/32 million*) and the Kuwait Fund Loan will cover approximately 64 percent of the total amount.The loan term is 25 years including an initial grace period of five years, and will be paid off in 40 semi-annual instalments.This is now the third loan the Kuwait Fund would give to Georgia to finance projects in the transport sector, totalling more than 17.3 KD (approximately $59 million).Currency conversions reflect National Bank of Georgia values as of yesterday .
IMF ups oil price forecast

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has increased the forecast for the average oil price for 2017 by $0.6 to $51.2 per barrel, according to IMFs updated World Economic Outlook.This World Economic Outlook incorporates a firming of oil prices following the agreement among OPEC members and several other major producers to limit supply.The assumed price based on futures markets (as of December 6, 2016) is $53.1 in 2018, according to IMF.In the Middle East, growth in Saudi Arabia is expected to be weaker than previously forecast for 2017 as oil production is cut back in line with the recent OPEC agreement, said the report.During the Vienna meeting held Nov.30, OPEC members decided to implement a new OPEC-14 production target of 32.5 million barrels per day.It was also decided to establish a High-level Monitoring Committee, consisting of oil ministers, and assisted by the OPEC Secretariat, to monitor the implementation of the agreement.Later, non-OPEC countries agreed to cut the oil output by 558,000 barrels per day during the meeting held Dec.10.Eleven non-OPEC countries agreed to reduce the oil output: Azerbaijan, Kingdom of Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Sultanate of Oman, the Russian Federation, Republic of Sudan, and Republic of South Sudan.OPEC and non-OPEC countries pledged to implement the reached deal from January 1 2017.
The News in Brief

PM to Visit Spain, Switzerland



Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili will visit Spain and Switzerland on January 17-21, the PMs office reported.



During his working visit, PM Kvirikashvili will meet his Spanish counterpart, Mariano Rajoy and King Felipe VI.



The Georgian Prime Minister will also hold talks with Taleb Rifai, secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and participate in the International Tourism Trade Fair, where he will view the Georgian exhibition space.



In November, Georgia named Zurab Pololikashvili, ambassador to Spain and permanent representative to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), for the position of the organizations secretary general.



From Spain, the Georgian delegation led by the Prime Minister and including Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze and Economy Minister Giorgi Gakharia will leave for Davos, to participate in the annual World Economic Forum on January 17-20.



On the sidelines of the forum, the Georgian Prime Minister will meet the representatives of the worlds economic circles, according to the PMs office. Top level bilateral political meetings are also planned as part of the working visit. (Civil.ge)







Republican Party presents legislation to combat violence against women



In the former Soviet republic Georgia, the Republican Party has proposed legislation that will make femicide a separate crime  a gender-based hate crime which is causing alarm in the country.



The Republicans, a party formed by Soviet dissenters in the 1970s, explained the proposal in a statement as a response to an increased number of murders of women and girls on account of their gender.



The aim of the proposed amendments is to protect womens right in Georgia and ensure the equality of men and women. We want the law to recognize a murder of a woman which is conditioned by sexism, or a desire to take possession over the woman, or a proprietary attitude toward her, as an especially grave crime, the statement reads.



The year of 2017 has only just begun, but already one woman has been killed by her ex-husband in Tbilisi. Another woman was thrown from the second floor of a building and hospitalized with severe injuries.



Violence against women at the hands of former or current spouses is a challenge for the countrys law enforcement authorities.



The Public Defender highlighted that the reality of violence against women and domestic violence is very grim throughout the country. Based on the number of restraining orders issued in 2015, there were around 3,000 cases of domestic violence.



According to data from the Chief Prosecutors Office, 28 cases of murder and attempted murder of women were reported in 2015. Out of these, 16 cases were domestic violence. The majority of the crimes were committed by partners, former partners or by a person who had been denied partner relations. (DF watch)







Rules of Parliament obliges minister to answer MPs question on Gazprom



Members of the government are authorized, while in case of the request they are obliged, to attend a faction session and answer the questions raised there.



The abovementioned is envisaged in the Rules of Procedures of the Parliament of Georgia, on the basis of which, the parliamentary minority summoned Energy Minister Kakhi Kaladze to a joint session of the minority factions.



As the Parliament Vice-Speaker Sergo Ratiani said at the bureau session, they have already submitted a letter the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Kakha Kaladze.



The parliamentary minority wants detailed information about the Gazporm issue from Kakha Kaladze. (IPN)







Olympic champion Lasha Talakhadze in running for top lifter award



Georgias Olympic champion Lasha Talakhadze is in the running to be named Weightlifter of the Year via an online fan survey.



Organised by the International Weightlifting Federation, the poll was announced on January 13 and will run through January 31.



Talakhadze is among six nominees up for voting on the federations official website. (Agenda.ge)




@MaryEllenKlas

Amid intense questioning from lawmakers Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott's office withdrew a request that taxpayers foot the bill for an additional $13 million in legal fees in the ongoing litigation battle between Florida and Georgia over access to water in the Apalachicola-Chatahoochee-Flint River basin.

The withdrawal came hours before the Joint Legislative Budget Commission, which oversees agency budgets, was expected to vote on the request by the Department of Environmental Protection for the additional fees in the 16-year water war that has already cost taxpayers nearly $72 million in legal fees.

Since 2001, the state has been billed $97.8 million on the water wars, according to an analysis by the House Appropriations Committee and first reported in the Herald/Times. It has spent $71.9 million to date.

Nearly $54.4 million of the cost was spent in the last two years after Florida asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and the court appointed a special master to resolve the dispute. Florida sued Georgia in 2013 claiming the states excessive use of water from the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers was endangering Floridas oyster industry and harming the economy of North Florida.

Last week, legislators and budget staff started raising questions about the legal fees. The Department of Environmental Regulation, which handles the legal contract, want $17.1 million more in taxpayer funds, bringing the total cost for the year to about $41 million. Two days later, DEP Secretary Jon Steverson announced he was retiring.

Rep. Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee said he hopes the department will renegotiate the contract rates with the lead law firm.
@JeremySWallace

Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet have set a conference call on Feb. 1 to appoint an interim secretary to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and talk about the process for selecting a permanent replacement.

Current DEP Secretary Jon Steverson announced his resignation effective on Feb. 3.

The Cabinet met yesterday, but because there was not enough time give proper public notice of the discussion, Scott said the Cabinet would have to hold a conference call in order to make the interim secretary selection. The next regularly scheduled Cabinet meeting is not until Feb. 7, which would have left DEP without a leader between Steverson's resignation and the interim selection.

Amid intense questioning from lawmakers Tuesday, Scott's office withdrew a request from DEP that taxpayers foot the bill for an additional $13 million in legal fees

Last week, legislators and budget staff started raising questions about the legal feesin the ongoing litigation battle between Florida and Georgia over access to water in the Apalachicola-Chatahoochee-Flint River basin. DEP, which handles the legal contract, want $17.1 million more in taxpayer funds, bringing the total cost for the year to about $41 million. Two days later, Steverson announced he was retiring.

Amid intense questioning from lawmakers Tuesday, Scott's office withdrew a request from DEP that taxpayers foot the bill for an additional $13 million in legal fees.

The conference call will be at 4 p.m. on Feb. 1. Scott has the authority to appoint a permanent DEP secretary, but the rest of the three elected Cabinet members are required to confirm the selection.
@PatriciaMazzei

Florida Gov. Rick Scott threatened Wednesday to strip state funds from two South Florida seaports ready to sign business deals with the Cuban government.

Over three posts on Twitter, the governor said he would ask state lawmakers to restrict dollars for ports that enter into any agreement with Cuban dictatorship  as Port Everglades and the Port of Palm Beach plan to do Thursday and Friday, respectively.

We cannot condone Raul Castros oppressive behavior, Scott tweeted in English and Spanish, using the preferred social-media platform of his friend, President Donald Trump. Serious security/human rights concerns.

 Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) January 25, 2017

I will recommend restricting state funds for ports that work with Cuba in my budget. (2/3)  Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) January 25, 2017

We cannot condone Raul Castros oppressive behavior. Serious security/human rights concerns. (3/3)  Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) January 25, 2017

Scotts position came a day after the first legal cargo from Cuba  artisanal charcoal  in more than half a century arrived Tuesday in Fort Lauderdales Port Everglades. The Port of Palm Beach is located in Riviera Beach.

More here.

This post has been updated.
Gov. Rick Scott began a two-day, six-TV market push Wednesday for $618 million in tax cuts, and some Republicans at the Capitol who would have to vote for it are not exactly on Scott's bandwagon.

In the House, even before Scott launched his annual tax-cut Speaker Richard Corcoran and his top advisers have called the state's historic spending levels "unsustainable," mostly because of a lack of discipline by Republicans themselves, and that cuts will be required to balance the budget in a year with almost no surplus after essential needs are funded.

"Tax cuts are always possible," said House Appropriations Chairman Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami. "But how much appetite do we have to be disciplined financially? We've been led by Republicans for the last 20 years and we spend like Democrats."

The bottom line: Scott's tax cut proposals could face the same fate as last year. Read the background here.

Sen. Tom Lee, R-Thonotosassa, who chaired the Senate budget committee for the past two years, said Scott's level of tax cuts is not likely without a major change in the state revenue picture or substantial cuts in programs.

"Without some good (revenue) news or substantial cuts elsewhere in the budget, that's going to be difficult," Lee told the Times/Herald Wednesday. "The Legislature's going to basically have to change its historic spending patterns if it's going to come up with that kind of money."

Lee noted that Scott's proposals on spending and tax cuts don't include money for programs the Legislature considers important. "The governor doesn't have to allocate money for any legislative priorities," Lee said. "The governor writes a budget that essentially takes care of executive branch needs as he sees them."

Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, has talked about a $2.4 billion state-federal land acquisition plan to improve the Everglades ecosystem and $1 billion for higher education improvements.

Negron's office issued a statement that said: "Reducing the burden of taxes and leaving more money in the pockets of the hardworking Floridians who earn it is a top priority" and that he "gives great consideration to any proposal put forward by Gov. Scott."

Negron said Senate committees will soon discuss a range of tax cut proposals, including one the senator has pushed for in the past: the elimination of a 30-year-old tax credit for insurance companies that would cut taxes by $300 million, fully half of what Scott's proposing.

Scott did not support that idea when Negron proposed it -- and the House killed it -- in the 2013 session.
@PatriciaMazzei

With the White House announcing Wednesday that he'll ask the Department of Homeland Security to stop funding communities that act as "sanctuaries" for immigrants in the country illegally, Miami-Dade County finds itself in limbo over whether it will be affected.

County government is awaiting a decision from the feds over whether Miami-Dade formally qualifies as a "sanctuary." Miami-Dade has never declared itself one, but in 2013 county commissioners voted to no longer comply with federal immigration authorities' requests to detain jailed undocumented immigrants indefinitely unless Immigration and Customs Enforcement paid the full detention cost.

Miami-Dade has asked the Justice Department, which listed the county as a sanctuary in May 2016 report, to review the county's standing for future reference.

"We're supposed to have a final determination by the beginning of summer or end of spring" of this year, said Michael Hernandez, a spokesman for Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

Gimenez attended President Donald Trump's inauguration last week.
@PatriciaMazzei

A pair of Miami Republicans in Congress who back comprehensive immigration reform have given props to the beginnings of legislation being cobbled together by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

Rep. Carlos Curbelo applauded Tillis' "broad proposal that will tighten border security and enforce immigration laws, while also providing certainty and relief for immigrants who have been contributing to our country's economy."

"There is a great deal of anxiety among our immigrant communities, especially in South Florida," Curbelo said in a statement Wednesday, adding that he's met with Tillis to join his effort.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart on Tuesday calling Tillis' bipartisan approach "the only thing that would have a shot to pass the House or Senate."

Diaz-Balart was deeply involved in the previous, unsuccessful effort to pass an immigration bill in 2014. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, an original member of the Gang of Eight that put that legislation forward, has since abandoned support for a comprehensive approach.

Earlier this month, Curbelo joined a bipartisan group of House members, including Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, in re-introducing what's known as the BRIDGE Act, a law that would protect so-called Dreamers brought into the country illegally as children from deportation and give them temporary work authorization.

President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders on immigration Wednesday, though the White House has said undoing the protections for Dreamers helped by former President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program isn't a priority.
@Mary EllenKlas

Florida's oil and gas industry swiftly let their opposition be known to a bill filed Tuesday by Sen. Dana Young, R-Tampa, and Rep. Mike Miller that would ban oil and gas fracking in Florida.

Florida Petroleum Council Executive Director David Mica called said the bill "is out-of-step with Florida consumers and families who are seeing the economic benefits of domestic energy development."

He said the "decades-old technique of hydraulic fracturing has led to lower energy costs for consumers and improvements in the environment" and warned that if the ban passes it "could undermine the benefits that Florida families and consumers are seeing today.

But Young says her bill is designed to allow existing extraction technologies to continue in Florida but ban "advanced well stimulation treatment," specifically hydraulic fracturing, acid fracturing and matrix acidizing which use high pressure techniques to inject water into rock formations to extract oil and gas.

She cited Florida's "fragile limestone geology and fragile environment as a whole" for concluding that Florida "is incompatible with fracking of any kind."

Mica cited a December 2016 study by the federal Environmental Protection Agency which he said did not find evidence that hydraulic fracturing "leads to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States."

He noted that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection contracted its own independent study to evaluate the impacts to the aquifer in Collier County following a 2014 hydraulic fracturing operation and concluded "there were no indications of fluids injected at the well in the aquifer."

The technology has been proven safe, and Florida is realizing the economic and environmental benefits of its use, he said in a media release. Thanks in part to the increased use of domestic natural gas, ozone concentrations in the air have dropped by 17 percent since 2000, all of which makes the United States not just an energy superpower, but also a leader in reducing global emissions. Lets not move backwards when the gains of energy security are important for Florida families.

But environmentalists cite the states fragile water table as a reason not to risk the procedure in Florida and said the impact of the toxins on the water system on public health could take years to determine.

Last year, a bill to impose a two-year moratorium on fracking and study the potential impact was passed in the House, where Young voted for it, but died in the Senate.

Since then, the energy industry has contributed $9 million to election campaigns in the 2016 cycle, including $71,000 to Young's political committee, Friends of Dana Young.

This year, Young's ban has bi-partisan support and she believes it has broad Republican support. At a press conference to announce the bill on Tuesday, Young was joined by Sens. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, Keith Perry, R-Gainesville and Gary Farmer, D-Fort Lauderdale at a press conference Tuesday to announce the bill.

Environmental groups commended the proposal.

We applaud Senator Young for listening to her constituents and Floridians across the state who want a ban on fracking," said Jennifer Rubiello, state director for Environment Florida, a non-profit advocacy organization. "A ban on fracking will ensure our communities, our health, and our environment are better protected. Floridians should celebrate this bill, pick up their phones, and tell their state senators to support it."

Photo: Dana Young, by Tampa Bay Times.
@ByKristenMClark

An effort by conservative Republican lawmakers to revise Floridas Stand Your Ground law is back under consideration with a viable chance at passing this year, even as opponents again warn that enacting such changes would water down Floridas gun laws and make it easier for people to kill without consequence.

For the second year in a row, Fleming Island Republican Sen. Rob Bradley is proposing to alter the legal procedure for how a criminal defendant seeks immunity from prosecution under Floridas controversial 2005 law.

Stand Your Ground allows individuals to use deadly force in self-defense  with no obligation to retreat or flee. Current practice, supported by the Florida Supreme Court, requires defendants to prove before trial why theyre entitled to such immunity.

But Bradleys proposal (SB 128) would shift the burden of proof at that pre-trial hearing so instead, the prosecutor would need to prove before trial beyond a reasonable doubt why a defendant couldnt claim they lawfully stood their ground.

Theres no public outcry for the change; its driven out of principle, Bradley told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday at his bills first vetting of the 2017 session.

More here.

Photo credit: The Florida Channel
@ByKristenMClark

Senate Judiciary Chairman Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, told reporters Tuesday that he's switching strategies in the hopes of getting legislation passed this year that will make it easier for gun-owners with conceal-carry permits to carry their guns in public.

Steube had originally proposed a comprehensive gun bill, SB 140, which would have made several changes to Florida's statute governing concealed weapons -- including allowing the open carrying of guns by permit-holders.

Now acknowledging that bill might be too large for lawmakers to swallow, Steube says he's drafting legislation to effectively break up SB 140 into potentially 10 different, more narrowly focused bills that each target individual aspects of the law that he wants to change. (Senators aren't limited in the number of bills they can file, as House members are.)

"Instead of looking at it as a huge comprehensive bill, we're going to try to do it piecemeal," Steube said. "Just from feeling the tea leaves, it's probably better to attack it piece by piece."

It's unclear when the new bills will be filed; Steube said they're still being drafted.

RELATED: These are gun law changes Florida lawmakers could take up in 2017

He said he had heard the House was planning its own omnibus companion to his original bill, "but I haven't seen it."

"I've been at this for now seven years, and sometimes it's beneficial to put everything in one bill and kind of attack it, and if there's issues, amend things out -- and sometimes it's easier to do it piece by piece," he said.

SB 140 called for allowing the open carrying of handguns by the states 1.7 million concealed weapons permit-holders and allowing those permit-holders to then carry guns in several places where they're currently banned: elementary and secondary schools, public college and university campuses, airport passenger terminals, legislative meetings, meetings of municipal, county, school or special district boards, and career centers.

With the smaller bills, Steube said his top priorities for passage would be the ones lifting the ban on concealed weapons at public colleges and universities and at airport terminals.

"Obviously, I filed campus-carry now for the last four or five years; that's been an issue that's important to me and will continue to be important to me," Steube said. "And given what happened at the Fort Lauderdale airport, that obviously is important to me."

RELATED: "Bloodbath shows why guns should be allowed in airports, lawmakers say"

Individual bills for both of those measures have been filed in the House. Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, is sponsoring a campus-carry bill, HB 6005, and Rep. Jake Raburn, R-Lithia, is sponsoring a bill to allow concealed guns in airport terminals, HB 6001.

Steube is a staunch supporter of Second Amendment rights, arguing that "law-abiding" concealed weapons permit-holders shouldn't be restricted in how and where they are armed. He also argues that so-called "gun-free" zones, likes universities and airports, are targets for mass shootings because criminals don't obey gun bans.

But his proposals have outraged and concerned Democrats and gun-control advocates, who argue that more guns is not the answer to reducing gun violence in Florida.

Photo credit: Kristen M. Clark / Herald/Times Tallahassee bureau
@PatriciaMazzei

President Donald Trump might make his first trip as commander-in-chief to Mar-a-Lago next weekend, The New York Times reports. He's considering traveling to Florida on Feb. 3.

Trump spent Thanksgiving and the Christmas and New Year's holidays at his estate in Palm Beach, where residents have learned -- if reluctantly -- to embrace Trump.

There are lingering issues Palm Beach County is dealing with surrounding Trump's visits -- such as the effective closure of nearby Lantana Airport when the president is in town, as The Sun-Sentinel reports.
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A Community Newsblog written by Community Members

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Help us to make the Middletown Eye the third eye people open every morning!


The little protest Tuesday at the University of Montana didn't look like it would get off the ground at first.

It was a speck of an event on campus, a whisper compared to the women's marches across the country over the weekend, 10,000 in Helena, a Metro-clogging crush in Washington, D.C.

At the grizzly bear statue, fewer than 10 people turned out to oppose the pig research facility under consideration at UM. A handful of them held PETA signs  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

"Animal Tests are Cruel."

"Stop Testing on Animals."

Ellen Taylor, a student getting a double major in theater and ecology, stopped by to sign her name to a petition calling for UM to halt plans for a porcine research lab. The petition calls for UM to move away from animal testing and toward digital dissection and simulators.

Taylor didn't see any document to sign, though, and Sarah Coffey, a spokeswoman for the group, told her to add her signature online. Taylor asked for the website.

"I think people forget that, I guess, animals are really more than a food source," Taylor said.

They may not experience human emotions, she said, but they have thoughts, and she does her best to treat living beings with respect. Take worms, Taylor said: Worms are blind, so she doesn't pick them up because doing so would disorient them.

Just before noon, Coffey figured it would be a good time to get warm and deliver evidence to the UM president's office that more than 2,600 people had put their names to the online petition.

People from around the world signed in support, from France, Turkey, and Japan, along with Washington and Montana and elsewhere. As Coffey saw it, the petition wasn't diminished by far-flung supporters, since some were alumni, and some potential students, ones interested in the ethics at UM.

"They don't want to attend a place that has cruel animal experiments," Coffey said.

In November, UM officials confirmed a proposal to hire a porcine researcher was under consideration, although the recruitment was not a done deal. Still on the table, the proposal includes the possibility UM will open a research facility that would conduct spinal cord testing on pigs.

The idea has been received with some push-back, including the demonstration Tuesday.

The group first tried to track down the president in the Lommasson Center before getting directed across the Oval. At Main Hall, a staff member said President Sheila Stearns was out until maybe 1 p.m. The staffer offered coffee and said she would try to reach the president.

The activists opted to wait at the University Center, and shortly after noon, Coffey got word that an audience with the president was indeed possible. Stearns could meet at 12:30 p.m.

Keaton Alexander, a community member and opponent of animal testing as unreliable, unethical and repulsive, said he believes universities should be centers of ethics and models for society. Even a small group merited the attention of the president, he said, especially one willing to gather in the winter chill.

"Even one individual's concern should be enough for any leader of a university," Alexander said.

Back in the president's lobby, the staffer ushered four protesters to a conference room, and just before 12:30 p.m., Stearns poked her head into the room.

"Hi, guys. I'll be with you in a minute. Just back from lunch," she said.

Soon she returned, commenting that the guests had sat down on one side of the conference table, and she'd sit on the same side. First, Stearns presented the group copies of a memo noting her firm stance in favor of civil discourse.

"This is a new year, a new moment for our University and, frankly, a crossroads for our nation," reads the memo. "We have to make the choice whether or not to embrace communication, education and awareness of our differences and of our similarities."

To a certain extent, Stearns said, she felt like she'd invited the conversation, and the group was taking her up on it.

"So. What's up?"

Coffey made her case, asking UM to refrain from doing experiments on pigs, and sharing the number of people to sign the online petition, nearly 3,000. She said the list included former and possibly future students.

"There's quite a bit of people that feel it's inhumane and cruel," she said.

Coffey asked for a debate on the topic, and Stearns said she supported educational discourse. At the same time, the president made it clear she herself would bow out of being a debater.

A couple of other activists, including a child, entered the conference room, and after the brief presentation, Stearns asked members of the group to introduce themselves.

When Alexander admitted he wasn't a student at UM, at least just yet, but liked being involved, Stearns wondered if he might enroll in the future.

"Do we need to recruit you?"

After they'd gone around the room, Stearns promised to review their materials to better understand their perspectives. The president isn't involved in every faculty hire, but she suspected this proposal would reach her desk.

"I know this is an issue of community interest, and I will take your statement into account," Stearns said.

At that, Coffey and the others, a tiny group that had started the day with no physical petitions to sign, no appointment with the president, and a questionable quorum for a demonstration, walked out of Stearns' office, a long ways away from Washington, D.C.
When the Army reaches for its sidearm, who salutes?

Last Friday, it announced it would replace the Beretta M9 pistol with the Sig Sauer P320. Thats the first update since 1983, and only the second since the Army started issuing Colt .45s in 1911.

When they got rid of the 1911 (models), everyone screamed, said Jim Crosby, firearms manager at Bob Ward's Sporting Goods. Now if you talk about the Beretta, half of them love the gun and the other half hates it. Its like going from the Jeep to the Humvee.

But regardless of the tactical debate, gun dealers are bracing for action. Bob Ward's only had three P320 versions available, although Crosby said hes already placed a hefty order for more. The Axman South was sold out this week, and Selway Armory in Missoula listed just two on its online inventory.

In a way, all the Army really picked was a trigger. That firing mechanism then slips into large and small frames, with wide and thin handle grips, short and long barrels and four different calibers of bullet. Most of those parts are made of polymer plastic.

The reason the Army went with Sig Sauer was to get the different-sized polymer frame, said Bruin Herr of Axman South. An Army soldier today might be a 6-foot-5 guy or a 5-foot-2 woman, with really different-sized hands. With one handgun, thats really difficult to do. So a big requirement was the modular design.

Plastic components shave a lot of weight off the Berettas all-metal frame, and make field repairs a toss-and-replace matter. The Sig Sauer comes apart with the flip of a few thumb levers and slides, while the Beretta required a special tool for maintenance and cleaning.

Does that mean it may break more often in the field? Crosby recalled once finding a Beretta jammed in a cliff crack where a soldier was using it as a chock to support a climbing rope.

You cant do that with the P320, Crosby said. This is more like Lego Block, plug-and-play stuff. One part breaks, you throw it away and grab another. You break the extractor on the Beretta  thats a depot-level repair.

The military hasnt announced what caliber it will use, although its likely to stick with the 9 mm bullet standard throughout all NATO countries. It can also accept barrels in .357, .40 and .45 calibers.

Modular design means the P320 can beef up with a long body and extended magazine or shrink to a super sub-compact form intended for concealed carry. A Picatinny rail under the barrel allows the user to attach lights, lasers, sights and other accessories. Retail civilian versions sell for about $550.

Sig Sauer won the $580.2 million contract over eight other bidders, including Beretta. The pistols will be built at its New Hampshire factory. The current contract allows the purchase of about 280,000 pistols, along with about 7,000 sub-compact versions. Other branches of the military may follow suit.

Civilian government gun users may not, however. American law enforcement services predominantly use Glock handguns, from the FBI to the Missoula Police Department. Missoula Police spokesman Travis Welsh said the departments firearms committee regularly evaluates its equipment for updates.

These evaluations are not dependent on the military, Walsh said in an email. The fact that the U.S. Army has gone to a different sidearm has no bearing on MPD.

Law enforcement and military needs vary, and the chosen guns reflect that. Details like safety design and trigger-pull tension are different when the gun gets used by a lone officer on the street or thousands of troops in a base.

"The FBI appears to be sticking with Glock, and that will probably keep a lot of law enforcement sticking with it too, Herr said. In the '70s, cops carried .38 Specials or .357 revolvers. In the '80s, they all switched to semi-autos. Since the Glocks came out, Beretta popularity has declined.

The big, unanswered question is what happens to all those now-surplus Beretta M9s? The U.S. military has ordered millions of them over the years. But the government has been unwilling to release many military-issue weapons to the open market other than some dwindling stocks of World War I- and II-era rifles for the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

Theres millions of those overseas in Korea, but the government wont let them come back, Crosby said. Theres nothing going to the civilian market at all. But a $250 Beretta  that would be sweet.
The turnout was larger than predicted at the Womens March in Helena this past weekend, with estimates of at least 10,000 men, women and children participating despite single-digit temperatures.

The march coincided with hundreds of other events in cities large and small across the nation and in the nation's capital, and around the world, largely to protest the inauguration of President Trump but also as a collective reaffirmation of womens rights, civil rights, human rights  the list of causes is long.

Whatever the cause, however, it was clear the march energized and motivated hundreds of thousands of women  and men - to play a stronger role in guiding their communities, their governments and their country. The question is: what now? How can those who attended these marches, representing roughly 1 in 100 Montanans, continue the momentum and focus it into lasting, meaningful action?

Here are five suggestions:

***

Raise money for a favorite cause. This week, Trump took executive action to reinstate whats known as the Mexico City Policy. In a nutshell, this policy prohibits any government funding for international non-governmental organizations that accommodate abortions. The result could be a severe loss of family planning and gynecological services in nations where womens health care is badly needed. If you support these services, then contact your favorite NGO and find out how to help them raise money to continue their work.

***

Stay informed. Much has been said lately about the disturbing proliferation of fake news and its influence on elections. Unfortunately, misleading information and outright lies can spread further and faster on social media than ever before  making it more important than ever to check in with news organizations that make it their business to report real news. It doesnt get any more true, relevant and accountable than your local newspaper. Start there.

***

Be vocal. Theres no shortage of ways to let your local, state and federal representatives in government know where you stand on any number of issues. Does writing a letter, making a call or attending a rally really make that much of a difference? Indeed it does, as we witnessed just recently when the entire state of Montana united in opposition to racist and anti-Semitic activity. Our elected officials are even more sensitive to feedback from their constituents. See the box with this editorial for contact information for your state legislators and congressional delegates.

***

Vote. Montana has among the highest voter turnout rates in the nation; the turnout rate reached nearly 75 percent in the most recent general election. However, that still means that one in four eligible voters opted not to fill out a ballot, leaving a lot of room for improvement. The turnout rate for other elections is even lower, yet these elections have the greatest local impact. Its important to vote every chance you get  in every municipal, county, state and school election. Montana is currently planning a special election to pick a replacement for U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, whose confirmation as secretary of the Interior was unexpectedly delayed this week. Once he is confirmed and the special election is scheduled, every voter in Montana should plan on casting a ballot.

***

Run for office, or encourage someone else to. Missoula can boast a majority of women on City Council, but this is a rarity in Montana and in the United States. Currently there are only 104 women total in the U.S. House and Senate, and only five female governors. The nonpartisan nonprofit She Should Run is one national organization working to inspire more women to consider public leadership roles; in Montana, the League of Women Voters and Montana Women Vote are two groups working to draw attention and support to womens issues.
HELENA  A measure to prevent air ambulance patients from being hit with huge bills has been put on hold while governor's officials and legislative leaders meet behind the scenes with groups to seek alternative solutions.

Gov. Steve Bullock's budget director, two Republican senators and a Democratic representative met Wednesday with a lobbyist and a consultant representing a coalition of air ambulance companies. Separate meetings were previously held with insurance companies and hospital officials.

Neither the governor's office nor the Legislature provided public notice of the meetings, but a reporter was permitted to attend Wednesday's meeting in the governor's Office of Budget and Program Planning's conference room.

"What we've done at these meetings is give the three affected parties one last chance to sit down and work something out between them," said bill sponsor Sen. Gordon Vance, R-Belgrade. "And if they don't, I'm moving my bill."

Lawmakers heard complaints earlier this month from people who used air ambulances to take them to hospitals in medical emergencies, only to receive bills for tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-network costs that weren't covered by their insurance.

The air ambulance companies and the insurance companies blame each other for those huge bills, with the air ambulances saying insurers don't pay enough to cover their costs and insurers saying the air ambulances won't disclose those costs.

Other states that have tried to regulate air ambulances have been sued for allegedly violating a federal law that prevents states from interfering with fares and services.

Vance's bill would require air ambulance providers and insurance companies to negotiate payments for services, even if the provider is out of the insurer's network. Patients would be responsible only for co-payments, co-insurance and deductibles.

The bill received a lengthy public hearing on Jan. 10. Two of the state's largest insurers opposed the measure, saying it would reward the air ambulance companies, force the insurers to raise their rates and not prevent air ambulances from price gouging.

No fewer than a dozen amendments were being drafted by various groups and lawmakers to change the bill, some of them "poison pills" designed to kill the measure, said Rep. Ryan Lynch, D-Butte.

That prompted the behind-the-scenes meetings between Vance; Lynch; Bullock budget director Dan Villa; Sen. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls; and the different groups. Villa set up the meetings, Vance said.

The aim, Villa said, was to get a clear understanding of what each group thought were the "joys and concerns" of the bill.

On Wednesday, they met with air ambulance lobbyist Scott Boulanger and consultant Bill Bryant, who spoke on the phone from Colorado.

Villa asked Bryant whether air ambulance companies would be willing to enter into voluntary contracts to limit their charges with insurers and the state, which self-insures government workers. Bryant responded that he believed they would, but the problem is that there have been no true negotiations between the groups.

"The insurance companies, in my opinion, have dug I their heels and said, 'Nope, here's what we're going to pay, take it or leave it," Bryant said. "And the air ambulance goes, 'Well if we take it, we'd be out of business, so we're not going to take it.'"

Vance said afterward that the bill's delay is only temporary and the measure will move out of committee "one way or another."
HELENA  One man is dead and another is jailed on a charge of deliberate homicide after an early morning shooting at a Helena motel Wednesday.

Authorities say Brandon James LeClair, 41, shot Kenneth Lee Purcell Jr., 31, during a fight at Motel 6, 800 N. Oregon St. Purcell died in the parking lot from a gunshot wound to the chest around 1 a.m.

LeClair ran from the motel. Police apprehended him without incident around 2 p.m. at a gas station in Boulder, 30 miles south of Helena. Helena Police Chief Troy McGee said a citizen provided a tip that helped investigators track LeClair.

Police also arrested 30-year-old Travis Holly Stephens of Butte, who was staying at the motel with LeClair, on a felony charge of criminal possession of dangerous drugs (methamphetamine). Court documents say the room they were sharing contained a small amount of methamphetamine alongside a meth pipe that appeared to have recently been used.

Both men have past drug convictions.

Stephens told police she and LeClair had traveled to the motel from Butte the previous night but would not say why they came to Helena, court documents state. Purcell was in the room with them, she said, and an argument broke out between the two men.

During a subsequent fight, Purcell hit LeClair in the head with a whiskey bottle and kicked him after LeClair fell to the ground, she told investigators.

The fight then moved to the parking lot, where the shooting occurred. Stephens later told police she believed both men were carrying guns. A semi-automatic .9 mm pistol and a spent casing were found near Purcells body.

On Purcells body, police found a magazine for a semi-automatic weapon believed to be from a different gun. McGee said only one gun had been recovered as of Wednesday afternoon.

Stephens said she did not witness the shooting, but later saw Purcell laying in the parking lot. LeClair had bleeding head injuries from the fight, court documents note.

Police have seized the vehicle Stephens and LeClair used to drive to Helena.

LeClair, who lived in Billings at the time, was sentenced to five years in federal prison in 2007 after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He had been convicted in federal court in 1999 for possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute and was sentenced to just over three years in prison. LeClair completed his probation in November 2014, according to federal court records.

An arrest warrant with a $50,000 bond was issued in Deer Lodge County after LeClair failed to appear in court in early November for a felony drug possession charge, court records show. LeClair is named in another arrest warrant in West Yellowstone, police said.

LeClair is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond. As of Wednesday afternoon, he was to be held at the Jefferson County jail in Boulder.

Purcells criminal history includes a conviction for criminal distribution of dangerous drugs out of Silver Bow County for a crime that occurred in 2009, state court records show.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
HELENA  In his third State of the State address, Gov. Steve Bullock encouraged legislators to craft bipartisan solutions to navigate the state through a financial crunch and make targeted investments in the future.

In his 45-minute speech Tuesday evening, Bullock often quoted the addresses of previous governors to reinforce his core message.

It struck me that, no matter the moment in history, no matter the political party, we have shared values, immutable over time: a sense of pride in this state and its people, a trust in our ability to get things done, and a belief that if we band together, our state and her citizens will shine even brighter tomorrow than they do today, he said.

The address reiterated his priorities for the next two years, often casting them in the context of anticipated clashes with legislators, who must craft a state budget by the end of April amid slowed revenues and a state savings account that has largely been depleted. Bullock listed the historical Montana values he hoped would guide them in those decisions: Fiscal responsibility. Education. Infrastructure. Job creation. Caring for others.

And at the core of them all is the bedrock value of working together to get things done, he said.

Legislators, too, had called for unity on their opening day of the session earlier this month, but cracks soon appeared as Republicans criticized the governor for downplaying declines in energy production and, as a result, state revenues during the course of his re-election campaign. They reinforced that message in a rebuttal after Bullocks address.

In his rebuttal delivered in the Senate chamber after Bullocks address, Speaker of the House Rep. Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, worked to paint Bullock as living in a Helena bubble and unaware of how the rest of the state is doing.

Knudsen tapped into an emotional touchpoint in the symbolic battle between Eastern Montana and the western half of the state -- the coal-fired power plant at Colstrip south of Billings.

To massive applause from a packed chamber Knudsen said he will carry a bill to keep Colstrip Units 1 and 2 open, though its not clear how that could be accomplished since the closures are part of a settlement after a lawsuit filed by environmental groups over emissions violations. Terms of the shutdown are part of a consent decree. Knudsen said he was exploring ways to deal with the legalities.

Republicans have used Colstrip and infrastructure issues in Eastern Montana and rural parts of the state to say the state is struggling, though Bullock doubled down in his address, painting a different picture.

I stand before you to report the state of our state is strong, he said to standing applause from Democrats while Republicans stayed seated -- a scene repeated throughout the the night. Montanas economy is solid  and growing.

He disagreed with Republicans that the states tax climate or government regulation was to blame for slow revenue growth slowing since a post-recession peak in 2015.

The biggest challenge Montana businesses face is growth itself, he said, calling for more job training and apprenticeship programs to fill thousands of openings statewide.

Montanas future will look different with a more diverse economy than its past, he said, and rejected the idea that addressing climate change precluded producing power from fossil fuels.

He insisted on a $300 million ending fund balance. Republicans have argued that figure is too high for the states informal rainy day fund.

Bullock also argued against funding cuts to Child and Family Services and community nursing homes. He said that, yes, building projects like a renovation of Romney Hall at Montana State University and an expansion of the Montana Historical Society are infrastructure needs worth funding -- confronting conservative legislators who killed the 2015 infrastructure proposal in protest of those projects.

Despite statements from GOP leaders that they would not support tax increases, Bullock insisted in his address that adding a new, higher income tax bracket for the wealthiest Montanans is a fair way to fund such state programs.

He emphasized infrastructure investments and the thoughtful use of bonds to fund them. Legislators from both parties have acknowledged they need to help Montana communities make critical infrastructure repairs and improvements.

But Montanans need you to do more than recognize it, he said. They need you to vote for it.

Bullock also urged legislators to make investments in children, including a proposal to fund a statewide voluntary preschool program that was killed by legislators in 2015.

Republican Territorial Governor James Tufts said in 1868 that: Next in importance to liberty itself, the greatest blessing we can confer upon our children is education, Bullock said.

In his rebuttal, Knudsen repeated a refrain Republicans have over and over during the first month of the session, saying the Legislature left town in 2015 with $300 million in the states rainy day fund. Members of the party have questioned where they money went and why Bullock did not reduce spending earlier.

Montanans deserve to know what happened to the huge reserves, and going forward we want more transparency on where Montanas tax dollars are going to be spent. What we now face is not only a budget crisis, but a management crisis. 

In closing, Bullock repeated a call for unity and optimism.

That future is in our reach, he said. But we must work together, and the time for games is over. We must engage in thoughtful, rational, and constructive dialogue with one another.

Holly Michels also contributed to this report.
BILLINGS  Word of President Donald Trumps decision to speed development of the Keystone XL and Dakota pipelines, quickly reached Standing Rock protesters who responded in three words: Bring it on.

He told us we have to stay here, said protester Jesse Roods, of Hardin. Thats what he did. People want to stay and resist more.

Roods has been at the Standing Rock protest site in North Dakota for months, weathering some of the coldest temperatures of the year since December. He said Tuesday the protesters would take what theyve learned from Standing Rock and apply it to Keystone XL, the site of which is about a two-hour drive from Standing Rock.

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would cross 284 miles of Montana, more than any other state. The project didnt draw much attention along the proposed pipeline route before former President Barack Obama rejected it in 2015. There will be protests now, said Sonny Wayne, who lives on the Fort Peck Reservation.

Wayne has been protesting at Standing Rock, and he vowed to bring the protest home with him.

What Ive learned is that nobody ever knows anything about it. They never knew here until it was too late, Wayne said. Hopefully at Standing Rock, weve brought attention and awareness because every pipeline is eventually going to break.

There are communities along the Keystone route that welcomed Trumps action Tuesday. In Prairie County, taxes collected from Keystone would help keep the county's medical center operating, provide money for emergency services and public schools said Lon Rukoff, a county planning board member.

The pipeline would be the biggest boost for government services ever.

Our tax revenue is somewhere around $3.5 million. Keystone would not quite triple it, Rukoff said. We would go from $3.5 million to $8.5 to $9 million.

Rukoff said the tax dollars from Keystone could be even more. The $8.5 million estimate was based on what building the pipeline would have cost five years ago. An updated estimate would likely show increased cost.

In next door McCone County, rancher Darrel Garoutte said people would be pleased with the tax money Keystone would bring, assuming Trans Canada still wants the pipeline built, but he said there were bigger issues.

Im sure the majority of the people in McCone County are in favor of this because they see the tax money and the rural electric company sees it as added income, without much else in the county, Garoutte said. They dont seem to worry about the taking of someone elses land arbitrarily as a bad thing.

Garoutte spent years negotiating a payment for the section of his land Keystone would pass beneath. It was either negotiate or face a much lower price set through eminent domain, he said.

Trumps announcement raised more questions for Garoutte, like what would come of the Keystone pipe stacked like logs in North Dakota waiting to go into the ground. That pipe came from India. Trump indicated the project needed U.S. steel to be built with federal approval.

Politically, Montana elected officials, regardless of party, have always supported Keystone Pipeline and did so Tuesday, as well.

I look forward to seeing a Keystone Pipeline that respects private property rights, meets the highest safety standards and uses American materials and labor, said U.S. Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat. Building the Keystone Pipeline will create good-paying jobs. It's one piece of a responsible energy future in Montana  one that also harnesses renewable energy jobs, saves money and addresses the growing threats of our changing climate.

Both Tester and Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock have supported Keystones development, even as nationally the Democratic Party opposed the pipeline's development. Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee used Trumps executive order as springboard for launching a petition to fight against climate change.

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican, wrote Trump last month, asking that Keystone be revived. Daines issued a press release Tuesday complete with supporting comments from the Montana Contractors Association and Montana Chamber of Commerce.

The Keystone XL pipeline will create good-paying Montana union and tribal jobs, Daines stated. After years of talk and political nonsense, I couldnt be more thrilled that President Trump has heeded my call to move forward construction of this project.

Ryan Zinke, Montanas lone congressman, now awaiting confirmation to become head of the Department of Interior, has previously voiced his support for Keystone, also.
The owner of the old Apex Hotel on West Park Street hopes a $282,000 county loan will cover remaining interior renovations needed to convert the building into new apartments.

The Urban Revitalization Agency Board agreed Tuesday to give Bob Wilcox a $282,284 loan, with a possibility of it stretching up to $295,000, at a fixed rate of 5 percent over 20 years. The loan is subject to collateral assurances.

Board member Bob Brown said the project is just the type envisioned under the Uptown tax-increment finance district. It captures property tax dollars from new developments so they can be reinvested in the area.

Renovation work in the four-story building at 429 W. Park St. already is under way to create three new studios, a couple of two-bedroom apartments and 13 one-bedroom units.

There are still four tenants in older apartments now.

It has been hustle and bustle for the last month, said Wilcox, a dentist who started Wilcox Properties, LLC in 2013.

The building was built in 1916 as the Placer Hotel but was purchased two years later and renamed the Apex Hotel. It was quite modern for the time, with Murphy-in-a-door beds, showers and expensive furnishings, according project information from Wilcox. Rooms were combined and made into apartments over the years.

Wilcox said the building still needs extensive interior work done, including electrical wiring, plumbing, installing tubs, painting drywall, cabinetry work and redoing hallways. Work is also needed on the hardwood floors, in a common room and laundry room.

Im hoping it can be done in six months, he said.

The goal is to blend old Butte architecture with modern elements to create affordable luxury-style apartments that would be rented in the range of $650 to $800 a month.

There used to be a large electric sign on the front of the building that said The Apex Hotel. Wilcox said he is working with John Weitzel in Butte to create a replica sign with wording changed to Apex Apts.

Wilcox said it the project should fit in nicely with other hopes and plans for enhancing the West Park Corridor that connects the Uptown Butte business district to the Montana Tech campus.
DUI ARREST

Butte police handed out a DUI and several citations while arresting a Butte man early Tuesday. Besides DUI, the citations against Andrew Howery, 19, who was stopped at Fremont and Colorado, include running a stop sign, failing to have taillights, obstruction of a police officer and no insurance. Undersheriff George Skuletich said Howery initially gave police a false name. Howery failed a field sobriety test, and refused a Breathalyzer test at the police station, Skuletich said.

HABITUAL OFFENDER

Bryson Leggit, 19, of Butte, was arrested on a habitual offender charge after an officer stopped his vehicle about 11 p.m. Monday near Elizabeth Warren and Mount Highlands Drive for not having headlights on. Leggit faces charges of operating a vehicle while a habitual offender, no liability insurance and for driving with a revoked license.

THEFT WARRANTS

Shawn Weldon, 49, of Butte, was arrested on Monday in the 300 block of South Montana street on two outstanding theft warrants  he is accused of committing theft Nov. 30, 2016, and a Dec. 30, 2016, at the Town Pump, 531 S. Montana St.
Program for homeless Friday at MAC

Project Service Connect, an annual event to connect homeless people with needed services, runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, at the Maroon Activities Center, 550 E. Mercury St., in conjunction with the national point-in-time homeless survey.

It's hosted by the Southwest Montana Continuum of Care Coalition, comprised of service providers and citizens working to eradicate homelessness. The survey is a method for quantifying the number of people who are homeless and for identifying their demographic characteristics.

Event highlights include special veterans services, food, medical and dental checks, dental services, showers, haircuts, clothing, diabetes education, and information on mental health, housing, Social Security, early childhood education, disability services, literacy, legal and adult education.

Details: 406-533-6855.

Service honors military personnel

DILLON  A service honoring military personnel starts at noon Wednesday, Feb. 1, at the St. James Episcopal Church, 203 E. Glendale, Dillon.

Anyone who wishes to thank and pray for those serving and who have served in the Armed Forces is welcome to attend. Details: 406-683-2735.

Hawkins novel is book club choice

The After Hours Book Club will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, at the Butte Public Library (third floor), 226 W. Broadway St. The free club will discuss Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. Copies can be checked out at the circulation desk.

Details: Shari Curtis at 406-723-3361 ex. 6302 or email at scurtis@buttepubliclibrary.info.

Animal control picks up dog, cat

These are animals that have been picked up by Butte Animal Control. Details: Chelsea Bailey Butte-Silver Bow Animal Shelter at 406-497-6528 or stop by from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Dog:

One-year-old male shepherd cross, white and black, picked up Tuesday at the Mountain Con

Cat:

Two-year-old male shorthaired, black, picked up Tuesday at Silver Bow Homes
While Montanas jails and prisons continue to overflow with adult inmates, remarkable progress has been made with youthful offenders.

Youth Courts have been sending fewer juveniles to the Department of Corrections. As a result, the Riverside facility for girls has closed and a portion of Pine Hills school for boys is being used to house young adult male offenders.

Statistics from the Montana Supreme Court Administrators Office show that the number of youth referred to courts has dropped over the past decade. The number of youth sent to DOC by courts dropped by half between 2005 and 2015.

In the 2001 biennium, the Legislature appropriated $16.3 million for juvenile placements; in the 2017 biennium, it appropriated $9.4 million, with the flexibility to support not only placements but services and programming to reduce delinquency and help youth and families, Chief Justice Mike McGrath noted in his State of the Judiciary address. Nowhere else had funding decreased by 43 percent with an accompanying increase in outcomes.

Pine Hills in Miles City was expanded to house 120 boys in 1997. Recently, it held fewer than 45, McGrath said.

McGrath credits all three branches of state government for contributing to youth justice reform. Changes allowed youth probation officers to pay for community-based services if they reduced expensive placements. Probation officers have been partnering with DOC, schools and communities to hold young offenders accountable. Restitution collection has increased as has community service hours worked. The Youth Courts now address mental health, chemical dependency and education issues that affect the youth and family.

The success in Youth Court demonstrates that when all three branches work together on a problem, there is a greater likelihood of a creative solution, McGrath wrote. All three branches are seeing chaos caused by drug use, untreated mental illness and the increase in criminal behavior. The child abuse system, the corrections system, county detention facilities and the public defender system are under significant stress. He pledged that the Judicial Branch will work with the other branches to find creative solutions that work in the community and within the families.

We agree with McGrath. Legislation to improve access to community-based treatment is being proposed.

This Gazette opinion quotes what McGrath wrote  not what he spoke  because he didnt actually give the speech. State Senate President Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, notified McGrath and the three members of Montanas congressional delegation that the Senate wouldnt attend their scheduled addresses to the Legislature. Sales said the Senate needed to save time in the event we need to return to Helena during the interim.

House Speaker Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, had a different view: I think its good for the Legislators to hear from statewide elected officials to know whats going on.

McGrath canceled his address.

Legislators missed hearing an important update from the chief justice, but readers can see it. McGraths State of the Judiciary is online with this Gazette opinion at mtstandard.com and at www.billingsgazette.com.

 The Billings Gazette
A week ago, I could only feel frustration and anger with a state Legislature so out of touch with the priorities of the communities they represent.

I listened as our legislators proposed a $93 million budget cut to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. When approved, over half the funds cut will be taken from crucial services for Montana seniors. As a result, major reductions will occur in funding for Meals on Wheels, group meals at senior centers, transportation for doctor appointments, hospice, personal assistance and home health care provided to the elderly trying to stay in their own homes or with family members, and financial support to obtain residence in a nursing home for low-income elderly who can no longer live independently.

Needs across Montana for the Home and Community Based Services program for low-income seniors (residential living, adult day care, respite for family caregivers, personal assistance, specialized medical equipment and supplies, etc.) are so high now, even before budget cuts are made, that DPHHS currently has to maintain a waiting list.

Since Montana state money only contributes 25 percent of the annual funding for DPHHS (mostly matching funds to obtain another 75 percent of the annual budget from federal funds), the actual cut in funding will most likely double in size from a subsequent loss in federal matching funds.

In Ravalli County, 436 of our neighbors over the age of 65 live below the federal poverty level. They most assuredly will suffer if this inappropriate budget cut is enacted.

We have always prided ourselves in Montana with coming together to help out those less fortunate. Please contact your state legislators and the Governors Office to let them know you are against this proposed budget cut and the impacts it will have on seniors.

 Karen Harvey, Victor
I grew up in Western Montana, Granite County to be exact with its pristine lakes, streams, endless forests and wildlife!

A slower way of life, better values, a respect for the land and a respect for one another!

What I saw in not only my local paper, The Montana Standard, but in the Missoulian as well broke my heart .

Yes, hunting is a way of life here in Montana, for some to provide meat for their families and I include myself as being raised on venison; but for others it is a sport  man versus animal!

But, killing a majestic animal that had survived that many years by its own wits and determination because of the size of his RACK to me is unconscionable!

How can the hunter be proud that he chose to end the life of such a fine specimen who had undoubtedly sired many equally perfect generations? I will say I admire the hunter's choice of the bow and arrow as it took considerable skill on his part.

Certain types of fish are returned to their waters as past of the "Catch and Release" program.

Can we not begin a similar program for other animals that represent Montana as the last best place?

 Carol Coursey, Butte
Last Thursday, I was surprised and pleased to find an email from Senator Tester. I had called Sen. Tester earlier in the week asking him to please oppose the nomination of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education. I would like to thank him for his response, and more so, for his decision to oppose her nomination.

As a public school teacher in Butte, I had many concerns after finding out about DeVos nomination ranging from her preference for funding private schools over public schools, to her inability to directly answer questions regarding equal accountability.

In Montana, public schools are vital and need support and funding. Sen. Tester expressed the same thoughts. Sen. Tester has multi-leveled experience in public education and knows Montana, and I am glad that he is representing Montana in the confirmation vote.

 Ashley Johnson, Butte
If you hunt, cross country ski, snow shoe, hike, fish, view wildlife, float our rivers, dabble your toes in Montana waters, go for a Sunday afternoon drive through our hills and forests, cut a Christmas tree, gather wood to heat your home, walk your dog in the hills, ride your horse in the mountains, mountain climb, and any other activity on our public lands, this rally is for you.

Since President Grant signed a bill to create our first national park in 1872 there has been continuous efforts by the wealthy to take our public lands away. They do not believe that us commoners deserve our public lands. We have elected legislators in Montana who want to privatize our public lands. During our last election one of our legislators said he thought we should sell our public lands and develop them.

The public lands rally begins at noon on Monday, January 30, at the Capitol building in Helena. Local sportsmens organizations will provide a bus to Helena. The free bus will leave the parking lot at the Butte Plaza Mall at 9 a.m.

 Harold Johns, Butte, president of the Skyline Sportsmens Association
HELENA  Students and parents were joined by legislators for a rally at the state Capitol Wednesday in celebration of National School Choice week.

Jeff Laszloffy, president and CEO of the Montana Family Foundation, spoke at the rally in favor of bringing more school choice options to the state.

This is a movement, not a momentum, he said.

There are 21,000 school choice events happening across the country during National School Choice week, which has been held during the last week of January since 2011 to bring awareness to public charter schools, public magnet schools, online learning, private schools and homeschooling.

The Montana School Choice Coalition, a group of private school organizations, held the rally with homeschooled and private school students across the state to ask for support from Montana legislators. They also celebrated the introduction of federal legislation to redirect federal funds to private schools.

Laszloffy said the coalition wants to see the creation of an education savings account that would give parents the amount of money it costs to educate a student, which could be spent at a private or public school. He also vowed to continue the legal fight for a school choice law, Senate Bill 410, which passed last session but still being debated on constitutional grounds.

SB 410 allowed tax credits for donations to scholarships at private schools. Gov. Steve Bullock let the legislation pass without his signature.

Proponents say federal courts already authorized the same types of programs. Opponents say the law is out of compliance with the state constitution, which says no government entity can make a direct or indirect donation to a school controlled by a religious body.

While the religious aspect of the law is going through the courts, people can still receive tax credits for donations to a private school if it doesnt have a religious affiliation. As of now, those donations must go through the Big Sky Scholarships program. If someone makes a donation, they receive a $150 dollar-for-dollar state tax credit. The entire donation is eligible for a federal charitable deduction.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen voted for SB 410 while serving in the Legislature last session. In a letter read by her communications director, Arntzen said she supports school flexibility.

While she didnt speak to her priorities as superintendent regarding school choice, she praised the Bridger Charter School and the Lincoln County Vocational School of Innovation.

This is what progress through local control looks like, she said. In frontier states like Montana, school flexibility is designed by the communities that students live in.

House Speaker Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, reiterated the idea that education is not one-size-fits-all. He said school choice is a solution. Senate Minority Whip Tom Facey, D-Missoula, agreed that a uniform school wont work for everyone. He said local school boards have the authority to customize their school to meet the needs of the community, citing an aggressive college credit program in Missoula and pre-kindergarten in Great Falls.

This years charter school bill is being carried by a Democrat, Jonathan Windy Boy of Box Elder. That bill hasnt been introduced yet. Windy Boy does not have support from his party, Facey said, adding that he opposes charter and private schools because they arent held to the same academic standards as public schools.

Democratic minority leaders Jenny Eck, D-Helena, and Jon Sesso, D-Butte, issued a statement supporting school choice as long as it doesnt require public school funding.

We will not support policies that divert funding from our public schools, which continue to welcome all Montana students and provide a wide variety of learning choices.

School choice has returned to the national spotlight, with a proposal from President Donald Trump to provide $20 billion in federal funds to school choice programs. He also nominated Betsy DeVos, a longtime supporter of school choice, for secretary of education.

At a National School Choice Week rally in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, House Speaker Paul Ryan praised DeVos for her support of school choice, which she reiterated during her confirmation hearing Jan. 17.

We are about to have a secretary of education who not only believes in school choice but has been fighting for school choice, Ryan said.

At the Helena rally, a letter of support from U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., was read by Patrick Webb, his southwest field representative. Daines also announced his Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success Act, or the A-PLUS Act, which would allow federal education funds to be redirected to private schools.

We need to empower parents to have greater control over their childrens education so they can reach their full academic potential, Daines said in a statement. The A-PLUS Act will expand local control of schools and return federal education dollars where they belong: closer to the classrooms.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., opposes Daines' bill and previously said it could prevent low-income students from having equal access to public schools.

Jon believes any plan to turn federal education funding into block grants fails students and fails public education," spokesman Dave Kuntz said, adding that this could prevent low-income and at-risk students from receiving Title I money. "Its another nail in the coffin of rural America, with a grossly misleading title."

Tester worked to replace No Child Left Behind with laws granting control to local school boards.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  The Muscatine Community Development Office is studying the feasibility of building a container port facility near the Muscatine Power and Water Plant. The feasibility study, which is funded by a state grant and a matching fund from Kent Corp, is underway and is expected to conclude in the next few weeks.

Dave Gobin of the Muscatine Community Development Office said the idea for building a port near Muscatine began when he noticed there was no container port north of St. Louis. Muscatine, with its proximity to the Mississippi river, he said, could be a regional port.

Gobin said that area companies expressed interest in the port and that the city is moving in lightning speed compared to other cities who are studying the feasibility of a port.

Members of the audience expressed concerns about the potential for environmental harm and Gobin said the Environmental Protection Agency had a significant interest in helping build an environmentally-friendly facility.

The new port, he said, will divert truck and rail traffic regionally from the highway to the river. But traffic near the facility and in Muscatine will increase. However the port will bring economic benefits to the region, including creating high-paying jobs, enticing companies to come to Muscatine and encouraging area companies to remain in the region.

The project will be funded through grants and private monies, although the exact funding mechanisms will be determined at a later stage.

The intent is to do this project without any impact to the taxpayer, he said, adding that the port will not be owned by the city of Muscatine, but that the city could charge a tax for using the facility.

Gobin said that the construction of the port could be concluded in the next few years. The next steps will include generating a cost estimate of construction and studying the soil and the environmental impact of the project.

The event was organized by the League of Women Voters.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Area residents will have the opportunity to listen to, ask questions of, and meet with area state representatives and senators at a series of legislative forums that will be held on the first Saturday of the month during the session.

Three forums will be held from 9:00-10:30 a.m. in the student center on the Muscatine Community College campus at 152 Colorado St., Muscatine, starting Saturday, Feb. 4. The final two forums will be held on March 4 and April 1. The Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Muscatine Community College is co-sponsoring the forums.

Participating will be state senators Robert J. Dvorsky (D-37th district), Thomas A. Greene (R-44th district), and Mark S. Lofgren (R-46th district) and state representatives Gary Carlson (R-91st district), Bobby Kauffman (R, 73rd district), and David Kerr (R, 88th district).

The purpose of the legislative forums is to provide area constituents with the opportunity to directly address the legislators that serve this area with their questions/concerns/feedback.
Graveside services have been set for 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, at the Elm Grove Cemetery, Washington, Iowa with the Rev. Jim Stiles officiating and full military honors. Visitation will be two hours prior to the service at the Beatty Funeral Home in Washington. A general memorial has been established in lieu of flowers.
EDITOR, Muscatine Journal:

Not a smooth beginning to the Trump Era, is it? To those of you who voted for Trump or didnt vote at all, you are going to get the kind of governing that no one deserves. Except the wealthy, of course. Theyll do just fine.

Do you want to know the first thing the Trump folks did? They canceled a cut in the mortgage fee that President Obamas Administration set. So much for the blather about helping the American people. It will now be more expensive for Americans to buy a house. (Trump Reverses Obamas Mortgage Fee Cuts On First Day, Joe Light, Bloomberg Politics, 1/20/17)

And how about that wall? They still want to build it, but have finally admitted that American taxpayers will shell out about $20 billion to pay for it. No word yet on whether the Canadians are going to build their $200 billion wall and make us pay for it!

Over the weekend they fessed up and said Trump will not ever release his tax returns, federal audit or not. Where there is smoke there is fire- how many years did he not pay federal income tax, and what incriminating Russian evidence is in there?

His millionaire and billionaire cabinet picks are alarming. Some have no experience whatsoever in the departments he expects them to run. Examples-

Secretary of State- Rex Tillerson- no government experience, CEO of ExxonMobil and pals with Vladimir Putin.

Secretary of Education- Betsy DeVos- billionaire heiress to the Amway fortune, Republican mega donor, enemy of public education.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development- Ben Carson- no experience and no clue.

Secretary of Energy- Rick Perry- former Texas Governor and dullard from Dancing With the Stars. He has said that until recently he thought the Dept. of Energy was a rah-rah club for the oil and gas industry.

These are disturbing choices from a disturbed President-Elect. No one who is serious about the decorum of the office of President of the United States would use tweets to talk about inconsequential things like the size of crowds at an Inauguration. Not to mention lie about it. There is no such thing as alternate facts- they are just lies. Trump and his Press Secretary getting into an argument with the press over this is nonsense.

We may get some clarity on Mr. Trumps huge ethical challenges. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has filed a lawsuit, claiming he is in violation of Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution. (President Trump Has Already Violated Constitution, Lawsuit Says, Kim Bellware and Chrisitian Farlas, 1/23/17, Huffington Post) I believe the American Civil Liberties Union is also planning a suit along similar lines. Trump has so many holdings all over the world that the corruption argument is certainly plausible.

This is going to be a wild and terrifying ride for ordinary Americans, and its only going to get worse.

Thank you for your time.

Don Paulson

Letts, Iowa
President Donald Trump is right. The United Nations will be very different when his appointee for ambassador to the assembly, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, assumes her post after confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

The appointment of Haley could not be more timely given the increased focus on the United States recent voting record in the United Nations. President Obamas legacy of lackluster leadership in the assembly over the last eight years must be course-corrected. Especially after Ambassador Samantha Powers recent abstention during the U.N. Security Council resolution criticizing Israeli settlements. Their actions hardly instilled confidence in the direction the Obama administration pursued.

Haley is the ideal candidate to turn that around. She will be the bold force with proven leadership experience capable of standing with our allies and protecting American interests. Her record as governor tackling tough issues shows her to be a strong leader capable of ushering necessary change. The American people need someone like her standing with our allies against unfriendly nations and clearly communicating the policies of the United States.

As governor, she proved her abilities as a negotiator in bringing legislators with opposing views together to pass meaningful legislation for the betterment of South Carolina. Further, under her leadership, South Carolina expanded trade with countries like Canada, France, Germany and Japan. Haleys pursuit of bringing companies from around the globe to South Carolina helped lower South Carolinas unemployment numbers to its lowest in 15 years. This experience will be invaluable as she negotiates with foreign nations at the United Nations.

Prior to serving as governor, Haley demonstrated a commitment to serving her community by joining the board of directors of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce in 1998 and, then in 2003, the Lexington Chamber of Commerce. In 2004, Haley was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives representing Lexington County and becoming South Carolinas first Indian-American elected official. During her five years as a state representative, Haley served in Republican leadership and worked on issues ranging from education to labor and commerce.

As Trump stated, Haley has a record of bringing opposing sides together in the interest of the public. After the tragic shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, Haley spearheaded an effort to unite both conservatives and liberals to remove the Confederate flag from South Carolinas statehouse. Her steadfast commitment to principle and doing what is right will serve American interests well at the United Nations.

As House Speaker Paul Ryan stated, If you want to hear an inclusive leader whos visionary, whos got a path for the future, whos brought people together, whos unified, its Nikki Haley.

Haley has more than 12 years of public service as a state representative and governor. I can think of no one better prepared to represent the voice of the American people at the United Nations. Congress must approve her appointment swiftly so the American people can be assured of a stalwart representative in the United Nations.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Jessica Curtis is executive director of GOPAC, a political action committee that recruits and trains Republican candidates, campaign staff and activists. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.
Nineteen states, including New York and California, rang in the New Year with an increase in the minimum wage.

Massachusetts and Washington State now have the highest minimum wages in the country at $11.00 per hour.

Voters in Arizona, Maine, Colorado and Washington approved wage increases on election day 2016. Seven other states, Alaska, Florida, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio and South Dakota, have automatically raised their states minimum wage. The other states seeing increases are Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Michigan and Vermont.

Additional increases are slated for later in the year in Oregon, Washington, D.C., and Maryland.

Workers and labor advocates argue the increases will help low-wage workers now barely making ends meet, but many business owners oppose the higher wages, saying they would lead to higher prices.

The national minimum wage was last raised to $7.25 in 2009.

My wife and I frequent a restaurant in a neighboring town and I thought Id get a little perspective on working for minimum wage from a cordial waiter working there.

Matt N. is a 29-year-old single man with one child hailing from that central Indiana town. He has one job, waiting tables at that restaurant, but he will take on odd jobs when they come. He works 37 to 38 hours a week, including nights and weekends.

Matt confided in me that he makes only $2.13 an hour with no benefits. Thats no typo. Servers, who rely on tips, are often paid an hourly rate below minimum wage because gratuities are factored in. However, the employee, not the employer, is required to pay taxes on those tips.

When Matt was asked to comment on his current employment situation he had the following to say: I roll with the punches. In a way, I did this to myself. I didn't finish school and I have been in a bit of legal trouble in the past. This has hindered me in getting certain jobs I think. I can say this though, as a single father raising a little girl this isn't what I had in mind as far as a career. Its merely surviving. I would be lying if I said that organized crime or the mob life didn't seem appealing at times. But that is a whole other story.

Not finishing college was a bad move, I believe. It certainly wouldn't have hurt anything to have a degree of some kind. But then I feel that because I have been in some trouble, even having some college seems to have no merit in the eyes of a lot of employers.

Working for minimum wage is a bummer at age 29 from a male's perspective. The stigma of men and work is something I think about often.

I have grown fond of Matt since Ive got to know him. He always garnishes a smile and hes astoundingly upbeat considering his present stay in life. Some might say hes a victim of corporate greed, but you would never hear him echo that creed.

No two individuals are dealt the same hand in life. Some may be dealt a winning hand early on, others may be playing to an inside straight, and then again others may just be all in hoping for a miracle. No matter where we are in life its fruitless to constantly blame someone else for the circumstances we face. My Mom often says: Lifes not always a bowl of cherries. My Grandma, who raised a house full of kids during the Great Depression, never let me forget that when you fall down you dust yourself off and get back in the fight. I can tell Matts not a quitter and I admire that.

When I asked him what hed like to tell my readers he said: People who work for minimum wage are people too. No matter what they have done to get there. At least they have a job. They are just as much part of the machine as anyone else with a better paying job. We are all in this together. No matter how much this generation thinks its every man for himself.

A day or two before I interviewed Matt I got a fortune cookie with the following saying in it: The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance. My perception of working for minimum wage has been forever altered by a kind soul who took the time to educate me.

Greg Allens column, Thinkin Out Loud, has been published bi-monthly since 2009. Hes an author, nationally syndicated columnist and the founder of Builder of the Spirit in Jamestown, Indiana, a non-profit organization aiding the poor. He can be reached at www.builderofthespirit.org or follow him on Twitter @GregAllencolumn.

 Greg Allen ~ All Rights Reserved
DES MOINES  Hundreds of protesters failed to sway an Iowa Senate subcommittee from moving forward a bill Tuesday that would restructure how family planning dollars are doled out to health care providers.

Senate File 2 would discontinue a federal Medicaid waiver that provides millions of dollars in funding to family planning agencies across the state. It instead would create a new state-funded program that would exclude facilities that provide abortions from receiving the funds.

To cover the program, the state would shift money in a Social Services block grant to fund the family planning services  the grant pays for a variety of state programs, including child and family services and special services for disabled Iowans.

Last year, more than 12,000 Iowans received services, including Pap smears, birth control and cancer screenings, through the waiver. No state or federal dollars are used to fund abortions.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland supporters, the majority of which were wearing pink, filled the capitol, holding signs and chanting throughout the rotunda. The committee meeting room was standing room only as supporters flowed out into the hallway.

Iowa will see teen pregnancy rates rise as teenagers face a dilemma of finding birth control in their hometowns as they may be afraid to go to clinics where someone will recognize them. The rates of (sexually transmitted infections) will rise, said Suzanna de Baca, the Planned Parenthoods president and chief executive officer.

She presented the three senators on the judiciary subcommittee with a petition that had more than 5,200 signatures on it.

We are watching what you as leaders will do in this state, she added. We will not back down from this fight  too much is at stake for the health of Iowans.

While the majority of the occupants in the room opposed the bill, there were plenty present to speak out in support of it, including leaders of Iowas anti-abortion organizations, Informed Choices Iowa  privately funded womens health clinics  and other anti-abortion advocates.

Jenifer Bowen, with Iowa Right to Life, said the bill would be an opportunity to provide women with more health care choices. She added that a recently formed coalition of 13 anti-abortion groups across the state  including the Family Leader and Iowans for Life  have come out in support of the legislation.

But Dr. Lisa Banitt, an Ames-based OB-GYN and contract employee of Planned Parenthood, said if the state wants to continue to see its abortion rate decline, it should continue to fund organizations such as Planned Parenthood that provide birth control and family planning services.

Citing a new Guttmacher Institute report, Banitt said that between 2011 and 2014 the number of abortions in Iowa fell 23 percent, from 5,640 in 2011 to 4,380 in 2014. This drop happened without legislation restricting abortion access in Iowa, she added, and instead took place because there was greater access to birth control.

Why disrupt a system that is clearly working well at reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies? Banitt asked.

At the end of the 30-minute meeting, the bill was recommended to move forward for passage. It now will go to a full Senate Judiciary Committee.
DES MOINES  A bill making its way through the Iowa Statehouse calls to abolish the use of compensation boards and force county supervisors to recommend and vote directly on their own raises.

County officials currently appoint a compensation board to determine and ultimately recommend wage adjustments to elected seats  supervisors, auditor, recorder, treasurer, sheriff and county attorney. The Board of Supervisors then approves, reduces or rejects the compensation boards recommendation.

Rep. Megan Jones, RSioux Rapids, said compensation boards  whose members are selected by the elected officials they represent  have led to exorbitant raises in local government.

We are hearing from far too many Iowans that are concerned about the increases, Jones said. These raises are out of control.

Lucas Beenken, a public policy specialist with the Iowa Association of Counties, said compensation boards are intended to calculate in other county rates, public and private sectors, and other outside factors to determine wage recommendations.

We believe the compensation board provides the necessary checks and balances for the interests of not only the public and taxpayers, but the county employees and the county itself, Beenken said.

Jones and Rep. Jake Highfill, RJohnston, voted to move the bill to the full House Local Government Committee.

But Rep. Mary Gaskill, DOttumwa, a former county auditor, defended the current system.

This gives the public an opportunity to see what their officers are making, Gaskill said.

Each Iowa county has a seven-member county compensation board, which has two members appointed by the Board of Supervisors and one each named by the county attorney, auditor, recorder, sheriff and treasurer.

Supervisors ultimately vote on the compensation board recommendation while finalizing the budget in the coming weeks. But pay rates for elected officials cannot increase beyond the recommendation  they only can be accepted, reduced or rejected.

Getting rid of that body in an effort to keep wages minimal is not the way to do it because youre getting rid of one of the checks and balances of the whole process, Beenken of the Iowa Association of Counties said. I guess its a little bit troubling that the state wants to mess with that when we as an organization and our members dont see it as a problem and support the current system.

But Rep. Jones said that system allows elected officials the ability to appoint allies to the compensation board to ensure that raises are recommended. Then, when wage increases are approved, county supervisors can claim the increase was recommended by the compensation board.

Eliminating the compensation board increases supervisor accountability, she said.

They put all the decision really in the hands of the compensation board, which is typically people they are friends with, Jones said. If theyre going to vote themselves a raise, they need to have the integrity to vote themselves a raise.

Linn County voters this past November agreed to reduce the size of the five-member Board of Supervisors to three representatives.

Residents pushing for the reduction targeted supervisor wages  the countys supervisors, as well as the county auditor, recorder and treasurer, all make the same six-figure salary  and argued a smaller board would save money. Each of those officials earn $103,888 this year.

The Linn County compensation boards next annual meeting will be at 4 p.m., this Thursday, Jan. 26, at the Jean Oxley Public Service Center, 935 Second St. SW, Cedar Rapids.
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 []
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NAPA  By years end, the Goodman Library may be back to its historic and undamaged self  more than three years after its thrashing by the Napa earthquake.

The clock began ticking recently on a repair of the stone landmark on downtown First Street, after the City Council approved a contract for Alten Construction Inc. of Richmond.

Construction should begin in late February or early March and last eight to nine months, according to officials with the city and the Napa County Historical Society, which has leased the building for four decades but was forced out by damage from the quake of Aug. 24, 2014. The society would then reoccupy the building in early 2018.

Alten underbid two other companies with a $1.75 million offer earlier this month. Under federal and state guidelines for disaster relief, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is slated to reimburse Napa 75 percent of the cost, with the state Office of Emergency Services covering another 18.75 percent and the city the rest.

The contract brought hope to Nancy Levenberg, executive director of the historical society, that normalcy is finally within sight for a nonprofit that has had to conduct its work from temporary offices and its website since the quake.

Never was it written this would definitely be fixed; this is a big-ticket item and the federal government has lot of bigger things to pay for than this, and theres been so much damage in Napa, she said Wednesday. I feel like a 6-year-old at her birthday party; Im so thrilled to my toes that the building will be saved and restored to its original glory, and thats so cool.

Construction will include the repair of cracked and displaced blocks comprising the Goodman Librarys outer and inner stone walls, as well as the installation of a new roof and structural reinforcement of roof trusses. Metal bracing also will shore up a cracked parapet tower that has been encased in a containment sleeve since October 2015, said Ernie Cabral, associate civil engineer for the city.

Seismic retrofits at the Goodman that began more than a decade before the earthquake likely made it possible to survive well enough to get the funding for its repair, recalled Levenberg.

Without the retrofit, the building would have fallen, she said of the bracing the library received between 2003 and 2007. Because the retrofit held, the federal government now wants to continue investing in the building.

Completed in 1901, the Goodman Library  named for the local banker George Goodman, who donated land and funds for the building  served as the main Napa County reading room for over six decades. The current Napa library opened in 1974 on Coombs Street.

The federal government added the landmark to its National Register of Historic Places that year, and the historical society moved its research library and offices to the building two years later.

After the 2014 quake, the historical society opened an off-site appointment desk on First Street, then in November shifted its office and part of its collection to the Juarez building at Tulocay Cemetery on Coombsville Road.
NAPA  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.
NAPA -- 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.
AMERICAN CANYON  This citys long-stalled affordable housing project for seniors is expected to finally break ground this spring, but only after the city engaged in some creative financing with the developer.

Satellite Affordable Housing Associates (SAHA) of Berkeley has been trying for four years to fund Valley View Affordable Senior Homes, consisting of 70 apartments slated for Theresa Avenue.

The nonprofit developer has had to raise about $25 million to get started on construction, and more than once the city of American Canyon has stepped in to help.

The city first contributed the land, about 3.7 acres valued at $1.05 million. Then, it agreed to loan SAHA $750,000, which the developer has promised to repay over 55 years at 3 percent interest.

On Tuesday, the City Council approved yet another loan  this time for $930,000.

This last loan required some creativity so the deal worked for SAHA and the city, according to City Manager Dana Shigley.

Like with the previous loan, SAHA will repay the $930,000 over 55 years. But this one will be at zero percent interest.

Additionally, SAHA will pay American Canyon a $930,000 fee to cover sewer improvements along Theresa Avenue. This payment is expected next year once the project is constructed.

This means the city could end up getting paid back twice for the same amount.

Its necessary to do it this way for financing purposes, Shigley explained to the council. It is not a standard practice, and it is a little unusual. But it does happen. It is not entirely unheard of to arrange a loan payback this way, she said.

Shigley noted that American Canyon doesnt have to get paid twice for the $930,000. Somewhere down the road the city could consider forgiving some of the loan, she added.

None of the councilmembers expressed concerns with the arrangement, including Mark Joseph, who focuses on financial matters more than anyone else on the council because of his background in city and fiscal management.

The bottom line is we need an affordable [housing] project, said Joseph. This is going to get us that. It is frustrating it has taken us so long to get the project funded.

But in my mind it [the financing arrangement] is the best option at this point in time, Joseph said.

Councilmember Kenneth Leary said using creative financing was not only OK but necessary since private developers often wont take on affordable housing projects because they dont make them the money they seek.

Valley View would provide 70 apartments for seniors aged 55 and older with incomes between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area median income, which is $60,250.

The development will consist of 58 one-bedroom, one-story cottages, plus a two-story building that will have eight one-bedroom and four two-bedroom units, according to SAHA.

Almost one-third of the apartments will be reserved for seniors who are veterans. Of these 22 units, 17 will go to chronically homeless veterans.

Aubra Levine, SAHAs lead on the project, said Tuesday that they hope to break ground in either late March or early April. Construction is expected to take about a year to complete.
Shozaburo Nakamura  the man convicted of killing his ex-wife and former business partner, Eiko Nakamura  will be 97 years old before he is eligible for parole from state prison.

Nakamura, 74, was sentenced in Napa County Superior Court on Tuesday morning to a total of 26 years to life in prison. A jury found Nakamura guilty of first-degree murder on Dec. 12  more than two years after he stabbed the restaurateur in their shared home on the 2900 block of Pinewood Drive in west Napa.

Shozaburo Nakamura and Eiko Nakamura, a co-founder of Eikos restaurant on First Street, divorced in 1994, but had been living as roommates since 2008.

In court on Tuesday, Nakamuras defense attorney, Molly Hendry, asked the court to consider probation, citing that he has no prior record and would not be a threat to the public if he was released.

So what, said Assistant District Attorney Paul Gero. Many murderers dont have prior records.

Nakamura didnt just kill Eiko, he destroyed her, Gero said.

According to the prosecution, Shozaburo Nakamura attacked Eiko on May 31, 2014 after they argued over her plans to buy a new home and leave him behind. He grabbed a rock in the kitchen and delivered three blows to Eikos head, then grabbed a knife and repeatedly stabbed her in the back and then the neck, Gero said.

Eikos body was found in the bathroom after a friend of hers called police to the scene on June 1.

Judge Mark Boessenecker sentenced Nakamura to 25 years to life in prison for first-degree murder and an additional a year in prison for the special allegation that he used a deadly weapon while committing the crime. Nakamura will receive credit for the 969 days hes already served in custody at the Napa County jail.

Nakamura was also ordered to pay restitution, the amount of which has yet to be determined, to Eiko Nakamuras brother who resides in Japan.

This was a just sentence for a defendant who committed a brutal murder on a vulnerable victim, Gero said.
"The Forgotten Man" is unlikely to be forgotten in the Trump presidency. In his inaugural address, the new chief executive promised that "the forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. Everyone is listening to you now." Trump was reprising a mention of "forgotten men and women" made back in November, in his victory speech.

It's clear why Trump hopes to build a presidency on service to the "forgotten." The quality of the economic recovery after the financial crisis of 2008 was poor, and to this day many Americans feel they are not back where they were in 2007.

It is all too obvious that the "too big to fail" doctrine favored Wall Street behemoths like Goldman Sachs, as has post-crash statute. Laws such as Dodd-Frank force all kinds of negative consequences upon smaller financial institutions -- call them forgotten banks -- as Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, noted at the confirmation hearing for Steven Mnuchin, the nominee for Treasury secretary and former Goldman executive.

So who precisely is this Forgotten Man?

In fact, two opposing Forgotten Men figure in American history. Which one Trump actually backs will determine what kind of presidency his ends up being.

The more familiar Forgotten Man was the brainchild of another populist campaigner, Franklin Roosevelt. During the 1932 presidential campaign, a point when two in 10 workers were unemployed, Roosevelt expressed concern for "the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid." The New York governor meant the poor man, whose poverty he blamed on a failure of Wall Street.

When he was asked about hiring some executives from the House of Morgan, a bank that loomed as large then as Goldman Sachs does today, FDR rejected the idea outright. "We simply can't tie up with 23," the new president said, a reference to the Morgan headquarters at 23 Wall Street.

As president, Roosevelt used his social program, the New Deal, to expand his definition of the Forgotten Man. He moved on from that first group, the poor, to others: the elderly, the infirm and the worker. To him, "the forgotten man" was the vulnerable constituent group that longed for economic and political support.

Roosevelt's is the first Forgotten Man who comes to mind now. But in those days, another version was just as familiar. That was the one captured by a legendary Yale professor named William Graham Sumner. His Forgotten Man was an anonymous figure, suffering the collateral damage of a project advanced to help the group identified as vulnerable. In Sumner's definition, he was "the man who pays, the man who prays, the man who is not thought of."

A classical liberal in the British tradition, Sumner therefore rejected any law for special groups: earmarks, targeted social programs, official interest-group organizations, narrow tax breaks. The professor especially abhorred protectionism, then also a plank in the Republican platform, because protectionism benefited a narrow group: New England industrialists. Sumner called protectionism "the ism which teaches that waste makes wealth."

Politically, the attractions of Roosevelt's Forgotten Man definition are powerful. In his first term, Roosevelt delivered benefits to so many groups -- organized labor especially comes to mind -- that in his second election he took 46 of 48 states.

Economically, the record suggests that Sumner's forgotten man is the more valuable. After all, the New Deal, as inspiring as it was, did not yield a strong recovery. FDR's wildly pro-union legislation priced many workers out of the market, thereby failing the very poor Roosevelt had vowed to serve. High unemployment endured right up to World War II.

"Who is the forgotten man in Muncie?" asked an Indiana paper in the late 1930s, doubtless thinking of Sumner's figure. "I know him as intimately as I know my own undershirt. He is the fellow that is trying to get along without public relief... In the meantime the taxpayers go on supporting many that would not work if they had jobs."

So which Forgotten Man will Trump make his own? His protectionism, a reversion to ancient Republican trade policy, is seen as a pitch to one such group. But this doctrine only deters economic growth, and favors what you could call "remembered groups," like organized labor, instead of helping "the man who pays."

Some Cabinet selections suggest Trump favors Sumner's anonymous man or woman. One example is the nominee for Labor secretary, Andy Puzder, the chief executive of CKE Restaurants. While most Labor secretaries have a background in dealing with unions or are otherwise focused on organized labor, they have not always had experience in creating jobs and working with smaller employers like the fast-food industry's franchisees, who employ thousands of nonunion workers. Puzder's focus is on general growth in his industry, not on specific trades with groups.

But other moves by the president suggest a penchant for service to "remembered groups." Take the decision to pluck Mnuchin, along with several other executives, from Goldman Sachs.

Given the cronyism that characterized the bailout policy of another Goldman alum, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, the choice of so many of the bank's veterans is disconcerting. Trump, to paraphrase Roosevelt, is "tying up," not with 23 Wall Street but with 200 West Street, the Goldman headquarters. If anyone is the Forgotten Man, FDR's or Sumner's, it is not Goldman.

In his testimony, Mnuchin emphasized that he stood for general growth, the faith that a stronger economy will pull everyone forward, not just favored groups. The hope is that Trump policy will also do so -- and thereby serve all Forgotten Men.

Amity Shlaes, author of "The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression" (2007), is presidential scholar at the King's College and board chairman at the Coolidge Presidential Foundation.
There are a lot of words in the Pledge of Allegiance that compel us as Americans to take stock of our individual patriotism. Words like allegiance, justice and freedom are powerful symbols to describe the meaning of patriotism, and Donald Trump used a national stage on Jan. 20 during his inaugural speech to remind us in his own words that patriotism is at the core of our national identity. However, there was one word in the Pledge of Allegiance that he did not mention - "indivisible."

Allegiance, justice and freedom are all fine and dandy but without "one nation, indivisible," America is just another country flexing its power and influence under a veil of misguided nationalism. Did Trump omit the word indivisible on purpose or was it just a coincidence? Only time will tell as we come to grips with his divisive language along lines of race, nationality, gender and income equality. Maybe he left it out because every thing he stands for is just the opposite of the word indivisible.

All during the presidential campaign, Trump displayed his divisive nature by calling Mexicans, "criminals and rapists," by insulting women with words like, "fat pigs and slobs," by mocking a physically disabled journalist, by calling for a ban on all Muslims entering the country, disparaging the African-American community by labeling them economically and educationally deprived, and dishonoring veterans of their rightful status as war heroes.

And now on his first day in office, he's telling us to love America or leave it. He's asking us to rally around his brand of patriotism that puts "America First," at the expense of alienating our allies throughout the world. I can't think of anything more divisive when this attitude plays out on a global stage.

In his speech, Trump said, "the oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans." Does his "oath of Allegiance" include less hateful rhetoric toward those people who don't believe in his vision of America or does it mean we build more walls?

I hope Donald Trump is watching the massive turnout of Americans in hundreds of cities throughout the country protesting his divisive language. I know he is impressed with large crowds because he made that his measuring stick of his campaign rallies, so surely he can't ignore what's taking place all across the country and worldwide.

The question remains: Will he swallow his ego and respond in a way that brings people together or will he blame the media for spoiling his first day as president?

Inaugural speeches are supposed to be uplifting and inspiring, but Trump's words left me with a dark and dangerous feeling of isolation and despair.

John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech in 1961 was a prime example of how a president can bring a country together despite political differences. America's indivisibility should be a ray of hope for our own citizens and for other nations.

Sadly, Trump's vision of patriotism is devoid of any effort to unite the country. Apparently, he thinks that blind patriotism can simply overcome division. History tells us this isn't necessarily true, as total allegiance to a nationalist agenda often triggers more racism and oppression of minorities.

If anything, my patriotism is stronger now that Donald Trump is president but for very different reasons. My patriotism will be focused more on building inclusion and tolerance through voluntary public service, and when I recite the Pledge of Allegiance in the future, I'll take more pride in saying the words, "one nation, indivisible," because that's what makes us great.

Mike Wallace

Napa
Walt Ranch approvals head to court

A judge will have the final word in Napa Countys multi-year Walt Ranch hillside vineyard development battle.

Opponents filed two lawsuits in Napa County Superior Court challenging county approval of the project. One is by the Living Rivers Council, the other by the Napa Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity.

If this luxury vineyard goes in, thousands of trees will be cut down, acres of wildlife habitat will be destroyed, new roads will be built, and limited water supplies will be depleted, said Aruna Prabhala of the Center for Biological Diversity in a press release.

Mike Reynolds of Walt Ranch took another view after the Napa County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 20 approved Walt Ranch following more than 11 hours of hearing stretching over four days.

We came forward with the belief it is a very environmentally sensitive project, he said.

With the world-famous Napa Valley floor largely planted out in vineyards, grape growers have been turning to the surrounding mountains to find more room. Walt Ranch has become emblematic of disagreements over creating large vineyards in the areas watersheds.

Craig and Kathryn Hall of HALL Wines in St. Helena are owners of the 2,300-acre Walt Ranch along Highway 121 in the hills between the city of Napa and Lake Berryessa. They have planned for a decade to create vineyards there.
Despite, or maybe because of, the rain last Wednesday evening, organizers were thrilled with the robust turnout for Clif Familys Volunteer Rally.

The event, held at St. Helenas Velo Vino, 709 Main St., was a wonderful evening to connect with old and new friends, said Meg Barkley, director of Hospitality & Wine Club for Clif Family.

Lisa OConnor, board president and one of the founders of Sunrise Horse Rescue, added, We are really super excited to be here today and thrilled with the turnout despite a big rain storm. Sunrise was one of nine nonprofits that participated in the Volunteer Rally.

OConnor said the nonprofit is actively looking for land in the Napa Valley for its herd of 25 horses, which are temporarily located at Calistogas Tamber Bey Vineyards, having moved from its Lodi Lane location last year. To care for those horses, all who have live tenancy with the nonprofit, the group has about 150 volunteers, OConnor said. About 40 of those come out on a regular basis. Were looking to attract more volunteers, to have them come out and have some quality time with our horses and help our organization at the same time, she said.

Beyond the 25 horses in the herd, the nonprofit is helping another 100 horses in the community that need help in finding new homes.

To volunteer, call their office, 707-320-3120 or visit their website, sunrisehorserescue.org.

From horses to hikers, Kimberly Barrett represented the Land Trust of Napa County at the event. On her table was a map of Napa County and 57,000 acres the nonprofit has protected from development. Barrett spoke about the groups volunteer opportunities on its permanent preserves. For example she talked about how to identify invasive plant species and then how to remove them  French broom and Himalayan blackberry  come to mind. The map also listed regular hikes on their properties and Barrett said the Linda Falls Preserve near Angwin are particularly spectacular with all the rainfall this year. Theres a hike there on Sunday and a half-day workday there on Feb. 12.

Annually, Barrett said the nonprofit has more than 200 volunteers. To join their ranks visit the website, napalandtrust.org.

From hiking to biking, Melissa Serpa, volunteer coordinator for the Napa Valley Vine Trail, was also present. The Napa Valley Vine Trail is a planned 47-mile blacktop trail from Calistoga to Vallejo. Currently, the trail has 12.5 contiguous miles of trail open, from Yountville to Kennedy Park in Napa.

On that rainy afternoon, Serpa said the nonprofit is starting to launch our public programs, one of which is the Outdoor Classroom Project. It is a curriculum that was developed by the Napa Valley Unified School District teachers for other teachers to bring their students on the trail for an educational field trip. She said volunteers are needed to help chaperon and lead their own field trips.

There are a variety of lesson plans, for science, math, physical education, art, history and social sciences and every grade level has three or four different lesson plans. Napas Shearer Elementary School was expected to take the first field trip, on Wednesday, Jan. 25.

As part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Action & Compassion, there were 65 people planting trees along the Vine Trail, Serpa said. There were lots of kids out there and it was a really fun event. And we got really lucky with the weather. The group planted 33 trees, 27 red oaks and six redbuds, that will turn beautiful colors in the fall and eventually provide a shaded canopy over the trail as well, Sherpa said.

To volunteer, go the groups website, vinetrail.org and fill out a volunteer sign up form, which will ask you a number of questions, to determine your level of interest and what you want to do.

Also attending the event were Jim Tomlinson and Katelyn Willoughby Bagley from the CVNL, Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership. Tomlinson said the nonprofit has two missions: We train and educate and support nonprofits in being better businesses with board development, executive director searches, governance, supporting the staff and organizing for volunteers, fundraisers and fund development, Tomlinson said.

On the other hand, we provide volunteers to the community, to the nonprofit world and government agencies. We are supporting the community members in finding good volunteer work and then providing that service to all the nonprofits and government programs, he added. For information on either, visit their website, cvnl.org. All services are free.

Finally, Maggie Friedrich, representing Soroptimist St. Helena Sunrise, said she was at the rally because, we are promoting our clubs, looking for volunteers and/or members. She added the Soroptimists mission is to empower women and girls in furthering their education and making the world a better place.

The groups main fundraiser is a mini-film festival, LunaFest Napa Valley, which is held March 9 at Lincoln Theater in Yountville. We typically have 400 people in attendance, usually there are nine films, 90 minutes worth of films, by women film directors, for women, Friedrich said, but added, We like the men to come.

The event begins with a pre-event reception with bites to eat and Clif Family wines and the beneficiaries are NEWS, Napa Emergency Womens Services, Girls on the Run Napa and Solano County, the Breast Cancer Fund and the club itself. Last year, we made about $16,000 profit that gets divided between the groups, she said.

To join, volunteer or learn more, visit their website, sisthelenasunrise.org.

Besides those mentioned, other nonprofits at the Volunteer Rally were Girls on the Run Napa & Solano County, Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch, Napa Bike Coalition, Nimbus Arts and St. Helena Farmers Market.
The St. Helena City Council has approved an 8-unit apartment project on McCorkle Avenue, over the objections of neighbors who are concerned about soil contamination, traffic and safety.

After a two-and-a-half-hour hearing on Tuesday, the council approved the project by a 3-2 vote, with Councilmember Paul Dohring casting the deciding vote that allowed the project at 632 McCorkle Ave. to move ahead. Councilmembers Geoff Ellsworth and Mary Koberstein cast dissenting votes.

Applicant Joe McGrath said hes willing to work with staff to make minor changes to the projects design, but the altered plans wont have to come back for another hearing.

The Planning Commission approved the project on Dec. 6, by a 2-1 vote. Attorney and St. Helena resident David Bradshaw of the law firm Jackson Lewis led an effort to appeal the commissions ruling to the City Council.

His wife Vickie Bradshaw spoke against the project on Tuesday, and after the hearing confirmed that she plans to file a lawsuit challenging the citys ruling. During the hearing she faced off with City Attorney Tom Brown over several intricate legal points, with Bradshaw claiming the city was failing to review the projects full impacts as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Councilmembers Geoff Ellsworth and Mary Koberstein wanted McGrath to redesign some aspects of the project in response to criticism over the lack of space for children to play, insufficient natural light and air in the first-floor apartments, the lack of usable outdoor space on the second floor, and the designs compatibility with historic homes in the area.

Im as big a housing advocate as anybody, but I think that as we start to pursue and encourage multi-family housing, we really (need to) consider the standard that we are setting in the design, said Koberstein, who raised similar points when she voted against the project as a planning commissioner.

Councilmember Paul Dohring said he wasnt in favor of a full redesign, but he wanted expert opinion on the designs compatibility with historic homes.

(Compatibility) is such a loaded word, and that requires experts to tell me what that actually means, he said.

White said he liked the design and congratulated McGrath on a project that meets the citys standards and contains the minimum number of units allowed by the zoning. White said McGrath was willing to tweak the design on his own to address some of the concerns, and any further delays imposed by the city would just add to the cost of the project and eventually result in higher rents for tenants.

White said he preferred to leave it up to Mr. McGrath and the Building Department to come up with their own ideas, White said.

Mayor Alan Galbraith agreed. (McGrath) has told us hes all ears, and I trust that, he said.

Opponents say McCorkle Avenue is the wrong place for development because its a dead-end street with a dangerous combination of many cars and many children who play in the street because there are no parks in the immediate area (the closest one is Meily Park a few blocks away). Neighbors generally supported Our Town St. Helenas 8-unit Brenkle Court project a few doors down, but they say the McGrath project is too much.

Neighbors said theyre also worried about soil contamination that occurred on the McGrath property under its previous owner, whom theyve described as a hoarder. The Napa County Department of Environmental Health will oversee and monitor McGrath's remediation of the contaminated soil.

However, City Attorney Tom Brown said a legal technicality prevented the council from basing its decision on those environmental factors. He said the state recently forced St. Helena and many other cities to allow multi-family housing projects in areas zoned high density without requiring a use permit.

Its a fight that cities had for a long time but lost, Brown said.

Since McGraths project only required design review, the councils decision had to be based strictly on the projects design, not the environmental issues such as traffic and public safety that typically arise when the city is considering a use permit, Brown said.

Vickie Bradshaw strongly disagreed, saying the publics concerns about parking, traffic, the lack of play space for kids, and soil contamination deserve a full environmental impact, rather than the CEQA categorical exemption recommended by city staff.

Neighbors said there were grounds to deny the project on the basis of its design, which Ron Sproat called butt-ugly. But their most passionate arguments were based on the safety of children who play in the increasingly busy street.

We do not want to subject any of the children living on our street to these unsafe conditions, said Elizabeth Goelz.

However, the council didnt consider that factor because it didnt relate to design.

I think the frustration in this room is palpable, Koberstein said. But she and other councilmembers accepted Browns advice on the limits of their discretion over the project.
The St. Helena City Council has sided with critics who said a proposed wine tasting room on Adams Street is too close to schools, churches and the Carnegie Building.

Tuesdays 3-2 vote overturns a ruling by the Planning Commission and prevents Ladera Vineyards from opening a tasting room at 1234 Adams St., occupied by GoVino and previously home to the Tamber Bey Vineyards tasting room.

Councilmembers Paul Dohring, Geoff Ellsworth and Mary Koberstein voted against the project, saying there were legitimate concerns over whether a tasting room was compatible with nearby community and youth facilities. Use permits require the city to make a legal finding that the project is compatible with surrounding land uses.

Preschools, churches, Carnegie Building, elementary school  theyre all right there, Dohring said.

Councilmember Geoff Ellsworth said he was worried about the precedent that would be set by another tasting room.

I worry about a community that becomes saturated in alcohol, said Ellsworth, who helped lead the fight against the Davies tasting room across from St. Helena High School. Even though that is the industry here, I believe weve come to a point where were getting out of balance.

The Planning Commission approved the use permit on Dec. 20 by a 2-1 vote. St. Helena resident Marina Hoffman, who spoke out against the project at the hearing, appealed the commissions decision to the City Council. She objected to the sites proximity to several schools and churches and to the Carnegie Building, which hosts youth activities.

I am not trying to make the case that everyone leaving (the tasting room) is impaired and is going to kill a child, Hoffman told the council. Im saying can we increase caution and decrease probability.

Our children are distracted and not paying attention and talking on their cell phones. Adding alcohol into this? I dont get it.

Hoffman pointed to laws that allow the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to deny licenses to facilities that are near churches, schools and youth facilities.

Hoffman also objected to potential noise from monthly events and to the tasting rooms business model, which she said conflicts with General Plan policies prohibiting commercial uses that are primarily tourist-serving in nature, and that are inconsistent with the community image of St. Helena.

Brian Russell spoke on behalf of Ladera. He said the city allows tasting rooms in the Central Business zoning district, as long as they get a use permit. The impact would be identical to that of the Tamber Bey tasting room the city approved in 2010, he said.

You know exactly what happened at Tamber Bey at the exact same location, Russell said. That use will just continue.

Tastings would be mostly by invitation, said Pat Stotesbery of Ladera. Were trying to keep it pretty private, he said.

Mayor Alan Galbraith and Councilmember Peter White served on the Planning Commission that approved the use permit for the Tamber Bey tasting room. They supported the Ladera application since there were never any safety problems associated with Tamber Bey.

This is replacing what was there, Galbraith said.

If there was a real problem, I would have expected the folks from the schools ... to say this is not compatible, he added. No school representatives spoke for or against the application.
I couldnt believe the energy on Saturday morning. From the start, when my wife Joni and I boarded a Vine Trail bus headed to the Womens March Napa Valley to the end, when she and I enjoyed lunch at the Bounty Hunter. We then walked to the bus station to catch a northbound bus back to St. Helena, where we had parked the car.

So many St. Helenans participated, including Ana Canales, Christina Kennedy, Shannon Kuleto, Barb Kelly and Carolyn Bond, who we joined on the bus. So many others from the Upvalley gathered at the Oxbow Market, where the march began. Those included Wendy Strachan, Susan Calkin, Susan McWilliams, Antonia Allegra, Norma Ferriz, who brought Girl Scout troop members with her, and a couple of friends, Doug and Carolyn Ernst, the former editor of the St. Helena Star and his wife. Also joining the crowd was fellow journalist Sasha Paulsen, who was dressed in bright clothes on Saturday, in contrast to Friday, when she was dressed in all black, depressed because of Donald Trumps inauguration.

Waiting in line for the march to begin was interesting, because we got to read the signs from the common Love trumps hate to the unique I cant believe I have to protest this s*** again. For many older folks, the last time they had marched in protest was during the Vietnam War, which ended many years ago.

Congressman Mike Thompson, a Democrat who grew up in St. Helena, was one of the speakers on Saturday morning. He said, Thank you for inviting me to be here with you and I want you to know something: You are my inspiration. And you being here today charges my batteries, so thank you very, very much.

The crowd, estimated at between 3,000 and 4,000 people, cheered often, cheered loudly and were inspired by his words:

Its been a rough couple of months, we all know that. Weve heard reprehensible comments during the campaign and after the campaign; weve seen troubling cabinet nominations coming out of this administration and just yesterday we heard a very divisive campaign speech instead of a uniting inaugural address.

And I know, sad for all of us, is the fact that yesterday we saw Barack Obama, the living embodiment of inclusiveness, leave Washington, D.C. It is very easy for us to become discouraged, very easy for us to become disappointed, that we give up and give up hope.

You know what, I look out today and I dont see disappointment, I dont see despair, I dont see giving up, I dont see backing down. I see determination, I see resolve. And I see a few thousand people who are going to stand up for the values that we hold dear.

Those values include making sure all people are treated with dignity and respect, he said, and access to quality health care for everyone.

Thompson, who sat on the dais in Washington, D.C. for President Trumps inauguration, added: And after sitting on that dais yesterday, Im convinced that it is even more important that we stand up and we stand up tall. And we make sure that this new president and new administration understands that were standing up and were going to continue to stand up for things that are right.

One person said she stood at one spot at the beginning of the parade route and it took 50 minutes for the marchers to pass by.

On the Womens March Napa Valley Facebook page, organizer Irit Weir wrote, You have proven yesterday that you are awesome and awake with your commitment to bring forth the light and energy required to make a difference. Arriving by the thousands you showed the world and yourselves that we are united in our pursuit and aspiration for justice and beauty for all.

As you can imagine, we the organizers did not predict such a wonderful outcome. We were delighted in the visual waves of people, oceans of people arriving over the First and Third Street bridges.

She added, The colorful, visual, chants, rhythms, colorful posters  mothers with children, babies, grandparents, young people, dogs, everyone brought their best self to the arena to create the most peaceful march and gathering. Thank you Napa for this gift.

She thanked the organizers and wrote, for all the women who came before us and to the young women who are marching in front, we love you.

I only saw one vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, who drove his black pickup truck on First Street, window rolled down, shouting at the crowd. His hate speech was returned, for the most part, with love. In this divided nation, that was truly amazing.
Something we all need is a quality bank, hopefully populated by helpful staff. Alas, sometimes thats not so easy to find.

One such good person in St. Helena who deserves recognition for looking out for her customers is Yesenia Guitron, who formerly worked at the Wells Fargo branch here. She was one of the first whistleblowers nationwide to bring attention to that banks nefarious business practices. According to the Press-Democrat, in 2008 shortly after she was hired, Guitron warned supervisors that co-workers at her St. Helena branch were secretly opening and closing accounts without customers permission.

My own familys experience with Wells Fargo documents that banks anti-consumer practices going back several years earlier. My mother was living up in Oregon and there came a time when I took over the management of her financial affairs. Her main bank was Wells Fargo. I quickly noticed that her local branch had sold Mom an unnecessary and expensive annuity. There was nothing illegal about selling her the annuity; it simply wasnt appropriate and just made Wells Fargo big fees. I got her out of it fast.

Mom had substantial cash deposits with the bank, and moved funds between savings and checking accounts. But I saw that every time she made a transfer, Wells hit her with a substantial fee. I complained to the branch manager. He apologized for the fees and promised to repay every single transfer charge. That was an example of the type of local leadership later missing in the bank.

These annoying charges kept appearing after I returned home to St. Helena. I walked over to the local branch. With great luck, I met a young bank officer who offered to assist and indeed was a great help as long as the problem persisted. Later on, she wisely left Wells for another financial institution.

One day when I went in, my new friendly banker was absent, so I sat down with the branch manager and explained what had been going on. I was fascinated that this manager did not react in any way; she refused to acknowledge the problem, commend her fellow manager up in Oregon for fixing it, or offer any comment whatsoever. It was a weird encounter.

A bank branch manager is like the captain of a ship, totally responsible for everything that happens there. In St. Helena, Yesenia Guitron took her warnings to the same branch manager I had had my very strange one-way conversation with. This was the moment that Wells could have avoided the national attention, legal problems and loss of business that continues to this day. But evidently our branch manager did nothing. She was outed nationally in a page one story in The New York Times, so it would be redundant here to name her again.

As for Yesenia Guitron, she was fired. She sued Wells Fargo but lost the case on the Orwellian argument that the wretched and corrupt performance standards she was held to were no different than those applied to all other bankers. Given all that has continued to come out about the bank, we can hope that her lawyer is finding new grounds to pursue remedies and compensation from Wells.

One final and ridiculous note on the culture of Wells Fargo. On a series of really hot summer days when I was meeting with my helpful banker, I inescapably noticed that she and all the other women employees were wearing panty hose or stockings. I politely asked if this was by choice, since they all looks quite uncomfortable. I was told no, it was bank policy Wells was telling them they couldnt in any fashion show bare legs.

Dumbfounded and incredulous, I couldnt believe this archaic notion was really bank policy. I reached out to the personal secretary of the banks CEO (the fellow who disastrously appeared before a congressional committee and was then fired). She sighed, thanked me for the call and said yes, it was bank policy but she hoped it would be changed. Eventually, it was.

Another banker who has negatively impacted St. Helena is Michael Corbat. Hes the CEO of Citigroup, which in our town has been the Citibank branch at the corner of Adams and Railroad. In mid-January, that branch closed, disrupting the financial lives of numerous St. Helenans (with one loan account, including me). So we now have an intersection downtown emptied of two bank offices: Citibank and the shell that had held the federally-shuttered Charter Oak Bank.

Sure, we have other banks in town, but moving accounts can be a major pain.

The small-town banker, knowledgeable, helpful and outgoing, is a Norman Rockwell-type character from a more relaxed and perhaps more pleasant era. Fortunately, we still have a few here, if you search for them. You can find Max Mendoza at Mechanics Bank and Kathy Foulger at Umpqua. They, and similar colleagues around town, will welcome warmly the St. Helenans dropped with disdain by Citibank.
Rianda House Senior Activity Center is pleased to offer another in a series of articles from one of our collaborating agencies to introduce you to vital support services in the upper Napa Valley. We are grateful to this months guest writer, Casey Rockwood, the Aging and Disability Program Manager with the Napa County Comprehensive Services for Older Adults, for sharing this important and helpful insight.

Napa Countys Comprehensive Services for Older Adults (CSOA) division provides services supporting older adults and people with disabilities so they may remain safely and well cared for in their own homes and in the community. A key program within CSOA is In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), a needs-based program which helps people obtain care within their own homes. It does so by assessing clients and authorizing them to hire a care provider of their choice who is then paid by the IHSS program.

The majority of IHSS clients choose to hire a relative to be their care provider, but for some, a relative may not be an option or what works best for them. The IHSS Public Authority is a program that is able to refer potential care providers to IHSS clients. A client can use the referral list to set up interviews and hire a care provider of their choice. IHSS currently has over 1,300 care providers who help over 1,100 people in Napa County remain safe, independent and fulfilled in their own homes.

Recently the IHSS program has taken several steps in developing connections between care providers and people in need of care. The Supported Individual Provider Program (SIPPS) are social workers who help clients navigate the IHSS application and provider hiring processes.

This unique effort represents Napa Countys dedication to customer service and access. IHSS is also committed to expanding access and exposure to Upvalley Napa County residents. IHSS and SIPP social workers will be using an office in Calistoga and as a place for clients and providers to drop off any paperwork or meet with social workers.

Furthermore, new provider orientations will be held at the Rianda House in St. Helena as a convenient option for Upvalley providers. These orientations will begin in March. There will be a Spanish language orientation on the first Friday of every Month starting at 9 a.m., and an English language orientation on the first Wednesday of every month starting at 3 p.m. SIPP social workers and Upvalley outreach efforts represent Napa Countys dedication to providing place-based services and increasing access to needed care throughout Napa County.

Who is Eligible for IHSS through Napa County?

To receive IHSS you must be:

A Napa County resident.

SSI/SSP or Medi-Cal eligible.

Living in a home, apartment or residence of their choosing (excluding hospital, skilled nursing home, assisted living or licensed care facility).

-At risk of requiring out of home placement without IHSS provided services.

What services does IHSS provide?

-Domestic and Related Services: meal preparation, grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry and taking out the garbage.

-Personal Care Services: bathing, feeding, dressing, grooming and toileting.

-Paramedical Tasks: assistance with medications, injections, ostomy care.

-Protective Supervision: monitoring persons with cognitive or mental impairments to prevent injury.

-Transportation and accompaniment to medical appointments.

How do I apply for IHSS?

If you are interested in applying or referring someone to the IHSS program please call 253-6272 to start an application.

How do I become a Public Authority Care Provider?

The Public Authority needs care providers, especially people who live in or are willing to work in Upvalley locations. Some of the benefits of being a Public Authority Care Provider include: Competitive wages, flexible schedules, paid travel time between clients and overtime pay. If you are interested in becoming a Public Authority care provider please call the Public Authority at 259-8359.

The IHSS program depends on the wonderful care providers who are willing to care for a loved one or who offer to join the Public Authority Registry and care for fellow community members who need help remaining in their home. A giant thank you to all care providers!

Rianda House is located at 1475 Main Street in St. Helena. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call 707-963-8555 or visit our website for our monthly activities calendar: riandahouse.org. Contact Julie Spencer, executive director with any qustions or suggestions for future articles.
NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will meet the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Mr. Dusko Markovic on Thursday 26 January 2017.

Media Advisory

09:45 Joint press point by NATO Secretary General and Prime Minister of Montenegro  Main entrance

The press point will be webstreamed live on the NATO website and live on satellite, on demand via Eurovision Geneva.

Still and video imagery will be available on the NATO website after the event.

Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg)
(Natural News) There have been quiet rumblings of the potential of an assassination attempt on President Donald Trump since he started picking up steam in the presidential primaries. While most of this appeared to just be poor humor, speculation and the ramblings of radical lunatics, with Trumps inauguration quickly approaching, it is time for the authorities to start taking these kinds of threats a lot more seriously.

The most recent example of this has been the case of Dominic Puopolo, a reportedly homeless man whose family has close ties with the Clintons. 51-year-old Puopolo posted a video on Twitter where he threatened to murder the president-elect. He was apprehended shortly thereafter when police officers found him at a Subway restaurant in Miami, Florida. Despite the fact that many in the mainstream media claim that Puopolo is just some mentally deranged lunatic, that doesnt appear to be the case  at least not in the traditional sense.

Gabriel Samuels of The Independent reports, Mr. Puopolo appeared in court in Miami following his arrest, and his defence lawyer recommended he be given a full psychological evaluation to determine his mental state. He was charged with threatening to harm a public servant and awaits trial. His bail was set at $1 million, once medical professionals deemed his was stable enough to be released.

So this man is sane enough to be walking around freely among the rest of us, but he also believes that it is acceptable to threaten to assassinate the future president of the United States. There is no reason at all for this to be the case, and one can only imagine how different the reaction would be if it were someone threatening to kill Barack Obama. Nobody should get off scot-free if they threaten to kill a high-ranking political figure  or anyone, for that matter  it shouldnt matter who it is.

This sets a dangerous precedent all around. It poses the idea that people can be sane enough to avoid being placed in a mental facility, but not sane enough to know between right and wrong. If someone doesnt comprehend the dangers of threatening the president of the United States, how is it a good idea for them to be walking among us? This is truly leftist logic in every sense.

While Puopolo should be punished like anyone else, the fact that his family has such close ties to the Clintons is a major red flag as well. This news does nothing but inspire those who bought into the Pizzagate story to back up their claims of deep-seeded political corruption leading all the way to the White House. If the Regressive Left wants to change its reputation, they need to start holding the madmen on their side responsible for their actions.

Every member of the Democratic Party should be doing everything they possibly can to denounce Puopolo and his motives instead of trying to ignore this story altogether. Donald Trumps victory in the presidential election proves that the United States is prepared for change and that it is time for all of us to join forces and fight for the greater good. A lot of that starts with pointing out political corruption and exposing things for how they really are. These are not partisan issues and should not be treated as such. Its time for both liberals and conservatives to come together and start acting like civilized human beings again.

If we really want to avoid a full-scale societal collapse, this is the only way. It is time for us to get to work and change the direction of our country. Now more than ever, we need more sanity and less absurdity. (RELATED: Follow more developments of the new Trump administration at Whitehouse.news)

Sources:

ZeroHedge.com

Independent.co.uk

TMZ.com
Friday, January 20, 2017 by: Don Wrightman Tags: clean air , EPA , EPA administrator , Rogue This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which was founded in 1970, is now considered a rogue agency which has outlived its purpose. A federal judge has denounced the EPA, which should be dismantled and replaced.

EPA administrator Gina McCarthy was sued in 2014 by Murray Energy Corporation and its affiliates, alleging that the agency was in violation of sections of the Clean Air Act. The EPA was required to conduct continuous evaluations monitoring the potential loss of employment, resulting from enforced provisions of the Clean Air Act. The EPA also failed to applicably implement investigations on threatening plant closures, or employment reductions allegedly resulting from EPA enforcement efforts.

Both parties filed cross motions for summary judgement in 2016. But, on October 17, 2016, US District Judge John Preston Bailey denied the governments motion, and granted the motion of Murray Energy Corporation. The EPA lost the case and was ordered by Judge Baily to comply with the Clean Air Act.

The EPA was ordered to file a plan and schedule to comply with its effects on coal industry regulations within fourteen days of the order. The EPA responded with a filing stating that the agency doesnt perform the economic assessments specified, and would need two years to devise and implement a methodical strategy to do so. Judge bailey was not impressed with the filing.

Federal regulators have now been ordered to assess how many power plant and coal mining jobs are being lost to air pollution regulations. Judge Bailey made the ruling in response to Gina McCarthys filing that the EPA hasnt performed such analysis in decades. The outgoing EPA administrator, McCarthy, had no means to comply with the ruling in a timely manner. Jude Bailey found her response to be insufficient, unacceptable, and unnecessary. (RELATED: Discover more news about the environment at Environ.news)

The EPA, like many federal agencies, is swift to bring criminal charges against unintentional violations of pollution laws, but it views its own compliance with the law as optional. The EPA is required by law to continuously analyze the economic impact where enforcing the Clean Air Act. McCarthy showed evidence that the EPA is hostile toward accepting the mission that Congress had established for the agency.

The EPA owes its powers exclusively to Congress, but shows contempt to their roots by acting as an independent power. The EPA operates as if its entitled to enforce the legal provisions they wish, and ignore the ones they feel are inconvenient for them. Agencies who operate in such a manner are a threat to American freedom.

Judge Bailey has ordered the EPA to identify facilities which were harmed by regulations under the Obama administration by July 1, including facilities at risk of closing or cutting staff members. The EPA doesnt feel that analyzing job loss will change global energy trends. This kind of arrogance is typical from the agency, which is responsible for carrying out its duties in accordance with the statutory mandate from Congress, and not for analyzing global energy trends.

Judge Bailey reminded McCarthy that the EPA doesnt get to decide which governing provisions they can ignore, and that the EPA had the ability to recommend amendments to Congress. It is time for the EPA to recognize that Congress makes the law, and EPA must not only enforce the law, it must obey it, said Judge Bailey.

It will be important for the Trump administration to round up all rogue agencies in the US and ensure they are in compliance with the law. It wont be an easy battle considering entrenched Democratic bureaucrats will be fighting every step of the way to maintain dictatorial supremacy over everyone. Judges like John Bailey, who are willing to stand up for the laws and resist liberal bureaucratic dictatorship, help make the difference.

Learn more about the EPAs climate science fraud at ClimateScienceNews.com.

Sources:

PowerlineBlog.com

WashingtonTimes.com
(Natural News) This past year will be remembered for a lot of things, including the year that so-called fake news helped one unlikely presidential candidate win the White House.

For weeks since President Donald J. Trump vanquished two-time presidential loser Hillary Clinton, a narrative emerged that fake news, as in propaganda, fed to hundreds of alternative media news sites by Russian intelligence swayed voters away from Clinton and into Trumps corner.

No proof has ever emerged substantiating this tin-foil-hat conspiracy, mind you.

Nevertheless, this narrative has been expanded and made official, so to speak. President Obama has used it, in part, as his justification for sanctioning Russian intelligence and diplomatic missions and operatives. And it has been used by Congress and the president as justification to create a de facto Ministry of Truth within the U.S. government, ostensibly to identify and counteract the fake news and propaganda coming from foreign governments (a long-accepted intelligence/counterintelligence technique which happened all through the Cold War and remains in use today).

And who will disseminate the governments version of what is supposedly the truth? You guessed it: The very same mainstream media institutions and outlets that have been creating and distributing fake news for decades.

With that in mind, we bring you the 10 worst offenders of fake news in 2016:

1. The Russians did it: The Washington Post The paper mainstreamed the narrative that The Russians Hacked the Election with a shoddy piece of journalism reporting that Russian intelligence gave hundreds of alternative media sites (including ours) propaganda in the form of news aimed at helping Trump and hurting Clinton [playing her role, Clinton would later blame it on some grudge Russian President Vladimir Putin held against her].

The sole source for the story was some shady, never-before-heard-of group of experts in various fields who claimed their analysis concluded without a doubt that Russian counterintelligence had meddled in our election. So flimsy and fake was the story that the Post eventually had to publish a sort-of retraction, admitting its story about fake Russian news was itself fake.

What is even more pathetic is the Posts attempt to deflect from its own journalistic failings by lashing out at social media giants like Facebookfor publishing fake news (which, of course, included those fake stories from the Post). In a post-election rant, the papers own editorial board laughably pointed fingers at social media for allowing stories to be published that no doubt hurt Clintons chances of victory but which were nonetheless truthful and full of unassailable details. The Post however, as weve demonstrated, is a purveyor of fake news.

2. Hands up, Dont Shoot: The Mainstream MediaThis phony narrative stems from the Michael Brown shooting death by Ferguson, Missouri, police office Darren Wilson, though arguably, CNN is most responsible for it. As noted by The Daily Wire, the MSM pushed the narrative that 18-year-old Brown, a black man, had his hands in the air (he did not) and shouted, Dont shoot! (he didnt) when Wilson killed him. Truth of the matter is, Brown began fighting Wilson and tried to grab his gun, which a grand jury later confirmed (as did a number of witnesses on the scene).

For weeks CNN especially pushed this blatant lie, with some of its news hosts even putting their hands up on screen one morning, as a symbol of their support (for the lie).

3. Trump told his supporters to vote multiple times: CNNLike him or not, there is no doubt that the MSM did its best to destroy Trump during the campaign, and that, of course, included ginning up fake news. CNN was, of course, in the thick of that. As Mediaite reported, the bottom-feeder news network made up a claim that Trump told his supporters to commit voter fraud by voting early and often. In fact, Trump was lamenting that in some polling places in Colorado, where he was attending a campaign event, void ballots four or five times, meaning they could probably vote four or five times. But we dont do that, Trump also said, which was edited out of the original CNN story.

4. Helping Hillary cheat before a debate against primary opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders: CNN: Longtime Democratic operative (which is why the network hired her) Donna Brazile worked behind the scenes to warn and inform the Clinton campaign about tough questions she was going to get ahead of a primary debate. Then, in what can only be adding insult to injury, the network executives acted shocked that a former associate of Clintons would actually use her media position to help an old friend.

And of course, CNN has waxed sanctimonious about fake news also.

5. Natural News is full of fake news: ForbesIn recent days Forbes columnist Kavin Senapathy, the sites myth buster on health, food and science, wrote a hit piece attacking Natural News and its founder, Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, as a fake news apparatus that pushes bogus theories and unscientific information. The defamation, of course, included all Natural News writers and correspondents, of which yours truly is a part of.

But in fact, the communist-Chinese-owned magazine and website couldnt be more wrong in its indictment of Adams as a pioneering scientist and journalist because we deal in often very inconvenient facts about health, foods, genetically-modified organisms and the scoundrels, politicians, fools and corporations that push unhealthy lifestyle choices and medical Stalinism on all Americans.

We dont deal in scientific conjecture, we deal in scientific facts. As for Adams, all of his research is hands-on; were betting that Senapathy, from her self-anointed position as arbiter of all that is and is not scientifically true, hasnt been inside a lab conducting real research anytime lately, if at all. So all she is left with is creating a false narrative that were the quacks when in reality we are the ones with facts, data and research on our side.

But weve come to expect this, as Adams noted:

Every few months, Forbes.com runs a hit piece on Natural News, targeting me personally by gathering up a slew of circular logic quotes from representatives of the biotech, pharma and vaccine industries who ridiculously proclaim they all have a monopoly on science.

They dont. And especially Senapathy.

6. Janet Cookes imaginary 8-year-old heroin addict: Washington PostAs noted by Breitbart, Cooke, a reporter for the Washington Post, completely fabricated an eight-year-old heroin addict in Washington, D.C., in a report on growing addiction that actually won her a Pulitzer Prize (which has since been revoked).

While the story was written in the early 1980s, the Columbia Journalism Review did an extensive piece dissecting it this year dubbing her the fabulist who changed journalism (they should have added, for the worse).

7. Fake newsman Brian Williams slams fake news: MSNBCSome of this stuff you just cant make up (which is hard not to do for a real story about fake news), but it doesnt get any better than this.

You may recall former NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, who fell from grace this year after it was discovered that he faked or lied about several events he allegedly covered while on assignment in various parts of the country and the world. The most [in]famous is his lie that, while in Iraq, he was nearly shot down in a helicopter, while receiving no ground fire whatsoever while in-flight.

Its curious that Williams is becoming the face of the legacy and establishment media charge against fake news, the matter that such media luminaries are rallying around to blame their widely inaccurate reporting of the 2016 presidential election. Williams lost his slot as anchor of the NBC Nightly News after he made up scores of accounts, passing off completely fabricated stories as journalism, Breitbart news reported, adding that, in 2015, the site published a full accounting of all the lies and fake news passed off as legitimate by Williams32 times.

Embarrassed and hard-pressed to make it right, NBC suspended Williamsonly to reinstate him on MSNBC, the cable news network with the least amount of viewers (for a reason).

8. Trump poll-watchers sought to intimidate voters: Huffington PostIn October, the Left-wing lunatic news site of record sought to peddle a phony story about Vote Protectors, an organization dedicated to ensuring that voter fraud does not occur at various polling places. The linked Vote Protectors to one-time Trump advisor Roger Stone, and thus to Trump himself. The undertone of the story was that a) this was a thinly veiled attempt at voter intimidation; and b) it was inherently racist because Vote Protectors personnel were being sent to nine metro locations with high minority populations.

They were even making up official-looking ID badgesyou know, so the intimidation would officially be tied to Trumps campaign.

Only nothing like that was planned nor was anything like that actually carried out. In fact, the last time real voter intimidation was reported was when members of the Black Panthers political organization tried to browbeat white voters at polling stations in Philadelphia during President Obamas first run at the Oval Office. But alas, the Obama Justice Department, led by Eric Holder, dropped the case.

9. Politics had nothing to do with the creation of the fake news narrative: The New York TimesIn a Christmas Day piece that trashed conservative voices and alternative medianothing new for the reporters and editors at the Old Gray LadyThe New York Times claimed, incredibly, that politics had nothing to do with the crusade against so-called fake news from everyone else:

Until now, that term had been widely understood to refer to fabricated news accounts that are meant to spread virally online. 

Journalists who work to separate fact from fiction see a dangerous conflation of stories that turn out to be wrong because of a legitimate misunderstanding with those whose clear intention is to deceive. 

Fake news was a term specifically about people who purposely fabricated stories for clicks and revenue, said David Mikkelson, the founder of Snopes, the myth-busting website.

In just a few short paragraphs, the Times tells three monumental lies: That alternative media is filled with fake news; that Times critics like Trump are misconstruing the term fake news; and that the Times and other now-discredited mainstream news outlets are the only real sources of legitimate news. The Times even quoted Snopes co-founder Mikkelson, who is now married to a former prostitute who serves as a fact-checker on a website that has been proven to be biased against conservatives and libertarians in its myth-busting.

10. Facebook users are fed up with fake news: USA TodayPerpetuating the fake news lie and narrative, USA Today published a piece in mid-December claiming that Facebook users are fed up with fake news [are you starting to see a pattern develop here?]. Naturally the story quoted a couple of Facebook users who, indeed, sure sounded like they were fed up with fake news on Facebook.

But there are multiple lies being told or implied here. First of all, this piece was about as unscientific as it gets; the writer and the paper make a blanket claim implying that most Facebook users 1) can even identify fake news; and 2) are tired of seeing it in the sites News Feed. The piece even declares:

Facebook has a fake news problem. And some of its users are fed up with it. Theyre not sure if the solution is to let the social network, with its own biases, decide whats true. Or whether they themselves should become better fact-checkers.

Say what? How is Facebook to know whether stories its news aggregators place into the feed are real or fake, especially given the examples shown on this list? These are all supposedly reputable news organizations, yet weve shown clearly how they have invented narratives, pushed falsehoods, and lied to their readers repeatedlyyet their stories make the Facebook News Feed.

Whats more, who gets to decide what is and is not fake news? For Facebook, anyway, it is going to be some of the very news and myth-busting organizations that themselves have been discredited.

Adams has it figured out.

Theres no question that CNN, WashPost and the NYT are all working against the interests of America and the Constitution, he told me. The NYT is owned by a foreign socialist. The Washington Post is owned by a left-wing globalist, and CNN is a puppet propaganda mouthpiece for George Soros.

These left-wing propaganda rags are deliberately harming America and seeking to bring down the Trump administration by any means possible, including fabricating false accusations and publishing deliberate faked news stories to push their propaganda. They are subversive and a clear and present danger to our democracy, he added.

Read more examples of fake news from the fakestream media at NewsFakes.com and Hoax.news

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for Natural News and News Target, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

Freedom.news

USAToday.com

DailyCaller.com

NYTimes.com

Breitbart.com

HuffingtonPost.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) In the wake of Democratic nominee Hillary Clintons second loss in seeking the presidency, the mainstream media blamed it not on her poor candidacy but instead on a rash of fake news published by independent alternative media sites that were being fed Russian propaganda, including our site.

Even though the original perpetrator of that hoax, The Washington Post, later published a sort of-kind of retraction, social media and major news aggregator Google, along with Facebook, announced they would no longer publish fake newsthat is, news that their editors simply dont like because they are opposed ideologically to the news site and/or media company publishing the story.

So, Google is against fake newsbut you can still find plenty of fake news stories in Google News feeds, so what gives? [RELATED: Keep up with all the Google- and Facebook-censored news at Censored.news]

For instance, a recent search of Google News using the phrase Russian hacking U.S. election turned up hundreds of stories from so-called mainstream media sources reporting as fact that the Russian government hacked the November elections, via stealing data from the Democratic National Committee and handing it to WikiLeaks to influence the election in favor of President-elect Donald J. Trump.

Two problems with those claims, which have also been made by the Obama administration using the assessment of careerist bureaucrats in the intelligence community:

1) They are completely unproven and unsubstantiated, and;

2) Even today the intelligence community, Democrats and the White House admit there is no way to tell if the leaked damaging information (which no one has denied is true) had any effect whatsoever on the election outcome.

But you find stories like this all over Google News feeds, and on news feeds picked up and distributed by Facebook. (RELATED: See more examples of fake news from the left-wing media at MediaFactWatch.com)

There are other examples, including the recent fake news involving bogus, fabricated charges that Russia backed Trump because Moscow has incriminating evidence against him, including of a perverted sexual natureagain, completely unproven. In fact, these chargescontained in a 35-page dossierhave been floating around media newsrooms for months, and no one would touch them until CNN did, followed quickly by Buzzfeed, which published the entire dossier.

The Washington Post has become nothing more than a fake news operation, shilling for and protecting Left-wing Democrats, as Mark Dice notes in his own special way in this video:

The hack establishment media is not interested in fairness. Its not interested in informing. Its not interested in unbiased reporting. And, until Republicans came to power again in the White House, was not interested in holding the administration to account. But there are solutions for those who crave honesty, truth in reporting, freedom from censorship and news information they can trust.

Censored.news is a news aggregation site listing alternative media sources that are quickly becoming the new mainstream media. The news sites listed here are likely to be among those soon to be targeted by Google, Facebook and other Left-wing aggregators not because they produce fake news, but because the regularly publish truths and facts the Left finds inconvenient. Rather than debate on the merit of ideas, Google and Facebook would rather censor and ban facts they dont like.

As for sharing news, information and ideas without having to worry about the heavy hand of censorship, Share.NaturalNews.com is a growing Internet social community of like-minded individuals who cherish freedom, liberty, and above all, real freedom of speech and expression. Join today by clicking here [Full disclosure: Ive already joined!]

Finally, to complete the freedom of expression and speech circle, search for your information via independent, non-corporate owned alternative media at GoodGopher.com, which protects your privacy and refuses to allow any links to the establishment media, the real purveyors of fake news. [RELATED: Stay up to date on all the fake news revelations at NewsFakes.com]

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for Natural News and News Target, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

NaturalNews.com

Freedom.news

TheNationalSentinel.com
COCOA BEACH, Florida  Florida saw an increase in unprovoked shark attacks in 2016 and accounted for 60.4% of all shark attacks in the U.S. and 39.5% of the worlds total, according to the University of Florida International Shark Attack File (ISAF) 2016 Worldwide Shark Attack Summary. Both percentages are higher than the recent (2011-2015) averages of 49.2%, and 29.0% respectively.

The total of 32 Florida bites was well above the recent five-year average of 23.8 (which included a recent record low of 11 in 2011), but did not approach the record high of 37 that occurred in 2000.





Shark Attacks Highest In East Central Florida

Volusia County (Daytona Beach area) had the largest number (15) of unprovoked incidents in the Sunshine State, nearly doubling Volusias recent five-year average of eight attacks per year. Other Florida counties having bites were: Duval (4); Brevard, which includes Cocoa Beach, (3); St. Johns (3); Indian River (2); and Flagler, Lee, Palm Beach, Pinellas, and St. Lucie (1 each). Researchers say that the higher number of shark bites in Florida waters closest to Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando is attributable to high aquatic recreational use by both Florida residents and tourists, including large numbers of surfers, and to the rich nature of its marine fauna.





U.S. Shark Attacks In 2016

Although the number of shark attacks rose in Florida, the United States saw a decline in shark attacks nationwide from 59 in 2015 to 52 in 2016 despite a prediction for a higher trend . The U.S. accounted for the most amount (65.4%) of shark attacks in the world (including ten in non-North American Hawaii).

Outside of Florida, U.S. attacks were recorded in Hawaii (10), California (4), North Carolina (3), and South Carolina (2), with single reports in Texas and Oregon. Hawaii and California totals were comparable the recent five year averages of eight and five per year, respectively.

Worldwide Shark Attacks

In addition to the U.S., unprovoked shark attacks occurred in Australia (15), New Caledonia (4), and Indonesia (2), and single incidents were reported from the Bahama Islands, Brazil, Japan, La Reunion, South Africa, Spain, and Sri Lanka.

Australias total of 15 unprovoked attacks was a bit higher than the recent five year (2011-2015), average of 13.2 per year, but lower than recent highs of 18 in 2015 and 22 in 2009.

Image: Great White Shark. Credit: Greg Skomal / Mass. Division of Marine Fisheries
Bonna Wescoat, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Art History, has sent students combing the campus on scavenger hunts, helped them conduct an optical experiment about the Parthenon frieze, and directed excavations and created 3D renderings in a bid to unravel the mystery of a religious sanctuary important to Greek and Roman antiquity.

For her success, Wescoat has been honored as the 2017 recipient of the Archaeological Institute of Americas Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award. She recently received the award at the organizations annual conference in Toronto.

In accepting the award, Wescoat praised the ingenuity of her students and thanked Emory for saying yes rather than no, for supporting archaeology, art history and classics without question, and for providing an environment in which they can thrive.

The national award recognizes individuals who, among other things, have developed innovative teaching methods or interdisciplinary curricula and are actively teaching.

We are the ultimate doers, Wescoat says of her work as an art historian and archeologist. Antiquities seem remote, but not always. Certainly not when you put yourself in its environment.

Wescoat has long put herself into the environments in question. Since 1977, she has traveled to the Greek island of Samothrace for excavations meant to uncover the history and legacy of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods.

She was named to the directorship of excavations in 2012, overseeing work at one of the most significant sanctuaries in Greece.

Her Emory team on the project is highly interdisciplinary, with students and scholars working in architecture, sculpture, epigraphy, ceramics, statistics, geology, geography, environmental sciences, conservation and more.

That work informs her seminars based specifically on the research, as well as her first-year seminar Myth and Legend in Ancient Greek Art, and 200- and 300-level classes on art and architecture in ancient Greece and Rome, says Carla Freeman, senior associate dean of faculty for Emory College of Arts and Sciences.

In all her courses, she endeavors to introduce students to the evidentiary and interpretative value of primary evidence, demonstrating how such evidence is found, marshaled and interpreted, Freeman wrote in a letter nominating Wescoat for the AIA award.

Hands-on engagement



In all of Wescoat's courses, including those in the architectural studies minor that she played a critical role in devising, she makes the ancient come alive with hands-on engagement.

For instance, she and her students tackled the question of a seemingly overlooked part of the Parthenon in Athens by installing test panels in a replica in Nashville.

At issue was why the iconic frieze, depicting a ceremonial procession, was placed high on the outside wall of the Parthenons central chamber and partially obscured by the surrounding colonnade.

Some scholars suggested the detail of the work would have been lost in the shadows, even guessing the frieze was added as an afterthought to the original building.

A video documents the extensive work students put into the optical experiment testing the visibility based on the precise Nashville replica. The conclusion: The view is optimal to tell a narrative to guests as they walk up to the structure.

For whatever reason, today we feel there is some disjunction between meeting practical needs and aesthetics, Wescoat says. My goal is to show how those two connect, to put back together how art is an integral part of the environment.

To that end, even the scavenger hunts  which send students off to find the likes of Aphrodite and casts of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus on campus  help train students to integrate the beauty and purpose of art.

One of my overarching goals is for my students to feel comfortable in the presence of art and architecture, and be able to engage and enjoy what theyre seeing and how it connects to the environment, Wescoat says. I have fun doing this with my students.
Matthew Bernstein, chair of Emorys Department of Film & Media Studies, will discuss Controlling Atlanta Screens: Movie Censorship from the 1920s to the 1960s on Thursday, Jan. 26, Courtesy photo.

Emorys Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library will host the first event in its 2017 Memorial Drive series with a program about two dynamic women who decided what films would be shown or banned in Atlanta movie theaters for four decades.

Matthew H. Bernstein, Goodrich C. White professor and chair of Emorys Department of Film & Media Studies, will discuss Controlling Atlanta Screens: Movie Censorship from the 1920s to the 1960s on Thursday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. at the Robert W. Woodruff Library on the Emory campus. The event is free and open to the public.

The event leads off the 2017 Memorial Drive series, a collaboration between ArtsATL.com and the Rose Library that explores the cultural history of Atlanta.

I am excited about the second season of Memorial Drive,  says series coordinator Randy Gue, curator of modern political and historical collections at the Rose Library. The series unites the Rose Library's unique collections about Atlanta and its past with ArtsATL.com's in-depth coverage of the arts and creativity in the metropolitan area."

Bernsteins talk will explore the influence of Mrs. Alonzo Richardson and her successor, Christine Smith Gilliam, who were duty-bound to ban films that depicted unpunished crime or illicit sex as outlined by Hollywoods Production Code. As movies grew more violent and morally ambiguous, the two women had their hands full, but they were equally focused on barring any depiction of social equality between the races.

Controlling Atlanta's Screens is the perfect way to kick off this year's programs, Gue says. Matthew H. Bernstein and the late Dana F. White [Atlanta historian and Goodrich C. White Professor Emeritus of American Studies at Emory] spent the past 20 years unearthing the fascinating  and sometime troubling  history of moviegoing in Atlanta with their 'Segregated Cinema' project. One of the remarkable things they rediscovered was that for 40 years, Atlanta had a movie censor, an official who decided what could and couldn't be shown in theaters across the city.

Dana was scheduled to be a part of this talk before he passed away in November, Gue added. We decided to honor him on Jan. 26 because it was his kind of event  an opportunity to tell stories about Atlanta.

The event will take place in the Jones Room on Level 3 of Emorys Woodruff Library, located at 540 Asbury Circle in Atlanta, 30322. Parking is available in the Fishburne deck.
As Emory shapes its strategies under the leadership of a new president, members of the university community were invited to join in the process through faculty-facilitated noontime conversations held across campus.

Faculty, staff and students engaged in robust discussions about the universitys emerging priorities, identified in recent months through focus groups, interviews, listening sessions, surveys and the Thinking and Acting Strategically initiative.

Each session focused on one of four priorities:

Strengthening academic excellence

Deeper engagement with Atlanta

Global health innovation

Enhancing the impact of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center

These priorities capture Emorys current strengths and bold future as an outstanding global research university, with a liberal arts core and a stellar health care system, according to Emory President Claire E. Sterk.

They build on the talent of our faculty, students and staff and ensure that Emory will deliver on its commitment to contribute to society and the common good, Sterk states on her website.

With public input, the priorities will now be examined, refined and used to develop themes and sub-themes for Emorys new strategic plan, she explained.

Strengthening academic excellence

The sessions opened Tuesday, Jan. 17, with a conversation about how to build upon research and teaching strengths to heighten Emorys academic excellence.

The discussion acknowledged the universitys existing academic strengths in many areas, but also focused on ways to:

Publicize those strengths, raising the universitys visibility.

Invest in scholarship and fellowship programs to attract the brightest students and interdisciplinary endowed chairs to bolster faculty ranks.

Support and promote faculty in ways that honor teaching.

Strengthen opportunities and infrastructure that support collaborative, interdisciplinary teaching, research and classes.

Create an environment that attracts students and a diverse faculty.

Explore more high-risk, high-reward projects and bold ideas.

I thought the conversation was very productive, said Carolyn Meltzer, William Patterson Timmie Professor and chair of the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences in Emory School of Medicine, who helped facilitate the discussion.

Vaidy Sunderam, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Computer Science, and K.M. Venkat Narayan, Ruth and O.C. Hubert Chair of Global Health, joined Meltzer as co-facilitators.

Were such a broad institution," Meltzer said. "Often there isnt a lot of coming together to discuss these issues across units and schools  I felt that was valuable. People spoke a lot about the many advantages we already have at Emory and how we might remove barriers in getting to the next level.

Deeper engagement with Atlanta

The Jan. 18 discussion on how Emory can deepen engagement with Atlanta generated suggestions on becoming involved with issues such as traffic and public transportation, affordable housing, access to health care, the arts, and urban and economic development initiatives.

The very people who make Atlanta an international city are often not included in conversations about how development should go, said Vialla Hartfield-Mendez, director of engaged learning in the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence and professor of pedagogy in the department of Spanish and Portuguese. I think Emory has an important role in facilitating this cross-community building.

Others acknowledged Emorys strong history of community engagement across many schools and programs, suggesting the university should map its community impact.

Goizueta Business School Dean Erika James, who co-facilitated the discussion, found the conversation vibrant and optimistic.

It was inspiring to hear all that is already being done across the schools and units to impact our city, she said. The effort is there, and given recent and upcoming opportunities occurring around us, we are poised to be of great service to Atlanta, while also increasing our influence to bring about change.

I was most excited by the energy in the room, which highlighted to me how faculty, staff and the entire Emory community stands at attention, ready to act on the president's charge to build bonds that can transform our city and university alike," she said.

Co-facilitator Robert Franklin, James T. and Berta R. Laney Professor in Moral Leadership at Candler School of Theology, was also encouraged by a sense of hope that emerged from the meeting.

The president invites us to be bold in our aspirations and proposals, he said. That doesn't happen often in American higher education, but Emory is one of those special places where it is happening now. Stand by for what will follow."

Global health innovation

A conversation about global health innovation, held Thursday, Jan. 19, led with an intriguing question: If money were no object, what single thing would you like to see happen at Emory that could impact global health?

The ideas exploded:

Generate new ways to cross disciplinary boundaries.

Train students in creativity and innovation.

Unite people from across campus around specific themes to stimulate debate, discussion and problem solving.

Create campus synergy awards.

Take a broad, interdisciplinary look at how climate change will impact millions of lives over the next century.

Support students in financing and implementing ideas developed in the classroom to aid global health.

The session was facilitated by Carlos del Rio, Hubert Professor and chair of the Department of Global Health; Robert Breiman, director of the Emory Global Health Institute; and Linda McCauley, dean of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.

As the conversation focused specifically on how to further innovation, ideas included supporting implementation science and translational research to transform science into practice, as well as creating satellite global health campuses as hubs of learning and research.

One thing that would help would be better coordination amongst our units about the global outreach that we do, said Elizabeth Corwin, associate dean for research and professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. We can achieve greater impact together if we coordinate our efforts.

James W. Curran, dean of the Rollins School of Public Health, who attended all four community meetings, said that he was impressed with the initiation of outreach for thoughts on these important priorities, noting that there were thoughtful ideas from each session.

This was a good start and will provide stimulus for further discussions across Emory, he said.

Enhancing the impact of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center

The final forum, held Jan. 20, considered how to enhance the impact of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center across Emory, Atlanta and the world.

Discussion focused on reducing barriers to collaboration between Emory Healthcare and the university; more cohesive, unified messaging; and strengthening infrastructure and incentives to encourage cross-university teaching and collaboration.

Facilitators included Sheryl Heron, professor and vice chair of administrative affairs in the Department of Emergency Medicine; Lanny Liebeskind, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Chemistry and vice provost for strategic research initiatives; and Judy Raggi Moore, professor of pedagogy in Italian and director of the Italian Studies Program.

Whats very clear is that when it comes to enhancing the impact of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, the people within the health sciences really want to have the biggest positive impact possible across our entire university, said Jonathan Lewin, executive vice president for health affairs and Woodruff Health Sciences Center and president, CEO of the board for Emory Healthcare.

Communication and collaboration

At the conclusion of the four days of meetings, Sterk said that she was pleased with the attendance at all sessions and grateful for the emerging ideas, which will now be used to fine-tune the universitys priorities.

The engagement and enthusiasm that Emorys people brought to the priority sessions this past week created a palpable synergy, she said. The community has a common desire to collaborate, building on existing strengths, and speak with one Emory voice.

Feedback from all four forums has been collected and will be made available on the president's website.
Urgent action is needed to protect the worlds dwindling primate populations, warns a group of 31 leading experts on primate conservation in Science Advances. Sixty percent of the more than 500 primate species worldwide are threatened with extinction, while more than 75 percent have declining populations, the landmark article reports. The authors include scientists and policymakers from the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa.



The majority of primate species are endangered now. We are at a turning point where we must take action or lose many species during the next 50 years, says co-author Thomas Gillespie, an associate professor in Emory Universitys Department of Environmental Sciences and an expert in the disease ecology of primates.

Primates are our closest relatives and make up a large proportion of the mammals of the world, he adds. If we lose them, not only do we lose a lot of insights into ourselves, we lose the ecological services that they provide.

View Full Story in eScienceCommons 
The requested page is currently unavailable on this server.

Back to [RTHK News Homepage]
A group of armed men on Wednesday stormed a hotel in Somalia's capital here, after detonating a bomb at the gates of the building, several witnesses told the media. Gunshots continue to be fired inside the Dayah hotel, Efe news reported. The number of casualties, if any, is still not known. --IANS in/bg ( 60 Words) 2017-01-25-13:18:08 (IANS)
India says the future of the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development have been imperilled by signs that traditional donors may renege on their commitments to help implement them. "Walking away from commitments can harm us all," Sujata Mehta, Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry, told a general assembly dialogue on "Synergies between 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustaining Peace" here on Tuesday. "The signs of pushback on commitments by traditional donors towards assisting in the implementation of these two landmark agreements, that can actually and in very practical terms transform human societies for our collective betterment, place a question mark on any such prospects," she said. As an example, Mehta said: "Calculating 0.7 per cent of the Gross National Income as development assistance has receded even as conceptual goal." Although she did not mention countries and there has been a general sense of donor fatigue among many rich industrialised nations, the US stands out since the election of President Donald Trump, who has not only questioned development aid but also the very commitments in the Paris Agreement. Addressing the global inequalities, Mehta said that in an interdependent world, the lack of inclusive development, security and general wellbeing in one part of the globe has an impact elsewhere. "There cannot be any peace without development," she asserted. The talk of the need for long-term sustainability over short-term fixes is not reflected in actions, she said, pointing out the annual funding for UN peacebuilding programmes is not even one per cent of the budget for peacekeeping. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) --IANS al/py/bg ( 284 Words) 2017-01-25-14:16:06 (IANS)
"We are in talks with our US counterparts to hold the defence ministers' meeting early next month (February) in Seoul. We are fine-tuning the detailed schedule," a spokesperson of the South Korean ministry told Yonhap news agency.

Several Japanese officials also said that the Shinzo Abe-led administration is preparing to receive Mattis in Tokyo during his Asian trip, Kyodo news agency reported.

This will be James Mattis' first trip abroad since the US senate confirmed him as the Pentagon chief on January 20, as well as the first visit to Asia by a member of the new US administration, Efe news reported.

Mattis is scheduled to visit Tokyo on February 2, to pay a courtesy call to the Japanese Prime Minister and will meet the Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada the following day, the sources added.

Tokyo believes this meeting will serve to reaffirm the importance of its security alliance with Washington with a view to ensuring peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

On February 4, Mattis and his South Korean counterpart, Han Min-koo, are expected to discuss their common position on nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.

They would also discuss the deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system, according to sources in Seoul.

During his electoral campaign, Trump had threatened to withdraw American troops from Japan and South Korea unless the two countries pay for US military presence.

--IANS in/vm

( 275 Words)

2017-01-25-16:12:06 (IANS)
Cold storage owners in West Bengal on Wednesday said they were unable to repay Rs 100 crore loans as the potato market in some parts of the state had crashed due to demonetisation. "We used to take loans from banks and refinance it to potato traders and farmers so that they can meet their payment obligation at the time of loading (potatoes to cold storage). Usually, farmers and traders repay the loan to us at the time when they release potato from cold storage. "After, demonetisation, the potato market, which is mainly cash-driven, has been crashed. Many of the farmers and traders are not able to release their potatoes from the cold storages and repay the loans taken from us. Accordingly, we are unable to repay our debt taken from banks," West Bengal's Cold Storage Association's President Patit Paban De told IANS. Presently out of 575 cold storage units in the state 460 units are dedicated to storage of potato. "Loan outstanding is of about Rs 100 crore. Around 150-200 cold storages were facing challenges to repay their loans," he said. According to State Level Banker's Committee's (SLBC) official, potato markets in some parts of the state due to demonetisation. "The committee sets up an expert group comprising of all the stakeholders to examine the truth. The group is slated to submit their report by early February." "Accordingly SLBC will take a call," Manas Dhar, convener, SLBC, West Bengal, told IANS. The effort is aimed at proving relief to the cold storage owners so that they could get more time repay the existing outstanding loan and also get the fresh loan for the new session, he said. According to the association, production of potato was more than 110 lakh tonnes in 2015 but the production in 2016 dropped to 90-95 lakh tonnes due to adverse climatic conditions. This year there is a rise in cultivation to the tune of two-five per cent over that of the last year and due to favourable climatic condition till today production is expected to reach more than 115 lakh tonnes. De said consumption within the state works out to 65 lakh tonnes including seeds and production beyond 65 lakh tonnes needed to be marketed in neighbouring states. "In the state, the current rent for storage is Rs 134 per quintal whereas in other states like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat rent is as high as Rs 200 per quintal. We have been demanding the increase in rent. State has sent our proposal to an expert committee to consider," De added. --IANS bdc/py/vm ( 443 Words) 2017-01-25-17:56:10 (IANS)
Senior officials from both the Central and state governments as well as a galaxy of leading industrialists will attend the two-day event with the theme 'Partnerships for shared new realities'.

The summit is the annual flagship event of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and is organised in association with the Union Commerce and Industry Ministry and the Andhra Pradesh government.

The Partnership Summit 2017 is a unique platform that would enable close examination of the partnerships and synergies that will spark the next phase of global growth and develop strong multi-country linkages and networks to assist the transformation of the global economy, CII said in a statement.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Venkaiah Naidu, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will address the inaugural session.

India's sunrise state Andhra Pradesh will be using the platform to attract investment as the state government is expected to sign MoUs with various companies.

Andhra Pradesh is a gateway to growing markets and promising opportunities. It is endowed with rich natural resources and mineral wealth and boasts of the second longest coastline in the country, said CII.

With visionary political leadership, strong government mandate and proactive administration, the state has mapped its 2029 vision blueprint with a global outlook and a target to be amongst the best three states in India by 2022, the business chamber said, adding that the state'sgrowth trajectory has been on the rise, making it the fastest-growing state in India with 10.99 per cent GSDP growth in 2015-16.

Some of the overseas dignitaries addressing the Summit include Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Nepal's Commerce Minister Romi Gauchan Thakali, Ukraine's First Vice Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv, United Arab Emirates' Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Zambia's Commerce Minister Margaret Mhango Mwanakatwe, Zimbabwe's Deputy Minister for Industry and Commerce C.I. Mabuwa and Sudan's Minister of Trade Salah Mohamed El Hassan Mohamed Saeed.

--IANS ms/qd/vd

( 359 Words)

2017-01-25-18:20:08 (IANS)
It was on this day in 1971 that Himachal Pradesh was conferred the status of full state -- the 18th in the country.

Addressing a state-level function here, the Chief Minister said during the past four years 44,300 jobs in the government sector and around 27,000 jobs in private sector were created.

As many as 39,000 jobs had been given by the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission alone, he added.

He said a Rs 500 crore Skill Development Allowance Scheme was being implemented for unemployed youth.

Under this scheme, an allowance of Rs 1,000 per month is being provided to the unemployed youth and Rs 1,500 to youth with special abilities.

As many as 1.52 lakh youth have so far been benefited under the scheme, the Chief Minister said.

Besides, the Asian Development Bank-aided Rs 640 crore Skill Development Corporation has been set up with a targeted employment to 65,000 youths after providing them training in the first phase, he added.

--IANS vg/in/sac

( 193 Words)

2017-01-25-18:28:08 (IANS)
For the past two years, Academy Awards have been poised by #OscarsSoWhite, with the frustration on how all the nominees were white. With people boycotting the Oscars last year, The Academy did seem to learn their lesson. With the record, six Black Actor nominees this year, all these wonderful actors really deserve to get this recognition and this is how they reacted when they heard about themselves getting nominated for Oscars. Octavia Spencer, the actress who has been nominated in 'Best Actor (Female)' category, for the movie 'Hidden Figures' told The Hollywood Reporter, "I was lying in bed, a nervous wreck, waiting for the phone call." Spencer, who already won an Oscar (in 2012, for 'The Help') later added, "A nomination is one of the biggest moments in a person's career and that's why I don't watch, or listen, to the announcement. I'm literally over the moon." For Viola Davis, recent years have been quite wonderful winning an Emmy Award for Best Actress (2012), a Critic's Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress (2016) and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, this year. She showed her excitement with these two lines, "Thank you to the Academy for recognizing this extraordinary, important film and my work in it. Thank you Denzel for being at the helm!" First-time Oscar nominee Naomie Harris, nominated for Best Supporting Actress for 'Moonlight', could not control her excitement and live-streamed the announcement of the nominees. The 40 year-old-actress told The Hollywood Reporter, "I'm in shock! My friend told me the nominations were being announced. I started to watch a bit of it and then I couldn't deal with the tension at all so I had to switch it off! And then I was just sitting there in fear and anticipation (laughs). And then my brother Matt called me to say, 'You're a nominee!' I'm just so thrilled because it's such a deserving movie. This is a movie that has the ability to really be transformative. It's such a beautiful, inspiring movie. For all of those reasons, I couldn't be more thrilled that it has been recognized in this way! Though she doesn't know how to celebrate this happy moment, she added, "I don't know how I'm going to celebrate because I was so preparing myself for different news. I really wasn't prepared for this at all!" Just like Naomie, his co-actor Mahershala Ali, who also got nominated in 'Best Supporting Actor' category, had just set his steps on the sets of his new movie, where he got the news of his first Oscar nomination for 'Moonlight' and said that he appreciates the Academy working really hard to diversify from #OscarsSoWhite controversy. The 'Moonlight' star told The Hollywood Reporter, "But I hope I wasn't nominated because I was black. That has no relevance. I hope I was nominated for my work." Ruth Negga, the star of movie 'Loving', who has been nominated for 'Best Actress in a Leading Role' for the same movie, felt truly humbled when she heard the news of her nomination. The 35 year-old-actress told The Hollywood Reporter, "I am truly humbled by the news this morning, and I thank the Academy for this recognition, which I share with my co-collaborators Jeff Nichols and Joel Edgerton. It has been such an honor to have been given the opportunity to tell the incredible story of Richard and Mildred Loving, who serve as an inspiration that ordinary people can do extraordinary things." Hollywood veteran, 'Denzel Washington', who has been nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the movie 'Fences', shared his thoughts by telling The Hollywood Reporter, "Thank you to the Academy for this wonderful recognition and for honoring August Wilson's brilliant words. I am just lucky to have been entrusted with this project and to have the chance to work with the amazing Viola Davis and the rest of my talented cast and crew." The actor has been nominated for his seventh Academy Award. (ANI)
Actress Daisy Ridley will be seen playing a spy for the Allies in World War II in her upcoming movie "A Woman of No Importance", set for a 2018 release. The film will be based on Sonia Purnell's forthcoming biography "A Woman of No Importance", which follows the life of pioneering American spy Virginia Hall, reports aceshowbiz.com. According to deadline.com, the book has been acquired by Paramount Pictures. J.J. Abrams, who also produced "Star Wars", will serve as the producer, while the film's director and scriptwriter haven't been announced yet. Hall, the spy Ridley will be seen portraying, had a dream of joining the Foreign Service before she got into a hunting accident, in which she lost her left leg and had to wear a wooden appendage subsequently. She eventually worked for British intelligence in France during World War II, and later joined the American Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of the CIA. The Germans reportedly considered Hall dangerous and nicknamed her "the limping lady". Ridley is currently filming crime movie "Murder on the Orient Express", in which she plays opposite co-stars Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer. Ridley will also star in "Ophelia", a reimagining of Shakespeare's "Hamlet". In addition, Ridley will join Margot Robbie and Rose Byrne in the remake of "Peter Rabbit". Ridley's other projects are including "Chaos Walking", "Kolma", "The Lost Wife" and the "Star Wars: The Last Jedi". Ridley will reprise her role as Rey in the space-opera, and she may also return in "Star Wars: Episode IX". --IANS dc/rb/vd ( 270 Words) 2017-01-25-18:04:09 (IANS)
A study finds that faecal transplant - a method of introducing donated healthy microbes into people with gastrointestinal disease to rebalance the gut - may treat behavioural symptoms in children with autism. According to researchers, behavioural symptoms of autism and gastrointestinal distress often go hand-in-hand and both improved when a small group of children with the disorder underwent faecal transplant and subsequent treatment. The findings published in the journal Microbiome indicate that the average score on a scale for ranking gastrointestinal symptoms dropped 82 percent along with overall improvement 17 autism-related symptoms, which sustained for two months after the final treatment. "Transplants are working for people with other gastrointestinal problems. And, with autism, gastrointestinal symptoms are often severe, so we thought this could be potentially valuable," said lead study author Ann Gregory from The Ohio State University in the U.S. "Following treatment, we found a positive change in GI symptoms and neurological symptoms overall," she said. In the study of 18 children with autism and moderate to severe gastrointestinal problems, parents and doctors said they saw positive changes that lasted at least eight weeks after the treatment. Faecal transplantation is done by processing donor faeces and screening it for disease-causing viruses and bacteria before introducing it into another person's gastrointestinal tract. The researchers used a method called microbiota transfer therapy, which started with the children receiving a two-week course of antibiotics to wipe out much of their existing gut flora. Then, the doctors gave them an initial high-dose faecal transplant in liquid form. In seven to eight weeks that followed, the children drank smoothies blended with a lower-dose powder. The parents reported a decrease in gut woes including diarrhoea and stomach pain in the eight weeks following the end of treatment. They also said that they saw significant changes for the better when it came to behavioural autism symptoms in their children from seven to 16 years old. Doctor-reported symptoms (from the Childhood Autism Rating Scale) decreased by 22 percent at the end of treatment and 24 percent eight weeks after treatment ended compared with ratings at the start of the study. (ANI)
In a daring highway robbery, three unidentified persons looted Rs 21-lakh in cash from an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) of a bank on the outskirts of Tumakuru town in southern Karnataka, said police on Tuesday. "The loot took place in the wee hours of the day when the accused trio assaulted and tied up security guard Gangappa, 55, with ropes and decamped with the cash worth Rs 21 lakh in Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 100 notes from the ATM," Tumakuru Deputy Superintendant of Police Chidananda Swamy told IANS. The ATM of the state-run Karnataka Bank Ltd is located at Gubbi on the ring road, connecting the town to the state highway, about 80 km from Bengaluru. "We have registered an FIR (First Information Report) under section 392 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) on a complaint by the security agency CMS (Cash Management Service) and the bank and launched a man hunt to nab the culprits," said Swamy. According to the guard, the trio entered the ATM kiosk, pulled down its shutter, disconnected the CCTV camera and withdrew the entire cash from the machine by using a duplicate key and passwords as they were familiar with its operation. "From the video footage we have till the trio entered the kiosk and shut the camera, it appears to be a handiwork of the agency's staff as the guard had seen two of them visiting the ATM to fill cash on earlier occasions," said Swamy quoting the guard. The district police have set up a special team to investigate the heist and stepped up vigil at check-posts in the district to trace the suspects. "The ATM has been found intact, with no sign of attempts to break it open or tamper with its cash box. The accused appears to be familiar with how it works," added Swamy. --IANS fb/ahm/ ( 319 Words) 2017-01-24-23:12:06 (IANS)
Briefing media in New Delhi yesterday on the visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Secretary Economic Relations Amar Sinha said that his visit will further strengthen defence and security cooperation between the two countries.

The Crown Prince, who arrived in India on a three-day visit yesterday, would be chief guest in this year's Republic Day parade.

The Crown Prince will be accorded ceremonial reception at the forecourts of the Rashtrapati Bhawan tomorrow.

President Pranab Mukherjee will host an At Home reception for the Crown Prince on Thursday.

The visiting dignitary will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.

Sinha further said that India and the UAE are looking forward for cooperation in areas including energy security, space and civil nuclear.

Trade and investment will also be on the agenda during the talks between the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister.

The two countries have been moving closer for security, counter-terrorism and intelligence sharing during the last few years.

Indians are the largest expatriate community in UAE comprising of nearly 20 percent of its migrant population. (ANI)
In spite of the sub zero temperatures, the CRPF jawans are always ready to perform their duties round the clock for smooth Republic Day and maintenance of peaceful environment in Kashmir.

With the high authorities always trying to provide all facilities to jawans, including warm clothes and kerosene heaters in bunkers, soldiers feel a bit comfortable.

"For last five months the CRPF jawans faced lot of problems due to the unrest but they played a tremendous role in maintaining the law and order situation in the Valley," said Rajesh Kumar, PRO, CRPF. (ANI)
The BJP feted the turncoats in its list of candidates for the Uttarakhand Assembly elections, as the party rewarded as many as 12 former Congress leaders who in the recent times switched ranks to join the saffron bandwagon.

Elections to the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly is scheduled to take place on February 15 and counting shall take place on March 11. (ANI)
President''s address will be broadcasted from 7 pm on the national network of All India Radio and telecasted in all channels of Doordarshan in English, followed by Hindi.

India would be celebrating its 68th republic day tomorrow. The preparation for the same is on full swing.

The crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyanwould will grace the Republic day celebrat

ions, as the chief guest, this year.(ANI)
In his first contact at the highest level after assuming office, US President Donald Trump made a phone call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi late last night during which he described India as a ''true friend'' and invited him to visit the US later this year. ''President Trump emphasised that the United States considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world,'' the White House said in a readout on the conversation released early this morning(Indian time). Mr Modi is the fifth world leader to be called by Mr Trump four days after taking charge as 45th President of the US. Earlier, he had made telephonic calls to leaders of immediate neighbours Canada and Mexico on Saturday and of Israel and Egypt on Sunday. The two discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence, and they also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia, the White House statement said. ''President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the United States and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism. President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the United States later this year,'' it said. More UNI NAZ SV ADG 0945 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0103-1121825.Xml
Bio-Pharmacutical major Biocon Ltd announcedtoday that the Ministry of Health (MoH), Malaysia, has awarded athree-year contract to its subsidiary, Biocon SDN. BHD., Malaysia,for supplying recombinant human insulin (rh-Insulin) formulationsmanufactured at its large scale biopharmaceutical facility in Johorin that country. Biocon's rh-Insulin is Malaysia's first locally manufacturedbiosimilar biologic product approved by the National PharmaceuticalRegulatory Authority (NPRA), Malaysia, for commercial sales in thecountry. This marks the commercialization milestone of Biocon'sfirst overseas facility in Malaysia, Biocon said in a release here. Biocon SDN. BHD. has been awarded a MYR 300 million (Rs 460 Cr)contract to be serviced over a period of three years for supplyingrh-Insulin cartridges and re-usable insulin pens under the Malaysiangovernment's Off-Take Agreement (OTA) initiative, which seeks toencourage local manufacturing of new pharmaceutical products thuslowering the country's reliance on imports and also enhancing theexports potential. The contract is extendable for additional twoyears subject to approval by the Government of Malaysia. Biocon will distribute insulins and insulin delivery devicesthrough CCM Pharmaceuticals, a leading local pharmaceutical playerwhich has an extensive supply chain network to service primaryhealthcare clinics and hospitals across Malaysia. Biocon Chairperson and Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw commenting on the contract expressed the hope that the Malaysianfacility would cater to the growing needs for affordable insulinsacross the globe. Biocon's state-of-the-art facility with 800,000 sq. ft. built-uparea has been set up with an investment of MYR 1.1 billion andcomplies with the highest standards of global regulatoryrequirements. Through high quality, affordable insulin and insulinanalogs manufactured at this facility, Biocon will strengthenMalaysia's position as an emerging global biotechnology destination. Rh-Insulin is the first product from Biocon's Malaysian facilityapproved by NPRA, which certified Biocon's facility first in 2015.UNI CNR GM CS 1153 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0287-1121917.Xml
US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a telephonic conversation last night, resolved to work together against the global menace of terrorism and expand their defence and economic cooperation. Both the leaders invited each other to visit their respective countries. The last night's call by Mr Trump, happens to be his first contact at the highest level with India after assuming office on January 20 . He described India as a ''true friend'' and invited Mr Modi to visit the US later this year. ''President Trump emphasised that the United States considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world,'' the White House said in a readout on the conversation released early this morning(Indian time). Later, Mr Modi in a series of tweets described the conversation as ''warm'' and said President@DonaldTrump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our ties.'' Mr Modi is the fifth world leader to be called by Mr Trump four days after taking charge as 45th President of the US. Earlier, he had made telephonic calls to leaders of immediate neighbours Canada and Mexico on Saturday and of Israel and Egypt on Sunday. The two discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence, and they also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia, the White House statement said. ''President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the United States and India stand shoulder-to- shoulder in the global fight against terrorism. President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the United States later this year,'' it said. However, it was not immediately clear whether this meeting will be in September when Mr Modi visits the US for the UN General Assembly session or it will be some other time. Before the US visit, the two leaders are likely to meet in Germany in July during the G-20 Summit. Meanwhile, two high-level contacts with the Trump Administration have been established even before Mr Trump's formal take over. Foreign Secretary Dr S Jaishankar has met Vice-President elect Mike Pence and NSA Ajit Doval had a meeting with Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn. Mr Trump's call to Mr Modi has evoked great interest both in India and the Indian community in the US. He had during the election campaign expressed his strong desire to work with Prime Minister Modi. Mr Trump had spoken highly of India and Mr Modi during his campaign. He described Mr Modi asa very dynamic leader and also praised the contribution of Indians to the American society. He has also appointed some Indian-American to key posts, the latest appointment being that of Ajit Pai as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Earlier, another person of Indian origin Nikki Haley has been confirmed US Ambassador to the UN. Besides Seema Verma has been assigned the task of leading Medicare and Medicaid.UNI NAZ SB ADG -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0091-1121993.Xml
Earlier, the Crown prince held one on one meeting with the Prime Minister at the latter's official residence 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, and was also given ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Yesterday, digressing from protocol, Mr Modi reached the Palam Air Force station here to receive Prince Zayed Al Nahyan who arrived on his second visit to India, during which he will be the chief guest at the Republic Day function.

The Prime Minister's gesture in receiving the UAE Crown Prince in person is being seen as reflective of the importance he is giving to India's growing economic, defence and security ties with the Gulf Emirate.UNI NAZ SV ADG 1318

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0091-1122018.Xml
On his arrival at Rashtrapati Bhawan, the crown Prince was accorded a ceremonial welcome by President Pranab Mukherjee.

The crown Prince took the guard of honour.

He was also welcomed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and members of the union cabinet. The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, who arrived in India yesterday, will be the Chief Guest at this year's Republic Day parade.

He is on a three-day visit and will hold comprehensive talks with PM Modi.

A contingent of the UAE armed forces will also march with the Indian armed forces at the Republic Day parade.

During the visit, India aims to expand counter-terror cooperation with the UAE, which was once seen as a key strategic ally of Pakistan. UNI AR SV ADG

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0103-1122016.Xml
Opposition AIADMK members today staged a walk out from the Assembly protesting against the refusal by Speaker V Vaithilingam for a debate on a message to the house by Lt.Governor Kiran Bedi. After Chief Minister V Narayanasamy placing some papers in the house, Speaker V Vaithilingam read out the Lt.Governor's message in the house in which she advised to discuss certain issues including enhancement of tax revenue and ways to recover the investment in certain public sector undertakings which are running in loss. Immediately, AIADMK legislature party leader Anbazhagan wanted to know whether the Lt.Governor had expressed desire to address the house and the government refused it. When the Speaker replied in the negative, Chief Minister stood up to clarify things and said the Lt.Governor had written a letter to him in November 2016 stating that the Union government had written to her stating that Puducherry be made Open Defacation Free (ODF) and hence, she wanted to address the house about ODF on the second day of the next session. Since, she got every right to address the Assembly, the Lt.Governor was requested to send her address to him (Narayansamy) so that the approval of the Cabinet could be obtained. However, later she said that she will not be coming to the house and sent the message which was read out. Mr Anbazhagan after an argument with Congress members K Lakshminarayanan and Anantharaman wanted a debate on the issue since, the Lt.Governor had raised concern about the financial position of the Union Territory. However, Speaker who refused to allow a debate asked Mr Lakshminarayanan (Chairman of the estimate committee) and Anbazhagan(Chairman, Public Accounts committee) to assess the situation and submit a report to the government. Protesting against the stance of the government, the AIADMK members staged a walk out from the house and resumed their seats after a while. Meanwhile,the N R Congress members boycotted today's proceedings.UNI PAB CS 1308 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-1122014.Xml
They said a huge snow avalanche hit an Army camp at Sonmarg on Srinagar-Leh national highway early this morning following heavy snowfall during the past 24 hours.

Sources said nine soldiers were buried alive under the snow. However, rescue operation was immediately launched and bodies of five soldiers have been recovered so far, they added.

Rescue operation was still on when the reports last came in, source said.UNI BAS SB ADG 1323

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-1122004.Xml
Even as confusion prevailed between the alliance partners-- Samajwadi Party and the Congress-- about seat sharing in Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls particularly in the Nehru-Gandhi borough of Amethi/ Rae Bareli, the Samajwadi Party has included the face of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in their election campaign. The 'Samajwadi Vikas Rath' of Akhilesh Yadav which will campaign in different parts of the state, carries the photo of Priyanka and Rahul, along with Akhilesh, his wife Dimple and party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Though there is no public announcement yet about the joint campaigning by the SP and the Congress leaders yet but reports said that once the dispute over the seat is solved then the campaign deal would be decided. Earlier, Priyanka had informed her supporters in Rae Bareli and Amethi that she will only campaign for a day in these two districts while will skip in other parts of the state. Meanwhile, Congress and SP are still deadlocked over sharing of assembly seats in the Gandhi family borough of Rae Bareli and Amethi, with the former pushing for a lion's share as well as the freedom to pick the constituencies. Three days after the pact was sealed, sources said SP has not yet withdrawn the five candidates it announced in Rae Bareli and Amethi. Congress wants to contest 7-8 seats out of the 10 on the parliamentary turf of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul. On the other hand, Deepak Singh, Congress MLA and a close confidant of the Gandhi family, has tweeted that the party workers should be prepared to contest all the seats in Rae Bareli and Amethi. While Congress is confident that SP will withdraw some of its candidates, what is rankling the party is the fact that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is yet to react on their demand. If SP retains any of its five candidates, Congress would have to take whatever seat it vacates. Instead, the Congress sources said the party wants a freedom to pick the constituency based on winnability . Ideally, in Rae Bareli and Amethi, we should decide which seats we want to contest and which we don't, a leader said. Senior leaders say distribution of seats without assessing the winnability of each party would hand an advantage to rival BSP. SP has given a ticket to its sitting MLA in Sareni (Rae Bareli). After a local incident of murder, the Yadav community has turned against him.Our assessment says the community will vote for BSP if the MLA is repeated. But if Congress gets the seat, we will win with SP support, said a Congress manager. If SP gives weak seats to Congress and is weak on seats it contests, both will suffer despite the alliance, he added. Sources said SP holds seven of the 10 seats on Gandhi turf and has to drop sitting MLAs in favour of Congress. Congress, it is learnt, has decided to leave four sitting seats for SP in the first two phase of elections, like Lucknow cantonment and Suar in Rampur. As of now, SP has conceded only two seats in Amethi which are anyway held by Congress and given three in Rae Bareli where Congress does not have an MLA.UNI MB SB ADG 1300 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-1121933.Xml
The arrest was made on the strength of a non-bailable warrant, issued against him by the Special Court in Ernakulam.

The investigation was led by the NIA's Chief Investigation Officer.

The case pertained to the seizure of high quality FICN with face value of Rs. 67,000 from migrant labourers hailing from West Bengal.

Six accused persons were arrested initially and FICN was recovered from each of them, while three persons including the absconder, Mohammed Ashraful had managed to escape from the scene.

NIA had filed charge-sheet against the six arrested accused persons under sections 489B and 489C of the Indian Penal Code, before the Special Court, Ernakulam on September 19, 2015 and trial of the charge-sheeted accused commenced on January 3, 2017.

The arrested accused will be produced before the NIA Special Court at Kolkata today, seeking transit remand for taking the accused to Kochi to produce him before the NIA Special Court at Kochi. (ANI)
At least nine people, including five soldiers, were killed and four others missing after avalanches hit north Kashmir and central Kashmir. Five soldiers were killed and four were missing after a snow avalanche hit an Army camp in Sonmarg area in the central Kashmir district of Ganderbal, official sources said. They said a huge snow avalanche hit an Army camp at Sonmarg on Srinagar-Leh national highway early this morning following heavy snowfall during the past 24 hours. Sources said nine soldiers were buried alive under the snow. However, rescue operation was immediately launched and bodies of five soldiers have been recovered so far, they added. Rescue operation was still on when the reports last came in, source said. In another incident, a couple and their two children were buried under avalanche in the border town of Tulail in the frontier district of Bandipora in north Kashmir, official sources said. They said house of one Mehraj uddin (55) came under avalanche at village Badoogam, Tulail, in Gurez sector last night following heavy snowfall in the area for the past 24 hours. The house owner, his wife Azi (50), son Irfan (22) and daughter Gulshan (19) were buried alive under the avalanche. A massive rescue operation was going on to recover the bodies, they said, adding that details are awaited. The authorities have already issued avalanche warning in upper reaches in the Kashmir valley, where heavy to very heavy snowfall was received during the past 24 hours. It was still snowing at several areas. A fresh avalanche warning has been issued in the upper reaches in the Kashmir valley, where weather woes will continue during the next two days.(Pick up suitably from earlier series)UNI BAS SV ADG 1348 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0103-1122059.Xml
Organised by the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, the Focal Theme being Costa Rica this year, eminent Costa Rican litterateur Roxana Pinto Lopez will inaugurate this year's edition along with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Veteran Bengali poet and litterateur Nirendranath Chatterjee will be the special guest.

Eminent authors, poets and other creative personalities from the country graced the inauguration ceremony of the fair.

With an average record footfall of 2.5 million year on year, the fair is truly International in the sense of the term, as book lovers, authors, and publishers from across the globe look forward to participate, present and share their literary skills with each other and any and everyone who is a patron of embellished letters.

The book fair will end on February 5.UNI BM AD1430

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0108-1122150.Xml
BJP National General Secretary Muralidhar Rao along with party's Kerala leaders today called on State Governor Justice (Retd) P Sathasivam and submitted a memorandum seeking action in view of murder politics unleased by the CPI(M) in the state. Party sources said the Centre was so serious about the violence instigating by the CPI(M) against BJP workers across the State. A few days ago a 33-year-old Mahila Morcha activist, Vimala, had succumbed to burns she suffered when an LPG cylinder exploded at her house soon after CPI (M) workers torched a motor bike parked in the compound in Kanjikode of Palakkad. The CPI(M) is keeping the police force under pressure while attempting to physically eliminate political rivals in Kannur and Palakkad, he added. Mr Rao, who is in Kerala to visit the slain RSS activist's house to maintain the focus on the latest victim of this RSS-CPI (M) violence that is particularly bitter and brutal in North Kerala, said the Pinarayi Government was not interested to end the violence against BJP men which is creating an unrest in the state. The BJP General Secretary was accompanied by BJP State Organising Secretary K Surendran, State Organising Secretary M Ganeshan, State Vice President George Kurian, State Secretary VV Rajesh and District President Advocate Suresh. UNI DS CS 1357 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0324-1122091.Xml
Giving details of the three-day festival, Reception Committee Executive Chairman Chelavur Venu said Vidhu Vincent's 'Manhole,' narrating life of scavengers, would be the inaugural film.

Apart from Sadgati, A Love Story, Ishti, Shiva Puranam, I Orga Hepnarova (Chezch), Johnburg or the Art of Looking (UK), the Wind Will Carry US, the President (Iran), the Neon Deeman (France) Cattle (Hollond) and Argentina (Spain), in Indian and International section respectively and Aaradi, Radu Kurippukal, Pathinonnam Sthalam, Amma, Kappirithuruthu and Ottayalpatha in Malayalam section, among others, would also be screened.

Noted writer C V Balakrishnan would inaugurate the event coordinated by eminent film critic C S Venteswaran, he added.UNI PCH CS 1400

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India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) today signed as many as 14 bilateral pacts, including on defence and strategic partnership as well as on the issue of prevention, recovery and repatriation related to human trafficking, especially of women and children. On the Agreement on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UAE, a statement from the External Affairs Ministry here said: "This is a general framework agreement which highlights the areas of bilateral cooperation identified under the comprehensive strategic partnership as agreed upon in the high level joint statements issued in the August 2015 and February 2016." The agreements between two sides have fructified after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan held delegation-level talks here today. The Crown Prince is on a state visit and will also grace the Republic Day parade tomorrow as the chief guest. The official statement said an MoU was signed that seeks to enhance bilateral cooperation on the issue of prevention, rescue, recovery and repatriation related to human trafficking, especially of women and children expeditiously. In the pact signed between Ministry of Defence of both countries, the Memorandum of Understanding aims to establish cooperation in the identified fields of defence manufacturing and technology, including through studies, research, development, innovation and cooperation between public and private sector institutions of the two countries. "The two sides will cooperate in areas of armaments, defence industries and transfer of technology," it said.More UNI DEVN SHK 1435 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0445-1122141.Xml
A first year engineering student, who hailed from Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district, has gone missing from Madhya Pradesh's Barwani district, police said. Arunabh Sengupta was pursuing engineering from a private college here. He had gone from the college hostel sans informing anyone on the night of January 19. Records revealed that he had also withdrawn money from an ATM on that night.On the basis of a complaint by his maternal uncle, a case was registered. Arunabh's father works in Patna. However, he has been staying with his uncle in Ballia since childhood.UNI XC-PS PY SHK 1442 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-1122158.Xml
Election Commission (EC) has taken cognisance of the statement of Uttar Pradesh BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya, who reportedly made a statement on Ram Temple in Ayodhya in New Delhi yesterday. The leader took a U-turn on his reported statement, published in the media today, claiming that his statement had been misinterpreted and misconstrued. EC deputy Election Commissioner Vijay Dev, who was in the state capital for a Voters Day function, said that they have gone through the report and will do the needful. "Lets not jump into any conclusion, we are studying the report whether it is a violation of the election model code of conduct or not," he told reporters here. Yesterday, Maurya, while interacting with the media, said that a "grand" temple will be built in Ayodhya if BJP secures a majority in the seven-phase assembly elections in UP. He had said, "Ram Mandir is a subject of faith. It is not going to be built in two months. The temple will be constructed after the elections. BJP will come to power with a full majority." But today he made a U-turn from his earlier statement claiming that he has not given any such statement. "I haven't given any such statement, all what I said got misconstrued. I have only said that the true face of Akhilesh Yadav was revealed in front of everyone when he asked the people to cast vote for Gayatri Prasad in Sultanpur," Maurya said. Maurya said he expected the BJP to win more than 300 seats in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. He also described the Samajwadi Party as a "sinking and corrupt" whose leadership needed to be put behind bars.UNI MB SB ADG 1409 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-1122092.Xml
BJP Karnataka State unit President B SYeddyurappa today demanded resignation of Karnataka Minister forSmall Industries Ramesh Jarkiholi follwing IT raids and unearthingof more than Rs 113 crore worth benami assets from his house and offices. "The raid has revealed corruption prevailing in the Congressruled State government. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah shouldimmediately seek resignation of Mr Ramesh Jarkiholi. If he refuses,he should be sacked from the Cabinet," he added. Addressing a press conference here, he said that during therecent IT raid more than Rs 160 crore disproportionate assets inbenami names were unearthed from Congress leaders homes and offices.Even Congress party leader Lakshmi Hebbalkar, who is also KarnatakaPradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Women Wing President had alsoamassed ill legitimate wealth and had invested in a Sugar Mill inbenami names. "The recent unearthing of assets in the name of Minister andCongress leader proves that BJP National President Amit Sha'sallegation that Siddaramaiah government was most corrupt in thecountry. May be this was the reason AICC Vice President Rahul Gandhiwaging war against demonetisation but the truth has come out afterIT raid," he added. Taking strong exception to the statement made by Mr Siddaramaiahhaving no knowledge about the IT raid, Mr Yeddyurappa said that as aChief Minister he will be having all the knowledge and to escapefrom the criticism he evading reply. Even CBI may take upinvestigation into ways of amassing disproportionate assets by theabove two leaders. Referring to Assembly election to Goa next month, Mr Yeddyurappa,who campaigned yesterday, expressed confidence of BJP winning 27 to28 seats and retain power. "Yesterday I was in Goa and have assuredKannadigas living there that BJP will solve their housing and otherproblems after election. There are more than 12 lakhs Kannadigasliving in Goa. Even Mahadayi issue will also be solved." Mr Yeddyurappa declined to reply to any question involving K SEshwarappa stating that it is an internal matter. "I dont want tocomment on any internal issues of the party. The party Centralleadership is well aware of the issue and will take appropriateaction after the Assembly elections to five States due next month,"he added.UNI MSP RS RSS1450 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0287-1122169.Xml
With India being the only BRIC nation thatreport significant growth in industrial production output andcapital investment, the EMO Hannover Fair which will be held inHannover between September 18 and 23, will feature an exclusive'India Day'. Briefing reporters on the upcoming event, Mr Christoph Miller,Managing Director of EMO Hannover said, the 'India Day to be held onSeptember 20 will feature reports exclusively from Indian experts,including representatives of the machine tool federation IATMA. Representatives from Indian user sectors would also be addressingtechnical and commercial trends from the automotive and aviationindustries, he said. Mr Miller said India's economy was currently growing faster thanother industrial countries with manufacturing sector contributes only15 per cent to the GDP. Hence there was enormous potential forgrowth and the union government's 'Make in India' campaign, was aptat this juncture as it would aid capital investment from abroad. ''India also produces its own machine tools. With 622 millioneuros in 2015, the country ranked 12th among the most importantmanufacturing nations. Indian exhibitors have already registered forthe EMO Hannover 2017, keen to showcase their range of machinery forhigh-ranking international production experts from the globalelite,'' he said. The machine tool industry, the country ranks 8th among theworld's largest markets, with a volume of 1.6 billion euros as on2015, which corresponds to growth of 7 per cent in euro terms, hesaid. ''Indian manufacturers need comprehensive information on newsolutions for their production operations. Exhibitors at the EMOHannover will include representatives from all important vendornations for India's industrial sector,'' Mr Miller added. This year's event, the world's premier trade fair formetalworking sector will showcase trends and innovations in thefield of production technology. The event is being organised by VDW (German Machine ToolBuilders' Association), Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on behalf of theEuropean Association of the Machine Tool Industries (CECIMO) fromBrussels, Belgium. EMO Hannover scores highly in terms of the sheer size,internationally and the number of innovations. Over 1700 firms from40 different countries have signed up for this year's trade fair,with more than 1.5 lakh sq m of net exhibition area with over 400exhibitors are from Asia alone. ''Current registration status is significantly above thecomparable figure for the previous event,'' Mr Miller said.UNI RS CNR CS 1505 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0287-1122211.Xml
Police said Shivakumar filed a complaint yesterday stating thathis mother Vimala was kidnapped and the kidnappers had demanded aransom of Rs 1.5 crore.

The complainant stated that he had received a phone call statingthat he has been selected for a prize and collect it from Blue DartCourier office. Shivakumar went to the Courier office only to learnthat it was a fake call. But after returning home he found hismother was missing and thought that she might have gone to hospitalnearby. In the evening Kidnappers telephoned and stated that hismother was safe with them and demanded ransom of Rs 1.5 crore forher release.

Police formed four teams and got clue about the main culpritKrishna and arrested other two -- Vijaya Kumar and Srinivas-- froma rented house where they had kept Vimala after robbing thevaluables she was wearing.

During interrogation it was revealed that Krishna, a rapeaccused, has drawn up the kidnap plan. In the Jail he contactedVijaya Kumar, who was serving sentence on rape case and othercriminal Srinivas and hatched a plan to kidnap and demand ransom.

Police have recovered the valuables robbed, one car, one Scooterused for the crime.UNI MSP CNR GM CS 1526

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Saradhih Panchayat, Janjgir Champa district in north Chhattisgarh looks picture perfect. Lush green fields, trees dotting the landscape and ponds of clear water. There is a sense of serenity, of peace. Beyond the fields, down dirt tracks that snake through the countryside -the picture changes, somewhat. The village Sankrali in this Panchayat has open spaces where the community gathers; rows of hutments with some houses in brick and concrete. According to sources, the population of Janjgir-Champa comprises of more than 50 percent?Dalits. Amongst these, Satnamis are said to constitute nearly 80 percent. Who are these Satnamis? What is the Satnami Samaj that people commonly refer to? The Satnamis have been traditionally leather tanners. In the highly stratified social order of the preceding centuries, they were relegated to a position of utmost deprivation, subjected to indignity. This was so for many other social groups referred to as 'low caste'. In the 19th century from amongst them rose a figure, Ghasidas who led them to defy the discriminatory treatment. This led to a social movement for a more equitable social order and succeeded in giving them a new identity. This is the genesis of the 'Satnami Samaj' that took root in the region that lies in what is now -Chhattisgarh. The march of history has since led to a complete upheaval of the world in which Ghasidas and his followers took up their struggle. Today the Satnamis, along with many Dalit groups have a clear identity under the Constitution of India - Scheduled Caste. As citizens of India their status of course is at par with all other citizens from any social, economic or ethnic group. In keeping with the historical deprivation dalits have faced, there are provisions that specifically address this. Today these provisions are an integral part of policy. So where do the Satnamis stand today -do they reflect the intent of the founding fathers of the Constitution, the measures taken by policy makers? Sankrali village, home to a large community of Satnamis sees them concentrated in nine of the 20 wards. Here most of the houses are kuccha. Yes, the village has an Aaganwadi Bhavan' a Post Office, a 'Gram Panchayat Bhavan' and a Health Sub Centre. The village boasts of a primary, middle and high school. According to the Rohit Khande, the village headman or Mukhiya, several government schemes are in place here such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, MGNREGA, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, PDS to name a few. This is echoed by Gauri Bai Sidar, the Sarpanch. Does this mean that the region is on the path of development; is the community on the way to social and economic empowerment? Sadly no. Most people earn their livelihoods through farming but then, many of them have small holdings. This does not yield enough to even survive, let alone prosper. Jobs are few that too at the block level, but the poor quality of school education, the lack of skill-building avenues -prevents people from making use of such opportunities. What is lacking is an environment for economic advancement, for social empowerment. Despite the infrastructure, the various schemes, the community continues to be mired in poverty, suffering deprivation on several counts. They are not getting the benefits of a slew of schemes that are said to be in place. Whether this is a lacunae in implementation or simply a lack of awareness -is a question that needs to be asked -and answered. Yet the people here dream. Sarita is a young girl who despite the odds finished her matriculation. She is keen to study further and become a doctor. But her father, who works outside the state simply cannot afford to support her education beyond this point. Besides, the pressure of getting his daughter married is there. Sarita is crest-fallen. Poverty and social norms that dogged previous generations continue to prevent her from getting an education that could equip her for a better life. Budhwara 60 years old is poor and infirm. She suffered a stroke some time back and could not get the necessary medical attention. She struggles with even basic movements but still her face reflects hope. She has a fine fighting spirit and believes that she could get better. But it is clear that the systems of healthcare, of social support that are said to be in place, need to be responsive. Sarita and Budhwara both represent different aspects of the same thing - a society that still remains backward; a system that has simply not come up with answers to their problems, If they could both be enabled to realise their dreams, fulfill their life's goals- it would equally be a statement of development working on the ground. Historically, it is on this land that the Satnamis fought against discrimination and deprivation. It is ironical that their descendants still find themselves at the bottom rung of the ladder. Despite the constitutional provisions, state and central policies, government schemes -they continue to remain bereft of services that could lead them to a life of dignity. Their forefathers had put up a valiant struggle to earn this life in the midst a relentless social order. In this modern day democratic order, is the system failing them? And would that mean that the impetus for change again needs to come from the Satnami Samaj? The views expressed in the above article are a part of Charkha Features and responsibility for its content rest with the author) (ANI)
With the Andhra Pradesh government refusing to permit proposed protest by youth here on Thursday over special category status, popular actor Pawan Kalyan said it should be prepared for long-drawn battle. "If Central Govt & State Govt stops the peaceful protest-tomorrow then be prepared for a long drawn 'Battle of Andhras' for their rights. "BattleofAndhras JanaSena knows, when to Cooperate and when to Confront with Govt for people," the Jana Sena chief said in a series of tweets on Wednesday. Police have refused to give proposed silent protest on RK Beach here on Republic Day to demand special status to the state as promised by the central government at the time of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. Director General of Police Sambasiva Rao Tuesday ruled out giving permission, saying anti-social elements might create disturbances. Pawan Kalyan had said on Tuesday that if the protest was stopped, this would create unrest among youth. Several youth through social media called for the "political" and peaceful protest after Pawan Kalyan said last week that people should draw inspiration from Jallikattu protest in Tamil Nadu to fight for special status. The actor on Wednesday also reacted to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's remark questioning comparison to Jallikattu. "When Tamil people can fight so much for a tradition, how strong should be our fight for our requirements," he tweeted. He said that when youth have come forward with inspiration from Jallikattu, they should not be stopped. Pawan, who had campaigned for the Bharatiya Janata Party-Telugu Desam Party alliance in 2014 elections, has been targetting BJP for going back on its promise to give special status and TDP for failing to put pressure on the central government to fulfil the promise. The central government last year ruled out giving special status and instead announced special package, promising that the state will get same monetary benefits which it would have got under special status. --IANS ms/vd ( 332 Words) 2017-01-25-17:14:06 (IANS)
Haryana Police has succeeded in arresting three people involved in the murder of senior advocate Subhash Gupta of Hisar within six hours of the incident and have recovered a car and motorcycle from their possession. Stating this here today, a Police department spokesman said the accused have been identified as Pawan Bansal of Rampura Mohalla, Sunil of Mahavir Colony and Naresh of Morka in Hisar. He said during interrogation, it was found that most of the accused were employees of gas agency owned by main accused Pawan Kumar, who was also a relative of the deceased and had some domestic dispute with him. Pawan Kumar had also previous criminal record, he added. He said the accused have also revealed that Kuldeep, Vikas and Pawan alias Panda of Mahavir Colony and Kunal of Sanian Mohalla were also involved in the murder of the advocate. They would soon be arrested, he added. Advocate Subhash Gupta was stabbed to death by a group of assailants in broad daylight near the Town Park on the Hisar-Delhi road in Hisar last evening. The lawyer was returning to his home in Urban EstateII from his office in the new Courts Complex in a car when one of the assailants waylaid him by stopping his motorcycle in front of the car. As the driver applied brakes, around four-five youths armed with sharp-edged weapons and rods smashed the windowpanes of the vehicle. They attacked Gupta inside the car and one of them stabbed him repeatedly.UNI DB PY SHK 1735 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-1122607.Xml
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh praised Punjab and Punjabis and said Punjab was a state of farmers and jawans. Addressing an election rally at Grain Market, Bhangala, 65 kms from here in Mukerian segment of this district, this afternoon, he said farmers were producing wheat and other crops for the people of the country whereas jawans were protecting not only borders but also populace. The farmers of Punjab were contributing more than half total food grain in the country. If India has become self-sufficient in terms of foodgrains, then Punjab's contribution is on the top. The BJP leader strongly criticised Congress and pointed out that its leaders had looted not only people but also exploited natural resources for their selfish motives. The SAD-BJP government headed by Parkash Singh Badal done a tremendous and remarkable work for the upliftment of the state. He appealed to the electorates to vote in favour of SAD-BJP candidates for further development of the state.UNI XC DB PY SHK 1757 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-1122726.Xml
Giving this information here today, a spokesman of Administrative Reforms department said a notification to this effect has been issued.

He said the other members of the Committee included Principal Secretary Coordination, Administrative Secretary of the concerned Department, Secretary Administrative Reforms Department, representative of Haryana Governance Reforms Authority and Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Chief Minister Neeraj Daftuar.

Dr Rajneesh Garg, Delhi Andaman Nicobar Island Police Service (DANIPS) officer and ADC to Haryana Chief Minister would be the Member Secretary of the empowered committee, he added.

He said to ensure speedy implementation of its recommendations, the Haryana Governance Reforms Authority would submit periodic reports to the empowered committee and hold consultations with the Committee. The empowered committee would also monitor implementation of the recommendations of the Authority and would submit action taken reports to the government and the authority within a stipulated period.

He said the Authority would submit any further report only after receiving action taken report from the empowered committee on its previous reports.UNI DB PY SHK 1812

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-1122743.Xml
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said the threat of Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh to expel all the party rebels in fray within 48 hours has failed to have anyimpact as all have refused to budge even after 24 hours of the deadline fixed by Amrinder to retire from contest. In a statement here, SAD secretary general and former union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said neither the cadre of the Congress party nor the leaders at the top take Captain seriously. Earlier too, he failed to persuade the party rebels to withdraw but the rebels cared two hoots for Amarinder's persuasions and allurements. The SAD leaders said that some Congress leaders have chided Capt Singh to gather courage to expel them from the party for life and face the music. They are waiting for such orders, he averred. "Is there any provision in the party's constitution to expel someone for the entire life?", they asked in chorus adding the party life too would be short if the leadership did not change its style of functioning in rewarding turn- coats and penalising 'taksali Congressmen'. In fact, the threat of expulsion has boomeranged and the rebels were more adamant in defying Capt Amarinder and are spurning his overtures. "Amarinder has assured the estranged leaders with plum post in the new government if the party comes to power but they refused to be trapped. The rebels are convinced that with 'bad distribution' ofthe party ticket in this highly competitive election, the party should forget of coming to power as the party has dropping many winning candidates," Dhindsa observed. Besides, Capt Amarinder had tried to lure some estranged leaders by offering them attractive party positions but as the party is in doldrums, there were as no takers for the party posts amongst thestrong rebels, he alleged.UNI DB RSA SHK 1852 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-1122849.Xml
To assess the preparations for the upcoming Global Investors Summit, Jharkhand Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma today visited the Khelgaon where the two day event would be held and took stock of the situation. She said it was due to the efforts of Chief Minister Raghubar Das and his road shows done in the country and abroad that about 5,000 investors from India and abroad would be participating in the global investor summit. Ms Rajbala said so far the state has received business proposals worth about Rs 50,000 crore and it is expected that the state would be getting investment proposals worth Rs 3 lakh crore by the end of the summit. Ms Verma said Jharkhand was ready to welcome the investors as there was a good policy for land and minerals. In the ease of doing business Jharkhand got 97 marks out of 100 and is ranked number one in the area of labour reforms therefore there are tremendous opportunities in the area of investment, she said. The Chief Secretary said 5,000 delegates would be present during the meeting and four separate seminars would be organised for four different sectors by the means of which the state government would showcase the opportunities for investment. She said the state has so far received investment proposals in the areas of construction, cement and food processing. Ms Verma said the chief minister during his visits to US and Singapore had held talks with the investors and investments from both countries can also be expected. She said the departments are working in coordination to ensure the success of the programme and it would be maintained that no difficulty is faced for the people coming toparticipate in the event. During her visit to the Khelgaon, the chief secretary also issued instructions regarding welcoming of the delegates, decoration and security.UNI AK BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-1123172.Xml
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu today congratulated Major General Jarken Gamlin for being conferred the prestigious Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) on the occasion of country's 68th Republic Day. Mr Gamlin is currently posted as GOC, Kilo Force in Jammu and Kashmir. In a statement here this evening Mr Khandu conveyed that each and every citizen of the state has always been proud of Mr Gamlin and this achievement has made them proud all the more. Conferment of AVSM is a proud moment in the life of a soldier. We cherish this achievement with the same pride as that of Major General Gamlin and his family. Arunachal Pradesh is lucky to have a worthy son as him, Mr Khandu said. The chief minister expressed hope that Mr Gamlin would achieve more milestones in his stupendous career in the Indian Army and make Arunachalees proud. Arunachalees are known for their patriotism and Mr Gamlin is the brightest example, Mr Khandu added. UNI PB BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-1123181.Xml
  

 9       $1,5 

 - 2022        -- ()   $1 541 .
A defence ministry spokesman said here this evening that a ceremonial Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) on the occasion of Chinese Spring Festival was held at Chinese BPM hut in Moldo garrison of the PLA in Chushul sector of Eastern Ladakh.

The delegations were lead by Brigadier R S Raman of the Indian side and Senior Colonel Wang Jun Xian from the Chinese side, he said in a statement.

He said the proceedings commenced by ceremonial hoisting of flags of both the countries which was followed by ceremonial address by both delegation leaders while was followed by exchange of greetings and wishes. Thereafter, the PLA personnel organised a cultural programme showcasing vibrant Chinese culture.

Both the delegations interacted in a cordial and friendly environment. The Chinese delegation also extended an invitation for another ceremonial Border Personnel meeting on January 29 2017 at Daulat Beg Oldie.

The delegation parted amidst feeling of friendship and commitment towards enhancing the existing cordial relations and maintaining peace along the LAC.UNI BAS PY SHK 1937

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Punjab BJP election incharge Narendra Tomar today said that Punjab will play a pivotal role in weeding out the Congress from the country. Addressing a press conference here, the BJP leader said the Congress has been decimated across the nation and it will meet the same fate in Punjab because it is a divided house. Taking a dig at PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh, Tomar said, "You are giving lengthy lectures on corruption but on the other hand the Swiss accounts of your family are under scrutiny. You put Mr Parkash Singh Badal behind the bars but he came out clean, and you are still embroiled in corruption cases." Cornering the former CM over the issue of farming and drugs, the BJP leader said, "When Capt Amarinder was not the president of the state Congress, he used to write to Sonia Gandhi claiming that Partap Singh Bajwa was in cahoots with the drug mafia. Now when Bajwa is working under him, do his sins get washed away?" ''In his poll manifesto, Capt Amarinder Singh has made big claims for the farmers, but when he was in power he even snatched away free water and power from them. The Congress is responsible for the pathetic condition of farmers in the country. Then there is PM Modi who has pledged to improve the living condition of farmers and he even has waived off their short-term loans. The Modi government has allotted the highest-ever budget for agriculture in the country's history", he said. Tomar said, "Congress party is a divided house. Captain's faction, Bajwa group, Sidhu group and so on. God knows how many factions they have. The Congress leaders don't have stability and never stick to their word. They have been constantly changing the tickets, the manifesto, and have a dozen claimants for the chief ministership. How can they provide a stable government in Punjab? How can people of Punjab believe in them?" "Capt Amarinder Singh is dreaming of taking over the SGPC, but he should answer as to why he was cordial with the perpetrators of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots", he said. Drawing home the point, Tomar said, "Punjab needs a stable government, a government which can ensure development, preserve the culture and heritage and take along all communities and religions. Only the Akali-BJP coalition can provide such an atmosphere. In addition, the coalition is backed by the progressive vision of PM Modi. Hence, people of Punjab have only one choice." UNI DB RSA SHK 1939 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-1122953.Xml
Maoist leader Ranjit Pal, who was involved in naxalite activities since last 17 years and his wife Jharna Giri officially announced their surrender at state police headquarters at Bhabani Bhavan here in presence of state Director General Police (DGP) Surajit Kar Purakayastha, Additional Director General (Law and Order) of state police Anuj Sharma and Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar,

Mr Purkaystha told mediapersons, "Maoist leader Ranjit Pal and his wife Anita Pal have surrendered to the STF of Kolkata police today. There are several serious charges since 2003.

This is a very important case of surrender," he added.

Pal was an area commander of Communist Party of India (Maoist) and he along with his wife used to lead Maoist activities in West Bengal-Jharkhand bordering areas, including Purulia and Bankura districts, a senior police official said.

He claimed at least 213 Maoist activist-leaders were arrested and 219 others surrendered to the police in last two years.

"We will provide all necessary helps to surrendered Maoist leader Ranjit Pal and his wife Jharna Giri to get them back to mainstream society," the police official added.

Meanwhile, the Maoist leader Pal said he has surrendered after realising that one cannot do good for the people and the society through violent means.

Pal expressed his satisfaction over the present state government's initiative in addressing the issues they were fighting for.UNI BM RSA 2200

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The Government of India in its Foreign Trade Policy for 2015-20 has targeted to increase the share of exports from current two per cent to 3.5 per cent corresponding to USD 900 billion, Ramesh Holeyachi, deputy director general of Foreign Trade, Goa, said today. Speaking at an interactive session held at Thivim Industrial Estate, around 18 km from here, to clear doubts among the exporters regarding the new schemes for exporters and the new tax regime of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Mr Holeyachi said, ''...Exports is the growth engine for the country, as it increases trade, helps us in earning valuable foreign exchange and also generates employment.'' He identified that lack of awareness of the various export schemes is one of the main reasons for low exports from the country and guided the deliberations on the recently introduced REX (Registered Export System) Policy of the European Union. Mr Holeyachi also briefed on Merchandize Export from India Scheme (MIES), the Service Export from India Scheme (SIES), EPCG Scheme for promotion of Capital Goods and the Niryat Bandhu Scheme for mentoring new and potential exporters. The open house meet was jointly organized by the World Trade Centre, Goa, Director General of Foreign Trade, Thivim Industrial Estate Industries Association, Department of Customs and World Trade Centre, Mumbai. Gaurav Jain, assistant commissioner, Customs & Central Excise, said GST would help in ease of doing business, as all old manual systems would be replaced by online processes. GST would bring in better tax compliance and was crucial for success of 'Make in India' the flagship programme of the Government of India, he added. Earlier, in his Welcome address A O Kuruvila, advisor, World Trade Centre, Mumbai, highlighted that Brexit had thrown a big challenge for Indian exports and the Director General of Foreign Trade and the Department of Customs were two major agencies which were facilitating Indian businesses to go global. ''India now ranks 130 out of 199 countries in the ease of doing business,'' he added. S P Vernekar, president of Thivim Industrial Estate Industries Association, and Gurudatta Bhakta, president of The Goa Cashew Feni Distillers and Bottlers Association, were present on this occasion. Cyril Desouza, assistant director, Trade Promotion, World Trade Centre, Goa conducted the event and proposed the vote of thanks.UNI AKM SS NP2329 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-1123216.Xml
The Congress party today condemned theincident of prisoners taking hostage in Sada Sub-Jail last nightand claimed that the incident indicated the lawlessness underBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Goa. In a statement, All India Congress Committee (AICC)secretary Girish Chodankar said, ''The biggest indicators of lawand order situation in the state are confines of our jail. Whenprisoners dare to attack Jailor, Guards and create ruckus itmeans that there is no law and order. If they are allowed to belet loose and come in the society without court order, it amountsto collapse of law and order of the entire police and judicialsystem with increasing undetected robberies.'' The incident at Sada Sub Jail was also indication that jailswere no stronger to hold the prisoners, he said and remarked thatcorruption in the system had gone to the extent of making thewalls of jails weaker. ''It is also pertinent to note that Vinayak Korbatkar whohad murdered Asfaq Bengre at Colvale Central Jail was put todeath in Sada Sub Jail,'' Mr Chodankar pointed out and said,''This shows that the gangs are breeding in the jails.'' The Congress leader said BJP had no moral right to ask forthe votes of the people after Sada Sub Jail incident. ''If BJP is given five more years, the prisoners will be onthe road creating havoc. Sada sub-jail incident is a signal ofwhat can happen in future if BJP is voted to power,'' he added. A prisoner was killed, jailor, two guards and nine inmateswere injured when 49 inmates attacked jail officials and tried toflee the jail at Vasco, around 28 km from here, last night.UNI AKM SS RSA 2304 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-1123287.Xml
The offices also have been reminded that solicitation ofany religion by displaying religious slogans and performing pujawas against the provisions of the Constitution of India.

A Government Employees' Union has also demanded to ban suchsolicitation in other government offices including stateheadquarters, Mantralaya.

The Rural Development Department (RDD) has sent a letter toall district councils on January 4 asking the government officesnot to resort to any religious activities.

This is in line with the Constitution of India that insistson secular nature of the government machinery.

In the letter, the offices have been directed that''performing religious rituals, celebrating festivals and puttingup posters and slogans on the walls was against theconstitutional provisions and hence should not be practised. Theofficers have also been directed to remove such slogans or theportraits respectfully.''UNI JM SS RSA 2308

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In the run-up to civic elections in thestate, a sitting MNS corporator of Nashik Municipal Corporation(NMC) today entered the Congress party along with his supportersin Mumbai. Guljar Kokani, a corporator of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena(MNS) from ward number 39 (B) of NMC, resigned from the party andjoined the Congress along with his supporters in the presence ofMaharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president and MP Ashok Chavan. The MNS is the ruling party in NMC with 40 corporators, afew years ago, however, the fortunes of the party and thecharisma of its chief Raj Thackeray waned immediately after theparliamentary and assembly elections. Since then, 26 MNScorporators have joined either BJP, Shiv Sena or Congress. Nowthe MNS strength has come down to 14.UNI RDS SS RSA 2341 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-1123312.Xml
Bipin Ganatra, a 59-year-old volunteer firefighter from the city, where he has saved many lives through his courageous effort,was named as Padma Shri winner by the Central government today. Ganatra, who lost his brother in a fire when he was just 12 years old, took part voluntarily in fire fighting and emergency rescue operations in the city. Ganatra a school drop-out who has done odd jobs all his life, has till date attended more than 100 fires in the densely populated city of Kolkata. From rescuing people from fire and cleaning up debris Ganantra now is left with only one interest, that is saving lives of unknown people. In the last 40 years, he is the only individual apart from the fire brigade officials and higher authorities who had been to almost each and every fire accident related site in and around the city. With much love and affection, local people and personnel of the fire department of the state call him as Bipin da. Ganatra claimed that he had taken part in over 100 firefighting and rescue operations in the city with professional firemen. A 52-year-old man from Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, Karimul Haque, lost his mother as she did not get proper treatment on time. Haque runs a 24x7 bike ambulance service and takes patients from remote areas to hospital free of cost by his motorcycle. Haque claimed that he had taken at least 3000 patients, including elderly, women and children, from as many as 15 nearby villages to hospitals. Pranab Mukherjee, will confer the duo with Padma Shri for their social works on Republic Day tomorrow in New Delhi.UNI BM RSA 2237 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0214-1123276.Xml
The United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, has warned about possible reprisals against the people she met during her recent visit to Myanmar from January 9 to 21. Lee noted that she was particularly struck by the fear of some she spoke to "who were afraid of what would happen to them after talking to me." "There is one word that has hung heavily on my mind during this visit - reprisals," the UN News Centre quoted Lee as saying in a press statement on Tuesday. She said she is deeply concerned about those with whom she met and spoke, "those critical of the government, those defending and advocating for the rights of others, and those who expressed their thoughts and opinions which did not conform to the narrative of those in the position of power." Moreover, she noted the increasing use of section 66 (d) of the Telecommunications Law against many, "merely for speaking their minds." "It is particularly alarming to learn that the security forces' counter operations in the villages of Maungdaw north in Rakhine state have reportedly been resumed following a brief lull, with raids conducted in several villages including nearby the villages I visited," stressed Lee. The Special Rapporteur regretted that due to security reasons, she was only allowed to go to Myitkyina, and not Laiza and Hpakant in Kachin, stating that the situation "at the northern borders is deteriorating." A report from the visit will be presented in March to the UN Human Rights Council. (ANI)
Responding to latest remarks by Washington over the South China Sea, China urged the United States to be prudent in words and actions to avoid causing disruptions to the peace and stability of the region. Recently, White House spokesperson Sean Spicer said that if the South China Sea islands are in international waters, the U.S. will defend international interests from being taken over by one country. When asked about China's concern over the comment, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Tuesday, "The United States is not a party to the South China Sea disputes. We urge the U.S. side to respect the facts and be prudent in words and actions to avoid causing disruptions to peace and stability of the South China Sea." She added that China's position on the South China Sea issue is clear, consistent and remains unchanged reiterating that Beijing has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and the adjacent waters. "China upholds the freedom of navigation enjoyed by all countries under the international law, and peace and stability of the South China Sea," said Chunying. (ANI)
The aircraft to be imported are MA 60 and Y 12 which have a seat capacity of 56 and 18 respectively, reports the Himalayan Times.

The first aircraft would conduct flights to destinations in Tarai regions and the second one in the hilly areas.

According to Sugat Ratna Kansakar, Managing Director of the NAC, as the aircraft brought from China earlier experienced many technical glitches, the Chinese side had signed a commitment to make the spare parts for the aircraft in Kathmandu itself.

The aircraft this time are being brought in loan assistance.

Meanwhile, the NAC is currently doing its homework to form an agreement with an American Airlines Company, AAR Corporation, for international flights. (ANI)
President Trump had a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Modi, said White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

Details of the conversation are awaited.

It was the first conversation between two sides after the new U.S. head of state took office. They first spoke in November just after Trump's election win.

Prime Minister Modi is the fifth foreign leader to hold talks with Trump after he was sworn in as the 45th U.S. President on Friday. (ANI)
Chinese disease control experts warned the public to stay on the alert for H7N9 avian flu, state media agency Xinhua reported. H7N9 bird flu has caused at least nine deaths in China this year, bringing the total death toll from the virus to 29 since the outbreak started in December. China had 106 cases of human infections last month, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. China has also confirmed five bird flu outbreaks among poultry this winter, which has led to the culling of more than 175,000 birds. While South Korea and Japan are battling their own major outbreaks, the current China outbreaks appear isolated. The virus is likely to strike in winter and spring, and farmers have in recent years ramped up measures such as cleaning regimes to prevent the disease.The most recent bird flu outbreak hit a goose farm in China's southern Hunan province, killing 1,054 birds, said the Ministry of Agriculture. Local government culled 2,067 more birds after the outbreak, the fifth among poultry since October, bringing the total cull to more than 175,000 birds since then. China has also closed some live poultry markets after people and chickens were infected by the avian flu strains.Widespread infection can lead to severe health risks and big financial losses. The last major outbreak in China killed 36 people and caused more than $6 billion in losses for theagricultural sector. China is the world's third-largest producer of broiler chickens and the second-biggest consumer of poultry. REUTERS SV PR0849 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-1121796.Xml
Senator Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the US Senate, urged Republican President Donald Trump to implement one of his campaign promises and declare China a currency manipulator."Mr. President: if you really want to put America first, label China a currency manipulator," Schumer told reporters yesterday.Trump's Treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin has told senators that he would work to combat currency manipulation but would not give a clear answer on whether he currently views China as manipulating its yuan, according to a Senate Finance Committee document seen by Reuters on Monday. REUTERS PS 0417 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-1121763.Xml
US President Donald Trump invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the United States later this year, during a phone call in which the leaders discussed economic and defense co-operations and regional security issues, the White House said in a statement today. REUTERS PS 0420 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-1121764.Xml
Equatorial Guinea confirmed that it was hosting ousted Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh, who fled there after West African troops threatened to remove him by force if he does not concede his election defeat.Information Minister Eugenio Nse Obiang confirmed that Jammeh was in country in a statement yesterday sent out to journalists. REUTERS PS 0426 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-1121766.Xml
US President Donald Trump's defense secretary plans to visit Japan and South Korea next week, choosing the two close US allies for his debut trip abroad as Pentagon chief, a US official said , speaking on condition of anonymity.James Mattis, a retired Marine general, was sworn into the Pentagon's top job shortly after Trump's inauguration on Friday and a quick departure to Asia could be seen as a nod to the importance the new US administration places on security ties.The trip would closely follow Trump's withdrawal from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, fulfilling a campaign pledge but disappointing many key US allies in Asia.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, for example, had touted TPP in part as a counter-weight to a rising China.No further details were immediately available about Mattis' proposed itinerary.Still, Mattis, in his confirmation hearing this month, described "the Pacific theater" as a priority and analysts expect new US military spending under Trump's administration would strengthen America's military presence in Asia over time.Topping US concerns in the region are North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs and China's military moves in the South China Sea.Tension with Beijing escalated this week when Trump's White House vowed to defend "international territories" in the strategic waterway. China responded by saying it had "irrefutable" sovereignty over disputed islands there.Mattis, in his Senate testimony, also voiced concern about North Korea, describing Pyongyang's activities as a "serious threat" that required US attention.There are about 28,500 US troops based in South Korea helping to defend the country against North Korea, which has technically remained in a state of war with the South since the 1950-53 Korean conflict.South Korea and the United States say the upcoming deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system will better help to protect Seoul against North Korea's nuclear and ballistic capabilities.But China says THAAD's powerful radar could penetrate its own territory, prompting calls from some South Korean opposition leaders to delay or cancel its deployment. REUTERS SV PR1119 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-1121887.Xml
Japan is cool to the notion of inviting China to join a pan-Pacific trade pact abandoned by US President Donald Trump, fearing such a step would boost Beijing's clout and water down what was meant to be the 'gold standard' for rules of trade. Nor are government officials eager to begin two-way trade talks with Washington, despite Trump's stated preference for bilateral deals as part of his "America First" economic plans, although some said such negotiations could not be ruled out.For now, that has left Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the unenviable position of pledging yet again to persuade Trump that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is in the interests of both the United States and the global economy. The new president signed an executive order withdrawing from the TPP on Monday."The free trade system based on free and fair common rules is the source of growth for the world economy," Abe told parliament's upper house on Wednesday."I think President Trump also understands the importance of free and fair trade, and I want to steadfastly seek his understanding of the strategic and economic significance of the TPP agreement."Asked about talks on a U.S.-Japan trade deal, Abe said he would refrain from speculating about Trump's trade policy until his cabinet line-up was approved and policies became clearer.Australia and New Zealand said on Tuesday they hoped to salvage the TPP by encouraging China and other Asian countries to join. Chile has invited ministers from other TPP countries and China and South Korea to a summit in March to discuss how to proceed. The TPP cannot take effect without U.S. participation unless rules are changed, so the deal is now in deep freeze.Japan had hoped the TPP would help anchor security ally Washington in Asia and create a rule-based regime that would eventually draw in China. Abe also touted the 12-nation pact as an engine of domestic economic reform and growth.WATERING DOWN?But inviting China to the TPP table now risks boosting Beijing's clout while weakening the partnership's rules of trade on matters from intellectual property protection and principles for currency management to support for state-owned enterprises.China has not made clear whether it would be interested in joining the TPP. But Beijing is pushing a proposed 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) that has less ambitious goals on trade rules. Progress so far has been slow."If TPP is diluted by bringing in China, it will not be worth while investing energy to achieve that," said a Japanese source familiar with government thinking."Negotiating with China with possibility of changing what was signed is not wise. It will take years and the result may be watering down of ambitions," the source said.Su Xiaohui, a senior researcher at the Chinese foreign ministry-backed China Institute of International Studies, wrote in an article published on Wednesday in the People's Daily Overseas Edition that Abe was still "unable to accept reality" even after Trump's executive order."The reason Abe is unable to accept the current situation is because the TPP is of excessive strategic importance to Japan. From Japan's perspective, the TPP is a key part of the Japan-U.S. alliance," Su said."Seeing the disputes surrounding the TPP from the U.S. and Japan, China is even more determined to participate and promote integration in the Asia-Pacific region, Su said.China also supports a separate Asia-Pacific pact promoted by Southeast Asian nations.TWO-WAY DEALSTrump has made clear he favours two-way trade deals over multilateral ones, although a Republican-dominated Congress might be able to muster the votes to approve TPP if the President were to have a change of heart.Trump has also attacked Japan's auto market as closed in an echo of criticism heard decades ago. Japanese trade minister Hiroshige Seko this week rejected that criticism, saying Japan does not impose tariffs on US auto imports nor put up discriminatory non-tariff barriers.Bilateral US-Japan negotiations would likely put renewed pressure on politically vocal farmers, some of whose products such as rice would remain protected even under TPP.Bilateral talks "are possible," said another source familiar with Japanese government thinking. "But I think if negotiations began, they'd be very difficult and take a very long time."REUTERS SV PR1323 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-1122049.Xml
Two South Sudanese dissidents have been detained in Kenya and could face deportation back to South Sudan, where another opposition figure deported last year has been held without charge, activists said today.Rights groups demanded the release of the two men saying they would be at risk if they were sent back to South Sudan, which has been embroiled in conflict for more than three years.Dong Samuel, a lawyer and human rights advocate who has been a vocal critic of South Sudan's government, was last seen in Nairobi late on Monday making his way home, but he did not reach his residence, Amnesty International's Elizabeth Deng said.Samuel is registered with the UN refugee agency UNHCR.Aggrey Idri, chairman of the South Sudanese opposition's humanitarian affairs committee, was last seen in Nairobi on Tuesday morning, Deng said. Idri was not registered with UNHCR, he added.Their lawyer, Eddy Orinda, confirmed the details, saying both men were at risk of deportation, basing his information on sources following their case. However, he said the police had neither confirmed nor denied they were being held.Reuters could not immediately reach the Kenyan police or South Sudanese officials for comment."In recent years, Kenya has unlawfully deported several prominent opposition members from neighbouring countries to their countries of origin, despite being recognised as refugees under Kenyan law," Human Rights Watch said.Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said Samuel was "at serious risk of arbitrary detention, torture, and other abuses if returned to South Sudan," urging Kenya to respect its international obligations to protect him.Kenya deported South Sudanese opposition spokesman James Gatdet Dak in November 2016 to South Sudan, even though he had refugee status. Amnesty said he had been detained without charge in Juba since then.REUTERS SV PR1400 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-1122093.Xml
Islamist militants rammed a car bomb into the gate of a hotel and stormed inside, killing at least 13 people in Somalia's capital Mogadishu today, police said.Gunfire rang out as fighters entered Dayah Hotel, which is popular with politicians. A second blast shook the area shortly afterwards, injuring several people nearby.Colonel Abdiqadir Hussein, a police officer, told Reuters security forces later managed to secure the building."We have rescued the people and concluded the operation at Dayah hotel. The security forces are now inside the hotel and we shall give further details of casualty later," he said.Another police officer, Major Mohamed Ahmed, said a dozen people had been wounded, in addition to the 13 killed who included members of the security forces and civilians. "The death toll may rise," he added.Duniye Mohamed, a doctor at Madina hospital where some casualties were taken, said the injured included people with "very serious" wounds.Islamist group Al Shabaab, which until 2011 controlled Mogadishu and much of Somalia, claimed responsibility for the attack."Well-armed mujahideen (fighters) attacked the hotel, and now they are fighting inside the hotel," reported Somalia's Andalus radio, which is linked to al Shabaab.The insurgents often launch bomb and gun attacks in the capital, saying they want to topple the Western-backed government and impose their strict interpretation of Islam on the nation.In the past two years, a campaign by African Union troops and Somali forces has driven the group out of key urban strongholds, but it remains active from bases in rural areas.The Horn of Africa country swore in nearly 300 members of its parliament last month. The lawmakers will also pick the president, although that vote has repeatedly been postponed. REUTERS AKC RK1504 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1122191.Xml
The Kremlin today said the talks on the Syrian crisis in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, were successful and will contribute to resuming the Geneva negotiation process. Certainly, this is a success. No doubt, a significant support of the Geneva negotiations process is ensured," the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told mediapersons. Mr Peskov said the talks in the Swiss city remain "a major framework for the Syrian settlement," adding that the possibility of new meetings on Syria in Astana will depend upon the situation. He stressed that time will tell if the Astana process proves effective. Answering a question whether new meetings could be arranged in Astana in the future, Mr Peskov said that it was "a matter of advisability, it will depend upon the situation." Meanwhile, commenting on the results of the talks in Astana, Boris Dolgov, a senior researcher at the Center for Arabic and Islamic Studies at Russia's Academy of Sciences, said that the talks between the Syrian government and the armed opposition in Astana were important from the psychological point of view, but they were only a first step in a long settlement process. "The meeting in Astana has become a positive and important step from the point of view of its psychological effect," Mr Dolgov said. "From the practical point of view, it is just the beginning of the process, and it is yet unclear how this process would develop," he said. "The very fact of holding a conference, which for the first time involved representatives of the Syrian government and the Syrian armed opposition, makes it an important event, it is another step toward finding ways to solve the Syrian crisis," Mr Dolgov added.UNI XC SHS SHK 1640 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1122396.Xml
Belgian authorities detained seven people for questioning after a string of house searches related to an anti-terror investigation in Brussels today, prosecutors said."The investigation relates to the issue of possible returning Syria fighters," federal prosecutors said in a statement.The operations were focused on about eight locations and were not linked to recent attacks in Brussels or Paris. No explosives or weapons were found. REUTERS AKC BD1626 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1122409.Xml
The Philippines wants US President Donald Trump to remove the exiled leader of Philippine communists from a US terrorist list to enable him to come home for peace talks, government negotiators said today.Maoist-led rebels have waged an insurgency against Philippine governments for nearly five decades and at least 40,000 people have been killed.But talks on ending the war have been revived under President Rodrigo Duterte, who came to power last year calling for peace efforts in the interests of economic development.Jose Maria Sison, the founder and leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has lived in the Netherlands for three decades. He was put on a US terrorist list in 2002, which prevents him from travelling.The government's chief peace negotiator, Silvestre Bello, said Trump would be asked to remove Sison from the list."The government of the Philippines will recommend to the president the de-listing of Communist Party of the Philippines founding chair ... Sison from the list of international terrorists to pave the way for his Philippine homecoming without being arrested," Bello and his team said in a statement.Duterte and Sison have agreed to meet in any neutral Asian country once Sison has been removed from the list. But Bello said the talks could be held in the Philippines.The communists' 3,000-strong armed wing, the New People's Army, operates mainly in the east and south of the Philippines. REUTERS AKC AN1836 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1122850.Xml
"The results are extremely important as they take the settlement efforts to a qualitatively new level," Lavrov told the State Duma -- the lower house of parliament, Xinhua reported.

He said Russia has invited representatives from the Syrian political opposition to a meeting in Moscow on Friday to brief them about the Astana talks.

The Kremlin also hailed the talks as paving the way for the resumption of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

"Of course, it is a success. Substantial support has been provided for the Geneva process," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti news agency.

The Syrian talks were held in Astana on Monday and Tuesday, with Russia, Turkey and Iran as guarantors.

Staffan de Mistura, a special United Nations envoy, also participated in the meeting, while the US ambassador to Kazakhstan was present as an observer.

In Astana, a direct contact was established between the Syrian government and armed groups of the opposition, Lavrov told the State Duma.

The participants reached consensus that the Syrian crisis has no military solution. "I believe it essential that the armed opposition agreed to this," Lavrov said.

The armed opposition had agreed "in principle" to join the Syrian army and the Russian Airspace Force to launch strikes against the Islamic State, he added.

In addition, Russia, Iran and Turkey promised in Astana to create a trilateral committee to monitor truce violations in Syria on a daily basis.

--IANS ahm/vm

( 283 Words)

2017-01-25-22:04:08 (IANS)
Islamist militants rammed a car bomb into the gate of a hotel in Somalia's capital Mogadishu today, jumped clear and stormed inside today, killing 28 people, government and medical officials said.Gunfire rang out as four militants burst into the Dayah Hotel, which is popular with politicians. A second explosion shook the area shortly afterwards, injuring several journalists and other people nearby."Well-armed mujahideen (militants) attacked the hotel and now they are fighting inside the hotel," said an announcer on Andalus radio, which is linked to the al Shabaab jihadist group. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.Security forces eventually shot dead all four militants and managed to secure the building, according to Abdifatah Omar, the Mogadishu municipality spokesman. Government websites confirmed this, quoting the security minister."We have confirmed 28 people died and 43 others injured in the two blasts at the hotel," Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of the Mogadishu's ambulance services, told Reuters.Duniye Mohamed, a doctor at Madina hospital, had earlier said some of the people taken there were very seriously wounded. Security Minister Abdirizak Umar had earlier put the death toll at 15, including four security personnel.The secondary explosion sent a plume of flame high up over the hotel and several buildings and cars in the vicinity were destroyed.Until 2011, al Shabaab controlled much of the Horn of Africa country including Mogadishu. Its militants often stage bomb and gun attacks in the capital in their quest to topple the Western-backed government and impose their own strict interpretation of sharia (Islamic law) on the nation.In the past two years, African Union and Somali government forces have driven al Shabaab out of important urban strongholds but it remains active from bases in rural areas.Somalia swore in nearly 300 members of parliament last month and they are due to pick the president but that vote has repeatedly been postponed. It is now due to be held on Feb 8, said a parliamentary official who did not wish to be named.REUTERS SDR AN2153 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1123239.Xml
US President Donald Trump is "closing the door" on people fleeing Islamic State, and may try to re-open secret detention centres where torture can be used, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today, calling on Congress to intervene.A temporary ban on refugees that Trump is expected to sign this week is a "particularly ugly" policy among a range of populist initiatives that could also breach the US Constitution, the rights group said.Trump looks set to "stop refugee admissions to the United States, ostensibly on security grounds," HRW head Kenneth Roth told a news briefing in Geneva."But in order to score a political point at home, Trump is closing the door on them. That is one particularly ugly aspect of what he is doing.""It's as if Trump is indifferent to the extraordinary suffering that many of these refugees have been through. Many of these people are fleeing ISIS (Islamic State), or the ISIS equivalents around the world," he said.HRW, one of the biggest international human rights groups, based in the United States, said it feared Trump would "start refilling Guantanamo" and possibly use "dark sites" on foreign soil for detainees."One thing we expect either today or later this week is an order from Trump to begin exploring ... the resumption of CIA dark sites," said Roth, an American.The Washington Post published today a draft executive order, "Detention and Interrogation of Enemy Combatants", that could open the way for terrorism suspects to be interrogated in secret prisons abroad."Last time, these black sites were often in democracies - they were in Poland, Latvia, Romania, if you look around the world, they were in places like Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Thailand, Afghanistan," Roth said."I hope all these governments and the other prospective governments say 'no' this time around, that they don't want to be complicit in any new US torture scheme."Obama closed black sites and ordered a halt to waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning, which experts say constitutes torture banned under international law. Trump promised during his campaign to bring back waterboarding and "a hell of a lot worse"."If Trump is going to start toying with the Army Field Manual and weakening its preclusion of torture or other forms of inhumane and cruel interrogation, that would be very problematic," Roth said.He called on Congress to exercise oversight over the new administration and "stand up for the Constitution and international human rights law"."Obviously people are afraid of Trump at this stage because he does have the bully pulpit, but that's when an independent Congress standing up for principles is particularly important." REUTERS SDR AN2221 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1123265.Xml
Chinese President Xi Jinping talks with villagers and local cadre at the home of villager Xu Haicheng in Desheng Village, Xiaoertai Township of Zhangbei County in north China's Hebei Province, on Jan. 24, 2017. Xi Tuesday pushed for increased efforts on poverty alleviation during an inspection tour to the city of Zhangjiakou. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

ZHANGJIAKOU, Hebei Province, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping Tuesday pushed for increased efforts on poverty alleviation.

He stressed the importance of precision in the battle against poverty, saying that poverty alleviation should focus on targeted people and industries, and use the right tools to produce results.

Xi made the remarks during a tour of the city of Zhangjiakou in northern China's Hebei Province, where he inspected an impoverished village, visiting and chatting with poor families, discussing how they could shake off poverty.

"Fighting poverty is the fundamental task in building an all-round moderately prosperous society," Xi said.

He called for more efforts to help the poor develop industries that could grow in a sustainable manner, set up sustainable mechanisms for poverty alleviation, and create ways for them to achieve prosperity.

Poverty relief is high on China's 2016-2020 agenda, and the government has vowed to lift everybody out of poverty by 2020. By the end of 2015, China still had 55.75 million people living in poverty.

Since the start of the reform and opening-up in 1978, China's economic boom has helped lift more than 700 million people out of poverty.

"Poverty alleviation is getting more and more difficult as it progresses to the end," Xi said.

He stressed the importance of making sure every poor family had a program for increasing income and every poor person had a way of casting off poverty.

The president pointed to relocation as an important supplementary approach in fighting poverty and highlighted the role of ecological compensation, which would not only help improve the ecological environment but also boost incomes.

Stressing the importance of education in poverty alleviation, Xi said, "Making sure children of impoverished families enjoy access to high-quality education is a fundamental solution to poverty."

During the tour, Xi also inspected a dairy company in Zhangjiakou, where he urged for more efforts to create a globally competitive dairy industry with safe, high-quality products.

He said that the most rigorous standards, the strictest regulation, the harshest punishment and the most serious mechanism of accountability should be adopted to ensure food safety.

Xi also listened to local officials briefing on the local economy at a meeting, where he said cutting excessive production capacity in the iron and steel sector was crucial for Hebei, a major steel producing province, to improve its industrial structure and create new growth engines.

Xi called for efforts to ensure outdated production capacity was eliminated and "zombie enterprises" phased out.

During the tour, Xi also urged for efforts to make the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games a "remarkable, extraordinary, excellent" event.

The Zhangjiakou site of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games is the best natural ski area in northern China.
by Deng Qian, Larry Neild, Zhang Miao

LONDON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese economy is slowing down but still growing, and in a short period of time China has taken gigantic steps in terms of clean energy, the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol has said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

The Chinese economy is "moving from a heavy industry-based economy, slowly but surely to a lighter economy, a modern economy, and this is also reflected in the Chinese energy portfolio very much. So it is normal that economic growth is slowing down and is still a very strong growth. But the important thing to remember here there is the global tendency is becoming lighter rather than heavier," Birol said during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

He also noticed that Chinese energy demand growth will also slow down. "It is a reflection of the Chinese oil needs. For example, more and more oil products such as gasoline are used, like they use in cars, and more jet fuel is used, like they use in planes. But less heavy oil, diesel is used," he said.

"It is a mirror of the Chinese economy. The heavy fuels are less used and the lighter fuel such as gasoline and jet fuel are more used ... Generally, the Chinese economy is going in the right direction by making more use of renewable energy and also making more use of nuclear energy and is becoming more energy efficient," he said.

The expert said China has become the world "champion" of renewable energies, such as solar energy, nuclear energy and hydropower.

In fact, Birol spoke highly of China's energy reform. "The Chinese reforms in the energy sector are all in the right direction," he said, adding that China is improving the efficiency of the sector.

He said that China is making maximum use of its hydropower, wind and solar resources, and has now become an exporter of renewable energy technologies. China is also making major efforts in terms of nuclear power. Today almost half of the nuclear power plants built in the world are in China.

He pointed out that China is making a lot of efforts to shut down inefficient coal-fired power plants because of the pollution in the cities. "I think this is also very responsible in order to pay attention to the health of its citizens," Birol said about the efforts.

"All in all, I think it is very much in line with the Chinese economic environment and energy security objectives," he said.

Soon, Birol said, he would be traveling to China to attend a ministerial meeting on clean energy.

"At the IEA, we work very closely with the Chinese government," the IEA head said.

As China has taken big leaps in terms of clean energy in only a short period of time, "we have been, and we are supporting the Chinese government in those steps, and also making the world understand the major achievements of China," Birol said.

"China had a different image in terms of energy a few years ago, but now this image is changing, slowly but surely, showing the modern face of China in terms of energy, and we are making a big contribution for the world to understand the changing face of China in the energy sector," Birol added.

"I think some of the reforms, some of the steps China is making can also be an inspiration for other countries in the world," he said.
Chinese Ambassador to France Zhai Jun (1st L) receives an interview with Xinhua in Paris, capital of France, Jan. 23, 2017. The Sino-French relationship will not change its main direction in 2017, Chinese Ambassador to France Zhai Jun said, "We have reasons to have confidence in the developement of Sino-French relationship." (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)

PARIS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Sino-French relationship will not change its main direction in 2017, Chinese Ambassador to France Zhai Jun said in a recent interview with Xinhua.



"We have reasons to have confidence in the developement of Sino-French relationship," Zhai said.

The ambassador noted that in 2016 the China-France ties were characterized mainly by two features.

First, the bilateral ties have been growing at high levels, he said. The two countries' leaders conducted frequent exchanges and three high-level dialogues covering strategic, cultural and people-to-people, economic and financial fields, were successfully held in Paris.

Second, the Sino-French relationship has remained stable amid increasing uncertain and challenging international situations, according to Zhai.

"France has taken a responsible attitude on the cardinal issues concerning the fundamental principles of the Sino-French relationship," he noted, recalling the recent announcements by the French Foreign Ministry on supporting the one-China principle.

Regarding economic and trade ties between China and France, Zhai said in 2017, China and France will work together to further promote bilateral trade and maintain the momentum of cooperation in key sectors of nuclear power, aerospace, automotive, etc.

Both sides will also jointly encourage companies in both countries to deepen cooperation in sectors such as the "Silver Economy" and the construction of ecological cities, he added.

Moreover, the Chinese ambassador stressed that the China-proposed Belt and Road initiative opens new channels for the growth of China-France and China-Europe economic and trade ties.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- World Bank on Tuesday maintained its forecast for oil prices for this year, while upgraded its projections for major non-energy commodity prices.

In its latest quarterly Commodities Markets Outlook report, the Washington-based lender forecast the crude oil prices in 2017 to reach 55 U.S. dollars per barrel, the same forecast as it made in last October. But the expected price was up 29 percent from 2016.

"The energy price forecast assumes members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil producers will partially comply with an agreement to limit production after a long period of unrestrained output,"said the World Bank in the report.

It expected the oil market to tighten in 2017, particularly in the second half of this year, which would help reduce the large stock overhang.

The lender projected the non-energy commodity prices to increase 3 percent in 2017, the first increase in six years for both metals and agricultural prices.

Metals prices are forecast to rise 11 percent amid increasing tight supply, after dropping 6 percent in 2016. The forecast was up from the 4 percent rise anticipated in last October.

Agricultural prices as a whole are expected to rise by less than 1 percent in 2017, but grains prices are forecast to drop 3 percent due to improved supply outlook.
BUJUMBURA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Five bandits were arrested on Tuesday after attacking households and patrolling soldiers near a military barrack in Muyinga town, said the Burundian army spokesman.

Burundian Army Spokesman Gaspard Baratuza told a press conference that armed bandits shot in the direction of soldiers in a night patrol at about 2:30 a.m. near Mukoni military camp.

"Their aim was probably to attack the soldiers' intervention while other bandits were robbing households located near the military camp," Baratuza said.

According to him, security forces and citizens were alerted and encircled all exits of Muyinga town and later made the arrests along with the seizure of four guns and two grenades.

Witnesses however told Xinhua that it was an attack by unidentified gunmen against the military camp.

They said that gunshots and grenade explosions rocked Muyinga town for about two hours, dismissing the idea of ordinary bandits.

On Dec. 11, 2015, gunmen simultaneously attacked three military barracks in the Burundian capital Bujumbura and another at Mujejuru in Bujumbura Rural province.

Baratuza said the clashes had resulted in 87 deaths, including 79 gunmen, four soldiers and four policemen.

Burundi plunged into a crisis since 2015 when Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run his controversial third term in violation of the national constitution and the 2000 Arusha Agreement that ended a decade-long civil war.

More than 500 people in Burundi have been killed and about 300,000 people fled to neighboring countries mostly Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and Uganda since the outbreak of the crisis. Enditem
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Tuesday called for a holistic approach to promote development, prevent conflict by addressing the root causes and sustain peace.

"The best means of prevention, and of sustaining peace, is inclusive and sustainable development," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at a high-level dialogue themed with building sustainable peace for all.

"We need a global response that addresses the root causes of conflict, and integrates peace, sustainable development and human rights in a holistic way, from conception to execution," said Guterres.

Among the root causes, Guterres illustrated that inequality is growing when societies are making progress in development by noting recent figures that eight richest people in the world have the same wealth as 3.6 billion poorest people.

He said implementing the sustainable development agenda which includes a set of global goals to eliminate poverty, promote equality and combat climate change will make an enormous contribution to sustaining peace.

The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda was adopted in September 2015 by UN member states to guide the international development and cooperation till the year 2030.

President of General Assembly Peter Thomson called on the international community to "generate unstoppable momentum" in the early years of implementation of the agenda.

"We must deliver fresh reserves of political will to tackle inequalities, transition to the green economies and protect our planet's life support systems," he said.

Thomson said sustainable peace is an enabler and an outcome of sustainable development. "Without sustaining peace, achieving sustainable development is next to impossible."

By noting that protracted conflicts currently affect 17 countries and 2 billion people live in countries troubled conflict and violence, he called on governments, business and civil society to invest financially and intellectually in sustaining peace across the world.

He also asked member states and UN bodies to explore the mutually-reinforcing ways to deliver the development goals and create the conditions for sustainable peace.
TEHRAN, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian reformists would support President Hassan Rouhani in the upcoming presidential election, Mohammad Reza Aref, head of the Hope parliamentary group, said on Tuesday, according to local newspaper Tehran Times.

The policy-making council of the reformist movement would support Rouhani provided that he expresses his readiness to run again for the presidential post, said Aref, who is a prominent reformist lawmaker.

Rouhani was elected as Iranian president in 2013. The next presidential election is slated for May 2017.

The most important challenge to Rouhani is pushing for voter turnout, Aref said, emphasizing that efforts should be made for a huge turnout in the upcoming election.

"We give good grades to the current administration's performance," he added.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The new U.S. administration has ordered a freeze on grants and contracts by the country's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and banned its employees from publicly speaking of this change, U.S. media reported Tuesday.

"New EPA administration has asked that all contract and grant awards be temporarily suspended, effective immediately," said an email obtained by the Washington Post. "Until we receive further clarification, which we hope to have soon, please construe this to include task orders and work assignments."

The newspaper said this email went out to employees in the EPA's Office of Acquisition Management within hours of President Donald Trump's swearing-in on Friday.

The Huffington Post reported that an EPA staffer "fearing retaliation" provided the information to the congressional office anonymously.

Also, EPA employees reportedly have been banned from "providing updates to reporters or on social media."

"No social media will be going out," read an internal memo obtained by the Huffington Post. "A Digital Strategist will be coming on board to oversee social media. Existing, individually controlled, social media accounts may become more centrally controlled."

Meanwhile, the EPA is not allowed to issue press releases, post blog messages or update new content on websites, the internal memo said. Media requests will also be carefully screened.

Similarly, the U.S. Agricultural Research Service, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and several other federal agencies reportedly have also been barred from any public communication about their work.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday he had no information on the gag order.

"We're looking into it," Spicer said. "I don't think it's any surprise that when there's an administration turnover, that we're going to review the policies."

The nonprofit environmental group Union of Concerned Scientists slammed the orders as a move to muzzle scientists and block research.

"It's the first full week of President Trump's administration and attacks on science are already underway," the group said in a statement. "This undermines vital public health and environmental protections, erodes public trust and violates the basic principles of science."
LAGOS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua)-- Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said on Tuesday the two top officials in his government have been cleared of alleged corrupt practices following an investigation into allegations against them.

They are the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu and Secretary of the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal.

In a letter read during the plenary session by Senate President Bukola Saraki, which renominated Magu as Chairman of the EFCC, Buhari said Magu and Lawal were both cleared of corruption in a report by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

Buhari requested the Senate to reconsider its decision to reject the appointment of Magu as chairman of the EFCC.

The Senate last month rejected the appointment of Magu as EFCC chairman, citing a security report from the Department of State Services. It also recommended the sack of Lawal for alleged corruption.

President Buhari then directed the AGF to investigate the allegations. AGF recently submitted a report at the end of the assignment, which finally cleared both officials of the alleged corruption.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed Tuesday that the two countries will stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism.

During a telephone conversation with Modi, Trump emphasized that the United States considers India a "true friend and partner" in addressing challenges around the world, the White House said in a statement.

The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India in broad areas such as the economy and defense. They also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia.

Trump looked forward to hosting Modi in the United States later this year, the statement said.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- At least 150 inmates broke out of a prison on Tuesday in Bauru, a city in Brazil's southern state of Sao Paulo, following a riot that set fire to part of the prison.

According to the state's prison administration agency, police succeeded in recapturing about 100 of the escapees.

The riot is in no way related to a recent spate of violent incidents at prisons in other parts of the country, Military Police Col. Flavio Kitazume said at a press conference.

Since the start of the year, more than 130 inmates have been killed in prison clashes, which authorities have blamed on organized crime rings, but observers have at least partly blamed on overcrowding in these prisons.

The prison in Bauru is not as overcrowded as some other jails, according to public news agency Agencia Brasil, housing 1,427 inmates in a facility designed to hold 1,124.

Prison officials said inmates were rebelling against the "strict discipline" at the facility.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm U.S. President Donald Trump's pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's nomination easily cleared the Senate as she got wide bipartisan support for the post.

"I was reassured by Gov. Haley's unequivocal opposition to President Trump's alarming statements regarding Russian war crimes in Syria (and) her clear grasp of the importance of U.S. engagement in international institutions," Senator Robert Menendez said in a statement.

Born to Indian immigrants in South Carolina in 1972, Haley is the first woman and visible minority to serve as governor of South Carolina.

Haley supported Trump's rival Senator Marco Rubio of Florida during the Republican nomination race last year, and she was one of the most vocal critics of Trump early in his run.

Haley frequently called out Trump for his hard-line immigration policy, and also criticized Trump for refusing to release his tax returns.

"Governor Haley has a proven track record of bringing people together regardless of background or party affiliation to move critical policies forward for the betterment of her state and our country," Trump said when he nominated Haley in November last year.

"She is also a proven dealmaker, and we look to be making plenty of deals. She will be a great leader representing us on the world stage," Trump added.
TORONTO, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Canada's main stock market in Toronto jumped up on Tuesday after United States President Donald Trump announced plans to move forward with the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite rose 130.56 points, or 0.84 percent, to finish the day at 15,610.69 points. All of the ten sub-sectors finished the session higher.

After taking a 2.88 percent hit on Monday, the Energy group rebounded as Trump ordered executive action on Tuesday to move forward with the Keystone XL and Dakota oil pipelines after Barack Obama's team vetoed the bill in 2015 due to environmental concerns.

Trump's latest action will allow TransCanada Corporation, the company that proposes building the 1,897 kilometer pipeline from Alberta to Nebraska, to re-apply for the construction of the project.

As a result, shares of the firm rose 2.72 percent to an all-time high of 64.24 Canadian dollars (48.69 U.S. dollars).

TransCanada's shares rising was part of the TSX Energy group leaping 2.27 percent on the day. Also finishing strong in the group were Calgary-based Baytex Energy Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc., gaining 6.64 percent and 2.36 percent, respectively.

Information Technology and Materials groups also made strong gains on Tuesday, rising 1.29 percent and 1.27 percent, respectively.

Information Technology rose as Waterloo-based Open Text Corporation and Blackberry Limited rose 2.93 percent and 0.86 percent, respectively.

The rise in copper price contributed to the ascent in the TSX Materials group, as the metal rose 2.56 percent to 2.677 U.S. dollars a pound. As a result, firms that predominately mine for copper saw a surge in their stock price. Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc. spiked 7.17 percent to 10.01 Canadian dollars (7.60 U.S. dollars), while Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. advanced 3.76 percent to 4.14 Canadian dollars (3.14 U.S. dollars).

Meanwhile, the price of gold fell 0.76 percent to 1,208.50 U.S. dollars an ounce, and the same weight of silver fell 0.81 percent to 17.06 U.S. dollars.

The remaining groups to finish the day higher were: Consumer Discretionary (0.73 percent), Utilities (0.60 percent), Industrials (0.36 percent), Telecommunications (0.24 percent), Financials (0.20 percent), Consumer Staples (0.20 percent), and Health Care (0.01 percent).

Industrials was led by Class B shares of Montreal-based Bombardier Inc. climbing 3.20 percent 2.58 Canadian dollars (1.96 U.S. dollars). Over the last two months, shares have moved up 34.38 percent.

The TSX Financial group, which accounts for the largest weight in the index grew as insurance firm Manulife Financial Corporation jumped 1.13 percent to 25.01 Canadian dollars (19.00 U.S. dollars). The stock was one of the most traded on the day, with nearly 3.9 million shares exchanged on the day.

The Canadian dollar jumped 0.57 cents to finish the day at 0.7595 U.S. dollars.
CHANGSHA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Five people suffocated after a fire broke out at a fireworks shop in Yueyang City of central China's Hunan Province late Tuesday, local authorities said Wednesday.

The incident took place in a commercial and residential building at 9:08 p.m. Tuesday. It was triggered by firecrackers lit by a buyer outside the store after purchase.

The fire was put off at around 11:20 p.m. Tuesday.

Follow-up work is underway.
CANBERRA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Australia's High Commissioner to Britain and former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer Wednesday backed calls for China to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal, following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the agreement.

Downer, Australia's longest serving foreign minister, is the latest in a strong chorus of Australian support for China to join the deal, after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Trade Minister Steve Ciobo backed China's entrance into the TPP.

On Wednesday, Downer, who is accompanying Treasurer Scott Morrison on a diplomatic mission in Britain, said while Trump's decision was "disappointing", the remaining 11 nations shouldn't "throw in the towel".

"Our point is why would you give up? We want to see what else we can do," Fairfax Media quoted Downer as saying.

The respected diplomat said if the TPP nations decided to approach another nation to enter the agreement, China would be a "desirable" ally.

"'Twelve minus one' is one possibility, maybe adding other countries like Indonesia and China to the TPP and get that ratified, there are all sorts of options and we're not ruling any of them out at the moment," Downer said.

"Basically from Australia's point of view we want to reach out and achieve free trade with as many countries as we can, we already have a free trade agreement with China."

Downer's sentiments echo that of the government. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Tuesday said there "certainly is the potential for China to join the TPP", while Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said China was most welcome if it so desired.

"What China decides to do is ultimately, of course, a decision for China," Ciobo said.
SYDNEY, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Australians have been warned to be wary of scammers trying to take advantage of the Bourke Street tragedy.

Five people have died after Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 26, allegedly drove his car through the pedestrian-only section of the Bourke Street shopping mall in Melbourne at high speed last Friday, hitting dozens of pedestrians.

In the wake of the tragedy, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced a fund for the families of victims, to which the state and federal government contributed 150,000 U.S. dollars, and invited Australians to donate to the fund.

As official donations to the fund topped 640,000 U.S. dollars on Tuesday night, reports emerged that fraudsters were taking advantage of the tragedy for their own profit.

A woman told Melbourne radio station 3AW that she was nearly scammed by someone claiming to be collecting money for the Bourke Street Fund.

The caller, known only as Mel, said she received a call from a man claiming to be from the City of Melbourne asking about her bank and credit card details.

When Men questioned the caller, he hung up.

"I said, 'well I'm going to ring up and check.' And he said, 'you can check,' And I said, 'this call is being taped,'" Mel said in comments published by Fairfax Media on Wednesday.

Scammers also set up similar systems in the wake of the Black Saturday bushfires in February 2009, the worst ever bushfires in Australia in which 173 people were killed.

Victims and witnesses of the incident on Bourke Street will also be entitled to compensation from the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and WorkSafe Victoria. Enditem
HELSINKI, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Tuesday that there is no reason to relieve the sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union (EU) on Russia.

His remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump, who said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal earlier this month that he was open to lifting sanctions against Russia.

Poroshenko, who was visiting Finland, also said that Ukraine would be happy "if Russia fulfills all the conditions under the Minsk (agreement)."

The Minsk agreement, signed in February 2015 in the Belarusian capital with the mediation of France and Germany, calls for a cease-fire along with a range of political, economic and social measures aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

At a joint press conference, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto reiterated Finland's position on the Ukraine crisis, saying that the Minsk agreement should be fulfilled as soon as possible, which is the precondition for lifting the sanctions.

Niinisto said he did not believe that the United States would change its policy and relief the sanctions.

Since 2014, the United States, the EU and some of their allies have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia over its takeover of Crimea and alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis.
YANGON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has called for efforts for cultural heritage conservation in Bagan, which was hit by a 6.8-magnitude earthquake in August 2016.

"Historic areas being restored in Bagan need to ensure a cent-percent accounting transparency to achieve success," Suu Kyi told local authorities in her tour to the Bagan Archaeological Zone in the central part of the country where temples, pagodas and monasteries were damaged by the August quake, Myanmar News Agency reported on Wednesday.

She called for ensuring that each edifice does not lose ancient artistic value when the damaged pagodas are restored.

"Sunset and sunrise viewing on the temples can cause damage to the cultural heritage and that is not suitable in the long run and should be banned in the future," she said, suggesting to build an infrastructure in another suitable place for the viewing.

The Bagan ancient cultural heritage zone, where about 3,000 ancient pagodas and religious edifices can be seen in one place, has been in existence for more than 1,000 years and is seen as the pride of Myanmar and a major attraction for foreigners across the world as well.

The August quake damaged 258 vaunted temples, 104 pagodas and 13 brick monasteries.

Currently, Myanmar is also making efforts for the Bagan Archaeological Zone to become a part of UNESCO's World Heritage List. Enditem
KATHMANDU, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Nepal has formally recognized migration of the Nepali people to India for employment purpose as "foreign employment" and bring them under the insurance coverage for the first time.

The government decided to give equal recognition to the employment in India as in other countries such as Gulf countries and Malaysia, Nepalese Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dahal told a press conference on Tuesday.

"Now, people leaving for employment in India will also get insurance coverage," Dahal said.

There is no official data about the number of Nepalese working in India but around 2 million Nepalese are believed to have been living and working there.

After the government's recognition, Nepalese migrant workers in India will be entitled to receive insurance coverage up to 12,812 U.S. dollars for critical illness and life insurance.

Dahal said the insurance coverage of migrant Nepali workers in India will start from Feb. 12.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address after he was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States during the presidential inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., the United States, on Jan. 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

by Xinhua writer Liu Chang

BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday officially pulled his country out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, marking a start of the new administration's alarming shift of trade policies.

Trump has vowed throughout his campaign to "make America great again" by putting "America first." He insists that through negotiating bilateral trade deals, not multilateral ones, the U.S. interests could be better protected.

The new U.S. leader is also seeking to renegotiate NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) with Canada and Mexico, and vowed to "tear it up" if it cannot work for America.

For the Asia-Pacific and the wider world, the miscarriage of the TPP is not so much of a pity as it lacks enough inclusiveness to either fully tap the region's economic potentials or promote regional economic integration.

Yet the international community should take America's change of course as a warning shot that the world's largest economy is trying to walk away from not only a regional trade pact, but also a rule-based global trading system, a key component of the world economic order established in the post-war period.

Without a globally recognized trade playbook, a bilateral-trade-only approach could easily invite reciprocal retribution between any two trading nations.

In that case, if one country were to slap punitive tariffs on imports from another, it is highly possible that the other party would fire back. Thus trade protectionism would ramp up and no one could be a winner.

In contrast, such multilateral trading mechanisms as the World Trade Organization were built to level the playing field, increase trade for every participant, and manage trade disputes among all countries, whether big or small, before the same set of rights and obligations.

While multilateral trade deals are more preferable, the challenge is that it could take years or even decades for all signatories to agree on everything on their respective wish lists. The long-stalled Doha Round of trade talks speaks for the conundrum. But that is not entirely inextricable.

Right now, many countries around the world have begun to consider bilateral and regional free trade agreements like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a proposed free trade pact that gathers 10 ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) members and six countries in the area, which are important supplements to the multilateral trading system.

The trade policy adjustments initiated by the White House under Trump may be positive for the United States in the short term, yet the fleeting sugar rush would not help push forward inside the United States the much-needed social and economic reforms to improve its social welfare and income redistribution systems, and to train highly-skilled labor forces adaptive to an ever changing global economic landscape.

More than that, his protectionist trade agenda has set a dangerous precedent for trade players around the world to stress strength rather than rules, and encourage a competition for self-interests instead of shared benefits.

The current global trading system may not be perfect, yet it could at least promote economic growth and fairness at the same time. Rejecting economic globalization would undermine both.

Related:

Trump signs executive orders on TPP, abortion-supporting foreign NGOs, federal hiring freeze
SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chief justice of South Korea's constitutional court said Wednesday that the ruling on the bill to impeach President Park Geun-hye should be made before the middle of March.

Park Han-chul, the outgoing chief justice, said at the ninth pleading session on the impeachment that Wednesday is the last hearing he can attend as his term terminates on Jan. 31, noting that one more judge will end her tenure on March 13.

The court has up to 180 days to deliberate on the impeachment motion, which was passed at the parliament with an overwhelming majority on Dec. 9.

If six of nine judges uphold the bill, Park will be permanently removed from office. After his retirement, six of the remaining eight justices are required to uphold it for the permanent removal.

The chief justice said if the proceedings are delayed, seven justices must continue the deliberation, which will cause serious concerns. One more judge's retirement by the middle of March will require approvals from six of the seven remaining justices.

He said one more retirement could distort the historic ruling on the impeachment, calling for the final ruling to be made before March 13.

Park's legal team had asked the court to bring in 39 more witnesses to court, adding to the long list of witnesses in what was seen as an attempt to delay the proceedings.

The court adopted the testimonies of suspects and witnesses submitted to prosecutors as valid evidence to speed up the legal proceedings.

The parliamentary committee, which serves as prosecutors in the constitutional court, plans to revise the impeachment motion to focus more on Park's constitutional violation and help gain speed in the court's ruling.
ASTANA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Representatives of Russian delegation who took part in peace talks on Syria on Tuesday presented a draft Constitution to the representatives of the armed opposition of Syria.

"We presented the draft of Constitution to the Syrian armed opposition, which was developed by Russian experts," said Alexander Lavrentyev, special representative of Russian President on Syria.

According to him, this was done to speed up the adoption of the Constitution of Syria and give it additional impetus.

Lavrentyev also called on the international community to help Syrian government and opposition to create conditions suitable for working on the project of new Syrian Constitution.

The Russian delegation advocates the creation of the Constitutional Committee consisting of the members of Syrian government and the opposition.

"We consider that it is correct to allow all Syrian opposition delegations to participate in the peace talks in Geneva. All opposition delegations should have competent representatives there," said Lavrentyev.

"The negotiations were quite difficult, but nonetheless quite effective. All the efforts exerted by Russian side to the peace talks have led to positive results," he told reporters.

International peace talks on Syria finished on Tuesday in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan. Delegations of the Syrian government and opposition, Russia, Turkey and Special Representative of the United Nations Staffan de Mistura took part in the talks.

U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan George Krol participated in the international meeting as an observer.

Iran, Russia and Turkey have decided to establish a trilateral mechanism to reach a cease-fire in Syria.
The army fulfilled liberation of eastern Mosul after they swept the remaining areas left in the hand of IS militants in the northern outskirts of the eastern bank of the city. (Reuters photo)

MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared on Tuesday the eastern side of the city of Mosul was fully liberated after more than 100 days of fighting against the militants of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

Following the liberation of eastern Mosul, al-Abadi promised to retake the western part of the city, where an estimated 750,000 people are still living under the control of IS militants.

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT FOR IRAQI FORCES

Addressing a press conference in Baghdad, al-Abadi praised the "heroic forces and the unity of all Iraqis."

"The heroism of our security forces was behind Daesh's defeat," al-Abadi said, using the Arabia acronym of the IS.

"This is a major achievement for the Iraqi forces," al-Abadi said, adding "We have proved that Daesh is shrinking and disappearing."

In addition, a military statement said that the army soldiers liberated the eastern Mosul after they swept the remaining areas left in the hands of IS militants in the northern outskirts of the eastern bank of the city.8 The troops, backed by the U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi aircraft, freed the neighborhood of Rashidiyah and the nearby villages of Ba'wiza, Baysan and Shrikhan after heavy clashes with IS militants, leaving dozens of them killed and destroying eight car bombs, according to a statement from the Joint Operations Command.

The troops also killed two suicide bombers, shot down five unmanned drones carrying bombs and destroyed three vehicles carrying heavy machine guns, the statement said.

On Oct. 17, 2016, al-Abadi announced the start of a major offensive to retake Mosul, the country's second largest city and IS militants' last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

The second phase of the offensive to free the eastern bank of Mosul began on Dec. 29.

Mosul, 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.

LIBERATING WESTERN MOSUL HIGH ON AGENDA

Experts believe that with the recapture of the whole eastern side of Mosul, the troops will soon begin a new phase of the anti-IS major offensive on the western part of the city.

At the press conference, al-Abadi urged the security forces to move quickly to liberate all the remaining areas of Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, in particular the western side of the provincial capital city of Mosul, locally known as the right bank of Tigris River which bisects the city.

However, as the militants have started using civilians as human shields in the fighting, international bodies and aid groups expressed concerns about the fate of the people living in the city still held by the IS.

Civilians in Mosul are falling victim to airstrikes targeting IS combatants, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warned Tuesday, saying "it is difficult to verify how many civilians may have been killed or injured."

This is mainly because IS insurgents are continuing to use civilian houses and infrastructure as bases while using civilians as human shields, the UN rights body explained.

OHCHR urged all parties to the conflict to take necessary precautions to ensure that civilians do not get caught up in fighting between Iraqi government forces and IS fighters.

According to reports, Iraqi security forces' operation to take back the western part of the northern city is set to begin in the coming weeks.

"We are deeply concerned about the safety and humanitarian conditions of people who remain in IS-occupied western Mosul city, which it is estimated to be as many as 750,000," OHCHR continued.

"Reports suggest that IS fighters have taken over hospitals in western Mosul city and are using them as military bases, and that they are diverting available resources, including food, water and medicines, to their fighters," it added.

The UN body also warned that it had received a large number of reports that civilians are being killed and wounded by IS shells, improvised explosive devices, suicide attacks as well as snipers in areas now under government control.

Those attempting to flee have also been targeted, OHCHR added.

According to figures from the International Organization for Migration, over 160,000 people have fled Mosul and its adjacent districts since the military campaign kicked off in October last year.

Related:

Iraqi PM declares full liberation of eastern side of Mosul
SYDNEY, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Vietnamese national appeared in the New South Wales Supreme Court on Wednesday, charged with defrauding victims who were trying to settle in Australia.

Quoc Dung Hoang, 28, faced court on Wednesday following his arrest in November in relation to the visa fraud scam.

Hoang used forged immigration department documents to convince one victim to hand over 300,000 Australian dollars (225,000 U.S. dollars), and another victim handed over almost 240,000 Australian dollars.

The presiding judge, Justice David Davies, said that according to the prosecution's strong arguments, Hoang had falsely portrayed himself as a lawyer and a migration agent, and falsely represented to his victims he would "assist them in relation to them obtaining residence... or assisting their children to do so."

Hoang was granted bail with his next court appearance scheduled for March. (1 Australian dollar = 0.75 U.S. dollar)
MEXICO CITY, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Mexico will help Chile fight the worst forest fires the South American country has seen, the government said Tuesday.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has instructed the foreign affairs and environmental ministries "to support the efforts to stamp out the forest fires in Chile that have ravaged nearly 228,000 hectares of forests and crops in several regions," the foreign ministry said in a press release.

A team of 58 specialized firefighters and technicians will travel to Chile and stay for two weeks.

The decision follows Chile's request for aid from the international community.

On Monday, when there were still more than 100 active fires raging, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said: "We are facing the largest forestry disaster in our history, affecting an area 20 times larger than that in 2016, but we will overcome the emergency."

Bachelet has declared a state of emergency in at least three regions.

A satellite photo taken from space, showing smoke billowing from dozens of fires scattered around Chile, including along its Pacific coast, was Tuesday's Image of the Day on the Earth Observatory website of NASA, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

"A heat wave coupled with strong winds" has fanned the flames, the site said.
SANTIAGO, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Today's climate of uncertainty gives urgency to Latin America's project of integration, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said on Tuesday.

"Faced with the current great uncertainty, making progress towards regional integration is more necessary than ever," the ECLAC's Executive Secretary Alicia Barcena told a meeting of foreign ministers from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States held in Bavaro, a city of the Dominican Republic.

Barcena also warned of the challenges regional countries face given the bleak economic forecast.

According to the ECLAC, the regional economy shrank 1.1 percent in 2016 and will see a scant 1.3-percent expansion in 2017, while the global economy remains weak.

"Inequality has worsened ... migration to developed regions has increased, the digital revolution has intensified the concentration of businesses in the U.S. and, in Asia, climate change has been revealed to be the market's biggest flaw," said Barcena.

In addition, the odds are stacked against Latin America's developing countries, noted Barcena, saying that there is "an international system with few regulations, where weak multilateral mechanisms benefit the strongest players."

Regional countries should promote new public-private sector partnerships to modernize and spur the productive sector through clean-energy ventures and other environmental initiatives, suggested the executive secretary.

Countries should also launch fiscal policies to curb tax evasion, diversify investment and drive industrialization, added Barcena.

Those issues will be debated at the upcoming Forum of Latin American and Caribbean Countries on Sustainable Development, which is to be held in Mexico in April and designed to follow up on the UN-set development goals towards 2030.
SYDNEY, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The city of Fremantle in West Australian has decided to skip the traditional celebration on Thursday, as part of the "change the date" movement.

Australia Day celebrations on January 26 mark the arrival of the first fleet of British ships at Sydney Cove in 1788.

The national holiday is an opportunity to commemorate Australia's history, its people and its future, but for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, as well as other Australians, the day highlights the cruel history of the indigenous population and the invasion of their land.

"What we are doing is coming up with something that is actually more Australian, that actually acknowledges Australia didn't start in 1788," Freemantle Mayor Brad Pettitt told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Instead, the council will host a more "culturally inclusive" event two days later called One Day in Freo, with the aim to incorporate more indigenous cultures.

The move by local council has divided many in the town and across the rest of the nation, with local businesses concerned that one of the year's biggest trading days is being lost to political correctness.

"The Australia day fireworks in Freemantle has become an event that 30 to 40 thousand people attend. It's a wonderful day and very significant for local business, especially hospitality," Freemantle Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Olwyn Williams told Xinhua.

"When the council decided to go down the path that they have, we took issue with it because they hadn't done any consultation with business and it was very last minute."

"There was no economic evaluation and the council did not understand the implication of what they are doing to business."

To compile the resentment by some in the community, a number of far-right groups are planning to protest the One Day in Freo event, calling it "an act of betrayal against Australia."

A Federal Member of Parliament, Ben Morton, has taken out a full page advert in the local newspaper, calling on people to ignore the council's initiative and celebrate Australia Day as usual.

But support among the indigenous community has been "overwhelming" according to Pettitt.

Aboriginal Elder and highly respected indigenous advocate, Robert Eggington, agrees with the mayor, telling local media, "Fireworks on Australia Day is a clarification of history, because celebrating the day the first gunshots ploughed our blood into the earth is horrific for Aboriginal people."

"We represent the unheard, silent voice."

"This decision is 50 years ahead of its time, other councils will follow their lead and I believe Brad Pettitt will become a historic figure because of the decision." Enditem
NEW DELHI, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to each other via phone Tuesday night, during which they discussed global terrorism and the security situation in South and Central Asia, apart from swapping invitations.

In a series of tweets Wednesday morning, Modi said the telephonic conversation was warm and both have decided to work closely to further strengthen bilateral ties.

"Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening. President @realDonaldTrump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties," Modi wrote. "Have also invited President Trump to visit India," he added.

During the conversation, Trump "emphasised that the U.S. considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in readout of the call.

The two leaders also discussed the security situation in South and Central Asia during their conversation and resolved that India and the U.S. will "stand shoulder to shoulder" to fight global terrorism, the White House said, adding that Trump has invited Modi to visit the U.S. later this year.
HANOI, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is expected to welcome over one million foreign arrivals in the first month of 2017, up 12.3 percent from the previous month, said Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) on Wednesday.

The figure posted a year-on-year increase of over 26 percent, said VNAT on its website.

In January, Vietnam witnessed growth in number of international tourists from most of its markets, including China (up 67.9 percent year-on-year), Laos (41.7 percent), Russia (36.5 percent), Belgium (27.6 percent), Sweden (27.3 percent), Spain (27.2 percent) and the Netherlands (24 percent) among others.

Meanwhile, it is estimated that the number of the country's total domestic travelers hit 5.7 million person-times in the first month of this year.

As such, Vietnam's total revenue from tourism reached 38.6 trillion Vietnamese dong (1.73 billion U.S. dollars) in January, up 28.5 percent year-on-year.

This year, Vietnam targeted to welcome 11.5 million person-times of foreign visitors and serve 66 million domestic travelers, pocketing 460 trillion Vietnamese dong (20.63 billion dollars) in tourism revenue, said the administration.
People choose decorative items for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Jan. 25, 2017. Cambodians of Chinese descent have prepared to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, the Year of the Rooster, which falls on Jan. 28 this year. (Xinhua/Sovannara)

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Cambodians with Chinese descent have prepared to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year - the Year of the Rooster - which falls on Jan. 28.

Though it is not a public holiday in this Southeast Asian nation, the Chinese New Year, or known as Spring Festival, is broadly welcomed here.

"I'm a Cambodian with Chinese descent, so it's important for me to pray to my ancestors on the occasion," Phnom Penh resident Sam Ang told Xinhua on Wednesday while buying Chinese New Year decoration materials at a shop.

"I believe that the celebrations of Chinese New Year will bring good luck, health and fortunes in the New Year," he said.

Chinese New Year is the second largest New Year celebration in Cambodia after the Khmer Lunar New Year, he said, adding that the Spring Festival is also an occasion for family reunion and having dinner together.

Another Phnom Penh resident Ing Ming told Xinhua on Wednesday that his family celebrated the Chinese Spring Festival every year.

"I buy plum blossom saplings for Chinese New Year decorations," he said. "We believe that the plum blossom saplings can predict our business future. If the trees produce a lot of flowers, it's thought that our business throughout the year will make good earnings."

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong said last week that the Chinese New Year had been celebrated broadly around the world.

"In Cambodia, most Cambodian people as well as overseas Chinese celebrate the Spring Festival," he said. "The Cambodian people mark New Year three times a year, namely Universal New Year, Chinese New Year, and Cambodian New Year in April."

Phnom Penh Municipality issued a directive on Monday, ordering all levels of authorities to strengthen security and public order during the Chinese New Year celebrations.

To ensure security, safety and public order, fire-crackers and fireworks would be banned on the occasion, said the directive signed by Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Pa Socheatvong.
JAKARTA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's resort island of Bali garnered awards as 2016 best and most exciting honeymoon destination from influential travel media.

"Commencing 2017, Bali obtained awards from Youku Travel and Sina Double Platform Big Data as 2016 Best Honeymoon Destination. It improves our confidence. We are very proud of earning that title," Deputy Minister for Foreign Marketing Development at Indonesia's Tourism Ministry I Gde Pitana said in a statement released on Wednesday.

Pitana was referring to the award delivered by China's travel reviewer website in Powers of Travel Ceremony event held recently in Beijing, China.

Prior to that, world's influential travel magazine Travel+Leisure awarded Bali as among world's most exciting honeymoon places, puts Bali among 2016 Best 5 Honeymoon Place in the world in various categories.

Pitana's assistant overseeing tourism marketing in Asia-Pacific region, Vincensius Jemadu, said Bali witnessed the wedding of at least 100 Chinese couples throughout last year, Jemadu said.

In Bali, honeymooners can pick any kind of activities they preferred into, from having romantic dinner by the sea after sunset, surfing, snorkeling and diving with their spouses together, playing with dolphins, spending more time in cultural serene place like in Ubud, or having very private moments in secluded villas in Jimbaran, Jemadu added.
LONDON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of British commuters will face more misery as a 24-hour strike is planned on two busy London underground lines from late Wednesday.

Transport for London (TfL) told passengers Tuesday night the strike is planned to start on the Central Line and the Waterloo & City Line from Wednesday evening and will continue on Thursday.

The transport union RMT, representing Tube drivers, said the strike is planned due to forced displacement of staff.

The union said a ballot of its members showed strong support for industrial action.

Mick Cash, the RMT general secretary, said that "RMT negotiators have made strenuous efforts to resolve this dispute but the door has been slammed in our faces."

"We have made all reasonable efforts to resolve this dispute," said Peter McNaught, operations director for London Underground's Central line.

According to the TfL, last trains on the Central and Waterloo & City lines will finish an hour earlier than usual on Wednesday night. On Thursday, there is likely to be no trains running on the Waterloo & City line and services on the Central line will be less frequent.

The Waterloo & City line is used by thousands of workers arriving at Waterloo station from southwest London, Hampshire and Surrey, with many heading for jobs in the City of London.

Other tube lines are expected to be busier as passengers seek alternative ways of making their journeys.

Last week, a major stoppage across the underground system affected millions of commuters.
SHIJIAZHUANG, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's major steel making city of Tangshan will continue to channel funding this year to help reduce excess steel and iron production, authorities said.

A total of 100 million yuan (about 15 million U.S. dollars) has been earmarked this year to support the steel and iron industries in further cutting overcapacity, according to Tangshan government in the northern province of Hebei.

The funds will be used to support those workers made redundant to find new jobs, as well as assisting firms with restructuring and upgrading.

It will be also used to reward steel and iron enterprises that meet this year's capacity-cut targets.

In early January, Tangshan committed to cutting steel capacity by 8.61 million tonnes and iron capacity by 9.33 million tonnes.

Since excess capacity has weighed on China's overall economic performance, cutting overcapacity is high on the reform agenda. The city has phased out a total of 18.67 million tonnes of iron capacity and 31.86 million tonnes of steel capacity in the past four years.
GUANGZHOU, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- It was the first time for Ding Xingwu to join the epic chunyun, the busy travel period around China's Spring Festival. Instead of being bored by the trip like most migrant workers, he felt proud.

"I have never worked away from my hometown before," said 41-year-old Ding from a remote village of Huayuan County, central China's Hunan Province when aboard a train heading to his hometown from Guangdong Province.

Ding was one of the 71 poor villagers aged above 40 in Huayuan who were hired to work in Guangdong last year in a government-backed labor scheme. Middle-aged migrant workers are often denied work in factories in developed areas as they are seen as being inefficient and in poor health compared with younger workers.

Before the father-of-three started work in a Guangdong ceramics factory in June 2016, his family could barely feed themselves.

A couple of years ago, he worked in a mine but lost the job when the local government reined in excessive mining and the mine closed.

The factory job arrived after a pilot scheme was launched to transport poor villagers in Hunan and Hubei provinces to work in Guangdong. The move, which started in April 2016, was a response to the central government's call for "precision poverty relief."

In Huayuan, more than 100 companies from the Pearl River Delta held recruitment fairs for rural job-seekers. The local government offered free training for the job-seekers in accordance with employers' demands.

The ceramics plant signed a three-year contract with Ding and pays him more than 3,000 yuan (437 U.S. dollars) a month.

"I keep hundreds of yuan a month and give all the rest to my wife," he said.

Huang Jihui, 45, also from Huayuan, was hired by the ceramics plant along with Ding. He said he was too poor to find a wife.

"Young people in my village told me that factories in coastal areas do not want workers older than 35," he said. "We are not well educated. We do not have skills. Without the government's help, what can we do?"

Long Mingjiang, a Huayuan official in charge of the labor scheme, said that middle-aged farmers who were longing to work in developed regions were not uncommon in the county, but their dreams were rarely fulfilled due to their age.

Ding and Huang were luckier than others who hurried to buy a train ticket during the Spring Festival travel rush. They received free tickets for special trains launched to bring poor migrant workers in Guangdong back to their hometowns.

"Back in the village, finally I can tell my neighbors, 'I make money now,'" Ding said.
KABUL, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Counter-Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA) have arrested 13 drug smugglers over the past week and confiscated more than 1.5 tons of illicit drug, said an official statement released on Wednesday.

Cases of all the arrested smugglers have been referred to the Central Narcotics Tribunal (CNT), a special Afghan court for jurisdiction of major drug cases, the Counter-Narcotics Criminal Justice Task Force of Afghanistan (CJTF) said in the statement.

Some 4,800 tons of opium were harvested in 2016 in Afghan provinces where government security forces had little presence, according to Afghan officials.
Chinese ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai speaks during a Lunar New Year reception at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, the United States, on Jan. 24, 2017. China and the United States are expected to continue cooperation under the new U.S. administration led by Donald Trump, the Chinese ambassador to the United States said Tuesday. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States are expected to continue cooperation under the new U.S. administration led by Donald Trump, the Chinese ambassador to the United States said Tuesday.

Although the Trump administration has yet to formulate its China policy, the general trend of China-U.S. cooperation cannot be reversed as it is "the only right choice" for both countries, said Cui Tiankai on the sidelines of a Lunar New Year reception at the Chinese Embassy.

Cui noted that such cooperation is in the interests of both China and the United States, the world's two top economies and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

He also expressed the hope that the two sides can maintain the multi-layer dialogue and exchange mechanisms, which were created in the past years.

Tangible progress has been achieved over the years in China-U.S. joint efforts to build a new model of relationship based on nonconfrontation, nonconflict, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, Cui said.

The Chinese envoy listed a range of areas where the two countries can continue and deepen cooperation, including trade, finance, security, energy, infrastructure and mutual investment, as well as some regional and global issues.

Cui expressed the hope that the two sides could open up new areas for cooperation as their interests are increasingly intertwined.

On the South China Sea issue, Cui emphasized that it is only a dispute on territorial and maritime rights between China and certain ASEAN members, rather than a geopolitical competition between China and the United States.

Citing progress being made in the talks on formulating the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and maritime cooperation, Cui said countries from outside the region should support such efforts to restore tranquility instead of creating new hurdles.

Asked about the China-U.S. trade frictions, Cui said China is firmly opposed to fighting a trade war with the U.S. side because both will suffer as a result.

"Currently, the world economy needs a strong engine to lead to stronger development and faster growth, it's inescapable responsibility for China and the United States to do this, rather than heading toward a trade war," the ambassador said.

On the decision by the Trump administration to quit the Transpacific Trade Partnership (TPP), Cui refuted the notion that China will take over the U.S. role as the global leader who makes the rules of trade in the future.

"I think this is a misleading notion, because international trade rules cannot be made by the United States or China alone, and rather, they should be made and implemented by all nations in the world," Cui said.

On the Taiwan issue, Cui reiterated that the one-China policy, adopted by previous eight U.S. governments, is the political foundation for China-U.S. relations and is "nonnegotiable."
BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- In the face of an alarming shift of trade policies of the new U.S. administration under President Donald Trump, some countries are concerned that they might have a negative impact on their economies.

Trump on Monday officially pulled his country out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. He has also said that he would renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, seeking a better deal for the United States.

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a South African opposition party, said Monday that Trump's presidency has a negative impact on South Africa's economic development.

"The victory of Donald Trump is a threat to the struggle against racism, sexism, xenophobia and the development of the world," EFF President Julius Malema said.

The rise of right-wing forces in Europe and the United States has encouraged narrow-minded nationalism and protectionism in global economic landscape, he added.

He said the new U.S. administration's call for protectionism would affect South Africa's citrus exports and thus deal a blow to economic growth and employment in the African country.

Malema also accused the United States of dumping chicken in South Africa, saying the world's largest economy has been trying to protect its own industries and will dump goods in developing countries.

"We are directly affected and we should be worried. We are trying to awaken the country to the international dynamics and how they affect us. We are victims of the chicken dumping by the United States," he said.

Trump's inauguration speech on Friday centered on ideas of "America first" and the "Buy American and Hire American" policy.

The new international development will lead to transformation and realignment across the world in particular within trade agreements, Malema said.

Meanwhile, analysts in Indonesia estimated that the Southeast Asian country's economy might encounter indirect impacts from trade policy changes of the new U.S. administration.

They believed that the country would not be directly affected by the U.S. protectionism drive. However, it may feel the pinch from the indirect impacts related to difficulties experienced by countries directly affected by Trump's policy.

Destry Damayanti, an analyst from the University of Indonesia, said Jakarta should come up with policies aimed at promoting the manufacturing sector that produces products of more added value so as to minimize the potential impact.

Indonesia Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said that Indonesia would continuously preserve its economy fundamentals to anticipate global economy impacts from "Trump effects."

"Trump's speech gives major pressures (to global community) as he prioritizes the United States interests above everything which may contradict global interests," she said on Monday.
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council Tuesday condemned "in the strongest terms" the attacks targeting peacekeepers in northern Mali, which killed one Chadian blue helmet and injured two others. UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council Tuesday condemned "in the strongest terms" the attacks targeting peacekeepers in northern Mali, which killed one Chadian blue helmet and injured two others.

A camp of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in Aguelhoc, the Kidal region, was attacked by mortar shells on Monday, leading to casualties among the peacekeepers.

In a statement, the council called on the government of Mali "to swiftly investigate these attacks and bring the perpetrators to justice," stressing that "attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law."

The 15-member UN body also expressed their concern about the security situation in Mali and urged the Malian parties to fully implement the peace agreement signed in 2015.

MINUSMA has become a frequent target of terrorist attacks in Mali and is known as the deadest active UN mission. It is mandated with tasks of supporting and monitoring the implementation of a peace deal in Mali.

Mali has struggled with instability for years and the country's peace process has been slow and fragile. Last week, a suicide bomb attack ripped a military camp shared by Malian parties cooperating on the peace deal, making the situation even worse.
SHANGHAI, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Over three years after its launch,the Shanghai pilot free trade zone (FTZ), the country's first, pledges new measures to facilitate trade and investment this year, as many of its experiences have been promoted elsewhere nationwide.

"The Shanghai FTZ will conduct more reforms to enhance trade facilitation," said Shang Yuying, head of the Shanghai municipal commerce commission, adding the first three years mainly focused on investment opening-up.

The FTZ's negative list, which restricts foreign investment, is set to be further shortened, after the number of items on it has been cut by one-third, from 190 to 122.

SETTING EXAMPLE

As a beneficiary of the reform, the first foreign-funded vocational training school opened in the Shanghai FTZ in mid-January. Such foreign investment would not be possible without the FTZ.

So far, the Shanghai FTZ has adopted 54 measures to open up sectors such as modern services and high-end manufacturing.

More than 7,300 foreign-funded enterprises have been established in the Shanghai FTZ since it launched in September 2013. The 121-sq-km FTZ in Pudong New Area covers 2 percent of Shanghai's total area and produces a quarter of the city's GDP.

The FTZ has had 40,000 new companies registered, surpassing the number in the area for two decades prior to the launch of the FTZ. The average logistics costs for companies here have fallen by 10 percent. Over 60,000 free trade accounts have been opened.

China approved a second batch of three FTZs in Tianjin Municipality, and the provinces of Guangdong and Fujian in 2014, and a third batch of seven FTZs last August.

The negative list system is also used in Tianjin, Guangdong and Fujian FTZs.

As China presses ahead with structural reforms for innovation-driven growth, such free trade zones have become attractive to investors and contributed to reforms with their policy innovation and opening up in industry, finance and other sectors.

The country aims to use the example of FTZs to promote economic restructuring nationwide.

"Some 114 items of pilot FTZ reform experiences have been replicated nationwide," said Sun Jiwen, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) last Thursday, adding that many more would be replicated later this year.

SEVEN MORE TO BE LAUNCHED

It is expected that the seven approved FTZs will be established.

Local governments are gearing up for the inaugurations of FTZs in Liaoning, Henan, Zhejiang, Hubei, Chongqing, Sichuan and Shaanxi. They have made it a key task to explore the full potential of FTZs in local economic restructuring.

"The FTZ in central China's Henan is expected to be launched in late February," said Jiao Jinmiao, head of the Henan Provincial Commerce Department Sunday.

"Personnel training is underway," he said, adding the province has formulated supporting policies for the FTZ.

The province will speed up the FTZ construction focusing on trade upgrading and innovation in finance and investment, said Jiao.

In fact, FTZs have become a major means for these provinces to participate in national development strategies such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

"The FTZ is the most important opportunity for Hubei to deepen supply-side structural reform," said Zou Wei, deputy director of the Institute of Advanced Study at Wuhan University.

"The FTZ in central China's Hubei will receive some industrial transfers and build bases for strategic emerging industries to make the province play an active role in the rise of the central region and the Yangtze River region," Zou said.

LEGAL SUPPORT FOR HIGH-LEVEL OPENING UP

China will establish unified and transparent market access rules and boost reform in the commercial registration system to improve market access, according to the 2016-2020 plan released by the State Council on Monday.

Earlier this month, the central government announced more measures to attract foreign investment, promising easier access and better environment.Foreign firms will face fewer restrictions when entering service, manufacturing and mining sectors.

China's FTZs are expected to make more reforms.

"Some overseas companies pointed out there was a gap in services and efficiency between the Shanghai FTZ and other places such as Singapore," said Tu Haiming, a municipal political advisor in Shanghai.

"The Shanghai FTZ will find out its weak links by referring to the most advanced standards, deepen institutional innovations and improve the negative-list centered investment management," said a city government work report in mid-January.

Yin Chen, an FTZ researcher at Fudan University in Shanghai, said that the sectors with integrated reform measures were a success, while the fields lacking reform integration had made slow progress.

Some call for more legal support for FTZs.

Some old trade rules no longer fitted the new trade developments as China's foreign trade used to focus on primary products, but today many were high-tech products such as integrated circuits and biomedicine, according to a municipal official.

"To keep in line with international standards, some rules related to the FTZ need adjustment," said the official.
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 50,000 Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand were sent home through the Poipet International Border Checkpoint in 2016, the Khmer Times reported on Wednesday, citing a National Police report.

The report said that last year, 49,987 Cambodians, including 16,261 women and 4,264 children, were brought back to Cambodia in 1,159 vans through the Poipet border gate because of their illegal status.

Banteay Meanchey Provincial Governor Suon Bava said there was nothing wrong with migrating to work in a foreign country as long as it was done through official channels.

"Migration for work is a normal thing. It is part of the rights and freedom ensured by the government, but what is important is the legality of the migration," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

He said officials were trying to reduce illegal migration through restrictions at all border gates in Banteay Meanchey Province as instructed by Interior Minister Sar Kheng.

Soum Chankea, a provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said that unemployment and the low market price for agricultural products inside the country encouraged more migration to Thailand.

"Because there is no market for their produce and there are no jobs for them inside the country, that's why we can see many Cambodians migrating to work in Thailand," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
NEW DELHI, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- India Wednesday issued a terror alert, warning of possible attacks by militants during Republic Day celebrations on Thursday.

The alert was based on inputs by Indian intelligence agencies that Pakistan-based terror outfits might try to sneak into this country using Afghan identities, and carry out attacks in various parts of the country, particularly the national capital, on Republic Day, sources said.

In the wake of the inputs, the elite Special Protection Group that guards Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and members of the Nehru-Gandhi family such as main opposition Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka, has asked the Delhi Police to be on its toes.

According to the sources, the protection agency has asked the Delhi Police to scan all buildings within 2.5-km range of Rajpath, the ceremonial road on which the Republic Day parade will be held.

"Snipers are likely to be posted in buildings along the route," the sources said.

Thousands of police personnel will also be deployed across Delhi to avert any untoward incident during the parade that will be witnessed by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, Modi and other top dignitaries, the sources said, adding preparations are on to avert aerial attacks too.

"We will take all security measures to ensure the Republic Day celebrations take place peacefully. Apart from our personnel, para-military personnel will also be on duty," a Delhi Police official said.

India witnessed its worst terror attacks in November 2008 when 10 Pakistani militants entered Mumbai through sea route and carried out a mayhem, killing over 170 people and injuring 300 others.
Photo taken on Jan. 25, 2017 shows the scene of a suicide attack in Mogadishu, Somalia. Many people are feared dead as a massive car explosion hit a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu early Wednesday, witnesses and police said. (Xinhua/Faisal Isse)

MOGADISHU, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed and several others injured in a twin suicide bomb attack on a hotel in the Somali capital early Wednesday, police said.

A police officer identified himself as Mohamed Ali told Xinhua that gunmen stormed the Dayah Hotel, which is frequented by senior government officials, after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive-laden vehicle at the main entrance of the hotel.

"After a few minutes another car bomb exploded and caused more casualties," the officer said.

"So far, five have been killed in a nearby restaurant. The restaurant was partly destroyed," he added.

A Xinhua reporter at the scene saw five journalists working for international agencies were among those wounded in the second blast.

Sources said lawmakers and government officials were inside the hotel at the time of the attack, which came as the Horn of Africa nation gears up for the presidential election.

Somalia-based militant group Al-Shabaab, which has carried out waves of attacks in Somalia in its decade-long fight to topple the government, claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack.
MANILA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine government will ask the United States to remove from its list of terrorist organizations the leftist Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA), as well as its founding chairman Jose Maria Sison, a senior government official said Wednesday.

Philippine government chief negotiator with the leftist rebels Silvestre Bello III, also secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment, said that the delisting of the CPP-NPA from the U.S. list of international terrorist organizations would put into fruition the commitment of Sison to President Rodrigo Duterte to return to the Philippines as part of the ongoing peace negotiations.

Duterte and Sison earlier agreed to meet in any neutral Asian country once the latter is removed from the list of international terrorists.

Sison, who has been self-exiled in the Netherlands, and the CPP-NPA, have been included in the individuals and entities designated as terrorists by the U.S. State Department since 2002.

The Philippine government under late President Corazon Aquino also cancelled Sison's passport in 1987. If he leaves Europe, he could be arrested by the U.S. authorities.

Bello said Sison's arrest could affect the peace talks.

With Donald Trump as the new U.S. president, he said it could be possible that Sison be stricken from the list of personalities considered by the American government as terrorists.

He also said that there is basis for the U.S. to remove the CPP, the umbrella organization, and the NPA, its armed wing, from the terror list since its political umbrella, the National Democratic Front, and Sison are now involved in the peace negotiations with the Philippine government, with the hope to end the 48-year guerrilla war in the country.

The European Union has long ago stricken Sison from the terror list, he noted.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) shakes hands with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates (UAE) - Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a ceremonial reception at the Indian Presidential Palace in New Delhi, India, Jan. 25, 2017. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Tuesday arrived in India on his three-day visit, officials said. (Xinhua/Partha Sarkar)

NEW DELHI, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- India and the UAE Wednesday inked 13 pacts as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with visiting Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in the national capital to elevate bilateral ties.

The agreements were signed in areas like maritime transport, road transport, agriculture, energy and investments by representatives of the two countries as both world leaders witnessed the same.

Later addressing a joint media meet, Modi said: " We have shaped an ambitious roadmap of engagement to make our comprehensive strategic partnership purposeful and action oriented."

Calling UAE as one of India's most valued partners and a close friend in an important region of the world, the Prime Minister said: "We agreed to sustain the momentum of our relations in key areas, including energy and investments."

"We exchanged views on developments in West Asia and the Gulf, where both countries have a shared interest in peace and stability," Modi said.

The crown prince, who arrived in India Tuesday on a three-day visit, is the guest of honour for India's Republic Day parade Thursday.
TAIYUAN, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Police in north China's Shanxi Province arrested an individual suspected of illegally buying endangered wild animals, local police said Wednesday.

Forestry police were tipped off in early January that the suspect, identified only by his surname Wang, was illegally purchasing wild animals in Yangcheng County. He was detained on Jan. 19.

During the raid at the suspect's house, police seized 10 dead golden pheasants, one dead bubo-bubo (Eurasian eagle-owl), and 14 other dead animals including wild boars and leopard cats, which he had stored in a freezer.

Both the golden pheasant and bubo-bubo are second-class state protected species in China.

Initial investigation indicates that the suspect, a native of central China's Henan Province, opened a wild animal breeding farm in Yangcheng in 2012 and had been using it as a cover for illegal trading.

The investigation continues.
MANILA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine government confirmed on Wednesday the execution of a Filipino woman worker convicted of murder in Kuwait.

Foreign Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, said the worker, Jakatia Pawa, was executed by hanging.

Pawa, a mother of two teenagers, was sentenced to death in 2010 for allegedly killing her employer's 22-year-old daughter in 2007. Pawa denied the accusation.

"It is with sadness that we announced the execution of Pawa," Jose told a news conference, adding that it was the first time a Filipino was executed in Kuwait in recent years.

Pawa, 42, who hails from Zamboanga del Norte in the southern Philippines, has a degree in banking and finance. She started working in Kuwait in 2002.

"She was tried in court. We appealed. We can say that she was given trial. Unfortunate we were not able to prove her innocence. That's why she was convicted," Jose said, adding the Philippine government has been "unrelenting" in appealing to the victim's family to grant Pawa a tanazul or affidavit of forgiveness in exchange for blood money "but to no avail."

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said the Philippine government had exerted all efforts to save Pawa including all legal assistance necessary to ensure that her rights are respected and all legal procedures at all times.

Jose said Pawa will be buried in Kuwait as per Islamic rules for burial.

Pawa's older brother, Angaris, told a television interview in the Philippines that her convicted sister called the family Tuesday to say her last goodbyes.

Jose said there are about 88 Filipinos who are on death row worldwide.
WELLINGTON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's government Wednesday welcomed the country's return to the top of the global anti-corruption rankings.

New Zealand was first equal, along with Denmark, in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, scoring 90 points out of 100.

"While we've always done well in these rankings, it's encouraging to see New Zealand reclaim the top spot - a placing we've held in eight of the last 10 years," Justice Minister Amy Adams said in a statement.

Recent anti-corruption initiatives progressed by the government included new bribery offenses and increased penalties for bribery and corruption through the Organized Crime and Anti-corruption Legislation Act, ratifying the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, and reviewing extradition and mutual legal assistance laws to ensure they were efficient and effective.

Compiled by Berlin-based Transparency International, the index is a yearly snapshot of the relative degree of corruption worldwide, arrived at by scoring and ranking the public sectors in 176 countries.

New Zealand held the top place on the index in 2012 and 2013, but slipped to second in 2014 and then to fourth in 2015.

A report with the index included areas where New Zealand could improve, including access to information, order and security, fundamental rights and civil justice, and regulatory enforcement.

"A larger number of public sector agencies have integrated corruption prevention activities into their regular routine, in line with the northern European countries," Transparency International New Zealand chair Suzanne Snively said in a statement.

"Most importantly, we have noticed a growing awareness that public sector leaders can inspire businesses and communities to also build on the value integrity contributes to creating a more prosperous society."
Undated photo shows a Chinese H-6K bomber patrolling islands and reefs including Huangyan Dao in the South China Sea. (Xinhua/Liu Rui) 

Hi, here's what you need to know about China.

BEIJING -- China National Tourism Administration on Tuesday asked all outbound travel agencies and websites to stop cooperating with a right-wing Japanese hotel chain.

The APA hotel chain recently began leaving a controversial book, on the 1937 Nanjing Massacre and comfort women, in its hotel rooms. xhne.ws/fDN5K

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BEIJING -- Beijing saw 285 million tourist arrivals across all transportation in 2016, up 4.6 percent year on year, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development Tuesday.

Total tourism revenue grew 9 percent to 502 billion yuan (73 billion U.S. dollars) last year. xhne.ws/VZDzr

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BEIJING -- China on Tuesday urged the U.S. side to speak and act cautiously on the South China Sea issue, reiterating that China was committed to solving the issue peacefully through negotiation with the countries directly concerned.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks at a daily briefing, when commenting on White House spokesperson Sean Spicer's comments on Monday concerning the South China Sea issue. xhne.ws/sPxkr

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BEIJING -- Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura should kneel and apologize to the Chinese people for the Nanjing Massacre in 1937, a spokesperson said Tuesday.

The comment came after Kawamura downplayed the severity of APA, a Japanese hotel chain, placing in its rooms a book denying the Nanjing Massacre and the forced recruitment of comfort women. xhne.ws/XDZ6r

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LOS ANGELES -- BYD's electric-powered buses will make the University of California, Irvine (UCI) the first college campus in U.S. to convert its traditional diesel fuel-powered buses to an all-electric transit fleet, according the UCI.

The student-funded and operated Anteater Express shuttle service is acquiring 20 buses from BYD (Build Your Dreams) for 15 million U.S. dollars. These high-quality vehicles are being built at BYD's Lancaster, California plant to roll onto campus for the 2017-18 academic year, the UCI said. xhne.ws/veKw7

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JOHANNESBURG -- The South Africa state rail company Transnet said Tuesday their engineers will go to China next month to verify locomotives they bought, before commissioning.

Transnet was responding to an inquiry from Xinhua after South African media reports indicated that locomotives bought from China's CRRC Corporation Limited were found to be faulty. xhne.ws/mZMyo
SHANGHAI, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai railway police arrested two men illegally carrying more than 50 ivory products, bought in Zimbabwe, as they were about to board a train.

A thin man, who appeared to have a disproportionally large stomach, raised the suspicions of security staff at Shanghai Railway station Tuesday night.

Inspectors found a long cloth bag, wrapped around his midriff, contained 10 ivory products and a further three strings of ivory products in his backpack.

Meanwhile, police captured the man's companion, who attempted to flee, finding more than 30 ivory products in his suitcase.

The pair, from Taihe County, eastern China's Anhui Province, flew to Shanghai from Zimbabwe where they worked for the last year, and planned to return to their hometown by train.

The thin man, surnamed Li, said he had made the cloth bag to hide the ivory products on his body, hoping to avoid police checks.

Zoologists with the local wildlife conservation association said that the products were made from African elephant ivory.
KABUL, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- A total of 36 militants loyal to the Islamic State (IS) group have been killed in the conflict-hit Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, said a statement of Afghanistan's Defense Ministry released here on Wednesday.

According to the statement, the government forces raided IS positions in Khak-e-Afghan and Shamalzai districts of the southern Zabul province during which 20 more rebels sustained injuries.

Hundreds of IS fighters along with their families, according to locals, have settled in Deh Chopan district and other parts of Zabul province over the past several months.

The hardliner IS group has yet to make comment.
LAGOS, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The management of the Nigerian Turkish International College (NTIC) in southwest Ogun State announced the rescuing of students and members of staff of the college who were kidnapped in their school premises.

In a statement made available to Xinhua late on Tuesday, Cemal Yigit, spokesperson for the college, said the victims were released after a painstaking collaborative effort by the relevant security agencies in the country.

The spokesperson said the students and teachers are doing fine and have reunited with their families.

"The management of NTIC wishes to express our gratitude to the relevant security agencies for their efforts in securing the release of the three students, one Turkish teacher, a cook and three supervisors," Yigit added.

Earlier, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Zone 2, Kayode Aderanti, gave an assurance that the kidnapped students and staff of the college would be released within 24 hours.

Aderanti said he spoke with the leader of the search team shortly before his visit and that he got a positive response from him.

He denied rumors that the families of the victims had been paying ransom, insisting that "no ransom has been paid."

On Jan. 13, unknown gunmen invaded the NTIC campus and abducted two Junior Secondary School (JSS) students, one Senior Secondary School (SSS) student, three Nigerian workers and two Turkish staff.

They were abducted at about 9:30 p.m., when the kidnappers dug through the fence and entered through a back door.
by Zhang Miao, Christopher Woodburn

GENEVA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- From exporting low-cost and effective vaccines and deploying medical teams against major outbreaks to promoting health cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, China has been increasingly involved in global health affairs, benefiting the world with its enhanced medical capacities and expertise.

Seth Berkley, CEO of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), told Xinhua in a recent interview that Chinese vaccines are "significantly cheaper" than those made by many other countries.

GAVI-procured Chinese-made Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccines are up to 95 percent less expensive than those produced in the West.

Transmitted by mosquitoes, JE represents the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia and the Western Pacific.

With an average price of 42 U.S. cents per dose, the live attenuated vaccine made by the Chengdu Institute of Biological Products, is providing life-saving protection to millions of children in low-income countries, including Laos, Nepal and Cambodia, under GAVI's program, according to Berkley.

Some 27.7 million doses of Chinese-manufactured JE vaccines have been committed by GAVI. In light of this, Berkley hailed the fact that China has moved on from being a GAVI recipient to being a key supplier and donor of vaccines.

Chinese JE vaccines became available on the global market after the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed China's vaccine regulatory body in 2011. JE vaccines subsequently became the first prequalified Chinese vaccine to ever be licensed for use on children in 2013.

"We are seeing huge potential for China to supply the global public vaccine market via WHO prequalification, including for emergency outbreaks such as yellow fever and Ebola," WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told Xinhua prior to Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Switzerland earlier this month.

During the unprecedented Ebola outbreaks which paralyzed West Africa, China sent over 1,200 medical workers to affected regions. Chinese medical experts trained more than 13,000 local medical workers to treat Ebola patients in nine countries in Africa.

"China was the first international donor to provide hands-on clinical support, working in dangerous conditions and returning with no infections," noted Chan. "China exercised strong global leadership in response to the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa."

China and the WHO signed a memorandum of understanding pledging to step up health cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road initiative last week.

Analysts said that the initiative will not only strengthen health cooperation between countries when it comes to fighting pandemics and building healthy populations, it will also offer numerous opportunities for the health industry.

"The greater connectivity offered by the initiative, its focus on joining together in consultation, sharing, and building ... will help create the right conditions to foster much better readiness for us to act against pandemic threats," Andrew Witt, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), told Xinhua on the sidelines of the Davos forum.

The head of the international pharmaceutical giant believed "there will be many opportunities for GSK and other multinationals to explore within this framework."




SINGAPORE, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Singapore, the Philippines and the United States co-organized three-day multinational exercise to strengthen cooperation in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), said Singapore's Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) in a press release on Wednesday.

The Exercise Coordinated Response (Ex COORES) 2017, conducted from Monday to Wednesday, at the Changi Command and Control Center in Singapore, according to MINDEF.

Participants were expected to respond to a mock scenario where double devastation hit Philippines when a volcanic eruption occurred at Mount Mayon, followed by a Category 5 typhoon at the city of Legazpi.

The ministry said that the challenging and realistic simulated scenario provided participating countries with valuable opportunities to test their coordination effort during a multinational military HADR effort.

The exercise was jointly organized by the Changi Regional HADR Coordination Center, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States' Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance.
LAGOS, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government said it is making arrangements to evacuate citizens who are stranded in Libya amid crisis.

Deputy Director in charge of Search and Rescue for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Bandele Onimode confirmed late on Tuesday that the government is to evacuate another set of Nigerians from Libya.

Onimode led a delegation to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora (SSAPFAD) Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

The delegation had come to shed light on the efforts of the agency in the rescue operations in Libya and other countries and what the government had been doing to secure the lives of Nigerians trapped in transit.

According to him, the government has been doing a lot to help Nigerian citizens wherever they are having challenges.

He said the government had already evacuated no fewer than 1,000 voluntary returnees from Libya between 2015 and 2016.

Onimode said 325 returnees were evacuated in May 2015 while 669 were evacuated four times in 2016.

According to him, 175, 160, 172 and 162 returnees were evacuated from Libya, in August, October, and December 2016 respectively.

Onimode told the official that most of the returnees were from Delta and Edo and aged between 16 and 22, adding that there were cases of infants being accompanied by their mothers.

He said that there were also cases of injured persons that were evacuated and returned to the country, stressing that such people were properly profiled by the Nigerian Immigration Service.
The sun sets behind the Great Pyramids of Giza during a cold weather around country, in Cairo, Egypt December 5, 2016. (Reuters photo)

CAIRO, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday that the 2011 uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak was sidetracked by narrow interests and unpatriotic purposes, yet it remains a turning point in Egypt's history.

He made the remarks in a televised speech aired on the state TV to mark the sixth anniversary of "January 25 Revolution."

"Hopes were great in its beginning, yet feelings of frustration were unprecedented when it later sidetracked," said the Egyptian president, stressing the uprising path was later corrected by the 2013 uprising that deposed former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi after one year of his rule.

As the military chief back then, Sisi led Morsi's removal in July 2013 in response to mass protests. He later declared the country's "war against terrorism" that included a massive security crackdown on Morsi's now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group as well as the affiliates of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group mainly in Sinai.

"We will continue to fight odious terrorism until we completely uproot it from the land of Egypt," the Egyptian president reiterated.

Egypt has been suffering economic recession over the past six years and the government is currently implementing a strict three-year economic reform plan, including austerity measures, energy subsidy cuts, local currency floatation that all led to price hikes.

"History will hail this generation of Egyptians who endured over the past years what is beyond human capability," Sisi said in his speech.

He reassured the citizens that the country is on the right path, urging them to maintain patience and hard work as "the conditions in big nations like Egypt do not completely change overnight."

As the anniversary coincides with the National Police Day, the Egyptian police in cooperation with the armed forces have been intensifying security presence in vital squares and outside state institutions nationwide, particularly at Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo where the anti-Mubarak protests erupted six years back.
From L: Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Sedat Onal, Russia's special envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov, UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura and Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaber Ansari pose after the announcement of a final statement following Syria peace talks in Astana on January 24, 2017. (AFP/Xinhua)

DAMASCUS, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, ended on Tuesday, with a final communique backing a one year ceasefire reached recently in Syria, and brought six-year-old foes face to face for the first time.

Turkey, Russia and Iran, the three sponsors of the two-day Syrian talks, made a joint statement at the end of the meeting, stressing their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria.

They said the three countries support talks between the Syrian government and armed opposition groups and believe that there is no military solution to the conflict.

The parties reaffirmed their commitment to reach peace and fight against the terror-designated Islamic State (IS) and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and to separate them from other armed opposition groups.

The statement also supports the Syrian opposition's willingness to participate in the next round of negotiations.

The three states highlighted that the international meeting in Astana is an effective platform for a direct dialogue between the Syrian government and opposition.

The Russian, Iranian and Turkish sides have decided "to establish a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire, prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the ceasefire," according to the statement.

In short, the conference consolidated the ceasefire that was reached on Dec. 29 and implemented on Dec. 30 in Syria. The signatories of the ceasefire were the government and rebel groups, under the auspices of their backers, Russia as the supporter of the Syrian government, and Turkey the long time backer of the rebels.

The Astana talks also stressed on the need to separate the rebel groups, mainly those who attended the conference, from the terror-labeled ones such as Nusra and IS, as both groups have been labeled as terrorist groups by the UN and were excluded from any settlement.

This was a main demand of the Syrian government and this conference has helped in cornering the Nusra and IS, both powerful and enjoy considerable sway in many Syrian areas, mainly the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS, and the northwestern province of Idlib, the main stronghold of Nusra.

Russia said Monday that maps were being drawn on the locations of IS and Nusra in Syria for targeting them.

Analysts in Damascus hailed the results of the Astana talks, but said it all relies on the credibility of Turkey and the rebels it has vouched for.

Osama Danura, a Syrian political analyst, said If the Turkish side and the rebels it's backing complied completely with the plan, "it will be an important turning point in the course of resolving the conflict in Syria."

"Now the credibility of Turkey and the rebels who attended the Astana talks is on the line, because it will be under test in the coming days," he said.

He added that the rebels should be truthful in terms of separating themselves from the terror groups.

"The success of this means that an old obstacle, about the overlapping of the rebel groups with the terror-designated ones, is over," Danura said.

He stressed that "It's all about the credibility of Turkey", noting that Ankara has the means to guarantee the commitment of the rebels.

For his part, Hmaidi Abdullah, another analyst, said there are several good aspects in the Astana talks.

He said the talks underscored basic demands such as separating the rebels from the terrorists, and the second is the approach of the three countries to fight the terror groups in Syria.

It's worth mentioning that Turkey and Russia carried out their first joint airstrikes against IS positions earlier this week in Syria, a translation to the agreement between both countries.

Meanwhile, Zahra Fares, a Syrian journalist and political analyst, said Astana talks achieved things that failed to be reached in previous talks between the government and the political opposition.

"I think there were several breakthroughs in the talks in terms of the shape of the talks as for the first time we have seen the rebels and the government sitting face to face, for the first time Turkey was the guarantor and be part of a coalition with Russia and Iran in the face of the terrorist groups," she said.

Fares also pointed out to another new thing in the history of the Syrian talks, saying "it's the first time when we didn't see a main role for the U.S. in these talks," as the U.S. wasn't among those making the conference or reaching the ceasefire as the country was busy with its presidential elections.

Regarding the tension that was sensed in the first session, Fares said "even though there was tension in the talks, but it was normal as those in the meeting are fighting on ground, and it's their first meeting."
MOGADISHU, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed after militants detonated two car bombs and opened fire at a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu early Wednesday, police said.

A suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the entrance of the Dayah Hotel, near the Federal Parliament building, followed by gunfire. A few minutes later, another car bomb went off.

The first explosion took place a few minutes past 08:00 a.m. local time, according to witnesses.

"There was a huge blast which shook the building I was in. As I came out another explosion went off," an eyewitness Yusuf Ahmed told Xinhua.

Newly-elected lawmakers were among those inside the hotel at the time of the attack, which comes as the Horn of Africa nation gears up for indirect election where MPs will choose a new president.

Five people have been confirmed dead in the blast while the lawmakers locked in the hotel were not hurt, police officer Ibrahim Nor told Xinhua.

"The militants tried to enter the hotel but they were repulsed by security forces," said Nor.

Most of the victims are reported to have died in the second explosion as emergency and rescue teams made their way into the scene.

Some buildings near the hotel were destroyed and five journalists from international news agencies were injured.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, Michael Keating, condemned the bombing, terming the attackers "violence extremists."

Al-Qaeda-allied extremist group Al-Shabaab, which has been battling the Somali government for a decade, said it carried out the attack, claiming its militants killed several government officials.

The group was driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 but still remains a potent threat and frequently stages attacks in the country.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R, front), also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, shakes hands with senior military officers stationed in Zhangjiakou City, north China's Hebei Province, Jan. 23, 2017. Xi visited the 65th Army Group stationed in northern China's Hebei Province on Monday. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

ZHANGJIAKOU, Hebei, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has called for building a strong military by further enhancing the military's political awareness, pushing forward reform, and governing it according to law.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, underscored the importance of improving combat readiness through troop training.

The president made the comments while visiting the 65th Army Group stationed in northern China's Hebei Province on Monday.
SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- An Indian military trooper was killed, while ten others were rescued alive, but injured after an avalanche hit their camp Wednesday in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.

The avalanche struck the army camp near Sonamarg area of Ganderbal district, about 80 km north of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"This morning an avalanche hit army camp near Sonamarg, following which a rescue operation was launched to trace the soldiers buried under snow," Indian army spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia told Xinhua.

"All the soldiers have been rescued but one of them was killed."

The rescued troopers were immediately removed to the nearest medical facility for treatment.

"All of them are stable and none has suffered serious injuries," Kalia said

Officials put the number of rescued troopers around ten.

Last year, 10 Indian troopers were buried under an avalanche on Siachen Glacier near Line of Control (LoC) in the region. It took several days for the military to retrieve their bodies.

Early in the morning four members of a family were killed after their house collapsed due to heavy snowfall in Gurez area of the adjacent Bandipora district.

Plains and upper reaches of Indian-controlled Kashmir are experiencing snowfall and rain since Tuesday.

The fresh snowfall has affected air and surface traffic in the region, thereby disrupting normal life.

Authorities have issued avalanche warnings and urged people to avoid venturing near avalanche-prone areas. The Meteorological officials said rain and snow is likely to continue for next 24 hours.

Kashmir has a rugged terrain. Landslides and avalanches are often triggered from its mountains during frequent rains and heavy snowfall, the region receives.
BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's steel sector swung back into the black last year as capacity reduction pushed up steel prices, the top economic planner said on Wednesday.

The profits of 373 steel companies are expected to reach 35 billion yuan (around 5.1 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, compared with a loss of 84.7 billion yuan in 2015, according to the National Development and Reform Commission website.

Major coal companies will likely see profits more than double to 95 billion yuan last year.

China has been reducing capacity since the beginning of 2016, shutting down inefficient mines and factories, and stopping new projects.

Steel and coal, the two most troubled sectors, made great strides in cutting capacity. A large number of zombie coal mills were shut down. Two major steel companies -- Baosteel, and Wuhan Iron and Steel -- merged into a more competitive corporation.

By the end of October, a total of 45 million tonnes of steel and 250 million tonnes of coal capacity had been cut, meeting annual targets ahead of schedule.

From 2016 to 2020, steel capacity will be cut by 100 to 150 million tonnes, with coal capacity will cut by about a half billion tonnes.
Xu Jing, a lecturer at the Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi, takes a group photo with her colleagues in Nairobi, Kenya, on Jan. 12, 2017. (Xinhua)

by Christine Lagat

NAIROBI, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Rosemary Mackenzi's love for the Chinese language started after her employment as an immigration officer thanks to frequent interactions with Chinese nationals.

"My love for the Chinese language reached new heights when I started working at the airport as an immigration officer. I met very many Chinese visitors and the language barrier was an issue hence the desire to learn their language," Mackenzi told Xinhua.

She enrolled for a two-month Chinese-language course at the University of Nairobi's Confucius Institute in June 2016 and has greatly improved her proficiency in a language she once regarded difficult.

"At first I thought the Chinese language was difficult but I later developed a passion to master it, aware of its many benefits in my current work station," said Mackenzi.

She said the language course had not only improved her understanding of the rich Chinese culture but also cemented her friendship with Chinese people.

"I am now more confident while handling visitors from China unlike previously when it was hard for me to communicate with them and often I sourced for an interpreter to iron out the language barrier," Mackenzi said.

Mackenzi visited China in July 2016 as part of an exchange program for overseas students studying Mandarin.

She aspires to advance training in the Chinese language in order to hasten career mobility while broadening her world views.

A growing army of Kenyan government workers have expressed interest in Mandarin against the backdrop of blossoming China-Kenya ties.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi has been offering Chinese-language courses to state officials as well as staff from a leading five-star hotel.

Xu Jing, a lecturer at the Confucius Institute, said basic Chinese-language skills among Kenyan customs, immigration, foreign service and hospitality industry professionals has been rewarding.

The Confucius Institute also offered a Chinese-language course for diplomats in November 2016.

Victor Musembi, a Foreign Ministry official in his mid-30s, has enrolled for the four-month course.

"China is a strategic partner of our country and since joining the foreign service, I have always desired to learn more about the country through its language," said Musembi.

Musembi's visit to Beijing for international conferences has inspired him to study the Chinese language.

He is optimistic that proficiency in the Chinese language will be a boon in his future endeavor to become an outstanding diplomat.

Paul Mwandembe, a colleague of Musembi's, is passionate about mastering the basic aspects of spoken and written Chinese language.

"My interest in Chinese language has been rekindled since enrolling for this course. The best part for me in this Chinese language course is drawing characters," said Mwandembe.
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Laos vowed to build their borderline as the border of peace, friendship, stability, cooperation and development, according to a joint press release on Wednesday.

The press release was issued after a Cambodian-Lao Joint Boundary Commission meeting, which was made between Var Kim Hong, Cambodian senior minister in charge of border affairs, and visiting Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith.

"The meeting was conducted in a close and frank atmosphere and based on the spirit of mutual respect for independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity," it said.

Cambodia shares about 533 km of border with Laos to the north and northeast. To date, the two neighbours have demarcated around 465 km of the borderline.
BANGKOK, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Lao Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Chansmone Chanyalat met with his Thai counterpart Prawit Wongsuwan for bilateral talk in the Thai capital Bangkok on Wednesday.

The Laotian defense minister, who is on an official visit to Bangkok, discussed with his Thai counterpart topics of common interests, including joint border security measures, illegal Lao migrants in Thailand and cross-border drug trafficking, said Thai Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Khongcheep Tantravanich.

Both are scheduled to co-chair a second meeting of the General Border Cooperation Committee on Thursday, the spokesman said.

Prawit assured that Thailand will continue to support measures to promote the well-being of both Thai and Laotian villagers along the shared border.

Lt. Gen. Chansmone expressed his condolences for the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej last October and concerns over the recent disastrous flooding in southern Thailand.
LUSAKA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Zambia's investment agency on Wednesday called for the unbundling of the country's power utility to enhance efficiency following the emergency of alternative sources of energy.

The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) was of the view that state-run Zesco Limited should split into three components through public private partnerships to reduce the burden of the firm in running the various entities which includes generation, transmission and distribution.

Patrick Chisanga, the director-general of the investment agency said the power utility may fail to digest the volumes of power being generated by new players both in hydro and solar energy.

He further said the power utility lacked technical capacity to harness solar power on its grid hence the need to unbundle it and allow the private sector take some of its roles.

"ZDA's view is that with the current power shortages, there is need to attract investments in energy. There are investors in solar but the frustration has been that Zesco lacks technical capacity to take up solar on its grid," he said when he appeared before a Parliamentary Committee on Economic Affairs, Energy and Labor.

The power utility, he said, had no financial capacity to take up all the power being generated, adding that unbundling it was the only source to improve efficiency.

He said public-private partnerships in the energy sector will go a long way in advancing development and cited Ghana as one country which has unbundled its power utility.

There have been debates in the country on the need for the government to unbundle the power utility in order to improve efficiency.

But the government said it will not sell its strategic parastatal firms such as the power utility but will undertake a review of all the firms in order to come up with viable plans on how they should be operating.
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Afghan forces during operations against militants in the southern Helmand province have killed 12 Taliban fighters and injured 19 others over the past 24 hours, said a statement of provincial government released here on Wednesday.

The security forces, according to the statement, conducted operations in parts of Nahr-e-Saraj, Sangin and Arghandab districts since Tuesday during which the Taliban besides suffering the casualties also lost territories to the security forces.

Without mentioning possible casualties on security forces, the statement added that the operations against militants would continue.

Taliban militants who have been fighting the government forces in the poppy growing Helmand province over the past several years, are yet to make comment on the situation.
AMMAN, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Wednesday condemned a terrorist attack that targeted a hotel in Mogadishu killing at least five people, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said the criminal gangs behind the attack seek to destabilize the country and terrorize its people by increasing chaos, destruction and murder.

The minister reiterated Jordan's constant support for fighting against terrorism and radical groups, voicing condolences to the Somali government and the families of the victims.

At least five people were killed after militants detonated two car bombs and opened fire at a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu early Wednesday, local police said.
ATHENS, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- A 15-year-old Roma boy in northern Greece has admitted sexually assaulting and killing another Roma boy, triggering an outcry against government neglect of the Roma community.

The 6-year-old victim, who was deaf, was found missing on Sunday. His dead body was discovered on Monday near his home. The teenager, who is also deaf, was detained a few hours later and according to police sources, confessed to the killing.

Coroner Nikos Kifnidis on Tuesday concluded that the victim was sexually assaulted and strangled, AMNA news agency reported.

Neither the victim nor the suspect was attending school, neighbors told police.

Local police said the 15-year-old suspect had been detained for the attempted rape of a mentally retarded 22-year-old last year.

According to sources within the Roma community, the teenager himself had been a victim of sexual abuse and maltreatment in the past.

There are about 300,000 Roma people, also known as Gypsies, living across Greece and they have been complaining about chronic neglect by the government and discrimination among society.

Despite funds allocated in recent years for Roma social inclusion, Roma in Greece still face high rates of poverty, child labor and abuse and low school attendance.
(Photo source: fmprc.gov.cn)

BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The South China Sea issue is the business of China and other directly concerned countries, which have agreed to focus on joint development and regional peace and stability, said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Tuesday in response to the new U.S. administration's intended interference.

Lu Kang clarified China's stance in an interview in Beijing with NBC News. The interview came after Whited House press secretary Sean Spicer said the United States would stand up to China on the South China Sea issue, vowing "that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country."

"That's not international territories, that's Chinese territories," Lu told NBC News.

While reiterating China's sovereignty and admitting its awareness of controversies concerning some islands that only began in the mid-1970s, Lu said countries in the region have reached agreements on how to handle disputes in a way to "serve the common interests, of both China and all the other countries in this region."

"Countries have already come back to the original agreement that maybe for the time being we could set aside those sovereign disputes, and focus on some joint developments, and working together to maintain the peace and stability in this region," he said.

While stressing that any dispute is between China and those directly concerned countries, Lu also expressed China's hope for the United States or any other country from outside to respect the common wish and the common interests in this region.

In answering NBC's questions concerning China's reaction to possible policy options on China-U.S. relations by the administration of President Donald Trump, Lu said China will prejudge nothing.

On economic and trade relations, he expressed China's hope for better ties, while reaffirming China's intention not to have a trade war that Trump had threatened during his election campaign.

"That's in no one's interests, that will only do harm to both sides," he said.

However, avoiding a trade war needs efforts from both sides, he noted.

Lu said facts and figures have already shown that China-U.S. economic and trade ties have served the interests of both sides.

Bilateral trade ties have helped create 2.6 million jobs in the United States in a year alone, and reduced commodity prices for average American households, which each saved about 850 U.S. dollars in 2015.

Asked to comment on Trump's withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, Lu said China welcomes any effort toward regional economic integration, and that it thinks the TPP "does not fit the real conditions in this region."

Regarding the Taiwan issue, Lu reiterated China's stand on the one-China policy.

"This one-China policy has been at the cornerstone, or has been the fundamental basis for" the existing China-U.S. relationship and cooperation, he said.

"This issue touches upon China's core interests, by no means this is something that can be negotiated, or as a bargaining chip," Lu stressed.

On the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, Lu said it was an issue originated from the disputes between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States. "The United States has more influence," he said.

As a neighbor of the DPRK, China cares much about the situation on the Korean Peninsula. "China has made our own efforts," he said, referring to the six-party talks that had led to agreements and for a time Pyongyang's commitment to abandoning its nuclear weapons program.

"Our very purpose is to find a visible way to get this issue resolved, rather than any other political agenda," Lu said.

China still believes in peaceful negotiations, he said.
TEHRAN, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian oil exploration and production company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an Austrian oil and gas company for cooperation in upstream oil projects in Iran, semi-official Fars news agency reported on Wednesday.

The Austrian OMV, the international, integrated oil and gas company based in Vienna, and Dana Energy company, a leading Iranian company active in oil and gas upstream field development activities, signed the MoU and agreed to evaluate possible upcoming development and re-development projects in the Iranian oil and gas industry.

The document was signed in Vienna by Mostafa Khoee, Dana Energy board member, and Johann Pleininger, OMV executive board member responsible for upstream.

Reportedly, OMV entered Iran's energy market in 2001. In 2016, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and OMV signed an agreement concerning the evaluation of various fields in Zagros area in the west of Iran, for potential future developments, and to carry out a joint study for the explorations in the southern Fars area.

One year after the nuclear-related western and international sanctions against Iran were lifted, several international companies have started negotiations to establish themselves in Iran's oil and gas projects.

Iran is in possession of one of the world's largest oil and gas reserves.
BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies in the United States are replacing their "Made in China" label with "Made by China," and are doing well out of the move, with many jobs created.

Earlier this month, railcar-maker China Railway Rolling Stock Corp (CRRC) was awarded a contract to provide 120 subway trains for Boston, following a deal in 2014 which produced 284 trains for the city. In March last year, the corporation won a 1.3 billion U.S. dollar contract to provide 846 subway trains for Chicago.

The trains will be assembled at CRRC plants in Springfield,Massachusetts and Chicago, creating hundreds of jobs.

A CRRC representative told the Caixin Magazine that the latest Boston deal is a direct result of the 2014 arrangement. Only they can produce trains that meet Boston's standards, and so the city had not re-opened bidding on the latest contract.

The rise of the CRRC in the United States has highlighted the fact that Chinese manufacturers are climbing the food chain by abandoning cheap goods and providing quality products for developed countries, building a better reputation in picky consumer markets.

The CRRC is just one Chinese manufacturer with sights set on the United States and supplying the market from workshops in North America, employing a local workforce.

Autoglass-maker Fuyao Glass has just opened a facility in Dayton, Ohio with an investment of 600 million U.S. dollars, the most a Chinese company has ever invested in the state. The plant already employs about 2,000 people and Fuyao expects this number to grow to around 2,500 by the end of 2017.

"Through my brother's eyes, I saw factory after factory close. Unemployment grew. Dayton became hollowed out," said Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. "But I have watched the rebirth of a community because of Fuyao Glass," he added.

Chinese investment in the U.S. outstripped U.S. investment in China for the first time in 2015, and hit a record 45.6 billion dollars in 2016, triple the amount of 2015, according to the Rhodium Group, a New York-based consultancy.

With production costs between the two countries narrowing fast, the consultancy estimated that by 2020, Chinese investment in the U.S. could reach 200 billion U.S. dollars. According to the U.S.-China Business Council, Chinese investment in the U.S. supports about 104,000 jobs there.

Stephen Orlins said that for years U.S. companies invested in China, made profits and built communities, becoming strong supporters of constructive U.S.-China relations.

"Today Chinese companies are investing billions of dollars in America. What they are doing here is building communities of Americans that will better understand China and work toward a constructive U.S.-China relation in the 21st century," he added.

China and U.S. should not resist this trend as common interests outweigh conflicts.

Wang Huiyao, director of Center for China & Globalization, said that amid China's industrial restructuring, more companies are looking overseas for their profits. However, as the anti-globalization movement develops, cross-border investment will face more uncertainty, he added.
LUSAKA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government on Wednesday gave Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources, a one-week ultimatum in which to submit a plan on how it hopes to clear both its internal and external debts.

The mining firm has been facing challenges and owes various suppliers and contractors huge amounts of money. Last month, its creditors demonstrated at its premises demanding payment.

Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Christopher Yaluma said it would be difficult for the government to help the mining firm if it continued giving conflicting information.

The Zambian minister was speaking when he met the mining firm's chief operating officer Mark Munroe in Chingola town on the Copperbelt Province, according to state broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation.

Earlier, the mining official said the firm was broke hence its failure to meet its debt obligations.

The firm, he said, has since engaged its parent company in India for possible external funding to clear its outstanding debt and expressed optimism that the firm will be bailed out by the parent company.

The official added that the firm is facing financial challenges, with a staggering debt of over 1 billion U.S. dollars.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visits villagers of Lianhe Village in Zhaoyang District of Zhaotong City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Jan. 23, 2017. Li made an inspection tour to southwest China's Yunnan Province from Monday to Wednesday. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

KUNMING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Premier Li Keqiang has stressed that poverty relief measures must make faster progress, calling for innovative mechanisms and more funding in this regard.

He made the remarks during an inspection tour of southwest China's Yunnan Province from Monday to Wednesday ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

When visiting a poor village in the province, the premier promised to help improve the living conditions of families with difficulties.

He also demanded that more should be done to renovate sub-standard urban houses.

During the tour, Li also visited Ludian County, which was hit by a serious earthquake in 2014, and ordered officials to help residents find employment.

Local authorities should help rural migrant workers retrieve any overdue wages, he said, adding that there should be a nationwide inspection to review the wage default situation.

Poverty relief is high on China's 2016-2020 agenda, and the government has vowed to lift everybody out of poverty by 2020. By the end of 2015, China still had 55.75 million people living in poverty.

During his visit to local markets, the premier urged more diverse supply of products and stricter food safety standards, as well as reforms to create a better market environment.

When visiting a Traditional Chinese Medicine producer, Li said the industry should start to shift to more advanced international technology so it can produce higher-quality medicine.

The premier also listened to officials briefings on local infrastructure construction plans and reminded them of the role that renewable energy should play in urban planning.

While visiting a local university, he urged more efforts to create jobs for college graduates. A record 7.95 million students will graduate this year.

The government should step up supply-side structural reforms and advance industrialization and urbanization to maintain the development momentum, Li said.
BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday again urged Singapore to strictly abide by the one-China policy, after Hong Kong authorities said they would return armored vehicles to the city-state that were detained two months ago.

"We hope Singapore can cooperate with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to handle the follow-up issues and take warning from the incident," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying at a daily press briefing.

Nine Singaporean armored vehicles, reportedly used in military drills in Taiwan, were seized by Hong Kong customs on Nov. 23, 2016 while in transit at a dock in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Commissioner of Hong Kong Customs and Excise Roy Tang said Tuesday that Hong Kong Customs had completed its investigation and would return the batch of military vehicles to Singapore.

"The military vehicles and the associated equipment will be returned to Singapore through the carrier, while the investigation might lead to criminal prosecution," Tang said.

Hua said the Taiwan issue concerns China's core interest and the one-China policy is the prerequisite and political foundation to set up and develop relations between China and other countries.

"China has always firmly opposed any official contact between Taiwan and countries that have forged diplomatic ties with China, including military contact," Hua said.

She said that China had lodged representations with Singapore over the issue and hoped the city-state could strictly abide by the one-China policy.

Tang said the vehicles were seized because of "a suspected breach of Hong Kong law."

Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday that the releasing of the vehicles and equipment was a "positive outcome."
MOGADISHU, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in Wednesday's attack by Al-Shabaab militants on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu has risen to 15 while 15 others were injured, a senior official said.

Internal Security Minister Abdirizak Omar Mohamed told journalists in Mogadishu that security officers had ended the siege at the Dayah Hotel and shot dead "all the attackers."

Two prominent Somali elders, who participated in the selection of 135 lawmakers in 2012, were among those killed in the attack. The injured have been taken to hospital.

A suicide bomber on Wednesday morning rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the entrance of the Dayah Hotel, militants then opened fire and tried to enter the hotel.

The first explosion, according to witnesses, took place a few minutes past 08:00 a.m. local time. About 15 minutes later, another vehicle went off outside the hotel.

Witnesses and medical sources said they expected the death toll to further rise since the twin blasts were massive.

"There was a huge blast which shook the building I was in. As I came out another explosion went off," an eyewitness Yusuf Ahmed told Xinhua.

Some buildings and parked cars near the hotel were destroyed. Seven journalists from international news agencies were injured in the second blast.

Some newly-elected members of parliament were inside the hotel at the time of the attack, but a police officer earlier told Xinhua they were safe.

Located near the federal parliament building, the hotel is frequented by government officials and lawmakers.

Somalia-based extremist group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, which came at a time when the country is preparing to hold an election where lawmakers will choose a new president.

Al-Shabaab has been battling the Somali government for a decade. It has been driven out of major towns by African Union forces in the past years but still carries out frequent attacks in the country.
MADRID, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Spain's Banco Santander, one of the largest in the world, reported 6.2 billion euros (6.6 billion U.S. dollars) of attributable profit in 2016, the bank reported on Wednesday.

The figure meant a 4 percent increase when compared with 2015, the bank said, highlighting the "strong growth in fee income and improvements in credit quality."

Loyal customers increased by 1.4 million to 15.2 million, while lending and customer funds rose by 2 percent and 5 percent respectively "excluding currency movements," according to the bank.

Furthermore, the number of digital customers increased by 4.3 million to 20.9 million in 2016 and clients' deposits rose by 1.2 percent to 691.1 billion euros.

Banco Santander Group Executive Chairman Ana Botin described 2016 results as excellent, saying the bank had "achieved strong results, meeting all our strategic and business objectives."

"Our investment in technology, together with the advantages of working as a Group, make Santander one of the most efficient and profitable banks in the world," she said, highlighting the improved customer experience "especially in mobile banking and digital services."

"Santander now ranks among the top three banks for customer satisfaction in eight of our nine major countries," said Botin.

The banker predicted a better-than-2016 but volatile 2017 with "opportunities for profitable growth in Europe and the Americas."
BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, said Wednesday that it will continue its investigation into the country's Bitcoin exchanges.

The PBOC operations office in Beijing said in a statement that its investigators will look into payment and settlement, money laundering, foreign currency exchange, as well as information and fund security.

The decision was made based on the results of previous investigations, said the bank, without elaborating.

The PBOC sent inspection teams to major Bitcoin exchange platforms in China earlier this month, including BTCChina, the country's biggest Bitcoin trading platform, and two other major Bitcoin exchanges, Huobi and Okcoin.

Bitcoin, without ties to the bank or government, is underpinned by blockchain technology, a digital ledger system that uses cryptography.

It allows users to spend and transfer money anonymously, making the digital currency a handy tool for money laundering and capital flight.

The PBOC told investors to be aware of the risks associated with Bitcoin trading, market fluctuation and fund security, and to explore Bitcoin investment with prudence.
ABUJA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian police on Wednesday confirmed that four were killed in suicide attacks attempted by suspected Boko Haram foot soldiers in the country's northeastern state of Borno.

The police in Borno State said three separate suicide attacks were foiled by security operatives in Maiduguri, the state capital between midnight Tuesday and early Wednesday.

All three suicide bombers were blown off by their own explosive devices, Borno State police chief, Damian Chukwu told Xinhua.

A passerby was killed and two persons were injured in one of the incidents, he added.

According to him, the first incident occurred midnight Tuesday, when a suicide bomber attempted to penetrate the city of Maiduguri through a village.

The suicide bomber was shot at a military checkpoint while trying to escape after he was sighted by the soldiers on guard. The shooting triggered the explosive wired round his body, killing only him, the senior police officer said.

The second suicide bomber died the same way while attempting to enter the Maiduguri metropolis through Kaleri village on Wednesday, Xinhua learned.

The third suicide bomber, a lady, detonated her explosive device while running from security operatives in the same area.

Chukwu said the injured have been taken to a government hospital for treatment.

Terror group Boko Haram is suspected of regrouping in Maiduguri after the military dislodged them from Sambisa Forest, their last enclave in the country, last month.

The Nigerian military is currently intensifying aerial and ground patrol in the country's northeast, extending its offensive mission around the Green Belt Region near Niger and Chad. Enditem
BAKU, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Countries bordering the Caspian Sea may finally determine its legal status at a summit this year, possibly ending two decades of negotiations over a body of water rich in hydrocarbon reserves, Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister said here Wednesday.

Khalaf Khalafov was addressing the Ad Hoc Working group session on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. He said plenty has been achieved, but a final status remains elusive.

"The full alignment of the draft convention will lay a foundation for determining the status of the sea at the heads of state level," he said.

According to the official, Azerbaijan wants to divide the seabed between the five bordering states as well as the proceeds from prior agreements reached between Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia.

The Caspian Sea's legal status remains in dispute due to differences on how the sea should be divided. All five Caspian littoral states -- Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran -- maintain naval forces on the sea. Negotiations between them have been ongoing for the past 20 years, with some progress achieved at the Fourth Caspian Summit held in Astrakhan in 2014.

Khalafov said points of contention remain concerning access to other seas, agreements on innocent passage or the right to allow a vessel to pass through the territorial waters of another state, and rules for laying cables and pipelines.

He also underlined that confidence-building measures must ensure the safety of all Caspian countries.
BUJUMBURA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Burundian Water and Electricity Company (REGIDESO) has issued an alert whereby it said the country is to face the worst energy shortage as of March if nothing is done, the REGIDESO manager said Wednesday.

"As of March this year, if nothing is done, we (people living in Burundi) may return to the use of candles. The energy production has lowered due to poor rainfalls and this has adversely affected the functioning of hydropower dams because the water level has seriously dropped in all reservoirs of hydropower dams, REGIDESO General Manager Jeroboam Nzikobanyanka said.

Nzikobanyanka issued the alert after visiting Rwegura hydropower dam in the country's northern province of Kayanza -- the east African country's main hydropower dam with a generation capacity of 18 mega watts.

"Rwegura hydropower dam that has a capacity of generating 18 mega watts is now generating only four mega watts. The dam reservoir has lost some 9.5 meters on its level," Nzikobanyanka said.

According to him, the Rwegura dam is forced to close at 10:00 p.m. every night because by that time the dam has overworked, and reopens in the morning.

Nzikobanyanka said, "We were receiving 12 mega watts from Ruzizi II regional hydropower dam, but we now get only eight mega watts as the water level also dropped there."

He also indicated that thermal power generators producing 10 mega watts are going to stop working as the partnership with the World Bank "risks to be suspended."

"Therefore the ongoing power load shedding will continue until the situation returns to normalcy," Nzikobanyanka said.

He emphasized that solutions to the power shortage are expected by 2020 with the completion of the construction of hydropower dams like Jiji-Murembwe and Mpanda.

Nzikobanyanka also indicated that the east African nation counts on the use of solar energy, like the solar energy power plant launched last week in Gitega province with the capacity of 7.5 mega watts.

He explained that since 1986, no hydropower dam was constructed in Burundi while the number of users has almost doubled.

While the total generation of hydropower dams in Burundi is about 40 mega watts, the country needs some extra 30 mega watts in order to have a total of 70 mega watts to avoid power load shedding. Enditem
BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign exchange regulator on Wednesday issued a statement on its website, dismissing media reports on tightened regulation of transnational financing.

In the brief statement, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said no regulation had been issued on transnational financing of imports.

Some reports have said that China had adopted new measures to prevent capital flight.

The SAFE reiterated in the statement that enterprises can handle authentic, legal foreign exchange revenue and payments directly in banks.

The SAFE also clarified that cross-border guarantee business with authentic trade and investment backgrounds are not affected.

Despite drops in China's foreign exchange reserves, the reserves are still abundant to fend off external risk, the central bank said this month.

Forex reserves fell for the sixth straight month to about 3.01 trillion U.S. dollars last month, down from 3.05 trillion dollars in November and 3.12 trillion dollars in October.

SAFE said last month that China's cross-border capital flow has remained stable with no surges in foreign exchange purchases.
BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the phone. The two leaders exchanged lunar new year greetings and views on China-Germany ties, China-EU relations and global affairs.

The Chinese premier said that during the past year, China-Germany relations have witness plenty of momentum and bilateral cooperation has achieved positive results. The international political and economic scenes are facing several uncertain factors, Li said, adding that China and Germany should send stable signals to the global markets and jointly safeguard the existing international system through trade and investment liberalization.

China is willing to maintain close communication with the German side so as to make the upcoming G20 Leaders' Hamburg Summit a success.

China, which is closely following developments in Europe, will as always be a staunch supporter of European integration, Li said, adding that his country hopes to see Europe remain stable and prosperous, and looks forward to working with Europe to enhance bilateral ties.

The Chinese premier added that he wishes for Germany to continue to advance the European Union's implementation of Article 15 of the Protocol on China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001 as early as possible.

According to the article, WTO members should cease the surrogate country approach in anti-dumping investigations on China after Dec. 11, which expires exactly 15 years after China's admission.

For her part, Merkel extended her wish to keep high-level exchanges with China in the new year and work bilaterally on trade, new energy and electric vehicles.

She also wished to enhance cooperation with China on international issues and deliver a positive message to the world that global issues can be settled through multilateralism.

Germany, highly appreciative of China's support for European integration, is willing to promote the EU's commitments within the Protocol on China's accession, and conclude negotiations on an investment agreement between China and the EU as early as possible, said Merkel.
VIENTIANE, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The 12th Lao Food Festival opened Wednesday in Lao capital Vientiane, attracting a large number of tourists and expatriates.

The festival draws the participation of 178 booths from domestic and foreign exhibitors, including Lao food vendors from nationwide, as well as their counterparts from members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States' embassy in Laos.

The number of booths has increased by more than 50 booths compared to previous years, according to organizers. The festival features Lao and foreign foods, drinks, herbs, handicrafts among others.

This year, ambassadors' wives from ASEAN countries such as Cambodia, the Philippines and Thailand will also attend to promote and sell their national foods.

The festival is organized every year with aim of promoting Lao women business units, food cooking shops and restaurant operators in capital Vientiane and the provinces by encouraging people to bring their products for exhibition and sale, President of the Lao Businesswomen's Association Vongsay was quoted by Lao state-run news agency as saying.

It will also provide an opportunity for chefs to meet each other to exchange lessons and experiences on cuisine, she said.

The festival is scheduled to last till Friday. Enditem
Chinese President Xi Jinping views New Year decorations at the home of villager Xu Haicheng in Desheng Village, Xiaoertai Township of Zhangbei County in north China's Hebei Province, on Jan. 24, 2017. Xi Tuesday pushed for increased efforts on poverty alleviation during an inspection tour to the city of Zhangjiakou. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

ZHANGJIAKOU, Hebei Province, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The cold winter wind rattled the window frames of Xu Haicheng's warm, cozy home. Inside sat an unlikely pair surrounded by receipts and papers.

Xu's house guest was President Xi Jinping, and Xi was helping the farmer with his household budget.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, for the past five years has made it an annual tradition to visit real Chinese before the Lunar New Year. On Monday and Tuesday, he was in Zhangbei County in the northern province of Hebei.

This is not the first year that Xi's New Year inspection tours have taken him to the front line of China's war against poverty.

He visited Gansu Province and Beijing in 2013, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2014, Shaanxi Province in 2015 and Jiangxi Province in 2016.

Last year he also visited the provinces of Qinghai and Anhui, as well as Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, which are home to a high number of people living in poverty.

Just 200 kilometers north of Beijing, Zhangbei has been classed as a deprived county since 2013, but thanks to a major poverty-alleviation program it is receiving support, including measures to promote profitable agricultural products and emerging industries such as solar power.

Xu explained to the president that his family has 30 mu (2 ha) of land, upon which he grows potatoes, beets and oats.

The president picked up the man's budget.

"I can see that three mu of land produced 2,000 jin (1,000 kilograms) of potatoes, which you sold for two yuan (0.29 U.S. dollars) a jin. On 15 mu of land, however, you grow other crops that only sell for half a yuan a jin," said Xi, before adding, "That is a big price difference."

According to county officials, Zhangbei grows 20 percent of the nation's potatoes, and locals are keen to use more of their land to grow the lucrative tuber.

"You should develop industries and expand their scale according to market demand," Xi suggested.

Next Xi busied himself with some number crunching as he compared Xu's household income and expenses.

"You received a grain grant of over 2,500 yuan, another grant of 306 yuan for reforesting land, and another for grassland protection for 1,140 yuan," Xi said. "Added to the money you make from farming, this means you earned 43,000 yuan."

"You spent 12,700 yuan on farming and another 29,000 yuan on various household expenses. This comes to 42,000 yuan, yes?" Xi asked.

Xu explained that he had to spend most of his income on his wife's medical treatment and tuition fees for his second daughter, who is studying Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the tuition costs him 18,000 yuan a year.

Xu's daughter told the president that she was also a recipient of a student bursary and was granted 1,500 yuan every semester.

Xi looked confused, "You earned 43,000 yuan but spent 42,000 yuan on farming, health care and education. How did you cover your day-to-day expenses?"

The farmers who also chatted with Xi at Xu' s house explained that families in the village had limited outgoings.

"We grow our own food and make linseed oil by ourselves," one villager said. "I spent 600 yuan at most on coal for heating," said another.

The conversations gave the president pause for thought.

He said medical insurance for serious diseases must work well in rural areas, as families can easily slip back into poverty due to the financial burden of ill health.

Moreover, he added, all rural children should be covered by the national education policy that guarantees them nine years of free, compulsory schooling, and access to additional financial assistance.

During his tour, Xi also listened to local Party cadres who briefed him on measures they had implemented under the poverty-alleviation program, such as solar power and infrastructure projects, and training schemes for farmers.

Xi reminded the officials that they must take the lead in the fight against poverty.

The key to building an all-round moderately prosperous society by 2020 will be implementation, Xi noted.

Following the commitment that China will eliminate poverty by 2020, huge strides in poverty reduction have been achieved.

Over the past four years, the country has lifted 60 million people out of poverty. Moreover, government spending on poverty hit a record high in 2016, exceeding 100 billion yuan for the first time.

The central budget allocated 66.7 billion yuan for poverty reduction this year, up 43.4 percent year on year, while provincial governments' allocations rose more than 50 percent, topping 40 billion yuan.

In late 2016, China issued a poverty alleviation plan for 2016 to 2020, promising to help over 56 million people who live in the country's poorest villages and counties.

"I care most about the poor," Xi said in his New Year speech on the last day of 2016. His words have resonated with millions of Chinese, who like Xu, will start the new year with renewed hope that their lives are on course to improve.

Related:

Xi pushes poverty alleviation

ZHANGJIAKOU, Hebei Province, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping Tuesday pushed for increased efforts on poverty alleviation.

He stressed the importance of precision in the battle against poverty, saying that poverty alleviation should focus on targeted people and industries, and use the right tools to produce results. Full Story

China makes strides to tackle poverty

BEIJING, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- China has made huge strides in poverty reduction, achieving the government's target of lifting 10 million people out of poverty this year.
BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- A total of 179 overseas institutions have received quotas amounting to 529.6 billion yuan (77.2 billion U.S. dollars) under the RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) program, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said Wednesday.

The RQFII program allows institutional investors with offshore Renminbi deposits to invest in the domestic Chinese market.

China's currency, the yuan, is convertible for trade purposes under the current account, while the capital account, which covers portfolio investment and borrowing, is largely run by the state in an effort to control capital flow.

As of Jan. 25, the quota in the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) program stood at 87.3 billion U.S. dollars, maintaining the same level as the end of last year, according to the administration.

To gradually open the capital account, the government introduced the QFII and RQFII programs in 2003 and 2011, respectively. They give foreign investors the right to move money into the account, encouraging controlled flows.

The RQFII program is currently open to 18 countries and regions, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Britain, Singapore, France, the Republic of Korea, Germany, Qatar, Canada, Australia and Luxembourg.
UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura speaks at a press conference after the Syrian talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, Jan. 24, 2017. The Syrian talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, ended on Tuesday, with a final communique backing a one year ceasefire reached recently in Syria, and brought six-year-old foes face to face for the first time. (Xinhua/Kalizhan Ospanov)

MOSCOW, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Talks in Kazakhstan regarding the Syrian crisis have been successful, with an outcome that will facilitate a political settlement in the war-torn country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday.

"The results are extremely important as they take the settlement efforts to a qualitatively new level," Lavrov told the State Duma, or the lower house of parliament, regarding the talks in the Kazakh capital Astana.

He said Russia has invited representatives from the Syrian political opposition to a meeting in Moscow Friday to brief them about the Astana talks.

The Kremlin also hailed the talks as paving the way for the resumption of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

"Of course, it is a success. Substantial support has been provided for the Geneva process," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti news agency.

The Syrian talks were held in Astana Monday and Tuesday, with Russia, Turkey and Iran as guarantors.

Staffan de Mistura, a special United Nations envoy, also participated in the meeting, while the U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan was present as an observer.

In Astana, a direct contact was established between the Syrian government and armed groups of the opposition, Lavrov told the State Duma.

The participants reached consensus that the Syrian crisis has no military solution. "I believe it essential that the armed opposition agreed to this," Lavrov said.

The armed opposition had agreed "in principle" to join the Syrian army and the Russian Airspace Force to launch strikes against the Islamic State, he added.

In addition, Russia, Iran and Turkey promised in Astana to create a trilateral committee to monitor truce violations in Syria on a daily basis.
PARIS, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- French President Francois Hollande reiterated support on Wednesday to Malian authorities in their counter-terrorism operation after another assault hit the West African country earlier this month.

At a defense meeting held at the Elysee Palace, Hollande vowed "to take the necessary measures" to help Malian officials find those who had helped the five suicide bombers attack a military camp in the northern city of Gao, which killed at least 50 on Jan. 18.

"France remained fully committed ... to the implementation of Mali peace and reconciliation accord and to the fight against the terrorist armed groups," the French head of state said in a statement released by his office.

As for security at home, Hollande discussed with the country's military chiefs and ministers the measures implemented to guarantee people's safety on public transport and improve security at airports and railway stations, the communique added.

France remains at high terror alert following its military operations in Mali, Iraq, and Syria.
ABOARD XUELONG, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- As many in China head to their hometowns over the lunar new year, Chinese Antarctic explorers are celebrating through videos and photos of their families.

Over the past three decades, many explorers were unable to witness the birth of their babies due to their remote location and difficulty in returning home.

For some team members of China's 33rd Antarctic expedition -- a 161-day trip of 31,000 nautical miles, they missed, or are about to miss, the big moment of welcoming the little members into their families.

MORE THAN WATCHING PENGUINS

Wang Ping, wife of polar researcher Hu Zhengyi, used to think that "going to Antarctica to watch penguins was a cool thing."

But when Wang saw her husband on her computer screen with a swarthy face due to intense ultraviolet radiation in Antarctica, tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I never thought, after so many days, we would see each other this way," she said.

When Hu departed for Antarctica on Nov. 2, 2016, Wang had been pregnant for a couple of months.

"He and I used to cry when I saw him off. But this time, he did not cry, maybe he didn't want me to feel unhappy," Wang recalled.

In December, when icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, was passing the Zhongshan Station, Hu received a message from home -- her wife delivered a baby, 50 days earlier than expected.

"It was all of a sudden," Wang said. "I really needed someone to help me, just accompany me. But there was only me during all the process."

Hu has uploaded a photo of the new-born as his phone's wallpaper. "Because of the premature birth, the baby is smaller than others," he said staring at the only photo of his baby in his phone.

The couple have decided to call their baby "Manman," meaning slowly. "The infant name is an expectation that Hu and I can spend the rest of our life together slowly," Wang said.

RECORDED SONG AS PRESENT

Liu Shaojia, the third officer for Xuelong, tape-recorded a song he made for his wife.

Listening to the song, Liu's wife Xi Junli touched her belly and spoke to her unborn baby, "Hi baby, are you happy listening to your dad's singing? You are moving all the time."

She had always smiled at the sound of her husband's voice, but she soon burst into tears.

The couple married in October, 2015. On the third day after their wedding, Liu rushed back to Shanghai in order to take part in the 32nd Antarctic research mission. This year, he will miss the birth of their baby due to another Antarctica mission.

When asked if she regrets the long-time absence of her husband, Xi said she has nothing to complain about. "He loves his work."

While aboard Snow Dragon, Liu said, "We had no honeymoon and I have no time to even take a trip with her. We have spent less than three months together since we got married."

Although the Chinese Spring Festival is approaching, Snow Dragon remains on the sea to carry out research.

At home in the northern Chinese city of Shijiazhuang, Liu's wife is washing clothes for her baby, who is expected in a few days.

"Baby, these are the clothes Mom prepared for you, do you like them?" Understanding that her husband won't be around for the birth of their baby, she sends a recorded video to him. "I will be strong as you told me to be," Xi said.

MY DEEPEST LOVE

Li Dong never forgot that sunny summer morning in China's eastern city of Hangzhou, when his pregnant wife Wu Bin sat on a bus with a smiling face, gazing at him as he was riding a bike after the bus.

"It was one of the moments I treasure most as we leave each other every morning for work," Li said after finishing a day at a chemical lab on Xuelong.

Wu had already been eight months pregnant when Li left to board Xuelong in November, heading to Antarctica on an expedition.

"We have decided to nickname our baby 'little sun'," Li said with pride. "We wish that my baby will always be happy and optimistic."

A few says before the baby was born, Li sent his wife a video wishing her the best on the delivery.

On Jan. 9, when their baby was born, Li prepared a unique gift for his little girl -- a cup that had been suppressed under deep sea water.

"I've never said anything romantic to my wife," said Li. "I just want to send a message to her and my baby through this New Year gift: they are the deepest loves of my life."
TEHRAN, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- One year after the nuclear-related sanctions against Iran were lifted, several European companies have started negotiations to establish businesses in Iran's diversified market.

According to a report by local Fars news agency on Wednesday, an Iranian oil exploration and production company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an Austrian oil and gas company for cooperation in upstream oil projects in Iran.

The Austrian OMV, an integrated oil and gas company based in Vienna, and Dana Energy company, a leading Iranian company active in oil and gas upstream field development activities, signed the MoU and agreed to evaluate possible upcoming development and re-development projects in the Iranian oil and gas industry.

The document was signed in Vienna by Mostafa Khoee, Dana Energy board member, and Johann Pleininger, OMV executive board member responsible for upstream.

Reportedly, OMV entered Iran's energy market in 2001. In 2016, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and OMV signed an agreement concerning the evaluation of various fields in Zagros area in the west of Iran, for potential future development, and to carry out a joint study for the explorations in the southern Fars area.

Also, Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday that German major oil and petrochemical companies have offered to invest in the Iranian oil and petrochemical sectors.

A total of 12 billion U.S. dollars in finance have been offered by the German companies, including the chemicals manufacturing corporation BASF.

BASF, whose managing director paid an official visit to Iran last year as a member of a delegation accompanying German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, has offered to invest 6 billion dollars in a petrochemical project in the south of Iran.

Wintershall Holding GmbH, Germany's largest crude oil and natural gas producer, is another company that has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to make studies on four oil fields in the west of Iran.

Besides, Aa French delegation, comprised of representatives from six French companies, will arrive in Tehran on Saturday for talks on trading opportunities, Tehran Times daily reported Tuesday.

The French traders are scheduled to meet with their Iranian counterparts at Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture on Jan. 28.

French enterprises in fields including energy, transportation, mining machinery, forestry, baking industry, home appliances, and healthcare products are seeking to explore avenues for further cooperation with Iranians, the report said.

Iran is planning to establish three trade offices in Europe and launch them before October 2017, said Abolfazl Koudeie, director general for trade with Europe and the U.S. from Iran's Trade Promotion Organization.

"We also plan to set up three other trade offices in Ukraine, Armenia and Tajikistan," Koudeie was quoted by the report as saying.

Moreover, the downturn on the Norwegian continental shelf has sent Norway's risk-taking oil companies to Iran to engage in business with the Islamic republic.

"During the past year, we have had around 40 assignments from Norwegian companies wishing to do business in Iran," said Erik Arvnes, director of the investigation department of the KPMG company which helps Norwegian companies conduct surveys of potential Iranian business partners.

"The companies we have worked with come mainly from the oil and gas industry, but there are also those that deal with shipping, seafood, and renewable energy," Arvnes was quoted as saying by the daily Aftenposten on Monday.

"Companies must be more creative and look at new markets where opportunities for growth are bigger. They are forced to think differently, both regarding which markets to enter, and which companies to partner with," Arvnes said.

Oil supply company IKM also saw great opportunities in Iran. Chief executive officer of IKM, Stale Kyllingstad, confirmed to Aftenposten that the company has had a team of 14 people working in Iran since last spring.

"They perform services in sub-sea technology field. This is a first long-term mission, which will generate between 6 and 12 million dollars annually in the coming future," Kyllingstad said.

Iran owns one of the world's largest oil and gas reserves.
ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Foreign Ministers of the African Union (AU) member states met Wednesday at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa for the 30th ordinary session of the AU Executive Council held under the framework of the 28th AU summit.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the AU Commission, reiterated in her opening remarks the need to effectively work on Africa's integration and development agendas.

Dlamini-Zuma expressed the need to work on the free movement of people, saying that "it will unlock opportunities for intra-African trade, studies, business and tourism."

The chairperson also expressed concerns on the tumultuous political changes and instability that the global community is experiencing, indicating that "citizens' confidence in political systems are at an all-time low."

The meeting of the Executive Council brings together the AUC Chairperson and Commissioners, foreign ministers of member states, Executive Secretary of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA), and heads of AU organs.

Abdalla Hamdok, Acting Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA), also noted that the continent needs to look inward for opportunities to boost trade, develop regional value chains and drive structural transformation.

Hamdok also vowed to work with the African Union and its member states in addressing challenges that the continent is facing.

The 28th Session of the AU heads of states, preceded by the session of the Executive Council, has been scheduled to take place from Jan. 30 to 31. The 2017 the AU Summit is held under the theme "Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investment in the Youth." Enditem
TEHRAN, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday dismissed the recent comments by a British official about Iran's human rights record as "provocative," Press TV reported.

The remarks by Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi were a reaction to the comments made by Joyce Anelay, the British minister of state of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Anelay voiced "concerns" about the British-Iranian Nazanin Zaqari, who has been convicted of inciting post-election unrest in Iran in 2009.

Zaqari, a project manager at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested at Iran's Imam Khomeini International Airport last year.

According to Press TV, Zaqari was later found guilty of endangering Iran's national security and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Anelay's remarks are "incorrect, injudicious, provocative" and are the example of interference in Iran's internal affairs, Qasemi was quoted as saying.

The Iranian spokesman warned against what he called the instrumental, political, and propagandist application of the issue of human rights to exert pressure on independent countries.
MOSCOW, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Russia will continue to reinforce its military in the south of the country to fight terrorism and defend borders, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Wednesday.

The military-political situation in Russia's south-west strategic direction remains unstable, said Shoigu, addressing a session of the Russian Defense Ministry Board.

The crisis in southeastern Ukraine and activities of international terrorist organizations and groups in the North Caucasus are among the challenges, he said, according to a statement posted on the ministry's website.

"It is necessary to continue to improve the combat strength of the Southern Military District, recruit contract servicemen, equip the troops with new weaponry and develop military infrastructure," Shoigu said.
JERUSALEM, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Interior Minister Aryeh Deri revoked Wednesday the residency status of the family of Fadi al-Qunbar, a Palestinian from East Jerusalem who perpetrated a fatal attack earlier in January.

A statement released by the Interior Ministry said that Deri canceled the residency status of 10 family members of al-Qunbar, including his nephews and mother, Minwa al-Qunbar.

Deri stated that the move was made to "deter terrorists."

The move means the family will have to leave their home in annexed East Jerusalem and will lose their social benefits.

The family was not suspected of helping al-Qunbar in carrying out the attack.

This was the first time the government enacted a new amendment to the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law. The amendment, approved in 2016, allows the interior minister to revoke residency and staying permits of people who have not committed any offense.

Hamoked, an Israeli human rights group that represents the family, said the move was "draconian" and a violation of the Geneva Convention, which prohibits forcible transfer of residents of an occupied territory.

On Jan. 8, Fadi al-Qunbar, 28-year-old, rammed his truck into a group of soldiers in Jerusalem, killing five and injuring 15 others, before he was shot dead.

The attack came amidst a spate of violence in the West Bank and Israel, which have claimed the lives of at least 249 Palestinians, 40 Israelis, two U.S. nationals, a Jordanian tourist, an Eritrean asylum seeker, and a Sudanese asylum seeker.

Israeli leaders accuse the Palestinian National Authority of "inciting" the unrest, while the Palestinians say it is the result of nearly 50 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, home to more than five million Palestinians, where they wish to establish their state.
by Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Greek party Syriza on Wednesday passed the two-year mark in office with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ruling out the prospect of a new round of austerity measures in return for further aid by international creditors.

And while government officials presented a positive assessment of the two years in power, opposition parties and critics gave negative evaluations of the government's performance.

In an interview with "Efimerida ton Syntakton" (the Editors' Journal) printed on Wednesday, Tsipras said he was proud of his government's achievements so far, pointing to positive fiscal indexes showing that the ailing economy was returning to growth and initiatives aimed to support social cohesion.

He reiterated his administration's determination to continue the struggle to pull Greece out of the debt crisis by correcting mistakes of the past and implementing reforms to ensure sustainable development and social justice.

The Greek leader stressed that Athens would not accept "even a euro's worth" of additional austerity measures beyond those included in the current bailout agreement his government signed with international lenders in the summer of 2015, the third since 2010 for Greece.

However, as his government is still at odds with lenders since autumn over the terms of the release of further aid money to Athens, skepticism prevails.

According to recent opinion surveys, an overwhelming majority of Greek citizens appear dissatisfied with the government's performance and are concerned about the future.

Meanwhile, the main conservative opposition party New Democracy (ND) retains a significant lead.

On Wednesday, Tsipras once again defended the bailout he accepted in the summer of 2015 as a necessary evil to avoid the worst -- disorderly default and Grexit.

According to pollsters, Greeks were worried Athens would be forced to agree again on more pension cuts and tax hikes if under pressure by creditors.

Seventy-five percent of households endured significant income drops during 2016, according to a survey released on Tuesday by the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants (GSEVEE).

Thirty-seven percent of Greek households today live on less than 10,000 euros (10,745 U.S. dollars) annually and almost one in two are surviving on pensions of the elderly, as 25 percent of the workforce is jobless, the survey showed.

A quarter of respondents expressed fear they would not be able to meet their tax and security contribution burdens in the future, as they already have outstanding debts to banks, the tax office, and social security funds.

"All social groups are in a worse position today than in 2014," ND chief Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday addressing a party meeting in Athens.

The conflicting views on the two years of the Syriza administration were also reflected in headlines on the front pages of the Wednesday edition of Athens' top selling newspapers.

"Two years of Syriza governance cost Greeks 93.1 billion euro in losses" read the main headline on the front page of Eleftheros Typos (Free Press).

"The death of the middle class" was the title of the editorial of Imerissia (Daily).

Avghi (Dawn) daily newspaper's front page read: "Hope remains in the Left" in reference to the main slogan of Syriza's pre-election campaign in the winter of 2015 "Hope is coming."
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) - U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis will travel to Japan and South Korea next week for his first overseas visit since taking office, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

Departing on Feb. 1, Mattis will begin his trip in South Korea, where he will meet with his South Korean counterpart Han Min Koo and other senior officials. On Feb. 3, Mattis will travel to Tokyo to meet with his Japanese counterpart Tomomi Inada.

"The trip will underscore the commitment of the United States to our enduring alliances with Japan and the Republic of Korea, and further strengthen U.S.-Japan-Republic of Korea security cooperation," the Pentagon said in a statement.

On Friday, Mattis was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the new Pentagon chief in an overwhelming vote.

At the hearing earlier this month, Mattis took a clear anti-Russia stance, describing Moscow as a "principle threat" to U.S. security, a position notably different from Trump.

The United States should also check Russia's growing influence in the Arctic region, Mattis said.

Mattis also chose to distance from Trump on other key issues, including the role of NATO, which Trump said should shrink, and on the Iranian nuclear agreement, which Trump threatened to scrap.
A soldier takes aim during a drill by Russia's Southern Military District on Sept. 21, 2016. (Xinhua/Sputnik)

MOSCOW, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Russia will continue to reinforce its military in the south of the country to fight terrorism and defend borders, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Wednesday.

The military-political situation in Russia's south-west strategic direction remains unstable, said Shoigu, addressing a session of the Russian Defense Ministry Board.

The crisis in southeastern Ukraine and activities of international terrorist organizations and groups in the North Caucasus are among the challenges, he said, according to a statement posted on the ministry's website.

"It is necessary to continue to improve the combat strength of the Southern Military District, recruit contract servicemen, equip the troops with new weaponry and develop military infrastructure," Shoigu said.
People walk through the street with the Flag of Malta, the Flag of the United Kingdom and the Flag of Europe on both sides in Valletta, Malta, on Nov. 29, 2015. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) ended in Malta on Sunday with an agreement on new measures to tackle climate change and combat radicalisation. (Xinhua/Jin Yu)

BRUSSELS, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Europe is facing rising sea levels and more extreme weather due to climate change, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said in a report on Wednesday.

Among extreme weather were more frequent and more intense heat waves, flooding, droughts and storms, according to the report.

It reviewed the latest trends and projections on climate change and its impacts across Europe.

Better and more flexible adaptation strategies, policies and measures will be crucial to lessen these impacts, the report said.

According to the report, nearly all European regions are vulnerable to climate change.

Among them, southern and south-eastern Europe is projected to be a climate change hotspot, as it is expected to face the highest number of adverse impacts.

At the same time, in western parts of Europe, coastal areas and floodplains are also seen as hotspots as they face an increased risk of flooding from rising sea levels and a possible increase in storm surges.

The main health impacts are linked to extreme weather events, changes in the distribution of climate-sensitive diseases, and changes in environmental and social conditions, it said.

Among health impacts were injuries, infections, exposure to chemical hazards and mental health consequences.

In terms of economic costs, it could be very high, since climate-related extreme events in EEA member countries account for more than 400 billion euros (429.82 billion U.S. dollars) of economic losses since 1980.

The report also said that mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into other policies is progressing but can be further enhanced.

Other further actions include improving policy coherence across different policy areas and governance levels and more flexible adaptive management approaches, it said.
File photo taken on March 10, 2008 shows details of an ancient bronze figure which was used for acupuncture teaching and research, collected by China's Tongrentang, a pharmaceutical giant with a history of more than 300 years, in Beijing, capital of China. Chinese President Xi Jinping presented a bronze acupuncture statue on Jan. 18, 2017 to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, which shows acupuncture points on the human body.(Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)

GENEVA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- From exporting low-cost and effective vaccines and deploying medical teams against major outbreaks to promoting health cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, China has been increasingly involved in global health affairs, benefiting the world with its enhanced medical capacities and expertise.

Seth Berkley, CEO of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), told Xinhua in a recent interview that Chinese vaccines are "significantly cheaper" than those made by many other countries.

GAVI-procured Chinese-made Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccines are up to 95 percent less expensive than those produced in the West.

Transmitted by mosquitoes, JE represents the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia and the Western Pacific.

With an average price of 42 U.S. cents per dose, the live attenuated vaccine made by the Chengdu Institute of Biological Products, is providing life-saving protection to millions of children in low-income countries, including Laos, Nepal and Cambodia, under GAVI's program, according to Berkley.

Some 27.7 million doses of Chinese-manufactured JE vaccines have been committed by GAVI. In light of this, Berkley hailed the fact that China has moved on from being a GAVI recipient to being a key supplier and donor of vaccines.

Chinese JE vaccines became available on the global market after the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed China's vaccine regulatory body in 2011. JE vaccines subsequently became the first prequalified Chinese vaccine to ever be licensed for use on children in 2013.

"We are seeing huge potential for China to supply the global public vaccine market via WHO prequalification, including for emergency outbreaks such as yellow fever and Ebola," WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told Xinhua prior to Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Switzerland earlier this month.

During the unprecedented Ebola outbreaks which paralyzed West Africa, China sent over 1,200 medical workers to affected regions. Chinese medical experts trained more than 13,000 local medical workers to treat Ebola patients in nine countries in Africa.

"China was the first international donor to provide hands-on clinical support, working in dangerous conditions and returning with no infections," noted Chan. "China exercised strong global leadership in response to the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa."

China and the WHO signed a memorandum of understanding pledging to step up health cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road initiative last week.

Analysts said that the initiative will not only strengthen health cooperation between countries when it comes to fighting pandemics and building healthy populations, it will also offer numerous opportunities for the health industry.

"The greater connectivity offered by the initiative, its focus on joining together in consultation, sharing, and building ... will help create the right conditions to foster much better readiness for us to act against pandemic threats," Andrew Witt, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), told Xinhua on the sidelines of the Davos forum.

The head of the international pharmaceutical giant believed "there will be many opportunities for GSK and other multinationals to explore within this framework."
TEHRAN, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday hailed Kuwait as a "good and important" neighbor of Iran, Tasnim news agency reported.

Zarif also praised the role of Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in helping boost relations among regional states and called for closer cooperation between the two Persian Gulf countries.

"The Kuwaiti Emir's role in strengthening good neighborliness among regional countries is highly commendable," he was quoted as saying.

Zarif made the remarks in a meeting with his visiting Kuwaiti counterpart, Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah, in Tehran on Wednesday.

For his part, Al-Sabah referred to Iran's regional and international "importance," saying that both neighbors enjoy historical, cultural and religious commonalities.

Al-Sabah arrived in Iran's capital Tehran on Wednesday to discuss relations as well as the latest regional and international developments with Iranian officials.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Qasemi, said Wednesday the one-day visit by the Kuwaiti foreign minister is part of regular diplomatic meetings between the two neighbors, which have been in close contact for a long time.

As the two neighbors with a lot in common, Iran and Kuwait have always had interaction and consultations in the past, he said, adding that Al-Sabah carries a message from Emir of Kuwait for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Earlier, Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah said the Kuwaiti foreign minister's visit to Tehran is aimed at discussing ties and regional developments with Tehran.

Also, Al-Sabah visits Tehran to prepare the ground for a meeting between Iran and the Persian Gulf Arab states.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Lima, Peru, Nov. 19, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

MOSCOW, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Russia-China relations are a model for major countries to follow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday.

"The course of consolidating Russia-China relations, which we consider a model for responsible major countries in the 21st century, remains unchanged," Lavrov said while speaking to the State Duma, or Russia's lower house of parliament.

He noted that foreign policy cooperation between Moscow and Beijing has served as a "key factor in maintaining global stability."

"Our relationship with China is indeed experiencing an unusually intense, confidential, friendly and efficient rise," Lavrov said, adding that the two nations' friendship has not been directed against any other state.

The top Russian diplomat said that bilateral ties do not depend on Moscow or Beijing's relations with other countries, such as the United States.

"We would like to see Russia, the United States and China develop relations together," he said.
KIGALI, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda ranked along with Mauritius as the third least corrupt country in Sub-Sahara Africa, according to the Corruption Perception Index released Wednesday.

The annual report issued by Transparency International, ranked Rwanda 50th least corrupt country globally, with a score of 54.

Last year, the index ranked Rwanda as the fourth least corrupt country in Africa and 44th globally.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Rwanda and Mauritius are in same position after Botswana and Cape Verde.

In the East African Community region, Burundi still lags after scoring 20 and ranking 159 globally, while Uganda followed with 25 score, ranking 151 worldwide.

Kenya with 26 score, ranked 146 globally while Tanzania scored 32 and ranked 116.

Marie-Immaculee Ingabire, chairperson of Transparency International Rwanda said although Rwanda maintained good performance at both regional and continental level, citizens are still reluctant to report incidents of corruption as shown by the 2016 Rwanda Bribery Index launched last December.

Executive Director of Transparency International Rwanda Alphonse Mupiganyi also called for more work to stamp out graft.

This year's report captured new countries including the Bahamas, Barbados, Santa Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Brunei and Grenada. Enditem
The Turkish border guards opened fire randomly at a group of civilians in the town of Ghzail in the countryside of Hasakah, near the Turkish borders, killing two and injuring six others. (AFP photo)

DAMASCUS, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- At least eight civilians were either killed or wounded on Wednesday by Turkish forces in the northeastern province of Hasakah, state news agency SANA reported.

The Turkish border guards opened fire randomly at a group of civilians in the town of Ghzail in the countryside of Hasakah, near the Turkish borders, killing two and injuring six others.

The report said that a five-month-old toddler and her mother were among those wounded.

SANA said the Turkish border guards have killed several civilians over the past months in the countrysides of Hasakah and the northern province of Raqqa.

The state news agency renewed accusation against the Turkish authorities of allowing its borders to become conduit to foreign jihadists flowing into the country.
Sectarian slogans and practices were seen in the north where observers argued that the Shiite Houthi group is seeking to change the usual structures of the state and the society in order to stay in power. (Reuters photo)

SANAA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- In a small and unfurnished room on the northwestern outskirts of the capital Sanaa, Nasreen Ali, a 24-year-old newly-graduated student, has settled after the raging war forced her to leave her birthplace and travel from a city to another for two years.

She does not have money to buy food or support herself, she said, adding that it is only one of many problems the war caused and deepened.

"I am looking for a safe refuge as I am being treated as a stranger in my own country. The war has not only destroyed our properties and taken jobs, but also deepened hatred and regionalism," she said.

"Sadly, the war has changed my life completely," she said, holding tears in her eyes.

Nasreen fled from her city, Taiz, in southwestern Yemen, with her older sister and younger brother in raging battles.

Lately, her siblings left her. Her sister Somaya, a human rights activist, fled to Sudan and lately settled in Jordan.

Nasreen felt not so welcomed in Sanaa, saying that the war has changed people, making them "so aggressive toward citizens from other cities."

"I wish this chaos ends and peace prevails soon," she continued with a deep sigh.

After the Houthi-Saleh alliance seized power in late 2014, a fierce civil war broke out which triggered a Saudi-led military intervention in early 2015.

Besides huge economic and humanitarian crises, the war has already created problems that the Yemeni society has not experienced before, including regionalism and sectarianism.

In southern regions under the control of the legitimate government, northerners are being abused and treated as foreigners.

Authorities are tightening measures for their stay and entry into the south, primarily into the temporary capital of Aden.

While the authorities say all measures are aimed to boost the security situation in the lawless port city, people from north regions say abuses they are facing have nothing to do with the security situation.

"After the war, the situation has changed in Aden. I no longer feel safe. People have become unfriendly," said Samih Mohammed, a 28-year-old taxi driver from Taiz who has been working in Aden for years.

He said that southerners kept telling him "you, people from the north and Taiz, go back to your country. We don't want you here. We want separation."

In the south, people have been calling for separation from the north for a long time on the grounds that the national unity is no longer a useful thing.

Sectarian slogans and practices were seen in the north where observers argued that the Shiite Houthi group is seeking to change the usual structures of the state and the society in order to stay in power.

Fuad Alsalahi, a political sociology professor at Sanaa University, said that the conflict in Yemen is politically motivated, but some factions are mobilizing fans for the battles through sectarian and ethnic slogans.

"It is not only that these factions don't want to lose the war, but also beneficiaries within them who want the war to continue are fueling sectarianism," Alsalahi said.

As some factions are seeking to mix cards and transfer their battle to the public, as they have been influenced by regional and foreign players and still can't achieve any political or military victories, Alsalahi said.

"Fragmentation of the social fabric and sectarianism in the form of Shiite-Sunni conflict are worrisome and will represent a huge challenge for peace and stability in the future even after the war ends," he warned.
By Rene Quenallata Paredes

LA PAZ, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia will offer electrical energy to Argentina, Brazil and Chile at good prices once the hydroelectric plants of El Bala and Rositas start operation, with excess energy destined for exports, announced Vice-President Alvaro Garcia on Wednesday.

At a press conference in La Paz, Garcia said the government is seeking to export energy to its neighbors.

"We are seeking to have a greater electrical energy offering to reach a pricing and volume level that will be unbeatable for any other energy provider in Argentina, Brazil and Chile. We are in the process of generating excess energy," said the leader.

Concerning Chile, Garcia said the country needed to import gas by boat which means it could not compete with Bolivia which will have dams, leading to an offer at prices "that cannot be equalled."

He added that Argentina and Brazil, the most developed countries in the region, are also seeking to import energy from various countries.

Over the course of 2016, Bolivia moved toward regional energy integration agreements with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru with the goal of consolidating interconnections, bilateral hydroelectric projects and electrical energy exports in 2017.

On Tuesday, new Energy Minister Rafael Alarcon revealed that he would seek to complete President Evo Morales' vision of Bolivia becoming South America's energy center.

Alarcon said that, upon taking office this week, he was told that "the main challenge is to consolidate electrical earnings as a new source of revenue for the state" and to substitute the use of natural gas with hydroelectricity and other renewable sources.

In the short-term, the minister must also finalized a contract with Argentina to begin exporting electricity to that country.

These goals rely on the development and operation of a number of generation projects, such as Rositas, El Bala, Carrizal and Misicuni.

Besides, Bolivia and Brazil are working on consolidating hydroelectric projects, including a feasibility study at the Rio Madera plant and researches on other potential sites along the border.

The objective of the bilateral technical committee is to allow the generation and exportation of around 8,000 MW of electricity a year to Brazil.

Concerning Buenos Aires, Bolivia has delivered a proposal electricity export contract, with an initial proposal to export around 1,000 MW from Yaguacua in Bolivia to San Juancito in Argentina.

With Peru, during a recent summit, the two countries committed to carrying out studies toward building electrical interconnection infrastructure.

For Paraguay, three agreements were signed in 2016, covering joint studies on electrical interconnection, technical exchanges for solar power generation, and exchanges about international electricity exchanges. Enditem
BRASILIA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- President of Brazil's National Council on Criminal and Prison Policy Alamiro de Salvador Netto and six other members out of thirteen in total, resigned on Wednesday due to differences with the central government.

The collective move comes after the council disagreed with Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes following a series of bloody prison riots in January.

The Council seeks to elaborate public policy proposals for criminal and prison matters. The members who stepped down were all appointed in 2015-2016 during the government of former President Dilma Rousseff.

In a statement, they said there was a "lack of dialogue" between the Justice Ministry and the Council and that a national public security plan had been strengthened without consulting with the Council or the general public.

"The current criminal policy advocated for by the Ministry of Justice, without dialogue...will produce tensions at the root of our prison system, with the risk of radicalizing the recent tragic acts which horrified Brazilian society," read the statement.

A series of riots between different criminal gangs in northern Brazilian prisons have left over 100 dead since the beginning of January.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address after he was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States during the presidential inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., the United States, on Jan. 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

WASHINGTON, Jan.25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order to boost border security before his scheduled speech at the Department of Homeland Security.

"The first order is the border security and immigration enforcement improvements, it addresses long-overdue border security issues," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said during a press briefing. "It will be the first order in that to build a large physical barrier on the southern border."

Trump reiterated earlier Wednesday during an interview that the wall project will start as soon as possible and financed by Washington, but Mexico will "100 percent" reimburse the United States at "a later date."

The cost of the wall to block off the nearly 2000 mile (3200 km) long border has been estimated to be anything from eight billion U.S. dollars to 25 billion dollars. In some parts of the border, different versions of barriers already exist, but most of the border cross through inhospitable wilderness.

"The second order is enhancing the security of the interior of the United States," Spicer said.

"Federal agencies will be unapologetically enforce the law, no ifs, ands and buts," he said.

Spicer said the U.S. government will implement a host of measures to curb illegal immigrants entering the country.

The policy of "catch and release", under which illegal immigrants caught will be released quickly into Mexico, will be substituted with a longer deportation process, according to the new order.

Cities that take in illegal immigrants, also known as "sanctuary cities", will be banned from receiving federal grants, Spicer said.

The U.S. government will also withhold visas from countries that refuse to take back illegal immigrants.

Toughening up against illegal immigrants was a major part of Trump's campaign platform, and has attracted the support of large number of voters who fear their jobs are at risk with the influx of immigrants.

Since Trump has come into office, he has signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Republican-controlled Congress has begun the process of repealing and replacing Obamacare.

Related:

Interview: Trump's wall divisive for U.S.-LatAm ties -- scholar

LIMA, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to build a wall along his country's southern border could prove divisive for its relations with Latin America, said Eduardo Arroyo Laguna, director of Peru's College of Sociologists.
MEXICO CITY, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Migration by Mexicans to the U.S. is at its lowest point since the 1970s, according to Mexican government and international data, despite U.S. President Donald Trump's insistence on building a border wall.

On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order for the wall to be built, but Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA) estimated that migration from Mexico has been slowing down since 2008 after growing from 1990 to its peak in 2007.

CEMLA reported that Mexican migration to the U.S. is now negative, with more people returning due to lower workforce demand, repatriations, border controls and a growing anti-immigrant sentiment in states such as Arizona. All these factors have jointly reduced the desire of Mexicans to go to the U.S. with many now returning to Mexico voluntarily.

Since 2012, polls have shown that only about 11 percent of Mexicans would consider migrating to the U.S., compared to 21 percent in 2007.

"We are at a stage where we could negotiate legal movement agreements...but Trump is doing the exact opposite," Gustavo Vega, an international relations expert at the College of Mexico, told Xinhua.

Of the 35 million people making up the Mexican-American diaspora, 11.6 million were born in Mexico, according to the BBVA Bancomer Foundation, with the entire group contributing around 8 percent of GDP.

A number of sectors, such as construction, manufacturing, foodstuffs, and hospitality largely depend on Mexican migrants, especially in the states of California, Texas, Nevada, Illinois, Colorado, New York, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina.

Furthermore, using official U.S. data, the Mexican government has shown that the economies of Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston, the cities with most Mexican migrants, have been growing ahead of the national average.

Meanwhile, entrepreneurs of Mexican origin own around 575,000 companies in the U.S., generating 17 billion U.S. dollars a year.

"It is a highly productive, entrepreneurial community," said Carlos Sada, former Mexican ambassador to the U.S., in November.
TRIPOLI, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Libyan Attorney General said in a press conference here on Wednesday that arrest warrants have been issued for former ministers accused of embezzlement and corruption.

He said some of the accused former ministers are abroad, adding that the Attorney General's office in France is following up cases of oil smuggling, and the office, with the Interpol, had issued red notice for arresting one in UAE, who has been interrogated and released afterwards by the UAE authorities.

Libya has been suffering a security and economic crisis following the uprising of 2011 that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The country is struggling economically with the oil exports, the country's main source of income, which suffers drastically due to closing of oil ports by rival militias.

Libya is also suffering politically, with three rival governments battling for power. Enditem
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- UN envoy for West Africa told the Security Council Wednesday that the United Nations will support stability and nation-building in Gambia.

According to Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterress, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the UN chief's Special Representative and Head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), briefed the Security Council Wednesday morning via video-conference.

"He will continue to promote a smooth and peaceful transition of power in the country, and further advocate for national unity and reconciliation," said Dujarric, adding that UNOWAS has already deployed staff to Gambia to assist the Government in ensuring a smooth transfer from the previous administration to the new authorities.

The closed-door meeting was in follow-up to Security Council resolution 2237, adopted on January 19, on the crisis in The Gambia, which requested the Secretary-General to update the Council within 10 days.

"Mr. Chambas indicated that his office will spare no effort in supporting stability and nation-building in Gambia," said Dujarric, adding that President Adama Barrow is scheduled to return to Gambia Thursday. Chambas is expected to accompany him from Dakar.

Earlier on January 19, Barrow was sworn in as Gambian president at the Gambian embassy in Dakar, capital of Senegal.
Screen shot of U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet about Media's coverage of inauguration ceremony on Jan. 25, 2017. (Xinhua photo)

by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The White House and U.S. media are already at each other's throats as President Donald Trump kicks off his term, and experts expect the animosity to last for a while.

Trump, who shocked the world in November by defeating his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton, had a poor relationship with the U.S. press during his campaign, as he repeatedly pounded the press and certain reporters for treating him unfairly.

On Trump's first day as president earlier this week, he stated he had a "running war" with U.S. media, and that he would fight the media tooth and nail.

Experts said that if the first week is any indication of what the future holds, it looks like the animosity will continue.

"I think there will be a more adversarial relationship between Trump and the Washington media, as both administration officials as well as Trump supporters have long been skeptical of the way that the media has covered Trump specifically and conservatives in general," Dan Mahaffee, an analyst with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua.

Republican Strategist Ford O'Connell told Xinhua the war between the White House and the U.S. press looks like it will continue for the next four years.

"You have to understand that the mainstream media as a whole detest Trump and basically can't figure out why his supporters voted for him," O'Connell said.

The media doesn't understand the appeal of Trump and is going to be chipping away at him, unless Trump can strike up some successes over the next 100 days.

"If he winds up successful in the first 100 days, what I expect is for them (the U.S. media) to sort of tone it down," he said.

Christopher Galdieri, assistant professor at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, also believed that the bitter rivalry between Trump and the media is likely to continue.

One reason, he said, is due to what much media say are the false claims of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer during his first press conference on the weekend.

Spicer asserted that Friday's inauguration showed record attendance. In response, some media published photos comparing Friday's event with former President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2008, showing far more attendees at Obama's event.

"I would agree that this is not as important, in the grand scheme of policy, as international trade, health care, and other issues. But I think it has a corrosive effect that makes the press more skeptical of the administration. And it suggests that Trump's obsession with optics, hugeness, and so on will continue into his presidency," Galdieri told Xinhua.

Brookings Institution Darrell West told Xinhua that the relationship between Trump and reporters remains quite contentious. "It was difficult during the campaign and has gotten worse since then," he said.

"The president regularly lambasts reporters and calls them dishonest. There is no reason to think this relationship is going to improve. Neither side trusts the other," he said.

But Mahaffee believes that the relationship could improve in the future as both sides need to cooperate for press to get their stories and for the Trump administration to get their policies covered.

"Furthermore, many of the Trump Administration team that aren't used to the regular scrutiny of the press will become used to how the media covers the White House," he said.
by Alessandra Cardone

ROME, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- A much-awaited ruling of Italy's constitutional court on Wednesday revised parts of the electoral law, prompting fresh calls for holding general elections sooner than scheduled.

The so-called "Italicum" law under review of the constitutional judges only applies to the chamber of deputies, or lower house.

In a written ruling, the panel said the runoff in national elections provided by such law is unlawful with respect to the country's constitution. They also declared invalid a provision allowing top candidates to pick up a constituency to represent at their own choice, in case they have run in more electoral colleges.

However, the highest court agreed with a key section of the law providing a 54 percent majority of seats in the lower house to the party winning at least 40 percent of votes in the first round.

If no one reaches that threshold, the electoral mechanism would remain mainly proportional.

The law had been challenged under other points of views before tribunals across the country, which then referred to the constitutional court. Yet, all other objections were rejected.

The court was expected to issue a report with the motivation of the ruling within 30 days. Yet, it already stated on Wednesday that the law so amended would be "susceptible of immediate application."

These words gave new strength to those political forces calling for early elections, including center-left Democratic Party (PD) of former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, which is the largest force in parliament.

The former prime minister was "highly satisfied" by the ruling, and would be ready to go to polls with the amended law, without any further passage in parliament, Italian news agency Ansa reported.

Major opposition forces -- anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), and anti-immigration Northern League -- also renewed their pressure for an early vote.

The country's second largest party, the M5S, would now aim at reaching the 40 percent threshold, and win the majority of seats without making any coalition, founder and leader Beppe Grillo wrote on its Facebook account.

The current legislature ends in February 2018, but early elections might be held as soon as in spring or early summer 2017.

Center-right Forza Italia (FI) party of former premier Silvio Berlusconi was the only party openly asking on Wednesday for the law to be further discussed and amended.

Indeed, Italian President Sergio Mattarella has repeatedly appealed for the country's current electoral systems to be "harmonized" before any new election.

The "Italicum" law refers to the lower house only, because it was adopted in 2015 on the premise that the senate would be downsized in a separate constitutional reform under discussion at the time.

The constitutional reform advocated by the former Renzi government was indeed approved in 2016, foreseeing the demotion of the senate into a non-elected assembly in charge of regional affairs.

However, voters rejected the constitutional reform in a referendum held on Dec. 4, 2016, and the senate remained untouched. A prior (to the reform) proportional law would now govern its election.

The rejection of the cabinet-backed constitutional reform in Dec. 4 marked a harsh defeat for Matteo Renzi, who resigned few days after the referendum. Paolo Gentiloni, a Renzi's close ally in the PD, took the post of prime minister with more or less the same center-left majority.

Wednesday's ruling might now have a crucial impact on Gentiloni cabinet's life if the early election will be held in spring this year.
MADRID, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The driver of a school bus which crashed in the town of Fuenlabrada just south of the Spanish capital of Madrid, was arrested Wednesday for driving under the influence of drugs, the Spanish Civil Guard said.

The arrest came after the driver tested positive for consuming cocaine.

The accident happened when the bus operated by the company "Flocarbus. S.L", which was carrying 44 school children aged 11 to 13, overturned at a roundabout at around 8:15 a.m. local time on Wednesday morning.

A total of 21 children and an adult were taken to nearby hospitals suffering from minor injuries, although fortunately there were no fatalities or serious injuries.

Police subsequently carried out the standard tests for alcohol and drug use on the driver, a 34-year-old with the initials, E.G.G, who was also slightly injured. Although he tested negative for alcohol, he tested positive for having consumed cocaine.

The exact causes of the accident have yet to be confirmed, but the Madrid Regional Government have said that if it is shown the driver was not correctly supervised, they would take action against the company operating the service.
The body of Yaqub Musa Abu al-Kayan is carried to the burial site near the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran, on Jan. 24, 2017. Israeli authorities said a policeman and a civilian were killed during clashes following the arrival of police forces intent on demolishing a Bedouin village in southern Israel on Jan. 18. The incident occurred before dawn, as hundreds of police officers arrived in the village of Umm al-Hiran, a village not recognized by Israeli authorities, in order to evacuate its residents as part of a government plan to build a Jewish town in its place. A police official informed Xinhua that the civilian was shot by police forces after ramming his vehicle into a group of security personnel. Yaqub Musa Abu al-Kayan's death sparked outrage and protest in the Arab society in Israel, as eyewitness accounts denied the attempted attack against police forces. (Xinhua/Muammar Awad)
Cemex moves to take control of TCL

The share price of TCL stock closed at $5.50 in trading on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange yesterday, up fifteen cents from its opening price of $5.35.

The stock closed at $3.38 on December 1, 2016, gaining 13 cents in that days trading. Sierra Trading on Monday January 9, 2017, announced a change to its takeover bid for TCL, increasing its price to TT$5.07, which it said was a fifty percent premium and including the option for shareholders in this country and in Jamaica to be paid in US dollars by February 3.

Espinet hailed the achievement, saying the management which replaced former Chief Executive Officer Dr Rollin Bertrand, had taken a company which was on the brink of bankruptcy and managed to get all the stakeholders together to correct the situation which existed. He said the management succeeded in getting banks to agree to accept a reduced debt payment if the company settled the debt, they got the shareholders to agree to contribute to the shoring up of the depleted equity of the company and got employees to agree to give up part of the claim that was due to them following a court order.

What shareholders benefited from was that at the time that the process started it was originally trading at 95 cents when I came on the scene and by the time we got into it it was in the $2.00 range but albeit people were excited that something was taking place. He said that shareholders who had invested in the rights issue or who had held onto their shares had seen growth.

However, Dr Bertrand said what happened yesterday was merely a culmination of earlier steps such as the removal of the Board of Directors and executive management of TCL and the rights issue that diluted shareholders value and gave CEMEX management control and now they are just mopping up. He said who knows where they will get to by the end of the week. Dr Bertrand said even the acquisition of control of the company will not be the final chapter. He said the final chapter will be the buying out of the minority shareholders and delisting the company. And then the TCL Group will wither on the vine.

He said TCL had added shareholder value through expansions and acquisitions and such growth which he said will no longer take place because CEMEX is already big in the Caribbean and now that they have control of TCL which gives them control of the Eastern Caribbean. He said the company has spare capacity in the bigger countries such as the Dominican Republic and they are also into Columbia. So these plants in the Eastern Caribbean, once the plants get to a certain stage, they will just mothball them, close them down and supply from larger plants in the Northern Caribbean.

But Espinet said that made no sense because it was CEMEX which had come to the rescue of the company when it was failing and could have simply let the group collapse if it wanted. CEMEX has said that the offer is conditional on Sierra acquiring at least an amount of TCL shares that would allow CEMEX, for financial reporting purposes, to consolidate TCL. It said that if the offer, as amended by the Amended Offer, is successful, TCL will continue operating as usual and will be maintained as a publicly listed company on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange.
Gang leader nabbed for murders

According to sources, intense investigations and surveillance activities led officers to the man who was picked up Monday night during an exercise involving heavily armed policemen and soldiers in Maracas and Las Cuevas. The suspect was interrogated for several hours yesterday and up to press time, remained in police custody.

Sources said he may be placed on an Identification Parade. Apart from being a suspect in the double murder, police said the man was wanted for robbery, firearms offences, assault and drug trafficking.

Last week Thursday, George was on his way to the Maracas Police Station to sign an attendance book as a condition to him being granted bail. At the time, he was accompanied by Ali. The two were ambushed and shot dead along the road outside the police station. On officer who responded to the sound of gunshots, was wounded when a bullet grazed him in the head.
Three cops hauled before court for contempt

Justice Carol Gobin yesterday granted leave to Levon Julien, of Las Alturas, Morvant, who spent ten days in police custody before he was eventually released by police at the same time they were ordered by Justice James Aboud to bring him to court on December 24, 2016.

Gobin also granted Julien permission to add the three police officers - Inspector Harvey Jawahir of the Port of Spain Criminal Investigations Department, PC Stephen Smith of the Homicide Bureau and PC Hercules of the Central Police Station in Port of Spain - as defendants in the contempt proceedings.

Julien is represented by attorneys Darrel Allahar, Chase Pegus and Ajay Babal.

In the ex-parte application for leave yesterday, Allahar argued that the police officers disobeyed Abouds orders that Julien be brought to the court, on two occasions, to give effect to the writ of habeas corpus order which was granted on December 23, 2016.

Julien was arrested by police on December 13, 2016, on murder inquiries.

Allahar said the matter was being brought in the publics interest as it was important to obey the courts orders.

He said by disobeying and obstructing the order of Justice Aboud, the officers frustrated the process with impunity and should be held in contempt.

The lawyer also referred Gobin to Abouds overtures to attorneys to pursue inquiries into the matter after he was forced to telephone the police station to enquire why Julien was not being brought to court as ordered.

Aboud had first issued an order that Julien be brought to the court at 11 am on December 24, 2016, but had been told by Smith that the suspect was being taken on an identification parade.

He then ordered that Julien be brought at 12.45 pm, and was forced to make the telephone call to the police station at which time he was told by Hercules that the suspect had been released.

Allahar also quoted from affidavits in support of the contempt proceedings which spoke of the reluctance of Hercules to accept the courts second order at the Central Police Station. The lawyer said they were instructed by the judge to deliver his order, in person, to the police station but Hercules allegedly refused to accept it saying they had it since the day before.

Abouds telephone conversation with the officer at the station was recorded and forms part of the application for contempt.

The police knew there were orders of the court, Allahar said.

The contempt proceedings have been adjourned to March 10
Judge orders Guyanese sailors to sell Nigerian ship

The Nigerian ship MT Tumini is anchored off the Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), Claxton Bay jetty where the Guyanese sailors were stranded since 2013 because they refused to leave and return to their country, fearing that owners of the vessel in Nigeria could quietly sail the MT Tumini back to Africa and not pay them their wages.

High Court judge Devindra Rampersad made the order in a lawsuit the ships local agent, Gerald Andrews, and the five men, had filed last year against MT Tuminis financiers - Eco- Bank Nigeria Limited. The crew had decided to take legal action when they see water more than flour , to claim their wages, and petitioned the High Court to arrest the ship under Admirality laws. The grounds on which they did so, was based on the fact that the ships owners in Nigeria, Africa, refused to pay their wages and have left them stranded on the vessel.

Andrews is claiming, according to Justice Rampersads order, US$502, 425.59. The rest of the crews wages and fees amount to approximately TT$6 million.

Rampersad further ordered that the MT Tumini be valued by a Marine surveyor and that the sale be carried out by private treaty, but should attempts fail to sell within the next nine months, then the vessel would be sold by private auction.

The judge further ordered that $50,000 be deposited into the court. The judges order lists that the attorneys are to be paid the cost of the claim out of the proceeds of the claim, amounting to US$128,196.00 which is approximately TT$877,000.

Advertisements have been published in the daily newspapers about the sale but checks yesterday with persons responsible for the sale, revealed that no buyers have yet come forward to purchase the vessel.

The M T Tumini sailed to Trinidad six years in December 2008 after Petroleum Brokers Ltd of Nigeria bought the vessel from a Florida-base company which was working the vessel in the Caribbean, transporting fuel and industrial water.

The ships new management from Nigeria then recruited the five nationals of Guyana to work the vessel in 2009, but some time later, they discovered that the MT Tumini needed extensive repairs.

Eco Bank Nigeria Limited took over the mortgage on the vessel and continued to finance it for proposed operations in Trinidad.

However, in 2013 the ship was abandoned and men were left to fend for themselves in the vessel.

Up to September 2013, they men were owed approximately US$215,000. They are: Rakesh Jim (Chief Mate); Foy Fredericks (Chief Engineer); Laurence Daniel (second Engineer); Mohamed Gadwah (second officer); Neil Rampersaud (Assistant Engineer/ oiler).

In mid to late 2013, their money and provision began to run low when they stopped receiving wages, but the crew stood their ground and continued to live on the MT Tumini. They pleaded with the then government to seize the ship under International Maritime Law.

With the crew running out of funds to even purchase drinking water, the Guyanese men sent an email to the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) in London seeking held, but they were advised not to leave the vessel for fear that they would lose their wages.
Murder suspect arrested in gas station

The suspect was wanted in connection with the April 25, 2016 shooting death of Guyanese national Kumar Shivpersad in La Romaine and had been on the run since. Police found a roll up bed in his car trunk. According to reports, Shivapersad, 30, was at his Duncan Village home when he was shot and killed. His friend Sean Boodoo, also a Guyanese national, was also shot and wounded. According to a police report, at about 4.30 pm on Monday, Inspector Don Gajadhar was traveling along Southern Main Road, La Romaine when he observed the suspect driving in a heavily tinted blue Nissan Almera car.

He followed the suspect into Cross Crossing where he pulled into a gas station. The suspect joined the long line of vehicles waiting to fill their gas tanks.

With the assistance of officers of the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) and Homicide Region Three and before a crowd of curious onlookers, the suspect was taken into custody.
Grieving mother: I have a raw pain in my belly

The rest of her body also bore multiple stab wounds. Josephs estranged boyfriend, Keyon Roberts, 29, who police believe carried out the gruesome killing and later committed suicide by setting himself ablaze in an outdoor bathroom, died as a result of third degree burns to 90 percent of his body. He was burnt alive. His uncle Ronald King had responded to Roberts cries for water to put out the flames on his body as he lay dying on the ground. It is believed he doused himself with kerosene before setting himself on fire.

Both victims were found naked at the time of death. Reports are that the couple who had been in a relationship for the past five years had recently separated and were trying to reconcile the relationship when the tragedy occurred.

On Monday morning, relatives woke up to the murder/ suicide horror that left the small community of Parforce Road Extension, Gasparillo in total shock although they were aware that Joseph was a victim of domestic violence. Yesterday, members of the two grieving families were still trying to come to terms with the loss.

Roberts was involved in two ongoing relationships - one with Joseph and the other with the mother of his two young daughters.

Josephs grieving mother Roxanne told Newsday, I normally read these things on papers but when it hits home, it is a different feeling. I only feeling a raw pain on the inside. I cant eat, everything just coming back up. I cant sleep. Roberts grandmother Jocelyn King said her grandson disappointed her. I dont know why he did that. Funerals for the victims are still being planned and are expected to be done next week.
Attorneys son still missing

The report stated that Richard was last seen wearing a dark coloured jersey, a three quarter pants and a pair of Puma sneakers.

Yesterday when contacted, the distraught attorney told Newsday, We have not heard anything as yet and right now we are having a difficult time dealing with this. The Anti Kidnapping Unit and officers of the Couva Police Station are continuing investigations.
Man who loves to throw stone, remanded

On Monday when Lee Wing appeared before senior San Fernando Magistrate Nanette Forde-John charged with malicious damage of property, he pleaded guilty. PC Boodram of the Gasparillo Police Station laid the charge.

Only a few months ago, Lee Wing appeared in the said courthouse charged for the malicious damage of another business place located near Khanico Limited.

Perusing his criminal records tracing in the First Court, Magistrate Forde-John asked Lee Wing: Is glass you love to buss? He responded: Is stones I love to throw. When they throw stones at me, I throw back stones at them. Is trump and follow suit (sic). Magistrate Forde- John remanded him into custody at St Anns Psychiatric Hospital for an evaluation. Lee Wing, of no fixed place of abode, is to reappear in court on February 6.

Sgt Chanardath Jhilmit prosecuted. On Friday last, Lee Wing threw a stone and smashed the showcase glass of Khanico and walked away. PC Boodram and other officers of the Gasparillo Police visited the scene where they retrieved the stone. They also arrested Lee Wing along the street
Fiery protest for new Penal school

Since the start of the new school term, only the Standard Five students have been attending classes at the St. Dominics RC Parish Hall located across the road from the school due to the dilapidated condition of the school building.

President of the Parents Teachers Association, Vonetta Daniel, noted that at the start of the school term, officials from the Education Ministry identified two relocation sites (namely the church hall and the Penal Community Centre) to house all the students.

Due to inadequate accommodation, the students of Standard Five got first preference because of the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SE A) examinations scheduled for May 4 nationwide.

The school is falling apart.

There are cracks all over and they are getting wider and wider. There are generations of grandmothers here who attended this school. We are calling on the Ministry to relocate our kids. At the church hall, there are not enough toilets to accommodate the students and there is a water problem, Daniel said.

From as early as 5 am yesterday the protesters gathered at the gates of the school and burnt debris in the street to highlight their plight.

Chanting We want we school now, the protestors said that it is unfair that students are denied an education by being unable to attend classes. One placard read, Our education matters, while another, Our education is important.

The PTA president vowed that if the Ministry does not find alternative arrangements to facilitate the 200-plus students, protest action will continue at the Ministrys head offices in Port-of-Spain.

This is not a political thing. We need a new school. Single parents like myself have to pay for lessons and find other people to take care of the children, Daniel pleaded.

Another parent noted that successive governments failed in constructing a new school for the students.

We attended an emergency PTA meeting the day after school reopened and an official from the Ministry told us that this school was on a priority list for construction.

Somehow it dropped lower on that list, she noted.
Questions arise over use of document by senator

Government senators said they did not have the document. Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the information which Small was referring to information contained in the report of the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives.

He said when the Senate debates money bills, it does not debate that report. Small replied that he had referred to such information in the past but would be guided by Senate President Christine Kangaloos ruling on the matter. Kangaloo then suspended the sitting for ten minutes to sort the matter out. During the suspension, acting Leader of Government Business, Paula Gopee-Scoon, Leader of Opposition Business Wade Mark and Co-ordinator of the Independent bench Dr Dhanayshar Mahabir were seen actively discussing the matter amongst themselves on the fringes of the Parliament Chamber When the sitting resumed, Kangaloo said, This document...

that is named Senate document...

contains what I would say to be background information. If you actually read the front of it...it talks about the variations which then leads to the bill that is before us.

She said when Imbert introduced the bill, he dealt specifically with the items set out in the bill. Kangaloo added, Therefore I dont think that we should be referring or asking too many questions on what is listed in this Senate document...

those items that dont form part of the bill. The sitting resumed and the bill was passed.

Earlier in the debate, Imbert reiterated the purpose total revenue for 2016 was $44.9 billion, expenditure was $52.2 billion and the deficit was $7.2 billion. Gopee- Scoon said the transfer of $370 million from the Energy Ministry to the Social Development Ministry, benefitted 28,000 pensioners in TT. However Mark was sceptical.

Behind these numbers, we have a story, he stated.

Mark warned that Government was leading the country into a debt trap, the economy has crashed and we are in the negative zone.
Dillon: All come in same vessel

The minister continued, Within our murder rate,there is a strong nexus between the use of illegal guns and our murder rate. Explaining there is also a nexus between illegal guns and other crimes such as human trafficking, Dillon said that growing up in Point Fortin, we have had the movement of goods and services through the community over time. However he noted, what has happened over time is that the commodity has changed to a large extent.

Dillon, who is also Point Fortin MP, added, The commodity has changed from what used to be in those days...a little bottle of scotch here...some groceries there...to arms, drugs and the illegal movement of people. He observed that while persons in the past would get into a fist fight, now we get into a gunfight. He told the gathering, That is not only for TT , it is across the region. Dillon stressed the only way to address threats such as illegal firearms and the ever changing security landscape which faces individual countries to entire regions is through, cooperation and collaboration.

Dillon said this is not only by ourselves...but we also have to rely on some of the expertise and some of the information and intelligence sharing from our international partners. Recalling that national points of contact featured prominently in Caricoms security framework for hosting major events such as the Fifth Summit of the Americas and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2009, Dillon said, There is no point having a national point of contact if you are locked in to your own environment. None of us is stronger than all of us.

 Notwithstanding the countrys crime problem, he welcomed the delegates at the workshop which ended yesterday, to what we consider still the paradise islands of TT . Meanwhile, in a statement, Tabaquite MP Dr Suruj Rambachan asked, What kind of intelligence gathering is the police engaged in through partnering with communities along the coastal ports that are not guarded where illegal entry is attained? According to Rambachan, Residents speak in hush hush tones in areas like Moruga, Otaheite, Orange Valley, Cedros, Carli Bay and elsewhere, about nocturnal activities.
Democrats who berated use of Obamas middle name now using Sen. Jeff Sessions to imply Southern racism

If the angry Left is anything, it is as hypocritical as it is nonsensical and shrill.

When our first black president was elected in 2008, the Left and the discredited mainstream Washington media adopted several new rules for how Barack Hussein Obama was to be mentioned and discussed.

Talking about his middle name was taboo. After all, we were hip-deep in fighting the war on terror against Islamic radicalism, and, well, the name Hussein conjured up one of the central figures in that war, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Too close for comfort, so angry Left-wing Democrats insisted no one could address Dear Leader by his middle name. (RELATED: See how the mainstream media remains unhinged during Trumps presidency at Journalism.news)

In a 2008 opinion piece in the Chicago Tribune by Eric Zorn laid bare the controversy over the use of Obamas middle name, calling it over the line and so ugly:

How bad  how ugly, how far over the line of decency  is it to invoke Barack Obamas middle name in attacking him.

Its so ugly and so far over the line that not even Alan Keyes in his most overwrought, spittle-flecked moments did it during his 2004 Senate run against Obama in Illinois.

Because the angry Left deemed use of his middle name an invective and out of bounds, frightened Republicans like Obamas 2008 GOP opponent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, quickly repudiated other conservatives who used Obamas full name, acceding to the Left that it was in insult.

Other Republicans chimed right in, as CNN happily reported at the time.

The RNC rejects these kinds of campaign tactics, Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan said in a statement. We believe this election needs to be about the critical issues confronting our nation.

Never mind that, as then-state GOP communications director for Tennessee Bill Hobbs noted, many people in the Middle East were supporting Obama because they believed his middle name gives him a connection to the region.

And indeed it did. Obama has regularly sided with Islamic nations, including Iran, over Americas traditional ally in the region, Israeleven to the point of screwing the Israelis one last time, politically speaking, on his way out the door.

That was then. Now, as President-elect Donald J. Trump prepared to take office, one of his Cabinet picks is being singled out for derision and attack by the angry Leftbecause of his middle name.

Trumps attorney general pick, the imminently qualified Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., has already done well during his Senate confirmation process, as expected, even though he has been falsely attacked as a KKK supporter (he prosecuted the KKK as U.S. attorney for Alabama) and inherently racist because his middle name is Beauregard.

Born in Alabama and named after one of the Confederacys first prominent generals of the Civil War, Democrats and Left-wing pundits in the media are using Sessions middle name in a derisive, suggestive fashionjust as they accused Republicans of using Obamas middle name in a similar mannerto attach a negative connotation. (RELATED: We keep the spotlight on the lying mainstream media at MediaFactWatch.com)

A story published by The Huffington Post is emblematic:

Thirty years ago, in 1986, the Senate Judiciary Committee shot down President Ronald Reagans nomination of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III to be a federal judge over allegations he made racist comments and called civil rights groups un-American. On Friday, President-elect Donald Trump offered Sessions the position of attorney general of the United States.

Jefferson, you may recall, was the first name of the Confederacys only president, Jefferson Davis.

Writing for The Intercept, a person named Alice Speriwho likely has never met Sessions or Trump and cannot point to a single piece of evidence to back up her breathless claims, was even more hysterical in her use of Sessions full name:

If anyone had doubts that Trumps presidency would return white supremacy to power, Fridays announcement that the president-elect has tapped Alabama Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (named after a Confederate general) to head the Department of Justice should settle the question.

There is no other way to describe Jeff Sessions but as a career racist.

So there you have it: Proof that Sessions is a racist bigot, because its all in his nameexcept when Barack Hussein Obama was elected, when use of his middle name was an insult and degrading (and racist/bigoted).

Sen. Sessions is one of the most decent men in Congress today. He will make an exemplary attorney general. Angry Democratic hacks who say otherwise are just bottom-feeders who have little-to-no professional accomplishments of their own to speak of.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for Natural News and News Target, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

ChicagoTribune.com

TheIntercept.com

HuffingtonPost.com

TheNationalSentinel.com

Submit a correction >>
George Soros: the self-proclaimed God who should be in prison

George Soros, who fancies himself a god and intends to remake the world, is the Lord of Chaos and pursues a world order that is demonic, not divine.

(Article by William F. Jasper from TheNewAmerican.com)

I admit that I have always harbored an exaggerated view of self-importance  to put it bluntly, I fancied myself as some kind of god. So confessed George Soros (shown) in his 1987 book The Alchemy of Finance.

George Soros use of past-tense verbs in the admission above might lead some readers to assume his psychological deity complex was a passing narcissism that the maturing billionaire has conquered in the three decades since it was written. That would be a false assumption; if anything, the 86-year-old currency speculator has grown more megalomaniacal with each passing year.

It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out, Soros told the British newspaper The Independent in 1993.

Yes, the hedge-fund mogul has been living out his delusional fantasies, sometimes elevating himself from merely a god, to actually being God. Naturally, claiming such supernatural attributes entails more than a bit of madness, something Soros has also publicly discussed on more than one occasion.

Next to my fantasies about being God, I also have very strong fantasies of being mad, Soros once explained in a British television interview. In fact, my grandfather was actually paranoid. I have a lot of madness in my family. So far I have escaped it.

Has the delusional billionaire really escaped the madness? He told his biographer, Michael T. Kaufman, that he views himself as the conscience of the world. And he is spending billions of dollars to remake the world to fit his fantasies. If a homeless derelict were to declare himself God and the conscience of the world, he would be ignored, shunned, or locked up; madmen with wealth and power are praised and sycophantically courted.

The Roman emperors Nero and Caligula are notorious for their murderous megalomania. They assigned themselves god status, but ruled as demented demons. Soros may not possess their dictatorial powers, but then, they didnt possess his wealth and global influence. We intend in this article to examine some of the vast activist networks and political campaigns that George Soros funds.

Certainly, the super-rich should have as much right as any other citizens to participate in the political system that governs us all. But Soros appears to be perfectly comfortable operating both within and outside the law to destroy (he would say reform) our political-economic system. In his book Soros on Soros, the would-be god says: I do not accept the rules imposed by others. After years of operating with impunity, he has become so brazen that he appears not to worry about doing the illegal, as well as the immoral. It is our contention that the prima facie evidence of criminal activity by George Soros and those he funds is sufficient to demand official investigations  by Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice, and state attorneys general. Utilizing the subpoena and other investigatory powers not available to the private citizen, these officials have the duty to take on powerful interests that are corrupting and undermining the rule of law in America  and endangering the freedoms we hold dear. At the very least, the Internal Revenue Service  which recently denied Tea Party groups non-profit status  could take away the tax-exempt status of Soros huge foundations, or force them to cease funding radical groups. And if federal authorities exercise even a fraction of the zeal they expended on prosecuting and persecuting conservative commentator Dinesh DSouza, Soros the god-man could end up in jail.

Organizing Chaos

Over the past several years, American cities have been plunged into racial and civil turmoil at a level we have not experienced since the 1960s and 1970s. The anti-police riots in Ferguson, Baltimore, Milwaukee, and elsewhere have morphed into anti-Trump riots across the country, with many of the same organizations and individuals serving as instigators: Black Lives Matter, MoveOn.org, International Action Center, ANSWER Coalition, and other far-left, fake grassroots groups. They reliably perform on cue because they are lavishly funded by the Soros Open Society Foundations (OSF), the other big tax-exempt foundations (Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie, et al.), and activist pass through organizations, such as the Tides Foundation, that bundle and launder hundreds of millions of dollars in dark money to the street revolutionaries.

Black Lives Matter (BLM), which has become one of the most efficient riot-making operations, has been especially blessed with largess from the billionaire elites. As The New American noted in a 2014 article (Rioting for a Reason), BLM was founded by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, three black lesbian Marxists who idolize communist terrorist revolutionaries Assata Shakur and Angela Davis, as well as the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Movement. Naturally, for Soros, that qualifies BLM for oodles of cash. An investigation of Soros/OSF financials by the Washington Times in 2015 found that Soros had showered BLM and its related network of activist organizations with more than $33 million. Not bad, but that was only seed money. The Ford Foundation, which has been funding revolution for decades, announced a few months ago it intends to raise $100 million in pooled donor funds for a newly formed Black-Led Movement Fund, of which the BLM (and its rioters) will be major beneficiaries.

Following the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida in 2012, Black Lives Matter grew from a hashtag slogan to a nationwide phenomenon, thanks largely to funding from Soros and a huge boost from the major media. However, BLMs big break came with the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, and the organized unrest that followed. Two of the BLM groups that played a central role in the Ferguson unrest (that included riots, arson, shooting, and looting) are the Organization for Black Struggle (OBS) and Missourians for Reform and Empowerment (MORE), both of which are hardcore Marxist-Leninist organizations run by veteran communists who have been leading riotous protests for decades. A top founder/leader at OBS is Jamala Rogers, a professional community organizer since the 1970s and veteran member of the Revolutionary Communist League, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the radical Black Power movement.

MORE is simply the rebranded Missouri chapter of ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), the former national organization of paid activists inspired by Marxist strategist Saul Alinsky and founded by 1960s SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) radical Wade Rathke. Like ACORN, the white social justice leaders at MORE pay protesters (mostly black or people of color) to create street theater that can be exploited to advance their causes. Some of MOREs rent-a-mob activities in Ferguson were exposed in 2015 when black protesters occupied MOREs offices and threatened the white radicals because they hadnt been paid as promised. To placate the angry protesters, MORE provided them with documents showing that they had dispersed the funds appropriately. Where did the money go? The accounting documents list, among other things, payments for cellphones, walkie-talkies, banners, T-shirts, art supplies, van rentals, gasoline, catering, training sessions, organizer salaries, etc. In other words, virtually everything needed to give a purely AstroTurf production the appearance of a grassroots protest. Where did the funding come from? The Washington Times investigation found that one line of Soros funding for police reform in 2014 amounted to $5.4 million, with about half of those funds earmarked to Ferguson, with the money primarily going to OBS and MORE.

Another significant recipient of Soros cash is Colorlines, an online news site that helped parlay Ferguson into a national road show. More than 500 of us have traveled from Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Nashville, Portland, Tucson, Washington, D.C., Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and other cities to support the people of Ferguson and help turn a local moment into a national movement, wrote Akiba Solomon, a writer at Colorlines.

Readying the Rioting

The anti-Trump demonstrations and riots  both before and after the election  follow a pattern that we have seen over and over again, from the protests of Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter to Dream Act/Open Borders. Not only are the tactics the same, but many of the same groups and individuals keep reappearing in all of these seemingly spontaneous outbreaks of organized chaos.

Were the Not My President rioters that illegally blocked streets and freeways, set fires, threw Molotov cocktails, injured police officers, destroyed property, and defaced public buildings with graffiti day after day following the November 8 election merely Soros rent-a-mobs? There is good reason to believe so.

Not only were well-known Soros-funded organizations such as Black Lives Matter and MoveOn.org prominently involved, but Soros-funded groups such as Washington Community Action Network (Washington CAN) ran advertisements on Craigslist and in newspapers for full-time organizers to Fight the Trump Agenda! at $15/hour, plus paid vacation and benefits.

Many of the anti-Trump rioters traveled across state lines, which means they not only violated state laws against rioting and inciting to riot, but also federal law against the same crimes. Specifically, the rioters could be (and should be) charged under Title 18 U.S. Code  2101, which provides that whoever travels in interstate or foreign commerce  to incite a riot; or to organize, promote, encourage, participate in, or carry on a riot; or  to aid or abet any person in inciting or participating in or carrying on a riot or committing any act of violence in furtherance of a riot  shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

As to be expected, Soros PR minions deny that their boss has anything to do with the mayhem caused by those he funds. George Soros is not funding these (anti Trump) protests, Soros spokesperson Michael Vachon said in an interview with Value Walk. Of course, Soros also denied funding the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement. But financial records showed that he had provided millions of dollars to the Tides Foundation, which then passed through funding to the OWS activists.

This is why official congressional and prosecutorial investigations are necessary. Soros and the other funders of the riots, subversion, and anarchy will continue to deny the obvious, as they have been doing for decades. The undercover videos of James OKeefes Veritas Project have exposed top Democratic Party operatives boasting of their illegal activities, such as voter fraud, busing in demonstrators, fomenting riots, initiating fights, illegal funding, etc. This is happening on a massive scale and can only be stopped by utilizing the same legal bulwarks that are used against organized crime. The financial records of the funders and organizations involved must be subpoenaed, and individuals placed under oath, where they will face the full penalty of perjury. As the saying goes, follow the money, and prosecute those who are financing the ongoing demolition of America.

Investigation and prosecution of the rioters  and especially those who fund and direct them  is important not only for redress of the crimes already committed and social harm already done, but also to deter plans for similar future havoc.

Dark Money Campaign Cash

According to a survey of official records by the Center for Responsive Politics, George Soros gave $19.5 million in political contributions during the most recent election cycle. That does not include funds he gave to nonprofits and activist groups that are not officially backing a particular candidate or ballot measure, but are nonetheless actively involved those campaigns.

The Soros hypocrisy meter hits the highest levels when it comes to dark money, which the liberal-left media invariably associate with those labeled conservative. For the past two decades, Soros has led and funded the campaign finance reform movement. However, at the same time that he was decrying the corrupting influence of money on politics, he was pioneering the funding of 527 Groups (so-called due to their status under Section 527 of the IRS Code) which can raise unlimited funds for political campaigns. He has organized Democracy Alliance, bringing together dozens of billionaires and millionaires to provide rivers of cash to his favored candidates and causes.

Voter Fraud

It is impossible to sustain our system of representative government if the election process is corrupted. Groups that encourage non-citizens to vote and that work to make it difficult-to-impossible to enforce election security and verify voter identity are undermining our Republic. The Soros network has generously funded many of these open border and open voting groups, such as the American Council of La Raza, America Votes, ACLU, Americas Voice, American Bridge 21st Century, and Project Vote. Although charges of widespread vote fraud, particularly involving illegal aliens, have been dismissed by the establishment media, there is ample reason to believe this fraud is significant and should be officially and aggressively investigated.

Coopting the U.S. Government

In a 2005 interview, National Public Radios Steve Inskeep noted that Soros has been described as the only private citizen with his own foreign policy. Inskeep remarked to Soros: Uzbekistan, the Open Society Institute was actually receiving grants from the US State Department and spending millions of dollars of US government money on various programs. That was under President George W. Bush; it was not an isolated incident, and got much worse under President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Its easy to be a philanthropist when youre spending other peoples money  in this case (and others), American taxpayers money.

Soros has similarly hijacked U.S. government policy (not by force, but by collusion) in Ukraine, Egypt, Albania, the European Union, and elsewhere  invariably with disastrous results. He has also been exposed as one of the major forces behind the calamitous refugee crisis that is swamping Europe with a tsunami of Muslim migrants  and that is threatening to do the same here, thanks to Soros-Obama-Clinton-Kerry collusion. A May 2016 internal report of the International Migration Institute (IMI), an official project of Soros Open Society Foundations, boasted of providing the funding for the Sutherland Report, the blueprint for Europes migration catastrophe authored by Goldman Sachs billionaire Sir Peter Sutherland, now the UN secretary-generals special representative on international migration. The same report by top IMI staffers Anna Crowley and Kate Rosin, entitled Migration Governance and Enforcement Portfolio Review, calls for accepting the current crisis as the new normal. Soros also provides funding for the Columbia Global Policy Initiative (CGPI) at Columbia University, which hosts the secretariat for Peter Sutherlands UN migration office.

The Media Echo Chamber

How does George Soros manage to keep getting away with it? Obviously, his billions have bought a lot of influence. One of the major keys to his success is the Teflon shield he has been provided by the establishment corporatist media, which also act as his echo chamber. Thats by design. A September 27, 2007 e-mail from John Podesta to Soros, Peter Lewis, Steve Bing, and other left-wing billionaires outlined his plans for parlaying the vast network they had financed into a media echo chamber that would control the political discourse. At the time, Podesta was president of the Soros-funded Center for American Progress. He went from that post to be Hillary Clintons campaign chairman.

Now that this enhanced infrastructure is in place  grassroots organizing; multi-issue advocacy groups; think tanks; youth outreach; faith communities; micro-targeting outfits; the netroots and blogosphere  we need to better utilize these networks to drive the content of politics through a strong echo chamber and message delivery system, Podesta wrote.

Non-partisan voter registration can be highly effective in delivering progressive voters to the polls, Podesta states in the memo. The Sandler family and [Open Society Institute] are already deeply involved in funding organizations to do this work in communities of color and with respect to unmarried women. This further underscores our point above regarding the ostensibly non-partisan nature of the Soros focus on voter registration.

Several thousand hacked e-mails released by WikiLeaks and DCLeaks have provided plenty of damning evidence to justify initiating a whole series of investigations into the Lord of Chaos. Not surprisingly, the controlled establishment media has almost completely ignored this bonanza, prompting an editorial from Investors Business Daily this past September 19 entitled The Bizarre Media Blackout of Hacked George Soros Documents.

Bizarre indeed. However, it would be worse than bizarre  it would be serious nonfeasance of office  for our elected and appointed officials to evade their responsibilities to investigate and prosecute the malefactors of great wealth who undermine our society while posing as its saviors.

Read more at: TheNewAmerican.com

Stay informed on the evils of George Soros at the upcoming web site Soros.news.

Submit a correction >>
Newly released CIA documents include: The handling of UFO sightings and the potential weaponization of psychic power

The beleaguered Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recently posted over 12 million pages of previously declassified material on its CIA Records Search Tool database. As reported by Wired, this translates into approximately 930,000 documents, most of which are a collection of magazine and newspaper articles that the CIA would comb through in pre-internet days for data gathering. While most sleuths may not be interested in files describing the Libyan economy in 1974, or the strategies of invisible ink, the details released on how to handle a UFO sighting has gathered significant interest, as well as a section concerning the 1990s attempts as using psychic powers and telepathy for military applications.

The Unidentified Flying Object Program

As reported by Thedailysheeple.com, the CIA was very keen on getting rapid but thorough reporting whenever the United States Air Force (USAF), civilians or any governmental agency spotted unusual skyward activities. They considered UFO sightings a matter of national security, and had a very specific protocol for disseminating information. The Unidentified Flying Object Program, which USAF personnel were required to adhere to, included a four prong assignment when encountering a UFO. These four steps were detection, identification, interception, and destruction.

The documents released into the CIA library make no claim that UFOs are real, or not. Most of the material describes unsubstantiated sightings between the 1940s and the 1990s, when UFO sightings were reported from Spain, Iran, Russia, East Germany, the Belgian Congo, Greece and Sweden. The first UFO sighting in America occurred in 1947 near Mt. Rainier, Washington, when businessman Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine disk shaped objects . . . traveling at an estimated speed of over 1000 miles per hour. In 1948, the USAF suspected that UFOs might be a secret Soviet weapon, and they assumed the ultimate responsibility and control of UFO investigative activity. Although the USAF felt most sightings were explainable, they didnt rule out the possibility of extraterrestrial phenomena.

Was Uri Geller a CIA operative in Project Star Gate?

As reported by Thefreethoughtproject.com, these newly accessible CIA documents also reveal research efforts in using psychic abilities for military and intelligence use in a project they labeled Star Gate. This program, which concluded in 1998, studied the application of remote viewing, where one person sees an object that is placed in a different location, and telekenisis, the ability to physically move an object that one is not physically in contact with.

Uri Geller was a very famous magician and psychic in the 1970s for bending spoons with his mind, and drawing images of what people were thinking about. The CIA believed Geller had what they were looking for and invited him to take part in Project Star Gate. For one week in August, 1974, the Telegraph reports, Geller was locked in an acoustically and electrically shielded room, and asked to draw pictures created by a scientist in another location who would then tape the picture to Gellers door. He had some remarkable success.

Geller has since claimed to have been a CIA operative all along, doing missions to erase floppy disks, and kill a pig with his mind. He admits he forced a person to sign a nuclear deal after mentally bombarding him with sign, sign sign. He states that his theatrics and spoon bending brouhaha was all just a cover. Uris CIA days may be over, but he still stays busy with spoon bending . . . for Kellogs. Hmmm. Is that even real food?

And the CIA? While theyve made this latest data more accessible, we all know they are famous as well for creating their own share of fake news.

Sources:

Wired.com

TheDailySheeple.com

Cia.gov

Cia.gov

TheFreeThoughtProject.com

Telegraph.co.uk

YouTube.com

Submit a correction >>
Now that the Obama administration is out of office, these people should be arrested for high crimes

Most presidential administrations endure scandals at some point during their tenure, as thats just part of the cesspool that has become our nations capital. There are so many careerist bureaucrats inhabiting various positions of power throughout the federal government you could describe it as an infestation.

But some administrations make their own scandals, either through acts of omission or acts of commission. For the outgoing Obama administration, it was guilty of both: Creating scandal through direct implementation of policies and by ignoring or attempting to cover up misbehavior and illegality.

Though this is largely a mental exercisewe dont seriously expect any legal action to be taken against any of the people listed belowthe country would be better served, and future leaders, appointees and careerists would be forewarned, if the incoming Trump administration would make examples out of at least some of them.

They include:

 President Barack Obama: There is only one way, constitutionally, to hold presidents legally accountable for their actions in officeimpeachment. Unfortunately, successive congresses during his tenure elected not to do so, and frankly, thats because members of his own Democratic Party would never have gone along with Republican demands that he be held liable for the many unconstitutional actions he took. It takes a simple majority in the House to impeach a president, but two-thirds of the Senate must vote to actually convict, and there were never enough Republicans or Democrats who would have done so.

Every time President Pen & Phone went around Congress to change U.S. law by executive order, he committed high crimes and misdemeanorsthe constitutional standard for impeachment proceedings. He did so with immigration law, appointments to federal agencies and by ordering the U.S. military into action without proper authorization. Heres a comprehensive list.

Obama should have also been held liable for money laundering and, perhaps, even bribery, as part of his Iran nuclear deal. Recall that as part of the deal, Obama authorized a payment of $400,000 to Iran that was actually delivered on a pallet via a cargo plane in the middle of the night.

White House liar-in-chief Josh Earnest claimed that the moneypaid in euros and other currencieswas not a ransom payment to get back four Americans illegally detained in Iran, but Republicans and even some Justice Department officials begged to differ and saw the payment for exactly what it was: A ransom, in violation of every sense of good diplomacy and better judgement.

And while the president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he does not have the authority to order the assassination of anyone, especially American citizens living overseas, no matter what they have been accused of. And yet Obama has ordered scores of assassinations using drones all over the world. In addition to the president, anyone serving Obama who had a hand in carrying out these illegal orders should also be held liable.

 Attorney General Eric Holder: Tops on the list for this former Obama Cabinet member occurred early in his tenure. Operation Fast and Furious, which was a gun-walking op that saw the Justice Department, via the ATF, allow thousands of semi-automatic rifles walk into Mexico from U.S. gun dealers, in an unsuccessful bid to track them to drug cartels, was actually something else.

It was a very early attempt by Holder (and Obama) to enact stricter gun control measures. In 2013, investigative reporter Sharryl Attkisson reported that, according to ATF documents, officials within the agency used the operation to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales.

The reason why he should be held to account legally is because hundreds of people, including federal agents, have been killed by the weapons that the ATF, at Holders behest, trafficked into Mexico.

 Lois Lerner: You may have forgotten her, but she was integral to the administrations attempt to politically weaponized the Internal Revenue Service.

Lerner was the head of the Exempt Organizations division around the time of Obamas reelection campaign, in 2011-2012, who [allegedly] led an effort to freeze out conservative political organizations seeking tax exempt status ahead of the election. The delay meant they could not engage in any political activity on behalf of Republican candidates such as promoting and supporting them publicly, which was not only an abuse of the IRS power but a gross constitutional violation (First Amendment).

Indeed, as we reported, Obamas IRS was completely compromised in that it regularly engaged in political activity of its own to help Left-wing causes and the administration. But we dont know what Lerners full involvement was because she continually pleaded her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination (which only guilty people tend to do). She should be made to testify in court as to what her role actually was and then punished accordingly, so that the IRS is never again used as a weapon against political opponentssince Obamas Justice Department refused to do so.

 Hillary Clinton: There is so much red meat, legally speaking, when it comes to two-time presidential loser Hillary Clinton, its hard to know where to start. So well just go at it from the beginning, in bulleted format:

* Private email server: From before she began her tenure as the nations top diplomat heading up the State Department, Clinton set up her own home brew email server, which she used throughout her days as secretary of state. Not only was this highly unethical and unorthodox, her unsecured server was used to conduct official State Dept. business, which included handling the most sensitive and highly classified materiala felony violation of the Espionage Act and other statutes governing the handling of such material. Even Obama knew she was doing this, because he used an alias to email her on occasion.

* There are many indications that Clinton used her position as secretary of state to enrich her husband (and herself, indirectly) as well as their foundation. Not only are such actions highly unethical, but they very likely ran afoul of U.S. law.

* In all, Clinton violated nearly a dozen statutes and laws during her tenure, as well as harmed U.S. national security and put every single American at risk, no matter what their political affiliation, and she should be held accountable.

* Clinton was the initiator of the Iran nuclear deal, which will eventually lead to a new conflict in the Middle East as the West (and Israel) will have to, at some point in the future, deal with a nuclear-armed Iran threatening its neighbors.

 John Kerry: Taking over for Clinton at the State Department, Kerry saw the Iran nuclear deal to its end, and thus shares in the fallout (no pun intended) that will stem from it.

In addition, Kerry had a part in securing treaties disguised as international agreements which should have been subjected to advice-and-consent votes in the Senate (where he served for decades), because they violated the U.S. Constitution.

Kerry was also accused of violating international law by the Palestinian government for suggesting that refugees be resettled in countries other than their home country.

 George Soros: Nearly all of the political protesting and chaos in American society during the presidential campaign and since has billionaire Hungarian financial guru George Soros fingerprints all over it.

As reported by Bugout.news, his meddling and financing of protests that resulted in property damage and injuries to Americans amounts to sedition, and he should be investigated and charged:

Not only should American cities rocked and burned by protests fueled with Soros money bill him for the damage, they should seek legal action against him as well. You can provide people with the opportunity to protest, but you cannot spur them to riot, loot and destroy.

Protests that he fueled cost cities tens of millions of dollars (like Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore); much of what was destroyed will never be rebuilt.

George Soros should be arrested, tried and convicted, with the message sent loud and clear: If you conspire to destroy American cities, you will be held accountable, Bugout.news reported.

 Obama, Clinton and Kerry: Because of the manner in which they supported Left-wing revolutionary movements in the Middle East, several governments there have either been toppled or are fighting for their survival in attempts to put down insurrections and civil war. These three are guilty of war crimes involving the murders or killing of hundreds of thousands of people in Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Egypt and Libya, for starters.

Trump has said he has no interest in pursuing criminal charges against anyone in the outgoing Obama administration, even though many of them deserve it. But that leaves room for those he appoints to do so, if cause is warranted. Well see what happens.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for Natural News and News Target, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

NationalReview.com

NYPost.com

CBSNews.com

Twisted.news

NaturalNews.com

Bugout.news

Submit a correction >>
PM's Press Statement during the joint media briefing with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi

New Delhi, Wed, 25 Jan 2017 NI Wire

Your Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,

Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi,

Friends from the Media,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome to India a dear friend, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan . We are delighted that His Highness has come back to India on his second State visit. And, with his participation as our honoured Chief Guest in the Republic Day Celebrations tomorrow this visit is particularly special. Your Highness, I warmly recall our earlier meetings in August 2015, and in February last year. Our discussions were wide ranging covering the entire spectrum of our bilateral engagement. Personally, I benefitted immensely from your perspective of our partnership, your appreciation of our region and your world view. Your Highness, under your leadership, we have been successful in creating new synergies in our ties. We have shaped an ambitious roadmap of engagement to make our comprehensive strategic partnership purposeful and action oriented. The agreement that was exchanged just now has institutionalized this understanding.

Friends,

UAE is one of our most valued partners and a close friend in an important region of the world. I have just concluded very fruitful and productive discussions with His Highness. We particularly focused on implementation of various decisions taken during our last two meetings. We agreed to sustain the momentum of our relations in key areas, including energy and investments.

Friends,

We regard UAE as an important partner in India's growth story. I particularly welcome UAE's interest in investing in India's infrastructure sector. We are working to connect the institutional investors in UAE with our National Investment and Infrastructure Fund. I also shared with His Highness the interest of Indian companies to be a partner in infrastructure projects for the World EXPO 2020 in Dubai. UAE can benefit by linking with our growth in manufacturing and services. We can jointly tap abundant opportunities in our initiatives aimed at building digital economy, human capital and smart urbanization in India. We are also encouraging and facilitating business and industry of both countries to increase the quality and quantum bilateral trade. The agreement on trade remedies signed today would strengthen our trade partnership further. Our energy partnership, is an important bridge in our linkages. It contributes to our energy security. His Highness and I discussed ways to transform our energy ties in a strategic direction through specific projects and proposals. In this regard, long-term supply contracts and establishment of joint ventures in the energy sector can be beneficial avenues.

Friends,

Security and defence cooperation have added growing new dimensions to our relationship. We have agreed to expand our useful cooperation in the field of defence to new areas including in the maritime domain. The MoU on Defence Cooperation, signed earlier today, will help steer our defence engagements in the right direction. We also feel that our growing engagement in countering violence and extremism is necessary for securing our societies.

Friends,

His Highness and I believe that our closer ties are of importance, not just to both our countries. They are also of significance to the entire neighbourhood. Our convergence can help stabilize the region. And, our economic partnership can be a source of regional and global prosperity. We exchanged views on developments in West Asia and the Gulf, where both countries have a shared interest in peace and stability. We also discussed developments in our region, including Afghanistan. Our shared concern on growing threat from radicalism and terrorism to the safety and security of our people is shaping our cooperation in this space.

Friends,

UAE is home to around 2.6 million Indians. Their contributions are deeply valued both in India and in UAE. I expressed gratitude to His Highness for looking after the welfare of Indian nationals in UAE. I also thanked His Highness for allotting land for a temple for the Indian diaspora in Abu Dhabi.

Friends,

The success of our partnership owes greatly to the personal interest taken by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of UAE and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed. Moving forward, our cooperation stands poised for a major take off. I am confident, Your Highness, that your visit will build on the strong gains and understanding of our previous interactions. And, shape its future framework marked by depth, drive and diversification of our partnership. In closing, I would like to thank His Highness for accepting my invitation to visit India. I wish him and all the delegation members a very pleasant stay in India.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Source: PIB
President of India confers National Awards for Best electoral practices for the year 2016

New Delhi, Wed, 25 Jan 2017 NI Wire

Election Commission of India celebrates 7th National Voters' Day with theme  Empowering Young & Future Voters

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee said that there has been some talk about simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies in political circles. If initiative is taken by Election Commission and political parties arrive at a consensus, reform is possible. He said such a move can reduce inconvenience in terms of expenditure and management. The President said this while speaking at the 7th National Voters' Day Celebrations here today.

Pointing out that in the last General Elections in 2014, over 66% of the total electorate of 834 million voted, the President congratulated the Election Commission on the successful conduct of this huge exercise. He also congratulated Indian voters for exercising their right to vote and showing utmost maturity in doing so.

The President said the Election Commission requires unflinching support as they are trying to motivate young people in excising their most fundamental democratic right of voting. It is essential that the Election Commission should be an independent and competent institution. Over the years, the Election Commission of India has proved to be so and is appreciated all over the world.

The President said he was confident the Election Commission can maintain its existing standards and continues to improvise and evolve. The Election Commission has made a unique contribution to strengthening the bedrock of Indian democracy. We can take legitimate pride in the fact that we are the largest democracy in the world.

In his address , Dr Nasim Zaidi , the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) said that the Election Commission will lay special focus on Future Voters under Systematic Voter Education Programme in the year 2017 and onward. Dr Zaidi hoped that the first time and future voters will get encouraged to be part of electoral process. In India, over 62 million persons fall in the age group of 15 to 17 years and have been coined as future voters. Every year, 20 million persons out of the future voters turn 18 to become first time voters, Dr Zaidi added. Considering Future voters as a focus group , the CEC said that the Commission has launched a unique programme this month called Interactive School Engagement . As on date 11,000 schools and 23 lakh student across the country have been covered under this engagement.

Listing out several initiatives taken by the Commission during 2016 , Dr Zaidi said the Commission reignited public and political debate on the issue of long pending electoral reforms by releasing in public domain, a compendium of all pending reform proposals. First ever global conference on voter education was organised where New Delhi Declaration on voter education was released and a Voter Information Communication and Education Net or VOICE.Net was launched.

Dr Zaidi congratulated young and future voters, all officers and other organizations who received national awards for outstanding and successful management and contribution to the elections in 2016. The CEC also mention special contribution of Shri SK Mendiratta , Legal Advisor of ECI for rendering exceptional services over 53 years. This year the Commission also recognized the honorary work being carried out by four professors from premier IITs and working with the Commission under the banner of Technical Evaluation Committee, the CEC added.

On the occasion, the President presented Election Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) to five new young voters and felicitated six future voters . The President also conferred National Awards for Best electoral practices for the year 2016 to the twelve officers . In addition , the awards under special category , Best State , National CSO award , National Award for Government Department & National Media Award were also presented .

The Chief Election Commissioner released the book  Unfolding Indian Elections- Journey of living democracy and presented first copy to the President . This book has been brought out by the Election Commission of India and Publication Division , Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

The Election Commissioners Shri AK Joti and Shri OP Rawat , representatives of political parties, former CECs , heads of 15 Election Management Bodies , international organisations and officers of ECI attended the National level function.

National Voters' Day ( NVD)

25th January , celebrated as the National Voters' Day . This year marks the 7th NVD with theme  Empowering Young & Future Voters . NVD aims at increasing enrolment of voters , especially newly eligible young voter (18-19 years) & ensure universal adult franchise for all . NVD is being celebrated since 2011 on 25th January , the foundation Day of Election Commission of India ( 25th January ,1950).

Source: PIB
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Nokias (News - Alert) first flash sale in China last week was apparently a roaring success. The company offered an undisclosed number of units of its new Nokia 6 Android (News - Alert) smartphone through the sale, all of which were sold within one minute. The record-breaking event points to the increasingly unquenchable demand for new and better smartphones and devices as well as just how quickly the mobile market is growing in the APAC region.





Nokia offered the new phone, its first branded smartphone in three years, on Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com. The sale had 250,000 registrations within the first day of its debut, peaking at more than one million registrations at the time of the flash sale. The mid-range Nokia 6 is a fairly standard smartphone, featuring a Snapdragon 430 chipset, 4GB of RAM (News - Alert), a 16-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapizel front camera. Averaging around $245, the unit runs Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box and also features a USB 2.0 port.

The long awaited offering marks Nokias return to the smartphone space after selling its handset unit to Microsoft (News - Alert) in 2014. That sale had a non-compete agreement tacked on, prohibiting Nokia from selling new mobile devices until the end of 2016. Microsofts foray into the smartphone business was disappointing and the company ended up taking a disastrous $7.6 billion write-down on its Lumia handset unit.

Far from sitting idle during that time, Nokia took pains to stay in the next generation communications game, licensing out its design, patents and even branding to other companies, enabling them to create Nokia-branded devices while the company sat back and collected royalties with little risk. The strategy worked well, and Nokia licensed its brand to Foxconn in 2015, which created the N1 Android tablet for China. The companies used a flash sale to sell that device as well, selling out 20,000 units in a matter of minutes.

It remains to be seen if Nokia can compete in the heavily saturated smartphone market, which is even more competitive in the APAC region. For now, a second flash sale in China is in the works, with around 1.4 million registrations so far. And Lazada, an online retailer in the Philippines, will begin selling the phone tomorrow for around $370.

Edited by Alicia Young
I used to be one of those parents who took a second look at their kids bags of candy theyd gotten Halloween night and think, Wait a minute. Is that a full-size Butterfingers bar? Why would a kid need that much candy in one serving? Id either then ask if they really wanted that item or I
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"If it rains today, Alpaca the cart, and you push it."



Kevin Wehrer

was this week's winner.



The winner's name will be put into a drawing for a free month subscription or extension.



Look for a new photo Monday.
The Libya Political Agreement signed in December 2015 by some members of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR) and the General National Congress (GNC) in Tripoli to form the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) was questioned by the Political Dialogue Committee that held a two-day meeting in Tunisia.

According to a statement released by the committee, Prime Minister-designate Fayez Serraj should be replaced by a person who is not member of the Presidential Council (PC) and the members of the said council should be reduced from nine to three.

The committee also agreed that the head of the government should assume the post of supreme commander of the army.

Libya does not have a unified army but militias and the Libyan National Army headed by Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar is loyal to the HoR in Tobruk.

Additionally, the committee wants a new military council comprising the heads of the PC, HoR and the State Council to be formed.

The two-day meeting in Tunisia was not attended by delegates from the HoR and the UN Special Envoy Martin Kobler was also absent. The Tripoli-based State Council, political party representatives and a number of independent political figures were among several dignitaries attending the event.

However, Kobler commended, in a statement, the concrete suggestions made by the dialogue committee during their informal consultations and welcomed the principles of Libyan ownership and inclusivity. He called on the concerned parties to fulfill their obligations under the Libyan Political Dialogue.

The implementation of the declaration made by the dialogue committee is unclear because the GNA has limited influence in the country. The HoR does not reportedly intend to collaborate with the committee but rather with the State Council.
Nigeria will receive in the few coming days the first shipment of Moroccan fertilizers following the deal sealed lately during King Mohammed VIs visit to this African country.

According to press reports, the first shipload is made of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (NPK) fertilizers. It will enable the Nigerian government to alleviate farmers burden as the commodity will be sold at N5,000, which is half the current price.

Nigerian minister of agriculture Audu Ogbe, who disclosed the news, said his country targets about 700,000 to 800,000 tons of fertilizers per year.

Last December, King Mohammed VI and Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari presided in Abuja over the signing ceremony of a partnership accord to build a fertilizers plant in Nigeria.

The new plant, to be built by Moroccos state-run phosphates company OCP, seeks to promote the use of agricultural inputs including access to adequate fertilizers, which is expected to improve agricultural productivity and farmers income.

OCP, a world leader in phosphate and its derivatives, is committed to the development of agriculture in Africa. This landmark project has been launched within the frame of win-win partnerships with African countries and south-south cooperation.

During the royal visit to Nigeria, the two African countries also agreed to build a gas pipeline that will stretch along the coast connecting Nigerian gas wells with West African countries all the way up until reaching the Kingdom.

The pipeline will add momentum to economic integration in West Africa and will help promote efforts to boost electrification in the region. The project is also meant to help Nigerian gas reach Europe.
Dont get too comfortable with your insurance! Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

It was no big surprise, since it passed the House twice before and is a long-standing priority of Republicans aligned with the anti-abortion movement, but the timing, just three days after the largest protest marches in U.S. history conveyed a message that womens rights should not be trifled with, was interesting. The House today passed legislation banning the use of federal funds to pay for, or to subsidize via private insurance (as in Obamacare), abortions.

This would represent making into permanent law the so-called Hyde Amendment (named after the late Illinois GOP House Member Henry Hyde), an appropriations rider that has been annually extended since 1976. So it would change nothing immediately, but it would make it a lot harder to repeal the underlying policy, and would also head off accidental repeals of Hyde via some failure in the always iffy appropriations process.

Thats all in the subjunctive mood because the odds are very high this legislation will succumb to a Democratic filibuster in the Senate, just as it did in 2013 and 2015. Once upon a time, a goodly number of Democrats supported the Hyde Amendment, even if they supported a constitutional right to an abortion. But in the House, procedural votes on the permanent Hyde Amendment bill (the roll call on final passage is not yet available) indicated something pretty close to a party-line vote.

So this is just another GOP warning shot that it intends to make abortion illegal, after first making it unaffordable for millions of women who rely on government-provided or -subsidized insurance for their health-care needs. Donald Trumps speedy reinstitution of the so-called Mexico City Rules banning U.S. funding to any international organizations remotely connected to the exercise of abortion rights was another flare sent up. To the women it affects, whose representatives thronged Washington and other global cities this weekend, the message was clear: La la la la, we do not hear you.
I have a tremendous plan. Believe me. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Ever since Election Day, the $6.4 trillion question in Washington has been what sort of plan Donald Trump might have or develop for dealing with a broad array of national challenges. The emerging reality is that with the exception of a few priorities involving trade and immigration, and a few quick payoffs to his partys base (e.g., reinstitution of the Mexico City Rules banning support for international family-planning programs, a treat for right-to-lifers, to be followed next week by a similarly targeted Supreme Court nomination), there may not be any plan. Indeed, the activism conveyed by Trumps initial executive orders is undermined by the self-imposed Day One deadlines he missed, including the big-dog-that-did-not-bark action to revoke Obama deportation deferrals.

Two newspaper-of-record accounts of White House disarray, power struggles, and presidential preoccupation with non-substantive matters have come out already this week. They compound earlier reports of limited staffing and sparse policy discussions characterizing the incoming Executive branch leadership. To those discouraging signs we should add a winning presidential campaign that was famously light on policy details, and the attitude of hostility toward the usual Beltway sources of policy advice that was reflected in the Presidents inaugural address.

Worse yet, Donald Trumps erratic habits of thinking and communicating  including his notorious tendency to impulsively share his wishes on matters high and low by Twitter  are built-in obstacles to any kind of real planning.

Not that long ago, conservative activists and corporate lobbies had ample reason to hope that Trumps apparent lack of interest in and manifest ignorance about most details of governing would enable them to foist upon him their own very detailed and comprehensive plans for reshaping America, particularly in domestic policy. Republicans and Democrats alike wondered if Trump would be the president Uber-lobbyist Grover Norquist dreamed of back in 2012: someone with enough working digits to sign the Paul Ryan budget (which has gone through several new iterations since 2012) into law. Conservative columnist Ross Douthat described this possibility as one in which Trump decides that governing isnt worth it and just lets Paul Ryan run the country.

Thats not how its looking right now: Trump has already thrown enough monkey wrenches into congressional GOP plans  notably plans to repeal and replace Obamacare, and also plans to cut taxes  to make it clear nobody can plan much of anything without his concurrence. And thats a real problem given the narrow margins of control Republicans have in the Senate, and the intricate mechanisms and precision timing required for avoiding Democratic filibusters by use of the congressional budget process.

This problem is especially acute for Trump cabinet appointees who are closely associated with congressional Republican plans, but who have no way of knowing for sure what the Boss is going to decide. And thus in two rounds of confirmation hearings Representative Tom Price, Trumps choice to run the huge federal agency, HHS, that must formulate and implement plans for health-care proposals, has been forced again and again to admit he cannot tell the Senate what the administration will propose to do  even though Price himself has a record a mile long of support for hard-core conservative fiscal and health-care policies. An exchange in the Finance Committee hearing today was especially telling: Pressed by Senator Sherrod Brown to say if Trump was telling the truth about his supposed close work with Price to put together an Obamacare replacement plan, Price responded laconically: It is true the president said that.

OMB directordesignate Representative Mick Mulvaney, a Freedom Caucus member who has supported all sorts of radical reforms of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, was reduced at his own confirmation hearing today to suggesting hell tell the president the truth about his belief these programs as constituted are unaffordable. But he could not and cannot tell senators what the administration will actually do, even though Congress has already passed a budget resolution and is poised for action on Obamacare and other priorities.

It is natural to suspect pols like Price and Mulvaney are just stonewalling to keep their plans secret. But the more we learn about the White House being a rolling ball of madness, the more it becomes apparent there may not be any plans. For the moment, at least, America is flying blind, and the pilot is worried about crowd estimates.

Trump will join congressional Republicans in Philadelphia today for their annual retreat, being billed far and wide as a planning sessions for what GOP flacks are now calling a 200-day plan (a prudent replacement for earlier talk of what they would accomplish in the first 100 days). Perhaps the oracle will speak, and all the mysteries surrounding the party agenda will be dispelled. More likely, the solons will still need to consult Twitter hourly to figure out their maximum leaders wishes.
There was a time when I thought we could be friends. Photo: Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images

Well, this is awkward. Just as Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto was getting set for his White House meeting with Donald Trump next week on January 31, the new U.S. president went ahead and signed an executive order for the immediate construction of the border wall with Mexico. Donald Trump has declared that Mexico is going to pay for this wall; Nieto has always replied no. (The initial construction will use funds already set aside for a wall, but the Trump administration insists Mexico will pay one way or another.)

Mexican media is now reporting that Nieto may cancel the meeting with Trump. Nieto has not confirmed that he will stand Trump up, but many Mexican leaders and the public are ramping up the pressure to get him to stay away from the White House.

Margarita Zavala, a potential presidential candidate and wife of former president Felipe Calderon, wrote on Twitter that Donald Trumps wall announcement ahead of Nietos visit was an offense to Mexico.

El anuncio del muro de @realDonaldTrump previo a la visita de @EPN es una ofensa a Mexico. Se debe reconsiderar la visita. #NOALMURO  Margarita Zavala (@Mzavalagc) January 25, 2017

The Mexican Senate also called on Nieto to cancel the meeting, with one senator calling Trumps actions hostile. Indeed, Trumps executive order united Mexico said El Pais, a Mexican newspaper, adding, an era of hostility has begun.

To add insult to injury, a Mexican delegation arrived in D.C. Wednesday to meet with top Trump administration officials, which reportedly included chief of staff Reince Priebus and top advisers Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner. The Mexican diplomats  Foreign Affairs Secretary Luis Videgaray Caso and Economic Minister Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal  had said security, immigration, and trade issues were among the issues to be discussed. Videgaray, who had been the finance minister, had helped to set up Trumps Mexico visit during the GOP candidates campaign; Videgaray resigned amid the backlash soon after. Nieto then named him foreign minister, saying U.S. relations would be his top priority. It seemed to have been something Trump wanted:

With Luis, Mexico and the United States would have made wonderful deals together - where both Mexico and the US would have benefitted.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 8, 2016

But given the timing of Trumps announcement, its unclear what the status of those meetings is  they happened, though the White House and Mexico are mum on what went down  or whether the Trump administration actually cares what its Mexican counterparts have to say.
Donald Trump and Paul Ryan. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite - Pool/Getty Images

There are hints in the air that the long-predicted ideological schism within the Republican Party between populists and traditional conservatives is breaking open. Donald Trumps unusually populist inaugural address, almost devoid of traditional conservative themes, seemed to break new ideological ground. Unlike most Republicans who try to ape the rhetorical tropes associated with Ronald Reagan, Trump instead tried to recall the stylings of Andrew Jackson. It was an unvarnished declaration of the basic principles of his populist and kind of nationalist movement, chief strategist Steve Bannon told the Washington Post. I dont think weve had a speech like that since Andrew Jackson came to the White House, Bannon said. But you could see it was very Jacksonian. Meanwhile, Trump has hired Julia Hahn, a 25-year-old Breitbart staffer who has savaged Paul Ryan for his past support for immigration reform, alarming allies of the House Speaker.

It is certainly true that ideological tensions exist between Trump and the party he has conquered. Trump is surely not a traditional conservative, for the simple reason that conservatism is a set of relatively coherent policy beliefs, and Trump does not have very many coherent policy beliefs. But the beliefs he does have, at least as far as we can tell from his administration and his agenda, overlap heavily with traditional conservatism. That is because the conservative tradition and the populist Jacksonian tradition turn out to be mostly the same thing.

The points of difference between Trump and Ryan are smaller than they might appear. Ryan has supported comprehensive immigration reform in the past, and continues to support free trade, while Trump opposes both. Neither disagreement is especially difficult to finesse. The only major new trade agreement on the docket, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, was already moribund before the election. Comprehensive immigration reform died three years ago, and Trump has already backed off his promises to quickly deport Dreamers and is focusing instead on border-security measures that enjoy long-standing Republican support.

Meanwhile, the Congressional party is working hand-in-glove with its presidential wing. Every Trump cabinet nominee, even those who are brutally unqualified (like Ben Carson) or laden with serious ethical problems (like Tom Price), seems likely to sail through a Senate that can only afford to lose two Republican votes. And Congress has allowed Trump to conceal his tax returns and maintain his business empire, two violations of norms that would permit massive self-enrichment by the president and his family. Republicans have instead directed the oversight machinery of Congress against Trumps critics and former opponents.

Trump and his party are cooperating on a wide range of traditional Republican policies: regressive tax cuts, weakening of labor laws, environmental protections, and regulations on the finance industry, and an assault on the Affordable Care Act. Both Trump and the Congressional GOP have attacked Obamacare for providing too little coverage, and have refrained from writing detailed alternatives because their ideas would provide even less coverage. To the extent that Trump is giving his Congressional wing trouble on health care, it is because he spouts off without understanding the issue.

The differences between Trump and his Congressional allies are no wider than those that divided Barack Obama and his party in 2009, or George W. Bush and his party eight years before that, or Bill Clinton and his eight years prior. Tim Phillips, president of the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, the epitome of the libertarian, pro-business, Paul Ryanesque Republican money wing, has praised Trumps policies. There just isnt much daylight between us, he told Politico recently.

What, then, explains the widespread belief that Trump has veered so far from traditional Republican doctrine? One reason is emphasis. Trump simply ignores the traditionally Republican elements of his governing program in his public remarks. Trump devoted most of his inaugural speech to the few elements of his platform that diverge from the Paul Ryan agenda, skipping over the many elements that conform to it. And he compounded the impression, as he has during the campaign, by portraying himself as an enemy of the elite and the political class.

But there is another thing that is necessary to grasp about the political tradition Trump represents. Jacksonian populism is conservatism, at least in the modern American form.

While nearly two centuries have passed since Andrew Jacksons time, he pioneered almost every recognizable feature of contemporary Republican politics. Jackson built a following by denouncing elites. But he did not mean economic elites, exactly. He meant Easterners, urbanites, and experts, including the ones who argued a national bank was necessary to avoid a financial crisis. (They were right and Jackson was wrong. Jacksons destruction of the bank caused a serious recession.) Jackson did not oppose bankers, per se  he drew support of regional banks that felt threatened by the national bank. Jackson had no program of taxing or regulating the rich. His economic populism was directed entirely against the state. The rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes, he wrote.

Many people understand that Jacksons reputation has come under harsh scrutiny and revision in recent decades, in part because he owned slaves. Of course, many (though not all) political elites owned slaves before the Civil War. It is not just that Jackson owned slaves but that he followed policies to protect and defend slavery, as opposed to the conflicted positions of other slave-owning politicians who wished to see the practice end eventually. Jacksons conquest of Native American lands  the cruelty of which provoked strong domestic opposition  was carried out for the purpose of expanding slave territory, in order to prevent the slave states from being outnumbered and eventually outvoted (the fear among slave states that led, via the Missouri Compromise, to the Civil War). Jackson banned the mailing of abolitionist literature into the South. As the cast of Americas racial hierarchy has changed over its history, the meaning of the right-wing and left-wing positions on the racial question has evolved. In Jacksons time, his position of expanding land available for slavery and blocking avenues for organizing opposition to it clearly represented the right-wing position.

Jacksons resemblance to Trump runs even deeper than Trump or Steve Bannon may realize. Jackson, like Trump, throbbed with resentment at his enemies, a feeling that was channeled into extraordinary personal entitlement. (As Steve Inskeep discovers in Jacksonland, Jackson used his office to enrich himself by speculating in lands whose value he knew would increase as a result of his conquests.) Jackson opposed South Carolinian secession for the same reason he dismissed a hostile Supreme Court ruling  not out of any larger principle, but out of a domineering instinct that made him lash out instinctively at any threat to his authority. That style endeared him to the part of the country that forms the base of the GOP today. Jackson fused the white working class in the South and Appalachia with the interests of the planter elite, expressing their shared interests not through activist government but through militaristic plunder.

An aura of progressivism has clung to Jackson for decades, largely due to an accident of history. During the 19th century, the Democratic Party was the conservative, Southern, rabidly white-supremacist, strict constructionist party, while the Whigs, and then the Republicans, favored more activist government and more egalitarian social structure. During the 20th century, those roles reversed. But the Democratic Party retained its Southern and Appalachian base for decades during the transition, and it convinced itself of a narrative (using wildly selective history) that wove Jacksons reactionary presidency into the 20th-century version.

Meanwhile, as the Republican Party has grown more uniformly conservative, it has naturally grown more Jacksonian in its style. The cultural populism, anti-intellectualism, paranoia, and crude nationalism of such figures as Joe McCarthy, George Wallace, and Sarah Palin presaged the buffoonish ravings of the current president. Far from being at odds with the agenda of a party allied with entrenched wealth, that populist style is the best way to lend that agenda mass appeal. We should stop seeing Trumpism as a challenge to the GOP and instead understand it as the partys natural historical evolution.
Do not go gentle into that good night. Photo: Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Penn Stations big Amtrak departures board is no more. Crews began breaking down the 10-foot, analog-looking screen Monday night, so ending the era of travelers staring up at it, waiting for the track number to be posted, and, once it has been, stampeding wildly to the gate.

The big board went to black, its blank, bulky frame still suspended from the ceiling.

Rest in piece, @Amtrak New York Penn Station "big board."



It saw one last meltdown commute yesterday before being permanently shut down. pic.twitter.com/BAce3bAfPR  Jason Rabinowitz (@AirlineFlyer) January 24, 2017

At some point Tuesday, it appeared as if crews had draped it in a mourning shroud/blue tarp.

End of an era. pic.twitter.com/b9tcSie6s4  Tri-State Transportation Campaign (@Tri_State) January 24, 2017

The board, which was installed in 2000, will be totally removed by the end of the week. In its stead, Amtrak will install 40 LCD monitors, including two large screens on either end of the main concourse that will look like this, though probably with a few less on time trains.
Police guard an anti-Trump protest outside Chicagos Trump Tower in November. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Five days after declaring in his inaugural speech, This American carnage stops right here and stops right now, President Trump addressed the violence in Chicago by threatening to send in the Feds on Twitter.

If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

Last year Chicago saw its worst violence in 20 years, and 2017 is already off to a bad start. So far there have been 228 shootings, up from 216 during the same period last year, according to the Chicago Tribune. There have been 42 homicides in 2017, compared to 34 by this time in 2016.

Trump often painted a grim picture of inner cities on the campaign trail, and he tweeted about Chicago earlier this month.

Chicago murder rate is record setting - 4,331 shooting victims with 762 murders in 2016. If Mayor can't do it he must ask for Federal help!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2017

But it appears the presidents tweet on Tuesday was inspired by a segment on The OReilly Factor. Just before it was posted, Trump praised Fox News via Twitter for having higher inauguration ratings than fake news CNN. (Another potential inspiration: Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel knocked Trump on Monday, saying, You didnt get elected to debate the crowd size at your inaugural.)

In the Fox segment, OReilly and Horace Cooper of the National Center for Public Policy Research discussed how Trump could take federal action to combat violence in Chicago, and used the word carnage. Cooper said:

He sends a Justice Department directive that says to the U.S. attorneys in that jurisdiction, in Cook County, that they are going to work directly with the prosecutors. Theyre going to have the FBI and the local law enforcement work together, and theyre going to pick which cases that they go across that theyre going to prosecute directly. This doesnt require change in law  this simply requires will.

OReilly suggested Trump could also send in the National Guard, adding, The governor wont. The governor is afraid, the governor is a coward.



Trump has not elaborated on what he meant by send in the Feds, but the Tribune notes that the idea of sending the National Guard into Chicago has been raised repeatedly in the last decade as gun violence has worsened in the city. In August, Illinois governor Bruce Rauner, a Republican, said hes discussed the idea with community leaders, police, and the National Guard, but no thoughtful leader thinks thats a good idea or would really provide a solution.


President Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday. Photo: Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images

Some conservatives were reportedly irritated that, by the end of his fifth day in office, President Trump had yet to take action to combat illegal immigration and radical Islam. Hes expected to make up for it in the coming days with executive orders that would kick off the construction of a southern border wall, punish sanctuary cities, and temporarily ban most refugees, as well as immigrants from seven Middle Eastern and African nations. The New York Times reports that Trump is also mulling over orders that would resume the CIAs black site detention program and enhance interrogation techniques.

Trump is expected to sign the first orders during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday. He teased the event on Twitter:

Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

The executive actions on refugees and immigration from terror-prone nations are expected on Thursday. Several sources told the Washington Post that Trumps intention is to show that hes fulfilling campaign promises ahead of his appearance at the GOP retreat in Philadelphia on Thursday.

Heres what we know about the policies Trump is expected to enact this week.

Temporarily Banning Refugees

A Trump administration official told the Post that restrictions on the refugee program had yet to be finalized. One option under discussion is to suspend the admission of all refugees for four months; that would give officials time to determine which nations pose the greatest risk, and implement more aggressive vetting procedures. The AP reported that there would probably be an exception for religious minorities fleeing persecution, which would allow Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations into the U.S. The admission of Syrian refugees could be suspended indefinitely.

The president has the power to halt refugee processing and limit how many refugees can enter the country, and President George W. Bush stopped refugee processing for several months after 9/11. A person familiar with the plan told The Wall Street Journal that when admissions resume, the annual cap would be set at 50,000. (President Obama set the number of refugees to be resettled this fiscal year at 110,000.) By the end of December 2016, 25,000 refugees had been resettled  so if Trump implements this plan, only another 25,000 would be admitted by the end of September.

From a legal standpoint, it would be exactly within his legal rights, Stephen Legomsky, the Obama administrations chief counsel for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told Reuters. But from a policy standpoint, it would be a terrible idea because there is such an urgent humanitarian need right now for refugees.

During the campaign, Trump said the U.S. would create safe zones in Syria so refugees wouldnt need to come to the U.S. The Journal reports that that is expected to be part of Trumps package, though its a difficult task that would likely require the use of U.S. ground troops and air power.

Restricting Immigration

At one point during the campaign, Trump proposed temporarily banning all Muslims from entering the United States, but later he walked that back, saying there would be no visas for people from nations where adequate screening cannot occur.

Trump is said to be considering a temporary ban on issuing visas to people from several Muslim-majority nations  Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen  until new procedures are implemented. (As the Post notes, people from those nations are rarely granted visas as it is.) White House press secretary Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that changes to the vetting process would be worked out after Rex Tillerson, Trumps secretary of state, is in place. Trump has not given specifics on what extreme vetting would entail, but the Journal reports that the new process is expected to ban anyone who has persecuted people of other religions or engaged in so-called honor killing, violence against women, or oppressed a member of one race, gender, or sexual orientation.

In addition to telling the State Department to stop issuing visas to people from particular countries, Trump could even instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection not to admit people from those countries who already have visas. Such actions would likely provoke legal challenges, particularly if the only people targeted are from Muslim nations.

Building the Border Wall

Earlier this month, it was reported that congressional Republicans believed the president already had the authority to build a southern border wall under the Secure Fence Act of 2006, and theyre hoping to put funding for the project in a spending bill that must pass by April 28. Trump said that while U.S. taxpayers would initially fund the project  which estimates say could cost as much as $20 billion  Mexico would eventually reimburse them.

It looks like Trump may be able to get started even sooner. A source told the Journal that congressional leaders pointed out tens of millions of dollars in unspent allocations, which Trump intends to put toward getting started on the wall immediately. The source of the funding is unclear.

Building the wall would still be logistically and legally difficult, particularly because Mexico insists it will not pay for it. Some Mexicans are angry that the announcement is expected on Wednesday, the same day top Mexican officials are set to meet with senior Trump advisers to discuss immigration and economic issues. Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto is scheduled to meet with Trump next week.

Trump is also expected to increase the number of border patrol agents by 5,000 and issue an order punishing cities that fail to cooperate with federal immigration agencies.

It appears that, for now, those shielded by President Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will not be targeted. [Trumps] priority is first and foremost focused on people who pose a threat to people in our country  to criminals, frankly, Press Secretary Spicer said Tuesday. And thats where he wants ICE [the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency] to focus their efforts.

Rules on Torture and Detentions

The Times reports that Trump is also considering whether to issue orders that would affect Guantanamo Bay and the CIAs secret overseas detention centers. One draft would review whether to reinstate the program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States, and whether such a program should include the use of detention facilities operated by the C.I.A. The document also states that no one in U.S. custody would be subjected to torture, as defined by U.S. or international law.

Another order under consideration would launch a review of the Army Field Manuals to determine whether enhanced interrogation techniques should be allowed. New CIA director Mike Pompeo has said hes open to allowing waterboarding, and he told the Senate he would consider revising the Army Field Manuals if experts found enhanced interrogation techniques are an impediment to gathering important intelligence.
Climate change, youre fired! Photo: Ron Sachs/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Despite Ivanka Trumps passionate objections (were assuming), the Trump administration has reportedly ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to remove its website about climate change. Two agency employees told Reuters that the page  which contains links to global-warming research and data on emissions  could be down by Wednesday. If the website goes dark, years of work we have done on climate change will disappear, said one of the staffers.

Employees are said to be scrambling to save the information, or convince the Trump administration to keep it. The latter seems unlikely, as mentions of climate change have already been scrubbed from the White House website, and EPA employees were told not to discuss a freeze on grant funding. Even the Badlands National Park Twitter account was reined in after posting facts about climate change on Tuesday.

But theres no reason to worry. As Republican representative Lamar Smith said on Monday, from now on President Trump will tell us everything we need to know. Better to get your news directly from the president, Smith said. In fact, it might be the only way to get the unvarnished truth.
Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Over the past week under the Trump administration, several scientific organizations  the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Park Service  have been barred from posting on social media or sharing information about certain topics. Today, the U.S. Arctic Research Commission tweeted, and subsequently deleted, that they would be going on a hiatus. The tweet offered no explanation as to why, but the phrasing it looks like we are going on hiatus doesnt exactly inspire confidence.

The ARCs now-deleted tweet.

ARCs Facebook page has also been deleted. Select All has reached out for more information regarding the sudden hiatus and will update this post if we hear back. The Arctic Research Commission website is still up and running if youre looking to study up on climate change. And you might want to start reading fast, since Trumps administration has already discussed having the EPA remove the climate-change page from its website.
Photo: Adger Cowans

Photographer Adger Cowans started his career as Gordon Parkss apprentice  he became like Parkss son. After setting out on his own, Cowans became known for photographing Harlem and Hollywood in the 1960s. He shot the New York City neighborhoods churches and storefronts, residents, and protests. At the same time, he became a fixture on Hollywood movie sets and captured the industrys icons throughout his career: Katharine Hepburn, Dionne Warwick, Spike Lee, Mick Jagger, and many others.

Though the Metropolitan Museum and MoMA have exhibited his professional work, the new book Personal Vision: Photographs, out January 27 from Glitterati, features frames from his personal collection. The tome contains 40 years of photographs  including Malcolm X at a rally on Fifth Avenue, Halle Berry and Al Pacino on set, and portraits of Gordon Parks.

In the books introduction, Cowans recalls the exact moment when he discovered his passion for photography. While enrolled in an Ohio University photography program, wandering the streets, he spotted four children gathered around a man selling balloons. These kids were very poor, and they were watching the balloon man with such intensity and longing that I bought some for them, he writes. When I saw those images I understood the power of a photograph. The photos were not about being poor, they were about happiness. The smiles on those faces made me understand how a photo could move people to see, think, and feel. It is important to give emotion to your work. Through my images I have experienced life.

Click ahead to see photos from Personal Vision, including Dionne Warwick, actress Faye Dunaway, and the artist Nancy Grossman.

If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission.

Barbara.

Diahann on Fire Island.

Dionne Warwick.

Djukas.

Faye Dunaway in Puzzle of a Downfall Child.

Nancy Grossman.

Street singer in NYC.
Time for the urn!

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PERFECT FIRST COMMENT

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Michael is so ugly-sexy, perfectly weird.

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unf i love him sfm

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I have stabbed this man for damn near 10 years, I'm glad y'all getting on board!

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Is it sick that it makes me hot watching him lose his goddamn mind in the Sorority letter video?

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I need more of his voice on this

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literally what i came here to say

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God, this made me lol so hard.

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yep

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lol I was just about to post the same exact thing.

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It gave me such joy to see it as the first comment.





/that's it. Go home. Everything has been said.

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lmao

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Hahaha

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from what she's told us about her mom, seems like she learned all the good stuff from her

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whoa! i'd never seen such an old picture of him and he literally looks like angelina with short blond hair

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You know, I honestly forgot that he was her father lol

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Well, they are estranged. I don't think he was ever really there enough to make any impact thankfully. He cheated on her mom.

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With this government, treason could well be the only thing that saves the rest of us.

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Someone please teach him what treason is.

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i can't think of anything more American than protesting the government

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lol mte

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lol fair

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hah :\

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~ Spreading democracy. ~

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they make no sense, the reason these conservatives want their precious guns is to "protect" themselves from the government but when it comes to the opposite party to criticize said government suddenly its "unpatriotic"???





they're dumb as fuck

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Invading countries? going to war?

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I'd say entitlement.

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anti-intellectualism? a weird Biff Tannen sensibility that being the biggest bully = being the best?

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Guns

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Superior complexity

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Voight appeared on Fox News numerous times during the Obama administration to voice his disapproval of Obama's presidency.



One might say he went against he government....against the will of the people....

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Denigrating his office and his presidency. That's no good.





My kingdom for one of these fucking nutters to acknowledge the blatant hypocrisy of what they're spewing.

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when Barack Obama was president, all those fucking hicks including the now orange potus refused to believe Barack was even American and demanded reports of his birth records and shit. fucking the hypocrisy.

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TREASON

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Time for the urn for this bitch



How is Angie even related. I mean she's not perf but to have a dad this fucking stupid ugh

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he was a horrible father. he went years without seeing the kids while they were growing up, and didn't pay his support. he was horrible to Angie's Mom. idk, I would hope nobody would judge me for my evil, sadistic biological father.



but the one I claim? he was awesome.

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and that's exactly why she doesn't talk to him tbh

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We've all got that (at least) one shitty relative. Hers just happens to be the father she never speaks to.

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He needs to look up the definition of "treason"

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you're criticizing cyrus and labeouf, but not acknowledging that trump is probably guilty of treason himself

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lmao right all those years spent trying to prove Obama wasn't a "legitmate" president instead of just accepting it but we all just ought to roll over and take it because it's a republican this time surejan.gif

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My very first thought. The mind-boggling hypocrisy going on with these morons, I s2g.

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mte

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Lmao yaaas

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this creepy old fucker needs to just die.



disagreement is the foundation of any democracy.

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Fuck this cracker for making me want to defend another racist cracker.

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People talk all kinds of shit about Obama and Hillary and it's free speech, but when others criticize Trump, it's "treason"? Ok.

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Conservatives are the whiniest little fucking brats in the universe so ofc this old hag would call it ~treason~. If you open up a dictionary and look up the word "extra," you'll see a picture of Tomi Lahren's giant mouth

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Conservatives are special snowflakes cuckolded by the Tea Party and living incomplete lives in the echo chamber of Faux News in a post-truth Trump world.

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It's only free speech if they are saying sexist and racist shit about people on the other side, aka democrats, aka the USA's enemy, they are just good old republicans saying the truth, but someone criticizing a republican? that is a lie and is treason.

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are trump advisors/ his team afraid of him? because trump is still tweeting from his personal phone? like do these people not have balls? are they afraid of him?

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yes they are afraid of him, he is EVIL. he has more followers on his personal account than @POTUS.

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then they should stand up to him and be like dude

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He's hired yes men, inside info is leaking that they have to baby him

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he's surrounded himself with people who will take his orders and won't question him

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he surrounded himself with yes men. They fucking all dumb and evil.

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I think they all know he dumb as fuck, and will rely on anyone he thinks knows what they are talking about. So in order to stay in good with him so that they can influence him, they let him do whatever he wants. They clearly don't give a fuck, otherwise they wouldn't be working for Trump.

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wondering if they intentionally chose that week in Feb for Hyuna's tour due to fall break



i'm trying to get one of my friends to go with me just to say that we went but it's hard lol

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i really wanted to see hyuna but couldn't swing it :( hopefully shinee has a texas date and i can make it over to see them

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I s2g shinee better get their asses to Chicago again and I better have a ticket.

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SHINee please come to Florida. Spare my bank account. I'm in graduate school lol

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SHINEEEEEEEEEEE YASSSSSSSSSSS. i want them to have a good amount of dates so they can perform near me.

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So yeah.... I'll be going to SHINee World :'):'):'):')



I'm almost positive there'll be date near NYC :')



*whispers* exordium next plz *whispers*

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yes pls

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Their Japanese tour DVD was fantastic, I would absolutely go see them

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THE DREAM

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I happened to be in Europe when KCON happened in Paris and so I HAD to go for fx. I couldn't miss it. Even tho they barely had any songs and they did too many solo songs and Vic wasn't there lol.

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And nobody cares about Europe. I wanna see SHINee live as well :( (also BigHit, where are the European Wings tour dates??)

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and hyorin is gonna be at SXSW. can't wait to see my queen.

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with Red velvet!

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what??? omg i didn't know that. DYING.

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SHINeeeeeeeeeeee come to Canada ALREADY!!!!

Bring Little Mix with you.



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why are they all touring in the same month? their fanbase overlaps, are young and likely broke. smh

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I'm pretty sure BTS are also touring the US in March. Fans had better start saving up!

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Their parents pay for their tix. :P

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idk but i think bts tix went on sale early this month and shinee's aren't for sale yet.

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yea. subk hasn't announced dates for shinee's tour yet. ticketing is prob gonna be in mid-feb or something.

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Right? I'm already broke from buying BTS tickets, there's no way I could make any of these shows if I wanted to.

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subk needs to let out those dates for shinee but i'm pretty sure they're gonna have stops in chicago, los angeles and somewhere in texas. subk tours usually have four or five stops so the other places are up in the air but they've send past artists to miami, washington dc, atlanta and new york city / newark.

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I love sistar but hyolins solo music is so boring and im still not over her new nose. in other news, bts is having a concert in mexico and brazil... on the same day

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que BTS que?? lol

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Hyorin'a first solo album was my jam but her newest leaves a lot to be desired

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He is so beautiful

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His beauty 

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he got so handsome

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gawd his skin has a special glow

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He's so pretty I want to cry.

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He's got it all and he's tall.

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I love him.

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ughghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgghgffdgj

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ugh what a babe

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I know he is a long shot but it is a big deal for me to see a well deserving south asian person nominated. I'm so happy, i don't know how many south asians have been nominated but i know i can probably count the number on one hand

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Lol for the acting categories there's only Ben Kingsley for lead and supporting, male and female. Pathetic. I wouldn't be surprised if the stats were similar for middle eastern actors. There's shohreh agdashloo but she's Persian...

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hdu forget Vivien Leigh.

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How about Haing S. Ngor? He won in 1984 for The Killing Fields. He was Cambodian.

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i'm so glad that he's finally getting his due. it pissed me off that even after all the attention he got for slumdog millionaire, the subsequent roles he was offered were for characters like "taxi driver." meanwhile a white actress like daisy ridley bursts into the spotlight with star wars and starts getting plum follow-ups right away. (i don't mean to pick specifically on daisy, she's just the person who came to my mind first since we just had a post about her being cast for a virginia hall biopic.) but hey, tilda swinton thinks that casting a white woman is more progressive/diverse than casting a moc!

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Yeah, same with John Boyega, they were in the same movie and had the more prominant roles and she still gets more big roles, not to shit on her, I like her and it's not her fault, but it is transparent what is going on.



~~And don't mess with Tilda, she looks like a lesbian so that means she has experienced racism ):

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Even John's career is like Dev's. He broke out in Attack the Block but it took many years for Star Wars to happen. I want him to do more acting focused projects as well....





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Seriously. I didn't care about him in Slumdog but I did wonder why his career never took off the way a white guys or a white female ingenue's would. Now we need more South Asian actresses (not Mindy no thanks) to succeed and star in prestige Oscar pics.



Idk where Frieda is lol....I see her on some billboards in India.

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Wasn't he a main on Newsroom?

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Yep. So true. I was so happy when he was cast in Newsroom, but his character barely had a storyline. It was so frustrating.

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like kiera knightley over parminder nagra who still doesn't have a career. i'm still bitter. i know it's not kiera's fault but she is such a shit actress and yet she got an amazing career and parminder nagra got ER at it's end and barely a season on the blacklist

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He's great, I love him.

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way back in 2008, I would never believe that Anwar was the one out of the Skins crew to get an Oscar nom

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Right? I used to swear he was a terrible actor lol

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Right? I mean I loved Anwar, but I don't think I foresaw ANY of them making it big.

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The Facebook page for LION is currently listing Naomi Watts, not Nicole Kidman, as its supporting actress nominee https://t.co/UR6kHqkm5i pic.twitter.com/R5GejncaAH  Kevin O'Keeffe (@kevinpokeeffe) 24. Januar 2017



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lmao wtf?

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The official Oscars website also accidentally listed Amy Adams as a Best Actress nom, lol.

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I think it was Amy and Tom hanks they had listed. It took them like 10min to fix it as well.

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This hurts tbh. Sad that Amy was snubbed for Meryl Streep in a weird accent again

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Lol they're interchangeable.

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They did this to Ruth Negga as well, citing Amy Adams instead of her.

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hmm lol

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insult to nicole tbh

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I love him so much. I'm so happy about his success.

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i'm confused - how is he a supporting actor when the movie appears to be about him

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Because the beginning of the film is with the character as a kid so it's a different actor. Only like halfway through does he grow up and it's Dev. (it's also debatably category fraud, but imo after Alicia got an oscar for supporting actress with all the screentime she had - anything goes)

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Category fraud has been around for decades. Tatum O'Neal won Best Supporting Actress for Paper Moon despite being in every scene of that movie

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Category fraud has been around for a while. But it only bothers people when it does not involve their faves.

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Nomination fraud to give him more chances imo

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I love Dev so much. Tell me where you are in India bae, I'll come and see you (from afar lol)...





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come to Mumbai bb, he's shooting a movie about the 26/11 terror attacks here.

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OMG...I'm in Delhi but I do have some connections/friends in Bombay. Might actually consider coming down there for a holiday lol

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has Lion leaked?

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Im so mad cause I saw a fake one and got excited

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I love him so much.

Can't believe out of all the Skins cast he's the one that has the best career. I feel vindicated after being the only one of my friends who had a crush on Anwar when they all loved Tony.

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Don't forget Nicholas Hoult. He has a better career but Dev is not far behind

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Ummm has Nick been nominated for an Academy Award? Mad Max and X-Men ain't that prestigious.

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Nick is probably the most recognisable of the cast, but Dev's been in two huge critical darlings with Slumdog millionaire and now Lion - as the main character.



Nick is famous because of the X-men movies, but it's an ensemble cast (same with mad max - huge movie, but he's a supporting character in it.)



Eitherway I love them both (and hope ontd doesn't destroy that by telling me they are both awful which happens a lot with former favourite actors :P ) so I am glad they are both succeeding.

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Is Nicholas Hoult's career that much better? I remember him only doing Mad Max and the X-Men movies recently. Does he get praised for his acting? I don't care enough to keep up with him but i always felt like Dev is getting more critical acclaim.

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Does he though?

I thought he was more famous for being JLaw's ex while Dev has been in two movies represented at the Oscars plus an HBO series that got a lot of attention.

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Jack O'donnell is pretty successful as well, neither of them have an oscar nom tho, so... ::painted nails emoji::

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It's pretty amazing. I've said this before but I love that the actor who played the character who got the least attention from fans and writers is now the most successful.



Get it, Dev!

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I'm surprised that so many Skins alumni have such good careers as I remember the acting on that show being terrible for the most part

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I am so shy to fangirl about Dev IRL because he looks like the Indian version of my Persian friend who I wanted to make out with since we met, lol.

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Dev really needs to snag some superhero film because that will boost his visibility. His agents better get on it! He's looking hot as fuck and I'm sure he can buff up. Not a fan of superhero movies but it's one of the best ways to get your profile up

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That would be amazing

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If you watch him in the recent THR actor roundtable (it's on YouTube), it doesn't sound like he would be interested in making a big studio film soon. He had a bad experience with Airbender.

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Sad but he should try to get over it if he wants to do more movies like Lion. Practically impossible to raise your profile without a franchise these days

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I don't remember who else is nominated in that category but i am rooting for him. He's so handsome and talented. Whenever I remember he was in Skins I'm fascinated that he's the one now with probably the best career.

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Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)

Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)

Dev Patel (Lion)

Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)



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thanks! haven't seen any of the other movies yet so can't say who'd deserve it more haha

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i admire her for this but remember when she bragged about lecturing a mcdonald's cashier about gender

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... welp. That's fucked up

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yah that incident doesn't take away from her taking a stand here but WOOF it was bad

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Oh yes. Over the happy meal. I remember. I never understood why she lectured the poor cashier. Write a letter to Mickey D.

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omg what

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lmao why are you so eager to make that the first comment on this post

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lmaoooo those tweets were really something else.

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lmao, taking the privileged academic professor cliche to a whole new level

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Yeah... I'm sure she was ~well intentioned, but don't harass minimum wage customer service employees over policies they have zero control over. All she accomplished was to demonstrate her own privilege pretty flagrantly in the process.

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Ugh, I never saw this. I was disappointed in all the Lena Dunham defending.



Still, super pumped she's taking this stand!

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Damn

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what does that have to do with this?

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LMAO... cringe :/

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Good for her. Fuck S&S

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Fucking BOSS. I love it

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love her. saw her do a reading and speak a few weeks ago and it was awesome. im glad she's putting her money where her mouth is.

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hope it gets a publisher.

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It's so depressing that for most people you can only really wake them up when you hurt their wallet

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can S&S sue her for this?

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I hope not? I'm sure her agent advised her on this, and they know what's going to happen going forward.



She'll have to return advance money though, which sucks.

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no, you just have to pay back your advance. amy schumer paid back her advance to harper and published with S&S because they offered her more money last year.



thats why she said she realizes not everyone can afford to do what she did

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yeah, and i'm sure he'd have every publisher begging him to go to them instead.

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Dang, and he of all authors could afford to do it.

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He really should! I'd love him even more if he did this.

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He should honestly use his voice for this.

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as many big selling authors who can afford to do this should, tbh. it's the only way to really make an impact

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Oh snap that's a great idea. It didn't even occur to me that authors could protest like that.

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he's made multiple anti-trump tweets. maybe if enough people ask him to he might consider threatening it?

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I'm reading Bad Feminist for a class right now, and it's okay.

But good for her for doing this.

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i've been meaning to read that.

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I do recommend it, though I have found some sections boring.

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I checked it out from the library and returned it unread, oops.

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I read that a few months ago. Some chapters are awesome and some are just boring.

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Kameron Hurley's 'Geek Feminist Revolution' is better!

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i think the idea of having to deprive yourself of good things bc of bad people is sad, but good for her

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University of Washington Republicans statement after protester is shot at a Milo Yiannopoulos event they organized: https://t.co/hG1FON4uEF  Shane Bauer (@shane_bauer) January 25, 2017



If any of your attend UW. You need to file a Title IX complaint and shut these fuckers down. I would if it was my school. If any of your attend UW. You need to file a Title IX complaint and shut these fuckers down. I would if it was my school.

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this is horrific

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so someone was shot and these people are basically all 'lol you deserved it'



fucking nazis. they all need to d*e.

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God they're evil

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so Republicans are literally Nazis now, Chomsky was right they are a danger to the entire world.

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Chomsky is always right, that's why no one listens to him. He tells us all the ways we're screwed.

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college republicans attracts some of the worst of humanity tbh

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i saw some nazi's on twitter claiming that the victim was there to see milo so i'm glad the record has been set straight. the guy is claiming self defense which is bullshit.

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I'm not gonna read this but uhhh, fuck them anyways lmao.

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So we can shoot Nazis then? They got real pissy when one of them was punched but if shooting people is a reasonable response to "poking"...

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she's annoying af but yaaas! another publisher needs to step up rn

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I really commend her for this. It just pisses me off it came to this. Especially because the space in publishing for black women still isn't big enough even though as she said, she can afford to.



Simon & Schuster insisted Milo's book wouldn't include hate speech. Liars. Anybody who gives a platform to the likes of Milo, Richard Spencer, etc can go to hell. Anybody who empathizes with them can go to hell.





/also this post reminded me to unmute her lol.



Edited at 2017-01-25 06:49 pm (UTC)

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i straight up unfollowed the ipad/iphone incident was too much lol

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lol I've had to do the same before with unfollowing/following again. It's like a cycle. Her timeline and stories can be a wild ride lol.

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lmaooo yes that and the constant channing tatum thirst gave me too much secondhand embarrassment, had to unfollow

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i hope milo gets punched next or worse

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My vote's for "worse"!!!

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Wow that's satisfying.

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I hope he does too but the nazis already cry "HOMOPHOBIA" at anyone who says anything negative about him. I more hope that people just stop giving him a fucking platform and let him fade into famewhore obscurity.

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fuck her too

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I think you're giving her way too much credit. If she were a protester, she would've said or implied that.

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Girl, enjoy. I hope it's a highlight for you: http://www.realmrhousewife.com/2017/01/23/jill-zarin-seeks-for-photographers-attention-at-inauguration/

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she was invited. i think she's friends with Trump.

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maybe she was a paid seat filler

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There so she could say she was there in both cases

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she is a celebrity wannabee that tried to be top NY housewife by blatantly fucking over bethany frankel and it backfired on her and she got burned like a whore in hell.

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traitor

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attention whore, water is wet, etc

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I mean it's Jill Zarin, who wouldn't expect as much? but still

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lmaoooo

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HA HAHAH AHAHA

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omfg

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i was coming to share this lmao, bless

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Jill Stein!

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lol just what i came in here to laugh about

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Omg so embarrassing

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ha what a loser

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HAHHH

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lmao she's pathetic

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If she was a fictional character, I'd give the writer credit for that kind of continuity with a character's personality.

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lmao

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Lmaooooo

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Oh...my god lol



Like, at that point, why even say anything? You just sound desperate as shit.

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akjsdflkj





JILLZAAAARIN????

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lol irl

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LMAO omg this is both so hilarious and so sad

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ahhahahha crying

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Jill will do anything for attention lbr.

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Oh Cindy Barshop, we hardly knew you...

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What was the context of this again? Season 4 post Bitchenny was amazing imo.

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Is Zarin Fabrics doing that badly???



She reeks of desperation, it's embarrassing. She pissed off Andy and now she needs to make bacon.Is Zarin Fabrics doing that badly???

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ok i know this gif is supposed to illustrate your point but frankly it is managing to endear me to her

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It had nothing to do with the point, I just picked it because I love this GIF so much. It's definitely some shit my dog would try to do.



I really wanted a GIF of her telling Bahhhhhbbbbyy!!!!!!!!!!!!

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That doggie's really going to town 

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Omg my Chihuahua tries to lick up my nose too. (I don't let him though bc that's fuckin gross).

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no idea who she is but what trash she is

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i have a bigger issue with the fact that she's using a private jet which has such a huge carbon footprint in a time where we are literally killing off not only the planet but our own species due to our absolute ignorance of the environment.



plus the indication of the nationalist ~*AmErICa OwnS FreEdOM*~ bullshit, which is a personal pet peeve.

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Thats probably the extent of her political outlook. I dont think she gives a fuck whos in office

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BREAKING: Trump administration mandating EPA scientific studies, data undergo review by political staff before public release.  The Associated Press (@AP) January 25, 2017

We're all gonna die.

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mess



welp not without a fight, he's not

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hope they all get leaked

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OMFG!!!!!!! This is huge in a bad way

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NEW VIDEO: How should the media respond to Trump? Do not show his propaganda live; create anti-Trump TV pic.twitter.com/dPvpQYiHtX  Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) January 25, 2017



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tr*mp going after CNN was probably the best thing that could have happened to them so they'll get their heads out of their asses and stop regurgitating his propaganda

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Speaking of which, arrest ha!



Per CNN, NBC, WaPo: Tiffany Trump, treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and top strategist Steve Bannon were all registered in two states.  Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 25, 2017

lmao @ Tiffany Trump barely making the photo.Speaking of which, arrest ha!

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We need Anonymous to save America RIGHT NOW

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Scientists are going to hold their own march and I am thinking about going. I rely on research grants myself. I hope Trump voters never want to know what pollutants cause cancer because Dear Leader has censored the EPA and science.



This thread is fucking scary



A few final thoughts on the weekend/first few days. Trump had less than 4 hours sleep on Saturday, when he woke up and, at about 7 am., 1/  Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

At this point we have no one to rely on but ourselves. Dem leaders already failed their first test by voting for Trump's noms and I just fucking can't. With all of these executive orders, continued attacks on Muslims, immigrants, science, etc I am so fucking mad. And I'm mad at so many assholes who said "I voted for Trump but don't take him literally!!"Scientists are going to hold their own march and I am thinking about going. I rely on research grants myself. I hope Trump voters never want to know what pollutants cause cancer because Dear Leader has censored the EPA and science.This thread is fucking scary

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Anon is 4chan, 4chan is alt-right nazis. Don't put any hope in them.

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steve bannon needs to be fucking set on fired. he's definitely the one pulling the strings, his nazi ass needs to be sent packing

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to be fair, it's hard to remove yourself from state voter rolls-- technically, when you re-register in a new state, and they ask for your previously registered address, it's so they can update the records accordingly and not have this problem. Buuuuut, most registar of voters offices are SLAMMED and this hardly happens. This is also why they do giant purges that end up being more harmful than useful; so that they can clean up the rolls-- typically if you haven't voted in 4 elections, they consider you eligible to be removed. /voting nerd & poll inspector



However, if they voted in two states, that's different

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and Reince Priebus is registered twice in Kenosha County, Wisconsin

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Fuck US Weekly... I like how the ugliest McPoyle just has to be the only one looking into the camera with his ugly ass mug. God my blood pressure today........

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That's an insult to the McPoyles.

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He is truly hidjuss

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Eric Trump always looks like he accidentally bit into a whole raw onion & is trying to act like he meant to and that it actually tastes good pic.twitter.com/SNFPL4RlSe  Half An Onion (@HalfOnionInABag) January 22, 2017



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He looks like Gary Busey.

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i am so in love with this twitter rn

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I need that Twitter to get more followers than Dump.

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crying

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I wanna see if Ivanka Drumpf is getting slaughtered on Insta but I also don't want to give her clicks. Choosing not to give her any.



They can all die.

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I've been done with people magazine for over a year ever since they had their "at home with trump" cover



And I guess now I'm done with us weekly too :(



Oh well, end of an era for me, I've been reading those tabloids since like middle school.

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we're better off without that trash.

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SAVE BARRON

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He looks like Tiffany is trying to strangle him with his tie in that picture.

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It's ironic, because he and Tiffany are the only Trump kids I don't literally hate lol.

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same re taylor, I need some entertainment to distract from you know who

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I hate the way People treats biological children of celebrities as more cover-worthy "real" children than the adopted ones. They paid a fortune for Shiloh and Viv-&-Knox first covers, but not for any of Brad and Angie's adopted kids.



I could be wrong, but I don't remember Katherine Heigl getting a People cover for her last baby, who was adopted (I think she did when she adopted her first kid, tbf). It just seems like they're treating her third kid as more "special" because he's biological.

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I thought it was just Heigl using her baby to drum up support for her comeback/new CBS series tbh, but that thing about Brad & Angie's kids is a really good point

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I still don't really understand why people are interested in the baby covers at all. Babies are always boring and they all basically look the same.

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and Sandra Bullock had one for hers.

I think the reason Brad and Angie didn't for their adopted kids was because the two oldest ones were adopted by her as a single parent first, and they got together and he eventually adopted them. actually, she did have a cover for Naleigh.and Sandra Bullock had one for hers.I think the reason Brad and Angie didn't for their adopted kids was because the two oldest ones were adopted by her as a single parent first, and they got together and he eventually adopted them.

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I know - Naleigh was her first baby, not her last one. I said in my comment that she had a cover for her first adopted baby but not the last one (she adopted a second girl from the U.S. a few years ago). I would hate to think race had anything to do with it, either, but her second daughter is black, and People does tend to like white babies.



Sandra Bullock only got a cover for her son because he was secretly adopted literally just before the whole scandal with Jesse cheating on Sandra blew up the tabloid world, so there was extremely intense interest in her right then.

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Pax's photos for People is one of their most expensive tho, more than most celeb baby photos iirc

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I had two of my wisdom teeth extrated today and that soup would go down really well right now.

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that lentil soup recipe is excellent. I made it last week

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The first family one is killing me because it's so obvious they barely know each other



It's like a picture of aliens trying to mimic how human siblings act "yes, rub fist on hair. THAT is very human indeed! Simle and laugh. Simle and laugh. What endearing human nature we are displaying. Very believable"

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I hate his sons so much. Poor Tiffany is so unfortunate lmao.



ONTD, which movie streaming sites do you recommend?

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primewire

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I used to use that all the time, but it's been acting up really bad for me lately.

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eric trump seriously looks like he sucks out souls

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lawd I had my annual exam at the gyno this morning. FIRST OF ALL, I had an appointment for 10:45, and wasn't taken back until 12:20. I could've slept an extra two hours, strolled in at noon, and I still would've been early.



Anywho, I had a different doctor who was very nice but wasn't as uhm....gentle with me as my previous doctor has been. She must've used a larger speculum because that shit HURT and I've been spotting all day since.

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that soup looks good

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is meghan actually engaged to harry

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do u believe life and style

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but it says the palace confirmed it on the cover!

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not yet fingers crossed #americanroyal

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U.S. shale has now rebounded to a solid financial equilibrium that it makes sense for companies to begin investing in drilling again. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects U.S. shale drillers to add over 500,000 bpd throughout 2017. Current announcements show the oil price floor, installed by OPECs production cuts, have allowed companies such as Hess Corporation and Noble Energy Incorporated to ramp up their budgetary spending by 60%.

Hess in particular is bullish on the Bakken in North Dakota with a $2.25 billion budget for 2017. Noble Energy will spend $2.5 billion  a 67 percent jump from last years $1.5 billion budget. On top of this, Noble plans to purchase Clayton Williams Energy based in the West Texas Permian for $2.7 billion, giving Noble another 4,200 prospective wells on 120,000 acres.

In other words the spigot has been opened, and more rigs and workers are being put back to work. Texas is leading the way with companies like RSP Permian Inc., increasing their budget by 97 percent to $600 million. Recently, geologists in Texas discovered the largest shale opportunity in the U.S.: The Midland Basin of the Wolfcamp Shale area.

According to the United State Geological Survey (USGS) this discovery is estimated to have 20 billion barrels of oil, 16 trillion cubic feet of associated natural gas, and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids. This find is three times larger than the assessed amount of oil in the Bakken formation in North Dakota.

With the imminent approval approval of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines there is nothing standing in the way of U.S. shale drillers from delivering hundreds of thousands of barrels of new oil and gas to the market. As an example, the Dakota Access pipeline will deliver, 470,000 barrels of oil each day from oil fields in western North Dakota to much of the Upper Midwest en route to Illinois. Billions in new investments, and larger budgets from world-class shale drillers, are reasons that could possibly negate the effects of the OPEC cuts.

Moreover, oilfield service companies are announcing larger than expected capital budgets. Unheard of is a better way to describe this news, because months ago the OPEC deal had not brought oil prices up to a level where companies could spend money, invest in the future, and hire workers. The 32nd Annual Barclays E&P Spending Survey found:

Eighty percent of survey respondents said they expect oilfield service (OFS) costs to rise in the supply chain, and the OFS is among the most under-owned sectors in the S&P 500. Related: Markets Buy The OPEC Cuts, But Fear U.S. Supply

This leaves room to add the above-mentioned firms in your portfolio, but with the risk and rewards that OFS brings this segment of the oil and gas industry.

This predicted surge in spending will also find oil field service providers such as Schlumberger Ltd. spend more as well. Paal Kibsgaard, Chief Executive Officer of Schlumberger believes the global market will take longer to rebound, but witnesses, many global operators are not as well funded or nimble as American producers.

This renewed confidence comes on the heels of two years of austere budgets, layoffs that totaled over 150,000 U.S. oil workers and hundreds of bankruptcies. Idle rigs began littering the shale landscape since the 2014 crash, but now that same shale patch is firing them up once again.

The main key to understanding how U.S. shale companies have adapted to the new oil price environment has been the can-do attitude of petroleum engineers and oilmen from the Bakken to the Marcellus shale formations in combination with favorable financing conditions. These companies, and their ability to withstand the crisis of plunging oil prices has made them more flexible, better funded, leaner and more able to bring oil and gas rigs back online in seemingly no time.

And now with a tsunami of deregulation coming to the U.S, this could unleash investments and even more oil and gas drilling. U.S. shale companies have withstood the Saudi price war aimed at annihilating them, but 2017 could see a convincing comeback.

U.S. shale, unlike many other oil industries in the world has managed to adapt to the new $50 oil reality. Denver based Extract Oil & Gas, CEO, Mark Erickson says, $45 oil has proven to be a sweet spot for the company, any improvement in price just means stronger returns and more activity are on the way. This years shaping up to be a very good year for U.S. shale.

By Todd Royal for Oilprice.com

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Despite some suggestions that oil prices will level off at around $60 in 2017, since the initial surge of the OPEC production deal prices have barely nudged above $53. Over the long-term, outlooks are more bearish than bullish, and a major reason for that is the strong likelihood of increased production in three places: Libya, Nigeria and Iran.

All three countries were effectively exempt from the OPEC production cuts, for various reasons. Iran has agreed to keep its production level below 4 million bpd, allowing it to add about 90,000 bpd to its production level. Nigeria has suffered significant cuts to production over the last year, chiefly due to the activities of militants in the Niger River Delta.

Libya has been torn apart by civil war and a fight between its recognized government and separatists in its eastern regions, with the countrys rich oil fields and refineries the major prize in frequent skirmishes.

Cuts from OPEC members totaling 1.5 million bpd, together with non-OPEC cuts of nearly 600,000 bpd, have already pushed prices above the their threshold in 2016 of $50, but theres strong evidence that the initial market impact of the OPEC deal is on the verge of playing itself out. Over the next year, activity in these three countries could continue to exert downward pressure on prices.

That is, of course, if Libya is able to stay the course and succeed in bringing its oil industry back to full strength. While the immediate outlook for a strong recovery in Libyan production is good, the political situation in the country is uneasy and instability, in the form of renewed fighting between rival factions, could return to disrupt oil production. Related: Why Cheap Natural Gas Is History

Libya succeeded in bringing the bulk of its oil production and export capacity back on line in Fall 2016. Between September 2016 and January 2017, Libyan production climbed from 300,000 bpd to nearly 700,000 bpd, a three-year high according to the National Oil Company (NOC). The increase came after military forces succeeded in retaking key installations in the east of the country, where separatist sentiment is strongest.

The government has announced plans to increase production to at least 1 million bpd by the end of the year. These plans were delayed this week by an electrical failure at the Sarir oilfield, which cut 60,000 bpd in production. This will likely be a short-term outage, and only days before, a spokesman from Libyas internally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) boasted that the countrys oil production had already exceeded 750,000 bpd.

Already, the countrys production has increased twenty-three percent since November, according to Bloomberg. A spokesman for Libya predicted on Tuesday that the country would its goal and pump 1.25 million bpd by the end of the year.

In 2011, before the revolt toppled the government of Muammar Qaddafi, Libya produced 1.6 million bpd. To recover to that level, the country will need between $100 and $120 billion in outside investment to rebuild its damaged infrastructure and explore new fields. There has been a moratorium in place since 2011, but the GNA announced on Tuesday that Libyas oil fields are now open to foreign investment. Related: Cash Strapped Iranian Oil Industry Braces For Trump Impact

How quickly production can reach the anticipated level of 1 million bpd depends on conditions inside the country, where violence could escalate and the weak grasp of the GNA over the oil fields and export facilities could be broken. American air strikes have helped Libyan authorities decimate local forces loyal to the Islamic State (ISIS), but the immediate future for Libyas political stability are uncertain, with trends pointing towards a bid for power by General Khalifa Haftar, who had attempted to seize power in 2014 only to fail and endure a brief exile in the United States. He is now positioned to make another move towards putting himself in power, with strong backing from Russias president Vladimir Putin.

Haftar, as leader of the Libyan National Army (LNA), an organization with only loose ties to the GNA, has shunned the government in Tripoli and built a powerbase in the east of the country. The general was recently welcomed aboard a Russian aircraft carrier returning from Syria, and analysts now point to Libya as another arena in which Moscow is exerting its influence in the Middle East. Haftar, though previously backed by the United States, is now recognized as a Russia-backed actor with aspirations to seize control over Libya from the GNA.

Attempts by countries like Italy, which has a historic connection to Libya as its former colonial master and maintains strong strategic and economic interests there, to stabilize the GNA have had only a limited effect, as the government appears too weak to exert much influence over the other rival factions, including Haftar and the LNA.

Should Haftar, or forces loyal to him, attempt a move against the unsteady government in Tripoli, it could trigger greater instability in Libya, upsetting oil production. With production now just recovering, and an unsteady peace between Tripoli and Haftar, the immediate chances of a coup in Libya seem remote. But a change in the political situation could once again disrupt Libyas recovering oil industry, with a corresponding upward effect on oil prices.

By Gregory Brew for Oilprice.com

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President Donald Trump is taking his America First energy plan from the campaign trail to the White House website, vowing to achieve energy independence from OPEC and any nations hostile to U.S. interests.

Trump is not the first U.S. President to have promised energy independence. At the height of the 1973 Arab oil embargo, Richard Nixon suggested a project to ensure that by the end of the 1970s, Americans will not have to rely on any source of energy beyond our own.

More than 40 years later, America continues to rely on foreign oil imports, and is a large importer and even larger consumer of crude oil. This makes the U.S. crude oil flows an integral part of the global oil market.

The U.S also continues to import oil from OPEC producers, and even if volumes have been consistently below 4 million bpd since September 2012, imports in October 2016 were not a negligible figure - 3.11 million bpd, according to the latest available data by the EIA. To put this into perspective, total U.S. crude oil imports in October were 7.607 million bpd.

If President Trump were to follow through with his vow to free America of OPEC imports, some 3 million bpd must come from non-OPEC producers: an unlikely development in the near term.

Just after he was elected President in November, Trump threatened to block Saudi oil imports. Back then, Khalid al-Falih - the oil minister of OPECs biggest producer and the cartels biggest supplier to the U.S.  warned the U.S. not to stop Saudi imports, as free trade was very healthy for oil. Related: How The Saudi Rift With Egypt Is Spiraling Out Of Control

Now, just two days after President Trump was sworn in, al-Falih reiterated his view that America is closely integrated in the global energy market.

The positions that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia take in global energy are very important for global economic stability, the Saudi oil minister said on Sunday, as quoted by Bloomberg. Venezuelas oil minister Nelson Martinez chimed in with remarks that there was a lot of interdependence in energy trade, and added that his countrys exports to the U.S. would stay stable.

Saudi Arabia and Venezuela  OPECs largest crude oil exporters to the U.S.  do not seem particularly concerned with President Trumps promises to cut OPEC imports.

Out of OPECs 3.11 million bpd in oil exports to the U.S. in October, Saudi Arabia exported 1.023 million bpd of that, while Venezuela exported 724,000 bpd. Bloomberg calculations show that last year, Saudi exports averaged 1.077 million bpd with Venezuela averaging 733,000 bpd, which accounted for nearly 60 percent of Americas OPEC imports of around 3 million bpd.

If OPEC were to be cut off as U.S. crude oil supplier, its not only the volume that, in theory, has to be imported from elsewhere; its also the heavier crude oils that Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, for example, export to the U.S. Many refineries need heavier crudes to blend with the light tight oils.

In terms of volume, U.S. shale cannot swiftly ramp up production by 3 million bpd: the EIA expects oil production this year to average 9 million bpd, or 110,000 bpd more than last year. Related: Why Cheap Natural Gas Is History

The likely candidates for more non-OPEC imports to the U.S. could be the biggest current non-cartel suppliers and closest neighbors: Canada and Mexico. However, they cannot provide additional 3 million bpd to the U.S. In addition, President Trumps America First and national defense policies are unnerving the neighbors both to the north and to the south.

Tim McMillan, the president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), said in an interview with Calgary Herald that President Trumps inaugural address was a bit of a wake-up call that we need to strengthen our relationships on energy with other countries.

Mexico is trying to offset years of natural decline in oil production and is auctioning off promising deepwater assets for development, which will take years. In the short term, this will not be Mexicos primary concern in its U.S. relations, though. It will be President Trumps commitment to renegotiate NAFTA and his plans to build a wall along the U.S. southern border.

While achieving energy independence from OPEC, if possible, will not be an easy task for the new administration, its likely there is at least a bit of undisclosed fear on behalf of Venezuela and Saudi Arabia in the wake of Trumps first days in office which have fulfilled many campaign promises that, at the time, many skeptics thought were empty.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline is a key element of Azerbaijans efforts to export its greatest source of wealth, its Caspian Sea natural gas deposits, to European markets. It is also a cornerstone of the European Unions strategy to weaken Russias hold on European gas markets.



The pipelines route, however, passes through ancient olive groves and over pristine beaches in the Italian region of Puglia, which relies on that bucolic landscape for its major industry, tourism.



That has set up a standoff between global energy interests and local environmental activists. And with a December referendum in Italy that reinforced local governments autonomy, the anti-pipeline activists have  if only temporarily  gained the upper hand.



The pipeline is currently under construction by a consortium of companies, with Azerbaijans state energy company SOCAR holding a 20 percent share. The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development is considering a EUR 2 billion loan to partially fund the pipeline -- the largest such loan ever in Europe -- which has demanded as one of its conditions an environmental and social impact assessment. The Italian government approved the project in 2014, provided the consortium met more than 50 conditions aimed at minimizing the damage caused by the pipeline.



A year later, the Italian Ministry of Economic Development certified that the consortium had fulfilled all those requirements. But several local officials, including the governor of the Puglia region and the mayor of Melendugno, where the pipeline is supposed to reach land, have bucked the central government and continue to insist that their concerns have not been met.



The most contentious issue is that of a grove of 1,900 olive trees that the consortium planned to move while the pipeline is being constructed and then move back when it is done. But transplanting the trees  some of which are more than 1,000 years old  is a delicate operation, and local officials argue that the pipeline consortium doesnt have an adequate plan to make sure it is done safely. Local officials also have expressed concerns about the last leg of the pipeline, which is supposed to come out of the Adriatic Sea on to a remote beach at San Basilio. Related: Is Libya A Bigger Threat To Oil Prices Than U.S. Shale?



Italy is not the only site of environmental protests against TAP. The pipeline has also faced opposition in the other countries it passes through, Greece and Albania. But it is Italy where the protests have a real chance of disrupting the project. Among the individuals and organizations objecting to the pipelines current plans is the populist 5-Star Movement. If they come to build a pipeline in any part of Puglia, even if they bring their army, we will line up our army, the movements leader, Beppe Grillo, said in 2014.



Italys central government, which has consistently backed the pipeline, had pinned its hopes on a December 4 national referendum to take some decision-making power on these sorts of large energy projects out the hands of local officials. But the referendum failed, so the standoff has continued.



The project is not moving ahead, the resistance is well-grounded in expert analysis, technical issues have not been solved, and political consensus is lacking, said Elena Gerebizza, an energy campaigner at Re:Common, an Italian environmental group that is backing the opposition, in an interview with EurasiaNet.org.



Marco Poti, the mayor of Melendugno, said he expected that the central government would have been chastened by the referendum result, but instead complained that Rome had been captured by TAP.



The referendum in my municipality got a sound no, and we thought it sent a clear signal in Rome, Poti said. Instead  nothing happened  the ministers are the same, the project and its details have not been modified by a comma, with essentially an international corporation taking over a central government. Related: Keystone XL Still Faces Obstacles Even With Trumps Approval



Azerbaijan has responded with incredulity to the Italian opposition, arguing that the consortium has bent over backwards to accommodate the environmental demands. It is all about politics. One would hardly believe that a few hundred olive trees could outweigh the huge benefits the country could get, one Azerbaijani official working on the pipeline told EurasiaNet.org on condition of anonymity. The local Italian opposition creates a risk for the realization of the project, said SOCAR vice president Vitaly Baylarbayov.



Azerbaijan also has long insinuated, without proof, that Russia may be behind the protests. In the end, the campaign against TAP gas pipeline will suit Russia, said another SOCAR vice president, Elshad Nashirov. In 2014, then-NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organizations, environmental organizations working against shale gas, obviously to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas. Rasmussen acknowledged, though, that he had no proof. Thats my interpretation.



Meanwhile, an Italian member of parliament is under investigation for accepting more than $2 million in bribes in order to oppose a human rights report on Azerbaijan that could have threatened the pipelines approval.



Azerbaijan also has asked for American help in overcoming the Italian intransigence. William Silkworth, director of the Office of Europe, the Western Hemisphere, and Africa at the US State Departments Bureau of Energy Resources, visited Baku just after the Italian vote. Energy Minister Natig Aliyev asked Silkworth for an expression of political support in order to avoid political difficulties with the TAP project, a ministry press release noted.



Little of the international wrangling has made its way to Meledugno, Poti said. We have had contacts with TAP, very little with other projects, or foreign structures, he said. And as the project progressed, relations with the TAP consortium worsened, he said: At the beginning, we even welcomed them, but when we saw their misleading techniques, we ended any type of relationship... The project is wrong, useless, non-strategic, and not compatible with this territory.



Even if the objections stand, the result will not mean the cancelation of the pipeline, but its rerouting. Local activists have pushed the TAP consortium to move the landfall of the pipeline about 50 kilometers to the north, at the town of Brindisi, though consortium officials have opposed such a move.



It is highly unlikely that TAP would be blocked as a result of this opposition; in the worst scenario, it can be delayed, said Madalina Vicari, an analyst of European energy politics, in an interview with EurasiaNet.org.

By Eurasianet

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President Donald Trump moved to fulfill one of his campaign promises on Tuesday, signing an executive order to revive the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines. The former had been rejected outright by the Obama administration while the latter had been given an indefinite delay.

The industry hailed the executive order, but just because President Trump wants to see the pipeline built does not mean TransCanada will move to break ground anytime soon. There are a number of uncertainties that could prevent construction from progressing.

First, the President said that he would renegotiate the terms of the Keystone XL pipeline, presumably to get a better deal as he promised during the campaign. The specifics of renegotiating the pipeline are unclear  he also signed an executive order to expedite the environmental review process for major infrastructure projects, so it is not as if he has a problem with the pipelines route or environmental impact. The regulatory process in this country has become a tangled mess, President Trump said.

Based on his comments during the presidential campaign, it would appear that he wants to ensure some of the oil flowing through the Keystone XL Pipeline would be consumed in the U.S. rather than be shipped to the Gulf of Mexico for export. Again, it is unclear what kind of requirements he wants to place on the project and how that might complicate the calculations for TransCanada. Related: Trump Angers Buffett  To Sign Executive Orders On Keystone, Dakota Pipelines

Another complicating factor for the project is that President Trump signed a separate order calling for all pipelines to be constructed with American-made steel. If that order is binding on TransCanada, it is uncertain how that will affect the ultimate cost of the project.

Meanwhile, environmental groups argue that the executive order does not resolve all legal questions surrounding both pipelines and have promised to resume the fight against the project. President Trump appears to be ignoring the law, public sentiment and ethical considerations with this executive order aimed at resurrecting the long-rejected Keystone XL pipeline, Trip Van Noppen, President of environmental group Earthjustice wrote in a statement. He should brace himself to contend with the laws he is flouting, and the millions of Americans who are opposed to these dangerous and destructive projects. We will see his administration in court.

On top of that, President Trump is proposing a border-adjustment tax as part of his larger tax reform push for this year. The idea is that products exported from the U.S. will be exempted from tax while at the same time companies will no longer be able to deduct the expenses of imports from their tax bill. The proposal is highly controversial and it would have huge ramifications for the oil industry. Related: How The Saudi Rift With Egypt Is Spiraling Out Of Control

The effects of such a tax would be complex, but would boil down to prioritizing U.S.-produced oil and gas, making oil from Canada less competitive. Oil from the U.S. shale patch would be priced at a premium to oil from abroad because of the tax. If such a tax were passed it would damage the prospects of oil exported through the Keystone XL Pipeline. President Trump would be pursuing one of his priorities at the expense of another.

Finally, Canada has moved on since the Obama administration rejected the pipeline back in 2015. Just a few weeks ago the Canadian government gave the greenlight to Kinder Morgans Trans Mountain Expansion, which would nearly triple the volume of the pipelines existing line from 300,000 to 890,000 bpd, taking Alberta oil to the Pacific coast for export. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also approved Enbridges Line 3, a more than $7 billion overhaul of a pipeline that runs from Alberta to Wisconsin in the U.S., taking Canadian oil to Midwestern refineries. Enbridges project has received considerably less attention from environmental activists, but it would double the pipelines capacity to 760,000 bpd. The two pipelines together would add more capacity than Keystone XL would. The midstream market is different than it was back when Keystone XL was the only game in town. It is not at all clear that Keystone XL makes sense anymore with two major competing pipelines now moving forward.

In short, President Trump, with the stroke of a pen, has put Keystone XL back on the map. But it will take more than that for the pipeline to move forward.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

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Japan reported a trade surplus of US$35.8 billion (4.1 trillion yen) for 2016, thanks to much cheaper oil. This is the first trade surplus for the country, which is one of the top five consumers of oil, since 2011 after it slipped into a deficit following the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

At the time, Japan was forced to substantially increase its imports of crude oil, as it lacks any meaningful natural resources, yet is very power-hungry: the countrys 2015 oil consumption was estimated at 4.5 million barrels daily. In this context, Japan was one of the winners from the 2014 oil price crash, which while pounding major exporters into the ground, helped it prop up its trade accounts.

Overall imports for 2016, according to the AP, were US$581 billion (66 trillion yen), down by 16 percent on 2015. Exports, on the other hand, slipped by 7.4 percent to US$617 billion (70.04 trillion yen).

Because of its dependence on imported oil, Japan has been active in ensuring long-term supplies and seeking new, alternative sources of crude, such as Iran. There were five Japanese energy firms on a list of 29 that were approved by the National Iranian Oil Company to bid in coming oil and gas field development tenders.



Related: How The Saudi Rift With Egypt Is Spiraling Out Of Control

One of these, Inpex, has recently begun intense negotiations for the development of the Azadegan fieldone of five that Iran shares with Iraq. According to a senior Iranian official, quoted by the Japan Times, the company has a very good chance to win the contract for Azadegan. The company previously took part in its development but pulled out in 2010 after the imposition of Western sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program.

Now that Iran needs foreign investments and modern technology to put its oil and gas industry back on its feet, Japan would certainly be a welcome partner for the local state companies.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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The worlds largest copper mine is moving closer to a shutdown. With unionized workers at Chiles Escondida operation yesterday rejecting owner BHPs latest wage offer  and now facing a strike vote on Friday.

Thats a critical development for overall copper production from South America. A region that new data this week shows has become a major focus for the worlds number one copper-importing nation: China.

Chinas General Administration of Customs released import statistics for 2016 on Tuesday. Showing that incoming shipments of copper concentrate from South America took another big jump during the past year.

World-leading copper nation Chile led the way. With imports from here to China rising 26.7% during 2016, to 4.74 million tonnes.

Thats almost the same percentage increase that Chinas imports from Chile saw during 2015  when shipments rose 27%. Suggesting that Chilean copper concentrate is increasingly in demand amongst Chinese buyers.

But there was another critical point in the new customs data. Chinas copper imports from Chiles South American neighbor, Peru are also on a tear.

Peru actually became Chinas number two source of copper concentrate imports during 2016. With shipments from here totalling 4.61 million tonnes.

All together, Chile and Peru accounted for 55% of Chinas total copper concentrate imports of 17.05 million tonnes in 2016. With the next-biggest supplier, Mongolia, shipping only 1.50 million tonnes. Related: Miners Shun Top Class Gold Assets In Egypt

Thats coming as Chinese firms are expanding their captive mining operations in these countries. With projects like Toromocho and Las Bambas helping to boost output from Peru the last few years.

The trend toward Chinese focus on South American copper is likely to continue. With Ecuador becoming a new center of supply  following the opening of the Chinese-backed Mirador mine, scheduled for 2018.

The Andean copper belt is one of the worlds richest, and access to Asia is good. Watch for more interest in projects here from developers in China, and other key copper markets in Asia.

Heres to the go-to people.

By Dave Forest

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President Donald J. Trump noted in his inaugural address:

For too long, a small group in our nations capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourishedbut the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prosperedbut the jobs left, and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself but not the citizens of our country.

Forever more this will be the backdrop for evaluating the success of Mr. Trump and the resistance of the political establishment. Please note the following:

The Congressional Review Act. Mr. Trump took the oath of office at noon (EST) on Friday, January 20, 2017. By 5:00PM on Monday, January 23, 2017  a scant three days later  Mr. Trump had cancelled taxpayer funds to be used for abortions outside of the country, froze implementation of rules adopted during the waning days of President Barack Obamas administrations, stopped further implementation of Obamacare and required agencies to roll back rules and orders that imposed additional costs or hardships on those effected, implemented a hiring freeze, withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and met with representatives of large businesses and private sector union leaders. The following day, Mr. Trump removed the final barriers to the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines and required the new pipelines to use United States steel. And that is just the start.

In contrast, the Congress, still controlled by Republican lifers has done precisely nothing  well not nothing they did try to change the ethics rules to eliminate an outside ethics panel. However, substantively they have done nothing. According to Forbes Magazine there are over 150 rules capable of being overturned by application of the Congressional Review Act that permits Congress to review and reject any rule adopted within sixty working days from its adoption. (A demonstration of how little Congress does is found in the fact that sixty working days translates into almost six calendar months  Congress only works three days a week and all the holidays, recesses and horse play stretch action to an interminable amount of time.) The new Congress was sworn into office on January 3, 2017. By the time of the publication of this column, twenty-four calendar days will have elapsed during which Congress could have acted to reject any of those 150 rules and laid that resolution of Mr. Trumps desk for signature. Having surfed the internet I cannot find a single reference to Congress acting on a single one of those rules. But so exhausted were the Republicans from doing nothing that they cut the workweek short and retired to Philadelphia for yet another boondoggle leaving the majority of Mr. Trumps cabinet nominees unconfirmed.

There are still no plans for replacing Obamacare despite having whined about it for six years, no legislation for implementing tax reform despite having whined about it for six years, and no plans for balancing the budget or freezing the national debt despite having whined about it for six years.

Returning to Mr. Trumps inaugural address:

We 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.

Some things never change.

Another Obama Lie about Obamacare. Two weeks ago I wrote about my distrust of a government that consistently lies to justify pursuit of a policy that cannot stand the test of the truth. One of those items was Obamacare. An article by Betsy McCaughey of the London Center for Policy Research in the January 18 edition of the Wall Street Journal emphasizes that former President Barack Obama lied about Obamacare walking in the door and he continued to lie about it as he exited:

Can Democrats scare Republicans into giving up their plans to repeal ObamaCare? Theyre certainly trying: President Obama recently warned that if Congress junks the Affordable Care Act, 133 million Americans with pre-existing conditions will be in jeopardy. Thats a phony figure, for several reasons. The actual number is roughly 500,000. For starters, half of Americans get their insurance through an employer, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Another 34% are on Medicaid or Medicare. For all these people, pre-existing conditions are no barrier to coverage.

If the Wall Street Journal is correct in its estimation that there are only 500,000 people actually effected by the issue of pre-existing conditions it means that Mr. Obama and his fellow Democrats destroyed the American healthcare system for less than 0.15 percent of the population. A number so small that it could have been dealt with in a hundred different ways as a supplement to the then existing healthcare system. (In previous columns I have noted that nearly 80 percent of those previously uninsured were taken care of through an expansion of Medicaid  another action that could have been taken without destroying the existing healthcare system. The remaining previously uninsured are divided between those displaced by Obamacare and students now included under their parents policies. All matters that could have been dealt with specifically instead of destroying Americas healthcare system.)

But if your real intent was to capture a significant part of the economy (over sixteen percent) and place it under absolute control of the federal government, then pretending to focus on those with pre-existing conditions and the poor who were uninsured is a great facade for your actual intentions. Obamacare was justified by a lie, implemented with a lie, and now defended by a lie.

But then some things never change.

The Clinton Foundation. For those of you have a long believed that the Clinton Foundation was primarily a political front and a means for laundering money for political rather than charitable purposes, recent events have reinforced your belief. The January 15 edition of The New York Observer noted:

 The Clinton Foundations long list of wealthy donors and foreign government contributors during the 2016 elections provoked critics to allege conflicts of interests. Clinton partisans defended the organizations charitable work, and dismissed claims that it served as a means for the Clintons to sell off access, market themselves on the paid speech circuit, and elevate their brand as Hillary Clinton campaigned for the presidency.

But as soon as Clinton lost the election, many of the criticisms directed toward the Clinton Foundation were reaffirmed. Foreign governments began pulling out of annual donations, signaling the organizations clout was predicated on donor access to the Clintons, rather than its philanthropic work. In November, the Australian government confirmed it has not renewed any of its partnerships with the scandal-plagued Clinton Foundation, effectively ending 10 years of taxpayer-funded contributions worth more than $88 million. The government of Norway also drastically reduced their annual donations, which reached $20 million a year in 2015.

In large part the Clinton Foundation has been used to house the Clintons political operatives during former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons preparation for running for president. It was also the vehicle for receiving significant donations from foreign entities seeking favor from the State Department and for directing such donors to the employment of former President Bill Clinton for speaking engagements that were billed at hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Clintons went from dead broke to an accumulated wealth of nearly $200 Million utilizing this form of pay to play while Ms. Clinton was in public office.

The Clintons further reinforced that perception by announcing that it is closing the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and firing 22 employees. The CGI has been the principle vehicle for its charitable contributions.

The sudden and dramatic drop in contributions to the Clinton Foundation and the reduction in speaking engagements and the cost of those engagement for both Mr. and Ms. Clinton demonstrate that the Clintons, without political power, without the prospect of political power, and without public office, are virtually worthless. Their speeches were never about insight into the government or specific issues but were always about access and favors. The Clinton Foundation remains flush with cash as they held out the prospects for political favors should Ms. Clinton have been elected. One now wonders how the Clintons will drain that money out for their personal benefit.

From the Clintons standpoint it is a good thing that they amassed a fortune during their days of political power and favor because the likelihood that others will employ their skills and support their causes is practically nonexistent for the future. The same can be said of their daughter Chelsea who, during this same period of time, has amassed a fortune of nearly $50 Million without any discernable production outside of the Clintons political affiliations.

As Mr. Trump pursues his intent to drain the swamp the best starting place will be to investigate, indict and convict all three of the Clintons thus removing a significant stain on American history.

Some things never change.

Media Madness. There is a frenetic hatred amongst the mainstream media when it comes to Mr. Trump. It is hard to attribute a single cause for this maniacal loathing but it exists  exists to the extent that most of them no longer try to hide it under the guise of reporting. (One of the problems with generalizations is that there are always exceptions to the rule and, in this case, there indeed are exceptions  few as they may be.)

Let me list the sins of Mr. Trump that contribute to this hatred: he is wealthy (ostentatiously wealthy), he is successful (unapologetically successful), he is (at least currently) a Republican, he is not politically correct (in fact, eschews political correctness), he routinely points out the errors (deliberate and otherwise) of the press, and he refuses to be cowed by the power of the press. Im sure that there are other reasons but they all add up a total abandonment of the ideals of the Fourth Estate  to hold government accountable. Instead they have now morphed into a collective offensive to destroy a sitting president.

Worse yet, they accept absolutely no responsibility for their errors, their distortions or their conduct  not for themselves, nor for each other. How many denounced the classless rudeness of CNN reporter Jim Acosta, how many criticized Time Magazines Zeke Miller for falsely reporting that Mr. Trump had removed the bust of Martin Luther King, how many criticized CNN for its reporting of a known false flag story regarding Mr. Trumps relationship with Russia, and how many protested the Daily Mail when it claimed that Melania Trump was a paid escort.

Whatever story, regardless of the truth, that fits the narrative of Mr. Trump and his supporters as being misogynistic, racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, xenophobic, or otherwise deplorable is good enough for them. But all of this is creating a backlash against the mainstream press and they, so enmeshed in their own self-importance, dont get it  dont see it. A guest editorial in Tuesdays Wall Street Journal by Barbara A. Smith, who was egged by anti-Trump people on her way to an inaugural ball, is instructive to the mainstream media:

I dont expect to agree with all of his administrations policies or even the rhetoric that Mr. Trump employs to make his case. But being assaulted based on an assumption that I supported him had a way of breaking through my reservations. I choose to stand with the ridiculed, the insulted, the belittled. I stand with those who voted for something new and different and a little scary. I stand with people who are tarred as bigots and misogynistsor even eggedsimply because of their views on taxes, health-care reform or government entitlements.

I stand with Barbara Smith.

Some things never change.
We will call Nawaz Sharif in court if there is a need for it: SC

Continuing his arguments before the larger bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) counsel Taufiq Asif earned the ire of the presiding judges after he made repeated references to a past case which had validated the Oct 12, 1999 military takeover of the PML-N government at the time.



It was the second instance the advocate had referred to the Zafar Ali Shah case while presenting his arguments before the five-member bench of the Supreme Court.



What followed was a repeat of what happened when Asif first brought it up: the bench had to remind the lawyer that the decision reached in the Zafar Ali Shah case did not, in fact, acknowledge Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's ownership of the London flats.



The bench also expressed anger at the counsel for bringing the argument up again, noting that he seemed insistent on referring to the case seemingly without having even read its decision.



Justice Ijaz-ul-Hassan admonished the lawyer saying he had "made a mockery of the case." "You have caused as much damage to your client as you possibly could," Justice Azmat Saeed added.



The court also told the lawyer that he had not been able to establish any relationship between the references he was making and the ownership of the London flats.



As he concluded his arguments, Advocate Asif turned the court's attention back to the Gulf Steel Mills set up in Dubai in 1974, saying he suspects the London flats were bought by selling the mills



"All the petitioners should be given the chance to cross-examine Nawaz Sharif [in this regard]," he said.



Justice Khosa told the advocate that the bench would decide on the matter after hearing the arguments of all the petitioners.



"We will call Nawaz Sharif [to present himself in court] if there is a need for it," he assured.



Sheikh Ahsan Uddin, another counsel representing JI in the case, told the court that "now that all evidence has been brought forward, the court has a grave responsibility".



"What 'evidences'?" Justice Gulzar Ahmed retorted. "You can call them materials, not evidence," Justice Khosa added. "What will happen if the evidences [you speak of] are found to be useless under the Law of Evidence?" Justice Azmat Saeed inquired.



After the petitioners wound up their arguments, Maryam Nawaz's lawyer submitted a written reply which claimed that the gifts her father had given her were a token of his paternal love.



The premier's daughter also maintained that she was not the owner of the London flats, and that the Park Lane flats were owned by her brother, Hussain Nawaz.



She claimed that she had only accepted authority over Minerva Financial Services (the holding company that owns two other companies behind the London flats) at the request of her brother.



"Till this day, I have never visited the company, or met with any of its staff," she claimed. However, the court rejected the document.



"The document containing Maryam Nawaz's testimony does not have her signature on it. The testimony [therefore] has no importance before the law," Justice Khosa told Shahid Hamid, who is representing the prime minister's daughter.



The lawyer told the court that he will submit the document after getting it signed. In his own arguments, Shahid Hamid recounted the accusations levelled against his client.



"It has been alleged that Maryam Nawaz is the dependent of her father. It has also been alleged that her husband failed to include the gifts Maryam was given in his tax returns," he said.



When Justice Azmat inquired whether it was binding under the law that a husband declare his wife's assets in his tax returns, the lawyer told him it was not, since Maryam Nawaz pays taxes as well.



The judges also observed that since several of the accusations levelled against Prime Minister Sharif are in relation to Maryam Nawaz, the lawyer would also have to present arguments in relation to her status as a dependent as well.
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...
Meteorologist Paul Douglas writes about Minnesota weather daily, trying to go beyond the "highs" and "lows" of the weather story to discuss current trends and some of the how's and why's of meteorology. Rarely is our weather dull - every day is a new forecast challenge. Why is the weather doing what it's doing? Is climate change a real concern, and if so, how will my family be affected? Climate is flavoring all weather now, and I'll include links to timely stories that resonate with me.
The Zambia police command has issued a notice halting marriages between officers and foreigners.



According to a memo signed by Inspector-General of Police, Kakoma Kanganja, the move is deemed as security caution for the country.



Be informed that the Police High Command has with immediate effect directed that no police officer should marry a foreigner, the memo read.



The directive further said officers who are already married to foreigners should declare their spouses within a week, failure to which they will face disciplinary action.



Speaking to BBC, Police spokesperson Esther Katongo, said officers are informed about the directive before joining the service.



Issues of security are delicate. If not careful, spouses can be spies and can sell the security of the country, Katongo added.



She said that the ban was not new, and that officers obeyed it. She said that the police only re-issued the order because some officers had begun ignoring it.



There are a few officers who have started marrying foreigners, she said. They are ignoring the previous requirement and this is why another standing order has been passed to remind officers what they are supposed to do and not supposed to do.



She said it was likely officers who had married foreigners would now be given some rules they should follow.



On the necessity of such measure, Katongo said: When you get married, they say that you are one. You know what marriage is  you share secrets. And you can tell officers do not disclose but you have no control. You wont be in their homes to always check on them.



The security of the nation is what is paramount.

Source: BBC









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A sermon on homosexuality delivered in South Africa by the founder and Presiding Bishop of the Lighthouse Chapel International in Ghana, Pastor Dag Heward-Mills, has caused a deep controversy in the southern African country.



Bishop Heward-Mills who was preaching at the Soweto-based Grace Bible Church described homosexual as unnatural and unbiblical.



You dont find two male dogs, two male cats, or two male lionseven lizards, two male elephants, there is nothing like that in nature, it is unnatural, yes, there is nothing like that, he said.



The sermon has caused a deep division among South Africans  while some lauded Pastor Heward-Mills biblical interpretation of homosexuality, others have condemned it.



A popular South African choreographer and radio personality Somizi Mhlongo who is also a known homosexual is among the many that have condemned the act.



Mr Mhlongo said the congregation had been cheering as the Ghanaian pastor said homosexuality was sinful and disgusting.



This is who I am. I am a gay man. Get it into your skull. My soul is all right with my God," said Mhlongo.



Im disappointed at all the gay men and women who sat there and listened to him offending us and didnt do anything about it. I walked out and visibly so, he adds.



So widespread was the division caused by the sermon in South Africa that the state broadcaster, SABC, held a panel discussion to revisit the subject of homosexuality in the country.



South Africa prides as being one of the best countries in Africa that have made progress with the rights of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT).



Watch the SABC panel discussion that was necessitated by Pastor Dag Heward-Mills' sermon.

Video below-









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The President Nana Akufo-Addo is asking the Ambassador to Saudi Arabia to ensure that the friendly relationship between the two countries reflects in how Ghanaian citizens are treated in Saudi Arabia.



The Ghanaian leader is not happy with the way citizens of his country are treated in the Gulf state.



President Akufo-Addo expressed the concern when the head of the Saudi Arabia mission in Ghana Hisham Mishal Al-Suwailem, paid a courtesy call on him at the Flagstaff House in Accra, Wednesday.



Diplomatic relationship between the two countries is high but same cannot be said about treatment meted out to Ghanaians when they go to Saudi Arabia.



In 2015, a 21-year-old lady named only as Amina was gang raped and deported to Ghana by the Saudis when she had only gone for greener pastures.



It added to the tall list of domestic abuse many Ghanaians have suffered in the hands of Saudi authorities.



Saudi Arabia was not the only culprit in the act of maltreating Ghanaian citizens. An inter-ministerial taskforce made up of officials of the Foreign Affairs, Interior, Labour and Employment was constituted in 2016 and tasked to investigate the causes of the dehumanizing treatment meted to Ghanaians when they travel to the Gulf states.



The taskforce had, as one of its core duties, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Arabian countries to treat Ghanaian workers with dignity.



President Akufo-Addo told Saudi Arabian Ambassador Hisham Mishal Al-Suwailem they must begin to walk the talk on diplomacy between the two countries.



"You make sure that as much as possible, the very friendly relations between our two nations is reflective in the way in which our people are also treated," he said



The Saudi Arabian Ambassador had paid a courtesy call on him at the Flagstaff House, Wednesday.



Also to bid good bye after a five year stay in Ghana was the Brazilian Ambassador, Irene Vida Gala, Ambassador.



The president wished her well but appealed to her to fast track existing agreement between Ghana and Brazil on the development of a sickle cell centre at the Komfo Anokye teaching hospital and ongoing road projects.

Source: GNA









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And I know maybe sometimes you haven't got the backing that you've wanted and you're going to get so much backing. So Trump's ingratiating message was welcome after months of attacks, including an outrageous comparison of intelligence community leaders to Nazis.

Trump has been accused of undermining the intelligence community by questioning its findings in regard to alleged Russian intervention in the November election and likening the analysis to the false intelligence that led to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The next day, after Trump had thanked those in the room who voted for him, his aides went on TV to insinuate-as Trump has often done-that hostile elements in the intelligence community had leaked dirt on him and should get out. Trump's team was not happy about that, as White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus clapped back saying that the former director should be punished for media reports that the president's relationship with USA intelligence agencies is less than ideal.

"After he finished ranting about crowd sizes on the National Mall, I hope President Trump sat down for an interview with the Central Intelligence Agency to help with their investigation into his team's possible collusion with the Kremlin to win the election", said Zac Petkanas, a senior adviser to the Democratic National Committee.

In a tweet from January 3, Trump said: "The "Intelligence" briefing on so-called "Russian hacking" was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case", placing quotes around the word "intelligence".

"While a Saturday visit is unusual - my view is that there is not a moment to waste in trying to fix relations with the agency", said a former senior USA intelligence official.

"Very easy to use them, but I won't use them because they've made such bad decisions", Mr. Trump said in a Fox News interview last August. There were some people who had to be off-camera for obvious reasons, but I think when you looked at the number of people who were there. the audio alone speaks volumes to what had happened.

"These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction", the statement said.

The visit comes amid questions regarding the status of Trump's choice to run the agency, Rep. Mike Pompeo. Former U.S. President Barack Obama also blamed Putin for prolonging Syria's bloody civil war.

Trump is a voracious consumer of news and highly sensitive to criticism. But as he spoke in front of a wall with 117 stars marking spies who died while serving, Trump quickly shifted back to campaign mode - boasting about his achievements, lodging grievances against the media and making off-the-cuff observations. All the world's a stage to Trump. 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 Russian Federation meddled in the White House race to help him win. One jogger along the route lifted both of his middle fingers as he was running.
Add another acronym to your political vocabulary -- NATIP, which stands for the proposed North Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, on Tuesday, was an original co-sponsor of a resolution Rep. Charles Dent, R-Pa., introduced in support of negotiating NATIP, a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, according to the Library of Congress government information web site.

"As our close friends and allies in the United Kingdom work through the process of implementing Brexit and separating from the European Union's single market, we must take action to demonstrate our steadfast support and and maintain our strong transatlantic ties," Dent said in a press release.

"Enhancing trade opportunities with a long-time ally and trading partner like the United Kingdom is a mutually beneficial pursuit, and I encourage the new administration to act on this as soon as possible," Dent said.

The resolution had 20 co-sponsors, as of Wednesday, all Republicans.

Elsewhere in New York, Rep. Peter King, R-Long Island, is a co-sponsor.
For centuries, writers and artists have faced incarceration, death threats and governmental sanctions for creations deemed dangerous by the government and the church.

Still, they keep creating such pieces because they know that political messages delivered in sculpture, painting, graffiti, screen plays, music and novels have a powerful hold on the publics attention and can sometimes spur action and change.

There are times the public seeks solace in such creations, whether newly penned or older works seeming to ring true in a new time. Take for example, George Orwells 1949 novel, 1984, the story of a dystopian society manipulated and watched by a controlling government.

Today, Amazon reports that Orwells famed classic topped bestseller lists on Tuesday, following an incident this weekend. According to news accounts, the presidents press secretary, Sean Spicer, berated the press corps about their reporting on the size of the inauguration crowd in a press briefing. According to fact checkers from several media outlets, Spicers information was inaccurate. And on "Meet the Press," Trump advisor, Kellyanne Conway said those were not fabrications or lies, but rather, alternative facts.

Conway's remarks led to the Twitter link, #alternativefacts, and comparisons to Orwells newsspeak.

Also this week, cartoonist and writer Nathan Gelgud published a version of one of his 2015 cartoons that makes a connection between Trump and the House Un-American Activities Committee anti-communist witch hunt led by Senator McCarthy in the 1950s.

Tied to McCarthy's hearings, resulting in the blacklisting of many celebrities and artists suspected of supporting the Communist agenda, was Arthur Millers play, The Crucible.

This week marks the 64th anniversary of Millers play about the Salem Witch Trials, written in response to Miller hearing friend, director and actor Elia Kazan name names while testifying before the committee.

In The Crucible, a young woman, Abigail Williams, after being questioned about her own occult activities, stands and names a lengthy list of people she said she has seen with the devil.

In reality, during the Salem Witch Trials, a woman named Abigail Williams accused about 57 people of witchcraft, according to court records.

Additionally, Miller defied the committee and refused to name suspected communists. Millers passport was denied when he tried to go the Brussels for the premiere of The Crucible. And he was convicted for contempt of court for not testifying for Mc Carthy. His charge was later reversed by the Supreme Court.

This week I saw an old episode of Modern Family where Manny was dressed as blacklisted and imprisoned screenwriter Dalton Trumbo for Halloween. The thing is, no one at the party knew who he was despite his costume being built around Trumbos famed bathtub and typewriter. And to add to my week of blacklisted connections, I saw the 2015 film, "Trumbo" that made evident the suffering of those blacklisted and imprisoned for refusing to name names.

Consider the music of the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. Consider, the Beatles and John Lennon who the U.S. government wanted deported; Bob Dylan, just was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, was dubbed an anarchist in 1960s news accounts; and famed folk artist Pete Seeger who was found in contempt of the court and indicted after failing to give satisfactory testimony to the House of Un-American Activities Committee in 1955 and like Trumbo was imprisoned.

Tsar Nicholas I banned every novel French writer Victor Hugo wrote because of his unflattering depiction of royalty. And he was forced into exile for 15 years because of his creations. His famed Les Miserables, the tale of Jean Valjeans rise from extreme poverty was listed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum  the Catholic Church's list of forbidden books  from 1864 to 1959.

John Steinbeck was highly criticized for his allegoric tale of a small town in The Moon is Down, which he wrote in opposition to World War II.

The fatwa (death bounty) placed on the head of British Indian author Salman Rushdie for his mythical tale, The Satonic Verses, originally issued by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was renewed in 2016 with a new bounty of $600,000 for his death.

Not to mention that artists and professors were among the first transported and killed in Adolph Hitler's death camps for their voiced political opposition.

Thousands of artists have paid a high price and many have sacrificed their lives in depicting what they see as injustice or dangerous practices by governments and other leaders. I think it will be interesting to see what new works develop in the midst of the nations current turmoil.
GREENWICH  Born 1921 in Toronto, Canada to Mary Moffat and Dr. William Ray Hodge, Margaret died at Saratoga Hospital, on Jan. 21 at the age of 95.

Margaret (Peggy) Hodge Leake  pre-deceased by her husband Richard A. Leake  is survived by: her sister Jocelyn Hodge Lee (and husband Douglas Lee) of Toronto, Canada, her daughters Jocelyn Ray Hand of Stoughton Massachusetts, Nancy Hand Higby (and husband, David Higby) of Salem, Wendy Wallace Hand (and wife Claudine Klein) of Greenwich, as well as by their siblings, Julie White O'Reilly of Watertown Massachusetts, Bill White of Warren Vermont, John Hand of Greenwich, Paul B. Leake of Mill Valley California, David C. Leake of Guilford Connecticut, Elvy Leake Draft of Chicago, Illinois and Alan Leake of Bennington, Vermont.

Peggy loved and was loved by her two grandchildren, James Aaron Higby of Warren, Vermont and Maggie Jean Higby of Montpelier, Vermont, her many, many wonderful Leake and White step-grandchildren and great grandchildren, and her treasured Canadian nieces and nephews and grands. She was pre-deceased by her foster sister, Nancy Fraser Brooks, and foster brothers, Ian Fraser and Donald Fraser of Toronto, Canada.

Peggy's life trajectory was greatly affected in 1939 when she set sail from Great Britain with her mother and sister, heading for their home in Canada on the British ship, Athenia. Firing on the passenger liner without warning, Germany struck its first World War II blow. Peggy and her sister were rescued. Their mother and 111 fellow passengers perished at sea. Peggy was taken in by a Scottish family and cared for until she could be re-united with her sister who had been taken, following the disaster, directly to Toronto. The two teenagers were welcomed into the home of, and then raised by, family friends Mary and Dr. Donald Fraser, Sr.

Peggy received her degree in child study at the University of Toronto. She taught nursery school, kindergarten, and special education. She worked for seven years in the Southern Adirondack Library System, Saratoga Springs, traveling weekly with the Bookmobile to deliver books to remote Adirondack locations where she was often welcomed by the grateful residents with a dozen fresh eggs or a jar of homemade preserves. She was a contributing and treasured member of her community and will be sorely missed by her many good friends. Until her sight declined, she was a volunteer at the Bennington, Vermont and Greenwich libraries as well as at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, Bennington Vermont.

Peggy was a true friend and a devoted mother and grandmother, always happy to offer kind and comforting words with a cup of tea and sweet buttery homemade cookies, and good for sharing a laugh at life's foibles. She was an avid knitter, and her survivors will continue to wear her many creations in gratitude and in her loving memory.

A celebration of Peggy's life will take place with family, friends and birds by the river in the spring. In lieu of flowers please make donations in Peggy's name to the Bennington and Greenwich Libraries.
Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan still remembers how shocked he was when he learned that a 13-month-old Kingsbury girl had died because of a heroin overdose, and toxicology tests showed she had been given the drugs for months before her death.

It didnt seem possible that a parent could give or expose their infant to a fatal amount of drugs. But as Jordans tenure as district attorney has continued, he said, he has been startled by the number of cases where young children are found to be in the presence of drug-dealing or drug-using parents, including those with hypodermic needles. And he said other children have died elsewhere around the county in similar ways.

A lot of the heroin overdoses and arrests we see, children are present, he said.

The death nearly two years ago of the Kingsbury toddler, Kayleigh Mae Cassell, prompted Jordan  who prosecuted the girls caregivers  to ask state Sen. Elizabeth Little, R-Queensbury, to propose a law that authorities hope will lessen the likelihood of another child in New York dying of a drug overdose.

The bill sponsored by Little would require drug testing for children 3 and younger who are in the vicinity of one of their parents when they are arrested on a drug charge. The bill passed the state Senate on Tuesday, the first step in it becoming law, and will now be considered by the state Assembly. The bill has an Assembly sponsor and Little said she believes it will pass there as well.

It has been named Kayleigh Maes Law. The noninvasive test would be done on a hair follicle from the child.

Little said the bill amends state Social Services Law and doesnt increase any penalties or create any new crimes. It simply creates a mechanism to make sure the child was not exposed to narcotics, and if they were, to allow Child Protective Services to remove the child from the situation.

All were trying to do is safeguard the child, she said.

The tests, which typically cost $100 or so, would be paid for by the county Department of Social Services.

Jordan said the law may not have helped Kayleigh, as her caregivers hadnt been arrested on drug charges before her death, but could help other children who cant speak for themselves.

Little said state Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, D-Brooklyn, has agreed to sponsor the companion legislation.

Jordan, a former state Assemblyman, knows Ortiz from his days in the Legislature and said the Assembly legislation stands a good chance with Ortiz sponsoring it.

Felix has a huge heart, these issues are near and dear to him, and he is very passionate, he said.

Kayleigh Maes mother, Rachael E. Ball, and mothers boyfriend, Joshua J. Bennett, pleaded guilty to felony charges for her death. Ball pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and drug charges, while Bennett pleaded guilty to felony drug counts. Both are serving state prison sentences.
QUEENSBURY  An East Syracuse-based convenience store and gas station chain is proposing to build two stores in town, including one on the site of Binley Florist at the busy intersection of Dix Avenue and Quaker Road.

Fastrac Cafe had its initial Planning Board presentations Tuesday night for stores at 773 Quaker Road and 216 Corinth Road, on opposite ends of town. Both stores will be open 24 hours a day.

Construction cannot begin until the Planning Board process, including public comment, is complete.

Fastrac stores emphasize freshly prepared food, including made-to-order pizza and hot and cold sandwiches. Customers can order online, and there are drive-thrus available.

Unlike most convenience store/gas stations, the Fastrac gas pumps are located to the side of the building rather than in front of it.

The company has about 50 stores across New York, centered around Syracuse. The only other store in the Capital Region is in Amsterdam.

The Quaker Avenue store would be built in the 7-acre lot occupied by Binley Florist.

The 5,900-square-foot store would join a Speedway Gas and Stewarts Shops at that intersection. A McDonalds and a Dunkin Donuts are also nearby. A car dealership was recently built next to the Dunkin Donuts.

Wally Hirsch, who owns Binleys, said last year he had a contract to sell and would be relocating the 124-year-old flower shop at a nursery. He said Wednesday he has a potential site within two miles of his current shop, but is still having discussions with the owner. Hirsch said the closing is set for August, and he would have two months to move the shop.

Since the Quaker Road store is more than 800 feet from a sewer connection, the developer will build a private, onsite wastewater treatment system.

The other site, just west of the Northway, is currently a wooded lot, next to a McDonalds, across the street from a Taco Bell and a short distance east of a Stewarts. A number of other gas stations and convenience stores are located on Corinth Road on the other side of the Northway, closer to Glens Falls.

The store will be built on a 2-acre parcel at the northeast corner of the intersection of Big Bay Road and Corinth Road.

The store would cover 5,800 square feet, and like the Quaker Road store, would be a single story.

Jim Allen, vice president of marketing for Fastrac, would not comment on the companys decision to move into Queensbury.

The planning and design process for both stores is being handled by Napierala Consulting of Manlius.
LAKE GEORGE  Village Mayor Robert Blais has found someone willing to take up the cause of helping international workers but is still looking for space for a clearinghouse to resolve their issues.

Blais said local business owner Patty Kirkpatrick has agreed to step up to address the issue.

Blais had received several complaints over the summer about concerns over the living conditions of international students working seasonal jobs in Lake George and Queensbury. The complaints included students being added into rooms without notice and students who were having difficulty getting their security deposits returned.

Blais wanted to set up a smaller version of The Connection, an office formerly located on Canada Street where students could raise complaints about their jobs or living conditions. That office closed in 2009 because the village was bearing the burden of paying for it, without support from businesses.

Blais said Kirkpatrick agreed to help after reading news coverage of the issue. Kirkpatrick owns property in the village and Ninas Sweet Shoppe. She told him there were a couple of times last year when her employees felt they had been mistreated but when she tried to advocate for them, she was ignored.

Kirkpatrick is now living in California but will be returning in the spring, according to Blais.

He has not found suitable space, but is prepared to set aside a location in Village Hall.

Id like to have a place where they at least know they can go file a complaint and somebody will be there to listen to them, he said.

He would like to staff the office with volunteers if there is not a paid position.

Lake George Town Supervisor Dennis Dickinson said the talks about helping the international workers come down to money. Everybody is regrouping with the start of the New Year.

I dont think weve really had time to get back to it, he said.

It is an important issue, Dickinson said.

We need to have some representation for some of these kids that are coming from outside the country to work, he said. They have issues. Theyre in a strange land away from their family friends, have little money.

He also has heard stories of landlords renting out rooms to additional people and withholding deposits. Students who lose their jobs can end up on the street.

Blais also has reached out to Queensbury Supervisor John Strough, because many international students also work in Queensbury businesses during the summer.

Strough said he has evidence of unfair housing practices such as overcrowding and unfair employment practices including misleading people about how long their employment will be and then firing them after the first day.

Its our responsibility to help out here because we do employ many of these people and currently they have no place to go, he said.
The Champlain Canalway Trail association is looking for help from 18 towns and villages to help it finish the path in this area.

The trail will be 71 miles long when it is done, but most of it exists on paper only. Completing the unfinished stretches may be helped by state grants; canalway officials were surprised and delighted this month when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo proposed completing the trail and others by 2020 in a three-phase project.

In response, the Canalway is applying for some of those state funds. Its a matching grant, so the Canalway also needs funds for the match.

Canalway Coordinator Jeanne Williams asked town supervisors and village mayors to contribute $500 to $1,000 each.

A cash match would help us out, she said. We already have most of the match. If you give $500 to $1,000, we will be able to do much more.

Stillwater and the village of Fort Ann have offered contributions so far, she said.

If we get all of them to contribute, well be able to double what we can do, she said.

She argued that bike trails are a far greater economic benefit than a road that drivers might take to a particular attraction.

A bicycle will probably stop every 10 miles for drinks or something to eat, she said. A car will zoom by.

The association has been slowly adding trails, in one to three-mile segments, one at a time. Funding has been limited, and acquiring the land has at times been difficult.

While the trail wont offer as much as the better-known Erie Canalway, she said, it will still have many venues worth visiting.

The route includes parks, historic sites, farms and waterways. The route also uses sections of the old canal and towpath, as well as abandoned railroad paths.

The goal is to keep the trail off roads as much as possible, which means buying land, which isnt always possible. The association has put together a map of the entire route, along with alternate routes in any area where the preferred off-road land is likely to be too expensive or unavailable.

The trail runs from Waterford, through Schuylerville, and then into Washington County at Greenwich, ending in Whitehall. The route includes eight villages and towns in Washington County.
The Fort Edward-Hudson Falls regions future sits on the east side of Route 4, humming with activity, while its past, also a potential piece of its future, sits almost empty across the street.

Two weeks ago, the Golub Corp. opened in Fort Edward the first Market 32 store built from the ground up in New York state, the culmination of a $15 million brownfield remediation and construction project involving a 5-acre parcel at 354 Broadway.

The 42,000-square-foot store employs about 140 people.

Across the street is the nearly abandoned General Electric capacitor plant, which once employed hundreds, but was closed after GE moved the facilitys workload to Florida.

Next to the new supermarket is an empty building that once housed an Agway store, which closed after the Grand Union store next door closed.

Still, in front of the Market 32 is a newly rebuilt McDonalds, and there may be more new business coming to both Fort Edward and Hudson Falls, just north of the Market 32 site on Route 4.

We have a few loan applications we are reviewing for some other businesses that are looking to potentially open in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward as well, said Deanna Derway of the Washington County Local Development Corp.

Looking regionally

While the state Department of Transportation project that repaved and beautified the area from the Champlain Canal just south of the village of Fort Edward to the Feeder Canal at the north end was not specifically designed for economic development, that has been the result.

And its been true at both ends of the improved state road.

Both Fort Edward and Hudson Falls have seen an uptick in positive activity in the past couple of years, said Laura Oswald, director of economic development for Washington County.

Oswald pointed to Hudson Falls, where the Strand Theatre is undergoing a rebirth and where Hudson Falls Phoenix Rising is redeveloping two other buildings and has established a thriving farmers market.

The Strand is making progress, and the community as a whole is paying attention to place-based revitalization, she said. The premise behind this is that if you create a community that is attractive and vital, you will attract people who want to live and work or develop businesses.

Several years ago, the village of Fort Edward developed a seven-point Renaissance Plan and has been ticking items off.

I think we have moved ahead well with the new farmers market building, the village and town buying Rogers Island, and the work we have done on East Street have all moved us ahead, said Mayor Matt Traver. But we still have more to do.

Mitch Suprenant, the Fort Edward town supervisor, said working with CRCC, a Chinese company that hopes to build subway cars at the site of GEs dewatering plant, is now a priority.

We need to move that forward, he said.

Oswald said she has been impressed with what Fort Edward has accomplished.

In Fort Edward, many years of planning have paved the way for the current development, and the waterfront represents a good future target area for them, she said. Fort Edward is also fortunate to house one of the countys largest employers, Irving Tissue, which provides a captive audience for area businesses.

Hudson Falls has also had some corollary success with developer Peter Hoffman successfully rehabilitating two buildings and with a Dominos Pizza moving into the village.

Issues remain

For all the good news, there are still a number of serious concerns about the economic future of the region.

The General Electric plant is one. Not only is there concern about how to replace the jobs of the hundreds of workers once employed there, but the building itself has the potential to remain unfilled and become an eyesore, right next to the county complex and across the street from Market 32.

Tori Riley, president and CEO of the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the Market 32 project sets a good example for what is needed for the GE property.

GE will have to be remediated, she said. It is going to take a public-private collaboration.

Even with the high hopes for the rail-car plant, a decision on CRRCs bid for the New York City contract is still months away.

The CRRC factory would build a 125,000-square-foot factory nearby, using the existing rail lines to ship the completed subway cars to New York City. The company would also build a 2-mile test track for the subway cars and hire 150 to 200 workers.

Riley said the redevelopment of the dewatering site, no matter the tenant or tenants, is critical to the regions future.

It is absolutely important to the tax base, she said. There is certainly opportunity to it, but there are certainly obstacles to it as well.

Closer to home, there are still plenty of empty storefronts in downtown Fort Edward and some in Hudson Falls.
My junior high school in Seymour, Connecticut, was located right on the banks of the Naugatuck River.

In the springtime, we could gaze out the windows to see which color the river was running. Depending on what chemical the factories upstream were dumping that day, it could change from green to yellow to red in a short period of time.

Unfortunately, as the weather got warmer, we had to keep the classroom windows shut because of the smell.

I remember once chasing after a foul ball during recess. The ball splashed into the river, but not one of us was willing to reach into the water to fish it out.

Those were the good old days before the Environmental Protection Agency was created.

The federal Water Pollution Control Act was passed in 1972  just as I was leaving that building for high school  giving the state the legal authority to address water quality in the river. By the time I graduated from high school, municipal wastewater treatment plants had installed secondary waste treatment plans and local industries were required to use best available technology to treat wastewater and stop pollutants from entering the river.

I am told you can fish in the river today, but the water is far less colorful.

Thats what can happen when a society values quality of life and the publics health over company profits.

Our country became a shining example for the rest of the world.

But a combination of factors over the past week leads me to the unfortunate conclusion that we are doomed.

Not specifically you who are reading this now, but the human race.

The wheels are in motion.

President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday allowing two controversial pipelines to move forward, and other executive orders to make the review process easier for future builders. Before that, the Trump administration ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to freeze grants and contracts that will stop core operations, ranging from toxic cleanups to water quality testing like what is done in the Hudson River. This was described by one news source as extraordinary.

Its an acknowledgement of the direction the new president is taking us. Its not that one pipeline will make a difference in global warming, but that the use of carbon fuels will continue unchecked. Jobs and profits appear to be more important than the future health of the planet.

Last week, Trumps pick for the EPA, Scott Pruitt, said it was immaterial what he believes about climate change. In a 2016 opinion article, Pruitt suggested that the debate over global warming is far from settled.

Except, it isnt.

And if you are not on board with that, you need to do some homework.

Two days before Trumps inauguration, three different government agencies  two American and one British  confirmed that 2016 was the warmest year on record and that 16 of the top 17 warmest years came since 2000.

In the Arctic, temperatures are running 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit above normal and ice is melting into the sea.

Two days after that report was issued, President Trump was inaugurated and all mention of climate change was removed from the White House website.

Businessman-in-chief Trump has vowed to erase 75 percent of all environmental regulations because of the burdens and roadblocks they cause to businesses of all kinds.

Yet in an opinion piece in The Hill, a conservative newspaper that covers Washington, D.C., and the federal government, two Ivy League professors concluded the president is being shortsighted.

While they admitted there are many burdensome and ineffective environmental regulations, they pointed out that the nonpartisan federal Office of Management and Budget had calculated that the rules imposed by the EPA yielded benefits 10 times their cost.

They further argued that American businesses are poised to be winners in the transition to a low-carbon economy because of technology they possess.

They urged the president to maintain the countrys commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and to stand by and implement the Clean Power Plan to reduce the United States contribution to climate change.

Taken together, the events of this past week indicate a gloomy future for humankind.

President Trump has the power to change it all with one tweet: Climate change real. Top priority. Saving planet!!!
We are in talks with the Universities of Ghana, Cape Coast, and [Education], Winneba to extend their services to the Prison Service of Ghana so that these inmates who have qualified to enter university but because they are serving in the prison and cannot go to the university [can profit].

They can benefit from the distance education system and they can come out better off. We have done that. It hasnt started yet, but I believe that where it has gotten to, very soon we will have distance learning in our prisons, he told Accra-based Class FM.

Analysis

Ghanas prisons are congested with many remand prisoners, who are yet to receive their sentences or acquittal. The extension of learning opportunities would be now make it possible for those who could potentially be released to continue their lives in some way from where they left off.

One of the suggestions advocates of prison reform have consistently called for is the proper structuring of the apprenticeship and productivity during incarceration.
Kwen Maye was in an image used by Sarkodie in a poster on social media calling on people to submit applications to appear in his next music video.

READ ALSO : Fans bash Sarkodie over talent exposure tweet

The "Choices" hit maker set social media on fire when he offered to pay for creatives who would appear in his video with exposure.

He called on "all avant garde hipsters and creative artists to be part of an African superstar's music video."

Sarkodie had indicated it was not a "paying gig, [but]... an opportunity to gain lots of exposure.

The rapper was severely criticized as he himself has boycotted events in the past claiming the many they offered was not valuable enough.

READ ALSO : Tonto Dikeh should never have revealed Mr X
The man, Chief Simon Odo who is also known as Onuwa or Father of Many Nations, according to Vanguard, decided to send all his wives packing over allegations that some of his grown sons have been sleeping with the younger ones.

It was gathered that Chief Odo, a native of Aji, Enugu Ezike in Igboeze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, has vowed not to marry again after he accused some of his children of allegedly sleeping with his wives behind him.

Odo who, last year, got married to an 18-year-old lady, Chidinma, however, broke his vow by remarrying her because, according to him, she had pleaded with him to marry her so that she could take care of him as an old man.

The girl who lured me to marry her returned from the United States. She told me to marry her so that she would take care of me as an old man. She is from Enugu State.

On the allegation that some of his children had been sleeping with his wives and were also planning to kill him, Odo said that he would disown any of his sons involved in the act.
According to him, "I think we are going to give it to charity. We are not going to use that car".

Bugri Naabu speaking on the sidelines with Accra-based Joy FM at the Flagstaff House on Tuesday, January 24, 2016, he said, "What is GH 500,000? What is a car? Me, when I started buying cars, expensive cars, John Mahama was a student. He was a student at Ghana College".

"I cannot comment much but I think we are going to give it to charity. We are not going to use that car," he said.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) in December 2016, alleged that President Mahama tried to bribe Bugri Naabu to campaign against Nana Akufo-Addo.

The party claimed among other things that, in a meeting with the President and his brother, Ibrahim Mahama, their chairman was promised GH3.3 million and a V6 Mitsubishi Pajero vehicle with registration number, GS 687-16 and a brand New V8 Land Cruiser to fabricate stories against the NPP leader.

Read also: NDC demands immediate arrest of Bugri Naabu

Spokesperson Nana Addo, Mustapha Hamid alleged that, the President and his brother [Ibrahim Mahama] also promised Mr. Naabu a contract if he resigns from the NPP.

He indicated that, on Friday, November 28, 2016, Bugri Naabu was invited to meet President Mahama at a meeting which was organised by Ibrahim Mahama and one Mohammed Awal.

The meeting, he said was organised after six months of seeking to lure the vociferous Northern Regional NPP chair.

"President Mahama and his people have not relented in their evil ways and means to use our own people to work against the NPP.

"According to the President [Mahama], Bugri should paint Akufo-Addo as a rabid ant-northern person who could never be trusted to advance the people of the north he was supposed to say that Nana Akufo-Addo was knocking the head of one northerner against the other."

Mustapha Hamid claimed, the Northern regional chairman was given GH500,000 for accepting to do their job.
Asante-Apeatu takes over barely hours after John Kudalor went to the Flagstaff House to bid farewell to the president. The IGP comes into office with a commendable work record within the Ghana Police Service and outside the country.

READ ALSO: Ghana Police Service sacks interdicted Patrick Timbilla

Before this role, he was the Director General (Research and Planning) at the Ghana Police Service. He has previously served as the head of the influential Criminal and Investigations Department.

Asante-Apeatus exploits in Ghana led to a call up to Interpols headquarters in Lyon, France where he was appointed Director of Specialised Crimes and Analysis.

According to his LinkedIn account, he has Masters degree in Chemestry from the Kharkov State University, a certificate in General Management from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration and a certificate in Criminal Justice Administration from the University of Virginia.

High profile cases
READ ALSO:

But appearing before the Appointments Committee of parliament on Tuesday, Mr Afriyie Akoto said his stance has only been for the use of improved seeds developed by Ghanaian scientists to enhance crop production and earn farmers more income.

Speaking to Pulse.com.gh on the nominees stance, the Communications Director of FSG Edwin Kweku Andoh Baffour said: it is surprising that the honourable minister said he is not opposed to GMOs when everything he is saying is to the contrary.

The fact of the matter is even at the parliamentary level, there is a certain misunderstanding about the whole issue of GMOs. You can see that it is not all the legislators who have fully understood what they are dealing with. And unfortunately, the chairman of the Appointments Committee Honourable Joe Owusu was mixing up the issue of hybrid with GMOs.

"FSG is not against science; we are not against hybrid. Hybrid can be created through natural means; through traditional selective processing, but we are against the genetic manipulation of organisms, where you transfer the genes from one organism to another. And so the chairman of the committee himself did not fully understand what he was talking about.

He argued that the fact that there is no consensus in the scientific community on the safety of GMOs means Ghana must be careful of how it proceeds and at least in the minimum go by international laws which state Ghanaians should be educated about it [GMOs] and engaged about it.

The Food Sovereignty Ghana has always raised serious concerns over the use of genetically modified seeds which it says have long-term effects on the health of consumers and quality of the soil.

The group believes it is high time the president, Nana Addo intervened in the subject matter, as neighbouring countries like Burkina Faso are already moving away from genetically modified seeds.
Mr. Bani was appointed as Ghanas Minister of Interior by the erstwhile Mahama government in February 2016, having served as a development manager with the United Nations (UN).

In an exclusive interview with Pulse.com.gh, Mr. Bani said his role as interior Minister demanded that he made Ghana a country devoid of violence.

He added that, in his estimation, he did enough to ensure that the nation was peaceful.

I came to the Ministry of Interior in February 2016. The President [former president Mahama] in his own wisdom tasked me, among other directives, to ensure that we work together with other security agencies to ensure a peaceful election, Mr. Bani said.

[I was tasked to ensure there was] an election devoid of violence and to engage people to demonstrate and participate in the electoral process. And that is exactly what we did.

The former Interior Minister also praised the security services for their efforts during the 2016 elections.

We have under the Interior Ministry the Police, the Fire Service, Prisons service, NADMO and all security services. The role is to empower these institutions, provide them with the necessary confidence and logistics to be able to demonstrate their abilities." He explained.

I want to give credit to these security agencies that worked assiduously to ensure that we had a peaceful election. And this is the first election we have done without violence.
The Bishop was invited by the church as a guest preacher for their morning service.

In his sermon he said: You dont find two male dogs, two male cats, or two male lionseven lizards, two male elephants, there is nothing like that in nature, it is unnatural, yes, there is nothing like that.

His words, however, sparked controversy in South Africa leading to criticisms from popular South African radio personality Somizi Mhlongo. The Choreographer  who was in attendance at the church when the remarks were made  walked out, insisting he would not sit and be insulted.

The Grace Bible church has now explained that it does not share in the views of the Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, insisting they do not discriminate against gay people.

"The only thing we want to say as a Church is that we dont discriminate against gay people and we will never do and have never done that, spokesperson of the Grace Bible Church Rev. Ezekiel Mathole said in an interview with a South African media organization.

What was prevalent yesterday was that there was a contrary view that is out there. If you look in the Church its an open secret there are people who are pro-gay and there are people who are anti-gay.

"We as a Church have stated that we welcome all homosexuals into the church and we dont discriminate against people.
He is a great favourite of my wife Rebecca. When he comes on the radio, I can not speak, he said.

The President said this at a press briefing to announce the 10 Regional Ministers for his administration in Accra on Tuesday, January 24, 2017.

Mr Duncan was the secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Central Region. He is an agriculturist and has been a teacher at Mfantsipim Senior High School for the past 22 years.

Mr. Akufo-Addo called for maximum support for the ministerial nominees and pleaded with Parliament to expedite the vetting of his nominees for them to execute governments task expeditiously.

The list of the 10 regional ministers are as follows:

Sulemana Alhassan  Upper West Region

Kwamena Duncan  Central Region

Dr Kwaku Afriyie  Western Region, MP

Eric Kwakye Darfour  Eastern Region, MP

Rockson Bukari  Upper East Region

Simon Osei-Mensah  Ashanti Region

Ishmael Ashitey  Greater Accra Region

Salifu Saeed  Northern Region

Kwaku Asoma-Cheremeh  Brong Ahafo Region

Dr Archibald Letsa  Volta Region
Announcing his Regional Ministerial nominees, the President also named Asumah Kyeremeh as minister-designate for Brong-Ahafo region and Kwamena Duncan for the Central Region.

The immediate past MP for Bosumtwi, Simon Osei Mensah, was named as the Ashanti regional Minister-designate.

Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, the Member of Parliament for Sefwi Wiawso, is the new minister-designate for the Western region while Salifu Saeed, a former DCE for Nanumba, is the Northern regional minister-designate.

The rest are Sulemana Alhassan, Upper West region, Dr. Kwakye Darfour for the Eastern region, Rockson Bukari for the Upper East and Dr. Archibald Letsa as the Volta regional minister-designate.

Below are their profiles:

Archibald Yao Letsa  Volta Region

Archibald Yao Letsa is 59 years old and hails from Klefe Achatime in the Ho Central Constituency. He is a medical doctor by profession, with a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Ghana Medical School.

In 1990, he obtained a Master of Public Health degree from the Department of Public Health Medicine, University of Leeds, UK. From 1983 to 1994, he worked in several healthcare instutitions in the Volta and Eastern Regions, before going into private medical practice from 1995 to 2014 with the setting up of the Miracle Life Clinic Ltd., Ho.

He is the Chief Executive Officer of AVL Holdings Ghana Limited, also based in Ho, and has from April 2016 to date been a part-time Senior Lecturer at the School of Medicine of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho.

He was the NPPs parliamentary candidate for the Ho Central constituency in the 2008 and 2012 elections, and from 2014 to date was the Volta Regional First Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party in the Volta Region. He is married with three children.

Salifu Sa-eed  Northern Region

Salifu Sa-eed is 43 years old, and holds a Masters in Development Management from GIMPA, and also a Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Development Studies from the University of Development Studies, Tamale.

He also holds a certificate in Peace and Conflict Prevention and Management from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC).

He has been the Chief Executive Officer of Africa Commodities and Logistics Company Limited from January 2012 to date; was the Co-director of Savannah Integrated Rural Development Aid from January 2009 to December 2011; and under the government of President of former Kufuor, he served as District Chief Executive of the Nanumba North District Assembly from May 2005 to February 2009.

He was a member of the NPP Manifesto Committee on Infrastructure; and a member of the 2016 transition team meber on the Communications sub-committee. He is married with one child.

Rockson Ayine Bukari  Upper East

Rockson Ayine Bukari is 69 years old and hails from Gambibgo, Bolgatanga. He holds a Teacher's Certificate A from the Kantom Training College. He held several teaching positions from 1964 to 1097.

He also became Registrar to a number of Traditional Councils such as the Frafra Confederacy Council, Builsa Traditional Council, Nanumba Traditional Council, and the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs over a period of two decades.

He was the Municipal Chief Executive of the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly from 2001 to 2004. He is a leading member of the NPP, and is married with two (2) wives and eleven (11) children.

Sulemana Alhassan  Upper West Region

Alhassan Sulemana is 62 years old. He trained as a professional teacher at the Begebaga Teacher Training College in Tamale, before obtaining a Bachelor of Education degree in Mathematics at the University of Education.

He also holds a Masters degree in Education Management and Administration from the University of Cape Coast. He was a Mathematics tutor for 33 years before assuming the role of Director of Education at the Wa Municipal Education Office in 2012  a position he held for 2 years until his retirement. He is married with 4 children.

Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh  Brong Ahafo

Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh is 52 years old and is a Barrister at Law. He was called to the Ghana School of Law in 1997, having graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Political Science from the University of Ghana, Legon, in 1994.

He was the Local NUGS President from 1993 to 1994, whilst at the University of Ghana. He practiced law at Akyedee Legal Services in Sunyani from 1998 to 2004, and within that period was a law lecturer at Sunyani Polytechnic. He has acted as a solicitor for various firms in the Sunyani.

He served as the head of the NPPs campaign in the Brong Ahafo Region 2012 and 2016, in his capacity as Chairman of the party in the region. He is married with three (3) children.

Simon Osei-Mensah  Ashanti Region

Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah is 55 years old and holds a Masters degree in Economics (Finance and Banking option).

He served in various positions within the Agricultural Development Bank from 1993 to 2000. He represented the Bosumtwe constituency from 2005 till January 2017 as Member of Parliament.

He was a member of the ECOWAS parliament, and was elected 4th Deputy Speaker from 2013 to 2015. He is married.

Dr. Kwaku Afriyie  Western Region

Dr. Kwaku Afriyie is 63 years old and hails from Sefwi Wiawso. He holds a Bachelor of Medicine/Surgery from the University of Ghana Medical School; a Master of Public Health (MPH) Tulane University, New Orleans; and is a fellow of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons.

He worked at the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital; the Effia Nkwanta Hospital; and became the Director of Health Service at the Bibiami Government Hospital all from 1982 to 1994. He was also the Managing Director of Greenshield Hospital in Sefwi Wiawso from 2005 to 2014.

He was Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines in 2001; served as Minister of Health from 2001 to 2005.

As Health Minister, he introduced and implemented the National Health Insurance Scheme; introduced the National PostGraduate Training programme of Doctors; established the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons for Post graduate training of Doctors in Ghana; and introduced the National Ambulance System in 2004.

Within the period of President Kufuors government, he served as a member of Cabinet Sub-committee on Cocoa Affairs (2001-2005); Member of National Development Planning Committee (2001-2004); Member of National AIDS Commission; and Chairman of Board of Directors of the Electricity Company of Ghana.

Kwamena Duncan  Central Region

Kwamena Duncan is 50 years old. He holds a BSc degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Ghana, Legon.

He has taught for 22 years in Senior High School and currently a Senior Housemaster at Mfantsipim School.

He has been the Central Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party and a member of the party's National Council since 2005 to date. He is married with 3 children.

Hon. Eric Kwakye Darfour  Eastern Region

Eric Kwakye Darfuor is 59 years old, and hails from Obo-Kwahu. He acquired a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Linguistics from the University of Ghana, Legon, in 1982. He was a French tutor at the Abuakwa State College from 1982-1985, and from 1985 he has been the Managing Director for Ecovans Ltd.

Additionally, from the year 2000, he was the Board Chairman for Kwahu Praso Rural Bank Limited.

From 2001 to 2005, in the first term of former president, John Agyekum Kufuor, he served as the Special Assistant to the Eastern Regional Minister. From 2009 to 2012, he was the Eastern Regional Treasurer of the NPP, and was subsequently elected Member of Parliament for Nkawkaw Constituency on the ticket of the NPP in 2012.

In his first term as a Member of Parliament, he served on the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Privileges Committee. In the just ended Parliamentary and General Elections, he was re-elected as Member of Parliament on the ticket of the NPP to serve the people of Nkawkaw Constituency.

He is married with three (3) children.

Ishmael Ashitey  Greater Accra Region

Ishmael Ashitey is 62 years old and is a product of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where he graduated in 1977 with a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering.

He also holds an Executive Masters degree in Governance and Leadership from GIMPA. He worked as a Mechanical Engineer at the Accra Brewery Limited for 13 years.

He served as Member of Parliament for Tema East from 1996 to 2008, and between that period, he was, first, appointed as Minister of State for Fisheries from 2001 to 2003 by former President John Agyekum Kufuor.

From 2003 to 2004, he was a Minister of State for Trade and Industry. Whilst in Parliament, he was the Deputy Ranking Member on the Mines and Energy Committee, a Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Member on the Committee on Communications and Chairman of the Government Assurances Committee.

He has been the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party from 2010 to date. He is married with four children.
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According to reports, Catherine Afeku is being probed by President Nana Akufo-Addo.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Evalue-Gwira Constituency in the Western Region with her husband, were defendants in a fraud case in 2007.

READ ALSO: Group accuses

A group called Truth and Accountable Governance (TAG), said Madam Catherine Afeku as Minister designate of Tourism and Creative Arts is not the right person for the ministry.

The group is alleging that the nominee is a fraudster and as such, should have her nomination revoked in order to save the integrity the presidents nominees.

"Mrs Afeku and her husband, Mr Seth Afeku, were found guilty for defrauding an American couple on 19-10-2013 by an Accra High Court presided over by Her [Ladyship] Barbara Ackah-Yensu. The trial judge directed the MP for Evalue-Gwira constituency and her husband to pay an amount of $217,464 plus 50 per cent interest to the plaintiff, Patricia and Bill Gick."

According to the group, such a character should not be allowed to hold public office.

"We also believe that Private Investors both Local and International will not have confidence and trust in the sector if an alleged fraudster is allowed to hold that office. H.E Akufo-Addo being a Lawyer and an anti-corruption campaigner, should have known better. We are calling on him to immediately revoke the appointment of Mrs Catherine Afeku as Minister of Tourism designate if he wants Ghanaians to believe in his willingness to fight corrupt officials," he said.

But in a memorandum, titled, "COURT ACTION BETWEEN HON. CATHERINE AFEKU AND PATRICIA GICKS, BILL GICKS, DAVID THOMAS AND FRANCIS NOKOE".

The memo was copied to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and gave details on the development.

In the memo, Godfred Dame who is counsel for Catherine Afeku said the court granted a number of reliefs against his client but was quick to add that there was no finding of fraud or criminality against her.

Mr Dame explained in the Memo that, he found credible evidence and therefore filed a fresh action on November 22, 2013.

According to him, "We proceeded to file an application for an order restraining the enforcement of the earlier judgement dated 30 November, 2007 given in Suit No. 245/06 until the final determination of the new suit. This was granted by the High Court, Accra coram Bright Mensah J. on 5 March, 2014."
READ MORE: Tullow to suspend gas export to Atuabo for two weeks

The interconnection when done will also enable evacuation and export of additional natural gas from the TEN fields through the 58-km offshore pipeline of the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas) to its onshore Atuabo Gas Processing Plant.

The shutdown will result in the immediate halt of production and export of natural gas from the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah to Atuabo.

It will further lead to the curtailment of lean gas from Atuabo to the Aboadze Thermal Enclave, which at the moment relies on gas from Ghana Gas to generate power.

But in a joint statement, the power producers noted that the anticipated shortfall of 230 megawatts would not affect the production and supply of power.

We wish to assure the public that we have put in adequate measures to mitigate the impact of the shortfall. We plan to generate additional power from the Akosombo and Kpong hydroelectric plants, and also from the Tema and Kpone thermal plants which operate on light crude oil (LCO) and diesel respectively, while imports from Cote dIvoire will be purchased to make up for the supply deficit, it said.

READ MORE: ACEP lauds President for nominating Boakye Agyarko as Energy Minister

Additionally, some of the thermal units at Aboadze that have been shut down for planned maintenance would be returned into service during this period.
He said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) cannot fulfill all promises it made during the campaign.

Speaking in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, Kofi Adams said, "many people were yearning for a particular change that they didnt even know and today they have seen it, and I believe that many have regretted not voting for President Mahama."

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) continuously described the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as a collapsed scheme whiles in opposition.

Read also:Mahama sacks deputy General Secretary

Health Minister-designate Kwaku Agyemang-Manu has told parliaments Appointments Committee that the NPP describing the NHIS as collapsed was too harsh.

"Collapsing might have been a very harsh word. But the bottom line is that when constituents come to us, they tell us the scheme has collapsed. They are sometimes detained because they cannot pay for medications and healthcare. Sometimes I have to forgo GHS200 to get the person discharged," he said.

Read also: Suhuyini apologises to Appointments Committee

But Kofi Adams said Kwaku Agyemang-Manu's confession has vindicated Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Ms Adwoa Safo was named together with former Interior Minister and Navrongo Central MP Mark Woyongo and Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong as having made zero contributions in the House.

But in a post on its Facebook Page on Wednesday, Odekro said it erred in including the Dome Kwabenya MP on the list.

We want to acknowledge that we erred in the graphic representation of Madam Adwoa Safos performance in the Sixth Parliament as captured in our fact sheet and thus, we render an unqualified apology to her.

For the avoidance of doubt, Madam Adwoa Safo ranked 58th in the Sixth Parliament with a contribution score of 52.02/60 and an attendance score of 24.13/40, totaling 76.15 percent.

The organization said it made Ms Safos score publicly available on its Facebook page as at December 6, 2016.

It said: All scorecards in the factsheet should be disregarded and reference should rather be made to the scorecards we publish online.

The report also stated that the MP for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, MP for Kpone Katamanso, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo and former Ledzokuku MP Benita Sena Okity-Duah were among the worst performing MPs.
According to him, the survey is aimed at denting the reputation of the hard work of the MPs adding that the findings by the organisation is cooked.

"I did very well and properly represent my people while in parliament. If I was not vocal in parliament how could I have been made a deputy chief whip?" he quizzed.

Paul Evans Aidoo was rated among the worst performing MPs scoring 11.50% in the sixth parliament.

The MP in an interview on Ultimate FM said, "I wont accept the ratings because I was a regional minister and my duties did not allow me to be in parliament all the time. I was always outside the country and parliament serving the interest of the country in various capacities. It is not possible for me to be in parliament and the region. What hindered my committee work were my additional duties as regional Minister".

Read more:Odekro apologises to Adwoa Safo for ranking her among worst MPs

The survey report stated, "We verified the completeness of our dataset by comparing our cache of data to a list of Parliaments sitting days obtained from staff of the Parliamentary service. On each sitting day, three documents are produced namely, the Hansard, Order Paper and Votes and Proceedings. Consequently, for each date on Parliaments calendar we have access to three primary documents.

"We verified the accuracy of this data set by confirming that each document bore the official seal of Parliament, followed the pattern of Parliaments formatting and was marked as having been produced by the Table Office or the Hansard Office respectively. Odekros Content Manager and Research Assistant both verified each documentary source of our data," Odekro said in a statement.
Hoseni Sumaila is reported to have obtained the charm from a fake spiritualist identified as Femi Sunday, Daily Post reports.

According to the reports, the herbalist prepared a love portion for Sumaila to charm his boss into loving him more.

Daily Post reports that the employer, one Mrs. Adeyemi, discovered the evil plan and sent him away.

Sunday reportedly collected N45,000 as payment to prepare the charm and gave Sumaila something to use but the charm seems to have failed him.

In anger, Sumaila reported the case to the police who immediately arrested the fake spiritualist.

The court heard that the incident happened at the Ijora area of the state.

The police prosecutor, Sgt. Kokoye Olusegun said the pair were arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on fraud and obtaining under false pretence.

However, Daily Post reports that the culprits pleaded not guilty.

Presiding Magistrate, Mr M.A. Etti, admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N50, 000, with one surety in like sum.

Etti ordered the accused to be remanded in prison custody pending the perfection of their bail condition.
These regions are in the North-West and South-West regions of the country. This shutdown comes on the heels of protests by English speaking Cameroonians who took to the streets to complain about the marginalization by the French-speaking led government.

People in these regions found out they could not communicate via the Internet since Tuesday, January 17, 2017. This Internet shutdown has not allowed for messages to be shared on social media too. The development came as a surprise to many as the government did not give any prior notice or warning.

According to Quartz, the shutdown came after the Cameroonian government banned two Anglophone pressure groups- Southern Cameroons National Council and the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

The leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor and Dr. Fontem A. Neba were arrested on the same day in Buea and flown to Yaounde.

ALSO READ: Kenyatta's government might shut down the Internet during elections

The government in the Central African Republic have been able to shut down the Internet in the English speaking regions because the optic fibre backbone in the country is owned and operated by Cameroon Telecommunications (CAMTEL). Internet and mobile communication providers in the country solely rely on CAMTEL for its operations.

These service providers were given strict instructions by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications to shutdown the Internet in the English speaking regions.

The Anglophone-Francophone clash started from Cameroon's pre-colonial days. Cameroon was a region founded by the British but ran by the French. Majority of the country's administrative structure is dominated by its French speaking citizens. With a population of 23 million people, Anglophone speaking Cameroonians make up 20% of the piopulation.
Forty-two-year old Stanley Iheanacho and 26-year-old Hassan Olakunle, whose residential addresses were not given, however, pleaded not guilty before Magistrate O.A. Ogunbowale.

According to the prosecutor, ASP Eshiet Eshiet, the school workers took turns to insert their fingers in their pupils vagina in December 2016, at 4:00 p.m.

Eshiet said that the defilement occurred on the schools premises in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos.

The accused also sexually assaulted the little girl by giving her their penises to suck, he said.

The offences contravene Sections 137, 259 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011, according to the prosecutor.

The magistrate granted the accused bail in the sum of N500, 000 each with two sureties in like sum.

She said that the sureties must be blood relations of the accused and should show evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

Ogunbowale adjourned the case to March 1 for the advice of the state director of public prosecutions.
New Telegraph reports that Ekaka, a resident of the Alimisho area, a suburb of state, lured the young victim into his room under the pretence of sending her on an errand but instead forcefully defiled her.

The police prosecutor who arraigned the suspect, Inspector Simeon Inuoha, told the court that Ekaka committed the offence on January 9, 2017, inside his room at the rented apartment he shares with the parents of the girl.

After luring the girl into his room on the pretence of sending her on an errand, the accused shut the door and forcefully raped her. It was the cry of the girl that attracted the neighbour to the scene and the accused was arrested, Inspector Inuoha said, adding that the offence contravened Section 259 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
According to an eyewitness, Ewatomilola, the deceased who were apparently drunk, were coming from a club in the early hours of the day when their vehicle which was on high speed, skidded off its lane to another, crashed into a billboard and in the process, killing all its occupants.

A check on the bodies of the victims by sympathizers revealed that the girl was a student of the university and must have gone to Ibadan to have fun with her male friends without the knowledge of her parents.

Read what Ewatomilola wrote on a social media platform about the incident:

"God have mercy... I met with this on my way to Abeokuta. This happened on Ring-Road, Mobil, Ibadan, at exactly 1 am this morning.

Four people in the car, three guys, and a lady. One of the guys just got back from Dubai (check the plate number of the car) last week and that was what prompted their outing.

They were coming back from a club and their car jumped to the other lane at a high speed and hit a big iron billboard.

The lady is a student of UniLag. Her family is yet to know she's late. They all died, nobody survived.

The most painful thing is the lady who lost her life. All the way from UniLag. Ladies' love for money and material things these days is something.
The scorned man attacked the duo at a beer parlour in Ijaiye area of Lagos State. He reportedly sprayed them with petrol and set them on fire. reports the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Witnesses told NAN that the incident happened on Sunday at the womans beer parlour located at Americana Street, Jankara, Agbado-Ijaiye, Lagos State.

The woman died at the bar, while her friend, Oyedutan died on Monday at Gbagada General Hospital following severe burns sustained in the fire.

Sources told NAN that the attacker, who is now at large, was the estranged lover of the woman who owned the beer parlour, where the petrol attack occurred.

She was simply identified as Mama-Corner.

According to a witness: The ex-lover of the woman, who was not happy over her unfaithfulness to him, became angry and went to the beer parlour, sprayed the man and woman with petrol and lit them up.

The man, who lit the fire, got his cloth burnt as he was running out. The woman died in the beer parlour, the lover man died on Monday at Gbagada General Hospital, a source told NAN.

The businessman was buried on Tuesday at his house in Ajasa Village, Command area of Ipaja, Lagos.

NAN learnt that the trio involved in the love triangle were married to different spouses.

The wife of the late businessman, Mrs Tolu Oyedutan, described his death as a painful loss.

She told sympathisers that she was with her late husband until he gave up the ghost at about 11 pm on Monday.

My regret now is that my five-year-old son wont live to see his father when he grows up, the bereaved wife said.
Reaching for my National Assembly gate pass in a shuttle that conveys people into the complex, the sound of protesters chanting solidarity songs soon got the attention of everybody in the bus.

"Who be these ones again. Every day, one protest or another at this National Assembly main gate," one of the passengers said.

From that minute, I knew my day would not go as planned. I alighted and went closer to the scene to get relevant details for my story.

Members of the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI) were protesting the alleged neglect of research institutions by the federal government.

While Dr Theophilus Ndubuakwu, ASURI's secretary general was addressing journalists, a large number of people began advancing towards the area. Immediately, ASURI protesters disappeared, giving way to the new group who came matching like military men preparing for battle.

the Shitte protesters chanted in a loud tone, declining Police instructions to stop.

"Stop there! I say, Stop Moving, police officers commanded. These words felt like pouring water on a rock as the protesters (young men and women) numbering over a hundred moved closer to the gate of the National Assembly.

Senior Police officers were seen making calls to alert the Force Headquarters as more officers arrived the scene.

My head o, an onlooker shouted after the first gun shot by the Police, Free our leader, Free Zazkaky, the protester screamed even more. A situation which angered the Police.

Soon, teargas was thrown at the protesters. Immediately, these protesters picked them up and threw back at the heavily armed police officers. Such guts!

Despite the teargas, the protesters refused to go while the smoke soon disappeared.

Little did the Police know that some Shiite members were armed with gallons of kerosene to stop the smoke. The protesters came fully prepared after being disgraced by the Police on several occasions.

Observing the situation, the Senior Police officer asked that another smoke be dropped while he watched. Immediately that was done, a Shiite member rushed to where the device was dropped and poured kerosene on it. A police officer then reached for the young mans cheek with a slap.

This irked the protesters who gathered the police man and others at the scene. A clash resulted between the Police and the protesters.

More teargas was fired and at that point, tears began to drop down my eyes as the air around totally polluted with the substance.

At this point, only two things were on my mind - good air to breath and water to drink.

Some women who joined in the protest began to seek a more suitable place to stay while others stayed back. Some men challenged the police officers to shoot them saying your [police] gun have no bullets.

Incredible!

As soon as I got a place to stay and water to drink, I sent a quick draft to my colleague, who broke the news.

The more bad air the protesters inhaled, the more they reduced in number. Other protesters who refused to leave were chased away by the Police.

But a man who defiled orders to leave, and tried to fight with the Police was chased, beaten with his trouser torn. He was left partly naked at the fence of the Federal Secretariat. How sad!

As I watch how things played out, a few questions quickly came to mind.

1. Why the force and attack on the Police in such manner?

2. How were the Shiite members expecting to win the battle?

3. Its understandable that they want their leader released. But, how do you convince the government and other Nigerians that youre a peaceful sect with such behavior? Is this show not sending a wrong signal to the Nigerian government who has your leader in detention?

Nigerians laugh when it is said that "the Police is your friend." A few instances abound where the Police did not really shown that they are "our friends." The question is, will you act friendly to someone who acts differently?

The protesters were there before the Shiites, no teargas.

On several occasions, the police have prevented members of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group from gaining access to the Presidential Villa. They have never been teargassed. And the list goes on.

With this, one can only imagine the next move of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) members in the quest to have their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky released.
He made the comments via an opinion article titled The Railway Revolution we need in reaction to the planned closure of the Abuja airport for repairs.

Read the article below:

Dear Nigerians, Let me seize this opportunity to once again wish you a Happy New Year. Indeed 2016 was a very challenging year for all of us, but I believe that with the efforts of both the Government and the private Sector, we should experience a more prosperous 2017.

Towards the end of last year, Nigeria was and is still faced with a major transportation challenge to wit: the impending closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. This impending closure is attributed to the urgent need to rehabilitate the only runway servicing the airport.

From Thursday 12th January 2017 to Tuesday, 17th January, 2017, the Nigerian Senate engaged the stakeholders in the Sector with a view to considering other options available to the millions of Nigerians that would be affected by the Six Week Closure of the airport. The whole essence of this engagement was to find the least stressful alternative that would benefit the country.

I have given the forgoing preamble mainly to further underscore the need to quickly and speedily reinvigorate our Rail Transportation Sector, in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Railway Bill, 2016. To achieve this, our counterparts in the House of Representatives will have to hasten up to pass their version of the Bill so that the harmonised version can then be forwarded to Mr. President for his assent.

You will recall that the Nigerian Senate on July 21, 2016 passed the Nigerian Railway Corporation Bill, 2016. The new bill is poised to replace the antiquated Railway Corporation Act of 1955.

The new railway bill sponsored by Senator Andy Uba from Anambra state laid the ground work for the reengineering which the Senate Committee on Land Transport which I chair had to do to achieve the quality of the legislation that was eventually passed. I must once again commend my colleagues on the committee and the technical committee that worked with us leading to the passage of the Nigerian Railway Bill, 2016.

Basically, the passed bill is a departure from the old order, which shut private investors out of the railway business. The new bill, among other things, seeks to open up the railway business to private investors, and to distinguish the regulator  which is the government  from the operator.

I remain a strong believer in the primacy of the railway. It is my belief as well that the Railways remain a critical infrastructure that will extenuate Nigerias motley transportation problems. Hence, I am dedicated to leading the charge for the revolutionalization of the system.

Last year, I expressed my thoughts on the same subject in an essay entitled, Time has come to open up our railway to private participation, which was published a few days before the passage of the bill in July 2016. Given the situation we have found ourselves in now, I deem it necessary to quote some of the thoughts expressed therein, hereunder.

Government after government has invested even more in road expansion projects. The result as can be observed in the case of Lagos and Abuja has been a gradual occupation of the expanded roads with more cars. This is attributable to rural-urban migration as well as population explosion across the nation.

Mass transit remains a very pivotal aspect of the development of any city. It plays a critical role in enhancing productivity of the state by ensuring the movement of the largest number of people from point A to Point B within the shortest possible time. It also reflects the quality of life and the value placed on the unit citizen by any responsible government.

You will agree with me that the most effective means of transporting large quantities of humans, goods and services within any country is via rail. This is why whenever the topic of mass transit is discussed; rail transportation must be given its pride of place.

Now, with the impending closure of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, a frontal focus on the railway is more than ever germane. The goal is not to have just functional railways, but to have trains that are as fast and effective as those we see outside Nigeria.

I believe that the private sector has a pivotal role to play in turning around the fortunes of the Nigerian Railway System. To achieve this, the Senate has taken the lead in giving the executive the requisite Legislative Support to attract Foreign and local investments into the sector. This was the prime goal, when the Senate committee on Land Transport, worked round the clock to ensure the passage of the Railway Bill in good time.

The imminent total closure of the second busiest airport in Nigeria has caused unrest for many Nigerians and foreigners going by their outcry. Imagine if we had an effective rail system whereby cities, states and communities are linked. A sturdy railway system or a faster train traversing the Abuja to Kaduna corridor, the consequences of the total closure of the Abuja Airport would be minimal and frequent travelers might not feel much pain or discomfort.
NAN observed that some of the bridges have been turned to mini-markets by some people who hawk their wares at the foot and on top of the bridges instead of allowing them to be used solely for its purpose.

Some of the residents told NAN that the locations of most of the bridges were often too far from their bus-stops.

A resident of Lugbe, Mrs Victoria Duru, said that she preferred to cross the road by making a dash instead of using the bridge, adding that her bus stop was too far from the bridge.

She said that she was aware of the dangers associated with crossing the busy express road but still prefer it instead of trekking to the pedestrian bridge.

I know the danger associated with crossing the expressway, especially during the busy period, but I still prefer to cross the road by sprinting across.

The location of my bus stop to the bridge is quite a distance and is always difficult for me to walk that distance everyday, Duru said.

Another resident, Mrs Yinka Adedeji, said that her fear for heights and the energy used to climb the bridge had hindered her from using the bridge.

I have phobia for heights and there is no way I can walk without looking down. Moreso, it takes physical strength to climb that bridge.

Again, one cannot put out the fear of being robbed especially at night, she said.

Mr Uche Philip, a businessman, said that using the bridge was safer in spite of its challenges.

According to him, it is better to use the bridge than to risk ones life dashing across busy highways.

Not doing so can be dangerous. In fact, I will advice that more of these bridges should be constructed in some strategic locations of the city to avert unnecessary deaths of residents.

Also, there should be people like the Abuja Environmental Protection Agency officers who will monitor the bridge against hawkers because people leave all kinds of dirt and refuse on the walkway.

Similarly, Mr Yahaya Nasiru, a civil servant, said that using the bridge gives one a sense of sanity.

When I see pedestrian running across the highway, I assume they are not mentally alright or else, how can one explain the situation.
Bwala was reportedly arrested with his driver on Jan. 17, at his office in Garki, Abuja.

In a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, National Legal Adviser of the PDP faction, Mr Bashir Maidugu, condemned the continued detention of Bwala since his arrest.

He said that after his arrest, Bwala was taken first to Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) detention centre in Abuja and was taken to Maiduguri on Wednesday.

Since then, he has been detained without trial

We call on the authorities to charge him to court or grant him bail and follow the due processes of law if he is alleged to have committed any offense.

We are worried that Bwalas continued detention without bail or trial is a breach of his fundamental rights and a potent threat to civil liberties in this democracy.

Social justice and civil liberties are fundamental human rights, and not at the discretion of the state.
"The truth I want to pass out is that if I spend a day with security operatives, I have churches in 42 countries and I've alerted them...every Nigerian embassy in those countries will be in trouble...the damage that will happen in Nigeria will take one year to repair," Suleiman told journalists in Ekiti on Wednesday.

Operatives of the DSS had around 2am stormed the hotel Suleiman had lodged in Ado-Ekiti and attempted to arrest him, but the federal agents were stopped by Governor Ayodele Fayose who led his security team to the scene to rescue the cleric.

Suleiman is said to be in Ado-Ekiti for a two-day crusade and had just arrived from the days programme, which was attended by Fayose, when the DSS men move in on him.

ALSO READ: How Gov rescued Apostle Johnson Suleiman from DSS ambush
Dickson made the remark at the launch of Operation no work, no pay by the State Government in Yenagoa on Wednesday.

He said the policy would not only improve the workforce but fortify plans to move the state forward.

He said the state government was spending heavily on workers development without improved revenue.

Dickson explained that the launch was necessary to ensure that state, local governments and parastatals did not collapse.

The governor, who decried the way workers stayed out of work, said only those who reported for work regularly would now be entitled to salaries.

The workers must begin to work towards generating fund for the state; this is not time for negligence of duty, especially at this time of harsh economy.

All stakeholders from the state to local government levels must partner with the government to effect the real change.

We will no longer tolerate those who stay at home awaiting salary alert every month.

This is a clarion call to all parastatals in the state because the era of spending and paying salaries without generating fund to the state has come to an end.

The state government is also calling on all tertiary institutions in the state to wake up; Collage of Education, School of Health Technology and Niger-Delta University can generate a lot of funds for the state.

The state has stopped monthly subventions to tertiary institutions from January 2017, but we will not stop to improve infrastructure in the schools, Dickson said.

Mr John Ndiomu, Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, Bayelsa chapter, said that lunching of the operation no work, not pay was not a big deal but paying of salaries when due.
On Tuesday, a local newspaper reported that IGP Idris, has led a high powered police delegation to visit the President in London.

Buhari is on a 10-day vacation to the U.K where he'll embark on routine medical checkups, according to a statement from the Presidency issued before his departure.

Tempers have flared in the social media since the story of the IGP's visit to the U.K to see the President, hit cyberspace.

Many Nigerians have tongue-lashed or tweet-lashed the Presidency and the Police high command for what they considered a frivolous trip which will cost the Nigerian taxpayer dearly.

But a source at the Police headquarters who didn't want to be named because he hadn't been authorized to comment on the subject, told Pulse that the report was a fabrication.

"It's not true that Oga (IGP Idris) is in the UK to visit Buhari. And please, appeal to your colleagues in the media to always cross-check information before putting it out there", said the source.

The top ranking Police officer added that IGP Idris is in London at the behest of the UK metropolitan Police.

No details were offered about what will be discussed between the Nigerian Police boss and his UK counterparts, at this meeting.

"It's only a coincidence that Oga's trip is happening during the period President Buhari is in the U.K.

"Oga is in the UK for a different purpose. Nigerians need to take a step back before running with news stories sometimes. It's rather unfair on the Police and the nation", added the source.

Pulse put a phone call across to Police spokesperson Don Awunah for a possible response before filing this story, but his calls went unanswered.
According to a story published in the Vanguard, N37.367B was spent on the houses, staff and exotic cars of 47 former Governors from 21 States of the federation.

In the last four years, former Governors of Bauchi, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Lagos drew N23.18B, N2.795B N2.043B and N1.606B respectively from their State coffers as pension allowances.

In Bauchi, former Governors are paid N1B annually even though the State is one of the poorest in the country.

Pulse findings indicate that some of the former Governors pegged the pension allowances for themselves while they were still in office; in cahoots with the State House of Assemblies.

In 2014, departing Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, arm twisted the State legislature to pass into law a pension bill that would guarantee a retired Akpabio a classy home, brand new cars, befitting furniture and other luxuries, for the rest of his life.

ALSO READ:

The Vanguard reports that these pension benefits for former State Chief Executives are aside the prescription of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC which prescribes 300 per cent severance for the Governors as stated in the Certain Political Office Holders and Judicial Officers Remuneration Act.

Under the act, former Governors are entitled to 300% of their basic salary of N2, 223,705 amounting to N6,671,115 as severance pay.

Former lawmakers are also entitled to similar perks.

The RMFAC even treats former Governors better.

According to the provisions of the RMFAC, former Governors are entitled to the following:

a) Brand new cars renewable every three to four years.

b) Accommodation at the State capital and sometimes in Abuja;

c) 30-day-paid holiday outside the country and free medical treatment for the former Governors and their immediate family members.

The Vanguard provides more details of the humongous pay handed out to former Governors and former Deputies.

According to the Newspaper, the Sokoto State pension law provides for N200M every four years for former Governors.

Sokoto has three former Governors. That means every four years, Sokoto would have to pay N600M to former Governors.

In Sokoto, N180M would be set aside to pay former Deputy Governors.

In Gombe State, former Governors will get N300M per annum.

The pension law varies from State to State because the schemes are often decided by the State legislatures.

And it helps if that State is rich in natural resources.

For instance, oil rich Delta State hands out N816M annually to its former Governors. This includes former Governor James Ibori who looted the State's treasury and is serving jail time in the U.K.

In Bayelsa, it's N44M and in Borno, it's N987M for former Governors.

These huge pension payments to former State Governors have been disclosed at a time when all State Governors often head to Abuja for handouts in order to remain viable entities.

Nigeria slipped into an economic recession in mid 2015 and commodity prices remain high in Africa's most populous country.

Most State Governors owe civil servants months in salaries and most States cite paucity of funds as reason why they are unable to embark on new projects or pay teachers.
Bello said examining the report published by Premium Times readily shows the obvious contradictions and the less than altruistic intentions therein.

He said: "To start with, the report established the fact that there was an Evaluation Committee made up of a Chairman and Members who are ranking professionals in their own right. Even by its own admission, the report that went to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) was the work of the Evaluation Committee which does not have the Hon. Minister as member.

"Except the publication was insinuating that the Committee colluded to perpetrate fraud for itself and the Ministry, which is not the case, then going to town about Fashola being in a contract mess leaves much to be desired," he said.

Explaining further, Bello said: "The Premium Times contradicted itself by alleging a contract mess and yet admitted that the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing followed Due Process by advertising projects to be awarded and sending the list of selected contractors to the Bureau of Public Procurement. If the Ministry does what is expected of it by law and the institution of Government that it went to did its job, in what way does it amount to a mess?

"It is pertinent to inform Nigerians that as at this moment, no new contracts have been awarded to date based on the 2016 Appropriation and as such no single kobo has been paid. The contract mess which Premium Times sought to mislead Nigerian citizens with is an exchange of correspondence between two government institutions to which the Ministry has adequately responded.

"It is worrisome that whilst Premium Times devoted its journalistic energy to the correspondence from the Bureau of Public Procurement, it failed to inform its readers of the response of the Ministry which comprehensively addressed all the issues raised in the Bureaus referenced report. Is journalism now a one-way traffic?

"For the avoidance of doubt, the statutory role of the Bureau of Public Procurement is to vet contracts to be awarded depending on the threshold. At the end of its work, it either issues a Due Process Certificate of No Objection or withholds it. Indeed, even if it issues a Certificate of No Objection, the last approving authority for the threshold of jobs so sensationally reported by Premium Times is the Federal Executive Council and not the Hon. Minister or the Permanent Secretary of the Awarding Ministry. It should be noted that the BPP has the final decision on contract prices and in previous memos from the Ministry, the Bureau had reviewed the cost of contracts."

ALSO READ: Fashola says there is lack of electricity because there is no money to pay for gas

In conclusion, Bello said: "In a regime emphasising Due Process and underscoring efficient institutions, it should be a source of worry if the BPP certifies every piece of document that goes to it as being okay. So rather than sensationalise public institutions doing its job, it would be advisable for media organisations to educate its personnel on how the procurement system works."
The Senate began its consideration of the 2017 Budget proposal on Tuesday, 24 January 2017.

The lead debate was read by the Majority leader of the Senate, Senator Ahmed Lawan.

During his contribution on the floor of the Senate, Ashafa said that to get Nigeria out of recession, spending a huge chunk of the N7.28T 2017 budget on infrastructure projects, is the way to go.

The Senator who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Land Transport, commenced his contribution by commending the executive for submitting the Medium Term Expenditure Framework on time.

He also commended the executive for its drive toward revamping the railways.

Speaking further, the Senator pointed out that to get a clearer picture of things, there is a need to compare the 2016 budget performance with the estimated allocations in the 2017 budget.

According to Ashafa, the 2017 fiscal deficit is estimated to be about N2.7T, which is an increase of about N492B from that of 2016.

"According to the budget office, this deficit is to be financed mainly by borrowing as well as recoveries from misappropriated public funds/assets proceeds.

Ashafa also called for greater transparency from the executive in implementing the 2017 budget.

Sometime in June last year, the stated that the cash recoveries made between May 29, 2015, and May 25, 2016, including recoveries under interim forfeiture (cash and assets), amounted to about N3. 4T.

"If these monies are truly within the coffers of the government, of what need do we have to borrow to finance the fiscal deficit? The recovered sums ought to be enough to cover up the deficit considering the fact that more recoveries are still being made.

Ashafa urged President Buhari to tell Nigerians exactly how much funds have been recovered in the fight against corruption in the spirit of transparency.
Mr Jeff Immelt, GE Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, made the proposal known when he visited Dr Maikanti Baru, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

In a statement released in Abuja by NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr Ndu Ughamadu, Immelt promised to work with NNPC to make production in the off-shore fields profitable for the benefit of the company, NNPC and other stakeholders.

A presentation by GE revealed that the companys teams of partners, including its consortium involving the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) partners, off-takers, traders and some financiers would be engaged in the initiative.

"We were involved in the tenders that started around last year which was subsequently withdrawn but our commitment to bringing the refineries on-stream is still very deep and we are very serious about it.

We propose that work commences either with the Warri or Port Harcourt Refinery as a pilot, as we set a target to improve the refinery capacity before the end of 2017, the company stated in its presentation.

Ughamadu said GEs desire to partner with NNPC on the rehabilitation of the three refineries came on the heels of a similar proposal by the Italian company, Eni, to establish cooperation with NNPC for the Rehabilitation and enhancement of Port Harcourt Refinery as contained in the companys release in Rome on Monday.

He said GE and NNPC have identified some major national power projects in the country and were currently developing the scope of intervention in the projects which have a potential combined capacity of about 4.4 gigawatts.

Ughamadu said GE further expressed the hope to consolidate on its existing working relationship with the Corporation to expand the prevailing power business and help achieve its vision of becoming the leading power company in Nigeria.

The statement said Baru expressed delight in the interest GE had to intervene in some vital operational areas of the Corporation.

Baru noted that GEs offer of a package that includes projects financing would greatly improve collaboration and initiate the power projects rapidly.

He welcomed GEs offer for support to boost the nations offshore production and raise crude oil reserve ratio replacement.

He also urged the company to tap into the opportunities on offer in medical supplies as the NNPC moves to commercialise the services of its 52 hospitals and clinics spread across the country in the years ahead, Ughamadu said.
The explosions, said to be suicide attacks, occurred early on Wednesday, January 25, according to Premium Times.

The first blast occurred at about midnight when a male suicide bomber attempted to attack a security point in the Usmanti Layout area, but was gunned down by soldiers on duty.

The second blast reportedly occurred at about 5.30 a.m. when a teenage girl, blew herself up near a mosque after being caught by members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF).

We are just leaving the site of the second blast now, and everything is calm now, local vigilante head, Danbatta Bello said.

We heard the first explosion about some few minutes after midnight but soldiers were able to stop him from carrying out his attack when they shot him near the security check post in Usmanti.

His bombs went off not quite 50 meters away from the sandbags at the check post as soon as the soldier sitting on top of a security observation post shot at him.

The second one was a young girl who was trying to attack worshippers in a mosque during the early morning prayer time at about 5.30am. Some of our boys tried to stop her so she decided to detonate the bomb, which killed her and one of our members. Two others were injured by the explosion as well, he added.

The incident has been confirmed by police spokesman in Borno, Victor Isuku.

The latest bombing comes about a week after Nigerian Air Force fighter jets dropped bombs on an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Rann, Borno state.
The explosions occurred in the capital city on Wednesday, January 25, at different times.

The confirmation was given by Commissioner of Police in the state, Damian Chukwu during a news conference in Maiduguri.

The first incident occurred around 24:45 hours on Tuesday, when a suspected suicide bomber tried to penetrate the metropolis through Usmanti village. As he tried to cross over near a military check point, he was sighted and gunned down by the soldiers on guard and the shooting triggered the explosive he was carrying, killing him alone, he said.

The second incident happened this morning around 04:50 hours when a group of suspected suicide bombers also tried to penetrate the metropolis through Kaleri village. Unfortunately for them, there was a vigilant military check point in the place and one of them was sighted trying to cross the fence and was gunned down.

But unknown to anybody, the remaining bomber had scaled through and moved about 200 meters away. She met some people and detonated her explosive killing herself and one other person, he added.
In a report by SaharaReporters, the Ogun State governor's ploy to convince the lawmakers to approve his request to borrow another loan has met a deadend.

The report further claimed the Gov had called for an emergency meeting with the lawmakers through the Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon Suraj Adekunbi, but met a brickwall as the majority of the Assembly members refused endorsing his request.

It was during the meeting, the report said, that the lawmakers poured out their grievances with the governor claiming he had abandoned the members of the house despite endorsing numerous requests for loans that include N25 billion from First Bank, N15 billion from Guaranty Trust Bank, another N7.5 billion from Guaranty Trust Bank, N40 billion from Prada Marcedo, a Brazilian financial institution, N2 billion from the Bank of Agriculture, N1 billion naira from Federal Mortgage Bank, N20 billion in bailout funds and N50 billion from the capital market.

The lawmakers further wondered why Gov Amosun needed another N65billion barely a week after recently accessing a bailout of about N20 billion from the federal government.

ALSO READ: Ogun PDP scribe says Gov Amosun has wrecked state's economy

The refusal of the legislative arm of the state to approve the loan proposal by the governor may have ignited a fresh war between the Ogun Assembly and the Executive.
THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER

Uproar in Senate over Buharis support for Babachir, Magu

There was uproar at the Senate yesterday over President Muhammadu Buharis continued support for the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), David Babachir and the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu.

Central Bank of Nigeria keeps monetary policy rate at 14 %

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 14 per cent.It is the rate at which the CBN lends money to deposit money banks in the country.

Again, court grants Dasuki bail

A high court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has again reaffirmed the bail granted former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and five others in the alleged $2.1 billion arms deal.

VANGUARD NEWSPAPER

EFCC: Senate takes on DSS over Magu

The Senate has summoned the Director-General of the Department of State Services, DSS, Lawal Daura, to shed light on the agencys indictment of Mr. Ibrahim Magu as an unfit person to head the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Kidnapped staff, students of Turkish College freed at last

The eight students and two staff of the Nigeria Turkish International School, Isheri, Ogun State, who were abducted on January 13, 2017, have regained their freedom.

FG orders investigation of BBNaija shooting in South Africa

The Federal Government has directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the reported shooting in South Africa of the ongoing Big Brother Nigeria Reality Show.

THE NATION NEWSPAPER

EFCC seeks forfeiture of Diezanis N9.08b

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to order the forfeiture of N9.billion allegedly laundered for former Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Allison-Madueke.

Senators give conditions for Magus confirmation

Senators may have set three conditions for Ibrahim Magus confirmation as Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman, The Nation learnt yesterday.

Banks bad loans hit N856.9b, says report
The intervention fund is billed for use as subsidy for operators or any increases in tariff in the countrys electricity sector.

Bruce stated this during an oversight visit to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said the sector was yet to record any improvement despite the enormous finances invested in the sector after privatisation.

He, therefore, said that the call for further subsidy for the sector and increase in electricity tarrif was uncalled for.

If there is going to be an increase, I am familiar with an increase of 3 per cent, 5 per cent annually.

As a Nigerian citizen I am not in favour of a 200 per cent increase, the same way I am not in favour of 200 per cent of petrol price , or any other product.

Nigerians are suffering enough and because Nigerians are suffering, I cannot in good conscience say to the average consumer of power in the village, you are going to have a 300 per cent increase.

And the argument they make is that ok , is the only way there will be power.

In my business, nobody gives me subsidy, in Dangotes business, nobody gives him subsidy and if we all survive in the same market, nobody gives us subsidy, why should I give them subsidy.

 If they chose to be in this market, and they are in this market to make profit, then find the way to cut your cost and I will not vote for the government to give them 1 trillion naira.

 No subsidy and no tariff increase, but there must be a way for the industry to survive.

But I am totally against subsidy and I am totally against tariff increase I dont think it is right, if they are going to give subsidy and power increase , give it to all sectors of the economy. 

He expressed worry over the monopolistic nature of the current operators in the sector, noting that there was the need to create competitive environment for other interested investors in the sector.

 I believe all we have done is creating state monopolies and I believe those state monopolies do not solve our problems.

We have gotten rid of NEPA,now we have state monopolies, so if a state monopoly says this is my price, what are you going to do?.
Orji was listed among 21 former governors and other officers, who are currently holding public office, including ministers, and earning salaries but still receiving pension for previous political positions.

In a statement in Abuja, his media aide, Mr Eddie Onuzuruike, said that the senator could not enjoy double pay knowing full well the implication as a seasoned public servant.

Let it be known to all and sundry that Senator T.A. Orji is not drawing any of such funds from Abia state, knowing the full implications of such an act.

As a man who went through the rungs of the civil service, from Administrative Officer to Permanent Secretary, he is fully aware of the code guiding retirement of officers and so would not violate same.
The minister of Information and Culture made this known in a statement issued on Wednesday, January 25, 2017 in Abuja.

Mohammed stressed that the full wrath of the law will be brought to bear on the authors of the subversive messages being circulated on the health of President Buhari.

The source/sources of the fabricated messages are already being investigated and the authors should be prepared to face the consequences of their actions, the minister said.

Continuing, he said: While opposition and criticism are all part of democracy, the crafting and circulation of subversive materials and scare-mongering are not.

The emerging trend of resorting to destabilisation and scare-mongering is not unexpected, considering this governments clamp-down on the corrupt elements in the society," Mohammed said.

However, the minister said the government would neither stifle press freedom nor abridge the citizens right to express themselves freely through constructive criticism or protests.
It was reported that the five staff and three students of the school, who were kidnapped at their school, have been released to their families.

The abducted persons were reportedly released on Tuesday evening, January 24, 2016, after spending 11 days in captivity.

A report by Newsbreak claimed that an unnamed parent of the kidnapped children alleged millions of Naira were paid through a negotiator as ransom for the release of the victims.

ALSO READ: Hostages to be released within 24 hours  AIG

Earlier on Tuesday, new Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) , Zone 2, Kayode Aderanti had promised that the kidnapped persons will regain freedom within 24 hours.
The Shiites arrived the main gate of the national assembly at about 11:10am on Wednesday holding pictures of Zakzaky and chanting "Government free Zakzaky" "Government free our leader."

They also refused to leave the premises despite being teargassed by security officials on the scene.

Some of the protesters were said to have thrown the teargas back at the police leading to a fight between the two groups.

The protesters however fled the area when mobile officers began to shoot into the air to disperse them.

Meanwhile, the Presidency has said that it cannot release Zakzaky despite a court order to that effect.

This was disclosed to journalists in Abuja by a top presidency source, who chose to remain anonymous, on Thursday, January 19.

The Abuja Federal High Court, on December 2, ordered the immediate release of Zakzaky.

ALSO READ:Kaduna Governor declares Shiite sect illegal
The nominees for the 89th and 2017 Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2017, and six black actors were nominated.

Black films including "Fences," "Hidden Figures" and "Moonlight" also got nominations in categories such as the best picture, feature documentary, and best director.

ALSO READ: undefined

Reacting to the nominations, Pinkett Smith in an interview with Variety expressed her excitement.

I feel really fantastic. Its a beautiful thing to see, Smith said. We had a lot of exceptional films this year. Im glad to see that projects like "Hidden Figures," "Fences," and "Moonlight" are getting recognition. Im very proud this morning.

On the significance of awards and diversity, the actress and producer said, "Because of the state that our country is in, as artists its so important we use our platform to help shine light on how we want to be identified as a country.

I look at this as a beautiful step towards that. Just our participation as artists in this time of how we want to represent our country, what is the messaging we want the world to see. As, artists we have strong voices. We create strong imagery in regards to the identity of our country. Its important that we take responsibility for that.

ALSO READ: undefined

"La La Land," a musical comedy tipped to win big at the Oscars next month February scored 14 nominations, becoming one of the most nominated movies in the Academy Awards history.
Ezekwesili also said that the government has been creating confusing economic policies.

Her comments are contained in the latest edition of The Interview magazine.

I am not a fan of the economic policies of this government so far; I feel its too tentative in making even the right policy decisions and even when it tries to make the right policy decisions, it has been in the breach. It has been very confusing, she said.

Its not that the government is timid; its about doing the wrong things and being adamant about them, she added.
Fayose made the comment on Wednesday, January 25, following the attempted arrest of Apostle Johnson Suleiman of the Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide in Ekiti by agents of the Department of State Services (DSS).

Nigerians, either Muslim or Christian deserve to be protected by the federal government, which controls all security apparatus in the country and the moment the federal government can no longer protect Nigerians from being killed by rampaging herdsmen, citizens of the country will have no option than to defend themselves, Fayose said via a statement released by his media aide, Lere Olayinka.

If the federal government had acted swiftly like it acted on Apostle Suleiman so-called inciting comments when people were being killed by herdsmen across the country, so many lives would have been saved.

It is on record that the APC in Ekiti State issued press statements and went on social media to disparage the Redeemed Christians Church of God (RCCG) Worldwide General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye just because he praised me when he came to Ekiti. And curiously, it was immediately Pastor Adeboye came to Ekiti State and praised me that he was forced to relinquish his position as the General Overseer of the RCCG.

Apostle Johnson Suleiman openly condemned the killing of Nigerians across the country and went on to say that Christians should rise and defend themselves if the federal government, which controls all security apparatus will not defend them and the next thing that happened was the DSS moving swiftly to arrest him.

Isnt it ridiculous that instead of running after those herdsmen that have killed over 3,000 Nigerians in just one year, the DSS opted to arrest a man of God, who merely expressed his frustration on the inability of Nigeria to protect its citizens?

Or who should be arrested between those killer herdsmen and Apostle Suleiman who merely expressed his readiness for self-defence and called on Christians to defend themselves if they are attacked by the herdsmen?

We were all in this country when cattle breeders openly said over 1,000 Agatu people of Benue State were killed because over 10,000 cows were killed. We were also told that the Southern Kaduna genocide was as a result of killing of cows. Up till today, none of those cattle breeders have been arrested.

I personally attended his crusade and I think it is wrong for a man of God who is armless that could be invited if they have any issue against him. Are Christians and Moslems under different dispensation of the rule of law? Thats why I went there to rescue him. Let them kill two of us together. But when they saw my vehicles and the crowd, they fled, he added.

ALSO READ: Apostle Suleiman expels pastor for using church's name for MMM
The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre called for the school's head to be dismissed, saying otherwise it signalled that pro-Nazi nostalgia was "perfectly legitimate" in modern-day Croatia.

But the organisers withdrew the same day after the school's director Josip Belamaric refused to allow six panels explaining the role of Croatia's wartime Ustasha regime, saying the pro-Nazis were presented as "criminals" while their rival communists' crimes were ignored.

The Ustasha persecuted and killed hundreds of thousands of Jews, Serbs, Roma and anti-fascist Croatians.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre, based in Los Angeles, has written to Croatia's charge d'affaires in Tel Aviv in protest at Belamaric's behaviour and seeking his immediate dismissal.

"A failure to do so will indicate that Ustasha nostalgia is perfectly legitimate in today's Croatian school system," wrote the head of the centre's Israeli office, Efraim Zuroff.

The exhibition, due to be displayed until mid-February, had previously been presented in 23 Croatian towns without any problem, the organisers said.

Frank wrote "The Diary of a Young Girl" while hiding from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic from June 1942 to August 1944. More than 30 million copies have been sold in 67 languages.

Frank died in Germany's Bergen-Belsen concentration camp early in 1945, aged 15, less than a year after the Nazis found her and her family members.

Croatia's conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who came to power after a snap election in October, has pledged to move away from extremism.

The previous centre-right government was accused by critics of turning a blind eye to a far-right surge in the country, including nostalgia for a pro-Nazi past.

Croatian Jews are planning to boycott an official ceremony on International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday, accusing authorities of downplaying the Ustasha crimes.
The attack also reportedly killed dozens of Somali civilians and soldiers, while wounding many more, according to Mr Joseph Contreras, Spokesperson for the Mission.

The latest figures that we have been seeing range from between 15 and 20 dead, some of whom were the attackers themselves, some of them Somali soldiers.

Perhaps about half of the dead were civilians and among the dozens of injured were at least five journalists," Contreras said.

Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Dayah Hotel, which is located near the Presidential palace, and is frequented by lawmakers during their visits to Mogadishu.

According to him, however, he was not aware if any lawmakers were visiting the hotel.

Contreras said the attack provides fresh evidence of the violent extremists desperate attempts to derail Somalias electoral process.

The attack also reflects the terrorists frustration over their inability to sabotage recent voting for seats in the two Houses of Somalias new Parliament.

Meanwhile, the interim Humanitarian Coordinator in the Central African Republic, Dr Michel Yao, has expressed concern over increasing tensions in the Ouaka Prefecture, which raised fear of violence between rival armed groups in Bambari.

Yao stressed that an open conflict in the city would be devastating for the civilian population.

The UN aid envoy called on armed groups not to lose sight of the impact violent clashes would have on the already delicate situation of civilians.
"We have received permission from the highest secular office in the world, in line with which we will also be allowed to place ourselves first," the right-wing leader said.

"This is a great thing: a great freedom and a great gift," the eurosceptic head of government added in a speech in Budapest.

Orban, one of the few national leaders to openly support Trump's White House campaign, said the billionnaire's aggressively nationalist vow signalled a welcome return to a "bilateral" era, notably in economic and military matters.

Trump launched the "America First" slogan in a fiery inauguration speech when he succeeded Barack Obama as the 45th president of the United States last week.

Orban, who was speaking at an economic conference, is fiercely eurosceptic and warned Europe to abandon "the illusion of federalism".

But the controversial 53-year-old called for the revival of joint defence plans which would allow European Union (EU) nations to organise their own defence.

Orban welcomed the fact that former French premier Francois Fillon, the main rightwing candidate to succeed President Francois Hollande in elections this year, backed the idea of a European defence alliance.

He called Fillon "the next president of the French Republic, we hope. Fillon is widely expected to face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the run-off second round of presidential elections in May.

Orban, who will host Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks in Budapest on February 2, has called for the lifting of sanctions on Moscow, which US intelligence services claim was behind hacking during the US election campaign aimed at favouring a Trump victory.
They included two Kuwaitis, two Egyptians and one each from Bangladesh, the Philippines and Ethiopia, a statement by the public prosecution office said.

Sheikh Faisal Abdullah Al-Sabah, the first royal to be executed in the emirate, was convicted of shooting and killing his nephew, another member of the ruling family, in 2010 over a dispute.

Nusra al-Enezi, the other Kuwaiti, set fire to a tent in 2009 during a wedding party in an apparent act of revenge against her husband for taking a second wife.

Many of the 57 people killed were women and children.

Enezi, who was 23 years old at the time, threw petrol on the tent, where people were celebrating inside, and burned it down in one of the most devastating crimes in the history of Kuwait.

The Filipina and Ethiopian women were domestic helpers convicted of murdering members of their employers' families in two unrelated crimes.

Manila expresses sadness

Philippines presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the presidential palace was saddened by the execution of Jakatia Pawa.

Abella said the Philippine government had done everything it could to save Pawa, including legal assistance to ensure that her rights were respected and all legal procedures were followed.

Manila "exerted all efforts to preserve her life, including diplomatic means and appeals for compassion. Execution, however, could no longer be forestalled under Kuwaiti laws... We pray for her and her bereaved family," he added.

Around 240,000 Filipinos are working and living in Kuwait, some of them domestic helpers.

The two Egyptians were also convicted of premeditated murder while the Bangladeshi was convicted of abduction and rape.

Kuwait resumed executions in 2013 after a moratorium of six years.

In April 2013, authorities hanged three men convicted of murder.

Two months later, two Egyptians, convicted of murder and abduction, were executed.

One of them, Hajjaj Saadi was convicted of abducting and raping 17 children below the age of 10. He denied the charges in court.

Following those executions, human rights organisations strongly condemned the resumption of hangings in Kuwait.

Kuwait has executed 74 men and six women since it introduced the death penalty in the mid-1960. Most of those condemned have been convicted murderers or drug traffickers.

Around 50 prisoners are on death row.

Courts in Kuwait, which has an elected parliament and an active political scene, have in the past handed down death sentences to members of the Al-Sabah that has ruled the country for two and a half centuries.

Capital punishment is widespread in the Gulf region, particularly in Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Quad-Cities Venture School, a six-week program for entrepreneurs and existing firms to test new business ideas, will begin its third round on Feb. 28.

Organizers are seeking entrepreneurs who want to refine their business ideas before taking them to market to attend Venture School. The deadline to apply is Feb. 6.

Venture School is a statewide program that emphasizes real-world entrepreneurship and innovation-based curriculum taught by serial entrepreneurs. It is offered in classrooms in the Quad-Cities, Iowa City, Des Moines and Sioux City. Locally, it is a partnership of the Quad-Cities Chamber, Eastern Iowa Community Colleges and the University of Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center.

"Venture School has been a great opportunity for us to combine our efforts with the work of the chamber to promote business growth in the Quad-Cities," said Eastern Iowa Community Colleges chancellor Don Doucette. "It is a robust program for any entrepreneur working to launch a business, its an asset for our entrepreneurial community and one in which participants have found great value."

Since its launch here in 2015, 15 teams of entrepreneurs have completed Venture School. During the hands-on program, participants will pitch their business idea and receive feedback from mentors on a weekly basis, interview prospective customers to gain client insight, and learn the lean startup business methodology. Participants who complete the program use the insight and feedback they gain to develop and fine-tune their business model, increasing their odds of success by 20 percent.

"Entrepreneurs have gone through Venture School with new software platforms and apps, services targeted toward specific markets, and even established businesses testing out new products have found value in the process," said Julie Forsythe, the chamber's vice president of entrepreneurship and innovation.

Lloyd Kilmer, co-founder of Performance Learning, contributes his start-up success to his participation in Venture School. "The biggest misconception is that if you invent something great then the consumers will just come," he said. "The reality is, you dont know what customers want unless you talk to them and that was the biggest lesson of Venture School. Part of the curriculum is testing your idea with 100 potential customers and this makes all the difference."

Once selected, Venture School participants are invited to attend the statewide Venture School workshop Feb. 24 in Iowa City. Quad-Cities Venture School will meet at Eastern Iowa Community Colleges' Kahl Education Center, 326 W. 3rd St., Davenport. Classes will be 5:30-8:30 p.m. Feb. 28, March 7, 21 and 28, and April 4 and 11. The cost is $500 per team.

For more information, visit quadcitieschamber.com/venture-school, or contact Julie Forsythe at jforsythe@quadcitieschamber.com.
1. Worlds Toughest Rodeo

2. Grand opening show at Black Box Theatre

The Black Box Theatre, the community theater that recently opened in downtown Moline, hosts its grand opening show this weekend. During "Murderers," which consists of three monologues from people who each take the stage proclaiming "I am a murderer," you'll go back and forth between laughs and scares. The show premieres at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and runs through Feb. 11 at The Black Box Theatre, 1623 5th Ave., Moline. Tickets, $16, are available at theblackboxtheatre.com.

3. Rap meets rock

Rock chart-topper Twenty One Pilots is the headliner for a Sunday-night show at the iWireless Center, 1201 River Drive, Moline. You'll also see Judah & the Lion, a genre-bending band from Nashville, Tennessee that released its second album, "Folk Hop 'N Roll," in 2016. Get ready to hear a mix of rap, blues, rock and folk when they hit the stage. The group joins Jon Bellion, a rapper known for the tune "All Time Low" as special guests at the show slated for 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29 at the iWireless Center. Tickets, $39.50 and $49.50, are available at Ticketmaster.com.

4. Comedy show

Craving some comedy? The Circa '21 Speakeasy brings back The Laugh Hard show, which features a lineup of stand-up comedians from across the Midwest. The laughs begin at 7 p.m. Friday at The Speakeasy, 1818 3rd Ave., Rock Island. Tickets, $3, are available at thecirca21speakeasy.com.

5. Barn raisers

The Barn Raisers," a documentary from Moline-based Fourth Wall Films premieres Saturday at the Putnam Museum and Science Center, 1717 W. 12th St., Davenport. The Barley House Band, a Quad-City group whose music is featured in the film, will perform at 5:30 p.m. and the movie starts at 6:30 p.m. Tickets, $8.50, are available by visiting putnam.org or by calling 563-324-1933.

6. Concertmaster in concert

See one of the Quad-City Symphony Orchestra's stars in concert this weekend. Concertmaster Naha Greenholtz, violin virtuosa, will lead the show, which includes the commission of "Over the Broken Waters" composed by Augustana Professor of Music, Jacob Bancks, at 2 p.m. Sunday at Augustana College's Wallenberg Hall, 3520 7th Ave., Rock Island. Tickets, $10 for students, $25 for adults, are available at qcso.org.
An Andalusia man entered an Alford plea Wednesday for the second time in connection with a 2013 crash that left two people dead.

Mitchell A. Gayer, 26, entered his plea to aggravated driving under the influence, a Class 2 felony punishable by three to 14 years in prison, during a short hearing at the Rock Island County Justice Center.

In an Alford plea, a defendant doesn't admit guilt but agrees the prosecution likely could prove the charge at trial.

He will have to serve 85 percent of the sentence before he is eligible for parole.

However, Illinois law allows for probation in aggravated DUI cases where a death occurs only if the trial judge finds that there are "extraordinary circumstances."

He will be sentenced March 7. The hearing is expected to last a half day.

According to prior court testimony, Gayer lost control of his 1999 Chevy S10 on a curve on 51st Street West near Milan and swerved off the road and into a ditch and hit a tree on Nov. 27, 2013.

Passengers Jamie Sedam, 22, of Port Byron and Clayton Carver, 24, of Taylor Ridge were killed in the crash.

Rock Island County States Attorney John McGehee said during the plea hearing that Gayers blood alcohol content was 0.146, nearly twice the legal limit to drive.

At the time of the crash, Gayer was driving 61 mph in a 55-mph zone, according to prior testimony.

Gayer has maintained that he has no memory of the crash itself or the events leading up to it.

In January 2015, Gayer entered an Alford plea to one count of aggravated driving under the influence and was sentenced in May 2015 to 18 years in prison.

He later filed a motion through his attorney, Katherine Drummond, to take back the plea. In the motion, Gayer argued that his former attorney, William Schick, was ineffective.

On Dec. 30, 2015, Associate Judge Thomas Berglund granted his request to take back his plea and vacate his prison sentence.

McGehee said after Wednesdays hearing that he will ask for a sentence at the high-end of the sentencing range because the crash involved two deaths.

We wanted to get him to take responsibility for this terrible accident that happened, and with what we did today, he did take responsibility for it, McGehee said of the plea agreement.

Sedams mother, Tracey OHara, expressed her frustration that the family has had to wait more than three years to get to this point.

We want justice, and this is just another stepping stone, she said.
A Clinton man has been charged in connection with a shooting Tuesday afternoon in Clinton.

A $25,000 cash-only bond was set Wednesday for Marquis Denyae Winston, 26, who faces a charge of first-degree burglary, a Class B felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison.

He has a preliminary hearing Feb. 3 in Clinton County, according to online court records.

According to an arrest affidavit filed by Clinton police in support of the criminal complaint:

About 3:35 p.m. Tuesday, police received a call that someone had been shot. Officers who were in the 300 block of 2nd Avenue South were waved down by a man who lived in an apartment in the area.

The man told the officers that he was at his apartment with several people when Winston and a second suspect walked into the apartment unannounced and displayed weapons.

Winston pulled a gun from his trench coat and told one man to empty his pockets.

A 26-year-old man came out of the bathroom and was confronted by the second suspect. The suspect shot the man as the two stood near one another.

A witness told police that Winston and the second suspect ran from the apartment and went north.

The man was transported by Clinton Fire to Mercy Medical Center for treatment, according to the affidavit.

Winston was arrested Tuesday, police said in a news release.

The incident is the second shooting reported Tuesday in Clinton.

Police and fire responded around 1:38 p.m. to the Shell Central, 401 2nd Ave. S., for a report of a man who had been shot.

Upon arrival, they learned that the victim, a 35-year-old man, had fled the scene. He was later located at a residence in the 200 block of 2nd Avenue South with a single gunshot wound.

He was transported to Mercy Medical Center for treatment of a non-life-threatening injury.

Both shootings remain under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Clinton Police Department at 563-243-1458 or Clinton County Crime Stoppers at 1-888-883-8015.
A Davenport woman is behind bars after police say she sold heroin to a man who died of a suspected overdose earlier this month.

Sharice Andrea Young, 51, faces charges of delivery of heroin, a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison; hosting a drug house; conspiracy to commit a non-forcible felony, both Class D felonies punishable by up to five years in prison; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a simple misdemeanor.

Bond was set Tuesday at $50,000 cash or surety. She will be arraigned Feb. 16.

According to an arrest affidavit filed by the Scott County Sheriffs Office in support of the criminal complaint:

On Jan. 3, the Scott County Sheriffs Office assisted Walcott police with a suspected heroin overdose death of 37-year-old man in the 700 block of West Walcott Road.

A woman told investigators that she went with the man to Youngs home around 11 a.m. Jan. 2 and purchased $50 of heroin from her.

The woman said he had a conversation with Young that he would return to her house after midnight to buy more heroin.

The woman further told deputies that she and the man had bought heroin from Young hundreds of times.

Cellphone records confirmed the womans statement that they had gone to Youngs on Jan. 2 and early on Jan. 3.

Another woman told police that the man had gone to Youngs home in the 3100 block of Heatherton Court to buy heroin after midnight on Jan. 3.

The witness further said that she saw the man use heroin at the witness home after buying heroin from Young.

On Jan. 23, deputies and Davenport police executed a search warrant at Youngs residence and seized a digital scale, coffee grinder with residue, foil packaging materials, cutting agents, empty corner bags, corner bags that field tested positive for heroin, snort tubes, $210 in cash and two cellphones.

Young told police that she used heroin but did not sell it. She also said the man had come to her home on Jan. 2 and on Jan. 3 so that he could pay a non-drug-related debt to her, according to the affidavit.

Young was sentenced in April 2013 to a five-year suspended prison sentence and three years of probation on a charge of sponsoring a gathering where controlled substances were unlawfully used in Scott County.
The battle over the tweet that prompted United Township High School teacher Mark Kaczmarek's removal from the classroom is not over.

Despite Superintendent Jay Morrow's announcement that the school board will investigate the tweet, a group of supporters has chosen to rally at the school board's Feb. 13 meeting.

The event posted on Facebook is entitled "Solidarity with UT Board of Ed" and said "We must show support of the students, of Collin West, and of the Board's decision to remove Mr. Kaczmarek from the classroom. Only by maintaining public pressure and opposition to his remarks can we ensure a good education for the students at UT."

Using his personal twitter account, Kaczmarek tweeted an impressive turnout. Lots of pink hats & stuff. Then they all went home to make dinner. Well done, ladies! in response to the Women's March in Washington, D.C., on Sunday.

Along with a photo of the march, Kaczmarek added a 1952 advertising stock photo of a smiling woman wearing a dress and apron while she stirs a bowl in a kitchen.

Seeing the tweet, West created a petition that was signed by 873 supporters in which he said "Our concern is that Mr. Kaczmarek's personal views and biases are taught as part of his curriculum. There is no place for bigotry, racism or sexism in the classroom, yet he consistently teaches his hate-filled views in his class."

Kaczmarek's detractors have questioned whether his tweets are in violation of school board code, which says that personal and social media shall "Not interfere with or disrupt the educational or working environment, or the delivery of education or educational support services."

Although Kaczmarek has received backlash about the tweet, he has garnered a growing number of supporters.

A petition in support of his right to free speech has received 1,008 signatures as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.

"There is absolutely no proof that Mark Kaczmarek has ever engaged in any kind of sexist, racist or even homophobic hate speeches in his classroom," the petition states. "We will not stand idle (sic) by while a teacher who has given over a decade of his life to the students he cares so much for is slandered and cyber bullied by the same people who claim to be against such actions. This is unnecessary and intolerable."

The United Township school board meets at 6 p.m. Feb. 13 in the UTHS Administrative Center Board Room, 1275 Avenue of the Cities, East Moline.
The second half of the special election two-step in Davenport will take place next week as Democrat Monica Kurth and Republican Mike Gonzales square off to see who will replace Jim Lykam in the Iowa House.

Lykam last month won a special election to fill the vacant District 45 state Senate seat, but that has left his District 89 House seat open.

Kurth, a retired counselor and educator, is running against Gonzales, a LeClaire police sergeant.

The race comes as Iowa lawmakers have begun the 2017 session and are grappling with such issues as school funding, budget cuts for the remainder of the 2017 fiscal year and a proposal to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood.

Whoever wins Tuesday's race won't have much impact on the balance of power in the Legislature  Republicans firmly control both chambers  but for the people who live in the west Davenport district, the contest will decide who will represent their interests in these debates.

Kurth and Gonzales are both relative newcomers to facing the voters. Kurth has worked behind the scenes in Democratic politics for years in Scott County, but this is her first time on a ballot. Meanwhile, Gonzales was the GOP's candidate against Lykam last month, which was his first time to run for office.

Both candidates say that education is a top priority and that the 2 percent increases in basic state aid that Gov. Terry Branstad has proposed for 2018 and 2019 are too small.

Gonzales says he would like to see it at 4 percent. "But is it possible with the current economic picture that the state is facing? I dont know. But it doesnt mean we shouldnt try," he said.

Kurth said 4 percent should be a baseline for increases in basic state aid and that lawmakers should look at dipping into cash reserves and rolling back the commercial property tax cuts that went to large businesses to find the money.

"If were underfunded year after year after year, the quality of our education has to be undermined," she said.

Kurth also said the $117 million in proposed cuts to the 2017 budget go too far. Gonzales said cuts are never good but the state should approach its budgets as families do.

The two clash on whether to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood, which comes largely through Medicaid. Instead, Republicans have proposed creating a state program to provide those services.

Kurth, along with other critics of the plan, say that will be damaging to women. Gonzales said he thinks there are other organizations that can provide the same services.

Kurth also advocates raising the minimum wage, something she said will contribute to the state's economy.

Gonzales also has campaigned on more mental health funding, saying that he sees the need as a police officer.

Both also say they oppose narrowing the scope of the state's collective bargaining law for public employees, which legislative Republicans are expected to move on this session.

The 89th District includes most of Davenport's 2nd Ward, along with half of the 1st, 4th and 7th wards and a single precinct in the 8th Ward.

There are 21,000 active voters in the district. Of those, 7,500 are Democrats, 4,800 are Republicans and 8,500 aren't affiliated with a party.

If turnout matches what it was in the state Senate race, there should be about 2,700 votes cast.

Kurth has run up a significant absentee ballot advantage so far. The Scott County Auditor's Office said Tuesday that 648 absentee ballots had been cast, with 548 by Democrats, 26 by Republicans and 74 by people who weren't affiliated with either major party. About 1,200 absentee ballots had been sent to voters who had requested them, with the vast majority going to Democrats, the auditor's office said.

In the state Senate race, absentee ballots made up about half the total votes.

The polls for Tuesday's special election will open at 7 a.m. and close at 9 p.m.
National School Choice Week runs through Friday, providing awareness of K-12 school choices available to families for the 2017-18 school years.

There are 11 events planned in Bettendorf, Davenport, Moline and Rock Island areas. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com or follow the discussion on Twitter using #schoolchoice.

Quad-City area events, which are independently planned and funded, include information sessions, open houses at schools, rallies, policy discussions and movie screenings organized by community groups.

Families in Illinois and Iowa may choose from traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, online academies, private schools and homeschooling.

Illinois also has a program that allows qualifying children, in some cases, to receive tax credits to attend private schools. Iowa also has programs that allow qualifying children, in some cases, to receive scholarships or tax credits to attend private schools.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  The Muscatine Art Center will hold a "Peanuts" themed fundraiser, A Charlie Brown...Valentine, in February. The event will give local residents and groups a chance to decorate Snoopy's doghouse and raise funds for the Friends of the Muscatine Art Center.

Melanie Alexander, the director of the art center, said she and other staff were looking at Charlie Brown-themed materials and crafts to do with the exhibit currently on display at the Muscatine Art Center: "Peanuts Naturally", which features comic strips and characters from Charles Schulzs "Peanuts".

"And we stumbled upon these doghouses and I think we all remember building cardboard forts and that kind of thing," she said. "And we thought, well, it would be cool to see how everybody tried to make their doghouse unique."

Some of the doghouses will also be part of a silent auction, if organizations that submit them choose to donate them to the art center for the fundraiser.

Alexander said she hopes the event will be a good way to celebrate the "Peanuts" exhibit and give visitors a chance to see the exhibit one more time while staying out of the cold.

"We just thought it's kind of a different challenge and it's just an indoor activity in the middle of winter, kind of beat the winter 'blahs' too," she said.

The doghouses will be on display in conjunction with "Peanuts...Naturally" from Feb. 7-12, and the free "A Charlie Brown...Valentine" event will be held from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12., at the Muscatine Art Center, 1314 Mulberry Ave.

All are welcome to visit the art center during the week or the event to vote for their favorite doghouse.

Non-profit organizations, school groups, or other youth groups are all encouraged to participate, and for many such groups the participation fee can be waived. For more information or to decorate a doghouse, contact the Muscatine Art Center at 563-263-8282.

To view the "Peanuts... Naturally" exhibition on a different day, visit the art center Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday evenings until 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The exhibit will close at the art center on Feb. 26. Visit www.muscatineartcenter.org for more information about programs and events.
WASHINGTON  The Trump administration is mandating that any studies or data from scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency undergo review by political appointees before they can be released to the public.

The communications director for President Donald Trump's transition team at EPA, Doug Ericksen, said Wednesday the review also extends to content on the federal agency's website, including details of scientific evidence showing that the Earth's climate is warming and man-made carbon emissions are to blame.

Former EPA staffers said Wednesday the restrictions imposed under Trump far exceed the practices of past administrations.

Ericksen said no orders have been given to strip mention of climate change from www.epa.gov , saying no decisions have yet been made.

"We're taking a look at everything on a case-by-case basis, including the web page and whether climate stuff will be taken down," Erickson said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Obviously with a new administration coming in, the transition time, we'll be taking a look at the web pages and the Facebook pages and everything else involved here at EPA."

Asked specifically about scientific data collected by agency scientists, such as routine monitoring of air and water pollution, Ericksen responded, "Everything is subject to review."

Trump press secretary Sean Spicer appeared to distance the president from the issue Wednesday, telling reporters the communications clampdown at EPA wasn't directed by the White House.

George Gray, the assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Research and Development during the Republican administration of President George W. Bush, said scientific studies were reviewed usually at lower levels and even when they were reviewed at higher levels, it was to give officials notice about the studies  not for editing of content.

"Scientific studies would be reviewed at the level of a branch or a division or laboratory," said Gray, now professor of public health at George Washington University. "Occasionally things that were known to be controversial would come up to me as assistant administrator and I was a political appointee. Nothing in my experience would go further than that."

"There's no way to win if you try to change things," Gray said.

The EPA's 14-page scientific integrity document, enacted during the Obama administration, describes how scientific studies were to be conducted and reviewed in the agency. It said scientific studies should eventually be communicated to the public, the media and Congress "uncompromised by political or other interference."

The scientific integrity document expressly "prohibits managers and other Agency leadership from intimidating or coercing scientists to alter scientific data, findings or professional opinions or inappropriately influencing scientific advisory boards." It provides ways for employees who know the science to disagree with scientific reports and policies and offers them some whistleblower protection.

The AP and other media outlets reported earlier this week that emails sent internally to EPA staff mandated a temporary blackout on media releases and social media activity, as well as a freeze on contract approvals and grant awards.

Ericksen said Tuesday that the agency was preparing to greenlight nearly all of the $3.9 billion in pending contracts that were under review. Ericksen said he could not immediately provide details about roughly $100 million in distributions that will remain frozen.

The uncertainty about the contract and grant freeze coupled with the lack of information flowing from the agency since Trump took office have raised fears that states and other recipients could lose essential funding for drinking water protection, hazardous waste oversight and a host of other programs.

The agency also took a potential first step Tuesday toward killing environmental rules completed as President Barack Obama's term wound down. At least 30 were targeted in the Federal Register for delayed implementation, including updated pollution rulings for several states, renewable fuel standards and limits on the amount of formaldehyde that can leach from wood products.
Davenport can call off its anti-business witch hunt any day now.

Yet again, city officials were stymied last week in their personal crusade to shutter downtown bar, Shenanigans. Officials at the state Alcoholic Beverages Division sided with an earlier state ruling that basically held the city's attempts in 2015 to pull the bar's liquor license were based on rumor and hearsay.

Just stop. Not another penny of tax dollars should be wasted on appealing what's clearly a petty attempt to pick winners and losers based on personal taste.

Citing a stabbing in 2015, Davenport's war against Shenanigans and its owner Burton Davison is clearly personal. Take last year's St. Patrick's Day as an example. Anyone who ventured downtown met with drunken revelers, bands and heaps of trash piled on the streets. That's because Davenport closed streets and issued outdoor liquor licenses to all but one applicant for the boozy holiday. Only Shenanigans' application was denied.

It's a classic case of disparate enforcement by officials with an ax to grind.

Anyone who has crawled Davenport's downtown bars knows that Shenanigans exercises more caution than any other with its security. Bouncers pat down patrons and seize pocket knives before entering the door. It's a unique practice, a direct response to the criticisms from City Hall.

It's noteworthy that one alderman in particular, Bill Boom, has a conflict of interest. Boom is often the lead dissenter when new applications liquor are filed. He's also a downtown bar owner. In short, Boom has a financial interest that clearly taints his approach.

But the city's crusade against Shenanigans is greater than Boom's conflicts.

At least one member of the council has correctly noted in the past that Shenanigans is, perhaps, the only downtown bar that caters to African Americans. Rap supersedes 1970s rock 'n' roll or smooth jazz. In that regard, Shenanigans brings diversity to downtown, a necessary piece if being "hip" is truly the goal.

Although probably not intentional, the debate over Shenanigans bears a racial tinge. Bad Company is considered safe. Drake isn't.

Shenanigans and its owner aren't perfect. Davison was arrested in 2015 on misdemeanor assault charges. But, as state officials concluded, that alone doesn't trigger the "good moral character" clause, which Davenport has wielded in its attempt to drive Davison out of business. Surely, he's not the only business owner who has faced misdemeanor charges.

Davenport's quest to shutter Shenanigans is personal. It's impossible to know precisely which pieces of a complex story trigger individual members of the city council or staff. We're not mind readers.

What is true, however, is that Davison and his business have been unjustly targeted for almost two years now. The city has regulated Shenanigans in a way that puts the bar at a distinct disadvantage. And it's all been done based on pretense and scorn.

The state's disinterested lawyers and bureaucrats saw through Davenport's flimsy case against Shenanigans. Now it's time for City Hall to apply such objectivity.
SPRINGFIELD  Leaders in the Illinois Senate have described their proposed grand bargain on the state budget and other issues as a work in progress.

That work was on display Tuesday as lawmakers began holding committee hearings on a 13-bill package designed to end the long-running standoff between the Democratic-controlled General Assembly and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. The deal includes tax increases, workers compensation and pension reforms, gambling expansion and a host of other proposals.

Even as lawmakers were set to begin hearings, changes were being made to some of the bills, most notably the proposed tax increases.

A penny-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages is out, and the personal income tax rate would now go up to 4.99 percent instead of 4.95 percent from the current 3.75 percent. Thats still slightly below the 5 percent level it was at before a temporary increase began rolling back in January 2014.

Also added to the package were a new business opportunity tax, which would be levied on businesses based on their Illinois payroll, and a tax on certain services, such as dry cleaning and storage unit rentals.

Despite the changes, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, and Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, said they remain committed to moving the legislation through their chamber.

I am very excited to be where were at today, Radogno told fellow senators at a committee hearing. The Senate president and I have been living and breathing this project for two months  to the point I actually dream about it sometimes at night.

Although there had been talk of votes on the Senate floor as soon as Wednesday, that now appears unlikely because adjustments are still being made to the packages tax provisions and other components.

As the proposal stands, each of the 13 pieces become law only if all the others are approved in the Senate and House and signed by Rauner.

It became clearer Tuesday just how difficult that task may be, with Democrats traditional allies in organized labor and the GOPs backers in the business community lining up in opposition to components of the plan or the entire package.

For example, leaders of the states largest teachers unions, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, testified against part of the plan that would freeze local property taxes for two years while also giving school districts more flexibility in hiring third-party contractors to provide food, janitorial and transportation services.

Dan Montgomery, president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, said lawmakers need only look to the problems McLean County Unit 5 school district faced with its bus service at the start of the school year to see what can go wrong when services are contracted out.

Montgomery also testified against a pension reform proposal from Cullerton that would give workers a choice between counting future raises toward their pensions or receiving compounding cost-of-living raises in retirement.

Opponents say the plan violates the Illinois Constitution, which says current workers pension benefits shall not be diminished or impaired, but supporters say theres no legal guarantee that raises will be counted toward pensions.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, a close ally of Rauner, is opposing the entire package because of the way all the pieces are linked together, president Todd Maisch said.

While there are some positive aspects, Maisch said, our assessment is the package on the whole is very much a net negative for the business community.

One concern for the Chamber of Commerce is the proposed business opportunity tax, which would range from $225 annually for businesses with Illinois payrolls of less than $100,000 to $15,000 for businesses with payrolls of $1.5 million or more.

Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, the sponsor of the tax package, said theres widespread acknowledgement that more revenue is needed to fix Illinois financial problems and provide more stability for businesses.

Doing those things would help stop the damage that the ongoing budget impasse is causing, including cuts at public universities, community colleges and social service agencies.

The vast majority of cuts, the vast majority of pain, the vast majority of everything horribly wrong with us not having a budget for two years has fallen on the backs of people who cannot bear it anymore, Hutchinson said. So another two years going like this is just unconscionable.

She said constructive criticism from business groups is helpful in developing a revenue proposal.

Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, said its important to continue having these discussions to arrive at an agreement that everyone can live with.

This is still fluid, Brady said. Its still our hope that  we will get to a point where the business community believes theres more benefit than negative.

But some are worried that the delay may derail the progress thats been made.

Its a huge problem, said Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill. The governors closest allies are putting forward their best effort to stall any progress in the state Senate.

Rauner hasnt weighed in publicly on the specifics of the Senate proposal but has commended Cullerton and Radogno for their efforts.
SPRINGFIELD  Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner will deliver his third State of the State address Wednesday without having yet delivered a comprehensive budget agreement with the Democratic-controlled General Assembly since taking office.

But the first-term governor is expected to sound an optimistic tone about the direction of the state in his noon speech to a joint session of Legislatures two chambers, thanks in large part to the bipartisan negotiations on the budget and other issues taking place in the state Senate.

Rauner has said the Senate proposal, which includes tax increases as well as changes to the states workers compensation and pension laws, among other measures, is an acknowledgement that reform is needed to put the state on better financial footing.

Rauner has also said he is encouraged by recent discussion from House Democrats, particularly House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, of the need for policies to encourage economic growth.

We  Republicans, Democrats and everyone in between  have a moral obligation to work together to bring change, Rauner is expected to say, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks. We, together, can return Illinois to a place of hope, opportunity and prosperity.

Hes also expected to return to familiar issues, encouraging lawmakers to support ballot referendums on amending the Illinois Constitution to enact term limits for elected officials and create an independent commission to redraw legislative district boundaries.

While the budget impasse has been the focus of his tenure so far, Rauner also will tout some of the things he has accomplished, such as increasing funding for elementary and secondary education and improving efficiency at state agencies.

The governor wont deliver his own budget blueprint Wednesday. Hes scheduled to do that Feb. 15 in a separate address to lawmakers.
A roundup of Iowa legislative and Capitol news items for Wednesday:

UNATTENDED VEHICLES: A Senate Transportation subcommittee unanimously approved a bill Wednesday that would remove a provision of state law that currently makes it illegal to use a remote device to start the engine of a vehicle parked on the street or public property. Iowa's current law prohibits a person from permitting a vehicle to stand unattended without first stopping the engine or without effectively setting the brake and turning the front wheels to the curb or side of the highway when the vehicle is on "any perceptible grade." Violating the law carries a $20 fine but Andrew Lewis of the state Department of Transportation said he is unaware of anyone being ticketed for the offense, which does not apply to vehicles parked on private property. Senate Study Bill 1020 eliminates the prohibition of letting a vehicle stand unattended without first stopping the engine. Sen. Thomas Green, R-Burlington, said he believed the law is antiquated given technology advances, noting his wife's car is equipped with a remove-starting device.

FOOD STAMP RESTRICTION: A bill seeking to require the state to get federal permission to restrict food stamps from being used to buy soda pop fizzed out in a Senate subcommittee Wednesday. Proponents said Senate File 76 was designed to address perceived misuses of deposit money from beverage purchases, but opponents argued it was drafted incorrectly to target only sodas while an issue related to large water bottle deposits was addressed in the 2014 farm bill. Daniel Zeno, policy counsel for the ACLU of Iowa, called the bill government overreach that penalized poor people. "This is saying because you are poor, you cannot buy this product," he said. Sen. Tom Shipley, R-Nodaway, said he has heard constituent concerns that food-stamp recipients are abusing the system, but Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said the bill as drafted did not address that issue. "It's really quite ironic. This strikes me like this is something straight out of Michael Bloomberg," said Quirmbach. "Usually Republicans describe this kind of thing as nanny-state regulation and I'm really quite surprised that it would come forward from a Republican source." The subcommittee tabled the bill pending further study.

SENATE RULE CHANGES: Independent Sen. David Johnson of Ocheyedan expressed concern Wednesday over a GOP change to the Iowa Senate's permanent rules that would move "points of personal privilege" to the last order of business each day that the Senate is in session. Traditionally, senators have been granted the privilege, if requested, to speak on topics of their choosing each day after the Senate gavels into session. A resolution approved by the GOP-run Rules and Administration Committee would move "points" to the end of the day similar to rules in the Iowa House. "We do not want to be like the House," said Senate Minority Leader Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids. Johnson called the resolution "bothersome" because in his view "it suppresses civil discourse and free speech." He said he offered his views Wednesday because he would be traveling to Washington, D.C. to participate in a pro-life march when the resolution likely would come before the Iowa Senate on Thursday. Another rules change would remove "party" from the committee appointment provisions to allow the Senate's minority leader to appoint non-majority senators to committee assignments.

CONCERN OVER DHS CUTS: A retired caseworker, supervisor and investigator with the Iowa Department of Human Services expressed concern Wednesday that mid-year spending cuts could spell trouble for Iowa's vulnerable children and adults. Bill Dickey, who worked for 34 years in the DHS, told reporters he was opposed to spending cuts that might impact caseloads for workers whose job it is to protect Iowans who are at risk of being harmed or abused. "Those cuts would endanger children who need our help," he said. "If you've got 30 or 35 or even 40 cases, that's just asking for trouble." Sen. Amanda Ragan, D-Mason City, said many Iowans are worried about cuts to DHS services. However, DHS spokeswoman Amy McCoy said the DHS adjustments proposed by Gov. Terry Branstad mostly would be covered by surplus funds in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program but she was uncertain how much of the $11.5 million in unspecified cuts included in a GOP budget "de-appropriation" compromise would affect the department.

UPMEYER SPEAKS TO CONSERVATIVES: House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, says she expects lawmakers to pre-empt local minimum wages different from the statewide level and modify collective bargaining to give "taxpayers a seat at the table," but doubted they would ban the use of hand-held electronic devices while driving this year. Upmeyer also told members of the Westside Conservative Club she was open to revamping a limited medical marijuana law set to expire in July but first wanted a federal decision clarifying if it was legal for states to enact such provisions. She also said she expects the GOP-led Legislature to set a five-year "sunset" on all state programs to ensure they are reviewed and necessary, but she declined to rule out a discussion on whether future state "backfill" money should be provided to local governments as part of the 2013 commercial property tax relief package. She said that issue was not addressed in the fiscal 2017 "de-appropriation" bill that makes $118 million in adjustments to cover a projected budget shortfall by June 30.

NO STATE INCOME TAX COUPLING: The Legislature will not "couple" the state's income tax code with federal tax changes for the 2016 tax year  a decision that will impact Iowans currently preparing their tax returns for the federal and Iowa filing deadlines in April. Gov. Terry Branstad had proposed partial coupling that would have carried a $29 million price tag, but Republicans who control the Legislature dropped the provision as part of their plan to make adjustments totaling $118 million to erase a projected shortfall in the current fiscal year's state budget. Sen. Randy Feentsra, R-Hull, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, confirmed under questioning on the Senate floor there would be no tax coupling bill this session. GOP legislators blamed past overspending while Democrats argued the shortfall was created when tax collections did not meet projections. The tax-coupling decision will affect businesses, teachers, lower-income and other taxpayer groups. The Iowa Senate is slated to debate the fiscal 2017 "de-appropriation" bill on Thursday and House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, said representatives will take it up next Monday.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I want to encourage you to get back to your tax preparers to let them know we are not going to couple. That's a news flash this morning that I think the tax preparers all over the state are going to be interested in."  Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, during a speech on the floor of the Iowa Senate.

 Compiled by the Times Bureau
DES MOINES  If Iowa Democrats are to reverse the lopsided electoral defeats they suffered in the past two elections, candidates should take at least one key page from their vanquishers playbook by covering more of the states ground, the Democrats new state party chairman says.

Democratic candidates for statewide office need to do a better job of reaching out directly to voters in more areas of the state, said Derek Eadon, a 33-year-old West Des Moines political consultant who this past weekend was elected state chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party.

Eadon was elected to replace Andy McGuire, whose two-year term ended following the 2016 election.

We just have to be present and listen in these communities. We cant just have candidates going to some of these bigger areas, Eadon said this week in an interview with the Quad-City Times Des Moines bureau about the partys future in Iowa. Its not a new thing. Candidates that have done well in Iowa have traveled extensively. So its not necessarily a new model. But that will help.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and Gov. Terry Branstad, a pair of Iowa Republicans with a combined 64 years in statewide office, visit each of the states 99 counties each year.

Eadon said he thinks more of that style of campaigning may be necessary for Iowa Democrats to recoup the voters they lost in the past two elections, particularly in 2016, when many rural voters who had supported former Democratic President Barack Obama voted for Republican President Donald Trump.

Trump won 93 of Iowas 99 counties in November, including 32 that went for Obama in 2012.

I would encourage our candidates to travel the state as much as possible, listen to these folks, their concerns, and talk about ... how we are going to benefit their pocketbooks, Eadon said.

Eadon takes over at a critical time for Iowa Democrats. In the 2014 and 2016 elections, Democrats lost to Republicans a U.S. Senate seat, a U.S. House seat and the majority in the Iowa Senate. The latter resulted in giving Republicans complete lawmaking control at the Iowa Capitol this year.

And that doesnt mention the state going to Trump over Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton by 10 percentage points.

Eadon said that despite all that, he remains optimistic about the future for Iowa Democrats. He said attendance has increased at party meetings after the election. He was heartened by the 26,000-plus who attended a Des Moines rally that was part of the nationwide Womens March movement this past weekend.

I think the rally here on Saturday was a good indication that energy is not going away anytime soon, Eadon said.

Eadon said Democrats must build a strong state party that can withstand mood swings in national elections.

I think we tended to get drowned out in that national message, that national race (in 2016)," he said. "I think with the (state) party, we want to make sure that were having a positive culture, were extensively traveling and listening to Democrats, making sure that people feel like they have a place at the table.

In order to strengthen the state party, Eadon said he hopes to invest in the grassroots element of the party by tapping into the enthusiasm that was on display at the weekend rally and on Tuesday at the Capitol, where 300 people voiced opposition to legislation that would strip public funding to womens reproductive health care clinics that perform abortions.

I think our volunteers are ready to take on leadership roles, Eadon said. We want to empower them. We want to train them. We want to invest in local candidates.

Eadon said building from the ground up is necessary because the ranks of Iowa Democrats in elected office are increasingly thin. U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack is the only Democrat among the states six elected officials in Congress; the governor is Republican; and Democrats are in the minority in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature.

The problems also are at the local level, Eadon said, noting just 23 percent of elected officials in Iowas 3rd Congressional District are registered Democrats.

That means we dont have Democrats carrying the message, getting out the vote, Eadon said. Theres lots of opportunities to be involved.

The 2018 election provides Iowa Democrats their first opportunity to bounce back. Winning back the governors office, which Iowa Democrats have held for only 12 of the past 48 years, would be a monumental victory for the party.

Branstad is poised to become the next U.S. ambassador to China, and most expect Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who steps into the office once Branstad leaves, will run in 2018. She may face a primary challenge; Cedar Rapids mayor Ron Corbett has been considering a run.

Eadon again said the Democratic candidate for governor should travel all over the state. He said he thinks the candidate should focus on economic issues and call attention to Republicans legislative agenda at the Statehouse.

In 2016, we were playing a lot of personality politics, focusing on what Trump was saying, Eadon said. "I think we need to do a better job of getting people to vote for Democrats the next few years, to show that were fighting for those folks."

One crucial job requirement of a state party chairperson in Iowa  Democrat or Republican  is to ensure the state keeps its bird-dog seat in the presidential nominating process.

Trump has said he wants the Iowa caucuses to remain first in the GOPs nominating process, but the issue is more pertinent and more unsettled for Democrats. The national party soon will elect a new chairperson, whose feeling on the nomination process will be critical, Democrats likely will have the more competitive nomination bout in 2020, because Trump will be an incumbent.

Eadon said he will watch with interest to see who is elected as the Democrats national leader. One of the candidates, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, sent a letter this weekend to Iowa Democrats saying he would keep Iowa first.

One of the things Im very interested in is learning from the candidates where they stand on these issues, Eadon said. Its not something thats really prevalent in discussions currently, but we always have to be vigilant.

Eadon said he received a congratulatory phone call from Republican Party of Iowa chairman Jeff Kaufmann, and the two pledged to continue to work together to preserve Iowas first-in-the-nation status.

Im optimistic, but its just something that has not been brought up that much (with the national party), Eadon said. Were still a few months away from figuring out how the chair will insert (themselves) in the process, if at all. So its a little bit of wait and see.
DES MOINES  A bill making its way through the Iowa Statehouse seeks to abolish the use of compensation boards and force county supervisors to recommend and vote directly on their own raises.

County officials currently appoint a compensation board to determine and ultimately recommend wage adjustments to elected seats  supervisors, auditor, recorder, treasurer, sheriff and county attorney. The Board of Supervisors then approves, reduces or rejects the compensation boards recommendation.

Rep. Megan Jones, R-Sioux Rapids, said compensation boards, whose members are selected by the elected officials they represent, have led to exorbitant raises in local government.

We are hearing from far too many Iowans that are concerned about the increases, Jones said. These raises are out of control.

Lucas Beenken, a public policy specialist with the Iowa Association of Counties, said compensation boards are intended to calculate in other county rates, public and private sectors and other outside factors to determine wage recommendations.

We believe the compensation board provides the necessary checks and balances for the interests of not only the public and taxpayers, but the county employees and the county itself, Beenken said.

Jones and Rep. Jake Highfill, R-Johnston, voted to move the bill to the full House Local Government Committee.

But Rep. Mary Gaskill, D-Ottumwa, a former county auditor, defended the current system.

This gives the public an opportunity to see what their officers are making, Gaskill said.

Each Iowa county has a seven-member county compensation board, which has two members appointed by the Board of Supervisors and one each named by the county attorney, auditor, recorder, sheriff and treasurer.

Supervisors ultimately vote on the compensation board recommendation while finishing the budget, but pay rates for elected officials cannot increase beyond the recommendation. They only can be accepted, reduced or rejected.

Getting rid of that body in an effort to keep wages minimal is not the way to do it because youre getting rid of one of the checks and balances of the whole process, Beenken said. I guess its a little bit troubling that the state wants to mess with that when we as an organization and our members dont see it as a problem and support the current system.

But Jones said the system gives elected officials the ability to appoint allies to the compensation board to ensure that raises are recommended. Then, when wage increases are approved, county supervisors can claim the increase was recommended by the compensation board.

Eliminating the compensation board increases supervisor accountability, she said.

They put all the decision really in the hands of the compensation board, which is typically people they are friends with, Jones said. If theyre going to vote themselves a raise, they need to have the integrity to vote themselves a raise.

Linn County voters this past November agreed to reduce the size of the five-member Board of Supervisors to three representatives.

Residents pushing for the reduction targeted supervisor wages  the countys supervisors, as well as the county auditor, recorder and treasurer, all make the same six-figure salary  and argued a smaller board would save money. Each of those officials earn $103,888 this year.
When winters cold, dark days drag on, staying in with comfort food seems so appealing. Cozy up your winter get-together with the Alpine favorite go-to: fondue.

The Swiss people love fondue  we are real cheese and chocolate fans, Christine Streich, owner of Coyote Blues Village B&B in Hill City, said with a laugh.

Streich and her husband, HansPeter, are natives of Switzerland, and enjoy the tradition of fondue as part of their homelands culture.

A classic cuisine in the Alps, fondue is a melted melange of cheeses and flavorings simmered in a tabletop chafing dish. Chunks of bread or other delicacies, such as vegetable, potato, or pineapple, are submerged into the hot dip with special forked skewers.

Its definitely a winter thing, and more of a special event, like four times spaced out during a season, Streich said. Usually fondue is something you eat with friends in your home, maybe inviting another couple to make four around the pot.

The preparation process is very simple, and adds to the fun of the evening.

Everyone hangs out in the kitchen, around the stove, while the host will add the wine and cheeses, she said. We were always told the old method was to keep stirring in a figure-eight shape until everything is melted together. Then everyone moves to the table.

Streich said when it comes to the blend of cheeses, the Swiss take their fun tradition seriously. If you go to a Swiss cheese shop and ask for their fondue cheese, it will be made up of between two to four types of shredded cheese. They call it moitie moitie  literally, half and half. But just ask for mild or strong, dont ask what the blend is. Every shop has their own secrets.

Fortunately, a trip to Switzerland is not necessary to make good fondue, since Streich advises that local stores carry acceptable imported cheeses for fondue, such as Emmentaler and Gruyere.

If everyone still has room for dessert, another pot would be filled with thick, melted chocolate, into which fruit or cake would be dipped.

Remember that the two enemies of chocolate are heat and water, said Kaitlinn Verchio, production manager of Mostly Chocolates in Rapid City.

Youll burn chocolate if you get it too hot too fast, and if any water is in your pot, the chocolate will seize up, Verchio said.

Verchio cautions against a cheaper chocolate, since the flavor of paraffin wax or other emulsifier ingredients may come through. Even added vanilla will weaken the taste of the chocolate, she said.

Verchio instead recommends melting a high-quality chocolate, such as Guittard, which is higher in cocoa butter content. This creates the snap, sheen, and smooth consistency you want in a nice, creamy chocolate, and youll get a more intense chocolate flavor.

According to Swiss tradition, a dry white wine or black tea is often served with fondue, Streich said. The die-hard traditional will drink a coup de milieu shot glass of kirsch (cherry brandy) halfway though and then at the end to help the digestion, she said.

However you incorporate fondue into your own mealtime traditions, Streich offers one cheerful warning: You will always overeat. Its that delicious.

Traditional Savory Fondue

Recipe courtesy of Christine Streich, owner of Coyote Blues B&B

Preparation: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Serves: 4-6

14 ounces Swiss cheese (Emmentaler) coarsely shredded

14 ounces Gruyere cheese coarsely shredded

12 ounces dry white wine

One, 7-ounce Kirsch (also called Kirschwasser)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 clove garlic

Nutmeg

Pepper

Cubed (about one-inch pieces) baguette bread ... pieces of pineapple, pear, cooked potatoes, mushrooms are being used more and more.

Rub the fondue pot with the garlic. You can add more cloves to cook with the cheese. Add the cheese and the white wine. Stir continuously on stove.

Mix the cornstarch and the Kirsch. Add to the melted cheese. It should be a creamy consistency. You can add just a pinch of baking soda to make it thicker. Add nutmeg and pepper to your taste. Have the burner ready on the dinner table. Transfer pot.

Each guest takes a handful of bread cubes and fruit on their plate. Then put a piece at a time on your fork and then into the pot, stirring until you have enough cheese on your piece. Several people can do that at the same time.

It used to be a big deal if you lost your cube of bread in the pot (women had to kiss all the men, and men had to donate a bottle of wine). As the amount gets smaller, try to stay out of the middle so the cheese can form a crust which can be removed at the end. Some people really fight over that.
PIERRE | South Dakota lawmakers will consider restricting which locker rooms transgender students can use, reigniting a bitter fight from last year over what school facilities are open to transgender students.

The bill, introduced Wednesday by two Republican lawmakers, would require public school students to use the locker rooms, shower rooms and changing facilities that match their sex at birth. It comes after Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard vetoed a broader bill last year that also applied to bathrooms. His chief of staff, Tony Venhuizen, said Wednesday that Daugaard intends to veto a bill that is "substantially the same" as last year's measure.

Republican Sen. Lance Russell, the main sponsor of this year's bill, said shower and changing rooms are likely the "most sensitive places in the school." It is important for the Legislature to set legal guidelines that would allow the South Dakota attorney general to be involved in a potential discrimination lawsuit brought against a school district, he said.

Libby Skarin, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota, said in a statement that lawmakers should reject the bill and "and all attempts to codify discrimination." It's disappointing that legislators are targeting transgender kids, who are already very vulnerable, said Terri Bruce, a 53-year-old transgender man who fought against the bill last year.

"Transgender girls are girls. Transgender boys are boys. Period," Bruce said. "Do we really have to do this again?"

Russell said he doesn't believe the bill is discriminatory. The measure says that schools could provide accommodations such as a single-occupancy restroom or changing facility at someone's request because of special circumstances.

"I am simply interested in protecting all of the students and giving reasonable accommodation to everyone involved," he said.

Russell said he hasn't had any direct discussions with Daugaard's office. Venhuizen said that even with bathrooms removed, Daugaard still views it as an issue best dealt with locally.

A ballot measure that would require transgender students to use bathrooms corresponding with their sex at birth may go before voters in 2018. Ballot measure sponsor Jack Heyd of Box Elder has said he wants to protect children and ensure that students have privacy.
PIERRE | State senators voted overwhelmingly Tuesday for stronger monitoring of prescription drugs.

They unanimously required that pharmacists participate in a digital monitoring system and decided 34-1 that the state Board of Pharmacy must submit annual reports to the Legislature through 2022.

The measures came from a task force that met during the interim. They now go to the House of Representatives for further action.

Sen. Jim White, R-Huron, chaired the interim committee. He said that enough doses of opioids were prescribed in South Dakota in 2015 to medicate every adult for 19 days.

He described it as a rapidly ascending problem in South Dakota and the nation.

Under SB1, all dispensers would be required to register with the prescription monitoring program, White said. Currently, 87 percent of pharmacists participate, White said.

Each prescription filled by a pharmacist would be posted on the website within 24 hours. Currently they must be posted on a weekly basis.

Its really important for the safety of our people, said Sen. Deb Soholt, R-Sioux Falls. She described how some patients shop among providers to get more prescriptions.

The monitoring system would allow providers to more easily identify individuals who are overmedicating themselves, said Senate Republican leader Dr. Blake Curd of Sioux Falls, who is a surgeon.

Its a great tool, Curd said. Its a good clinical practice.

Another bill, SB4, would require annual reports from the state board.
Butte County Deputy Sheriff Marlyn Pomrenke, 51, was named the new police chief for Belle Fourche at a special Belle Fourche City Council meeting Thursday.

He was tentatively scheduled to officially be in office as of Feb. 2

Pomrenke takes charge of a department that shrank from 10 officers and a chief to five officers plus him new at the helm.

The native of White in northeast South Dakota has been in law enforcement in different roles since 1986. He came to Belle Fourche and the Butte County Sheriff's Office in 2014 after 15 years as police chief in Estelline. He and his wife Anna have three children in Belle Fourche schools.

Belle Fourche has been without a police chief since the mid-November resignation of Scott Jones. At the time there had been 10 total officers in the department.

The most recent resignations brought the department down to five officers on the patrol rotation.

Butte County Sheriff Fred Lamphere was contracted by the city to administer the department after Jones' resignation.

Pomrenke was hired after a few minutes of the city council's executive session and a 7-1 vote.

The sole dissent came from Kayla Kinard.

She said her objection was not to Pomrenke, but to the fact that no current police officers were included in the interview process toward hiring a new police chief to encourage their trust in a new leader."

The new chief actually has a long history in Belle Fourche. He served as a deputy sheriff for Dick Davis from 1990 to 1994.

He said Thursday after his appointment that he had worked some cases with the police department, adding, "I know the officers; they're good officers."

Pomrenke said when people come to the department with a problem or crime report, "They are our customer; that's the way I want the public to be treated."

He and his wife Anna have been married 32 years after meeting in high school.

His law enforcement career began in 1986 in the U.S. Air Force at Randolph Air Force Base near San Antonio.

After serving as a Butte County Deputy Sheriff under Sheriff Davis, Marlyn and Anna moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where she worked as a flight attendant and he worked as a correctional officer at the Utah State Penitentiary and worked through Utah law enforcement academies and certifications.

He became a sergeant for an external enforcement staff at the penitentiary.

After the birth of their son Seth, the couple returned to South Dakota and he became chief of police at Estelline.

In Estelline, Pomrenke worked two homicide cases and solved a string of 11 related burglaries in three states, "I remembered a partial license plate."

One of the homicides was a young girl that has been over his desk: "It's a daily reminder of why we are here."

He has been the DARE officer in Newell and hopes to work with the Belle Fourche school district and city to reestablish the DARE program here.

Pomrenke said of his new job, "Everybody likes a challenge. I like to fix things and I think I can help the officers and community as a whole."

His first goal, he said, will be to bring the department back to full staffing.

Butte County Sheriff Fred

He added, "What I'm going to stress is follow-through; when we get a case, we follow through."

That includes a child whose bike was taken or a business that had a major burglary.

"It solves a lot of stress with law enforcement and the community," he said.

That's part, he said, of seeing people reporting incidents to the department as customers.

Anna Pomrenke said, "I know it's hard to be living in a glass house."

She added, "We've got kids that are really super."

Marlyn has been active in the American Legion, DARE officer programs, has been a school resource officer and served on the school board in Estelline.

The family attends the Christian Life Center.
The Tri-State Museum and Visitor Centers Jan. 7 First Saturday Brunch kicked off 2017 in style: 90 people attended; a number higher than any previous January First Saturday Brunch. People came not just from Belle Fourche, but from Spearfish, Newell, Nisland, Lead and Rapid City.

The brunch was provided by American West as a way of showing support for the Museum.

We were thrilled by the offer, made by American Wests Todd Fierro, said Museum and Visitor Center Director Kristi Thielen. We cant thank him enough for his generosity.

Following the brunch was a presentation about the Fossil Cycad National Monument and the strange story of its rise and fall, given by historian Wayne Gilbert. He had previously presented it at this falls West River History Conference.

He expected to present by himself until Thursday morning, when something unexpected happened: Sally Shelton, collections manager at the Geology Museum of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, learned of the presentation and contacted Thielen to say she had additional material and information, plus some fossil cycads.

Sally and I are friends from our time working together at the Journey Museum in Rapid City, explained Thielen. I was delighted to hear from her as was Wayne. She was so intrigued by what he was going to present, that she and her husband, Gene, came up from Rapid for the brunch!

Shelton spoke briefly after Gilberts presentation and provided several fossil cycad specimens to the audience, who passed them from table to table.

Cycads were a fern-like seed plant that grew during the Jurassic Era. Fossil cycads were once found in abundance here, especially in the Hot Springs area. Gilbert noted that Gold miners who came to the area commented on what they thought were petrified pineapples which is what the fossils looked like.

Yale University professor George Wieland, participating in some late 19th century paleontological digs, learned of the fossil cycads near Hot Springs and got a homestead on the site. In 1922 he gave his land to the federal government for the purpose of creating a Fossil Cycad National Monument.

But even as he did so, Wieland was extracting the fossils at a record rate and sending them east to the Peabody Museum at Yale. Eventually, the monument was virtually depleted of cycads by the very man who urged the government to create it. It was decommissioned in 1957. Its a real mystery as to what was going on in Wielands head, for him to have behaved liked this, said Gilbert.

Shelton noted that the BLM now owns the site of the former monument, and that the Museum of Geology has a collection that came from the BLM when highway construction in the area uncovered hundreds of the fossils.

The BLM doesnt currently have much funding to care for the site, but Shelton is optimistic about its future. I think people in the area will do right by the site.

Shelton presented both Gilbert and Thielen with colorful patches that bear the Monuments logo, plus the dates it was founded and then decommissioned.

Gilbert joked that it is probably the only National Monument that has patch serving as both its logo  and its epitaph.
Wasnt the January thaw this week wonderful? The temperatures were above freezing every day and there was no snow or wind. The weatherman is back to using those nasty four letter words again for this week though. A few more inches of snow wouldnt be so bad if there wasnt any wind, but the weather forecasters is never wrong when they predict wind. Hopefully the guys wont have to start plowing open the road just to get the livestock fed again. This Monday the trees were covered with frost and there was heavy fog. Do you suppose the moisture were supposed to get 90 days after a fog will be snow?

I caught that nasty cold last Monday, so I spent most of this week laying in my recliner, trying to recover. I was too sick to attend the funerals for Pearl Gerbracht, Janie Millett, and Mozelle Hotchkiss.

Elaine Verhulst fell and broke her hip Tuesday in Arizona. She had surgery to repair the damage and shes improving. Elaines daughter Paula and Dave Smith flew down to be with her.

Our old friend Bob Hanson has been dismissed from the VA hospital at Fort Meade and is back home in Gillette on hospice. He was glad to be able to go home to see his dog and other family members. His address is Bob Hanson, 1139 Almon Circle, Gillette, WY 82718 if youd like to send him a card.

We lost more old friends this week. Quentin Harvey Oase, 98 of Hettinger and formerly of Reeder, passed away last Monday at the Western Horizons Care Center in Hettinger. His funeral was Thursday in Reeder. A lunch will follow the services. Quentin was buried on Friday at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery south of Mandan with full military honors.

Ella Hafner, also 98, of Buffalo passed away Thursday at the Southwest Healthcare Long Term Center in Bowman. Memorial Services for Ella will be Tuesday at the Ludlow Hall with burial to be held at a later date in the Bowman Cemetery. There will be a Family and Friends Service this Monday evening at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Ludlow.

The cake bin was getting low and the guys were glad to get a load of cake hauled in Thursday without even having to open the road before the semi could get in here. Casey had an appointment in Hettinger Thursday to get his stitches taken out after the shoulder surgery he had back in December. His shoulder seems to be healing nicely.

Reub went to Urlachers bull sale in Bowman on Friday, but since I was still under the weather, I stayed home and watched Donald Trump being sworn in as our 45th president on TV. That was very entertaining!

I felt good enough on Saturday to make it to former Sen. Kenny McNennys funeral in Sturgis. Kenny represented District 29 for 18 years in the South Dakota legislature, in both the House and the Senate. Kenny was serving his last term in Pierre when I was first elected and, since I was as green as grass and didnt have a clue about how the legislative process worked, I relied on the very helpful advice that Kenny was willing to share. Kenny was well-liked by everyone and there were so many current and former legislators at his funeral it was almost like a family reunion.

The Slim Buttes Lutheran ladies hosted a baby shower for Amanda and little Copper Rayne after church Sunday afternoon. The ladies prepared a delicious lunch for those of us attending the shower and Copper got lots of cute baby girl stuff.

After the shower, Linda Mohagen and I drove into Buffalo for the Harding County CPR training at the courthouse that evening. Lots of EMTs and ambulance drivers came to take the training to help keep our community safe. Linda and Mary Lu Holt headed to Spearfish Monday morning for two more days of needed hours of EMT training.

President Trump has promised to repeal and replace ObamaCare, stop illegal immigration, fight Islamic terrorism, overturn Obamas thousands of Executive Orders, and put American citizens in charge of the our government. Trump wasnt my first choice among the Republican candidates for president, but after the great people hes picked to fill his cabinet and his list of candidates for the Supreme Court, hes starting to look good!

Ron Travers sent me this story to share with you:

I talked to a homeless man this morning and asked him how he ended up this way.

He said, "Up until last week, I still had it all. I had plenty to eat, my clothes were washed and pressed, I had a roof over my head, I had TV and Internet, and I went to the gym, the pool, and the library. I was working on my MBA on-line. I had no bills and no debt. I even had full medical coverage."

I felt sorry for him, so I asked, "What happened? Drugs? Alcohol? Divorce?"

"Oh no, nothing like that," he said. "I was paroled."

I hope all those criminals that Obama paroled (about 800) got the same surprise!
PIERRE | A Republican-backed bill that would dismantle a voter-approved government ethics overhaul passed Tuesday through the state House of Representatives.

GOP lawmakers decried the campaign that put Initiated Measure 22 on the ballot in November as deceptive, and said the initiative is probably unconstitutional.

The chamber voted 54-13 for the repeal bill, which would remove the initiative, which created an ethics commission, required campaign funding to be public and placed limitations on lobbyist gifts to lawmakers. More than 51 percent of voters supported IM22, and its supporters have criticized the Legislature for working to overturn the result of the election.

Democrats in the minority urged Republicans controlling the House not to sweep away the initiative.

"The perception is that this Legislature is running head over heels, just as fast they can, to get repealed what the voters voted on," said Rep. Susan Wismer of Britton.

The repeal bill, which is sponsored by nearly 50 of 70 representatives and 27 out of 35 senators, is barreling through the Legislature. It now heads to the Senate, where a hearing was scheduled for today before it had passed out of the House. Senate President Pro Tempore Brock Greenfield, the bill's main sponsor in that chamber, said he hopes it lands on Gov. Dennis Daugaard's desk by the end of the week.

"People knew the political nature of the bill and would just as soon deal with it," Greenfield said.

Rep. Kristin Conzet, R-Rapid City, said, "We as voters didnt know what we were voting on with Initiated Measure 22."

The bill requires a two-thirds margin in each chamber to pass. An emergency provision means it would take effect immediately.

Rep. Julie Bartling, D-Gregory, opposes that idea, saying, "The emergency clause in House Bill 1069 doesnt meet the threshold of an emergency. Passing the bill as an emergency strips the power of voters, which is improper."

IM22 has been targeted since before the session started. A group of two dozen GOP legislators and others sued in November challenging the measure's constitutionality in state court. A judge put the initiative on hold while the lawsuit moves forward.

Republican Rep. Larry Rhoden, the repeal bill's prime sponsor, said the top reason to remove the law is that it's "simply unconstitutional." Dismantling it would clear the way for discussions on how to replace the initiative, he said.

Daugaard has said he will support efforts to repeal and supplant the initiative. Lawmakers have filed several potential replacement proposals, including a measure that would tighten restrictions on lobbyist gifts to lawmakers and a bill that would establish a state government accountability board.

The board, which would be attached to the attorney general's office, would review and investigate issues ranging from bribery to theft of public funds. House Speaker Mark Mickelson, R-Sioux Falls and a sponsor of both bills, said lawmakers are pursuing replacements that are constitutional and that don't come with the unintended consequences attached to IM22.

Doug Kronaizl, a spokesman for pro-initiative group Represent South Dakota, said lawmakers should work with the initiative, since it was passed by the voters.

"We're focusing right now on fighting the repeal," he said. "If legislators choose to repeal a voter-enacted law with an emergency clause, then we'll start taking a look at what comes next."

Represent South Dakota is a local chapter of Represent.Us, a Massachusetts-based organization that works to reduce the influence of money in politics and pumped funding into the South Dakota ballot measure campaign.

The group has spent more than $23,000 so far in January. Their efforts include newspaper, radio and online advertisements, mail pieces and telephone calls, according to the secretary of state's office records.
As snow fell furiously outside Tuesday, caseworker Teena Conrad fluttered around the room at the Cornerstone Rescue Mission, conducting surveys while those she spoke to eagerly awaited lunch.

Conrad has helped conduct the homeless count surveys for the past several years, and her experience showed as she approached a middle-aged man and began asking him questions about his experience being homeless.

Some refused to take the survey, others freely gave full answers to all the questions, and still others were a little more hesitant, answering only some of the questions such as "Where do you plan to sleep tonight?"or "How long since your last permanent housing?" or whether they are veterans, or whether they suffer from certain medical and mental health conditions.

The annual homeless count is a way for Rapid City to get an idea of how many homeless people are here, what services they might need and where the gaps might be.

This week, agencies such as Cornerstone Rescue Mission, The Hope Center and Working Against Violence Inc. are all working to survey the homeless. There are precautions built into the survey so that the same person isn't surveyed twice, said coordinator Barb Garcia, community development manager for Rapid City.

In years past, Rapid City has seen the homeless population grow. In 2016, the count was 343, compared with 247 in 2015 and 225 in 2014. The count was a bit higher in 2013, at 304 total homeless, but that survey was done in September whereas the others were all completed in January.

The South Dakota Housing for the Homeless Consortium, an affiliate of the South Dakota Housing Development Authority, conducts the annual statewide point-in-time homeless count.

The point-in-time method imposes a strict time window, such as 24 hours, for the local entities to conduct their counts by interacting with both service agencies and homeless individuals.

Volunteers who go around doing the surveys are trained, teamed up and given the supplies and information needed to conduct the count in their neighborhoods, communities or counties.

The Housing for the Homeless Consortium has split the state into six count areas, and coordinators in each area work with agencies to conduct the count.

Rapid City and Sioux Falls each is its own area.

Garcia worried Tuesday that the weather would skew their count this year.

She said with the extreme cold and snow, people pool their money to afford a cheap motel room and invite their friends to stay.

"I've seen as many as 20 people staying in one room," Garcia said.

Purchasing a motel room disqualifies them from being considered homeless, she said.

She said many homeless will double up with family or friends to escape the cold, as well.

At least one man said Tuesday that he was prepared to stay outside if he had to.

Joe Opoien, 18, originally of Custer, said he's been homeless for six months after his parents could no longer tolerate his behavior.

"It's turned into more of an extended camping trip," he said.

As he gingerly held a hand-rolled cigarette between his fingers, Opoien said his plan for a cold night is usually to find carpet remnants thrown out in Dumpsters, put his minus-40-degree-rated sleeping bag inside and roll the carpet around himself.

"You just burrito-up," he said. "That carpet will save you."
Wita Hope Davis, 39, changed her plea in 7th Judicial Court to the misdemeanor offense of disposal of a dead body without a permit. Court documents say the infant girl was born July 3, the same day Rapid City police reported finding her wrapped in a cloth behind the Colonial Motel. South Dakota law requires a permit before a dead body, or a fetus that is at least 20 weeks old, may be discarded.
Before the inauguration is just a distant dot in the rear view mirror, let's not forget the movement Congressman John Lewis led  the movement that encouraged a large number of liberal House Democrats to boycott the big day in Washington.

Let's not forget it because it tells us something important about the people we elevate to hero status: that given enough time, even icons can become tedious. And, sadly, Congressman John Lewis has.

Lewis was a genuine civil rights hero who earned his stripes on March 7, 1965, a day that has come to be known, for good reason, as Bloody Sunday. A close ally of Martin Luther King Jr., he helped organize the now historic march from Selma to Montgomery. As Lewis and 600 others crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge that day, Alabama state troopers were waiting. And when the marchers stopped to pray, police on horses charged  and beat them with nightsticks. One of the troopers hit Lewis in the head and fractured his skull. He was a courageous man whose efforts made America a better place, and not only for African Americans.

I spent some time with Congressman Lewis when I was a correspondent at CBS News, reporting a story on one of the anniversaries of Bloody Sunday. He was gracious and dignified. I liked him.

But even heroes have to be held accountable. And over the years, John Lewis the civil rights icon has become a hyperpartisan liberal Democrat who, absent his biography, would be seen more clearly as just that.

Now, he's in the news because he says Donald Trump is not a legitimate president. That he lost his legitimacy because, in Congressman Lewis' view, the Russians helped him win.

So he along with about 70 others who serve in safe House districts boycotted the inauguration. He also boycotted George W. Bush's first inauguration. He, too, in the congressman's opinion, was illegitimate.

So apparently was John McCain. In 2008, the congressman compared Senator McCain to Alabama's segregationist governor, George Wallace. "What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

This is nothing more than ugly political slander, slander unworthy of the man John Lewis used to be.

In 2012, Lewis played the race card again, this time against Mitt Romney, suggesting that if he were elected president, America would go back to the bad old days of segregation.

Speaking at the Democratic National Convention, Congressman Lewis said: "I've seen this before, I lived this before. We were met by an angry mob that beat us and left us lying in a pool of blood. Brothers and sisters, do you want to go back?"

What reasonable person could possibly believe that if Mitt Romney won, America would "go back" to the days of George Wallace and Selma?

Congressman Lewis has every right to think whatever he wants, but even for those of us who believe deeply in civil rights, it's getting tiresome.

For a man who spent his young life trying to bring Americans together, his decision to boycott the Trump Inauguration does no such thing. All it does is polarize an already deeply divided nation even more.

John Lewis doesn't seem to understand that not every Republican he opposes is George Wallace, who for the record was a Democrat. Lewis sounds like the old guy on the porch or at the barbershop who keeps telling the same story over and over again about the old days, the glory days, not realizing how sad and boring he's become.

And CNN journalist Anderson Cooper noticed what most others in his profession didn't, or didn't have the nerve to say out loud. "I get he doesn't like Donald Trump," Cooper said. "I get he doesn't accept the results of the election, but is this helpful in any way? ... If a Republican had said this about President-elect Hillary Clinton, Democrats would be up in arms."

But they're not. And neither is the national press corps, Anderson Cooper notwithstanding. Imagine if 70 House conservatives boycotted Barack Obama's Inaugural. Journalists would condemn the entire Republican Party.

But liberals aren't allowed to condemn a noble man like John Lewis. He is, after all, an icon. And icons get away with things mere mortals, and Republican conservatives, can't.
LAKELAND, Fla. - The 65th Annual South Dakota Picnic will be Sunday, Feb. 26 in Lakeland, Fla.

Organizers say they plan to eat about 1 p.m., but encourage people to come early to fellowship with your fellow South Dakotas.

The event is at 1510 Ariana St., Lakeland at the Clubhouse at Woodbrook Estates.

Individuals are asked to bring a large casserole or hot dish, salad, or dessert. Bring plates and silverware for your own family. Coffee, iced tea, and sodas will be provided.

Any questions contact: June Clark - 434 Cameo Dr. Lakeland, Fl. 33803 or call 863-646-1131 or email june.jj01@gmail.com, or Sue Kelly, 1010 68th St NW, Bradenton, Fl. 34209 or call 941-792-8235 or email suehkelly@verizon.net
Chair of Jehovahs Witnesses branch fined for distributing extremist literature

MOSCOW, January 25 (RAPSI, Diana Gutsul)  Chairman of the Jehovahs Witnesses branch in the town of Dzerzhinsk has been fined 4,000 rubles ($67) for keeping and distributing extremist literature banned in Russia, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court announced on its website on Tuesday.

According to case papers, local prosecutors during a field check at the organizations premises found two booklets declared extremist and added to the list of prohibited literature.

The booklets were seized by court.

Jehovahs Witnesses have had many legal problems in Russia.

On October 12, a court in the Jewish Autonomous Region ruled to ban a branch of The Jehovahs Witnesses in Birobidzhan because of distributing extremist literature by the organization.

On June 16, Russias Supreme Court declared The Jehovahs Witnesses of Stary Oskol in the Belgorod Region an extremist organization and ruled to liquidate it.

On June 9, the Jehovahs Witnesses of Belgorod was banned as extremist organization.

In March 2015, a court in Tyumen fined the organization 50,000 rubles ($792) and seized prohibited literature.

In January 2014, a court in Kurgan ruled to ban the organizations booklets as extremist. The books talk about how to have a happy life, what you can hope for, how to develop good relations with God and what you should know about God and its meaning.

In late December 2013, the leader of the sects group in Tobolsk, Siberia was charged with extremism and the prevention of a blood transfusion that nearly led to the death of a female member of the group.

In 2004, a court in Moscow dissolved and banned a Jehovahs Witnesses group on charges of recruiting children, encouraging believers to break from their families, inciting suicide and preventing believers from accepting medical assistance.

Jehovah's Witnesses is an international religious organization based in Brooklyn, New York. Since 2004 sever branches and chapters of the organization were banned and shut down in various regions of Russia.
Bitterroot College had an exciting start Monday to its spring semester with 30 new students and some new classes.

Advising and Enrollment Services Coordinator Kathleen O'Leary said the pre-health career classes are full and the workforce training classes are close to capacity, but there is still time to enroll.

Transfer students, new students and dual enrollment high school students attended the orientation last week to get familiar with the campus and double-check registrations.

We found out that most of the students are from outside of Hamilton, O'Leary said. We have students from Darby, Corvallis, Victor, Stevensville and a couple from Hamilton. It really is serving the Ravalli County community.

New classes include Environmental Science taught by George Furniss and Micro Economics.

The economics class is great for business majors, required for social work majors and four-year college-bound students, O'Leary said. The pre-health program and prerequisites for nursing classes are busting at the seams. Anatomy and Physiology and Microbiology classes are full. We have students begging to get into the Microbiology lab and our basic anatomy class for students exploring health care careers has a healthy enrollment.

OLeary said the overall enrollment at the college is solid and balanced.

Were moving forward, were not up, but I dont think we are down either, she said. We have to balance students that are coming in for prerequisites, apply to other programs and leave us.

Students at the Bitterroot College may select many education options. Some elect to complete a full program and graduate but many students complete prerequisites and move on to other degree programs.

Health care studies are booming, OLeary said. We have our credit classes and also offer non-credit, certification and workforce classes.

The college has enough students to offer the Commercial Drivers License training program every semester. The next class runs from February 13 to March 2 and still has a few openings. Application and fees are due on February 9.

The Certified Nursing Aide (CNA) program is a Continuing Education Program and does not require college admissions. The course teaches the information and skills needed to work as nurse aides in many health care venues and prepares students to take the Montana Certified Nurse Aide licensing exam. The CNA program runs from Jan. 28 to Mar. 4 this semester.

There is a huge demand for CNA and Phlebotomy, OLeary said. Then our other non-credit classes like our Intro to Computer classes are also filling up.

OLeary said community colleges across the nation look at their enrollment as more than just their credit offerings.

Students take a workshop to increase their marketability like the quick book classes, computer classes or the certificate programs like CNA and Phlebotomy as well as the degrees we offer, she said. Community colleges enroll students for credit classes but we also have a responsibility to be here for the community and help train and educate in enrichment and workforce development.

OLeary said the first day of school was busy and the college is still enrolling students in classes so their enrollment numbers will increase.

This is an environment of excitement, energy and electricity, OLeary said.

The Bitterroot College (BC) began as the Bitterroot College Program (BCP) in the fall of 2009. In May of 2012, the Montana Board of Regents voted to rename the BCP the Bitterroot College University of Montana. Students are multigenerational ranging from age 16 to 70s.

The college started spring semester with success.

It was really bustling yesterday, said Victoria Clark, director of Bitterroot College. I love the first day because its what were all about. Definitely, some students can feel confused and overloaded but we can all be here to help and ease their pain. The first day is my favorite day.

For more information about Bitterroot College, programs and courses for credit, continuing and workforce training visit online umt.edu/bitterroot-college or call 375-0100.
Think of the times youve had a introduction to a stranger that left you feeling uplifted, blessed and grinning to yourself for a long time after.

That happened last week... Her name is Tara, she lives in the Bitterroot, contacted me asking if she could visit with her legislator? It was after 4 p.m. We sat in the back of the empty committee room, her story unfolding in a very pleasant and thoughtful way.

Shes one of those that you are immediately comfortable around. Her story is one of those that hurts your heart... one that we are not comfortable wanting to acknowledge even exists. We usually sweep these issues into a compartment of our mind that we can mostly ignore. Her mission and goal is about awareness and prevention.

Her topic.... sexual abuse to elementary age children. Kids ages 6 to 12. As a victim, she knows that in most circumstances, these kids dont know how to speak about whats happening, and dont know who they can share it with.

Tara thought about solutions for many years before focusing on awareness and prevention as the tool, and the schools the place and way to deliver that message. The children most likely to become victims are often from the Title One type income ranges and living situations.

Single parent or blended families, working moms, blended environment of social struggles by the adults. School becomes the stable, accepting and caring contact for many. The place where they can reach out to a caring adult. Taras idea makes sense to me. I dont have an immediate idea of how to accomplish, but I clearly see that the need exists, and continuing to ignore means that all to soon another kid becomes a victim.

Its now 5 p.m., hallways still buzzing with activity. Tara tells me she has had email contact with a few legislators, some are aware of her story. What are the chances...in the next 30 minutes we bump into three of the folks she spoke about. Brief conversations, immediate responses, Ed, get your idea narrowed and come talk, Id like to help. What are the chances.... Lets go up to the third floor and see if the Majority Leader might have a minute to talk with us. She ends up with her picture with the Speaker and a visit with the majority leader. Both are offering encouraging words. Bring us something to look at in a few days, is what I hear.

My idea needs to be vetted and coordinated with the Office Of Public Instruction. By weeks end, we have the idea on how to approach this within the framework of existing safety and welfare language. A few days later the bill has been drafted, assigned a preliminary number of LC-2387. This week it will receive a House Bill number and be assigned a committee hearing date. There is a special joy when we get to help someone doing the right thing.

Tara must still be shaking her head at the sudden opening of doors, of the right people at the right time, and it all started with, Hi, may name is Tara and Id like to talk with you. Good fortune.... yeah, maybe. Just plain luck.... yeah, maybe. Devine intervention is more likely Im thinking.
HELENA  In his third State of the State address, Gov. Steve Bullock encouraged legislators to craft bipartisan solutions to navigate the state through a financial crunch and make targeted investments in the future.

In his 45-minute speech Tuesday evening, Bullock often quoted the addresses of previous governors to reinforce his core message.

It struck me that, no matter the moment in history, no matter the political party, we have shared values, immutable over time: a sense of pride in this state and its people, a trust in our ability to get things done, and a belief that if we band together, our state and her citizens will shine even brighter tomorrow than they do today, he said.

The address reiterated his priorities for the next two years, often casting them in the context of anticipated clashes with legislators, who must craft a state budget by the end of April amid slowed revenues and a state savings account that has largely been depleted. Bullock listed the historical Montana values he hoped would guide them in those decisions: Fiscal responsibility. Education. Infrastructure. Job creation. Caring for others.

And at the core of them all is the bedrock value of working together to get things done, he said.

Legislators, too, had called for unity on their opening day of the session earlier this month, but cracks soon appeared as Republicans criticized the governor for downplaying declines in energy production and, as a result, state revenues during the course of his re-election campaign. They reinforced that message in a rebuttal after Bullocks address.

In his response delivered in the Senate chamber after Bullocks address, Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, worked to paint Bullock as living in a Helena bubble and unaware of how the rest of the state is doing.

Knudsen tapped into an emotional touchpoint in the symbolic battle between Eastern Montana and the western half of the state -- the coal-fired power plant at Colstrip south of Billings.

To massive applause from a packed chamber, Knudsen said he will carry a bill to keep Colstrip Units 1 and 2 open, though its not clear how that could be accomplished since the closures are part of a settlement after a lawsuit filed by environmental groups over emissions violations. Terms of the shutdown are part of a consent decree. Knudsen said he was exploring ways to deal with the legalities.

Republicans have used Colstrip and infrastructure issues in Eastern Montana and rural parts of the state to say the state is struggling, though Bullock doubled down in his address, painting a different picture.

I stand before you to report the state of our state is strong, he said to a standing ovation from Democrats while Republicans stayed seated -- a scene repeated throughout the the night. Montanas economy is solid  and growing.

He disagreed with Republicans that the states tax climate or government regulation was to blame for slow revenue growth since a post-recession peak in 2015.

The biggest challenge Montana businesses face is growth itself, he said, calling for more job training and apprenticeship programs to fill thousands of openings statewide.

Montanas future will look different with a more diverse economy than in its past, he said, and rejected the idea that addressing climate change precluded producing power from fossil fuels.

He insisted on a $300 million ending fund balance. Republicans have argued that figure is too high for the states informal rainy day fund.

Bullock also argued against funding cuts to Child and Family Services and community nursing homes. And he said that building projects like a renovation of Romney Hall at Montana State University and an expansion of the Montana Historical Society are infrastructure needs worth funding -- confronting conservative legislators who killed the 2015 infrastructure proposal in protest of those projects.

Despite statements from GOP leaders that they would not support tax increases, Bullock insisted in his address that adding a new, higher income tax bracket for the wealthiest Montanans is a fair way to fund such state programs.

He emphasized infrastructure investments and the thoughtful use of bonds to fund them. Legislators from both parties have acknowledged they need to help Montana communities make critical infrastructure repairs and improvements.

But Montanans need you to do more than recognize it, he said. They need you to vote for it.

Bullock also urged legislators to make investments in children, including a proposal to fund a statewide voluntary preschool program that was killed by legislators in 2015.

Republican Territorial Governor James Tufts said in 1868 that: Next in importance to liberty itself, the greatest blessing we can confer upon our children is education, Bullock said.

In his rebuttal, Knudsen repeated a refrain Republicans have made over and over during the first month of the session, saying the Legislature left town in 2015 with $300 million in the states rainy day fund. Members of the party have questioned where that money went and why Bullock did not reduce spending earlier.

Montanans deserve to know what happened to the huge reserves, and going forward we want more transparency on where Montanas tax dollars are going to be spent. What we now face is not only a budget crisis, but a management crisis. 

In closing, Bullock repeated a call for unity and optimism.

That future is in our reach, he said. But we must work together, and the time for games is over. We must engage in thoughtful, rational, and constructive dialogue with one another.

Holly Michels also contributed to this report.
About $1.4 billion in goods go back and forth across the Mexico-United States border every day. The United States buys almost 80 percent of Mexicos exports, and Mexico is the second-largest market in the world for American goods.

Exactly how Mr. Trumps government is proposing to renegotiate that flow is still unclear. The Mexican government says that Mr. Guajardo and Mexicos foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, expect to get a first look when they arrive in Washington on Wednesday for two days of talks with officials in the Trump administration.

Mexicos president, Enrique Pena Nieto , is then scheduled to meet Mr. Trump on Jan 31.

The Mexican governments talk of walking away from Nafta if the Trump administration demands terms that are too tough could be strategic bluster, a tactic to begin the discussions on stronger footing.

To drive home Mexicos importance to the United States, the Mexicans also intend to raise many other issues that bind the countries together, including migration, border security and drug trafficking.

The United States depends on Mexico to fight drug cartels and stop migrants from Central America and other regions who are trying to reach the United States.

So Mr. Pena Nietos government is trying to present a package deal to the Trump administration, in a tacit warning that Mr. Trumps proposed wall would be an inadequate replacement for Mexicos help on migration and security.

The message Mexico hopes to deliver is that if you build your wall, the wall will have to substitute everything that we used to do, said Jorge Castaneda, a former Mexican foreign minister.

And by tying trade to security, Mexico will also be able to buy time in negotiations, contended Rafael Fernandez de Castro, an adviser to former President Felipe Calderon.

More time could allow businesses in the United States that depend on Nafta, along with states like Texas that send billions of dollars in exports to Mexico, to make their own case for preserving the agreement.

But the suggestion that ardent free traders in Mexico are even entertaining the idea of leaving Nafta is evidence of the turmoil Mr. Trumps election has created south of the border.

During the election campaign, Mr. Trump called Nafta the single worst trade deal ever approved in this country and promised to renegotiate it or pull the United States out of it. He has threatened to impose a border tax on companies that move factories to other countries and send their products back to the United States.

Mr. Trump built his campaign on a promise to return manufacturing from lower-wage countries like Mexico to the depressed towns of Americas Rust Belt. Since the election, his warnings have already had a paralyzing effect in Mexico

Photo

The peso has sunk to record lows. The Ford Motor Company has cancel ed a $1.6 billion factory, and General Motors has announced it will send some auto parts work back to the United States. Uncertainty is sure to stall future foreign direct investment.

So far, Mr. Pena Nieto has offered a ringing affirmation of Mexicos commitment to free trade.

We must preserve free trade among Canada, the United States and Mexico, he said Monday, laying out Mexicos foreign policy in the face of the Trump policy. Trade among the three countries must be free of any tariff or quota.

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But the emerging belief that no Nafta may be preferable to years of fractious negotiations came into the open during a discussion this month at the elite university that is the brain trust of Mexicos free trade gospel.

Many of Mexicos government ministers have studied or taught at the university, the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, or ITAM, and some of those who were the architects of Nafta were on hand to hear the rector, Arturo Fernandez, say the unthinkable.

It would be, perhaps, preferable to leave Nafta aside rather than a long process of negotiation and tension, Mr. Fernandez said.

Mr. Castaneda, the former foreign minister, who proposed in November that Mexico should consider leaving Nafta if Washington demanded a full-blown renegotiation, said that policy makers had come around to the idea that they have a choice between a terrible Plan A and a terrible Plan B.

Many businesspeople have made peace with that idea.

We have our own principles that we have to defend, said Juan Pablo Castanon, the president of Mexicos Business Coordinating Council, a coalition of business groups.

If there arent the right conditions, then we have to contemplate the possibility of not staying within the treaty and working with international rules instead.

Without Nafta, trade between Mexico and the United States would be governed by World Trade Organization rules, Mexican trade experts say. Tariffs for imports of Mexican goods into the United States would probably rise to an average of about 3 percent, an increase that experts say is not enough to deter trade.

It will not be the end of the world, said Mr. Fernandez de Castro, the former adviser. Knowing this, he said, means that Mexico can negotiate standing up.

Not everybody is convinced that the government is prepared to walk away from the table.

In reality, up to now this is a negotiating tactic and not a position that they intend to take to its final consequences, said Carlos Heredia, a professor at CIDE, a Mexico City university. Maybe I am mistaken.

Without much besides Mr. Trumps statements to go on, Mexicans have tried to parse the Senate testimony last week of Wilbur L. Ross Jr. , Mr. Trumps nominee to lead the Commerce Department, to understand what Washingtons opening position may be.

Luis de la Calle, a former Mexican trade negotiator, said renegotiation may be limited to several technical issues, including the complex rules allowing products like cars and electronics  which contain parts from all over the world  to move duty-free through North America.

We need to try and keep emotions out of the negotiations, he said.

Even with the barrage of Twitter messages and statements against Nafta from Mr. Trump, Mexico may have leverage in any renegotiation because it is such an important customer for American goods.

On the trade side, we understand what Trump says, but on the other hand, we have cards to play because were the second-largest market, said Andres Rozental, a former deputy foreign minister. We can find much of what we buy from the U.S. elsewhere.

Mr. de la Calle argued that Mexico will become the largest market for American exports within five years, surpassing Canada. The structural reasons for integration wont change, he said.

We Mexicans have patience; we take the long view.
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America must return to conservative principles of less government,reduced taxes, less spending and a balanced budget! Cut,cap and balance!
Guwahati: Newly crowned US President Donald Trump last night called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed hope to host the hardliner Indian premier in the United States later this year. In a telephonic conversation with PM Modi on 24 January 17, President Trump also termed India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world.

Both the powerful politicians discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India in broad areas such as the economy and defense. They also discussed security in the region of South & Central Asia and finally resolved that the United States and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism.
File a Iraqi Army soldiers celebrate with residents of liberated neighborhoods as they hold upside down a flag of the Islamic State group, in the eastern side of Mosul, Iraq, on Tuesday, January 24, 2017. Photo: AP

BAGHDAD: A human rights watchdog says Iraq has executed 31 men for their alleged role in the 2014 mass killing of hundreds of Iraqi army cadets by the Islamic State group.

Amnesty International said in a statement Tuesday night that the executions took place on Friday, citing local officials in Salahuddin province, where the bodies transferred to be collected by their families.

The London-based watchdog said the execution is further proof of the Iraqi authoritys blatant disregard for human rights and misguided use of the death penalty in the name of security.

It says the mens confessions were extracted under serious allegations of torture and they were convicted following deeply flawed and speedy trials

Requests for comments from the Judicial Council and Justice Ministry were not immediately answered.
Guwahati, January 25 : With the Assam gearing up for the 68th Republic Day celebration, security measures have been beefed up across the state, following militants attack on Assam Rifles convoy in Upper Assam and several militants groups called for boycott the Republic Day.

During the security measures taken the Assam police and other security agencies, security forces on Wednesday had averted a major terror attack ahead of the Republic Day celebration, as recovering four powerful bombs from lower Assam.

The bombs recovered from the Jogighopa area in Goalpara district and security personnel had arrested a person in connection with it.

Assam Police Special Director General Kula Saikia said that, high alert sounded across the state and launching combing operations against the militants.

"Following the militants attack in Upper Assam last week, combing operations by the Assam police, army, other security agencies including Arunachal Pradesh counterparts are going on against the militants along the bordering areas of Assam-Arunachal Pradesh. We have looked from all sides

of security angles following several militants groups called for boycott the Republic Day celebration," Kula Saikia said.

Several militants groups including ULFA(I), PDCK, KLO, NDFB(S), GNLA, Coordination Committee of Seven rebel groups of Manipur, NSCN(K) had called boycatt the Republic Day celebration.

The top Assam cops said that, the security agencies had already blocked all entry and exit points of militants to Assam.

Last week, at least three army personnel were killed, while militants ambushed on an Assam Rifles vehicle at Warabasti in Tinsukia district.

Meanwhile, adequate security measures have been beefed up in Guwahati.
KATHMANDU, Jan 25: Lawmakers speaking in the special hour of the parliament meeting here today have posed many pertinent questions covering the all-three levels of elections.

They also attempted to nail down the incumbent government pressing for the reasons that the parliamentarians claimed was holding it back to decide and declaring the date of the local, provincial and central level of election all to be held within January, 2018.

Opposition party- CPN (UML) parliamentarian Janardan Dhakal blamed the major ruling parties, Nepali Congress and CPN-Maoist Centre, were not willing to hold the constitution mandated elections.

Nepali Congress parliamentarian urged the parliamentarians to rise above partisan interest to further strengthen the national unity. Ramhari Khatiwada from the same party raised question concerning the action against those threatening of secession.

Referring to the recent judicial appointments, he stated that the judiciary should be acknowledged as a centre of people's hope rather than political centre.

Madheshi Janadhikar Forum's Yogenra Chaudhary expressed discontent over the appointment of the judges which he claimed as not as per the spirit of the constitution.

Terai-Madhesh Lokatantrik Party's Brajesh Kumar Gupta also expressed his displeasure over the report of the Local Body Re-structuring Commission which he blamed did not incorporate the sentiments of the public.

He was of the confidence that with the recommendations furnished by the office-bearers of the Commission regarding delineation of local units, the implementation of federal remains a pipe dream.

Similarly, Pratikshya Mukhiya Tiwari demanded the report of the Commission be made public for the knowledge of the public as she said that public were not kept in the loop while it was prepared.

Parliamentarians as Dil Bahadur Nepali, Laxman Rajbanshi, Meena Pun, Sita Gurung, Baldev Mahat, Ananda Pokharel and Prem Subal voiced their concern over the delay plaguing the construction of the mega development projects such as the Postal Highway as well as the distribution of the second tranche of relief grant to quake-survivors.

They also demanded to declare the local body election date at the earliest and to enable suitable investment climate in the country to attract investment.

The parliamentarians also sought information from the government on the recent biggest haul of smuggled gold at the Tribhuvan International Airport. RSS
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat

Tulsipur, Dang, Nepal: Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat has claimed that relations with the neighboring countries have improved.

The deteriorated relationship between the neighboring countries has been improved, foreign Affair Minister Dr. Mahat said while addressing a press conference organized by the Press Union, Dang Chapter at Chakhaura here on Wednesday.

We have been holding meetings regularly to improve the relations with neighboring India and China and we have been gaining good results, Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Mahat said.

In a different note, he also mentioned that the government has vigorously been working to bring all the parties on board into consensus to implement the constitution and to hold the local, provincial and parliamentary elections.
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Sabra Briere meets a reporter at the downtown Sweetwaters. Two people at the next table stand to give her hugs when she comes in and hug her again when they leave, with accompanying I love yous.

People here believe we should take care of our brothers and sisters and have courteous and civil disagreements, says Briere afterward, visibly touched. We may even be rational.

But Briere, who resigned from council in December after representing Ward One since 2007, has also seen the towns dark side. I get attacks on the elitethats city councilon email, she says, that were all rich and doing it to get more rich. She shakes her head. Self-preservation so often overrides altruism. Naming no names, she mentions people who support affordable housing only until its proposed in their own neighborhoods.

That wont be her problem any longer. My son bought us a house in California, and were moving, Briere says. Im so happy my son was able to buy us a house and that Ill get to live near my kid.

For reasons shes never fully understood, Briere says, she was ostracized by the other children in her hometown, Knightstown, Indiana. In contrast, Ann Arbor, where she moved in 1973, was always cosmopolitan and very accepting of me. I was never judged as a person and found wanting. I was judged on my intellect, energy, and commitment, and I was accepted.

When Briere joined the local Democratic Party in 1977, Ann Arbor was a Republican town. There were times when there were only two Democratic city councilmembers, and it stayed that way until 1982. Then the Republicans redistricted and determined that there would be one Democratic ward, Ward One, and two guaranteed Republican wards, Wards Two and Four, and the Third and Fifth would swing Republican.

But they screwed it up, she laughs. The Fifth now included Water Hill, and they turned it into a Democratic ward. And the Third Ward turned Democratic. The Fourth and Second remained Republican, but they were now in a minority.

Then in 1992 a charter amendment passed to move elections to November, and because a Democrat is more likely to win a general election, council is now predominantly Democratic. That doesnt mean the Second and Fourth Wards are any less conservative.

She doesnt think the newly adopted city charter amendment extending city council terms from two years to four will change things much. There will still be people running for council who have a sense of community, she says, and people who are self-promoters, and people with ambitions.

In city politics, what troubles Briere most is the angry division between supporters and opponents of the deer cull (see above), because neither side accepts the humanity of the other. Its heartbreaking that neighbors cant see each others point of view.

Shes also worried about the impact locally on cuts in national funding. We cant anticipate what [the new Congress and president] will do, and therere so many places where federal funding has a significant effect on our budget. There will be demands for services we cant deliver.

Though she worries about the countrys future, Briere is nevertheless cheerful and optimistic about moving in January to live near her son and daughter-in-law in Santa Rosa. John wanted to be a librarian, but someone advised him he should learn about computers first, and he became a computer nerd. He worked at Adobe, got a job at a start-up, and the rest is history.

In early December, council voted 7-3 to appoint Jason Frenzel, runner-up to Sumi Kailasapathy in the August Democratic primary, to serve out Brieres term. As for Briere and her husband, lawyer and fellow Democratic activist David Cahill, she says this is the time to make new relationships in a new community. Will they go into politics? Im sure we will, she smiles.

The city will miss Brieres patient intelligence and deep passion for her adopted town. So will council. Shes always made up her own mind, never looking over her shoulder to see how her colleagues voted. And she has the best constituent newsletter in town.

Will she miss Ann Arbor? Ill miss the roots and relationships, she says. Ill miss the younger me. But Im prepared to change.
On the heels of her success with The Scarapist, Jeanne Marie Spicuzza and her Seasons & a Muse Productions are currently in post-production on Night Rain an exciting new suspense thriller. The screenplay for Night Rain was written by Spicuzza, a published, award-winning actress, and filmmaker. She co-directed the film with Synthian Sharp (The Scarapist, How I Became an Elephant) and stars in the film with Adam Lesar, Clarissa Thibeaux, Thessa Mloe and Mattia Chicco.

Seasons & a Muse Productions premiere thriller The Scarapist, also directed by Sharp and Spicuzza, has been hailed by audiences, critics, film historians and industry professionals. It was featured in festivals like the LA Femme and Weyauwega International Film Festivals, achieved a successful limited theatrical run at Landmark Theaters and domestic and foreign VOD release. The Scarapist screened at the 2016 Berlinale European Film Market and was awarded best picture by the Verein Deutscher Kritiker und Filmemacher, or VDKUF.

Night Rain is the story of Ava, an actress and single parent with a loving daughter who heads an independent production company in Los Angeles. Ava and her team, the Goth director Ezra, sassy production manager Nefreri, Avas young and eager assistant Thomasina, Italian cinematographer Vittorio, ambitious executive producer and attorney Lew, and the handsome actor and leading man Alan, played by Scott Javore, take on a motion picture project penned by a mysterious investor, portrayed by J.L. Forbis. Their project is based on real life experiences and one of the most brutal and notorious unsolved murders in history.

Night Rain has been Spicuzzas passion project for four years and I recently caught up her on the last day of filming.

Tell me about the film shoot and how you realized such as complex script on a low budget?

JMS: Sometimes when you shoot on a low budget you have to make a lot of sacrifices and then you are magically in awe when things miraculously come together. We had a really good team  working long hours, Im very proud of them. Its not an easy script to realize. You want to do things that are more complex but you are doing it at a low budget. Thats the push and pull. The more you can plan in advance can help. Thats the biggest challenge in indie filmmaking - keeping the quality when the budget has constraints.

Theres a model in indie filmmaking  fast, cheap and good. You can have 2 but its almost impossible to get all 3  if its fast and cheap it cant be good. If its cheap and good, it cant be made fast and if its fast and good, it cant be cheap. Weve been trying to do it all somehow and coming close to getting all 3 as we can. Its not an easy thing to do. Being on a shoot like this is like being in the trenches!

How long was your shoot?

JMS: 18 days.

What was your most successful day?

JMS: Probably the day I ripped my 1930s glamour robe. The very last scene we all heard this ripping sound. We got the shot anyway  it was a drone shot from Pershing Square and we pulled it back and you could see this amazing city with twinkling lights. It was really a sight to behold! We lost wardrobe for the day to get the shot. The destruction of one was the creation of a new.

How did you feel about your role and wearing the hats of writer, producer and co-director?

JMS: Its been a challenge. I was a co-director on The Scarapist but the material was not as labyrinthine as this. We had a smaller cast and crew  this time it was a larger cast and budget. From the technical point of view it was like trying to do something big while maintaining a low budget. Im in awe that we could pull this off.

What are some of the biggest obstacles you faced on the shoot and how did you overcome them?

JMS: Scheduling for sure. Trying to get what you want and not sacrifice story or quality and still get everything on time. A lot has to do with the quality of the people who work with you and, in that, I have been so fortunate. Especially the actors. They were great!

Whats it like to be acting and directing yourself?

JMS: In acting itself there is an element of directing. Hiring very talented and able actors, co-directing with Synthian (Sharp), that helped! When I lose myself in the role, I know Im hitting it. And, like talking and listening at the same time, I can observe and participate with actors simultaneously. This is my favorite part of directing. That, and guiding the story. A director must really know and see and understand the story that he or she is filming.

What is the plan going forward?

JMS: Because of the elements we need to work on, the post should run around 6 months. We have plans for release, that I dont want to say too much about yet.

What is your overall career plan and how does this fit into it?

JMS: I have 2 new projects that I want to ascend into the higher budget realm with. Making Angels and The Breath of God. The goal is to keep going up and going forward.

What have you gained from this experience?

What Ive said before that Night Rain is about an independent woman hired by her stalker to make a film about a famous Hollywood unsolved murder, and soon she and her young filmmakers find themselves victim to their own terror. This is inspired by actual events  on the other side I have experienced being stalked more than once in my life. So in a way this gives way to personal resolution as well as universal resolution. Often times the woman is blamed for the violence perpetrated against her  this is a recurring theme even now and how does one deal with this and maintain their dignity.
Most film festivals have masterclasses going on, and Rotterdam is no exception. What IS exceptional though is who is giving those masterclasses this year, as the festival has managed to get four very special guests to give us all a lesson! From left to right in the picture above we see:

Andrea Arnold, of the Academy Award winning short Wasp and several features including Red Road and Fish Tank. This year she is at the festival with her new film American Honey, which will be the subject of her lecture.

Barry Jenkins, whose terrific Moonlight is currently garnering awards worldwide by the bucketload. He will give a lecture on sudden success and the many obstacles he has encountered while becoming a film-maker.

Bela Tarr, the legendary Hungarian director who is famous for beautiful philosophical films with often Tarkovskyanly long takes. Tarr recently returned to filmmaking to create a short, and in his lecture he will focus on his career, based on several specific clips.

Olivier Assayas, the writer and director of many great films, from Irma Vep to Demonlover to The Clouds of Sils Maria. He will talk about his latest award-winning film Personal Shopper, and discuss its themes.
Dont you wonder sometimes

Bout sound and vision 

 David Bowie, Sound and Vision

When youve seen a countless number of films over your lifetime, the effect can be somewhat numbing, especially after viewing many examples of standard variations on standard materials, executed in standard ways. But every now and then, a film can come along that confronts you with the shock of the new, and allows you to feel renewed appreciation for the elements that go into creating cinema, to make you wonder about sound and vision, as Bowies song goes.

Kuro, the exquisitely haunting and mysterious feature by Joji Koyama and Tujiko Noriko  both Japanese expats who are Europe-based multi-disciplinary artists  is such a film. Rich with narrative and psychological ambiguity, vivid and intensely colorful, textured images, and a mesmerizing, hypnotic mood, Kuro is a true art film that honors both parts of that oft-overused term. Besides being deeply cinematic to its core, Kuro also melds literary qualities to its movie materials in a unique way, most specifically in its use of the device of the unreliable narrator.

This film employs a dual narrative structure, one through the images placed before us, the other through voiceover narration. Both stories concern Romi (Tujiko Noriko), a Japanese woman, and her French lover Milou (Jackie), who live together in a small apartment in Paris. Milou is a paraplegic who needs constant care for all his needs, which Romi provides. When shes not taking care of him, Romi earns her living as a hostess in a karaoke bar. The story that plays out visually on screen is one which depicts Romis daily existence, alternating between working at the bar and taking care of Milou. This story features almost no spoken dialogue, save for a brief piece at the beginning and a song Romi sings in her bathtub toward the conclusion. Woven within quotidian scenes of daily life are many images of flowers, streets, and the natural world, many of which are devoid of any visible human presence. This succession of images contributes greatly to the films haunting, hypnotic tone.

The second story is told by Romis voiceover, which begins as a tale she tells Milou  who is apparently unable to speak  about a time in the past when they lived together in Japan, and when Milou was able-bodied. (The cause of Milous present-day paraplegic state is never explained.) It starts as a simple story of idyllic lovers, and slowly morphs into a much darker tale, with qualities of mythology and fairy tale that make one unsure of the truthfulness of the tale she is telling.

Romis story tells of her life in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and her romance with Milou. Eventually this leads to the narratives main focus, which concerns her job in Japan as a caretaker for the elderly and infirm, and of how she became a live-in caretaker for a man named Mr. Ono. Milou, an aspiring photographer, is unable to find work and eventually moves in with Romi and Mr. Ono. Here is where the story takes a darker turn, with increasingly bizarre behavior among the three, leading to abuse, neglect, and even worse.

The most fascinating aspect of Kuro, and what makes it such a strikingly unique work, is the interplay between the images and the narration. At some points they sync up, but more often, they diverge and even directly contradict each other. The serene, quiet melancholy of many of the images contrast sharply with the increasingly ornate and, at times, violent tale Romi narrates. The fantastical nature of Romis narrative, especially towards its conclusion, begins to make the story more metaphorical and allegorical, and less strictly autobiographical as it progresses.

The uses of language and grammar in Romis story add to its disorientating nature. She begins by speaking in French, reflecting her current life in Paris, but then eventually shifts to Japanese, as she recalls her and Milous time in Japan and tells the strange story of Mr. Ono. The narration also shifts back and forth between first and third person, further enhancing its elusive, and allusive, qualities.

The disorientation we may feel as viewers watching this is by no means unpleasant or frustrating, even though so much is left unclear or unexplained. Rather, it allows us space to insert ourselves within the unique cinematic world Koyama and Tujiko have created. This allows us to use our imaginations to interact with those of the creators, each of us creating our own version of the film in our heads as we visualize the strange story Tujiko tells, and contemplating the tense, complicated relationships between the words spoken on the soundtrack  made intensely vivid by Tujikos lovely, sonorous delivery  and the exquisitely rendered images on screen.

The interplay between sound and image in Kuro has quite rightly drawn comparisons to such monumental world cinema classics as Alain Resnais Last Year at Marienbad and Chris Markers Sans Soleil. Koyama himself has cited the work of novelist and filmmaker Marguerite Duras  who also extensively made use of narration in her films, such as India Song  as an influence. But nothing about Kuro feels at all derivative; rather, these immensely talented and versatile artists  Koyama in filmmaking, animation, and graphic arts; Tujiko in filmmaking and music (she composed Kuros melodious, haunting score)  have created a singular and impressively accomplished work of art.
Ever since I saw Cooties in 2014 and fought with our founding editor in order to review the film (I lost out, of course) Ive been anxious to see how Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott would follow up on their delightfully offbeat take on genre cinema. And over the last few years said founding editor and the partners in his production company helped Milott and Murnion shepherd a high-concept apocalypse piece set in one of the sections of Brooklyn.

Bushwick begins with a couple walking in a subway station (I believe locals call them trains, but thats just one of the faults of New York life), a pleasant enough conversation about nothing in particular. The first sense something interesting is happening is you notice the cool, gliding camera, keeping up with the chat as they walk through an abandoned station.

Suddenly, a man in flame runs down the stairs, and - as the continuous shot continues - the woman loses her partner and we carry on for many more minutes, swinging through what seems to be complete anarchy. The streets of Bushwick are awash with men in special forces gear, while locals drive by with submachine guns shooting people in the head. Its complete chaos, and the disconnect between the quaint, quirky architecture of this enclave and the sight of paramilitary invasion is the core of the films aesthetic.

As said woman, Lucy (Brittany Snow) stumbles into a basement for shelter shes confronted by the frontline of most apocalypses, a couple rapey douchebags. Soon theyre dispatched by a local giant Stupe (Dave Bautista) who reluctantly joins up with Lucy to find higher ground.

The technical ambition of the film shouldnt be underestimated, as these directors are using the type of longshot most recently popularized by the likes of Oscar winning directors Alfonso Cuaron and Alejandro Inarritu to make the tale of Bushwick even more immersive and effective. Yet unlike the recent Viktoria, a fine film that sometimes faltered as the conceit got in the way of the storytelling, Milott and Murnion are wise to include some overt cuts to emphasise certain transitions or hammer down a specific point. In other words, they never let their technique take the place of the primacy of storytelling, and its to their immense credit that the film feels like its much, much more than a simple, showy example of gliding camera work.

That said, the camerawork is often pretty extraordinary, and Milott and Murnion find ways of having the audience deeply engage with the material. Brittany Snow is compelling as Lucy, but its Dave Bautista who is stretching his tough-man personna farther than it has before. A sensitive, powerful performance thats emotionally rich, the film relies far more on his emotional state than his physical one, making the impact of what transpires much more effective.

Between the floating camera and the collision between the chaos and normalcy of borough life the films unsettling nature is captivating. Look to any urban warzone, from Sarajevo of the 90s to Aleppo of today, and its the divide between the civilized normalcy of modern urban infrastructure defiled by the machinations of war. To see masked men rampaging through the streets indiscriminately murdering locals is appalling, and the films broad political message is a particular chilling one.

Theres a real sense of dread about the piece, as well as an insistence to make sure that theres no false catharsis for the audience. As such the film may not play particularly well for some used to the trappings of genre at the expense of authenticity of narrative. Yes, the film is bleak and unflinching, but thats part of what makes it effective. Strip away the explosions and the bombast and you have an indie genre project aiming for Children of Men more than Escape from New York, and if it doesnt quite reach those heights its nonetheless a project to be applauded.

Bushwick provides an interesting, effective take on the idea of urban invasion, providing a particularly bleak glimpse into an apocalyptic struggle even more chilling given recent political developments. A tale of tenacity set against a growing fascism thats poisoning much of contemporary life, the film is both a fascinating exercise in style as well as a provocative and often chilling look into the abyss. Plus, loads of dead hipsters on screen for those into that sort of thing.
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Does Vanna White Have Husband or Children, What Is Her Net Worth / Salary? For over three decades, Vanna White has been a household name, famous as the co-host and letter turner of the iconic NBC game show Wheel of Fortune. The talented and beautiful television personality is also an actress with several TV series and films to her credit. Since making her Wheel of Fortune debut in 1982, she has become one ...

Liz Wheeler  Biography, Husband & Net Worth Liz Wheeler is the kind of girl who sets the room on fire whenever she comes around. In this situation, however, she sets our screens on fire each time she appears as the host of One America News Tipping Point. She is, therefore, a presenter, publisher, consultant and a member of the Board of Zoning ...

Betty White  Net Worth, Children & Husband The entertainment industry will remain indebted to personalities like Betty White who brought something extra to the table and kept the world entertained for donkey years. The comedienne, actress, and writer graced the big screens in the early 50s as a show host and has been a delight since then. She is the queen of ...

Is Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Dead or Alive, What Are His Net Worth & Education? Everyone will always remember Bill Nye as the Science Guy. Besides his TV show Bill Nye the Science Guy, he is well-known for his Netflix show Bill Nye Saves the World which started airing in 2017 as well as his appearances in many famous media projects as a science educator. The star studied mechanical engineering ...

Is Cesar Millan Dead, Who Is The Wife & What Is His Net Worth? Cesar Millan is the famous dog whisperer who often stirs up mixed emotions. The Mexican-American is precisely speaking, a dog behaviorist; he has been in the game for over 25 years. His Emmy-nominated television series, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan further pushed his method and tactics into the limelight. The series was produced from 2004 ...

Is Thomas Sanders Gay and Does He Have A Boyfriend? By the time Vine was shut down in January 2017, Thomas Sanders was already popular within and beyond the internet community for his heavy involvements on the online video hosting platform. After the tragic shutdown of Vine impacted on the growing career of the multi-talented personality, he immediately switched over to YouTube where he continued to upload ...

Is Shepard Smith Gay, Who Is The Boyfriend & What Is His Net Worth? There are only a few media personalities who are as bold and confident as Shepard Smith. Apart from his impressive stint at Fox News Channel which includes but not limited to his classic news delivery, upfront stance on virtually every issue and much more; he loves his job as much as he loves his personality. Smith ...

Is Milo Yiannopoulos Gay? His Husband and Net Worth Milo Yiannopoulos is a popular writer, journalist, polemicist, public speaker, and political commentator who is also known as the founder of The Kernel, an online blog. He has been said to be among the list of 100 weird and influential people in the United Kingdom. He appeared on this list as a result of personal beliefs and ...

Does Ryan Seacrest Have A Wife Or Girlfriend, What Is His Net Worth? From radio to television, Ryan Seacrest is a household name and a force to be reckoned with in showbiz. The radio personality, television host, and producer is best recognized as the host of the popular TV talent search contest American Idol. Heres how the media personality who always knew what his lifes ambition was and diligently pursued ...

Is Anderson Cooper Gay, Who is The Boyfriend or Husband? For many, the thought of becoming a millionaire by writing and talking about other people appears unachievable but this is the reality of the prominent American journalist Anderson Cooper who gathered millions of dollars for conducting accurate political analysis and other vital reports on TV. He is the main anchor of the CNN news show Anderson ...

Is David Muir Gay or Does He Have A Wife, What Is His Salary? David Muir is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who works for the ABC broadcast-television network and anchors the ABC World News Tonight with David Muir program while also co-anchoring the magazine program 20/20. The Ithaca College graduate, whose show has become the most-watched newscast in America, has covered stories from all across America and the world; reporting ...

Joel Osteen  Divorce Rumors, Net Worth & Family Members Joel Osteen is an American Televangelist, Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church based in Houston, Texas, a husband and a father of two. He is an author of many books, seven of which are New York Times Best Sellers and his televised sermons capture more than 7 million viewers per week and 20 million every month ...

Who Is Todd Chrisley? What To Know About His Children, Gay Rumors & Net Worth Premiered on the USA network in 2014, Chrisley Knows Best is one of the most watched family reality TV shows in the U.S. The series which is currently in its sixth season is centered around U.S real estate mogul Todd Chrisley and his family. The show reveals Todd the patriarch of the Chrisley family as a strict dad who rules ...

Who Is Shannon Bream Of Fox News? Her Husband, Children & Net Worth Shannon Bream who hosts the iconic primetime program started her journalism career in the late 1990s debuting as the evening and late-night news reporter for the CBS affiliate, WBTV. The beauty from America currently works for the Fox News Channel and she is best known for anchoring the primetime program. She also hosts Americas News ...

Is Troye Sivan Gay, Who Is His Boyfriend and What Is His Net Worth? Troye Sivan is an Australian singer and songwriter best known for songs like Happy Little Pill, Youth, Heaven (with Betty Who) and The Boyfriend Tag (with Tyler Oakley) which have all garnered him different awards and ranked on the Billboard Charts. Sivan, who was born in South Africa but now resides in the United States, is ...

Did iDubbbz Have Cancer, Is He Gay and Who Is His Girlfriend Now? iDubbbz is one YouTuber who has made a career out of courting controversy. Renowned for his absurdist channels and comedy video series, the Los Angeles based personality is the owner of two channels, iDubbzTV, and iDubbzTV2, as well as the brains behind comedy video series such as Content Cop, Kickstarter Crap, Gaming News Crap, and ...

Inside Greg Gutfelds Love Story With Wife Elena Moussa and Why Fans Thought He Was Gay Greg Gutfeld is a seasoned American television producer whose career in the media industry has spanned over a decade. He is a man of many talents who makes extra income through comedy, journalism, and editorial works. Gutfeld regularly appears on Fox News Channel as a panellist and co-host of the political talk show The Five ...

Works That Made Bo Burnham A Household Name and How Much He Is Worth Now One of YouTubes first viral stars and the worlds most exciting young comedian, Bo Burnham, has always amazed critics and comedy aficionados alike. Often regarded as the Justin Bieber of comedy, thanks to his fresh looks, floppy blond hair and hoodies, he has a multi-faceted career bigger than many comedians twice his age. It wouldnt ...

Is Louie Anderson Gay And What Is His Net Worth? Louie Anderson has one of the most abstract faces in the industry and equally knows how to use it to his advantage. He is not only a stand-up comedian but also an actor and television host who is known for his distinctive comic wits. Some of his notable projects include Family Feud, where he was ...

Is Don Lemon of CNN Gay, Who is His Partner and What Is His Salary? Don Lemon has risen to become one of the most recognizable faces on CNN over the past few years. The fiery journalist, who anchors CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, is liked and somewhat disliked for his strong and candid opinions on a variety of matters that do not just include politics but also race, significantly, matters that ...

Is Rachel Maddow Gay, Who is the Wife and How Much Does She Earn in Salary? Rachel Maddow is an award-winning American journalist, political commentator, and television news anchor. She is best known for hosting the popular nightly TV show The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Prior to this, she hosted a talk radio program on Air America Radio from 2005 to 2010. As of now, the TV sensation co-anchors MSNBCs ...

Demystifying Pokimane  Her Real Name, Ethnicity & Boyfriend Like most social media celebrities in this digital era, Pokimane Thicc is one of those stars who took advantage of the internet to make a name for herself. Given the unlimited potentials which the social media space offers, many people have been instantly propelled to fame just by posting creative online contents. Not only has ...

A Breakdown of Kris Jenners Net Worth, Sources Of Income and Relationships Over The Years Standing outside and looking in, Kris Jenner looks like the oil that greases the wheels of the entire Kardashian/Jenner machine. She has been dubbed a momager and rightfully so because she seems to have had a part to play in the trajectory of each and every one of her daughters individually and the Kardashian brand ...

Pursuits That Brought Liza Koshys Fame To its Zenith and Her Love Life Since David Dobrik Liza Koshy is an American actress who has leveraged YouTube as a platform to promote her comedy while also serving as a television host on occasions. She is talented and funny and has gathered a lot of fans from around the world. Koshy started on Vine in high school and was able to get millions of ...

Alex Aiono Biography  Inside The Life Of The American Singer Not everyone who started from the streets has attained the heights where Alex Aiono is currently. His story could be referred to as the perfect definition of rising from Grass to Grace. He came into the limelight after he started out as a YouTuber, singer, and producer. One fascinating thing about the young YouTuber is ...

Virginia Vallejo Biography And Her Love Story With Pablo Escobar Virginia Vallejo can be referred to as one of the oldest whistleblowers in history after her involvement with Pablo Escobar which made her famous. Over the years, many questions have been raised about her relationship with the drug lord and why she endangered her life to be with him despite his notorious acts. The death ...

Princess Love Bio  Ethnicity, Real Name & Parents For many people, Princess Love is simply Ray Js wife but there is so much more to this feisty lady than meets the eye. She is a star in her own right and has many feathers on her cap. Princess Love is a reality TV star, a model, video vixen, and fashion designer. She and her ...

Who is Papa Franku Also Known As Filthy Frank or Joji, Where is He Now? The social media as we all know today has given people the opportunity to be creative and innovative and at the same time, make something of themselves. YouTube is one of the known social platforms we have today that makes it possible for people to express their God-given talents and post videos they created to ...

Who Is Molly Qerim, How Did She Become a Famous Sports Anchor and Who Is Her Husband? Molly Qerim is an American sports anchor popularly known for moderating First Take, a highly rated sports talk show, on ESPN. Prior to joining ESPN, Qerim hosted Fantasy Live and NFL AM on NFL Network. It is quite obvious that the widely acclaimed television personality is in a class of her own when it comes ...

Safiya Nygaard  Height, Parents & Net Worth Safiya Nygaard is an American YouTuber, writer, content producer, and director who is popular for posting makeup, beauty and fashion videos on YouTube. Her videos regularly top at least one million views, thanks to her lively character as well as her willingness to experiment with outrageous outfits and different beauty products. Here are the things to ...

The Rigors of Sunlen Serfatys Career Journey Until CNN and Fun Facts About Her Personal Life CNN correspondent, Sunlen Serfaty is an Emmy Award-winning journalist known for covering a broad range of breaking news stories, national news, and Washington politics. She has been able to garner widespread recognition for herself which even goes beyond the sphere of her work. Her profile also increased with the extensive work she did in covering ...

Demystifying Jazz Jennings Real Name, Boyfriend & Family Of One The Youngest Transgenders Jazz Jennings is an unusual personality who became famous as a transgender activist and was recorded as the youngest documented public figure to be seen as transgender. She is also a YouTube personality and spokesmodel for brands, her fans, and other transgenders. She fought for acceptance in her high school with her super supportive family for over ...

Inside Fred Armisens Life  Ethnicity, Romantic Relationships and Gay Rumors Fred Armisen is an award-winning American comedian, he is also a writer, an actor as well as a musician. He was a cast member of the legendary comedy show, Saturday Night Live for 13 years and also one of the brains behind the successful satirical show Portlandia. Find out more about this incredibly talented guy ...

Ed and Lorraine Warren Biography: Cases, Kids, and Family Life Have you ever woken up with fear you could not explain, or felt a strange presence that made the hair at your nape rise or even experienced strange occurrences around you? Well, these were some of the promptings that made the well-known paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren delve into trying to explain the ideas ...

Truth About Tony Romos Wife, Kids and Life Since His NFL Retirement Tony Romo grew from the field as a quarterback to the screens as an American Football Analyst. He was a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys in the richest football league in the world (NFL) before retiring. As a junior, he was honored as an All-Ohio Conference Member, an Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and ...

Who is Brittany Venti, The Controversial Game Streamer and YouTuber? In recent times, many people live stream themselves playing video games. This has become a popular pastime on the internet and many highly skilled gamers have become internet celebrities through this means. However, some of them rather than becoming renowned for their gaming skills and great commentary, have become controversial and infamous. A good example ...

Rob Dyrdeks Family: His Kids And Relationship With Wife Bryiana Noelle Flores A multi-talented star and an elite pro skateboarder, Rob Dyrdeks success story began at a remarkably young age. Yet another proof that schooling doesnt always correlate with success, Rob has established himself not just as a phenomenal sportsman but also as a successful entrepreneur. Besides perfecting his skill as a natural talent on the board, ...

xChocobars  Biography and Everything You Should Know About Her Having distinguished herself and recorded massive successes in an industry notably dominated by men, it is very safe to say that Xchocobars deserves all the attention and cash she makes from her career. A household name on Twitch (a smart live streaming video platform), the online-gamer is popularly known for streaming classic games such as Stardew ...

Everything To Know About Mary Padian, Her Boyfriend and Net Worth Mary Padian is a famous American television reality personality best known for her involvements on the Reality show Storage Wars. She also has her own shop called Mary finds where she displays her antique collections. Since her childhood, Padian has been a creative learner. At the time, she used to create new items out of reusable ones and ...

Betsy Woodruffs Family Life: Is She Married or Related To Bob Woodruff? An old name in the world of journalism, Betsy Woodruff has warmed her way into the hearts of many with her impressive talents. Through hard work, Woodruff has carved a niche for herself in a very competitive field. Betsy has strong family and work values and is also an advocate for equal opportunities for everyone ...

Matpat (Matthew Patrick)  Wife, Height & Net Worth As far as internet business is concerned, Matpat remains one of the most dynamic and seasoned figures. He boasts a wealth of experience that has helped him in growing his business from one level of greatness to another. Like most successful people, MatPat started out small but today, he makes millions of dollars from his ...

Facts About Ricegum  His Girlfriend, Real Name & Net Worth Ricegum is an online gamer and YouTube sensation who ditched college; took advantage of the digital era, and made a name for himself on the internet. Though he began as a gaming YouTuber, Ricegum soon gained recognition as a controversial internet star following his many diss tracks. Here is everything you need to know about the youngster ...

Joy Taylor Once Married MLBs Richard Giannotti  Inside Look At Her Love Life and Family The erosion of the sexist idea that women have no business in sports broadcasting created a host of women celebrities who attained fame outside of modeling and acting. One of them, Joy Taylor, a radio personality and TV host for Fox Sports 1, has been in the industry since 2009, becoming one of the most ...

What To Know About Conan OBriens Wife, Kids & Family Today The name Conan OBrien is one that jumps right at you almost immediately you start talking about the most popular television hosts in the USA and this is no surprise because the man behind that name has risen to become one of the most admired men in the business. Known for hosting the late-night talk ...

David Letterman  Net Worth, Wife & Son In all of American, one man whose face has been seen frequently by late night TV talk show lovers is none but David Letterman. The comedian and TV show veteran has been hosting late night talk shows for more than three decades. His Late Night with David Letterman show began on February 1st, 1982 aired ...

Demystifying Sssniperwolfs Family Background And The Boyfriends Shes Had Since she launched her eponymously named channel in 2013, Sssniperwolf has been on the rise when it comes to video game influencers. She is one of the biggest names in the online gaming subgenre of YouTube videos. Real name Lia Shelesh, she started with Call of Duty: Black Ops II but has diversified with other ...

Lester Holt  Wife, Family & Net Worth Lester Holt is a multiple award-winning journalist, newscaster, reporter, and actor who has worked for notable media houses like WCBS TV, CBS, MSNBC and among others. His remarkable feat in journalism has endeared him to the hearts of many and earned him some awards and recognitions. Read on to get acquainted with his biography, ethnicity, ...

What Is Louis C.K. Doing Now, Where Are His Family And How Much Is His Net Worth? It is not easy to make it in comedy. It takes more than a funny bone and the ability to elicit a few giggles from a listening audience. For all the complexities that go into making a successful career in comedy, Louis C.K, the Washington D.C-born comedian, did it. For years, he was at the ...

The Progression of Hoda Kotbs Career, Her Ancestry and Family Life Hoda Kotb gained fame as a television host and news anchor for NBC. She anchors the shows signature show Today, and it has been an excellent vehicle for her skills in front of a camera. Kotb has won several awards, including Daytime Emmys and Peabody Awards. Simply put, she is one of the most successful ...

Jerry Seinfelds Family: All About The Amazing Comedians Wife and Kids Apparently one of the highly important entertainers in America, Jerry Seinfeld is a man of many talents. A very funny man, he is considered to be one of the most successful comedians in the USA who has been in the business as a professional rib-cracker for more than 40 years. As an actor, he has ...

The Rigors Of Sarah Silvermans Rise To Prominence And Rundown Of The Men She Has Dated A comedian, writer, and actress, Sarah Silvermans art and craft is as unique as you would ever find. Her poignant use of comedy to discuss social issues such as race, sexism, politics, and religion has gained her an impressive following. As unorthodox as her style is, so is her life experiences. She previously suffered from epiglottitis ...

Who Is Hannibal Buress, Does He Have A Wife or Girlfriend & Why Was He Arrested? Making people laugh when they are tense or not in the mood is a tough order and to ply the trade, it must indeed take some guts and expertise, this is what the humor maker, Hannibal Buress has been able to achieve and sustain after his inital teething process. The African-American is a screen writer, stand-up ...

The Success of John Mulaneys Career Efforts Since His Work On Saturday Night Live and Facts About His Wife John Mulaney had been working as a professional comedian for years before Saturday Night Live changed his status for life and like many who are now his fans, you probably did not know of him then. However, that changed when he joined the sketch comedy show in 2008. Since then, he has been one of ...

Jeff Dunham  Wife, Children and Net Worth Ventriloquism is a very subtle method of making an inanimate object (like a puppet, doll or dummy) appear to be saying words which are actually coming from the person (holding the inanimate object). In effect, the individual throws his/her voice to the puppet and can even appear to be having a conversation with it. Not ...

Ellen DeGeneres  Net Worth, Wife  Portia de Rossi & Parents Ellen DeGeneres is an American female standup comedian who has proven that whatever a man can do, a woman can also do. Since her journey as a standup comedian started in 1981, she has held swirl as one of the finest comedians America and the world at large has seen. She is often referred to ...

Revisiting Joan Rivers Death  The Daughter, Husband & Net Worth She Left Behind Joan Rivers was a renowned American comedian, TV host, writer, and actress. Her brand of comedy consisted of scathing one-liners and no individual or topic is spared. She hosted her own talk shows in the 80s and 90s and was a pioneer for women in stand up comedy. She was the first woman to host a late night ...

The Struggles of Margaret Chos Childhood, How It Influenced Her Career Growth and Love Life Margaret Cho is best described as a comic star who knows how to maneuver everything related to life into a rib-cracking joke. She is also known to criticize every social and political problem, especially those involving race and sexuality. Apart from her talents as a comic actress, she does amazingly well as a singer and ...

Where Is Eric Bolling Today? Who Is His Son & What Is His Net Worth? Eric Bolling who was once a notable figure on Fox News, is an American TV personality, an author, and versatile Journalist. As a political and financial analyst/commentator, he anchored discussions bothering on finance for Fox Business Channel. Here is everything there is to know about his career, family, and allegations that led to his exit ...

Who Is Chelsea Handler and Does She Have A Husband or Boyfriend? Chelsea Handler is one of Americas top female comedians. She is also an actress, writer, television host, producer, and activist. She is known to be very outspoken even with things that are very personal. In separate interviews with The New York Times, Handler revealed that she had an abortion twice when she was 16. She has authored five books ...

How Did Laura Lee Achieve Fame, How Much is She Worth and Who is Her Husband? Laura Lee is a popular American YouTuber, make-up artist and beauty blogger. From posting videos of her makeup routines on Instagram, Lee has transformed into a beauty influencer and a YouTube sensation. Today, her YouTube Channel has over 630 million views and 4.5 million subscribers. Asides having millions of followers across all social media platforms, ...

Madison Gesiotto Bio  Ethnicity, Parents & Measurements Madison Gesiotto is no ordinary woman; although she excelled in quite a number of pageants and competitions while she was in school, it is her views on politics and issues in America that has made her name known to most people. She possesses beauty and intelligence in a seemingly equal measure and has been able ...

Who Is Lil Tay? Parents, Brother, Sister, Age, Net Worth, Ethnicity Child stardom is nothing new in the entertainment world. With the advent of social media, we have seen more stars made from the internet than ever before, and Lil Tay is one of them. Her uploaded rap videos trademark is cursing, swearing, cash-throwing, and use of obscene languages. Her fame went wild after she dropped ...

What To Know About Tig Notaros Wife, Kids and Family Today Tig Notaro is an American stand-up comic star, writer, actress, and radio analyst. Since she started her career in 2001, she has become one of Americas best comedians, particularly when it comes to observational comedy. One prominent aspect of her routine involves her family, which includes a wife and two children. Interestingly, Tig Notaro is part ...

Who Is Chantel Jeffries? What To Know About Her Age, Ethnicity & Net Worth Chantel Jeffries is a lady of many talents. Beyond being celebrated as a DJ, she has fared well as a model, an actress, musician, and as an artist. She first rose to fame on Instagram where she has a large following. However, in recent times, she has hit the spotlight for her rumored relationships with some ...

Is Ellen DeGeneres Married, Who Is The Brother  Vance DeGeneres and Family Members? Ellen DeGeneres is one of a kind celebrity in todays world as she has used her wealth for the greater good for many people. She has served a host of famous awards shows like the Grammy, Primetime Emmy and Academy Awards. Moreso, she is probably one of the most decorated entertainment personalities around the world and ...

Carli Bybel Bio  Height, Boyfriend & Net Worth Video blogging is now on the rise and YouTube is the place where most of it happens. If you are a lady who cares about her looks or a guy who likes to help his woman out with her looks, then one person whose name rings a bell when it comes to giving beauty tips ...

Who Is Lexy Panterra? What To Know About Her Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth Lexy Panterra is one of the YouTube personalities whose breakout came through the Twerk dance videos she posted on her social media handles and YouTube which has so far generated over 13 million views for her. From there on, she created her LexTwerkOut workout program in 2014. She is sure very talented as she as moved ...

Who Is AnneMunition? What Is Her Ethnicity & Does She Have A Girlfriend or Boyfriend? AnneMunition is a professional gamer and content creator of American origin. She is one of the most sought-after streamers on Twitch  a popular online platform for watching and streaming videos, especially video games. AnneMunition has almost half a million followers on Twitch and her channel has accumulated at least 13 million views. Her favorite games ...

Norm MacDonald  Former Wife, Son & Net Worth Recently, 59-year-old former Saturday Night Live stand-up comic Norm MacDonald caused a not-so-funny stir when he expressed his personal opinion about the #MeToo movement speaking in defense of Louis CK and Roseanne Barr. Following the backlash of his actions, he is diligently doing damage control for his questionable opinion by posting a public apology on ...

Inside Iliza Shlesingers Life With Husband and How Much She is Worth Now Witty, spontaneous, and truly humorous, Iliza Shlesinger is an American comedian who is clearly proving that the stereotypical claim that women are not really funny is not only incredibly wrong but completely outrageous. Having been in the game for more than 10 years, Shlesinger has grown bigger with each step, stunning fans with her incredible ...

Who Is Nessa Diab? Details of her Parents, Ethnicity & Relationship With Colin Kaepernick Nessa Diab has gained more fame as the girlfriend of different footballers than in her career. She is currently with the popular National Football League (NFL) player, Colin Kaepernick, and has stood by his side during his most trying times. Also known for her mononym, Nessa, she recently engaged in a tweet battle with the ...

Samantha Bee  Inside the Life of Full Frontal Comedian and Presenter We have over the decades seen various brands of humor and personalities who have walked the ropes. One of the formidable forces in the world of comedy is no other than the iconic Samantha Bee of the Daily Show who now runs her own television show on TBS channel. She is a Canadian-American political commentator, ...

What Happened To Jessica Williamss Boyfriend And Which Are Her Best Works? Jessica Williams is a woman who has a lot of feathers in her cap  and keeps acquiring more. The former senior political correspondent of the comic Daily Show, who is also a comedian and actress whose recent movie appearance include starring as a playwright just recovering from a recent split with her boyfriend, Damon, and ...

Who is Nicole Byer? Here are 5 Facts You Need To Know About The Comedian Nicole Byer, an American comedian, actress, and writer, made a name for herself after she played supporting roles on MTVs prank show Ladylike and the reality show Girl Code. The latter was a series that featured comedians who analyzed in minute details, all the issues that young women deal with daily, from period to dating, to weird friendship dynamics and questions about sex. Currently, ...

A Closer Look At Bart Kwans Ethnicity, Height & Personal Life Bart Kwan is one of few Asians who is known for being successful in the comic industry at an international level. His fame broke out after the YouTube channel which he created with his close pal Joe Jo garnered up massive followings. The talented duo has been running the channel since 2007 and their success ...

Heres How VanossGaming Achieved Fame Online, His Worth and Other Facts About The Gamer For many years, the decision to drop out of college to pursue an online career was considered to be foolish and self-destructive by conventional wisdom. It was no different when Evan Fong, popularly known as VanossGaming, dropped out of college to pursue a YouTube career. However, that radical move paid off, and he stands shoulder to ...

Desi Perkins  Ethnicity, Net Worth & Husband YouTube is littered with videos of makeup tutorials by different people but if you are interested in learning how to do your makeup like a pro, there is just one person on that platform who you must follow. She is none other than Desi Perkins! She is a popular make-up artist, Instagram star, and vlogger. Desi, ...

The Phases of Casey Neistats Pursuits and His Love Story With Candice Pool YouTuber, vlogger, filmmaker, and creator extraordinaire; these are just a few hats that Casey Neistat wears and the story of how he got here is incredible. A native of Connecticut, Neistat started out by making refreshingly-authentic short films and videos that featured content that was based on everyday life and called attention to serious issues. He ...

Connor Franta  Inside The Life of American YouTuber YouTube has produced a lot of young celebrities in modern times and Connor Franta happens to be one of them. Apart from being a YouTuber, the young American is also an entrepreneur, entertainer, and writer. His journey to fame began almost a decade ago when he started a self-named YouTube channel where he uploads content ranging ...

Rhett and Link  Bio, Who are Their Wives, Net Worth and Family Facts Rhett and Link refer to an American comedy duo who are very popular on YouTube. They are known for their comic songs, viral commercials, skits and the daily show, Good Mythical Morning. Good Mythical Morning is the most watched daily show online, averaging 100 million views in a month. The show has featured guests such ...

A Walk Through The Maze of Ryan Higas Career Pursuits And Relationship With Arden Cho Ryan Higa is not only celebrated as a YouTube star, but he is also famed for appearing on television screens as an actor and comedian. Nigahiga, his Youtube channel, has gathered over 20 million subscribers and billions of views with his different comic acts, short films, and music videos uploads. With the rise in his career, ...

What to Know About The Shows That Made Craig Ferguson a Star and His Family Ties Rising to the top of your profession can sometimes be a hard and difficult process. It requires days and nights of working consistently hard to be better than what you were yesterday. It requires not giving up when all of your experiences seem to be pushing you to quit. It is because of these challenges ...

David Dobrik Married Liza Koshy for One Month  Inside His Family and Relationships David Dobrik is a YouTube sensation who has garnered fame not just for his vlogs but his love life too. Given his career as a YouTuber, his channel is one place where he shares his romantic escapades. With a cute boyish look like his, this Slovakian young man is definitely a good catch, and not ...

Merrell Twins Bio  Ethnicity, Parents & Boyfriend One of the beautiful things about modern life is social media. As rudimentary as it might seem, it could turn out to be the greatest thing that would be invented in the next 50 years because of its impact on human life. Very few tools have revolutionized human behavior and culture as much as social ...

Who Is Bunny Meyer, Is She Married & What Is Her Net Worth? Bunny Meyer is a YouTube celebrity who has amassed over 8.8 million subscribers with 1.5 million viewers on her channel. She is popularly known as Grav3yardgirl and is one of the highest-paid YouTubers in the world. She initially started out as a fashion designer and later chose the path of a YouTuber. Grav3yardgirl has used her knowledge on fashion, makeup, ...

Ninja  Inside The Life of The American YouTuber and Internet Personality Ninja is a talented video game player known for his mastery of Fortnite and other seemingly difficult games he plays with ease. The video gamer made a career out of what is ordinarily the hobby of many people and has since then amassed a huge online following. Find out about him here, including the controversies that ...

What Is Eva Gutowskis True Sexuality and How Did She Rise So Fast As an Influencer? Ever since Eva Gutowski joined YouTube in 2011, it has been an interesting journey for her, moving from one milestone to the other. Backed by an army of young women and teenage girl fans known as Evanators, she has risen to become one of the most-talked-about personalities in the digital stratosphere. She has also leveraged ...

Emma Chamberlain Biography  Age, Height & Net Worth Before now, people in the entertainment industry could only achieve popularity after many years of dedication and hard work but since social media came into the scene, massive success and overnight popularity became possible. That is the story of Emma Chamberlain who encountered fame as a fifteen-year-old. Emma is one of the many young people who became ...

Anna Akana  Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth There is a new crop of YouTubers known by their different contents with a very strong uniqueness that stands every one of them out, some upload video games, some fashion while some others have comedy video contents to showcase on their channels. Anna Akana has used her platform to showcase her comedy contents to the ...

Revealing Truths About Lilly Singhs Ethnic Background, Family and Her Relationship With Yousef Erakat Lilly Singh is an Indian-Canadian YouTube personality, actress, and comedian also known as Superwoman. She kicked off her YouTube career in 2010 with the launch of her channel IISuperwomanII and followed it up with a vlog channel in 2011. This paved the way for her fame and success which led to a world tour. The ...

Who Is Andrea Constand, Is She Married and What Is Her Connection With Bill Cosby? Many people got sexually molested but could not voice out due to the stigma victims suffer and what will become of them thereafter. Very few of the victims danm every consequence to seek justice and bring the perpetrator to the book, like Andrea Constand. She never got any media buzz, not until her friend cum molester; ...

Who Is Lazarbeam (Lannan Eacott)? Here Are Facts You Need To Know Lannan Eacott became a person of interest after his YouTube channel, LazarBeam pulled him to the limelight. Initially, he started with uploads of Madden Challenge videos before deciding to build his own channel in January 2015. Within the space of three years, his YouTube channel had gathered over 7 million loyal subscribers. Today, he has not ...

Puzzling Facts About Wengies YouTube Success and More About Her Fiance Among the many YouTubers who have succeeded in winning the hearts of millions of people is Wengie. She is a Chinese-Australian YouTube personality, vlogger, singer, and voice actress. Wengie is famous for a lot of things, from her simple life hacks, DIYs, craft ideas to fun experiments, tricks and pranks. Her content portfolio also includes hair tutorials, diet & fitness tips, lookbooks, ...

Is Jeffree Star A Billionaire and How Much Does He Make On YouTube? If looks can be deceptive then theres no other person who proves this maxim better than Jeffree Star. A quick look at Stars pictures would likely leave you wondering whether or not to tag him a male or female. But who says being controversial has to be a curse? For Star, his looks have caught ...

The Place of Rosanna Pansinos Career Hats In Her Rise To Fame and Facts About Her Personal Life There are a few phrases that could summarize Rosanna Pansinos rise to fame. None of them can do it better than the famous axiom, no knowledge is lost. Her popularity YouTube comes out of her foray into other professions, specifically acting. Although acting now occupies one of the major professional hats in Rosannas resume, it was ...

Muselk (Elliott Watkins) Biography  Age, Girlfriend and Net Worth The new and best in-thing in terms of career is video gaming and we have over time seen young men and women make massive income from an activity that was purportedly designed to serve as a hobby or a relaxation activity. One of such individuals is the Australian-born YouTube Celebrity and Twitch streamer, Muselk, whose ...

PopularMMOs Biography: 5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know We have over the years seen social media millionaires, especially on the YouTube social platform. These celebrities cum millionaires have made names for themselves after carving out niches on the internet, and a typical example of one of such exciting media personality on the YouTube is American Minecraft gamer and YouTube star, PopularMMOs whose channel ...

Jason Nash Once Married Marney Hochman  What To Know About His Ex-Wife and Kids The now-defunct video-sharing app Vine was the path that led Jason Nash to fame. With it, he built an audience of over two million followers, which he parlayed into a significant YouTube career. That move has seen him become one of the most popular personalities on the internet, with the cash income to go with ...

Where Does Dantdm Live? What Do We Know About His Net Worth, Wife and Brother? Most parents buy video games for their kids to occupy their time leisure, while other parents frown at their kids when they play video games. Despite the disparity, every parent would be proud of their child if he/she eventually turns a celebrity or millionaire through playing video games like Dantdm. Biography of Dantdm Dantdm was born Daniel ...

LaurDIY  Biography: 5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTuber LaurDIY is the YouTube channel of Lauren Riihimaki which she created on December 1, 2011, when she was still a college undergrad with the sole aim of giving Do It Yourself (DIY) as well as practical fashion and beauty tips to her followers. She has used the channel to establish herself as a YouTube personality ...

Lachlan Ross Power  Bio And Family Life Of Australian The YouTube Star It is amazing the varied sources of income that the internet has made possible in this day and age. Internet fame can get its holder a whole lot of monetary and social benefits, but it must be noted that it does not come easy or cheap. For those who desire fame, content is the sacrifice ...

Alfie Deyes  Bio and Net Worth: Everything You Need To Know Alfie Deyes is one internet personality you definitely would like to know about. He boasts of over 10 million subscribers on three of his YouTube channels and has three bestseller books to his name. He is probably the most renowned young personality on YouTube today and his vlogging empire continues to grow by the day. ...

Colleen Ballingers Love Story With Husband Erik Stocklin and How Much She Is Worth Now Colleen Ballinger is an American comedian and YouTuber who is a very funny, adventurous, and highly talented woman. She is also an actress, singer, and writer. Collen is widely known for her work on YouTube where she posts content on her channel, Miranda Sings. The comedian has gained many subscribers over the years and has ...

Who Are The Dude Perfect Members and How Much Are They Worth? Entertainment in the 21st century can be digested in many forms and with platforms like YouTube, the creators and purveyors of entertainment have been democratized. Today, one of the most popular platforms to exhibit ones creative talents is YouTube, even though there are other platforms like Twitter, Facebook, who suffer in comparison to YouTube because ...

Who Is Rudy Mancuso, What Is His Earning Power and What Do We Know About His Girlfriend? Rudy Mancuso started his internet journey on Vine. He would later transition to YouTube where he solidified his place among the internets most beloved comedic creators. He is now regarded as one of the renowned internet personalities in the world, with a presence in mainstream TV and film projects like Comedy Centrals Drunk History and ...

Vsauce (Michael Stevens) Biography and Net Worth: All You Need To Know The advent of YouTube and the internet as a whole revolutionized how human beings consume information. With each passing year, the percentage of learning that is done in a traditional classroom decrease as a seismic shift to internet-based learning happens in our education industry. From open courses online to YouTube classes and videos, there are ...

How did Jake Paul Make His YouTube Big Break and Who is His Wife? One of the most interesting Social Media personalities of the 21st century is the young and popular Jake Paul whose elder brother is the famed Vine star, Logan Paul. Jake has utilized the power of the internet to bring himself to the limelight with a channel named JakePaulProductions that has amassed up to six billion ...

5 Facts You Need To Know About Reaction Time (Tal Fishman)  The American YouTuber Before 2015, the leading meaning of reaction time was the amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus, until Tal Fishman started his channel, Reaction Time on YouTube and the dominant meaning changed. Today, a google search of Reaction Time would deliver Tal Fishmans videos and YouTube channel link with a few physics ...

Grace Helbig  Net Worth, Boyfriend and Family Life of The YouTuber Grace Helbig is an American internet personality, comedian, actress, and writer. She became popular due to her daily vlog series, DailyGrace, which ran on My Damn Channel from 2008 to 2013. Helbig is also popular for her own indie series on YouTube, ItsGrace, which she launched in 2014. Her vlogs which feature random stuff such as ...

Mark Wiens Bio  Ethnicity, Wife and Parents Food is a great way to connect with people. We all love to eat, if not for the pleasure of food, the satisfaction of quenching hunger, and the very process of providing and sharing that food is part of the strongest bonds that bind humanity together. Maybe it is our historical connection to food, where ...

Is Filthy Frank Dead, What Happened To Him and How Much Is He Worth? As George Kusunoki Miller, he was a nobody. However, as Filthy Frank, George was one of the most famous internet personalities on the planet. The Filthy Frank Show, a sketch series on his YouTube channel, TVFilthyFrank, was one of the platforms most influential creations. He is the reason a crazy dance song, Harlem Shake, made it ...

CaptainSparklez Bio  Net Worth, House and Cars of The Famous YouTuber Sometimes, what society wants from its citizens is quite different from what the citizens want for themselves. This is evident in the life and career of video blogger and American YouTube personality, Jordan Maron famous for his YouTube channel CaptainSparklez. He dropped out of school after discovering his talent in playing an online game called Minecraft. ...

Who is Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg)? Here are Facts You Must Know Canadian Youtube personality, Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg) originally started out polishing and designing nails even before it became a trendy culture in the social media. Simply Nailogica started out her showbiz career in her early days as a child actress, acting in commercials for game and toy companies. Aside from acting, she is blogger, vlogger, specializing ...

5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know About Huda Beauty In the world of entrepreneurship, it is interesting when an individual has a mentor who he/she looks up to, this yield more productivity on the part of the individual. The iconic and rich American beautician and makeup artist Huda Kattan nicknamed Heida is the founder of the Huda Beauty blog which is number one Instagram beauty blog ...

Is Dino MasterChef Gay? Details About His Ethnicity, Girlfriend, Where He Is Now Food, for the better part of the early years of human life, was nothing more than what we needed for survival. There was no artistry or curation to the method of cooking. The scarcity of food left no room for artistic expression until we figured out agriculture and we could make as much as we ...

Who Is Gabbie Hanna And How Did She Become Famous? As the world shifts to digital media and depends more and more on streaming services for its news and entertainment content, YouTubers have become one of the leading creators in the new media world. Their understanding of the online audience: how to create, maintain, and increase followers, are all handy skills that have primed them ...

Jacksepticeye  Height, Girlfriend & Net Worth Jacksepticeye is a YouTuber and actor who gained popularity with a series of gaming videos he uploads on his channel to the delight of millions of his subscribers. He is Known primarily for his comic video game series titled Lets Play and his vlogs. His channel was formerly ranked 46th in the list of most subscribed ...

Chris Heria Personal Details: About His Wife, Height & Ethnicity Background In this generation, keeping fit has become one of the major criteria for being hale and hearty. In fact, most occupations these days are majorly concerned with ones body mass, weight and looks. Unlike the past where most people have to register in a gym to keep fit, social media has made it quite easy ...

Everything You Need To Know About Game Grumps Gaming is becoming incredibly popular on YouTube these days with game vloggers make millions of dollars out of them yearly. One of the most popular up-coming gaming YouTube channels is Game Grumps. The Lets Play series was created in 2012 and celebrated its fifth anniversary on July 18th, 2017. In six years of its existence, the ...

Daithi De Nogla Biography, Girlfriend and Net Worth YouTube has created an avenue for many to make wealth and become famous from the comfort of their homes while having fun. Many have built a career out of the platform, uploading numerous videos that have earned them the admiration of viewers across the globe. For Daithi De Nogla, he is loved for his humorous commentary on ...

Does Phoebe Robinson Have A Boyfriend or Husband and What Do We Know About Her Family? Phoebe Robinson is a New York-based comedian, writer, and actress. She is best known as the co-creator and co-host of the WNYC Studios podcast 2 Dope Queens. Just like some other female comedians, she never had any original plans of becoming a stand-up comedian even though, according to her, she took a class on a whim at Carolines on Broadway. After ...

Who Are Lex and Alana from Listed Sisters? What Is Their Ethnicity & Is the Show Cancelled? America is a country built on diversity. Everywhere you look all over the country, a countless number of immigrants or children of immigrants have become an integral part of the fabric of the country. From entertainment to business, immigrants are creating a niche for themselves and climbing to the summit of their respective professions. One ...

Riveting Facts About Danielle Lombard And What She Is Best Known For The American entertainment industry is one that provides many avenues for aspiring hopefuls to express their talents and become famous. From films to television shows and game shows, there is no shortage of ways for men and women who desire fame to pursue and earn it in the United States of America. Another tested medium ...

Unearthing New Details About The YouTube Success And Personal Life of Alex Burriss of Wassabi Productions Wildly hilarious and truly audacious, Alex Wassabi is an American YouTuber who has become a very popular face on the video-sharing platform after having garnered millions of subscribers over the years by keeping people glued to his channel with his witty parody video releases. If you have always loved parody videos, there is every chance ...

Everything You Need To Know About H2O Delirious H2O Delirious whose full birth name is reported to be Jonathan Gormon Dennis has successfully kept himself mystified by hiding his face behind the masks leaving his loyal fans speculating who he really is for many years. The American YouTube star is easily identified by the Jason Mask Style with make-up which he wears on his ...

Who Is HolaSoyGerman and What Happened To Him? German Garmendia has certainly seen it all when it comes to internet success. His channels, HolaSoyGerman and JuegaGerman are in the top twenty most subscribed channel on YouTube. The Chilean YouTuber found a way to tap into one of the worlds greatest inventions and make a living from it. He has been able to build ...

Who Are Glenn Becks Family, What Is His Net Worth And What Happened To Him? The American political commentary space is filled with different personalities. A few of them, through their rhetoric, charisma, and resources have been able to build a large following of men and women who listen to them for insight and direction for various political and social issues in the United States. For Conservatives, the story is ...

Following Charissa Thompsons Rise Through The Ranks Of Sports Casting and All About Her Boyfriend Superstar TV host and sportscaster, Charissa Thompson, has been hailed as one of the highest-profile women journalists in America, and the reason is there for all to see. She has worked for popular establishments such as Versus, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, GSN, and Big Ten Network. She currently hosts the popular pre-game show, Fox NFL Kickoff, ...

Is Chris Kattan Gay or Does He Have A Wife? What Is His Net Worth? Chris Kattan is a popular American comedian and actor. He has appeared in several comic movies and TV series such as The Middle, A Night at the Roxbury and Bunnicula. Kattan is, however, most popular for his six-year stint as a cast member of Saturday Night Live. During his time on the legendary show, he ...

Everything You Should Know About the Rise of Insta Star Claire Abbott and Why She Gave It All Up A lot of young Americans have shot into the limelight for uploading different kinds of videos on YouTube. Some of these young stars include Connor Franta, Desi Perkins, Emma Chamberlain, the Dolan Twins (Ethan and Grayson), and Claire Abbott. The latter became a social media celebrity for uploading sexy bikini pictures of herself on social media. Apart from ...

5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTube Channel  h3h3Productions H3h3Productions is a YouTube channel that specializes on Comic responses or reactions of other contents or trendy stories. The celebrity couple that created the channel has over time racked up sizable views for their commentaries and contents. Even though they had their own fair share of copyright cases, thankfully they scored an unprecedented victory in all ...

Lilypichu Bio  Height, Brother and Love Story With Albert SleightlyMusical Chang Like most popular internet celebrities, Lilypichu is one of those Twitch streamers who spend their lives on camera. From daydreaming about the possibility of becoming a full-time professional streamer, she grew to live out her dreams on the popular live streaming platform where people play games, make crafts, and showcase their day-to-day activities. Given the rise of ...

KSI  What To Know About His Girlfriend, Brother  Deji Olatunji & Net Worth Assuredly, when Internet inventors Vint Cerf and Bob Khan created the technological masterpiece, they probably did not know how massive the creation will be harnessed by many for different purposes including as a platform for earning money through content creation. One of such person who smiles to the bank regularly today for spending time creating ...

The Interesting Progression and Highlights of Carrie Keagans Career as a Host and Actress Carrie Keagan has garnered huge fame through her various stints on television. She is not just your regular TV host but one with a difference. Keagan has hosted several high profile events and TV shows, including VH1s Big Morning Buzz Live and Fox News Channels Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld. However, not many know she ...

The Gist On Elise Jordans Marriages And Her Rise To Prominence Political commentaries tend to be boring when it is handled by someone who does not have a knack for it. However, when you see the likes of Elise Jordan run the same commentary, you will have a lot of reasons to look forward to watching her again as the journalist is well-versed in the field ...

What Is Timmy Thick Best Known For and How Successful Is The Star? Thanks to the internet, many people whose talents would have ordinarily gone unnoticed have become famous. A very good example of this modern-day internet celebrity is Timmy Thick, an American social media star. He became popular on Instagram due to his penchant for posting raunchy pictures of himself. He also often posted videos of himself ...

What Does Heather Storm Do For a Living and Who Is She Dating? Reality Television is a great way to make a name for oneself as well as amass a fortune. Heather Storm can attest to this as she is one of those who have made a name and earned a lot from reality TV. She made her name appearing on shows like Car Fanatics, Awesome Autos, and, ...

Matt Carriker Biography  Net Worth, Wife & Height Unlike your regular veterinary doctor next door, Matt Carriker chose to spice up his noble profession with the unusual. Though he is known to many as a medical practitioner, Carriker is better renowned as a YouTube star and an animal lover. Having recorded huge successes on his various YouTube channels, the vet doctors name and ...

Jillian Mele of Fox News Career Achievements, Husband & Measurements There are quite a good number of presenters on radio and television who listeners and viewers may never wish to miss any of their shows because of their sensational golden voice, beauty or the special way or artistry they anchor their shows. Jillian Mele is one of such. She has been at the top of ...

Who is Gillian Turner of Fox News? Her Fiance or Husband and Net Worth Gillian Turner is well-known as a news correspondent for Fox News Channel but before she became a TV personality, she built an intimidating resume working for different institutions, including the American government. She served in different capacities at the White House National Security Council during the administration of former US Presidents  George W. Bush and Barack Obama. ...

Gloria Govan Bio  Age, Ethnicity & Height Even as Gloria Govan is famous as an American actress, author, a TV host, and reality television star, shes more popular as the wife of the former NBA player, Matt Barnes. She became known after appearing on the Florida version of the reality television series, Basketball Wives and later, Basketball Wives: LA  after Matt was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Sadly, ...

Michael Fishmans Interesting Start as an Actor and Why He Divorced His Wife of Many Years When one door closes, another one opens. As silly as that axiom may seem, it is the story of the resurgence of Michael Fishman, who plays D.J Conner on the popular show, Roseanne. Having played the character for several years as a child actor into his teenage years; when the show originally ended, Michael did ...

Who Is October Gonzalez  Tony Gonzalezs Wife? All You Need To Know October Gonzalez is a popular American TV host and media personality. Additionally, she is also a model. Gonzalez has hosted several TV shows such as Beat Shazam, Entertainment Tonight, and Rachel Ray. She has also featured in several reality TV shows. Gonzalezs fame is not just due to her profession but also because of her ...

Who Is Tony Berlin  Harris Faulkners Husband: His Children and Family Facts Tony Berlin is a popular American media guru. He has variously worked as a reporter, anchor, and producer for some of the biggest TV networks in America. They include CNN, CBS, NBC, and ABC (where he hosted the popular Good Morning America). Berlin has now diversified into public relations and owns his own PR firm. ...

The Progression of Gianna Tobonis Journalism Career and Details About Her Marriage to Kyle Buckley Gianna Toboni may not be your ideal newscaster but her unusual reporting is what made her a household name. The American journalist is renowned for her hard-hitting and authentic reportage. A motivator and activist for total press freedom, Gianna loves to explore pervasive cultural issues. Not only does this unique and ambitious journalist call for all ...

Dog The Bounty Hunters Family Including Details of His Late Wife and Kids Popularly known as Dog, a name which he got from the television series, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Duane Chapman, an American bounty hunter, and one-time bail bondsman, went from being convicted for a felony to being a reality TV star. He was brought to the limelight following the capture of the convicted criminal, Andrew Luster in 2003 and this eventually made ...

Vicky Karayiannis, Chris Cornells Wifes Bio, Children and Family The world of showbiz is made up of different people who serve different roles, and function in a variety of capacities, and one of the most important people are those in the background. Publicists are undoubtedly one of these background people yet they are vital to the life and fame of most of our favorite ...

Joe Rogan Has A Step-Daughter and 2 Other Kids With Wife Jessica Ditzel  Meet His Family Joe Rogan is a popular American stand-up comedian and TV host. His journey to stardom began in the late 80s and has seen him host several shows, the most popular is the game show titled Fear Factor. The exciting show dares contestants to face some of their greatest fears and embark on challenging stunts. The ...

Josh Gates and Wife Hallie Gnatovich Have 2 Kids But Who Has the Higher Net Worth? Best known for his explorations and adventures, Josh Gates, is a television presenter with a voracious appetite for seeing the world and the beauties in it. Some of that beauty, however, is in his home, in the form of two children he shares with his wife, Hallie Gnatovich. Not excluded is their marriage which has lasted ...

Holly Sonders Wiki, Plastic Surgery & Why She Divorced Her Husband  Erik Kuselias After trying everything within her capacity to have a low key wedding, Holly Sonders was drawn to the public because of her husbands controversy at his workplace. Well, the two are rumored to be divorced but the article below will give more light on how true these rumors are. Meanwhile, Holly Sonders is yet to ...

Nadeska Alexis Bio  Age, Boyfriend & Net Worth Journalism is one diverse profession that allows the practitioners to choose their area of specialty, build a career on it by reporting the truth and facts which in the long run will distinguish them as deserving commendation and recognition among their peers. Some choose to specialize in political journalism, while to others it is sports ...

Media Platforms Charlamagne Tha God Has Explored and All The Controversies He Has Courted Charlamagne Tha God is an American on-air personality, radio presenter, and more recently, author. He is popularly known as a co-host on New York radios nationally syndicated show, The Breakfast Club, a program he has been hosting alongside DJ Envy and Angela Yee since 2010. However, his early years had no connection to his current career ...

A Look At Jimmy Fallons Net Worth and Family Including His Wife & Kids Sometimes, a childs passion for something is a pointer to what he/she would become in the future. As a child, Jimmy Fallon was literally obsessed with watching the late-night comedy program, Saturday Night Live (SNL). Then, his parents would tape the clean parts for him to watch and later, he and his sister would re-enact sketches from the ...

Kay Adams Biography  Does The Sportscaster Have A Husband or Boyfriend? When you hear the phrase sports enthusiast, women are hardly the first group that comes to mind. Well, thats changing pretty fast. Especially with the rise of female sports analysts and broadcasters like Kay Adams who is famed for knowing more about sports than most men do. And why not, shes paid handsomely for it ...

Ben Shapiros Family  Meet His Wife, Kids and Sister Who is Popular for the Wrong Reasons A multi-talented man, Ben Shapiro is a man of controversial nature, an attribute that has made him an unusual public figure. An intellectual whose career path was clearly defined even before he became a man, the Jewish conservative commentator has always had his way with words. He became popular by sharing his critical and often ...

QVC Shawn Killinger Bio  Husband, Net Worth & Facts To Know Shawn Killinger is a prominent TV personality who has worked her way to the top. Though not initially a journalist by training, she defied the odds and today has established herself as a household name, as well as, worked alongside some industry legends. More than just being a reporter, newscaster, and anchor, heres all you ...

Liv Lo  Dissecting the Ethnicity, Parents and Personal Life of Henry Goldings Wife While many are aware that Liv Lo is the better half to Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding, only a few understand why his beautiful wife appears increasingly endearing to fans. A former model turned TV personality, and fitness star, Liv has an impressive resume which when combined with that of her statuesque spouse is considered a perfect ...

Stpeach Age, Husband and Other Facts About The Twitch Streamer Lisa Vannatta, famously known by her online alias, STPeach is a Canadian video game streamer cum vlogger who has garnered fame through her appearances on different video-sharing/social networking platforms such as Youtube, Instagram, Twitch, Reddit, and Twitter. The beautiful lady got her career to a start in August 2015 when she joined the live streaming video platform, Twitch. She rose to ...

Insights into Seth Meyers Wife, Family and What His Net Worth Is Celebrities are mostly remembered and known for the work they do. For Seth Meyers, his career as a comedian, writer, actor, TV host, and producer is his biggest identifier. He was on Saturday Night Live SNL show as a head writer and cast member for more than ten years during which he built a reputation ...

Who Is Jessica Gadsden  Age, Net Worth & All About Charlamagne tha Gods Wife Jessica Gadsden is an American fitness coach as well as a personal trainer. She is better known as the spouse of popular American media personality, Charlamagne Tha God. Charlamange Tha God is a well-known TV and radio personality in the U.S. He has featured in several shows (both on the radio and TV) and is ...

Who Is Collins Tuohy  Michael Ohers sister ? Her Wedding, Husband & Net Worth Collins Tuohy is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, blogger, and social media personality. She is also better known as the adoptive sister of NFL player, Michael Oher, whose life story inspired the Hollywood blockbuster The Blind Side. The Blind Side tells the true life story of Oher who grew up in an impoverished background consisting of a ...

Eye-Popping Facts About The Personal Life And Career Success Of Sportscaster Heidi Watney Heidi Watney is a media personality who has created a niche for herself as a sportscaster. Starting out as a radio presenter, the brilliant young lady has gone on to work for several prominent sports networks, and currently, she is with the MLB. The sportscaster is also known to have been an avid sports lady right ...

Marty Lagina Bio  Siblings (Martina and Rick Lagina), Net Worth and Wife Marty Lagina is an American engineer and businessman who has risen to fame as a reality TV star. This is thanks to his involvement in the adventure TV series, The Curse of Oak Island. The Curse of Oak Island is a long-running TV series which airs on the history channel. The show aims to solve ...

Is Jordan Schlansky Just A Character or a Real Life Person and What Does He Do? The world of late-night television is an interesting one. Shows during that time are geared towards giving viewers comedic relief from a long day at work through interviews and comedy sketches. The often charismatic host of this show requires the balancing talent of a producer whose primary job is to deliver great episodes. It is ...

Heres How Wealthy Jimmy Kimmel Is From All The Phases of His Career, Marriages and Sons Health Jimmy Kimmel is a renowned late-night talk show host known for his charm, wit, and the A-list guests he features on his show. As the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! On ABC, Jimmy has been serving comedy to television viewers for years which played a pivotal role in launching him into mainstream fame and enabled ...

Natasha Bertrand Biography  Is She Married? Who Is the Husband & What Is Her Age? Natasha Bertrand is not just a young prominent journalist but a first-rate investigative reporter. With her natural beauty and smile, Natashas sharp, insightful political commentary also makes her a thorough reporter. Her sound political perspective and coverage in the country have made her a force to be reckoned with in the profession. Renowned for her ...

What Happened to Shane Kilcher? His Injury Update, Net Worth and More Shane Kilcher is well-known thanks to the Discovery Channel series Alaska: The Last Frontier. It is a show that documents the daily lives of the extended Kilcher family, people who live without plumbing or modern heating. The episodes follow their routines as they rely on hunting and farming for their nutritional needs as well as ...

Is Stephanie Gosk Gay or Lesbian, Who is the Wife or Partner  Jenna Wolfe? In August 2013, NBCs Today viewers were greeted with two shocking news. Today weekend anchor, Jenna Wolfe, announced that she was as a lesbian, introducing her partner as NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk, and said the two are expecting their first child. A long time has passed since then and certainly, a lot of things ...

Nikki Mudarris  Bio and Net Worth: 5 Interesting Facts You Need to Know Nikki Mudarris, also known as Miss Nikki Baby, is a reality television star, model and fashionista. Shes best known for VH1s reality TV series Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood. Her entrepreneurial skills enable her to create and run a successful lingerie line Nude by Nikki. Not only that, but Nikki has also successfully run the Las ...

5 Interesting Things You Need To Know About Kelly Nash Ever heard of the lady who gained national prominence for taking a selfie with a dangerous ball just a few inches away from hitting her? Its no other person than Kelly Nash, an American sports broadcaster currently working as host of The Rundown show which airs on MLB Network every weekday at 2 pm ET. ...

Understanding The Height of Fame John Oliver Achieved With The Daily Show and How He Met His Wife Without knowledge of who he is and his exemplary career, John Oliver cuts an unassuming figure of a regular man but he is one of the most influential personalities in America, especially on television. Since he began his career in 1998, he has been a loud and unapologetic agent of change, using his wit and ...

Why Did Big Chief Leave Street Outlaws, Where Is He Now And Why Did He Divorce His Wife? Justin Shearer, otherwise known by his professional name Big Chief is a famous street racer and television personality. He is famously known for being one of the main characters on the racing reality television series, Street Outlaws. Justin, who had been a significant part of the show since its premiere in 2013, appeared in a ...

Who is Josina Anderson of ESPN? Her Husband and Family Facts There has been a gradual paradigm shift in the world of sports which has today produced the likes of Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, and other female athletes that are pulling great feats in different sporting fields. Their achievements have also been followed by the emergence of female sports journalists such as Jillian Mele, Eboni Williams, ...

Is Brittany Wagner Married, Who Is The Husband, How Old Is She? Brittany Wagner has been an inspiration to a lot of sports youngster. She has won the hearts of many athletic students with her role as a life coach and an academic counselor. She is well groomed in her career and has worked over a decade for The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and The National ...

Tati Westbrook Bio  Age, Husband & Net Worth With five videos dished out every week, alongside running her own brand, beauty guru, and YouTube superstar Tati Westbrook has proved to the world that theres utterly no impossibility or limit to whatever one is passionate about. Tati is best known for being the owner and manager of the worlds most-viewed beauty and lifestyle YouTube channel, ...

Cathy Areus Long Road to Becoming a Freelance Journalist and What to Know About Her Kids An American freelance journalist, news analyst, and author, Cathy Areu has built a lasting reputation for herself on cable television. Popular for her skillful and sassy presentation of professional views on varying topics including cultural and feminist issues, Cathy is an inspiration to many women across the globe. In addition to being a journalist, she ...

Tucker Carlsons Love Story With Wife Susan Andrews, their Children and Net Worth Today On the TV screens, Tucker Carlson is that fiery fellow who passionately dishes out his conservative and often controversial views on issues of national importance. Such brazenness has fetched him many enemies, especially on the left-wing, but it has also helped him cement a reputation as one of the foremost broadcast journalists in America. His ...

Paige Wyatts Net Worth, Boyfriend and Where She Is Now Paige Wyatt became popular after the Wyatt family began running the reality television show, American Guns. The Wyatt family comprises Rich Wyatt (father), Renee Wyatt (mother), Paige and Kurt Wyatt (children). Rich Wyatt originally ran a gun shop, the Gunsmoke Guns in Wheat Ridge, Colorado which is outside of Denver. The business which he ran together ...

The Progression of Howard Sterns Career As A Media Personality And Why He Divorced His First Wife Howard Stern is a legendary American radio host, who has also done some notable work as an actor, producer, author, as well as photographer. The radio personality achieved worldwide fame as a result of his self-titled radio program, The Howard Stern Show. As a professional radio personality, he has worked in different radio stations. Since 2006, ...

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 Is Prez Trump really ordering the Justice Department to conduct major voter fraud investigation? | Main | Questions about guilt phase theory of case and misconduct surround Texas death row inmate schedule for next execution 

January 25, 2017

Horrific aftermath for one Obama commutation recipient

This local article from Michigan, headlined "Ex-gang member 'executed' after Obama commutes sentence," reports on how one recipient of Obama's clemency push quickly became of victim of violent crime. Here are the details:

Police say two masked gunmen with assault-style rifles entered a federal halfway house Monday night with a specific goal: the "execution" of a man recently released from prison at the behest of former President Barack Obama. Demarlon C. Thomas, a former member of Saginaw's Sunny Side Gang who had his 19-year prison sentence commuted by Obama in November, was slain by one of the gunmen around 9:40 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, at Bannum Place, the federal halfway house located at 2200 Norman St., Michigan State Police Lt. David Kaiser said. Thomas, 31, was shot in the head and numerous other times by one of the gunmen as his partner corralled at gunpoint some of the other 23 people in the house, Kaiser said. "One person watched over a group of them while another subject located the victim and executed him," Kaiser said. "They were looking for this person." No one else was injured, and it's unknown at this time what security measures the halfway house had in place, Kaiser said. No suspects are in custody. Thomas was among 79 people across the country who had their sentences commuted by Obama on Nov. 22, 2016. Obama commuted Thomas' sentence to expire on March 22, 2017, or about eight years before his initial release date.... Thomas was arrested in one of the biggest drug busts in the history of Saginaw. In 2008, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the distribution of five grams or more of cocaine as part of the three-year federal investigation called "Operation Sunset." In all, "Operation Sunset" saw 29 convictions in federal court and 10 in state court and effectively brought about the end of the Sunny Side Gang, which operated on Saginaw's South Side.

January 25, 2017 at 09:29 AM | Permalink

Comments

This incident supports the idea that non-violent drug offenders are part of violent gangs, will kill witnesses and informants. They will kill competitors. They will kill trespassers on their Deadhead marijuana farm lands. The decarceration lawyer movement is not just a denier movement. It is an intentional rent seeking movement arguing in bad faith, and promoting an economic self interest.

Posted by: David Behar | Jan 25, 2017 9:50:44 AM

An Amendment should be enacted to end all government immunities. This ridiculous and unjust immunity is a factor in its failure, incompetence, and carelessness. It is unaccountable.

The estate of the murder victim should be able to sue the President for a wrongful death, the halfway house for negligent security. The neighbors should be able to sue the President for the huge drop in property values from this incident. The murderers should also be sued if identified. To deter.

Posted by: David Behar | Jan 25, 2017 9:59:22 AM

This is problem. During the clemency initiative, it did appear that the DOJ was making some strange decisions. They denied many nonviolent marijuana offenders and drug offenders. Many of those who were denied had been supported by Clemency Project 2014.

The strange thing was, the DOJ then sent many petitions for commutation to the President for his signature who did not fit the profile of nonviolent offender. The White House seemed to be hands off after the initiative was announced.

CP-14 seemed to be acting as a screening group and a facilitator for the individuals they chose, and the DOJ accepted or rejected them. There is no explanation for the DOJs criteria for those the DOJ chose to send on their own.



Posted by: beth | Jan 25, 2017 11:15:02 AM

@David

One out of a thousand? You have to do better than that.

Posted by: Daniel | Jan 25, 2017 12:30:49 PM

I had two clients for whom I filed for clemency, and both applications had the support of CP-2014. In my view, one of them had an arguably stronger case, which included an email from the sentencing judge specifically recommending a reduction of the sentence to time served (from the life sentence that the client is serving) and commenting that "the justice system failed in this case." Nevertheless, he was denied, perhaps because he was here illegally.

The decisions on clemency applications leave us reading tea leaves. Here is a tea leaf: Thomas's sentence resulted from the application of the now-discredited crack guidelines, and that probably says a lot about why clemency was granted to him.

Finally, would it be inappropriate to observe that Thomas was the victim, not the perpetrator, of the crime? Isn't that important? Does that prove that he was a poor candidate for a reduction in sentence?

Posted by: Late Inning Relief | Jan 25, 2017 3:41:21 PM

Thomas was not the perpetrator of the murder. If I remember correctly, Thomas did not go to trial and took a plea agreement. Perhaps he was killed because of information he gave for the plea.

In any case, he should not have been placed in a half-way house in the same neighborhood of the offense.

Posted by: beth | Jan 25, 2017 4:42:28 PM

"In any case, he should not have been placed in a half-way house in the same neighborhood of the offense."

No, he should not.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 25, 2017 4:48:51 PM

I do wonder who made the placement decision. Those I know who have been placed after clemency did not make the location decision, although I understand that they may have some input.

Posted by: beth | Jan 25, 2017 6:02:16 PM

More of the old cliche "to many cooks in the kitchen." The people working in the Obama administration are not known for making logical, sensible decisions, hence, in the end, a man is dead that should never have been placed anywhere near his old "stomping grounds!"

Posted by: Liberals don't have a clue | Jan 28, 2017 1:38:22 PM

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 "Orange is the New Black: Inequality in America's Criminal Justice System" | Main | Horrific aftermath for one Obama commutation recipient 

January 25, 2017

Is Prez Trump really ordering the Justice Department to conduct major voter fraud investigation?

Though it appears that Jeff Sessions will not be confirmed to serve as our next Attorney General until next week, his boss this morning was tweeting a new crime-fighting agenda for the Justice Department. This U.S. News & World Report article, headlined "Trump Calls for Voter Fraud Investigation: The president has previously declared that 3 to 5 million voted illegally in 2016," explains:

President Donald Trump called for a "major investigation" into voter fraud Wednesday. "I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!" the president tweeted from his personal account. The call is a follow-up on comments from Trump and the White House. Trump said "millions" voted illegally in November, prompting him to lose the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. And shortly after being sworn in as president, Trump repeated the claim to lawmakers at a White House reception, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. When asked if the administration would call for an investigation on the matter at Tuesday's briefing in Washington, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that it was a possibility. "Maybe we will," Spicer said. He noted the president has continuously stated his concern on the issue before and "continues to maintain that belief" that voter fraud is a major problem, "based on studies and evidence people have brought to him." Spicer specifically cited a study "that came out of Pew in 2008 that showed 14 percent of people who voted were noncitizens." Politico slammed the veracity of that study and claim, and several outlets, including CNN and the Associated Press, assert that the president and his team have provided essentially no evidence for these claims.... The White House is not fully going it alone, however. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, gave at least tacit backing to Trump on the issue Tuesday. "It does occur," McConnell told reporters. "The notion that election fraud is a fiction is not true There are always arguments on both sides about how much, how frequent and all the rest." But House Speaker Paul Ryan said he had seen "no evidence to that effect" and he's made his position on the matter "very, very clear."

Based on the reports and evidence I have seen marshaled by folks on both sides of the political aisle, the claim that millions (rather than perhaps just hundreds) voted illegally in the 2016 election is seemingly badly detached from reality. And it is useful to recall that we went down this road to some extent 16 years ago the last time a Republican took control of the Executive Branch. This lengthy New York Times article from 2007, headlined "In 5-Year Effort, Scant Evidence of Voter Fraud," review the last version of this story and it starts this way:

Five years after the Bush administration began a crackdown on voter fraud, the Justice Department has turned up virtually no evidence of any organized effort to skew federal elections, according to court records and interviews. Although Republican activists have repeatedly said fraud is so widespread that it has corrupted the political process and, possibly, cost the party election victories, about 120 people have been charged and 86 convicted as of last year.

January 25, 2017 at 09:01 AM | Permalink

Comments

Why would believe anything coming from the birther-in-chief (we are still awaiting the "astounding" results from the the investigators that the birther-in-chief supposedly sent to Hawaii to prove Obama's birth certificate was phony), the groper-in-chief, the con man-in chief, the narcissist-in-chief, the Russian shill-in chief, the you-will-never-see-my-tax returns-in chief?

Posted by: Emily | Jan 25, 2017 9:45:03 AM

Emily, point taken!

Posted by: anon | Jan 25, 2017 9:54:58 AM

There is litigation in Minnesota that calls into question Franken's election.

The problem with voter fraud is that, where it results in an election that should have been invalidated, you cease to have a democracy. Franken provided the critical 60th vote for Obamacare.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 25, 2017 10:06:12 AM

Federalist, there's litigation over everything under the sun. Don't tell me a person of your intelligence is actually drinking the voter-fraud Kool-Aid? From the birther-in-chief yet? How are the mighty fallen!

Posted by: anon | Jan 25, 2017 10:10:18 AM

FWIW my own view is that anyone who was granted citizenship as a result of the Immigration and Control Act on 1986 is in this country illegally since that law was unconstitutional. Hence any such people who voted, voted illegally.

Posted by: Daniel | Jan 25, 2017 12:29:09 PM

federalist, I am very interested in your take on the accuracy and morality of Prez Trump's assertion that there were 3 to 5 million illegal votes cast and that these votes cost him the overall popular vote. We had a long debate about whether Prez Trump might prove to be a more moral Prez that Prez Obama, and I am wondering if Trump's statements about the US being, in essence, a banana republic in any way charges your take on Trump as Prez.

Posted by: Doug B. | Jan 25, 2017 1:43:26 PM

Daniel writes: "my own view is that anyone who was granted citizenship as a result of the Immigration and Control Act on 1986 is in this country illegally since that law was unconstitutional. Hence any such people who voted, voted illegally."

And I say to Daniel that my view is that anyone who is not at least 50% Native American by blood is in this country illegally. Hence all those folks voted illegally.

Posted by: anon | Jan 25, 2017 2:44:32 PM

The article says that Donald Trump called for a "major investigation" into voter fraud Wednesday.

As Emily points out above, Trump already conducted a "major investigation" into Obama's alleged phony birth certificate in Hawaii. We are still waiting for the results of that investigation. Recall that Trump announced his investigators had made incredible and shocking discoveries that would be released "soon." We are still waiting. Now I'm told we will get the results of the Hawaii investigation at the same time Trump releases his tax returns. So, when do you think we will see the results of the "major investigation" into voter fraud? Perhaps, as soon as KellyAnne Conway and Trump come up with their "alternative facts." Are you really going to trust the results of any "investigation" conducted by this liar-in-chief?

Posted by: Dave from Texas | Jan 25, 2017 2:51:49 PM

Of course there's some fraud. For example, there was that woman in Ohio who was caught voting twice for Trump. The question whether any fraud affects the election is different, though.

Posted by: Erik M | Jan 25, 2017 2:56:34 PM

Perhaps, anon, you could look into the Minnesota litigation and judge for yourself. Enjoy. As for the idea that 3-5 million votes were cast illegally in the US election, that seems an extremely remote possibility.

With respect to voter fraud, the lack of IDs, same day registration, ability of aliens to get on voter rolls in certain states, the recent fraud in LA with dead people voting and other items shows that this is a legitimate issue.

And remember that Al Gore forced INS to grant citizenship without proper reviews back in 95-96. People who shouldn't have gotten citizenship did. Seems to me that is far worse than Trump's delusional claim.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 25, 2017 4:54:17 PM

Do you think, federalist, that the new AG should make voter fraud investigation a top priority? Do you really think there is a chance that 3-5 million votes were cast illegally in this past US election but not in others? Do you think it reasonable to assert we have a banana republic if vote fraud is this widespread?

Posted by: Doug B. | Jan 25, 2017 10:52:27 PM

First of all, Doug, there are responsibilities the DOJ has with respect to voting and voting system integrity that, to put it mildly, have not been a huge priority for the recently-departed Administration. Guess they were too busy smearing Darren Wilson.

Second, I do not think that 3-5 million votes were illegally cast.

Third, if elections have been turned by voter fraud, then that (and I don't think this remotely debatable) undermines the legitimacy of any action by the government tainted by the fraud.

Fourth, I think that there are significant issues with voting systems in certain areas/states--Minnesota's same day registration seems ripe for abuse.

Non-citizens caught voting should get the hammer.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 26, 2017 2:29:02 PM

I note your silence re: Gore.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 26, 2017 2:29:35 PM

I do not know any of the facts re: Gore. Can you link me to a good source to read up on his activities here?

Posted by: Doug B. | Jan 26, 2017 5:54:48 PM

http://articles.latimes.com/1996-10-06/news/mn-51224_1_vice-president

The government bureaucracy at the service of the Democratic Party.

And recently, that IG report I mentioned that showed selective enforcement of the VRA . . . .

And you want me to get worked up about Trump buffoonery?

Posted by: federalist | Jan 27, 2017 9:36:05 AM

Buffoonery has consequences when the Prez is the buffoon. But I know you only really have fun criticizing Ds.

Posted by: Doug B. | Jan 27, 2017 11:49:38 AM

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It's been a rough, rough year for restaurateurs around the country and the local region, and as January draws to a close we have a somewhat shocking estimated tally of how many Bay Area restaurants have decided to shutterin the last five months  either voluntarily after many years in business, due to increased headaches and decreased profits, or those that were forced to close after just a few short months or years. The East Bay Times puts the number at "upwards of 60," and discusses the turning point I've already reported on in these pages that is forcing some newer restaurants away from full-service dining toward a counter-service model. (Also of note, a quarter of those closures are Pasta Pomodoro locations.)

While the restaurant industry has always been defined by tight margins and labors of love, we've been reporting on the recent spate of closures, many tied to the end of the year, with some anxiety. It's been reported widely and often how long and hard a slog it is to get a new restaurant open here, particularly in San Francisco proper where building inspectors take no prisoners, building codes are complex, and virtually anyone in any neighborhood can stall a project on the basis of a variety of objections. Add to that the especially high cost of doing business in SF, with a mandated, rising minimum wage that does not exempt tipped employees, as well as mandated health coverage, plus historically low unemployment and fierce competition for experienced staff, and you have an industry that is frustrated by having to raise prices on dishes and potentially lose customers because of it.

Gwyneth Borden, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, tells the EB Times, "Were at this precipice where the model of the full-service restaurant is being pushed to brink."

It's a refrain that's been widely echoed in the media, via restaurateurs, and it's not SF's problem alone. Thrillist published a three-piece series over the new year that concluded with an article asserting that "there's a massive restaurant industry bubble" nationwide, and it's "about to burst." One of the primary sources quoted in the piece was AQ owner Matt Semmelhack, a first-time restaurateur when he burst on the local scene five years ago, but who's now been chastened by having to close his two biggest restaurants in quick succession  Bon Marche after barely a year, and his flagship AQ, this month, after just over five years.

Thrillist noted that Portland chef Andy Ricker, who took his Thai restaurant concept Pok Pok to New York several years back, shuttered his Sen Yai noodle joint in Portand citing "soaring rents, the rising minimum wage, and stereotypical ideas about 'ethnic food' as 'cheap food'", in speaking to Portland Monthly. Even major New York restaurateur Danny Meyer was forced to relocate his famed Union Square Cafe last year after his landlord jacked the rent.

Then there's the issue of competition. Every city in the country has seen a culinary boom in the last ten years, and there's a certain similarity that pervades many of the nation's hippest dining spots  housemade ketchups and pates, craft cocktails, bare wood tables, Brussels sprouts with bacon. The fickleness of diners combined with a boom in restaurants here in the Bay Area, concurrent with the tech boom, probably spells disaster for many newer eateries that haven't established a very loyal clientele, or received such hyper national attention (ahem State Bird Provisions) that every foodie tourist makes sure to stop there.

And then there's the FOMO backlash problem (sometimes called JOMO) of too many people deciding to stay in, order from Munchery or UberEats, and watch Netflix  something that's also impacting urban nightlife here and elsewhere. It's become way too easy to eat well at home and entertain yourself, and especially in San Francisco where so much of peoples' incomes goes toward rent, you end up with too many restaurant seats empty and too little money coming in where it counts, from the profit-heavy bar.

As New Orleans chef James Cullen tells Thrillist of the current trends, "It's self-flagellating chef martyrdom at its best. Chefs all want to make their own charcuterie and bake their own breads. And if you're wildly talented and you're making exceptional stuff, great. But most chefs know in their heart they can buy it from a local butcher or baker and it'll be at least just as good, but they're too proud. And so you've got these kitchens putting in just as much labor as fine-dining spots, but not charging nearly enough to make it worth their while." (See also the first piece in Thrillist's series, about why "The Hot New Food Town" mythology must die, and all these trends with it.)

Arguably, for some of the restaurants that closed in SF over the last five months, there was just a failure of location calculus and too much optimism in the previous couple years about how much new tech wealth was being spent on eating out. In-house cafeterias at the bigger tech companies have been cited as an issue, but that mostly kills the lunch business. And in a city where we now have one restaurant for every 100 people  about 7,600 restaurants total in our approximately 49 square miles  a correction like we're now seeing was inevitable.

Regardless of all these recent trends and impacts on restaurants' bottom lines, this has never been an easy industry, with most restaurants shuttering within their first year, and only 30 percent of those that do survive year one making it past the three- or five-year mark. The Zunis and Boulevards and Gary Dankos are the exceptions to this rule, and even they can outstay their welcome  just look at Fleur de Lys, which had a star chef and decades of accolades, and closed in 2014, or Berkeley's Cafe Rouge, which called it quits in December after 20 years largely due to staffing troubles, and the owner's exhaustion with them.

It's true, however, that if you have restaurants you love, you should show them some love on the regular this year, because it's going to be a rough road for everyone for a while.



Previously: Is SF's Golden Age Of Restaurants Seeing Its Sunset?
Setting recent rumors to rest, for now, that he has designs on a high political office such as President, Mark Zuckerberg responded to a direct question from BuzzFeed News about his political aspirations and said simply, "No," and "Im focused on building our community at Facebook and working on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative."

The rumor came out of Zuck's annual announcement  which we now know is crafted and edited by the team of 12 who maintain his personal Facebook presence  of his New Year's resolutions, which this year include traveling to every state in the union that he's never been to, 30 in total, and meet people in every state. That, coupled with another public statement that he no longer calls himself atheist and a clause he had added to shareholder packages that allows him to take a leave from the company to hold political office, had tongues wagging across tech blogs and other news orgs that Zuckerberg could very well be eying a presidential run, 50-state strategy and all.

The 32-year-old Facebook mogul didn't elaborate further about what his eventual political goals might be, vis a vis that clause he clearly wanted put in to his ownership deal in the company. But a source who claims to have spoken to Zuckerberg personally on the topic assures BuzzFeed, "For Mark, Facebook is a global community that already plays this huge part in the lives of billions of people around the world and plays an incredibly important role in shaping the base on the issues that matter.

That source also suggested that Zuck is preparing to continue to play a big role in political debates, but here's where it gets vague. "There is absolutely a possibility that Mark may choose to play a stronger role in the political system and political debates," according to the source, and "I really dont see him stepping away from Facebook." But the political cycle we're potentially talking about here, either starting in 2019 or 2023, is still a long ways off, and Zuckerberg has every reason not to alarm shareholders or the stock market about some ultimate intention to go into politics.

In semi-related news, the New York Times reported last week that Zuck now has a former Obama guy on his team  he poached David Plouffe, Obamas 2008 campaign manager, away from his current job at Uber to put him on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative as president of policy and advocacy. Also now on the board of the Initiative is Kenneth Mehlman, the manager of President George W. Bushs 2004 re-election campaign. That's some heavy politico might right there.

So maybe the Zuck doth protest too much right now?



Previously: Is Mark Zuckerberg Maybe Planning To Run For President?


The San Francisco Unified School District is using itself as an educational example tonight, ceremonially expunging a racist 1906 rule that's still on the books  though not observed and mostly-but-not-quite-forgotten  that calls for the segregation of Asian students.

"We have this really dark part of history in our school district," school board member Emily Murase told the Chronicle, who had the story. "Its important to acknowledge that happened, she said, explaining her rationale for prompting the vote, which occurs tonight.

The School Board passed the segregation policy 110 years ago as anti-Asian racism in California was at a zenith, and after the state Supreme Court ruled California had to educate students of Asian descent but didn't rule out segregation. The law angered the Japanese government in particular, and Japanese students in San Francisco were eventually exempt from the policy of segregation.

To that point, The New York Times recalls the above cartoon from a 1906 issue of Harper's Weekly. The announcement that year that Japanese students would be segregated in San Francisco "sparked a diplomatic crisis between Japan and the United States," the Times wrote, "prompting President Theodore Roosevelt to send Commerce and Labor Secretary Victor Metcalf, a native Californian, to San Francisco in an effort to persuade the school board to change its decision."

Korean, Chinese, and other Asian-American students were educated at institutions like the the Oriental School in Chinatown, or Commodore Stockton, as it was called by the late 1920s when it taught so many students that the city had to allow some to attend other nearby schools. In those ways, the policy fell by the wayside. But Ken Maley, a local historian, reportedly discovered that there was no evidence of the resolution's repeal and advocated for it. Theres no hiding from the past, Maley put it to the Chronicle. You have to know where youve been to know where you are.

Today, according to the San Francisco Unified School District, 33 percent of its 56,000-student population is Chinese-American while only 11 percent is white. Other Asian-American students like Korean- and Japanese-American students are less numerous, representing about one percent each.

Irene Dea Collier, a representative of the Association of Chinese Teachers, echoed Maley's call to teach the School District's problematic history. "We can say its all in the past, but unless kids know about how hard the struggle was to even have the right to attend school, they dont appreciate what they have, Collier told the Chronicle.

All a good reminder that the SFUSD hasn't always provided the atmosphere of inclusion it aims to foster today, when it's busy auto-dialing parents to assure them that it will protect their children regardless of immigration status, as it did in December, or dredging up its racist past to provide a history lesson.

Related: SF Unified School District Mass-Voicemail Assures Parents It Will Protect Immigrant Students
The James Beard Foundation Awards, a.k.a. the Oscars of Food, don't happen until May. But after getting completely snubbed at the 2016 awards, San Francisco is at least guaranteed to be taking home one nice honor this year, which goes to the Mission's La Taqueria. As Eater reports via the JBF website, La Taqueria has been named one of this year's American Classics, which is the category in which the foundation honors legacy restaurants around the country, "often family-owned, that are treasured for their quality food, local character, and lasting appeal."

In the text tied to the award, which will be officially bestowed at the May ceremony in Chicago, the James Beard folks say that "quality stays high" at owner Miguel Jara's 44-year-old taqueria  which can also lay claim to winning the FiveThirtyEight blog's "burrito bracket" in 2014, getting crowned the best burrito in the country, which SFist continues to take issue with but whatever.

The full text:

The Mission-style burrito is a beloved expression and encapsulation of Mexican-American culinary heritage in the Bay Area. Burrito connoisseurs endlessly debate which taqueria makes the definitive version of the foil- wrapped, all-in-one meal of meats, beans, rice, cheese, and more, wrapped in a whopper of a flour tortilla, and often called a silver torpedo, Through the years, La Taqueria has stood out as a standard-bearer, and a barometer upon which to argue over other burritos. Jara is from villa Guerrero, Jalisco and grew up in Tijuana. The burritos he serves are not of any specific region of Mexico. At his counter-service restaurant, filled with simple wooden tables, Jara rejects the beans-and-rice approach, doubles down on the meat, and griddles his burritos golden-brown. Discussions about the merits and culture of the burrito form always, at some point, lead to La Taqueria, where the line to get gets more and more absurd as time goes by, but the quality stays high.

Eater earlier explored Jara's "riceless riff" on the Mission burrito in this 2016 piece, but am I wrong that this photo from FiveThirtyEight definitely has rice in it?

Anyway, La Taqueria's unique tacos are also awesome  and rank among SFist's Must-Have Classic San Francisco Dishes  and congrats to Jara on the much deserved honor. He'll be around for the foreseeable future, keeping the quality up, because as he told Eater, "I'll retire the same day they put me in the funeral home."

Other American Classics announced today are Sahadis, Brooklyn; Schultzs Crab House, Maryland; Gioias Deli, St. Louis; and Berthas Kitchen, North Charleston.





Related: The 16 Best Tacos In San Francisco


A cafe with designs to open for "tea, coffee, and snacks" in a Mission Street storefront near 24th Street that's been empty since 2015 is now in the crosshairs of at least one local activist because it could propel the Valencia-nation of the corridor. Last fall, Mission Local learned of the plan for a 20-person occupancy business at 2761 Mission Street, previously home to Sapphire Photo which closed in 2015, to be called Tea Art cafe. The business owner, identified as Terry Chan, did not respond to that publication's request for comment.

This week, Socketsite reported that activists had filed a request for Discretionary Review vis-a-vis the project, which would require a conversion of the space from retail to restaurant. From that request:

The Valencia-nation of Mission St is currently occurring with negative displacement impacts on the Latino and working-class communities, the elderly, and children. Projects such as this one that convert retail to restaurant would contribute to this negative outcome. This project will create displacement and gentrification impacts in the Latino Cultural District and is not a necessary or desirable project for the existing community. This project is in conflict with Priority Policy 1 of the General Plan in that it eliminates neighborhood-serving retail use and replaces it with restaurant use. There are currently six active restaurant proposals for Mission Street alone right now, and this stable, working-class Latino corridor is on the tipping point of flipping to being a destination site for tourists and upscale workers. Once retail use is converted to restaurant use it rarely ever changes back. This is destabilizing to working-class communities. This project would contribute to displacement not only on Mission St but in the entire Mission neighborhood.



Mission Local caught up with Rick Hall, an activist behind the opposition.All parties should be aware at this point that the Mission community does not wish to see any more restaurant conversions on Mission Street, he told Mission Local, who characterize Hall as a "frequent opponent of new developments in the Mission." Previously, he's taken issue with development projects like 184 units ofhousing proposed for 1500 15th Street and 157 units proposed for South Van Ness and 26th Street.

Hall identifies himself as part of a group of organizations called United to Save the Mission who have organized against other area retail-to-restaurant conversions. After meeting with some business, such as a proposed falafel shop, they've dropped their opposition. Mission Local adds that "Its unclear how widespread their support is and whether they can prevent any one business from going forward," and Hall admits he "doesn't know exactly how" to ensure that local businesses open to serve the existing neighborhood. "Throwing a little noise onto the issue like were doing with challenging the retail to restaurant conversions may help with that process," he says.

Tommy Woo, the contractor on the Tea Art project, disagrees. Some people complain about everything, he tells Mission Local. You have to utilize [the space], otherwise its a waste of space. Good point.

Related: Former Fancy Soda Shop Once Again A Late-Night Gambling Den
 Expand Photo credit: David Overbeck

Milwaukees venerable Ko-Thi Dance Company, now almost 50 years old, will present a major concert, Vibrations: Rhythmic Motion, next week in the Marcus Centers Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall. The eight-part, intermission-free performance by the adult and childrens companies is almost entirely the creation of Ko-This fifth-generation artistic staff: choreographers Sonya Thompson and DeMar Walker and music director Kumasi Allen. Ko-Thi has not performed a major concert in Milwaukee since 2009.

Thats because its too expensive to produce one, founding artistic director and perpetual guiding light Ferne Caulker told me during a rehearsal I attended last week. The Bader Foundation and Black Arts MKE are the reason we can do this one.

Some observations from that rehearsal:

 The drumming is sensational. Allen and the other adult drummers started years ago in Ton Ko-Thi, the childrens company. Theyre geniuses on djembe now. They fill the spaces between each others beats. The sound is colossal. Your breathing and heartbeat adapt to it. You cant sit still. They unite the room, turning dancers and audience into a single organism. When the current childrens company dancers come onstagefour young boys, the next generationthey bring on drums and join their mentors. All the kids perform with discipline and heart, though some look exhausted.

 As the shows prologue, Walker dances solo to a recorded spoken-word accompaniment with the repeated mantra, If you can talk, you can sing; if you can walk, you can dance. The recorded voice continues over quiet music, explaining that the dances of Africa are thousands of years old, created by people who didnt separate spirituality from everyday life. Walker doesnt dance the piece full-out at this rehearsal. He walks it through to show the lighting designer how hell use the space. Even so, in his simple gestures and facial expressions, you see how deeply he values African dance and how much Ko-Thi means to his life.

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 Caulker slips the pen and notebook from my hands as I watch the adult company dance. She writes: Inside the repeat of the re-peat is where its at. You can see what she means. The repetition of movements takes the dancers to new inner statesdifferently for each dancer. With slight but constant changes in the steps and patterns to follow, youre drawn to individual souls. The fast-paced, high-energy movements release emotion. The rhythms of the dancing further complicate the complex rhythms of the drumming. Its intoxicating. Nothing is mechanical. You see the dancers affecting one another. So much happens in the repeat of the re-peat.

 Ton Ko-Thi rehearses Triba, a West African dance. The kids beat sticks together and against the floor in tricky rhythms while they dance. You forget these are Milwaukee kids. You forget youre in Milwaukee.

This is a childrens performing ensemble, Caulker emphasizes. Its not playtime, not a folk dance club. Theyre learning to breathe, learning to listen to the drumming. These children are used to being entertained by TV, iPad, YouTube, their phones. They dont engage their bodies. Theres no mind-body connectivity training in schools. Were trying to make up for that in the four hours a week that we have them. When they come in here, they know something else is being asked of them that they may not have been asked before, which is to take themselves to the next level of their potential. And how do you insert that into a young person who already may have some self-esteem issues, is living in a world that doesnt recognize or respect them because of the color of their skin and has low expectations of them to begin with? When they come in here, they know Mama Ferne doesnt have any of that. Everybody starts off at a hundred percent with me. Your job is to maintain that hundred percent, and Im going to try to help you stay at a hundred percent.

Rehearsals are held at UW-Milwaukees Dance Department where Caulker taught for 45 years. She created a one-of-a-kind African and African Diasporic dance track for BFA students (it was killed last year because of the state-imposed budget cuts to the Peck School of the Arts.) So Caulker retired from teaching. She continues her lifelong work with Ko-Thi and keeps a relationship with the schools dance departmenthelping grads with thesis projects and doing high school outreach.

As long as Im around, she said, my focus will be to provide contextual information to our kids. Where am I? Who is around me? What are we doing? What are our goals? If they can answer those questions, we can move forward. Its taken me 70 years to articulate that thats what my whole life has been about. Now Im trying to practice it in my own life.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2 and 3 in the Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets, call 414-273-7206, or visit MarcusCenter.org.
 Expand via Monster Pizza's Instagram profile

So far, the new year meant big changes in the Milwaukee dining scene, including many new restaurants, but also many closings as well. Here are the latest spots around town, from multiple pizza places to Hawaiian poke.

Santinos Little Italy

352 E. Stewart St.

414-897-7367

SantinosLittleItaly.com

Price: $$

A new Italian spot focusing on pizzas baked in a wood-fired oven imported from Italy has opened in Bay View. The crust of the Neapolitan style pizzas is made with Caputo flour, an Italian brand of finely ground wheat favored by the best pizza restaurants in Naples. The Margherita pizza ($13), topped with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil, is a traditional favorite. Other options include Melanzana ($14) with grilled eggplant and oregano, Diavolo ($14) with salami, cayenne and red bell peppers, and an Italian beef and giardiniera-topped pie ($15). Antipasti, salads and a few pasta dishes are also available, including pasta with giant 10-ounce meatballs ($13).

FreshFin Poke

1806 E. North Ave.

414-239-8677

FreshFinPoke.com

Price: $$

Poke, a Hawaiian salad of fresh raw fish, is a growing food trend around the country. It has officially made its way to Milwaukee with the opening of the citys first poke-centric restaurant, FreshFin Poke. Newbies to poke may want to order a signature bowl, like the Mango Tango ($8.95-$12.95) with salmon, mango, edamame, avocado, sweet shoyu sauce and crispy onion. If you already know what you like, you can also build your own poke bowl ($7.95+) by choosing a protein, base of rice or greens, sauces, and toppings. A vegan bowl ($7.95-11.95) and cilantro chicken ($7.95-$11.95) are also available for the fish-averse.

The Phoenix Cocktail Club

785 N. Jefferson St.

414-539-5918

ThePhoenixMKE.com

Price: $$

A modern cocktail club has opened in the 1858 William Webber House. True to its name, The Phoenix is first a foremost a bar and lounge, but also serves a small menu of globally inspired dishes that changes weekly. Dishes from their first menus have included goodies like mushroom bibimbap ($15), roasted fingerling potatoes with mint and cucumber salad ($8) and fresh doughnut holes filled with mint cream ($6). The playful seasonal cocktail menu is divided into sections like Kick Ass Potions, Colors!, and Fancy. Drink names are just as fanciful, like the One Armed Boxer ($13) made with pear brandy, sherry, brown sugar cordial and root beer tincture.

The Ruckus

4144 N. Oakland Ave.

414-810-9559

RuckusBurger.com

Price: $-$$

The owners of Colectivo Coffee are branching out: Theyve opened The Ruckus, a burger, ice cream and churro spot in Shorewood. Burgers are quarter-pound and come with a variety of toppings, from the signature Ruckus burger ($9) with pork chorizo mixed right into the patty and topped with bacon, grilled pineapple and salsa, to the more tame Classic burger ($5.75) with cheddar, veggies, ketchup and mustard. Besides burgers, a couple hot dogs and sides round out the menu. For dessert, freshly fried churros ($3) and various ice cream creations, like shakes ($5) and Saturdaes($5)their name for sundaeare a sweet ending to a meal. In warmer months, garage doors lining the building will open to patio seating.

Monster Pizza

2856 N. Oakland Ave.

414-964-2850

MonsterPizzaMKE.com

Price: $-$$

Catering to the UW-Milwaukee crowd, Monster Pizza specializes in giant 28-inch whole pies ($24+) and pizza by the slice ($3-$4). Slices, which measure 12 inches from crust to tip, are available at a counter where customers can pick and choose from a variety of specialty styles. Between buffalo chicken, Greek with fried artichokes and black olives, Philly cheesesteak, and fried chicken and waffle with a maple cream cheese sauce, theres something for every taste. Open late on weekends with delivery available.

Other Changes

Brookfield Square Mall (95 N. Moorland) recently welcomed two new eateries. Naf Naf Grill has moved into a building located outside the mall next to Blackfinn Ameripub. The national chain restaurant has a small menu of Middle Eastern foods in pita wraps or bowls. Chicken shawarma pitas ($7.20) are a favorite, as is fried falafel in a hummus bowl ($7.95). This is the second location in Wisconsin, and the first in the Milwaukee area.

Classy Girl Cupcakes has moved into a spot in the food court of the mall. The local bakery with one other location in Downtown Milwaukee will offer cupcakes, cakes and other treats to throngs of hungry shoppers. Cupcakes are available in flavors like banana chocolate chip, Butterfinger, caramel apple and key lime. Cupcake-sized cheesecakes and push pops filled with cake and frosting are also popular.

Unfortunately, a number of beloved Milwaukee restaurants have closed in the last month. They include: Mimmas on Brady, Cempazuchi on Brady, Midwest Diner on Kinnickinnic, Trocadero on Water and Juniors Frozen Custard on Appleton.


Its not surprising that Milwaukee County Sheriff DavidClarke is a huge supporter of Donald Trump. Both are clueless about running animportant democratic governmental organization, share rabid right-wing, bigotedviews, viciously trash their opponents, apparently to feel better about theirshortcomings, and feast on media attention, positive or negative.

Whats so sad about the Clarke-Trump love fest is that itsone-sided (even Trump was smart enough not to pick Clarke for a Cabinetposition) and that its also very dangerous. Clarke, as you may remember,oversees a county jailin which four people died in recent months. Hes also called for pitchforksand torches, makes extra cash by helpingRussians arm themselves and is quick to throw out racistcomments about his fellow African Americans. Just last week, Clarkeused public resources to intimidateand harass an innocent passenger on his flight, after the passengerdared to ask if Clarke was indeed Clarke, by having his deputies stop the manas he left the plane and delay and question him for no reason. Clarke alsoharassed the man on his official county Facebook page. In typical Clarke style,just days later, he celebrated Trumps victory at the DeploraBallanaptly named gathering of brazen right-wingers who are reveling in their crudityand stupidity.

Were so used to Clarkes hate-mongering andattention-seeking antics that its easy to gloss over his inflammatorystatements, like when he said about working with Democrats last week: The onlyreason Ill be reaching across the aisle is to grab one of them by the throat.Note, of course, that Clarke officially runs as a Democrat on the ballot.

Although we hate to give Clarke the attention he craves anddo our best to tune out his immature behavior, newly elected state Rep. DavidCrowley (D-Milwaukee) isnt going to put up with Clarkes nonsense. Crowley askedGov. Scott Walker to remove Clarke from office because of hisincompetence with four individuals, including a baby, dying while in hiscustody and his inflammatory verbal abuse. We applaud Crowleys attempt tobring some sanity to the Milwaukee County sheriffs office, but doubt he willbe successful unless his request is pushed by average Milwaukeeans who sayenough is enough and who speak up loudly and clearly against Clarkes abusiveand incompetent behavior. Clarke, Walker and Trump all share the same bigoted,fact-free universe, where they are always right, always smart, always beloved.Its going to take more than an angry yet well-reasoned letter to get Clarkeout of office and cut off access to his lifebloodattention from the mediabutit is a start. They also need to find a strong candidate to run againsthim in 2018. Clarke is very beatable.

To read The Worst Sheriff in America by Joel McNally click here.
 Expand Photo credit: Women's March on Washington Facebook Page

The massive turnout and passion of millions of women and men marching on Washington and marching in solidarity in their own communities throughout the country creates real hope among conscientious Americans that democracy is strong enough to survive even the potentially disastrous presidency of Donald Trump. The organized resistance already has brushed aside the nonsensical cliche that the patriotic duty of every American is to come together after hard-fought political battles and unite behind their president by joining hands and working together for the good of their country.

We saw something like that in a Coke commercial once where the whole world shared a refreshing soft drink. But thats not the real world after a majority of Americans rejected a dangerous presidential demagogue by nearly 3 million votes because they considered him unfit for public office, and it bears absolutely no resemblance to the unpatriotic, racist reaction of the losing Republican Party after two overwhelming election victories by Barack Obama, the nations first African American president.

President Obama took office during the second-worst national economic disaster ever created by a Republican president. It was a time when all Americans desperately needed both parties to work together to help their country recover. Instead, Republican opposition slowed down and attempted to block every single Obama recovery effort on the reprehensible political theory that prolonging the economic misery of American workers would make it easier for Republicans to succeed him. Which, sad to say, worked.

But theres absolutely no comparison between organizing resistance to Trumps vicious un-American policies and the unpatriotic, anti-Obama Republican obstructionism eight years ago. In many ways, the two moments in American history are exact mirror opposites; its the difference between Republicans promoting bigotry and progressives battling it. Republican opposition to Obama as president was fed by the racist backlash of tea party Republicans who were shocked an African American president was elected in their lifetimes. Many of us didnt expect Trumps election either, but it stemmed from a positive view of American democracy, not a negative one.

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Contrary to Trumps dark, inaugural horror story of American carnage with rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape, Obama already has mostly reversed the economic apocalypse he inherited from George W. Bush. When Obama assumed the presidency in January 2009, the monthly loss of 818,000 jobs was the height of the so-called Great Recession, and the unemployment rate was 7.8%.

Without Republicans lifting a finger to help, Obama left Trump one of the greatest economic recoveries in modern history. The U.S. created 156,000 jobs in Decemberthe 75th straight month of job growth and the longest extended streak of employment growth since 1939with an unemployment rate of 4.7%.

Fear Stoked by Trumps Alternative Facts

With the recovery continuing, wheres all that American carnage coming from? Its mostly fear stoked by Trumps alternative facts, otherwise known as outright lies, that the economys still in free fall, murdering and raping immigrants are on the rampage and Obamacare is bankrupting Americawhen its actually providing 20 million Americans with previously unaffordable health care and cutting cost increases in half. Trump makes up continuing disasters to justify his inflammatory proposals to destroy Americas fundamental principle of equal treatment under the law regardless of race, religion or gender.

Then theres this little inaugural declaration: From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, its going to be only America First! America First! By that, of course, Trump meant white America. But America First also were code words. The America First Committee opposed U.S. entry into the war against Nazi Germany. In 1941, its spokesman, hero aviator Charles Lindbergh (whod been honored by Adolf Hitler in Germany) gave a famous speech attacking Jews in control of the news media, radio and movie industries for promoting the war. Perhaps Trumps neo-Nazi supporters have created a drinking game where they drink a shot every time their American president verbally returns their stiff-arm salutes in public.

It makes sense that women led the passionate demonstrations over the weekend to uphold American values. Theyre under immediate threat of a U.S. Supreme Court reshaped by Trump to eliminate their constitutional right to make their own health care decisions regarding childbirth and, who knows with extremists, possibly even access to contraception.

The majority of men and women, Democrat and Republican, believe in Americas fundamental constitutional values. The shock of Trump has them joining the resistance now to fight for America over the next four years. The next vote will be the 2018 midterm electionsthe first, positive opportunity for our democracy to restore rational checks and balances to our government.

Who knows? In four years, working people might even have an opportunity to elect a real populist president instead of a pretend populist billionaire whose Cabinet of fellow billionaires never met a working man or woman they didnt try to exploit.
In the 1500s Spanish and Portuguese traders reached Japan and in their wake, Roman Catholic priests. The Jesuits won tens of thousands of converts until the early 1600s, when the shogun shut the gates to the outside world, sealing the islands against the imperial reach of Europe and the corrosion of foreign influence. Those who refused to renounce Christianity were hunted down and killed, yet many continued to believe and worship in secret.

Silence Starring: Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver

Director: Martin Scorsese

Rated: R

Based on Shusako Endos historical novel, director Martin Scorseses Silence is a story from those persecution years. The protagonists are a zealous pair of Portuguese priests, Sebastiao Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver), who enter Japan in search of the legendary Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson). Ferreira was a much respected missionary who, it is said, turned apostate. The young priests refuse to accept those rumors and set out to find the missing missionary.

Smuggled into Japan with the aid of a troubled and unreliable guide, Kichijiro (Yosuke Kubozuka), they encounter an underground community of Japanese Catholics before being caught in the grip of the shoguns ongoing campaign to root out Christianity.

What happens next in this nearly three-hour film is a series of conversations or monologues involving Rodrigues, the Japanese grand inquisitor and his officers, the mysterious Ferreira and the even more mysterious God addressed by Rodrigues in prayer. The perspective of Japanese authorities can be discerned in the words of the wizened, smiling inquisitor: Christianity is the handmaid of empire-building European powers. Moreover, while Christianity might be true in Spain or Portugal, its not true in Japanthe sort of argument heard in recent times by apologists for Third World tyrants against the claims of democracy. Rodrigues argues for the universality of truth, which he claims is embodied by the Roman Catholic Church.

And then comes the clash of idealism and pragmatism. Rodrigues is prepared to die for the truth, but is tempted by the wily inquisitor who offers to spare the lives of Christian captives if he publically renounces his faith. Is he a cultural imperialist and xenophobe, as the inquisitor suggests when he stubbornly holds out? Is his imitation of Christ an act of arrogance, as the guilty-looking Ferreira says?

Epic in dimension yet intensely personal, Silence is suffused with Roman Catholic martyrology in its images of Japanese Christians tortured, crucified or burned alive for their faith. A Judas betrays Rodrigues for silver coins and suffers intense guilt. The unsettling, sometimes hallucinatory visuals unfold in a setting of cinematic beauty. Silence engages eternal questions of the universal versus the local, the possibility of transcendence and the likelihood of changing human nature. Silence brings alive a world in which the agony of sin, the promise of paradise and the reality of devotion to things unseen are integral to life and death. God remains silent throughout, yet Rodrigues hears a whisper


Although were living through a tumultuous political era with Donald Trump and Republicans totally in charge of Washington and massive protests across the country, Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin said her mission to work on behalf of Wisconsinites isnt changing. Baldwin, who was elected to the Senate in 2012 after a long career in Congress and the state Legislature, sat down with the Shepherd during the final days of the Obama administration to discuss her plan to represent Wisconsins best interests.

Some of that work indeed is holding the new administration accountable. Baldwin has sponsored bills to force presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns, close a loophole that allows Cabinet members to receive tax-free windfalls, and require American-made iron and steel to be used in water infrastructure projects, a provision that House Speaker Paul Ryan reportedly killed off. Shes also been a vocal advocate for saving the Affordable Care Act.

After Baldwin met with the Shepherd last week, she grilled Trumps Cabinet nominees Tom Price, for Health and Human Services secretary, and school voucher backer Betsy DeVos, for Education secretary. This week, Baldwin announced shed vote against DeVos and Prices nominationsbut also supported Trumps withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and his intention to renegotiate NAFTA.

Shepherd: How does this incoming Trump administration and the GOPs continued control of Congress compare to what youve experienced previously?

Baldwin: The mission doesnt change even if the Congress and the presidents do. In 2012, the people of Wisconsin elected me to stand up to powerful interests and fight for working people in this state. Having the Republican establishment in control in WashingtonI mean, they own Washingtonwill make that work harder. But that work is what Im going to continue to do. Where there have been promises made that help make our economy fairer for all, not just those at the top, they will have an ally. But they will be held to account for those promises, too.

"Right out of the gate, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which could deny 230,000 Wisconsinites health insurance. Many more would be at jeopardy if things like the mandate to cover people with pre-existing conditions were to disappear, or the guarantee that young people can stay on their parents health insurance until they are 26."

Shepherd: Whats your strategy for getting things done in the Trump era? Should Democrats oppose all of the Republicans proposals or should they try to find some common ground, even if that does mean giving Republicans a victory?

Baldwin: The incoming president promised to be president for all Americans. Our job is to hold him accountable to that. There are many specifics, too. He promised to buy American. He promised to oppose unfair trade deals. He promised to champion closing the carried interest loophole. Those are all things Ive championed, too. If he keeps those promises there will be room to work with him. If he doesnt, our job is to hold him to account.

He has also promised to do some things that I find horrifying on behalf of working Wisconsinites. Right out of the gate, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which could deny 230,000 Wisconsinites health insurance. Many more would be at jeopardy if things like the mandate to cover people with pre-existing conditions were to disappear, or the guarantee that young people can stay on their parents health insurance until they are 26. On those issues I will fight tooth and nail because the people of Wisconsin did not send me to Washington, D.C., to take away peoples health care.

Shepherd: Wisconsin voted for Trump after voting Democratic in presidential elections for decades. What did Novembers vote tell you about Wisconsin?

Baldwin: I remember most of those presidential races and while Wisconsin had the reputation of being a blue state, Gores margin, Kerrys margin, were both very thin. So despite Wisconsins presidential records in recent years, we always knew that this would be close.

I think the results in Wisconsin were much about people alarmed and angry at a system in Washington that had begun to value wealth over work, whether its in the tax code or in other policies, and saw the rich and the powerful writing the rules to benefit themselves.

Shepherd: Does being a red state Democrat change your position on some policies or which issues you focus on?

"For me as now a 'red state Democrat' I think I redouble my efforts to fight on behalf of working-class people. Its what Ive always done." "For me as now a 'red state Democrat' I think I redouble my efforts to fight on behalf of working-class people. Its what Ive always done."

Baldwin: Wisconsin is at its core all about the dignity of work, the work ethic. I like to remind people that we are called the Badger State not because there is an abundance of little rodents, little badgers running around, but because the miners in the 1800s in southwestern Wisconsin often sheltered in their mines and when they emerged were scoffed at as badgers. And we turned it into a badge of honor that speaks to our work ethic.

For me as now a red state Democrat I think I redouble my efforts to fight on behalf of working-class people. Its what Ive always done. But wages have been stagnant too long, people have real-life worries about making ends meet and helping their children do better. And we need to continue to fight to make it a fairer economy, a more just economy. I think increasingly we also have to organize locally and make everyone feel part of that effort.

Shepherd: Trump has said the public doesnt care about whats in his tax returns and hes done little to nothing to clear up his conflicts of interest. Is there any way to force Trump to be more transparent?

Baldwin: On the campaign trail he promised to drain the swamp. What Donald Trumps refusal to share his tax returns says to America is that he thinks its OK for him to keep secrets. I think its very troubling that we cant judge for ourselves what sort of conflicts he might have and whether any of his policy proposals would end up feathering his own nest. The chief government ethics officer commented on his divestment planbasically, that its wholly inadequate. Its troubling. Hes placing himself above the law, saying, Im the incoming president so I dont have to do what other presidents have done and what everyone else in public service has to do.

Shepherd: Youre currently vetting Trumps appointments. Youve said you will oppose Jeff Sessions for attorney general but will support Elaine Chao as Transportation secretary. Which other nominees do you have serious questions about?

Baldwin: There are a number of nominees that have raised significant concerns and are significantly controversial. Three will come before one of the committees I sit on, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, otherwise known as the HELP Committee. Those include Betsy DeVos for Education, Andrew Puzder for Labor and Tom Price for Health and Human Services. Additional highly controversial nominees will come before other committees, some of which I sit on and some I dont.

On the issue of potential conflicts of interest, that includes several things. One is being in a situation where policies you promote can end up enriching you or a company you used to work for, or lead, in some cases. On that point, the American people need to know that Cabinet secretaries and leaders in government are working for themthis is a government of, by and for the peopleand are not looking over their shoulder at their former industry colleagues, not carrying water for their former employer, and not making plans to land somewhere after public service.

First of all, public service is an honorand hard workbut these nominees need to show America that they are beholden only to the American people. Many of them are a far cry from that. Whether its Betsy DeVos and her investments in a higher education financing company, or Rex Tillerson, with a $180 million payout from Exxon that may well go tax-free because of another loophole that Im trying to close. Or reports that Tom Price has been investing in pharmaceutical companies while making policies that affect the drug manufacturing industry. Thats apparently what Donald Trump calls draining the swamp.

Shepherd: What does the public need to know about Trumps relationship with Russia and the U.S. intelligence community?

Baldwin: A lot. His campaign rhetoric about Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin and Russia raise significant concerns. Theyre very troubling. There are persistent rumors and questionsI cant rely on rumors. But I do believe that we have more to learn and not just Donald Trumps direct relation to Russia, to the Kremlin to Vladimir Putin, but campaign insiders and Cabinet nominees like Rex Tillerson. At least with the instance of Rex Tillerson, he has had his hearing and had a very public set of questions, including some very tough questions from one of the Republican members of the committee, about Russia.

Shepherd: You authored the very popular Obamacare provision that allows young adults to stay on their parents policyone of the few provisions that almost everyone seems to agree on. But despite its popularity, Republicans voted to eliminate it as part of their repeal of the ACA.

Baldwin: Except for Susan Collins [senator from Maine]!

Shepherd: Whats it like to see your provision supported and opposed by the same people for purely political reasons?

Baldwin: I dont understand how anyone can put politics in front of the well-being and health of the people who sent them to Washington. The rigid opposition to the Affordable Care Act has been politically inspired, and despite consensus on a number of its really significant attributes and benefits for the health of the American people, they are still pursuing total repeal. Theyve had six years to craft a replacement and they have nothing to show for it.

Shepherd: You said at the ACA rally in Milwaukee that some Republicans are feeling pressure over repealing and replacing Obamacare. Can public opinion truly affect what happens in Washington?

Baldwin: So long as this is a democracy, yes. Usually in my office I have the famous Margaret Mead quote that says, Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, its the only thing that ever has. I think weve been in a period where the public has not been as vocal as it needs to be. I will tell you that my Republican colleagues, some of them in whispered tones, have begun to concede that they are worried about repealing without a replacement plan.

And they are beginning to understand that theres a whole other set of voices out there besides the partisan voices that just kept saying, repeal Obamacare. Theres a group of people who have benefitted who have perhaps had health insurance for the first time in their lives, who have not had to stay awake at night worrying about their sick children because they know they can get the care they need. They are out there, too. The fact that they are speaking up is beginning to have an impact. Whether it will be enough, we will see. Progress only occurs when we work together, when we organize. Theres a reason it took 50 years to pass something close to a universal health care measure in America. This is a fight worth taking on, as long as it takes.

Shepherd: Why do you think House Republicans killed your Buy America provision?

Baldwin: The Wall Street Journal reported that lobbyists employed by foreign steel manufacturers urged them to remove it. Whether or not that reporting is the whole story, I dont know. But after passing the Senate with broad bipartisan support, President-elect Trump went to Cincinnati on his victory tour and said, I will be guided by two rules with regard to infrastructure, buy American and hire American. The next day Paul Ryan and the House Republicans took that provision out of their bill and Donald Trump said nothing and tweeted nothing. Thats where its going to be so important to hold him accountable to his promises. He got elected on promises, now hes got to keep them.


Editor's Note: After the earth-shaking election ofDonald Trump, a group of editors and publishers of alternative weeklies likethe Shepherd Express decided weneeded to try to cover this new administration from an alternative weeklyperspective, honestly, accurately, progressively and intelligently. A group ofus then contracted with Baynard Woods,editor at large at the BaltimoreCity Paper, an alternative newsweekly, to write a weekly column for ourpapers as our Washington correspondent. Baynard is very well regarded and haswritten for The Guardian, The New York Times, Washington Post, Vox, Salon and many other publications. His initialcolumn describes what it was like on the streets of Washington, D.C., onFriday, Inauguration Day. We look forward to reading his reporting. --The Editor

Dozens of police officerswith shields and batons and big canisters of pepper spray stand in lines to blockoff the corner at 12th and Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., grippingtheir batons and pepper spray, faces obscured behind shields, as nearly 100activists who had already been arrested are cordoned off behind them, waitingto be processed.

Protesters line the other side of the street.More and more arrive, chanting, yelling, Let them go!

A trial of pink smoke cutsthrough the air. There is the sound of a sting-ball grenade and severalofficers open up with long orange streams of chemical warfare pepper spray.Many people reported that rubber bullets were also fired.

Because, today  we are transferring power fromWashington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the American people.

Earlier, a woman who saidshe lived in the neighborhood was standing at the battle lines screaming atboth sides, her body wrapped in an American flag, her face burned by pepperspray, now caked with Milk of Magnesia.

Why are you doing this? she wailed.

For too long, a small group in our nations capitalhas reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.Washington flourishedbut the people did not share in its wealth.

Officers run at people, holding their billyclubs in both hands at throat level. (Dalton Bennett, a Washington Post reporter, was thrownto the ground.)

Now they tackle a woman on the street, and usetall Clydesdale horses to menace anyone getting too close to the tackledprotester.

The establishment protected itself, but not thecitizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; theirtriumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nationscapital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across ourland.

Pepper Spray and Other Armaments

Before the melee began, the streets of D.C. wereweirdly empty, a ghost town, nothing like what we had seen in previous years,especially Obamas record-setting first inauguration.

Were not seeing big crowds, said LacyMacAuley, a D.C. resident and an organizer for , a collection of groups that came together for the inaugurationprotests. We havent seen any area where we the protesters dont outnumberTrump supporters.

The ever-growing melee in Northwest D.C. around12th and 13th streets began small enough. I was wandering around at DisruptJ20smakeshift headquarters. I saw a small group of five young people wearing allblack start to walk away with purpose. I followed them. They pulled on their masks,but suddenly appeared lost. Where are they? they asked.

I started to scan the street and saw it, themass of black shirts they were looking for. We all ran toward them. By the timeI reached them, they too were running, chased by police on cyclesmotor andbikeswerving almost as if to mow them down. A protester threw a trash can intothe street. It rolled into a motorbike, forcing it to stop. A sign from infront of a store went flying through the air.

Other officers came in from the other side. Thegroup was cornered. Thats when they went crazy with the pepper spray and thebatonsfor the first time of the day. (Earlier, activists had chainedthemselves together to block a checkpoint into theinauguration and the police had not arrested anyone.)

What truly matters is not which party controlsour government, but whether our government is controlled by the people. January20th, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of thisnation again. The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten nolonger.

Suddenly, a man appears walking through thecrowd, followed by followers and the mood changes, briefly.

I am the president of America, the man says.He is wearing a boot on his head and he has a long gray beard and Rasputineyes. I am also an amateur hostage negotiator.

His name is Vermin Supreme and he actually didrun for president, as he has since 2004 (he promised a free pony for everyAmerican).

A little later, the airagain filled with pepper spray and what seemed like a gas. He gets right infront of the police line and squawks out the National Anthem, Jimi Hendrixstyle, through a bullhorn.

Another officer sprays gasinto the crowd and sting-ball grenades sound around the corner, where the heatof the action has moved. Lines of riot police face the protesters, some of whomthrew bricks and concrete.

Officers did not deploytear gas and did deploy pepper spray and other armaments, D.C.s InterimPolice Chief Peter Newsham told Democracyin Crisis. A full accounting of the control devices deployed will be madeavailable when we have it.

The time for empty talk is over. Now arrivesthe hour of action.

The same multinational corporations Trump railedagainst in the campaign had their windows smashedStarbucks, Bank of America.

So to all Americans, in every city near andfar, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hearthese words: You will never be ignored again.

The day ends with a burning limousine in thestreets, a new symbol of our unity.

Your courage and goodness and love will foreverguide us along the way.

The guerilla chaos that filled the air like thepepper spray on Friday is washed away the next day as half a million peoplepour into the city for the WomensMarch on Washington, filled with righteousanger, solidarity and community.

At one point, after the march has officiallyended, a barricade blocking off Pennsylvania Avenue leading toward the WhiteHouse is knocked down. Marchers make their way to the fence on the other end,where Secret Service agents stand. An African American woman walks up rightbeside them. Whose house? Our house! she chants, her fist raised in the air.

Additional reporting by BrandonSoderberg.

BaynardWoods (@baynardwoods) is editor at large at the BaltimoreCity Paper, and his column, Democracyin Crisis, will appear regularly in the Shepherd to provide original coverage of the Trumpadministration and the Republican-controlled Congress. Woods work has alsoappeared in The Guardian, TheNew York Times, Washington Post, Vox, Salon, McSweeneys, VirginiaQuarterly Review and many otherpublications.
I don't know how many young women come to this blog or how many are parents of teenage or young adult women, but here are some safety tips from Kelsey's Army:

T

I

P

S

1. Trust your instincts - If something feels wrong then something probably is wrong.2. Know your surroundings - know who and what is around you.3. Always have a plan for where you would go and what you would do if a situation arises.4. Be willing to make a scene in order to be noticed.5. Let someone know where you are going and when you will be back.Remember the acronym TIPS:ake Chargenform others of your whereaboutsrepare for any situationurvival Mentality (role play situations so you will respond should they happen)For more information, go to Kelsey's Army
Until pretty recently, there was nothing sexy about cauliflower. Boiled or steamed, it's bland at best. And if you overcook it, you'd better duck or suffer the smell of dirty diapers. But roasting or sauteing cauliflower is a different story. The veggie's natural sugars caramelize and its tasty inner cauliflower suddenly blossoms. Think popcorn with an attitude.

Cauliflower is surprisingly versatile, too. Pulsed in a food processor, it ends up looking and feeling like white rice. Indeed, given that it's high in fiber and an assortment of vitamins and minerals, cauliflower is a healthy alternative to white rice.

In the interest of coaxing out cauliflower's best flavor, I have cooked this recipe's allotment as if it were fried rice, sauteing it until golden. The "rice" is then infused with the usual Asian suspects  scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil  and bulked up with mushrooms, bacon and peas. (Vegetarians are welcome to swap in some tofu for the Canadian bacon.)

Wonderful as it is the first time around, this dish is also the perfect foil for leftovers. Steak, chicken, shrimp, other cooked vegetables? Whatever's sitting in the refrigerator and awaiting its second chance, toss it in. And if you need an excuse to go Asian, consider the Lunar New Year, which begins Saturday. Otherwise, feel free to enjoy this recipe year-round.

Sara Moulton is host of public television's "Sara's Weeknight Meals." She was executive chef at Gourmet magazine for nearly 25 years and spent a decade hosting several Food Network shows, including "Cooking Live." Her latest cookbook is "Home Cooking 101."
SOUTH SIOUX CITY | Big Ox Energy released a report Tuesday asserting that below-code plumbing in dozens of South Sioux City homes has been the primary reason for ongoing sewer odor issues over the past four months -- not wastewater from the company's plant.

The report, prepared by an engineering firm Big Ox hired, shows that most of the homes that reported sewer odors either had inadequate or broken residential plumbing systems or were residential units that shared a wall with other units that had failed the test.

The report also points to readings in the sewer lines that showed spikes in gas levels even after Big Ox went offline as evidence that the renewable fuels plant was not conclusively the main source of the high levels in the sewer.

Big Ox, a Denmark, Wisconsin-based firm that converts organic waste into methane gas, went online in South Sioux City's Roth Industrial Park Sept. 2. Shortly after, a number of residents in the five-block area of Red Bird Lane and Lemasa Drive that share a sewer line with the industrial park began complaining of "rotten eggs" odors.

As many as two dozen residents were displaced from their homes at the peak of the odors. About a dozen families still remain in hotels, citing continued odors in their homes.

Test results have shown hydrogen sulfide gas is now within safety levels established by the state of Nebraska. A firm hired by South Sioux City began testing last week for other sulfur-related compounds in the homes that could be causing continued odors.

The report released Tuesday was prepared by Black & Veatch, a Kansas City-based engineering firm hired to help study the odor issues in South Sioux City.

The report said hydrogen sulfide gas is common in sewer systems and can be produced by a variety of industries similar to those existing in South Sioux City, but if a home's plumbing protections, such as traps and vents, are up to code, hydrogen sulfide should not intrude into residences, regardless of the level of the gas.

Of the 66 homes in the neighborhood associated with the odors, 35 reported an odor while 31 reported no odor, according to the report. Of 32 homes that agreed to be tested, 26 failed plumbing tests, the report said. Three affected homeowners refused to have their homes tested.

Of the six homes that reported odors but passed plumbing tests, three were multi-unit buildings that shared a common interior wall with units that had failed plumbing tests. The other three, the release suggested, may have addressed the faulty plumbing at the city's recommendation prior to the inspection.

Of the homes that did not report odors but still requested plumbing tests, all passed but one, according to the report. Kevin Bradley, Big Ox's director of business and economic development, said the deficiency for that home was found in the attic of the house and that any odor likely escaped without the residents' knowledge.

A map of affected residences shows a number of instances in which one home was reportedly affected while the homes directly around it were reportedly not.

Tina Mowry Hadden, a spokeswoman from the city, said the report helps the city gain a clearer understanding why some houses were affected and others were not.

"We've all wondered why some houses had odor issues and other houses did not," Mowry Hadden said. "Whether or not that's the only issue, we're still trying to put the puzzle pieces together."

Mowry Hadden said once South Sioux City issues a certificate of occupancy for a constructed home and a person purchases the home, keeping plumbing up to code is the homeowner's responsibility.

South Sioux City resident John Goodier, who moved into his home Aug. 15 of last year but has been displaced from his residence since Oct. 24, said Tuesday that he still believes Big Ox is at fault, since the odors coincided with Big Ox's startup.

"The bottom line is we did not have this until Big Ox came online," Goodier said. "People lived in my house before and didn't have a problem."

Bradley said the odors could have been due to new reactions in the system, or in the city's recent changes to the rerouting of its sewer system.

"That could also impact a change downstream," he said.

Goodier also questioned the reliability of the smoke tests, saying he believed the company that conducted the tests turned up the pressure too high in an attempt to find a deficiency.

Big Ox also said in the report that other industries likely contributed to hydrogen sulfide levels in the sewer line after Big Ox voluntarily went offline Nov. 1.

According to the report, between Nov. 2 and Dec. 7, levels of sulfide continued to spike above expected levels, pointing to "new and on-going sources" for the gas levels.

Hydrogen sulfide levels have returned to normal in the residential line since a separate sewer line rerouted waste from the Roth Industrial Park around the residences.

Bradley added Tuesday that Big Ox has always been in compliance with its discharge permit and has not violated any requirements as far as the strength of the waste it discharges.

Big Ox has been reimbursing South Sioux City for the displaced residents' accommodations and out-of-pocket expenses. Bradley said Big Ox will continue to pay for resident accommodations into February, although the company is still deciding how long it will continue. At Monday's City Council meeting, some residents said they were worried Big Ox would stop the reimbursements on Jan. 31, forcing them to vacate their hotel rooms after that date.
Darcie Marsh is the director of operations for Crave Sioux City. Due to reporter error, Marsh's title was incorrect in the article "Crave ready to carve into Sioux City" that appeared on page I3 in the Retail Progress 2017 section of Sunday's Journal.

A sentence in the article "MRHD awards scholarship funds to Woodbury County colleges" incorrectly stated the grade point average that scholarship recipients must have, due to a copy editing error. Students have to have a GPA of 3.0 or below to qualify for the scholarship. The article ran on page A3 of the Jan. 19 Journal.
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa | A Rock Valley, Iowa, man was killed Tuesday in a two-vehicle crash west of Sioux Center.

The incident occurred shortly before 2:30 p.m. at the intersection of 390th Street and Garfield Avenue, according to a news release from the Sioux County Sheriff's Office.

According to the release, 65-year-old James White was driving a 2006 Dodge Dakota pickup north on Garfield Avenue when he failed to stop for the stop sign at 390th Street and entered the intersection, where his vehicle was struck by a 2006 Peterbilt semi-tractor traveling west on 390th Street.

Upon impact, White's vehicle entered the south ditch and the semi, driven by 37-year-old Kory Klein, of Ireton, Iowa, entered the north ditch.

White died of his injuries at the scene.

The release did not indicate whether snowy conditions, which reduced visibility throughout the region Tuesday afternoon, played a role in the crash.

The sheriff's office was assisted by the Sioux Center Police Department, Sioux Center Fire Department and Sioux Center Ambulance.
OMAHA | Two Winnebago, Nebraska, men have been sentenced to federal prison for firing a gun at another car during a chase.

Anthony Whitewater, 24, and Marcus Blackhawk, 27, had been found guilty in U.S. District Court in Omaha of assault with a dangerous weapon and use of a firearm during a crime of violence.

On Monday, Chief U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp sentenced Whitewater to more than 20 years (241 months) in prison and sentenced Blackhawk to more than 10 years (121 months) in prison.

On May 2, Whitewater was kicked out of a party in Winnebago after getting into a fight. While Blackhawk, his brother, drove, Whitewater began following a vehicle he thought was carrying the person with whom he had been fighting. A high-speed chase ensued, and Whitewater fired shots at the other vehicle, striking it seven times. Whitewater was prohibited from possessing firearms because of previous felony convictions.

There were no injuries, and no one in the other vehicle had been involved in the earlier fight, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
SIOUX CITY | Hefty snowfall in Siouxland Tuesday caused closures to government offices, businesses, and schools and induced many traffic accidents -- including one that claimed a life in Plymouth County, Iowa.

The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls reported at 4 p.m. Tuesday that Yankton, South Dakota, had the most Siouxland snowfall at 7.5 inches, and Orange City, Iowa, said they received 2.7 inches at last report. The latest count for Sioux City Tuesday was 3 inches at 5:15 p.m, Brad Temeyer, a meteorologist for the weather service, said.

Sioux City is under a winter storm warning until noon Wednesday, and areas around Storm Lake, Iowa, and Spencer, Iowa, are in the warning area until 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Temeyer said Tuesday the snow will hit the hardest along the Missouri River over into northwest Iowa by Cherokee, Storm Lake, and Spencer. Those places could see more than 12 inches total. Sioux City is predicted to get a total of 10 inches, he said.

Sioux City Schools and other area school districts declared a two-hour early dismissal and canceled all evening activities Tuesday when the storm first hit. Schools further west in Nebraska and South Dakota canceled school for the day. The University of South Dakota in Vermillion also canceled classes and activities.

The Sioux City Police Department responded to numerous traffic accident calls as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, and they expect more calls as the storm is predicted to add another 6 inches of snow.

"We definitely had some accidents, cars in ditches, with the slick roadways. I think we have taken one person to the hospital with minor injuries since I came on shift a few hours ago," Police Sgt. Jim Cunningham said at 5 p.m. "But other than that, just a lot of slipping and sliding with cars in ditches right now and I only expect that to get worse."

Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew said in a tweet that there was a semi accident on Interstate 29 near mile marker 134 Tuesday morning.

Drew added in a text to the Journal that there had been about six traffic accidents in the county, but none with any injuries as of 5 p.m.

On Highway 3, east of Le Mars, Iowa, an unnamed female driver died Tuesday after she lost control of her car on the ice- and snow-covered roadway and collided with another vehicle in the opposite lane, the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office said in a release.

On Tuesday, the Woodbury County Courthouse closed at 1 p.m and the Union County Courthouse in Elk Point, South Dakota, closed at 3 p.m. The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors' weekly Tuesday meeting was postponed to 2 p.m. Wednesday.

"I've been here 21 years and I only remember a handful of times (that offices closed early)," Amy Berntson, Woodbury County Clerk of Court, told the Journal.

The weather service predicted that the snow would continue Wednesday mainly before noon with areas of blowing snow with a high of 27 degrees. Wednesday's snow accumulation could be around an inch, the weather service said.

There is also a slight chance of snow before midnight Wednesday.

Thursday will be mostly cloudy with a high near 24, the weather service said.
LE MARS, Iowa | A Cherokee, Iowa, woman has withdrawn guilty pleas to charges related to a car crash in which she and two others were injured.

Melissa Ebert, 30, filed the withdrawal in Plymouth County District Court after it was discovered that the charges to which she had pleaded carried mandatory prison sentences because an operating while intoxicated charge was involved.

As part of a plea agreement, Ebert in December entered Alford pleas to two counts of serious injury by vehicle. An Alford plea allows a defendant to admit no guilt, but a judge enters a finding of guilty in the court record. Ebert also pleaded guilty to second-offense operating while intoxicated.

The plea agreement Ebert reached with Plymouth County Attorney Darin Raymond gave District Judge Jeffrey Neary the option of sentencing her to probation or up to 12 years in prison. Raymond had agreed to make no sentencing recommendations, and Ebert's attorney, Montgomery Brown, of West Des Moines, would have been able to ask Neary to place Ebert on probation.

But Iowa law states that due to the OWI component, the five-year prison sentences for serious injury by vehicle can not be suspended and must be imposed. In his motion to withdraw the plea, Brown said that all parties had been under the belief that Ebert's prison sentences could be suspended. Ebert had agreed to enter her plea because of the belief that she had the opportunity to receive probation instead of a prison sentence, Brown said.

Ebert was to be sentenced Monday, but the hearing was continued after the obscure sentencing law was discovered.

Neary on Tuesday approved the withdrawal of Ebert's pleas and scheduled a pretrial conference for Feb. 13, when attorneys and a judge will discuss how to proceed with the case.

The case jumps back to square one, and Ebert continues to face two counts each of attempted murder and willful injury in addition to the other charges to which she had pleaded. As part of the plea agreement, the attempted murder and willful injury charges were to be dismissed after Ebert's sentencing. Attempted murder carries a 25-year prison sentence and willful injury is punishable by 10 years in prison.

Ebert is accused in court documents of threatening to kill herself and her passenger, Damian Johnson, before veering her car into the path of an oncoming car driven by Dustin Boll, of Le Mars, on County Road C-38 on Sept. 9, 2015. All three were seriously injured.

Court documents said that Ebert and Johnson were arguing prior to the collision. Ebert's blood-alcohol level was 0.088 percent, above the legal limit of 0.08 percent, court documents said.

Boll has sued Ebert and her father, who owned the vehicle, for damages related to his injuries and rehabilitation.
Several thousand black-clad fascist sympathizers chanted and sang in praise of Benito Mussolini as they marched to the slain Italian dictators crypt Sunday, 100 years after Mussolini entered Rome and completed a bloodless coup that gave rise to two decades of fascist rule. The crowd of some 2,000 to 4,000 marchers was more numerous than in the recent past, as the fascist nostalgics celebrated the centenary of the March on Rome when thousands of fascists entered the Italian capital. The crowd in Predappio, Mussolinis birth and final resting place, also was apparently emboldened by the fact that a party with neo-fascist roots is heading an Italian government for the first time since World War II.
STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 25, ARTSAKHPRESS: Several Senators complained that 45 year old Haley lacks experience in foreign policy.

"The position of US ambassador to the United Nations requires a high level of expertise on international affairs, not someone who will be learning on the job," said Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, explaining his vote against her.

Nikki Haley served as the 116th Governor of South Carolina from January 2011 to January 2017.
DES MOINES | Law enforcement and public safety officials failed Wednesday in their initial attempt to slow state legislators intent on banning traffic cameras the local entities use to deter speeders and encourage red-light compliance.

Three members of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee threw their support behind Senate File 3, a bill that would impose a statewide prohibition on the placement and use of automated or remote traffic law enforcement systems. The ban would take effect upon the governor's signature if it wins Senate and House approval.

"I think traffic cameras are there for one purpose and they're there to create the revenue," said Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mount Pleasant. "I'm not in favor of them."

However, law officers, along with medical and emergency personnel from around the state testified that the use of traffic cameras to control speed and monitor dangerous intersections have reduced the number of accidents, injuries and deaths in high-risk areas. Cameras are in operation in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Muscatine, Sioux City, Windsor Heights and Polk County.

"We have seen a definite change in behavior with the two traffic cameras that we have and the mobile speed cams. We've also seen a reduction in the number of fatalities that we're having on the secondary roads, especially in the areas near the rural high schools out in the county," said Kevin Schneider of the Polk County Sheriff's Department.

"They have been beneficial for us as far as reducing the number of accidents and the number of fatalities and serious crashes," he added. "We've got the data to show that the behavior has changed.

It has been a wonderful tool for us."

Sioux City leaders and police in the past have defended the installation of the automated traffic cameras as a way to increase safety and reduce crashes. In 2009, the city installed the first of 11 red-light cameras to snap photos of drivers running red lights at nine intersections and two cameras to catch speeders on Interstate 29.

The Iowa Department of Transportation has recommended that Sioux City remove the speed cameras and some of the red-light cameras, saying that statistics provided by the city show the cameras havent reduced crashes. The cameras, which have generated millions of dollars in revenues that the city has used for public safety projects, remain in operation while the IDOT and city wait until courts have decided other cities legal challenges to the agencys traffic camera rules.

Davenport police chief Paul Sikorski said accidents are down 65 percent at his city's 18 camera locations with one intersection going from the state's second-worst to 24th - "that speaks to public safety and that is why we have the program."

Cedar Rapids assistant fire chief Greg Smith said speeds, crashes and emergency responses on Interstate 380 are down dramatically thanks to traffic enforcement cameras and Des Moines police said the camera along Interstate 235 is located in an area that is difficult to patrol and increases safety for officers who can focus on other enforcement duties.

Tim Crouch of the state Department of Transportation suggested the bill's wording was overly broad because it could adversely impact other law enforcement devices, such as license plate readers checking for stolen vehicles or law violators. He said the language should be narrowed to only deal with cameras and devices that issue tickets by mail or electronic means - a change bill sponsor Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, said he was willing to consider.

Also Wednesday, Sen. Tim Kapucian, R-Keystone, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said he was formulating an alternative that would establish a framework whereby all electronic traffic monitoring devices would be subject to DOT approval only for placement in high-crash or high-risk locations with demonstrated safety needs.

Senate Study Bill 1019, which is scheduled for a subcommittee hearing Thursday, would bar the DOT from placing, operating, maintaining or employing electronic enforcement systems and would dedicate the profits after administrative and other costs to street repair or construction for the entities where the revenue was being generated.

"I wanted to offer an option so it's not just totally no or totally yes," Kapucian said, "give an option and we'll see what happens -- whether we end up regulating or whether we end up eliminating."
STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 25, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: Farmanyan talked about the freedom of media in Nagorno Karabakh, and in contrary to this, the violations of freedom of media in Azerbaijan.

It is clear that the freedom of media is the core of democracy. If media freedom is ensured, the democracy has a chance, if the reporters are deprived from the opportunity to report, the democracy is endangered and many people become hostages of their autocratic regimes, Farmanyan said at PACE.

He said he will not talk about Armenia, since, fortunately, the report has no reference to Armenia, and Armenia has a good figure in terms of media freedom.

I will talk about the reports surprising reference to Nagorno Karabakh. I will call it quite manipulative. Mr. Ariev says in the report that Nagorno Karabakh is a part of Azerbaijan and it is a non-transparent and illegal territory. A simple question arises: why is this reference there? Because the Azerbaijani government needs it. Do you think that this reference was made because the Azerbaijani government is concerned over media freedom? Never. They worry more about freedom of media in Nagorno Karabakh, but not in Azerbaijan. We all know well what is happening in Azerbaijan. This is really funny.

Another question arises as well: why did Mr. Ariev write this here? Unfortunately, not because Mr. Ariev visited Karabakh or paid a fact-finding visit, he even didnt use the Freedom House report where Karabakh has better figure than Azerbaijan, but because of, as we see from his interview to an Azerbaijani media where he apologized Ilham Aliyev stating that his grandmother is an Azerbaijani. These are his words. Finally, we must remember that we are not in the battlefield, we are not hostages and I know how much You are tired of the Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes, Farmanyan said, urging to support the proposed changes.

Lets address a clear message to President Aliyev that he must find markets for trade instead of Strasbourg, Samvel Farmanyan said.
French President Francois Hollande has met leaders of Colombia's largest rebel movement, the FARC, at a rural camp in the west of the country.

January 25, 2017, 11:06 Frances Hollande visits Columbia rebels

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 25, ARTSAKHPRESS: Mr Hollande - accompanied by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos - offered help with de-mining programmes and the search for the disappeared, BBC News reports.

France has contributed around 20% of the EU's funding to support Colombia's peace process.

Colombia signed a peace accord last November to end decades of conflict.

President Hollande was the first French head of state to visit Colombia in almost thirty years.

He expressed his support for the peace deal, calling it a model to resolve conflicts around the world.

"The disarming and demobilization is not reversible," he said at the camp in Caldono, in the department of Cauca.

There he met the head of the United Nations observation mission in Colombia, Jean Arnauld, and a FARC leader, Pablo Catatumbo, who stressed the importance of having international support.

"President Francois Hollande's visit is of great importance," Mr Catatumbo said.

"Having the commitment of the fifth power in the world, and its contribution to peace in Colombia is of great importance.

"The fact that France is accompanying and supporting the peace process is the most important backing that we have received since we signed the peace deal."

Mr Hollande is on a Latin American tour to Chile and Colombia - one of his last foreign trips before stepping down after April-May elections which will choose his successor.
RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL

A CHRISTIAN leader in Papua New Guinea says the country's churches need to overcome discrimination and stigma to make a real difference in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

PNG has extremely high rates of the virus, with a prevalence rate of about 0.5%, according to a 2013 UN AIDS report.

Andrew Hama, from the PNG Christian Leaders Alliance on HIV/AIDS, is organising a summit in March with the country's churches, government and NGOs to try and coordinate their response.

Churches play a key role in healthcare and education in Papua New Guinea, and Mr Hama said they are key to helping combat the virus.
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Homecoming to Nostalgia: The Inauguration of Donald J. Trump

USA  January 25, 2017  Cyrus Bina

In a time of universal deceit,

Telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

 George Orwell

When the entire arsenal of impulsive and aggressive foreign policy is deployed in absolute desperation and without accomplishment by a declining power unaware of its imminent demise, first it resorts to self-aggrandizement and spectacle, and then suddenly and viciously turns on itself through self-flagellation and serious self-mutilation. This is a classic pretext that trumps the assorted reasons for the demise of Hillary Clinton and thus the bafflement of the U.S. political establishment and its coattail in the established media. This should concisely spell out the meteoric rise of Donald Trump, his populism, and his success in leasing the plush real estate at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. To be sure, We make America great again is the alter ego of Americas demise since the collapse of the Pax Americana (1945-1979). Recognition of this very transformation is in itself a radical act.

The moment of truth has finally arrived. The slogan of Make America Great Again is now at the center stage. The members of the wrecking crew in Donald Trumps proposed cabinet are now waiting for their Senate confirmation to get to work. Donald J. Trump is now the president of the United States. And all three branches of government are in the hands of one party  a party that since Reagans presidency has seemingly been reduced to an apologetic bunch in retrograde politics suspended in history. The party that once took pride in being the party of Lincoln is simply taken over by a known-unknown outsider; George Soros went on to call him an imposter. Trumps message though has been consistently the same: Make America Great Again. This Again, at the same time, conveys an acknowledgement of the glorious past, not-so-glorious present, and the possibility time-travel presumably to the pre-Civil Rights period on the domestic side and hegemony, leadership and respect (i.e., the era of Pax Americana) on the foreign policy side.

Turning Back the Clock

Contrary to the conventional wisdom and despite his rhetoric, Donald Trumps presidency does not seem to correspond with American isolationism. Trumps vision is rather more in tune with the reversal of time that supposedly transports America to the 1950s, an era in which a Junior Senator from Wisconsins witch hunts were in full swing. And a foreign policy that unilaterally engaged in coup after coup against democratically elected governments abroad with little cost  known as Americas Golden Age  under the umbrella of the now defunct, Pax Americana. Under the Trump administration, some even are horrified  for a good reason  by an idea that he may take us all the way back to the pre-Civil War period in race, gender, and social relations. The irony here suggests parallels with George Orwells 1984 in 2017 America.

The other party is not so innocent either. Democrats did not only tolerate the notorious war crimes by the Bush-Cheney administration in Iraq and Afghanistan; they nonetheless come in full circle with their own bloody misadventures in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Ukraine, to name a few, while they did some good with respect to Cuba and Iran. Overall, though, the Obama administration inherited and thus contributed to what the Bush-Cheney administration has wrought as a paranoiac state/surveillance state in America. On the foreign policy front, particularly in Libya (and the bloody overthrow of Col. Gaddafi), Hillary Clintons hand is bloody. On the toppling of the Libyan government and the murder of Gaddafi, Secretary Clinton bragged: We came, we saw, he died. The catch here is that the Obama administration had already promised the Russians at the UN Security Council that if they agreed to vote for the no fly zone in Libya (or abstain), it would refrain from overthrowing Gaddafi. With Clintons Julius Caesar-like enthusiasm, the Obama administration broke its promise. As is well known, President Obama also recently expressed his regrets for the involvement in Libya.

As for the pointless involvement in the coup, against Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine, the share of Secretary Clinton (via Victoria Nulands direct involvement) is not miniscule either. Again, as is well documented, this initial step eventually led to the ouster of Yanukovych and the chaos that brought the ultra-right takeover of the government through the infamous referendum in Crimea, which then paved the way for the Russian invasion.

Deep Divide

Clinton Democrats utterly miscalculated the outcome of the election by betting on the wrong horse. They ignored the fact that the country (both the left and the right) is gasping for change by any means necessary. Clinton Democrats ignored the deep cleavage in income inequality combined with profound political polarization. They arrogantly resorted to the habitual course of action by attacking Sen. Bernie Sanders  a seemingly viable candidate that might have defeated Donald Trump if he had not been subjected to unfair, immoral, and indeed illegal shenanigans in the primaries. Thanks to WikiLeaks for revealing these very true heart-wrenching stories perpetrated by the Clinton camp and the Democratic Party that is presently on the teeter of disintegration. That is why those who care about the truth  and cause-and-effect in this matter  believe that Democrats cruel pomposity and crude self-assurance tossed their viable candidate under the proverbial bus. In the end, the basket of deplorables statement by frustrated Hillary was the one that finally broke the camels back.

The inauguration of Donald J. Trump is over and he is officially the 45th president of the United States. The factors that have led to his seemingly successful campaign toward his presidency are numerous, varied, and multidimensional, and historians will debate them for years and decades to come. Nevertheless, it is clear that the specter of change is in the air and that the sizable majorities on the right and on the left are challenging the status quo. The Pax Americana had collapsed in the late 1970s, but after-effects of its fall are still around with respect to both domestic and foreign arenas. The fact is that there is no hint of American exceptionalism in all this. The changes that transpired in the last few decades have taken us beyond the Pax Americana and beyond American exceptionalism. The United States is now as ordinary as any other nation in the new global polity in the making.

On the foreign policy side, the United States is not what it used to be, yet the forces of regression, and reaction, are insisting on being Great Again. On the domestic side, the fissure of deep economic inequality, political polarization, pernicious politics, blatant racism and white supremacy, bashing women, Islamophobia, and other social ailments are now overtly pronounced. This election has torn the veil of political correctness and peeled off nearly all opacities that are gingerly left underneath race relations in America. Donald Trump is the sui generis messenger and now, as president, the message of divided America. And in this manner, the whole nation is naked before our eyes. This nation (and by implication the U.S. government) is not exceptional; it is not pre-ordained for hegemony; it is not predisposed for the leadership of global polity in the making. There is a limit to what the United States can or cannot do with respect to domestic as well as foreign policy.

Therefore, making America great again is inevitably subject to such boundaries. The United States is a declining power and the election of Donald Trump is a hint of such a decline in both domestic and foreign affairs. We are just beginning to grapple with the after-effects of the loss of the American century and the painful consequence of the denial of the fall of the Pax Americana since the 1980s. On the foreign policy side, the setbacks have so far been unequivocal. It may take some time to digest the truth of the shrinkage of the middle class and the disguised class warfare in the form of overt racism, sexism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and other forms of prejudice and bigotry in the name of nationalism and patriotism. We need to fasten our proverbial seatbelts for a long, rough, turbulent, yet indefatigable ride on, in Robert Frosts apt vision, the road not taken in these unflattering and uncertain times. 

An earlier version of this article was an address to a rally organized by students at the Morris campus of University of Minnesota during the inauguration of the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017.
The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.
ANNAPOLIS (Jan. 25, 2017)The Maryland League of Conservation Voters on Tuesday gave Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan high marks for his commitment to preserving open space, but an overall "Needs Improvement" grade on its 2017 report card, largely because, the group said, the Republican governor's stated environmental positions are not supported fully by his legislative actions.



"We want to give him credit for his accomplishments but there is still room for improvement," Ed Hatcher, chair of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, said Tuesday.



The group commended Hogan for having a "clear commitment" to protecting open space in the state. They also said that Hogan used his position to promote good government.



And the report highlighted three bills Hogan pushed that reformed Maryland's Public Information Act to improve the responsiveness of agencies, and create a Public Information Act Compliance Board in 2015.



The report card is based on six categories: energy and climate change; transportation; administration and appointments; land preservation and program open space; water quality; and democracy.



Hogan scored "excellent" in the category of Land Preservation and Program Open Space. The group gave Hogan a "mixed" score for the categories of democracy, and administration and appointments. He received a score of "needs improvement" in the other three categories.



"This mark reflects actions that do not support the strong pro-environment statements Governor Hogan has made since the beginning of his term," the report said. It continued: "Hogan's words speak of a Marylander dedicated to preserving the natural wonder and beauty of a state he loves, but his actions don't always prioritize environmental and public health."



"We appreciate the Maryland League of Conservation Voters and all the great work they do, but we wholeheartedly disagree with their assessment," Hogan's press office said in a statement emailed to the University of Maryland's Capital News Service.



"Since taking office, the Hogan administration has consistently supported efforts to improve air and water quality in our state and will continue to make it a focus going forward." The statement added that the Chesapeake Bay Foundation last year gave the Bay its highest rating since it started grading the water quality in 1998.



"The governor's budget reaffirms his commitment to the environment and our treasured natural resources, including the Chesapeake Bay," Mark Belton, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources secretary, said Tuesday in a press release.



Hogan's budget fully funds the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund for the 2018 fiscal year for the second year in a row, only the second time that restoration efforts of the bay have been fully funded, Belton's press release said.



The league's report noted that Maryland has one of the highest levels of smog in the eastern portion of the United States.



It also rated Hogan as "poor" under voting rights laws based on his veto of a bill that would have given almost 40,000 former inmates convicted felons the ability to register to vote. Hatcher said that the group emphasizes voting rights because it believes that if more people can vote more people can help make changes to benefit the environment.



Hatcher said Hogan supported goals laid out by the state's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Actwhich the governor signed and which requires a reduction of global warming pollution of 40 percent by 2030.



But the governor vetoed an expansion of the Renewable Portfolio Standard, which the group called an essential component to reaching the goals laid out in the act.



The House of Delegates and the Senate have scheduled veto override votes for later this session.



The portfolio standard would have mandated that Maryland derive 25 percent of its energy from renewable resources. It would have been an expansion to an earlier mandate, which required 20 percent of Maryland's energy come from renewable sources by 2022.



"We want to hold the governor accountable," Hatcher said, "this report card does that. We want to provide a roadmap for how he can be an environmental governor."



He added that when the ratings had been letter grades, as in earlier years, there had been too much emphasis on the grade itself, rather than on the assessment of the governor's performance. The group wants to maintain an open dialogue with Hogan's administration to improve environmental standards and conditions in Maryland.



Hatcher and Karla Raettig, executive director for the group, both emphasized the need for stronger environmental policies at the state level because of the new administration in Washington. Hatcher said that under President Donald Trump's administration, state action becomes much more important.



"We will not be able to rely on the federal administration (to protect the environment)," Raettig added, "We hope to see him (Hogan) really step up in the coming years."



Trump has expressed that he intends to roll back environmental regulations. He signed executive orders to revive two controversial oil pipelines, the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access pipelineson Tuesday.



The League of Conservation Voters describes itself as a nonpartisan watchdog organization that endorses pro-conservation candidates and advocates for pro-environmental policies.



It issues score cards every year for each member of the Maryland legislature based on their voting record on environmental issues. The group also examines session legislation that impacts the environment.



This is the first full report card that the group issued for Hogan. They issue a report card every two years, however, they did not issue a report card at the end of former Gov. Martin O'Malley's term. The group issued a preliminary scorecard for Hogan's first 100 days.



"It's been four years since we've done a report card because we've had a change in administration," Raettig said in a phone call with the University of Maryland's Capital News Service.



That 100-day report stated that Hogan advanced environmental progress but said that many of his positions on environmental issues were still unknown.
Recently I attended the annual meeting of the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts in Roanoke, Va. One of the breakout sessions was a presentation by the Shandong Tranlin Paper Company, a Chinese corporation that plans to build a paper plant in Virginia.



I listened to the Chinese representative explain how environmentally friendly their $2 billion facility will be, turning crop "waste" into paper. The facility will be built on the south side of the James River in Virginia's Chesterfield County. According to a press release from Gov. Terry McAuliffe, it will be the largest Chinese investment in Virginia history and the largest "green field economic development" project by the Chinese in the United States. I had to look up "green field," thinking it meant something environmentally friendly. It actually means any country directly investing in another country, building an operation from the ground up. There need not be anything environmentally "green" about it.



Shandong Tranlin Paper Company bought 850 acres of farmland and plans to have a plant operational by 2020. They say it will create 2,000 jobs and millions in tax revenue, and that they will purchase crop waste from farmers "from Virginia to Kansas." These so-called waste products are wheat straw, rye straw, corn stalks and soybean stalksall of which are moderately high in carbon, which is necessary in their paper-making process.



To me, it all sounded too good to be true. One thing that struck me as odd was that for every acre of "waste product" the farmer sells to the company, they have to buy a gallon of the byproduct from the paper-making process. This byproduct is supposed to be applied to the land as sort of a fertilizer. And here is where it gets even more troubling. For most of the session the representative had been very professional and had responded eloquently to questions from the audience (mostly soil and water professionals and officials from around the state). But when someone asked what is in the byproduct, he declined to answer. "It's proprietary," he said.



Hmmm



I have a several concerns.



First, the Chinese have perhaps the worst environmental record of any country in the world, so I can't help but be skeptical about their claims. Second, the so-called waste products from wheat, rye, corn and soybeans are not waste at all; they are integral to healthy soil. They are carbon-rich protectors of the soil and perhaps the most important ingredient for soil health. The carbon contained in these plant residues helps to make soil organic matter, which is responsible for retaining water, releasing nutrients and building what agronomists call soil structure. It's the "glue" that holds soil particles together. The higher the amount of organic matter, the better the soil.



Third, removing plant residue makes cropland vulnerable to the impacts of weather, increasing erosion. Bare soil is defenseless against the forces of wind and precipitation, which dislodge soil particles. Once dislodged, soil moves downslope to the nearest ditch or stream. Soil particles in streams are the largest pollutant by volume in any water body, including the stream nearest you and the Chesapeake Bay. In addition, those soil particles (better known as silt) carry other pollutants with themphosphorus, nitrogen and pesticides, all of which end up in our streams, rivers and the Bay.



Thus, my grave concern is this: Farmers will sell their carbon, desperately needed in their soil, to Shandong Tranlin Paper Company, and then have to use or dispose of an unknown byproduct from the same company.



Does this make sense?



The company's paper-making process and products may be good for our environment and local economy. But before we sell our carbon-rich residuesand apply an unidentified proprietary substance to our soilwe should recognize the value of leaving that "waste product" where it lies, to protect our soil and water resources. And by all means, if we're going to be spreading a paper-manufacturing byproduct on our land, we should know what's in it.



Robert Whitescarver is an agronomist and certified nutrient management planner in Virginia.
Donald Jamal Reed, 24, of Waldorf, Md. (Booking photo)

LA PLATA, Md.

Paul Darnell Barnes, Jr., 32, of La Plata, Md. (Booking photo)

Leonel Rondon, 25, of Waldorf, Md. (Booking photo)

Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at so.md/expungeme.

(Jan. 25, 2017)The Charles County Sheriff's Office today released the following incident and arrest reports.CCSO DETECTIVES IDENTIFY AND ARREST ARMED ROBBERY SUSPECT: On November 14, 2016, at approximately 9:05 p.m., an unknown suspect entered the front door of a liquor store located in the 2100 block of Crain Highway in Waldorf. Once inside, the suspect, who was armed with a shotgun, locked the front door and then pointed the shotgun at the store clerk. The suspect walked behind the customer counter and forced the store clerk to lay on the floor. The suspect stole money from the cash registers and then fled the store on foot. He was last seen running toward nearby apartments.Upon further investigation,, was identified as a suspect in this case. A search warrant was written for his residence, which provided additional evidence linking him to the robbery. Reed was not present at the time of the search warrant, and an application for charges was submitted to the District Court Commissioner. On January 24, 2017, Reed turned himself in to the Charles County Sheriff's Office and was served his warrant. He was charged with armed robbery, first and second degree assault, and using a firearm to commit a violent crime. Det. J. A. Riffle investigated.VEHICLE CRASHES INTO BUILDING: On January 24 at approximately 11:26 a.m., officers responded to Billingsley Road at St. Charles Parkway in Waldorf for the report of a vehicle that had crashed into the side of a convenience store. An investigation revealed that a 66-year-old male from Bryans Road was attempting to park his Honda CRV in front of the store when he apparently mistook the accelerator for the brake and accelerated through the storefront into the building. Once inside, the vehicle struck a 51-year-old female customer from Waldorf. The woman was transported to a hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries. The driver was also transported with minor injuries. The collision is under investigation by the Traffic Operations Unit.FIRST DEGREE BURGLARY: On January 24 at approximately 10 a.m., officers responded to the 1200 block of Adams Road in Waldorf for the report of a breaking-and-entering in progress. The victim stated two males wearing masks gained entry into his residence by breaking out a back window. When he awoke and found them inside the residence, they fled on foot. Officers obtained a suspect description and gave a lookout. While responding to the scene for a potential track of the suspects, Pfc. D. Behm observed two juveniles matching the suspect description in the area of Adams Road. Both were detained, and the victim made a positive identification. Further investigation revealed stolen property from the victim in their possession, along with a small replica semi-automatic pistol/BB gun. Both juveniles were transported to the Criminal Investigations Division, interviewed by detectives, and confessed to the burglary. They were subsequently charged and released to their parents. Pfc. S. Hooper investigated.INTOXICATED DRIVER FLEES POLICE, FLIPS VEHICLE: On January 20 at approximately 11:15 p.m., an officer was conducting a moving radar assignment on Poorhouse Road in Port Tobacco when a vehicle sped past. The driver began to flee, and when he attempted to turn left from Port Tobacco Road onto Mill Swamp Road, he lost control of his vehicle due to his excessive speed. The vehicle left the roadway, flipping one time before returning upright. The driver,, admitted to drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana 15 minutes prior to passing the officer. Barnes was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated and reckless driving. Officer R. McMullen investigated.MAN CRASHES VEHICLE AND FLEES ON FOOT: On January 20 at approximately 4:08 p.m., Cpl. T. Lee located a single vehicle crash on Woodville Road near O'Toole Place in Waldorf. Cpl. Lee, who was off duty, stopped to assist the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, who was identified as. Rondon began acting suspiciously, and Cpl. Lee requested additional officers to respond. When officers arrived, they located Rondon walking away from the scene. When officers instructed Rondon to return to the scene, he fled into the woods. Officers from the Patrol Division and Special Operations Division responded to assist in the search. Rondon was located a short time later hiding in a shed behind a residence on Goldsmith Farm Place. He was arrested and examined by Charles County EMS. When he refused treatment, Rondon was charged with driving with a revoked license, leaving the scene of an accident, fleeing on foot, and several other traffic charges. Pfc. J. Johnson investigated.
An old-fashioned musical and a gritty world premiere play about bullying were the top nominees last week when the 2017 Carbonell Awards finalists were announced.

The Carbonells, named after sculptor Nestor Carbonell who designed the first award, recognize excellence in South Florida professional regional theater and are in their 41st year.

Maltz Jupiter Theatre in Palm Beach County led the musical category with 18 nominations, including 10 nods for the musical, Me and My Girl, while Zoetic Stage in Miami picked up 13 nominations in the play category, with eight for gay playwright Michael McKeevers After, including Best Production and Best New Work.

McKeever was one of nine to land double nominations, also recognized in the Best Supporting Actor, Play category for his role in After. McKeevers longtime partner, Stuart Meltzer, landed directing nominations in the musical and play categories for Zoetic Stages Passion and After.

Slow Burn Theatre Co.s Patrick Fitzwater also received double nominations as director of Spring Awakening and choreographer for Heathers the Musical at the Broward Center. Slow Burn led Broward County companies with 12 nominations, including two Best Musical nominees, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Spring Awakening.

Related: SFGNites

Island City Stage in Wilton Manors, the LGBT-centric company that swept the 2014 awards with Dan Clancys The Timekeepers, received four nominations: Rita Joe, Best Actress, Play, The Submission; Cristina Groom, Best Supporting Actress, Play, Perfect Arrangement; Peter A. Lovello, Best Costume Design, Perfect Arrangement; and David Hart, Best Sound Design, Perfect Arrangement. Michael Amans Perfect Arrangement was a critically-acclaimed and commercially successful comedy about two closeted gay couples during the so-called Lavender Scare during the anti-Communist McCarthy era of the 1950s.

Clancys play, Middletown, a drama about the evolving relationship between two families over several decades and premiered by West Boca Theatre Co. in Boca Raton, also made the cut in the Best New Work category.

In Miami-Dade County, GableStage in Coral Gables matched Zoetics 13 nominations, including two Best Production of a Play nominees, Hand to God and The Royale. Chris Crawford earned a Best Actor, Play nomination for his work in Buyer and Cellar, a one-man comedy mounted by Actors Playhouse in Coral Gables about an unemployed gay actors stint managing the vintage shopping arcade built beneath Barbra Streisands Malibu estate.

South Florida boasts a thriving theater scene which continually raises the standard of excellence that the Carbonell Awards seeks to recognize and reward, said Don Walters, president of the Carbonell Awards board of directors. Look at the Carbonell nominees for Best Production of a Play. That category alone shows the diversity of theater being produced regularly in South Florida, from classics of American theater to experimental work, as well as a world premiere play.

Walters added all the nominees exemplify the enormous amount of excellent work being produced here in our tri-county area.

The awards will be presented on Monday, April 3 at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are $25 and sales open on March 28. A complete list of nominees can be found at CarbonellAwards.org.
The other day, a hazy selfie I posted on Twitter (you can see it at the end of this piece) drew the attention of Natasha Stott-Despoja (pictured), a celebrated Australian politician who recently stepped down from the role of Australias ambassador at large for women and who is a member of the World Bank Advisory Council on Gender.

We hope the book can provide some impetus in the journey of PNG women to stand alongside their men in the cause of building a great nation.

It is a collection of writing that is wise, gentle and inclusive - and it is a great credit to its authors.

The anthology edited by Rashmii Amoah Bell and with contributions from 45 Papua New Guinean women - is a small but useful step in support of the complex goal of gender equality in PNG.

THE process of getting My Walk to Equality into the hands of the people of Papua New Guinea is proving to be long and arduous.

It was a clear sign that the #LetUsWalk hashtag, designed to motivate sponsorship for printing and distributing My Walk to Equality, was beginning to gain some traction.

Heaven knows, Rashmii and I had been working hard enough to garner funds to get the book to readers throughout Papua New Guinea.

We were both saddened and surprised to find that institutions and corporations that profess great commitment to womens rights had been so unresponsive. Most hadnt even offered a polite no. It was a silence that spoke much about the difference between fine rhetoric and gritty commitment.

It takes K50 and a credit card to get one of these books to PNG.

That short sentence hides the huge problem that such a straightforward purchase poses to most Papua New Guineans.

There are few bookshops in PNG and, even if there was one in every town, most people would have no surplus cash to buy the book anyway.

When publishing books for PNG, there are two major challenges.

The first is to produce an acceptable product  PNG writers; PNG perspectives; PNG narratives; nicely designed and easy to read. The Crocodile Prize taught us how to do that.

The second is more formidable  securing the finance to print and distribute books free of charge in this land of remote villages and hamlets and often not enough kina even to buy essentials.

If it wasnt for Jo Holman (who donated for sale some magnificent paintings by the late Hal Holman) and Gummi Fridriksson and his colleagues at Paga Hill Development Company, we wouldnt have even got to first base.

Rashmiis superb and challenging idea to publish a collection of PNG womens writing probably would not have seen the light of day.

But Jo and Gummi got us up and running and now we need to keep pressing forward to ensure the ideas and propositions in My Walk to Equality can work some magic on PNG women and men.

Were not finished yet.

Were still hoping that some great institutions and corporations will help.

And were hoping our readers will make the few keystrokes it takes to buy one or more of these find books from Amazon. Just click through here.
Congratulations! Up until now, it has been surprisingly easy to get to this point and I'm sure your ego is extremely happy. You are entitled to enjoy your fifteen minutes of elation.

On the other hand, I am not that happy. But that's a different story. It's not your fault. You have taken advantage of the opportunity and, even though I cannot vouch for the IQ of those who voted for you, I respect the democratic process and wish you good luck. Now comes the hard part.

I am a law abiding, taxpaying, American citizen who happens to be both gay and an atheist.

Of course, I did not vote for you but I trust there will be room for me under your tent anyway.

You are the president of ALL Americans regardless of race, religious beliefs, gender, age, sexual orientation, or political affiliation. Right?

I consider myself a fair and balanced person. Before I start criticizing you I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and more than the one week your predecessor was allotted, to fix the broken country he inherited, which is now all yours, which by the way is in much better shape than eight years ago, no matter what the pundits or the experts say on Foxymoron News Network.

So I'm going to sit back, relax and let you work your magic.

I just have a few humble suggestions, of course, you can take them or leave them, but do not bitch later on if things do not work out too well and your popularity, relatively high and partisan now, plunges into the toilette.

Do not take everything that is said about you as a personal offense. Stop sounding like a high school girl in your tweets. In fact, ditch Twitter, it makes you seem so childish and immature.

I'm not going into specific details, I'll just list some of the topics, if you did not have yet the chance to consider them, that will be sitting on your desk tomorrow and every day for the next four years at least.

Bipartisanship, education, reconciliation, war, economy, pollution, global warming, deficit, corruption, separation of church and state, terrorism abortion, gun control, poverty, healthcare, inequality, injustice, police brutality, racism, sexism, Supreme Court nominations. It is a frightening tall order to fulfill.

You have been chosen to lead the Un-united States of America, a fractured and divided country,

The only thing I ask of you, in your future speeches (if you can handle one with more than 140 words) is: try not to use the same old refrains like "the American people here, the American people there."

I have learned that politicians, on each side of the isle, do not give a damn about us little minions, we are expandable and you really think we are stupid. Your breed only cares about lining its own pockets. You all are constitutionally incapable of being honest.

So it is up to you to defy the odds. You better hope that Congress will give you the chance to work your agenda, something that was always blindly denied (often without reasons) to President Obama. But he was able to earn the respect and admiration of the world nonetheless.

He was a class act. It is up to you not to become a crass act.

Sometimes I wish I was a Republican, then I wouldnt worry about having feelings for my fellow men.
Check out the latest news from around the world!

LGBTQ Leaders Call on Senators to Reject Sessions' AG Nomination

(EDGE) Last week, national, state, and local civil rights leaders and LGBTQ advocates discussed the nomination of Jeff Sessions as U.S. Attorney General and lifted up the voices of local leaders calling on United States senators, including Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey, to oppose the Sessions' nomination. The event was a part of a broad, national effort to call out Sessions on his record of hostility towards LGBTQ people, people of color, Muslims, and historically marginalized communities.

Senator Sessions has consistently voted against rights and protections for LGBTQ people. In 2009, when he voted against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Act, Sessions showed his true colors when he said, "Today, I'm not sure women or people with different sexual orientations face that kind of discrimination. I just don't see it." Not only that, but he's voted for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, against taking up a bill that would have provided workplace discrimination protection for LGBTQ people, and twice against repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Stacey Long Simmons, Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs of National LGBTQ Task Force, said "The person who leads the Department of Justice should be someone who values the dignity and worth of all human beings and not those he or she chooses. Sen. Sessions' record reveals him to be a person who's on the wrong side of history. What's worse is he's actively worked to cause harm to LGBTQ people by voting against Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal, being against marriage equality, opposing including LGBTQ people in the federal hate crime law and not supporting transgender-inclusive public accommodations protections that include restrooms, etc."

Texas Court Hearing Case to Limit Gay Marriage Legalization

(AP) The Texas Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a Houston case that top conservatives hope will provide an opening to challenge the landmark 2015 ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide.

Reversing its previous ruling, the state's highest civil court set arguments for March in a lawsuit seeking to halt same-sex spousal benefits that America's fourth-largest city offers its municipal employees. The nine Republican justices had ruled in September not to hear the case in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling from the previous summer that gay marriage was constitutional nationwide.

But Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and state Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a subsequent brief saying that the case could serve as a platform to help Texas restrict the scope of the high court decision.

"Major constitutional rulings by the United States Supreme Court routinely give rise to waves of litigation exploring the contours and limits of the court's pronouncement," the three Republicans wrote in an October brief. "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."

The reversal Friday followed a slew of separate briefs signed by dozens of other state elected officials, conservative activists and religious leaders who asked the state Supreme Court to defend religious liberty and take a stand on social issues. They argued that Texas should challenge not only the U.S. Supreme Court's legalization of gay marriage but also its striking down this past July of many of the state's tough abortion restrictions.

GA Appeals Court Tells Judge to Allow Transgender Name Changes

(AP) A Georgia appeals court on Friday overturned a lower court judge's orders denying legal name changes to two transgender men.

Columbia County Superior Court Judge J. David Roper abused his discretion when he denied the name change petitions, the Georgia Court of Appeals decision said. The appeals court sent the two cases back to Roper and directed him to enter an order changing the names.

Roper did not immediately respond to an email and voicemail seeking comment Friday.

LGBT rights group Lambda Legal last year filed appeals on behalf of Rowan Elizabeth Feldhaus, whose birth name was Rebeccah Elizabeth Feldhaus, and Andrew Norman Baumert, whose given name was Delphine Renee Baumert.

Roper had denied the name changes, saying they could confuse and mislead people who interact with the young men and could be considered a type of fraud. In both cases Roper said he would allow a transgender person to choose a gender-neutral name. But he said allowing a transgender man to choose a male name would "confuse or mislead the general public."

The appeals court said it has affirmed the denial of a name change petition only when there is evidence that the petitioner has an "improper motive," including "intentionally assuming another person's name for the purpose of embarrassing that person or avoiding the petitioner's own criminal past."

Lambda Legal attorney Beth Littrell called the unanimous decision an "unequivocal win" and a great precedent.

"This decision solidifies an important right for the transgender community and obliterates the notion that living in conformity with their gender identity is somehow fraudulent or otherwise a concern for the government," Littrell wrote in an email.

Spicer Doesnt Know if Trump Will Undo LGBT Exec Order

(SFGN) White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Monday that he is unsure if President Trump will maintain President Obamas executive order against LGBT discrimination in the workplace. The previous order bans anti-LGBT discrimination among federal contractors.

Chris Johnson, White House correspondent for the Washington Blade tweeted on Monday:

".@PressSec tells me he's unsure whether Trump will maintain Obama's EO against anti-LGBT bias in workplace. 'I just don't know the answer.'"

The press conference Monday followed the news Friday that the new administration had scrubbed the White House website of several issues including LGBT rights, climate change, and the rights of the disabled, from 27 topics down to six, reported Mic.com.
Today is the 7th anniversary of the debut of SFGN. We were going to do a celebratory cover. But it dawned upon me that there is nothing to celebrate this January.

While the new President of the United States has tried to pass himself off as an ally of the LGBT community, there is absolutely nothing  absolutely nothing  about his cabinet picks to give any queer a reason to cheer.

Dont like that word queer? Neither do I. Hate it. But heres the reality. That is what many of the people running our government now think of you.

Here is a summary of some of those cabinet picks and their positions, with full credit to the Advocate.com for publishing a detailed point by point article on the subject last month. The link follows this feature.

Lets start with the Attorney General of the United States. Last year, as the United States Senator from Alabama, he cast two significant votes on LGBT issues. With the first, he voted against allowing same-sex couples to have access to Social Security. He followed that up by voting against spousal benefits for military veterans who lived as same-sex couples.

Jeff Sessions, the guy whose job is to enforce hate-crime laws voted against the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, also voted against repealing Dont ask, dont tell. But Sessions is just the first amongst a host of Trumps choices that demands our community resist the coming days with strong voices in opposition.

The one person who may be the most dangerous is another former lawmaker who has voted against the LGBT community in Congress with enthusiasm. Tom Price, Americas incoming secretary of Health and Human Services, has a voting history of being virulently anti-gay, opposing hate crime laws and co-sponsoring the First Amendment Defense Act. This is a guy who just a year ago referred to progressive transgender policies as absurd.

Doctor Ben Carson has been celebrated as a brilliant neurosurgeon. Someone ought to operate on his brain. This is the guy who once associated being gay with bestiality, who has called transgender persons abnormal, and argued that the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality should be ignored.

As HUD Secretary, he could rescind a 2012 rule prohibiting anti-LGBT discrimination in federally funded housing for low-income people, as one example. He will likely use the power of his office to frustrate claims of discrimination based on gender, sex or lack of inclusiveness.

The new secretary of the Department of Education is also no friend of the gay community. Betsy DeVos is a wealthy woman who has spent a lifetime partnering with Focus on the Family, renowned for promoting conversion therapy programs. She and her family have given a half million dollars to the National Organization for Marriage. Not comforting.

DeVos could remove the protections for LGBT children in schools, including guidelines that have taken a strong stand against anti-gay and anti-trans policies in school districts. You see, she has said public education is a way of helping advance Gods kingdom. Scary.

President Trump has also bragged about bringing aboard Mad Dog Mattis as Secretary of Defense. This is a guy who has steadfastly opposed women serving in the military, claiming they are psychologically unfit, never retreating from that position. Of course, he opposed LGBT inclusion in the military as well. He also absolutely opposes any transgender inclusion in the armed forces.

The new CIA director also has an unfortunate legislative history. Because Mike Pompeo was a congressman, we know he voted against allowing same-sex couples getting married. Pompeo even supported the Jeb Bush policy of arguing against gays adopting children. He refused to support the Violence Against Women Act when it was expanded to include domestic violence protections for same-sex couples.

This is a guy who, speaking to Tea Party activists, said that America should assess the medical health impact of the homosexual agenda before supporting LGBT bills. The Obama administration pioneered LGBT health advocacy programs. We now have an administrator ready to rape them.

Trumps new national security adviser, Michael Flynn, is OK with gay couples, but he cites his neutrality by pointing to his friendship with Breitbarts tech editor, the very extreme Milo Yiannopoulos, who is setting back gay rights issues daily. The Trump cabinet, not even getting to Mike Pence is just not pretty.

Michelangelo Signorile is one of the LGBT communitys most well-known and nationally respected writers. Last month, in the Boston Globe, he declared that Trumps cabinet is a Whos Who of Homophobia.' So, the Advocate is not standing alone.

Signorile foresaw the unfolding picks being right wing when Ken Blackwell, a former Ohio secretary of state was named to head Trumps domestic policy transition team. This is a guy who once publicly compared homosexuality to arson and kleptomania.

Oh, boy. These are guys running our new federal government. If they say these things in the open, what will they be saying behind closed doors?

The best bet for LGBT rights in the Trump administration may come from some of his personal advisers, like Roger Stone and Steve Bannon, who years ago, like Peter Thiel, SFGNs man of the year in 2016, were early supporters of GOProud, a far right wing LGBT group.

The LGBT communitys problem is none of these adviser guys are putting laws, regulations and policies into place. His Cabinet picks will and are, and along with the Vice President, they have shown a penchant for being hostile to the LGBT community.

We cant forget the Vice President. Mike Pence  who supported conversion therapy in his 2000 run for Congress  has already claimed that reversing protections for trans students will be the incoming administrations agenda.

This is the guy who signed a bill providing for a religious freedom law that could potentially expand discrimination against the LGBT community, and never once supported same-sex marriage, not even after the Supreme Court so ruled it was a right to be protected, not a choice to be debated.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Trump cabinet picks have no sympathy or support for the LGBT community. So, the charge for progressives is clear. Its time to stand up, be heard, and resist those policies which would set us back. Its time for us to unify in opposition to those who want to turn back the clock.

Yes, today is SFGNs seventh anniversary. But a newspaper is read for a reason; to have a conscience and speak for a cause. It is not to promote the latest 2 for 1 special at your favorite bar. It is our duty to let the new administration know we are not going anywhere. We are going to fight for our rights, protecting and preserving what we have won these past 8 years.

Our revolution is not over. It began with millions marching the day after Donald Trump delivered his pathetic inaugural address, one of the worst ever. He can celebrate his win. We will expose his warts and wounds and lies. They pour out anew every day.

You? Me? We are here to stay, and to say that we will not tolerate the diminution of our stature, the demeaning of our person, or the denigration of our soul.

Here is the link to the entire Advocate article: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2016/12/05/no-lgbt-ally-would-appoint-cabinet

TRUMPS CABINET PICKS HAVE:

Voted against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act

Voted against repealing the ban allowing lesbian, gay and bisexual people to serve openly in the military

Voted against federally funded needle exchange programs

Voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act

Voted for a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

Voted against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act

Voted against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act Opposed the Affordable Care Act, which extends vital protections to LGBTQ people in healthcare settings

Opposed the Affordable Care Act, which extends vital protections to LGBTQ people in healthcare settings Opposed a womans right to choose and voted to defund Planned Parenthood

Opposed a womans right to choose and voted to defund Planned Parenthood Called the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education issued guidance for school districts to ensure transgender students are treated with dignity in public and federally-funded schools absurd.

Called the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education issued guidance for school districts to ensure transgender students are treated with dignity in public and federally-funded schools Voted against repealing Dont Ask, Dont Tell.

Voted against repealing Dont Ask, Dont Tell. Opposed the Voting Rights Act

Opposed the Voting Rights Act Voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act

Opposed immigration reform

Opposed immigration reform Voted for a Constitutional ban on marriage equality

Spoke in opposition of the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling in Obergefell

Cosponsored the so-called First Amendment Defense Act, legislation that could allow Kim Davis-style discrimination against LGBTQ people across the nation

Source: HRC.org
In his curtain speech on opening night, Slow Burn Theatre artistic director Patrick Fitzwater threw out a spoiler to the packed house in the Broward Centers Amaturo Theater.

Related: SFGNites

Nobody should be surprised when the Titanic sinks at the end of the show. Instead, the big news to some was there would be no Leonardo DiCaprio or Kate Winslett characters, no big blue diamond and no syrupy songs about hearts going on.

Unlike James Camerons 1997 big screen epic retelling of the ill-fated British liner that sank on its maiden voyage with its compelling love story and intriguing below deck subplots, Peter Stone and Maury Yestons Tony Award-winning best musical, which also debuted in 1997, pretty much sticks to the cold, hard facts. And thats what sank the show (relatively speaking).

Despite efforts by Stone to create a cast of noble characters, most were just not sympathetic:

Captain Smith, an obsequious 40-year White Star veteran on his final passage before retirement, succumbs to the pressures of Mr. Ismay, the ambitious managing director who compromised his passengers safety in pursuit of glory and greed. Ship architect Mr. Andrews seems incredulous to his massive creations flaws and shortcomings.

The first-class passengers are a Whos Who list of the gilded age, including Macys department store owner Isidor Straus, wealthy businessman Benjamin Guggenheim and their wives. Even the third-class passengers are just a rabble of hopeful immigrants seeking better fortunes in America.

Barrett, a handsome young stoker, is the closest character to the films Jack Dawson character, but alas, he has a fiance back home in Britain, so there are no steamy interests there, save for the ships massive boiler room.

Yestons score is tuneful and accessible, if not much more memorable than the thousands of passengers who were not allowed to fill more than 400 empty spaces on the lifeboats on the calm, cold April night in 1912. The standout is Still, sung by the devoted couple, Isador and Ida Strauss, who refused to be separated and would perish together.

Despite the structural flaws in the show, Slow Burn, as expected, delivers a flawless production, leaving the audience yearning for the happy ending that just never comes, like the rescue ship, California.

The cast of 20 rises to the occasion, covering more than 30 roles. Landon Summers (Barrett), the young stoker offers a reverberating tenor voice in addition to his chiseled looks. Matthew Korinko, a Slow Burn founder, again demonstrates incredible versatility, this time as the tortured architect Andrews who must confront both his shortcomings and those of his ship. Troy J. Stanley and Ann Marie Olson offer the signature musical moment in that duet by the Strauses, Still, and eliciting one of the few tears of the performance.

Director/choreographer Fitzwater keeps the action fast paced and pulls the most convincing performances possible from his eager cast, despite the inherent challenges in the script.

The actors are backed up by a capable six-piece orchestra led by Emmanuel Schvartzman that, in keeping with the period, featuring a sonorous string quartet (Anna Ventura, Pearl Fuentes, Stephanie Jaimes and Adriel Lyles).

Costuming the cast is as monumental a feat as building the largest moving object of the era. Rick Pena created hundreds of historically-accurate costumes, from crew uniforms to the finery worn by the elite passengers.

But the real star of the show is Sean McClellands set. The stage of the Amaturo Theater is convincingly transformed into the deck and compartments of the liner with a massive system of steel ladders and gangways, accentuated by Thomas M. Shorrocks inventive lighting design and special effects.

No, theres not going to be a surprise happy ending, but this production should not be missed, if just to witness the monumental effort by Slow Burn to illustrate one of the equally monumental events in modern history.

Slow Burn Theatre Co. presents Titanic the Musical at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale through Feb. 5. Tickets start at $47 at BrowardCenter.org.
Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme  La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza.



Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres.




Wed, 26.10.22 - 12:09

Another blast of heat at the end of the month is likely to break the record in Spain With only a few days left in...
In the early 1990s, full-sun coffee production was introduced to Vietnam, and the coffee industry there has been growing like a weed ever sincethe country now accounts for a staggering 19 percent of the worlds total coffee output. This is thanks in large part to the practice of clear-cutting huge swathes of land and planting high-yield, chemical-fertilizer-dependent coffee; between 2005 and today alone, Vietnam doubled its yearly coffee exports with this method. But perhaps most striking is not how much coffee is grown in Vietnam, but how much of that coffee is low quality. Because while a distant second in total coffee production to Brazil, Vietnam grows far and away the most Robusta of any country on the planet.

Some coffee trickles back into the country and ends up brewed via Phinthe flimsy metal top-hat-like dripper found most commonly at your neighborhood pho or banh mi jointthen mixed with sweetened condensed milk, resulting in what coffee drinkers in the West think of as traditional Vietnamese coffee. Much of the countrys Robusta output is sold to NestleVietnam is Nescafes top supplier.

Does this mean that all Vietnamese coffee is either low quality and destined to be chain-drunk by cubicle workers out of red plastic packets or otherwise the color, texture, and taste of chocolate milk, and that there is no such thing as high-quality Vietnamese coffee? Youd be excused for thinking so.

But in fact, there is. Although less than 2 percent of coffee grown in Vietnam is Arabica, a small community of farmers in the Lam Dong province of the countrys high-altitude center have committed to it over the past five years, spurred largely by a burgeoning scene of cafes and roasteries in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). This is a guide to some of those places, all of which, in driving demand for quality over quantity, are making a difference in the way Vietnamese coffee is grown, consumed, and represented.

The Workshop

The Workshop, carved out of a block of top-floor apartments in a building just off downtown HCMCs central walking street in 2014, was the citys first specialty roaster. Its founders believe in a principal of transparencyremoving as many filters as possible from between the customer and a coffee. This includes sweet milk; as policy, the Workshop doesnt serve the stuff and instead directs sugar-seekers to one of the countless coffee stalls that line the citys sidewalks. For those who stay, the options range from espresso to any number of brew devices, including Wave, V60, AeroPress, and syphon. According to co-founder Nguyen Tuan Dung, the Workshop understands you cant change a persons taste preferences by forcing newness on them but rather aims to instill in customers an appreciation and respect for their coffees and the people who grow them. The commitment to the shops farmers, however, stretches far beyond buying coffeethe roastery provides improvements to infrastructure like new drying racks and pulping machines in order to elevate the overall quality of Vietnamese coffee production. And selfies are welcome: the space is gorgeous.

Bosgaurus Coffee Roasters

At the end of a road flanked by high-rise apartment buildings, some so new their glass is still caked with construction dust, lies Bosgaurus Coffee Roasters. Its home to both the first and currently reigning Vietnamese Barista Champion, Tran Han, as well as the first and reigning Vietnamese AeroPress Champion, Le Dan Nha Thi. Its also home to two Giesens, which roast all coffee used at the shop. The space also houses two separate coffee bars, one on each floor, with the upstairs used as an educational tool where a person can try their hand at dialing in coffee however they like it, whether with a hand-drip apparatus or Nuova Simonelli Aurelia II. The downstairs bar was designed in deference to traditional Vietnamese coffee bars, which are square; its low and straight to encourage interaction between baristas and customers. Bos gaurus, if youre wondering, is the worlds tallest species of cow, an elusive, rare type of cattle native to Southeast Asia, with long, milk-white legsmajestic, not unlike the shop that bears its name.

Klasik Coffee Roasters

Ly Ngoc Thiep founded Klasik Coffee Roasters this past January after receiving her coffee education in the United States in 2014. She studied roasting at Boot Coffee in San Rafael, California and traveled to Kansas for a Q Certification. A HCMC native, she returned there after spending time in New York, but, after being surrounded by the dynamic coffee cultures on Americas East and West coasts, was discouraged by what her city had to offer. The only place offering high-quality Arabica at the time was The Workshop, and she was desperate for another space that served high-quality international coffees. Now, Klasik fills that void. It acts in part as a Hario distributor and a roastery that sources Vietnamese coffees as well as those from around the worldThiep says she has a preference for Ethiopian beans but did her best while in the US to drink Panama Geisha as often as possible. Shes now sharing her knowledge with the coffee community in HCMC, running workshops of her own. People come together to build a market and community, she says. Were working together to make Vietnamese coffee.

Drago Specialty Coffee



Drago Specialty Coffee is small, both inside and outI walked past it three times before spotting the sign bearing the roasterys name covertly affixed to a downtown buildings facade. At only three months old, on paper its the youngest of the recent up-cropping of specialty shops, but Drago is more than it seems. Located up a short, blanch-white staircase decorated with grounds-filled cups, Drago is actually a branch of a much larger and older commercial coffee roastery called Nam Long, which primarily produces a slightly more refined version of darkly roasted Phin-grade Robusta. Drago acts as an experimental arm of the company, roasting higher-quality coffees in smaller batches and blending Vietnamese and international beans in unusual combinationsVietnamese Robusta blended with Ethiopia, anyone? When I visited, Drago staff were gathered around the shops lone table cupping coffees with help from Klasiks Thiep. Since it was a weekend, and the majority of Dragos customers are business people going to and from nearby office buildings, it didnt hurt to shut down for an hour in order to do what Drago does best: experiment.

Saigon Coffee Roastery

Saigon Coffee Roastery is exactly what it sounds like, with a catalogue of small-batch, mostly Vietnamese coffee on offer. Vo Phap founded the company in response to the ubiquity of low-quality Phin coffee in his city, the worst of which is made up partly by fillers like soy and cornmeallax government regulation and low consumer standards allows for this noncoffee to pass, provided its served with enough sugar. Phap was influenced by the design of Italian espresso bars, and in little less than a year has carved out his own interpretation from a space above what was once an arcade and market. He doesnt see the other new roasteries popping up in HCMC as competition, but as evidence that real Vietnamese coffee is on its way toward a decade of positive growth.

Shin Coffee

Shin Coffee began as an idea five years ago, and after breaking ground in 2015 it already has two outposts in downtown HCMC, just a five-minute walk from each other. The newer of the spaces is also the larger, occupying three stories in a building across the street and around the corner from some of the citys busiest hotels. The intent here is to draw on a rapidly expanding base of foreign tourists; Shin wants to make sure its the first experience a visitor has with Vietnamese coffee. And although the spaces are relatively new, Shins founder, Nguyen Huu Long, isnt new to the industry. He took his first job in coffee at a cafe in town as an 18-year-old, and has spent years bouncing between Vietnam and Japan, where he steeped in the coffee culture while working in cafes and as a translator. Now the plan is to pass on some of that knowledge: the newer Shins third floor is undergoing renovations that will transform it into a full-blown coffee training center, not unlike at Bosgaurus. Its wall is emblazoned with a coffee-variety family tree, its laminate branches catching light as they extend.

Shin Coffee has two locations in Ho Chi Minh City. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram

Michael Light (@MichaelPLight) has written previously for GOOD Magazine and Wags Revue. Read more Michael Light on Sprudge.
Madrid, January 24, 2017 (SPS) -Tens of Sahrawis and Spanish of the movement of solidarity with the Sahrawi people demonstrated Monday before Moroccos embassy in Madrid to require the release of the Sahrawi political prisoners and cessation of the Moroccan repression in the occupied territories.

Chanting release political prisoners, the struggle will continue and Frente POLISARIO will overcome, Morocco is guilty and Spain is responsible, and We are with Gdeim Iziks prisoners, tens of Sahrawis and Spanish, including two Euro-MPs from the Spanish party izquierda unida namely Willy Meyer and Paloma Lopez, responded to the call launched by the Spanish coordination of associations of friendship with the Sahrawi people to demand the release of the political prisoners whose trial will be in Rabat and to denounce the repression exerted by the Moroccan occupying forces.

In a statement to APS, the Euro-MP Willy Meyer lamented the tragic situation of Western Sahara following the continuing repression by the Moroccan police and army.

This situation deprives the Sahrawi people of their basic rights notably their right to self-determination and we insist, as European deputies, on the withdrawal of the colonial forces so that to hold a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara.

For her part, Paloma Lopez said that the trial of Gdeim Iziks prisoners is illegal and doesnt include any guarantee or respect of the international law and this is why we insist on the immediate release of these prisoners.SPS

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Algiers, January 24, 2017 (SPS) - President Sahrawi Brahim Gali said Tuesday in Algiers the request made by Morocco to join to the African Union was a major asset for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, recalling Western Sahara and the Frente POLISARIO were determined to further entrench their diplomatic assets until the Sahrawi people enjoys the right to self-determination.

The request made by Morocco to join the African union, which includes SADR, a founding member of the pan-African organization, is a major asset for the Sahrawi cause, 32 years after Morocco left the Organization of African Unity following SADR's full member, Gali said in an interview with APS.

This process (Moroccos request led to victory of the Sahrawi people, the Sahrawi cause and the African Union that requires member states to respect post-independence borders, member countries and their sovereignty while favouring peaceful resolution of problems, whilst Morocco occupies a part of the territory of Western Sahara.

In this regard, he stressed the Moroccan system and media conduct a massive information campaign to try making the international public opinion believe that Moroccos request to join the AU was a success not a defeat.

The Sahrawi president expressed the hope Morocco's membership in the AU will be followed by other daring steps from the Moroccan system, including the definitive recognition of SADRs sovereignty over the internationally-recognized territory to achieve peace, security and stability in the Africa continent.

Moreover, I hope Morocco will contribute to the preservation of Africas unity through respect for the Constitutive Charter and countrys borders and sovereignty, including Western Sahara while assuming a positive role in the pan-African Organization , he added. SPS

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The New York State Fair drew a record crowd in 2016, but with that came long lines of vehicles and not enough parking spaces to accommodate fairgoers.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, after receiving recommendations from a state fair task force, has a plan to address the parking woes.

"We want people to come, but we want people to have a pleasant experience," Cuomo said Monday. "And if they have a traffic backup, that doesn't help. So that is probably the single biggest thing we can do."

At a presentation at the state fairgrounds, Cuomo outlined a $70 million plan for a second round of fair improvements. A key aspect of the proposal is a $20 million investment to improve the Orange Lot  the main parking lot for the Lakeview Amphitheater and for fairgoers traveling from the east  and a new exit connecting the lot to Interstate 690 west.

Under the proposal, the 65-acre lot would be paved and striped, the lot's capacity would increase from 7,000 to 7,500 vehicles, new lighting would be installed and stormwater management systems would be improved.

A multi-lane ring would be added around the perimeter of the Orange Lot and additional E-Z Pass lanes will be available to speed up the parking payment process.

Right now, the lot isn't paved and loses up to 30 percent of its capacity during wet weather, according to Cuomo's office.

"These improvements will increase the flow and circulation of traffic entering and exiting the Orange Lot, expand parking, as well as reduce delays on I-690 from traffic backing up onto the interstate from the exit 7 ramp," the governor's office said in a fact sheet distributed to media outlets.

The project would be paid for using funds from the Upstate Revitalization Initiative. Central New York was one of three regions to win the URI competition in 2015. With the victory, the region will receive $500 million in economic development funding over a five-year period.

The design of the project will be completed by the state Department of Transportation, which will consult with the state Department of Agriculture and Markets and the state Office of General Services.

Because the project involves a federal highway, the state must seek approval from the Federal Highway Administration. Without that approval, the ramp portion of the project won't move forward.

If approved, the state estimates the parking lot upgrades and ramp construction will be completed by June 2018.

The parking improvements are one component of the latest fairgrounds project. Cuomo is also proposing the construction of a $15 million aerial gondola, which would fairgoers could use to travel from the fairgrounds to Lakeview Amphitheater.

The gondola, which would travel over Interstate 690, also requires federal approval.
Justin MacEachern, who works in the Ross Croghan Stable, has been named the recipient of the 2016 Caretaker of the Year Award sponsored by Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park (HHRNP) in conjunction with the U.S. Harness Writers Association (USHWA).

MacEachern, 26, has worked for Croghan for three years, and in 2016 he was the caretaker of Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Filly Pace champ Call Me Queen Be. Call Me Queen Be also included in her 2016 victories the Pennsylvania Sires Stakes final as well as the first heat of the Jugette at Delaware, Ohio, when she set a new world record of 1:50.1h for her division.



Justin MacEachern and driver Scott Zeron flank Call Me Queen Be in the Meadowlands' winner's circle after her 2016 Breeders Crown victory Justin MacEachern and driver Scott Zeron flank Call Me Queen Be in the Meadowlands' winner's circle after her 2016 Breeders Crown victory

I am so overwhelmed by this, I cant even begin to explain it, said MacEachern. When you take care of a horse, and Ive taken care of Call Me Queen Be for two years and she was my only horse up until this winter, just waking up every day knowing that I had so much to do with the horse, its just great. There is a whole connection there and its an amazing feeling.

All caretakers in North America are eligible for the award, with nomination letters submitted detailing the skills and special qualities of the nominee. A seven-member panelall of whom were former caretakers themselveschose MacEachern as the winner. As winner of the HHRNP Caretaker of the Year Award, MacEachern will receive a cash prize of $500, transportation, hotel accommodations and two tickets to USHWAs annual Dan Patch Awards banquet presented by Hoosier Park on Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, where he will be presented a trophy.

A third-generation horseman, MacEachern had been pursuing a degree in culinary management at the Art Institute of Philadelphia when the lure of the horses changed his direction.

MacEachern received several nominations, with one noting the countless hours he has dedicated to the filly (Call Me Queen Be) and a pacer who he needed to use his horsemanship skills to gain the trust of.

Croghan agreed, saying recently, He has spent hours and hours with this filly giving her confidence and getting her mannered. Justin has just put his heart and soul into this horse.

Croghan also noted MacEacherns attention to detail, whether it involved shipping, shoeing, exercise schedules or equipment.

Another nominator noted that MacEachern risked his own life last winter when fire engulfed a barn at the South Florida Trotting Center. One of the first on the scene, MacEachern helped rescue several horses from the burning barn, later helping ship the injured to a nearby vet clinic.

MacEachern, along with all the USHWA 2016 award winners, including Always B Miki as Horse of the Year, will be recognized during the banquet on Feb. 26. Information on tickets and accommodations for the event can be found at ushwa.org.

(with files from USHWA)
Aime J. Choquette, one of the best known second trainers in the sport of harness racing, died Tuesday afternoon at the age of 102.

For details on funeral arrangements, click here.

Choquette, born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada on October 31, 1914, passed away from natural causes at a nursing facility in Sherbrooke.

As a youth after World War I, Choquettes life revolved around horses as they were still utilized for daily transportation. He had jobs driving wagons and after he was finished schooling, he found full time work at the hosiery mills, but still devoted his free time to training jumping horses.

By the 1940s, Choquette, with his brother Robert, opened the Fairplay Stable at the local fairgrounds. They turned the stable into a thriving business for years as Choquette became one of the best show horse and jumper trainer/riders in Canada.

In 1952 at the age of 38, Choquette decided to leave Sherbrooke and head south to the United States to work in the national emerging sport of harness racing, which had just received pari-mutuel wagering in Quebec. He went to Ben White Raceway near Orlando, Florida as a caretaker and learning about training racehorses.

He was promptly hired by Jimmy Arthur and Harry Harvey, who were working for the Delvin Miller Stable. Delvin Miller was one of the premier trainers in all of harness racing with world champions Tar Heel, Lusty Song, Arndon, Helicopter, Countess Vivian and Stenographer, all in his stable. Miller also had the great stallion Adios at his Meadow Lands farm in Pennsylvania.

When Miller once asked for volunteers to head west to California to race some of his stakes horses, Choquette did not hesitate to go as he loved to travel. Miller soon knew he had a top man in Choquette, who helped train Kentucky Futurity winner Harlan.

Miller later selected Choquette to take his top trotter at the time, The Great Lullwater, to France to compete in the 1959 Prix DAmerique. The Great Lullwater did not fare well in the race, but Miller saw how good Choquette did and when they returned, he promoted Choquette to second trainer.

That decision paid off over the year as Choquette worked with Miller and helped develop some of the greatest Standardbred race horses in the sport. Perhaps the shining moment of Choquettes and the stables career was when Miller sent him with the top trotting mare, Delmonica Hanover, back to France to compete in the 1974 Prix DAmerique.

This time Choquette made sure his mare was ready for the race, training her up and down the hills of the training center at Grosbois in preparation for the big race in Vincennes, so that she was tough and ready to take on the best trotters in the world.

And with the talented German driver Hans Fromming in the sulky, Delmonica Hanover won the Prix DAmerique over the great French mares, Une De Mai, and sixteen other rivals. Miller, in a letter written to Choquette, said There is no doubt in my mind that she would not have won the race without all your fine work in training and preparing her in France for Mr. Arnold Hanger and I. Of all the races that I have won I will always consider this race the most enjoyable win of all.

Choquette worked for over three decades, mainly as a second trainer for Delvin Miller. During that span he helped with the training of world champions Dancer Hanover, Tarport Hap, Meadow Skipper, Countess Adios, Speed In Action, Tyler B and many other top racehorses.

Along with training horses, Choquette also trained and educated many caretakers who have gone on to become household names in harness racing. The list includes Andy Grant of The Hambletonian Society, John Cashman of Castleton Farms, Tom Charters of the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown, Jerry Monahan of the Red Mile, Bob Leuhrman of the USTA, Jim Moran and Walter Bonafice of Vernon Downs; and such horsemen as Don McKirgan, L. Bucky Waugh, Bob Yohn, Soren Landin, Tomas Nilsson, John Butenschoen and many others.

Choquette retired from training in 1984 and settled at Palm Aire Country Club, right across the street from Pompano Park, where he winter-trained with Miller for so many years.

In 1991, Choquette was awarded by the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) with the Dick Baker Second Trainer Award. In 1998 the Florida Chapter of USHWA honoured Choquette as the first recipient of the Delvin Miller Award and in 2010, inducted him into the Florida Harness Racing Hall of Fame. In 2014, honouring his 100th birthday, the Keystone Chapter of USHWA presented Choquette with their most prestigious honour, the Mary Lib Miller Award.

For nearly seven decades, Aime Choquette served as a positive icon in the world of harness racing. Many who had the pleasure of visiting Choquette and Miller at the stable will remember their trademark salutation when leavingWere glad you got to see us!

Choquette was one of eight children and a confirmed bachelor.

In lieu of flowers, it has been requested that donations be made to the Aime Choquette Sunshine Fund that helps fellow horsemen and women in need, which Choquette himself founded. Cheques should be made out to the Florida Chapter USHWA and mailed to P.O. Box 669273 Pompano Beach, FL 33066.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Aime J. Choquette.

(Steve Wolf and Jean Emerson)
Contact: Destiny Edwards or Jessica Cahill, 202-225-4576



WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2017 /Standard Newswire/ -- Yesterday the House of Representatives passed H.R. 7 which makes the Hyde Amendment permanent, blocking taxpayer money from funding abortions. Rep. Franks took to the House Floor to defend this bill.

"It seems like whenever we talk about this issue, we always talk past each other. But the real question before us is does abortion kill a little baby? If it doesn't, I'm ready to quit talking about it ladies and gentleman. But if it does, then those of us sitting in the seat of freedom are also standing in the midst of the greatest human genocide in the history of humanity.



"Although we may not agree on all the vicissitudes of abortion, one thing in certain, some day, we, as a society, will look back and we will recognize the humanity of these little children of God and the inhumanity of what is being done to them and we will regret these days. Until then, at least, can't we get together and say that we shouldn't force taxpayers to pay for the killing of innocent, little, human beings. I pray that we can open our eyes to see that truth."
The essential component of totalitarian propaganda is artifice (het toepassen van kunstgrepen. svh) . The ruling elites, like celebritie...
A proposal in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's 2017-18 executive budget would reduce the visitation schedule at New York's 17 maximum security correctional facilities and result in the elimination of 39 positions.

Under the governor's plan, the number of days visitors are allowed at maximum security prisons would be reduced from seven to three. The figure would be nearly identical to the visitation schedule at the state's medium security facilities, which currently allow visitors on weekends and holidays.

The proposal would allow the state to eliminate 39 positions and save $2.6 million.

At Auburn Correctional Facility, the lone maximum security prison in Cayuga County, visiting hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day, including holidays. The same policy is in place at nearby Five Points Correctional Facility in Seneca County.

For medium security prisons, such as Cayuga Correctional Facility in Moravia, visiting hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

"Weekend visitations are the most popular as many families have to travel long distances," said Morris Peters, a spokesman for the state Division of Budget.

"This change  which comes with the expanded use of video conferencing  would be a more efficient use of taxpayer dollars and match the preexisting policy at medium security (Department of Corrections and Community Supervision) facilities."

Peters added that visits would be offered on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The video conferencing component  "tele-visiting," he said  would be scheduled at a certain date and time. The visitor would go to a designated site with the necessary equipment for a video conference with an inmate.

Jack Beck, director of the Correctional Association of New York State's Prison Visiting Project, criticized Cuomo's proposal.

"Basically going from seven days to three for maximum security facilities will mean that, I think, for many people they will not be able to have their visit or they will be substantially shortened," Beck said. "It will clearly deteriorate the relationship between an incarcerated person and their family."

One of Beck's concerns is with a reduced visitation schedule, families may be discouraged from traveling to see an inmate. For those who live in New York City and have a family member serving a prison sentence at an upstate facility, it can take several hours to travel to and from the prison.

Beck predicts there will be fewer visits if Cuomo's proposal is adopted.

"And to save a few million dollars really doesn't make sense to have one of the most positive programs inside being substantially curtailed," he said.

While Beck acknowledged the video conferencing provision is "something," he said it doesn't replace the physical interaction between an inmate and his or her family.

"There's nothing more important than being able to come in and hug the person that you love," he said.

Cuomo's plan drew criticism from Assemblyman Gary Finch, a Republican whose district includes the Auburn Correctional Facility.

A member of the Assembly Committee on Correction, Finch, R-Springport, said he's concerned about the loss of 39 positions at the state's maximum security facilities.

Staffing has already been "cut to the bone" at prisons, Finch noted.

"We need to be able to hire more (corrections officers) and take the load off the overtime that they're paying, as well as providing some sort of additional support," he said.

Finch believes it's dangerous to cut personnel, but doesn't oppose reducing the visitation schedule at maximum security facilities.

"I don't have a problem with cutting the visitation down," he said. "If it's three days, I don't have a problem with that. I think there will be some families that are going to come and visit their loved ones that'll be disappointed."

The proposal is far from a done deal. Cuomo's budget is in the process of being reviewed by the state Legislature. The state Assembly and Senate will each draft separate budget proposals as a starting point for negotiations.

A hearing on the public protection section of the governor's budget plan will be held Tuesday in Albany. Finch expects the proposal will be further discussed at that meeting.
Children in Peril: From Haiti's Dubious Adoptions, to the Vatican's Continuing Cover-up By MARCI A. HAMILTON



The plight of children in Haiti has drawn headlines recently  rightly so, for Haiti's children, like all children, deserve our avid concern. But it is important that we also keep in mind the continuing fight to get justice for children who have been mistreated and abused here in the United States.

Thus, in this column, I'll cover both the Haiti situation and new evidence regarding the Vatican's continuing cover-up of clergy sex abuse.

The Questionable Actions of an Adoption Organization in Haiti

A Baptist group's actions in Haiti have recently triggered controversy. The group's website states that they intended "to rescue orphans from Port-au-Prince," but questions have been raised about their intentions and their operation.

At this early stage, a few facts seem apparent: First, the group attempted to take 33 children to the Dominican Republic, though their original intent had been to transport 100. It is not clear what they intended to do with the children after they arrived in the Dominican Republic, but the group was linked to the "New Life Adoption Foundation," which seeks to arrange adoptions for Christian parents who cannot afford to adopt through the ordinary channels.

Second, the group did not go through proper legal channels and, therefore, failed to do minimal due diligence -- which, at the very least, would have revealed to them that some of the children that they had taken were not orphans; rather, these children had parents in Haiti with whom they could, in the future, be reunited as circumstances in Haiti improved.

Third, the essence of the group's defense appears to be that God and their faith led them to Haiti, and that a religious group in Haiti gave them the children. However, Haitian officials appear poised to make them an example of Haiti's intention to protect its children from exploitation of any kind in the midst of its earthquake crisis.

Whether this group is a bunch of bumbling do-gooders or something more nefarious, the facts available thus far suggest that they crossed the line with their apparent disregard of the basic legal principles governing all adoptions, and with their reported failure to look into the children's actual familial relationships. Even if they intended to eventually fix their "paperwork" problems, they reportedly removed the children from Haiti into the Dominican Republican without knowing whether they still had family ties in Haiti -- a decision that violate every principle underlying adoption laws. It would be illuminating to learn whether the New Life Adoption Foundation has gone to other countries before, to secure children for Christian parents without the resources for ordinary adoptions, and if so, precisely how they did so. For this observer at least, it appears that, once again, the interests of children were likely being sacrificed for the interests of religiously-motivated adults.

The good news, though, is that the children were returned to Haiti and are currently under the care of a reputable adoption organization from Austria that has been operating in Haiti for 30 years. The children are getting needed medical care and, where possible, the issue of finding their family members and reuniting them with the children is being addressed. The primary reason that the children are now in a better position is that the Haitian government imposed its law to forestall harm to its children.

The Emerging Hard Evidence of the Vatican's Role in the Cover-up of Child Sex Abuse in the United States and Elsewhere

Would that the American government had acted as Haiti is now acting -- and aggressively used its own laws to saved the many children here who have been abused by Catholic clergy. But here, for decades, legal action was blocked by a church cover-up that was mandated from the top down. Experts in the field have long known that the widespread abuse of children by priests was perpetuated by executive decisions from the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church. But only recently has there been evidence of the actual role of the Vatican  emerging from both Ireland and the United States.

Ireland has produced two impressive reports detailing the widespread sex abuse by Catholic clergy in orphanages and elsewhere: Yvonne Murphy et al., Commission of Investigation: Report into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin (2009) and Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, Commission Report (2009) . The most recent report  the Murphy Report -- documents the significant role that the Vatican has played in monitoring and directing the handling of child sex abuse.

At one point, the Catholic Church was part of the government of Ireland, so, in theory, the Irish experience might have been unique. But in fact, the Murphy Report establishes that abusing Irish priests were shipped to the United States, where they continued to commit their abuse of children. In addition, recent documents disclosed in Wisconsin litigation make it quite clear that the Vatican has been orchestrating the handling of abuse  and ensuring that abuse is covered up, and not revealed.

As one Irish observer, former history professor Sean O'Conaill, has persuasively argued, it is patently obvious now that this is a worldwide problem that has been managed from the highest levels of the Catholic Church, for "only the papacy has the authority to discipline errant bishops" and yet it has failed to institute accountability. O'Connail adds, "The Church still refuses to hold to account bishops who endanger children. We know that only secular agencies have done that -- civil courts, media, and the state. Only upon the public outcry as a result of the Murphy Report did four Irish bishops finally resign, each protesting his innocence."

O'Connail concludes that "The Church is still unable to regulate itself. Its central system of governance is dysfunctional. The papacy appears entirely willing to tolerate this state of affairs, misrepresenting this Dublin crisis as though it had nothing in common with Boston in 2002, Philadelphia in 2004 or Los Angeles in 2007, not to mention Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe, Africa and Latin America."

The Newly-Discovered Evidence in a Wisconsin Case Confirms the Findings in Ireland

The Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy has been credibly accused of abusing over 100 deaf boys, and now there is solid proof that the bishops of Wisconsin and the Vatican were more concerned about the Church's internal procedural niceties than bringing Murphy to justice or protecting children. There is also proof that the Vatican's primary response to these issues is ice-cold. Higher-ups either neglect to respond to requests for guidance from the American bishops or they put the demands of elderly abusing priests above the need for internal fact-finding and justice. Nowhere is there a trace of concern about civil law or legal obligations.

On July 17, 1996, Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee wrote to Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger -- who was, at the time, the head of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (he is now, of course, Pope Benedict XVI) -- for guidance in handling multiple instances of abuse at St. John School for the Deaf in Milwaukee. The offending priest had solicited sex from children in the confessional.

Then, having heard nothing by March 1997 from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Weakland wrote a letter on the same matter to the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. Again, he asked what he was supposed to do with respect to Murphy, whom he now suspected of having abused many more victims.

Within the same month, Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, responded. He instructed Archbishop Weakland to follow the procedures set forth in the 1962 Crimen Sollicitationis document in which the Vatican. directs Catholics to avoid "scandal" by keeping sexual abuse of children and animals (as well as homosexuality) secret, and to follow specific, secret procedures for handling these issues  or face the threat of excommunication. One of the persistent themes of Weakland's missives to the Vatican is his fear of impending "scandal."

Even though the Church's internal statutes of limitations on the charges against Murphy had expired, a trial of Murphy was still set. Nor was Weakland the only bishop seeking guidance regarding this prolific abuser; the Bishop of Superior, Raphael Fliss, also wrote to the Congregation of the Faith, saying that he thought an internal trial of Murphy was necessary. Yet, Murphy himself then wrote to the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, admitting his transgressions, but asking to be relieved from having to undergo a trial, because he was elderly and ill and the alleged conduct had occurred decades before. He just wanted to live out his life as a priest in good standing.

A month after Murphy had made his plea to avoid the Church's internal procedures, Weakland and Fliss flew to Rome and met with Bertone and his staff. The notes from the meeting indicate that the Congregation decided to follow Murphy's reasoning, and did not encourage them to carry through with a church trial. The end result was that no action was ever taken against Murphy within the Church. And, there was certainly no criminal action pursued outside. Murphy should have been turned over to prosecutors and the victims should have been the central focus. Child perpetrators do not "age out" of their criminal predilections; thus, while the bishops and the Vatican higher-ups dithered, Murphy was free to prey. Even though they knew he had had numerous victims, this likelihood is not acknowledged in any of the correspondence. Their negligence was criminal.

Because civil authorities were cut out of the process, Murphy's misdeeds were never known -- until today, when civil litigation led by pathbreaking litigator Jeff Anderson has finally led to the discovery of the first hard proof that we have in the United States that the Vatican itself has actively participated in orchestrating and directing its grossly deficient practices for handling child sex abuse within the institution. Finally, too, the unearthing of this evidence proves that the civil law is yielding far better results for society than permitting the Church to operate within its secret sphere. It is apparent that the civil clergy-abuse lawsuits, like the Irish reports, are essential in learning the truth, aiding survivors, and protecting children.

As both of these developments in Haiti and the Vatican reveal, around the world, we have a long way to go in the emerging civil rights movement for children. The first question in each of these scenarios should have been: What is best for the children? Until everyone, including religious organizations, starts making that question the priority, children will be hurt.

Marci Hamilton, a FindLaw columnist, is the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and author of Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (Cambridge 2008). A review of Justice Denied appeared on this site on June 25, 2008. Her previous book is God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law (Cambridge University Press 2005), now available in paperback. Her email is hamilton02@aol.com.
High Unemployment and Political Extremism: How Much Worse Might Political Conditions Become if the Job Market Remains Depressed? By NEIL H. BUCHANAN



In recent weeks, there has been understandable concern about the rise of politically-motivated violence in the United States. There have been numerous reports of threatening phone calls to members of Congress, as well as some worrisome actions, including bricks being thrown through the windows of the offices of some Democrats who voted for the health care bill. Nonpartisan media still refer to these events as "isolated instances of violence," even though it is difficult not to see this as a growing problem that can be traced back to the general election campaign of 2008.

Isolated or not, however, the threat of political violence has recently led to some arrests, including those resulting from a successful FBI operation that brought in nine members of a militia group in Michigan that had planned a series of acts of domestic terrorism. Also, earlier this week, a man's repeated phone calls to Senator Patty Murray's office in Seattle led to his arrest for threatening to kill the Senator.

These incidents understandably garner news coverage, because it seems at least possible that they are the leading edge of a wave of violence that might be in the offing. With talk radio and Fox News making a practice of stirring up anger among an increasingly agitated (though still quite small) group of citizens, and with Republican leaders trying to blame Democrats for supposedly fanning the very flames of extremism that are bringing fury upon the Democrats, law enforcement officials (and nonviolent Americans more generally) would be irresponsible not to suspect that such anger might lead to more violent outbursts.

Although it certainly is important to confront and eliminate imminent threats of violence, there is another important aspect of growing political extremism that is getting much less attention. In the midst of our most severe economic crisis  both in depth and in length since the Great Depression, we are not just facing the prospect of politically-motivated physical violence. We also find ourselves on the most fertile ground since the 1930's for the rapid growth of political extremism.

According to standard economic analysis, unemployment carries with it a number of distinct harms. Among those harms is the hard-to-define concept of "social unrest." Although economists have generally downplayed social unrest as a harm of unemployment, it is clear that today's social and political atmosphere is alive with the possibility of wrenching political change, including radical changes in the nature of our constitutional democracy. These dangers make it all the more important for policymakers to redouble their efforts to reduce unemployment  and to do so as quickly as possible.

Unemployment Today: High, Chronic, and Damaging

The current unemployment situation is, in a word, dire. The measured unemployment rate  which ignores those who have given up looking for jobs, as well as those who are working part-time involuntarily  rose into the 10% range last year, where it is expected to remain through the end of 2011, if not longer. Unemployed workers are suffering record-setting spells of joblessness; and Congress has been forced several times already to extend unemployment benefits, to prevent citizens from being left without any support in an economy with bleak prospects for job-seekers.

The direct harm to the unemployed and their families as their incomes shrink or disappear is formidable, and disturbing. Separately, however, what do we know about the costs to society of unemployment? During my days as an economics professor, the students in my macroeconomics courses would always be surprised when I asked them, "Why is unemployment bad?" Unemployment seems so intuitively bad that it almost seemed ridiculous to ask why that is so. Because we were in an academic enterprise, however, it was important for us to think systematically about the consequences of unemployment.

I followed up by asking the question more provocatively: Are we sure that unemployment is really bad? And then I led the students through a systematic discussion of the costs of unemployment.

That analysis would typically proceed along the following lines:

1. Lost Output: While the pain of unemployment is felt most acutely by those who cannot find work, the economic impact of an unemployed worker is the loss to society of the goods and services that he or she would have helped to produce. Of course, not being able to produce also means not earning income, so the further danger is that lost economic output will get worse when reduced spending leads to still further layoffs.

2. Increased Crime: While most unemployed workers are able to weather the storm and continue to be law-abiding members of society, one can confidently predict that any increase in unemployment will be associated with an increase in various types of crime. Property crimes are the most obvious, with people who find that they cannot earn money through legal means turning to illegal means to support themselves and their families. Of course, property crime can all too easily tip into violent crime, and we do see increases in murders and other violent crimes, as well, during episodes of high unemployment.

3. Harms to Individuals and Families: Sadly, the psychological toll of unemployment can lead to other types of harms  many of which are themselves crimes, but which happen within a household and are not directly associated with economically-motivated crimes. Suicides rise during periods of unemployment, as does the abuse of alcohol and drugs. Unsurprisingly, the toxic combination of self-hatred, anger, and mind-altering substances also leads to child abuse, spousal abuse, and the break-up of families.

4. Social Unrest: The final category of harms is social unrest, the amorphous but explosive possibility that increased unemployment can expand into full-blown social and political upheaval  and it is this category that is the focus of this column.

Social Unrest and Unemployment: If We Cannot Measure It, Is It Real?

Before continuing our discussion of social unrest as a result of unemployment, however, it is important to note two points. First, my approach to teaching the harms of unemployment is hardly unique or idiosyncratic. I adapted my approach from the teaching notes that the Harvard Economics Department provided to all of its graduate student instructors at the time that I started teaching the basic economics course. This way of approaching the subject, in turn, was based on an approach that was common to nearly all textbooks at the time; and that basic approach has not changed in the years since  although, tellingly, the standard textbook treatment of unemployment has been scaled back in favor of more technical material.

Second, the order in which I listed the costs of unemployment is not mere happenstance. Because economists are most comfortable with concepts that can be quantified, the "lost output" harm is clearly the place to begin. Multiply the number of idled workers by their average productivity, and we have an estimate of lost GDP due to an increase in unemployment.

Property crimes, violent crimes, and harms to families are also quantifiable (although there might be some professional discomfort among economists with the idea of quoting the work of "mere" sociologists, criminologists, and political scientists, whose work economists frequently demean as being less quantitative and rigorous). These possible harms are all at least open to statistical testing and verification.

Considering the Costs of Social Unrest: Historical Examples

By contrast, the "social unrest" category sits uncomfortably at the end of that list. What, after all, are we really talking about? I usually began the discussion by describing the political upheavals that have been associated with economic cataclysms in other countries. The most vivid and dramatic example is the rise of the Nazis in Germany in the post-WWI period, when the victorious nations imposed economically crippling conditions on a country that had already suffered huge losses to its economic capacity, both through massive loss of life (potential workers) and destruction of factories.

In my experience, however, students found that example powerful, yet somewhat overwrought. Any example based on the Nazis, of course, is so emotionally potent that one risks appearing to have overreached merely at its mention. Hitler's rise, moreover, must surely have been caused by something more than a bad economy. Even if economics played a large part, the seeds of such extreme social pathology must require more than just a run of bad economic numbers.

In light of those concerns, students were perhaps understandably more moved by discussions of U.S. politics during the Great Depression. The 1930's saw the rise of all kinds of political extremism, with nativists, racists, and other groups growing around the country  some responding to radio talk show hosts like Father Coughlin, others to charismatic politicians like Governor Huey Long of Louisiana. There was, for example, a surprising amount of fascist sympathizing at the time. Moreover, the American Communist Party and its offshoots had more members during the 1930's than at any other time in the country's history, before or since.

The threat, therefore, came from both the left and the right. The common feature of the threat was not merely that people wanted to change some policies in ways that might not have been thinkable before the Great Depression. Rather, it was that growing numbers of people were openly considering whether our system of government should even continue to exist.

How Dangerous Is Today's Political Unrest?

The difficulty of measuring so vague a concept as "unrest"  to say nothing of statistically correlating unrest to something like the "probability of systemic political change"  would understandably give any social scientist pause. It has, therefore, been common for economics professors to suggest that while the other harms of unemployment show up to varying degrees even at low rates of unemployment, social unrest would only arise if the economy experienced an epoch-making disaster. Because such disasters are impossible to predict and (by definition) rare, it is usually safe to focus students' attention on lost economic output, suicides, burglaries, and so on as the costs of unemployment  and to put the potential harm of social unrest aside.

But is today different? We could not have predicted even two years ago that the economy would suffer such an extreme and prolonged period of pain. Even so, here we are. The economy is unlikely to expand rapidly any time soon, and the political firestorm that accompanied last year's stimulus bill has apparently scared the Obama Administration and its allies away from proposing broad, decisive action to further reduce unemployment. They have, thankfully, been pushing a series of smaller bills to address the problem from various angles. Even so, the Administration's own forecasts suggest that any improvement in the employment situation will be excruciatingly slow.

While we wait, laid-off workers with nothing to do have several choices. On one hand, they can busy themselves with efforts to improve their job skills, or perhaps pursue long-delayed personal interests, or devote more time to their families. On the other hand, as a recent news report discussed, many of these angry and disillusioned citizens  who have nothing but time on their hands  are getting involved with groups that challenge the legitimacy of the government itself. Even if those groups never resort to violence, they still have the potential to change the political system in ways that the country has long viewed as being "on the fringe."

In extremely bad times, the potential for extreme change grows. Politicians should not presume that there is no serious risk of a political upheaval arising from the anger of idled workers, especially when there are powerful forces trying to harness that anger to foment hatred and extremism.

Politicians are often accused, cynically, of being interested in little more than self-preservation. This is an instance in which we should all hope that they understand just how much danger they  and, not coincidentally, the American system of government as a whole  might be in.

Neil H. Buchanan, J.D. Ph. D. (economics), is a Visiting Scholar at Cornell Law School, an Associate Professor at The George Washington University Law School, and a former economics professor.
How Our Decider-in-Chief Decides: Decisionmaking and the Obama Presidency By JOHN W. DEAN



Nothing is more important in the American presidency than decision-making. It is, in fact, the very essence of the job. Presidential decisions can and do shape our history, for better or worse. Rarely, though, does the decision-making style of presidential candidates receive much attention during a campaign. One exception was the 2008 presidential race, where it was very much an issue. Now that President Obama has been in office for some eighteen months, it is appropriate to take a look at his decision-making skills.

Over time, a president's supporters and detractors will inevitably have reason to disagree with some of the decisions he makes. But I believe that it is the way a president makes major decisions that is of importance. Not even a president's top staff will agree with all his actions. But a president's ability to engage in intelligent decision-making to deal with the countless matters that arrive on his desk is vital to the well-being of the nation.

President Bush's Dreadful Decisions Made Decision-Making An Issue in 2008

Bad decisions by a president have serious consequences. We are still dealing with the fallout from the horrific decisions of the last president -- unilateral preemptive attacks on perceived enemies who were incorrectly suspected of harboring weapons of mass destruction; ever-escalating costs for two unbudgeted wars; shaming the nation with torture techniques; wrecking a strong and flourishing economy inherited from his predecessor, etc., etc. Most decisions that were made by George W. Bush employed no real process or considered thought whatsoever.

President Bush was well-known for his messianic and intuitive decision making. He bragged and boasted about it. He told Bob Woodward, during an extensive interview for Bush at War, that he was not "a textbook player," but rather a "gut player," repeatedly explaining that he relied on his "instincts" in following "God's master plan." And when his Defense Secretary was under attack for his part in the dire mess in Iraq, with calls for his resignation, Bush went to his defense, giving a further, distinctive marker to his decision-making: " I'm the decider," Bush petulantly declared, "and I decide what is best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense." Rumsfeld was gone some six months later.

Bush's disastrous decisions regarding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- not to overlook his devastating decisions that all but destroyed the American economy -- resulted in serious attention being focused on the decision-making styles of the 2008 nominees during the last presidential campaign. The mainstream news media carefully examined how Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama might each make decisions as president. For example, here are a few representative looks: Some six weeks before the election PBS ran "John McCain's Decision Making" and "Confidence, Openness Mark Obama's Decision Making Style"; a month before the election the Boston Globe published "The Next Decider: The election isn't just a referendum on ideology. It's a contest between two modes of thinking"; and shortly before the voters went to the polls the Wall Street Journal rhetorically stated, "Lawyer or Jet Pilot: It's the Decision," when raising decision-making as an issue.

The fact that McCain was a Bush-style intuitive, from-the-gut decision-maker probably cost him the election. Not only did voters not want more of a Bush-style president, but McCain's impulsive campaign decisions -- selecting his un-vetted vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and then precipitously closing down his campaign in its final days to deal with the financial crisis but offering no solutions -- proved deadly. These were seen as previews of the very same peremptory decision-making style Americans had experienced for almost eight years, and the election showed that Americans did not want more of the same.

Jonathan Alter's Study of Obama as Decisionmaker: A Deductive Thinker with a Vertical Mind

With Obama now having been in the White House for a year-and-a-half, we have an early record of what kind of decision-maker he has become as president. Jonathan Alter has written the first important examination of the Obama presidency -- The Promise: President Obama, Year One -- and in chronicling Obama's first year in office, Alter looked closely at the new president's decision-making style

Alter, a Newsweek editor and author, has covered Washington and the presidency for years. As a U.S. Senator, Obama had read and admired Alter's last work, The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope (2007), and President Obama granted Alter full access to his White House, an opportunity which Alter did not waste. This bestseller takes readers inside the Obama White House for a look at the players and how they work. It is a great read. But here, I am only exploring Alter's reporting with respect to Obama's decision-making, in particular.

Given the attention that Obama's decision-making received during the campaign, it is not surprising to find that, as president, he is making decisions in a very similar fashion. While Obama has had no serious executive experience, he is something of a natural, with his decision process following a pattern that he first developed as a law student when he headed the Harvard Law Review. The approaches to decision-making that Alter found in the White House are not very different from the approaches Obama developed during the campaign, and which were reported by PBS.

For purposes of comparison, however, Alter looks at the style of other presidents as well. Alter finds that Obama's decision-making style falls "somewhere between [President Bill] Clinton's deep if gauzy discussions and Bush's snap judgments based on instinct." "Clinton was volcanic and discursive; Obama [is] cool and focused," Alter reports.

Alter continues, "Clinton was an inductive thinker with a horizontal mind. He talked to people in wide-ranging college bull sessions (or late at night on the phone) to establish a broad array of policy and political options, then looked at them in context and fashioned a synthetic and often brilliant political approach out of the tangled strands of analysis." By comparison, Alter concludes, "Obama [is] a deductive thinker with a vertical mind." Obama thinks "deeply about a subject, [and] organiz[es] it lucidly into point-by-point arguments." Obama favors "decision memos that include options but contain clear policy recommendations." Obama places "more faith in logic than imagination," and insists "on a process that [is] tidy without being inflexible." Clinton constantly second-guessed his decisions; Obama makes a decision and moves on, unless new and compelling evidence arises.

Why the Charge that Obama Dithers Is Completely Off the Mark

Contrary to Dick Cheney's claim that Obama is a ditherer, Alter found that he is anything but. Unlike the Bush/Cheney White House, Obama wants all the available information, so he probes his staff (and their staff) and the departments and agencies heads (and their staff); he encourages dissent rather than yes-people; and he listens carefully when his aides and advisors speak, although he wants them to get to the point and make it. Obama instructs his White House to keep the big picture in mind, not play "small-ball" or get "down in the weeds."

If Obama does not understand, he does not pretend otherwise; rather, he will ask questions. Obama often changes his approaches on issues during meetings, so that his staff is not sure where he stands, and thus, his aides and advisors are prevented from simply telling him what they think he wants to hear. As meetings come to a close, it is Obama who typically summarizes the various positions and points-of-view under consideration -- usually more succinctly and eloquently than they have been presented by their own advocates -- before making his decision, which is a clear "takeaway" from the session and is well-understood by all. When an issue has been fully flushed out and examined, Obama does not want matters "re-litigated."

Jon Alter is too good a journalist, and spoke with too many people, to have been "spun" about Obama's decision process, which by previous White House standards is quite remarkable. If this approach is consistently employed for major and important decisions, it is an exemplar of how most serious students of the presidency would want presidential decision-making to be done. Few presidents have employed such a thorough process, or been so apparently conscious of the need to adopt a specific approach to decision-making. President John Kennedy learned the hard way, after his failed decision-making in authorizing and then abandoning the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba, but then got it right during the Cuban Missile Crisis, establishing a procedure that he might then have followed consistently, had his presidency not been cut short.

President Obama, it would appear, is writing the textbook for presidential decision-making. From Jon Alter's reporting, and from observing the Obama White House from a distance, I would only raise one question.

Is Obama's Decision-Making Too Devoid Of Emotion?

Alter describes, and gives context and perspective to, President Obama's remarkable "cool" -- his self-confident demeanor, his striking calmness during crisis and troubles, and his highly-focused mind. With Obama, there are no Clinton "purple fits" or tantrums; and no Bush emotional "go with the gut" reactions, says Alter.

Yet Obama understands, apparently, that being too cool is not good. Nonetheless, Obama has often been compared to the overly-composed, emotionless and highly rational Mr. Spock from the Star Trek series, because of the way he too relies on reason rather than emotion, and uses logic to enter the minds of other people. Alter reports that the president has a good sense of humor about all this, and indeed, when a new Star Trek movie was released in early 2009, the president had it screened at the White House. For several days thereafter, President Obama "got a kick out of flashing the Vulcan salute" to his staff. The conclusion that Alter draws from Obama's unflappable nature and "no-drama" White House is that it is an "asset in decision-making."

During the past few decades, an evolving and growing cognitive science of decision-making has emerged. It is the work in part of political and social scientists, economists, and psychologists, who are empirically testing and studying decision making styles. Their endeavors are complemented by those of neurologists and neuroscientists who have literally looked inside our brains to observe them in real-time during decision- making, through the use of increasingly sophisticated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tools; this research is giving them hard facts about how our mental equipment functions. (See the Boston Globe story I cited earlier for a broad overview of these developments.)

I have been exploring this science for another project, and while my study is early and the field is vast, it seems clear that emotions are very much a part of good decision-making. This much is clear: While Vulcans may make great decisions without emotions, humans do not do so very well. The key is striking the right balance, and if Jonathan Alter has it right, and Obama's style is somewhere between that of Bill Clinton and George Bush, we may have one of the better decision-makers currently residing in the White House.

Let us hope that is the case, for as the decider, Obama will have any number of very difficult decisions to make that will affect us all; indeed, he has already had momentous decisions before him, early in his presidency. Because I am not sure, I am going to make certain that the cognitive scientists whose work I am studying (and with whom, in several cases, I have spoken) are aware of Alter's reporting, for they will know well how to evaluate our President's decision-making skills. I will keep you posted.
Unshackle Upstate is urging lawmakers to enact a 2 percent state spending cap, reform the state's workers' compensation laws and allow ride-sharing services in 2017.

The group released its annual legislative agenda Wednesday, which focuses on six main areas and addresses several other issues ranging from mandate relief to tax reform.

Greg Biryla, executive director of Unshackle Upstate, said his organization's agenda will help boost upstate New York's economy.

"As recent data from the state's Department of Labor and U.S. Census Bureau have shown, people are fleeing the state while employers struggle to create jobs. This is especially true across upstate communities," Biryla said. "This crisis will continue until our leaders in Albany create a climate conducive to economic growth by lowering taxes, reducing regulatory red tape and tackling burdensome mandates."

Unshackle Upstate recommended state officials continue budgetary discipline, which kept spending growth below 2 percent each of the last six years. The group supports enacting a 2 percent state spending cap.

With Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushing for an extension of the state's millionaires tax, Unshackle Upstate is calling on the state to allow the tax to expire. They also want lawmakers to ensure that the 18-a energy surcharge expires this year.

"Extending either of these temporary taxes beyond their set expiration dates is equivalent to raising taxes," the group said. "New York state, its economy and taxpayers need their leaders to hold the line on taxes and spending."

On workers' compensation reform, Unshackle Upstate proposes reforming the schedule loss of use guidelines, expanding the current preferred provider opt-out period from 30 to 90 days and providing meaningful timelines for Maximum Medical Improvement.

Unshackle Upstate also wants the state to apply nationally recognizes standards for medical treatment and impairment guidelines and utilize regional "average weekly wage" calculations. The group opposes any attempt to roll back reforms made in 2007.

So-called construction mandates are targeted by the organization. They oppose efforts to expand prevailing wage requirements and mandating regionally negotiated project labor agreements.

The group's energy position includes natural gas development. They want the state to revisit the ban on hydraulic fracturing.

Unshackle Upstate was one of the business groups that supported natural gas drilling until the Cuomo administration acted to block hydraulic fracturing in New York.

Ride-sharing is also on Unshackle Upstate's agenda. The group supports allowing transportation network companies, such as Uber and Lyft, to operate in upstate.

Right now, Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing companies aren't allowed to operate outside of New York City. There are no regulations in place for these companies to provide services in upstate cities.

Other proposals in Unshackle Upstate's 2017 agenda:

 Ending the use of wage boards to alter the state's minimum wage rate

 Reducing taxes for small businesses that file using the personal income tax

 Making the property tax cap, which was enacted in 2011, permanent

 Re-empaneling Cuomo's Mandate Relief Council

 Eliminate the state's highway use tax, which Unshackle Upstate describes as an "onerous, antiquated tax"

 Regulatory reform, including annualization and Scaffold Law reform

 Reducing health care taxes, assessments and surcharges that cost consumers $4.6 billion in 2015, including the HCRA surcharge and the covered lives assessment

Unshackle Upstate advocated for the reforms in the aftermath of last year's budget, which included a $15 minimum wage and the establishment of a state paid family leave program.

Biryla said this year, proposals that increase taxes and adversely impact businesses should be rejected.

"Revitalizing the upstate economy must be the top priority for our leaders in Albany," he said. "We're ready to work with Governor Cuomo and the Legislature to achieve this critical goal."
The Columbia County Marine Patrol will be holding free boat inspections Feb. 4 at the Scappoose Bay Marina, 57420 Old Portland Road, in Warren, Oregon. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 pm. Inspections generally take ten minutes or less.

Its never a good time when a boater finds out they need to carry something when theyre in the middle of their activity, said Sergeant Phil Edwards in a press release. Doing boat inspections ahead of time makes things easier for the boater and gives law enforcement a chance to make sure theyre in compliance before they get underway.

When a boat passes an inspection, the Marine Deputy will give the boater a Marine Board Law Enforcement Examination sticker to affix to the boat, leading to fewer on-the-water stops for compliance checks. For more information about equipment requirements and other waterway regulations, visit www.boatoregon.com.
The man who wrote on Facebook that local police needed a Dallas style massacre and threatened Cowlitz County Sheriff Mark Nelson pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of harassment.

Nelson forgave the man at a sentencing hearing and said, I do want the best for him.

Prosecutors originally charged Jordan Hotchkiss, 38, of Longview with two counts of felony harassment and cyberstalking. On July 28 last year, Hotchkiss posted to his public Facebook wall a photo of Nelson with the words Drop dead mother (expletive). He also asked people on Facebook where Nelson and other cops lived and posted a photo of who he erroneously thought was Nelsons daughter.

I curse you with the pain of a thousand souls, may Satan himself, take your familys life, and rid your seed from the world forever, he wrote of Nelson.

He also wrote that local police needed to die and encouraged people to kill officers when they were on or off duty.

Hotchkiss had been served an eviction notice earlier, which had Nelsons name on it (its part of the responsibility of the sheriffs office to serve the eviction notices).

Through a plea deal, Hotchkiss avoided trial and pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment, which are gross misdemeanors. Superior Court Judge Stephen Warning then sentenced Hotchkiss to 181 days in jail. Hotchkiss already had served that much time while he waited for his case to move forward, so he was released from jail Tuesday after his guilty plea.

On Tuesday, Hotchkiss told Warning that he didnt mean to threaten the sheriff, though he understood why his statements could be construed that way.

Hotchkiss said he wrote the Facebook posts out of frustration for being evicted. It was the straw the broke the camels back, he said, after having been in and out of jail several times for traffic infractions.

Hotchkiss has convictions for felony drug possession, second-degree assault and taking a motor vehicle without the owners consent.

He said he loved and was proud of his home in Longview.

I felt very frustrated. I felt like I was innocent, thatd Id been exploited by the government, he told Warning. I felt like it struck too close to home. At this point, Im just at the mercy of the court. I want to found competent, do my time and get on with my life.

Earlier, thered been a dispute about Hotchkisss competency. The defenses expert witness evaluated Hotchkiss and found him not competent to stand trial. A state forensic evaluator from Western State Hospital found that Hotchkiss is schizophrenic, limiting his ability to assist in his defense.

But Hotchkiss and his defense attorney John Chambers both agreed he was competent. Deputy Prosecutor Jason Laurine told Warning that the state evaluator was not sure she could actually make the case that he was incompetent to help his defense.

Sheriff Nelson, speaking in court Tuesday, forgave Hotchkiss, whom hes known for years through Hotchkisss mother, a fellow church member. Though he said he took the threats seriously, Nelson told Hotchkiss he wished him the best.

I am concerned about this young man and where he goes from here, Nelson told Warning. I wish the best for you. I truly do. I want to see you get where I know you can be, Nelson told Hotchkiss.
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American plane maker Boeing Corporation today launched the Boeing India Engineering & Technology Center in Bengaluru. The centre will employ hundreds of locals who will work to support Boeing, including its information technology & data analytics, engineering, research and technology, and tests, the company said in a statement.

The company did not specify how many people the centre will hire or the investment gone into the facility. "The centre will leverage a talented pool of employees to increase productivity and long-term competitiveness to support Boeing's engineering growth in strong global markets like India," Boeing India president Pratyush Kumar said.

In India we see a true path towards a mutual partnership for success, and the launch of this centre is a major step in that direction, he added. "Our IT has been working here with tier-1 suppliers for many years," Ted Colbert, Boeing chief information officer and a senior vice-president said, adding the new centre is instrumental in promoting our digital transformation by utilising India's talent seamlessly with our global teams

The centre will undertake high quality technology- driven work to support areas as diverse as the development of advanced environment-friendly coatings, data analytics for next generation airplane health management tools, software tools for airlines and airports to reduce their costs, and automation for more efficient next gen manufacturing, and analytics.

Boeing has been active in the country for the past 75 years primarily with a commercial plane. More recently, its military aircraft and services business are playing an important role in the defence forces.

PTI
tech2 News Staff

China is planning to build a state of the art synchrotron radiation facility in Beijing. The news comes from Chinese Academy of Sciences which is the country's top research institutes. Dubbed the Beijing Light Source, it will meet national security demands and help research into aerospace materials along with other products. It will also be a boon to the medical industry.

The project is expected to start construction in November 2018 and will complete within six years. The total investment is expected to reach 4.8 billion yuan ($698.4 million).

It will be called the Beijing Light Source as it will create the brightest X-rays in the world. It will be 70 times brighter than the US National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) and 10 times brighter than Sweden's MAX IV which is currently the strongest. It will be the fourth generation light source, and its performance would be higher than the third-generation designs.

Using bright X-rays scientists can do research on measuring atomic structure of various substances. Higher brightness helps to see more details of substances.

China currently has light sources ranging from first generation to third generation in Beijing, Anhui province, and Shanghai. There are more than 50 such facilities worldwide providing support in many research fields. The bright light source also helps in the medical field, helping researchers know mechanisms of tumours and cerebrovascular diseases.
tech2 News Staff

Cisco Systems has struck a deal to buy software company AppDynamics for $3.7 billion. The buyout happened in just the nick of time as AppDynamics was expected to sell off its shares to the public at a valuation of $1.9 billion. This is one the largest deal for Cisco in recent years as the company is looking at growing beyond its core networking business.

Founded in 2008, AppDynamics develops software to help companies monitor their mobile apps and websites for bugs and fix them before customers drop off. The company generated revenue of $158.4 million in the first nine months of 2016, up 54 percent from the prior year. It was gearing up to become the first tech company to go public this year. Just yesterday bankers had valued AppDynamics at as high as about $2 billion. However, Cisco agreed to pay about $26 a share which was well above the companys original price range of $10 to $12 a share.

"The fact that they were in their IPO process represented a window where we needed to make a decision. From a strategic perspective, this is a company that Cisco has had its eye on for some time," said Rob Salvagno, Vice president of corporate development, Cisco.

The deal is a mix of cash and equity awards and is the largest acquisition for Cisco and expected to close in Cisco's fiscal third quarter. Its last big buyout was security company Sourcefire for $2.7 billion in back in 2013.
tech2 News Staff

As far as the field of computer engineering is concerned, AI is the only way forward today. Google has decided to help out the Maker community on this front by building a set of AI tools for the Raspberry Pi.

Yes, that 1.2GHz ARMv8, 1GB RAM toting, credit card-sized computer is expected to run AI tools.

Google is currently running a survey of Raspberry Pi owners to determine the tools that theyd like.

Given Googles interest in IoT, and the announcement of the Android-based Things platform, AI tools for ultra-low power devices is just what Google needs anyway.

Gaining a free test bed for such tools is good for Google and great for the community as a whole.

In the survey, Google says, Hi, makers! Thank you for taking the time to take our survey. We at Google are interested in creating smart tools for makers, and want to hear from you about what would be most helpful. As a thank you, we will share our findings with the community so that you can learn more about makers around the world.

The Raspberry Pi is by far the most popular miniature PC for DIY projects. Even Microsoft has specifically developed a free version of Windows 10 for the platform.
JORDAN  Amy Valentine's eyes widened as she addressed the assembly of 3-year-olds before her at prekindergarten class at Jordan-Elbridge Middle School Thursday morning.

"Hello, boys and girls," Valentine said. "You all did a fantastic job of putting your things away!"

A couple minutes later, Valentine explained to the children that she was going to put her fist against her hip while saying "Hip, hip!" and then raise her hand when she said "Hooray!" She demonstrated, and the group did the same.

The Jordan-Elbridge Central School District and the Auburn Enlarged City School District were two of 25 districts that were announced in November as recipients of a total of $10.4 million from the state in an effort to extend pre-K services to 3-year-old children.

District Superintendent James Froio said the grant award given by the state was $7,000 per child, and is paid for by student enrollment. The state gave the district $510,912, based on the program's 72-student maximum. It will continue to receive the grant on an annual basis indefinitely.

Jordan-Elbridge's program started Jan. 17, while Auburn's kicked off Monday. Jordan-Elbridge Middle School Principal David Shafer said the district hurried to modify a part of the school for it.

"We literally had eight weeks to do this, and we used all our own people to do it," Schafer said.

Froio said the wing the program is run in  which includes several lockers adorned with children's book titles like "Where the Wild Things Are" on them, plus other facilities  was originally built in 1928. There are two classrooms with one teacher and an aide each, plus a roaming aide.

Froio said the program has several benefits for the 32 children attending, including lessons regarding socialization, teamwork, knowing things are fun and other fundamental elements of the human experience that they will use for the rest of their lives.

"It's such a great opportunity to socialize in an awesome environment with fantastic people," Froio said.

Froio said he noticed massive differences in how Jordan-Elbridge's newest students behaved on the first day of the program and how they acted on the following day, saying that they already began assembling in lines and forming in circles on the carpet in the classroom when they hadn't previously.

Froio praised the patience and skill of Valentine and the other certified instructor, Abby Hartwell, admiring their appreciation for what they do.

"They love it, they just love it, and they are super excited to be there," Froio said.

Auburn's Director of Early Learning Kelly Garback said six agencies, including the YMCA and the E. John Gavras Center, will be hosting the programs for 3-year-olds. The district was given $820,384 for the program, according to the state's website.

The program is open for 125 children, and the only agency that is still taking children is the Gavras center.

"The response of the enrollment from the community and families has been phenomenal," Garback said. "It just shows the significant need we have in our community for programs like this."
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Idea Cellular has moved Delhi High Court against Trai's recommendation to impose penalty of Rs 950 crore on the telecom firm for allegedly not providing interconnection to Reliance Jio (RJio), even as DoT said the plea was premature.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) claimed before a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal that Idea's petition was not maintainable as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had only given a recommendation. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, appearing for DoT, opposed maintainability of the plea, saying it was premature since no action had been taken yet on the telecom regulator's October 21, 2016 recommendation.

He said once DoT takes a decision, it could be an appealable order only then.

The bench, thereafter, issued notice to Trai and DoT and asked them to file affidavits on the issue of maintainability of Idea's plea before the next date of hearing on February 21. Idea, in its plea, has claimed that it has complied with and met the requirements of RJio for points of interconnections (PoIs).

It has said that as of January 19 this year, it has allocated 19,175 PoIs to RJio and contended that congestion and call failures were a consequence of RJio's "gross underestimation" of the volume, traffic and duration of calls on its network due to its free voice calls and data offer. In its plea, Idea has also contended that there is inconsistency between Trai's Interconnection Regulations and Quality of Service Regulations.

In December last year, Vodafone had challenged Trai's recommendation to DoT to impose Rs 1050 crore penalty on it on RJio's complaint. Vodafone had contended in its plea that Trai did not have the power to recommend imposition of penalty and can only recommend revocation of licence for breach of licence conditions.

The matter is pending before another bench of the high court where the DoT and Trai have contended that the plea was not maintainable. Trai had recommended imposition of Rs 50 crore penalty per circle on Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, which came to Rs 1050 crore each on the first two for their 21 circles and Rs 950 crore on the third for 19 circles.

The regulatory authority was of the view that denial of interconnection by existing operators like Airtel, Idea and Vodafone, to RJio "appears to be with the ulterior motive to stifle competition and is anti-consumer".

PTI

Disclaimer: Reliance Jio is owned by Reliance Industries, who also own Network18, the publisher of Firstpost and tech2.
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Union minister P P Chaudhary today said that institutes like NIEIT will help Rajasthan grow in the electronics and IT sector and contribute to India's digital ambitions. The union minister of state for electronics and IT further was in the city to take part in an event here. Rajasthan has made commendable progress in contributing to India s digital dream, he said.

More than 40,000 students of the state are connected with E-Mitra's common service centres, which is an achievement itself, said Chaudhary. He said his ministry wants the state to grow by leaps and bounds in electronics and IT sector and institutes like National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIEIT) are established here.

NIEIT has an important role in chasing digital India dream, digital literacy, Make in India and skill India. "The institutes have worked tremendously towards digital literacy, and we want to increase NIEIT existence in other states like Rajasthan," he added. The focus towards IT and electronics sector is part of a larger push under Digital India where government is trying to build infrastructure that leverages latest technology. States like Kerala and West Bengal are building up databases to make sure that the people in those states can benefit from technology.

With inputs from PTI
tech2 News Staff

News of Nokia branded smartphones is pouring in at quite a rate since HMD Global acquired the rights to Nokias brand name. The first phone under this new regime was the Chinese-exclusive Nokia 6. Now were hearing rumours of the arrival of yet another Nokia phone called the Nokia Heart.

GizChina spotted a listing for the device on benchmarking site GFXBench and as you can see, the specs suggest a smaller, cheaper smartphone than the Nokia 6.

The listing indicates a phone running Andorid 7.0 (Woohoo!), an octa-core Snapdragon 430 SoC (the same that youd find on the Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime), 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 12MP rear camera with Full HD recording capabilities (1080p) and a 7MP front camera with Full HD video capabilities as well. The display appears to be a 5.2-inch HD display (1280x720).

It also appears to be a single SIM phone, but we cant be sure.

Strangely enough, when compared to the Nokia 6, the Heart appears to be faster. Its quite likely the higher resolution screen on the Nokia 6 (Full HD) is hurting its performance numbers.

The Nokia 6 features the same Snapdragon 430 as the Heart, but has double the RAM at 4GB and 64GB of internal storage. It also has a larger 5.5-inch screen with Full HD resolution, a 16MP rear camera and supports micro SD cards up to 256GB in capacity.

In its current configuration, the Nokia Heart will be going head-to-head with the likes of the Redmi 3S Prime. The Prime offers more RAM (3GB), more internal storage (32GB), but a slightly smaller screen at 5.0-inches. The 3S Prime retails for Rs 8,999.

No other details of the Nokia Heart are known. Theres not even an image of the device.
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Google I/O 2017 will be held from 17 May to 19 May this year at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View. Google started posting cryptic clues about the dates on Google Developers Google Plus page. The official Google I/O website is still not updated yet. The website only shows the text 'Check back soon for more details' along with a motion graphic in the middle.

Around the world, from here to there, to the most clever minds, the secret will share. #googledevs #savethedate https://t.co/0zwCbSLzVy pic.twitter.com/0O2vNDWZx2  Google Developers (@googledevs) January 24, 2017

The cryptic clues took users and developers across five different websites as well as five different places on Google Maps. The first clue from the Google Plus post as well as the Tweet from the twitter account of 'Google Developers' took the users to a hidden website, savethedate.foo/. This website gave more details about the entire puzzle and directed you to a GitHub repository. The GitHub repository gave coordinates to a remote location in Brazil.

The second puzzle linked to an unlisted YouTube video with captions that transcribed another set of locations. The third puzzle gives a location for a place in Warsaw, Poland and the fourth puzzle lands you to Thailand with the help of a riddle in a corrupted image as reported by Android Police. The final location of the event was figured out by assigning the names of the countries to positions on a chess board while adding or subtracting from the letter values giving us "L IN E THEATRE SHO RE AM P H I."

The company announced a host of things at the Google I/O 2016 ranging from Daydream VR, Google Allo, Google Duo, Google Home and now-canned Project Ara. We can expect new updates to Android and its move to other platforms, possible towards self-driving platforms.
Solidifying his anti-Israel legacy, Obama gave the Palestinian Authority a massive monetary gift, in defiance of Congress.



Former US President Barack Obama, in his waning hours, quietly released $221 million to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which Congress had been blocking.



A State Department official and several congressional aides said the outgoing administration formally notified Congress it would spend the money Friday morning. The official said former Secretary of State John Kerry had informed some lawmakers of the move shortly before he left the State Department for the last time Thursday. The aides said a written notification dated January 20 was sent to Congress just hours before Donald Trump took the oath of office.



In addition to the $221 million for the Palestinians, the Obama administration also told Congress on Friday that it was going ahead with the release of another $6 million in foreign affairs spending, including $4 million for climate change programs and $1.25 million for United Nations organizations, the congressional aides said.

Just hours before his term of office expired, Barack Obama pulled another nasty trick - giving $221 million to the PLO - in complete disobedience of Congress:Giving taxpayers' money to the UN for any program is just as awful, but for now, what matters is that Obama again gave money to the PLO that's bound to be used to fund terrorist activities among other anti-Israel and anti-infidel steps. An absolute disgrace, and no telling if the Trump administration will ever be able to get the money back from them. Obama certainly kept up his reprehensible positions till the bitter end.

Labels: anti-americanism, anti-semitism, dhimmitude, islam, Israel, jihad, Moonbattery, political corruption, terrorism, UN corruption, United States, US Congress
AUBURN  A resolution asking the Auburn Enlarged City School District to publicly oppose President Donald Trump's choice for secretary of education failed.

The resolution, which was proposed by board of education member Eli Hernandez, did not go through, with a 3-3 vote at a board meeting at Auburn High School Tuesday night.

Ian Phillips, the chairman of the Cayuga County Democratic Committee and organizer for the New York State United Teachers union, spoke during the public comments section of the meeting, arguing that nominee Betsy DeVos lacked the qualifications for the position in the president's cabinet.

"I ask you to propose a resolution opposing this reckless appointment," Phillips said.

Phillips drew on his three years as a teacher in Detroit public schools in Michigan  where DeVos is based  saying that education policies DeVos had pushed tried to harm public schools.

Board member William Andre said he strongly opposes the appointment, citing what he argued was DeVos' lack of knowledge of the educational system and a history of backing charter schools and opposing public schools.

"If charter schools become a bigger player, we have less money and we still have to run the same program and buildings we have now," Andre said.

Board President Michael McCole, who along with board members Kathleen Rhodes and Fred Cornelius voted against the resolution, said after the meeting he doesn't think a public entity should take a political side in these types of situations.

"I don't believe a non-partisan entity like a board of education should take a partisan stand on a political issue," McCole said.

DeVos is known for her approval of charter schools.

"You read about her and her policies and they are very, very disturbing," Andre said.

A decision to vote on the resolution at the end of the meeting was approved before the resolution itself was defeated. Joining Andre in support were Hernandez and Monika Salvage.
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Modi, Trump discuss SAsia security; vow to fight terror

Agencies, Washington :

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump discussed the security situation in South and Central Asia during their phone conversation on Tuesday night and resolved that India and US will "stand shoulder to shoulder" to fight global terrorism, the White House said.

Strengthening defence partnership was among topics that came up during their talks about furthering cooperation between the two nations, according to the White House.

"Trump emphasised that the United States considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said.

This was reflected in the fact that conversation between the leaders of the world's two greatest democracies came before Trump had talked to leaders of important allies like Britain, Germany and Japan or major powers like China and Russia since formally taking office last Friday.

During his campaign, Trump praised Modi as a "great leader" and sought a kinship of ideas with him as a "pro-growth leader" when he attended a rally organised by the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) in New Jersey in October. He added that after his election India would have true friend in the White House.

White House said that Trump invited Modi to visit him later this year.

President Pranab Mukherjee invited Trump to visit India when he congratulated him on assuming the presidency. The real estate investor-turned-politician has visited India several times for business.

Another topic Trump and Modi discussed was strengthening the partnership in the economy, but the statement did not give any details of what they might have discussed.

Modi and Trump have parallel priorities of job creation, especially through manufacturing, and increasing investments which may appear headed for a collision.

Earlier in the day, Trump met with auto industry leaders to to promote his programme of "Make in America" and on Monday, he met union and industry leaders and emphasised his campaign mantra of "Buy American, Hire American".

Shalabh Kumar, the founder and head of the Republican Hindu Coalition who is close to both leaders, told IANS that trade need not be a zero sum game and both nations can mutually benefit from their respective "Make in India" and "Make in America" domestic manufacturing programmes.

As an example, he said that while the US increases manufactured exports to India in defence, technology and energy sectors, India will have an opportunity to take advantage of Trump's move away from China and increase its own manufactured exports in a balanced manner. This would help create jobs in both countries and enable both leaders to achieve their priorities, he added.

Trump has also spoken about limiting the use of temporary professional visas known as H1-B, which he has repeatedly said is abused and is used throw Americans out of jobs.

That is a matter of great concern for India as the visas are the lifeblood of technology sector exports to the US.
Israel plans more than 2,500 new settler homes to start Trump era

Settlement plans an obstacle to peace: EU

A general view shows the Israeli settlement of Ramot in an area of the occupied West Bank that Israel annexed to Jerusalem.

Reuters, Jerusalem :

Israel announced plans on Tuesday for 2,500 more settlement homes in the occupied West Bank, the second such declaration since U.S. President Donald Trump took office signaling he could be more accommodating toward such projects than his predecessor.

A statement from the Israeli Defence Ministry, which administers lands Israel captured in a 1967 war, said the decision was meant to fulfil demand for new housing "to maintain regular daily life".

Most of the construction, it said, would be in existing settlement blocs that Israel intends to keep under any future peace agreement with the Palestinians. However, a breakdown provided by the prime minister's office showed large portions of the planned homes would be outside existing blocs.

Trump spoke by phone on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Tuesday, the new president's chief spokesman refrained from stating a position on the settlement announcement but said the two leaders would discuss settlement building when they meet in Washington next month.

Asked whether Trump supports the latest settlement announcement, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters: "Israel continues to be a huge ally of the United States. He wants to grow closer with Israel." Pressed again on the issue, he said: "We'll have a conversation with the prime minister."

The muted response from the Trump White House, which has promised an approach more aligned with Israel's government, was a clear departure from Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, whose aides routinely criticized settlement construction plans.

About 350,000 settlers live in the West Bank and a further 200,000 in East Jerusalem, which Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war. Beyond the major blocs, most of which are close to the border with Israel, there are more than 100 settlement outposts scattered across hilltops in the West Bank.

Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the Israeli announcement and said it would have "consequences". The West Bank and East Jerusalem are home to more than 2.6 million Palestinians.

"The decision will hinder any attempt to restore security and stability, it will reinforce extremism and terrorism and will place obstacles in the path of any effort to start a peace process that will lead to security and peace," he said.

Palestinians want the West Bank and Gaza Strip for an independent state, with its capital in East Jerusalem. Israeli troops and settlers withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

The European Union said Israel's settlement plans "further seriously undermine the prospects for a viable two-state solution".

Most countries consider settlements illegal and an obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace as they reduce and fragment the territory Palestinians need for a viable state.

Israel disagrees, citing biblical, historical and political connections to the land - which the Palestinians also assert - as well as security interests.

During the U.S. election campaign, Trump indicated he would dispense with Obama's opposition to settlement building, a stance that delighted Netanyahu's government. He was sworn in on Friday.
Police asked to deliver proper service to people

President Abdul Hamid posed for photograph with high police officials after a meeting with them on the occasion of Annual Police Week-2017 at Bangabhaban yesterday.

President Abdul Hamid yesterday asked the members of police force to deliver proper service, developing further a people-friendly attitude as "protector of law".

"Your main responsibility is to ensure internal security of public life and property, establish the rule of law, combat terrorism and militancy," he told senior police officials at a meeting on the occasion of Annual Police Week-2017 at Bangabhaban.

But, he said, the police force must uphold "human rights" and "democratic values" in delivering their services with a pro-people and people-friendly attitude.

"Getting the security of life and property is the right of people, it is not a matter of mercy," the president said.

President Hamid recalled Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's first Police Week's speech when he had asked police personnel to "serve, love and help people in their time of difficulty".

The President said the police had a crucial role in the national development as well as "internal peace and discipline is the prerequisite to the development of the country".

He lauded police's role in clamping down terrorism or militancy and quickly exposing the culprits to justice in many sensational cases to build confidence among the common people.

The president noted police's outstanding contribution to the UN peacekeeping missions abroad "upholding the image of the Bangladesh in the world arena".

He suggested police to increase efficiency and knowledge in information and communication technology (ICT) and other techniques particularly to curb cyber crimes.

"Effective measures must be taken to combat crimes identifying the pattern of the area-based crimes," he said.

He asked policemen to be firm in discharging their duties to establish social peace and justice.

"You must ensure that no criminal can get rid of justice while no innocent person is exposed to unnecessary harassment," the President added.

He drew police officers attention to the changing nature of terrorism and militancy exceeding national boundaries and asked them to increase their capability to face the global phenomenon of terrorism.

He also suggested increased initiatives for enhanced people's involvement in combating militancy through an intensified mass awareness campaign.

President Hamid, however, praised the police success so far in curbing terrorism and militancy also noting that their performance earned appreciation both nationally and internationally.

"Drug abuse has also become a worldwide problem. You have to be more responsible to free the society form the menace as part of your social responsibility as well," Hamid said.

He also underscored the need for mass people's involvement in the community policing to prevent crimes at community level.

President Hamid told police officials to take pragmatic steps to free at least one upazila in each district or one union within each Upazila to save youngsters from the clutches of drug abuse.

He hoped that local people, their representatives and other concerned would provide all-out cooperation in this regard.

Referring to women policing as well as women empowerment, the president said "we are proud of our women members in the Bangladesh Police".

"Father of the Nation first took initiative through recruiting 14 women in police department in 1974 and the number is increasing day by day," he said.



President Hamid also thanked all award winners who got Bangladesh Police Medal (BPM) and President Police Medal (PPM) for their outstanding contribution and heroic role in their respective services.



He hoped that all members of Bangladesh Police will work with utmost honesty, sincerity and dedication with the spirit of 1971 Liberation War to build a society based on democratic values, equity, justice and humanity to ensure 'Sonar Bangla' as dreamt by Father of the Nation.



Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, senior secretary of the home ministry Mozammel Haque Khan, and IGP AKM Shahidul Hoque, among other, were present on the occasion.




UN envoy warns of renewed reprisal on Rohingyas

THE United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar today warned about possible reprisals against Rohingyas during her recent visit to the country. Yanghee Lee, the expert, said in a press statement issued in Geneva today, as per reports of dailies.



She further mentioned that it was particularly alarming to learn that the security forces' counter operations in the villages of Maungdaw north in Rakhine State has reportedly been resumed following a brief lull, with raids conducted in several villages including nearby the villages she had visited, as per the report. Even in Myitkyina, the capital of the state and home to over 300,000 people, residents are afraid - and now stay home after dark, as per her statements.



There are further allegations of arbitrary arrests and detention in relation to the latest reported raids, she added. She was especially dismayed to note the feelings of optimism and hope appearing to slowly fade among the ordinary people just after one year when the whole country was elated with the outcome of the last general elections, according to a UN press release issued in Geneva.



She also noted the video clip that went viral of the Myanmar police personnel beating up men and children who were rounded up during the security operations, and highlighted the possibility that such treatment of local population might not be an isolated incident but rather a more common practice. She emphasised the importance for the security forces to always act within the parameters of the rule of law and in compliance with human rights and that it would be crucial for the government to combat the apparent climate of impunity.



All of her statements have been known as facts to the world for quite sometime. Decades of systematic and institutionalized discrimination against the Rohingya remain responsible for some of them carrying out attacks of terror against the visible targets of their oppressors - the police and armed forces. Violence can only breed violence, and terror will spread further terror.



Therefore the root cause of the attacks of terror against the Myanmar government apparatus must be checked - and that remains the deep seated discrimination present against the Rohingya today. Will it be possible for Suu Kyi to stand up and end this - or will she remain a pawn beholden to the army and public opinion - only time will tell. But it should be understood by the Myanmar government that the time to end all this is now - if they cant act to stop the discrimination and hope for some miracle to stop the violence all of this will continue in a cycle of vicious perpetuity.
Terrorist held from CRB area with arms

Chittagong Bureau :

Detective Branch police under CMP rounded up one terrorist alongwith arms from CRB area under Kotwali thana in city on Monday night.

The terrorist identified as Md. Shaon alias Dhakaiya Shaon (21). Police recovered one LG with 2 rounds cartridges from his possession. Acting secret information, DB police conducted raid in the area and managed to apprehend him .

DB Inspector Md. Alamgir told the media that the terrorist Shaon is involved with the arms trading since long in Chittagong and a number of criminal case now shouldering with different police stations A case under Arms act has been lodged with the concerned police station, sources said.


Syrian girl appeals to Trump to help her people

Middle East Eye :

Seven-year-old Syrian girl Bana al-Abed, who came to international attention with her tweets giving a tragic account of the war in Aleppo, has written an open letter to new US President Donald Trump.

In her letter Bana, who was evacuated from the besieged city to Turkey in December, appealed to Trump to help the children of Syria, the BBC reported Tuesday.

"I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war," she wrote, according to a transcript of the letter her mother sent to the BBC. She told Trump her school in Aleppo was destroyed by the bombing and some of her friends had died.

"Right now in Turkey, I can go out and enjoy. I can go to school although I didn't yet. That is why peace is important for everyone including you. "However, millions of Syrian children are not like me right now and suffering in different parts of Syria," she wrote. "You must do something for the children of

Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you." At least 15,000 children are among the more than 300,000 people who have been killed in Syria's six-year war between President Bashar al-Assad's government and rebel forces. Through her personal descriptions of life in besieged Aleppo on her @AlabedBana Twitter account, Bana became a symbol of the tragedy unfolding in Syria, although the government had slammed her and her mother's nearly daily tweets as propaganda. Turkey, which backs the Syrian rebels, is hosting some 2.7 million refugees from the conflict. Syrian rebels and Assad's government are holding peace talks in Kazakhstan but there have been no signs of a breakthrough. Trump's administration was invited to participate in the talks organised by key players Russia, Turkey and Iran but did not send a delegation. Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer said on Monday that the new US president was open to conducting joint operations with Russia to combat the Islamic State group, which controls significant territory in northern Syria.


Cayuga County Real Property Services is helping two area towns fill a tax assessor gap through a joint services agreement.

Real Property Director Kelly Anderson said the office has been working with the town of Niles and the town of Moravia, providing tax assessment services after both found their assessor positions vacant. As an appointed position, the current term for tax assessors runs through Sept. 30, 2019. Anderson said through New York's real property tax law, the county can step in and take on those services should the towns request help.

"There are individuals in my office who will be filling that function (of tax assessor)," Anderson said. "They continue to work as county employees, but they also have the hours in which they will be available in the towns. It gives the taxpayer more services, because instead of being able to reach their assessor a few hours a week or a few hours a month, they have a few options."

Anderson explained that Niles and Moravia residents can visit their town halls during the assessor's office hours, or call the county's office during business hours. Joan Jayne, supervisor for the town of Niles, said the agreement with the county is in its second year, and it's going well so far.

"(The assessor) is available to us five days a week, whether she is in this office or in the county, and I think the community has found that very helpful," Jayne said. "I'm hoping that more towns take advantage of the resources we have with Cayuga County because it not only helps us, it helps them as well. It will just help each town, and help the county grow."

And that's what the town of Moravia did, too. Town Clerk Carol Wood said their assessor left in an effort to downsize the number of towns she covered. Rather than go through the process of appointing a new person, Wood said they reached out to the county.

"We heard good things from them (the town of Niles), so we thought, 'Let's see if we can do the same thing,'" Wood said. "They agreed, and so far so good."

Anderson said the town of Niles pays about $20,000 per year for the service, and the town of Moravia pays about $18,000 per year. The difference between the two is based on the office hours provided on site and how much work needs to be done to bring the various files into compliance. If either side is unhappy with how things are going, Anderson added, the contract can be terminated. There's also an active review process at the end of each year to help determine if the towns wish to continue working with the county, or wish to hire their own assessor.

And while Anderson is encouraged by how the work is going with the two towns, she said it's not a service Real Property plans to take over countywide. Already she is considering the need for another part-time person in her office.

"It's gone very well so far," Anderson said. "The county is certainly not looking to take over and create a countywide assessing environment, or doing it for them. It's more of the towns contacting the county if they have a need, and assessing whether we can meet that need."
JS body wants tough action

Sagar Biswas :

Expressing severe discontent, a Parliamentary watchdog has asked the government to ensure tough action against the persons responsible for 'a number of anomalies and blunders' in the textbooks prepared by National Curriculum and Textbook Board [NCTB].

Apart from the above recommendation, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on education ministry in its meeting at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on Wednesday also formed a sub-committee to scrutinize the mistakes, and determines its adverse impact in the education sector.

The sub-committee will be headed by Shamsul Haque Chowdhury, MP, while two other members are Ali Azam, MP, and Mohammad Elias, MP, officials said. Presided over by Chairman of the committee Motahar Hossain, MP, the meeting was also attended, among others, by AKM Zahagir Hossain, MP, Shamsul Haque Chowdhury, MP, Nazrul Islam Babu, MP, Md Abul Kalam, MP, Ali Azam, MP, Mohammad Elias, MP and Umme Razi Kajol, MP.

The government on January 1 started distributing about 36.21 crore copies of textbooks among 4.26 crore students of pre-primary, primary and secondary students. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the book distributing occasion with huge enthusiasm.

But the effort was thwarted, when a number of errors and anomalies, including spelling mistakes, wrong arrangements of paragraphs and omission of articles, were found in the books. The issue had hit the headlines of mainstream media; and as well the errors went viral on the social media creating an embarrassing situation for the government.

"The JS body in the meeting asked the concerned ministry to collect necessary information from the field-administration level about the mistakes in the text books. We're getting scattered information about the errors and anomalies through the newspapers. But it needs full and impartial report over the issue," AKM Zahagir Hossain, MP, who was present in the meeting, said.

"The JS body in the meeting again gave proposal to form a separate education board for the primary level and also constituting another organization, like NCTB, to prepare textbooks and other necessary things for the primary students," he noted.

There are widespread allegations that the text books also contained several chapters and photographs those are highly communal and also against the spirit of Liberation War 1971.

In this situation, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid recently said: "There is no doubt that there are mistakes in the textbooks. To err is human. But we have to be sincere more in future. We'll take steps about the mistakes made in the school textbooks after submission of the probe report."

Against this backdrop, two NCTB officials were made officers on special duty [OSD] following the preliminary investigation by education ministry in the wake of widespread criticism.

Meanwhile, the Sammilita Sangskritik Jote yesterday called for a greater movement across the country with the cooperation of social-cultural-professional organizations to resist the textbook curriculum that are spreading anti-Liberation ideology.

Eminent journalist Kamal Lohani said: "We've passed 45 years after the independence. So, we've to seriously think how the differences of thinking come in the textbooks. We'll intensify our demand for a universal one-way education system."

On the other hand, columnist Abul Maksud has recommended to arrange a public hearing in presence of textbook publishers, editors and examiners to overcome the present crisis.

Giving 72-hour ultimatum to education ministry, he further said, "If the ministry fails to give explanation about the inclusion of anti-Liberation subjects in the textbooks, then we'll understand that government is implementing the ideology of Hefazat-e Islami."


The Undead Archives

I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world.
The School Administrators Association of New York State announced Wednesday it is publicly opposing President Donald Trump's secretary of education selection, a statement that coincides with the Auburn Enlarged City School District Board of Education's rejection this week of a resolution against the nominee.

Ahead of the U.S. Senate Education Committee's vote to confirm billionaire Betsy DeVos or not, SAANYS sent out letters of opposition to U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand who has said that she would also stand against DeVos' appointment, according to a news release.

The statement said DeVos has failed to demonstrate knowledge on modern education. It also focused on DeVos' record on supporting school choice initiatives.

"It also appears that Ms. DeVos' nomination was advanced due to her focused work on school choice. School choice emerged on the educational landscape as a way to bring competition and marketplace strategies to public school systems, as if such strategies would be a panacea for improved educational outcomes. Instead, school choice promotes an environment where the interests of school children are forced to compete with the interests of shareholders," the organization said.

A resolution considered by the Auburn school board to make a similar stand was dismissed by a 3-3 vote at its meeting Tuesday.

The resolution in opposition was approved by board members William Andre, Eli Hernandez and Monika Salvage, while board President Michael McCole, Vice President Kathleen Rhodes and board member Frederick Cornelius voted against it. Board members Karol Soules, Jeffrey Gasper and Sam Giangreco weren't present at the meeting.

Andre said he fears public schools would be at a disadvantage against charter schools under DeVos.

"If charter schools become a bigger player, we have less money and we still have to run the same program and buildings we have now," Andre said.

Andre said the things he has read on Devos had him worried about her appointment.

"You read about her and her policies and they're very, very disturbing," Andre said.

"She is a very dangerous person to be running the state's education," he said.

Andre said he thinks concerns on the appointment go beyond political boundaries, saying he has been on the school board because he believes in public education. He noted his own children have been under the roof of public schools.

But in voting against the resolution, Rhodes emphasized the importance of non-board-member taxpayers' involvement on this issue.

"I don't think this something we as a school can take on, but it is something the public can take on,"Rhodes said.

McCole, despite disagreeing with DeVos' stances on public education, repeatedly warned against the resolution, which would cause the board to "delve into the minefield that is partisan politics in January of 2017," he said.

McCole said the issues in public education go beyond the appointment of one appointee who, he argued, doesn't hold any sway in Washington at the moment. McCole noted the board had never taken a side on a partisan argument before.

Cornelius said the board going forward with the resolution would appear as if it was taking a political side, no matter what the intentions were.

"We didn't (take on) party sponsorship when we we ran for the school board, you just don't do that," Cornelius said.

An agreement to vote on the resolution by the meeting's end was accepted before the fate of the actual resolution was decided on.
The Hilton brand is geared toward millennials and is expected to open in February 2018.

Lafayette is widely seen as a young city with a booming millennial market  the median age is but 34, according to the Lafayette Economic Development Authority  which is one of the reasons Hilton has chosen the Hub City to expand its latest brand, Tru Hotel. The 44,360-square-foot, 97-room hotel is expected to break ground at 1310 Camellia Blvd. during the first week of March, with a projected February 2018 opening.

According to developer Neal Patel of the AAA Hotel Company, the 1.5-acre property was purchased for $1 million, with the completed project is expected to come in at $5 million.

Its a new brand of Hilton, which is targeted toward millennials, Patel tells ABiz. Its scaled toward a new planned trendy area, and thats the reason we picked that area in particular in Lafayette with all of the new development going on there.

Patel says Hilton is trying to enter the local mid-scale market, where it didnt have a presence before.

We see that it will pull a lot of the millennial crowd out of some of the traditional hotels, because Hilton has researched exactly what millennial people need and what they dont need, says Patel.

And with keeping that in mind, Hilton came up with a price point so that they can afford this type of hotel where the research shows that we will only be providing what the guest needs, he adds. Were not providing anything extra on it, so that way the cost of renting the rooms stays in balance.

The four-story hotel is being designed by Houston-based architect Siddarth Parekh.

Tru Hotel will offer customers a lower price point for basic amenities like a swimming pool, fitness area, free breakfast area, game room and a gift shop area, but without other traditional amenities like a business center and banquet area.

This brand is actually a very stripped-down version, Parekh tells ABiz. They have removed a lot of those amenities because theyve researched and found that a lot of millennials dont use many of those features in a guest room.

While rooms will offer king and double beds, the individual size of the rooms will be smaller than traditional hotels at 11 feet by 21 feet compared to other hotels that usually have guest rooms that are 12 feet wide with a length of 29 -30 feet.

The rooms will also hold sofa chairs, luggage racks, mini-fridges and a 55 TV in comparison to the usual 42 TV that other traditional hotels offer.

The design of the building itself will also reflect the tastes of the millennial market.

The exterior elevations are very contemporary, says Parekh. All of the colors are contemporary. Theres greys, and theres a vertical band that has a lot of color in it like a yellow and blue kind of accent band.

The latest addition to Lafayettes growing bank of unique hotel brands comes on the heels of positive economic forecasts in the market from LEDA last fall.

According to LEDA, October 2016 hotel/motel receipts totaled $8.5 million, which is 7.1 percent higher than October 2015, while year-to-date hotel/motel receipts are essentially even with 2015  down by 0.02 percent or $11,000.

Read more about the Tru brand here.
Respected columnist joins Judge Jimmy N. Dimos, the Rev. Dr. T.J. Jemison Sr., late lobbyist Bud Mapes and West Monroe Mayor Dave N. Norris, all of whom will be inducted on March 11.

Jim Beam

The Louisiana Political Hall of Fame will recognize a new crop of inductees on March 11 at the annual event, which returns home to Winnfield this year after traveling offsite in 2016 for a special ceremony in Lafayette.

Its a diverse mix this go around, with a reporter, a lobbyist, a mayor and others joining the ranks at the political museum and hall of fame.

Being inducted as part of the 2017 class are Lake Charles American Press columnist Jim Beam, Judge Jimmy N. Dimos, Rev. Dr. T.J. Jemison Sr., late lobbyist Bud Mapes and West Monroe Mayor Dave N. Norris.

There are also some special awards this year:

 Crowley attorney Bill Broadhurst will receive the 2017 Friend of Edwin Edwards Award.

 Businessman Jimmy Gill Jr. will receive the 2017 Friend of Russell Long Award.

 Political consultant and author Gus Weill will receive the 2017 Friend of John McKeithen Award.

Read more about the inductees here.
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.
President Donald Trump is signing two executive orders in keeping with campaign promises to boost border security and crack down on immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

The president signed the two orders Wednesday during a ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security after honoring the department's newly confirmed secretary, retired Gen. John Kelly.

The executive orders jumpstart construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall, one of his signature campaign promises, and strip funding for so-called sanctuary cities, which don't arrest or detain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

This story will be updated.

---

Earlier report:

WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump will use his executive authority Wednesday to jumpstart construction of his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall, one of his signature campaign promises. He is also expected to target so-called sanctuary cities and potentially restrict the flow of refugees to the United States, according to administration officials.

The president will sign the first actions  including the measure authorizing work on the wall during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security Wednesday afternoon. He'll also move to increase the number of border patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

On his personal Twitter account Tuesday night, Trump tweeted: "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"

The president is said to still be weighing the details of plans to curb the number of refugees coming to the U.S. The current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as a temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim-majority countries, according to a source from a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues. The person was briefed on the details of that proposed action by a government official and outlined the plan to The Associated Press.

The officials and the public policy organization source insisted on anonymity in order to outline the plans ahead of the president's official announcements.

Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten U.S. immigration policies, including strengthening border security and stemming the flow of refugees. His call for a border wall was among his most popular proposals with supporters, who often broke out in chants of "build that wall" during rallies.

In response to terrorism concerns, Trump controversially called for halting entry to the U.S. from Muslim countries. He later turned to a focus on "extreme vetting" for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

While the specifics of Trump's orders were unclear, both administration officials said Wednesday's actions would focus in part on the president's plans to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico. He's also expected to move forward with plans to curb funding for cities that don't arrest or detain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally  localities dubbed "sanctuary" cities  which could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars.

Trump has insisted that Mexico will pay for construction of the border wall, though he has not detailed how he make that happen given the Mexican government's insistence that it will not cover the costs. Earlier this month, Trump said the building project would initially be paid for with a congressionally approved spending bill and Mexico would eventually reimburse the U.S.

Trump is expected to discuss the matter with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto when he visits the White House next week.

In claiming authority to build a wall, Trump may rely on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-President George W. Bush, and the majority of that fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office. The last remnants were completed after President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

The Trump administration also must adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built along the border. The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the U.S.-Mexico border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint U.S.-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.

Other executive actions expected Wednesday include ending what Republicans have labeled a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are released and given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

If Trump's actions result in those caught being immediately jailed, the administration would have to grapple with how to pay for additional jail space and what to do with children caught crossing the border with their parents.

It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still being finalized. The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the U.S. for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though the person cautioned the details could still change.

There is also likely to be an exception for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.

As president, Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing. Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.
The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now.

Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market.

In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender.

India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex.

Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted.

But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted?

Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner.

If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems.

I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now.

I want more variation in masturbation

I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own.

If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end.

What is sex toys for Indian?

Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation.

It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms.

They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable.

Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner.

The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner.

It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past.

In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping.

Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order.

In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing.

Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome.

Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own.

But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance.

More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around.

Sextoy situation in India

Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years.

In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India.

Mumbai

Kolkata

Bangalore

Delhi

Chennai

Hyderabad

These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India.

In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well.

If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too.

If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it.

What are Sextoys for beginner?

Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms.

Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy.

I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion.

I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy.

If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma.

Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it.

Advantages of using sextoy for Indians

There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians

You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways.

Can have stimulating sex

Can develop new sexual zones

If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern.

However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways.

You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation.

Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever.

There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure.

This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it.

When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems.

It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms).

For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles

[Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou...

Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India.

Sextoy for beginner men in India

So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners.

For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men!

The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men

Masturbator

Cock rings

Love Doll

Sex Lubricants

Toys for the prostate

Lets check each one in detail.

Masturbator

The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products.

It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands.

Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands.

They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.)

Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much.

Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! !

Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa   SEXToys India PR  (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018

Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood.

If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here

Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ...

[For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien...

Cock Ring

A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis.

It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow.

It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber.

In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection.

Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction.

It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it.

Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time.

Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function.

Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy.

You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect.

[Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat...

Love Doll

Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex.

There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women.

Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price.

The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true.

You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste.

There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice.

You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls.

If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here

Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to...

Sex lubricants

Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules.

It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution.

Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse.

There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent.

Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent.

If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here.

What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many...

Toys for the Prostate

Another sextoy for men is prostate toys.

The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line.

Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men.

Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men.

What is the prostate?

The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm.

You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus.

By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms.

Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.)

The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation.

Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure.

sextoy for beinner women in India

The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy.

The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy.

Vibrator.

Dildo

Electric Masserger

Lets check out what each one is in detail.

If you want to check out womens toys, click here.

[BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm...

Vibrators

A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator.

Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy.

It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy.

Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women.

For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators.

Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex.

Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself.

This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual.

Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men.

When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons.

Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most...

Dildo

A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis.

It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass.

A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it.

They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well.

It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device.

A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo.

Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands.

For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis.

This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one.

To learn more about dildo, please click here.

What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th...

Electric Masserger

A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores.

It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low.

Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels.

Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation.

It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure.

For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm.

It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out.

If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager?

To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here.

What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th...

How to choose a sextoy for Indian

Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one.

Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points:  Does the size fit you (the partner)?

Does the size fit you (your partner)?

Is the environment able to produce sound without problems?

Price range

First of all, the choice of size is quite important.

Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women.

For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage.

Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems.

Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise.

If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level.

Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it.

Finally, there is the price range.

The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest.

Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy.

Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy?

I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance.

For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics.

If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out.

How to buy sextoys in India

The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping.

For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below.

Sextoy is one of them.

Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping.

SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India.

They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry.

Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card.

To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy.

ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal.

Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on.

Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture.

Cautions for Indians using sextoy

When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind

Keep sex toys clean

Watch out for electrical leakage

Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy

As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone.

Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there.

It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case.

In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness.

Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful.

If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it.

You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly.

Summary

What did you think?

In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India.

The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future.

As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values.

However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health.

If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try?

Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women.

I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it.
Codell Rodriguez Codell Rodriguez is the night editor for The Southern Illinoisan, and he writes a movie column for Scene618. Follow Codell Rodriguez 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

Welp, I'm still lazy. Still haven't gone to the movies and I haven't had much motivation to, despite some seemingly great choices. I'm watching the Syfy series, "The Expanse," on Amazon streaming right now, but I haven't finished it, so I can't write about it.

Well, I have to write about something, so you get "Grantchester."

Yup, still on Amazon this week. Nothing deep here. I was in a mood and I decided to distract myself with this British series about a young vicar in a 1950s village that has to have the most astronomical murder rate outside of the small Maine community where "Murder, She Wrote" is set or the Wyoming county where "Longmire" takes place.

I watched the first and second season, following the Rev. Sidney Chambers (James Norton), a charming young World War II veteran who's haunted by his time in combat and a woman he loves who's just out of reach. He likes to drink and listen to jazz. He's the first to admit he's no saint, but his strength and kindheartedness make him invaluable to his friends.

His cleverness helps as well, as he teams up with crotchety detective Geordie Keating (Robson Green) to solve murders and other crimes. Why is a vicar allowed to be a detective's unofficial police partner? I don't know. Just turn your brain off when you ask yourself that and enjoy the ride.

The other characters are great, too. Sidney's stern and ultra-religious housekeeper, Mrs. Chambers, comes off as cold, but proves to be a warm supportive figure when she needs to be. Al Weaver plays the fidgety curate Leonard Finch, a closeted gay man who struggles with keeping his true self hidden, but is extremely compassionate, even to those who would hate him if they knew his secret.

Surprisingly, the show deals with some current-day hot-button issues, while delivering always interesting mysteries. While I loved Season 1, I have to say, Season 2 may have been even better as we see Sidney struggle with a season-long struggle of fighting for a teenage boy on death row, accused of murdering his girlfriend, though Sidney is convinced it was a terrible accident. Sidney's compassion puts him at odds with Geordie and, really the whole community. It was a great, longer story line in the backdrop of the weekly mysteries.

It's an entertaining show for young and old, and I give it a high recommendation.

Now leave me alone, so I can finish "The Expanse" and gush about its Cold War inspirations set against an awesome science fiction backdrop next week.
CARBONDALE  The Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon in Carbondale joins others across the country in abruptly shutting its doors without comment from the companys corporate headquarters in Plano, Texas.

The Western-themed steakhouse that created a niche catering to middle-class steak lovers has been a fixture on East Main Street in Carbondale for years.

A sign on the Carbondale restaurants door states that it was closed as of this past Friday.

No one answered the phone on Wednesday at the Carbondale location, at 1160 E. Main St., or at the corporate headquarters of Texas-based Day Star Restaurant Group, which acquired Lone Star Steakhouse and Texas Land & Cattle restaurant chains in 2014.

According to the Jackson County Treasurers Office, the Carbondale property is assigned to BL Loan Carbondale, LLC, which has the same address as the corporate headquarters of the Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon in Plano, Texas.

The property owner did not pay the $22,193 in 2015 property taxes it owed in the fall of 2016. The tax lien certificate on the property was purchased at a Jackson County tax sale on Jan. 5. SI Resources LLC, a Carbondale firm that specializes in tax sales managed by Kenny Rochman, won the bid for the certificates.

In a tax sale, a bidder pays the delinquent taxes owed to the county on the owners behalf, and the owner has the ability to redeem the tax certificates over a period of time, typically about two years, by paying what it is owed plus the interest determined in the bidding process, in this case 2 percent if paid within six months.

Its a complex process, but eventually, if the owner fails to pay whats owned, the deed to the property may eventually go to the tax buyer, though ownership is not typically the intention of the tax buyer.

The building that housed Lone Star Steakhouse was originally constructed as a Shoneys in 1986, according to information provided by Carbondale spokeswoman Amy Fox, which she attributed to an employee in the citys planning department. The newspaper was unable to verify the year the restaurant transitioned from Shoneys to Lone Star Steakhouse. The investment group Lone Star Funds acquired Shoneys in 2002 and Lone Star Steakhouse in 2006, so the two shared corporate ties for a period of time.
MURPHYSBORO  It's a Holiday Inn Express hotel that's coming to Murphysboro, developer Joe Koppeis announced at the City Council meeting on Tuesday night, Jan. 24.

Koppeis also told the gathering that two fast-food restaurants and a convenience store/gas station would also be in the mix at the intersection of Illinois 127 and Route 13 in Murphysboro.

His comments came during a nearly packed house at the City Council meeting.

Occupying the bulk of the discussion was whether the city should lease two city-owned parking spaces to the owners of Cindy B's restaurant, for them to construct a fence to hide their Dumpster.

David Mason, whose wife, Tara, and sister-in-law Amy Hines own the restaurant, told the council that he'd planned to use the space to construct a fence large enough to contain his Dumpster and another one.

After perusing the document to given them by city attorney Ed Heller, Mayor Will Stephens suggested the city council rent the spaces to Cindy B's for $1.24 a year.

That led Heller to caution the council to be "commercially reasonable," establishing the fee at such an amount so that others wouldn't then also try to rent other city-owned spaces for varied reasons, and seek to do so for that amount.

"I want to make this as reasonable as possible," Stephens said.

Alderman Herby Voss suggested renting the space for $20 a month, for a total of $240 a year, but added that he also didn't have a problem with the $1.24 annual figure.

Mayor Stephens eventually suggested a rent of $100 a year.

Council members debated the issue, saying that they wouldn't feel compelled to offer others a lease agreement for the same amount of money, if it was requested.

In the end, the council took a vote, with five aldermen voting to approve  Barbara Hughes, Linda Porter-Smith, Russell Brown, John Erbes and Gloria Campos  the measure and three voting against it: Gary L. McComb, Bill Pierson and Dan Bratton; councilman Tom Ridings was not present.

"I'm all for it, but I have to also think about what's going to come and bite us in the rear," Bratton said.

Mason asked the council how many times they had been approached by someone wanting to buy parking spaces for other uses.

"I think it's not going to be as much of an issue as you think," he said.

He was asked to get information from his neighboring business owners about their feelings about his proposed fencing on the city parking spaces.

Attorney Heller also told the council that its members would have to approve a new image of John A. Logan for the new city seal, as the one used was trademarked by John A. Logan College.
Dwight E. Vaughn, 32, of Anna was sentenced Tuesday to five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after violating an order of protection, according to Union County State's Attorney Tyler Edmonds.

Vaughn pleaded guilty to one count of violation of an order of protection, a class 4 felony. He will also serve four years of mandatory supervised release.

He was arrested in November 2016 by Anna Police Department, after entering the residence of a protected person under the order or protection without permission. The violation was elevated to felony because of Vaughn previously being convicted of aggravated domestic battery.

 The Southern
CHESTER  London Williams sat on a swing outside Bernaseks in Chester with his childhood friend Donald Weaver one evening in late June last year.

The two stepped outside to smoke a cigarette and talk. They had something that needed discussing. Williams and Weaver then casually got up and announced to their friends nearby plans to step out to the street and fight.

This was the consensus from testimony delivered Tuesday by Randolph County States Attorney Jeremy Walkers witnesses in the first day of Williams murder trial.

Williams is accused of killing Timothy Michael without legal justification. He is charged with murder in the first degree  a Class X felony that brings a 20- to 60-year sentence in Illinois. In his opening statement, Walker said Michael died from a stab wound to the abdomen and it was later revealed in testimony that Williams also cut Michael's head with a knife he pulled from his car.

The details after Williams and Weaver started to argue are up for debate.

After a small group gathered outside to see Williams and Weaver shouting at each other, Michael joined in, punching Williams in the face anywhere from one to six times, according to witness testimony.

What seems to have sent Michael over the edge was Williams comment that Weaver was just a junkie. Chelsea Schroeder of Chester, an employee of Bernaseks and friends to both Williams and Michael for many years, said Michael came out of the bar extremely angry  more than most who were watching, or fighting.

After being punched, it was testified that Williams went to the railing in front of Bernaseks to rest his head. Rodney First of Chester, the states first witness, knew neither Williams nor Michael. He was outside watching the events unfold and said when Williams put his head on the railing, Michael continued to abuse him by shouting at him and hitting him.

Jacob Fogle of Chester echoed this testimony. He said he saw Michael shout at Williams while he was on the rail. At this point, Williams retreated, Fogle said.

Eyewitness testimony claimed everything from Williams going to his car alone and immediately coming after Michael with a knife  a small, red folding blade  to Williams going to his car, being followed by both Weaver and Michael. Fogle said he saw multiple people follow Williams to his car and Williams himself told police Weaver and Michael were right behind him as he went to the car where he armed himself with the knife.

Schroeder, who had been working the night of the incident and got off just before the events took place, said she had gone inside the bar to tell the owners to call the police. After coming back outside, she said she saw Michael and Williams in the street.

Get away from me  Im done with this, she testified she heard Williams tell Michael during cross examination by the defense.

Schroeder said she heard Michael say in response, If you are going to cut me, cut me." She said Michael continued to act crazy and lunged at Williams. She said Michael then collapsed after asking Fogle for a ride to the hospital.

Schroeder teared up talking about getting her friend a rag for his head and helping him into Fogles truck. Michael was taken to Memorial Hospital in Chester, where he later died.

All who testified told similar stories. Williams and Weaver went out to fight and Michael jumped in the middle, punching Williams. Williams never hit back and tried to retreat, coming back with a knife. The only deviation from this narrative came from Weaver's testimony.

Weaver, who had a hard time finding Williams in the courtroom, and mistakenly said he was wearing a tie, said in a police statement made after the incident that he never saw a punch thrown. However, in court he said he did not remember saying that.

Weaver said he was the first to see the knife and said he believed Williams never meant to hurt Michael after the first cut, only to scare him. The incision, he said, he thought was an accident. He said he believed the incident got out of control between the three friends.

We were supposed to be brothers, he said on the stand.

Schroeder testified that after the incident, Williams went back to his house. This was backed up by Sgt. Joe Jany of the Chester Police Department. He said he was called to the scene at Bernaseks and later traveled to Williams Rockwood home where he read Williams his Miranda rights and asked about the nights events.

In their conversation, Jany said Williams was upfront with him. He said Williams told him he had to do what he had to do to get back home to his family. He claimed his actions were made in self defense. He also told Jany that his clothes from that night were in the washing machine with some other laundry he needed to wash and that he would take Jany where he had thrown the knife.

During Janys testimony, Walker played video of Williams initial police interview. The room was silent. Friends of Williams in the front row of the public gallery held hands as Walker readied the tape.

I didnt ask for this, Williams said in the interview. He said he just wanted to go home to see his kids and that he was there to fully cooperate.

As the lights came up, Williams wiped tears from his cheeks.

Early in witness testimony, Judge Gene Gross gave some early jury instructions. He explained that in the state of Illinois, self-defense law says that those who did not instigate violence are not required to retreat. In the case of Williams and Michael, the real question will come down to whether Williams was acting in self defense or if he, after going to his car, re-engaged with Michael.

The State will call its final witnesses starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Randolph County Courthouse in Chester followed by the opening of defense witnesses.

This story has been updated.
CARBONDALE  About two dozen people showed up at the Carbondale office of U.S. Rep. Mike Bost to present one of his aides with a box filled with letters calling for his support of the Affordable Care Act.

Jill Adams presented the box of letters to Matt Moberly, a constituent service representative in Bost's Carbondale office. He said Bost would likely get the letters as soon as he was able to ship them to him and they passed security.

Adams said a group of local individuals thought up the idea of writing letters to Bost to ask for his support of the Affordable Care Act. Bost has said he plans to repeal it.

Adams said the group also wanted to meet later with Bost when he returns to the region.

She noted that the unraveling of the Affordable Care Act could impact Illinois, economically, to the tune of $11.6 to $13 billion and by the loss of 84,000 to 95,000 jobs. She also said the health care program was beneficial to Illinois coal miners.

Some in the gathering, like Marisa Winegar, came with her daughter, Summer, and son, Leland, to support friends and family with health coverage through the ACA.

Winegar said some stats have indicated that without coverage like that made available through ACA, some 43,000 people would die each year, "unnecessarily."

Others, like Mary Ingram, said she didn't have ACA covearage, but liked how it supported Medicare.

"I have Medicare," she said. "I feel it has helped to keep Medicare solvent."
Regarding Time for Katko to back carbon fee (Jan 19):

Id like to explain the carbon fee the Katko letter supports. Its not a fee or tax thats paid by the public, you or me. Its a carbon tax thats paid TO every taxpayer, not BY the taxpayers. Its not theoretical, its been working as promised in British Columbia for the past eight years. Its called carbon fee-and-dividend and the fee is paid by every fossil fuel corporation, not to the government, but directly to every taxpayer in equal monthly dividend checks.

The result in British Columbia has been lower taxes and lower energy bills, more jobs and a better economy than any other province in Canada (The Evidence Mounts, The Economist). Its public approval rating there is 83 percent (World Bank). As the carbon pollution fee goes up every year, so does the amount of everyones carbon dividend checks. People who use that money to buy cheaper clean energy end up with more disposable income every month. Thats projected to increase U.S. GDP $75-80 billion annually (citizensclimatelobby.org).

A clean-energy economy will mean over 5 million new jobs in the U.S., and theyll be good-paying jobs that will be permanent, lasting an average of 40 years (Stanford Universitys solutionsproject.org). Solar and wind power will be nearly free within the next 20 years (Washington Post). In addition, clean energy will mean an end to the carbon pollution that kills over 200,000 Americans every year (MIT.edu), over 12.6 million worldwide every year, and costs Americans over $866.5 billion in medical bills annually (Forbes). Thats a massive drag on our economy, not to mention the human cost.

Then theres the bill for climate disasters. So far, theyve cost US taxpayers over $1 trillion (NOAA). The worlds most highly-cited peer-reviewed science journal, Nature, says future climate change will cost over $369 trillion, for starters, if we dont swiftly phase out fossil fuels. The only realistic way to do that within the time we have left to avert catastrophic climate change (IPCC) is carbon pricing (Newsweek). Carbon fee-and-dividend is a revenue-neutral carbon pricing mechanism that will cost consumers and taxpayers nothing while creating a massive economic boom, saving us trillions in future climate change costs, giving us better health and a safe, prosperous future and providing a model for other nations to follow. You can learn more about it at the Citizens Climate Lobby website.

Lynn Goldfarb

Lancaster, Pennsylvania
SPRINGFIELD  Leaders in the Illinois Senate have described their proposed grand bargain on the state budget and other issues as a work in progress.

That work was on display Tuesday as lawmakers began holding committee hearings on a 13-bill package designed to end the long-running standoff between the Democratic-controlled General Assembly and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. The deal includes tax increases, workers compensation and pension reforms, gambling expansion, and a host of other issues.

Even as lawmakers were set to begin hearings, changes were being made to some of the bills, most notably the proposed tax increases.

A penny-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages is out, and the personal income tax rate would now go up to 4.99 percent instead of 4.95 percent from the current 3.75 percent. Thats still slightly below the 5 percent level it was at before a temporary increase began rolling back in January 2014.

Also added to the package were a new business opportunity tax, which would be levied on businesses based on their Illinois payroll, and a tax on certain services, such as dry cleaning and storage unit rentals.

Despite the changes, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, and Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, said they remain committed to moving the legislations through their chamber.

I am very excited to be where were at today, Radogno told fellow senators at a committee hearing. The Senate president and I have been living and breathing this project for two months  to the point I actually dream about it sometimes at night.

While there had been talk of votes on the Senate floor as soon as Wednesday, that now appears unlikely because adjustments are still being made to the packages tax provisions and other components.

As the proposal stands, each of the 13 pieces only become law if all the others are approved in the Senate and House and signed by Rauner.

It became clearer Tuesday just how difficult that task may be, with Democrats traditional allies in organized labor and the GOPs backers in the business community lining up in opposition to components of the plan or the entire package.

For example, leaders of the states largest teachers unions, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, testified against part of the plan that would freeze local property taxes for two years while also giving school districts more flexibility in hiring third-party contractors to provide food, janitorial and transportation services.

Dan Montgomery, president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, said lawmakers need only look to the problems McLean County Unit 5 school district faced with its bus service at the start of the school year to see what can go wrong when services are contracted out.

Montgomery also testified against a pension reform proposal from Cullerton that would give workers a choice between counting future raises toward their pensions or receiving compounding cost-of-living raises in retirement.

Opponents say the plan violates the Illinois Constitution, which says current workers pension benefits shall not be diminished or impaired, but supporters say theres no legal guarantee that raises will be counted toward pensions.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, a close ally of Rauner, is opposing the entire package because of the way all the pieces are linked together, President Todd Maisch said.

While there are some positive aspects, Maisch said, our assessment is the package on the whole is very much a net negative for the business community.

One concern for the Chamber of Commerce is the proposed business opportunity tax, which would range from $225 annually for businesses with Illinois payrolls of less than $100,000 to $15,000 for businesses with payrolls of $1.5 million or more.

Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, the sponsor of the tax package, said theres widespread acknowledgement that more revenue is needed to fix Illinois financial problems and provide more stability for businesses.

Doing those things would help stop the damage that the ongoing budget impasse is causing, including cuts at public universities, community colleges and social service agencies.

The vast majority of cuts, the vast majority of pain, the vast majority of everything horribly wrong with us not having a budget for two years has fallen on the backs of people who cannot bear it anymore, Hutchinson said. So another two years going like this is just unconscionable.

She said constructive criticism from business groups is helpful in developing a revenue proposal.

Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, said its important to continue having these discussions to arrive at an agreement that everyone can live with.

This is still fluid, Brady said. Its still our hope that  we will get to a point where the business community believes theres more benefit than negative.

But some are worried that the delay may derail the progress thats been made.

Its a huge problem, said Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill. The governors closest allies are putting forward their best effort to stall any progress in the state Senate.

Rauner hasnt weighed in publicly on the specifics of the Senate proposal but has commended Cullerton and Radogno for their efforts.
To the Editor:

According to Forbes, 92 percent of people who make a New Years resolution dont make it until Dec. 31. This year, I decided to make a resolution I could keep. Ive joined with other volunteer advocates from across the country in the fight to end Alzheimers disease.

More than 5.4 million people in our country have Alzheimers. It is the only disease in the top 10 causes of death for which no prevention, treatment, or cure exists. Many are surprised to learn that the federal government will spend more than $160 billion this year caring for people with Alzheimers. As our population ages, we only expect this number to climb. As an Alzheimers Association advocate, I work to build support at the federal level for Alzheimers research funding. The National Institutes of Health say about $2 billion per year is needed to beat the disease.

Id like to ask Congressman John Shimkus to support increased research funding when the budget comes up for a vote in the spring. Millions of Americans depend on finding a cure. We are confident that the first survivor of Alzheimers is out there. We just need the support to find them. I have lost my mother, aunts, an uncle and my grandfather to this horrible disease. I do not want to watch any more of my family lose their precious memories.

We need a cure now giving hope to many families that have been devastated by this disease.

Pamela Lane

Danville
Donald Trump has been president of the United States for less than 200 hours and one thing is clear  he still remains a polarizing figure.

Not surprisingly, the schism between believers and nonbelievers appears as wide in Southern Illinois as the country as a whole.

On Friday, The Southern Illinoisan profiled two local Trump supporters. They stated the basis for their faith in the new president, and urged that Americans give him a chance to prove himself.

There are many others in our region who feel the same way.

A few hours after President Trump took the oath of office, several dozen Southern Illinoisans boarded a bus bound for the Womens March on Washington. There were an estimated 500,000 people at the event, and similar marches were held throughout the country. About 1,000 demonstrated in Carbondale.

It is certainly not an alternative fact that Trump begins his term presiding over a deeply divided country. America has been divided before, but polling indicates the rift is deeper than at any other time in recent memory.

Trump did little to improve the mood of the nation with his inaugural address. Buried deep in dark language was a promise of a better America, but few but true believers found the speech uplifting.

Sadly, it was probably a missed opportunity.

If there is anything America needs, if there is anything the Womens March proves, and if there is anything Trump supporters such as those we profiled desire, it is a more united country. America needs to be moving forward in a positive way.

That seems to be what everyone wants.

"President Trump, I did not vote for you. That said ... I want to be able to support you, but first I ask that you support me," said actress Scarlett Johansson at the Womens March on Washington.

No president is going to make everyone happy  none ever has, none ever will. But, the best politicians are capable of making most of their constituents believe they care.

But, that is just half of the equation.

We, as citizens, cant be intractable. We need to coalesce around truth. One of the reasons for the division in America is the argument that there are facts and alternate facts.

Yes, nuance exists. And, policies can be interpreted in many ways. But facts remain relevant. It is only through facing facts that the country will move forward.

That means if Trump delivers on campaign promises to create jobs, to rebuild the countrys crumbling infrastructure or to provide a better alternative to the Affordable Care Act, the people that opposed him need to acknowledge those successes. Everybody needs to respect the process. After all, we all want the same thing.

That certainly doesnt mean they need to abandon their ideals and support his re-election, but some civility, even if it is begrudging, can be uplifting.

Of course, if he fails to deliver, the inverse is also true. Given the current political passion, that wont be easy for either side. No one ever likes to admit they are wrong.

Truth is the spine of democracy. The country will not prosper if we live in alternate realities. It doesnt matter if we live in Southern Illinois, New York City, Boise, Idaho, or above the Arctic Circle, truth is the beacon that must guide us.
JORDAN  Jordan Mayor Richard Platten announced he will re-election in March's voting to another four-year term of the position that he has held since 1979.

Meanwhile, Trustees Catherine Ferris and Robert Meixner both said they will not seek re-election to their seats, meaning their four-year terms will be up for grabs on the March ballot.

Ferris, who also serves as the deputy mayor, was first elected to the village Board of Trustees in 2011 and then again in 2013. Meixner was elected to the board in 2013 and will have served one term as trustee.

Trustees Mark Gustafson and Erin Chilson will remain on the board, as they each still have another two years on their terms that be up for election in 2019.

Village elections take place from noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 21 at Jordan Bramley Public Library, 15 Mechanic St., Jordan. Candidate petitions can be picked up at the village office, 7 Mechanic St., Jordan, and must be filled out and returned by Feb. 14.

The mayor receives a salary of $4,000 a year, while trustees earn $1,800 each.

Platten was a math teacher at Jordan-Elbridge High School for 35 years before retiring in 1999.

During his tenure as mayor, a new sewage treatment plant was built and many other village improvements were made, including installation of new sidewalks.

Were now a full-service community, and Jordan is an ideal, central location to live," Platten said.

During Monday's village board meeting, trustees voted to hire General Code of Rochester to streamline the village code book and arrange and keep the laws and ordinances current at a cost of about $11,000 over three years.

The board also discussed the possibility of installing a handicapped ramp at the swimming pool on Brutus Road. Although it is village property, the pool is also used by residents of the town and village of Elbridge.

The town contributes $13,000 toward operation and maintenance. An admission fee is charged. The pool agreement with the town of Elbridge was approved and signed as well as the bailiff agreement.

A community meeting is being planned to go over new flood plain maps that essentially cover the area of the village adjacent to Skaneateles Creek. The maps affect the cost of flood insurance. No date has yet been set.

The Department of Public Works is trying to find the source of a serious water leak on North Main Street. Problems encountered with fencing along village-maintained sidewalks was were discussed.

An ordinance requires that fences and other obstacles be placed 18 inches back from sidewalks to allow for maintenance and snow removal. One resident complained recently that a snowplow had damaged a fence along the sidewalk.
The late Charles H. Johnson had a vision that has been expanded into the development of a monument honoring all veterans who attended or worked at Claflin University, an institution where he served nearly 20 years as dean of student affairs.

The university is poised to fulfill Johnsons dream of a veterans memorial as it launches the Claflin University Veterans Monument project.

Our goal is to have this done in May of this year during Memorial Day weekend. This was a dream of Mr. Johnson, so were trying to support it, said Dr. Willie Frazier, a retired colonel who spent 30 years in the U.S. Army.

The 1975 Claflin graduate, who is co-chairman of the Veterans Monument Steering Committee, said the successful coordination of the Army ROTC Cross-Enrollment Program with South Carolina State University was one of Johnsons most notable accomplishments.

Claflins history with the military stretches back to 1967, when an agreement was signed between then-S.C. State College Dean Dr. Algernon Belcher and then-Claflin College Dean Dr. B.L. Gore to begin a pilot cross-enrollment program.

Under the program, students from other local institutions without an ROTC program were permitted to receive training at South Carolina State University and remain at the institution of their choice. Claflin is one of four institutions that currently has a cross-enrollment agreement with S.C. State.

With the pilot programs success, a formal agreement was signed in 1972 by then-S.C. State President Dr. M. Maceo Nance Jr. and Claflin President Dr. Hubert V. Manning.

To ensure that the program would remain successful, Manning had asked Johnson to continue serving as coordinator. Johnson became an advisor to the ROTC Program, which began with 13 students in 1967. There were 107 male and female students enrolled in the program by 1977.

Frazier said numerous students have gone on to successful military careers as a result of Johnsons mentoring and dedication to the program. To date, a total of 118 cadets have been commissioned as second lieutenants through the program.

Mr. Johnson was pretty much the liaison or spokesperson for Claflin students when it came down to the ROTC events and so forth, so he definitely tracked the students that went through the program, Frazier said.

Spencer Anderson, special assistant for alumni relations at Claflin, said, Instead of recognizing just ROTC veterans, the committee wanted to recognize all the veterans who attended Claflin or were employees of Claflin.

Johnson served in the U.S. Navy for nine and a half years and received numerous awards and recognitions for meritorious performance, including the China Service Medal Extended.

The first class from Claflin to actually go through that program was the Class of 1972. That was the first graduating class of individuals who were actually commissioned as second lieutenants. So over time, Claflin students as well as South Carolina State students have done remarkably well over the years, he said.

Frazier said Rev. Caesar Richburg, former pastor of Williams Chapel AME Church in Orangeburg, was a member of that first commissioning class.

The proposed veterans monument will cost approximately $80,000 and is fittingly projected to be completed by May 29, Memorial Day. It will honor veterans who have served in the following military service branches: Coast Guard, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy and Merchant Marines.

The monument will consist of a Name Wall to include: the names of veterans who graduated from Claflin University, successfully participated in the ROTC program and were commissioned in the Armed Forces; any Claflin alumnus who served in any military branch either prior to or after attending the university as an enlisted service member or officer; and any veteran who has worked at the university for at least three years.

A $300 fee is required for a veteran to have their name placed on the wall and includes engraving. Each personalized inscription will include the veterans name, rank, service branch and dates of service or conflict.

The monument will also include a History and Donor Wall, which will not only feature the monuments history, but the names of individuals who contribute at least $1,000.

Sponsorships for the History and Donor Wall are available at $1,000 and above. Bronze level sponsorships run from $1,000 to $1,500; silver sponsorships run from $1,501 to $2,500 and gold sponsorships range from $2,501 and above.

If someone wants to make a contribution in the minimum amount of $1,000, they can do it in honor of someone and have their name put on the Donor Wall. For example, if you want to recognize a family member who didnt work at or attend Claflin, you can put their name up on the Donor Wall, Frazier said.

Anderson added, Weve had over 41 people that have paid as both veterans and sponsors.

For more information about the veterans monument project, including how to receive an application packet, contact Dr. Iris Bomar at ibomar@claflin.edu or 803-535-5376; Glenice Saddler at gsaddler@claflin.edu or 803-535-5682 or Anderson at sanderson@claflin.edu or 803-535-5462.
Regional Medical Center trustees voted Tuesday to replace longtime President and CEO Tom Dandridge. His last day is Friday.

Dandridge will remain an employee of Quorum Health Resources, the company that has managed the hospital for 24 years.

"The timeline for the departure of Tom Dandridge is based on a recommendation from Quorum that will allow him to pursue other opportunities within the company," the RMC board said in a press release.

The nature of the other opportunities was not made known Tuesday.

Trustees voted on Tuesday to name QHR Regional Vice President Frank Swinehart as the hospital's interim CEO until the hospitals management contract with QHR ends on March 30.

"While Tom Dandridge will no longer be at the RMC, his employment will continue with QHR and because of that they are better," the boards press release said.

"Tom has played an integral part in the growth of RMC and the community over the last two decades. The board commends and appreciates Tom for his service and work for the Regional Medical Center and greater community, the release said.

Swinehart has been a part of the QHR support team for RMC for three years. He will continue to work with the RMC board over the next few weeks until a new CEO is hired.

The boards vote Tuesday was split 8 to 7 to facilitate a transition in the hospital's management structure.

Board Chairman Melvin Seabrooks voted in order to break the initial 7-7 tie vote.

Last month, a divided board voted to terminate its contract with QHR after 90 days.

Once the contract ends, the hospital will enter into an advisory contract with the company. QHR will serve in an advisory and consultative role for the next two years.

Trustees will then conduct a national search for a new CEO outside of QHR.

"RMC's focus remains to promote and deliver high-quality, compassionate care to everyone we touch every day," the press release stated. "The board believes it will best serve the citizens of Orangeburg and Calhoun counties, as well as the surrounding area, by focusing on promoting a healthy environment for all parties involved."

The boards decision comes a year after it entered into a three-year contract with QHR. That contract gave it the option to leave the contract after one year.

Trustees wanted the option to see if the hospitals finances improved as a result of QHRs turnaround plan.

The hospital system had losses totaling $6.3 million for 2014 and 2015.

The hospital implemented a turnaround plan that included reducing overtime hours, reducing contract employees and reducing supply expenses. Last April, the hospital announced it was cutting about 33 positions and reducing the hours of about 27 employees.

The finances improved.

The hospital system, including Edisto Regional Health Services, ended the past fiscal year $1.8 million in the black. The hospitals fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2016.

Since Oct. 1, however, the hospital has spent $2 million more than it took in, according to December financial reports. Last year at this time, the hospital system was $3.1 million in the red.

"We here at the RMC, we have a fiduciary duty and we have to do what we feel is in the best interest of RMC," Board Chairman Melvin Seabrooks said.

"The performance plan that was in place is always going to be continuous. We are always going to have to manage our finances. I think all hospitals have financial challenges, he said.

Dandridge declined comment following the meeting, but he did provide a prepared statement within the board's press release.

"Change is never easy, but this is clearly an important and transitional time for the hospital," Dandridge said. "As the board moves forward with its plans to directly employ hospital leadership in the future, I am also moving forward and exploring new opportunities."

"I am forever grateful to the many board members, physicians and employees I have been privileged to work with over the years," Dandridge continued. "Because of their tireless commitment to serving our patients and the community, I leave RMC knowing the future is bright for our community hospital."

The 67-year-old Dandridge has served as the hospital's CEO since 1993. He is only the hospital's second CEO in the past 50 years.

Some trustees have questioned the boards process for changing its contract with QHR.

RMC Medical Executive Committee Chairman Dr. Arden Weathers has said the doctors have a right to joint conference prior to the board of trustees taking a vote on such a matter.

A joint conference was held earlier this week between members of the board and doctors.

Some trustees have also questioned the wisdom of making such a decision during a changing health care climate and with a new administration in Washington.

Dandridge has been a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives throughout his career and is a long-time member of both the American Hospital Association and the South Carolina Hospital Association.

He was recently awarded the 2016 Lewis W. Blackman Patient Safety Champion Health Executive Award by the SCHA.

Dandridge has also held numerous leadership positions such as AHA Regional Policy Board delegate; SCHA board chairman; Palmetto Hospital Trust Services board director and member of the Palmetto Healthcare Liability Insurance Program Board of Directors, to name a few.
DENMARK  Mayor Gerald Wright reflected on the positive progress he said the city has made during Denmark City Council's Jan. 17 meeting.

During our last meeting, we received our audit information. For the 12th or 13th consecutive year, we have received an audit that was labeled as a clean audit ...," Wright said.

"We have not had an increase in our millage rate for approximately 14 years," Wright added.

He also noted that the completion of the city's streetscape project at the intersection of U.S. 378 and 321 received recognition for the Lower Savannah Council of Governments at a National Association of Development Organizations conference. The city has received a $500,000 grant to continue this project, City Administrator Heyward Robinson added.

Wright cited ongoing infrastructure projects including: phase 1, having four wells in Denmark with three running on a regular basis and a fourth as a back-up; phase 2, replacement of hydrants and water pumps; and phase 3, replacing all old pipes, including ones that were too small or made of materials that did not last long.

When we complete phase 3, we still will not have completed everything that was needed. We will not be doing that any time soon  ," the mayor said. "Our last grant was $500,000. A complete overhaul (of the entire water system) would cost $7 million. We have an approximately $2 million dollar budget."

Bamberg County Council Chairman Evert Comer Jr., District 6, commended the mayor and the council members during public comments. He said the city's success with grant writing keeps citizens from paying more taxes.

Denmark is on the move ... . Every city has issues that have to be dealt with," Comer said. "I think the issues under the present watch have been dealt with ... . The Water Department is in place. City services are in place."

Also during the meeting, it was announced that Cedric Hudson and the personnel of the city's public works department received a Certificate of Excellence from Environmental Research Associates in recognition of the departments laboratory proficiency in chlorine parameter testing as required by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Wright presented Hudson with the certificate.

In his monthly report, Hudson said the department repaired eight water leaks and assisted L.W. Inc. contractors with water line improvements. He also reported that he met with a Federal Emergency Management Agency representative to review work associated with the cleanup from Hurricane Matthew. In addition, the department performed landscape work at an intersection and cut back rose bushes as recommended by a local nursery, Hudson said.

In the administrator's report, Robinson noted the contractor for the citys water line improvements project has stored pipe for the project. He said the work is expected to be on schedule, including replacing smaller water lines with larger lines to improve water pressure and water quality.

We currently have a grant to improve water lines on Cooper Street, Brooker Street, Sawdust Avenue, Mill Street, Rome Avenue and Rice Street. This project is part of an ongoing effort to maintain and improve the citys water system," Robinson said.

He added, The City of Denmark has a $500,000 grant to make additional intersection improvements in downtown Denmark. The additional improvements will be very similar to the recently completed intersection improvements. The block between City Hall Street and Coker Street will be improved."

In other business:

Robinson reported the city's total revenue in excess of expenses last month was $94,093.44.

Council voted to continue to hold the Dogwood Festival the first weekend in April during the peak of the dogwood blooms. This year's festival will run Friday, March 31 through Sunday, April 2.

Police Chief Leroy Grimes in his report on December activity noted there were 34 new case files involving simple assault, burglary, shoplifting, larceny, vandalism of property, theft from a motor vehicle, motor vehicle theft, domestic dispute, driving under suspension, traffic collisions, etc.

Grimes said Officer Quentin Williams is currently attending the S.C. Criminal Justice Academys 12-week training program.

Fire Chief Charles Breland reported the department responded to 16 structure fires in December.

Council went into executive session to discuss personnel issues. Upon returning to public session, no action was taken by council.
DENMARK -- Ground was broken on Jan. 19 for the new 6,400-square-foot Denmark Family Health Center on Carolina Highway/U.S. 321.

The facility is expected to cost approximately $1.2 million and will have three full-time providers offering a full range of medical services. Officials estimate a potential staff of 27.

This center that we are going to build behind me will be accessible to all of our clients. Its on the main road. Everyone who wants to come will be able to come, said Dr. Samuel Alston, chairman of the Family Health Centers Inc. Board of Directors.

If you know anyone who is a veteran, tell them to come see us. We serve them. We do blood pressure, obesity, dental and eye services through the (mobile units) vans on my left," Alston said.

Before ending his remarks, he said, About a month ago, I felt very apprehensive about the way the country was going and who was going to be the president. But I dont think in my heart that the country is going to let the 20 million people we have on Medicaid and Obamacare ... fall through the cracks. We are working hard to support them and enroll them and with Gods help, we will persevere.

Leon A. Brunson Sr., CEO of Family Health Centers Inc., said Sixth District Congressman James E. Clyburn played a vital role in securing funding for the new Denmark Family Health Center.

Congressman Clyburn was very instrumental in helping us get this (funding) to construct this facility, which will cost $1.2 million total. He played a major role in that. He also played a major role in all of the funding that our qualified health centers received in the state of S.C. and across this nation," Brunson said.

He noted that McDonald Law is the architect for the new Denmark facility and OCain of OCain Construction Co. of Orangeburg is the contractor.

Doris Haigler, chief operating officer of the Denmark center, said FHC Inc. has been providing healthcare for more than 40 years, "primarily to the uninsured and the underinsured.

FHC's service areas include Orangeburg, Calhoun, Bamberg and upper Dorchester counties.

Our team of approximately 165 employees -- as you see, we have two new mobile units here and eight other sites -- is the key to this work, with the shared belief with our employees about our mission, which is to promote health and provide quality, comprehensive healthcare to all with courtesy,'" she said.

Haigler said FHC, which has operated in Denmark for 16 years, provided healthcare to more than 21,000 patients in the service area in 2015. The new Denmark Center is being built on the original FHC site that was built in 2001, she said. The center moved to Voorhees College in 2007.

We are really pleased to see that Family Health Centers is opening a (new) facility in Bamberg County  Bamberg County has been a consistently poverty county in South Carolina for a very long time," said Dalton Tresvant of Clyburn's office. "We are really hoping that this facility will help eliminate some of the health disparities that we have in the area."

He said he's hopeful the new facility will help move Bamberg County forward.

On behalf of the Congressman, I would like to congratulate Denmark Family Health Center on breaking ground on this facility. Now, I know over the course of the past two months, we have heard a lot about repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare," Tresvant said.

When we think of that, we always think about people losing their health coverage. But everybody in this country that is covered by health insurance is affected by (the) Affordable Care Act," he said. If the Affordable Care Act goes away, all of that goes away," including funding for facilities like the Denmark Family Health Center.

Dr. Gerald Wright, mayor of Denmark, commended FHC Inc. for the work it has done in his city and applauded the organization's efforts to improve its services.

"In Denmark, we are always concerned with quality of life issues. As you would all agree, Im sure, healthcare is a major part of quality of life," Wright said.

Evert Comer, Bamberg County Council chairman, told FHC officials, "We bid you Godspeed as you continue on your venture. I live four doors down on the left. I remember as a little fellow my momma used to walk up here to this location (for doctors' appointments) ... . Historically, we have come to this location. This is a sacred location right here.

In his closing remarks, Brunson noted that Denmark's public school system had produced "a fairly large number of medical doctors during the past 20 years ... "

He expressed his hopes that Denmark students who go into medicine will one day return to work at the Denmark FHC, citing the financial benefits and incentives available.

While the center does not pay taxes, its employees will become taxpayers when they buy homes in the area and give back to the community, Brunson said.

Family Health Centers Inc. Board members and other dignitaries took part in the groundbreaking for the new facility, digging in with ceremonial shovels.

FHC board members are Dr. Samuel Alston, chairman; Marion Anderson; James Arrington; Tara Chavis; Crawford Dinkins; Jacob Gillens; Rogers Ideozu; Carrie Houser James; Henry Jenkins; Frances Johnson; Julius Jones; Kenneth Mosely; and James Ulmer.
WASHINGTON -- It matters that the crowd for the Women's March on Washington was far bigger than that for President Donald Trump's inauguration. The new president often boasts of having started a great movement. Let it be the one that was born with Saturday's massive protests.

If size is important, and apparently to Trump it is, there was no contest. The Metro transit system recorded 1,001,613 trips on the day of the protest, the second-heaviest ridership in history -- surpassed only by former president Obama's inauguration in 2009. By contrast, just 570,557 trips were taken Friday, when Trump took the oath of office.

Those are the true facts, not the "alternative" ones the administration wants you to believe. A president obsessed with winning began his term by losing.

Among all the news of the past few days, I begin with crowd size because Saturday's rallies and marches, in cities across the nation, were simply unprecedented. Perhaps half a million demonstrators, many wearing pink hats, filled the streets of Washington. Protests in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles also drew crowds measured in the hundreds of thousands, and there were big anti-Trump gatherings in Denver, Boston, Atlanta, Austin, San Antonio and other cities in the U.S. and around the world.

The White House predictably tried to blame the messenger. "There is an obsession by the media to delegitimize this president, and we're not going to sit around and let it happen," Chief of Staff Reince Priebus complained to a skeptical Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday."

If Trump believes journalists can be so easily cowed, he's in for a long four years.

The president is skilled at diversionary tactics. He has been known to pitch a fit in order to draw attention away from news he finds inconvenient or embarrassing. Indeed, while his spokespeople have been spewing nonsense about television ratings and such, the administration has taken significant steps. Trump signed an executive order beginning the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act; withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact; imposed hiring and pay freezes for federal workers; and reimposed a ban (lifted by the Obama administration) on U.S. aid to family planning groups that provide or "promote" abortions overseas.

But whether Trump's ostentatious pique about the not-so-historic size of his inauguration crowd is real or feigned, the fact that so many more people came to town to protest Trump's presidency than to celebrate it is important. The new administration ignores the passion we saw on Saturday at its own peril.

Remember that the tea party movement looked at first like nothing more than a rowdy, incoherent bunch of sore losers -- until it swept Democrats out of power in the House in the 2010 midterm election.

I covered some of those early tea party rallies, and I saw similar levels of energy and engagement -- and, yes, anger -- at the women's march. The millions who participated nationwide now constitute the kind of broad-based network that can be harnessed into effective political action. The Trump administration can haughtily dismiss the dissenters by saying, as the Obama administration once did, that elections have consequences. But the next election is right around the corner.

If progressives are going to recreate the tea party's success, Saturday's multitudes will have to begin organizing at the local level. They will have to field candidates not just for Congress but for governorships and state legislatures. They will have to develop policy positions that go beyond "stop Trump" -- and that also go beyond traditional Democratic Party dogma.

The movement will look to lions such as Vermont's independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., for guidance, but ultimately must find younger leadership with fresh ideas. The Democratic establishment now faces the same existential dilemma that the Republican establishment had to confront: adapt or step aside.

The administration will argue that, after a bitterly divisive campaign, it is time for the nation to come together behind the new president. No, it is not. We are in the midst of a political realignment that is nowhere near complete, and it is more important than ever that progressive voices make themselves heard.

We still need universal health care. We still need to reduce inequality. We still need to eliminate poverty. We still need to move toward a clean-energy economy. We still need immigration reform and criminal justice reform. And always remember: If Donald Trump can become president, nothing is impossible.
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Ramblings of a badly aged Baby Boomer who went from Rebel Without a Cause to Bozo Without a Clue in, seemingly, the same afternoon.
By Azernews





By Nigar Abbasova

The consortium of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is fully committed to transporting Shah Deniz phase II volumes  initially 10 bcm of gas per year  from the Caspian Sea through Greece, Albania and into Italy.

TAP Head of Communications Lisa Givert announced about this while commenting on Russian Gazproms plans to use the pipeline for delivering its gas to Europe.

The pipeline, a final step of the Southern Gas Corridor, is underpinned by a long-term gas transportation agreement for a period of 25 years, she told Trend.

This week, Russias energy major Gazprom declared for the first time that it may be interested in using the TAP for delivering Russian gas to Italy.

Deputy CEO of Gazprom Alexander Medvedev said that the company is discussing the possibility of using Poseidon (the offshore section of the Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI)) and TAP to export gas to Europe.

He added that Russia has sufficient capacity to deliver more than 100 bcm of extra gas to Europe, mentioning that the main obstacle is infrastructure problem.

We need additional infrastructure to bring the volumes to Europe. Capacities of Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream may be non sufficient enough. Therefore, we consider using capacity of the Poseidon project that will be ready soon, or maybe TAP, he said.

TAP project envisages transportation of gas from the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas and condensate field to the EU countries. The pipeline will be connected to the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.

The project is currently in its construction phase, which started in 2016.
By Azernews





By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijans National Art Museum will host an exhibition "Reincarnation" on January 27, Trend Life reported.

A joint project of the Museum and young artists will mark the 80th anniversary of the Museum.

The exhibition will present "reincarnated" art works in the avant-garde style based on the paintings of modern Azerbaijani artists, as well as art works of world famous artists and sculptors.

Artists Elshan Sarkhanoglu, Mamed Rashidov, Vugar Guliyev, Aydin Askerov, Elshan Karaca and Emin Gahramanov will present a brand new interpretation of fifteen paintings and 5 sculptures.

Art experts expect the project to open a new page in the history of the museum's activity. Such a project will also be held in other museums of the city.

The Azerbaijan National Art Museum is a treasure house that preserves our national moral values and cultural heritage. This treasure house, holding more than 17,000 artistic exhibits, has a rich working history. The Art department was separated from the Azerbaijan State Museum in 1936 and organized as an independent museum by decision of the Council of People's Commissars.

In 2011 the Museum was declared to be of first National and then European Museum Standard (EUMS), meeting international standards and criteria, as appropriate for a museum and implying high quality museum services and professional experience.
By Azertac





Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on the 25th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide.

Under the order, the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration will develop a plan of events on the 25th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide and ensure the plans implementation.

On February 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As a result of the genocide, 613 people were killed, including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly, 487 people became disabled, and 1,275 residents were taken hostage.
By Azernews





By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov discussed settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Moscow.

The talks took place on January 24 during Mammadyarovs working visit, which was initiated by the Russian side, Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry reported.

The sides had comprehensive discussions on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

They also exchanged views on the issues raised by the two countries presidents at the Vienna and Saint Petersburg meetings.

Mammadyarov reiterated Azerbaijan's position on the conflict settlement, stressing that the current status quo needs to be changed.

The ministers also discussed the prospects of development of the interstate relations and touched upon the issues that have arisen in the bilateral relations in recent days. The FMs agreed to always keep such questions in focus.

The sides also had broad exchange of views on the international agenda and other issues of mutual concern.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.
By Azernews





Over the past 24 hours, Armenias Armed Forces have 7 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported on January 25.

The Azerbaijani army positions located in Jafarli village and the nameless heights of the Qazakh district underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located in Azamut village and the nameless heights of Armenias Ijevan district.

The Azerbaijani army positions located in Qaraveliler village of the Gadabay district underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located on the nameless heights of Armenias Krasnoselsk district.

Moreover, the Azerbaijani army underwent fire from the Armenian positions located near the Armenian-occupied Javakhirli village of the Aghdam district, as well as from the nameless heights in the Goranboy and Khojavand districts.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
By Azernews





By Kamila Aliyeva

Mexico and Azerbaijan will mull interparliamentary ties and bilateral cooperation, as representatives of the Mexican Parliament will pay a visit to Baku.

Mexico's Ambassador to Azerbaijan Juan Rodrigo Labardini said that the visit will take place in the first half of 2017.

A visit of a group of our parliamentarians and officials, authorized in the field of energy and education, is expected in the coming months, Labardini he told APA.

The envoy further added that the relations between the two countries are developing, and should be further deepened.

Earlier, the ambassador said that the head of ProMexico, a Mexican trust fund promoting international trade and investment, is to visit Azerbaijan to establish cooperation with local companies and to promote Mexican goods in the Azerbaijani market.

Mexico recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991 and the diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992. Azerbaijan's Embassy in Mexico was established in 2006. Mexico followed the example of Azerbaijan, and opened its embassy in Baku.

The growing economy of Azerbaijan is attractive for Mexico, while Azerbaijan also attaches importance to the development of relations with Mexico. Relations are actively developing in all directions, including culture.

The Azerbaijani State Customs Committee reported that the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Mexico amounted to $19.03 million in January-September 2016, as compared to $20.76 million in the same period of 2015.

Azerbaijans export to Mexico amounted to $188,100 and import amounted to $18.84 million in the first nine months of 2016. This includes the sale of equipment for the oil industry, electronic appliances.
By Azernews





By Rashid Shirinov

Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides has expressed hope that 2017 will be the year of progress in resolution of the conflicts in the Council of Europe area.

He made the remarks during the second day of PACE winter plenary part-session that kicked off in Strasbourg on January 23.

Touching upon the conflict settlement issues, he expressed hope for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, crises in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.

Cyprus is currently chairing the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.
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.
By Azernews

By Nigar Eyvazova

Irans senior human rights official blasted the recent remarks by UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Asma Jahangir on the situation of certain prisoners in Iran.

Secretary of Irans Human Rights Council Mohammad Javad Larijani protested at the recent remarks by Jahangir, IRNA reported.

On a recent press release by your office which included a statement by Ms. Asma Jahangir, I regret to say that all of it has been incorrect, unjustifiable and disappointing, Larijani said in a letter to UN human rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein.

He noted that the professional work required Jahangir to inform the Iranian government of the allegations before releasing them, and continued, I asked my colleagues at the Human Rights Headquarters to prepare a clear and unambiguous response to the allegations raised by Ms. Asma Jahangir which will be annexed to the letter.

Previously, Tehran's Public and Revolution Courts Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi announced that 70 spies are currently jailed in Iran on charges of betrayal and spying in favor of the foreign states.

The arrested spies have passed sensitive information on Iran in the nuclear, military, political, social and cultural fields to the enemies, Dolatabadi said.

The Tehran public prosecutor said that the enemy is seeking to create unrest in Iran by hatching plots to carry out bomb attacks across the country.
By Azernews





By Kamila Aliyeva

The French-Iranian relations will be in focus of talks in Tehran, as French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault is expected to visit the Islamic republic.

Irans Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Bahram Qasemi, said that Ayrault, is scheduled to pay an official visit to Tehran soon, said, IRNA reported. Qasemi did not specify the exact date of the visit.

Qasemi said that the French foreign minister will visit Tehran at the head of an economic delegation.

Noting that Ayrault is also the co-chairman of Iran-French Joint Economic Commission, the spokesperson said that the commission will convene during his visit to Tehran.

Voicing satisfaction over good relations between Iran and France, Qasemi expressed hope that after the necessary negotiations, the two countries can develop common grounds.

The commercial ties between Iran and France have been rising considerably since the nuclear deal went into force in January 2016.

During the Iranian presidents historic visit to Paris in January 2016, Iran and France signed a series of basic trade deals thought to be worth billions of dollars.

Rouhani and his French peer Francois Hollande oversaw the signing of the deals that concerned cooperation in a range of sectors such as aviation, car manufacturing and oil.

This visit became possible after the lifting of economic sanctions from Iran. Economic and financial sanctions by the US and the EU were lifted on January 16, 2016.

Later, Former French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius paid a visit to Tehran in July 2016 at the invitation of his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif. He held talks with senior Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, Zarif, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh and Head of the Department of the Environment, Massoumeh Ebtekar.

It was the first visit by a French foreign minister to the Islamic Republic in 12 years.
Dubai Land Department's (DLD) said the property brokers registered in its regulatory unit, Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera), had earned commissions worth Dh1.5 billion ($408.2 million) last year, according to a report.



DLD announced that the total value of real estate brokers commissions for 2016 was from 32,932 transactions, while Dubais real estate market also attracted 5,933 active brokers and 2,285 registered brokerage offices, reported state news agency Wam.



The UAE citizens ranked first in terms of the number of brokers in the market, followed by Indian nationals and Pakistani nationals, who have also achieved excellence in this field.



The other most active nationalities in the real estate market were from the UK, Egypt, Russia, Lebanon, Jordan and the Philippines, said the report.



The DLD also revealed the growing presence of women brokers in Dubais real estate market.



Today there are 1,946 women working in this field, compared to 3,987 men, representing 33 per cent of the total numbers of brokers, stated the Wam report citing a senior official.



"Brokers and real estate offices play a vital role in promoting the real estate market in Dubai. DLD has ensured the legality of their activities by issuing legislations that guarantee the rights of all parties, and by introducing numerous training courses," remarked Yousif Al Hashimi, the deputy chief executive of Rera.



"These are designed to help brokers and real estate offices work efficiently and transparently, provide excellent customer service and answer all inquiries professionally," he added.



Al Hashimi pointed out that the high volume of brokerage activity in Dubai was a reflection of the excellent health of the local real estate market.



"With its incentive environment, the market attracted huge numbers of brokers from around the world, promoting Dubai real estate both locally and globally," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Dubai Trade, the single window for cross-border trade and a DP World company, has shortlisted nominees for its 9th E-Services Excellence Award (ESEA).



Winners will be announced at the annual awards ceremony to be held next month under the patronage of HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai.



ESEA recognises organisations for their use of smart services in trade and logistics with winners selected on predefined criteria, including the number of mobile transactions on the Dubai Trade Portal throughout 2016.



The 9th ESEA has five categories that include: Smart Services Award for M-Token, Free Zone, Payment Services, Clearance, and Shipping Services. Additionally, two Innovation Awards will be presented for the Best Innovative Project and the Best Innovative Idea in the trade and logistics industry developed by individuals or organisations in the UAE.



For the second consecutive year, Dubai Exports are presenting two special awards entitled New Exporter of the Year and Innovative Exporter of the Year. The awards underline Dubai Exports role in enabling exports in Dubai. Its cooperation with Dubai Trade emphasises that ESEA has become a major event for organisations seeking to develop Dubais economy and the adoption of e-Services .



Eng Mahmood Al Bastaki, CEO of Dubai Trade, said: "ESEA has been very popular in the trade and logistics community, especially among Dubai Trade users. It has also increased the use of smart devices to process business transactions, something we were hoping for when we launched the award in 2008 in support of the vision of our wise leadership to make the country one of the most advanced countries in using modern technologies. This has helped us develop services to meet users needs and launch new smart capability that meet their needs for more integrated and comprehensive services.

Al Bastaki added: We are delighted at the response to the Innovation Award from college and university students in Dubai. Many of them have been nominated for ideas that can be applied in trade and logistics. This is evidence that ESEA has become a standard for excellence and competitiveness. Many organisations have applied for the Innovative Project Award which will be evaluated by the committee and winners will be announced at the ceremony.



Dubai Exports is delighted to continue its association with Dubai Trade and ESEA with two awards this year. As a key enabler of improved efficiencies and a pillar of the Dubai Plan 2021, innovation presents infinite opportunities for organisations and individuals aspiring to make a difference in the increasingly competitive local economy as well as in the global arena. Dubai Exports is focused on encouraging innovations across all aspects of trade and exports, said Eng. Saed Al Awadi, CEO of Dubai Exports.

Al Futtaim Logistics and TechnoPro Middle East are the gold sponsors of the 9th ESEA, with Agility Logistics and NewAge Software Solutions as silver sponsors. The award is supported by government and private sector organisations, including the Ministry of Economy as strategic supporter, Dubai Exports, DP World, Dubai Customs, Jafza, Dubai Maritime City Authority, National Association of Freight & Logistics, and Dubai Media Incorporated as strategic media partner.  TradeArabia News Service
Strategic procurement company BravoSolution Tejari has announced that it will sponsor this years Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply Middle East & North Africa (CIPS Mena) annual dinner in Dubai this month.



The exclusive dinner run by CIPS Mena will host over 30 chief procurement officers (CPOs) from the Middle East and will feature a keynote presentation by froup CEO, CIPS, David Noble, on the future of procurement and supply management. The dinner provides industry leaders with the opportunity to network with their peers and discuss procurement organizational excellence in the region.



We are proud to be supporting CIPS by hosting this prestigious annual dinner for procurement professionals in the Middle East, said Dan Quinn, senior vice president, BravoSolution Mena. It is the perfect opportunity for like-minded professionals to come together to discuss the market, whilst sharing valuable industry knowledge that helps to benefit businesses across the region.



Sam Achampong FCIPS, regional director, CIPS Middle East & North Africa, added: Im delighted that such high-quality partners are supporting the event and will be adding their own specialist industry knowledge on the day.



These kind of events are really important for the region, where professionals and businesses are eager and hungry for the latest development in procurement and the global business world.



The invitation only 2017 CIPS Mena Annual Dinner in partnership with BravoSolution Tejari will take place on January 29 in Dubai.



BravoSolution Tejari provides a market leading global strategic procurement platform that helps more than 600 companies and 100,000 purchasing professionals worldwide. - TradeArabia News Service


Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) has issued tenders for the construction of two new pipelines to facilitate the reuse of 70 per cent of treated wastewater in the UAE capital for irrigation and landscaping purposes, said a report.



This move comes as part of the EADs plans to reduce the emirates reliance on rapidly dwindling groundwater reserves and energy-intensive desalination, reported the Gulf News.



One of the pipelines will be built alongside the Abu Dhabi-Dubai E11 highway, and when complete, it will provide 140,000 cu m of water a day to sites like the Abu Muraikha Forest, the Green Belt and Al Maha Forest, it stated.



These areas currently require massive volumes of desalinated water. The pipeline is expected to extend for more than 40 km.



The second pipeline will be located alongside the Al Ain Truck Road for more than 30 km, and the aim is to use it to supply 125,000 cu m of water to farms in Al Wathba and Al Nahda, said the report, citing a senior official.



These pipelines will together help recycle a further 265,000 cu m of water every day, stated Dr Mohammad Dawoud, water resources adviser at the EAD.



The pipelines are likely to be operational by 2018, he added.
Saudi Aramco, the world's leading integrated energy and petrochemicals enterprise, is asking banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and HSBC Holdings to pitch for an advisory role on its initial public offering (IPO) as it pushes ahead with plans for the worlds largest share sale, said a report.



The company has also sent out the so-called request for proposals to lenders including Credit Suisse Group AG and Morgan Stanley, reported Bloomberg, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.



Aramco is targeting the second or third quarter of 2018 for the IPO and expects to select banks later this year, the people said, asking not to be identified as the process is private.



The Saudi oil giant plans to sell less than five per cent of the company as part of plans by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to set up the worlds biggest sovereign wealth fund and reduce the economys reliance on hydrocarbons, said the Boomberg report.



Prince Mohammeds plan envisions the Aramco IPO as the centerpiece of Saudi Arabias biggest economic shakeup since the founding of the country in 1932, it stated.



The sales estimated size of $100 billion would make it the largest ever, dwarfing the $25 billion raised by Chinese internet retailer Alibaba in 2014, the report added.



Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser said the company may list on two or three exchanges and, to make the sale more attractive to investors, Saudi Arabia will reduce the companys overall tax rate.



The company had been seeking a boutique to help it select banks to underwrite the offering, decide on venues for the listing and ensure the IPOs smooth execution, reported Boomberg citing people familiar with the plans.



New York-based boutique investment bank Moelis & Co. and Evercore Partners have been roped in as potential financial advisers for the issue, they stated.



Early last year, sources said that JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Michael Klein, the former Citigroup Inc. investment banker who runs his own advisory firm, had been selected to advise on the IPO.



Klein is already providing strategic advice to the government, while JPMorgan is working on preparations for the IPO and may be among the banks that underwrite the listing, they added.
The UAE and India today signed an agreement allowing the Gulf nation to fill the strategic oil storage facility in southern India, a report said.



The agreement and several other deals were signed following talks between His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.



India and UAE also decided to elevate the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, said the Times of India report.



India in 2014 began talks to lease part of its strategic storage to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc). Under such a deal, India would have first rights to the stored crude in case of an emergency, while Adnoc would be able to move cargoes to meet any shift in demand.



The deal was signed by Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and a representative of Adnoc.



The UAE contributes significantly to India's energy security and was the fifth largest supplier of crude oil to India in 2015-16.



Sheikh Mohamed and Modi also discussed ways of boosting bilateral ties and a number of regional and international issues of mutual interest.



The talks, held in Hyderabad House in New Delhi, began with Prime Minister Modi welcoming Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and the accompanying delegation. Modi praised the special relationship that ties the two nations together and the mutual eagerness to increase cooperation for the service of the two friendly peoples.



Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the enthusiastic and friendly reception and their generous hospitality. He also congratulated the Indian people and government on the occasion of the 68th Republic Day, a Wam news agency report added.



He pointed out that he has sensed, during several discussions between the two leaderships, a shared desire to strengthen bilateral relations and to move them steadily forward, adding that this shared desire made him more confident that the two countries would be able build a true strategic partnership that serves current and future generations. He said he believes the relationship between India and the UAE have all the elements that qualify it to be one of the most important and strongest bilateral relationships in the region and the world and the one with most potential.



In their talks, the two leaders discussed existing bilateral relations and how to foster them. They also discussed a number of regional and international issues, including current regional developments such as terrorism and violence, and other issues of mutual interest.



At the conclusion of talks, the two sides stressed that UAE-India relations were witnessing major developments and breakthroughs at the strategic level, and voiced their shared enthusiasm about taking all necessary measures to push these relations forward.



The two leaders also stressed that the UAE and India share a common interest in working for peace and stability in the region and the rest of world by helping to resolve disputes and conflicts by peaceful means. They also reiterated that they share a common desire to confront forces of terrorism and extremism and to create a secure and stable regional and international environment that serves the interest of all nations and help them develop and prosper.


Ramada Hotel & Suites Ajman seeks to boost its current food waste management scheme through the installation of a new WasteStation machine.



Developed and distributed by the UK-based Imperial Machine Company (IMC), the WasteStation is an innovative food waste macerator and dewatering unit. In addition to the hotels existing compost machine which converts its food waste into fertilisers, the newly-installed machine will further simplify the process and cut down the labour.



The hotel generates an average of 360 kg of kitchen waste daily, including fruit and vegetable peels and food scraps, among others. Its previous compost machine can hold up to 80kg of waste, but the new WasteStation has a capacity of processing 700 kg of food waste per hour. It also reduces the process of converting the waste into fertilisers from 24 hours to just 12 hours.



WasteStation functions by grinding the food waste into fine particles, which are then fed directly into the built-in dewatering system. The WasteStation then forces out the excess liquid from the macerated waste using a centrifugal action. The resulting solid fraction of the food waste is collected in small, easily managed, lidded bins and then grey water fed directly to drain. The food waste will then be placed into the compost machine which Ramada Ajman had since 2012. The fertilisers are being used in the hotels own urban farm.



Iftikhar Hamdani, general manager, Ramada Hotel & Suites Ajman, said: We are proud to be again, the first to have an in-house food waste macerator and dewaterer. We thank IMC for providing us an opportunity to use an advanced system; an existing compost machine has already been in place, but this WasteStation will help improve and hasten the process and increase efficiency in our waste management scheme.



Matt Roberts, vice president for International Sales  GCC, Imperial Machine Company, said: IMC is honoured to partner with Ramada Hotel & Suites Ajman, as they are the pioneer in hotel waste management system here in the UAE. We are confident that our collaboration with them will encourage other companies and establishments to step up their food waste disposal procedure, and help them save time and costs, and at the same time, benefit the environment. - TradeArabia News Service
Hilton today announced the launch of a vibrant new brand that offers guests a refreshing choice for an independent hotel stay: Tapestry Collection by Hilton.



Tapestry Collection by Hilton marks the 14th brand and second collection brand for Hilton, the worlds fastest-growing hospitality company on an organic net unit growth percentage basis.



Tapestry Collection by Hilton was curated due to customer and owner demand for original upscale hotels that cater to guests seeking reliability and value in their independent hotel choices. Each hotel will maintain its individual spirit, offering guests an experience that is approachable and familiar as well as different from other hotels. In addition, each stay is backed by the reassurance of the Hilton name as well as its unmatched commercial engine and award-winning Hilton HHonors program.



The launch of Tapestry Collection by Hilton extends Hiltons proven growth strategy, which focuses on developing clearly-defined brands organically to grow our global footprint, create more hotel options for existing guests and attract new guests, said Christopher J. Nassetta, president and CEO, Hilton. Tapestry Collection by Hilton will enable us to provide the best of both worlds to travelers who are looking for an independent hotel experience but also want the consistency and reassurance they expect from Hilton.



Seven hotels have signed letters of intent with the collection in the following cities: Syracuse, New York.; Chicago, Illinois; Nashville, Tennessee; Warren, New Jersey; Hampton, Virginia., and two in Indianapolis, Indiana. The collection has an additional 35 deals in process, with the first property expected to convert to Tapestry Collection by Q3 2017. Further additions to the collection will be announced in the coming months.



The Tapestry Collection by Hilton is positioned in the upscale segment just below Curio  A Collection by Hilton, which has been highly successful since launching in 2014. Curio today operates more than 30 upper upscale hotels in seven countries with another 45 in the global development pipeline.



According to Bobby Bowers, senior vice president, operations, for industry research firm STR, the supply of independent properties in the upscale market is estimated to be more than 15,000 hotels globally. Considering the size of the market, Tapestry Collection by Hilton should find ample opportunity for conversions well into the future, Bowers said. This move is consistent with Hiltons strategy of creating and developing original brands that fuel organic growth.



Hiltons Organic Growth Strategy



While numerous brands compete in the luxury and upper upscale segments, Hiltons extensive consumer feedback and competitive data analysis have revealed a white space opportunity in the upscale market segment, especially for a collection brand.



Hilton has launched several brands in the past decade including Home2 Suites by Hilton in 2009, Curio  A Collection by Hilton in 2014, Canopy by Hilton in 2014 and Tru by Hilton in 2016. Combined, they have added 20,000 rooms to the Hilton footprint, with another 66,000 in the pipeline.



With Tapestry Collection by Hilton we are responding to our guests and owners desire for a compelling new choice for an upscale collection brand, said Mark Nogal, global head, Curio  A Collection by Hilton and Tapestry Collection by Hilton. A tapestry is a one-of-a-kind, woven piece of art, making it the ideal name for our new collection of hotels that are dedicated to being different.



Tapestry Collection by Hilton guests will be able to benefit from Hilton HHonors, the award-winning guest-loyalty program for Hiltons 14 distinct hotel brands that serve an ever-growing footprint of 60 million members in 104 countries. Hilton HHonors members who book directly with Hilton save time and money and gain instant access to the benefits they care about most, such as an exclusive member discount, free wi-fi, and the ability to earn and redeem Points for free nights. They can also access digital amenities like digital check-in with room selection and Digital Key (in select locations), available exclusively through the industry-leading Hilton HHonors mobile app. - TradeArabia News Service
Man strikes girlfriend with box cutter

A man was arrested after allegedly punching and striking his girlfriend with what was likely the non-blade end of a box cutter while the two were at a Flagstaff hotel. According to the police report, a man and his girlfriend were at the Americana Motel on Jan. 18 and got into an argument when the man started accusing the woman of cheating on him. The woman said the man then climbed on top of her while the two were in bed and started punching her in the head. She said he then began to hit her with a box cutter and threatened to kill her. The woman was transported to Flagstaff Medical Center with injuries to her forehead.

Lorenzo Tzinichini Jr., 45, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault, intimidation and disorderly conduct. He was booked into the Coconino County Detention Facility.

Man dies of undetermined causes

A man died at Flagstaff Medical Center on Jan. 18, three hours after arriving at the hospital when medics were unable to revive him after he lost a pulse. According to the police report, the man was brought to FMC because he had fallen and hit his head. Medical staff tried to stabilize his blood pressure and, after he lost a pulse, tried to revive him for 40 minutes before he was pronounced dead at 11:23 p.m. Family members said the man had congestive heart disease.

Keith Crawley, 59, died of what police officers reported were undetermined causes.

Hitchhiker assaulted

A man standing on south Milton Avenue was struck by another man while he was attempting to hitchhike on Friday night. According to the police report, the hitchhiker was standing by the road when he was approached by a man in a dark hoodie who asked him where he was from. The hitchhiker answered that he was from Phoenix and the man responded that he was from "Oldtown" and then lunged at the victim with a rock in his hand, hitting the victim in the face with the object.

The victim then fell to the ground and did not get a good look at his attacker.

The case has been closed after leads were exhausted.

Woman injured in domestic violence dispute

A man kicked and hit the mother of his child after the couple got into an argument in a Sunnyside home on Saturday morning. According to the police report, the couple had been arguing the night before and when the woman woke up the next morning she was contacted by the man, who was upset.

When the woman turned away from him, the man kicked her in the back of her legs, knocking her onto a nearby couch. Then the man hit the woman in the face with enough force to cause her braces to embed in the inside of her upper lip and cause severe laceration and swelling. The man did so while holding the couple's 1-year-old child, according to the woman. The woman's phone was also thrown to the ground and the battery knocked out, rendering her unable to call for help so she yelled for her sister, who was nearby, to call police.

Lonnie Thompson, 30, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated domestic violence and booked into the Coconino County Detention Facility.

DUI

 Stewart Tayah, 32, of Kayenta, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated DUI, on Friday at 1:47 a.m.

 Marco Barrios-Colin, 35, of the 2700 block of East Industrial Drive, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated DUI, on Saturday at 12:54 a.m.

City and county residents who want to report a crime but wish to remain anonymous may call Silent Witness at 774-6111 or (877) 29-CRIME. Rewards of up to $2,000 are given for information that leads to an arrest.
The newly opened La Ville Hotel & Suites City Walk Dubai has appointed new department heads.



Juan van Huyssteen has been named the director of beverages. In his new role, Huyssteen will manage the roll-out of a unique and eclectic beverage offering across the La Ville hotel. A South African native, Huyssteen began his career at Marimba Restaurant in the Cape Town international Convention Centre, before taking up leading roles in Cape Town's Carolines Fine Wine Cellar and Balthazar Restaurant. He moved to Dubai in 2008 as assistant head sommelier at Zuma Restaurant in DIFC, and later joined Qbara Restaurant, in Wafi City in 2013 where he worked as head sommelier for the first year and later got promoted to beverage manager. In the same year he took on another venue beverage program, at Fume in Pier 7.



Brazilian native Mislene Araujo joins as director of restaurants. She will be responsible for overseeing the hotels premium restaurants, Chival and Graze, as well as the in-room dining department and Lobby Cafe. Her industry experience spans more than 15 years and two continents. She comes to La Ville from Tortuga, a vibrant Mexican restaurant and bar at Jumeirah Mina ASalam where she held the position of General Manager. Before moving to the Middle East, she carved out a progressive career on Londons restaurant scene, establishing a reputation for vision and excellence.



With over 20 years experience in the hospitality industry, Julia Alvaro joins the La Ville as director of sales and marketing overseeing the entire revenue strategies, sales, marketing and PR functions. She has worked for some of the industrys leading hotels and resorts, including Le Meridien, Jebel Ali Hotel & Resort and The Churchill Intercontinental, gaining a wealth of in-depth knowledge and expertise across the hospitality sector.



Talented Pedro Arceyut joinsthe hotel as executive chef from Qatar where he held the position of executive sous-chef at the Marriott Marquis in Doha, responsible for the management of 14 outlets. Pedro first landed in the Middle East in 2002 to take up the position of Chef de Cuisine at La Parrilla, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai. In 2004, he returned to his native Central America where he held a number of roles including Latin Specialty sous chef at the Four Seasons, Peninsula de Papagayo Costa Rica and executive chef at Restaurant Dali, Guatemala City where he was responsible for planning the menus for the International Olympic Committee. 2011 marked a return to the UAE and a new role as executive sous-chef at Rocco Forte Abu Dhabi before moving to Doha, Qatar and finally back to Dubai to head-up the exciting new culinary department at La Ville Hotel.



Markus Roeder has been appointed as the hotel's general manager. Roeders career spans over 26 years in international hotel operations, during which time he accumulated a high degree of expertise and knowledge in multi-property leadership, oversight and management of complex brand initiatives.

Since joining Marriott in 1989, the German native has held various positions across the globe, including England, the US and the Middle East, within the Operations and Sales & Marketing discipline. - TradeArabia News Service
Suicide bombers are using babies to avoid detection

Massive networks of fake accounts found on Twitter

, citing several congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter, that on Wednesday Donald Trump will sign several executive orders restricting immigration. The president is expected to sign the orders at the Washington headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security, whose responsibilities include immigration and border security.



Trump's orders are said to involve restricting access to the United States for refugees and some visa holders from seven mostly Muslim nations including Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen... Trump To Sign Executive Order Restricting Immigration From Seven Countries Having taken on the Keystone pipeline and America's struggling manufacturing sector in a flurry of executive actions on Tuesday, moments ago Reuters reported citing several congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter, that on Wednesday Donald Trump will sign several executive orders restricting immigration. The president is expected to sign the orders at the Washington headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security, whose responsibilities include immigration and border security.Trump's orders are said to involve restricting access to the United States for refugees and some visa holders from seven mostly Muslim nations including Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen...


The TransGriot is available for speaking engagements, college lectures, panel discussions, media interviews, conferences or Trans 101 education efforts for your school, business or professional organizations.



For local Houston area, Texas or national events, you can e-mail me at transgriot@yahoo.com



For events outside the Houston metro area, I ask that my travel and lodging expenses be covered.



This is separate from my speaking fee.



If you are interested in having me appear as a speaker or panelist, you can e-mail me with the date and details of your proposed event.

Please book as early as possible because my speaking and event calendar slots during the year rapidly fill up.
One of the largest fundraising parties of the year is on the horizon, with planners adding some special touches to try to fill a big, tall void left with the September death of its longtime host and emcee, Brian Scott Gamroth.

Raise Your Voice for Kids is the theme of the annual Reverse Raffle & Auction Feb. 4 at the Casper Events Center to benefit members and programs of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Wyoming. It is the first since the death of radio host Brian Scott, who emceed both the winter reverse raffle and late summer awards breakfast for the Boys & Girls Clubs. Tickets are still available (see accompanying box).

Our event co-chairmen, banker Brian Stack and physician Eric Cubin, have some hilarious things prepared for us, chief executive officer Ashley Bright laughed, and Kim DeVore, our emcee for the evening, has a special personal mission for the evening that she will share in a very humorous way.

DeVore is the CFO of Jonah Bank Wyoming, a BGCCW Foundation board member and chairman for WyoTowne, which teaches youth how to be productive citizens through interactive curriculum.

DeVore said she is still overwhelmed at being asked to host the evening.

I have been a big Broncos fan all my life, and I picture this like following John Elway. Thats how Brian is to me. My initial reaction when I was asked was, Oh my Lord, no. Then I remembered when Micky and Susie (McMurry) and Ashley asked me to take on the WyoTowne program five years ago. I told them I cant do that.

Brian made the difference for me. He was like my coach. He taught me how to do an ask, and with this, I thought, I owe it to him to give it a shot.

Success in Central Wyoming

Now with 10 separate programs in three counties  Natrona, Converse and Johnson  the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Wyoming is almost halfway through a two-year, $1.3 million Positive Outcomes Initiative that will raise money in four areas  positive expansion, positive place, positive future and positive impact.

We have $450,000 left to raise of the $1.3 million, Bright said. Since opening our new teen center at Dean Morgan Middle School at the beginning of the school year, our teen numbers have doubled from 330 to 660.

New just this month is an initiative that gives 10 teen members the opportunity to have a taste of college in an effort spearheaded by Shawn Powell of Casper College and paid for by the Board of Cooperative Educational Services.

Chad Hanson of the college faculty is leading a class called Education & the Good Life for the spring semester, and students who complete the class are eligible to receive transferable sociology credits.

A recent document prepared by the club shows 89 percent of its teen members expect to attend college. And 65 percent of the members feel safer at the club than anywhere else.

In fiscal year 2015-2016, the club saw average daily attendance in after school and summer programming of 377. There were 2,639 registered members, and 135,625 free meals and snacks were served.

The WyoTowne financial literacy initiative, open less than a year, reached 475 participants, and the Cowboy Ethics program had 1,483 participants.

Many facets

The Reverse Raffle & Auction has many moving parts, sure to keep the guests from thinking they are at just another generic fundraiser. The silent auction bidding is handled through a smartphone app, which keeps the guests in one place and more attentive during the live auction than they would be if they had to move around checking their bids throughout the evening.

There is a drawing for a yellow 1980 Mercedes Benz convertible, donated by Gail Zimmerman. Contributors to the Impact Auction will receive raffle entries based on the size of the donation. For example, a $250 donation yields one entry, while a $5,000 donation gets 10 entries.

There are lots of interesting auction items, including a fishing trip to a private Ontario island; vacations to Belize, Disney World and Las Vegas; a dinner with Gov. Mead and a dinner on the Rivetts rooftop in downtown Casper; original works of art; and advertising packages from the Casper Star-Tribune and Townsquare Media.

Bright is as aware as anyone of the challenges Wyoming and its families are facing this year.

We are really taking the opportunity to build relationships and seeing what needs there are, he said. Ive started this 30 for 30 idea, where I talk to 30 school principals in 30 days. Its amazing what they are doing for our young people.

The Boys & Girls Clubs annual budget is $3.4 million, and the goal for the Reverse Raffle & Auction is $300,000.

We rely on the community to meet the needs of our children and families, Bright said. We havent been grant-heavy, so we have been able to sustain and grow due to the love and care of individuals and our community as a whole.
Casper City Councils narrow decision on Tuesday not to amend the smoking ban laid bare the differences in priorities and working style among the current members, nearly half of whom took their seats in January.

Most items that come before the council have already been vetted by municipal staff and members generally ask questions and offer suggestions but accept the bulk of the staffs recommendation.

The smoking ban debate was unique in that it allowed members to express their unvarnished views on the role of government.

Councilman Shawn Johnson and three of the new council members sought to overturn the ban, which was backed by voters in a 2015 referendum.

I still have issues with that because the voters dont own that business, the business owner does, Johnson said.

But a majority of council members, including many who had been part of the previous debates over the smoking ban, declined to revisit the issue.

Powell said a fight to bring smoking back to Casper bars would hurt the citys image and deter young people and businesses from moving here.

They cannot believe that anybody in todays world would even have a discussion about smoking in public places, councilman Charlie Powell said.

Bringing back fight?

But the real split on council was not over the substance of the ban, which prohibits smoking in any public establishment and was the culmination of a three-year back-and-forth between city council and anti-smoking activists.

Most members agreed that the question of whether to ban smoking  which pitted those who said it violated the rights of business owners against those who said it was a public health concern  had been thoroughly argued in the past.

You can just replay a tape from 2012, Powell joked to a reporter who was covering the meeting Tuesday evening.

Instead, the council split among those who wanted to overturn the ban  even if it cost the city tens of thousands of dollars  and those reluctant both to overturn a decision made by voters and to risk spending money on another special election and court battle.

The council banned public smoking in all public establishments in 2012. But a new council revised that ban the next year to allow smoking only in bars. That amendment eventually led to a referendum in which 54 percent of voters chose to reinstate the full smoking ban.

The petition to hold the referendum also led to a court case over which signatures were valid. The Wyoming Supreme Court eventually ruled against the city.

A special election would likely cost around $30,000, said Chris Lindsey with the Natrona County Clerks Office.

Several council members argued that regardless of whether the smoking ban was fair, the city should not risk spending more money on this issue during a time when Casper is looking to cut public spending.

Johnson pointed out that simply amending the smoking ban ordinance would not cost the city any money.

We could just overturn it, Johnson said. There doesnt have to be any money spent.

But that possibility was quickly disputed by other members, who said it was almost certain that another petition would be circulated and another special election held.

I want to respond to Shawn unequivocally, said councilman Amanda Huckabay. Theyre already starting the petition. We will have those expenses again.

Huckabay, who was involved in the original anti-smoking campaign, was the only newly elected council member to vote against amending the ban.

Councilman Bob Hopkins likewise said that he opposed the ban but had no appetite for restarting the fight.

You should pick your battles, Hopkins said. I dont think this is a winnable battle, guys.

Hopkins said that proponents of the full smoking ban were better funded than the handful of bar owners who wanted to bring back smoking and that it was hard to imagine a scenario where voters would not once again overturn councils decision on smoking.

Sharp debate

The debate remained civil. But as both Hopkins and Vice Mayor Ray Pacheco, who also said he opposed the substance of the ban, declined to support amending the ordinance, comments from those in favor of overturning the ban became more pointed.

Councilman Todd Murphy called for overturning the ban even if it was certain that anti-smoking activists would once again win a special election on the question.

Its a matter of principle, Murphy said. I dont think running for cover has much to do with integrity or principle.

Councilman Chris Walsh, who put the smoking ban on councils agenda, agreed with Murphy.

Theres a time when you might want to take on a battle where you know you might not win it, Walsh said.

Councilman Jesse Morgan said he opposed the ban but was concerned about the cost of a referendum and suggested finding a way to put the smoking ban question on a general election or primary ballot, which would avoid the cost of a special election.

Luben, the city attorney, said that was possible but that state law had specific requirements about holding elections related to referendums. A petition calling for a referendum must be filed shortly after an ordinance is passed or amended, and the special election must be held within a set time following verification of the petition.

The only way to avoid a special election would be to amend the ordinance a couple of months before a regularly scheduled election.

Walsh favored moving ahead on Tuesday rather than waiting but said he would be open to revisiting it again closer to an election.

In the end, Walsh, Murphy, Johnson and Morgan all voted in favor of moving forward with revising the anti-smoking ordinance.

We had a vote

Aside from potential costs associated with revisiting the smoking ban, several council members expressed concern about overturning the will of the voters who backed the full ban during the referendum 15 months ago.

Voters approve full smoking ban in Casper Voters reinstated Casper's comprehensive smoking ban Tuesday in a special election, settling

We had a vote, Pacheco said. I have really hard time, in my stomach, to see this panel of nine say, Well, you got it wrong, folks, so were going to go back.

Huckabay echoed the vice mayor.

Im not in the business of slapping 54 percent of our constituents in the face and saying youre stupid and youre wrong, Huckabay said. To keep revisiting this issue shows ... that we dont have faith that our citizens are educated enough to make a decision.

I dont think they have the right to make that decision, Murphy replied.

Mayor Kenyne Humphrey, who was out of town, had to vote by phone after present council members deadlocked 4-4 on whether to amend the smoking ordinance.

My vote would stand by what the public said at the election, Humphrey said. I would not want to bring smoking back.

Dissent from newcomers

The division on council highlights a larger difference between the four new council members elected in November and those who have served on the council for several years.

Newcomers to council may herald fresh era The four newcomers elected to Casper City Council on Tuesday are likely to have a significan

That split first came up during the mayoral selection, when the new members backed Johnson for the leadership position and the incumbents supported Humphrey.

Even after Humphreys election as mayor was assured, Walsh and Huckabay cast dissenting votes during the formal approval process, citing Humphreys long tenure on council.

This is her fourth year-long term as mayor.

Walsh has asked tough questions about several building projects that have come before council for approval. And though Huckabay sided with the incumbents on the smoking ordinance, she has made waves elsewhere.

Huckabay has called for a study of how Casper police officers spend their time and made a point of supporting the women who have spoken at council about the departments response to reports of sexual assault.

With Casper experiencing steep drops in sales tax revenue and the potential that state funding will be cut starting next year, the split between members like Hopkins who suggest that council pick its battles carefully and those like Murphy who call for principled stands no matter the consequences, may come up again  especially as council hammers out a new budget starting in April.
The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed four felony convictions Monday for Albany Countys former prosecutor, who was found guilty of using county money to buy cameras for his own use.

A jury found Richard Bohling, former county attorney and prosecuting attorney for Albany County, guilty in November 2015 of four felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses and a misdemeanor count of official misconduct. He was sentenced to two to four years in prison and fined $10,000 for each felony charge and $5,000 for the misdemeanor.

Prosecutors alleged Bohling used about $29,000 in county money between 2008 and 2012 to buy cameras and camera equipment for his personal use.

However, the states highest court reversed the conviction for the four felonies Monday and ordered a lower court to vacate Bohlings sentences. The misdemeanor conviction remains.

Bohling was out on bond before trial and a judge continued that bond while he waited for a decision on his appeal. He had not served any of the prison time. Decisions regarding the restitution and fines Bohling was ordered to pay are still pending, said John Robinson, one of Bohlings attorneys.

Mr. Bohling and his family are very pleased with the courts decision, Robinson said. The last few years have been an exercise in humility for Richard, who did everything he could to make Albany county a safer place for his citizens during his tenure as county attorney. Hes looking forward to moving on.

Wyoming Attorney General Peter Michael said in an email that his office was reviewing the decision and had no comment.

The courts decision centers on the definition of the word obtain.

In his appeal, Bohlings attorney argued that ownership of the property must be transferred in order for the defendant to be guilty of obtaining property by false pretenses. The Supreme Court agreed with this interpretation of the law and found that the Attorney Generals office, which was prosecuting the case, did not prove that Bohling ever officially owned the property.

Essentially, the Supreme Court decided that because Bohling never officially owned the cameras, he could not be convicted of the specific charges.

The Supreme Court justices wrote that the states case went awry when it amended the charges against Bohling.

The Attorney Generals office originally charged Bohling with larceny by bailee, then changed the charges a few months later to obtaining property by false pretenses. The Supreme Court wrote in its decision that the crime of larceny by bailee does not require that the ownership of stolen goods change, only that someone else possesses it.

Our case law is clear that the word obtain in the statute defining the crime of false pretenses has always been interpreted to mean that the wrongdoer must obtain both title to and possession of the victims property, the decision states. If only possession passes, the crime is larceny if all the elements can be proven.

The Court declined to speculate as to whether the state could have convicted Bohling of larceny charges.

The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation began investigating the countys purchases in 2014 after an employee in Bohlings office reported that she was concerned about how Bohling used county credit cards and accounts to buy cameras.

Bohling was elected Albany County attorney in 2002 and served three terms. He chose to not run for re-election in 2014 after he learned he was under investigation.
Lawmakers may create a supercommittee to study Wyomings education crisis should the Legislatures broader attempts to solve the crisis fail. The bill is similar to an omnibus measure sponsored Monday by the House Education Committee.

Under the bill, legislative leadership would have until March 20 to appoint two members from the Senate and House education and revenue committees and one member from the two appropriations committees. There would also be two at-large members from both the House and the Senate.

Rep. Michael Madden, R-Buffalo, said the bill was intended as a backstop in case there was no significant progress made to address the funding shortfall, which could hit $1.8 billion by the end of the 2022 fiscal year. He added that his preference is that the situation is addressed during the session.

I just hope that we dont have to resort to (the supercommittee) because it will involve a special session, he said. I guess most of us are hoping we dont have to do that.

The supercommittee would meet at least seven times in various districts throughout Wyoming. The group would study four major issues related to the education funding crisis: potential spending cuts, options for using existing money, diversion of existing revenue streams and investment income and options to increase revenue.

The supercommittee bill would also create four advisory groups, with members appointed by Gov. Matt Mead. One member from each group would be appointed by state superintendent Jillian Balow, and both Mead and Balow shall consult with the Wyoming School Boards Association on appointments to the groups.

The groups would consist of taxpayers, educators, parents, school district representatives and the general public, according to the bill, officially designated HB 225. The four advisory groups would provide input and recommendations to the supercommittee.

In an interview with the Star-Tribune last month, Mead called for a task force of educators and members of the public to weigh in on the issue. He said he was 99 percent confident the group would form this session.

Meads spokesman, David Bush, said Tuesday that while the governor doesnt take a position on pending legislation, Mead believes the bills are a good place to start.

Mead is appreciative of the efforts of Speaker Harshman and others to offer possible solutions to addressing the critical school funding deficit, Bush said in an email. The bill contains efforts to encourage a broad public dialogue, and that communication is important to Governor Mead.

Harshman has long called for a supercommittee that would bring together members of various committees to study the issue.

The supercommittee would also study options for funding school construction and maintenance. Statewide school construction has been paid for by coal lease bonuses for years, but that money is running out. A bill filed earlier this week would amend the state constitution to allow local districts to levy local taxes to pay for building new school facilities.

The bill is similar to a provision in an omnibus bill released earlier this week. The omnibus bills supercommittee would not form until March 2018 and would have 16 lawmakers instead of 14, as well as three governor-appointed advisory groups instead of four. Balows input is also not mentioned in the omnibus bill.

Were going to run both of these side-by-side, just in case somehow the (omnibus) bill fails, Harshman said.

Star-Tribune staff writer Laura Hancock contributed to this report.
CHEYENNE  A bipartisan bill filed Wednesday in the Legislature would require that gay people receive equal treatment at work, a stark contrast from a House measure that would allow people to deny services to LGBT people based on religious or moral convictions against homosexuality.

Wyoming Equality, the largest gay rights organization in Wyoming, describes the House measure as the most severe of all the so-called religious rights bills being considered in state legislatures across the country.

Senate File 153, the gay employment protection bill, is similar to a 2015 measure that passed the Wyoming Senate but failed in the House, except the legislation from two years ago was broader, providing protections for gays at school and other places.

But this one has only the employment protection-specific provisions, said Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, a sponsor of the bill, which has Republicans and Democrats as co-sponsors.

House Bill 135, meanwhile, defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman  which is in opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court, which concluded marriage was a fundamental right in June 2015.

In Wyoming, gay marriage was declared a right by a federal judge in October 2014.

Senate bill

The Senate bill puts everyone in a protected class based on sexual orientation  heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual.

It adds to current state statute that no one can be discriminated against based on their gender identity or sexual orientation in wages. People cannot be hired, fired, demoted or promoted based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.

Employment laws currently protect people based on age, sex, race, color, national origin, religion, disability, pregnancy and other identities.

House bill

HB135 is based on the premise that discrimination victims in society are not gays but people of faith and people with moral convictions against homosexuality.

A Star-Tribune reporter waited in the House lobby for over an hour Wednesday for HB135s sponsor, Rep. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle, to answer questions about why the legislation is important. The newspaper sent messages to the lawmaker asking to talk, but she never appeared.

Another sponsor, Sen. Paul Barnard, R-Evanston, declined to comment specifically on the legislation.

Ive gotten enough baloney on it already, he said. We dont know if its going to come out of the House.

If the bill passes the House and proceeds to the Senate, Barnard said hell discuss the issue.

Sara Burlingame of Wyoming Equality describes the legislation as legalizing prejudice against gays.

The House bill would protect religious people from being punished at work if they refuse to serve gays. If they get in trouble for their religious or moral convictions, they can go to court and seek damages and attorneys fees.

Indeed, companies with gay nondiscrimination policies could be immediately challenged in court, Burlingame said.

Generally, when a person has a conflict with a policy or law, they progress through channels of resolution, such as meeting with corporate human resources staff, seeking a mediator to resolve differences, then resorting to litigation, Burlingame said.

This bill says forget all that: Go to court, claim protection under this law, she said.

Religious people and companies couldnt face fines or tax penalties if they refuse to serve gays.

Wyoming Equality even interprets the bill as allowing firefighters or other first responders to not have to save peoples lives or fight fires if their religious or moral beliefs conflict with the victims.

The state lacks legislation specifically protecting gays in work, housing and other areas of life.

Laramie has a nondiscrimination ordinance protecting the LGBTQ community, and that could be challenged. If HB135 passed, Burlingame said, it would be tough for the state to pass any other gay nondiscrimination laws, since under the religious bill, they could be challenged.

Only hospitals and medical facilities are exempted from some provisions of HB135, Burlingame said.

Burlingame said that various religions have different beliefs about homosexuality and how to treat gays. HB135 is a violation of the First Amendments establishment clause because it favors some beliefs over others, she said.

The Wyoming Association of Churches supports the Senate measure for gay workers.

It opposes the House bill  even though it would protect people of faith, said Chesie Lee, the groups director.

Freedom of religion is being used to discriminate against people, Lee said. It is wrong.

Members of the Association of Churches include the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church USA, Quakers, the Episcopal church, Disciples of Christ, the United Church of Christ, the American Baptist Churches USA and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

The Star-Tribune left a message with a deacon for the Catholic Diocese of Cheyenne who has been involved in legislation at the Wyoming Legislature this year. He did not return the call.

In 2015, the diocese led the opposition that helped kill the gay anti-discrimination bill.

Cheyenne Mayor Marian Orr said she doesnt support the House bill.

The city has a nonbinding gay nondiscrimination resolution that wouldnt be nullified by HB135. But to Orr, the bill would tarnish the image of Cheyenne as a welcoming community. Shes concerned it would send the wrong message to potential businesses with gay employees that are interested in expanding operations to Wyoming.

It sends the wrong message: Its anti-economic development. Its really quite Stone Age, she said. I believe it sends the message that prejudice is OK. Cheyenne recently passed a nondiscrimination resolution. This flies in the face of that.
Last in the nation  thats not a good place to be.

But thats exactly where Wyoming finds itself ranked in a recent analysis of state economies. The ranking, compiled by Bloomberg, indicated that Wyoming has two main obstacles: its heavy reliance on energy and its demographic challenges.

Its hardly a secret that on balance the state depends too much on revenue from energy production. In fact, it has become painfully apparent recently with the revelation that Wyoming faces a $156 million shortfall in the current two-year, $3 billion budget cycle. Most of the money that fuels state spending comes from coal, oil and natural gas. Thats how the states tax system is structured  to capitalize on the drilling and digging that takes place on Wyoming land.

But that doesnt make sense anymore. Markets in the nation and the world are evolving  possibly permanently. The best-case projections say that under the right circumstances, Powder River Basin coal could hit recent highs by 2030. Beyond that, though, energy experts say, the sector will likely see a decline  regardless of whether policies such as the Obama-era Clean Power Plan are implemented. Thats because it faces pressure from cheap natural gas, which also teams well with renewable resources in a varied low-emissions energy portfolio.

Given that outlook, it doesnt make sense to plan Wyomings financial future on an industry that has plenty of its own obstacles to navigate. The state must diversify its economy. It must work to welcome different types of industries, from data centers to manufacturing hubs to health care. But simply attracting them to Wyoming wont be enough. The state must also restyle its tax structure to rely more equally on all industries, funneling that money to schools, public safety and other important areas. Otherwise, the expenses associated with any economic development costs more than the revenue generated by associated taxes on any new business. Only by reforming Wyomings tax structure can the state truly foster and reap the benefits of a diverse economy.

In terms of demographics, Wyoming will always be unique. Its low population and vast landscapes are important to the people who call the state home. But that low population density is also limiting Wyomings growth and prosperity. Companies looking to relocate here need stable workforces  a large pool of talent from which to draw. Wyomingites are skilled and hardworking, but as the Bloomberg rankings point out, the state has no metropolitan hub to serve as a base for a company.

In fact, that situation is worsening. The number of people who lived here dropped in 2016 for the first time in 30 years. Wyoming residents need jobs and they need well-funded state services  and if they cant find them, theyll look to make their homes elsewhere. But encouraging those things takes work and tax-supported infrastructure. To help create jobs, the state must position itself to support corporate economic development, and this means reforming Wyomings tax structure.

If the state really wants to diversify its economy  if it really wants to grow into a place where all kinds of people and businesses can thrive and power its economy in the coming generations  its time to start thinking about how the state can attract strong workforces and corporate citizens as it balances the need to maintain its way of life. It wont be easy, but it must be done  and done soon  to preserve Wyomings financial future.
Payroll systems giant ADP is adding 250 high-paying positions to its Tucson workforce at the Williams Centre, eventually boosting the number of employees at its local sales office to 400.

The company is hiring inside sales managers who will make about $55,000 to $60,000 a year plus benefits, said Chad Northheimer, ADP vice president of sales and the Tucson sites leader. A four-year degree is required.

Were not a call center, were a full-blown sales office, Northheimer said, adding that the Tucson site supports ADPs large enterprise clients.

ADP, or Automatic Data Processing Inc., was founded in 1949 and is based in Roseland, New Jersey. The company is one of the biggest global providers of payroll and related human-resources management software and services.

We pay one in six Americans, Northeimer said.

ADP has been hiring in Tucson since last year and is up to about 190 employees, Northheimer said.

The company completely renovated a two-story building at 5451 E. Williams Blvd., providing nearly 50,000 square feet of space to accommodate the expansion.

Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, joined company executives and associates during a ribbon-cutting celebration at the Williams Centre site on Tuesday.

ADP also is in the process of expanding a customer-service center in Tempe that will add 1,500 new jobs there.

Weve been growing so fast, its really important to land in a community thats going to support that growth, said Ed Flynn, president of ADPs Global Enterprise Solutions division.

ADP has applied for $4 million in state tax breaks over five years, conditioned on hitting certain hiring milestones, a company spokesman said.

Carlos Rodriguez, chief executive officer of ADP, praised the companys partnership with state and city officials to help ADP grow.

Rothschild noted that ADP is just one of several major expansions and business relocations that will add thousands of jobs in the Tucson area.

He cited last years opening of a major Comcast call center, the HomeGoods distribution center going up near Tucson International Airport, the pending relocation of the Caterpillar mining research center to downtown Tucson and Raytheon Missile Systems decision to expand its operations near the airport by up to 1,900 jobs.

Rodriguez said ADP is looking to attract employees who reflect the diversity of the companys clients and is particularly interested in graduates of the University of Arizonas Eller College of Management, as well as veterans and military spouses, given the presence of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, among others.

ADP says about 1,000 veterans are among its roughly 56,700 employees worldwide.
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29.

Song Festival lineup

The fifth annual Tucson Desert Song Festival runs through Feb. 5. Here are more events this weekend:

 Thursday, Jan. 26: Kristin Dauphinais hosts New Directions in Art Song lecture/recital, noon, Holsclaw Hall, North Park Avenue and East Speedway; free. Arizona Opera recital with soprano Heidi Stober accompanied by pianist Allen Perriello, 7 p.m. at Holsclaw Hall; $25, $15 students through azopera.org

 Saturday, Jan. 28: Tucson Desert Song Festival K-12 Songwriting Competition Finalist Showcase, 2:30 p.m. at Holsclaw Hall; free. Arizona Operas Madama Butterfly, 7:30 p.m. at Tucson Music Hall; $30-$125 through tickets.azopera.org Performance repeats at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29.

 Tuesday, Jan. 31: Tenor Rene Barbera recital presented by Arizona Opera, 7 p.m. at UAs Holsclaw Hall; $25, $15 students at tickets.azopera.org

 Wednesday, Feb. 1: Soprano Tony Arnold joins Enso Quartet with Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, 7:30 p.m. at Leo Rich Theater, 260 S. Church Ave. $30, $10 students at arizonachambermusic.org/tickets

 Thursday, Feb. 3: Love is Here to Stay with Ravinias Steans Music Institute vocalists, with UA Fred Fox School of Music. 7 p.m. at Holsclaw Hall; free.
Robert Kaslly is concerned right now because his garage door is broken and, by his own admission, he is not very handy with tools.

That he is more adept with a saucepan than a Phillips screwdriver has served him well, however. As executive chef for Splendido at Rancho Vistoso, Kaslly supervises the plating of hundreds of meals a day for residents of the Oro Valley retirement community. Before joining the Splendido team six months ago, he had worked as executive chef at Overlook Restaurant in El Conquistador Country Club and at the restaurants in the SaddleBrooke community.

The Detroit-area native attended the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and worked at restaurants up and down the California coast before returning to Michigan. After spending winters vacationing in Arizona, Kaslly and his family moved to the Grand Canyon State year-round.

Why do you like cooking?

I think its comforting. I think its a place where people come together no matter race, religion, political thing. We all sit down and eat and its just comforting to me to be in the kitchen and cooking and making people happy and feeding people. Its my passion.

When did you know you wanted to be a chef?

At a very young age  I would probably say around 8 or 9  I knew I wanted to be a chef, which sounds weird, but my dad was an excellent baker so I was always in the kitchen with him making pies and cakes and cookies. My grandmother was a great cook, and then my neighbor down the street was a stay-at-home mom and she baked and cooked everything from scratch. The first time I ever made suckers was with my neighbors down the street. I was inspired young.

Do you have a signature dish?

I am such a mutt. I am French-Hungarian by my nature. I basically was classically trained and from what I am reading right now French cuisine is coming back. I like making coq au vin. I like some classics. I like Hungarian goulash. I do this goulash with a nice big wedge of grilled challah bread. You kind of dip the challah in the goulash. Its such a comforting dish. I like taking anything old, classic and putting a new twist on it.

What advice do you have for people learning to cook?

Keep it simple, keep it clean. Clean, simple food is the best. I think people try to mask and try too hard sometimes on things and some of the best food is simple  a whole roasted chicken with lemon and olive oil and fresh herbs.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some Jan. 25 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.
Authorities are working to identify two people who died Monday in a fiery plane crash at the Tucson International Airport.

The Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner is working to identify the remains found in the wreckage of a twin-engine Beechcraft 300 airplane that airport officials said crashed shortly after takeoff around 12:40 p.m. on its way to Mexico.

The two bodies were extracted from the twin-engine plane Monday evening and sent to the medical examiner, said airport spokeswoman Jessie Butler.

Dr. Greg Hess at the medical examiners office said he had not yet made a positive identification as of Tuesday afternoon.

Personnel with the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the wreckage Tuesday. A preliminary report is usually issued about one week after a crash.

An accident notice posted on the Federal Aviation Administration website listed the fatalities as one flight crew member and one passenger.

No conclusions have been drawn yet from the investigation, said NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway. A full investigation typically takes more than one year to complete.

The tail number visible in photos of the wreckage, and listed in the FAA accident notice, shows the plane was manufactured in 1985 and is registered to Nogales-based company called KAAZ LLC, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

KAAZ was incorporated in August 2016 by Luis Moreno Jr., Arizona Corporation Commission records show. A voicemail left for Moreno went unanswered Tuesday afternoon.
(Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed directives to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and crack down on U.S. cities that shield illegal immigrants, proceeding quickly on sweeping and divisive plans to curb immigration and boost national security.
The last time Sixto Molina was a South Tucson city employee, the acting city manager informed him they were shutting off his phone and changing the locks to the office.

Molina now returns to the square-mile city as the new city manager, nearly a decade since he worked there as police chief.

After hours in executive session, the South Tucson City Council instructed the city staff to draft a formal contracts to hire Molina and a new city attorney, Bobby Yu, 28, who works for a law firm in Tucson and is former city prosecutor. Both are expected to begin work in March.

Interim City Manager Veronica Moreno, who has served in the position for 18 months, said the details about the contract would be made available next week.

Moreno earned $78,079 in 2016 and was the citys highest-paid employee. However, Moreno also worked as the city clerk and the human resources director for the city.

She assumed the position in the summer of 2015 when then-City Manager Benny Young left to take a position with Pima County.

The city attorney position has been vacant since December.

This is the third job that Molina has held with the city  first taking calls as a civilian dispatcher before joining the South Tucson Police Department.

Molina later joined the Tucson Police Department, where he rose to the rank of sergeant.

He retired from the Tucson Police Department in 1997 to become South Tucsons police chief.

Molina left South Tucson in 2007 to take a job to oversee security for the Sunnyside Unified School District.

At the time, Molina had a running feud with South Tucsons then-Mayor Jennifer Eckstrom, the daughter of former mayor and Pima County Supervisor Dan Eckstrom. The feud went public two years earlier when Molina told reporters the Eckstroms wanted him out as police chief.
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Arizonas Medicaid program will hold a public hearing Friday morning in Tucson about putting a work requirement and a lifetime limit on enrollees who are physically and mentally capable of working.

The hearing will be held at 10 a.m. to noon Friday, Jan. 27, at Banner-University Medical Center South Campus, 2800 E. Ajo Way.

Arizonas Medicaid program is called the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) and is a government health insurance program for low- income people. It currently enrolls more than a quarter of Arizonas population, or 1.9 million people, including 288,912 residents of Pima County, the agencys January enrollment numbers show.

The Arizona Legislatures Senate Bill 1092 that passed in 2015 called for several changes to the AHCCCS program. Among them were requirements on able-bodied adults enrolled in the AHCCCS program, including a requirement that they become employed, actively seek employment, go to school or attend a job training program.

In addition, it called for putting a five-year lifetime enrollment limit on AHCCCS enrollees deemed able-bodied, which means they are at least 19 and physically and mentally capable of working.

The legislation also allowed AHCCCS officials to ban enrollees for a year if they knowingly failed to report a change in family income or made false statements about their compliance with work requirements.

The legislation required the approval of the federal government, which rejected the proposals related to able-bodied adults on the grounds that those requests could undermine access to care. AHCCCS must reapply by March 30 each year for proposals in SB 1092 that have not been approved or are not in effect, the legislation says.

As part of the waiver submittal process, AHCCCS is required to conduct public hearings.

The public is also invited to review and comment on the waiver proposal in writing via email to public input@azahcccs.gov or by mail to: AHCCCS, c/o Office of Intergovernmental Relations, 801 E. Jefferson St., Mail Drop 4200, Phoenix, AZ 85034.

All comments received by Feb. 28, 2017, will be reviewed, considered and included in the final proposal sent to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
OPINION: "While we may not always agree on the path to take, in our discussions its clear that we all want a similar result: excellence in education at TVUSD. To achieve this goal, we need to vote 'yes' on Prop 494," writes Thomas Trask, a candidate for the Tanque Verde Unified School Distr
The Utah sandwich chain Even Stevens is opening its first store in Tucson, inside the historic The Julian Drew building downtown.

Workers are currently renovating two storefronts on the western side of the 100-year-old building at 178 and 180 E. Broadway.

When it opens in the next few months, Even Stevens will serve gourmet casual sandwiches like capreses, Reubens and Vietnamese fish banh mi, with lots of vegetarian options like savory jackfruit. According to the website's menu, other Even Stevens locations also have salads, breakfast and Sunday brunch.

What better way to heat those cold bones than a cup of the Tom Basil Bisque and a half reuben sandwich? Warm creamy goodness to warm your belly! Try it with super tender corned beef brisket, melted Swiss, house-made red cabbage kraut and dressing. All on a toasty swirl rye. Take a couple bites and let us know what you think! A photo posted by Even Stevens (@evenstevenssandwiches) on Oct 20, 2016 at 9:14am PDT

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A sign posted on the door shows that the location is currently applying for a liquor license. Other Even Stevens locations across Utah and Idaho serve mimosas and local craft beers like Uinta from Salt Lake City. Even Stevens also hosts local music acts on the weekends.

But the hallmark of this Salt Lake City restaurant is its charity work. For every sandwich sold, they donate another sandwich to nonprofit organizations in the area. Last week the chain announced it donated its millionth sandwich.

Thank you so much for celebrating with us yesterday as we hit our huge milestone. Keep tagging #evenstevens and sharing that #EatToGive love! Photo by @thisamericanfox A photo posted by Even Stevens (@evenstevenssandwiches) on Jan 17, 2017 at 8:41am PST

The chain, which originated in Salt Lake City in 2014, is quickly moving into Arizona. Over the last few months it's opened shops in Phoenix, Gilbert and also Tempe.
Help India!

By Amit Kumar, Twocircles.net

On March 29, 2016, when the news of the brutal murder of Delta Meghwal first flashed across TV screens and websites, the outrage was both visible, and for some, a proof that Dalits across the country wanted their anger to be seen, heard and acted upon. The death of Delta, a 17-year old, raped, murdered, and her body thrown inside a water tank in Nokha Rajasthan, came just two months after the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula. But it seems that while Vemulas legacy remains intact and his mothers fight for justice well documented, the case of Meghwal has fallen out of public memory. At least this is the view of Mahendra Ram Meghwal, Deltas father.

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On January 22, when Twocircles.net called Mahendra Ram, he sounded tired, scared and weary of the terrible turn his life took in March last year. I wanted her to study, become self-sufficient, and help her family and community. All her life she worked to help the Meghwal community, yet after her death, her own community members have deserted my fight for justice, he says.

The only small ray of hope that has emerged for the Meghwals is that on January 6, the case was moved to the SC/ST court in Bikaner. On January 24, the first arguments in this court was made, and Mahendra Rams lawyer Madhuran Chimpa asked for the accused-Priya Shukla, Pratik Shukla, and Vijendra Singh-to be booked under Section 395 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code); Section 5 and 6 of (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) POCSO and Section 110 and 6 of SC/ST (PoA) Act.

Speaking with Twocircles.net, Chimpa said that the fact that the police had named these three in their charge sheet was the first step towards justice. They had initially tried to portray it as a suicide; but thanks to agitations and protests, they have finally put the names of the accused. This is small, but an important start, he added.

However, Chimpa says that the battle for justice is likely to be an extremely difficult one. While protests and agitations can create awareness, they do not win you cases. Mukadma to court mein chalta hai, aur court bhavnao ko jagah nahi deti (The case is fought in courts, and the court does not give space/importance to emotions.

While a lot of people came in solidarity, we did not and still do not have a lot of witnesses in our support. The paperwork was compromised, and the case is not as strong as it should have been. However, we still have a lot to argue for and the fact that the case will now be argued in the SC/ST court gives us hope, he added.

Mahendra Ram meanwhile, says even this announcement (the case being moved to the SC/ST court) offered him little hope. I am tiredwe have been left alone. I am a government employee, so I need to do my daily job too and feed the rest of my family. There is not a day when I do not think of my daughter and what happened to her. But all promises have evaporated, no one cares about the outcome. Even the Meghwal community, which stood with us, is now divided on the issue, he added.

According to a local source, Anil Meghwal, the MP of Bikaner has close ties with the owners of the nursing home where Delta was killed. This, and the fact that the police has continuously tried to shield the suspect (they were bailed out within a month of the arrest) showed that they would do all that is possible to save the accused. The source added that Mahendra Ram was indeed left alone to fend for his family.

But it was not always so.

Days after Deltas death, even as the police tried to cover it up a suicide, support for justice poured in from all quarters. Social activists, political leaders jostled to express their views on the matter, and everyone seemed to be firmly standing with Mahendra Ram. I lost count of how many people came up to me and said they were with me; that I shouldnt lose hope, and that they would everything possible to ensure that he gets justice. Even Rahul Gandhi, who is ever-s0 ready to jump in cases where he can target the BJP (the Rajasthan government is under the BJP), said he would fight for Delta until his last breath. Except of course, he wouldnt. He made this statement in April; by September Mahendra Ram had made it clear that Gandhi was lying. He felt cheated by the false promises made by the Congress leader. So many people said they would never let another Delta happen again. But in the last year alone, more than 28 girls and women from our community have been raped, and killed. But I do not see anyone raising that issue, he added. He said that in December 2016, some people who claimed to be lawyers from the Supreme Court had offered help, and said that they would try moving the case to Delhi to ensure that local politics does not deny them justice.

Hearing this, Mahendra Ram handed them a copy of the case files. What happened next?

I am yet to hear from them. Maybe they have forgotten, he says.

The same could be said about everyone else too.
Help India!

By Twocircles.net Staff Reporter

All photos courtesy The Coastal Resource Centre

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The actions of Chennai police during the protests of January 23 have devastated the lives of over 250 families in the area of Nadukuppam, a neighbourhood just off the beach in Chennai, a fact-finding team has revealed.

An all-women fact-finding team consisting of Dr. V. Vasanthi Devi, former chair State Commission on Women, Professor Anandhi Shanmugasundaram, Advocate Poongkhulali Balasubramanian, and Chandrika Radhakrishnan from Thozilalar Koodam visited Nadukuppam between 2 and 5 p.m. on 24 January and prepared the report, which can be read in full here.

Nadukuppam is a Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board tenement area where residents of Nadukuppam (originally in Marina beach) were resettled, and most of the residents are from the fishing community.

What is clear is that after their initial hot pursuit of bleeding and terrified youngsters from the beach, the police returned at least two more times armed with stones, bottles, petrol bombs, rubber bullets, tear gas and incendiary material, the team said in its report.

Bringing clarity to the sequence of events, the fact-finding team said it was clear that the police badly beat up the young men and women who came running into the village in the early hours with injuries, clothes in a disarray and in a state of incoherent terror.

This was followed by the police repeatedly referring to the youngsters as theeviravadhigal (terrorists) to justify their violent behaviour. By accusing the villagers of harbouring terrorists, they justified their violence and destruction of property.

Policewomen were as abusive  physically and verbally  as the policemen. They have used sexist, demeaning words, entered homes, destroyed furniture, dragged

innocent men, women, and children out on the street and beaten them up in public view.

Policewomen set fire to the fish market using some inflammable powder-like substance. Several other vehicles and handcarts and shops were also systematically targeted. Some policewomen also looted the fish, especially the high-priced fish, the report added.

The residents alleged that the policemen later came and tried to pressurise residents to sign a testimony declaring that the protestors had indulged in arson and violence, and promised them compensation in return, the team said.

The residents refused (to do so), it added.

The fact-finding team said the actions of the police had destroyed the livelihoods of a number of people. Just as the fisherfolk were recovering from (Cyclone) Vardah, the police have destroyed the single most important livelihood asset of more than 250 women in Nadukuppam. This will have a devastating impact on the domestic economies of the families, and the schooling and future of their children at a time when exams are around the corner, the report added.

The fact-finding team has made the following recommendations to ensure justice to the victims:

a) Convene a high-level independent probe to verify the findings of this report and the allegations of the residents of Nadukuppam.

b) Immediately offer an exgratia compensation to all households in Nadukuppam with an extra amount to the fisherwomen who have lost their assets in the arson attack on the fish market.

c) Enquire into the complicity of higher officials in the police department, and take appropriate action.

d) Do a detailed valuation of the lost property, damaged assets in terms of livelihood assets, household goods, houses, furniture and vehicles, and arrange for compensation by the Chennai City Police.

e) Conduct a thorough investigation and pin penal liability on police personnel that participated in the attacks of 23 January, and their seniors who ordered the attack.
Help India!

New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) Known for her significant contribution to childrens and womens literature, noted writer-activist Eli Ahmed was on Wednesday named a Padma Shri awardee.

The Padma wwards were announced by the Centre on Wednesday.

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An all-rounder from the North-eastern state of Assam, Ahmed is a renowned writer, script writer, director, lyricist, costume designer, actress and a social activist, to mention just a few among what she has done in her life.

Her books include Romanthan and Asom Jyoti and have rose to critical acclaim. She is also the Editor, Publisher and Proprietor of OraniI, the only women magazine in Northeast since 1970.

She is best known for her play Ami abhinoy kora noi, a drama based on physically handicapped children, child labour and child education.

The awards, conferred in three categories  Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri  are presented by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan around March or April every year.

This year the President of India has approved conferment of Padma Awards to 89 persons, which comprises of seven Padma Vibhushan, seven Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri Awardees. 19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes five persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs and 6 Posthumous awardees.

Iconic Bollywood actress Wahida Rehman, journalist S. Gurumurthy and 17 others, including Home and Cabinet secretaries, were part of the Padma Committee this year.
Historic Judgement - In a historic verdict, Theresa May and the Brexit bandwagon was derailed today, albeit temporarily, by the UK Supreme Court with the ruling that a new law would need to be passed by parliament in order to trigger article 50 which will spell out the UKs exit from the European Union.

Supreme Court

11 Supreme Court judges, the largest panel of judges ever assembled, lead by Lord Neuberger, presided over the ruling which resulted in an eight to three victory to the pro-parliament campaigners. The group lead by investment banker Gina Miller were ecstatic with the result.

Ms. Miller commented No government can expect to be unanswerable or unchallenged. Parliament alone is sovereign.

Whilst the leave campaign, lead by the likes of Boris Johnson, remained confident in their plans with a 'business as usual' approach, Boris tweeting "we will trigger A50 by end of March, forward we go!" after the verdict, the significance of this ruling cannot be underestimated. This could be the chance the remain campaigners had been hoping for however, many predict that most Labour and Tory MP's will stick to the party line and vote for A50 to be triggered, albeit with some modification. There has already been some dissention in the ranks, notably Tulip Siddiq and other Labour party members plan to go against their party whip in what will be an incredibly significant day in parliament.

Opinion

As the inevitable tension mounts over the coming days, we will again be subjected to both sides of an argument we have heard many times over the last 12 months from 'Remain' and 'Leave' campaigners. Perhaps what should be of particular interest and debate to the voting politicians is gauging present opinion from their constituents now that we are fast approaching exit from the EU.

After such a close result (52-48%) in the referendum and, the reality dawning on a vast amount of 'leave' voters on what leaving actually means to their personal livelihoods, it now seems only fair for the representatives of our constituencies, voted in by the British public, to have their say.
Following the supreme court's judgement that determined parliament must vote on whether Article 50 should be triggered to set in motion Britain's departure from the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May has announced that the government will be publishing a white paper on her Brexit strategy.

'An opportunity to scrutinise'

At today's PMQs, Chris Philp, a Conservative MP, asked the Prime Minister if the best way to establish how the government wished to depart the European Union would be to publish a white paper. May responded by stating that every MP will receive the opportunity to scrtutinise the government's plan when the government publish a white paper.

The leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, chastised Theresa May for yielding to pressure from all sides before asking about an expected date for the white paper. May deflected, stating that Corbyn would rather keep moving the goalposts than get the right Brexit for the United Kingdom.

Despite agreeing to the publication of a white paper, Theresa May stated that certain information will be withheld from the document in order to prevent negotiating tactics being leaked to Europe. May vehemently stated that her main intention was to ensure that the people of the United Kingdom got the best deal. May stated that she hopes the fate of EU nationals residing in Britain will be decided 'very early' in the Brexit negotiations.

Questioned about Trump

Theresa May, who will fly out to meet President Donald Trump on Thursday, was pressed by a number of MPs to take a stance on the new president's well documented misogynistic comments. Corbyn asked if May will come out in support of the demonstrators at the Women's Marches over the weekend.

The Prime Minister responded by stating that she is 'not afraid to confront the new President on the key issues,' citing that she is able to criticise Trump due to the United Kingdom's 'special relationship with the United States'.

Verdict

This was one of Theresa May's more impressive performances at PMQs. May immediately put Corbyn on the back-foot but Corbyn recovered well before finishing strong.
Just a few days back we all witnessed Donald Trumps inauguration ceremony and the media went berserk on comparing every minute detail of it with the past president Obamas inauguration ceremony and the likes. Now online reports suggest that the US President Trump called up modi and had a conversation with him about various things of prime importance. Online reports suggest that the Trump government is harassed by planned efforts of the liberals to deliberately harm the image of the new President post his thumping victory in the election. Also Trump named Indo American Ajit Pai as Federal Communications Commission Chairman showcasing that US's ties with India are going stronger on all fronts.

President Trump calls in Modi before Moscow, Tokyo, Beijing and European leaders

It is interesting to see that President Trump decided to dial in Indian PM before Moscow, Tokyo, Beijing or any other Asian or European leaders; close ties between US and India are guessed to be the reason behind the choice. Before calling the Indian PM, the new US president had a conversation with leaders of Canada, Mexico, Israel and Egypt as well on the weekend. Trump also had a meeting with the business leaders on Monday.

Bristish PM Theresa May first to meet US President Donald Trump

While President Donald Trump has been dialing in world leaders, British Prime Minister Theresa May will be the first world leader to meet President Donald Trump on Friday post his inauguration ceremony a few day ago.

President Trumps liking for India and Indian leader Modi is quite apparent as he not only had identified India as one of the close ties of US but had also recited PM Narendra Modis campaign slogan. He had also mentioned in his Presidential campaigns that in his regime India and US will become better friends, it is also noteworthy that Indian PM Modi was the first one to call Donald Trump and congratulate him on his victory in elections.

The outreach seems to be the Trump governments way to get a rooted footing as their inexperience is getting it into trouble on daily basis especially with the liberal media scrutinizing every move.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed its top picks from the films of 2016, with the voting to take place over the next month and the winners to be announced at the Oscars ceremony, hosted by late-night talk show star Jimmy Kimmel, on 26 February.

Sebastian and Mia lead the pack

La La Land received a grand total of 14 nominations, which is the most Oscar nominations received by any Film in history, tied with all-time classics Titanic and All About Eve, giving some indication of the delightful musical romps chances of standing the test of time.

Nine films have been nominated for Best Picture (since the limit was upped to ten following the upset over The Dark Knight being snubbed): unexpected critical hit sci-fi Arrival, pacifist-in-the-Pacific WWII drama Hacksaw Ridge, neo-Western Hell or High Water, La La Land (obviously), and Manchester by the Sea, as well as the Academys conscientious effort to diversify after last years #OscarsSoWhite fiasco with black-themed Fences, Hidden Figures, and Moonlight, plus Middle Eastern-themed Lion thrown in for good measure.

The Best Director nominees who could be going home with an Oscar are Damien Chazelle, Denis Villeneuve, Mel Gibson, Kenneth Lonergan, and Barry Jenkins, so a good mix of newcomers and familiar faces.

The Best Actor award will be going to either Casey Affleck, Andrew Garfield, Ryan Gosling, Viggo Mortensen, or Denzel Washington, while Best Actress could go to Isabelle Huppert, Ruth Negga, Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, or Meryl Streep (her twentieth nomination!).

Racially diverse supporting acting categories

While the lead acting Oscar categories each had one token non-white nominee, the supporting acting categories are far more diverse.

For Best Supporting Actor, while Jeff Bridges, Lucas Hedges, and Michael Shannon are white, Mahershala Ali and Dev Patel are not. And as for Best Supporting Actress, Nicole Kidman and Michelle Williams are the only white nominees, with black nominees actually making up the majority: Viola Davis, Naomie Harris, and Octavia Spencer.

As for the writing nominations, the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay could go to Taylor Sheridan for Hell or High Water, Damien Chazelle for La La Land, Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Fillippou for their weird and wonderful The Lobster, Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea, or Mike Mills for 20th Century Women, while Best Adapted Screenplay will either go to Eric Heisserer for Arrival, August Wilson for Fences (adapted from his own play; he actually died tragically 12 years ago), Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi for Hidden Figures, Luke Davies for Lion, or Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney for Moonlight.

All the others

The Oscar nominees for Best Animated Feature Film are Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana, My Life as a Zucchini, The Red Turtle, and Zootopia. The Best Original Score nominations are for Jackie, La La Land, Lion, Moonlight, and Passengers (the winner there seems pretty obvious).

Nominated for Best Original Song are Cant Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake from Trolls, How Far Ill Go by Lin-Manuel Miranda from Moana, The Empty Chair from Jim: The James Foley Story, and Justin Hurwitzs Audition (The Fools Who Dream) and City of Stars from La La Land.
Just a blog about urban and transport issues. It started as an English translation of my French-language blog "kchoze urbaine", though now I'm primarily writing in English to reach a wider audience. Why the name? "Chose urbaine" in French means literally "urban thing". Why "kchoze" instead of "chose"? Because, as says Linkara, poor literacy is kewl. I'm a traffic engineer (the irony!) from Quebec, I have no urbanist formation, this is only my musings and my opinions.
As someone who believes strongly in the US Bill of Rights and the First Amendment clause that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," I don't believe that governments should get in the way of churches opening or operating as churches. That being said there can be plenty of urban policy issues that then become complex:- building regulation including historic preservation requirements- parking accommodations when church congregations become disconnected from the neighborhood in which the church is located- acquisition of adjoining properties by churches and warehousing/mothballing practices contributing to neglect/nuisance properties (Shiloh Baptist Church in DC)- advocacy for voucher programs to fund attendance at church schools- funding improvements and maintenance of buildings as congregation membership declines- reuse of properties- property tax exemptions- religious symbols (creches etc.) placed in the public spaceetc.I do have a problem when religious organizations seek special treatment, claiming special treatment is in fact "normal treatment," such as through the federal Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act , which comes up a lot when it comes to land use and building regulation.Many churches argue that because of the First Amendment, they should be exempt from all laws, or because of RLUIPA that somehow a building regulation is a stricture against practicing religion. (At the national level this comes up with laws concerning the provision of health care services including abortion, or with pharmacists who refuse to dispense legal drugs associated with abortion, etc.)In DC this has come up with historic preservation laws and the eventual decision to demolish a landmarked church building (" The Third Church of Christ, Scientist challenge to the DC historic preservation laws " and " The slippery slope of economic hardship arguments to obviate historic preservation protections ") as well as with a conservative sect that doesn't believe in graven images, in this case "stained glass windows," and attempted to remove the windows from an existing church building they purchased which is located in the Capitol Hill Historic District ( Hepworth Church Decision , Mayor's Agent, DC)Some Councilmembers--I don't agree--have suggested passing a law giving churches an exemption from the historic preservation laws.With regard to providing "support" to churches, in the UK, because of how the Anglican religion was the official religion of state, there still exist today on some properties a legal responsibility to fund repairs to church buildings.Obviously we don't have such requirements in the US. But there needs to be some mechanism to assist congregations that need help maintaining their properties, when such deterioration has a negative impact on the adjacent neighborhood.-- Partners for Sacred Spaces is a "non-denominational nonprofit organization focused on caring for and making good use of older and historic religious properties"And churches, focused on parking and other issues, can become vociferous opponents of neighborhood and urban change. See the preamble discussion from this reprinted blog entry, " Churches, community, religion and change ," on the biking/parking issue, and the rest of the entry for a more general discussion about the changing roles of urban churches.Other jurisdictions have cases where new churches haven't been approved, denied water connections, etc. And some jurisdictions don't favor new churches because it takes property off the tax rolls, and localities are dependent on property tax revenue for the bulk of their budget.Islamic facilities have come under increasing scrutiny since 9/11, with opposition in many places, with people fearing the religion's more recent association with terrorism amidst the unending escalating nightmare in the Middle East, sparked by the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.Still, as religious institutions, they have the right to open, whether or not people practice other faiths.2.. But an article in the(" A mosque is at the center of a raw debate in the South of France "), about opposition to the creation of a particular mosque in France, outside of Nice, where a brutal terrorist act last summer killed 86 people, raises an interesting point.The opposition to this mosque comes about because of its association with the Wahhabi version of Islam, which treats non-adherents to that particular sect as apostates and enemies (" Wahhabism: Saudi Time Bomb? ," PBS "Frontline").There is a connection between Wahhabism and many of the people who have committed terrorist acts in Europe especially, but I think also in the US. And the Saudi Arabian government has actively supported the creation of Wahhabism-practicing mosques across Europe.Leaders of Mosque En-Nour say they don't practice Wahhabism, but opposition centers around how the property was purchased by the Minister of Islamic Affairs of Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia exports Wahhabism.In the US, the First Amendment is absolute. A church regardless of its teachings can't be restricted.But you can see why promotion of the Wahhabi religion would be considered counter to public safety and governments are supposed to protect the safety of the public.What should be the policy when a particular religion espouses or supports violence against non-adherents?Should such practice justify an exception to the First Amendment?

Labels: building regulation, historic preservation, law and the legal process, religion, US Constitution, zoning
A Brazilian man accused of trying to hide nearly $20 million in cash inside a box spring under his mattress in his Boston-area apartment remains behind bars after being denied bail.

Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, who is charged with Money Laundering, was in federal court on Monday where a judge denied him bail, ruling that he was a flight risk. The 28-year-old Rocha has been in custody since Jan. 4 when federal agents said they followed him to his apartment in Westborough, a small town about 30 miles west of Boston, and then found the massive stockpile of cash.

Accused of laundering money for company at center of pyramid scheme investigation

Rocha is accused of laundering money for TelexFree, an internet voice company based in nearby Marlborough that is at the center of a massive international pyramid scheme investigation. Federal prosecutors say Rocha was working as a courier for the company when he flew from Brazil to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. A few days later Rocha met a person prosecutors are describing as a cooperating witness at a restaurant in Massachusetts, who gave him $2.2 million in cash in a suitcase. From the restaurant, federal agents followed Rocha to his apartment where they found millions of dollars more, neatly wrapped and neatly stacked in the box spring,

Co-founder of company fled to Brazil

One of the founders of TelexFree -- James Merrill -- is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to running the scheme.

But another founder -- Carlos Wanzeler -- remains at large after fleeing to his native Brazil.

The Boston Herald reports that Rochas lawyer, Raymond Sayeg Jr., had asked the judge to to grant bail, even with GPS monitoring, arguing that his client had no criminal record. But the judge wasnt swayed by the argument.

However, given that hes a citizen of Brazil, and Brazil does not recognize extradition, the judge was not convinced there was a certainty that the defendant would appear, Sayeg told the newspaper. If convicted of the money laundering charges Rocha could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Even though Donald Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on Election Day, he's been forced to deal with the fact that he lost the popular vote by nearly three million votes. In recent days, Trump has continued to push the debunked conspiracy theory that his popular vote loss was the result of voter fraud, and is now calling for an investigation.

Trump on voter fraud

Heading into the election, Donald Trump was not even considered a legit option to become the new president. After a year and a half of running one of the most controversial campaigns in history, Trump pulled off the upset to become the new commander in chief.

While the former host of "The Apprentice" has his fair share of supporters, millions of Americans continue to speak out against the new president. As seen on his official Twitter account on January 25, Trump is now pushing for an investigation into the voter fraud myth.

I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

"I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time)," Donald Trump wrote on Twitter early Wednesday morning.

In a follow-up tweet, Trump also added, "Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

While Donald Trump claims that as many as five millions votes were cast illegally against him during the election, fact-checkers have repeatedly confirmed that there is no evidence to back up his claims.

Even some top Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Sen. Lindsey Graham, have admitted that voter fraud was not an issue in the election, pleading with the new president to put the subject to bed.

Trump calls for "major investigation" into voter fraud  after Sean Spicer was grilled on why he hadnt https://t.co/QMJH9jHqok  Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 25, 2017

Next up

President Donald Trump has only been in the White House for less than a week, and he's already making major moves.

In the last five days, Trump has signed multiple executive order, which include the start of the construction for his proposed border wall with Mexico, the begging of the repeal of Obamacare, and to restart the Keystone XL pipeline. Trump's recent decisions have caused expected backlash, and the political divide in the United States only appears to be widening.
Sen. Bernie Sanders an independent from Vermont heavily criticized President Trump on Tuesday after he signed executive orders to complete the construction of the Keystone XL and North Dakota pipelines. The controversial orders to advance the pipelines has ignited a firestorm of outrage from Democrats, environmental activists, and celebrities who have been vehemently opposed to these projects. Late last year major protests broke out in North Dakota when Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the pipeline attempted to build the pipeline on sacred native American land.

Last December, thanks to the protests, Former President Obama was forced to order the Army Corps of Engineers to deny a permit to complete the construction of the pipeline under Lake Oahe in North Dakota. It was a huge victory for Native American tribes such as the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and thousands of protesters who flocked to physically block access to the sacred land due to fears of water supply contamination.

President Trump keeps his promise

President Trump kept his promise he made during his campaign to continue allowing the building of pipelines such as the Keystone XL pipeline which would carry oil from Canada's tar sands to the Gulf of Mexico. The project was denied in 2015 by Former President Obama in 2015.

President Trump has also vowed to pass deregulations against laws which are meant to preserve clean air and water. Tuesday he met with the heads of Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors touting his executive orders on the pipelines saying that it would create "lots of jobs". He then ridiculously professed to be an environmentalist while contradicting himself in the same sentence by saying environmentalism is out of control!

During his campaign last year he foolishly ridiculed climate change as a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese government to impede American economic growth. On Monday, President Trump's administration reportedly sent out a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency to suspend all grants and contracts. This could potentially hurt environmental studies and cleanups which are funded with billions each year.

Bernie vows to fight pipeline decision

In a statement Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders said,"Today President Trump ignored the voices of millions and put the short term profits of the fossil fuel industry ahead of the future of our planet." He went on to say, "millions of people came together around this country to stop the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access pipelines and say we must transform our energy system away from fossil fuels to renewable energy." Sen. Sanders proclaimed that he would do everything he can to stop the pipelines from being built while protecting our planet for future generations. Sen. Sanders has made it loud and clear that climate change is real and that man made actions have been the cause of devastating consequences as a result of our dependency on fossil fuels.

Sen. Sanders even mentioned the latest example where 200,000 liters of oil leaked into and polluted the sacred land of the Saskatchewan First Nation tribe this past Friday. Finally, Bernie declared that he will not stand idly by while allowing oil companies to continue to lock us into using fossil fuels for years to come.

Others voice their displeasure

Others voiced their own displeasure of President Trump's decision to advance construction of the pipelines. Actress and activist Mia Farrow urged followers on twitter to protest the pipelines.

If you oppose the Dakota & Keystone piplines call your Representatives - switchboard will put you thru - 202 225-3121  Mia Farrow (@MiaFarrow) January 24, 2017

While Rep.

Barbara Lee a democrat from California, tweeted this inspiring and hopeful message:

#DAPL & #Keystone were rejected once by power of the ppl. What worked before can work again, if ppl are loud enough! https://t.co/LYSwEozWXp  Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) January 24, 2017

Mark Ruffalo, Jane Fonda, Shailene Woodley, and Leonardo Dicaprio have all protested and been outspoken on environmental issues such as these controversial pipelines. Shailene Woodley was even arrested at Standing Rock late last year because of her tremendous courage and conviction to protest. Now hopefully millions more will be inspired to join the fight to make sure our precious land isn't polluted any further.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's relationship is deepening. Earlier this month, the prince took the actress to an abandoned mining town of Barentsburg while on their Norway trip. While there, he tested her love for him by camping in a dangerous polar bear site without much protection available for either one of them while they slept.

Dangerous trip

It was reported that Prince Harry wanted to see if Meghan was not only adventurous but also brave enough to trust him with her life in a dangerous situation. The couple drove snowmobiles for eight hours while wearing heated snow suits.

When they arrived at Barentsburg, Prince Harry, 32, and Meghan, 35, camped overnight surrounded by polar bears. Harrys explorer friend, Inge Solheim, was with the couple for protection. He set up flares to scare off any predators that came near.

Test of love

Whether Meghan proved her love for Prince Harry or not, one thing is for sure. They have been getting together quite often since they began dating eight months ago. They have taken some of the same steps other couples take when they want their relationship to move to the next level. For instance, Meghan has introduced Prince Harry to her father, and Prince Harry has introduced Meghan to some members of his royal family. He introduced his bother Prince William to Meghan quite early in their relationship.

Meghan met Duchess Kate a few days after Kate turned 35. That's the same age as Meghan. The actress gave Kate a leather-bound dream diary as a birthday present.

Meghan also met Harry's father, Prince Charles. The "Suits" actress has not met Harry's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II yet. That will be a big sign when she does. The Queen knows about Meghan and says she approves of the actress mainly for her humanitarianism.

Besides, she noted that she had not seen Harry so happy.

Future for the couple

No one knows for sure what's in store for the couple, but people are fascinated with the idea that Prince Harry might marry a commoner, especially one who is biracial, older, and divorced. People like knowing about their love story. Stay tuned for more news as it emerges.
What's coming up next on The Young and the Restless? Spoilers tease that things will be chaotic on the Dylan front while tensions run high for Lauren, Phyllis, and Jack. Victoria is unhappy with Billy and the January 25 show brings some juicy moments that fans won't want to miss.

Dylan's disappearance has Paul frantic

Dylan has been working undercover in Miami and he went missing after those he was targeting became suspicious. The Young and the Restless spoilers from SheKnows Soaps detail that Sharon will be frantic with Mariah as she worries that the universe is retaliating against her for hiding the truth about Christian and Paul will be pushing for answers in Miami.

Fisk will be taken into custody, but he will initially insist that he ever had any contact with Dylan's undercover persona Derek. As Paul puts on the pressure, Fisk will admit that he saw Derek, but he'll swear that he had nothing to do with his disappearance. Paul will learn that the blood found in the warehouse doesn't match Dylan, but he'll be handed a bracelet of Dylan's that was found near the scene.

Victoria will butt heads with Billy after learning that he talked to Reed about safe sex and Young and Restless spoilers note that things will get heated. Victoria will toss Billy out and Reed will get upset with her for being so intense.

Gloria and Jack's antics cause friction with Lauren and Phyllis

Gloria has been messing with Lauren's efforts to save Fenmore's and now both Lauren and Phyllis are piecing together what's been happening. The Young and the Restless spoilers share that Lauren will confront Gloria over her antics while Phyllis confronts Jack.

Later, Jack and Gloria will connect and he'll be confident that they are in a good position, but viewers will see Lauren reach out to someone else to talk about a plan. As Soap Central details, this will be Eric Forrester of Bold and Beautiful, who had a connection with Lauren years ago and will be popping into town for a visit.

Phyllis and Billy will cross paths at the Club bar and they'll spend a bit of time catching up with one another. While these two have shared some intense moments in the past, it sounds as if this time, their chat will be pretty basic. Are things really over for good between these two?

Will Dylan truly return safely to Genoa City?

The Young and the Restless spoilers tease that there's a big shocker coming at the end of Wednesday's show, as Dylan seemingly shows up at the door at home to surprise Sharon. This brings a cliffhanger for fans, and everybody will have to wait and see whether he is truly there or perhaps a figment of Sharon's imagination. It is known that Steve Burton is leaving the role of Dylan this month, but specifics regarding what will happen to the character have been kept under wraps.

Will viewers get to see more scenes between Sharon and Dylan before Steve Burton's departure? Can Lauren and Phyllis really hold off Jack and Gloria and still manage to save Fenmore's? The Young and the Restless spoilers indicate that there are wild and juicy moments on the way and people will not want to miss where things head next.
An employee at a bank counter in Nantong, Jiangsu province, counts renminbi and dollars. [Photo/China Daily]

BEIJING - A senior foreign exchange official has reiterated that there are no restrictions on foreign firms' cross-border profit transfers.

Authorities will maintain the continuity and consistency of its forex policies, said Pan Gongsheng, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), when meeting Joerg Wuttke, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China.

China will also make foreign trade and investment more convenient and support Chinese companies' outbound investment as long as it's authentic and compliant, Pan said, as quoted by a SAFE statement released Tuesday.

With its economy growing 6.7 percent in 2016, China has the conditions to ensure balance of international payment, Pan said.

He promised that China will create an easy and ordered environment for investment and a more transparent and regulated market.

Weighed on by a weak Chinese yuan against the US dollar, regulators have moved to crack down on illegal cross-border capital flow in the past few months, while reiterating that normal business will not be affected and foreign investment is still welcome.
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License for publishing multimedia online 0108263



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China opposes any trade war with the US, which it sees as detrimental to both sides, according to Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the United States.

Speculation about a possible economic conflict between the world's two largest economies has been rife, given US President Donald Trump's blunt campaign rhetoric on trade with China, such as calling it a currency manipulator and imposing a 45 percent tariff on imports.

"It (trade war) will only cause destruction to both sides and neither will benefit from it," Cui said on Tuesday evening. "It will inflict even more damage to the global economy."

Cui spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a reception at the Chinese embassy in Washington to mark the upcoming Lunar New Year.

Instead of clashing on trade, Cui said it is an unshirkable responsibility for China and the US to help inject new momentum into global economic growth.

Citing China as the world's largest single market, Cui said that if the US wants to have a bigger slice of the Chinese market and benefit more from it, it should work with China for a more strong and stable China-US economic and trade relationship.

On the same day, former US secretary of commerce Barbara Franklin dismissed a trade war between the two countries.

"A trade war, as some are predicting, harms both countries, creates uncertainties for many other countries, and is an activity that has no place anywhere in the interconnected global world of the 21st century," Franklin told a large crowd at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Tuesday.

"So I think that this is not going to happen. I think it will be averted," said Franklin, who was in the Cabinet of former president George H.W. Bush.

"Instead, I must believe that these two leaders are pragmatic, that they understand the stakes and the need to continue a stable relationship," she said of President Xi Jinping and Trump.

In 1992, Franklin was sent by Bush to China to normalize the commercial relationship, a relationship that suffered a major setback in the previous three years.

Franklin emphasized that it's important for the two countries to engage with each other, citing dialogue such as the Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) and the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT).

"These or something similar should be continued even if the new administration wants to restructure them," said Franklin, who now advises companies on their global business, especially in China and Asia.

In her view, the dialogue provides a serious and regular way for the two countries to talk together, identify problems and work to find common ground to overcome them.

She said there must be leadership from the top. "The tone and priorities (for the dialogue) must come from the two leaders," she said.

"I am hopeful that the two of them meet and talk regularly and will establish a personal relationship," she said, adding that an introductory phone call on Nov 13 between the two was cordial.

Franklin is hopeful that the two leaders will look for ways

and issues on which they can work together for the good of both countries as well as the global economy.

"And where there are disagreements - we know already we have some disagreements - I am hoping they will look for common ground to begin to find solutions," she said.

Franklin suggested that China address issues such as market access, tariff and non-tariff barriers, overcapacity and state-owned enterprises in what she expects will be a rebalancing of the US-China trade relationship by the Trump administration.

"I believe everyone ought to take seriously the determination for change that I've seen coming out of the president and so far this administration," she said.

Stapleton Roy, US ambassador to China from 1991 to 1995, said Franklin was right in suggesting that the trade issues between the US and China shouldn't lead to confrontation.

"I think she held out the possibility of a good outcome, and I think that's a good way to think about the issues between China and the United States," Roy said.

Richard McGregor, a former Washington bureau chief for the Financial Times of London and a longtime China observer, also excluded the possibility of a trade war, saying that such a scenario is a de facto trade war with Asia, implying that China's economy is so closely linked with other Asian economies.

David Lampton, director of China Studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, said Franklin is right. But he said he is a bit more worried than she is.

Lampton is concerned about possible trade retaliation. "I think if we do get into trade retaliation, it's lose-lose for both countries," he said. "We will see increasing trade frictions for a while until each side makes accommodation with the other."

chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 01/25/2017 page1)
The CEO of Foxconn, the Taiwan electronics maker, met with a representative of Pennsylvania's economic development agency last week and expressed a desire to invest in the state, an agency spokeswoman said on Monday.

The spokeswoman's comment in an email to China Daily follows remarks made on Sunday by Terry Gou, chairman of Foxconn - the world's largest contract device maker best known for assembling iPhones for Apple Inc - who told reporters that Foxconn is considering setting up a display-making plant in the US in an investment that would exceed $7 billion and could create 30,000 to 50,000 jobs.

Gou did not say where, and the email from the Pennsylvania agency said the meeting "did not address specifics on a proposed project as of yet." Foxconn already has some small operations in Pennsylvania.

"The chairman of Foxconn met with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development's investment office representative last week and expressed a desire to invest in Pennsylvania, but the meeting did not address specifics on a proposed project as of yet," said the statement.

"Previously in mid-December 2016, Foxconn contacted the department's office in Taiwan to investigate the programs available for companies interested in locating within the commonwealth. DCED will continue to work with Foxconn to explore potential investment opportunities in Pennsylvania."

Gou said that Foxconn had been considering building a plant in the US for years. "There is such a plan, but it is not a promise. It is a wish," Gou, told reporters.

He added that he wanted guarantees of inexpensive land and electricity before the company made its investment and warned against US protectionism, according to Reuters.

Gou said that business partner Masayoshi Son, head of Japan's SoftBank Group Corp, talked to him before a December meeting Son had with then President-elect Donald Trump, according to Reuters.

As a result of the meeting, Son pledged investments of $50 billion in the US and inadvertently disclosed information showing Foxconn's 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 US operations, without elaborating.

Gou said he told Son that the US has no panel-making industry but it is the second-largest market for televisions.

In his inaugural speech on Jan 20, Trump vowed to put "America first" and on Monday signed an executive order canceling an agreement for a sweeping trade deal called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with several economies including many in Asia but not China.

paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 01/25/2017 page2)
Beijing said on Tuesday it will support ongoing deliberation of two free trade arrangements in the Asia-Pacific region after the US quit the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Beijing has been an advocate of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Free-Trade Agreement on the Asia-Pacific. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China will stay committed to pressing ahead with the economic integration process in the region.

Some observers and media have said the Trump administration's quitting the TPP will give China more chance to play a bigger role and even assume political or economic leadership in international affairs. In response, Hua said the word "duty" is more accurate than "leadership".

American allies are weighing what role the US will play in ongoing global trade negotiations.

Leaders of some of the 11 other economies besides the US in the Trans-Pacific initiative said they hoped to push ahead with some type of trade agreement. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he had discussed the pact's future with the leaders of Japan, Singapore and New Zealand and believed it could survive without the US.

TPP was signed in 2016 by the US and 11 other Pacific Rim economies. The pact aimed to deepen economic ties between the economies by slashing tariffs and fostering trade to boost growth.

Wayne Morrison, a specialist in Asian trade and finance at the Congressional Research Service, said the idea of TPP was to create a "high standard" agreement that would focus on a number of issues important to the US economy, such as intellectual property rights protection and digital trade.

It was envisioned that other countries would join the TPP and that this would be a template for broader FTAs and eventually a multilateral agreement in the World Trade Organization.

"While some have argued that a US-led TPP was conceived as a strategy to counter growing Chinese economic influence, I believe that it was intended to draw China in as an eventual TPP member, because doing so could be a way to induce China to significantly reform its economy and reduce trade barriers," he said in an email.

"The economic implications of pulling out of the TPP are significant. There is now an issue of credibility for the United States because of the withdrawal from TPP and plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Will countries still want to negotiate FTAs with the United States now? We will have to wait and see," Morrison said.

Jeffrey Schott of the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics said that TPP is much more comprehensive than the existing trade pacts in terms of both trade liberalization and new rulemaking.

"So the US withdrawal means that American firms and workers will lose those additional benefits. And other TPP countries will lose the new opportunities created by the TPP in the US and other markets," he said.

Meg Lundsager, public policy fellow at the Wilson Center and a former US executive director at the International Monetary Fund, said Japanese officials hope to change President Trump's mind on TPP.

"That signals that Japanese leaders view TPP as very much to their country's benefit, although as far as bilateral trade goes, the US would have gained substantially by opening up Japanese agricultural and other markets, had the US ratified TPP," wrote Lundsager in an email.

"A US-Japan bilateral could start by replicating TPP terms. Mexico and Canada are very dependent on trade with the United States, with supply chains deeply linked across borders."

"When NAFTA renegotiation is raised, I suggest the US ask our two North American partners to agree to the terms in TPP. That could be a very quick negotiation and would benefit all three members," said Lundsager.

Schott noted that seven of the 12 TPP signatories already participate in the talks on RCEP, a proposed free trade agreement between the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the six states with which ASEAN have existing free trade agreements.

(China Daily USA 01/25/2017 page2)
The Syrian government delegation participates in the meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, Jan. 23, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

DAMASCUS -- The Syrian talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, ended on Tuesday, with a final communique backing a one year ceasefire reached recently in Syria, and brought six-year-old foes face to face for the first time.

Turkey, Russia and Iran, the three sponsors of the two-day Syrian talks, made a joint statement at the end of the meeting, stressing their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria.

They said the three countries support talks between the Syrian government and armed opposition groups and believe that there is no military solution to the conflict.

The parties reaffirmed their commitment to reach peace and fight against the terror-designated Islamic State (IS) and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and to separate them from other armed opposition groups.

The statement also supports the Syrian opposition's willingness to participate in the next round of negotiations.

The three states highlighted that the international meeting in Astana is an effective platform for a direct dialogue between the Syrian government and opposition.

The Russian, Iranian and Turkish sides have decided "to establish a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire, prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the ceasefire," according to the statement.

In short, the conference consolidated the ceasefire that was reached on Dec. 29 and implemented on Dec. 30 in Syria. The signatories of the ceasefire were the government and rebel groups, under the auspices of their backers, Russia as the supporter of the Syrian government, and Turkey the long time backer of the rebels.

The Astana talks also stressed on the need to separate the rebel groups, mainly those who attended the conference, from the terror-labeled ones such as Nusra and IS, as both groups have been labeled as terrorist groups by the UN and were excluded from any settlement.

This was a main demand of the Syrian government and this conference has helped in cornering the Nusra and IS, both powerful and enjoy considerable sway in many Syrian areas, mainly the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS, and the northwestern province of Idlib, the main stronghold of Nusra.

Russia said Monday that maps were being drawn on the locations of IS and Nusra in Syria for targeting them.

Analysts in Damascus hailed the results of the Astana talks, but said it all relies on the credibility of Turkey and the rebels it has vouched for.
Asian Pacific Islander civil rights groups in San Francisco Bay Area present their response and strategies to Donald Trump's presidential inauguration at a press conference in San Francisco on Monday. LIA ZHU / CHINA DAILY

California, which has more undocumented immigrants than any other state, is poised to lead the country in fighting back against any attempt at mass deportations under Donald Trump's administration, Asian Pacific Islander (API) groups said.

With approximately 2.4 million of the state's 10 million immigrants being undocumented according to the Department of Homeland Security, the state stands to be one of the hardest hit by Trump's announced plan to deport undocumented immigrants, said Angela Chan, policy director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus, at a press conference on Monday in San Francisco.

In San Francisco, there are an estimated 14,000 Asia Pacific Islander undocumented immigrants, and 10,000 of them are Chinese, according to the group.

Chan said her group is advocating for passage of a pending state bill known as the California Values Act (SB 54), written by state Senator Kevin de Leon, to protect due process rights of immigrants.

The California Values Act would ban state and local law enforcement officials from performing the functions of a federal immigration officer, while it does not prevent state and local departments or agencies from complying with a judicial warrant to transfer violent offenders into federal custody for immigration enforcement purposes.

The bill would prohibit state and local law enforcement, including school police and security departments, from using their resources for immigration enforcement. It also would also create "safe zones" at public schools, hospitals and courthouses where immigrant enforcement would be banned, and require state agencies to update their confidentiality policies so that information on individuals' immigration status is not shared for enforcement purposes.

Chan said the bill is expected to be passed at the end of this spring.

Trump has indicated he will immediately clamp down on illegal immigration by launching workplace raids and curtailing new entrants and refugees in the first days of his new administration. His administration said on Monday that he will focus immigration enforcement efforts first on criminal immigrants in the country illegally.

A survey by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University of the more than 1,400 California residents surveyed online between Jan 5 and Jan 9, showed that 41 percent of respondents oppose the "sanctuary" policy that some California cities have initiated, and 40 percent support it. When informed that Trump opposes sanctuary cities, the percentage of respondents who oppose the policy fell from 41 to 37 percent.

"Trump wants to roll back the sanctuary cities, we are saying 'no', even though he threatened to cut off funding to San Francisco," said Hong Mei Pang, immigrant rights program manager with San Francisco-based Chinese for Affirmative Action.

Pang said Trump threatened to cut off $1 billion but "actually only $250,000 can be immediately put on the chopping block".

"California has always been a leader when it comes to civil rights, and we have set the tone this time," said Sabiha Basrai of the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, in Oakland.

Last month, the California legislature passed resolutions urging Trump to abandon his deportation promise and introduced two bills aimed at protecting immigrants. One measure would set up a fund to pay for lawyers for immigrants facing deportation and another would train criminal defense attorneys in immigration law.
Joseph Wong (left), founder of Toronto ALPHA, along with guests (from left) MPP Soo Wong, MPP Raymond Cho, MP Shaun Chen, announce the 100,000 signature petition campaign across Ontario on Monday in Toronto.[Photo by NA LI / CHINA DAILY]

One piece of World War II history will not go forgotten, not if some people get their way.

To support Bill 79, which establishes an official Nanjing Massacre day of commemoration, Toronto ALPHA along with the Chinese community announced a drive to get 100,000 signatures on a petition across Ontario this week.

The Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day Act, proposed by MPP Soo Wong, passed its second reading last December in the Ontario Legislature.

"Bill 79 is a very important movement. It's the first bill to recognize the Nanjing Massacre in the Western Hemisphere," Joseph Wong, founder of Toronto ALPHA, said at a press conference on Monday.

"It's a very important historic event that needs commemoration," Wong added. "Canada will be the first Western country to recognize it as a true event. The atrocity is worth remembering, to learn about and be taught in schools. Hopefully this history will not be repeated."

MP Shaun Chen, who moved the motion to be passed by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) as a trustee at TDSB in 2008, recalled his feeling when he first saw the docudrama Iris Chang, the Rape of Nanjing produced by ALPHA.

"I was so blown away. Because I am a Chinese Canadian, I was born here in Canada, but when I went to the public school, I never learned this history," Chen said.

"To me it's not right. Because when you teach history, you should teach the whole history, you cannot just select the history to teach," said Chen. "This atrocity against humanity that happened was ignored. We have to teach our future generations to know the truth, to never repeat the mistakes of the past."

Bill 79 still needs a big step forward to pass the third reading before coming into force. There are still a couple of hurdles to get past, Soo Wong told China Daily at a gathering hosted by the Chinese Canadian Political Action Committee of Ontario on Saturday.

"First it is a private member bill," said Wong. "Normally, a private member bill is harder to get passed; secondly, the Japanese community doesn't support my bill, they think it is dividing the community, which is not true. This bill is about the truth."

"We are very concerned that some people over there are not telling the truth. This is about the truth, it is about the facts," she added.

"If the bill is not passed (in the third reading), I will keep working on it," Soo Wong said. "But I am hopeful the moment is right. There are lots of people across Ontario behind the petition."

The signature drive asks people to read and sign this petition, and circulate it among family and community. Soo Wong will present the signed petitions to the Ontario legislature.

"The gathering of signatures through this petition is crucial to pushing this bill through to the third reading," said Wong. "We want all Ontarians to sign the bill, to let the legislature know that Ontarians want the representatives of Queen's Park to pass the bill. We are collecting 100,000 signatures to tell the legislature that it is the wish of Ontarians to have the law passed."

Wong noted that Queen's Park only accepts hard copies of petition forms with physical signatures. No electronic copies will be accepted. Signed petitions can be mailed or brought to the ALPHA office by Feb 15.

renali@chinadailyusa.com
In the wake of President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, China and American allies are weighing what role the US will play in ongoing global trade negotiations.

Leaders of some of the 11 other nations besides the US in the Trans-Pacific initiative said they hoped to push ahead with some type of trade agreement. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he had discussed the pact's future with the leaders of Japan, Singapore and New Zealand and believed it could survive without the US.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, was signed in 2016 by the US and 11 other Pacific Rim nations. The pact aimed to deepen economic ties between the nations by slashing tariffs and fostering trade to boost growth.

Wayne Morrison, a specialist in Asian trade and finance at the Congressional Research Service, said the idea of TPP was to create a "high standard" agreement that would focus on a number of issues important to the US economy, such as intellectual property rights protection and digital trade. It was envisioned that other countries would join the TPP and that this would be a template for broader FTAs and eventually a multilateral agreement in the World Trade Organization.

"While some have argued that a US-led TPP was conceived as a strategy to counter growing Chinese economic influence, I believe that it was intended to draw China in as an eventual TPP member, because doing so could be a way to induce China to significantly reform its economy and reduce trade barriers," he said in an email.

"The economic implications of pulling out of the TPP are significant. There is now an issue of credibility for the United States because of the withdrawal from TPP and plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Will countries still want to negotiate FTA's with the United States now? We will have to wait and see," Morrison said.

"TPP is much more comprehensive than the existing trade pacts in terms of both trade liberalization and new rulemaking. So the US withdrawal means that American firms and workers will lose those additional benefits. And other TPP countries will lose the new opportunities created by the TPP in the US and other markets," said Jeffrey Schott of the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics in an email.

Meg Lundsager, public policy fellow at the Wilson Center and a former US executive director at the International Monetary Fund, said Japanese officials hope to change President Trump's mind on TPP.

"That signals that Japanese leaders view TPP as very much to their country's benefit, although as far as bilateral trade goes, the US would have gained substantially by opening up Japanese agricultural and other markets, had the US ratified TPP. A US-Japan bilateral could start by replicating TPP terms. Mexico and Canada are very dependent on trade with the United States, with supply chains deeply linked across borders. When NAFTA renegotiation is raised, I suggest the United States ask our two North American partners to agree to the terms in TPP. That could be a very quick negotiation and would benefit all three members," wrote Lundsager in an email.

The Peterson Institute's Schott noted that seven of the 12 TPP signatories already participate in the talks on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a proposed free trade agreement between the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the six states with which ASEAN have existing free trade agreements.

"Australia already has an FTA with China, and Japan is negotiating one too," said Morrison. "If the other TPP members (such as Canada, Mexico, etc.) entered into FTAs with China, joined RCEP, or were part of a broad Asia-Pacific FTA, that certainly would raise concerns in the United States no matter who was the US President. It is unclear what President Trump might do to try to halt those countries from moving in that direction."

"Australia and Japan are already party to RCEP negotiations, which will not deliver the same scope of market opening that TPP would have delivered. At this point, I do not expect Mexico or Canada to seek to join those negotiations. Both will likely focus on preserving open trade within NAFTA," said Lundsager.

paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com
The audience at the annual Ag Management Expo on Tuesday was captivated by the keynote speaker as he discussed the drama that can play out in family farms, especially when it comes time to pass the farm down to the next generation.

Ronald Hanson, professor of agribusiness at the University of Nebraska, gave a speech called "Overcoming the Family Challenges to Farm Succession Planning for Success."

Hanson has been counseling farming families for 40 years. He's seen a lot. He saw the five adult siblings of western Nebraska who spent three years in the courts system with seven attorneys arguing who should get their deceased parents' estate.

He saw the married couple of Norfolk who sat three chairs apart in his office, divided on whether to pass on the farm to the two farming sons or all five children.

He's seen conflict, grudges and jealousy between siblings.

From all of that, Hanson is able to summarize in an hour the challenges to family farm succession, corresponding solutions and other tips and information.

"Some families don't have family Christmases," Hanson opened. "I lived that life."

Hanson told his childhood story of his grandparents passing on the family farm to Hanson's uncle, who did not work on the farm, rather than Hanson's father who did work on the farm. The succession involved a lot of secrecy and, Hanson said, the uncle got the farm because he was the favorite child.

"Many times, among children in a family, there are favorites," Hanson said. "Parents have favorites. No one ever admits it. No one ever talks about it. Some children are given opportunities that others won't get."

That's one reason talking about farm succession planning to an audience is difficult, he said. Another reason is that "farm folks are very private people," about the worth of their farm operation, he said.

Secrecy can lead to suspicion and doubt, which can lead to a lack of trust and respect.

When favoritism is given to a child or children, jealousy can develop between siblings and jealousy can destroy a family, Hanson said.

Hanson's lecture was sprinkled with anecdotes and advice. His main message about farm succession planning is that it's never too early to start. When it's too late, it can be a mess.

There were other directions he stressed: Families should have open and honest communication in a family, parents should treat their children fairly and equitably, children should respect their parents' decisions.

Open and honest communication leads to trust and respect and secrets lead to conflict, he said.

He asked the audience to consider assets (wealth) versus family (legacy), and left them with a few more ideas to consider and pieces of advice to take home.

Most of the audience were farmers or agriculture students.

Event organizers estimate 400 people attended. Dozens of booths representing an array of businesses were in the gymnasium for attendees to visit.

Nebraska State Climatologist Al Dutcher gave a 2017 weather outlook in a break-out session. In two others, Thomas Field of the University of Nebraska presented "Building Small Giant Companies" and "The Power of Innovation, Design and Coloring Outside the Lines."

This is the 12th annual Ag Management Expo hosted by the Beatrice Area Chamber of Commerce and Gage County Tourism, specifically the community Agribusiness Committee.

"Businesses are here promoting their services and products to farmers," explained Christie Rice, the finance and communications director for the chamber and the staff liaison for the Agribusiness Committee. "Some are looking for interns and future employees, so it's helpful for the students."

The businesses were from Gage County and beyond, as far as York and northern Kansas.

"We're continually trying to grow it and reach out to other agriculture-related businesses," Rice said. "Every business is related to ag in some way."

The event creates awareness and supports the agriculture industry, Rice said.

"Each year, we try to find the hot topics happening in the industry and we try to bring speakers to cater to those topics," she said.

The expo and the "ag barbeque" at the Gage County Fair are the two main events each year under the Agribusiness Committee. Rice said about 12 to 15 people serve on the committee, but it's open to anyone.
OMAHA - Law enforcement agencies in Nebraska have started using the FBI's definition of sexual assault when recording crime data to provide a clearer picture of the state's sexual violence.

The new, broader definition includes same-sex assaults, forcible penetration with an object, female-on-male assaults and an array of other assaults not covered under the previous definition. The old definition's focus was male-on-female assaults.

Police say the new definition will not affect how sex crimes are investigated and prosecuted, because state law already uses a broader definition, The Omaha World-Herald reports.

The FBI updated its sexual assault definition in January 2013. The Nebraska Crime Commission told local law enforcement agencies in June 2016 to begin using the broader definition by Jan. 1. Omaha Police Department Capt. Kerry Neumann said the department continued to use the old definition through the end of 2016 to make sure that year's statistics were consistent.

The new definition is expected to show a jump in rape statistics.

Emily Wright, an associate professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha's School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, said the way society thinks of sexual assault is evolving.

"We are more knowledgeable about how you can be sexually assaulted, and by who," Wright said. "Broadening the definition is certainly a good thing, and it is going to give us a better idea of what is going on in Nebraska."

Amy Richardson, CEO of the Women's Center for Advancement in Omaha, praised the change.

"The definition in everyone's mind is so narrow," Richardson said. "It always helps to have a broader a yet specific a definition that law enforcement can react to, that medical staff can react to."
Contact: Attila Nemecz

Attila Nemecz Attila.Nemecz@beaufortccc.edu

WASHINGTON, NC Beaufort County Community College invites emergency personnel to its second annual Public Safety Weekend from March 3-5. Fire, emergency medical and law enforcement personnel can take advantage of the classes to fulfill their annual training requirements locally.Each year, emergency personnel are required to attend 36 hours of training, of which 35% can be at a training facility. Often firefighters, the majority of whom are volunteers, travel to remote parts of the state to fulfill their requirements. Public Safety Weekend will mean that emergency personnel, including the 450 volunteer firefighters in the region, can fulfill a majority of their requirements at BCCC.Johnny Williams, director of fire training programs at BCCC, said, "Most of these firefighters are already donating their time. Having these trainings locally means that we are not pulling them as far away from their homes and families."Enrollment is on a "first-come, first-served" basis. Classes include Emergency Vehicle Driving, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Ventilation, Forcible Entry, among others. Early registration for the classes closes on February 24. Late registrations will be taken at the start of the classes, but some classes may not be available at that time.The weekend will feature several safety and emergency equipment vendors and PotashCorp and Code 3 Insurance are providing a free lunch.Last year the event allowed regional firefighters to experience BCCC's fire training facility for the first time. The facility includes a configurable maze, a rappelling station, sprinkler systems, a confined space and a burn room. Fire personnel trained with live fire and firehoses, and they learned how to stabilize vehicles involved in a collision. EMS personnel practiced inserting needles into chicken parts and life-saving techniques.The training facility and the weekend will also benefit homeowners in the area. The NC Department of Insurance awards points to fire departments based on their training and readiness. Homeowners in insurance districts serviced by 9S-rated fire departments can see a decrease in their homeowner's insurance rates. Of the nine possible points in the rating system, access to a training facility counts for up to 3.15 points, the largest single contributor in the crediting system. Beaufort County's investment in the training facility will not only make residents safer and help local emergency personnel, it will help decrease the insurance burden for area homeowners.The college is in the process of expanding facilities to train emergency personnel. The new facilities will include a driving pad for emergency vehicle training as well as classrooms and storage space for props including emergency vehicles.For more information about BCCC's Public Safety Weekend, visit https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8G0nUhdN0jPTnRMdzhjaVNDSjA/view , or contact Johnny Williams at 252-940-6363 or johnny.williams@beaufortccc.edu.
With the Midterm Elections less than one week away: What do you consider the top issues that you will be voting on to be corrected by your better representation?

Education Crime Big Government getting Bigger Biden /Democrat controlled Spike in Energy Cost Inflation created by Legislation of Majority in Power Gender Reassignment Corrupted Bureaucratic /Service (DOJ, FBI, etc.) Institutions Abortion Discredited Legacy Media Ending the Corruption of Dishonest Politicians Corruptive Influence of Social Media Wide Open Southern Border
Cheri Beasleys judicial career shows that she consistently puts the interests of criminals over the interests of their victims. The list of examples is endless but here are a few of her most shocking rulings:
Contact: Attila Nemecz

Attila Nemecz Attila.Nemecz@beaufortccc.edu

WASHINGTON, NC The draw of community college is not always about finding a job. Many students attending Beaufort County Community College left a career that may have paid the bills, but was not fulfilling. Inspired by her family and personal struggle, Winnie Washington returned to college to start a career where she can make an impact.Washington reflects on her thinking before enrolling in college two years ago.The mother of three will graduate from BCCC with an Associate of Arts in Humans Services Technology. She plans to continue at East Carolina University, her goal being a master's degree in substance abuse counseling, a choice inspired by her father's struggle with drug addiction.Before Washington was born, her father was in a severe accident resulting in constant pain and a prescription to painkillers. An early victim of what has become an epidemic, he became addicted to his painkillers and eventually turned to street drugs. Washington's mother left New York for North Carolina shortly after Winnie was born, knowing that she needed to find a new setting to raise her daughters.recalls Washington. With her father's addiction a secret, she never knew why he did not come to visit.After high school graduation, Washington started at Pitt Community College while holding down jobs at Food Lion and Burger King. At 19, she had her son Jah Shawn. The new mother could not justify continuing with classes.As a new partner came into her life and she had her daughters Christiana and Trinity, she returned to Pitt for a certificate in EKG telemetry, resulting in a part-time position at Vidant Hospital. She worked this alongside her position at Food Lion.In 2009, Washington experienced a tragedy that would affect her life for years to come. Her maternal grandmother, with whom she had a strong bond, passed away.recalls Washington. She became depressed and her doctor recommended medication, but she resisted.she stated firmly.she said. Her weight shot up and soon her doctor informed her that she had diabetes. Her grandmother's lifelong struggle with diabetes, including the loss of a leg, added a personal dimension to the diagnosis.Her doctor mentioned gastric bypass surgery, but Washington resisted, having heard horror stories. This changed when she realized the gravity of her situation.she reflected.Her family recommended a surgeon. After the operation, she said,She had to learn a new way of eating. During the first weeks, she could only drink a Nyquil cup full of liquids.All of this agony was for a good cause. She dropped over 130 pounds and her diabetes completely disappeared.During this time she was still working at the hospital. Rumors of the hospital closing her department started circulating.she said. She did not wait around to see who would stay. She found a job with A Small Miracle, an agency that works with children and adults with autism and disabilities.Her intuition about her position at the hospital proved to be true when the department was closed. She was once again juggling two jobs. She felt motivated to finish up her degree at Pitt. Her family suggested medical office administration. They told her the medical field will always be there, but that was not enough for her.Determined to finish, she enrolled at Pitt, but a mix-up meant that she would have to wait a semester. It was her grandmother who had pushed her to finish her degree. She wanted to do it for her.she recollected. She looked at Edgecombe Community College and BCCC.she remembered. Her advisor Ann Barnes helped her get past her nerves and seamlessly signed up for classes.She now imparts here experience with college on her kids.she tells them.Her children just met her father last year. It was the first time Washington and her father had taken a picture together in 32 years.BCCC is there to help fulfill lifelong passions that may have been postponed for more immediate concerns. With the memory of her grandmother as a guide and her personal struggles behind her, Washington is ready to make an impact in the lives of others.
Governor vows to defund school vouchers, but move is unlikely to survive vote in legislature, analysts say



Students wearing commemorative scarves celebrate National School Choice Week. (Image courtesy of National School Choice Week website)

Gov. Roy Cooper says he wants to defund North Carolina's Opportunity Scholarship program against the will of North Carolina's conservative legislative majority.Cooper told The Associated Press before his Jan. 1 inauguration.Cooper's statement previews more than a partisan scuffle. It also raises questions about the security of roughly 5,300 low-income students who now depend upon Opportunity Scholarships to attend private schools of their choosing.And it comes against the backdrop of National School Choice Week, a celebration beginning today of state-funded education alternatives such as charter schools and school vouchers.North Carolina's Opportunity Scholarship program, active since 2015, gives low-income students up to $4,200 per year to pay for tuition, transportation, and other private-school expenses.If the funding is withdrawn, the recipients would have to return to public schools, which is neither good for students nor taxpayers, said Raleigh attorney Paul "Skip" Stam, former state House majority leader.Stam told Carolina Journal.The cost-per-student in traditional public schools is much higher than the $4,200 scholarship, so Cooper would have to find room in the budget to cover the difference. The state would spend more money if it had to educate those students in public schools, Stam said.The vouchers are funded for 10 years, and the program's budget will increase by $10 million every year through 2027. A total of $145 million is appropriated to provide scholarships for 36,000 children over the next decade.Cooper's likely attempt to undermine the program raises questions about what would happen if the law were challenged again in the North Carolina Supreme Court, said John Hood, president of the John William Pope Foundation.The Opportunity Scholarship program launched officially in 2014, but a constitutional challenge stalled proceedings until the next year. The case went before the state's highest court, where justices, in a 4-3 vote, declared it constitutional. School-choice advocates in the state legislature lauded the decision.But the governor will block the program in any way possible, and simply defunding school vouchers probably won't work. The state legislature's Republican majority would override the decision in their final budget, Hood said.he said.The Supreme Court tilted left in November when Wake County Superior Court Judge Mike Morgan, a Democrat, beat defeated former Associate Justice Bob Edmunds, a Republican.Because school vouchers were declared constitutional by the state's highest court, said Stam, another challenge isn't likely.Lisa Snell, director of education and childhood welfare at the Reason Foundation, told CJ that North Carolina's voucher program is safe from another Supreme Court battle. But, she said, legislators should prepare for other action from Cooper.Snell said.Cooper hasn't specified exactly how his budget would deal with the scholarships.President Trump's nomination of Betsy DeVos as education secretary has probably caused some extra "hand-wringing" over school-choice issues, Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union, told CJ.Such squabbles distract from the most important part of the discussion, Horn said.Horn said.
RALEIGH  More than $30.1 million from the N.C. Volkswagen Settlement Program will be distributed by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to fund 161 new school buses across the state, with the majority of the funding going toward new all-electric school buses.
Contact: Ford Porter

Ford Porter govpress@nc.gov

RALEIGH, N.C. Governor Roy Cooper has recommended eight community and regional projects in Western North Carolina for Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) funding. The recommendations total more than $3 million in ARC funds.said Governor Cooper.The North Carolina ARC program, part of NC Commerce, makes an initial review of funding requests in order to assure consistency with state and federal guidelines. Final recommendations are formally made by Governor Cooper. Then ARC makes the final decision on the grant recipients which will be announced later this year.Governor Cooper recommended the following applicants and projects:Funds would be used to expand the town's Wi-Fi network to cover the entire downtown business district off Sunset Drive. It will serve 10 businesses.Funds would be used to plan, develop and implement the Blue Ridge Craft Trails. This relaunch of the Handmade in America craft trails would focus on supporting the crafters with accessing markets online. This project will result in improving 75 businesses.Funds would equip the Advanced Machining Incubator at Haywood Community College. This project could create seven small businesses.Funds would identify local assets and develop community plans for broadband deployment. This project could result in a regional broadband plan called the Next Generation Network for Western North Carolina.Funds would support the construction of an access road to a new commercial development. This project could create 45 jobs and leverage approximately $2.7 million in private investment.Funds would widen and repave more than three miles of Jack McKinney Road (SR 1111) to improve access to a vacant industrial facility. This access road investment will improve the marketability of a 217-thousand-square-foot building on 65 acres and improve traffic safety for the community.Funds would create a town streetscape with improvements including sidewalks, benches, landscaping and lighting to serve the community and 20 businesses.Funds will assist teachers in Alexander, Burke and Caldwell Counties develop problem-based learning related to local industries. This program would serve 2,160 students.The U.S. Congress created ARC in 1965 to improve the lives of the people in Appalachia. Federal funding is allocated to North Carolina and 12 other states that make up the Appalachian region. North Carolina counties eligible to receive funding are Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Davie, Forsyth, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, McDowell, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Stokes, Surry, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, Yadkin and Yancey.
BISMARCK  A bill that would make it a crime to hide behind a mask during a protest faced constitutional questions during a North Dakota legislative committee hearing Tuesday.

House Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo, told the House Judiciary Committee that his bill relates to the monthslong protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline in Morton County, but it would apply to other demonstrations as well. The bill would make it a Class A misdemeanor for somebody to intentionally conceal their identity by wearing a mask, hood or other device that covers, hides or conceals any portion of their face while appearing on a roadway or on public property, or while holding a demonstration on private property unless the property owner gives written permission.

The bill includes several exceptions to the prohibition, including for people wearing a traditional holiday costume in season or while defending themselves from the elements.

Carlson said the mask bill would help ensure the safety of peaceful protesters as well as law enforcement officers. He cited instances of protesters cutting razor wire and burning tires.

I would be the first to defend your right of free speech and freedom of assembly, he said. Im always concerned when theres a reason that, I believe, may be used to hide your identity when youre creating some kind of disturbance.

Jennifer Cook, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Dakota, said House Bill 1304 is unconstitutional and called it overbroad and vague. She said the exceptions listed in the bill wouldnt withstand constitutional scrutiny because they would favor certain kinds of speech.

The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently interpreted the First Amendment to shield a broad and expansive array of speech, Cook said in prepared testimony. Expression does not only come in the form of the spoken word, but also in the intentional expression of an idea through expressive activities.

While she asked the committee to give the bill a do not pass recommendation, Cook said it should at least be amended to reflect a narrowly tailored Honolulu ordinance that prohibits the use of masks to evade identification in the commission of any criminal offense.

Carlson said the bill was drafted by looking at what other measures across the country have stood the test of time. Still, he acknowledged the proposal is controversial because it has First Amendment implications.

Not every state has upheld it, Carlson said. But it was one tool that we didnt have in our toolbox that I think should be required.

The mask bill is one of several pieces of legislation introduced this session that addresses the protests over the $3.8 billion pipeline, which was delayed by the Obama administration but may have a brighter future under President Donald Trump. On Tuesday, he directed federal agencies to expedite review and approve the nearly complete pipeline.

The project was met with opposition from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which worried that its water supply would be tainted if the pipe leaked. Its crossing under Lake Oahe has been the focal point for the protests that have drawn people from across the country and resulted in more than 600 arrests since August, the Morton County Sheriffs Department said last week.

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier attended Tuesdays hearing but did not testify. Afterward, he told Forum News Service that its common to see protesters wearing masks during what he described as riots, making it harder for law enforcement to identify people who have allegedly committed crimes.

Rep. Todd Porter, R-Mandan, a co-sponsor of the mask bill, said the state hasnt had to deal with something like the Dakota Access Pipeline protests before.

I think that its very much our job and very much our responsibility to bring forth measures and laws that have been directly identified as an issue during this situation, he said.
Another report by Oxfam had found that eight billionaires, including Bill Gates, from around the globe have as much money as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world's population.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates will be the world's first trillionaire in the next 25 years, says a new research.

According to research firm Oxfam International, the world would get its first trillionaire in the next 25 years, when Bill Gates turns around 86 years old.

A report by Oxfam International said considering that Bill Gates' fortune is growing at 11 per cent per year since 2009, he could become the world's first trillionaire soon.

When Gates left Microsoft in 2006, his net worth was $50 billion, according to Oxfam. By 2016, his wealth had increased to $75 billion, "despite his commendable attempts to give it away through his Foundation," the report said.

In addition to the charitable work Gates does through his personal foundation, he is one of the founding members of The Giving Pledge, a commitment from some of the richest individuals in the world to give away more than half of their wealth.

For the hypothetical analysis, Oxfam researchers applied the rate of growth he has been enjoying, 11 per cent per year since 2009, to Gates' current levels of wealth (over $84 billion, according to Forbes).

"In such an environment, if you are already rich, you have to try hard not to keep getting a lot richer," Oxfam noted.

Another report by Oxfam had found that eight billionaires, including Bill Gates, from around the globe have as much money as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world's population.

As per the report, the eight billionaires, according to the Forbes billionaires list published in March 2016, include Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Inditex founder Amancio Ortega, Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim, Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Oracle's Larry Ellison.

Photograph: Vincent Kessler/Reuters
Well not take our eyes off volumes, says Sanjiv Mehta, MD of HUD, after announcing that demonetisation had impacted the company's sales by four percent.

IMAGE: Sanjiv Mehta, MD HUL: All those products that had greater exposure to rural, which includes our mass-market brands, were hit due to the currency crunch. Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/ Reuters

The note ban announced in November 2016 crimped volume sales by four per cent at the country's largest consumer goods firm, Hindustan Unilever.

This was the second straight fall in volume growth for the company after the September quarter, when volume growth declined one per cent. In a media interaction, managing director and chief executive officer Sanjiv Mehta, left, highlighted where growth was hit most for the company. And spoke about the way forward.



What is your assessment of the market and how do you think HUL fared against this backdrop?



It was a challenging market, where there were both pipeline and offtake issues due to the liquidity crisis, triggered by the ban on high-value notes.

So, we had to react dynamically in keeping with market reality, extending credit period to the trade (by 15 to 20 days), seeing which products, markets and channels were under stress and what we could do to improve sales performance in these areas.

Against this backdrop, there was an impact on underlying volume growth, which declined four per cent.

In individual categories, personal care saw the sharpest fall at three per cent (in terms of sales growth).

Foods and home care saw marginal growth at one per cent each, while refreshments was the best-performing segment, seeing an eight per cent (sales) growth. This was led by double-digit growth in tea, which is an essential item.



Premium products did better than mass products in terms of sales growth in the December quarter. What led to this?



This is a factor of urban versus rural play.

All those products that had greater exposure to rural, which includes our mass-market brands, were hit due to the currency crunch.

Premium products did well in urban areas, more so in modern trade. Modern trade as a channel has been a growing one for us.

However, our observation was that it did much better than general trade in terms of sales growth in the December quarter. Hence, premium products such as Surf, Ponds, Lakme and Dove benefited from this trend.



How long do you think the note ban pain will last and is growth possible in an environment where volume growth is difficult to get and input prices are shooting up?



Were still assessing how long the pain will last.

But, broadly, pipeline issues should ease by the first quarter of the next financial year. While were cognisant of the interplay of price and volume in our business, we will not take our eyes off volumes.



You launched a master brand called Lever Ayush in the December quarter. How is this expected to help you?



Lever Ayush targets the belly of the market. We have 27 stock-keeping units across categories that we have developed with our partner Arya Vaidya Pharmacy. We have started with the south and will take it across markets (north, east and west) in the future. But the launch will allow us to mark our presence across segments in the growing naturals market.



Additionally, we our pushing our acquired Ayurveda brand Indulekha in premium hair care and Fair & Lovely (in skincare), where we have recently launched new herbal variants.
Sale of antibiotics is under the scanner, reports Veena Mani.

IMAGE: Don't buy antibiotics without a prescription. Photograph: Babu Babu/Reuters

Reports that an American woman, who visited India two years ago, died after being infected by a drug-resistant superbug are making the Indian authorities sit up.

Since the case has been linked to developing resistance to all antibiotics, the Centre is in talks with state governments to go tough on any misuse of these drugs.

Drugs Controller General G N Singh said an advisory is being issued to all state drug controllers, asking them to crack the whip on the arbitrary sale of antibiotics.

The state controllers would help ensure that no chemist in India sells antibiotics without a valid prescription, said Singh.

According to Singh, even the least powerful antibiotics can prove fatal if more than the prescribed dosage is taken.

Misuse of antibiotics can also lead to antimicrobial resistance, he said, while explaining why preventing people from taking unnecessary doses of antibiotics is essential.

Even though antibiotics are not supposed to be sold without a prescription, chemists have been found flouting this norm. The effort is to stop the practice.

Bejon Misra from the Partnership for Safe Medicine India is of the opinion that regulation per se will not help.

"State regulators have to be proactive in making sure that these norms are adhered to by conducting periodic inspections," says Misra.

A representative with a state regulator pointed out that a chemist's licence can be suspended if s/he is caught selling without a prescription.

The government needs to begin an audit of prescriptions to ensure that doctors do not prescribe antibiotics unnecessarily, according to Misra.

As for sending advisories to state regulators, the step is being seen as "corrective treatment" by some like Anajan Bose, secretary general, Nathealth.

In effect, it should ensure that only qualified and competent doctors recommend antibiotics.

In the case of the woman who died after the super bug infection, she had travelled to India and developed a bone infection after breaking her femur and had been subsequently hospitalised in India a number of times over a two-year period.
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CANNON BALL, N.D.  Tribal leaders protesting the construction of a controversial North Dakota pipeline vowed on Tuesday to fight U.S. President Donald Trump's order to revive the $3.8 billion project, calling his decision a "bad move."

Protesters have rallied for months against plans to route the Dakota Access pipeline under a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, saying it threatened water resources and sacred Native American sites.

The tribe, which has fought to stop the pipeline since last year, won a major victory last month when the government denied Energy Transfer Partners LP the right to run the pipeline under Lake Oahe, a water source upstream from the reservation.

Trump's order instructed the Army and the Army Corps of Engineers to review the decision.

The Republican president also signed an order reviving the $6.1 billion Keystone XL pipeline project, which was rejected in 2015 by then-President Barack Obama.

As a small airplane circled over the main protest camp near the Dakota Access pipeline Tuesday, the mood following the White House's announcement was calm but defiant.

Im staying here, Benjamin Buffalo, a 45-year-old Blackfeet tribal member from Browning, told a reporter. Im standing with the natives. This is our future.

Buffalo has been at the camp since August, when tensions started to flare up between law enforcement officers and protesters, who have been backed by Hollywood celebrities, veterans and other activists.

At a protest in front of the White House, a few hundred demonstrators shouted slogans and carried signs, including one that read: "Now environmental rapist."

"What happened today is an attack on our homes," said Jade Begay, a spokeswoman for the Indigenous Environmental Network, which fights against mining and dumping on native lands. "We are going to continue to show up at your home, Donald Trump."

In New York City, about 300 protesters gathered outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower, chanting slogans such as "If all lives matter, then Native lives matter" and "You can't drink oil, even in the soil."

The tribe had recently called for protesters to leave the North Dakota site after the Army Corps of Engineers agreed to an environmental review last month, saying the battle had moved beyond the camp and into the courts or back rooms for negotiations with the government.

The tribe also warned that the camp itself might contaminate the river if hit by heavy flooding in March, when waters are expected to rise.

On Tuesday, Standing Rock leaders said they would meet in the coming days to plan next steps. Some said they feared fresh violence after past clashes between protesters and law enforcement officers.

Dana Yellow Fat, Standing Rock Sioux tribal council member at large, called Trump's order "a poor decision and a bad move" and said he worried about injuries if new violence broke out.

Now youre going to see both sides gear up for even more actions on the ground because you have a group of people that is determined to stop that pipeline one way or another, he told Reuters.

Yellow Fat said he was unsure whether the tribe would back away from its request for protesters to leave the camp, but said Trump's order has prompted "a total re-evaluation of our recent actions."

Since the exit of the Standing Rock Sioux, the camp has been less organized, with no regular sunrise prayers and communal kitchens that now only serve food sporadically. In some spots, tents are buried under snow and as many as 60 cars have been abandoned.

Tribal officials expect the cleanup of the site to take about a month.

The Morton County Sheriff's Department urged activists to remain peaceful in light of Trump's order and said they were bracing for a possible resurgence in protests.

Were preparing for anything that might come, department spokeswoman Maxine Herr said. We continue to monitor the situation.

She declined to say whether additional officers would be sent to the protest site.

Morton County spokesman Rob Keller on Monday said police had no plans to forcibly remove people from the campsite, where protesters now number 500 to 600, down from the nearly 10,000 once there.

Many in the camp, some of them members of Native American tribes from other parts of the country, had already planned to defy the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's call to leave, saying the fight against the pipeline was not over.

Forest Borie, 33, of Magalia, Calif., said the protest will only become more intense.

"Our struggle to protect the planet is getting more intense, and the stakes are getting higher," said Borie, who has been at the camp since early November.
Veteran ice fisherman Mario Flores first tip for fellow anglers isnt a secret about depth or bait. Its about weather.

No fishing is getting done if Mother Nature doesnt cooperate, the Laramie, Wyo., angler said. With Wyoming wind, it can turn into you being more worried about getting things set up and organized. Sometimes it turns into a whiteout and you cant get anything done. Ive lost buckets. Ive lost huts chasing them down the ice.

He sacrificed a hut to the Laramie wind a couple of years ago on Lake Hattie Reservoir. A gust pulled away the anchor and off it went, never to be found again.

Unsurprisingly, Craig Amadio, Wyoming Game and Fish Departments Lander fisheries supervisor, lists safety as his first tip.

Use common sense and put safety first and never go out by yourself. Weve seen some pretty tragic situations end up with people drowning, he said. Make sure you go out and have fun and get home safe.

After the warnings and cautions, the longtime ice fishermen broke down the business of ice fishing. Whether youre just starting out or drilling holes for your 30th season, Amadio, Flores and Jay Zastrow, a Casper ice fisherman, offered these tips for pulling even more fish through the ice.

1. Move  a lot

Flores calls it ice trolling. He figures he and his friends drill between 100 and 200 holes in a lake in one fishing trip.

He drops a line in a hole and spends five minutes fishing and if he hasnt seen or caught anything, he moves on.

When I find that lucky hole, then I set up or I really concentrate around that area, Flores said. If we dont have enough holes in that spot, we punch more holes to see why fish are holding there.

Flores said the biggest mistake he sees many ice fishermen make is to pick one place, set lines and stay there even if nothing is biting. Successful fishing, especially in the winter when theyre more lethargic, is about finding the active fish.

2. Change your depth

Conventional ice fishing wisdom used to direct people to fish off of the bottom of a lake or reservoir, Amadio said. The water was a more consistent temperature, or there would be more food on the bottom  whatever the reason, anglers would drop their bait to the bottom and let it sit.

Thats a mistake.

Oftentimes perch, crappie and walleye can be suspended, Amadio said. Theyre actively feeding in the water column.

Try varying your depths as much as you vary your location, Zastrow said. Fish could be eating below you all day, and if your minnow is sitting on the bottom, you may not get a single bite.

Also try fishing on top of and to the sides of drop-offs, he said, since fish often feed in both locations.

3. Try new lures, jigs and bait

Just because that white jig with the big, buggy eye worked last year doesnt mean it will work this season. Even if it worked the day before, it might not be the ticket anymore, Flores said.

A lot of anglers have their favorite piece of tackle they like to fish with and they tie that on in the morning and use it all day, Amadio said. And sometimes its working and sometimes its not.

Just like fishing in the summer, youre trying to mimic what the fish are eating.

Jigging shiny spoons can work to attract some of the more aggressive fish such as walleye and trout. Lighter tends to work better on sunny days, Flores added, and darker colors on cloudy days.

4. Invest in a fish finder

Tired of dropping your line into the dark oblivion of a frozen lake and wondering if youll ever get a bite? Buy a fish finder. Types and prices vary, but Amadio, Zastrow and Flores all say theyre key to consistently succeeding.

They are your eyeballs, Flores said. From figuring out how different species react to what your presentation is, from bait to jigging patterns Most units now will have GPS/lakemaster maps with topo maps, which cuts down on your travel and ice drilling to find different structures that may hold fish.
Hanoi, January 25 (VNA)  Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made visits to several former Party and leaders at their homes on January 25 on the occasion of the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) and the 87th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.



Meeting with former Party General Secretary Do Muoi, who turns 100 this February 2, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong wished him good health and longevity.



The Party chief informed Do Muoi about the Party and country situation, as well as achievements that the Party, armed forces and people have reaped over the past years.



General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong also offered incense in memory of the late Party General Secretary Le Duan ./.

VNA/VNP
HA NOI  The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) collaborated with the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) to host a Vietnam-Japan economic dialogue on Tuesday in Ha Noi.

The dialogue was held on the occasion of a visit by JCCIs Chairman Akio Mimura to Viet Nam, together with 80 high ranking leaders of many Japanese businesses working in commercial, manufacturing, machinery and vehicle production, banking, construction, aviation, agriculture, household electronics, counselling, and others.

The meeting was considered an excellent opportunity for businesses from the two countries to forge a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the economic, commercial and investment cooperation situation and potential between them. Businesses also had a chance to meet and socialise directly, exchange information and seek suitable partners for future deals.

Nguyen uc Chung, Chairman of the Ha Noi Peoples Committee, lauded the spirit of collaboration and the achievements of the trade relations between Viet Nam and Japan.

Vu Tien Loc, VCCIs Chairman, stated that the most significant concerns for the whole Vietnamese economy in general and the Vietnamese business community in particular are to reach a reasonable growth rate and aim for stable development; in which, concern would be placed heavily on supporting micro, small and medium enterprises in the process of global integration and to participate in an international value chain.

Akio Mimura of JCCI also said that many Japanese businesses had expressed interest in connecting and collaborating with their Vietnamese counterparts, even more so in the context of an aging Japanese population, and a desperate need to boost high quality workers.

Nguyen Hoang, Chairman of Hanoi Supporting Industry Business Association, said that in order to solidify the strategic cooperation between Viet Nam and Japan in the near future, there must be further implementation of profound supporting programmes for the two countries business communities, particularly small and medium ones.

Within supporting industrial sectors, Viet Nam had been importing billions of US$ each year in car parts, car accessories, electronics and machinery, from important partners in Japan such as Toyota and Canon. Hoang urged the Japanese government to help develop the supporting sectors in Viet Nam within the framework of national strategic cooperation.

Chung also asked for Japanese businesses to work together on investing in 8 key sectors in need of investment in Ha Noi, such as infrastructure and an underground metro system, as well as the 6 bridges across the Hong river and connecting roads for ring roads 1 to 5 in the city outskirts. Additionally, there should be investment in shopping centres, convenience stores and central markets.

Other sectors in need of collaborative investment and development would include the hotel industry, pharmaceuticals distribution for the healthcare system and high tech agricultural production, supporting industries, machine parts and accessories, as well as the expansion of industrial zones.

Chung also stated at the dialogue that to commit to creating the most favourable conditions possible for foreign businesses in general and Japanese businesses in particular when they invest in Ha Noi and its satellite urban areas, Viet Nam would continue to support Japanese investors through a better legal framework and the creation of a stable and transparent business environment.

Japan would be eager to support and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese workers to improve their professional skills, as well as take part in training and re-training activities in various sectors and fields. Simultaneously, Japan would help Vietnamese businesses solve any remaining difficulties during production or during the technology transfer process.

After the Republic of Korea, Japan ranks second in investment in Viet Nam, out of a total of 142 countries and territories, with about $42 billion flowing into Viet Nam to improve its investment environment and enhance exports.  VNS
The three telecommunication groups under direct management of the Information and Communications Ministry (MIC) will have to develop their equitisation plans in 2017.  Photo vfpress.vn

HA NOI  The three telecommunication groups under direct management of the Information and Communications Ministry (MIC) will have to develop their equitisation plans in 2017, according to the Minister of Information and Communications, Truong Minh Tuan.

The three groups are the Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), Viet Nam Multimedia Corporation (VTC) and MobiFone Telecommunications Corporation (MobiFone).

The equitisation of the three telecom giants has to be speeded up in accordance with a December 2016 decision by the Prime Minister on criteria to differentiate State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and State-invested companies, he added, speaking at a meeting on January 23.

Along with the decision, the PM also published the list of 240 SOEs that have to be equitised by 2020. On the list of 240 SOEs to be equitised, VNPT and MobiFone are the two among 27 firms in which the Government will hold 50-65 per cent ownership. VTC is among 106 SOEs in which the States stake will be reduced to below 50 per cent.

Among the rest of the 240 SOEs, the States ownership will remain 100 per cent in 103 SOEs while its stake will stay over 65 per cent in four others.

VNPT in 2016 recorded revenues of VN135 trillion (US$6.09 billion), up 7 per cent from 2015, whereas income rose by 20 per cent to VN4.16 trillion.

MobiFone reported revenues of VN38.4 trillion, up 14.5 per cent from 2015 with 19 million subscriptions. VTC surpassed their goal for 2016, with total revenues reaching VN5.2 trillion, up 39 per cent compared to 2015.

The Government has enhanced divestment from SOEs, ranging from breweries to dairy producers. Those deals have attracted intense attention from foreign investors given that Viet Nam is one of the fastest growing economies due to its young population and rapidly increasing export turnover, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.

In the past 15 years the number of SOEs has fallen from around 6,000 to over 700. Between 2011 and 2015 almost 600 SOEs were equitised, 96 per cent of the targeted number.  VNS
HA NOI  Mobile phone operators said they are making preparations to avoid network congestion during the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival.

The operators, including VinaPhone, MobiFone and Viettel will increase capacity on their networks, expand coverage areas and increase the number of 3G base transceiver stations (BTS) and mobile broadcast vehicles.

MobiFone said that a large number of customers would move from big cities to the southwestern region, central region and northern delta, therefore, capacity in these regions would be doubled or tripled.

The mobile operator has also increased its capacity at festival venues or places of amusement, to meet the predicted boom in demand.

30 broadcast vehicles would be deployed to places experiencing high demand.

Meanwhile, Viettel has prepared 74 vehicles for festival hotspots or crowded apartment blocks.

In addition, 200 wireless routers will also be set up at key locations ready for the upcoming Tet holiday.

Viettel has invested in more than 190 new BTS, improved hardware resources for nearly 2,200 BTS, and optimised and upgraded configurations on more than 14,000 broadcasting stations in all cities and provinces nationwide.

Viettel also expects to officially roll out 4G services across the country in the first quarter of this year.

Another mobile phone giant, VNPT  VinaPhone, has completed nearly 8,000 3G broadcast stations. The provider has the largest 3G coverage area in Viet Nam.

VNPT  Vinaphone has prepared plans to increase 3G services to increase capacity, expand coverage area and ensure 34 free wifi broadcast stations around Hoan Kiem Lake.

In other provinces and cities, as well as key locations, 3G broadcasting stations have been improved to ensure the provision of Internet services in the Lunar New Year holiday, said Vinaphone.

Free wifi at festival spots in major cities

HCM City, Ha Noi, Can Tho and Nha Trang will offer free wireless internet 24 hours a day at flower markets during Tet, according to the Saigon Posts And Telecommunications Service Joint-Stock Corporation (SPT).

In HCM City, the service will be available at Tao an, Gia inh, Le Van Tam, and Le Thi Rieng Parks; the International Square; and Nguyen Hue Flower Street.

In Ha Noi, it will be provided at flower markets on Lac Long Quan and Hoang Hoa Tham streets, Quang An, Quang Ba and Nhat Tan flower markets and Hang Luoc Flower Street.

Elsewhere, Tran Phu Street and Yen Phi Park in Nha Trang, and the Ninh Kieu Wharf flower market, Vo Van Tan Flower Street and a flower market on Hoang Van Thu Street in Can Tho will also be covered.

SPTs S-wifi project provides free wifi in more than 14 provinces and cities, mainly to hospitals, schools and public areas in populous localities, benefiting more than 12 million users.  VNS
HELENA  A measure to prevent air ambulance patients from being hit with huge bills has been put on hold while governor's officials and lawmakers meet with the groups to seek alternative solutions.

Gov. Steve Bullock's budget director, two Republican senators and a Democratic representative met Wednesday with a lobbyist and a consultant representing a coalition of air ambulance companies. Previous meetings were held with insurance companies and hospital officials.

At issue is a bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Gordon Vance of Belgrade that would require air ambulance providers and insurance companies to negotiate payments for providers' services.

Lawmakers heard complaints earlier this month from people who received bills for tens of thousands of dollars in costs not covered by insurance.

Vance says the recent meetings have not yielded a better solution than what's in his bill so far.
HA NOI  State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) has urged commercial banks and card issuers to ensure smooth operation of automatic telling machines (ATMs) before the Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays begin.

The move comes after local media reported many ATMs were running out of cash over the past few days. Customers were forced to queue up for hours and were often unable to withdraw cash. The situation was most serious in industrial and export processing zones.

According to SBVs statistics, there are 106 million bank cards issued by commercial banks, 16,500 ATMs and 217,000 point-of-sale machines.

A bank leader said in a normal day, cash is filled in twice in each ATM on average, equivalent to VN1-1.5 billion (US$44,400-66,600).

However, in recent days, each ATM was being refilled three to four times per day because the number of transactions had increased by some 40 per cent per day, which meant cash amounting to VN6 billion had to be put into an ATM.

This year, the pressure of cash withdrawals was even heavier than the previous year because the Calendar New Year and Lunar New Year festivals were close to each other.

ao Minh Tuan, deputy general director of the Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam (Vietcombank), said in some places, the bank arranged mobile ATMs for workers to withdraw money.

However, he said ATMs would be overloaded if companies paid Tet bonus on the same day.

Therefore, Vietcombank called for co-operation from corporate customers and management boards of industrial and export processing zones, asking them to stretch the period of salary and bonus payments and arrange time off for workers to withdraw money.

Individual clients have been advised to go directly to the nearest transaction offices or bank branches for cash withdrawal, while corporate clients should plan to pay bonus in cash directly to their workers.  VNS
A NANG  Reuse Everything Institute Inc of Finland has agreed to fund a biodiversity research project in the Son Tra Nature Reserve that will contribute to protecting the endangered red-shanked douc langur (Pygathryx nemaeus).

The a Nang administration said that US$25,000 would be used this year to determine the number of langurs living in the 2,500ha Son Tra Nature Reserve as well as an awareness campaign covering 400 students in four a Nang schools to stress the importance of biodiversity and saving the langurs.

The project will also provide free trips to the reserve for 350 college students and 40 State employees; and fund research on biodiversity and the langur conservation by young scientists.

GreenViet, an NGO that focuses on biodiversity conservation in forests, will implement the project beginning next month.

The Son Tra Nature Reserve, 600m above sea level, is known for its rich biodiversity, with 287 species of animals and 985 species of plants.

The reserve is also home to 300 red-shanked douc langurs, which are found only in east-central Laos and Viet Nam. The langurs were declared endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2013.

At a meeting last year, the IUCN agreed to list the red-shanked douc langur as critically endangered (CR) with unlimited protection status in the world.

The red-shanked douc langur was also chosen as the official mascot of a Nang for the 2017 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) Summit. The city has asked its culture department to co-ordinate with relevant agencies and promote the image of the endangered species. The choice of the langur as the mascot communicates the citys commitment to protecting the environment and building a green city by 2025.

The city has also approved a 15-year plan (until 2030) to protect biodiversity in the Son Tra Nature Reserve.

GreenViet, one of the most active organisations in a Nang, has launched series of awareness campaigns over the last few years to protect the red-shanked douc langur.

Son Tra Nature reserve is a favourite destination, with 10,000 tourists visiting it every month.

Le Thi Thu Trang, deputy director of GreenViet, said images of the langurs had been posted on banners at bus stops in the city, raising awareness among the community and the tourists on the need for protecting the species.

However, traps are still found and illegal hunting continues in the reserve. Many restaurants inside the reserve have been used for illegal hunting and wildlife trafficking in the area.

Illegal loggers also destroyed a vast area in this protected nature reserve on the Son Tra Peninsula. Two illegal hunting cases were documented in the reserve in 2015, and around 2,000 traps have been dismantled by rangers and volunteers.

In 2016, the citys forest protection sub-department launched criminal proceedings in a case that involved the killing of three red-shanked doucs in the reserve.

Trang said GreenViet is also co-operating with the Frankfurt Zoological Society of Germany, the San Diego Zoo in the United States and the IUCN to protect the red-shanked douc langur with long-term campaigns.

GreenViet and the Son Tra-Ngu Hanh Sons Forest Protection Sub-Department have agreed to step up patrols.

Primate conservationists from GreenViet have also called for strict punishment of illegal hunters and a halt to the issuing of construction licences for more resorts and hotels in the Son Tra Nature Reserve.  VNS
A NANG  The Spring Newspaper Fair officially opened in a Nangs library on Bach ang Street on Monday, displaying special Tet (Lunar New Year) issues of newspapers and magazines.

An exhibition of more than 500 photos, books and calligraphy related to Tet celebrations also opened at the library.

The central coastal city was festooned with thousands of flowers to welcome the Year of the Rooster. A rooster mock-up was created, while colourful fresh flowers were placed for photo ops on Bach ang Street.

A flower display also opened on the west side of the Rong (Dragon Bridge) on the Han River bank.

The city also hosted Tet celebrations for 150 overseas Vietnamese living and doing business in a Nang. The central city receives US$112 million in remittances from 18,000 overseas Vietnamese annually. Overseas Vietnamese also invested VN2 trillion ($95.2 million) in 70 investment projects in the city including garment, seafood exports, electronics, information technology and tourism.  VNS
HCM CITY  With companies such as Grab or Uber, its never been easier to summon a motorbike taxi (xe om).

Motorbike taxi services are used not only by tech-savvy riders of any age but also by many millennials who love having a convenient ride home amid rush-hour traffic.

Compared to traditional xe om services, GrabBike and UberMoto offer more benefits, including reasonable prices, convenient booking, cleaner helmets, transparent receipts and no bargaining.

I feel safer when I know whos giving me a ride in advance  what their name is and how they look and what their bike plates are, Tran Quy, 24, a frequent user of UberMoto, told Viet Nam News.

Since complaints and suggestions can be sent to the companies service centres and most are handled professionally, who wouldnt like grabbing their phone and using the service right away?

Besides app users, motorbike taxi drivers who have signed up for the service have more opportunities to pick up passengers and earn stable incomes.

Tam Lam, a customer from Thua Thien Hue Province, visited HCM City and booked a motorbike taxi at Mien ong Bus Station in Binh Thanh District to District 12.

If I were to get a traditional xe om, it would cost me VN200,000 (US$8.9) to take me and my wife on one bike to District 12. But with GrabBike, I can save half the cost and we each have our own ride, he told Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper.

To book a motorbike taxi, users download the app, choose the pick-up and drop-off destinations, and wait for a confirmation call. Most available xe om drivers in the area can reach riders within 10 minutes.

Since there are more than two companies that offer app-based motorbike taxi services, the price is competitive, giving passengers more incentives to choose one service over another.

Specifically, while GrabBike takes VN12,000 (US$0.5) for the first three kilometres and VN3,800 (US$0.17) for each kilometre afterwards, Uber charges VN3,700 (US$0.16) for each kilometre plus VN200 (US$0.009) each minute.

Ubers minimum charge per round is VN10,000 (US$0.44) and its cancellation cost is VN5,000 (US$0.22).

Xe om is a familiar mode of transportation in big cities such as HCM City and Ha Noi, due to its convenience and costs.

It is preferrable for people who travel short distances and want to avoid crowded streets at peak hours.

Because local demand for the xe om is high and the job requires nothing but a driver with a bike and a driving license, more people, especially those with low incomes, are joining the business.

Technically, anyone can be a xe om driver. But with Uber or Grab, anyone from a university student to an office worker can do the job without necessarily thinking that they can live on the earnings.

Competition

Fierce competition between app-based drivers and traditional xe om drivers has made it difficult for traditional drivers to earn much.

Nguyen Van Cuong, a traditional xe om driver whose wife is a factory worker, said that he could no longer make enough money to pay rent or buy enough milk for his children.

If I cant earn VN200,000 per day, Im on fire. he said.

Tot, Cuongs colleague, said that he used to have many passengers, including housewives going to the market every morning and office workers to eateries every afternoon.

I used to earn enough to cover my familys monthly expenses and even more to go drinking with friends every day. Now I only make enough to have a drink once a week, he said.

Multiple clashes have occurred between app-based motorbike taxi drivers and traditional ones near Tan Son Nhat International Airport and bus stations, where traditional xe om drivers tend to pick up passengers.

Since services provided by GrabBike and UberMoto are arguably better than their counterparts, more people have switched to calling for motorbike taxis via apps.

Thus, traditional motorbike taxis need to step up their game to refrain from getting kicked off the streets.

In fact, many of the drivers have chosen to become a part of Grab and Uber.

As Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday is approaching, the demand for xe om rides has increased significantly, with more people needing to shop for the holidays.

Cuong, who began to lose money as a traditional xe om driver, said that he had recently joined the app game.

This Tet, Im able to buy presents for relatives in my hometown. My children will be having new clothes as well! he said.  VNS
BANGKOK  Bright red garments, gold embroidery and colourful accessories would normally have been the mode du jour for Thailands ethnic Chinese celebrating Lunar New Year on Saturday.

Striking colours, especially red, are believed to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune.

But this year, donning colourful clothes could be seen as disrespectful in a country where many are still wearing black, white or grey as a sign of mourning for King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died on October 13 last year.

The traditional mourning period of 100 days ended last Friday, but the transition back to colour has been slow.

The year-long mourning for government officials is not mandatory for all Thais, but most people shopping for new clothes in Bangkok are still in monochrome.

Bangkok resident Suvannee Suttilertkun said she would be wearing a black traditional dress with gold embroidery for Lunar New Year.

"It is because we still have to show respect that we are mourning King Rama IX," she said, referring to King Bhumibol by his formal title.

King Bhumibol was the worlds longest-reigning monarch after seven decades on the throne and was revered as semi-divine by many Thais. He was succeeded by his son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, in December.

Some Thais, like Tanagrit Leartskritanapa, have chosen to stick with bright red for Lunar New Year.

"Most of the people understand this is for Chinese New Year, that we have to wear bright auspicious colours to bring luck into our lives," the 60-year-old said.

"At the same time, deep in our hearts, we feel sorrow and we dont forget our king, because hes still living in our hearts."

Many shopkeepers in Chinatown said there had been a drop in sales of red clothes, but they have offered more alternatives in gold, silver and black.

Ethnic Chinese number more than 9.3 million in Thailand, making up about 11 per cent of the population, according to 2012 data quoted by the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, an international body based in Berlin.

But the numbers exclude those of partial ethnic Chinese ancestry, who also consider themselves to be Thai Chinese and celebrate Lunar New Year.

S.P. Somtow, a Thai-American author and social critic, said most Thai Chinese speak Thai and are well-integrated in society.

He did not think wearing red would cause tension during the festive season.

"The mourning for a year is not mandatory, and people know that Chinese New Year is coming. It is a big thing here," he said.  REUTERS
State President Tran ai Quang (L) receives Singapores Ambassador to Viet Nam Catherine Wong in Ha Noi yesterday.  VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sang

HA NOI  State President Tran ai Quang said that Viet Nam would continue to develop its strategic partnership with Singapore during a reception for Singapores Ambassador to Viet Nam Catherine Wong in Ha Noi yesterday.

He expects that the two countries will work closely with a new, creative mindset, thus keeping pace with changes in science and technology to achieve sustainable development and prosperity.

He suggested the diplomat work with Vietnamese functional agencies to step up bilateral cooperation, through high-level visits, Party, State and National Assembly channels, and people-to-people exchange.

He also hoped that the Ambassador would help to push for the negotiation and signing of a bilateral labour agreement, accelerate air and sea connectivity, call for more Singaporean investors to invest in energy, petro-chemistry, and agriculture, and make it easier for Vietnamese agri-products to enter Singapore.

President Quang expects the two countries to continue tapping the strengths of operating Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP) and accelerating the establishment of a VSIP in a Nang while studying to set up new cooperative models, like hi-tech and creative parks in big cities and a food processing zone in Thanh Hoa Province.

He expressed his belief that Ambassador Catherine Wong would do her best to step up the bilateral strategic partnership and assured her that Vietnamese agencies would cooperate with her to boost the relationship in a deeper and more efficient manner.

He asked the diplomat to convey his New Year greetings to President Tony Tan Keng Yam, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and other leaders of Singapore.

The Ambassador conveyed New Year greetings from Singapores leaders to President Quang. She said she was delighted to see the growing strategic partnership between the two countries, especially the exchange of high-level visits, and more Singaporean investors coming to Viet Nam.

She affirmed that the Singaporean Government would continue its extensive cooperation with Viet Nam across politics, diplomacy, economics and others. Singapore would support Viet Nam to successfully organise the APEC Year 2017, the diplomat said.-VNS
HCM CITY  As part of the healthcare programme Care for Tet 2017, HCM City doctors have been offering free health exams to residents in the city and neighbouring provinces of Binh Phuoc, ong Nai and Tay Ninh as well as to soldiers stationed at border areas.

Doctors at the citys Traditional Medicine Institute in Phu Nhuan District on Sunday started providing free health exams, ultrasounds and electrocardiograms to poor patients.

Many of the patients said they seldom visited hospitals for exams, even though some of them suffer from various kinds of ailments.

Nguyen Minh Tri, 56, of the district, said: I havent been able to hold anything in my left hand over the last several months. However, I havent gone to a hospital.

Dr Nguyen Tuan Anh, deputy head of the institutes Oncology Ward, examined Tri, who smokes two packs of cigarettes a day.

Anh said that Tri could be at risk of atherosclerosis in which plaque builds up inside arteries, hardening and narrowing the arteries and limiting the flow of oxygen-rich blood.

As atherosclerosis can cause serious complications such as a stroke or heart attack, Anh scheduled an electrocardiogram for Tri.

Another patient, Nguyen Hong Tham, 60, who also lives in the district, has had allergic rhinitis for many years.

However, I havent had time for examination and treatment. Several days ago, I was told to go to the institute for a free exam. The institutes doctor advised me to get thread embedding, which is a kind of acupuncture therapy, to treat allergic rhinitis, Tham said.

The threads, which eventually dissolve, are embedded into acupuncture points to stimulate them for 10-14 days.

The free examination programme shows care for the poor and for seniors before Lunar New Year. Its very useful for us, Tham said.

After the exams, the patients were provided gifts worth VN1 million (US$44) each. The institute also presented gifts to 30 poor inpatients last Sunday.

From January 27-30, inpatients will be provided free three meals every day.

On January 14, doctors and nurses at many city hospitals visited Binh Phuoc Province, the Xa Mat border gate in Tay Ninh, and ong Nai Province to care for people with financial difficulties.

Health workers at Nhan Ai, Tu Du and Paediatrics hospitals provided free medicine and health examination to 150 children, poor residents, and those covered by special State policies that live in Phu Van Commune in Binh Phuoc Province.

The team, including doctors and nurses from Cu Chi and Thu uc general hospitals and Oncology Hospital, visited Tan Lap District in Tay Ninh Province offered free exams and medicine for 500 poor people there.

They also presented gifts to soldiers stationed at border gates. VNS
QUANG NGAI  The central provincial port authority of Quang Ngai has assigned nine passenger boats and 15 cargo ships to serve commuters and islanders traveling to Ly Son Island ahead of Tet (lunar New Year).

Deputy director of the port authority, Le Van Luong, said the latest boat would leave Ky Ha port in Quang Ngai Province for Ly Son Island on Jan. 27, and the augmented boat service would resume on January 29 (the second day of the new lunar year) and run until Feb 8 as islanders travel back to the mainland after the Tet holidays.

On regular days, boats transport about 1,500 passengers four times daily between the island and Quang Ngai Province.

Last summer, the island district added more high-speed boat trips to meet demand of people on vacation.

Last year, a Coast Guard ship was called to carry 660 people to their homes on the island on the eve of Tet due to high waves and strong winds.

Ly Son Island, 30kms off the Quang Ngai Province coast, is home to about 21,000 residents. Most make their living fishing and farming garlic and spring onions.

The island is also a favourite destination during holidays, with 100,000 tourists visiting annually.  VNS
Senior Construction Ministry officials have expressed worries that the new Law on Planning could affect 2,000 major construction plans of different provinces and different regions.  Photo baodauthau.vn

HA NOI  Senior Construction Ministry officials have expressed worries that the new Law on Planning could affect 2,000 major construction plans of different provinces and different regions.

It might also affect 10,000 construction plans in different communes.

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen inh Toan said that the committee drafting the law should reconsider the draft provision that localities must use their own budgets in drawing up construction plans, because many of them lacked the funds needed.

"The Ministrys experience in formulating construction plans shows that funds from international organisations and enterprises can be used effectively," he said.

Likewise, officials of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment were worried that the Planning Law would affect several of their works, including those involving sea territories.

While different ministries and sectors expressed concerns and disagreement with some provisions and implications of the law, several experts stressed the need for a synchronous, environmentally friendly planning.

They said this was crucial if Viet Nam is to cope with climate change, flooding, pollution and traffic jams, especially in urban areas.

Addressing this problem, Planning and Investment Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said it was likely that some changes that matched new trends and could resolve long-standing problems could affect some organisations and individuals.

"When the law is submitted to the NA, opinions from ministries and sectors will be used for reference, but they will not be officially binding," he said.

Chairman of the Viet Nam Federation of Civil Engineering Association Tran Ngoc Hung said that ministries did not agree with the synchronous construction plan because they were afraid that the new law would affect their present plans, and they did not understand every regulation and clause in the law.

In fact, a synchronous plan was needed for the country, he said.

Every developed country takes national and territorial plans as the premise for all projects and works, and this has been done for a long time, he said.

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan has said that the new Law on Planning must ensure that policy overlap and infrastructure redundancy is avoided.

Addressing a recent meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee that discussed the law, she said it should prevent overlapping and wastage caused by localities and sectors making plans without consulting or co-operating with each other.

It should also ensure that the situation of every locality planning to build an airport and/or seaport does not arise anymore.

Indispensable plan

Many experts confirmed the need to compile and promulgate the law, saying planning was indispensable for achieving sustainable development targets.

Since Viet Nam does not have a Law on Planning, there was a lot of overlap and wastage that the nation cannot afford, they said.

Professor ang Hung Vo, former deputy minister of Natural Resources and Environment said, We need to change our ways of working and renew our thinking. Renewing is difficult, but if were afraid of the difficulties and do not change, everything will become sluggish.

For instance, an enterprise would find a need to set up a salient space in the centre of an urban area and submit a plan to the Government. After receiving approval, the enterprise could change the plan on its own without getting prior legal approval.

So it is indispensable that we have a law to supervise plans, he said.

Pham Sy Liem, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Federation of Civil Engineering, the main task of the new law should be the establishment of a national planning system.

The whole point of the draft law was to foster a synchronous plan for the whole country, he said.

This is urgent work, especially in a proactively developing country. If the draft Law on Planning was approved, socio-economic plans and land use plans would be synchronized, he said. The law would provide the framework against which other plans can be adjusted.

Thus, regional plans could have more details, but could not contravene the national plan, and provincial plans cannot do the same with regional plans.

An immutable principle is that lower-level plans cannot be out of sync with higher-level plans, said Liem.  VNS
HCM City hospitals are ensuring that emergency aid, medicine and medical personnel are available for the Tet holiday as the number of traffic accidents, food poisoning incidents and drunk driving incidents increases.  Photo congan.com.vn

HCM CITY  HCM City hospitals are ensuring that emergency aid, medicine and medical personnel are available for the Tet holiday as the number of traffic accidents, food poisoning incidents and drunk driving incidents increases.

Dr Tang Chi Thuong, the departments deputy head, said that 22 satellite emergency aid stations were set up throughout the city last year. They are located at 14 district-level hospitals, two city-level hospitals, five private hospitals and the citys 115 emergency aid centre.

The department plans to ensure that each district has at least one emergency aid station.

A steering board for the operation of satellite emergency aid stations was also set up to work with the citys 115 emergency aid centre.

During Tet, these stations and their staff and ambulances will take no more than three or five minutes to reach accident victims after receiving emergency-aid information.

Since mid-December last year, Cho Ray Hospital has been ordering medicine and other medical materials to meet demand during Tet.

As of January 20, the hospital had enough medicine until the end of February.

Moreover, medicine for specialised wards will also be available at the hospital for the next two or three months.

The citys Trauma Orthopaedics Hospital has also increased the number of doctors at its emergency aid wards. The wards often have to treat many intoxicated men involved in fights during the holiday.

At Binh Dan Hospital, doctors will be divided into two shifts for treatment, emergency aid and surgery. They will work extra hours on the first and the last days of the holidays, January 26, January 31, and February 1 and 2.

Xuyen A General Hospitals doctors and nurses will be available for emergency aid as the hospital is located near Highway 22 where traffic accidents often occur. It is also near the citys northwestern entry to Tay Ninh Province and Cambodia.

The head of Thu uc District Hospital, Dr Nguyen Minh Quan, said that all doctors in their emergency-aid wards would be working during the holiday, when the number of patients often increases 15-20 per cent.

The city said that paediatrics hospitals were ready to provide treatment for food poisoning, diarrhea and cases of people choking on food.

Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, deputy head of the citys Paediatrics Hospital in Binh Chanh District, said the hospital would have 100 doctors, 20 beds and three ambulances on duty during the holiday period.

The Department of Health has instructed health preventive centres and other health facilities to continue to take measures to prevent the spread of the Zika virus, dengue fever and hand-foot-mouth disease.

In Ha Noi, hospitals under the central government such as Viet uc and Bach Mai have also made plans to ensure sufficient health exams and treatment during Tet.

Like Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City, Viet uc Hospital is a hotspot for admitting patients from grassroots hospitals who have been seriously injured in traffic and labour accidents.

During Tet, the number of patients admitted for emergency aid is expected to rise by 20 per cent. Nearly 400 medical staff at the hospital will be on duty, while five surgery rooms will be available.

Bach Mai Hospital has three teams of doctors and nurses ready to provide emergency aid in the case of a disaster, in addition to 350 people on duty.

The hospital said it would also ensure that patients receive their regular dialysis treatments during Tet. VNS
ABC/Image Group LAAs we wait to see whats next from Canaan Smith music-wise in the U.S., the Virginia native is developing quite a following overseas.

Hes one of a handful of artists wholl head to Europe in March for the continents biggest music festival, known as C2C: Country to Country. Brad Paisley, Reba McEntire, Maren Morris and Brothers Osborne are just some of the stars on the bill this year.

But Canaan wont be heading back home immediately, hell be sticking around for his own seven-city trek across the United Kingdom, which starts March 14 in Glasgow, Scotland. Hes calling it the Back for More Tour, a reference to his dates last fall with British duo The Shires.

We made a bunch of friends and I cant wait to get back for another round, the man who hit #1 with Love You Like That says.

Heres the itinerary for Canaan Smiths Back for More Tour, with tickets going on sale this Friday:

3/14 -- Glasgow, Scotland, King Tuts Wah Wah Hut

3/15 -- Birmingham, England, O2 Institute3

3/16 -- Manchester, England, The Deaf Institute

3/18 -- Bristol, England, Thekla

3/19 -- Portsmouth, England, The Wedgewood Rooms

3/20 -- Brighton, England, Concord 2

3/21 -- London, England, Bush Hall

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
BUTTE  Less than a week after taking office, President Donald Trump announced a freeze on all new contracts and grants with the Environmental Protection Agency, throwing agencies, counties and groups who rely on federal dollars into uncertain territory.

From Montana Department of Environmental Quality to Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, many of the officials The Montana Standard spoke with Tuesday afternoon expressed dismay and concern over Trumps announcement and the uncertainty it brings to ongoing work in the largest Superfund site in the nation. Trump also announced a media blackout on EPA. (See related story.)

EPAs Helena-based spokesperson Robert Moler said he had no information. EPA regional headquarters in Denver and national headquarters in Washington did not respond to calls and emails asking what this might mean for Butte and Anaconda. Both have been Superfund sites for 30 years due to historic mining and smelting activity.

Citizens Technical Environmental Committee president Dave Williams said that EPA no longer awarding contracts to technical firms would make it real hard for EPA to do what people think its supposed to be doing and what the law says its supposed to be doing.

EPAs studies and reports  which constitute mountains of paperwork  are generated by consulting firms such as CDM Smith and Tetra Tech, both out of Helena, and Pioneer Technical Services out of Butte. Montana Department of Environmental Quality also contracts with EPA.

A spokesperson for CDM Smith declined to comment. Pioneer Technical and Tetra Tech did not immediately return calls for comment.

DEQ spokesperson Kristi Ponozzo said via email DEQ receives grants from EPA to operate programs for federal Superfund sites, as well as for a host of other environmental regulatory issues, such as clean air, clean water and safe drinking water.

DEQ is waiting to receive the remaining $5 million from a $7 million grant EPA awarded DEQ last year.

We are unsure when/if we will receive the rest of this grant and are assessing immediate impacts, Ponozzo said via email.

Williams worries the $75,000 grant that CTEC received from EPA about three weeks ago to hire consultants to review EPAs recent investigation work on the former Montana Pole Plant site, which contains PCPs, and the Butte Hill, which contains heavy metals, may be the last time CTEC sees any grant money. That would make it almost impossible for the all-volunteer group to translate the technical language of Superfund into something the public can understand.

But not everyone sees the news as a sign of dark days to come.

Butte-Silver Bow Planning Director Jon Sesso, who is minority leader in the state Senate, said he heard about the orders while at the Capitol in Helena and called a couple of contacts. Sesso has been deeply involved in Superfund negotiations and issues in Butte for years.

He said temporary freezes of various federal agencies have occurred when previous presidents took office until the new guy gets in and gets his feet under him and then lifts the deal.

Even so, it should not affect Butte-Silver Bow too much  at least in the short term  because of the way Superfund is set up for much of the county, Sesso said. Most of the EPA contracts and bills here go through the responsible party, Atlantic Richfield Company, he said.

That somewhat insulates Butte-Silver Bow from being affected too much, Sesso said, because the work that is being done is paid for by ARCO as opposed to the EPA.

Eric Hassler, BSB Superfund maintenance manager, said early Tuesday afternoon that he had just heard about Trumps orders.

He said the countys metals abatement program, which helps residents on the Butte Hill by giving the county the means to mitigate potentially harmful exposures to lead, arsenic and mercury, would not be affected. It is funded entirely through an allocation agreement with ARCO.

He said other reclamation work he oversees shouldnt be affected either.

Similarly, Anaconda-Deer Lodge County chief executive Bill Everett said that in 2016 the county arranged that the money the county needs to manage Superfund, by paying for both a county staff person and outside consultants, would be 100 percent picked up by ARCO, in 2017. Beyond 2017, Everett said he didn't know what would happen.

But Everett said, "I wish I knew more."

Arrowhead Foundation president Mark Sweeney also expressed concern over the uncertainty Trumps announcement brings. Arrowhead Foundation translates Anaconda Superfund issues into something the public can digest and, like Butte's CTEC, operates off of EPA grant money.

"I was wondering what effects it would have with us. I dont really know," Sweeney said.

Doug Ericksen, the communications director for Trump's transition team at EPA, told The New York Daily News and the Washington Post that the freeze would not apply to pollution cleanup efforts or infrastructure construction activities.

While he was on the campaign trail, Trump vowed to abolish the EPA. He picked a climate-change denier, Myron Ebell, to head his EPA transition team. His nominee to lead EPA, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has repeatedly sued the federal environmental agency.

Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive Dave Palmer said he had heard about the orders and added, I just hope it doesnt slow down Superfund issues here.

*Reporter Mike Smith contributed to this story.
Smuggling, a longstanding complicated issue, is set to remain a thorny problem this year, market watch officials have warned.  Photo saostar.vn

HA NOI  Smuggling, a longstanding complicated issue, is set to remain a thorny problem this year, market watch officials have warned.

In a video conference held in Ha Noi, a Nang and HCM City to review smuggling and commercial fraud last year, the Department of Market Management (DMM) reported a surge of 1,061 smuggling cases over the 103,746 cases recorded in 2015.

Fines collected in 2016 reached VN548.9 billion (US$24.4 million), some VN89.1 billion higher than the previous year, the DMM reported.

These numbers, however, do not mean that greater control has been exerted over the smuggling and manufacture of counterfeit goods and goods infringing intellectual property rights.

Rather, such activity has accelerated and become harder to contain as they were camouflaged under international famous brand names, the meeting heard.

HCM City has for long been a consumer hotspot for trafficked and counterfeit goods, the most popular being watches, handbags, clothing and shoes marked with foreign brand names like Gucci, Chanel and Adidas.

A majority of the counterfeit goods were smuggled from China, said Phan Hoan Kiem, head of HCM City Market Management Bureau and deputy director of the local Department of Industry and Trade.

A lot of cosmetics were faked so well that they looked like the real ones, from their boxes to the colour and the smell. But they were sold at cheap prices and did not ensure quality or safety, he said.

Kiem believed that the trafficking of fake and counterfeit goods would continue because of the huge profits involved and the general preference for choosing cheap products of famous brands regardless of their authenticity.

However, this also means that Vietnamese products are losing grounds against fake ones because they lack diversity, are not packed as attractively, and are sold at higher prices.

Agricultural products, particularly fertilisers, were also subject to counterfeiting, the meeting heard. The number of fake and counterfeit fertiliser cases detected in 2016 shot up by 150 per cent over the previous year, according to the DMM.

The Market Management Bureau of Tien Giang Province in the biggest rice-producing region of Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta also reported that sub-par products tended to have delicate, beautiful packaging that made it difficult to differentiate them from the authentic ones.

Legal loopholes

Nguyen Van Truong, head of the Market Management Bureau of Lang Son Province bordering China, from where a majority of goods are smuggled into Viet Nam, said smugglers were taking advantage of legal loopholes to legitimise their trade.

If invoices are already issued and the ownership of the smuggled goods is transferred to the customer, the regulations are not clear on how to deal with such goods, he said.

Industry and Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh, who chaired the conference, acknowledged the legal problem, but also pointed out that the capability and ethics of law enforcement forces were an issue.

In order to effectively fight the smuggling of fake goods and counterfeiting, we should consider holding senior officials accountable for allowing trafficked goods to become easily available in the market, he said.  VNS
Ho Chi Minh City Peoples High Court yesterday upheld the lower courts 30-year prison sentence given to the former board Chairman of the Viet Nam Construction Bank (VNCB), Pham Cong Danh.  Photo thanhnien.vn

HCM CITY  Ho Chi Minh City Peoples High Court yesterday upheld the lower courts 30-year prison sentence given to the former board Chairman of the Viet Nam Construction Bank (VNCB), Pham Cong Danh.

Danh, who is also former chairman and General Director of Thien Thanh Group, along with his accomplices were charged with deliberately violating State regulations on economic management causing severe consequences and violating lending regulations of credit institutions.

According to the jury, Danh played a key role in directing other defendants to conduct illegal behavior, causing serious economic losses of over VN9 trillion ($396 million) for VNCB.

The panel dismissed appeals for penalty reduction and sentence suspension lodged by 25 defendants and upheld the three to 22-year sentences for Phan Thanh Mai, former VNCB General Director, Hoang inh Quyet, former Deputy Director of the VNCBs Sai Gon branch, Mai Huu Khuong, former Director of the VNCBs Sai Gon branch, and other defendants.

The VNCB was established by Trust Bank in May 2013. Trust Bank operated for 23 years, with chartered capital of VN3 trillion ($142.85 million). In mid-2014, the SBV appointed new officials to the VNCB after top executives were arrested for violating state regulations.  VNS
HA NOI  General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong praised the outstanding performance of the Party Central Committees office while extending Tet greetings to its staff yesterday.

He said the office has been a sterling advisor to the Party Central Committee, the Political Bureau and the Secretariat.

The challenges and opportunities presented by domestic and global situations impose new requirements on the Party leadership, hence the staff should pool experiences and tighten solidarity in fulfilling assigned tasks, he said.

He also urged them to join hands with relevant agencies in efficiently implement the agenda set for 2017.

He especially called on the office to strictly implement the Resolution of the Party Central Committee on building and strengthening the Party, curbing degradation of political ideology, morality and lifestyle.

They should remain alert for signs of self-evolution and self-transformation within the ranks, the Party leader said.

Prime Minister inspects Division 312

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc inspected the combat readiness of Division 312, one of the first regular divisions of the Viet Nam Peoples Army, at its headquarters in Pho Yen District, the northern province of Thai Nguyen yesterday.

Division 312, also called Division Chien thang (victorious), launched a maiden fight against the French outpost at Him Lam Hill, part of Frances garrison at ien Bien Phu, in 1954. It captured Christian de Castries  the French commander there, helping Viet Nam win the ien Bien Phu Campaign and end Frances rule in Indochina.

Reporting on the Divisions operational training to the Government leader, the division commander said the troops worked hard to be responsive to any situation. Efforts have also been made to improve soldiers material and spiritual life and reinforce connections with local authorities and people.

At the meeting, PM Phuc highlighted the traditions and fighting spirit of Division 312, especially during the ien Bien Phu Campaign and the Ho Chi Minh Campaign, which reunified Viet Nam in 1975.

As Division 312 is deployed at a gateway of the capital city of Ha Noi, its officers and soldiers need to uphold traditions and enhance combat readiness, he said.

He told the Division to be creative in operational training, maintain discipline and promote solidarity so as to set an example for other military units to follow.

On the occasion of the coming Lunar New Year, the PM sent best wishes to officers and soldiers of Division 312, noting that the Party and State put complete trust in the division and its umbrella  the Army Corps 1.

Former state leaders greeted

A Ha Noi delegation led by Secretary of the municipal Party Committee, Hoang Trung Hai, and Chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee Nguyen uc Chung, visited former Party, State and National Assembly leaders on the threshold of the Lunar New Year (Tet).

The Ha Noi leaders extended New Year wishes to former Party General Secretaries o Muoi, Le Kha Phieu and Nong uc Manh, former Presidents Le uc Anh and Tran uc Luong, and former NA Chairmen Nguyen Van An and Nguyen Sinh Hung.

The delegation also made pre-Tet visits to policy beneficiary families and the poor in the city, as well as retired officials.

Meanwhile in Ho Chi Minh City, municipal leaders offered incense and flowers to martyrs at the Ho Chi Minh City Martyrs Cemetery and the City Cemetery, part of activities expressing gratitude to those who sacrificed their lives for national liberation.

Hung Kings honoured

A commemoration ceremony was held at the Hung Kings Temple in HCM City, offering the traditional Tet dish of Banh Tet to the legendary founders of the nation on the occasion of the Lunar New Year.

The ceremony was attended by a delegation of the municipal Party Committee, Peoples Council, Peoples Committee and the Viet Nam Fatherland Front committee, led by Politburo member and Secretary of the municipal Party Committee, inh La Thang.

The offerings at the ceremony were chosen from among the best cakes of the recent Banh Tet contest.

Banh Tet (cylindrical glutinous rice cake) is a traditional cake enjoyed by southern Vietnamese people on the occasion of the Lunar New Year. It is considered a variant of Banh Chung (square glutinous rice cake), which is more popular in the northern region.

The cake is made with sticky rice and filled with pork fat and beans seasoned with black pepper and shallots. It is wrapped in banana leaves and as a result, the sticky rice takes on a pale green color and a slightly leafy taste. Even though the cake is now available all year round, it is still considered a New Year treat.

The Hung Kings ruled Viet Nam from 2879 BC until 258 BC and are considered the founders of the nation. The tenth day of the third lunar month serves as the national commemorative anniversary for the kings. The worship of the Hung Kings was recognised as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2012.VNS
QUANG NINH  A Taiwanese firm operating in the northern province of Quang Ninh recently made an unexpected announcement that it was shutting down, leaving nearly 2,300 workers out of a job just before Tet (Lunar New Year).

Tran Danh Chuc, Chairman of the Quang Ninhs Labour Federation, confirmed the information to Thanh Nien newspaper (Youth).

Last week, Everbest Viet Nam Co. Ltd., an exports footwear manufacturer located in Cam Pha Citys Cam Son Ward, submitted documents to the Quang Ninh Peoples Committee announcing its decision to terminate investment and operations in the province, Chuc said.

The reason cited was failing business  the company has not received enough orders to keep the manufacturing operations running.

Authorities in Quang Ninh has met Everbest representatives to discuss the problems the company has faced and to ensure that the company fulfils all its obligations towards 2,300 workers under its employment.

The company has been asked to give workers all the benefits they are rightfully entitled to. Authorities have ordered the company to submit a detailed plan on realising this responsibility prior to February 15.

In the meantime, the company has to pay the full salary and remuneration packages for workers, including their Tet bonus (the 13th month salary), as well as bus tickets for going home.

The Quang Ninh Labour Federation has contacted and referred these workers to other firms operating in the province that are in needs of labour. VNS
ASTANA, Kazakhstan  Russia, Iran and Turkey have agreed to bolster a fragile truce in Syria but rebels and Damascus made no progress towards a broader settlement to end the war after two days of talks.

The three main sponsors of the negotiations in Astana on Tuesday announced the creation of "a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire" in place since late December.

Moscow, Tehran and Ankara -- all key players in the conflict -- also agreed armed rebel groups should take part in a new round of peace talks set to be hosted by the United Nations in Geneva next month.

"There is no military solution to the Syrian conflict and... it can only be solved through a political process," said the final statement by Russia, Iran and Turkey.

However the final declaration was not signed by the rebels or the regime, whose negotiators did not hold face-to-face talks.

No notable progress

Russia -- the driving force behind the meeting -- has become the major powerbroker in Syria after changing the tide on the ground with its military support for leader Bashar al-Assad.

But while the Kremlin has succeeded in sidelining the West with its new drive to play peacemaker, there were signs Moscow will struggle to transform military gains into wider progress towards peace.

The latest diplomatic initiative to end the bloodshed in Syria that has cost 310,000 lives comes one month after regime forces, aided by Russia and Iran, dealt a crushing blow to the rebels by retaking full control of the countrys second city Aleppo.

The meeting was expected to see the first face-to-face negotiations between the government and the battered armed opposition since Syrias conflict erupted in 2011.

But the defiant rebels refused and mediators were forced to shuttle between the two sides. Rebel negotiator Mohammad Alloush said the "intransigence of Iran and the government " was responsible for "no notable progress" in the negotiations.

A ceasefire brokered by Russia and rebel-backer Turkey has been in place since late December but both rebels and Damascus have complained of repeated violations.

The rebels -- who insisted they would use the Astana talks to push Damascus to respect the truce -- refused direct talks with the regime on Monday because of its continued bombardment and attacks on a flashpoint outside the Syrian capital Damascus.

Achieved the goal

Regime negotiator Bashar al-Jaafari said after the end of the talks that the meeting "succeeded in achieving the goal of consolidating the cessation of hostilities for a fixed period paving the way for dialogue between Syrians."

But he insisted that operations will continue against key flashpoint Wadi Barada, an area 15km northwest of Damascus, where rebels have demanded the regime stops attacks.

There were few details about the proposed ceasefire monitoring mechanism and it was unclear what impact it will have on the ground.

The Kremlins envoy at the talks Alexander Lavrentiev said it will involve experts from Russia, Turkey and Iran meeting in Astana.

The rebels had earlier opposed Irans involvement in monitoring the ceasefire as it sees Tehran and the militias it controls as a main source of the violence.

Reduce suffering

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said his organisation was ready to assist in developing the mechanism and "ensure that it helps strengthen the quality of the ceasefire."

As a further reminder that the conflict is far from over in Syria fighting continued to rage Tuesday with major jihadist groups not covered by the truce.

Rebels were battling former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front in the countrys north, a monitoring group said.

As the talks were ending, Russias defence ministry said its warplanes had bombed the Islamic State jihadist group in Syrias Deir Ezzor region.

Meanwhile, UN agencies and aid groups appealed for US$4.63 billion in 2017 to help Syrians who have fled their countrys war and sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

The appeal is on top of the $3.4 billion that the UN estimates is needed this year for the 13.5 million people still in Syria who have been affected by the conflict.

Washington acknowledged the three-country mechanism announced on Tuesday -- but said ultimately Damascus and the rebels need to talk directly.

"We welcome actions that sustainably de-escalate violence and reduce suffering in Syria," said acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner.

But he added: "We call upon these three countries to press government, pro-government, and opposition forces to abide by the ceasefire in order to create an environment more conducive to intra-Syrian political discussions."  AFP
BRUSSELS  The European Union has warned that Israels announcements that it will build thousands of new settler homes in occupied Palestinian territory "further seriously undermine" prospects for a two-state solution.

Israel said it had approved 2,500 news homes in the occupied West Bank days after it gave the go-ahead for 566 new units in east Jerusalem in a major expansion following the election of US President Donald Trump.

The twin announcements "further seriously undermine the prospects for a viable two-state solution," the EUs foreign policy arm said in a statement.

Settlements in both the West Bank and east Jerusalem are viewed as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace as they are built on land the Palestinians want for their own state.

"It is regrettable that Israel is proceeding with this policy, despite the continuous serious international concern and objections, which have been constantly raised at all levels," the external action services spokesperson said.

"Continued settlement expansion... goes directly against long-standing EU policy and the recommendations of the quartet Report," it said.

The EU is part of the quartet supporting diplomatic efforts for Palestinian-Israeli peace, along with the United States, the United Nations and Russia.

"A negotiated two-state solution is the only way to fulfil the legitimate aspirations of both parties and to achieve enduring peace," the EU statement said.  AFP
Flint lead levels

fall below limits

LANSING, Mich. (AP)  Flints water system no longer has levels of lead exceeding the federal limit, a key finding Michigan environmental officials said Tuesday was good news for a city whose 100,000 residents have been grappling with the man-made water crisis.

Based on the sample of 368 residential sites, Flints lead levels are again comparable to other similarly sized U.S. cities with older infrastructure, state officials said.

Residents, whose mistrust in government remains high nearly three years after a switch of Flints water source in April 2014 while the city was under state management, are being told to continue using filters or bottled water because an ongoing mass replacement of pipes could spike lead levels in individual houses. The replacement of the lines is expected to take years.

Cougars preying

on pets killed

SALEM, Ore. (AP)  In a scenario that could come from a B movie, normally timid mountain lions are forced by heavy snows into a remote community, where they feast on pets and chickens. Its happening in Oregon.

Cougars prowling through La Pine have killed two pets and at least 12 chickens, stoking fear in the town in the woods of Oregon east of the Cascade Range.

On Saturday, Deschutes County deputies shot and killed a cougar that was hiding under a porch after attacking a dog. On Monday, state and federal wildlife officials went to investigate and killed three more of the cougars whose paw prints showed they had come right up to houses, on decks and in backyards.

Endangered seals make a comeback

HONOLULU (AP)  The population of Hawaiian monk seals, one worlds most critically endangered marine mammals, has been increasing 3 percent a year for the past three years, federal wildlife officials said Tuesday.

There are now about 1,400 Hawaiian monk seals in the wild, said Charles Littnan, the lead scientist of the Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The monk seal population had been declining since the 1950s, when federal authorities counted 3,400 seals on Northwestern Hawaiian Island beaches.

Shark attacks fall from record 2015

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP)  Unprovoked shark attacks dropped last year after a record-breaking number in 2015.

The International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida said Tuesday there were 81 unprovoked attacks in 2016, a sharp decrease from the 98 attacks a year earlier. Four of last years attacks were fatal, with two in Australia and two in the French territory of New Caledonia. Officials said 58 percent of attacks worldwide involved board sports.

The U.S. led the globe with 53 attacks. Florida had 32 attacks, Hawaii had 10, California four, North Carolina three, South Carolina two and Texas and Oregon each had a single attack.

Minnesota governor has prostate cancer

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)  Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton announced Tuesday he has prostate cancer, revealing the diagnosis hours after collapsing while delivering his State of the State address the night before.

The 69-year-old Democratic governor said he plans to finish the final two years of his term.

He also said he does not believe the recent cancer diagnosis and his fainting were linked. Tests on what caused Dayton to collapse were scheduled for Tuesday.
DES MOINES  A bill making its way through the Statehouse would abolish county compensation boards and force county supervisors to recommend and vote directly on their own salaries.

County officials currently appoint a compensation board to determine and ultimately recommend salaries for elected positions  supervisors, auditor, recorder, treasurer, sheriff and county attorney. Also affected would be workers whose salaries are set at a fixed percentage of the elected official under whom they serve. Each county's board of supervisors then approves, reduces or rejects the compensation boards recommendation by an equal percentage across the board.

Rep. Megan Jones, RSioux Rapids, said compensation boards  whose members are selected by the elected officials they represent  have led to exorbitant raises in local government pay.

We are hearing from far too many Iowans that are concerned about the increases, Jones said. These raises are out of control.

Lucas Beenken, a public policy specialist with the Iowa State Association of Counties, said compensation boards are intended to consider pay rates in other counties -- in the public and private sectors -- and other factors to determine wage recommendations.

We believe the compensation board provides the necessary checks and balances for the interests of not only the public and taxpayers, but the county employees and the county itself, Beenken said.

Jones and Rep. Jake Highfill, RJohnston, voted to move the bill to the full House Local Government Committee.

But Rep. Mary Gaskill, DOttumwa, a former county auditor, defended the current system.

This gives the public an opportunity to see what their officers are making, Gaskill said.

Each Iowa county has a seven-member county compensation board, which has two members appointed by the Board of Supervisors and one each named by the county attorney, auditor, recorder, sheriff and treasurer.

Supervisors ultimately vote on the compensation board recommendation. But pay rates for elected officials cannot increase beyond the recommendation  they only can be accepted, reduced or rejected.

I guess its a little bit troubling that the state wants to mess with that when we as an organization and our members dont see it as a problem and support the current system, Beenken of ISAC said.

But Rep. Jones said that system allows elected officials to appoint allies to the compensation board to ensure raises are recommended. Then, when wage increases are approved, county supervisors can claim the increase was recommended by the compensation board.

Eliminating the compensation board increases supervisor accountability, she said.

They put all the decision really in the hands of the compensation board, which is typically people they are friends with, Jones said. If theyre going to vote themselves a raise, they need to have the integrity to vote themselves a raise.
Area churches

host free meals



WATERLOO -- First Baptist Church and the Apostolic Pentecostal Church, both in Waterloo, will host free community meals.

First Baptist Church, West Fourth and Baltimore streets, will the meal from 4:30 to 6 p.m. today. Everyone is welcome. Parking is available in the church parking lot. For questions, call the church at 234-1537. The free meal is held the last Wednesday of every month.

The Apostolic Pentecostal Church, at 1645 Downing Ave., will host its meal from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday.

Youth council

to hose event

WATERLOO -- The Youth Action Council will celebrate the diversity and culture of the Cedar Valley from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at 220 E. Fourth St.

Everyone is welcome.

Those interested in sharing their culture may contact the Youth Action Council at jean_seeland@vccv.org.

Nature center

hosts kids event

HAZLETON -- A new session of "Princess Adventures" is set for 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Fontana Nature Center Classroom.

Children ages 3 to 8 are welcome to come to the nature center dressed in "princess attire" (whatever that means to them) and learn about snowflakes, make a craft to take home and enjoy a tea party with a snack.

Cost is $5 per child.

Go to the www.buchanancountyparks.com for more information.
The Gateway Vista affordable housing project, run by YWCA Billings, will receive $3.8 million in low-income housing tax credit funding.

The tax credit funding, one of five awarded Monday by the Montana Board of Housing, covers most of the $4.6 million cost to construct 24 affordable apartments on the YWCA Billings campus at 909 Wyoming Ave. In December, the project was awarded $500,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank.

YWCA Billings CEO Merry Lee Olson identified several people who worked to ensure the award after the project did not receive Montana Board of Housing funding last year. One in particular was Billings Mayor Tom Hanel, who went to Helena in November to testify to the board.

The YWCAs tax credit consultant, Mountain Plains Equity Group, also played a role developing financial reports and working with the YWCA to process the project application. Olson also credited HGFA Architects, the Billings firm that designed the project, as well as YWCA Billings board members and staffers.

In the end, Olson said, members of the Montana Board of Housing told her on Monday it was the stories about the people served that touched their hearts, and the wraparound services that will change lives.

Gateway Vista will augment the YWCAs current shelter, Gateway House, which has 10 units and has provided shelter for abused women and their children since 1989. Gateway Vista will also feature offices and counseling space for the wraparound services that can help give the women being sheltered a chance to succeed.

Olson said four other projects shared in the most recent round of funding: Browning, $6.7 million; Great Falls, $6.7 million; Polson, $6.15 million; and a joint Wolf Point/Culbertson project, partially funded at $2.7 million.

The needs for affordable housing across the state are immense, and the allocations for Montana are small, Olson said. "So we are very fortunate to be the recipient of the funding.

Olson said she hopes to help raise an additional $1 million from private donors and foundations during the coming months to cover capital and capacity funding gaps. Women and their children often come to the shelter unable to pay any rent. A reserve fund helps fill the gap, she said, while women at the shelter begin receiving services, taking courses and receiving counseling as they work to re-establish their independence.

This project is unique, she said, because it goes beyond offering a roof over peoples heads to providing numerous wraparound services to help them truly get on their feet and become financially independent and break away from the cycles of violence and poverty.

The plan is to break ground in May with construction to be completed in mid-2018.

YWCA Billings has been serving people throughout central and Eastern Montana for 110 years. The agency works to save, change and improve lives through its shelter and transitional services programs.

Learn more about the YWCA Billings and its programs by visiting www.ywcabillings.org or by calling 406-252-6303.
WATERLOO  A Waterloo man who fled while on work release has been captured.

Shawn Washington, 38, was serving a 45-year sentence for ongoing criminal conduct and intimidation with a dangerous weapon when he failed to return from a furlough Jan. 15.

Waterloo police arrested Washington in the area of Conger Street and Oakland Avenue on Monday night. He was taken to the Black Hawk County Jail and is being held without bond.

He had been placed on work release Jan. 3 following time in prison.

Washington was originally sentenced to prison in 2005 in connection with an October 2004 shooting that claimed the life of Tyanna Parsons. He was paroled in 2012 but returned to prison following violations that included a 2013 incident where he failed to return to the work release center.

Waterloo man treated for grazing gunshot wound

WATERLOO  A Waterloo man told police he was grazed by a bullet while walking Sunday night.

Carl Williams, 24, decided to go to the hospital the following day, according to the police report.

Williams told police he was walking in the 400 block of Vermont Street when he heard what sounded like firecrackers and felt something hit his leg, according to the report.

Police said the injury appeared to be a grazing wound to his left thigh.

On Monday, Williams noticed the injury had become swollen, and a nurse at his place of work advised him to go to the hospital, according to police. Authorities were notified when Williams arrived at UnityPoint-Allen Hospital about 1:40 p.m.

Driver in Rainbow Drive crash arrested for OWI

CEDAR FALLS  A driver who broke two utility poles and crashed into a house Saturday morning had a blood-alcohol level that was more than twice the legal limit to drive, according to police.

Taylor Ryan Henrichs, 26, of 3872 Jay Lane, Waterloo, escaped injury in the 2:15 a.m. crash on Rainbow Drive. But police noticed an odor of alcohol, watery eyes and slurred speech, and Henrichs admitted he had just left a Main Street bar, according to court records.

A breath test administered about an hour after the crash showed a blood-alcohol level of .223, records state. The legal limit is .08.

He was arrested for first-offense operating while intoxicated and has since been released from jail.

According to police, Henrichs was traveling east on Rainbow Drive early Saturday when he allegedly struck two utility poles on the north side of the street, causing power lines to fall into the street. He then struck the side of 1835 Rainbow Drive on the south side of the street.
CEDAR FALLS  Cedar Falls Community Schools is getting ready to sell $32 million in general obligation bonds for three construction projects.

The Board of Education on Monday approved a resolution to seek bids on the bond issue passed by district voters in April. Board members also approved a bond counsel agreement with the Ahlers & Cooney law firm of Des Moines related to the sale, which includes a fee not to exceed $35,000. The bonds will be repaid through a property tax increase.

The board is expected to approve one of the bids in a 5 p.m. special meeting Feb. 7 at the administrative center, 1002 W. First St.

Bond funds will pay for the bulk of construction on the new Bess Streeter Aldrich Elementary School, with an estimated cost of $19.84 million, as well as upgrades and expansion at Orchard Hill and North Cedar elementary schools, with estimated costs of $11.57 million and $8.47 million. The board is expected to approve a construction bid for Aldrich Elementary during a noon special meeting Jan. 30 at City Hall, 220 Clay St.

Fund reserves and 1 percent sales tax revenues will be used to cover the expected $8 million expense beyond the bond issue. The district also will seek cost savings in its budgets to provide some of the money.

In other business, the board approved adding two more years to the contract for district food service employees. Adrian Talbot, director of human resources, said the change follows informal conversations about the extent of the contract with the staffs representative from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2749.

The three-year contract, which was to end June 30, 2018, now continues through June 30, 2020. It includes wage increases of 30 cents per hour in 2018-19 and 25 cents per hour in 2019-20. Base rates are currently $10.85 to $11.15 per hour. It also boosts the employee contribution to a single insurance premium from $1 to $10 starting in 2018-19.

Additionally, substantial completion of Southdale Elementary Schools third phase in classroom remodeling was approved. The job involved two classrooms and restrooms, other construction in the corridors and mechanical and electrical work.

The total cost of the project was $463,312, including the original construction contract of $429,429 and professional design fees. Because no contingency funds were used, the project came under the $488,474 budget.
SHELL ROCK -- Five people were injured in a three-vehicle acccident shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday on Iowa Highway 3 in town here.

The Iowa State Patrol said an eastbound Nissan Titan truck driven by Donette Johnson, 54, of Mount Vernon went out of control, crossed the center line and collided with a Dodge Caravan driven by Robert Hoodjer, 78, of Allison and a Chevy Tahoe driven by William Filippo, 38, of Waterloo.

All three drivers were taken by ambulance to Waverly Medical Center for injuries, along with Robert Rule, 82 and Connie Rule, 79, both of Allison. A State Patrol accident report did not identify in which vehicle the Rules were passengers. Snowy conditions were reported at the time of the accident.

Troopers were assisted by Waverly ambulance, Shell Rock police, fire and emergency medical personnel and Butler County sheriff's deputies.
WATERLOO  Black Hawk County Veteran Affairs commissioners say their executive director is woefully underpaid.

Commission members and about a dozen representatives of local veterans groups lobbied the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to boost Kevin Dills annual salary from $54,114 to a point between $62,205 and $86,678 the next fiscal year.

The request was based on Dills low pay ranking statewide and among other county administrators coupled with what commissioners said was his exceptional job leading the agency.

I dont know where you can get a better person, I really dont, said commission chairman Bob Walker. The man is definitely worth more than what hes at today.

Dill, who took over as commission director in December 2015, emphasized several times he was not seeking a pay hike.

This isnt my request, Dill said. They (the commission) did this without my knowledge. Im not asking for any raise. I dont care.

But commission members said the pay increase was deserved whether Dill wanted it or not.

While Black Hawk is the fifth largest of Iowas 99 counties and has the fourth most veterans, the executive directors pay ranks 12th in the current fiscal year. He also is the lowest paid of the countys department heads.

Commissioner Jeff Griffin noted the office, under Dills leadership, is serving nearly three times more veterans than it did previously and is reducing taxpayer costs by instead getting veterans the federal assistance theyve earned.

Dill also has started new outreach programs, a food pantry and two transitional housing locations for homeless veterans.

You can Google, Bing, whichever search engine you want to do, Griffin said. Put the name Kevin Dill in there and Black Hawk County and youll find nothing but positive regard for that office in newspapers, on radio, on TV.

Commission member Jeff Dow said the request also is for the position and not just Dill.

We know that Kevin is not going to be in this position forever, Dow said. To be competitive with other people that will bring the right skill sets into this role, the current compensation for the executive director would not be competitive  now that Kevin has set a pretty high bar.

While the supervisors indicated they werent planning to tackle salary questions until completing budget reviews for all departments, supervisors Linda Laylin and Chris Schwartz both voiced some support for a larger raise.

Kevin would probably do the job hes doing if we took money away from him because hes so committed to this job, but that sends a message for what we as a county want to represent and the value we have for our people, she said.

We want the best people doing the job and looking out for our community and saving us dollars and providing services, Laylin added. So I dont think its dollars wasted or ill-spent to look at compensating people fairly.

But supervisors Craig White and Tom Little both cautioned any raise must be balanced against property taxpayers.

Kevin knew what he was getting into when he took the job, White said. Hes doing a hell of a job. But the money comes from the taxpayers. When weve got people coming into us every day that cant afford their house, weve got to make some tough decisions.

Little said all county employees deserved pay increases if it was just about comparisons with other counties.

Youre not going to get any argument from me about Kevin, he added. Hes done nothing but great things.

Past Veteran Affairs Commissions had lobbied before to boost the pay level of former executive director Bennie Spain, who also filed several unsuccessful civil rights complaints and lawsuits contending racial discrimination was a factor in his low pay.
DES MOINES --- If Iowa Democrats are to reverse the lopsided electoral defeats they suffered in the past two elections, candidates should take at least one key page from the Republicans' playbook by covering more of the states ground, the Democrats new state party chairman says.

Democratic candidates for statewide office need to do a better job of reaching out directly to voters in more areas of the state, said Derek Eadon, a 33-year-old West Des Moines political consultant who this past weekend was elected state chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party.

Eadon was elected to replace Andy McGuire, whose two-year term ended following the 2016 election.

We just have to be present and listen in these communities. We cant just have candidates going to some of these bigger areas, Eadon said this week in an interview with the Lee-Gazette Des Moines Bureau about the partys future in Iowa. Its not a new thing. Candidates that have done well in Iowa have traveled extensively. So its not necessarily a new model. But that will help.

U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley and Gov. Terry Branstad, a pair of Iowa Republicans with a combined 64 years in statewide office, visit each of the states 99 counties each year.

Eadon said he thinks more of that style of campaigning may be necessary for Iowa Democrats to recoup the voters they lost in the past two elections --- particularly in 2016, when many rural voters who had supported former Democratic President Barack Obama voted for Republican President Donald Trump.

Trump won 93 of Iowas 99 counties in November, including 32 that went for Obama in 2012.

I would encourage our candidates to travel the state as much as possible, listen to these folks, their concerns, and talk about ... how we are going to benefit their pocketbooks, Eadon said.

Eadon takes over at a critical time for Iowa Democrats. In the 2014 and 2016 elections, Democrats lost to Republicans a U.S. Senator, a U.S. House member, and the majority in the Iowa Senate. The latter resulted in giving Republicans complete lawmaking control at the Iowa Capitol.

And that doesnt mention the state going to Trump over Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton by 10 percentage points.

Eadon said despite all that, he remains optimistic about the future for Iowa Democrats. He said attendance has increased at party meetings after the election. He was heartened by the 26,000-plus who attended a Des Moines rally that was part of the nationwide Womens March movement this past weekend.

I think the rally here on Saturday was a good indication that energy is not going away any time soon, Eadon said.

Eadon said Democrats must build a strong state party that can withstand mood swings in national elections.

I think we tended to get drowned out in that national message, that national race (in 2016). I think with the (state) party, we want to make sure that were having a positive culture, were extensively traveling and listening to Democrats, making sure that people feel like they have a place at the table.

In order to strengthen the state party, Eadon said he hopes to invest in the grassroots element of the party by tapping into the enthusiasm that was on display at the weekend rally and on Tuesday at the Capitol, where roughly 300 people came to oppose to legislation that would strip public funding to womens reproductive health care clinics that perform abortions.

I think our volunteers are ready to take on leadership roles, Eadon said. We want to empower them. We want to train them. We want to invest in local candidates.

Eadon said building from the ground up is necessary because the ranks of Iowa Democrats in elected office are increasingly thin. U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack is the only Democrat among the states six elected officials in Congress; the governor is Republican and the Democrats are in the minority in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature.

The problems also are at the local level, Eadon said, noting just 23 percent of elected officials in Iowas 3rd Congressional District are registered Democrats.

That means we dont have Democrats carrying the message, getting out the vote, Eadon said. Theres lots of opportunities to be involved.

The 2018 election provides Iowa Democrats their first opportunity to bounce back. Winning back the governors office -- which Iowa Democrats have held for only 12 of the past 48 years --- would be a monumental victory for the party.

Branstad is poised to become the next U.S. ambassador to China, and most expect Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who steps into the office once Branstad leaves, will run in 2018. She may face a primary challenge; Cedar Rapids mayor Ron Corbett has been mulling a run.

Eadon again said the Democratic candidate for governor should travel all over the state. He said he thinks the candidate should focus on economic issues and call attention to Republicans legislative agenda at the statehouse.

In 2016 we were playing a lot of personality politics, focusing on what Trump was saying. I think we need to do a better job of getting people to vote for Democrats the next few years, to show that were fighting for those folks, Eadon said.

One crucial job requirement of a state party chairperson in Iowa --- Democrat or Republican --- is to ensure the state keeps its bird-dog seat in the presidential nominating process.

Trump has said he wants the Iowa caucuses to remain first in the GOPs nominating process, but the issue is more pertinent and more unsettled for Democrats. The national party soon will elect a new chairperson, whose feeling on the nomination process will be critical. And Democrats likely will have the more competitive nomination bout in 2020, since Trump will be an incumbent.

Eadon said he will watch with interest to see who is elected as the Democrats national leader. One of the candidates, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, of Minnesota, sent a letter this weekend to Iowa Democrats saying he would keep Iowa first.

One of the things Im very interested in is learning from the candidates where they stand on these issues, Eadon said. Its not something thats really prevalent in discussions currently, but we always have to be vigilant.

Eadon said he received a congratulatory phone call from Republican Party of Iowa chairman Jeff Kaufmann, and the two pledged to continue to work together to preserve Iowas first-in-the-nation status.

Im optimistic, but its just something that has not been brought up that much" with the national party, Eadon said. Were still a few months away from figuring out how the chair will insert (themselves) in the process, if at all. So its a little bit of wait and see.
FREDERIKA -- Weather is being blamed for a semi-tractor trailer rollover near here which resulted in minor injuries Tuesday evening.

At 7:36 p.m. the Bremer County Sheriffs Office responded to a semi that rolled onto its side near the intersection of U.S. Highway 63 and Iowa Highway 188, near Frederika.

Witnesses said the driver, Aly Bah, 28 of Naples, Fla. was northbound on Highway 63 and attempting to pass a vehicle. Upon returning to his lane he lost control causing the truck to spin 180 degrees and come to rest on its side in the east ditch.

Bah was transported to Mercy Medical Center, in New Hampton, where he was treated for minor injuries. The Bremer County Sheriffs Office was assisted by the Iowa State Patrol, Iowa DOT, Tripoli Ambulance, and Frederika Fire and Rescue.

Weather conditions were a contributing factor and no charges have been filed, deputies said.
Heights Task Force members with safety concerns over their children walking along Barrett Road to and from Medicine Crow Middle School huddled with county, city and School District 2 officials Tuesday to brainstorm solutions to the roadways lack of sidewalks.

Constructing sidewalks would require a pot of money the county road department doesnt have, Yellowstone County Commission Chair John Ostlund told the 50 or so people in attendance at the middle school, at 900 Barrett Road.

Its a stretch to manage the budget we have, Ostlund said, noting that the department has 30 employees and a $9 million budget to take care of about 1,600 miles of county roads. Youre going to have to decide how to raise the money or put in a (Special Improvement District).

The SID is probably the quickest solution, Billings City Administrator Tina Volek told task force members.

Complicating the matter along Barrett Road is the fact that the county owns and maintains 80 percent of the roadway while the City of Billings owns and maintains 20 percent.

Dave Mumford, Billings public works director, said in an email that theres one fix on the way that will help students who live south of Barrett Road.

The department is developing what Mumford called a small project for next summer to complete a small section of Kyhl Lane south of the school and then install a culvert and path over the Holland Drain. That will get those students walking or biking to school to the Kiwanis Trail east of the school, which would get students directly to the school.

That project is admirable, said Jason Lille, Heights Task Force chair.

But many students walking or biking to the new middle school from their homes north of Barrett Road must still negotiate the trip to and from school without sidewalks.

This is going to take a lot of coordination, said County Commissioner Denis Pitman. We understand the frustrations. What are the solutions?

Tim Miller, the countys public works director, said residents could go the route that Lockwood residents did, creating, with the county commissioners help, a safety district, taxing themselves to help pay for sidewalk construction and, where necessary, right-of-way acquisition.

Its something for you to consider, Miller said.

Some parents suggested additional stop signs could help slow traffic near the new school. Stop signs, Volek said, can be erected only after a traffic study warrants their installation.

Lille said he was happy that school, county and city officials have taken this to heart, realizing there is concern here on the part of Heights citizens. Weve got a beautiful new school which has increased pedestrian and vehicle traffic on Barrett Road.

Lew Anderson, the bond manager for Billings Public Schools, said that $700,000 in bond funds has been spent on making routes to Billings schools safer, and plans aided by city efforts are in place to make the route to Ben Steele Middle School in the West End, which opens at the start of the 2017-18 school year, as safe as possible.

Many more students than anticipated are now riding their bikes to Medicine Crow Middle School, Anderson said.

We put out the normal number of bike racks, but after the first week we realized we were short, Anderson said, so additional bike racks were put in place.

Two Billings City Council members who represent the Heights, Angela Cimmino and Larry Brewster, were present at the task force meeting.

Our number one priority is public safety, Cimmino told the group. This isnt lip service  its public service.
During his presidency Barack Obama established records for executive clemency and prosecutions of those leaking government information, issues that dovetailed last week.

Obama issued 1,715 commutations  mostly reducing sentences for low-level drug offenders  surpassing his 13 predecessors combined, while granting 212 pardons.

His administration also prosecuted nine cases involving whistleblowers and leakers  triple the number of all other presidents.

Obama gave a deserved pardon to retired Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, formerly vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who faced sentencing after pleading guilty to lying during the FBI investigation of a leak of classified information about a covert U.S.-Israeli cyberattack on Irans nuclear program. Cartwright falsely stated he didnt confirm classified information to a reporter, when in actuality he affirmed what the reporter already knew.

A White House official told the Washington Post Cartwright was focused on preventing the publication of information that could be damaging to our national security.

Obama issued a commutation for Chelsea Manning, formerly Bradley Manning, a former low-level Army intelligence analyst in Iraq who received the maximum 35-year sentence for leaking the largest cache of documents in U.S. history, the Iraq and Afghanistan War Logs.

Manning, who has served six years in prison, will be released May 17 instead of in 2045 over the objections of Obamas Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and senior Pentagon officials.

In 2010, Manning gave WikiLeaks 700,000 documents  including 250,000 State Department cables, military field reports and Guantanamo Bay prisoner assessments  after questioning the morality of the war.

Among the materials was a video showing a U.S. Apache helicopter in Baghdad in 2007 firing on people believed to be insurgents, killing civilians and two journalists who worked for Reuters, a British news agency. Widespread abuses of civilians by Iraqi military officials working with the U.S. also were disclosed.

Manning spent nearly a year in solitary confinement before charges were brought and, following her conviction, stated her intention to become a woman and began hormone therapy. Last year she tried twice attempted suicide and was placed in solitary confinement again. The U.N. special rapporteur on torture called her treatment cruel, inhuman and degrading.

Lets be clear, Obama remarked, Chelsea Manning has served a tough prison sentence. White House officials said she apologized for her actions.

The better decision would have reduced her sentence to the 10-year minimum  a third of time served plus good behavior. Manning brought some necessary truths to light, but her massive, indiscriminate document dump potentially endangered people working on behalf of the U.S. who warranted confidentiality.

While prosecutors didnt cite any lives lost, the U.S. moved many foreigners identified  information found on Osama bin Ladens computer.

Leaks potentially damaging national security warrant prosecution, but Obamas administration aggressively pursued cases that did no such thing:

In 2013, the Justice Department secretly seized phone records of more than 100 Associated Press reporters and editors after a 2012 story about the CIA disrupting a Yemen-based terrorist plot to bomb an airliner. Justice Departments regulations call for subpoenas for the records, customarily negotiated with the news organization, which could challenge the subpoena.

FBI linguist Shamai Leibowitz received 20 months after leaking transcripts produced from surveillance of Israeli diplomats, believing Israeli and U.S. authorities had begun a perception management campaign about Iran that could lead to military conflict.

National Security Agency employee Thomas Drake was indicted in 2010 after telling a Baltimore Sun reporter he believed a surveillance program violated privacy rights and wasted money. The case was thrown out.

Stephen Kim, a State Department expert on rogue nations and weapons of mass destruction, was sentenced to 13 months after telling Fox News James Rosen in 2009 U.N. sanctions on North Korea would compel it to conduct nuclear tests, a common belief. The Justice Department called Rosen a co-conspirator, obtaining a search warrant for his private emails and parents phone records.

CIA employee Jeffrey Sterling received 2.5 years for supposedly telling New York Times reporter James Risen about a project to sabotage Irans nuclear program he thought was so seriously flawed he tried to tell the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The Justice Department attempted to make Risen testify, getting a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling denying a reporters privilege  the right not to testify about a confidential source. As a senator, Obama supported a proposed reporters shield law.

CIA employee John Kiriakou was sentenced to 30 months in 2012, after becoming the first U.S. official speaking out against the waterboarding program as torture.

Those convicted, unlike Manning, didnt put lives at risk and were more deserving of executive clemency.

Meanwhile, Obama established ominous precedents with their chilling effects on disclosure of illicit government actions, while handing over those tools to a successor with no tolerance for criticism.
Advertisement

By WestKyStar and WKCTC Staff

Jan. 25, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By WestKyStar and WKCTC Staff Jan. 25, 2017 | 08:15 AM | PADUCAH, KY

The public is invited to a free movie at Maiden Alley Cinema as part of West Kentucky Community and Technical Colleges One Book Read of Little Princes by New York Times bestselling author Conor Grennan.



Highway to Dhampus will play at the MAC February 9 at 7 pm. The critically acclaimed film was released in 2014 and received numerous international awards including Best Feature Film, Madrid International Film Festival; Winner Best World Showcase, SOHO International Film Festival; International Platinum Award for Best Cinematography, International Film Competition Festival and others.



The feature-length film was shot almost entirely in Nepal by an American crew and features many of Nepal's cultural highlights. When a rich socialite who is attempting to fix her image through charitable acts visits Laxmi, headmistress of a small orphanage in Nepal, a chain of events is set in motion that affects everyone involved. Ajit, the western-savvy bush pilot, Colt, the American photojournalist and chaperone, and even Elizabeth, the spoiled British heiress, all discover their own reasons to ultimately change for the better. The story raises questions about our motives, international philanthropy and the sometimes-unintended consequences when disparate worlds collide.



This movie fits perfectly into our One Book Read of Conors #1 international bestselling memoir, said Amy Sullivan, One Book Committee co-chair. With the book detailing his journey in Nepal to reconnect trafficked children with their families, which is the focus of his nonprofit organization Next Generation Nepal, we knew bringing Highway to Dhampus to Paducah was a great way to promote the country of Nepal and Conors visit in March.



This years One Book Read is funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Kentucky Arts Council.



For more information about the free movie, visit http://westkentucky.kctcs.libguides.com/onebookread, click on the Little Princes 2016-17 tab.
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Big Sky Rising wants to keep the momentum going.

Following Saturdays successful Womens March on Helena, the statewide grassroots organization, formerly called Pantsuit Nation, intends to keep making its voice heard. More than 1,000 of the 5,600-member organization live in Billings.

Big Sky Rising "empowers individuals and connects communities while fostering equality, diversity, human rights, civil liberties and a sustainable future through respectful dialogue, education and advocacy," according to its website.

On Tuesday, 20 members of the Billings chapter visited U.S. Sen. Steve Daines downtown office. Their goal was to urge Daines to vote no on several of President Trumps cabinet nominees.

Kari Kaiser, leader of Big Sky Rising-Billings, said the visit was the first of what the local chapter hopes to make each week to one or more of the congressional offices, to speak out.

We represent probably most of the 10,000 people that were at the march, and its just time for us to make sure that we are mobilized and making a difference, Kaiser said. Whatever is the issue of the day, well be bringing it to whatever office is applicable.

The group walked into Daines office and presented a letter to one of the senators employees.

We come to you today representing Big Sky Rising-Billings, the local arm of a larger statewide grassroots organization of more than 5,600 concerned Montanans, the letter read. We will be closely watching your votes in the Senate.

The letter urged Daines, a Republican, to vote no on nine of the nominees: Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., for Health and Human Services secretary; Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., for budget director; Steve Mnunchin, as secretary of Treasury; Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., for Attorney General; Rex Tillerson as secretary of State; Ben Carson, as Housing and Urban Development secretary; Betsy DeVos, to be secretary of Education; Scott Pruitt, to run the Environmental Protection Agency; and Rick Perry as secretary of Energy.

One at a time, individuals with the group read slips of paper that detailed their reasons for urging the no vote. Then they handed the slips to the woman to share with Daines, who was not in the office.

Price is out of touch with the realities of the challenges and need for reproductive freedom and has financial conflicts of interest that could skew his judgment, one member said.

Mulvaneys record of not paying his own taxes and supporting legislation that would have the government evade paying its bills makes him a poor choice, as well, another said.

A third pointed to Sessions record of supporting racism, to the point where the Senate previously refused to confirm him to be a judge, as just one of many reasons, adding that he has shown he will not support all Americans, in his stances against immigrants, LGBTQ and women.

Cara Chamberlain pointed out that Tillerson has no international diplomacy experience.

And so we would be putting one of the most important jobs for national security and international relations in the hands of someone who has never held a diplomatic position of any kind, she said.

Chamberlain added that Tillerson has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and has a long list of conflicts of interest that could easily skew his judgments and decisions.

Wanda Walker said with no previous experience, Carson would be unqualified to lead Housing and Urban Development. Alan Lohof echoed that assertion for Perry as secretary of Energy, saying Perry, who has a degree in animal husbandry, would replace a nuclear physicist.

We demand a better choice to serve in this office, Lohof said.

Bill McRae, a retired university professor with 41 years on the job, said DeVos has no experience in any aspect of public education. She advocates for school choice, he said, which is nothing more than conservative newspeak for stripping public education of the support it needs.

"Free public education is one of the precious cornerstones of our democracy, McRae said.

If Sen. Daines does not recognize that fact, if he cannot recognize that more, not less, support is what Montana public schools require, then he needs to educate himself, McRae said.

Kathy Walters spoke out against Pruitt, calling him a friend of the fossil fuel industry.

Pruitt has worked with and has received large contributions from the very companies he would be expected to police, and his record shows hell clearly do nothing of the sort, Walters said.
Here in most of the civilized world, it does seem to me that includes even North Korea at this point, America looks like a 3rd world loony bin and is on the verge of psychotic indulgences of extremes. From screaming pussies, shouting racists haters, pouting gay lovers, the I like to hate anything type individual and proven paid for thugs. We have shown the world that we are the leaders in total chaotic psychotic chaos

We are now the laughing stock of the world. Why even Britain is posting the antipathetic wiles crawling the streets of America. Are you happy about the image that we are presenting? Maybe you think it all does not matter? Why are we letting the likes of Soros and company run amok? Why do we allow McCain and company to be reelected and run all over the world and snuggle with terrorists? You need to ask yourself and ten people today; Why?

Is America happy that now the women of America are represented in the world news, by a walking vagina image?

I will say this, I am loving watching hardcore liberal and neocon heads explode. This is great! This is the greatest soap opera on earth! USA I have got to say, Trump is stirring the pot! Good or Bad? Could not be any worse than the path we were on to self-destruction

What I do not like is seeing the sheep out bleating over trivial issues. America needs to look in the mirror and start fixing what they see there

Americans use to be by nature a conservative people.

Russians are very much by nature a conservative people. I just hope the American president and the Russian president can gather an understanding. I think we are sunk in the understanding department. For even as you read this, we Americans are allowing China to be egged on into war along side with Russia. Do we want Russia and China against us?

We Americans have learned nothing over the years

And in fact, we seem to have regressed considerably as time has gone by. The swinging of the pendulum of chaoss force is strong in the US. We need to garner some middle ground or will will self destruct

Time for another strong cup of coffee

Well it is going to get damn cold in the Tiny Russian Village. The wind has changed and from the north is blows

Snow is still falling and that makes walking Boza hard to do, but do it we do

Since this image was taken by Svetochka, it has snowed another 6 inches and still coming down. Now we get drifts from the wind change and that makes for issues and more issues. But since I love it! No complaints from me

That is something that I am glad I am good at. I have had to stand alone most of my life and being alone is a simple thing to deal with. Sometimes, I have to make myself focus on the fact that I am not alone anymore. Svetochka is always with me in heart and mind, even when she is in Moscow and I am in the Tiny Russian Village

True Freedom: Freedom of being alone is intoxicating.  Kangana Ranaut

But being with that special someone is: Its so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.  Rita Rudner

Now that is someone special and her and I have found that person 

WtR
Agreements signed for EBRD uranium legacy fund

24 January 2017

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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has signed framework agreements with the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, a precondition for the implementation of projects under an EBRD fund to deal with the remediation of former uranium mines and processing plants.

Very little remediation work has been carried out at the legacy sites (Image: EBRD)



The EBRD established the Environmental Remediation Account for Central Asia in May 2015, at the request of the European Commission, to finance projects to rehabilitate high-priority sites in Central Asia. The Commission provided an initial 8 million ($9 million) in funding.

Central Asia was an important uranium-producing region in the former Soviet Union, leading to a large accumulation of radioactive contaminated material at mines in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and placed in waste dumps and tailing sites. Most of the mines were closed by 1995, but very little remediation of either mining sites or tailings storage facilities has been carried out.

Many of the uranium legacy sites are concentrated along the tributaries to the Syr Darya River, which runs through the Fergana Valley, a densely populated region that is also an agricultural centre shared by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The London-based EBRD said accumulation of radioactive contaminated material in the region is a threat to the environment and to the health of the population, a risk which it added has been recognised in a United Nations resolution, which calls for support for the affected countries.

The framework agreements the EBRD announced yesterday are a precondition for project implementation in the Kyrgyz Republic and Takjikistan. They set out conditions for implementing the remediation program, such as tax exemption, the application of EBRD policies, including the bank's environmental and social policy, procurement rules and policies, and provisions for effective and efficient project implementation.

EBRD first vice president Phil Bennett said the conclusion of the framework agreements with Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic marked an important milestone. "The preparatory phase of the Environmental Remediation Account has come to a close and work can start to address a serious hazard for the population of Central Asia and for stability in the region. We look forward to cooperating with our partners in the region as well as with donors to help achieve this important goal," he said.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
Both men charged with killing and dismembering another Nebraska man have pleaded not guilty to murder and related crimes.

Eighteen-year-old Brayan Galvan-Hernandez made his pleas Tuesday in Dakota County District Court in Dakota City.

His trial is set to begin May 9. Online court records say 26-year-old Andres Surber entered his pleas Dec. 29, but the records don't show that a trial has been scheduled.

The two are accused of shooting to death 41-year-old Kraig Kubik, of Emerson. Parts of his body were found in a car and in a creek about 4 miles away.

Authorities say Surber and Galvan-Hernandez had gone to Kubik's trailer home Nov. 1 and demanded that he give them a car that once belonged to Surber.
The biggest breaking news story on Saturday in Montana, the United States and the entire world, was the remarkable size of Womens Marches for justice, equality and human rights.

The crowd at the Montana Capitol in Helena was estimated at 10,000 people  men, women and kids. Marchers came from all over the state, including a busload from Billings.

Some Montanans traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the march on the National Mall that drew an estimated 500,000 people. (See one Montanans account in the guest opinion on this page). There were no arrests at the Womens March, no reports of violence in our nations capital or at other march sites.

Altogether, there were about 3.3 million protesters in 500 cities and seven continents. From a small Antarctica group to crowds of 100,000 and more, the turnout far exceeded organizers expectations in New York, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Chicago, Mexico City, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin, Prague and Sydney. They wore pink knitted hats and carried signs saying things like no one is free when some are oppressed and protect my granddaughters rights.

That powerful demonstration of the right to peacefully assemble was nearly overshadowed in the 24/7 news cycle by the new White House press secretarys snit of false claims. Sean Spicer met with journalists  for the first time ever as White House spokesman  and angrily stated untruths about the size of crowds for the Friday presidential inauguration. That appeared to be the White House priority on Day 1: to peddle Donald Trumps version of reality, regardless of facts.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway followed up on Sunday with a new term for lies, saying on live television that Spicer had presented alternative facts.

Then on Monday, Spicer held a press briefing at which stated: Our intention is never to lie to you.

Yet that very evening, Trump himself repeated his previous false assertion that he lost the popular vote because millions of illegal immigrants voted for Hillary Clinton. There is no evidence to back up that claim and elections officials around the country have said there was no large-scale voting fraud.

If the first few days are any indication of things to come, Trumps presidency promises to be filled with drama and with blame  especially journalists. Be aware that keeping attention on such relatively trivial but clickable stories serves to take attention away from more important issues. Perhaps, thats an administration strategy.

Americans certainly should listen to what the president says, but pay much more attention to what he does  or doesnt do.

The responsibility of a free press is holding public officials accountable, including the president of the United States. We hope that Trump will achieve successes that benefit our great nation. But we know that he will have failures, as every president has. Americans need factual information to judge the presidents performance for themselves. They and the new president need to hear from Americans who have been marginalized because of their gender, race, religion or sexual orientation; victimized by violence, struggling to readjust to civilian life after military service, fearful of losing their health care or working but not making enough to pay rent.

Thousands of those folks marched on Saturday in a powerful, peaceful protest. The Trump administration should recognize that fact.
I didnt march this weekend in the Womens March in D.C. I swam. Swept into a sea of compassion, dense with weight, I connected to hundreds of thousands of strangers.

As a Montanan, I crave open space. I like to see large distances of nothing. My favorite towns consist of a bar and a post office. I love our Big Sky.

The Washington Mall for the Womens March was not this. No cows and walled in with a lid of gray sky. Yet, starting with the plane ride from Minneapolis to D.C., I felt held and cared for. Women oozing courage reaching out, cheering, and sharing cherished stories; listeners tucking these new treasures away in purses next to a favorite lipstick or a grandchilds photograph.

We looked each other in the eyes, loving all that was held there. We bore witness to our differences, often summarized in a poster board; haiku capturing novels of lives lived and struggles endured. And we knew that our story was their story, because we are all mothers and daughters, wives and sisters: A white womans wheelchair was collectively lifted so she could leave the street and find the sidewalk. An elderly Latina woman from Florida hand was held as she wept tears of gratitude for all the support received so that despite poor health she could march. An African American woman was talked down from a panic attack as the crowd grew, not yet marching and the space became tighter and the air too still.

A woman from Butte hugged me and then gave me a Montana sign to carry. A woman whose husband was from Glendive helped me protect a baby carriage from the masses leaning in. A couple asked if I knew Lisa Smith from Missoula. I did not. We visited anyway. A woman took my picture for a Big Sky ski instructor who couldnt march. I felt beloved. Looking around, so did everyone else.

In a sea of perhaps 500,000 people, it never felt scary or uncertain. In fact, it was the opposite. Compassion took form and held up the sky, creating space for humanity. I felt the fabric of our country, of democracy. I rubbed up against and leaned into all the different colors and religions and genders and issues and felt the compassion stitching us together. I was grateful for my small square, next to richness and texture and complexity, lending itself to deliciousness.

I come home with a deeper commitment to engage in new issues, to look for a path of kindness among strangers and to learn new stories. I want to grow compassion, like grass for cattle, more densely, and in the deepest shades of spring green. This weekend, compassion took form and held up a bigger sky. And as a Montana cowgirl, I do love a Big Sky.
Good Results from Redstar, Gold Standard, Novo and Aton Bob Moriarty

Archives

Jan 25, 2017 As I said in early January, resource exploration companies stop putting out results from the middle of December pretty much until the middle of January knowing that most of their investors are caught up in the hoopla surrounding the holidays. This year results were delayed a little longer than usual due to the inauguration of President Trump on the 20th but good results have been flowing for days now. Redstar Gold delivered final drill results from their drill program completed in November at the Shumagin gold zone at the Unga project in Alaska with grades as high as 34.5-g/t gold. Redstar is well cashed up and will begin a bigger drill program in the spring. This small drill program has expanded the high-grade resource and is a lot more important technically than the market gave them credit for. Redstar has fallen back to the really cheap area. Gold Standard continues their usual series of boring but blisteringly rich drill results. On the 23rd of January they announced more results from the North Bullion target of 19.8 meters of 4.4 g/t gold. The company already has a 43-101 resource of over 2 million ounces of gold and growing. On the 19th of January they released results from 15 holes drilled on the North Dark Star and Dark Star zones as high as 24.4 meters of 2.04-g/t au. Hole 33 designed to test the area between North Dark Star and the Main Dark Star returned results of .62 g/t gold over 33.1 meters. Thats very important because it shows the two zones are in fact joined as one deposit. The Railroad property of Gold Standard is a stones throw away from a mine already in production by Newmont Mining called the Emigrant / Rain gold mine. What Gold Standard has already defined in an oxide resource is both higher grade and twice as large as Emigrant. As the price of gold continues to go up, Newmont is going to be looking to expand their operations in Nevada, especially given the more favorable climate under President Trump. Gold Standard will be the first company they buy out. It will be higher than todays price, perhaps a lot higher. Gold Standard is well cashed up and continues their major program of drilling. Expect results to come out on a regular basis. My favorite geologist in the world, Quinton Hennigh, runs my favorite gold company Novo Resources. After years of moving forward slowly, the pace is increasing rapidly and the company came out with some blistering results from their drill project at the new Blue Spec project. Announced on January 18th the results shows grades as high as 35.9 grams gold over 4 meters including 1 meter of 138.4 g/t gold. Those kind of numbers build ounces in a hurry. In addition, on the 10th of January Novo announced the final numbers from their bulk sample test. The total gold contained in the actual material mined proved much higher than the original assays showed. That is not uncommon when dealing with free gold and its very good news. It gives Novo a lot of reason to move forward quickly to a full-scale mining and milling operation. I visited Egypt in December and saw the Aton Resources gold project and wrote about it. I tried making the point in the article that Egypt has lost a lot of revenue from the terrorist attacks and government crackdown on dissent. Egypt has pretty much killed their tourism industry and indeed, while I was in Cairo airport, there was an attack that killed two policemen and two days later another attack on a Christian church. Egypt insists on treating gold projects as if they are oil properties with both up front payments and high taxes. Their head up their ass attitude has pretty much killed the interest of juniors to spend the money to develop a resource worth mining. Aton just announced a 43-101 resource on their Hamama West zone of over 478,000 ounces. Egypt contains a lot of gold but there will be little more exploration until their terms begin to jib with those offered by the rest of the world. As of now, there is great risk both from a terrorism and technical point of view with little chance of seeing a real return on investment. The government of Egypt needs to understand that unless you are Australia or Greenland, no major country is an island. All of these companies are advertisers and as such, I have a vested interest in their success. I am biased and you need to take responsibility for your own due diligence and investment decisions. Redstar Gold Corp

RGC-V $.12 (Jan 24, 2017)

RGCTF OTCQX 296.9 million shares

Redstar Gold website Gold Standard Ventures

GSV-V $3.37 (Jan 24, 2017)

GSV-NYSE 221.8 million shares

Gold Standard website Novo Resources

NVO-V $.80 (Jan 24, 2017)

NSRPF OTCQX 92.8 million shares

Novo Resources website Aton Resources

AAN-V $.06 (Jan 24, 2017)

ANLBF-OTCBB 183.6 million shares

Aton Resources website ### Bob Moriarty

President: 321gold

Archives 321gold Ltd


Alexander Adams in Spiked:

There are few figures in modern literature as enigmatic as Samuel Beckett (1906-1989). His dramas Waiting for Godot and Happy Days present characters in predicaments equally pitiful and grotesque. His novels such as Murphy, Watt and Malone Dies give internal monologues of characters trapped in webs of memory and doubt. These works are quintessential examples of existential literature, though they have been described as absurdist. He was famously resistant to exegesis and refused to explain what his writings meant, a stance which generated exasperation and admiration in equal measure from detractors and supporters. I know no more of the characters than what they say, what they do and what happens to them. A collection of approximately 2,500 letters, postcards and telegrams fills the 3,500 pages of the recently completed four-volume set, The Letters of Samuel Beckett. Beckett, and later his estate, stipulated that the only letters to be published should be those directly addressing his work. Yet it would be incorrect to say the selection neglects the personal because writing described and defined Becketts outlook on life. As readers of his novels notice, there is often an overlap between the fiction and the events in Becketts own life.

After studying in Dublin and Paris, in the winter of 1936-7, Beckett toured the museums of Germany. The trip is a failure. Germany is horrible. Money is scarce. I am tired all the time. All the modern pictures are in the cellars. He had introductions to artists who, having been forbidden by Nazi authorities to exhibit or publish their work, were living under conditions of living death. A close friend was the poet Tom MacGreevy, later director of the National Gallery in Dublin, and art is a constant subject throughout Becketts correspondence. Becketts enthusiasm for art meant that he came into contact with many artists and formed strong friendships with some, including Jack B Yeats. He bought art and also wrote brief catalogue essays to support his favourite artists. The development of literature might have been different had Becketts application for a place at the Moscow state school of cinematography been accepted. His rather casual letter to Sergei Eisenstein is printed here. Instead of pursuing a career in cinema, teaching or academia, Beckett published fiction before the Second World War. Becketts first published novel, Murphy, almost became a posthumous publication. In January 1938, while the book was in the proofing stage, Beckett was stabbed in a Paris street by a drunk. He made a full recovery and in letters to friends he downplayed the risk his life had been in.

More here.
Paul Ratner in Big Think:

Jobs were a big topic in the 2016 Presidential election in the United States and continues to be a hot-button issue. The loss of manufacturing jobs in the Rust Belt states was largely responsible for propelling Donald Trump to a surprise win. As President-elect, Trump has continued to push the jobs message, making deals like his recent involvement in the fate of Indianas Carrier plant to show that he will bring jobs back to regions with great job loss. Yet, regardless of such efforts, many futurists are predicting that a large amount of our jobs will be replaced by automation and robots within a very foreseeable future. Professor Moshe Vardi projected recently that more than half of the workers in the world will be replaced by robots in just 30 years from now. This is in line with a 2013 Oxford University study that put the future number of robot-replaced jobs in America at 47%.

What to do about this looming threat? One obvious solution would be re-educating the labor force, finding a way for it to work with the automation and artificial intelligence that will become ubiquitous. Still there is a strong likelihood that the inequality of wealth distribution will continue to grow around the world, and large parts of the labor force will be simply unable to find meaningful employment.

Elon Musk waded into this discussion recently by suggesting that a different economic system would have to be in place.

"There is a pretty good chance we end up with a universal basic income, or something like that, due to automation," Musk told CNBC in an interview. "Yeah, I am not sure what else one would do. I think that is what would happen."

The idea of universal basic income (UBI) is that the government would provide citizens with a minimum amount of money to live on. Proposals for UBI are being considered in Switzerland, Finland and the Netherlands, while Canada is instituting a pilot program in 2017 to provide supplemental income to keep people above poverty level in the province of Ontario.

More here.
You can learn a lot about a woman by getting smashed with her. ~Tom Waits





National Irish Coffee Day

Legend has it that Irish Coffee was invented in San Francisco at the Buena Vista Cafe. Which means San Franciscans have a civic duty to drink Irish Coffee on National Irish Coffee Day, which is today. Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub (North Beach) and The Lark Bar (SOMA) are both serving piping hot versions of the classic pick-me-up, made with Teeling Irish (small batch) Whiskey. Of course, you could opt for the "original" concoction at the Buena Vista Cafe (North Beach), or procure a presentable knock-off at pretty much any bar in town. Slainte! // Various locations, nationalirishcoffeeday.com





Drink to Al Capone at Capo's

Today also happens to be the 70th anniversary of the death of Al Capone. What better way to pay tribute to Chicago's greatest gangster than to eat, drink, and be merry at Capo's Chicago Pizza? Tonight through Sunday, enjoy a prix-fixe meal for two ($69) featuring an appetizer, pasta course, pizza, and a special cocktail made with the gangster's favorite spirit, Templeton Rye Whiskey. Garnished with a slice of orange, the CAPONE incorporates rye whiskey, maple and maraschino cherry syrup, and bitters. Both walk-ins and reservations are encouraged. // 641 Vallejo St. (North Beach), sfcapos.com







Late Night Tacos and Tipples at Mezcalito

Starting this weekend, you can get your late-night munchies and mezcal fix on Polk Street. As of Friday, Mezcalito will be staying open until 2am and serving food until 11pm. Standout menu items at the trendy mezcal bar include the confit pork belly taco, the octopus tostada, and the cilantro ginger jerk pork ribs. If you're not yet a mezcal maestro, ask your bartender for spirit and cocktail recommendations. // 2323 Polk St. (Russian Hill), mezcalitosf.com







Boozy Brunch By the Pool at Chambers Eat + Drink

It's not exactly swimsuit season, but that's not stopping Chambers Eat + Drink from debuting a "Boozy Brunch" by the pool this Saturday. From 10:30am to 2:30pm each Saturday, guests can drink bottomless mimosas for $18 while dining on the patio or in a cabana, near the outdoor swimming pool. Entree options include Pork Belly with soft boiled eggs and lollipop kale, an Albacore Tuna poke bowl, and spiced French toast with pear compote and bourbon syrup. Make reservations online or call (415) 496-5178. // 601 Eddy St. at the Phoenix Hotel (Tenderloin), chambers-sf.com





Trick Dog Mural Project Book Signing Party
According to our iPhones, San Francisco is supposed to get a brief reprieve from the rain this week, and temperatures may even get into the low 60s. Treat yourself to a little sunshine after the storm on one of these gorgeous Marin hikes. Champagne optional, but recommended.

The Coastal Trail

The Coastal Trail from Tennessee Valley to Muir Beach (or vice versa) boasts some of the most spectacular views of both the Pacific Ocean and the Marin Headlands. The trail winds around the top of dramatic cliffs (filling you with the urge to quote Titanic) and dips down so you can hear the roaring ocean below. Keep your eyes peeled for majestic hawks circling above your head.





Muir Woods

The famous Muir Woods National Monument is one of the last remaining old-growth redwood forests in the Bay Area. Enjoy the giant coastal redwoods trees in all their glory with a beautiful walk along one of the many trails that winds around the valley. Avoid the crowds by parking on Panoramic Highway opposite the Mountain Home Inn and hike your way down into the valley floor via the Ocean View or Lost Trail from the Panoramic Trail. Or park on the ocean side of Panoramic Highway, precisely where it meets the famous Dipsea Trail, and hike the Dipsea down to the official park entrance.





Seven Sisters

Sitting pretty atop Mt. Tam State Park is one of the most beautiful stretches of road you will ever see. When the fog burns off, you can see all the way to Bolinas and Stinson Beach. Take a scenic drive, a vigorous bike ride, or a peaceful hike in the spot where pretty much every car commercial ever was filmed.





Stinson Beach

Prefer your views with a little less effort? Park your car at Stinson Beach and walk along the shoreline with your toes in the sand. Arrive first thing in the morning to beat the crowds and embrace the gentle sunshine of the early hours. The rolling hills of Marin make for a scenic backdrop as you watch seals and even dolphins play in the water around you. Relax at the Parkside Cafe afterwards for a refreshing drink and bite to eat.





East Peak

Pack your lunch and refreshments, sit for a while, and soak up the impressive 360-degree views East Peak has to offer. Feel free to take plenty of photos  its worth showing off to your Instagram followers.





Hawk Hill

Want to see the San Francisco skyline at its best? Take a short drive from the city up Hawk Hill and enjoy stunning views of the Marin headlands, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay, and the City. By day, Hawk Hill is a great place to watch ships sail under the GGB. By night, there is an amazing display of city lights and the illuminated bridge, perfect for ending a romantic date with someone special (don't forget the bubbles!).





Muir Overlook

Muir Overlook is a lovely little spot perched above Muir Beach just off Hwy 1. The bluff showcases stunning coastal views for miles in both directions. Pack a picnic to make this little outing extra special. On your way back to San Francisco, stop by the Pelican Inn for a taste of the English Countryside in this quaint little pub.
HELENA  One man is dead and another is jailed on a charge of deliberate homicide after an early morning shooting at a Helena motel Wednesday.

Authorities say Brandon James LeClair, 41, shot Kenneth Lee Purcell Jr., 31, during a fight at Motel 6, 800 N. Oregon St. Purcell died in the parking lot from a gunshot wound to the chest around 1 a.m.

LeClair ran from the motel. Police apprehended him without incident around 2 p.m. at a gas station in Boulder, 30 miles south of Helena. Helena Police Chief Troy McGee said a citizen provided a tip that helped investigators track LeClair.

Police also arrested 30-year-old Travis Holly Stephens of Butte, who was staying at the motel with LeClair, on a felony charge of criminal possession of dangerous drugs (methamphetamine). Court documents say the room they were sharing contained a small amount of methamphetamine alongside a meth pipe that appeared to have recently been used.

Both men have past drug convictions.

Stephens told police she and LeClair had traveled to the motel from Butte the previous night but would not say why they came to Helena, court documents state. Purcell was in the room with them, she said, and an argument broke out between the two men.

During a subsequent fight, Purcell hit LeClair in the head with a whiskey bottle and kicked him after LeClair fell to the ground, she told investigators.

The fight then moved to the parking lot, where the shooting occurred. Stephens later told police she believed both men were carrying guns. A semi-automatic .9 mm pistol and a spent casing were found near Purcells body.

On Purcells body, police found a magazine for a semi-automatic weapon believed to be from a different gun. McGee said only one gun had been recovered as of Wednesday afternoon.

Stephens said she did not witness the shooting, but later saw Purcell laying in the parking lot. LeClair had bleeding head injuries from the fight, court documents note.

Police have seized the vehicle Stephens and LeClair used to drive to Helena.

LeClair, who lived in Billings at the time, was sentenced to five years in federal prison in 2007 after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He had been convicted in federal court in 1999 for possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute and was sentenced to just over three years in prison. LeClair completed his probation in November 2014, according to federal court records.

An arrest warrant with a $50,000 bond was issued in Deer Lodge County after LeClair failed to appear in court in early November for a felony drug possession charge, court records show. LeClair is named in another arrest warrant in West Yellowstone, police said.

LeClair is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond. As of Wednesday afternoon, he was to be held at the Jefferson County jail in Boulder.

Purcells criminal history includes a conviction for criminal distribution of dangerous drugs out of Silver Bow County for a crime that occurred in 2009, state court records show.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
While most of the Bay Area was marching for women's rights on Saturday, artist/activist Zach Fernandez was scaling the Golden Gate Bridge to hang his own massive protest poster from the iconic landmark.

Fernandez, who is also responsible for altering the Hollywood scene to read "Hollyweed" on New Years Day, told TMZ that he managed to get onto a walkway below the roadway of the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday night to install a banner which reads "IMPEACH," SFist reports. He also managed to snap the daylight shot of it above before it was removed on Sunday morning.





Of course, this weekend's many protest activities were somewhat par for the course in the Bay Area, where we have a long history of political and social action. Over the last 60 years, San Franciscans have joined together to denounce segregation, inequality, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, Wall Street, tenant eviction, and more. Take a look at SF's history of protest in the slideshow below and take heart whatever the next four years brings, our city will be ready to resist, signs in hand.




You know those days when you need a sweaty, transportive yoga class to shake off the work day, but you also need to make a dinner date and don't have three hours to spend on the whole ordeal? Hometown yoga hero Stephanie Snyder's new Love Story Yoga is the studio we've been waiting for.







Located a few doors down from Samovar Tea Lounge (stop there for post-class turmeric lattes), Love Story Yoga, opened this month, promises we can indulge in spiritual and sweaty asanas and make it to dinner without stinking thanks to spa-like interiors and ginormous locker rooms complete with showers and EO products. If you forget for your leggings, a small retail space offers Lululemon gear.





(Courtesy of Stephanie Snyder)

But while the many creature comforts are key, the 2,800 square foot studio's real focus is on curriculum and community, creating a space for local and visiting instructors to share their love of yoga as well as hosting various workshops and events throughout the year.





As a Lululemon Global Yoga Ambassador, Snyder (who has 20 years of experience and works with several local non-profits including City of Hope), is a Bay Area trendsetter who acts as a voice for the local yoga community and provides product feedback to lululemon. In return, Lululemon supports the Ambassadors in achieving their personal goalslike launching LSY. Ambassadors are specifically chosen based on their passion and love for yoga, fitness, and meditation as well as their work in their local communities and abroad.





"We put love into every detail and want to make it as easy as possible for anyone to integrate yoga into their day," says Snyder.





That charitable spirit is exemplified in the friendly atmosphere at Love Story Yoga. There is no top-down formula for how classes are taught, as all instructors bring their own style to the programincluding Snyder. With just enough heat to create a detoxifying sweat, LSY yoga classes include curated playlists and chanting to support an uplifting flow. SF yogis can expect strategic sequencing that is designed to increase strength and flexibility, while releasing stress and fatigue. There's also a Skills and Drills class to help workshop certain poses.





"At Love Story you can check all the boxes: a soulful work out, stress relief, accessible yoga philosophy, and social good times," explains Snyder. "You will definitely sweat but we complement that with offering a very grounded and down to earth philosophy."





At Monday night's Love Story class, the session opened with a call and response chant led by Stephanie, and followed by core work to get your muscles fired up. After a few sun salutations with creative flourishes, our mats were already dripping in sweat and after nearly 90 minutes of practice, our final Savasana felt well earned.





Look for influential visiting instructors, including Kino MacGregor, to teach weekend workshops throughout the year. Teacher trainings will also be held twice annually. // 473 Valencia St. (Mission), lovestoryyoga.com









(Courtesy of Love Story Yoga)

Thanks to our friends at Lululemon for the experience.
"I shop, therefore I am."Heather Chandler





SOF Leather Phone Cases Transmit Savoir Faire

It's not often one gets all ooh la la about an iPhone case. But with its super-soft Italian leather and sleek design (and those colors!), it's hard not to feel all the feels when clutching a SOF case ($69) from still-newish Silicon Valley-based SOFRANCISCO. Designed by French founder and CEO Charlotte Boedec, the iPhone 6 and 7 cases come in a range of ultra-chic color combos and with complimentary hot-stamped personalized monogram if desired.

In a real-life case of necessity breeds invention, Boedec was compelled to create the first case when she couldn't find one to reflect her style. She "absolutely disapproves" of the classic cold plastic case but still wanted to protect her precious device. Lucky for her (and us), she studied leather material engineering in graduate school in France. The rest? You know, history. // Find the cases at Pascaline Paris (3234 Sacramento St) in Presidio Heights, the European Cobblery (385 State St) in Los Altos and online at sofrancisco.com





(Courtesy of Modern Citizen)





Shop Modern Citizen's Bi-Annual Sale IRL

Start stretching your shopping muscles now: You're bound to put them to good use this weekend at Modern Citizen's bi-annual sale. Where? The brand's Cow Hollow showroom. When? From 10am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday, January 28 and 29. What exactly? Up to 70 percent off girl-about-town LBDs, cozy sweaters and breezy blazers, as well as perfectly minimalist jewelry, yummy leather bags, home goods and more. As local fashion mavens, you get first dibs on all the marked-down goodiesbefore the sale moves online on Monday, January 30. // 2762 Octavia St. (Cow Hollow), moderncitizen.com





(Courtesy of Timbuk2)





Timbuk2 + PeopleForBikes Host DRAFT Meetup Tonight



On the agenda: bikes, biz and beer, naturally. Pioneering messenger-bag maker Timbuk2 along with bike industry coalition/charitable organization PeopleForBikes will be hosting a DRAFT meetup this very Tuesday (6pm to 9pm) at the Timbuk2 Shotwell Factory Store. Mix and mingle with fellow cyclists and biking advocates while listening to a panel including: Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz from Bay Area Bike Share, Janice Li from San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Andreas Freitag from COBI of America and Devin Carlson from Archer Components. Fort Point Beer and brew-worthy snacks are also on tap (shopping optional). RSVP here.// 587 Shotwell St. (Mission), timbuk2.com





(Courtesy of Le Point)





Everybody's Invited to Le Point For a Vintage Jewelry Trunkshow

The Mission boutique Le Point, known for its sharply curated mix of hard-to-find women's and men's labels (i.e. Creatures of Comfort, Stutterheim, Eddie Borgo) is rolling out the welcome mat for Sasha Maks Vintage on Wednesday, February 1. The vintage jewelry trunkshow will feature brilliant pieces from the SF-based e-tailer's collection with an emphasis on designer costume pieces from the 20th century. Also enjoy 20 percent off all regular-priced items during the event (5pm8pm). Sips, snacks and a goodie bag full of beauty items also await. RSVP here. // 301 Valencia St. (Mission), shoplepoint.com





(Courtesy of Restoration Hardware)





Restoration Hardware's SF Flagship Unveils New Redesign

Restoration Hardware's flagship store, located directly across from the SF Design Center, has been a gorgeous space since it opened six years ago. Now it's even gorgeous-er. This, thanks to a recent redesign of the onetime home of the famed Ed Hardy Antiques Gallery. The refreshed grand showroom has been transformed from top to bottom and now features RH Modern, a furniture and design collection characterized by clean lines and a modernist aesthetic, and RH Design Atelier, where customers work with interior designers to create custom rooms with the help of an impressive library of fabrics, leathers, furniture, lighting, window treatments, etc. Not in the market for a new couch or coffee table? It matters not, as the storeand surrounding outdoor European courtyardare well worth a whirl. // 188 Henry Adams St. (Design District), restorationhardware.com
After the Oscars withstood two consecutive years of criticism over racial diversity, 2017s nominees include Fences, Theodore Melfis Hidden Figures and Barry Jenkins Moonlight  all of which featured prominently African-American casts  vying for Best Picture. And Ava DuVernays 13th, Raoul Pecks I Am Not Your Negro and Ezra Edelmans OJ: Made in America  all of which contain African-American subjects  are among the Oscar nominees for Best Documentary, along with Gianfranco Rosis Fire at Sea, which chronicles the struggles of African and Middle Eastern refugees trying to reinvent their lives in Europe. Also noteworthy is the fact that English-Indian actor Dev Patel, who starred in Garth Davis Lion (also a Movies for Grownups winner), is among the Best Supporting Actor nominees.

As noted by AARP CEO JoAnn Jenkins at a movie industry roundtable discussion hosted by Variety, ageism is another diversity issue that Hollywood needs to consider more. The truth is that 70 percent of the disposable income in this country is in the possession of people 50 and older, Jenkins said. And 25 percent of people who are moviegoers are people over the age of 50. They are actually putting butts in the seats in the movie theaters. Yet we see across the board that the marketing industry is spending 75 to 80 percent of their dollars focusing on people who are under the age of 30, and mostly young males.

Perhaps heeding to Jenkins argument, this year the Academys Oscar nominees also include a significant number of people over 50, including Mel Gibson, for directing Hacksaw Ridge; Jeff Bridges, for Best Supporting Actor in Hell or High Water; Viggo Mortensen, for Best Actor in a Leading Role in Matt Ross Captain Fantastic; and Meryl Streep and Isabelle Huppert, for Best Actress in a Leading Role in Stephen Frears Florence Foster Jenkins and Elle, respectively.

AARPs 16th annual Movies for Grownups Awards ceremony will be held Feb. 6 in Los Angeles. Margo Martindale will host the event, and Morgan Freeman will receive this years Lifetime Achievement honor. Theres still time to vote for AARPs Readers Choice Award. Click here to tell us your favorite movie.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TOLD You're too old for that?

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TOLD You're too experienced for this job?
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.
A Lame Deer-area woman apologized Wednesday for running over a boy while driving drunk as she was sentenced to probation in U.S. District Court in Billings.

Jacqueline Three Fingers, 19, of Muddy Cluster, apologized to the victim and his family and said she would do everything required of her on probation. Her goal, she said, was to continue her education and to attend college.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters followed a defense recommendation and sentenced Three Fingers to four years of probation. Three Fingers faced a sentencing guideline range of 21 months to 27 months.

Three Fingers pleaded guilty earlier to assault resulting in serious injury for an Oct. 18, 2015 crash in which she was driving drunk and ran over a 7-year-old boy who was playing outside.

The boy, identified as V.S., suffered a compound fracture to his leg and underwent surgery in which a metal plate and screws were installed.

In a statement to the judge, the victims mother requested some prison time for Three Fingers and said the family forgave her and is praying for her.

The mother also said Three Fingers actions drastically changed the lives of her family and her son. Her son now has a limp and gets called names, she said. He also may be facing more surgery, she added.

Both the defense and prosecution recommended a probationary sentence.

Assistant Federal Defender Steve Babcock said Three Fingers had no criminal record other than a tribal drunken driving conviction and the assault conviction and that probation with strict conditions and treatment would serve the needs of sentencing.

Babcock called the assault a very unfortunate accident and that Three Fingers put herself in this situation by drinking and driving.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sullivan recommended five years of probation.

The assault occurred after Three Fingers, who was 18 at the time, spent the day drinking and driving around with friends in Ashland, the prosecution said.

Three Fingers dropped off her friends and continued drinking and driving around Lame Deer and then drove to Sweet Medicine Road outside of Lame Deer.

The victim was outside playing with friends as the day was getting dark. The children were under a street light hitting plastic bottles with sticks. When the victim was struck, he was sitting on a curb with feet outstretched when Three Fingers drove down the street, swerved up onto the curb and hit him, sending him rolling down the street.

Three Fingers continued driving and admitted later that she was pretty buzzed at the time she was driving down Sweet Medicine Road.
A man accused of assaulting and strangling his partner in Lodge Grass last fall denied federal charges in U.S. District Court in Billings on Wednesday.

Robert Wesley Lafountain, 43, pleaded not guilty to a three-count indictment charging him with assault resulting in substantial injury to a dating partner, assault of a dating partner by strangulation and interstate domestic violence.

Prosecutor Lori Suek alleged in the indictment that Lafountain assaulted a dating partner, identified as L.P., near Lodge Grass on Oct. 29, 2016, causing substantial injury.

Lafountain is suspected of strangling the victim and forcing the victim to leave the Crow Reservation during the assault.

If convicted, Lafountain faces a maximum 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the strangulation count.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Cavan continued Lafountains detention. The case will be heard by U.S. District Judge Susan Watters.
Take $100 off the purchase of a new carpeting, hardwood, and other surface options at Advance Carpet One Floor & Home. Customers shopping for flooring in St. Louis, MO are invited to explore their full selection of products from some of the top brands in the industry.

Bring a new set of floors home to every room with a visit to Advance Carpet One Floor & Home. At this local flooring store in St. Louis, MO, customers are free to explore an endless selection of materials from some of the leading brands in the industry. From hardwood to carpeting, homeowners will find products in a complete range of colors, styles, and textures.

Every room will stand out for all of the right reasons when it is fitted with flooring from Advance Carpet One Floor & Home. Backed by the buying power of more than 1,000 stores, this company can offer customers the lowest prices from some of the top manufacturers on the market today. With one of the largest selections of carpet, hardwood, vinyl, tile, laminate, area rugs, and other products, homeowners are sure to find something to fit any decor preference.

Finding quality flooring does not have to break a budget. Advance Carpet One Floor & Home is proud to present exclusive savings on purchases of $1,499 or more. Homeowners can receive $100 off their next purchase of flooring from some of the industrys leading brands, including Lees, Tigressa, Bigelow, and Resista Soft Style. Advance Carpet One also features a number of exclusive brands for a truly unique look.

Kick off the new year with a new look throughout every room of a home with the product selection from this local flooring showroom. Knowledgeable and professional sales associates are available to discuss every option with customers. From colors to styles, they will help homeowners make the right decision for all of the features of their new flooring materials. No matter what size room needs to be filled, customers will find the right option to make any space stand out for family members, friends, and other guests in a home.

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The local showroom is open for customers throughout St. Louis, Missouri, and surrounding areas.

Media Contact

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The World Future Energy Summit is being held as part of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, a 10-day series of conferences, activities and events that aim to promote clean technologies and sustainability.

Luis Guillermo Solis, President of Costa Rica who was a keynote speaker at the opening of the World Future Energy Summit offered further inspiration from his countrys extensive reliance on renewable energy sources.

Mr Sibtein Alibhai the founder & Managing Director of Grupo Alfa Corporation a prestigious business conglomerate and his brother Mr. Aquil Ali (Owner of C.S. Herediano FC) met with the President of Costa Rica during the summit in Dubai.

Grupo Alfa Corporation is a recognized leader in real estate marketing, management and development in Costa Rica & has built a prestigious reputation in Costa Rica, as well as in other neighboring nations, and has expanded operations to an upscale international level, by setting up a new overseas office in 2007, in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Mr. Sibtein Alibhai the founder & managing director of the group himself has carefully nurtured positive relationships with various individuals, corporate and conglomerates allowing the Group to increase its international footprint in the UAE. The opening of the office in Dubai has consolidated the groups position in the Dubai real estate sector, by establishing a working relationship with major developers such as Emaar Properties, Dubai Properties Group, Nakheel and Dubai Investments, and by acquiring well located properties, for the management and leasing of the same, creating profitability for the Group.

Costa Rica seeks deeper ties with UAE

The major share of Costa Ricas electricity, estimated at about 75 per cent, is generated using hydropower, including at its power plant at Lake Arenal and at the 305.5-megawatt plant on the Reventazon river. But Solis added that the country still has to tackle the carbon emissions generated by fossil fuel-run modes of transport.This is one of our greatest challenges, and we must reduce these emissions if we are to comply with our ambitious goal of becoming one of the first carbon-neutral countries in the world by the time of our independence bicentennial in 2021, he said.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, United Arab Emirates minister of foreign affairs recently visited Costa Rican president Luis Guillermo Solis to discuss taking their two countries relationship to new and exciting levels.

The Emirati Minister appreciated the efforts & positive attitude of Costa Rica towards global issues specifically climate changes & environmental protection.This is just the beginning of a new & improved relation between the UAE & Costa Rica which include increased air transportation and political consultations, signed into effect with bilateral cooperation agreements.

Sheikh Abdullah mentioned that due to the dynamic economy of Costa Rica, significant opportunities lie in the private sector. Thus, the UAEs interest in Costa Rica extends beyond environmental cooperation. Sheikh Abdullahs visit was also intended to improve trade relations.

Follow Mr Sibtein Alibhai for more updates on twitter:https://twitter.com/SibteinAlibhai and facebook https://www.facebook.com/people/Sibtein-Alibhai/100014936349725

Grupo Alfa Corporation

Headquarters:

Centro Comercial Plaza Heredia

Segundo Piso

Tel. (506) 263-5515

Fax (506) 263-5516

P.O. Box 384-3000

Heredia, Costa Rica

Central America

https://about.me/sibteinalibhai

For more information contact:

ALFA PROPERTIES INC,

Phone: Reghu -9741653744

Phone: Kiran -+971 561162972

P.O.Box #212336

DUBAI, UAE

Email: sibbtein.alibhai@gmail.com

Media Contact

Company Name: Grupo Alfa Corporation

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Phone: (506) 263-5515, 9741653744, +971 561162972

Address:Headquarters: Centro Comercial Plaza Heredia Segundo Piso, P.O. Box 384-3000 Heredia, Costa Rica Central America / ALFA PROPERTIES INC, P.O.Box #212336 DUBAI, UAE

State: Heredia

Country: Costa Rica

Website: http://about.me/sibteinalibhai
Industrial Air Compressor Market by Type (Positive Displacement & Dynamic), Maximum Pressure (020 bar, 20100 bar & above), Output Power (050 kW, 50250 kW, 250500 kW & above), Seal (Oil immersed & Oil free), End-Use  Global Forecast to 2021

The report Industrial Air Compressor Market by Type (Positive Displacement & Dynamic), Maximum Pressure (020 bar, 20100 bar & above), Output Power (050 kW, 50250 kW, 250500 kW & above), Seal (Oil immersed & Oil free), End-Use  Global Forecast to 2021, The industrial air compressor market is projected to grow from an estimated USD 25.71 Billion in 2016 to USD 34.87 Billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 6.3%. Expansion of liquefaction and regasification facilities across the globe, rising demand for energy efficient compressors, and rapid industrialization in emerging economies are the key driving factors for industrial air compressors.

Get Sample Pages of this Report @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsample.asp?id=78986532

Positive displacement compressors to dominate the market during the forecast period

Positive displacement compressors are expected to hold a larger share of the market by product type in the industrial air compressor market. Growing demand for high output pressure compressors is likely to be the major driving factor. Reciprocating and rotary are the two types of technologies available in positive displacement compressors. Rotary compressors have low maintenance cost and are more efficient compared to reciprocating compressors but are only available in the low to medium output pressure range. The market for rotary compressors is expected to grow at the highest rate among other compressor technologies during the forecast period due to their wide range of applications and high efficiency.

Oil & Gas industry to hold the largest share in the industrial air compressor market from 2016 to 2021

The oil & gas industry is the largest contributor to the industrial air compressor market, and also acts as a key driver of the market. Though upstream investments have witnessed a sharp fall in the last two years, large investments are planned to construct gas liquefaction trains in the U.S. and Australia. Moreover, China and India are expanding their regasification facilities. New cross-border pipeline networks being planned for oil & gas transportation which would also drive the compressor market. The industrial air compressor market is driven by the rapid industrialization of emerging economies such as China, Saudi Arabia, India, South Africa, and other South Asian countries. Furthermore, the demand for advanced and efficient compressors has boosted the demand for air compressors in several manufacturing industries.

Asia-Pacific industrial air compressor market to witness the highest growth from 2016 to 2021

The report covers five major regions namely, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, North America, and South America. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness high growth in the power generation, manufacturing, and food & beverages industries from 2016 to 2021. Moreover, new policies for improved product quality by ISO (International Standardization Organization) are likely to boost demand for air compressors.

The report also provides an in-depth analysis of the competitive landscape, along with profiles of leading industrial air compressor market players such as Atlas Copco AB (Sweden), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Japan), Ingersoll-Rand plc (Ireland), Hitachi Ltd (Japan), and MAN SE (Germany). Key players are trying to penetrate emerging markets, and are adopting various strategies such as contracts and agreements, expansions, mergers & acquisitions, and new product launches to increase their market share.

Inquiry Before Buying @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=78986532

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WASHINGTON  The Trump administration has instituted a media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency and barred staff from awarding any new contracts or grants, part of a broader communications clampdown within the executive branch.

The prohibitions came to light Tuesday as the agency moved to delay implementation of at least 30 environmental rules finalized in the closing months of President Barack Obama's term, a potential first step to seeking to kill the regulations.

A summary of the actions posted in the Federal Register includes a long list of regulations that include updated air pollution rulings for several states, renewable fuel standards and limits on the amount of formaldehyde that can leach from wood products. President Donald Trump signed a directive shortly after his inauguration on Friday ordering a "regulatory freeze pending review" for all federal agency rules that had been finalized that have not yet taken effect.

Emails sent to EPA staff and reviewed by The Associated Press also detailed specific prohibitions banning press releases, blog updates or posts to the agency's social media accounts.

The Trump administration has also ordered what it called a temporary suspension of all new business activities at the department, including issuing task orders or work assignments to EPA contractors. The orders were expected to have a significant and immediate impact on EPA activities nationwide. EPA contracts with outside vendors for a wide array of services, from engineering and research science to janitorial supplies.

Similar orders barring external communications have been issued in recent days by the Trump administration at other federal agencies, including the departments of Transportation, Agriculture and Interior.

Staffers in EPA's public affairs office are instructed to forward all inquiries from reporters to the Office of Administration and Resources Management.

"Incoming media requests will be carefully screened," one directive said. "Only send out critical messages, as messages can be shared broadly and end up in the press."

A review of EPA websites and social media accounts, which typically include numerous new posts each day, showed no new activity since Friday.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday he had no information on the blackout.

Doug Ericksen, the communications director for Trump's transition team at EPA, said he expects the communications ban to be lifted by the end of this week.

"We're just trying to get a handle on everything and make sure what goes out reflects the priorities of the new administration," Ericksen said.

Beyond what was stated in the internal email, Ericksen clarified that the freeze on EPA contracts and grants won't apply to pollution cleanup efforts or infrastructure construction activities. The agency later said it would also seek to complete that review by Friday.

State agencies that rely on EPA for funding were left in the dark, with both Democratic and Republican officials saying they had received no information from EPA about the freeze.

"We are actively seeking additional information so we can understand the impact of this action on our ability to administer critical programs," said Alan Matheson, executive director of Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the Trump administration should immediately reverse the media blackout and contracting freeze.

"This decision could have damaging implications for communities across New York state and the country, from delaying testing for lead in schools to restricting efforts to keep drinking water clean to holding up much-needed funding to revitalize toxic brownfield sites," Schumer said.

The executive director for the advocacy group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Jeff Ruch, said the orders go beyond what has occurred in prior presidential transitions.

"We're watching the dark cloud of Mordor extend over federal service," Ruch said Tuesday, referring to the evil kingdom in the epic fantasy "The Lord of the Rings."

Ruch noted that key posts at EPA have not yet been filled with Republican appointees, including Trump's nominee for EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt. That means there are not yet the new senior personnel in place to make key decisions.

Environmentalists said the orders were having a chilling effect on EPA staff, many of whom were suffering from low morale. Trump and Pruitt have both been frequent critics of the agency and have questioned the validity of climate science showing that the Earth is warming and man-made carbon emissions are to blame.

Liz Perera, climate policy director for the Sierra Club, said Trump's move to freeze all EPA communications and contracts should be "a major red flag for all Americans."

"EPA was created to ensure that all Americans can enjoy clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and have their health protected from environmental and climate threats," Perera said.

Staff at the Agriculture Department's Agricultural Research Service also received orders not to issue any news releases, photos, fact sheets and social media posts. After an email of the order leaked to the media, the agency said it would rescind the memo.

The AP reported over the weekend that staff employees at the Interior Department were temporarily ordered to stop making posts to its Twitter account after the official account of the National Park Service retweeted a pair of photos that compared those gathered for Trump's inauguration with the much larger crowd that attended Obama's swearing-in.

Trump later falsely claimed that more than 1 million people attended his inauguration, which Spicer insisted was the most watched in history.

In a test of what the new administration will tolerate, the official Twitter account of the Badlands National Park published a series of posts Tuesday accurately quoting climate science data that included the current record-setting high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The tweets were soon deleted.
The roar of an F-16 Fighting Falcon is distinctive. For coalition troops in contact with the enemy, it is a welcome sound. For terrorists, its a frightening one.

That sound shakes Bagram Airfield as an F-16 takes off, one of several that evening, the glowing afterburner climbing quickly into the sky.

The 79th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Bagram Airfield is the only dedicated fighter squadron in Afghanistan. With ever-present tanker support, the F-16 that just took off can get anywhere in the country in under an hour. It could be performing close air support, non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or armed overwatch for bases or operations in need.

Even with the sound of a fighter airplane you can break contact with the enemy, said Maj. Joseph, 79th EFS director of operations. If ground forces are unable to defend themselves and theyre receiving fire and its a pretty hectic situation, [in an F-16] you can protect lives just by your presence.

The multi-role F-16 employs more than just fearsome appearances. Its versatility allows its pilots to vary the types of munitions the aircraft carries to whatever is needed. It provides a variety of options to the ground commander they are supporting at the time.

With their mixed weapons load, a pilot can precision-guide his weapons to target anything, from a single person to an entire building.

Were a kinetic option, the ideal weapons delivery platform for someone that needs us to make bad things go away, Joseph said. One of the most rewarding things that a fighter pilot can do is know that they are able to support ground troops in need.

As NATOs train, advise, assist campaign progresses, many of those troops in need are Afghan National Army soldiers ensuring security in their own territories.

Weve observed the Afghans provide the same sort of support we do with their own platforms - theyve got helicopters that can provide close air support, said Joseph. Knowing that they have the ability to provide similar effects that we can shows that theyre increasing their ability to be self-sustained and provide security for their nation.

The 79th, based out of Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, has been in country for nearly three months. By this stage of their rotation the unit is a well-oiled machine, working closely with coalition Airmen embedded with those Afghan forces on the ground, the battlespace managers overseeing everything, and the refueling tankers with them in the sky. It is the perfect support team for the F-16 to deliver precise air power throughout the region  no matter the challenge.

Even though there is only one person in the airplane, we always fly as a team, said Joseph. Now the one person that only has a finite number of radios inside the tiny airplane that is the F-16, has access to countless resources.

While a pilot may take off with a specified objective, the fluid nature of combat may call for that plan to change at a moments notice. An overwatch mission in the south may turn into close air support in the north, more than 1,000 kilometers away, in a matter of minutes.

At the core of it Airmen are problem solvers, we think in a different sphere than other groups, so when we are presented with a problem, we work as a team and we figure out a way to solve it.

When the F-16 returns from another successful mission, its pilots job is not over. In order to be prepared for ever-changing circumstances, the pilot will review weapons system video from the mission and make calls to his support team to discuss lessons learned.

Were in a pretty serious business, so being able to execute it properly and being able to come back and review the tapes and see that everything went well and you did everything you were supposed to  thats the biggest reward to me, said Capt. David, a 79th EFS F-16 pilot.
Red Flag's heartbeat: Core unit arrives at Nellis AFB

The 1st Fighter Wings aircrews and support personnel out of Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, arrived at Nellis Air Force Base Jan.17 and 18, to participate in Red Flag 17-1, as the exercises core unit.



Red Flag, a three-week combat training exercise involving U.S. and allied forces air, space and cyber domains, kicked off Jan. 22, on a simulated battlefield over the skies of the Nevada Test and Training Range north of Las Vegas. Throughout the training exercise, Airmen support their units in defeating aggressors including realistic threat systems and opposing enemy forces, providing all domains the ability to train collectively for contingencies in a safe environment to increase the combat capabilities for any future combat situation.



This year we are the core unit, meaning we are the heartbeat for Red Flag, said Capt. Matthew Siverio, the Red Flag 17-1 core unit project officer. "Each member that is attached to the core unit will utilize their expertise to match the expectations of the Red Flag Air Expeditionary Wing commander to ultimately make this the most successful Red Flag we can."



According to Master Sgt. Erick Matos, the Red Flag 17-1 superintendent, as the exercises core unit, the 1st FW has the added challenge of not only conducting its own air-to-air and cyber mission taskings, but also supporting Red Flags U.S. and allied forces.



We are ensuring over 30 different units and over 3,000 individuals form not only the U.S., but partner nations like the United Kingdom and Australia as well as our sister services have all the resources they need and require to learn and execute the best way of employing a combined large force package in a live-fly environment, Matos explained.



Siverio anticipates that facilitating successful countering of air, space and cyber threats by all participating units will take a team effort lead by the 1st FW.



We're here as a core unit to help all other participating units by lending our expertise and ensuring they have all the necessary resources they need to meet the objectives set out by Red Flag staff and their respective units, Siverio said, adding that such groundwork can range from augmenting core members to fill duty gaps and tasking other to units to achieve exercise needs.



For Matos, succeeding as the core unit is simple; ensure all duty requirements are met and support wherever help is needed.



We will overcome challenges merely by having the correct and experienced core personnel assigned to each Air Force specialty code required, Matos said. This will ensure that all personnel have all necessary assets and support, in order to achieve the commanders mission intent.



With three weeks of intensive training left to go, Red Flag veterans and first timers, will have the 1st FW to rely on and keep the heart of Red Flag special tactical operations moving forward faster.
Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari is set to join Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday after CM Akhilesh Yadav rejected him.

BSP supremo Mayawati is expected to announce entry of Ansari into the party on Thursday, sources said.

Ansari is the sitting legislator from Mau. He approached the BSP after Akhilesh Yadav ignored him completely while deciding Samajwadi Party candidates for the upcoming UP elections. Mukhtar Ansari has been in the BSP before also.

Earlier reports had indicated that Ansari would fight the elections as an independent candidate from the Mau Sadar constituency as the Samajwadi Party has given the ticket for the seat to someone else. He is currently the sitting MLA from the seat.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had clearly expressed his dislike for Ansari due to his criminal background.

QED was founded in 2010 by Mukhtar, along with his brothers Afzal Ansari and Sigbatullaha Ansari. Ansari is in jail for his alleged involvement in the murder of former BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai.

The upcoming UP polls are very crucial as the seven-phase polling will decide the fate of the future party when electorate will exercise their right to vote in the state.
CDC is not an independent agency. It is a vaccine company. CDC owns over twenty vaccine patents. It sells about $4.6 billion of vaccines every year. And its primary metric for success in all the departments in the agency are vaccine sales. The groups, for example the Immunization Safety Office, where the scientists who are supposed to be looking at efficacy and safety in vaccines, they are no longer a public serviceagency. They are subsumed in that metric: We have to sell as many of these things as possible. And so they do things to their science to make sure that nothing interferesno informationinterferes with sales.

The CDC is a very troubled agency, and its not just me saying that. There have been four separate, intensive federal investigations by the United States Congressa three year investigation, 2001, 2002, 2003, by the United States Senate, Tom Coburns committee, by the Inspector General of HHS in 2008, by the Office Integrity in 2014. All of them have painted the CDC as a cesspool of corruption, of an agency that has become an absolute subsidiary of the pharmaceutical industry, and that has become a sock puppet, a spokesperson, a shill for the industry.

This is the agency that the media allows to have the last word on vaccine safety. This is the place that produces the studies that supposedly disproved a link between THEIR vaccines and autism. In truth, these are health officials who literally have oversight over themselves.

What are Wall Street analysts doing at ACIP meetings? Why are members of this committee allowed to profit from the vaccines that they approve? How can such egregious corruption be allowed to continue?

By Anne Dachel When you listen to Robert Kennedy, Jr.s seven minute talk on practices at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you quickly realize that our children are being sacrificed on the high altar of corporate greed.

Now there are two divisions of the vaccine branch where we worry about the corruption. The first one is called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. That is the committee that makes the decision about what new vaccines to add to the schedule.

When I was a boy, I got three vaccines. My children got sixty-nine vaccines. It changed in 1989.

Why did it change in 1989?

Because in 1986, Congress, drowning in pharmaceutical industry moneypharma puts more money into lobbying than any other industry Pharmaceutical companies have more lobbyists on Capitol Hill than there are Congress people.

Do you think oil and gas has big influence in the Capitol? Well, thats the next biggest. The pharmaceutical industry puts twice into lobbying, double the amount that the oil and gas, and four times what defense and aero space put in. So they control Congress.

In 1986, Congress passed the Vaccine Act, and there were good reasons for them to pass it. At that time vaccine companies were being sued and were threatening to stop making vaccines. [Congress] said, okay, were going to insulate them from lawsuits. They made it illegal to sue a vaccine company in this country, no matter how reckless the behavior, no matter how negligent, no matter how toxic the product, no matter how grievous the injury to the child, you cannot sue.

You know how badly the pharmaceutical industry behaves when they are being sued, when theres a whole bar of lawyers who spend their whole life looking for ways to sue the pharmaceutical industry and tell these stories to juries, and how many billions every year are won from that industry.

What do you think would happen if all of a sudden, all the lawyers disappeared, all the class action suits, all the multi district litigation, all the depositions, all the document searches, the discovery? Just gone. Nobody can sue. You can make anything you want.

And then they made it so that it was much easier to get a vaccine on the schedule than it was to get a pharmaceutical into the market. Theres no double blind placebo studies. Theyre all fast tracked into the market place.

The decision is made by this group, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. And youd hope that the people who would serve on that committee would be kind of nerdy scientists who are narrowly focused on public health outcomes, but thats not who they are. The people who serve on that committee, almost all of them, have strong financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Ill give you an example of how this committee works. In 1999, Paul Offit sat on that committee. And when you go to this committee, when you go to their meetings, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is in one room, and then theres a press deck in the next room. You have a whole bunch of seats there with guys who look like me, in suits. Theyre Wall Street analysts, pharmaceutical analysts. Theyre waiting to hear the decision. And as soon as they come out and announce which new vaccines they put on the schedule, those guys run out in the hallway and get on their cell phones, and you can watch the stocks spike. So its become an economic enterprise.

Paul Offit sat on the committee in 1999 that added the rota virus vaccine to the schedule. He owned a patent to a rota virus vaccine. He was then able to sell his vaccine to Merck for $186 million. He pocketed something around $29 million. Hes never allowed anybody to ask him exactly how much, but according to the formula that they use, he would have gotten at least $29 million.

That caused a little bit of a scandal in Washington, and the Inspector General of HHS was sent to investigate it. They did a complete investigation of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and what they found, what they concluded was what he did was not illegal under CDC rules. Sixty-four percent of the people who sat on that committee had conflicts that were similar to Paul Offit, and ninety-seven percent might have conflicts because the rest of them never made out their conflict of interest forms. And nobody ever made them to it.

Its very difficult when those kinds of shenanigans are going on. The American people have faith that all of these new vaccines that were added, beginning in 1989, are put there solely because this committee is concerned with public health.

Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.


A passenger walks past the terminal of Frankfurt Hahn airport 100 kilometers west of Frankfurt, Germany, on June 6, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

China's HNA Group, the owner of Hainan Airlines, teaming up with local German company ADC, is in final talks on purchasing Hahn Airport that locates in western Germany, according to Reuters on Monday.

The federal state of Rhineland Palatinate owns an 82.5 percent stake in Hahn, with the rest owned by the neighboring state of Hesse. In the latest sale process, three bids had been already received. But auditors had reviewed the offers and resolved to have HNA and ADC enter into final negotiations.

Hahn Airport, a former military base now used mainly by Ryanair, was troubled for years, and in 2015, it lost about $17 million. Hahn Airport has been on the market for a while. In 2016, it's said Shanghai Yiqian Trading Company was going to buy it for $10 million US dollars but intervened by Rhineland Palatinate.

Even with an asset-liability ratio of 67.38 percent in 2016, HNA has been active in the travel industry with 13 deals announced and accomplished last year, worth $25 billion US dollars.

Civil aviation expert Lin Zhijie told reporter that the devaluation of the RMB and abundant global capital better supported HNA's bid for Hahn Airport.
A Casper lawmaker wants to require doctors to offer ultrasounds to women seeking abortions.

House Bill 182 would require doctors to inform patients 24 hours before the procedure that they have a right to view an active ultrasound of the fetus and to listen to the fetus heartbeat if possible.

The woman would be required to sign a form confirming that she had been offered an ultrasound, and that document would be placed in her medical file.

The provision would not apply in cases of medical emergency or for abortions performed following a miscarriage.

The bills sponsor, Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, said that ultrasounds are already performed before an abortion and that his bill would simply require doctors to offer women the chance to view an ultrasound.

This would just allow for an an opportunity for a pregnant woman to have full information, Gray said in an email.

The talk radio host was elected to the Legislature in November.

Gray said in an email that an ultrasound is already performed to observe the position of the unborn child or the possibilities of other complications to the women.

But this is not necessarily true in the case of abortions performed during the first 36 weeks of pregnancy, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

When asked about the discrepancy between that information and his statements, Gray repeated part of his previous answer and did not address the fact that ultrasounds are not always performed during the first trimester.

Neither of the two abortion providers in Wyoming offers abortions after 12 weeks, according to the organization Women for Women.

Six states currently require doctors to offer women the opportunity to view an ultrasound before an abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Since routine ultrasound is not considered medically necessary as a component of first-trimester abortion, the requirements appear to be a veiled attempt to personify the fetus and dissuade a woman from obtaining an abortion, Guttmacher, which supports reproductive rights, states on its website.

Several other states require doctors to offer women the opportunity to view an ultrasound only if that procedure is already being performed as part of an abortion.

House Bill 182 is co-sponsored by several other legislators, including Rep. Scott Clem, R-Gillette, and Rep. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle, who are backing other bills that would place restrictions on abortion in Wyoming.

Bills could bar abortion after 20 weeks, weaken patient privacy protections Women could be barred from receiving abortions after about 20 weeks and could face felony charges for allowing lab tests to be performed on an aborted fetus or embryo under a bill proposed in the Wyoming Legislature.

Steinmetz is sponsoring House Bill 116, which would bar abortion after around 20 weeks.

Clem is backing House Bill 132, a measure to impose penalties on doctors who fail to report abortions they perform as required under current law.

House Speaker Steve Harshman, R-Casper, is also co-sponsoring Grays bill.

The only two publicly listed abortion providers in Wyoming are in Jackson.

All three bills have been referred to the House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee.

Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, answered questions related to House Bill 182 by email. His answers are below. Duplicate sentences have been removed, and questions have been shortened for clarity.

What do you hope House Bill 182 achieves?

The bill seeks to ensure that women have the opportunity to view an ultrasound if they wish. This bill would enhance a womans rights by providing an opportunity to view an ultrasound. This would just allow for an opportunity for a pregnant woman to have full information. The bill has broad supportit has 15 cosponsors including the Speaker.

The bill would require women seeking abortions to be offered ultrasounds but would not require them to be performed prior to an abortion. Why?

The medical standard of practice currently already exists--an ultrasound is already performed to observe the position of the unborn child or the possibilities of other complications to the women.

The bill would not require women seeking an abortion to protect their own life to be offered an ultrasound. Why?

The ultrasound has already been performed as stated in testimony when this bill has been brought before, as a standard medical practice. As previously stated, the ultrasound is done to protect the mother as well as view the position of the unborn child. This bill simply states that the woman has the right to be given an opportunity to view an ultrasound.

You ran on a platform opposing government intervention in the life of Wyoming residents. How does this bill square with that?

I ran to protect all the peoples rights in life, liberty and property. I believe that a woman should have the opportunity to receive ultrasound information if she wishes.
CHEYENNE, Wyo.  Wyoming's unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.8 percent in December.

The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services said the rate is down from November's 4.9 percent.

From November to December, unemployment rates followed their normal seasonal pattern and increased in nearly every county. As colder weather sets in, employment often falls in construction and other sectors.

The largest jobless rate increases occurred in Johnson, Crook and Sheridan counties. Teton County's unemployment rate fell thanks to the start of the ski season.

Natrona County's 6.6 percent jobless rate was the highest rate in December, followed by Fremont's 6.4 percent, Campbell's 6 percent and Sublette's 5.8 percent. The lowest unemployment rates were in Niobrara and Albany, both at 2.8 percent, and Goshen, at 3 percent.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. High near 80F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy with showers. Low 67F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Overcast with showers at times. High around 80F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Low 66F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Bismarck Public School students had three snow days before the new year even started.

The school district has since determined when to make up those days, which were approved by the Bismarck School Board  though the board had previously set aside only two. Some school districts in the state want to be able to decide whether to forgive make-up days due to weather, rather than have to ask the governor of North Dakota to do it.

It also takes the governor out of the picture, said Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, who introduced Senate Bill 2220 on Wednesday to the Senate Education Committee.

Myrdal told the committee that her constituents  local school boards and superintendents  asked her to draft legislation to give control to the schools with no loss of state funding.

"Like one of our superintendents said, I think we know better, with no disrespect to the governor," Myrdal said.

Under state law, districts must fill out a form, which is sent to the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction and then the governor. Myrdal said some superintendents are "irritated" with the form, which they see as "unnecessary."

The bill still would require districts to notify the state of the number of days that cannot be rescheduled and why, she said.

North Dakota Century Code requires districts provide 175 days of classes each year  whether or not some days were canceled.

"The reason that the policy of making up days dismissed due to weather is in place to ensure that we maintain the state's responsibility for free and public access to elementary and secondary education," State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler told the committee.

Baesler said, in the 2015 session, legislators appropriated $2.1 billion of taxpayers' money for the 107,000 public school students in the state.

"If expected class time is forgiven due to missed weather, then this investment is lost by the taxpayers every school day, where teaching and instruction do not occur," she said.

And it's up to the districts to decide whether to meet that 175-day obligation, Baesler said. If they don't, then their financial aid payment is reduced for each day lost. The governor's waiver would simply "waive (a school district) from the state aid reduction," she said.

Baesler said the Department of Public Instruction has already received three requests from districts to waive snow days.

The last school year in which there was a significant amount of days forgiven due to weather-related closings was during the 2008-09 year, the year of the Red River flood, Baesler said. A total of 108 districts applied, and 315 full days were waived.
Students of St. Mary on the Hill, Team Virdeca, attempt to persuade Future City Competition judges that their city deserves first place during the final round of the daylong event.
President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting with automobile leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Trump, despite occupying the most powerful office in the world, remains fixated on a belief that the legitimacy of his election is being challenged.
Freight forwarder Crane Worldwide has invested in a brand new Netherlands head office facility at Amsterdam airport as it looks to grow in Europe.

The US-headquartered firm said the new facility is "key to assisting our clients across the globe".

The warehouse facility offers value-added services such as storage, pick and pack operations, labelling and any bespoke handling requirements.

Benelux region director Allan Fulks said: "The Netherlands is a key gateway to our clients European locations and in order to support our continued growth in the region, the new head office facility will allow us to increase our supply chain service offerings to our clients."



In addition to the new Amsterdam facility, Crane Worldwide in the Netherlands has a 5,000 sq m Customs bonded warehouse located in Tilburg, located within a short distance to Amsterdam airport and the seaports of Rotterdam and Antwerp.



In August last year, Crane opened a new facility at London Heathrow and revealed upgrades to its customer portal.
One newly introduced bill in the North Dakota Senate goes against the grain in recent attempts to streamline state government: carving out a portion of one agency to create a separate one.

Sen. Jessica Unruh, R-Beulah, said the concept of the legislation she introduced Monday may seem odd, given that multiple bills have been introduced this session to eliminate or fold agencies into others.

Weve been looking at reinventing government this session, Unruh said. We just thought now was the time.

SB2327 would take all of the responsibilities involving environmental quality from the North Dakota Department of Health and move them into a newly created Department of Environmental Quality. The transfer would occur over the interim prior to the 2019 Legislature.

By Jan. 1, 2019, the health department would be required to attain all necessary federal approvals and whatever is needed from other public and private entities to ensure the department meets all required duties under federal law.

Until the transfer is complete, the head of the environmental health section would be responsible for oversight of the existing programs.

Unruh said a number of states have a DEQ instead of the setup North Dakota has within its health department.

She said taking out the environmental health section of the department, which has little to do with the other functions of the department, makes sense.

Hopefully, it will function the same and be more efficient, Unruh said.

Other legislation introduced this session includes a resolution to put elimination of the state treasurers office to a vote of the people and another for an interim study of moving the functions of Workforce Safety and Insurance into the insurance department.

SB2206 would make the head of the new state DEQ a member of the governors cabinet and would provide the department head more flexibility in overseeing operations.

The bill would impact the nearly 170 staff in the environmental health section, nearly half of the 365 authorized staff positions for the full health department authorized for the 2015-17 biennium.

Unruh said, by being its own department, it could operate on its own and target its resources in a more efficient matter.

Unruh said the idea has been floating around for years but her involvement has been going on in the background in recent months, with feedback from health department officials.

The lions share of the 149-page bill outlines the programs and responsibilities under the new departments purview.

Dave Glatt, co-interim director for the North Dakota Department of Health and head of its environmental health section that SB2327 would impact, said the more drawn-out process of transition would allow time to do so in an orderly fashion.

He said it would be critical to ensure the federal Environmental Protection Agency agrees with the DEQ format.

Ever since Ive been with the department this has come up, Glatt said of discussion on splitting the department during his 34 years in state government, the last 14 of which in charge of the environmental health section. This is the first time its gotten this far.

Glatt said it will take some time to review the full bill and hes fine with whichever way the Legislature decides on the issue.

If they think this is the best long-term solution, Im all for it, Glatt said.

He said, if they choose that route, hed be willing to lead the transition and stay on if Gov. Doug Burgum wishes him to stay in the newly created departments lead role.
January 24, 2017

Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council of the System (EDCS) and former Iranian President Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani died Jan. 8, and his death might have put a nail in the coffin of normalization between Egypt and Iran.

The Egyptian diplomatic reaction to the death of Rafsanjani was different from the Egyptian reaction to the death of Iranian President Hassan Rouhanis mother in March 2015. While the Egyptian government chose to ignore the death of Sakineh Peivandi, Rouhanis mother, two years ago, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry sent the deputy assistant foreign minister for protocol affairs, Ambassador Ashraf Mounir, on Jan. 12 to the Interests Section of Iran in Egypt to offer condolences to both the office manager and the Iranian government, on behalf of the Egyptian government.

Although the office in Cairo received several ambassadors from different countries, a diplomatic source in the Interests Section told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Iran deeply appreciated the Egyptian condolences in particular. He said that those in charge of the office warmly welcomed Mounir because it was the first contact between the two countries at this level following a long time of strained relations, which suggests that the chances of improving relations and rapprochement between the two countries are increasing and are further applauded by the two governments.

Egyptian-Iranian relations have been strained since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the overthrow of Iran's last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who had good relations with Egypt. Those ties had led former President Anwar Sadat to give Pahlavi political asylum in Egypt after the Islamic Revolution, thus resulting in a complete severing of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1979.

The Iranian Interests Section office in Egypt is the most prominent footprint left by Rafsanjani in Cairo. The office was opened to mark the return of a limited diplomatic representation between the two countries in 1991 under Rafsanjanis presidency. However, the efforts that Rafsanjani made, both when he was president and chairman of the Iranian regime's EDCS, have seemingly not been sufficient for normal relations to return. His death now calls into question his ability to incite Iranian officials to improve relations with Egypt and lead Egyptian officials to trust the Iranian intentions. Also, it calls into question the future of the improving relations following his departure.

To answer these questions, Mohamed Mohsen Abu al-Nour, a researcher specialized in Iranian affairs at Al-Azhar University, said, Rafsanjani was very influential in attempts at bringing Egypt and Iran closer. He believed it was necessary to be open to Egypt, and he transferred his line of thought to many of his students such as former President Mohammad Khatami and current President Hassan Rouhani. Rafsanjani and his students viewed Egypt as a country no less important than Syria, sensing that peace and stability in the Middle East could not be achieved without Egypt.

He added, I dont think attempts at rapprochement with Egypt will end, even if conservatives win the presidency in the May 2017 elections. Rafsanjani was able to popularize the idea of rapprochement with Egypt in the Iranian regime in general  albeit to varying degrees, with the idea taking hold the strongest among moderates and Reformists like Rouhani and Khatami.

It should be mentioned that Rafsanjani called in remarks to Al Jazeera in 2003 for the need to normalize relations with Egypt, but he pointed out in the same context that the severance of relations was by order of the commander of the Islamic Revolution, late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. This is why it is difficult to change the decision, he said.

In an interview with Iranian radical newspaper Jomhuri-ye Eslami, Rafsanjani said on Feb. 11, 2011, that during the Egyptian revolution against former President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt needs a new Khomeini, and I call on Egyptians to successfully complete their revolution."

In this regard, Mohammed Saeed Idris, the head of the Arab and regional studies unit at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor that the Iranian leaders are pragmatic. He said it is unlikely that the sanctification of Khomeini's orders to cut off relations with Egypt could be the reason behind the ongoing rupture.

The current attempts to break the ice between the two countries emanates from [Irans] interests as the country sees in Egypt a strong ally in the Syrian crisis  despite the fact that Egypt does not support the survival of [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad, but favors stability in Syria, he said.

Idris added, Iran's attempts at rapprochement have increased following the tension between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which suggests that Iran is trying to improve its relationship with Egypt to deal a political and regional blow to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. This is why I welcome the improvement of Egypt's relations with Iran, provided there is a balance in relations with Iran on the one hand and the Gulf states on the other.

The relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been tense since the beginning of October 2016, when Egypt voted in one of the United Nations Security Council meetings in favor of a Russian draft resolution to halt the war in Aleppo at a time when Saudi Arabia was against this draft. Later in October, Saudi Aramco notified the Egyptian government that it would stop supplying it with oil. Many observers considered this as a response on the part of Saudi Arabia to Egypts vote for the Russian draft law.

Asked about Rafsanjanis role, Idris said, I think he was a supporter of reducing tension with the Gulf states, which would have easily helped Egypt create some balance in its relationship with Iran on the one hand and the Gulf states on the other. But I think the attempts to improve relations are ongoing even after the departure of Rafsanjani, and the evidence is that Egypt offered its first diplomatic condolences to Iran on Rafsanjani's death.

In 1998, Rafsanjani called for the resolution of the conflict between Iran and the United Arab Emirates over the three islands: the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa, through negotiations between the two countries.

Columnist Ali Hashem wrote in an Al-Monitor article that Irans Rafsanjani and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah were able to build a bridge for dialogue between their countries in a bid to end political differences.

Rafsanjani left the door open to many scenarios. Only time will reveal whether his moderate and Reformist successors will continue the march of openness to Egypt and calm the situation with the Gulf states or the fundamentalists will rise to power again and confuse the calculations of the region.
January 25, 2017

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  The power crisis is still disrupting the daily life of Gazans, sparking mutual accusations over its causes between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Ramallahs Energy and Natural Resources Authority on the one hand, and between Hamas and its Energy Authority in the Gaza Strip on the other. Meanwhile, 50% of Gazas daily electricity needs are not being met.

Exacerbated in the cold winter due to heavy power consumption, the crisis first began when Israel bombed the only power plant in the central Gaza Strip on Jan. 28, 2006. As a result, most cities and camps in the Gaza Strip were left in darkness, with more than 700,000 Gazans deprived of electricity for days. Thus, the issue of renovating and developing this power plant, along with other power sources, has stirred political tension between the PA and Hamas.

In a Jan. 16 press conference, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah demanded that Hamas hand over all public sectors in the Gaza Strip to the government of national consensus, including the Energy Authority, in order to end the crisis. Hamdallahs statement came in response to Hamas statement on Jan. 11, in which the party approved the Palestinian factions proposal of reconstituting the Energy Authoritys board of directors and establishing a higher council for energy in the Gaza Strip.

The mutual accusations escalated when President Mahmoud Abbas, on the sidelines of a press conference held in Ramallah Jan. 17, stated, Gazas power crisis has been laced with mistakes with regard to fuel, power distribution and bills collection, all of which are the responsibility of Gazas power authority under Hamas rule.

Once these issues are redressed, we shall do everything we can to provide electricity, Abbas added, leading Hamas to believe that the president is responsible for the power crisis in an attempt to pressure Gazans and pit them against Hamas.

Since the beginning of 2017 there have been many protests in Gaza against the ongoing power crisis. This led Ismail Haniyeh, the deputy chairman of Hamas political bureau, to engage in talks with the Turkish presidency and the Qatari emir. These talks resulted in Turkeys pledge Jan. 14 to provide 15,000 tons of diesel oil necessary to run the only power plant in the Gaza Strip, while on Jan. 16 the Qatari emir ordered $12 million in assistance to buy fuel.

These efforts have yielded a partial solution for the electricity shortages, increasing the number of supply hours. According to the head of the Palestinian Energy and Natural Resources Authority Dhafer Melhem in a Jan. 16 press statement, this is a temporary solution that is far from solving the problem completely. Melhem demanded that the consensus government and the Energy Authority in Ramallah be allowed to freely operate in Gaza in order to reach a permanent solution.

Yahya Moussa, a Hamas leader and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, told Al-Monitor, The PA is responsible for solving the power crisis since it is the internationally recognized Palestinian authority to conclude agreements, not Hamas.

Moussa urged Abbas to be transparent with the people and admit that he is the one standing in the way of international agreements and projects aimed at putting an end to the problem. These projects include a Qatari project to establish a solar energy station east of Gaza, the 161 power line project to be established from Israel to Gaza, as well as the United Arab Emirates project to build a power station that would provide Gaza with 500 megawatts (MW) of its electricity needs.

In turn, the head of the information and public relations department at Gazas Energy Authority Mohammad Tabet told Al-Monitor, There are 252,000 subscriptions to the power network in Gaza including 60,000 subscribers who dont pay their monthly bills. This means that only 48% of Gazas monthly power bill is collected, one that ranges between 45-50 million shekels ($11.8 million-$13.2 million) per month.

Tabet revealed that the Energy Authority is poised to take legal action in the upcoming days against those who can afford to pay their bills but fail to pay, adding that part of the solution requires all the subscribers to pay their dues.

In the Gaza Strip, power sources vary between what is generated by the power plant that currently runs at half capacity (60 MW) and even less after its bombing, a power grid linking Gaza to Israel (120 MW) and another one linking it to Egypt (32 MW). This amounts to only eight hours of power supply per day. Gaza needs 400 MW daily compared to the current 212 MW output.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, political analyst Mohsen Abu Ramadan held the PA responsible for the power crisis in the Gaza Strip given its capacity to conclude international agreements. At the same time, Abu Ramadan urged Hamas to implement the decisions reached with Palestinian factions during a workshop held in Gaza on Jan. 14. Among these decisions are the formation of a national monitoring committee tasked with finding a solution and obliging public institutions run by Hamas to pay their electricity bill.

Many projects and proposals were presented to the PA years ago to solve the problem, such as increasing the output of the power grid linking Gaza to Israel through the 161 line proposed by Gazas Energy Authority; the Arab Eight Country Interconnection Project that the PA approved in 2012, but then backed out for lack of official decision to implement the project; and the installation of a natural gas line by Qatar for Gazas Energy Authority among others. However, none of these saw the light of day, Abu Ramadan said.

Speaking to Al-Monitor, political analyst Asad Abu Sharkh concurred with Abu Ramadan in blaming the PA for the power shortages in the Gaza Strip, pointing out that the problem started back in 1994 with the inception of the PA and its establishment of a power plant in Gaza with low-quality turbines. In addition, the PA withdrew from Gazas municipalities the authorization to supply power and collect electricity bills, and handed it over to the power plant and company, which was run by the PA.

Thus, Gazas Energy Authority is in charge of providing electricity and is managed by employees appointed by Hamas since 2007, while the electricity company in the Strip is in charge of collecting power bills from the citizens.

He added, The Gaza Strip stopped receiving the same amount of attention from the PA as that of the West Bank after Hamas came into power [in Gaza].

No permanent solutions to Gazas power crisis loom on the horizon. The crisis is expected to re-emerge once the quantities of fuel provided by Qatar and Turkey run out after three months.
January 23, 2017

The capture of Aleppo by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia and Hezbollah, has given a boost to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Shiite movement's deepening involvement in the Syrian war since 2013 had led to a narrowed margin of maneuver at home, as political and social pressures increased on it. The battle for and victory in Aleppo Dec. 22 has reinforced Hezbollahs winning narrative vis-a-vis its political opponents and among its popular base and will potentially help justify future battles the organization might wage in Syria.

Hezbollahs capture of Aleppo shows that its fight alongside the regime of Assad was the right thing to do, Abdallah Younes, a Shiite resident of the Bekaa Valley, told Al-Monitor. Hezbollahs decision to send thousands of fighters to support Assad resulted in heavy fallout in the Bekaa and elsewhere in Lebanon, for which the Lebanese criticized the organization. The fertile Bekaa, on the border with Syria in eastern Lebanon, has been on the front line of the Syrian war since 2013. Syrian rebels have repeatedly shelled the region, which has also been the target of several terror attacks. In 2014, Jabhat al-Nusra carried out suicide attacks in the area. Hezbollah and the Lebanese army have also clashed with Islamic State (IS) fighters in the mountainous Qalamoun area, east of the Bekaa. IS was behind several attacks in the Bekaa, including one on the Christian village of Qaa in June 2016.

The intense fighting in the Syrian war has pitted a mostly Sunni insurgency against pro-Assad regime forces bolstered by Hezbollah and other Shiite forces in the form or troops from Iran and Popular Mobilization Units fighters from Iraq. Syrian government forces and their allies have also received Russian air coverage since Sept. 30, 2015. The conflict is today increasingly seen as a sectarian proxy war between two axes: one pro-Shiite (consisting of Iran, Hezbollah, Syria and Russia) and the other Sunni dominated (including Gulf countries and Turkey). Nonetheless, Ankara changed its position after reaching a deal in September with Russia that allowed it to launch attacks on its Syrian Kurdish nemeses under the banner of Operation Euphrates Shield.

Meanwhile on the Lebanese political scene, Hezbollah has been backed by the Christian Free Patriotic Movement, led by Michel Aoun, and the Shiite Amal movement and pitted against a coalition of the Sunni Future Movement, headed by Saad Hariri, Christian Lebanese Forces and the Druze Progressive Party. A clear power shift on the battlefield in favor of the Iranian, Shiite axis in Syria in the weeks prior to the fall of Aleppo translated in Lebanon into the Oct. 31 election of Hezbollahs preferred presidential candidate, Aoun, and the formation of a government headed by Hariri as prime minister.

The Aleppo victory put an end to the partys local struggle and helped create a shift in the political equation, Brahim Beyram, a Lebanese journalist and analyst who covers Hezbollah for an-Nahar, told Al-Monitor. Sources close to Hariri who spoke to Al-Monitor said that the imminent fall of Aleppo and the tilt in the political outcome in Syria in favor of the regime were among the factors that facilitated the political deal in Lebanon. Hariri, already weakened by the financial scandal of his company Oger being on the verge of bankruptcy, believed that if Aleppo fell, it would mean a clear shift in power to Hezbollah and its allies, so he agreed to form a government when Aoun selected him to do so.

People are more optimistic. Hezbollah has been able to turn the tide in Syria and in Lebanon. This will definitely stifle the criticism, though limited, faced by the organization locally, Hassan, a Dahieh resident who declined to reveal his full name, told Al-Monitor.

Hezbollah has lost between 1,500 to 2,000 fighters in Syria, and 5,000 others have been wounded or injured, according to sources close to the party with whom Al-Monitor spoke. Hezbollah has lost important symbolic and military figures in the Syrian war. Jihad Mughniyeh, son of Hezbollah operations chief Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated in 2008 in Damascus, was killed in an Israeli attack in southern Syria in January 2015. In December 2015, Hezbollah commander Samir Kuntar, who was working on developing a new brigade in the Golan region, was also killed. Hezbollah star commander Mustafa Badreddine was killed in May 2016 in a mysterious explosion in Syria. Hundreds of Hezbollah fighters were killed in Zabadani and in Homs. More than 200 died in Aleppo alone, Beyram said.

People were starting to complain about the number of martyrs in Syria, as well as about corruption allegations surrounding some commanders deployed there, a source close to Hezbollah's mid-level leadership told Al-Monitor. Hezbollah as a political party controls a third of the Lebanese parliament and government. It had been accused of corruption involving the trash scandal that triggered protests in 2016 and faced allegations of maintaining illegal internet transmission stations that benefited local political figures. The war in Syria has made a lot of people rich through trafficking of all sorts. The Hezbollah leadership knows about it, but cant do much, the source asserted.

Recent victories in Syria will not only allow Hezbollah to consolidate its popular base in Lebanon, but will also provide it more space to maneuver on the battlefields of Syria. According to a Hezbollah fighter who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, All opposition front lines are in a state of weakness and up for grabs.

The fighter believes, nonetheless, that some areas, such as the Ghouta suburb in Damascus and southern Syria, may be handed over after a reconciliation deal is reached with the opposition. The next battle will most probably take place in Idlib, he remarked.

According to Beyram, Hezbollah will now focus on areas on the outskirts of Damascus, such as Wadi Barada, which sits along the road leading to the Syrian capital, and are considered strategic by the party. Wadi Barada is located on the other side of the Qalamoun Mountains, a region that Hezbollah wants secured because of its geographical [proximity] to its Bekaa bastion, Beyram explained.

As the main offensive force in Syria, Hezbollah has become a major player in shaping that country's future. Its involvement in Syria has also provided the organization with a platform from which to project regional influence, such as in Iraq and Yemen, where, Hezbollah sources told Al-Monitor, the organization has deployed experts.

Hezbollah increasingly faces an ideological dichotomy given its evolution from a pan-Arab resistance movement focused on fighting Israel to a sectarian militia helping advance Irans controversial agenda across the Arab world. It has become one of the biggest mass parties in the Middle East, boasting thousands of members and hundreds of thousands of mostly Lebanese Shiite supporters. With Hezbollah's power comes responsibility, and its Iranian agenda may not necessarily be in the best interest of its Lebanese popular base, which lives surrounded by Sunnis.
January 24, 2017

If Donald Trump preserves the Iran nuclear deal, that will surprise many Iranians.

Thats one finding of a new poll by the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) & IranPoll.com, which have repeatedly surveyed Iranian public opinion in recent years.

Of 1,000 Iranians polled from Dec. 10-24 last year, a month after Trumps election, 77.5% were not confident that the United States would live up to its obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Only 19% said they believed the United States under Trump would continue to comply with the JCPOA. The figures are a sharp change from the 45% confident and 41% not confident in a poll conducted by CISSM in September 2015, shortly after the successful conclusion of the nuclear negotiations. The new poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2%.

During the campaign, Trump harshly criticized the Iran deal. He told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in March that the JCPOA was catastrophic for America, Israel and the whole of the Middle East, and said, My first priority is to dismantle this disastrous deal on Iran.

However, since the election, Trump has scarcely mentioned the agreement. Several of his nominees for senior Cabinet posts, including Defense Secretary James Mattis, as well as Sen. Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have suggested that the JCPOA might be reviewed and enforced more stringently, but not scrapped.

Iranian officials, in turn, have said they are not open to changing the agreement, which was reached in difficult and lengthy negotiations with the United States, Britain, Germany, France, China and Russia and codified into international law by the UN Security Council.

In the poll, Iranians said they approved of the JCPOA by a margin of 55.4% to 33.6%, a significant decrease since August 2015 when 75.5% approved and 20.6% disapproved of the deal. A major reason for the decline is Iranian dissatisfaction with economic progress since the agreement came into full implementation a year ago. Indeed, only 35% of those polled in December said that the economy was in good shape; 72.6% said that the economy had not improved despite sanctions relief under the JCPOA.

While a slim majority (51.7%) of Iranians said the United States had lifted nuclear-related sanctions as specified in the deal, they said that the US was finding other ways to keep the negative impact of the sanctions. A large majority  82.2%  told pollsters that the United States was still trying to prevent other countries from establishing normal ties with Iran.

Middle East and Iran analysts said the poll results are in line with anecdotal evidence of Iranian dissatisfaction with current economic conditions.

The poll results demonstrate declining Iranian confidence in the JCPOA not because of the agreement itself but rather because many Iranians feel they are not getting the economic benefit they expected  and they believe are owed  from the United States, Paul Pillar, a former Middle East expert on the National Intelligence Council, told Al-Monitor.

Pillar added, The pessimism that Iranians express about future prospects for the accord is an unsurprising reflection of much of what members of the Trump administration and the Republican majority in Congress have been saying about the JCPOA and about finding new ways to inflict economic punishment on Iran.

Some US critics of the agreement have spoken about trying to renegotiate aspects of the JCPOA to tighten enforcement and extend restrictions on key aspects of Irans nuclear program beyond the 10-15 years specified in the deal. Others have pushed for more sanctions against Iran tied to other issues, such as human rights abuses or Iranian missile tests, in the hopes of pushing Iran to withdraw from the JCPOA.

Asked if they would be willing to renegotiate the agreement in return for more relief of US sanctions, only 30% of Iranians polled were in favor while 58.9% said no. A near majority of 48.4% said Iran should react to any US abrogation of the accord by restarting elements of the nuclear program restricted by the JCPOA; 39.1% said Iran should complain to the United Nations.

The results in the poll regarding renegotiation are further evidence that the notion of being able to get a better deal from Iran was always a fantasy, Pillar said.

Nancy Gallagher, director of CISSM, agreed. She told Al-Monitor, With the upcoming presidential election in Iran, political pressures on [Iranian President Hassan] Rouhani to resist renegotiation will be strong, especially given the publics perception that the current deal has failed to deliver promised benefits to date.

Some Iranian commentators believe that the Trump administration seeks to push Iran to violate the agreement. On Jan. 23, the Khorasan newspaper wrote, according to a translation by Mideast Mirror, "While implementing the nuclear deal half-heartedly, Trump will try to increase pressure on Iran in areas such as missile program, human rights and terrorism. It is even likely that more sanctions will be imposed. With this approach, Trump will try to push Iran towards leaving the nuclear agreement.

The editorial continued that Iran should concentrate on preventing the rise of any consensus against Iran and focus on the disagreement between Trump's administration and Europe, hoping that if one day the nuclear deal is to end prematurely [due to US actions], Europe and Iran will be together. US isolation can seriously challenge and even eliminate the return of sanctions.

While the Maryland poll revealed Iranian dissatisfaction with the economy, a slight majority of 56.5% was still optimistic that living conditions would improve, 10 points less than in June 2016. Rouhani remained popular, with the support of 68.7% of those surveyed, and was favored to beat Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a possible rival candidate, by 48.5% to 31.8% in upcoming presidential elections.

Ghalibaf, who ran for the presidency four years ago but lost, had an impressive favorability rating of 72.6% in the latest poll. The survey was taken before a catastrophic fire and collapse of the Plasco Building, an iconic Iranian high-rise from the 1960s, on Jan. 19, which has led to calls for Ghalibaf to resign to take responsibility for lax safety standards.
January 25, 2017

On Jan. 14, Iraqi and Iranian media reported that Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari offered to mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia in order to overcome their disputes and restore their bilateral relations that were ruptured following the Jan. 2, 2016, attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran. The attack came after a series of diplomatic tensions between the two countries over incidents such as the 2015 hajj stampede in Mecca that killed more than 450 pilgrims and Saudi Arabias execution of dissident Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr on Jan. 2, 2016.

Jaafari confirmed these reports, saying that he has been engaged in mediation efforts since last year. Ive indeed exchanged messages between officials from the two countries, he said, according to what Reuters reported from Iranian state TV. Jaafari added, Any crisis in Saudi-Iranian relations also affects Iraq as well and vice versa.

Jaafaris mediation attempt followed official efforts by Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) to thaw the ice between Tehran and Riyadh and open channels of dialogue. Kuwaits Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah said Dec. 1 that the GCC countries are trying to send a message to Iran on behalf of the council, inviting both countries to dialogue meetings, adding that Kuwait will be transmitting the message to Iran and that contacts with Iran are ongoing to set a convenient date to deliver that message.

On Jan. 17, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that at least a dozen countries, including Iraq and Kuwait, have offered to mediate between the Islamic republic and the kingdom, indicating that Iran hailed these efforts and wishes to be on good terms with everyone, especially the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia. Rouhanis statement was previously echoed by Irans Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, both wishing to renew relations with the kingdom.

Iraq offered to mediate in January 2016, notably after tensions rose between the two countries in the aftermath of the attack on the Saudi Embassy. At that time, Jaafari said, The recent feud involving Iran and Saudi Arabia led Iraq to immediately take the initiative, adding that the Iraqi Cabinet decided to react quickly in order to defuse the tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia, but to no avail. Germany attempted a mediation in February, one that also proved unsuccessful due to the lack of response on both sides.

The question is whether the time has come for mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Is Iraq impartial and capable enough to influence the two countries positions, and therefore achieve a reconciliation?

The answer to this question depends on whether the two sides are willing to achieve reconciliation. In fact, both need to overcome their differences amid the current circumstances and reach a settlement  even partial  on specific matters. This has indeed taken shape in the two countries agreement to curb oil production during the OPEC meeting in Algiers on Sept. 28. This agreement resulted in the largest cut in oil production since 2008; hence the considerable price increase. Economic interests brought the two rivals to the negotiation table, yielding an unprecedented agreement in the midst of the exacerbating crisis between them.

As for the hajj stampede, head of the Iranian hajj mission Seyed Ali Qadi Askar announced Jan. 10 that he had received an invitation via Saudi Arabias consulate in New York to hold meetings to discuss plans for the 2017 hajj. Iranian hajj pilgrims were estimated at 60,000 in 2015, which is one of the largest numbers of pilgrims from a single nation, not to mention the sizable number of Iranians visiting Mecca and Medina regularly each year. For the kingdom, this represents a valuable economic profit, let alone the fact that Saudi Arabia does not wish to restrict any Islamic country from participating in the hajj to preserve its reputation in the Islamic world. Furthermore, Iran is not willing to restrict its citizens from performing the hajj as Iranian pilgrims would look for other ways to go at the expense of governmental control and supervision involving such a sensitive issue as the hajj.

As far as regional disputes, recent developments seem to be bringing the two rivals closer to reconciliation. First, Lebanon saw the formation of a Cabinet after a long period of deadlock. The Future Movement  close to Saudi Arabia and led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who holds dual Lebanese and Saudi citizenship  reached a political consensus with Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite party close to Iran. It is not unlikely that rapprochement will also be the case in Yemen and Syria, especially since the new US administration wishes to pacify the situation in the Middle East and bring about a relatively more stable status quo.

Despite the obvious change in Saudi Arabia and Irans public policies in the direction of bilateral relations, there are still some voices, particularly from the military, calling for the continuation of the cold war pitting the two countries against each other. On Jan. 14, the commander of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iranian Kurdistan, Mohammad Hussein Rajabi, criticized the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government for allowing Saudi Arabia to open its consulate in Erbil, accusing it of espionage and conspiracy against Iran.

Iraq's religious and political diversity represents a strong political asset that could enable the country to achieve a successful mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia. For instance, Kurdistan and Sunni parties maintain good relations with Saudi Arabia and Shiite parties have similar relationships with Iran that can be invoked by Iraqi diplomats to bring about the reconciliation.
Women in North Dakota will remain among the vast majority in states in which the purchase of feminine hygiene products is subject to sales and use taxes. A bill to change that was widely defeated by the Senate Wednesday.

Support for Senate Bill 2254 was minimal, going down by a 3-43 vote. It would have added tampons and sanitary napkins to the list of items in state statute exempt from sales and use tax. It would have taken effect June 30.

Most states exempt a number of items from sales tax. As of last summer, at least six states had an exemption for feminine hygiene products as well as another five states that dont have any sales tax in statute.

The topic has built up steam nationally in the past year or so, with several states introducing legislation for the exemption. Arguments among supporters in other states that have pushed similar legislation include that its a double-standard and unfair to not exempt such products that are a necessity for women.

Sen. Scott Meyer, R-Grand Forks, carried the bill on the floor.

We did not feel it was the right time asking for this exemption and also the language in this was a bit ambiguous as to what it covers, Meyer said.

A fiscal note for SB2254 estimated a loss of $1,037,000 in state general fund revenues for the 2017-19 biennium and $99,000 in what was classified as other funds, if passed.

The bills lone sponsor, Sen. Larry Luick, R-Fairmount, said the bill was proposed to him by a constituent. He told his colleagues to vote as they wished.

Sen. Judy Lee, R-West Fargo, said shes also heard requests from several constituents on enacting such an exemption. She shared her answer to such calls to the rest of the chamber moments before the vote.

My response was that we dont exempt toilet paper, and we wouldnt even be being gender-specific in that, Lee said.
January 24, 2017

WASHINGTON  Despite his unconventional campaign, protectionist economic agenda and professed affinity for Russia, Donald Trump, since his inauguration as Americas 45th president, has followed in the path of his predecessors in some key, if less noticed, respects. Among them, his first phone calls to foreign leaders since his Jan. 20 inauguration were, as is the convention, to the leaders of Americas northern and southern neighbors, Canada and Mexico; the first foreign leader invited to visit the White House is British Prime Minister Theresa May on Jan. 27, reinforcing the US-UK special relationship. Trump has also emulated his predecessors in abruptly slowing down, at least for now, his campaign pledge to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem.

We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject," White House press secretary Sean Spicer told journalists Jan. 22.

"There [are] no decisions," Spicer said at his first official White House press briefing Jan. 23. "His team is going to continue to consult with stakeholders as we get there.

Pressed at the briefing if the US Embassy would have moved to Jerusalem at the end of Trumps four-year term, Spicer did not budge, reiterating that consideration of any move was still in the very early stages.

By contrast, Trump, speaking at a pre-inauguration eve gala for foreign diplomats at Washingtons Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, told a reporter with Israel Hayom newspaper that he had not forgotten his promise to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem.

"Of course I remember what I told you about Jerusalem, Trump was cited as saying by Israel Hayom on Jan. 19, on the eve of his inauguration. Of course I didn't forget. And you know I'm not a person who breaks promises.

Trumps White House adviser and former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told Israel Hayom, "Of course we support it [the embassy move]. I think we need to do it tomorrow."

But there was no mention of a US Embassy move in a White House readout of a 30-minute call between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held Jan. 22, just four days later. Israeli officials who spoke with Reuters said the issue had barely come up.

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 readout of the Trump-Netanyahu call said. The president affirmed his unprecedented commitment to Israel's security and stressed that countering ISIL [the Islamic State] and other radical Islamic terrorist groups will be a priority for his administration. 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 toward that goal. The president invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to an early February meeting at the White House.

What happened?

I think it's a bit premature to declare he has shifted, but it's clear he makes no haste, as some had expected, Yigal Palmor, a former Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, told Al-Monitor on Jan. 24.

Many people here [in Israel] seemed to think that he would first thing in the morning announce the transfer of the embassy to Jerusalem, and one week later, it would move, Palmor, now with the Jewish Agency but speaking in his personal capacity, said. I think many Palestinians [also] bought into that. It explained the unusual sweat one was hearing from Palestinian officials regarding the possible implications of the move.

But since the US Congress has already passed legislation calling for the US Embassy to move to Jerusalem, which has been waived by successive US presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, citing security considerations, Trump can, if he chooses, simply wait until the next waiver is required, which Palmor thought was in June.

He has time, Palmor said. All he needs to do, if he wants to move the embassy, is wait until June. All he needs to do is enforce this legislation.

The other thing is, he could do something very symbolic by instructing the new ambassador to Israel to open an office in Jerusalem, maybe in the existing consulate, or maybe in a separate building, Palmor said. He could also move the official [US ambassador] residence from Herzliya to Jerusalem.

In reality, The transfer of the whole embassy, if and when this is decided, will take years, logistically, technically, administratively  its a huge operation, Palmor added.

Is it possible, I asked Palmor, that Israeli officials might have asked Trump to postpone the decision? Palmor thought, theoretically, that it was.

The first reason, if he really wants to announce the transfer of the embassy, why not do it while Netanyahu is in Washington, Palmor said. That gets the attention of everyone, and credit would be shared. [Such an announcement might be] more appropriate while the two leaders meet [in early February].

The other reason could be: Lets not do anything hasty. Lets do this calmly, and lets think this through; it has implications, Palmor said. Lets do it one step at a time. ... Talk to [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-]Sisi, [Jordanian] King Abdullah, the Palestinians, to prepare the ground.

Trump held a phone call with Sisi on Jan. 23, and is due to speak with Abdullah on Jan. 25, after Abdullah meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

In addition, Palmor said, Netanyahu may have reasoned that with a friendly, new Republican president in the White House, his priority may be on trying to work with Trump to harden the US posture on Iran.

I think that on the top of the Netanyahu agenda is Iran, Palmor said. If he sees an opportunity now to move on Iran, that would take the absolute priority over anything else.

There again, it is not clear that Trump will satisfy Netanyahus hopes. In their confirmation hearings the past few weeks, Trumps nominees to be secretary of defense, James Mattis; secretary of state, Rex Tillerson; and US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley (Mattis and Haley have since been confirmed), have said that while they thought the Iran nuclear deal was flawed, it was wiser for the United States to enforce the landmark arms control agreement while reviewing it rather than walk away.

I think it is an imperfect arms control agreement. Its not a friendship treaty, Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Jan. 12. But when America gives her word, we have to live up to it and work with our allies.
January 24, 2017

President Recep Tayyip Erdogans inner circle and political supporters in the media continue to vent their anger at former President Barack Obama with outlandishly exaggerated claims, while expressing hope that Turkish-US ties will be much better under President Donald Trump.

Erdogans foreign policy adviser Saadet Oruc, a former journalist who also writes a column in the pro-government daily Star, for example, points out that although Obama raised great expectations initially, he ended up as one of the most unsuccessful US presidents ever.

The Obama administrations alleged refusal to circumvent legal restrictions and send Fethullah Gulen  the self-exiled Islamic cleric residing in Pennsylvania  packing to Turkey to answer charges that he masterminded the July 15 coup attempt, and its refusal to sever its ties with Syrian Kurdish groups Ankara considers to be terrorist organizations are the main reasons for this anger.

But signs are already emerging that the hopes invested in Trump may have also been exaggerated. Prior to departing on a three-nation tour of Africa over the weekend, Erdogan  who has signaled his keenness to work with Trump  revealed for the first time that serious doubts may be creeping into his thinking about the new US administration.

We are waiting to see what Mr. Trump will say about the Middle East. At the moment, some language concerning the Middle East is reaching our ear, and to be frank it is disturbing, Erdogan said, adding, We support a Middle East where territorial integrity is respected.

Erdogan did not elaborate, but veteran political analyst Fikret Bila  a columnist for daily Hurriyet  believes he was referring to remarks by members of Trumps Cabinet regarding the possible division of Syria and the emergence of an independent Kurdish entity there.

Bila indicated that Ankara is also displeased that Trump had decided to keep Brett McGurk, Obamas special envoy for the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS). Ankara has little love for McGurk, considering him to be a supporter of Syrian Kurds  whom Ankara considers to be terrorists.

If Trump continues with Obamas policy toward the Democratic Union Party [PYD] and its military wing, the People's Protection Units [YPG], and enables them as they vie for statehood, then Ankara will take a position against this, and Turkish-US ties will be even worse than ever, Bila said.

Turkey says the YPG and the PYD  who are US allies in the fight against the Islamic State (IS)  are linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a characterization Washington does not accept.

Unlike Bila, Ersin Ramoglu, a columnist for pro-government daily Sabah, leaves no room for the possibility that Trump will change Washingtons positions on this issue. In an article with the telling title, The USs treacherous plans have not changed, Ramoglu said the expectation that Trump will be different is tantamount to daydreaming.

They are modernizing the PKK.  The US is establishing a terrorist army in the region. How did we expect Trump to be different? Ramoglu wrote, referring to the US-YPG alliance. He maintained that Trump will continue on Obamas path.

This is not the only topic ruffling Turkish feathers, though. There is also discomfort over Trumps refusal to tone down what is seen as anti-Islamic rhetoric. Erdogans supporters are also displeased with him for bringing up the topic of Islamic terrorism in his inaugural speech.

The same applies to Trump's comments to CIA officials after his inauguration, when he referred to radical Islamic terrorism as an evil that has to be eradicated from the face of the world.

Obama took more notice of the Islamic worlds antipathy toward lumping the words Islamic and terrorism together. He refrained from using the term in order not to offend ordinary Muslims who do not support radical views.

As a political Islamist, Erdogan also insists that the term Islamic terrorism is offensive to Muslims and insulting to Islam. Terrorism has no religion, he argues.

Given his sensitivities as an Islamist, Erdogans reference to disturbing language from Washington probably covers a broader spectrum of concerns than just the PYD/YPG issue.

Trumps promise to relocate the US Embassy to Jerusalem, for example, is also agitating Islamic sensitivities and upsetting Erdogans support base, which is staunchly pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas and anti-Israeli.

The main problem is whether Trump will try and honor his election promises or not. His policies toward Israel and the question of [moving] the US Embassy to Jerusalem will be key topics, Oruc said.

In order not to undermine his expectations from the new administration, Erdogan also chose to overlook remarks by Michael T. Flynn, Trumps national security adviser. Erdogan, as an Islamist, would have strongly castigated Flynn's words under normal circumstances.

Flynn said in August that Islamism is a vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people, arguing that this had to be excised just like fascism, imperialism and communism.

Referring to Trumps vow to prevent Muslims from entering the US and to relocate the American Embassy, Rahim Er, a columnist for the Islamist daily Turkiye, said, We have yet to see whether the head that wears the crown becomes sensible.

Er said relocating the embassy to Jerusalem will result in turmoil in the region. If Trump makes the mistake of preferring the language of radical Christianity, this will harm the US, the Middle East and the world, Er said.

Ahmet Tasgetiren, another Islamist columnist for the Star daily, referred to the fact that Trump did not hold back from referring to Islamic terrorism even on a historic occasion like his inauguration. Tasgetiren also underlined Trumps promise to relocate the US Embassy to Jerusalem.

These are symbolic signs of evil for the Islamic world. In Turkey, there are millions of people ready to damn such initiatives by Trump. Let me put it clearly: We will not like such an America, Tasgetiren said.

The problem for Turkeys political Islamists is that Trumps definition of radical Islamic groups does not tally with theirs. Erdogan, for example cherishes his ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, especially in Egypt, but Trump clearly has no sympathy for the Islamic organization.

News that the first leaders in the region Trump called as president were Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi  Erdogans nemesis for crushing the Muslim Brotherhood  was unlikely to have gone down well in Ankara. Erdogan is still waiting for his call.

Retired Ambassador Suha Umar believes it will not take long for the differences between Trump and Erdogan to emerge. A former ambassador to Amman, Umar told Al-Monitor there is no surprise in the continuity of Washingtons long-standing Kurdish policy, which is unlikely to change fundamentally under Trump.

Umar also argued that another difficulty for Turkeys Islamists is to understand that the problem for the West, and the US in particular, is not Islam as a religion, but political Islam, which he says is not compatible with contemporary democracy. Democracy has no problem with religion, but political Islam has a problem with democracy, he said.

Umar believes Erdogan's world and Trumps world are ultimately irreconcilable, and the former ambassador indicates that this does not portend well for ties between the two countries  especially given Trumps proclivity for behaving like an elephant in a china shop.

Others may add that Erdogans own proclivities and abrasive manners will not help much either  especially once he has a better understanding of what Trump really represents for the region.
It caught the internet by storm earlier this month: Billy Corgan was performing in a recording studio in Alabama. But not in Muscle Shoals. Not Birmingham, either. Nope, not Mobile.

The Smashing Pumpkins frontman was at Analog on Third, a just-opened studio in Oneonta.

Wait, what? How did one of the century's most iconic rock stars end up in the tiny north Alabama town?

It, like all good stories, is at its heart a terrific love story.

The meet-greet

Brad White saw her for the first time during Memorial Day weekend 2014.

The Oneonta native was in Chicago, stopping by Madame ZuZu's, Corgan's tea shop. The store was a must-stop for Brad, a longtime fan of Smashing Pumpkins and Corgan.

And that's when he saw Lea Ervin.

He went up to her and introduced himself, and they had a nice conversation. They both were obviously Corgan superfans, and Lea was Corgan's research assistant a few years ago for his spiritual memoir. After a nice conversation, they went their separate ways.

But, in true romantic comedy fashion, that wasn't the last time they saw each other.

"Serendipitously enough," Lea recalled, "We were in the same hotel and our rooms were across from each other on the same floor."

Brad was in his hotel room and heard Lea outside, talking with her friend who made the trip to the Windy City with her. He knew he needed to talk to her again.

"He says he put his jacket on and grabbed the ice bucket and went out to get ice, so he would have another opportunity to talk with me," Lea laughs.

After that conversation, they shared contact info, and kept in touch. They texted. Messaged each other on Facebook. Made the occasional phone call.

But it soon became apparent that there was much more than a friendship brewing between the two. In March 2015, they began a long-distance relationship -- Brad in Alabama, Lea in school pursuing a master's degree in professional and technical writing at University of Arkansas-Little Rock.

And then, about a year ago, Lea took the ultimate plunge, and moved from Arkansas to Alabama to be with Brad. And all must have gone well, because they got married Oct. 29.

When they met up with Corgan at a Halloween party last year and told him their good news, he replied in his typical cynical, sarcastic fashion: "Well, if it all goes wrong, don't blame me.'"

(Note: He was actually super happy for the two of them, Brad says. Corgan's just a little -- OK, a lot -- sarcastic.)

A dream come true

(Courtesy)

When Lea moved to Alabama, they set on achieving Brad's longtime dream: Opening a recording studio. With the state's rich musical history, there are plenty of obvious places to open a studio -- Muscle Shoals, Sheffield and Birmingham all come to mind -- but instead, they found the perfect location in their own town. And that's when Analog on Third was born.

"People would never expect (a recording studio in) Oneonta," Brad laughs. "... But in the last five years, (the town has) been growing and more is happening."

And making the recording studio's home in Oneonta was a no-brainer to Lea as well.

"I've lived in many small towns and none have been as welcoming as Oneonta," she said. "They really embrace new people and new ideas and new opportunities. It's so great to live in a place that's so accepting of this and letting us make this happen. I love Alabama in general."

So they got to work. Late last year they purchased recording gear from across the nation -- Atlanta, New York, LA, Chicago, Nashville and Birmingham, according to Brad.

But it wasn't just equipment they needed. Since they're a small studio -- at least for now -- Brad serves as recording engineer and Lea as assistant. It's no surprise for Brad, but for Lea, well, it wasn't something she had envisioned.

"This is something that in a million years I would have never expected to do for a career," Lea, who also works as an instructor at UAB, said. "I mean, I'm an assistant recording engineer. I'm still learning what that is! When people ask me what I do for a living I say, 'I'm an assistant recording engineer!'... But it's such a great thing that has fallen into my lap. I'm grateful for the opportunity for it."

Some of the guitars here at Analong on Third. We found a great guitar stand to house them last week. Now to figure out where to put the guitar cases... Posted by Analog On Third on Monday, December 12, 2016

The perfect ending

Finally, this year, Brad and Lea got their studio ready for recording sessions -- right at the perfect time.

Billy Corgan announced in early January that he was planning on traveling across the U.S. a month as part of his "Thirty Days" project. He'd stop in towns and cities along the way and record videos and release them on social media. (He also announced other projects, including "50 By 50," a collection of 50 of his favorite songs; a new album; and a record of cover songs.)

And when he embarked on his 30 Days project in early January, Brad just knew that Corgan would make his way to Oneonta.

He kept telling Lea, "I feel like they're gonna come here. I just feel like they are."

So Brad kept track of Corgan's journey on social media, and when he saw that they had made their way to the small northwest Alabama town of Killen, he contacted Corgan's people to extend them an invite to their new studio. And sure enough, he found out at 11:30 the night before that Corgan and Co. were headed their way. They prepared for his visit -- drove to Birmingham's Whole Foods for treats for the Smashing Pumpkins frontman, called Brad's parents, etc.

And on Sunday, Jan. 15, Corgan was the first person to perform in their studio. He sang four songs, including a cover of Skeeter Davis' "End of the World," and played them a few tunes from an upcoming album.

It was the perfect way to christen their studio -- after all, if it wasn't for Corgan, they would have never met -- and introduce the town to its new business.

"Overall, we've gotten a lot of positive feedback from the people here," Brad says. "Like, 'Oh my god, we haven't seen a celebrity here in forever!' Somebody said George Wallace came here at one point in time, and someone else said Nancy Reagan stayed here overnight -- and now there's Billy Corgan."

Analog on Third is located at 210 Third St., Oneonta. Find their Facebook page here.
shooting.PNG

Authorities are on the scene of an apparently self-inflicted shooting by a Tennessee fugitive in Leesburg, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017.

(Cherokee County Sheriff)

Cherokee County authorities say they are investigating a shooting involving a fugitive from Tennessee.

Cherokee County Sheriff Jeff Shaver said the incident happened on U.S. 411 near Leesburg this afternoon.

Authorities believe a fugitive from Coffee County, Tenn. was fleeing when he took his own life after a pursuit with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Authorities are withholding the suspect's name at this time. It is unclear at this time whether this incident is related to a similar incident involving a Tennessee man in Oxford that happened this afternoon.
staton inmates in dorm horizontal julie bennett sept 2013.JPG

Inmates in a dorm in Staton Correctional Facility in Elmore County in September 2013.

(Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn told a joint meeting of the Alabama House and Senate Judiciary committees today that conditions in prisons are declining and risks are growing.

Dunn briefed the lawmakers on Gov. Robert Bentley's plan to build four new prisons with an $800 million bond issue and close most of the existing prisons.

The governor said the Alabama Prison Transformation Initiative is his highest priority for the legislative session, which starts Feb. 7.

Dunn said violence in prisons is rising and mentioned the stabbing of a warden and the slaying of Corrections Officer Kenneth Bettis at Holman prison last year.

"We are every day increasing the amount of risk that we accept," Dunn said.

Bentley proposed the prison plan last year. The bill passed both houses and went to a conference committee, which scaled it back to three prisons. That version passed the Senate but there was no final agreement.

Dunn said his department has tried to answer some of the questions lawmakers had last year, including studies to support the DOC's plan to pay off the bond debt through savings resulting from the consolidation of aging prisons into modern, regional prisons.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Mike Jones, R-Andalusia, said the DOC gave him about 500 pages of analyses, including comparisons of the cost of upgrading and maintaining the existing prisons with the cost of building new ones.

"I'm going to continue reading," Jones said. "I'm just like everybody else. I want to know the facts before I raise my hand up or down. But right now everything I'm reading, it sells itself. It sounds like it's just more cost efficient to go this direction as opposed to try to maintain and bring up what we have."

Rep. Merika Coleman, D-Birmingham, said she had not yet gauged the level of support for the plan in the House. With federal lawsuits and investigations pending, Coleman said it's clear the state needs to do something. She is skeptical about the amount of money being spent.

"My major thing is, why do four at a time?" Coleman said. "We know we have issues. Why not build one?"

Dunn said a smaller scale plan would not create enough savings from consolidations and economies of scale to cover cost of the debt.

The plan calls for paying the bond debt, estimated at about $50 million a year, without asking for more money from taxpayers.

The plan would replace Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women.

Thirteen of the 15 men's prisons would close and be replaced by three larger, regional prisons.

DOC's statistical report from October 2016, the most recent available on the DOC website, showed a continuing decline in the inmate population.

There were 23,074 inmates in Alabama prisons, a drop of 1,326 from a year earlier. That's still about 173 percent of the designed capacity of 13,318.

Dunn said the prison building plan would raise the designed capacity to about 16,000.

Officials say sentencing guidelines that took effect in 2013 are sending fewer nonviolent offenders to prisons, as expected.

Bennet Wright, executive director of the Alabama Sentencing Commission, said more than 75 percent of state inmates are violent offenders.

"Contrary to popular belief, our prison system is not filled with nonviolent offenders," Wright told the committees today. "Actually, Alabama has one of the most violent prison populations in the nation."

Wright said that is likely a factor in the rising violence in prisons.

In November, Dunn told the Joint Legislative Prison Committee that the number of violent incidents in prisons has roughly doubled in five years, including inmate-on-inmate violent and inmate-on-officer violence.

Involvement by the federal government is adding pressure on legislators to take action.

In October, the U.S. Justice Department announced a statewide investigation into Alabama prisons.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson is hearing evidence in a federal lawsuit alleging that mental health care in Alabama prisons fails to meet constitutional standards. Another federal trial is expected later this year over medical care.

In November, Dunn said the DOC was negotiating in a federal lawsuit by the Equal Justice Initiative over violent conditions at St. Clair Correctional Facility.

Dunn said state lawmakers are being given tours of state prisons.

The tour today was to include Staton Correctional Facility and Julia Tutwiler Prison, both in Elmore County.
Flint Water

In this March 21, 2016 file photo, the Flint Water Plant water tower is seen in Flint, Mich. Michigan environmental officials announced Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, that Flint's water system no longer has levels of lead exceeding the federal limit. The finding by the Department of Environmental Quality is good news for a city whose 100,000 residents have grappled with the man-made water crisis since 2014. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

(Carlos Osorio)

Months of testing have found that the water in Flint, Mich., no longer contains lead levels that exceed federal limits, officials announced Tuesday.

But though the city has reached that positive threshold, residents are still being advised to use filtered water for drinking and cooking, while the city continues to replace thousands of lead service lines. Last week, Flint marked its 1,000th day without reliably clean drinking water.

"This is good news and the result of many partners on the local, county, state and federal levels working together to restore the water quality in the City of Flint," Heidi Grether, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, said in a statement. "The Flint water system is one of the most monitored systems in the country for lead and copper, and we remain committed to continuing work in Flint as the city recovers."

That sliver of good news was a long time coming for the beleaguered city, a once-thriving manufacturing hub that has long suffered the consequences of economic decline. But it did little to dent the mistrust in government that remains in Flint or to convince many people dealing with the crisis that it is nearing an end.

"It is nowhere near the end of the story," said Mona Hanna-Attisha, the pediatrician who helped expose the lead crisis more than a year ago after discovering skyrocketing rates of blood lead levels in local children."

She said that even though lead levels in the city's water have now tested beneath the federal "action level" of 15 parts per billion, the existing regulations themselves are "weak" and do not ensure lead-free water. In addition, thousands of lead pipes remain in the city -- and infrastructure project that will likely take years to address -- making it important that residents continue to use adequate water filters to make sure the water coming from their taps isn't dangerous, she said.

"Once those lead pipes are replaced," Hanna-Attisha said, "then hopefully the people of Flint will regain the trust that has been shattered in their drinking water."

That trust is unlikely to return anytime soon.

"I'm so mad that I can't even think straight," Gina Luster, a community organizer for the advocacy group Flint Rising, said Tuesday.

On one hand, she said she worried that news of Flint's lead levels no longer exceeding federal limits would lead some residents to mistakenly assume the water was safe, even though the threat of lead and bacterial problems with the water remain. "I'm screaming all over social media, 'Don't drink the Kool-Aid. There's more than lead in the water.'"

At the same time, she expressed a sentiment common among many Flint residents about the new findings: Skepticism. In the early days of the water crisis, government officials repeatedly assured residents the water was fine, despite growing evidence that it was causing a range of health problems. Now, some residents still look warily upon pronouncements that their water is growing safer, even though that's what the testing has shown.

"They've fooled us too many times," Luster said. "I'm not going anywhere near it . . . I don't think we'll ever trust the water again. I think your have ane eniter sicty going to be suffeng PTSD about water for the rest of their lives."

The Flint water crisis is considered among the worst environmental disasters in the country's history, exposing a city of nearly 100,000 people -- more than 40 percent of whom live in poverty, according to Census data -- to tainted tap water for months on end. Thousands of those were children under age 6, who are among the most susceptible to the dangers of lead poisoning and can suffer life-long physical and cognitive problems if affected.

Flint had previously purchased its water from Detroit, but in early 2014, city fficials switched to water from the Flint River in an effort to save money. The city was being managed by an emergency manager appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder, R, at the time.

However, officials failed to properly treat the water by applying chemicals to prevent corrosion of pipes. As a result, rust, iron and lead were able to seep into the water piped into people's homes. While residents complained about the smell and color of their tap water and reported rashes and hair loss, government officials at all levels largely brushed aside the concerns for months.

Public health officials say that lead exposure can seriously affect a person's body. Even low levels of lead in a child's blood can impact a child's IQ and ability to pay attention, effects that cannot be reversed, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Investigators have filed dozens of criminal charges against 13 current and former state and local officials stemming from the crisis. The Environmental Protection Agency said that Michigan had failed to properly respond to the crisis. Last fall, the EPA inspector general faulted the agency for its own response, saying that it should have issued an emergency order to protect residents seven months before it actually did that.

According to the state Department of Environmental Quality, Flint's water system now tests at levels "comparable to cities with similar size and age of infrastructure in Michigan and across the nation." The state agency said this was based on testing at a number of locations over the last six months of 2016.

This is based on the "action level" required for a utility to take steps to replace pipes and improve corrosion controls, a federal rule that has come under criticism for decades.

Snyder apologized to the people of Flint during his State of the State address a year ago, saying that he was sorry "and I will fix it." Last week, during this year's address, he called what happened there "an unacceptable crisis" and vowed that the state's efforts to help were not over, a sentiment he echoed Tuesday after the new test results were announced.

"There is still more work to do in Flint, and I remain committed to helping the residents recover and restore their city," Snyder said in a statement. He called the lead results "one more step along the path toward Flint's future."

Authors Information: Mark Berman covers national news for The Washington Post and anchors Post Nation, a destination for breaking news and stories from around the country. Brady Dennis is a national reporter for The Washington Post, focusing on the environment and public health issues.
Judith Ann Neelley, convicted and originally sentenced to die for the 1982 brutal slaying of a 13-year-old girl in DeKalb County, on Wednesday won a legal battle in her fight to one day get a shot at parole.

The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Neelley can proceed with her lawsuit challenging an Alabama law enacted in 2003 aimed at retroactively preventing her parole.

The appeals court reversed U.S. District Court Judge Keith Watkins' ruling that says Neelley's 2014 lawsuit challenging that state law - Act 2003-300 - was filed too late under the statute of limitations. Watkins had said she should have filed the lawsuit in 2003.

In its opinion on Wednesday the appeals court states that the Parole Board initially thought the 2003 Act did not apply to Neelley because the retroactivity clause went back to 1998 and she committed her crime in 1982. "The Parole Board generally looks to the date of the commission of an offense in determining the applicability of laws bearing on parole eligibility," the appeals court stated.

"It was not until after seeking and receiving the opinion of the Attorney General in 2014 that the Parole Board reversed course and notified Neelley that it had changed its position and had decided that Neelley was ineligible for parole at any time," the appeals court stated.

That means, the appeals court ruled, Neelley did not exceed the statute of limitations. "There was no final decision in 2003; the relevant action occurred in 2014 when the State, by way of the Parole Board, decided to apply retroactively the Act to Neelley," the appeals court stated.

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange issued this statement Wednesday afternoon: "We disagree with this ruling. Judith Ann Neelley abducted, tortured, and murdered a 13-year-old orphan girl. As long as I am Attorney General, my office will do everything within its power to ensure that she remains behind bars."

Neelley's attorney, Barry Ragsdale, wrote in an email to AL.com on Wednesday in response to the appeals court ruling.

"The Eleventh Circuit's decision makes it clear that Neelley's challenge to this plainly unconstitutional law was filed in a timely manner," Ragsdale stated. "We can now return to the district court in Montgomery to litigate the significant constitutional issues presented by the Legislature's effort to retroactively deprive Ms. Neelley of her right to be considered for parole. We are confident that we will prevail on our constitutional claims and the court will agree with us that she should be reclassified as parole-eligible.

Neelley was convicted in the 1982 slaying of 13-year-old Lisa Ann Millican.

According to court documents Neelley in late September 1982 kidnapped Lisa from the Riverbend Mall in Rome, Georgia, and took her to a motel room for her husband Alvin to rape. Over the next several days, Alvin raped Lisa four times, with Neelley assisting as needed by beating her and handcuffing her to the bed to prevent an escape. When the couple was done, Neelley took Lisa to Little River Canyon outside Fort Payne where Neelley injected Lisa six times with liquid drain cleaner in a botched attempt to kill her. After that didn't work, Neelley led Lisa to the rim of the gorge. Over Lisa's pleas to go home, Neelley shot Lisa in the back and then shoved her into the canyon.

A jury recommended Judith Neelley serve a sentence of life imprisonment without parole but the judge instead imposed a death sentence. As Alabama Gov. Fob James was about to leave office he commuted Neelley's death sentence on Jan. 15, 1999 to a life sentence.

Alvin Neelley was convicted in the death of a woman in Georgia and died while in prison there in 2005.
Jeff Sessions

Attorney General-designate, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee'. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

(Andrew Harnik)

A journalist and a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Tuesday filed a lawsuit seeking information from nine federal agencies or departments on information they have about Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and a group that supports conservative judicial nominees.

Sessions has been nominated by President Donald Trump to become the next U.S. Attorney General. The nomination is in the Senate confirmation process.

The lawsuit was filed by Jason Leopold and Ryan Noah Shapiro.

Leopold is an investigative reporter who has covered topics including Guantanamo, national security, counter terrorism, civil liberties, and human rights. His work has been published in Buzzfeed, The Guardian, VICE News, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and Al Jazeera America. He has filed a number of Freedom of Information lawsuits over the years.

Shapiro is a graduate student at MIT and is described in the lawsuit as a historian of national security, the policing of dissent, and governmental transparency.

The lawsuit states that on Jan. 9 Leopold and Shapiro submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking records relating to Sessions and the Judicial Crisis Network. The requests were made to the following agencies or departments: the Army; the military's central command (CENTCOM); the Department of State; the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; U.S. attorneys; the EPA; the National Security Agency; the Security and Exchange Commission; and U.S. Secret Service.

Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative group and political action committee, has created the website www.confirmsessions.com to support Sessions' nomination for U.S. Attorney General, the lawsuit states.

The request includes records from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Alabama, which is a part of the DOJ and the office where Sessions once served as U.S. Attorney.

According to a press release issued on behalf of Shapiro and Leopold, they are specifically seeking: correspondence and other communications from, to, mentioning, or referring to Jeff Sessions; records authored or signed by Jeff Sessions regarding Civil Rights cases; records constituting, mentioning, or referring to Civil Rights complaints involving Jeff Sessions.

"The American public absolutely deserves to know the truth about the man Trump has nominated to hold one of the most powerful offices in the country, especially in light of the allegations of deep-rooted prejudice and contempt for civil liberties that have hounded Sessions for decades," Shapiro states in the press release.

Each request sought expedited processing but as of Tuesday the two men had not received a response from all but two of the agencies, according to the lawsuit.

The Army responded on Jan. 17 acknowledging receipt of the FOIA request but also stated that the request was "very broad" and a search could not be completed with reasonable effort based on the information provided. On Jan. 12 the Department of State acknowledged receipt of the request but said that the request did not reasonably describe the records sought "and that the request was therefore invalid and the case was being closed."

The lawsuit gives a brief history of Sessions' career, starting from 1975 through 1981 when he was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. From 1981 through 1994, Sessions was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan nominated Sessions to be a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.

"However, due to Sessions' history of racist and anti-civil libertarian comments and actions, his nomination was fiercely opposed by the NAACP and other civil rights and civil liberties organizations," the lawsuit states. "Sessions' nomination was ultimately rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee."

In 1994, Sessions was elected Attorney General of Alabama. In 1996, Sessions was first elected as a United States Senator from Alabama.

Sessions is the ranking Republican member on the Senate Budget Committee, a former ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, the lawsuit states. Sessions also serves on the Environment and Public Works Committee, the lawsuit states.

"Sessions was an early supporter of the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, and was a major policy adviser to the Trump campaign, especially in regard to immigration and national security," the lawsuit states.

"As with his earlier nomination by President Reagan for federal judgeship, Sessions' nomination by Trump for U.S. Attorney General has produced heated opposition," the lawsuit states. "This includes opposition from civil rights and civil libertarian organizations, Democratic lawmakers, and over 1,100 law school professors."

Criticism of Sessions has centered on his record regarding civil rights and allegations of racism.

The allegations date back to his 1986 confirmation hearing after he was nominated to a U.S. District Court judgeship by Reagan. During those hearings, former colleagues of Sessions testified he referred to the NAACP as "un-American," and once quipped he thought the Ku Klux Klan was "OK, until he learned that they smoked marijuana." Other testimony said Sessions had referred to a black assistant U.S. attorney as "boy."

Sessions has denied the allegations. Colleagues and others have defended Sessions, saying the allegations are false and the criticism is a smear campaign.

The lawsuit asks that a judge declare the federal agencies' failure to comply with their FOIA requests to be unlawful and asks that their requests for records be expedited.
Donald Trump

President Donald Trump talks with reporters n the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, before signing an executive order on the Keystone XL pipeline. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

(Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump will begin rolling out executive actions on immigration Wednesday, beginning with steps to build his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to two administration officials. He's also expected to target so-called sanctuary cities and is reviewing proposals that would restrict the flow of refugees to the United States.



The president is expected to sign the first actions -- including the measure to jumpstart construction of the wall -- Wednesday during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security. Additional actions will be rolled out over the next few days, according to one official.



Trump is said to still be weighing the details of plans to restrict refugees coming to the U.S. The current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim majority countries, according to a representative of a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues. The person was briefed on the details of that proposed action by a government official and outlined the expected steps for The Associated Press.

The officials and the public policy organization's representative insisted on anonymity in order to outline the plans ahead of Trump's official announcements.



On his personal Twitter account Tuesday night, Trump tweeted: "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"

Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017



Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten U.S. immigration policies, including beefing up border security and stemming the flow of refugees. He also called for halting entry to the U.S. from Muslim countries, but later shifted the policy to a focus on what he called "extreme vetting" for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.



While the specifics of Trump's orders were unclear, both administration officials said Wednesday's actions would focus in part on the president's plans to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico. He's also expected to move forward with plans to curb funding of cities that don't arrest or detain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, which could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars.



Trump's insistence that Mexico would pay for the wall was among his most popular proposals on the campaign trail, sparking enthusiastic cheers at his raucous rallies. Mexico has repeatedly said it will not pay for any border wall.



Earlier this month, Trump said the building project would initially be paid for with a congressionally approved spending bill and Mexico will eventually reimburse the U.S., though he has not specified how he would guarantee payments.



Trump will meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the White House next week.



In claiming authority to build a wall, Trump may rely on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.



The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-President George W. Bush and the majority of the fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office. The last remnants were completed after President Barack Obama took office in 2009.



The Trump administration also must adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built along the border. The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the U.S.-Mexican border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint U.S.-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.



It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still to be finalized. The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the U.S. for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though the person cautioned the details could still change.



There is also likely to be an exception in the refugee stoppage for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.



As president, Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing.



President George W. Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.



Other executive actions expected Wednesday include bolstering border patrol agents and ending what Republicans have argued is a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

If Trump's actions would result in those caught being immediately jailed, the administration would have to grapple with how to pay for jail space to detain everyone and what to do with children caught crossing the border with their parents.
A teen was killed after he was struck by a vehicle Tuesday afternoon near a high school in Jackson County.

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office said a 14-year-old male was hit in the Higdon community on Highway 71, near North Sand Mountain High School at 2:35 p.m. Authorities have not released the name of the victim, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Alabama State Troopers said the teen was hit by a 2015 Chrysler driven by a 16-year-old. Chief Deputy Rocky Harnen said the wreck was accidental and the uninjured driver was released.

No more information was released as troopers continue the investigation.
Gov. Doug Burgum has rejected a plea by North Dakotas American Indian tribes to give them exclusive rights to host internet gambling and sports betting in the state. But Burgum did endorse the tribes appeal to lower the legal gambling age from 21 to 19 at American Indian casinos and to allow use of credit or debit cards to bet. The tribes asked Burgum to approve the gambling expansion under tribal-state agreements. The tribes wanted gamblers using mobile devices to place bets that would be funneled through computer servers on tribal land. Burgum says state law doesn't allow that.
Federal appellate judge and former Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor's chances of landing on the Supreme Court are falling as President Trump is scheduled to announce his nominee to the high court Monday, Politico reported.

Bill Pryor

Pryor, a judge on the Atlanta-based Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, is one of three judges on Trump's shortlist, but appellate judges Neil Gorusch and Thomas Hardiman have vaulted Pryor for the president's consideration.

Pryor succeeded U.S. Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions as Alabama attorney general, and Sessions is among Pryor's biggest backers for the seat vacated by late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's death last year, according to Politico.

Trump included Pryor on a list of 11 potential Supreme Court nominees he released in May. Trump said at the time that the list "is representative of the kind of constitutional principles I value and, as president, I plan to use this list as a guide to nominate our next United States Supreme Court justices." Hardiman was on the list, but Gorusch was not.

While Pryor's record strongly indicates that he would be a conservative justice on the court, the knock against him is siding with the majority on a Georgia-based case protecting transgender employees against discrimination.

"Bill Pryor has been getting attacked from the right. Which is strange to me," John Malcolm of the conservative Heritage Foundation told Politico.

Unless Republicans invoke the so-called "nuclear option" to change confirmation of a Supreme Court nominee from 60 to 51 votes, Pryor would have difficulty finding Democrats to support him.

The pro-choice group NARAL pointed to Pryor's statement that Roe v. Wade is "the worst abomination of constitutional law in our country" to argue that he wouldn't be a fair justice.

"Pryor's activism, advocacy and collaboration with right-wing interests call into question his ability to be an impartial jurist," the group wrote in a fact sheet on Pryor. "His extremist rhetoric raises serious concerns about his judicial temperament."
Residents in the Cannon Ball district of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation have persuaded the tribal council to tell pipeline protesters to go home.

The Cannon Ball district residents objected when an alternative protest camp was suggested for outside Cannon Ball. The new camp was proposed in an effort to get protesters out of an area thats expected to flood. Cannon Ball has grown weary of the problems associated with the protests.

They are tired of the closure of the Backwater Bridge on N.D. Highway 1806. The bridge is on the primary route to work and hospital services. Residents think continued protest actions on the bridge are reducing the chances of having it reopened. The Cannon Ball gym, which is used for a variety of community events, needs cleaning and repairs after serving as an emergency shelter for protesters. Theres also concern about alcohol and drug use in the area believed to be related to the camps.

The residents took their concerns to the tribal council and the council agreed. The councils action doesnt mean the Cannon Ball residents and the tribe dont agree with the opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline. It does mean they feel the protest camps have served their purpose and the fight against the pipeline can be conducted in other arenas, such as the courts.

President Trump's decision Tuesday on the Dakota Access Pipeline and Keystone Pipeline puts the emphasis on court action.

The tribe and residents should be commended for taking a stand. After the protests gained worldwide attention, it wasnt easy to ask everyone to leave. They risked being accused of betraying the efforts to stop the pipeline. They want to return normalcy to their lives while maintaining opposition to the pipeline. They feel so strongly about the need to disband the camps that they asked the council to take a tough stand. If necessary, the district wants federal law enforcement help in removing protesters from the district and in setting up posts blocking those who do not live or work in the district from entering the town.

Thats a pretty clear message to the camps. Most living in the camps appear to be preparing to leave. Some have vowed to stay. If there are holdouts its uncertain what agency might take responsibility for removing them. Some campers are on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land and that would point to federal responsibility.

Hopefully the situation can be resolved peacefully. The tribe asked for help from other tribes and groups when they launched their battle against the pipeline. They should be able to decide when they no longer need the presence of the protesters. That time has come and everyone should listen and go home.
Al Jazeera joins 55 scientists who will be conducting 22 science research projects along the way to Antarctica.

Antarctica  It is the harshest, coldest and windiest continent on Earth. No journey there is ever uneventful.

It comes as no surprise then that the day after I set sail from Hobart, Australia, for a month on-board the research ship Akademik Treshnikov, a fierce storm forces us to change course.

Winds up to 100km/h and waves up to 15m high are forecast, so many of the 55 climate scientists on board start securing their experiment and re-checking the bolts holding their hardware on to the deck of the 133m-long vessel.

Among them is a team which plans to drive a robotic submarine under the Antarctic ice shelf.

Damage to their equipment would threaten their mission, and jeopardise one of the expeditions main science projects.

Id been invited to join the second leg of the expedition which has been organised by the newly formed Swiss Polar Institute.

It chartered the Russian research vessel to circumnavigate Antarctica, conducting 22 science research projects along the way.

The ship has already sailed from Cape Town to Hobart, via four sub-Antarctic islands. I joined it for the following leg, a voyage down to the Antarctic ice shelf itself, after which we will sail around the continent and north to Punta Arenas in Chile.

In the hours before the storm arrived, we are treated to a warm sunny evening in the southern Tasman Sea.

Albatross and petrel fly around the ship as it stops mid-ocean to allow the scientists to take water samples, dropping a large rosette of bottles to a depth of 1,000m.

Opening them in sequence to take samples at different depths, they are trying to improve their understanding of the oceans processes and how its vast population of phytoplankton are responding to changes in the climate.

Scientists know that Antarctica plays a vital role in regulating ocean currents and the complex marine food chain that they sustain. But they are concerned that, along with the Arctic, Antarctica is heating up faster than any other parts of the planet, giving urgency to the need to better understand what is happening.

We wake up the next morning to heavy seas and strong cold wind. And then the rolling begins.

The Russian crew adjusts course and speed to minimise the impact of the great walls of water that sweep in from the west, nudging and tipping the 12,000-tonne vessel. As the winds pick up, access to the ships front decks is closed.

But hoping to attach a GoPro camera to the top deck, above the bridge, I fight my way through the wind and rain, and up six flights of metal stairs. The view from the top is astounding: mountainous white-capped waves line up as far as the eye can see, disappearing in the dark sky.

The wind simply howls. Its force buffets me as I clamp a camera to the rail. The ships bow drives into the waves, sending great clouds of spray up and over the vessel. I had brought another camera with me, and wrestle with the wind just to hold it firm enough to be able to record what was happening.

The Southern Ocean puts on an impressive and wild display, a reminder of the raw power of nature in this part of the world.

Things calm down the next day. Except for a flooded lab, the storm caused little damage.

It did force us further west than had been planned and delayed our journey to Macquarie Island. As a result, it was decided to head directly down to the ice  the Mertz Glacier in East Antarctica.

Its a four-day sail, so with improved conditions, the ship increases speed.

In the coming hours, we will pass through the Polar front, the area where Antarcticas cold waters well up and push back the warm waters from the north, creating a barrier that is believed to help keep the continent cold.

In the space of a few foggy kilometres, the ocean temperature drops to just 4C. The Polar front is considered to be the point at which we will truly be entering Antarctic waters. At that point, we will be subject to the continents extreme weather.

It is here that the real expedition begins.

Al Jazeera English Science and Technology editor Tarek Bazley is part of an international science research expedition circumnavigating Antarctica.

Follow the expedition and find Bazleys location here.
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic  Outrageous. Disgusting. Nauseating. These are just a few of the long list of qualifiers against the Trump administrations announcement to go ahead with building the infamous wall separating the United States from the rest of Latin America.

We have to protect ourselves from the aggressive policy of persecuting migrants. The attacks against human rights is one of the central topics that brought us to this summit, said Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa as he arrived in Punta Cana.

Our commitment is to defend the right to migrate, the most important form of movement. It is not the flow of capital or the flow of merchandise, but rather the mobility of human beings, which is a human right, Correa added.

Ten heads of state and 33 foreign ministers gathered at the annual CELAC  the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States  summit in the Dominican Republic were already preparing to debate ways to confront a new regional reality.

READ MORE: Trump to put limits on refugees, immigration

The phantom of protectionism and closure of borders would have grave consequences. We must de everything we can to prevent a return to the past  We are facing an adverse international scenario. We need to stick together to defend our alliance, said host President Danilo Medina as he opened the summit.

But the speed with which the Trump administration has decided to go ahead with his electoral vow to build a wall along the US-Mexico border apparently caught everyone off guard.

Tuesday night, as his plane was preparing to fly him to Punta Cana for the summit, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto abruptly cancelled his trip, attributing it to reason of internal agenda.

The announcement came after Pena Nieto got wind of President Trumps plans to announce details of the wall of infamy, as it is called in much of Latin America.

It is not just Mexico that would be affected, but tens of thousands of Central Americas and Caribbeans who for decades have used the US-Mexican border to enter the United States without visas.

The CELAC summit is due to end late on Wednesday with a strong condemnation of White House policy towards Latin American, including the renegotiation of free trade agreements with Mexico (NAFTA) and probably Central America (CAFTA).

Nevertheless, for now, Trumps counterparts south of the border seem hard pressed to respond with something more substantial than just words.
Following the departure of their former president, Yahya Jammeh, Gambians reflect on the opportunities ahead.

On Saturday, Yahya Jammeh boarded a private jet with a smile on his face. Holding a Quran in one hand, the former president of The Gambia waved at a group of about 50 well-wishers who had gathered on the tarmac.

Outside Banjul airport, the streets of the administrative capital were quiet. Fearing violence and unrest, many residents had left the city  either for rural towns elsewhere in the country or for neighbouring Senegal. But on the beaches on the Senegambia strip and in the Westfield district inside the Serrekunda suburb, some 13km from the capital, thousands were on the streets celebrating a new political dawn.

The president who had run their nation for more than 22 years had finally accepted defeat and left the country, heading for Equatorial Guinea. A painful chapter in West African history had closed. And many Gambians could hardly believe it.

Two things come to my mind when I think of Jammehs 22-year rule: Fear and repression, says Sait Mait Jaw, a history lecturer and activist.

A lot of people have disappeared, [been] tortured and forced into exile. Gambians under Jammeh were like people with a mouth but no tongue. We could not share how we felt about the regime openly or even when with friends, says Jaw, who was one of the thousands of Gambians who spent time in jail without charge under Jammeh.

READ MORE: Gambia: A lesson for African dictators

Nyillan Fye, an entrepreneur who lives in Banjul, describes Jammehs ousting as being like a veil lifting over the the nations psyche.

Now that the torture has finally ended, I can say Gambians are both excited and even more hopeful of this new beginning, she says.

Shortly after the results of Decembers election came in  showing that opposition leader Adama Barrow had won  Jammeh accepted defeat. But the incumbent went back on his decision on December 9, when Barrow suggested that Jammeh would be tried at the International Criminal Court for crimes committed during his presidency.

His refusal to step aside brought the country to the brink of war, when the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, deployed 7,000 troops on December 29, to force his hand.

Fearing the worst, almost 50,000 people fled to the border regions of neighbouring Senegal.

With his political allies abandoning him and the countrys army chief announcing that Gambias 2,500 soldiers would not face-off with the ECOWAS troops Jammeh conceded, and chose exile. In return, ECOWAS offered him amnesty and treatment befitting of a former head of state.

As he departed, however, Gambians had to confront the mess he had left behind.

We are starting this country from scratch by Fatou Juka Darboe, youth and gender activist

The new administration allege that he looted government coffers to the tune of $11m before leaving.

We still are not sure how much he took, but he definitely took something, because he has always treated this country as his personal property, Fatou Juka Darboe, 22, a youth and gender activist from Banjul, speculates.

We are starting this country from scratch, adds Darboe, who is cofounder and director of operations of the Gambian chapter of the Give1 Project, a youth activism and empowerment initiative.

Human rights activists, opposition leaders and journalists have long accused Jammeh of a list of abuses. These include torture, enforced disappearances, stifling the media and banning opposition parties and their leaders.

In 2014, two UN special rapporteurs said torture was a consistent practice in the country and that avoiding arrest is a necessary preoccupation for ordinary Gambians.

Jammeh monopolised power, and purportedly favoured his own tribe, the Yola, while threatening the countrys largest ethnic group, the Mandinka, with extermination. In 2016, the UNs special adviser on the prevention of genocide condemned Jammeh, calling his threats irresponsible and extremely dangerous.

Jammeh also interfered with healthcare, suggesting that herbs could solve asthma and HIV, and even instructing HIV-positive patients to stop their antiretroviral therapy. In 2007, when Fadzai Gwaradzimba, the UN Development Programmes country director for The Gambia, expressed concern over this, she was expelled.

In 2008, he advised homosexuals to leave the country or risk decapitation. In 2014, he said he would slit the throats of gay men. His government also passed a law during 2014 that stipulated life sentences for the LGBTQ community.

He created a vicious atmosphere that left people living in a perpetual state of fear, says Ousmane Sene, director of the West African research centre in Dakar.

Although Jammehs government was seen as progressive when it came to womens rights, banning female genital mutilation in 2015 and imposing lengthy sentences for the husbands of child-brides, these moves were seen as mere mementos in a larger story of cruelty.

Jaw says Jammeh leaves behind a mixed legacy. On the one hand he tortured Gambians and was arguably one of the worst leaders in the countrys history, he explains.

On the other, he will be remembered for bringing university education to the door steps of ordinary Gambians. He will also be remembered for the roads and the infrastructure. Nonetheless, all these goods have been overshadowed by the numerous human rights violation and the lack of freedom under his regime.

Sene agrees. You cant say you are empowering women when you are terrifying the entire society. People are more interested in safety, food and a place to sleep at night, the political analyst says.

Broken dreams

As part of a group that called themselves the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council, then 29-year-old Jammeh took over the country in a coup during the summer of 1994.

The coup was supported by opposition leaders and the majority of young people as the new leader promised to end the abuse of power and corruption that had dogged the country since its independence in 1965. He promised to recover stolen assets and to improve gender equality and education.

We are not here to stay for long. We are here to create a just system and to put up structures that would ensure that what happened in the past 30 years, will never happen again, Jammeh said shortly after

taking power.

But his position soon began to change.

I by Ousmane

, there was all this hope in this young man consolidating the country, but then he turned out to be a lunatic]

Initially, he delayed the return to civilian rule. And when he finally did act in September 1996, he banned political parties and opposition politicians. Then he targeted the media, closing radio stations and intimidating journalists.

The president, who is not freely elected, exercises most control over decision-making, and government operations in general are opaque, Freedom House, the US-based organisation monitoring freedom of expression and democracy around the globe, wrotein a 2015 report.

Many Gambians attempted to flee. In fact, according to the International Office of Migration The Gambia was the country with the fifth highest number of its citizens arriving in Italy by sea in 2016. And this despite the fact that it has a population of fewer than two million.

Per capita, no other nationality has made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean more often than Gambians.

I remember how people were excited when he took over, there was all this hope in this young man consolidating the country, but then he turned out to be a lunatic, Sene says.

The future

The Gambia has long been fraught with deep social and economic inequality. According to the UN, more than 60 percent of its people live in poverty, including a third who live on less than $1.25 a day.

He has left behind a bankrupt country  the economy is in tatters, says Senegalese political analyst Yoro Dia.

President Barrow now faces a daunting task. On Monday, he addressed journalists in Dakar, promising to reunite the country. Gambians had waited too long for change, he said.

We shall together do this in order to redeem the good image of the country and move it to greater heights, Barrow told them.





Sabrina Mahtani, Amnesty Internationals West Africa researcher, said in a statement following Barrows inauguration that her organisation would be keeping an eye on whether the new administrations big promises are fulfilled.

Among those promises is the freeing of political prisoners, the removal of repressive laws that target freedom of expression and dissent and to rejoin the International Criminal Court. He also said he would set up a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the crimes of the former government.

Babou Njie Sallah, a Gambian political activist based in the UK, says he is confident that Barrow will keep his promises.

He is with a very competent, reliable and honest team who all have one common interest, which is to see the success of Gambia.

But, he adds, It will take some time to rebuild our country after all the damage that has been done in the past 22 years.

For others like Darboe, the countrys future is bigger than the new president. Everyone is excited. We all know we made this change, and so its up to all of us to get involved.

Still, concerns remain.

Jammehs tribalism fractured Gambian society along ethnic lines and that may take time to heal. And his departure means that justice is unlikely to be served for the thousands of Gambians who suffered under his rule.

The biggest challenge [for the new administration] would be to institutionalise democracy in the country  to send a message that democracy needs participation of all Gambians, no matter who they vote

for, says David Zounmenou, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Security Studies, based in Pretoria, South Africa.

Sene believes that focusing on national reconciliation should be the new presidents first priority.

More than anything else, the new president needs to allow people to feel as if they can speak freely  this is part of political development, Sene reflects.
The recent British Supreme Court ruling will not stop Brexit but it will change how it is approached.

Simon Usherwood is Professor of Politics at the University of Surrey, and Dep Director of the "UK in a Changing Europe".

The British Supreme Court ruling of January 24 was a mixed result for the Prime Minister Theresa Mays government (PDF).

On the one hand, they saw their earlier defeat in the High Court defeat confirmed, committing them to passing legislation through parliament before they can start the formal process of leaving the European Union under Article 50.

On the other hand, the court unanimously agreed that the Scottish and Northern Irish assemblies did not need to be consulted, closing down what might have been a very awkward development, given the majorities to remain in the EU in both nations.

Perhaps most importantly, the case highlights the extent to which the government has failed to develop a coherent plan of how to manage and pursue Brexit, albeit having decided what substantive outcomes it seeks.

Having made a very strong commitment to starting negotiations by the end of March, May now finds herself having to squeeze a bill through parliament, something that could have been done much more leisurely if there had not been an appeal to the original ruling in November.

Whats next?

To be clear, there is no real chance that parliament will not pass this bill. Despite a majority of MPs and Lords being in favour of remaining in the EU, there is broad acceptance that the June 2016 referendum was legitimate and its result is to be respected. With a Labour Party leadership stating that they will push for support of the bill, there are insufficient rebels on either side of the House to overturn Mays majority.

What is much less clear is the price that parliament will extract for its support. Most obviously, there is very strong support for a White Paper, which would outline the governments plans in a more formal way, before voting on such a bill, as well as many voices asking that parliament should have oversight and scrutiny of the Article 50 negotiations.

Until now, the government has only grudgingly conceded that parliament will have a vote on the final deal, but without the opportunity to shape that deal this means little.

The overall impact of the Supreme Court has been to change the manner of Brexit, rather than the destination. The bold political reality of the referendum remains as before, but we are now seeing the emergence of different political takes on how to handle it. by

As such we are about to see a frenzy of activity in parliament once the draft bill is published. The government will be able to avoid the more radical amendments, but is likely to find itself pushed to accept more oversight, especially if Labour can find and keep some discipline on the issue.

Once again, Jeremy Corbyn cuts an ambivalent figure here  torn between a general dislike of the EU and its works and a worry about the erosion of workers rights caused by the Brexit. While Tory rebels have started to build links with counterparts across the House, it remains to be seen whether they can outmanoeuvre the government.

What of the other nations in the UK?

There is an added complication to all of this, caused  ironically  by the Supreme Court judgment. The closing-down of any role for Scotland and Northern Ireland in Brexit negotiations might have side-stepped matters now, but it is clear that it hands the Scottish National Party (SNP) a very strong stick with which to beat the drum for a second independence referendum.

While the SNP had been one of the very few parties to be prepared for a Leave vote in the referendum, they have been hamstrung by opinion polls that suggest the Scottish public are not particularly eager to leave the UK.

OPINION: Theresa May is failing Brexit Britain

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon moved quickly after the Supreme Court ruling to present the decision as a marker of how little control Scotland has over its own future. With a commitment to bring a motion to the Scottish Parliament shortly on the triggering of Article 50, Sturgeon is clearly working on using this as a way of getting voters behind her, as and when she decides to hold another referendum.

Regardless of the result, Theresa May will find that such a referendum will require time and effort that she can ill-spare from Article 50 negotiations.

OPINION: Nicola Sturgeon  The new champion of liberalism

If Scotland holds the potential for a break-up of the UK, then Northern Ireland holds the potential for the further undermining of the peace process. While the collapse of the Executive last week was not due directly to Brexit, the widespread concerns about the re-imposition of a hard border with the Republic of Ireland and about the disentanglement of the EU from the Good Friday agreements have left many on edge.

The Supreme Courts marginalisation of the Northern Ireland Assembly is a further blow, albeit one whose effect remains to be seen as new elections get under way.

Discovering the full extent of Brexit

Taken together, the overall effect of the Supreme Court has been to change the manner of Brexit, rather than the destination. The bold political reality of the referendum remains as before, but we are now seeing the emergence of different political takes on how to handle it.

The suspicion that many voters have voiced about the establishment trying to overturn the referendum remains unfounded, but the lack of a clearly defined plan makes it easy for politicians and commentators across the spectrum to point to actions that look dubious.

In reality, the British political system is still trying to discover the full extent of what Brexit might involve, as well as what might be done within that. Except a lot more debate about what the options might be in the coming months and years, long after this legal complication has been dealt with.

Simon Usherwood is reader in politics at the University of Surrey, where he specialises in UK-EU relations and in the study of euroscepticism.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Khaled A Beydoun is a law professor, and author of American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear.

On January 21, one day after US President Donald Trump was sworn into office, the resistance was inaugurated by way of womens marches across the country. Muslim-Americans were prominent in these marches, with civil rights leaders such as Linda Sarsour organising and addressing the Washington, DC, crowd, and Muslim American women leading offshoot marches. The ubiquitous displays of non-Muslims chanting slogans and holding signs in defence of Muslims was heart-warming.

As Muslim women and men marched, however, the looming perils of Trumps counterterror programme  still largely undefined  raced through their minds. The day before, during his inauguration speech, Trump vowed to completely eradicate radical Islamic terrorism  from the face of the earth.

Trump is inheriting from President Barack Obama the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) programme, that was based on the premise that foreign terror threats are tied to Muslim American citizens at home. Like other policies of the Obama administration, this programme was linked to the idea that radicalisation is an exclusively Muslim phenomenon.

Trump has adopted this idea, but unlike the Obama administration, he aims to integrate this conflation of radicalisation and Islam with the belief that the US is interlocked in a war with Islam  and with the eight million American citizens that adhere to it.

Exit Obama and Countering Violent Extremism. Enter Trump and war of civilisations.

Counter-radicalisation from Obama to Trump

In 2011, Obama formally instituted counter-radicalisation as his administrations signature counterterror programme CVE. It was a major departure from the George W Bushs counterterror programme in three important ways.

First, it shifted its concern from foreign terrorists to the homegrown violent extremists, focusing on Muslim residents and citizens as suspect radicals. Second, CVE relied on a network of informants to monitor subjects of interest within Muslim communities, institutions, and public spaces, in addition to the electronic surveillance model established under Bush. And third, Obama strategically toned down the clash of civilisations rhetoric that characterised the Bush administration, in exchange for the language of tolerance that helped in the grooming of Muslim informants.

OPINION: The informants  Manufacturing terror

In five years, Obama built a counter-radicalisation infrastructure and institutionalised the presumption that radicalisation is a purely Muslim phenomenon. The structures and strategy has now been handed over to his successor, Trump, to build upon, as he assembles a counterterror team.

In late December, a Trump administration insider told Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials that the new president was committed to the counter-radicalisaton national security model. However, the racially neutral CVE would likely be renamed to Countering Violent Jihad or Countering Radical Islam making it fully transparent that Muslims are the specific targets of this programme.

This renaming aligns with Trumps modus operandi of blatant Islamophobia, but it also promotes the worldview that the US must commit itself to an intractable civilisational war with Islam.

Several of the organisations awarded large grants by the Obama administration, with reach into vulnerable Muslim American communities, are financially bound to carry their counter-radicalisation initiatives under President Trump. by

Apart from mere rhetoric, Trump has surrounded himself with cabinet members who subscribe to this world view. General Michael Flynn, Trumps national security adviser, wrote that, The countries and movements that are trying to destroy us  are united by their hatred of the democratic West and their conviction that dictatorship is superior. He also tweeted in February 2016 that Fear of Muslims is rational and has referred to Islam as a malignant cancer.

Jeff Sessions, Trumps nominee for attorney general, referred to Islam as a toxic ideology. Michael Pompeo, picked to lead the CIA, stated that Muslim American leaders that do not explicitly denounce acts of terror  both in the US and beyond  are potentially complicit.

CVEs Muslim-American connection

One would think that Trumps brazen Islamophobia would shrink the pool of Muslim American informants and interlocutors that could carry his counter-radicalisation programme forward. However, several of the organisations awarded large grants by the Obama administration, with reach into vulnerable Muslim American communities, are financially bound to carry their counter-radicalisation initiatives under President Trump.

Therefore, these organisations will carry forward programming in Muslim communities even under Trumps Countering Violent Jihad strategy.





Such programming will expose Muslim Americans to the heightened suspicion and hardline policing that Trump is sure to streamline in the coming months.

Muslim organisations that have received CVE funding have capitalised on their communitys ignorance of counter-radicalisation for cash and have endorsed the state baseline that radicalisation is specific to Muslims.

Looking forward, unless these organisations divest themselves of the CVE grants, they are functionally carrying out the Trump administrations counterterror vision. Until such divestment occurs, community members must not engage with or provide support to these organisations.

The continuous association of Muslim organisations with CVE signals the existence of elements within the broader Muslim-American landscape that will trade off the best interests of the community for their own, and collaborate with the most nefarious administration for cash.

As Trumps counter-radicalisation programme takes shape, displays of solidarity with Muslims will be most needed within Muslim-American communities: in mosques, community centres, student organisations, and households, where the threat of counter-radicalisation will descend with unprecedented intrusion and unseen ferocity.

Khaled A Beydoun is an assistant professor of law at the Barry University Dwayne O Andreas School of Law. He is a native of Detroit.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Government orders internet blackout after protests against what activists call marginalisation of English-speakers.

English-speaking regions of Cameroon have now been without the internet for more than a week after Anglophone teachers, lawyers and students went on strike over alleged bias in favour of Francophones.

Wednesday marks the eighth day since the authorities ordered the countrys telecommunications providers to shut off internet connections to the regions of Northwest and Southwest.





Al Jazeera contacted Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the countrys minister of communications, who pledged to comment on the situation but he has yet to do so.

The internet blackout came after the government outlawed at least two Anglophone groups  Southern Cameroons National Council and the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium  and arrested some of their leaders.

The groups had been pushing for so-called Ghost Town actions, in which they urge members of the public to stay at home and shops and businesses to shut.

The aim is to peacefully protest against what activists call the marginalisation of the English-speaking regions by government imposing the French language on their schools and courts.

The towns of Bamenda, Yuku, Nkambe and Buea came to a standstill on January 9, according to pictures and videos posted online.

Using hashtag Bring-Back-Our-Internet, many on social media expressed their outrage at the governments response to the protest.

#Cameroon govt blocked all internet access in English-Speaking regions Join us in telling them to #BringBackOurInternet #KeepItOn

Pls RT  Rebecca Enonchong (@africatechie) January 22, 2017

Protests in the Anglophone regions have been going on for years, but intensified late last year when protests turned violent.

Anglophone teachers, lawyers and students have been on strike since early December with many urging peaceful protests to call for the establishment of a two-state federation.

On Monday, Cameroonian President Paul Biya reportedly signed a decree establishing the National Commission of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism in the country.

Activists, however, rejected the measure saying their strikes and protests are about more than language.

The discontent

Areas controlled by Britain and France joined to form Cameroon after the colonial powers withdrew in the 1960s.

As a result, the country now has 10 semi-autonomous administrative regions; eight are Francophone, while the Northwest and Southwest regions are home to approximately five million English-speakers.

Anglophones in the country have long complained that they face discrimination, saying that they are excluded from state jobs as a result of their limited French language skills.

They also complain that official documents are often only published in French, even though English is also an official language.

READ MORE: Cameroon teachers, lawyers strike in battle for English

There are issues in the judicial sector as well.

The countrys legal system is largely based on French civil law, but English-speaking regions still operate under the English common law.

Cameroonian lawyers say that the government is sending French-educated civil law judges who do not understand English common law to their courts.

Anglophone Cameroonians believe that only a complete overhaul of the administrative departments in the country and an inclusive federal constitution can end their woes.

Cameroon had adopted a federal government system in the 1960s but this system was later dropped after a referendum.
Philippine leader claims American adventure to blame for incident as he also points finger at his predecessor.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has blamed the US CIA and his predecessor Benigno Aquino for a botched raid on a leader of an armed group that left 44 police dead.

It was an American adventure with the cooperation of some, and apparently with your [Aquinos] blessing, Duterte said on the eve of the second anniversary of the Mindanao raid on Wednesday.

Why was it kept under wraps? It was actually an operation of the CIA, he said during the event held at the presidential palace attended by widows and families of the slain officers.

READ MORE: Dozens of police commandos killed in Philippines

In January 2015, police commandos killed Zulkifli Abdhir, who was on the United States governments list of most wanted terrorists, in a raid on a remote farmland area in the south, where various Muslim separatist rebel groups and other fighters are based.

Gunmen ambushed the attacking police commandos and killed 44 of them in a day-long battle. A Philippine Senate investigation blamed poor planning and coordination for the deaths.

The raid was carried out during the term of Dutertes predecessor Aquino, derailing efforts to make a peace pact with the main Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Dutertes statement on Tuesday was the first time a Filipino official publicly linked the CIA to the incident.

During his seven months in office, Duterte has sought to loosen the Philippines longtime alliance with the US, while forging closer ties with China and Russia.

US forces on the scene

Aquino had justified the police raid, saying that Zulkifli had been training armed fighters in the southern Philippines to make bombs.

The US had said Zulkifli was a top fighter of the Southeast Asian armed group Jemaah Islamiyah.

A Philippine Senate report into the raid later concluded the US played a substantial role by providing training, equipment and intelligence to the Filipino forces.

The Senate report did not refer to the CIA.

In a statement to Al Jazeera, Molly Koscina, spokesman of the US Embassy in Manila said, We renew our heartfelt condolences to the family members of those who died trying to bring peace and stability to Mindanao.

This operation was planned and executed by Philippine authorities. We refer you to them for details of the operation.





Jose Torres, a Filipino journalist who frequently covers the Mindanao conflict, told Al Jazeera that any CIA involvement remained unclear.

What is clear, however, was US forces were on the scene of the incident. The US did not deny it. Some US military men were confirmed to be with their Filipino counterparts a few kilometres away, Torres said.

Torres also said unnamed sources privy to the operation said some Caucasian-looking men were among the casualties.

Photos taken by journalists on the scene show US servicemen helping in the airlift of at least one soldier who appeared to be Caucasian, he said.

Richard Javad Heydarian, a Manila-based political analyst and professor, urge Duterte to form an impartial, credible and balanced investigative body to look into deaths.

Command responsibility and the role of foreign powers is yet to be fully investigated, he told Al Jazeera. The families need closure. The truth is yet to prevail.

With additional reporting by Ted Regencia.
Spokesperson tells Al Jazeera move would add oil to the fire and insists Palestinians will not abandon the city.

Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan has warned US President Donald Trump not to add more oil on the fire by moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Hamdans comments came in response to promises made by Trump and his administration to make the move  a decision that would effectively recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital. The eastern sector of Jerusalem was occupied in 1967 in an act that was not recognised by any other country in the world.

Trumps press secretary said last week that the new administration was in the beginning stages of discussing a possible relocation.

[Trump] has to make a choice whether he wants to create peace in the region or he wants to add more oil on the fire, Hamdan said in an interview with Al Jazeeras UpFront.

Palestinians will not accept to abandon Jerusalem, they will not accept to abandon their rights.

Palestinians hope to make East Jerusalem the capital of their future state, and have had the broad support of the international community for that aspiration.

READ MORE: Trumps embassy move to Jerusalem self-destructive

On Tuesday, Jean-Marc Ayrault, French foreign minister, reiterated his countrys stance of pursuing a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians, with East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.

Separately, in Iraq, popular Shia Muslim leader Muqtada al-Sadr denounced the potential relocation as a declaration of war on Islam.

Palestinian political party Fatah has also issued warnings to Trump against it.

While previous US presidents have maintained that the status of Jerusalem would be left to final status negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, they have not formally and unilaterally accepted Israels declaration that its capital should be an undivided Jerusalem.

Rights groups say that, despite international opposition, Israel  and in particular, the current government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  has worked to actively change the demographics of occupied East Jerusalem.

Israel has been revoking Palestinians residency, demolishing their homes, and building illegal settlements for Israeli Jewish settlers under threat of violence.

Last month, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding Israel halt settlement activity, calling it a flagrant violation of international law.

Asked whether the embassy moving to Jerusalem would lead to violence, Hamdan told Al Jazeeras Mehdi Hasan: If there was changes or the United States administration try to make a change in the status of Jerusalem, of course, that will mean an action from the Palestinian side and no one can control that.

Hamdan added that he personally does not accept the idea of having violence from the Palestinian side.

These remarks conform with previous statements made by Palestinian groups, including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, linking attacks by Palestinians  usually acting on their own  against Israeli soldiers and illegal settlers as resulting from provocations.

Everyone expected this to happen. Jerusalem is boiling. Yesterday, the Israeli forces demolished the houses of the Palestinians who attacked Israelis, but they never punish Israeli attackers, Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas official, told Al Jazeera after a November 2014 attack on a synagogue.

The full UpFront interview with Osama Hamdan will air on Friday, January 27 at 19:30GMT. The show will be available at this link  www.aljazeera.com/upfront  from the same time.
A pair of agency-directed memos signed Tuesday by President Donald Trump could force completion of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota as well as breathe new life into the Canadian-based Keystone XL pipeline.

Trumps memo did not grant a drilling easement for the $3.8 billion Dakota Access project to cross U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land on the Missouri River/Lake Oahe but directs the agency to expedite review with the idea that prior reviews already satisfy federal law.

Congressman Kevin Cramer said he believes the memo will force the agency to rescind the decision it made last week to begin a full-blown environmental impact statement on the crossing and issue an easement in short order.

Cramer said he made contact Tuesday with federal law enforcement agencies, including the CIA and the U.S. Marshal service, in anticipation of pushback from hundreds of pipeline protesters camped near the water crossing just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation when construction resumes.

I think we can expect some form of (police) relief. I believe the greater the force, the more of a deterrent to bad behavior, rather than have unnecessary violence, Cramer said.

All the works been done for this easement, and I think it will be a very short matter of time, days or possibly weeks, and the easement will be issued, Cramer said.

The memos reference to prior reviews refers to the corps initial environmental assessment, when the agency approved the pipeline crossing in July, stopping short of issuing an actual easement.

The easement has been withheld because of objections from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which is suing the corps in federal court for failure to properly consult on a project that could contaminate the reservations water and impact sacred historic sites.

Its a big day, Cramer said. But this will only be over when the easement is granted and the pipe is connected.

One pipeline expert said he wishes the memo were a direct order to approve the easement. However, Brigham McCown, former DOT senior executive and administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration under President George W. Bush, said it clearly signals Trumps intention to move the pipeline forward.

McCown said an EIS will likely never be started for the Dakota Access Pipeline.

I suspect somebodys going to have to say, `Weve reaffirmed the initial environmental assessment, we made the right decision, here are the permits, do your thing, McCown said.

When that happens, the federal court suit between the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the corps will be moot, he said.

The corps referred any questions to the White House.

McCown said he hopes the administration moves quickly to provide the easement from fear further delay will only escalate matters at protest camps.

Im concerned about the people and the flooding, he said.

The potential for a flood where hundreds of Dakota Access protesters remain encamped in the Cannonball River floodplain is a concern for Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D. Heitkamp said she hopes Trumps memo ends long delays for the pipeline, amid concerns for the safety of everyone from law enforcement, to nearby residents, to protesters. She said the Trump administration needs to reimburse the state for protest enforcement costs.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., an advocate for the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline, applauded Trumps memo to the Secretaries of State, Army and Interior inviting TransCanada to reapply for a presidential permit to cross the U.S.-Canadian border with its tar-sand oil pipeline project. Obama refused a border permit.

Getting the XL pipeline back on track signals that our nation will begin to build the kind of energy infrastructure we need now and into the future," Hoeven said.

The pipeline route clips a tiny bit of far southwestern North Dakota, but does have uptake capacity for 100,000 barrels of Bakken crude.

McCown said he thinks the current low price of oil will be a factor in whether TransCanada takes Trump up on his offer.

Others also reacted positively, including Gov. Doug Burgum, the state Democratic party and the North Dakota Petroleum Council.

After months of politically driven and costly delays by the Obama administration, President Trump has moved this important infrastructure project one step closer to completion, Burgum said.

This pipeline underwent an exhaustive review process and was twice upheld by federal courts. We ask that the Trump administration provide federal law enforcement resources to assist in upholding the law and protecting people and property rights as the project moves toward completion under Lake Oahe," he said.

House minority leader Corey Mock, D-Grand Forks, said its time to resolve the pipeline issue.

All parties should heed the calls of (Tribal Chairman David Archambault II), the Standing Rock Sioux council and our governor for the remaining protesters to leave the camp before the potentially dangerous flood seasons begins, Mock said.

Climate change activists, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democrat and presidential contender, said hell fight Trump all the way.

I will do everything I can to stop these pipelines and protect our planet for future generations," Sanders said in a statement.
One of most senior North Korean officials to flee post says he expects more defections as government systems crumble.

One of the most senior North Korean officials to defect has alleged that his countrys government is on the verge of collapsing as its people become increasingly frustrated with repressive policies and governance.

Im sure and I can say that Kim Jong-uns days are numbered, said Thae Yong-Ho, who was North Koreas deputy ambassador to Britain before fleeing to South Korea in August.

In his first press conference for foreign correspondents in Seoul, Thae said he expects more North Korean officials will follow suit by defecting.

The elite were turning their backs on Kim, he said, adding: The traditional structures of North Korean systems are crumbling.

Nuclear-armed North Korea has been ruled by the Kim dynasty since its foundation in 1948. It is subject to UN Security Council sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes and is accused by the West of widespread human rights abuses.

READ MORE: UN slaps North Korea with toughest-ever sanctions

Thae said his disillusionment with the regime turned to despair after Kim, who inherited power from his late father Kim Jong-Il five years ago, began ruthlessly purging officials.

Kim had his own uncle and one-time political mentor Jang Song-Thaek executed in late 2013 on an array of charges, including treason and corruption.

North Korean diplomats are generally compelled to leave one of their children behind in Pyongyang when they are dispatched abroad, but Thae was able to take both his sons, now aged 19 and 26, to London  easing his preparations to defect.

The Kim Jong-un regime abuses love between parents and children to control North Korean diplomats, he said.

OPINION: Trouble for Trump  Iran, North Korea, Palestine, China

After Thaes defection the Norths state media denounced him as human scum and accused him of embezzling state funds, raping a minor and spying for South Korea in exchange for money.

Pyongyang carried out two nuclear tests and a series of missile launches in 2016 and Thae said Kim was planning to complete its atomic development by the end of this year to take advantage of leadership transitions in South Korea and the United States.

The only way to resolve the issue of Norths nuclear threats is the elimination of Kim Jong-Uns regime, he said.

He called for continued international sanctions on Pyongyang and publicity campaigns to spread external information in the North and encourage its citizens into popular uprisings.

Some tentative economic reforms have been put into effect in the North, but those further down the food chain are finding life much tougher, Thae said.

Once unthinkable, acts of low-level dissent or criticism were becoming more frequent.
The prisoners were convicted of various offences, including murder, kidnapping and rape.

Kuwait has hanged seven prisoners, including a royal family member, according to a statement carried by the state-run KUNA news agency.

The hangings on Wednesday were the first executions in the oil-rich Gulf state since mid-2013.

Those executed included two Kuwaitis, two Egyptians, a Bangladeshi, a Filipina and an Ethiopian. They were convicted of offences ranging from murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and rape.

Read more: Kuwait opposition demands end to corruption

The Kuwaiti government identified the royal as Sheikh Faisal Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah and said he was convicted of premeditated murder and illegal possession of a firearm.

Nusra al-Enezi, the other Kuwaiti, was convicted of setting fire to a tent in 2009 during a wedding party for her husband, killing around 57 people, including women and children.

It was an apparent act of revenge against her husband for taking a second wife.

The Filipina and Ethiopian women were domestic helpers convicted of murdering members of their employers families in two unrelated crimes.

The two Egyptians were convicted of premeditated murders, while the Bangladeshi was convicted of abduction and rape.

In the Philippines, authorities had earlier identified the Filipina hanged as Jakatia Pawa, who was convicted of killing her employers 22-year old daughter in 2007.





In an interview with ABS-CBN television, Charles Jose, a spokesman for the department of foreign affairs, said the Philippine government pursued diplomatic, political and religious channels to free Pawa.

Pawas brother, Gary Pawa, told the Associated Press news agency that his sister had called early on Wednesday morning, crying as she informed him of her scheduled execution.

She asked him to take care of her two children.

In a separate interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Pawa said the execution came as a shock as they were hoping that his sister would be home soon.

He said his sister was innocent.

The last known executions to be carried out in Kuwait were in 2013, when a Pakistani, a Saudi and a Bidoon, or man without citizenship in the emirate, were hung.
Senior official threatens to withdraw Palestinian Authoritys recognition of Israel if US embassy is moved to Jerusalem.

A senior member of President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah party has threatened to withdraw the Palestinian Authoritys recognition of Israel in response to the planned relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

During his electoral campaign, US President Donald Trump pledged to move the embassy to Jerusalem despite reluctance to do so by past administrations.

Speaking to the Voice of Palestine radio station on Tuesday, Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of Fatahs Central Committee, said the Palestinian Authority, or PA, planned to adopt a raft of retaliatory measures in the event of the embassys relocation.





One of these steps would be to withdraw recognition of the Israeli state, said Ahmad.

[We would also] demand that Israel recognise Palestine as a state with Jerusalem as its capital.

The Fatah official went on to assert that Palestinians would escalate their peaceful popular resistance in response to any embassy move.

Earlier in the day, Osama Hamdan, the spokesman for Hamas, a group that governs the Gaza Strip, told Al Jazeera that Trump should not add oil to the fire by moving the embassy to Jerusalem.

Jerusalem remains at the core of long-standing disputes between Israel and the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem  occupied by Israel for 50 years  as the capital of a future state.

READ MORE: Trumps embassy move to Jerusalem self-destructive

Although Israel has claimed the city as its eternal capital since occupying East Jerusalem in 1967, the international community has never recognised the assertion.

Until now, most foreign diplomatic missions remain based in Tel Aviv.

On Monday, the White House announced that no decisions had been made on the planned move, saying talks on the issue were still in the very early stages.

Earlier this month, Republican politicians in the US introduced legislation, which is still winding its way through the Senate, to relocate the embassy and recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital.
Al-Shabab attackers fight their way into a popular hotel in central Mogadishu after ramming a car bomb into its gate.

At least 28 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a coordinated gun-and-bomb attack carried out by al-Shabab at a popular hotel in Somalias capital, Mogadishu, according to officials.





The assault on Wednesday morning began when attackers rammed an explosives-packed car into the gate of Dayah Hotel, which is near Somalias parliament in central Mogadishu, and then stormed inside exchanging gunfire with security guards.

A second massive car bomb blast went off after ambulances and journalists had arrived at the scene, leaving at least four reporters wounded, according to AFP news agency.

We have confirmed 28 people died and 43 others were injured in the two blasts at the hotel, Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of the capitals ambulance services, told Reuters news agency.

Security Minister Abdirizak Umar told reporters at the scene that 51 people were wounded in the two blasts at the hotel.

Al Jazeeras Catherine Soi, reporting from Nairobi in neighbouring Kenya, said a freelance journalist working for Al Jazeera Arabic was among those wounded.

OPINION: US policies do more harm than good in Somalia

Colonel Abdiqadir Hussein, a police officer, told Reuters that security forces eventually managed to secure the building.

We have rescued the people and concluded the operation at Dayah Hotel.

Witnesses said the powerful explosions caused extensive damage in the area near the hotel, shattering dozens of windows and damaging parked cars.

All the neighbouring houses have been destroyed, Yusuf Hassan, editor of Somali newspaper Haqiqa Times, told Al Jazeera from the scene.

I see people crying because they have lost their relatives, he added.

It is really a big tragedy.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a report by Andalus radio, which is linked to the armed group.

Well-armed mujahideen [fighters] attacked the hotel and now they are fighting inside the hotel, the report said.

Dozens of people, including members of Somalias parliament, were thought to have been in the hotel at the time of the attack, Captain Mohamed Hussein told The Associated Press news agency.

The hotel is popular with politicians, government officials and entrepreneurs.

Al-Shabab has carried out a series of deadly attacks in Somalia to try to topple the countrys western-backed government.

In June, the group claimed responsibility for an attack on the Nasa Hablod hotel, which killed at least 15 people.
The two accused face assault charges after video emerged online showing them forcing a black man into a coffin.

A pre-trial hearing of two South African white men accused of forcing a black man into a coffin has been adjourned until March, in a case that brought race relations in the country back into the spotlight.

The accused pair, Willem Oosthuizen and Theo Martins Jackson, were charged in November with assault and intent to cause grievous bodily harm, after a video emerged online showing them pushing Victor Mlotshwa into a coffin and threatening to burn him alive in Middelburg, about 160km east of Johannesburg.





The 20-second video, which was widely circulated on social media, shows the victim cowering inside a coffin, wailing as one man pushes a lid on his head and the other threatens to put petrol and a snake inside the coffin.

The case was adjourned to March 23.

Al Jazeeras Tania Page, reporting from Middelburg where the pre-trial was being held on Wednesday, said the case had created widespread public interest and anger.

Protesters from all three major political parties in South Africa have come here with banners, singing, chanting, demanding that the accused face the full force of the law, she said.

Brutal racism

The two accused have been denied bail twice, with judges describing their act as an act of brutal racism.

Mlotshwa says he was kidnapped walking down a road, Page said.

They took him to a particular farm where they threatened to douse him with petrol; they called him derogatory names, beat him and forced him into the coffin.

At a previous court apperance, the accused pair told judges Mlotshwa was trespassing on their farm in Middelburg and was in possession of stolen copper cables.

Back in November, Mlotshwa told reporters outside the court that he wanted justice.

They were accusing me of trespassing. They beat me up and forced me into the coffin, he said.

The degrading attack sparked demonstrations and caused outrage on social media with hundreds of South Africans condemning the mens behaviour under the hashtag #coffinAlive.

It also laid bare racial tensions that endure in the country more than 20 years after the end of white-minority apartheid rule, as well as persisting inequalities between black and white South Africans.

READ MORE: S African black students protest racist hair rules

Incidents like this show that there is still huge racism out there; a huge divide, and a total misunderstanding between race groups, Mienke Steytler, of South Africas Institute of Race Relations, told Al Jazeera.

With regards to the coffin case, these two young men do have racism ingrained in them.

Outside the pre-trial venue on Wednesday, Tim Mashele, an official of the governing African National Congress Party, told Al Jazeera that similar accidents have been happening across the country, but the police have refused to intervene.

Part of the problem that has ignited racial tension is that the majority black population remain marginalised.

We do not own the economy. The economy is still in the hands of the white people, he said, adding that by giving back land to the majority black population, their dignity is also restored.

Black people make up 80 percent of South Africas 54 million population, yet most of the economy remains in the hands of white people, who account for about 8 percent of the population.
A civil lawsuit has been launched over alleged indiscriminate arrests of lawyers, legal observers, journalists and medics amid protests that turned violent in Washington DC during President Donald Trumps inauguration ceremony last week.

Jeffrey Light, an attorney who filed the lawsuit on Friday  the same day that the inauguration was held  against police officials, told Al Jazeera that about six journalists, more than three lawyers and a number of medics were among more than 230 who are facing rioting charges.

Rioting carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $25,000 fine.

At least three of the lawyers detained had been marked as legal observers  who are designated to protect the rights of activists at demonstrations, Light said.

Light, who has been contacted by many of those arrested, accused officers of using excessive force after some protesters hurled rocks and bottles at police, who responded with volleys of tear gas, stun grenades and an indiscriminate mass arrest.



Anti-Trump protests spring up across the US

During the demonstration, at least one car was set on fire and windows of some downtown businesses were damaged by protesters.

Everybody has been charged with felony rioting and they [the police] have not given a reason. They arrested everyone in a particular area. Police have reported that unspecified people threw objects, but have not accused specific individuals of throwing objects, Light said.

It is unconstitutional because people were arrested without any determination by police that they were doing something wrong.

The DC Police Departments press office told Al Jazeera that they can not comment on the arrests due to the lawsuit.

Interim Police Chief Peter Newsham, who has been named as a defendant in the lawsuit, has been quoted by local media as saying that it was disappointing that the clashes and arrests happened, but was very, very pleased at how his department handled the situation.

READ MORE: Environment agency faces media blackout under Trump



US protests to protect civil rights

Lights comments to Al Jazeera on Wednesday came as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a US-based media watchdog, issued a statement calling on DC authorities to drop rioting charges against the detained journalists.

Evan Engel, a senior producer at the news website Vocativ, Aaron Cantu, a freelance journalist who has written for Al Jazeera and Truthout besides other news agencies, and Alex Rubinstein, a reporter for Russia-based TV network RT, were among the media members detained.

Carlos Lauria, of the CPJ, told Al Jazeera that the excessive charges against the journalists have raised fears of press freedom being under threat in the country.

Journalists should be able to cover the inauguration without interference, especially because people have the right to recieve information about what is going on that important day  The crackdown sends a chilling message to reporters and the media who cover protests, he said.
Nothing achieved in 15 years of war except bloodshed and destruction, say the Taliban in an open letter to US president.

The Taliban has called on President Donald Trump to withdraw US forces from the quagmire of Afghanistan, saying nothing has been achieved in 15 years of war except bloodshed and destruction.

In an open letter to the new US president published on one of its official web pages, the Taliban said the US had lost credibility after spending a trillion dollars on a fruitless entanglement.

So, the responsibility to bring to an end this war also rests on your [Trumps] shoulders, it said.

Afghanistan was invaded by the US in 2001 and has become Washingtons longest military intervention since Vietnam.





It has also been the costliest, with more than $100bn spent.

The Taliban justify their ongoing insurgency in the letter, claiming that the groups Jihad and struggle was legitimate religiously, intellectually, nationally and conforming to all other lawful standards.

So far, Trump has had little to say publicly about Afghanistan, where around 8,400 US troops remain as part of the NATO-led coalitions training mission to support local forces as well as a separate US counterterrorism mission.

Two of Trumps top security appointments  retired Marine Corps General James Mattis as secretary of defense and former General Michael Flynn as national security adviser  both have extensive experience in Afghanistan.

The Taliban, however, warned Trump against relying on the kind of unrealistic reports presented to former presidents by their generals, saying: They would emphasise continuation of war and occupation of Afghanistan because they can have better positions and privileges in war.

Calling the ongoing violence as illegal, ineffective, and aimless, the group claimed the Afghans, as a nation ravaged by war for 38 long years, sincerely want to bring this war to an end.

OPINION: No consensus in Afghanistan on how to deal with Taliban

However, they know, despite whatever reasons for previous wars, the principle cause for the ongoing conflict is the presence of foreign occupying forces in our independent country, the letter added.

You have to realise that the Afghan Muslim nation has risen up against foreign occupation.

The Taliban have made steady inroads against the western-backed government in Kabul since coalition forces ended their main combat mission in 2014, with government forces now in control of only two thirds of the country.

The group has repeatedly urged the US and its allies to leave Afghanistan, ruling out peace talks with the Kabul government while foreign forces remain on Afghan soil.
US president also reiterates he will build Mexico wall as he moves to fulfill some of his most controversial pledges.

The US president, Donald Trump, will sign executive orders restricting visas and immigration, as well as the entry of refugees, making good on his signature campaign pledges, according to several media reports.

Trump is due to speak on Wednesday to employees at the Department of Homeland Security  which handles immigration  and sign orders on refugees and national security, the reports said.

Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall! Trump tweeted late on Tuesday.

OPINION: Donald Trump  The Islamophobia president

One of the orders would restrict immigration and access to the US for refugees and visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, according to the Washington Post, which noted that citizens from many of these countries already faced major obstacles in obtaining US visas.

Immigration experts told the newspaper that the orders would stop all admissions of refugees for 120 days, including those fleeing Syrias civil war, and a 30-day halt to issuing immigrant and non-immigrant visas to people from some countries with Muslim majorities.

Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

But there is likely to be an exception for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations, according to The Associated Press news agency.

Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, said at a news conference on Wednesday: Make no mistake  whatever language is used in President Trumps executive orders on refugees, immigration and visa programs  Muslims are the sole targets of these orders.

Never before in our countrys history have we purposely  as a matter of policy  imposed a ban on immigrants or refugees on the basis of religion, or imposed a religious litmus test on those coming to this nation, he added.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Awad called the order a blind policy that does not make and will not make America safer.

It will make America and our society more fearful and less welcoming. And thats not the American way of being great as a nation, said Awad.

During the fiscal year 2016, the US government had admitted 10,000 Syrian refugees, the majority of whom were families and their children.

Total and complete shutdown of Muslims

Trump launched his presidential campaign with a promise to restrict the entry of refugees and build a wall along the southern US border with Mexico.

He also called for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the US until authorities can better screen those who come into the country.

What remains unclear is how the orders would be implemented by John Kelly, homeland security secretary, who told his confirmation hearing that the border wall might not be built anytime soon.





On Thursday, Trump is also expected to sign executive orders on the so-called sanctuary cities, where local officials refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities on such things as handing over undocumented immigrants for deportation.

Trump has also vowed to scrap the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, which his predecessor Barack Obama introduced in 2012.

The programme allows more than 750,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the country as young children to live and work in the US without fear of deportation.

But whether, and how, Trump addresses the programme remains unclear.

Many options are being worked through on DACA, the Post quoted a White House official as saying.

In addition to the border wall, Trump also wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada, warning last week that he would abandon the pact unless the US gets a fair deal.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto vowed on Monday that there would be neither confrontation nor submission in the negotiations, which will include trade, immigration and other issues.
US president claims as many as five million people voted illegally in November poll, in which he lost the popular vote.

President Donald Trump announced that he would seek an investigation into alleged voter fraud after claiming that several million people voted illegally in Novembers election that brought him to power.

There is no public evidence of widespread illegal voting in last years poll and Trump and the White House are yet to substantiate the presidents claim.

I will be asking for a major investigation into voter fraud, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and even those registered to vote who are dead  and many for a long time. Depending on the results we will strengthen up voting procedures! Trump wrote on Twitter.

He did not elaborate beyond the two Twitter posts.

I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

Hours after Trump told congressional leaders that as many as five million people could have voted illegally, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that this belief was based on the studies hes seen.

I think the president has believed that for a while based on studies and information he has.

Trump lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton by around 2.9 million votes, but won the all-important state-weighted electoral college.

OPINION: The Kremlin and the US election

Spicer said Trump had seen a study suggesting that 14 percent of people who voted were non-citizens.

State officials in charge of the November 8 election have said that they found no evidence of widespread voter fraud and there is no history of it in US elections.

House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, the most senior Republican in Congress, repeated on Tuesday that he had seen no evidence to support Trumps claims.

Trump has bristled at references to the popular vote results, which, combined with allegations of Russian tampering in the election on his behalf, has led to criticism that his victory was not legitimate.
Mexican President Pena Nieto condemns the move and says his country wont pay for the border wall.

President Donald Trump has signed directives to begin building a wall along US border with Mexico and crack down on US cities that shield undocumented immigrants, moving quickly on sweeping and divisive plans to curb immigration and boost national security.

The move will improve safety in both countries, Trump said after signing the orders on Wednesday.

A nation without borders is not a nation. Starting today, the US gets back control of its borders, he said.





This will help dismantle cartels, keeping illegal weapons and cash from flowing out of American and into Mexico.

The order, signed on Wednesday, will enable construction of a large physical barrier on the southern border, spokesman Sean Spicer said.

Building this barrier is more than just a campaign promise, its a common sense first step to really securing our porous border, Spicer added.

This will stem the flow of drugs, crime, illegal immigration into the United States.

The measure will also bolster resources for border security agents, increase detention space for undocumented immigrants and ensure people are deported.

In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Trump said construction of the wall would start within months, with planning starting immediately, and that Mexico would pay back to the US 100 percent of the costs.

READ MORE: Latin America leaders condemn Trumps Mexico wall at CELAC summit

Well be reimbursed at a later date from whatever transaction we make from Mexico, Trump said.

Im just telling you there will be a payment. It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form. What Im doing is good for the United States. Its also going to be good for Mexico. We want to have a very stable, very solid Mexico.

Condemning the move, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said his country will not pay for the construction of the wall.

Mexico does not believe in walls. I have said it time and again: Mexico will not pay for any wall, he said.

I regret and condemn the decision of the United States to continue construction of a wall that, for years, has divided us instead of uniting us, Pena Nieto said in a brief televised message.

The Mexican leader did not comment on his forthcoming trip to the US to meet Trump.

Reuters news agency reported that the Republican president is expected to take steps in the coming days to limit legal immigration, including executive orders restricting refugees and blocking the issuing of visas to people from several Muslim-majority Middle Eastern and North African countries including Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen.

The second executive order, signed during an appearance at the Department of Homeland Security, was to strip federal grant money from sanctuary states and cities, often governed by Democrats, that harbour illegal immigrants.

In an interview with ABC news network, the US president clarified that illegal immigrants brought to US as children shouldnt be very worried.
Baqa al-Gharbiyya, Israel  This sleepy agricultural village, an hours drive northeast from Tel Aviv, feels worlds apart from Israels commercial capital. Garbage lines many of the narrow, rutted streets, symptoms of the lower level of government funding bestowed upon the town; unemployed men mill about, complaining that Israels policies have hurt the local economy.





Avigdor Lieberman, Israels hard-right foreign minister, has proposed annexing this and other Arab villages to a future Palestinian state. Their inhabitants would be stripped of their Israeli citizenship unless they were willing to leave their land and swear a loyalty oath to the state.

His plan is deeply unpopular here and in nearby villages. Despite the discrimination most Arabs experience in Israel, they say few will renounce their Israeli citizenship to become Palestinians.

Im here in this state now, said Jamil, the owner of a small bakery near one of the towns green-domed mosques. My family has been here since before 1948. I dont want to go out to Palestine. I dont like the wars, I have problems with the [Israeli] government, but a Palestinian state? No.

Liberal Israeli commentators have denounced Liebermans plan as racist, but centrist and left-wing Israeli politicians have been more muted in their criticism, leading many Israeli Arabs to believe that their countrys political leadership tacitly supports Liebermans plan.

Hes shouting what they are not saying, said Ihad Abu Mokh, a lifelong Baqa al-Gharbiyya resident, over coffee in a busy cafe earlier this month. They dream it. But they know this is the 21st century. We are not in the Dark Ages now.

Divided. All Palestinian. All Israeli.

But The Palestine Papers reveal that Tzipi Livni, Israels former foreign minister, did say it: During several 2008 meetings with Palestinian negotiators, Livni proposed annexing Arab villages to the future Palestinian state, forcing tens of thousands of Israeli Arabs to choose between their citizenship and their land.

Related Ali Abunimah: Obama shift on 1967 line opens door to Palestine population transfer

Her clearest language came on June 21, 2008 , when she told senior Palestinian negotiators Ahmed Qurei and Saeb Erekat that their land swaps should include Israeli Arab villages. Udi Dekel, a top adviser to the then-Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, rattled off a list of villages that would be annexed to Palestine.

Livni: We have this problem with Raja [Ghajar] in Lebanon. Terje Larsen put the blue line to cut the village in two. [This needs to be addressed.] We decided not to cut the village. It was a mistake. The problem now, those living on Lebanese soil are Israeli citizens. Dekel: Barka, Barta il Sharqiya, Barta il [Garbiya], Betil, Beit Safafa Qurei: This will be difficult. All Arabs in Israel will be against us. Becker: We will need to address it somehow. Divided. All Palestinian. All Israeli.

Two months earlier, in another meeting with Qurei and Erekat , Livni herself mentioned the same villages, describing them  their status in the state of Israel  as a problem in need of resolution.

Livni: Let us be fair. You referred to 1967 line. We have not talked about Jerusalem yet. There are some Palestinian villages that are located on both sides of the 1967 line about which we need to have an answer, such as Beit Safafa, Bartaa, Baqa al-Sharqiyeh and Baqa al-Gharbiyyeh.

Livnis choice of words is striking. Beit Safafa, Bartaa and Baqa al-Gharbiyya all sit at least partly on the Israeli side of the Green Line; their inhabitants carry Israeli passports, pay taxes to the Israeli government, and overwhelmingly self-identify as Israelis.

But Livni describes them as Palestinians  and suggests that they do not belong in the state of Israel.

I was born in Israel. Im not leaving.

Baqa al-Gharbiyya used to be just Baqa, a name still used by many residents. The creation of the state of Israel split the village in half, with Baqa al-Gharbiyya on the west side of the 1948 armistice line and Baqa al-Sharqiyya on the east.

No question of carrying out a transfer Livni has described the Palestinian state as a solution to the national aspirations of the Palestinian people, and she uses that term to include Israeli Arabs. This was her language from a November 2007 meeting with the French foreign minister: The idea of creating a Palestinian state is to give a national answer to the Palestinians, wherever they are. Those who live in the territories, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, those who live outside of the territories, whether they live in different refugee camps or in Israel  its the national answer to them. She was criticized for her comments; Israels popular Nana10 Web portal ran an opinion piece comparing her to Avigdor Lieberman. But she used similar language a year later, when she described a Palestinian state as a national solution for Israeli Arabs. Livni quickly tried to clarify her comments, telling Israeli radio in December 2008 that there is no question of carrying out a transfer of forcing them to leave.

Residents regularly travelled back and forth between the two until six years ago, when the Israeli separation barrier was built. Several streets in the villages now dead-end at an eight-metre-high concrete wall topped with barbed wire.

Those who live in Baqa al-Gharbiyya face what they, and many Israeli and international human rights groups, describe as systemic prejudice. Israeli Arabs routinely face discrimination when applying for jobs, and their towns and villages often receive a lower level of government funding than Jewish communities.

In its 2009 report, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel described the discrimination faced by Arabs as open and explicit, and warned that the government is threatening their most basic rights  to equality, education and employment  as well as their very citizenship.

Look around this village, you see the streets, the cars, the buildings, how it looks, said Mustafa Fayoum, a resident of the Arab village of Jaljulia. Compare it to Tel Aviv. You will see the difference.

Yet Qurei was right when he said that Arabs in Israel would oppose a transfer to Palestine: In dozens of interviews on a visit earlier this month, only one Baqa al-Gharbiyya resident said he would prefer to live in a Palestinian state.

Asked why, many cited economic reasons; even the jobless thought their future prospects were better in Israel.

Our circumstances here are better than there, even though here we dont feel that we are in the community, or in the society of the Jewish people, said Bashar al-Alimi, an unemployed 38-year-old.

Its a difficult question, said Mounir Abu Hussain, a 34-year-old mechanic. But my job is here, the work is good here, and maybe it would be hard to go into a Palestinian state.

[Israel] is a Western country, its more developed, there are more options, less corruption, said Ismail Athmani, 34. And I was born in Israel. Im not leaving.

But the economy wasnt the only reason why Baqa al-Gharbiyya residents said they prefer Israel to Palestine. Several described the West Bank as a police state, and said that  despite the discrimination they face  they prefer the level of political freedom in Israel.

Its bad in the West Bank. We have family there, we hear things. The police in Palestine, you cant talk about politics unless youre in the most closed-off place. Otherwise you die, Athmani said.

His friend Abu Mokh leaned across the table to interrupt him. Not die, he said with a rueful grin. You just disappear.

A widespread view

Polls of Israeli Arabs over the last decade have consistently reached a similar finding: most would rather remain in Israel than live under Palestinian jurisdiction.

A December 2010 survey by the Brookings Institution found that 58 per cent of Israeli Arabs oppose the sorts of swaps proposed by Lieberman and Livni. The Jewish-Arab Relations Index, an annual publication from the University of Haifa, consistently finds majority support for that view (57 per cent in the most recent survey, in 2008). Similarly, a 2000 poll of Umm al-Fahm residents found that 83 per cent want their city to remain Israeli.

Many families in these villages have lived in Israel since before 1948  before there was a state of Israel, in other words. One man described himself as more Israeli than Lieberman, referring to the Soviet Union-born foreign minister who immigrated to Israel at the age of 20.

Netanyahu cannot take me and tell me, you are living here, Fayoum said. I am Israeli, only Israeli.
From Native Americans to military veterans, what draws people to the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline?
One phone call to UF Health Shands Hospital on Tuesday resulted in an evacuation of the food court, University Police said.

UPD spokesperson Maj. Brad Barber said police were told a bomb threat was made at about 10:45 a.m. The unknown caller said there was a bomb near the Wendys and Chick-fil-A in the food court. Police were unable to trace the call.

Patients, visitors and staff were told to leave the first-floor food court area and surrounding hallways of the north campus hospital, Rossana Passaniti, a Shands spokesperson, wrote in an email.

Out of an abundance of caution, this morning we temporarily evacuated and secured the first-floor food court area of UF Health Shands Hospital, Passaniti said.

Although it is unknown how many people were evacuated, she said the food court is typically busy during that time.

The food court was reopened at about 11:30 a.m. after police dogs and UF Health Shands Security cleared the area.

The most recent bomb threat on campus was a handwritten note left in the first floor womens bathroom in the New Engineering Building on Nov. 16, according to Alligator archives.

The investigation into who made the bomb threat to Shands is still ongoing, Barber said. There is no further threat to the hospital.

@merylkornfield

mkornfield@alligator.org

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After members of the Jewish Student Union spent nearly four hours Tuesday promoting Jewish Heritage Month, a man wearing a swastika armband rode his bicycle nearby, prompting outrage from students and members of the Jewish community.

Although the JSU members did not see the man approach Turlington Plaza  they were packing up to leave when the man was spotted by another student  Jackie Bontjes, JSUs vice president of programming, said she felt scared.

When I saw it I was immediately very thankful that I wasnt out there tabling, because I dont know what wouldve happened if we were still out there, she said.

Video and photos of the man standing on Turlington Plaza and riding his bicycle circulated on Facebook throughout the day, eliciting dozens of comments that condemned the use of the symbol, and some that defended the mans right to uncensored expression.

UF spokesperson John Hines issued a statement noting that while the First Amendment protects personal political expression, UF does not encourage hate on its campus.

However, it is critical to recognize that swastikas are symbols associated with the Holocaust which exterminated six million Jews as well as multitudes of individuals from other persecuted groups on the basis of their race or religion, the statement read. The University of Florida encourages inclusion and respect, not hate.

In a separate statement, Rabbi Berl Goldman and Chanie Goldman, co-directors of the Lubavitch-Chabad Jewish Student and Community Center, condemned the swastika as the symbol of the Nazis, an expression of Anti-Semitism and hate.

But apparently Tuesdays incident wasnt the first this week.

On Monday night, a man dressed in a swastika-emblazoned jacket was sighted at a club downtown, Rabbi Goldman said. He said he believes different men were involved in the incidents, and he is unsure if the men coordinated with each other.

I am not certain they know each other, he said.

UF Hillel CEO Rabbi Adam Grossman also condemned the mans use of the swastika.

It is not only unacceptable, but also the antithesis of the embracing and diverse Gator Nation, Grossman said.

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Goldman said he received nonstop texts, calls and emails from concerned students and parents regarding the incident.

We are responding to this and bringing it to your attention, not to scare or over alarm you, but to make you aware that this has happened and could happen again, the statement read.

The statement, which included safety tips, said the man had been identified and is not a UF student or employee.

Avichaim Snyder, a Jewish UF student, said he was stunned to see the man riding a bicycle through campus and later stopping on Turlington Plaza at about 1:30 p.m.

But his surprise soon turned to aggravation.

When I first saw it I was shocked, the 20-year-old political science sophomore said. But the more it dawned on me, the more I was getting very aggravated that that was happening.

Snyder said a University Police officer stopped the man in front of Turlington Plaza and appeared to ask about his bicycle registration.

The officer and the man then shared a laugh before the man left, said Snyder, who was standing about five feet away during the exchange. He said the mans armband was large enough for the officer to notice the swastika on it.

I wouldve preferred the cop to tell him to take off the swastika, Snyder said. The fact that he let him go on his merry way without saying anything was just wrong.

For Snyder, Tuesday was not the first day he has felt hatred because of his religion.

Last year, while walking on Turlington Plaza wearing a star of David, about five students called him a dirty Jew and a Zionist pig, he said.

Snyder also saw someone dressed as Adolf Hitler for Halloween last year.

It has happened before, and it will happen again, and Im tired for not being able to stand up for myself, Snyder said.

Conary Bullard, a UF business administration freshman, said he thinks the man is either a neo-Nazi or someone who wanted to make a statement of some kind, but either way the officer couldnt tell him to remove his armband.

I would tell you the guy has issues, but you still have to respect people even if what they believe in is arguably morally wrong, the 18-year-old said. If hes not overtly attacking people or implying he wants to hurt people you cannot touch him.

Alligator Staff Writer Martin Vassolo and Contributing Writer Harrison OKeeffee contributed to this report.

@taveljimena

jtavel@alligator.org

Correction: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Avichaim Snyder's first name.
At Tuesdays Career Showcase, some UF students and employers used their smartphones to navigate their way through the newly constructed OConnell Center.

The event, which continues today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., is the first to be hosted in the renovated center. Last Fall, it was held in Southwest Recreation Center due to construction. Some participants used the app, called UF Career Services, which gives a layout of the center and gives the location and needs of employers. Its free for students to download and will include more information from the center by the end of Spring, said JaNet Glover, the senior associate director for Career Services.

We know change can be hard and challenging for all of us with coming into a renovated space, Glover said. Thats why we wanted to wait to launch the app.

Kerri Nauth, a UF business graduate student, said a student told her about the app while she was waiting to meet employers, so she downloaded it.

Nauth, 29, said shes been to four other career showcases, and the app will be a useful addition in her quest to build relationships with potential employers. However, she said it was somewhat confusing to use.

Its not trustworthy, Nauth said. Its not bad, maybe with more use Ill know it more. Its 10 times better than using the (directory).

Glover said fewer students will attend the event this semester, compared to Fall, when about 100 more employers come to recruit.

You would think it would be opposite because we have more students graduating in the Spring than the Fall, but many companies take the opportunity to really engage campus (in the Fall), she said.

@taveljimena

jtavel@alligator.org

The first Career Showcase in the newly renovated Stephen C. O'Connell Center drew in many students in January 2017. More than 250 employers showed up for the event.

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This past weekend UF hosted its third annual hack-athon, SwampHacks. More than 500 college students attended this event, not just from our campus, but from places all over Florida and Georgia. For those of you not familiar with what a hack-athon is, it goes a little something like this: You and three other students have a set amount of time (in this case it was 36 hours) to code something  literally anything. This sounds intimidating to those not familiar, but dont be fooled. You dont have to sit at your computer for 36 hours straight. There are workshops, activities and plenty of food. And, believe it or not, you dont have to come in with any coding knowledge.

If you arent a computer science or some sort of engineering major, for instance, you probably read the word hack-athon and were instantly turned off.

But one of the best parts of the event is that mentors are available and ready to teach anyone who doesnt know what theyre doing. Austin Brown, one of the coordinators of SwampHacks, estimates that a quarter of the participants had no prior coding knowledge. These events are a great way for people who dont know much about computer science to dive right into coding. Its a fun environment, built on teamwork and innovation, and theres no pressure to turn into an expert overnight.

Hack-athons are a way to make computer science more accessible on the outside, but the field still has a long way to go.

Even though computer science is one of the fastest growing fields in the job market, only a quarter of high schools across the country offer computer science courses, and out of these, a lot only focus on basic computer use. Roughly 18 percent of schools offer Advanced Placement computer science classes, but the demographic of students who take the class is incredibly skewed. AP computer science has the largest split between males and females taking the exam, with males making up about 81 percent and females making up 19 percent in 2013, according to College Board. Compare this to Calculus AB, with a 52 percent male and 48 percent female split. There were 11 states in 2013 where no black students took the computer science exam and 8 states where no Hispanic students took the exam.

Its important to remember that a lot of lower-income schools typically do not have a computer science curriculum, and those students have limited access to computers to begin with. Others might have no idea where to begin, or they believe that computer science is scary and too hard for them.

Unlike physics, biology and chemistry which have been core components of high-school curriculum since the 1890s, computer science is still considered an elective. Entry-level computer science classes in college, sometimes the first coding class a lot of students take, usually serves as the weed-out class for the major. This works for Chemistry 1 and Biology 1, where students come in with some knowledge from high-school courses, but this isnt often the case for computer science. Some individuals persevere, but its a deterrent, and ultimately makes the field seem inaccessible to those who did not have the opportunity to start early.

What the school system needs to do is make computer science as essential as biology, chemistry and math. We need to introduce computer science at a young age, the same way we introduce other sciences. We need to make the already existing space more accessible to those who are interested. And were getting there. Events like hack-athons create a fun environment for new coders. There are more and more easy-to-follow online tutorials about coding. People are even coding games and websites for kids to learn about coding  going full circle and passing on their knowledge to a generation that wont be as restricted.










English News COLUMN-ANALYSIS-CENTRAFRIC: Guys, what's wrong with you?

Alwihda Info | Par Magloire LAMINE - 25 Janvier 2017



By HIH Prince Magloire LAMINE

LAMINE MEDIA'S co-CEO

The Centrafrican Republic, became one of the 3 most cursed countries of the planet in no time, alike Syria and North Korea, as no one's attacking it from outside; this is totally incomprehensible. Since end of 2012, CAR went through the worst crisis in its history. This country was not under the radars of the international community, but since, its done; anyway that doesnt change anything. the situation has worsened during 2016, even if the so said international community stated that the country is back under the rule of law, by guaranteeing the whole elections completely rigged.



No one has elected this fat guy, involved in polygamous marriage currently on power, as no one has read the text of the new constitution adopted by referendum.



What referendum? French and MINUSCA validated it themselves days before. They think were fools, apparently.



WHATEVER..ISSUES ARE ONLY CENTRAFRICANS CONCERN



Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, the United Nations Special Representative for the Central African Republic and Head of the MINUSCA said something very right under the shape of a question: If Centrafricans are so strong, why do they need the help of the MINUSCA?



I really dont like this guy very much, just a hypocrite and international politician, running for his own, but what he said is the reality.



On my mind, what is going on right now, is the bad synthesis of all drift in this country since its fake independence from France, and still there.



A lit wick was enough to shine spotlight over the how this so beautiful country enclosed so dirty people, haters and cannibals included.



If you like us, shortly youll hate us



People killing each other with huge acts of cruelty, destroying everything in their path. This is still fuelled by hatred of each other, and still not ended. To this, add global stupidity, because, how do we explain this paradox? Killing people down there to help you? Humanitarian actors security is in balance. A many have been threatened and some have suffered attacks and even killed. Lot of their material were destroyed. Nevertheless they are there only to help, and freely.



You cannot save somebody who does not want to be



By definition, corrupt politicians in CAR use anything to gain and keep power. Taking advantage of the religious naivety of uncultivated people, with demagogy, corruption and clientelism. They dont care of what is happening now to the poor people. Quite 90% centrafricans are in great danger, with security and humanitarian situation keeping going deteriorating to the worse. Of course, it seems unfair to penalize people who are in such unfortunate situations this way. BUT HOW TO DO?



Now, I do not want to run my country born down, or want to criticise individuals in the government, or telling all those guys are zeroes. Because the challenge is huge. What I am trying to say with this short intervention is that, in spite of imperfections of international forces on ground in this country, coming to help, the solution can come only from the Centrafricans themselves.



Because, sooner or later, keeping going at this rate, the country will no more exist.



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Not long ago, I gave my take on the absurdity of linking the use of legally prescribed narcotic pain relievers with the nationwide heroin "epidemic."

Recent studies have demonstrated that poly-drug use progressing to heroin is the most common path leading to heroin use. That path mostly begins with alcohol and continues through cannabis, pills, psychedelics/hallucinogens, and cocaine, until finally reaching heroin. Also of note is that the escalation from marijuana to heroin occurs three times more frequently than that from narcotics to heroin. A recent report by the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine noted that in a recent survey of 22.2 million people using cannabis in the last 30 days, 90% were using it for recreational, not medical purposes.

Beginning with California in 1996 and as of late December, 28 states and D.C. have enacted laws for the "medical" use of marijuana, though medical studies have not clearly demonstrated the efficacy for the majority of "accepted' indications." Unfortunately, the powers that be have motivations to pass such legislation, though contrary for the good of individuals and society, seemingly unaware of or uninterested in the ease of obtaining marijuana by concocting one of the required medical grievances.

To understand how irrational our governments approach to the problem of heroin has become, consider the logic of fixing your home roof as the solution to the flat tire on your car. There seems to be a practiced method at work that runs as follows: a bad law is better than a good law or no law at all, since a bad law will beget more law, and more law means job security for the writers, interpreters, and enforcers of the law.

Over the past several months, the reaction to the heroin "epidemic" by state governments has become increasingly absurd, based on the number of states legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana, another federal schedule I controlled substance. In addition, there are now 49 states, the most recent Pennsylvania, with some type of Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. Making what's legal illegal, and what's illegal legal, seems to be a government operating principle these days.

The stated purpose of Pennsylvania's drug monitoring program is to "alert medical professionals to potential dangers" and "to aid regulatory and law enforcement agencies in the detection and prevention of fraud, drug abuse and the criminal diversion of controlled substances." The Pennsylvania Department of Health, having been given authority to administer the program, is apparently in the process of making up...I mean interpreting the law. For instance, the Pennsylvania Department of Health is now redefining words within the law such as "employee." On their website, in the "Q&A for physicians" section, "employee" means "employee or delegate." Orwell would be proud.

As in Islam  "[n]one of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar" (Qur'an 2:106)  American law suffers from the concept of abrogation. New legislation can essentially contradict old legislation since the repeal of old legislation is not required, the assumption being that the citizen will understand what the contradictions within the new law mean, if in fact that was considered to matter.

Originally, Act 191 of 2014 required prescribers to query the prescription databank the first time a controlled substance was prescribed; however, it also contained non-violation and immunity clauses to protect the prescriber should he not query the system. I kid you not. Act 124 of 2016, however, abrogated the query requirement by adding the need to query the system each time narcotics or barbiturates are prescribed. Logically, since there is only one first time, and both laws state that (though allowing for legal logic, it may depend on what "first" means), the non-violation and immunity contained within the first law should still stand. But keep in mind the principle that bad law begets more law.

Circling back to the issue of heroin abuse and its relation to the prescribing of narcotics, the NY Times Magazine did an expose on the matter, published on January 6 and titled "Inside a Killer Drug Epidemic: A Look Inside at America's Opioid Crisis." The piece noted greater than 33,000 deaths from opioids in 2015 (legal or illegal?); overdose deaths nearly equal to car crash deaths; and, for the first time, heroin deaths greater than gun homicides. Given these statistics, it seems that overdose deaths from legally prescribed narcotics are relatively few. From my count, heroin was stated 23 times in the article, while general drug terms or other specific drugs were mentioned 20 times. Seems to me that heroin, which remains illegal, should be the opioid of greatest concern.

Moving along, the expose profiled seven stories from around the country. Although anecdotal, they are still illuminating when you actually read what people say, and by people, I mean the addicts themselves.

It was the third anecdote that was the most enlightening because it underscored inherent problems with legislation and why the founders' vision of limited government was spot on. The profiled male drug abuser, who started with marijuana and whose adventure led to ecstasy, cocaine, and finally heroin, but who is now apparently clean, conveyed remarkable insight by stating, "My addiction has been replaced with addiction to other things: going to the gym, smoking, girls, getting tattoos[.] ... All of us have some real impulse control problems[;] that's why we're drug addicts." At this don't, you want to knock on your legislators' heads and ask, "Hello? Is there anything in there?"

So what is the solution? One idea was offered by Tim Lahey, M.D., writing in an op-ed in the NY Times, titled "Let Opioid Users Inject in Hospitals." Eye roll, but maybe he's on to something. How would this help the heroin epidemic, you ask? Well, as Dr. Lahey explains, if there were safe drug rooms in hospitals with clean needles and equipment, addicts would have reduced conflict with staff, it would protect patients and providers from dirty needles and other drug hazards, and it would enable respectful high quality of care and offer treatment for addiction  the caveat being that hospitals must guard against the risk of overdose or unseemly behavior.

So an epidemic is addressed with feeding the epidemic? Isn't this Enabling 101? I thought it was unwise to add gasoline to a fire. What  no impulse control therapy? As if that's going to work  but if nothing else, it can contribute to the bottom line of the pharmaceutical companies manufacturing OCD medication.

America does have an opioid "epidemic" of sorts. However, its solution is not to be found in the medical exam room. Physicians can do only so much when parenting or personal responsibility is what's needed to correct a personal behavior problem.

Government intrusion in the doctor-patient relationship is certainly no fix. Improper use of narcotics, the bulk related to schedule I  i.e., illegal  drugs, is a crime properly directed toward the criminal. And since I still do not prescribe heroin, I am neither a criminal nor one needing addressing...unless, of course, you were looking to beget new laws.
The winds of political change are blowing in the UK as they are in the United States. In both countries, the kaleidoscope of the political world is shifting as two issues, political sovereignty and control over immigration, have taken center stage. American President Donald Trump wants to make the country great again, and British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks of Global Britain, in a leadership role as the global leader for free trade and the hub for foreign investment. Both the leaders have emphasized, in Mays words, the sense among the public that political and business leaders have failed to comprehend their legitimate concerns.

It is no coincidence that May will, on January 27, 2017, be the first world leader to meet Trump, whose mother was Scottish, in the White House. But there is a crucial difference. For President Trump in the new vision its going to be only America first, and bringing back our borders. Prime Minister May also insists on putting the interests of the British people first, intends to leave the European Union (EU), and remove the country from the jurisdiction of European courts. However, Britain will nevertheless engage with the EU in a strategic partnership on economic, scientific research, and security issues.

Referendums covering the whole of the UK are rare, only three in the last 40 years, in a country with parliamentary sovereignty. In the first such referendum, in 1975, the British electorate voted by 67% to 32% to remain in the European Economic Community (Common Market) which the country had joined in January 1973. The Labour Party cabinet under Prime Minister Harold Wilson was divided on the issue, and the trade union movement was opposed. Few citizens saw UK as part of a United States of Europe or of a federal Europe.

Skepticism about the value of UK membership, disenchantment with the policies and regulations of European Union (EU), concern about the loss of sovereignty as a result of the Maastricht treaty in 1992, and troubled by increasing immigration, led to greater political critique. The result was that another referendum was called on June 23, 2016 by Prime Minister David Cameron, largely for party political reasons, to benefit his Conservative party. The simple question asked, on which the government was divided, was whether Britain should Remain a member of the EU or Leave (Brexit). The electorate surprisingly voted for Brexit by 51.89% to 48.11%, a margin of 1.26 million votes. England and Wales voted for Brexit, while Scotland and Northern Ireland voted Remain.

Britain therefore intends to leave the EU in an orderly exit process within two years after giving notice to leave. In politics as in life, divorces are messy and Britain is faced with the problem of reaching agreement on a host of issues, not the least of which is on a new relationship with the EU as well as on questions of immigration, trade, and access to European markets, and Britains role as the leading European financial center.

The referendum is advisory, and does not bind the British Parliament. It does not require the government to take any specific action. First, there is the technical problem. On Tuesday January 24, 2017 the eleven justices of the British Supreme Court, the highest court of appeal in civil cases, will decide whether to accept or overturn a High Court ruling on November 3, 2016 by three judges that Prime Minister Theresa May must seek the approval of the British Parliament in order to invoke formal procedures of Article 50 of the 2007 Treaty of Lisbon to take Britain out of the European Union.

The essential constitutional question in Britain, as in the U.S., is whether the executive, the government, can exercise prerogative powers in the conduct of foreign policy. The practical problem is that the Conservative government has only a working majority of 14 in the House of Commons and no majority in the House of Lords.

Article 50 gives a member of the EU the right to leave the union unilaterally. It gives the country two years to negotiate an exit arrangement. Any arrangement must be approved by a qualified majority of EU member states and can be vetoed by the European Parliament. On June 28, 2016 the House of Commons approved Mays plan to trigger Brexit, and start the exit process, though 89 MPs including 23 of the Labour Party were opposed.

The real problem is what policy to pursue since the referendum vote was simply on whether to Remain or Leave the EU, which no country has ever done. There are alternative suggestions. Hard Brexit entails Britain refusing to compromise on issues such as free movement of people in order to have access to the EU single market. Soft Brexit means accepting free movement and remaining a member of the single market. Free movement means UK citizens could work in the EU and vice versa.

After months of uncertainty on the part of the British government, the fog has cleared. May outlined an ambitious 12-point plan. At its core is control of immigration. In 2016 Britain took in 333,000 people, 184,000 were EU citizens, while 188,000 came from outside the EU. Britain has been troubled by the increasing rate of immigration. The government wants to have sovereign authority and make its own decision on immigration, by ending the freedom of movement rules and not be bound by the EU.

For political and economic reasons, Britain will leave the single, common, EU market but also will seek a bold and ambitious Free Trade Agreement with Brussels. This ambitious program of a comprehensive free trade arrangement is intended to continue British access to the EU regarding goods and services and to seek to remove barriers to trade and investment. But May proposed a global Britain in which the country would rediscover its role as a great global trading nation by making trade deals with the worlds biggest economies. Britain would also work together with EU on major science, research and technology efforts, and on fighting crime and terrorism.

The task is formidable, since there have been 43 years of treaties and arrangements. It seems improbable that ratification of arrangements with the 27 EU countries can occur within two years. About 45% of UK exports go to the EU, compared to 5% to India and China, while UK gets 16% of EU exports. Britain has a trade surplus in services with EU of 17 billion pounds. But May now has the task of reassuring those businesses, such as the Swiss UBS, Toyota, HSBC bank, and Barclays, who are thinking of leaving the UK, that the City of London will remain the financial capital of Europe and that the country will grow in the future.

The British decision to exit is not intended to undermine the EU or to reject Europe. The Brexit vote may have been based more on emotional than economic factors but it is an indication of dissatisfaction with the status quo. The British government intends to restore national self-determination, to make decisions and control the destiny of Britain without rules from EU and to become more global. Membership of the customs union will be ended.

Prime Minister May has promised ending the jurisdiction of European judges in the European Court of Justice over British law. Law will only be made in the UK. Immigration will be controlled by ending the freedom of movement rules of the EU.

The conversation on January 27, 2017 between May and President Trump, who share a similar outlook for the independence and prominence of their countries in the world, is likely to be animated.
No, this is not a headline from the Onion, but rather the stark reality of the parallel universe the once hard-edge and hard news Fox News has slowly descended into. Former State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, who earned her 15 minutes of fame by publicly claiming the best way to defeat ISIS was not to bomb them but to hire them, has signed on to be a Fox News contributor.

Harf will join the network effective immediately, and will make her first appearance on the network Monday at 7 p.m. during Fox News The First Hundred Days with Martha MacCallum. Harf will also serve as a contributor to Fox Business Network. Harf, who was most recently a senior communications officer to former Secretary of State John Kerry, has spent the last several years as a communications strategist in the Obama administration.

We are not making this up. Fox News, presumably in the interests of being fair and balanced, has hired an Obama administration -- which includes the State Department of Hillary Clinton -- sock puppet who spread the false narrative that ISIS was not a virulent and existential threat, but rather just another community that needed organizing. She pushed the administration line that terrorism was just a reaction to climate change and the lack of jobs.

Not long ago, Harf opined on MSNBCs Hardball that the rise of terrorist groups like ISIS could be prevented by a good jobs program.

Also on last nights Hardball with Chris Matthews, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf stopped by to argue that the solution to defeating the Islamic State is finding economic opportunity for young Muslim men, because we cannot kill our way out of this war. Harfs appearance came after a weekend that saw 21 Coptic Christians beheaded and a gunman open fire at a free-speech debate in Copenhagen While Harf assured viewers that a lot of Islamic State fighters have been killed, she also claimed that force isnt the most effective strategy for combatting ISIS. We cannot win this war by killing them -- we cannot kill our way out of this war, she said. Instead, she argued that the United States and its allies need to focus on the root causes, such as the lack of job opportunities for young Muslims. She said discouraged 17-year-olds opt to pick up an AK-47 instead of trying to start a business due to their socioeconomic situation.

What makes a 17-year-old jihadi pick up an AK-47 if not the lack of summer jobs? It is the desire of, as we can finally hear it from the White House of President Trump, the desire of radical Islamic terrorists to deny women like Marie Harf their careers and their freedom, subjecting them to honor killings, genital mutilation and other niceties dictated by Sharia law. They want to kill us because we are not like them, because we are infidels.

And to think, according to Harf, that we are only a few Wal-Marts in Damascus and Baghdad away from world peace or that solar panels in the Sinai will make the lion lay down with the lamb. Who knew?

Harf served a president and a secretary of state who shared the belief that climate change is a root cause of terrorism. President Obamas assertion in his commencement address to cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy that the rise of ISIS in Syria and Boko Haram in Nigeria and the brutality of both is somehow linked to climate change shows just how dangerously detached from reality U.S. foreign policy has become.

For those who wondered why upwards of two hundred thousand have died in Syria, Boko Haram abducts Christian schoolgirls, and ISIS beheads and burns people alive in its reign of terror, the president placed a major part of the blame on fossil fuels and your SUV.

I understand climate change did not cause the conflicts we see around the world, yet what we also know is that severe drought helped to create the instability in Nigeria that was exploited by the terrorist group Boko Haram. It's now believed that drought and crop failures and high food prices helped fuel the early unrest in Syria, which descended into civil war in the heart of the Middle East.

Believed by whom? Those who think Elvis Presley and Jimmy Hoffa are alive and running a donut shop in Idaho? There was no violence, no beheadings, no burning people alive during the American Dust Bowl of the 1930s and groups like ISIS and Boko Haram are not out foraging for food. They are poster children for the evil that lurks in the world and that advances as we retreat from our global responsibilities and indulge in these irresponsible fantasies.

It is fairly certain that the burning alive of a Jordanian pilot in a cage was not caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide or that the beheading of Coptic Christians on a beach in Libya was caused by that coal plant in West Virginia,.

Yet the belief that lowering carbon emissions and holding job fairs in Aleppo will stop terrorism is one shared by Marie Harf, now a Fox News contributor, paid to offer her comical musings as considered commentary.

Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investors Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications.
Telkom Kenya announces executive appointments

Kenyas telecommunication company Telkom Kenya has announced more executive appointments following a series of high-level appointments in 2016.

The operator says the C-level hiring aims to build its leadership bench strength, and fortifying its operations and customer service excellence aligning it to its transformation agenda.

Telkom has appointed Nicholas Mruttu as the Chief Sales Officer, Mobile Division. Mruttu brings 17 years of experience working for different companies in telecommunications and the Fast Moving Consumers Goods sectors.

Before joining Telkom Kenya, Mruttu was in charge of Customer acquisition, Distribution and Trade Marketing at Safaricom and at Coca-Cola Kenya where he worked in Strategy and Business Performance.

He holds a Global MBA from the United States International University-Africa (USIU-A) and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Sociology from the University of Nairobi.

Clare Ruto also joins Telkom Kenya as the new Chief Legal and Regulatory Affairs Officer. She leaves Multichoice East Africa after five years where she was General Manager for Regulatory Affairs and brings on board 20 years of experience working in different institutions including Safaricom, Airtel Kenya and the Communications Commission of Kenya, now Communications Authority of Kenya.

She holds a certified advanced Masters Management Program from the London Business School, a Bachelor of Law from the University of Leeds, England and a Bachelor of Education from Kenyatta University. She is also a certified Public Secretary and an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.

Telkom has filled several key positions after Helios Investments bought Orange Groups 70 percent stake in Telkom Kenya.

Earlier in the month, Telkom recruited a Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Supply of chain, months after they announced a CTO and CFO.

www.orange.co.ke
A bill that would make it a crime to hide behind a mask during a protest faced constitutional questions during a North Dakota legislative committee hearing Tuesday.

House Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo, told the House Judiciary Committee that his bill relates to the monthslong protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline in Morton County, but it would apply to other demonstrations as well. The bill would make it a Class A misdemeanor for somebody to intentionally conceal their identity by wearing a mask, hood or other device that covers, hides or conceals any portion of their face while appearing on a roadway or on public property, or while holding a demonstration on private property unless the property owner gives written permission.

The bill includes several exceptions to the prohibition, including for people wearing a traditional holiday costume in season or while defending themselves from the elements.

Carlson said the mask bill would help ensure the safety of peaceful protesters as well as law enforcement officers. He cited instances of protesters cutting razor wire and burning tires.

I would be the first to defend your right of free speech and freedom of assembly, he said. Im always concerned when theres a reason that, I believe, may be used to hide your identity when youre creating some kind of disturbance.

Jennifer Cook, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Dakota, said House Bill 1304 is unconstitutional and called it overbroad and vague. She said the exceptions listed in the bill wouldnt withstand constitutional scrutiny because they would favor certain kinds of speech.

The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently interpreted the First Amendment to shield a broad and expansive array of speech, Cook said in prepared testimony. Expression does not only come in the form of the spoken word, but also in the intentional expression of an idea through expressive activities.

While she asked the committee to give the bill a do not pass recommendation, Cook said it should at least be amended to reflect a narrowly tailored Honolulu ordinance that prohibits the use of masks to evade identification in the commission of any criminal offense.

Carlson said the bill was drafted by looking at what other measures across the country have stood the test of time. Still, he acknowledged the proposal is controversial because it has First Amendment implications.

Not every state has upheld it, Carlson said. But it was one tool that we didnt have in our toolbox that I think should be required.

The mask bill is one of several pieces of legislation introduced this session that addresses the protests over the $3.8 billion pipeline, which was delayed by the Obama administration but may have a brighter future under President Donald Trump. On Tuesday, he directed federal agencies to expedite review and approve the nearly complete pipeline.

The project was met with opposition from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which worried that its water supply would be tainted if the pipe leaked. Its crossing under Lake Oahe has been the focal point for the protests that have drawn people from across the country and resulted in more than 600 arrests since August, the Morton County Sheriffs Department said last week.

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier attended Tuesdays hearing but did not testify. Afterward, he told Forum News Service that its common to see protesters wearing masks during what he described as riots, making it harder for law enforcement to identify people who have allegedly committed crimes.

Rep. Todd Porter, R-Mandan, a cosponsor of the mask bill, said the state hasnt had to deal something like the Dakota Access Pipeline protests before.

I think that its very much our job and very much our responsibility to bring forth measures and laws that have been directly identified as an issue during this situation, he said.
With its dying breath, the Obama administration delivered a parting shot to Donald Trump and decided to provisionally lift economic sanctions against Sudan after almost 20 years, citing progress in areas of human rights, ceasing hostile activities against the population, and counterterrorism. Besides having zero correlation with events on the ground in Sudan, this outlook belies a troubling reality: by normalizing bilateral relations, Obama is threatening national security by giving free rein to terrorist groups.

The government of Sudan has a long history of supporting terrorists. Sanctions were first imposed by President Bill Clinton in 1997 on suspicions that Sudan had a hand in terrorism throughout the region. The regime of Omar al-Bashir hosted and supported a number of Islamic terrorist groups, including Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network, as well as extremists backed by Iran. Further sanctions were instituted in 2003, when Bashir responded to a rebellion in Darfur by slaughtering tens of thousands of civilians. Bashir was also charged with genocide by the International Criminal Court -- but has refused to accept the verdict and has managed to elude justice ever since the arrest warrant was issued.

Now, after decades of animosity, Obama has engineered a rapprochement. But this cessation of sanctions shines a bright light on Obamas hypocrisy, as the former president himself had once been an advocate of stopping the genocide perpetrated by the murderous Bashir regime. In 2006, then-senator Obama spoke at the Save Darfur Rally to Stop Genocide, saying that silence, acquiescence, and paralysis in the face of genocide is wrong. He also remarked on the issue in 2008 during his presidential campaign, vowing not to abandon the people, or turn a blind eye to slaughter. Now, with the lifting of sanctions, Obama has done exactly that. His mendacity is exacerbated by the fact that Sudan remains on the list of state sponsors of terror, where it has been since 1993.

As justification for lifting sanctions, the Obama administration cited cooperation on counterterrorism and a reduction in hostilities. But reality tells a different story. Far from working towards peace, the Bashir government continues its genocidal campaign of killing, raping, and pillaging in Darfur in other regions of Sudan. Basic freedoms are suppressed, thousands of innocent people rot in prison, and torture is widespread. Sudan continues to fuel civil war in neighboring South Sudan by arming insurgents. Despite Obamas claim that Sudan has cooperated on combatting terrorism, Bashir continues to support radical jihadists. The regime uses so-called Peace Forces -- which it pretends are for combatting illegal immigration -- to escort terrorists from Libya to Darfur. Such terrorists reportedly include members of Boko Haram and ISIS. From there, extremists have spread to Chad and the Central African Republic, further destabilizing the region.

Additionally, tens of thousands of terrorists from across Africa and Syria are present in training camps throughout Sudan. Whatever improvements the country has made are merely cosmetic, meant to entice the U.S. into ending sanctions while continuing to wreak havoc in the region. Predictably, Obama had just enough time left in office to fall right into Bashirs trap.

The timing of the rapprochement is unfortunate, as Sudans economy is in dire straits. After the South achieved independence in 2011, oil revenues for Bashirs regime plummeted. With the regime starved for cash and the economy ailing, discontent is brewing among the countrys citizens. It is likely only a matter of time before Bashir is forced to institute reforms or step down from power. But now, without the sanctions, Bashir will be given a vital economic lifeline with which to sustain his reign of terror in Sudan and beyond. With most sanctions gone, the U.S. is essentially depriving itself of a valuable tool for forcing genuine change in the country.

Obama got played by Bashirs phony counterterrorism cooperation -- and it wasn't the first time he allowed an African president to take advantage of the United States in the name of the War on Terror. Because his country hosts the biggest American military base in Africa, President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti has been able to act like a loan shark towards Washington. After he got Obama to agree in 2015 to a doubling of the rent paid for Camp Lemonnier, Guelleh shamelessly evicted a secondary American outpost in order to make room for an even bigger Chinese naval base. On top of that base, Djibouti has also inked a number of economic partnerships with Beijing, prompting the countrys finance minister to blurt out that China is much more important than any other long-standing partner. Its unclear why the U.S. keeps doling out more than $7 million in aid every year to Djibouti when faced with this overt hostility from the countrys government. The removal of sanctions on Sudan was just the latest episode in a series of embarrassing missteps.

Fortunately, the sanctions relief is not yet set in stone. There will be a six-month probation period to ensure continued progress on human rights and terrorism, after which the embargo may be reinstated. At the point, it will be up to Donald Trump to decide the fate of Bashirs regime. Trump should heed his campaign promises and make fighting jihadi terrorists Washingtons number one foreign policy priority -- and keeping sanctions against Sudan should be a part of that strategy.

Encouragingly, his team of advisers is already taking a step in the right direction. It seems that the Trump administration will restructure the State Department to devote more resources to fighting terrorism. This includes strengthening the departments Bureau of Intelligence Research, which produces critical analytical work despite being overshadowed by other intelligence agencies. In another encouraging sign, Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson called fighting terrorism, especially in terms of defeating ISIS, the clear priority.

With Obama now out of office, it will be up to Trump to change course. The new president should use the six-month review period to revoke Obamas decision to lift sanctions on Sudan. Such a move would help fight global terrorism and bring an end to Obamas legacy of letting America get played by tyrannical African leaders.
As we close in to the Iran presidential election -- read "selection" -- a more precise look at the policymaking mechanisms at work in this very peculiar theocratic system is necessary.

The regime in Iran, with Hassan Rouhani as its president, has been eager to portray an image of a government mending fences with the international community.

However, no beginning of true political change has occurred in Iran despite Rouhanis deceptive smiles. The so-called reformist-moderate initiative in Iran has only further strengthened and secured Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in power.

There is a misleading notion of two divergent political trends in Iran, one pursuing a so-called hardline approach led by the Khamenei-IRGC camp, and another claiming a more reformist attitude by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his mentor and fierce Khamenei rival, the late former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Yet the harsh reality is that these seemingly competing trends are quietly harmonious in practice. Khamenei continues to monopolize power in Iran, while in need of the rival camp to portray a satisfactory canvas of his regime to the outside world.

Khamenei has the last word on all national security and foreign policy matters. Concern at times raised by outside analysts over escalating tensions between the two sides over subjects such as the nuclear deal are the result of Irans deceptive propaganda machine at work. The regime, in its entirety, focuses on swaying all attention far from the true policymaking mechanics at work deep in Tehran.

Rouhani only became president with Khameneis personal blessing, as the latter understood fully the potential of another 2009-style uprising brewing in Iran. The Guardian Council, Khameneis lever to control all elections by vetting each and every candidate, enjoys the authority to bar any individual considered unpalatable. Rest assured that Khamenei considered Rouhani useful, or else he would have joined the long list of disqualified others.

Khamenei saw his regime facing a massive economic crisis threatening to spark a major uprising after former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, described as a firebrand, plunged Iran into serious international isolation. Sanctions were frustrating the Iranian population and the global oil price nosedive added insult to injury.

At first glance the IRGC, taking control over a large portion of Irans economy, was benefiting as sanctions burdened private sector competitors. Yet little by little even the IRGCs profits began to plunge, and Khamenei realized his desperate need for sanctions reliefs at the price of taking a major step back from his nuclear ambitions.

Tehran is taking advantage of the Iran nuclear deal as a medium to calm domestic unrest and to revive the IRGCs former economic stature. To this end, Khamenei needed a figure such as Rouhani to help convince the international community to make the deal. Of course, Tehran also enjoyed a major lifeline through the pro-appeasement dogma adopted by U.S. President Barack Obama.

In the meantime, Khamenei also needed to preserve his domestic image, as kowtowing to foreign pressure would be recipe for disaster. This is where the regime pursued a two-faced approach. While Rouhani and his top diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, played good cop shaking hands with the Great Satan, Khamenei remains the bad cop in resorting to blatant rhetoric against America and Co.

This double-standard policy, pursued in parallel, has become the doctrine for the Iranian regime to maintain control over increasing domestic agitation while presenting an appealing portrait to the outside world.

While regime loyalists stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran and Khamenei threatened Riyadh with divine revenge, five American hostages were released in return for the United Nations declaring Iran in compliance with the nuclear pact.

A further in-depth evaluation proves Irans new economic exchanges with the West are not parallel to any political improvements. In fact, safeguarding the IRGCs grip on the economy is considered vital to enhancing their political position.

The IRGC has also been described as a major force when it comes to controlling Irans economy. Many Iranians in and out of the country have called the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Irans mafia.

The elimination of 99% of so-called reformist candidates in the February 26 parliamentary elections can provide a preview to the upcoming presidential elections, with higher stakes at play.

No pragmatic behavior by Iran will render any meaningful change within. Nor will Tehran ever abandon regional ambitions in which it has invested billions, including Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon. In fact, boosting efforts to realize such objectives is necessary to maintain Irans political status quo.

While Khamenei remains in control, recent developments in Syria, with Russia and Turkey spearheading a ceasefire agreement, are completely against Irans interests. This is parallel to snowballing dissent inside Iran on the verge of intense times prior to the May 2017 presidential election. This leaves Khamenei before a major dilemma over how to play his cards.

The 37-year-old experience of the destructive and murderous mullahs regime in my country has shown that no degree of political and economic concessions, which have been carried out at the expense of the Iranian people, have led to a change of behavior or policies of the Iranian regime either inside or outside of Iran, said Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an umbrella group of dissident entities including the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

Sanctions relief providing temporary life-support for Tehran wont last long. The international community, and the new administration in Washington, should take advantage of the nuclear deal to increase pressure on Tehran, forcing it to start actually abiding by international laws and standards.

Heshmat Alavi is a political and rights activist. His writing focuses on Iran, ranging from human rights violations, social crackdown, the regimes support for terrorism and meddling in foreign countries, and the controversial nuclear program.

He tweets at @HeshmatAlavi & blogs at IranCommentary
"Eradicate men," read a sign at one of the anti-Trump "women's marches" that took place on January 21, 2017.

Alongside footage of women wearing knitted vulvas on their heads (which do not look like vulvas to me, but I have made love only to one woman in my whole life, so what do I know?), women dressed in full-body genitalia costumes, Ashley Judd's speculating on the president's nocturnal emissions, and Madonna's admitting she thinks about firebombing the White House, one sign championing the elimination of men might not seem so important. After all, George Ciccariello-Maher said he wanted "white genocide" for Christmas and became an overnight hero when those pesky right-wing extremists ("white supremacists") took exception to his sentiments.

But "eradicate men" is a telling slogan because it points to a problem with the entire ethos of the women's marches. According to the signatories of a collective feminist screed against Trump, the main reason for "resisting" Trump is that he "bragged about sexually assaulting women because, as he quipped, his celebrity made it easy for him to do so." This refers, of course, to a decade-old Access Hollywood tape in which Trump said in a secret conversation with another man that women will let a man grab their private parts "when you're a star."

Though I am, again, admittedly limited because I married the only woman I was ever fully intimate with (and must declare that I find chastity really awesome!), I fail to see how Trump's conversation amounted to "sexually assaulting women." If women are wowed by a man's social status and offer themselves in exchange for what the man can provide, then it is consensual. Of course that is not assault.

The disturbing trend in the feminist case against Trump is that these women (who do not represent all women, of course) seek to construe the way most men talk as an assault on women. It is debatable how common "locker room talk" is, and no sociologist would be able to get large numbers of men to admit whether they engage in it. Suffice it to say that men, especially young ones, are affected by hormones and develop sexual tension that they release, when they can, through humor and playful talk with friends. Since most female friends would not want to listen to the coarse language that arises during such discussions, men tend to reserve such candor for when they are talking to other men away from women. The tape recording foiled Trump.

Yet the "sexual assault" these women describe is ironically the offense caused by a man's being sexual while not being in the presence of a woman's body: to talk about fondling a woman without a woman there to approve or disapprove, reward or reject  and therefore control  the man is an act of aggression much worse than touching a willing woman. Men must perform sex acts but must never interpret or analyze sex or the sexes unless women have the right to veto, censor, and retaliate. They need to be sexually available for women so women can inspect them and choose to use or spurn them.

The central plank in the womanly platform against Trump is a falsehood: he did not brag about sexually assaulting women and most likely did not sexually assault women. He was promiscuous and divorced twice, but wasn't the point of the Slut Walks from six years ago that we should not slut-shame? Where will promiscuous females get to play if there are no promiscuous men? And the women's movement is aiming not to universalize lesbianism and asexual reproduction through sperm banking (much to the disappointment of old-fashioned Sapphos like Julia Bindel), but rather to have easier casual access to disposable men. Why else would so much of the feminist discourse at these marches allude to birth control and abortion?

Perhaps the hidden, ugly truth is that women are not the victims, but the perpetrators of erotic aggression in the twenty-first century. It sounds like science fiction, but maybe it's postmodern reality: a large portion of the female population wants to turn men into unfeeling sex robots, available for stimulation when women feel the urge, but thoroughly controlled in terms of what men say and do, even when they are not around women. To "eradicate men" is not to eliminate male bodies, but rather to eliminate every part of the male will that does not serve women's sexual appetites.

At different points in literature, one finds bold writers uncovering an ancient secret about men and women. For the vast majority of history, societies have feigned a consensus that men are lusty and women coy, men predators and women prey. Yet in the Bible's Book of Proverbs, Solomon presents dangerous women with voracious appetites, like this one: "She grabs and kisses him, she brazenly says to him  Come, let's drink of lovemaking until morning, let's feast on each other's love!" (Proverbs 7:13-18).

Ovid got himself in a great deal of trouble because his writings alluded repeatedly to women's sexual rapacity as overshadowing that of men. In Book III of Metamorphoses, Tiresias is asked by Juno and Jupiter to decide a dispute: who gets more joy from lovemaking, men or women? Because of two miracles, Tiresias was a male for most of his life but spent several years living the life of a woman, and apparently gaining some carnal knowledge in the latter state. Risking the wrath of Juno, who hopes to paint females as victims of male exploitation, Tiresias states that women "gain more than we do from the pleasures of love."

Giovanni Boccaccio, of course, ramped up this naughty inference of female lustiness in the Decameron, which presents countless instances of fourteenth-century females entrapping and devouring male ingenus in its one hundred episodes. The tenth story on the fifth day of the Decameron is the most shocking, presenting a discussion between an old housemaid and a young wife. The older woman encourages the young lady to sneak out and have love affairs with other men: "a woman is always ready to do it, but the same is not true with men; what's more, a woman can wear out a number of men while a number of men cannot wear out one woman[.] ... In this world, you've got to grab what you can get, and especially a woman, who needs, even more than men, to take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself" (434-5).1

Feminists will object that these are male fantasies projected onto women, but maybe there is a nugget or more of truth to Ovid and Boccaccio.

Five years ago, researchers at the State University of New York announced their findings in a fascinating study that seems to have been buried very quickly by the press. As the Daily Mail reported, they found evidence that women depend upon male bodies for emotional health for a basic reason: "Semen contains  chemicals along with spermatozoa, including cortisol, which is known to increase affection, estrone, which elevates mood and oxytocin, which also elevates mood." That is to say, every man is a walking pharmacy with a powerful drug that women crave and suffer without, a natural anti-depressant. The researchers found that women who used condoms or who did not have sex with men were more likely to be depressed and unhappy.

Given all these data, "eradicate men" is not a harmless little sign. Men are a natural biochemical resource that these anti-Trump feminists hope to harness and harvest without men exerting any will that might complicate their ancient quest for a natural mood serum. The millions of women marching in dozens of large American cities point to the possibility that real danger lurks ahead if these succubus-like activists get their way.

There is a way to win against them, and the secret lies with Aristophanes's Lysistrata. In that classic Greek comedy, women try to stop a war by refusing to give the men sex until they stop fighting. It is time for the men who are being targeted by these activists  sexually available men with many doses of oxytocin inside them  to take action and go on strike. (I would do this, but I am irrelevant because I am married to a woman who wouldn't go to any such marches anyway.) Men across the globe should unite and pledge not to have sex with any woman who goes to one of these "Eradicate Men" marches until the feminists are deprived of sexual satisfaction and eventually come around to admit that these protests are fruitless and frankly embarrassing.

Men wouldn't have to give up all sex  just sex with the marchers like the ones who filled American streets the day after the inauguration. I suspect that it wouldn't be that hard to carry out a sex embargo, and all men in the world would probably feel much safer for it.

Robert Oscar Lopez can be followed at English Manif, Soundcloud, or Twitter.

1 Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. Trans. Mark Musa & Peter Bondanella. New York: Signet, 1982.
Tulsi Gabbard, a 35-year-old Democrat representative from the state of Hawaii, made a secret fact-finding visit to Damascus this past week. For security reasons, the exact dates of the trip werent published, but the date of the report was January 19. Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran, met with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump in November to discuss Syria policy. Despite her backing Bernie Sanders in the primaries, it was reported that Trump is considering her for a position at the Pentagon or the State Department.

During the meeting, Gabbard said she told the President Elect:

 [of] my grave concerns that escalating the war in Syria by implementing a so-called no fly/safe zone would be disastrous for the Syrian people, our country and the world.

Gabbards concerns are valid. In fact, she comes across as the antidote to the interventionists in the Gang of Eight , so its no wonder she finds a receptive audience in Donald Trump. She has long opposed the idea of regime change and says Syria would descend farther into chaos should Bashar Assad be ousted.

On January 13, Gabbard introduced the Stop Arming Terrorists Act, which would prohibit U.S. taxpayer dollars being spent to support or back terrorist groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda in their war to overthrow the Syrian government. Gabbard also said on the House floor:

Our limited resources should go toward rebuilding our communities here at home, not fueling more counterproductive regime-change wars abroad[.]  [S]top this madness.

On that, shell have no argument from me.

John Smith is the pen name of a former U.S. intelligence officer.
The expressed will of the voters in the United Kingdom has been put on hold. On June 23, 2016, the British people stunned experts and the political establishment when they voted to leave the European Union, an act popularly dubbed Brexit. At the time, then-candidate Donald Trump praised it and said the British people took their country back. Many commentators, in fact, have seen the same popular revolution in both the Trump and Brexit victories.

On January 24, 2017, however, the British Supreme Court told the people, in effect, Not so fast! Before the prime minister can trigger Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union that would start the Brexit process and take the United Kingdom out of the European Union, it said, the raucous and divided Parliament must vote to let it happen. Evidently, in Britain, the will of the people is not enough. As David Davis, the Brexit minister, reminded Parliament after the ruling, that very body voted to put it in the hands of the people by a vote of six to one.

More evidence? Gina Miller, the investment manager who was the lead claimant in the case, said, Only Parliament can grant rights to the British people and only parliament can take them away.

The sentiment that the government gives the people rights is alien to American thinking, and the thought that government can take rights away from the people is just plain frightening. Evidently, even our very special friend does not believe that the will of the people is supreme  something we need to remember and make sure we do not blithely accept for ourselves.
Let me give President Enrique Pena-Nieto a little credit for taking the initiative and setting up a meeting with President Trump. He is under a lot of political pressure south of the border. Let me give President Trump credit for accepting the visit. It shows me that both sides want to get something good started.

This is from the L.A. Times:

The Mexican presidents early visit to the Trump White House underscores the importance that Mexico City places on having smooth relations with the new U.S. administration, despite candidate Trumps many broadsides against Mexico and Mexicans. According to a statement released by the Mexican government, Pena Nieto told Trump on Saturday that he hopes to work together "with a focus on respect for the sovereignty of both nations and shared responsibility."

Beyond the politics, Mexico and the U.S. have serious common interests, from cartels that kill Mexicans and bring drugs to the U.S. to over $500 billion in trade.

Sadly, many of Mr. Trump's statements have actually been a huge boost for the Latin American left. In other words, Mr. Trump has become the latest version of the Ugly Gringo so much of the left likes to scream about.

My hope is that President Trump understands the importance of a change in tone and a stable Mexico and Latin America.

The latest IMF forecast is for Latin America to grow slowly over the next couple of years: 1.2% in 2017 and 2.1% in 2018.

Such lousy growth will put tremendous political pressures on center-right leaders in Argentina, Chile, and even Mexico. It will be boon a for leftists, who do not have answers but can march with anti-Trump placards and blame free-market policies for the decline.

So let's hope President Trump sees the big picture when he sits down with President Pena-Nieto.

First, I support the border fence, but constantly saying that Mexico will pay for it puts President Pena-Nieto in an awful position back home. In other words, build the fence and move on.

Second, we can renegotiate NAFTA and other trade deals, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I understand the argument that NAFTA has taken some manufacturing south of the border, but it has also been great news for U.S. exporters, who are selling Mexico a lot of goods and services. This is a summary of our trade with Mexico:

Mexico was the United States' 2nd largest goods export market in 2015. U.S. goods exports to Mexico in 2015 were $236 billion, down 1.6% ($3.9 billion) from 2014 but up 97% from 2005. U.S. exports to Mexico are up 468% from 1993 (pre-NAFTA). U.S. exports to Mexico account for 15.7% of overall U.S. exports in 2015. The top export categories in 2015 were: machinery ($42 billion), electrical machinery ($41 billion), vehicles ($22 billion), mineral fuels ($19 billion), and plastics ($17 billion). U.S. exports of agricultural products to Mexico totaled $18 billion in 2015, our 3th largest agricultural export market. Leading categories include: corn ($2.3 billion), soybeans ($1.4 billion), dairy products ($1.3 billion), pork & pork products ($1.3 billion), and beef & beef products ($1.1 billion). U.S. exports of services to Mexico were an estimated $30.8 billion in 2015, 2.7% ($807 million) more than 2014, and 36.7% greater than 2005 levels. It was up roughly 196% from 1993 (pre-NAFTA). The United States has a services trade surplus of an estimated $9.2 billion with Mexico in 2015, down 12.7% from 2014.

Let me add a couple of points:

1) We've had surpluses with Mexico before and currently have a deficit. It changes, as these things tend to do.

2) I see a lot of jobs in the U.S. when we exports billions of dollars in machinery, plastics, and others. Some American companies are indeed making these and selling them to Mexico.

So let's be sensible and work this out between neighbors.

Yes, I know that Mexico could do more to stop illegal immigration. At the same time, we could do more in fighting the illegal drug consumption flooding Mexico with dollars supporting cartels.

Let's start fresh and find some common ground. There is the potential for lots of common ground!

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
Two Gold Star families are reporting that on their way to the American Legion's gala on the night of Donald Trump's inaugural, they were assaulted, spit upon, and screamed at by dozens of anti-Trump demonstrators.

Fox News:

Amy Looney, who lost her husband Navy SEAL Lt. Brendan Looney in 2010, and Ryan Manion, whose brother Marine First Lt. Travis Manion died in 2007, said they were attacked as they tried to enter the American Legions tribute to Medal of Honor recipients at the Veterans Inaugural Ball.

Unfortunately, as we got there we found ourselves separated from the rest of the group walking to the galas that night and were caught in between the entrance to the event and about 75 protesters that got very angry with us and really converged on us, Manion said on Fox & Friends.

Thats when events quickly escalated.

We were pushed by a man in a mask hiding his face, Manion wrote in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Our clothes were drawn on with permanent marker by other protesters. And we were called the most vile names I have ever heard as we entered and exited the venue.

Manion said that she and Looney  who operate the Travis Manion Foundation  did not attend the ball for political reasons and that the pair support President Donald Trump just as they supported the previous administration and just like we will support every future administration that the American people elect.

Looney and Manion were initially late to the ball because they couldnt get through an angry mob in the street that was burning trash cans and smashing windows, Manion wrote on Facebook. When they eventually got near the entrance a group of around 75 people tried separating them from the ball. It was as the two women walked through the crowd that people began pushing them and yelling insults.

We understand more than most how fortunate we are to live in a country where we can demonstrate and share our different beliefs, Manion wrote. But my question for those who chose to take this route Friday is this: Are you truly accomplishing anything by inciting hate?

The alleged events Friday night followed rioting and destruction earlier in the day by so-called protesters upset by Trumps election. Trash cans were set ablaze, merchants' windows were smashed and a limousine was even torched during the mayhem.
Former secretary of state John Kerry must have thought he was being really clever when he overrode congressional holds on a couple of hundred million dollars and sent the taxpayers money to the Palestinian Authority in the closing hours of the Obama presidency. But nobody has ever accused him of being a genius, and it is clear that he did not think through the consequences of his flip of the bird to Israel and its friends in Congress. Jenna Lifhits writes in the Weekly Standard:

Congressional leaders are moving to respond to a last-minute transfer of millions of dollars to the Palestinian Authority by the Obama administration with a range of measures, including a possible total freeze of funds to the PA, according to senators and other sources who spoke to THE WEEKLY STANDARD.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry endangered future funding to the PA by orchestrating the $221 million release in the final hours of the Obama administration, according to a report published Monday by the Associated Press and additional details provided to TWS. The release was made in spite of holds that had been placed on the funds by a number of lawmakers.

I don't know if we can recoup that money, but I intend to suspend future funding to the Palestinian Authority until they change their laws that reward young Palestinians for killing Israelis and Americans," South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham told TWS.

Graham said he will reintroduce the Taylor Force Act, named after an Army veteran who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist last March, which cuts funding until the PA stops directly or indirectly financing terrorism. The PA set aside roughly $140 million to support imprisoned terrorists and their families in 2016, including those of "martyrs," according to experts who spoke to Congress in July.

"I find that cruel and unacceptable," Graham said. "I will be pushing to stop those payments."
Michael Jackson's blonde, blue-eyed daughter, Paris, who looks even more Caucasian than most Caucasians, declares that she is an African-American:

"I consider myself black," she says, adding later that her dad "would look me in the eyes and he'd point his finger at me and he'd be like, 'You're black. Be proud of your roots.' And I'd be like, 'OK, he's my dad, why would he lie to me?' So I just believe what he told me. 'Cause, to my knowledge, he's never lied to me. "Most people that don't know me call me white," Paris concedes. ..."I look like I was born in Finland or something."

If we can safely assume that Ms. Jackson is no biological relation to Michael Jackson, can one claim to be black simply because the person who raised you was black? I think this is no more legitimate than Rachel Dolezal claiming to be black. Possibly Ms. Jackson honestly believes that she is Michael Jackson's biological child. She certainly has had an abusive childhood.

"When I was really, really young, my mom didn't exist," Paris recalls. Eventually, she realized "a man can't birth a child"  and when she was 10 or so, she asked Prince, "We gotta have a mom, right?" So she asked her dad. "And he's like, 'Yeah.' And I was like, 'What's her name?' And he's just like, 'Debbie.' And I was like, 'OK, well, I know the name.'" Paris has, with impressive speed, acquired more than 50 tattoos, sneaking in the first few while underage. In June 2013, drowning in depression and a drug addiction, she tried to kill herself at age 15, slashing her wrist and downing 20 Motrin pills.

Thomas Lifson adds:

The left/media/cultural elite have decided that sex is determined not by biology, but by ones mental state. So it is hard to consistently proclaim that racial identity is immutable. Yet this would threaten the vast array of preferences certain racial groups enjoy from government and academia.

When Rachel Dolezal pretended to be black in order to advance her position in the NAACP, she was condemned. But with Paris Jackson, we have a far more sympathetic figure declaring with at least some justification that race is a product of the imagination.

Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com.
If last Saturdays pink-clad marchers had shown the same enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton that they now demonstrate against Donald Trump, she might be sitting pretty in the White House.

But they didnt  and she isnt. And one of the reasons is that their belated display of presumptive solidarity was missing when it mattered most: during the campaign. Where were the massive crowds at Hillarys political rallies? Why was it necessary to mount carefully scripted backdrops underscoring identity politics? How is it possible that the Democrats greatly outspent their adversaries and still lost? And how did it come to pass that liberals, who think themselves worthy, now find themselves forced to tolerate a man they deem unworthy in the White House?

Last weekend, we witnessed huge, orchestrated anti-Trump womens marches in the nations capital and across the country. They were even organized in foreign cities, as if their citizens uninformed meddling in our politics is perfectly acceptable, even if they resent our involvement in theirs.

If we cannot pinpoint a clear objective behind these womens marches, at least we can recognize them as opportunities to vent anger, fear, and disappointment on a massive, attention-getting scale. Such gatherings likely provide an ah, I feel better now moment. Despite the nasty rhetoric, there was a celebratory atmosphere that makes them seem like itinerant block parties, rather than substantive demonstrations. By contrast, most marches in the past have taken on a more somber cast and were centered on a specific cause or policy reform, such as the right to vote, the integration of schools and housing, better working wages and conditions, etc.

In the case of these solidarity marches, however, the only overriding cause seems to be the right of a woman to have an abortion. This has always struck me as one of those position papers that somehow drifted onto the wrong desk, since liberals portray themselves as inclusive, righteous respecters of all life and as staunch defenders of the most vulnerable.

That aside, a few spokespersons did mention the inequities in womens pay and the need for a higher minimum wage. But these issues didnt spring up when Trump took the oath of office. They have been thorns in some sides for a long time. And the protests about such concerns usually happened at the scene of the supposed crime: in front of carefully selected businesses such as McDonalds and Walmart.

In 1995, at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, Hillary Clinton famously said, Womens rights are human rights. I never grasped why that statement was considered either unique or memorable, but the feminists loved it, and it has been widely quoted. So it is ironic that the liberals current stance of solidarity seems to have narrowed their focus to women, as opposed to humans, giving them an unappealing tinge of self-promotion and even martyrdom.

By all societal standards, America women would seem to have it made. If the situation isnt ideal, government policy is not to blame. So what are the compelling reasons so many women felt the urge to gather in the streets shouting slogans and obscenities? To their obvious feelings of disappointment, uncertainty, and deep-seated fear over the election results, I would add guilt. The outspoken solidarity liberals are now trying to project was not so clearly on display when it counted most: during the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. The reasons may be manifold. Many women supported Bernie. And although his exit from the race was a foregone conclusion, these Sandernistas nevertheless had trouble accepting it.

After that, many who had felt the Bern reluctantly pledged their support to Hillary, while others simply sat out the rest of the election season. Who knows how many votes were cast for Hillary out of grudging support for her or out of hatred for Trump? Or how many werent cast for any candidate? After all, it didnt seem too important back when a Trump presidency wasnt supposed to happen. But it did, and as a result, these marches have in part become guilt trips for those who failed to take seriously the ultimate importance their level of support might play in the long run.

The biased media hoodwinked them into believing that a Clinton victory was inevitable, and that her opponent  whom they saw as a brash, insensitive bully  had no chance of winning. The left-leaning gurus and pollsters were adamant on this point. Not to worry, they all but cooed. A virtual third term for Obama is in the bag. They insinuated that the Republican candidate had no viable pathway to the presidency, period.

Donald J. Trump was clearly underestimated by the scornful liberal elite, who clung to the infallibility of their proven strategy that won them the last two presidential elections. If Trump attracted tens of thousands more supporters to his rallies than Clinton did...so what? Democrats smugly trusted that their hitherto superior ground game would assure the right outcome. They naively suggested that those who showed up at Trump rallies wouldnt necessarily show up at the polls to vote for him.

This liberal hubris was so pervasive that even before the first votes were tallied on the eve of the election, my daughter announced with finality, Trump isnt going to win. I believed it myself. Like many Republicans, I was reluctant even to watch the returns on TV. I thought of retiring early  taking a sleeping pill, if necessary  and facing the inevitable the following morning. Fortunately, political animals tend not to go into premature hibernation.

In the period between the election and the inauguration, their leaderships mantra switched to fear-mongering. Trump couldnt be dismissed anymore, so he had to be further demonized. Even though the election loss was pinned on other outside forces, the reality of the results was sinking in on Democrats  and so was a sense of culpability.

Having survived shock and denial, they sprang into action on the day after Trump became president. (Not theirs, of course.) For many solidarity participants, the exercise seemed less a march than a guilt trip. They had seriously underestimated Trump; he had bested them at a political game they should have won. So if they hadnt turned out in full force for Hillary, they would sure as hell show up in full force to turn out Trump.

Though liberals say they abhor distinctions made along gender lines, these marches were loaded with sexually explicit displays and raunchy innuendo. Heightened by their image of Trump as a womanizer bent on smutty locker room talk, female marchers may have felt emboldened  perhaps even titillated  to do the same. Some of them even dressed up as vaginas, though this  along with crude slogans and posters  offended many of us.

These combined selfie love fests and Trump hate fests will likely continue for some time to come. If they do, the president must bear some of the blame. He may be the Energizer Bunny, but he gets hopping mad when he finds that  to put it mildly  not everybody likes him. As long as these thousands of chicks in cat hats can get under President Trumps skin, they will turn out in force to do so. Its a form of guilt therapy thats hard to beat.
A quiet Russia-Saudi oil war has broken out over the China market, with implications for the geostrategic relations among the U.S., Russia, and China. Russia had already exported more oil to China three months running early last year. Its now evident that the trend continued for the remainder of the year.

Bloomberg News reports that Russia has taken the title for top oil exporter to China for 2016.

Russia boosted crude supply to the Asian nation by 24 percent from 2015 to 52.5 million metric tons, or 1.05 million barrels per day, according to data released Monday by the General Administration of Customs. The Middle Eastern kingdom became the second-biggest supplier, shipping 51 million tons, or 1.02 million barrels per day, little changed from a year earlier.

Chinas high demand for petroleum can be attributed to the rise of teapots, which are smaller independent refineries, and to the requirement of stocking the countrys strategic reserve. Russias other advantage is its proximity to Qingdao, where teapots usually receive their shipments. The port of Kozmino, which is about 50 miles east of Vladivostok, is the terminal point of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Meridian Pipeline. This provides access for Siberian crude not only to China, but to Korea and Japan.

Port of Kozmino.

Its estimated that the teapots growth will continue in 2017. This and the planned expansion of the Sino-Russian pipeline bodes well for Russia to again dominate the China market this year.

President Trumps potential efforts to constrain Chinas expansionist military posture may run into the growing energy dependence of China on Russia.

John Smith is the pen name of a former U.S. intelligence officer.
A senior Secret Service agent out of the Denver office wrote on her Facebook page in October that she wouldnt want to take a bullet for President Trump.

She deleted the post a few days later, but her attitude raises troubling questions about the agents who are supposed to defend the president, even if it means giving up their own lives.

Washington Examiner:

She explained herself saying she viewed his presidential candidacy as a "disaster" for the country, and especially for women and minorities. Kerry O'Grady, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Denver district, oversees coordination with Washington-based advance teams for all presidential candidate and presidential trips to the area, including all upcoming or future trips by the president, vice president or Trump administration officials. Despite her senior security role, she has made her disdain for Trump and his incoming administration clear to her Facebook followers, who included current and former Secret Service agents and other people who were employees at the time of the posts. O'Grady's posts triggered at least one complaint to the office that oversees investigations into Secret Service misbehavior, two knowledgeable sources told the Washington Examiner. In one Facebook post O'Grady wrote at 11:07 p.m. on a Sunday in October, she endorsed Hillary Clinton and said she would endure "jail time" rather than "taking a bullet" for what she regarded as a "disaster" for America. The post didn't mention Trump by name but clearly referred to him. In the same post, she mentioned the Hatch Act, which bars executive branch staff, except the president, vice president and some other senior executive officials, from engaging in certain political activities. "As a public servant for nearly 23 years, I struggle not to violate the Hatch Act. So I keep quiet and skirt the median," she wrote. "To do otherwise can be a criminal offense for those in my position. Despite the fact that I am expected to take a bullet for both sides. "But this world has changed and I have changed. And I would take jail time over a bullet or an endorsement for what I believe to be disaster to this country and the strong and amazing women and minorities who reside here. Hatch Act be damned. I am with Her."

It doesn't matter what she thinks of the Hatch Act. She is in clear violation of the statute:

Secret Service employees are among those federal employees subject to enhanced Hatch Act restrictions, including these two rules: May not post a comment to a blog or a social media site that advocates for or against a partisan political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group. May not use any email account or social media to distribute, send or forward content that advocates for or against a partisan political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group.

The Secret Service will only say they are investigating the matter. But clearly, tha's not good enough. How many other agents have similar feelings to OGradys? Are any of them directly responsible for the presidents safety?

Given the recent scandals associated with the Secret Service, it hardly inspires confidence that the agency would investigate its own. Thats why its necessary that Congress initiate its own investigation of OGrady and the men and women charged with protecting the president.

OGradys published sentiments are not only a clear violation of the Hatch Act, but also a gross violation of professional conduct and ethics. At the very least, she should be suspended for a significant period of time. Preferably, she should be fired and brought up on criminal charges.

Meanwhile, the rest of us wonder if the presidents safety has been compromised.
The MSM outlets are nearly unanimous that President Trump is lying and presenting deliberate falsehoods to the American public about illegal votes tipping the majority to Hillary Clinton in the election. The mantra is that there is no evidence, so Trump is losing his credibility and will no longer be believed. (As if they cared about Trump maintaining credibility.)

All of these warnings about lies coming from a president come at the hands of media outlets that rarely if ever used the word lie with regard to President Obamas many prevarications on serious issues, such as the video causing the Benghazi attack and the Obamacare promise of keeping your plan and your doctor. These were politically consequential lies that I do not recall CNN warning about, as this mornings newscast warned Trump about losing his credibility.

Even on Fox News, most commentators agree that it is a big mistake for Trump to make unfounded assertions on peripheral issues like inauguration crowd size and illegal voting. The estimable non-practicing psychiatrist Charles Krauthammer even pronounced it a character issue.

Dr. Krauthammer consistently ridiculed Trumps electoral prospects throughout the primary and general election seasons, although I do not recall if he attacked Trumps character. Perhaps having commendably admitted that he got it wrong, Dr. Krauthammer might wish to examine whether or not there is a strategy or logic, as opposed to  or in addition to  a character flaw at work.

I will only briefly address the question of the crowd size dispute, for which I see weaker justification: diverting media attention from the Saturday mass demonstrations, and possibly setting up a crowd size framework for judging the annual March for Life in D.C. this weekend, which is routinely ignored by the MSM despite drawing massive crowds. The media have now bought into the notion that crowd size is a very, very important issue. This amounts to a lazy softball right over the plate for the pro-life movement, Sean Spicer, or anyone else who shares President Trumps pro-life positions.

If Trumps media enemies like CNN once again ignore the March for Life, they will discredit themselves. It is very clear to me that President Trump intends to destroy the credibility of his media enemies. He realistically understands that they are implacable enemies seeking his impeachment and removal from office (on grounds yet to be ginned up) or, as a fallback, defeat for re-election and a midterm election disaster for the GOP. Weakening the credibility of the media is a continuing goal of his administration.

That is the context in which his multiple remarks concerning illegal votes has to be understood. I think President Trump knew that if he made remarks about illegal voting, the media would spring to action and present the opposite position and would characterize his thinking as a lie. The problem with this is that a lack of evidence is not proof for the contrary position. We simply do not know how much vote fraud there is because nobody takes the trouble to investigate how much there is. When a voter presents himself at the polls or requests an absentee ballot, there is no automatic search to discover if the person is a legitimate voter. The very act of asking for voter ID is considered discriminatory by many, including some in the courts.

California has adopted a system for granting voter registration to people receiving drivers licenses. If the applicants dont specify illegal alien status at the time, they receive a license that entitles them to register and vote. Even if they do specify that they are here illegally, they still get a license where the distinction is hard to see.

Illegal aliens aside, there is the question of people voting under the name of other people, especially the dead who have not been purged from voting rolls.

John Fund has written and co-authored two well documented books on the extent of vote fraud. The MSM are now demanding proof for Trumps assertions, opening the door for the Trump administration to conduct a detailed investigation of vote fraud, which has to have been a strategy all along. When the investigation will be attacked as an effort at vote suppression, the Trump administration will have media demands for data to point at.

Because nobody can deny that there is some vote fraud, the question becomes, How much?

If positioning the media to demand what he all along wanted (but knew that the media would attack) is irrational, I do not see the logic.

And as for a president lying, outgoing President Obama issued a whopper just before he left office:

Obama said the U.S. is the only country in the advanced world that makes it harder to vote rather than easier. "And that dates back, there's an ugly history to that that we should not be shy about talking about," he said.

In fact, the United States is an outlier in terms of voter ID and ease of voting.

So the question that the MSM is pushing is, How much vote fraud is there?

And Trump has a character issue in accomplishing this.
The rocket holds a special place in history. Its an icon of technological progress thats both revered and feared at the same time. During the sixties of the last century, the United States and the Soviet Union was gripped by the space-age fever, and the rocket emerged as the fundamental symbol of the space rivalry. Throughout America, as well as the Eastern bloc, rocket shaped structures began popping up across children playgrounds to foster curiosity and excitement about the space race among kids. Aside from rockets there were other fixture resembling various space-age equipment such as satellites, radar tower, planets and even submarines that kids can climb, swing and slide from.

A rocket slide at a playground in Iowa, United States. Photo credit: Carl Wycoff/Flickr

Many of these space-age playgrounds still stand, and have met opposition from the public when efforts were made to remove them, but others are fast disappearing. In 2008, the city of Richardson, Texas, tried to dismantle an "atomic playground" installed in 1965, quoting reasons that "as children grow and develop, their playgrounds must evolve to meet ever-changing play needs and interests". The rocket ship, they said, had "very little play value", and had "hazardous conditions that present a great danger to young children". But the locals opposed and authorities had to keep their hands off.

Some of these relics of the Cold War has been designated a heritage property, as is the 26-feet tall metal rocket in a playground in Calwa, California, that still stands "as an affectionate symbol of an earlier time".

Todays playgrounds are a bastion of safety. Fiberglass and wood have replaced metals and rusted bolts. Slides never go higher than five or six feet, and have pits of sand underneath rather than hard asphalt or grass.

The transformation began in 1973, writes Lisa Hix on Collectors Weekly, when the U.S. Congress established the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which began tracking playground injuries at hospital emergency rooms. The study led to the publication of the first Handbook for Public Playground Safety in 1981, which signaled the beginning of the end for much of the playground equipment in use.

The American Society for Testing and Materials created a subcommittee of designers and playground-equipment manufacturers to set safety standards for the whole industry. When they published their guidelines in 1993, they suggested most existing playground surfaces, which were usually asphalt, dirt, or grass, needed to be replaced with pits of wood or rubber mulch or sand, prompting many schools and parks to rip their old playgrounds out entirely.

The rocket ship slide in Torrances Los Arboles Park, installed in 1960. Photo credit: Daily Breeze

Brenda Biondo, a freelance journalist who photographed many old playgrounds across the US, added that the Consumer Product Safety Commission never issued requirements, just suggested guidelines. But manufacturers felt that if their equipment didnt meet those guidelines, theyd be vulnerable to liability. Everybody went to the extreme, making everything super safe so they wouldnt risk getting sued.

Playgrounds across the country began retiring old equipment. The Carson playground, in Wisconsin, lost their rocket despite pleas from the public not to remove the beloved fixture.

Of all the pieces of equipment, the rocket had the most memories associated with it  a lot of the play value went away with the new guidelines, laments Phil Johnson, the Superintendent of Parks & Recreation.

But lower heights and softer landing havent made playgrounds any safer. On the contrary, injuries seems to have risen. As David Ball, a professor of risk management at Middlesex University in London, explains, when playground equipment was higher and had asphalt instead of sand or rubber, kids knew they had to be careful and learned to assess risks. Nowadays, with everything lower and presumably safer, children and parents believe they are in an environment which is safer than it actually is, and take more risks leading to injuries.

A jungle gym in Riverside Park in Manhattan, which has disappeared now. Photo credit: Dith Pran/The New York Times

Children playing on iron pole playground equipment at Trinity Play Park, circa 1900. Photo credit: rarehistoricalphotos.com

Girls playground, Harriet Island, St. Paul, Minn. 1905. Photo credit: rarehistoricalphotos.com

Broadway Playfield, 1910. Photo credit: rarehistoricalphotos.com

Rings and poles, Bronx Park, New York. 1911. Photo credit: rarehistoricalphotos.com

Hiawatha Playground, 1912. Photo credit: rarehistoricalphotos.com

A rocket shaped playground apparatus in Thetford, England. Photo credit: Sludge G/Wikimedia

A rocket in Levy Lowry Memorial Park, Princeton, Missouri. Photo credit: Nels Olsen/Wikimedia

A rocket-shaped playground equipment in Bakerview Park, Mount Vernon, United States. Photo credit: amanda/Flickr

A rocket slide at a playground in Chillicothe, Missouri, United States. Photo credit: Nels Olsen/Flickr

A rocket slide at a playground in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, United States. Photo credit: clarkmaxwell/Flickr

A rocket slid at a playground in Benalla, Australia. Photo credit: Peter Ermel/Panoramio

Sources: Wikipedia / Mineral County Independent News / Collectors Weekly / NY Times
A bridge of concrete and steel that floats may seem highly unusual, if not impossible, but there are twenty such bridges around the world, five in the U.S. state of Washington alone, of which four are the longest floating bridges in the world.

Floating bridges, also known as pontoon bridges, are usually temporary structures built out of wood during times of emergencies such as war. Wooden floats and sometimes boats are lashed together and flat planks are laid over creating a roadway, allowing men and materials to cross bodies of water. Pontoon bridges have been used to great advantage in many battles throughout history, including the Second World War and during the IranIraq War.

Homer Hadley Floating Bridge and Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge. Photo credit: Atmoc Taco/Flickr

The longest permanent floating bridge, Evergreen Point, commonly called the SR 520 Bridge, lies across Lake Washington, in Seattle. It carries the traffic of State Route 520 and is 4,750 meters long. The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, the second longest bridge in the world, lies across the same lake just a few miles to the south, and is 2,020 meters long.

But why floating bridges? The answer lies in Lake Washingtons tricky geographical location. The lake bed is too soft for piers of a conventional bridge. The other option, a suspension bridge, would require bridge towers the height of Seattles Space Needle, which would have been too expensive.

The idea of a floating bridge across Lake Washington was first proposed by engineer Homer Hadley in the 1930s. Hadley had worked for a firm designing concrete barges during World War I and he proposed the idea of connecting hollow concrete barges end-to-end to Lacey V. Murrow, the state's then director of highways. Hadleys floating bridge was such a success that Washington State adopted the concept for future bridges. The second bridge, Evergreen Point, the longest in the world, was opened in 1963. In honor of the man who first spearheaded the idea, the third bridge was named after Homer Hadley. Today, Lake Washington is home to three, and all rank among the five longest floating bridges in the world.

The original Lake Washington floating bridge, opened on July 3, 1940. Photo credit: seattlepi.com

The Lacey V. Murrow bridge (right) is the world's third-longest floating bridge at 6,603 feet. The current bridge was built in 1993, replacing a structure that sank during a severe storm. Photo credit: Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com

Homer Hadley Bridge (left) and Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge (right). Photo credit: Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com

Photo credit: Anna/Flickr

Evergreen Point Floating Bridge. Photo credit: Atomic Taco/Flickr

Aerial view of Evergreen Point Road, Eastside staging area and floating bridge construction barges. Photo credit: Washington State Dept of Transportation/Flickr

A photograph taken on June, 2012, shows the newly set girders with the SR 520 floating bridge. Photo credit: Washington State Dept of Transportation/Flickr

Evergreen Point Floating Bridge. Photo credit: SounderBruce/Flickr

Evergreen Point Floating Bridge. Photo credit: Ramanathan Kathiresan/Flickr

Evergreen Point Floating Bridge. Photo credit: Peter Svensk/Flickr

Sources: Seattle Pi / The Engines of Our Ingenuity / Wikipedia
In 2016, Google removed over 1.7 billion bad ads according to their latest blog post detailing how they fought bad ads and scammers last year. Google explains how the company has been working to crack down on scammers, click bait and just overall bad ads, last year, making the open web a bit more enjoyable for everyone. As you would expect, an open and free web relies heavily on ads. Most websites on the web are funded by ads, which makes them necessary. But some ads are scams and shouldnt be allowed on websites, and somehow got past Googles reviews.

Google says that they disabled nearly 68 million ads for illegal products. This includes healthcare violations, and this number is up drastically from the 12.5 million in 2015. There were about 80 million misleading ads disabled last year as well. Around 7 million ads were disabled for trying to game the system and about 23,000 ads were bad on mobile. Google has been taking action on these sites and accounts for attempting to promote illegal products and use ads that were misleading. To make sure that they are gone for good.

Alphabets co-founder, Larry Page, has been a big proponent of making ads a bit better. Obviously, Google has a vested interest in making ads a bit better and not so misleading, since around 95% of their revenue comes from ads. But with ads being misleading and taking over the entire display, its costing Google and Alphabet a ton of cash, as more people are looking for ways to block these ads themselves. So this is a way for Google to fight back against those ad blockers and still generate some revenue. Google will likely continue to work on cracking down on these bad ads in 2017, and it wouldnt be surprising to see the overall number of removed ads increase, this time next year when Google puts out their report regarding 2017. If you are interested in reading up on how Google did fight bad ads in 2016, you can check out the full report located at the source link below.
Amazon wants to avoid an antitrust fine in Europe by changing the standard eBook contracts it signs with authors and publishers. The Seattle-based tech giant offered to remove some clauses from its contracts that force eBook publishers selling their creations through Amazon to offer the company equal terms to those given to other publishing platforms, the European Commission said in a statement on Tuesday. Amazons proposal comes a year and a half after the Commission started investigating the companys publishing practices related to eBooks distributed in English and German. European regulators are still trying to determine whether Amazons clauses were designed to stifle more innovative competition and are consequently anti-competitive, but the U.S. retailer is now apparently willing to show some goodwill by proactively altering its controversial eBook contracts.

Amazon has been the biggest eBook retailer in Europe for many years and the company originally drew the attention of the European Commission in mid-2015. The firms contract clauses allow eBook publishers to sell their products on Amazon only if theyre willing to avoid offering timed exclusives, discounts, and similar promotions through other platforms. The Commission suspects this kind of stipulation negatively affects the free market as nothing should theoretically stop publishers from utilizing their distribution channels in various ways and force them to give one distributor a priority over the others. The antitrust investigation into Amazons eBook contracts is now allegedly being wrapped up and could result in a significant fine for the company, which is why the U.S. tech giant is now offering to drop the controversial clauses and not fight the matter any further.

The European Commission is now accepting feedback from Amazons competitors and customers and will make its final decision next month, the European officials told Reuters. If Amazons offer is accepted, the company would drop the controversial clauses for the next five years and would avoid all anti-competitive fines its currently facing. The European competition watchdog said that such fines could amount to 10-percent of Amazons annual revenue. Despite its peace offering, Amazon is still disagreeing with the Commission over its definition of a market as the company claims eBooks arent an ecosystem of their own and are also competing with other formats.
Two of the worlds largest media businesses, Facebook and Google, are working to roll out technologies designed to stop fake news stories and could soon release these into the Canadian market. The issue, which was well publicized during the 2016 American presidential election, also happens in Canada. In December 2016, the conservative leadership candidates campaign manager, Nick Kouvalis, posted false information about the government simply to aggravate voters. Kouvalis story was a list of foreign aid money that the current Canadian government was reckoned to have sent overseas, which he Tweeted. The message showed that the Canadian government had made a significant donation to the terrorist group, Hamas.

Both Facebook and Google are developing systems and technologies designed to help people determine if a news story is accurate or not. Facebook has reported that it is in the early stages of testing what it describes as a toolbox to help users and journalists to check the authenticity of a story. Meanwhile, Google has built in a fact check tag into news pages, which is designed to give readers confidence that the news story has been checked for accuracy. However, both companies agree that putting systems and procedures in place to stop fake news is very difficult, with Facebook calling the battle a slippery slope. Although Google have said not publicly discussed bringing the fact check feature to Canada, an anonymous Google employee explained: Were actively working to bring this feature to Canada in the near future. We are unable to verify this fact, because the source at Google explained he was not authorized to make a statement about the technology.

Canadas Heritage Minister, Melanie Joly, wishes to engage with social network and media managers. She wishes to investigate how or if the Canadian government can help stop the spread of false news stories as part of a widescale review of the media designed to measure media integrity, which is a project started in December 2016 after the widespread false news reports issued during the American presidential election. Canadas heritage committee chairman, Hedy Fry, explains: We saw what happened in the United States The United States woke everybody up. However, Fry also noticed that there are no easy ways to make sure that Canadian citizens read authentic news stories without restricting the freedom of the press.
Electric car maker Faraday Future has been hit with a lawsuit alleging that the company failed to pay over $1.8 million for a virtual reality experience promoting its upcoming FF 91 SUV. The lawsuit was filed by a production company The Mill Group who claims it only received $20,000 from the $1,822,750 figure that was initially agreed upon with Faraday Future. The production firm claims that the US electric car manufacturer agreed to pay the sum in three installments but only ever managed to muster $20,000, leaving its outstanding debt at $1,802,750. The Mill Group has now sued Faraday Future for its remaining debt and related prejudgment interest.

Faraday Futures first commercial vehicle was unveiled at CES earlier this month but a source with knowledge of the matter stated that The Mill Group was working on a virtual tour of the FF 91 that was supposed to be shown to high-profile customers prior to CES. However, the project was never finished after Faraday Future failed to provide the company with funding. Both parties have yet to issue their public comments regarding the dispute. The Mill Group claims that Faraday Future originally approached it last August as it was looking to order a graphic presentation promoting the FF 91. The presentation was supposed to utilize VR and AR elements and The Mill Group estimated it will cost around $1.82 million which Faraday Future agreed to pay in three installments, the lawsuit alleges. As that apparently didnt happen and the US automaker repeatedly acknowledged its debt, the VR production company decided to sue.

The Mill Groups lawsuit is yet another sign of trouble for Faraday Future thats reportedly struggling with funding and has arrived at this years CES in hopes of raising additional funds through $5,000 priority reservations for the FF 91. It remains to be seen whether the company managed to achieve that goal but if it hasnt, recent rumors suggest that it could go out of business in the coming months. Naturally, that wouldnt bode well for Faraday Futures plans to open a Nevada factory but its possible that its partner LeEco would be willing to assist with additional funding if the company continues to face financial difficulties.
Freedom Mobiles $45 LTE plan is now just $35 as part of their new promo that they began offering today. The promotion brings this particular plan option down by $10 and Freedom Mobile states that this is the lowest price ever for this plan, so those who may have been considering a jump to Freedom Mobile may want to think a little more heavily about it as getting the lowest price ever on an already low-priced plan offering is a potentially good deal, depending of course on what your specific needs are for plans as well as network coverage.

If youre thinking about picking this plan up youll want to do it quick, and there are also a few of caveats to pay attention to. First and foremost is that this is available to new activations only according to Freedom Mobiles details, and it has to be set up in store which means you cant set it up online or over the phone. The last bit of detail, which is the reason for making haste in this matter, is that the promotion is only good until January 31st which means after next Tuesday the promo is gone, and the plan will presumably be back up to $45, although it isnt unheard of for carriers to extend these types of promotions on plans. Having said that, if youre a customer considering the promotion, it would be a good idea not to bank on an extension for it and to get into a store to set it up as soon as possible as you only have a week.

Freedom Mobile is also highlighting that you can pick up the ZTE Grand X 4 for free, which is normally a $99 cost. To get the phone for free, tough, youll have to sign up for Freedom Mobiles MyTab Boost option. Even with this extra $5, the plan still only amounts to $40 which is $5 less than original cost of the plan in the first place, which means you can save $5 on the plan and get a free phone in the process. This isnt a bad deal if you need a new phone and a new plan to go along with it.
NEAR CANNON BALL  President Donald Trump's executive order to speed up approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline came as bleak news, but as no surprise, to many protesters camped along the Missouri River.

"Expected," one woman called it. "More of the same," another man said.

Oceti Sakowin camp headsmen are encouraging people to "stand up where they are" and not necessarily flood back to Standing Rock in the wake of the decision.

"The heart of Standing Rock beats everywhere," the group wrote in a statement provided by headsman Manape LaMere. "The fire has been taken by 10,000 people, plus potential organizers nationwide."

Despite this, LaMere said he is "pretty confident" direct actions will ramp up in the wake of the decision.

"There's an emotional response from this," LaMere said. "I don't think there's going to be a very good outcome. People might get hurt."

But midday Tuesday, none of that had begun, nor did it appear on the way. Though the news had spread throughout the several hundred-person camp, it was having little effect on what people were doing or thinking.

No one rushed to the drill site, though law enforcement planes flew low overhead and patrol cars were stationed along N.D. Highway 6. Many continued to break down the camp, now dotted with circles where teepees once stood.

Karla Colon, of Massachusetts, was helping to clean up the camp, as requested by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe due to flooding concerns.

The 21-year-old, who returned to North Dakota in part due to Trump's inauguration, said she felt it was important to clean.

"Realistically, this is sacred ground. We can't leave it like this," Colon said. "But I don't think we're all leaving."

Shannon Pepper, of New York, sat by a sacred fire, and people came by, "steeled and exhausted," to pray throughout the morning.

"It's looking very bleak right now for this movement," said Pepper, indicating the toll of the decision was "more psychic than real" and posed "one less potential barrier" for the pipeline.

Still, it wasn't much different from former President Barack Obama, Pepper contended. And she is keeping her plans to go home by March for a job.

"In the end, we needed more urgency," she said.

Noah Morris, of the medic and healer council, said many people, including most of the medics, are moving to the Sacred Stone Camp. This comes after the tribal council decided last week to halt plans for a winter camp in Cannon Ball that residents rejected due to problems with protesters in the town.

But Morris said some will stay at the current camp until they are physically removed.

"Folks will always do what they do and follow their hearts," Morris said.

Those at the camp remained hopeful for what similar movements  now underway at pipeline projects around the country  could accomplish.

Morris said he believed they could still pressure financial institutions and other countries with influence to stop "allowing banks to continue financing extreme energy extraction."
The Samsung Galaxy C5 Pro just surfaced on Geekbench. The companys upcoming mid-ranger has paid a visit to the benchmarking site, and also revealed its partial specifications. The Samsung SMC5010 (aka Galaxy C5 Pro) is the model number were looking at here, and if this info is to be believed, this handset will be fueled by the Snapdragon 625 64-bit octa-core processor. In addition to that, Geekbench reports that the device will feature 4GB of RAM and ship with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, and on top of it, youll get Samsungs custom UI, of course.

Now, the Samsung Galaxy C5 Pro surfaced on GFXBench a while back, and these specs actually go hand-in-hand with the ones weve seen on GFXBench. In addition to this, the phone had also been certified by both TENAA (Chinas equivalent to the FCC) and FCC thus far, while it had also received Wi-Fi certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA). So, as you can see, all that is left for Samsung to do at this point is to launch this smartphone, and that will probably happen soon based on the provided info. Thanks to TENAAs listing, we more or less know what will this phone look like, and TENAAs listing also shared its spec sheet. The Galaxy C5 Pro will be made out of metal, and will ship with a physical home key below the display, which will probably double as a fingerprint scanner. The phones bezels wont be especially thin, just in case you were wondering.

The Samsung Galaxy C5 Pro will sport a 5.2-inch fullHD (1920 x 1080) display, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable internal storage. The device will be fueled by the Snapdragon 625 64-bit octa-core SoC, as already mentioned, and a 3,000mAh battery will also be a part of this package. Youll be able to find a 16-megapixel camera on both the front and back side of this smartphone, even though its rear-facing shooter will be more capable. 4G LTE connectivity will be included here, while the device will measure 145.7 x 71.4 x 6.95mm, and weight 143 grams. The Galaxy C5 Pro will become available in Dark Blue, Pink and Gold color variants, and it is expected to launch soon.
The fourth annual Wearable Technology Show is set to take place in London, UK, on March 7-8. According to recent news, this years event will be led by a keynote from Greg Ivanov, Business Head of Googles VR (virtual reality) division Daydream. In addition, this years event for wearables will be co-located with IoT Connect as well as the AR, VR & MXR Show, which is Europes largest independent event for augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality technologies.

The Wearable Technology Show will take place at Londons ExCel conference center, where more than 200 speakers will attend the conference, and over 100 exhibitors will be showcasing their latest advancements in smart wearable technology. Furthermore, this years Wearable Technology Show will coincide with the launch of the Digital Health Technology Show, where attendees will get a glimpse of future smart technologies for healthcare, as well as current advancements in the medical field. With that being said, there will be 6 different conference tracks at this years Wearable Technology Show, including exhibitions for smart health wearables, smart textiles & sensors, smart home & connected living, as well as IoT (Internet of Things). Visitors will be able to check the Crunchwear Zone in the expo hall for a look at smart gadgets and wearable technologies from some of the biggest names in the industry.

Its also worth noting that aside from Googles Greg Ivanov, the list of speakers confirmed for the 2017 event includes Rachel Murphy, Digital Delivery Director at NHS Digital; Steve Moore, Director of Connected Home for Dixons Carphone; and Vincent Nida, Global Brand President at LOreal. As far as the list of exhibitors is concerned, there are names such as ActivBody (formerly known as TAO-Wellness) which were the creators of the Activ5TM exercise device, AiO Smart Clothing, Activinsights, Alango, Amplified Robot, Aparito, Candy Lab (creators of an Augmented Reality engine and toolset), e-Senses which will present the Helios smart ring, DigiSEq whose technologies promise to transform consumer wearable and IoT products into contactless payment devices, and the list goes on. You can check the source link below for additional information regarding the upcoming Wearable Technology Show in London and the list of participants this year, as well as an overview of the previous (3rd) event held in 2016.
You may have heard this called by its previous name  Google Apps for Education  70 million users are now using the renamed G Suite for Education. It has grown rapidly in the past two years from the 60 million users a year ago. The G Suite for Education is completely free for schools and offers 24/7 support, also at no cost. There are never any bothersome ads to detract you, and the data is yours to keep. It is all a part of Googles effort to take over the classroom and see Chromebooks on each desk and not iPads or iMacs. Google estimates that through their efforts over 20 million Chromebooks are actively being used weekly in classrooms.

Googles G Suite for Education is easy to use, and you can create, share, and edit files in real-time. All of the students are on the same page as the instructor as everything is stored in the cloud. This method also allows the user to access those files on any device  computer, tablet, or smartphone  any time of the day and it allows you to work anywhere you chose. Included in the suite are Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Docs, the Vault, Sheets, Forms, Slides, Sites, and Hangouts. Together, these apps will allow an instructor or student to explore topics, communicate via Hangouts, send and receive emails, write papers, and keep dates straight on a shared calendar.

The G Suite for Education also includes Googles Classroom so the instructor can keep everything organized. It is the center program that all of the app programs tied in and gives the instructor their control and organization of lessons and students. They can use Classroom to create a class, easily add students or students can easily signup for the class themselves. The instructor can post homework, grade those assignments, and then communicate with the student about their work or answer any questions they may have. Google Classroom is an all-in-one organizer that helps save an instructor time with multiple classes. Google claims it will save teachers 52 hours per year, allowing the students to quickly reach the instructor, get their answer, and move on with their assignments. Google is claiming a 99.9-percent uptime, so reliability should not be an issue.

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Despite recent leaks of an HTC-made smartwatch, the Taiwanese manufacturer has confirmed that they are not working on an Android watch. HTC is one of the only manufacturers out there to not try their hand at an Android-based smartwatch, whether Android Wear or otherwise. And it appears that they wont be releasing one anytime soon. But that doesnt mean that they werent thinking about it.

Recently a leak of a prototype smartwatch, that appeared to show that HTC and Under Armour were working on a device together, is actually a somewhat older prototype and the project has been scrapped. This is according to Android Police. They also added that its likely that a former employee working on the project still had one laying around and published them, or someone found it in a drawer somewhere. Its unclear where the prototype came from, but very obvious that this is an old prototype, and that the project is no more.

HTC has a pretty good reason for canning the smartwatch too, and its to do with how successful Android Wear was. An HTC official, who spoke with tbreak Media, told them that Android Wear was not a commercial success. So they opted to move on from Android Wear. Now given what has happened with Android Wear in the past year, its not hard to see why HTC believed Android Wear was not a commercial success. After all, only a few smartwatches debuted last year. And the much anticipated Android Wear 2.0 update has been delayed and should be coming next month.

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The company has been struggling in recent years, so it does make sense to shelve a project that likely wouldnt have brought in much profit. While many would love to see a smartwatch from HTC, especially if they partnered with Under Armour, its still unclear if they would have sold as many smartwatches as they would have wanted too. Now this doesnt mean that HTC wont release a smartwatch in the future, but as for now, theres no Android watch in the pipeline, that also doesnt mean that they wont release something with a different OS.
Smartphone sales in the 50 largest cities in India dropped almost 31% last November on a month-on-month basis, according to a report published yesterday by U.S.-based market research firm, IDC. While the subdued sales is typical of the period after the long festive season that includes Durga Puja, Navaratri and Diwali, the problem this year was exacerbated by the Indian governments controversial demonetization drive that triggered a massive cash crunch in a country where most transactions are still done in cash. While all smartphone vendors saw a dip in sales during November, the Indian brands were the hardest hit. Collectively, India-based smartphone vendors experienced a 37.2% drop in sales during the period, while Chinese companies saw their sales decline by 26.5%. Sales of global brands, such as Samsung, LG and Sony, reduced by 30.5% during the period.

The IDC report also says that the largest impact of the cash crunch was seen in the entry and mid-range segments, which is where Indian brands have traditionally earned most of their revenues from. The segment that was most adversely affected by demonetization was the sub-$200 price-point, which is the most lucrative segment in the country, with devices like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, Asus ZenFone 2 Laser, Lenovo K3 Note and the Huawei Honor 5X, all going on to register blockbuster sales over the past couple of years. Reports in the Indian media suggests that this segment accounts for nearly 80% of the total smartphone market in the country by volume. Meanwhile, even though the Indian smartphone market is believed to have declined during Q4 2016, vendors can take heart from the fact that IDC expects the market to bounce back by February 2017.

Another important development in the Indian smartphone market over the past few quarters is the steady growth of Chinese brands in the offline retail channel, often at the expense of Indian companies like Micromax, Lava and Karbonn. IDC attributes this growth to the strong distribution networks these companies have developed over the past couple of years, with vendors like OPPO and Vivo leading the way. Of course, the proportion of online sales continues to rise as well, with the Redmi Note 3 widely believed to have been the largest selling smartphone in the country last year with sales of over 3.6 million units.
While just about everything else with a CPU chip in it gets quicker, cheaper, and smaller over time, that law does not seem to apply to smartwatches, and Pankaj Kedia, Qualcomms senior director and business lead on their smartwatch efforts, can explain why that is. According to Kedia, its actually fairly simple; the technology behind smartwatches has not quite hit its stride to the point that adding in more features and power can be done on a device that keeps getting smaller and cheaper. Kedia did say, however, that he expects to see a different, but similar law being made up for smartwatches in the near future to help gauge how far the segment has come.

Essentially, smartwatches are a space in which the product is still in the early stages of figuring out exactly what it should be. Kedia says that the current downward trend in the smartwatch space, rather than being a death knell, is proof of that. Qualcomms position in the tech world, and indeed in the wearable market, affords Kedia a pretty good look at the way things are progressing, and according to him, smartwatches simply havent found themselves yet. This means that features are always being rotated and tried out in different devices, with no real agreed-upon base standard. This makes it impossible to start working on the sort of design refinements that would lead to the fulfillment of something like Moores Law.

Kedias words are nicely reflected in the turmoil currently facing the smartwatch space. Smartwatch sales may have hit a million units in a single quarter, but they are in a serious lull now. One of the first companies to make a mainstream smartwatch, Pebble, has all but gone toes-up. Lenovo, a tech all-rounder that has played a small part in smartwatches and owns somewhat bigger smartwatch outfit Motorola, has announced that they are backing down for the time being. Meanwhile, just about everybody in the smartwatch world, aside from Apple and Samsung, are holding their breath for the final version of Android Wear 2.0 to hit the ground. It seems almost like waiting for the other shoe to drop, and Kedia is convinced that when it does, smartwatches will achieve mainstream relevance.
Google+ was updated with a new Insights panel on Tuesday, Googles Product Manager Daniel Raynaud announced. This new functionality allows users to accurately measure their activity and social reach on Google+ and identify how many people in their circles and other individuals are seeing their posts. The Insights panel is available to both Google+ profiles and pages but can currently only be accessed through the browser version of Google+. Theres still no word on whether this feature will eventually make its way to the Google+ Android app.

To access the new Insights panel, all you have to do is navigate to your Google+ profile page and click on the three-dot icon located in the bottom right of your header between the About and Edit Profile buttons. This will bring down a drop-down menu offering a single option that says Your influence. Selecting it will open the Insights panel as a pop-in window. This section lists new profile and collection follows, as well as posts. It also shows post reach by views, comments, and +1s. The Insights panel doesnt show real-time data as a notice on the bottom of the interface says that new data may take up to two days to appear. Users have the ability to see their post reach and activity in either the last week or the last month. The current version of the Insights panel doesnt allow you to analyze specific periods by manually setting their beginning and end dates and its unclear whether Google is currently working on such a functionality.

The Alphabet-owned company recently started separating Google+ from its other services, which some interpreted as a move signifying that Google gave up on its social media network. However, seeing how Google+ and its Android app are still receiving updates on a regular basis, that doesnt seem to be the case. Still, its hard to predict where Google is planning to take its social network next. In addition to the Insights panel, Google+ was recently updated with a new bandwidth-saving algorithm and a number of minor improvements, but it remains to be seen what kind of place this social network will have in Googles future product lineup.
After having a rollercoaster of a year in 2016, Samsung is looking to start 2017 with a bang, which includes the Galaxy S8. Now there has already been a slew of leaks and rumors surfacing around the Samsung Galaxy S8, which has given us a pretty good idea of what Samsung may be cooking up with this new smartphone, and the eighth generation of the Galaxy S lineup. This includes some of the specs, the new artificial intelligence that will be in the device, as well as what the device even looks like.

Design

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According to most leaks, it appears that Samsung is looking to update their design this year. In 2015 and 2016, Samsung kept with mostly the same design. Using a glass back and a metal frame. But it looks like with the Galaxy S8, the bezels are going to be even smaller, and the physical home button may also be disappearing. This leads many to believe that Samsung is going to be using on-screen buttons (something they havent done in years) and have the fingerprint sensor underneath the glass of the display.

There are plenty of different pictures of the design of the Galaxy S8 floating around (as well as the larger Galaxy S8 Plus), but it does appear that there wont be an Edge variant, as the standard Galaxy S8 will feature a curved display. Additionally, the chin and forehead bezels are going to be trimmed down, allowing Samsung to fit in a larger display in a smaller surface area. In fact, according to the dimensions that appeared recently, it appears that the Galaxy S8 will have a 5.8-inch display, while being just a few millimeters wider than the Galaxy S7. With the Galaxy S8 Plus having an enormous 6.3-inch display, and it being just a tad wider and taller than the Galaxy S7 Edge, which is pretty impressive, all things considered.

When it comes to the backside, the flash and laser autofocus module seems to have been moved. Instead of being beside the camera or below the camera like weve seen with earlier Samsung devices. The module appears to be above the camera, which admittedly does look a bit odd. We havent seen any images of the sides, so its hard to say where the volume rocker, power button and so forth will end up. But there likely wont be many, if any changes there.

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Battery

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There hasnt been much talk about the battery just yet, but given the issues Samsung had with the Galaxy Note 7, you can rest assured that they will be testing this battery more than they have on any other smartphone. LG has even said that they have made sure that the battery on the G6 wont overheat or explode. Which they are doing this by using a heat pipe inside the device, to allow heat to escape and keep it from building up. While there hasnt been any rumors about Samsung doing something similar with the Galaxy S8, they likely are. The last thing Samsung wants (or needs) is another Galaxy Note 7 incident. Those two recalls cost Samsung over $2 billion USD and their brand also took a rather huge hit.

As far as capacity goes, thats a big mystery too. However, there is a report out there claiming that the Galaxy S8 will feature a 3250mAh battery. Thats a pretty big upgrade from the Galaxy S7, especially with the Galaxy S8 being about the same size as the Galaxy S7, unless Samsung is looking to make the new device thicker, its tough to believe that bump in capacity. Especially seeing as the Galaxy Note 7s issue was the fact that there wasnt enough room around the battery, and that the capacity was too high.

Update: On February 2nd, we reported that the Galaxy S8 will be using batteries from a company in Japan. Instead of Samsung SDI, who were responsible for the first batch of batteries in the Galaxy Note 7. The company in which Samsung is rumored to be using is Murata Manufacturing. Additionally, it has been reported that the battery sizes will be 3250mAh and 3750mAh for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus respectively.

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Specs

As we mentioned already, the Galaxy S8 is aimed to sport a 5.8-inch display and the Galaxy S8 Plus with a 6.3-inch display. Both of which are supposedly going to be Super AMOLED Quad HD+ panels, no real surprise there. The change here is the fact that Samsung is believed to be using an RGB array of pixels instead of Pentile. With Pentile you are looking at an RGBG setup, meaning there are two green pixels for every red or blue. With RGB, youll get one of each. Supposedly this is all due to VR and needing to make it a bit more immersive for users.

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Samsung is largely expected to be one of the first to use Qualcomms latest flagship processor, the Snapdragon 835. Remember, Samsung is actually manufacturing the Snapdragon 835, so it would make sense for Samsung to use it in their flagship smartphone. Of course, if history is anything to go by, the Snapdragon 835 will be used in the US and select other markets, with an Exynos chip being used everywhere else. In 2017, rumors are pointing to the Exynos 8895 getting the nod for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. The Exynos 8895 will be paired with the Mali-G71, which is already on the market in the Huawei Mate 9 (which uses the Kirin 960 SoC). Its a massive improvement over the Mali-T880 from ARM. Of course, the Snapdragon 835 would come with the Adreno 540 GPU from Qualcomm.

Its also rumored that Samsung will stick 4GB of RAM inside the Galaxy S8, along with 64GB of storage (like the Galaxy Note 7 did) and a micro SD card slot. Samsung is also rumored to offer a 6GB of RAM model with 128GB of storage too.

Update: On January 31st, it was rumored that Samsung would be offering two variants, one with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage and the other with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There are also conflicting reports on which one will be the more popular model, but given recent history, the 4GB/64GB one will likely be available in most markets.

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Update 2: On March 1st, it was leaked that there will only be a 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage model, at least when it comes to the US.

Bixby

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Its rumored that Samsung will be adding their own personal assistant to the Galaxy S8. Seen as the successor to S Voice, Bixby is said to be much more powerful, and perhaps even more functional than the personal assistants we have today  like Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri and Cortana. Of course, it likely wont be as smart as what Google has, since it has the search engine and knowledge graph behind it. But according to rumors, Bixby may be able to utilize the camera to do things like carry out visual searches.

Bixby is the child of Viv which Samsung purchased late last year. Viv was a popular AI assistant because of the amount of tie ins it had with third-party software and services. And thats something that Samsung is likely going to leverage to help make Bixby be competitive, and work well in the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus.

Release Date

Currently, there are loads of different dates floating around for when the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus will be available. But the most common rumor is pointing towards it being announced at a separate event in April and being available later that month. Thats opposed to it being announced at Mobile World Congress (which begins on February 27th), where the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S7 were both announced. Samsung has already confirmed that the Galaxy S8 will not be announced at Mobile World Congress in late February, but they will likely tease the device at their press conference, where the Galaxy Tab S3 is expected to debut.

The last few years, Samsung has been able to release their flagship devices worldwide on the same date, including on all the major carriers in the US. Expect the same this year with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. These two devices should launch in South Korea, the US, UK and other key markets on the same day, with other markets following a few weeks later. Right now, pricing has not hit the rumor mill, but expect it to be around the same price as the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, if not a bit more expensive.

Update: On February 26th, Samsung announced that the Galaxy S8 will be officially announced at their Unpacked event on March 29th, in New York City (there is also word about there being a second event in London at the same time).

Cases

There have been quite a few cases leaked already for both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. These leaks have all shown a device that looks quite similar to each other. Although the latest leak that comes from Mobile Fun shows that the camera module may keep the flash and laser autofocus on either the left or right side of the camera instead of above it, based on the camera cut out there. Something else worth noting is the fact that this case shows three buttons. The volume rocker and what might be the power button on one side and then a third button on the other. Many are speculating that this could be for Bixby. So instead of always listening (or perhaps in addition to), you could press that button to talk to Bixby and give it a query.

Wrap Up

If it turns out that Samsung is indeed skipping Mobile World Congress  at least in terms of the Galaxy S8  and announces these two devices later on in the year, then we still have quite some time before the device is unveiled and that means plenty more rumors. We already know, or at least we think we know, a whole lot about these two devices. For instance, the fact that the displays will be much larger this year, a larger battery, and more. Theres still a whole lot that we dont know, or that might be faked or untrue. Well have to wait until DJ Koh takes the stage in Barcelona, New York, London or wherever the next Unpacked happens to take place, and show off the brand new device from the South Korean manufacturer.
Samsung Electronics wants to work with Google to advance artificial intelligence technology, the South Korean company said during its earnings call on Tuesday. Lee Kyeong-tae, the Vice President of Samsung Mobile, told investors that both tech giants will have to continue their collaboration and enter new partnerships if they want AI to mature and develop into an independent ecosystem. Regardless of Samsungs proposal, the Seoul-based conglomerate is still adamant to compete with Google on all fronts, AI included.

The South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer said that competition with Google can drive innovations in the field just as much as collaborating with the Mountain View-based company can. Due to that belief, Samsung is adamant to do both, but it remains to be seen how Google will react to this proposal. Back in December, rumors circulating the industry suggested that the Alphabet-owned Internet giant may actually prevent Samsung from integrating a proprietary AI assistant into its future phones due to licensing issues.

During the earnings call on Tuesday, Samsung also mentioned how its planning to push AI products into its existing hardware including tablets and TVs. This statement coincides with recent reports that Samsung is developing Bixby, a versatile AI assistant designed for a broad range of platforms. Some of the companys trademark filings from late 2016 indicate that Bixby and related trademarks designate a lineup of voice-controlled products developed for a wide variety of hardware, from smartphones and tablets to laptops and Internet of Things devices. Yesterday, the South Korean tech giant also said how its planning to provide its solutions to third-party consumer electronics manufacturers. It remains to be seen whether Samsung will opt to license Bixby and similar products to other tech companies for a fee or will the company adopt Amazons approach to popularizing its AI solutions and offer them for free. Third-party implementations aside, Samsung is expected to introduce Bixby with the Galaxy S8, its next flagship Android smartphone that will likely be unveiled in the coming months and should hit the market by spring. After that debut, the largest phone maker in the world will apparently be looking to expand the Bixby ecosystem as efficiently as possible.
T-Mobile announced that all of its new customers who have recently switched from AT&T and received a free year of DIRECTV NOW will also get a free subscription to Hulu for a year. In a release sent to media outlets on Wednesday, the third largest wireless carrier in the country said how its decision to reward its new subscribers with a year of Hulu was prompted by the fact that DIRECTV NOW is reportedly plagued by numerous technical issues. The company went on to quote several media reports detailing how consumers are dissatisfied with AT&Ts new streaming service and said that it will make amends on AT&Ts behalf by offering its new subscribers a streaming service that actually works.

All customers who have recently switched from AT&T to T-Mobile and received a year of DIRECTV NOW will still get to use it on top of getting access to Hulu. T-Mobiles Chief Executive Officer John Legere used this opportunity to mock AT&T by claiming that the Dallas-based company spent $67 billion on acquiring DIRECTV in 2015 and still hasnt managed to introduce a streaming platform that works without issues. All T-Mobile customers eligible to take advantage of this promotion will be notified about their free Hulu subscription in the next few days, the company revealed. The notification will include a promo code for a free subscription to Hulu Limited Commercials for a year, a service that is regularly priced at $7.99 per month which amounts to approximately $96 per year. The wording of the companys announcement suggests that all eligible subscribers will receive their promo codes by the end of the week.

T-Mobiles offer is yet another step in the companys frequently used strategy of using various shortcomings of its rivals to promote its own services. Some DIRECTV NOW subscribers recently took to social media and online forums to voice their displeasure about the current state of the streaming service thats reportedly unstable while also criticizing AT&T for not having a refund policy in place. The second largest wireless carrier in the country acknowledged those complaints but also stated how all online services are bound to experience some technical issues in their infancy and promised that DIRECTV NOW will be improved as soon as possible.
Some former and current employees of T-Mobile have allegedly detailed how the company encourages cramming and other fraudulent practices, BGR reports. These sources claim how a number of T-Mobile sales representatives are misleading customers and signing them up for unwanted services, seemingly confirming a similar report from December when the third largest carrier in the United Sales was accused of aggressive upselling and fraudulent practices. Newly uncovered information suggests that certain T-Mobile stores are encouraging a predatory work culture as their sales representatives are constantly meeting goals that cant be realistically fulfilled.

BGRs sources claim that numerous T-Mobile stores across the country are telling their employees to push unwanted services on customers either by finding or creating a need for them. The same insiders revealed that some stores allegedly even encouraged their sales representatives to add extras to bills without notifying customers about them. The Jump insurance plan was the most frequently crammed add-on, employees claim, as some T-Mobile stores apparently expected their sales representatives to sell a subscription to Jump to 80% of new customers by any means necessary. One source said that secretly adding extras like Jump usually wouldnt have any repercussions as people would either unknowingly pay for unwanted services or cancel them without making a lot of fuss. Another frequently abused tactic utilized by some T-Mobile sales reps allegedly involved selling phones, tablets, and accessories by putting them on monthly phone bills while simultaneously presenting them to consumers as free. This fraudulent strategy was apparently incredibly effective as all hardware sold by T-Mobile has a 15-day return period which consumers would always miss seeing how theyd only receive their first bill a month after getting their supposedly free product.

These latest allegations could explain the fact that complaints against T-Mobile filed with the FTC are proportionally much more frequent than similar complaints filed against its competitors. This phenomenon is illustrated in the graph below which is based data that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission recently made publicly available. The third largest carrier in the country has yet to comment on any of these allegations but generally speaking, T-Mobile is still doing rather well, as evidenced by its Q4 2016 preliminary financials.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) plans to investigate claims made by Nokia that Apple infringed on a number of its patents, according to a new report out of Reuters. At the moment, there are no details beyond the fact that the USITC plans to look closer at the situation, with the USITC reportedly noting that it had not yet made any decision on the merits of the case. Although, the very fact that the claims have now found the attention of the USITC is thought to be some form of an acknowledgement that Nokias claims might have some validity to them.

This current development follows on from claims by Nokia which were only made public towards the end of December, 2016. In fact, Nokia originally announced that they were suing Apple for patent infringement on Dec. 21, and this was very quickly followed (on Dec. 23) by another announcement from Nokia explaining that they was already expanding the number of filings against Apple.

While the U.S. International Trade Commission will reportedly be looking at the situation in the US, the US is not the only place in which Nokia has filed its claims. With Nokia also registering similar filings in Europe (most predominantly in Germany) and in Asia. By last count, it was thought that Nokia has filed over 40 claims in total, spanning at least eleven different countries. What is also likely to be of interest here is that it seems Nokia is filing patent infringement claims across a number of different technologies, with antennas, chipsets, displays, video coding, software, and user interface, being the most notable. Which likely means that Apple will have to defend itself against Nokias claims on multiple fronts. Which has already started though, as Apple does already seem to be contesting Nokias stance on the situation, with the explanation that Nokia is simply looking to generate income in the face of a lack of revenue from its mobile business. In its previous December announcement however, Nokia did argue that they had tried to agree licensing with Apple prior to commencing legal proceedings, but Apple had declined their offer(s).
Note: This is the second in a weekly series of explanatory posts on the officials and agencies included in the Presidents Cabinet. See the series introduction here.

Cabinet position: Secretary of State

Department: U.S. Department of State

Current Secretary: Thomas A. Shannon Jr. is serving as acting Secretary pending the confirmation of President Trumps nominee, Rex Tillerson.

Ranking/Succession: The Secretary of State is the highest ranking member of the Cabinet and the third-highest official of the executive branch of the federal government, after the President and Vice President. The Secretary of State is also fourth in line to succeed the Presidency.

Department Mission: The [State] Departments mission is to shape and sustain a peaceful, prosperous, just, and democratic world and foster conditions for stability and progress for the benefit of the American people and people everywhere. This mission is shared with the [United States Agency for International Development], ensuring we have a common path forward in partnership as we invest in the shared security and prosperity that will ultimately better prepare us for the challenges of tomorrow. (Source)

Department Budget: $20,669,989,000 (FY 2017)

Number of employees: The State Department includes the Foreign Service corps (13,000 employees), a civil service branch (11,000 employees), and amore than 45,000 locally employed Foreign Service staff at overseas posts.

Primary Duties of the Secretary:

Serves as the Presidents principal adviser on U.S. foreign policy;

Conducts negotiations relating to U.S. foreign affairs;

Grants and issues passports to American citizens and exequaturs to foreign consuls in the United States;

Advises the President on the appointment of U.S. ambassadors, ministers, consuls, and other diplomatic representatives;

Advises the President regarding the acceptance, recall, and dismissal of the representatives of foreign governments;

Personally participates in or directs U.S. representatives to international conferences, organizations, and agencies;

Negotiates, interprets, and terminates treaties and agreements;

Ensures the protection of the U.S. Government to American citizens, property, and interests in foreign countries;

Supervises the administration of U.S. immigration laws abroad;

Provides information to American citizens regarding the political, economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian conditions in foreign countries;

Informs the Congress and American citizens on the conduct of U.S. foreign relations;

Promotes beneficial economic intercourse between the United States and other countries;

Administers the Department of State;

Supervises the Foreign Service of the United States. (Source)

Nominee Info

Nominee: Rex Tillerson

Current/previous occupation: Tillerson was the chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil from 2006 to 2016.

Previous government experience: None

Religious Affiliation: Member of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches

Civic Affiliations:

American Petroleum Institute (former chairman)

Boy Scouts of America (former national president)

Business Roundtable (member)

Business Council (member)

Business Council for International Understanding (member)

Center for Strategic and International Studies (trustee)

Emergency Committee for American Trade (member)

Fords Theatre Society (former vice chairman)

National Academy of Engineering (member)

National Petroleum Council (member)

Society of Petroleum Engineers (member)

United Negro College Fund (former director)

Notable achievements: Distinguished Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America); Awarded the Order of Friendship by Russian president Vladimir Putin in 2013.

Notable quotes:

On global poverty: There are still hundreds of millions, billions of people living in abject poverty around the world. They need electricity. They need electricity they can count on, that they can afford. They need fuel to cook their food on thats not animal dung.

On energy consumption: When coal came into the picture, it took about 50 or 60 years to displace timber. Then crude oil was found, and it took 60, 70 years, and then natural gas. So it takes 100 years or more for some new breakthrough in energy to become the dominant source. Most people have difficulty coming to grips with the sheer enormity of energy consumption. If we look at our energy outlook, at things like renewable wind, solar, biofuels, we have those sources over the next 30 years growing 700 to 800 percent. But in the year 2040, theyll supply just 1 percent.

On foreign sanctions: When sanctions are imposed, they are, by design, going to harm American business.

Next post in this series: Secretary of the Treasury

Previous and forthcoming posts in this series: Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Homeland Security.
For more than 20 years, the Alabama Society of CPAs has created a resource for Alabama legislators to aid them in having their tax returns prepared.

The Legislators' Tax Guide is delivered to the State House at the beginning of each year's opening session, which falls this year on Tuesday, Feb. 6. Each legislator receives a copy and additional ones are made available to their CPAs through the Alabama Society.

"The guide serves to remind them of the number of days they spent in session the previous year, their per diem allowances and other deductible expenses. We find that they look forward to getting a copy and passing it along to their CPA", stated ASCPA President and CEO Jeannine P. Birmingham. "It also reminds lawmakers of the value of certified public accountants to individuals and businesses, whether the service they provide is tax preparation, consulting, financial planning or something else."

ASCPA member Kevin "Kee" Ruland, CPA, of Ruland and Ruland, CPAs of Mobile, updates the guide each year as a public service.

"Legislators work hard for the people of Alabama and this is a small way that we CPAs can show our appreciation," Ruland said. It also makes our job a lot easier if we're the one preparing their return."

"The Legislators' Tax Guide is such a great tool," explained Alabama State Sen. Slade Blackwell, (R) District 15. "It keeps me straight on what days I'm at the State House and is invaluable to my CPA. In fact, if I don't pass it along to him pretty quickly, he calls me up to ask where it is. A big thank you to the Alabama Society for publishing such a resource."

The ASCPA is a statewide organization with a goal to develop and improve accounting education, to maintain high professional and ethical standards, and to promote the professional interests of certified public accountants in Alabama. The ASCPA has 6,500 members in public accounting, industry, government and education.
Brexit: Tim Farron, Gina Miller and the anti-trust brigade have their eye on you

Is Tim Farron beyond parody? That F. A. R Oh, never mind. Hes the leader of the LibDems, which were pretty popular and go-ahead until their former leader Nick Clegg stuffed them. Talking about Article 50 and Brexit  which he opposes  Farron is quoted in the Guardian:

The UKs final Brexit deal must not be decided by a stitch-up between Whitehall and Brussels, the Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, has said, promising his party will seek to hold Theresa Mays government to account over the process.

There will be no stitch-up between the wonks, the technocrats and the mandarins because Tim is watching. Thats Tim who wants another referendum on Brexit because the stoopid people didnt agree with the technocrats, wonks and mandarins the first time round. The people who mobilised and saw an alternative political future cant be trusted, says Tim, who is on hand to protect us from our own ignorance.

Knowing Farron is overseeing international operations brings to mind Frederick Peel Eldon Potter. In response to Tsar Alexander IIs aggression in the Caucuses in 1898, Potter told the few thousand readers of his column in Irelands Skibereen Eagle, the Skibereen Eagle has its eye on Russia.

Itd be an idea for Farron and others who dont trust the demos to pass their time thinking of an alternative to the EU and a new angle for politics that engages with the electorate and actually represents the people. Brexit offers opportunities. Farron should embrace it. But its easier for him and his ilk to carry on as they have done for decades, delegating decisions to unelected groups and inviting the great unwashed to join the debate with no intention of acting on a word they say. Politics isnt therapy.

Says Farron:

That is a recipe for dissent, for a complete breakdown in trust in our politics. For the next couple of generations, lets say, Britains relationship with the outside world will be cast because of stitch-ups in the 21st-century equivalent of smoke-filled rooms.

Someone tell him. Not you, Gina Miller, who was made physically sick by the Brexit vote. She successfully challenged the Government in the courts. The Supreme Court sided with her and ruled that parliament must vote to trigger Article 50. Miller did it not because she wants to feel better and best way of achieving an holistic recovery is to scupper Brexit. Like Farron, Miller did it for us. She wants to prove that parliament alone is sovereign. Made ill by the voters, she champions democracy.

No. Not her.

One of you 17.5 million people who voted for Brexit in a free and legal election can have a go at telling Farron whats what. Form an orderly line queue. Hes relying on us all getting bored and the electorates old passivity to return and ensure Brexit dies on the vine.

But we wont.

Paul Sorene

Posted: 25th, January 2017 | In: Broadsheets, Key Posts, Politicians Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
(ANSAmed) - Brussels, January 25 - EU Foreign Affairs High Representative Federica Mogherini and the European Commission will present a plan to reduce the flow of migrants on the central Mediterranean route between Libya and Italy at an informal summit in Malta on February 3, the EC said Wednesday.

It said the measures are focused on fighting human smuggling and trafficking networks, helping to manage migratory flows more effectively, continuing to save lives at sea and improving the living conditions of migrants and refugees in Libya and neighbouring countries.

"Too many people are still dying in the Mediterranean," said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. "We have implemented actions to address the situation but we need to do more. "Today we are presenting possible short and medium term actions to address the flows to and from North Africa. First and foremost, stability in Libya and the region as a whole is required. "While continuing our support to this process, we can take forward actions to help make a difference, save lives and break the smugglers' and traffickers' business model - which will also impact the flows towards Europe".


Don't send Italian envoy to Egypt say Regeni parents Nor F35 parts. Terrible to die slowly says Regeni mother

(ANSAmed) - TRIESTE, JANUARY 25 - Giulio Regeni's parents told Italian TV Wednesday that Italy's ambassador to Cairo "must not return to Egypt, that would give a signal of detente that must not be given". Paola and Claudio Regeni underscored the distinction between the diplomatic and economic planes and stressed the importance of keeping the Italian envoy in Rome and not sending Egypt spare parts for F35 fighters.



Giulio Regeni's mother Paola Deffendi told Italian TV Wednesday that "Giulio realised: this is the end for me: to die slowly, and that is terrible". She spoke of the "fear Giulio experienced" during his torture, "which is not the fear of a cowardly person" because the researcher was in Egypt to "reach out to people".




(ANSAmed) - Naples, January 25 - The strong historic ties between Italy and Spain as seen through architecture are explored in an exhibition opening at the Instituto Cervantes in Naples on Thursday.



"The soul of the Mediterranean Gothic' presents 60 photographs printed on aluminium accompanied by interactive explanatory panels and a bilingual Italian-Spanish catalogue. It is the result of a research project funded by the government of Aragon and has been created in partnership with the Spanish embassy in Italy and the universities of Saragozza and Salerno. The itinerant exhibition explores the architectural relationship between the various territories that fell under the Crown of Aragon - the Kingdom of Aragon, Principality of Catalonia, kingdoms of Valenza, Sardinia, Majorca, Naples and Sicily - between 1282 and 1516, the years of its expansion. Presented for the first time at the Museum of Majorca in October 2016, the display will remain in Napes until March 3 before travelling to the Spanish Academy in Rome and then to the Aljaferia palace in Saragozza. (ANSAmed).


Zambia Tourism Agency set for grading of all hotels in the country

The Zambia Tourism Agency has announced that it will soon embark on an exercise to grade all hotels operating in Zambia with a view to improving service delivery to customers.

Agency Chief Executive Officer Felix Chaila said that the agency will devise standards in partnership with the Zambia Bureau of Standards to grant hotels.

Mr Chaila said the exercise is important especially that hotels operating in Zambia has not been graded for a long time.

He said the grading system will also offer an opportunity to clients to know what level of service quality to expect before checking in.

What has been happening is that for a long time, we have had hotels coming up and saying they are Five Star or Four Star without even having anything to prove that claim but the grading system will help change that, Mr Chaila said.

Mr Chaila also announced that as part of the hospitality industry reforms, the agency now has powers to regulate the entire industry.

He said the enactment of the Tourism and Hospitality Act No. 13 has given the agency the mandate to perform the role of Tourism Industry Regulator which includes inspections, grading, classification, licensing, and enforcement.

Mr Chaila added that the structure for the licensing function is already in place and the licensing of tourism enterprises has already started.

The renew period for 2017 licenses was to end on December 31, 2016, however, in recognition of some mitigating factors, this period has been extended to January 31, 2017. Application forms may be downloaded from ZTAs website or picked up from the Ministry of Tourism and Arts regional offices in Ndola and Kasama, Mr Chaila said.

He added, Our new mandate is about setting standards. It stems from a realization that we cannot reach higher heights in the promotion of tourism if our industry does not set minimum standards.

Its about benchmarking ourselves against our competitors in the region and beyond. From the response we have received so far, I am positive that the Zambian tourism industry is with us in delivering on this important mandate.

www.zambiatourism.com
TRIESTE - Giulio Regeni's parents told Italian TV Wednesday that Italy's ambassador to Cairo "must not return to Egypt, that would give a signal of detente that must not be given". Paola and Claudio Regeni underscored the distinction between the diplomatic and economic planes and stressed the importance of keeping the Italian envoy in Rome and not sending Egypt spare parts for F35 fighters.



Giulio Regeni's mother Paola Deffendi told Italian TV Wednesday that "Giulio realised: this is the end for me: to die slowly, and that is terrible". She spoke of the "fear Giulio experienced" during his torture, "which is not the fear of a cowardly person" because the researcher was in Egypt to "reach out to people".


BRUSSELS - The EU plan that will be presented on February 3 in Valletta aims to stem migrant flows from Libya to Italy, improve the conditions of migrants in Libyan camps and encourage returns to the country as well as ensure that asylum requests can be made. Libya will be provided with the means to have a ''central role'' in the monitoring and rescue operations in territorial waters with the coordination of the EU's Operation Sophia.

The main points of the plan include training of the Libyan Coast Guard, the supply of the necessary naval vessels to monitor and carrying out rescue operations and bring migrants back to the coast in coordination with a central operating center in the spring, with information from Operation Sophia, Italy, Malta, Greece, Cyprus, France, Spain and Portugal.

The EU plan also proposes at least 200 million euros in funding for projects in Libya and aims to strengthen the country's southern border through stepping up cooperation with Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria to prevent alternative routes from being created.

Another point is the proposal to increase cooperation with the IOM and UNHCR, as well as with Libyan municipalities to improve living conditions in camps in Libya, which are called ''unacceptable''. And while economic migrants will be encouraged to return, the plan aims to ensure that those with a right to asylum will be able to receive protection.



For control of the country's southern border, through which the migrant flows cross, the EU plans to increase work with countries already involved in 'compacts' such as Niger and Mali, as well as Chad, by strengthening the EUCAP Sahel mission in Agadez and by looking into projects to provide an economic alternative to the northern Niger region, which currently survives on human trafficking. (ANSAmed).
BRUSSELS - The plan to stem migration from Libya that the European Commission will present to leaders in the February 3 summit in Valletta has nothing in common with the accord signed with Turkey for the eastern Mediterranean route, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Wednesday.



The conditions in the two countries and the composition of the migration flows ''are completely different'', she added, noting that the 200 million euros pledged by the EU for the current year are flanked by 100 million euros earmarked for ''stability creation'' in the country. Mogherini said that Libya had not been included in the first five countries with which the EU signed a 'migration compact' because there is a ''particular situation'' in the country and therefore ''efforts are directed at political stability'' and towards helping Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord in its ''territorial control and to ensure citizens' security''.



She said that she was proud of the EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia since through it, ''the EU, with its military operation, saves human lives and hands traffickers to the justice system, destroying their boats''.



The comment was made in response to a question of whether the operation was in fact stimulating migration from Libya. In 2015, she noted, the EU was criticized for its absence in the Mediterranean, while Operation Sophia ''has saved 32,000 human lives'', adding that ''the presence and the saving of human lives at sea is a moral duty. (Our) absence would not discourage people from taking to the sea''. Mogherini, who will be meeting with Libyan prime minister Fayez Al-Sarraj - also underscored that most of the deaths occur in territorial waters where Sophia cannot operate and where ''the responsibility is of the Libyan authorities''. This is the reason for an increase in resources for the training of the Libyan Coast Guard held in the autumn of 2016 by Operation Sophia, she added.
ROME - President Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday called for cooperation to bring to justice the killers of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in Egypt. "Italy has mourned the killing of one of its studious young people, Giulio Regeni, without full light being shed on this tragic case for a year, despite the intense efforts of our judiciary and our diplomacy," Mattarella said on the first anniversary of Regeni's disappearance. "We call for broader and more effective cooperation so that the culprits are brought to justice".


Palestinians 'reassured' over Trump Israel embassy move Various factors indicate U-turn, Majdalani says

(ANSAmed) - Tel Aviv, January 25 - The Palestinian leadership has received "reassuring messages" from the United States that President Donald Trump intends to freeze the announced transfer of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for the time being, Ahmed Majdalani, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said on Wednesday.



Majdalani, adviser to Abu Mazen, told London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that "preliminary indications suggest that Trump has performed a U-turn", adding that several factors pointed in this direction.



One is that a violation by the US of UN Security Council resolutions would pave the way for other permanent members such as Russia or China to do the same.



Majdalani also said Trump had received direct messages from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other Arab countries, as well as from Russia and the European Union, rejecting the move.



An unnamed Palestinian source in Ramallah cited by Palestinian media reported the "great relief" felt by the Palestinian leadership at the news. (ANSAmed).




(ANSAmed) - Rome, January 25 - Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano pledged to continue to seek the truth over the torture and murder of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in Cairo on the first anniversary of his disappearance on Wednesday. "The same sadness and pain one year on.



#veritapergiulioregeni: we continue to seek it. We will not settle for anything but the truth," Alfano said in a Tweet. Regeni, 28, went missing in the Egyptian capital on January 25, 2016, the heavily policed fifth anniversary of the uprising that ousted former strongman Hosni Mubarak.



His severely tortured, mutilated body was found on February 3 in a ditch on the city's outskirts.



Egypt has denied speculation its security forces, who are frequently accused of brutally repressing opposition, were involved in the death of the Cambridge doctoral student.



Egyptian and Italian prosecutors have been working on the case but Rome has yet to send a new ambassador to Cairo in protest at the lack of progress.


If youre considering a subscription to the Disney Plus streaming service, you may be wondering how much it costs. The service is available on both
Not at all. It just seems like a lot of back-and-forth talk.

Yes. I'm growing very worried over what might happen.

If it keeps up, I might be a little more concerned.

I think there are much larger things to concern us as a country.

It's hard to tell; I can't take the leader of either country seriously.

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Emirates services the United States with 17 daily flights. The airlines partnerships with Alaskan Airlines and JetBlue also open up more flexibility and seamless connections to a host of destinations within North America, including popular Caribbean destinations.

From today until 3 February, special fares will include Economy Class return to New York at AED 3,560; Fort Lauderdale at AED 3,660; Chicago and Washington D.C from AED 4,060; Boston, Dallas and Houston from AED 4,260; Toronto from AED 4,650; Los Angeles from AED 4,760, Orlando from AED 4,860 and San Francisco and Seattle from 5,160. Bookings for these fares will be valid for travel until 30 November 2017.
With a phased delivery of nine Boeing 787-9s this year, they will gradually be introduced on a number of routes from the airlines Abu Dhabi hub beginning March 1.

The 299-seat Dreamliners will be deployed on daily year-round scheduled services to Amman and Beirut, as well as to Beijing, Shanghai and Seoul. In addition, the 787-9 will operate seasonally to Athens during the summer months.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways chief executive officer, said: Since introducing our first 787 into commercial service almost two years ago, we have enjoyed excellent feedback from guests on our ground-breaking cabin interiors that have set a benchmark for high service levels in the region and across the world.

With the additional cities joining our 787 network during 2017, we are giving more guests the opportunity to fly on our next generation aircraft.

He added: Todays travellers are increasingly looking for greater comfort, higher standards, more choice and better convenience as priorities in their decision-making and we, at Etihad Airways, are striving to meet their high expectations through innovations such as introducing new planes to the fleet and continuing to upgrade our routes.
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) is moving ahead, probably a bit slower than originally planned, with its Hurkus (free bird), which it terms as a basic trainer aircraft.

It has been designed to meet the training and light attack/armed reconnaissance aircraft requirements of the Turkish Armed Forces  just as the T-6 and Super Tucano has.

However, potentially, it has a huge domestic market and fits into the Turkish Governments indigenisation programmes as it strives for self-sufficiency.

Three different configurations are being built:

 Hurkus-A is the basic civilian version, recently certified with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) CS-23 requirements.

 Hurkus-B will be an advanced military training version with integrated avionics, including hands on throttle and stick (HOTAS), head-up display (HUD), multi-function displays (MFDs) and mission computer with virtual weapons.

 Hurkus-C is a new generation light attack/reconnaissance aircraft.

Since the prototype Hurkus-A  TC-VCH  made its first flight on August 29, 2013, followed by the second  TC-VCI  on September 10, 2014, both have been flying extensively. The focus has been on getting the Hurkus-A certified by Turkeys Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and EASA.

TAI finally achieved that goal on July 12, 2016 when EASA ratified the aircraft, the day after the DGCAs validation. The aircraft had performed 570 flight hours in 534 sorties up to the certification.

The third and fourth prototypes are non-flyers; the third used for static tests and the fourth for fatigue and damage.

The Hurkus-A is powered by a Pratt and Whitney PT6A-68T 1600shp turboprop engine and has a five bladed aluminium Hartzell HC-B5MA-3 propeller, launching the aircraft to a maximum cruise speed of 310 knots (574km/h). It has a maximum rate climb of 4370ft/min and a stall speed of 77 knots (143 km/h). It is being developed purely for the civilian market.

At this years Farnborough International Airshow TAIs CEO, Muharrem Dortkasli, said the company had started production of Hurkus-B and deliveries will start in mid-2018.

This variant is exactly the same as the -A version, except that it will be configured with a glass cockpit for military use, housing a HOTAS, HUD and three MFDs developed by Aselsan.

Ozcan Ertem, senior vice president executive of TAIs aircraft group, added: We wont be going through EASA or DGCA certification again as its ostensibly the same aircraft but, because of the new cockpit, we will be subject to a military supplemental type certificate (STC).

The Turkish Government contract was made effective in 2014 for 15 Hurkus-Bs, with options on a further 40, to equip the Turkish Air Force (TurAF) flying training wing at Izmir-Cigli, the home of the newly opened Multinational Military Flight Crew Training Center (MMFCT-C).

The new military trainer will work alongside the South Korean-designed Korean Aerospace Industries KT-1T basic trainer, which currently equips the TurAFs 122 Filo. There are 40 KT-1Ts based at Izmir-Cigli, fulfilling a basic trainer role.

The TurAF is keen to receive an aircraft that should have been delivered, according to original plans, a year or so ago. With its 1,600shp powerplant it offers a higher performance than the KT-1Ts 1,100shp engine, while the more advanced avionics will ensure an easier transition to fifth-generation fighters like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter or Turkeys new TF-X.

Ertem continued: The first Hurkus-Bs will be delivered in June 2018 with the 15th and last one by June 2019. Then we hope the options for 40 more will be exercised..

During June, TurAF test pilots/instructor pilots tasked to report on the aircrafts flying characteristics, started operating the Hurkus-B. Aselsan will hand over the new cockpit by the end of 2017, when we hope to make the maiden flight. We will qualify the cockpit and start deliveries in June 2018, said Ertem.

Martin-Baker will supply the crew escape system for the Hurkus-B turboprop trainers as part of a deal signed during July 2014. The agreement covers the supply of the very successful Mk16 ejection seat, designated T16N for all Hurkus-B series aircraft for the TurAF. The companys project manager, Chris Brooke Izzard, said at the time that the system would be slightly adapted from the Mk16 equipping the two Hurkus-A trainers.

Meanwhile, TAI is also developing the armed Hurkus-C, capable of carrying a 1,500kg (3,300lb) payload.

This additional weight will comprise munitions across seven hardpoints, as well as sensors and extra fuel weight.

The variant is being developed to meet the Turkish Land Forces (TLF) light attack/armed reconnaissance requirements.

Dortkasli said at Farnborough that the first flight of Hurkus-C, and the firing of at least one weapon type from the platform, should take place in May 2017, in time for the IDEF defence exhibition in Istanbul.

While the second Hurkus-A prototype (TC-VCI) will remain, the first version (TC-VCH) will be converted to the -C demonstrator in time for the IDEF Exhibition.

The demo weapon launch means firings will happen before then, when we want to make one release from one of the aircrafts stations, explained Dortkasli.

The TLF wants us to put the T129 ATAK helicopters weapons on Hurkus and, of course, we can. It will be a complimentary aircraft  for armed reconnaissance.

Because of the external fuel tanks it can stay aloft for four hours, allowing it to escort convoys, which a jet fighter or helicopter support cannot do  their maximum is 1-1.15 hours. So we are working out the TLFs operational requirements covering such aspects as to where they will operate, what it will need to carry and, of course, the threat.

The Hurkus-C aircraft will comprise a B cockpit, HOTAS and weapons. At IDEF it will still have the civilian cockpit, as there will not be a full -C version until a contract is signed. Currently, the weapons being integrated are the Roketsan Cirit 2.75 guided rocket system, Roketsan UMTAS long-range anti-tank missile and a podded machine. The FLIR Systems camera, which will also equip the aircraft, will be operated by a weapons systems operator in the rear seat.

In terms of delivery, Ertem said: If the TLF were to place an order by end of the year, it could well be delivered in June 2019 following the 15th aircraft for the TurAF. Thats when the first slot becomes available, but we will have the capability to call upon additional tooling, to speed up production.


The disbursement was approved by the country's Financial and Economic Affairs Committee (FEAC) during a hearing on Sunday, January 22.

Following an earlier rejection in December, FEAC Rapporteur MP Safa Al-Hashem said that the approval was unanimous with committee members arguing that the funding was "a positive step" in driving change at the state-owned airline.

Al Hashem pointed out that of the six business scenarios presented to the committee, none had succeeded in convincing her of the airline's path to success. However, given the seriousness of Kuwait Airways' financial state, the motion to approve was passed.

"Unfortunately, Kuwait Airways suffers from many problems, including the inability to negotiate with banks and a lack of proper management needed to extricate the carrier from its current bottleneck without borrowing money," she said.




The aircraft underwent a maintenance check, which required the removal and re-installation of the VVIP cabin, in addition to some minor repairs to cabin monuments.

Gregor Muller, head of the interior competence center at SR Technics, explained: The challenge was to get the cabin removed and then reinstalled in record time. We were able to assemble a team of cabin experts and came up with a unique process to minimize the time required for the removal and reinstallation, taking into consideration the individual cabin parts, which have fragile surfaces. In the end, we removed the cabin in five days and reinstalled in fifteen days, completing the job in even less time than planned, and because of the special setup, left the cabin in perfect condition.

Michael Sattler, head of Aircraft Services at SR Technics added: The similar work is often expected to take 90 days of downtime, the standard market time for a job of this sort. Since we can run 2-3 daily shifts here at SR Technics in Zurich, we were able to offer the job in a timeframe that is unique to this industry. For anyone considered our proposal unrealistic, we proved that we can deliver fast, as we completed the work two days ahead of schedule, in just 41 days.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. US President Donald Trump and Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a phone conversation during which they discussed the strengthening of bilateral relations and the visit of leader of India to the United States, the White House press office said, reports TASS.

During the talk Trump emphasized that the United States considers India as a true friend and partner in addressing challenges of the world.

They have discussed the opportunities to strengthen cooperation between the US and India in various sectors, including the economy and defense. They have also talked about the security of South and Central Asia, the White House press office said.

President Trump hopes to host PM Modi in the US later this year, the White House said.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. MP Samvel Farmanyan - member of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), delivered a speech during the discussion of the report called Assaults against journalists and freedom of media in Europe, reports Armenpress.

Farmanyan talked about the freedom of media in Nagorno Karabakh, and in contrary to this, the violations of freedom of media in Azerbaijan.

It is clear that the freedom of media is the core of democracy. If media freedom is ensured, the democracy has a chance, if the reporters are deprived from the opportunity to report, the democracy is endangered and many people become hostages of their autocratic regimes, Farmanyan said at PACE.

He said he will not talk about Armenia, since, fortunately, the report has no reference to Armenia, and Armenia has a good figure in terms of media freedom.

I will talk about the reports surprising reference to Nagorno Karabakh. I will call it quite manipulative. Mr. Ariev says in the report that Nagorno Karabakh is a part of Azerbaijan and it is a non-transparent and illegal territory. A simple question arises: why is this reference there? Because the Azerbaijani government needs it. Do you think that this reference was made because the Azerbaijani government is concerned over media freedom? Never. They worry more about freedom of media in Nagorno Karabakh, but not in Azerbaijan. We all know well what is happening in Azerbaijan. This is really funny.

Another question arises as well: why did Mr. Ariev write this here? Unfortunately, not because Mr. Ariev visited Karabakh or paid a fact-finding visit, he even didnt use the Freedom House report where Karabakh has better figure than Azerbaijan, but because of, as we see from his interview to an Azerbaijani media where he apologized Ilham Aliyev stating that his grandmother is an Azerbaijani. These are his words. Finally, we must remember that we are not in the battlefield, we are not hostages and I know how much You are tired of the Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes, Farmanyan said, urging to support the proposed changes.

Lets address a clear message to President Aliyev that he must find markets for trade instead of Strasbourg, Samvel Farmanyan said.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. Nagorno Karabakh President Bako Sahakyan chaired the first meeting of 2017 of the countrys Cabinet on January 25, the NKR Presidents Office told ARMENPRESS.

In his speech President Sahakyan touched upon the 2016 social-economic indicators, implemented activities, accomplishments and problems.



The President underlined that the past year was quite difficult and hard for Nagorno Karabakh, the people and economy. The Four Day April War was a blow to the country's normal economic development, affecting almost every branch of the economy.

Bako Sahakyan noted that despite all the difficulties, the country managed to maintain the stipulated pace of the economic development in 2016, positive dynamics in the main branches of the economy and register 9 percent GDP growth.

At the same time the President assigned to the Cabinet to carry out a deep analysis of the results of the year, paying special attention to the issues and shortcomings and undertake necessary steps to eliminate them.

Speaking of the plans for 2017, the President underlined the necessity of maintaining the high quality of upcoming activities, the degree of coordination, implementation of the duties and efficient utilization of financial means. "Everything that was outlined and adopted by the appropriate laws and government decisions should be implemented unconditionally and in a consistent manner", noted Bako Sahakyan, giving specific assignments for proper implementation of the scheduled programs.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. The improvement and modernization of Yerevans Vernissage - a large open-air market  will be completed in 2017.

Deputy Mayor of Yerevan Davit Ohanyan told reporters investments totaled 110 million drams for the improvement of the market. Vernissage is operating for already 20 years, and the number of traders was already high. The Vernissage improvement project has been put up for public discussion, he said.

Ohanyan said regulations of sales have been approved and the list of products which are allowed to be sold in the market has been specified.

The Deputy Mayor said the re-construction of the Vernissage will be done part by part, in order for the traders to be able to operate simultaneously.

The Yerevan Vernissage is an open-air exhibition-market. It was formed during the 1980s by Armenian artists who started to display their art works in the square next to the Artists Union of Armenia.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. The crisis of relations between Russia and US, that emerged during Barack Obamas presidency, can be overcome only in course of time and in case of serious work by the two sides, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in his speech in the lower house of the Parliament, State Duma, TASS reported.

Time and a serious work is needed to overcome the gravest damage inflicted to the Russian-US cooperation under Barack Obama. We, as Russian President Vladimir Putin said, are ready to go our part of the way on revitalizing ties in the interests of our people, global security and stability, Lavrov saying as quoted by TASS.




YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. The prospects on intensifying cooperation between Armenias state news agency, Armenpress news agency, and Spains Agencia EFE news agency were on the meeting agenda of the Directors of two agencies, Armenpress correspondent reported from Madrid.

At the meeting Director of Armenpress news agency Aram Ananyan and Director of Agencia EFE Jose Antonio Vera Gil attached importance to strengthening the ties between the news agencies, particularly, in the fields of spreading text, photographic information, as well as in other fields of media.

Aram Ananyan presented the news agencys works, history, development directions, value system and the vision of progress. The draft memorandum of cooperation framework was also presented which will be supplemented by the proposals of the Spanish side.

We are open for cooperation. In the contemporary world strengthening the ties between the news agencies is strictly important since currently no society can develop as an isolated island. I am convinced that there cannot be any restrictions for the professional ties of journalists, Aram Ananyan said.

The sides will summarize and will prepare the document confirming the bases of cooperation for signing.

Agencia EFE Spanish international news agency was established in 1939. Today it is the largest news agency in Spain and the Spanish-speaking world. In terms of information dissemination volume it is the fourth in the world after Associated Press, Reuters and France Press.

Armenpress news agency was established on December 18, 1918. It is a state news agency. The agency is the oldest in Armenia. At the moment it produces eleven newslines with four languages. Armenpress has signed bilateral cooperation agreements with the worlds more than 20 leading news agencies, nearly 1/3 of which have been signed during the last 5 years.
With the Wii U now pretty much a dead stick, having provided about as many games in its lifetime as Sony and Microsoft might bring out in a couple months, all eyes are on the Nintendo Switch. But will this system make Nintendo a figure worth talking about in the console space again? The current figures aren't exactly sure, but it's a safe bet that the Switch will at least do better than the Wii U did.Projections from DFC estimate that the Switch will sell roughly 40 million consoles over the next three years, which is an exciting proposition. In fact, that's nearly three times what the Wii U sold, showing both how bad off Nintendo was beforehand and how much better off the Switch will likely to be. While some are skeptical of the Switch's capabilities--the webcomic VG Cats did a fine job of showing how inherently ludicrous a console-powered mobile device was given that Nintendo already sold portable devices in its recent release titled "My Strange Addiction"--others believe that it will deliver an exciting new option that will allow users to play mobile just as readily as they play at home.Of course, it would leave the Nintendo lagging Sony, the current front runner, but it would actually put Nintendo ahead of Microsoft, as the Xbox One sold just 26 million consoles in its first three years of operation. With a new console likely to hit by the end of this year, though, we may have a bit of a fight on our hands. It's especially true given that the Switch appears to be a match for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 . Given that both of those consoles have been in play for just over three years now, however, a new console generation will likely be showing up. There are also some updates planned like the Project Scorpio release from Microsoft.The good news is that the Switch should be a significant improvement sales-wise over the Wii U. It may not be a match for the "it prints money" stand that the Wii took, but it's got some very real potential here to deliver value for Nintendo. It's going to need to sell enough units to make a decent install base for third-party providers to offer games--a huge problem for the Wii U--but with this version on hand, it may well pull it off.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. The health condition of Ahmet Turk, Kurdish politician and the co-mayor of Turkeys Mardin who had recognized the Armenian Genocide, has deteriorated in prison, T24.com.tr reports.

Turk has been hospitalized. It is possible that authorities might release the Kurdish politician due to health concerns.

The Turkish ministry of interior dismissed Ahmet Turk from the post of Mayor of Mardin on November 17, 2016. He was detained for terror-related charges.

Ahmet Turk has numerously delivered speeches regarding the Armenian Genocide. Back in 2014, Turk made a statement in Stockholm, Sweden, apologizing to the Armenian people for the 1915 Genocide, saying :  3 leader of the Ittihat ve Terakki party met in 1911 and made a historic decision : to decrease the number of Christians, to transform the Alevis into Sunnis and assimilate the Kurds. Unfortunately, during the implementation of that project the Kurdish people were used. We still experience the pain that our grandfathers and fathers have taken part in those massacres. We will never forget the pain of our brothers.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. Armenia becomes an attractive country for investors in the energy sector, Deputy Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources Hayk Harutyunyan told reporters after the conference held within the framework of Energy Week 2017 events in Yerevan, reports Armenpress.

He said the conference aims to discuss the opportunities on attracting investors to construct solar power plants in Armenia. Within the framework of three-day events the investors will be presented the investment package related to the solar energy field. In particular, they will be introduced the opportunities to construct first solar power plant in Masrik 1 site of Gegharkunik province, as well as the details of the tender which will be held by state. The planned capacity of the power plant is 55 MW. The tender will enable to receive a proposal on the minimum tariff through the participation of experienced companies, the Deputy Minister said.

He said the tender is expected to be held in March, 2017. Hayk Harutyunyan said if everything goes well, the construction works of the power plant will be completed in 2018.

He said more than 40 foreign companies are taking part in the event, but there are also a number of investors who were unable to visit Armenia, but plan to take part in the tender.

In recent months large-scale works were carried out in order to inform prominent companies about the tender. Masrik is the first project, we also have 5 more projects similar to this, and after the success of this tender we will decide when and in what volume to conduct tenders for these projects, the Deputy Minister said, adding that the tender is an effective measure to get the lowest tariff in Armenia.

He said Armenia has created favorable conditions for investors in the renewable energy sector. The state has invested all its tools to promote the sector. This sector is going to record a very aggressive growth in upcoming years, he said.

He also informed that the investors will be exempted from all types of taxes, licenses for constructing power plants up to 150kW.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has drawn special attention to violence against reporters in Turkey in its report entitled Attacks against journalists and media freedom in Europe, Deutsche Welle reports.

The report, which was adopted by 110 votes in favor and 15 against, says the attempted military coup in Turkey and terrorist attacks have created new limitations and difficulties in the country. PACE demanded Turkish authorities to immediately release reporters, who are accused in taking part in terrorist actions.

Two of the three Turkish parties of the Turkish delegation to PACE, the Republican Peoples Party and the Peoples Democratic Party voted in favor of the report, while the ruling AK party voted against.
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It was with great interest that I read the story of Avayas spending bankruptcy. The first thought that I had emanated from the summary of the story which stated that the owners of Avaya were having difficulty meeting the debt payments that they had incurred in purchasing the company. Avaya was purchased by Silver Lake and TPG Capital for $8.3 billion in 2007. The intent was to grow the company and take it public. Due to market changes and slipping performance, a public offering was abandoned. Today, the move towards cloud PBX solutions by Avayas competitors has increased while Avaya continues to sell hardware based TDM and IP based PBXs with limited success in the growing cloud PBX space. It is for those reasons Avaya is facing the alternatives of bankruptcy or selling off parts or all of the company.

The debt payment issue is a result of Avaya not properly positioning itself sooner with a cloud PBX solution. Avaya announced their move to IP PBXs and eventually into the cloud with some fanfare. But they remained behind with Cisco, Microsoft, BroadSoft and others with both strong Cloud PBX Solutions and the commitment to make them successful. Avaya had 22% share (Eastern Management Group) of the PBX market in 2010 and has seen a drop in that share to 17% (IHS) in 2015 and that is in a shrinking market. Today, new TDM PBX sales and additive lines for existing TDM PBXs continues to drop, and the growth of the IP PBX is less than that of cloud PBXs.

The reasons for the disparity in growth between PBXs and Cloud UC are cost, scale, future-proofed technology, features, customization and more. Unified Communications (UC) via the cloud is the new way for businesses to conduct business communications and collaboration.

It is not surprising that Avaya was late to the cloud trend. As an incumbent equipment provider, it faced a difficult decision as to when it should begin to cannibalize its hardware sales and push as a top priority a software/cloud replacement. They are not the first to face such a decision nor the last to incorrectly time the switch. The transition to the cloud and cloud technologies is rapidly forcing both legacy hardware and software vendors to establish cloud strategies that can effectively maintain and grow their businesses.

Growing the business is dependent upon the development of strong and relevant messaging, branding and mining the existing customer base as well as prospecting for new customers. As a leader in high-tech and telecom marketing, Raven Guru can assist companies in transforming themselves into cloud solution providers.
A coloratura whos had a big international career (including numerous appearances in China) for 30 years, Jo had been planning to appear with three of the countrys major orchestras next month; over the weekend, all three orchestras announced that she had been forced to withdraw. Other South Korean musicians have had performances in China cancelled as well, and they fear that its because of tension between Seoul and Beijing over a missile system.
MSCI South East Asia Index Offerings renamed MSCI ASEAN Indexes

MSCI, a US-based provider of equity, fixed income, and hedge fund stock market indexes has renamed its MSCI South East Asia Indexes to MSCI ASEAN Indexes. In addition, MSCI also added new indexes to represent the developed, emerging, and frontier markets in the ASEAN region. While MSCI ASEAN represents all the markets, MSCI EM ASEAN focuses on emerging markets, and MSCI EFM ASEAN represents emerging and frontier markets. The MSCI AC ASEAN index covers large and mid-cap equities across Singapore and four emerging markets, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand.

MSCI was granted the right to use the ASEAN designation for their index offering from the ASEAN Secretariat. The members of the ASEAN exchanges include seven exchanges across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The rebranding of the indexes reflects the development of ASEAN members as a region of sustained growth and economic development. The change will offer global investors a deeper understanding of the various investment opportunities in the region and allows the member countries to promote their capital markets.

RELATED: Pre Investment and Market Entry Advisory from Dezan Shira & Associates

Philippines economy projected to grow 6.8 percent from 2017 to 2019

The Philippines GDP is forecast to grow at 6.8 percent on average from 2017 to 2019, according to a recent World Bank (WB) report. The report predicts that growth will be 6.9 percent in 2017, seven percent in 2018, and 6.7 percent in 2019. These growth projections will be supported by infrastructure projects, domestic consumption, service exports revenue, and inflows of remittances. The World Bank estimates the Philippines 2016 GDP growth to be 6.8 percent, mainly driven by manufacturing, consumption, domestic, and foreign investments. The Philippine government will release the official GDP numbers by the end of the month.

The WB report suggests that the Philippines will need to address the current infrastructure gap as the country continues to rank low for quality of infrastructure, especially seaports and airports. Removal of trade barriers will also bolster investments. In addition, S&P Global ratings predicts above six percent growth for the Philippines in 2018. They have assessed the countrys investment-grade at BBB, which is stable based on the fact that it is a lower middle-income economy with rising foreign exchange reserves and declining external debt. S&P proposed fiscal and policymaking improvements to increase investments and growth to upgrade their investment rankings.

Cambodias construction industry grows in 2016

Cambodias construction industry witnessed huge growth in 2016, with total investments doubling to US$8.5 billion for 2,636 projects, according to the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction. Most of the approved projects include condominiums, apartments, hotels, office buildings, borey units, and commercial centers. In 2015, 2,305 projects were approved with a total investment of US$3.3 billion. In spite of the growth, leading institutions such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank warn of a credit bubble because of huge construction and real estate loans.

Revenues collected on construction services and property fell to US$72 million in 2016 from US$90 million in 2015, which contradicts the value of investments in the sector. Only 15 percent of the 2016 revenues were from construction services while the remaining were sourced from taxes on property transfers. Private sector credit almost doubled in four years to 60 percent of the GDP with the banks exposed to huge outstanding loans in construction, real estate, and mortgages. The central bank implemented reforms to increase minimum capital requirements to ensure that banks operate safely and maintain financial stability. Investors believe that for overall economic growth, investments ought to be directed towards infrastructure development rather than real estate.



About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email asean@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight. 

Managing ASEAN Expansion from Singapore

In this issue of ASEAN Briefing Magazine, we look at the benefits of using Singapore a hub for the management of regional operations throughout ASEAN. We firstly focus on the position of Singapore relative to its competitors, such as the Netherlands and Hong Kong. We then provide step-by-step instructions on corporate establishment, and provide expert insight on maximizing returns through the reduction respective tax burdens.

Human Resources in ASEAN

In this issue of ASEAN Briefing, we discuss the prevailing structure of ASEANs labor markets and outline key considerations regarding wages and compliance at all levels of the value chain. We highlight comparative sentiment on labor markets within the region, showcase differences in cost and compliance between markets, and provide insight on the state of statutory social insurance obligations throughout the bloc.

The Guide to Manufacturing in Indonesia

Choosing if, where, and how to establish foreign manufacturing operations in Indonesia can be a significant challenge. While the archipelagos vast diversity may initially seem daunting, a number of options are available which will allow entry and operations to be conducted in a seamless manner. In this issue of ASEAN Briefing, we discuss Indonesia as a hub for manufacturing within Southeast Asia, and provide guidance on how to select and establish operations within the country.
SAN ANTONIO -- The Army will quietly deactivate its three long-range surveillance companies in the active-duty force in the remaining days of January, along with four National Guard companies in 2018, the Army said.

The nearly 100 soldiers in each of three active-duty companies attached to three Corps commands at Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington will be reassigned to other units at those posts, said Lt. Col. Christina Kretchman, an Army spokeswoman.

Army National Guard units in Nebraska, Georgia, Indiana and Alabama will fold up their long-range surveillance companies and reassign those soldiers in August 2018, Kretchman said.

Stars and Stripes first reported in July that senior leaders decided to deactivate the companies through an evaluation in the Total Army Analysis, a force structure program used to balance the composition of the force with strategy and resources.

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Computer models were used to conclude long-range surveillance companies were not in demand by ground commanders.

Defense analysts have said Army commanders have an aversion to risk and a growing preference to use technology such as satellites and drones for reconnaissance rather than insert small teams of soldiers.
Srivatsa also teased about a new sub-4 meter SUV being launched later this year but refused to divulge further details.

Hyderabad: Having sealed a top three slot in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Tata Motors on Tuesday reaffirmed its ambition to seal the top three slot across India.

Speaking at the Hyderabad launch for Tata Hexa, senior general manager, marketing, Tata Motors, Vivek Srivatsa said, The passenger vehicle segment in India is enjoying a boom and with Tata Motors performing better than the average has led to capturing of market shares.

He added, Tata Motors has already confirmed its top spot in AP and Telangana. We will now aim to replicate it across the nation and seal the third spot in the nation.

When asked about which vehicles has performed the best, he said: Tata Tiago is definitely performing well but Tata Motors isnt a one vehicle company and every vehicle has contributed in its own manner.

Before parting, Mr Srivatsa also teased about a new sub-4 meter SUV being launched later this year but refused to divulge further details.

In due time, we will host another similar event for that. We can talk about that then.
Mumbai: Reliance Jio, telecom giant that disrupted Indian telecom market drastically, may charge Rs 100 for data usage after its free Happy New Year offer ends on March 31, 2017, The Economic Times reported.

However, Rs 100 for data plan still makes for a competition-killing tariff scheme that other telecom players may not be able to replicate in their entities

With the tweaked free offer most likely to continue till June 30, Jio users would not attract any charges for making voice calls.

The free offer has been kept afloat with an initial investment of around Rs 2 lakh crore. Jio that has oil and gas behemoth Reliance Industries as its parent invested another tranche of funds worth Rs 30,000 crore to enhance tower infrastructure to boost network.

The company grew faster than social networking giants including Facebook, WhatsApp and Skype within three months of its launch, RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani had said in December last year while welcoming first three months free offer into new year 2017.

Jio attracted over 72 million subscribers in just four months of its launch, a number that Ambani wants to take to a 100 million in a very short period from now. "Jio has also enabled a free home delivery of its SIMs," Amabani had said.
Cabinet chaired by PM Modi gave its post-facto approval for launching of Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana 2017.

Scheme will provide an assured pension based on a guaranteed rate of return of 8 per cent per annum for ten years.

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Tuesday gave its post-facto approval to a pension scheme for senior citizens under which insurance behemoth LIC will provide a guaranteed return of 8 per cent for 10 years, as part of the Centre's social security and financial inclusion programme.

The Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its post-facto approval for launching of Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana 2017 (VPBY 2017), an official statement said.

The scheme will provide an assured pension based on a guaranteed rate of return of 8 per cent per annum for ten years, with an option to opt for pension on a monthly/quarterly/half yearly and annual basis,it informed.

The scheme will be implemented through Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in the current financial year to provide social security during old age and protect elderly persons aged 60 years and above against a future fall in their interest income due to uncertain market conditions.

The differential return  the difference between the return generated by state-owned LIC and the assured return of 8 per cent per annum would be borne by the government as subsidy on an annual basis. VPBY-2017 is proposed to be open for subscription for a period of one year from the date of launch, the statement said.

The pension scheme, the release said is a part of the governments commitment for financial inclusion and social security.
US exit also puts the deal in jeopardy; nations think of alternative ways to move forward.

New Delhi: US President Donald Trump's first executive orders to come out of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) should favour India. TPP  a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) of 12 pacific rim nations  was feared in India as it might have hit the countrys export to its member nations.

It was proposed by the United States to bypass the WTO where India has stood its ground to protect its interests. TPP would have hit not the only export of finished products but also the export of much intermediary or raw material to the 12 member nations.

Definitely it is a good development for India. It was an issue not only of export of Indian products to the US but in TPP you have issues like yarn forward rules which may have affected exports of many of Indias intermediaries to these member countries also. So it is not only the issue of India getting better access to the US, it is also overall good for exports of Indias intermediaries to members of TPP, said Ajay Sahai, director general and CEO, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).

Indias export to the 12 TPP countries stood at around $79.5 billion in the fiscal year 2014-15. Centre for Policy Research in a paper had said that the TPP is expected to make around 11,000 tariff lines duty-free for its members. The paper also said that this extensive tariff elimination will definitely result in a loss of competitiveness of Indian exports in these markets.

Another study has said India will lose $2.7 billion in exports, with additional billions being lost as more countries join TPP, the paper had said.

Japan has already indicated that if the US comes out then there is no reason for TPP to exist. This even as Australia said on Tuesday that it was working to recast the TPP and opened the door for China to sign up.

There is also the opportunity for the TPP to proceed without the US. Certainly, there is the potential for China to join the TPP, said Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trumps pick to lead the U.S. Department of Education, has come under fire from K-12 groups that usually stay neutral when it comes to education secretary nominees. And educators around the country have questioned her grasp of key programs the department administers, including special education state grants.

But, DeVos has plenty of support from prominent Republicans in and outside of Congress, including heavy-hitters on K-12 policy like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the chairman of the education committee. Shes likely to be confirmed.

Given all the bitter feelings surrounding her confirmation, however, could DeVos still be an effective secretary? Or would she enter the post embattled and unable to get the education community.and Democrats in Congressbehind her agenda?

It depends on who you ask.

Whatever her politics are she is a poor candidate, said Maria Ferguson, the president of the Center on Education Policy, who served in the U.S. Department of Education under President Bill Clinton.

On the other hand, Christopher Cross, who served in the U.S. Department of Education during President George H.W. Bushs administration, said the controversy surrounding DeVos will make it hard, no question for her to enact her agenda.

But, Cross added, whether it makes it impossible, I think, depends on her. Shes a very smart woman. Shes not immune to listening to whats being said. She could turn the opinion of her at least to neutral, although he acknowledged, Shes not going to turn it around completely.

Alexander himself, when we asked him this question Tuesday, responded by saying only that Democrats opposition to DeVos reflected poorly on them, not DeVos.

Interaction With Education Groups

DeVos has fans in the school choice community, but opposition to her goes way beyond traditional Democratic allies, like the two teachers unions. Shes the first nominee for secretary of education that the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights has opposed . The Education Trust, which worked with the George W. Bush administration to pass the No Child Left Behind Act, also issued an anti-endorsement Monday.

And shes come under fire even from groups that share her enthusiasm for charter schools, but worry she wont demand the necessary oversight, including the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, and Democrats for Education Reform, a political action committee , which put jout a statement last week saying it cant support DeVos.

Whats more, 38 organizations, including some that arent considered particularly partisan, like the Parent Teacher Association, AASA, the School Superintendents Association, Easter Seals, and Teach Plus, signed onto a letter sponsored by the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, questioning DeVos policy positions and qualifications for the job . (The letter did not officially oppose her nomination, however.)

Lawmakers, and DeVos, shouldnt quickly dismiss that avalanche of concern, said Ferguson. Its unusual for education groups to throw cold water on someone they know theyre probably going to have to work with.

People in education are inclined to negotiate. They have to, Ferguson said. But DeVos lack of experience with public education, her apparent difficulty in grasping the basics of federal policy on display during the hearing, and her singular focus on charter schools is enough for groups that normally try to play ball to shift their strategy, Ferguson added.

And Ferguson said, its not about politics. To them, the [Republican, Democratic] piece is the thing that matters the least. Theres so much other bad juju here.

But Andy Smarick, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank that has received some funding from the DeVos family, thinks the pushback may be just as much about the fallout from a divisive presidential election as it is about DeVos.

It is conspicuous how many groups have spoken out in the way they have and so vociferously, he said. But other cabinet secretaries have come into their jobs surrounded by controversy and proved effective.

Do we see the temperature get turned down six weeks from now or three months from now as everyone gets acclimated to the Trump administration and we all move on, or is this something that continues to be a major point of contention?

If the political climate shifts, I definitely think she can be effective, Smarick said.

Smarick served as a deputy commissioner of education in New Jersey and is now president of the school board in Maryland. But he hadnt worked extensively in public schools before taking those positions, and was met with some skepticism from some educators. To counter that, he said, he spent a lot of time reaching out to educators and getting their perspective. Former education secretary Margaret Spellings, who came from the policy world, not from a school district, did something similar when she gave teacher ambassdaors a chance to help craft policy at the department.

If [DeVos] wanted to take the lead on building bridges she could [start with a] series of visits with district supes with state supes of traditional public schools,"Smarick suggested.

ESSA Implementation

Whats more, if confirmed, DeVos would be taking the helm of the education committee at a time when Every Student Succeeds Act seeks to limit the power of the education. secretary when it comes to school turnarounds, standards, assessments, and more.

That means that if DeVos and her team want states and districts to take advantage of provisions in ESSA that allow them to go further on school choice &such as allowing kids in low-performing schools to transfer to better schoolsshe will have to use the megaphone of her office

But DeVos may have a tough time getting educators to listen, Ferguson said.

In order to effectively use the bully pulpit granted to the Secretary of Education, she will need to both inspire and lead disparate parties with competing agendas. From where I sit, most billionaires dont operate [in] that manner, Ferguson said in an email. With the recent passage of ESSA, it will be more important than ever for the secretary to have a keen understanding of state and local policy and how charters and choice fit into the mix of issues on the table right now.

Working With Congress

The chairman and the ranking member of the education committee, Alexander and Patty Murray, D-Wash., proved during the development and passage of ESSA that they can get things done on K-12, even in a polarized and partisan Congress. (Both Murray and Alexander make this Washington Post list of thoughtful and effective leaders .)

But they are obviously very split when it comes to DeVos. And, unless Republicans are able to get close to 60 votes in the Senate after the 2018 mid-term elections, DeVos will likely need at least some support from Democrats if she wants to pass the sweeping $20 billion voucher proposal that Trump pitched on the campaign trail.

And shell likely need at least a little Democratic help to pass a more limited voucher pilot program, or put her stamp on other big bills, like career and technical education legislation or a renewal of the Higher Education Act.

Photo: Education Secretary-designate Betsy DeVos testifies at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in January, 2017.

--Carolyn Kaster/AP-File

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
Her security team that was handling the issue seemed to have messed up.

Jennifer Lopez had filed for a permanent restraining order against a man Tim McLanahan, who has apparently been following the star from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, and even showed up at her apartment, and sent her unwanted gifts. Sadly, now, a judge has dismissed the restraining order.

TMZ.com reports that JLos security team, that was handling the issue, failed to show up at the court on the specified date because they thought there would be no point anyway, as they could not find McLanahan to hand him the legal documents.

However, the team did not know that if they couldnt find Tim to serve him, theres a process by which the judge could allow her team to publish a legal notice in a newspaper.
The Tamil Nadu assembly on January 23 unanimously passed the Jallikattu Bill revoking the ban on the bull taming sport.

New Delhi: Animal Welfare Board and other animal rights activists moved the Supreme Court on Wednesday challenging validity of Act passed by Tamil Nadu assembly allowing Jallikattu.

The apex court has listed the matter for Monday along with Centre's plea for withdrawing the 2016 notification allowing Jallikattu.

In November last year, the SC had rejected the plea of the Tamil Nadu government seeking review of the 2014 judgement, which had banned the use of bulls for Jallikattu events in the state.

After hearing from various petitioners and respondents in the case, a division bench of the top court, headed by Justice Dipak Misra and also comprising Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, dismissed the state government's review petition.

The court in its order had said, "We are of the opinion that the review petition does not contain any merit and thus accordingly we dismiss it."

The state government had filed the review petition in the apex court in 2014 through its Chief Secretary, claiming that it was illegal and unconstitutional as the taming of bulls for such an event amounted to "cruelty".

The Tamil Nadu assembly on January 23 unanimously passed the Jallikattu Bill revoking the ban on the bull taming sports.

Tamil Nadu Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao on January 21 approved the ordinance issued by the state government.

From the past one week, Chennai's Marina Beach has been thronged by massive crowds demanding to lift the ban of the traditional sport.
BSP chief Mayawati is expected to make an official announcement on Ansaris entry into her party.

Lucknow: Rejected by the Samajwadi Party, with whom the Quami Ekta Dal had merged in 2015, don-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari is reportedly set to jump ship and join Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

According to NDTV, Ansari will join the BSP on Thursday and Mayawati will herself make the official announcement. The BSP is also ready to give three seats to him for the upcoming UP Assembly polls, which are - Ghosi, Mau and Mohammadabad.

Mayawati had already announced candidates for the three seats from her party and will have to withdraw the BSP candidates to make way for Ansari and his men.

Earlier reports had indicated that Ansari would fight the elections as an independent candidate from the Mau Sadar constituency as the Samajwadi Party has given the ticket for the seat to someone else. He is currently the sitting MLA from the seat.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had clearly expressed his dislike for Ansari due to his criminal background.

QED was founded in 2010 by Mukhtar, along with his brothers Afzal Ansari and Sigbatullaha Ansari. Ansari is in jail for his alleged involvement in the murder of former BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai.

Ansari had tasted repeated electoral success in in 1996 and 2002, and won twice again in 2007 and 2012 as an independent candidate while he was in jail.

Mukhtar Ansaris son has been campaigning hard for his father and other family members are supporting him in his efforts.

I have been canvassing door-to-door in Mau constituency seeking vote for my father. I am staying in Mau for last six months and looking after the campaign. Other members of the family too would join me soon in the campaign, Abbas Bin Mukhtar said in an Indian Express report.

Akhilesh Yadav has given the SP ticket to Altaf Ansari for the Mau Sadar constituency.

"Mukhtar Ansari will not be welcome in the party. We don't want such people in the party," Yadav had said in 2015 after the QED had merged with his party. He had also made it clear that he did not have a say in the merger.
This is the first time in the 25-year-old history of the party that Shivpal Yadav will not be among its star election campaigners.

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav launched his partys election campaign from Sultanpur on Tuesday, but snubbed his uncle Shivpal Yadav by not including his name in the partys list of star campaigners.

This is the first time in the 25-year-old history of the party that Shivpal Yadav will not be among its star election campaigners.

The UP chief minister, who will use a helicopter and address two-to-three meetings a day, attacked the Centre for its failures.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will soon launch his campaign from western UP. He is likely to address six rallies in the region.

After the alliance between the Congress and the SP, both leaders are reworking their election strategy, and sources say that they could address about six joint rallies across the state.
The court, while issuing the direction, also asked the state government to file its counter affidavit within two weeks.

Lucknow: In a major jolt to the Akhilesh government, the Allahabad high court has stayed the inclusion of 17 OBC castes in the scheduled caste category.

An order to this effect was passed on Tuesday by Chief Justice D.B. Bhonsle and Justice Yeshwant Varma. The court directed the social welfare department not to issue scheduled caste certificate to persons belonging to the 17 OBC castes in question. The court said that a circular in this regard should be sent to all district headquarters.

A writ against the state governments decision had been filed by an outfit from Gorakhpur which said that the state government did not have the power to include castes in any list.

It may be recalled that last month, the state Cabinet had cleared the proposal for inclusion of 17 castes in the scheduled caste category and this was being seen as a master stroke by CM Akhilesh Yadav on the eve of elections.

Eleven years ago, chief minister Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav had made a similar attempt to include these 17 castes in the SC list but his decision was turned down in court on the ground that the power to include castes in various categories rested with the Centre.

The 17 backward sub-castes that had been included in the SC list are Kahar, Kashyap, Kewat, Mallah, Nishad, Kumhar, Prajapati, Dhivar, Bind, Bhar, Rajbhar, Dhimar, Batham, Gauriya, Turha, Majhi and Machhua. The court, while issuing the direction, also asked the state government to file its counter affidavit within two weeks.

Earlier, hearing a PIL raising similar objection over the state governme-nts move on January 12, the court had sought reply from the state government and fixed February 9 as the next date of hearing in the matter.
The organisers asked the participants to keep away from any political parties and not to carry any party flag.

Visakhapatnam: A silent movement is taking shape in this region, demanding Special Category Status to AP.

Probably taking a cue from Tamil youths Marina beach protest demanding jallikattu, a campaign had begun on social media platforms like WatsApp, Twitter with hashtag #APDemads-SpecialStatus, #APELFRESPECTMOVEMENT asking youngsters to assemble at RK Beach on January 26, Republic day for a silent protest at 9 am.

Actor and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan said in a statement while hailing the Tamil movement for jallikattu, that people of AP should take inspiration from Tamils spirit and fight for special category status.

The printed flyers bearing a fist, sought police support for the silent protest. While its not known who started the campaign or who the organisers of the protest are, the forward is going viral. It is learnt that a group of youngsters who are active on social media, chanced upon their common opinions about the special category status and started a Whatsapp group and planned the event.

The organisers asked the participants to keep away from any political parties and not to carry any party flag. They asked them to attend the event in black shirts, carrying a black flag. They cautioned: no fan wars and no party wars. They also asked the participants to maintain peace and not to damage government properties.
If a daughter's honour is compromised, it only affects the village or the community, Yadav said.

Patna: In a shocking sexist comment, Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav said the 'honour of vote is important than that of a daughter's', while addressing a gathering in Bihar.

"Honour of vote is bigger and important than honour of daughter. If a daughter's honour is compromised, it only affects the village or the community but if the vote's honour is compromised, it impacts the entire nation," Yadav said.

The former National President of JD(U) was addressing a public gathering on Tuesday in Patna, when he raised many eyebrows by making the controversial remark.

Also Read: Stop demeaning women, BJP tells Sharad Yadav

The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Wednesday issued a notice to the leader Sharad Yadav for his derogatory statement on women.
The decision comes in the wake of Tamil Nadu Assembly passing a law legalising the famous bull-taming sport Jallikattu.

Mumbai: Amid growing demands that the ban on bullock cart races in Maharashtra be lifted, the state government has decided to seek a legal opinion over the issue.

The decision comes in the wake of Tamil Nadu Assembly passing a law legalising the famous bull-taming sport Jallikattu.

Mahadev Jankar, Maharashtra Minister for Animal Husbandry, while speaking to reporters on Tuesday said the government is positive about lifting the ban on bullock cart races and will respect the public sentiments.

"Maharashtra government is positive about it (lifting of ban on bullock cart races) and we will respect public opinion. I feel the bullock cart races should resume. But as a minister, following the Supreme Court orders is my foremost duty. I will soon speak to the Chief Minister and will also seek opinion from law and judiciary on how do we go about it," Jankar said.

Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil, who is the Shiv Sena MP from Shirur Lok Sabha constituency, had recently said 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.

Shetkari Sanghatana, a farmers' organisation in Maharashtra, also demanded lifting of the ban on bullock cart racing and threatened to launch a state-wide agitation over the issue.

Stating that the ban was not right, Jankar added that he is personally in favour of races as he hails from a farmer's family.

"I am a farmer's son, I know how to take care of the livestock. In fact, immediately after becoming a minister I had appointed a lawyer in this case (challenging the ban). We have deputed the best of lawyers," Jankar said.

The Animal Husbandry department has appointed noted legal experts Fali Nariman and P P Rao to represent the state in the Apex court challenging the ban.

Jankar added that his department is also planning to tour Tamil Nadu to understand the intricacies of passing the law on legalising jallikattu in the state.
Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the Chief Guest at the Republic Day function in New Delhi tomorrow.

New Delhi: In a bid to boost their strategic ties, India and the UAE today signed more than a dozen pacts in key areas like defence, security, trade and energy apart from a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement amidst assertion by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that cooperation stands poised for a "major take off".

However, much-anticipated pact pertaining to the USD 75 billion investment fund, committed by the UAE, was not among the fourteen pacts which were signed after the talks between Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Al Nahyan, who arrived here yesterday accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers, senior officials and captains of industry, will be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade tomorrow.

Terming his discussions as "fruitful and productive", Modi, at a joint press event with the UAE leader, said the discussions were wide ranging covering the entire spectrum of the bilateral engagement.

"We have shaped an ambitious roadmap of engagement to make our comprehensive strategic partnership purposeful and action oriented. The agreement that was exchanged just now has institutionalised this understanding," Modi said.

Asserting that security and defence cooperation have added growing new dimensions to the ties, he said their closer ties are of importance, not just to both the countries but also of significance to the entire neighbourhood.

He also said convergence between the two countries can help stabilise the region and the economic partnership can be a source of regional and global prosperity.

"We exchanged views on developments in West Asia and the Gulf, where both countries have a shared interest in peace and stability. We also discussed developments in our region, including Afghanistan. Our shared concern on growing threat from radicalism and terrorism to the safety and security of our people is shaping our cooperation in this space," Modi said.

He noted, "Moving forward, our cooperation stands poised for a major take off. I am confident, Your Highness, that your visit will build on the strong gains and understanding of our previous interactions. And shape its future framework marked by depth, drive and diversification of our partnership."

However, the two sides did not sign a pact pertaining to the USD 75 billion investment as was hoped by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials yesterday.

Holding that the UAE has the largest sovereign fund, Secretary for Economic Relations in MEA Amar Sinha yesterday had told reporters, "During the visit, we are hoping to sign an MoU between their investment fund and our National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF)" which will put in place a framework as to how the fund will be administered and which all sectors it can be invested in.

Asked as of why the accord was not inked, senior officials said, "Talks are in an advanced stage and this visit has helped in identifying sectors in which the investment can be made.
Mr Shah said there was a huge demand for Mr Parrikar in Delhi and also in Goa. But that PM Modi needs him (Parrikar) at the Centre as well.

Panaji: A day after BJP president Amit Shah said the next Goa government would function under Manohar Parrikars leadership, partys state chief Vinay Tendulkar on Tuesday claimed that people want the defence minister to be brought back to Goa.

Mr Shah said the next government in the state will function under (Manohar) Parrikars leadership, irrespective of his posting. Goa has given a big asset to the country in Manohar Parrikar. There is a huge demand for Mr Parrikar in Delhi and also here in Goa. The people of Goa demand that we should send Mr Parrikar back to the state, Mr Shah said addressing a public meeting in Vasco town. Goa will go to polls to elect the 40-member House on February 4.

(Prime Minister) Narendrabhai (Modi) needs him (Manohar Parrikar) at the Centre as well. We will decide after elections where Mr Parrikar will be working. But let me assure you that wherever Mr Parrikar may be working, the Goa government will function under his leadership, the BJP president said. Mr Parrikar has good mass contact, that is why there is demand coming up from people that he should be brought back to Goa. But the decision on it would be taken by elected MLAs after the polls, Mr Tendulkar said.

However, he refused to divulge on the partys strategy in this regard. Chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar has clarified that the MLAs will decide their leader. The decision will be taken after the election, he said. On Mr Shahs statement on Monday about Mr Parrikar, Mr Tendulkar said, Party president has said that even if he is not made CM, he will be controlling the affairs of Goa.

He (Shah) must have said it depending on the demands and expectations of the people. At present, Parrikar and union ministers Shripad Naik and Nitin Gadkari are leading the partys campaign in Goa, he said. After Mr Gadkari had recently fired up speculations about the chief ministerial candidate in poll-bound Goa, Shah on Monday said the next government in the state will function under Parrikars leadership, irrespective of his posting.

Asked about RSSs support, Mr Tendulkar said, Sangh is always with swayamsevakas. They (swayamsevakas) never interfere in politics but their blessings are with us. RSS is with us for this election too, he said.

Regarding the newly formed Goa Suraksha Manch led by rebel sangh leader Subhash Velingkar, he said, He (Velingkar) had said that they will form the next government but now they are contesting only on four seats. I dont think they will be able to win on even one seat. There will not be damage to us. Cadres were with certain ideology. They are with us.

Tendulkar said BJP would be releasing its Goa manifesto on January 27, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modis public meeting in the poll-bound state. The experience of last five years is being used to draft the manifesto. We have fulfilled 90 per cent assurances given in the 2012 manifesto, he said.

The Congress today attacked Mr Shah over his statement that the next Goa government will be functioning under the leadership of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar saying that Goa is not a union territory to be governed by Delhi.

It is for the people of Goa to think on what Shah said. We are not a Union territory to be ruled from Delhi. We are a full-fledged developed state, Goas Leader of Opposition Pratapsinh Rane told reporters here.
Seven senators have pitched an infrastructure improvement plan that includes $75 billion in federal money to rebuild the countrys schools.

The Blueprint to Rebuild Americas Infrastructure and Create 15 Million Jobs released on Tuesday is short on details, but states that the $75 billion for U.S. public schools would create 975,000 jobs and create a State-of-the-Art Environment for students.

This addresses the urgent need for public school modernization funds, which the Secretary of Education can distribute on a formula basis to the public schools with the greatest and most urgent needs within economically-distressed and high-poverty communities, says a statement accompanying the plan. The $75 billion for schools is part of the $1 trillion the blueprint would spend on everything from shoring up roads and bridges to railroads and buses over 10 years.

The plan was introduced by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York, along with Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Tom Carper of Delaware, Maria Cantwell of Washington state, Bill Nelson of Florida, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Ron Wyden of Oregon. All the senators are Democrats except Sanders, who is an independent but caucuses with Democrats.

Each day, too many students attend school in buildings that are crumbling beneath them, millions of Americans still lack access to high-speed Internet, and local governments are faced with the impossible choice of allowing water and sewer systems to deteriorate further or raising local taxes on already struggling middle-class families, Schumer said in the statement.



The plan also includes $20 billion to expand broadband and create 260,000 jobs in the process. The senators said this plan would expand high-speed broadband in unserved and underserved areas. They also want to upgrade the nations 9-1-1 emergency response system.

President Donald Trump raised the issue of school infrastructure on the campaign trail, saying that the country had spent significant money on infrastructure in Iraq but couldnt build schools for its own students. And hes expressed at least a general interest in ramping up federal investment in infrastructure, although how that interest might translate remains unclear.

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
'He exposes BJP's mindset towards the better half of the population of India,' Priyanka responded to his statement.

New Delhi: Scoffing at Vinay Katiyar for his sexist remarks against her, Priyanka Gandhi today said it exposes the BJP's mindset towards the better half of the country's population while the Congress sought an apology for insulting women.

Congress hit out at Katiyar, saying it reflects the "petty and insulting culture of BJP that commodifies women" and accused the BJP of insulting India's womanhood for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah should apologise.

"If that's all BJP sees in my colleagues who are each strong, brave and beautiful women that have battled through all sorts of hardships to get where they are, then he makes me laugh even more. Because he exposes the BJP's mindset towards the better half of the population of India!!!," Priyanka Gandhi said in response to Katiyar's remarks.

When asked about Priyanka being named as a star campaigner by Congress for Uttar Pradesh polls said, Katiyar had said, "It doesn't matter...there are girls and women who are more beautiful than her (Priyanka) and are also star campaigners." "Some of them are artists and heroines...they are more beautiful than her," he said.

Speaking to NDTV later, Katiyar said, "I was responding to reporters. I said Priyanka is beautiful but others are beautiful too". He added that he had "huge respect" for Priyanka and that "she can say what she likes".

Coming down heavily on the firebrand BJP leader, better known for pushing the Hindutva agenda, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said BJP has "insulted" India's womanhood and such conduct, behaviour and words prove BJP's mentality. "BJP has insulted India's womanhood. Such conduct, behaviour and words prove BJP's mentality. Time for PM Modi and Amit Shah to apologise," he said.

Surjewala said BJP-RSS suffer from a "deep rooted and retrograde anti-women mindset. There is a long list led by Mohan Bhagwat and Kailash Vijayvargiya". "Disparaging and atrocious remarks of Vinay Katiyar on Priyankaji reflect the petty and insulting culture of BJP that commodifies women.

"To adjudge India's women by physical features and not by their capacity, capability, strength and sacrifice proves the lowly BJP mentality," he also said. The Congress leader also said that if Modi and Shah have any respect left for women in the country, they should display courage by initiating strict action against Katiyar for his remarks otherwise women will show their power by voting against the BJP.

Priyanka's husband Robert Vadra attacked the BJP leader and demanded that Katiyar publicly apologises for his "misogynist" and atrocious" remarks. "Shocked at misogynist and atrocious remarks of BJP MP Vinay Katiyar saying there were 'prettier star campaigners' in his party than Congress's Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. This exposes the shameful mindset of some of our political leaders.

"We all need to respect women and accept them as equals instead of commoditising and objectifying them. As a society, we need to bring in a change. Vinay Katiyar should publically apologise for his remarks," Vadra, who is also Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law said in his Facebook post.
Stalled probe to spare then PMs blushes: Declassified report.

New Delhi: Sweden terminated the investigation into Bofors arms scandal in an attempt to shield the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi from embarrassment as it felt further probe may throw up more revelations of bribes to Indian officials in the deal, a declassified CIA report said, according to news agencies. It said details of the bribery payments were kept secret under a scheme as Sweden wanted to save Gandhi from troubles caused due to a Swedish leak while the Nobel Industries, the main company, wanted to avoid an indictment.

Stockholm wanted to save Gandhi the troubles caused to him by the Swedish leak, and Nobel Industries wanted to avoid a bribery indictment. The two sides cooperated, therefore, on a scheme to keep the details of the payments secret. Stockholm eventually called off the entire bribery investigation, the CIA report back then on the Bofors arms scandal was quoted by news agency PTI as stating. The report dated march 4, 1988 by the American spy agency said a separate police investigation into the scam was terminated in late January 1988 following a trip by the Indian Prime Minister Gandhi to Stockholm.

Sweden claimed inability to track the payments through Swiss bank accounts after making a half-hearted request for Swiss assistance, it said. Nobel Industries AB was created in 1984 after the merger of the Swedish chemical firm KemaNobel with the Swedish weapons maker Bofors. The report said numerous investigations were initiated to examine the complex web of bribery and arms diversions but despite an admission from a key industry executive, only two individuals were charged with violating Swedish law.

Stockholm has since called off the investigation of Bofors bribery, probably in an effort to prevent future revelations of bribes to Indian officials that could embarrass Prime Minister Gandhi, it said. The report also referred as sidelights to the affair the mysterious death of a customs official, a possible Iranian connection to the murder of Olof Palme. The CIA report also mentioned about an inquiry into the bribery in India and Singapore which was a key transhipment point in the Bofors saga.

It also mentioned about Bofors deliberately violating or circumventing arms selling norms while supplying missile systems to Bahrain, anti-aircraft guns to Thailand, ammunition to Oman and explosives to East Germany. The report is part of nearly 12 million secret documents CIA declassified last week.
Some cadres of the Congress have already started putting up joint posters of Priyanka and Dimple across the state.

New Delhi/Lucknow: The Congress on Tuesday released the list of its star campaigners for the upcoming UP elections. Priyanka Gandhi, who played a key role in clinching the alliance with the SP, is also part of the list. The list includes Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Others who find place in the 40-member Congress list include Ghulam Nabi Azad, Raj Babbar, Sheila Dikshit, Meira Kumar, Rajiv Shukla, Sachin Pilot, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, R.P. N Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Since Priyanka has been playing a key role in the entire election process in Uttar Pradesh, she is expected to campaign in other places apart from Amethi and Raebareli. In the previous elections, she has restricted herself to campaigning in these two constituencies of her brother and mother, respectively.

Sources say that plans are afoot to have certain campaign programmes of Priyanka in the state. Also, the Congress does not want to over expose their star campaigner. But a few engagements of her are not being ruled out. There are also plans that she may make an appearance with the wife of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. Though a final call on this will be taken in the days to come. If she decides to step out of the traditional family borough, then a rally in Varanasi or Allahabad cannot be ruled out.

When the election team of the Congress for Uttar Pradesh was announced in July last year, general secretary in-charge of UP Ghulam Nabi Azad had said that the cadres want Priyanka to campaign extensively across Uttar Pradesh. He added that he also spoken to her about the same. Significantly, November 19, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was being planned to launch Priyanka into the campaign from Allahabad. But the programme eventually fizzled out.

Some cadres of the Congress have already started putting up joint posters of Priyanka and Dimple across the state. Expecting that a joint campaign will certainly act as a booster to the newly-formed alliance.
Nitish Kumar wants to withdraw from the UP contest and even wants to campaign for the secular alliance.

New Delhi: Ahead of the UP Assembly polls, all is not well in the RLD-JD(U) pact. Differences have cropped up between the two parties over supporting the SP-Congress alliance. While JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar wants to withdraw from the UP contest and even wants to campaign for the secular alliance, the RLD is open to siding with the BJP post-polls.

At a core committee meeting of the JD(U), Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is understood to have evinced interest in withdrawing from the poll race and support the Congress-JD(U) alliance, keeping in view the formation of an anti-BJP platform in the 2019 polls, sources said. Mr Kumar, sources said, was thinking ahead of the UP polls as he thinks a secular alliance against Mr Modi was needed and the UP polls were just a stepping block to it.

It may be recalled that the JD(U) is in alliance with Lalu Prasads RJD in Bihar, which is is supporting the Congress-SP front. Mr Prasads daughter is married into the Yadav clan.

The RLD had opened channels with the BJP after the SP had refused to explore a pre-poll alliance with the Jat-dominated party fearing a backlash from the Muslim community, who are its core voters. The two parties  RLD and JD(U)  had also said that they were open to support the BSP postpolls.

RLD state unit chief Masood Ahmad has already announced that the parties will contest all the 403 Assembly seats in UP. Sources said that the RLD and JD(U) was not ready to align with the Congress anymore as they felt betrayed by the party.

The Congress reportedly offered some 20 seats to RLD chiefs son Jayant Choudhary, who was in touch with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. The RLD was not prepared to accept anything short of 30 seats.

The Samajwadi Party which had refused to deal with the RLD, has also put a spanner in the much-awaited alliance with the Congress giving the latter much less seats than promised.
Yadav chose to start his campaign from a constituency where polling is scheduled to be held in the fifth phase.

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president and UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, on Tuesday, launched his partys campaign from Sultanpur by accusing the Centre of trying to emulate his policies in the upcoming Union Budget.

Significantly, Mr Yadav chose to start his campaign from a constituency where polling is scheduled to be held in the fifth phase on February 27. The CM, in his campaign, will not be using his much-publicised Mercedes bus due to paucity of time. He will travel on a helicopter and address two to three meetings in a day.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, on the other hand, will soon launch his campaign from western Uttar Pradesh where polling is to be held in the first phase on February 11.

According to Congress sources, Mr Gandhi will be addressing about six rallies in this region, including Mathura, Saharanpur, Ghaziabad, Shamli, Bulandshahr and Aligarh.

After the alliance between the Congress and Samajwadi Party, both are now reworking their election strategy and sources says that Mr Gandhi and Mr Yadav could address about half-a-dozen rallies  one in each phase  across the state. Three rallies are likely to be held in constituencies where the Congress candidates are contesting and three in SP constituencies.

The idea is to send a clear message to workers in both parties as well as the voters that the alliance is for keeps. However, a number of modalities have to be worked out before the programme is finalised, said a source. Mr Yadav highlighted the achievements of his government and also threw light on his manifesto for the Assembly polls.

However, it is believed that during their joint rallies, both the leaders will focus on the failures of the Modi government, the lack of development in the BSP regimes and the need to keep divisive forces at bay.
The child's parents were initially reluctant about surgery but agreed after talking to the staff.

Raichura: Reports of children being born with several birth defects have been making headlines in India for the past year as families have had to go through a lot for treatment of their children, even as some continue to suffer from conditions that can at times even prove fatal.

But a child born in Karnataka is being described as a gift from god by his parents as the boy has four legs and two penises. Delivered at the Dhadeasugure Primary Health centre in Raichur, the infant will be going surgery despite initial reluctance from his parents to get him treated.

The family was apprehensive at the beginning since they are poor and cant afford surgery, but now they have agreed after talking to the staff as the child is under observation.

The couple also have a three-year-old child who has no such medical conditions.
With their arrest, police claimed to have solved five burglary cases in different areas of southeast district and Delhi NCR.

New Delhi: Three persons have been arrested by Delhi Police for their alleged involvement in several cases of burglaries at posh localities in Delhi NCR.

Shakir, 45, a native of Ghaziabad, Raziq Aalam, 28, a resident of Jaitpur and Babul Aalam, 30, a resident of Noida, were arrested by the police, which also recovered three stolen LCD TVs, one mobile phone, one laptop, and house-breaking instruments from their possession.

With their arrest, police claimed to have solved five burglary cases and house thefts in different areas of southeast district and Delhi NCR.

Police received a tip-off about the three accused coming to sell stolen articles in front of Majidia Hospital on RD Marg in Govindpuri. They laid a trap and arrested them.

During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they all belong to West Bengal's North Dinazpur and have been residing in Delhi for at least five years.

Police said Sakir was arrested in three burglary cases in Faridabad and was lodged in Neemka Jail for 10 months earlier.

Once out on bail, he teamed up with Raziq and Babul, and started committing thefts.

They would roam around in posh colonies of NCR during night and after finding locked premises, they would break open the door or window and steal valuables, police said.

Police were looking for one Atnu Das in Gandhi Nagar who sells stolen gold in market.
The BMW had hit an Uber cab near Munirka flyover killing its driver.

New Delhi: The 24-year-old man who had rammed his BMW into an Uber cab, killing its driver, in south Delhi's Munirka on Sunday, has been released on bail.

While the accused, Shoaib Kohli, had denied driving in an inebriated condition and said that the Uber driver, Nazrul, had applied brakes suddenly, he admitted that he was driving at close to 120/km/hr, since he wanted to reach his friend's house in Vasant Vihar fast.

The offences he was charged with are bailable, said a senior police officer.

Nazrul, who was on the first day of his job, was killed on Sunday night after Shoaib's BMW had rammed into his WagonR near Munirka flyover.

The accused was arrested on Tuesday and was released on bail. Nazrul's family left for his hometown Murshidabad in West Bengal for his last rites.

During questioning, Kohli had told police that after the incident he had run away fearing that he may be lynched by the mob, the police had said.
The ED is probing a Prevention of Money Laundering Act case against Lalit Modi.

Mumbai: In what could be a setback to the efforts to bring former IPL chief Lalit Modi back to India and make him stand trial, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has refused to share with the UK authorities its probe documents.

The confidential documents are related to 15 civil cases under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) against Modi on grounds that it sought their help in getting his custody in a criminal case related to alleged money-laundering.

The ED is probing a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case against Modi, on the basis of a police case lodged in Chennai registered on the complaint of the BCCI in 2010, alleging Modi misappropriated funds during his tenure as IPL chief. The ED has sought UK authorities help in executing a Mumbai special courts non-bailable warrant against Modi in a PMLA case.

A Mumbai special court had in June 2016 issued a NBW in a case related to alleged irregularities in the grant of media rights to an overseas firm for IPLs 2009 edition in which Modi is suspected to have received multi-crore kickbacks. The court on request of the ED issued a Letters Rogotary (LR) to extradite him under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT).

Sources from the ED on the condition of anonymity revealed they had submitted the court's directions to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The MHA were to submit it to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) who would eventually execute the NBW issued against Modi. But after the union government communicated with the UK authorities, the ED was allegedly informed that they needed to share all the investigation documents collected by them to the UK investigators.

They (UK authorities) wanted us to share details of all the 15 FEMA cases and not just those pertaining to the PMLA case against Modi, said an ED source. The ED allegedly refused to share the investigation reports with the UK team. An ED source said, Why should we share probe papers in which his custody has not been sought? We also fear that the documents, if shared, could get leaked, thereby weakening the agencys case against him. The sources explained that they want Modi to be a part of the investigation and clear certain aspects of the case before filing charges against him.

Sources said the MEAs legal team suggested that they follow the MLAT route as it does not need a chargesheet to be filed against him to facilitate extradition. Under the MLAT provision, an NBW can be executed and we obtained permission from the PMLA court for the same. Despite this instead of going ahead with the extradition process, they are asking us to share sensitive investigation details.
A man died at Vadodara station during actors promotional train ride.

Mumbai: Superstar Shah Rukh Khans promotional train ride for his new movie Raees is under intense scrutiny after a 45-year-old man, Farheed Khan Pathan died last night allegedly in the middle of the fan frenzy at Vadodara railway station in Gujarat. City-based lawyer Abha Singh has shot a letter to Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu demanding a criminal case against Mr Khan and concerned railway official for dereliction of duty.

Ms Singh has stated in her letter that the actor illegally promoted his movie using the railways. Her letter reads: At every station a crowd was organised by his PR machinery and this snowballed into large crowds assembling on the railway platform which then became a venue for Shah Rukh Khan to promote his film (Raees).

Ms Singh has alleged that a person lost his life in the commotion, while SRK promoted his movie by using the train and railway platform. As a responsible citizen, Shah Rukh Khan should know the consequences of his actions. When a hapless passenger comes to board the train they should not be subjected to these troubles. Such PR exercises at the cost of a life are unacceptable, said Ms Singh.

Taking note of her letter, Mr Prabhu tweeted saying that action would be taken at the earliest. His tweet said: Directed DG RPF to investigate the matter and take stern action against any lapse. Despite repeated calls and SMS, Mr Khans public relations team did not respond at time of going to the press. Mr Khan on Tuesday expressed sadness and pain after Pathans untimely death. Pathan is said to be a local politician.

He reportedly died of a heart attack after being caught in the crowd of fans gathered at the Vadodara station. The railway policemen allegedly used batons to control the crowds, which led to a stampede. The lawyer-cum activist said that Mr Khan is liable for criminal action under Indian Penal Code (IPC) 336, Railway Act 145, 175 and 17 (9). According to the law, any action that causes nuisance to people in a public space is unacceptable.

Ms Singh said that it is easy for the actor to express his grief. But the fact remains that a person is dead and he violated the law of the land, she said. Ms Singh has also lambasted the Railways for its lackadaisical attitude. The railway officers have acted in a manner which has prejudiced the safety and convenience of these passengers, therefore, an inquiry should be ordered and departmental action needs to be taken against the delinquent officers, she has stated in her letter.

On the wrong track
President Donald Trump this week signed an executive order freezing hiring at many federal agencies, with the exception of military and public safety employees. So how might that effect the U.S. Department of Educations work?

For one thing, it could mean longer hours for some of the departments career staff and slower responses to department inquiries, said Zollie Stevenson, who served as a career staffer in the department under three presidents, including as the director of student achievement and school accountability programs.

Existing staff in departments often have more work to do and often have to work longer, said Stevenson, who is now the acting vice president for academic affairs at Philander Smith College, in Little Rock, Ark. Sometimes the timeline for response to inquiries and program requests can slow down during hiring freezes in areas with lots of customers.

But generally speaking, Stevenson said, if there arent many vacancies, the freeze shouldnt have a major impact on the agencys work.

Tom Corwin, who spent decades as a top career employee on K-12 budget issues and is now a senior advisor at Penn Hill Group, a government relations firm, said that the hiring freeze might mean that staff will be shifted around to help review states accountability plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act, which are due into the department beginning on April 3. But Corwin said that additional manpower might have been needed anyway.

Right now, the departments vacancies include an education program specialist to work on postsecondary programs, a supervisory management analyst, an education researcher, a statistician and more, according to the federal hiring website.

And its important to note that the freeze only applies to the 4,000 or so career positions at the department, not to the roughly 150 political appointees the Trump team will bring in.

Several agencies have begun restricting communications during the transition, leading to worries that agencies might not release information that contradicts Trumps agenda, according to the Washington Post . But as of Tuesday night, the Education Departments Twitter feed was still producing content, although at a slower pace than usual.

It included tweets on issues like diversity, college access, and teacher loan forgiveness.

For instance, on Tuesday night, the departments feed promoted literacy, showcasing a picture of childrens books, including one Spanish language title.

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. ~ Joseph Addison pic.twitter.com/JPBrB9pJpN  US Dept of Education (@usedgov) January 24, 2017

And on Monday, the department sent a tweet about diversity in schools, a priority of former U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr.

We must strive to create school communities that have diverse faculties & reflect in their student bodies a commitment to diversity. pic.twitter.com/4l2HAwsRQi  US Dept of Education (@usedgov) January 23, 2017

For more on how the transition could impact the Education Department, take a look at this story.

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
The Sena has offered 60 seats while BJP has demanded 114 seats for the upcoming BMC polls.

Mumbai: The deadlock over the alliance for the BMC polls between Shiv Sena and BJP continues despite Uddhav Thackerays party January 26 deadline. Both the sides have remained silent, refusing to speak to the media over the differences on seat sharing. The Sena is going to declare its stand in a programme on Thursday, which will be addressed by the party chief Uddhav Thackeray.

The sources from the Sena said that Uddhav Thackeray has always remained opened to forging an alliance with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), but the BJP hasnt responded positively. The source added, The two parties did not discuss the seat-sharing at the meeting. Only the proposals were exchanged. If the Shiv Sena and BJP wanted to enter into an alliance, then they should have conducted a seat-wise review. The deadlock continues to persist despite several meetings . The Sena and BJP leaders held meetings thrice, but nothing concrete has come out from it. The Sena has offered 60 seats while BJP has demanded 114 seats for the upcoming BMC polls. Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have spoken to each other, but the deadlock still continues.

A BJP leader said that the party workers are in the mood to go solo. Our strength in Mumbai has increased. We will win more seats if we go solo to the polls. But whenever we have entered into the alliance with Shiv Sena, BJP losses north Indian votes because of Senas anti-north Indian stand. Congress usually benefit from our alliance, and hence the workers want to go alone, the leader said.

The BJP leader also added that the two parties also have an option of forming an alliance after the polls. We can always come together post polls like we did in Kalyan-Dombivali civic polls. It will be a friendly fight between us, he added.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led party has filed a complaint of violation of model code of conduct against him at the Election Commission.

Mumbai: A photograph of Shiv Sena supremo, the late Bal Thackeray has become the latest bone of contention between the Shiv Sena and the MNS. Alleging that the MNS corporator Sudhir Jadhav has used the picture of Bal Thackeray on his report card, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party has filed a complaint of violation of model code of conduct against him at the Election Commission.

In his complaint, local Shiv Sena leader Yashwant Vichale has said that Mr Jadhav has published the pictures of Sena founder Bal Thackeray and his late wife Meena Thackeray on his report cards, which are being distributed in ward no 192 in Dadar. When he (Bal Thackeray) was alive, he never allowed the MNS to use his pictures. Hence, the sainiks have strong feelings about this and this could lead to serious local problem, said Mr Vichale.

He has also alleged that Mr Jadhav, along with his wife Shenal, is distributing Haldi-Kunku goodies and bags with the MNS pamphlets on it in the entire ward. This is a clear violation of model code of conduct and action needs to be taken against him, Mr Vichale added.

When asked, Mr Jadhav rubbished Senas allegations. Not just Balasahebs, I have also used pictures of other great leaders like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Babasaheb Ambedkar, APJ Abdul Kalam etc on my report card. I believe, Balasaheb was the leader of not only Maharashtra but also the entire Hindu community. If the Shiv Sena wants to limit the leader of his stature just to themselves, then I feel sorry for them.

As far as haldi-kunku celebrations are concerned, it is not my fault if others are distributing goodies on my name. I had myself cancelled the haldi-kunku programme that was arranged at Kamgar Stadium due to the code of conduct.

According to the sources, both Shiv Sena and the MNS are engaged in fierce battle to stamp their superiority over the Marathi-dominated Dadar region and the clashes are likely to escalate further in coming days.
In her letter Bana al-Abed, who was evacuated from the besieged city to Turkey in December, appealed to Trump to help the children of Syria.

Bana Alabed, 7, lives in with her mother, Fatemah, and her brothers. (Photo: Twitter)

Istanbul: Seven-year-old Syrian girl Bana al-Abed, who came to international attention with her tweets giving a tragic account of the war in Aleppo, has written an open letter to new US President Donald Trump. In her letter Bana, who was evacuated from the besieged city to Turkey in December, appealed to Trump to help the children of Syria, the BBC reported yesterday.

I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war, she wrote, according to a transcript of the letter her mother sent to the BBC.

She told Trump her school in Aleppo was destroyed by the bombing and some of her friends had died.

Right now in Turkey, I can go out and enjoy. I can go to school although I didnt yet. That is why peace is important for everyone including you.

However, millions of Syrian children are not like me right now and suffering in different parts of Syria, she wrote.

You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you.

At least 15,000 children are among the more than 300,000 people who have been killed in Syrias six-year war between President Bashar al-Assads regime and rebel forces.

Through her tragic descriptions of life in besieged Aleppo on her @AlabedBana Twitter account, Bana became a symbol of the tragedy unfolding in Syria, although the government had slammed her and her mothers nearly daily tweets as propaganda.

Turkey, which backs the Syrian rebels, is hosting some 2.7 million refugees from the conflict.

Syrian rebels and Assads government are holding peace talks in Kazakhstan but there have been no signs of a breakthrough.

Trumps administration was invited to participate in the talks organised by key players Russia, Turkey and Iran but did not send a delegation.

Trumps spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday that the new US president was open to conducting joint operations with Russia to combat the Islamic State group, who control significant territory in northern Syria.
The writer is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court and former additional solicitor-general of India. He can be reached at knbhat1@gmail.com

Sati was banned in 1861. The order by the Crown was welcomed since Sati was regarded as repulsive.

The people of Tamil Nadu deserve praise over the way in which they protested against the ban on Jallikattu. It was not mass hysteria, as dubbed by a few. Going by the size and spectrum of participation, from Viswanathan Anand, the chess champion, to music maestro A.R. Rahman and Rajinikanth, it was truly a mass movement irrespective of caste, religion or political affiliations. The people finally succeeded in persuading the Centre to urge the President to give his assent to an ordinance  which takes years in some cases, but was achieved within days here.

The ordinance reportedly amended several clauses of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960, a law passed by Parliament. Prevention of cruelty to animals being in the Concurrent List, the Tamil Nadu legislature can pass a law amending the Central law  such amendments that require presidential assent will apply only to the limits of Tamil Nadu state. Therefore, the governor can promulgate an ordinance on the same subject that will be valid for a limited period. The Tamil Nadu government would have taken care to ensure the ordinance is within the legally permissible limits, as it should not in any way overrule the law declared by the Supreme Court on Jallikattu. The ordinance reportedly carved out exceptions to provisions of the PCA Act interpreted by the SC earlier, making it clear Jallikattu done in a humane way would not amount to cruelty.

Jallikattu was practised in the area that forms the state of Tamil Nadu for centuries  not the whole of the erstwhile Madras Presidency, that included the present state of Andhra Pradesh, Malabar of Kerala and South Canara district in Karnataka; so much so there it has acquired the status of a religious practice. The PCA Act was enacted in 1960 to replace an 1890 law enacted by British legislators. However, the new law also remained dormant many years without affecting Jallikattu.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly passed the Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act 2009, that set conditions under which Jallikattu could be held, possibly to pre-empt questioning by animal rights activists. The validity of this law was challenged before the Madras high court, which on March 9, 2007 rejected the writ petition, upholding the practice of Jallikattu, subject to the conditions laid down in the Tamil Nadu Act.

In July 2011, the Centre published a notification under Section 22 PCA Act, where bulls were notified as one among performing animals along with bears, monkeys, tigers, panthers and lions. Bulls thus couldnt be exhibited or trained except as prescribed. Once an animal is deemed a performing animal, the statute comes into play and it makes it virtually impossible to hold Jallikattu, which was essentially a rural sport.

The Centres 2011 notification and the Madras high court ruling came up for consideration in the Supreme Court in Animal Welfare Board of India vs A. Nagaraja in 2014. A two-judge bench took up the issue of seminal importance (on) the rights of animals under our Constitution.

It may be noted that Article 145(3) mandates that the minimum number of judges on the bench to decide any case involving a substantial question of law on the interpretation of the Constitution shall be five.

Despite this, the two-judge bench in Nagarajas case took upon itself to decide the seminal question and also to interpret Article 51A dealing with fundamental duties.

It is worth recalling that Article 51A was added as a cosmetic item by the notorious Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act passed during the 1975-77 Emergency that made obnoxious distortions to the Constitution, almost all of which were reversed by the 44th Amendment Act soon after the Emergency ended. Article 51A was a notable survivor.

The court pressed in to service clauses of Article 51A that recommends compassion for living creatures and humanism in support of the view that our Constitution guarantees right to life with dignity to all species of living beings. There is no precedent to support this proposition  precedents say Article 51-A is not enforceable. Consequently, Jallikattu was banned. The court also declared the 2009 Tamil Nadu law allowing Jallikattu as repugnant to the PCA Act, and hence bad. A review petition against this decision was also rejected in November 2016.

On January 7, 2016, the Centre passed an order under the PCA Act permitting Jallikattu subject to certain conditions, the validity of which was also challenged, and on January 12, 2016 a two-judge bench following Nagarajas case (2014) stayed the operation of the government order. Jallikattu therefore couldnt be held. While a decision on the validity of the 2016 government order was still pending, the Centre withdrew the order on January 24, thus aborting the issue.

The popular agitation in Tamil Nadu, which was peaceful, would have turned ugly if allowed to continue for long. The state government therefore decided on the ordinance route, obviously with the Centres concurrence.

It is often asked whether it is lawful to promulgate an ordinance on a subject that is pending before the courts. The answer is yes. The exercise of a legislative power, under which an ordinance is promulgated, cant be pre-empted over the sub judice factor. Since the parameters of passing a law on something on which the court had pronounced have all been settled, one presumes enough care was taken in drafting a non-offensive but effective ordinance.

The example of banning Sati is often cited in the context of the Jallikattu ban. Sati was banned in 1861 by royal edict, not by a court interpreting a law. The order by the Crown (in British-ruled India) was widely welcomed as Sati was regarded as repulsive in many quarters. If at any time Jallikattu is seen as loathsome by society, the legislature will have to act.

An Act has been passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly to replace the ordinance  the needed presidential assent will follow. The validity of this is certain to be questioned, and that may be the occasion for a competent bench of five or more judges to decide the seminal issues involved.

In any case, the agitators who threatened to remain on Chennais Marina Beach till a permanent solution is found had better rush back homes with their heads high, before the politicians on the prowl hijack the movement.
We are at a point in history where we are trapped by our own advances.

An increasing number of companies are rolling out autonomous machines that boost the production efficiency but also, at the same time, reduce the need for human employees.

Humanity has entered the fourth Industrial Revolution wherein automation and data exchange is a part of the on-going trend. Technological inventions are no longer products of multi-national companies alone as numerous crowd-funding websites and business hotspots like Silicon Valley, Indiegogo or Kickstarter offer just as many new gadgets. Most inventions these days involve the use of human augmentations.

An increasing number of companies are rolling out autonomous machines that boost the production efficiency; but also, at the same time, they are reducing the need for human employees. Take for instance this years Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that took place in Las Vegas. The event is typically about futuristic consumer products such as a smart TV or voice-controlled fridges. This year, however, digital assistants powered by AI stole the limelight. These developments foretell a visible shift to the coming of the age, tech-enhanced humans.

To top it off, researchers in AI groups such as Google Brain, OpenAI (co-founded by Elon Musk), MIT, the University of California, Berkeley and Googles other AI research group Deep Mind are developing machine-learning systems that can create more machine-learning systems. The AI system developed by the machine-learning software took a test and managed to perform better than the software designed by humans.

Jeff Dean, who leads the Google Brain research group, described this invention as one of the most promising research avenues his team was exploring. Currently the way you solve problems is when you have the expertise, data and computation, said Dean, at the AI Frontiers conference in Santa Clara, California.

Researchers from Googles DeepMind suggest that the latest invention could help lessen the problem of machine-learning software needing to consume vast amounts of data on specific task in order to perform it well. Easing the burden on the data scientist is a big payoff, says Otkrist Gupta, researcher at the MIT Media Lab. It could make you more productive, make you better models, and make you free to explore higher-level ideas, he added.

We are at a point in history where we are trapped by our own advances. Questions like whether these machines will judge our actions and rebel against our decisions need consideration.

Seventy-four year old theoretical physicist Stephen Hawkings recently stated, We have less than 100 years to save the human race. He identified AI, nuclear war and genetically engineered viruses as problems that pose an imminent threat to humanity. Hawkings also warns that leaving Earth may just be our last hope for survival.

He is not the only one alarmed by the rate at which technology is advancing. Industrial experts speaking at an interactive session on AI at World Economic Forum Annual, 2016 agreed that technology and access to technology must be democratised.

In a shared effort, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar donated a combined of $20 million to the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund on January 11  helping ensure the futures more man and machine rather than man against machine, as IBM CEO Ginny Romelty put it as Walt Street Journal.

Theres an urgency to ensure that AI benefits society and minimises harm, said Hoffman in a statement reported by The Guardian. AI decision-making can influence many aspects of out world-education, transportation, health-care, criminal justice and the economy yet data and code behind those decisions can be largely visible, he added.

There is an urgent need for technology to be augmented, rather than replacing human capability and opportunity.
'Had a warm conversation with Trump; We agreed to work closely in the coming days,' Modi said.

Washington: Describing India as a "true friend" of the US, President Donald Trump invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the country later this year, the White House said today after both leaders spoke over phone and discussed issues such as trade, defence and terrorism.

Trump spoke to Modi Tuesday night over phone, four days after he was sworn-in as the 45th President of America.

"During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in a readout of the call.

Read: Trump picks Indian-American Ajit Pai as new FCC head

"President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the US later this year," the White House said.

Had a warm conversation with Trump; We agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties, Modi tweeted on Tuesday.

He said he has invited US President Donald Trump to visit India during his conversation.

The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.

Besides this, they also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the US and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, the readout said.

After Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the November 8 general elections, Modi was among the first five world leaders to have congratulated Trump.

During his gruelling election campaign, India is among the few countries in addition to Israel with whom Trump spoke of strengthening ties if elected to power.

On January 21, Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican Premier Pena Nieto.

On Sunday, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and yesterday he had a telephonic conversation with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
On the campaign trail, Trump initially proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States.

Washington: US President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders starting on Wednesday that include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries, say congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter.

Trump, who tweeted that a "big day" was planned on national security on Wednesday, is expected to ban for several months the entry of refugees into the United States, except for religious minorities escaping persecution, until more aggressive vetting is in place.

Another order will block visas being issued to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, said the aides and experts, who asked not to be identified.

In his tweet late on Tuesday, Trump said: "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"

The border security measures probably include directing the construction of a border wall with Mexico and other actions to cut the number of illegal immigrants living in the United States.

The sources say the first of the orders will be signed on Wednesday. With Trump considering measures to tighten border security, he could turn his attention to the refugee issue later this week.

Stephen Legomsky, who was chief counsel at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama administration, said the president had the authority to limit refugee admissions and the issuance of visas to specific countries if the administration determined it was in the publics interest.

"From a legal standpoint, it would be exactly within his legal rights," said Legomsky, a professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. "But from a policy standpoint, it would be terrible idea because there is such an urgent humanitarian need right now for refugees.

The Republican president, who took office last Friday, was expected to sign the first of the orders at the Department of Homeland Security, whose responsibilities include immigration and border security.

On the campaign trail, Trump initially proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, which he said would protect Americans from jihadist attacks.

Both Trump and his nominee for attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, have since said they would focus the restrictions on countries whose migrants could pose a threat, rather than a ban on those of a specific religion.

Many Trump supporters decried former President Barack Obama's decision to increase the number of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States over fears that those fleeing the country's civil war would carry out attacks.

Legal challenges possible

Detractors could launch legal challenges if all the countries subject to the ban are Muslim-majority nations, said immigration expert Hiroshi Motomura at UCLA School of Law.

Legal arguments could claim the executive orders discriminate against a particular religion, which would be unconstitutional, he said.

"His comments during the campaign and a number of people on his team focused very much on religion as the target," Motomura said.

To block entry from the designated countries, Trump is likely to tell the State Department to stop issuing visas to people from those nations, according to sources familiar with the visa process. He could also instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to stop any current visa holders from those countries from entering the United States.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday the State and Homeland Security Departments would work on the vetting process once Trump's nominee to head the State Department, Rex Tillerson, is installed.

Other measures may include directing all agencies to finish work on a biometric identification system for non-citizens entering and exiting the United States and a crackdown on immigrants fraudulently receiving government benefits, according to the congressional aides and immigration experts.

To restrict illegal immigration, Trump has promised to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and to deport illegal migrants living inside the United States.

Trump is also expected to take part in a ceremony installing his new secretary of homeland security, retired Marine General John Kelly, on Wednesday.

Australia deal under threat

Trump's executive order threatens a refugee resettlement deal with Australia signed late last year, and could leave more than 1,000 asylum seekers in limbo.

The U.S. agreed to resettle an unspecified number of refugees being held in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the tiny South Pacific island nation of Nauru on Australias behalf.

The deal followed agreement by Australia in September to join a U.S.-led program to resettle refugees from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador as part of its annual intake.

Australia's tough border security laws mandate that asylum seekers intercepted trying to reach the country by boat go for processing to detention camps on PNG's Manus island and Nauru.

Australia does not provide information on the nationalities of those held, but around a third of the 1,161 detainees were from countries covered by the executive orders, lawyers and refugee workers for the asylum seekers told Reuters.

"We already didn't have much hope the U.S. would accept us," Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian refugee who has spent more than three years on Manus island, told Reuters.

"If they do not take us, Australia will have to."

A spokeswoman for Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declined to comment.
When he came to work, the victim found 'terrorist' and the 'N' word written on the front wall.

Singh said in late October, someone came into Quiznos, told him to go back to his country then thew a rock into the window, the report said. (Photo: Representational Image)

San Francisco: In an alleged hate crime, a restaurant owned by a Sikh man in the US state of California has been targetted with abuses like "terrorist" and the "N" word written on its front wall.

CJ Singh, owner of Quiznos in Woodland, California said, "someone also unsuccessfully tried to light the business on fire and stole money I saved for donations. They even got away with the DVR for the surveillance cameras, likely to avoid getting caught."

On Monday, when he came to work, found "terrorist" and the "N" word written on the front wall. "This is, like, scary," he was quoted as saying by the Fox40.com.

Woodland Mayor Pro Tem Enrique Fernandez said he is helping to fight back by distributing fliers throughout Woodland in an attempt to fight intolerance.

"We're eager to move forward and figure out ways to combat the hatred and the intolerance that's kind of resonated nationally from this most recent election," Fernandez said.

"We feel safe all the time, but after this incident, we feel concerned, it's not the first one, it's the second incident in two months," said Mike Gill, Singh's relative.

Singh said in late October, someone came into Quiznos, told him to "go back to his country" then thew a rock into the window, the report said.

He and his family are now shaken and upset but not angry at whoever insulted their faith.

"Anyone have problem with us, any question, they can come talk to us," Singh said.

Throughout the day, customers came in to eat at Quiznos to support Singh after hearing what happened. The community urges people to learn about the Sikh faith.

Over 200 incidents of hateful harassment and intimidation across the US have been reported since Donald Trump won the presidential election.
Police are now looking into two other matters related to Mr Netanyahu, Channel 10 television reported on Monday.

Jerusalem: Israeli police have widened a probe into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, already under investigation in a graft case that has shaken the countrys politics, media reports said.

Police are now looking into two other matters related to Mr Netanyahu, Channel 10 television reported on Monday.

One of the matters appears to involve a deal for Israel to purchase German submarines, while the second affair remained unclear, according to the reports.

It was unclear whether the new probes were preliminary enquiries or if they had been elevated to fully fledged investigations.

Police declined to comment. Mr Netanyahus cousin, family lawyer and confidant David Shimron has reportedly been involved in the deal to purchase Dolphin submarines from Germanys Thyssen-Krupp.

Media reports alleged a conflict of interest over the role played by Mr Shimron, who has represented Thyss-enKrupps Israeli agent.

If confirmed, the reports would add to a list of legal troubles already facing Mr Netanyahu.
Mgr Bernard Moras releases a message for the upcoming Synod on youth in 2018. He warns that virtual reality "is like Aladdin's lamp, which makes us get whatever we want, but conceals predators and criminals. By making everything accessible, Internet turn young people into weak and fragile twigs, who do not accept failure.

Mumbai (AsiaNews)  Be careful not to become "slaves to technology" and know "to distinguish good from evil" in the vast world of virtual reality, says Mgr Bernard Moras, archbishop of Bangalore (Karnataka).

The prelate warns young people against the dangers of the Internet in a message sent to AsiaNew ahead of the forthcoming Synod of Bishops scheduled for 2018, centred on the theme Young people, faith, and vocational discernment.

In it he speaks of the enormous possibilities of communication and exchange offered by the worldwide web, which has become ordinary among young people. At the same time, he highlights the risks that lie in webpages, which often conceal predators and criminals. For this reason, Mgr Moras raises some red flags for today's families.

On the one hand, he says that "life is more peaceful thanks to the development of science and technology, which enable a growing number of children to have access to forms of qualified education, and the invention of the internet that connects the world makes our life quiet and exact."

On the other hand, "everything that seems easy and secure through the Internet proves to be the opposite in the long run." The web "victimises innocent children, adolescents and young people who want to get everything out of this world." Yet, he wonders "Who can decide what is reliable and what is not. How can one distinguish what is right from what is wrong?"

This happens especially in the "endless opportunities that young people have to chat freely with their peers from all over the world in which they can also interact with strangers and this can become a habit and lead to forms of dependency."

The archbishop refers in particular to girls and young women "who feel accepted by individuals they do not know in chat rooms. This may seem unusual, but sometimes they remain trapped and are subject to forms of blackmail after sharing personal information."

Virtual reality "is like Aladdin's lamp, the archbishop notes, which makes us get whatever we want, but it is an unlimited treasure box that is never full." Instead, we must learn to measure its use to prevent "its abuse from turning the lives of young people into chaos. [. . .] Every young person wants to be like a strong and elegant tree, but these traps turn them into weak and fragile twigs."

According to Mgr Moras, the consequences of the bad use of the internet have repercussions on the psyche of young people.

"Desire pushes everyone to try to get all that is under heaven. Virtual media fill innocent hearts with the evil desire to gain this infinite world, which is not possible for a finite being. This attitude fills young people with an endless confidence [in themselves], and young minds are not able to accept failure."

In the face of all these dangers, the archbishop explains that young people are "the salt of the earth" (Mt. 5:13). Therefore, he urges parents, the media, and religious leaders to monitor their development and "raise awareness that these devices are not real." Instead, for him, the only possible solution "is growth in Christ.

We must build strong and determined minds to make wise decisions, he writes. We must never allow Internet to distract or disturb our thinking. We are all called to make sure that the use of Internet bring harmony to our lives." (NC)
President Donald Trumps nominee to head the federal Education Department is a major backer of a company claiming its neurofeedback technology can fix problems such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and has proven and long-lasting positive effects on children with autism.

Current scientific evidence does not support such claims, according to the clinical guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics and three leading researchers consulted by Education Week.

Its misleading the public to say neurofeedback is effective in treating kids with ADHD and autism, said Nadine Gaab , an associate professor of pediatrics at the Boston Childrens Hospital and a faculty member at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Its still an experimental treatment that needs more rigorous research, she said.

Launched in 2006, Neurocore is based in Grand Rapids, Mich. Thats also the hometown of billionaire school-choice advocate Betsy DeVos, Trumps pick to become U.S. Secretary of Education.

DeVos sat on Neurocores board from 2009 until November, when she resigned the position to avoid potential conflicts of interest should she be confirmed. As part of her divestiture plan , which has been approved by the federal Office of Government Ethics, DeVos and her husband will maintain an indirect financial interest in the company. On her disclosure forms, DeVos valued that stake at between $5 million and $25 million.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee is scheduled to vote on DeVos nomination on Jan. 31. Democrats have unsuccessfully pushed for a second chance to publicly question DeVos, whose plan to shed potential conflicts of interest had not been approved and made public at the time of her Jan. 17 hearing before the committee. Critics have also questioned DeVos grasp of federal special education law and commitment to evidence-based science, among other complaints.

A spokesman for the DeVos family declined to respond to Education Weeks inquiries about their investment in Neurocore.

Currently, questions such as this and others submitted by senators are being answered and will be provided to the committee, John Truscott, the president and principal of Michigan public-relations firm Truscott Russman, wrote in an email.

The Trump administration did not respond to Education Weeks request for comment.

Neurocore CEO Mark Murrison defended his companys work and marketing. He pointed to an emerging body of research in which neurofeedback in general has shown promise, as well as information Neurocore collects from its clients.

What we provide to our clients truly makes a difference, and our internal outcomes data and testimonials bear that out, Murrison said in an interview.

An area of interest for the FTC

Over the past two years, the Federal Trade Commission has cracked down on a number of other companies for making unsubstantiated and misleading claims about brain training products and services, such as digital learning games.

That work is ongoing, said Michelle Rusk, a lawyer in the FTCs division of advertising practices. In an interview, Rusk declined to comment on whether the commission is looking at companies promoting neurofeedback treatments as part of that effort. In general, she said, investigating companies claiming to help children with neurological disorders and elderly consumers worried about memory loss remain a priority.

Autism and ADHD are serious, and we would expect there to be high-quality scientific support for any claim of cognitive benefits in treating those conditions, Rusk said.

Neurocores service is based in part on analyzing clients brainwaves and other biological signs, then providing neurofeedback sessions through which users can ostensibly train their brains to function better.

A complete 30-session cycle costs $2,200. Neurocore partners with a health-care-lending firm to help clients finance those charges.

The company says it has worked with more than 10,000 children and adults at eight centers in Michigan and Florida. Another site is scheduled to open in Florida next month, and Murrison said he hopes to expand by as many as seven additional centers in the coming year.

Neurocore has no plans to work with K-12 schools, he said.

The company does work extensively with children and families.

Questionable claims of effectiveness

On its website, Neurocore makes a number of claims about how its technology can help individuals, including children, with conditions such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, anxiety, depression, memory loss, migraines, and sleeplessness.

With regard to ADHD, for example, the company repeatedly describes its treatment as proven and approved, saying that 76 percent of users achieve nonclinical status and 90 percent report improvement.

Overcome ADHDwithout drugs, Neurocores website says. As you or your child progress through our natural treatment for ADHD using biofeedback and neurofeedback, you may find it possible to reduce or even eliminate medication.

The company makes similar claims with regard to autism , presenting itself as a drug-free solution to curb the negative behaviors associated with the condition.

There is currently no cure for autism, but the symptoms can greatly improve through Neurocores proven, natural autism treatment program, the website says. Research shows that biofeedback can be an effective treatment.

Neurocore also claims that users of its neurofeedback training improve their IQ by an average of 12 points.

A Why It Works  page purports to help potential customers explore the science and research behind our brain-based program and life-changing results.

But many of the links direct readers to preliminary studies or popular news articles. The rigorous, independent, peer-reviewed studies referenced are about neurofeedback and biofeedback more generally, not Neurocore specifically.

Murrison, Neurocores CEO, said his company employ[s] protocols demonstrated to be effective in research such as this.

He acknowledged that there have to date not been any such high-quality studies conducted about Neurocore specifically. The first peer-reviewed study of the companys outcomes, for clients with anxiety and depression, should be going to press in the next few months, he said. Another peer-reviewed study of Neurocores impact on clients with ADHD is in the works.

When asked why his company would make direct claims of effectiveness prior to such research being completed and published, Murrison cited internal company data. Neurocore administers surveys to clients in which they self-report on their conditions before and after treatment.

Weve been in business for 10 years, Murrison said. If we werent able to make a difference in peoples lives, we wouldnt be able to keep serving communities and expanding.

Neurocore also points to a document from a third-party company called PracticeWise, which indicates that biofeedback has been rated by the American Academy of Pediatrics as a high-quality support for treatment of ADHD.

But that document is not accurate, according to a letter sent by the academy to other companies making similar claims.

The letter, which had not previously been sent to Neurocore, states that the academys official position is that more research is needed on neurofeedback as a treatment for ADHD. It asks companies using the document referenced by Murrison to support claims of approval from the American Academy of Pediatrics to correct their websites and promotional materials.

A step back for science?

Scientific research frequently lags behind the private sector when it comes to evaluating new commercial applications for new technologies, said Michael Dougherty , a professor of psychology and the director of the Decision, Attention, and Memory Lab at the University of Maryland, College Park.

And innovation isnt a bad thing, Dougherty said.

The problem, he maintained, is when companies go too far in their marketing.

In 2015, for example, the Federal Trade Commission agreed to a $2 million settlement with Lumos Labs Inc., the creators of Lumosity, a hugely popular suite of computer- and app-based brain-training programs and games. The company had claimed its technology had the potential to change lives and was effective at improving childrens working memory and protecting against cognitive impairments associated with attention-deficit disorders and other conditions.

The commission also reached smaller settlements with a number of other brain-training companies. Among them: LearningRx, which the FTC cited for making false and deceptive claims about improved cognition for a wide variety of populations, including children with autism and attention-deficit disorders.

As states, districts, and schools across the country seek to implement and adjust to the new Every Student Succeeds Act, the question of what kind of evidence companies can use to justify claims of effectiveness will continue to grow in importance.

Given that, its worrisome that the countrys new education secretary nominee would remain closely tied to a company that has apparently made exaggerated and misleading claims about its service, said Ken Koedinger, a professor of psychology and human-computer interaction at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

The department of education has made a lot of progress in the last 10 years or so in trying to help people in the field distinguish snake oil from the real thing, Koedinger said.

Id hate to see a step backwards with respect to the importance of scientific evidence in improving education.

Photo: Education Secretary-designate Betsy DeVos testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee at her confirmation hearing on Jan. 17.--Carolyn Kaster/AP

See also:
Most of the continents countries are in a critical situation. Corruption is up in Cambodia and Thailand but slightly better in Afghanistan. North Korea and Syria remain at the bottom of the ranking. The jury is still out over China whose vaunted fight against graft has ben ineffective.

Bangkok (AsiaNews)  Most countries in the Asia-Pacific region remain in the bottom half of Transparency Internationals 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

In spite of some tentative efforts, most of the regions nations are economically, politically, and financially suffer from crime.

Transparency, an anti-corruption watchdog, ranks nations using a score from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very transparent) to measure perceived levels of corruption on the basis of local analysts and business people.

According to the latter, poor rankings for Asian nations stems from the irresponsibility of local governments, lack of independent oversight, insecurity, and weak civil society.

All this frustrates the fight against corruption, often seen as "marginal" to government action.

In addition to cases of ordinary corruption, media coverage of high level corruption also tends to undermine trust in governments and institutions, as well as public confidence in the benefits of democracy, and the rule of law.

Some Asian countries have seen some improvement. Afghanistan has moved up four points in its score (15 out of 100). Whilst it remains one of the ten very corrupt countries on the CPI, its score is nearly the double from 2013 (8 out of 100).

Timor-Leste, Laos and Myanmar continued to improve, especially the latter since the National League for Democracys (NLD) government, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, came to power.

The latter took a number of measures to fight corruption, but any progress has been overshadowed by the violence against the Rohingya in Rakhine State. This highlights a lack of oversight of the military, who remain the real powerbroker in the country.

Conversely, things got worse in the Southeast Asian nations of Cambodia and Thailand.

For the second year in a row, Cambodia is the most corrupt South East Asian country on the list, with a score of 21 as space for civil society continues to be extremely restricted.

Thailand dropped to 35 points, from 76th to 101st position, reinforcing the link between perceived corruption and political turmoil.

Government repression, lack of independent oversight, and the deterioration of rights eroded public confidence in the country.

The countrys new constitution, whilst it focuses on addressing corruption, entrenches military power and unaccountable government.

Although China improved its score by 3 points, it still ranks 79th out of 176 nations (up from 83rd in 2015), this despite the governments much vaunted fight against tigers and flies, which has failed to dispel doubts about the transparency and independence of its institutions.

The situation in India also remains critical. The impact of corruption on poverty, illiteracy and police brutality has had a great impact on the population.

Some of the cases are in the too soon to tell category. The latter includes the Philippines where it is still unclear what President Rodrigo Duterte wants to do.

In Malaysia, Prime Minister Najib Razak has long been embroiled in a corruption scandal.

South Korea too was rocked by corruption scandals in 2016 with President Park Guen-hye impeached by Parliament for corruption.

Denmark, New Zealand, Finland and Sweden lead the ranking of the least corrupt countries; Somalia, South Sudan, North Korea, and Syria are at the bottom.
by Nirmala Carvalho

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - India has "welcomed the appointment of Mgr. Fernando Ocariz as new prelate of Opus Dei with great joy, Kevin de Souza, director of the Opus Dei center in Mumbai has told AsiaNews, commenting on the choice of Pope Francis to name the Franco-Spanish bishop as the third successor of St. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, the head of the personal prelature.

The Indian faithful, he reports, "have already met him because he often accompanied the deceased Msgr. Javier Echevarria [who died on 12 December last year, ed] to India taking care of his needs through a moving testimony and in a spirit of humble and reserved service".



Msgr. Ocariz was appointed on January 23. Since 1994 he has served as Vicar General of the Prelature and in December 2014 became Auxiliary Vicar. Over the past 22 years, he accompanied Msgr. Echevarria in his pastoral visits to more than 70 nations.

As for India, de Souza recalls that the new bishop visited the Asian country on three occasions: 1996, 2008 and 2014. During the trip in 2008, the prelate focused in prayer before the statue of St. Josemaria in Cathedral of Delhi and also made a brief visit to the basilica of Santa Maria del Monte in Bandra (Mumbai).



"Today - he added - all of us pray in a special way and we thank God for giving us a Father. St. Josemaria used to say that Opus Dei is' a small portion of the Church 'like a' family with supernatural '' bonds.



According to the director of the Mumbai center, with the appointment of Msgr. Ocariz " a new phase begins. Although he was not familiar with St. Josemaria as his predecessor was, the way forward is drawn from the teachings of the Church and the writings of our founder that define the charism and mission of the prelature".



Pope Francis, he concludes, invites us to go to the peripheries and open ourselves to God's mercy. The priest will guide us in putting this request into practice and living it in an exemplary manner like our founder and his successors."
Jerusalem (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The United Nations has condemned the Israeli project, which includes construction of new settlements and the expansion of some of them in the Occupied Territories in the West Bank. A senior UN official said such "unilateral actions" by the government led by Benjamin Netanyahu are an obstacle to peace and the two-state solution. The White House and new US administration led by Donald Trump has declined to comment on the Israeli decision.



Yesterday Prime Minister Netanyahu announced the construction of 2,500 new homes - the most impressive project in recent years - in Jewish settlements, in "response to housing needs." This is the second announcement of this nature within a few days; the day after the swearing in of new President Trump, on 20 January, the government had given the green light to hundreds of new settlements.



Yesterday afternoon the approval of thousands of housing units came. A decision that has angered the Palestinian leadership, and further undermined the hope of peace and the chance to see the birth of a future state on their land. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) describe sit as a "land grab" and new "colonialism".



Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary general Antonio Gutierres, emphasized that "the Secretary General says there is no plan B to the two states" solution. In this sense, he adds, "any unilateral action" that poses an "obstacle" to the ultimate objective is a source of "serious concern". "It is necessary - he concludes - that the two sides engage in genuine negotiations to achieve the goal of two states for two peoples."



In words, in the past few days Netanyahu said he would still pursue the objective of two states; in fact, he has given the go-ahead to an unprecedented acceleration of the colonies which are likely to destroy or seize the physical and geographical space for the birth of a future Palestinian state.



The White House has declined to comment on the new expansionist plans of Israel. Questioned on the issue, the spokesman Sean Spicer said that "Israel is a very important ally of the United States", the president wants to "get closer" to the Jewish leadership after years of tension with the previous Obama administration and refers any further question to the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu in February.



Under the Netanyahu government there has been a considerable increase in Israeli settlements. In 2015 at least 15 thousand new settlers have moved into the West Bank.

According to Peace Now, in 2016 the Israeli administration - in the hands of the military - which controls the territories of the West Bank has given the green light for 2,623 new settlements. These include 756 illegal houses and those "legalized" afterwards. To date at least 570 thousand Israelis live in over 130 settlements built by Israel since 1967, the starting date of the occupation.



International law considers these settlements illegal; a position disputed by the Israeli government, which in recent years has increasingly strengthened its expansionist policy. Added to the settlements are also at least 97 outposts, considered illegal not only by international rights but by the Israeli government.

The peace talks broke down in 2014, triggering an escalation of violence amid the apparent inertia (or impotence) of the international community. In mid-month a peace conference on the Middle East in Paris was held, which was not attended by wither Israeli or Palestinian representatives, which ended with a sterile statement of intent.
Asians are concerned about their health, but their level of satisfaction has dropped due to failure to ensure that they remain healthy. The culprit: lack of exercise.

Generation O (overworked, overweight, and overwhelmed) still exist, as Asians continue to lack time and motivation to improve their health, showed rhe results of the 2016 Asia Health Index survey of Sun Life Financial.

The online survey, done by leading market research firm Ipsos from August 17-26, 2016, covered 4,000 middle class Asians with age range of 25-60 years and from the Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It was a 50-50 share in terms of male and female respondents.

In a briefing, Mylene Lopa, Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc. (SLOCPI) Chief Marketing Officer, said that although perception on personal health in the region has declined, Filipinos continue to have one of the highest scores with 514 points, second after Malaysias 515 points.

Indonesia is third with 513 points, followed by China and Hong Kong, 511 points; India, 502 points; Vietnam, 315 points; Thailand, 303 points; and Singapore, 302 points.

In particular, Filipino respondents came in third, after Indonesia and India, rating their overall health with 76 points. Indonesia is on top with 78 points and India with 77 points.

The Philippines topped the list when it came to rating the emotional or mental health with 78 points. Indonesia is second with 75 points and India, third, with 69 points.

This is not surprising because Filipinos have been known to be among the happiest people in the world, Lopa said.

In 2014, the Sun Life Financial Asia Health Index identified an emerging segment of the population in Asia called 'Generation O'  who were overworked, overweight and overwhelmed. The latest research finds 'Gen O' continuing to struggle with many respondents attributing their failure to live a healthier life and a lack of personal motivation. The most frequently identified barriers to health were a lack of time due to work (50%) or due to family commitments (36%), lack of personal motivation (40%), and the distractions of modern life (35%).

"These results illustrate the growing concern that Asians have regarding their personal health and the struggle people face in prioritizing health and well-being in the face of modern life," said Kevin Strain, President and CEO, Sun Life Financial Asia.

One element of modern life that is offering hope to Asians when it comes to their health is the emergence and proliferation of wellness apps and wearables. The survey showed that 42% of Asians use wellness apps or wearables, and those who use such technology tend to establish healthier habits and feel more positive about the state of their health. Among those who use wearables, 7-in-10 respondents feel more positive about their overall health, which is 10% higher than the general population.

The news comes as millions of people across Asia celebrate the start of the Year of the Rooster. Those born in the Year of the Rooster are typically active and enjoy good health. "We hope that all Asians can take a lesson from those born in the Year of the Rooster when it comes to staying active and healthy," Strain said.
Thirteen Filipino crew of a detained container ship near Vancouver, Canada, are in good condition and many of them whose contracts are ending are eager to go home to the Philippines, the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement.

Hanjin Viennas crewmembers have been stranded since Sept. 1 last year after it was detained in connection with the legal trouble currently rocking the South Korean shipping company. It is moored at Vancouvers Inner Harbour Anchorage.

The 280-meter container ship is owned and managed by Hamburg-based Reederei NSB but is chartered by Hanjin Shipping.

Hanjin Shipping went in to receivership at the end of August and Hanjin Vienna, which was on its way to Seattle, has been in legal limbo ever since.

Staff of the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver visited the Filipino crew on Jan. 15 to check on their condition and to get updates on the current status of the ship.

The DFA said Consul Rogelio Villanueva Jr. met with Captain Hans-Ruediger Kroeger and was able to talk with the Filipino crew who are all in good condition and who have enough supplies and food onboard, the DFA said.
By Victor Ing,

Special to The Post

On December 13, 2016 the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) repealed the four-in, four-out rule originally introduced in April 2011 that applied to certain temporary foreign workers to prevent them from working in Canada for more than four consecutive years without returning to their home countries.

The former rule was introduced to deter foreign workers from losing ties with their home country, while encouraging qualified foreign workers to apply for permanent residence within four years if they wished to make Canada their permanent home.

However, the current government acknowledges that the rule did not have its intended effect and instead created unnecessary hardship and uncertainty for both workers and Canadians employers alike.

Since 2011 there have been many changes to the immigration landscape that made the four-in, four-out rule redundant and out-of-date. For example, changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) in recent years have made it more difficult for employers to successfully apply for positive Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) to keep temporary foreign workers in their employ.

These changes include new LMIA application fees and caps on hiring low-wage workers, among other things.

The increased difficulty in obtaining positive LMIAs to extend the work permits of foreign workers already in Canada made the four-in, four-out rule unnecessary.

Furthermore, changes to Canadas permanent residence programs have made it increasingly difficult for temporary foreign workers to obtain permanent residence to avoid the four-in, four-out rule, as it was originally intended.

The best example is the introduction of IRCCs Express Entry system in 2015, which created a point scoring system where only the highest scoring candidates are given invitations to apply for permanent residence. Unfortunately, many temporary foreign workers in Canada will not score well enough under the Express Entry system to receive invitations to apply because of its heavy emphasis on factors such as language ability and education.

While it may seem like sound policy to only invite the best and brightest candidates for permanent residence, many Canadian employers in industries facing chronic labour shortages rely on the services of low-wage and semi-skilled temporary foreign workers to run their businesses on a day-to-day basis.

Employers in these industries will have been amongst the most negatively affected by the four-in, four-out rule.

The demise of the four-in, four-out rule signals the beginning of further changes to the TFWP in the coming year. IRCC has already announced that more changes to the TFWP are being discussed, including implementing stricter recruitment requirements to ensure that Canadian employers hire Canadians first, especially those who are underrepresented in our communities.

Employers and temporary foreign workers alike will be interested in these upcoming changes to ensure that appropriate plans are in place to extend any work permits that are set to expire in the coming year.

Moreover, the cancellation of the four-in, four-out rule may open new doors to former temporary foreign workers to return to Canada.

Victor Ing is a lawyer of Sas & Ing Immigration Law Centre. He provides a full range of immigration services.

For more information go to www.canadian-visa-lawyer.com or email victor@canadian-visa-lawyer.com.
Multilingual paraprofessionalsan untapped talent pool that could help address the nations shortage of bilingual K-12 educatorsface bureaucratic, financial, and linguistic barriers that make it tough to earn teaching credentials, a new report concludes.

According to the study from New Americas Dual Language Learners National Work Group, more than 30 states and the District of Columbia have reported shortages of bilingual, dual immersion, and English-as-a-second-language teachers. As districts try to meet the needs of their increasingly diverse schools, the demand for these educators has become crucial: an estimated 10 percent of public school K-12 students are English-language learners.

New America released the report, Teacher Talent Untapped: Multilingual Paraprofessionals Speak About the Barriers to Entering the Profession , roughly six months after unveiling a study that outlined how the paraprofessionals could help address the shortage.

The 42-page paper shares the stories and struggles of paraprofessionals in Minneapolis, Orange County, Calif., San Antonio, Seattle, and the District of Columbia who are prime candidates to fill these vacancies, but cant.

With job titles like paraeducator, teaching assistant, and instructional aide, the educators spoke of facing obstacles such as rigid teacher licensure standards and low pay, which makes it tough to afford the cost of going back to school.

Not content to just lament, the educators also offered potential solutions to the problem, including making teaching exams available in languages other than English and developing alternative teacher licensure programs.

To continue the work on this topic, New America intends to study grow-your-own programs in two metropolitan areasMinnesotas Twin Cities and Seattlethey visited in this study to learn more about their design, implementation, challenges, and outcomes.

Related Stories

Policy Changes Could Solve the Nations Bilingual Teacher Shortage, Group Argues

Losing Bilingual Support Staff Can Affect ELL Students, Parents

Dual-Language-Learner Group Aims to Bridge Research, Classroom Practice

Blog Photo Credit: Ahmed Hassan, left, a bilingual communication support specialist at Talahi Elementary School in St. Cloud, Minn., mediates a conflict between Adnan Ahmed, 10, center, and Zeyle Mohamed, 10. Hassan provides linguistic and cultural support to school staff members and Somali families. --Swikar Patel/Education Week
ACCC to host farmer forums for Dairy Inquiry





The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is hosting a series of forums for dairy farmers as part of its Dairy Inquiry.

The forums seek to uncover farmer concerns over competition and fair trading in the wake of 2016s dairy crisis which saw many Australian dairy farmers struggling after a group of dairy processors dropped their farmgate milk prices.

The Dairy Inquiry is examining the competition between milk processors, contracts between processors and farmers, global supply markets, and the profitability of dairy farms.

ACCC Commissioner, Mick Keogh, said the ACCC is interested in hearing from farmers on a wide range of topics.

We are interested in hearing from farmers on a range of topics, including options for selling milk in different regions, the transparency of how farm gate milk prices are calculated, and contracting practices in the industry, Keogh said.

We are attending major dairy production regions in each state. I look forward to meeting farmers and hearing their views. If there are farmers who cannot attend but want to have their say, Id encourage them to call or email us, he said.

A summary of the issues discussed at the forums will be published on the ACCC website but individuals names will not be used.

The forums will be held at:

Monday 6 February 2017  Toowoomba, Qld

Tuesday 7 February 2017, 12pm2pm  Club West, Taree, NSW

Tuesday 14 February 2017 Traralgon, Vic

Monday 27 February 2017  Warrnambool, Vic

Tuesday 28 February 2017  Shepparton, Vic

Thursday 16 March 2017  Bunbury, WA

Monday 20 March 2017  Hahndorf, SA

Wednesday 22 March 2017  Burnie, Tas

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Campaign to promote veggie steaks on the barbie and better health





While most Australians will be throwing meat on the BBQ on Australia Day, new research from Mintel has found many will be foregoing tradition by grilling vegan steaks while enjoying a gluten-free beer in celebration of the day.

According to the research, the Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), between 2014 and 2016 there was a 92 per cent increase in the number of food products launched in Australia carrying a vegan claim, and an 8 per cent increase in the number of products launched carrying a vegetarian claim.

New products appealing to vegetarians

As many as one in eight (12 per cent) of food products launched in Australia in 2016 carried a vegetarian claim, while 6 per cent held a vegan claim. The soar in veggie and vegan friendly launches comes as many Australian consumers have a growing appetite for meat-free foods. In fact, one in seven (14 per cent) said that they avoided or intended to avoid red meat in 2016.

Laura Jones, Trend and Innovation Consultant at Mintel, said although Australia is still one of the largest meat eating populations globally, health and environmental concerns, along with cost have changed Australians attitudes when it comes to meat consumption.

Australians have become more mindful in recent years of the amount of meat and the frequency of which they eat meat, she said.

Alcohol given the boot too, says Mintel

But its not just the barbecue that is receiving a health kick, it seems the bottle shops too are showcasing an increasing number of alcoholic drinks with healthy attributes. While just 2 per cent of alcoholic drinks launched in Australia in 2015 held a low, no or reduced sugar claim, this increased to 7 per cent of alcohol launches in 2016. In the same time period, the proportion of these drinks launched with a low, no or reduced carb claim rose from 1 per cent to 4 per cent, while the proportion holding a gluten-free claim rose from 1 per cent to 3 per cent.

Drinker decline

But while there are more healthy alternatives available, many drinkers in Australia are choosing to cut-down on the grog altogether. Mintels Consumer Metro Study 2016 showed that only 11 per cent of Australians aged 18 and over are spending more on alcohol at home compared to a year ago, compared to 27 per cent who are spending less. This trend is more exaggerated when going out, with 7 per cent spending more compared to 35 per cent spending less.

Beer sales falling flat

As a result, it seems beer sales are falling flat with Mintel Market Sizes data revealing that beer sales have been in decline in Australia from as far back as 2009. Volume consumption per capita is forecast to fall to 48.09 litres in 2017, down from 60.73 litres in 2009.

Beer consumption is continuing on a long-term downward trend in Australia as consumers drink less alcohol generally, challenging brands to look for new ways to boost market value. Jones said.

Kombucha boom

While meat and regular alcoholic drinks may be off the menu for some this Australia Day, the hottest drink trend in Australia this summer is kombucha. Australia played host to the second highest number of kombucha drink launches globally in 2016, just behind the USA, according to Mintel GNPD.

And it seems these drinks are showcasing their health-enhancing credentials. More than three in four (78 per cent) launches of these drinks in 2016 featured an organic claim, with half (51 per cent) claiming to be gluten-free and 16 per cent featuring a low, no or reduced sugar formulation.

Jodie Minotto, Senior Global Food Trends Analyst at Mintel, said Kombucha is proving to be far more than a fad and its popularity is gradually spreading amongst health-conscious consumers globally.

The Australian market is notable for the high profile of recent launches in the lead up to the summer season of 2016/2017. Kombucha is proving to be a beverage that defies definition and will ultimately compete with other functional and probiotic beverages. While, in essence, it is a tea drink, many brands use fruit juices and superfoods to enhance health credentials. Expansion into other fermented beverages such as kefir and drinking vinegar is emerging as an innovation pathway for kombucha brands looking for growth, she said.

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Food co-operatives contribute significantly to NZ economy, study



Auckland, New Zealand

A new study has found that co-operatives contribute significantly to the New Zealand economy, along with providing jobs.

Food co-operatives feature heavily with Fonterra earning the highest amount of revenue out of all of New Zealands co-operative.

The study, conducted and published by Massey University in New Zealand, discovered that the co-operative sector contributes revenues of more than NZ $42.3 billion per annum. The countrys top 30 co-operatives have 1.4 million millions and employ 48, 500 people.

Lead researcher, Dr Elena Garnevska, said the study provides a much needed glimpse into a significant economic and social sector.

With 1.4 million memberships the results show how much the co-operative economy is woven into the everyday lives of New Zealanders, she said.

Key findings

Key findings from the report included:

Fonterra co-operative creates NZ $18.8 billion per annum in revenue

Foodstuffs North Islands average revenue per annum is NZ $6.2 billion

Foodstuffs South islands average revenue per annum is NZ $2.7 billion

Silver Fern Farms average revenue per annum is NZ $2.4 billion

Over 65 per cent of co-operative revenue funds in New Zealand come from agri-food

Fonterra has NZ $18.3 billion in assets

Foodstuffs North island has NZ$ 2.6 billion in assets

Cooperative Business New Zealand Chief Executive, Craig Presland, said the co-operative ethos of working together collaboratively is part of who New Zealanders are.

We now have the opportunity to extend our research on co-operatives, and advocate even more strongly for them, so we ensure this enduring and sustainable business model is better understood and more widely utilised across New Zeeland business.

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By Ronelle Welton, Scientist at the Australian Venom Research Unit, University of Melbourne

Flickr/, CC BY-NC-ND

Welcome to Australia, a place that is the focus of regular reports that nearly every creature is ready and waiting to pounce. If it rains, it brings warnings of venomous snakes. If the weather is dry, then giant spiders can set up house in your power box.

But as Australia prepares once again to welcome many new citizens this Australia Day, it seems appropriate to take a closer look at how deadly our creatures really are.

There is no doubt Australia harbours venomous animals and encounters that can be traumatic and need a rapid emergency response.

We must we careful not to understate the impact of any encounters with venomous animals on families and the sufferers themselves. Nor must we play down the highly specialised management, effective treatment and medical care required.

But is this reputation of a land of deadly and aggressive creatures well founded?

Detail in the data

My colleagues and I recently published a review of hospital admissions and deaths caused by venomous animals in the Internal Medical Journal.

We sourced data from 2001-2013 from national hospital admissions and national coronial information, which showed more than 42,000 hospitalisations from venomous sting or bites. Most  not all  are shown in the graph, below.

Over the 12 years thats an average 3,500 people admitted to hospital every year for a venom-related injury. This can be loosely averaged 0.01% of the Australian population per year, or roughly one in 10,000 Australians.

Allergy or anaphylaxis from insect stings such as bees or wasps were responsible for about one-third (33%) of hospital admissions, followed by spider bites (30%) and snake bites (15%).

Over the 12 years, 64 people were killed by a venomous sting or bite, with more than half of these (34) caused by an allergic reaction to an insect bite that brought on anaphylactic shock.

Of these, 27 deaths were the result of a bee or wasp sting, with only one case of a beekeeper being killed. Anaphylaxis to tick and ant bites combined caused five deaths, the box jellyfish caused three deaths and two deaths were from an unidentified insect.

Given there are 140 species of land snakes in Australia, snake bite fatalities are very rare, at 27 for the study period. To put that in perspective, the World Health Organization estimates that at least 100,000 people die from snake bite globally each year.









Flickr/Derek A Young, CC BY-NC





While its natural to be frightened of snakes, the reality is the number of deaths from snake bites in Australia is very small. In the same time frame, for example, figures from the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) show nearly 5,000 people died from drowning and 1,000 from burns in Australia.

Nevertheless, snake bites do hold the crown as the most common cause of death, with nearly twice as many deaths per hospital admission than any other venomous injury, making snakebite one of the most important issues to address.

Deadly creatures elsewhere

Understandably, living in a country with creatures that can potentially kill us is a daunting prospect. As you can see from the figures, though, they dont kill as many people as you might think and other countries have their own potentially deadly creatures.

In the United Kingdom there are reports of deaths or injuries from bees, widow spiders, jellyfish and adder snakes.

The continent of America has a menagerie of reptilian assassins such as vipers, and its mammals also pack a punch, with reports of attacks from bears, wolves and mountain lions.

A sturdy Australian would surely quake at the thought of being faced with an offensive grizzly, with no amount of Crocodile Dundee-esk buffalo hypnotism techniques going to get us through that encounter.





Sure Australia also has sharks and crocodiles, but its important to note that the majority of our critters do not come after you.

Minimising the minimal risk

Our report, while giving a broad overview of envenoming trends in Australia, does raise more questions than it answers. Questions such as: who is most at risk and how can we support them? Do we need more localised guidelines? And how do we maintain knowledge for such a rare injury?









Flickr/Corrie Barklimore, CC BY





This work seeks to initiate new conversations in regard to potential gaps in knowledge in both the public and health domains, and find solutions. Were currently seeking funding to continue this research.

From an individual or national public health perspective, we cant make informed decisions until we have a much clearer picture of whats going on. The big question is how can we manage this coexistence with the creatures around us, without being detrimental to people and the creatures themselves.

It comes down to understanding, appreciating and respecting the amazing diversity nature has provided us. We need to learn about prevention methods and understand correct first aid.

This, together with the ongoing research and improvements in clinical care and the accessibility, affordability, effective management and treatment of bites and stings in Australia, actually make it one of the safest places in the world, and certainly not one of the deadliest.

Ronelle Welton receives funding from NHMRC

Originally published in The Conversation.
Betsy DeVos, the nominee for secretary of education, said in a letter to a senator after her confirmation hearing that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is a wonderful example of what happens when parents are regarded as full partners in their childs educational decision-making and that she is committed to enforcing all federal laws and protecting the hard won rights of students with disabilities.

The Jan. 24 letter was addressed to Republican U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia, a member of the Senate education committee.

Before the hearing, DeVos met one-on-one with the senator, where he shared with her that his wife was a former special education teacher. Isakson is also a former chairman of the Georgia State Board of Education.

I believe that all students, including individuals with disabilities, deserve an equal opportunity to lead full, productive and successful lives, she wrote in her letter.

The Senate committee is scheduled to vote on her nomination Jan. 31.

DeVos Questioned on Special Education Policy

Prior to her nomination for education secretary, DeVos led the American Federation for Children, which supports private school vouchers, education savings accounts, and other forms of educational choice.

DeVos faced pointed questions on special education policy from Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, both Democrats, during the confirmation hearing. During one exchange with Kaine, he asked if she believed that all schools that receive taxpayer funding be subject to the rules of IDEA. She replied, I think thats a matter best left to the states.

As a civil rights law, IDEA already applies to all traditional public and charter schools. Private school studentsincluding students with disabilities who accept vouchers to pay for tuitionare generally not subject to the same IDEA rules that apply to public schools.

In a subsequent exchange with Hassan, the senator pressed DeVos on whether she was aware that IDEA was federal civil rights law. I may have confused it, DeVos said.

Disability advocacy organizations picked up on those comments and others and have either opposed DeVos nomination, or suggested that she needs to clarify her views. A sample comment, from the National Center for Learning Disabilities : Families of students with disabilities, including those with learning disabilities, need to hear that Ms. DeVos is committed to honoring the history and vision of IDEA and boldly enforcing the law. Anything less is inexcusable, especially because we know that, when given the right services and supports, students with disabilities can and do thrive in school and life.

DeVos Seeking Broader Range of Educational Options for Students With Disabilities

DeVos letter to Isakson addressed three areas: the federal role in implementing IDEA, individualized education programs, and expanding educational options for parents. The federal role is to guide and monitor compliance while supporting states with the tools they need to help parents, schools, districts and other stakeholders succeed, she wrote.

Individualized education programs (or IEPs) should be viewed as practical blueprints for action, and that she would make it a priority if confirmed to highlight what works best for students with disabilities.

DeVos also said that she would look for ways to increase access by students with disabilities to a broader range of educational options. Accompanying her to the confirmation hearing was Tera Myers, a mother from Mansfield, Ohio, and her 22-year-old son Sam, who has Down syndrome. Sam Myers received a Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship to attend a private school in his community. Prior to that, he was educated through an online charter school and in public school, his mother said in an interview with Education Week. This particular voucher program, named after a former state representative who championed its creation, provides $7,447 to $27,000 annually to families, depending on the severity of a childs disability.

DeVos said the Ohio voucher exemplifies how states canand doimplement the federal law and use their flexibility to ensure parents can choose the learning environment in which their children with disabilities will achieve and thrive.

In a statement, Isakson said that during my one-on-one meeting with Mrs. DeVos, the first thing I stressed to her was the importance of the IDEA program and parental involvement in the individualized education program process. I am very pleased to see that she has followed up on our conversation with this letter that clearly outlines her priorities and dedication to educating and protecting the rights of all students with disabilities.

Myers, who wrote an editorial for the Hill newspaper praising DeVos , said she was ecstatic when DeVos was nominated for the Education Secretary post.

I couldnt find any reason why she would want this job, other than for the benefit of all children, said Myers, who also said she believes DeVos understands special education policy.

I believe she is very well-versed, Myers said. I just dont think she had a chance to model it.

Related Stories:

for the latest news on special education policies, practices, and trends.
Australians typically celebrate the nation on Australia Day which is 26 January, but this year there are growing calls for the date to be changed as it actually marks the day the country was 'invaded' by the British.On 26 January 1788 the British fleet landed at Port Jackson, New South Wales, and the Union Jack was raised at Sydney Cove. Some refer to it as 'European Invasion Day' and there is a growing feeling that it is therefore disrespectful to the indigenous Aborigines who lost their country that day. The city of Freemantle in Western Australia has actually moved its official council organised celebrations to the 28 January which it says it out of respect for Aboriginal people, although plans to move citizenship ceremonies were abandoned due to the Federal Government threatening to revoke the ceremonies if they were held on a different date.Even Western Australia's Premier Colin Barnett has voiced his opposition to the decision. 'I continue to be incredibly disappointed with the City of Fremantle for not honouring and respecting Australia Day,' he said.'It is our national day and people might argue about the history but it is our national day, it is celebrated by all Australians, it's so important for literally thousands of people each Australia Day who become Australian citizens and the City of Fremantle has no right at all to interfere with Australia's national day or to interfere in the swearing in of new Australian citizens,' he added.But Freemantle City Council has defended its stance and Mayor Brad Pettit claimed that he has had a very positive response from the local Aboriginal community.Indeed, support for change is growing. There is even a rap song from leading hip hop artists called Change the Date which is currently being heavily promoted around the country which refers to the 26th as 'invasion day'.A video by a Perth based youth group suggesting that a better date could be found to celebrate the country has gone viral. The film from Indigenous Communities Education and Awareness (ICEA) Foundation suggests that it is painful for a lot of people.ICEA Foundation chief executive Tom Joyner said the video shared a message the group felt very passionate about. 'The video was all about giving another perceptive and trying to add another angle to the argument because Australia Day is such a fantastic day and we've all grown up with it being a positive day. When you start to look at what the history behind January 26 is, it becomes pretty clear it's a very ill-fitting day for us to celebrate as a nation,' he added.But not all Aborigines agree with the rising calls for change. 'Australia Day brings the community together, it brings the Australian people together and it celebrates the good this country has provided for everyone,' said Aboriginal elder Robert Isaacs.He believes that the solution is to make Australia Day more of a celebration of Aboriginal culture and acknowledgement of the past. 'We cannot change the past. We are damaging our own people, causing division, and we have to move forward together to get past this. You can't go forward while always looking back,' he explained.'The hurts of the past must be acknowledged but they cannot continue to overshadow the way forward. And the way forward is for us all to come together on one day. We can participate in Australia Day by standing up and saying, we are the first Australians and today we are one of many who make up this great nation,' he added.
Australia is moving towards being the first country in the world to set up contactless airport security which will do away with the need for passports.Some $93.7 million is being spent on rolling out automatic biometric processing at all the nation's major international airports and sea ports, which will mean passengers can just walk through immigration. The latest technology will be used to identify arriving people using biometric recognition of faces, irises and fingerprints rather than the traditional examination and scanning of a passports.The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has confirmed that the first contactless system will be on trial at Canberra international airport later this year on a handful of flights with a full roll out by 2020.It puts Australia at the forefront in terms of airport security technology of contactless airport security and according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute it means that people arriving in the country will be able to literally walk out as if it was a domestic flight.The technology being used is part of the Seamless Traveller initiative first announced in 2013 and started in 2015 by the Australian government. A spokesman confirmed that the plan is that 90% of immigration processing will be done using biometrics by 2020.The plan goes much further than the SmartGates currently installed at some airports that require passports to be scanned electronically. Those gates, introduced less than 10 years ago, will be retired as part of the new contactless system.But it is not yet clear how tens of thousands of people arriving will actually have their biometrics scanned. The DIBP is currently seeking tenders to provide innovative solutions to allow arriving travellers to self-process.'The department has not defined the specific solution or how it will differ from existing arrivals or departures SmartGates,' said a DIBP spokesman. He added that people will still have to carry their passports but there will be no need for them to be examined at the airport unless there is a problem.
Michealdayen said: Hey Tony my mate got the same story as yours as his visa was rejected due to lack of financial evidence between him and his australian wife but he won the case in mrt which is aat now as long as u have evidence of the gambel problem like you can call the gamble helpline and speak with them and get a reference number of the call and as long as u demonstrate to the court that u share some expenses like food bills you all good cause u have a good reason of why u don't deposit money in the joint account Click to expand...

my story is my partner borrowed money from every single person we know with lies so they all turned their back to us. we did our application with a migration agent, the problem was, she canceled the contract with the agent while I was overseas without letting me now about that. so when I was back to Australia I had to do all jobs by myself over again. i gave her money to pay the bills and she did not even do it so I still have some outstanding bills to pay. i convinced her to put her salary into our joined account and she withdraws money from Casino ATMs. I can see it in bank statements. and of course she agrees to tell it when we come to the hearing
The Honda WR-V is available in two variants but gets no automatic gearbox option.

Honda has launched the new WR-V at a starting price of Rs 7.75 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Based on the Jazz, the WR-V is longer, wider and taller than the hatchback and also gets a higher ground clearance to go with its crossover looks. The wheelbase too has been stretched from that of the Jazz.

In terms of styling, the WR-V moves away from the hatchback looks and sports a more upright front with a more prominent grille, new headlamps and SUV styling cues such as a skid plate element and body cladding. From the sides, there is little to set it apart from the standard hatchback, save for the new design wheels, raised ground clearance and body cladding. At the rear, the looks are completed by a revised tailgate, reshaped tail-lamps and a reworked bumper. The cabin, though, is quite familiar to the Jazz but with a few tweaks such as revised seat fabric and a little more kit.

The WR-V is available in two trim levels, with both available with either Hondas 90hp 1.2-litre i-VTEC petrol motor or the 100hp 1.5-litre diesel engine. The petrol motor uses a five-speed manual gearbox while the diesel is offered with a six-speed unit. An automatic gearbox option is not available. Honda claims a fuel efficiency figure of 17.5kpl for the petrol WR-V while the diesel is rated to return 25.5kpl.

Here is a look at some of the kit available in each trim level:

Honda WR-V S (Petrol M/T: Rs 7.75 lakh; Diesel M/T: Rs 8.79 lakh)

LED daytime running lamps

Driver seat height adjust

Audio system with aux and Bluetooth connectivity

Steering-mounted controls

Manual AC

Remote and central locking

Electric adjust wing mirrors

Tilt and telescopic adjust steering

Dual front airbags

ABS

Honda WR-V VX (Petrol M/T: Rs 8.99 lakh; Diesel M/T: Rs 9.99 lakh)

Electric sunroof

Fog lamps

16-inch alloy wheels

Rear washer and wiper

Touchscreen infotainment system with navigation, voice command and MirrorLink connectivity

Auto climate control

Keyless entry and go (Diesel only)

Cruise control (Diesel only)

Electric retract wing mirrors

Reverse camera

Unlike the Jazz, the WR-V does not get the magic seats on any trim.

The WR-V marks Hondas entry into the crossover hatchback segment where it rivals the likes of the VW Cross Polo, the Toyota Etios Cross, the Hyundai i20 Active, and the Fiat Avventura and Urban Cross.

(All prices, ex-showroom, Delhi)
Carmaker inks joint venture with CK Birla Group; outlines around Rs 700 crore for vehicle and powertrain manufacturing in Tamil Nadu.

French carmaker PSA Group, parent company of Peugeot, Citroen and DS cars, today announced a return to India through a joint venture with the CK Birla Group. Both the companies signed agreements to produce and sell vehicles and components in India by 2020.

We reported back in September 2016, that Peugeot was re-assessing the Indian market and was looking for a right partner for its return. A few months after announcing its India comeback in 2011, Peugeot put the plans on hold due to a severe financial crunch.

The carmaker today affirmed a long-term partnership with the CK group and outlined an initial investment in capital expenditure of around Rs 700 crore for vehicle and powertrain manufacturing in Tamil Nadu.

The partnership entails two agreements between the PSA Group and the CK Birla Group. As part of the first agreement, the PSA Group will hold a majority stake in the joint-venture company being set up with HMFCL (Hindustan Motors Finance Corporation Ltd) for the assembly and distribution of PSA passenger cars in India, according to a PSA Group company statement. The CK Birla group acquired HMFCL in March 2014.



As per the second agreement, a 50:50 joint venture is being set up between the PSA Group and AVTEC Ltd for manufacture and supply of powertrains, the statement added. AVTEC is an arm of the CK Birla Group and manufactures powertrain and precision-engineered products.



In the beginning, the company aims to have an annual manufacturing capacity of 1,00,000 vehicles which will be expanded with further investment in the future. In fact, the carmaker will have a significant level of localisation, in a bid to achieve higher economies of scale and reduce costs.



Commenting on the alliance, Carlos Tavares, chairman of the managing board of PSA Group said, "Benefitting from the strong support of our Indian partner, the CK Birla Group, and a shared vision, this project is consistent with the strong execution of our 'Push to Pass' strategic plan and represents a major step in PSA Group's worldwide profitable growth in key automotive markets.

The PSA Group had in April 2016 revealed its aggressive Push to Pass growth plan for the 2016-2021 period. India is part of this plan as per which, the carmaker is targeting a partnership deal by 2018 and a product launch before the end of 2021.
Republic Day 2017 will feature motorcycle stunts performed on non-Royal Enfield bikes for the first time ever.

The official Republic Day parade held in Delhi on January 26 every year is something of a spectacle, what with the many battalions of marching men-in-uniform, colourful smoke-spewing fighter jets and daredevil motorcycle stunts. While you can expect much of the same this year too, there will be one marked departure from tradition. For the first time, the motorcycle stuntmen will wow their audiences not only from the saddles of Royal Enfield motorcycles, as they traditionally have, but also from those of a motorcycle that is purely Indian in its heritage and development  the TVS Apache RTR 180.

The Motorcycle Display Team of the Military Police, popularly known as Shwet Ashwa, will jump through rings of fire and balance on a single wheel, among other physics-defying stunts, on four Apache RTR 180s. Shwet Ashwa has been trained to use the Apache RTR 180s by TVS as well as Team Balance Point, a collective of well-known stunt riders from Karnataka. You should really be looking forward to the parade tomorrow, because Shwet Ashwa also holds a Guinness World record and has performed at the Asian Games.
EV

Last year's reports suggested the Juke 2 would be ready in 2017. However, we see that as being unlikely, as we've not seen any concepts, credibly spyshots or heard of retooling at the UK factory.A report from Spanish magazine Motoring suggests the second-generation model could be as late as 2020, with the overall dimensions being stretched by 18 centimeters. That sounds about right, considering most manufacturers are calling their 4.2-meter crossovers "subcompact."An insider told our source that the 2020 Juke would be "a natural evolution" of the current model so that the polarizing styling won't go away. If anything, new models like the Kia Sportage suggest it's fashionable to have the headlights on top, next to the hood.But the fascinating bit of the report states that diesel engines might not be offered since a new generation of turbocharged gasoline units will be almost as efficient but much cheaper to buy.Like Volkswagen, the Renault-Nissan alliance has had a hard time with its diesel engines, with allegations of defeat devices rising. Last year Nissan said its Variable Compression-Turbo (VC-T) powertrain could make diesel obsolete. Of course, every automaker has been playing with the idea for the past 20 years, but could the tech really be available in something as mainstream as the Juke or are they just going to make the 0.9 TCe... better?The report also says Nissan is considering borrowing a plug-in hybrid powertrain from Mitsubishi, which it now owns. But it's not like they haven't developed their own systems, as exemplified by the new Note e-Power , which is like anthat you can't plug in.With the Kia Niro and the Toyota C-HR, the small crossover market is hinting hybrids are desirable. But Nissan still has time to pick the perfect blend of powertrains.
The BMW Group plant in Regensburg will be assisted by the VDL Nedcar factory in the Netherlands. BMWs X1 will begin production in the Dutch facility starting August 2017, where it will become the fourth model on the production line. The corporation already makes three MINI automobiles in the Netherlands , so this enterprise is not entirely new for the German conglomerate.Just like the MINI models it will share the production facility in Born, BMWs X1 is based on the UKL platform. The configuration involves a transverse-mounted engine that offers a front-wheel-drive setup, but both brands offer all-wheel-drive systems as optional equipment. Some model versions get the famed xDrive system or MINIs ALL4 setup as standard.MINIs Convertible is solely manufactured in Born, the Netherlands. Starting March 2017, the VDL Nedcar factory will start building the MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4, which will be the British brands first plug-in hybrid. It will share the line with the MINI John Cooper Works Countryman , and the regular Countryman , which is only built there.BMW has been making the second-generation X1 since July 2015, and the crossover shares the factory in Regensburg with seven other models.It is worth noting that BMW plans to keep Regensburg as the number one plant for the X1 when the volume is concerned. In other words, BMWs partners at VDL Nedcar will deal with the expanded capacity requirements for the X1 and other UKL-platform-based models.BMW has not specified any figures regarding production volumes or percentages to explain the increased capacity for the X1. We do know that one in six BMW cars sold in the Netherlands last year was an X1, and over 60 percent of BMW X models were represented by the smallest product in the range.
Revealed in 2009 and facelifted in 2013, the Duster could sure use a replacement . According to a report from the Romanian media, an all-new generation will roll into European showrooms starting early next year.Speaking to motoring publication 0-100 , Renault Commercial Roumanie chief executive officer Hakim Boutehra said: "Were preparing to launch a new-generation Duster. It is a completely new model, whose sales could begin in Romania in January 2018. When asked about the pricing strategy and all the other things that make the first-generation Dacia Duster such a big commercial success, the official said that his team will try to do that.Based on the fact sales are go for January 2018, it doesnt take much to imagine what the said timing means in terms of international debut. Most likely, the all-new Duster will make its first public outing at the 2017 Frankfurt Auto Show in September, this year's last major European automotive show.Until the second-generation Duster goes official, including a rumored seven-seat model that might adopt the Grand Duster nameplate, the current Duster has one last card to play. Specifically, the 2017 Dacia Duster introduces the Renault-developed EDC dual-clutch automatic transmission. It's a six-speed unit like the EDC in the Clio supermini, but it does its job perfectly fine.From a mechanical standpoint, the second-gen Duster is tipped to get a 1.2-liter TCe turbo four-cylinder and the 1.5-liter dCi turbo diesel already available in the current model. A naturally aspirated mill could also make the cut. As for capability, Nissan s lockable all-wheel-drive system will be made available.The current Duster starts from around 10.900 in its most no-frills configuration. A fully-loaded, meanwhile, takes things up to 19,300.
The embarrassing situation, as they have described it in a Facebook post, took place because of budget cuts. The unit we are referring does not have an engine anymore, which means that there was no fire truck to be operated and extinguish the blaze that was occurring in front of their office.It all happened on South West Street in Syracuse, New York, in front of Fire Station No. 6. The snow plow caught fire on Tuesday, and the vehicle was stopped in front of the unit.While the cause of the incident was not determined, the DFW truck was significantly damaged because the personnel in Station 6 had to call their colleagues that were 1.2 miles away.Paul Motondo, the president of the Syracuse Fire Fighters Local Union, explained that is the only firehouse in town without a fire engine. They used to have one, but it was taken out of service due to budget cuts The firefighters are upset about the decision, and blame Mayor Stephanie Miners decision to close Station No. 7 in 2013, which was followed by removing the fire engine from this unit.As Syracuse notes, the fire did not cause any serious injuries, as the only person to suffer was the driver of the truck, who bruised his knee while exiting the vehicle. Keeping the station unit active would have cost approximately $1.6 million, according to the same publication.Mayor Stephanie Miner and her staff refused to comment the unions criticism of the decision. Hopefully, other mayors across the world see this incident and imagine the humiliation their administration would suffer if the same had happened because of their efforts to cut spending. Especially by eliminating the only fire engine from a fire station.You have to admit, this is an amusing situation, but it is sad at the same time because people could have burned to death in front of the firehouse and nobody could have helped them when it was most needed.
The pause that President Donald Trump placed on the implementation of the accountability regulations under the Every Student Succeeds Act last week is not expected to have a significant effect on the pace at which states develop their plans required under the law, according to state officials and consultants.

On Friday, Trump put a hold on a wide range of Obama administration regulations that had yet to go into effect, delaying implementation of the ESSA accountability rules that were set to go into place on Jan. 30. The delay lasts for up to 60 days, and Congressional Republicans are contemplating whether to scrap the accountability regulations entirely through the rarely used Congressional Review Act.

The accountability portion of state ESSA plans dictate how states deal with how schools are rated, what strategies states use to turn around their most struggling schools, and schools with large portions of students who opt out of standardized tests. The rules also determine when states have to turn in and implement their state plans.

But many states already have been hard at work on ESSA accountability plans, using the lawrather than the regulationsas their template. Under the now-paused regulations, those plans were due to the U.S. Department of Education between April and September and set to go into place by the 2017-18 school year. Education secretary nominee Betsy Devos hinted in her recent confirmation hearing that she would likely stick with that timeline. So far, more than 14 states have completed drafts, and 17 states say they will turn their plans in by April .

And the delay itself came as no surprise as one presidential administration gave way to another.

This procedural move was expected and should not cause states delays as they craft consolidated plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act, said Olympia Meola, a spokeswoman for the Council of Chief State School Officers.



Molly Spearman, the state chief for South Carolina, who supported Trump during the presidential campaign, said she expected the Trump administration to give those rules a thorough review and possibly look for areas where states deserve additional flexibility.

Im not really worried about it, Spearman said.

In Montana, where Elsie Arntzen just took over the superintendents office, department officials are reviewing a state plan that former superintendent Denise Juneau approved before leaving office after her unsuccessful bid for Congress.

Once DeVos, gets into office, were going to be looking to see if they make any other changes, said Dylan Klapmeier, department spokesman. Thats all we can do right now is wait. But I dont think its going to have a huge impact on state plan. DeVos is still awaiting Senate confirmation.

The regulations finalized by the Obama administration in November were more flexible than the originally proposed regulations, but state officials still said they went overboard, and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate education committee, said they violated parts of the law.

State department of education officials and consultants who work with those officials said most state departments already have written drafts of their plans based on ESSA itself, rather than the series of regulations that outgoing Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. issued in the months leading up to his exit last week.

And with Republicans in control of both the White House and Congress, states no longer are so worried about the federal government rejecting their ESSA plans.

I think the regulations are more important for the Department of Education than they are for states and their implementation process, said Mark Elgart, the president and chief executive officer of AdvancEd, a group thats consulted with education departments to help them create new accountability systems. The law is what many states have been relying on from the beginning. Those states that did it that way, [Trumps actions] has no impact on them. They may take a step back and see, is there something we didnt put in our plan that we wouldve? Or is there something we wouldve done differently? Some say yes, and theyll go about changing their plan, and some will say no.

The real fight over ESSA plans, Elgart predicts, will be between state education departments and lawmakers during this years legislative sessions. ESSA requires that legislatures are meaningfully consulted, and governors have 30 days to review the plans before they are submitted to the federal government.

Ive written about rifts in several states over ESSA plans that are likely to escalate in the coming weeks. Louisiana, for example, has two starkly different ESSA plans , one coming from the governors office and the other from the state education department.

In the last several weeks, state department officials have traveled across their states touting drafts of their state plans and asking for community feedback.

Dont miss another State EdWatch post. Sign up here to get news alerts in your email inbox. And make sure to follow @StateEdWatch on Twitter for the latest news from state K-12 policy and politics.
We're talking about Paul from Supercars of London and Sam, who runs the Seen Through Glass label. To put things shortly, the two rented a pair of go-fast machines, namely a Porsche 718 Boxster S and a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 . And, as great motion pictures like Days of Thunder have thought us, when you rent a pair of cars, you simply have to race them.The two went for quite a complicated course, one that took them from Mulholland Drive to Palm Springs, where the vloggers attended the launch of Michelin's latest tire.Given the kind of oomph the Zuffenhausen engineers have packed into the understated-as-ever 718 Boxster S and the heat soak issues of the C7 Z06, it's not difficult to understand that the 300 hp difference between the two isn't actually that massive, especially not in a real world battle.Speaking of which, the two camera addicts chose a route that saw them hooning their cars in public for about 135 miles.As you can imagine, each of the guys got a bit selfish when it came to the edition part of their clips. To be more precise, you'll have to watch both videos to get the complete view.In a bit of a spoiler, we'll mention the fact that the drivers kept things on the edge instead of going all competitive, which means that the final parts of the videos see them duking it out in traffic.P.S.: Given the fact that Sam recently grabbed a McLaren 540C instead of the Porsche 911 GT3 he had previously considered, the 718 choice he made here might have been influenced by his still-present Porsche love.
President Donald Trump met with the CEOs of General Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler on Tuesday to discuss the relationship between the automakers and his administration going forward.

During the meeting, Trump called for an increase in U.S.-based manufacturing, a reduction of taxes imposed on businesses, and a reduction of unnecessary regulations, according to NBC News.

Were going to make a very short process. Were going to either give you your permits or were not going to give you your permits, but youre going to know very quickly. And generally speaking, were going to be giving you your permits, Trump said during the meeting.

After the meeting, GM CEO Mary Barra, Ford CEO Mark Fields, and Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne held a short press conference where they expressed their shared optimism in the future of the automotive sector under the Trump administration.

As an automotive industry, we employ many people across America good paying jobs. From the people who work in our factory to manufacturers that support our plants with parts, to our wonderful dealers who are literally in every community across America who help sell and service our vehicles. Were very encouraged in the president and the economic policies he is forwarding, said Fields during the press conference.

Fields also praised Trump for his decision to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership, adding that the industry has been very vocal in its opposition to the partnership.

Both Barra and Marchionne were in agreement with what he had to say, however, Barra added that, theres a huge opportunity working together as an industry with government [to] improve the environment, improve safety, improve the jobs creation and the competitive manufacturing and were looking forward to the elements that Mark talked about to be able to do that.

While Marchionne was mostly silent during the short press conference, he did release a statement afterward. I appreciate the presidents focus on making the U.S. a great place to do business. We look forward to working with President Trump and members of Congress to strengthen American manufacturing, he said.
Automotive Fleet photo.

Jaguar Land Rover North America is recalling 8,232 2017-model year Jaguar XE and F-Type vehicles because of faulty front seat belt pretensioners, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The affected vehicles have front seat seatbelt pretensioners that may not function properly in the event of a crash, NHTSA warned on its website.

The Jaguar XE sedans were manufactured from July 12 through Dec. 2 in 2016. The Jaguar F-Type cars were manufactured from July 14 through Dec. 16 in 2016.

Dealers will inspect the front seat belt assemblies and replace them if needed. There will be no charge for this service.

The recall is expected to get under way Feb. 20. Jaguar customer service can be reached at (800) 452-4827. Jaguars number for this recall is J081.
Chad Roberson, owner of Small Time Luxury Car Rentals, has been banned from parking his luxury rental vehicles at Palm Springs International Airports public parking lot.

Chad Roberson, owner of Small Time Luxury Car Rentals, depends on airport travelers for a majority of his customer base. Operating as the sole employee of his company, Roberson used Palm Springs International Airports public hourly parking lot for picking up and dropping off his rental vehicles for customers. His luxury fleet mainly consists of Mercedes  from sedans to SUVs.

With the parking spots, I could handle multiple customers who arrive at the airport at the same time, said Roberson. I would park the rental vehicles in the hourly airport parking and could take care of all the customers without needing an employee.

On April 28, 2016, Palm Springs International Airport Authority prohibited Roberson  as an off-airport operator  from using the hourly public parking lot without any notice.

A long-standing off-airport car rental permit indicated the broad term parking allowed in commercial zone, Thomas Nolan, executive director of Palm Springs International Airport, wrote in response to an email from Auto Rental News. It was discovered by an operations person that Mr. Roberson was parking in public paid, which was not the spirit or intent of commercial zone in the decade-old permit.

Roberson had been using the public parking lot since he started his business in 2009; he had gained approval by the airport to use it as an off-airport car rental company. Currently, Roberson is paying the airport a 9% access fee to pick up and drop off customers.

Due to the airports contract with the on-airport car rental companies, the airport cant lease or rent parking spots to off-airport car rental companies, said Roberson. But parking in the airports ACE public parking lot has been acceptable since at least 2002. My grandfathers former car rental company Cros-Roads Car Rentals started using the lot in 2004.

Conflict with Airport

After receiving the notice that he could no longer use the airports public parking, Roberson demanded to see this new regulation in writing.

Nolan agreed to meet with Roberson, but Roberson said Nolan wouldnt provide him a written copy of this new rule. Roberson had the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) send a letter to Nolan requesting the airport disclose the legal authority for the parking restriction.

Roberson then went to Palm Springs Mayor Robert Moon and City Manager David Ready, but neither could provide him with any more information.

In November 2016, Roberson said the airport authority threatened to pull his business permit after he reported a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety issue. According to Roberson, he requested to meet with Nolan but hasnt heard back from Nolan or any of his staff members.

In December, Robersons 2017 Off-Airport Permit application included the new terms banning off-airport car rental companies from parking in the public lot. The application stated: Permittee shall not utilize the public parking lot to park vehicles for the purpose of meeting, picking up, or dropping off a customer.

The permit language was revised so there is no room for misinterpretation that this type of activity by all off-airport car rentals must occur in specific commercial zones, Nolan wrote in the email.

They want me to get an airport shuttle van to shuttle all of my customers out of the airport to my rental location and to pay those taxes and fees, said Roberson. The cost of getting a shuttle and hiring another employee as a driver isnt possible for my business to be profitable.

Unfair Competition

Roberson said he will comply with the new regulations. But since Jan. 1, 2017, Roberson has witnessed another off-airport rental company continuing to use the public parking without enforcement from the airport, even after the prohibition was indicated in the off-airport permit application.

Roberson wants answers as to why this company isnt having to comply.

All rules apply to all such firms, Nolan wrote. If someone is trying to use the lot, that is not permitted. Just because we do not catch them does not mean we condone it.

For Roberson, losing access to the public parking spaces has already started hurting his small rental business.

Now I can only take care of one customer per flight and have eliminated all of my dual flight customers, he said. I can no longer grow my business: my future, my retirement.

By Amy Winter-Hercher
Voters in McLennan County, Texas, could decide whether to approve a $34.4 million renovation of Wacos Extraco Events Center by enacting a rental car tax and hotel tax, according to a report by the Waco Tribune.

The proposal includes a 2% added tax on hotel and motel occupancy and a 5% added tax on rental cars, says the report.

The tax would affect visitors staying in hotels or renting vehicles in McLennan County. The taxes would fund the project targeted at attracting larger tournaments and exhibits to the Extraco Events Center, according to the report. Revenue from the tax could be used only to pay for sporting- or competition-related purposes.

It creates a sustainable model that has the opportunity to be funded through a venue tax that would not tax residents in any way, but those who stay in hotel or motels or might rent cars, Wes Allison, president and CEO of the Extraco Events Center, told the Waco Tribune.

County commissioners passed a resolution in support of fairground organizers plan for the renovation, says the report.

McLennan County, city of Waco, and Waco Independent School District leaders now await approval from the Texas Comptrollers Office to ask residents to vote on the proposed taxes, says the report.

Click here for the full Waco Tribune report.
Detroit teachers and the citys fledgling school district have settled a year-old lawsuit over the citys crumbling school buildings. The lawsuit garnered national attention with its harrowing details of the conditions the citys students and educators face : rodent- and insect-infested buildings, black mold, debris falling from ceilings, failing heating systems, and unrepaired bullet holes. Citing those conditions, teachers shut down dozens of Detroit schools through mass sickouts early last year.

Under the agreement, a five-member oversight committeewhich will have two members representing the new Detroit Public Schools Community District, one parent, one educator, and one nonteacherwill be tasked with enforcing the settlement and ensuring that building repair requests are handled in a timely manner. The agreement also establishes a system for compelling the district to address complaints filed by parents and teachers.

The suitwhich was brought by a group of parents and the Detroit Federation of Teachers, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teacherslargely laid blame at the feet of the DPSCDs predecessor, the Detroit Public Schools, which had been run by four different state-appointed emergency managers over seven years. The lawsuit argued that the district was in worse shape than when the state first took over the district in 2009. Both local and national teacher union leaders positioned the agreement as a win for local control over schools.

For almost a decade, students, parents, and educators have been exposed to, and have fought, increasingly deplorable learning and working conditions in Detroits public schools, said AFT President Randi Weingarten. From rodents running across backpacks, to computer labs without access to the Internet, the students and families of Detroit have suffered enough at the hands of Gov. Rick Snyder and his handpicked emergency managers, said Weingarten. Under this settlement and with the newly elected school board, the students and families of Detroit will finally have safe and welcoming public schools with the conditions necessary for learning,

Ivy Bailey, the interim president of the DFT, laid out what she hoped the win would mean for her members and her city.

This agreement brings Detroit closer to the great public schools the Detroit Federation of Teachers has been fighting for, said Bailey. Beyond just educating our students, we have served as building maintenance, plumbers, pest control, bricklayers, and even painters for our classrooms and our decaying school buildings. This settlement will finally allow us to turn the page and devote our time to educating and enriching the lives of our students and their families.
Josh Hoch, age 31, of North Queensland, has been charged in an Australian court with pouring contaminants into the fuel tanks of rival operators, causing engine failures and forced landings. Officials said Hoch, whose Linked In profile describes him as the owner, director and chief pilot of Hoch Air, also faked crashes twice, in 2014 and 2015, to collect insurance money, and flew charters without a license for years. Hoch was charged with 342 counts of 14 different offenses, with a maximum penalty of life in prison. We are lucky over a number of years that an alleged rogue operator like this wasnt responsible for a disaster, said Detective Inspector Chris Hodgman. The pilots [of the sabotaged airplanes]  were lucky to walk away.

Officials said they are investigating four claims of tampering with aircraft in 2016. In each case, a contaminant was poured into the fuel tanks during the night at Mount Isa Airport. When two of the airplanes powered up, the contaminant caused catastrophic damage, and the airplanes were grounded for months. The other two airplanes experienced damage in flight, and the pilots were forced to land. Hoch also was charged with assaulting an aircraft engineer, causing permanent and life-changing head injuries. A lawyer for Hoch told reporters the charges are based on circumstantial evidence. Bail was set at $50,000, but as of Wednesday morning the bail had not been met and Hoch was still in custody.
Textron Aviation reported record growth in 2016 for their network of Cessna Pilot Center-affiliated flight schools. The program added 24 new flight schools last year for a total of 163 Cessna Pilot Center affiliates. Through the Cessna Pilot Center program, Textron Aviation partners with independent Part 61 and Part 141 flight schools around the world to provide flight training on modern Textron training aircraft in conjunction with a standardized King School-based training program, which is accessible to students online or through mobile devices. Some Cessna Pilot Centers maintain a minority of non-Textron aircraft in their fleetseither legacy aircraft or to address sectors of the flight training market not served by Textron. Textron also organizes seminars and resources for Cessna Pilot Center operators.

Cessna Pilot Centers recorded over 7,000 new student pilots last yearup 10% from 2015. For reference, the FAA reported no change in the number of student pilot certificates issued from 2014 to 2015, suggesting significant market share growth for Cessna Pilot Centers.

Trade Winds Aviation, based at Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose, California, has been affiliated with Cessna for over 20 years as a Cessna Pilot Center and Cessna Service Station. They operate a Cessna 182Q Skylane, seven modern Cessna 172SP Skyhawks and one light sport Remos GX. Walter Gyger, owner of Trade Winds, is bullish on Cessna Pilot Centers: Cessna has been a reliable partner in many ways. Cessnas focus on pilot training and the support from Cessna and King Schools to assist us with using the [Cessna Pilot Center] tools has been invaluable.
Commenting on Hovik Abrahamians decision to terminate his membership in the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), Zhoghovurd says that the former prime minister has run the HHKs election campaigns and coordinate fraud committed in favor of the authorities over the past decade. On the other hand, the development was expected because differences within the government have deepened in recent years, writes the paper. It claims that Abrahamian and President Serzh Sarkisian have not trusted each other. And finally, Abrahamian was made a scapegoat, it says. In order to mitigate public discontent [with the government] ahead of the parliamentary elections, he was forced to tender his resignation in September. According to rumors circulated right now, he would not have been included on the HHKs electoral list if he had stayed in the party.

Zhamanak suggests that Abrahamian may now join one of the new election blocs led by businessman Gagik Tsarukian and former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian. The paper says that neither bloc would necessarily welcome Abrahamian with open arms seeing as the former prime minister is now more of a liability than asset. He is widely perceived as one of the pillars of the vicious system reigning in Armenia, it claims. Does Tsarukian or Ohanian need such a pillar?

Aravot sees few significant differences among the main Armenian election contenders, saying that none of the groups challenging the HHK is really committed to changing the countrys political system. The paper claims that their value system is not quite democratic.

Haykakan Zhamanak reports that Prime Minister Karen Karapetian received a red carpet reception during his official visit to Moscow on Tuesday. It is noteworthy that no other prime minister of Armenia has paid an official visit to Russia for almost ten years, says the paper. The last premier to do was Serzh Sarkisian. It says the official status of Karapetians visit means the Russians now regard him, not Sarkisian, as their number one Armenian partner. In this sense, Karen Karapetians visit should be regarded as historic, concludes the paper.

(Tigran Avetisian)
25 January 2017 10:32 (UTC+04:00)

Over the past 24 hours, Armenias Armed Forces have 7 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported on January 25.

The Azerbaijani army positions located in Jafarli village and the nameless heights of the Qazakh district underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located in Azamut village and the nameless heights of Armenias Ijevan district.

The Azerbaijani army positions located in Qaraveliler village of the Gadabay district underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located on the nameless heights of Armenias Krasnoselsk district.

Moreover, the Azerbaijani army underwent fire from the Armenian positions located near the Armenian-occupied Javakhirli village of the Aghdam district, as well as from the nameless heights in the Goranboy and Khojavand districts.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 January 2017 12:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

The government of Azerbaijan, which pays a special attention to the diversification of its energy-based economy, established a number of enterprises in non-oil sector in 2016.

Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev said that some 410 enterprises were set up in the country last year. The minister, addressing a board meeting, said that construction of certain industrial enterprises was launched in 2016, while the work is underway on the development of industrial zones and parks.

This year, as many as 4 enterprises will become operational in Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park. In 2018, we will launch three additional enterprises. Almost 800 new working places are planned to be opened in these enterprises, he said.

The Ministry also works to attract new residents to the park, he said noting that candidacy of two enterprises is currently under consideration.

Mustafayev also highlighted successful operation of Baku Shipyard, which is a resident of Garadagh Industrial Park.

In 2016, the shipyard commissioned three passenger vessels, with a capacity of 80 people each. Also, a tugboat with a driving force of 50 tons was constructed at the plant. The biggest contract of the plant is designing and construction of Khankendi vessel (worth some $378 million) for BP Company, he said.

The vessel has been specifically designed and built to install the subsea structures of the giant Shah Deniz Stage 2 gas development project.

Besides, the plant also signed a contract with Azerbaijans Caspian Marine Services on the construction of two barges, worth $82 million and 2 oil-bearing tankers with estimated worth of $28 million.

We have also developed a plan of integrated actions on the development of the aluminum industry. We consider a construction of an industrial park in Ganja (second largest city of Azerbaijan), which will be engaged in this sphere, he noted.

The minister went on saying that the ministry has issued investment incentive documents worth more than 1 billion manats for the implementation of 91 projects.

The projects cover 8 economic districts of the country, while only 1.1 percent of them is being implemented in Baku, some 37.4 in settlements of Absheron peninsula and 61.5 percent in other cities and regions of the country. Some 38.5 percent of projects are in the sphere of agriculture, 61.5 in industrial sphere, he said.

Under the document of investment incentives, half of the revenue of an individual entrepreneur, profits of legal entity are exempted from income tax for seven years. Import of equipment for the implementation of the projects is also exempt from VAT and customs duties.

Talking about other measures taken to stipulate development of entrepreneurship, Mustafafayev said that easy credits worth 190 million manats ($102.37 million) were granted to entrepreneurs in 2016. He added that the National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support (NFES) plans to issue easy credits worth 150 million manats ($ 80.82 million) this year, while the financial means will be provided by means of returned credits.

Implementation of projects realized by means of easy credits last year allowed to open some 8,100 new working places. So far, 32,700 entrepreneurs have received credits worth over 2 billion manats ($ 1.07 billion), he said.

As for Azerbaijans exports, Mustafayev recalled that the head of state ordered to increase export of local production, particularly agricultural goods twofold.

To reach the goal, the ministry has already conducted an analysis on some 54 types of products, including dairy and meat production, vegetables, fruit, honey, wine and others.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Man Claims Federal Government Can't Charge Him With Crimes; Judge Doesn't Buy It

Cliven Bundy, cattle rancher and man who believes "the Federal Government does not have any ownership interest in the Bundy Ranch," (a.k.a. federal property upon which Bundy was illegally grazing his cattle) is currently in federal custody, charged with sixteen felony offenses stemming from an armed standoff with federal Bureau of Land Management officers near said ranch in 2014. Bundy appealed his indictment on the grounds that "the land is not owned by the United States."

A federal magistrate judge denied Bundy's motion to dismiss his charges, so he appealed to the federal United States District Court. Unsurprisingly, that federal judge also denied his appeal.

No New Legal Arguments

Let's review Mr. Bundy's claims:

"the Federal Government does not have any ownership interest in the Bundy Ranch, depriving this court of jurisdiction over the subject matter of the dispute";

"the federal government cannot have authority over lands 'inside an admitted state'";

"any activity of Federal Agents on [the land in question] during the time period described within the indictments was illegal, unlawful, and was an aggressive trespass onto lands owned by the people of Nevada";

"while these courts have several times expressed the conclusion that the Federal Government absolutely owns all of these lands, that these expressions could not even be categorized as findings of law, but rather were restatements of the unexamined self-serving assumptions of a party to the dispute (the Federal Government)"; and

That the magistrate judge "erred in finding that the land-ownership question is foreclosed by existing law on the subject."

Bundy's argument is essentially that the United States never owned the land they leased to him and upon which he grazed his cattle. Therefore he never owed the federal government grazing fees, and that the government's subsequent attempts to collect those fees and bar Bundy from future grazing lacked legal authority.

It did not take many pages for the federal court to dismiss this argument.

Necessary Failure

One of the reason's Bundy's appeal was denied so tersely is that, as the court pointed out, he's been making the same argument for decades, and "this argument has been soundly and consistently rejected by every court to consider the issue." Previous courts even reviewed the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to determine whether the United States had valid title to federal land in Nevada, and guess what: it does:

Defendant's underlying premise as to why the crimes fail as a matter of law, however, remains that "the land is not owned by the United States." Because the Court finds that the land in question is owned by the United States, this objection necessarily fails."

So it's on to a criminal trial or a plea deal for Bundy. Given the fate of his sons and cohorts after their armed occupation of federal land in Oregon, we're guessing Bundy will hope for his conviction, so he can take his threadbare legal arguments to the Supreme Court.

Related Resources:
25 January 2017 12:50 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

A newly-created e-trade portal of Azerbaijan - azexport.az is expected to stimulate development of the software engineering sphere.

Executive Director of the Center for Economic Reforms and Communication Vusal Gasimli told Trend that the portal will give a push for the development of a business of local software developers.

He said that the placement of mobile applications in the portal has already been launched, mentioning that the portal will support developers in two ways.

The first one is guaranteeing of sales both in the inner market and abroad, while the second way is an opportunity to implement operations without duties, he clarified.

The main objective of the portal, which was presented in December 2016, is to provide information about local Azerbaijani products, being a beneficial platform for sales in foreign and domestic markets.

Azexport.az, integrating with the most popular electronic trading networks of Azerbaijan makes the products available to potential buyers from anywhere in the world.

The portal offers fast and secure payment to VISA, Master Card and American Express cards owners.

Regularly updated, easy-to-use, affordable, safe, fast and convenient portal makes the national brand "Made in Azerbaijan" closer to everybody. The portal is currently available in the Azerbaijani, Russian and English languages.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 January 2017 13:23 (UTC+04:00)

A trade and economic mission of Azerbaijan will visit Pakistan in the near future to discuss prospects boosting the cooperation and establish new contacts.

The issue was mulled at a meeting between Azerbaijani Ambassador to Islamabad Ali Alizadeh and Pakistani Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who is also a co-chair of the Azerbaijani-Pakistani Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation.

The minister expressed his country's interest in deepening cooperation with Azerbaijan in all spheres.

The sides voiced commitment of the governments of Azerbaijan and Pakistan to deepen economic and trade cooperation, through expanding interaction in the energy sector, increasing the trade turnover and expanding the legal base.

The two countries aim at expanding energy and trade relations, and cooperation in the field of agriculture, pharmaceutical and textile industry between the two countries. Last year, a number of high-level talks and meetings were held in order to develop bilateral trade, investment making, and identify business opportunities.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Pakistan amounted to $ 5.82 million in January-October 2016, which is 3.6 times more than the same period of 2015, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijan-Pakistan all-weather friendship" covers various facets of the economic and political ties. Pakistan is one of the oldest and closest allies and strategic partners of Azerbaijan in Asia.

Islamabad backed Azerbaijan during and after the Nagorno-Karabakh War and it is the only country that does not recognize Armenia. Pakistan also adopted a resolution strongly condemning the genocide against the civilian population of Khojaly, which was committed by Armenian armed forces.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 January 2017 11:16 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijans National Art Museum will host an exhibition "Reincarnation" on January 27, Trend Life reported.

A joint project of the Museum and young artists will mark the 80th anniversary of the Museum.

The exhibition will present "reincarnated" art works in the avant-garde style based on the paintings of modern Azerbaijani artists, as well as art works of world famous artists and sculptors.

Artists Elshan Sarkhanoglu, Mamed Rashidov, Vugar Guliyev, Aydin Askerov, Elshan Karaca and Emin Gahramanov will present a brand new interpretation of fifteen paintings and 5 sculptures.

Art experts expect the project to open a new page in the history of the museum's activity. Such a project will also be held in other museums of the city.

The Azerbaijan National Art Museum is a treasure house that preserves our national moral values and cultural heritage. This treasure house, holding more than 17,000 artistic exhibits, has a rich working history. The Art department was separated from the Azerbaijan State Museum in 1936 and organized as an independent museum by decision of the Council of People's Commissars.

In 2011 the Museum was declared to be of first National and then European Museum Standard (EUMS), meeting international standards and criteria, as appropriate for a museum and implying high quality museum services and professional experience.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 January 2017 13:40 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides has expressed hope that 2017 will be the year of progress in resolution of the conflicts in the Council of Europe area.

He made the remarks during the second day of PACE winter plenary part-session that kicked off in Strasbourg on January 23.

Touching upon the conflict settlement issues, he expressed hope for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, crises in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.

Cyprus is currently chairing the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 January 2017 15:26 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs remain committed to contributing to the negotiations aimed at achieving a lasting resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on the principles of international law, the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act.

U.S. co-chair of the OSCE MG Richard Hoagland made the remark while talking to Armenian media on January 25.

We will continue our mediation efforts in the peace process as long as the parties believe that our efforts produce results, the US co-chair said.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acts as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, it failed to make any move to achieve a breakthrough in the peace process so far.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 January 2017 17:44 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Residents of the Jojug Marjanli village in the Jabrayil region seek to return to their homes after the village was liberated from the Armenian occupation, and now will be restored upon the presidential order.

The village was liberated from the Armenian occupation in April 2016 as a result of a successful counter-attack of the Azerbaijani Army. Now, the village is fully under control of the Azerbaijani side and people can safely live in the village.

Under the presidential order dated January 24, 4 million manats ($2.12 million) was allocated from the President`s 2017 Contingency Fund to the State Committee for Affairs of Refugees and IDPs for the construction of 50 private houses, a school building and relevant infrastructure at the first stage.

More than 190 Azerbaijani families want to return to the liberated Jojug Marjanli village in Jabrayil region of Azerbaijan, said Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijans Deputy Prime Minister.

Hasanov, who also chairs the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs, stated that the April battles turned into a very significant event in Azerbaijan's history.

During these battles, two heights were taken back, tens of thousands of hectares of territory were liberated, and currently the work on mine clearance is underway there, he told AzTv. Prior to the April battles, the Leletepe height was under occupation, but one settlement of the Jabrayil district  the Jojug Marjanli village was partly liberated in 1993, during the Horadiz operation under the leadership of the national leader, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Heydar Aliyev.

However, this village at any time could have been shelled from the Leletepe. Thus, no one lived in the village, except one family, which has been living there for 25 years," Hasanov said, noting that after the April battles the village became safe again.

Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan are under the control of the Armenian military and separatists since a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan ended in 1994. Negotiations lasting for about 30 years have brought little progress in resolving the conflict, though a fragile truce has been in place.

One of the most tragic conflicts in the history of the 20th century, once again aggravated on April 2 2016 after the Armenian military units in the occupied lands started shelling Azerbaijans positions.

To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Leletepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.

Hasanov said that the villages residents (more than 190 families out of 400 families, who once lived there) have already expressed desire to return to their homeland.

This was reported to the Azerbaijani President and the head of the state signed a relevant order and allocated four million manats for the restoration work, he noted.



Hasanov stressed that the construction work will begin soon, as first 50 families out of 190 will be settled in this village.

Before the start of the restoration work in the liberated Jojug Marjanli village, Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) plans to carry out demining work in that area.

Chief specialist for ANAMA operations, Adil Aslanov, told Trend that as the territory was under occupation, it is possible that there may be a lot of unexploded ordnance and mines.

Azerbaijans parliamentarians and other officials also highly appreciated the presidential order, voicing hope that the return to Jojug Marjanli village will be a beginning of the great return to the occupied lands.

"I regard it [the April battles] as a victory of the entire Azerbaijan and believe that all our territories will be liberated from the occupation," said Ziyafat Asgarov, the first vice-speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament while commenting on the reconstruction of the liberated village.

He added that the liberated territories will be provided with all necessary social facilities and infrastructure.

MP Zahid Oruj, in turn, assessed the reconstruction of the liberated village as a historic event.

"I believe it is an important and actually a Great Return of people, who lost their lands," he said. "We wish all internally displaced people in Azerbaijan to return to their homes."

The restoration of the liberated village is a very serious message to Armenia, said Azerbaijani MP Aydin Mirzazade.

Thus, Azerbaijan makes it clear to Armenia that the country will never abandon its stance on the liberation of the occupied lands, he added.

Due to the ethnic cleansing policy carried out by Armenia and the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions of Azerbaijan, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons hit more than 1.2 million.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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25 January 2017 15:40 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Eyvazova

Azerbaijan, which is committed to endangered species protection, has achieved a certain success in this area and recorded rise in number of several rare and endangered species.

Elman Yusifov, Director of the Zoology Institute at the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences, said that over the past two decades the number of rare and endangered species living in the country increased twofold. He is sure that the trend will continue in the future.

Azerbaijan is an incredibly beautiful area of unique natural contrasts, while 9 of 11 main climatic types of the Earth, from subtropics to alpine meadows, exists here.

There is the splendid flora of humid sub-tropics and everlasting snow and glaciers of Shahdagh and Murovdagh, Gabala forests, full of spring flavors, and hot steppes of Mil, Mugan, and Shirvan, and mist and rains over tea and citrus plantations in the foothills of the Talish Mountain Range and warm Moryana (a shore-to-sea breeze) and the Absheron Peninsula`s gusty Khazri (the Caspian north wind), all neighboring each other.

The countrys fauna is notable for the same richness and variety: about 12,000 species populate the country. Beautiful gazelles, wild boars, wolves, foxes, hares, coypu rats, pheasants, ducks, bald-coots, and Sultan chickens inhabit the area. Deer, roe deer, wild boars, brown Caucasian bears, lynxes, wolves and, somewhere, leopards are typical for lowland and midland.

Yusifov went on to say that the country is home to 10 species of amphibian fauna, 54 species of reptiles, 400 species of birds, 110 species of mammals, 20,000 species of insects, 100 species of fishes.

More than 38 percent of mammals, 17 birds, 10 percent of the fishes are in front of the list of rare and endangered animals.

Overall, the latest edition of Azerbaijans "Red Book" includes about 223 representatives of the rich fauna, including one species of round worms, crustaceans and molluscs, 74 species of insects, 6 amphibians, 14 species of reptiles, 9 fish species, 72 species of birds and 42 mammals. Overall, Azerbaijani fauna includes 10,000-12,000 species.

Yusifov said that correctly the institute is preparing a new list of rare and endangered animals.

Following the nature-protection policy, the government has created a number of natural preserves for the past years and brought into effect the hunting rules for protection of the rare animals of Azerbaijan.

He also mentioned that, reduction of insects in nature is not good process in general, because the insects are playing a very important role in the nature. Insects improve the quality of soil, increase the influence of oxygen and increase productivity. Without them, the productivity of agriculture is not possible, he clarified.

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25 January 2017 10:08 (UTC+04:00)

A new print edition of the AZERNEWS online newspaper was released on January 25

The new edition includes articles about: SOCAR bonds can be source of income for investors; Country sees rise in foodstuff import; NATO names key areas for cooperation with country; Baku forum to discuss interaction with Gulf Cooperation Council, etc.

AZERNEWS is an associate member of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
By Rashid Shirinov

President Ilham Aliyev has ordered to restore the liberated Jojug Marjanli village in Jabrayil region of Azerbaijan, Azertac reported.

Under the order, 4 million manats ($2.12 million) was allocated from the President`s 2017 Contingency Fund to the State Committee on Deals of Refugees and IDPs for the construction of 50 private houses, a school building and relevant infrastructure at the first stage.

The Jojug Marjanli village in Jabrayil region was liberated from the Armenian occupation in April 2016 as a result of a successful counter-attack of the Azerbaijani Army. Now, people can safely live in the village.

The situation on the frontline aggravated on April 2, 2016, after the Armenian military units in the occupied lands began shelling Azerbaijans positions. To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and as a result, the Azerbaijani troops retook hills around the village of Talish, as well as Seysulan settlement, and also took over Lele Tepe hill located in the direction of Fizuli region.

Azerbaijan and Armenia declared a truce brokered by Russia on April 5, 2016. However, Armenia continued to breach the ceasefire.

The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway territory of Azerbaijan, has continued for about 30 years, following the Armenias territorial claims against Azerbaijan in 1988. The military conflict, characterized by violence against civilians and ethnic cleansing, resulted in the injury, death, and disappearance of thousands of people, ended with occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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25 January 2017 11:43 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

The British Foundation for the Study of Azerbaijan and the Caucasus (BFSAC) will hold its inaugural fundraiser event at the V&A museum in London, on January 25.

The event aims be held to raise funds for the BFSAC and also present the findings of the Oxford University Nizami Ganjavi Programme's archaeological mission to Barda, the capital of ancient kingdom of Caucasian Albania, Azertac reported.

Prominent academics from the UK, Russia and Azerbaijan will attend the event.

The British Foundation for the Study of Azerbaijan and the Caucasus (BFSAC) is the first organisation in the UK created with the aim of bringing together all existing educational and cultural projects related to Azerbaijan and the wider Caucasus region.

Since Azerbaijan's independence in 1990, the main cooperation between the UK and Azerbaijan has been in the energy sector and trade; the two fields that are heavily focused on promoting the business interests of the two countries. While this is useful, the BFSAC highlight the rich and varied culture and history of Azerbaijan to the UK public, which has had limited exposure to the Caucasus region.

BFSAC began this process by forming the Nizami Ganjavi Programme at Oxford University which aims at exploring the languages and cultures of Azerbaijan and the Caucasus.

It aims is to substantially increase the number and scope of these projects and to create new research and cultural opportunities for anyone interested in learning more about this part of the world.

In addition, the Anglo-Azerbaijani society, the longest serving organisation working to foster friendship between the two countries, has initiated a number of small projects to promote educational and cultural acitvities and to encourage exchange of ideas and people between the UK and Azerbaijan.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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Don't Drive 91 MPH in a Snowstorm to a Stereo Installation Appointment

A driver in New Hampshire is making headlines for her less than stellar decision that ended up getting her arrested. While the snow was coming down, the roadways were covered in snow and slush, and after police had issued a speed warning, Ms. Speed Racer, reportedly, was late to a car stereo installation appointment and decided to floor it.

The 21 year old was clocked at 91 mph in her 2008 Saturn Astra (which is a car brand that General Motors no longer makes, in case you were wondering). The driver is being charged with reckless driving and could face a $1,000 fine and a 60 day license suspension if found guilty.

When Speeding Becomes Reckless Driving

While traffic laws vary from state to state, a common practice among states is charging reckless driving rather than speeding when a driver is caught going anywhere from 15 to 25 mph over the speed limit.

For the NH driver desperate to get her stereo installed, the speed limit where she was pulled over had been temporarily reduced to 45 mph due to the snow storm and poor conditions. However, even if the speed limit were at the normal 55 or 65 mph along that route, she still would have been clocked at more than 25 mph over the limit. Regardless, reckless driving, unlike speeding, is generally an arrestable offense.

However, not all reckless driving is equal. The NH speed racer seems like a reasonable and safe driver when put up against New York City's speed racer, who made a full lap around Manhattan in just over 20 minutes. The NYC speed racer was potentially facing a felony, and to compound matters, before being convicted of a one year prison sentence, he fled the country to Canada.

Related Resources:
25 January 2017 13:05 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

The Caspian Seas legal status, which has remained disputable during the past two decades, can be determined at the next summit of the littoral states.

Khalaf Khalafov, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister, made the statement at a session of the ad hoc working group on the Caspian Seas legal status in Baku on January 25.

He said a lot of work on the draft convention on the Caspian Seas legal status has been conducted and now it is necessary to unite efforts to reach agreements on a number of issues regarding the final status.

We intend to agree on a number of uncoordinated issues as part of the negotiations, he added. The full approval of the draft convention will create preconditions for determining the status of the sea at the level of heads of state.

The uncertainty of the legal status of the Caspian Sea is one of the most discussed topics in between the five coastal states -- Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran for more than 20 years, preventing development and exploitation of its disputable oil and gas fields and creating obstacles to the realization of major energy projects.

Khalafov further said that Azerbaijan hopes for the speedy delimitation of the Caspian Sea and proceeds from the agreements reached among Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia.

A mechanism will be created for effective cooperation of the Caspian states, Khalafov said. In particular, it is necessary to agree on the aspects of the access of the Caspian countries to other seas and ocean, the right for passage of warships through the territorial waters of other countries and rules of laying cables and pipelines."

The deputy foreign minister added that Baku is interested in the speedy coordination of issues on the central and southern parts of the Caspian Sea.

"I hope that the issues to be discussed in Baku today as part of the negotiations in accordance with international maritime law, respect for the sovereign rights of the Caspian countries and for the sake of mutually beneficial cooperation, stability and security in the Caspian Sea, will be solved through building confidence," he said.

Khalafov added that the confidence-building measures among the sides must ensure the safety of all Caspian countries equally.

The Caspian countries must contribute to the strengthening of stability in the Caspian region, he said. These measures must be based on the principles of respect for territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of the countries. The interests of all sides must be taken into account.

He stressed that the Caspian states must continue to work together to preserve the Caspian Sea as a zone of peace, tranquility, stability and security.

The Caspian littoral states signed a Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003. Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea in order to exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use in July 1998. The two countries signed a protocol to the agreement in May 2002.

Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea and a protocol to it in 2001 and in 2003, respectively. Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea in 2003. Summits of heads of the Caspian states were held in 2002 in Ashgabat, in 2007 in Tehran, in 2010 in Baku and in 2014 in Astrakhan.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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25 January 2017 14:41 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijan, which domestically produces weapons, including sniper rifles, machine guns, armed drones, and armored vehicles, recorded an increased in the defense production in 2016.

Last year, some 86 percent of total products in the institutions of the Defense Industry Ministry accounted for military and special purpose, Minister Yavar Jamalov said at a meeting on January 24.

The volume of defense products increased by 1.8 times compared to 2015, while customers were supplied with UAVs, mortars, AK-74M, universal machine guns, sniper rifles, armored personnel carriers, such as "Matador" and "Marauder" automatic grenade launcher, sights for air defense systems, cartridges of various calibers, a grenade for portable anti-tank grenade launcher, training bombs and so forth.

Twenty-eight military factories are currently operating within the Defense Industry Ministry. Azerbaijan`s defense products are exported to more than 10 countries.

The minister further said that some 260 items of products were presented at the exhibition of defense products in Baku in 2016.

The ministry presented at the ADEX-2016 exhibition a high-explosive air bomb QFAB-100SAB, 14.5 mm-caliber NST sniper rifle, sniper machine gun Shimshek, mine protected armored vehicles Ildirim and Gasirgha, the latest advanced types of UAVs, new models of small arms, special reconnaissance patrol vehicle Gurza, fitted with antitank guided missiles, ammunition and their warheads, etc.

Within the frameworks of the exhibition, the Defense Industry Ministry and the Ministry of Defense signed a memorandum on the production and transfer of arms to the UAV-type national army Kamikaze "Blow."

Azerbaijan, which is in war with neighboring Armenia over the latter's territorial claims during more than 20 years, keeps in focus the armament. Azerbaijan leaves behind many CIS and regional countries to take its place among the first 70 strongest militaries of the world, according to the U.S.-based Global Firepower survey center.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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25 January 2017 16:14 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Mexico and Azerbaijan will mull interparliamentary ties and bilateral cooperation, as representatives of the Mexican Parliament will pay a visit to Baku.

Mexico's Ambassador to Azerbaijan Juan Rodrigo Labardini said that the visit will take place in the first half of 2017.

A visit of a group of our parliamentarians and officials, authorized in the field of energy and education, is expected in the coming months, Labardini he told APA.

The envoy further added that the relations between the two countries are developing, and should be further deepened.

Earlier, the ambassador said that the head of ProMexico, a Mexican trust fund promoting international trade and investment, is to visit Azerbaijan to establish cooperation with local companies and to promote Mexican goods in the Azerbaijani market.

Mexico recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991 and the diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992. Azerbaijan's Embassy in Mexico was established in 2006. Mexico followed the example of Azerbaijan, and opened its embassy in Baku.

The growing economy of Azerbaijan is attractive for Mexico, while Azerbaijan also attaches importance to the development of relations with Mexico. Relations are actively developing in all directions, including culture.

The Azerbaijani State Customs Committee reported that the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Mexico amounted to $19.03 million in January-September 2016, as compared to $20.76 million in the same period of 2015.

Azerbaijans export to Mexico amounted to $188,100 and import amounted to $18.84 million in the first nine months of 2016. This includes the sale of equipment for the oil industry, electronic appliances.

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25 January 2017 16:05 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Turkish Ambassador to Baku Erkan Ozoral has stated that the relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey will always be fraternal.

The envoy made the remark at an event dedicated to the 25th anniversary of establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries

Ties between Baku and Ankara will continue to develop in the future, said the envoy, stressing: We will not allow Turkey and Azerbaijan to be divided again."

Ozoral said that the power of Turkey belongs to Azerbaijan, and the power of Azerbaijan belongs to Turkey.

Noting that the relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan are constantly and dynamically developing, he voiced that expects great progress in 2017 from the joint projects.

"First of all, in the near future it is planned to commission the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project. This year we also plan to implement important measures to conduct other projects. Overall, the main purpose of jointly implemented projects is to bring closer our countries and peoples," said the ambassador.

Baku and Ankara are key states in all those interstate formats. AzerbaijanTurkey relations have always been strong with the two often being described as "one nation with two states".

Turkey became the first state to recognize Azerbaijan, which declared its independence in 1991. Intense high level contacts are the main driving main force of bilateral relations. Visiting each others countries immediately after assuming the office or in the wake of developments with symbolic importance became a tradition.

Turkey contributes to efforts aimed at the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within Azerbaijans territorial integrity and sovereignty through peaceful means.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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25 January 2017 18:03 (UTC+04:00)

The Caspian littoral states are working hard to make sure that a convention on the Caspian Sea legal status is signed at the next summit, which will be in Astana.

The Special Representative of the President of Russia on the delimitation and demarcation of the state border with the neighboring countries - participants of the CIS, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Bratchikov made the remark in Baku on January 25, APA reported.

Kazakhstan should define the date of the next summit. Most likely, the summit will be held in Astana this year, he said.

Bratchikov also praised the meeting of the ad hoc working group on the Caspian Seas legal status running in Baku.

"There are always difficulties in the negotiations. Each country defends and upholds its own position, but we are able to come close to a common denominator. I think this is a good sign that the convention is very, very close to its conclusion".

The legal status of the Caspian Sea has remained unsolved during the past two decades, preventing development and exploitation of its disputable oil and gas fields and creating obstacles to the realization of major projects.

Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan hold to the principle of dividing into national sectors based on the median line principles since it is an international boundary lake, and leaving the sea surface for general use, i.e. they are for demarcation of mineral resources and the Caspian Sea shelf, but against dividing up its waters.

Iran seeks an equal division of the Caspian into 5 even sectors, mainly because most of offshore energy resources are located away from the Iranian coastline. Turkmenistan also demands division of the Sea into equal parts between the pre-Caspian countries so that each country must have 20 percent of the sea.

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25 January 2017 13:57 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

The consortium of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is fully committed to transporting Shah Deniz phase II volumes  initially 10 bcm of gas per year  from the Caspian Sea through Greece, Albania and into Italy.

TAP Head of Communications Lisa Givert announced about this while commenting on Russian Gazproms plans to use the pipeline for delivering its gas to Europe.

The pipeline, a final step of the Southern Gas Corridor, is underpinned by a long-term gas transportation agreement for a period of 25 years, she told Trend.

This week, Russias energy major Gazprom declared for the first time that it may be interested in using the TAP for delivering Russian gas to Italy.

Deputy CEO of Gazprom Alexander Medvedev said that the company is discussing the possibility of using Poseidon (the offshore section of the Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI)) and TAP to export gas to Europe.

He added that Russia has sufficient capacity to deliver more than 100 bcm of extra gas to Europe, mentioning that the main obstacle is infrastructure problem.

We need additional infrastructure to bring the volumes to Europe. Capacities of Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream may be non sufficient enough. Therefore, we consider using capacity of the Poseidon project that will be ready soon, or maybe TAP, he said.

TAP project envisages transportation of gas from the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas and condensate field to the EU countries. The pipeline will be connected to the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.

The project is currently in its construction phase, which started in 2016.

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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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25 January 2017 15:51 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

The construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), a core pipe of the Southern Gas Corridor, is still in progress.

TANAP General Manager Saltuk Duzyol said that the welding of pipes on the 1,350-kilometer section of the pipeline has already been completed.

Duzyol talking to Azertac informed that one third of 1334 kilometers and 56-inch section was ended to pipe drilled area.

The implementation of the project is expected to require nearly 150,000 pieces of pipe, while some 1.2 million tons of steel pipes will be used in the project.

The 1,850 kilometer pipeline will run from the Turkish border with Georgia, beginning in the Turkish village of Turkgozu in the Posof district of Ardahan, through 21 provinces, until it ends at the Greek border in the Ipsala district of Edirne.

The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijans Shah Deniz field to the western borders of Turkey. The pipe has the initial capacity of 16 billion cubic meters.

TANAP shareholders are Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR (58 percent), BOTAS (30 percent) and BP (12 percent). By 2023, TANAP's capacity is expected to reach 23 bcm per year with further increase up to 31 bcm by 2026.

Total cost of the TANAP project is estimated at $8.5 billion. The World Bank earlier approved a $400 million loan for Turkey and a $400 million loan for Azerbaijan for the implementation of the project. The overall objective of the project is to diversify Azerbaijans gas export markets and improve energy security in Turkey and South East Europe.

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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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25 January 2017 10:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The French-Iranian relations will be in focus of talks in Tehran, as French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault is expected to visit the Islamic republic.

Irans Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Bahram Qasemi, said that Ayrault, is scheduled to pay an official visit to Tehran soon, said, IRNA reported. Qasemi did not specify the exact date of the visit.

Qasemi said that the French foreign minister will visit Tehran at the head of an economic delegation.

Noting that Ayrault is also the co-chairman of Iran-French Joint Economic Commission, the spokesperson said that the commission will convene during his visit to Tehran.

Voicing satisfaction over good relations between Iran and France, Qasemi expressed hope that after the necessary negotiations, the two countries can develop common grounds.

The commercial ties between Iran and France have been rising considerably since the nuclear deal went into force in January 2016.

During the Iranian presidents historic visit to Paris in January 2016, Iran and France signed a series of basic trade deals thought to be worth billions of dollars.

Rouhani and his French peer Francois Hollande oversaw the signing of the deals that concerned cooperation in a range of sectors such as aviation, car manufacturing and oil.

This visit became possible after the lifting of economic sanctions from Iran. Economic and financial sanctions by the US and the EU were lifted on January 16, 2016.

Later, Former French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius paid a visit to Tehran in July 2016 at the invitation of his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif. He held talks with senior Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, Zarif, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh and Head of the Department of the Environment, Massoumeh Ebtekar.

It was the first visit by a French foreign minister to the Islamic Republic in 12 years.

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25 January 2017 10:00 (UTC+04:00)

Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, speaking at the second edition of the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi on 17 January 2017, said that the world needs Indias sustained rise, as much as India needs the world.

It is, therefore, only natural that Indias choices at home and its international priorities form part of a seamless continuum firmly anchored in Indias transformational goals. He said that as the world begins to re-order itself, the multi-polarity of the world, and an increasingly multi-polar Asia, was a dominant fact today. India welcomes it because it captures the reality of the rise of many nations. It accepts that voices of many, not views of a few should shape the global agenda. Therefore, we need to guard against any instinct or inclination that promotes exclusion, especially in Asia.

Prime Minister Modi stressed Indias strategic intent was shaped by its civilizational ethos of realism; co-existence; cooperation and partnership. The prosperity of Indians, both at home and abroad, and security of its citizens was of paramount importance. But, self-interest alone was neither in Indian culture nor behavior. Indias economic and political rise represented a regional and global opportunity of great significance. It was a force for peace, a factor for stability and an engine for regional and global prosperity.

Prime Minister underlined that his government was committed to path of international engagement focused on Rebuilding connectivity, restoring bridges and rejoining India with its immediate and extended geographies; Shaping relationships networked with Indias economic priorities; Making India a human resource power to be reckoned with, by connecting its talented youth to global needs and opportunities; Building development partnerships that extend from the islands of the Indian Ocean and Pacific to the islands of the Caribbean and from the great continent of Africa to the Americas; Creating Indian narratives on global challenges; Helping re-configure re-invigorate and rebuild global institutions and organizations; and Spreading the benefits of India's civilizational legacies, including Yoga and Ayurveda, as a global good. He said for him, Sab KaSaath; Sab KaVikas(Growth for everyone) was not just a vision for India. It was a belief for the whole world.

Prime Minister said that the people of South Asia were joined by blood, shared history, culture, and aspirations and a thriving well-connected and integrated neighbourhood was his dream. Speaking of about his vision for Indias neighbourhood which puts a premium on peaceful and harmonious ties with entire South Asia through "Neighbourhood-first" approach, he said that vision led him to invite leaders of all SAARC nations for his swearing in.

Indian PM said that India has redefined, in a short span of time, and despite uncertainty and conflict, its partnerships with Gulf and West Asia, including Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, Qatar and Iran. In Central Asia too, it has built its ties on the edifice of shared history and culture to unlock new vistas of prosperous partnership. Indias membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization provides a strong institutional link to its engagement with Central Asian nations. To the East, Indias engagement with South East Asia is at the center of its Act East Policy. It has built a close engagement with the institutional structures in the region such as the East Asia Summit. Indias partnership with ASEAN and its member countries has served to enhance commerce, technology, investment, development, and security partnerships with the region.

PM Modi said that he sees the development of India and China as an unprecedented opportunity, for the two countries and for the whole world. In the management of their relationship, and for peace and progress in the region, both countries need to show sensitivity and respect for each other's core concerns and interests. Over the past two and a half years, India has given a strong momentum to its engagement with the United States, Russia, Japan and other major global powers. These partnerships were a good fit with India's economic priorities and defence and security. He said that in his conversation with President-elect Donald Trump, they agreed to keep building on these gains in India- USA strategic partnership. PM called Russia an abiding friend and said he held long conversations with President Putinon the challenges that confront the world today; and their trusted and strategic partnership, especially in the field of defence has deepened. With Europe, he said he has a vision of strong partnership in Indias development, especially in knowledge industry and smart urbanization.

India has for decades been at the forefront of sharing its capacities and strengths with fellow developing countries. India has further strengthened its ties with its brothers and sisters in Africain the last couple of years and built meaningful development partnerships on the solid foundation of decades of traditional friendship and historical links. Today, the footprint of Indias development partnership stretches all across the globe. India appreciates the compelling logic of regional connectivity for peace, progress and prosperity. In its choices and actions, it has sought to overcome barriers to its outreach to West and Central Asia, and eastwards to Asia-Pacific. Two clear and successful examples of this were the tripartite agreement with Iran and Afghanistan on Chabahar; and Indias commitment to bring on line the International North South Transport Corridor.

PM Modi said that true to its traditions, India has shouldered the international burden of its commitments. It has led assistance and relief efforts in times of disaster. India was a credible first responder during the earthquake in Nepal, evacuation from Yemen and during humanitarian crises in the Maldives and Fiji. Indias strong belief in delinking terrorism from religion, and rejecting artificial distinctions between good and bad terrorism, were now a global talking point while those in its neighbourhood who support violence, encourage hatred, and export terror stand isolated and ignored. On the other pressing challenge of global warming, India has moved into a leading role. It has an ambitious agenda and an equally aggressive target to generate 175 GWwatts from renewable energy. India has also brought the international community together to create an International Solar Alliance, to harness the energy of sun to propel human growth.

In conclusion, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi quoted ancient Indian scripture, Rig Vedawhich says"Let noble thoughts come to me from all directions.He said, As a society, we have always favoured needs of many over the want of one; and, preferred partnerships over polarization. We hold the belief that success of one must propel the growth of many. Our task is cut out. And, our vision is clear. Our journey of transformation begins at home. And, is strongly supported through our constructive and collaborative partnerships that span the globe. With resolute steps at home, and expanding network of reliable friendships abroad, we will grasp the promise of a future that belongs to over a billion Indians. And in this endeavor, you will find in India, my friends, a beacon of peace and progress, stability and success, and access and accommodation.

India-Azerbaijan Dostluq Festival to mark 25 years of diplomatic relations

To mark the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Azerbaijan, the Embassy of India announced that it will be holding a year-long India-Azerbaijan Dostluq Festival during 2017. India was among the first countries which formally recognized Azerbaijans independence in December 1991 and established formal diplomatic relations in February 1992.

The India-Azerbaijan Dostluq Festival would include several cultural events by cultural troupes from India as well as partners from Azerbaijan highlighting the shared aspects of civilizational and cultural heritage between the two friendly countries including multi-culturalism and respect for all religions. The matter of celebration of India-Azerbaijan Dostluq Festival was discussed at the high-level Consultations between the Foreign Ministries of India and Azerbaijan held recently in Baku on 28 July 2016 and both sides agreed to hold these celebrations in a befitting manner. It has also received the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Government of India which has agreed to send of Indian cultural delegations to Azerbaijan.

The Embassy, along with its partners, including the Indian Association in Azerbaijan (IAA)is working on a calendar of cultural events to be under India-Azerbaijan Dostluq Festival during 2017. It would be mainly a celebration of the shared ethos of multi-culturalism cherished by our two countries and the love and friendship between the people. The India-Azerbaijan Dostluq Festival was formally launched on 25 September 2016 at the Indian Food Festival organized jointly by the Embassy of India in Baku and the Indian Association in Azerbaijan (IAA) in Hyatt Regency Hotel, Baku.

India- Azerbaijan trade records more than 60 pct growth in 2016

The trade and economic exchanges between India and Azerbaijan progressed from strength to strength in 2016. Ambassador of India Sanjay Rana informed that the two sides successfully held several meetings at governmental level in 2016 devoted to trade and economic relations, including the 4th Session of consultations between the Foreign Ministries in July 2016, and the 4th Session of Inter-governmental Commission in Baku in October 2016. Following the discussions of the India- Azerbaijan Inter-governmental Commission, the two sides signed a Protocol listing the areas of collaboration and cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, transportation, energy, industrial production, agriculture, tourism, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, education and Information technology.

Ambassador Rana informed that the bilateral trade between India and Azerbaijan has increased by 63% in 2016 as compared to 2015. He said that in year 2017, India hopes to achieve new milestones in its relationship with Azerbaijan. Building on Indias ONGC Videsh presence as a shareholder in AzeriChiragGunashli oilfield and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC), Indian companies are keen for partnership in undertaking projects in petrochemical sector such as building and renovating oil refineries. Indian companies are also eager to make use of opportunities in non-oil sectors, like agriculture and pharmaceuticals and information technology, which are being given a lot of support by the Government of Azerbaijan.

The Embassy of Indian in Baku and the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Emloyers) Organization of the Republic of Azerbaijan jointly organized a business Seminar on Make in India on 12 February 2016 in Hyatt Regency Baku. Around 70 entrepreneurs and companies from different sectors participated in the event.

Ambassador informed that during his recent meeting with PHARMEXCIL (Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India) in Mumbai in December 2016, many Indian pharmaceutical companies indicated their readiness to visit Azerbaijan and look at the opportunities for business, including joint ventures with Azerbaijani companies and possibilities of setting up manufacturing or packing units for pharmaceuticals.

India and Azerbaijan streamline visa procedures

India has added Azerbaijan to the list of countries whose nationals can apply for e-TOURIST VISA (e-TV) through online application, informed the Consular Officer of the Embassy of India in Baku. This visa would soon become available to Azerbaijani travelers who plan to visit India for recreation, sight-seeing, casual visit to meet friends or relatives, short duration medical treatment or casual business visit. The visa applicants can apply online and it would not require any facilitation by any intermediary/agents.

It was also informed that in December 2016, Azerbaijan has also included India among the 81 countries whose citizens can take advantage of ASAN Visa through ASAN Visa Portal designed to simplify the procedure for issuing visas to foreigners. It was mentioned that the streamlining of the visa procedure is expected to would increase flow of tourists and businessmen between the two countries and would give a new impetus to people-to-people exchange and business relations between the two friendly countries.

India doubles training slots for Azerbaijan under ITEC Programme

India has offered 20 training slots for students and professionals from Azerbaijan in year 2017 under the Indian Technical Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, said the Embassy of India in Baku. It was informed that since 2004, more than 100 government officials, professionals and businessmen from Azerbaijan have completed different courses in India under the ITEC programme which was started by the Government of India in September 1964 to share its developmental experience and expertise in various fields with its international partners like Azerbaijan.

ITEC Programme has three important components namely, delivering technical assistance, technology transfer and training or capacity building. Under capacity building, the Government of India provides fully funded scholarship at top-class institutions in India. The scholarship covers international travel, course fees, accommodation, books, medical expenses in India and sundry expenses. Under this scheme, there are currently 56 empanelled top-class Indian institutions conducting around 300 courses every year and around 10, 000 students come from over 160 countries to India to participate in these courses.

It was informed that India and Azerbaijan enjoy close and friendly relations and have an active cooperation between them in many areas including political, commercial and investment, educational and cultural. Both India and Azerbaijan are committed to develop a strong, vibrant and mutually beneficial partnership with each-other. Seeing good response from Azerbaijan, it was decided to double the number of training slots available for participants from Azerbaijan during 2017 to 20 per year.

The article is provided by the Indian Embassy in Baku.

---

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25 January 2017 13:24 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The two-day talks in Astana on the Syrian conflict ended with agreement of Russia, Turkey and Iran to jointly monitor the fragile cease-fire between the Syrian regime and rebels.

The mechanism will observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire, prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the ceasefire.

The government and the opposition both said they supported the plan. Each side has accused the other of routinely violating the truce, which was announced in December 2015.

Many assessed the tripartite agreement as a step toward a political solution to end the six-year war.

When we came here to Astana, our immediate priority was to ensure the consolidation of the cease-fire, United Nations Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said at a news conference. He has said in the past that previous cease-fires broke down because of a lack of monitoring and agreement on how to implement them.

The head of the Russian delegation, the president's special envoy on Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev said the task force will start activity starting next month, RIA Novosti reported.

The tasks of this group will be focused just on the issues of compliance with the cease of hostilities and preventing any violations of it, he added.

In the joint statement,the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey also reaffirmed their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, non-sectarian and democratic State, as confirmed by the UN Security Council.

They noted that there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that it can only be solved through a political process.

Although the key topic of the talks was the ceasefire agreement, political issues also were not ignored, in particular the creation of the new constitution.

Russia drummed up political support for the talks in Astana, which appeared aimed at leveraging its rejuvenated ties with Turkey to give Moscow a greater voice in efforts to broker a settlement.

The U.S. has been a key backer of Syrias opposition under former President Barack Obama. But President Donald Trump decided to largely sit out the talks and not to send a delegation from Washington, and the U.S. was represented only by its ambassador to Kazakhstan.

---

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We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Here are a few facts that every employer should know or, at the very least, desperately need to hear. First, more than four out of five workers feel that corporate culture READ THE REST
25 January 2017 13:32 (UTC+04:00)

Irans Foreign Minister, Mohammad-Javad Zarif, said one of the major achievements of the landmark nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is that it has tranquilized international atomshphere in Iran's favor.

'The JCPOA is not facing a serious threat, if we try to preserve it ourselves, said the minister on January 24, IRNA reported.

Referring to his ministry's recent report to Irans Parliament on the one-year anniversary of the JCPOA implementation, Zarif said the statistics mentioned in that report have clearly indicated that after beginning of sanctions against Iran oil industry, oil price had fallen down with no increase.

Lengthy negotiations resulted in the adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the fulfillment of which could completely remove previously lifted economic and financial sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, the United States and the European Union.

The long-anticipated Deal achieved in Vienna on July 14, 2015, committed Iran not to produce weapons-grade plutonium for 15 years, keep no more than 300 kg of enriched uranium to 3.67 percent, to convert nuclear facilities and use them exclusively for peaceful purposes.

Zarif further said sound implementation of the JCPOA led to removal of related economic sanctions.



He said under pretext of the countrys nuclear activities, Irans dossier had been referred to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and sanctions against Iran were hence further severed.



In fact, those sanctions had nothing to do with the JCPOA but had created an international atmosphere against the country, Zarif said.

Meanwhile, Iranian government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakh stated that Iran's nuclear program was and always will be exclusively peaceful nature.

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25 January 2017 16:42 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Eyvazova

With improved political and economic relations, Iran sees tourism industry a source for generating wealth, and is seeking to make the best use of the nuclear deal signed in January 2016.

Steady, but quite a big increase is recorded in the number of foreign tourists visiting the country as Iran and world powers began implementing the landmark nuclear deal that lifted sanctions in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program.

The number of European tourists coming to Iran increased by 50 percent after the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), according to Zahra Ahmadipour, head of Irans Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization.

Many foreign media outlets introduced Iran as one of the top three tourist destinations in 2016, Trend cited Ahmadipour as saying on January 24.

Over the past year, about 20 delegations from various countries have visited Iran to seek opportunities for building hotels, Ahmadipour said, adding currently four or five countries are in serious negotiations with Iran over cooperation in the hospitality sector.

"I can say this much that by March some good things will happen. In two or three weeks the representatives of some very famous hotel brands are also visiting Tehran," she added, noting that French companies are the pioneers in the talks.

Ahmadipour also said Iran is pursuing efforts to ease visa conditions with as many countries as possible. "We have visa waiver with 37 countries. We recently increased the visa validity from 15 to 90 days. Also, we are in talks to bilaterally ease visa conditions for tourist groups, she added.

The official previously said that Iran needs to breathe fresh air into the sector in order to achieve sustainable growth and grasp boom in the number of foreign arrivals.

In July 2016, Iran increased its visa on arrival extension from 1 month to 3 months, while citizens of 190 countries can obtain visa on arrival at the countrys airports with one-month validation.

The Iranian tourism industry began to experience a rebirth after Hassan Rouhani was elected president in July 2013. His administration has taken steps to fulfill its election promise to boost tourism. In 2014, Iran hosted more than 5 million foreign tourists, bringing in some $7.5 billion in revenues.

In 2015, official figures put the number of incoming tourists at more than 5.2 million, generating over $8 billion.

Iran is home to 19 UNESCO-registered sites, including the ancient city of Bisotun. A country rich in historical and cultural treasures, Iran seeks to attract foreign investment and boost the badly-hit tourism industry.

---

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25 January 2017 12:44 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Uzbekistan and Afghanistan signed a number of intergovernmental documents aimed at intensifying the bilateral cooperation.

The documents were signed during an official visit of the Uzbek delegation headed by Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov to Afghanistan, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry reported.

The Uzbek delegation held a meeting with Senior Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Humayun Kayumi and the Presidents Special Representative for development of cooperation with Central Asia and Russia, Muhammad Shakir Korgar.

The sides discussed cooperation in political, trade-economic, transport and communications, cultural, humanitarian and other fields.

Kamilov discussed the issues of cooperation between the two countries within international organizations such as the UN, SCO, OIC and other international organizations with his Afghan counterpart, Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani.

Following the talks, the two countries signed a Trade and Economic Road Map of Bilateral Cooperation, the implementation of which will allow bringing the trade turnover index to $ 1.5 billion as soon as possible.

In January-October 2016 the Uzbek-Afghan trade turnover amounted to $ 429 million. The two sides noted that Uzbekistan and Afghanistan have sufficient capacity to increase mutual trade turnover.

Moreover, entrepreneurs of the two countries signed contracts on the supply of medicines and medical products, "Ambulance" cars, wheat, electrical appliances totaling more than $49.3 million.

In addition, a protocol of intention on further development of cooperation in the field of transport infrastructure , which includes the participation of the Uzbek side in the joint rail and road projects, a protocol of intention on establishment of a joint commission on security and a ministerial memorandum of understanding were signed.

Uzbekistan and Afghanistan also signed an agreement between the Interior Ministries on cooperation in combating illicit trafficking of drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors.

---

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25 January 2017 16:20 (UTC+04:00)

Russia is stepping up its cooperation with Turkey, Iran and other countries of the region to resolve urgent issues in Syria, said Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister.

"We are increasing cooperation with Turkey, Iran, other regional states to resolve urgent issues of the Syrian crisis. Thanks to the coordinated efforts, primarily via military agencies, it was possible to liberate Aleppo from extremists, then introduce the cessation of hostilities on the basis of the agreement of December 29 last year," Lavrov said speaking in the Russian parliament, Sputnik reported.

The nationwide ceasefire in Syria backed by Russia and Turkey came into effect on December 30 and was later supported by a UN Security Council resolution.

The first talks in a year between the two warring sides in the Syria conflict was held in the Kazakh capital of Astana on January 23 24. Russia, Turkey and Iran were sponsoring the two day meeting.

In a joint statement of Russia, Iran and Turkey issued following Syrian peace talks, the countries agreed to create a trilateral group on monitoring the Syrian ceasefire.

Lavrov further said that the outcome of the latest meeting between the armed Syrian opposition and government delegations in Kazakhstan takes the crisis settlement efforts to the next level.

Russia's draft of the Syrian constitution takes into account the interests of official Damascus, the opposition and other regional players, Lavrov added.

"We have distributed the draft constitution in Astana, which we developed taking into account everything that we have heard from the opposition, the government, and from regional countries over the years, he said.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Iranian Strategic Research Center at the Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati said the fact that the Syrian authorities and some opposition groups signed a ceasefire agreement, as well as mulled the transition of opposition groups under the control of the Syrian government in the future, would be a useful step.

"There is a big hope that the meeting in Astana will contribute to further maintenance of the ceasefires" he said, noting that it is not logical to expect the resolution of all disputes in the framework of a single meeting.

Armed conflict continues in Syria since March 2011. Government troops are confronted by militants of different armed groups. Russia has begun airstrikes on terrorist facilities in Syria since 30 September 2015. The Russian military involvement follows an official request from President Bashar Assad to President Vladimir Putin.

---

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25 January 2017 16:59 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Irans Deputy Oil Minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia has said US President Donald Trump brings potential for engagement and partnership.

There is a great potential for President Trump as a non-conventional politician to review and revise the situation and see that there is great benefit both for the US, for American people, for creating jobs there, revitalizing the oil and gas business there. Theres great potential for engagement and partnership in Iran for American companies, Zamaninia told CNN January 25.

As an oil and gas official, I hope we can de-couple politics from economic cooperation. We would very much like to see the primary sanctions lifted, the deputy oil minister said.

He said despite concerns about US-Iran relations during the presidency of Trump, he does not foresee a conflict.

We see a lot of indication that there is a departure in the current administration from the campaign slogans and we dont see a conflict coming up.

During his presidential campaign, Trump spoke harshly about Iran, criticizing the then incumbent US administration for striking a nuclear deal with Tehran and stating he would tear the deal.

---

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Kelly Schneider, 23, faces a federal hate crime charge in the April 2016 death of Steven Nelson, who was lured by Schneider, Jayson C. Woods, Daniel A. Henkel and Kevin R. Tracy to a site near Lake Lowell in Idaho with a promise of sex for money.

Schneider, kicked him repeatedly with steel-toed boots, then stripped and robbed him in the pre-dawn darkness near Gotts Point,leaving him to die prosecutors said.

The critically injured man walked, naked and without shoes, for about a half mile to reach a house and get help. He died several hours later at a hospital but was able to provide Canyon County sheriffs investigators with detailed information that helped identify his attackers.

In court Monday, Schneider said he intended to rob Nelson but not kill him. He also admitted kicking the man repeatedly and acknowledged that his actions caused the mans death, said Christ Topmiller, Canyon Countys chief criminal deputy prosecutor.

Schneider pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in state court on Jan. 23. two days later, in district court, Schneider pleaded not guilty to the charge of a hate crime, a federal offense.

Nelson was a Boise State University employee and local actor whose murder provoked outcry from LGBT advocates across the state. It also drew attention to Idahos glaring lack of legal protections for LGBT people. In the Gem State, no law prohibits employment, public accommodations or housing discrimination against people based on their gender identity or sexual orientation, nor does its malicious harassment law does cover crimes motivated by victims LGBT status.

Schneider faces up to life in prison when sentenced March 20 in 3rd District Court. Prosecutors can recommend a fixed sentence as high as 28 years before parole eligibility, and the defense can ask for as little as 10 years,

#JusticeForSteven

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It's only been a handful of days since Donald Trump took office, but we're already getting strong signals about the sort of administration he intends to run: workers at US government agencies have been banned from making any public disclosures of the research they conduct at public expense until new political minders can be installed to ensure that these facts don't contradict Trump's official narrative; and six journalists have been charged with felonies for covering the protests during the inauguration.



The ban on public disclosures covers all "public-facing documents": "news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content." Government scientists must submit all upcoming appearances at conferences and meetings to the administration for approval. This echoes the tactics deployed by Canada's discredited Stephen Harper government, whose official climate denial stance was accompanied by a "war on science" that included suppression of publicly funded science and the shut-down of the world's largest scientific instrument: the Experimental Lakes Area.

A total of six media workers are facing 10 year prison sentences and fines of $25,000 after being arrested while covering the Trump inauguration, after being "indiscriminately targeted people for arrest en masse based on location alone," according to the National Lawyers' Guild.

None of the arrest reports for the six journalists makes any specific allegations about what any of them are supposed to have done wrong. Keller's report, which also covers the arrests of an unknown number of unidentified other people, includes a note that a police vehicle was vandalized. "I had absolutely nothing to do with the vandalism," said Keller. Reports on the arrests of five of the six journalists contain identical language alleging that "numerous crimes were occurring in police presence". They state that windows were broken, fires were lit and vehicles were damaged. "The crowd was observed enticing a riot by organizing, promoting, encouraging and participating in acts of violence in furtherance of the riot," the police reports said. The US attorney's office for Washington DC, which is prosecuting those arrested, declined to comment on the journalists' specific cases but said it was continuing to review evidence from the day with the police.

Four more journalists get felony charges after covering inauguration unrest

[Jon Swaine/The Guardian]

Trump bans agencies from 'providing updates on social media or to reporters'

[Jamiles Lartey/The Guardian]
Concern for detained Burmese Baptist pastors

Two Burmese Baptist pastors whose detention by the military prompted an international outcry have been handed to police  but now face up to five years in prison

Nawng Latt and Gam Seng, ethnic Kachin Christians, went missing after being called to military base on December 24.



The detention was linked to their assisting journalists investigating an unlawful military airstrike on a Catholic Church - resulted in an international outcry. A statement from the international NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) called for their release. Amnesty International and Fortify Rights also issued statements, while British MPs spoke in Parliament to ask the Burmese government to investigate the disappearance of the pastors.



On 19 January the military then released a statement confirming they were holding the two men.



According to The Irrawaddy, the pastors were handed to police by the military on 22 January, where they have now been visited by members of the Kachin Baptist Convention.



HRW updated its report on Wednesday to state the pastors had now been charged under the Unlawful Associations Act.



It said the Burmese government has long used the Unlawful Associations Act to restrict freedom of association and detain peaceful activists. The law carries a sentence of up to five years in prison.



'The arrest of the two Kachin Baptist leaders appears to be retaliation for their help in exposing wartime abuses,' said Matthew Smith, chief executive officer of Fortify Rights. 'The military came clean about their detention only after local and international outcry, but theyre are still at grave risk.'



Fighting between the Burmese military and the Kachin Independence Army in northern Burma has displaced more than 23,000 people during the past several weeks, HRW reported.

















Baptist Times, 25/01/2017
St. Petersburg police are investigating an early-morning shooting Wednesday.

Man in critical condition after St. Petersburg shooting

Witnesses report seeing man get into car, leave scene after shooting

Investigation ongoing

According to police, a man was shot multiple times just before 4 a.m. on 15th Street South between 14th Avenue and 15th Avenue. Officers said the man, whose identity has not been released, managed to make it to a liquor store on 16th Street South before collapsing.

He was rushed to an area hospital where he is in stable condition, police said.

Witnesses reported seeing a man jump into a vehicle and speed off after the shooting, police said. Witnesses are cooperating with police and a suspect is being sought.

The immediate area of 16th Street South around the shooting scene was closed for several hours Wednesday morning.
Oregon Coast King Tides Party Shows Off Photos, Data

Published 01/24/2017 at 10:59 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Newport, Oregon)  Now that this season's citizen science King Tide Project is over, it's time to party. As much as you can party with photographic data, that is.

The public is invited to a party to celebrate the success of this winters project, through which volunteers photographically document the years highest tides, and start preparing for next years king tides.

The King Tide Wrap-Up Party takes place in Newport on Friday, January 27. It happens at 5:30 p.m. at the Rogue Brewery in South Beach (2320 S.E. Marine Science Dr.). The event is free and finger food will be provided; beer and more substantial fare are for purchase. The best of this winters King Tide Project photos will be shown throughout the evening.

The speaker for the occasion is Julie Sepanik (pictured at right), whose topic is Planning for Future Flooding in Oregons Estuaries. She is a NOAA Coastal Management Fellow, stationed with the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD). Her academic background includes investigating the response of salt marshes to sea-level rise, and her current project with DLCD is a sea-level rise exposure inventory for communities along Oregon coast estuaries, exploring the impacts climate change is likely to have on estuaries and their resources. This information will aid coastal cities and counties in planning for resilience in the face of climate impacts.

Sepanik will discuss the flooding scenarios being developed, and how citizen science such as the King Tide Project can help in visualizing these models. There will be plenty of time for questions. The talk will help to place the project in its long-term context.

Oregons King Tide Project is part of a worldwide initiative through which anyone with a camera can help document the reach of the years highest high tides, often called king tides.

While king tide isnt a scientific term (its Australian slang, since the project began on that continent), it is used to describe an especially high tide event, when the sun, moon, and earth are in alignment, causing the greatest gravitational pull on the tides. When king tides occur during floods or storms, water levels can rise to higher levels and have the potential to impact infrastructure, property, and the coastline.

King Tide events give us the opportunity to peek into the future and see what the impacts of sea level rise could look like on our coastal communities, said Phillip Johnson,Executive Director of Oregon Shores and CoastWatch. Even a small increase in sea levels could increase the intensity and impacts of winter storms along the Oregon coast, exacerbating chronic hazards like erosion and flooding, and decreasing the width of the public beach. By capturing images of these extreme high tides, scientists and planners hope to gain insight into how rising sea levels will impact coastal areas in the future.

Johnson said the long-term dataset, based on the contributions of volunteers, can help inform residents and decision makers about the need to plan for the coming changes to our natural and built environments.

The project will take place again next year, so the Wrap-up Party is also an opportunity to learn about how to participate in the future.

For more information about the technical aspects of the project, contact Meg Reed, Coastal Shores Specialist with Oregon Dept. of Land Conservation and Development, (541) 574-0811, [email protected] For information about participating in the project or about the party, contact Fawn Custer, CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator, at (541) 270-0027, [email protected] Newport Hotels for this event - Where to eat - Map and Virtual Tour. More about Newport below:

















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Orange County Commissioners voted Tuesday to amend the county's budget to cover a multimillion-dollar payment to the family of a man who died in county custody in 2011.

Orange County Judge Stephen Brint Carlton said the county has until Feb. 15 to pay the $3.1 million settlement to the estate of Robert Montano, a 41-year-old man found dead in a county jail cell in October 2011.

The county's 2016-2017 budget projected a $7.8 million deficit, the largest in years, and included just $700,000 for costs associated with lawsuits, claims and settlements. In the past two fiscal years, Orange County has spent less than $450,000 on legal expenses, according to county records.

Carlton declined to discuss the case or the financial impact of the settlement but said after the payment is made that he plans to host a public meeting for county officials to outline the details of the case "so people can get the facts and be assured this will never happen again."

On Dec. 28, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans denied a rehearing in the case sought by Orange County. The Fifth Circuit ruled earlier that Orange County's negligence led to Montano's death in an observation room at the jail.

An Orange County deputy arrested Montano on Oct. 7,2011, on suspicion of public intoxication, contending to jail personnel that Montano appeared to have ingested "bath salts," a kind of artificial intoxicant that can produce hallucinations.

The "bath salts" assertion became accepted by jail personnel, including nurses on duty, according to court testimony. Montano, 41, was never charged with any offense.

An autopsy found no drugs in Montano's system. Testimony showed Montano, who was never charged with any offense, was a schizophrenic.

Reporter Dan Wallach contributed to this story. NKrebs@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/natalie_krebs
Earlier this week, Judge John Bates, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled against Aetna's proposed Humana deal, which the American College of Physicians supported in a statement.

In a 156-page opinion, Judge Bates ruled the deal would significantly reduce competition in the Medicare Advantage market in 364 complaint counties and three complaint counties in Florida.

The organization deemed the decision a "win" for both patients and physicians. Nitin S. Damle, MD, ACP president, said he personally supports decision due to his career as a practicing primary care internist. He said, "I am relieved that the proposed merger will be blocked. This merger would have resulted in higher prices and less competition, and ultimately resulted in a strain on patients, both in their choice of insurance provider and in the cost that would be passed on to them."

The ACP previously voiced its concerns over the merger in December 2015 to the Assistant Attorney General.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center assessed the conditions that accounted for the highest number of unplanned hospital readmissions within 30 days, with sepsis leading the pack, according to MedPage Today.

Researchers analyzed 1,187,697 hospitalizations linked to unplanned readmissions within 30 days to reach their conclusions regarding the following five conditions that led to the highest number of unplanned readmissions.

 Sepsis: 12.2 percent

 Heart failure: 6.7 percent

 Pneumonia: 5 percent

 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: 4.8 percent

 Acute myocardial infarction: 1.3 percent

"For physicians and patients, I think the most important implication of this study is that sepsis is an acute illness with long-term consequences," Sachin Yende, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh and study co-author, told MedPage Today. "Most people think that once you get better from sepsis and are discharged from the hospital, you don't have to worry about any consequences. What this study shows is that many of the patients are likely to come back into the hospital within 30 days."
The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board gave Elgin, Ill.-based Advocate Sherman Hospital the green light to build its ASC in Elgin, according to the Daily Herald.

Here are five key points:



1. The 15,000-square-foot surgery center costs an estimated $12.7 million.



2. The ASC will offer services including general surgery, orthopedics, otolaryngology, ophthalmology and urology.



3. In November 2016, the board held a hearing where ASC proponents and opponents voiced their opinions regarding the center. Those opposing the hospital's ASC plans say local residents have plenty of options for such procedures at existing facilities.



4. Advocate Sherman Hospital plans to begin construction in August 2017 and open the ASC in June 2018.



5. The surgery center is a joint venture between Deerfield, Ill.-based Surgical Care Affiliates, 13 physician investors and Advocate Sherman Hospital.
The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board gave board approval for Urbana, Ill.-based Carle, a health system, to relocate its surgery center within Champaign, Ill., according to WAND 17.

Here are four notes:

1. Carle will move services it currently offers at the Champaign SurgiCenter to a new facility, also in Champaign.

2. The facility is equipped with more space, making way for additional operating rooms, recovery space and space designated for employees.

3. Over the past five years, Champaign SurgiCenter's surgery volume has jumped 17 percent, leading the center to file the CON for relocation late last year.

4. The existing facility in Champaign has been operating for nearly 20 years.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 to lessen the economic burden of the ACA.

Fourteen industry thought leaders and executives discuss the impact on physicians, hospitals and medtech.

Laura Wooster. Interim Senior Vice President of Public Policy, American Osteopathic Association (Chicago). "President Trump's executive order opens the door to move healthcare reform beyond the path Congress started with its budget votes. It is now up to policymakers to decide how they want to move forward, and when we might see concrete proposals.

As proponents of patient-centered care, the American Osteopathic Association's priority is to ensure future policy puts patients in a better situation than they are today. Our physicians, who practice in every medical specialty and region in this nation, will be looking closely at proposed policies, specifically in terms of patient access to high quality, affordable care.

The osteopathic philosophy of medicine focuses on the needs of the whole person. The AOA strongly supports delivery models that emphasize prevention and coordinated care with primary care as a cornerstone. We hope lawmakers continue the transformation toward a value-based health care system that benefits patients, and broadens opportunities for physicians."

Joel Shalowitz, MD. Professor of Preventive Medicine at Feinberg School of Medicine Professor of Executive Education Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.). "I view the executive order as more of a general policy statement than an instrument of actual change. Congressional action is required to repeal or amend the ACA and the regulations related to it require a statutory comment period. It is a 'shot over the bow' that says the new president is serious about his repeal agenda.

Two important issues are noteworthy, however. First, the real financial hardship people face is not the penalties assessed for lack of insurance, but the high deductibles, which are often far more than those penalties. Second, the action that would be most disruptive to the ACA would be a Presidential order for the Justice Department to withdraw its appeal in: House of Representatives v. Burwell. In that action, the House prevailed in the lower court as it challenged the Executive Branch's ability to subsidize insurance premiums without Congressional appropriation. If the court decision stands, the exchanges could be destabilized as more Americans would have to pay the full cost of their insurance."

John Greenbaum. National Practice Leader of Employee Benefits of Risk Strategies Company (Boston). "The executive order's references to 'makers of medical devices, products or medications' could lead to the suspension of the medical device tax and the tax on the pharmaceutical industry. While this could prove a windfall for these two groups it would further weaken the financial underpinnings of the structure and lead more quickly to its collapse."

Julie Scott Allen, Senior Vice President, District Policy Group at Drinker Biddle (Washington, D.C.). "For medical device and pharmaceutical companies, the executive order offers a promise to adjust regulations that impose 'fiscal burden' on devices, products, or medications. Full repeal of the medical device tax is certainly one of the most significant focuses of the device industry. While repeal requires Congress to act, the Executive Order infers support for the taxs repeal."

Dave Dyell, CEO of Jellyfish Health (Panama City, Fla.). "Although the language is broad, President Trumps executive order seems aimed to open the market up to more options for healthcare consumers, and not just for insurance. Look at section four's reference to more interstate commerce of healthcare services. Really, it's time to double down on improving the patient experience, or local healthcare consumers could be lost to national telehealth chains. The window to differentiate is short, too. Yes, you need an overall patient experience strategy, but it needs at least one tactic that immediately creates a better experience  like mobile apps that make it easy for patients to find and schedule care in their area, and even make anywhere the waiting room for them."

Dr. Stuart Hochron. Chief Medical Officer and founder of Uniphy Health (Minneapolis). "Much of what this bill outlines is actually quite laudable and not a surprise; it reflects the core of the Republican approach to healthcare and takes advantage of what we've learned in the past eight years. The proposed centrality of the HSA creates a huge opportunity to unleash innovation. Consumers will need digital tools to help them make decisions about how and where to spend the healthcare dollars they control. There will be demand for powerful comparison features allowing consumers to look at service providers by price, availability, convenience, reliability. I believe this could be the dawn of the 'Amazon of Health': A seamless and personalized user experience where the next generation of intelligent applications helps consumers quickly and efficiently make smart buying decisions and healthcare systems can deliver added value and earn consumer loyalty."

David Lareau. CEO of Medicomp Systems (Chantilly, Va.). "Regardless of what the new administration decides to do about the ACA, the era of value-based (or outcomes-based) reimbursement is going to stay with us. As the population ages, it will be more important than ever for enterprises to make better use of clinical data at the point of care to improve outcomes and control costs."

Jon Elwell, CEO Kno2. "Regardless of administration (Trump, Obama or otherwise), healthcares cost and its affordability will continue to be a core focus. The United States cannot continue to fund Medicare at the rate in which it is growing. With this in mind, healthcare stakeholders will need to work even more closely  leveraging interoperable technologies -- to lower healthcare costs, drive better care coordination and improve patient outcomes. This should  and will  happen, regardless of the administration. It's an economic imperative."

Jon Pearce, CEO for Zipnosis (Minneapolis). "The short answer is that it's unclear how this will directly impact physicians in the near term. I believe the shift from fee-for-service into value-based care is inevitable, even with Trump's executive order, so providers will continue to move in this direction. Innovative forms of healthcare delivery, such as virtual care, continue to be the future in a value-based care environment."

Ruchi Dhami. Director of Research at Recovery Brands (San Diego). "There is a large subset of the healthcare provider population, and consumers they serve, that will be negatively impacted by the recent waiving of ACA enforcement. The community I am speaking of are the ones fighting hard to combat overdoses and lead millions Americans into a life of recovery; they are addiction treatment providers.

Under the ACA, mental health and addiction treatment are considered essential benefits. This was a huge step forward, and one that benefited providers and consumers alike. In fact, more than 50 percent of Americans rely on some form of insurance to receive addiction treatment. However, without current ACA enforcement, insurers may neglect to cover treatment of these diseases to the same degree that they cover other chronic illnesses.

Historically speaking, this isn't a far-fetched concept as tensions between treatment providers and insurers have already been heightened. Oftentimes, treatment providers are forced to spend time navigating benefits and fighting insurance wars just to ensure individuals can receive the proper quality of care. Our country is in the midst of an opioid crisis, so for the benefit of consumers, I hope for a quick resolution  one that upholds these critical, essential benefits."

Elise Schuller Barajas, Board Certified Health Law attorney at Gray Reed & McGraw (Dallas). "Whether President Trump's executive order related to the Affordable Care Act serves any 'functional purpose' really depends on the intended function. The intent is most likely to send the message that President Trump is following through on his promise to do away with the ACA. It additionally sends a signal to the various government departments that the Trump administration is putting an end to strict ACA enforcement in favor of future regulations that will eventually eliminate it  which regulations will still need to go through the administrative process, including the publication of proposed regulations and comment period before finalization."

James Roosevelt Jr. Verrill Dana Attorney (Boston) and Former President and CEO of Tufts Health Plan. "President Trump's executive order appears to be intended to fulfill his campaign pledge to repeal the Affordable Care Act on day one of his presidency. Because of its broad and unspecific nature, the order creates great uncertainty for all segments of healthcare. It makes clear that further implementation of the Act beyond its current regulatory framework is halted but it does not clarify what, if any, provisions will not be enforced or reversed."

Sam Halabi. Associate Professor of Law at the University of Missouri (Columbia). "The fundamental bargain of the ACA was that insurers would take on more sick people in exchange for more healthy people enrolling. If only one half of the bargain is kept, no insurer would offer a policy without some kind of legal compulsion or financial incentive in its place."

Robert M. Goldberg, PhD. Vice President and Co-founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest (New York City). "It's hard to speculate at this point. But it's fair to say that the executive order has limited impact on coverage reimbursement or access."
Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Erlanger Health System's second-quarter earnings fell below budget projections, according to the Times Free Press.

On Monday, Erlanger CFO Britt Tabor told the system's board of trustees Erlanger ended the second quarter with operating income of $1.04 million, which fell significantly below the system's budget target of $3.04 million, according to the report.

Mr. Tabor told the board there were various factors that caused the system to miss its budget targets, including higher-than-expected overtime pay. The higher overtime expenses were largely due to the opening of the new Erlanger East Hospital Nov. 30 and high patient census during the holiday period. A minimal amount of overtime expenses were due to Erlanger's Epic implementation. Mr. Tabor said employees had to be shifted to work on the Epic project, which required the system to hire replacements, according to the report. However, according to Erlanger, the Epic overtime did not cause any material variance in the system's finances in the second quarter.

Erlanger also spent more than expected in the second quarter on pharmaceutical drugs and employee health insurance benefits.

The system ended the quarter with a net loss of $1.66 million, falling short of its budgeted net income of $487,000.

Erlanger President and CEO Kevin Spiegel said he was pleased with the system's second-quarter results on Monday, noting admissions and net patient revenue were up compared to the same period of the year prior, according to the report.

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Editor's note: This story was updated Jan. 25 to reflect the opening of Erlanger East Hospital and high patient census during the holidays were the main drivers of Erlanger's overtime expenses in the second quarter.
Verona, Wis.-based Epic and a group of plaintiffs can't reveal the settlement terms of a class-action lawsuit because the Supreme Court plans to hear a similar suit involving Epic, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

Earlier this month, Epic and a group of plaintiffs allegedly reached a settlement in a pending class-action lawsuit regarding overtime pay. The suit was filed in February 2015 on behalf of technical writers who were not working at Epic as of April 2014. The writers allege Epic classified them as being exempt from overtime wages.

In order to close the case, U.S. District Judge William Conley requested more information regarding the settlement. He gave both parties until Jan. 24 to submit documents explaining how the dispute was settled, the settlement amount proposed for each individual and any information on attorney fees.

Yesterday, Epic attorney Noah Finkel, JD, wrote to Judge Conley that the settlement, which was signed by all the plaintiffs, was reached through four demands or counter-demands, as well as four counter-offers. Mr. Finkel also wrote that "the parties cannot reveal the financial terms of that settlement in this pleading," citing confidentiality as a "material term of that settlement, particularly because the parties are continuing to litigate what the court has referred to as the 'companion case.'"

The "companion case" the U.S. Supreme Court plans to hear involves a separate overtime pay dispute. Technical writers employed by Epic in April 2014 allege the company required them to sign arbitration agreements preventing them from pursing group claims in court.
The hospital industry looks much different in 2017 compared to 2010. Changing economic, regulatory and consumer demands have accelerated large-scale reform in healthcare delivery across the country. And despite the drastic shift in the U.S. political landscape, healthcare experts expect the drive to reduce healthcare costs, increase efficiency and demonstrate value to remain steady or intensify.

Here are 50 facts and statistics about the hospital industry in 2017.

1. There are 5,564 registered hospitals in the U.S., according to the American Hospital Association. This statistic includes federal hospitals, long-term care hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, institutions for the mentally disabled and alcohol and other chemical dependency rehabilitation hospitals.

2. Of these, 4,862 are considered community hospitals. Community hospitals represent about 85 percent of all hospitals in the U.S. There are 2,845 nonprofit community hospitals and 1,034 for-profit community hospitals. Additionally, 983 are owned by state or local (county, hospital district) government entities.

3. Of all hospitals in the U.S., 1,829 serve rural communities and are considered rural hospitals.

4. Out of total registered hospitals, about 20.2 percent are state-owned, 58.5 percent are nonprofit and 21.3 percent are for-profit.

5. Of rural hospitals, 1,337 are designated as Critical Access Hospitals by CMS. CAHs are rural hospitals with no more than 25 beds and are at least 35 miles (15 miles in areas with mountainous terrain or only secondary roads) away from another hospital. CAHs are paid differently by CMS than traditional acute care hospitals; their payments reflect their operating costs, rather than their patient volumes.

6. Despite the high number of rural hospitals, many of them are at risk of closing. As of December 2016, 80 rural hospitals have closed in the last six years. About 673 rural hospitals across 42 states are vulnerable to closure, according to a February 2016 study from iVantage Analytics.

7. Academic medical centers are hospitals and health systems with a close affiliation with a medical school. AMCs feature residency and often fellowship training programs and pursue clinical research in addition to direct patient care. They also often are considered tertiary care centers, because of their ability to treat a full range of complex conditions and access to subspecialists. In 2015, approximately 400 U.S. hospitals were affiliated with a medical school. There are 145 accredited medical schools in the country, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

8. U.S. healthcare spending increased 5.8 percent in 2015 to a total of $3.2 trillion, according to CMS' Office of the Actuary. Healthcare spending accounted for 17.8 percent of the GDP in 2015, up from 17.4 percent in 2014.

9. Hospital mergers and acquisition activity dipped slightly in 2016 compared to 2015. There were 102 hospital transactions announced in 2016 compared to 112 transactions announced in 2015. Last year's deal volume is still a significant increase (55 percent) from the 66 transactions announced in 2010. The sustained activity hospital mergers and acquisitions "is not surprising" due to many healthcare organizations' concerns about financial viability in a rapidly changing market, the report stated.

10. Of the 102 reported mergers and acquisitions, 75 involved nonprofit hospital buyers and 27 involved for-profit hospital buyers.

11. The five largest for-profit hospital operators, based on the number of hospitals, include:

Hospital Corporation of America (Nashville, Tenn.)  169

Community Health Systems (Brentwood, Tenn.)  158

Tenet Healthcare (Dallas)  79

LifePoint Health (Brentwood, Tenn.)  72, which includes acute care facilities within Brentwood, Tenn.-based Duke LifePoint Health

Prime Healthcare Services (Ontario, Calif.)  44

12. The five largest nonprofit hospital systems, based on the number of hospitals, include:

Ascension Health (St. Louis)  141

Catholic Health Initiatives (Englewood, Colo.)  103

Trinity Health (Livonia, Mich.)  92

Baylor, Scott & White (Dallas)  48

Adventist Health Systems (Altamonte Springs, Fla.)  46

13. The five largest nonprofit hospitals in America (by bed count) are:

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center (New York City)  2,515

Florida Hospital Orlando  2,247

Baptist Medical Center (San Antonio)  1,563

Jackson Memorial Hospital (Miami)  1,558

Yale New Haven (Conn.) Hospital  1,541

14. The largest for-profit hospitals in America (by bed count) are:

Methodist Hospital (San Antonio) (affiliated with Methodist Healthcare System)  1,570

Edinburg

Chippenham Hospital (Richmond, Va.) (affiliated with HCA)  793

North Shore Medical Center (Miami) (data includes information for North Shore Medical Center - FMC campus)  771

Henrico Doctors' Hospital (Richmond, Va.) (affiliated with HCA)  767

15. The top five states with the most hospitals, according to Kaiser Health Facts,are:

Texas  404

California  342

Florida  210

Illinois  188

Pennsylvania  186

16. The following health systems that contain the most short-term acute care hospitals in the United States. (Note: These figures do not include psychiatric, rehabilitation, children's, critical access, long-term or "other" types of hospitals.)

HCA (Nashville, Tenn.)  167

Community Health Systems (Franklin, Tenn.)  149

Department of Veterans Affairs (Washington, D.C.)  141

Ascension Health (St. Louis)  84

Tenet Healthcare (Dallas)  62

17. The number of inpatient hospital facilities decreased from 6,522 in December 1990 to 6,142 in December 2014. Total inpatient hospital beds have dropped from 32.8 beds per 1,000 people in 1990 to 17.3 in 2014, a decrease of 47 percent, according to CMS.

18. Nationally, the hospital average length of stay significantly decreased from 9.0 days in 1990 to 5.0 days in 2014, a decrease of 44 percent, according to CMS.

19. The average cost per inpatient day in 2014, the latest data available, was $2,346 for nonprofit hospitals and $1,798 for for-profit hospitals. At nonprofit hospitals, the average cost per inpatient day was highest in California ($3,533) and lowest in South Dakota ($1,321). Among for-profit hospitals, the average cost per inpatient day was highest in New Jersey ($4,656) and lowest in South Dakota ($434).

20. There was an average of 2,174 outpatient visits per 1,000 people in 2014, up from an average of 2,000 visits in 2007, supporting the trend of inpatient surgeries moving to the outpatient setting.

21. The term "hospital acquired conditions" includes adverse drug events, catheter associated urinary tract defects, central line associated bloodstream infections, pressure ulcers and surgical site infections, among others. HHS estimated a 17 percent decline in HAC rates from 2010 to 2014, or 2.1 million fewer recorded HAC cases. HHS reported 87,000 fewer patient deaths in hospitals and nearly $20 billion in care cost savings as a result of the decrease in HACs over this period.

22. The American Hospital Association is the leading association representing U.S. hospitals. It is led by President and CEO Richard (Rick) Pollack.

23. The Federation of American Hospitals represents for-profit, investor-owned hospitals. It was founded in 1966 and is led by President and CEO Charles (Chip) Kahn.

24. America's Essential Hospitals represents safety-net hospitals, including many large, urban facilities. It is led by President and CEO Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH.

25. For 2012, the latest data available, the average operating margin for a nonprofit hospital was 2.6 percent, according to Moody's Investors Service.

26. In 2015, government payers underpaid hospitals for medical services by $57.8 billion, according to theAmerican Hospital Association. That year, under Medicare, hospitals received payment of 88 cents for every dollar spent caring for Medicare patients. Under Medicaid, hospitals received payment of 90 cents for every dollar spent caring for Medicaid patients.

27. From 1990 through 2015, U.S. hospitals' uncompensated care costs totaled $704.7 billion, according to a recent American Hospital Association report. From 2000 to 2015, national uncompensated care costs fluctuated, reaching a high of $45.9 billion in 2012, which represented 6.1 percent of total expenses. In 2015, total uncompensated care costs were $35.7 billion, representing 4.2 percent of total expenses  the lowest level in 26 years.

28. A greater number of hospitals and health systems continue to engage in alternative payment models with the goal of fully transitioning to value-based care delivery. Nationally hospitals reported about 50 percent of reimbursement they receive is related to a form of value measurement in 2016, up 4 percent from 2014.

29. But many provider organizations are still figuring out how to implement complex payment models successfully. Of U.S. hospitals involved in value-based contracts, 22 percent of hospitals reported meeting their goal to reduce administrative costs, 26 percent reported meeting goals to reduce healthcare costs, 30 percent reported meeting care coordination goals and 40 percent reported meeting goals for improving patient outcomes.

30. Industry experts expected value-based reform to have a negative financial impact on many providers, particularly on low-performing hospitals. But in an October 2015 report, the United States Government Accountability Office found the Value-Based Purchasing Program had "modest effects on Medicare payments and no apparent change in quality-of-care trends."

31. CMS and HHS have continued to aggressively pursue value-based care initiatives. By March 2016, CMS was nine months ahead of schedule when it attained its goal of tying 30 percent of Medicare payments to quality.

32. Hospitals and health systems are entering a variety of value-based payment models with CMS and private payers. Many value-based agreements with private payers are similar to CMS' VBP program where there are incentives for providing high-quality care that meets certain benchmarks. Others are more complex and may include accountable care organization arrangements, capitated payments for a patient over a set period of time, or bundled payments for certain medical and surgical services.

33. More than half of all Medicaid beneficiaries nationally received most or all of their care from risk-based managed care organizations in 2016, according to KFF. There were a total of 278 Medicaid MCOs as of September 2016.

34. In 2015, CMS star ratings on its Hospital Compare website as a way to streamline hospital ratings for patients trying to make healthcare decisions. CMS changed the formula for calculating hospitals' star ratings in December 2016, lowering the number of quality measures used from 64 measures in seven categories in October 2016 to 57 measures in the same seven categories, which are:

Mortality (7 measures)

Safety of care (8 measures)

Readmission (8 measures)

Patient experience (11 measures)

Effectiveness of care (11 measures)

Timeliness of care (7 measures)

Efficient use of medical imaging (5 measures)

35. As a result of changes to CMS' star rating formula, significantly fewer hospitals earned five-star recognition.

Five stars: 83 hospitals in December 2016 (112 in October 2016)

Four stars: 946 (970)

Three stars: 1,794 (1,789)

Two stars: 694 (701)

One star: 112 (121)

36. Accountable care organizations have proven a popular value-based model, at least in terms of systems willing to test their viability. ACOs are one of several programs created by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, which was created and funded by the ACA to pilot new care models intended to reduce costs and improve quality. CMS created several models for ACOs, including the Medicare Shared Savings Program, the Pioneer ACO program and the Next Generation ACO model. The 21 Next Gen ACOsannouncedin 2016  took on more performance risk than ACOs in other models, but they also have the potential to share in greater savings. The CMMI also launched the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Program, which will pay hospitals a bundled rate for certain hospital-based and outpatient services associated with selected DRGs.

37. There approximately 660 ACOs in the U.S. in 2015. As of January 2016, the number of ACOs rose to 838, according to Leavitt Partners.

38. Leavitt Partners and Health Affairs identified 1,217 accountable care or value-based contracts across the U.S. as of January 2016.

39. Because of demands to lower costs, improve quality, coordinate care and improve population health, hospitals are concerned with their alignment with physicians. The term 'clinical integration' has become a generic phrase to describe healthcare professionals working more closely together. But a CIN is actually a specific type of legal arrangement that allows hospitals and physicians to collaborate on improving quality and efficiency, while remaining independent entities. There were about 500 CIN entities in the U.S. in 2015, Advisory Board estimated. About 60 percent of hospitals indicated they were forming or planned to form a CIN in the next year, according to a 2015 Caradigm survey.

40. Despite the variety of models available to achieve clinical integration, physician employment has risen in popularity, likely because it eliminates many legal hurdles associated with hospital-physician relationships. According toMedscape's 2015 Physician Compensation Report, 63 percent of physicians are employed.

41. Anticipated physician shortages in certain areas of the country are also driving hospitals' efforts to align with physicians. The Association of American Medical Colleges estimated the U.S. physician shortage will reach between 61,700 and 94,700 physicians by 2025.

42. Physician shortages are expected in four broad categories: primary care, medical specialties, surgical specialties and other specialties. By 2025, AAMC estimated a shortfall of between 14,900 and 35,600 primary care physicians. Non-primary care specialties are expected to experience a shortfall of between 37,400 and 60,300 physicians.

43. Burnout, defined as physical and emotional exhaustion due to prolonged stress, has become increasingly prevalent among U.S. physicians.Nearly 50 percent of physicians reported frequent or constant feelings of professional burnout in the past year, according to a 2016 survey by Merritt Hawkins. Physicians who experienced burnout attributed their job dissatisfaction to two major sources: EHR data entry and increased clerical requirements under ICD-10.

44. Physicians spend, on average, 50 percent of their work day entering data into EHRs and completing clerical work. They spend 27 percent of work hours interacting with patients, according to a 2016 study in Annals of Internal Medicine.

45. The highest percentages of burnout occurred among physicians practicing emergency medicine (59 percent), followed by OB-GYNs (56 percent) and family physicians, internists, and infectious disease physicians (all at 55 percent), according to a 2017 Medscape survey. The top four categories are all physicians who deal directly with patients with a range of complex problems.

46. In total, healthcare added 474,700 jobs in 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's more than 2014 (309,000) and 2013 (159,700) combined. Healthcare added an average of 40,000 jobs per month in 2015, compared with an average of 26,000 per month in 2014, according to the BLS.

47. There was an 18 percent rate of turnover among hospital CEOs in 2015, the most recent year for which data is available, according the American College of Healthcare Executives. While lower than the record high of 20 percent reported for 2013, it was still among the highest rates reported in the last 15 years.

448. The average base salary for an independent health system CFO in 2014 was $416,200, while the average base salary for a CFO of an independent hospital was $247,900, according to Integrated Healthcare Strategies' "2014 National Healthcare Leadership Compensation Survey" report.

49. Many payers have narrowed their provider networks to better manage costs under the ACA. This trend, combined with the rise in popularity of high deductible health plans among consumers, has contributed to a rise in balance billing incidents. The emergency department has become a hot spot for balance billing cases due to the often involuntary nature of emergency treatment. One in five inpatient emergency department admissions resulted in a surprise medical bill from an out-of-network provider in 2014, according to a Health Affairs study.

50. Some hospitals have undertaken significant expansion and renovation projects as they prepare for an uptick in patient volumes. Here were the five most expensive hospital facility projects announced or completed in 2016:

1. Miami-based Jackson Health System in July unveiled a $1.8 billion building plan that includes rebuilding at the Jackson Memorial Hospital campus, expansions at its other facilities and the construction of a $253 million medical campus in Doral, Fla.

2. Cleveland-based MetroHealth System plans to borrow $1.25 billion to build a new hospital on its main campus.

3.UC San Diego Health on Nov. 20 opened Jacobs Medical Center in La Jolla, Calif., a nearly $1 billion, 10-story medical center equipped with enhanced amenities for patients and expanded clinical capabilities.

4. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Public Health Council voted Oct. 20 to approve Boston Children's Hospital's proposal to begin construction on a $1 billion expansion project.

5. City, state and federal officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 18 to mark the long-awaited opening of the Veterans Affairs hospital in New Orleans. Although it was projected to cost about $625 million, a U.S. Government Accountability Office report said the actual cost of the new hospital came closer to $1 billion.

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Rep. Tom Price, MD, R-Ga., faced another four hours of cross-examination Tuesday, this time with the Senate finance committee.

Grilled by Democrats and lauded by Republicans, Rep. Price's second hearing comes ahead of a vote that will determine his nomination. The committee recessed and will reconvene to vote "promptly," according to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

Here are five things to know about the second hearing.

1. Questions remain about the state of the ACA replacement plan. On Jan. 14, President Donald Trump told The Washington Post he plans to unveil his ACA replacement plan as soon as Rep. Price's nomination is confirmed. When Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, asked Tuesday if this was true, Rep. Price said, "It's true that he said that, yes," prompting laughter in the room. When Sen. Brown asked if the president lied to the public about working with Rep. Price on a replacement plan, Rep. Price did confirm he has "had conversations with the President about healthcare."

2. It remains unclear how President Trump's executive order on the ACA will be interpreted if Rep. Price is confirmed. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., pressed Rep. Tom Price to commit to making sure no American is worse off once HHS interprets President Trump's executive order. Rep. Price did not offer a direct answer, but said, "What I commit to, Senator, is working with you and every single member of Congress to make certain that we have the highest quality healthcare and that every single American has access to affordable coverage." When pressed again to make this commitment, Rep. Price said, "I guarantee you that the individuals that lost coverage under the ACA, we will commit to making certain that they don't lose coverage under whatever replacement plan comes forward."

3. Rep. Price said the Medicaid program, though vital, "has significant challenges." One in three physicians who should be seeing Medicaid patients do not accept them, Rep. Price said at the hearing. He has previously advocated turning Medicaid into a block grant program, a policy supported by many Republicans including President Trump. Those who oppose turning Medicaid into a block grant program say it would threaten many enrollees' coverage, which is currently a right under the entitlement program. When asked by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., if moving to a block grant would put people's coverage at risk, Rep. Price said, "I think it would be determined by how that was set up, if in fact that is what Congress did. Again, the role of HHS is to administer the laws that you [Congress] pass."

4. Rep. Price defended his stock trades. Sen. Wyden presented information with a "paper trail" that showed Rep. Price did not disclose the full value of his shares in Innate Immunotherapeutics. Sen. Wyden alleged Rep. Price underreported the value of this stock more than twice, and Rep. Price bought 400,000 shares at a discount unavailable to the public. However, Rep. Price maintained that the only reason the committee even knew this is because he took the steps necessary to disclose his trades in an ethical way. "Everything I did was ethical, above board legal and transparent," Rep. Price said. "There isn't anything that you have divulged here that hasn't been public knowledge."

5. Republicans defended Rep. Price, suggesting his nomination was being held up by partisan politics. "I have never seen this level of partisan rancor when it comes to dealing with a President from an opposing party," Sen. Hatch said. "I have never seen a party in the Senate  from its leaders on down  publicly commit to not only opposing virtually every nomination, but to attacking and maligning virtually every single nominee." The "grossly exaggerated and distorted attacks" on Rep. Price center on his ethics, not his qualifications, Sen. Hatch added.

Watch the full hearing here.

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Stillwater (Okla.) Medical Center's board of trustees approved a proposal to buy out the medical center's partner and become the sole owner of Judith Karman Bristol Hospice, also in Stillwater, according to the Stillwater News Press.

SMC reportedly paid its partner, Salt Lake City-based Bristol Hospice, $445,602 for its share in the hospice facility. The medical center plans to retain all existing employees and will reportedly not make any changes in hospice staffing or operation, according to the article.

SMC and Bristol Hospice took control of the financially troubled hospice facility in 2014. Bristol Hospice had been managing operations at the facility since 2015.
A U.S. appeals court is backing New Bedford, Mass.-based Southcoast Health System's policy giving hiring preferences to union-free employees, reports Reuters.

The case stems from a complaint filed in 2011 against Southcoast over its policy that grants union-free employees a hiring preference for union-free positions. The policy, which was written in the late 1990s, applies to all three Southcoast hospitals  Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, Mass., St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham, Mass.

Tobey Hospital is the only Southcoast hospital to have a unionized workforce, and workers there are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association and 1199 Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers East. 1199SEIU also represents employees in the Southcoast Visiting Nurse Association.

In 2011, 1199SEIU challenged Southcoast's union-free hiring policy, contending it discriminates against union members in violation of the National Labor Relations Act, according to an opinion issued Friday from a three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

According to the opinion, 1199SEIU's collective bargaining agreement for Tobey Hospital workers allows union members a hiring preference when filling union positions, and Southcoast's union-free hiring policy is "an effort to produce more even-handed hiring practices across its three hospitals."

The NLRB previously determined the policy was invalid because it "was not supported by a legitimate and substantial business justification." However, the appeals court on Friday vacated the board's order.

The appeals court said Southcoast Health's policy was valid because union employees were considered exclusively for other jobs, per a previously negotiated labor deal, according to Reuters.

In response to the opinion, David DeJesus Jr., senior vice president of human resources at Southcoast Health, said: "It's a matter of basic fairness. If people are restricted from applying to a job represented by a union in our healthcare system, then it should be reciprocal."

The union, on the other hand, expressed disappointment in the opinion.

"We are disappointed that the 1st Circuit did not adopt the board's ruling, which found that under clear federal labor law a non-union employer cannot discriminate against an employee because of her union status or support. It is decisions such as this which interpret the National Labor Relations Act so as to weaken the power and the voices of working people, and which ultimately contribute to wage inequality," Tyrek Lee Sr., executive vice president of 1199SEIU, said in a statement.

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The office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman reached a settlement with Cigna to eliminate polices previously banning coverage for claims related to psychiatric testing following an investigation of the insurer's mental health benefits.

Here are four things to know about the settlement.

1. Under the agreement, Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna will lift a written ban on coverage for claims involving testing for psychiatric conditions and autism spectrum disorder. The insurer also agreed to reprocess denied claims for autism spectrum disorder and pay a $50,000 penalty.

2. Following a 2016 complaint over Cigna's coverage ban on neuropsychological testing, the attorney general office's healthcare bureau launched an investigation into Cigna's mental health benefits management. The insurer's policy previously stated "Cigna does not cover neuropsychological testing" for psychiatric conditions and autism spectrum disorder "because such testing is considered educational in nature and/or not medically necessary."

3. The settlement requires Cigna to follow New York legislation mandating group health plans in the state provide "broad-based coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of mental, nervous or emotional disorders or ailments ... at least equal to the coverage provided for other health conditions."

4. Attorney General Schneiderman said in a statement that health insurers "must provide the same access to mental health services as they would for any other treatment. We will continue to aggressively enforce our healthcare parity laws to ensure that no New Yorker faces illegal barriers when seeking mental health treatment."
U.S. District Judge John Bates determined Aetna's August decision to exit most of the ACA exchanges where it sold health plans was not solely a business strategy, but was "for the purpose of improving its litigation position," according to the 156-page opinion issued Monday.

Here are five things to know about the decision.

1. Judge Bates ruled Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna's proposed $37 billion acquisition of Louisville, Ky.-based Humana would "substantially lessen competition" in the market for individual Medicare Advantage plans in 364 counties across 21 states and the market for individual plans sold on the public exchanges in 17 counties across three states.

2. Specifically, the judge said Aetna's withdrawal from the public exchanges in the 17 complaint counties was to evade "antitrust scrutiny [and] the Court gives that evidence little weight." He added Aetna and Humana "presented evidence of how unprofitable the public exchanges around the country were, and argued that Aetna withdrew as a business decision. But while that evidence tends to show that Aetna had good business reasons for reducing its exchange footprint across the country, it does not show that Aetna withdrew from these specific counties for business reasons."

3. Judge Bates pointed to evidence showing one market Aetna exited  Florida  was Aetna's third most profitable exchange presence in 2015 and at the start of 2016. The judge also referenced internal emails from Aetna's Florida Market President Christopher Ciano. Mr. Ciano said he couldn't "make sense out of the Florida decision  Never thought we would pull the plug all together. Based on the latest run rate data  we are making money from the on-exchange business."



4. The judge said because Aetna's exit was not based on the insurer's profit motive, it does not demonstrate Aetna's future actions in the Florida exchange markets, where antitrust concerns were highlighted by the Department of Justice.

5. Aetna warned the DOJ in a July 5 letter it would immediately take action to reduce its 2017 ACA exchange footprint if the DOJ sued to enjoin its acquisition of Humana. On July 21, the DOJ sued to block the deal, and in mid-August Aetna announced its exit, citing $430 million in losses on its individual plans since January 2014.
The CDC issued a new rule on Jan. 19, expanding the agency's authority to quarantine Americans amid public health responses for either emerging or re-emerging infectious disease.

The new rule empowers the CDC to restrict domestic travel amid a health crisis for the first time. It also grants the agency the ability to self-regulate when deciding to quarantine an individual, but does not provide a clear path for challenging the isolation order in federal court. Previously, the task of quarantine largely fell under state law. The new rule is set to take effect Feb. 21.

According to an op-ed published in The New York Times, this expansion of power should be greeted with concern.

Here are three reasons the CDC's enhanced quarantine authority should be cause for alarm, according to Times op-ed contributors Kyle Edwards, a law student at Yale in New Haven, Conn.; Wendy Parmet, the program director for health policy and law at Northeastern University in Boston; and Scott Burris, the director of the public health research program at Temple University in Philadelphia.

1. History: Quarantines in the past have been driven by politics, not science. For instance, during the bubonic plague outbreak of 1900, a quarantine of the entire Chinatown neighborhood in San Francisco was authorized by government officials. It applied only to Chinese residents, lacked scientific merit and was primarily fueled by fear and racism. It happened again during the Ebola epidemic: Kaci Hickox, a nurse caring for Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, was quarantined by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie even though, according to the CDC's guidelines, she should have been allowed to monitor her symptoms from home. After three days in isolation at a tent hospital in Newark, she was released

"Given this history, we want to ensure that federal officials applying the new regulations will act on the basis of science and evidence and not on politics and public fear," wrote the authors.

2. Legal implications: The majority of quarantines related to public health crises, until now, have been issued and enforced by state and local governments. With exception of New Jersey and Connecticut  states facing litigation for their handling of the Ebola crisis  many state legislatures have protections for citizens built into their quarantine laws. Isolated individuals are able to quickly challenge a state's order to push back against the possibility of an undue quarantine. However, the new rules give the CDC in-house oversight of the decision to quarantine and even the legal authority for the CDC to take over the quarantine role from states, which the op-ed authors found troublesome.

3. A new administration: In the Times op-ed, authors expressed concern over the previously expressed views of President Donald Trump and the possible actions his administration could take.

"During the 2014 Ebola outbreak, Mr. Trump tweeted, contrary to the judgment of Ebola experts, that West Africans and American healthcare workers returning from 'Ebola-infected countries' should be barred from entering the United States. During his campaign, he said that Mexican immigrants bring 'tremendous infectious disease' across the border, which is a lie. Given this history, we cannot dismiss the possibility that his administration would respond to an epidemic (real or feared) in a way that is sensational, discriminatory or ignorant of science," wrote the op-ed contributors.

More articles on infection control:

Antibiotics primary driver for rise in C diff infections, study finds

Rep. Tom Price rejects claims vaccines cause autism

3k patients of MUSC Health warned of heater-cooler-related infection risks
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday formally withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership  a trade agreement to lower or eliminate tariffs between the U.S. and 11 other countries, reports NBC News.

Here are five things to know.

1. Barack Obama's administration backed the trade agreement to strengthen economic ties with Asian nations. Both President Trump and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton criticized the agreement on the campaign trail.

2. Many pro-business groups and Republican politicians supported the deal, although it was never officially ratified by Congress, according to the report.

3. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said President Trump's move was "a serious mistake that will have lasting consequences for America's economy and our strategic position in the Asia-Pacific region," according to a statement on his website.

4. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) commended the withdrawal, saying the deal was harmful for American workers.

"I am glad the Trans-Pacific Partnership is dead and gone. For the last 30 years, we have had a series of trade deals  including the North American Free Trade Agreement, permanent normal trade relations with China and others  which have cost us millions of decent-paying jobs and caused a 'race to the bottom' which has lowered wages for American workers, " he said in a statement.

5. President Trump's team said he will soon take executive action to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, which is a trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, reports NBC News.





More articles on supply chain:

Amid heavy criticism of drug prices, pharma group launches ad campaign to improve image

What would happen if we ditched annual price hikes? 4 responses from pharma execs

ACA repeal and replace will include action on drug prices, Spicer says
Centennial, Colo.-based AlloSource awarded Brian Cole, MD, its inaugural 2017 Dr. Steven Gitelis Inspiration Award.

AlloSource provides cartilage, cellular, bone, skin and soft-tissue allografts for surgeries and wound care.

Here are five highlights:

1. The award recognizes physicians or clinicians that inspire AlloSource with their donated human allograft work.

2. Dr. Cole is a part of Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush in Chicago. He serves as an orthopedics professor and physician.

3. Dr. Cole utilizes allografts to help with patient healing following injuries.

4. Dr. Cole also serves as surgery chairman at Rush Oak Park (Ill.) Hospital.

5. Steven Gitelis, MD, is a founding physician of AlloSource. Throughout his career, Dr. Gitelis utilized donated human tissues in surgical procedures.
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Low-cost airline easyJet has revealed a 35m hit after taking a hammering from the weak pound and Brexit-related issues.

The budget carrier, which also suffered because of the Berlin Christmas market attack, said currency fluctuations were expected to cost 105m over the current financial year.

That is up from the 90m previously estimated in November, with fuel costs additionally falling by less than expected.

Easyjet is also forking out 10m for an air operation certificate as it sets up a new operating company in mainland Europe and applies for a new licence to secure flying rights for 30% of its routes after Brexit.

The airline said revenues per seat fell 8.2% as it continued to slash prices in the face of competition from the likes of rival Ryanair, but the group added that this marked an improvement.

Shares tumbled by 9% after the update.

Easyjet, led by chief executive Carolyn McCall, added that on top of the extra 35m fuel and currency bill, it saw a financial impact in the "low millions" from the truck attack in Berlin, which killed 12 people, as bookings to the city dropped in the immediate aftermath.

The budget carrier, which is cutting costs to weather difficult trading caused by the weak pound and competition, flies to around 25 destinations from Belfast International Airport.
Four people were arrested last year following an investigation into alleged bribery involving Barratt Developments, police have confirmed.

The Metropolitan Police said it made four arrests on suspicion of bribery - a 52-year-old man and 47-year-old woman on October 19 and a 47-year-old man and a 49-year-old woman on November 8.

They have all been bailed until April this year.

It is the first time the police have revealed that four arrests were made.

Britain's biggest housebuilder announced on October 19 that its London boss, Alastair Baird, had been arrested following a probe into alleged misconduct in the process for awarding contracts.

The FTSE 100 firm also confirmed at the time that another Barratt employee had been arrested.

The arrests come after Barratt referred findings of an internal investigation to the police in April following an audit relating to possible misconduct in the process for awarding and managing supply contracts in the London region.

Barratt began the investigation in August 2015, which also led to civil legal action against an employee who was sacked in February 2016.

The police investigation is being led by officers from the Metropolitan Police's complex fraud team.

A spokesman for Barratt said: " While the Metropolitan Police and internal investigations are ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment."
EastEnders may face investigation by broadcasting watchdog Ofcom over its bus crash storyline

The broadcasting watchdog is considering whether to investigate following complaints that a bus crash on EastEnders mirrored recent terrorist attacks.

The terrifying incident left several characters in the soap fighting for their lives.

Some compared it to the Berlin attack, when 12 people died after a lorry was driven into a Christmas market in December.

Regulator Ofcom said it received 29 complaints about Tuesday night's scenes on BBC One and is assessing them before deciding whether to investigate.

Viewers objected to the storyline, which saw a bus crashing in Albert Square after the driver had a heart attack, saying it was insensitive in the light of real-life incidents of vehicles being deliberately driven into crowds.

A spokeswoman for the soap previously said: "EastEnders is a fictional drama and the crash was not based on any real-life event. We are always mindful of the content within our episodes."

Actor Jake Wood, who plays Max Branning in the soap, thanked fans on Twitter following the episode.

He wrote: "Thanks for all your comments on tonight's @bbceastenders. So proud to be a part of this show #eastenders."

Fans of the show were divided over the storyline on social media.

One viewer tweeted: "Am I the only one disappointed in #eastenders for the bus crash storyline? Considering the news in recent years, I'm finding it poor taste."

Another soap viewer asked: "Anyone else think that #eastenders was in poor taste tonight so soon after Berlin market terror attack?"

Some also praised the show, with one viewing commenting: " The last few episodes of @bbceastenders have been absolutely phenomenal ... hats off to all the cast & crew involved #EastEnders."

Tuesday night's episode saw the cast dealing with the aftermath of the crash and fans have been speculating as to whether a major character will be killed off.

A possible death aside, viewers were also quick to point out the length of time it took for emergency services to arrive at the scene.

One commented: "Surely emergency services would get to a major incident sooner than it has in walford #eastenders."
For a notoriously shy actress, Ruth Negga is in for a whirlwind of Hollywood hype, hysteria and PR spin in the lead-up to the 86th Academy Awards.

The Ethiopian-born Irish actress has received her first Oscar nomination for her role in Jeff Nichols' heartfelt film, Loving.

Negga will go up against Academy Award stalwart Meryl Streep, who received her 20th nomination for her performance in Florence Foster Jenkins.

She also faces competition from Emma Stone in La La Land, Natalie Portman in Jackie, and Isabelle Huppert for her role in thriller Elle.

Talk that Amy Adams had been snubbed for her role in sci-fi yarn Arrival was compounded yesterday when the official Oscars website made an unfortunate gaffe.

The site listed Adams as a nominee instead of Negga. The mistake was quickly amended, but speculation about a last-minute switch was soon doing the rounds on social media - all of which the Academy dismissed.

The UK slumped to its lowest number of Oscar nominations for at least 10 years. This year it is represented by just 12 nominees, down from a total of 29 at the 2016 awards.

Among the British hopefuls this year are three actors: Naomie Harris, Dev Patel and Andrew Garfield - down slightly from six in 2016.

Harris (40) earned a best supporting actress nod for her role as a crack addict in the Barry Jenkins drama, Moonlight.

She said: "I am completely numb. When the announcements were made, I told everyone to turn them off because I couldn't take the tension any more.

"I was preparing myself for the worst, for not being nominated, and thought I have to be ready, to be at peace with whatever happens, whether I'm nominated or not."

Garfield paid tribute to the US Army medic he portrays in Hacksaw Ridge as he reacted to his first nod from the Academy.

The British- American actor received a best actor nomination for the Mel Gibson-directed World War Two film, which is based on the story of conscientious objector Desmond Doss, who received America's Medal of Honour after saving the lives of 75 men on a battlefield without carrying a gun.

Garfield said: "I'm profoundly moved that Desmond Doss is becoming a household name and the virtues of his character are being felt deeply by audiences around the world. He was a personification of humility, compassion, authenticity and love."
A petition calling for the last surviving British Dambuster to be knighted will be delivered to Downing Street, after it gathered more than 200,000 signatures.

George "Johnny" Johnson was part of Royal Air Force 617 Squadron, which conducted a night of raids on German dams in 1943 in an effort to disable Hitler's industrial heartland.

The 95-year-old is the last surviving British member of the Bomber Command crews who used Barnes Wallis's revolutionary bouncing bombs, releasing them 60ft above ground.

Of the 133 airmen who left on the missions, 53 did not return, giving the mission a survival rate of just over 60%.

Despite being nominated for an accolade, the former squadron leader was not recognised in the New Year Honours list.

TV presenter Carol Vorderman, who launched the petition and will present it alongside RAF veteran John Nichol, said the public response has been " overwhelming and cannot be ignored".

She added: "It's clear that the British public want heroes like Johnny to be given the respect they deserve. His story is as relevant today as it ever was. In addition, Johnny has devoted his life to helping others and continues to do so with his charity work and work with young people.

"We have put together a new official nomination for an honour which we will deliver at the same time. I'm not sure that anyone has had as many letters of support for a nomination as Johnny."

Speaking earlier this month from his home in Bristol, Mr Johnson said he was "absolutely amazed" at the public's response to the petition.

He said he would accept an honour if he was offered one, but added that it would be to remember his squadron and not himself.

He said: "I would... bearing in mind it wasn't me, it was the squadron it was going to - that's the whole point.

"I try to emphasise to people that I am the lucky one and I am still alive. It is the squadron that I served with, represented and still represent. Any honour that comes in my direction is an honour for the squadron."

Mr Johnson is one of only two survivors to take part in the bombing raids on the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams. The other is Canadian former front gunner Fred Sutherland.

The petition will be delivered to Downing Street at midday on Thursday, with those involved starting out at the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park at 10.30am.
Piers Morgan has spoken out over Ewan McGregor's no-show at an interview

Piers Morgan has said Hollywood star Ewan McGregor "let down" Good Morning Britain viewers by refusing to appear on the programme.

The Star Wars actor, 45, pulled out of an interview on Tuesday - saying he objected to host Piers Morgan's comments about last weekend's women's march.

As Morgan, 51, opened the breakfast show on Wednesday, he told viewers he was "disappointed" with McGregor's decision.

He said: "Ewan McGregor is a major star, perfectly entitled to have his opinion about politics, I'm entitled to mine.

"We should all be able to have different views.

"I would have respected him more if he'd walked out here sat down and said: 'You are wrong about the women's march', and we could have had an adult conversation about it."

He added: "Having a conversation about these things is how we all move on.

"I was very disappointed with what he did - he let down the viewers and he let down himself."

McGregor was due to appear on the ITV breakfast show to talk about his new movie, the Trainspotting sequel.

But after arriving at the studio, and discovering Morgan was presenting the show, he made his feelings clear when he tweeted his fans: "Was going on Good Morning Britain, didn't realise Piers Morgan was host.

"Won't go on with him after his comments about women's march."

Morgan had previously voiced his displeasure at the women's march which took place around the world.

The TV host had objected to the marches in a series of tweets, saying: "I'm planning a men's march to protest at the creeping global emasculation of my gender by rabid feminists. Who's with me?"

Hundreds of thousands of people joined women's marches in London and Washington DC as protests were held around the world following President Donald Trump's inauguration.

At least 500,000 people gathered for a rally outside the US Capitol building in Washington, while organisers said an estimated 100,000 descended on central London on Saturday as similar events were staged in Edinburgh, Bristol and cities across the US.

Celebrities showing their support included Madonna, Katy Perry, Drew Barrymore, America Ferrera and Michael Moore.
The referendum on leaving the EU continues to reverberate through the political and legal system. Although a 51.9% majority voted to leave the bloc, majorities in both Scotland (62%) and Northern Ireland (55.8%) voted to remain.

That referendum did not, however, settle the legal process for leaving the EU. The highest source of law here is an Act of Parliament - a bill approved by the House of Commons and House of Lords. A referendum does not necessarily have a legal effect. Or in other words, the referendum was merely advisory.

Leaving the EU is to be done through Article 50, which states: "Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements."

However, the country has no single text that contains the constitution, rather the constitution is found across Acts of Parliament, case law, political customs (conventions) and other sources. It is often called unwritten or uncodified, so it was unclear what the UK's "own constitutional requirements" were. This is what the Supreme Court, by an eight to three majority, has now decided.

Westminster argued that it could invoke Article 50 using its prerogative powers. Prerogative powers are the relics of royal power. They can be used by the Government and are important in areas such as foreign affairs. They are inferior to an Act of Parliament, so an act can abolish or suspend prerogative powers.

This was the question for the Supreme Court: could the Government use prerogative powers to trigger Article 50, or was it precluded from doing so by an act or acts or some other source? And if an Act of Parliament is required, must Parliament consult with or get the consent of the devolved assemblies?

All eight majority judges authored the majority judgment, and their reasoning on the prerogative argument is a largely traditional interpretation of UK law, even if it disappoints the Government and a number of others.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that there was no legal requirement that Parliament get the approval of or consult with the devolved assemblies.

The Supreme Court recognised that there is a convention that requires Parliament to get consent from the devolved bodies before legislation is passed. However, the court was also clear that as a convention, this is a political matter, and the courts do not enforce conventions.

The Supreme Court approach is in many ways very traditional. This lends strength to its main ruling that the Government cannot trigger Article 50 without an Act of Parliament.

The traditional suggests that neither the process of devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, nor the adoption of unique constitutional arrangements in Northern Ireland, has changed how the courts decide constitutional questions.

This judgment, or rather and more importantly the Brexit vote itself, has exposed serious tensions between the traditional UK constitution and the constitutional settlement in Northern Ireland.

In the short and medium term, Northern Ireland political parties and civil society will have to develop political strategies to ensure that Northern Ireland's interests are represented at all stages and levels as the Brexit process moves forward.

Rory O'Connell is professor of human rights and constitutional law and Director of the Transitional Justice Institute, Ulster University
The Supreme Court's majority decision stating that the UK government cannot trigger Article 50 without an Act of Parliament is a welcome affirmation of Parliamentary sovereignty. MPs from across the UK, together with peers in the House of Lords, will now legislate to take the formal first step required to begin the Brexit process.

The government's immediate response was to signal that it will bring forward a brief Bill 'within days' in order to hasten the legislative process so that the government can meet its timetable of triggering Article 50 before the end of March. Though it is unlikely that the House of Commons will frustrate that target, it is more likely to run into problems in the House of Lords where Conservative peers are in the minority. Some parties have already stated their intention to put down amendments to the Bill, not least the SNP which has drawn up 50 substantive amendments to the as yet unpublished Bill.

Like Scotland, NI voted to remain in the EU, so how will our MPs, more accurately the 14 who attend the House of Commons, react? Unlike Scotland, the majority of our attending MPs, the eight DUP members, are Brexiteers and will be relied upon to support the government in the division lobbies, which gives them a strong hand both now and in the future as the negotiations to leave the EU unfold. To be clear, Parliament is the only legislative arena within which the Article 50 process will be subject to formal, forensic scrutiny (and where the final Brexit deal will be put to a binding vote).

This is because the 11 Supreme Court Justices agreed unanimously that the triggering of Article 50 does not compel the government to require legislative consent from our Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly: a judgment that came as a relief to Theresa May who is only too well aware that a majority of our MLAs, Welsh AMs and Scotland's MSPs are opposed to Brexit. This does not mean that the devolved legislatures are prevented from debating and voting on the Article 50 process, but whatever the outcomes in Cardiff, Edinburgh or Stormont (if it is up and running) may be, they will not, because of the Court's ruling, exert any legislative constraints on the UK Parliament. So, the focus is well and truly on our MPs (and peers) as Parliament plays out this high political drama. Apart from debates in the Commons and Lords, our MPs are enabled to scrutinise government proposals via Parliament's extensive committee system, including the 21-strong 'Exiting the EU' Select Committee, on which both Mark Durkan and Sammy Wilson serve. As for Sinn Fein, its abstention from the UK Parliament means that it has to exert its influence by proxy, lobbying the Secretary of State, trusting that its voice will be heard, and pressuring the Irish government to act on behalf of NI's interests, many of which, not least the vexed border question, are shared by Dublin. The inter-governmental forum in which our ministers, with the exception of the First and Deputy First Ministers, do have a voice on Brexit is the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) of the UK, which brings together the UK government and the devolved Executives. Although Stormont is now dissolved, the NI ministers remain in post until midnight on election day, March 2, and so can participate in any JMC meetings that are scheduled between now and then.

Rick Wilford is Professor of Politics at Queen's University, Belfast
Sinn Fein has come under pressure to abandon its boycott of Westminster to ensure its MPs can help shape a Brexit deal.

The SDLP said their main nationalist rivals must not shirk their responsibilities after a Supreme Court verdict yesterday left the Assembly  along with its counterparts in Scotland and Wales  without a say on triggering the start of negotiations to withdraw from the EU.

The nine DUP and two Ulster Unionist MPs will vote to trigger the mechanism  Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty  to kick-start two years of detailed talks, along with North Down independent MP Lady Sylvia Hermon.

That will leave only the three SDLP MPs  Alasdair McDonnell, Margaret Ritchie and Mark Durkan  voting against.

But in a tight House of Commons vote the four SF MPs  Mickey Brady, Pat Doherty, Francie Molloy and Paul Maskey  could make a difference.

A relatively comfortable majority is expected on the vote to begin negotiations  with the main Labour opposition saying they will support it  but future votes on the detail of Brexit could be close. The court decision yesterday is likely to mean the Government will have to produce more detailed plans for MPs and the Brexit bill will be hit by amendments before it can move through Parliament. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: We are now the only party standing by the will of the majority of people in Northern Ireland. We will be the only voice of the 56% who voted remain.

The Foyle MLA insisted gaining a consent role for the Assembly would now be the partys top priority in negotiations which will follow the March 2 election.

He said the Supreme Court judgment was particularly serious since it was being suggested the unelected House of Lords will be permitted a vote while the devolved administrations will not, even though the direction of travel set out by Prime Minister Theresa May will mean a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Everyone on this island has a responsibility to ensure that this does not happen. It would prove devastating both politically and economically, Mr Eastwood said.

That includes the Sinn Fein MPs who do not take their seats at Westminster. If Sinn Fein are serious about new leadership they cannot shirk their responsibility to the people of Ireland and should therefore take their seats to vote against Article 50.

Sinn Fein, however, insisted it will not give up its core abstentionist policy and instead argued the London verdict increases pressure on the Irish government to ensure the best Brexit deal with special status for Northern Ireland.

Party leader Gerry Adams said the Irish government must uphold the Remain vote in the North and to argue for the North to be accorded a special designated status within the EU.

There are precedents for this. In its negotiations with the other EU states it must act in the national interest and it has to fulfil its moral and legal duty as co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, he said.

And Irish parliamentarian Pearse Doherty said theres no appetite in the party to end its policy of absentionism.

Its a long established policy. We are an abstentionist party, he said. Only a Sinn Fein Ard Fheis could change this, he said, adding: There would be no appetite whatsoever to do that. The reality is four votes in Westminster isnt going to make a difference.

Northern Ireland voted by 56% to 44% to Remain in the EU.

However, the proportion of those who voted Remain in Sinn Fein MPs constituencies was much bigger. In Mr Bradys Newry and Armagh constituency, 62.9% voted Remain. In Mr Molloys Mid-Ulster constituency 60.4% voted to stay. In Mr Dohertys West Tyrone it was 66.8% and for Mr Maskey in west Belfast it was 74.1%.

The DUPs Sammy Wilson said it was disappointing the verdict would allow those anti-democratic losers within the Remain camp to conduct a parliamentary guerrilla warfare but at least there will be no veto to the devolved administrations.

And he added: Sinn Fein and those Opposition parties which produced the crisis to bring down the Assembly have ensured that the mechanism set up to deal with NI specific issues have been effectively scuppered.

The Ulster Unionists, however, said: It is clear that the failed DUP/Sinn Fein Executive, which has crumbled after eight months, is incapable of addressing Northern Irelands unique needs in Brexit negotiations.

Victims campaigner Raymond McCord, who also challenged Brexit in the Supreme Court, called on the DUP to support the wishes of the majority in Northern Ireland to remain in the EU.

He was encouraged by yesterdays ruling that Parliament must have a vote on the Brexit process, but added: I am saying to the DUP now, are you going to go in there and vote for the wishes of the people or will you vote party first and people second?
Michelle O'Neill has called for a "step change" in the attitude of the DUP if power-sharing is to be restored in Northern Ireland.

The new leader of Sinn Fein at Stormont said the creation of an Irish Language Act, a bill of rights and dealing with the legacy of the past were outstanding issues from previous negotiations and should be implemented.

She said she was prepared to work with anybody who displayed respect and support for equality to restore the devolved administration after the March 2 election.

"We enter the negotiations on the basis of trying to find solutions, but clearly there needs to be a step change in attitude from the DUP. The reason we are in this situation is because of their arrogance, because of their disrespect to the public, because, quite rightly, of their contempt for the public."

She said it needed to get back to the principles of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which largely ended decades of conflict.

"Clearly we are only interested in power-sharing and being here and being in partnership government with other people who are wedded to equality, who are interested in parity of esteem and respect. Without those principles we cannot be in power-sharing and share government with people who are not interested in that." An Irish Language Act to promote its development has been repeatedly vetoed by the DUP and support for extra funding for dealing with legacy inquests into Troubles killings has not been forthcoming.

Mrs O'Neill said: "It is important that we see the full implementation of those outstanding issues. Clearly we will be going into a negotiation on the basis only of equality, mutual respect and integrity in the institutions.

"We believe that the institutions can deliver for the citizens but they have to deliver for all of the citizens." She accused the DUP of disrespecting the LGBT community, ethnic minorities and women, and attacking the Irish language.

"They are all things that are not acceptable to us," she added.

Northern Ireland's largest unionist party has said it backs civil unions for same-sex couples. It has a female leader, Arlene Foster, and has had many female ministers and senior officials.

DUP Assembly Member Emma Little Pengelly has previously said: "I am not corrupt and I am not arrogant. I honestly know that my colleagues are not arrogant and corrupt either.

"I got into politics to serve the people, to be an advocate and to deliver for the people of South Belfast and Northern Ireland."

The DUP has parodied the Irish language in comments by East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell, and repeatedly refused to agree an Act according it official protection.
The names of more than 1,000 claimants of a botched energy scheme will be revealed later today.

Economy Minister Simon Hamilton is set to reveal a list of those on the Renewable Heart Incentive (RHI) scheme.

But a High Court judge has temporarily banned publication of the names of more than 300 of those who signed up to the initiative.

Mr Justice Deeny imposed an interim injunction to stop any members' personal details being disclosed.

His order will remain in place for up to a week and covers only those in the Renewable Heat Association of Northern Ireland.

Lawyers for the body set up to represent boiler owners on the scheme claimed published names would create a media "feeding frenzy" and threaten the reputation of individuals who have done nothing wrong.

They argued that Mr Hamilton's plan breaches privacy and data protection laws.

The RHI scheme set up to encourage businesses and other non-domestic users to move from using fossil fuels to renewable heating systems.

But it has been surrounded by relentless controversy since it emerged that users could legitimately earn more cash the more fuel they burned.

The flawed scheme, which could end up costing the public purse up to 490m, was a major factor behind Stormont's collapse and the March 2 snap Assembly election.

Judicial review proceedings were issued by Michael Doran, chairman of the association.

Mr Doran, who also heads up non-profit group Action Renewables, does not have a boiler and receives no subsidies under the scheme.

But he is representing more than 300 non-domestic operators, including poultry and mushroom producers, seeking an order quashing the minister's plans to reveal their details.

Gerald Simpson QC, for Mr Doran and a boiler owner referred to as DA, told the court media coverage of the so-called "cash for ash" scheme had been "sensationalist".

Publicity has centred almost exclusively on alleged abuse of the system, where money can be made through burning fuel unnecessarily, he claimed.

The barrister revealed that DA has spent around 300,000 in purchasing and installing biomass boilers for his poultry business.

He argued that those on the non-domestic scheme have a legitimate expectation that their privacy would be protected.

"What's anticipated here is the public dissemination to all and sundry of personal data identifying these individuals," Mr Simpson said.

"That is likely to lead to a feeding frenzy by the media, who are determined to identify all of the people who participated in this scheme, to investigate their backgrounds and everything else."

According to Mr Simpson, publication would deflect criticism from officials and political representatives onto individual RHI recipients - most of whom have been operating the boilers legitimately.

"This is not disclosure of personal data to a third party in some limited way," he continued.

"This is disclosure to the public at large. What's being proposed here by the minister is (publication) to the world at large."

The barrister insisted: "The reputation of individuals who have done nothing wrong will be damaged simply by the fact their names are being put in the public domain at a time when there's sensationalist reporting of the matter."

However, Tony McGleenan QC, for the department, countered that public interest issues outweigh any privacy entitlements.

Pointing to the potential 490m costs to the taxpayer over the next 20 years, he told the court that issues around the scheme contributed to the collapse of Stormont and will likely lead to a judicial inquiry.

"The minister and the department have publicly stated their commitment to transparency in the production of details in so far as is lawful in relation to this scheme," Mr McGleenan said.

"It cannot be overstated that there's deep and profound public interest in understanding how this scheme operates and how it can be that the public purse will be depleted to the extent forecast this year and in coming years."

He added that the need for openness was reinforced in a case where "the quantum of public funding is potentially unlimited in terms of some recipients".

Following submissions, Mr Justice Deeny reserved his decision on whether to grant leave to seek a judicial review.

He pledged: "I will deliver my judgment within one week, possibly less."

The judge also confirmed the minister is prohibited from publicly disclosing names and addresses of any members of the Renewable Heat Association until then.

His order covers anyone who had signed up to the grouping by 5pm yesterday.
The bullet-riddled car in which Henry Thornton was killed

Henry Thornton who was shot after the van he was driving passed Springfield Road police station in west Belfast in 1971. Pic Pacemaker

The soldier who shot dead Northern Ireland workman Henry Thornton on the Springfield Road, Belfast in 1971 has been named as Sergeant Allan McVitie.

Mr Thornton (29) from Silverbridge, Co Armagh had been driving along the Springfield Road in a van with a colleague Arthur Murphy when the vehicle suddenly backfired.

The incident took place outside a police station that had been repeatedly attacked during the Troubles.

Sg McVitie of the Parachute Regiment fired two shots at the van which resulted in Mr Thornton's sudden death.

Coroner Brian Sherrard named Sg McVitie during his final findings at a hearing at Laganside Court this morning.

Mr Sherrard ruled at a previous hearing in May 2016 that the killing of Mr Thornton was not 'necessary, reasonable or proportionate', adding there had been "other options available to stop or pursue the vehicle".

Mr Thornton - a father of six - died almost instantly when the soldier shot him through the rear of his Austin works van close to Springfield Road police station in west Belfast in August 1971.

He was unarmed and no weapon was found during a search of a van, despite claims by security personnel that they had seen a gun protruding from the driver's widow of the van.

Mr Thornton's death sparked serious rioting.

Within days, 10 other people had been shot dead by the Army in a period that the bereaved families refer to as the Ballymurphy Massacre.

The inquest into his death began in November 2015 and concluded on Wednesday morning.

In 2012, the government wrote a letter of apology to his widow Mary, confirming that her husband had been an "innocent man".

During the final session of the inquest on Wednesday a lawyer for the Ministry of Defence did not challenge the lifting of the anonymity order on naming Sg McVitie. He also passed on his condolences to the Thornton family.

Mr Sherrard said requests to lift anonymity orders will be looked at in each case.

Solicitor Padraig O Muirigh thanked the coroner on behalf of the Thornton family.

Speaking outside court Mr O Muirigh said it had been a very fair and transparent inquest, "in stark contrast to the original inquest which was deeply flawed".

"We have been fighting for over 40 years now to clear the name of her (Mary Thornton) husband and the father of her children," he said.

"This day has come and it is very welcome. It shows that these legacy inquests can get to the truth and can assist families."

Mrs Thornton said she is happy with the outcome of the inquest, and that Sg McVitie had been named.

"The way I look at it, he shot him so why not," she said.

She said the inquest had been hard but agreed that it had brought some closure of her and her children.

Sg McVitie is deceased.
A survivor of a Nazi death camp who went on to inspire generations of dancers in Belfast is to be honoured.

Helen Lewis was forced to live in a Jewish ghetto in her native Czechoslovakia before being deported to Auschwitz during the Second World War.

She managed to survive the horrors of the camp, and after the war she came to Belfast where she started a new life. A noted ballerina and choreographer, Helen taught and inspired dancers in her adopted city.

She told her remarkable story in her book, A Time To Speak, before her death at the age of 93 in Belfast in 2009.

Her son Michael previously told the Belfast Telegraph that it took until the 1990s for his mother to feel like she had "something to say", but he revealed if his mother could have predicted the impact her words were to have she may never have penned them.

"She didn't write it for the public, she didn't write it with the idea that it would be a book. I suspect that if she had known the impact it would have she would never have begun," he said.

An Ulster History Circle blue plaque commemorating Helen Lewis's impact on the creative arts here will be unveiled on Friday, Holocaust Memorial Day, at the Crescent Arts Centre in south Belfast.

Chris Spurr, chairman of the Ulster History Circle, said the centre was chosen as a location for the plaque because Helen had taught dance classes at the venue.

"The Ulster History Circle is delighted to honour this exceptional person, whose life and work is an inspiration to all," he said. "It is fitting that the plaque to Helen Lewis is at the Crescent Arts Centre, where she taught dance for many years. We would like to thank the Crescent, and we would also like to thank Belfast City Council for their financial support towards the plaque."

The plaque is to be officially unveiled by Belfast Lord Mayor Brian Kingston.

Helen was born in Trutnov in what was then Czechoslovakia in 1916, and later studied dance in Prague. But her life changed forever when the Nazis invaded in 1939 and Helen, like thousands of other Jewish people, was forced to wear a yellow star and subjected to increasingly punitive laws. She was sent to the Terezin ghetto in 1942 before being moved to Auschwitz in 1944.

She has written poignantly about how she survived two "selections" by the infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele before being sent to Stutthof concentration camp in occupied Poland where, despite being starved and frostbitten, she was forced to dance for her captors.

Liberation was bittersweet for Helen, who returned to a devastated Prague to learn of the deaths of both her husband and mother. Later she reconnected with an old school friend, Harry Lewis, after he spotted her name on the Red Cross survivors' list. The pair married in Prague in 1947 before moving to Belfast in October of that year to start a new life. Helen made her mark on Belfast, creating the first modern dance work in Northern Ireland for the Belfast Ballet Club in 1956. She subsequently founded the Belfast Modern Dance Group, whose first performance was in 1962.

She is credited with having brought a European dimension to dance in the theatre, and was honoured with an MBE in 2001 and honorary doctorates from both the Ulster University and Queen's University, Belfast.

As Northern Ireland remembers Helen Lewis, Northern Ireland teenagers are to be given the opportunity to visit the inotorious camp where she was imprisoned.

Education Minister Peter Weir, and Communities Minister Paul Givan, have announced a 180,000 fund to enable the Holocaust Educational Trust to deliver its 'Lessons from Auschwitz' Project to Northern Ireland's schools and colleges.

The announcement was made during a visit to Ards and North Down Museum where the ministers saw a Holocaust exhibition exploring the history of the Kindertransport - the rescue effort that took place to bring Jewish children to the UK during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.

The Holocaust Educational Trust's project for post-16 students and teachers is now in its 17th year and has taken over 31,000 students and teachers from across the UK to the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. The four-part course, which is open to two students from every school and college in England, Scotland and Wales, will be offered to Northern Ireland students for the first time since 2008.

Events across NI set to mark a dark chapter in the history of Europe

Northern Ireland will mark Holocaust memorial day this week with events taking place across the province.

The day of remembrance takes place each year on January 27 to honour the millions who lost their lives during the Holocaust as well as victims of later genocides.

In Belfast, the Lyric Theatre has a reading of Mirad, A Boy from Bosnia, set during the Bosnian Civil War.

The Northern Ireland War Memorial museum on Talbot Street will have a display of Holocaust-

inspired paintings by local artist Leslie Nicholl.

The Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena will host guest speakers, including the international documentary photographer James Hughes.

In Antrim, a screening of the wartime drama Sophies Choice, starring Meryl Streep, takes place in the Old Courthouse from 7.30pm.

For further details of all events visit www.hmd.org.uk
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

Two men arrested in connection with the attempted murder of a police officer in North Belfast on Sunday have been released unconditionally.

A 36-year-old man and a 39-year-old man were released by police shortly after 7pm yesterday.

A 30-year-old man arrested on Monday remains in custody, assisting police with their enquiries

On Sunday, a police officer in his twenties was shot in a suspected dissident gun attack at a filling station forecourt on the Crumlin Road.

The officer was shot in the arm and it's understood he may have escaped more serious injury thanks to his protective vest.

Yesterday the officer was transferred from the Royal Victoria in Belfast to another hospital and is understood to be recovering well.

Police have appealed for witnesses and information on a red Audi A4 Estate, registration number KNZ 2862, which they believe was used by the attackers to leave the scene following the shooting.

Speaking just hours after the attack on Sunday, the Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton described the attack as "reckless madness".

ACC Hamilton commended the petrol station customers who came to the injured officer's aid, despite their own lives being at risk.

"This was a very concerted attack on officers, this was a very concerted attempt to murder them and our main line of enquiry is violent dissident republicans," he said.

The Chief Constable, George Hamilton, visited the injured officer and said it was "very fortunate" he was not making an appeal for a murder investigation.

"The officer appears to have been struck three times on the right arm, causing fairly significant damage. He was in theatre for over three hours and will have further surgery in the days ahead," he said.

"He is in good spirits. I never cease to be amazed by the bravery and professionalism of police officers like him that I come across on a daily basis.

"We, as police officers, are citizens in uniform.

"This officer was a member of the community.

"He was attacked but actually, other members of the community were put at massive risk as well. The people who did this did not care who they murdered - albeit it's clear this attack was aimed at the police officer on duty."

DUP leader and former First Minister Arlene Foster said the attack was "a reminder of the threat which still exists in our society".

Sinn Fein MLA for North Belfast Gerry Kelly also added his condemnation.

"I hope that the injured officer will make a full and speedy recovery," he said.

"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."
A 26-year-old man has been jailed for assaulting a charity worker who was collecting money in Belfast dressed as a giant red heart

A 26-year-old man has been jailed for assaulting a charity worker who was collecting money in Belfast dressed as a giant red heart.

The charity worker sustained a broken wrist which required two separate operations after he was forcefully pushed to the pavement by Jonathan William Meneice.

The injured man - who Belfast Crown Court heard was unable to defend himself due to the nature of his costume - has been left with a permanent metal plate and bolts in his wrist as a result of the assault.

Meneice, who appeared in court with 136 previous convictions, was seen stumbling along Castle Lane before approaching the charity worker as he stood outside the British Heart Foundation. He has since apologised for his actions.

Meneice, from Victoria Street in Belfast, admitted causing grievous bodily harm.

He was handed a 22-month sentence by Judge Geoffrey Miller QC, and will spend 11 months in prison, with the remainder on licence after release.

Crown prosecutor Simon Jenkins revealed the assault occurred on the afternoon of Friday, October 16, 2015.

Mr Jenkins said that after approaching the costumed charity worker, Meniece "forcefully knocked him off his feet". The shove resulted in the charity worker falling backwards.

Revealing he had to undergo surgery twice, Mr Jenkins said the victim had experienced difficulties as a result of the wrist injury.

The father of two was arrested and interviewed, and after watching CCTV footage of the incident, he admitted it was him in the footage but said he had no recollection of the day in question.

Jailing Meniece, Judge Miller said it was clear from watching the footage that the defendant was "highly intoxicated".

He also spoke of the "significant" fracture caused to the injured man's right wrist and revealed the incident had resulted in his confidence being shaken.

The judge said he also accepted that Meneice suffered from a range of mental health issues including paranoia, which have worsened due to his "abuse of alcohol and illegal substances".
Charter NI board chairman Drew Haire has resigned from his role citing health reasons.

Charter NI has been embroiled in controversy after it was awarded 1.7million in public funds. Its chief executive - the self-confessed UDA leader Dee Stitt - then appeared in an interview with The Guardian in which he described his North Down Defenders flute band as "homeland security" protecting his territory "from anybody".

Stitt apologised to the Charter NI board and received a final written warning for the remarks.

Most recently, police claimed people connected to the ex-prisoners' organisation are UDA members involved in paramilitary activity.

However Mr Haire has said he is stepping aside for health reasons but admitted the past while in the public eye had been tough.

He said: "I've retired rather than resigned. The reason is for health reasons and I don't want people to think 'what's wrong with him'.

"I've been diabetic for quite a number of years and recently I've had a number of consequences of being a badly behaved diabetic.

"I enjoy a lot of attention and support from the health service.

"I just felt that that amount of time that's taking and the amount of time I would give to Charter - that the two things don't fit together."

Mr Haire was speaking to the BBC's Stephen Nolan show where he previously said he was concerned the recent publicity surrounding the organisation has detracted from its good work.

On Wednesday Mr Haire said the intense media scrutiny had been "challenging" but that it was not the reason he was stepping down.

"I can't deny that for a good past of 9 months there was a lot of attention and time required answering questions.

"But that does have wearying affect on everyone and has had a challenge on the staff in the organisation.

"Genuinely my decision is related to the fact that as I've explained I need time to fulfill my health appointments."

He added: "All of that period of time was a big challenge.

"My personal experience, what I've been involved in in the past hasn't prepared me for the level of media attention that came the way of Charter.

Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Dee Stitt with Arlene Foster at the Charter NI funding announcement Charter NI Drew Haire, Chairperson Charter NI; Caroline Birch, Project Manager DUP Councillor Sharon Skillen; David Stitt, CEO Charter NI; First Minister Arlene Foster; Drew Haire, Chairperson Charter NI; Caroline Birch, Project Manager / Facebook

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Whatsapp Dee Stitt with Arlene Foster at the Charter NI funding announcement

"In recent months the amount of time I've had to spend going to hospital appointments has been a bit more than was the case before."

Mr Haire, a former head of the Community Relations Unit with the Office of First and deputy First Minister, wished the organisation well in the future.
Police are at the scene.

The Lough Fea Road in Cookstown has been closed following a serious crash.

The incident between a car and a motorcycle happened at around 8pm.

An Ambulance Service spokesman described the incident as very serious saying no one was taken to hospital following the incident.

Police set up diversions between Drumearn Road and Lissan Road while the emergency services attend the scene.

"Motorists are advised to avoid the area and seek an alternative route for their journey," a police spokesman said.
Adrianne Peltz and Patrick Corrigan from Amnesty International deliver a petition of 45,000 signatures calling for a change on Northern Ireland's abortion laws to Parliament Buildings in Belfast

A sharp increase in prosecutions for abortion in Northern Ireland has deterred doctors from recommending the procedure, campaigners have claimed.

The number of terminations performed hit a record low of 16 for the 2015/16 financial year. The total has more than halved over the past five years, with 43 carried out in 2010/11.

Northern Ireland's strict law only allows abortion where a woman's life is in danger or there is a permanent or serious risk to her physical or mental health.

A British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) statement said: "It is no coincidence that the number of terminations performed in Northern Ireland has plummeted at the same time as we have seen a sharp increase in criminal prosecutions for violations of the abortion law."

Over the last year three women have been taken through the courts, with one handed a three-month suspended prison sentence.

BPAS added: "This rise in prosecutions has had a significant chilling effect on the medical community, and doctors now feel unable to sanction terminations - even in the limited circumstances permitted under Northern Ireland's strict abortion law - for fear of prosecution."

Many women travelled to Great Britain to access the procedure.

Plans for legislation which would have changed the law around fatal foetal abnormalities have fallen victim to the collapse of powersharing.

Precious Life, a pro-life lobby organisation, has called for perinatal hospice care services in every hospital throughout Northern Ireland and believes that women whose unborn babies have been diagnosed with life-limiting disabilities should receive the care and support they need.

In 2015, 833 women from Northern Ireland travelled to England for abortion care, BPAS said.

The organisation added: "These are women who are resident in the UK, paying UK taxes, yet, unlike women from England, Scotland, and Wales, they are not currently entitled to NHS-funded treatment, and must meet the cost themselves.

"As we wait for women in Northern Ireland to be able to access the care they need at home, we call on policymakers in England to follow Nicola Sturgeon's lead and consider allowing these women to receive NHS-funded care here. "

Bernie Smyth, director of Precious Life, said she was gravely alarmed by the latest figures.

She said only 10 abortions had been carried out under the same grounds in England and Wales over the past decade and queried what medical care was provided and why the healthcare professionals turned to terminations.

"Could these so-called 'lawful' abortions stand up in court?

"These figures should make us all concerned that a number of women are not receiving the proper ethical treatment they need in Northern Ireland."
Sir Anthony Hart outlined the findings of his Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry in Northern Ireland

A ministerial Executive could be formed after Northern Ireland's elections solely to implement the Hart child abuse inquiry's recommendations , the UUP leader said.

The public probe found evidence of widespread harm at residential homes run by churches and the state over many decades and recommended compensation be paid. Political uncertainty has left a major question mark over when that will happen.

Some survivors gave evidence to a Stormont committee on Thursday and paid tribute to inquiry chairman Sir Anthony Hart.

Margaret McGuckin, a campaigner and former resident at Nazareth House in Belfast, said: "He is our St Anthony of the sacred heart."

Sir Anthony's report recommended compensation worth up to 100,000, funded by state and voluntary institutions responsible for the residential homes where the harm occurred, with payments beginning later this year.

The head of the civil service has said only a meeting of the Executive will suffice to act on Sir Anthony's proposals.

Negotiations are expected after the March 2 poll which could delay the formation of a new powersharing administration.

UUP leader Mike Nesbitt said it could meet to discuss this one pressing issue.

"We are not saying the Executive needs to exist for longer than five minutes.

"If there are other issues leading to long negotiations that can happen."

The HIA investigated physical, emotional and sexual abuse between 1922 and 1995 and found systemic wrongdoing at most of the 22 homes it considered.

Many of the victims are now elderly.

Those who suffered in state, church and charity-run homes should also be offered an official apology from government and the organisations involved, the inquiry found.

Mr Nesbitt said: "You are vindicated but you have not had redress - you are only halfway there."

Jon McCourt was a resident at St Joseph's Termonbacca in the north west.

He said many of the victims were still broken and mistrustful of the system but more were coming forward now after hiding their secrets for years.

Mr McCourt argued if the recommendations are implemented they can protect children elsewhere in the present day.

"The world owes Anthony Hart a debt for that," he said.
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 dissident republican group known as the "new IRA" has claimed responsibility for the shooting of a PSNI officer in north Belfast.

The shooting happened at Edenderry filling station on the Crumlin Road at around 7.30pm on Sunday.

The community officer was hit three times in the right arm after up to 10 shots were fired.

His body armour may have saved him from further harm.

He was rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where he is in a stable condition.

The gunshot wounds caused significant damage to his arm.

In a statement to the Irish News the IRA said the attack was "targeted" to kill two officers and that it had been planned for "several months".

It said that using a recognised codeword, the group said the attack was not related to the political crisis at Stormont - instead it was a "continuation of activity".

Three men, aged 30, 36 and 39 arrested in connection with the shooting have been released unconditionally.

PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton said the petrol station was sprayed with automatic gunfire during the attack, putting "other members of the community at massive risk".

"The people who did this did not care who they murdered, albeit it was clear the attack was aimed at the police officers on duty."

Mr Hamilton spoke to the media after visiting the wounded officer in hospital. He said he believed a high velocity rifle was used in the attack. No weapon has been recovered.

He said it was a "completely reckless" attack and described "multiple strike marks on the forecourt" of the filling station.
Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London. PA Wire

The PSNI said it has received no formal communication from the Labour Party after the BBC reported leader Jeremy Corbyn had written to chief constable George Hamilton to apologise after mistakenly saying the officer injured in the weekend's shooting attack in Belfast had "lost his life".

The officer was injured in a shooting at Edenderry filling station on the Crumlin Road at around 7.30pm on Sunday. The community officer was hit three times in the right arm after up to 10 shots were fired.

He remains in a stable condition in hospital and was said to be recovering well.

During Prime Minister's Question Time on Wednesday, Prime Minister Theresa May, opened the weekly session by saying her thoughts were with the family and friends of the officer.

She said: "The PSNI does a superb job in keeping us safe and secure and they have our fullest support."

The opposition leader joined the Prime Minister in commenting on the incident, but wrongly stated that the officer had died.

Mr Corbyn said: "I join the Prime Minister in expressing condolences, I'm sure of the whole House, to the family of the police officer who lost his life over the weekend in Northern Ireland."

A spokesman for the Labour leader later said that Mr Corbyn had not meant any offence.

Later the BBC reported that the Labour leader had written a letter to the chief constable to apologise for the error.

"We are not in receipt of any formal communication from the Labour Party," a PSNI spokesman told the Belfast Telegraph.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close 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 Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph 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 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. 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 Police officers rush to the scene after an officer is shot on the Crumlin Road on 22th January 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

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Whatsapp 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

No one from the Labour Party could be reached for comment.

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Following the gaffe the DUP's Ian Paisley said it was "not, thankfully, the case" that the policeman had died in the shooting .

Jeremy Corbyn makes huge mistake at PMQ by saying that a police officer lost his life in NI at the weekend. Very poor knowledge or briefing  Tom Elliott (@telliott_UUP) January 25, 2017

He added: "For the family and for police officers generally, could we have that corrected by the frontbench spokesman as urgently as possible so as the record does not contain the spurious fact that a police officer was murdered in Belfast."

Commons Speaker John Bercow said there was "no need for any further correction".

"It was an error. I recognise what he said about how upsetting that will have been, but it was a mistake. It has subsequently been corrected."

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI) which represents rank and file officers, has called on the Labour leader to apologise.

PFNI Chairman, Mark Lindsay, said: Frankly, Im appalled that the Leader of Her Majestys Opposition should get this so badly wrong on the floor of the House of Commons.

It was a jaw-dropping gaffe and he should immediately apologise to the Officer and his family.

Mr Corbyn was either poorly briefed by his staff or hes that much out of touch with what is happening. Either way, its a shocking error to make and needs to be corrected.

Our colleague is recovering after the ambush on the Crumlin Road. We welcome the expression of good wishes from the Prime Minister, which preceded Mr Corbyns contribution, and which more accurately reflected the mood of the House.

We have excellent working relationships with a number of MPs and I know they will be appalled and embarrassed by Mr Corbyns comment.

DUP MP Nigel Dodds called it "one of the worst displays of crass ignorance that could be imagined".

"The idea that someone who sees himself as an alternative Prime Minister could be so out of touch to make such a basic and hurtful error is almost unbelievable.

A spokesman for the Labour leader later said: "He meant to say 'nearly died'. Obviously, the last thing that was intended was any offence."
Peter Weir told Stormont's education committee he was unable to clarify how much the deficit is expected to be

Schools across Northern Ireland are facing multimillion-pound debts by the end of March, the outgoing education minister has warned.

Peter Weir told Stormont's education committee he was unable to clarify how much the deficit would be, but it would be less than the 33 million previously predicted.

The DUP MLA said schools need a cash injection to "avoid pain", but the financial crisis has meant budgets have not been approved.

The Education Authority (EA) was accused of "snubbing" the committee after representatives failed to attend the meeting to give evidence.

In a letter to the committee the authority said Mr Weir would answer all questions, but he was unable to answer queries about the levels of deficits schools are facing or about EA plans to save 50 million.

Proposals drawn up by the EA are understood to include an increase in school meal costs and charges for school transport.

Mr Weir said he had not received the proposals, but free school transport could not be stopped without consultation and changes in legislation.

The committee's chairman, Alliance MLA Chris Lyttle, criticised the EA for "snubbing" the meeting, adding that the absence of EA officials was "very regrettable" given the level of uncertainty for schools and education services.

Due to the financial crisis no school budget has been approved for the 2017-18 financial year, but schools have been asked by the Education Department to make savings over the next three years.

Mr Weir said it was important for schools to look ahead, and while he could not give more assurance he was hopeful there would be an "injection" of funding "to avoid the sort of pain" they could feel in financial terms.

"There is a broad consensus among all of us involved in education that there is a need for the education budget to be moving up, albeit in difficult financial circumstances," he said.

He also criticised the EA for sending a "clumsy" letter to youth centres warning there was no indication that further funding would be available from April.

Around 80 youth workers met in Belfast on Monday to express their concerns about the future of the funding.

Mr Weir said that as he cannot set the 2017-18 budget no decision had been taken.

"I think the letter that was sent out, quite frankly, was probably quite clumsily written," he said.

Mr Weir added that youth workers' jobs were "safer than mine".
In the three years since Pet FBI - Found By Internet - was set up in Londonderry it has reunited hundreds of missing animals with their worried owners through its social media page.

When little mongrel Sam disappeared from his home in Drumaduff near Dungiven earlier this month, it was thanks to the charity's Facebook page that he was successfully reunited with his distraught family.

Nicola Irwin and her husband rescued Sam 18 months ago when they found him lying in a ditch near their home looking very forlorn.

When Sam failed to come home after one of his regular jaunts around their farm at the start of this month, Mrs Irwin fretted that something dreadful had happened him.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, she said: "We live on a farm and Sam had the run of it but he never went too far and always came to the door, so when night-time came and there was no sign of him I was worried right away.

"We scoured the roads looking for him every day for three weeks. I couldn't get him out of my mind. I kept wondering if he was hurt and lying somewhere in pain or lost, or even worse.

"My wee grandson Ryan was just as bad and one day he said: 'Don't worry Granny, I said a prayer that Sam will be found'.

"Someone was telling me about Pet FBI, so we checked on that as well every day and then about a week ago I couldn't believe my eyes when a girl put up a photo of this wee dog that she had found in Drumahoe.

"I rang Lisa Patton at Pet FBI to say I thought it was my dog that had been found in Drumahoe, and a few checks later confirmed it was indeed our Sam.

"Pet FBI were amazing. I was very impressed that they didn't just hand Sam back, they made sure I was the rightful owner first."

Lisa said: "It is always great when we unite lost dogs like Sam with their owners and thankfully we have done that hundreds of times since we launched.

"A big part of our work also centres around helping abandoned dogs, and we depend on donations from the public to cover vet costs."

Search 'Pet FBI Derry' on Facebook for more information
Current bus lanes run from 7.30am to 9.30am and from 3.30pm to 6.30pm.

Proposals have been put forward to extend the operating hours of bus lanes as part of the Belfast Rapid Transit scheme on some of the city's busiest routes.

The 90m Belfast Rapid Transit system which is scheduled to start in September 2018 is a bid to create a faster public transport route from west to east Belfast through the city centre.

Current bus lanes run from 7.30am to 9.30am and from 3.30pm to 6.30pm.

Transport Minister Chris Hazzard said: "This is for the Belfast Rapid Transit line, this is not for all bus lanes.

"We should remember in 2012 the business case for the Belfast Rapid Transit was built upon the concept that these would be 12-hour, seven to seven bus lane priorities. That is so we can have maximum compliance and avoid confusion."

Belfast Rapid Transit system routes

West Belfast

Between the city centre and Dunmurry Industrial Estate via Divis Street, FallsRoad, Andersonstown Road, Stewartstown Road and a new transport hub at Colin Town Centre.

East Belfast

Between the city centre and the Park and Ride at Dunlady Road, Dundonald via the Albertbridge Road and Upper Newtownards Road.

Titanic Quarter

From the city centre, via Queen Elizabeth Bridge, along Queens Quay and Queens Road to Titanic Quarter, returning via Queens Road, Queens Quay, Station Street, Bridge End and Queens Bridge.

Mr Hazzard told the BBC Stephen Nolan show: "It's essential the vehicles have highest degree of priority in and out of the city.

He continued: "Traffic does start to build up in the city. From 7am onwards, traffic control centre shows some of our main arterial routes starts to get very busy

"This is about moving people in and our of our city in the most efficient way possible."

Mr Hazzard says there will be two rounds of consultation and wants to find proposals for any issues the plans may have.

The consultation, which will deal with the entire BRT route on a section by section basis, is due to commence in the next few months.

A letter will issue to residents and businesses along the BRT routes explaining the proposals and the process for making comments.

He said: I realise that some of the proposed changes to the BRT bus lane operating hours and local waiting restrictions may cause issues for the people who live, work and travel along the BRT routes.

"In recognition of this my Department will be carrying out local engagement to identify concerns and develop final proposals to address these, as far as reasonably practicable.
The entire political edifice has failed victims in Northern Ireland, a campaigner whose wife died in the Shankill bomb said.

Alan McBride said he had spent years visiting Stormont pressing for progress on a pension for around 400 people with life-changing injuries from the Troubles.

He said a tiny proportion were maimed through their own actions.

The DUP's Christopher Stalford said there was "hostility" throughout the unionist community to the idea of perpetrators getting a pension, not just within his own party.

Mr McBride said: "It does represent a failure not just of the Executive Office but of the entire political edifice here in terms of moving this forward.

"It is not going to break the bank - it is 3 million.

"Why cannot we look at this and do something that gets it over the line that will benefit people here in this room."

He has been a tireless worker for peace. His wife Sharon was among nine people killed by the IRA in the Shankill fish shop bombing in 1993.

Mr McBride personally would not benefit from a pension, but is active within Northern Ireland's largest victims' group, Wave.

He is also a member of the Human Rights Commission and gave evidence to Stormont's Executive Office Committee.

Mr McBride added: "Not all paramilitaries were bad people, it was just a sign of the times."

Paul Gallagher was left paralysed after he was shot by loyalists at his home in Lenadoon.

He said perpetrators were already receiving money through the Victims and Survivors Service (VSS).

"The sky has not caved in. A pension could be taken over by the VSS and the same thing could be done."
Glen King (26), Stephen James Allison (29), and Kevin Gallagher (29) admitted targeting the newsagents on the Dublin Road on November 3, 2015

Three men who tried to rob a newsagent fled the scene when the 78-year-old proprietor produced a hatchet from behind the counter, a court has heard.

The trio - who were all residing at the Morning Star hostel in Belfast - were each handed a four-and-a-half year sentence at the city's Crown Court.

Glen King (26), Stephen James Allison (29), and Kevin Gallagher (29) admitted targeting the newsagents on the Dublin Road on November 3, 2015.

King, from Lavinia Square in Belfast, Allison from Adelaide Avenue in Whitehead, and Gallagher, from Herbert Avenue in Larne, were all informed they will serve half their sentence in custody, and half on licence after release.

After hearing all three were substance abusers, Judge Geoffrey Miller said: "Addiction to non-prescriptive drugs cannot provide an excuse for what was done that morning."

The judge was told by Crown counsel Philip Henry that the trio were captured on CCTV leaving the hostel and walking to the newsagents at the junction with Bruce Street.

King approached the counter armed with a long object which the shopkeeper thought was a knife, and the other two "effectively stood guard" at the door.

Mr Henry said that when King told the shopkeeper it was "hold up time", the pensioner "deliberately and slowly" walked towards the till before producing a hatchet. At this point, the would-be robbers fled the premises.

All three were later arrested and subsequently admitted attempted robbery.

Sending all three men to jail, Judge Miller said: "Clearly this must have been a frightening and traumatic experience for the shopkeeper, who acted with considerable bravery. He was, understandably, left very shaken."
A former Army officer has criticised soldiers being "dragged before the courts" as Northern Ireland struggles to deal with its so-called "legacy" issues.

Tory Lord Robathan said soldiers had been sent to Northern Ireland to "protect the population" from terrorism and violence.

He urged ministers to impose the "legacy package" of the Stormont House Agreement, leading to "more proportionate" legacy investigations.

Dealing with the legacy of unresolved killings during the conflict is one of the key issues polarising politics in Northern Ireland, which led to the snap election.

Northern Ireland minister Lord Dunlop said the current situation was "unsatisfactory, focusing disproportionately on the 10% of deaths caused by the police and armed forces, rather than the 90% caused by terrorists".

At question time in Parliament, he said the Government was committed to implementing the legacy bodies proposed in the Stormont House Agreement to ensure a "balanced, proportionate and fair approach to addressing Northern Ireland's past".

Lord Robathan, who is a former Defence Minister, said: "Successive governments over several decades sent soldiers, including myself, to Northern Ireland to protect the population, be they Catholic or Protestant, from terrorism and violence.

"Now some 40 years and more later, old soldiers find themselves being dragged before the courts although there is no new evidence against them."
Retailers called for international co-operation to combat the trade of illegal fuel, tobacco, digital entertainment and pharmaceuticals

Three men have been arrested as more than 100,000 suspected illegal cigarettes were seized in Belfast.

Customs officers, supported by the PSNI, carried out three separate searches last week.

They recovered more than 106,000 suspected illegal cigarettes worth well over 30,000 in lost duty and taxes.

The first illegal haul was discovered on January 17 after packages were intercepted by HM Revenue and Customs officers at a postal depot.

The cigarettes were addressed to a property in east Belfast.

The counterfeit brands included Septwolves, Yun yan and Hongtashan.

Follow-up searches across east and south Belfast led to tens of thousands of cigarettes being seized.

Three men - aged 42, 39 and 28 - were arrested.

They have since been interviewed and released on bail pending further investigations into the suspected excise frauds.
Attorney General Jeremy Wright said the Government is 'disappointed' by the final decision of the Supreme Court

Legislation will be introduced "within days" to keep Theresa May's timetable for leaving the EU on track, after the Prime Minister suffered defeat in a historic legal battle over Brexit.

By a majority of eight to three, judges at the Supreme Court rejected the Government's plan to use prerogative powers to trigger withdrawal talks under Article 50 of the EU treaties, ruling that ministers must first obtain the consent of Parliament.

Downing Street insisted the ruling would not derail the Prime Minister's deadline of invoking Article 50 by the end of March. And Brexit Secretary David Davis told the House of Commons that a "straightforward" bill would be tabled to give effect to the decision of Britain's voters.

He said the Supreme Court ruling did not affect the fact Britain will be leaving the EU in line with the result of the 2016 referendum, telling MPs: "There can be no turning back. The point of no return was passed on June 23 last year."

Delivering the court's verdict, Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger stressed: "The issues in these proceedings have nothing to do with whether the UK should exit from the EU, or the terms or timetable for that exit."

Withdrawal from the EU would mean a "fundamental change" to the UK's laws by cutting off one of its sources, as well as changing the legal rights of British citizens, he said.

"The UK's constitutional arrangements require such changes to be clearly authorised by Parliament," said Lord Neuberger.

"To proceed otherwise would be a breach of settled constitutional principles stretching back many centuries."

No date has yet been set to begin the process of taking an Article 50 bill through the Commons and Lords, with officials at Mr Davis's Department for Exiting the EU due to finalise its wording over the coming days.

Mr Davis said: "Parliament will rightly scrutinise and debate this legislation, but I trust no-one will seek to make it a vehicle for attempts to thwart the will of the people or frustrate or delay the process of exiting the European Union."

With Labour declaring it will not frustrate the invocation of Article 50, there was little doubt the Prime Minister can get a bill through Parliament.

But she risks having her hands tied in negotiations by any conditions inserted by MPs into the legislation, with the Scottish National Party declaring it will table 50 "serious and substantive" amendments.

Mr Davis resisted pressure from MPs in the Commons to commit himself to a White Paper setting out Mrs May's objectives in withdrawal negotiations.

Number 10 insists that Mrs May has already set out her aims in full in her Lancaster House speech last week, but the chair of the Commons Exiting the EU Committee, Hilary Benn, said that the failure to spell them out in a formal paper would show "a lack of respect" to Parliament.

Labour's shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer, warned that the PM's speech set out a "high risk" strategy, containing "big gaps, inconsistencies and unanswered questions" which could impose a heavy cost on British families and businesses.

He warned that it would be "wrong" for ministers to try to stop MPs amending Mr Davis's bill.

Sir Keir denounced the Government's decision to appeal an earlier High Court defeat in the Supreme Court as "a waste of time and money".

But Mr Davis insisted it was right to test the legal position in the highest court in the land.

Attorney General Jeremy Wright - who led the Government's court battle - acknowledged ministers were "disappointed" by the judges' ruling, but said they would "do all that is necessary to implement it".

To relief in Downing Street, the judges unanimously rejected a bid to require Mrs May to consult devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland..

"The British people voted to leave the EU, and the Government will deliver on their verdict - triggering Article 50, as planned, by the end of March," said a Number 10 spokesman.

"Today's ruling does nothing to change that.

"It's important to remember that Parliament backed the referendum by a margin of six to one and has already indicated its support for getting on with the process of exit to the timetable we have set out."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said his party would not "frustrate the process for invoking Article 50", but would seek to amend the legislation to prevent the UK becoming a "bargain-basement tax haven".

"Labour is demanding a plan from the Government to ensure it is accountable to Parliament throughout the negotiations and a meaningful vote to ensure the final deal is given parliamentary approval," said Mr Corbyn.

The SNP's Alex Salmond confirmed plans to table multiple amendments, adding: "If Theresa May is intent on being true to her word that Scotland and the other devolved administrations are equal partners in this process, then now is the time to show it."

The Liberal Democrats, who have just nine MPs but more than 100 peers, will vote against Article 50 unless there is a guarantee of the public having a vote on the final deal, said leader Tim Farron.

But Ukip leader Paul Nuttall warned MPs and peers not to hamper the passage of the legislation.

"The will of the people will be heard, and woe betide those politicians or parties that attempt to block, delay, or in any other way subvert that will," he said.

The Supreme Court ruling was welcomed by investment broker Gina Miller, the lead claimant in the case against the Government.

Speaking outside court, she told reporters: "This ruling today means that MPs we have elected will rightfully have the opportunity to bring their invaluable experience and expertise to bear in helping the Government select the best course in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations."

A lawyer for co-claimant Deir Dos Santos described the ruling as " a victory for democracy and the rule of law".

Labour MP Chuka Umunna accused Mrs May of behaving like a "pseudo dictator" over Brexit.

"The Prime Minister coming along like some pseudo dictator, saying that only she should have a say on the way that we leave the European Union," he told Channel Four News.
US president Donald Trump has signed executive orders to advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines.

Both projects had been blocked by the Obama administration, partly due to environmental concerns. The orders are subject to renegotiations of the terms and conditions involved.

Mr Trump also signed a notice requiring the materials for the pipelines to be constructed in the United States.

The new US president also announced that he plans to nominate a justice for the Supreme Court next week, moving swiftly to try to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Mr Trump is summoning top senators to the White House later to discuss his upcoming nomination.

He has sought to focus his first full week in office on jobs and the economy. Republicans, as well as some unions, have cited the pipeline projects as prime opportunities for job growth.

Former president Barack Obama had halted the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in late 2015, declaring it would have undercut US efforts to clinch a global climate change deal that was a centrepiece of his environmental legacy.

The pipeline would run from Canada to Nebraska where it would connect to existing lines running to US refineries on the Gulf Coast. The US government needs to approve the pipeline because it would cross the nation's northern border.

Separately, late last year, the US Army corps of engineers declined to allow construction of the Dakota Access pipeline under Lake Oahe, saying alternative routes needed to be considered.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters said the project threatens drinking water and Native American sites. Energy Transfer Partners, the company that wants to build the pipeline, disputes these claims and says the pipeline will be safe.

The pipeline is to carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois.

Earlier, Mr Trump caused more controversy after making unsubstantiated claims about election fraud - even as he reached out to Democratic rivals, business leaders and union chiefs in a bid to sell his policies.

During a bipartisan reception at the White House on Monday evening, Mr Trump is understood to have claimed that he lost the popular vote to his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton because three to five million illegal immigrants had voted in the November election.

There is no evidence to support Mr Trump's claim, which was reported by a Democratic aide.

The assertion appears to be part of a developing pattern for Mr Trump and his new administration in which falsehoods or otherwise unverifiable claims overshadow his efforts to build bridges.

Mr Trump began his first full week as president playing host to business, union and Congressional leaders at the White House. Again and again, he ordered aides to summon journalists from their West Wing workplace at a moment's notice for unscheduled statements and photo opportunities.

Among those meetings was a reception at the White House for congressional leaders of both parties.

Mr Trump is also expected to speak by phone with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and meet his newly sworn-in CIA director Mike Pompeo.

Mr Trump's comments on the popular vote were similar to claims he made on Twitter in late November that he had won the electoral college in a "landslide" and also "won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally".

Mrs Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes, despite losing the electoral college. There is no evidence that voter fraud significantly affected the vote.

Earlier, Mr Trump charted a new American course abroad, withdrawing the US from the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), using one of his first actions in office to reject a centrepiece of his predecessor Barack Obama's attempts to counter China and strengthen US ties in Asia.

For Mr Trump, the move fulfilled a central campaign promise. He has repeatedly said the 12-nation trade pact - which was eagerly sought by US allies in Asia - was detrimental to American business interests.

As Mr Trump signed the paperwork in the Oval Office, he said: "Great thing for the American worker what we just did."

In addition to his executive action on TPP, Mr Trump signed memorandums freezing most federal government hiring - with the exception of the military - and reinstating a ban on providing federal money to international groups which perform abortions or provide information about the option.
President Donald Trump has said he is ordering a "major investigation" into voter fraud, revisiting unsubstantiated claims he has repeatedly made about a rigged voting system.

The investigation, he tweeted, will look at those registered to vote in more than one state, "those who are illegal and ... even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time)".

Depending on results, Mr Trump tweeted "we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

Mr Trump has been fixated on his loss of the popular vote in the election and a persistent frustration that the legitimacy of his presidency is being challenged by Democrats and the media, aides and associates say.

His exaggerations about inauguration crowds and false assertions about illegal balloting have been distractions as advisers have tried to launch his presidency with a flurry of actions on the economy.

Mr Trump's spokesman, Sean Spicer, has twice stepped into the fray himself, including on Tuesday, when he doubled down on Mr Trump's false claim that he lost the popular vote because three million to five million people living in the US illegally cast ballots.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have finalised their election results with no reports of the kind of widespread fraud that Mr Trump is alleging.

"He believes what he believes based on the information he was provided," said Mr Spicer, who provided no evidence to back up the president's statements.

If the president's claim were true it would mark the most significant election fraud in US history - and ironically would raise the same questions about Mr Trump's legitimacy that he is trying to avoid.

Yet Mr Spicer repeatedly sidestepped questions about whether the Trump administration would investigate the allegations pushed by the president.

Representative Elijah Cummings, ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said his panel has already sent letters to the attorneys general in all 50 states asking for reports of any election irregularities.

"The president can join me and my staff," Mr Cummings said on MSNBC.

He also said he wants Congress to restore voting protections, citing a Supreme Court ruling that "gutted" key sections of the Voting Rights Act, particularly the provision requiring southern states to get clearance in advance from the Justice Department before legislating changes in voting laws and procedures.

Some Trump allies say Mr Trump is justified in using his platform to defend his standing.

They point to Georgia Democratic Representative John Lewis's pre-inauguration statement that he did not see Mr Trump as a legitimate president, as well as US intelligence agencies' assessment that Russia meddled in the election in order to help Mr Trump win.

"Segments of his own government keep driving this narrative," said Roger Stone, a longtime confidant. "I don't think it hurts to point it out."

Key advisers in Mr Trump's inner circle concede the focus on crowd claims and alleged voter fraud have been a distraction.

After Friday's inaugural festivities, the new president grew increasingly upset the next day by what he felt was "biased" media coverage of women's marches across the globe protesting against his election, according to a person familiar with his thinking.

Mr Trump was particularly enraged with CNN, which he thought was "gloating" by continually running photos of the women's march alongside the smaller crowds that attended his inauguration the day before, according to this person, one of several White House aides and associates who spoke on condition of anonymity.

On Tuesday night on Twitter, Mr Trump condemned CNN again, referring to the network as "FAKE NEWS @CNN" while praising rival Fox News Channel.

Mr Trump has had a tumultuous relationship with the press, frequently calling the media dishonest and insulting individual reporters by name at his rallies and on Twitter.

Still, two people close to Mr Trump said he expected his coverage to turn more favourable once he took office.

Instead, he has told people he believes it has got worse.

The bad press over the weekend has not allowed Mr Trump to "enjoy" the White House as he feels he deserves, according to one person who has spoken with him.

The result has been a full display of Mr Trump's propensity for exaggeration and more.

During an appearance at the CIA on Saturday, he wrongly said the inaugural crowds gathered on the National Mall stretched to the Washington Monument, despite clear photo evidence to the contrary.

And during a reception with politicians from both parties on Monday night, he repeated his false assertion that millions of illegal immigrants provided Hillary Clinton's margin in the popular vote.

AP
Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House (AP)

President Donald Trump has signed executive actions to jump-start construction of a US-Mexico border wall and block federal grants from immigrant-protecting "sanctuary cities".

"Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders," Mr Trump declared during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security.

"We are going to save lives on both sides of the border."

Mr Trump cast his actions as fulfilment of a campaign pledge to enact hard-line immigration measures, including construction of a wall paid for by Mexico.

With the families of Americans killed by people living in the US illegally sitting in the audience, Mr Trump said: "When it comes to public safety, there is no place for politics."

Funding for the border wall project is murky.

While Mr Trump has repeatedly promised that Mexico will pay for it, US taxpayers are expected to cover the initial costs and the new administration has said nothing about how it will compel Mexico to reimburse the money.

One of the executive actions Mr Trump signed on Wednesday appears to signal that he could restrict aid to Mexico.

In an interview with ABC News earlier on Wednesday, Mr Trump said: "There will be a payment; it will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form."

Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto, who has insisted his country will not pay for a wall, is expected to meet Mr Trump at the White House next week, despite calls from some lawmakers for him to cancel his visit.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Donald Trump, chairman and president of the Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts, speaks at a press conference on day two of the 2014 Republican Leadership Conference on May 30, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Members of the Republican Party are scheduled to speak at the 2014 Republican Leadership Conference, which hosts 1,500 delegates from across the country through May 31st. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Getty Images Donald Trump's comments have provoked outrage Donald Trump Getty Images Donald Trump is considering running for president Donald Trump has refused to back down over his remarks about Mexican immigrants Donald Trump tees off. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a town hall event in New Hampshire (AP) Donald Trump says he and NBC have settled their beauty pageant "dust-up" Donald Trump said his proposal comes in response to the level of hatred among "large segments of the Muslim population" toward Americans (AP) Donald Trump's support for a Muslim database in the US drew sharp criticism (AP) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump mocks disabled reporter Serge Kovaleski. Kovaleski has arthrogryposis Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump AP Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump assures America he has no size issues during Republican presidential primary debate at Fox Theatre, Thursday, March 3, 2016, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) AP Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (AP) An protester against Donald Trump holds a burning T-shirt outside the Republican's rally in Albuquerque (AP) After the Orlando nightclub mass shooting - the worst in American history - Donald Trump tweeted: "Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don't want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart! " / Facebook

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Whatsapp Donald Trump, chairman and president of the Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts, speaks at a press conference on day two of the 2014 Republican Leadership Conference on May 30, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Members of the Republican Party are scheduled to speak at the 2014 Republican Leadership Conference, which hosts 1,500 delegates from across the country through May 31st. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Congressional aides say there is about 100 million US dollars (79 million) of unspent appropriations in the Department of Homeland Security account for border security, fencing and infrastructure.

That would allow planning efforts to get started, but far more money would have to be appropriated for when construction got under way.

Mr Trump has insisted many times the border structure will be a wall.

The order he signed referred to "a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous and impassable physical barrier".

The president's orders also call for hiring 5,000 additional border patrol agents, although the increase is subject to congressional approval.

He also moved to end what Republicans have labelled a catch-and-release system at the border.

Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are released and given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

Later in the week, Mr Trump is expected to sign orders restricting the flow of refugees into the United States.

His current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as a temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim-majority countries, according to a source from a public policy organisation that monitors refugee issues.

Mr Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten US immigration policies, including strengthening border security and stemming the flow of refugees.

His call for a border wall was among his most popular proposals with supporters, who often broke out in chants of "build that wall" during rallies.

In response to terrorism concerns, Mr Trump controversially called for halting entry to the US from Muslim countries.

He later turned to a focus on "extreme vetting" for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

To build the wall, the president is relying on a 2006 law that authorised several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier.

That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-president George W Bush, and the majority of that fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office.

The last remnants were completed after Barack Obama took office in 2009.

The Trump administration must also adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built.

The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the US-Mexico border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint US-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.

Mr Trump's order to crack down on sanctuary cities - locales that do not co-operate with immigration authorities - could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars.

However, the administration may face legal challenges, given that some federal courts have found that local jurisdictions cannot hold immigrants beyond their jail term or deny them bond based only a request from immigration authorities.

It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still being finalised.

The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the US for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, although the person cautioned the details could still change.

There is also likely to be an exception for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country.

That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.

As president, Mr Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing.

Mr Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.

AP
The Supreme Court's decision to force the Government to seek the approval of Parliament before beginning formal negotiations on leaving the EU does not mean that MPs will try to frustrate the will of the electorate who voted for Brexit. That would be a very foolish path to even contemplate.

What it does mean, however, is that Opposition parties can make amendments to the Bill triggering the negotiations, and this is something that Theresa May obviously wished to avoid.

It is during the votes on those amendments that the 14 Northern Ireland MPs at Westminster could play a vital role, but they will not speak with one voice. The DUP will back the Government. The UUP and Independent MP Sylvia Hermon, who supported Remain, will likely do so too in recognition of the referendum result. The SDLP will be the only voices from here in opposition.

Sinn Fein, for all its protestations about the negative effects of Brexit, will stick by its abstentionist policy and rely on the Republic to press its case in Europe.

While Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU, it must abide by the decision of the UK-wide electorate to leave. That poses a dilemma for local politicians as fears are growing of a hard border that would seriously damage trading relations between the two parts of this island.

Brexit will take two years to negotiate, but there's no certainty we will have a functioning devolved government by that stage if the current toxic relationship between the DUP and Sinn Fein persists.

So that will put additional onus on MPs to press the province's case at Westminster. They may not agree on whether leaving the EU is a good or bad move, but they must speak with one voice in ensuring that the best possible deal - taking into account our peculiar interests - is pursued during the divorce negotiations.

Hopefully that will concentrate minds when the parties sit down after the election to begin negotiations on resurrecting devolution.

Their focus should be on showing the world that they are capable of working out their political differences and that Northern Ireland is a place that is open for business with all parts of the globe.

Brexit will force politicians as well as businesses in Northern Ireland to become more outward looking and avoid the parochial mindset that often suggests the world owes us a living.
The shooting of a police officer in north Belfast is to be condemned completely. I wish the officer involved a full recovery and hope that the perpetrators are caught quickly and brought before the courts.

I am, however, concerned by the circumstances surrounding this shooting. The PSNI have indicated that the gunmen were laying in wait and this was a planned shooting, suggesting that the gunman was aware police would be at the station.

Perhaps officers were answering a call, but it is equally likely they were following a pattern easily observable by the public (and those who would wish them harm) of police officers using the same locations to buy food and refreshment for their breaks.

I live in the Lurgan area, where dissident activity is not uncommon. It is quite normal to see the same police officers in a local supermarket at predictable break times, and you could almost set your watch by police vehicles outside a local fast food outlet.

Quite apart from the poor public optics of police officers in uniform wandering around shopping, the dangers of setting such patterns in areas where the threat of dissident activity is high is foolhardy in the extreme.

We are all, to some extent, creatures of habit. Operational police officers should take time to reflect on their patterns of behaviour while both on and off duty, and on the impact it might have on their safety and the safety of those around them.

This caution was second nature for officers in the RUC, but it seems to have been lost in the brave new world of community policing.

OBSERVER

Lurgan, Co Armagh
While the Supreme Court's decision - forcing Theresa May to win a parliamentary majority before she can trigger Article 50 - didn't come as a huge surprise to her, it still muddies the waters.

She has a working majority of just 16, but she also has a group of potential backbench rebels who may decide to put their consciences before party policy.

They can argue that she doesn't have a mandate for her "Brexit means Brexit" strategy, and some of them can further argue that they campaigned for Remain, and that's how their constituency voted.

If just nine of them indicate a willingness to defy her then she has a huge problem in terms of pushing an Act through Westminster before the end of March.

Step forward the DUP's eight MPs to offer her support. According to Sammy Wilson: "The battle now commences at Westminster and, as far as the DUP is concerned, we will be using our votes and voice to ensure a rapid commencement on the negotiations to leave the EU completely, as the Prime Minister promised, while at the same time ensuring that, in the absence of any Assembly voice, the issues most concerning to Northern Ireland are articulated by our MPs."

Nigel Dodds added: "We expect the Government to bring forward legislation which will deliver the Brexit the DUP campaigned for and which will be in the national interest. It is vital to get this work in the Parliament right and we will ensure that it does.

"The DUP campaigned for Brexit and we believe we are stronger outside the shackles of the European Union. We voted as a whole to leave the EU and that vote must be continually respected."

No nuance, or "constructive ambiguity", in those statements. The DUP clearly favours a "hard" Brexit. And its hand has been strengthened by the fact that the Supreme Court also confirmed that the Northern Ireland Assembly (along with the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament) will have no right to veto or impede May in Parliament.

So, the DUP, which didn't deliver a Leave majority in Northern Ireland last June and wouldn't be able to deliver a Leave majority in the Assembly, may still be able to prop up - even save - the Prime Minister in the event of a rebellion by a handful of her own MPs.

No small party finding itself in that position would fail to extract the political equivalent of Danegeld from the Prime Minister, particularly at a moment when it could be facing its own problems in rebooting the Assembly after what is likely to be a very divisive election, followed by a potentially fractious talks process.

In other words, in exchange for "helping" the Prime Minister, the DUP will expect the Prime Minister to "help" it in six weeks' time.

But how far can May go? She already has enough on her plate in trying to get an Act on the statute book before the end of March without risking the collapse of a talks process and facing the prospect of either a very lengthy period of suspension, or even the return of formal direct rule. She will know that she needs to tread very carefully. DUP votes could be important for her; but she won't barter for them if the price is the possible end of the Assembly and the political process as we know it.

And nor can she ignore the fact that a majority of Northern Ireland's MPs (two UUP, three SDLP, four Sinn Fein and Lady Hermon) and four of the five main parties in the Assembly supported the Remain side during the referendum.

Or that Northern Ireland as a whole, on a bigger turnout than for the Assembly election, voted or Remain by 56%-44%.

While the DUP seems to be quite happy to opt for the hard form of Brexit - with all of the ramifications that could have for UK/Republic of Ireland relationships and relationships between nationalists and unionists here - all of the political/electoral evidence points to the fact that theirs is a demonstrably minority position. Those facts and that evidence will steer her towards caution in her dealings with the DUP.

Where the DUP's influence could be crucial, though, is in ensuring that the particular difficulties which could face Northern Ireland when the UK leaves the European Union will be properly assessed and addressed over the next couple of months.

Such an approach would reflect the wishes of the majority here (including those of many, many unionists); would make it easier to reach a new post-election rapprochement with Sinn Fein, and would allow the British/Irish Governments to reach an agreement that could be underwritten by the EU.

At some point it seems likely that the DUP leader will reassume the title of First Minister. So it makes sense, surely, to ensure that the party's seeming desire for a hard Brexit doesn't become a wrecking-ball for local power-sharing.

The DUP's position today is firm: "Sinn Fein and those Opposition parties which produced the crisis to bring down the Assembly have ensured that the mechanisms set up to deal with NI-specific issues have been effectively scuppered.

"However, the DUP will hold the fort to ensure that the UK will leave the EU and at the same time take part in negotiations with the same stance on Brexit, reflecting the issues affecting us."

That, of course, is absurd. The DUP does not have a mandate to represent Northern Ireland on Brexit. Negotiating on that basis would be a folly.

Which is why I suspect it won't go too far down that path, not least because the Prime Minister will not let it.

She is aware that it doesn't speak for Northern Ireland, just as she is aware that it is in the long-term interests of London, Dublin and Belfast to ensure that nothing is done to undermine a peace/political process that took so long to construct.

This is a moment for the DUP to be useful to the Prime Minister, but its usefulness must be used as a way of strengthening Northern Ireland's position within the Union, rather than weakening it.

The referendum demonstrated that a substantial majority of the electorate here is well disposed to the EU, so the DUP has to be careful not to pursue a policy that leaves those people questioning the value and values of the vision promoted by the DUP in June 2016.

The DUP has a strong hand to play: it must play it wisely and for the collective advantage of Northern Ireland, rather than for its own immediate electoral interests.

Brexit is already seen by Sinn Fein and some elements of the Irish political establishment as a potential vehicle for earlier-than-expected Irish unity, so the DUP needs to be very careful that it doesn't provide any fuel for that vehicle.
A day after a PSNI member is injured in a north Belfast shooting, Sinn Fein appoints Michelle O'Neill as their replacement for Martin McGuinness.

Although a matter of hours separated both events, the gulf between the current Sinn Fein and Sunday's armed attack can only be measured in light years. The appointment of O'Neill, much more pronounced and important than calls from Gerry Kelly for informers to come forward with information about Sunday's armed incident, is entirely consistent with Sinn Fein's ongoing and sustained abandonment of its revolutionary past and the comprehensive embracing of constitutionalism.

The symbolism should not be understated. The incumbents of the political careers bequeathed by the IRA's armed struggle are stamping the party imprimatur on the IRA's catastrophic failure to secure an end to British rule by churning out leaders essentially not all that different from those that led the SDLP in opposition to the IRA's armed campaign.

Sinn Fein has no shortage of former high-profile IRA prisoners serving as MLAs from which to choose a new leader for its Stormont Assembly team. That it opted not to is indicative of its persistent and irreversible journey away from its former self.

Military actions (subject to the odd exception if the PSNI is to be believed about the killing of Kevin McGuigan) are very much a thing of the past as the poacher vies with rivals to become the best gamekeeper on the manor.

The handover of the reins to Michelle O'Neill, seeing former IRA figures like Gerry Kelly, Sean Lynch and Pat Sheehan inter alia overlooked, suggests that something more than a mere generational change is taking place.

Leadership is not just being passed from the old to the young, but also from the military to the civilian.

Party boss Gerry Adams, in the wake of McGuinness's departure, is easily the most prominent martial politician among those greying figures left standing on the bridge between military past and constitutional present.

With Martin McGuinness gone and Adams' deficiencies persistently laid bare in the south, the Louth TD will look increasingly out of place as he strives valiantly, but vainly to assert his "alternative facts" in a party fronted increasingly by women like Michelle O'Neill and Mary Lou McDonald, for whom alternative facts are the source of never ending discomfort.

This is even when for the sake of optics and a display of party unity they pretend to believe them.

The DUP, sensing the competing strains at play, is depicting O'Neill as one more dummy for the ventriloquist. In the wake of the announcement, the Arlene Foster-led party took to tweeting a large image of Gerry Adams with a diminutive Michelle O'Neill safely ensconced in his breast pocket. Their summation: a different deputy, same problem.

There is nothing complicated about the DUP pitch: despite the democratic veneer, the appointment of a non-martial politician to lead Sinn Fein in the north, the caudillo and his camarilla are still pulling the strings. A clear declaration of intent by the DUP to fight a bruising election battle, it leaves Sinn Fein to ponder the strategic matter of whether Michelle O'Neill can galvanise the party vote and energise the voters.

If Gerry Adams being replaced by Paul Maskey as MP for West Belfast is indicative of future projections, the trend will not be upward. How popular the appointment will be within Sinn Fein remains a matter for conjecture.

O'Neill was part of the Assembly team that has been accused of "roll-over republicanism". Martin McGuinness's palpable physical frailty came to personify an Assembly team malaise which saw it swallow ignominy after insult and which, up until it collapsed the power-splitting Executive, responded to DUP slap-downs as if they were pats on the back.

The deference, rather than defiance, shown to the DUP so inflamed the "sectarian" ire of the party grassroots that it felt sufficiently emboldened to trump the careerist cartel which the DUP had strategically banked on refusing to upend the institutions.

The corollary: if Sinn Fein fails to increase its vote and share of Assembly seats under Michelle O'Neill's leadership, coupled with the possibility of the DUP ceding no ground to the UUP, or TUV, it will lead to her position being vulnerable.

Unlike Martin McGuinness, she is far from unassailable.

Dr Anthony McIntyre is a former IRA prisoner, journalist and co-founder of The Blanket, an online magazine that critically analysed the peace process. He blogs at: thepensivequill.am
Suspected drug peddlers arrested by police are paraded in front of the media in Jammu and Kashmirs Kupwara district, Jan. 23, 2016.

Police in Indian Kashmir on Tuesday blamed Pakistan for backing what it called narco-terrorism in the strife-torn Himalayan region, a day after six people were allegedly caught transporting drugs valued at millions of rupees from across the border.

About 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of heroin, 3.5 kg (7.7 pounds) of hashish, as well as 1.5 kg (3.3 pounds) of brown sugar  an adulterated form of heroin  were among substances recovered from the six suspects, all residents of a Kupwara district village on the Line of Control (LoC), a de-facto border that divides the region between India and Pakistan, police said.

Pakistan is actively involved in spreading narco-terrorism. The funds generated from sale of narcotics are being used to fund terror activities in Kashmir, S.P. Vaid, director general of police in Jammu and Kashmir, told BenarNews, adding that the illegal drugs were smuggled in from Pakistan.

The Indian side of the LoC is called Jammu and Kashmir, where an outbreak of separatist insurgency has claimed more than 70,000 lives since the late 1980s. India calls the other side of the border Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, or PoK.

The latest arrests and recovery of contraband substances has once again established Pakistans role in spreading narco-terrorism in India, Vaid said without elaborating.

The suspected peddlers  identified as Nisar Ahmad Chokar, Mohammad Khaleeq Sheikh, Rayees Ahmad Sheikh, Mohammad Shabir Mir, Sadiq Ahmad Mir and Abdul Rashid Mir  worked like an organized syndicate to procure drugs sent from across the LoC, another police officer said.

Chokar, who lived in a village near the LoC, was in regular touch with one Muneer Ahmad, his relative living in Pakistan. [Ahmad] sent consignments to Chokar, Shamsher Hussain, Kupwaras superintendent of police, told BenarNews.

Anti-India movement peaceful and indigenous

Separatists, however, refuted this allegation.

The ongoing movement against Indian oppressive rule in Kashmir is peaceful and indigenous. By linking illegal narcotics business to separatism in Kashmir, India is only trying to malign the movement at an international level, Shabir Shah, chairman of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFM), told BenarNews.

DFM is an ally of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an alliance of 26 political, social and religious organizations that has been fighting for Kashmirs independence since 1993.

Only recently, entire Kashmir was on the streets in protest against rights abuses committed by Indian security forces. [Even then] India wasted no time in blaming Pakistan for orchestrating the unrest. Its aim was to divert attention from the core issue, Shah said, referring to the recent months-long violence between security forces and anti-India protesters that claimed more than 100 lives following the killing of a separatist leader.

At least one security analyst backed the police claim that separatism in Kashmir was being partly funded by drug money from across the border, giving examples of recent arrests.

In February 2014, Indian police claimed to have busted a narco-terrorism network with the arrest of a member of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), Indian Kashmirs biggest separatist faction, in possession of brown sugar valued at more than 1 billion rupees (U.S. $14.6 million). The contraband was recovered from the suspects truck that was used to ferry goods for trade across the border, according to the police.

The world over, one of the keys to fostering terrorism in a neighboring state has been to use funds generated by drug trafficking. Drug peddling in Afghanistan was used to finance the war against the Soviet Union. retired Maj. Gen. G.D. Bakshi, a New Delhi-based security analyst, told BenarNews.

Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute of Conflict Management, differed.

It would be early to say if money from narcotics trade is used to advance separatism in Kashmir. Contraband substances in little quantities have been recovered from drug peddlers in Kashmir earlier as well but a connection with separatism has never been established. Lets wait and see what comes out of [the latest] arrests, Sahni told BenarNews.
Indonesian police Tuesday released 17 citizens who were deported from Turkey over suspected links to Islamic State, but said they would undergo guidance training because they were lured abroad by an IS recruiter in Syria.

The 17 were detained and placed into the custody of counter-terrorist police squad Densus 88, after their arrival in Jakarta aboard a Turkish Airlines flight over the weekend. The members of the group were victims of an IS recruiter of Indonesian origin whose initials are A.M, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Rikwanto told journalists in Jakarta.

The suspected recruiter who lives in Syria contacted these people by telephone and through social media, Rikwanto said.

Now they have been freed and will be sent to a Social Service in Pondok Bambu to receive guidance training, Rikwanto said, referring to a government center in Jakarta. He did not elaborate on the training.

They were victims who had been lured by parties related to IS. They were told that they could live based on Islamic laws, Rikwanto said. They said they did not know there was a war there. In Turkey, they would be accommodated in a hidden apartment to later be smuggled to Syria.

Rikwanto said the recruiter received money from IS leaders to enlist Indonesians willing to jihad.

The donors are IS, through certain people including Indonesians. They then recruit Indonesians to be brought there, he said.

The five men and five women believed to be spouses, along with three toddler girls and four boys were arrested by Indonesian immigration officers on Saturday shortly after arriving from Turkey at Sukarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta. The immigration officers transferred the group to Densus 88 custody.

The 17 are from a wide range of Indonesian provinces including West Sumatra, South Sulawesi, East Java, Central Java, Banten and Jakarta, officials said.

Officials in Indonesia have long warned of a threat of IS recruiting its citizens for its cause in Syria and Iraq, and of the group influencing Indonesian supporters to plot terrorist attacks on home soil. In January 2016, IS claimed its first attack in Indonesia, a suicide mission carried out by four men in central Jakarta that left eight people, including all of the attackers, dead.

As of August 2016, the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) reported that 237 adults and 46 children from Indonesia were in Syria, while 283 others were deported from several countries including Turkey.

Saudi-Indonesian cooperation

In other news related to terrorism, Saudi and Indonesian officials met in Saudi Arabia last week to discuss programs to de-radicalize and rehabilitate ex-terrorists, a spokesman for Indonesias foreign ministry confirmed to BenarNews.

There is a commitment to improve cooperation, including efforts to suppress extremist and radical ideology, spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said on Tuesday.

The two countries have cooperated in the past on counter-terrorism efforts, but the most recent meeting focused on improving bilateral cooperation involving de-radicalization programs, he said.

BNPT chief commander Gen. Suhardi Alius and other high-ranking BNPT officials visited Saudi Arabia from Jan. 11 to 16.

Costly?

Taufik Andrie, a terrorism analyst with the Jakarta-based Prasasti Perdamaian Foundation, said it would be difficult for Indonesia to implement Saudi Arabias de-radicalization techniques because of its high-cost approach.

Over there, the infrastructure is already prepared. It is very developed because Saudi is a rich country. Incentives are given to the families of terrorists, school [for them] is guaranteed. In Indonesia, we still have limited funds, he told BenarNews.

Taufik welcomed the Saudi invitation of Saudi Arabia.

They understand well on the ideology of Salafi and Wahhabism. Our hope is to be able to apply it in Indonesia, he added.
Indigenous people man a barricade at the Balah Forest Reserve before authorities removed it and detained 18 people, Jan. 24, 2017.

Malaysian authorities Tuesday detained 16 indigenous people and two journalists, and later released them, after dismantling a blockade set up by protestors against logging in the small town of Gua Musang in Kelantan state.

The two journalists, Jules Ong and Chitoo, Malaysians working as freelancers for Singapore-based Channel News Asia (CNA), were released Tuesday evening, according to activists. The 16 others were released earlier in the day.

Actions of the arrested indigenous people are against the provision of the National Forestry Act 1984 (Amendment 1993) because the status of the areas where they had built those blockades are Federal Reserve Forest and not their actual village, the Forestry Department of Kelantan said in a statement.

Ong is a Malaysian freelance television director producing a documentary on deforestation in Kelantan, according to CNA.

Channel News Asia came to know of his arrest from Malaysian media reports. Channel News Asia, which operates across the whole of Asia, will co-operate fully with any official investigation, the broadcaster said in a statement.

A journalist sits handcuffed after being detained by forestry department officials, Jan. 24, 2017. [Courtesy of Siti Kassim]

The detentions followed similar action on Monday, when five people were detained and blockades at Simpang Petei, Gua Musang were removed. All were released on the same day, according to media reports.

Indigenous groups began setting up blockades in the Balah Forest Reserve in Gua Musang in September to force state officials to stop granting licenses to clear timber in the area.

At the time, members of the Kelantan Network of Orang Asli Villages set up a blockade in an area they claim as their ancestral land. They rebuilt it after a tense standoff with loggers in which shots were fired, according to the activists  a claim denied by a police official.

Between November and December, 54 indigenous people were taken into custody for setting up blockades, according to the forestry department. Following their release, they erected another blockade.

Illegal loggers

The department said it would keep combatting encroachment on forests by illegal loggers and that is has expanded its role to help the community through the Indigenous Welfare Department. About 133 officers from the department and other authorities have been involved in efforts since Monday.

The department would like to inform that a number of meetings with leaders of indigenous people  were held on Jan. 10 and Jan. 19 and the responses were positive, it said in its statement.

Nevertheless, some indigenous people have to respect existing laws under the state authority and should not be too easily duped and influenced by outsiders because this is not the way to resolve the indigenous claims.

Human rights body reacts

On Tuesday, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) said it was appalled that the department had demolished the blockade set up to protect the forests and customary land.

SUHAKAM chairman Razali Ismail said he was deeply concerned that this marginalized and vulnerable community who are among Malaysias poorest minority have been targets of long-standing discrimination.

These blockades are a symbol of protest by them, opposing unrestrained commercialization of the forests, which violates the many established principles on business and human rights, such as the duty of the state to protect, and [it is the] duty of businesses to respect the human rights of the Orang Asli, he said. Orang Asli is the term used for the indigenous people in Malaysia who comprise about 12 percent of the countrys 31 million people.
A rescue worker enters a hole in the back of a mobile home Monday in Big Pine Estates that was damaged by a tornado, in Albany, Georgia. Fire and rescue crews were searching through the debris, looking for people who might have become trapped when the deadly storm came through.
A bid from Pulte Homes to rezone and add 465 residences and possibly a school near Sandy Run Creek on Jedburg Road wasn't met with open arms at a Oct. 26 community meeting on the part of local homeowners seeking to preserve the area's rural characteristics. Read moreJedburg Road residents tell Pulte Homes: 'Keep it rural'
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About Censored News Censored News is published by Brenda Norrell. Since 2006, Censored News has received more than 20 million pageviews. As a collective of writers, photographers and broadcasters, we publish news of Indigenous Peoples and human rights. Contact publisher Brenda Norrell: brendanorrell@gmail.com

From the publisher Censored News is published by Brenda Norrell, a journalist in Indian country for 40 years. Norrell created Censored News after she was censored and terminated as a staff reporter at Indian Country Today in 2006. She began as a reporter at Navajo Times during the 18 years that she lived on the Navajo Nation. She was a stringer for AP and USA Today and later traveled with the Zapatistas through Mexico. She has been blacklisted by all the mainstream media for 14 years. Contact brendanorrell@gmail.com

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The Bible has been under attack in the western world for over 200 years but never more intensely than today. These attacks have taken different forms and have come from many different corners of the academic world, from philosophers, to scientists, to textual critics. In the specialized world of archaeology the attacks have increased dramatically in the past 50 years. Once a specialization filled with Bible believing individuals, the field of archaeology is now overrun with atheists and skeptics, agnostics and those committed to the destruction of the Bible as a source of true historical information.

These attacks on the Bible are a part of a sweeping movement in western culture. Spearheaded by academic elitists in the university and the public educational system, the news and popular media, and the entertainment industry, these revisionists cloak themselves with supposed objectivity, purity of motives, and the superiority of science over the "uninformed", "unscientific", religious community.

They regularly mock those who question their world-view and their conclusions by name-calling and the worst forms of anti-Bible and anti-Christian propaganda. They have powerfully infected the church by turning Bible believing Christians against the very Scripture which is the foundation of truth and life in this world. Instead of contending for the Bible, Christian academics, pastors, and lay-persons are making egregious accommodations to these destroyers of faith and truth.

In these days of intense spiritual battle, God has called ABR to step into the gap to contend for the truth and to assist the church in this critical hour. ABR is a non-profit ministry dedicated to demonstrating the historical reliability of the Bible and to give answers to questions being asked by believers and non-believers alike. We do this by using original archaeological fieldwork and research along with studies in other apologetic disciplines. We take on the bold claims of skeptics and critics. We challenge the bizarre anti-biblical propaganda that is purveyed upon the public as gospel through television and print media. We uphold the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is God's message for the salvation of all mankind!




First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain.





Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that.





And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details.





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For Immediate Release, January 25, 2017 Contact: Paul Ruprecht, Western Watersheds Project, (208)421-4637, paul@westernwatersheds.org

Sally Wells, Concerned Friends of the Winema, (541) 205-6313

Noah Greenwald, Center for Biological Diversity, (503) 484-7495, ngreenwald@biologicaldiversity.org

Laurie Rule, Advocates for the West, (503) 914-6388, lrule@advocateswest.org Court Finds Livestock Grazing on Oregon National Forest Endangers Spotted Frog In Victory for Conservation Groups, Court Orders Better Protections Before Reinstating Grazing Permits PORTLAND, Ore. Conservation groups scored a victory in federal court Tuesday on behalf of the Oregon spotted frog, which is protected as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The court found that the U.S. Forest Service's allowance of grazing on the 68,000-acre Chemult Pasture, part of the Antelope Allotment on the Fremont-Winema National Forest, violated the forest's management plan and was endangering the survival of the frog and other sensitive species. The court ordered a new environmental review, halting any further grazing within the 68,000-acre pasture until the agency can clearly demonstrate the activity will not harm the frog or plants. This is a great victory for Oregon spotted frogs, said Paul Ruprecht, staff attorney for Western Watersheds Project. Until the Forest Service demonstrates that the grazing it authorizes complies with federal law, key spotted frog habitats on Jack Creek will be protected from livestock. The Winema Forest Plan provides that habitat shall be managed to maintain viable populations of existing plants and wildlife, said Sally Wells, a founding member of Concerned Friends of the Winema, the lead plaintiff. But numerous instances of trespass grazing and habitual noncompliance by the permittees, paired with increasing drought conditions, has further degraded frog habitat and the delicate fen ecosystems, in violation of that commitment. We're happy that Oregon spotted frogs, which are in such critical danger, are finally going to get serious protection from the Forest Service, said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. The Winema National Forest has been aware that livestock are hurting frogs in Jack Creek and on the Antelope Allotment for more than 20 years, but has continually failed to do what is needed to protect these frogs and their habitat. With today's court order, that should change. The fen ecosystems of the Chemult pasture are unique and extensive, resulting from millennia of complex processes manifesting on the Antelope allotment in the form of peat-based plant communities and a host of rare and sensitive plant species. Livestock cause bare soil, pedestals, trails and other impacts to these irreplaceable biophysical resources. Jack Creek, which flows through the Chemult pasture, is one of the last refuges of Oregon spotted frogs and has long been damaged by livestock grazing. This is the third round of litigation over this allotment in the past nine years, said Laurie Rule, a senior staff attorney with Advocates for the West, which represented the environmental plaintiffs. Hopefully the third time is the charm to get the agency to make the necessary changes and protect the Oregon spotted frog and this important habitat. Plaintiff groups included Concerned Friends of the Winema, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Western Watersheds Project, Oregon Wild and the Center for Biological Diversity, represented by Advocates for the West. A copy of the today's ruling and the earlier findings can be found online here. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-fDYdU5ZiGAZGZZZUJ5XzNqQzA/view?usp=sharing Photos of the allotment and livestock damage to the fens are available online here for media use.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126538332@N07/sets/72157646231484346/
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
NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya will for the second time in three years host a summit organised by The Economist Events, on February 1, 2017, at the Radisson Blu Hotel, in Nairobi. The day long summit themed, Driving economic and health-care innovation for tomorrow's Africa' is expected to bring together local and international delegates drawn from the private sector, the business community, African governments, media and international bodies.

According to the organisers, the high-level summit will explore how African economies can effectively innovate and navigate through the challenges experienced in health care, infant health, infrastructure, productivity, education and make changes in their already established systems.

The Innovating Economies Summit will bring together institutions, investors and innovators from diverse industries with policymakers from across the continent to discuss the changes and benefits brought on by high-tech inventions and technology as well as policy interventions and business processes that add value and solve real challenges, said Sunayna Sethi senior programme editor EMEA at The Economist.

Africas Silicon Valley

Nairobis bold growing profile as an innovation and entrepreneurship hub informed the decision to have the summit held in the city. Sethi is of the opinion that Kenya has emerged as a continent-leading country for innovation, making Nairobi the natural choice for a conference that focuses so heavily on innovation and the technology sector.

Nairobi has been described by many as 'Africa's Silicon Valley', with an established tech scene and start-up incubators like iHub, which has spawned over 1,300 jobs

Nairobi has been described by many as 'Africa's Silicon Valley', with an established tech scene and start-up incubators like iHub, which has spawned over 1,300 jobs. Technology accounts for over 8% of Kenya's GDP. The Kenyan government has also shown commitment to growing the sector even further, improving IT infrastructure and making it easier for entrepreneurs to set up their own start-ups said Sethi.

Recently the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa will slow to 3% this year due to low commodity prices, urging diversification away from an over-reliance on revenues from natural resources and transition to services and knowledge based economies to ensure sustainable progress.

There is a need for innovation in the literal sense: a need to make changes to established economies and their frameworks by introducing new methods, ideas, and products. These are some of the areas to be deliberated upon in the Nairobi summit, adds Sethi.

Amrote Abdella, regional director for Microsofts 4Afrika initiative agrees: Innovation is the cornerstone of Africas growth into the digital age. Through affordable access to broadband, skills development, and investment in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, Africa can become a net exporter of value-added goods and services in this knowledge economy.

As we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it is critical that Africa becomes a producer, and not just a consumer of technology.

The Economist believes that such a conference couldnt have come at a more opportune time. The Innovating Economies summit is focused on two areas of innovation - innovation for economic growth, and innovation in health-care.

The high-level meeting has the potential to transform African economies, which have experienced incredible growth during the past 15 years. The summit will focus on the role of innovation in transforming established economies, and how governments can foster innovation in order to ensure growth, and increase productivity and efficiency.

We are also looking in particular at the role of innovation in transforming the health-care sector, and in doing so, changing lives. Africa has greater health problems than any other continent, but good progress has been seen over the past few years, and with recent advances in technology, there is a huge opportunity to improve standards of health-care and the efficiency of their delivery, concluds Sethi.

The health-care aspect of the summit will bring together a diverse range of businesses, NGOs, policymakers and health-care practitioners to discuss what needs to be done to ensure African economies capitalise on the opportunity that innovation offers in health-care. Issues as diverse as the skills shortage, private sector health-care, and non-communicable diseases will be discussed, reflecting the broad variety of benefits that technological innovation could bring.

Innovation enablers

The high-level roster of attendees, drawn from South Africa, the US, the UK and Africa will also help identify innovation enablers and discuss innovative solutions for a broad range of issues faced by Africa's economies from poor infrastructure to their growing youth population, and from high rates of urbanisation to the lack of manpower development skills.

Kenyas Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism, Phyllis Kandie is expected to open the summit. Other speakers at the event include Amit Thakker, chairman, Africa Healthcare Federation; Githinji Gitahi, CEO, Amref Health Africa; and Toni Townes-Whitley, corporate vice president, Worldwide Public Sector, Microsoft. The meeting is organised by The Economist Events and sponsored by Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson and EIB.

To register for the event visit: www.Innovating-Economies.Economist.com.
Ross Ventress has been named Creative Director of Boomtown, and will lead and oversee the creative output of the agency.

Ross Ventress

Award-winning creative Ventress has worked in a number of leading international agencies and brings with him cross-industry and international experience.

Boomtown finds itself in an exciting place, and to now be part of its success, growth and plans for 2017 beyond is incredible, says Ventress. Boomtown has been an agency the industry has been watching recently, and I cannot wait to elevate its creative output further and live its values.

Andrew MacKenzie, MD of Boomtown, adds, Ross is a passionate creative and has a strong track record of producing effective work for clients. He understands the South Africa, African and global marketplace, and has a clear vision of how Boomtown can continue to live its mantra of creativity, possibility."

Boomtown noted that Ventress played a significant role in the creative leadership and account acquisition for his previous agency and has worked on leading brands such as Cell C, SA Tourism and Telkom.

MacKenzie adds that Ventress was "a good cultural fit" for the agency because of "his easy-going nature, determination and passion for his work.

Boomtown achieved a number of new business wins in the last quarter of 2016, and plans to further enhance its reputation as an agency that is building iconic South African brands.




Wesgro, the Western Cape's official tourism, trade and investment agency, has appointed FCB Cape Town to handle its estimated R15m annual marketing and communications account.

Nineteen responses to Wesgros request for tenders, as well as presentations from five shortlisted agencies, were evaluated and  after completing a chemistry, credentials and an opinion-forming session  FCB Cape Town bested M&C Saatchi Abel, Fox P2, Ireland Davenport and Duke.

Wesgros CEO, Tim Harris, was particularly excited by the partnership: "As the province's official tourism, trade and investment promotion agency, working with a partner that understands the Cape and its people was crucial.

FCB Cape Town's reputation and recent work convinced us that they are best suited to help us promote the Cape to the world. We look forward to working with FCB Cape Town and are excited to see what this partnership produces for our region."

Headed by Eric dOliveira, FCB Cape Town is one of the most established and creatively awarded agencies in the Mother City, with solid performances in local and international competitions.

According to DOliveira work on the account will begin immediately. he said the agency is looking forward to partnering with Wesgro to enhance and build on the solid communications strategies it has put in place over the years.

Its awesome that we can utilise the skills weve honed building some of South Africas favourite brands to help positively influence the economic success of one of her most dynamics provinces, he said.

Its clear why countless global and South African organisations have chosen the Western Cape as their destination of choice. Not only does the Mother Citys infrastructure form the gateway to the continent, but value, innovation and creativity are embedded into its business culture.

Well be required to develop work that gives global citizens and potential investors a clear sense of the Western Capes potential, especially in key sectors such as film and media, trade, energy, agri-business, tourism and manufacturing.

The feeling of pride and elation that swept through the agency after hearing we would be responsible for helping shaping our home provinces image was remarkable. Were looking forward to unlocking the potential for our province, DOliveira said.




SAN FRANCISCO: A charitable foundation backed by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife said Monday it has bought a Canadian artificial intelligence startup as part of a mission to eradicate disease.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative did not disclose financial terms of the deal to acquire Toronto-based Meta, which uses AI to quickly read and comprehend scientific papers and then provide insights to researchers.

Meta capabilities will be unified in a tool made available for free to scientists.

"We are very excited about what lies ahead," Meta co-founder and chief executive Sam Molyneux said in a statement.

Zuckerberg and his doctor wife, Priscilla Chan, in September pledged $3 billion over the next decade to help banish or manage all disease, pouring some of the Facebook founder's fortune into innovative research.

"This is a big goal," Zuckerberg said at a San Francisco event announcing the effort of the philanthropic entity established by the couple in 2015. "But we spent the last few years speaking with experts who think it is possible, so we dug in."

In the field of biomedicine alone, thousands of research papers are published daily, initiative science president Cori Bargmann and chief technology officer Brian Pinkerton said in a post on the charity's Facebook page. Meta artificial intelligence can analyse insights across millions of papers, finding connections and patterns at scales and speeds impossible for humans to match unassisted, according to Bargmann and Pinkerton.

"Meta will help scientists learn from others' discoveries in real time, find key papers that may have gone unnoticed, or even predict where their field is headed," Bargmann and Pinkerton said. "The potential for this kind of platform is virtually limitless."

Zuckerberg said last month that he built an artificial intelligence-imbued software "butler" - named Jarvis - that even plays with his family. The Facebook chief took on the personal project last year, devoting about 100 hours to making a system inspired by "Iron Man" film character Jarvis as a virtual assistant to help manage his household.

Jarvis is not a physical robot, but an application Zuckerberg can access through his phone or computer to control lights, temperature, music, security, appliances and more. The software learns his tastes and patterns, as well as new words or concepts, and can even entertain his one-year-old daughter Max, according to Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg plans to continue improving Jarvis, and says he expects AI technology to improve greatly in the coming five to 10 years. AI is getting a foothold in people's homes, starting with devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home speakers that link to personal assistants to answer questions and control connected devices.

Source: AFP
Cybercellar, the online beverage company, has opened its first bricks and mortar store in Woodstock, Cape Town.

In addition, during 2016, it moved warehouses, celebrated being one of the oldest e-commerce companies in South Africa and joined forces with the eventing site, Quicket.

It has stocked the store with fine wines, spirits and craft beers that consumers could struggle to find at most other retail outlets. Everything that is available on the website is available in the new store. The deal is sweetened with weekly specials and great discounts on premium brands.

The opening of the store is an important move forward for e-commerce in South Africa, as it is the first time an e-commerce store has moved into a physical space. Historically, the market has seen retail outlets moving online to expand their reach and enhance the shopping experience for the consumer. The bricks-to-clicks phenomenon has taken the country by storm with most large retailers providing the option to order and pay online and have the product delivered.

Gavin Forsyth, chief marketing officer of Cybercellar notes the importance of the opening of the store. E-commerce businesses need to stop thinking of themselves as online only. We are retailers and compete for the same share of wallet as brick-and-mortar stores but have chosen to specialise on a single channel. However, these days, more and more businesses are launching their own stores, and e-commerce is no longer a business model, but merely one channel in which to do business.

International trend for e-commerce

The move to a physical liquor store is indicative of the companys growth over the last two years. It encapsulates the strategic growth of the brand by creating more awareness of a customer base that might have not been previously affiliated with the company. Not only is the reach to a new and unique audience important to Cybercellar, but so is the perception of the brand. This move has allowed the online wine retailer to create a touch and feel element for customers to associate with. In many cases, the customer feels a sense of disassociation with purely e-commerce stores due to the lack of the human element. The liquor store is a means to overcome this by allowing the customer a physical presence to visit.

The timing of the opening of the store could not have come at a better time in the international world of e-commerce. It was announced during the course of the week that Amazon would be opening a checkout free grocery store in Seattle. The concept centres on the customers smartphone logging onto their Amazon account when walking in and the use of artificial intelligence, algorithms and tracking intelligence to monitor each purchase. With the world of e-commerce expanding and becoming smarter, Cybercellar.com is looking forward to being on the forefront of alcohol retail in South Africa.
A farmers' association says the impact of last year's drought will be felt by consumers until at least the end of this year. The African Farmers Association of South Africa (Afasa) on Monday told News24 that it would take months for the prices of maize and meat to go down.

zephious via pixabay

"Most livestock farmers have lost out so bad and the only time they will see recovery could be late next year. But crop farmers, especially maize producers, will start to count harvests later this year," said Afasa's Limpopo president Tshianeo Mathidi.

He said recent rains had given farmers some hope. "Rain does not mean that higher prices as a result of a food shortage are automatically over. We are still replanting and livestock just recovering," said Mathidi.

"A price drop will not happen now. There are fewer suppliers, as very few farmers were producing during drought." Intense hot weather and dry conditions in 2015 and 2016 ruined crops and left farmers out of production.

Mathidi said if the government did not help farmers start up their operations again, consumers might not see a drop in maize and red meat prices. The majority of farmers were left broke due to the drought, and returning to regular farming would be an uphill battle, he added.

"Most farmers will not recover because they are still struggling to service loans, and they won't secure additional loans, so the only way for them to recover will be through government intervention," said Mathidi.

Source: News24

Read this report on News24Wire.com.
A new app, the Whizzky Whisky Scanner , enables information to be delivered on-the-spot to whisky lovers, whether they are shopping for whisky or chatting to friends about a bottle and wanting to prove a fact.

Picture: Supplied

It is a mobile application for both Android and iOS that enables the scanning of whisky bottle labels, which are then matched against a database of images. The tool is called Pixel Match and was developed by evolveIT, co-owners of the app.

Pixel Match makes use of both optical character recognition and pattern recognition; the hybrid ensures that labels that look similar but only vary in age statement, for example, are matched correctly.

While some may consider the app somewhat niche, there are many whisky lovers in South Africa  4.1 million to be exact, while only 3.3 million drink brandy. South Africa is the seventh largest export market for Scotch whisky by volume after France, the US, India, Spain, Brazil and Germany. South African whisky drinkers have grown by 32% over the past 6 years and in 2015, consumed 18,695,075 bottles of whisky worth 39.9 million, making it the 11th largest export market in the world for Scotch whisky by value.

South Africa is host to the worlds largest whisky festival and a series of smaller Whisky Live celebrations. The Whisky Live Festival held annually in Sandton attracts 10,000 people over 3 nights. The impressive number of international presenters and whisky experts attracted to the Festival come to engage with the diverse audience who not only have a love of whisky in common, but who have a burgeoning thirst for knowledge.

Just as whisky drinkers in the East see whisky as a symbol of sophistication and a means of badging, alongside other luxury items such as cars, fine clothing and expensive watches, so too does the emerging middleclass in South Africa. Beyond whisky as a status symbol, though, there is the need to be able to converse knowledgably about it. It is this need  unanswered by any other app in South Africa  that resulted in Whizzky.

Purely organic growth

Whizzky was soft-launched at Whisky Live Festival in Sandton in November 2015 where a few hundred users signed up in exchange for five additional tasting vouchers to use at the event. From there, growth was purely organic until the next series of Whisky Live events in Cape Town in April, Durban in May and Pretoria in June 2016 where downloads were driven through the same mechanic and promoters assisted in showing users how the app worked.

By the end of June, the app had moved beyond the realms of the minimum viable product (MVP) that was launched in November 2015 and a number of features had been added, aside from bottle label scanning. Users could now add their favourite whiskies and add their own tasting notes. What drove its organic growth was the addition of the whisky clubs feature, where users can start a whisky club on the app and invite members to join it. Members can see each others tasting notes, favourites and scan activity in the clubs newsfeed.

Further organic growth was driven by increasing numbers of high app ratings, which drove the app listing up the ranks in both Androids Play store and Apples app store.

Content has been pivotal to keeping interest and articles  particularly those about whisky investments  are read by up to 15% of the total user base, indicating again the user bases desire to learn more about the water of life.

Currently at 14,000 users, Whizzky is growing at a rate of 50-75 new users per day  more at weekends  and perhaps most exciting is their consistent engagement with the app. They are adding whiskies to their online collections, their wish lists and their favourites; rating whiskies and writing in-depth tasting notes for their own private use or which they make public. They are also using the in-app tasting note tool that guides them through what flavours to look out for. The app aggregates flavour profiles selected by users and the cumulative profiles are available under each whisky, together with the official tasting notes, history of the whisky/ distillery and other information.

At a tipping point

Whizzky is at a tipping point: it is now a fully functional, world-class mobile application and it is about to explode if the current organic growth is anything to go by. No marketing has been undertaken on a global scale and yet 40% of all users are not South African - so where to next?

Monetisation is obviously at the forefront of the co-owners thinking. Whizzky co-owners, Whisky Live owners John Cook and Ken Varejes, say, Whisky Live has a category-wide whisky database and the app has been developed partly to leverage and enhance the event but mostly to add value to the whisky brands who exhibit with us. The app offers them the opportunity to learn more about their consumers and  perhaps even more importantly  to engage with them in more relevant ways based on what they learn.

The team would like to start online retail but this presents a myriad of challenges: the South African market requires whisky to be bottled in 750ml and at 43% alcohol by volume (ABV) which limits the variety of whiskies that may be imported into South Africa for sale. Globally, whisky is sold at 40% ABV and in 700ml bottles. Furthermore, the margins are already low and, when split with logistics partners and liquor distributors, the viability of monetisation through this route becomes questionable.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

A member of the Bubi district in Matabeleland North Mlamleli Ngwenya has said since the arrival of the Shona hooligans in the Matebele soil in Bubi there hasn't been rest.The remarks came following the violence committed by people from Shurugwi who attacked locals during a fight over mines."All the way from Shurugwi the undisciplined illegal miners arrived accompanied by machetes, knifes & swords with the help of ZRP and Army. They came following the nationally known gold claims which are under John Muer. From their arrival it is estimated that they have caused more than 20 murders most of these could not be clarified as they throw the deceased in the deep shafts that are known as Impisi or Empisini," he said."They go down underground and harass other residents of Bubi and take their ore by force as there is one way to survive their wrath. It is either you are forced to flee or you surrender without a fight. They have underestimated the Mthwakazi people such that they have brought the fight from the mines to their door steps, this is witnessed by the merciless attack they unleashed in the middle of the Inyathi business centre famously known as KoMahamba at Senco night club."He said this left more than 15 casualties with the on-leave soldier Martin Khabo left fighting for his life at Mpilo hospital."Arrests were said to be made but this leaves untrust in the community as to how genuine the arrests were? Lest we forget the police is also part of these bloody dirty war mongers activities. A few days ago a few police officers of the ZRP where arrested as they were found in the act of looting the gold from these controversial claims," he said."This disregard for the locals existence by the Shurugwi hooligans saw a deadly attack on the Shurugwis at Badala just a few days after their attack at Mahamba.They arrived at Tshux drinking spot carrying machetes as they usually do but alas the day was not theirs the locals attacked the Shurugwi hooligans and left one for dead. "We will resort to mob justice if the relevant authorities are failing to contain these people " one of the villagers said.And for these past few days 15 of these Shona people raped a lady who they had offered a lift from Durban mine where they have gained dominance and supremacy. They all raped her and left her also fighting for her life at Impilo hospital. As if that was not enough they also a few days back attacked a caretaker at queens area and cut off her private parts."He said in Matabeleland they have three army barracks but they are failing to dispatch just one troop to deal with these people."To any one that have seen these events unfold they will tell you that this is just an continuation of the genocide atrocities that the Shona people once unleashed on the Mthwakazi people. This leaves the community perplexed as to what the leadership is planning about this whole series of events? All they do is, deny and this has left the writing clear on the wall that the Mthwakazi people are not regarded as anything in this land," he said."Up to date raids and attacks still continue to rob people of their belongings and they remain untouched, what is the fate of the Bubi people under the circumstances? We understand that police officers are also going around intimidating locals. That must stop. This is a true report of what is happening in Bubi District and specifically Nyathi mining area as reported by Mlamleli Ngwenya MRP Youth district chairperson for Bubi district."
Faster, cheaper and more convenient online alternatives stalk traditional retail sector.

A deadly but invisible hitman is targeting traditional retail departments and chain stores across the country.

Edcon, SAs largest nonfood retailer, remains in the intensive care unit as its new owners painstakingly try to stop the bleed of customers to new technology and competition.

Stuttafords, once the grande dame of SAs department stores, is on life support, having voluntarily submitted itself for business-rescue proceedings. Its rescue plan will be presented in February following the festive trading season.

Trading updates from listed players Woolworths, Truworths and Mr Price Group showed poor performances last year, suggesting that shoppers might be spending elsewhere.

While reduced discretionary income and a tightened credit environment are the widely acknowledged culprits, underwhelming financial results from traditional retailers also indicate that customers shopping habits are changing.

Julia Ahlfeldt, a certified customer experience professional, said what was happening to retailers was not dissimilar to what happened to travel agents years ago and to the publishing industry more recently.

"Online alternatives that are faster, cheaper and more convenient have significantly changed how these sectors do business. Retail is simply the next in line," said Ahlfeldt.

She said to compete for their share of wallet, traditional retailers had to develop strategies that embraced digital as the touchpoint of choice, while providing compelling in-store experiences that drove traffic to their bricks-and-mortar locations.

"Consumers  particularly those in higher-income segments  are savvier and more connected than ever before. Gridlock traffic, queues and mall crowds, coupled with poor in-store service and limited product availability, make armchair shopping a more convenient and appealing alternative," Ahlfeldt said.

A Nielsen survey on mobile shopping, banking as well as payments points to a rise in online transactions.

The survey, which polled online consumers across 63 countries, showed that South Africans were outpacing other countries in terms of online mobile adoption.

"Mobile commerce has enormous implications for the entire retail ecosystem," said Nielsen SA country head Bryan Sun. He said mobile devices were not only bringing new consumers into the modern, connected economy, but were also enabling a more customised experience, as products and services could be more closely tailored to behaviours, needs and preferences.

"But driving higher adoption and usage starts when companies develop a deep understanding of how consumers are shopping," he said.
This week, we find out what's really going on behind the selfie with Nic Simmonds, executive director at Johannesburg-based communications agency, Clockwork Media.

Simmonds behind the wheel (probably of a fast car).

1. Where do you live, work and play?

Simmonds: I live and work in Bryanston, and mostly play in Joburgs central suburbs.

2. Whats your claim to fame?

Simmonds: Last year I spent a few hours hanging out with Kit Harrington (Jon Snow  Game of Thrones) at a picnic in London Fields, and I have Instagram evidence to prove it.

3. Describe your career so far.

Simmonds: Exciting, hard, fun, terrifying.

4. Tell us a few of your favourite things.

Simmonds: I love travelling, red wine, fast cars (never after red wine though), music, startup culture, podcasts, armchair philosophy, books that teach me, and humans.

5. What do you love about your industry?

Simmonds: The people are rad. Were in an industry that basically sells the product of creative peoples energy, so you tend to work with a lot of interesting folk. I also find immense satisfaction in helping businesses grow.

6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.

Simmonds: 7:30: Wake up, coffee.

8:30: Leave for work.

8:45  12:30: Second coffee, meetings, interviews, strategy sessions, email, etc.

12:30  13:00: Lunch.

13:00  17:30: Meetings, business strategy stuff, general management stuff.

17:30  19:00: Gym.

19:30  20:30: Dinner, chill stuff.

21:00  22:30: Emails, work that requires undisturbed quiet.

7. What are the tools of your trade?

Simmonds: A data analyst friend who works for a very prestigious wealth bank told me that while they use a wide variety of really complex, custom software packages, the one tool which they simply could not function without is Microsoft Excel. This is probably the only thing our jobs have in common.

8. Who is getting it right in your industry?

Simmonds: Theyre not a traditional agency, but I really look up to Vice Media. They have their critics, but overall I love that theyre getting brands to produce and sponsor legitimately awesome content. For me they are the antithesis of traditional big-man, instructional advertising. Theyre making stuff that is actually cool to watch/read, and the brands that work with them are benefiting from it.

9. List a few pain points the industry can improve on.

Simmonds: Ill go with one, and its my biggest one: Selling hours, it needs to stop. Charging clients for the time it takes to make something rather than the quality or efficacy of the thing being created is fundamentally warped. Im not saying I have the answer right now  we sell hours. But Im hoping to change that in the next two years.

10. What are you working on right now?

Simmonds: Im busy overhauling our client onboarding process, and working on a new flexitime policy for staff that kicks off in 2017.

11. Tell us some of the buzzwords floating around in your industry at the moment, and some of the catchphrases you utter yourself.

Simmonds: I think a lot of people are talking about content strategy, but at the same time there seems to be a bit of a gap when it comes to understanding what it actually is.

12. Where and when do you have your best ideas?

Simmonds: My best ideas seem to pop into my head when Im well rested and doing something completely menial. A lot of the thoughts that have shaped the internal structure and policies that drive Clockwork Media have come to me in the shower, or while sitting in an airplane.

13. Whats your secret talent/party trick?

Simmonds: After a couple of beers you might find me at the bar speaking to a complete stranger in an extremely convincing Scottish accent.

14. Are you a technophobe or a technophile?

Simmonds: My first job was an unpaid internship at PC Format magazine. That should give you some idea of how I feel about technology.

15. What would we find if we scrolled through your phone?

Simmonds: All the usual stuff. The apps I use most are email, Instagram, Bacon Reader (Reddit), Headspace (meditation), Pocketcasts (podcasts), Kayak (flights), Audible (audio books).

16.What advice would you give to newbies hoping to crack into the industry?

Simmonds: Get started and be consistent. If things get hard  breathe, theyre supposed to. If they dont, youre doing it wrong. Always be learning something, even if its not directly related to advertising or marketing. The biggest thinkers in our space have been highly knowledgeable in complementary disciplines, like psychology, sociology and anthropology.

Simple as that. Contact Simmonds on LinkedIn, where he willingly accepts requests as he doesnt really use Twitter anymore, and most of his other profiles are private. Alternatively, click here for more on Clockwork Media or follow them on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

*Interviewed by Leigh Andrews.
When an organisation faces a crisis, you expect it to act quickly to mitigate the reputational risk through strategic business communication tactics.

You would expect the communications team to act as strategic advisors to the organisations leadership, helping them to address the issues head on, thereby nipping the crisis in the bud as quickly as possible. Then, they would swiftly move on to a resilience strategy to help rebuild and enhance the organisations brand post the crisis.

Ive had the opportunity to work with several organisations, locally and internationally, on their crisis communication forecasting and strategies, as well as execution. Some organisations do it better than others. The two primary actions successful organisations have taken in managing crises of significant severity are to react quickly and transparently  the former is the result of extensive planning and preparation work. The tactics to do so vary depending on the situation, and there is by no means a one-size-fits-all approach.

For the past 14 months, automotive manufacturer Ford has been faced with the escalating Ford Kuga debacle in South Africa. How did they do, in terms of proactively managing their reputation?

Well, if we acid test the principles of (1) acknowledge, (2) set the record straight and clarify facts, and (3) disclose what is being done about it, we find that Ford managed to get virtually nothing right. Their communication was aloof and unsympathetic; shared only when pushed to do so; there is a disconnect between the brand and its customers around this crisis; and there appeared to be almost no ongoing brand risk assessment to address real issues in real time (It is imperative to work out damage versus probability factors). If there had been, no doubt the crisis would have been long over.

Lets analyse some of the key components from a crisis communications perspective:

Social media

Organisations need to take social media more seriously when managing a crisis. In fact, in general, companies need to independently assess how well they are actually doing on social media. Internally, many given themselves a pat on the back. In reality, customers often question the disconnect between what is being posted on social media and what customers daily experiences really are.

In Ford case, they proactively continued to promote posts, when a majority of comments about otherwise positive campaigns were echoing the publics (and customers) frustrations about the Kuga situation. These overshadowed any efforts by the social media team to move forward, and instead amplified the negative sentiments in the marketplace.

Social media teams need to be more empowered to address real issues in real time. Looking at the social media feed, there is a growing tendency to simply copy and paste generic and almost meaningless responses telling people to get in touch. Here is an example:

Hi X, thank you for getting in touch. Can you inbox your contact number with the details of your concern listed here and our team will be in touch. [Source: Ford SA Facebook page]

In reality, after the 100th copy/paste, you really do question the point of this. Guys, its not about eyeballs, its about engagement. Its about converting negative sentiments into positive ones through constructive experiences.

Tone

The overall tone seems to have left the public questioning if Ford really cares about its customers and about customer service, and whether it truly puts safety first. Especially considering some of the newspapers headlines, such as no brand is above the law; national consumer body forces Ford SA to recall Kuga SUVs that burst into flames.

Ford SA is simply arrogant. I bought a new Focus recently; which had numerous faults to render it a factory default. From engine warning lights, to snapping fan belt, to alarm going off unceremoniously  the list is endless. Eagle Ford Midrand failed to help me. Ford SA was simply not interested. The bloody car is even out of warranty now. I am sure I will never spend a cent buying any other Ford vehicle in my life. [Source: Ford SA Facebook page]

It is of critical importance to identify the key messages and tone you want to convey, and make sure all stakeholders in the value chain stick to it to prevent comments like the one above. Its actually so easy to engage stakeholders when you mean what you say!

Operations

A series of social media comments really brought home the sentiment that consumers dont feel Ford was genuinely prepared to handle the unfolding crisis  operationally, or otherwise.

In reality, when dealing with a crisis, an organisation needs to have a core crisis communication team, consisting of the most senior communicators, as well as subject matters experts (SMEs) who are called in based on the scenario, and almost always the legal and risk teams. These are determined in the forecasting plan, as well as in the issues management matrix.

In the planning phase, it would have been identified that customers would be required to engage the call centre. Therefore, an SME from the call centre would be included to ensure they are able to cascade the key messages to customers, and operationally plan to ensure they have the capacity to address the inbound calls.

I received an email from you on the 01/01/17 relating to my first message about my cooling system using so much coolant saying that a friendly case manager would contact me. On the 09/01/17 I replied to your email to inform you that no-one had contacted me. To date I am still waiting.. Hmmm. [Source: Ford SA Facebook page]

Customer concerns

Then, a sound issues management matrix would have clearly identified that the resale value of the Kuga would be affected and would impact customers as a direct result of the vehicle defect. Social media comments indicate a lack of response from Ford, at this stage, in so far as these issues are concerned.

Mine is currently at the dealer! Losing big value on my car! Also have a problem with "key not detected" and car then refusing to start! I'm still in shock after I heard what the dealer want to offer me on my Kuga selling if back to Ford [Source: Ford SA Facebook page]

What will Ford do to remedy the value lost on the kugas? How will we recoup our money that will be lost on future trade ins ? This is something that Ford needs to be held accountable for. Honest, hardworking people trusted in your brand and invested our hard earned money in these cars!!! [Source: Ford SA Facebook page]

These are in fact excellent opportunities to rebuild the damage Ford has done to its brand through its lack of communication. While the crisis is underway, they can certainly build a sound resilience plan to move forward and include these issues.

Leadership

Where was the leadership and why wasnt the executive team more visible? People want to know that those at the helm empathise with their customers and are doing everything they can. When someone dies in a vehicle you make, you get the top people to address the real issues head on. It might be uncomfortable, but thats the role of leadership  the address the difficult situations.

Think of the Emirates example and principles, when one of its B777s crash-landed in Dubai International Airport in August 2016. Within hours, if not less, the chairman of the airline was filmed acknowledging the situation and expressing his focus on safety for the airline. No fancy branding was visible in the background  it was a well-prepared scenario, and everyone knew it was about the message and what it symbolised.

We all know and accept that things can go wrong. I dont think anyone is above willing to accept that machines can fail but then its up to the brand to take ownership.

Ford should have nipped the crisis in the bud when they could  now its crisis control stations

Media engagement

A company would have wanted a front-page headline that says Ford acts fast or Ford puts safety first. Instead, the vast majority of headlines since the recall this month have been the opposite  here are some:

Now other Ford models ablaze

Figo and Focus owners say they cars also caught fire

Ford is pathetic; it fails to go further

Slam uncaring dealers

The media are a partner, working proactively with them through an open-door policy secure a lot of good faith. Shutting them out is never wise. In conclusion

Ultimately, what happened here is that Ford was too reactive and left the media and consumers to control the message and perceptions about the brand and weve seen the backlash. Had they been proactive, recalled the vehicles on their own accords months ago, acknowledged the severity of the situation and demonstrated compassion and a willingness to work with customers; things would be different today.

The lesson for crisis communication: as a communicator, you need to be a strategic advisor  give the right advice and get the leadership to buy in to your advice.

Be agile, and react quickly. Be sincere. Be authentic. Be transparent.

Do not dismiss customers or make them feel as though your profits come first. Use a tone that shows your stakeholders that you live by your brand promise. If you dont  youll risk being the next Ford Kuga communication scenario: it will be like reaching for a torch when the lights go out, only to discover that the batteries are dead.
Hummingbirds flap their wings about 80 times per second. They are also able to hover by flapping their wings in a figure-eight pattern. The tiny bird's design makes it one of nature's most efficient and agile flyers. Tyer Wind, a company based in Tunisa, has looked to this unique design to redesign how we harvest wind energy. The project aims to develop a revolutionary new wind convertor based on a deep and different observation of nature.

Tyer wind converter

The Tyer wind converter perfectly mimics the motion of the efficient hummingbird. Invented by Anis Aouini, the Tyer machine does not use rotating blades like a traditional wind turbine. Instead, it flaps its wings, converting that energy into green energy with the help of what the company has dubbed 3D Aouininan kinematics.

Combined, the two wings sweep an area of nearly 12 square feet, with a pre-industrial rated power output of 1kW.
Atterbury is developing The Club Advocates' Chambers in Pretoria, offering advocates the opportunity to own or rent offices in the new urban precinct.

Working hand-in-hand with a group of advocates from the city, the South African property investor and developer is building bespoke office space of about 6,000m2 for around 120 advocates. Atterbury will also be giving the advocates the option of sectional title ownership of their own offices.

The company has already started construction on the new office development at The Club, with the fourth of five buildings that will ultimately comprise the precinct. The Club precinct is already home to 14,400m2 of retail, restaurant and office space in Club Retail and Club One.

The 5,200m2 Club Two is also under development and will house a Planet Fitness gym and offices.

Wiehan Strydom, development manager, Atterbury

Atterburys development manager, Wiehan Strydom, says: We are pleased to work with Pretorias legal community for this innovative project to develop the esteemed new The Club Advocates Chambers in Club Three. In addition, the demand-driven development of the 10,000m2 Club Three will also include a medical clinic of around 4,000m2. The Club Advocates Chambers will welcome it first clients from February 2018.

Alternative for chambers outside the CBD

An advocate of the Pretoria Bar and currently of the Brooklyn Advocate Chambers, Ilse Vermaak-Hay is one of the advocates who will move to The Club Advocates Chambers. She has been an important part of creating this opportunity for the legal community.

We wanted an alternative for chambers outside the CBD that also provided the ability for advocates to own their offices. While we found many rental-only options, there were no suitable offices available for purchase, so we considered another new development project in Groenkloof but nothing came of it. Thats when Advocate Etienne Coetzee SC approached Atterbury and the idea for The Club Advocates Chambers was born, says Advocate Vermaak-Hay.

She reports that The Club Advocates Chambers, with its prime position in Hazelwood, is an excellent opportunity for the legal community.

Makes a positive impression

It represents a good investment proposition in a great location with easy access to the High Court in the Pretoria CBD, as well as Brooklyn, Groenkloof, Menlyn and surrounds. It is an excellent environment in which to work and a good area for our clientele to visit. It is an address that makes a positive impression with quality offices served by generous parking within a sought-after modern mixed-use environment, she notes.

The tenant mix at The Club includes Woolworths Food and Woolworths Cafe, Life Grand Cafe, Harissa Bistro, Hinterland, Hogshead Hazelwood, Hudsons  The Burger Joint and various hair and beauty salons, speciality stores and bank ATMS.

The Club Advocates Chambers is an exciting platform to create a new community of forward-thinking advocates with a diverse mix of ages, experience, cultures and backgrounds that will collaborate, operate and build their practices together, says Advocate Vermaak-Hay.
According to Stuart Chait, executive chairman of Land Equity Group, commercial real estate debt has been forecast to move away from major commercial banks, with 2017 expected to see a boom of new alternative' senior debt, mezzanine and debt equity funds.

Chait believes that the new offering in commercial property financing packages will result in a more diverse, aggressive and competitive commercial real estate lending sector. "The alternative offerings will span across sub-Saharan Africa rather than be solely focused on South Africa, due to the fact that it is in this region where the most growth is being seen," says Chait.

Stable income returns

Commercial real estate debt (CRE debt) has a long history as an investment category in international investment portfolios and Chait says the trend is already visible in developed international markets such as the United Kingdom, Western and Eastern Europe, Australia, Japan and the United States. CRE debt offers stable income returns, with flexibility which means it can be perceived as a defensive and conservative investment. Investments can be tailored to match the riskreturn profile of a specific investor, Chait says.

This trend will become even more evident during the year ahead. A variety of factors including rating agencies, investment analysts and investors requirements have resulted in banks reducing the size and leverage of loans on offer, tightened underwriting standards, and increased loan pricing for certain segments of the market. South African banks are now highly regulated due to the practice of Basel 3 regulations and are busy increasing their capital ratios up to the required limits for implementation in 2019. As the result of an extended turnaround time required for compliance issues relating to loans, banks have become sluggish and clients are losing opportunities.

Chait believes that the market demands another option, and for there to be much more competitiveness. "We anticipate that during 2017 many of the debt packages will come from investors seeking alternative investments, rather than the traditional banks."

Demand high for fixed-income investments

South Africa has a strong institutional and pension fund industry with a huge demand for fixed-income investments. Good quality, investment-grade senior debt is therefore an attractive investment to the fixed-income market, and as the senior debt has the highest level of security, it provides a conservative interest coupon. Senior debt comprises up to 60% of the banks loan-to-value of an asset or an asset portfolio.

Chait said that mezzanine debt was usually the next 20-30% slice, with pricing ranging from 15 to 25% per coupon, depending on risk. The last slice of funding falls under equity or debt equity and is usually 10-20% of the total funding required. This has the lowest security but the highest return  a targeted internal rate of return from 40% upwards. In developing countries, as little as 5% equity is often required."

Since the credit crisis in 2007/8, there has been little debt available in the market and property owners have been forced to list their commercial portfolios. Typically, a listed property real estate investment trust has anything from 30-50% debt, and the balance is held by shareholders who are mostly institutional. The length of debt is also generally short, and this is where the problem lies."

New banking regulations necessitate for more capital to be put up against its property loans than what was required before the credit crisis. Banks have therefore become short-term holders of property debt, and usually sell or securitise the debt to the institutions who are looking for safe and secure coupons to pair with their policies or investments.

Boom expected in creation of property debt funds, products

Chait feels that there will be a boom in the creation of property debt funds and products, as many institutional investors now have cross-border mandates and the ability to hedge their income for policyholders and members.

Fund managers are also regulated, but because they do not have the compliance factors associated with holding banking licenses, our experience is that they are able to perform much faster than commercial banks."

The alternative commercial property finance industry is lucrative because the debt is well-secured, the returns are excellent and the turn-around time is fast, making it entrepreneurial in its appearance. The decision-making ability from engagement to execution can sometimes be done within a few days, whereas banks are hamstrung and can take months.

Cash-strapped property investors or developers are often forced to seek funding from the alternative finance market. This particular hedge fund money is very expensive, at up to 30% interest per annum, and there is not enough competition in the market because international funds have still not been approached and this money has not been raised aggressively by local fund managers. After the credit crisis, we saw a wave of investment bankers leaving to start up hedge funds and private equity funds. I believe South Africa (and covering sub-Saharan Africa) will see a new and robust industry start to gather momentum, and what is most important for investors and managers is that these funds are cheaper and more efficient to run than commercial banks or listed property funds.

Quality loans

Land Equity Group plans to invest in this space by backing the debt fund management teams to set up funds, and who will then go and raise money for capitalising the funds on an ongoing basis from the local and international markets. We already have an indicative anchor investor on the senior debt fund for $50m, and another Middle Eastern investor for $100m, but the success of this venture will not only be the amount of money raised, but rather be based on the quality of the loans, and the experience and performance of the management team that runs it. There is extensive administration, legal work and risk assessment that comes with managing loan books such as these, and that is why the people and experience are our focus. We have already had approaches from both local and international CRE debt teams wanting to get onboard. We want to back the people, and to let them manage and build the business across the continent and in their own management styles."

"The real issue in sub-Saharan Africa is not that there's not enough opportunities, but rather that the 'ticket size' per investment isn't big enough. Real estate, being a big capital investment item, will now fall into the same category of longer-term investments such as resources and infrastructure, and this is what big investors look for in developing markets. Alternative real estate debt funds will help catapult this sector into a serious growth phase."

Chait and his Swiss and UK partners plan to set the first new team up in early 2017 to initially raise $1bn in senior, mezzanine and equity finance, and international advisors are currently being selected and appointed to run the initial capital raising process. The company is targeting sovereign wealth funds, life institutions, pension fund and empowerment fund money from Canada, the US, Germany, Singapore, the Middle East, China and Japan, as well as South Africa. I feel that the timing is perfect. Sub-Saharan Africa, with its 1.1-billion population, is on the cusp of catching a 20- to 30-year wave of capital investment, similar to what we saw with the BRIC countries two decades ago."
With about 7,500 Airbnb hosts in South Africa in June 2016, the fast growing industry has boosted short-term letting in the country as property owners list their apartments and homes to attract travellers and charge daily accommodation rates.

We are finding about 50% of buyer enquiries in Sea Point specifically requesting properties that can be holiday let, says Lyonelle Venter, an estate agent from Jawitz Properties who specialises in apartments priced up to R4m in the area. Investors are seeing favourable returns with Airbnb, so the appeal is completely understandable.

Were starting to notice some issues arising, however. The body corporates of many established sectional title schemes are starting to regulate the use of units in their buildings, she says.

Trustees enact new rules

Many trustees have opted to enact new rules that limit the possibility of Airbnb activity. These rules include policies that require a minimum amount of months for units to be occupied by a tenant. The reason these rules are being brought in is to avoid security risks and maintain general quiet enjoyment.

Agents have now started using the fact that properties are lettable on Airbnb in their marketing, says Venter. Airbnb approved properties are now in high demand and investors are snapping them up.

Venter adds that investors should be wary. When buying a property with the hopes of making a return with it via Airbnb, buyers should make sure it is in fact permitted. There should be a stipulation in the deed of sale that the property can be used for short-term letting.

Disproportionate rise in rental rates

Airbnb worldwide is causing a disproportionate rise in rental rates. Many residential units are now being let on a short term basis, which for some owners is viewed purely for commercial appeal - all the while, the day rental rate far exceeds what locals can reasonably afford. This puts pressure on the amount of rental property available particularly over the summer season, Venter adds.

Buyers seeking Airbnb approved properties are often willing to pay a premium for this benefit. The effect of this being that many owners now consider their homes or investment property to be worth more than what the market will actually pay, regardless of whether the provision to short let has been granted.

It is undeniable at this point that Airbnb offers better returns than most other letting options, but it could also arguably be called the riskiest to pursue. Buyers and sellers alike must be aware of these risks before building Airbnb castles in the sky, Venter concludes.
The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) is to implement a programme which will ensure learner drivers are given the opportunity to develop and enhance their skills to become good and safe drivers.

According to Transport Minister Dipuo Peters, the provision of a driving simulators programme will be implemented during the 2017/18 financial year.

Part of the long term initiative to establish and enhance road safety relates to the skilling of our drivers, particularly those who will be acquiring licenses for the first time, Minister Peters said on Tuesday, 24 January 2017.

She visited Soshanguve East Secondary School to hand over the Torch of Peace to Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.

The Minister said her department will be working with the Department of Basic Education to include driving lessons at high school as part of the curriculum.

We also have the partnership with the Department of Basic Education to ensure the inclusion of road safety in the curriculum and the training of teachers. This essentially entails different aspects of road safety awareness which are intended to adequately skill new drivers, Minister Peters said.

The Department of Transport is in the process of finalising the Graduated Driving License framework.

It recently announced the festive season road crash and fatalities statistics which indicated a 5% increase from the 2016 figures.

The total number of road crash fatalities recorded between 1 December 2016 and 9 January 2017 stands at 1714. Human factor has been the leading cause of crashes at 79.1%.

I have no doubt that road safety education that starts at an early age should be one of the core focus areas in assisting us to turn the tide.

Formal education and training will remain important but we must also broaden our minds and find ways to include road safety messages into the wider curriculum, into mathematics and science, geography and civic education, Minister Peters said.

The Department of Transport is also in discussion with the Department of Health to deploy blood analysts, district surgeons, registered nurses or medical officers during law enforcement operations in order to take a specimen of an arrested driver's blood on site for immediate scientific analysis.

The analysis will enable an expert to ascertain the presence and estimated quantity of alcohol in the person's blood at the time of the examination, Minister Peters said.
The growth in the number of South Africans doing canal boating in Europe the past year exceeded that of the USA and Australia. South Africans still have an appetite for travel and adventure despite economic uncertainties says Liesl Nel, manager of Le Boat in South Africa.

The South African Le Boat office recently walked away with the international prize as the long-distance office with the best growth worldwide, like it did two years ago. "This is a wonderful feather in the cap of our South African team, but also points to South Africans zest for adventure," says Nel.

"Seen against the backdrop of worldwide economic instability and the weak rand, makes our offices performance that more noteworthy. But it is definitely also saying something about South Africans adaptability, appetite for exploring the world and love for the outdoors."

The canal cruises are ideal for relaxing on deck, navigating the boat and just having a ball with friends while the world floats past you. You can take bicycles on board to cycle around or walk along the canals or in the little towns.

Nel says another reason for the success is that Le Boat South Africa quotes in rand and that the quoted price is not subject to any further exchange rate fluctuations.

Every year more than 4,000 South Africans make use of the European Le Boats canal boats, which are not the large boats where you simply travel along and are being served. These are fully equipped boats with between one and five cabins which you and your friends rent and then steer by yourself. You can dock a few times a day and purchase fresh baguettes and cheese and wine from the area as well as other supplies for your boats pantry and enjoy the adventure of cruising in and around the sluices. While France has by far the most routes, canal cruises can be undertaken in most of Europe and the British Isles.

Le Boat expects that up to 20% more South Africans will be enjoying the canals and rivers of Europe in this manner in 2017.

Le Boat is part of Travelopia group  a water recreation business with 30 million clients per annum and more than 80 bases worldwide.
January 24, 2017

Ever since the Jan. 8 death of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iranian media have been speculating about who will replace him as the chairman of the Expediency Council.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directly appoints the members of the council, which is tasked with resolving differences between the parliament and the Guardian Council.

Moderates and Reformists have been of the view that President Hassan Rouhani, former parliament Speaker Ali Akbar Nategh-Nuri and parliament Speaker Ali Larijani are the most suitable candidates to chair the council.

Nategh-Nuri, who is now the head of the supreme leaders Inspection Office, has the same political approach as Rafsanjani and is close to Khamenei, and as such is adept at managing differences.

Rouhani was one of Rafsanjanis closest confidants for decades. It has been argued that the president's experience both in parliament and the executive branch, as well as having served as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council for 16 years, makes him one of the best choices for chairing the Expediency Council.

Larijani, meanwhile, has the experience of having chaired parliament since 2008 during three terms.

A conservative also could be selected. The semi-official ISNA news agency on Jan. 14 said conservative figures the media have said could be under consideration include former judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the supreme leaders foreign policy adviser Ali Akbar Velayati, former parliament Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel, judiciary chief Sadegh Larijani and former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Mohsen Rezaei.

There are rumors about the possible appointment of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as chairman of the council. But the Reformist Aftab-e-Yazd newspaper argued Jan. 23 in response to these rumors, It is well known that not only do the conservatives fundamentally not consider Ahmadinejad as a member of their fold, but it is also very unlikely that such a person has the chance to lead a council tasked with assessing expediency based on what is in the interest of the establishment.

Also, the moderate Jomhuri Eslami newspaper published a report Jan. 17 saying that history indicates that the supreme leader might well appoint Rouhani chairman.

During the first and second terms [of the council], the leadership of the Expediency Council was assumed by the president and it seems as if this was the [usual] procedure. Based on this, it is possible that the current president will be appointed as the head of the Expediency Council, the paper said.

According to the Jan. 24 edition of the Reformist Hamdeli newspaper, when the Expediency Council was first set up, the responsibility of the chairmanship of the council was given to the president. Indeed, when it was set up in 1988, it was headed by then-President Khamenei. However, after the end of Rafsanjanis second presidential term in 1997, Khamenei extended Rafsanjani's position as chairman of the Expediency Council, opting not to appoint subsequent presidents Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005) and Ahmadinejad (2005-2013) to head the council  neither during nor after their terms.

On Jan. 23, Expediency Council member and conservative presidential candidate Mostafa Mirsalim said it is not clear who will replace Rafsanjani.

Some see the choice as one between causing conflict or bringing people together. Mohammad Kianoush Raad, a Reformist activist, told the Ghanoon daily Jan. 12, The appointment of the chairman of the Expediency Council can be a clear sign of drawing the political currents of Iran closer together or intensifying the irritations.  For example, if we assume that a figure such as Ahmad Jannati [the hard-line head of the Guardian Council] is appointed as the head of the Expediency Council, this wouldnt be considered a sign of an improvement in the political and economic situation of our society. But the naming of people such as the president or Nategh-Nuri, based on their executive experience and their knowledge of legislative fundamentals and the moderate personas that they have, would be a very good sign of the creation of social and political understanding and consensus.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

A Zanu PF supporter Chenhamo Mutengure has lashed out at the Economic Freedom Party leader Julius Malema of South Africa for interfering with the politics of Zimbabwe where he does not belong yet having failed in his political life in his country.Malema this week came pout on eNCA TV news calling for President Robert Mugabe to step down saying he is too old and no longer fit to run the country.He said well after the recent reports this could not wait and the ever misfiring and serial tax evader Malema on Zimbabwe again."And again he is repeating his same mantra.That a democratically elected President should step down apparently because he could not raise a spade.Now if this is where the so called progressive generation is going in setting criteria for one to qualify as a leader for his people then we are doomed," he said."What is even more worrying is where does an opposition leader of a foreign country derive the powers to tell another leader in a neighbouring country to step down. This should be seen as a blatant attack on the Zimbabwean Constitution which says Executive Power in Zimbabwe carried by a President is derived from the people of Zimbabwe."He said it is not a surprise that after Malema has failed to deliver on his promise to White Capital to ensure the toppling of President Jacob Zuma he has chosen to score some quick and easy points for his white handlers by attacking President Mugabe who is much hated by the white community as he took stolen land from 5000 white farmers and gave it to 300 000 black families."Whilst Malema might try to lie to the world he cherishes President Mugabe's legacy its clear its not true as his attacks are not only President Mugabe but the Zanu PF government are meant to undermine that legacy. But why has he chosen to say it now?" he said."Its clear from the onset that there is a conspiracy against Zanu PF.The opposition is in panic mode after another embarrassing defeat in Bikita West and the narrative had changed to how the opposition seem not to enjoy popular support as they claim. The opposition is in trouble and hence needed someone to change the public narrative to shift attention from the obvious defeat in Bikita and Malema came to their rescue.."He said at the United Nations last year #thisflag tried to stage a demo but were defeated by Mugabe supporters in USA and after that defeat Ina Khama came from nowhere and repeated the mantra.
LONDON, ENGLAND: The operations boss of Airbus declared Tuesday that the European aerospace giant was entering a "dangerous phase" because of Brexit, which could complicate its free movement of staff and products.

Tom Williams, chief operating officer and president of commercial aircraft at Airbus, made the comments before British lawmakers on parliament's powerful Treasury Select Committee. The Airbus chief was asked if the company would continue to prosper in the face of Brexit - and whether it could survive without a presence in Britain.

"If we didn't have our operations in the UK operating seamlessly, that would be a really big concern for us," Williams told MPs on the committee, indicating this could boost its fierce Seattle-based US rival Boeing.

"And I am sure there would be many people in Seattle and in Washington that would be more than delighted to see this scenario played out, because they will take every opportunity to try undermine the success of Airbus.

"And I take the view that whatever is being decided in Washington, it will also be done very much with what is good for Seattle. So we are entering into a dangerous phase."

The aircraft manufacturer employs a total of 15,000 people in Britain, including sites at Filton in southwest England and Broughton in north Wales, designing and manufacturing wings.

One week ago today, Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May unveiled her Brexit blueprint, announcing for the first time that Britain will leave Europe's single market in order to control EU immigration. May insisted Tuesday that she will trigger the two-year Brexit process by the end of March, despite a Supreme Court ruling that the premier must first secure parliament's approval.

Source: AFP
PARIS, FRANCE: Paris began its first experiment with driverless buses on Monday, with city officials saying they were eager to prepare for the coming "revolution" of autonomous vehicles.

Two box-shaped electric vehicles capable of carrying around 10 people have been deployed - within the safety of a special lane - on a bridge connecting two railway stations to the east of the city centre.

"Autonomous vehicles represent a revolution for every city on the planet... which will change our urban environment and public space in a spectacular fashion over the next 20 years," Paris deputy mayor Jean-Louis Missika told reporters.

The test unveiled Monday, which will last three months, is the first stage of the city's embrace of self-driving vehicles which use a combination of lasers and cameras to detect other objects and people around them.

The head of the Paris transport network, Elisabeth Borne, said she envisaged the buses being used one day to connect homes and railway stations in the suburbs, which are served by overland trains known as RERs. "We dream one day of having buses like these parked near RER stations which would come to collect passengers on demand," she told reporters at the launch.

Regulatory, ethical and economic questions

The advent of self-driving vehicles poses a series of regulatory, ethical and economic questions which policymakers will have to grapple with as the technology improves and grows more widespread.

One of them is: What happens to the humble bus driver?

"We need to start thinking from today about how to train drivers so they can shift into the new jobs created by autonomous vehicles," Missika, who is a transport expert in the mayor's office, told AFP.

In October, delivery drivers got an uncomfortable glimpse of the future when a self-driving truck built by Uber's Otto unit successfully delivered a beer shipment.

Cars with some autonomous functions are already on our roads, and more than a dozen automakers including BMW, Kia, Volkswagen and General Motors are racing to get fully self-driving cars to market by 2020.

Source: AFP
South African rock band Taxi Violence has announced that they will release a series of EPs in 2017 which will form an album. Their last album, Tenfold, was released three years ago.

To release music in smaller batches allow us to give our fans new material more regularly. In the end it is still going to come together to form a full album, it will just be released in instalments, says Rian Zietsman, guitarist for Taxi Violence.

First EP out in February

The first offering in this series will be named Shape and Form I, which will be released along with the music video for the first single, Fake It, on 13 February. To give fans a taste, Fake It will premiere on 5FMs Hamman Time on Thursday morning, 26 January at 8.40. Thereafter the single will be available as a free download on the bands SoundCloud channel.



The artwork will evolve with each EPs release. It symbolises progression and evolution. Nothing stays the same, including us and what we do as a band, says Rian.



The sound of the first instalment of the Shape and Form series is super sized to say the least. It is almost inevitable that there will be a natural evolution of sorts. We have been doing this for a long time and there is a broader change, but within the microcosm of this album, I am sure the sound is going to change from episode to episode, says Rian.

Taxi Violence shows

The new set of songs will be broken in at Up the Creek and other upcoming shows, namely:

27 January: Up the Creek

19 February: At Hillcrest Quarry, Cape Town with AKING: www.quicket.co.za/events/23710-a-major-rocks-the-quarry/#/

19 March: Backsberg Picnic Concert Series

29 April: Africa Bike Week

www.taxiviolence.com
Robin van Rensburg has been appointed CEO and MD of Fiat Group Automobiles South Africa, the importer of Fiat, Fiat Professional, Abarth and Alfa Romeo brands. He will hold the same title at Chrysler South Africa, the importer of Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands.

Robin van Rensburg

He replaces Marco Melani who has returned to the Group's Italy head-office to resume his role in marketing for the African region. Van Rensburg boasts over 20 years worth of industry experience, with positions previously held at BMW and Jaguar Land Rover, and aftermarket brands Engen and Snap.

"I am really excited to join the FCA Group and work with such exciting brands, especially during such an interesting product cycle. 2017 is set to be monumental for our brands with product introductions like the Alfa Romeo Giulia, Abarth 124 Spider and 595, Fiat Tipo and the extension of the Fiat Professional Fullback range. I look forward to adding a South African touch to the proudly Italian and American brands," comments Van Rensburg on his new role.

He shares with us his first order of business, top leadership lessons learned and the Group's plans for 2017.

Briefly tell us about your new role

As CEO I have full profit and loss responsibility for the South African National Sales Company (NSC) which also exports to certain right-hand drive markets in Africa.

What is your first order of business?

Successfully launching the Alfa Giulia and Fiat Tipo in South Africa.

Most important attributes needed to do your job?

Leadership skills i.e. the ability to influence the right behaviours both internally and externally.

Drawing from your 20+ years of automotive experience, what has been your most valuable business lesson learned?

It is not your ability to create a plan that determines your success, but your ability to get people to execute that plan.

What do your consider the biggest challenge facing your industry right now?

The rising cost of ownership driven by pricing, as a result of exchange rate deterioration.

What can we expect from Fiat Group Automobiles South Africa this year?

We launch five new products this year. The most exciting news happening is Alfa with the launch of the Giulia and the Stelvio.
Following several months of in-depth investigations, Samsung Electronics has announced the cause of the Note7 incidents: design and manufacturing flaws associated with the lithium-ion batteries used in the phones, which were produced by Samsung's battery suppliers.

The company released the findings at a press conference in Seoul, Korea on Sunday.

DJ Koh, president of mobile communications business, Samsung Electronics, shared results of the investigation and expressed his apology and gratitude to Galaxy Note7 customers, mobile operators, retail and distribution partners and business partners for their patience and continued support. Koh was joined by executives from UL, Exponent and TUV Rheinland, leading independent industry groups that conducted their own investigation into various aspects of the Galaxy Note7 incidents.

According to Samsung, problems were found in two different manufacturing situations, both involving different series of batteries. The first series involved a battery casing that was too small, leading to what Samsung described as an "electrode deflection and incorrect positioning of the negative electrode tip in the upper right corner of the battery".

The second problem came about due to what Samsung says was an "abnormal weld spot", a manufacturing problem that "led to an internal short circuit".

Preventing a recurrence

Additional protocols have been implemented based on what the company learned from the investigation. These include multi-layer safety measures and an eight-point battery safety check.

Samsung has also formed a Battery Advisory Group, consisting of external advisers, academic and research experts to ensure it maintains an objective perspective on battery safety and innovation. The Battery Advisory Group members include:

 Clare Grey, Professor of Chemistry, University of Cambridge;

 Gerbrand Ceder, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, UC Berkeley;

 Yi Cui, Ph.D., Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University; and

 Toru Amazutsumi, CEO, Amaz Techno-consultant.

We are pleased that the reasons for the Galaxy Note7 incident have finally been clarified, says Craige Fleischer, Director Integrated Mobility, Samsung South Africa.

Samsung is a company that learns from our experiences and we are committed to incorporate the learnings to evolve. Our customers safety comes first and we have taken action on improving our quality assurance process by implementing an 8-step battery check. This process has been endorsed by three of the worlds leading industry groups.
On 30 January, the capital of the Republic of Guinea, Conakry, will become the 296th destination served by Turkish Airlines. This sees another city and country added to the carrier's African network which will then serve 51 destinations on the continent.

xusenru via pixabay

Turkish Airlines is investing heavily in expansion into Africa, and in South Africa it now has year-round, daily direct flights from Cape Town and Johannesburg to Istanbul, and travels to Istanbul from Durban via Johannesburg five times a week.

Roundtrip flights between Istanbul and Conakry will be operated two times per week on Mondays and Thursdays in both directions.

This news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Turkish Airlines is flying from Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban to Havana, Cuba three times a week.
Dressed in brown overalls, gumboots and a hat, John Njeru kneels and scoops up a handful of soil at his small farm in central Kenya, where he grows tomatoes, spinach, and carrots. "Not only has there not been enough rain in the past few months, it's also been unevenly distributed," he said, picking through the earth in his hand. "This destroys our crops."

Image Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation - Daniel Maitethia (left) shows one of his students how to use the water irrigation system in Meru, Kenya, June 16, 2016. Photo: Caroline Wambui

Dealing with more unpredictable and irregular rainfall associated with climate change is a challenge for many farmers, and one made worse by water-wasting, inefficient irrigation systems, experts say.

But scientists from Kenya's Meru University of Science and Technology have come up with one way to deal with the problem: a mobile app that monitors the need for water in fields and controls irrigation equipment to deliver just what is needed.

"Farmers in the region traditionally water crops with cans or buckets," an inefficient way of getting water to plants, said Daniel Maitethia, an electronics lecturer at Meru University. "The lack of measuring also means they water crops unevenly - so some may get too much water, and others not enough," he said.

The "sensor-based automatic irrigation system" app, launched last year, uses senors placed throughout a field to determine if soil is moist enough. If it's too dry, a control unit uses solar panels to open the valve of a water tank, then close it again when the soil is damp enough.

Initially tested at the university's own farm, the irrigation system is now being rolled out to the public - including farmers like Njeru. "We can't yet quantify how many farmers are using the app, but hope to expand it to thousands across Meru County - and potentially the rest of the country if the system proves successful," Maitethia said.

The combined app and irrigation system cost 50,000 Kenyan shillings ($480) per quarter of an acre, including solar panels and two drip irrigation lines. The system can be expanded to an additional quarter acre for 5,000 Kenyan shillings ($48).

Cost and benefits

While Maitethia acknowledges the upfront cost of the system is high, he believes it will not only curb water waste but save labour costs as it does not require farmers to physically monitor it.

"If there is a glitch in the system, the farmer receives a text message notifying him of the problem," he explained. "A technician employed by the university will then help the farmer remotely with instructions, or physically come to the farm if needed." Depending on the severity of the problem, a consultation with a technician can cost the farmer up to 500 Kenyan shillings (about $5).

Njeru, who paid 75,000 Kenyan shillings ($721) to install the app and irrigation system on his 1.5-acre farm, said that "although the app is expensive, it's a cost worth paying when I compare my current harvest to previous years."

"I used to lose up to 70 percent of my produce as a result of dry weather and inefficient irrigation, compared to only 10 percent now," he said.

Njeru used to occasionally hire other farmers to help water his farm on a day-to-day basis. Now he no longer needs to do so, he said. "That saves me 20,000 Kenyan shillings ($192) per month," he said.

Maitethia thinks that as more people buy the app, its cost could reduce by more than half.

The project was awarded 1 million Kenyan shillings ($9,600) by the Water Services Trust Fund in November as the best innovation in water management, he said. "This prize - and hopefully partnerships with other organisations - should make the technology available to small as well as large-scale farmers."

Reporting by Caroline Wambui; editing by Zoe Tabary and Laurie Goering.

Thomson Reuters Foundation
The new Act will make benefits available to a much larger proportion of the workforce, and also has the potential to stimulate economic growth.

The Unemployment Insurance Amendment Act, which was signed into law by President Zuma recently, has been widely reported on as likely to have a positive effect on the countrys workforce. However, its also important to point out its potential to help stimulate the economy.

Changes brought on by the new Act strengthens the economy and widens the safety net for employees, as it will force the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) to free up more capital to a wider range of people now being able to claim and claiming being made easier. This is critical because in South Africa, on average, each employed person has 10 dependants, pointing to a deeper impact on the economy.

The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has been exceedingly good at collections and has built up an immense surplus with its current value standing in excess of R99-billion.

Although the new Act will have no material effect on payroll administrators or HR professionals, it does have the potential to affect their clients quite profoundly. These professionals have the knowledge that employees generally lack, and they should take proactive steps to ensure that employees understand what the new Act means.

This important educative role will help employees unlock new value, and will eventually contribute towards a motivated, engaged workforce, while ultimately helping to stimulate the economy.

Who can claim?

As mentioned, one major innovation of the new Act is to allow a much wider range of people to claim unemployment benefits. A notable category here is foreign nationals, who previously had to contribute to the fund but could not claim. Now, foreign nationals who are working in South Africa legally can claim unemployment benefits on the same terms as South Africans. This is set to benefit a large number of people, given the great number of foreigners in the semi-formal sector, including domestic workers.

Another group that is to benefit is students on learnerships. When their learnerships expire and they do not succeed in finding employment, students are now be able to claim unemployment benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). Similarly, employees who have their work hours, and thus their pay, reduced can now claim for the loss of income. In a struggling economy, companies often reduce work hours in order to avoid retrenching employees  the new Act thus helps mitigate the impact of a reduced salary on those affected.

Easier to claim

The Unemployment Insurance Amendment Act also makes some significant changes that will make it easier to claim benefits. A welcome change given the fact that many have found it difficult to claim from the UIF. Changes to help reverse this unsatisfactory state of affairs include relaxing some of the time constraints for claims.

For example, as per the previous Act, death benefits had to be claimed within six months, which resulted in many families finding out too late that a benefit could be claimed and missing the deadline. Under the new Act the time limit for claiming death benefits has been extended to 18 months, which will afford families enough time to complete the long (and often arduous) administrative process required.

Under the old regime, many expectant mothers simply never claimed maternity benefits because they could not claim until the child was born. This effectively meant they would only receive the money well after they had returned to work. Now pregnant women can claim eight weeks before the scheduled birth, which improves their changes of receiving the money when they need it. The maternity benefit has also been increased from 45% of normal pay to 66%.

Those who are unfortunate enough to have run out of sick leave also stand to benefit. Previously, seriously ill employees could only claim from the UIF if their illness continued for 14 working days after their sick leave was exhausted. The threshold is now seven days, thus reducing unpaid sick leave in theory to little over a week.
Approached to create and implement an integrated marketing campaign strategy for the University of Pretoria (UP), Boomtown was to take its new corporate positioning, "Make Today Matter", to market and showcase the university as a leading research institution.

Research is at the heart of our long-term plan, UP 2025, and we want to be recognised as a leading research-intensive university in Africa, remarks Isabel de Necker, University of Pretoria communication manager. The solutions to change the world can be found in the research we do today, which is how we Make Today Matter.

The team at Boomtown created a broad-reach brand campaign to reach key target audiences for the new UP brand positioning and a content strategy using UP research stories within the media to engage and draw people to the Research Matters website.

Using print, radio, online and outdoor advertising and social media for its broad-reach campaign, the content strategy used radio and online advertising, social media and public relations tactics.

The strategies used reached an estimated 48 million individuals in a six-month period, comments Delia Genis, Boomtown Business Group Head. 55.9% of visits to the Research Matters website were direct channels which is fantastic, and a great start to developing the site as the go-to place for all of UPs research output.

The target audience was incredibly niche, and to receive just short of 10,000 visits to the new Research Matters website is noteworthy success. The portal is in its infancy, adds Genis. And as time goes on it will be known as the place to consume information on the latest research from the University of Pretoria.

Overall, the campaign achieved great awareness in the midst of a challenging time. Using storytelling in the campaigns was a great vehicle to engage with a non-academic audience, and make the work UP does to Make Today Matter accessible and easy to understand within a wide audience.




Ivo Energy, the Shell licensee in Africa, and Orange announce a collaborative Pan-African partnership agreement for Orange Money customers. Shell customers will be able to pay for their fuel using Orange Money.

The Pan-African partnership covers nine countries - Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Senegal and Tunisia - where both companies overlap and where Orange Money is available.

Under this agreement, Orange Money customers will be allowed to cash in and cash out money from their Orange Money account and pay in any Shell service station operated by Vivo Energy.

The services - already available in Mali, Cote dIvoire and Madagascar - will be extended to the rest of the common footprint by mid-2017.

This agreement was made in an effort to strengthen both companies footprints and to improve customers experience by offering them more convenience. Orange Money customers will have access to a network of over 1,000 Shell service stations to transact from. On the other hand, Vivo Energy customers will enjoy the trusted and secured services offered by the Orange Money platform. They will also save time and money on their payment transactions.

Commenting on the partnership David Mureithi, executive vice president at Vivo Energy, said: Mobile money represents a huge opportunity in Africa. Mobile Money services have gained momentum in a number of countries across the continent, led by operators, like Orange, looking to add to their portfolio value-added services. This initiative fits our overall strategy of offering innovating solutions, a convenient experience to our customers and developing a lasting relationship with them.

Through this alliance with Orange Money, we want to expand the range of services we offer to our customers and also allow them to pay in a simple and easy way on our retail sites.

Commenting,Thierry Millet, executive vice president in charge of mobile financial services at Orange Group, explained: Orange Money has evolved well beyond money transfer to cover from now on all the essential transactions that our customers perform every day. It has become a decisive financial inclusion tool on the continent. Together with Vivo Energy, through this multi-country partnership, we significantly increase the number of merchants that accept mobile money transactions. This is a real gain of proximity for our shared customers that can pay in a fast and secure way, and cash in and cash out from any Vivo Energy outlet.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Mthwakazi Republic Party Secretary for Foreign affairs, Ackim Mhlanga Gasela has said the time for the restoration of Mthwakazi kingdom has come to a point of no turning back even the oppressors would acknowledge that in the broad day light.He said AbaThwakazi nationals regardless of their political affiliations are now realizing that the major and the most important issue above all is the restoration of Mthwakazi kingdom and our enemy is Zimbabwe."The time for the restoration of Mthwakazi kingdom has come to a point of no turning back even the oppressors would acknowledge that in the broad day light. AbaThwakazi nationals regardless of their political affiliations are now realizing that the major and the most important issue above all is the restoration of Mthwakazi kingdom and our enemy is Zimbabwe," he said."Late last year Mthwakazi witnessed the coming together of Mthwakazi parties in South Africa under AMOT banner which brought a lot of enthusiasm amongst many Mthwakazians. Not forgetting the Mthwakazi nationals in UK, Canada who also saw it fit to come together as one in support of work at home."Gasela said at this stage of their struggle what's more important is achieving their goal as AbaThwakazi not who did it. Everyone in the struggle is important and very precious for our independence."On Saturday last week the people of Mthwakazi came in large numbers at an event organized by Ibhetshu likazulu to commemorate the day Gukurahundi genocide started. The Matabele nation spoke with one voice that the evil perpetuators of Gukurahundi must be brought to justice and everyone is very much assured that justice is knocking at our doors. Mthwakazi shall be free in our life time," he said."Our coming together as Mthwakazi will eventually stop the looting of Matabeleland resources by the Satanic Zimbabwean government. Recently we witnessed the looting of gold in Bubi district by the people calling themselves AmaShurugwi" who in the last days attacked innocent villagers in Inyathi in Bubi district. Some disturbing news reaching us is that a total number of fifteen Mashurugwis have raped a 15 year old girl, and that will be a thing of the past if Mthwakazi continues to unite.""I am not talking about unity of political parties because that one is a scientific equation that might take us a century to solve but unity of AbaTwakazi wherever they are, with different norms and beliefs. Am talking about the spirit of oneness that we displayed in Maleme. That spirit of oneness that proved wrong Mashingaizhe a Gukurahundist with no heart."He said the Gurukahundist nation of Zimbabwe is reaping what it sow."The chief Camelions Emmerson Mnangagwa, Perance Shiri and Sydney Sekeramai together with their chief commander Mugabe thought by killing innocent Matabele people will make them Angels before God. "Kanti ababuzange langeni". They tempered with a wrong nation, a Nation founded by great King uMzilikazi "ilang' elaphume ndlebeni yendlovu amakhwezi abikelana" he said."Long live the spirit of King MzilikaziLong live the spirit of King LobhengulaLong live the spirit of Joshua NkomoLong live the Matabele Nation of uMthwakaziLong live lina besilo!!!!!"
Opinion / Columnist

Bikita West by-election has come and gone and in its wake left a trail of analysts exposed over their confusing and overzealous interpretation of the results. It's quite disheartening that political scientists are underrating the treacherously uneven playing field that these so called elections are being held under. After beatings , shootings, intimidating, banning of rallies, bussing in of thugs, buying of votes and declarations of illiteracy in a country with the highest literacy rate in Africa what does Zanu PF do? It points and gloats over the massive winning margin as a testament of its support. If there is a statement to describe all this is "rubbish" of the highest order.Repulsing like a pig's breakfast. Its shocking that the likes of Madhuku and now Joyce Mujuru insist on contesting elections where opponents have zero chance of winning. The MDC-T's boycotting of these so called elections makes so much sense. The much touted coalition won't help much without major changes to the electoral playing field. This is because Zanu PF will still resort to shootings, kidnappings, beatings, torching of houses, mass starvations, threats of civil war, disappearances, massive vote buying using state resources, setting up of torture camps, deployment of militia and other state security agencies, massive vote rigging using shadowy foreign agencies, banning of rallies, churning out of hateful propaganda in state media including denying opposition any media space and the all too familiar quiet diplomacy from SADC and please analysts if all this means Zanu PF has popular electoral support then Oxford should redefine the meaning of democracy.Another thing analysts please stop insisting on an organised opposition whilst ignoring the elephant in the room which is the uneven electoral field. Bikita West only serves to reaffirm Zanu PF's strangle hold on rural constituencies, if there is anything 2013 will be hard to repeat for Zanu PF where they bagged urban constituencies. Discontent in urban areas is hard to ignore and Zanu PF knows this, the Norton by-election proved this point no wonder why Zanu PF went for broke in Bikita West. If there is anything the opposition should fight for reforms and embark on mass voter registration campaign to urge city dwellers to register as voters in urban constituencies to ensure that they bag in massive wins in their strongholds. Other than that if there are no reforms the opposition should just boycott the 2018 polls.Already this is under threat with Mujuru declaring that reforms or no reforms her party will contest in the 2018 polls. She has a willing compatriot in Madhuku and other obscure political parties. This is self defeating and only plays into Zanu PF hands because as long as opposition parties participate in these flawed elections Zanu PF will not change the electoral playing field. Mujuru's stance on elections all but confirms that she still serves that she is still Zanu PF and will always serve their interests.My last plea to all political analysts is please call a spade a spade, Zanu PF has a huge unfair advantage which can't be used as a measure of its support. The fact is Zimbabwe's electoral space needs overhauling and its sad that political analysts chose to ignore this fact and rather dwell in awe at Zanu PF's flawed victory margin.
Meeting place for hearings, workshops, discussions, training, workspace, events, presentations, demonstrations, brainstorming, strategic planning space based in Cape Town.

Seats 18 comfortably around three round tables of six each.

Room configuration is flexible

Can hire in additional chairs if required

Inclusive of:

Air-conditioning, flat screen monitor, data projector available to rent (extra), Wi-Fi, flipchart stands and rails, variable lighting, comfortable, modern, stylish seating, standard set-up: round tables; other options available, i.e. school rooms or board rooms.

Standard package - R20 per person

-Arrival - morning and afternoon refreshments - includes: water/tea/coffee/biscuits

Treat package - R40 to R50 per person

-Arrival - morning and afternoon refreshments - includes: water/tea/coffee/juice/biscuits/pastries/muffins/table sweets

Lunch package - R25 per person

-Standard package plus in-room lunch, including ordering take aways, cutlery, crockery and cleaning (actual take away food order cost not included)

Monday to Friday from 7am till 6pm.

(not open on weekends or evenings)

Full day: R1,095. - eight hours

Half day: R765 - four hours
Global research reveals that consumers across the world are increasingly comfortable shopping online across borders, more so in Asia. The research, published last year by Pitney Bowes, showed that while 94% of consumers shop online frequently within their own home markets, two-thirds (66%) have also made a purchase online from outside their home country.

The countries with the highest number of cross-border shoppers were all in the APAC region with Singapore taking top spot (89%) followed by Australia (86%) and Hong Kong (85%).

A new report by Retail Week and Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-law.com, highlights the need for retailers that are internationalizing their brand to acknowledge the different views consumers hold depending on their country.

One element that consumers prioritized in nearly all countries was the issue of trust. Among the 5,000 customers surveyed for the report, from China, France, Germany, the UK and the Middle East, trustworthiness was the top reason given by customers when choosing to shop with a new retailer.

In fact, trust outranked other factors including value for money and product choice. There were, however, some markets in which trustworthiness performed more strongly; particularly in China, due to its continuing issues with counterfeit goods.

Cultural, social and local nuances can have a very real impact on what shoppers expect, said Gemma Goldfingle, features editor of Retail Week, in her foreword to the report.

In France, celebrity endorsements are not de rigueur  just 1% of French respondents to the survey said they trusted celebrity endorsements of products compared with 33% in Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile, 45% of Middle Eastern shoppers said that they trusted reviews of products on social media, while just 14% of UK and German respondents said the same.

Globally, consumers were most likely to be put off shopping at a particular retailer by high prices, with 70% of respondents ranking this as one of their top three deterrents. Consumers in the UK and US were particularly price sensitive, while those in the Middle East were less likely to cite cost as a deterrent to shopping with a particular retailer. In fact, consumers in the Middle East were found to be more likely to value quality and luxury over price.

Shoppers around the world have widely differing views on what matters most to them so you need to know where to allocate your budget for maximum effect, said retail expert Tom Leman of Pinsent Masons. With so many retailers eyeing international growth, understanding what garners a consumers trust will make you stand out from the crowd. Set against the backdrop of fierce competition, getting this right has taken on new levels of urgency.
The U.S. Ambassador visited Chin Media Network office in Hakha at around 11:30 am yesterday morning and discussed the challenges and difficulties that are currently faced by Chin media organisations, according to Salai Bawi Uk Thang, an official from the Chin Media Network.

We submitted the challenges and difficulties we are facing. We also explained the things that need to be changed. For example, the government doesnt allow the teaching of Chin language during school hours so these kids dont know how to speak in Chin and the youths will lose interest in our marketing. So, we explained to him about how the government needs to teach Chin language during school hours, he explained.

They also discussed the immediate need of a printing press for Chin media, technological weaknesses, and the need of the Chin States government to ensure easy access to information from government departments.

Salai Bawi Uk Thang said he is proud that it was the first meeting with Chin media and it showed the important role of the media.

The U.S. Ambassador also met with the Chin State Ceasefire Monitoring Team and questioned them about the current peace processes, the relations between the Chin National Front (CNF) and the Burmese government, and the situation of the development tasks, said Chin State Ceasefire Monitoring Teams leader Rev. Tluang Ceu.

Rev. Tluang Ceu told the U.S. Ambassador that there is a good relationship between the Chin State government and the CNF but the activities of the Arakan Army (AA) in Palatwa Township, Chin State have disturbed the peace process.

Scot Marciel met with the Chin State government yesterday evening and he is going to meet local social organizations today.

Translated by Thida Linn
An official from KIA Brigade 6 confirmed to KNG that the two armies clashes in Kawng Wai, which is under the control of KIA Battalion 36 under Brigade 6 in northern Shan State.

The Burma Armys Infantry Battalion 261, which was marching from Gaung Yi Stream, and KIA Battalion 6 under Brigade 2 also fought fiercely in Phayar Taung of Nam Si Yang near Kar Mai on Mogaung-Hpa-kant Road, according to local residents.

Over 100 military vehicles, which were covered in plastic and believed to be carrying artilleries, departed from Myitkyina to Putao on Sunday.

Local military observers said the Burma Army is preparing to launch an offensive against KIA Brigade 1 in Putao District.

Translated by Thida Linn
The policies we have set down at the [national-level political] dialogue have to pass through three stages in order to reach the 21st Century Panglong Conference. First, they will arrive in the hands of the Working Group Committee. Then, they will be sent to UPDJC (Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee). From there, they will be sent to the 21st Century Panglong Conference. We are facing many difficulties to pass these three stages, said Pado Mann Mann Mann.

The KNUs joint secretary made the remarks to the press on the last day of the Karen National-Level Political Dialogue, which was held in the Karen States capital Hpa-an from 18 to 20 January under the aim to build a future federal union.

He talked about the need to include all ethnic armed organisations in the national-level political dialogues and insisted that the policies from the dialogues depend not on whether the Burmese government and the Burma Army would allow them but on how much they would accept them.

He believes the views of other ethnic people will not be much different from the policies of the Karen National-Level Peace Dialogue.

The national-level political dialogues will also be held in other areas based on ethnicity, region, and topic.

We couldnt say the word federal union for over 60 years. I feel that the National-Level Political Dialogue, which was held in Hpa-an, was good for both the country and all ethnic people because we were able to speak the words from our heart, said Mann Htain Win Sein, vice-chairman of the Karen National Party (KNP).

In a speech delivered on 18 January, the KNUs chairman General Mutu Say Poe has called on the Burmese government and the Burma Army to become more open for non-signatories of the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) to sign the NCA and join the national-level political dialogues.

Translated by Thida Linn
Around 80 troops from a military column under the Burma Army attacked SSPP/SSA-N outpost in Lwel Kat Mountain Ridge near Wang Pan Nga Village between Mong San and Mong Hsu, around three miles south of Mong Hsu, at 9:30 am on 21 January, according to a frontline commander from the SSPP/SSA-N.

We dont want to fight while everyone is preparing for the second session of the 21st Century Panglong [Conference]. We only defended ourselves. We are trying to negotiate [with the Burma Army] to prevent the skirmishes from spreading out, said SSA-Ns spokesperson Major Phone Han.

A source close to a Tactical Operations Commander of the Burma Army, who is serving in Loilen District, told Shan Herald that the Burma Army informed SSA-N to order its troops to withdraw from their bases and release new recruits from Mong Hsu and Kyethi townships. The Burma Army has threatened to use force if the SSA-N refused to release the new recruits.

We have been accused. We are an army that has been born from the Shan people. This is our home land. We dont even need to send for recruits in normal times. We already have them, a SSA-N commander from Mong Hsu Township said on condition of anonymity.

After the Burma Army ordered the SSPP/SSA-N to withdraw from their Loi Maw Mal and Nam Nak bases in the north of Mong Hsu, both armies beefed up their numbers but no skirmishes have broken out so far since 18 January.

Although the SSPP/SSA-N has not signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement, it has signed a union-level and state-level ceasefire with former President U Thein Sein administration.

Translated by Thida Linn
Speaking to Shan Herald on Monday under condition of anonymity, the UWSA official said that Bao Youxiang is still leader, and remains both commander-in-chief as well as general secretary of the party.

There has been no change in the Wa leadership, said the official. Neither did elections take place to choose a new leader. Any such rumor is false.

The UWSA source said the party had called a meeting on 9-13 January to discuss internal operations. However, he said, issues surrounding peace talks with the government  in particular the round of negotiations known as the 21st Century Panglong Conference (21CPC), which is next scheduled to convene in February  was not on the agenda during that meeting.

There is no change towards the peace process as far as the Wa are concerned, said the official.

The first round of the 21CPC was held in the Burmese capital in August last year, a colorful opening event featuring schoolchildren in traditional ethnic costumes and much fanfare. More than 700 delegates were present, representing the government, the military, political parties, ethnic armed organizations and civil society groups. The main discourse was to plan a framework for future peace talks, however Wa representatives caused a storm by walking out of the conference citing inequality at the talks.

The UWSA did not sign the NCA with the Thein Sein administration in October 2015. Based in Panghsang, along the Burma-China border, the Wa militia is widely regarded as the strongest ethnic army in Burma, with a troop strength estimated at up to 30,000.
Can Poor Dental Hygiene Increase Your Risk Of Pneumonia? Wellness oi-Chandana Rao

Do you brush your teeth twice a day and floss on a regular basis? If no, then you must know that poor dental hygiene could up your risk of pneumonia!

Also Read :13 Home Remedies For Teeth Shaking

Yes, normally, when it comes to oral hygiene, we may not give it much thought, because we do not link dental hygiene with other disorders, right?

However, it is a fact that our oral hygiene plays an important role, when it comes to a number of disorders, related to the other parts of our body.

Now, keeping your teeth and gums hygienic is very important because, firstly, poor oral hygiene can cause bad breath, plaque and discoloration of teeth, making you look unattractive.

Also Read :15 Home Remedies To Treat Pneumonia

Also, when you do not clean your teeth on a regular basis, it can lead to the build-up of bacteria in your teeth and gums, making them infected.

The infection in your oral cavity can reach your other organs, through your blood vessels and affect these organs.

Poor dental hygiene is also known to cause heart diseases in people.

So, learn how the lack of dental hygiene can make you more prone to pneumonia.

The Research Study

Pneumonia is a serious respiratory disorder, which claims at least 5% of the affected people's lives every year.

Also Read: Improve your dental health overnight!

Pneumonia is a condition in which an infection inflames the air sacs in both the lungs, leading to a number of respiratory symptoms, including the accumulation of fluids in the lungs.

A recent research study, lead by Dr. Samit Joshi of Yale University School Of Medicine, suggested that poor dental hygiene could be one of the causes of the development of pneumonia in people.

This research study also opined that poor oral hygiene can also cause other respiratory disorders, apart from pneumonia.

Dr. Joshi said that when you lack dental hygiene, your gums can become infected, due to the build-up of bacteria.

Also Read: Follow these dental habits to prevent cavities!

And when people swallow their saliva, which would contain these infectious bacteria, it can reach their lungs, in the form of fine droplets, thus affecting the tissues of your lungs, causing pneumonia and other respiratory disorders.

The research study also suggested that one must clean their teeth regularly, especially during the winters, in order to avoid health complications.
Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blog spot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work.

.

..Algemeiner.com..24 January '17..Just how bad is thecoverage of Israel these days? How about this for an answer: worse thanPlan approved for 2,500 new settler homes in West Bank, is the headline over the article at, the web site of the satellite network geared to an Arab audience and controlled by the al Thani family that rules the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar.That kind of straightforward headline was the sort placed on the story at a wide variety of news outlets, from(Israel Okays 2,500 New West Bank Settlement Homes) through(Israel approves 2,500 West Bank settlement homes), the(Israel announces plans to build 2,500 new West Bank housing units), and even the(Israel announces 2,500 more West Bank settlement homes).The, however, unlike the other news organizations, chose to make its headline feature not an objective number of housing units, but a subjective adjective. Theheadline reads: Israel Approves Large Settlement Expansion in West Bank.Large?




TEZPUR, ASSAM (PTI): Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday made his first visit to the Eastern Command after taking over the office and also went to the forward areas at the international borders with China.



Gen Rawat's visit is significant after the terrorist ambush, in which three Assam Rifles personnel were killed on Sunday at Wara village near Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, Defence sources said.



The Army chief also visited the strategic Gajraj Corps where he was received by GOC-in-C Eastern Command Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi and Gajraj GOC Lt Gen A S Bedi at Tezpur Air Force Station.



The sources said a high level security meeting with senior officials of Gajraj corps was held last evening.



Defence spokesperson Lt Col Suneet Newton told PTI that a security review meeting on the areas falling under under Gajraj Corps was also held.



The Army chief was satisfied with the operational preparedness of Gajraj Corps and encouraged all its ranks to keep up the high state of alertness and professionalism displayed by them.



Gen Rawat had commanded a Corps in the Eastern Command and is well acquainted with the nuances of operational scenario here, he said.



The Army chief accompanied by the Eastern Army Commander and the Corps Commander also visited Tawang and the forward areas at the international borders with China in western Arunachal Pradesh, the Defence sources said.



The Chief was briefed by the Corps Commanders on the security situation in the Corps, both from external threat and internal security point of view in the bordering area, they added.




A representational photo.

ISLAMABAD (PTI): Pakistan on Tuesday successfully conducted the first test flight of the radar-evading 'Ababeel' surface-to-surface ballistic missile (SSM) capable of carrying a nuclear warhead up to 2,200 kms, bringing many Indian cities within its range.



Ababeel is capable of delivering multiple warheads using Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology, Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said in a statement.



"The test flight was aimed at validating various design and technical parameters of the weapon system," he said on the missile which has a maximum range of 2,200 kilometres.



Ababeel is capable of carrying nuclear warheads and has the capability to engage multiple targets with high precision, defeating hostile radars, the ISPR said.



"The development of the Ababeel weapon system was aimed at ensuring survivability of Pakistan's ballistic missiles in the growing regional Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) environment," the release said, in an obvious reference to India.



The Ababeel missile test came close on the heels of a successful test of submarine-launched cruise missile Babur-III on December 9.



"The successful attainment of a second strike capability by Pakistan represents a major scientific milestone; it is manifestation of the strategy of measured response to nuclear strategies and postures being adopted in Pakistan's neighborhood," the military had said after the Babur-III test.



The missile, launched from an undisclosed location in the Indian Ocean from an underwater, mobile platform, had hit its target with precise accuracy, the Army had said.



Babur-III is a sea-based variant of ground-launched cruise missile Babur-II, which was successfully tested in December last year.


Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/01/2017 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Eight new individuals have been appointed to the Manitoba Womens Advisory Council, the province announced Tuesday.

Representing Westman is Margaret Roscelli of Oak Lake, who is the health director for Sioux Valley Dakota Nation.

Im pleased to welcome these new members to the womens advisory council, said Rochelle Squires, minister of council, sport, culture and heritage.Weve created a fresh board that will benefit from the combination of wisdom and experience these members bring from various backgrounds and perspectives.

Also named to the council is Jennifer Flett of Opaskwayak Cree Nation. Flett is the vice-chair of OCN and a former corrections officer who helped establish the first healing lodge in her community.

The council, established in 1980, serves as an advisory board to government on the issues of concern to women and works to enhance the overall status of women.

Dr. Romona Goomansingh of Winnipeg has been reappointed. Dr. Jeannette Montufar of Winnipeg has been appointed council chair.

Other members include Verna A. Klippenstein Heinrichs of Altona. She is trilingual (English, French, German) with experience in international trade, agribusiness, environmental issues, health care and post-secondary education.

Maggie Masi of Winnipeg is a civil servant known as a strong leader. Doris Mae Oulton of Winnipeg worked for Health Canada for many years and helped establish an oral health program in First Nations communities.

Kristen Lynch of Winnipeg owns a small marketing business and serves on the board for the Nellie McClung Foundation.

Lizane Lachance of Winnipeg is a registered nurse with management experience at Actionmarguerite in St. Boniface and in the Manitoba government.

 The Brandon Sun
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/01/2017 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CFB SHILO  Military personnel essentially acting as air traffic controllers are treating communities like Sprucewoods as under siege by insurgents.

Its part of a training exercise a trio of Joint Terminal Attack Controllers, or JTACs, have been involved in during a multi-week international effort described as Exercise Banshee Strike.

Sgt. Lane Starling, who also has experience calling in artillery attacks from the ground, is one of approximately 15 soldiers at CFB Shilo trained in co-ordinating airstrikes.

Colin Corneau/The Brandon Sun Sgt. Lane Starling points to a mockup of a 500-pound bomb, of the type used when calling in air attacks. Starling is taking part in a joint exercise with American pilots and Canadian ground troops at CFB Shilo.

Ive done about 13 years in the military, and it is by far the coolest thing that Ive done, talking to airplanes, Starling relayed.

The ability for me to do that and call in artillery fire  Ive got more firepower at my fingertips than Jesus.

He and two other JTACs are guiding aircraft simulations with the 69th Bomb Squadron, stationed at the United States Air Force base in Minot, ND.

On Tuesday afternoon, Starling, who has been stationed in Shilo for about six years, and Master Bombardier Joel Favron, in Shilo the last eight years, established the parking lot of the Waggle Springs Fish

and Game Associations headquarters in Sprucewoods as their base for planning airstrikes.

The two JTACs were part of a scenario where rebel forces stole armoured vehicles and infiltrated a community. Its a scenario comparable to ISIS-organized schemes taking place in areas of the Middle East.

One of the simulations Tuesday involved bombing three separate targets.

Starling said they use communities like Sprucewoods and CFB Shilo to replicate real-life scenarios.

We use the local pattern of life to simulate what you would see actually overseas, in a regular town anywhere in the world, he said. Theres going to be people walking around, vehicles driving.

Starling referenced an example of an insurgent leader entering a building.

We like to make it difficult for each other, so well put it next to a church or next to a school, so we have to force ourselves to mitigate that (complication) in order to go through all the appropriate procedures to strike the right target, he said.

It can take anywhere from three to 10 minutes for a massive B-52 bomber, flying more than 20,000 feet overhead, to strike an actual target. In yesterdays simulation, it took around 20 minutes as the crew aboard the American aircraft were learning.

An alpha jet, which flies significantly lower during training exercises, could not participate in Tuesdays exercise because of cloud cover. The privately contracted fighter jet does not have the resources an operational military aircraft does to handle poor visibility.

Americans aboard the B-52 bomber  one of three of these aircrafts in the sky yesterday, too high above to be seen  could not utilize their cameras and thus relied on the Canadians to be their eyes on the ground.

In a real scenario, ground forces would always be involved in finding a target and ensuring an attempted bombing is safe.

It comes to JTACs to brief them on whats going on, Starling said.

Colin Corneau/The Brandon Sun Master Bombardier Joel Faron jots down co-ordinates as he helps co-ordinate an air attack during joint exercises with American pilots at CFB Shilo on Tuesday.

On instances where a camera can be employed, JTACs use what Starling described as a Game Boy to see footage from the camera and direct the jets personnel to the right target. A radio ensures constant communication between the parties.

After three weeks of simulation exercises, next week will involve releasing actual bombs. The projectiles, dropped in open terrain, will range in weight from 500 to 2,000 lbs.

When we drop here, Wawanesa will let you know, Starling said of the noise. We usually rattle their windows pretty good.

These exercises are an invaluable collaboration between soldiers on both sides of the border, he explained.

It ensures Americans are well-trained and gives Canadian JTACs practice with the jets they would direct on a battlefield.

We gain value operating with their aircraft types, Starling said. Usually, in the theatre, the Americans have the big toys wed be operating with.

Favron got involved in aircraft coordinating after chatting with other soldiers who had the experience.

He has been a JTAC for approximately three years.

Favron notes his friends back home can only do what he does in a video game.

Some of them get a little jealous, thats for sure.

 ifroese@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ianfroese
January 24, 2017

As Barack Obama left the White House on Jan. 20, transferring power to Donald Trump, assessments were made about his legacy and whether he fulfilled his promises. To Iranians, one of the most noted of these pledges was the focus on diplomacy to resolve the stalemate over Irans nuclear program.

In an August 2007 speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Obama had said that not talking does not work and suggested that the United States engage in dialogue with adversaries Iran, North Korea and Syria. Obama had also promised that by talking to Iran, he would be able to resolve differences.

Unfortunately, his first term in office coincided with that of Irans hard-line former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and thus, there was no practical breakthrough in the row over Irans nuclear program. But when President Hassan Rouhani took office in 2013, things took a turn for the better. Nuclear negotiations between Iran and the six world powers accelerated with a particular focus being placed on Iran-US dialogue. These talks ultimately led to the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on July 14, 2015.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Nasser Hadian, a prominent professor of international relations at Tehran University, said, Obama wanted to resolve the other remaining issues between Iran and the United States [as well]. However, Iran was neither prepared nor interested in this.

He added, At the same time, Obama knew that if he could succeed in solving things between the two countries, it would be a positive mark on his report card and he would be remembered as the sole US president who was able to put an end to the crisis in Tehran-Washington relations after nearly three decades  a commendation that was even more valuable than solving the conflict with Cuba.

In Iran, there have been widely divergent views about Obamas approach. The Kayhan daily, which epitomizes the movement opposed to restoring relations with the United States, published a piece Nov. 19 in which it evaluated the performance of various American presidents. With reference to Obama, the hard-line daily wrote, By using the politics of smiling amid [engagement in] terror, Obama pursued the same path that other former US presidents had taken with regard to Iran, and by imposing various wide-ranging sanctions  whether in the nuclear arena or in regard to terrorism and human rights  he showed that there was no difference between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to Iran. This is not to mention the danger that Obama posed by winning international consensus on the implementation of his wide-ranging sanctions over Irans nuclear program."

In this vein, Ali Akbar Velayati, the foreign policy adviser to Irans supreme leader, said in an interview with Jam-e Jam daily June 11, Obama is no different than [George W.] Bush. US policies have always been in support of Israel while opposing Iran and the Muslim world.

He added, Some say the Democrats are better for Iran while the principal sanctions against Iran were imposed during Obamas term in office. The only difference between Obama and the other US presidents is that he speaks nicely and some think he is a better person.

However, Obama did have one unique experience in regard to Iran: the historic phone call he had with his Iranian counterpart. Taking place at the very end of Rouhanis first visit as president to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly in September 2013, the conversation was the first between an Iranian and an American head of government since Irans 1979 Islamic Revolution.

For Rouhani, the phone call was followed by harsh domestic criticism. In addition to being reprimanded by some members of parliament, Irans supreme leader also hinted at his disapproval of the move. In comments made on Oct. 5, 2013, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, "I support the government's diplomatic moves, including the New York trip, because I have faith [in it].  But some of what happened during the New York trip was not appropriate.  I am skeptical of the Americans and have no trust in them at all. The American government is untrustworthy, arrogant, illogical and a promise breaker.

Notwithstanding the historic phone call, Iranians have broadly held two widely differing views about Obama. One group thought he was no different than previous US presidents, while others saw him as an opportunity for Iran. Hossein Mousavian, a former spokesman for the Iranian nuclear negotiating team, said on Jan. 2, 2016, Some may think what I say here is foolish but the reality is that Obama has been an opportunity for Iran and still is and this [opportunity] should be used for solving differences between the two nations.

Many in Tehran agree with this assessment. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Sadegh Zibakalam, a prominent political analyst and Tehran University professor, said, Obama was a great opportunity for Iran that is now gone. The combination of Obama, [Vice President Joe] Biden, and [Secretary of State] John Kerry played a great role in reaching the nuclear deal, and after Obamas successor takes office we will realize what a great opportunity we lost to resolve our differences with the United States.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who served as chief nuclear negotiator, noted Feb. 16 that it would have been much more difficult to achieve the nuclear deal without Obama and Kerry in office.

As such, when it comes to US relations with Iran, Obama has left the White House with a valuable legacy: the nuclear deal, which resolved a crisis that at one point seemed unsolvable. And while far from all share the same view of his performance when it comes to Iran, there is consensus that if he and Rouhani had not been in power in Washington and Tehran at the same time, reaching a nuclear agreement would have been much harder than it was.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/01/2017 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A teen has admitted to robbing a cabbie and now awaits sentencing.

The 17-year-old pleaded guilty on Tuesday to the robbery and other charges and sentencing was set for late April, in part to allow him to attend a substance abuse treatment centre.

Crown attorney Kaley Tschetter said that on the evening of Nov. 8, a cabbie was parked when the youth approached and asked for a ride. He got in the back of the cab, seemed intoxicated and didnt seem to know where he was going.

He asked to be dropped off at the beer vendor at the corner of Rosser Avenue and Fifth Street, but before he got out of the taxi the driver felt a poke in her side.

The youth told the driver to give him all her money. She refused at first, but the teen threatened to stab her if she didnt hand over the cash. She gave him $100 to $150 and he ran off.

Police were called and initially it was believed that the robber had a knife based on what hed told the cab driver.

Nearby, police spotted a suspect who matched the description provided by the driver, but he ran and a police dog couldnt track him down.

<t-1>Three hours after the robbery, a resident called police to complain about an intoxicated male on their porch. Police arrived and noted that the male matched the description of

the robbery suspect, but again he ran. This

time, however, he was caught on the 300 block of Rosser Avenue.<t$>

In court on Tuesday, the youth admitted to the robbery in which he used a poke to scare the driver into handing over the money, but he said he didnt have a knife.

Crown and defence havent yet stated what sentences they will seek for the offender who cant be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

 ihitchen@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @IanHitchen
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/01/2017 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

United States President Donald Trump signed an order Monday withdrawing his country from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, as he had promised.

He said Sunday he would meet with the leaders of Canada and Mexico to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he wants to renegotiate. He and his supporters believe free trade deals have weakened U.S. industry, although U.S. economic expansion and low unemployment suggest otherwise.

President Trump, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto have to decide pretty quickly whether to have a single trade deal covering three countries, or something else entirely. From Canadas perspective, the question is whether to keep Mexico in a menage a trois or dump Mexico in order to preserve Canadian market access in the U.S.

All three countries have enjoyed economic expansion during the NAFTA years. Mexico, the poorest and least industrialized of the three, has enjoyed the fastest growth, evolving from a low-income country to an upper-middle level economy. Migration from Mexico to the U.S.  most of it illegal  has declined in recent years as Mexican industry expanded. The long-term interest of all three countries lies in continuing Mexicos economic expansion and its contributions to both production and consumption.

The Trump administration, however, cannot wait for the long term. The 2018 mid-term elections, which could destroy Republican dominance of the House of Representatives, are just 22 months away. President Trump has to produce some dramatic results in that short time to satisfy those who think he is going to reopen, as he said in his inaugural address, rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation. That vivid phrase may return to haunt him in the mid-terms if the tombstones are still standing and he has no progress to show.

Prime Minister Trudeau should draw attention to the advantages of the three-way deal. Mexico, with a population of 120 million and a rapidly expanding middle class, is becoming a steadily stronger market for Canada and U.S. exports and an engine of growth for the hemisphere. As Mexican industry expands, Mexican workers will be more and more inclined to stay home and less inclined to sneak into the U.S.

But in such a joint arrangement, each partner has to take account of the views of the others  even misguided views. If the U.S. insists on throwing up barriers to trade and migration with Mexico, Canada is ill-placed to tell Americans not to.

And the current prevailing wisdom among pundits and economists who have watched Trumps rise to power that the era of free trade is dead, or at least on serious life support  makes it much more difficult for the federal Liberals to champion that argument.

If he is bent on preserving some aspects of NAFTA, Prime Minister Trudeau must be able to show the three-way deal is working well and can be improved. But he should also be willing to retire gracefully and leave the U.S. and Mexico to reach their own solutions to the complex conditions that govern their long, close and often contentious relationship.

President Trump and his supporters seem to have grievances against Mexico, but not much of a problem with Canada. A big part of the reason that Trump hasnt targeted Canada specifically has been the fact that as a country, we happen to import more goods from the U.S. than we export.

In 2015 for example, Canada exported $280 billion in goods south of the border, and imported about $295 billion  a trade deficit of $15 billion in the United States favour, according to figures from the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

And Canada remained the U.S.s largest trade goods export market in 2015, and the second largest goods trading partner with $575 billion in total (two way) goods trade during 2015. That gives us an edge when it comes to dealing with a Trump administration.

But its not up to Canada to make Mexicans and Americans love each other more, nor should Canada interpose itself between two bad neighbours who intend to pursue their long-running quarrels.

After the Trump era ends and the United States turns away from its present course, Canada will have plenty of opportunity to revive the three-way trade deal, should the spirit of free trade be resuscitated in his wake.

Preserving Canadian market access in the United States, however, is of vital interest right now.

 Winnipeg Free Press and The Brandon Sun
Tributes have continued to flow in for developer Owen OCallaghan who was laid to rest today, writes Kevin O'Neill and David Linnane.

Members of Cork City Council have paid their respects to Mr OCallaghan, who was described as a visionary developer who delivered thousands of jobs and many of Corks landmark buildings.

Mr OCallaghans company, OCallaghan Properties was responsible for building the Opera Lane shopping centre and offices, Paul Street Shopping Centre, Merchant Quay Shopping Centre, and Mahon Point. shopping centre and retail park.

His forward-thinking nature and commitment to Cork were chief among the attributes praised by city councillors.

Fianna Fails Terry Shannon commended Mr OCallaghan on a personal and professional level: reserving particular praise for his love of Cork.

He said, He was building in Cork when nobody else was, and he always showed a great loyalty to Cork. He was always very conscious of the need to keep Cork developing so that it would enable us to keep attracting jobs to the city. His commitment to our city will be sadly missed.

Speaking for the Fine Gael group, Cllr Laura McGonigle praised Mr OCallaghans sensitivity when it came to massive developments.

She said, He was very willing to listen and understand. Mahon Point was an enormous development and there was potential for enormous upset as a result, but Owen was the kind of guy who worked with the residents associations and others there to make sure there were no feathers ruffled.

While he was a national and international developer, his heart was always in Cork.

Similar praise came from the Sinn Fein group via Cllr Chris OLeary, who said Mr OCallaghan would always take the time to sit down with locals and discuss issues where they arose. Mr OLeary praised his commitment to the city and its progress, specifically in relation to the proposal of the boundary extension.

He was very supportive of the city, and he was bold enough to stand up when others wouldnt with regard to how the city should be treated.

Independent councillor Kieran McCarthy backed his counterpart in these comments.

He said, The city has lost one of its champions. Owen was always seen on the streets and in the boardrooms pushing the city and the region forward.

He had a great grasp of where Cork needed to go to and he will be sorely missed.

On Cork County Council, Ballincollig-based Councillor Derry Canty praised Mr OCallaghan as a Ballincollig man and a understanding developer.

If there was ever any problem with his firm, he was always there to the fore to meet you. At any function or event that I attended, he was always understanding and listening, he said.

Fine Gael councillor Kevin Murphy said that it was an absolute huge loss to Cork.

He was a very forward-thinking, very outgoing man, who had huge plans for Cork. He did huge work to enhance the whole area, he said.

This article first appeared in the Evening Echo.
The White House says the Taoiseach has been formally invited to Washington for St Patricks Day.

The Trump administration says Enda Kenny was invited following the US presidential election.
The Dail will begin debating a motion this evening to open a fresh State inquiry into the Stardust tragedy.

The Cabinet was spilt yesterday as to whether a new investigation is necessary, with Fine Gael saying there was not enough new evidence to justify it.
A group calling itself the new IRA has claimed responsibility for a shooting attack on a Northern Ireland police officer, according to reports.

The community officer, aged in his 20s, was hit three times in the arm with bullets from a high velocity rifle which sprayed a busy petrol station in North Belfast on Sunday night.

Commanders believe his body armour may have saved him from further harm.

The republican group said the attack was a "targeted" attempt to kill two officers, reported the Irish News.

The newspaper said that the group had claimed the attack using a recognised codeword, saying that it was unconnected to the recent collapse of political institutions at Stormont but was rather a "continuation of activity".

Detectives believe rounds may have been fired from behind a fence across the road from the garage forecourt on the Crumlin Road as two officers emerged from the shop.

Dissident republicans opposed to the peace process have been blamed by police for the attack, although no particular group has been named.

The new IRA claimed responsibility for the murder of a prison officer last year.

It is an amalgamation of the Real IRA, Republican Action Against Drugs and a loose collection of dissident republicans.

The different groupings came together in 2012 under the banner of "the IRA".

It was linked in November that year to the murder of prison officer David Black.
As the entire country celebrated Ruth Neggas Oscar nomination yesterday, the Academy Awards scrambled to rectify a mistake they had make on their official website.

They had listed Amy Adams in the Best Actress category instead of the Limerick-raised Negga.

Oscar website accidentally put Amy Adams instead of Ruth Negga into Lead Actress Nominees #oops pic.twitter.com/43JaRytDRC  taza (@tazology) January 24, 2017

As you can imagine, this caused a ruckus amongst fans - most calling the entire announcment, a facade and fixed.

And that wasnt all - Tom Hanks was listed as a Best Actor nominee for Sully, while Annette Bening was named in the Best Supporting Actress category for 20th Century Women.

This morning American television network, ABC has apologised to the press and fans for the inaccuracy.

"This morning, in an attempt to release breaking news as announced, ABC Digital briefly posted inaccurate nomination information on the Oscar.com website. ABC quickly identified and corrected the errors. We apologise to the Academy, press, and fans for any confusion".

This isn't the first times a major awards show has been called out for a mistake.

At the 2016 Golden Globes nominations, the Golden Globes' official Twitter handle mistook actress America Ferrera for Netflix star Gina Rodriguez.

And dont get us started with how they pronounced Saoirse Ronans name in the Oscar buzz of last year.
Protesters have climbed a 270ft construction site crane just streets from the White House and unfurled a banner calling for resistance to President Donald Trump.

Officers called to the construction site in Washington found that three people had attached themselves to the crane and another four people joined them, Captain Robert Glover of the Metropolitan Police Departments special operations division told reporters.

The protesters told police they are conducting a First Amendment action, he said.

"Time is on our side," Mr Glover said. "Safety is our foremost mission this morning."

After a few hours, several protesters dangling from the horizontal arm of the crane opened the 70ft by 35ft orange and yellow banner that reads "resist".

The protesters are calling for resistance to Mr Trump and his agenda, Greenpeace spokesman Travis Nichols said.

It is a continuation of protests that began with Mr Trumps inauguration.

Greenpeace said in a statement that the protesters are "calling for those who want to resist Trumps attacks on environmental, social, economic, and educational justice to contribute to a better America".

The protest comes a day after Mr Trumps administration moved to delay implementation of at least 30 environmental rules and froze new Environmental Protection Agency contracts and grant awards.

"While we respect everyones right to protest, todays actions are extremely dangerous and unlawful," police said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Police would consult with prosecutors about appropriate charges, Mr Glover told reporters.

There was no continuing threat to anyone outside the site and minimal disruption to the area, he said.
A senior Thai official has been arrested in Japan for allegedly stealing three paintings from a hotel's hallways.

Police in Kyoto said Suphat Saquandeekul was arrested after they found the paintings in his luggage as he was checking out.
President Donald Trump has declared that he believes torture works as his administration prepared a sweeping review of how America conducts the war on terror.

It includes possible resumption of banned interrogation methods and reopening CIA-run "black site" prisons outside the United States.

In an interview with ABC News, Mr Trump said he would wage war against Islamic State militants with the singular goal of keeping the US safe.

Asked specifically about the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, Mr Trump cited the extremist group's atrocities against Christians and others and said: "We have to fight fire with fire."

Mr Trump said he would consult with new Defence Secretary James Mattis and CIA director Mike Pompeo before authorising any new policy.

However, he said he had asked top intelligence officials in the past day: "Does torture work?"

"And the answer was yes, absolutely," Mr Trump said.

He added that he wants to do "everything within the bounds of what you're allowed to do legally".

A clip of Mr Trump's interview was released after The Associated Press and other news outlets obtained copies of a draft executive order being circulated within his administration.

Beyond reviewing interrogation techniques and facilities, the draft order would instruct the Pentagon to send newly captured "enemy combatants" to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, instead of closing the detention facility as former president Barack Obama had wanted.

Altogether, the possible changes could mark a dramatic return to how the Bush administration waged its campaign against al Qaida and other extremist groups.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer, questioned about the draft order, said it was "not a White House document" but would not comment further.

The draft says US laws should be obeyed at all times and explicitly rejects "torture".

However, its reconsideration of the harsh techniques banned by Mr Obama and Congress raises questions about the definition of the word and is sure to inflame passions in the US and abroad.

President Trump tells ABC News he believes waterboarding works  but will "rely" on his Cabinet to determine if the policy is resurrected. pic.twitter.com/0nCFAfhlK1  World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) January 25, 2017

After the September 11 attacks, President George W Bush authorised a covert programme that led to dozens of detainees being held in secret locations overseas and to interrogation tactics that included sleep deprivation, slapping and slamming against walls, confinement in small boxes, prolonged isolation and even death threats.

Three detainees faced waterboarding, and many developed psychological problems.

While some former government leaders insist the programme was effective in obtaining critical intelligence, many others say the abuses weakened America's moral standing in the world, hurt morale among intelligence officers and proved ineffective before Mr Obama shut it down.

The AP obtained the draft order from a US official, who said it had been distributed by the White House for consultations before Mr Trump signs it.

The Pentagon did not immediately comment and Mr Spicer, Mr Trump's press secretary, said: "I have no idea where it came from."

However, reports of the upcoming order quickly sparked alarm among Republicans and Democrats.

"The president can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law," said Republican Senator John McCain, tortured himself as a prisoner during the Vietnam War.

"We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America."

On the campaign trail, Mr Trump spoke emphatically about toughening the US approach to fighting IS.

He said he would authorise waterboarding and a "hell of a lot worse".

After winning the election, however, he appeared to backtrack, pointedly citing Mr Mattis' advice that torture is ineffective.

Mr Pompeo said in his confirmation hearing that he would abide by all laws.

However, he also said he would consult with CIA and other government experts on whether current restrictions were an "impediment to gathering vital intelligence to protect the country or whether any rewrite of the Army Field Manual is needed".

Specifically, Mr Trump's draft order calls for reinstating an executive order - "to the extent permitted" by current law - that President Bush signed in 2007 and Mr Obama later revoked.

Mr Trump's draft would reverse two other executive orders.

One called for closing Guantanamo Bay, and the other ordered the CIA to shut any detention facility it operated and prohibited the US from using any interrogation technique not listed in the Army Field Manual, demanding treatment in compliance with the Geneva Conventions, including timely access for the International Red Cross to all detainees.

Among the interrogation techniques banned by the manual were forced nakedness, hooding, beatings, sexual humiliation, threatening with dogs, mock executions, electric shocks, burning and waterboarding.

Any changes would face steep legal and legislative hurdles.

Mr McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee's chairman, may be the most formidable opponent in Congress, but he is not the only one.

"It is wrong and I hope he will rethink it," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said.

On Guantanamo, the draft order says detention facilities "are a critical tool in the fight against international jihadist terrorist groups who are engaged in armed conflict with the United States, its allies and its coalition partners".

About 40 detainees remain in Guantanamo.

The document says "over 30% of detainees" who have been released have returned to armed conflict, with at least a dozen conducting attacks "against US personnel or allied forces in Afghanistan".

Six Americans, including a civilian aid worker, died as a result of those attacks.

US intelligence agencies say 17.6% of detainees released from Guantanamo are confirmed to have re-engaged in conflict. An additional 12.4% are "suspected" of re-engaging.

Mr Trump pledged on the campaign trail to "load it up with some bad dudes".

However, it is unclear who the new detainees would be.

As American ground troops have stepped back this decade from the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan, captures of high-level detainees have become much rarer, and Mr Obama tried to direct them through the US justice system.

AP
Donald Trump is beginning tough action on immigration, starting with steps to build his proposed wall along the US-Mexico border, administration officials have said.

The president is also expected to target so-called sanctuary cities and is reviewing proposals that would restrict the flow of refugees to the United States.

Mr Trump is expected to sign the first actions - including the measure to jump-start construction of the wall - on Wednesday during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security.

Additional actions will be rolled out over the next few days, according to one official.

Mr Trump is said to still be considering the details of plans to restrict refugees coming to the US.

The current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim-majority countries, according to a representative of a public policy organisation that monitors refugee issues who was briefed on the details by a government official.

Mr Trump tweeted last night that it would be a big day for national security.

He campaigned on pledges to tighten US immigration policies, including beefing up border security and stemming the flow of refugees.

He also called for halting entry to the US from Muslim countries, but later shifted the policy to a focus on what he called "extreme vetting" for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

While the specifics of Mr Trump's orders were unclear, both administration officials said Wednesday's actions would focus in part on the president's plans to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico.

He is also expected to move forward with plans to curb funding of cities that do not arrest or detain immigrants living in the US illegally, which could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars.

Mr Trump's insistence that Mexico would pay for the wall was among his most popular proposals on the campaign trail, sparking enthusiastic cheers at his raucous rallies.

Mexico has repeatedly said it will not pay for any border wall.

Earlier this month Mr Trump said the building project would initially be paid for with a congressionally-approved spending bill and Mexico would eventually reimburse the US, though he has not specified how he would guarantee payments.

He will meet Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto at the White House next week.

In claiming authority to build a wall, Mr Trump may rely on a 2006 law that authorised several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier.

That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-president George Bush and the majority of the fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office.

The last remnants were completed after Barack Obama took office in 2009.

The Trump administration must also adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built along the border.

The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the US-Mexican border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint US-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.

It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still to be finalised.

The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the US for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though the source warned that the details could still change.

There is also likely to be an exception in the refugee stoppage for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country, which could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.

As president, Mr Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing.

George Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks.

Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.

Other executive actions expected on Wednesday include bolstering border patrol agents and ending what Republicans have argued is a catch-and-release system at the border.

Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

If Mr Trump's actions result in those caught being immediately jailed, the administration would have to grapple with how to pay for prison space to detain everyone and what to do with children caught crossing the border with their parents.

- AP
A draft executive order shows President Donald Trump asking for a review of Americas methods for interrogating terror suspects and whether the US should reopen CIA-run "black site" prisons outside the United States.

The order would also continue Americas use of the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the draft from a US official.

The document instructs senior national security officers to "recommend to the president whether to reinitiate a program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States and whether such program should include the use of detention facilities operated by the Central Intelligence Agency".

The document says US laws should be obeyed at all times and explicitly rejects "torture".

Republican Senator John McCain pushed back on any efforts by Mr Trump to use an executive order to allow enhanced interrogation.

In a statement, the chairman of the armed services committee said the president can sign whatever executive orders he likes, "but the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America".

Mr McCain pointed out that the Senate voted overwhelmingly in June 2015 for prohibiting torture and endorsing only those techniques spelled out in the Army Field Manual.

Waterboarding and other forms of enhanced interrogation are not included in the field manual.

The Arizona senator also said that defence secretary James Mattis and CIA director Mike Pompeo assured him that they would support the Army Field Manual.

Mr McCain said he was "confident these leaders will be true to their word".

The news comes just hours after President Trump signed executive orders to revive the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines, another step in his effort to dismantle former president Barack Obamas environmental legacy.
The leader of Britain's Labour party has apologised - after wrongly claiming a police officer shot in Belfast this week had died.

Jeremy Corbyn offered "his condolences" to the officer's family during Prime Minister's Questions today.
NEW YORK: Oil slid about 1% on Thursday as an increase in US interest rates pushed up the dollar and heightened ...
Twitter Inc temporarily closed its offices on Friday after telling employees they will be informed by email later in...
BERLIN: Serbia must decide whether it wants to join the European Union or enter into a partnership with Russia,...
Former CFMEU boss David Hanna will fight allegations he corruptly received free building supplies and services from two Mirvac executives during the construction of a Brisbane house, his lawyer says.

Mr Hanna, Mathew McAllum and Adam Moore were last month charged with secret commission offences arising from the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption.

Former CFMEU official David Hanna will fight charges arising from the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption. Credit:Jim Rice

It is alleged Mr McAllum, 41, and Mr Moore, 53, provided free supplies and services to Mr Hanna, 52, in order to gain his favour including electrical fittings, bricklaying, plumbing, air conditioning, painting, tiling and interior design.

The trades were allegedly done between December 2012 and November 2013 during the construction of a luxury property in Brisbane.
A racist radio ad featuring an Asian man named 'Ping Pong' calling a concrete company for help has been pulled off air by the advertising watchdog.

The ad for TP Concreting in Kingaroy, three hours north-west of Brisbane, was found to have breached section 2.1 of the Advertiser Code of Ethics for racial discrimination and vilification.

An ad on a Kingaroy radio station was found to have mocked people of Asian descent. Credit:Louise Kennerley

The ad features a man speaking with an "Asian accent", who calls the company asking them to fix his driveway right now because "Mama has bog in driveway", and a voiceover says no job is "too weird".

The man also offers them sushi, and in the background his mother can be heard speaking "gibberish".
The chips are down for the nation's potato lovers.

Heavy rain, particularly in NSW, combined with a cold winter have led to tight supply and higher prices.

"Pretty much every state got affected in some way. We probably only just broke even," said potato farmer Anthony Failla, whose family have been farming potatoes outside of Melbourne for more than 50 years.

The family says they have never seen a shortage as bad.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has lashed out at people who want to change the date of Australia Day, labelling them "miserable gutted" and arguing the idea was "political correctness gone mad".

Mr Joyce's intervention came after his one-time cabinet colleague, the former industry, resources and science minister Ian Macfarlane, revealed his newfound belief that the national day should move "to remove a potential roadblock to reconciliation and a greater Australia".

Describing himself as a "conservative, Anglo-Celtic Australian," Mr Macfarlane has said that the day was inherently divisive because it commemorated what many Indigenous Australians regard as an invasion. He likened it to the idea of a Scottish person celebrating the Vikings raping and pillaging or England's assault on Scotland.

January 26 marks the arrival of the first 11 convict ships from Great Britain. It has been the nationally celebrated Australia Day since 1994 but is not embraced by many Australians who call it "Invasion Day".
Hanne Gaby Odiele poses backstage at amfAR's 22nd Cinema Against AIDS Gala, at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 21, 2015 in Cap d'Antibes, France. Credit:Getty At 18, Odiele -- whose modelling career took root when she was discovered a year earlier at a music festival in Belgium -- underwent an equally distressing procedure in the form of vaginal reconstructive surgery. "It's not that big of a deal being intersex," she says. But the anguish of the two surgeries is an issue for her that is still troubling today. "If they were just honest from the beginning... It became a trauma because of what they did." Hanne Gaby Odiele attends as Marc Jacobs celebrates #MarcTheNight on November 17, 2016 in New York City. Credit:Getty Awareness and outrage

Kimberly Zieselman, executive director of interACT Advocates for Intersex Youth, says Odiele will be a powerful champion for the intersex community and will help thrust medical procedures that try to "fix" intersex kids into the harsh focus they deserve. Zieselman says Odiele will partner with her advocacy group. "I think her speaking out, having her voice added to the mix is going to culturally raise awareness in the mainstream," she says, noting that groups such as the UN and the World Health Organisation already condemn these surgeries as human rights violations. It will "help in raising awareness -- and raising outrage". Zieselman, now 50, had an experience as searing as Odiele's. At 15, a reproductive oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital told her parents she had a partially formed uterus and ovaries that needed to be removed so they would not become cancerous. Her parents consented. When the married mother of adopted twin girls was 40 and struggling with a hernia problem, she obtained her medical records. Zieselman was stunned to find the surgery she had as a teen removed internal, undescended testes. Zieselman never had a uterus, ovaries -- or cancer; she was intersex. "My story quite frankly is not unique," says Zieselman, whose group's No. 1 priority is ending irreversible procedures. "Hundreds of women have a similar story. Hiding the truth conjures up feeling like a freak."

A fear of non-binary bodies -- not a pressing medical need -- is often what drives surgical interventions on intersex children, says Sue Stred, a professor of pediatrics at SUNY Upstate Medical University. When a newborn's genitals do not appear "typical," parents can be compelled to have their child undergo cosmetic surgery to appear more ordinary. As for concerns about cancer, Stred says there is not "good, long-term data" on whether someone with a condition such as AIS may develop cancer if testicles are not removed. "The possible percentage chance of cancer is vastly overwrought," says Stred, who specialises in pediatric endocrinology. Lifelong repercussions The consequence of removing gonads is a lifelong dependence on hormone replacement medications, Stred says, and permanent infertility. Other physical issues are reduced sexual sensations, urinary tract infections and incontinence. The psychological repercussions of these medical procedures can also be devastating, Stred says. "There is a sense of betrayal when teens or young adults find out. Some individuals leave medical care altogether because they are so angry at what physicians did to them before they were the age of consent."

And there is tremendous resentment of parents, she says. Kids think "something was done to me; you felt I wasn't perfect; I had to be fixed." Awareness of intersex issues is slowly evolving, says Zieselman, who notes that many people don't even know what intersex means. Being intersex relates to biological sex characteristics. It is not the same as transgender: someone whose gender identity -- how they feel inside -- does not correspond with their birth sex. An intersex individual can be straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual. "It's amazing to me just in the last two years to see the difference in how many intersex young people are willing and comfortable to speak out at earlier ages. It is largely thanks to the LGBT movement ahead of us," Zieselman says. It is that group that may also carve a path on the issue of unneeded surgeries, she says. The transgender community "is doing it right", she says. "No surgical treatment until (individuals) have psychological support. That's a model we can use." Above all, Stred says there should be no surgery until an intersex child is at an age of consent and can weigh the benefits and risks. "You wouldn't do a nose job on a 7-year-old," she says.

A passionate voice When Odiele's career was at the starting gate in 2006, she was slammed by a car that ran a red light on the streets of New York, leaving her with two broken legs and multiple fractures. After several surgeries and physical therapy, she was back on the catwalk -- just 10 months later. She says the experience grounded her in her career choice and "gave me something to fight for". Now she is hoping to take that fighting spirit to the next level by being a passionate advocate for intersex youth. "It is an important part of my life to talk about this," says Odiele, whose story will also appear in the issue of Vogue magazine that hits newsstands Wednesday. Odiele has been more open about her status in the past year with close friends and trusted associates -- particularly during chats about periods or having babies -- but this is her first public announcement. She says she doesn't fear any backlash from colleagues in the fashion industry. "They will see me as they have before," she says. "Nothing should change."

Today Odiele loves to lounge in her husband's clothes as her "go-to day to day" just as much as getting "glammed up". She says being intersex has given her a forward-thinking perspective on fashion. "I didn't have to fit into certain roles," she says. "I was able to kind of have a sense of being more of an individual." Her husband, model John Swiatek, says he is "incredibly proud and happy" his wife is speaking out. "I am very impressed with her decision to advocate for intersex children in order to give them an opportunity to make up their own minds about their bodies, unlike the lack of options and information Hanne and her family (and many others) were given," he says. Last summer, the fashion star who has been in front of cameras for the industry's A-list photographers and poses for brands from Dior to Alexander Wang, married Swiatek in an outdoor bash infused with countryside cool in upstate New York. She wore a hooded cape draping a sheer lace dress, with cargo pants and a bra top peeking through. Bridesmaids strolled barefoot through fields in shimmering lavender slip dresses. It was trademark Odiele.
We need to talk about toxic underpants. I know, I know. Donald Trump is the President of the United States and I'm asking you to worry about your knickers?!

But hear me out. I'm not saying your undies are trying to kill you (well, actually, they might be), just that some are healthier than others. Which is good to know as the Valentine's lingerie-buying-fest approaches.

Don't get your knickers in a knot. Credit:Stocksy

Did you know 60 per cent of the world's bras are produced in one Chinese city? It's called Gurao, and in 2010 Greenpeace reported that dyeing and finishing fabric for the production of more than 200 million bras a year had turned the river there weird colours and killed the fish.

A few years ago, a class action claimed Victoria's Secret bras had caused skin irritations, allegedly due to the presence of formaldehyde. Although the American lingerie giant denied it (and the case was dropped) that chemical baddie routinely used in morgues and nail varnish is also used in textile and garment production. It helps keep shirts and sheets wrinkle-free, and prevents mildew when clothes are packed in plastic.
If you ever get the feeling that, when it comes to women's rights, we are going backwards, there is a good reason for that  we often do. Because human rights have slowly evolved over many centuries, we tend to assume that things just naturally improve over time, and will never again be as bad as they once were.

But if last year's resurgence of the global far right has taught us anything, it's that this concept of linear social progress is pure fantasy. Rights are not granted automatically with the passage of time; they are bitterly fought for and won, and can be taken away almost without warning.

Donald Trump is enjoying a political bromance with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Digitally altered image. Credit:Getty Images

This week, Russia is on the verge of passing a bill that will decriminalise domestic violence except in cases of rape, and where it causes serious bodily harm. This seems a remarkable step backward in a country where 40 per cent of violent crime is already committed in family environments, and where more than 9000 women were killed in domestic violence incidents in 2013 alone.

How could such an overtly unjust and misogynistic law possibly pass?
It was with a swell of pride that I watched the crowds gather at the Women's March on Washington and spill onto the streets in cities the world over. Buoyed by power in numbers, heartened by solidarity, I suddenly felt that we were untouchable. A strong, compelling hoard who would simply not allow the misogynist Cheetos of the world to trample our rights.

Then almost immediately, newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump surrounded by a posse of aging white men  reinstated a gag order on US funded NGOs, preventing them from providing or discussing abortion services.

Trump's opening shot  a quick, clear message to the mass of women who opposed him  has been fired at the world's least privileged. It's now incumbent upon the millions of Americans who marched to respond.

As Australians, I suggest we start by looking to our own abortion laws. Change starts at home, as they say, and we have serious work ahead on this particular front. Abortion remains part of criminal law in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Those seeking access in other states and territories continue to face financial and physical barriers, particularly in regional areas.
Centrelink public servants have stepped up their internal resistance to the welfare agency's controversial "robo-debt" program, with union officials handing out protest material to clients at offices around Australia on Wednesday.

The move came as the welfare agency lashed out, again, at "unsubstantiated claims from anonymous staff" about the debt recovery program.

Centrelink has been embroiled in controversy since late 2016 over its debt collection system. Credit:Getty Images

Centrelink offices in all states and territories were being targeted by the staff-written pamphlets, which are being handed out by members of the Community and Public Sector Union, on Wednesday. Visitors were told Australia's welfare agency is in crisis and that it is getting worse.

In New South Wales, Centrelink shopfronts at Liverpool and Penrith were being targeted for the action.
A man has been remanded in custody after he was charged with more than 160 child sex offences, including 29 counts of rape, on Tuesday night.

The 42-year-old former Gold Coast resident was arrested at Brisbane international airport on Tuesday evening on return from Thailand.

The offences were allegedly committed on the Gold Coast between 2003-2005. Credit:Glenn Hunt

He was charged with 168 offences including 86 charges relating to child exploitation material, 39 counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16, 29 counts of rape, five counts of torture, seven counts of deprivation of liberty and two counts of serious assault.

The offences were allegedly committed on the Gold Coast between 2003 and 2005 and relate to one child who knew the man.
Taxi Council Queensland has denied reports it is financially supporting Pauline Hanson's One Nation.

The ABC reported taxi owners would donate $2.3 million to the party, with taxi and limo licence owner Peter Conohan describing it as a unanimous decision.

A Perth taxi driver has survived a terrifying ordeal after three males allegedly attacked him with a knife and stole his car.

But the TCQ released a statement on Wednesday denying the report.

"No finances whatsoever are going towards any political candidate or party," the statement said.
The Queensland government is hurriedly building 51 new classrooms in five inner-city suburbs where new apartments and units are having a dramatic impact on school enrolment numbers.

Education Minister Kate Jones made the comments after being questioned by Fairfax Media about spending $12 million on eight classrooms at West End State School, which will be filled in four years in a short-term fix, while a long-term plan is on the horizon.

Education Minister Kate Jones, pictured with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, says new classrooms are being built in inner-city suburbs where apartment living is having an impact, but concedes West End was "sold short" by successive governments. Credit:Drew Creighton

Both previous Labor (in 2010) and LNP governments (in 2013)  allowed for land zoned for future education in West End and South Brisbane to be sold to developers.

Those developers are now building thousands of new apartments to house families who are now sending their children back to the same suburbs' land-locked schools.
The mystery of how lead was detected in drinking water at the Perth Children's Hospital site has deepened, with the company responsible for its construction, John Holland, dropping a bombshell that contradicts the message from the state government.

John Holland's PCH project manager Lindsay Albonico, who has previously been prevented from giving interviews because of government contract clauses, was granted permission to front the media on Wednesday by Health Minister John Day.

The company's testing showed the lead was not coming from fittings installed by John Holland, he told Radio 6PR's Mornings host Gareth Parker.

Mr Albonico said John Holland had showed evidence to the Barnett government that lead had been detected more than once in drinking water supplied to the site from the 'ring main' servicing the nearby QEII site.
The Secret Service said it would take "quick and appropriate action" after a conservative Washington newspaper reported that an agent had posted Facebook comments in 2016 suggesting she would prefer to go to jail than risk her life for Donald Trump.

In the report on Tuesday, The Washington Examiner identified the agent as Kerry O'Grady, 46, of the Denver field office.

The now-deleted Facebook page of Secret Service agent Kerry O'Grady. Credit:Social Media

The Examiner said she posted the remark in October, before Trump was elected President, and referred to what she called her "struggle" not to violate the Hatch Act, which bars political activity by federal employees.

O'Grady also indicated her support for Hillary Clinton, Trump's Democratic opponent.
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Love is love is love!

Park Slopes Gallery Players will put a same-sex twist on Stephen Sondheims lovelorn musical Marry Me A Little, when its new production opens Jan. 26. The group will present the show with three alternating casts in the central role, portraying an opposite-sex couple, a gay male couple, and a lesbian couple. The shows director says that she jumped at the chance to disrupt standard theater tropes and to show that love is universal feeling.

As much as I love theater, a lot of it has relied on the heteronormative boy meets girl and they fall in love and live happily ever after, said Barrie Gelles. Rarely do you come across a story that could be any one single couple  it doesnt have to be boy and girl. I couldnt waste the opportunity to turn that norm around and show how people can find love in all genders.

Marry Me a Little follows two New Yorkers  named only Him and Her  who live in adjacent apartments, each pouring out their hearts through song, and unaware that their soulmate is just a few steps away. Those parts will be played by two men, two women, and a man and woman on different nights of the run, but the company has not changed any of the lyrics, keeping all of the pronouns the same.

The male actor playing Her said that he had no problems stepping into a traditionally female role  and as an openly gay men, he felt right at home with Her songs.

I didnt really change anything, and we havent changed anything as far as pronouns go because it doesnt really need to be changed, said Adrian Rifat. In [fairy tales] we hear all those stories of the prince and the princess, and even as a gay little boy hearing that, I would aspire to find a prince, but I knew I had to be prince myself. So it wasnt really difficult to assimilate or justify the pronouns.

Each set of actors brings their own nuance to the roles, said Gelles, and she hopes that audiences will come back in order to appreciate the different takes.

The actors of are all different people telling the same story  people will see every single actor portray their characters in different ways, said Gelles. Each duo kind of adds their own feel to it, bringing their own personality and way of seeing things.

Return visitors will also appreciate the difference in the tunes, simply because male and female voices sound different, Gelles said.

The differences are in the pairing, not the music  we have not changed note or a lyric, but hearing male voices or hearing females sing  each is very unique, she said. Its very noticeable, but very worthwhile to see more than once because each song has a different feel to it. Its glorious in any presentation and very exciting to hear the combination of the voices.
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76th Precinct

Carroll Gardens-Cobble HillRed Hook

Tool time

Louts lifted tools from cars parked in the precinct on two separate occasions this week. Heres the rundown:

 A nogoodnik broke into a commercial van on Douglass Street on Jan. 22 and stole thousands of dollars worth of tools, police said.

The rogue broke the window of the 2013 Ford van between Hoyt and Smith streets around 4 pm and swiped an infrared camera, a gas analyzer and carbon monoxide analyzer, and a bunch of assorted other gizmos, according to authorities.

 Two jerks swiped tools from a car parked on Degraw Street on Jan. 22, police said.

A guy saw the two snakes rummage through his vehicle between Court and Clinton streets at 11:50 pm and run off with a hand drill set and extra car battery, according to authorities.

That stinks

A dirty crook stuffed his pockets with bottles of deodorant at a Court Street store then left without paying on Jan. 19.

Video shows the sneak swipe four bottles of Axe deodorant and 20 bottles of Dove deodorant from the store between First and Second places at 1:58 pm, according to authorities.

Street brawl

Cops cuffed two young women who attacked each other on Hamilton Avenue on Jan. 22.

The 18-year-old and 22-year-old women were in an argument near Hicks Street at about 2 am, and the fracas turned violent when one punched and kicked the other in the face, knocking her tooth out, police said. Police arrested both for assault, according to authorities.

Car jacket-ing

A crook swiped a guys jacket and wallet from his car parked on Carroll Street sometime overnight on Jan. 22.

The victim told authorities he left his car between Clinton and Court streets at 4 pm and when he returned the next day at 11 am, he discovered that his wallet  with credit cards and a health insurance card inside  was missing from the glove compartment, along with his North Face jacket.

There was no damage to the car and the doors were locked, according to authorities.

The baddie later used one of the guys credit cards at a drugstore, police said.

 Julianne Cuba
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Party at Chipotle!

Landmarks honchos on Tuesday voted unanimously to designate the iconic 86-year-old Montague Street Art Deco tower that houses the burrito chains Brooklyn Heights outpost, plus the 110-year-old temple-like Peoples Trust Company bank building next door.

Locals have been pushing the Landmarks Preservation Commission to bestow the protected historic status on the pair for years, and are thrilled theyre finally getting the recognition they deserve.

Were ecstatic, said Peter Bray, who is the executive director of influential local civic group the Brooklyn Heights Association. Weve wanted to protect those buildings for a long time.

Bray and other preservationists started fighting to protect the two properties near Clinton Street since the city left them out of the neighborhood historic district in 1965, then again when it excluded them from the Borough Hall Skyscraper District in 2011.

Peoples Trust Company building owner Jonathan Rose supports the designation for his building  a 1916 Beaux Arts bank modeled after a 17th century Italian palazzo  even though it means he cant drastically change the propertys facade or make even minor alterations without the citys okay, according to Bray.

But a rep for the owner of the 15-story, 1930s National Title Guaranty tower objected at a hearing in November, arguing that it wasnt fair to impede future redevelopment  then memorably adding that the preservationists wont even be around much longer to enjoy the building anyway.

Half of those people who were in the room are going to be dead in 50 years, Montague-Goldman Corporation spokesman David Malanga told this paper at the time.

But the commissioners ultimately decided the buildings are an important part of Brooklyn Heights architectural history.

They are striking examples of the optimistic architecture of their times  one looking to the past to convey stability and reliability, and one looking to future growth and success, said commission chair Meenakshi Srinivasan.

The Heights Association has no specific plans to celebrate  although Chipotle has $6.50 Margaritas, were just saying  but Bray says he will have a little private party every time he strolls by.

Every time I walk by those buildings I will look at them and know theyre going to be around for a long, long time, he said.

Neither Rose nor the Montague-Goldman Corporation returned requests for comment by press time.

Reach reporter Lauren Gill at lgill @cngl ocal.com or by calling (718) 2602511. Follow her on Twitter @laurenk_gill
Yardley Friends Meeting at 65 N. Main Street in Yardley will host the documentary Organic Roots on Friday, November 18 at 7 p.m. Join director Al Johnson for a showing of this film followed by a discussion of the last 50 years of this movement. Organic foods are part of our life today and a tool in our concern for...
January 24, 2017

In rare and hopeful sign that Turkey still cares about its fraying ties with Europe, the government has quietly passed a series of new decrees that ease detention terms under the state of emergency that has been in force since the July coup attempt.

The measures, which came into effect on Jan. 23, sharply reduce the detention period for those held without charges from a maximum of 30 days to 14 and allows immediate access to lawyers. They also call for the establishment of a commission to examine complaints arising from detentions, dismissals and closures of companies, including media outlets, under the state of emergency. Those dissatisfied with the commissions findings will reportedly be able to appeal their cases in domestic courts.

Turkeys Minister for European Union Affairs Omer Celik said that Turkey deserved applause from the EU for defending democracy against the failed putsch.

The move came hours before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted on whether to debate Turkeys status amid ever louder calls for the country to be placed on a monitoring list of members with shoddy human rights records. The debate was voted down.

Veteran columnist Murat Yetkin wrote in the English-language Turkish Daily News that the moves could be read as an attempt by the government to prevent further severing of ties with European institutions.

Despite the anti-Western rhetoric in government circles, he added, The governments official policy remains sticking with the West at present.

Kati Piri, Turkey rapporteur for the European Parliament and a vocal critic of Turkeys rapidly deteriorating rights record, told Al-Monitor, The new decrees are hopefully the first step toward normalization and restoring the rule of law. Abolishing the denial of access to a lawyer during the first five days under custody is crucial, as the current situation was enabling ill-treatment of prisoners.

Still, Piri said far more needs to be done to improve the situation of detainees, including granting access for independent monitors. The state of emergency needs to be lifted as soon as possible, she added.

Rights advocates are even less optimistic, calling the steps largely cosmetic.

Human Rights Watch's director for Turkey, Emma Sinclair-Webb, noted that maximum detention periods had only been reduced for regular suspects and not terror suspects, the bulk of detainees. It looks like an improvement but it's another game of smoke and mirrors, she told Al-Monitor.

Sinclair-Webb noted that the independence of the proposed review commission was also in doubt. Three of its seven members are to be appointed by the prime minister and one each by the justice and interior ministers. The remaining two will be drawn from the top courts, giving the aura of being a judicial body, she said, when in fact it isnt really.

Not only that, how would the commission, given its size and two-year mandate, handle the 100,000-plus cases of individuals who have been sacked since the coup? She concluded that the process may well be a way for creating an appearance of domestic remedy to stop people from taking their cases to the European Court of Human Rights. Turkey is a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights and accepts its rulings as binding in line with its efforts for full EU membership.

But within days of the failed coup, the Turkish government informed the European court that it might suspend its jurisdiction during the ongoing state of emergency. At least 100 Turkish citizens are believed to have taken their cases to the Strasbourg-based body since the coup.

Turkey has refrained so far from suspending the convention, but there are worrying signs that it may, warned human rights lawyer Erdal Dogan. It that happens Turkey will be shielded from all international scrutiny and accountability, thrusting it into the league of countries like Syria and Turkmenistan, Dogan told Al-Monitor.
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After an all-flashback episode, This Is Us returns to its back-and-forth format in Three Sentences. Its the kids 10th birthday, and after years of joint parties, they tell their parents they want separate celebrations. In present day, Kate is forced to face her fears in a weight loss program, Toby helps Kevin with his love life and Randall bonds with William, who has a boost of energy now that hes done with chemo.

This Is Us Cast Shares Thoughts on The Big Day >>>

Its Time for a Meeting

After almost 10 years of the same party each year with Pin the Tail on the Donkey, a special banner and cake, Kevin and Kate barge into Jack and Rebeccas room to call a meeting to discuss their 10th birthday. They say they want separate parties, Kate a Madonna-themed party and Kevin a Princess Bride-themed one. When they ask Randall, he doesnt seem to care, saying that hed have to invite his whole class since thats the rule. He finally gives in and says hed like a magician, so Jack and Rebecca agree to host three parties.

As they prep, Jack watches old home videos of previous parties and suggests to Rebecca that they have another baby. Of course, she turns him down, saying they have their hands full. And when he asks for a dog, she also says no.

The parties start off great. Kate is thrilled that her best friend, Sophie, is there to play dress-up, Kevin is entertaining his friends, and Randall is getting ready for the magician. However, Jack and Rebecca notice that no one is at Randalls party. When they confront him, he tells them that the other kids dont like him. Later, when Rebecca pushes him on the subject, he says he isnt friends with them and that the three kids hes friends with did show up and thats all he needs. This is a sigh of relief for Rebecca, and she tells Jack that perhaps they should have another child.

Later, Jack and Rebecca notice that all of Kates friends are at Kevins party, including her best friend. Jack goes to comfort Kate. At first, she seems happy but then asks to be alone. When his parents tell Kevin that he should tell Kates friends to go back to her party, he says he wont because he loves Sophie.

After all the kids go home, Jack and Rebecca decide that three is enough kids and still no dog. They hear the kids playing and join in on the fun. After a bit, Jack brings out the Pin the Tail on the Donkey game and some cake. And the kids surprise him with the banner and wish him a happy birthday.

This is Happening

While at the doctors discussing a date for her gastric bypass surgery, Kate starts to have second thoughts. She tells the doctor that after Tobys health scare, perhaps now isnt the time to have surgery. The doctor suggests an immersive weight loss experience or, as Kate calls it, fat camp. The doctor explains that its a month-long program in the Adirondacks, where Kate can focus on herself and her weight loss commitment.

Toby is very supportive and drives her up there. Kate has big ideas of what it will be like, but shes way off base. Theres no gym and no crazy trainers. The program worker explains that its not a quick cosmetic fix and that the people who attend the program gain a deeper understanding of themselves. Kate takes a phone call from Kevin, despite a no phone rule. When she hangs up, she meets Duke, a horse trainer at the facility who hits on her.

Kate tries all different things at the camp, including a hike, meditation and a rhythm class, which she walks out of. She goes to call Toby, calling the place a cult, and Duke hangs up her phone. He gives her some reverse psychology about how the place is a scam and usually doesnt work. Of course, now Kate is determined to make it work for her. She goes back to the rhythm class, where the instructor asks the participants why they are there. He says they need to just let it all go. Kate thinks back to her experiences as a kid, the note from the pool, her 10th birthday and eventually her fathers funeral. She yells out in emotional pain and has a breakthrough.

After the class, she seeks out Duke to thank him for the pep talk, even though he was a jerk. He tells her it wasnt a pep talk and that he is a jerk. Then he tells her that shes sexy as hell, gives her his cabin number and says, This is happening.

Living Again

Now that William is done with chemo, he has a whole new outlook on life and a boost of energy. He starts his day asking Randall for help with Tesss iPod, but Randall rushes off to work for an important meeting. At work, Randall finds out that another employee will be working to land an important wind farm account. Randall isnt have it, though, so his boss suggests that they work together on a proposal. His boss gives them a deadline of a week, but Randall says he can have it the next day.

As Randall gets into his work, William shows up and asks if he wants to go shopping on a lovely day. At first, Randall turns him down, determined to focus on his project, but eventually he agrees.

William takes his time at the shops, spending a particularly long amount of time on the perfect pair of sunglasses. Then he wants the perfect egg cream. And afterwards, he asks Randall if he can drive his car. Once in the drivers seat, William asks Randall to put in the iPod and tells him a story of when he was a kid. He tells Randall how he admired a record shop owner and how he always wanted to be like him. Eventually, William tells Randall he doesnt know how to drive, so Randall, giving up hope of working, teaches him.

Quiz: Who is Your TV Boss? >>>

Its All About Sophie

Kevin is really feeling the fallout of the its the right thing to do comment about Sloane. She just wants to be co-workers. And Kevin whines to anyone who will listen about his love life. Eventually, that person is Toby, who is stuck in the city while Kate is away. The pair heads to a bar, where Toby is thrilled to hang out with a celebrity. However, all Kevin wants to do is talk about Sloane and Olivia. Of course, Toby, being the nice guy he is, sits and listens to Kevin. Then he suggests he do something about it. He tells Kevin that instead of whining about it, he needs to make a grand romantic gesture to the love of his life.

When Toby asks Kevin who he wants to be with, Kevin is stuck. Toby says to pretend he has only 30 seconds, one shot and three sentences to tell the love of his life he wants to be with her.

Kevin shows up on the doorstep of a woman weve never seen before. He tells her hes been head over heels in love with her the moment he saw her. He never should have let her get away. And its like shes a part of him, like his arm. When he lost her, its like he lost his arm. Hes been walking around without an arm for over a decade, and he really wants his arm back because he never stopped thinking about it, not ever. When he asks this woman to say something, she doesnt know how to reply to her ex-husband who she hasnt seen in 12 years. And while she wont let him into her home, she agrees to meet him for coffee to talk. As he walks away, she tells him he always has to go big. And he says its always been about her, Sophie.

But How Does Jack Die?

We get a glimpse of Jacks funeral in Three Sentences, but we still dont know how he died or when, though the kids seem to be in their teens and the photo of Jack is when hes younger.

At this point, though, theres so much more to This Is Us in season 1. Like the fact that Kevin was married to Kates best friend! How did that happen? Also, we know that Kevin is a big drama king, ever since he was little. But, hey, at least he knew Sophie was the one when he was 10; it just took him a divorce and several other women to figure that out. But now the question is, when did they get married and why did they get divorced? And is Sophie still friends with Kate?

This new Duke character should be interesting. I hope that Kate isnt distracted by him. One, Toby is a good guy and doesnt deserve to be cheated on. Two, she is at the camp for herself, not to meet someone else. Though, anyone would admit that having someone hit on you is a huge ego boost.

And Im glad that Randall, who has been so straight-laced from the time he was little, set aside time for William. William doesnt have much time left, especially now that hes stopped chemo, so its important for Randall to spend that time with him, learning about him and his past.

What did you think of this episode of This Is Us? Were you surprised by the glimpse into Jacks funeral? What about Kevin being married before? Were you more surprised that he was married to Kates best friend? Do you think Randall did the right thing by blowing off work to spend time with William? Let us know in the comments section below.

This Is Us season 1 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on NBC. Want more news? Like our This Is Us Facebook page.

(Image courtesy of NBC)
Campus News

UB partners with BPO on special performance of Beethovens Fifth

Ludwig van Beethoven composed many of his most famous pieces, including the Fifth Symphony, during the second half of his musical career when his hearing loss had become severe. Portrait of Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler

By ELLEN GOLDBAUM

Theyre the most famous musical notes in the world: da-da-da-dum, the opening of Beethovens Fifth Symphony. Those notes  and all the magnificent notes that follow them  will be part of a special collaborative performance between UB and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra at 8 p.m. Jan. 26 in Kleinhans Music Hall.

Tickets are available at the BPO's website. Members of the UB community should use the discount code BPOMED20 for a 20 percent discount.

The idea for the collaboration emerged when the BPO decided to perform Beethovens Fifth Symphony as a Know the Score event, in which the orchestra focuses on a single piece of music and partners with local organizations to provide audiences with not only an outstanding performance, but also a deeper understanding of the context in which the music was composed.

Interested in how Beethovens hearing loss affected him physiologically and psychologically, the BPO contacted Linda Pessar, director of the Center for Medical Humanities in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, who immediately agreed to participate.

At the event, Pessar, also professor emerita of psychiatry at the medical school, will discuss the stages Beethoven went through when he realized he was losing his hearing at the age of 26.

My focus will be on Beethovens remarkable resiliency that led him to turn away from suicide, despite the social isolation and threat to his musical creativity that deafness represented, Pessar says. In turning away from suicide, Beethoven went on to revolutionize classical music.

She will discuss the factors that promoted Beethovens resilience, including social supports and values that grew out of the 18th century German Enlightenment.

While he thought seriously about suicide, what held him back was that he felt he still had so much music in him, Pessar says. He composed many of his most famous pieces, including the Fifth Symphony, during the second half of his musical career, when his hearing loss had become severe.

Jeff Higginbotham, professor and chair of the Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences and an expert in communication technologies and how they can be improved, will discuss social circumstances, medical treatments and available technologies for deaf people during the 19th century. He also will demonstrate some of the devices and treatments that were available at the time.

Beethovens perseverance through adversity is something everyone identifies with, says Stefan Sanders, BPO associate conductor who will conduct the concert. This program will deepen our connection to Beethoven and the Fifth with fascinating presentations from two UB professors, focusing their discussion on the physiology and psychology of Beethovens hearing loss.

We are grateful for our partners in Buffalos medical community for their commitment to this program and a shared passion for the interconnectedness of art and science.
Huws Gray recently welcomed construction students from Coleg Meirion Dwyfor to its Timber Mill, Roofing Centre and Truss & Easi-Joist departments at its Llangefni site in Anglesey.

Armon Williams from Huws Gray said: Were delighted to continue our relationship with Coleg Meirion Dwyfor. Its a pleasure to have the students here every year and we hope they enjoy the experience.

As well as having the opportunity to experience the daily running of the busy Llangefni site, the students were also given an insight into several other carpentry elements such as machining, grading and the sourcing of timber.

Huws Gray has a genuine interest in adding value to the local community, demonstrated by the company taking the time to give students an opportunity they would otherwise not have the chance to experience.

Mr Williams said: Its essential for us to continue our relationship with local colleges, such as Coleg Meirion Dwyfor, in order to prepare our future skilled construction workers and customers. The opportunity that Huws Gray offers has been, and will continue to be, of great value to those who wish to pursue a vocation in construction.

Commenting on the recent visit, Meirion Edwards from Coleg Meirion Dwyfor, added: We would like to thank Armon Williams and Huws Gray for the warm welcome. We thoroughly enjoyed it, the students learned about the process of designing and constructing roof trusses and had a tour of the depot and how timber is categorised and sourced. We look forward to working with Huws Gray again in the near future.
Lecico Bathrooms has appointed Paul Gemmell as head of marketing for the UK.

Mr Gemmell joins the team with lots of experience most recently gained with Robert Bosch, where his sales and marketing management roles for Dremel Power Tools and Bosch Accessories took him across the world.

We are delighted to be joined by such a pedigree in marketing, said Graham Bucktrout, managing director of Lecico. Paul has international marketing experience and is already proving to be a real asset to our business. 2017 is a big year for Lecico and with Paul in place, it further strengthens our team and position as the second largest ceramic supplier in the UK market.

Mr Gemmell will be based at Lecicos head office in Bedford.
The skills shortage in the construction industry is getting worse and has now spread beyond bricklayers and carpenters to other key trades, according to the latest research by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

The FMB's State of Trade Survey for Q4 2016 shows that almost half (46%) of construction SMEs are reporting difficulties hiring roofers, while shortages of electricians and plasterers are at their highest point in four years.

Despite these shortages, the survey also shows the SME construction sector has experienced 15consecutive quarters of growth.

Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, said: "We've been experiencing a severe shortage of bricklayers and carpenters for quite some time  these latest statistics show that skills shortages are now seeping into other key trades such as roofers and plumbers.

"Indeed, of the 15 key trades and occupations we monitor, 40% show skills shortages at their highest point since we started to feel the effects of the skills crisis in 2013, when the industry bounced back post-downturn. This growing skills deficit is driving up costs for small firms and simultaneously adding to the pressure being felt by soaring material prices linked to the weaker pound."

Mr Berry continued: "The government needs to be taking note of the worsening construction skills shortage now that we know that the UK will be negotiating a hard Brexit. The Prime Minister must ensure that the immigration system that replaces the free movement of people serves key sectors such as construction and housebuilding. Our sector relies heavily on skilled labour from the EU, with 12% of the British construction workforce being of non-UK origin.

"As the construction industry represents around 7% of UK GDP, it's in no one's interest to pull the rug out from under the sector by introducing an inflexible and unresponsive immigration system."

On a more positive note, Mr Berry noted that SMEs in the sector reported steady growth in the final three months of 2016, with robust demand for private refurbishment work throughout the year. "In terms of private and social housebuilding, builders expect workloads to grow in the first three months of 2017," he said. "However, if the government wants the objectives of its Housing White Paper to be realised, it will need to ensure the construction sector has the skilled workers it needs to build these new homes."
Mika, a 12-week-old puppy, was stabbed in the face multiple times with a pocket knife by an 11-year-old boy on Aug. 25, 2016. A concerned neighbor reported the incident to the Humane Educational Society. HES Animal Protection Officers seized Mika and rushed her to RIVER Animal Hospital for emergency surgery.

Veterinarians were able to save Mika's life but she lost her eye as a result of the incident.

Almost six months later, Mika finally got her day in court. The Humane Educational Society has been awarded full ownership of Mika and she is now available for adoption. The Humane Educational Society was also awarded ownership of one other dog that was in Mika's previous owners' care.

Officials with the Humane Educational Society say they are looking forward to helping Mika put her tragic past behind her. At eight months old, Mika is finally ready to find her forever home. One other dog seized in the case will be assessed at the Humane Educational Society where she will receive medical care and rehabilitation before being placed in a forever home.
Marley Alutec has appointed Drummond McKenzie as its first dedicated sales manager for Scotland, in a move that underlines the companys commitment to the country.

In the last year weve achieved some incredible things and were keen to carry this momentum forward into 2017. Marley Alutec is constantly looking to expand its operations and bringing Drummond McKenzie on-board is testament to that, said Nick Glover, head of sales and Marketing at Marley Alutec.

Mr McKenzie will bring with him an arsenal of skills and valuable experience that he has garnered from nearly a decade of work within the industry. Experienced within a sales environment, Mr McKenzie has previously worked as an area sales manager for a roofing contractor and, more recently, he worked as a business development manager at a rainwater system manufacturer.

In his new role Mr McKenzie will oversee achieving Marley Alutecs sales objectives in Scotland by developing sales through specification, networking with local contractors and growing positive relationships with both national and independent merchants. Mr McKenzie will also work closely with the Marley Plumbing and Drainage team in Scotland.

Speaking on his appointment, Mr McKenzie said: Im delighted to have the chance to work for Marley Alutec and Im very excited to get started in my new role. I believe I bring with me a range of qualities that will help the company continue with its upward trajectory. I look forward to working closely with Scottish builders merchants, contractors, as well as my colleagues at Marley Plumbing and Drainage.
Daylight saving time ends soon, but will it soon be the new normal?
Growing up in Chattanooga, Rob Headrick and his friend Charles Portera shared a love of medicine that would ultimately lead both on different tracks to help others. For Dr. Headrick, the road lead to a career as a thoracic surgeon, while Dr. Portera would become an oncological surgeon, leaving his hometown of Chattanooga to set up practice in Anchorage, Ak.



While thousands of miles separated the two and career responsibilities provided long days of service, the two recently managed to spend time together in Alaska where Dr. Portera introduced his friend to Monica Zappa, a young musher planning to race in her fourth Iditarod in March.



Dr. Headrick and his wife Anita have five beagles of their own and love how the dogs interact with each other. However, what he learned in Alaska about the Iditarod race and dogs gave him pause. Ms. Zappa explained that throughout the course of the race, various dogs would move from one position to another, with lead dogs changing to carry the team through various parts of the race. She shared that each dog plays a critical role in the success of the overall team.



Dr. Headrick noted that this same strategy is one that his own team uses for patients coming to him for surgical procedures. We have an amazing team, said Dr. Headrick. At any point during a procedure, a member of our team takes the lead to monitor the procedure and the critical care being provided to the patient. I count on their leadership to provide the best information to me as the surgery proceeds.



Dr. Headricks visit to Alaska provided tremendous respect for the Iditarod and the athletes who train and race in the annual event. Once I learned about the strategy behind these amazing teams, Anita and I decided we had to get involved. The Headricks joined on as sponsors along with Dr. Portera and Alaska Surgical Oncology to support the team.

Our medical careers have taken us in very different directions, but we share a passion for our patients and the special place that provided us with so much opportunity. I see this same passion in those who participate in the Iditarod and Im looking forward to seeing how well Team Zappa does in this years race, said Dr. Headrick.



Dr. Headrick works with cardiologists, pulmonologists and specialists in internal medicine, family practive, womens health, endocrinology and other medical specialties to addres patient needs with the latest surgical responses. Dr. Headrick is a graduage of Vanderbilt University and the UT College of Medicine. After an intership and residency in general surgery, he completed a thoracic and cardiovascular residency at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Headrick is certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. His a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons, a memer of the shouthern Thoracic Surgical Association, Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and, the Tennessee Medical Association.
Our Indian economy has been growing at a rapid pace with a registered GDP growth of around 7.3 percent. The momentum however was interrupted with the sudden demonetisation announcement by the government. This has led the IMF to cut Indias growth estimate to 6.6 percent from 7.6 percent.
Defence is a strange business. It has been showing a great potential to all the players but the realities are completely different. We dont witness huge growth of revenues, even in defence public sector unit. Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been surrendering unspent amounts of allocation. Government has been taking lot of efforts in promoting Make in India and FDI in defence but we are yet to see any drastic change in the landscape.
The 38th Karen Lawrence Run for RMHC raised $25,512 for the charity. The event is held annually from the downtown Sportsbarn and benefits Chattanoogas Ronald McDonald House and its mission of keeping families closeclose together during lifes difficult journey of a sick child and close to the best medical care in the region. Funds from this event will provide the cost of 380 nights of stay for families in need.We are so appreciative to be the recipients of such a meaningful, charitable run.The Lawrence family has a long tradition of helping sick children and their families and volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House, all done in Karens memory, said Jane Kaylor, RMHC of Greater Chattanooga president and CEO. Ms. Lawrence battled leukemia from age nine to 11 and started the first race in 1979. She passed away three months later."Make sure to be a part of the Karen Lawrence Run next year so that Karens legacy may continue to help children and their families who benefit from the Ronald McDonald House," officials said.For more information, contact Tiffany Cobb at tiffany.cobb@rmhchattanooga.com.
is the type of film where the protagonist emerges from behind clouds of dust, does back flips on top of a moving truck, and turns everyday objects such as hairgrips and geometric compasses into nifty weapons.
Billionaire is never tired of reinventing his businesses. After selling the domestic formulation business to Abbott at Rs 17,500 crore in 2010, he has been rebuilding the flagship, Piramal Enterprises.
A set of e-mails between former Tata Sons Chairman and Tata Sons group legal counsel Bharat Vasani show that irregularities in the manner which AirAsia India was being managed started as early as March 2014, three months before it launched its maiden flight in India.
India and the have revised the air services agreement allowing carriers from both the countries to operate an additional seven flights each week. This will benefit Jet Airways and KLM, which currently fly between India and Amsterdam.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Tuesday posted dismal third quarter (Q3) results due to the price war initiated by Reliance Jio, and also partly to demonetisation. Its net profit dropped 55 per cent to Rs504 crore in the December 2016 quarter, compared to Rs1,108 crore a year ago. Revenue fell three per cent to Rs23,336 crore, from Rs24, 036 crore a year earlier.
Bogged by competitive pressures brought on by low tariffs of Reliance Jio (RJio) and disruption due to demonetisation, Bharti Airtels December quarter (Q3) numbers were below Street estimates. Pricing pressure in India coupled with Nigerian currency devaluation saw consolidated revenues fall three per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 23,336 crore, compared to Bloomberg consensus estimates of Rs 23,897 crore.
Sale of smartphones in top 50 cities in India plunged 31 per cent in November due to demonetisation. Sale of handsets in smaller towns, too, suffered heavily as consumers postponed purchases. While Tier-I towns saw smartphone sales declining 32 per cent month-on-month, in Tier-II and III cities, and smaller habitats, sales dipped 30 per cent, analyst firm International Data Corp said in a report on Tuesday.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the largest hydrocarbon producer in the country, is likely to sign a farm-in agreement with Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) for the acquisition of its Deen Dayal Upadhyaya discovery in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin for $1.2 billion (Rs 8,160 crore) by February end.
Foreign tourists visiting India this spring will have an added attraction; 'poll tourism'. Gujarat-based Akshar Travels, which has tied up with almost 100 tour operators across the country, has designed packages targeted at foreign nationals during the upcoming assembly polls in the states of Goa, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Punjab, UP.

The agency, which already had tried its hands at election tourism during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with customised Varanasi packages (the seat which had seen two political heavy weights Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal fight it out amongst themselves), is confident to get at least 2,000 booking for this special itinerary.
Indias manufacturing sector may not be seeing an investment pick-up but major petrochemical are in the process of mega investment plans for capacity enhancement.
National Weather Service meteorologists from Morristown, Tn. will present SKYWARN, a free Severe Weather Spotter course, at Erlanger Health System Baroness Hospital Probasco Auditorium on Friday, Feb. 3 from 6-8 p.m.



"The effects of severe weather are felt every year by many Americans. To obtain critical weather information, NWS, established SKYWARN with partner organizations. SKYWARN is a volunteer program with between 350,000 and 400,000 trained severe weather spotters. These volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the NWS.



"Although SKYWARN spotters provide essential information for all types of weather hazards, the main responsibility of a SKYWARN spotter is to identify and describe severe local storms and provide verification to the NWS of what is actually taking place at the ground level. In the average year, 10,000 severe thunderstorms, 5,000 floods and more than 1,000 tornadoes occur across the United States," officials said.

Sponsored by the Chattanooga Amateur Radio Club, the SKYWARN program is free and open to the public. NWS meteorologists will teach attendees the basics of thunderstorm development and the fundamentals of storm structure, train spotters on how to identify potential severe weather features and provide information on what information to report and how to report it.



NWS encourages anyone with an interest in public service and access to communication, such HAM radio, to join the SKYWARN program. Volunteers include police and fire personnel, dispatchers, EMS workers, public utility workers and other concerned private citizens. Individuals affiliated with hospitals, schools, churches, nursing homes or who have a responsibility for protecting others are also encouraged to become a spotter.



"Since the program started in the 1970s, the information provided by SKYWARN spotters, coupled with Doppler radar technology, improved satellite and other data, has enabled NWS to issue more timely and accurate warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flash floods," officials said.



Pre-registration is not required for the course. Walk-ins are welcome. For more information about SKYWARN, visit http://www.nws.noaa.gov/skywarn/.
PSA Group, the French automobile major which makes Peugeot and Citroen cars, is re-entering India by signing an agreement with the .

The two partners will invest around Rs 700 crore in Tamil Nadu to manufacture cars and power trains, by 2020.

The cars will be made at Hindustan Motors' facility at Tiruvallur, a suburb of this city, where Mitsubishi's Pajero Sport is being currently made; the latter will continue to be.

Of the total investment, two-thirds will come from PSA and the rest from the .

PSA announced its India comeback in 2011 but put this on hold with the global financial problem. It had initially entered the Indian market through a partnership with Premier Automobiles; this had ended in the late 1990s.

"A meaningful presence in India is part of our 'Push To Pass' plan," said Carlos Tavares, chairman of the managing board of PSA Group.

The Indian automotive market which is expected to reach eight to 10 million cars by 2025, from three million in 2016. As part of the agreement, PSA will hold a majority stake in the joint venture (JV) company being set up with Hindustan Motors Financial Corporation (HMFC) for assembly and distribution of PSA passenger cars in India.

The JV is aiming at production capacity of about 100,000 vehicles a year by 2020, to be later increased

In another deal, a 50:50 JV is being set up between PSA Group and AVTEC, the automotive transmission and powertrain component makers.

PSA said there would be a significant level of localisation. The company did not reveal the models it had in mind but sources said it could be a combination of crossovers, sedans and sports utility vehicles.

Around 1,500 people will be required in the initial industrial set-up at the Tiruvallur facility.

HMFC said it would continue to manufacture Mitsubishi vehicles there and distribute these through the existing dealer network.
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A retailer association in Tamil Nadu says it members will boycott the soft drink products of Pepsi and Coca-Cola from March 1. The stated reasoning is that their products are not good for health and these are using water resources in Tamil Nadu but the money they make is taken out of the country.

PepsiCo's global chief, Indra Nooyi, hails from Tamil Nadu.

The decision was announced by the Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangangalin Peramaippu (Federation of Tamil Nadu Traders' Association). It claims 1.5 million retailers as members and around 6,000 traders associations.

We have been thinking about it but were not sure what would be the response from customers. But, during the Jallikattu protest, youngsters were demanding such a step. So, we have decided not to sell the soft drinks of Pepsi and Coca-Cola from March 1, said K Mohan, secretary.

The body says it is asking local brands to increase their production and supplies. These include Thoothukudi-based Kali Mark, which manufactures the Bovonto brand of products, Bengaluru-based Torino and Thanjavur-based RVN Drinks (777). Officials from one of these said they'd started receiving more enquiries from traders about supply.

E-mails sent to PepsiCo and Coca-Cola did not elicit a response till the time of going to press. Arvind Verma, secretary general, Indian Beverage Association, in which both are members, said they were "deeply disappointed to learn of the stance taken by a trade association in Tamil Nadu to not sell products manufactured by our members and two of the largest players in the food processing industry."

He said that there was absolutely no connection between its member companies and the ongoing events in the state. Both Coca-Cola India and PepsiCo India had made a significant contribution to the Indian economy and society over the past couple of decades, he said. These companies provide employment to around 350,000 people and play a role in improving the livelihoods of over half a million farmers and about four mn retailers in the country.

"The proposed call is not only against the interest of farmers, traders and retailers of the state. It also undermines the role industry can play in economic growth and development," said Verma.

Mohan estimated the two multinationals had 70-80% of the soft drinks market.
Wipro, the country's third-largest software exporter, lagged peers Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and HCL in the quarter ended December 2016.

It struggled to grow its business due to uncertainty in the US health care market and rejig in its India and West Asia business. Net profit declined 5.9% to Rs 2,115 crore and revenue grew 6.4% to Rs 13,688 crore. It tried to offset slower revenue growth by cutting costs and improving efficiency.

Operating margin, calculated as sales minus expenses, stood at 18.3% of revenue, a 0.5% point improvement over the previous quarter. Information technology (IT) services revenue decreased 0.7% to $1.9 billion (Rs 12,950 crore), below its October forecast of flat to 0.5% growth.

"Muted performance again; IT services revenue below our estimates," went a note from brokerage Phillip Capital.

has said it expects to grow between $1.92 bn and $1.94 bn, or one to 2%, in the March quarter. This would see the company's FY17 growth at 4.4-4.7%, less than half of the projected industry growth by Nasscom, apex association of the sector. The latter expects Indian IT to grow by eight and 10% this year.

. had reported a profit of Rs 2,246 crore, on revenue of Rs 12,860 crore, in the same quarter last year.

"In the current year, we believe clarity will emerge and we expect an uptick in the change investments," said Abidali Neemuchwala, chief executive. "We do not expect customer budgets to change drastically. However, we do expect that there could be more momentum in the change spendings."

Neemuchwala, who took over the top job in February 2016, has invested around $1 bn in acquisition  HealthPlan Services for $460 million and Appirio, a US service firm that helps implement cloud applications such as Salesforce and Workday for $500 mn.

His first bet on HealthPlan faced a setback with new US President Donald Trump announcing his intention of repealing the Affordable Care Act there  hopes its platform would be used for transaction processing with that law. It also would add pressure on Neemuchwala to achieve his target of $15 bn with margins of 23% by 2020

"The platform that we have has a couple of capabilities. With or without this uncertainty, we always looked at how can we take that platform to other geographies or other services you can offer it to," said B M Bhanumurthy, operations head.

"Our bold investments in digital, BPaas and cloud applications position Wipro as partner of choice for the digital businesses of our clients. The digital eco-system grew by 9.9% sequentially in the quarter and now constitutes 21.7% of our revenues," said Neemuchwala.

The Bengaluru-based entity said it had signed a deal to buy Brazilian software services firm InfoSERVER for $8.7 mn to get access to the Latin American market.
In the Donald Trump administration, is the third Indian-American to be picked for a key position. Following his appointment, the 44-year-old is heading the powerful communications regulatory agency, Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Pai was a member of the commission since the past five years.
Arnab Goswami, who quit Times Now as Editor-in-chief in October last year has been in the news ever since, with his next move keenly awaited. As we now know, his new venture is going to be a media venture called Republic. Goswami has been travelling around India asking people to 'Join Republic, Join the Revolution'.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday filed chargesheets against 11 accused, including businessman Vijay Mallya, in the Rs 1,300-crore loan default case, raising hopes of his extradition from the UK.
Indian cities' air pollution was even higher than the WHO set standards and worse than most cities even on the days pollution was at its lowest
India and the UAE are expected to ink a strategic agreement on Wednesday to elevate their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, providing for greater cooperation in areas such as defence and security.

Briefing media in New Delhi on Tuesday as the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited the country, Secretary Economic Relations Amar Sinha said that his visit will further strengthen defence and security cooperation between the two countries.

The crown prince, who arrived in India on a three-day visit on Tuesday, would be a chief guest in this year's Republic Day parade.

The crown prince will be accorded ceremonial reception at the forecourts of the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Thursday.

President Pranab Mukherjee will host an 'At Home' reception for the Crown Prince on Thursday.

The visiting dignitary will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.

Sinha further said that India and the UAE are looking forward to cooperating in areas, including energy security, space and civil nuclear.

Trade and investment will also be on the agenda during the talks between the crown prince and the prime minister.

The two countries have been moving closer for security, counter-terrorism and intelligence sharing during the last few years.

Indians are the largest expatriate community in UAE comprising of nearly 20 per cent of its migrant population.
(MU) is all set to evaluate answer sheets of all the examinations online. From the next exams season, starting April 2017, the university will be introducing an online exam-paper assessment project for all the faculties.
The Douglas Henry State Museum Commission announced that during its meeting Tuesday a selection was made to offer the position of executive director of the Tennessee State Museum. The selection was made by the Museum Commission after meeting and interviewing with two finalists, after which there was a discussion and a vote by the Commission members who were present for the meeting.





The position will be offered to native Tennessean Ashley Howell, who currently serves as deputy director of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts.Ms. Howell is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and has advanced degrees from that institution as well as Boston University. She has had an impressive career in the museum field, officials said.

The State Museum Commission conducted an exhaustive national search working in partnership with the Tennessee Dept. of Human Resources and the executive search firm of Carter Baldwin, Atlanta, said Commission Chairman Tom Smith. I believe most if not all of the Museum Commission members were very impressed by the selection of candidates presented. We are looking forward to continued discussions with Mrs. Howell and hopefully the Department of Human Resources will be able to reach an agreement with her to join us.

The Tennessee State Museum was established by law in 1937 to bring together the various collections of articles, specimens, and relics now owned by the State under one divisional head, and to provide for a transfer of exhibits wherever they may be.



Today, the Tennessee State Museum is housed in the James K. Polk building in downtown Nashville, where it has been for nearly 35 years. Gov. Bill Haslam proposed and the Tennessee General Assembly approved $120 million in the FY-2015-16 budget to build a new home for the Tennessee State Museum on the Bicentennial Mall to maximize the states rich history by creating a state-of-the-art educational asset and tourist attraction for the state. The governor also announced that $40 million would be raised in private funds for the project.



A new and dynamic 140,000 square foot facility to house the State Museum is currently under construction on the northwest corner of the Bicentennial Mall at the corner of Rosa Parks Boulevard and Jefferson Street. It is being built to continue to tell Tennessees story in a way that the museum is unable to do in its current and outdated location by showcasing one-of-a-kind artifacts, art and historical documents in an interactive and engaging way.


Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel will get a maximum of 32 Police Medals for Gallantry announced on Tuesday. A total of 777 personnel have won the medal this year.

The Home Ministry said 100 personnel have been named for Police Medal for Gallantry, 80 for President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service and 597 for Police Medal for Meritorious Service.

While 32 Jammu and Kashmir personnel will get the Gallantry medial, the award will go to 12 personnel from Andhra Pradesh, seven each from Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and four each from Assam and Manipur.

The Central Bureau of Investigation will get 28 medals  including six President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service and 22 Police Medal for Meritorious Service.

Of the 15 Delhi Police officers, three will be rewarded for gallantry, two for distinguished service and 10 for meritorious service.

The Central Reserve Police Force will be awarded 78 police medals  16 Police Medal for Gallantry, five President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service and 57 Police Medal for Meritorious Service.

The Border Security Force will receive 56 awards, including five for gallantry, five for distinguished services and 46 for meritorious service.

The Central Industrial Security Force will be conferred 27 awards, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police 15 and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) 14 awards.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Statistics and P.I., Ministry of Environment, Crime Records Bureau, Narcotics Control Bureau and the Human Rights Commission will be conferred with one Police Medal for Distinguished Service each.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (Intelligence Bureau) will be conferred 32 police medals, including eight President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service and 24 Police Medal for Meritorious Service.

The Railways will get 15 awards, including one President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service and 14 Police Medal for Meritorious Service.

The Special Protection Group, Security Guard and the National Disaster Response Force will get four awards each while the National Investigation Agency and the North Eastern Police Academy will get two awards each.
In the run up to the US presidential elections, the Indian foreign policy establishment, led by Prime Minister's Office (PMO), was also taken in by surveys and opinion polls and had expected Democrat Hillary Clinton to win. The Ministry of External Affairs and PMO was confident that it knew enough people in the future Clinton administration. There was a time when it even spurned overtures by NRI businessman Shalabh Kumar, who runs the Republican Hindu Coalition, to help it reach out to Republican presidential nominee .
Senior officials from Apple on Wednesday assured an inter-ministerial panel of their intentions to set up manufacturing units in the country, provided their demands for concessions were met.
Just days ahead of the Union Budget, a high-powered panel headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday recommended imposing tax on cash transactions of at least Rs 50,000 through banks to discourage the excessive use of cash and promote digital payments.
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai is now clearing 94 per cent of within four days from the existing 9-10 days, a senior Customs official said.

The customs department has urged exporters and importers to take advantage of schemes like Direct Port Delivery (DPD) and Direct Port Export (DPE) of the Customs to expedite clearance.

"JNPT Customs authorities have taken steps to clear around 94 per cent of within four days, a remarkable improvement over 9-10 days, a norm in the past," John Joseph, chief commissioner of customs, Mumbai Zone II, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) said.

"We want at least 60 per cent of import cargo to be cleared under the DPD scheme," he said.

He was speaking at an open house meet which was jointly held by All India Association of Industries (AIAI) and World Trade Centre Mumbai.

Joseph advised exporters and importers to take advantage of DPD and Direct Port Export (DPE) schemes of the customs to expedite cargo clearance.

He also assured importers and exporters that duty drawback would be provided within 24 hours of submitting the documents.

"Our department enables importers to take immediate delivery of cargo, by allowing them to pay customs duty after two weeks (subject to a few qualifications). Our authorities can clear inward cargo in one or two days, if importers opt for the DPD service," he said.

The DPD service helps importers save up to Rs 9,000 per box of imported cargo by making redundant movement of good to a warehouse.
Like most other millennials, 23-year-old Sunny Nehra from the small town of Jind in Haryana, dreamt of the high life. From a humble, middle class family, he had only three things going for him  a sharp mind, good at computer coding, and a fast laptop.
Three weeks after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) suspended import of poultry products from India due to an outbreak in a part of Kerala of Highly Pathogenic (HPAI H5N8), Hong Kong has also done so.
The City and Industrial and Development Corporation (CIDCO) has extended the deadline for submission of bids for the Rs 16,000-crore project to February 13, as it has attracted a bid from the GVK-led Mumbai International Airport (MIAL).
The Board of Judicial Conduct, which investigates and acts on complaints against judges in Tennessee, has placed General Sessions Judge Amanda Sammons on a three-year probation, in accordance with a Deferred Disciplinary Agreement as contemplated by T.C.A.  17-5-301 (f)(4), in lieu of pursuing formal charges against her.

According to the Deferred Disciplinary Agreement, Judge Sammons has agreed to the following conditions of her probation: (1) she will have Criminal Court Judge for the 8thJudicial District of Tennessee Shayne Sexton as her mentor to assist her with any matters of law, procedure or ethics she may have; (2) she will attend, at her own expense, the General Jurisdiction Course at the National Judicial College; and (3) the issue of probation will be re-visited by the Board, should any meritorious complaint be filed against her during the three-year period.

The decision comes after an investigative panel responded to several complaints that had been filed against Judge Sammons.

The order imposing the Deferred Disciplinary Agreement states that, The investigative panel has noted that Judge Sammons has expressed a sincere desire to modify her behavior as a judge so as to be more reflective and less hasty and impatient in her judicial decision-making.

The Board of Judicial Conduct, which investigates and acts on complaints against judges in Tennessee, has placed General Sessions Judge Amanda Sammons on a three-year probation, in accordance with a Deferred Disciplinary Agreement as contemplated by T.C.A.  17-5-301 (f)(4), in lieu of pursuing formal charges against her.

The Deferred Disciplinary Agreement and letter from Judge Sammons to the board can be viewed here.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who is heading a committee on boosting digital payments, tells Indivjal Dhasmana that he never did a flip-flop on demonetisation, but only put pressure on RBI and bankers to ease the sufferings of the common man after scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Naidu, who submitted a report on digital payments to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, says digital payments have to be cost-effective vis-a-vis cash to encourage people to use them. Edited excerpts:

You are heading a committee on digitalisation formed after demonetisation. But, you did a flip-flop on demonetisation, criticising the Centre's move and also praising it later, didn't you?

No, that was not the case. I, in fact, put pressure on the Reserve Bank of India and banks. Immediately after demonetisation, the common man suffered and I wanted to reduce that suffering. I had expressed displeasure to the RBI and bankers for the way they were responding to the suffering. I was always inclined towards the (demonetisation) policy. The first statement supporting was given by me. When I was in the opposition, I had raised the issue of of high-value currency notes.

Has the suffering of the common man eased now?

Those pains were over in 60 days. Every day, I monitor. It's normal now.

Are you talking about Andhra Pradesh or the entire country?

These sufferings are over in Andhra Pradesh and more or less the situation has normalised in the country as well.

But, in a recent submission to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), RBI governor Urjit Patel was learnt to have said that there are still cash problems in the rural areas?

There are some problems, but by and large, sufferings have been reduced.

You also stated that you would support reforms in political funding. What will you recommend to the government on this issue?

of old Rs 500 and 1,000 currency notes would itself acts towards these reforms. Distributing currencies in these high-value notes was very easy during elections. Now, it is difficult in small denomination notes. It is difficult to distribute the money through mobile currency, as it is traceable. Once political corruption is reduced, corruption in other spheres would also be reduced.

But, political parties need not disclose the source of funding up to Rs 20,000. Will you recommend these provisions in the Income Tax Act and the Representation of The People Act be amended?

I don't mind discussing these reforms with everyone.

Do you think demonetisation has succeeded in its prime objective of curbing the black money as much of the scrapped currencies has returned back to the banks than the anticipated amount?

You have to understand that demonetisation will curb generation of future black money. In future, all transactions will be done digitally, according to me. It is the best achievement.

What are the discounts and incentives you would recommend for promoting digitalisation after the finance ministry announced some?

Ours is a comprehensive report on digitalisation. For instance, your finger will act as a bank, it would be Aadhaar-based. A merchant having a smartphone needs only a biometric device that costs only Rs 2,000. The consumer need not have anything. He is to remember only his bank's name, Aadhaar number. He can go with Aadhaar authentication and do transactions.

Would you announce any further tax rebates , discounts or rebates to promote digitalisation?

We are making a clear recommendation that digital currency should be cost effective than cash currency. If physical currency is cost effective than digital currency, nobody would shift to the latter. We have to create that environment to promote digital transactions.

Will you recommend tax on cash transactions to promote digital transactions?

If necessary, we have to levy some tax above a threshold.

Do you see this to come up in the Budget?

Let us see how does the government respond.

You had asked for a special category status for Andhra Pradesh from the union government, instead a financial package came. Does it mean your demand was turned down by the Centre?

How does this matter if it is a financial package instead of the special status. All the benefits that I could have got from the special category status are being extended through financial package. That is why I have accepted that.

You made tremendous efforts to create Cyberabad which will go to Tenlangana. What kind of companies do you think would come and base in the proposed new capital ?

It will be a green field capital. Earlier I had built a brown field city Cyberabad. When IT sector came to Andhra Pradesh earlier, it was all body shopping. I kept on telling people that they should go for products. IT players may be there in the new capital, but a few ones. Now, there are some more areas like fintech, cyber security, data analytics, higher level of mathematical application. I am looking at them.

With Donald Trump administration focusing on US jobs, do you think that it would come in the way of your plans in Amaravati?

There will be a drain of knowledge from America to Asia, that will be a gain for India. They will create a silicon valley in Andhra Pradesh. Americans will come to India for doing business. This is advantageous for us. Long back, Bill Gates told US government if you don't give H1-B visas, I will go to India and start my development centre, and I will change my headquarters.
SSB Officers Will Celebrate Republic Day on Border Out Posts

On the personnel initiative of DG, SSB Mrs. Archana Ramasundaram, it is first time that the Officers of the rank of Dy. Commandant and above posted in various Sector Headquarters, Frontier Headquarters and Force Headquarter New Delhi are going to Border Out Posts (BOPs) in far-flung areas on Indo-Nepal & Indo-Bhutan Borders and to J&K and Naxal affected areas to celebrate 68th Republic Day with National fervor.

On this occasion the officers will also convey the message of DG, SSB to the force personnel and public present in the functions. The DG also said that this occasion will help in establishing a healthy relationship with the border population. This national festival shall be celebrated in a manner that better relationship could be ensured between border population and SSB to strengthen integrity and unity of the country.

The idea behind this initiative is also to establish direct communication between the officers of headquarters and the jawans posted at remote locations on the borders. This endeavor will also ensure that senior officers appreciate the problems of jawans and instill confidence in them that the DG and the FHQ is sensitive towards their problems and making all out efforts to provide them better facilities.

On this occasion the DG, SSB has also called upon the force personnel to follow the motto of SSB Service, Security & Brotherhood and strive for security of the border population and keep the national flag flying high and achieve new heights.
Describing India as a "true friend" of the US, President invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the country later this year, the White House said today after both leaders spoke over phone and discussed issues such as trade, defence and terrorism.

Trump spoke to Modi yesterday night over phone, four days after he was sworn-in as the 45th President of America.

"During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in a readout of the call.

"President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the US later this year," the White House said.

The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.

Besides this, they also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia.

President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the US and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, the readout said.

After Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the November 8 general elections, Modi was among the first five world leaders to have congratulated Trump.

During his gruelling election campaign, India is among the few countries in addition to Israel with whom Trump spoke of strengthening ties if elected to power.

On January 21, Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican Premier Pena Nieto.

On Sunday, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and yesterday he had a telephonic conversation with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he too has invited President to visit India.

Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

President @realDonaldTrump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017
President has appointed Ajit Pai to head the powerful US communications regulatory agency, becoming the third Indian American picked for key positions in his administration.

Pai, 44, will be the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the federal authority regulating cellphone spectrum and services, radio, television, phone, internet and satellite and cable.

Pai announced his appointment on Twitter, saying he was told of it on Monday and that "it is a deeply humbling honour". He added that he would work to bring the benefits of the digital age to all Americans.

The FCC also has a major role in controlling the content of television and radio, a sensitive issue given Trump's contentious relations with the media.

The agency sets and enforces certain norms on content like obscenity in TV and conditions like having a certain amount of local news content for stations to keep their licences.

Underscoring its importance, Representative Frank Pallone said: "By some measures, the FCC oversees approximately one sixth of the US economy."

Nikki Haley, Trump's nominee for the cabinet-level post of US ambassador to the UN, is scheduled to be recommended on Tuesday by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for approval by the entire Senate for the job.

Another Trump nominee is Seema Verma, who is to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency for government health insurance programmes.

Already a member of the FCC, Pai will succeed Tom Wheeler, a Democrat, who quit recently.

A free enterprise advocate, Pai has been a critic of the functioning of the FCC and clashed with its Democratic Party leadership. Recently he took issue with an FCC report that questioned the legality of offerings given free of charge for people to access online music, videos and other content.

He has said he wants to end net neutrality, which prevents internet service providers from giving special preferences to certain web sites or accept payment from a web service to give it priority or better access.

Democrats expressed their concern about Pai's role in a letter to him.

The senior Democrat on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that deals with communications wrote to him saying his success would depend on being responsive to members of Congress from both parties and working for consensus on major decisions.

Before his appointment to the FCC in 2012, Pai had worked as a lawyer for the telephone and communications giant Verizon, the Senate Judicial Committee and the Justice Department.

Pai's parents, both doctors, immigrated from India.

Trump has also appointed an expert on strategic communications and political research, Raj Shah, as deputy assistant and research director on the White House staff.

Another Indian American, Balaji Srinivasan, is under consideration to head the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), according to Sean Spicer, Trump's spokesperson.

Srinivasan is a biotechnology entrepreneur who has been critical of the connections between large pharmaceutical companies and FDA. He now heads a start-up that deals with bitcoin, the internet-based currency.
US President threatened on Wednesday to "send in the Feds" to deal with the "carnage" in Chicago if the city did not fix the problem.

Raising the issue on the social media platform Twitter, Trump said:

If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

Trump took a bleak outlook on the city and the thousands of shootings that took place there in 2016 alone. During his rallies, he frequently spoke of what he described as the "horrors of the inner cities".

In 2016, there were some 3,550 shooting incidents and 762 murders in Chicago.

On January 2, days before his inauguration, Trump came down heavily on Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

"Chicago murder rate is record setting in 2016. If Mayor can't do it he must ask for Federal help!" the then President-elect was quoted.

It was, however, not immediately clear what prompted or what exactly Trump meant in his tweet by "send in the Feds".

The number of murders in 2016 was the highest since 1996, which was a 57 per cent increase since 2015.

On new year alone 28 people were shot in the city.

Emanuel in his turn criticised the President and his continued focus on the size of his inaugural crowd.

"This is unsolicited advice: You didn't get elected to debate the crowd size at your inaugural," Emanuel said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the government does not have the right to trigger Article 50, formally beginning the process, without an act of parliament.
Journalists would have anticipated the first press conference of the Trump presidency with some trepidation. Not only had his briefing at Trump Tower as president-elect been something of a shambles as Trump excoriated some journalists and ignored others, but the whole election campaign had been traumatic for many. Reporters had been submitted to ritual humiliation at Trump rallies, ushered through baying crowds to be labelled liars and disgusting by a candidate who did not seem overly burdened by the concept of truth himself.
'9/11 Five', the five accused arrested after the terrorist attack on twin-towers in US, have spent seven years locked up under the presidency of George W Bush, eight years under Barack Obama -- yet the five alleged terrorist plotters were convicted of nothing.

Now, the so-called 9/11 Five are starting the next phase of their Guantanamo Bay legal odyssey under the presidency of Donald Trump.

Accused of plotting the September 11, 2001 attacks, the men are due in a military courtroom on Wednesday, the first time the secretive tribunal has been in session since Trump sworn in less than a week ago.

Renewed focus is on the military prison and the glacial legal process after Trump famously vowed while campaigning that he would load Guantanamo with "bad dudes," and said it would be "fine" if US terror suspects were sent there for trial.

It's been nine years since the United States first charged the 9/11 Five with plotting the September 11 attacks and killing nearly 3,000 people.

A multitude of procedural and legal problems, exacerbated by the logistical challenge of hosting a court in Guantanamo, have slowed the case to a crawl.

"We are just as determined as ever to try these individuals under the rule of law," lead prosecutor Brigadier General Mark Martins said.

"We will do that -- however long it takes."



The general said the government will be ready to begin jury selection in March 2018, but defence lawyers scoff at the idea, saying 2020 is more realistic.

The defendants are alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali -- Mohammed's nephew -- and Mustapha al-Hawsawi.

One of Obama's first acts as president was to issue an order to close Guantanamo's jail, but he failed to do so in the face of Republican opposition and the reluctance of US allies to take in the detainees.

The remaining prison population is now 41, down from 242 when he took office.

On Wednesday, military judge Colonel James Pohl will consider whether hearings can even happen during this session's two allotted weeks.

Bin Attash's chief lawyer, Cheryl Bormann, broke her arm over the weekend, which prevented her from flying to the US naval base on the eastern tip of Cuba.

Because it's a death penalty case, each defendant has the right to a "learned counsel," or capital expert, during every step of the process.
A youth who is charged in the 2014 triple murders in Lookout Valley has been arrested for allegedly beating up his girlfriend's brother.

Jacob Allison, who is now 18, was out on bond in the case in which he is among those charged with the murders of Caleb Boozer, John Morris and John Lang in an RV lot on Kellys Ferry Road.

Police said Allison beat up Sebastian Wilbanks at the Food Lion parking lot on Browns Ferry Road.

In the incident on Friday, a woman with him also beat the victim was brass knuckles, police said.

According to the affidavit, Wilbanks was at the parking lot to give his sister a ride home because she had allegedly been fighting with Allison.

Allison is now being held without bond.

The murder trial is set for May.
Money for nothing is not just a 1985 song by Dire Straits but also, it seems, a new wave of policies supporting the government providing an for citizens, regardless of their economic activity.
Pakistani Prime Minister during his four-day stay in Davos to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) was not allowed to deliver any speech following his alleged involvement in corruption, according to local media.

The Daily Time reported that Prime Minister Sharif failed to address any important forum because he was not allowed by the management of Davos Economic Forum to address any function.

The main reason for not allowing Sharif to deliver a speech on any forum was said to be the alleged involvement of the prime minister in massive corruption in Pakistan.

He could only hold a meeting with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe but could not hold any meeting with other head of states.

Contrastingly, former Pakistani army chief Gen. (Rtd.) Raheel Sharif addressed several forums and participated in many debates.

The report said that Sharif had gone to attend the Davos Forum without any invitation from its sponsors and spent millions of rupees on his visit out of the national kitty.

But he had to face disappointment when he was not allowed to address the forum.

The official spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.

The prime minister is currently embroiled in the Panama Papers scandal that exposed dealings of hundreds of thousands of people, including world leaders and celebrities, and how they use shady financial mechanisms to avoid paying taxes and hide their wealth.

Among those named in the Panama Papers are three of Sharif's four children, including his daughter Maryam and sons Hasan and Hussain, with records showing they owned London real estate through offshore companies.

Owning off-shore companies is not illegal in Pakistan, but the Sharifs are being challenged in connection with the source of the funds.

Opposition politicians allege that the funds were gained through corrupt practices during Sharif's previous two stints as prime minister in the 1990's.
Whats the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the landings? Most likely, its the statement: One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. These words, spoken by Apollo 11s Neil Armstrong as he became the first man on the moon, will be quoted and remembered for centuries to come.
President on Wednesday will order the construction of a Mexican border wall  the first in a series of actions this week to crack down on immigrants and bolster national security, including slashing the number of refugees who can resettle in the United States and blocking Syrians and from terror prone nations from entering, at least temporarily.
There can be no doubt that the swearing in of on January 20 will usher in a new era for the United States. But the president-elects open support for torture and waterboarding could mean his inauguration also marks a return to what President Barack Obama has called a dark and painful chapter in US history.
Domestic growers of are saying that the government's decision to increase the minimum import price (MIP) of the commodity has already been factored into its selling price in the market. Industry representatives, however, say that the MIP is expected to increase further. The government's decision comes at a time when growers are facing pricing pressure due to cheap imports.
Saradhih (Chhattisgarh) [India], Jan.25 (ANI): Saradhih Panchayat, Janjgir Champa district in north Chhattisgarh looks picture perfect. Lush green fields, trees dotting the landscape and ponds of clear water. There is a sense of serenity, of peace.

Beyond the fields, down dirt tracks that snake through the countryside -the picture changes, somewhat. The village Sankrali in this Panchayat has open spaces where the community gathers; rows of hutments with some houses in brick and concrete.

According to sources, the population of Janjgir-Champa comprises of more than 50 percent?Dalits. Amongst these, Satnamis are said to constitute nearly 80 percent. Who are these Satnamis? What is the Satnami Samaj that people commonly refer to?

The Satnamis have been traditionally leather tanners. In the highly stratified social order of the preceding centuries, they were relegated to a position of utmost deprivation, subjected to indignity. This was so for many other social groups referred to as 'low caste'. In the 19th century from amongst them rose a figure, Ghasidas who led them to defy the discriminatory treatment.

This led to a social movement for a more equitable social order and succeeded in giving them a new identity. This is the genesis of the 'Satnami Samaj' that took root in the region that lies in what is now -Chhattisgarh.

The march of history has since led to a complete upheaval of the world in which Ghasidas and his followers took up their struggle. Today the Satnamis, along with many Dalit groups have a clear identity under the Constitution of India - Scheduled Caste.

As citizens of India their status of course is at par with all other citizens from any social, economic or ethnic group. In keeping with the historical deprivation dalits have faced, there are provisions that specifically address this. Today these provisions are an integral part of policy. So where do the Satnamis stand today -do they reflect the intent of the founding fathers of the Constitution, the measures taken by policy makers?

Sankrali village, home to a large community of Satnamis sees them concentrated in nine of the 20 wards. Here most of the houses are kuccha. Yes, the village has an Aaganwadi Bhavan' a Post Office, a 'Gram Panchayat Bhavan' and a Health Sub Centre. The village boasts of a primary, middle and high school. According to the Rohit Khande, the village headman or Mukhiya, several government schemes are in place here such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, MGNREGA, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, PDS to name a few. This is echoed by Gauri Bai Sidar, the Sarpanch.

Does this mean that the region is on the path of development; is the community on the way to social and economic empowerment? Sadly no. Most people earn their livelihoods through farming but then, many of them have small holdings. This does not yield enough to even survive, let alone prosper. Jobs are few that too at the block level, but the poor quality of school education, the lack of skill-building avenues -prevents people from making use of such opportunities.

What is lacking is an environment for economic advancement, for social empowerment. Despite the infrastructure, the various schemes, the community continues to be mired in poverty, suffering deprivation on several counts. They are not getting the benefits of a slew of schemes that are said to be in place. Whether this is a lacunae in implementation or simply a lack of awareness -is a question that needs to be asked -and answered.

Yet the people here dream. Sarita is a young girl who despite the odds finished her matriculation. She is keen to study further and become a doctor. But her father, who works outside the state simply cannot afford to support her education beyond this point. Besides, the pressure of getting his daughter married is there. Sarita is crest-fallen. Poverty and social norms that dogged previous generations continue to prevent her from getting an education that could equip her for a better life.

Budhwara 60 years old is poor and infirm. She suffered a stroke some time back and could not get the necessary medical attention. She struggles with even basic movements but still her face reflects hope. She has a fine fighting spirit and believes that she could get better. But it is clear that the systems of healthcare, of social support that are said to be in place, need to be responsive.

Sarita and Budhwara both represent different aspects of the same thing - a society that still remains backward; a system that has simply not come up with answers to their problems, If they could both be enabled to realise their dreams, fulfill their life's goals- it would equally be a statement of development working on the ground.

Historically, it is on this land that the Satnamis fought against discrimination and deprivation. It is ironical that their descendants still find themselves at the bottom rung of the ladder. Despite the constitutional provisions, state and central policies, government schemes -they continue to remain bereft of services that could lead them to a life of dignity. Their forefathers had put up a valiant struggle to earn this life in the midst a relentless social order. In this modern day democratic order, is the system failing them? And would that mean that the impetus for change again needs to come from the Satnami Samaj?

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The customs officials have arrested a Bangladeshi at Kolkata airport and seized Rs. 98,03,833 in Euro, Pound, Durham and Riyal collectively.

The passenger, identified as Suman Ahmed was scheduled to depart to Kuala Lumpur from Kolkata by Air Asia flight yesterday.

He came Kolkata from Dhaka by flight and converted foreign currency upto Rs. 69,36,000 at Bara Bazaar.

Post demonetisation the customs officials have seized currency and gold bars in large quantity.

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Hamilton County Emergency Medical Services (HCEMS) presented awards to honor 17 of its emergency medical personnel for outstanding patient care and customer service. The awards were presented to HCEMS paramedics and Advanced EMTs by Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger, HCEMS Director Ken Wilkerson and Deputy Chief John Combes.

With 134 employees, HCEMS operates as the 911 provider with fourteen emergency ambulances strategically placed throughout Hamilton County. I am very proud to be part of this National and State award winning EMS service. In 2016 HCEMS personnel responded to over 34,000 alarms and provided professional and outstanding medical care for our citizens, said HCEMS Director Wilkerson.



This years awards included Paramedic and Advanced EMT of the Year, Medical and Trauma Call of the Year, and Blue Ribbon Customer Service Award of the Year. The recipients of the individual awards were nominated by and presented with the awards by the nine Field Lieutenant Supervisors and three shift Captains of HCEMS.



The Paramedic of the Year Award was presented to Wayne Allen Smith. Advanced EMT Award presented to Scott Garrison. Medical Call of the Year was presented to Paramedic Marc Puglise, Paramedic Linda Kilgore, and Field Lt. Greg Allen. Trauma Call of the Year was presented to nine HCEMS personnel for their dedication and heroism during the terrorist attack on Chattanooga. Paramedics Charles Scobey Newman, Blake Smith, Leeh Butcher, Allen Smith, Field Lts. Brian Gay, and Chris Dill along with Advanced EMTs Jamie Jackson, and Brian Klasing, each received plaques and ribbons for Trauma Call of the Year. The Blue Ribbon Awards were presented to three HCEMS personnel Paramedic David Sinclair, Chris Van Alstyne, and Arron Howard for outstanding customer service.



Deputy Chief Combes said, It was my honor to present each of these awards to the professional men and women of HCEMS. Each of them continue to show their dedication and professionalism in providing quality emergency care in our area. They are the reason that HCEMS continues its motto of Setting the Standard of Care.


Continuing his tirade against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today dubbed the saffron party as 'chamatkaari' and urged the voters to steer away from the communal and divisive forces attempting to spread hatred in the Indian society.

The Chief Minister also went all guns blazing at the demonetisation drive on the second day of his election campaign while reiterating his earlier stand that money is not black or white.

"If we are doing a business and earning money, but are not paying taxes then that money becomes black for us. And if we are paying that same money to another person and he is paying taxes then that money becomes white for him. The BJP doesn't understand this simple dynamic. Even the taxed money was declared black by Prime Minister Modi," Akhilesh said.

"Beware of the 'chamatkaari' party. It's trying to lead you astray into voting for them," he added while alleging that the BJP has ruined the political system.

"The BJP has ruined politics in the nation in the three years of its rule. The party didn't take any

decisions for the development of the nation. We can, on the other hand, tell you so many initiatives that were taken for the development of the state," he said.

The Chief Minister also used the occasion to reach out to the farming community and lambasted the BJP's decision to import sugar into the country.

"We let our sugar mills run under debts and paid for the losses of the farmers. It was the money of the state government that went into paying for the debts. Our state is the leading producer of sugarcane and sugar, but the BJP still went ahead and imported sugar from other countries," he said.

Akhilesh also hit back at Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati and sough an explanation as to what had her party done so far for development of Uttar Pradesh.

The Chief Minister's outburst against his predecessor came days after she accused him of running a 'corrupt' regime and shielding criminals and communal forces.

Expressing his confidence of winning the trust of the people, Akhilesh said, "Our manifesto is so good

that other parties are now scared to even go out and campaign for their candidates because they know that whatever we have written will be fulfilled."

Akhilesh also expressed faith in his party's alliance with the Congress for the elections.

"Earlier, we were riding the 'cycle' alone. But, now we have the fortune of companionship of 'haath'. You have to think and imagine what feats we can achieve now," he said.

Akhilesh said that his party's immediate agenda was betterment of primary schools in the state and improvement of the condition of district hospitals.

"I visited a primary school once. There were only nine students there. I asked them whether the student count was nine only to which they agreed. This was irrespective of the fact that there were more than nine students registered in the school," he said.

Akhilesh added, "So, our main focus right now is improving the condition of these primary schools and hospitals. We have improved the ambulance services and we are looking forward to improve the conditions of district hospitals so that the people don't have to go to private hospitals to receive good medical treatment. The underprivileged and those who are registered under the Samajwadi Pension Scheme will get free of cost medical treatment."

The Chief Minister further enlisted the development works undertaken by his regime.

"We developed a better road network between Agra and Lucknow in order to build a 'mandi' and facilitate increase in business of milk and milk products," he said.

He added, "We provided employment to more than one lakh youth. People do BA, MA, MBA, but that doesn't assure a job. So, if a person after Class X, XI or XII wants to pursue a different graph, we will take the onus of providing him vocational training and employment opportunities."

Akhilesh also highlighted the achievements in the field of electricity and water supply management.

"We have improved the electricity supply in many towns and cities and established service stations, transmission lines and transformers," he said.

"We have also been working on facilitating the repair of transformers within 48 hours. We have worked for every sector - road, electricity, water supply - and the 'jungles' of the state. Only proper development of these sectors can lead to establishment of a greater number of industries in the state," he added.

Akhilesh further said, "We have also launched a new housing scheme under which the citizens have got houses worth Rs. 3, 05,000 each."

Akhilesh also talked of the special 'Farmers Fund' included in the Samajwadi Party's election manifesto.

"In our manifesto, we have promised a separate fund for the farmers. If the farmer is suffering or is under bank debt, he can take help from the 'Farmers' Fund' as specified in the manifesto. And this is the first time that this kind of fund is being assigned for the farmers," he said.

Akhilesh also said that his party doesn't discriminate between people on the basis of caste or religion unlike the opposition.

He said, "We are often accused to be a party of Muslims. We are just trying to serve the state and its people, but the opposing parties are maligning us by putting different allegations against us. We do not discriminate between people. We give Samajwadi Pension to everybody. We gave laptops to all irrespective of their caste or religion."

The poll process in Uttar Pradesh begins on February 11. 73 constituencies in Western Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in this phase.

Uttar Pradesh is set to have a seven-phase polling between February 11 and March 8.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Centre on Wednesday warned all cable and MSO operators to switch off analog signals in Phase III urban areas or face seizure of equipment.

In a statement issued here, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting asserted that the deadline for cable television digitization in India in the Phase III, which was to be completed by the end of 2015, will not be extended beyond January 31, 2017.

It urged all cable subscribers in Phase III urban areas to acquire set top boxes from MSO/Cable Operators in their areas immediately, failing which they would not be able to watch television through cable networks from February 1, 2017.

The ministry also warned that it would seize the equipment of MSOs/Cable Operators under Section 11 of the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act if they continue to carry analog signal in Phase III urban areas.

It also asked chief secretaries of all states and union territories to enforce the powers and specified rules against defaulters.

With an aim to make complete digitisation of cable television network in India, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has embarked on an ambitious programme for switch over of cable television network to a digital addressable system in India.

The Government of India had passed the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Act in 2011 and made it mandatory for switch-over of the existing analog cable TV networks to digital addressable system (DAS).

A gazette notification was issued on November 11, 2011 that mandated digital switch over of all cable TV networks in the country in four phases.

Digital switch-over has already taken place in Phase-I and II areas. The operations of cable television networks in India, the world's third largest TV market with 16.1 crores TV households next to China and USA, are regulated through the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994.

After successfully completion of Phase I and II in four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai by October 31, 2012 and 38 cities with a population more than one million by March 31, 2013 respectively, efforts are on to implement cable television digitization in Phase III and IV areas. All other urban areas under municipal corporations and municipalities in the country were to be covered In Phase III by December 31, 2015 and the rest of India by December 31, 2016.

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The Election Commission of India on Wednesday requested the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to enhance the weekly cash withdrawal limit of candidates contesting polls in the five poll-bound states.

Citing difficulty the candidates would face to meet their election expenditure, the ECI has written a letter to the RBI to increase the limit from Rs. 24,000 to Rs. 2 lakh.

In the letter addressed to RBI Governor Urjit Patel, the ECI said it has been apprised of the problems being faced by the candidates from different political parties due to imposition of limits on cash withdrawals from banks.

As per the directions of the ECI, each candidate has to open a separate bank account and all receipts and payments during the entire election process will be made through this account.

Since the entire process will most likely last for three to four weeks, the maximum amount the candidates can withdraw is Rs 96,000/- which is much lesser than the stipulated amount of expenditure by the candidates in the states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand (Rs. 28 lakh) and Manipur and Goa (Rs. 20 lakh).

Stating this, the ECI made this request to the RBI and asked for the facility to be extended till March 11, the day of counting.

The letter also added, "Petty and recurring expenditure is generally incurred in cash. The issue is further adversely compounded in rural areas where banking facilities are not available or negligible.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday, said that India and the United States have agreed to work closely to strengthen the bilateral ties between the countries and also invited President Donald Trump to visit India.

Prime Minister Modi, who had a telephonic conversation with the newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump, late on Tuesday night, took to his Twitter handle to inform about the same.

"Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening. President @realDonaldTrump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties," Prime Minister Modi tweeted.

"Have also invited President Trump to visit India," he added.

During the telephonic conversation, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he is looking forward to host Prime Minister Modi, later this year in Washington.

President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the U.S. and India will stand together in the global fight against terrorism.

It was the first conversation between the two sides after Trump took over the office as the new President of the Uniter States.

Earlier, they spoke in November, just after Trump's election win.

Prime Minister Modi is the fifth foreign leader to hold talks with Trump, after he was sworn in as the 45th U.S. President, on Friday.

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Van der Merwe and Associates, lawyers for Oakbay Investments - the holding company for the Gupta family's businesses in South Africa - has submitted an affidavit to the High Court at Pretoria in response to an application by Pravin Gordhan, South Africa's Minister of Finance.

The Oakbay Group's businesses span ICT, mining, media and engineering, and today the company employs more than 7,500 people. Oakbay was founded by the Gupta family who originally hails from Saharanpur, India.

Oakbay Investments believes it has been used as a tool to attack South Africa's President Zuma for corruption by his critics due to the Gupta family's close personal relationship with the President. Oakbay is accused of benefiting from lucrative state contracts. However, Oakbay's audited financial results demonstrated that last year government contracts accounted for just 8.9 percent of Group revenue, the highest proportion it has ever been.

In the affidavit, Oakbay Investments accuses Pravin Gordhan, the Finance Minister, of orchestrating a campaign to marginalise the family and exclude their businesses from the South African economy. The highlights of the Oakbay Investments affidavit are as given below:

The Minister's superfluous application is riddled with factual and legal errors. The Minister's reliance on the list of 72 purported "suspicious transaction reports" is misplaced and the minister's application is supported by a flawed analysis and a faulty factual record.

Oakbay has never suggested that the minister is required to intervene in the bank-customer relationship. There is no contested legal issue here and there is never any reason for the minister to bring this application.

The minister could simply have declined to do anything in the exercise of his legal discretion. Instead, he has asked the court to confirm that he does not have to do anything. The minister has essentially asked the court to insert itself into the functioning of the executive branch. It would be bizarre if every empowered government official receiving a request for assistance or counsel, races to court to seek a declaration that he/she does not have to act on the request.

If the court were to countenance the minister's application for guidance, it would open the floodgates for other weak-kneed political officials who are too scared to take positions on sensitive political and policy matters and would make the judiciary a maker of political judgments. This application is an abuse of court and an effort to involve the independent judiciary to settle political scores.

Regarding the 72 "suspicious transaction reports" allegedly reported to the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) and highlighted in the certificate provided to the minister by the FIC:

Oakbay has made every attempt and pursued every avenue open to it, to gain the information it needs to prove that each and every transaction is legitimate and above board.

Nardello and Co, an international investigative firm, was engaged to review the 72 transactions. Nardello's report concludes that there is not enough information about the 72 suspicious transaction reports to identify them in the books and records of Oakbay Group or the personal bank accounts of members of the Gupta family.

Two-thirds of the allegedly suspicious transactions occurred after the time when the banks had already decided to terminate their relationship with Oakbay.

The FIC's release of this information to the Minister was unlawful in itself.

The court should therefore decline to grant the relief sought by the minister and dismiss the Minister's application with costs.

In January 2016, during a meeting with 60 "captains of industry", the minister, according to sources, elaborated on the Gupta family and said that steps must be taken "to clip the wings of this Family" as part of a coordinated campaign orchestrated by the minister.

Furthermore, the timing of the minister's application supports the Oakbay Group's suspicions that the application is politically motivated and is part of the Minister's ongoing plan to diminish the Oakbay Group and the Gupta family and to damage their hard-earned South African .

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The Pakistan Supreme Court has asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family to present documents related with the distribution of properties after the demise of Mian Muhammad Sharif in 2004.

A five-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa asked Sharif's counsel to submit documents relating to the settlement of Sharif properties, reports the Express Tribune.

The counsel for Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz, Shahid Hamid, during the hearing alleged that forged documents were submitted by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to establish that she is the beneficial owner of London flats.

Observing that forgery is a question of fact, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, said there are two aspects to the issue, one being Maryam's dependency on her father and other that she acted as the front man for Sharif and all his properties.

Maryam in her written reply submitted to the apex court on Tuesday once again rejected the allegations that she was a beneficial owner of the London properties.

She also denied having correspondence between the Financial Investigation Agency of the British Virgin Islands and Mossack Fonseca.

German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung had tweeted on Monday documents linking the role of Prime Minister Sharif's daughter Maryam in the Panama Papers scandal.

The newspaper tweeted the attachments purportedly showing her involvement with Minerva Financial Services.

The tweet was accompanied by a document titled "Minerva Financial Services Limited Personal Information", which contains the personal details of Maryam Safdar.

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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has said that peace in the state is imperative for dialogue and resumption of friendly ties between India and Pakistan while adding that peace only makes all developmental efforts possible and let people reap the benefits of these initiatives.

In her message to the people on the occasion of 68th Republic Day, the Chief Minister said the noise of democracy coupled with the richness of cultures and traditions keeps India going as a vibrant country.

She said though some sections of society have not yet understood the benefits of a democratic set up, strengthening democratic institutions and making them responsive, representative and accommodative is the only way with which their faith in democracy could be increased.

The Chief Minister said divergence of opinion in democracy and diversity of cultures is the soul of the constitution and the symbol of greatness of our country.

She said lack of democracy is the common factor in all the countries around the world which are facing strife these days.

Terming the youth as the biggest treasure of a society, Mehbooba asked them to use the benefits of democracy to let Jammu and Kashmir make up for the losses it has suffered on account of its history and geography.

She said vote is the weapon in their hands with which they can change a system and make their own.

"My government is with you in this effort. The same constitution has given our state a special status and the same constitution holds key to the resolution of all other issues," she said.

The Chief Minister said the youth hold a special promise for the state and many of them have attained positions of acclaim at and international levels.

"Be it academics or sports, administrative services or science, a healthy wave of displaying talent has kicked off", she said, adding that that she hopes that these individual successes would lead to a situation where young generation would be able to realize their dreams and materialize their goals.

"Be it tourism or infrastructure, banking or horticulture, youth and their welfare is the prime focus of my Government while framing polices", Mehbooba said.

Appealing to the people to support her government in transforming Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba said peace in the state is imperative for dialogue and resumption of friendly ties between India and Pakistan.

She said peace only makes all developmental efforts possible and lets people reap the benefits of these initiatives.

The Chief Minister said that it is a matter of satisfaction that Agenda of Alliance of the present government is being accepted unanimously as a viable roadmap to get the state out of its difficulties.

The Chief Minister said her government has formulated a comprehensive plan of transforming the developmental profile of the state.

She said with the execution of Rs. 80, 000 crore Prime Minister's Developmental Package, the developmental profile of the state is set for a positive change.

She further stated that timely execution of the package would be a challenge for the administrative machinery, but hoped that the engineers and planners would be touching new heights with the in time completion of projects under the package.

The Chief Minister said the Budget Session of the state legislature was advanced this year to ensure availability of funds by February so that developmental works could be taken up by April and so that there is no disruption in fund flow for these works.

Terming employees as an inseparable component of her dispensation, Mehbooba said her government has already decided to implement the recommendations of seventh Pay Commission from 2018 and also start a process of regularization of services of thousands of daily wagers who have been living a life of penury for decades now.

Also, she said, salary disbursement of hundreds of those employees working under various centrally sponsored schemes has been delinked from the source of their funding, thus ensuring monthly release of their salaries which was an issue for them for years together.

Describing Jammu and Kashmir as a multi cultural and multi religious state, the Chief Minister said the state legislature, through a unanimous resolution, recently conveyed the sentiments of the people that they want the Kashmiri Pandits, back to their homes who had to migrate due to the unfortunate events of 1990s.

"Whatever needs to be done by the government would be done but our civil society has a fundamental role in ensuring that Kashmir continues to remain an abode of mutual brotherhood, tolerance and communal amity for which it has been praised time and again", she added.

Mehbooba said her government is working sincerely for empowering people at the grassroots.

She said the government has decided to hold elections to Panchayats and urban local bodies so that people themselves are involved in many of the developmental initiatives aimed at their welfare.

She said with the launch of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed Food Entitlement Scheme (MMSFES) a path-breaking step has been taken to provide food-grains at minimum rates to every citizen of the State.

The Chief Minister said education is witnessing fundamental changes and the government is working to remove the inherent deficiencies in the system and making it compatible with the global system.

She said, now onwards by enrolling in schools and colleges students must be able to hone their skills to ensure a secure future.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Pranab Mukherjee will address the nation today, on the eve of 68th Republic day.

President's address will be broadcasted from 7 pm on the network of All India Radio and telecasted in all channels of Doordarshan in English, followed by Hindi.

India would be celebrating its 68th republic day tomorrow. The preparation for the same is on full swing.

The crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyanwould will grace the Republic day celebrations, as the chief guest, this year.

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Deltin Group (part of Delta Corp ltd.), India's largest and most luxurious chain of Casinos and Hotels, launches its newest venture Casino Deltin Denzong in Gangtok, Sikkim.

Set 6,000 feet above sea level in one of Sikkim's most plush hotels "Denzong Regency", Casino Deltin Denzong is conveniently located and offers 169 gaming positions spread across two levels with breath taking views of the world's third highest peak-Mt. Kanchenjunga to all those seeking the celestial thrill.

From Asia's largest floating casino, Deltin Royale and India's first casino flotel - Deltin Caravela to this latest addition in Sikkim, Deltin Group is truly redefining the country's gaming and hospitality space.

Under the partnership, the hotel will lease the gaming space to Delta Corp Ltd., which, in turn, will be responsible for the day-to-day operations and management of the new casino.

In July 2016, Delta Corp had notified the stock exchange that it had secured a provisional license to operate a casino in Gangtok's Denzong Regency Hotel. The company had also informed the stock exchange that it had entered into a lease and license agreement with the Hotel to operate the casino. With this venture the company hopes to introduce International standards of gaming to the North Eastern market.

The inauguration of the casino saw the presence of Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Ugen Gyatso, while the state's Public Works Culture and Heritage Minister was the guest of honour.

Talking to the media during the launch, Ashish Kapadia, M.D, Delta Corp said, "Sikkim is one of the states which allow gambling, hence promises immense opportunities to operators. We are also hopeful that with this new setup we'll be able to grow our business manifolds."

AIGF, the industry body for Gaming industry in India, when contacted for comment conveyed their well wishes.

"With New York Times declaring Sikkim as one of the top 10 tourist destinations in the World, the launch of Deltin Denzong will go a long way in boosting the State's economy. The move is likely to boost tourism in the scenic north east state and is definitely going to be an aid in generating revenue for the state," said Roland Landers, CEO, AIGF.

Delta Corp Ltd is a fast-growing Indian company operating primarily in two business segments -Gaming and Hospitality. Delta Corp., through its subsidiaries, owns three casinos and two hotels in Goa, as well as a luxury hotel in Daman. It holds three of the five gaming licenses issued in Goa.

It is also the largest and only listed company in this space. Delta Corp Ltd. is listed on the BSE under the scrip code 532848 and on the NSE under the symbol 'DELTACORP'.

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Responding to latest remarks by Washington over the South China Sea, China urged the United States to be prudent in words and actions to avoid causing disruptions to the peace and stability of the region.

Recently, White House spokesperson Sean Spicer said that if the South China Sea islands are in international waters, the U.S. will defend international interests from being taken over by one country.

When asked about China's concern over the comment, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Tuesday, "The United States is not a party to the South China Sea disputes. We urge the U.S. side to respect the facts and be prudent in words and actions to avoid causing disruptions to peace and stability of the South China Sea."

She added that China's position on the South China Sea issue is clear, consistent and remains unchanged reiterating that Beijing has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and the adjacent waters.

"China upholds the freedom of navigation enjoyed by all countries under the international law, and peace and stability of the South China Sea," said Chunying.

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This last weekend, as tens of thousands of radical feminists marched in cities around the nation, their vulgar and nasty remarks received prime coverage by a media eager to feature their heinous and godless tirades. Their despicable comments were beamed to homes and mobile devices everywhere.

The profane shouts and signs of these self-oppressed radicals, declared their bodies were their own, and that government should keep its hands and policies off of their sacred reproductive organs. With clenched fists to the sky, these women affirmed to the world, and even to God Himself, that their bodies were sacrosanct, and that no one, could, should, or would diminish their womens rights!

But what struck me was the utter selfishness of these radical feminists. It was on full display for anyone honest enough to acknowledge their despicable self-absorption. As a godless media deified them, these radicals felt no shame in their self-exaltation.

Lost in all the rancor, protests, profanity and threats though, were the feminists lies. Also missing was one glaring truth.

The radical feminist's message could not be more aptly illustrated than with these tragic feminists attitudes (where My is the feminist and her is the innocent child in the womb):

"My body supersedes her life"

"My career displaces her future"

"My freedom destroys her existence"

This selfish, morally debased, and evil philosophy is what permeates the radical feminist movement. These feminists' rabid torrents of anger are the antithesis of what God designed and ordained in the beginning.

Sadly, the vile beliefs of these rabid feminists assault the tender sweetness of those that are disparaged in the debate. The innocence of these children emanate from:

The smoothness of her soft, untainted features and delicate skin.

The sweet sounds of his new lungs as he inhales the breath of life for the first time.

The tenderness of her astonished cries as she leaves the warmth and security of her mothers womb.

The fragility of that little child, who only desires the love and care of the one who chose to conceive him.

The very image of God, implanted in her DNA.

But tragically, the little ones whom Jesus blessed as the least of these are the very ones that tens of thousands of angry, abusive, blustering feminists will continue to condemn to a trash bag, incinerator or some Frankenstein-type health-care experiment.

What has been merely a choice to millions over the last 34 years since Roe vs Wade, has been a tragic death sentence for more than 55 million innocent children. It is the scourge of a nation that has turned its back on what God loves.

As Jesus hung on the cross, presenting His innocent life as a sacrifice for all, His death was the ultimate example of selflessness. He gave His perfect, sinless life in death, in order to offer life to all of sinful mankind.

Tragically though, the polar opposite of that selfless sacrifice by Jesus, is the abhorrent selfishness that is exemplified by radical feminists. In the name of choice, they will continue to demand reproductive rights and equality their unacknowledged code words for snuffing out the lives of those they deem unworthy of life.

Over the course of one week, the despicable acts and philosophy of the pro-death feminists will be juxtaposed with the peaceful and loving throngs of pro-life supporters, who will march this Friday, seeking merely to bring an end to the murderous act that was legalized by Roe v Wade in 1973. There could be no greater contrast in the messages of these two groups than the feminists versus those who are pro-life.

And there is no greater disparity between life and death, as God reminds all of mankind:

"I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live."

May our nation, and our people come to our senses and move diligently to protect the most innocent and fragile, and in so doing, may we find the mercy and grace that only a sovereign and forgiving God can extend.

Mark West

* * *

I find it tiring and very unhelpful when this is the response to those exercising their First Amendment rights. To lump every woman who marched, into "radical", "profane", or other categories to despise, Mr. West has tried to dismiss an important message by minimizing those who want their voices heard.

Can't we all figure out how to listen to others without agreeing to everything they may believe or espouse? And be very careful when bringing God into your arguments......you may find the hypocrisy in the form of the beam in your own eye.

For way too long the voices of our mothers, wives, sisters, and friends have been ignored or silenced. Why don't we try to listen first rather than judge the while based upon the few?

Todd Rudolph

* * *

Im pontificating and I hate it when people do that to me. So understand that and read on with the knowledge that you have been warned. Also, Im sort of slow between the ears so I get help from Google from time to time. Here are some cut and paste definitions (I did not edit):

Embryo- An unborn or unhatched offspring in the process of development, in particular a human offspring during the period from approximately the second to the eighth week after fertilization.

Fetus- An unborn offspring of a mammal, in particular an unborn human baby more than eight weeks after conception.

Human Being- A man, woman, or child of the species Homo sapiens, distinguished from other animals by superior mental development, power of articulate speech, and upright stance.

Person- A human being regarded as an individual.

People- Human beings in general or considered collectively.

You can Google it and see the same thing. Again, I didnt make any of that up or add or subtract. So with this info, one could logically arrive at a conclusion that pregnant Homo sapiens are female people who carry embryos and fetuses that are.(drum roll).. human. There was a Chattanoogan post earlier that loudly dictated otherwise and it yanked my chain but I was too chicken to reply. It reminded me of the time the woman surgeon general under Bill Clinton said "Americans just need to get over their love affair with the fetus." That's infuriating to me so now Im gonna opine. Sorry.

In my humble and agitated opinion, the abortion argument has devolved into breathtakingly blind arrogance, sanctimony and a good bit of selective ignorance on both sides of the table. Since religion makes people so mad (I can see that- nobody has more knowledge of exactly what God will or won't do than anybody else, Pope included) how about we remove that and politics from this and replace them with the concept of all of the uninhibited but responsible sex a man and a woman would care to have in the privacy of their own dang bedroom? But theres a catch, see. You gotta be responsible. And honest. And thats what has me twisted.

Today, there are contraceptive skin implants for women that last for years. Why dont they have something like that for men? Why is a man who gets a woman pregnant and then evaporates not guilty of a sex crime similar to rape? Im positive that at least 85 percent of the time its the guy whos convincing the girl that immediate and instant love is required and she capitulates. Then all of a sudden hes not in love anymore and he runs and he is the worst kind of slime bag under the sun. Why is that irresponsibility and dishonesty not the focus of this argument? Why cant we finally see that it's the guy! Throw his hind end in jail! If we're gonna have sex, and we most certainly are, why can't we be smart? Why do sexually stupid people, men and women, get a free legal pass?

Nooooo. We have this thing all skewed around backwards and its now okay for women to walk around in vagina costumes screaming incredibly ugly things right in front of little kids. Its also very much okay for somebody to say that God is going to take a girl in a predicament that a guy put her in and whos making a decision under incredible duress and throw her straight to the flames of hell if she listens to a worm tongue. How about this? All women are forgiven, they've paid enough, and dead beats get to wear ankle bracelets and hand cuffs. If I were king, that's what I'd do.

Getting back to the definitions, the fact remains that once the deed has been done and a spectacular explosion of cell division begins, its too late to call the result anything other than human. Mess with it with the clear and honest understanding that regardless of what state its in, human is exactly what it is.

Now having said all of that, God bless every woman. Period. I love all women pretty much unconditionally, especially my women. I don't have a high opinion on many, many guys and they don't deserve any better. But then again, that doesn't mean I don't get mad at some girls.

Dont you women be telling me that an embryo aint human. And march all you want to for whatever cause, that's your American responsibility, but dont go around in public dressed like a private part, follicles and all, screaming vulgarities. Do so and know that this dummy and millions of others like me have concluded that you are certifiably bat spit crazy and you have won no argument.

Savage Glascock, Sr.




India's largest automaker Tata Motors has unleashed the future of mass public transportation at its Pune facility thus reiterating the company's commitment towards smart and green technology and mobility solutions.

Tata has launched the 'Starbus Electric 9m', the 'Starbus Electric 12m' and the 'Starbus Hybrid 12m' buses designed, developed and powered by alternate fuels, to meet the current and future passenger transportation needs of smart cities.

Taking a leap, the company also showcased the country's first Fuel Cell Bus (12m), LNG Powered bus (12m), and 18m Articulated Bus, which is developed indigenously, and are economically viable 'Made in India' solutions.

"We are delighted to launch our new hybrid and electric buses today. The new range of future ready buses will continue to play an active role in mass public transportation, with a commitment towards striking the right balance between sustainable growth and profitability," said Executive Director Commercial Vehicles Tata Motors, Ravindra Pisharody.

"We will work closely with government and regulatory authorities to intensify its efforts at tackling pollution, focusing on building alternative transport fuels and infrastructure, for smart cities of tomorrow," added Pisharody.

Being the best suited to cater to customers' needs with an entire gamut of day-to-day mass passenger transport solutions, Tata continues to be a leader in this segment not just by setting technological benchmarks.

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During his telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, U.S. President Donald Trump has said that he looks forward to hosting the former later this year in Washington.

During the call late on Tuesday night, President Trump emphasized that the United States considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world, according to a statement from the White House.

The two leaders also discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India in broad areas such as economy and defence.

They also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia.

President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the United States and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism.

It was the first conversation between the two sides after the new U.S. head of state took office.

They first spoke in November just after Trump's election win.

Prime Minister Modi is the fifth foreign leader to hold talks with Trump after he was sworn in as the 45th U.S. President on Friday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
United States Vice-President Mike Pence has announced the appointment of (Retd.) Colonel Andrea Thompson as his National Security Advisor (NSA).

He has also appointed her as the Deputy Assistant to President Donald Trump.

"Colonel Thompson brings a wealth of knowledge as a career military intelligence officer and combat veteran to her role as my National Security Advisor," said Vice President Pence.

"She has a deep understanding of the complex challenges that face the United States at this juncture in history and is uniquely qualified to serve in this important role," an official release stated.

Thompson brings more than 25 years of service in the U.S. military to her new role, including deployment on multiple combat tours such as- Intelligence Directorate/J2 Chief of Staff in Afghanistan, Senior Intelligence Officer for Multi-National Division (North) in Iraq, and additional tours in Iraq, Bosnia and operational deployments around the .

Thompson previously served as the NSA for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, the Executive Officer to the Under Secretary of the Army and the Senior Military Advisor to the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.

Thompson graduated with honors from the University of South Dakota, Long Island University and National Defense University.

She previously served as the director of the McChrystal Group Leadership Institute and is the co-author of the book 'Achieving Victory in Iraq: Countering an Insurgency'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav on Wednesday said he had not made any demeaning statement with regard to women.

"This is an image that vote and daughter, both are a matter of honour. I didn't say anything demeaning. Everyone's perspective is different but those who are taking it wrongly are misleading others as well. It is not appropriate," Yadav said.

He added that as daughters are loved by their parents, likewise the vote is also as valuable to the people. Only then will society and the nation flourish under a good government.

"Votes are like engines of the Constitution, they are the driving force. The society's wellbeing depends on votes. Therefore, love and affection towards the vote and daughters should be similar," he said.

Yadav had made a comment on daughters at a public gathering in Patna. He said that "the honour of a vote is more important than that of a daughter," raising the hackles of many.

Yadav was speaking on the occasion of the birth anniversary of former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least 150 inmates broke out of a prison in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, following a riot that set fire to part of the prison.

The riot, that took place in Bauru on Tuesday, is in no way related to a recent spate of violent incidents at prisons in other parts of the country, Military Police Col. Flavio Kitazume said at a press conference, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the state's prison administration agency, police succeeded in recapturing about 100 of the escapees.

Since the start of the year, more than 130 inmates have been killed in prison clashes, which authorities have blamed on organised crime rings, but observers have at least partly blamed on overcrowding in these prisons.

The prison in Bauru is not as overcrowded as some other jails, according to public news agency Agencia Brasil, housing 1,427 inmates in a facility designed to hold 1,124.

Prison officials said inmates were rebelling against the "strict discipline" at the facility.

--IANS

pgh/

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Three Bangladeshi nationals were arrested for living here without passports and visas, Gurugram police said on Wednesday.

In view of the Republic Day celebrations on January 26, police have been conducting special raids, and the trio was arrested from separate parts of the city on Tuesday night.

"The accused were identified as Babu Sheikh, 32, and 22-year-old Alamin alias Alam and Hiqmad Ali," a senior police officer told IANS.

Sheikh is a resident of Rangpur city of Bangladesh, while Alam and Ali hail from the Daulatpur Khulna area.

The accused were on Wednesday produced before the designated court which remanded them to fourteen days in judicial custody.

--IANS

pradeep/sm/bg

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At least 15 people are killed and more than 20 injured on Wednesday in an Al Shabaab militant attack on a hotel here, Somali police sources told the media.

After detonating a car bomb at the entrance of the popular Dayah hotel, the home-grown militants stormed the interior, shooting indiscriminately before detonating another bomb, and taking several hostages, Efe news reported.

The report said that there were many victims, including journalists, and the toll in the attack could rise.

The police here said the assault was over and that the provisional death toll was 15, but many of those critically injured were being treated in hospitals.

A government minister who was at the hotel at the time of the attack said there were a large number of members of parliament meeting there due to the electoral process going on.

A Somali member of parliament, who was also inside the hotel when the militants entered, told the media that many people hid to protect themselves from being shot.

In photographs supplied to the media, people could be seen assisting those injured amid rubble outside the hotel, at the scene of the car bomb attack.

The UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (Unsom) condemned the attack on its official Twitter page, saying: "Violent extremists will never triumph in Somalia."

Al-Shabaab, an offshoot of Al Qaeda in Somalia, claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack in the city, where in recent months the group has carried out several attacks that have claimed civilian lives.

Hotels and restaurants here have been constant targets for the terror group, which has threatened to intensify attacks during the country's presidential election.

The elections have been slated for various dates but have so far yet to take place.

Hundreds of African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) soldiers have been killed in recent months in targeted attacks by the group.

The Islamist militia is fighting to establish a Wahhabi Islamic state in Somalia, where it controls vast swathes of territory in the southern and central region.

--IANS

in/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP National General Secretary P. Muraleedhar Rao here on Wednesday called on Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam and explained him the escalating violence unleashed by the CPI-M workers on their cadres.

"The violence in Kannur has spread to Palakkad and reached the state capital, where people moving towards the BJP are being targeted and attacked," said Rao to reporters after meeting the Governor.

Rao, who arrived here from New Delhi on Tuesday visited the homes of their cadres who were brutally murdered in Kannur and to the home of a Muslim lady attacked by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) earlier.

At least four Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers were brutally murdered in the assembly constituency of Pinarayi Vijayan after he took over as Chief Minister in May last year.

"The young children of Santhosh Kumar who was murdered by the CPI-M activists is now asking what their father did wrong. We have now realised that Vijayan is not serious in the assurances that was given during the peace talks," said Rao.

Replying to a question if the situation in Kannur warrants deployment of central forces to maintain peace, Rao said that depends on how Vijayan deals with the issue.

"As things stand, Vijayan appears to be building a case and this came even after we (BJP) gave a directive to its cadres to show restraint, even at extreme situations. The law and order situation is grave and Vijayan has been an absolute failure. All options in the Constitution would be explored," Rao added.

State BJP President Kummanem Rajasekheran has time and again called the need for the deployment of central forces in Kannur.

--IANS

sg/sm

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The Congress on Wednesday complained to the Election Commission against BJP's Uttar Pradesh president Keshav Prasad Maurya for allegedly raking up the issue of "Ram Temple" at Ayodhya.

The complaint was submitted to the poll panel by Congress; Legal and Human Rights Department Secretary K.C. Mittal.

"He (Maurya) categorically stated that grand temple will be built in Ayodhya if BJP secures an outright majority. He also stated Ram Mandir is a subject of faith," it said, adding Maurya had also said that the temple will not be built in two months but after the elections.

The complaint also said that the statement made by Maurya has flouted the instructions issued by the Commission, and demanded stern action against him as well as derecognition of the Bharatiya Janata Party under the symbol order, and withdrawal of the lotus symbol granted to them.

--IANS

sid/vd

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Delhi University got its first monumental flag on Wednesday when Naveen Jindal, President of Flag Foundation of India (FFOI), hoisted a 100 ft-high tricolour at the Hansraj College here.

The hoisting of the monumental flag marked the 13th year of the verdict of the Supreme Court, which stated in 2004 that hoisting the flag is the fundamental right of every citizen.

Although national flags are installed in many colleges across nation, the one installed in Hansraj College is the only monumental flag in any central university in India.

The 30x45 feet flag, installed on a 100-ft pole, is second only to one in Connaught Place (CP), which is hoisted at a lofty height of 207 ft, with a flag measuring 60x90 ft.

A monumental flag is different from other flags in that it is hoisted at a height of at least 100 ft, and unlike the latter need not be taken down at sunset. Such flags are illuminated from below after the sunset to keep its august appearance intact even after dark.

"When I went to study in the US, I witnessed a pervasion of American flags everywhere, cars, houses, offices etc. I wondered why we could not do it in India," Jindal, who is also an alumnus of the college and a Member of Parliament, said in an address to the college students.

"After coming back we approached the court pleading Freedom of Expression since hoisting the national flag is a matter of expressing one's sentiments. The verdict came in our favour and the apex court agreed with our contention," he said.

This was the 65th monumental flag hoisted by the FFOI with the first being raised at Kaithal in Haryana at the height of 207 ft, similar to the one in CP, in 2009.

"The 'Tiranga' (tricolour) unites us in diversity; it is every citizen's pride," he added urging all Indians to take pride in displaying the national flag.

-- IANS

vn/vgu/vm

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Our too-hot-for-print 2017 Sex Survey results are in, and all will be revealed at Alibi Fetish Events: Kinky Curiosities party at Sister on February 13. Here's the first tease of what's to come!

It is our pleasure to welcome back the dynamic duo, Rip Williams and Shawna Cory! They brought a compelling energy that spellbound the denizens of the Fetish Formal, and we're delighted to have them back to perform a suspension performance at Kinky Curiosities.

Rip Williams is the long-time host of Guerrilla Photo Group (GPG), a frequent winner of the Best of Burque Best Arts Event and a group designed to hone the skills of photographers, models, art directors and more in a collaborative, nurturing environment. Recently, GPG partnered with Cabaret Audacity to help train photographers to shoot performances at the Vaudeville Open Mic every third Wednesday at Sidewinders Cabaret Theater.

A photographer in his own right, Williams has won Best of Burque's Best Photographer category more times than this writer wanted to go back and research. In addition to his work developing the visual chroniclers of the next generation, he also hosts two get-togethers per month at his Downtown studio for people who are interested in the art of rope bondage.

Shawna serves as the art director for GPG, curating (along with her team) their quarterly art shows. Shawna is also an accomplished photographer, and I had the pleasure of meeting her when we were both working with the Bella Donna Burlesque Review.

Rip, Shawna and their team will be weaving their magic on the main stage at Kinky Curiosities, headlining the demo portion of our evening.



Evil Elvis Photography

Lexianna

Mistress Lexianna brought style, class and delicious sadism to the Dungeon of Visual Delights at the Fetish Formal, and we are delighted to bring her and her cadre of favored playmates to our team at Kinky Curiosities. Do you need further introduction? Let us encourage you to ask very politely.There's more: Advance tickets are available at the Alibi Bucks site , and if we sell out they won't be available at the door. We're going to give you the best Monday night of your year. Don't miss out.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said that electoral reforms, inclusing simultaneous general and state elections, are possible if the Election Commission (EC) takes an initiative and political parties reach a consensus.

"There has been some talk about simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies in political circles. If the initiative is taken by the Election Commission and political parties arrive at a consensus, reform is possible," Mukherjee said at the 7th National Voters' Day celebrations here.

He said such a move can reduce inconvenience in terms of expenditure and management.

Mukherjee conferred national awards for best electoral practices for 2016 on 12 officers.

The President said he was confident the Election Commission can maintain its existing standards and continues to improvise and evolve.

He said the EC has made a unique contribution to strengthening the bedrock of Indian democracy. "We can take legitimate pride in the fact that we are the largest democracy in the world."

On the occasion, the President gave election photo identity cards (EPICs) to five new young voters and felicitated six future voters.

The National Voters' Day has been celebrated since 2011 on January 25, the day Election Commission was set up in 1950.

--IANS

mak/tsb/vm

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The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has sought an explanation from the countrys government over the lethargic attitude of authorities in bringing back two teenagers who were arrested in India after the Uri attack.

The party on Tuesday submitted a call attention notice in the National Assembly Secretariat over Faisal Awan and his friend Ahsan Khursheed, both residents of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, who were arrested on September 21 in relation with the attack on the Indian Army base in Uri town of Jammu and Kashmir.

At least 19 soldiers were killed in the attack blamed on Pakistan.

"The concerned ministry officials should share the reasons behind the lethargic attitude of Pakistani authorities in recovering the two," the News Nation cited the notice as saying.

Both have reportedly been declared innocent by Indian authorities, yet no serious efforts have been extended by Pakistani authorities to ensure their release and safe return to the country.

"This is a serious matter and needs to be discussed immediately on the floor of the house," it said.

--IANS

py/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Wednesday asserted that construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya was on the agenda of the BJP, a day after the party's Uttar Pradesh unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya spoke of the temple but retracted later.

"Ayodhya mein Ram (Ram in Ayodhya), Yuvano ko kaam (work for youth), Kisano ko sahi dam (right price to farmers), mehengai pe lagam (control on prices), hataa do brashtachari badnam (remove corrupt). This is the way the government is moving forward," said Rupani.

Addressing a rally of farmers in Karamsad town near Anand in central Gujarat, he stressed that Ram Temple in Ayodhya and other things were on "motto of the party".

Rupani was here in connection with the state's Republic Day celebrations which will be held in the country's milk capital Anand, continuing the tradition of holding the R-day function at different district headquarters started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was Chief Minister.

Maurya had on Tuesday said "a grand temple will be built in Ayodhya" if his party came to power. He retracted later.

Rupani also said that it was his government which has worked the most for the welfare of farmers and provided them the right price for their produce.

He said his government was also working for youth in the state and would provide 67,000 government jobs this year. "Of these, we have already employed 30,000 youths," Rupani added. He dedicated over Rs 100 crore public works for the Kheda district where Karamsad is located.

--IANS

desai/vd

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The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the CBI on a plea seeking a probe into allegations of BSNL's illegal payments to a private contractor that allegedly caused a loss of about Rs 1,000 crore to the exchequer.

A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal sought response from the Central Bureau of Investigation within four weeks and posted the matter for April 26.

The Public Interest Litigation filed by a society, Telecom Watchdog, had sought direction for the CBI to investigate a complaint filed with the agency on March 11, 2016.

The petitioner had alleged that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd officials released unauthorised payments to its contractor by fabricating a clause of the tender document, causing loss to the exchequer.

Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Prashant Bhushan alleged that there was a criminal conspiracy between the BSNL officials and a Chinese contractor having its office in Gurugram, Haryana.

The plea said the BSNL officials connived with the Chinese company and forged official records of the BSNL by introducing a non-existent clause so that undue payments of about Rs 1,000 crore could be released to the company.

"BSNL is a financially stressed company with reccurring losses year after year and its officials, instead of protecting its revenues being trustee of the company, had engaged in its loot to favour a private company in violation of the tender conditions," said the plea.

--IANS

gt/in/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, who has played different roles ranging from a gangster to a navyal officer in his career, says that rather than preparing for a role himself, he believes in the director's preparation.

"I don't prepare myself for any role. I think my directors prepare more than me. I believe that I would not be able to compete with my director's preparation because he is doing one film a year while I am doing more. Therefore, my common sense says that I only follow his preparation of the role for me. I don't act smart in front of my director," Akshay said at the press conference of "Jolly LLB 2" on Wednesday .

In the forthcoming film "Jolly LLB 2" Akshay plays a lawyer. The "Khiladi" star said director Subhash Kapoor had all the case files and had a clear idea how a courtroom should look like.

"Everything was prepared. I just followed what he said and make sure I excel in that That's the only preparation I did," he added.

The courtroom comedy-drama revolves around a struggling lawyer who wants to pursue his dream of becoming a big and famous lawyer.

The 49-year-old expressed that people haven't lost faith in the judiciary but are disappointed due to the delay in making the judgement.

"Actually the problem lies in the time taken. But lawyers and judges are giving their level best. Math says there are more than 3 crore cases which are pending because there are only 21,000 judges," he said.

The film stars Akshay Kumar, Huma Qureshi, Saurabh Shukla and Annu Kapoor in pivotal roles. The film, which is a sequel to 2013 film "Jolly LLB", which had Arshad Warsi playing the titular role, is scheduled to release on February 10.

--IANS

iv/vgu/vm

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India and the UAE on Wednesday elevated their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership while signing 14 agreements, including on energy security and defence cooperation, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the Gulf nation as "an important partner in India's growth story".

A much anticipated agreement on a joint investment fund, after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) committed $75 billion to India's infrastructure sector, however, was left to be signed.

Though it was already agreed that the relationship between the two countries would be elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Wednesday's agreement is a general framework agreement which highlights the areas of bilateral cooperation identified under the comprehensive strategic partnership as agreed upon in the high level joint statements issued in August 2015 during Modi's visit to the UAE and in February 2016 during Sheikh Mohamed's visit to India, according to information released by the External Affairs Ministry.

In a joint address to the media with visiting Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan here following delegation-level talks, Modi said the UAE was one of India's "most valued partners and a close friend in an important region of the world".

"We regard the UAE as an important partner in India's growth story," Modi said. "I particularly welcome the UAE's interest in investing in India's infrastructure sector."

Stating that work was on to connect the institutional investors of the UAE with India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, he said the Gulf nation "can benefit by linking with our growth in manufacturing and services".

"We can jointly tap abundant opportunities in our initiatives aimed at building digital economy, human capital and smart urbanisation in India.

"We are also encouraging and facilitating business and industry of both countries to increase the quality and quantum bilateral trade."

Stating that the energy partnership was "an important bridge in our linkages", Modi said he and Sheikh Mohamed "discussed ways to transform our energy ties in a strategic direction through specific projects and proposals".

"In this regard, long-term supply contracts and establishment of joint ventures in the energy sector can be beneficial avenues," he said.

The UAE contributes significantly to India's energy security and was the fifth largest supplier of crude oil in 2015-16.

Among the agreements signed on Wednesday was one between Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on storage and management of oil at strategic facilities in India. This agreement aims to establish a framework for the storage of crude oil by ADNOC in India and to further strengthen the strategic relationship between the two countries in the field of energy.

Modi said security and defence cooperation was another area that "have added growing new dimensions to our relationship".

"We have agreed to expand our useful cooperation in the field of defence to new areas including in the maritime domain.

"The MoU (memorandum of understanding) on defence cooperation, signed earlier today, will help steer our defence engagements in the right direction."

The MoU aims to establish cooperation in the identified fields of defence manufacturing and technology, including through studies, research, development, innovation and cooperation between public and private sector institutions of the two countries. The two sides will cooperate in areas of armaments, defence industries and transfer of technology.

Modi also called for growing engagement between the two countries to counter violence and extremism.

On his part, Sheikh Mohamed said that it was "refreshing to see how the Indian leadership is keen to strengthening relations with the UAE".

"Fostering our relationship with India is a strategic choice for the UAE under the leadership of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, especially in light of our identical views on regional and international issues," he stated.

Sheikh Mohamed also said that "the UAE with its unique development experience and Islamic and Arab background and India with its inimitable and successful development experience and its unique model of coexistence, can work together to push for peace and stability in Asia and the Middle East".

The Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, who arrived here on Tuesday on a three-day visit to India, will be the Chief Guest at India's Republic Day celebrations on Thursday.

Earlier on Wednesday, the visiting dignitary was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Meanwhile, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world's tallest building, was lit up in the saffron, while and geen of the national flag to mark the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's visit to India for Republic Day. The UAE is also home to around 2.6 million expatriate Indians.

--IANS

ab/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An adviser to Iran's supreme leader said that he believed the Syrian peace talks in Astana have reinforced the 'legitimacy' of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

"The Astana conference showed that all sides, both Turkey and its affiliated groups and even the countries which are not present there, have accepted the Syrian government's legitimacy directly or indirectly," efe news cited a report of Iranian news agency FARS that quoted Ali Akbar Velayati, Ali Khamenei's top aide.

Among the countries absent from the meeting, that ended on Tuesday in Astana, are Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which have financed the Syrian armed opposition and strongly advocated the departure of al-Assad from power.

Velayati considered the outcome of Astana's dialogue to be positive since he predicted it could not have been expected that all the disputed issues in Syria would be resolved in this meeting.

Talks between the Syrian government and the armed opposition concluded on Tuesday with the consolidation of the cease-fire and establishing a mechanism for its supervision, paving the way for the resumption of political talks on February 8 in Geneva.

Russia, Iran and Turkey -- the guarantors of this trilateral mechanism -- also pledged jointly to fight the Islamic State and Fateh al-Sham Front, the former al-Qaeda affiliate.

--IANS

qd/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday asked various stakeholders if it is possible to intercept all the drains which discharge grossly polluting sewage in the river Ganga, and if not, what other solution is there.

A total of 86 drains pollute the river by discharging effluents into it and its tributaries between Uttarakhand's Haridwar and Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur.

The tribunal ordered the stakeholders, which includes Union Water Resource and Ganga Rejuvenation Ministry, the Uttar Pradesh government and both central and state agencies to tell as of how many drains meeting the Ganga and its tributaries will be diverted and the number of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) required to treat the effluent being discharged.

The NGT, posing several questions, also asked the if the plan to intercept all the drains is even possible at the first place and if not, then what is the solution.

According to a report published last year by Central Pollution Control Board, over 800 million litres per day (MLD) of untreated sewage coming from over 1,000 Seriously Polluting Industries (SPI) is poured into Ganga between Haridwar and Kanpur.

"Out of total 86 drains... which of the drain require interception and their effluent to be pumped to another drains... How many STPs are required and are operational...are those enough... if not then what is the solution," a bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar asked the stakeholders.

Out of 86, about 30 storm drains flow directly into the river.

The orders came a day after the Supreme Court transferred the 32-year old plea on cleaning the river Ganga to the Tribunal.

The NGT which is already hearing the matter partially, on Wednesday it said that from February 6 (next hearing) onwards, it will hear the case on day to day basis.

In a hearing earlier this month, NGT asked the stakeholders including Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board and Jal Nigam whether the STPs existing in the Segment B of Phase 1 (Haridwar to Unnao), are capable of treating effluents.

On Wednesday, the Tribunal also asked if it would be advisable to direct new construction of STP and Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs).

It asked the stakeholder to submit details on the issues till next hearing and asked the senior officials to be present on the next date of hearing.

The Tribunal several times lamented the the stakeholders for the lack of information and planning. In October, 2016 NGT was told by the stakeholder that they don't even know as of how many drains are polluting the river.

There are over 35 distilleries, 442 tanneries, 63 textile mills, 67 pulp and paper plants, and 28 chemical industries along the river stretch between Haridwar to Kanpur.

--IANS

kd/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rome, Jan 25 (IANS/AKI) Italy's Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled that most of a contested electoral law was valid in a verdict that could lead to early elections this year.

"The electoral law can be immediately applied," the court said in a statement.

The court ruling upheld the law's provision that any party which took at least 40 percent of the vote should win an automatic parliamentary majority, but said that national elections could not be held over two rounds.

The law had first been drawn up to apply only to the lower house of parliament as Italy's upper house Senate was due to be abolished as an elected body under constitutional reforms that were resoundingly rejected by voters in a referendum last month.

Italian Premier Matteo Renzi resigned after his crushing referendum defeat but remains secretary of the ruling centre-left Democratic Party and has said he wants snap elections.

President Sergio Mattarella held off calling early elections until after the Constitutional Court ruling.

A national vote is not slated until early 2018 but opposition parties including the Five-Star Movement - Italy's largest opposition group - and the anti-immigrant Northern League are also calling for early polls.

--IANS/AKI

vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Japan in 2016 recorded a trade surplus for the first time in six years, thanks to the low price of oil, according to figures released by the Japanese Finance Ministry on Wednesday.

The data released shows a trade surplus of 4.07 trillion yen ($33.329 billion) for the world's third-largest economy, up from a 2.79 trillion yen deficit the previous year, EFE news reported.

Japanese exports fell by seven per cent to 70.03 trillion yen in 2016, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance, while imports fell by 16 per cent to 65.96 trillion yen.

The ministry said exports to the US fell 7.1 per cent to 14.14 trillion yen on a custom-cleared basis, while imports were down 9.3 per cent to 7.31 trillion yen.

China-bound exports retreated to 12.36 trillion yen, down 6.5 per cent, in the reporting period, while imports fell 12.4 per cent to 17.02 trillion yen, Xinhua news agency reported.

Exports to the European Union were relatively flat at 7.98 trillion yen and imports dropped to 8.14 trillion yen, a retreat of 5.7 per cent, in the reporting year, said the ministry.

Although down from figures posted for 2015, hydrocarbons represented a fifth of overall imports last year, with a value of 12.04 billion yen.

Since the decommissioning of nuclear power plants in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in 2011, the import of fuels to generate electricity in thermal power plants has weighed significantly on the Japanese trade balance.

However, lower international oil prices have contributed to reduce this burden, and have been one of the main factors in Japan regaining a trade surplus, despite its dependence on foreign energy.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A majority of County Commission members said Wednesday they plan to waive - at least for this year - an unexpected fee from the assessor's office that had officials of local cities in a dither.

Commissioner Tim Boyd said the county had traditionally paid the full rate on the property reappraisals that are required every four years.

He said some smaller cities were looking at having to raise taxes to cover the unexpected fee.

New Assessor Marty Haynes said he first learned of a 1988 law setting up the charge to cities while attending an assessor orientation. He said he was told that "Hamilton County is not in compliance with state law."

Assessor Haynes said, "I was as shocked as anyone," but he began sending bills for the total $772,674 charge.

He said he later learned that about six of the counties waive the charge, and over 50% charge it. Under the law, counties can enter an agreement with cities on covering the reappraisal amount.

Commissioner Boyd said the county had been paying the fee for almost three decades and has the money budgeted for this one.

He said the resolution, that will be voted on next Wednesday, "will give us time to discuss this more thoroughly over the next four years."

The next required reappraisal in 2021. The local assessor's office has an ongoing reappraisal process in place.

County Mayor Jim Coppinger said he had not lobbied commissioners either way on the issue.

But he warned that costs are increasingly piling onto the county with cities backing away from many payments they once made. He noted that the county had to pick up $11 million in unexpected costs when the city of Chattanooga chose to end the 1964 sales tax agreement soon after he went into office.

A number of officials of local cities attended the commission meeting.

Robert Cothran, Soddy Daisy mayor, said, "We are strongly opposed to paying this. It would put a real burden on us."

Davis Lundy, who has a contract to represent several small cities, said the charge "should be permanently waived."

The city of Chattanooga, which has the largest share of the charge, did not have a representative at the meeting.

Assessor Haynes said it was difficult bearing the bad news to city officials just after going into the assessor's office. He said, "I've sure made some folks upset."
Ending days of speculation, the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) on Wednesday announced it will not contest assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

"JD-U will not contest in Uttar Pradesh to ensure the defeat of communal forces by minimizing the chances of split in secular votes," JD-U national spokesperson K.C Tyagi told the media.

Tyagi said the party took the decision after its leaders agreed "not to split the anti-BJP votes".

But he expressed displeasure over the failure to forge a Bihar-like Grand Alliance in Uttar Pradesh.

Last year, Nitish Kumar addressed nearly half a dozen public meetings in Uttar Pradesh with the hope of contesting the assembly polls.

--IANS

ik/sm/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Loosely inspired from the 2013 Korean film "Broken", which was based on a novel written by the Japanese writer Keigo Higashino, "Kaabil" is a morality tale wrapped in a fascinating revenge drama.

Rohit Bhatnagar (Hrithik Roshan) is a blind dubbing artist, whose newly-wed wife, Supriya (Yami Gautam) a pianist, who is also blind, is raped by Amit Shellar (Rohit Roy), the younger brother of local MLA Madhav Rao Shellar (Ronit Roy) and his friend Wasim, the son of a butcher.

When the couple approach police to file a complaint, they are rebuked and turned away. Disappointed they return home only to realise that the perpetrators of the crime, are emboldened to repeat the crime. Soon, Supriya takes the drastic step of ending her life.

With no hope left for justice, Rohit considers vengeance, as his only recourse and so he throws an open challenge to Inspector Amol Chaube (Narendra Jha) and his assistant that he would take revenge for his wife's death by executing the perpetrators. He tells them that his ingeniously planned execution would neither be detected nor solved. In other words, he would commit a perfect crime. How he goes about keeping his word, forms the crux of the narrative.

A three-way game of cat and mouse chase ensues between Rohit, as he hunts the culprits, and the police hunting him. The drama and action that blurs the line between the victim and the perpetrators of crime, is exciting. But the script lacks the chutzpah of an engrossing, nail-biting thriller.

With a blend of romance and thrill designed to suit the Indian audience, the story adapted by Vijay Kumar Mishra, is engrossing. But unfortunately, the pace of the story telling is its undoing. Also, the tell-and-show technique used for the plot progression, robs the audience of its thrill factor.

On the directorial front, the first hour focuses on the romance in a perfunctory manner and thus makes the inciting moment seem forced. From the very word go you are compelled to anticipate trouble from Amit and his friend Wasim. Also most of the hero's journey is dealt superficially. The complex issues are smoothened with cinematic liberties.

The second hour can't sustain the initial energy, as the story focus becomes diffused and an excessive flashbacks and time jumps cause some narrative confusion.

On the performance front, while Yami and Hrithik are charming, their portrayal of a blind couple, with unblinking eyes and robotic movements is far from natural, thus making the characters seem unconvincing.

Ronit Roy in his introductory scene tries to emulate Nana Patekar as the Marathi-speaking MLA, but he soon runs out of steam. Rohit Roy playing his brash younger brother is effortless.

Narendra Jha as Inspector Chaube and his assistant have their moments to shine.

The music is nothing extraordinary and the item number "Haseeno Ka Deewana", a remix of the yesteryear song from the 1981 film "Yaarana", is just run-of-the-mill.

The action sequences are well-choreographed.

Overall, the film does not offer any tension nor a gripping portrait of a grieving husband. It is a mediocre fare at its best.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said that the telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump was an indication enough that ties between the two nations would be "empowered".

"They spoke about enhanced defence. This conversation will really empower ties," the Defence Minister said in an interaction with media during his visit to the National Cadet Corps' Republic Day Camp here.

"Terrorism was a major concern in their talk. It is the issue that we have taken with so many countries. We want the world to come together against terror," he said.

Prime Minister Modi had a telephonic conversation with the newly-elected US President Donald Trump, late on Tuesday night, and had informed about it on Twitter.

--IANS

mg/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rome, Jan 25 (IANS/AKI) Italian authorities have expelled a Moroccan who allegedly wanted to "slit American and English throats", fomented Islamic extremism and plotted a terror attack on national soil, the Interior Ministry said pm Wednesday.

The unnamed 38-year-old Moroccan was put on a flight to the Moroccan city of Casablanca, bringing to 140 the number of suspects expelled from Italy in the past two years, the ministry stated.

The suspect is accused of radicalising a group of foreign prisoners at a jail in the northwest Italian city of Ivrea and threatening to stage a terror attack in Ivrea, according to the ministry.

The man had openly declared his wish to "slit American and English throats" upon his release from jail, where he was doing time for "common crimes", the ministry said.

The Moroccan's deportation followed an investigation into the radicalisation of Muslim prisoners in Italian jails, the ministry said.

--IANS/AKI

mr/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Talks in Kazakhstan over the Syrian crisis have been successful, with an outcome that will facilitate a political settlement in the war-torn country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"The results are extremely important as they take the settlement efforts to a qualitatively new level," Lavrov told the State Duma -- the lower house of parliament, Xinhua reported.

He said Russia has invited representatives from the Syrian political opposition to a meeting in Moscow on Friday to brief them about the Astana talks.

The Kremlin also hailed the talks as paving the way for the resumption of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

"Of course, it is a success. Substantial support has been provided for the Geneva process," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti news agency.

The Syrian talks were held in Astana on Monday and Tuesday, with Russia, Turkey and Iran as guarantors.

Staffan de Mistura, a special United Nations envoy, also participated in the meeting, while the US ambassador to Kazakhstan was present as an observer.

In Astana, a direct contact was established between the Syrian government and armed groups of the opposition, Lavrov told the State Duma.

The participants reached consensus that the Syrian crisis has no military solution. "I believe it essential that the armed opposition agreed to this," Lavrov said.

The armed opposition had agreed "in principle" to join the Syrian army and the Russian Airspace Force to launch strikes against the Islamic State, he added.

In addition, Russia, Iran and Turkey promised in Astana to create a trilateral committee to monitor truce violations in Syria on a daily basis.

--IANS

ahm/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday dedicated his Padma Vibhushan award to the farmers of the country and thanked them for making India self reliant.

"Thank you very much for conferring me with the 'Padma Vibhushan' award," Pawar wrote in a series of tweets after his name was announced for the Padma Vibhushan award, India's second-highest civilian honour.

President Pranab Mukherjee named 89 people for the country's top civilian awards, including seven Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri awards, on the occasion of country's 68th Republic Day.

"I dedicate this award to farmers whose relentless toil made this nation self reliant in food production," said Pawar, also the Nationalist Congress Party President and a former Maharashtra Chief Minister

He also thanked the people of the state's Latur, Osmanabad and Mumbai who showed indomitable spirit during distress.

"And also to the administrative machinery for their untiring efforts in bringing normalcy at all the locations," Pawar said.

"I salute my voters who consistently and continuously showed faith in me for 50 years," he said.

--IANS

aks/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday hailed the Election Commission for playing a key role "in our democracy".

"We greet the Election Commission and salute their important role in our democracy," he said in a message to mark the National Voters Day.

"Elections are celebrations of democracy. They communicate the will of the people, which is supreme in a democracy," he added.

The Prime Minister urged every voter to exercise his franchise and called upon the young to register as voters when they turn 18.

The National Voters Day is celebrated to mark the birth of the Election Commission on January 25, 1950, a day before India became a constitutional Republic.

--IANS

rs/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP MP Vinay Katiyar on Wednesday courted controversy for his alleged sexist remarks against Congress star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, inviting flak from her and the Congress over the comments that she said exposed the "BJP's mindset".

Katiyar's comments, which came a day after Priyanka was named among the Congress' star campaigners for poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, attracted condemnation from his own party as well as the Delhi Commission for Women.

The BJP leader said his party had "prettier star campaigners" (than Priyanka).

"It doesn't make any difference. We have far prettier women, heroines as star campaigners," he said in a remark that was seen as underestimating Priyanka's ability to attract voters through her political acumen and rating her on the basis of looks.

Katiyar, however, did a volte face later and blamed the media for distorting his comments.

"I have not made any sexist remarks. I have been misquoted by the media," he told various news channels.

Even as Priyanka laughed off the remarks, she said Katiyar has only exposed the BJP's mindset towards women.

"And if that is all he sees in my colleagues who are such strong, brave and beautiful women that have battled through all sorts of hardships to get where they are, then he makes me laugh even more. Because he exposes the BJP's mindset towards the better half of the population of India," she said.

Her husband Robert Vadra expressed shock at the "misogynist and atrocious remarks" and sought a public apology.

"This exposes the shameful mindset of some of our political leaders. We all need to respect women and accept them as equals instead of commoditising and objectifying them. As a society, we need to bring in a change. Vinay Katiyar should publically apologise for his remarks," Vadra said on his Facebook account.

Reacting to Katiyar's remark, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said: "Disparaging and atrocious remarks of Vinay Katiyar on Priyankaji reflect the petty and insulting culture of BJP that commodifies women."

The BJP MP's comments came a day after Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav found himself in a similar controversy, saying "honour of being able to cast a vote is much bigger than your daughter's honour".

"If a daughter's honour is violated, then only her neighbourhood, her village will lose its honour. But if a vote is sold, it is the country's honour that goes," said Yadav.

Both Yadav and Katiyar attracted severe criticism from parties across the spectrum.

Distancing the party from Katiyar's remarks, Union Minister and BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu said the comments against Priyanka were "totally unacceptable".

"Most of the male politicians don't even understand when you talk about objectifying women. There should be something to sensitize these people, to make them aware what are women rights, what these issues are," said DMK leader Kanimozhi.

"They don't understand what can be said and what cannot."

Meanwhile, Yadav sought to defend his remarks, saying "the way one loves a daughter if he loves votes the same way, then only the society will progress, and the country will progress".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Supporters of organisations espousing the cause of Hindutva protested outside a cinema hall here on Wednesday against Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's movie 'Raees', police said.

Police said the protesters rallied in large numbers outside the cinema hall in South Avenue Mall and raised slogans. They were prevented from barging into the cinema hall by the police.

Activists of Hindu Seva Parishad accused Khan of earning money in India but giving statements against the country.

"Pakistani artiste Mahira Khan has acted in the movie. Pakistani artistes earn money in India and take it away to their own country. This money is then used to fund anti-India activities," the protesters alleged.

--IANS

hindi/tsb/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Film: "Raees"; Director: Rahul Dholakia; Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Mahira Khan; Rating: ****

It's the same old wine -- -hooch wine -- in a not-so-new battle, and I do mean battle.

Prohibition in Gujarat is the playground for this pulsating saga of twisted morality. As the good policeman Majmudar(Nawazuddin Siddiqui) wages an all-out war against hooch seller Raees Khan (Shah Rukh Khan). What emerges from the smoke, fire and ashes is a kitschy 1980s-style potboiler that tells the story of a gangster's protege who grows into a Robin Hoodlum, the do-gooder whose Ammi (Sheeba Chadha, so brilliant and yet such a fugitive figure in the screenplay) teaches him that no job is too small or petty.

Taking that maternal advice a bit too seriously (probably uttered by the short-lived Ammi-jaan in an unguarded moment after she may have heard it being said by Alok Nath), Raees spends the next 40 years of his life and two hours of ours, selling illicit liquor and killing opponents with an impunity that defines death by Dawoodian ideology.

A 'hai-hai' for a 'hai' and bomb for a bomb.

There is plenty of gratuitous action, rapid fire movement and swift reflexive responses to violent impulses. But Raees never succeeds in getting its act all together. It's all too hazy, scattered and sketchy, except when Nawazuddin walks in as the 'good cop' who vows he will get Raees by hook or crook.

Nawaz's Majmudar is funny without trying to be. Habituated to being transferred on his job, he insists on his seniors giving their orders in writing, and when he realizes that the sweets he is savouring have come from his arch-enemy, he continues to nibble on them while reiterating his vow to get the bootlegger. This is a man who probably laughs twice a year and that too because his wife expects him to.

While Nawazuddin makes sure his character is coherently defined, Shah Rukh's Raees remains surprisingly hazy, and we are not talking about his moral values alone. It's the way he plays Raees, as though he doesn't really like the man for his immoral acts. But what to do? He must do the job to the best of his ability.

At many points in the plot, Shah Rukh's Raees falters as he attempts to come to terms with the rapid changes in his fortunes. Failing to find a feasible centre to his character's doddering ethics, Shah Rukh plays Raees with an arrogant indifference.

In his defence, the material provided by the writers (Rahul Dholakia, Harit Mehta, Ashish Vashi, Neeraj Shukla) is at best derivative. We have seen the same story about the rise and fall of the Gangster With The Bloodied Gun in scores of films by Ram Gopal Varma and Anurag Kashyap.

There is nothing even remotely novel in the shootouts and the other shindigs (the latter includes a sudden sunny swing of Sunny Leone's "Laila" kind into an item song). Even the tender relationship that Raees shares with his coy wife Asiya (Mahira Khan, assuming the "Mere mehboob" persona all pert, pouty and silky) has been done so much more effectively by Manoj Bajpayee and Shefali Shah in Ram Gopal Varma's "Satya".

Such considerations are perhaps unwarranted in "Raees". Director Rahul Dholakia attempts to assemble an inherently messy saga of gangsterism set in the 1980s, told in the way films were narrated in that era. There is even an action sequence in a drive-in theatre where an Amitabh Bachchan film plays while Raees intimidates a builder.

Deliberately stagey and self-consciously 'retro', Raees gathers its strength from the voluptuous resources of drama in the protagonist's life and the power of the narrative to make cliches come alive by their defiant reiteration. The director knows his material is weather-beaten and he doesn't pretend it is any other way. The shoot-outs filled with bombast and bravado, are from an era when such violence was considered macho.

At the end, when Raees's world falls apart with a close encounter of the 'thud' kind, there is no surprise left in the plot. It isn't only Raees who has nowhere to run to.

--IANS

skj/rb/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Senate Appropriations Committee announced that Senator Lamar Alexander will serve as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development for the 115th Congress.

Senator Alexander said, "It is Congress job to set the nations spending priorities in a responsible way and use our taxpayer dollars wisely by supporting government-sponsored research and by controlling the costs of big construction projects in Tennessee and across the country.

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development oversees funding for national priorities, such as energy research, nuclear weapons modernization, and waterways infrastructure which is funded through the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It also oversees funding for Tennessee priorities, including the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex, cleanup in Oak Ridge and Chickamauga Lock.

Along with leading the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Senator Alexander is the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and will also serve on the following committees this Congress:

 Energy and Natural Resources Committee

 Rules and Administration Committee
Central Hindi Institute (CHI) N.K. Pandey said on Wednesday that Indian regional languages, including Hindi, need to be promoted and researched to bridge the vital communication gaps.

Speaking at the inauguration of Research and Literary committees of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Pandey, who heads the Commission for Scientific Technical Terminology, said that Hindi and various regional languages in India are now having new branches of research in various educational and public institutions.

AMU Pro-Vice Chancellor, Brigadier S. Ahmad Ali said that it is important to have a special focus on selecting a research subject. He also pointed out that there is a need to promote Indian languages, universities and other institutions should always be forward in doing so.

--IANS

bk/vgu/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay is innocent of the charges for which he has been arrested, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday.

"Sudip Bandyopadhyay is innocent and has committed no crime," Banerjee told reporters at Sukna in Darjeeling district.

The Trinamool leader added: "You cannot exploit the common people. People in the coming days will not forgive this exploitation of democracy."

Again alleging vendetta over the arrest of Trinamool leaders including Bandyopadhyay in the Rose Valley chit fund scandal, Banerjee said that her party was being targeted for opposing demonetisation.

She accused the BJP of "giving shelter" to "thieves and dacoits who have made crores".

"Whenever someone protests, he is deprived of his democratic rights and jailed. Trinamool is being targeted as we opposed demonetisation."

She regretted that people still cannot withdraw their own money as per their wish.

"I will request the government to withdraw the restrictions (on bank withdrawals). It is white money which people deposit in the bank. It is their right (to withdraw)," Banerjee said.

--IANS

ssp/vgu/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Haryana Police on Wednesday said that it has arrested three people involved in the murder of Hisar-based senior advocate Subhash Gupta.

The lawyer was waylaid on the Hisar-Delhi road on Tuesday evening by 4-5 people who stabbed him repeatedly while he was going in his Toyota Innova vehicle.

Gupta was rushed to a nearby hospital by his driver but doctors declared him dead.

Police officials said the main accused in the lawyers' murder was Pawan Kumar, who owns a gas agency, and was related to the victim. Kumar, according to the police, had some dispute with Gupta.

Those arrested include Pawan Bansal, Sunil and Naresh, all from Hisar district and working at Kumar's gas agency, a police spokesman said.

The murder of the lawyer took place close to the residence of the district police chief.

The police are conducting raids to arrest four more accused involved in the case.

--IANS

js/qd/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two women and the manager of a spa here were arrested for their alleged involvement in prostitution, police said on Wednesday.

Riya and Bleshi, both in her mid-20s, and the manager John, a resident of Jaipur in Rajasthan, were arrested for being involved in the business of prostitution, which was being run from a spa in CA market in the DLF Phase 3 area.

Police said that Riya hails from 24 Pargana district of West Bengal while Bleshi belongs to Darjeeling.

Police said that the trio were arrested under Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.

--IANS

pradeep/vgu/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for "a major investigation" into "voter fraud" in the 2016 election, after his claims earlier this week, without citing any evidence, that millions of illegal votes were cast during the November polls.

"I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and ... even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!" Trump wrote in two consecutive tweets.

Trump's comments on voter fraud came Monday during a meeting with Congressional leaders.

On Tuesday, Trump's press secretary vigorously defended Trump's statement about illegal voters, though neither Trump nor his surrogates could provide evidence that any substantial illegal voting had occurred or influence the popular vote.

Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes in the presidential polls, but won the Electoral College and thus the presidency.

Trump, however, has seemingly been fixated on the popular vote, tweeting after the election in November that, "In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."

--IANS

soni/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After a brief break, the winter chill is set to intensify further in Uttarakhand as the Met office on Wednesday forecast rains and heavy snowfall till Friday morning.

Some hill regions received snow on Tuesday, bringing down the mercury.

Major areas expected to get the snow include Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath and Hemkund Saheb in the Garhwal region.

The winter chill has aggravated in plains and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh due to snowfall on Tuesday.

The director of the regional Met office here, Vikram Singh, has predicted moderate rains in Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri, Paudi and Pithoragarh over the next two days.

There will be showers in many areas on Thursday whereas heavy snowfall can occur in the Garhwal and Kumayun regions.

The minimum temperature is likely to dip by three-four degrees.

Extended winter chill and inclement weather has hit campaigning in the poll-bound hill state as parties and candidates wait for the weather to clear.

--IANS

md/py/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Wednesday said maintenance work on the Bhikaji Cama flyover, a part of which caved-in slighty during Metro construction, will be started soon.

DMRC said that it is waiting for the necessary clearances from the authorities, after which it will start working on the flyover along with the Public Works Department (PWD).

"For carrying out the work, a road area of 3.5 m breadth and 20 m length on the carriageway of the flyover towards Dhaula Kuan will be taken over by Delhi Metro. Two lanes for traffic movement (6.5 metres) will still be available on the flyover," it said in a statement.

The transporter also assured commuters that the traffic will not be hampered, since the maintenance work is supposed to be done only on the sides of the flyover. However, some portion of the road may be barricaded for machinery movement from time to time as per requirement.

Adequate number of traffic marshals will also be deployed to guide the traffic. The work is expected to be completed by the end of February, the statement said.

"Some portions of the flyover had caved-in slightly during the underground work done for the Bhikaji Cama Metro Station as part of the upcoming Pink Line. Those portions were reported to us as remaining water-logged mostly," a DMRC official told IANS.

--IANS

vn/vgu/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Calling for building a strong army, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday asked the world's largest military to be combat-ready.

Xi also stressed the importance of enhancing the military's political awareness, pushing forward reform, and governing it according to law, Xinhua news agecny reported.

China has the world's largest army. However, Xi, who heads the strong Central Military Commission, has decided to cull 300,000 members from the China's force of 2.3 million.

This, the government maintains, is being done to keep the army swift.

He underscored the importance of improving combat readiness through troop training.

The President made the comments while visiting the 65th Army Group stationed in northern China's Hebei province on Monday. Hebei is next to Beijing.

After Communist Party of China, the military is the strongest institution in the country.

--IANS

gsh/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Subir Roy begins his article, Why is burnout high among doctors? (January 25), with well-meaning observations, including that Indians consider their health care system to be unduly costly and riven by unethical practices. He says doctors, who play a key role in this set-up, are perceived to be one of its main beneficiaries. But has anyone tried to find out why the situation is so grim?
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Tuesdayappealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fulfill his promise of making political funding more transparent, as a means to strike at the root of black money.
Mayoral candidate Larry Grohn on Wednesday criticized "the consistent high rate of turnover in the citys top executive staff posts," saying it was "evidence of deep instability at the highest levels of city government."

He said Maura Sullivan, described as "the latest in a string of four chief operating officers," was recently a finalist for position of city manager in Dallas, Tex., and said the city also recently lost a deputy chief operating officer.

The District 4 councilman said, "Andy Berkes government has been unstable since day one. Turnover is high and direction inconsistent. Could there be ethical issues driving all these individuals to prefer to distance themselves from this mayor?

"During Berkes first term we have had four chief operating officers and two chief of staffs. Chattanooga deserves consistent, steady leadership moving the city forward.

Numerous staff turnovers are a sign that Berke has failed to provide consistent leadership for city government. Andrew Kean, the first COO, resigned after just six months; Jeff Cannon resigned after eight months; Brent Goldberg resigned after little over a year; and the latest COO, Maura Sullivan, has hung on since December 2015, but actively pursued the Dallas position.

"Other top posts have seen turnover as well. The chief of staff position has seen two officer holders - Travis McDonough, and the current office holder Stacy Richardson, who was Berkes former campaign manager.

"There is also a high number of professional political operatives working in the sdministration. Justin Wilkins, deputy chief of staff, is a well-known Obama operative who worked with Obama for America at its highest levels. Tyler Yount, who once served as the citys citizen engagement coordinator and is now Berkes campaign manager, worked as the Tennessee state director of Hillary for America.

Do we really want political operatives running our city? Andy chooses to surround himself with followers of an ideology that has failed our city for the last four years. Andy Berkes focus is looking for his way out of Chattanooga to move up the political ladder. It is unbelievable that these are the folks running our city.

Andy Berke has never governed as mayor. Instead, hes merely running a PR campaign with highly-paid political operatives on the taxpayers dime to promote his next career move. Therefore, Berke cannot keep top officials from fleeing to the private sector over issues with the mayors actions and leadership style.

It is my belief, our city needs a mayor who wants to be the mayor of Chattanooga and nothing more. Our next mayor does not need to be looking for their next job by using Chattanooga as a stepping stone. The mayors staff should only be focused on Chattanooga and the problems we face together.
Sounding the poll bugle in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur on Tuesday, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will address a rally in Lakhimpur on Wednesday.

Launching a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the demonetisation of high-value currency notes, Akhilesh on Tuesday said money is not black or white, but the transactions are, adding that only common man faced the sole brunt of the drive.

Yadav said at a rally in Sultanpur, "It's the common man who suffered the most because of demonetisation. So many people lost their lives. People were not able to withdraw their own hard-earned money. The money earned through hard work and integrity was declared black."

"There's nothing black or white in this world. Money is not black or white; the transactions are. And what black money can a common man have? The black money is possessed by the people living in the big cities. Did you see those affluent people in the ATM lines? Only the common man was seen and weird incidents were reported," he added.

Akhilesh took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi too and said a country cannot function if one person decides that the currency notes of 500 and 1000 will not be legal tender after midnight.

Continuing his tirade against the Opposition, Akhilesh said the BJP has not launched any scheme that is even closely related to the ones initiated during his regime in the state.

The chief minister accused the BJP of framing the 2017 Union Budget by plagiarising his party's agenda.

"They said 'achche din aa jaayenge'. I want to ask the people where the 'achche din' are. They gave a slogan and some people blindly followed it. They gave a 'jhaadu' (broom) in our hands instead. They made us do yoga. Now, the fourth Budget of their government is about to come and I am sure that they will copy everything the Samajwadi Party has done for the state," Yadav said.



Akhilesh even spoke about the feud that recently plagued the first family of Uttar Pradesh and termed it as 'for the betterment of people'.





"You must have read a lot in the newspapers that we fought a lot. We actually did. The Opposition dubbed it in a totally different light," the UP CM said.

"But the whole fight was about the people of the state. It was about how to provide the people with a better life. We promise to give 24-hour supply of electricity," he added.

Talking about the recently launched manifesto, Akhilesh said that the promises made in the last manifesto were fulfilled and assured to fulfil all even this time.

Enthused about his victory in the assembly elections, Akhilesh repeatedly enlisted the development works undertaken and accomplished by their government.

Referring to the unique bid to woo the voters -- distributing smartphones to people, Akhilesh said it is aimed at bringing the people closer to the government.

The chief minister also highlighted other schemes like distributing milk, ghee and fruits in schools and established the logic that went behind them.

Taking another sardonic shot at the opposing parties, Akhilesh quipped, "The Home Secretary said they have been receiving many calls from Uttar Pradesh, most of which were to check whether the phone is picked up at all."

The chief minister earlier on Sunday launched the party manifesto for elections, which focused entirely on women and youth empowerment. Later that day, the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance was formally announced.

Akhilesh, along with other leaders from both parties, has initiated the campaign for the upcoming polls in the state. He is expected to address another rally in Lakhimpur on January 25.

The poll process in the state begins on February 11. 73 constituencies in Western Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in this phase.

Uttar Pradesh is set to have a seven-phase polling between February 11 and March 8.
Punjab is due for its Assembly elections on February 4, and for the first time, the state is witnessing a serious three-corner fight on most seats. The new contender, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), is giving a tough fight to the principal Opposition, the Congress, where the ruling Akali-BJP alliance is facing a strong anti-incumbency after a 10-year rule. The Opposition has accused the ruling alliance of corruption and misgovernance. In a five-part series, Business Standard analyses the performance of poll-bound states on economic and social parameters. The first part takes a look at Punjab.
Keralas ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist), will hold a symbolic public trial of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in about 2,000 locations in the state on Wednesday, according to a report published in Livemint.
At least 12 Haitian migrants drowned in the Turks & Caicos Islands after their small and crowded boat capsized near the British Caribbean territory, officials said today.

The majority of victims were female and were found near the northwest point of Providenciales island, police spokesman Keith Clarke told The Associated Press.

The boat was carrying 69 people, and officials said the US Coast Guard is helping with an ongoing search for possible survivors.

"This is a tragic incident with significant loss of life," said Police Commissioner James Smith, who extended condolences to the victim's families.

Police said in a statement that they arrested a 23-year-old Haitian man who told them the single-engine boat left Haiti's north coast on Sunday and was carrying 50 men and 19 women. He said he swam to land after the boat struck a rock near the Turks & Caicos Islands early Tuesday and began to sink, police said.

Authorities said an unknown number of migrants made it to land. The Turks & Caicos Islands are located between Haiti and the Bahamas and have long been a destination and smuggling route for Haitian migrants. Newly elected Turks & Caicos Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson pledged to crack down on this practice.

"Whilst we are saddened at this great loss of human life, measures must be put in place to protect persons from themselves, potential victims from human traffickers and our borders from breaches by illegal entrants," she said. "Firm policy positions will be taken and strict enforcement of the laws of these lands will follow.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The AAP today launched a manifesto for government employees, promising to implement the 6th Pay Commission, besides assuring regularistion of contractual employees, if voted to power in the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls.

Government employees in Punjab are an important part of the state machinary, therefore keeping in mind their demands, the party launched a manifesto that addresses their issues, AAP manifesto committee head Kanwar Sandhu said.

If AAP is forms government, it will implement the 6th Pay Commission in letter and spirit, and also form a committee to look into pay parity issues, he assured.

All contractual employees of the state will be regularised and the minimum wages in Punjab will be reviewed by a committee, the AAP leader said.

Salaries of anganwadi, ASHA and mid-day meal workers will be doubled, the AAP announced in its manifesto.

"The old pension scheme that was stopped in 2004 by the then Congress government will also be revived," he said, adding probations will be reduced to a year and full salary will be given during the period.

Employees of boards and corporations will get pension from the public exchequer like other government employees, Sandhu said.

He claimed posts falling vacant due to retirements will be filled by March 31 and an transparent transfer policy would ensure zero corruption and no political interference.

Preference will be given to women employees for postings in their home districts, Sandhu said.

The AAP leader said traditional 'lambardari' system will continue with a pay of Rs 3,000 per month and 'chowkidars' will be given Rs 2,000 per month.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Twenty-eight people were killed today when Al-Shabaab fighters attacked a popular Mogadishu hotel, setting off two car bombs and opening fire on security guards, according to the city's main ambulance service.

The attack, claimed by the Al-Qaeda-aligned Shabaab insurgents, began when a car loaded with explosives rammed the gate of the Dayah Hotel near the Somali parliament and state house.

Security sources said at least four gunmen then entered the compound and exchanged fire with security guards, but they were shot dead before reaching the main building where guests were staying. They were not counted among the 28 dead.

A second massive blast went off after ambulances and journalists had already rushed to the scene, leaving seven reporters with minor injuries, according to the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ).

They included an AFP photographer who suffered shrapnel wounds to his shoulder and leg, an Associated Press photographer and a reporter working with Al-Jazeera television.

"The number of casualties we have recorded today is 28 dead and 43 wounded. This is what we have confirmed with our teams but there were also other ambulances which carried some casualties (but) I don't know how many," said Dr Abukadir Abdirahman Adem, head of the ambulance service.

Somalia's Security Minister Abdirisak Omar Mohamed told reporters there were 10 people killed and 51 wounded in the attack.

"We commend the security guards of the hotel who fiercely fought the Shabaab attackers to defend the hotel," he said.

AFP images showed security forces and civilians milling about outside the devastated hotel -- its windows and doors blown out -- after the first explosion, when a second car exploded with a massive blast, sending thick plumes of smoke into the air and sending people fleeing.

Gunfire rang out from the hotel as civilians and rescue workers carried away the injured. The Shabaab group claimed responsibility in a statement distributed on its Telegram messaging account.

"The mujahideen fighters have attacked a hotel and have managed to enter the hotel after detonating a car loaded with explosives," it said.

The Shabaab is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government of Somalia and regularly stages deadly attacks on state, military and civilian targets in the capital and elsewhere in the war-torn country.

The attack -- the deadliest so far in Somalia in 2017 -- came shortly before the country's election commission announced that a long-awaited presidential vote would take place on February 8.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) today took a swipe at Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for promising to buy land in US and Canada to settle Punjabi farmers there if voted to power.

AAP MP and campaign committee chairman Bhagwant Mann, while describing Sukhbir's promise as "bluff", cautioned the people not to fall prey to such allurements.

"It will not be amazing if Sukhbir Badal promises to settle unemployed Punjabi youth at the moon in collaboration with the US government," Mann, in a statement issued here, said.

Shiromani Akali Dal's manifesto, which was launched by Sukhbir in Ludhiana yesterday, promised that if Akalis are voted to power, the government would buy one lakh acres of land in US and Canada to settle Punjabi farmers there.

Mann, while cautioning people against ploy of Sukhbir, said the Deputy Chief Minister might invest his "ill gotten" money in agriculture land in USA, Canada and other countries in the name of Punjabi emigrates.

The AAP MP, who is pitted against Sukhbir in Jalalabad, said, "People of Punjab will not accept such nonsense by Sukhbir."



He alleged that "Sukhbir and company" had indulged in land grabbing of NRIs and poor farmers and expecting that he would help the Punjabi emigrates to settle abroad would be a blunder.

"Going by the track record of Sukhbir, one can assume that he is just to rise to next level of cheating and bluffing," Mann said.

He accused the Badal family of having purchased "huge chunks" of agriculture land in foreign countries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The advocates in western Uttar Pradesh today decided to abstain from duties on January 27 and 28, demanding transfer of Sub Divisional Magistrate and the Police circle officer of Anupshahr Tehsil.

The decision was announced by the chief Bar Association Ratendra Singh here.

The boycott from advocates came in the wake of dismantling of the advocate's chambers by the Municipal board employees in Anupshahr SDM Court premises.

However, according to SDM Kanhai Singh, the advocates were trying to make permanent seats over a land belonging to the board on which a court case was pending in Allahabad High Court.

On the other hand, in a meeting held by the Municipal Board, arrests of erring advocates has been demanded.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India's premier hospital AIIMS today admitted that its 'pulse dye laser' machine, needed for skin treatment, has been out of order for several months, after Delhi High Court castigated it following a complaint that a patient was not getting treated for a serious ailment.

Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva was told by the counsel for All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) that they have started repairing the machine which would be functional soon.

"The concerned company has been consulted to do the repair work. We are also in process of purchasing new machines," the counsel for AIIMS submitted.

Taking note of this, the court asked the institute to complete the process in four weeks and fixed the matter for February 27, by when the institute would have to file a status report on the matter.

On January 16, Justice Sachdeva had sternly told AIIMS "If you have bought a machine, you should maintain it. If the AIIMS does not have funds, which I don't think is the case, then the government should pay for its repairs."



Maintaining that the machine has not been working for over 17 months, advocate Ashok Aggarwal, appearing for petitioner Mohammad Quayamuddin, had then said his client had to undergo 10 sessions of treatment, but only one was done in May 2015 as the machine, costing Rs 50 lakh, was out of order.

In response, the court had said "So what? AIIMS has machines worth crores. This is only Rs 50 lakh."



Quayamuddin, a 23-year-old engineering student, has been unable to get treatment since May 2015 for his skin ailment - port wine stain, as the machine has not been working.

In his plea, Quayamuddin has said that no public-funded hospitals in Delhi, barring AIIMS, has the pulse dye laser machine. And since it has been non-functional, not only he himself but several other patients were also suffering.

He has said that if his ailment is left untreated it can lead to various health complications like bleeding, visual impairments, seizures, developmental delays, glaucoma, paralysis, migraines, tissue outgrowth and endocrine issues.

He has contended that by delaying his treatment, AIIMS was unduly exposing him to such side effects.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CHI Memorial Medical Group welcomes Angela Reich, WHNP-BC. Ms. Reich received a bachelors in nursing from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and a masters in nursing from Vanderbilt University in Nashville. She is board certified as a womens health nurse practitioner by National Certification Corporation.

Ms. Reich joins Maurice Rawlings, M.D., Betsy Washburn, M.D.

and Casey Waddle, FNP, at CHI Memorial Breast Care Associates in the MaryEllen Locher Breast Center. They are committed to providing support during diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care for women with breast cancer.

The practice welcomes new patients at both its locations: 605 Glenwood Drive, Suite 103, Chattanooga, TN 37404 and 2051 Hamill Road, Hixson, TN 37343. To schedule an appointment, or for more information, call (423) 698-0304.


A 45-year-old Nigerian woman and her daughter were arrested as part of a gang, which allegedly cheated a city-based travel firm of over Rs one crore by not paying fare for 82 air tickets, police said today.

"The two Nigerian women-- Moinat Adnik Balogan and her daughter Saidas Folake Balogan (20) were arrested from Delhi yesterday," Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) H C Mishra told reporters here.

The mother-daughter duo had recently travelled by air from Lagos in Nigeria to Delhi by fraudulently booking the air tickets, he added.

The duo was a member of the gang accused of conning an Indore-based firm Jose Travels of Rs 1.08 crore by securing 82 air tickets. Out of these, 55 tickets were booked for Nigerian nationals.

The accused lured and trapped the director of the firm by promising him to pay extra amount for the air tickets within a week, Mishra said.

He, however, said that when the duo did not pay the money, the director approached the police.

The DIG said efforts are on to identify the other members of the gang and further investigation was on.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Alert locomotive pilots of Madgaon- Dadar Jan Shatabdi Express averted a major tragedy by stopping the train in time after they spotted a huge piece of rail "placed meticulously" on tracks near Diwa station adjoining Mumbai, officials said today.

Top Railway officials suspect it could either be an act of sabotage or mischief and have lodged an FIR with Railway Police.

The incident occurred last night when the Mumbai-bound Jan Shatabdi Express (12052) had crossed Mumbra station and was nearing Diwa station. Both Mumbra and Diwa are located in Thane district, neighbouring the financial capital.

According to an officer, there were more than 700 passengers travelling in the train at that time.

At around 10:37 PM, Loco pilot Harendra Kumar and Assistant Loco pilot Harish Chinchole spotted a huge piece of rail placed on one line of the track and stopped the train in nick of time, said Central Railway General Manager D K Sharma.

He said the rail was 7-meter long and weighed around 400 kg.

Given the sensitivity of the incident which occurred ahead of the Republic Day, the officer said they have increased vigil, patrolling and monitoring of tracks.

"Jan Shatabdi (12052) train started from Madgaon on Tuesday at 2.30 pm and was scheduled to reach Mumbai around 11 pm. However, at 10.37 pm, when the train reached between Mumbra and Diva stations, the drivers spotted the 7-meter-long and around 400-kg piece of the rail, meticulously placed on one track.

"They stopped the train, got down, and removed the rail with the help of the chief loco inspector N K Yadav and the passengers and then proceeded," Sharma told reporters.

Incidentally, a CST-bound fast local had passed on the same track just 17 minutes earlier.

"This means this piece was placed on the track deliberately for nefarious reasons after the local train had passed," Sharma said.

A rail piece is generally placed along tracks so that in case of emergency, like a rail fracture, these pieces can be used immediately.

"The area where the rail was placed is inhabited. Railway Police has registered an FIR and launched a multi-pronged investigation to nab the culprits," Sharma said, adding the police commissioner of Mumbai and Maharashtra DGP were informed about the incident.

He said this could be the act of a handful of people and the administration has taken the incident very seriously.

"This could be an act of terrorism, an act of sabotage or an act of mischief...Our agencies are investigating the matter from all possible angles," the GM said.

Meanwhile, responding to a query whether it was an act of terrorism, Chief Security Commissioner of Central Railway Atul Srivastav said it would be premature to draw such conclusion.

"This may or may not purely be an act of terrorism but we



are leaving no stone unturned to crack the case with the help of city police and Railway police," he said.

Meanwhile, the loco pilots were felicitated by authorities today for their act.

Railways suspects sabotage in the wake of recent incidents of derailments in various parts of country.

On Saturday night, engine and nine coaches of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express jumped the tracks in Andhra Pradesh's Vizianagaram district, killing 39 people.

The Hirakhand derailment was latest in the series of similar accidents in recent past.

There were two train derailments near Kanpur in November and December last year claiming over 150 lives.

Hinting at the possibility of sabotage in the derailments, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu recently wrote to Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking a detail probe by the National Investigating Agency into the incidents.

Recently, Bihar police had unearthed a conspiracy to train some persons in the country to tamper with railway tracks to cause derailments and their possible involvement in the accident near Kanpur.

On January 1, Railway Protection Force Director General SK Bhagat had written to the CBI requesting for a probe into the suspected involvement of outsiders in making deep cuts on tracks near Kalyanpur, Mandhana stations near Kanpur.
Karnataka BJP President B S Yeddyurappa today said the ongoing the tussle between him and senior leader K S Eshwarappa would be solved as soon as possible with the intervention of national party President Amit Shah.

"I do not wish to speak much on (spat with) Eshwarappa ... Central leaders are aware of the developments.... Party men and Amit Shah will sit down, discuss and solve the issue as soon as possible," Yeddyurappa told reporters here. Yeddyurappa also asked Eshwarappa, who is openly highly critical of his style of functioning, to stop conducting separate conventions under the banner of Rayanna Brigade Movement led by him in the name of communities. "If somebody (Eshwarappa) is trying to go ahead with conducting such separate conventions in the name of communities, it should be stopped forthwith. There is no need for such a thing," he said.

A mega convention of the Sangolli Rayanna Brigade, formed by Eshwarappa in a move seen as a show of strength, is being held tomorrow at Kudalasangama in Bagalkot district. The two senior leaders are in friction ever since Eshwarappa launched the Sangolli Rayanna movement, which Yeddyurappa is opposing vociferously, causing sharp divisions in the state unit which is hoping to stage a comeback to power in the next Assembly polls.

Eshwarappa had said earlier that Brigade activities would not stop at any cost, adding, it was not directed against any party or individual but only to fight for the uplift of dalits, backward classes and deprived sections in all castes. Sangolli Rayanna (1798-1831) was the army chief of the Kittur Kingdom ruled by Rani Chennamma and fought against the British who hanged him to death from a Banyan tree near Nandagad in Belgaum district in 1831.

Asked about the central leaders' initial opinion on this matter, which is causing damage to the party, Yeddyurappa said, "I don't know. The central leaders are busy - some of them arebusy with Uttar Pradesh elections and some others were busy with Parliamentary session,"



Asked how soon the issue would be solved, Yeddyurappa said, "As soon as possible."



Yeddyurappa demanded resignation of state minister Ramesh Jarkiholi for allegedly possessing undisclosed assets and cash, which was detected by the Income Tax sleuths in a raid. "Ramesh Jarkiholi should tender resignation on this issue."



The Income Tax department has detected undisclosed assets worth over Rs 162 crore and seized Rs 41 lakh cash, besides over a dozen kg in gold and jewellery during searches on the premises of Jarkiholi and state Mahila Congress President Laxmi R Hebbalkar in Gokak, Belagavi and in Bengaluru last week.

Jarkiholi has dismissed the raids as a "political conspiracy."



Yeddyurappa also flayed Siddaramaiah for giving an "irresponsible statement" feigning ignorance about the I-T raids against Hebbalkar and Jarkiholi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi High Court today asked the government to analyse the biometrics of a Nigerian, facing deportation, to ascertain if he was the same person who was earlier deported after being convicted in a drug case and had returned after changing his name.

Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva's direction came after the Nigerian's wife moved a plea challenging his deportation and seeking his release.

The court issued notice to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) and sought their replies on the woman's plea.

It asked the government not to deport him till the next date of hearing on February 10.

The court issued directions to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) to carry out the biometric analysis and give a report within three working days of receiving the request from the government.

The order was passed after the woman claimed that her husband had not changed his name to return to India.

According to central government standing counsel Anil Soni, appearing for MHA, the Nigerian -- Okwuda Mark Lucky -- was deported in 2010 after being convicted in a drug case.

Thereafter, he changed his name slightly and his date of birth and got a new passport on which he travelled to India again, he claimed.

While no one noticed when he arrived in the country, allegedly for the second time, when he applied for extension of his visa, the authorities concerned carried out verification and came to the finding that he was the same person.

The Nigerian's wife has opposed the contention saying her husband already had a visa which was valid from April 19, 2016 to April 18, 2017 and he was sent to the detention centre at Lampur camp in Narela here without reason on December 19 last.

The authorities claimed before the court that photographs on record from the past and the current ones were similar and therefore, it was the same person.

The bench, however, did not accept that reasoning, saying comparison of photographs was not sufficient.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chandresh Patel, who allegedly gave the contract to kill Borsad municipality councillor Pragnesh Patel, was today arrested by Thai police in Thailand, according to Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) officials.

An ATS team is already in Thailand to bring him back here, said a senior ATS official.

Chandresh left the country after the incident when three rounds were fired on Pragnesh from a point blank range in Borsad town of Anand district of Gujarat on January 13.

"Chandresh hired one Suresh Pillai to kill Pragnesh. The contract was finalised for Rs 25 lakhs. After the incident, Chandresh left for Thailand. Since we knew about his movements, we sought help of Thailand police, which nabbed him today. It will take two days to bring him here," said the official.

Earlier, ATS along with Anand Police arrested Pillai and two of his accomplices on January 18. It was revealed that Pillai is a former henchman of gangster Ravi Pujari, who is believed to be based abroad.

However, ATS has claimed that Pillai is no longer associated with Pujari and took the contract to kill Pragnesh in his personal capacity.

The incident happened on January 13 when three rounds were fired at Pragnesh from a point blank range in Borsad, allegedly by Pillai. Pragnesh is currently undergoing treatment at a Vadodara-based hospital.

After the arrests of Pillai and two others, ATS had said that both Chandresh and Pragnesh were at loggerheads since long due to some personal as well as business reasons.

Chandresh was also angry because his mother lost elections against Pragnesh in recent municipality polls in Borsad, claimed ATS.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Apple Inc today indicated to the government that it is ready with a blueprint to begin manufacturing iPhones in India, but wants fiscal concessions, including Customs duty waiver on import of components.

Apple executives made a detailed presentation on its road map for setting up a manufacturing unit in India to an inter-ministerial group headed by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary Ramesh Abhishek, sources privy to the development said.

The presentation was made by senior executives of the company, including Global Vice-President (iPhone operations) Priya Balasubramanian. It cited the country's business friendly ecosystem for keenness to start local manufacturing.

With sales tapering in the US and China, Apple is eyeing India -- the fastest growing smartphone market in the world -- and looking to set up a local manufacturing unit to cut costs.

It, however, does not manufacture devices on its own and rather does it through contract manufacturers.

Besides exemption from the Customs duty on imports of components and equipment for 15 years, Apple wants relaxation in the mandated 30 per cent local sourcing of components.

When contacted, Apple spokesperson told PTI: "We have been working hard to develop our operations in India and are proud to deliver the best products and services in the world to our customers here."



The spokesperson added: "We appreciate the constructive and open dialogue we have had with the government about further expanding our local operations."



On the duty and tax-related concessions being sought by the company, the sources said most of them are within the policy domain and decisions will be taken by the respective departments.

"They are seeking certain duty exemptions and other concessions. Respective departments will look at those demands," they added.

The official also said the company has indicated that it would gradually make India a major manufacturing hub for its products.

"The company setting up its manufacturing unit in India is going to be a reality. They have full-fledged plans. There is no policy impediment. They would also bring their supply chains," the sources divulged.

The company executives yesterday called on Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

In a communication to the government, the Cupertino-based technology major has asked for several tax and other incentives, including long-term duty exemptions, to enter the manufacturing sector in India.

Currently, the government provides support by way of benefits under the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (MSIPS) to boost electronic manufacturing.

The company sells its products through Apple-owned retail stores in countries like China, Germany, the US, the UK and France, among others. It has no wholly-owned store in India and sells its products through distributors such as Redington and Ingram Micro.

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Union Minister Smriti Irani today said the Armed Forces admired the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had fulfilled many of their long-pending demands including the One Rank One Pension.

"During the Republic Day parade tomorrow, you all will see our soldiers marching with pride. The glow which you will see on their faces is due to the constant support provided by Modi-led government," Irani said, addressing a women's gathering in Pernem constituency from where the state forest minister Rajendra Arlkear is contesting Assembly election.

"All the officers and soldiers admire the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar who have been fulfilling their demands," she said.

"It is an irony that while soldiers are ready to sacrifice their lives for the country, the Congress-led governments brushed off their demand of OROP for almost four decades," Irani alleged.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar ended the 40-year-long struggle," she said.

During UPA era, Armed Forces were attacked while the Prime Minister remained silent, she said. "When there was attack on Mumbai, the Union Home Minister spent more time changing his attire and NSG was not sent in time," she said.

The countrymen knew that the surgical strikes against terrorist camps in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir were possible only under the leadership of Modi and Parrikar, the Union Minister said.

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B M Anand Foundation and Jan Natya



Manch (Janam), one of the oldest street theatre groups from Delhi, is bringing to Kochi a weekend of street plays on the many faces of dissent and its significance in public discourse, creativity and progress.

Two plays focussing on the rights of the workers and violence on women are scheduled to be enacted in Subhash Park, Marine Drive and various parts of Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, which include some of the venues of the ongoing third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), organisers said in a release here today.

The plays are offshoot programmes of the exhibition 'Dissent and Discourse: the Art and Politics ofrebel artist Brij Mohan Anand (1928-1986), which is a collateral project to the Biennaleat Greenix Village Cultural Arts Centre in Fort Kochi.

Anand believed that in its hurried attempt to transform itself, India was growing impervious to the voices within, said Shruthi Issac, curator, Dissent and Discourse exhibition.

"At a time when independent, radical thought found few outlets for expression, his works reflect the modern industrial world and serve to hold the empowered perspective and the selective interests served by it, accountable to the broader public.

"I think it is great that Jan Natya Manch will be exploring the notion of the exploitation of industrial labour and gender violence through their plays in Kochi", said Issac.

The drama 'Yeh Bhi Hinsa Hai' (The Faces of Violence) and 'Yeh Hum Kyun Sahein' (Enough is Enough) both in Hindi will be played on January 28-29at various venues, the release said.

The 'Faces of Violence' , which talks about stalking, voyeurism, patriarchy and non-physical forms of violence was first prepared in 2005 and updated after the horrific Delhi gang rape in December 2012, which brought the issue to a head.

The play ends with rape, depicted powerfully but symbolically, with stylised movements.

'Enough Is Enough' is based on the personal narratives of industrial workers in and around Delhi, gathered by the actors It is a juxtaposition of hilarious, over-the-top farce with deadly serious, quietly assertive docu-drama on the work conditions of workers.

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Currncies of various denominations of Euro, Pound, Durham and Riyal, collectively valued at millions of dollars internationally, were seized from a Bangladeshi passenger at the N S C B International Airport today.

Airport sources said the customes officials yesterday recovered the currency found in the possession of the passenger, identified as Suman Ahmed



as he was on way to taking a Kuala Lumpur flight.

Ahmed, who had earlier come to Kolkata from Dhaka, was also found to be in possession of Indian currency valued at Rs 69,36,000 which he told interrogators had been converted from Bangladeshi Taka at Burrabazar area of city, the sources said.

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Belgian police today raided eight homes in the Brussels region as part of a counter-terrorism operation that is ongoing, prosecutors said.

The raids are not related to either the Islamic State attacks in Paris in November 2015 or the bombings in Brussels in March last year, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office told AFP.

"There were eight house searches in the Brussels region," the spokesman said, adding the operation was ongoing and there would be a statement around noon.

Belgium has been on high alert since the Paris attacks that left 130 people dead and the Brussels attacks that killed 32 people. Investigators say the same Brussels-based cell carried out both attacks that were claimed by the Islamic State group.

The website of the newspaper La Derniere Heure first reported the raids, saying special forces backed up counter-terror police who raided homes in Molenbeek, Schaerbeek, Anderlecht and Laeken.

It said several people were detained for questioning on suspicion that they had either travelled to Syria or returned from the war zone.

Belgium is the EU country with the highest per capita number of fighters who have gone to wage jihad in Syria and Iraq, a figure estimated at 465.

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Chattanooga Traditional Dance Society celebrates its 20th Anniversary Saturday with a potluck dinner from 5:30-7 p.m. and contra dance from 7:30-11 p.m., featuring calling by Janet Shepherd and music by Contraplicity.

CTDS dances are held at Brainerd United Methodist Church, Lundy Hall at 4315 Brainerd Road. Admission is $8; $5 for students and seniors.

Everyone is invited to join the welcoming, family-friendly community and enjoy this lively, traditional social dance, said officials. No need to bring a partner. All dances are taught in walk-throughs. Toe-tapping live music makes even sitting out enjoyable. Contra dancing is fun, aerobic exercise. Wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothes and bring a separate pair of clean, soft-soled shoes for dancing. Hard-soled boots or shoes are not allowed on the dance floor.

There is a Contra Basics lesson for newcomers at 7:30 p.m.

For more information, visit: www.contranooga.weebly.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/contranooga//.








Father of Mofizul Khan, who died of alleged gunshot wounds at Bhangar during an agitation over setting up of a power grid substation, filed a petition before the Calcutta High Court today seeking an investigation into the death by an independent agency other than the state police.

Sukur Ali Khan filed the plea seeking a probe by an independent agency into the death of his son and also prayed for compensation to the family, his counsel Jayanta Narayan Chatterjee said.

Khan claimed that since the allegation of firing was against the West Bengal police, the investigation should be done by an agency other than the state police or the CID.

Submitting that the family of Mofizul had not accepted a compensation of Rs two lakh given by the state government, Chatterjee said that the petitioner has prayed that the court should decide on the amount of compensation to be given by the state.

He said that Mofizul was survived by his wife and three children, apart from his parents.

The petition is likely to be taken up for hearing next week by the high court, he said.

Mofizul had died of alleged gunshot wounds during an agitation on January 17 at Bhangar in South 24-Parganas district over setting up of a power grid substation and high-tension power lines there.

The police had denied that it had resorted to any firing and claimed that the death had occurred during clashes between two groups of agitators.

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A woman member of Naxal organisation CPI(ML) Red Star named in an FIR by West Bengal Police for allegedly inciting violence in Bhangor area over the construction of a Power Grid sub-station, was arrested today.

Senior South 24 Parganas district police officers said Sharmistha Chowdhury was apprehended when she was pillion riding a motorcycle close to Machibhanga village in Bhangor and was on her way to a gathering of villagers, who were protesting the construction of the sub-station.

The driver of the motorcycle has also been held. Both were being interrogated.

Villagers of Bhangor, located around 35 km from here, had clashed with police on January 17 during the agitation, leading to the death of two villagers.

The villagers were disgruntled for sometime over acquisition of farmland in the area and the CPI(ML) Red Star has been backing the agitation, which is being organised under the banner - Jami, Jibika, Poribesh O Bastutantra Raksha Committee (committee to protect land, livelihood, environment and ecosystem).

Earlier in the day, a huge police force led by district Superintendent of Police Sunil Chowdhury, Commandant of the 9th Battalion of the state police Kankar Prasad Barui and other senior officers entered Bhangor after shying away from the troubled areas for the last eight days and took control of the abandoned Power Grid sub-station.

Several roads dug up by agitating villagers were repaired and the police pickets were posted across the entire area of maintain law and order, a senior police officer said.

Another senior functionary of the CPI(ML) Red Star Alik Chakraborty, also named in the FIR, was absconding and the police said raids were on to nab him.

Soon after Sharmistha's arrest, a group of villagers started protesting in the Natunhaat Bazaar and adjoining areas within the jurisdiction of neighbouring Kashipur Police Station. The police were keeping a close watch on the development, the officer said.

CPI(ML) Liberation state secretary Partha Ghose has strongly reacted on the arrest of Sharmistha and has demanded her unconditional release.

Describing her arrest as unjust, Ghose said the police action would jeopardise the peace process in the troubled areas of Bhangor.

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A group of BJP workers today for the second time in three days burnt the effigy of Union Minister Smriti Irani to protest against ticket distribution for assembly polls here.

The workers claimed that it was because of her that Uma Shankar Pandey has been nominated for Gauriganj assembly seat.

An effigy of Irani was also burnt on January 23 in Musafirkhana by BJP workers.

Pandey, who was the polling agent of Irani when she unsuccessfully fought against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi Parliamentary Constituency in 2014 Lok Saha polls, said that "action may be taken against those found in anti-party activities" as the ticket distribution decision was taken by the BJP high command.

Earlier, more than hundreds of BJP booth presidents, 352 from Gauriganj, threatened to tender their resignation against Pandey's nomination.

Meanwhile, BJP ticket hopeful Ashish Shukla asked his supporters "to be ready to take some decision in meeting of February 1".

Shukla said "for Amethi's respect, I may take any step".

In Amethi, BJP has nominated scion of Amethi estate Rani Garima Singh.

(Reopens DES 75)



Meanwhile, newly-appointed Amethi District Magistrate Yogesh Kumar said that his first priority is to complete the ongoing developmental works within scheduled time limits with maintaining quality.

On the occasion of Seventh National Voters' day, he joined the meeting in many places including Manishi Degree College and police office at Gauriganj and managed the oath- taking ceremony of voters ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.

Amethi's Superintendent of Police Anees Ansari also joined Kumar on the occasion.

Kumar asked people including officials and other government employees to contribute their best for "free, fair and transparent assembly polls".
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is expected to clear his party's stand on the pre-poll pact with BJP for the upcoming BMC polls during a meeting with cadres at Goregaon here.

Although senior Sena leaders were tight-lipped about the fate of an alliance, most of party cadres are said to be opposed to any tie-up with the BJP.

"It will be very difficult for Uddhavji to override the stiff opposition from party cadres and stitch an alliance with BJP," party sources said.

If the alliance breaks down in Mumbai, any alignment with BJP for the remaining nine municipal corporations and 25 Zilla Parishads is highly unlikely, they said.

Sources in Sena said all party ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, corporators, vibhag pramukhs, sampark pramukhs and allied frontal organisations have been instructed to remain present in the rally at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Goregaon.

Suspense also continues on whether Thackeray and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would meet for one last time to hammer out a pre-poll alliance.

Parallel to the Sena rally, state BJP president Raosaheb Danve will be addressing the party's youth wing at the Mumbai office in Dadar.

BJP sources said Chief Minister Fadnavis is likely to address members on January 28 at the venue where the Sena chief will be addressing workers tomorrow.

"The BJP leadership is likely to frame it's response based on what Thackeray tells Sena cadres," sources said.

Shiv Sena and BJP leaders had held a few rounds of talks to workout an alliance for the BMC polls on February 21. While BJP has demanded 114 seats, Sena has offered 60 seats to its ally.

Meanwhile, BJP has dismissed reports appearing in a section of media that gag orders were issued to party ministers and leaders not to criticise Sena leadership.

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The United States has been downgraded from a "full democracy" to a "flawed" one in an annual ranking compiled by a British think tank, which cited an erosion of trust in government.

New US President Donald Trump capitalised on such long-standing problems in the system in his election campaign, said the Economist Intelligence Unit, part of the group which publishes The Economist weekly magazine.

"The US, a standard-bearer of democracy for the world, has become a 'flawed democracy', as popular confidence in the functioning of public institutions has declined," the EIU said in its 2016 Democracy Index report.

"This has been a long-term trend and one that preceded the election of Mr Trump.

"By tapping a deep strain of political disaffection with the functioning of democracy, Mr Trump became a beneficiary of the low esteem in which US voters hold their government."



It said worsening income inequality, the "ideological entrenchment" in Congress resulting in deadlock, the financial crisis and repeated federal government shutdowns were behind the erosion of trust in the United States.

The ninth annual index report said Trump's election in November and Britain's vote to leave the EU in June were expressions of deep dissatisfaction with the status quo.

It said the relatively high 72 percent turnout in the Brexit referendum was because people believed "their vote could change something for once".

The backlash against the establishment was a consequence of democratic failings, not a cause, it said.

European ruling elites are facing a growing revolt and a "full-blown legitimacy crisis" -- and apart from dismissing voters as deluded, have shown "little inkling of how to respond".

The message for political leaders facing election in 2017 is that marginalised voters do no share the elite's values and will "look elsewhere" if mainstream parties do not give them a voice, the report said.

The index ranked 19 full democracies followed by 57 flawed democracies, then 40 hybrid systems and finally 51 authoritarian regimes propping up the list.

Norway, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Denmark topped the index.

Britain was 16th, the United States joint 21st, France joint 24th, Russia 134th and China joint 136th.

North Korea came 167th and bottom, below Syria, Chad, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea.

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Actress Carrie Fisher's dear friend and former fiance, actor Dan Aykroyd has paid a teary-eyed homage to her.

The 64-year-old star shared a compendium of his memories with Fisher from when they first met on the sets of "Saturday Night Live" to when they broke up in the early 1980s, when she left him for Paul Simon, in an essay appearing in an issue of Empire magazine, reported People.

"I grew up as a simple Catholic kid from a government family in Hull, Quebec, so you can imagine how much of a privilege and honor it was for me to have known this one-off, broke-the-mould woman (Fisher) as a great friend," Aykroyd begins.

He also goes on to praise Fisher as "one of the brilliant and hilarious minds of our eon".

He recounted one of their fun times together and said, "Carrie would say things like: 'I love tiny babies. When they cry they turn red and look like screaming tomatoes'."



Another time he remembers Fisher telling him that with a jawline that he had, he should hold his chin upwards or he resembles a tuna fish.

From that moment on, he answered the phone as "Tuna Neck".

Fisher died at the age of 60 on December 27 last year after suffering a heart attack.

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The Centre has assured Arunachal Pradesh for a special package to develop the telecommunication system in the state.

The assurance came from Union Department of Telecom (DoT) Secretary J S Deepak when the state Chief Secretary Shakuntala Doley Gamlin made the proposal, among others, during the two days meeting of DoT at Guwahati, which concluded yesterday, an official release informed said here today.

Deepak said that the Union Ministry of Telecommunication would set up around 6,000 towers across North East under the comprehensive telecom development plant for North East India.

The project would connect more than 8,000 villages across the region in next two years.

BSNL would do this work in Arunachal Pradesh, he said.

The Union secretary further assured to make more bandwidth available, wherever the VSATs are being installed, especially in district headquarters besides, improved connectivity through VSAT till optical fibres are laid on an interim basis and connectivity through OFC possible within a period of 2 years.

During the meeting the chief secretary apprised the department of the need to expand telecommunications in the strategically located state, mainly in view of GST implementation, demonetisation, educational purposes, promotion of tourism sector.

"The state government is looking to fulfill the vision of the Digital India and implement Go cashless, Go Digital policy, where telecommunication plays a vital role," Gamlin said.

She expressed concern over slow pace of works by the executing agencies in various projects and emphasized that Railtel and BSNL should carry out their work on war footing to complete their projects in a time bound manner so that implementation of GST and other e-Governance projects could be rolled out on time.

Gamlin further proposed to bring internet to the state expeditiously, which included among others a waive in spectrum charges for 5 years, dedicated office, speedy procurement of microwave emitters, review of entire network to increase reliability, incentives to private operators to invest and scale up operations in the state, optical connectivity by March 18, besides a VSAT hub at Itanagar.

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Training her guns on the Modi government, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said the people would "not forgive" it for demonetisation and demanded that the Centre withdraw all limits on cash withdrawal immediately.

"I am appealing to the Centre to take back all limits on cash withdrawal immediately. Central government has once again made us dependent despite so many years of Independence. Democratic and political rights are meaningless without financial rights," she said.

Nobody was "touched", but only TMC was targetted because "we protested against demonetisation", Banerjee told reporters here on the last day of her visit to north Bengal.

The TMC supremo asserted, "Sudip Bandyopadhyay (TMC leader in the Lok Sabha) is innocent. He has committed no fault. This is political vendetta, nothing else".

"The financial freedom of common people was taken away and they are still suffering due to demonetisation. They are not able to withdraw money from banks," the Chief Minister alleged.

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Amid reports of China deploying long range intercontinental ballistic missiles near Russian border with the aim to be able to reach targets in the US, Beijing today said it was just a "speculation spread online".

When asked by a Russian journalist about the reports, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, "What you mentioned is a speculation spread online."



"We attach great importance to the development of China-Russia relationship. Our relationship is developing at a high level with a deepening mutual trust. We would like to further exchange our cooperation in different fields," she said, appreciating "very positive" remarks from the Russian side on missile deployment reports.

Russian official agency TASS quoted China's state- run Global Times as saying that DF-41 ballistic missiles have been deployed in northeastern Heilongjiang province near Russian border.

"China has deployed inter-continental ballistic missiles near Russia with the aim to be able to reach targets in the US, Canada and Europe," the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Doctor of Military Science Konstantin Sivkov told TASS.

"This is an inter-continental class missile with an effective range of 10,000 to 12000 kms. The missile's dead zone is no less than three thousand kms. A large territory of Russia, practically the entire Far East and West Siberia are not within the missile's reach," Sivkov said.

Selecting this area for deploying the missiles targeted against Russian territory would be not expedient from the military point of view, he said.

"If that were the purpose, the missiles should have been stationed deep inside mainland China or on its southern border," Sivkov explained.

In his opinion, missiles of that class stationed where they are will have the capability to reach targets in the United States, Canada and Europe.

"This is China's response to threats pronounced by the new US president, Donald Trump. Also, Chinese missiles would be able to use a more advantageous northern strategic route for approaching targets in the United States, thus bypassing the US missile defence," Sivkov said.

Strategically Russia moved closer to China under the previous Obama administration following differences over Ukraine and Cyber attacks.

However, recent reports in state-run Chinese media spoke of Russia may warm up to US as Trump disassociated himself from Obama's policy and looks to pursue more soft line towards Moscow which may in turn impact ties between Russia and China.

The movement of the missiles were highlighted by official Chinese media as Hua yesterday said China would not backdown from its island building in the disputed South China Sea afterTrump administration official made critical comments.

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China has ordered its tour agencies and nationals to boycott a Japanese hotel chain which came under fire for stocking books that deny the 1937 massacre by Japanese troops in the Chinese city of Nanjing during World War II.

China's National Tourism Administration slammed the hotel chain APA for the distribution of books in its hotel rooms in Japan which deny the Nanjing Massacre in which three lakh Chinese civilians were killed by Japanese troops during World War II, state-run Global Times reported today.

The book also denies the existence of "comfort women", women from China and other countries forced to become sex slaves for Japanese soldiers, it said.

The administration requests all Chinese travel agencies and e-commerce travel services to stop cooperation with the hotel chain, and called on Chinese tourists and tour groups visiting Japan to boycott the firm.

APA posted a response on its official website, which said it would not remove the books from guest rooms nor will it change its policies.

One branch hotel in Sapporo which will accommodate guests for the Asian Winter Games in February said it may consider removing the books if the organising committee makes an official request, Kyodo reported.

Despite the discord over history, Japan continues to be the most favourite destination for Chinese tourists.

With 4.99 million, Chinese tourists topped the list of tourists to Japan which last year record number of 19.73 million tourists last year.

Besides Chinese, Japan attracted four million tourists from South Korea, 3.67 million from Taiwan and 1.52 million from Hong Kong. The controversy first broke when media reported about the books earlier this month.

APA Group CEO Toshio Motoya, who authored the bookThe Real History of Japan - Theoretical Modern History, on Saturday refused to remove the books saying that the controversy was premeditated.

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The Chattanooga Bach Choir, under the direction of David Long, continues its 2016-17 Barnett & Company Cantata Series, on Sunday at 4 p.m. at Christ Church-Episcopal, 663 Douglas St. There is a suggested donation of $15 at the door; students are free. For more information, visit www.chattanoogabachchoir.org.

The program features Johann Sebastian Bachs cantata, BWV 81, Jesus Schlaft, Was Soll Ich Hoffen? (Jesus sleeps, is hope now fading?) and Georg Philipp Telemanns motet, Laudate Jehovam, Omnes Gentes (O Praise the Lord, All ye Nations) (Psalm 117). The Bach Choirs organist Karla Fowkes performs Von Gott will ich nicht lassen (I will not forsake the Lord) from the Leipzig Chorales, BWV 658. Joining the Bach Choir are guest soloists: Andrea Dismukes, alto; Mark Laseter, tenor; and Zachary James Cavan, bass.

Mr. Long, artistic director, said, Both of these works were written for the Epiphany season. Bachs cantata 81 was written for the fourth Sunday after Epiphany, the same day in the church year as our concert. It is inspired from the gospel of Matthew 8:23-27, the story of Jesus sleeping in the boat, who after being awakened by his fearful disciples, calms the storm and waves. Bach depicts the crashing waves and storm through some incredibly dramatic music performed by the tenor soloist and the violins.

"This year marks the 250th anniversary of the death of Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), the prolific Baroque composer and godfather to Bachs second son, Carl Philipp Emmanuel, who became a noted composer himself. In honor of this anniversary we will perform his setting of Psalm 117, Laudate Jehovam, Omnes Gentes (O Praise the Lord, All ye Nations), for choir and string instruments.

The Barnett & Company Cantata Series continues with cantatas composed for the Easter season: BWV 104 Du Hirte Israel, Hore (O shield of Israel, hear us) on April 30, and BWV 86 Wahrlich, Wahrlich, Ich Sage Euch (Truly, truly I say to you) on May 21. These concerts take place at Christ Episcopal Church.

Here is the program:

G.P. Telemann Laudate Jehovam, Omnes Gentes (Psalm 117)

J.S. Bach Von Gott will ich nicht lassen, Leipzig Chorales, BWV 658

Karla Fowkes, organ

J.S. Bach BWV 81, Jesus Schlaft, Was Soll Ich Hoffen?
A 26-year old man who was seriously ill onboard a merchant ship in mid-sea has been rescued by the Coast Guard and hospitalised in Visakhapatnam.

Acting on a request for urgent medical help from the merchant ship PANAMAX-4 in the Bay of Bengal, the Coast Guard Eastern Region, swung into action and rushed its ship "ARNVESH" and a Chetak helicopter for the rescue mission, a Coast Guard release said here today.

The helicopter piloted by Commandant R Ramesh safely landed onboard the merchant vessel and evacuated Ishitiyak Ahmed.

He was later brought to the shores and admitted to a private hospital in Vishakapatnam where his condition was reported to be stable, the release said.

Coast Guard has saved 4,696 lives and taken up 238 medical evacuations since inception, it added.

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The Competition Commission has ordered a detailed probe against Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for allegedly abusing its dominant position related to a residential plot scheme that was launched way back in 1981.

The detailed investigation has been ordered after finding that DDA prima facie violated competition norms.

To assess the complaint, CCI considered 'market for provision of services of development and sale of residential plots in the National Capital Territory of Delhi' as the relevant one.

A statutory body engaged in the development and sale of land and residential units in Delhi, DDA was found to be dominant in the relevant market.

The regulator's investigation arm -- Director General (DG) -- would conduct the detailed probe into the matter.

DG would also probe the role of officials/persons, who at the time of such contravention, were in-charge of and responsible for the conduct of DDA's business.

During the course of investigation, if the involvement of any other party is found then those those entities would also be probed.

The complaint pertained to Rohini Residential Plot Scheme, 1981, under which the plots were to be allotted over a period of five years.

Following a court case, the draw of lots under the scheme happened in March 2012 and the allotment letter was issued to the complainant's wife in November 2014.

CCI noted that the time period of five years mentioned for phased allotment of plots as promised in the scheme's brochure being extended to 33 years cannot be considered as reasonable.

In a 20-page order, issued this month, the regulator said DDA is a public body that is also a revenue-producing monopoly but compliance with competition law should not materially impede public bodies' efficient exercise of their functions.

"However, public bodies need to ensure that their conduct is compliant with competition law. Effective competition in such markets can benefit the wider economy by encouraging greater productivity and innovation and preserving long term growth, while continuing to provide greater value for money to the taxpayer," CCI noted.

Ordering the probe, it also observed that "prima facie" it appears that such was not the conduct of DDA.

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Tamil Nadu Congress Committee today held a protest demonstration condemning alleged police excess while dispersing jallikattu protesters from the Marina beach here.

Demanding a judicial inquiry into the alleged excess, TNCC chief Su Thirunavukkarasar wondered how anti-social elements could have crept into the congregation of peaceful protesters when a large number of police personnel were present.

He said had the law to allow jallikattu had been enacted before, the situation would not have come to such a pass.

TNCC chief also hit out at the Centre for its demonetisation drive and said it had affected the people.

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Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has said they gave a free hand to leaders in Goa to select candidates for the upcoming state polls, and exuded confidence that the party will emerge victorious.

"If you see this time, Delhi has hardly interfered in the selection of candidates. We have given full mandate to our leaders here. The screening committee members came here in the Pradesh election office, we had wide discussions, that is why we could get the best possible candidates," Singh told PTI in an interview here.

He is here to oversee his party's campaign for the February 4 polls.

"For once there was hardly any revolt in the party this time," he said referring to senior leaders toeing the party line despite being refusing the ticket for polls.

Claiming that Congress has been able to win confidence of the electorate in the coastal state where it once ruled, Singh said the party has managed to build up its credibility.

"More than 60 per cent of our candidates are new. We have a combination of experienced and new faces, and I am sure we will be able to get the mandate from the people of Goa this time," he said.

On why chief ministerial face has not been projected by the party, Singh said, "Congress does not want to take away right of elected representatives to chose their leader."



He exuded confidence that the party will get full majority on its own in the election, and said it was a conscious decision not to go in for an alliance.

"As far as Goa is concerned we want to defeat the BJP, and all people who want to defeat BJP and bring in secular government we will try to take their help. We have not formed alliance but have gone for seat-sharing," he said.

On the party's manifesto, he said they have assured to bring about a clean and good governance.

"We are going to fight a tough battle against drugs. It would be eliminated totally. We will do everything possible to eliminate menace of drugs. We are going to move out casinos and we will give best tourism facilities in Goa," he said.

"We mean business. They (BJP) have done a complete U-turn on every issue they promised. We will implement the promises made in 2017 election if we are given the mandate by the people of Goa," Singh said.

On Congress's defeat in the 2012 polls, he said the party then did not getthe kind of support which it expected.

"But we have been consistently raising the issues of mis-governance, failure of the (present) government to fulfil election promises made in 2012, the way they have given permission across the board to the builders ignoring the environment and conservation...They have violated the provisions of regional plan," he alleged.

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Accusing NDA government of "sabotaging the Constitution", the CPI today said people should "fight to defend the Constitution", and the party would observe tomorrow's Republic Day as 'Save Constitution Day'.

"Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as the government of the people, by the people, for the people. Today it has become the government of Narendra Modi by the RSS and for corporate houses....This is nothing but sabotaging of the Indian Constitution and its guidelines," CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said in a statement here.

"All those who are opposed to the RSS ideology and its pro-fascist agenda are being branded as anti-nationals. Patriotism has become the monopoly of Hindutva forces in the country. In the name of cow protection, Muslim minorities and Dalits are targeted, attacked and killed. An atmosphere of terror is being unleashed all over the country," he said.

CPI had therefore decided to observe this year's Republic Day as 'Save Constitution Day', he said.

"False cases are being foisted on university professors, teachers and journalists. All democratic rights are being denied to people, particularly the tribals. There is police raj. It is in the light of such unprecedented onslaughts on our Constitution by the Sangh Parivar and its affiliates with the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the last meeting of the National Council of the Communist Party of India held in December 2016 at Hyderabad decided to observe this year's republic day as 'Save Constitution Day'.

"Reservations to SC, ST, OBCs are opposed by the Sangh Parivar for long, alleging that it is vote-bank politics. Now some upper castes in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Haryana are organising themselves demanding reservations. This will ultimately pave the way for cancellation of all reservations...," Reddy said.

"Demonetisation is a direct attack on the poor people.... concentration of wealth has abnormally increased during the last two years of Modi government and 58 per cent of wealth is in the hands of top one per cent," he said.

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Cuba is willing to hold "respectful dialogue" with Donald Trump, President Raul Castro has said, following warnings that the new US leader may halt the two countries' rapprochement.

"I wish to express Cuba's desire to continue negotiating on current bilateral issues with the United States on a basis of equality, reciprocity and respect for the sovereignty and independence of our country," Castro said.

He added that he was willing "to pursue respectful dialogue and cooperation on issues of common interest with the new government of President Donald Trump."



Castro, 85, spoke in an address to a summit of the 33-nation Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), meeting in the Dominican Republic.

Trump has said he may end the diplomatic thaw if Cuba does not make more concessions on human rights -- an issue on which Havana has refused to be lectured.

The restoration of diplomatic ties by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama and Castro in 2015 was a historic breakthrough in a Cold War dispute dating to the 1950s.

Since Raul Castro took the reins of power from his brother Fidel in 2006, Cuba has gradually opened up its economy and foreign relations.

Obama and Castro further eased some economic and trade restrictions, although Washington's main trade embargo on Cuba remains in place.

Fidel Castro died on November 25.

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Two days after activist Bela Bhatia was accused by protesters as being a Maoist sympathiser and told to vacate her house in Bastar district, senior state Home department officials today visited her residence in Pandripani village and assured her of full protection.

Principal Secretary (Home) BVR Subramaniam, Special Director General (anti-naxal operation) DM Awasthi, Bastar Superintendent of Police RN Dash and other officials visited the activist and assured her of full protection by state.

"We have assured Bhatia that we are committed to extend full protection to her. In democracy, every citizen has equal rights to work freely anywhere in the country," Awasthi told PTI.

On January 23, villagers held a protest outside her rented accommodation and asked her to vacate it for being a 'naxal sympathiser'.

However, the activisthad claimed that a group of men barged inside the house and asked her to leave immediately, failing which they will set the house ablaze.

Bhatia had said she would leave the house on January 24, but not Bastar, as her landlord was being pressurised.

She has been working in the region for past several years.

Bastar SP had said enough security was provided for Bhatia's protection.

In the wake of the incident, the Chhattisgarh police had deputed 15 police personnel, including four women, for her security.

Notably, Bhatia was among a group of people who had accompanied a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team to villages of Bijapur recently to record the statements of alleged rape victims.

Earlier this month, NHRC had sent a notice to state government over alleged rape, sexual and physical assault of 16 women by the state police personnel in Bastar division (in October 2015 and January 2016), observing the government is "vicariously liable" for it.

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The North Korean regime is on an inexorable decline towards collapse, with its people increasingly disillusioned but its nuclear ambitions undimmed, a top defector said today.

"I'm sure and I can say that Kim Jong-Un's days are numbered," said Thae Yong-Ho, who fled his post as North Korea's deputy ambassador to Britain in August.

In his first press conference for foreign correspondents, held under tight security, Thae said he was sure that more of his fellow countrymen would follow suit since North Korea was "on a downward path".

The elite were "turning their backs" on leader Kim Jong-Un, he said, adding: "The traditional structures of North Korean systems are crumbling."



Nuclear-armed North Korea has been ruled by the Kim dynasty since its foundation in 1948. It is subject to United Nations Security Council sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes and is accused by the West of widespread human rights abuses.

Thae is among the highest-ranking defectors from the North for years. He said he had begun to waver as his diplomatic role granted him access to outside information.

His disillusionment turned to despair after Kim, who inherited power from his late father Kim Jong-Il five years ago, began ruthlessly purging officials, he added.

Kim had his own uncle and one-time political mentor Jang Song-Thaek executed in late 2013 on an array of charges, including treason and corruption.

Kim was installed as chairman of the State Affairs Commission - a new supreme governing body - in June, a month after his Workers' Party held its first congress in 36 years in what was widely seen as his coronation.

North Korean diplomats are generally compelled to leave one of their children behind in Pyongyang when they are dispatched abroad, but Thae was able to take both his sons, now aged 19 and 26, to London - easing his preparations to defect.

"The Kim Jong-Un regime abuses love between parents and children to control North Korean diplomats," he said.

After Thae's defection the North's state media denounced him as "human scum" and accused him of embezzling state funds, raping a minor and spying for South Korea in exchange for money.

Pyongyang carried out two nuclear tests and a series of missile launches in 2016 and Thae said Kim was planning to "complete" its atomic development by the end of this year to take advantage of leadership transitions in South Korea and the US.

"The only way to resolve the issue of North's nuclear threats is the elimination of Kim Jong-Un's regime," he said.

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Public broadcaster Doordarshan will have no less than 27 High Definition state-of-the-art cameras in strategic positions to cover the entire mega spectacle on the occassion of the Republic Day here.

Thirteen of these cameras are positioned at Rajpath which includes three robotically-controlled cameras, two of which are placed right inside the Presidential Enclosure and one near the parade area for close-ups, Doordarshan said.

Eight cameras are positioned at India Gate which includes one Jimmy Jip and one mounted on a crane, it said.

"The crane camera is placed behind the canopy and is capable of taking shots from 80 ft height. Cameras installed on the very top of India Gate provides a panoramic birds eye view of entire Rajpath. There are six cameras placed at Rashtrapati Bhavan, including one camera on a crane which is mounted near the gate of Rashtrapati Bhavan," Doordarshan said.

The coverage will incorporate the departure of the President along with the Chief Guest from Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Jimmy Jib cameras and two cameras on hydraulic cranes provide "dynamic and breathtaking" aerial shots.

The 27 cameras are supported and interlinked by three HD OB Vans placed at Rajpath, India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Exclusive dynamic microphones have been placed on the parade ground to pick up foot movements, command of commanding officers and movement of armoured vehicles and other ambience sound that enriches the quality of audio signals.

This arrangement by Doordarshan is in addition to the sound feeds provided by signals wing of the Army.

Special arrangements have been worked out in association with the Air Force for coverage of the flypast.

The telecast will start at 9.00 AM from Rajpath with a melodious and powerful rendering of Vande Mataram.

The I&B ministry has also asked all TV channels interested in carrying the live telecast of the speech of the President and Republic Day Parade with commentary that they may carry the signals of DD Bharati or DD with sign language interpretation and Englishi-Hindi subtitles for the benefit of differently-abled citizens.

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Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C. attorney Harold Hal L. North has been elected a Fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation, an association of 841 attorneys across the state. Invitations to membership were extended to 31 attorneys this year by the Board of Trustees. The introduction of new Fellows took place in January at the annual Fellows' Dinner in Nashville.

The honor is limited to those outstanding lawyers, judges, and teachers of law who have: demonstrated an uncompromised dedication to integrity; made outstanding and recognized contributions to the legal profession and to the public good; and demonstrated a strong commitment to the objectives and purposes of the Tennessee Bar Foundation.

The Tennessee Bar Foundation also administers a grant making program. That program, known by its acronym IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts), has awarded grants in excess of $21,000,000 to law-related, public interest projects throughout Tennessee.

Hal North is a shareholder and member of the litigation section of Chambliss Law Firm. He concentrates his practice on civil litigation, as well as municipal and governmental affairs. Along with his recognition as a Tennessee Bar Foundation Fellow, North was previously named a Fellow by the Chattanooga Bar Foundation and is ranked among the Mid-South Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America.

Mr. North has been highly active over the years in the legal profession and the community, having served as President of the Chattanooga Bar Association, the Rotary Club of Chattanooga, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Chattanooga. He previously served as Chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party and the Sheriff's Civil Service Board, while also serving on the Executive Committee of the Tennessee Republican Party and the Hamilton County Election Commission.

Hal North and his wife Teresa have two sons, Tripp and Gib, and reside in Ooltewah.
Lt Governor Anil Baijal has decided to hold his fortnightly meetings, which are mainly focused on law and order issue, with Delhi Police's top cops on a particular theme.

Till now, the meetings were based on law and order situation at Raj Niwas where Police Commissioner, Joint Commissioners and other senior officers apprised the Lt Governor of the initiatives being taken by the force.

To begin with, the next meeting, which is expected to be held in seven days, will be on the issue of safety of women.

Apart from this, Baijal has also decided to call representatives of departments concerned in his meetings to properly address the issues.

An official said for instance, in the next meeting, officials from Delhi Women and Child Development Department will also asked to attend.

The official also said earlier, the review meetings were about crime statistics and action taken reports but from now on, every meeting will have a theme with different issue.

The LG office may also ask people to write in with their problems and any solution they want to put forth.

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Two residents of the city today approached railway police and demanded that actor be booked for murder and culpable homicide in connection with the death of a person at Vadodara railway station, where a huge crowd had gathered to catch a glimpse of the superstar, who was travelling via train to promote "Raees".

Tragedy hit Shah Rukh's train promotion campaign for his upcoming film "Raees", when Farid Khan Pathan, a local politician from Vadodara, died of cardiac arrest during a massive rush to have a glimpse of the superstar at the railway station, in which two policemen were also injured.

Rajesh Goyal and Waris Ali Saiyed submitted an application to Western Railways Superintendent of Police (Vadodara Division), Sharad Singhal, requesting him to register a complaint against the actor under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

An estimated 15,000-strong crowd went berserk in the rush to have a look at the 51-year-old superstar when the Mumbai-Delhi August Kranti Rajdhani Express train made its scheduled halt in Vadodara at 10.30 pm on Monday.

"We gave this application to railway police in our individual capacity, seeking that a case against under sections 302 and 304 of the IPC," said Goyal.

Singhal confirmed the receipt of the application and said, "Police would look into it."



Meanwhile, a local corporator said the victim had gone to meet one of his relative at the railway station when the incident took place.

Farid Yusuf Lakhajivala, Congress corporator in Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) claimed that Farid Khan Pathan had gone to the station to meet his sister-in-law, who was travelling in the same train as the actor.

"Due to the huge rush, Pathan fell down at the platform. Almost thirty minutes were lost at the station before he was finally taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead. He would have been alive had he been taken to hospital immediately after he collapsed at the platform," Lakhajivala told PTI.

The mortal remains of the deceased were laid to rest in a Karelibag locality of the city on Tuesday.
As travelling has evolved from once-a-year activity to several short breaks, Dubai has emerged as the top international destination and the financial capital of the country has become the favourite among Indians for this year's Republic Day weekend, a report said.

Dubai has topped the list of international destination followed by Bangkok in Thailand, New York, San Francisco in the US and Denpasar in Indonesia as the most searched destinations for this Republic Day long weekend, according to data by global travel search engine KAYAK.

The data is based on actual searches in the global search engine platform from July 1, 2016 to January 24, 2017, for travel during January 26 and 27.

In India, Mumbai is the favourite among domestic travellers followed by New Delhi, Goa, Bengaluru and Chennai.

"With a growing desire for a getaway during long weekend amongst Indian travellers, we have observed a 14 per cent increase in the search volume for the top 10 destinations this Republic Day long weekend," KAYAK Country Director - India, Abhijit Mishra said.

He said there is a mix of both international and domestic locations that are being considered this year.

"While Dubai and Bangkok tops the chart for International getaways, Goa continues to be a hot favourite amongst Indian travel destinations. Interestingly, the preferred departure day for Indians this time is January 26, which reflects that Indians are willing to take a Friday off, to make time for a quick getaway," he opined.

This year overall there are 14 long weekends.

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A case of murder has been registered in connection with the death of Adobe India engineer Gaurav Shrotiya following a WhatsApp complaint by his uncle, police said today.

Gaurav (27) allegedly fell to death from the balcony of an apartment in sector 74 here on January 13 where he had gone to meet a female friend.

His family members had taken his body to his hometown in Rajasthan.

On Tuesday, Gaurav's uncle Haridev sent a WhatsApp message to the Sector 49 police station SHO stating that it was a planned murder.

The SHO registered the murder case based on his message.

Police till now was treating it as suicide, said SHO Bijendra Singh Bhadana.

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At least eight people were killed and 14 injured as Somali security forces ended a siege by extremist fighters who stormed a hotel in the capital, police said.

Four al-Shabab attackers were also killed in the attack on Dayah hotel, which is often frequented by government officials, said Col Mohamoud Abdi, a senior Somali police officer.

Survivors described chaotic scenes in which hotel residents hid themselves under beds and others jumped out of windows of the four-story building to escape the extremist attackers.

"They kicked down room doors and at some point posed themselves as rescue teams by telling those inside to come out (only) to kill them," said Hassan Nur, a traditional Somali elder who participated in the election of members of Somalia's new parliament.

He said two well-known clan elders were among those killed by the attackers in the hotel.

The assault on the hotel started when a suicide car bomb exploded at its gates.

Dozens of people, including lawmakers, were thought to have been staying at Mogadishu's Dayah hotel at the time of the morning attack, said Capt Mohamed Hussein. Heavy gunfire could still be heard inside the hotel, he said.

A nearby shopping center caught fire and dozens of people helped save goods in the business premises.

Somalia's homegrown Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack via its online radio, Andalus, saying its fighters succeeded in entering the hotel and an "operation is ongoing now."



Al-Shabab frequently targets hotels and other public places often visited by government officials and foreigners. Al-Qaida's East African affiliate is fighting to impose a strict version of Islam in the Horn of Africa nation.

In June, gunmen stormed the Nasa-Hablod hotel, killing at least 14 people. Two weeks before that, gunmen killed 15, including two members of parliament, at the Ambassador hotel.

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Heavyweight Congress turncoat Yashpal Arya who filed his nomination today as a BJP candidate from Bajpur had a narrow escape during a firing at his public meeting, with Uttarakhand BJP chief Ajay Bhatt claiming it an "attempt on the life" of the leader and his son and an act of retribution by Chief Minister Harish Rawat.

There was a clash between supporters of Kulwinder Singh Kinda and those of Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, the main accused in the Ponty Chadha murder case, at the public meeting held by Arya which triggered a stampede, Udhamsingh Nagar District Magistrate Chandresh Yadav said.

However, no one was gravely hurt except a few of Arya's supporters who suffered injuries in the stampede, he said.

Eyewitnesses said there were several rounds of firing between the two groups in which Arya and his son had a narrow escape.

Arya said it was an attempt on his life at the behest of the state government. "There is a conspiracy underway to kill me. I was not only fired at. Even my vehicle was pelted with stones," he alleged, adding he has also urged the state police to provide security to his son Sanjeev Arya, who is the BJP candidate from Nainital.

District Magistrate Chandresh Yadav said the BJP leader had taken permission only for a road show but held a public meeting which may even be a case of violation of the Model of Code of Conduct. "All that is being probed," he added.

Terming it as an attempt on the life of Arya and his son, BJP state unit president Bhatt said it was an act of vendetta by chief minister Harish Rawat. "It reflects the frustration of Congress and the CM," he said.

Arya, a former Uttarakhand unit chief of Congress and a minister in Harish Rawat's cabinet, sprang a surprise earlier this month when he along with his son joined the BJP hours before being announced by the party as its nominees from Bajpur and Nainital, respectively.

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First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv will attend the Republic Day parade tomorrow, signalling keenness of both the sides to improve bilateral engagement.

Kubiv is also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar covering various aspects of bilateral ties.

"Stepan Kubiv will attend the Republic Day parade and will hold bilateral talks with M J Akbar," a diplomat in the Ukraine Embassy said.

He said the visit will mark a new phase in India-Ukraine relations, particularly after Ukraine's dispute with Russia over Crimea.

The diplomat said Ukraine was keen on boosting trade ties with India.

Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Anant G Geete had visited Ukraine from November 9-12 last year at the invitation of Kubiv.

During the talks, both sides had resolved to take steps to deepen economic engagement, particularly in areas of pharmaceuticals, agriculture, infrastructure, energy, machinery, chemical industry and strategic enterprises.

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The Gambia's new president will return to the capital today, aides said, ending a prolonged political crisis sparked by disputed elections that forced him to flee to neighbouring Senegal.

The announcement capped days of anxious waiting in the tiny former British colony that was thrown into chaos when long-time president Yahya Jammeh refused to step down after losing elections.

New President Adama Barrow is coming "tomorrow at 4pm (1600 GMT)," a senior government official told AFP. "It is important for him to come to avoid the void."



The official said the priority would be "putting into place the pillars of reform and human rights," adding "people are very happy and it's elating."



Speaking to AFP in Dakar today, Barrow's aide Mai Fatty confirmed the president would be arriving "tomorrow afternoon."



Diplomats had urged Barrow to return quickly to ensure the tourist-reliant economy, already in a fragile state, does not fall into further disrepair.

And residents in the capital Banjul said Barrow's arrival would mark the beginning of the healing process after divisions created by Jammeh's regime.

"Not only the government has to change but all the Gambian people have to change, working hand in hand, and change our attitude," said one Gambian, who declined to give his name.

Barrow's first job is to deal with an internal crisis after it emerged his pick for vice president, Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, may be constitutionally too old for the role.

Around 4,000 west African troops remain in The Gambia charged with ensuring safety, as it is believed rogue pro-Jammeh elements remain in the security forces that were once under his personal control.

Marcel Alain De Souza, head of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), told a briefing in Nigeria yesterday that the troops were working to secure Banjul and the surrounding area for Barrow's return.

Jammeh finally left the country for exile on Saturday by which time Barrow had been sworn in at the Gambian embassy in Dakar, the Senegalese capital.

After more than two decades in power, he went into exile in Equatorial Guinea under threat of a regional military intervention.

Barrow has assured Jammeh he will have all the rights legally ensured to an ex-president, which under Gambian law includes immunity from prosecution, barring a vote by two-thirds of the national assembly.

The new government has also confirmed Jammeh will be permitted to keep a fleet of luxury cars, while authorities have accused the former strongman of plundering state coffers before heading into exile, making off with USD 11 million (10 million euros).

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A 22-year-old man, who was kingpin of the most active gang of robbers in west and north Delhi, has been arrested in connection with a case where he allegedly opened fire on a police official in 2016.

On January 20, a tip-off was received that Sagar alias Sai, would come near Bonta Park, said Ravindra Yadav, joint commissioner of police (crime).

A team led by ACP Sandeep Lamba, under the supervision of DCP (crime) Rajesh Deo was constituted to nab him.

"The raiding party, along with the informer, reached Bonta Park where Sagar was coming to meet one of his accomplices. He tried to flee but he was arrested," said the officer.

Sagar took to committing thefts, snatchings and robberies to fulfil his desire of having girlfriends and to live a lavish life, said the officer.

"During interrogation Sagar told police that in July 2016, he along with his accomplice Sunny was roaming in Tilak Nagar. On a petty argument with two individuals riding on a bike, and on the directions of Sunny, he shot at one of them and fled away. It later came to notice that the person whom he shot at was a policeman," said the officer.

Most of the people Sagar targeted were people who were coming out of metro stations who seldom reported the incidents.

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In a unique move, all officers in Patna district would spend one hour per week taking classes in government schools to keep a tab on their functioning.

"We are going to start this on the occasion of Republic Day in Patna district. The idea is to give something back to the society," Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said.

"All the district, sub-divisional and block level officers including myself, ADMs, Circle Officers, BDOs and others will spend one hour in a week taking classes in government schools," he told PTI.

The officers would also give the students career counselling, teach them etiquette, dress sense, cleanliness, sanitation and extra curricular activity.

The move would motivate children as it was seen that students listen to and follow a "visitor" seriously, said Agarwal who himself would assume the role of a teacher at Bankipore Government Girls High School in Patna on January 27.

The officers would teach the subject of their specialisation for an hour in a week in morning hours, the DM said adding later police officials will also be added to the campaign.

This would do a lot of good, he said.

He said it would help improve the quality of education in schools, help officials keep a tab on infrastructure of schools and quality of mid-day meal, and ensure better attendance of students and teachers.

The officers would submit reports on these issues.

Officials would also visit the area especially those homes whose students are not attending school and would take steps to ensure their attendance.

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As many as 439 prisoners, over half of them serving life sentence, will be freed from Gujarat jails after the state government ordered their release on humanitarian grounds on the eve of Republic Day.

The decision to pardon the remaining sentences of these 439 prisoners was taken by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on humanitarian grounds, said an official press release.

This is for the first time that such a large number of prisoners have been pardoned by the state, it said.

Among these, 243 convicts, including 21 women, had been awarded life imprisonment and have completed at least 12 years of sentence, said the release.

Another 110 inmates are those who were given lesser jail terms by courts and completed 75 per cent of the punishment period.

Remaining include male prisoners above 65 years of age, those who have not jumped parole since the last 10 years and women above 60 years who complete five years in jail as on January 26, said the release.

Those convicted for rape, multiple murders, robbery and under tough laws like POTA, TADA or under National Security Act, are not given state pardon, said the release.

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The Gujarat High Court has issued notice to the Centre and the state government on a petition filed by the wife of a fisherman, who is believed to be languishing in a Pakistani jail for over eight years.

Justice R M Chhaya also issued notice on January 23 to the ministries of Home Affairs and External Affairs.

Petitioner Gitaben Gohil, wife of fisherman Kalubhai Gohil from Jamwala village of Gir Somnath district, has sought a direction from the high court to the respondents to collectively ensure and secure Gohil's release and also get him repatriated to India.

The petitioner said her husband, a small-time fisherman, went missing on November 17, 2008 after the boat on which he was fishing in the Arabian Sea met with an accident.

While Gohil somehow managed to swim to the shore in Pakistan, he was captured by Pakistani authorities and has been languishing in jail there since then, said the petition.

The petitioner said her family had assumed Gohil to be dead and even performed his last rites, only to learn in 2015 from an another fisherman who returned home after being released by Pakistani authorities that her husband was alive and jailed there.

Fisherman Kanubhai Gohil told Gitaben that he met her husband Kalubhai at a Karachi jail where he told him that he was captured after he swam till Keti Bandar of Pakistan following accident of his fishing trawler, and was enslaved by Pakistani fishermen for around six months before being arrested by Pakistani police on charges of being a spy, said the petition.

The petitioner said her husband was not released even when hundreds of Indian fishermen jailed by Pakistani authorities for venturing near the international maritime border were released in these eight years.

Gitaben said she made several representations before the ministries, but nothing has been done to secure her husband's release.

The petition also said that the Centre is not making genuine and bona fide efforts to secure her husband's release, even when it "knows' of his arrest.

"There has not been adequate effort to effectively represent the case of the petitioner," she told the court, adding Pakistan has not given reply to the High Commissioner of India in Pakistan seeking confirmation of her husband's presence.

She sought the court's directions to secure his release and provide him legal and human assistance, while also during the pendency of order direct the External Affairs Ministry to place on record details of his whereabouts.

The matter will be next heard on February 1.

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A court in Gaza today sentenced eight members of the rival Palestinian Fatah faction to lengthy jail terms for undermining "revolutionary unity", the Hamas-run interior ministry said.

The men were found to have collected "security information" against Hamas, including on the "structure and movements" of its militants, in cases dating back to 2014, the ministry said in a statement.

Three were jailed for life by the military court, while the rest received sentences ranging from seven to 15 years.

They were members of the Fatah-led security services.

Fayez Abu Eita, a spokesman for Fatah in the Gaza Strip, called the sentences "political and unjust".

Hamas has run Gaza for a decade after forcing out Fatah in a near civil war. Fatah still runs the West Bank.

A number of attempts at reconciliation between the two sides have failed.

The Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank, run by Fatah, regularly arrest Hamas members.

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Madras High Court today declined to pass any interim order on a petition which alleged police excesses during the crackdown on pro-jallikattu protesters on the Marina Beach here and sought a CBI probe.

Justice R Mahadevan rejected the petitioner's contention that unless an interim order was passed, police would "destroy all evidences" and posted the matter for further hearing to January 30.

The petition was filed by B Kumar of Triplicane locality, abutting Marina Beach which witnessed violent incidents on January 23 when police started evicting the protesters who had been staging the agitation in support of jallikattu for six days.

When the matter came up for hearing, petitioner's counsel K Balu submitted he had enough materials to "show the police excesses".

He said the petitioner had also made specific averments and allegations against the police personnel and sent a complaint to the Tamil Nadu Home Secretary and the Director General of Police yesterday.

At this, the judge said the representation may have reached the officials only now and let them respond to it and that he would hear the matter on Monday.

Earlier, claiming that the police version that the violence was created by anti-social elements in the name of students and youth was not correct, the petitioner submitted he had information that it was police who instigated the violence.

He alleged that police personnel set fire to an autoricksaw, damaged parked vehicles and entered some houses and ransacked articles and said he had evidence in support of his charges.

These "incidents show crystal clear" that the police personnel only created the violence, he claimed.

The petitioner prayed to the court for seeking a report from the city Police Commissioner on the violent incidents and for a CBI Investigation.

In a related matter, Justice Mahadevan closed petitions filed by two pro-jallikattu protesters seeking a direction to police not to harass them, observing that the protests have already ended.

The petitions were filed by G Pavendhan and Senthil Kumar on January 23, hours after the police launched the crackdown on protesters at the Marina Beach here.

Justice Mahadevan in his oral orders on that day had directed the state DGP to ensure safety of public and pro-jallikattu protesters conducting their stir 'peacefully'.

When the matter came up for hearing today, the Judge closed the petitions saying there was no point in keeping them pending as the protests were over.

Responding to allegations made by advocate Suresh that treatment was not given properly to persons injured in the violence, the Judge directed him to file a petition specifying the allegations.

The judge further said that he had already instructed the state Advocate General to ensure proper treatment to the injured.

(REOPENS LGM4)



Meanwhile, a sessions court in the city today granted bail to 27 people arrested in connection with the violence.

Principal Sessions Judge Nazir Ahmed granted bail and directed them to stay in neighbouring Chengalpet till further orders.

Petitioners' advocate and Madras High Court Advocates Association President G. Mohanakrishnan alleged that false FIRs had been registered against the 27 people and that they were not at all present at the protest venue.

However, police suddenly came to their houses and arrested the "27 innocent people", he submitted.

The advocate further alleged it was the Police who used force and lathicharged the protesters. Police had burnt vehicles and houses of innocent people, he added.

Recording his submissions, the PSJ said many people, including celebrities, participated in the pro-jallikattu protests.

He said there was no proof that these 27 people were present during the protests and granted them bail.

City police had last night said 170 persons had been arrested in connection with various violent incidents on Jan 23 when protesters fought pitched battle with police after being evicted from the Marina Beach.
Nineteen soldiers of the 4 and 9 Para, the special forces's units which undertook the daring cross-border surgical strike across LoC, have been awarded gallantry medals including a Kirti Chakra while their commanding officers have been given Yudh Sewa Medal.

Major Rohit Suri of 4 Para, who led one of the teams across the LoC targeting terrorists' launch pads, was awarded the Kirti Chakra, second highest peacetime gallantry award, on the eve of the Republic Day.

Havildar Prem Bahadur Resmi Magar of the Gorkha Rifles got the Kirti Chakra posthumously.

Col Kapil Yadav, commanding officer of 9 Para and Col Harpreet Sandhu, Commanding Officer of 4 Para, were awarded the Yudh Sewa Medal, one of India's military decorations awarded to mark distinguished service during war time is awarded for a high degree of distinguished service in an operational content, including times of war, conflict, or hostilities and may also be awarded posthumously.

The award is the wartime equivalent of the Vishisht Seva Medal, which is a decoration for peace time distinguished service.

Five personnel from the two para units also got Shaurya Chakra while 13 got Sena Medal (Gallantry).

The Army conducted surgical strikes on terrorist launchpads across the Line of Control in September last year, after a terrorist attack on an army camp in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir claimed the lives of 19 jawans.

The strikes were widely hailed by as a strong retaliation, and the Army's new chief General Bipin Rawat has said it is prepared to use the tactic again if needed.

(REOPENS DEL 78)



Those who have been awarded posthumously included Naik Gawade Pandurang Mahadev who has been given Shaurya Chakra.

Lt Col Ranjit Singh Pawar, Major Krishnan Manoj Kumar, Major Amit Deswal Naik Ran Singh, Naik Vijaykumar S, Sepoy Ram Chander of DSC, Sepoy Satya Prakash Singh and Sepoy Satish of DSC along with Signalman Ajay Singh Choudhary were awarded Sena Medal (Gallantry) posthumously.

The President has approved award of 398 gallantry and other defence decorations to armed forces personnel and others on the eve of the 68th Republic Day Celebrations.

This includes two Kirti Chakras, 12 Shaurya Chakras, three Bar to Sena Medal (Gallantry), 91 Sena Medal (Gallantry), two Nao Sena Medal (Gallantry), four Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry), 29 Param Vishisht Seva Medal, five Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, two Bar to Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, 49 Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, 14 Yudh Seva Medal, four Bar to Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), 36 Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), eight Nao Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), 14 Vayu Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), four Bar to Vishisht Seva Medal and 119 Vishisht Seva Medal.

The President has also approved seven awards to Indian Coast Guard Personnel for gallantry, meritorious service and distinguished service.

Three Tatrakshak Medal (Gallantry) have been awarded to Commandant Anwar Khan, Pardeep and Sandeep.

One President's Tatrakshak Medal (Distinguished Service) has been awarded to Inspector General Virender Singh Pathania.

Three Tatrakshak Medal (Meritorious Service) have been awarded to Deputy Inspector General Satyajit Krishnaji Vaidya, Deputy Inspector General Shajen Kurian and Commandant Jashbir Singh Randhaawaa.

Besides these, 44 personnel from Army and others have also been awarded 'Mention-in-Despatches' by the Government, which include four for 'Operation Meghdoot', 32 for 'Operation Rakshak', five for 'Operation Rhino', two for 'Operation Orchid' and one for 'Operation Hifazat'.
Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK) today said it would hoist the National Flag at Katchaitheevu, ceded to Sri Lanka by India, on the Republic Day tomorrow, if the Centre or Tamil Nadu government failed to do so.

In a memorandum submitted to the district collector here, IMK President, Arjun Sampath said that Tamil Nadu fishermen have the right to catch fish in Katchaitheevu area and also the right to worship at St Anthony Church there, as per an agreement between the two countries.

However, Sri Lanka was violating the agreement and not allowing Tamil Nadu fishermen there, he said.

Stating that the Centre or Tamil Nadu government should take steps to hoist the Tricolour tomorrow, he said that either the collector of Ramanathapuram district or senior officials in Indian Coast Guard can hoist the flag there.

If both are failing to hoist the flag, the HMK workers will go and hoist the flag, Arjun Sampath said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Talking tough, China has said it hopes Mongolia shall "drawn lessons" from the Dalai Lama's visit last year and asserted that its neighbour has "promised" not to invite the Tibetan spiritual leader again.

"It is confirmed through diplomatic channels that relevant promises made by the Mongolian side to not allow the Dalai Lama to visit Mongolia is an important step to elevate bilateral relations to achieve sound growth," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here.

Briefing the media on yesterday's telephonic conversation between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Mongolian counterpart Tsend Munkh-Orgil, the first high-level contact between the two sides after the fracas over the Dalai Lama visit, she hoped the Mongolian side would honour its commitment to not allow him to visit again.

In his phone talks with Munkh-Orgil, Wang hoped that Mongolia shall "draw lessons" from the Dalai Lama's visit last November and respect China's major concerns and core interests.

Wang said the development of China-Mongolia relations has been overshadowed by the negative impacts of the Dalai Lama's visit.

He said Mongolia has reflected deeply upon the visit and made an explicit promise not to allow the Dalai Lama to visit the landlocked Asian nation again.

Mongolia shall keep its promise and make practical efforts to improve the China-Mongolia relationship, Wang was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua agency.

For his part, Munkh-Orgil saidMongolia, a staunch supporter of the One-China policy, has always believed that Tibet is an integral part of China.

One-China policy stipulates that the breakaway province of Taiwan and Tibet are part of China.

After hosting the Dalai Lama, defying China, Mongolia which is banking on big ticket loans and investments from Beijing, also appealed to India for intervention after China imposed a blockade of sorts to pressure its smaller neighbour.

India reciprocated with a USD one billion credit line.

Much to the surprise of Beijing, Mongolia allowed the Dalai Lama's visit from November 18 to 23 during which he took part in several religious ceremonies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hundreds of families who fled Mosul last year left displacement camps today to head back to their homes, in the biggest wave yet of returns to the city, officials said.

Displaced Mosul residents hurled bags and foam mattresses into vans and onto buses, many smiling as they prepared to forsake a place they often first reached scared, hungry and exhausted.

Iraqi forces recently completed their recapture of eastern Mosul, which tens of thousands of people had fled since the October 17 start of a massive offensive against the Islamic State (IS) group.

According to the United Nations, more than 180,000 people have been displaced since the start of the offensive but at least 22,000 have since returned to their homes.

The authorities have been organising returns from Khazir and Hasansham displacement camps twice a week.

"We are now taking 500 families, which means 2,700 people, to their liberated houses," local official Mustafa Hamid Sarhan told AFP at the Khazir camp, which lies southeast of Mosul.

"This is the biggest wave," he added, as at least 50 buses lined up for families cleaning up their tents and packing their belongings for the journey home.

One of them was Dhabbah Mohammed Khader, a 45-year-old woman from the neighbourhood of Al-Zahraa who was about to return to her home with two of her sons.

"I'm so happy we finally got rid of Daesh," she said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

"We can go back home now," said the woman, tears running down her wrinkled face.

The continued presence in east Mosul of hundreds of civilians as Iraqi forces advanced through the streets has restricted all sides in their choice of weapons and the city has suffered relatively limited destruction.

"I am so happy to be going home, close to my people," said Salha Ahmed, a widow and mother of seven, as she rolled up the rug covering the gravel in shelter number 81 of Khazir camp.

When she finished packing, she left her poky shelter with no regrets but said she was a little nervous at the idea of returning to Mosul.

Her house was damaged in the fighting and several of her children and grandchildren were still living in another displacement camp further south.

"We have suffered a lot, we have been shattered," she muttered absently, her eyes watering. She said that one of her sons was killed by the Islamic State group for an unknown reason.

"We're tired, we don't know what to do. Should we stay or should we go? I'm confused.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian Coast Guard (ICG) today undertook medical evacuation of a sick Indian crew from merchant ship Panamax-4 approximately 50 kms into Bay of Bengal, while the vessel was enroute Paradip in Odisha.

"The Coast Guard, Vizag received request to evacuate 26 year old Ishitiyak Ahmed, who required urgent medical help as his condition was deteriorating," a release issued by ICG said here.

ICG ship Arnvesh on routine mission was diverted to reach the vessel but realising the emergency, Coast Guard pressed its helicopter Chetak for evacuation, it said.

Despite low visibility, the helicopter piloted by Commandant R Ramesh managed to land onboard the merchant vessel, said the release.

The patient was evacuated, brought to Vizag and admitted to a hospital here. His condition is reported to be stable, the release said.

During last one year ICG has saved 24 lives in four operations undertaken off Andhra coast, the release added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Protesters Plan Massive Anti-Trump March Ahead Of Tax Day In Chicago & Beyond

By Stephen Gossett in News on Jan 24, 2017 11:59PM



Women's March on Chicago / Photo: Tyler LaRiviere

Save the date. On the heels of what was by many accounts a resoundingly-successful, 250,000-person strong protest march/rally in Chicago (and elsewhere), another massive anti-Trump demonstration is rapidly building a wave of support.

The march is being planned for April 15, the Saturday ahead of Tax Day, at Millennium Park. And the point, organizers note, is to pressure President Donald Trump to release his tax returns.

"Like many people, I'm pretty alarmed at Donald Trump being commander-in-chief, particularly enriching his family with taxpayer and foreign money," Taran Brar, one of the Chicago protest's co-organizers, told Chicagoist. "He's bucking a long tradition where the public can see if you have any conflicts of interest. Im guessing where theres smoke theres fire."

Like the Women's March that inspired it, the Chicago Tax Protest is just one of a larger network that are now being scheduled in cities across the country. Other Trump Tax Marches are now in the works for Los Angeles, Denver, Washington D.C., and beyond. Organizers for the Chicago edition are working with counterparts from other cities to best plan the action.

The response for the Chicago protest has already been immense. The Chicago Facebook event page was created on Sunday night; as of Tuesday night, 1,000 people had RSVP'ed with another nearly 4,000 interested.

The Tax Protest has "zero barrier of entry," Brar, a 30-year-old documentary filmmaker, is quick to underscore. The means that although Trump's dubious financial handlings form the centerpiece of the day's action, all are welcome and encouraged to demonstrate other threats posed by the Trump administration, he said.

"We want to see President Trump's tax returns so we can judge conflicts of interest, but it's an open group... Some people say the message gets muddled, but this Tax Day Protest is a very clear message: show us your taxes, Mr. President."

Although the event is in the very early stages, planners are already working hard to make sure the event can accommodate what could beat least judging from initial interestanother major response." We're still working on permitting, but we reached out to legal teams" about moving forward with the city, Brar said.
A ceremonial Border Personnel Meeting was held today between the delegations of Indian Army and their Chinese counterparts in Chushul sector of Ladakh region on the occasion of Chinese Spring Festival.

"A ceremonial Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) on the occasion of Chinese Spring Festival was conducted today at Chinese BPM hut in Moldo garrison of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Chushul sector of Eastern Ladakh," a defence spokesman said here.

He said the Indian delegation was led by Brigadier R S Raman and the Chinese delegation was headed by senior Colonel Wang Jun Xian.

"The proceedings commenced by ceremonial hoisting of flags of both the countries, followed by ceremonial address by both delegation leaders and exchange of greetings and wishes. Thereafter, the PLA personnel organised a cultural programme showcasing vibrant Chinese culture," the spokesman said.

Both the delegations interacted in a cordial and friendly environment, the spokesman said, adding the Chinese delegation also extended an invitation for another such meeting on January 29 at Daulat Beg Oldie.

"The delegation parted amidst feelings of friendship and commitment towards enhancing the existing cordial relations and maintaining peace along the Line of Actual Control," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India today said it was not meddling in Nepal's internal affairs but asserted that chaos, instability and conflict in the Himalayan nation will have a "direct impact" on India.

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae also said the continued Indian support to Nepal should not be perceived as interference in Nepal's internal matters.

Speaking at the Reporter's Club in Kathmandu, on the eve of India's 68th Republic Day, Rae asserted that India has provided support for the development of Nepal.

"India has never interfered in the affairs of Nepal and we are sure that such interference will not benefit India," Rae said.

"India does not have any interest in Nepal's new Constitution. We (India and Indian people) only wish that all groups of Nepal should move ahead together. It is Nepal's internal matter as to how it gets ahead together by sorting out internal problems," the envoy was quoted as saying by The Himalayan Times.

It is natural for both the countries that share a variety of relations to have general misunderstandings in any issue, he said, suggesting that such misunderstandings should be resolved through dialogue and consultations.

"India always wants Nepal to have stability, peace and prosperity as chaos, instability and conflict in the country will have a direct impact on India due to the open border between the two countries," he said.

"Although a political circle of Kathmandu thinks that India is interfering in the internal matters of the neighbouring country, I think the people of Kathmandu do not buy the idea," he said.

He also underlined the need for further strengthening bilateral ties and move forward by focusing on economic partnership in the days ahead.

"The basis of our relations should be economic agenda and we need to move forward by joining hands together in the path of prosperity and development," Rae said.

He also claimed that Nepal-India relations have already moved forward by forging an economic partnership, which is clearly evident from the preparation of the detailed project report of the Pancheshwor Multipurpose Project, which has reached the final stage.

Rae also talked about the progress made by construction of Upper Karnali and Arun Third Project despite some obstacles posed by some elements.

Generation of electricity will immensely benefit Nepal as it can not only fulfil the domestic demands but can also export to India and other countries, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a bid boost to their strategic ties, India and the UAE today signed more than a dozen pacts in key areas like defence, security, trade and energy apart from a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement amidst assertion by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that cooperation stands poised for a "major take off".

However, much-anticipated pact pertaining to the USD 75 billion investment fund, committed by the UAE, was not among the fourteen pacts which were signed after the talks between Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Al Nahyan, who arrived here yesterday accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers, senior officials and captains of industry, will be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade tomorrow.

Terming his discussions as "fruitful and productive", Modi, at a joint press event with the UAE leader, said the discussions were wide ranging covering the entire spectrum of the bilateral engagement.

"We have shaped an ambitious roadmap of engagement to make our comprehensive strategic partnership purposeful and action oriented. The agreement that was exchanged just now has institutionalised this understanding," Modi said.

Asserting that security and defence cooperation have added growing new dimensions to the ties, he said their closer ties are of importance, not just to both the countries but also of significance to the entire neighbourhood.

He also said convergence between the two countries can help stabilise the region and the economic partnership can be a source of regional and global prosperity.

"We exchanged views on developments in West Asia and the Gulf, where both countries have a shared interest in peace and stability. We also discussed developments in our region, including Afghanistan. Our shared concern on growing threat from radicalism and terrorism to the safety and security of our people is shaping our cooperation in this space," Modi said.

He noted, "Moving forward, our cooperation stands poised for a major take off. I am confident, Your Highness, that your visit will build on the strong gains and understanding of our previous interactions. And shape its future framework marked by depth, drive and diversification of our partnership."



However, the two sides did not sign a pact pertaining to the USD 75 billion investment as was hoped by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials yesterday.

Holding that the UAE has the largest sovereign fund, Secretary for Economic Relations in MEA Amar Sinha yesterday had told reporters, "During the visit, we are hoping to sign an MoU between their investment fund and our National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF)" which will put in place a framework as to how the fund will be administered and which all sectors it can be invested in.

Asked as of why the accord was not inked, senior officials said, "Talks are in an advanced stage and this visit has helped in identifying sectors in which the investment can be made.

Noting that they have agreed to expand cooperation in the



field of defence to new areas including in the maritime domain, Modi said the MoU on Defence Cooperation will help steer the defence engagements in the right direction.

"We also feel that our growing engagement in countering violence and extremism is necessary for securing our societies," the Prime Minister said.

Ahead of delegation-level talks at Hyderabad House, the two leaders held a one-on-one meeting for nearly one hour at the Prime Minister's official residence here. Counter- terrorism and security situation in the region were among other key issues discussed between the two of them.

Terming the UAE as one of India's most valued partners and a close friend in an important region of the world, Modi said, "We regard the UAE as an important partner in India's growth story," adding that he has conveyed the interest of Indian companies to be a partner in infrastructure projects for the World EXPO 2020 in Dubai.

"I particularly welcome the UAE's interest in investing in India's infrastructure sector. We are working to connect the institutional investors in the UAE with our National Investment and Infrastructure Fund," the Prime Minister said.

Asserting that they were encouraging and facilitating business and industry of both countries to increase the quality and quantum of bilateral trade, he said the agreement on trade remedies would strengthen the trade partnership further.

The pacts signed included cooperation in defence manufacturing and technology with focus on armament and transfer of expertise, maritime transportation and economic activities, exchange of best practices in road transport and a pact dealing with working together in prevention and combating of human trafficking, especially of women and children.

On the trade front, agreement pertaining to trade remedial measures, MoU on cooperation in energy efficiency services and a pact on oil storage and management were among the documents signed by the two countries.

Describing the bilateral energy partnership as an "important bridge" in the linkages, Modi said, "It contributes to our energy security. His Highness and I discussed ways to transform our energy ties in a strategic direction through specific projects and proposals. In this regard, long-term supply contracts and establishment of joint ventures in the energy sector can be beneficial avenues."



Observing that the UAE is home to around 2.6 million Indians, the Prime minister said he expressed gratitude to the Cwon Prince for looking after the welfare of the Indian nationals in his country and also thanked him for allotting land for a temple for the Indian diaspora in Abu Dhabi.
The BJP's Tamil Nadu unit today alleged that the Indian flag was being "insulted" by some persons, including on social media, and urged the state government and police to prevent such incidents.

BJP state president Tamilisai Sounderrajan also appealed against any insults to the national flag, saying persons doing so "cannot be Tamils or even humans".

She claimed that there had been instances of the national flag being "insulted" by some persons and expressed concern over it.

"Both sentiments and the law does not allow this and insulting the flag in the real world, as well as the virtual world is not acceptable," she said in a statement.

Such incidents should be avoided and those who had done so on social platforms like Facebook should immediately remove such posts, she added.

"I request the Tamil Nadu government and the police department to prevent insult to the national flag, both in person as well as on Facebook, by anybody. If they continue to do so they should be severely punished," Sounderrajan demanded.

In an apparent reference to the recent pro-jallikattu protests, she said "anti-national forces which sneaked among youth had diverted a good movement and such anti-nationals could also do this" (insulting the flag), she said



The tricolour's respect should be upheld, she said while extending Republic Day greetings.

Recently, Tamil musician 'hiphop Tamizha' Aadhi had announced backing out of the pro-jallikattu protests, alleging presence of 'anti-national' elements.

He alleged that he had come across insult to the national flag during the protests at Coimbatore and that some had even tried to give a communal colour to it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
To go the digital way in upcoming Manipur assembly polls, the state government today launched a new mobile application called "e-Manipur election" which will provide several key information to the voters.

Chief Secretary O Nabakishore launched the app on the occasion of the 7th National Voters' Day at City Convention Centre Hall here.

The App project head, Ramayan, who was in-charge of developing it, told PTI that some of the features have been introduced for the first time in the state and the country as well.

He said such an App was first launched in Bihar and then in West Bengal in their respective last elections. Later, Manipur authorities urged the EC to devise it for the state.

Created by Software Education and Resource Private Limited, the App, which could be easily downloaded, consists of 4 new unique features, said the project head.

The four features, namely, Voter Slip, location of nearest booth, way to booth, and complaint through WhatsApp will assist the electorate in casting their votes easily than before, Ramayan added.

Launching the App, Nabakishore urged for free and fair polls in the state and underscored the necessity for all eligible electorate to participate in the two-phase elections in March.

The function was organised by the Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur, and concluded with taking the pledge for National Voters' Day and presentation of newly enrolled voters with Badges and Electronic Privacy Information Centre.

Manipur goes to poll on March 4 and 8.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Italy's constitutional court began hearing challenges today to the country's electoral law, the outcome of which could help determine when new elections are held.

The 2015 law under review governs elections for the lower, 630-seat Chamber of Deputies. Among other things it assigns a bonus to the majority party if it reaches a 40 percent threshold.

It was adopted under the assumption that parliament's upper Senate chamber would be reformed. Italians, however, overwhelmingly rejected the proposed Senate reforms in a Dec. 4 referendum, leading to Matteo Renzi's resignation as premier.

Renzi's successor, Paolo Gentiloni, is running the government until new elections can be held. Most political forces agree that a new electoral law must be passed before any vote, taking into account the constitutional court's ruling, which is expected Wednesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senior police officer and Registrar of Jamia Millia Islamia, AP Siddiqui, has been awarded President's Medal for Distinguished Service on the occasion of country's 68th Republic Day.

Siddiqui, a 1991 batch IPS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre who joined as Registrar JMI on deputation in October last year, is also the recipient of President's Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2008.

President's Police Medal is a decoration awarded to members of law enforcement in India for distinguished service in the police or in central police or security organisations.

Before joining Jamia, Siddiqui was Additional Director General of Police (Headquarter) in Himachal Pradesh.

Besides serving as district police chief in three districts in Himachal Pradesh, he was also Superintendent of Police (Anti Corruption). In 2001 he was part of the UN's Mission in Kosovo. He has also served at the Narcotics Control Bureau in Delhi from 2004-09 on deputation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jet Airways today announced discounted fares starting at Rs 999 on select domestic and international routes as part of the 68th Republic Day sales.

The special sales are valid from January 25-27 for international bookings and till January 29 for domestic ones.

While Jet did not specify the domestic routes, it said the special fares on the international routes cover only London, Amsterdam, Paris and Toronto.

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Cathay brings in 'Price Promise' to India



Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific today launched the 'Price Promise' proposition in the country, which is a commitment to offer the cheapest fares available on the Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon websites.

"The customers can be confident of finding the best deals on the airline website. One can lodge a price match claim before midnight on the same day should they find an identical fare at a lower price on another legitimate website and claim the difference," the airline said.

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TAL to showcase Brabo range of 2 kg robots at Imtex



Pune: TAL Manufacturing Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors, is set to showcase the 2kg Brabo range of indigenous industrial articulated robot at the forthcoming premier industry expo Imtex 2017.

The Brabo focuses on automotive, electronics, logistics, food, packaging, pharma and other industries and its current list of customers includes Tata Motors, M&M, L&T, Diebold, CPG Industries, Hydromatik, SGK Industries RTA Spa Italy and the BITS Dubai Campus.

Brabo is already being exported to West Asia and will soon reach the Saarc markets. TAL has a production capacity of around 3,000 unit which can be increased on demand.

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Air Asia India offers 50% discounts



Bengaluru: AirAsia India today announced up to 50 per cent discounted return tickets across its network. The discount sales are on January 23 to 29 for travel between February 1 and April 30.

The offer includes all the routes AirAsia India operates on, including recently added Srinagar and Bagdogra.

AirAsia India currently flies to 11 destinations from its two hubs in Bengaluru and New Delhi covering Chandigarh, Jaipur, Guwahati, Imphal, Pune, Goa, Vizag, Kochi and Hyderabad. It will fly to Srinagar and Bagdogra from February 19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jubilant Life Sciences, an integrated global pharmaceuticals and life sciences company, today said it has received 'Responsible Care 14001:2013 certification' under the American Chemistry Council's (ACC) Responsible Care program for its corporate office in Noida and for its manufacturing Unit in Gajraula.

Responsible Care (RC) is a global initiative of the chemical companies to ensure that the chemical produced are processed, handled, used and stored in a safe, environmental friendly and sustainable manner across entire life cycle, it said in a statement issued here.

Responsible Care 14001: 2013 is an internationally recognised standard of excellence for chemical manufacturing companies.

Jubilant Life Sciences was presented with the certification for its robust management system that ensures highest standards of health, safety, security and environmental performance for both its products and operations, the statement added.

Pramod Yadav and Rajesh Srivastava, CO-CEOs, Life Science Ingredients business, Jubilant Life Sciences said, "At Jubilant, we value the health, safety and security of our employees, customers, suppliers, neighbours and environment".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The five-day Kolkata Literary Meet- 2017 got off today with 140 writers, politicians, journalists and thinkers from around the world attending it.

With the magnificent Victorial Memorial in the background, the event, one of the most important in the literary calendar of the city, was inagurated by Anita Desai, novelist and professor from USA, and Tata Steel executive director Koushik Chatterjee.

Chatterjee later said Tata Steel had enjoyed the association with the meet for the last three years.

Desai was thrilled at being in the 'City of Joy' after a long gap of 60 years and recalled her connection to the city, brief though.

The five-day jamboree boasts of a galaxy of luminaries like Paul Beatty, Anita Desai, Kiran Desai, P Chidambaram, Shashi Tharoor, Ruskin Bond, Rachel Holmes, Soumitra Chatterjee Gulzar, Romila Thapar, Ramchandra Guha, Sharmila Tagore, Javed Akhtar and others..

The two new focus areas in this year's meet are youth engagement and writing of history.

Another highlight is the trans-generational writing, bringing together writers from two different generations, which will be best illustrated by mother and daughter duo of Anita and Kiran Desai, Nabaneeta Dev Sen and Nandana Sen and the father and son duo of Shashi and Kanishk Tharoor.

The sixth edition of the literary meet intends to explore Shakespeare @400, an intrinsic way of dwelling on the journey of the legend and the 400 years of his literally omnipresence.

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5 Ways Trump Can Help Fix Chicago Violence Without The National Guard

By Stephen Gossett in News on Jan 25, 2017 4:21PM



Getty Images / Photo: Pool

Hitting a familiar refrain, Donald Trump on Tuesday night ominously tweeted that he'd "send in the feds" to Chicago if the city doesn't "fix the horrible "carnage,"" noting that violent crime is outpacing last year's (decades-high) numbers. Rather than going to the nearly unprecedented extreme of brining in the national guard to curb crime rates (if that's indeed to what Trump is referring), there are other ways the president could help fix Chicago's violenceif he's serious about it.

Push for federal gun control laws and violence research

Given the GOP's often NRA-funded history of staunch opposition to federal gun control, this would seem unlikely. But the gun lobby would also have to to be considered among the swampiest, most drainable lobbies of all #DrainTheSwamp targets to buck. The NRA has also played an integral role in getting lawmakers to block federal funding for gun-violence research for the last two decades. Either federal avenue should at least be on the table.

Pressure Indiana to reform its gun laws

Gun-control opposition holds up Chicagoa combination of strict gun regulation and high violent crimeas evidence for the futility of regulation. But that argument of course ignores the fact that many of Chicago's guns stream across the Indiana border. "According to an anonymous survey of inmates in Cook County, Ill., covering 135 guns they had access to, only two had been purchased directly from a gun store," The New York Times wrote in a 2015 analysis. Al Jazeera found last year that nearly 60 percent of guns used in Chicago crime were purchased outside Illinois, and 20 percent were from Indiana. With former governor Mike Pence at his right hand and the presidential bully pulpit in front of him, it would be an option, again, if Trump is serious.

Federal assistance for jobs and anti-violence programs

When Trump previously tweeted about federal intervention, before Tuesday night, he seemed to leave the door open for that to manifest itself as federal dollars. It's something that has been championed by everyone from Rep. Danny Davis to Mayor Emanuel to Rhymefest. Disinvestment from poor communities fuels violent crime more than any other factor in Chicago, according to a local criminologist. Federal assistance for jobs programsnot to mention grassroots anti-violence organizations like CeaseFirewould seem to be good cornerstones to a multitiered approach.

Take the Department of Justice recommendations seriously

Unsolved murders breed more murders, according to the Murder Accountability Project; and Chicago's 2016 clearance rate of 25.6 percent was well below the national average of 61.5 percent. If detectives hope to raise the clearance level, the Chicago Police Department should take steps to repair police/community ties, the Department of Justice found. Trump should urge his Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions to facilitate those reforms rather than impede a consent decree.

Be clear

When Trump says he'll send in the feds, he could be referring to, say, bringing in agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to help stem violent crime ratesa move that Chicago has seen as recently as 2014. But those are case-by-case situations, applicable only when a federal agency has jurisdiction as merited by the nature of the case. Such moves still has to be part of a larger whole set of actions, according to experts, but it's not unprecedented. The president should leave aside the open-ended alarmism and clarify.
Scotland Yard arrested a 50-year-old man today for making "racially aggravated malicious communications" and online threats against an Indian-origin campaigner who had launched a legal challenge against Brexit.

Gina Miller was the lead claimant in the case against the UK government's plan to invoke Article 50 to trigger formal negotiations for Britain's exit from the European Union (EU) without parliamentary consent.

The 51-year-old won her case yesterday when the Supreme Court ruled that British Prime Minister Theresa May must seek parliamentary consent before triggering the formal Brexit process.

However, the investment fund manager has claimed she has been the target of a number of online attacks and had filed a report against such attacks late last year.

The Metropolitan Police made the arrest from an address at Knightsbridge in central London as part of its Operation Falcon, dealing with such cases of cyber crimes.

"Officers from the Met's Operation Falcon have arrested a 50-year-old man at an address in Knightsbridge on suspicion of racially aggravated malicious communications. The arrest is in connection with a complaint made to police by a 51-year-old woman relating to threats made online and a second unrelated comment believed to have been made by the same suspect," a Scotland Yard statement said.

The arrested man remains in custody at a central London police station.

Meanwhile, the Met Police has also issued a number of warnings against other individuals involved in similar online attacks against Miller.

"As part of the same investigation, officers have issued eight cease and desist notices to individuals in various parts of the UK. A cease and desist notice takes the form of a notice served by police advising the recipient that to continue with their current actions or behaviour could result in police action," the Met Police statement said.

The Met had previously arrested a 55-year-old man on similar suspicion of "racially aggravated malicious communications" against Miller but released him without further action.

Following the Supreme Court ruling yesterday, Miller had made a reference to these attacks in her statement, "We are fortunate to have the ability to voice legitimate concerns and views as part of society."



"I have therefore been shocked by the levels of personal abuse that I have received from many quarters over the last seven months, for simply bringing and asking a legitimate question," Miller said.

"I sincerely hope that going forward, people who stand in positions of power and profile are much quicker in condemning those who cross the lines of common decency and mutual respect," she had said.

Miller, who was born in British Guiana as Gina Nadira Singh, is the daughter of Doodnauth Singh, the former Attorney General of Guyana.

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Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May will this week be the first foreign leader to meet Donald Trump since his inauguration, aiming to discuss a key post-Brexit trade deal with the US.

The visit has been presented as a diplomatic coup in Britain, where the idea of the "special relationship" still holds strong, and is being closely watched in Washington as Trump's foreign policy takes shape.

Trump has offered rare support for Brexit among global leaders, seeing parallels with his own election campaign, and saying Britain was "smart" to vote to leave an EU that he believes is now falling apart.

He has also pledged to move quickly on agreeing a trade deal with London -- welcome words for May, who last week conceded publicly for the first time that Britain would be leaving Europe's single market.

"I'm pleased that I'm able to meet President Trump so early in his administration. That is a sign of the strength of the special relationship," May told parliament on Wednesday.

But analysts note that Trump's protectionist "America First" rhetoric appears at odds with May's promise to turn Britain into a free trade champion.

"There is a national sympathy from Trump to this country because of Brexit," said Stephen Burman, professor of American politics at the University of Sussex.

"But to me, 'America First' and a 'Global Britain' are practically contradictory statements.

"That's not going to change because of a trip".

There is also the uncomfortable issue of Trump's comments about women, some of which he has apologised for.

"Whenever there is something that I find unacceptable, I will say that to Donald Trump," May, Britain's second female prime minister, following Margaret Thatcher, told the BBC.

Asked about the issue in parliament, she said: "I am not afraid to speak frankly to a president of the United States".

May flies to the United States on Thursday, meeting Republican leaders in Philadelphia before heading to Washington for talks at the White House on Friday.

She will then fly straight to Turkey for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday, where she will also discuss possible post-Brexit trade ties.

On her trip to Washington, May has said she will highlight her support for free trade, but also the concerns of those who feel they have lost out -- a factor in the votes for Brexit and for Trump.

May told the BBC this week that she was hoping for "early" talks on a US-UK trade deal -- although the European Commission pointed out that Britain cannot start formal trade negotiations until it leaves the bloc.

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Mexican opposition figures urged President Enrique Pena Nieto today to cancel next week's meeting with US President Donald Trump to protest his demand of payment for a border wall.

"The announcement of @realDonaldTrump's wall before the visit of @EPN (Pena Nieto) is an affront to Mexico," Margarita Zavala, a potential 2018 presidential candidate of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), wrote on Twitter.

"The visit must be reconsidered," Zavala said hours before Trump's announcement, adding in Spanish a hashtag that translates to "no to the wall."



Trump signed two immigration-related decrees today, including an order to begin work to "build a large physical barrier on the southern border," according to the White House.

The US leader has vowed to make Mexico reimburse the cost of building the massive barrier.

The move came as Mexico's foreign and economy ministers were in Washington to prepare Pena Nieto's own visit on January 31.

Pena Nieto's spokesman, Eduardo Sanchez, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Senator Armando Rios Piter, of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), called the wall announcement a "hostile act" that should prompt Pena Nieto to scrap his trip.

Rio Piter also said there were "no conditions" to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), as demanded by the US leader, and that Trump should "decide on the USA's exit" from the pact.

Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo warned on Tuesday that Mexico could pull out of NAFTA if negotiations do not serve his country's interests.

PAN Senator Roberto Gil said the Mexican delegation's visit to Washington "only makes sense to notify (Americans) that there will be no EPN-Trump meeting on January 31.

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Militants today fired at a police picket in south Kashmir's Kulgam district but fled after retaliation by the cops.

The ultras targeted the picket at Gofabal in Kulgam, 75 kms from here, at around 6.00 pm, a police official said.

He said the cops returned the firing, forcing the militants to flee from the place.

No casualties were reported in the incident.

Meanwhile, alert cops detected a suspicious container placed by the roadside at busy Batamaloo area of Srinagar this evening, the official said.

He said a bomb disposal squad was pressed into service and the container, believed to be an IED, was removed to an isolated place at Tengpora and destroyed through a controlled explosion.

The incidents come a day ahead of the Republic Day celebrations as security across the valley has been beefed up to prevent militants from carrying out any subversive activities.

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China's cities are fast emptying out with millions of people heading home and expected to make nearly 3 billion trips during the fortnight-long celebrations to welcome the Chinese New Year of Rooster on January 27, triggering the world's largest annual migration.

Roads, railways, bus stations and airports are already experiencing a big rush with millions heading home to be with their families to bid good bye to the year of Goat and welcome the Rooster year.

About 2.98 billion trips are expected to be made during the Spring Festival travel rush between January 13 and February 21, slightly up from a year ago, China's planning body the National Development and Reform Commission said.

Chunyun, literally meaning "spring transport," was first coined as a phrase by the media in 1954 to describe heavy traffic around Spring Festival.

The New Year celebrations also include the annual Spring Festival which is celebrated for nearly a fortnight though the official holidays are confined to about a week.

It is a big event specially for about 300 million migrant workers, the muscle behind China's economic might, who heads to their villages with their precious savings to meet their parents and in many cases their left behind children to celebrate the new year.

Chinese lunar calendar, years are grouped into a 12-year cycle, with each year assigned an animal symbol: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

As per the Zodiac calendar, 2017 is the year of Rooster.

Celebrations traditionally run from the evening preceding the first day, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first calendar month.

The first day of the New Year falls on the new moon.

During the festival time, Chinese leaders celebrate the event with rural communities.

President Xi Jinping is currently visiting Zhangjiakou in northern China's Hebei Province, where he inspected an impoverished village, visiting and chatting with poor families, discussing how they could shake off poverty.

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West Bengal Cooperation Minister Arup Roy today asked farmers to purchase pesticides and bio-pesticides only from registered pesticide dealers having valid license.

"Special precautions must be taken during transport, storage and handling. Spray equipment should be regularly cleaned and maintained to prevent leaks," Roy cautioned the farmers speaking at a function here.

The minister also observed that people who work with pesticides should receive proper training in their safe use.

The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCC&I) in association with Hindustan Insecticides Limited (HIL) and Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) organised the programme to make awareness on Safe Uses of Pesticides.

Modern agricultural practices hold great promise for economic development. Farm productivity is directly proportional to the use of agrochemicals as observed from the first Green Revolution.

"But improper and unsafe use of these agrochemicals, especially pesticides, are not only harmful to the environment but also for human health," the organisers said.

Drawing attention towards a wide range of human health hazards caused by unsafe use of pesticide, Satyabrata Mukherjee, Chairperson - Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, The Bengal Chamber, said "It may cause health hazards ranging from short-term impacts such as headaches and nausea to chronic impacts like cancer, reproductive harm and endocrine disruption.

Ajeet Verma, Manager - Seed Production, Hindustan Insecticides Limited; R K Mondal, Deputy General Manager, Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority - APEDA; Dr. Sain Dass, Scientist, Hindustan Insecticides Limited; and Prof. Pranab Chatterjee (Ex Prof. Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya) were present among others.

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Government's 10 per cent stake sale in manganese miner MOIL today saw a robust response from retail investors who put in bids for over 5 times the shares reserved for them, ensuring Rs 480 crore to the exchequer.

Retail investors bid for over 1.42 crore shares as against 26.63 lakh shares or 5.3 times the number reserved for them in the two-day offer for sale which closed today.

Retail investors are being given 5 per cent discount to the share allotment price.

The portion allocated to institutional investors yesterday was bid 1.51 times as bids worth Rs 580 crore poured in on the first day of the issue.

Overall, government sold 1.33 crore shares through the OFS route at a floor price of Rs 365.

With all-round participation from institutional and retail buyers, MOIL share sale is expected to garner Rs 480 crore to the government after shares are alloted to the bidders.

Finance Ministry officials said the response of retail investors in MOIL share sale was "encouraging" and much better than the general trends in other OFS.

MOIL stock closed at Rs 372.30, up 1.10 per cent, on the BSE.

The government currently holds 75.58 per cent in MOIL, formerly known as Manganese Ore India Ltd. Earlier this fiscal, the government had raised about Rs 794 crore through share buyback of MOIL.

MOIL is the fourth disinvestment through the OFS route in the current fiscal. The government had sold 15 per cent in NBCC to mobilise Rs 2,200 crore in October, 7 per cent in Hindustan Copper to raise Rs 400 crore in September and 11.36 per cent in NHPC to garner Rs 2,716 crore in April.

About Rs 30,000 crore have been raised through minority share sale by way of OFS, share buyback and CPSE ETF so far in the current fiscal.

Last week, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) launched the second tranche of CPSE Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), which was over-subscribed 2 times. The sale fetched Rs 6,000 crore to the exchequer.

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Industrialists Mukhtarul Amin and P R Aqeel Ahmed were elected unanimously as the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the trade body Council for Leather Exports, respectively, during the 32nd Annual General Meeting of the Board held here today.

Director General of Foreign Trade, Chennai, Zonal Additional Director, S K Samal was notified as the Election Authority by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, an official release said here.

During the meeting Mukhtarul Amin and P R Aqeel Ahmed were 'unanimously' elected as Chairman and Vice-Chairman, respectively, for a period of two years.

Israr Ahmed was elected as Regional Chairman South, while Puran Chand Dawar as Regional Chairman (North).

Ramesh Kumar Juneja was elected as Regional Chairman (East) while Naresh S Bhasin elected as Regional Chairman (West). Javed Iqbal was elected as Regional Chairman, Central.

The Council for Leather Exports (CLE) operates under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It is the single largest and trade promotion organisation representing leather industry.

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A Sahara Group company has been directed by the apex consumer body to refund Rs 1.11 crore for its failure to give possession of a bungalow in one of its housing projects near Indore to a home-buyer.

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) rejected the contention of Sahara India Commercial Corporation Ltd (SICCL) that it could not handover the property to an Indore-based couple due to certain clearances having not been given to the company.

The consumer body, which also imposed a litigation cost of Rs 10,000 on the firm, said there was "no justification" for the "abnormal delay" of four years on the part of SICCL which had not delivered the bungalow to the couple since the expiry of the due date in 2011.

"Though a bald averment was made that there was delay in obtaining requisite clearances, there is no evidence to substantiate it. There is no evidence as to on which date the statutory clearances were applied and on which date, the same were granted.

"It is also not known what were the reasons for statutory clearances not being granted in time. If the delay in grant of statutory clearances occurred on account of deficiencies or short-comings on the part of respondents (SICCL and Sahara Prime City Ltd), it cannot take any advantage of such delays.

"Therefore, I find no justification for the abnormal delay of more than four years in completing the construction of the bungalow booked by the complainants," NCDRC Presiding Member V K Jain said.

According to the complaint filed by the couple - Sanjay Kumar Airen and Anita Airen - they were allotted a residential bungalow in Sahara Prime City Ltd and SICCL's housing project Sahara City Homes at Agra-Bombay Bypass Road near Indore on May 28, 2008 after a payment of Rs 1.11 crore.

The possession was to be delivered within 38 months from the date of the allotment, that is by July 28, 2011. However, they did not get it till 2015, it said.

The NCDRC, while noting that SEBI-Sahara refund case is already in Supreme Court, also said, "If there is an embargo on disbursement of the cash available with the SICCL or the amount which it has to deposit in SEBI Sahara Account, the SICCL will make disbursement only subject to the Supreme Court granting permission for such disbursement, to complainants."



Earlier this month, the Supreme Court tightened the noose around Sahara group chief Subrata Roy while refusing to extend time beyond February 6 for him to deposit Rs 600 crore in SEBI's account, saying he would have to go to jail in case of a default.

According to SEBI, Sahara has already paid Rs 10,918 crore out of Rs 24,029 crore raised from investors.
NCP today said it has warned its district units against any kind of pact with Shiv Sena and BJP for the upcoming polls to Zilla Parishads (ZP), panchayat samiti and municipal corporations.

NCP state unit president Sunil Tatkare told reporters that if such an alliance comes to the notice of the state party leadership, A and B forms (signed by the president or secretary of the party for candidates to file their nomination) will not be given to the candidates.

"Stern action will be taken against those joining hands with Shiv Sena and BJP. We expect the Congress to take a similar action," he said.

Tatkare said for the second phase of ZP polls on Febraury 21, talks are on at district level with the Congress.

"Alliance (with Congress) is likely to be finalised at majority places," he said.

Tatkare slammed the Sena-BJP for discussing seat adjustments and at the same time targetting each other.

"It is immaterial to us whether they align or not. However, Sena says seat sharing should be done on basis of BJP's 2012 strength in Mumbai. While BJP says its strength has increased since 2014. If that is the case, BJP should compare its recent performance in the Municipal council polls with that of its 2014 assembly election success and not the municipal council results five years ago," he said.

"We were keen on an alliance in Mumbai, but that did not materialise since the city Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam declared that his party did not need us," Tatkare said.

A total of 25 ZPs and 283 panchayat samitis will go to polls in two phases next month. Polling for ten municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), will be held on February 21.

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Updated: Ald. Moreno To Talk Logan Square Gentrification At $50-A-Head Community Dinner

By Rachel Cromidas in Food on Jan 25, 2017 3:00PM



Avocado salad at Quiote, photo via Instagram.

This post has been updated.

Ald. Joe Moreno is slated to speak at an upcoming prix-fixe dinner hosted by the organization Community Dining about the ever-divisive subject of gentrification in Logan Square. Some activists are slamming the dinner because it bills itself as "community-focused," but costs $50 a head.

But Community Dining organizer Paul Sippil says the point of the event, one in a series of dinners with various discussion themes and speakers, is to foster discussion around locally-sourced dinners in the vein of old-fashioned salons, not to exclude people who can't afford the dinner from the discussion.

Guests will have an opportunity to speak with Ald. Moreno and ask how his policies and initiatives have helped shape the ward, according to the Eventbrite invitation for the Feb. 15.

Some local anti-gentrification organizers were not pleased, according to the Sun-Times.



This is a joke, isnt it? said Justine Bayod Espoz, an anti-gentrification activist with the Somos Logan Square nonprofit group. Charging $50 a plate for a gentrification dinner? Can you see why this is baffling? If you ask people to pay $50 a plate, all youre going to hear is pro-gentrification stuff.

"I'm not afraid to clarify what the purpose is," Sippil told Chicagoist. "I believe that a shared meal, and I believe, especially a really nice meal, will create a certain level of camaraderie with people who have all different sorts of backgrounds and opinions."

"There's a lot of free events with aldermen, and they're usually in a church, and they're just so boring," he said. "No pun intended, but I wanted to spice it up."

The cost of the dinner, Sippil explained, is to cover the cost of a multi-course meal in a private dining room at Quiote, a soon-to-open Logan Square restaurant with contemporary, Mexican-inspired cuisine, complemented by local ingredients and rotating seasonal menus." The food is mainly sourced from local farms, Sippil said, which is his goal when hosting regular Community Dining events. Sippil, who works as a Certified Public Account, said he is not profiting off of the event, and Moreno is not being paid to speak.

In response to the criticism that the event is cost-prohibitive for the people who are most likely to be affected by the recent real estate development and rising costs of living in Logan Square, Sippil said he is sympathetic.

"Obviously if you don't have a lot of money, there's no denying that $50 is a lot to spend for a dinner. But that doesn't mean that someone couldn't come to me to ask to volunteer or to help promote the event or engage in other bartering opportunities," he said. "A resourceful person might come to me and present an arrangement that might make it affordable to them. I never said that that wasn't on the table, and I've done that for people before."

He also noted that some previous Community Dining events have cost $85, due in part to the higher costs of local ingredients used by the restaurants he chooses. He also noted that non-profits such as Chicago Ideas Week also host discussions or fundraisers over meals, that cost $50 or more per person. He said he'd like to host similar events with aldermen in every ward eventually, centered around different subjects depending on the wardPilsen, for example, might also be a pertinent community to host a gentrification discussion in, he said.

Sippil said he's disappointed that the opinions expressed in the Sun-Times article seemed to miss the point. "This article was not meant to incite meaningful conversation, it was just to tear down community," he said. "And that's exactly what I don't want to do."

In an interview with Sun-Times columnist Dan Mihalopoulos about the event Tuesday, Moreno scoffed at the notion that the event was excluding people who deserve to be involved:



Bayod Espoz and other activists from Somos Logan Square were not invited to the community event. I told them about it. Moreno told me they are idiots who dont understand the issues. I dont consider those folks really legitimate actors, Moreno says. Theyre a Facebook group.

: Moreno's Chief of Staff Raymond Valadez told Chicagoist that Moreno's participation in this dinner does not mean Logan Square residents won't also have other opportunities to talk to him about gentrificationthough he noted that the alderman's office prefers the term "development."

"The alderman is very accessible and always wants to speak to residents on topics of policy, etc.," he said. "He'd be more than willing to attend any other forum, and there are different ways the alderman can communicate with constituents and interested parties in the community pertaining to economic development and affordable housing."

Valadez noted that Moreno has supported affordable housing initiatives and that his ward is the ward with the highest number of affordable housing units, including a 100 percent affordable housing development slated for 2033 N. Milwaukee Ave.

In terms of Moreno's approach to the topic of gentrification, Valadez elaborated: "Gentrification is a term that has many meanings, most of them negative. for us, the alderman believes economic development should be balanced and provide opportunity for everyone. He's one of the few aldermen who requires that affordable units be built on site [per the city's housing ordinance, aldermen can approve new real estate developments that plan to put affordable units off-site, or that buy out of the affordable housing requirement]. It's a win win. We have economic development, and we're also creating additional affordable hosing. And commercial corridors like Milwaukee Avenue that has been blighted for many years, now we're seeing investors interested in developing on Milwuakee, and the alderman wants to promote that because he wants to see Milwaukee Avenue thriving."

Bayod Espoz of Somos Logan Square told Chicagoist in a separate phone conversation that Moreno and Sippil's comments on the event have been disappointing.

"Paul is of course entitled to have his community dinner events, but I do think it is completely exclusionary to the people who are most affected by gentrification to put a $50 price tag on a dinner that is supposedly discussing these issues fairly. These are the kinds of things we need to discuss in a public forum because they predominantly impact working-class, poor, generally minorities, being kicked out of their longterm neighborhoods because they're becoming hot properties for people with money, she said. "The people who can pay those $50 are the people who for the most part are coming into the neighborhood and gentrifying it."

Bayod Espoz said she would like to see Moreno refuse to discuss the topic at the dinner and instead host a public event on it. She also said Somos Logan Square has asked Moreno to meet with organizers multiple times and he has declined.

"His comments make clear that there's a certain part of his constituents that he doesn't want to listen to," she said.

--

Below is the Community Dining event description and suggested discussion questions:



Join Community Dining and Alderman Joe Moreno for dinner and a discussion of gentrification, which has been an issue of serious contention throughout our neighborhoods. Guests will have an opportunity to speak with Alderman Moreno and ask how his policies and initiatives have helped shape his ward. These kinds of discussions carry special importance because the shared meal provides a comfortable environment for us to voice our concerns about issues that greatly affect our lives where we can feel free to speak our minds and get to know each other without barriers. Unlike a political rally where tensions and even violence erupt between opposing sides, Community Dining allows us to come together for our collective benefit, even when we hold contrasting viewpoints. Political systems, on the other hand, by their very nature, separate us into groups and pit us against each other, making us believe that we can only advance our interests by eradicating our political adversaries. They reward those who successfully garner large groups of supporters based solely on superficial encounters rather than cultivate real friendships, a time consuming endeavor which evolves from a foundation of mutual respect for another person's thoughts, feelings, and interests. They create networks rather than communities, which former public school teacher of the year and author John Taylor Gatto further explains:

Networks, even good ones, drain vitality from communities and families. They provide mechanical solutions to human problems, when a slow organic process of self awareness, self discovery, and cooperation is what is required if any solution is to stick. Aristotle saw, a long time ago, that fully participating in a complex range of human affairs was the only way to become fully human. Networks, however, dont require the whole person, but only a narrow piece. If you function in a network, it asks you to suppress all the parts of yourself except the network-interest part - a highly unnatural act although one you can get used to. In exchange, the network will deliver efficiency in the pursuit of some limited aim. This is, in fact, a devils bargain, since on the promise of some future gain, one must surrender the wholeness of ones present humanity. If you enter into too many of these bargains you will split yourself into many specialized pieces, none of them completely human. And no time is available to reintegrate successful networkers and doubtless generates much business for divorce courts and therapists of a variety of persuasions.

Perhaps now, more than ever, we could consider how Community Dining can help us rediscover the means of human interaction that we inherently know benefits us all - one in which we are free to connect with one another and create our own experiences with people we never would have met where authentic community naturally flourishes and ideas can peacefully collide to produce a greater body of knowledge and shared understanding. Maybe then we will begin to realize that we can thrive in the absence of political institutions.

Some possible discussion questions include:



1. What are the root causes of gentrification and does it pose a problem that requires solving? If so, are we better off restricting entrepreneurial activity or unleashing it? 2. What other major cities face the issue of gentrification and what measures have they taken to address it? 3. To what extent have property taxes and housing regulations such as building permits, zoning laws, and construction rules caused housing prices in Chicago to rise? 4. What effect does rent control have on the quality and supply of housing, and specifically non-rent controlled housing? Has it caused housing shortages in Chicago?



Correction: a version of this article previously incorrectly referred to Raymond Valadez as Raymond Lopez.


US Defense Secretary James Mattis plans to travel to Japan and South Korea next month on his first trip as the Pentagon's new chief, a spokesman said today.

"General Mattis plans to visit Japan and Korea in early February," Pentagon spokesman Gary Ross said.

In choosing Japan and South Korea for his first overseas visit, Mattis is singling out two longstanding allies worried about the direction of US policy in their region under President Donald Trump.

During the campaign, Trump threatened to withdraw US forces from the two countries if they did not step up their financial support.

Tensions are also rising with China over its moves to assert sovereignty in disputed areas of the South China Sea, and over North Korean threats to test an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the US mainland.

In another jarring note for the region, Trump this week withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade agreement signed by former president Barack Obama but never ratified by the US Congress.

The agreement was signed by 12 countries bordering the Pacific. In addition to the United States, signers included Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

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An environment activist's plea seeking quashing of a recent Environment Ministry notification exempting real estate projects from obtaining prior environmental clearance has prompted the National Green Tribunal to seek a reply from the government.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Jawad Rahim issued notices to the ministries of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and tagged the matter along with a bunch of similar pleas being heard by different bench.

This is the fourth plea in NGT challenging the December 9 notification issued by MoEF.

MoEF, in an amendment notification published on December 9, 2016, had exempted building and construction projects of all sizes from the process of environment impact assessment (EIA) and prior environmental clearance (EC) before beginning construction.

For smaller projects (less than 20,000 sq metres), it even has a "self-declaration" clause which ensures issuance of permission from urban local bodies. However, for larger projects of more than 20,000 sq m size, the EC and building permission will be given by urban local bodies simultaneously in an "integrated format".

The plea filed by environmentalist R Sreedhar said the Expert Committee, constituted to consider objections and suggestions on the December 9 notification, summarised the objections received into seven categories.

However, the recommendations of the Committee do not cover any of the issues related to these seven categories and the panel was "grossly wrong" in coming into the conclusion for justifying the notification, the plea said.

"It is submitted that it is very disconcerting to see that only less than a thousand people of this country of 1.25 billion could respond to the call for objections and suggestions under the draft notification dated April 29,2016.

"On an issue as important as this is for every citizen, particularly because of the premise of "Housing for All" is being used, it should definitely have been a cause of concern of the Committee. The Committee has clearly overlooked the need for effective participation of the communities concerned and has assumed that they reflect the entire range of 'stakeholders'," the plea said.

The petitioner, through advocates Rahul Choudhary and



Meera Gopal, said that construction activities were a major contributor to environmental pollution and degradation as it consumed enormous resources and had a significant energy footprint.

"The construction sector emits about 22 per cent of India's total annual carbon-dioxide emissions. The removal of construction activities from the purview of the EIA Notification, 2006 will only mean a larger carbon footprint, and consequently, a breach of India's international obligations," it said.

The green panel had earlier taken MoEF to task and directed it not to act under the new notification to grant fresh permission to projects on three applications questioning legality of December 9 notification.
Diljit Dosanjh's Filmfare debut award win upset Harshvardhan Kapoor but the Punjabi actor says he is not hurt by the comments the newcomer made.

Recently, the 26-year-old, who was also nominated in the same category for his film "Mirzya," expressed his displeasure saying Diljit has already featured in a Hindi movie and several regional projects and hence shouldn't have been considered for the debut award.

"I am not hurt. I am not sad. I am thankful to Filmfare Awards for the honour that they gave me. I don't think I was deserving enough. It's a big award (and) I think they would have seen something in me and so they gave me the award," Diljit told PTI.

"For me the love of my fans matter the most and that's the biggest award for me. I love Harshvardhan Kapoor. I also like his father Anil Kapoor, he is a superstar," he added.

The Punjabi star won the best debut Filmfare award for his role in "Udta Punjab".

Harshvardhan said the award should not be given to somebody who has worked in several films before heading to Bollywood.

But Diljit says, "I think actors like Fawad Khan and Dhanush have acted in other languages (referring to Pakistani movies and films in South India)."



Interestingly, Fawad and Dhanush both made their Bollywood acting debut opposite Harshvardhan's sister Sonam.

Besides this, gossip mills are abuzz that all is not well in Diljit's personal life.

There were reports that Diljit and his wife aren't on talking terms and there's a huge communication gap between the two, especially once Diljit's Bollywood career has taken off.

"I read about it. I think in Bollywood one gets publicity even without asking for it," he added.

Diljit will be seen as an expert in the upcoming singing reality show "Rising Star" along with Shankar Mahadevan and Monali Thakur.

The show will be aired from February 4 on Colors channel.

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NCP chief Sharad Pawar, one of the seven persons selected for Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award, today said the nation has recognised the work he has undertaken in the agriculture sector during his over half-a-century-long political career.

"I am thankful to everybody who has played a role in helping me achieve this award. This award means that the nation has recognised the work I have done in the field of agriculture over the last several decades in my political career," Pawar, a veteran politician and former Maharashtra Chief Minister told a regional channel.

"The social work done by me in the last 55 years has become meaningful due to this award. I have always tried to bring peace whenever there has been a situation of tension in the nation," he said.

Shiv Sena and BJP, which are political rivals of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, welcomed the Centre's decision to bestow the second highest civilian award on the former Union Minister.

Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said, "We welcome the Centre's decision of nominating him for the award and congratulate him".

"Despite we having political rivalry with him, he is the tallest and the best leader in the co-operative movement and a great agriculturalist," said Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said, "We do not accept Pawar's style of working and have difference of opinions in politics and that will continue. But, his contribution in politics and agriculture sector, especially for sugarcane growing farmers over the last 50 years has been commendable".

"By awarding him, the government has shown that it values individuals, irrespective of any political party, who have shown zeal towards the welfare of the nation," Bhandari added.

(Reopens BOM 17)



Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the award acknowledged Pawar's contribution to the Parliamentary democracy for five decades.

"Heartiest Congratulations to Shri Sharad Pawarji for the Padma Vibhushan," Fadnavis tweeted.

"This Padma Vibhushan is a recognition to your contribution in parliamentary democracy since last 50 years. #PeoplesPadma," the Chief Minister said in another tweet.
A Pakistani woman lawmaker threatened to self-immolate in the Sindh assembly after a provincial minister passed sexist remarks, inviting her to his private chamber, an incident which highlighted the position of women in the country.

Nusrat Sahar Abbasi, who belongs to the Muslim League Functional party, created an uproar in the assembly after provincial minister for works and home, Imdad Patafi, misbehaved with her on the floor of the house last week.

The furor over the issue finally came to an end on Monday when Abbasi 'forgave' Patafi in the name of 'tradition'.

In the incident which highlighted the position of women in Pakistan's feudal community, Patafi invited Abbasi to visit his private chambers so that he could give a "satisfactory reply" to questions she had asked on the assembly floor.

Another lawmaker of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party was also captured on camera making snide remarks about the female parliamentarian.

The lawmakers behaviour caused a storm on the social media and on television channels and was seen as sexist and harassment of women.

Patafi had to face the criticism even from PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his sister Bakhtawar Zardari, who directed their lawmaker to apologise to Abbasi.

Abbasi came to the session on Monday with a bottle of petrol, threatening self-immolation unless Pitafi was sacked.

To finally bury the hatchet, Patafi draped a traditional shawl over Abbasi's head and apologised to her over his behaviour.

But today, Abbasi again complained to speaker Shehla Raza that she was not being allowed to speak her mind on a point of order.

"I want to highlight the fact that in the Sindh assembly female lawmakers are not being given their due place and rights," she said.

"What happened last week and the way I was treated it only highlighted our problems. I only accepted the apology because of the traditional shawl," she said.

Abbasi, who belongs to the opposition, said she would have carried out her threat of self immolation in front of the assembly if Bilawal and Bakhtawar had not intervened.

"The media saw everything and they also saw Patafi's remarks as sexual harassment. The deputy speaker was also not willing to listen to me," she said.

The incident caused widespread embarrassment to PPP which was headed by slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Abbasi said though the incident was over but the government needed to review further laws governing women's rights and protection.

"Before me also there has been an incident in this assembly and also in the national assembly where sexist remarks were made by fellow lawmakers and they later apologised," she said.

Abbasi said the government needs to quickly enforce the laws as women face discrimination in Pakistan's conservative society.

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Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank shot dead a Palestinian who drove at a bus stop in an attempted car-ramming attack, a military spokeswoman said.

Nobody on the Israeli side was injured in the incident, near a settlement southeast of Ramallah, the army said in a statement.

"A Palestinian rammed a vehicle into a bus stop at the entrance to Kokhav Yaakov," the statement said.

"In response to the immediate threat, forces fired at the attacker, resulting in his death. A knife was found in the attacker's possession."



The spokeswoman said that both soldiers and civilians had been standing at the stop.

An AFP journalist at the scene said the alleged attacker's vehicle, a pickup with green Palestinian licences plates, had bullet holes in its windscreen and rear window.

It had come to rest in front of the bus stop, just outside the settlement's closed entrance, he said.

Since October 2015, 249 Palestinians, 40 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities.

Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some died in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip.

On January 8 a Palestinian rammed a truck into a group of Israeli soldiers standing at the roadside as they visited a popular tourist spot in Jerusalem, killing four and wounding 17.

Many analysts say Palestinian frustration with the Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, comatose peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have helped feed the unrest.

Israel says incitement by Palestinian leaders and media is a leading cause.

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Women who have their first menstrual period aged 11 or younger are at an increased risk of early menopause and the risk is even higher if they remain childless, a new study led by an Indian-origin researcher has warned.

Researchers, including those at University of Queensland, looked at 51,450 women who had agreed to take part in nine studies in the UK, Scandinavia, Australia and Japan.

It found that women who started their menstrual periods aged 11 or younger had an 80 per cent higher risk of experiencing a natural menopause before the age of 40 (premature menopause) and a 30 per cent higher risk of menopause between the ages of 40-44 (early menopause), when compared with women whose first period occurred between the ages of 12 and 13.

Women who had never been pregnant or who had never had children had a two-fold increased risk of premature menopause and a 30 per cent increased risk of early menopause.

The risk increased even further for women whose periods started early if they had no children: the risk of premature or early menopause increased five-fold and two-fold respectively compared to women who had their first period aged 12 or older and who had two or more children.

"If the findings from our study were incorporated into clinical guidelines for advising childless women from around the age of 35 years who had their first period aged 11 or younger, clinicians could gain valuable time to prepare these women for the possibility of premature or early menopause," said lead researcher Gita Mishra from the University of Queensland in Australia.

"It provides an opportunity for clinicians to include women's reproductive history alongside other lifestyle factors, such as smoking, when assessing the risk of early menopause, and enables them to focus health messages more effectively both earlier in life and for women at most risk," said Mishra.

Most of the women in the study were born before 1960, with two-thirds born between 1930 and 1949.

"We expect that the underlying relationship between these reproductive characteristics across life is still present, but it may be that our definition of early menarche would be revised," Mishra said.

"It is also possible that we will see a higher prevalence of premature menopause for the current generation of women. Another change worth considering is that fertility treatments today can enable women to have children, whereas previously they would have been childless," she said.

In this study only 12 of the women remained childless and it is possible that they may have remained childless due to ovarian problems, which may or may not have been detected, and which might also be implicated in the early onset of menopause.

The study was published in the journal Human Reproduction.

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A Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) official was allegedly shot dead by a subordinate at their camp in Chhattigsarh's Kanker district, police said today.

The incident occurred last night at the camp of a company of CAF's 14th battalion at Hurrapinjodi village under Amabeda Police Station, Additional Superintendent of Police, Kanker, JaiPrakashBadhaitold PTI.

The deceased has been identified as Vishwanath (57), a platoon commander with the same CAF company, he added.

As per preliminary information, while Vishwanath was giving some instructions to jawans, a constable, identified as Samar Shekhar (29), shot him with his service rifle, leaving the officer critically injured, he said.

"The platoon commander was immediately rushed to Antagarh hospital where he was declared brought dead. The reason behind the murder has not been ascertained yet as the accused's statement is yet to be recorded," Badhai said.

The body has been sent for postmortem and the accused has been arrested, the ASP said, adding that a case has been lodged in this connection and further probe was on.

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The Centre and Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) were today directed by Delhi High Court to respond to a plea seeking a probe into alleged financial and administrative irregularities in the state-run Central Electronics Ltd (CEL).

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal issued notices and asked them to file responses to the plea and posted the matter for hearing on May 3.

CEL was established in 1974 to commercially exploit indigenous technologies developed by the national laboratories and research and development institutions in the country.

The plea has sought a direction to the Centre and CVC to constitute a high-power committee under the court's supervision to "inquire into the affairs of respondent number 3 (CEL) and identify the real perpetrators of such financial and administrative irregularities which caused huge losses to the public exchequer especially in light of the inspection report of CAG...".

The petition, filed by Madanjit Kumar, has alleged that he had made several representations to the Centre and CVC in this matter but no action was taken.

During the hearing, the counsel appearing for the petitioner, claimed that as per the CAG audit report, there was misappropriation of public funds.

To this, the bench asked the lawyers appearing for the respondents, "tell us what action have you taken on this. Get instructions and file your response".

The plea has alleged that "due to irregular and illegal appointment of officials, the respondent number three (CEL) suffered heavy losses".

It claimed that financial irregularities in CEL had surfaced in the report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the petitioner, "while going through the annual report of CEL for the year 2014, came to know regarding some adverse and serious comments of CAG on the balance sheet about misappropriation of public money".

The petition also sought a direction to the Centre and CVC to initiate appropriate proceedings against "errant officials of respondent number 3 (CEL) for their illegal act and misappropriation of public money which resulted in huge financial loss to the public exchequer running into crores of rupees".

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The police today arrested a Maoist and his associate while receiving "levy" of Rs 10,000 from a private company staff near Indrapuri barrage in Bihar's Rohtas district.

Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Mohammad Anwar Javed Ansari said that the two arrested had been identified as Arun Kumar alias Birbal and Dhiraj Kumar.

Arun Kumar is an accused in a murder case in Aurangabad district.

The officer said that the maoists had demanded "levy" from the manager of UVB company, a private firm engaged in construction of canal, on mobile phone and threatened him with dire consequences if he fails to pay levy.

The manager of the company had lodged an FIR with Indrapuri police station on December 10, 2016, SDPO said and added the police are also making inquiry about the company's employee who had gone to pay "levy" to the Maoist.

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Can Donald Trump Even Legally 'Send In The Feds' To Chicago?

By Stephen Gossett in News on Jan 25, 2017 6:24PM



Getty Images / Photo: Pool

When Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday night to "send in the feds" to fix Chicago's violent crime "carnage" problem, it begged a couple of questions: 1) Can he do that? and 2) Can he do what exactly?

The most alarming interpretation would be the National Guard, but what about a less severe deployment of federal agencies, perhaps institutions like the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives? To some degree that could happen, at least in in terms of targeting tangential issues, like drug and gun trafficking. But it certainly could not come from a top-down mandate without the request of local governments.

"It's important we recognize the limitations of law enforcement operations," Arthur Lurigio, a criminologist and professor at Loyola University Chicago, told Chicagoist. For those federal organizations to come in, there must be evidence that a federal crime is in progress, Lurigio explained. "The federal government does not enforce state laws," he said. Homicides just generally don't fit the bill.

When federal agencies come in to assist local law enforcement, they often do so as a task force, and they provide resources on cases in whichand this is keystate boundaries have been crossed. A common example is drug trafficking, and sometimes, if applicable, gangs.

"Most drugs in Chicago come across the border of Illinois, so of course, call in the Drug Enforcement Agency" for applicable sting operations, Lurigio said.

But Chicago's homicide and gang violence problems don't really meet the border-crossing criteria that would be needed to bring in the FBI. In the past, the FBI was brought in to target organized crime, under the RICO statue, since those enterprises could be characterized as criminal conspiracies that crossed state boundaries. But that's not the case with today's gangs,

"They're scattered set, quite disorganizedwhich accounts for nature and motivations of homicides in Chicago. We dont have big gang enterprises as we did through the 1990s," Lurigio said.

"If somebody shoots somebody, it's the Cook County State's Attorney's business. The FBI wouldnt be called in. What business would they have? That doesn't break a federal statue," Lurigio added.

Gun trafficking, which is common across the border from Indiana to Illinois, could be a good point of entry for the feds, however. It would be "perfectly reasonable, and could be highly effective, if we had federal resources to stop illegal guns from getting across borders into hands of shooters," Lurigio said.

But all applicable federal assistance would have to be requested, not mandated.I can't think of a precedent of a president imposing federal resources, Lurigio said.

Beyond the role of federal agencies, Chicago' violent crime problem needs to be reframed a s public health and police effectiveness issue. Blighted, underinvested neighborhoods and the Chicago Police Department's low murder clearance rate (26 percent last year, according to the Murder Accountability Project) are among the largest factors, neither of which get enough mention, according to Lurigio. Like many others, Lurigio found the president's "feds" call to be more of a retaliation against Rahm for chastising him about crowd-size obsession than a good-faith effort to curb violence.

Clarification is key, too. "I want to know specifically what Mr. Trump is envisioning. I would like him to be very specific. Because we can't just transplant FBI agents into the city to enforce laws," Lurigio said.
Police say a masked man gunned down two other men inside a cash advance company in New York City.

The shooting happened yesterday at Universal Merchant Funding, a small business loan and cash advance company on Staten Island.

Police say the gunman went inside and shot the men in their heads. The suspect then fled in a vehicle.

Police say 57-year-old Michael Genovese, of Edgewater, New Jersey, and an unidentified 52-year-old man were both pronounced dead at the scene.

No arrests have been made and police have not given a motive for the shooting. No other information was immediately available.

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on Wednesday batted strongly for simultaneous elections to Parliament and Assemblies and backed the demonetisation drive, two issues on which the government has focused its attention.

He asked the Election Commission to carry forward the idea of simultaneous polls in consultation with political parties.

In his Republic Day eve address to the nation, the President also asserted that the country's strength lies in is pluralism and diversity and that India has traditionally celebrated the argumentative" Indian; not the "intolerant" Indian.

"Multiple views, thoughts and philosophies have competed with each other peacefully for centuries in our country. A wise and discerning mind is necessary for democracy to flourish," he said.

Mukherjee underlined that strengths of India democracy but cautioned against disruptions in Parliament and State Assemblies.

"We have a noisy democracy. Yet, we need more and not less of democracy," he said.

But, he said, it is the right time to acknowledge that systems are not perfect and those imperfections have to be recognised and rectified.

"The settled complacencies have to be questioned. The edifice of trust has to be strengthened. The time is also ripe for a constructive debate on electoral reforms and a return to the practise of the early decades after independence when elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies were held simultaneously.

"It is for the Election Commission to take this exercise forward in consultation with political parties," Mukherjee said.

The President said the depth and breadth of Indian democracy sparkles during the regular elections being held in the panchayati raj institutions.

"And yet, our legislatures lose sessions to disruptions when they should be debating and legislating on issues of importance. Collective efforts must be made to bring the focus back to debate, discussion and decision-making," he said.

On demonetisation, the President said it may have led to "temporary" slowdown in the economy but will bring more transparency in the system.

"Demonetisation, while immobilising black money and fighting corruption, may have led to a temporary slowdown of economic activity. As more and more transactions become cashless, it will improve the transparency of the economy," Mukherjee said.
Senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav landed himself in controversy with remarks that a "vote's prestige is bigger than that of a daughter".

The former JD(U) chief made the remarks at a function here to emphasise the importance of votes.

"The importance of the ballot paper has to be told to everyone and everywhere ... Vote's prestige is bigger than the prestige of a daughter. If daughter's prestige is compromised, it will only affect a village and an area but if the vote's prestige is compromised or sold then it impacts the entire nation and the province," he said.

Yadav repeated his view a second time before ending his 30-minute speech with an appeal to people not to sell their votes.

"The prestige of ballot paper is bigger than that of daughter's. Don't sell it off. Go and tell the people in your area," he added.

With his comments stoking controversy, Yadav today said, "I haven't said anything wrong. Like the way we love, care and respect our daughters we should also do the same in case of votes than our society can become good, our country can develop and we can have a good government".

"Those who are taking it in wrong sense is not a good thing. Vote is the engine of our constitution...It is the driving force....Everyone has their own point of view so what can I say," he added.

The yesterday's function in Patna was organised by the Extremely Backward Class Cell (EBC) of the party yesterday to celebrate the birth anniversary of former Bihar Chief Minister and veteran socialist leader Karpoor Thakur.

Reacting on Yadav's controversial statement, JD(U) national general secretary K C Tyagi today said it has been taken wrongly.

"We Samajwadis have been of the view that daughter and vote are to be be given to superior person. If daughter is married to a wrong person, then only one family is destroyed but if vote is given to wrong person then it destroys entire nation ... This is not at all a sexist remark.

"We are sorry if it (Sharad's statement) has hurt the sentiments of any section of the society," Tyagi said.

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Theresa May today vowed to publish a 'White Paper' on Britain's exit plans from the European Union, a day after the Supreme Court ruled that the British Prime Minister will require the consent of both houses of Parliament to invoke Article 50.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Prime Minister May said she recognised that there was an "appetite" for such a formal policy document on Brexit, which is expected to be published within coming days.

"I can confirm to the House that our plan will be set out in a White Paper published in this house," she said during her weekly Commons clash with Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn for Prime Minister's Questions.

The White Paper is expected to lay out all the Acts of Parliament that will be required to complete Britain's exit from the 28-nation economic bloc.

The clash came a day after the Supreme Court had ruled that the British PM will require the consent of both houses of Parliament to invoke Article 50, triggering the formal negotiations for Britain's exit from the EU.

The government has since announced plans for a "straightforward" Bill within days to seek such an approval, in an attempt to allow May to stick to her planned timetable of invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty by the end of March.

Downing Street has said that the ruling will not derail this timetable, adding that the British people "voted to leave the EU, and the government will deliver on their verdict".

The Labour Party leader also raised May's upcoming visit to the US for her first bilateral meeting with the newly elected US President Donald Trump. May repeated that she would not be "afraid to speak frankly" with Trump on all issues.

May is set to leave for the US tomorrow to address the Republican Party retreat in Philadelphia before moving on to Washington DC on Friday for her bilateral talks with Trump.

Her spokesperson at Downing Street told reporters at a briefing today that while arrangements for the visit were still being finalised, the two leaders are looking forward to the opportunity of meeting "face-to-face".

"This is a historic and long-standing relationship and the Prime Minister is looking forward to seize the opportunity and establish a close, effective relationship," the spokesperson said.

Asked if the UK and US would be in a position to discuss a free trade agreement while Britain remained a member of the EU, the spokesperson drew parallels with trade talks with India.

"While we respect our obligations within the EU, talks on how we can break down barriers to trade can carry on. For example, as we are doing with India to explore areas where we can move swiftly (after Brexit)," she said.

From Washington DC, May will be flying to Turkey before returning to the UK on Saturday.

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Britain's Prince Charles today met a 16-year-old boy from Afghanistan who hitch-hiked across Europe five years ago after his family was killed.

Prince Charles met Baseer Omarkhil Khan at his college in Leicester where he is studying to become a mechanic.

Khan fled to the UK five years ago after his family was killed in Afghanistan.

He was traumatised when he arrived as a refugee aged 11 after he hitch-hiked his way across Europe alone to reach Britain.

He did not speak a word of English when he first came to the UK and enrolled in school.

He completed schooling with the help of Prince's Trust charity, a charity set up byPrince Charles in 1976which helps under privileged youngsters.

Last year, Khansuccessfully completedthe Trust's achievement programme, a tailored form of study aimed at boosting teenager's confidence and attitude to learning.

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Activists of a local organisation in Dombivli in neighbouring Thane district today demonstrated outside a theatre showcasing Shah Rukh Khan's "Raees" against casting of a Pakistani actress in the film.

The incident happened at around 1.30 PM at Madhuban Cinema in Dombivli (east) when three activists of 'Chhatrapati Yuva Front' tried to obstruct the show while others protested outside.

Demanding the show be stopped as the movie features Mahira Khan, the activists raised slogans against her while some of them tore a banner of the film displayed outside the theatre.

However, police deployed at the venue stopped the protesters from barging inside the theatre.

"We have registered an offence against 38 protesters including three main accused in this case. Police personnel were deployed outside the theatre for maintaining law and order. There was no obstruction to the movie inside the theatre," said Dombivli police station senior inspector S B Shivarkar.

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Actor Dev Patel's former girlfriend, actress Freida Pinto has congratulated him on earning an Academy Award nomination this year.

The 32-year-old actress took to social media to give a shout-out to Dev, who has been nominated in the best actor in a supporting role category for "Lion" in 2017 Oscars.

Sharing a black-and-white picture of Dev, Freida wrote on Instagram, "So proud of you, Dev! A fine example of what hardwork, focus, humility and crazy amazing talent rewards one with. Long time coming, so well deserved! @lionmov @theacademy #Oscars2017 #OscarNominations2017 #bestactorinasupportingrole."



Former flames, Dev and Freida met on the sets of the Oscar-winning film, "Slumdog Millionaire" and started dating after that.

The couple split amicably after a six-year-long relationship in December 2014.

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Hundreds of Italians whose homes were devastated in a series of deadly earthquakes protested in Rome today at the slow pace of government aid, as the death toll from an avalanche-hit hotel rose to 25 with four people still missing.

The demonstrators, many of them from mountain villages left in ruins by the earthquakes which rocked Italy in August and October, urged the government to move faster on providing aid to populations still reeling from disaster.

With some wearing sashes in the red, white and green of the Italian flag, they marched through Rome's historic city centre toward the Montecitorio parliament building, carrying signs reading: "To rebuild, we need hearts and hands. Where are yours?"



Another held up a placard reading: "Bureaucracy kills more than the earthquake."



"We came to protest the government's delays on reconstruction work," protest coordinator Mirko Fioravanti told AFP, saying little had been done in since August.

"Few things have been accomplished in five months, not even the essential," he said.

"Even if the task is great, things could have been done in a manner better suited to the situation, and definitely much faster."



Among the crowd were survivors from Amatrice, the mountain town devastated by the August quake which left nearly 300 people dead, while others came from the towns of Accumoli, Norcia, and Arquata del Tronto.

Last year's quakes left thousands of homes in ruins or structurally unsafe, emptying a string of villages and small towns across Italy's mountainous central regions, with an estimated 40,000 people forced to find shelter.

Writing on Facebook, former prime minister Matteo Renzi said the delivery of temporary homes for quake victims was due to take place "before Easter".

But Francesca Mileto, another protest coordinator, said the pace was too slow. "We want to shock the bureaucracy into speeding up these cumbersome procedures," she told AFP.

The protest came as rescuers struggled to find the last four people still unaccounted for, presumed dead, at the Hotel Rigopiano in central Italy which was buried by a wall of snow on January 18.

So far, rescuers have found the bodies of 13 men and 12 women, but until now, only half of them have been formally identified, officials said.

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In view of the Republic Day celebrations, BSF is maintaining the "highest level" of alert on the Pakistan border in Jammu and Punjab while repeated attempts are being made from across the frontier to push in terrorists, the chief of the force K K Sharma said here today.

Sharma, who visited forward posts along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Samba sectors in the day, said "there were reports of some sightings across (of militants planning to infiltrate from Pakistan)" but that could not be verified.

"But attempts are being made to do so. And we are there on the borders to foil them," he told reporters here.

On the issue of threat along IB, he said like every year, this year there is a big threat.

"The highest level of the alert has been maintained along the borderline in Punjab and Jammu frontiers. On the occasions of January 26 and August 15, highest alert is being maintained," Sharma said.

"Attempts are being repeatedly made from the other side. But we are ready and alert. We will not allow them to succeed in Jammu and Punjab frontiers," he said.

Asked whether militants are getting help from Pakistan's paramilitary force Rangers, he said they are getting support from state machinery across. We believe they are getting State support. Launching pads and training camps are intact," he said.

"Attempts to push in militants have been made in the past. But we are alert. We are in a position to deal with anything," the BSF chief said.

He said all the attempts of infiltration have been foiled in Punjab and Jammu frontiers during last year. "The last such incident was when we killed three militants who infiltrated to this side via a tunnel in Samba," he said.

Asserting that more use of technology would be made in the border guarding, Sharma said latest gadgets and equipment are being inducted in BSF which, besides acting as force multiplier for better and more effective domination, will also provide relief to the jawans by way of reducing his workload.

"For this GOI is fully behind us. We are in the process of running a pilot project in this regard. We are going to try out latest technology and latest equipment available in the world," he said.

"On the issue of laser wall along IB, it is part of the pilot project aimed to increase the technological use for border guarding," he added.

On the ditch-cum-bandh proposal, he said that it has been put on hold.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The 68th Republic Day Parade will showcase India's military strength and achievements in a range of areas and its diverse culture at the Rajpath tomorrow.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will be the Chief Guest of the Republic Day parade.

Led by Wing Commander Ramesh Kumar Dubey, the parade will start with four Mi-17 helicopters, flying an Indian flag and three other helicopters flying ensigns of the Army, Navy and the Air Force, will shower flower petals.

This will be followed by Parade Commander Lt Gen Manoj Naravane and his second-in-command, Maj Gen Rajesh Sahai paying respects to the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces -- the President of India.

Param Vir Chakra and Ashok Chakra awardees will also be follow the Parade Commander.

A contingent of UAE soldiers, along with its music band will lead the parade.

Major attraction of the parade would be marching of India's only mounted Calvary with its majestic horses.

The parade will also witness the heroic motor bike stunts by defence personnel. One of the major highlights parade will be the fly past by Mi-35 helicopters, indigenous combat light aircraft Tejas, Jaguars and Sukohis. However, these two events will be carried out at the fag end of the parade.

The army will also showcase its Tank T-90 and Infantry Combat Vehicle and Bramhos Missile, one of its treasured armour, its Weapon Locating Radar Swathi, Transportable Satellite Terminal and Akash Weapon System. Another attraction will be the Dhanush Gun system.

Advanced Light Helicopters Rudra will then make a fly-past.

The R-Day parade will also witness Mechanised Infantry Regiment, Bihar Regiment, Gorkha Training Centre and combined band of Punjab Regimental Centre, Sikh Regimental Centre, Madras Engineering Group, Infantry, Battalion (Territorial Army) Sikh Light Infantry.

The parade will also see tableau from ex-servicemen followed by Naval Marching Contingent and a naval tableau.

An Air force Marching Contingent followed by an air force tableau will also showcase India's air prowess.

The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) will showcase its Advanced Towed Artificial Gun System (ATAGS) and medium power radar Arudhra.

The Paramilitary forces contingent will be led by BSF's Camel Band followed by marching contingents of Indian Coast Guard, CISF, Delhi Police, elite NSG and the NCC.

Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Gujarat, Lakshdwaeep, Karanataka, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, these states will showcase their tradition and culture through their respective tableau.

The Department of Central Board of Excise and Customs under the Ministry of Finance, along with the Ministry of Skill Development, will also see their tableau at the R-Day Parade.

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Photos: First #ResistTrumpTuesday Decries Dakota Access Pipeline & Champions ACA

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Jan 25, 2017 4:04PM

On the heels of a 250,000 person-strong Women's March on Chicago that protested all manner of President Donald Trump's statements and policy ideas, the folks behind #MoralMondays actions have kicked off a series of protests called #ResistTrumpTuesdays.

About 200 people turned out to march in the Loop, carrying signs that focused on opposition of Trump, opposition of the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the importance of the Affordable Care Act to marginalized communities.

At least six protesters were seen being arrested by police while blocking an intersection on Wacker Drive Tuesday evening after the group marched to the Goldman Sachs offices at 71 S. Wacker Dr. Our photographer Tyler LaRiviere captured the scene in photos, above.
Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski has pulled out of the 2017 France's Cesar Awards after his appointment to head the jury outraged French women right's groups.

French feminist organizations were planning to protest the awards, which will take place in Paris on February 24, following Polanski's appointment as president of the ceremony as he has been wanted in the US for decades after admitting to sex with a minor.

A lawyer for the 83-year-old filmmaker confirmed the on Tuesday, reported BBC.

"The controversy... Deeply saddened Roman Polanski and affected his family. However, in order not to disturb the Cesars ceremonies, which should focus on the cinema and not on the appointment of the (event's) president, Roman Polanski has decided not accept the invitation...

"And will not preside over the next Cesars ceremonies," said Polanski's lawyer Herve Temime.

Polanski, who has been wanted in the US, since he fled the country following a conviction for statutory rape in 1977, lives in France.

Also, an online petition received more than 42,000 signatures calling for Polanski to be removed as head of the jury.

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A Russian aircraft carrier used to wage a massive offensive on the Syrian city of Aleppo is on its way back to Russia, Britain's defence minister said today, calling it a "ship of shame".

"We will keep a close eye on the Admiral Kuznetsov as it skulks back to Russia," Defence Minister Michael Fallon said in a statement.

The Russian warship travelled through the North Sea to Syria last year, to help Moscow ally President Bashar al-Assad's troops recapture rebel areas of Aleppo city after four years of fighting there.

The offensive forced thousands of civilians and rebels to flee the city, after years of intense bombing and clashes that ravaged swathes of Syria's former economic capital.

Fallon called the aircraft carrier "a ship of shame whose mission has only extended the suffering of the Syrian people".

"We are man-marking these vessels every step of the way around the UK as part of our steadfast commitment to keep Britain safe," he said.

Britain is deploying Typhoon jets and a frigate to shadow the Admiral Kuznetsov, which is accompanied by a Russian cruiser and salvage tug, the ministry said.

Russia's military said earlier this month that it had begun scaling down its deployment in Syria under a drawdown ordered by President Vladimir Putin on December 29.

Aircraft from the carrier hit 1,252 "terrorist" targets during a two-month mission, Russia's main commander in Syria, Andrei Kartapolov, was quoted by Russian agencies as saying.

The Syrian regime and its allies have consistently referred to all of Assad's opponents -- jihadist or otherwise -- as "terrorist" since a conflict erupted in 2011.

The fall of Aleppo in December last year was the regime's biggest victory since the war began with anti-Assad protests.

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Odisha State Election Commission (SEC) has asked the Kendrapara district collector to immediately transfer Pattamundai BDO for "fraudulent" withdrawal of nominations of two women candidates in the three-tier panchayat polls to be held next month.

Pattamundai BDO Prashant Rout has been accused of working at the behest of BJD's Kendrapara MLA so that the latter's wife get elected uncontested.

Rout has "fraudulently" withdrawn candidature of the two women who filed nomination papers for the post of Panchayat Samiti Members of Penthapal gram panchayat.

"The SEC had sought a report from Kendrapara Collector and poll observer on the allegations of withdrawal of nominations from Pattamundai block. The Commission had sought additional information from the collector after receipt of the report," SEC secretary Rabinda Nath Sahu said.

The panchayati raj department has been asked to immediately transfer Pattamundai BDO, Sahu said.

The SEC also directed the Kendrapara collector to hand over the block's charge to local Tehsildar.

The Commission's direction came in wake of allegations made by the two candidates, Pramila Mallick and Gayatri Sethy, who claimed that suddenly they found their names deleted from the candidates list.

Congress had alleged that Kendrapara BJD MLA Kishore Tarai in connivance with Pattamundai BDO managed to get his wife Babita Tarai elected unopposed as panchayat samiti member from Penthapala panchayat by fraudulently withdrawing the nominations of the two other candidates on the last day of withdrawal of nominations.

They have also lodged written complaints against the MLA and the BDO with the police in this connection.

Congress leader and former minister Ganeswar Behera said that his party's allegation has been proved that the BDO had fraudulently withdrew names of two women from the elections without their knowledge. Behera also demanded legal action against the BJD MLA Tarai.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Seven persons have been arrested for allegedly robbing a truck carrying 272 goats at a highway in the district, police said today.

On January 20, the goats were being transported from Madosa in Rajasthan to Deonar in suburban Mumbai in the truck. When the vehicle reached near Charoti check post at Kasa on the Bombay-Ahmedabad highway, a group of nearly 10 persons waylaid the truck, they said.

Once the driver and cleaner got down, some of the miscreants fled with the vehicle. The other members of the gang took the truck driver and cleaner in a jeep and abandoned them at Palghar, a police official said.

Later, an offence was registered under IPC sections 395 (dacoity), 353 and 365 (kidnapping) with Kasa police.

Meanwhile, the miscreants unloaded the goats at a farm in Vajreshwari and escaped even as police tried to chase them.

However, during a search police later found 168 goats held captive at a farm under Dalekar pada in the district.

Subsequently, based on a tip-off, seven of the accused were arrested from Mahapoli in Thane district on Monday, police said adding that further probe into the case was on.

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Dedicating his Padma Vibhushan award to the farmers, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar today saluted his voters for "consistently and continuously" showing faith in him during his almost five-decade long political career.

"I dedicate this award to #farmers whose relentless toil made this nation self-reliant in #food #production," Pawar, who served as Union Agriculture Minister from 2004 to 2014, tweeted after his name was announced for this year's Padma awards.

Earlier in the day, Pawar along with political stalwarts Murli Manohar Joshi, former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma figured among the list of seven people who were selected for Padma Vibhushan, country's second highest civilian award.

"Thank you very much for conferring me with the 'Padma Vibhushan' award...I #salute my #voters who consistently and continuously showed #faith in me for 50 years," the Maratha leader said in another tweet.

Pawar, who turned 76 last December, would be completing 50 years in politics next month. His party NCP has planned a string of events across Maharashtra and other parts of the country to celebrate his eventful career which saw his rise from the grassroots to prominent state and national slots.

"Thanks to people of Latur/Osmanabad and Mumbai who showed indomitable spirit during distress...And also to the administrative machinery for their untiring efforts in bringing normalcy at all the locations," Pawar posted on Twitter.

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The State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu run by the Tamil Nadu Government has registered its highest ever revenue at Rs 454.31 Crore.

"During the financial year 2015-16, SIPCOT garnered revenues of Rs 454.31 crore with net profits of Rs 99.96 crore", an official release said.

Stating that the company has been generating dividends since 2005-06, the release said the dividend amount of Rs 34. 75 crore for the period 2015-16 was handed over to the Industries Minister M C Sampath by SIPCOT Managing Director, R Vasuki.

The dividend is the highest ever amount generated by SIPCOT in the last 11 years, it added.

SIPCOT assists industries to set up shops at various places across Tamil Nadu.

It is the nodal agency to ensure disbursal of financial incentives resulting in spurt in industrial growth in backward and under developed areas.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The week-long students' strike in Kerala Law Academy, a private institution under public trust management, has caused embarrassment to the CPI(M) led LDF government, with students affiliated to the pro party Students Federation of India also joining the stir.

A group of students belonging to ABVP, KSU and SFI are on a sit in dharna in front of the Secretariat here to protest against the alleged harassment of students by the management and demanding the removal of the principal Lakshmi Nair.

She is the daughter of former CPI(M) MLA Kolliyakode Krishnan Nair's brother. She also conducts a famous cookery show in the party supported channel.

Meanwhile, CPI(M) veteran and state Administrative Reforms Committee Chairman V S Achuthanandan met the agitating students in front of the Secretariat and expressed his solidarity with them.

The former Chief Minister demanded that "excess land" occupied by the Academy nearby Peroorkkada should be recovered from them and said demand of the students were genuine



Extending support to the students, BJP national executive member V Muraleedharan today began a 48-hour-long fast in front of the college.The agitation was inaugurated by party national secretary Muralidhar Rao.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan also visited the agitating students to express their solidarity the other day.

However, Lakshmi Nair and the management members have denied the charges raised by students.

Nair also alleged that some people with 'vested interests' were using the students against the college.

She said the restrictionsin the hostel were imposed for the safety of students, especially girls



Many prominent politicians, cutting across party lines, are alumni of the decades-old Law Academy.

The agitation came into focus after the suicide of a first year engineering student at a self-financing college in Thrissur, allegedly due to harassment by the management.

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Seven-year-old Syrian girl Bana al-Abed, who came to international attention with her tweets giving a tragic account of the war in Aleppo, has written an open letter to new US President Donald Trump.

In her letter Bana, who was evacuated from the besieged city to Turkey in December, appealed to Trump to help the children of Syria, the BBC reported yesterday.

"I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war," she wrote, according to a transcript of the letter her mother sent to the BBC.

She told Trump her school in Aleppo was destroyed by the bombing and some of her friends had died.

"Right now in Turkey, I can go out and enjoy. I can go to school although I didn't yet. That is why peace is important for everyone including you.

"However, millions of Syrian children are not like me right now and suffering in different parts of Syria," she wrote.

"You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you."



At least 15,000 children are among the more than 300,000 people who have been killed in Syria's six-year war between President Bashar al-Assad's regime and rebel forces.

Through her tragic descriptions of life in besieged Aleppo on her @AlabedBana Twitter account, Bana became a symbol of the tragedy unfolding in Syria, although the government had slammed her and her mother's nearly daily tweets as propaganda.

Turkey, which backs the Syrian rebels, is hosting some 2.7 million refugees from the conflict.

Syrian rebels and Assad's government are holding peace talks in Kazakhstan but there have been no signs of a breakthrough.

Trump's administration was invited to participate in the talks organised by key players Russia, Turkey and Iran but did not send a delegation.

Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday that the new US president was open to conducting joint operations with Russia to combat the Islamic State group, who control significant territory in northern Syria.

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In a bid to spread awareness about the need to preserve and protect biodiversity, Sukinda Chromite Mine (SCM) of Tata Steel organised a unique two-day festival involving students and others in Odisha's Jajpur district.

The programme, "JAIBAKALA VIVIDHATA", which aimed to sensitize the students and the community through art and painting, concluded yesterday.

Around 700 students from SCM campus and nearby areas like Ransaol, Chingudipal, Kaliapani, Dolapada and Birasal, participated in a competition held during the event on paintings of animals and birds from any one of the categories like Extinct, Contemporary and Species, a company release said.

Apart from the school students, some village youth and women from the locality also participated in the competition. There was also a mimicry competition on various sounds of animals and birds for the students.

B K Pattnaik, Chairman, State Expert Appraisal Committee, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Prasad Das, Sr. Scientist, Odisha State Bio-Diversity Board, Jayant Kumar Das, Sr Lecturer, B K College of Art and Crafts, Raj Kumar Singh, Chief, Procurement, Tata Steel, Mr. Rajesh Patel, Chief, Mining, SCM addressed the gathering during the concluding ceremony and gave away prizes to the winners.

Commending Tata Steel for the initiative, Pattnaik said such events would instill a feeling of love and belongingness towards nature and and the concept of biodiversity in the minds of school children.

Reinforcing Tata Steel's commitment towards environment while formally launching the programme on January 23, R R Satpathy, General Manager, Operations, Ferro Alloys and Minerals Division, Tata Steel said this is a part of a series of initiatives SCM is undertaking to create awareness on protection and preservation of biodiversity among the community particularly youngsters.

Noted artist Badal Pramanik and his team from Jamshedpur and Asis Saran, lecturer, B K College of Art and Crafts, Bhubaneswar and his team conducted workshop on sketch, drawing, clay making, art working on thermocol where over 700 students participated, it said.

As part of its commitment towards environment Tata Steel adopted a company-wide Biodiversity Policy in April 2016 which aims to achieve No Net Loss on biodiversity. For all its mines and collieries in Jharkhand and Odisha, it has developed Biodiversity Management Plans, it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tata Steel today said it would acquire majority equity stake in the proposed Subarnarekha Port in Odisha.

The company in a statement said it today executed definitive agreements with Creative Port Development Private Limited (CPDPL) and their promoters for the proposed development of 'Subarnarekha Port' at Chaumukh village of Balasore district in Odisha.

As per the agreements, Tata Steel will acquire majority equity stake in CPDPL, and the port development is envisaged through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Subarnarekha Port Private Limited (SPPL).

No further details were disclosed.

The acquisition and development is subject to certain conditions precedent, detailed technical assessments and financial closure.

CPDPL, promoted by two technoprenuers, Ramani Ramaswamy and Ramaswamy Rangarajan, had entered into a concession agreement with the Odisha government in January 2008 to develop the Subarnarekha Port as an all-weather deep-draft facility.

Detailed engineering study to arrive at the configuration and the project cost will be undertaken soon, the statement said.

Tata Steel has exited from Dhamra Port which was acquired by Adani Port.

"The investment to develop the Subarnarekha Port will address the strategic needs of Tata Steel in the future. The location of the proposed port makes it attractive to structurally enhance the competitive position of our Indian operations," Tata Steel Group Executive Director (Finance & Corporate) Koushik Chatterjee said.

"As Tata Steel grows in India in the future, securing competitive logistics solution is a key aspect in de-risking our in-bound and out-bound supply chain," Tata Steel MD India and SEA T V Narendran said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rauner Gives State Of The State Speech Amid All-Too-Familiar Budget Crisis

By aaroncynic in News on Jan 25, 2017 8:58PM



Governor Bruce Rauner outside the Director's Lawn at the Illinois State Fair in August 2016. Photo by Aaron Cynic

Gov. Bruce Rauner continued to stick to his guns well-worn talking points about the state budget crisis in his third annual state of the state speech, delivered in front of lawmakers in the state capitol Wednesday afternoon.

Like many of you, Im frustrated by the slow pace of change in Springfield, Rauner said in the opening of his speech, while also saying despite uncertainties, he remains deeply optimistic about the future of Illinois. We know that much in our state has been broken for many, many years; but we know that there is a way forward - there is a path to a better future for all Illinois families.

Like most of his other speeches and recent forays into Facebook Live, Rauners address stuck to the core message hes been telling Illinoisans since the budget impasse began - that the only way to end the more than one-and-a-half year-long crisis is for state lawmakers to capitulate to his pro-business agenda.

Our states economy could take off like a rocket ship if we could just come together on major pro-jobs changes that need legislation to take effect, said Rauner, who added that Illinoisans have a moral obligation to work together to bring change.

The governor said hes made progress on three goals his administration set forward for the state: investing in education, making Illinois more competitive and attractive to job creators, and making it the most ethical and efficient state in the nation. He also touted his changes to an overtime policy for state workers represented by more than 20 unions, saying that starting overtime pay after 40 hours a week instead of 37.5 adds greater flexibility in the workplace.

Rauner also appealed to the state legislature to pass his term limit and map redrawing reforms.

We worked hard to change our broken political system and restore competitive general elections in our state, said the governor, who donated $50 million of his own money to his reelection campaign in December. I ask you today, on behalf of all the people of IllinoisDemocrats and Republicansplease do the right thing and pass the bills to put term limits and fair maps on the ballot.

The governor also referred to ongoing violence in Chicago, though in a vastly different manner than our current president. While calling it intolerable, Rauner did not however, make a veiled reference to what some could interpret as a call for martial law in the city.





Violence experts say theres no single cause and no single solution. But with the right mix of policieswith a joint commitment between the city, the county, the state and the federal governmentwe can and must find solutions to curb the violence.

While referencing barriers to good jobs and economic opportunity along with education, Rauner did not address the effects the current budget impasse, particularly the loss of funding for social services, has had on the violence in Chicago.

In fact, Rauner cant drop the entire budget crisis in the laps of Democrats as easily as he arbitrarily drops the letter g (at least 56 times) in his public speeches. He let the temporary flat income tax rate of 5 percent fall back to 3.75, which increased both the budget deficit and pile of backlogged bills. The continuation of the stalemate is as much his fault as it is state lawmakers, in that hes refused to sign a budget until the legislature agrees to his demands.

Critics of the governor seized on this in response to his address.

Governor Rauner attempted to borrow from the Trump playbook and layout alternative facts about the state of Illinois under his leadership, but the reality is that his time at the helm has been an unmitigated disaster for Illinois families, Amisha Patel, executive director of the Grassroots Collaborative, said. In a statement provided to Chicagoist, Patel said that Illinois needs a new way forward that includes funding education by closing capital gains loopholes, universal childcare, and criminal justice reform that takes money out of incarceration and reinvests in the communities most affected by policing.

Rauner's preferred audience is the gilded group of political donors, lobbyists, and corporate executives who have profited handsomely from his reign, the group United Working Families said in a statement. He bailed out Exelon with a rate hike on working people. He handed out $100 million in tax giveaways to large private corporations. The Chicago Teachers Union called out the Exelon bailout and tax breaks to corporations as well, adding:

Inner city communities need jobs, infrastructure investment and gang intervention to stem the devastating rise in violence. Thats not a priority for the Rauner administration.

Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez and AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan, both co-chairs of llinois Working Together, said that the state was worse off than when Rauner took office and called on him to drop his agenda.

The way to move Illinois forward is by raising wages, making the wealthiest and big corporations pay their fair share, fully funding schools, and ensuring a secure retirement for all working people in our state," they said in a statement. "Hardworking families in Illinois simply cannot afford another two years of hostage-taking and bullying from the governor.
The Telangana Government today decided to monitor supply of kerosene, beingprovided to the poor through fair price shops, online to ensure transparency.

Civil Supplies Commissioner C V Anand, who held a meeting with officials of his department, oil companies and wholesale kerosene dealers, asked the representatives of dealers not to commit irregularities in the process of supply.

"The CCS has instructed all concerned officers to bring the kerosene oil also in ePDS application (software) so as to ensure that as in the case of other commodities, the kerosene should be supplied to the card holders from 1st to 15th of every month," a State Government release said.

The release quoted Anand as saying in the meeting that stringent action will be taken against wholesale dealers diverting kerosene to other than the intended beneficiaries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Scientists have developed a swarm of tiny underwater robots to study ocean currents and understand the movement of plankton - the most abundant life forms in the sea.

The miniature autonomous underwater explorers (M-AUEs) will study small-scale environmental processes taking place in the ocean.

The ocean-probing instruments are equipped with temperature and other sensors to measure the surrounding ocean conditions while the robots 'swim' up and down to maintain a constant depth by adjusting their buoyancy.

The M-AUEs could potentially be deployed in swarms of hundreds to thousands to capture a 3D view of the interactions between ocean currents and marine life.

Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego in the US deployed a swarm of 16 grapefruit-sized underwater robots programmed to mimic the underwater swimming behaviour of plankton, the microscopic organisms that drift with the ocean currents.

The study was designed to test theories about how plankton form dense patches under the ocean surface, which often later reveal themselves at the surface as red tides.

"These patches might work like planktonic singles bars," said Peter Franks, a Scripps biological oceanographer who has long suspected that the dense aggregations could aid feeding, reproduction, and protection from predators.

Two decades ago Franks had proposed a theory predicting that swimming plankton would form dense patches when pushed around by internal waves - giant, slow-moving waves below the ocean surface.

Testing his theory would require tracking the movements of individual plankton - each smaller than a grain of rice - as they swam in the ocean, which is not possible using available technology.

Scripps research oceanographer Jules Jaffe instead invented "robotic plankton" that drift with the ocean currents, but are programmed to move up and down by adjusting their buoyancy, imitating the movements of plankton.

A swarm of these robotic plankton was the ideal tool to finally put Franks' mathematical theory to the test.

"The big engineering breakthroughs were to make the M-AUEs small, inexpensive, and able to be tracked continuously underwater," said Jaffe.

The low cost allowed researchers to build a small army of the robots that could be deployed in a swarm.

During a five-hour experiment, researchers deployed a 300-metre diameter swarm of 16 M-AUEs programmed to stay 10-metres deep in the ocean off the coast of California.

The M-AUEs constantly adjusted their buoyancy to move vertically against the currents created by the internal waves.

The three-dimensional location information collected every 12 seconds showed where this robotic swarm moved below the ocean surface.

The results of the study were nearly identical to what Franks predicted.

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

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In a departure from the norm, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam will unfurl the tricolour at the Republic Day here tomorrow as Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao will be taking the salute in Mumbai.

Raj Bhavan sources said that Rao, Governor of Maharashtra and who was given additional charge of Tamil Nadu last year, will be in Mumbai for the Republic Day celebrations.

Panneerselvam "will take the salute", said an invitation issued by the state government, highlighting that the Chief Minister would lead the proceedings by unfurling the tricolour here.

Rao was sworn-in as Acting Governor of Tamil Nadu on September 2, 2016, after the tenure of his predecessor K Rosaiah ended on August 30 that year.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up all across the city, especially in and around Marina, the venue of tomorrow's Republic day celebrations.

Marina had been the epicentre of the pro-jallikattu protests, where tens of thousands had converged for nearly a week and were forcibly dispersed on Monday.

The entire area has been spruced up, with municipal authorities going on a hectic cleaning spree.

Police are being deployed in sensitive areas as a preventive measure.

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TRS MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha was today granted relief by a railway court in Secunderabad in connection with the 'rail roko' protests held in 2011 for formation of separate Telangana state.

Kavitha, daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who represents Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat, appeared before the Metropolitan Magistrate Court for Railways.

During examination, she pleaded guilty for the offence under section 174 A (obstructing running of train) under the Railways Act.

"She requested the court to take a lenient view with regard to the sentence and accordingly she was released under provisions of the Probation of Offenders Act Act," Public Prosecutor Secunderabad Railways Division said.

On November 23 last year, Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya and three Telangana ministers Nayani Narasimha Reddy, K T Rama Rao and T Padma Rao besides others were also granted relief by the court in connection with the case against them over 'rail roko' protests in 2011.

During 2011, as part of Sakala Janula Samme (general strike) organised in support of separate statehood demand for Telangana, the BJP and TRS leaders along with members of pro-Telangana organisations trespassed onto railway track and organised 'Vanta Varpu' (mass cooking).

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US President Donald Trump has asked FBI Director James Comey, who faced criticism over his handling of an inquiry into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email, to stay on the job despite their differences, according to a media report.

Comey, 50, told his top law enforcement agents from around the country that he had been asked by President Trump to stay on the job, according to people familiar with the matter.

A decision to retain Comey would spare the president another potentially bruising confirmation battle. It would also keep Comey at the center of the FBI's investigation into several Trump associates and their potential ties with the Russian government, The New York Times reported.

Retaining Comey could also help calm the bureau's work force, which has been rattled after a tumultuous few months in which the FBI and the director himself were sharply criticised for moves that many felt influenced the outcome of the presidential election, it said.

Comey's unusually public role in the election-season investigation into Clinton's handling of classified information on her private email server as secretary of state has made him a target of criticism from Democrats, many of whom believe he cost her the election.

The Justice Department's internal watchdog announced earlier this month an investigation into the department and the FBI's handling of the Clinton email probe.

At a reception for law enforcement officials in the White House on Sunday, Trump greeted Comey with a nod to the FBI director's status.

"He's become more famous than me," CNN quoted Trump as saying.

During the campaign, Trump had harshly criticised the FBI and the Justice Department for not bringing criminal charges against Clinton in connection with her use of a personal email server.

After Trump was elected in November, he said in a nationally televised interview that he had not made up his mind about whether he would ask Comey to resign.

Under federal law, the FBI director is appointed to a 10-year term, intended to overlap more than one administration as part of post-Watergate overhauls created to give the director independence and insulate the job from politics.

The president can fire the director, though. Comey, a former senior Justice Department official under President George W Bush, was appointed by President Obama in 2013.

Comey will have to manage an increasingly difficult relationship with Trump and his White House, as the FBI is leading an investigation into ties between Trump's associates - including his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort - and the Russian government, the NYT said.

As part of that inquiry, agents have examined intercepted communications and financial transactions. Comey has repeatedly declined to discuss the investigation with members of Congress.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump is set to sign several executive orders, including one on building a border wall with Mexico, this week to crack down on immigrants - one of his central campaign promises - and could suspend immigration from some Muslim nations, media reports have said.

Trump is expected to order the construction of the border wall with Mexico, the first in a series of actions to bolster national security, The New York Times reported.

The border wall was a signature promise of Trump's campaign to control the illegal flow of immigrants.

His actions would also include slashing the number of refugees who can resettle in the US and blocking Syrians and others from "terror prone" nations from entering, at least temporarily.

He and could move to suspend some immigration from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, either temporarily or "indefinitely," sources familiar with the plans that have been under consideration were quoted as saying by the ABC .

"Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!," Trump tweeted.

He also plans to review whether to resume the once-secret "black site" detention programme; keep open the prison at Guantanamo Bay; and designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation.

Trump is expected to target legal immigrants as early as this week, White House officials said, by halting a decades- old programme that grants refuge to the world's most vulnerable people.

The refugee policy under consideration would halt admissions from Syria and suspend it from other majority- Muslim nations until the administration can study how to properly vet them.

The plan is believed to be in line with a ban on Muslim immigrants that Trump proposed during his campaign, arguing that such a step was warranted given concerns about terrorism.

The expected actions drew strong criticism from immigrant advocates and human rights groups, which called them discriminatory moves that rejected the American tradition of welcoming immigrants of all backgrounds.

"To think that Trump's first 100 days are going to be marked by this very shameful shutting of our doors to everybody who is seeking refuge in this country is very concerning," said Marielena Hincapie, the executive director of the National Immigration Law Center.

"Everything points to this being simply a backdoor Muslim ban."



Sources outside the government familiar with the Trump team proposals say they expect any presidential action will not impact young immigrants currently benefiting from former President Barack Obama's initiative known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which provides temporary legal protection and work permits, ABC said.

During the campaign, Trump promised swift action on immigration on "Day One" in office. He pledged to cancel all federal funding to sanctuary cities, suspend immigration countries with ties to terrorism, investigate abuses of visa programmes and deport criminal undocumented immigrants.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Donald Trump will begin rolling out executive actions on immigration, beginning with steps to tighten border security - including his proposed wall along the US-Mexico border and other domestic immigration enforcement measures, according to two administration officials.

Later in the week, the president is expected to take steps to restrict the flow of refugees to the United States.

One official said the president was expected to roll out immigration measures over the next few days.

The officials insisted on anonymity in order to confirm the plans ahead of Trump's official announcement. The president is expected to sign the first actions today during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security.

Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten US immigration policies, including beefing up border security and stemming the flow of refugees. He also called for halting entry to the US from Muslim countries, but later shifted the policy to a focus on what he called "extreme vetting" for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

As president, Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing. President George W Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.

While the specific of Trump's orders were unclear, both officials said Wednesday's actions would focus in part on the president's plans to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico. He has insisted Mexico would pay for the wall, though the Mexican government has repeatedly said it would not.

Trump will meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the White House next week.

The Trump administration also must adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built along the border. The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the US-Mexican border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint US-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After losing two of its highly-trained and ferocious canines, famed as the 'Osama hunters', to Naxal triggered IED blasts in a week's time, an alarmed CRPF has asked field units to "study" reasons that led to these losses and undertake new tactical steps to thwart Maoists attempts to target the four-legged soldiers.

Two back-to-back incidents, on January 18 in Jharkhand's Latehar and yesterday in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur, claimed the lives of 'Aminika' and 'Pluto', two of the top class battle-hardened 'Belgian Malinois' infantry patrol canines of the country's largest paramilitary force.

Both the dogs were out with Central Reserve Police Force patrol parties in the Naxal heartland when cleverly hidden Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts claimed their lives.

The 'Belgian Malinois' breed of dogs have been inducted in Indian security forces few years back based on their excellent track record of sniffing out hidden bombs and danger in the enemy territory.

These dogs first shot to international fame after they assisted the elite US Navy SEALs in sniffing out Osama bin Laden from his safe haven in Pakistan in 2011 and were since then famously called as the 'Osama hunters'.

"It is a loss for the force as these four-legged soldiers have saved numerous troops' lives in the battle zone especially in Naxal areas and were very dear to us. We are looking at what exactly caused these incidents and I have asked my field units to study the blasts.

"If it requires adopting certain different tactical steps to be undertaken, we will do that," CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad told PTI.

CRPF officials, while talking about the two recent setbacks, said these dogs are put under rigorous training for 24-weeks in sniffing, tracking and attack tactics and it is "near to impossible" that they will miss an hidden IED or bomb beneath the muddy earth.

"These dogs have saved numerous lives and personnel from getting maimed or killed after they sniffed in-time the hidden IEDs or Maoists laying an ambush. An analysis is being done if the Naxals have improvised on some techniques to outsmart these dogs even.

"As these dogs are highly trained and smart as compared to any breed , there have been no incidents in the past when they could have been killed in operations. These are the first two deaths," they said.

(REOPENS DEL 42)



The importance of these 'Belgian Malinois' dogs can be ascertained from the fact that forces like CRPF, ITBP and BSF now have over 200 such canines and every battalion operating in the Naxal area has one dog and patrols have been asked to keep the dog in the lead column to save them against threats.

A dog instructor said once these dogs started saving troops lives and giving them an edge in Naxal operations, they were labelled as 'paltan hi shaan, hamara shvaan' (A dog is the units' honour) and the best of the facilities were accorded to them including their handlers.

A number of siblings of 'Aminika' and 'Pluto' in various forces have been decorated with the DGs commendation discs for good work in the past even as CRPF accords them the badge of putting 'Shaheed' before their names, on par with a similar honour for troops who lay down their lives in the line of duty.

Both the slain dogs have been the course toppers at their training academy at Taralu near Bengaluru.

The 'Malinois', a litter of an Israeli male Malinois crossed with an American bitch, looks coarse and is preferred for military operations, sniffing out IEDs and detecting ambushes as it has a bigger head and heavier snout to undertake such operations.

These are also the reasons that the 'Malinois' is not popular as a pet and is used extensively by security forces.

Both the CRPF canines, who lost their lives within a span of a week, were cremated with full force honours and plans are afoot to erect memorials at their respective battalion headquarters.
UAE's national oil company ADNOC today signed an agreement to hire half of the capacity of India's maiden strategic oil storage at Mangalore as the two nations looked to strengthen energy ties.

India, which is 81 per cent dependent on imports to meet its crude oil needs, has built underground storages at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Mangalore and Padur in Karnataka to store about 5.33 million tonnes of crude oil to guard against global price shocks and supply disruptions.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) will hire half of the 1.5 million tonnes Mangalore facility, officials siad.

An agreement to this effect was signed between Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) - the special purpose vehicle building the oil storages, and ADNOC after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

"It is our hope that this strategic agreement will build on the strong bounds of cooperation between our two nations and provide the foundation for a mutually beneficial energy partnership," Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.

The pact, he said, will also "help to ensure India's energy security and enable us to meet the nation's growing demand for energy".

Under the agreement, India will have first right to use the stored oil in case of an emergency, while ADNOC would use the facility to store oil for trading purposes.

ADNOC will stock 0.75 million tonnes or 6 million barrels of oil in one compartment of Mangalore facility. Of this, 0.5 million tonnes will belong to India and it can use it in emergencies. ADNOC will use the facility as a warehouse for trading its oil.

The 1.33 million tonnes Visakhapatnam storage and 2.5 million tonnes Padur stockpile together with 1.5 million tonnes Mangalore storage will be enough to meet nation's oil requirement of about 10 days.

The Congress-ruled Karnataka government has not yet agreed on waiving VAT on the crude oil imported for the strategic storage, which UAE wants to use to stock oil when prices are low and supply to its customers when rates are good.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Trump To Pull Federal Funds From Sanctuary Cities Like Chicago

By Stephen Gossett in News on Jan 25, 2017 7:36PM



Getty Imgaes / Photo: Alex Wong

Donald Trump is following through on his threat to pull federal funds from Chicago for being a so-called sanctuary city, which protect undocumented immigrants from deportation, White House press secretary Sean Spice said on Wednesday.

Trump will sign an executive order Wednesday that will initiate the process of stripping federal grant dollars, Spicer said at a press conference. The order will instruct federal agencies to look at funding streams and to figure out how to defund those streams," CBS reports.

A second executive order will set in motion the construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border.

.@PressSec says Trump administration will "strip federal grant money from sanctuary states and cities" that harbor undocumented immigrants. pic.twitter.com/vAOhL9V7cs  CBS News (@CBSNews) January 25, 2017

It's not completely certain how much money Chicago would lose, but it could be significant. According to Mother Jones and an analysis by Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, the city could lose slightly more than $1 billion per year and more than 10 percent of the city's annual budget. Chicago could lose nearly $29 million per year in justice grants, Mother Jones reports. The funding pull could affect everything from transportation dollars topossibly, since things are still unclearChicago Public Schools and the Chicago Housing Authority.

The executive action could also face significant legal hurdles.

Bizarrely, Spicer, when asked about Trump's "send in the feds" tweet, at the very same press conference, said that Trump wants to "provide the resources of the federal government" in helping with Chicago's violent crime.

In the wake of Donald Trump's election, Mayor Rahm Emanuel vowed to keep Chicago a sanctuary city. "Chicago has been a city of immigrants since it was founded," Emanuel said in a statement in November." We have always welcomed people of all faiths and backgrounds, and while the administration will change, our values and our commitment to inclusion will not."

Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th Ward) urged the mayor to stand up for immigrants in face of the threat. "Todays anti-immigrant executive actions by President Trump reaffirm the urgency for Chicago to implement the strongest policies possible to protect our immigrant families," Ramirez-Rosa said. "Now Mayor Emanuel must make the tough choice to stand with the immigrant Chicagoans targeted by President Trumps executive action threatening sanctuary cities. I urge Mayor Emanuel and my colleagues to oppose President Trump and strengthen Chicagos Welcoming City Ordinance by removing carve-outs and loopholes."

Emanuel on Wednesday afternoon said Chicago would remain a sanctuary city despite Trump's executive action."We're gonna stay a sanctuary city," the mayor said in a press conference following a City Council meeting, according to the Tribune. "There is no stranger among us. We welcome people, whether you're from Poland or Pakistan, whether you're from Ireland or India or Israel and whether you're from Mexico or Moldova, where my grandfather came from, you are welcome in Chicago as you pursue the American dream.

Emanuel said he was not briefed on the specific details of Trump's executive order, the Trib reports.

Whether you're from Poland or Pakistan, India or Ireland, Israel, Mexico or Moldova, yuo are welcome in Chicago https://t.co/z9oTD4HVIe  ChicagosMayor (@ChicagosMayor) January 25, 2017

This post has been updated.
President Donald Trump announced today he would seek a probe into what he calls widespread voter fraud in the election that brought him to power, hammering away at allegations widely dismissed as baseless.

No public evidence has emerged of large-scale illegal voting in the November election, and Trump and the White House have failed to substantiate the president's claim, which he repeated this week.

Trump's own lawyers have stated in legal filings that there was no evidence of fraud in the November 8 election.

Even as major US media branded Trump's allegation an outright lie and lawmakers urged him to drop the subject, the president stuck to his guns on Wednesday.

"I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and even those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time)," Trump wrote in the latest of his early morning tweets.

"Depending on the results we will strengthen up voting procedures!" Trump added.

Trump has dwelled at length on the results of an election he won, against all expectations.

He argues that were it not for illegal immigrants voting, he would have won not just the state-weighted electoral college but also the popular vote, which was taken by Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton by around 2.9 million votes.

Hours after Trump told congressional leaders that as many as five million people could have voted illegally back in November, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday that this belief was based "on the studies he's seen."



"I think the president has believed that for a while based on studies and information he has," Spicer said.

If proven, it would be an enormous political scandal.

Spicer said the Republican president nonetheless had confidence in the election outcome.

The president has previously cited a Pew report from 2012 that concluded more than "1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters."



That report provided no evidence to support Trump's claim, first made in October, that "people that have died 10 years ago are still voting," or that others voted in their name.

David Becker, the primary author of the Pew report, tweeted in response to the Trump team's claims that he "can confirm that report made no findings re: voter fraud."



Trump has also cited an Old Dominion University study which suggested 14 percent of non-citizens said they were registered to vote.

But that study has been dismissed as having flawed methodology, with a sample size of under 1,000 and no link between being registered to vote and actually voting.

Even Trump's lawyers have stated there is no evidence of fraud in the 2016 election.

In a filing late last year against Green Party candidate Jill Stein's efforts to force a recount of votes in Michigan, they wrote: "All evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than Rs 8 lakh were seized from two vehicles in Miranpur and Bhagela check post in the district ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next month, police said today.

Rs 3.70 lakh were seized from Abhishek Goel, a bank manager's son, while he was taking the cash to Kotdwar from Muzaffarnagar yesterday, District Magistrate Madanpal said.

Police is interrogating the Goel, he said.

In another incident, Rs 5.42 lakh were seized from two Delhi-based trader who were taking the money to Saharanpur, police said.

Rakesh Arora and Gulshan Arora were carrying the cash in their and were apprehended at the Bhagela checkpost on Delhi-Dehradun national highway here, they said.

Investigation in both incidents is underway, police said.

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US authorities have decided not to charge an heir to the Fiat auto fortune who was arrested for allegedly faking his own kidnapping to pay for a weekend of debauchery, officials said on Thursday.

According to several US media outlets, Lapo Elkann, the grandson of legendary Fiat founder Gianni Agnelli, tried to make his family believe he had been kidnapped when he ran out of money during a two-day bender of sex and drugs.

The 39-year-old Italian playboy reportedly spent that time with a transgender prostitute, with whom he consumed alcohol, marijuana and cocaine before running low on funds, the reports said.

He reportedly came up with the plan to ask his family for USD 10,000 in ransom to pay for more drugs, US media said.

The family alerted police, who arrested Elkann after determining his claims were false.

Elkann was ordered to appear in a New York court for falsely reporting an incident. Police have not said if Elkann was found with a prostitute or whether drugs were involved.

But Manhattan prosecutors ultimately decided not to charge him and to drop the case, a spokesman for their office told AFP.

Elkann's brother John took over the helm of the Agnelli empire in May 2008, becoming the head of the company that manages the family's holdings.

The Agnelli family controls about a 30 per cent stake in Fiat, and 44 per cent of the voting rights.

Elkann made headlines in 2005 when he slipped into a coma after a drug overdose -- also reportedly while in the company of a prostitute.

Elkann briefly held a job in Fiat's marketing department, but then moved on to other projects. He is one of the founders of the eyewear brand Italia Independent.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Gujarat unit of Shiv Sena today sought a ban on Shah Rukh Khan-starer "Raees", claiming the movie "glorifies" a real- life "criminal".

"Rashtra Sena", a little known outfit, has also put up banners in several parts of Surat against the Bollywood superstar and the movie, which hit the screens today.

VHP leader Ranchhod Bharwad said the title character of "Raees", played by Khan, is based on the life of Abdul Latif, a bootlegger-turned-politician.

"India had so many great personalities on whom you can make a movie. But Khan chose Abdul Latif, who was a dreaded criminal, bootlegger and a mafia don. Khan claimed the movie is based on fictional character but everyone knows that Raees is based on Latif," said Bharwad.

He also slammed SRK for casting Pakistani actor Mahira Khan as the female lead, alleging that she made anti-India statements after going back to Pakistan.

"We believe that government should ban the movie and book Khan for sedition for making such a movie," said Bharwad.

The VHP leader also held Khan responsible for the death of a person at Vadodara railway station two days back, when the crowd which had gathered to have a glimpse of the actor went out of control.

Police must book Khan for the death, he said.

"Government should ban this movie, as it indulges in hero-worshipping of mafia dons," said Bharwad.

A few VHP and Bajrang Dal workers shouted slogans outside a theatre in Valsad this morning. Police dispersed them before the situation could worsen, said a police officer.

The Gujarat unit of Shiv Sena also asked the BJP government in the state to stop the screening of "Raees", claiming that "portrayal of Abdul Latif as a hero" would encourage bootleggers and anti-social element.

"Instead of highlighting police officers who tamed Latif, the makers have projected Dawood Ibrahim's aide Latif as a hero of the masses," said Sena leader Ashok Sharma.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid allegations that Nagpur police threatened to shoot the Congress workers who were protesting against a play on Nathuram Godse, Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil today demanded action against the police commissioner of the city.

Speaking to reporters here, the Congress leader wondered if the government wanted to create "another Jalianwala Baug".

"Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who holds the home portfolio should quit taking moral responsibility for the police's conduct," Vikhe Patil said.

Congress would "felicitate" Nagpur police commissioner Dr K Venkyatesham with the title "General Dyer", he said, demanding that the Chief Minister take action against the commissioner.

"I have never seen in my political career peaceful protesters being threatened of being shot," Vikhe Patil said.

Yesterday, Congress alleged that its workers who were protesting against the play "Hey Ram Nathuram" in Nagpur on Sunday were threatened by police that they would be shot dead.

The play glorified Godse, Mahatma Gandhi's assassin, Congress alleged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Noted cardio-thoracic surgeon Vivek Jawali has been appointed as a member of the committee formed by the Medical Council of India to address the issues suffocating the growth of medical specialities and super specialities in the country.

The five-member committee is to deliberate and give recommendations to the MCI on an action plan, according to a release by Fortis Hospitals, Bangalore, of which Jawali is the Chairman.

He is also Past President of Indian Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons.

Jawali is a pioneer in minimally invasive cardiac surgery in India and has performed over 18,000 Cardiothoracic & Vascular surgeries till date, the release noted. He performed India's first beating heart (off pump bypass surgery 1992) and India's first minimally invasive bypass surgery on 28th September 1995, it said.

Jawali also did India's first awake cardiac surgery (surgery without G.A or Ventilator, done under continuous high thoracic epidural) in June 1999, it said.

He is also the recipient of Harvard Medical International Lifetime achievement award for medical excellence in India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After Bangladeshi writer and activist Taslima Nasreen's impromptu session at the Jaipur Literature Festival drew a minor protest here, festival organisers said they will consider the protestors' request of not reinviting her, a statement said.

"They expressed their anger... I heard them out. Explained we supported minorities in every way. Underscored that we are a platform for all points of view. Agreed that we should consider their request not to reinvite them," Sanjoy K Roy, Producer of JLF, said.

Protesting organisations including Rajasthan Muslim Forum, All India Milli Council, Jamaat-e-Islami and Muslim Personal Law Board, had said yesterday that the writer, who has been living in exile since 1994 after facing the ire of fundamentalists, was a "disputed" personality.

They demanded that no invitation must be extended to the writer again.

"Nasreen is a disputed personality. JLF organisers did not name her in the schedule in JLF booklet. Organisers played hide and seek game and police administration too supported her and allowed her in a session. So we had gone to protest.

"We had a meeting with organisers where producer Sanjoy Roy promised that they will not provide platform to Salman Rushdie and Nasreen from next year," Mehrunnisa Khan, state president of Women India Movement, had told PTI.

Taslima participated in a surprise session titled, 'Exile' at the festival yesterday, the speakers for which were not revealed until the morning of the concluding day, presumably to avoid the sort of protests that rocked the pink city 10 years ago, when the writer was refused shelter in the city after being driven out of Kolkata by the West Bengal government.

The festival's co-director William Dalrymple had appeared unwilling to disclose much.

"I vaguely knew that she was coming," was the most he would offer when asked by PTI.

During her session, Nasreen batted for a Uniform Civil Code as a tool for "empowerment" and said the Islamic society needed to be more tolerant towards criticism to make progress.

"It is necessary for Islamic society to be tolerant and accept criticism without which they cannot progress. Uniform Civil Code is urgently required for empowering people with human rights," she had said.

Upholding the freedom of writers around the world, she slammed religious fanatics, saying she did not believe in terms like "nationalism" or "religious fundamentalism".

"I don't believe in nationalism, religious fundamentalism. I believe in one world. I believe in rights, freedom, humanism and rationalism. Until Islam accepts criticism, no Islamic country can be considered secular. Whenever I criticise, people want to kill me," she had said.

Nasreen, an award-winning writer, is best known for her powerful writings on women oppression and unflinching criticism of religion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The country's third largest software services firm Wipro today reported a 5.8 per cent dip in its consolidated net profit to Rs 2,114.8 crore for the December quarter.

The city-headquartered company had reported a net profit of Rs 2,246 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

Wipro, however, saw revenues rising 6.2 per cent to Rs 13,764.5 crore during the quarter from Rs 12,951.6 crore in the same period last year.

The company's IT services revenue stood at USD 1,902.8 million, a sequential decrease of 0.7 per cent but 3.5 per cent rise year-on-year as per IFRS. This was lower than the company's guidance of USD 1,916-1,955 million.

For the quarter ending March 2017, Wipro expects revenues from IT services business to be in the range of USD 1,922 - 1,941 million.

"I believe the demand environment for IT services is interestingly poised. In 2016, while there was focus on cost-saving on the run side, the investments in the change side had not picked up at the same pace as expected perhaps due to caution in the context of US elections and Brexit," Wipro CEO Abidali Z Neemuchwala told reporters here.

"In the current year, we believe clarity will emerge and we expect an uptick in the change investments. We do not expect customer budgets to change drastically. However, we do expect that there could be more momentum on the change spends, although it is a bit early to call it out," he added.

Wipro today also announced signing an agreement to acquire Brazil-based IT services provider InfoSERVER SA for USD 8.7 million.

Commenting on the company's performance, Wipro Chief Financial Officer Jatin Dalal said, "We expanded operating margins by 50 basis points in a seasonally weak quarter and generated strong operating cash flows by disciplined execution."



Wipro's board has approved an interim dividend of Rs 2 per equity share.

The IT services segment had a headcount of 1,79,129 as of December 31, 2016.

Speaking on the demand environment, Neemuchwala said the company continues to see some large deals in the funnel, adding that the "funnel is quite healthy and we are closely monitoring the decision making cycles of the deals."



"We are watchful on two specific areas of our business - one, the healthcare business which is going through a transition phase and spends are soft till clarity emerges on policy direction; two, as discussed last quarter, we are restructuring the India and Middle East business which will be a headwind in the near term," he added.

(Reopens MDS11)



Wipro said in Q3 it added one customer to greater than USD 100 million bucket and is seeing better quality of pipeline in its strategic accounts.

Last year, Wipro invested almost USD 1 billion into acquisitions, made six investments through Wipro Ventures, funded 8 ideas through Horizon programme, and continued to invest aggressively in cognitive platform, Neemuchwala said.

Pointing out Wipro's approach to digital has delighted its customers, the company said in the week after the announcement of demonetisation by the government, it has assisted 6 major Indian Banks and Fintech clients handle the regulatory changes and the increased transaction volumes in an agile manner.

"Our total Digital Eco system revenues for Q3 is 21.7 per cent of revenues and grew 9.9 per cent (including Appirio and 4 per cent excluding Appirio). Our consulting ecosystems was 5.5 per cent of our IT services revenue in Q3 and grew 7.9 per cent sequentially," Neemuchwala said.

Wipro said during the quarter, it filed 140 new patents for the intellectual property in Q3 taking the number of total applications to 1,353.

On localisation, Neemuchwala said, "We continue to focus on localization. We intend to continue hiring locally and invest in delivery and innovation centers in the US."



"We have been significantly investing in US, increasing hiring, setting up delivery centers and also focusing our sustainability initiatives specifically in the area of education."



He said Wipro's investments in key geographies of potential such as Continental Europe, Latin America and South America are in line with its long-term plans to position Wipro favorably to harness opportunities in the growth economies.

Responding to a question on US Visa policy, he said they expect it to be business friendly and India friendly and hoped that there will be a fair deal.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Presidency of the G20 will not be affected by alterations in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet related to changes within the ranks of her Social Democrat (SPD) junior coalition partner.

"The continuity of the lines of our foreign and economic policy will remain," government spokesman Steffen Seibert said at a regular government conference when asked about the G20 presidency.

"We are working together on the basis of the coalition deal we agreed.. There will be continuity," he said.

Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel is expected to switch to the foreign ministry provided Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is elected to the largely ceremonial role of German president next month. SPD veteran Brigitte Zypries is expected to take over as economy minister, moving up from her position as deputy minister.

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Michael Nienaber)

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By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday that allows the Gulf OPEC country to fill half of an underground crude oil storage facility at Mangalore that is part of New Delhi's strategic reserve system.

New Delhi announced a series of pacts with the UAE ranging from defence, trade, maritime cooperation to energy after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Co will store about 6 million barrels of oil at Mangalore, taking up about half of the site's capacity, said Sunjay Sudhir, joint secretary for international cooperation at the Indian oil ministry.

India, hedging against energy security risks as it imports most of its oil needs, is building emergency storage in underground caverns to hold 36.87 million barrels of crude, or about 10 days of its average daily oil demand in 2016.

"This will ... help to ensure India's energy security and enable us to meet the nation's growing demand for energy," said Indian oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India needs massive investments in some key sectors, particularly infrastructure.

ADNOC said the Mangalore oil storage facility is the third that it has access to in Asia after Japan and South Korea, enabling the company to become more competitive in meeting market demand across south east Asia.

"India is an important energy market and this storage agreement reinforces ADNOC's role as one of the world's most trusted and reliable suppliers of oil," Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO said in a statement.

"We will utilise the Mangalore facility to not only build on our existing business relationships across India but also to explore new downstream opportunities for ADNOC's expanding range of refined and petrochemical products."

During Modi's visit to the UAE in 2015, the two countries announced a $75 billion joint infrastructure fund that would invest in India's infrastructure development. UAE is India's fifth biggest oil supplier.

The crude supplies will begin in the last quarter of this year, Sudhir told . "We are talking to them (ADNOC) for two-three grades and most likely it will Murban."

The two sides had discussed ways to advance their energy ties through specific projects, including long-term supply contracts and joint ventures in energy, Modi said in a speech after his meeting with the crown prince.

India in 2014 began talks to lease part of its strategic storage to ADNOC. Under those discussions, India was to have first rights to the stored crude in case of an emergency, while ADNOC would be able to move cargoes to meet any shift in demand.

India has already filled the other half of the Mangalore storage in Karnataka state with 6 million barrels of Iranian oil.

India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, has also filled a Vizag storage site in southern Andhra Pradesh with 7.55 million barrels of Iraqi oil and has invited bids from suppliers to fill an 18.3 million-barrel facility at Padur in Karnataka.

The crown prince of Abu Dhabi will be the guest of honour at India's Republic Day parade on Thursday.

(Additional reporting by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Tom Hogue and David Evans)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Wednesday that the EU extension of anti-dumping measures on imports of Chinese aluminum wheels is confusing and disappointing.

The remarks came after the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, on Tuesday announced that it would extend anti-dumping measures for another five years with duty remaining at 22.3 percent.

Wang Hejun, head of the MOC trade remedy and investigation bureau, said it is "unfair" to blame the weak performance of EU aluminum wheel makers on Chinese enterprises, since the true reason is the global economic downturn.

Wang explained that despite a price gap, aluminum wheels from China are mainly for retail, while EU-made wheels are for finished automobiles. Rather than damaging EU aluminum wheel industry, Chinese products fill a gap in the market.

He said having levied anti-dumping duties on Chinese products for more than six years, the EU is being over-protective of its producers.

The extension of remedy measures will hurt both Chinese enterprises and the EU auto industry and consumers.

It was "confusing" and "disappointing" to see the commission continue protective measures openly opposed by EU auto industry associations, Wang said.

He stressed that China hopes the EU will fulfill its promise in fighting trade protectionism and use remedy measures in a prudent, reasonable and restrained way, so as to ensure open and fair market competition and create a good environment for China-EU trade relations.
Japan's exports rose for the first time in 15 months in December on strong sales of electronics and car parts, a positive sign for the export-reliant even as US protectionism threatens to hurt trade across the region and dent external demand.

Ministry of Finance data showed on Wednesday that exports rose 5.4 per cent year-on-year in December, compared with a 1.2 per cent annual increase expected by economists in a Reuters poll. It followed an annual 0.4 per cent decline in November.

The volume of shipments also rose 8.4 per cent from a year earlier, up for a second straight month, underlining a pickup in external demand.

The trade data should be welcome news for the Bank of Japan, which is seen maintaining an upbeat view on the world's third-largest at a policy review next week on prospects of improving global growth.

However, worries about protectionism under US President Donald Trump have raised uncertainty over the outlook as he formally withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on Monday, distancing America from its Asian allies.

"Global demand is firming up as emerging markets in Asia are catching up with a recovery in advanced economies," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.

"If the debate on protectionism leads to an unwelcome rise in the yen, that would dampen the momentum towards a pickup in Japan's exports though."

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda last week offered an optimistic view on global recovery prospects, indicating the central bank will maintain its upbeat economic and price forecasts when its board conducts a quarterly review of projections on Jan. 30-31.

The BOJ chief also dismissed concerns that protectionism could spread and undermine global trade.

Repeat of trade war

All the same, investors are wary about prospects for global trade as Trump has criticised - along with his primary target China - for running trade surpluses with the United States.

Earlier this month, Trump took aim at Toyota Motor Corp, warning the world's largest automaker that it would face a "big border tax" if it exported Mexico-built cars to the US market.

All of this has raised concerns about a repeat of the trade friction that escalated in the 1980s between Tokyo and Washington.

For the whole of 2016, posted a trade surplus of 6.8 trillion yen ($59.95 billion) with the United States, down 4.6 per cent from 2015, with US-bound car shipments rising for a second straight year.

In December, the value of exports to the United States, Japan's second largest trading partner, rose 1.3 per cent year-on-year, the first increase in 10 months led by shipments of automobiles and car parts, the MOF data showed.

Exports to China, Japan's largest trading partner, rose 12.5 per cent in December to 1.3 trillion yen, a record amount, helped by shipments of car parts and electronics equipment.

Analysts note the fall in the yen at the end of last year had helped boost exports. Imports fell 2.6 per cent on-year in December, versus the median estimate for a 0.8 per cent annual decrease, resulting in a trade surplus of 641.4 billion yen - the fourth straight month of surpluses.

On the whole, the main risk to the outlook for the region stems from external headwinds, analysts say.

"Several headwinds to trade remain including trade protectionism and the likely slowing of Chin's property sector," said Vaninder Singh, Asia economist at RBS, in a note to clients.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico could pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement if a renegotiation of its terms does not benefit Latin America's second-largest economy, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Tuesday.

"There could be no other option. Go for something that is less than what we already have? It would not make sense to stay," Guajardo said when asked on television if Mexico could pull out of the trade deal with Canada and the United States.

"The strategy for this treaty needs to be one in which everyone wins. It's impossible to sell it here at home if there aren't clear benefits for Mexico," he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to withdraw from NAFTA, which took effect in 1994, if he cannot renegotiate it to benefit American interests.

Trump formally withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership on Monday and said he would renegotiate NAFTA "at the appropriate time."

Guajardo and Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray will hold talks with senior Trump advisers this week in Washington over trade, security and immigration. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Trump will meet at the end of January. [nL1N1FB0HK]

Videgaray said later on Tuesday that abandoning the treaty was always an option, but it was not what the Mexican government was aiming for as it sat down to discuss NAFTA.

"It has to proceed from a win-win premise; it has to be something positive for Mexico, not something that damages the country," Videgaray said in Mexico's Senate.

Pena Nieto said on Monday he will aim to preserve tariff-free commerce under NAFTA in talks with the new U.S. government, calling for the competitiveness of North America to be strengthened.

NAFTA and other trade deals became lightning rods for American voter anger in the industrial heartland states that swept Trump to victory in the Nov. 8 election.

(Reporting by Veronica Gomez and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Paul Simao and Meredith Mazzilli)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Olesya Astakhova

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin told trading giant Glencore, Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, and Italian bank Intesa their businesses in Russia would be successful after they took part in the privatisation of a stake in Rosneft.

"I want to thank you for your trust, for your decision, want to express confidence that your business in Russia will be developing and developing successfully," Putin told a meeting with the heads of the companies.

The meeting was also attended by Igor Sechin, chief executive of Rosneft, in which the state sold a 19.5 percent stake last month to the consortium of Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority.

Intesa advised on the deal and provided 5.2 billion euros ($5.58 billion) in financing.

Putin said he hoped Intesa would expand its presence in Russia.

Russia sold the Rosneft stake for 10.2 billion euros ($10.94 billion), earning revenues for the state budget hit by low oil prices and Western sanctions.

Putin said since the deal was announced on Dec. 7, Rosneft's market value had risen 18 percent.

"So you have already earned," he said.

Ivan Glasenberg, Glencore chief executive, told the meeting the deal was very important for the global commodities trader, which is studying the option of swap deals with Rosneft and oil supplies to India and other Asian markets, including China.

Earlier in January, Rosneft signed a deal with a company linked to Qatar and Glencore to supply up to 55 million tonnes of crude oil in total over a five-year period.

Currently, Rosneft's largest buyer of oil is Swiss commodities trader Trafigura with estimated annual purchasing volumes of around 20 million tonnes, equal to the entire annual output of two large refineries.

($1 = 0.9322 euros)

(Reporting by Olesya Astakhova; Writing by Denis Pinchuk and Katya Golubkova; Editing by David Evans)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Sankalp Phartiyal

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Securities and Exchange Board of India on Wednesday barred liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya and six others from participating in the country's securities market for allegedly diverting funds from whiskey maker United Spirits Ltd (USL).

SEBI said it appeared Mallya and six others erstwhile United Spirits employees had routed funds to other companies in Mallya's United Breweries group, including the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

"Neither have I had any communication with SEBI nor have I ever been afforded a hearing before this purported action has been taken," Mallya said in a statement.

"I have always strongly denied all allegations made by USL."

Mallya, the flamboyant owner of a Formula One team and dubbed by media as the "King of the Good Times," was on Tuesday charged with conspiracy and fraud connected to a 9 billion rupee loan granted by a state-run bank.

Mallya moved to Britain last March after being pursued in courts by banks seeking to recover about $1.4 billion the Indian authorities claim is owed by his Kingfisher airline.

The SEBI said in an order posted on its website that the alleged diverting of funds had larger implications on the safety of the securities market.

"It would therefore not be in the interest of the securities market and the interest of investors to allow persons of such doubtful demeanour to continue to act as KMPs [key management personnel] in the company or in other listed companies or allow them to deal in the securities market," the order said.

The regulator has also asked United Spirits to provide, within 21 days, the steps taken to recover 18.81 billion rupees ($276 million) diverted out of the company.

($1 = 68.0699 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal; Editing by Mark Potter)

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The 2017-18 budget is an opportunity for the government to concentrate on improving school education for over 260.5 million children who enrolled in elementary and secondary school in 2015-16children who will form the core of Indias working-age population, one billion by 2030, the largest in the world.

Business as usual will not solve the problem, submitted Pratham, an education nonprofit, in a pre-budget consultation with Indias finance ministry. Unless major shifts are undertaken on an urgent basis to build childrens foundational skills, we are losing huge opportunities each year for improving the life chances of an entire generation of children and youth in this country, the consultation note added.

IndiaSpend reached out to the education ministry for a comment on the 2017-18 budget, but we had not received a response at the time of publishing. (This story will be updated if and when the ministry responds.)
In the upcoming Union Budget, the Centre may set an ambitious fiscal deficit target of 3% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017-18, according to a report by Nomura.

We expect the government to stay on the path of fiscal consolidation, targeting its fiscal deficit at 3% of GDP in FY18, in line with the roadmap set last year and against 3.5% in FY17. If we are correct, this would be a positive surprise to the Bloomberg consensus which expects a deficit of 3.3% of GDP, Nomura said in its report on Tuesday.

While Goldman Sachs said in its research report that the government will set a fiscal deficit target of 3.3% of GDP, a State Bank of India internal research had pegged it at 3.4% of GDP, according to Press Trust of India.

Here is a list of what could be expected from the upcoming Budget this year:

Govt to cash in from four major revenue sources: According to the report, the government will gain Rs 65,000 cr, accounting 0.4% of the GDP, from asset sales and disinvestment ventures.

Another Rs 30,000 cr would accrue from a special dividend from the Reserve Bank of India due to its extinguished liability out of the demonetisation drive Reducing reserve prices in spectrum bid in FY18 for higher revenue collections.

Earnings can also accrue from the spectrum sale after the reduction of reserve prices.

According to the report, there will be higher tax collection due to increased compliance post-demonetisation.

Lowering of Corporate tax: The report stated that it expected an across-the-board lowering of corporate tax by 2 percentage points to 28% and phasing out of tax exemptions.

Rise in net borrowings: With redemptions of Rs 2.3 lakh cr, gross borrowings are likely to rise to Rs 6.4 lakh cr in FY18 from Rs 5.8 lakh cr in the previous financial year.

Digital transactions: The government is likely to incentivise digital transactions through a slew of measures including income tax incentives for digital transactions, a lower threshold for quoting the permanent account number for cash transactions, and cash handling charges for cash payments above a certain threshold.

Affordable housing, employment, agriculture to receive a push: The outlay for schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme will be increased. Similarly, the report states that the government is also likely to increase investments in irrigation systems, horticulture, livestock farming, and fisheries, among others.

Fiscal consolidation: The report added that the government will stick to fiscal prudence as demonetisation of old currency notes will only have a transitory effect, due to the potential for higher fiscal gains and an already high general government deficit. It added that the current fiscal years fiscal deficit target of 3.5 per cent will also be met.

Nomura added that demonetisation will lead to higher fiscal gains next year due to higher tax compliance, gains from the amnesty scheme and the special RBI dividend.

Overall, we expect the government to stick to its fiscal consolidation roadmap, aided by higher tax compliance and asset sales. We expect a rationalisation and simplification of direct taxes and the budget to focus on the themes of a less-cash economy, rural India, affordable housing and infrastructure, it said.

Nomura felt that the government will deliver a popular, but not a populist, budget on February 1.
The finance ministry on Wednesday said it had not taken a decision on the banking cash transaction tax (BCTT) a day after speculation arose that it could be introduced in the Budget for 2017-18 because a panel on digitalisation had made a case for it.

A committee on digitalisation headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had in an interim report recommended taxing cash transactions of at least Rs 50,000 to promote digital payments. The committee also wanted the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the finance ministry not to permit cash transactions above a threshold.

We have submitted the recommendations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi today and are fairly confident that some of these will be incorporated in the Union Budget, Naidu had told the media on Tuesday.

"The media has reported various aspects of the recommendations made by the committee, including the recommendation relating to levy of the banking cash transaction tax on transactions of Rs 50,000 and above. The government has not yet taken any final view on the recommendations of the committee," the finance ministry statement said.

The ministry added the recommendations would be carefully examined and appropriate decisions would be taken in due course. The recommendations were made when the Budget documents had already been sent for printing. However, last-minute changes in the Budget could always be incorporated, sources said.

The BCTT, imposed by then Finance Minister P Chidambaram from June 1, 2005, was withdrawn on April 1, 2009, on the grounds that the tax department had other instruments to nab those with black money, making the tax redundant. The 0.1 per cent tax was imposed on individuals and Hindu undivided families withdrawing Rs 50,000 or entities withdrawing Rs 1 lakh in cash.

Heading the Tax Administration Reform Commission, Parthasarathi Shome, the brain behind the BCTT, advocated it be restored because there was no other instrument present to capture the information provided by it.

The idea of the BCTT was opposed by tax consultants, but supported by those in the digital payment business. It found takers among traders as well. "It is a welcome step towards faster adoption of digital transactions. Traders need not worry as ultimately it will be paid by consumers," said Praveen Khandelwal, national secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders.

The goods and services tax will also discourage payments in cash and push digital payments. "It is better that merchants and consumers get used to digital payments," said a Bharatiya Janata Party leader.

Rahul Garg, leader, direct tax, PwC, however, did not support the idea. BCTT will discourage big cash transactions and may dampen demand in the short run, particularly for small businesses. It should be considered only when the demand cycle has picked up, he said

Naveen Surya, chairman, Payments Council of India, said the government should tax heavy cash transactions and use the proceeds to augment digital infrastructure.
India's crude steel production grew by 7.4 per cent in 2016 as it closed in on Japan as the second largest steel producing country in the world. India is tipped to overtake Japan by 2020. The country's production during the year stood at 95.6 million tonnes per annum while Japan registered a 0.3 per cent decline at 104.8 mt. China remains by far the largest steel producer in the world at 808.4 mt, up 1.2 per cent over 2015.

According to figures released by worldsteel.org, worldwide crude steel production reached 1,628.5 million tonnes (Mt) in 2016, marginally up by 0.8 per cent compared to 2015. Production decreased in Europe, the Americas and Africa but was more than offset by increases in the CIS, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania.

India retained its position as the fastest growing major steel economy during the year. Japan, United States, Russia, Brazil, Germany and South Korea all registered declines during the year. Besides India and China, Turkey and Ukraine were the only countries to register a growth in the list of top 10 steel producing countries.

In the last few years, India has provided the only silver lining. While other markets have either stagnated or declined, consumption of steel in India has grown continuously at a steady pace.

In 2016, production was boosted by new capacities coming on stream from government owned Steel Authority of India Ltd and Tata Steel. The latter began trial production at its Kalinganagar factory in 2016, its first new factory in over a century.

"We have started taking steps to boost the country's steel production. Rs 62,000 crore will be spent to enhance the production capacity of steel manufacturing plants," says Steel minister Birender Singh. "India is at present the third largest steel producer in the world. We are taking steps so that it can grab the second spot in the next two-three years."

The government has come up with a new National Steel Policy 2017 that envisages increasing the capacity in the country more than 2 fold from 122 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 300 mtpa by 2030. It would require an investment of close to Rs 10 lakh crore.
Microsoft's India-born CEO Satya Nadella has been nominated to join the Board of Starbucks for his "invaluable insight" in international operations and distribution as the global coffee giant focusses on global growth and innovation.

Nadella, 49, has been nominated by Starbucks along with President and Chief Executive Officer of warehouse chain Sam's Club Rosalind Brewer and Executive Chairman of the LEGO Brand Group J rgen Vig Knudstorp to its Board of Directors.

Their election, which will bring the Board strength to 14, requires approval of the company shareholders, who will meet in March, Starbucks said in a statement.

Starbucks nominated the three as it seeks to bring diversity to the Board while pursuing its long-term plan for strong global growth and innovation.

The company Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz described the three as "world-class, values-based leaders" who will strengthen its leadership and add "unmatched expertise in technology, strategy, and retail" to the company at a time of unprecedented change for the industry.

On Nadella, Starbucks said he will bring to the Board "extensive experience" and an understanding of how technology will be used and experienced around the world.

"He will provide the Board with invaluable insight in international operations and distribution as Starbucks continues to focus on innovative ways to use technology to elevate the brand and grow its business," it said.

ALSO READ: Google CEO Sundar Pichai remembers good old days at IIT-Kharagpur

Nadella has served as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Microsoft, since February 2014.

Hyderabad-born Nadella said he is "honored" to have been nominated to join the Starbucks Board.

"As a regular customer myself, I ve always admired Starbucks focus and deep passion for its customers and the communities it does business in and hope my years of experience in the technology industry will be of value to the company," he said.






A mother and daughter have been jailed for selling vaccines without a license in east Chinas Shandong Province.

Pang Hongwei was sentenced to 15 years in prison for illegally purchasing vaccines which she stored in warehouses in Jinan and Liaocheng, and then sold to clients between June 2013 and April 2015, according to Jinan Intermediate Peoples Court.

The court said the vaccines had been improperly stored and that Pang had earned nearly 75 million yuan (US$11 million).

In 2009, Pang was sentenced to three years in prison with a five-year probationary period for illegally trading vaccines in Heze, another city in Shandong. In April last year the case was retried, as required by the provincial higher peoples court, and her sentence was extended to six years without probation.

The intermediate court ruled that Pang will serve 19 years in prison in total for the two cases. In addition, all her property will be confiscated.

Sun Qi, Pangs daughter, was sentenced to six years in prison for assisting her mother and being involved in the sale of vaccines worth over 42 million yuan between September 2014 and April 2015. She will have more than 7.4 million yuan of her property confiscated, the court ruled.
Apple Inc today indicated to the government that it is ready with a blueprint to begin manufacturing iPhones in India, but wants fiscal concessions, including Customs duty waiver on import of components.

Apple executives made a detailed presentation on its road map for setting up a manufacturing unit in India to an inter-ministerial group headed by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary Ramesh Abhishek, sources privy to the development said.

The presentation was made by senior executives of the company, including Global Vice-President (iPhone operations) Priya Balasubramanian. It cited the country's business friendly ecosystem for keenness to start local manufacturing.

With sales tapering in the US and China, Apple is eyeing India -- the fastest growing smartphone market in the world -- and looking to set up a local manufacturing unit to cut costs.

It, however, does not manufacture devices on its own and rather does it through contract manufacturers.

Besides exemption from the Customs duty on imports of components and equipment for 15 years, Apple wants relaxation in the mandated 30 per cent local sourcing of components.

When contacted, Apple spokesperson told PTI: "We have been working hard to develop our operations in India and are proud to deliver the best products and services in the world to our customers here."





The spokesperson added: "We appreciate the constructive and open dialogue we have had with the government about further expanding our local operations."

On the duty and tax-related concessions being sought by the company, the sources said most of them are within the policy domain and decisions will be taken by the respective departments.

"They are seeking certain duty exemptions and other concessions. Respective departments will look at those demands," they added.

The official also said the company has indicated that it would gradually make India a major manufacturing hub for its products.

"The company setting up its manufacturing unit in India is going to be a reality. They have full-fledged plans.

There is no policy impediment. They would also bring their supply chains," the sources divulged.

The company executives yesterday called on Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

In a communication to the government, the Cupertino-based technology major has asked for several tax and other incentives, including long-term duty exemptions, to enter the manufacturing sector in India.

Currently, the government provides support by way of benefits under the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (MSIPS) to boost electronic manufacturing.

The company sells its products through Apple-owned retail stores in countries like China, Germany, the US, the UK and France, among others. It has no wholly-owned store in India and sells its products through distributors such as Redington and Ingram Micro.
The design of new banknotes of INR 500 and INR 2000 denominations was approved at the May 19, 2016 meeting of the Central Board of RBI, an RTI query has revealed.

The apex bank, however, refused to disclose the name of the Governor who approved the design citing section 8(1)(a) of the transparency law.

In his application, city-based activist Jeetendra Ghadge had sought the exact date of the approval of the design of new bills.

"The new design of the bank notes was approved by the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India in its meeting held on May 19, 2016," the Central Public Information Officer of RBI stated in the response.

As per the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, general superintendence and direction of the Bank's affairs are taken care of by the central board of directors, a body headed by the governor of the RBI.

Raghuram Rajan was governor of the apex bank during September 2013-September 2016.

RBI cited section 8(1)(a) of RTI Act to refuse information to Ghadge who had sought to know exact date of the first meeting held at the apex bank with the agenda to print new currency notes of INR 500 and INR 2000 denominations, and the exact date for the order allowing their printing.

Ghadge on Tuesday said the RBI and its Governor need to come clean on the entire processes of demonetisation "so that responsibility could be fixed and the common people's trust is maintained."

Demonetisation of old INR 500 and INR 1000 bills was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 last year.

RBI Governor Urjit Patel had recently appeared before the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), and the Standing Committee on Finance headed by former union minister and senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily, to clarify on demonetisation.




HCL Technologies on Tuesday said it has stepped up efforts in the US for campus and entry-level hires to support growth in coming quarters even though a very high percentage of employees already comprise local hires.

There are concerns that the new government in the US, under Donald Trump, is likely to push for a stricter visa regime to curb abuse of H1-B and L1 visas used by foreign workers. Such a move will have a significant impact on Indian IT firms, which get about 60 per cent of their revenues from the US.

``We have really looked at our current base of employees and looked at how local hiring can be ramped up... We are stepping up our campus and entry-level hiring in the US to support some of the growth that we will see in coming quarters,'' HCL Technologies President and CEO C Vijayakumar told journalists. He said the company has been applying for less than 1,000 visas a year on an average over the past 3-4 years. It has been coming down.





``Our strategy has been in all IT outsourcing deals, we re-badge a lot of people from our clients and we hire people from local geographies.



ALSO READ: Trump signs order withdrawing US from Trans-Pacific trade deal
US President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders starting on Wednesday that include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries, say congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter.

Trump, who tweeted that a "big day" was planned on national security on Wednesday, is expected to ban for several months the entry of refugees into the United States, except for religious minorities escaping persecution, until more aggressive vetting is in place.

Another order will block visas being issued to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, said the aides and experts, who asked not to be identified.

In his tweet late on Tuesday, Trump said: "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"

The border security measures probably include directing the construction of a border wall with Mexico and other actions to cut the number of illegal immigrants living in the United States.

The sources say the first of the orders will be signed on Wednesday. With Trump considering measures to tighten border security, he could turn his attention to the refugee issue later this week.

Stephen Legomsky, who was chief counsel at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama administration, said the president had the authority to limit refugee admissions and the issuance of visas to specific countries if the administration determined it was in the public's interest.

"From a legal standpoint, it would be exactly within his legal rights," said Legomsky, a professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. "But from a policy standpoint, it would be terrible idea because there is such an urgent humanitarian need right now for refugees."

The Republican president, who took office last Friday, was expected to sign the first of the orders at the Department of Homeland Security, whose responsibilities include immigration and border security.

On the campaign trail, Trump initially proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, which he said would protect Americans from jihadist attacks.

Both Trump and his nominee for attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, have since said they would focus the restrictions on countries whose migrants could pose a threat, rather than a ban on those of a specific religion.

Many Trump supporters decried former President Barack Obama's decision to increase the number of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States over fears that those fleeing the country's civil war would carry out attacks.

LEGAL CHALLENGES POSSIBLE

Detractors could launch legal challenges if all the countries subject to the ban are Muslim-majority nations, said immigration expert Hiroshi Motomura at UCLA School of Law.

Legal arguments could claim the executive orders discriminate against a particular religion, which would be unconstitutional, he said.

"His comments during the campaign and a number of people on his team focused very much on religion as the target," Motomura said.

To block entry from the designated countries, Trump is likely to tell the State Department to stop issuing visas to people from those nations, according to sources familiar with the visa process. He could also instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to stop any current visa holders from those countries from entering the United States.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday the State and Homeland Security Departments would work on the vetting process once Trump's nominee to head the State Department, Rex Tillerson, is installed.

Other measures may include directing all agencies to finish work on a biometric identification system for non-citizens entering and exiting the United States and a crackdown on immigrants fraudulently receiving government benefits, according to the congressional aides and immigration experts.

To restrict illegal immigration, Trump has promised to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and to deport illegal migrants living inside the United States.

Trump is also expected to take part in a ceremony installing his new secretary of homeland security, retired Marine General John Kelly, on Wednesday.



AUSTRALIA DEAL UNDER THREAT

Trump's executive order threatens a refugee resettlement deal with Australia signed late last year, and could leave more than 1,000 asylum seekers in limbo.

The U.S. agreed to resettle an unspecified number of refugees being held in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the tiny South Pacific island nation of Nauru on Australia's behalf, under a deal to be administered by the U.N. refugee agency.

"Any substantial delay in the relocation of refugees...would be highly concerning from a humanitarian perspective," Catherine Stubberfield, a spokeswoman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, told Reuters by email.

"These men, women and children can no longer afford to wait."

The deal followed agreement by Australia in September to join a U.S.-led program to resettle refugees from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador as part of its annual intake.

Australia's tough border security laws mandate that asylum seekers intercepted trying to reach the country by boat go for processing to detention camps on PNG's Manus island and Nauru.

Australia does not provide information on the nationalities of those held, but around a third of the 1,161 detainees were from countries covered by the executive orders, lawyers and refugee workers for the asylum seekers told Reuters.

"We already didn't have much hope the U.S. would accept us," Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian refugee who has spent more than three years on Manus island, told Reuters.





"If they do not take us, Australia will have to."

A spokeswoman for Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declined to comment.
The initial public offer of BSE-the first by a domestic stock exchange in India-to raise up to Rs 1,243 crore was oversubscribed 11.85 times till afternoon trade on the last day of the offer on Wednesday.

The IPO received bids for 12,80,04,066 shares against the total issue size of 1,07,99,039 shares, data available with the NSE till 1330 hrs showed. BSE, the oldest stock exchange in Asia, aims to raise up to Rs 1,243 crore from the IPO, which has a price band of Rs 805-806 per share.

During the initial share sale-which is also a first by any company this year-shareholders will sell 15.43 million shares estimated to be worth around Rs 1,243.44 crore at the higher end of the price band. The IPO of 15,427,197 shares of face value of Rs 2 each will constitute up to 28.26 per cent of the fully diluted post offer issued share capital of BSE.

Bids for the issue can be made for a minimum of 18 shares and in multiples of 18 thereafter. Last Friday, BSE had raised Rs 373 crore by allotting shares to anchor investors. BSE shares will be listed on NSE as Sebi rules do not allow self-listing for an exchange. Capital market regulator Sebi had given its final go-ahead to the draft prospectus for the IPO on December 30.

Meanwhile, rival NSE too filed draft papers with Sebi last month for an estimated Rs 10,000-crore IPO. Among the existing BSE shareholders are Bajaj Holdings Investment, Caldwell India Holdings, Acacia Banyan Partners, Singapore Exchange, Mauritius-based arm of American investor George Soros' Quantum Fund and foreign fund Atticus. There are an estimated 9,000 shareholders at BSE, where mostly brokers held shares earlier.

However, a host of foreign investors and domestic financial institutions have acquired shares over the years and the IPO will provide some of them an exit window to monetise their investments.

The issue is being managed by Edelweiss Financial Services, Axis Capital, Jefferies India, Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Pvt, Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors, SBI Capital Markets and SMC Capitals. BSE is the world's largest exchange by number of listed companies. It is India's largest and the world's 10th largest exchange by market capitalisation. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies stands at Rs 1,12,92,607 crore.


The aviation sector is firing on all cylinders. In 2016, a total of 99.88 million people flew with scheduled commercial airlines, a jump of 23.91 per cent over the previous year. In December, the air traffic peaked to 9.55 million, the highest for the entire 2016. The airlines, as a result, have lately swung into action to create sufficient supply.

SpiceJet, the fourth-largest carrier in terms of market share, have ordered 205 aircraft from Boeing, comprising of a firm order of 155 Boeing 737 MAX 8, and purchase rights for another 50 B737 MAX 8 and wide-body aircraft. Its competitor in the budget airline category, GoAir, too has firmed up order of 72 Airbus A320 neos (new engine option).

GoAir had entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Airbus for these aircraft at Farnborough International Airshow in July last year. Recently, there were reports that state-run carrier Air India is inducting 100 more aircraft to its existing fleet of 132 by 2020.

The multi-billion dollar orders ensure that passenger demand is adequately met; there are concerns over infrastructure constraints and manpower availability. Experts say that there's not enough parking and landing slots at the airports, it will be difficult to accommodate the newer ones. While some existing aircraft will find their way out over the next few years, the net addition (of aircraft) is still going to be significant.

According to aviation consultancy CAPA, India needs to build 50 new airports with an estimated investment of Rs 2.72 lakh crore to handle the growing air traffic. At present, some 67 per cent of the country's total air traffic is handled by metro cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Many of these airports may reach saturation point in around five years. Even if additional runway and terminals are developed, each metro will require a second airport by 2025-2030.

Take the case of Delhi airport, its current capacity stands at around 45 million passengers, including Terminal 3 and Terminal 1D. Terminal 1D, which is already operating above its design capacity, is facing regular flight delays during peak hours. If the airport is expanded further, it could handle 85-90 million passengers which will be insufficient in the next 5-7 years. Hence, a second airport may be required. Last year, the civil aviation ministry gave site-clearance approval for airport in Bhiwadi (Rajasthan).

The condition of non-metro airports is no different. Airports in Ahmedabad, Pune, Lucknow, Patna, Jaipur, Nagpur, Mangalore and others have exceeded their design capacity and have limited potential to expand at their current sites.

Airlines are finding it hard to accommodate their existing fleet. Take Jet Airways, for instance. Last year, the airline had to reportedly replace some of its lower-capacity ATRs aircraft with wide-body aircraft at Mumbai airport to fly more passengers from the same assigned slots.

Experts say that most airlines have to postpone their deliveries if expansion of airports remains lumpier which is the case right now, and the expansion of fleet size may take longer than expected.




Most of us use various security measures on our devices, ranging from a simple 4-digit pin code to a complex-looking pattern. Assuming it to be the safest, most users prefer the pattern as their security measure, but a new study by Lancaster University has revealed that complex patterns are extremely vulnerable and can be cracked within five attempts.

The report from Lancaster University claims that pattern locks in Android operating system can be breached with ease. The report stated, "the popular Pattern Lock system used to secure millions of Android phones can be cracked within just five attempts - and more complicated patterns are the easiest to crack, security experts reveal."

Using a video and computer vision algorithm software, an attacker can discreetly record the movement of your fingertips and produce five possible patterns that will unlock the device. With a functional range of around two and a half meters, the attacker won't even have to be in close proximity of the owner and the device.

The software tracks the fingertips of the owner relative to the position of the device. Regardless of any screen size, the software gives a 95 per cent success rate. The complexity of the pattern hardly affects the recognition of the software. In fact, a complex pattern narrows down the possibilities, leading to more accurate results.

The report stated, "During tests, researchers were able to crack all but one of the patterns categorised as complex within the first attempt. They were able to successfully crack 87.5 per cent of median complex patterns and 60 per cent of simple patterns with the first attempt."

Though there is no concrete fix for this invasion of privacy. There are certain steps that can keep you from leaking the pattern.

Use other security measures like password/pins or fingerprint sensor. If the user still insists on using the pattern lock, she/he can hide their fingers while drawing the pattern. The researchers also shared that fluctuating screen brightness can confuse the algorithms of the software.


The American Red Cross of Utah is asking residents to give a potentially life-saving blood donation. Photo courtesy American Red Cross.

As National Blood Donor Month winds down, the American Red Cross is gearing up its efforts to recruit blood and platelet donors throughout the continuing winter season. In the Lewis and Clark Blood Services Region, comprised of Utah, Idaho, Nevada and Montana, winter donations are down, and the Red Cross has issued an urgent plea for increased public involvement to meet the demand for lifesaving blood.

This year has been really brutal when it comes to the winter weather, said American Red Cross spokesperson Natividad Lewis. Since the beginning of the year, snow and icy roads have forced 11 blood drives to cancel in the region, resulting in 400 uncollected donations.

To put the numbers in perspective, the Lewis and Clark Region requires 670 blood donations every day to provide adequate supply to hospitals and transfusion centers throughout the region. Given that just one donation can save up to three lives, a January deficit of 400 blood donations is significant. Between November and December, nearly 900 fewer donations were given than needed.

The region needs to recover from this deficit, said Lewis, and were making an emergency callout to donors. All blood types are needed, and O, B negative and A negative are in particularly high demand.

According to the American Red Cross, there is need for donated blood somewhere in the United States every two seconds, and donated platelets are needed every 30 seconds. To meet this need locally, eight blood drives are scheduled in Logan within the next two weeks:

<ul><li>1/31/2017: 2:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., USU Married 1st Stake, 970 N. 1200 E.</li><li>1/31/2017: 2:00 p.m. to 8 p.m., Logan Utah YSA 6th Stake, 720 East 1300 N.</li><li>2/1/2017: 12:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Prismview, 1651 N. 1000 W.</li><li>2/2/2017: 1:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Logan Utah Stake, 645 South Trail Circle</li><li>2/7/2017: 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Logan South Stake, 340 W. 700 S.</li><li>2/8/2017: 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., USU Merrill  Cazier Library, 3000 Old Main Hill</li><li>2/9/2017: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., GE Healthcare, 925 W. 1800 S.</li><li>2/14/2017: 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Logan Utah YSA 2nd Stake, 1295 North 800 East</li></ul>

General <a href=http://eligibility%20requirements/>eligibility requirements</a> to donate blood are available at <a href=http://www.redcrossblood.org/>www.redcrossblood.org</a> and include being at least 17 years of age, weighing at least 110 pounds and having overall good health. More specific guidelines and restrictions result in only 38 percent of the population being eligible to give blood, and just 10 percent of eligible donors actually contributing.

For people who come out to donate, youre doing a good deed, said Lewis. Youre making an impact on your community. Our mission is to make sure that the blood is available whenever and wherever its needed, and the only way to do that is to depend on volunteers to come and give blood.

Luckily, she noted, the American public is very supportive when calls for increased donations are made. She worries, however, about the consequences of particularly heavy snow and frigid weather slowing blood donations.

Despite the weather, hospital patients still need transfusions, she said. As much of a struggle as it is for us and our donors, it doesnt match the struggle that patients will have to go through if the blood is not available. Were just trying to make it known that patients still need blood, that the blood that is being distributed to the hospitals is outpacing the amount of donations coming in, and that is definitely not a situation we want to be in because that can very possibly affect patients.
Hong Kong customs officials announced on Tuesday that nine Singaporean armed vehicles seized two months ago will be returned after the completion of an investigation.

The Singaporean vehicles were impounded by customs on Nov 23"because there was a suspected breach of Hong Kong law", said Roy Tang, commissioner of customs and excise of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The armed vehicles were inside a cargo ship from Taiwan that was passing through Hong Kong. They were on their way back to Singapore following a military drill in Taiwan.

Tang said that customs has finished its investigation. The case may lead to criminal prosecution, according to a news release from the Hong Kong government.

"Import, export and transshipment/transit of strategic commodities in breach of licensing requirements are criminal offenses punishable under the Hong Kong law," he said, adding that the military vehicles and the associated equipment will be returned to Singapore.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had thanked Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying for resolving the matter.

"This is a positive outcome," the Singaporean ministry said.

On Jan 17 in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying urged the Singaporean government to stick to the one-China principle when she was asked about the seizure of the vehicles.

China attaches great importance to its relationship with Singapore, and at the same time, China's stance on the one-China principle is firm and unchanged, she said.

Jia Duqiang, a senior researcher in Southeast Asia studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that by seizing the vehicles, China sent a signal to Singapore that the city-state should stick to the one-China principle, especially as Taiwan authorities led by Tsai Ing-wen are challenging Beijing on sovereignty.

Returning the vehicles is a positive sign for the China-Singapore relationship, he said, adding that bilateral ties have been frustrated in recent months as a result of what he called Singapore's "improper remarks" on China's stance on the South China Sea issue.

In July, Singapore asked "all parties to fully respect" the ruling of an arbitration case on South China Sea territorial disputes. China insisted that the ruling is "null and void", and has no binding force.
Trump triumphs [By Zhai Haijun / China.org.cn]

The Donald Trump era has officially begun as the 45th U.S. president took the oath of office amid worldwide hysteria. Mainstream American and international media seem hesitant to adjust themselves to the new reality and are continuously downplaying Trump's political success by focusing on rather trivial stories. CNN, for instance, compared his inaugural crowd size with that of Barack Obama eight years earlier; social media have reproduced this rather insignificant comparison.

It is also indicative that Trump is regarded as the first U.S. president to swear in with a particularly low approval rating on the basis of a Gallup polling, which estimates it to be 48 percent - as opposed to 67 percent of Bill Clinton, 65 percent of George W. Bush and 75 percent of Barack Obama. Nevertheless, the reliability of similar surveys was seriously tested during the pre-election period as well as on election day, when they predicted a clear victory for Hillary Clinton.

What now matters more is not to endorse wishful thinking or employing - a priori - an anti-Trump rhetoric but to carefully analyze how the new U.S. president will act. His inauguration speech reflects personal optimism that he will "get the job done." This tone increases expectations, which is not necessarily a negative thing. Trump promises to eliminate problems that have hit the American society for years. Examples include drugs and gangs. Whether "this American carnage stops right here and stops right now" as the U.S. President said, remains to be seen in the next four years.

Moreover, Trump wants to dismantle the American establishment, whether it is affiliated with Republicans or Democrats. "The establishment protected itself but not the citizens of our country," he said. In theory, this phrase could mark the beginning of a new era in American politics in which a government might be better controlled by the people. However, some initial constraints are apparent, not only because Trump himself belongs to a small, privileged elite of businessmen who made fortunes as part of the establishment but also because the very nature of American democracy - including the checks and balances system and lobbying by pressure groups - prevent structural changes.

Trump seeks to turn his vision into reality by putting "America First," as he mentioned in his inaugural address. He was straightforward in disassociating himself from choices of previous presidents that he considers wrong. Talking in front of George W. Bush and Barack Obama he openly criticized their foreign and economic policies, respectively. On the one hand, he disagreed with the strategy of "subsidiz[ing] the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of [U.S.] military [as well as with] spend[ing] trillions of dollars overseas." And on the other, he disapproved the current situation where "mothers and children [are] trapped in poverty" and "the wealth of middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world."

All in all, Donald Trump will be a different U.S. president. Although his inaugural speech was rather general and did not point to how he will specifically act, Trump has already shown his will to personally stamp American politics from the very first beginning. He almost immediately signed an executive order rolling back Obamacare. And the White House website has already been updated with analyses with which the 45th president plans to differentiate himself from Obama. A simple navigation shows, inter alia, that the Trump administration will eliminate "harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule," it will transform the Department of Veterans Affairs, it will develop defensive and offensive cyber capabilities at U.S. Cyber Command and it will proceed to pro-growth tax-reform.

George N. Tzogopoulos is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/GeorgeNTzogopoulos.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
 Flash

China said Tuesday that it was committed to the process of Asia-Pacific economic integration in a spirit of openness, inclusivity and transparency, despite the United States quitting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

"China will forge ahead with the negotiation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the construction of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) so as to add new impetus to regional and global economic development," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying at a daily press briefing.

U.S. President Donald Trump Monday signed a memorandum ordering withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The TPP, a free trade pact between 12 Asia-Pacific countries, was formally signed by ministers last February after more than five years of negotiation. China is not a member of the TPP.

Hua said that China had always called for an open, transparent and mutually beneficial regional free trade arrangement and believed trade rules should be made through neogtiation with all parties on an equal footing.

"The Asia Pacific region should continue to exert its role as the engine of global economy under the current economic downturn and establish an open economy," said Hua.

The RCEP covers 16 countries, including 10 members of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations and their regional trading partners, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.

The FTAAP was launched with a roadmap at the 2014 APEC Summit in Beijing. A collective strategic study was subsequently conducted and the result approved at the APEC meeting in Lima.

By encompassing all 21 APEC economies in trade liberalization, the FTAAP will become the world's largest free trade zone, covering 57 percent of the global economy and nearly half of world trade.

When asked whether China would play the role of leader on the issue, Hua said "it is more precise to use the word 'responsibility' rather than 'leader.'"

She said that from the G20 Hangzhou Summit to the APEC meeting in Lima and to the Davos Forum last week, China had made constant promises and concrete efforts.

"China is willing to work with all other countries to solve the problems facing the world today so as to shoulder its due responsibility to promote the common development and prosperity of the world," she said.
 Flash

Attorney General Jeremy Wright (L, front) arrives at the British Supreme Court in London, Britain, Jan. 24, 2017. The British Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled on that Prime Minister Theresa May must consult Parliament before triggering formal negotiations on Britain leaving the European Union. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

Theresa May's government will put a bill before the British parliament within days to trigger the country's exit from the European Union, the House of Commons was told Tuesday.

The announcement to MPs (members of the Parliament) by Brexit Secretary David Davis came just hours after the highest court in Britain, the Supreme Court, ruled that the prime minister could not start the process of leaving the EU without first gaining approval from the British Parliament.

The 8-3 majority decision by the judges has been described as one of the most important constitutional rulings in British legal history.

In its decision, the judges also ruled that the government did not need to seek the approval for Brexit from the devolved parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon criticized the decision, raising fears the region could pave the way for a new Scottish independence referendum if the will of the people of Scotland, who voted remain, is ignored.

SNP MPs at Westminister have warned they will put forward 50 amendments to the forthcoming "article 50" bill when it is presented to the House of Commons.

The ruling announced by Supreme Court President Lord Neuberger was hailed as a victory for democracy by wealthy Investment fund manager Gina Miller, who brought the case to the courts.

Just three hours after the decision was announced Secretary Davis made a statement to a packed House of Commons.

Sitting alongside Theresa May, Davis announced that the government will introduce a short parliamentary bill within days to trigger article 50. It will be the most straightforward bill possible, he added.

He insisted that the government will respect the will of the British people to leave the EU following the countrywide referendum last June.

Davis said the government intended to keep to May's timetable to trigger article 50 by the end of March.

"The judgement does not alter the fact that we will leave the EU," said Davis.

He made a plea to politicians at Westminster not to use the process of the new bill to frustrate or thwart the will of the British people to leave the EU.

Sir Keith Starmer, Brexit spokesman for the main opposition Labour Party, described the events as a "good day for democracy."

He said it had been wrong of May to sideline parliament by her attempt to trigger article 50 without Westminster approval.

Describing the stakes as high, he called for a detailed government paper on the Brexit process, rather than a simply worded bill.

He insisted that Labour will not frustrate the triggering of article 50. Despite that assurance a number of Labour politicians have said they will oppose the triggering of the process if the result would be a hard Brexit.

Richard Tice, co-chair of Leave Means Leave, the campaign group campaigning for a hard Brexit, accused anti-democracy campaigners of delaying the Brexit process.

"A one line bill must be tabled this week in Parliament and a clear timetable set out to ensure that Article 50 will be triggered no later than the end of March as promised by the Prime Minister. Any attempt to delay the Brexit process after backing the previous vote would be an unforgivable betrayal of the British people."

He warned that any attempts in the House of Lords to delay or crush the bill would ensure the abolition of the unelected upper chamber.
 Flash

At least 150 inmates broke out of a prison on Tuesday in Bauru, a city in Brazil's southern state of Sao Paulo, following a riot that set fire to part of the prison.

According to the state's prison administration agency, police succeeded in recapturing about 100 of the escapees.

The riot is in no way related to a recent spate of violent incidents at prisons in other parts of the country, Military Police Col. Flavio Kitazume said at a press conference.

Since the start of the year, more than 130 inmates have been killed in prison clashes, which authorities have blamed on organized crime rings, but observers have at least partly blamed on overcrowding in these prisons.

The prison in Bauru is not as overcrowded as some other jails, according to public news agency Agencia Brasil, housing 1,427 inmates in a facility designed to hold 1,124.

Prison officials said inmates were rebelling against the "strict discipline" at the facility.
 Flash

The Japanese APA hotel chain has sparked fury among people of China and Japan recently for placing books written by its CEO in its guest rooms denying the Nanjing Massacre and the forced recruitment of "comfort women" ever happened.

The incident, after being exposed on social media by a young woman from the United States and confirmed independently by the media, including Xinhua as well as major Japanese media outlets, has also led to great controversy in Japan.

While some right wing forces fiercely defended the hotel's act by citing so-called "freedom of speech," many people in Japan condemned the hotel for wittingly imposing political and historical lies on its customers.

The Tokyo Shimbun newspaper, for example, published an article on Tuesday, which, quoting scholars, pointed out the fallacies in the book by Seiji Fuji, the pen name of the APA CEO, and expressed concerns over Japan's distorted historical view.

"The book claims that there were only 200,000 people living in the city of Nanjing in 1937. The number is obviously false, as it is too small," Toru Kubo, a professor of history at Shinshu University, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

"The key issue is not the scale of the massacre, but that the massacre obviously did happen," said Kubo.

The newspaper also revealed that Toshio Motoya, the author of the book as well as the CEO of the APA Group, is a vigorous supporter and sponsor of right-wing political causes.

"A hotel would have to shut down if it were found placing Adolf Hitler's "My Struggle" or books denying the Holocaust in its guest rooms in Germany, " Takanori Hayao, associate professor at Tokyo Keizai University, was quoted as saying.

"In fact, many Japanese people as well as the media, are opposed to the hotel's act, for they believe that tourists from China and South Korea bring a myriad of benefits to Japan and it is inappropriate to impose such an ideology on customers in hotels," Zhu Jianrong, a professor of international relations at Toyo Gakuen University in Tokyo, told Xinhua.

However, many people are afraid to speak up and criticize the hotel in public, as they are scared of attacks and threats by ultra-right wing forces, Zhu pointed out.

Meanwhile, the organizer of Asia's 8th Asian Winter Games (AWG) in Sapporo told Xinhua on Jan. 19 that it has requested APA to "remove the right-wing books placed in the hotel guest rooms."

The 8th AWG will be held in Sapporo and Obihiro during Feb. 19-26 and to save costs, the organizing committee has chosen two local hotels as official designated hotels for the athletes, and the APA Hotel & Resort Sapporo is one of the two hotels and will probably accommodate Chinese and South Korean delegations.

Xinhua has since contacted the APA hotel in Sapporo and the hotel has yet to respond directly to Xinhua's question as to whether it would remove the books from its guest rooms.

But a video posted online shows the CEO of the APA Group, Toshio Motoya, telling a meeting of Shoheijyuku, a right-wing platform for Motoya to preach his ideas, on Jan. 19, that he would not remove the books.

"People will forget about the whole incident in a few months, but will remember the name of the hotel. Maybe the hotel can take advantage of such fame to make up for losses caused by the incident," he boasted in the video.

When asked about the controversy stirred up by the APA hotel chain's deed, Japan's top government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga said on Jan. 18 that "we need to tackle shared global challenges with a forward-looking view, rather than paying excessive attention to our unfortunate history."

Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda echoed Suga's words on Tuesday, saying China and Japan should work together on common issues facing the international community, rather than focusing too much on the "unhappy past."

Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura, said on Monday at a press conference that the Japanese should go to Nanjing to kneel down and apologize if Japanese troops really slaughtered 300,000 people. But he doubted the Nanjing Massacre ever took place.

Regarding the APA incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing on Tuesday that China is willing to have friendly exchanges with Japan but will never tolerate brazen distortions of history that hurt the Chinese.

"As for the comments by the mayor, I want to remind him that the Nanjing Massacre is a historical fact recognized by the international community. The mayor should deliver on what he said," she added.

Also on Tuesday, China's National Tourism Administration released a call to action, asking Chinese tourism agencies and websites to stop promoting or using the APA chain. The tourism authority also called on Chinese tourists to boycott these hotels.
 Flash

Israel's prime minister and defense minister agreed on Tuesday to approve the construction of 2,500 new housing units in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

"In an agreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, it was decided to approve 2,500 homes in Judea and Samaria (the Jewish biblical names for the West Bank)," said a statement by the defense ministry, referring to the Israeli name for the West Bank.

Most of the houses will be built in settlement blocs, the ministry said, adding that the new construction would be approved to "answer the housing needs and the continuation of the daily life."

"We are going back to normal life in Judea and Samaria," Lieberman said, referring to end of the term of Barack Obama, who criticized the settlement expansion, and the recent inauguration of the U.S. President Donald Trump, who stated his support for the settlements.

The ministry did not elaborate on the locations of the new housing units but said that some of the construction was already agreed upon by previous governments, including hundreds of units in Beit El, a settlement south of Ramallah.

"We construct and we will continue to construct," Netanyahu said in a separate statement.

On Sunday, Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting that he has decided to lift restrictions on new construction for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem.

Netanyahu also said he supports an "Israeli sovereignty over Ma'aleh Adumim," a major West Bank settlement.

However, he asked the ministers to postpone the vote on a bill to annex the settlement, putting 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 a few hours after the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee approved 560 new homes in the urban settlement neighborhoods of Ramot, Ramat Shlomo, and Pisgat Ze'ev, in lands Israel annexed to Jerusalem in a move never recognized internationally.

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.
Rudolf Lyonga Worried About The Fate of Anglophones Wilson MUSA

The agile parliamentary hopeful for Buea urban Constituency during the 2013 Legislative Elections, Rudolf Lyonga, has lashed out at some South West indigenes that pass for the elite of the South West Region, for their continuous betrayal of the Anglophone course.

The Grand nephew to the renowned Anglophone politician, the late Dr EML Endeley , Rudolf Lyonga is a bona-fide Bakwerian and has gathered alot of political experience to understand the plights of his people.

In a chat with Press Men last Friday, 20th January 2017 in Buea, Lyonga cut to size the supposed elite of the region whom he said have either suspiciously kept sealed lips or uttered very derogatory statements against the Anglophone cause in their credulous desire to crave for appointments in the crumbling system.

He held that it is time for all Anglophones irrespective of political, religious, ethnic and social learning to work hand-in - glove for their common grievances which are a stark reality to be addressed, while saluting the moves made by the various religious denominations like the Catholics, the Presbyterians among others who have opened up the situation in Cameroon clean and square.

The youthful and promising politician fumed at the longstanding injustices Anglophones have been subjected to but the Government of Cameroon is implanting acrimony using to CPDM top officials in the South West Region vectors to create a division between the North West and South West Region.

He asserted that West Cameroon has just a cause to pursue which they have peacefully tabled before the state but the Government of Cameroon is playing hide and seek to address the issues. According to him, the option of federalism is the best for the Head of State to solve the current problems rocking the country, questioning why some Government ministers are so scared of federalism whereas most advanced countries in the world operate under such system.

Rudolf Lyonga frowned at the luck-luster manner in which the Government handled the Common Law Lawyers' strike. "Had the Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, Lauren Eso proffered adequate solutions to the grievances of the Common Law Lawyers, the situation would not have deteriorated to this level. The same solutions that are being advanced by the Government today are the same solutions that were demanded from the very beginning.

The delay of the Government only raised other sectors of the economy to join the strike action and that is what makes it difficult to achieve peace and the resumption of schools at this material time." he suggested.

The progressive nation builder admitted as some of his contemporaries that the state wields several legal instruments to bring to break the present impasse, but held that repression may not bring a quick solution to the problem as sincere dialogue would.
Barristor Agbor Nkongho appears before Police in Yaounde Wilson MUSA

The imprisoned President of outlawed Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium Barrister Agbor Balla Nkongho has appeared before Army Generals and Investigators Wednesday in a Police Station in Yaounde for the first time since his arrest on January 17, 2017 in Buea.

Nothing filtered out of the interrogation which took place Wednesday afternoon. But witness account says Barrister Balla was calm and attentive and though being perfectly bilingual, he refused to speak French which reportedly angered his interrogators. After the exercise he was taken back in the bus to his cell at the Kondengui maximum Prison.

News had spread like wild fire in the dry season that the legal mine was being taken to the Military Tribunal for judgment even before the date of February 1, 2017 but it turned out that he was needed for some questioning by investigators. However his lawyers were present at the meeting.

Barrister Nkongho appears before Police (c) Wilson MUSA

Others have remained in cells, Dr Fontem Neba, Ayah Paul and Mancho Bibixy. Meanwhile the arrest of Godden Zama, SDF Limbe District Chairman has been reported. According to local newspapers he was arrested in his Down Beach residence in Limbe Tuesday January 24, 2017. His where about is not known.

By Wilson MUSA
 Flash

U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed Tuesday that the two countries will stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism.

During a telephone conversation with Modi, Trump emphasized that the United States considers India a "true friend and partner" in addressing challenges around the world, the White House said in a statement.

The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India in broad areas such as the economy and defense. They also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia.

Trump looked forward to hosting Modi in the United States later this year, the statement said.
| BY Ricki Green |

CX agency Lavender has appointed award-winning creatives Mark Cimarosti (right) and David Lucas (left) to the position of senior creatives.

Cimarosti joins the agency after almost a decade at TBWA as creative director of direct where some of his proudest achievements included winning the inaugural ADMA Agency of the Year Award in 2012 and being named No. 3 Direct agency in the world in the WON Report.

At CX agency Lavender he will be reunited with ECD and partner Marco Eychenne. When they last worked together at TBWA, Eychenne and Cimarosti helped create successful campaigns My Car is your Car for NRMA Insurance and Take the Wheel for Nissan.

Cimarostis work has been recognised at award shows around the world, including Cannes, Spikes, D&AD, One Show, Caples, AWARD, APMA and ADMA, and he has over 100 creative and effectiveness awards and nominations to his name.

Lucas comes to Lavender with over 18 years of direct and digital experience, including stints as a senior writer at M&C Saatchi and WiTH Collective in Sydney as well as many other agencies freelancing over the past 18 months. He also spent four years as digital ACD at Wunderman Dubai heading up the Nokia, Unilever, Mars Inc and P&G digital accounts.

In addition, Lucas client experience includes Qantas Frequent Flyer, Fairfax, Symantec, MBF, Westpac, Optus, Adventure World Travel, McWilliams Wine Group, Snickers and Gillette among many others. His trophy cabinet includes numerous effectiveness and creative awards from Caples, ADMA, ACE, IAB and MENA Cristals.

Says Eychenne: We couldnt be happier to welcome these incredibly talented individuals to the growing Lavender team as we celebrate our 20th year in business. They are both innovative thinkers with an infectious passion for what they do. I am sure theyll quickly make their mark on our clients business.

Says Cimarosti: Im very excited to be working with Marco again and the great team he and CD Ryan Stubna have built. Its great to be part of an agency so dedicated to CX as clients realise just how important customer experience is to creating differential experiences.
| BY Ricki Green |

This Australia Day, via an integrated campaign from DDB Sydney, Eleven, OMD and VML Australia, Maccas is showing consumers just how Aussie the iconic Big Mac is.

The campaign idea, developed by DDB Sydney, aims to flip perceptions upside down, literally, by encouraging consumers to turn their favorite burger upside down the Aussie Way. Dubbed the Down Under Big Mac, the high impact outdoor, digital and social campaign aims to encourage consumers to think differently about their Big Mac.

Says Jo Feeney, director of marketing, McDonalds: Its our local ingredients and suppliers who help make our iconic products taste so great. Were proud of them and proud that our business has an incredible Aussie foundation. We wanted to challenge consumers perceptions in a fun and engaging way, and also honour our farmers.

Through PR agency Eleven, Maccas is building on the celebration by thanking the local legends who produce ingredients that go into the Big Mac, in the biggest way they can  by launching the Down Under Big Big Mac as part of Australias famous list of big things that honour local produce.

Maccas towering tribute, which is being unveiled in the agricultural hub of Tamworth this Australia Day, stands more than eight metres tall.

Says Feeney: Were a proud nation, which is why when we celebrate all things Aussie, including local produce, we do it in a big way. From the Big Banana, to the Big Prawn and Merino, these are clear indications of the pride we have in what Australia has to offer, and are understood country-wide.

A two-minute film has also been produced by Eleven for use across Maccas owned channels and editorial purposes. The film educates people on three of the farms involved in the supply of ingredients for the Big Mac, as well as construction footage of the Down Under Big Big Mac.

The campaign will also be leveraged on social by VML Australia with customers being encouraged to give their own nod to the countrys farmers by enjoying their Big Mac Down Under style, upside down, and sharing a snap this Australia Day.

Media agency OMD provided strategic direction, channel and audience planning for the execution.

McDonalds Australia

Director of Marketing: Jo Feeney

Group Brand Manager: Elise Sproll

Senior Brand Manager: Lauren Bolton

Corporate Communications Manager: Skye Oxenham

PR Agency: Eleven

Creative Director: Russ Tucker

Creative Team: Alex Haack & Scott Maggs

Senior Content Producer: Amanda Cairns-Cowen

Animator: Etienne Ancelet

Managing Director: Roberto Pace

Group Account Director: Fiona Milliken

Account Director: Tom Cummings

Planning Director: Jonathan Deves

Production Company: BOLT CONTENT \ Blunt Gorilla

Construction Company: Big Kahuna Imagineering

Creative Agency: DDB Sydney

Chief Creative Officer: Ben Welsh

Creative Partners: Jade Manning, Vince Osmond

Art Director: Trong Ronakiat

Copywriters: Shane Geffen, Guilherme Machado, Carolina Pinheiro

Designers: Paul Jansen, Alan Lippert

Senior Digital Producer: Jayde Smith, Emma Fyfe

Managing Director: Nicole Taylor

Group Business Director: Lisa Hauptmann

Business Director: Laura Dewey

Senior Business Manager: Nicole Drabsch

Chief Strategic Officer: Fran Clayton

Planning Director: Caroline Ghatt

Media Agency: OMD

Chief Strategy Officer: Lee Ramsay

Account Director: Anna Higgins
| BY Ricki Green |

CB Exclusive  Independent, award-winning agency Rumble Creative & Media has joined forces with Australias leading entrepreneurial community, Little Tokyo Two, and startup studio Pitchblak, to create a new agency model devoted to partnering with startups and innovators.

Edison has been designed to accommodate marketing, brand strategy and creative for startups throughout all rounds of their funding  from Seed to their Series rounds  creating brand assets and building brand equity from the start, and driving growth through all future marketing phases.

What helps to set Edison apart is the deep involvement all the directors have had with venture capital partners and startup businesses, including sharehouse bill-splitting solution Livitup, event venue finder Zenue, asynchronous video chat app Kwickie and disruptive co-operative venture The Innovation Co-op.

Nimble, tailored, with clear, insightful brand strategy and design from experienced creative seniors, Edison allows a level of service that is highly cost-effective, highly responsive and adaptable to a rapidly changing marketplace.

Edison will be led by creative director Michael Kennedy  formerly associate creative director at SapientNitro and senior creative at Rumble  and business director Amanda Schultz, recently returned to Australia from the UK where she worked on digital accounts for Triumph Lingerie, Microsoft, Jimmy Choo and The Body Shop.

Within just a few weeks of operation the agency has begun work for a number of new startup and mature startup clients, including Uthermic, Dynamoto, MyPype, Clinician Connect and a national motor insurer currently in brand development.

View Edisons website at edisonagency.co.
| BY Lynchy |

Publicis Communications Singapore has promoted Joanne Theseira to Managing Director of Publicis Singapore. In her new role, Theseira will oversee both Publicis Singapore and design and technology consultancy, Nurun, where she will continue to partner award-winning creative, Jon Ng.

Theseira (pictured) is tasked with building on the creative agencys strong business performance in the past three years through deeper integration across its roster of sister agencies in the hub like MSLGroup, Luminous and Prodigious. She will report to Lou Dela Pena, CEO, Publicis Communications Singapore.

Dela Pena said, There are moments in your career when you meet an outstanding talent like Jo. She is not only the most passionate and competitive new business person Ive met, she has the gift of being able to transform herself  and in only the best ways. From the young ingenue working on Apple over a decade ago, to managing regional blue chip accounts, to supporting me in numerous iconic pitch wins in this region, to co-running a start-up like Nurun, Jo has managed to successfully lead the change for herself and her clients throughout her career.

Jo has been a quiet force behind the incredible growth story at Publicis and I cant think of a more deserving, young, progressive, agile, leader like Jo, who will now take over a brand that Ive come to love in the last three years. Not only is she the best partner Ive had in this business, but she has the right ambition and character to thrive with clients who want to lead the change for years to come. Publicis is now in great hands.

Theseira added, Over the past three years, its been a privilege to grow personally and professionally with such an inspiring, dynamic team. Im honoured to take on this role, with a strong belief in the agencys passion and energy that will enable us to continue to lead the change for ourselves, and for our clients business.

Theseira joined Publicis in July 2014 and has been an integral new business driver for the agency. Her multi-disciplinary background  which includes experience in digital marketing, shopper marketing and integrated brand communications  translates into an exceptional skill in identifying cross-channel opportunities and solutions for clients.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017 at 5:58PM

Text and Photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The Chevy Bolt EV is a complete EV solution which brings a fresh perspective to how we think about electric cars. This is a great car, it is fun to drive, has lots of room where it counts and makes owning and driving an EV really feel like you're in the future.



Palo Alto, CA - Having covered the development, launch and now a world premiere first drive of the anticipated Chevrolet Bolt EV has challenged everything I thought I knew about cars, about driving, and about the future of transportation.

I joined a group of Canadian journalists over the weekend to be among the first to test drive the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV, which is GM's first modern production all-electric car already available in the US and coming to Canada buyers in a few short weeks.





The Chevy Bolt EV is a significant car for many reasons. It is a product of a long evolution of EVs from GM, plus various breakthroughs in engineering, battery technology as well as feedback from customers of earlier hybrid and EV cars.

Costing around $30,000 and capable of over 383 kilometers on a charge, the Bolt EV isn't the most affordable full-electric vehicle in the market, it is also a feat of car development and production, having gone from concept to production in 25 months.

First Impressions





The Chevy Bolt EV is unlike any car I've ever seen or driven. Thanks to the flat battery array, the car has an abundance of interior space and ample storage. Designed as a 5-seater, it can comfortably seat 4 grown adults with spacious legroom and headroom.

Chevrolet's designers made this possible by making the front seats thinner so rear legroom can be accomodated.

The Bolt EV's interior has a tasteful mix of plastic materials which have a unique, yet muted, design and texture. The 10-inch centre console, the best one I've seen on any vehicle, serves as a control centre to monitor energy efficiency and is also the conduit to your Apple CarPlay or Android Auto infotainment.

Overall visibility is outstanding although the fact that you can't see the car's bonnet does take some getting used to. I love the idea of a rear mirror which doubles as a widescreen connected to an HD rear camera. An innovation that was put to the test in Palo Alto's rainy climate during the drive and soon became hard to read.





Our first drive of the Chevy Bolt EV introduced us to many unexpected but delightful innovations. You can set the car to drive in L mode (Low Mode) which makes it possible to engage in one pedal driving.

This means you press the accelerator pedal to move forward but once you ease off the accelerator, the car slowly decelerates without braking and increases the regeneration of energy which is fed back into the system. After trying this, I rarely used the brake pedal to stop since I quickly became gauged how soon I had to ease off the accelerator to come to a full stop at a crossing.





The Bolt EV has a paddle on the rear left-hand side of the steering wheel that also assists in this regenerative braking and can be used to bring about a more dramatic deceleration (while generating more energy). Of course, using the brakes will give you the stopping power you need, but without generating the reusable energy.

Chevrolet has baked in a full-featured console which shows how economical your driving is, battery use as well as a range of diagnostics on the central display. The instrument panel clearly shows your speed, how many miles you can cover on your current charge, as well as various assistive driving alerts.

Quick when pushed





Quick when pushed, the Bolt EV can go from 0-60 Mph in under 7-seconds and this is a quiet, steady and sustained climb. This isn't the most economical way to drive an EV, but it just shows how much power is accessible under the hood.

Driving up hills was no different than a regular car but because of the stable and instantaneous accelerating, it sometimes feels like you're driving an all-wheel drive car.

I found driving the Bolt EV to be a delightful car to drive, it is responsive, it turns and corners without hesitation and it feels secure weaving in and out of passing lanes.

Many of the driver assist features did come in handy driving in wet San Francisco. The forward collision alert, helped keep my distance in check, specially in steeper streets.

Once I got the hang of driving the Bolt EV, I started to understand how every driving decision affects the efficiency of the electric motor.

Gamification and a new way to think about driving





There's a very cool gamification aspect to being aware and seeing how much energy you are able to harvest as you try and drive more efficiently.

You can of course, do this with a gasoline-powered car (easing up on the accelerator, coasting, braking less and cruising at a reasonable speed). But what you don't get is the instantaneous data the Bolt EV's computer feeds you.

Dozens of small measurements are clearly displayed in real-time so you can assess and adjust your driving.

Palo Alto and San Francisco were ideal locations to drive the Bolt EV. Because of the intermittent rain I had a chance to get a feel of the Bolt's performance in a variety of weather conditions.

The Chevy Bolt EV is a complete EV solution which brings a fresh perspective to how we think about electric cars. This is a great car, it is fun to drive, has lots of room where it counts and makes owning and driving an EV really feel like you're in the future.

Given the pricing, availability of the Bolt EV this year, the future is going to be, within the reach of more people than ever before.
"We want to make sure Canberrans are getting the best value for their dollar so when we see over $600,000 being spent on eight signs, it is reasonable to question what sort of return we are getting," Mr Coe said.
 Flash

The Philippine government confirmed on Wednesday the execution of a Filipino woman worker convicted of murder in Kuwait.

Foreign Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, said the worker, Jakatia Pawa, was executed by hanging.

Pawa, a mother of two teenagers, was sentenced to death in 2010 for allegedly killing her employer's 22-year-old daughter in 2007. Pawa denied the accusation.

"It is with sadness that we announced the execution of Pawa," Jose told a news conference, adding that it was the first time a Filipino was executed in Kuwait in recent years.

Pawa, 42, who hails from Zamboanga del Norte in the southern Philippines, has a degree in banking and finance. She started working in Kuwait in 2002.

"She was tried in court. We appealed. We can say that she was given trial. Unfortunate we were not able to prove her innocence. That's why she was convicted," Jose said, adding the Philippine government has been "unrelenting" in appealing to the victim's family to grant Pawa a tanazul or affidavit of forgiveness in exchange for blood money "but to no avail."

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said the Philippine government had exerted all efforts to save Pawa including all legal assistance necessary to ensure that her rights are respected and all legal procedures at all times.

Jose said Pawa will be buried in Kuwait as per Islamic rules for burial.

Pawa's older brother, Angaris, told a television interview in the Philippines that her convicted sister called the family Tuesday to say her last goodbyes.

Jose said there are about 88 Filipinos who are on death row worldwide.
But it did not stop there. Over the following decade Ms Rose and her husband Ross Dunn worked on changes opening up the process of restorative justice to young people charged with serious crimes. She said their case was the first time restorative justice - mediation aimed at rehabilitation by putting family and friends of both offender and victim in a room together - had applied to a young offender charged with something as serious as culpable driving causing death. Ms Rose said they also campaigned on the idea too much attention was given to the rights of offenders rather than victims, and there needed to be a better balance.
"We just ask for anyone in the area to keep an eye out or speak up if they think they might have spotted him."
"I am really chuffed to have been recognised by the veteran's community," he said. "I really enjoyed it when I was able to get a letter from the DVA saying that somebody had been accepted for a TPI pension. I've heard some harrowing tales (as an accredited pensions officer) but helping others has also helped me."
Of the 11 people appointed Companions of the Order of Australia, six were men and five were women, including the nation's first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, and Anna Bligh, the first female state premier to win election in her own right.
GoTo Networks, which is focusing on the development of new cable systems to greenfield or underserved markets, says the Djibouti Telecom will also take capacity on its new Australia West Express (AWE) cable, which will land in Djibouti Telecom facilities and enter service at the end of 2018.

John Mariano, CEO of GoTo Networks, said: Djibouti Telecom has provided important support to the AWE project throughout its planning phase. Now that we are nearing the beginning of the project, we are pleased in their investment in AWE, and their agreement to procure capacity between Djibouti and Perth.

The companies did not provide figures for how much Djibouti Telecom is investing in AWE, which is being built by Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks. The 10,100km cable will have two fibre pairs and will operate at an initial capacity of 10Tbps per fibre.

Djibouti, on the north-east African coast where the Red Sea enters the Indian Ocean, has become an important landing station for subsea cables. AWE will be able to interconnect there with at least six other cables, including EASSy, AAE-1 and SEA-ME-WE 5.

The new AWE system will provide valuable capability for transporting the rapidly growing traffic between Australia and points in the Middle East, Africa and Europe, said Mohamed Ahmed, director of government-owned Djibouti Telecom. We are excited to be participating in this most important project.

Meanwhile GoTo Networks has appointed Greg Varisco to the board of AWE. In 2010, he co-founded Emerald Networks, which later became Aqua Comms, of which he was CEO until October 2016.
The 3,900 km Hong Kong Guam Cable System (HK-G) is due to begin operation in January 2020, with 100Gbps transmission. No price was given for the project.

The cable is being planned by RTI Connectivity, a private cable developer set up by US entrepreneurs in Singapore. The contract will partially use capital from the Fund Corporation for the Overseas Development of Japans ICT and Postal Services (Japan ICT Fund)

NEC is delighted to be selected as the supplier of the HK-G submarine cable planned by RTI Connectivity, said Toru Kawauchi, general manager of NECs submarine network division. With Guam becoming a new hub in the Pacific, we look forward to helping the RTI group of companies provide for the expanding Asia-Pacific demand for more connectivity.

A map published by NEC indicated three possible extensions, to Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam. The HK-G cable is due to connect in Guam with the SEA-US system that directly connects south-east Asia to the US, which NEC began constructing in March 2015.

The SEA-US project is backed by a related company, RTI Cable, whose founder, president and CEO is Russ Matulich, who has provided advisory services to subsea projects in the Asia-Pacific region.

From January 2002 to December 2010, he was managing director for the Asia-Pacific region of TE SubCom  formerly Tyco Telecommunications.

According to Singapore records, RTI Connectivity was set up in September 2015.
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.
TimesPro - an education initiative with Dentsu Aegis Network, an advertising agency is offering a ' Post Graduate Diploma in Digital Marketing' in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. A three-month full-time program focuses on the strategic and practical aspects of Digital Marketing.

The program is scheduled to begin from 31st January 2017 and will be available for graduates, especially from marketing, retailing and the advertising sectors. The course offers a total of 450 hours of instructor-led training, immersions and eLearning.

Course Audience and Faculty

The program is ideal for students and professionals who are willing to pursue a career in Digital Marketing. Each course aspect will be addressed separately by the relevant industry expert. One of the key features of the course - 'Immersion program' enables students to achieve extensive mastery in a relevant topic or aspect of digital marketing. The program will allow students to practically experience the how Digital Marketing Campaigns are actually executed. This will further widen their knowledge and perspective on the subject.

Key Objectives

On completion of the course, students will become the all-round professional experts in digital marketing field with effective knowledge of digital consumer behavior and proficiency in digital marketing tools and analytics. After the successful completion of the course, the top candidates will find placement opportunities in the various companies of Dentsu Aegis Network and TCLL among other top e-commerce and digital companies in the country.

About Digital Marketing

India's digital marketing requirement is growing year on year due to the shift in the mindset of the consumers. Today, the internet plays a significant role in everyone's daily life which has created a dire need for businesses to effectively reach out to their target audiences.

About Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd

Dentsu Aegis Network's presence in India comprises the global network brands Carat, iProspect, Isobar, Posterscope, Vizeum, MKTG, Amnet and mcgarrybowen along with the Dentsu branded agencies - Dentsu Impact, Dentsu One, Dentsu India, Dentsu Media, Taproot Dentsu and Dentsu Webchutney. Also, newly added to the group are the recently acquired local brands Milestone Brandcom, WATConsult, Fountainhead MKTG, the Perfect Relations Group, Happy mcgarrybowen and Fractal Ink Design Studio - Linked by Isobar.

About Times Centre for Learning Ltd

TCLL has been the harbinger of learning for professional education with its undying focus on providing the best quality training and help build professionals from ground up. TimesPro an initiative by the Times Group, and Times Centre for Learning Ltd (TCLL), focuses on helping its participants gain leadership competency, develop their personal brand, and move to the next level.

IIM Calcutta with NIIT Launch Executive Program in Applied Finance
We are not alone Lessons from the Heart

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What...

One weird dude Lessons from the Heart

There are not a lot of places where someones personal style gets mentioned in the New Testament, so this one...
Eager to make the most out of demand from China, BMW previewed the 1-Series Sedan specifically for the Asian market in mid-2016.



Despite the 1-Series Sedan only being produced for China, one example was recently snapped on the streets of Munich by a reader of Bimmer Today. Initially, you may be scratching your head as to why the car was in Munich but the reason is quite simple.

The German automaker is of course headquartered on the outskirts of Munich and has a large production facility and museum there. Evidently, BMW decided to recently conduct some testing of the vehicle on the cold, snow-covered roads of Munich before sales in China commence. Either that or a BMW employee has a new company car.

No confirmation has been given as to when production of the 1-Series Sedan will begin but we know the car will be manufactured exclusively in Shenyang, China with BMWs joint venture partner, Brilliance Auto.

Engine options will include a 1.5-liter turbo three-cylinder with 136 hp, a 2.0-liter turbo-four with 192 hp and a 231 hp variant of the same 2.0-liter, offered exclusively for the 125i.

PHOTO GALLERY
Gone in 60 Seconds? Make that 90, as thats is how long these crooks needed to make a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat vanish from a dealership.



Security camera footage shows two men breaking into the Highland Park, Michigan, Snethkamps Ram City dealership, shortly after 1 am, on Tuesday, CBS reports, by shattering a large glass door.

One of the suspects can then be seen climbing inside a $75,000 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, and seconds later, the other man pushed him out, where a van was waiting. The felons then used the vehicle to further push the muscle car down the street and into a tow truck.

The police arrived at the scene shortly after, but it was already too late, as the suspects, along with their prize, disappeared into the night. The owner of the dealership, Mark Snethkamp, said that he hasnt seen a break-in like this since the 1990s.

It looks like they had about a minute and 30 seconds to open the door and push the car out, and then we see another car pushing it away. Weve got some really good video, and Im shocked that the Highland Park police didnt catch them, because they were there shortly after them, wrote WWJ News Radio 950s Vickie Thomas on Twitter, while releasing the security footage.

The police are asking anyone with information to contact them, as the suspects remain at large.
Photo: Contributed

The Penticton and District Community Arts Council has opened nominations for their fourth annual arts awards.

"It's primarily to show support to the artists in our area, to give them acknowledgment and recognition," said Vaelei Walkden-Brown, director of the council. "It's an opportunity for the community to celebrate the arts together."

The categories are: aboriginal arts excellence, supporter of the arts, dance, design, graphic arts, literary arts, lifetime achievement award, music and arts educator.

Others are theatre, visual arts, youth, aboriginal youth and media arts.

Nominations are open until 3 p.m., Jan. 31. Online nomination forms are available on the Penticton Arts Council website.

The arts awards ceremony will be held at the Cleland Theatre on Thursday, March 2, with tickets available until Feb. 1.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

Archival photographs, artifacts and stories about those who served in World War I will soon be on display at Penticton Museum and Archives.

The grand opening for British Columbia's War, 1914-1918, a travelling exhibit from the Royal B.C. Museum, will take place Thursday, Jan. 26.

"The core of this exhibit came from the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria," said manager curator Dennis Oomen. "They decided because we are commemorating the 100th anniversary of the war to put together this exhibit available to museums in B.C. ,so we put our name in to have it here."

Oomen said the attractive thing about the exhibit is it's designed to be augmented by local content found in the museum's collection.

First World War veteran, Reg Atkinson, considered to be the museum's founder, collected many of the military items.

"The artifacts on display will also tell the stories of local residents who participated in the conflict and, in some cases, never returned," said Oomen.

As a special feature to run with the British Columbia's War, the museum is presenting a complimentary exhibit: Canadian Sikhs in World War I: A Forgotten Story.

The exhibit describes the lives and sacrifices of 10 Canadian Sikhs in both English and Punjabi, a first for the museum.

"Hosting an exhibit about Canadian Sikhs who fought in World War I highlights an often unknown piece of history that took place during World War I," said Oomen.

The public opening runs from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The exhibit will be on display to the public and school groups until May 29.
Photo: Contributed

I'm not a political aficionado.

I dont pretend to understand NAFTA agreements or NATO obligations, but I know Ive had a real knee-jerk reaction to the idea of travelling to the U.S. under its current administration.

Im not the only one.

The Trump campaign was advanced on a rhetoric of intolerance, racism, sexism, homophobia and isolationism.

For the travel industry to flourish, there must be a willingness to grow and expand horizons. Travel is what results from an inter-connected globalization of trade and culture.

Talk of building walls and restricting personal freedoms based on race or religion is not tourist friendly chat.

A recent article in the online U.K. newspaper The Independent examined the British outlook on travel to the U.S. in 2017.

A leading travel industry figure has warned that many prospective British visitors to the U.S. may decide not to go as a result of Donald Trumps election.

"Joel Brandon-Bravo, U.K. managing director for Travelzoo, said: 'Following confirmation of a win for Donald Trump in the presidential election today, were now forecasting an unstable 2017 for U.S. tourism, with over one million U.K. travellers set to reconsider the country as a holiday destination.'

The U.K. generally accounts for over 3.5 million tourists visits a year to the U.S., so we are talking about a 30 per cent drop in tourism dollars.

What about Canadian travellers? It seems that searches for flights from Canada to the U.S. on popular sites such as Cheapflights and Expedia are down over 15 per cent since the election results.

It would be easy to assume that the drop was due to our weak dollar, however, in May when our exchange was at its lowest, Canadians were searching for flights to the U.S. more than all of Europe combined.

The overall sentiment is that this decline is not due to Trump, but more in fact to the negative impact the ugly election statements have made.

Henry Harteveldt, Atmosphere Research Group, says:

Weve seen some really unpleasant behaviour in the days since the election  there have been swastikas painted on buildings, and hateful things spray-painted on the buildings or said on college campuses and on the streets.

For a foreign visitor who sees this, especially if that person is a member of one of those [targeted] groups, theyre going to say, Id love to go, but I dont feel safe now. Its not that they wont come here because of Trump himself. They wont come here because theres an attitude that tolerates that kind of hateful discussion.

Ironically, Mexico was expected to overtake Canada by the end of 2016 to be the largest source of tourism demand to the U.S.

Combine the Mexican Wall rhetoric with a promised travel ban against Muslim tourists and the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations estimates it could cost the country up to $71 billion per year and 132,000 jobs.

Hmmm, so much for that economic stimulus.

The good news of course is that Canada now becomes the default destination of choice.

You see? It pays to be nice.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: Contributed

Paying the interest on government debt cost Canadian taxpayers $62.8 billion last year, says the Fraser Institute.

That translates to $1,752 for every Canadian, or slightly more than $7,000 for a family of four.

The think-tank's study says federal and provincial debt in 2016-17 will total $1.4 trillion, an increase of more than half-a-trillion dollars since 2007-08.

Its not a choice  interest must be paid on government debt, and the more money governments spend on interest payments the less money is available for the programs and services that matter to Canadians, said report co-author Charles Lammam.

Interest payments on all levels of government debt in 2015-16 cost roughly the same as what the country spent on primary and secondary education ($63.9 billion) in 2013-14, the study found.

Interest payments on just the federal debt ($24.9 billion) are roughly the same as Ottawas projected deficit this year of $25.1 billion.

In B.C., interest payments for both the provincial debt and its share of the federal debt ($5.6 billion) are comparable to what the province collects in PST.

Albertas combined provincial-federal debt interest payments will cost $5.3 billion this year  more than the province will spend on social services, including welfare.

Governments across Canada are racking up large debts with no end in sight, and this imposes real costs on Canadians. Interest payments are substantial and take money from other important priorities, such as social programs or tax relief," said Lammam.
Facebook BC Transportation and Infrastructure

A man who allegedly attempted to drive through an avalanche closure zone was itching to get sentenced for several breach of probation charges Tuesday morning.

Erich Koenig appeared in a Penticton courtroom over video twice Tuesday morning from the Kamloops Regional Corrections Centre, and asked several times to get his sentencing over with, despite his lack of an up-to-date defence lawyer.

Koenig's first appearance was pushed back to later in the morning, when a judge could appear over video from Kamloops. But when Koenig appeared again by video, the day's duty counsel hadn't had a chance to speak at length with Koenig or review the case files.

"He was saying, please Mr. Maxwell, I've got to get sentenced today, just make sure the judge sentences me," lawyer Bob Maxwell told the court.

Koenig expressed the same throughout the morning, even offering to defend himself. But the judge decided it was in Koenig's best interest to get a defence lawyer he could speak to in person and also to appear in court in person. Koenig will make another appearance in a Kamloops courtroom Tuesday afternoon.

Koenig has been in custody since Jan. 4 when he was arrested for driving past a flagger blocking cars from entering an avalanche control zone.

At the time, Koenig was on bail for charges stemming from another breach of probation. In that incident, he skipped a court date, and when officers made the arrest, he had allegedly approached them with a hammer.

After police drew their guns, police say he dropped his hammer and was arrested.
Peach Festival organizers have announced the headliners for the 70th edition of Penticton's "signature event."

Iconic Canadian rock group 54-40 will be opening the Peter Bros. Construction Main Stage on Aug. 9, with timeless hits like I Go Blind and Ocean Pearl.

Trooper will be returning for the first time in four years on Thursday, Aug. 10, there is no band we get requested to bring back more than Trooper, said Peach Fest President Don Kendall. They are considered Canadas official party band and they do a great show here.

Get your cowboy boots shined, because Aaron Pritchett will play Friday, Aug. 11, he was really the first big country act that we ever brought into Peach Fest, he hasnt been here in almost a decade and are excited to have Aaron coming back, Kendall said.

Saturday is tribute night, with cover bands playing ABBA, Fleetwood Mac and Rod Stewart.

The weekend will close with a show for the kids from Bobs and Lolo on Sunday afternoon before the Powder Blues Band finishes off the festival.

Organizers also announced that the wildly popular motocross show that debuted last year in front a crowd of 6,000 people will be expanded to three days. The kids zone will also grow.

Notably, the Skaha Lake Ultra Swim is back, the 11.8km race between Penticton and Okanagan Falls has already attracted 95 participants, up from 69 the previous best ever total.

More information about the weekend can be found here.
Photo: Immunophen

A diagnosis of Alzheimers disease is a frightening prospect.

Weve likely all heard what the later stages of this condition are like, and thinking of an inevitable decline is daunting.

One of the more anxiety-inducing parts is the unpredictability of the condition.

Cognitive degeneration in Alzheimers can be quite varied. For some, decline happens rapidly and others seem to plateau for relatively long periods with little noticeable change in functioning.

For patients and their loved ones, not knowing how much time is left can be stressful.

A study published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry examined risk factors for disease progression in Alzheimers disease. For this study, data from 488 individuals with mild to moderate Alzheimers disease was examined.

Over a one-year study period, nearly half of study participants experienced clinically meaningful deterioration.

Using readily available clinical information, researchers identified several risk factors, which seem to predict disease progression. Patients who were older at age of onset had significantly increased risk of decline than those of a younger age.

Other studies have supported this finding and it could be due to other factors associated with old age such as the likelihood of additional medical issues.

Interestingly, some research has also shown the opposite result, although in that study, the overall age of study participants was younger, suggesting the impact of age on decline may depend on sample selection.

In this study, patients represented average Alzheimers patients in Canada.

Being female was also associated with a significant risk of decline  women had a 1.68-fold increase in their risk of decline in this study.

Hormonal differences and psychosocial issues may play a role in this discrepancy between the sexes.

Apart from age and sex, some of the other risk factors related to disease progression include:

lower cognitive function at study start

genetic differences (those with epsilon 4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene see more decline)

education

language difficulty (aphasia)

visuospatial processing

psychiatric symptoms.

Although there is little we can do to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimers disease at this point, it is still helpful to be able to estimate disease course.

Patients who are identified as high risk can be more closely monitored and they can be given some idea of what to expect.

Alzheimers is the most common dementia and is expected to increase dramatically as our population ages. Research into disease progression, prevention and treatment is critical.

At Okanagan Clinical Trials, we regularly conduct studies for investigational treatments of Alzheimers disease. We also have a memory clinic offering comprehensive cognitive assessments.

Contact our office at (250) 862-8141 for more information.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: Contributed Photo: submitted

NewLeaf Travel Company made a splash when it hit the Canadian airline market in mid-summer last year.

Using planes and crew from their Kelowna-based partner, Flair Airlines, NewLeaf offered discount ticket prices for flights across Canada, skipping many traditional airline amenities to keep prices lower.

Now, less than six months after the first plane left the tarmac, the company has transported more than 150,000 people.

Canadians are taking advantage of our ultra-low-fares, and enjoying the fact that going across the country for the weekend is now in the realm of possibility, said Jim Young, company president and CEO. Were changing the way Canadians think about travel."

To mark its newly achieved milestone, NewLeaf is is giving away a trip a day for 150 days.

Existing customers, as well as anyone who signs up on the companys website, will be entered into the contest and from February until July the company will contact a new winner every day.
He's only seven, but Alex Mulder is a man on a mission.

The Vernon youth wants to help the less fortunate by raising money for the Coldest Night of the Year event.

The annual Coldest Night of the Year walk takes place on the evening of Saturday, Feb. 25 and will raise some cold, hard cash for the Upper Room Mission.

Mulder has a goal of raising $222 and he took to YouTube in an effort to create awareness of the cause.

In the video, Mulder said he was asked to join the JCI Walk-a-holics which are taking part in the annual event.

I'm pleased to contribute to the team and raise much needed funds for the Upper Room Mission, said Mulder. Any donation will help.

Donations can be made online to help Mulder reach his goal.

By walking together in the chill of the night, participants will better understand the experience of being on the streets during a cold Canadian winter. Participants choose to walk either the five or 10 kilometre route, and raise funds to aid the work of the Upper Room Mission, said Lisa Anderson, mission event director.

This is the Upper Room Mission's fifth year taking part in the Coldest Night of the Year, and officials are hoping to raise $50,000 for their work with the less fortunate families and individuals in Vernon.

Funds raised at this event will go towards the 2017 food budget, said Anderson. In 2016, the missions food security program served close to 90,000 hot meals to those in need. The missions healthy snack program also falls under food security, and feeds over 250 local school-aged children and youth in Vernon.
It has been 150 years since the son of a Sauk City brewer who had emigrated from Germany in the 1840s found his way north and set up shop on the banks of Duncan Creek in Chippewa Falls. Teaming up with John Miller, he launched what was first known as Spring Brewery in May 1867.

That brewery is now known far and wide as the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co.

The oldest business in Chippewa Falls has launched a year-long celebration marking those 150 years, culminating in a birthday bash for the ages this August at the Northern Wisconsin State Fairgrounds. Leinenkugel's truly has plenty to celebrate.

The path from its humble beginnings to a national brewery that is owned by a global company hasn't been without its serious challenges. Leinenkugel's was among only a few hundred breweries in the U.S. to survive 14 years of Prohibition, and one of only 89 to weather the industry's four-decade downturn that claimed 90 percent of the 857 breweries that existed prior to World War II.

When the sale of the family-owned business to Miller Brewing Co. was completed in 1988, the fear locally was that Leinenkugel's would be swallowed up and get lost in the megabrewer's operations, fading into obscurity. The future of Chippewa Falls' continued role in the brewery was called into question.

Turns out those fears were totally unfounded, and today Leinenkugel's is enjoying the highest profile in its long history, selling more beer than ever (roughly a million barrels a year) and since 2012 doing so from coast to coast. The small regional brewery that it was through its formative years is now the seventh-oldest continuously-operating brewery in the United States.

That could not have happened without a combination of innovation and perseverance, says Scott Whitley, president of Tenth and Blake Beer Company, the craft and imports division of MillerCoors. "If you think about whats transpired over the last 150 years, from the Great Depression to Prohibition, the family had to battle through a wide variety of challenges to keep the doors open and reach a sixth generation," Whitley said.

Dick Leinenkugel, president of Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., cites numerous reasons why the brewery has thrived through a century and a half, and they all have played integral roles. However, staying true to the vision of its family leadership through the years and concentrating on the basics have allowed it to adapt to changes in the industry.

"It always goes back to the quality of your beers. When I look back at our history, one of the things that was always consistent with my dad and the generations that came before him was the quality of the product. They always invested in people, and we continue to invest to improve quality," Leinenkugel said.

Leinenkugel's brews a couple dozen beers and is understandably proud of them all. However, the unveiling of Summer Shandy 10 years ago was a huge game-changer, launching several spinoffs and forcing the U.S. beer industry to take notice. It became the best-selling craft seasonal beer nationwide, and with the rest of its shandy portfolio now results in more than half of all the beer Leinenkugel's produces.

The brewery that Jacob Leinenkugel and John Miller gave birth to 150 years ago had grown beyond anything they  or the generations of the family that followed  could have comprehended.

The beginning

Jacob Leinenkugel learned the art of brewing beer in Wisconsin from his father, who had learned it in Germany from his father. Jacob's four brothers also became brewers, but their fortunes did not pan out so well. The only one of the breweries to survive Prohibition was Jacob's, proof that there has always been something special about Leinenkugel's beer and the location of its brewery.

The source of its water then and now, the Big Eddy Springs, was proclaimed as the purest water in the world. That's crucial since beer amounts to more than 90 percent water. At first, Jacob did all of the brewing, and his friend, Miller, delivered the beer in this logging town full of lumberjacks. It was a two-man operation, with no employees. Today, Leinenkugel's employs 141 workers.

Leinenkugel bought out Miller after 17 years and renamed it the Jacob Leinenkugel Spring Brewery. The brewery continued to flourish after Jacob's death in 1899 until the U.S. instituted Prohibition in October 1919. Unlike most breweries, Leinenkugel's chose to find a way to remain in business. It tried its hand at a near-beer called Leino, but stayed alive until Prohibition was finally repealed on March 22, 1933 by becoming the largest bottler of soda water in the area.

Leinenkugel's return to brewing beer  then known as Chippewa's Pride, with the addition of the Indian maiden on the label  was only assured when Katherine Leinenkugel and Rose Leinenkugel Casper mortgaged their homes, providing the injection of cash needed to restore the brewery to accommodate the pent-up demand.

"The family leadership through the years was key to our survival," Dick Leinenkugel said, noting it carries with it a sense of pride and obligation. Another key he said was a conservative financial management that sought to avoid debt and helped them survive through the lean years and plow any profits they did make back into the business.

The people in charge of this small-town brewery never took its success for granted. For years, anyone who took a brewery tour and signed the guest book received a Christmas letter from then president, Bill Casper. Bill Leinenkugel, who went on to become brewery president, sold Leinie's all over northwestern Wisconsin for four decades. He did whatever it took to convert people, to the point of keeping a cold case of beer in the trunk of his car so he could offer, say, a farmer in a field a cold Leinie's. All of these actions engendered tremendous loyalty, one beer drinker at a time.

In the mid-'80s, Bill's son Jake joined the company and went to work doing the same thing his father had done, this time in the largely untapped Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Its original and bock beer were warmly received there, too. In 1987, Bill's son Dick came on board and went to work on increasing the beer's presence in the Chicago market, before turning his attention to creative brand marketing.

"It just comes down to hard work," Dick Leinenkugel said. "I think of all the miles that (brothers) Jake, John and I put on, meeting our distributors, meeting key retailers, doing the promotions at night, sampling beer, giving up weekends to do special events, being visible in the marketplace as Leinenkugels. That has allowed us to make new friends, meet new people. My dad always said the more people you meet, the more beer youll sell."

Getting noticed

The second-largest beer company in the nation, Milwaukee-based Miller, was impressed with the enthusiasm Leinenkugel's beers were generating and made an offer that was accepted. In a departure from most deals where the acquired company was simply folded into the national one, Leinenkugel's received guarantees that its beer would continue to be brewed in Chippewa Falls.

"Miller Brewing Company gave us access to things that we would not have had on our own," Dick Leinenkugel said, offering four prime examples. Being part of Miller's wide distribution network gave Leinie's added clout, especially in the Upper Midwest. It also gave the brewery access to top-notch engineering expertise, leading to major renovations and greatly improving brewing capabilities, and access to innovative teams that have worked with homegrown master brewer John Buhrow to develop new beers. And it gave Leinenkugel's access to people like Dave Kuhn, Pete Dawson, Jean McPhail and Dan McCabe. "Thats a big advantage, to have access to those people as well."

Within a year of the sale, Jake Leinenkugel took over as president, a post he held for the next 25 years. He, and later his brothers Dick and John, became the focal point of ingenious advertising campaigns that played on the brewery's strengths.

"First and foremost you have to be authentic. I think thats the role we as family play in that story, the fifth generation and now the sixth," Dick Leinenkugel said. They set out to emphasize three things: that descendants of Jacob Leinenkugel are still guiding the business; that it's still done in Chippewa Falls where it all began; and its unique history. "So if you think about just telling that story, it becomes your marketing."

"Leinenkugels storied history resonates with todays consumers," Whitley said.

The original lager that sustained the brewery through most of its history had been supplemented by a springtime ritual, Bock beer, and in 1977 with a light beer. In 1986, an award-winning premium beer, Leinenkugel's Limited, offered a preview of what the future held. The first wave of microbrewing took hold several years later, and the brewery took to the craft beer movement, rolling out numerous brands. It was a natural progression for a brewery that had emphasized taste.

"Weve always been about flavor," Dick Leinenkugel said. "Even when we just had Leinenkugels original, my dad said its different than what the other big breweries are making. Its got a little more of the hop character to it."

Red Lager made a big splash in 1993, as did Honey Weiss, Berry Weiss and Creamy Dark in later years. Some beers came and went, others had more staying power, but all developed a following to various degrees. Sunset Wheat pushed Leinie's out to more states in 2006, but that paled in comparison to what was to follow the next year.

Just the right note

Dick Leinenkugel, who had worked with a development team on Sunset Wheat, set to work that same year with marketing and brewing teams to devise a new summer seasonal beer. When they combined Leinie's Weiss beer with an injection of natural lemonade flavor at the end of the brewing process, what emerged was a lighter-style, lower-alcohol beer with a refreshing taste. It was a variation on what had been done in Germany for decades, but in the United States the move was revolutionary, and was the catalyst to welcome non-beer drinkers into the fold.

Summer Shandy launched in April 2007 and sold out quickly. The same thing happened the following year despite doubling production, and in 2010 with a national advertising campaign. A decade in it shows no evidence of slowing down.

Succeeding on a national level takes having a high-quality product that differentiates itself from the pack, and this time they clearly had one. Other breweries have attempted to compete with Summer Shandy but found little success, and a decade in, 9.3 of every 10 shandies sold in the U.S. are brewed by Leinenkugels.

More shandies have followed. Grapefruit Shandy was the No. 1 new craft beer brand introduced in 2015 and is sold all year long, with variations sold as limited-release or seasonal beers. On the other end of the craft beer spectrum is Leinenkugel's IPL, its twist on the ever-popular IPAs made with lager yeast rather than ale. That beer received larger distribution in 2016, while another recent addition, Wisconsin Red Pale Ale, proudly is sold only in the Badger state.

For its 150th anniversary, Leinenkugel's is doing something extraordinary. It is teaming up with another legendary brewer, Hofbrau Munchen, to brew a collaboration beer that will be sold in Germany and the United States. Draught beer will be released in April and 6-pack bottles will be available in June, and remain in distribution through 2017. As Dick Leinenkugel points out, it will be the first time that Leinenkugels beer will be brewed in Germany since prior to 1845.

The Lodge effect

Miller had flirted with taking Leinenkugel's national before, stretching its reach into a majority of states before pulling back and concentrating on building a stronger regional presence. That turned out to be a wise move, and led to further defining the brewery's image, a strategy that continues to pay dividends. By concentrating on nearby states, Leinenkugel's emphasized its roots in Chippewa Falls and turned it into something quite tangible: the Leinie Lodge.

In 1979 it had opened a hospitality center with a museum component, a bar to sample beer and a place to purchase limited Leinenkugel's memorabilia. It quickly outgrew the space, and in June 2003, an impressive 15,000-square-foot building just across Duncan Creek from the brewery came to epitomize the northwoods lodge Leinie's drinkers had been envisioning for so long. It quickly became the Chippewa Falls' No. 1 tourist attraction. More than 100,000 people make a pilgrimage to the Leinie Lodge annually, and thousands more each June for the Leinie Family Reunion.

"Despite its growth and success over the years, the family has never forgotten its roots and remains focused on playing a positive role in the Chippewa community," Whitley said. Dick Leinenkugel said that inherent family philosophy has always been part of Leinenkugel's.

"Never forget who you are or what you stand for  I think thats something my brother Jake taught me and our father certainly taught us. Dont forget who brought you here, and that was our local market," he said. That means giving back to the area where brewery employees live, work and play. It has led to creating the Little Lake Wissota Stewardship Project, and supporting Irvine Park and the campaign for the new riverfront park, and in countless other ways. That community connection could also lead to more business opportunities.

"One of the trends thats happening in the hospitality business is people are willing to pay for experiences. They want an experience, so lets give them an experience," Dick Leinenkugel said. The brewery has already branched out in this area, putting its name on restaurants in Kansas City and Baltimore.

"We have an historic brewery, a beautiful town, a great lake, parks; were at the gateway to resort country in northern Wisconsin, 100 miles away from a major metro area. Thats the challenge to my team: to invest in providing people with an experience of the Leinenkugel brand, however that becomes defined. And it might be defined outside of beer, but beer will always be part of it."

He even has a name for it: Project Allen, a reference to Hiram Allen, the lumber baron who sold Jacob Leinenkugel the original land for the brewery 150 years ago. It's yet another nod to the brewery's history, playing into one of the pillars of its success. As for what the future holds, its president reverted to another pillar: "Were going to continue to brew and sell great beers."
Photo: irecover.ca

It isn't open yet, but some parents at Lavington Elementary are keeping an eye on a proposed iRecover women's addiction treatment centre on School Road.

A sign went up this week.

It seems crazy to put it so close to a school and a park, said one parent with two small children who did not want to be named. Parents in the area are extremely concerned and worried what it will bring to the quiet, family focused area.

Interior Health has received an application for a license for this facility, and we are working with the applicant to obtain the appropriate documentation before we can issue a license, said Sharlene Lively, IH licensing manager, in an email. If an applicant requests a license for a residential treatment facility, they must meet the requirements of the residential care regulations before a license may be issued."

The property was previously used as a group home until it closed, said Coldstream Mayor Jim Garlick, who had been unaware of the new venture.

The group home zoning still exists, he said.

While the company would have to apply for a business license, Garlick stressed council had no say on the licensing.

It's a provincial process, he said.

Lara Konkin, president of Lavington Elementary's parents advisory committee, said the PAC had not discussed the matter and was not meeting until March.

The PAC deals with educational matters, Konkin said. I'm not sure what role we'd play. I believe this is a community-based issue.
More than 100 people showed up to donate blood for an eight-year-old Kelowna boy.

Connor Morcom was diagnosed with medulloblastoma a year ago and has used 25 blood and platelet transfusions during his treatment.

Going through an event like that, you realize how important it is to donate blood, said his father, Darren.

The family decided to give back after all the support they received, and asked the community to donate blood on Tuesday.

Its nice to celebrate a good news story, and it is really great to see the family choose us, said Gayle Voyer, territory manager for Canadian Blood Services.

Voyer said they were expecting more than 100 appointments on Tuesday, a much larger number than usual.

It is a busy start, we have lots of people here who are keen to donate for Connor, she said.

The West Kelowna Warriors were at the blood clinic in support, along with a few former NHLers.

I know (the family) really well, they were neighbours, said Todd Simpson. Ive been with them here for a few years through the struggle, and it is just great to see the happy ending.

It is fantastic to have Connor and the family all back together in Kelowna, said Darren. Its overwhelming, all the support such a great community and great friends."
Photo: The Canadian Press

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has ruled out national security concerns following the sudden suspension last week of the military's second-highest-ranking officer.

Government and military officials have been tight-lipped since Vice-Admiral Mark Norman was abruptly stripped of his responsibilities on Jan. 16, less than six months after becoming vice chief of defence staff.

The information vacuum has prompted an outcry from opposition critics, who say Canadians deserve to know if there was ever a potential risk to national security given media reports of an RCMP investigation.

While refusing to say why defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance suspended Norman, Sajjan said the case had nothing to do with security.

"This is not an issue of national security. But this is a decision that Gen. Vance needed to make and a decision that I wholeheartedly support in this matter," he said Monday during a two-day Liberal cabinet retreat in Calgary.

"This has nothing to do with national security."

While security experts and allies will be reassured, Sajjan's comments will do nothing to dispel the clouds that have gathered over the government's $35-billion shipbuilding plan.

Norman was deeply involved in the strategy during the three years he served as commander of the Royal Canadian Navy before becoming the vice chief of defence staff in August.

That included charting a new course for the largest part of the shipbuilding strategy, replacing the navy's destroyers and frigates, which had been buffeted with numerous delays and cost overruns.

The government officially launched a competition to choose a design in October, with the winner to be selected this coming summer and construction to begin in Halifax in the early 2020s.

Now defence companies are feverishly trying to find out whether Norman's suspension has anything to do with the competition, including whether any competitors received an unfair advantage.
Photo: Contributed

A North Okanagan business has made it to the finals of the Small Business BC Awards.

Vernon Teach and Learn has made it to the top five of the 14th annual contest that features the best businesses in B.C.

Lynella Henke, who owns the store with her husband, Trevor, said they are very excited to have made it to the final five.

More than 700 businesses were nominated and in December 2016, the Henke's were told they had made the top 10.

I'm totally shocked, said Lynella of the run for No. 1. We don't even know who nominated us.

Lynlla and Trevor will now go before a panel on Feb. 9 and 'pitch' their store. The panel will then decide the winner which will be announced on Feb. 23 at the Pan Pacific in Vancouver.

Lynella said she is totally happy with making the top five.

The store, which opened in 1990, currently has 11 employees and was purchased from Lynella's parents, Mavis and Eric Jackson, in 2003.

Since then the store has more than doubled in size and is one of the most popular stops for children in the downtown core.

The other four nominees in the company category are Dalex Auto Services - Fort Nelson; Nucleus Networks Inc. - Vancouver; Rocky Point Ice Cream Inc. - Port Moody and Wholesale Furniture Brokers  Kamloops.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A Winnipeg woman and her son are millionaires because of a dream.

Bahadur Sultani and his mother won $5.3 million in the Lotto 6-49 draw on Dec. 28.

Sultani says his sister, who died years ago, told him four of the six numbers in a dream.

When he explained to his mother what had happened, she suggested he play the lottery and gave him the last two numbers.

Sultani bought the ticket while working as a truck driver in Red Deer, Alta.

The amount of the jackpot shocked the winners, who plan to donate some of the money to help those in need.

I checked the ticket on my way back to Winnipeg, he said as he picked up the cheque this week with mother Aghdas Mehdizadeh. At first I thought it said $5,000. Then, I looked again and thought it must be $50,000, or maybe half a million dollars.

Sultani said he plans to use the money to buy the perfect "monster truck" but also to make my mom happy.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he should have chosen different words when he talked about phasing out the oilsands earlier this month and unleashed anger in economically ailing Alberta.

"I misspoke," he said Tuesday at the end of a two-day cabinet retreat in downtown Calgary, where the prolonged downturn in oil prices has emptied out floors and floors of office space.

"I said something the way I shouldn't have said it."

Trudeau enraged many in Alberta when he said of the oilsands: "We need to phase them out."

"We need to manage the transition off of our dependence on fossil fuels," he told a town-hall meeting in Peterborough, Ont. "That is going to take time. And, in the meantime, we have to manage that transition.''

The unemployment rate in Alberta, where the economy largely centres on the oil and gas sector, was at 8.5 per cent in December, higher than the national rate of 6.9 per cent. Tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs over the last few years.

Trudeau said he knows Alberta is going through tough times.

"I have said many, many times that I will not run against Alberta, that I understand the jobs here are essential to the families who live here but also essential to our Canadian economy," he said.

"People are happy to jump on words and try to make political hay out of it. I understand that and I certainly have accepted that this is the way this political world works."

He said petrochemicals from the oilsands will always be valuable  even though the world is moving away from fossil fuels. And he touted energy companies' emissions-curbing technological innovations.

Trudeau noted that he recently approved two major oil export pipelines: Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain line to the Vancouver area and Enbridge's expanded Line 3 pipeline to the U.S. Midwest.

The Liberal government is also hopeful the cross-border Keystone XL pipeline, killed by former U.S. president Barack Obama in 2015, will soon be revived under the newly installed Trump administration. Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to push Keystone forward, although it was short of details.
Photo: Canadian Forces

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan plans to talk to his American counterpart before he pursues Canada's plan to send peacekeepers to Africa, saying co-ordination with the U.S. is essential.

The government announced in August that Canada would deploy up to 600 troops on future UN peacekeeping missions, though it stopped short of saying exactly where they would go.

A decision was promised by the end of the year, after military officials and Canadian diplomats had a chance to test the waters and get a better sense of where the troops could make a difference.

But the question of where Canadian blue helmets will end up is still hanging in the air as the government tries to get a handle on the Trump administration's priorities.

Sajjan spoke to new U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis by telephone on Monday, and while they did not discuss peacekeeping, Sajjan said he intends to when the two meet in person for the first time.

That's because any troop deployment must be done with the bigger picture in mind, Sajjan said.

"It's all interconnected. For example, what's happening in Iraq right now impacts what's happening in Africa and other parts of the world," he told reporters in Calgary. "So we have to discuss this because we need to be able to maximize our impact on the ground."

The minister insisted Canada would make its own decision on when and where to send peacekeepers.

Sajjan had the distinction of being the first foreign defence minister that Mattis has spoken to after being confirmed U.S. defence secretary. The retired general was reportedly effusive in his praise for Canada.

According to a readout from the U.S. Defence Department, Mattis not only thanked Canada for its contributions to North American security, he noted the country's military contributions in Iraq and Latvia.

"Secretary Mattis thanked Minister Sajjan for Canada's strong support for our alliance," the readout says, "and expressed his personal appreciation for the professionalism of the Canadian Armed Forces."

Those words will be welcomed by Canadian officials who have been wringing their hands over whether the Trump administration plans to pressure Canada to spend more on defence.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

Naramata residents on Hayman Road are being warned that a number of homes will be inaccessible by car starting Wednesday morning due to a water main break.

The water supply to Hayman Road will also be shut off at 9 a.m. Wednesday, and once crews start digging into the ground to find the source of the leak, there won't be access to eight homes and a winery.

Contractors are unable to say how long it will be until the repair is done, and it's currently uncertain how the break occurred.

Those who live around 3075 Hayman Road are being warned to move their cars if they are needing to drive.
A fire that ripped through a West Kelowna home has also torn through the lives of the family that lived there.

We lost everything, said Jennifer Redato.

I lost things from my family, all my pictures, baby albums, everything she said through tears.

Redato and her three children lived at the home on Ingram Road that was completely gutted by a massive blaze on Friday afternoon. Redato said the fire happened when she was cooking for her son.

I just had to go, get out, I didnt think even think about any of the stuff that was in there. Not even my purse, not my shoes, she said.

The family left everything in the house and only had the clothing on their backs, Redato even left her purse in the blaze.

Her son, Aiden, has type one diabetes, is autistic and was recently diagnosed with severe anxiety.

He will be celebrating his 14th birthday later this month.

Its his birthday next week, I cant even get him what he wants for his birthday this year, Redato said.

The entire back of the house is charred and crews were inside the home investigating while Redato and friends sat outside on Tuesday.

Redato said the main focus for her is getting her son his medication.

I need all of his medication and all of his supplies and I only have one month of it right now, she said.

The family is currently staying in a motel and have had a few pieces of clothing donated to them.

I have to find a new home by next month, she said. I don't know what I am going to do right now.

Their next-door neighbour was home when the fire started and said it took only minutes before the house was gone.

It all started out the back and it was pretty scary, said Tasha Vadeboncoeur. The house was gone in three, four, five minutes.

It was completely gone.

Vadeboncoeur said its hard to see the family go through this and said they have lived in the community for 15 years now.

She is a really good mom, she said. She does it all her self, she doesn't ask for any help.

She is a really good mom, better than me.

You can donate to the family on their GoFundMe page here.
Photo: Contributed A suggested hotel for downtown Oliver, h2 Hotel, Healdsburg California

The Town of Oliver is making a large push to attract a full service hotel to the community.

Mayor Ron Hovanes say they have recently sent out requests to 30-40 hotel companies across North America urging them to take a hard look at Oliver.

About two years ago we did a hotel feasibility study, and it showed that Oliver could support - with the events that it has, with the travellers that come through, the visitors and amenities we have here that we could foster a hotel, Hovanes said.

He says the idea has been on the books for about 12 years, and came close to fruition at one point, but fell apart with the 2008 financial crisis.

Hovanes points to the Okanagan Regional Corrections Centre and Area 27 Speedway opening up as signs its time to make another major effort on the file.

Weve got a little bit of life thats really kicked up in the last years, he said.

The mayor says there are a number of empty lots in the downtown core of Oliver that could support a hotel. Council has also already changed the zoning on the town owned Centennial Trailer Park, and have prepared 10-year tax exemptions for whoever opens a full service hotel.

Weve done as much as we can to, we are really trying to set the table, so we are able, ready and inviting.

Right now, people coming to Oliver for events like the Festival of the Grape or to enjoy the surrounding area, are often forced to stay outside of town and take their dollars with them.

At the same time, we lose a lot of other things too. Small weddings, we lose those to neighbouring communities because they have the accommodation where they can keep a whole wedding party in one location, he said

The Osoyoos Indian Band is also working to attract a hotel, which Hovanes says would also be a big boost to the region.
Sue Decker has been directing McDonell Central Catholic High Schools musicals for 14 years, and every year brings its own challenges. But this years production has been something different entirely.

This has been about the most difficult musical Ive ever done, Decker said with a laugh.

The music is complicated, the cast is large and varied and there are more props than any show shes ever seen, but for all those negatives, she doesnt regret bringing Big  The Musical to the school.

The musical is based on the 1987 hit movie starring Tom Hanks, and it follows Josh Baskin, a 12-year-old who is sick of being an awkward kid, as he makes a wish to become big. The next morning he wakes up as a 30-year-old man, and he finds he has a lot to learn.

Josh learns about getting a job, finding a girlfriend and more. The musical features high-energy dancing and singing, and Decker thinks itll be a hit for the whole family.

I loved the movie with Tom Hanks, and I was especially looking for something fresh that people havent seen, Decker said of her choice in musicals. This is not an old-fashioned musical. Its new, and theres a lot of humor in it.

The cast is comprised of roughly 30 students, ranging in age from third graders to high school, and special guest appearances from McDonell parents.

This broad range of ages has also been difficult to coordinate, but Decker said seeing it come together has been entertaining. Middle school students play a larger role than usual.

But as someone who has worked with a majority of these kids and their families for a long time, Decker said its only assured her how much she loves working with the entire cast and crew.

The kids have been outstanding, and that encourages me to keep directing because there are some really good kids coming up in middle school, she said. It builds a program because once the little kids are in a show, they get that idea of ownership and being proud of what theyre doing. They catch the bug, so to speak.

Of course, Decker couldnt direct the entire show by herself. She said it takes a dedicated team of adults, many who are retired like herself, who return year after year to help out. In addition, choir director Amy Vogt and orchestra director Sean Hanson make sure the music is at the top of its game.

Despite several winter weather advisories that cancelled practices in the last few weeks, Decker is excited to see everything coming to life and thinks the audience will appreciate the time and talent put into the sets, props and actors themselves.

A lot of older people will remember the movie because its one you simply remember, but now its a musical, Decker said. I think (the audience) will have fun. Its probably a musical they havent seen because it wasnt even written until long after the movie came out.

Big  The Musical opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27 at McDonell Central Catholic High School, 1316 Bel Air Blvd., Chippewa Falls. Additional performances are at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28 and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29. Tickets are $6 for children and $12 for adults. They can be purchased at the door or in advance by calling 715-723-4777 or going to macs.k12.wi.us.
Photo: Facebook

Mr. Ed is missing and Linda Fawcett is desperate to find her four-legged friend.

The horse was last seen on Fawcett's property in the Trinity Valley area near Lumby Monday morning.

Fawcett said she saw Mr. Ed with the rest of the herd in the morning, and when she went to feed the animals at around 3 p.m., the older horse was gone.

Fawcett believes the horse was stolen.

He was with a herd of 15 and the gates were locked. He just vanished. He's an older horse that looks young, said Fawcett. He would never leave the herd, not without taking them with him. He's the leader; they would have followed him.

The 60-acre property is surrounded by seven-foot tall fencing and Fawcett said she checked the entire property of the area looking for any sign of her horse.

I walked the whole field. I looked in the pond, I looked in the creeks there is just no sign of him anywhere, said Fawcett, adding there was not enough snow to bury such a large animal if Mr. Ed had simply died.

It comes down to someone came in and grabbed him. He's a puppy dog, if you have treats he will follow you anywhere.

Fawcett has had Mr. Ed for 12 years.

She said they have had hay stolen, as well as quads, but have never had an animal stolen.

Anyone with information on Mr. Ed is asked to call Fawcett at 250-307-2133.

RCMP have been informed and are investigating.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Calgary police amassed 1,400 pieces of evidence  including human flesh, handcuffs, leashes, knives and adult diapers  during their investigation into the disappearance of a Calgary couple and their grandson, jurors in a triple-murder trial heard Tuesday.

Douglas Garland, 56, is charged with first-degree murder in the disappearance of Alvin and Kathy Liknes and their five-year-old grandson Nathan O'Brien in 2014. Their bodies have not been recovered.

Const. Ian Oxton told court he was the first forensic investigator at Garland's parents' rural property north of Calgary after a search warrant was issued and he spent nine days on the property. He was assigned to the case full time in May 2015.

Investigators found over a dozen handcuffs, restraints, several knives, a large hacksaw and a leather baton in the outbuildings.

The hacksaw, which had a 63-centimetre blade, as well as rubber boots, gloves and two shiny meat hooks showed signs of having DNA.

He said it was the condition of the hacksaw and the meat-hooks that drew their attention.

"They were nice and shiny. They were pristine," said Oxton.

Oxton revealed more gruesome details about two items found in and around a burn barrel.

"It looked like a piece of burnt flesh but attached to it was a very small piece of a cotton material ... a very faded cotton material. The cotton material was a pink colour and the fragment itself was darkened, it was blackened," said Oxton.

He said he did a resifting of ashes originally seized by the RCMP from the barrel and found more.

"During the process I found what I believed to be a small piece of charred flesh, again about the size of my thumbnail," he said, adding a red liquid came off as he was examining it. Oxton said a test showed it may have been blood.

Inside the home police searched an office and storage room in the basement. They found a computer hard drive hidden in the rafters and three empty shoe boxes for a size 13 shoe, the same size as the bloody footprints found in the Liknes home.

Police also found two mannequin heads with long blonde wigs in the Garland office as well as a straitjacket and two whips. In the bottom of a closet there was a pink adult reusable diaper. Eight pairs of size 13 women's shoes were seized from the basement.
Photo: The Canadian Press Karina Gould is sworn in as Minister of Democratic Institutions on Jan 10.

Two-thirds of Canadians are happy with how their current voting system works, says a report detailing the findings of the Trudeau government's online electoral reform survey.

The report, quietly released online Tuesday by Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould, also suggests Canadians are willing to entertain changes to the system  provided they don't complicate the voting process.

"Though satisfaction does not necessarily preclude a desire for reforming the electoral system, a majority of Canadians (67 per cent) report being somewhat or very satisfied with the way democracy works in Canada," said the report's executive summary.

"Canadians are receptive to options to express their preferences with greater specificity, but not if the result is a ballot that is more difficult to interpret."

And while just over half of respondents  53 per cent  said they were opposed to mandatory voting, a majority also supported the idea of being able to cast a ballot online, just so long as the system is demonstrably secure, the report stated.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to make the 2015 election the last held under the current first-past-the-post electoral system, although he has since shown signs of backing away from that commitment.

Shortly after the survey was launched, opposition critics howled in protest, noting that none of its 30 questions made mention of a proportional voting system  widely seen as one of the most viable alternatives.

Electoral reform proponents argue that the current voting system, which elects one MP in each of 338 ridings across the country, is unfair because MPs can be elected with less than half the votes cast when more than two candidates are running.

After the government mailed postcards to 15 million Canadians asking them to take part in the survey, approximately 383,074 people responded, 96 per cent of whom live in Canada, said the report.

The report also found that an overwhelming 90 per cent of respondents supported placing limits on the length of federal election campaigns.

The 2015 campaign, at 11 weeks, was the longest in Canadian history.

As well, 66 per cent of Canadians are opposed to lowering the voting age from 18, the report said.
Photo: The Canadian Press

UPDATE: 8:45 a.m.

An ex-Liberal organizer convicted of fraud related to the federal sponsorship scandal was given a four-year prison term Wednesday.

Jacques Corriveau, who was previously described as the ''central figure" in the scandal, will also have 10 years to pay a fine of $1.4 million.

A jury found Corriveau guilty of three charges in November: fraud against the government, forgery and laundering proceeds of crime.

Corriveau, 83, was handcuffed and placed in the prisoner's box after the sentence was read out.

His lawyer, Gerald Souliere, said he would seek his client's immediate release pending an appeal of the sentence. He is already appealing the conviction.

"Mr. Corriveau never thought he would end his days in prison, that he would go to prison," Souliere told reporters after the sentencing. "So, other than to say he's stunned, there's nothing else I can say."

Prosecutors had suggested Corriveau serve between three and five years behind bars, while the defence was seeking a sentence in the community, citing his age and the lengthy delay in his case getting to trial.

The crimes he was convicted of occurred between 1997 and 2003 and were related to what became known as the sponsorship scandal, which eventually helped bring down the Liberal government in 2006.

The Crown alleged Corriveau set up a kickback scheme on contracts awarded during the sponsorship program and used his Pluri Design Canada Inc. firm to defraud the federal government.

Corriveau, who worked on ex-prime minister Jean Chretien's Liberal leadership campaigns and was close to him, was accused of pocketing roughly $7 million in kickbacks.

The judge who headed the commission into the sponsorship scandal described Corriveau in his report about 10 years ago as the ''central figure'' in the kickback scheme.

Corriveau was charged in December 2013 following an 11-year investigation.

In a motion filed in the Quebec Court of Appeal in December, Corriveau's lawyers argued the trial judge erred by not invoking the lengthy delays to grant a stay of proceedings before the trial began this past fall.

The sponsorship program was created after the 1995 sovereignty referendum to increase the federal government's presence in Quebec.

Ottawa's inquiry into the program found that firms were winning contracts based on donations to the federal Liberals, with little work being done.

ORIGINAL: 6:20 a.m.

An ex-Liberal organizer convicted of fraud related to the federal sponsorship scandal is expected to be sentenced today.

A jury found Jacques Corriveau guilty of three charges in November: fraud against the government, forgery and laundering proceeds of crime.

His lawyer is appealing the conviction.

The crimes Corriveau was convicted of occurred between 1997 and 2003 and were related to what became known as the sponsorship scandal, which eventually helped bring down the Liberal government in 2006.

Corriveau, who worked on ex-prime minister Jean Chretien's Liberal leadership campaigns and was close to him, was accused of pocketing roughly $7 million in kickbacks tied to sponsorship contracts given to Liberal-friendly companies.

Prosecutors have suggested Corriveau, 83, serve between three and five years behind bars, while the defence has countered with a sentence in the community, citing his age and the lengthy delay in his case getting to trial.
Photo: Contributed

Revelstoke Search and Rescue and RCMP were kept busy last night searching for several missing skiers.

Staff Sgt. Kurt Grabinsky said on Tuesday Jan. 24, emergency officials were called upon to deal with two separate incidents where skiers had gone out of bounds at the Revelstoke Mountain Resort (RMR).

The first group, five people from Denmark, got separated from their group of 20 skiers and were reported as missing to the RCMP. They were not equipped to spend the night, said Grabinsky.

Revelstoke SAR was deployed to search for these missing skiers. At approximately 11 p.m., a 911 call was received from the group indicating that they were able to hike back in bounds of RMR to a warming hut where they were eventually met by SAR. Fortunately there were no injuries.

A second skier from Germany was reported stranded while having skied out of bounds and was observed by helicopter in an area referred to as the Greely Bowl.

The skier was equipped with avalanche gear and water.

A helicopter was able to drop a radio to him and determine his co-ordinates, said Grabinsky. Revelstoke SAR skiers travelled at night to reach him, but were unable to get to him due to the challenging terrain. At first light on Jan. 25, Revelstoke SAR was re-deployed with a helicopter and located the skier who was in good health.

In the past four weeks, Revelstoke SAR has been activated on several occasions to deal with similar incidents for either skiers, snowboarders or snowmobilers stranded in the backcountry.

Rescue missions such as these, especially in the current weather conditions  light snow, wind and temperatures below zero  place emergency personnel at risk. Please formulate a plan, tell others where you are going and when you expect to return. Be prepared with your equipment, travel in groups and be prepared to spend the night, he said.

Search and rescue and the RCMP cannot stress enough the importance of obeying advisory warning signs and ski area boundary markers. If you are not prepared, the reality is you could become lost, seriously injured or die.
Today is Bell's Let's Talk Day to encourage discussion about mental health.

Canadian Olympian Clara Hughes has been promoting mental health for years as has other well-known Canadians who have made their personal challenges public.

And for those struggling with mental health issues, help is at hand.

The Canadian Mental Health Association in Vernon has numerous resources for anyone who needs them.

Sue Rossi, CMHA Vernon executive director, said the centre, at 3100 - 28th Ave., has programs to meet every need.

We have grown and expanded over many years to meet the needs of people who are living with mental illness, she said. We have a multitude of educational opportunities here. We also offer recreational and social programming. Most of it is free or very low cost and it's every day of the week.

CMHA also offers a range of work-related programs to help people enter the workforce.

Statistics show one in five people will experience mental health issues at some point in their life, but Rossi thinks those numbers are much higher with just about everyone being impacted by mental health issues at some point in their lives.

There's such a growing appetite for education on mental illness. One of the missions we have is to reduce the stigma of mental illness. So we spend a lot of time talking about that, but we have a long way to go, said Rossi.
If you have just started your journey in an online casino or are looking for a new site to play,...
Gov. Scott Walker on Wednesday afternoon scrapped plans to unveil a new plan to help rural school districts Thursday at the Stanley-Boyd School District Library.

Walker said during a meeting of the Wisconsin Credit Union League he planned to tour the state to release dramatic proposals intended to help rural schools. He was scheduled to speak in Wauzeka, Hilbert and Crandon before coming to the Stanley-Boyd School District.

But the visits to the four school districts was called off by the governors office without explanation. In an email, the office said the announcement would be rescheduled.

Before the announcement scrapping the visit, Stanley-Boyd Superintendent Jim Jones said small, rural school districts with few students face financial troubles that larger school districts dont because the costs per student are much higher.

The quality of the districts teachers, principals and administrators must be on par with larger school districts, but because of low enrollment, the districts budgets dont always accommodate salaries that would attract good candidates for school positions.

The rural schools ... have some real, tough budgetary parameters, Jones said. They have issues everybody else doesnt have simply because of their size. So, I hope he (Walker) will quote-unquote throw some money at them.

Kim Kaukl, executive director of the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance, said he met with the governor and suggested increasing the state-imposed revenue limits to more than $200 per pupil and increase funding for rural school districts that have had to recently quit offering summer school in part because of transportation costs.

Kaukl also said he requested more money for mental health services, special education, a financial incentive for school districts to consolidate and a repeal of the state school year start date of September 1.

Walker has said for months that increasing funding for public schools will be a priority in his upcoming 2017-19 state budget proposal, especially for rural schools, which State Superintendent Tony Evers has called for in past budget cycles.

Evers current budget request asks for $5.5 million to provide rural school districts with grant money to pay teachers to retain and recruit them; increase transportation funding for rural school districts and millions more in funding for bilingual-bicultural programs and programs aimed at students who are learning English as a second language.

Rural schools have some real, tough budgetary parameters. They have issues everybody else doesnt have simply because of their size. Jim Jones, Stanley-Boyd Schools superintendent Rural schools have some real, tough budgetary parameters. They have issues everybody else doesnt have simply because of their size. Jim Jones, Stanley-Boyd School superintendent
Lets go ahead and agree that Barron Trump should be off-limits.

Hes a 10-year-old child and, unlike President Donald Trumps other offspring, highly unlikely to advise his dad on financial or political matters. He hasnt behaved in a way that invites judgment or rebuke. He asked for none of this.

Were not off to a bang-up start. Modern Family actress Julie Bowen is catching heat for a series of tweets poking fun at his inauguration demeanor. Saturday Night Live writer Katie Rich, a Chicago native, tweeted a tasteless (now deleted) joke about Barron becoming the nations first homeschool shooter.

Chelsea Clinton, the subject of terrible taunts during her White House stint, hopped on Twitter over the weekend to call foul. Barron Trump deserves the chance every child does  to be a kid, she wrote.

(She also added, Standing up for every kid also means opposing @POTUS policies that hurt kids, which critics say muddled her message. But lets stay on point here.)

We have a long and lousy history of being jerks about presidential kids. Before famously calling Chelsea Clinton the White House dog, radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh called Jimmy Carters daughter the most unattractive presidential daughter in the history of the country and later corrected himself, saying hed forgotten about Harry Trumans daughter, Margaret.

Congressional aide Elizabeth Lauten stepped down from her Tennessee GOP post in 2014 after ridiculing Barack Obamas daughters for their perfectly benign behavior at a turkey pardon.

We can do better this time.

We can pause before we poke fun at a kid and ask ourselves what we value. Kindness and empathy toward children should be high on the list.

By many measures, Barrons life has been, and will continue to be, easy. He is shielded from physical harm. He has access to well-funded, high-performing schools. He will likely never go hungry. When he needs it, he will receive the best medical care available.

If it bothers you that other children dont have those things, well, it should. It is this nations greatest failing that access to education, health care, food and safety is so wildly disparate from one child to the next. But wed be far better served to invest our energy in solving those deficiencies, rather than tearing down a child whose bloodline shields him from them.

Few of us would have relished the spotlight at age 10  certainly not the spotlight that accompanies a parent in political office. As Devorah Heitner writes in Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World (Routledge): Do you wish there were more pictures of you as a tween? Probably not.

No more Barron Trump taunts. Theyre lazy. Theyre mean. Theyre counterproductive.

And seriously. A school shooting joke?

Do better.

Few of us would have relished the spotlight at age 10  certainly not the spotlight that accompanies a parent in political office.
The following editorial appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal on Sunday, Jan. 22:

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 spend 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.
New Hope in New Smyrna Contact: Dr. Andrew T. Knight, Pastor,

Constitution Baptist Church,

386-478-8156,

Dr.atknight@gmail.com;



NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla., Jan. 25, 2017 /



What: The Constitution Baptist Church is an independent church which will have a special outreach to Veterans, Military, Police, Fire, First Responders, and the community at large. The church will also emphasize leadership training and children's ministry, and training pastors to become missionaries and to start new churches across America.



Where: 471 Old Mission Rd.  New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168



Why: Because there is a spiritual element in Florida relative to the states growth of 1,000 people per day (



When: Opening Day  February 5, 2017 at 9AM, 10AM, and 5PM service times.

Share Tweet Contact: Dr. Andrew T. Knight, Pastor,386-478-8156, www.CEF.gives , Skype: andrew.knight894NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla., Jan. 25, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- Dr. Andrew Knight relocated to New Smyrna Beach in February of last year. He is originally from Connecticut moved to Florida three and one half years ago by order of his doctor. While opening another church in the Boston area twenty-one years ago he was in a house fire that left him with 4th degree burns on 80% of his body, and spent almost one year in the hospital. After much research all around the State of Florida Knight found that New Smyrna Beach to be just the right place to settle. He is no stranger to Florida as he attended Pensacola Christian College from 1989-1993, and served in the U.S. Air Force at Eglin AFB, FL. After helping another church out in the area a neighbor suggested that he rent the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge in New Smyrna Beach. The building was available to rent for the church's first home. Dr. Knight has two books in print and is working on a third manuscript.The Constitution Baptist Church is an independent church which will have a special outreach to Veterans, Military, Police, Fire, First Responders, and the community at large. The church will also emphasize leadership training and children's ministry, and training pastors to become missionaries and to start new churches across America.471 Old Mission Rd.  New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168Because there is a spiritual element in Florida relative to the states growth of 1,000 people per day ( www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/blog/morning-edition/2015/12/florida-population-tops-20-million.html ). People move here from all over the country and the world, and when they arrive they begin to look for a place to worship. Also, when people move here from other parts of the country they leave behind family, friends and former co-workers. Relocating to Florida takes some right things to happen in order to connect to their new state and community. One aspect that helps people in their connectedness to others is finding a faith community to belong too. Their new faith community not only provides worship but also, a family to connect too, and people to network with which help connect new people to the other things that they need in the community.Opening Day  February 5, 2017 at 9AM, 10AM, and 5PM service times.
home World Philippine president slams Catholic church for opposing war on drugs

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte denounced the Catholic Church for speaking out against the summary killings linked to the government's war on drugs.

In his speech during the oathtaking of Philippine National Police officials on Thursday, Duterte questioned the Church's moral ascendancy to criticize the drug war and accused the clergymen of homosexuality, corruption and child abuse.

According to police figures, as many as 7,042 people have been killed in the drug war. A total of 2,250 died in anti-drug operations while most of the other deaths are still being investigated.

He said that the priests should use their influence to help end drug addiction instead of denouncing him.

"Most people here are Catholic. If you are a good priest, make them understand that they will die," the president said, referring to drug users, as reported by The Guardian.

"You criticise the police, you criticise me. For what? You have the money. You are all crazy ... when we were making confessions to you, we were being molested. They are touching us. What is your moral ascendancy, religion? What is the meaning of it?" he continued.

Duterte's speech came a day after one of his top advisers met with Pope Francis at the Vatican. Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza delivered the president's letter to the pope to thank him for his visit to the Philippines in 2015.

"The Philippines values its special relations with the Holy See and regards with gratitude your Holiness' gracious stewardship of the Catholic Church Please accept, your Holiness, the assurances of my highest esteem and respect," the president said in the letter, according to Inquirer.

Dureza said that the pope told him that he would bless the Philippines as well as the president.

Duterte caused controversy when he cursed the pope for causing traffic jams during his papal visit in January 2015. The president subsequently apologized and explained that he was cursing at the government's incompetence, and not the pope. In 2016, he claimed that he was physically molested by a priest when he was young.

Responding to Duterte's tirade, Catholic Bishop Ruperto Santos said that the Church is open to dialogue with the government, but it will not compromise its pro-life stance.
In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome!
COLUMBUS  Platte County may join a program that supports the livestock industry.

The Platte County Board of Supervisors approved a motion Tuesday to hold a public hearing 10 a.m. March 7 to move forward with designating Platte as a Nebraska Livestock Friendly County.

A public hearing is part of the process to receive the designation through the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. There are 41 counties in the state that currently have the designation.

This is not the first time the proposal has been before the local board. It was also an item on a county board meeting agenda in June 2015, but the supervisors took no action at that time. It resurfaced at the request of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber President K.C. Belitz said a member of the group's agribusiness committee questioned why the designation isn't in place since Platte County is seemingly very friendly to agricultural production, including livestock.

Our committee felt the positive publicity that comes from the designation was worth the effort, and they did offer to assist Platte County with any necessary tasks to achieve the designation from the state, Belitz said.

The benefits that come with the designation can vary.

It depends on what your goals are here as a county in terms of economic growth, Steve Martin, promotion coordinator with the Department of Agriculture, told the board.

Some counties are so small the designation is merely a tip of the cap to livestock producers who are already part of the local economy, he said. Heavily populated counties are motivated to be livestock friendly to draw in new businesses.

Martin said the designation tells livestock producers and related companies a county is open for business.

You could probably say that about every county in the state, that they are open for business, but its taking that extra step to make that statement that we are out there. We are saying we want more business, we are saying we are interested and want more in our community, he said.

Some board members said Platte County is already welcoming to producers without the designation.

Because we are one of the very few counties in Nebraska that does not have zoning, were probably one of the friendliest livestock friendly counties there are, said Supervisor Tom Martens.

Supervisor Jerry Micek agreed, which is why he voted against the motion for the public hearing. He also questioned whether it could be a problem if the county implements zoning in the future.

Micek, Martens and Supervisor Bob Lloyd, who also said he sees no need to pursue the designation, voted against scheduling a public hearing.

The motion passed with the support of the other four board members, Jerry Engdahl, Jim Scow, Ron Pfeifer and Hollie Olk.

This is all about economic growth and this is why the chamber is asking about it, Olk said, adding that the designation is another chip on the table that could bring a new business to the county.

The board also scheduled a public hearing for the one- and six-year road plans for 10-11 a.m. Feb. 21.
Detention Center

The inmate count at the Platte County Detention Facility Tuesday was 75, with 48 from Platte County and 27 from out of county.

Police

Dec. 31

11 p.m.  In the 700 block of 23rd street, Elizabeth Bonilla, 21, 4120 16th St., was cited for possession of marijuana-one ounce or less.

Jan. 15

6:50 a.m.  In a parking lot at 3010 23rd St., Christine Loeffler, 42, North Bend, was cited for theft by shoplifting.

Jan. 16

11:40 p.m.  At 2010 Fourth St., Charles Case III, 18, Bellwood, was cited for attempted theft by taking and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Jan. 19

3:55 p.m.  On 18th Avenue, near the intersection with Woodland Drive, traffic accident. Drivers were Megan Coffey, 16, 2078 E. Eighth St., and Randi Smith, 28, 3020 20th St.

5:15 p.m.  In a parking lot at 818 E. 23rd St., a vehicle driven by Bencao Ntela, 59, 4137 E. 27th St., struck a parked vehicle owned by Joyce and Dale Rhodes, Gresham, and left the scene.

Jan. 20

9:46 a.m.  At the intersection of 27th Street and 33rd Avenue, Yadian Escalana, 28, 3461 53rd St., No. 2, was cited for no valid registration.

1:21 p.m.  At the intersection of Third Avenue and Eighth Street, traffic accident. Drivers were Luis Arcos, 18, 1983 E. Calle Colombo, and Idalia Alvarado, 58, Schuyler.

6:05 p.m.  In the 300 block of 18th Avenue, an unknown vehicle struck a parked vehicle owned by Tammy Lance, 2571 47th Ave., No. 4, and left the scene.

6:52 p.m.  In a parking lot at 2806 23rd St., a vehicle driven by Rogan Goc, 19, 3113 Timberedge Drive, struck a parked vehicle owned by Jose Fili, Bellwood.

Jan. 21

10:31 a.m.  In the 3800 block of 23rd Street, Teressa Van Buskirk, 36, 2453 18th Ave., was cited for speeding, 50 mph in a 35 mph zone.

12:58 p.m.  In a parking lot at 3200 Sixth St., an unknown vehicle struck a parked vehicle owned by Terry Daniels, 824 Becton St., and left the scene.

3:02 p.m.  In the 5000 block of Howard Boulevard, a motorcycle driven by Corey Grubaugh, 43, 1654 Sunset Drive, slowed to avoid a collision, lost control and was thrown from his motorcycle.

3:04 p.m.  At the intersection of 26th Avenue and 17th Street, traffic accident. Drivers were Barbara Rocha, 42, 1570 36th Ave., and Andrew Budde, 22, Fremont. Rocha was cited for failure to yield right of way, driving under the influence and refusal of a chemical test.

Jan. 22

2:30 a.m.  In the 4500 block of 31st Street, a vehicle driven by Seamus OHearn, 18, 22838 310th Ave., struck a parked vehicle owned by Cynthia and Matthew Stoeckle, 4529 31st St., and left the scene.

Jan. 23

4:29 a.m.  In the 2600 block of 23rd Street, Lauchianna Sanchez, 40, Bellwood, was cited for speeding, 45 mph in a 35 mph zone.

5:06 a.m.  In the 2600 block of 23rd Street, Luke Larsen, 39, 13 Lakewood Drive, was cited for speeding, 45 mph in a 35 mph zone.

10:53 a.m.  Theft at 1460 35th Ave., Colegrove Counseling Center, electric scooter stolen, no loss amount.

Sheriff

Jan. 23

3:59 a.m.  Traffic violation on U.S. Highway 30 near Behlen Mfg. Co., Miguel Chavez-Duque jailed for driving under suspension and cited for speeding.

4:14 p.m.  Suspicious activity reported in Platte Center, Frank Davis of Columbus jailed for driving under suspension and cited for no proof of insurance.

9:43 p.m.  Wanted person at 2545 SE 16th St., Tomas Alicea jailed on a Colfax County warrant.

Fire

Jan. 23

11:20 a.m.  In the 3700 block of 15th Street, medical.

Noon  In the 2600 block of 14th Street, medical.

12:29 p.m.  In the 2500 block of 15th Street, medical.

8:44 p.m.  In the 1400 block of 25th Avenue, medical.
COLUMBUS  State Sen. Robert Hilkemann simply wanted to start a discussion on exempted taxes.

But the bill he introduced threatened to wipe out one of the state's industries.

That's why the senator from District 4 in Omaha plans later this week to withdraw LB667, which would have substantially increased the taxes on tracks hosting living horse racing.

Tracks hit the hardest would have been Platte County Agricultural Park in Columbus, as well as Fonner Park in Grand Island.

The Columbus Races are scheduled to run on 16 dates over a 32-day span this year, from Aug. 4 to Sept. 4. Fonner Park begins Feb. 24 and will have 31 days of living racing, ending May 6.

"I plan to withdraw that bill before the week is out," Hilkemann said in an email to The Telegram. "It was not my intention to harm the racing industry, and I introduced the bill to have a discussion of exempted taxes."

As the law stands right now, the first $10 million in wagers on live racing at a venue is not taxed, and any amount between $10 million and $73 million is taxed at 2.5 percent. If the bill had been passed, it would have placed a 5.5 percent tax on every dollar bet.

A 2 percent exemption would be in place on the first $70 million to provide for improvements and maintenance to the track, lowering the tax to 3.5 percent.

That means a tax on $1 million of wagering would be $35,000.

We would not be able to absorb that, said Dan Clarey, secretary of Columbus Exposition and Racing, which operates the Columbus Races.

According to Columbus Exposition and Racing, total wagering in 2015 reached $745,249, a nearly 7 percent jump from $697,886 in 2014. Clarey said wagering was down 2.5 to 3 percent in 2016, putting it around $720,000 to $725,000.

That would have been devastating for our operation, Clarey said of the proposed tax change.

Hilkemann introduced the measure Jan. 18. The next day, the Nebraska Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Agency called an emergency meeting to discuss its options.

Barry Lake, HBPA president, said the group hired Walt Radcliffe to lobby the Legislature on its behalf. He was joined by the Kelly Firm, hired by Omaha Exposition and Racing, to stop the bill.

Lake said the tax burden placed on the industry, which would amount to a $2.25 million increase, would be too much for the tracks to handle.

It would effectively put horse racing out of business, Lake said.

That was not the intention, the state senator said.

"On learning from the horse operators that this may eliminate their industry, I am reconsidering the bill," Hilkeman said. "I am withdrawing the bill once I have the opportunity to visit with the group that brought it for my introduction."

When pressed further, Hilkeman would not reveal the identity of the group or its members.

Lake said the revenue generated by live horse racing at Ag Park and Fonner Park serves two purposes. It supplements the purses paid out while also helping the track cover any operating or maintenance expenses.

If you want to tax someone out of existence, you can do it, Lake said. Thats the effect this legislation would have.

Lake added that the bill would have a definite impact outside the track, as well. Those who shoe horses and those who grow hay and alfalfa for feed would also feel the effects the proposed legislation could have on the industry.

Theres an infrastructure involved, Lake said. There are people in that business to make a living. If the industry goes away, those people wont be able to make a living anymore.

Besides Ag Park and Fonner Park, living horse racing in the state is held at Lincoln Race Course (two days of racing, Sept. 8 and Sept. 15) and Horsemen's Park in Omaha (seven days, July 7 through July 29).
The Blackstone Charitable Foundation will give up to $3.4 million over three years to Chicago nonprofits that support entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds, the group and Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday evening.

The grants, which will come from the charitable arm of the New York-based firm that owns the Willis Tower, could give a boost to Chicago organizations such as the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Blue1647 tech hub, which would be likely contenders for awards.

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"The desire to be an entrepreneur is universal, but the access isn't," said Jon Gray, a Highland Park native who is head of global real estate at Blackstone, which invests capital for public pension funds and paid $1.3 billion for the Willis Tower in 2015.

"So hopefully, by putting some capital here, putting some of our people and expertise, partnering with the institutions on the ground  we can help. Our goal is to try to ignite things and further the focus on this. It's one of those things that once it starts, it can start to build its own momentum."

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The foundation developed the Blackstone Inclusive Entrepreneurship Challenge along with ChicagoNext, the tech council of economic development group World Business Chicago.

Organizations can apply for a piece of the grant money through March 24 at blackstonechallenge.org. In the first year, the foundation will give up to $1 million, to be split among up to six organizations. It will decide in the following two years which groups will receive the remaining funds.

Amy Stursberg, executive director of the foundation, said the Chicago program is its first to focus on diversity. Other Blackstone programs provide grants to regional entrepreneurship networks in North Carolina and Colorado and a campus entrepreneurship program called Launchpad at various colleges.

She said her organization met with leaders in Chicago over the past year to figure out how to direct the grant money, and a desire to increase diversity was a common theme in those conversations.

"This seems to be the issue that everybody is grappling with," she said.

Job creation will be the basic measure of success for the program, Stursberg said. Beyond that, she hopes the program will produce ideas that will be sustainable  that is, that they will win further funding and support from other foundations. If they do well, those ideas could even be exported to other regions, she said.

Emanuel said the grants could bring more business ideas to life and have a ripple effect that could affect issues, such as violence, in some of the city's challenged neighborhoods.

"Part of fighting violence and crime is jobs and employment and returning hope where there is despair," he said. "It's not the whole solution, but it's a solution. And it will make a contribution."

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In Chicago, there are 107 facilities  counting coworking spaces, incubators, accelerators and innovation hubs  that entrepreneurs can turn to, but more than 90 of them are downtown, said Mark Tebbe , chairman of ChicagoNext. He said the grants can support efforts by organizations to reach those who aren't geographically close to those resources.

He said ChicagoNext will reach out to possible contenders for the grants and form a committee to select the recipients.

Challenge leaders will announce the first group of recipients in May. The programs proposed by grant-winners in the first year should focus on recruiting, engaging and supporting entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups and will begin in July, World Business Chicago said.

aelahi@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @aminamania
Johnson and Johnson Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky, the head of world's largest health-care company, called for keeping some provisions of Obamacare intact as President Donald Trump and Republicans move to repeal the law.

Gorsky, who was among a dozen top business leaders who met with Trump Monday on his first full working day as president, said Tuesday he will advocate to keep coverage of pre-existing conditions and people staying on their parents' insurance until they are 26, as well as a competitive individual insurance market.

J&J also supports moving toward value-based health care, whereby prices for drugs and services are based on the quality of care.

"We hope lawmakers take the same cooperative spirit, putting patients first as we move through debate about the future of our health-care system," Gorsky said on a conference call about the drugmaker's fourth-quarter results.

The call was the first opportunity for analysts and investors to question a major drugmaker on its priorities under the new administration, after Trump surprisingly attacked the industry on high drug prices and moved toward undoing the health-care law created by his predecessor. Gorsky said it's important that the industry explains how its products help lower the overall cost of health care.

Earlier in the day, J&J gave a 2017 profit forecast that was lower than analysts anticipated, blaming the impact of the stronger dollar, as negotiations drag into weeks with Swiss biotechnology company Actelion, potentially its largest deal ever. J&J is in exclusive talks with Actelion, a maker of drugs for pulmonary arterial hypertension that has a market value of about $24 billion.

While the companies tentatively agreed on a price, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month that the discussions continued on valuing a new unit that would house Actelion's research and development assets. J&J said the talks are ongoing, declining to comment specifically on the deal.

J&J shares fell as much as 2.4 percent, the biggest intraday drop since Dec. 7.

Trump has suggested the government should negotiate for better drug prices, a move long opposed by the industry and Republican lawmakers.

"It's incumbent upon us as an industry to price responsibly," Gorsky said on the call. "We have attempted to do that. We believe that has in fact been our practice."

New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company -- whose businesses include consumer brands like Johnson's baby care and Neutrogena as well as medical devices -- didn't see an uptick in business after the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, according to Chief Financial Officer Dominic Caruso. A reversal won't hurt the company's margins, the CFO said.

Without clarity on what will replace Obamacare, there are concerns that the 20 million people who gained insurance under the program may lose coverage. J&J incurred about $1.4 billion in costs related to the ACA, including drug fees and rebates. While J&J is waiting to see if these costs, as well as a deferred medical device tax, will remain under any policy changes, they have been factored into the 2017 guidance, Caruso said.

The CEO meeting with Trump on Monday wasn't focused on health care but rather on growing the economy, Gorsky said, adding he is optimistic that tax reform will happen.

While talks with Actelion are ongoing, Gorsky said he will continue to pursue opportunities to deploy capital that would improve shareholder value. In recent years, J&J has been expanding its pharmaceuticals business to offset slower growth in consumer products and medical devices. As its blockbuster arthritis treatment Remicade faces new competition in the U.S. from a cheaper version of the product, called a biosimilar, J&J has been looking to expand into new drug categories.

Larger deals of more than $1 billion have generally been more challenging and J&J has preferred to focus on smaller ones. J&J also said Tuesday it is exploring potential opportunities for its diabetes device units, which Caruso said in a phone interview have been hit by price declines in recent years.
McDonald's "vendor village" at 200-210 N. Carpenter St. will be just a few minutes' walk north of the new headquarters building. (Sterling Bay rendering)

Plans for McDonald's "vendor village"  a 12-story West Loop building that will house McDonald's suppliers when the chain moves downtown next year  were approved by the City Council on Wednesday, amid a growing neighborhood backlash against the development.

Neighbors say the $47.2 million tower, planned for 200-210 N. Carpenter St., will dwarf nearby buildings and hurt the character of the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. Some also argue that the plan is being fast-tracked to quash their concerns. A neighborhood group, Friends of Fulton Market, mobilized phone calls to the office of Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, and appeared at a community meeting this week following the vendor village project's approval by the city's Plan Commission on Thursday. Friends of Fulton Market also is fighting three other similar developments because of their height.

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"These new building heights are fully inconsistent with our landmark district's historic building scale," the group said in a statement Wednesday. "... The alderman compromised the integrity of the Historic Landmark District by limiting some property owners to 3-story structures while allowing 24 stories for others built with steel and glass. This inconsistent approach will make the Fulton Market Landmark District no different than River North or South Loop  where over-sized developments, overwhelming congestion, no street parking and challenging safety conditions exist."

Other community organizations have supported amended building plans through compromises with developer Sterling Bay, which also is behind McDonald's headquarters construction across Randolph Street.

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A letter, obtained by the Tribune, that was sent by the West Loop Community Organization to Burnett this month said the group's board endorsed the project after Sterling Bay agreed to reduce the height and make other adjustments, such as adding window shades and pedestrian alerts at the parking garage exit.

A representative for Burnett said he had no further comment about the project on Wednesday. In a statement following the introduction by City Council, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said that the project is a "win-win."

"It will create more than a thousand jobs on the Near West Side of Chicago while generating economic opportunities in areas that need them," Emanuel said. "As we prepare now to break ground I look forward to continuing to work closely with Ald. Burnett and all of the partners instrumental in this effort."

McDonald's is set to move into a new headquarters building at 110 N. Carpenter St., the site of Oprah Winfrey's former Harpo Studios, next spring. That 600,000-square-foot, nine-story building is under construction. The world's largest burger chain, which has been based in Oak Brook for four decades, said last year that it expected some of its suppliers to make the move downtown with it.

The proposed 224,000-square-foot vendor village is just a few minutes' walk north of the new McDonald's headquarters.

When it relocates, McDonald's will bring about 2,000 employees to the neighborhood, alternatively known as Fulton Market and West Town. The supplier building will bring about 960 permanent jobs, according to the mayor's office.

The tenants for the vendor village are not yet known. Sterling Bay Managing Principal Andy Gloor said that he is in "deep discussions" with several potential tenants but would not comment further.

sbomkamp@chicagotribune.com

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Twitter @SamWillTravel
Discover Financial Services is best-known for its credit cards but the Chicago-area company sees opportunity if the federal government, as widely expected, curtails its student loan lending under a Trump administration.

Only about 6 percent of student loans are private. If the federal government were to phase out its student loan programs, private lenders might be the only ones able to fill a gap that can mean the difference between living on campus or at home, or even attending college.

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Investors see opportunity too.

Since the election, stocks of some student loan issuers and servicers have outperformed the Standard & Poor's 500. Shares of Sallie Mae, a private student loan originator, are up 65 percent. Navient and Nelnet, which service student loans, are up 17 percent and 29 percent, respectively. Discover's stock is up more than 20 percent since the election.

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"To the extent that there was a greater role for private lending, I think we would be very well-positioned," David Nelms, Discover's chairman and CEO, said during a call Tuesday to discuss the Riverwoods-based company's fourth-quarter earnings.

"It wouldn't take much in the way of federal backing off to have a dramatic increase on the private origination side," said Nelms, who added he wouldn't expect any changes in 2017 "but maybe in subsequent years."

Discover's student loan business is already on the upswing. It set a record with $1.4 billion in new loans last year, a 9 percent increase. It credited more sales and marketing, as well as a redesign of the loan application that improved the customer experience.

William Blair & Co. analyst Bob Napoli predicts private student loans could account for 12 percent of all student lending in the next few years. "There could be substantial growth potential in the student lending business as we believe the Trump administration is likely to reduce government involvement in the student lending business," Napoli wrote in a report on Wednesday.

Worries about the private student loans persist, however.

This month the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report showing that student loan debt is a problem even for older consumers heading into retirement, as they help finance their own educations and those of their children.

In 2015, nearly 870,000 borrowers age 65 and older owed federal student loans, the report said. But unlike federal loans, private student loan companies routinely require a co-signer or co-borrower, a process that also puts, say, a parent on the hook along with the primary borrower, according to the report.

Both Illinois and the federal government are going after allegedly abusive student loan practices they say trap consumers and make it difficult for them to move past their school years.

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Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan this month filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging student loan servicer Navient and its subsidiaries failed to properly help struggling borrowers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a similar complaint against Navient.

Navient, based in Wilmington, Del., said the allegations in the lawsuits are unfounded. "We will vigorously defend against these false allegations and continue to help our customers achieve financial success," the company said.

Illinois' suit also alleged that loan originator Sallie Mae Bank put students into expensive subprime loans it knew were going to fail, violating the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act. Madigan's suit asks the court to provide restitution to borrowers, and to rescind or change contracts or loan agreements between Navient and Illinois consumers.

"One of the reasons I brought the Navient lawsuit is to reform the private student loan industry by establishing enforceable standards for servicers that will better protect borrowers and provide consistent repayment options," Madigan said in a statement. "We believe the federal direct loan program is vital and its benefits, including income-driven repayment plans, should continue."

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., has supported a bill that would make private student loans dischargeable in bankruptcy court.

"This issue is a top priority for Sen. Durbin and he will be watching it very closely," spokeswoman Emily Hampsten said.

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byerak@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @beckyyerak
The following items were taken from Northfield Police Department reports and press releases. An arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt.

Northfield

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Graffiti

Graffiti was painted on the bridge at Woodland Lane South and Old Willow Road, according to a Jan. 18 report. Public works was called to repair it.

Counterfeit bill

An employee at New Trier High School reported receiving a counterfeit $10 bill on Jan. 19. It was turned over to investigators.

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Fraud

A resident of the 300 block of Meadowbrook Drive on Jan. 23 reported credit card fraud. The matter was turned over to investigators.

Disturbance

On Jan. 21, a vehicle alarm sounded for two hours in the 300 block of West Frontage Road. The owner was located and moved the vehicle.

Police were called to a community center in the 400 block of Wagner Road on Jan. 18 on a report of someone sleeping in the building. It was determined the man was homeless.

Identity theft

A resident of the 100 block of Lagoon Drive on Jan. 18 reported they were the victim of identity theft. The report was given to investigations.

A resident of the 2000 block of Sunset Ridge Road on Jan. 23 reported they had received a utility bill from Wisconsin and suspected it may have been identity theft, and wanted to make a police report.

Brian L. Cox is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.
It's about that time of January when you bend on those healthy eating resolutions and dive face-first into, oh, lasagna and beer? We can help.

1. Make Sunday a pasta party

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Roots Handmade Pizza may be known for its Quad-Cities-style malt-crust pies, but the restaurant taps old Italian Sunday dinner traditions with its new lasagna special. End the weekend on a high note (and in a food coma) with a heaping slab of cheesy lasagna goodness, made with a blend of four whipped cheeses, a layer of Parmesan bechamel and a sauce of your choosing. But once they run out, they're out  so don't dawdle. $15. Sundays at 1924 W. Chicago Ave., 773-645-4949 and 2200 W. Lawrence Ave., 773-433-5959, www.rootspizza.com.

2. Try a new Chicago-made spirit

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Boleo, the rooftop bar in the new Kimpton Gray Hotel, is launching its own fernet, and you're invited to celebrate. Created by Rhine Hall Distillery exclusively for Boleo, Fernet Lola is a nod to both the Argentine and Peruvian flavors the bar celebrates. Head bartender Jess Lambert and director of bars for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Mike Ryan will host three different pop-ups in one night throughout the 4,000-square-foot space, while the private dining room will be transformed into a tasting room. Samples, live music and food and drinks specials are available all night. Free to attend. 9 p.m. to midnight Saturday, Jan. 28, at 122 W. Monroe St., 312-750-9007.

Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. >

3. Get to know On Tour Brewing

West Town's On Tour Brewing is hosting its Tour Opener Weekend, two days of beer-heavy fun for craft fans curious to know more about the newcomer. The event lineup includes $5 crowlers (32-ounce aluminum cans), raffles for merchandise and free tours of the facilities with head brewer Mark Poffenberger. Free to attend. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, at 1725 W. Hubbard St., www.ontourbrewing.com/tour-opener-weekend.

4. Take a cooking class at Mama's Boy

Up your hosting game with some new chef-y skills. Chef Massimo Gaffo of Mama's Boy, a new Rosebud restaurant in River North, hosts a weekly, small-format cooking class every Saturday. This week's is focused on easy-to-prep salads and appetizers. Gaffo walks you through crowd-pleasers (meatballs, sausage and peppers and his signature salad); enjoy wine as you follow (and snack) along. $100. Noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, at 445 N. Dearborn St., 312-391-1446, www.rosebudrestaurants.com.

5. Drink your way through 13 stouts

Ukrainian Village's Tuman's Tap & Grill is going all out for stout this Friday. For its third year hosting an all-stout takeover, the bar is dedicating 13 of its 28 taps to these big boys, featuring beers like Goose Island's 2016 Bourbon County Stout series, along with New Holland Brewing's Dragon Milk Reserves and Alesmith Brewing Company's Speedway Stouts. Brews will run $7 to $12, with flights available. Noon to 3 a.m. (or until beer runs out) Friday, Jan. 27, at 2159 W. Chicago Ave., 773-782-1400, www.tumanstapandgrill.com.

jbhernandez@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @joeybear85






The American Writers Museum, a long-gestating new Chicago institution, has set an opening date of May 16, the museum announced Tuesday.



Located at 180 N. Michigan Ave., the museum will celebrate authors from Mark Twain to Dr. Seuss, it said in a release, and has signed on 55 writers' homes and museums around the country as affiliates. Adult admission will be $12.



The 11,000-square-foot, second-floor museum is calling some of its exhibits The Mind of a Writer, A Writer's Room, and Word Play. One feature will allow visitors to follow the travels of such peripatetic authors as Jack Kerouac and John Steinbeck.



The idea was sparked and fueled by Malcolm O'Hagan, a retired engineer and book enthusiast. O'Hagan is an Irish native who spent 15 years as president of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

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New American Writers Museum is slated to open in 2017 on Michigan Avenue

Push on to bring nation's first museum for writers to ChicagoPush on to bring nation's first museum for writers to Chicago
"Being Scared Since 2016 Is Privilege." That observation, emblazoned on a sign in the Boston incarnation of the global women's marches on Jan. 21, carries some provocative weight in Shepsu Aakhu's "By Association," now in a world premiere with MPAACT. The African-American family at the heart of the drama contains many reminders that for immigrants and people of color, fear of tyranny is never out of sight  no matter who wins the presidency.

Mother Almaz (Katrina Ri'Chard), whose own family in Ethiopia fled that country's "Red Terror" of the late 1970s, has kept a packed suitcase under her bed ever since. When her 16-year-old son, Abdi (Kejuan Darby) falls under suspicion as a jihadist after a Chicago subway bombing, she tells him and her American-born husband, choir director Joseph (Benjamin Timothy Jenkins), "Don't expect America to be any different" when it comes to respecting civil liberties in times of civil strife.

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The title refers to Abdi's friendship with fellow choir member Omar (Abdu Hytrek), a Muslim Montenegrin immigrant suspected of being the suicide bomber on the train. Abdi's visits to a mosque on Devon Avenue with Omar, in the telling of Homeland Security agent Jackson Vincent (Eddy Karch) represent his Islamic radicalization  and if the family wants to see their oldest son, Sabona (Tamarus Harvell), a college student swept up by the feds as a pawn, they'd better cooperate and turn Abdi in.

Both Aakhu's script and Lauren Wells' staging reveal occasionally awkward transitions from the high-octane interrogation sequences to quieter interludes where the family members show us different aspects of what being American means to them. Joseph tells agent Vincent that his son's name means "hope" (or "hope of servants," in some definitions). "I wanted him to have a name that would ground him in something other than being black in America." When we first see scholarly Sabona, he's in red Buddhist monk robes, handing out literature on campus in solidarity with the resistance in Myanmar  perhaps a reflection of his own family's history with oppression abroad. (In a running joke, he has to keep explaining why they're not saffron-colored robes.)

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Abdi's interest in Islam, he tells his parents, grew from feeling alienated by the rituals of the Ethiopian Orthodox church in which he was raised. At the same time, he insists that Omar would never have done what he's accused of  especially not in a year when the Cubs were heading toward the World Series. "If he had to choose between heaven and the Cubs, he would choose the Cubs."

What Aakhu (who notes in the program that the play is inspired by his own family's mix of African and African-American roots) does well here is provide lenses for examining the complexity of lives that are a mix of immigrant experience (especially African immigrant) and American. That mix is far more common on Chicago streets than on our stages.

Those lenses, however, don't always provide clear focus. The Omar-Abdi friendship, mostly seen in flashback, could use more development. The device of a television reporter (Zhanna Albertini) delivering breathless breaking-news items feels overly expositional and a bit too on-the-nose as a commentary about how xenophobia plays out in the public sphere.

Though some of the performances feel overly hesitant (which may improve over the run), Ri'Chard's passion as a woman desperately trying to save her family from a hell most of us can only imagine is resonant and affecting. As a portrait of what happens when citizenship fails to serve as a fail-safe defense, "By Association" has strong timely undertones.

Kerry Reid is a freelance critic.

ctc-arts@chicagotribune.com

Review: "By Association" by MPAACT (2.5 STARS)

When: Through Feb. 26

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Where: Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Tickets: $28-$32 at 773-404-7336 or mpaact.org
Since the fall of the Aztec Empire, the myth of a lost city built of white stone and buried deep in the Honduran jungle  in a region so dense and dark early cartographers labeled it the "Gates of Hell"  has persisted among explorers, archaeologists and especially the Honduran people, whose national identity has long grappled with the mystery. What began as a report to the emperor from Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes in 1526 bloomed in the imagination and scattered like seeds across the Americas and abroad, the stories evolving over the next 400 years, inspiring one expedition after the next into the Honduran interior in search of what ultimately became known as the White City, or the Lost City of the Monkey God.

In April 2012, author Douglas Preston, in conjunction with a band of scientists and filmmakers, joined the hunt, unable to resist what team leader Steve Elkins called the "lost city virus." It wouldn't be the only disease they picked up in the mountains of La Mosquitia, one of the last scientifically unexplored regions on earth, a jungle teeming with deadly snakes, spiders, cockroaches, chiggers, jaguars and more. Before the team could survey the region on foot, however  what archaeologists call "groundtruthing"  it first surveyed the region by air, employing NASA's LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology to map the terrain beneath the rainforest's nearly impenetrable canopy.

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"We were flying above a primeval Eden for a lost city using advanced technology to shoot billions of laser beams into a jungle that no human beings had entered for perhaps five hundred years: a twenty-first-century assault on an ancient mystery," Preston writes in "The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story," a swift and often hair-raising account of his adventures in the heart of Mosquitia.

What they found not only confirmed the rumors of a great lost city  the LiDAR images revealed pyramids, plazas and other man-made shapes  but an entirely new civilization, a culture distinct from the Mayas, but comparable in size and sophistication. Three years later, with the backing of the Honduran government, the team set foot in the jungle for the first time, machetes in hand, slashing their way through "a lost world, a place that did not want us and where we did not belong."

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Preston pushes "The Lost City of the Monkey God" well beyond the standard adventure narrative. In fact, the team's sweaty and swashbuckling days in Mosquitia make up just half the book. Instead, in prose no less gripping and visceral than his first-person account, Preston traces the myth of the White City back to its roots, exploring the earliest indigenous records of the lost civilization, retracing several ill-fated American expeditions  disrupting previously held beliefs in the process  and interviewing historians, archaeologists and other academics along the way. In an impressive sleight-of-hand, Preston often dives headfirst into historical context without losing the momentum of the adventure, rarely slipping into the passivity so often dogging historical prose.

Months after returning from Mosquitia, roughly half the crew  Preston included  began to notice ugly bug bites that wouldn't heal. The medical mystery triggers a thrilling hunt for answers, a ride that ultimately lands them in hospital beds at the National Institutes of Health. In juggling both the science of the disease and his own fears, Preston strikes a balance that allows him to maintain the tension of the crisis while remaining reflective.

"No civilization has survived forever," he concludes. "All move toward dissolution, one after the other, like waves of the sea falling upon the shore. None, including ours, is exempt from the universal fate."

Carson Vaughan is a freelance writer from central Nebraska.

The Lost City of the Monkey God

By Douglas Preston, Grand Central, 336 pages, $28






Personal shopper Alison Guglielmo says to figure out what you need before you head to the stores. (David Wittig & Nancy Beale)

Your closet is overflowing, but you have nothing to wear. We turned to pro personal shoppers, who gave us practical tips for building a smart wardrobe stat.

Start in your own closet

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Before you head to the stores, figure out what you need, said Alison Guglielmo, wardrobe stylist and personal shopper in Chicago. You should have a 75 percent ratio of tops to bottoms, so at least three tops for every bottom, Guglielmo said. "Sometimes, I go into people's closets, and they have 50 pairs of pants, and they wear three of them," she said. "Then, they have only 50 tops, and they don't have enough." Next, start tossing out what you don't wear: If you have 50 pieces of clothing and you're only wearing 10 of them, then getting dressed is going to be stressful, she said.

Have a bra fitting first

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This is the best investment you can make, since it can totally change the look and feel of your clothing, said Rebecca Frey, wardrobe stylist and owner of Seek New York. "Many women aren't wearing the proper size or style for their body type, and figuring this out prior to a styling session makes the clothes-shopping portion so much easier because everything fits the way it is supposed to," Frey said.

Figure out your basic color

No, it doesn't have to be black or gray. Your neutral color could be whatever color you like best, and you can usually figure this out simply by looking through your own closet. "Stay true to your basic colors, and use that as your neutral color for your closet," Guglielmo said. All the other pieces can work around this color.

Invest in good layering pieces

It's important to have well-made, good-fitting camisoles and T-shirts in a range of neutrals (white, black, gray, brown, navy and nude) and some with small prints and patterns that can be worn with a variety of different looks, Frey said. "Good base layering pieces can add versatility to a wardrobe, giving you more options to pair with your favorite cardigans and jackets," she said.

Think twice before buying something on sale

Would you have wanted it at full price? If so, then buy it on sale. But if it's something that you're buying just because it's on sale for "buy two, get one free"  do you really need all those tops? "They're probably going to sit in a drawer and you're going to get rid of them in five years," Guglielmo said. Her rule: If you don't love it, don't buy it.

Spend less on trendy items

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Build your wardrobe around your skeleton pieces that are plainer, which you can wear a multitude of ways, such as a great pair of jeans or a plain top, said Kathy Friend, a personal stylist and president of The Style & Image Institute in Indiana. "Don't start to build your wardrobe with great printed blouses or wow pieces," she said.

Consider cost per wear

Think about how often you're wearing something and how much you're going to get out of it.

Sometimes, it's worth it to spend $300 for a great pair of black pants that will last a really long time if they will make you look polished, especially if you plan on wearing them three times a week, versus $60 for a pair of black pants that will fall apart in a few months, Guglielmo said.

Extend the life of your clothing

If you're investing in expensive pieces, have the heels of your new boots reinforced, or add a protective coating to leather jackets, shoes and handbags. "It might cost a little bit more upfront, but your clothing will fare better in the long run," Frey said.

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Danielle Braff is a freelance writer.

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Canada is celebrating its 150th birthday this year. Maple Leaf Adventures offers a tour on its two, wooden-hulled expedition boats noting the sesquicentennial and the history of the First Nations peoples who inhabit the Salish Sea area of British Columbia. The Salish Sea Expedition With Canadian Geographic is a five-day/four-night outing that explores inlets of the southern portion of Vancouver Island. Naturalists and historians, including an elder from the Penelakut branch of the Salish, will explain the Canadian history of the region, as well as the much older First Nations history. The April 15-19 trip also will be a peak time for enjoying spring wildflowers and observing seabirds and marine mammals. Participants will travel aboard the MV Swell, an 88-foot converted tugboat, or the MV Maple Leaf, a 92-foot schooner. Depending on the boat, pricing varies from about $1,831 to $2,966 per person, double occupancy, plus taxes and fees. (Note that prices on the website are in Canadian dollars.) Bookings made before Feb. 15 qualify for a free local flight from Sidney to the Vancouver or Victoria airport, or a night in a suite at the Sidney Waterfront Inn before the trip. 250-386-7245, http://tinyurl.com/jxh2nrv

Buyer beware

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If you travel to the Caribbean or Latin America and have looked for souvenirs to take home, you might have been tempted by jewelry or trinkets with the popular tortoiseshell look. A newly formed travel industry group called Too Rare to Wear is on a mission to warn travelers not to buy tortoiseshell items. The reason? They're made from the shell of the hawksbill sea turtle, whose numbers have plummeted 90 percent in the past 100 years, making it an endangered species. Though it's illegal to sell tortoiseshell items many places, it's still common to find them offered in souvenir shops and markets. For example, surveys have found tortoiseshell items available in 90 percent of the souvenir shops in Nicaragua and 70 percent of those in Cuba. "We've witnessed how educating consumers about issues like elephant ivory, rhino horns and shark fins can help reduce demand for wildlife products," said Brad Nahill, campaign manager and co-founder of the conservation group SEE Turtles. "We hope to bring attention on hawksbills up to the level of these other animals." Info: http://tinyurl.com/h9xv6ae

Staying in Wales

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Wales, besides having all of those towns with unpronounceable names, is full of history and natural beauty. It's also a country with lots of unique lodgings. The Llancayo Windmill, for instance, is a restored 19th-century windmill that can accommodate as many as 12 guests on five floors. And, if you're not up for a trip to Mongolia, there are various Welsh options for overnight yurt stays. If castles are more your thing, there are plenty, including the Welsh Gatehouse, which was built about 1270. Find information on these and more at http://tinyurl.com/ztlp4yl.

Phil Marty is a freelance writer.
In this Jan. 13, 2017, file photo, comedian Steve Harvey arrives in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York to meet with President-elect Donald Trump. (Evan Vucci / AP)

What does presidential adviser and "Family Feud" host Steve Harvey think of President Donald Trump's threat to "send in the Feds" to "fix the horrible carnage" in Chicago?

We're going to have to wait to find out.

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Harvey was focused on "traveling to the Philippines to host 'Miss Universe'" on Wednesday and could not immediately be reached, said Trisha Millera spokeswoman for the "Steve Harvey" talk show.

The president met with Harvey, who records his talk show in Chicago and has been asked to host "Miss Universe" again despite his famous flub last year, a week before the inauguration at Trump Tower in New York. After the meeting, Harvey told reporters he would work with the Trump administration to "see if we can bring about some positive change in the inner cities."

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It's unclear if Harvey was informed about Trump's tweet about sending federal authorities into Chicago before Trump sent it, though Trump's press secretary, Sean Spicer, said earlier this month that even he does not know what Trump is going to tweet until after Trump has done it.

We'll keep you updated when Harvey reveals his thoughts.

kjanssen@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @kimjnews
The city was abuzz Wednesday with talk of President Donald Trump's Twitter threat to "send in the Feds!" to deal with Chicago's shooting problem.

But before Trump sends in a phalanx of soldiers, G-men or federal eggheads, shouldn't he call on the unnamed "top police officer" whom he said in August could solve the city's crime problem "within one week"?

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Trump said on Bill O'Reilly's Fox News show on Aug. 22 that he'd met the mysterious supercop in Chicago and that he "believed him 100 percent" when the cop said he could stop serious crime within seven days by getting tough.

Yet despite Trump's assertion to O'Reilly that he had "sent his name in and I said you probably should hire this guy," neither the Police Department nor Mayor Rahm Emanuel received the officer's name from Trump, city officials said.

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White House officials did not respond Wednesday morning to questions about who the officer is, whether Trump still maintains he has shared his name with Chicago officials, or whether Trump remains in contact with the officer, if he in fact exists.

But asked about Trump's vague threat to "send in the Feds!" at a news conference, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters the president will "hopefully get a dialogue started with Mayor (Rahm) Emanuel to try to figure out what a path forward can be so that we come up with a plan that can keep the people of Chicago safe," a somewhat more conciliatory tone than that offered by the president himself.

Chicago police in August said that nobody in "senior command" with the department had spoken to Trump, leaving the identity of the "top police officer" an unsolved riddle. Trump's staff at the time said Trump had not necessarily meant that the officer was in senior command, only that he was "capable, smart and talented."

Former police Superintendent Garry McCarthy  who has known Trump since his time in New York, and was praised in 2015 by Trump as "a phenomenal guy" who "could stop this if we allowed him to stop it"  in September angrily denied he was Trump's mole.

With the prospect of soldiers on the streets of Chicago, it's surely time for the hero officer to unmask himself. Call us, Supercop!

kjanssen@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @kimjnews
A Chicago Board of Education member on Wednesday raised the prospect of shortening the city's school year to save money, though officials held off on publicly outlining steps being weighed to fill a budget gap.

Chicago Public Schools has ordered four furlough days for its employees while looking at layoffs and other spending reductions to cover for $215 million of state aid still in limbo after a veto by Gov. Bruce Rauner last December.

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Cutting the school year could be a tough sell to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who in his first term pushed hard to extend the CPS calendar in the face of opposition from the Chicago Teachers Union. But with the district looking at emptied reserves and a spiral of short-term borrowing that's near its limit, one board member acknowledged the possibility.

"One option in budget situations like the one we're facing would be cutting back on the number of school days," the Rev. Michael Garanzini said during a district budget hearing Wednesday.

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"People are going to say, 'Won't this impact our kids?'" he said. "I think this is probably the major concern for parents and students and teachers. What's going to happen because of the budget cuts?"

CPS Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson declined to discuss cuts under consideration and said only that officials would try to protect classrooms.

"As far as any actions like ending the school year, or any other potential things that could be on the table, I think it's too early for us to really discuss the impact of that," Jackson said after Garanzini's remarks. "The key message is the district is being forced to make decisions we would not otherwise make."

Board President Frank Clark said hearings on a revised budget would likely be held Feb. 13, prior to a potential board vote on the district's third spending plan for the fiscal year. In December, Clark said the board could take up a retooled budget at January's regular meeting on Wednesday.

In Springfield, state Senate leaders continued to work through a complex effort to end the state's 18-month budget stalemate with a sweeping legislative package that includes a complex series of tax increases, as well as changes to the state employee pension program and the state's education funding system.

The Senate proposal also holds a $215 million grant for CPS. The budget blueprint must still overcome many hurdles before it becomes law, including some intense opposition from special interest groups and lawmakers.

The district has said in financial disclosures it will turn to budget cuts, unspecified legal action and borrowing in efforts to close budget gaps left by shortfalls in expected state assistance  all while officials publicly blame cuts on the Republican governor.

"The governor's actions in the middle of the school year was obviously designed to do maximum damage to our children. It is inexcusable, but it is something that we must deal with," CPS CEO Forrest Claypool said Wednesday.

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Rauner said Democrats went back on a deal that tied the school aid measure to broader changes to the state's highly indebted employee retirement system. The administration was open to reconsidering the bill if lawmakers approve statewide pension reforms, according to his office.

"Instead of name calling and finger pointing," Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said in a Wednesday statement, "city leaders should focus on finding long-term solutions that fix the financial management problems: at CPS."

CPS is also banking on $300 million worth of internal savings to balance this year's budget, a figure officials said has not yet been reached. Claypool said the district had so far covered about half of that amount.

"That's a daily, daily struggle," Claypool said Wednesday of the effort.

Board members on Wednesday formally accepted the forced furlough days with a vote to modify the school system's annual calendar. CPS said the effort was expected to save $35 million.

"We obviously are against furloughs," Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey said Wednesday. "We've already had them for these last two years in a row. Adding even more, I think, would be an even more unfair burden to our members."

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The school board also voted to extend existing school maintenance contracts with the Aramark and SodexoMAGIC companies through February 2018, which the district estimates will cost up to $70 million and $38 million, respectively.

The board approved a separate measure for new three-year contracts with the two companies worth up to $427 million. Those deals are set to begin this summer, and will extend a new custodial program model to 342 schools in all but three of the district's largely geographically based networks by 2018.

School spending records show CPS has paid SodexoMAGIC, a company partly controlled by former NBA superstar and Emanuel campaign supporter Earvin "Magic" Johnson, about $54 million since the district's 2014 budget year. The Aramark division responsible for school maintenance has received about $209 million during that same period.

William Iacullo, head of the labor union representing CPS' building engineers, opposed the deal alongside Troy LaRaviere, Chicago Principals and Administrators Association president.

jjperez@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @PerezJr
Stanley Carothers III, 30, of the 6200 block of South Ingleside Avenue, is charged with criminal sexual assault of a student at the Chicago Public School where he was a dean. (Chicago Police Department)

A Chicago Public Schools dean sexually assaulted a 14-year-old student repeatedly at her South Side school starting last spring after she was sent to his office for disciplinary problems, Cook County prosecutors alleged Tuesday.

Stanley Carothers III, 29, was the dean of operations at Bradwell School of Excellence, a South Shore turnaround school managed by the Academy for Urban School Leadership, prosecutors said.

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Assistant State's Attorney Jullian Brevard said the abuse started after the eighth-grader was sent to Carothers' office in March for "disciplinary matters." The dean took the girl to another room and sexually assaulted her, Brevard said.

Carothers had sex with the girl at the school or his apartment over the next eight months, even over the summer months, Brevard said.

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In bond court, Carothers' attorney, Frank Kostouros, denied the allegations, showing Judge Peggy Chiampas a printout of a Facebook message in which the girl allegedly recanted and apologized for the "setup type situation."

"The victim admits she's lying and apologizes," Kostouros told the judge.

Chiampas ordered Carothers released on a personal recognizance bond with electronic monitoring.

Carothers left Bradwell in November for another CPS school and is on unpaid leave, Kostouros said.

A CPS spokesman said in a statement the district responded to "serious allegations" in November by removing an employee from the Dulles School of Excellence. The district did not name Carothers but said the employee had been suspended indefinitely without pay.

Prosecutors said the girl first told a classmate about the abuse last spring, but police weren't notified until the girl told a family member in November. The relative contacted Chicago police.

Prosecutors said the girl gave a handwritten statement to police and later that same day identified Carothers' apartment. A day after making the statement, the girl had sex again with Carothers, prosecutors said. Authorities later took a second handwritten statement from the girl.

Carothers denied allowing any students into his home, prosecutors said.

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Carothers and the girl began talking over Facebook Messenger in March, prosecutors said, but the dean soon asked the girl to stop texting him to the account under his given name and to instead message him at a profile he controlled under another name, prosecutors said.

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

The two exchanged sexual messages, discussing times and places to meet for sex and referring to prior sexual contact between them, prosecutors said.

Carothers left Bradwell in November for another CPS school and is on unpaid leave, Kostouros said. The attorney said in court the girl may have retaliated after Carothers ordered an emergency mental health evaluation for her and she was hospitalized.

The teen, who Kostouros said has a history of "uncontrollable" classroom behavior, later sent a Facebook message apologizing, he said.

"Hey mr carruthers. I sorry that I lyed on u saying we did stuff," said the message, a copy of which Kostouros filed as an exhibit. "I didt no they was taken it this far. They dared me to do this."

Carothers, a Morehouse College graduate with a University of Phoenix graduate degree, had never before been arrested, his attorney said.

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sschmadeke@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @SteveSchmadeke
A man was killed and six other people were wounded in shootings across Chicago between Tuesday morning and early Wednesday, police said.



The fatal shooting occurred around 7:40 p.m. in the Cottage Grove Heights neighborhood on the Far South Side.David Carroll Jr., 23, was shot in the right side in the 9700 block of South Woodlawn Avenue, according to police and the medical examiner.



Details of the shooting were not available.



Other shootings:



 On the West Side just after midnight, a man was shot in South Austin. The man, 40, was found on the ground early Wednesday in the 600 block of North Mayfield Avenue with multiple gunshot wounds to the abdomen. A witness took him to Loyola University Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition.



 About 8:15 p.m. Tuesday on the North Side, a 22-year-old man was shot in the Magnolia Glen neighborhood. He was in the 5600 block of North Magnolia Avenue when he was shot in the arm. He went to Weiss Memorial Hospital for treatment and was listed in good condition.



 About 5:35 p.m. on the North Side, a 25-year-old man was shot in the Lathrop Homes neighborhood, in the 2700 block of North Paulina Street. He got himself to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in good condition with a wound to the leg after the shooting.



 On the West Side just after 2:30 p.m., two men were shot in the Lawndale neighborhood near a convenience store in the 3500 block of West 16th Street, according to police. A 24-year-old man suffered wounds to the left leg and hand and a 29-year-old man suffered a graze wound to the leg, police said. Both men were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where they were in good condition. The two told investigators that they were on the street when they heard shots and felt pain.



 About 7:50 a.m. on the West Side, an 18-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the leg in the 1700 block of North McVicker Avenue, according to police. He was taken to Loyola University hospital in serious condition. The injury may have been accidentally self-inflicted.
"Orange Is the New Black" may no longer be Netflix's hot new show, but the Chicago federal court case that inspired it is still rumbling on.

And the alleged drug kingpin who inspired the women's prison show, Buruji Kashamu  elected to Nigeria's Senate in 2015 despite being a fugitive from U.S. justice since 1998  isn't too happy about that.

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So he certainly won't be thrilled that his latest efforts to defeat the U.S. government's attempts to bring him from Lagos to face justice in a Chicago courtroom were defeated late Monday, when the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision to toss out his lawsuit against the American government.

Kashamu, indicted in a heroin case alongside money launderer turned "Orange Is the New Black" writer Piper Kerman in 1998, sued the Department of Justice in 2015. He hoped to convince a judge to stop U.S. law enforcement from what he alleged was an imminent plan to team up with his political rivals and "abduct" him in Nigeria.

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Drug Enforcement Administration agents teamed up with Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to lay siege to his Lagos home for six days in a 2015 abduction attempt, before a Nigerian court ordered them to leave, he claimed.

But in Monday's opinion, U.S. Appellate Court Judge Richard Posner wrote that nothing in the law prevents U.S. agents from "being present when foreign officers are effecting an arrest or from assisting foreign officers who are effecting an arrest."

Kashamu, who is the basis for the character Kubra Balik in the Netflix show, has always insisted that U.S. prosecutors confused him with his dead brother. He previously beat attempts to extradite him from Britain.

Given the glacial progress of the case and endemic corruption in Nigeria, it's hard to foresee that Kashamu will be in the U.S. before the fifth, sixth and seventh seasons of "Orange Is the New Black" announced last year are released  if he ever comes.

kjanssen@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @kimjnews
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests announced Tuesday that its longtime national director, accused by a former SNAP employee of referring potential clients to attorneys in return for financial kickbacks to the group, resigned at the end of last year.

The announcement that David Clohessy, of St. Louis, left the Chicago-based organization comes a week after he and other leaders were named in a lawsuit filed by a former employee who said she was fired shortly after asking superiors whether SNAP was referring victims to attorneys in exchange for donations to the organization.

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In addition to Clohessy, defendants named in the lawsuit are the organization itself, Barbara Blaine, its founder and president, and Barbara Dorris, outreach director. Dorris could not be reached for comment.

In a statement sent to volunteers Tuesday morning, Mary Ellen Kruger, the chairwoman of the board, thanked Clohessy for his nearly 30 years of service to the organization.

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"His passion, his voice and his kindness have touched us all," Kruger said. "We will miss David, and we wish him much happiness. David will always be a friend and an inspiration to SNAP and its many dedicated and hardworking volunteers."

In an interview Tuesday, Clohessy said he remains on the organization's board of directors for the time being. But his resignation, which he said he told SNAP's board about in October, is the best choice for him and the organization.

"It's healthy for nonprofits to get fresh blood and new perspectives," said Clohessy, who said he was stunned by the lawsuit and its allegations.

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

According to the suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court, Gretchen Rachel Hammond worked as a director of development from July 2011 until she said she was fired in February 2013. She grew suspicious when she was not permitted to participate in an internal audit of SNAP by an accounting firm and was barred from attending programs to help generate material for grant proposals, the suit said.

She also was given access to a list of lawyers who regularly donated to SNAP but was told to never tell anyone that lawyers donate to the organization, according to the lawsuit. It was when Clohessy accidentally copied her on an email to an attorney, asking when SNAP could expect the next donation, that Hammond began to ask questions and the workplace climate dramatically changed, she alleged in the lawsuit.

Clohessy said he did not recall, but doubts such an email exchange would take place.

"I send hundreds of emails, and I can't imagine writing that one," he said.

Hammond said she was fired two days after a volunteer came to Hammond's apartment to collect a flash drive she used to work from home. She did not disclose that she had copied it, the lawsuit said.

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mbrachear@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @TribSeeker
Dalashawn Brown, 30, was charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death early Jan. 22, 2017, of Reginald Boston. Boston was stabbed while he was with a cousin who is dating Brown's ex-girlfriend, prosecutors said. (Chicago Police Department)

A man was stabbed to death over the weekend outside his cousin's girlfriend's home by the woman's ex-boyfriend, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Dalashawn Brown, 30, fatally stabbed Reginald Boston, 26, in a gangway outside the home in the 3200 block of East 91st Street about 4 a.m. Sunday in the South Chicago neighborhood, prosecutors said. In a hearing midday Tuesday before Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas, Brown was ordered held in lieu of $500,000 bail, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state's attorney's office.

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Boston was with his cousin outside the home of the cousin's girlfriend, who was Brown's longtime girlfriend, before the stabbing took place, prosecutors said.

Boston and his cousin went into a gangway that led to the home when they heard footsteps in the gangway and saw someone walking up, prosecutors said. They asked who it was, and the person replied "Dala," which is a nickname for Dalashawn Brown, prosecutors said. They saw Brown coming toward them in a green, puffy coat, with his hands in his pockets.

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Brown raised his hands to show there wasn't anything in them and told Boston and his cousin that he was there "for his kids," according to prosecutors.

Brown has two children with the woman, who had been dating on and off for 10 years, prosecutors said.

The woman came to the door about the same time, and the cousin turned to her for a moment. When he turned back to Boston, the cousin saw Brown pulling back his right arm, which had been extended toward Boston.

Brown ran off and the cousin and his girlfriend found Boston had been stabbed. They took Boston to Advocate Trinity Hospital, and he was trasnferred to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 7:12 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Boston, of the 3500 block of West 74th Street, died from a stab wound to the abdomen, according to the medical examiner's office.

Brown was arrested later Sunday at his workplace in Crestwood, prosecutors said. He's due back in court Feb. 14.
President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday night about Chicago's violence, saying he will "send in the Feds!" if the city "doesn't fix the horrible 'carnage' going on."

Trump's tweet refers back to a line in his inaugural address Friday about "the crime, and the gangs, and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. This American carnage stops right here and stops right now."

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The tweet cited numbers  "228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016)"  that come from Chicago Tribune data used in a news story Monday about violence in the city so far this year. As of Tuesday evening, there had been at least 247 people shot in Chicago, with at least 44 people killed, according to Tribune data.

Chicago Police Department statistics for the month are lower because they do not include shootings on area expressways, police-involved shootings, homicides in which a person was killed in self-defense, or pending death investigations.

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A spokesman for Mayor Rahm Emanuel referred reporters to an interview on WTTW-Ch. 11 Tuesday night.

Asked in that conversation about the White House website under the Trump administration citing violence in Chicago, Emanuel said that federal agencies including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives already do help the city, but more could be done.

If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

"There's a lot the federal government can do," Emanuel said, citing gun control, use of federal resources to track illegal guns and federal prosecutions. "And also, fundamentally, in my view, also help fund additional police officers.

"Over the years the federal government's stepped back their resources, which we have stepped up. The federal government can be a partner, and to be honest they haven't been for decades."

In a statement, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said that "the Chicago Police Department is more than willing to work with the federal government to build on our partnerships with DOJ, FBI, DEA and ATF and boost federal prosecution rates for gun crimes in Chicago."

In August, candidate Trump said "very top police" in Chicago had told him the city's crime problem could be stopped in a week with tougher tactics.

The comment came in an interview with Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, who had asked him how Chicago's violence could be quelled.

"How?" said Trump. "By being very much tougher than they are right now. They're right now not tough. I could tell you this very long and quite boring story. But when I was in Chicago, I got to meet a couple of very top police. I said, 'How do you stop this? How do you stop this? If you were put in charge  to a specific person  do you think you could stop it?' He said, 'Mr. Trump, I'd be able to stop it in one week.' And I believed him 100 percent."

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At the time, Chicago police said Trump had not met with top brass since at least March. The Trump campaign did not identify who had claimed to have a one-week solution. "Mr. Trump spoke with some talented and dedicated police officers on a prior visit," Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks had said in an email.

During the campaign, Trump often cited Chicago violence as an example of rampant urban crime that would be addressed if he were elected.

In September, Trump suggested in a TV interview that Chicago "is out of control" and needed to employ controversial "stop-and-frisk" police practices to stem violence.

"We did it in New York, it worked incredibly well," Trump said about stop-and-frisk practices. "You understand, you have to have, in my opinion, I see what's going on here, I see what's going on in Chicago, I think stop-and-frisk. In New York City, it was so incredible, the way it worked. Now, we had a very good mayor, but New York City was incredible, the way that worked, so I think that could be one step you could do.

"I think Chicago needs stop-and-frisk. Now, people can criticize me for that or people can say whatever they want."

In Chicago, police had used a similar practice for years, stopping people they deem suspicious and questioning them, sometimes patting them down. In 2015, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois considered suing the Chicago Police Department over the excessive use of the practice, which has been condemned by the ACLU as racial profiling.

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Chicago police denied racial profiling, but entered into an agreement with the ACLU that required officers to more thoroughly document their street stops. The changes were also incorporated in a new state law.

The complete Trump tweet on Tuesday was: "If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible 'carnage' going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!"

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Trump's tweet came a day after Emanuel made comments critical of the new president. The mayor criticized Trump for focusing on the size of the crowd at his inauguration ceremony and suggested his inaugural speech wasted an opportunity to appeal to "our better angels as a country."

The mayor also responded to the pro-law enforcement message on whitehouse.gov reading, "The dangerous anti-police atmosphere in America is wrong. The Trump administration will end it."

Emanuel said police need to have professional standards and public support, and acknowledged the "Ferguson effect" in which some officers may patrol less aggressively to avoid having their actions second-guessed. But Emanuel saw no need for departments to enact tactics like stop-and-frisk.

"Clearly police  there was a reaction of what happened across the country," Emanuel said. "On the other hand, the choice isn't just 'Go back to stop-and-frisk.' And this is not a bipolar, two camps. We need our police to have high professional standards, the training to support them in those high professional standards and the certainty to be proactively involved."

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While Trump did not say what he meant by the "feds," here's a look at some of the options that might be available:



 NATIONAL GUARD



The most direct  and most extreme  intervention would be sending National Guard troops into Chicago to try and tamp the violence. Both the U.S. president and the Illinois governor have the authority to mobilize the Illinois National Guard. But a federal statute, known as the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, prohibits the deployment of federal troops in civil law enforcement. While a president could try to find legal loopholes to get around that prohibition, the legalities of any such deployment would pose major obstacles. A heavy-handed intervention could upset many conservatives who advocate for states' rights.

Trump has not broached the possibility of using troops, although the idea comes up from time to time in Illinois. When someone asked Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner about the possibility in August, he ruled it out. He said he had discussed the idea with police, community leaders and the National Guard and that "no thoughtful leader thinks that's a good idea or (that it would) would really provide a solution."



 U.S. ATTORNEY



Current U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon came under pressure when selected to be the top federal law enforcement official in Chicago three years ago to put violent crime at the top of the city's agenda. But from the start of his tenure, he tempered expectations about what a U.S. attorney's office could do. He had said repeatedly that communities couldn't arrest their way out of the problem of violence and that a more holistic approach  one that also addresses socio-economic problems  is required.

Fardon said in a September speech that his office and federal agencies including the FBI, DEA and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives "have ramped up their resources to help tamp down this spike in violence." He also said federal agencies had launched new crime-fighting programs with city and state officials, though he didn't provide details. "Suffice it to say, all oars from those agencies, including the FBI, are in the water right now," Fardon said.



 GUN CHARGES



Then-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder promised in 2014 that the Department of Justice would do what it could to fight gun violence in Chicago. That was easier said than done. A records review by the Chicago Sun-Times found numbers of federal gun cases out of Chicago declined from 2012 to 2015. It started trending back up in 2015, with 84 defendants charged under U.S. gun statutes from mid-2015 and mid-2016. Responding to the Sun-Times, Fardon wrote in October that the drop-off in gun charges in 2014 to less than 60 had at least something to do with a federal hiring freeze, when his office went from 172 prosecutors to below 130. The numbers are getting back up to where they need to be, he said. He said half of his prosecutors are focused on the types of cases linked to street-level violence.



 GANGS



Going back decades, a cornerstone of anti-violence measures by U.S. attorneys in Chicago has been to convict and imprison gang leaders. Federal prosecutors in Chicago have used racketeering and gun laws to go after gangs, who police blame for much of the deadly violence. One of the largest street-gang cases in recent Chicago history wrapped up this month, with jurors convicting the core leadership of the notorious Hobos street gang on trial for an alleged racketeering conspiracy that prosecutors say included at least nine killings. But many gang experts point to an unintended consequence of prosecuting gang leaders: Breaking up a gang's command structure can often lead to more inter-gang rivalry and, therefore, to even more violence

The Chicago Tribune's Jeremy Gorner and John Byrne, and the Associated Press, contributed.
Striking a defiant tone, immigrants and their advocates in Chicago responded immediately to President Donald Trump's executive orders Wednesday to jump-start construction of a border wall with Mexico and strip funding for sanctuary cities.

"Our community is strong and united, and we will not live in fear," said Mony Ruiz-Velasco, executive director of the West Suburban Action Project. "Whatever walls Trump wants to build, we will fight to tear them down."

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The comments came at a news conference near the Chicago Immigration Court and Department of Homeland Security headquarters in downtown Chicago shortly after Trump signed the orders during a ceremony in Washington. He had just honored Homeland Security's newly confirmed secretary, retired Gen. John Kelly.

Roughly 50 people turned out to urge city leaders to resist Trump's deportation policies, maintain Chicago's sanctuary status and call on community members to organize.

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"We are here to tell the new administration that we are going to fight back," said Jude Ssempungu, a board member at the United African Organization. "We are not going to retreat in fear."

Trump said his executive actions on immigration show that "beginning today," the U.S. will get back "control of its border."

The administration will be working in partnership with Mexico to improve safety and economic opportunity for both countries and will have "close coordination" with Mexico to address drug smuggling, he said.

"We're going to save lives on both sides of the border," Trump said.

The National Border Patrol Council, which represents U.S. Border Patrol employees, praised Trump on Twitter, saying it is "a new day for border security and immigration enforcement."

The union, which said it represents 16,500 employees, endorsed Trump for president.

Chris Cabrera, a spokesman for the union, said the group was encouraged by Trump's executive orders.

"It's about time we get this border secured," Cabrera said.

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The union feels Border Patrol agents have been constricted "for years," and have been waiting for change, Cabrera said.

"It looks like he's going to hold up his end of the deal and get things done," Cabrera said.

But Trump's orders also prompted criticism, including from national groups.

The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism released a statement calling the border wall "a deeply misguided means of addressing the very real challenges facing our immigration system."

"Instead of myopically prioritizing border security alone, we need immigration policies that holistically fulfill our national security imperatives, meet the needs of employers and workers, and unite and strengthen families," the statement said.

Local attorneys also expressed dismay over the orders.

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Michael Jarecki, vice chairman of the American Immigration Lawyers Association's Chicago chapter, said, "It's pretty disappointing the president wants to focus on an enforcement-only approach.

"We need to fix the broken immigration system and find a way and a path forward for individuals who are here," Jarecki said.

At the protest in Chicago, a diverse coalition of immigrant rights and community-based organizations took turns denouncing Trump's orders.

"These policies don't work. They don't make us safer. They do the opposite  they make us targets of government policy and of racist hate crimes," said Hatem Abudayyeh, executive director of the Arab American Action Network. "They make immigrant and black communities in this country unsafe."

Abudayyeh said the event was one of many steps the immigration activists are taking to protect "the most vulnerable targets of Trump's agenda."

"None of this is a surprise. Our communities have been bracing themselves for this announcement for a while now and gearing up for resistance to racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic policies from a president who doesn't have a mandate from the people."

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Activists from various organizations including Black Lives Matter Chicago, Organized Communities Against Deportations and the Council On American-Islamic Relations also participated in the event. People held signs that read, "Immigrants Are Welcome Here" and "No Ban, No Wall," and "We Will Resist."

"As we fight for change on the federal level, we demand intervention on the local level here in Chicago," said Becky Belcore, of the Korean American Resource and Cultural Center. "Chicago must be a welcoming city for all immigrants and refugees and all targeted communities, and by all, we mean all of our people."

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Van Huynh, of Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Chicago, said Trump's immigration policies are a "haunting reminder" of the Chinese Exclusion Act of the 1880s and the Japanese internment camps established during World War II.

"These policies tear families apart and jeopardizes our values as a nation," she said. "I think we're sort of taking steps backwards. A couple of years ago, we were talking about immigration reform, ... and now all of a sudden, we're taking this very expansive role in keeping everyone out."

Associated Press contributed.

nmoreno@chicagotribune.com

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Demonstrators rally against President Donald Trump in a march to Goldman Sachs' offices on Wacker Drive in Chicago's Loop on Jan. 24, 2017. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

Protesters marched Tuesday afternoon in downtown Evanston and Chicago to show their displeasure with President Donald Trump, who is moving quickly to upend the policies of Barack Obama.

About 200 Evanston Township High School students left their classes and marched about a mile to Fountain Square downtown, chanting "Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go."

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"If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention," organizer Maya Madjar, 17, an Evanston Township senior, announced into a megaphone to cheers from fellow students. "Protesting is only step one."

In Chicago, activists marched from Federal Plaza to the building where Goldman Sachs has offices on South Wacker Drive, largely to protest Trump's orders in support of the construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines.

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Lou Downey, 60, an activist with Refuse Fascism Chicago, said Trump's decisions will accelerate environmental devastation.

"A few days into office, and there are things people have been fighting for years  like the heroic struggle of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe (against the Dakota Access pipeline)  but with a stroke of the pen, that is being reversed," said Downey, who lives in the Logan Square neighborhood. "We cannot just slowly build up resistance or wait. We have to stop this."

Former President Obama rejected the Keystone in November 2015, saying the Canadian pipeline that would have carried petroleum to the Gulf Coast contradicted America's environmental policies.

Last month, in response to protests and court battles, the Army Corps of Engineers said it would find alternative routes for the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota, which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe argued would disrupt its water supply and burial sites.

Trump's orders cleared the way for the controversial projects to resume. The president told reporters Tuesday in the Oval Office that the U.S. is renegotiating the terms and conditions of the pipeline construction. He hailed the projects as job creators and opportunities to use American steel.

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"We are, and I am, very insistent that if we are going to build pipelines in the United States, the pipes should be made in the United States," Trump said while signing three executive orders that deal with pipeline construction, including one that would reduce regulatory pressure on domestic companies.

"We build it in the United States, we build the pipelines, we want to build the pipe. We're going to put a lot of workers, a lot of steelworkers, back to work."

The federal government has to approve the Keystone because it crosses the U.S border.

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The Dakota pipeline would ship oil from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to refineries in Illinois.

The Associated Press contributed.

Echerney@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @ElyssaCherney
The University of Illinois at Chicago has sent out an alert warning students about the sexual assault of a student in a restroom on campus this week.

A male student was in a men's restroom on the 18th floor of University Hall at 601 S. Morgan St. around 8:15 a.m. Tuesday when someone leaned toward him and made lewd comments, according to the alert.

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The student tried to leave the restroom and the other person pushed him against a wall and grabbed his genitals, officials said. The student pushed the person away and left the restroom.

The attacker was described as Hispanic, between 18 to 22, about 5-foot-6, clean shaven with dark, curly short hair. He was wearing a black jacket and black pants, officials said.

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Anyone with information can contact UIC police at 312-996-2850.
Cardinal Blase Cupich on Wednesday likened the city's violence problem to the Great Chicago Fire , calling on aldermen and Mayor Rahm Emanuel to help rebuild from the epidemic.

The remarks came after aldermen feted Cupich for his recent elevation to cardinal. Speaking from the dais in City Council chambers, Cupich called on the council to give "your cooperation, support" to the church's work to improve the lot of Chicago families and neighborhoods.

"When I first arrived in Chicago, my staff sought to educate this Nebraskan about his new home " Cupich said. "One thing I did listen to from my staff was the reminder that one of this city's mottoes is 'I will.' I understand it to be a call to the hearty and the hardworking to rebuild at a time when our city was all but destroyed by a fire.

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"Today another fire is ravaging our city, our neighborhoods," he added. "When violence has become a terrible way of life." Chicagoans need to know they aren't alone, he said.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger , a civil rights activist who regularly has drawn attention to the city's gun violence, applauded Cupich's message of equating the fight against violence with the effort to rebuild after the 1871 fire.

"It is a very strong comparison, and it's true. We're the poster boy of America right now when it comes to violence. That's embarrassing," said Pfleger, senior pastor of the Faith Community of St. Sabina in the Auburn-Gresham community. "We have a reality in this city of a burning fire, and we've got to not only put it out, but we've got to do like we did with the Chicago fire: rebuild."

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Chicago boasts a large number of Roman Catholics, and aldermen stood one by one to talk about Cupich's importance.

"This morning we have the pleasure of congratulating a great spiritual leader of the Chicago archdiocese, the honorable Blase Cupich, on his elevation to cardinal," said Ald. Edward Burke, 14th.

Cupich has, during his time in Chicago, taught "the true meaning of faith in an increasingly divided world," Burke added, noting that many in Chicago continue to identify neighborhoods "by their individual Catholic parishes."

Ald. Margaret Laurino , 39th, noted Cupich has spoken out on behalf of immigrants, "especially those who have arrived here before their 16th birthday."

And Ald. Walter Burnett Jr., 27th, applauded Cupich for reaching out beyond the confines of the Catholic Church. "You've been in marches. You've been down with all kinds of people in the city of Chicago," Burnett said.

It's common for the council to invite locals who have earned some distinction to come to City Hall , be it a high school chess team or a high-ranking Catholic. It's a chance for aldermen to heap public praise on somebody who enjoys broad public support. The Cupich event was no exception. Aldermen spent nearly 30 minutes touting his elevation to cardinal.

Ald. Matt O'Shea ticked off a list of the several parishes in his heavily Catholic Southwest Side 19th Ward. "Now more than ever, we need your guidance, your leadership and most importantly your love," O'Shea said.

Ald. Danny Solis , 25th, said Cupich's leadership is needed to stand up against the anti-immigrant policies of President Donald Trump. "You have the ability to raise your voice  at a time when we have leadership in Washington that does not seem to be friends of the immigrants in this country."

Emanuel finished the remarks by noting Pope Francis clearly saw something in Cupich that makes him deserving of the title cardinal.

"You may speak to Catholics, but your voice is heard by all of us, people of all faiths," the mayor said. Emanuel called on Cupich to continue welcoming immigrants and promote the idea that "we treat each other as neighbors" in Chicago.

Cupich, installed as archbishop of the Chicago archdiocese in 2014, was elevated to cardinal in a ceremony in Rome last November. Cardinal is the Catholic Church's most prestigious position next to the papacy. It means Cupich will have a vote in future papal elections, while also continuing his role as Chicago's archbishop, overseeing 346 churches and 217 schools.

Chicago Tribune's Bill Ruthhart contributed.

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As President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to cut off some federal funding from sanctuary cities, Mayor Rahm Emanuel vowed Chicago would remain one and continue to protect immigrants from deportation.

"We're gonna stay a sanctuary city," Emanuel said in a news conference after Wednesday's City Council meeting. "There is no stranger among us. We welcome people, whether you're from Poland or Pakistan, whether you're from Ireland or India or Israel and whether you're from Mexico or Moldova, where my grandfather came from, you are welcome in Chicago as you pursue the American Dream."

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Emanuel declined to discuss specifics on what funding the city might lose, noting that he had not been briefed on the executive order, which the White House released about an hour after the mayor addressed reporters.

Trump ordered Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to work with incoming Attorney General Jeff Sessions to ensure sanctuary cities "are not eligible to receive federal grants, except as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes." The order states Kelly and Sessions should strip the funding that is within their discretion and consistent with the law. It also directs incoming Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to tabulate how much federal grant money is received by each of the country's sanctuary cities.

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It was not immediately clear how much federal funding could be at stake for Chicago.

Cutting off all federal funding to sanctuary cities would require action by the Republican-controlled Congress. Last year, Chicago received a little more than $1 billion in federal grant funding for myriad programs, including early childhood education, transportation, policing, health initiatives, public assistance programs and disaster management. It's unknown how much of that $1 billion could be deemed necessary for law enforcement, as laid out by Trump's order.

The city, however, does receive millions under the jurisdiction of the attorney general through the Justice Department. Justice officials issued a report last year that stated Chicago could stand to lose nearly $29 million in annual agency grants if it were to be found in violation of federal laws on detaining people to be turned over to immigration agents for possible deportation.

Trump's order also calls for the hiring of 10,000 new immigration officers and for the deportation of immigrants living here illegally who have been convicted of a crime, been charged with a crime, committed acts that "constitute a chargeable criminal offense," have abused a program related to public benefits, who have been subject to "a final order of removal," or who in the judgment of an immigration officer "pose a risk to public safety or national security."

"Federal agencies are going to unapologetically enforce that law, no ifs ands or buts," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a briefing with reporters. "We're going to strip federal grant money from the sanctuary states and cities that harbor illegal immigrants. The American people are no longer going to have to be forced to subsidize this disregard for our laws."

Emanuel's public statements reaffirming Chicago's sanctuary city status have come as the mayors of New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and other major cities have done the same since Trump's election.

At Wednesday's City Council meeting, aldermen overwhelmingly passed a resolution reaffirming that Chicago protects all residents regardless of race, ethnicity, immigration status, criminal record, gender identity and sexual orientation. In the process, aldermen took the time to bash Trump as a "demagogue" and recommit themselves to the city's long-held status as a sanctuary city.

"You mess with one in Chicago, you mess with all of us," said Northwest Side Ald. John Arena, 45th. "We are a sanctuary city. We'll stand by that. We will stand by every single citizen, every single resident of this city, regardless of your status. This is your home. That is our declaration."

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Ald. Joe Moore, 49th, said Chicago "should not give in to threats."

"Even if it means that our federal funding is threatened, now is the time to stand up for what is right, now is the time to stand up for our values, now is the time to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves," Moore said. "We should not give into any demagogue who happens to somehow accidentally find his way into the White House."

The president's executive order is in the same vein as a campaign promise he made to remove as many as 3 million immigrants who have criminal records and are living in the U.S. illegally. Since Trump's election, Emanuel has sought to calm the fears of Chicago's large immigrant population, including so-called Dreamers, those who benefited from former President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals that offered legal protection to about 742,000 people who were brought to the U.S. as children and stayed here illegally.

Trump campaigned on rescinding the executive order that created DACA but later said he would work out a solution for Dreamers "that's going to make people happy and proud."

"I believe firmly, as it relates to Dreamers  these are kids who came to the United States not on their own will, their parents brought them, who are going to college, playing by the rules and doing right  they came forward with their name and basic information at the request of the government," Emanuel said. "That would be a bait-and-switch. And Dreamers are actually committed to the American Dream.  We should honor them rather than threaten them."

bruthhart@chicagotribune.com

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Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday responded to aldermen who want leftover property tax rebate program money to be earmarked for anti-violence efforts by laying out his own plans to spend $14.7 million on what he called "critical public safety programs and neighborhood improvement projects."

The money is available because just 25,300 of an estimated 155,000 eligible city homeowners took part in the rebate program, intended to soften the blow of a series of record-high property tax increases. The average rebate check was for $108, and the total amount that will be spent on the rebates and running the program is $3.8 million.

That leaves a bit more than $16 million to use for other purposes after the City Council last year approved setting aside $20 million for the rebates. Last month, the mayor proposed spending $1.3 million to create a "legal protection fund" for immigrants, which aldermen quickly approved.

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In recent weeks, Emanuel announced the city would spend millions of dollars more in rebate money to speed up the equipping all police officers with body cameras, rehabilitate vacant homes and create a cybersecurity training program at City Colleges.

More than a dozen aldermen cried foul, saying the mayor was making those announcements without getting the required City Council approval to change the 2017 budget. They rolled out their own plans aimed at tamping down the city's high rate of violent crime.

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Ald. Raymond Lopez , 15th, offered his own budget amendment Wednesday, calling for the leftover tax rebate money to be spent on youth jobs, connecting private security cameras to the city's emergency surveillance system, street-level violence prevention programs and mentoring for fifth- and sixth-graders.

Other aldermen had called for $5 million to be given to community groups that work with CeaseFire, which sends former gang members into neighborhoods to attempt to prevent violence.

So Emanuel's proposal, introduced at the City Council meeting, was something of a counterpunch. He wants to spend $3.5 million for park infrastructure "to ensure Chicago's youth continue to have a variety of safe spaces for positive recreational opportunities"; $2.8 million to equip all officers with body cameras by the end of the year; $2 million to rehab vacant homes; and $1.8 million to support after-school programs.

The mayor also wants to spend $1.1 million or less on each of the following: the cybersecurity program, a test program to create crime-fighting intelligence centers, starting with the 7th and 11th police districts; planting 1,000 trees throughout the city; the establishment of a small-business incubator on the West Side; and creation of a call center on the South Side.

In other City Council action Wednesday:

Aldermen approved paying $4 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Shawn Whirl, who accused a former police detective who worked under disgraced former Cmdr. Jon Burge of torturing him into making a false murder confession. Whirl spent nearly a quarter-century behind bars before his conviction was thrown out by an appellate court.

Emanuel unveiled a proposal for a new 15-year concession agreement at Midway Airport . Under the deal, Midway Partnership LLC would spend $75 million to upgrade food offerings while nearly tripling the space it occupies at the Southwest Side airport.

Midway Partnership is a joint venture of SSP America Inc., Vantage Airport Group and Hudson Retail LLC. The venture was chosen through a bid and negotiation process, but aldermen must now review the proposal. Expanding concessions is part of a $248 million plan to upgrade Midway. Also on tap are a major expansion of checkpoints to speed up boarding and expansion of a garage.

With aldermen calling President Donald Trump a "demagogue," the council approved a resolution reaffirming that the city protects all residents regardless of race, ethnicity, immigration status, criminal record, gender identity and sexual orientation.

The mayor proposed allowing the Chicago Police Department to use classroom space at DeVry University's Chicago campus to expand police training. DeVry isn't charging the city for the space, according to the plan. Expanding training is part of the mayor's plan to increase the number of cops by 970 this year and next.

Ald. Tom Tunney , 44th, and Ald. Roderick Sawyer , 6th, called for allowing 18- to 20-year-olds to serve and sell liquor in full-service restaurants, and stock and sell liquor at supermarkets. The underage workers would not be allowed to open alcoholic beverages or prepare drinks. The idea, the aldermen said, is to increase youth employment rates.

Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, proposed an ordinance that would bar resorts, airlines, phone companies, ticket vendors, banks and car dealerships form charging "hidden fees"  additional charges that are not fully disclosed to the buyer with the purpose of making goods and services appear less expensive.

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Mayor Rahm Emanuel responds to a tweet by President Donald Trump saying he will send in the Feds! if the city doesnt fix the horrible carnage going on. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)

Mayor Rahm Emanuel responds to a tweet by President Donald Trump saying he will send in the Feds! if the city doesnt fix the horrible carnage going on. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune) (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday welcomed federal assistance to help stem Chicago violence but rejected the idea of the National Guard patrolling the city as "antithetical" to the trust he's trying to build in law enforcement.

The mayor's comments came after President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening took to Twitter to suggest he would "send in the Feds!" if Chicago doesn't "fix the horrible 'carnage' going on."

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The president's tweet, however, did not specify what form that could take. At a Wednesday press briefing, White House spokesman Sean Spicer didn't respond directly when asked whether Trump was talking about deploying National Guard troops to Chicago.

"There's no one thing," Spicer said. "There can be aid, if it was requested up through the governor through the proper channels that the federal government can provide on a law enforcement basis. But there's other aid that can be extended as well through the U.S. attorney's office or other means that will ensure the people of Chicago have the resources to feel safe. That's what he means. And part of it is that no American, whether or not you live in Chicago or Nebraska, shouldn't feel like you can walk down the streets of a city in this country and fear for your life. And I think too often that's happening in Chicago."

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At City Hall, Emanuel said the National Guard "has nothing to do with public safety" and that he was "against it, straight up."

"The place you want  if it comes to safety and security when dealing with gangs and guns  you want the federal resources that are set up to deal with that," Emanuel said while speaking to reporters at a news conference that included more national media outlets than usual in the wake of the Trump tweet. "That is the ATF, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. That is DEA, Drug Enforcement Agency. That is FBI, the Federal Bureau of Investigations."

Spicer indicated Trump was waiting for Emanuel to ask for help dealing with Chicago crime, referencing a meeting the two had in New York prior to Trump's inauguration. "I think the president-elect at the time extended his support to Mayor Emanuel to say that the resources of the federal government are here for you," Spicer said. "To the best of my knowledge, that return call for help has not occurred."

Emanuel on Wednesday said he talked with Trump during that early December meeting about the kind of federal help Chicago would like to receive, though he did not offer specifics on what he asked for.

"I've been very clear about what I think we need to do, and I think you can say this, and I'm saying it correctly: I'm not a shy person," he said. "But I look forward to working with the new administration on expanding what exists today. We have a partnership. There are resources."

Emanuel repeatedly has pointed out that though Chicago has received much of Trump's public crime-fighting focus, other American cities are statistically more violent and also seeing spikes in the number of shootings. The mayor brushed off a question Wednesday about why the president is so fixated on Chicago.

"Look, that's not for me to answer. You should ask your colleagues out in Washington," he said. "Here's the thing: You want to focus on Chicago? OK. I'm going to focus on Chicago."

Aldermen reacted cautiously to the presidential tweet, saying the city could use more federal money and assistance but that armed troops patrolling the streets would be a mistake.

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"I don't think we need troops in the city," said Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd. "Nobody wants to be subject to a curfew, home-to-home searches, cordoning off neighborhoods. I think we need more investment in terms of jobs, investment in our schools."

South Side Ald. Toni Foulkes said sending National Guard units into the city's African-American neighborhoods would worsen conditions in those communities, where there is already a distrust of law enforcement.

"When the National Guard gets involved, you end up with curfews, militarization of neighborhoods," said Foulkes, 16th, who represents parts of Englewood, West Englewood, Chicago Lawn and Gage Park. "And especially in places like Englewood, neighborhoods where residents already feel like there's a racial basis to some of these decisions, that will not help matters."

Cardinal Blase Cupich, who was at City Hall to be honored for his recent elevation to cardinal, said the situation is "more complex" than one that can be dealt with simply by posting federal troops on Chicago streets. "The problem is surely much more complex than that type of a solution," he said. "I surely would welcome, and I think a lot of people would welcome, assistance on a multilevel basis, simply because the problem is not simple. It is complex and it can be improved if we all pull together."

Emanuel is in a tough spot. With Chicago's ongoing crime problems eroding local trust in his administration and garnering so much national attention from Trump and others, it could be difficult for the mayor to reject outright offers of help. But he might not want to be seen as turning over crime fighting to federal officials.

And the mayor is trying desperately to increase some residents' trust in law enforcement that was badly hurt by the Laquan McDonald police shooting and other incidents in the past year, a process he said the National Guard would undermine.

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"We're going through a process of reinvigorating community policing, building trust between relationships in the community and law enforcement," he said Wednesday. "(The National Guard) is antithetical to the spirit of what community policing is."

Trump's tweet came after Fox News' Bill O'Reilly on Tuesday aired a segment on "chaos in Chicago," concluding that "President Trump can call in the National Guard because the governor won't."

And it also came a day after Emanuel questioned Trump's focus on the size of the crowd at his inauguration ceremony and for missing a chance with his speech to appeal to "our better angels as a country."

In August, candidate Trump told O'Reilly "very top police" in Chicago had told him the city's crime problem could be stopped in a week with tougher tactics.

During the campaign, Trump frequently brought up Chicago violence as an example of rampant urban crime that would be dealt with if he were elected.

In a September TV interview, Trump said Chicago "is out of control" and needed to employ controversial stop-and-frisk police practices.

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Earlier this week, Emanuel said police need to have professional standards and public support, and acknowledged the "Ferguson effect" in which some officers may patrol less aggressively to avoid having their actions second-guessed. But Emanuel saw no need for departments to enact stop-and-frisk tactics.

"Clearly police  there was a reaction of what happened across the country," Emanuel said. "On the other hand, the choice isn't just 'Go back to stop-and-frisk.' And this is not a bipolar, two camps. We need our police to have high professional standards, the training to support them in those high professional standards and the certainty to be pro-actively involved."

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Twelve hours after Virginia's two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, voted to confirm Michael Pompeo, President Donald Trump's nominee to run the CIA, the protests began.

On Tuesday morning, more than 100 protesters gathered outside Warner's constituent offices in the Virginia suburbs of Washington. Amanda Lynch, a mother and writer near Manassas, took two of her sons to Kaine's office there, where they played with pocket Constitutions, and she pledged to return every week.

"I was disappointed by Pompeo, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise," said Lynch, 34. "He's defended the use of torture even though it's been proven that it doesn't work. I'm disappointed in the selection of [education secretary nominee] Betsy DeVos. Apart from Gen. [James] Mattis, it's hard for me to feel anything but perturbed by these Cabinet choices."

Senators have confirmed four of Trump's Cabinet nominees and voted a few more out of committee. Republicans have criticized Democrats for slowing down Pompeo's nomination, delaying several others and voting in a bloc against secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson at the committee level on Monday.

But none of it has earned them many points with a fast-growing liberal protest movement that is asking Democratic senators to wage a blockade on nominees they have deemed unacceptable.

"They need to do anything they can to defeat or select the seating of Senator Sessions, Mr. Tillerson and Mr. Price," said Maggie Godbold, 62, a retiree and Democratic activist from Fairfax County, Va., who helped organize the protest at Warner's office, one of 200 across the country Tuesday. "They're unqualified."

The senators, however, appear unwilling to do what their base is asking. On Tuesday, the full Senate voted 96 to 4 to confirm Nikki Haley, Trump's nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations. Earlier in the day, they voted Haley and three other nominees out of committee - Ben Carson to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development; Wilbur Ross to serve as commerce secretary; and Elaine Chao to lead the Transportation Department. That followed full Senate votes for Pompeo on Monday and for Defense Secretary James Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Friday.

"There are clearly going to be some Trump nominees that give me pause, but there are some I'm going to be supporting," Warner said in an interview on Capitol Hill Tuesday. "I argued strenuously, both as a governor and under President [Barack] Obama, that you give the president, or the governor, the chance to put his team in place."

The reality, too, is that thwarting Trump's nominees is a goal that is largely out of reach for Democrats, thanks to their own party's 2013 reform of filibuster rules, continued by Republicans ever since; it now takes just 51 votes to confirm a nominee for office lower than the Supreme Court.

Democrats, with no leverage, are left fighting nominees without really hoping to stop them.

"We're getting lots of calls on lots of the nominees," said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, a liberal from a safe seat who voted to confirm Pompeo. "They want us to fight, but elections have consequences. We don't have the votes in many instances, so in order to stop any nominee, we need three profiles in courage on the Republican side. Those are just the facts. And people understand that - but I think there's nothing to be satisfied about, and there's lots to be concerned about."

That's one reason Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has continued to tout his caucus's decision to continue delaying votes on nominees - even if blocking any of them is unlikely.

Schumer said the Senate would "move with relative speed" on nominees who are "not controversial."

Raising his voice and gesticulating more than usual at a weekly briefing with reporters, Schumer insisted: "We're going to vet these nominees thoroughly. We're not being dilatory, but we're not going to just rush them through. These are all very important nominees. And to have a few days discussion on them? That makes sense. They're going to be in power for up to four years with tremendous say on what affects Americans."

Cue the Republican outrage.

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Tex., said Tuesday that "party-line votes on things like secretary of state" were breaking the comity of the Senate. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, successfully guided Tillerson to a confirmation vote, then bemoaned how no Democrats joined him.

"All of a sudden, because the election outcome is what it is, it's like everything has changed," Corker said. "I just want us to get back into the middle of the road and get back to realizing the importance of these positions."

The delays are noteworthy when compared with past administrations; George W. Bush and Barack Obama entered their first day in office with at least seven nominees confirmed. The relative sluggishness of the Trump team's confirmations, in contrast, has led to dozens of critical national security, financial, public health and other domestic policy positions sitting vacant, with most federal agencies temporarily under the management of career civil service managers or holdovers from the Obama administration who could sit in place for months to come.

The modest progress on Pompeo and Tillerson came as top congressional leaders met with Trump at the White House on Monday night for a social gathering that included talk of persuading Democrats to move along quickly with votes on some of the president's top picks. On Tuesday, Senate leaders met with him again at the White House to discuss his Supreme Court nominee - which Trump said will be announced next week.

But the Democratic Party's base expects senators to move nominees along as slowly as possible.

This is not the first time a restive left has demanded resistance and blamed Democrats when little arose. In 2005, the active and angry Democratic "Netroots" shamed senators who voted to confirm George W. Bush's nominees, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Barack Obama, then a freshman senator, wrote a diary on the liberal Daily Kos blog explaining why he and other self-identified progressives had not filibustered every nominee they could.

"How can we ask Republican senators to resist pressure from their right wing and vote against flawed appointees like John Bolton if we engage in similar rhetoric against Democrats who dissent from our own party line?" Obama wrote.

A final vote on Tillerson, the former CEO of ExxonMobil whom Democrats have labeled as part of Trump's "Swamp Cabinet," won't occur until Tuesday at the earliest. Other nominees, including Carson and Chao - the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., - remain in limbo. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee also scrapped plans on Tuesday to hold votes to recommend former Texas governor Rick Perry to lead the Energy Department and Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., to lead the Interior Department. Aides said that "a miscommunication" between the parties forced the panel to reschedule to a later date - further delaying the formation of Trump's government.

"We'll, in a more fulsome way, move into approving Cabinet appointments, both controversial and noncontroversial, beginning next week," McConnell told reporters.

Schumer cited Carson as a nominee who has split Democrats, saying Tuesday that he had fresh concerns about the former brain surgeon's nomination to lead HUD because of Trump's decision last week to sign an executive order that overhauled federal housing policy.

Carson had been unanimously approved by the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday - including by liberal leaders such as Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Under pressure from supporters on social media to explain her vote, Warren's office said in a statement that she was backing Carson despite his inexperience with federal housing policy because of commitments he made at his hearing to work with her to expand "fair housing rights to all Americans" and to combat unacceptable lead levels in public housing.

Other Trump nominees sat for confirmation hearings on Tuesday, including Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Amid several questions about his personal finances and disclosures to the Senate Finance Committee, Price would not commit during his confirmation hearing that no Americans will be worse off under Trump's executive order to ease rules under the Affordable Care Act.

Price also declined to confirm whether Trump is indeed nearly finished with a plan to replace the health-care law.

Republicans defended Price, broadly criticizing Democrats for undermining the Senate by continuing to attack Price's views and ethics instead of embracing his qualifications for the job.

Meanwhile, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., Trump's choice to lead the Office of Management and Budget, defended his support of cuts to popular entitlement programs that Trump has vowed to keep intact.

During his hearing with the Senate Budget Committee, Mulvaney also faced questions about the Trump administration's claims that turnout for the new president's inauguration was larger than previous swearing-in ceremonies.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., brandished side-by-side images of the Mall from Obama's 2009 inauguration and Trump's on Friday.

"I'm not really sure how this ties to OMB," Mulvaney said before conceding that images from Obama's inauguration showed a bigger crowd.

Merkley explained that he raised the issue "because budgets often contain buried deceptions. . . . This is an example of where the president's team, on something very simple and straightforward, wants to embrace a fantasy rather than a reality."

Mulvaney assured the committee that he is "deadly serious about giving you hard numbers - I intend to follow through on that."

In the coming days, progressive groups are planning to organize more rallies, building on Saturday's Women's March on Washington as well as the political unpopularity of Trump. Tuesday's protests in Virginia were part of a National Day of Action against the "Swamp Cabinet," organized by the progressive group MoveOn. They supplemented the ongoing "Trump Tuesdays" that other progressive groups are organizing to keep protesters in the field and attention on the Trump administration.

"The millions of people that took to the streets on Saturday are not going to give up because Ben Carson will be confirmed to run HUD," said Ben Wikler, the Washington director of MoveOn. "People want to see evidence that Democrats will stand up and fight, but they increasingly get that they can't stop everything. Democrats are just going to have to get used to their constituents being angry if they don't use every tool at their disposal."

The Washington Post's Paul Kane contributed to this report.
UN Ambassador-designate, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley listens while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. (Evan Vucci / AP)

Gov. Nikki Haley resigned Tuesday as South Carolina's CEO to become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, giving the state's helm to an early backer of President Donald Trump.

Haley turned in her resignation letter minutes after the U.S. Senate confirmed her as Trump's Cabinet pick.

Under the state constitution, Haley's resignation letter immediately made Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster the 91st governor of South Carolina. His official swearing-in ceremony will be held later. Haley is expected to attend.

After officially resigning, Haley addressed a crowd in the Capitol lobby.

"There's lots of work to do, but we have the right person to do it," she said, referring to McMaster. "It's an absolute privilege and honor to turn over the reins to you."

The South Carolina-born daughter of Indian immigrants became the state's first female and first minority governor in January 2011. The term-limited governor leaves office with two years remaining in her tenure.

Haley used her final State of the State address earlier this month to say goodbye to South Carolinians and a job she called "the greatest honor of my life."

Her departure gives 69-year-old McMaster a job he's long wanted, one year after the veteran of South Carolina GOP politics stunned political observers by becoming the nation's first statewide officeholder to endorse Trump. His support never wavered, despite Democrats' calls to renounce it.

Legislators of both parties are eager for McMaster to take over.

He has said little publicly since Trump picked Haley for the Cabinet position. And he's not expected to make any broad administrative changes. But legislators, many of whom have known McMaster for decades, believe he'll work with them in his characteristic congenial style  a sharp contrast to the combative approach Haley often took as she assailed legislative leaders she disagreed with in speeches and in social media.

Legislators particularly hope McMaster's ascension finally leads to a long-term solution for fixing South Carolina's roads  which again tops their priority list. Haley's threats to veto anything with a gas tax increase stymied efforts for years.

McMaster, the state's former GOP chairman and attorney general for two terms, has been a close ally of Haley's since she trounced him and two other better-known men in the 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary.

Just days after taking a beating at the polls, McMaster endorsed Haley with an exuberant "I'm all in!" Beyond campaigning with her statewide, he arranged a series of private meetings between Haley and skeptical business leaders a week after she publicly chided the state Chamber of Commerce as a fan of bailouts and corporate welfare.

He served on her transition team, and she then appointed him to the State Ports Authority.

During his 2014 campaign for lieutenant governor, McMaster touted his close relationship with Haley.

His support of Haley, then Trump, has helped him accomplish a five-decade first in South Carolina.

Voters haven't elected a lieutenant governor to the state's highest office since 1970. The last time a lieutenant governor ascended to the job through a vacancy was April 1965, when then-Gov. Donald Russell appointed himself U.S. senator following a death. His replacement, Robert McNair, served Russell's remaining three years.

McMaster's move leaves a vacancy in the lieutenant governor's office. While the state constitution calls for the Senate's leader to fill the role, Senate President Pro Tem Hugh Leatherman has refused to leave the Senate to take the largely ceremonial position.

Leatherman resigned his leadership post Tuesday afternoon, as the U.S. Senate was voting on Haley's confirmation.

The Senate must elect a new president pro tem, who would then immediately be sworn in as lieutenant governor. That's expected to be Sen. Kevin Bryant of Anderson, the only Republican senator who wants the job. Leatherman will attempt to get re-elected as president pro tem  a move at least some senators will oppose.

Associated Press
Jeff McGrath was WLS-Ch. 7's program director for nearly a decade and later was general manager of the City Colleges of Chicago's public television station, WYCC-Ch. 20.

McGrath, 73, died of cardiac arrest Dec. 18 at Highland Park Hospital, said his wife, Joan. He had been in declining health since having a stroke in 2005.

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Born on the South Side, McGrath grew up on the Northwest Side and graduated from what now is Notre Dame College Prep. He attended Lincoln College and then transferred to Drake University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and earned extra money by playing the drums in a country and western band.

After college, McGrath worked briefly for Fred Niles Studios in Chicago before joining WLS-Ch. 7 in 1967 as a promotion writer and then serving as an on-air promotion producer. McGrath's first work on a locally produced program was as an assistant producer on "The Chicago Show," hosted by Ronnie Barrett.

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McGrath created and produced a morning movie show, the "Prize Movie with Ione," which aired five mornings a week from 8:30 to 10 a.m. and featured call-ins with host Ione Rolnick during breaks in the morning movie. McGrath later became an executive producer and then WLS' assistant program director.

McGrath hired Penny Rotheiser, later the public relations director for the "Phil Donahue Show," out of college into his department.

"He mentored people in a way that prepared them for much higher-level jobs," Rotheiser said. "When he mentored people, he didn't say, 'Here's how you do this,' and 'Here's how you do that.' It was more showing me his way of doing things and making me think about alternative ways to do things.'

In 1975, McGrath was promoted to WLS-Ch. 7's program director.

"He had very good insights as program director," said former WLS-Ch. 7 general manager Phil Boyer. "And he was such an upbeat guy."

Retired WLS-Ch. 7 news anchor Joel Daly, who started work at the station shortly after McGrath, recalled McGrath's warmth and willingness to welcome Daly to Chicago.

"He was just a sweet guy," Daly said. "It was a great place to work, and Jeff made it that way."

Scott Steele, a meteorologist at WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee, said McGrath was instrumental in launching his career, which began when Steele was a 14-year-old intern at WLS-Ch. 7 in the late 1970s. McGrath designed a one-month internship program just for Steele, but Steele continued to intern at the station during summers and holidays during high school and college.

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"Who today would ever do that for somebody?" Steele asked. "Here he was this powerful executive in the broadcast industry taking this incredible risk and leap of faith, and I never, ever forgot it."

In 1983, McGrath was involved in bringing talk show host Oprah Winfrey to Chicago. McGrath saw footage of Winfrey while she was working at a Baltimore TV station.

Winfrey shortly afterward was brought to Chicago, where she began hosting the "A.M. Chicago" show in 1983.

After leaving WLS in 1984, McGrath was president and partner of Chicago television production facility Center City Studios. He left Center City to become chairman of Silver King Communications, which owned 12 Home Shopping Network stations, including WEHS-Ch. 60, which now is WXFT-TV. McGrath oversaw the launch and automation of the 12 stations as the Home Shopping Network undertook a transition from cable TV to over-the-air stations.

McGrath left Silver King Communications in 1994 and spent several years consulting. Beginning in 1999, he served as Channel 20's consulting general manager for one year.

In 1998, McGrath bought a career management consultancy, LifeWork Management Group. He worked until his stroke in 2005, his wife said.

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In addition to his wife, McGrath is survived by a son, Andrew; and a sister, Linda McGrath Howard.

A memorial service is being planned.

Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
President Donald Trump shows the Executive Order withdrawing the United Statesfrom the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after signing it in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on Monday, Jan.23, 2017. (Ron Sachs, Pool/Getty Images)

Now that the campaign is over, Donald Trump is no longer willing to fake it. Last year, he insisted, "I love free trade. But I want to make great deals." In his inaugural address, he dropped the masquerade.

"We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs," he said. "Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength." His formula is simple: "Buy American and hire American." In his vision of the future, we may export but we will never import.

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Trump is never more certain than when he is completely clueless. The truth is that protection against foreign trade leads away from prosperity and strength. A country that deprives itself of foreign goods is doing to itself what an enemy might try to do in wartime  cut it off from outside commerce. It is volunteering to impoverish itself.

Countries don't "ravage" us when they make "our" products; they help us. At the risk of belaboring the obvious, the essence of trade  foreign or domestic  is that it makes both buyer and seller better off. Otherwise, they wouldn't bother.

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But preventing such mutually agreeable transactions is Trump's dream. Already he has announced he will renegotiate NAFTA and has walked away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation deal that President Barack Obama signed but Congress had yet to approve.

Trump may promise "great deals," but he is likely to get  and would probably be content with  no deals. What foreign government will rush to sign an agreement stipulating that our companies will only "buy American and hire American"?

His belief that international commerce is bad for Americans and protection is good for us is not a theory but an ancient superstition. One of the most irrefutable insights of economics is that if a country can buy something abroad for less than the cost of making it at home, it's better off buying it. That transaction allows citizens to consume more for each dollar spent. It makes them richer.

The United States could grow all its fresh fruits and vegetables rather than buy some from Mexico  just as Mexico could grow all the corn and soybeans it needs rather than purchase from us. But the costs would be higher on either side. Open trade allows people in each country to eat more and better.

It also allows each economy to produce more. Trump fantasizes that American companies and workers would be better off without foreign competition. But the steel that goes into American cars and the lumber that goes into American houses would be more expensive if it all had to be produced within our borders. In industries deprived of imported supplies, prices would rise, sales would decline and employment would shrink.

The U.S. auto industry has plants in Mexico that make cars sold in the U.S., to the horror of the new president. But if he guts NAFTA, those jobs won't all move here.

A study by the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., said that American firms that ship car parts to Mexico could lose out to suppliers in other countries. Overall, scrapping the accord and setting high tariffs would destroy 31,000 jobs in the U.S. automotive sector.

Trump defends his protectionism by asserting that "every decision on trade" should "be made to benefit American workers and American families." But free trade does exactly that. It's the classic example of a policy that benefits the many while harming the few.

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Only about 14,000 Americans are employed making footwear. About 324 million Americans, on the other hand, wear shoes. Putting up barriers to foreign-made shoes would injure far more American workers and families than it would help.

It would also be a drain on the economy. When President Obama slapped heavy tariffs on Chinese tires, the Peterson Institute for International Economics found, he saved no more than 1,200 jobs  at an annual cost to consumers of $900,000 per job.

Spending nearly a million dollars to save a job that typically pays $41,000 a year is not a recipe for prosperity. It's the equivalent of selling $20 bills for a dollar apiece. Trump's dream of "buy American and hire American" would work exactly the same way.

Trump, of course, is a business magnate whose companies have sold products made everywhere from China to Honduras. In this case, wisdom lies in following his example, not his advice.

Steve Chapman, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/chapman.

schapman@chicagotribune.com

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Twitter @SteveChapman13

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A man walks past a memorial wall at the Altgeld Garden public housing project in Chicago. Locals refer to the wall as the "wall of death." It features the names of people who have died due to gang violence and other causes. (Christian K. Lee, For The Washington Post)

Yes, the Feds can help.

And the battle cry will be "Have no small dreams," because gang violence in Chicago is a problem that is intergenerational, deeply entrenched and tied to other social problems, including drug abuse, poverty and racial conflict. We can at least dream of having a big impact.

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The media have been hyper-critical of President Donald Trump's recent tweet that "If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible 'carnage' going on ... I will send in the Feds!"

Let the record reflect, Trump has not mentioned sending in the armed forces, though others have in the past.

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In 1992, as a result of gang violence at the Cabrini-Green housing development, the head of the Chicago Housing Authority asked for Illinois National Guard troops to be deployed to the area. It didn't happen.

The National Gang Crime Research Center did an anonymous survey of about 100 members of the Illinois National Guard in 1992 and quickly found one reason why it would have been a bad idea. One of the respondents marked his survey with Gangster Disciple gang graffiti. If this gang member in uniform had to clear a building filled with Vice Lords, clearly there could have been problems.

Here is a battle plan for better ways to "send in the Feds":

1. Ask the federal Department of Health and Human Services to attack Chicago with a wealth of social services  Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to provide aid for victims of gang violence; more Head Start services for struggling single mothers; child care services; foster care; home energy assistance; services for people with disabilities; help for the homeless; and support for struggling military families.

2. Penetrate Chicago with needed services from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to make sure there are affordable places for Chicagoans to live safely with community services.

3. Airlift in massive new services from the Department of Education; saturate the entire city and its needy suburbs with a powerful influx of resources to increase educational effectiveness and improve school safety.

4. Put some troops on the ground from the Department of Labor, specifically to offer job training, job counseling and job placement services; follow up with subsidized job placement for gang members, released offenders and anyone wanting to "go straight" so as to displace them from gang life.

5. Armor the community with Labor's Job Corps  the kind of social protection that really pays off, as it helps youths to learn new skills and become better and more employable citizens.

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6. Prepare to bombard Chicago with new and needed services from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Provide needed health care, housing and training to military veterans in Chicago.

7. Systematically pound the Chicago metropolitan area with help from AmeriCorps VISTA. Expand opportunities for at-risk kids in Chicago and provide one-on-one mentors for every kid at risk of joining a gang.

8. Snipe away at specific Chicago problems with some of the millions of dollars typically spent by agencies such as the National Institute of Justice; fund research on the Chicago problem.

9. Win over the hearts and minds of those gang members committing the violence with a massive influx of services and research from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. We know who the gang members are  let's knock on some doors and offer them help giving up gang life.

10. For those gang members who don't want to stop fighting, call in the special services of the National Institute of Corrections. Improve conditions in our juvenile detention centers, jails and prisons because gangs are dominating the environment in these places.

Again, have no small dreams. Declaring war means using all of our available resources. And then it is entirely possible that the president's call for a more systematic and strategic approach might have some positive impact.

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So yes, send in the Feds!

George W. Knox is the director of the National Gang Crime Research Center.

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How Trump can help Chicago right now

The folly of Trump's 'buy American and hire American'

Republicans must save the nation from President Trump
Too many of Chicago's cops weren't doing their jobs. Slouching in unkempt uniforms, they drank whiskey in saloons when they should have been walking their beats. And they ignored crimes happening right in front of their eyes.

These were the findings of an investigation in 1904 called the Piper Report. "Chicago's police department was given the most unmerciful raking in its history," the Tribune reported at the time.

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More than a century before a recent U.S. Department of Justice report excoriated the Chicago Police Department for widespread failures, Chicago police faced scrutiny from an outside investigator.

"The condition is 'rotten,' " said Louis Grossman, a Chicago private eye who worked on the 1904 report. "The police of Chicago are 'piano movers,' bums, cripples, janitors, ward heelers  anything but policemen. They have no respect for the law, and depend upon their pull with the alderman to get them out of trouble. Out of all the precincts we have watched, we have found but two patrolmen who did their duty. They sleep when they should be on their rounds. They play the slot machines and drink with any one who asks them."

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The probe was led by retired Army Capt. Alexander Piper, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy who'd fought in battles against Sioux Indians and in the Spanish-American War. Piper, who'd lost his right arm to a gunshot, had also served as a New York City police official.

In early 1904, the City Club of Chicago hired him to snoop on Chicago's police. That civic group, known today for hosting political speeches, had just formed in December 1903. For months, newspapers had been filled with headlines about murders and holdups. Meanwhile, a committee of aldermen was investigating graft, hearing testimony about cops allegedly taking protection money from prostitutes and criminals. The police superintendent, Francis O'Neill, had a reputation for honesty, but he faced criticism for allowing corruption and inaction.

Chicago's cops weren't yet represented by a union, but in January 1904 they formed a protective association, raising money to defend officers facing misconduct accusations. Tribune editorials denounced the association's "hostility to investigation," calling it a "slush fund" to hide corruption.

Piper and two investigators spent six weeks visiting police stations, walking streets and watching cops. They saw 174 incidents they described as dereliction of duty, including on-duty officers drinking in taverns. William Maher, one of Piper's assistants, wrote in the report that he didn't see any cops pay for their drinks. "They thought nothing of going off post to get a shave, taking off their hats and sitting down for an hour, or going into a concert saloon, seeing women solicit men for the purpose of prostitution in their presence," he said.

One police official explained to Piper why a cop should visit saloons: "By going there he can become friendly with the saloonkeeper and obtain information about criminals that he could not get elsewhere."

But Maher concluded, "My impression is that Chicago is a harbor for thieves. The crooks are evidently not afraid of the police. On the contrary I think some of the police are afraid of the thieves."

After watching a roll call at a police station, Piper said the officers "were standing in slouchy, slovenly positions, talking and expectorating, and were little more than a mob stood up in line."

Piper's report was presented in March 1904 and caused "something like a panic" in the police force, the Tribune reported. Many officers suddenly "showed marked improvement in their attention to duty." But they were mad at Piper, who'd gone home to New York.

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"He ought to have staid in New York or Oshkosh, or wherever he came from," the Tribune quoted an inspector, John Wheeler, saying, using the newspaper's unconventional spelling style of the time.

Lt. John Hanley said, "W'y, the worst he's got to say about us is we're not dudes like them Broadway coppers. Now, I don't know w'at you think about it, but I consider that a compliment. He says our patrolmen are slouchy. Well, I guess they wouldn't be slouchy if they had a tailor shop in every station an' a man to clean an' press uniforms like they has in New York."

In April 1904, according to a Tribune story, Ald. Edward Cullerton proposed a City Council resolution denouncing "spies and bum detectives from outside places." He said, "Why should these brave officers be persecuted?"

Mayor Carter Harrison Jr. vowed to improve the police force, but he added, "It must be remembered that patrolmen are no different from other human beings, and most of them will not do any more work than they have to. If they are not watched they will shirk, and it is foolish to expect anything else." O'Neill said he planned to find trustworthy cops who'd report on the discipline of fellow officers  espionage known in police slang as the "shoo fly" system.

A month after the Piper Report, the Tribune conducted its own investigation and found similar problems, observing 66 cases of officers allegedly being derelict on duty over two weeks. The Tribune concluded that the city's efforts at reform were "skin deep and no deeper."

Thomas Finan was among the officers the Tribune saw drinking on duty, but inspector Wheeler said, "Finan is one of the best men on the force in the matter of making arrests. I suppose he does take a drink sometimes, but even Piper can't hope to convert the whole Chicago police force to temperance principles."

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Meanwhile, O'Neill sent six sergeants to monitor police stations, and they found "good conditions" everywhere. "I'd much rather believe them than any outsider," O'Neill said. Only a handful of officers were disciplined as a result of all the investigations.

While focusing on discipline, the Piper Report ignored other topics of concern that persist today. Did police discriminate against minorities? Piper didn't check. Were shootings by police a problem? Piper didn't say  even though police records show that officers killed 30 people from 1899 to 1903 (about half the per-capita rate of fatal shootings by police documented by the Tribune for the years 2010-15). And the Piper Report ignored allegations that police beat suspects during interrogations  in 1902, Ald. F.I. Bennett had accused police of using "Spanish Inquisition methods."

Piper did raise one issue that's still in the news: the size of Chicago's police force. By Piper's count, the city had 3,168 police employees in 1904, or 1.9 for every 1,000 residents. That's far smaller per capita than today's force of about 12,100 officers, or 4.5 per 1,000 residents. (Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently announced an effort to hire nearly 1,000 beat officers, detectives and supervisors.)

In historian Jeffrey S. Adler's view, the Piper Report and other investigations in later decades pushed the police to modernize. "Although reformers failed to root out corruption, they began to establish basic procedural and behavioral standards of police professionalism," Adler wrote.

"Piperize" became Chicago slang for cop-on-cop sleuthing, and cops used "Piper" as a derisive insult for informers. Those words were still kicking around in 1960, when the police faced another scandal, with officers in the Summerdale district charged with aiding burglaries. At the time, the Tribune said, "the department rank and file are wondering when the next wave of 'piperizing' will start."

Robert Loerzel is a freelance writer.
During an appearance before the Tribune Editorial Board in 2015, Donald Trump addressed Chicago crime, saying "tough cookies" are needed to combat it. (Brian Ernst/Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

You've heard about the "American carnage." But how bad is it out there, really?

Pretty horrible, actually.

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I am referring of course to what was probably the most memorable phrase in President Donald Trump's inaugural address. Here it is in context:

"Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves. These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public.

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"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 all knowledge; and the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.

"This American carnage stops right here and stops right now."

He's talking about a bunch of different things there, but "carnage" means the killing of lots of people, so let's focus on that. First, the murder rate:

The numbers through 2015 are from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual "Crime in the U.S." reports, which are based on data reported by local police departments. The 2016 report won't be out until September; an FBI report released earlier this month said homicides were up 5.2 percent in the first half of 2016 compared with the same period a year before. Crime analyst Jeff Asher, writing in FiveThirtyEight, estimated on the basis of full- and partial-year data from 82 cities that the full-year increase will probably come out closer to 8 percent. The two things that seem clearest from the chart are that (1) the murder rate is a lot lower than it was in the 1970s and 1980s and (2) it has risen significantly over the past two years. Trump isn't particularly careful in his use of statistics, and on the campaign trail he sometimes conflated the two  resulting at one point in FactCheck.org declaring that his claim that the murder rate is the "highest it's been in 45 years" was false while Politifact judged that his statement that "We have an increase in murder within our cities, the biggest in 45 years" was true (it's actually 44 years  the one-year percentage increase in 2015 was the biggest since 1971  but close enough).

So there is something alarming going on with violent crime, although it's too early to tell how alarmed we should be. It appears to be concentrated in a few big cities. Chicago, with its shocking 59 percent increase in homicides in 2016, grabbed most of the headlines. But as Asher writes, it's not alone:

Among the notable rises outside of Chicago's were increases of 56 percent in Memphis, 61 percent in San Antonio, 44 percent in Louisville, 36 percent in Phoenix and 31 percent in Las Vegas. Taken together, those six cities accounted for 76 percent of the overall big city murder rise in 2016.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 21 Willis Tower can be seen beyond police tape at the scene of a shooting in the 1200 block of South Union Avenue Friday, Dec. 9, 2016, in the University Village neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

Homicide is one big source of carnage, responsible for 15,696 deaths in 2015. Another that Trump referenced in his speech is drugs. There, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the trend lines have all been headed in the wrong direction for a while now:

Health statisticians are in the habit of adjusting the death rates in time series like these for the age composition of the population. That means these numbers become less comparable with the homicide data the further you get from the age-adjustment base year of 2000. Still, the contrast is so great that I'm going to compare them anyway: In 1999, the drug overdose death rate and the homicide rate were similar  6.1 per 100,000 population to 5.7 respectively. In 2015, the drug overdose rate was more than triple the homicide rate  16.3 to 4.9.

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This isn't all about OxyContin, the prescription opioid from Purdue Pharma Inc. that has been deservedly blamed for many problems. The nonopioid overdose death rate has almost doubled since 1999, and while the prescription-opioid death rate rose to 4.9 in 2011 from 1.2 per 100,000 in 1999, it has declined slightly, while the overdose death rate from heroin (which is pretty hard to get a prescription for, except in Canada) climbed to 4.1 per 100,000 in 2015 from 1 in 2010. In absolute numbers, 52,404 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2015.

What really got to me was this "key finding" near the beginning of the article from which these numbers were taken:

The percent increase in suicide rates for females was greatest for those ages 10 to 14, and for males, those ages 45 to 64.

Overall, men are far more prone to suicide than women, but the female suicide rate has been rising faster. In 1999, there were 4.5 times as many suicides by men in the U.S. as by women; in 2014, that ratio was down to 3.6. Men are most likely to kill themselves with guns, women by poisoning. In total, there were 44,193 suicides in the U.S. in 2015 (it looks like a bit more than 10 percent of these were by drug overdose, so there is some double-counting here).

There are other kinds of carnage, too: An estimated 35,092 people died from motor vehicle accidents in the U.S. in 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That was up 7.2 percent from the year before  the biggest such increase in almost 50 years  although the overall trend since the early 1970s is down.

And that's not the end of it. In 2014, according to the CDC, 38,851 people died of unintentional poisoning in the U.S., and 31,959 of unintentional falls. Accidental gun deaths appear to be relatively rare: The Gun Violence Archive tracked 469 in 2016.

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It is the homicides, drug overdoses and suicides, though, that seem to best fit what Trump was talking about in his speech. It's hard to tell yet whether the recent rise in the homicide rate is a blip or the sign of a new trend, but the rise in drug deaths and suicides has been going on for a decade-plus  and I've got to figure that the weak post-2000 U.S. economy is at least partly at fault.

The effect has been most pronounced among what you might call Trump's core demographic: In a paper that got a lot of deserved attention in 2015, Princeton University economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton found that the death rate for 45-to-64-year-old, non-Hispanic white Americans had been rising since the late 1990s  contrary to the trend in every other developed country they looked at, as well as among other ethnic groups in the U.S. The three main causes they identified were "suicide, drug and alcohol poisoning (accidental and intent undetermined), and chronic liver diseases and cirrhosis."

That is horrifying. And you really can't fault anybody for calling it "American carnage."

Bloomberg

Justin Fox is a Bloomberg View columnist and the author of "The Myth of the Rational Market." Readers may email him at justinfox@bloomberg.net.

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Donald Trump is quadrupling down on his assertion that millions of ballots were illegally cast in the November election. Wednesday morning he ensured that the mainstream media will spend more time focused on this issue by calling for an investigation:

"I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and.... even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

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That the president of the United States is challenging, with no credible evidence, the integrity of an election he won is extraordinarily reckless.

As The Washington Post's Dan Balz explains, "There is no benign explanation ... It is either a deliberate attempt to undermine faith in the democratic process, an exhortation to those who favor new restrictions on access to the ballot box or the worrisome trait of someone with immense power willing to make wild statements without any credible evidence. By repeating as president what he had said as a candidate, for whatever purpose, Trump is now striking at the foundation of a democratic society. This is yet another example of Trump being willing to cast doubt on information, individuals or institutions that he believes threaten his legitimacy, challenge his authority or question his actions."

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While Trump's claims of voter fraud are certainly newsworthy, they are also a distraction from an aggressive effort by this new White House to quickly transform the government and dramatically change the direction of public policy in ways that will directly impact tens of millions of Americans.

As John Mitchell famously said when he became Richard Nixon's attorney general, "Watch what we do, not what we say."

That maxim is truer now more than ever.

We've all been drinking from a firehose since noon last Friday. To help you not lose track, here are several moves by Team Trump that would lead the news in any ordinary time but have gotten relatively little public attention:

1. Moving to lift the ban on CIA 'black sites'

"The Trump administration is preparing a sweeping executive order that would clear the way for the Central Intelligence Agency to reopen overseas 'black site' prisons, like those where it detained and tortured terrorism suspects before former President Barack Obama shut them down," the New York Times' Charlie Savage reports. "President Trump's three-page draft order, titled 'Detention and Interrogation of Enemy Combatants' ... would also undo many of the other restrictions on handling detainees that Mr. Obama put in place in response to policies of the Bush administration. If Mr. Trump signs the draft order, he would also revoke Mr. Obama's directive to give the International Committee of the Red Cross access to all wartime detainees in American custody  another step toward reopening secret prisons outside of the normal wartime rules established by the Geneva Conventions. ...

"The draft order does not direct any immediate reopening of C.I.A. prisons or revival of torture tactics, which are now barred by statute," Savage notes. "But it sets up high-level policy reviews to make further recommendations in both areas to Mr. Trump, who vowed during the campaign to bring back waterboarding and a 'hell of a lot worse'  not only because 'torture works,' but because even 'if it doesn't work, they deserve it anyway.'"

2. Muzzling agencies

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"Trump administration officials instructed employees at multiple agencies in recent days to cease communicating with the public through news releases, official social media accounts and correspondence, raising concerns that federal employees will be able to convey only information that supports the new president's agenda," the Post's Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis report. "The Environmental Protection Agency as well as the Agriculture and Interior departments now have formal policies restricting what they should convey to the public about their work. ... Many new administrations  including former president Barack Obama's  have moved quickly to take control of the U.S. government's public relations machinery and centralize decision-making upon taking office. But the sweeping nature of some of the new controls is unusual."

3. An assault on climate science

It's not surprising that Trump followed through on promises to issue executive orders to revive the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines, but the administration is making a much harder play below the radar to eviscerate Obama's environmental legacy.

They've instructed EPA officials to freeze all grants and contracts, a move that could affect everything from state-led climate research to localized efforts to improve air and water quality to environmental justice projects aimed at helping poor communities. "Each year the EPA awards more than $4 billion in funding for grants and other assistance agreements. For now, it appears, that funding is on hold, casting a cloud of uncertainty over one of the agency's core functions, as well as over the scientists, state and local officials, universities and Native American tribes that often benefit from the grants," the Post's Brady Dennis and Juliet Eilperin report.

Last Friday, the Trump team deleted any reference to global warming from the White House website. Now they're going much farther. "The White House has ordered the EPA to remove the climate change page from its own website, which contains links to scientific global warming research and detailed data on emissions," Reuters reports.

4. Retaining Comey

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Hillary Clinton believes very strongly that FBI Director James Comey cost her the election with his two announcements during the run-up to Nov. 8, and she's angry that he did not publicly discuss evidence of Russian interference on behalf of Trump. Comey's decisions to discuss the Clinton probe publicly are currently being investigated by the Justice Department inspector general. At a White House reception on Sunday, Trump literally embraced Comey. "He's become more famous than me," the president said.

Then the news broke Tuesday that Trump has asked Comey to stay on. Normally, this would not be surprising because he's only four years into a 10-year term. But the president had said previously that he would not decide whether he should stay on until they had a private meeting.

5. Curtailing abortion

Flanked by a group in the Oval Office that consisted entirely of men, Trump reinstated the so-called Mexico City policy. The Reagan-era policy bans American assistance to organizations that offer abortion services, including counseling and referrals.

Poor women in sub-Saharan Africa stand to be the biggest losers from Trump's order, the Post's Kevin Sieff reports from Nairobi: "In practice, experts say, that policy will freeze millions of dollars in funding that has gone to critical health treatment, including HIV testing and neonatal care. The United States does not fund any abortion services overseas, but many health groups receive American assistance to provide other women's services, while using different funding sources to provide abortion counseling and procedures. Now, those organizations will have to stop providing abortion services if they want to continue to receive U.S. aid for their other programs. The policy is known as the 'global gag rule' because it even restricts references to abortion in counseling sessions."

6. Taking the oil

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Speaking crassly in front of the honor wall at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., Trump said Saturday that the U.S. should have kept the oil after the liberation of Iraq. "To the victor belong the spoils," he said. "So we should have kept the oil. But, OK, maybe you'll have another chance."

No one knows how seriously to take Trump's threat to seize Iraq's oil: "The recycled campaign comment is raising concerns about Trump's understanding of the delicate Middle East politics involved in the U.S.-led effort against extremist groups," the Associated Press reports in a story Wednesday. "The statement ignores the precedent of hundreds of years of American history ... Taking the oil would also require a permanent U.S. occupation, or at least until Iraq's 140 billion barrels of crude run out, and a large presence of American soldiers to guard sometimes isolated oil fields and infrastructure. Such a mission would be highly unpopular with Iraqis, whose hearts and minds the U.S. is still try to win to defeat groups such as IS and al-Qaida."

Serious Republicans like Robert Gates and John McCain chortle at the idea.

Rather than try to walk it back, however, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer defended Trump's "take the oil" line during his briefing on Monday. "He wants to be sure America is getting something out of it for the commitment and sacrifice it is making," he said.

Washington Post

James Hohmann is a national political correspondent for The Washington Post.
Reports that President Donald Trump travels with a claque  a group of supporters that creates the impression of support for him at functions like a recent meeting with Central Intelligence Agency staff  have added to a growing list of ways his administration resembles Russian President Vladimir Putin's.

The parallels began in earnest with Trump's pre-inauguration news conference when Alexei Kovalev, known for debunking Russian government propaganda, compared the event to Putin's circuslike annual meetings with the press. The piece resonated with Western journalists, who are not used to being denied questions by the president and also expect that he will be nice to them. It also resonated with their Russian colleagues, who have been dealing with carefully staged press appearances and punitive access restrictions since Putin's first term in power.

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Over the weekend, Trump press secretary Sean Spicer all but invited comparisons to his Russian counterpart by offering "alternative facts" about the inauguration crowd's size. With a straight face, Putin's spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, has denied the involvement of Russian troops in Crimea and eastern Ukraine and claimed that a $620,000 watch he wore was a present from his wife, an Olympic figure skater.

Trump's preference for inviting his supporters to potentially tough rooms is shared by Putin as well. Earlier this month, Russian-language social networks throbbed with reports that several people kept reappearing in various meetings between Putin and "ordinary Russians." One of them, Larisa Sergukhina, was revealed to be a small-business owner working on government contracts. Even if, as Putin loyalists argued, the same people were legitimately invited to several meetings in a particular region, Putin's travels are carefully staged in a time-honored Russian tradition that dates back  at least  to Prince Grigory Potemkin. No group of people allowed to come close to Russia's leader is ever random, and you'll never see anyone heckling or berating Putin on television there. Everybody's always happy to see him.

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The budding resemblance between Trump and Putin is, of course, unsettling to Americans. They are not used to a leader behaving like a czar. But Putin doesn't do his czar act because he likes it.

He is an introvert who doesn't enjoy the crowds and takes hours of preparation, in the swimming pool, the gym and generally on his own, to face the day. In large audiences, Putin often looks like he's suffering, with a grimace of tiredness and irritation. He's not a showy public speaker, and his greatest pride and pleasure when speaking or answering questions clearly comes from an almost supernatural grasp of numbers and minutiae. And in meetings with "ordinary people," Putin is often wooden, hiding behind an uncomfortable grin and trying to simplify and roughen his speech. He is uncomfortable and awkward about touching flesh.

Few leaders have been so careful to hide his family from the limelight as Putin. His two daughters have lived under assumed names, and the Kremlin has cracked down on media attempts to report on their life and projects.

Putin's idea of a break is a hunting or fishing vacation in a remote area, with as few people around him as possible. But the czar routine includes the constant presence of an entourage. Although Peskov's credibility is usually low, he once provided a plausible explanation for the much-lampooned images of topless Putin fishing and riding a horse:

"If you think he posed deliberately before the camera with a naked torso, you are mistaken, it's not so. In fact, Putin is often accompanied by his personal photographer and cameraman. And the president just lives his life  he either works or has fun. Sometimes we persuade him to publish certain photos and videos. We have far more than has been published."

The new American president, by contrast, is gregarious. He is clearly drawn to the energy of crowds, and is an accomplished schmoozer. Unlike Putin, who is known to be uncomfortable in the Kremlin's vast gilded interiors, Trump revels in all things gold. Trump's pride in his wife and children is always on full display. Trump is a showman, living a televised life and relishing the attention.

Putin operates in a bubble in part to protect a retiring, inward-looking man from unwanted interactions. It's essentially a shell.

Trump is creating a bubble because he wants to be admired, to win, always to be the best. He doesn't shrink from unnecessary contact as Putin does  just from any reality in which he is not Number One. His bubble is an aquarium.

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The striking difference between the two men doesn't preclude dictatorial tendencies in both. A flamboyant dictator, however, is likely more vulnerable than a reticent one  something that should concern those who will help Trump prepare for inevitable negotiations with Putin.

Bloomberg View

Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist.

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President Donald Trump has plenty of ideas with low flashpoints. One of them is his campaign pledge to move America's Embassy from Israel's commercial capital, Tel Aviv, to its actual capital, Jerusalem. That idea has incensed Palestinians, who also claim the Holy City as the capital of their prospective future state.

It's also an idea that isn't new. Back in 1995, Congress passed a law calling for the embassy to be moved to Jerusalem. The measure required the move to be made by 1999, but it also allowed U.S. presidents to sign six-month waivers of the law on the grounds of national interest. Since then, every American president has invoked the waiver, relying on the argument that such a move would prejudge the outcome of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. During their campaigns, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both promised to move the embassy to Jerusalem, and then backed off when they became president.

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So why should Trump's pledge be treated any differently? Because he's loudly reminding everyone that he plans to move the embassy. The day before his inauguration, he told a conservative Israeli news outlet that he meant what he had said: "You know I'm not a person who breaks promises." On Monday, Jerusalem's mayor, Nir Barkat, said his conversations with the Trump administration about the embassy move suggest "they are serious about their intentions." Trump's pick for ambassador to Israel, New York bankruptcy lawyer David Friedman, calls the proposed move a "big priority" for Trump's administration.

Trump's quest to recharge U.S.-Israeli ties is the right tack, particularly after the prickly relationship Barack Obama had with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel remains America's most loyal and stable ally in the volatile Middle East.

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A two-state solution has always been the best path to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, and Obama had always embraced that approach. But Obama always gave Israel a hard pinch when he thought it necessary. In the waning weeks of his presidency, he abstained from a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel's settlement-building  the U.S. had vetoed similar measures. Obama's use of the U.N. as a cudgel didn't work: Within days, Israel announced it would forge ahead with new settlements. On Tuesday, it approved construction of 2,500 housing units in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. That may be a rebuke to Obama. Or it may reflect Israeli expectations of friendly ties with Trump. Or both.

Nevertheless, it's clear that America's handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict needs to be calibrated so that rock-solid ties with Israel stay rock-solid, while an environment for moving toward a two-state solution stays intact. Trump's insistence on moving the embassy doesn't advance the latter goal.

For Palestinians, the embassy issue is a big, thick red line. Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told The New York Times that moving the embassy to Jerusalem would doom any hope of a two-state solution and might ignite new waves of violence. "Why would a president-elect decide to begin his presidency by playing with the blood of Palestinians and Israelis?" Erekat said. "Why? For whose sake?" If Trump makes good on his promise, expect the Palestinian side to repeal its recognition of Israel. That would wipe out what historically has been a baseline condition for Palestinian-Israeli talks.

And it's not just the Palestinians who would be enraged by the embassy move. The rest of the Arab world would be just as opposed  at a time when the U.S. needs Arab allies in the fight against the Islamic State contagion. Jordan, an important U.S. ally, staunchly opposes a move.

Even some Israelis wonder why Trump sees this as an urgent priority. "It's very important, but we have many other issues," Israel's defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said at forum in Washington in December. "It's Iran and Palestinian issue, and settlement and Syria. We have enough challenges all around Israel. I think that it will be a mistake, you know, to take the embassy (issue) as the focal point."

A peaceful two-state solution should be Trump's priority. Moving the embassy to Jerusalem would veer America away from that goal, rather than closer to it.
After passing a $543 million property tax hike in 2015  the biggest such tax grab in Chicago's modern history  Mayor Rahm Emanuel and aldermen tried to apply a cool compress to taxpayers' foreheads. They approved a $20 million property tax rebate program for homeowners who were hardest hit by the tax hike.

It didn't work. Only a small fraction of eligible homeowners took advantage of the rebate program. Why? Maybe City Hall didn't advertise it enough. Maybe requiring homeowners to apply in person was too burdensome. Maybe the window to apply for the money was too short. Maybe residents realized it wasn't worth the trouble. The city's most recent numbers have only about $1.2 million of the $20 million leaving City Hall as rebates.

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From that flop, though, an opportunity emerged: Emanuel made other plans for the unspent rebate money. Even before the final Dec. 30, 2016, deadline had arrived to apply for the program, Emanuel announced on Dec. 2 that he would commit $1.3 million of untapped rebate money for an immigrant legal defense fund for Chicagoans fighting deportation. After that, he promised $2.8 million for additional police body cameras and $2 million to buy and rehab vacant properties. This month, he promised another $1 million for cybersecurity training programs at the city's community colleges.

In other words, Emanuel has taken to the unused rebated money like a shark to herring.

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Aldermen have expressed frustration with Emanuel, but their complaints largely have been based on a "me, too" philosophy: They didn't like the mayor committing to spending money without City Council approval. But they also wanted pieces of the leftover rebate money for their own priorities. Their ideas included rebates to homeowners who install security cameras that police can use to catch bad guys; home repairs for senior citizens; anti-violence initiatives; aid for homeless veterans; money to help retired city workers buy health insurance ...

All fine ideas, perhaps  Emanuel's and the aldermen's. The problem here isn't how the rebate money is being spent, it's that it's being spent at all. Emanuel is treating the untapped rebate fund like new money. Look what I found!

Reality check: If residents didn't fully tap into the rebate program, perhaps City Hall should have created an online application process or included more residents, not just those with household incomes of $75,000 or less, to be eligible. Perhaps Emanuel should be expanding the program instead of draining it. This money is for rebates, remember?

If residents still didn't apply, the mayor should return the remaining funds to the city's general fund. You know, relieve the pressure on day-to-day city finances, which already are stretched, instead of looking for new places to spend, spend, spend. Freed-up money doesn't mean free money.

The performance of the rebate program confirms what we said last year and what most cognizant taxpayers understand: Rebate programs are gimmicks. Government sends a check in the mail to taxpayers instead of spending less up front.

A government that doesn't spend what it appropriated  in this case, City Hall  should return unspent money to the city's main checking account. Or it should reduce its levy and take less from taxpayers.

There's a name for what Emanuel is doing. It's called bait-and-switch.

The bait: Look at our good hearts! We're giving $20 million to needy taxpayers!

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The switch: Except, mostly, we aren't.

As is, what started out as a rebate program has turned into a slush fund for this or that worthy cause. Better to help all taxpayers by putting leftover cash in the general fund.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.

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Willis Tower can be seen beyond police tape at the scene of a shooting in the 1200 block of South Union Avenue Friday, Dec. 9, 2016, in the University Village neighborhood of Chicago. A 17-year-old male was in the back seat of a vehicle when he was shot in the chest. (Erin Hooley, Chicago Tribune)

"If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible 'carnage' going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!"

 President Donald Trump, Jan. 24, 2017.

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For now it's just another tweet from twitchy presidential thumbs, one more jab in the verbal tiff between a new Republican president and a Democratic mayor with a violence crisis spinning out of control. But before you write this off as typical Trump histrionics, consider:

Fifty-two years ago  March 20, 1965  an angry President Lyndon Johnson reacted to Alabama's "Bloody Sunday" by declaring that he would use federal authority to protect the civil rights of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other marchers headed from Selma to Montgomery. Five days later, federal and state troops oversaw the march, capped by King's noble "How Long, Not Long" speech on the state Capitol steps.

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Trump has blustered repeatedly about Chicago's rampant violence. Could he also construct a legal argument for federal intervention here? Does the menace to people who feel they can't leave their homes  the menace to children who fear walking to school  give a president the right to unleash federal resources to combat urban crime?

Good question. This much we know:

With his focus on Chicago's bloodshed, a new president is embarrassing this city's leaders. He's calling national attention to neighborhoods under siege. And he's rubbing America's face in domestic terrorism driven by superbly armed street gangs. If you've traveled out of state recently, maybe you've heard the questions that are replacing the familiar allusions to Al Capone and Michael Jordan: "What's wrong with Chicago? Why all the murders?"

Most of Trump's tweets blow away like dry leaves in the wind. We try not to let his near-daily outbursts drive our editorial agenda. But his repeated invocations of Chicago violence have gained traction precisely because Chicago has been so unable to cope with it.

What's the argument against considering a federal initiative? Because Chicago is so good at taking care of business? Because poor Chicagoans who live and die on city streets wouldn't welcome more help with open arms? Because other presidents never have deployed federal resources to protect the rights of innocent civilians? No, no and no.

What would that intervention be? When most of us hear "send in the Feds!" we think "troops." But Ronald Allen, a professor of constitutional law at Northwestern University, tells us that principles of federalism keep Big Brother from running roughshod. It's one thing to, say, deploy troops to enforce a court order or to protect protesters and counter-protesters from one another at an event. "A military occupation is another matter," Allen says. "Short of an insurrection here, the U.S. can't invade Illinois."

But difficult questions of legality wouldn't be settled until a court sorted them out  perhaps long after a president acted, and declared his action justifiable: Odd as it may sound, the Supreme Court has found that Americans don't have a constitutional right to be protected from crime, Allen says. On the other hand, they do have the right to travel, to walk down the street.

During an appearance before the Tribune Editorial Board in 2015, Donald Trump addressed Chicago crime, saying "tough cookies" are needed to combat it. (Brian Ernst/Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

If Trump wants to help Chicago right now, he'll stop tweeting long enough to focus on the recent U.S. Department of Justice report on serious shortcomings of policing, and police oversight, in this city. Will Trump's DOJ let the report gather dust, a relic of his predecessor's administration? Or will Trump tell his Justice Department to forge a consent decree with City Hall  essentially an enforceable pact that would help the Chicago Police Department put its best foot forward?

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You've read it a hundred times: Until official Chicago rebuilds the trust of citizens who can help identify and convict criminals, many of those citizens will keep their distance.

We have no problem with presidents using their pulpit to rivet national attention on this nation's problems. Lethal gunplay and street culture that devalues human life certainly qualifies.

Yes, Mr. President, have at it. Make a mayor, 50 aldermen and maybe a governor uneasy. Every hour they aren't obsessed with curbing this violence is an hour they ignore a terrible and rising threat to their constituents.

But don't stop at 140 characters. Get the consent decree negotiated, written and enforced.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.

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During an appearance before the Tribune Editorial Board in 2015, Donald Trump addressed Chicago crime, saying "tough cookies" are needed to combat it. (Brian Ernst/Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

President Donald Trump has threatened to "send in the Feds!" if Chicago doesn't "fix" the violence that has continued into the new year.

Does he mean what he wrote in a tweet sent late Tuesday? Is he talking about federal agents assisting police or outright martial law in one of America's largest cities?

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Who knows. The man is a liar.

I don't mean our new president is a liar in the casual, all-politicians-are-liars sense. I mean he's a liar without conscience, without purpose or strategy. He's not cunning, he's simply unabashedly dishonest and, even in the first days of his presidency, has made it impossible to know whether he means anything he says or tweets.

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Donald Trump's presidency, at the moment, is terrifying to people who acknowledge a difference between truth and fiction.

Still bothered that Hillary Clinton received about 2.8 million more votes than he did, Trump lied to congressional leaders in a meeting earlier this week, saying he would have won the popular vote had it not been for as many as 5 million illegal votes. That is false. There isn't a shred of evidence to support that claim. Even simple logic doesn't support that claim.

If it were true  if there was evidence that even suggested millions of illegal votes  we would have voter fraud on such a massive scale it would threaten our democracy and render the results of the November election illegitimate.

But we don't, and saying otherwise is  you guessed it  a lie.

For Trump, it's a lie seemingly without purpose. He's president. He won. The popular vote doesn't matter. Spouting an outrageous falsehood about illegal voters does nothing to advance his legislative agenda or his vision for improving the country. It only undermines his presidency and the Republican lawmakers eager to set a conservative agenda.

The only possible purpose of such a lie is to soothe Trump's disturbingly fragile ego.

Some supporters like to say that Trump messes with the truth just to stick it to the media and keep us off balance. But the president wasn't poking the media with his illegal voters comment. He was speaking to  and lying to  lawmakers.

Some even acknowledged the absurdity of his comments.

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House Speaker Paul Ryan said of the supposed illegal voters: "I've seen no evidence to that effect."

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said: "To continue to suggest that the 2016 election was conducted in a fashion that millions of people voted illegally undermines faith in our democracy."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told Fox Business Network he didn't understand why Trump brought up the voter non-issue: "I have no evidence whatsoever, and I don't know that anyone does, that there are that many illegal people who voted."

So why lie?

In a visit to CIA headquarters over the weekend, Trump wasn't just needling the media when he claimed that as many as 1.5 million people were on the National Mall for his inauguration. That's false. It's a lie. And he said it to about 400 CIA employees who, quite frankly, deserve better.

Again, why lie about the crowd size? The number of people at the inauguration doesn't make him any more or less the president of the United States. The lie doesn't help him make America great again. Quite the opposite.

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It makes him a leader who can't be trusted.

So where do you stand on this? Are you shouting "fake news" out one side of your mouth while out the other side saying "go get 'em" as the leader of the free world pointlessly prevaricates?

Do you condone these bald-faced lies? Or do you see the damage they do, not just to Trump's presidency, but to the country as a whole?

They're certainly not as consequential as some of the lies of past presidents, ones that led us to war or promised us we could keep our doctors. Trump's lies are frivolous.

But that's what's so rattling. He's lying not to promote a policy or cover his tail or to gloss over predictions that might not be reliable. He's lying only to make himself feel better.

That is not a leader. That is, to borrow a term of fragility popular among Trump's more vitriolic supporters, a snowflake.

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So what do we make here in Chicago about Trump's tweet-threat to send in federal forces. Is it legal? Would it work? Could it happen?

There's no sense even asking those questions because, sadly, you first have to ask this: Is the president of the United States of America lying?

rhuppke@chicagotribune.com

Related stories:

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LINCOLN  A chorus of allies and opponents urged embattled state Sen. Bill Kintner to resign his seat in the Legislature on Tuesday or face expulsion from office.

Sen. Jim Smith  a fellow conservative from Sarpy County who has defended Kintner through months of turmoil and describes him as a friend  called on him to resign immediately.

If he doesn't, Smith told a reporter, "I believe there's a supermajority of votes to do what's necessary."

Other senators were already preparing measures seeking Kintner's expulsion, which is unprecedented in the Nebraska Legislature.

Omaha Sen. Bob Krist introduced such a resolution Tuesday. Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer was drafting his own resolution for expulsion to introduce first thing Wednesday morning, and said he is "positive" it has the votes to pass.

Kintner was in his office during the discussion and not on the legislative floor. Later, he issued a statement blaming a "liberal activist campaign" and Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers for seizing on his situation.

"I have made no decision as to my future plans as a senator," Kintner said in the statement.

Calls for his removal from office began last summer, when Kintner admitted to using his state-owned laptop to have cybersex with a woman other than his wife and was fined $1,000 by the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

It remained unfinished business at the start of this year's legislative session. Then an offensive comment Kintner shared on Twitter over the weekend thrust him back into the spotlight.

The tweet mocked three women who took part in a women's march on Saturday.

Originally posted by California radio host Larry Elder, the tweet included a photograph of the women carrying signs that referred to Donald Trump's hot mic moment from 2005, in which the now-president of the United States joked about grabbing women by the vaginas.

"Ladies, I think you're safe," Elder joked in his tweet.

Kintner shared the tweet late Sunday, then spent several hours defending it online before deleting his Twitter account after being questioned by reporters.

Kintner told other Twitter users he found the tweet "funny" but later issued a statement saying it had been "misconstrued."

The tweet and Kintner's attempts to defend it unleashed a firestorm of opposition from Nebraskans and members of the Legislature, who said it made light of sexual assault.

"This is an issue about people feeling unsafe in our communities, in our state," said Lincoln Sen. Kate Bolz.

Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks said the volume of emails and phone calls in response to Kintner's situation was making it impossible to conduct state business.

Newly elected senators, both Republicans and Democrats, used their first statements on the legislative floor to criticize Kintner and call for his resignation.

Lincoln Sen. Suzanne Geist became the first Republican freshman to "stand in solidarity with my sisters in the Legislature" and ask Kintner to resign.

Omaha Sen. Tony Vargas, a Democrat, also used his first time at the microphone to criticize Kintner.

"Wish it was under better circumstances," he said.
By Dezan Shira & Associates

Editor: Harry Handley

Chinas Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has announced an easing of the work visa requirements for recent masters graduates, hot on the heels of the unified work permit policy introduced in November. Essentially, this new policy is an extension of a scheme piloted in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park for graduates from any of Shanghais universities.

The changes, which took effect on January 6, mean foreign masters graduates from Chinese and well-known overseas universities no longer need two years of work experience to apply for a work permit in China. In addition, they are also exempt from the points-based system used under the unified work permit policy. The initial work certificate issued will be valid for one year, but can be extended to up to five years once the relevant income tax has been paid.

Quotas released on January 31 each year will stipulate the number of foreign masters graduates permitted annually and will vary by region. The size of the regional quotas is yet to be released and there has been no indication of how generous these will be. Employers must take note of quotas in order to time hiring processes efficiently. Small regional quotas may lead to a rush of applicants from February onwards eager to make the cut before the quota is filled.

Taken from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security website (in Chinese), the full requirements of the applicant are as follows:

At least 18 years old and in good health



No criminal record



Excellent academic performance (Average over 80%/B/Equivalent) and behavioral record



Have a relevant degree and educational background



Confirmed job offer with salary higher than the local average (determined by local social security department)



Valid passport

RELATED: Payroll and Human Resource Services

For those applying from outside of China, a Z-visa will still be required to enter the country. The following documents will be needed to support the visa application:

Proof of employment history (CV)

Employment offer letter  including proof of expected salary

Report giving evidence that the company advertised the job to domestic workers for at least 30 days

Proof of health status

Criminal record check

Degree certificate and transcript

Proof of good behavior during university (Students from foreign universities exempt)

Photo taken in the last six months

As of yet, the details of the new policy are extremely vague. What is classified as a well-known overseas university has not been specified. However, if the unified work permit policy is anything to go by, this may well mean the top 100 universities in the world. If the number of applicable foreign universities is limited, this may be seen as a move to promote Chinese universities to foreign students, as the policy applies to all foreign masters graduates from Chinese universities. The announcement of this new policy was quickly followed by reports that Chinese officials hope to establish 16 world-class universities by 2030 by attracting increased investment and high-level overseas talent. Giving graduates easier access to the Chinese job market following their studies may be one of the governments methods of attraction to achieve this goal.

Following the introduction of the points-based unified work permit, which many saw as a toughening of the stance of the Chinese government towards foreign workers, this policy appears to open the door to more of the worlds academic talents. Having said that, several major details are still missing from this policy. It is expected that further details will be released along with the quota sizes on January 31, although this may be delayed due to the Chinese New Year holiday.



About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email china@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight.

Human Resources and Payroll in China 2016-2017

A firm understanding of Chinas laws and regulations related to human resources and payroll management is absolutely necessary for foreign businesses in China. This edition of HR and Payroll, updated for 2016/17, navigates Chinas laws and regulations related to HR and payroll management  essential information for foreign investors looking to establish or already running a foreign-invested entity in China.



Establishing & Operating a Business in China 2016

Establishing & Operating a Business in China 2016, produced in collaboration with the experts at Dezan Shira & Associates, explores the establishment procedures and related considerations of the Representative Office (RO), and two types of Limited Liability Companies: the Wholly Foreign-owned Enterprise (WFOE) and the Sino-foreign Joint Venture (JV). The guide also includes issues specific to Hong Kong and Singapore holding companies, and details how foreign investors can close a foreign-invested enterprise smoothly in China.



An Introduction to Doing Business in China 2017

Doing Business in China 2017 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in China. Compiled by the professionals at Dezan Shira & Associates in January 2017, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Chinese market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes.
Himali Cultural Family dance to an ethnic song. [Photo by Melsam Ojha/China.org.cn]

The celebration of Chinese New Year takes place in several parts of the world and the Embassy of the People's Republic of China and China Cultural Centre in Nepal have organized festival events in Kathmandu for three days.

The first event organized by the Chinese Embassy in Soaltee Hotel was inaugurated by Rt. Honorable President of Nepal Shrimati Bidhya Devi Bhandari on January 19.

The Chinese people and some ethnic groups of Nepal share common New Year symbols, though the celebration time is different as per their local calendar. Hence, the ethnic groups from different parts of Nepal who reside in the capital city also joined the Chinese temple fair organized by the center in Bhrikuti Mandap. Moreover, college students, several other school students and people of different professions also arrived at the spot to observe the event.

The venue was fully decorated. The entrance had a 20-foot high golden temple, two dragons facing each other which were erected by an air-blower and hundreds of red lantern spread festive moments. Attractions at the event also included several stalls of creative sugar arts, bookshops and crafts.

Yin Kunsong, director of the center for eloquent attire, welcomed the audience to enjoy the program and briefly introduced the objective of his office. Different Chinese cultural shows were performed by the artists; namely Wang Wan, Yang Yi, Yue Jia, Wu Shaozheng and Ma Zhongge from cultural and art troupes of Nanjing.

Equally, to perform Nepalese dance, artists Dipak Thapa (magician and comedian), Deepa Gurung, Biraj Magar and their coworkers of Himali Cultural Family travelled from Pokhara to Kathmandu by cordial invitation of the China Cultural Centre.

The renowned Chinese artists Ma Chongge exhibited face changing art not only on stage but with the audience. She even blew fire with special a technique.

Furthermore, the public cheered when Yue Jia and Wu Shaozhong sang popular Nepali song Resham Firiri. Both Yue and Wu are members of the Jiangsu Musician Association.

The Chinese audience was also rejoicing when Prakash Acharya, Nepali Chinese language graduate sang a popular song "High Upon the Mountain Side" Beside these acts, young artists from Himali Cultural Family performed various dances of different ethnicities; Gurung, Thakali and Magar. The cultural family has been conserving and promoting Nepalese authentic cultures at home and abroad for more than two decades.

Menkaji Gurung, President of Himali Cultural Family says, "The mutual performances highlight the respect offered to both cultures of Nepal and China. We are happy to receive invitations from China Cultural Centre to promote cultures on win-win basis.

"Friends are meant to share and brothers are meant to care for each other. We neighboring nations are friends to share our ideologies of well-being of the people and brothers to care in the time of necessity.

"This cultural exchange is the most vital aspect as it directly involves people's intuition, interaction and their own level of approach that in turn enhances the harmony among themselves," says Rupak Sapkota, a Nepali graduate in international relations from Renmin University of China.

A student of microbiology from St. Xavier Campus, Samikchya Kandel who was enthusiastically observing the event says, "Mutualism is the most beneficial interaction in nature that occurs by exchanges among organisms. Similarly these exchange programs can also serve to be a mutual stand point among us to strengthen our relationships along with culture exchanges."

Likewise, the face changing artist Ma Chongge on Wechat shared her feelings, "To earn the trust of the strangers is great, and as time passes, become their friends."
About 75 percent of Chinese people are planning to give digital red envelopes of gift money as they welcome the Year of the Rooster. [File photo]

About 75 percent of Chinese people are planning to give digital red envelopes of gift money as they welcome the Year of the Rooster, a significant increase from last year's 30 percent, according to an annual study on consumers' spending intentions.

United Overseas Bank's annual Lunar New Year survey shows that fun and novelty (59 percent) and convenience (57 percent) were the top reasons to send digital red envelopes. The main recipients of digital red envelopes will be friends and colleagues/employees (45 percent), children (35 percent) and relatives' children (30 percent).

The survey was conducted by Ipsos, a research services provider, which interviewed 1,000 consumers in Shanghai and Beijing aged between 18 and 55 in December.

Increasing number of foreign banks such as UOB, in addition to domestic banks such as Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, have launched payment functions on social media platforms such as WeChat, to enable consumers to send digital red envelopes.

Winston Lim, head of personal financial services for UOB in China, said that considering how increasingly active the Chinese consumers spending online, it is natural trend that giving red envelopes as a gift is also online.

Lim said he expects the year-on-year increase in digital payments among the bank's clients may reach 20 percent in 2017.

The survey also showed that Chinese would continue to be prudent with the money they receive in their red envelopes.

Nearly 50 percent of respondents said they would invest the money.

Although digital red envelopes in China are becoming more popular, traditional red packets tend to be bulkier. Respondents said they expected to allocate an average of 4,235 yuan ($618) for traditional red envelopes, compared with 2,860 yuan for their digital counterparts.
China International Travel Service Limited announced on Wednesday that it will end all business relations with a Japanese hotel chain which refused to remove books from its guest rooms denying the Nanjing Massacre took place.

The official statement released by CITS, a State-owned enterprise, said that APA Hotels' actions had outraged all Chinese.

"After the news came out, we immediately removed APA Hotels from our website so that no tourists could book that hotel through us," said the statement.

"We have also asked our head office and all subsidiaries to check whether they have business relations with the group. Any such business has to be stopped immediately. We will not suggest the hotel group to our clients and we will not run any of its advertisements either."

At a news conference on Tuesday, Zhang Lizhong, spokesman for the China National Tourism Administration, said APA Hotels' actions were a blatant provocation to Chinese tourists and had violated professional ethics.

Zhang said the administration has asked the whole industry to stop doing business with APA Hotels, adding that they hope all Chinese tourists boycott the chain.

On Dec 13, 1937, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45), the Japanese invaders captured Nanjing. Over the following six weeks, they conducted a massacre where an estimated 300,000 people, including children, were tortured, raped and murdered.
The UN Security Council adopts a resolution supporting the new ceasefire deal in Syria at UN headquarters in New York City on December 31, 2016 (XINHUA)

Developments in Syria at the end of 2016 broke new ground. On December 23, the Syrian Government announced that it had gained full control of Aleppo, the country's largest city and also the former major base of opposition forces. The retaking of Aleppo is seen as the government's greatest triumph since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011. With mediation by Russia and Turkey, the Syrian Government and some opposition factions also agreed on a new nationwide ceasefire on December 30, the third such cessation of hostilities in 2016. Furthermore, they agreed to hold a new round of peace talks in late January 2017 in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan. On the last day of 2016, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of the new ceasefire deal and the upcoming peace talks.

So, is the situation in Syria really on the brink of winding down after years of strife?

Actually, every observer of Middle Eastern affairs is well aware that military means always provide the key to solving the region's problems. The current developments in Syria derive from the just-concluded Aleppo battle. Once an economic hub, Aleppo in north Syria had been at the center of contention between government troops and rebel fighters since the outbreak of the civil war. From 2012 onward, the eastern part of the city was controlled by opposition forces. Beginning in July 2016, though, government troops started to gain ground with the assistance of Russian air power. After months of fierce fighting, the government army completed its encirclement of opposition forces last September and finally took full control of the city before the new year.

Tilting the balance

The military victory in Aleppo means a lot for the Syrian Government led by President Bashar al-Assad. Politically, it can help the Assad administration consolidate its rule and boost domestic support. With the retaking of Aleppo, the Syrian Government now has full control of the country's five largest citiesDamascus, Latakia, Homs, Hama and Aleppo. Assad has hailed the victory as the first step in ending the civil war.

In the field of diplomacy, the military victory has helped enlarge the Syrian Government's power to take the initiative. Having gained control of Aleppo, the government army's advantage on the battlefield has grown further, and this in turn provides the government with more bargaining power in future negotiations and puts more pressure on opposition groups. In addition, during the last phase of the battle for Aleppo, the Syrian Government evacuated about 40,000 civilians from the city and even gave opposition militants a way to withdraw in an attempt to take the moral high ground.

In military terms, the fall of Aleppo to government forces is a severe blow to Syrian rebels, who viewed the city as their capital. Opposition groups based their military headquarters in the city, which, as it sits just 50 km from the Syria-Turkey border, was a key destination for aid supplied to opposition forces from outside the country. Losing control of Aleppo has completely ended opposition factions' hopes of overthrowing the Assad administration, and the balance on the battlefield has clearly tipped in favor of the Syrian Government.

The mess in Syria has become an arena for political fighting between foreign powers. Since 2015, the struggle between Russia and the United States in the Syrian civil war has become the most decisive factor in shaping the country's future. The result of the Aleppo battle shows that Russia is on the "offense," while the United States is on the "defense."

Since becoming heavily involved in the war in September 2015, Russia has alternately used diplomatic and military means to prop up the Syrian Government. While combating terrorist groups in Syria, Russia has helped the Assad administration turn the situation around on the battlefield. Working together with the United States, meanwhile, Russia has helped arrange two ceasefire deals and thereby made its voice loud and clear on the Syrian issue in the global arena.

More importantly, Russia's choice to help the Syrian Government retake Aleppo aimed to bring about the strategic achievement and make it an accomplished fact before Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. president, forcing the United States to concede further on the Syrian issue. The international daily newspaper the Financial Times disclosed in December that Moscow was holding secret talks with Syria's opposition groups in an attempt to further exclude the West's influence in the country.

As the United States is in a power transition process, its Syrian strategy lacks certain direction. For a long time, Barack Obama's administration lacked a sound strategy on the Syrian issue, just regarding anti-terrorism as the priority, and Trump has even hinted that he would terminate U.S. assistance to Syrian rebels. While fierce fighting in Aleppo took place last November, the United States was busy assisting Syria's Kurdish militants and the Iraqi army with offensives against the Islamic State extremist group (ISIS) in Ar-Raqqah in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. In connection with the Aleppo battle, the United States only made some symbolic diplomatic efforts and adopted a hands-off attitude toward the trapped opposition forces in the city.

Moreover, some of Syria's neighbors are aligning themselves with Russia. The Turkish Government responded cautiously toward the Aleppo battle. Ankara allegedly had made a deal with Moscow, under which Turkey accepted the expulsion of Syrian opposition forces from Aleppo in return for Russia's consent to it stationing troops in north Syria to guard against Turkish-Kurdish rebels. Although Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has not publicly declared his support to Assad, his position on the Syrian issue is close to Moscow's and he refrained from taking sides in the battle for Aleppo.

No end in sight

Though the Syrian battlefield has witnessed some new changes, the turmoil in the country is far from over. The civil war has lasted for about six years, and battlefields scatter across the country, so the future remains complicated. On the one hand, it is still quite difficult for government troops to take full control of the whole nation. At present, the Assad administration controls only one third of the country's territory, while the rest is held by opposition groups, ISIS and Kurdish forces. NATO estimates that the Syrian Government can now mobilize only 20,000 to 25,000 troops, so even if it has support from Russia, Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah group, it lacks the ability to retake the entire territory.

On the other hand, opposition forces will probably continue to put up a struggle. Though they have lost Aleppo, they still control large swathes of territory including Idlib, Daraa and suburbs of Damascus. Faced with an unfavorable situation on the main battlefield, they may resort to guerrilla warfare to continually harass the government-controlled region while avoiding major confrontations. It also cannot be ruled out that opposition forces may join hands with extremist groups to launch terrorist attacks in large cities to undermine popular support for Damascus.

In addition, Gulf States such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar are unwilling to see the Syrian opposition groups fail. Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani declared in November 2016 that his country would continue to supply Syrian opposition forces with aid and weapons.

Moreover, although ISIS encountered a major setback in Syria, its strength cannot be ignored, and it will possibly continue to create havoc in the country. On December 11, 2016, while the Aleppo battle was raging, ISIS launched a surprise attack and regained control of the city of Palmyra in central Syria.

All in all, as the struggle for power in Syria continues in its complexity and violence, it remains to be seen whether the upcoming Astana talks will herald a new dawn for the war-torn nation.

The author is a researcher with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations
US President-elect Donald Trump challenged China frequently on trade area. The rationales of Trump's trade policy are "Call out China", "Keep Jobs in America" and "Shrink Trade Deficit". Specifically, Mr. Trump will declare China as a currency manipulator, end China's illegal export subsidies and lax labor and environmental standards, and lower U.S. corporate tax rate to keep American companies and jobs here at home. Moreover, Mr. Trump declared to force China to uphold intellectual property laws and stop their unfair and unlawful practice of forcing U.S. companies to share proprietary technology with Chinese competitors as a condition of entry to China's market.

From his speaking during campaign, Mr. Trump's economic plan is tough on China. His impressing words, "China's unfair trade behavior is prohibited by the terms of its entrance to the WTO and I intend to enforce those rules and regulations. And basically, I intend to enforce the agreements from all countries, including China.", infer a fierce trade war between U.S. and China will come out in the near future. Mr. Trump also floated a plan to impose a 45% tariff on Chinese exports to the U.S. in a meeting with the New York Times editorial board at the beginning of 2016.

However, based on the status of U.S. and China, we do not believe a wholesale renegotiation of the WTO is on the cards, nor blanket tariffs of 45% on Chinese imports as floated during the campaign. We expect an intense trade relationship between two countries in the first year of the age of Trump, but a glorious development of bilateral trade will come out after then.

Why do we hold this optimistic expectation? The two nations have a close economic relationship and a host of American companies have operations across China. In the past two decades, exports from the U.S. to China expanded by almost 300 percent and numerous jobs were created for American workers. Also, Americans benefit from cheaper goods made overseas, especially made in China. This is particularly true for poor and middle class Americans, who spend much more of their earnings on imported products. If severe trade barriers are implemented on Chinese goods, people will see a huge increase in the cost of living for Americans.

Mr. Trump's campaign speaking was so offensive that the public would expect extreme protectionist policies. However, the political system of the United States implies that Mr. Trump could not fulfill all the declarations. First of all, based on the U.S. Constitution, the Senate has an important role in the ratification of the treaty, and many international agreements related to trade belong to this category. In accordance with the treaty requirements, only when the 2/3 senators agree, the treaty will be eligible to be approved. Thus, the cancellation of the U.S. - China Trade Agreement (and the withdrawal of WTO and NAFTA, etc.), cannot be put into effect by Mr. Trump himself.

Secondly, according to U.S. law, the president, only under the state of emergency, can implement temporary tariff up to 15%. And the term of validity must be less than 150 days. Thus Mr. Trump's declaration of imposing a 45% tariff on Chinese goods is undoubtedly impossible to achieve.

Last but not least, over a long period, China and the U.S. have established systematic communication and dialogue mechanism. From the strategic economic dialogue (SED) between two nations and the bilateral committees, various kinds of communications and dialogue are playing an important role to enhance bilateral relationship.

No matter who becomes the president of the United States, trade frictions between China and the United States cannot be avoided. However, as long as two countries have good communication channels, it is possible to ensure that trade frictions will not turn into a fierce trade war. During the campaign, Mr. Trump's speech against China is very harsh, but he never said to cancel the dialogue and communication mechanism with China. Therefore, after Mr. Trump taking office, lots of his commitments on China's trade will not be honored.

In recent years the partisanship in the Congress has become more prominent on trade issues. The Republican is on behalf of the interests of large capitalists, who support free trade position firmly. On the contrary, the Democrat strongly opposes free trade. Thus the distribution in parliament seats becomes an important factor influencing the final voting results of the trade bill. For the 115th Congress(from 2017 to 2018, there are 243 Republicans and 198 Democrats in the House. For Senate, there are 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats. Such partisan pattern means that in the next two years, Congress will not fall into the quagmire of trade protectionism.

However, there is certainly a possibility that specific goods will be targeted for some extra tariffs, and that some tariffs may be temporarily imposed on various other imports to make good on campaign promises. Therefore, in the short run, there is a real possibility of escalating trade conflicts between the U.S. and China. However, the general trend of trade development between two countries will be glorious after the year of 2017.

The author is a research fellow with National Academy of Development and Strategy at Renmin University of China.
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U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to advance controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.

Trump told reporters that the United States "are going to renegotiate some of the terms" of the Keystone XL project.

Building Keystone XL project can create "a lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs, great construction jobs," said Trump.

Dakota Access pipeline will be built "subject to terms and conditions negotiated by us," he said.

Trump said the two projects will create many steelworkers jobs as his government will insist the pipes used in the projects be built in the United States.

Keystone XL project was rejected by former President Barack Obama in November 2015 because Democrats and environmental groups say it could worsen climate change by enabling further growth from the oil sands, which create higher greenhouse gas emissions than some other forms of production.

The project, worth 8 billion U.S. dollars, is proposed to go from Canada through the U.S. state of Montana and South Dakota to Nebraska, where it would connect with existing pipelines to carry more than 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The 3.8-billion-dollar Dakota Access pipeline begins in the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota and go southeast to Illinois.

It has caused strong protests in North Dakota near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, as local tribes worried the project will pollute their drinking water and cultural sites, making the Department of Army agree to explore alternate routes in December.

Trump's executive order aroused a lot of criticism from environmental groups.

"Trump ignores tribal history and heritage, will of the people, and the climate crisis with today's announcement," said Sierra Club in a statement.

"More people sent comments against Dakota Access and Keystone XL to the government than any project in history," said Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org, an organization aiming to push forward global climate movement.

"Donald Trump ignores all that in his eagerness to serve the oil industry. It's a dark day for reason, but we will continue the fight," said McKibben.

However, Trump's decision has earned a warm welcome from U.S. oil and natural gas industry.

"Critical energy infrastructure projects like the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access pipelines will help deliver energy to American consumers and business safely and efficiently," Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, said in a statement.
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The South African state rail company Transnet dismissed negative media reports on Tuesday, saying they are satisfied with the progress and quality of locomotives from China.

Some media reports on Monday said the locomotives had technical problems thereby stalling the first trains' arrival in South Africa. They also said Transnet refused to receive another 18 locomotives from China.

In 2014, Transnet contracted four international original equipment manufacturers to supply 1,064 new locomotives. These included China North Rail (CNR), China South Rail (CSR), General Electric (GE) and Bombardier. CNR and CSR merged into CRRC Corporation Limited in 2015.

Molatwane Likhethe, general manager for corporate communications at Transnet, said that media reports that their acquisition program has failed is "baseless".

Transnet said that CRRC had delivered two prototype locomotives for testing in South African conditions and that "it is normal procedure to make a prototype and test it before handing it over to the buyer."

He said CRRC would manufacture the first 20 locomotives in their facility in China while the balance will be assembled at the Transnet Manufacturing facility in Durban.

Likhethe said his company made it a condition that the 18 locomotives in China be checked for the glitches before being shipped to South Africa.

In the past ten years, Transnet bought locomotives from various equipment manufacturers including EMD, General Electric and Mitsui. Transnet said in all these cases, similar tests were run before acceptance.

"We wish to put on record that such testing is standard. Each and every locomotive goes through the process. Discovery of technical glitches is no indication of poor workmanship, engineering or design," Likhethe said.

Likhethe said since the announcement of the four suppliers, testings have been performed, glitches identified and addressed.

Likhethe criticized some sub-contractors for "creating baseless and sensational stories through the media."

"It is both inaccurate and mischievous to deliberately misinterpret an internationally recognized quality assurance process to advance devious ideological schemes and at the same time casting aspersions on Transnet's image and integrity of our processes. Transnet runs many Chinese-made locomotives on its network and they run excellently," he added.
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Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on Tuesday proposed the creation of a trade bloc between member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and other nations.

Kuczynski made the proposal a day after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), dealing a blow to the trade deal negotiated between 12 Asian Pacific countries, including Peru.

"We should work with China, Asian countries, India, Australia, New Zealand ... and create the APEC-Pacific group reaching as far as India," Kuczynski said in an interview with local radio station Radio Programas del Peru (RPP).

He said to create the new trade bloc, parties should salvage the better points of the TPP and abandon some of the deal's more controversial clauses.

"We are going to take the best of the TPP and leave out the not-so-good things of the TPP, such as the additional five years of testing for medicines, which added up to 10 years of testing, which is too long," said Kuczynski.

In contrast to the protectionist ideology Trump has brought to the White House, Peru will pursue greater economic opening, he said.

"I am in favor of free trade, because it benefits Peru," said the president.

APEC promotes free trade among 21 Pacific Rim economies, including China, Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Mexico and Peru.
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The Syrian government delegation participates in the meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, Jan. 23, 2017. The first day of the two-day Syrian negotiations in Astana ended on Monday, with government delegation and rebels holding indirect meeting, with expected tension surfacing in that venue. It's the first time the rebels' representative and government delegation sit face to face in an international arena with the hope of hammering out the first step of a solution to the country's long-lasting conflict. (Xinhua/Kalizhan Ospanov)

The Syrian talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, ended on Tuesday, with a final communique backing a one year ceasefire reached recently in Syria, and brought six-year-old foes face to face for the first time.

Turkey, Russia and Iran, the three sponsors of the two-day Syrian talks, made a joint statement at the end of the meeting, stressing their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria.

They said the three countries support talks between the Syrian government and armed opposition groups and believe that there is no military solution to the conflict.

The parties reaffirmed their commitment to reach peace and fight against the terror-designated Islamic State (IS) and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and to separate them from other armed opposition groups.

The statement also supports the Syrian opposition's willingness to participate in the next round of negotiations.

The three states highlighted that the international meeting in Astana is an effective platform for a direct dialogue between the Syrian government and opposition.

The Russian, Iranian and Turkish sides have decided "to establish a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire, prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the ceasefire," according to the statement.

In short, the conference consolidated the ceasefire that was reached on Dec. 29 and implemented on Dec. 30 in Syria. The signatories of the ceasefire were the government and rebel groups, under the auspices of their backers, Russia as the supporter of the Syrian government, and Turkey the long time backer of the rebels.

The Astana talks also stressed on the need to separate the rebel groups, mainly those who attended the conference, from the terror-labeled ones such as Nusra and IS, as both groups have been labeled as terrorist groups by the UN and were excluded from any settlement.

This was a main demand of the Syrian government and this conference has helped in cornering the Nusra and IS, both powerful and enjoy considerable sway in many Syrian areas, mainly the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS, and the northwestern province of Idlib, the main stronghold of Nusra.

Russia said Monday that maps were being drawn on the locations of IS and Nusra in Syria for targeting them.

Analysts in Damascus hailed the results of the Astana talks, but said it all relies on the credibility of Turkey and the rebels it has vouched for.

Osama Danura, a Syrian political analyst, said If the Turkish side and the rebels it's backing complied completely with the plan, "it will be an important turning point in the course of resolving the conflict in Syria."

"Now the credibility of Turkey and the rebels who attended the Astana talks is on the line, because it will be under test in the coming days," he said.

He added that the rebels should be truthful in terms of separating themselves from the terror groups.

"The success of this means that an old obstacle, about the overlapping of the rebel groups with the terror-designated ones, is over," Danura said.

He stressed that "It's all about the credibility of Turkey", noting that Ankara has the means to guarantee the commitment of the rebels.

For his part, Hmaidi Abdullah, another analyst, said there are several good aspects in the Astana talks.

He said the talks underscored basic demands such as separating the rebels from the terrorists, and the second is the approach of the three countries to fight the terror groups in Syria.

It's worth mentioning that Turkey and Russia carried out their first joint airstrikes against IS positions earlier this week in Syria, a translation to the agreement between both countries.

Meanwhile, Zahra Fares, a Syrian journalist and political analyst, said Astana talks achieved things that failed to be reached in previous talks between the government and the political opposition.

"I think there were several breakthroughs in the talks in terms of the shape of the talks as for the first time we have seen the rebels and the government sitting face to face, for the first time Turkey was the guarantor and be part of a coalition with Russia and Iran in the face of the terrorist groups," she said.

Fares also pointed out to another new thing in the history of the Syrian talks, saying "it's the first time when we didn't see a main role for the U.S. in these talks," as the U.S. wasn't among those making the conference or reaching the ceasefire as the country was busy with its presidential elections.

Regarding the tension that was sensed in the first session, Fares said "even though there was tension in the talks, but it was normal as those in the meeting are fighting on ground, and it's their first meeting."
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte claimed on Tuesday that the United States Central Intelligence Agency was behind the 2015 clash that resulted in the killing of 60, including 44 elite police commandos.

In a speech before the families and widows of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force who were killed in the clash, Duterte slammed former President Benigno Aquino for covering up details of the operation which he claimed was "an operation of the CIA."

"Let it be brought out in the open. It was an American adventure with the cooperation of some with your blessing. You fed the young men to the lion's den," he said, referring to the 44 elite policemen who were killed in the operation.

"Why was it under wraps and why did you hide that actually it was an operation of the CIA," Duterte said.

Aquino gave his former police chief Alan Purisima, who was then under suspension, to launch the operation on Jan. 25, 2015 to capture Malaysian terrorist Zulkipli bin Her alias Marwan who was reportedly hiding in a remote Mamasapano town in Maguindanao province.

Marwan, the suspected Malaysian bomb maker with 5 million U.S. dollars bounty on his head, was eventually killed in the operation. Police cut off a finger of the suspected terrorist and sent the severed finger to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation for DNA identification.

Duterte also ordered the creation of a commission to investigate the so-called Mamasapano massacre to probe deeper into the carnage, including the involvement of the U.S. in the operation.

The Philippine senate launched an investigation into the operation and revealed the alleged involvement of U.S. soldiers in the vicinity of the village. In fact, there were reports that a U.S. helicopter waiting nearby.

In the same speech, Duterte said that he has no plans to visit the U.S. "There will never be time that I will visit America. I swear. I swear," he said.

At one point, Duterte slammed the U.S. for the first time after President Donald Trump assumed office. He said Trump supports his administration while former U.S. President Barack Obama did not.

He said he did not attend the inauguration because he was not invited anyway. "I do not need them. It's about time that we disabuse the colonial mind," he said.
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Swedish police on Monday called on the public to provide video clips of a suspected gang rape that was allegedly live-streamed on Facebook.

Police in Uppsala were contacted on Sunday morning by a woman who said she had seen a gang rape broadcast live in a closed Facebook group.

The assault is thought to have been witnessed by hundreds of people online and several of those who saw the video have reported the assault.

The police held a press conference on Monday, calling on anyone with access to the filmed material to step forward.

Police confirmed that the suspected rape took place in an apartment in Uppsala and that three men, all in their 20s, have been arrested.

According to online witnesses who spoke to Swedish Television, there were two live broadcasts on Facebook. The first one allegedly showed a woman being raped. In the second video, the same woman denies being raped, but there are speculations as to whether she was forced to make the statement.

However, vice chief prosecutor Magnus Berggren said that the information about the videos' content cannot be confirmed since the police do not have access to all the filmed material.

In the Monday press conference, the police therefore called on the public to provide any film material they may have shows the assault.
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Tuesday that there is no reason to relieve the sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union (EU) on Russia.

His remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump, who said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal earlier this month that he was open to lifting sanctions against Russia.

Poroshenko, who was visiting Finland, also said that Ukraine would be happy "if Russia fulfills all the conditions under the Minsk (agreement)."

The Minsk agreement, signed in February 2015 in the Belarusian capital with the mediation of France and Germany, calls for a cease-fire along with a range of political, economic and social measures aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

At a joint press conference, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto reiterated Finland's position on the Ukraine crisis, saying that the Minsk agreement should be fulfilled as soon as possible, which is the precondition for lifting the sanctions.

Niinisto said he did not believe that the United States would change its policy and relief the sanctions.

Since 2014, the United States, the EU and some of their allies have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia over its takeover of Crimea and alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis.
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US President Donald Trump holds up his executive order on withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership after signing it in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday.[Photo/Agencies]

Beijing said on Tuesday that it will support ongoing deliberation of two free trade arrangements in the Asia-Pacific region after the United States quit the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to withdraw the country from the TPP, a trade agreement that his predecessor Barack Obama had hoped would become his legacy.

The 12-member TPPa trade pact among countries around the Pacific Oceanhas excluded China.

Beijing has been an advocate of two other free-trade pactsthe Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Free-Trade Agreement of the Asia-Pacific.

When asked to comment on the US decision to quit the TPP, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China will stay committed to pressing ahead with the economic integration process in the Asia-Pacific region.

China endorses open, transparent and mutually beneficial free trade agreements, and trade rules "should be jointly settled through consultations on equal footing", Hua said.

Beijing will further promote the negotiation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, since the negotiations have brought key progress and should be completed at an early date, Hua said.

Also, the building of the Asia-Pacific free-trade zone should be further advanced, since leaders of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation member economies have agreed on a vision and a plan for this, according to Hua.

Some observers and media have said the Trump administration's quitting the TPP will give China more chances to play a bigger role and even assume political or economic leadership in international affairs.

In response, the spokeswoman said the word "duty" is more accurate than "leadership".

China is willing to work with all parties to "jointly weather the storm", and take on its own duty of solving various problems facing the world, Hua said.

David Dollar, a senior fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center of the Brookings Institution, said Trump's withdrawal from the TPP signals a turning away from Asia.

Teng Jianqun, director of the Department of American Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said that when the US refuses to assume its due role in boosting global free trade, China should "take its respective duty that fits its capacity".

But China will not take charge of everything, as "that goes beyond its capacity, and the international community will not accept that scenario either", Teng said.

Trump's quitting the TPP may bring some short-term benefits for the US, such as tangible profits and more jobs, but the long-term prospect may be a problem, according to Teng.

Zhong Feiteng, senior researcher on Asia-Pacific studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China, before supporting the two free trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific region, reflected on the US strategy on regional cooperation. China concluded that "unopen and exclusive arrangements are not right choices", Zhong said.

"As Washington is taking steps back home and reinforcing its domestic development, China enjoys strong impetus for a new type of regional cooperation, and the region is also expecting a bigger role for China," Zhong added.
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In the face of an alarming shift of trade policies of the new U.S. administration under President Donald Trump, some countries are concerned that they might have a negative impact on their economies.

Trump on Monday officially pulled his country out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. He has also said that he would renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, seeking a better deal for the United States.

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a South African opposition party, said Monday that Trump's presidency has a negative impact on South Africa's economic development.

"The victory of Donald Trump is a threat to the struggle against racism, sexism, xenophobia and the development of the world," EFF President Julius Malema said.

The rise of right-wing forces in Europe and the United States has encouraged narrow-minded nationalism and protectionism in global economic landscape, he added.

He said the new U.S. administration's call for protectionism would affect South Africa's citrus exports and thus deal a blow to economic growth and employment in the African country.

Malema also accused the United States of dumping chicken in South Africa, saying the world's largest economy has been trying to protect its own industries and will dump goods in developing countries.

"We are directly affected and we should be worried. We are trying to awaken the country to the international dynamics and how they affect us. We are victims of the chicken dumping by the United States," he said.

Trump's inauguration speech on Friday centered on ideas of "America first" and the "Buy American and Hire American" policy.

The new international development will lead to transformation and realignment across the world in particular within trade agreements, Malema said.

Meanwhile, analysts in Indonesia estimated that the Southeast Asian country's economy might encounter indirect impacts from trade policy changes of the new U.S. administration.

They believed that the country would not be directly affected by the U.S. protectionism drive. However, it may feel the pinch from the indirect impacts related to difficulties experienced by countries directly affected by Trump's policy.

Destry Damayanti, an analyst from the University of Indonesia, said Jakarta should come up with policies aimed at promoting the manufacturing sector that produces products of more added value so as to minimize the potential impact.

Indonesia Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said that Indonesia would continuously preserve its economy fundamentals to anticipate global economy impacts from "Trump effects."

"Trump's speech gives major pressures (to global community) as he prioritizes the United States interests above everything which may contradict global interests," she said on Monday.
China Aid

(Midland, TexasJan. 23, 2017) China Aid recently released a summary of religious persecution across in China in 2016, noting how Communist Party terminology shifted from guiding religions and socialism into mutual adaptation into a promoting the full-on Sinicization of religious beliefs.

According to the summary, 2016 brought a major change in the Communist Partys approach to religious management. Under the administration of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, the role of the Party in regards to religion was to encourage it to mutually adapt with socialism. In April of last year, however, current Chinese president Xi Jinping convened National Religious Conference for the first time since 2001 and introduced the idea of Sinicizing religions; that is, forcing them to conform to the Chinese governments agenda.

The report focuses on the implementation of the Revised Regulations on Religious Affairs, which was introduced as a draft in September. In preparation for its authorization, local government departments enacted various measures against house churches in order to coerce them into joining the state-run Three-Self Patriotic Movement, one of two official Christian organizations within the Communist Party.

The article also asserts that China responded to its own claims of so-called religious extremist activities by restricting hajj pilgrimages and inserting its values of patriotism, peace, the Chinese dream, moderation, morality, and good behavior into Islamic preaching. China justifies restrictions on Islam by it has been a victim of religious extremist-incited terrorist attacks; however, many human rights organizations believe the government construes false terrorist accusations and disproportionately limits the practice of Islam in order to suppress peaceful, innocent Muslims.

China Aid exposes abuses that religious devotees experience at the hands of the Chinese government in order to promote religious freedom and human rights.

Sinicization officially unveiled, Partys shadow envelops





 2016 Summary of the Observation of Religious Policies in Mainland China





China Aid Association Research Department

Observing Chinas religious policy, there are generally three levels of dimensions: first, the national, high decision-making level, second, the central ministries and administrative levels of legal policy, and third, levels of local governments that actually implement the measures. Compared with previous years, or since the beginning of the 21st century, 2016 marked a major turning point in the religious policy of mainland China: the core program of Chinas religious policy was formally changed from Jiang Zemins active guidance of religion and socialist society to mutually adapt to Xi Jinpings adhere to the direction of the religions Sinicization. The keywords of religious policy formally changed from socialism to Sinicization.

The aforementioned three dimensions demonstrate this big turning point. For the first time in the 15 years since 2001, the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] again held the National Religious Conference in April during the first half of 2016 with the highest standards. After the United Front Work Departments conference in September 2015, Xi Jinping once again emphasized that religion should persistently follow the path of Sinicization, which the central government has officially recognized as the core principle of administrating religion.

Second, the State Administration of Religious Affairs delivered the so-called Revised Draft of Regulations on Religious Affairs (To Be Approved) in September, which is actually a brand-new edition, intending to implement the ideology that religion should persistently follow the path of Sinicization on a legislative level and paving the road for the legal management of religions.

Finally, in order to echo the new Revised Draft of Regulations on Religious Affairs (To Be Approved), the direct and indirect religious departments in local governments all introduced a series of corresponding laws and regulations that will consolidate the guiding ideologies stipulated in the Regulations of Religious Affairs.

People who pay attention to religious conditions in China know that among the five officially recognized religions in mainland China, Taoism originated in China, and Buddhism [was assimilated] early on. As a result, Chinas current Sinicization of religions mainly targets Christianity, Catholicism, and Islam. Regarding Islam, the Communist Partys current policies are mostly concerned with religious extremism out of separatism, religious extremism, and terrorism. In other words, Chinas Sinicization of Islam is currently in a defensive stage. That is, it opposes and guards against the use of religious extremism, behaving as if it were the core of the three [above-mentioned aspects]. The governments main policy includes controlling the hajj and preventing scattered hajj activities, using patriotism, peace, the Chinese dream, moderation, morality, and good behavior and other similar subjects such as these in Woerzi explanations of [Quranic] scripture and preaching activities that proclaim Islams central ideology [Editors note: China Aid was not able to obtain an adequate English or Arabic translation of Woerzi, so it has been left transliterated]. Additionally, specific mosques must hang [Chinas] national flag and so on.

Taking the third aspect of the policies into account, it is quite clear that Protestant house churches and the underground branches of Catholicism fall prey to the so-called Sinicization of religions. Protestant house churches get the most attention. Government policy refers to them as private Christian meeting places. Therefore, in 2016, a special rectification operation against house churches in China reached a new height.

According to the specific details of the enforced rectification, the so-called Sinicization of religions has three aspects. The first aspect is the modification of religious constructions; Zhejiangs government continues to demolish crosses.

Second, religious sites and activities are not allowed to separate from the government system. The government has taken coercive measures to force house churches to join the official Three-Self Church. For instance, the Tongshan District of Xuzhou, Jiangsu initiated the Four Combinations movement to aid with the management of private Christian meeting places. The Yuan District in Luan, Anhui targeted gathering places in its Work Plan Dedicated to Managing the Establishment of Private Christian Meeting Places in the Development Zone According to the Law, emphasizing:

Registering churches Merging [house churches into government churches] Transitioning [house churches into government churches] Ban all churches [that refuse to cooperate with these aspects] as punishment
By Deena Kamel, Michael Sasso, Bloomberg News | Jan. 25, 2017

Emirates will begin a new daily route linking Dubai and the New York area via Athens, adding fuel to a dispute with U.S. airlines over whether Persian Gulf carriers are unfairly flooding the skies with flights to the world's largest aviation market.

The route will be Emirates' second to arrive in the U.S. after touching down in Europe, enabling the airline to pick up passengers thousands of miles from its home base in the United Arab Emirates. The flights are "commercially and operationally feasible," the airline's president, Tim Clark, said in a statement Monday.

The new route amps up a dispute with U.S. rivals just as President Donald Trump takes office vowing to protect American jobs. Delta Air Lines Inc., American Airlines Group Inc. and United Continental Holdings Inc. had urged the Obama administration to hold formal talks with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, alleging that the countries provide billions of dollars of unfair subsidies to Emirates, Qatar Airways Ltd. and Etihad Airways PJSC.

"By flagrantly violating its Open Skies agreement with the United States at the start of the Trump administration, Emirates is throwing down the gauntlet," said Jill Zuckman, spokeswoman for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, the U.S. airlines' lobbying group on the issue. "We look forward to working with President Trump and his team to enforce these agreements and protect American jobs - something that the Obama administration failed to do."

Delta Route

Delta operates a summer-only timetable from the Greek capital to New York's John F. Kennedy International airport. Delta sought to block Emirates' flight through Milan to New York as part of its campaign against the growth of Gulf airlines it says have had unfair state support. United and American will also offer summer services this year connecting Athens with Newark and Philadelphia respectively, according to the Skyscanner website.

Emirates said there is "strong consumer need" for the service on a route "long-neglected by other airlines." The U.S. is home to the biggest overseas Greek community of 1.3 million people, and the New York metropolitan area has the largest group of Greek-Americans in the country, it said.

Emirates, the world's biggest long-haul airline, will initiate the daily service between Dubai and Newark, New Jersey, on March 12 using a Boeing Co. 777-300ER aircraft. The flights will be in addition to the carrier's four daily frequencies between Dubai and JFK.

"The Greek government and Athens International Airport approached Emirates some time ago to consider serving the route," Clark said in a statement Monday.

Fifth-Freedom Flights

The Partnership for Open & Fair Skies doesn't object to so-called "fifth-freedom" flights, in which airlines stop in foreign nations as they travel between their home countries and their final destination, Zuckman said. However, it does object to what it calls the Persian Gulf carriers' subsidized expansion. Their governments have provided the Gulf carriers with more than US$40 billion in subsidies, enabling them to buy big fleets of international widebody jets, Delta, United and American have said.

Emirates is seeking to eke out new routes as the lower oil price weighs on travel in the Gulf and stuttering economies hurt global demand. With most first-tier cities within an eight-hour flying radius already connected to Dubai, fifth-freedom services also provide access to more far-flung markets the carrier would otherwise be unable to access. The United Arab Emirates has also been seeking to establish Budapest as a point for onward flights to the U.S.

Related News:

Emirates to Launch Daily Service to Newark via Athens
By Khalid Al Ansary, Bloomberg News | Jan. 25, 2017

Copperchase Ltd., a UK-based contractor, began the first phase of construction of an airport in central Iraq that will help ease travel for millions of religious pilgrims who visit the city of Karbala each year.

The company is building a runway, terminal, control tower and other facilities at a cost of between US$250 million and US$500 million, Nahidh Mohammed Salih, chairman of its Iraqi business, said Tuesday in a phone interview. Copperchase, based in Poole, UK, won the contract last week, and the first phase of work will be completed in 18 to 24 months, he said.

The airport will make it easier for Shiite Muslims to visit Karbala and nearby Najaf, which they consider to be holy cities. The project also plays a part in efforts by Iraq, the second-largest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, to diversify its oil-dependent economy. Oil prices have fallen by more than half from 2014 levels, squeezing the government's budget.

The airport will have a capacity for 2 million to 2.5 million passengers a year once the first phase is built, Salih said. The project will be funded by Khayrat Al Sobtayn, the finance arm of Iraq's Imam Hussein Shrine foundation, he said.

"This investment came at a time when world oil prices dropped sharply, and the government is in dire need for money to finance budget gap," Salar Mohammed Ameen, vice chairman of the National Investment Commission, said by phone.

Salih estimated the project's three planned phases will cost a total of US$2 billion. Work on the second and third phases will depend on demand, he said.

Most visitors travel to Iraq for religious occasions, mainly to Shiite sites in Karbala and Najaf. Pilgrims mostly come from Iran, Pakistan, India, Bahrain, Qatar, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and European countries.
A $940-million Chinese clone of one of Austria's most picturesque villages - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage-listed Hallstatt - recently opened its doors amid some controversy to visitors in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.

The "Made in China" version of the lakeside European village known for tourism and salt mining includes an exact replica of its church clock tower, European-style wooden houses and other properties that will be sold to investors.

The project, conceived by a Chinese mining tycoon, initially sparked outrage and surprise among some Hallstatt villagers, who were not at first aware of the attempt to copy their unique, centuries-old home.

A replica of an Austrian UNESCO heritage site, Hallstatt village, in Huizhou, South China's Guangdong province, on June 1. The metals and mining company China Minmetals Corp spent $940 million to build the site in the hope of attracting tourists and property investors there, according to local newspaper reports. [Photo/Agencies]

Half an hour's ride from the city of Huizhou, close to China's "world factory" of the Pearl River Delta, China's Hallstatt hopes to become a new tourist attraction.

Disney-themed photo spots are scattered around the village's main plaza, which is modeled after Hallstatt's marketplace.

"The moment I stepped in here, I felt I was in Europe," said 22-year-old Zhu Bin, a Huizhou resident.

"The security guards wear nice costumes. All the houses are built in European style."

Covering 1 million square meters, cranes and construction sites spread across barren hills above the gabled houses, promising an expansion of the current town.

Despite the initial mixed response, local authorities in Hallstatt have since softened their stances, seeing a rare, marketing opportunity at the heart of one of the world's fastest growing tourism markets.

"It was not so controversial. We were only surprised that a small village in Austria was built, and now we are very proud that it happened," said Hallstatt Mayor Alexander Scheutz, who flew with an Austrian delegation to mark the official opening and signed documents promising future cultural ties.

Visitors and journalists filming on site were asked to leave shortly before Scheutz's unannounced visit.

The director of Tourism Hallstatt, Pamela Binder, said Hallstatt had made peace with its Chinese replica.

"First we were a bit insecure. Why did it come to replicate Hallstatt? And then we became lucky and proud," Binder said.

Fewer than 50 Chinese tourists visited Hallstatt in 2005, but now thousands fly to the Austrian town every year, according to officials from the Austrian delegation in China.

But some Hallstatt residents remained unconvinced.

"I don't think that it is a good idea. Hallstatt is just unique with its culture and traditions. You cannot copy that. I saw a report and the photos, and the copy seems different. In my opinion it is unacceptable," said resident Karin Holl.
An employee of Hanergy Thin Film Power Group at a production plant in Dezhou, Shandong province. [Photo by Sha Lang/For China Daily]

The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong is seeking legal action to disqualify five former and current directors of mainland solar energy firm Hanergy Thin Film Power Group from being directors or being involved in the management of any Hong Kong corporation for up to 15 years.

The directors, including the company's founder and former chairman Li Hejun, and four current independent non-executive directorsZhao Lan, Wang Tongbo, Xu Zheng and Wang Wenjingfailed to question the viability of Hanergy's business model which relied on the sales of solar panel production systems to its connected parties as its main source of revenue and failed to assess properly the financial positions of the connected parties, according to a statement released by the SFC on Monday.

"They also failed to take proper steps to recover these receivables by putting the interests of the connected parties before that of Hanergy, and so did not act in Hanergy's best interest," the statement added.

Meanwhile, the SFC is also seeking a court order to require Hanergy's parent companyHanergy Holding Group Ltdpay all outstanding receivables due to Hanergy under various sales contracts and execute a guarantee securing their payment.

The first hearing of the petition will be in the Court of First Instance on May 21.

The trading of Hanergy shares has been suspended for more than one and a half years.

The company may get the permit from the SFC to resume trading, under the condition that the company's five directors agree not to contest the SFC's application to disqualify them and that the company shall publish a disclosure document providing detailed information on the company, its activities, business, assets, liabilities, financial performance and prospects to address the SFC's concerns that led it to suspend trading in Hanergy's shares.

However, the statement mentioned that there is "no assurance" that the SFC Board will agree that the trading of Hanergy's shares can resume.

Hanergy responded by saying that the company has and will continue to use its best endeavors to fulfill the above-mentioned requirements and will seek to resume trading of its shares as soon as possible.

In March 2015, Hanergy shares surged 75 percent in just three days, once making company founder Li Hejun China's richest man with estimated wealth of $31 billion.

Then, the share prices plunged 47 percent in less than half an hour on May 20, 2015, wiped $19 billion off Hanergy's market capitalization, prompting a trading suspension of its shares since then.
A State Grid employee works on an ultra-high-voltage transmission construction in Huainan, Anhui province. [Photo for China Daily by Song Weixing]

State Grid Corporation of China announced on Tuesday that it has taken ownership of a controlling stake in Brazilian power utility CPFL Energia SA, the largest power distributor in the country.

State Grid, the world's largest utility company, concluded the deal for a 54.64 percent stake in CPFL five months after signing the agreement for the acquisition.

Record shows that the value of the deal will total $4.49 billion, while the acquisition is State Grid's biggest overseas investment project so far.

An analyst said the deal would further boost the company's presence in Brazil.

According to Joseph Jacobelli, a senior analyst with Asia utilities and infrastructure research at Bloomberg Intelligence, the more businesses the company has exposure to in Brazil the better the synergies overall.

He also mentioned that whenever the company acquires stakes in public companies this offers a higher level of transparency of the deal to the market, while it also may place indirect pressure on the company's management given the increased public disclosure.

According to State Grid, the deal will expand its business to power transmission, distribution, new energy power generation and electricity sales.

The acquisition will bring State Grid's new energy power generation technology and management experience to Brazil, State Grid said.

State Grid, which runs the majority of the nation's electricity distribution network, has landed ultra high-voltage electricity transmission projects in Brazil earlier.

State Grid won a contract to build a 2,500-kilometer power line in Brazil that will link the world's third-biggest hydroelectric dam to the country's largest market in 2015, after winning the contract for another section of the Belo Monte transmission line one year earlier.

According to Li Lequan, deputy director of State Grid International Development Co Ltd, SGCC's subsidiary for global operations, the first phase of the Belo Monte UHV DC Transmission Project is expected to start commercial operations by February 2018.

CPFL has built itself into one of the biggest electricity distribution companies in Brazil with business covering new energy power generation and power distribution.
Twin daughters and their mother enjoy a smog-free holiday in Sanya, Hainan province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chinese people are traveling more rather than staying at home during the seven-day Spring Festival break.

This year, nearly 20 percent of all booked tour packages on Tuniu, an online travel agency based in Nanjing, start their trips on the eve or the first day of the New Year, according to a new report by the company.

Weather plays a factor in destination choices, and many families opt for warmer places that are away from polluted Chinese cities. Residents from Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang in Hebei province all chose Sanya as their top destinations to escape the cold and smoggy weather.

Other popular domestic traveling locations include Dali, Lijiang and Kunming in Yunnan province, along with Xiamen, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, the report said.

"Compared with previous years, Chinese are increasingly accustomed to going on trips, instead of staying at homes, during the Spring Festival break," said Alex Yan, COO of Tuniu Corp.

"Ski vacations are also gaining popularity, and Harbin jumped to the list of top five most popular domestic destinations this year," he said.

For outbound trips, Thailand and Japan continue to stay as popular choices for Chinese travelers, and European destinations, particularly France and Italy, have become increasingly appealing.

South Korea, which has been consistently listed as a popular choice for Chinese travelers in previous years, didn't appear on this year's top 10 list, according to the report.

Meanwhile, South America, Africa, and the Middle East have continued to attract more visitors from China. Morocco became the overseas destination with the fastest-growing popularity for Chinese, followed by Tunisia and Ecuador.

"Last June, Morocco granted Chinese tourists visa-free access to the country, and the number of booked trips to Morocco during the Spring Festival this year soared 130 times over last year. The growth in popularity of the country illustrated the power of visa-free policies," Yan said.

This year, about 4.88 billion individuals plan to travel in China, a 10 percent rise year-on-year. About 123 million individuals are expected to travel abroad, up 4 percent from a year ago, according to the forecast of the China National Tourism Administration.

Jane Zhang, a 28-year-old office worker in Beijing, said she plans to take a trip to Japan during the Spring Festival break. "I have been to Japan once, and I still like to visit other cities that I haven't been to. It attracts me with its beautiful sightseeing, various shopping choices, and proximity to China."
Employees of a power supply company in Weining county, Guizhou province, check power transmission facilities. [Photo/Xinhua]

China Southern Power Grid Co Ltd will add another two major power lines to its east-west electricity network by 2020, which are expected to increase transmission capacity by 55 percent, the company said on Tuesday.

The utility company said as a result the grid will be able to meet an extra power load equal to the combined amount in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the two biggest cities in southern China's Guangdong province.

The infrastructure rollout is part of a national program to transmit electricity from China's resource-rich west to its energy-thirsty east.

China Southern Power Grid said it had already constructed 17 major power lines to transmit electricity from Yunnan and Guizhou provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to southern China, especially the Pearl River Delta region.

The utility firm said the program will not only optimize the allocation of resources, but also improve air quality by making full use of the clean energy resources in the west including Yunnan's hydropower infrastructure.

Water inflows into Yunnan's rivers last year were 20 percent above the previous year, adding 28 billion kilowatt-hours to its hydropower generating capacity, but the province's demand for electricity did not increase.

To encourage electricity buyers in Guangdong to consume more hydropower from Yunnan, the Guangzhou Power Exchange Center removed a cap on trading volumes for Yunnan's hydropower and reduced power prices during the wet season.

"By speeding up building power transmission channels and reforming the electricity exchange mechanism, we can optimize the allocation of resources and adjust the structure of power consumption," said Li Qingkui, chairman of China Southern Power Grid.

"We will keep electricity generated by clean energy resources above 50 percent of total generating capacity in Guangdong, Hainan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi," Li added.

The utility company said that electricity generated by non-fossil fuels reached more than half of total generating capacity for the first time in the five provincial-level regions by the end of 2016, at almost twice national average levels.

The company said it transmitted 195.3 billion kw/h of electricity through its east-west power lines in 2016, achieving sustained growth of five years in a row.
LOS ANGELES - BYD's electric-powered buses will make the University of California, Irvine (UCI) the first college campus in US to convert its traditional diesel fuel-powered buses to an all-electric transit fleet, according the UCI.

The student-funded and operated Anteater Express shuttle service is acquiring 20 buses from BYD (Build Your Dreams) for $15 million. These high-quality vehicles are being built at BYD's Lancaster, California plant to roll onto campus for the 2017-18 academic year, the UCI said.

"UC Irvine has made a strong, forward-looking decision by becoming an all-electric campus, and we know more universities and cities will follow. That is why we are adding hundreds of thousands of square feet and hundreds more jobs in Lancaster -- to meet demand for this important technology," Stella Li, president of BYD America, told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Undergraduates previously voted to pay up to $40 each quarter to the ASUCI to finance the bus purchase and other costs. Individual rides are free.

"I hope the rest of the country can follow us," Tracy La, the president of Associated Students of UCI (ASUCI) said in a statement. "I hope other colleges and universities will do this."

UCI plans to slash tons of carbon dioxide and harmful soot annually by replacing diesel with electric buses. A survey of students last year found that of an array of transportation options, the top priority was providing electric buses over conventional ones.

"The hydrogen electric bus emits no carbon -- neither does the battery electric bus," said engineering professor Scott Samuelsen, who heads the National Fuel Cell Research Center.

"This forward-looking decision is proof of what many in higher education already know: that electric vehicles aren't a far-off technology of the future but are here and ready to be put to use today," Li said.
A visitor sits inside a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV Jeep Compass sport utility vehicle, manufactured by Guangzhou Automobile Group Co, on display at the China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou on Nov 19, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Li Yechen waited four months for his sold-out SUV to arrive at a Chinese auto dealer. He was determined to buck tradition and bypass the trusty sedan that's a hallmark of the nation's highways.

The 21-year-old building designer from Hangzhou bought the SUV from Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd for 163,000 yuan ($23,500). The Bo Yue model he chose comes with warning systems for forward collisions and for abrupt lane changes, features that swayed Li to go bigger.

"With all these technologies, I can park and drive the SUV as easily as a sedan," he said. "The sedans in the same price range these days are lagging behind in the technology features."

Chinese consumers are expected to buy more SUVs and minivans than sedans this year for the first time, according to projections from the China Passenger Car Association, as the combination of sophisticated vehicles, rising incomes, lower oil prices and the second-child policy triggers a fundamental shift in the world's biggest personal vehicle market.

SUV country

SUV and minivan sales may grow by double-digit percentages this year, while sedan sales may decline by 4.7 percent, according to a Bloomberg survey of three analysts.

SUVs now make up a greater percentage of auto sales in China than anywhere else, according to research company Sanford C. Bernstein. From September through November 2016, almost four of every 10 passenger vehicles sold in the country were SUVs.

That's prompting domestic and foreign automakers to flood their showrooms with new models. Last year, there were 105 SUV models on the market that sold an average of more than 1,000 units a month, compared with 58 just two years earlier, the researcher said.

Geely, owned by billionaire Li Shufu, sells about 20,000 of its Bo Yue SUVs every month. The Hangzhou-based automaker introduced three SUV models, including the Bo Yue, last year and saw sales skyrocket by 50 percent to 765,851 vehicles. That encouraged the company to set its sales target for this year at 1 million units.

"SUVs have become much more than a traffic tool but a lifestyle statement," said Ashley Sutcliffe, a spokesman for Geely. "They are larger, have more space than the equivalent-segment sedan and denote power and prestige."

Record sales

The switch comes as China dealerships sold 23.9 million cars, SUVs and minivans last year, representing a 16 percent increase from the year before, according to the China Passenger Car Association. It was the 26th straight year of record sales.

That sales streak is losing momentum, with the market poised to grow at just a third of last year's pace because a looming increase in the sales tax prompted many consumers to buy their vehicles before Dec 31.

Sales of SUVs are expected to increase by 22 percent this year and minivans by 13 percent, according to the analysts surveyed. That means 116 units of SUV and minivans will be sold for every 100 sedans sold in the country.

The demand is helped by economic growth of 6.7 percent during the first three quarters of last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Through September, disposable income per capita rose 6.3 percent from a year earlier to 17,735 yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

It's also cheaper to drive, giving buyers more latitude about a vehicle's fuel efficiency. Retail gasoline prices have fallen 23 percent since 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Bigger vehicles

Automakers also are boosting production of larger vehicles in anticipation of a baby boom: Chinese families will need more car seats after the government announced a relaxation of its one-child policy in 2015.

"The Chinese family is growing bigger with a second child, and they love spacy SUVs even more," said Xu Heyi, chairman of Beijing Automotive Group Co.

"The robust demand for SUVs will continue this year and over the next couple of years."

BAIC, owned by the local government of Beijing, has joint ventures with Daimler AG and Hyundai Motor Co Sales of the company's own brands increased 36 percent in 2016, with SUV sales increasing by six times, according to a company filing.

'Ongoing shift'

Yet the boom isn't limited to domestic makers. General Motors Co's SUV deliveries in China surged 45 percent from a year earlier, with the Buick Envision and Baojun 560 among its most-popular models, said Sophie Hou, a Shanghai-based spokeswoman.

"There is an ongoing shift of mix in the market from cars to SUVs, and we think that will continue, particularly as new technology allows the SUVs to be very fuel-efficient," Hou said in an email.

South Korea's Hyundai and Kia Motors Corp, which saw their overall sales shrink for the first time in eight years in 2015, are tweaking the lineup of vehicles in their biggest market to capitalize on the SUV boom.

Deliveries of Hyundai's sedans in China declined 2 percent, yet those of its three SUVs jumped 30 percent.
Senior citizens enjoy services outside a foot massage franchise store in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province. [Photo by Shi Yucheng/China Daily]

I had not expected my masseuse to be so insightful.

"All that matters is a platform that you can use to discover what is best that life has in store for you," she said as she was giving me a 100-minute foot massage in a clean, well-lit room equipped with greenery, an aquarium of goldfish and an air purifier on a smoggy winter night.

"If I work at a small street side store I can charge you only 60 yuan ($8.70) or 70 yuan for the same kind of service," she said. "But here you have to pay 338 yuan."

The platform in her words is the foot massage franchise store, said to be one of the largest in Beijing, on the North Fourth Ring Road. She has been working there for more than two years, now as a trainer and team leader.

Business has been so good that customers who don't make a reservation may have to wait for one hour before being served on a busy evening.

My masseuse earned more than 16,000 yuan last month, enough for her to support her three daughters left behind in her hometown, and save for her first mortgage installment.

Given that the average monthly income of China's college graduates last year was less than 4,800 yuan, according to a survey by recruitment website zhaopin.com, she seems to have every reason to feel pleased as personal income is considered a gauge for life's success.

This has not come easily. She admits she is among the top earners in the store, and I can tell her distinction from her picture on the front page of the store's internal newsletter on the table, with a story about a lecture she recently gave at a university on how to keep fit using traditional Chinese medicine.

Yes, to earn that sum she has to excel in many ways besides having to toil from 11 am or earlier to midnight and beyond, and often with basically no day of rest for a whole month.

For example, she is tasked with selling prepaid cards to clients, a strategy adopted by the store to lock in customers while generating constant cash flow. During its just-concluded 20-day promotion period, more than 8 million yuan worth of cards were sold.

She admits it is not easy to convince the often wary clients to dig deeper into their wallets, which requires tenacity and a high level of emotional quotient.

How did she make it?

Her knowledge about the 80/20 rule comes in handy. "The 20 percent high-net-worth customers buy 80 percent of our cards. It is these elite customers that we keep focusing on."

By the way, "I rely on the 20 percent of my team members who are the best to complete 80 percent of the tasks", she said.

The platform aside, she attributes a successful career and a meaningful life to several other Ps.

They are:

Professional: Keep practising until you become an expert in your field. A massage parlor at a five-star hotel had offered her 20,000 yuan a month to work there, though she was not considering changing jobs at the moment.

Perseverance: Life always has its highs and lows, and sometimes you have to persevere through failures and hardships.

Push: You always need to push yourself a little more because otherwise you will never know the limit of your potential.

Last but not least, pleasure: It always pays to take a break and enjoy life. That's why she makes it a rule to travel abroad once each year, and she plans to visit Japan this summer. Late night drinking after work at a noisy disco bar has always been her favorite.

As I left the store I thanked my masseuse profusely, not only for the good massage I received, but also for a lesson on work and life.

Contact the writer at huangxiangyang@chinadaily.com.cn
A Chinese mobile phone user uses the taxi-hailing and car-service app Didi Chuxing on his Apple iPhone smartphone in Jinan, East China's Shandong province, Feb 22, 2015. [Photo/IC]

Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission held an urgent meeting with the leading ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing on Tuesday, urging the platform to eliminate the price-hiking function from its taxi hailing service within two days.

Didi said during the meeting that they will delete the price-hiking module in the application, according to the commission's requirement. The company published a note on Monday, saying that they have temporarily eliminated the function of "suggested price hiking". In that function, a window would pop out when the user opened the app, asking the user if he would like to pay extra money for a ride.

The commission required Didi to delete another function of a "dispatching fee paid by passengers out of their own will". In this way, the possibility of paying extra money for a ride would be completely eliminated in Shanghai.

But since it will take some time for the updated app to be examined, Didi said they could not promise to complete the process within two days. Didi, however, said it would definitely make the change and it will be completed within two weeks.

This change will be only within Shanghai, Didi said.

Li Yi, deputy director at the internet plus consulting center at the Internet Society of China, applauded the Shanghai transportation commission on his personal Weibo account. He advised transportation commissions of other cities to follow up. He also suggested that the Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Commerce look into the issue.

Luo Wen, a senior product director of Didi Chuxing, published an explanation on the online question-and-answer platform Zhihu on Saturday, saying that the approaching Spring Festival is the main reason for recent hailing difficulties since the number of orders has risen but that of available taxi drivers decreased.

"For example, the number of taxi drivers taking online orders has dropped by 25 percent, but the number of orders surged by 30 percent recently in Beijing. The short supply has resulted in rising prices," he wrote.
Visitors try out Samsung Electronics Co's VR equipment at its showroom in Seoul, South Korea. [Photo/Agencies]

Samsung Electronics Co's profit more than doubled in the last quarter of 2016 on robust semiconductor sales and a recovery in its mobile business, giving it enough stamina to buy back 9.3 trillion won ($8 billion) of its own shares.

Net income rose to 6.92 trillion won in the December quarter, largely buoyed by rising prices for memory chips and TV screens, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Growth in demand for smartphone displays coupled with a weaker Korean won also lifted its component businesses.

The repurchased shares, part of a shareholder return program unveiled in November, will be canceled, the company said.

The company's reputation, already tarnished by the cessation of its fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 last year, took another hit when prosecutors began a probe into Samsung's involvement in an influence-peddling scandal that's led to the impeachment of the South Korean president Park Geun-hye. The special prosecutor is proceeding with an investigation, even after a court rejected a request to arrest for Vice-Chairman Jay Y. Lee on alleged bribery and embezzlement charges.

The fourth-quarter result compares with the 7 trillion won average projection of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Operating profit in the period was 9.22 trillion won on sales of 53.3 trillion won.
Online sales for Spring Festival are booming, and products from rural China and overseas are hot, according to e-retailers and consultants.

With the Year of the Rooster beginning on Saturday, traditional poultry dishes are popular, including Dezhou braised chicken, sesame oil chicken, stir-fried chili chicken, and sweet and sour chicken, merchants say.

Also popular online are pine nuts from the Daxinganling region of Heilongjiang province, pecans from Zhejiang and rose puff pastries from Yunnan. Many purchases are destined to be holiday gifts for family and friends.

In the second year that major online food promotions have targeted shoppers for China's biggest holiday, sales are brisk, according to the world's biggest e-retailer, Alibaba.

The company said that sales during a weeklong online promotion it held for nuts and dried apricots outstripped six months of offline sales of those items nationally.

Since December, over 200 types of local specialties from domestic farms and pastures have been available via Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall virtual malls, according to a study by Alibaba and CBNData, a data analytics media group.

Another major retailer, YHD.com, known for food and beverages and owned by retail giant Wal-Mart, said that owing to heavy demand it will extend delivery service to Chinese New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Imported products are all the rage among residents of China's first- and second-tier cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou. With a few clicks of the mouse, world-class delicacies arrive at the dinner table, from Alaskan black cod and Canadian lobster to French wine and British tea.

The typical buyers of overseas goods are well-educated young women who earn over 100,000 yuan ($14,588) annually, Alibaba said. Buyer profiles by YHD and other retailers were similar.

The countryside hasn't been left out, either. More than 500 overseas premium brands are available in China's hinterlands via Rural Taobao, an arm of Alibaba that facilitates online shopping and home delivery through over 10,000 rural service centers in villages across China.

Seasonal sales of other products also are picking up.

"People are reaching beyond traditional purchases of food and clothing, to look for something personalized and from overseas," said Kaola.com spokeswoman Wang Zheng.

Cosmetics and maternity products are popular, including lipstick, anti-aging masks and infant formula. Air purifiers and smart gadgets like virtual reality headsets also are up-and-coming products, retailers say.

Chinese online shoppers spent on average $473 on imported purchases in 2016, according to consultancy eMarketer. The company said cross-border e-commerce is expected to reach a quarter of the Chinese population by 2020.
An animal welfare campaigner has accused the head of a Hangzhou zoo of failing to properly answer accusations over abuse of its tigers.

Hu Chunmei triggered widespread outrage when she shared edited footage online of a performance involving white tigers at Hangzhou Safari Park, which she recorded on Jan 12.

The two-minute clip features a confrontation between a tiger and a handler, which ended with the animal falling off the stage into a pool of water, and images of a tiger with a wound on the right side of its nose.

The footage has been shared thousands of times on Sina Weibo and other social media platforms, with many netizens criticizing the park.

In response, a manager at the zoo who was identified only as Ma gave an interview on Monday to Qianjiang Evening News, a local daily, in which he denied the animals had been abused.

However, Hu, head of the Saving Performing Animals Project run by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, a private NGO based in Beijing, said she was not satisfied with his explanation.

"He showed a photo of a tiger to the newspaper, saying that it was the one that fell into the water and that it was in a very good condition. But it's not the same tiger. Its stripes are clearly different than the one in the video," she said.

"The zoo manager also said the tiger that fell into the water was the same one with the wound on its face. He's not telling the truth. When the tiger falls in the video, the one with a scar on its nose can be seen on the other side of the stage."

Ma was quoted by the paper as saying the wound was an "inflammation of lymph nodes below the skin" and that the reason the animal had no canine teeth was because it was "in a dental transitional period". All the tigers in the show were under the age of 3, he added.

Calls to the management office at Hangzhou Safari Park went unanswered on Tuesday.

The tourist attraction, which is in Fuyang district of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, has been in operation since 2002 and is the largest wildlife park in East China, covering 2.66 square kilometers.

A statement issued on Monday by the Zhejiang Forestry Administration said the park had been ordered to suspend all animal performances.
A woman and her daughter were handed prison terms on Tuesday after being convicted of selling vaccines without a license in Shandong province, according to a local court.

Pang Hongwei was sentenced to 15 years in prison for illegally purchasing vaccinesincluding rabies vaccines, which she stored in warehouses in Jinan and Liaochengand then selling them to clients in the province and other parts of the country between June 2013 and April 2015, according to the Jinan Intermediate People's Court.

Pang improperly stored the vaccines she bought, and sold vaccines with a total sales value of nearly 75 million yuan ($11 million), the court said.

Pang was not a first-time offender. In 2009, she was sentenced to three years in prison with a five-year probation period for illegally trading vaccines in Heze, Shandong. However, the case was retried, as required by the provincial high people's court, and in April last year, her sentence was extended to six years in prison without probation.

The intermediate court ruled that Pang will serve a total of 19 years in prison for her offenses in the two cases.

Sun Qi, Pang's daughter, was sentenced to six years in prison for assisting her mother and for her involvement in the sale of vaccines worth more than 42 million yuan.

The pair were caught by the police on April 28, 2015. The next day, police found vaccines worth nearly 700,000 yuan stored in the warehouse of a towel factory in Jinan.

Storing vaccines improperly, such as at the wrong temperature, can affect their potency and result in potential health risks, experts from the World Health Organization said following the incident.

A total of 324 suspects involved in the case were arrested, and 100 officials were placed under investigation for suspected duty-related crimes, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

The vaccines involved in the scandal were Category Two vaccines, which are optional and users must pay for them. The management of such vaccines is not as strict as for Category One vaccines, which governments provide for free.

Following the scandal, the central government approved a revised regulation on the management of vaccines that took effect immediately. The new regulation intensifies management rules for all vaccines, including their transportation and storage.

Xinhua contributed to this story.
Children dressed up as roosters send gifts to elderly people in Hefei City, capital of East China's Anhui province, Jan 24, 2017, to greet the upcoming Spring Festival which falls on Jan 28. Chinese people are busy with preparing for the upcoming Spring Festival, the most important family reunion festival in China, which falls on Jan 28 this year.[Photo/Xinhua]
Beijing says it will protect its territory after the Trump administration's threats over maritime disputes

China called on the United States on Tuesday to respect facts and "speak and behave with caution" after the new US administration of President Donald Trump hinted it would take a tougher stance on the South China Sea.

"China's determination to protect its own territory and sovereignty will remain unchanged, regardless of what other countries say or what changes occur," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily news conference in Beijing.

China will firmly safeguard its maritime sovereignty, as it has talks with countries directly involved, to maintain stability in the region, she said. Hua had been asked to respond to White House spokesman Sean Spicer's comment on Monday that "the US would make sure that we protect our interests" in the South China Sea.

On Jan 11, Trump's secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson said that China should be denied access to the South China Sea islands.

Hua, when asked whether China worried that the Trump administration would take further steps regarding the sea, said China is not the only country concerned about that.

"China's position on the South China Sea is consistent, and our actions are justified," she said.

Tensions have cooled over the South China Sea issue since China and other countries involved, including the Philippines, agreed to peacefully solve disputes through negotiations.

In October, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte made a state visit to China, during which the two nations agreed to restore bilateral ties that had been jeopardized by the ruling of an arbitration unilaterally launched by his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III.

"Any responsible country should be glad to see this trend, and play a positive role in promoting regional peace and stability," Hua said on Tuesday.

Li Haidong, a professor of US studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said the Trump administration's attitude toward the South China Sea is similar to his predecessor's - namely, emphasizing disputes there.

"While Obama dealt with it in so-called multilateral and legal ways, Trump might try to get rough and try to overwhelm China with force there," he said. The South China Sea will continue to be an increasingly disputed area between the two countries, he speculated.

However, Li said, it remained a question whether Washington would follow up on Tillerson's proposal because of "Trump's unpredictability and the different opinions within the Cabinet".

"The Trump administration might make an adjustment, adopt a more practical China policy after six months, when it sees it has failed to force China to concede to its aggressive manner regarding issues Washington believes are critical," he added.

Teng Jianqun, a senior US studies researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said the Trump administration will continue to test China on various issues, including trade and security, but China will never compromise on territorial issues.

Wang Qingyun contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn
Children at a kindergarten in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, practice kung fu with a teacher. Schools in China are looking to recruit more male teachers. Ji Chunpeng/ Xinhua

Traditional concepts are being overturned as the gap between the sexes narrows. Zhou Wenting reports from Shanghai.

Recently, Little Men, China's first textbook focusing on the mental health of primary school-age boys was introduced. The book sparked nationwide discussions as critics argued that certain qualities, such as perseverance and independence, should not be regarded as solely male attributes.

The book, distributed last month to male students in the fourth and fifth grades at Zhabei No 3 Central Primary School in the Jing'an district of Shanghai, stresses that boys are usually expected to display masculine traits by appearing courageous and resolute.

The authors claim that the book is based on principles of gender equality, but many observers, parents included, are unhappy because they don't believe that gender should be stereotyped through education.

"Within the context of traditional Chinese culture, the concept of masculinity and femininity is that males provide the bread while females take care of the family. These gender characteristics are forcibly imposed on children. It shouldn't be like this," said Fan Di, the mother of a 9-year-old girl in Shanghai.

"I think good traits, such as responsibility, confidence, gentleness and compassion, should be associated with both genders."

Experts believe that opinions such as Fan's show that the gender gap is gradually narrowing because women in China are more highly educated than ever before and they are becoming more influential, both in the jobs market and at home.

Changing concepts

Traditional Chinese concepts of gender are changing.

In recent years, sex education has come under the spotlight, with some experts stating that schools should reinforce traditional gender roles and values because they fear that a growing number of boys are becoming timid while girls are becoming increasingly fearless.

Last year saw the foundation of the first boys-only class at the Junior High School affiliated to Nanjing Normal University in Jiangsu province, which is intended to promote masculinity among students. At the same time, a girls-only class was initiated at Suzhou Foreign Language School, also in Jiangsu, to cultivate elegance and gentility in 10-year-old girls through intensive courses in etiquette and the arts.
At least 124.33 million hectares of arable land is to be retained by 2020

China will invest 600 billion yuan ($87.5 billion) in the next four years to enhance farmland protection and improve farmland facilities, an official said on Tuesday, as the country is set to encourage more private capital to participate in the farmland improvement process.

Han Jun, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Rural Work, said a national effort to increase the area of well-facilitated farmland from the current 26.7 million hectares to 53.3 million hectares by 2020 could cost about 600 billion yuan, and authorities will encourage private capital to take part in the process. The group is China's top rural affairs decision-making agency.

The target for high-quality farmland development was laid out in a document released by the central government on Monday, which stipulates that efforts must be made to stabilize the amount of farmland and improve its quality to ensure grain self-sufficiency and food security.

Han told a news conference that the country will also establish a system to evaluate the quality of farmland and its productivity, and conduct regular evaluations as part of the farmland protection effort.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Land and Resources, well-facilitated farmland refers to a large, level tracts of arable land with fertile soil and sound facilities that can resist a certain degree of adverse natural conditions.

The central government document said that the country aims to retain at least 124.33 million hectares of arable land by 2020, with no less than 103.1 million hectares of permanent farmland. China had 133.3 million hectares of arable land at the end of 2015.

This level must not be breached, and the use of arable land for construction will be strictly controlled, the document noted, adding that arable land should be protected "the way we protect pandas".

For farmland faced with problems of degradation, authorities will launch projects to improve the quality of soil through engineering and biochemical measures, the document said, adding that efforts will also be made to prevent the threat of pollution to farmland.

More than 40 percent of China's arable land suffers from degradation, Xinhua News Agency reported in 2014. The rich black soil in Heilongjiang province is thinning, while farmland in China's south is suffering from acidification, the report said.

Jiang Daming, minister of land and resources, said at the news conference that the urbanization and industrialization drive is set to take up more farmland in the near future.

"The country is now also faced with huge grain stocks. But we need to keep a clear mind and cannot afford any sloppiness in the protection of farmland," he said.

Huang Hanquan, director of the National Development and Reform Commission's Research Institute of Industrial Economy and Technical Economy, said well-facilitated farmland is instrumental to the country's food security, due to its growing population and increasing demand for high-quality agricultural products.

However, he said that authorities should roll out more concrete measures to ensure a reasonable return for private investors if they are to attract them.

xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn
A robot provides consulting services to passengers at an airport in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, early this month.Lin Guiyan / For China Daily

More Chinese are choosing to travel during Spring Festival rather than return to their hometowns for family reunions, a break from one of China's most important traditions.

Since the late 1970s, Chinese have been finding jobs and settling down in economically developed cities outside their hometowns. However, Spring Festival remains an important time for family reunion. Consequently, for decades, there has been a massive movement between where people work or study and their hometowns during the 40-day travel peak.

This year, 2.98 billion journeys are expected to be made during Spring Festival.

Zhang Meng, a computer engineer in Beijing, said he spent about 15 hours booking a train ticket to his hometown in Wuhan, Hubei province.

"It's scary. I failed," said the 33-year-old. "So I booked a travel package for my parents, older brother and my sister-in-law to come to Beijing. The air tickets and hotel room fees nearly equal the price of a round-trip ticket between Beijing and Wuhan."

Ctrip, an online travel agency, has labeled such a travel plan as "reverse Spring Festival" - a trip made from a smaller city to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or even overseas.

Ctrip said it has seen an 80 percent increase in those booking such trips compared with last year's holiday. Family travel packages account for more than 60 percent of all bookings.

Alex Yan, chief operating officer of Tuniu Corp, another online travel agency, said increasing numbers of Chinese are going on trips over the holiday compared with previous years.

"Nearly 20 percent of all booked tour packages on Tuniu began their trips on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day," he said.

Reasons behind the shift are complicated. Besides the difficulty to book tickets, many complained about new challenges brought by air pollution and even family pressure on marriage status.

"In the past, parents placed too much attention on fixed rules and formal behavior. My parents used to think it was crucial to stay at home and visit different relatives on certain days. They were very upset when I suggested traveling abroad several years ago," said Pan Lichao, 31, who is from Chongqing and works as a researcher with a multinational company in Beijing.

"They changed their mind after I married. My husband and I have no siblings and our hometowns are far from each other. It is mission impossible for us to commute for a seven-day holiday."

Yan of Tuniu said weather plays a factor in destination choices, and many families opt for warmer destinations away from polluted Chinese cities.

"Residents from Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang in Hebei province all chose Sanya as their top travel destination to escape the cold and smoggy weather," he added.

Fang Yu, 30, said she thinks going back to her hometown in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region is the worst way to celebrate the holiday.

"I am not married yet. Every time I come from Chengdu, Sichuan province, to my hometown, my parents and relatives interrogate me, and even consider me weird. None of us would be happy," she said.

Contact the writers at suzhou@chinadaily.com.cn
Wang Tianpu, former general manager of oil giant China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, also known as Sinopec, was sentenced on Tuesday to 15 and a half years in prison for bribery and embezzlement, according to a court in Jiangxi province.

The Nanchang Intermediate People's Court also imposed a fine of 3.2 million yuan ($468,300) on Wang and ordered the confiscation of all his illicit gains.

According to the court, he was involved in money trading to seek promotions. He abused his position to benefit his relatives' business and failed to stop indulging them even after warnings from authorities.

The court found that between 2003 and 2014, Wang abused his power to gain benefits for others in relation to business operations, the undertaking of projects and job placement, accepting in return bribes worth a total of 33.4 million yuan.

He flouted the Communist Party of China's frugality rule by using public funds to hold personal banquets, and illegally embezzled State-owned assets worth about 800,000 yuan.

The court said it issued a lenient punishment because Wang confessed to his crimes and expressed regret, and all his ill-gotten assets have been recovered.

In September last year, Wang was expelled from the Party for corruption and other violations of the Party code of conduct.

He is the second high-ranking official to be sentenced for corruption since Sunday. On Monday, Su Rong, former vice-chairman of China's top political advisory body, was sentenced to life in prison for bribery, abusing public power and possessing a huge amount of unexplained assets.

Since late 2012, anti-graft has become a top priority for the country, with President Xi Jinping conducting a sweeping drive to fight corruption. To date, more than 200 high-ranking officials have been investigated for alleged graft issues.

zhangyan1@chinadaily.com.cn
Over the past ten days, many people in China, especially those in first-tier cities including Beijing and Shanghai, have been complaining that it takes over 30 minutes to grab a car through Didi Chuxing, China's premier online car and taxi hailing platform.

And beyond waiting times, the costs have often-times doubled.

Customer complaints

A media survey of 200 people from 22 cities shows that more than 36% respondents say they've been forced to wait an additional 10 to 30 minutes before a driver (of either a private car or a taxi registered on the platform) accepts their order.

This is compared with the time it took when there were no online hailing services.

Customers may spend much time on waiting before getting a ride. [Photo/WeChat Subscription of Channel Wu/CRIENGLISH.com]



Over 60% respondents say it's been more expensive to use Didi these days, mainly because they have to pay "car-scheduling fees," which are actually tips, to drivers at the premium price. Those who don't pay the premium are often neglected by the drivers.





Most respondents say it costs much to use Didi compared with the fees they pay for taxies when there were no online hailing services. [Photo/WeChat Subscription of Channel Wu/CRIENGLISH.com]

During peak hours, drivers appear to be ignoring passengers' requests until the value of the tip meets their demands.

Didi has confirmed the higher tips they pay, the more likely it is that customers will get a cab.




The man began his ride in Rizhao city, East China's Shandong province, intending to go to his home in Qiqihaer city, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, but actually ended up in Wuhu city, East China's Anhui province.

A man planning to ride nearly 2,000 kilometers back home for the upcoming Spring Festival ended up much further away than when he started after spending more than one month riding in the opposite direction, Anhuinews.com reported.

The man only realised his mistake when he was pulled over by traffic police in Wuhu city, East China's Anhui province on the expressway last Friday.

Asked what he was doing, the man told them he was heading home to Qiqihaer city, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province by bike, only to be informed by traffic police he was going the wrong way.

The man began his journey in December from Rizhao city, East China's Shandong province.

Knowing that he was in Wuhu, a city lying more than 500 kilometers south of Rizhao, the man said he must have been given the wrong directions from passersby.

The poor man is reportedly a casual laborer with few earnings and spent lots of time surfing the internet at internet cafes, which left him no money.

Thinking his hopes of making it home in time for lunar New Year's Eve were over, traffic police and staff at the toll station chipped in to buy him a ticket home.
College graduates are being encouraged to work in China's northeast rustbelt region as part of measures to rejuvenate the area, according to a guideline released on Tuesday.

They will also be encouraged to work in grassroots organizations in the country's central and western regions, as well as other less-developed areas, said the document jointly issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council.

This is the first time Northeast China has been mentioned as a region the central government wants graduates to work in and was issued ahead of this summer, when a record 7.95 million students are expected to graduate.

The guideline also stipulates that civil servant recruitment in agencies at or above the provincial-level will only consider candidates with at least two years of grassroots work experience, except in special circumstances.

It said preferential policies have been put in place to encourage graduates to join the People's Liberation Army, work in small- and medium-sized enterprises, or start their own businesses.

In April, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council released a document vowing to rejuvenate the northeast rustbelt region with more reforms and economic restructuring measures.

State-owned enterprises will be restructured and private firms will get more support, said the document, which is reminiscent of a revitalization strategy rolled out by the central government in 2003.

The northeast, including Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, was among the first industrialized regions in China with traditional industries including steel, automobile, shipbuilding, aircraft manufacturing and petroleum refining. As an industrial hub, it once supplied the whole country with machinery, energy and farm produce.

However, China's southern regions, including Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces, rapidly caught up in the 1980s and the once robust region has seen a more-acute economic slowdown than the rest of the country. Depleted energy resources and unemployment have become acute problems for the region.
GUANGZHOU -- It was the first time for Ding Xingwu to join the epic chunyun, the busy travel period around China's Spring Festival. Instead of being bored by the trip like most migrant workers, he felt proud.

"I have never worked away from my hometown before," said 41-year-old Ding from a remote village of Huayuan county, Central China's Hunan province when aboard a train heading to his hometown from Guangdong province.

Ding was one of the 71 poor villagers aged above 40 in Huayuan who were hired to work in Guangdong last year in a government-backed labor scheme. Middle-aged migrant workers are often denied work in factories in developed areas as they are seen as being inefficient and in poor health compared with younger workers.

Before the father-of-three started work in a Guangdong ceramics factory in June 2016, his family could barely feed themselves.

A couple of years ago, he worked in a mine but lost the job when the local government reined in excessive mining and the mine closed.

The factory job arrived after a pilot scheme was launched to transport poor villagers in Hunan and Hubei provinces to work in Guangdong. The move, which started in April 2016, was a response to the central government's call for "precision poverty relief."

In Huayuan, more than 100 companies from the Pearl River Delta held recruitment fairs for rural job-seekers. The local government offered free training for the job-seekers in accordance with employers' demands.

The ceramics plant signed a three-year contract with Ding and pays him more than 3,000 yuan ($437) a month.

"I keep hundreds of yuan a month and give all the rest to my wife," he said.

Huang Jihui, 45, also from Huayuan, was hired by the ceramics plant along with Ding. He said he was too poor to find a wife.

"Young people in my village told me that factories in coastal areas do not want workers older than 35," he said. "We are not well educated. We do not have skills. Without the government's help, what can we do?"

Long Mingjiang, a Huayuan official in charge of the labor scheme, said that middle-aged farmers who were longing to work in developed regions were not uncommon in the county, but their dreams were rarely fulfilled due to their age.

Ding and Huang were luckier than others who hurried to buy a train ticket during the Spring Festival travel rush. They received free tickets for special trains launched to bring poor migrant workers in Guangdong back to their hometowns.

"Back in the village, finally I can tell my neighbors, 'I make money now,'" Ding said.
File photo of Sanya [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

With its stunning white beaches and shimmering blue waters, Sanya on Hainan Island in China's southernmost province, has been named one of 52 Places to Go this year by the New York Times.

It's the first time a Chinese city has made the influential list.

Sanya, known as the Hawaii of China, ranked 20th on the newspaper's annual list for its rich resources and unique tourist experience.

Sanya is China's beach destination of choice, the paper said.

The tropical destination is in the midst of a resort boom, and its eye-catching properties are reason enough to visit, according to the New York Times, which has compiled the Places to Go list for 12 straight years.

Nearly all the leading global hotel groups have invested in Sanya. Already there's a Park Hyatt, a Shangri-La, a Mandarin Oriental, a Ritz-Carlton and a St. Regis. Late last year, Ian Schrager's luxe Edition  a 500-room resort with a long list of amenities  opened. Due to open in March, is luxury resort One & Only Sanya, set amid 28 acres of coconut palms. Also on the drawing board are The Atlantis and Rosewood.

Every year, the Times collects ideas from its readers and contributors, many of whom live overseas or roam the globe, to make its annual 52 Places to Go list that aims for geographic and thematic diversity.

"We look for a mix of destinations both well-known and off the beaten path. That means we often exclude the very obvious spots; even though cities like London, Berlin and Tokyo are always exciting, they didnt make this years list," the paper explained.

Sanya is also a popular destination for international meetings and events. In recent years, the city has made great strides in enhancing its product offering, welcoming the opening of big-brand hotels with stellar meeting spaces.

Last year, the Sanya Tourism Development Commission took pro-active steps to increase its destination appeal to attract international planners. It is working hard to leverage its strengths as a beach and maritime destination to attract corporate events of strategic importance.

Sanya attracted more than 16.5 million visitors last year, with overseas visitors making up 440,000, an increase of 25 percent compared to last year, according to the local government.

The city has more than 1,750 hotels of varying standards. The popular resort has capped the price for a standard hotel room at 6,000 yuan ($873) a night for the upcoming Spring Festival to combat price gouging.
A blind date in Shanghai tries to bring singles together through needlework, Nov 28, 2016. [Photo/IC]

As the Lunar New Year approaches, more Chinese men and women are bracing themselves for questions about their unmarried status from nagging parents.

That's because the expanding gap between the male and female population has led to an increasing number of singles.

The gender ratio on the Chinese mainland was 105 men to 100 women at the end of 2016, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics on Jan 20.

The proportion of singles in the total population has nearly doubled from 7.8 percent in 2004 to 14.9 percent in 2014.

If you are one of them, we suggest having a look at what Chinese men and women look for in their partners in terms of region.

More than half of Chinese men and women tend to choose a spouse from the same province, according to consultant firm Dataway.

Geographically, women from Southwest China's Sichuan province are the most sought-after marriage partners.

Sichuan women are considered beautiful because they have fair skin thanks to the area's warm and humid climate, said a youth.com report.

On the flip side, men from Guangdong province, Beijing and Shanghai municipalities are the most favorable male partners, according to dating website Jiayuan.

Beijing males are famous for their enthusiasm, sense of humor, and loyalty to friends, while their Shanghai counterparts are gentle, respectful to females and always put family first, the report stated.

As for men from Guangdong province, they are smart, adventurous and practical, and have a sound financial position. All these characteristics contribute to a long-lasting marriage, Zhang Jiarui, a relationship expert, said.
In the lead up to Spring Festival, Premier Li Keqiang has paid a visit to quake-hit areas and poverty-stricken villages in Zhaotong in Southwest Chinas Yunnan province. In Yuancheng Street, booths were selling items to celebrate the coming festival, including local food and beverages such as Chinese sausages and cane sugar. Premier Li bought several boxes of cane sugar after a short walk around the more than 20 stalls in an unexpected visit to the street on the morning of Jan 23.

In the afternoon, the Premier went to the relocation site for Ganjiazhai village which was smashed by a 6.5-magnitude earthquake three years ago. Premier Li toured one of the new houses, where survivor Gan Yongrong and his family have moved to live since Dec, 2015. Gans wife was killed in the disaster, leaving three boys to be cared for by his elderly mother. After a short talk, Premier Li gave the family special gifts, including the cane sugar he bought that morning. I purchased the cane sugar with my own money, and I hope your life can be as sweet as the sugar, the Premier said. Premier Li also gave New Years money to Gans sons in three red envelopes. The sum was unknown but symbolized good wishes with a supposedly auspicious number according to the Chinese tradition.

It has become tradition for the countrys leaders to visit people in less-developed areas before the most important festival each year. As well as the cane sugar, Premier Lis special purchases for this years Spring Festival included a bamboo basket that carried peanuts, dried sunflower seeds, roasted pistachio nuts, red dates and chocolates covered by a special Chinese character that means to exert a pull on good luck and fortune. In Chinese culture, each of these items represents good wishes for an enjoyable life.

The Premier then traveled one and a half hours drive on bumpy dirt roads to Yujiadachong village in the citys Zhaoyang district. At Yang Changlans home, Premier Li enquired about her income and daily life before presenting her his gifts: the bamboo basket, cane sugar and a red envelope. Yang took the gifts and extended her gratitude by repeating thanking the Premier.
Hong Kong customs officials announced on Tuesday that nine Singaporean armed vehicles seized two months ago will be returned after the completion of an investigation.

The Singaporean vehicles were impounded by customs on Nov 23"because there was a suspected breach of Hong Kong law", said Roy Tang, commissioner of customs and excise of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The armed vehicles were inside a cargo ship from Taiwan that was passing through Hong Kong. They were on their way back to Singapore following a military drill in Taiwan.
European Union sanctions on Russia are pointless, the front-runner in France's presidential election Francois Fillon said on Monday in Berlin, warning Russia and the United States under Donald Trump could forge links that exclude the European Union.

Speaking after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the conservative candidate said the EU was "despised by major powers" because of its divisions and must better defend its economic interests.

The relationship between France and Germany is essential to driving those changes but it must be a partnership of equals, Fillon said, flexing his muscles on the campaign trail to say the two countries must be open about their differences.

"We have differences? Let's accept them instead of denying them. We have divergences on the issue of refugees or on economic policy? Let's face them to better overcome them," he told a conference.

One of those differences is on Russia, where Germany has taken a hard line in favor of EU sanctions over Moscow's annexation of Crimea.

"I am convinced that the economic sanctions are totally ineffective," Fillon said earlier on Monday. "We must find another way to talk," he said, while adding that a gesture from Russia would be needed before sanctions could be lifted.

"I do not want (President) Trump to talk with Russia at our expense. It would be damaging for Europe if Trump went above our heads, which is not inconceivable," he said.

'On the same page'

Fillon, who last year was called an "upstanding person" by Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that in the longer term he would aim for a new economic partnership and a Europe-Russia security conference, once the conflict in Ukraine was resolved.

Fillon is the front-runner in opinion polls but his ratings have dropped slightly and surveys predict an increasingly tight race between him, far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen and independent centrist Emmanuel Macron.

With a pro-business focus on cutting public spending, Fillon is generally seen as an ally by fellow conservative Merkel on economic issues.

Fillon said he and Merkel were "on the same page" on the need not to let the US impose its laws that have cost European banks billions of euros in fines and other settlements over violations of US sanctions against other countries.

(China Daily 01/25/2017 page12)
Young Chinese musicians will have another opportunity to perform on the world stage, with the launch of NYO-China, an orchestral program for the country's musically talented teenagers. [Photo/VCG]

Music director and conductor Cai Jindong always reminds his students that it is a privilege to express one's feeling through instruments.

The Chinese-born musician, who moved to the United States in 1985, initially for his graduate studies in music, joined the Stanford faculty in 2004, and has since worked as the director of orchestra studies there as well as the artistic director of the Stanford Youth Orchestra.

Cai, who was born in Beijing, received his early training in China, where he learned to play the violin and the piano.

He maintains strong ties with his home country, keeps visiting and conducts several top orchestras in China.

This year, he returned to Beijing on a special mission, which is expected to bring change in the lives of many young musicians in China.

It all started in the summer of 2015 with the visit of a group of young American musicians to China.

The visit triggered the founding of NYO-China, an orchestra for musically talented Chinese teenagers.

NYO-China is sponsored by the US-China Youth Education Solutions Foundation, the brainchild of Chinese-American music educators, including Cai, its artistic director. Its name is inspired by Carnegie Hall's NYO-USA.

NYO-China held its first audition in December 2016, and the NYO-China program offers around 100 high school musicians the opportunity to participate in a two-week training program on a university campus in northeastern US, under a group of world-class teachers, including French conductor Ludovic Morlot, and Cai himself.

In July 2017, NYO-China will embark on a concert tour of the US and China, starting with a performance by pianist Wang Yuja at Carnegie Hall.

According to Cai, Chinese music students are intelligent. "They have very good technique, but most lack ensemble experience.

"And ensemble experience helps musicians discover how people work together," says Cai.
SHI YU/CHINA DAILY

People are always lamenting that the flavor of Spring Festival, which falls on Jan 28 this year, has waned and it is not what it used to be, as a result how to preserve this Chinese tradition has become a hot topic.

People used to get busy preparing for the Lunar New Year celebrations at the beginning of the last month of the lunar year. Every family would have a long list of necessities to purchase for the most important holiday of the year.

The dinner for the Lunar New Year's Eve was regarded as the most important dinner of the year for families, and it would be eagerly anticipated by kids. It not only meant a family reunion, but also the best possible in an era when people faced a shortage of daily necessities. Most Chinese enjoyed gathering around the dinner table to welcome the New Year.

The festive atmosphere would come to a climax when the bells rang at midnight. People would begin setting off firecrackers in the last month of the lunar calendar, but their quick-fire pops would reach a crescendo as the New Year arrived, as they scared away bad luck and carried people's wishes that everything would go well in the year ahead.

In the following days, people would visit and eat with friends and relatives and enjoy the festive atmosphere at Spring Festival fairs.

However, the situation has changed drastically nowadays. With the remarkable improvement in people's livelihoods since reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, most ordinary Chinese people, even in many rural areas, can easily purchase many good things, beautiful clothes, tasty foods and many kinds of gifts at anytime of the year, not just during Spring Festival.

And thanks to the rapid development of e-commerce and the well-developed delivery network nationwide people not only in urban areas but also in the countryside can purchase what they want, whenever they want in an easy and convenient way. No wonder the Spring Festival fairs are no longer as popular as they used to be.

And, although the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is still important for most Chinese families, many people in the cities choose to have dinner at a restaurant rather than cooking at home. Also, thanks to a greater awareness of how detrimental setting off fireworks is to the air quality, more and more people are choosing to forgo the activity that used to be such an explosive part of the celebrations.

The traditions of Spring Festival link different generations in a family and indeed the country together. I understand the feeling that many people, especially the elderly, have toward the changing character of Spring Festival.

But there is no holding back time and social customs are not fixed, inflexible rules, instead they evolve over time in tune with the changes in society. Instead of feeling sad about the losing Spring Festival traditions, I would rather look on the bright side of this social transition.

To some extent, people's waning enthusiasm for Spring Festival is due to the big improvements in people's livelihoods. They no longer have to save to buy the best food they can for the celebration, most can eat what they like, when they like. And people living in the countryside no longer have to rely on the fairs to select merchandise that would otherwise be unavailable, as they can now use the internet to easily purchase commodities that once only were sold in the urban areas. And the environment-friendly trend of not setting off fireworks is becoming more evident year by year.

In addition, changes to these old Spring Festival traditions don't mean that Chinese people no longer cherish the spirit: The most important part of Spring Festival is still the family, that's something that hasn't changed.

The author is a writer with China Daily.
Beninese performers stage a traditional Chinese lion dance at a grand Chinese New Year parade in Porto-Novo, Benin's political capital, Jan 22, 2017. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

The 2017 Happy Chinese New Year celebrations kicked off in Benin's political capital Porto-Novo on Sunday, featuring a grand parade and performances.

Martial arts masters at the Chinese culture center in Benin joined hands with over 10 local folk art troupes during a two-hour parade that covered major streets of the city, bringing the festive mood of happiness and harmony to people in the West African country.

The celebratory activities were lifted to a higher peak by an art troupe from Northwest China's Gansu province later that day, with over 30 artists staging traditional Chinese performances, including dance, solo and instrumental music shows.

Sunday's event was part of the Chinese Ministry of Culture's Happy Chinese New Year worldwide celebrations to welcome the Year of the Rooster, which is expected to be followed by temple fairs, New Year galas, cultural and trade exhibitions, firework shows, as well as seminars.
Artists of the acrobatic troupe "Cirque Du Chengdu" perform during a show in the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquira, Colombia, Jan 21, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

A skilled acrobatic troupe from Southwestern China performed over the weekend at a famed cathedral in Colombia which is located about 180 meters underground.

The troupe named "Cirque Du Chengdu" staged captivating shows to the audience at Salt Cathedral of Zipaquira, a leading Colombian tourist attraction built inside a salt mine about 50 km from the capital city of Bogota.

The group, with around 200 musicians and acrobats, had traveled in the US cities of Houston and Los Angeles before arriving at the South American country.

"In Colombia, we have been very welcomed and we hope the public likes our shows," troupe manager Xiong Xiaohong told Xinhua.
[Photo provided to China Daily]

As the most important festival in China, the Lunar New Year is not only a time to get together with families but also an occasion to show them love and care.

While the best gift is always your company, it is even better to express your affection with more visible things.

It can be a tricky task to pick a nice present. We all have had that moment when we receive a present only to put it in the storage room later. Other times, we can't wait to try it on.

To pick a gift, you will have to know the person well and understand their lifestyle. A new Apple Watch might appeal to people who like technology, but not necessarily to those who prefer classic jewelry.

Here are some gift ideas for your loved ones:

Homeware

For a few thousand yuan, an air purifier could significantly improve the air quality indoors so that you can enjoy cleaner air.

Electronic toothbrushes are also a smart pick as parents usually place a lot of importance on oral health, and an automatic toothbrush may really help.

Dishwashers and smart vacuum cleaners are good choices, too. Brands like Honeywell, Siemens and Dyson are among the hottest picks.

Digital products like Kindles and iPhones may also appeal to parents, who embrace the latest technology.

For parents who love tea, a set of nice porcelain ware may fit the bill.

Automatic foot tubs and massagers are among the top-rated gifts for parents as many prefer personal care at home rather than in expensive salons.

Jewelry and accessories

Jewelry may cost more, but nice pieces can last longer. Jade, gold and pearls all have auspicious meanings in Chinese culture. Jewelry with Year of Rooster themes may also appeal to the older generation.

Brands like Chow Tai Fook, Lao Feng Xiang and Mikimoto are among the most popular choices.

Wallets are also a common pick as they represent omens of wealth.

Garments

As a winter staple, cashmere garments are a great way to express your care for your parents. Erdos, an indigenous brand that specializes in cashmere, offers good value for money. Following a recent revamp, the brand also has more fashionable items that offer both style and warmth.

Aside from cashmere, silk scarves are also good since they are affordable and can highlight winter outfits.

If your parents have a fitness routine, consider sneakers, knee pads and sportswear.

Experience

While gifts are usually tangible, they can also be more creative. Cleaning services, flower delivery, concert tickets and fitness-club memberships may all be appreciated, as some parents value experiences more than physical gifts.
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland, Jan 18, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping attended the World Economic Forum in Davos with a delegation of business elites, scholars and officials last Tuesday. They made their own contributions while eagerly hearing speakers at an event on how to brighten the world's gloomy prospects.

Xi, the first top leader from China at the forum, delivered a highly anticipated keynote speech in which he highlighted the three key challenges that need to be addressed to revive the sluggish global economy, namely its lack of a driving force for growth, ineffective global economic governance, and imbalanced development.

He prescribed innovation, win-win cooperation and governance reform as the remedies.

Xi's dedication to innovation, reform and cooperation, is earnest and constant. As well as in his Davos speech, they have occupied important positions in many of his speeches on the international economy, such as at the APEC Summit in Beijing in late 2014 and the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in September last year.

Xi's speech in Davos was also of great symbolic significance, representing, as it did, not only the rise of China, but also the awakening of the developing countries as a whole in pursuit of a fairer global order. That they are the major contributors to global economic growth has not changed their underdog status in the current global order. The incompatibility between their contributions and their right to say distorts the world economic order, which also harms many developed countries' interests.

To some extent, Xi said something that many believe should have been said and acted earlier, but wasn't.

Under Xi's down-to-earth leadership, China has weathered many unpredictable challenges since he first took over the helm of state five years ago, and it has initiated many reforms, aimed not only at invigorating its economy, but also its governing system.

Xi's confidence that China can weather the storms has also ensured stability in China's society, economy and politics during a difficult transition period.

And over the past five years, since he first proposed the concept of the Chinese Dream, Xi has shown he has the ability and determination to make it come true for the whole nation.

He himself attributes the country's success to the bravery and perseverance of the Chinese people. China has learned how to swim by swimming in dangerous swirls and waves, as Xi said in his speech.

And although China's rise has been accompanied by criticism and suspicion, the Belt and Road Initiative, which Xi proposed in 2013 to foster connectivity and cooperation, has been transformed from words to deeds over the last three years, and it now has the support of more than 100 countries. No one can still doubt China's executive desire and efficiency to secure international cooperation.

China has also promoted the consensus on solving problems in international trade and investment, and taken the lead in laying a solid foundation by designing working mechanisms to translate the consensuses into joint actions at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou.

Xi's speech in Davos sent a rest-assured message to the world that China is a reliable partner and a responsible member of the international community.

Amid the uncertainty caused by a series of Black Swan events, the world has eagerly sought a trustworthy leadership to restore a sense of order.

Though no means is a panacea for all the world's problems, Xi's speech, right before the inauguration of the US President Donald Trump, showed he is the right person, in the right place, at the right time.

The author is a writer with China Daily.

liyang@chinadaily.com.cn
A Davos logo is seen before the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland January 15, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

President Xi Jinpings powerful message on economic globalization delivered in Davos elicited an exceptionally warm response worldwide. His call for the international community to work together to make economic globalization work for all has rekindled hope and confidence in the process which has been losing steam and even direction.

To be fair, economic globalization has done the world enormous good in the past few decades. Enabled by much freer flows of trade, capital and people, economic globalization has allowed resources, investment and technology to diffuse from the West to its vast developing periphery, delivering unprecedented prosperity to many countries.

However, economic globalization now stands at a crossroad, weighed down by its inherent weaknesses and mismanagement. Given its profit-seeking nature, capital, when unregulated, inevitably creates winners and losers wherever markets operate. When the going gets tough as in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the growing wealth gaps become especially stark.

Western politicians who are mired in party rivalries have been incapable of tackling the combustible combination of stagnant wages, dwindling benefits and rising sense of insecurity among their populations, particularly the middle and lower classes, which has bred anger and frustration. This has in turn has fueled the rise of populism and louder calls for protectionism.

The lack of effective economic governance at the global level has not helped. Western-centric global economic institutions have failed to reflect the new reality of the global economy, where 80 percent of growth is now generated by emerging markets and developing countries.

China has been a beneficiary of economic globalization, particularly since its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. Since then, thanks to the hard work of the Chinese people, China has become the worlds second largest economy and the biggest contributor to global growth. China sees economic globalization as a major trend of our times. Imperfect as it is, the alternative to economic globalization, a closed-door beggar-thy-neighbor approach would ultimately make everyone worse off, which has been proven repeatedly in history. So the question is not whether to accept or reject economic globalization, but instead how to fix its ills and make it work for all.

Chinas willingness to play a leading role in reenergizing economic globalization has thus been welcomed. Yet, China is aware that does it have a magic wand that will make the challenges disappear. The future of economic globalization all comes down to how well countries coordinate and cooperate.

Chinas vision is clear: make economic globalization more dynamic, inclusive and sustainable. Instead of fending for themselves, countries should join hands and build a community of common destiny for all.

To make economic globalization more dynamic, countries must work together to lift the global economy out of the doldrums. Macro coordination should be enhanced, structural reforms advanced, and new growth drivers fostered by harnessing the new round of industrial revolution and the digital economy. China has been doing its part by pursuing supply side structural reforms, and laying the foundations for sustained medium-high growth.

Protectionism in all forms must be countered. China will make greater efforts along with other countries to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and inject fresh impetus into the WTO trade talks and FTA arrangements, in order to promote early conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and China-Japan-ROK FTA negotiations and advance an FTA of the Asia-Pacific via the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation platform.

To make economic globalization more inclusive, inequality within and between countries needs to be addressed. The pie of development should be made bigger and divided better.

Economic globalization should take on a more caring and humane face with efforts to cushion its negative impact and distribute its benefits more equitably. China is willing to share its development dividends with others by taking forward the Belt and Road Initiative, which is aimed at facilitating connectivity and common development of the countries along the routes.

To make economic globalization more sustainable, global economic governance needs to be improved. China has called for increasing the representation of developing countries in the global economic governance institutions, sustaining the momentum of the 2010 International Monetary Fund quota reform, and enhancing fiscal, financial and trade coordination through platforms such as the G20.

A big unknown now lies in the policy preferences of US President Donald Trump. President Xis much applauded statement that no one will emerge as a winner in a trade war should be taken seriously.

The author is a Beijing-based researcher on international studies.
Workers at a property project in Chenzhou, Hunan province. Property developers are facing the pressure of a decline in net profits in the first half of 2014. [Photo/China Daily]

With many rural migrants in cities going back to their home villages for Spring Festival, the holiday is an opportunity for many empty-nested villages to come alive again.

Admittedly rural residents should be welcomed to work and eventually resettle in cities. But if not handled properly, it could backfire and hurt both the countryside and small cities aspiring to grow. Successful urbanization lies not just in rural residents buying homes in the cities and settling in them, but also in market-based planning.

Many third- and fourth-tier cities in central and western China have to offer preferential property purchasing policies to attract potential rural homebuyers. Some of these smaller cities have even incorporated schools in their residential developments as a means of tempting parents in rural areas to purchase urban properties for "educational purposes".

China's efforts to clear the housing glut especially in remote, small cities are praiseworthy, but simply enticing villagers to buy an apartment or two in cities and live there, has in some cases put a burden on urban management.

Ideally, cities where resources and capital gather on the basis of market-oriented demand should become the destinations for the majority of rural residents. The shrinking rural population, to some extent, points to the fact that most of the farm work no longer requires many farmers these days and people have to leave hometowns to find work. And the flip side of this is rural areas do not need a large number of farmers to prosper. Instead they should be transformed into large swathes of mechanized farmland.

Therefore, the trend of urbanization is inevitable.

However, to facilitate it, more sustainable investments are called for to maintain the production efficiency and the value of farmland. There is a long way to go to modernize rural China as a number of Chinese villages still lack functioning roads, let alone expressways.

Another side-effect of blindly luring rural homebuyers is the farm-like, overburdened cities. Believing that owning an urban property will automatically grant them the privileges of living in cities, some newcomers have found it difficult to afford or become accustomed to their new urban lifestyle. In some cases ducks are kept in the public swimming pools and vegetables planted on green belt land.

That, in fact, is a result of a disregard of market rules. For rural residents, living in cities will cost more than in the countryside; hence they have to earn more to afford it. Better pay basically hinges on improved skills and more value-added jobs. Neither option is easy. The former requires professional training which can take long, while the latter depends more on a city's economic well-being.

It will take time and suitable urban planning for a small city to grow into a major one. Attracting non-local rural laborers to live in and help build the cities is necessary. However, some local governments especially those in the third- and fourth-tier cities tend to put GDP growth and real estate prosperity before everything, which eventually comes at the cost of urban governance and newcomers' well-being. Inviting rural residents to relocate to the cities without offering them needed training, public services, and quality urban resources is not the right direction for moving forward.

The author is a researcher at Shanghai Institute of Finance and Laws.
US President Donald Trump displays one of five executive orders he signed related to the oil pipeline industry in the oval office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, January 24, 2017. [Photo/IC]

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump signed orders on Tuesday smoothing the path for the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines in a move to expand energy infrastructure and roll back key Obama administration environmental actions.

Oil producers in Canada and North Dakota are expected to benefit from a quicker route for crude oil to US Gulf Coast refiners. But going ahead with the pipelines would mark a bitter defeat for Native American tribes and climate activists, who successfully blocked the projects earlier and vowed to fight the decisions through legal action.

Trump campaigned on promises to increase domestic energy production. Before taking office he said the Dakota pipeline should be completed and that he would revive the C$8 billion ($6.1 billion) Keystone XL project, which was rejected in 2015 by then-President Barack Obama.

US crude imports have fallen dramatically in recent years as domestic production has boomed, but the world's largest oil consumer still relies heavily on imports.

Even though Canada is already the biggest source of US crude imports, boosting the flow from a close ally is seen in Washington as a way to improve US energy security.

TransCanada Corp said it would resubmit an application for a permit for Keystone XL after Trump signed an order saying the company could re-apply. The application will be reviewed by the US State Department, which has 60 days to reach a decision.

The orders look set to undo victories won by protesters in North Dakota against Energy Transfer Partners, which has nearly completed construction of the Dakota line. Despite the advanced phase of the project, the Obama administration in December denied the company a permit to tunnel under the Missouri River.

Protesters rallied for months against plans to route the $3.8 billion pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, saying it threatened water resources and sacred Native American sites.

At one point, nearly 10,000 people had flocked to federal land in North Dakota, including 4,000 veterans after protests turned violent at times. The main protest camp has dwindled to several hundred after the Standing Rock tribe asked activists to leave when the US Army Corps of Engineers denied the easement.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Standing Rock Sioux said they would fight the orders.

"Americans know this pipeline was unfairly rerouted towards our nation and without our consent. The existing pipeline route risks infringing on our treaty rights, contaminating our water and the water of 17 million Americans downstream," said Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock tribe.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer holds a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., US January 24, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON  The White House on Tuesday stuck firmly to President Donald Trump's claim that millions of people voted illegally in the November election, but provided no evidence to back up his assertion.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said the president "does believe" that he lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton only because of widespread illegal ballots.

"He believes what he believes, based on the information he was provided," Spicer said. But he would not detail what information he was referring to, citing only a 2008 study that called for updating voter rolls but did not conclude there has been pervasive election fraud.

Spicer, who spent several years at the Republican National Committee before joining the White House, would not say whether he shared the president's belief. He also sidestepped questions about whether the White House would investigate the voter fraud allegations, saying only, "Anything is possible."Trump first raised the prospect of illegal voting during the transition. Then, during a reception with lawmakers at the White House Monday evening, he again claimed that he'd lost the popular vote because 3 million to 5 million immigrants living in the US illegally had voted. That's according to a Democratic aide familiar with the exchange who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

Trump's assertion appears to be part of a continuing pattern for him and his new administration in which falsehoods overshadow his outreach efforts. Both Trump and Spicer made false comments over the weekend about the crowds who gathered for the inauguration.

Aides and associates of the president say that he is dogged by insecurity over his loss of the popular vote and believes Democrats and the media are questioning the legitimacy of his presidency. On Tuesday, the president tweeted a photograph from the inauguration taken from an angle that accentuated the crowd and said he planned to hang the image in the press area of the White House.

Trump has packed his first days in office with meetings with business leaders and lawmakers. He's also moved to unravel former President Barack Obama's legacy, including signing orders Tuesday to advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines. Both projects had been blocked by the Obama administration.

Besides taking steps to advance construction of the oil pipelines, subject to renegotiation of the agreements, Trump also signed a notice Tuesday requiring the materials for the pipelines be constructed in the United States, though it was unclear how he planned to enforce the measure.

"From now we are going to start making pipelines in the United States," he said.

Trump has sought to focus his first full week in office on jobs and the economy. Republicans, as well as some unions, have cited the pipeline projects as prime opportunities for job growth.
RIO DE JANEIRO - At least 150 inmates broke out of a prison on Tuesday in Bauru, a city in Brazil's southern state of Sao Paulo, following a riot that set fire to part of the prison.

According to the state's prison administration agency, police succeeded in recapturing about 100 of the escapees.

The riot is in no way related to a recent spate of violent incidents at prisons in other parts of the country, Military Police Col. Flavio Kitazume said at a press conference.

Since the start of the year, more than 130 inmates have been killed in prison clashes, which authorities have blamed on organized crime rings, but observers have at least partly blamed on overcrowding in these prisons.

The prison in Bauru is not as overcrowded as some other jails, according to public news agency Agencia Brasil, housing 1,427 inmates in a facility designed to hold 1,124.

Prison officials said inmates were rebelling against the "strict discipline" at the facility.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem January 15, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

JERUSALEM -- Israel's prime minister and defense minister agreed on Tuesday to approve the construction of 2,500 new housing units in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

"In an agreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, it was decided to approve 2,500 homes in Judea and Samaria (the Jewish biblical names for the West Bank)," said a statement by the defense ministry, referring to the Israeli name for the West Bank.

Most of the houses will be built in settlement blocs, the ministry said, adding that the new construction would be approved to "answer the housing needs and the continuation of the daily life."

"We are going back to normal life in Judea and Samaria," Lieberman said, referring to end of the term of Barack Obama, who criticized the settlement expansion, and the recent inauguration of the US President Donald Trump, who stated his support for the settlements.

The ministry did not elaborate on the locations of the new housing units but said that some of the construction was already agreed upon by previous governments, including hundreds of units in Beit El, a settlement south of Ramallah.

"We construct and we will continue to construct," Netanyahu said in a separate statement.

On Sunday, Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting that he has decided to lift restrictions on new construction for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem.

Netanyahu also said he supports an "Israeli sovereignty over Ma'aleh Adumim," a major West Bank settlement.

However, he asked the ministers to postpone the vote on a bill to annex the settlement, putting 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 a few hours after the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee approved 560 new homes in the urban settlement neighborhoods of Ramot, Ramat Shlomo, and Pisgat Ze'ev, in lands Israel annexed to Jerusalem in a move never recognized internationally.

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.
Attorney General Jeremy Wright speaks outside the Supreme Court in Parliament Square following a majority ruling against the government, on January 24, 2017 in London, England. Judges ruled by a majority of 8 to 3 that the government cannot trigger Article 50 without an act of Parliament. [Photo/VCG]

LONDON - Theresa May's government will put a bill before the British parliament within days to trigger the country's exit from the European Union, the House of Commons was told Tuesday.

The announcement to MPs (members of the Parliament) by Brexit Secretary David Davis came just hours after the highest court in Britain, the Supreme Court, ruled that the prime minister could not start the process of leaving the EU without first gaining approval from the British Parliament.

The 8-3 majority decision by the judges has been described as one of the most important constitutional rulings in British legal history.

In its decision, the judges also ruled that the government did not need to seek the approval for Brexit from the devolved parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon criticized the decision, raising fears the region could pave the way for a new Scottish independence referendum if the will of the people of Scotland, who voted remain, is ignored.

SNP MPs at Westminister have warned they will put forward 50 amendments to the forthcoming "article 50" bill when it is presented to the House of Commons.

The ruling announced by Supreme Court President Lord Neuberger was hailed as a victory for democracy by wealthy Investment fund manager Gina Miller, who brought the case to the courts.

Just three hours after the decision was announced Secretary Davis made a statement to a packed House of Commons.

Sitting alongside Theresa May, Davis announced that the government will introduce a short parliamentary bill within days to trigger article 50. It will be the most straightforward bill possible, he added.

He insisted that the government will respect the will of the British people to leave the EU following the countrywide referendum last June.
NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump spoke to each other via phone Tuesday night, during which they discussed global terrorism and the security situation in South and Central Asia, apart from swapping invitations.

In a series of tweets Wednesday morning, Modi said the telephonic conversation was warm and both have decided to work closely to further strengthen bilateral ties.

"Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening. President @realDonaldTrump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties," Modi wrote. "Have also invited President Trump to visit India," he added.

During the conversation, Trump "emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in readout of the call.

The two leaders also discussed the security situation in South and Central Asia during their conversation and resolved that India and the US will "stand shoulder to shoulder" to fight global terrorism, the White House said, adding that Trump has invited Modi to visit the US later this year.
SANTIAGO - Today's climate of uncertainty gives urgency to Latin America's project of integration, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said on Tuesday.

"Faced with the current great uncertainty, making progress towards regional integration is more necessary than ever," the ECLAC's Executive Secretary Alicia Barcena told a meeting of foreign ministers from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States held in Bavaro, a city of the Dominican Republic.

Barcena also warned of the challenges regional countries face given the bleak economic forecast.

According to the ECLAC, the regional economy shrank 1.1 percent in 2016 and will see a scant 1.3-percent expansion in 2017, while the global economy remains weak.

"Inequality has worsened ... migration to developed regions has increased, the digital revolution has intensified the concentration of businesses in the US and, in Asia, climate change has been revealed to be the market's biggest flaw," said Barcena.

In addition, the odds are stacked against Latin America's developing countries, noted Barcena, saying that there is "an international system with few regulations, where weak multilateral mechanisms benefit the strongest players."

Regional countries should promote new public-private sector partnerships to modernize and spur the productive sector through clean-energy ventures and other environmental initiatives, suggested the executive secretary.

Countries should also launch fiscal policies to curb tax evasion, diversify investment and drive industrialization, added Barcena.

Those issues will be debated at the upcoming Forum of Latin American and Caribbean Countries on Sustainable Development, which is to be held in Mexico in April and designed to follow up on the UN-set development goals towards 2030.
ASTANA - Representatives of Russian delegation who took part in peace talks on Syria on Tuesday presented a draft Constitution to the representatives of the armed opposition of Syria.

"We presented the draft of Constitution to the Syrian armed opposition, which was developed by Russian experts," said Alexander Lavrentyev, special representative of Russian President on Syria.

According to him, this was done to speed up the adoption of the Constitution of Syria and give it additional impetus.

Lavrentyev also called on the international community to help Syrian government and opposition to create conditions suitable for working on the project of new Syrian Constitution.

The Russian delegation advocates the creation of the Constitutional Committee consisting of the members of Syrian government and the opposition.

"We consider that it is correct to allow all Syrian opposition delegations to participate in the peace talks in Geneva. All opposition delegations should have competent representatives there," said Lavrentyev.

"The negotiations were quite difficult, but nonetheless quite effective. All the efforts exerted by Russian side to the peace talks have led to positive results," he told reporters.

International peace talks on Syria finished on Tuesday in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan. Delegations of the Syrian government and opposition, Russia, Turkey and Special Representative of the United Nations Staffan de Mistura took part in the talks.

US Ambassador to Kazakhstan George Krol participated in the international meeting as an observer.

Iran, Russia and Turkey have decided to establish a trilateral mechanism to reach a cease-fire in Syria.
A gap in the Mexico-US border fence is pictured from the municipality of Praxedis G. Guerrero, in the Juarez Valley, Mexico, January 16, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump will begin rolling out executive actions on immigration Wednesday, beginning with steps to build his proposed wall along the US-Mexico border, according to two administration officials. He's also expected to target so-called sanctuary cities and is reviewing proposals that would restrict the flow of refugees to the United States.

The president is expected to sign the first actions  including the measure to jumpstart construction of the wall  Wednesday during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security. Additional actions will be rolled out over the next few days, according to one official.

Trump is said to still be weighing the details of plans to restrict refugees coming to the US. The current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim majority countries, according to a representative of a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues. The person was briefed on the details of that proposed action by a government official and outlined the expected steps for The Associated Press.

The officials and the public policy organization's representative insisted on anonymity in order to outline the plans ahead of Trump's official announcements.

On his personal Twitter account Tuesday night, Trump tweeted: "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten US immigration policies, including beefing up border security and stemming the flow of refugees. He also called for halting entry to the US from Muslim countries, but later shifted the policy to a focus on what he called "extreme vetting" for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

While the specific of Trump's orders were unclear, both administration officials said Wednesday's actions would focus in part on the president's plans to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico. He's also expected to move forward with plans to curb funding of cities that don't arrest or detain immigrants living in the US illegally, which could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars.
HONOLULU - The population of Hawaiian monk seals  one of the world's most critically endangered marine mammals  has been increasing 3 percent a year for the past three years, federal wildlife officials said.

There are now about 1,400 of the seals in the wild, said Charles Littnan, lead scientist of the Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"This is phenomenal, hopeful news for the population," Littnan said Tuesday. "Yet we have a long way to go to recovery." The population has experienced increases in the past, including the mid-2000s, but Littnan characterized those as minor blips.

Hawaiian monk seals declined in numbers for years, most recently as juveniles struggled to compete for food with large fish and sharks in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a mostly uninhabited stretch of tiny atolls that includes Midway.

Sharks also attacked recently weaned seals at French Frigate Shoals, one of the chain's most pristine atolls.

At one point, only one in five juveniles in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands lived to adulthood.

Littnan said more juveniles are now surviving in part because of programs like those that disentangle seals from marine debris and take malnourished young seals to a Big Island seal hospital to nurse them back to health.

Littnan says about 30 percent of Hawaiian monk seals are alive today because of the programs.

He also attributed the rebound to broader environmental changes, such as El Nino, which is a periodic warming of parts of the Pacific that changes weather globally. El Nino patterns can help boost the food supply for the seals that eat squid, eels, crab and other marine life.

The population in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is estimated at about 1,100. The population in the main Hawaiian Islands, home to Honolulu and other cities, is 300. The population in the main islands was growing for many years but has leveled out and stabilized, Littnan said.

The monk seal population had been declining since the 1950s, when federal authorities counted 3,400 seals on Northwestern Hawaiian Island beaches. Federal officials want to return the population to that level.

Littnan cautioned that the population increase could shift radically. "This should be a bright spark, a glimmer of hope, that thing that fuels conservation. It shouldn't breed complacency," he said.
KAMPOT, Cambodia - A nearby sea, flanking mountains, a quartz-rich soil: It's the perfect spot on earth, devotees say, to yield a product they describe in that rapturous vocabulary usually reserved for fine wines: "aristocratic, virile, almost aphrodisiacal," with subtle notes of caramel, gingerbread and mild tobacco.

Celebrity chefs from Paris to Los Angeles swear by Kampot pepper, a southwestern Cambodian spice with a tragic past that is now reclaiming its global pre-eminence. It is also proving to be "black gold" for some of its once-impoverished farmers, thanks in part to Kampot pepper last year being awarded a Protected Geographical Indication by the European Union. This identifies unique products  like Stilton cheese, Champagne or Darjeeling tea  as originating in a very specific region.

So far Kampot pepper production is a mere dusting  just 70 tons last year. Vietnam, the world's top pepper producer, churned out some 145,000 tons of the spice. But more plantations are springing up while Kampot quality is rated as high as ever and hitherto slack markets, like the United States, are getting hooked on the spice. A New York chef has even concocted a Kampot pepper ice cream while Michelin three-starred French chef Olivier Roellinger rhapsodizes about its "olfactory richness" and broad spectrum of flavors.

The spice's EU designation "has permitted a renaissance of pepper in Kampot. ... This not only recognizes the singularity of this pepper but helps protect it from imitations," says Nathalie Chaboche, a Frenchwoman who with her Belgian husband, Guy Porre, owns La Plantation, where pepper plants entwine 20,000 posts on a rolling green landscape fronted by the Gulf of Thailand.

The couple, who started the enterprise four years ago after lucrative careers in the computer industry, aim to boost production from 6 tons last year to 50 tons in 2018.

They intend to grow without weakening quality control or endangering Kampot's status as a "premier cru," a French term for wine and other produce signifying impeccable quality  and hefty price.

Kampot red pepper was recently selling in Germany for as much as 378 euro per kilogram ($185 per pound), compared to an average import price of about $8 for one kilo in Europe for Vietnamese pepper. The farm-gate price for the three pepper varieties  red, white and black  averages around $10 per pound.

Believed to have originated in southern India, pepper became a widely traded item across Asia and Europe. Pepper farming in Cambodia was first recorded by a Chinese traveler in the 13th century, and energized centuries later by French colonialists. By the early 1900s, annual production peaked at 8,000 tons.

War disrupted the industry and after their 1975 victory, the Khmer Rouge turned farmers into slave laborers. Deeming the "king of spice" too decadent for their ultra-revolution, the regime left plantations to decay.

A Japanese aid worker, Hironobu Kurata, pioneered a revival in the mid-1990s, but the scars of the Khmer Rouge era took long to heal. As late as 2000, only 2 tons were grown annually, but now about 450 farms produce Kampot pepper. Most belong to the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association, which assists in price-setting and marketing while policing strict standards, including adherence to organic practices.

Cultivators use methods tested over 700 years, with some injecting new techniques.

Sorn Sothy, a former teacher and social worker, tries to reproduce the jungle environment native to the pepper plant on her small plantation. Palm leaves are used as shade; the soil is enriched with bat and cow manure mixed with bloodied animal bones. To ward off predatory insects, she sprays plants with a bitter extract from the leaves of neem trees.

The plantation run by Chaboche and Porre is Cambodia's first semi-automated pepper operation, but its more than 100 employees still do much of the work by hand. "Our growing is traditional. The processing is modern," says Porre.

Jean-Marie Brun, a French agricultural development expert, says the advent of large plantations could lower prices, and possibly quality. "The future will tell us if the large plantations are as successful as the smallholder farms," he says.

Ngoun Lay, the association's head and a fourth-generation pepper farmer, waxes bullish about the future despite potential problems and ongoing robust sales of fake Kampot pepper, mostly from Vietnam.

A recent report, he says, shows European demand for the brand at around 200 tons while production next year is expected at some 100. Farm gate prices have tripled over the past seven years, keeping once-poor farmers on the land rather than seeking menial work in neighboring Thailand.

Stephane Arrii, producer of the Marquis de Kampot label, worries that extensive deforestation has degraded the region's soil. He says huge plantations on the still-fertile lands of northeast Cambodia could one day offer competition.

But will they match Kampot's quality?"As a Frenchman, I can attest that tasting Kampot pepper is like making love," says Arrii. "Once you start, you can't stop."
Prime Minister Theresa May holds a regional cabinet meeting in Runcorn, Cheshire, on Monday, ahead of the Supreme Court's ruling regarding Brexit. [Photo/Agencies]

The Supreme Court in the United Kingdom has ruled that Prime Minister Theresa May's government must seek the approval of Parliament to trigger the process by which the UK leaves the European Union.

The 8 to 3 decision by the country's top judges upheld a High Court ruling in November that the government must not bypass MPs by using its executive power to launch so-called Brexit. The government had appealed the earlier judgment.

The ruling does not overturn last year's referendum vote to leave the EU and is unlikely to slow the process. But it gives an opportunity for Parliament to influence the government's negotiating stance.

Attorney General Jeremy Wright, the government's senior law officer, said: "The government is disappointed with this outcome." However, it will comply with the judgment.

Lawyers for the private individuals who brought the case described the decision as a victory for democracy and the rule of law.

They had said the government did not have the right to repeal EU laws that granted rights to British citizens, without Parliament's agreement.

May had already taken the sting out of the widely predicted Supreme Court ruling by promising to put a bill before Parliament to approve Article 50, which will formally trigger two years of negotiations with the UK's 27 EU partners.

The prime minister wants to launch the process by March. She is expected to try to stick to that timetable by presenting a short bill to MPs as early as this week.

Ministers had already drawn up a variety of legislative options in anticipation of losing the Supreme Court appeal. The advantage for the government in presenting a short bill is that it would be more difficult for MPs to amend.

The government had feared that progress could be delayed by having to extend the approval process to regional assemblies in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The Supreme Court ruled that need not happen. It is unlikely Parliament will block the triggering of Article 50 because MPs will not want to be perceived as contradicting the will of a majority of voters. However, some MPs intend to use the opportunity to temper a so-called hard Brexit that would include leaving the single market and customs union.

Sterling fell and London's FTSE 100 index rose on Tuesday after the Supreme Court ruling.
The "Golden Era" of China-UK relations has withstood the test of Brexit and the countries have demonstrated resilience while continuing the momentum of growth, according to Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the UK.

China's ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming makes a speech at the Icebreakers Annual Chinese New Year Dinner in London on Jan 23, 2017.

Liu, who was speaking at this year's Icebreakers Annual Chinese New Year Dinner, said, despite uncertainties in Britain such as the referendum vote to leave the European Union and the formation of a new government with a new prime minister, China and the United Kingdom managed to overcome uncertainties and steady their relationship during a time of transition.

He added that the meeting between President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Theresa May at the G20 summit in Hanzhou last year reaffirmed the shared commitment to the "Golden Era" of bilateral ties, which has kept the relationship on track.

This year also marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of ambassador-level diplomatic ties between China and the UK.

"We will cohost a number of celebrations and commemorative events," Liu said. "These celebrations will be used to reflect. In this way, we can strengthen relations going forward by learning from the experience of the past four and a half decades."

Speaking about President Xi's announcement at the World Economic Forum in Davos that China will host the Belt and Road Forum, Liu said he hopes "in the New Year China and the UK will seize the new opportunities arising from the Belt and Road Initiative and maintain high-level exchanges".

In addition, Liu would like to see solid steps taken in practical bilateral cooperation, covering many areas, including trade, investment, finance, energy, infrastructure, scientific innovation, education and culture.

Zhang Yonghao in London contributed to this story.
President Donald Trump signed directives on Wednesday to build a wall along the US-Mexican border and strip funding from cities that shield illegal immigrants as he charged ahead with sweeping and divisive plans to transform how the United States deals with immigration and national security.

The Republican president is expected to take additional steps in the coming days to limit legal immigration, including executive orders restricting refugees and blocking the issuing of visas to people from several Muslim-majority Middle Eastern and North African countries including Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen.

The intent of those proposals is to head off Islamist violence in the United States, although critics have said it soils America's reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants of all stripes.

Trump signed two executive orders, directing the construction of a wall along the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) US-Mexico border, moving to peel away federal grant money from "sanctuary" states and cities that harbor illegal immigrants and beefing up the force of immigration agents.

"We are in the middle of a crisis on our southern border: The unprecedented surge of illegal migrants from Central American is harming both Mexico and the United States," Trump said in remarks at the Department of Homeland of Security after signing the directives.

"And I believe the steps we will take starting right now will improve the safety in both of our countries," Trump said, adding: "A nation without borders is not a nation."

His plans prompted an immediate outcry from immigrant advocates and others who said Trump was jeopardizing the rights and freedoms of millions of people while treating Mexico as an enemy, not an ally.

Local officials in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Denver, Washington, San Francisco and Seattle offer some forms of protection to illegal immigrants. Billions of dollars in federal aid to those cities, often governed by Democrats, could be at risk.

"The American people are no longer going to have to be forced to subsidize this disregard for our laws," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.

In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Trump said construction on the wall would start within months, with planning starting immediately, and that Mexico would pay back to the United States "100 percent" of the costs. Mexican officials have said they will not pay for the wall.

During a White House briefing, Spicer referred to the wall as "a large physical barrier on the southern border."

"Building this barrier is more than just a campaign promise, it's a common-sense first step to really securing our porous border," Spicer added. "This will stem the flow of drugs, crime, illegal immigration into the United States."

Trump's actions could fundamentally change the American stance on immigration, as well as further testing relations with Mexico.

Spicer said Trump's goal was to get the wall project started as quickly as possible using existing government funds and then work with the Republican-led Congress on further appropriations.

"We'll be reimbursed at a later date from whatever transaction we make from Mexico," Trump told ABC on Wednesday. "I'm just telling you there will be a payment. It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form. What I'm doing is good for the United States. It's also going to be good for Mexico. We want to have a very stable, very solid Mexico."

'POLITICAL THEATER'

Trump made cracking down on illegal immigration a key element of his presidential campaign, with supporters at his rallies often chanting: "Build the wall."

"The border wall is about political theater at the expense of civil liberties," said Christian Ramirez, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition immigrant advocacy group.

"It is not national security policy. Border communities are among the safest in the nation and patrolling them with tens of thousands of heavily armed, poorly trained, unaccountable agents puts lives at risks. This will turn these communities into de facto military zones," Ramirez said.

The cost, nature and extent of the wall remain unclear. Trump last year put the cost at "probably $8 billion," although other estimates are higher, and he said the wall would span 1,000 miles (1,600 km) because of the terrain of the border.

Many Democrats have opposed the plan and could try to thwart any legislation to pay for the construction in the US Congress, although Republicans control both the Senate and House of Representatives.

Trump said his directive would also end the practice known by critics as "catch and release" in which authorities apprehend illegal immigrants on US territory but do not immediately detain or deport them.

The directives also include hiring 5,000 more US Customs and Border Protection agents used to apprehend people seeking to slip across the border and tripling the number of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents used to arrest and deport immigrants living in the United States illegally.

They also create more detention space for illegal immigrants along the southern border to make it easier and cheaper to detain and deport them.

Many Americans view their country with pride as "a nation of immigrants," and President John Kennedy wrote a book with that title more than half a century ago. Trump successfully tapped into resentment toward the roughly 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States and said during the campaign he would deport them all.

Trump, who in announcing his presidential bid in June 2015 accused Mexico of sending rapists and criminals into the United States, has also threatened to slap hefty taxes on companies that produce in Mexico for the US market and to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement among Mexico, Canada and the United States.

Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto are due to meet next week.

Asked about Trump's wall, Republican US Senator John McCain said a physical barrier was not enough to secure the border and called for the additional use of observation towers, drones and other technology.

"Walls can be easily breached," McCain, whose home state of Arizona borders Mexico, told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program.
Belarus will play an active role in promoting China's goodwill, cultural exchanges and joint cooperation on the European markets and as a key partner in the China-led Belt and Road Initiative, according to Belarusian Ambassador to China, Kiryl Rudy.

Rudy made these remarks on Tuesday at a news conference marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Belarus and China.

Belarus is a country located in central Europe. It has borders with Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine. It established diplomatic relations with China on Jan 20, 1992.

According to Rudy, Belarus plays an important role in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The country has good geographic advantages that are favorable for the logistics industry. The diplomat said it is because the country borders Russia, Ukraine and European Union countries, that Chinese products are transported to Europe through Belarus.

China-Belarus Industrial Park, or the "Great Stone", is a landmark project initiated in 2010 and expected to benefit from the Silk Road Economic Belt strategy.

The park, which is 25 kilometers away from the Belarusian capital, Minsk, has already attracted Chinese enterprises to invest in the zone, including those in the fields of electronics, information technology, machinery manufacturing, LED-production and other high-tech industries.

Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corp, China Merchants Group and other Chinese giants have already settled their new branches in the industrial park.

Regarding cultural exchanges, Rudy said his country has been building a consensus and common understanding of ideas and values between the two countries.

He was optimistic about people-to-people communication between the two countries. He expects that over 10,000 tourists will visit his country in 2017.

Belarus has also boosted its tourism industry by further loosening up its visa policy. Now, Chinese visitor groups with more than five people can receive entry visas upon arrival.

Rudy hopes university graduates in Belarus can work in China's companies, and Chinese students can also be employed in Belarus for mutual understanding.
I was talking with one of our China lawyers the other day about how we constantly get the same emails and phone calls from Western companies with China legal problems that either cannot be solved or cannot be solved at a fee that will make sense. We then discussed how so often these problems could have been avoided had these companies contacted us (or some other experienced China-focused law firm) early enough.

Very briefly, the below are six of the most common problems our China attorneys see, all of which can almost always cost-effectively be avoided by doing the right thing early on. If you are doing business in China or with China, this post is for you!

1. The Problem: The Chinese government will not allow the company that owes us money to send us the money. This has become a huge problem in the last year, as China consistently steps up its capital controls and tightens the spigot on money leaving China. The Solution: There are essentially four types of deals when it comes to money leaving China: One, those that will be allowed without government pre-approval and with little documentation. Two, those that will be allowed without government approval, but with specific documentation required. Three, those that require government pre-approval. Four, those that will never in a million years be allowed. To avoid problems, you should before you enter into any China deal know the category of your transaction and act accordingly. For more on how to get money out of China, check out the following:

2. The Problem: We paid our China manufacturer to a new bank account and it is now claiming it never received our payment. This is the China bank switch scam and there are many things you can and should do to avoid becoming yet another victim to this. The Solution: Read How to Avoid China Payment Scams for the complete list of exactly what you should do before paying your China supplier, or really any foreign company for anything.

3. The Problem: We are part-owners of a China company but we have never received any of the profits. There are two typical explanations for this situation. The first is you think you are a part owner of a Chinese company, but you arent. Believe it or not, this situation is incredibly common and we see two common variants of it. One is where the foreign company thinks it is part of China Joint Venture and it simply isnt, usually because no Joint Venture was ever actually formed. The other is one we are seeing constantly these days (mostly in the tech sector) where the foreigner (including foreign companies) thinks it has ownership in a Chinese company when the law clearly forbids that. For more on this situation, check out the China Stock Option Scam. The second situation is where the foreigner does have ownership in the Chinese Joint Venture, but the Joint Venture has been structured so that the foreign company will never see a penny. For more on this situation, check out China Joint Ventures: The Tide is Out. The Solution: Have an experienced China lawyer look at your ownership documents before you invest time or money into your venture. It is nonsensical to do otherwise, and using the same lawyer as your China partner is lunacy as well.

4. The Problem: Our branded products are showing up on Alibaba and various other online China shopping sites. This one is simple. When I get this call, I first ask if the company on the other side of the line has a registered trademark in China. If it does, I assure the caller that we will almost certainly be able to remove the offending products in a week or two. But if the company has no trademark registered in China (especially if it also has no trademark registered in any other country), I tell them that if nobody else has already registered their trademark in China, we can do so for them and then in about 15-18 months we can almost certainly get the offending products removed. The Solution: Submit your application for a China trademark now. See China Trademarks. Register Them In China Not Madrid.

5. The Problem: Our employees are threatening to sue us for ______ The reasons for the potential (or real) lawsuit are many and varied, but most of the time the problem could have been avoided with advance planning and a thorough HR audit. The Solution: Almost all employee problems can be prevented or at least mitigated with good employment contracts, good employee rules and regulations, and astute handling of employee problems. Make sure your HR documents are in good order and never fire anyone, or reduce anyones pay or change anyones hours without first getting an okay to do so by someone who truly understands China employment law. We have yet to conduct a China HR audit without finding a whole host of things that can be done to minimize future employer-employee problems. See Six Common Myths About China Employment Laws.

6. The Problem: My China manufacturer just sent us terrible product. I hardly need describe this problem as it is so well known. The Solution: There are three keys to getting good product from China: 1. A good supplier. 2. A good contract 3. A good QC program. For specifics, check out Protecting Your Product From China: The 101.
(Photo : Getty Images) Hugo Barra's primary reason for leaving Xiaomi is home sickness.



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Xiaomi Global Vice President Hugo Barra has announced his impending departure from Xiaomi after the Chinese New Year.



Barra made the announcement via Facebook. He noted that his primary reason for leaving Xiaomi is homesickness and his plan to return to Califonia. Barra is based in Beijing and frequently traveled to the companys essential markets including India and his home country of Brazil.



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What I've realized is that the last few years of living in such a singular environment have taken a huge toll on my life and started affecting my health. My friends, what I consider to be my home, and my life are back in Silicon Valley, which is also much closer to my family. Seeing how much I've left behind these past few years, it is clear to me that the time has come to return, Barra wrote.



Barra is a former Android executive from Google. He joined Xiaomi in 2013. Barra stated that Xiaomi Global was the first baby he helped to bring into the world. He added that the former Chinese start-up is now in a very good place with impressive growth that gave it a $45 billion valuation two years ago.



Being the vice president of Xiaomis global division, he helped Xiaomi to expand internationally. Compared to its competitors, Xiaomi made an early decision to expand beyond Chinas borders, targeting markets such as India, Myanmar, and Brazil. The company is a huge success in India, claiming that 18 percent of the companys total phone shipments in the third quarter were from the India.



Xiaomi co-founder Bin Lin said that the companys Senior Vice President Xiang Wang would overlook its global expansion efforts for 2017 onwards. He said he is confident that Xiang's leadership would take Xiaomi's global business to greater heights.



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(Photo : David Ramos/Getty Images) A logo sits illuminated outside the Nokia pavilion on the opening day of the World Mobile Congress at the Fira Gran Via Complex on Feb. 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain.

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Nokia, which is now under the guidance of HDM Global, is set to make a return to the smartphone and mobile devices market. The company is expected to launch at least seven phones this year, ranging from the entry-level segment up to the high-end market. Recently, a new model was spotted on the GFXBench website which reveals the name of the phone as well as some details of its specs.



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The phone is simply named Nokia Heart. Based on the benchmark listing, the phone packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset witch has an octa-core processor clocked at 1.4GHz and an Adreno graphics processing unit. The phone has 2GB of memory and 16GB of storage space, according to Giz China.



The Nokia Heart appears to have a 5.2-inch display with a 720p resolution. On the camera aspect, the phone packs a 12-megapixel rear facing main camera and a 7-megapixel front facing camera for selfie shots and video calls, according to Phone Arena. The phone also runs on the latest Android 7.0 Nougat mobile operating system.



Based on these benchmark result, the Nokia Heart has a big possibility of being released on the entry-level market. HMD Global, the company that have bought the rights to sell and manufacture Nokia-branded phones, have promised a big surprise which the company intends to unveil at the upcoming 2017 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.



Aside from the Nokia Heart, a handful of Nokia-branded phones have also graced some benchmarking websites lately. The Nokia 6 phone was released last week in China and was met with fair success.



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(Photo : Getty Images) A general view of the LG logo at the 2013 International CES at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 8, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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The LG G6 have made a lot of buzz lately in the tech community when the first image of the phone recently surfaced. South Korean tech company LG confirmed that the LG G6 will make its official debut at the Mobile World Congress on Feb. 26.



The photo was first shared by The Verge, and has since spread to several tech forums and news outlets. LG Display previous confirmed that the G6 will sport a large 5.7-inch display with a rather unusual aspect ratio of 2:1. LG added that the company focused on the phone's bezels and how to make it as minimal as possible during the design process.



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The LG G6's display is expected to have a screen-to-bezel ratio which is greater than 90 percent according to Giz China. The first photo of the G6 did not show the lower part of the display, and this opens up a lot of speculation regarding how thin the phone's bezel will be. As a side note, when the Xiaomi Mi Mix was released, it was immediately praised for how thin and almost non-existent its bezels are. The LG G6 is poised to challenge the display design of the Mi Mix.



Rumors claim that LG will abandon the modular design concept which the company adopted when it released the G5 in 2016. Instead, the company will focus on design and there are speculations claiming that the LG G6 will be made entirely out of metal and glass.



Not much is known about the hardware specs of the LG G6. However, given that the phone is considered as a flagship device, it will be a surprise if LG will not pack it with some of the best and high-end hardware that the company can get its hands on.



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TagsLG G6, LG, LG Smartphone, LG flagship smartphone, LG G6 specs, G6, G6 specs, G6 photo, LG G6 photo
(Photo : https://pixabay.com/en/internet-global-earth-communication-1181586/) China is one of the biggest internet markets in the world.

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China is one of the biggest internet markets in the world. The country continued its dominance as its user base grew rapidly in 2016. The rate of growth in the past year was the fastest seen in the previous three years period.



According to a report released by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), China's internet user base stood at 731 million in December, 2016. The rate of growth has been pegged at 6.2 percent. The country's user base is now equal to the entire population of Europe.



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Chinese authorities have taken a number of steps to increase the reach of internet in the country. It runs a program called 'internet plus' which is geared towards promoting online technology. The report showed that the number of people accessing internet from their mobiles have also increased. 95.1 percent of total internet users access internet using their mobiles, taking the figure to 695 million.



During a December industry conference, Baidu Inc's founder and chief executive Robin Li said, "If you are a startup, and you still pin your hope on mobile internet, there is little hope that you can become a unicorn in this era, because the market has entered a period of flat development."



However, the growth rate has slowed down from double digit growth rate experienced over five years ago. The country gained 43 million new online users in 2016, equaling the population of Ukraine. The internet penetration in China increased 3.1 percent to reach 53.2 percent.



Chinese government has also taken a number of steps to ensure the safety of its citizens in cyberworld. It recently directed Apple to remove objectionable content from its app store.



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(Photo : Getty Images) Manila has said that it would continue to assert its sovereign rights to disputed islands in the South China Sea.

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China and the Philippines face a new challenge to their diplomatic ties after Manila filed a mild protest before the Chinese Embassy last month over Beijing's reported military buildup on the islands and reefs in the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.



Analysts said on Tuesday that the improved relationship between the two countries is being tested by rising tensions over Beijing's reported militarization of islands in the disputed waters as well as US President Donald Trump's challenge to Beijing's influence in Asia.



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Beijing has reportedly deployed anti-missile systems and high-powered weaponry to its controlled islands and has built airstrips large enough to accommodate military jets and cargo planes.



The Philippines' conflict with China coupled with Trump's latest attacks on Beijing have put Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in a situation where he has to balance power without giving up his country's sovereignty claims to the disputed waters, analysts said.



$24 Billion Investment Package



Barely a month after assuming the presidency, Duterte has set aside an arbitration court ruling favoring Manila's claims to the disputed waterway in order to negotiate with Beijing on other aspects of their relations such as investment and economic cooperation.



In October, Duterte made his first official state visit to Beijing and brought home a $24 billion aid and investment package, including soft loans and financial assistance.



This week, a Philippine delegation flew to Beijing to hammer out the final details of a $15 billion investment package signed by Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the former's visit to the mainland in October last year.



Note Verbale



However, two months after the groundbreaking visit, Manila has filed a mild protest, a note verbale, to the Chinese embassy over Beijing's reported buildup of military facilities on the contested Spratly Islands.



"It kind of underlines the fact the Spratly Islands are a serious national interest issue for the Philippines and that despite the element of friendly relations after the Duterte visit to Beijing, it doesn't seem as simple as just the issue has been traded off for better Chinese relations and China can anticipate getting everything it wanted after all," said Douglas Guilfoyle, associate international law professor at Monash University in Australia.



Ernesto Abella, the Philippine presidential spokesman, said Manila would continue to uphold its sovereignty to the contested islands in the strategic waterway and find ways to improve its relations with Beijing at the same time.



Last year, an international tribunal ruled that China has no legal basis for its massive territorial claims in the South China Sea. The court stated that Beijing's activities had violated international law and the Philippines' rights to exploit its resources within its exclusive economic zone.



China rejected the ruling saying it was "illegal" and "null and void."



Duterte has since shelved the ruling saying he would discuss the verdict with Beijing once China accepts the court's decision.



To date, the Philippines exercises control over nine features consisting of islands, reefs, and shoals in the Spratly Islands while China has control over seven territories.



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TagsSino-Philippine relations, South China Sea, spratly islands, President Xi Jinping, economic cooperation, mild protest, President Rodrigo Duterte, Philippines, china
(Photo : Getty Images. ) In a surprise move, China has announced that it has deployed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) near the Russian border.

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China has deployed its decision to deploy an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) near its border with Russian, a move that almost coincided with US President Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony on Friday. China has not offered any official explanation for deploying a missile at such a sensitive region.



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The news about China's deployment of its 'Dongfeng-41 (DF-41) ballistic missile' became public after the state-owned Global Times published photos of the ICBM missile on its official website, citing several reports in Hong Kong and Taiwanese media.



The intercontinental ballistic missile has been deployed in Heilongjiang province, a north-eastern province located very near to Russian border.



The Global Times claim that China deployed the intercontinental ballistic missile as a "show of strength" to Trump, who has unleashed a barrage of criticisms against Beijing ahead of his swearing-in ceremony last week.



The popular English tabloid, which is known for its nationalistic stance, said that China's nuclear capability must be so strong that no country must dare to launch an attack against it under any circumstance.



However, it noted that "A military clash with the US is the last thing China wants."



The DF-41 is considered as a new entrant in China's ICBM's. The missile has a range of up to 15,000 km and has the ability to carry 10 MIRVed nuclear warheads. Most of China's ICBM's are classified state secret as the Chinese government has rarely demonstrated them public during a military parade.



There are speculations that China may soon deploy three more DF-41s in different parts of the country.



Meanwhile, Russia has played down China's missile deployment to its border, claiming it would not create any security fears for the country.



"Regardless of any activity linked to the development of China's armed forces, even if such information corresponds to the truth, we do not interpret military development in China as a threat to our country," Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a state news agency.



Although both China and Russia have major differences on several issues, in recent years the two communist countries have decided to mend their differences and form a formidable alliance in response to counter the growing western hegemony.



Last year, China and Russia carried out several joint military exercises to mark their growing military alliance.



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Via The New York Times: Malnutrition Wiping Out Children in Northern Nigeria, Aid Workers Say. Excerpt:

Starvation in northern Nigerias Borno State is so bad that a whole slice of the population  children under 5  appears to have died, aid agencies say.

As the Nigerian army has driven the terrorist group Boko Haram out of the area, about two million people have been displaced. Many are living in more than 100 refugee camps.

Doctors Without Borders, which has been in Borno State since 2014, reported in November that it was seeing hardly any children under age 5 at its clinics, hospitals and feeding centers.

There are almost always small children buzzing around the camps, Dr. Joanne Liu, the agencys president, and Dr. Natalie Roberts, an emergency operations manager, wrote then.

We saw only older brothers and sisters. No toddlers straddling their big sisters hips, no babies strapped to their mothers backs.

Measles, diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria  all of which are worsened when starvation weakens immune systems  were taking a huge toll on infants and toddlers, they said.

Because the worlds attention has been focused on refugees in Syria and North Africa, less light has been shone on Nigerias humanitarian crisis.

While more food has begun to arrive, Dr. Roberts said in a recent interview, the flow was seriously slowed for months by a struggle between the Nigerian government and aid agencies.

In December, President Muhammadu Buhari accused United Nations agencies of exaggerating his countrys crisis in their appeal to donors for $1 billion. Two weeks ago, Bornos governor, Kashim Shettima, said some aid groups were using his state as a cash cow and should leave.

Doctors Without Borders  widely known by its French name, Medecins Sans Frontieres, or M.S.F.  normally provides only medical care, Dr. Roberts said. But the organization had been forced to distribute millet and palm oil, along with packets of peanut paste, because so many of the people it served were starving.

Bureaucratic obstruction by the government kept agencies like the World Food Program out for months, she said. Its an embarrassment to a big state like Nigeria to admit it has malnutrition, Dr. Roberts added. They dont particularly enjoy outside interference.
(Photo : Getty Images) Scholars, who have been advising Trumpnon China policy are in favor of a more muscular military approach, primarily through strengthening US naval presence in the region.

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China has warned US President Donald Trump to "speak and act cautiously" after the White House said that it would take action to prevent China's attempts to "take over" the South China Sea.



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At a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying urged the Trump administration to tread carefully "to avoid harming the peace and stability of the South China Sea."



Hua was responding to comments made on Monday by Sean Spicer, the White House secretary, in which he vowed that the United States would protect its interests in the resource-rich South China Sea trade route.



About $4.5 trillion worth of trade passes through the South China Sea annually. Trump has in the past hinted that it fully intends to Challenge China's claim of ownership over the strategic waterway



Spicer's comments came less than two weeks after Rex Tillerson, Trump's nominee for secretary of state, set off a bitter war of words between the two countries by comparing China's artificial island building on reefs in the South China Sea to Russia's annexation of Crimea.



During his confirmation hearing, Tillerson said that the US government needs to send China a clear signal that it has to stop building artificial islands in the South China Sea, and that its access to such territories would be curtailed.



At his first question and answer presser on Monday, Spicer once again hinted that the Trump administration was ready to confront China over the South China Sea issue.



"It's a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not of China proper, then yeah, we're going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country," Spicer told the media.



Spicer refused to disclose how the Trump administration intends to enforce such steps.



Scholars, who have been advising Trump on his China policy are in favor of a more muscular military approach, primarily through strengthening US naval presence in the region.



China is claiming sovereignty over most of the South China Sea region. In recent years, Beijing has stepped up a campaign to cement its control over the area which is also jointly contested by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Vietnam.



Last month, a US thinktank reported that China had deployed weapons, including anti-aircraft missile systems, to its artificial islands in the contested maritime territory.



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(Photo : PLA) Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with senior military officers stationed in Zhangjiakou City in Hebei Province.

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Over the past three days, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for building a stronger People's Liberation Army (PLA), and ensuring the PLA's fighting power in the event of a war by creating a new commission to integrate the work of military and civilian experts.



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On Jan. 24, Xi urged a stronger PLA, which is the armed forces of the Communist Party of China, by further enhancing political awareness within the PLA; pushing forward reform and governing the PLA according to law.



Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, emphasized the importance of improving combat readiness through troop training.



He made the comments while visiting the 65th Group Army stationed in northern China's Hebei Province.



Two days earlier, Xi was made head of the newly formed Central Commission for Integrated Military and Civilian Development, a new organization experts say is vital for China's national defense.



The commission will decide and coordinate affairs on civil-military integration, which will be under the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.



Civil-military integration is important in building China's national defense in peacetime, said Li Daguang, a professor at the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army.



"Building national defense depends heavily on the masses. Public support is of great importance to our military."



Some local governments have promoted civil-military integration, but the new central commission will provide uniform orders, he said.



Xi has stressed the importance of the integration, describing the coordination between economic development and national defense as mutually beneficial.



The integration, which is key to realizing the goal of a strong PLA, accelerated in March 2014 when it was upgraded to a national strategy.



In May 2014, the first "military and civilian integration forum" issued a list of 200 military items, attracting more than 100 private companies.



Li said civil-military integration can be improved if the government involves Chinese companies in high-tech industries.



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You've heard of Paul Bunyan, the brawny lumberjack of legends who could contrive a way around any problem. Church history has a real-life Paul Bunyan. John Veniaminov was six feet three and built like an ox. He seemed not to know the meaning of weariness and was a practical genius for blacksmithing, brickmaking, carpentering, clockmaking, furniture building, and construction. These skills served the church well.

In 1823, when Veniaminov was still a priest in Irkutsk, where he had married Catherine Sharina and taken his training at the Russian Orthodox Seminary, his superior, Bishop Michael Burdakov asked him to go to Alaska. Thirty years earlier, Russians had begun converting Indians, but their mission collapsed when the monks died or retired. Someone new was needed to take over the work. "Nyet," answered Veniaminov. He had a family to care for. Burdakov asked again. Veniaminov finally relented.

There was no trans-Siberian railroad or steam ship to speed the young family to their destination. It took them fourteen months to reach windswept Unalaska Island. There they found that they had neither a parsonage nor a church. Veniaminov put aside all other plans and built a house, chapel and meteorological station before evangelizing the Aleuts.

The Aleuts knew little about Christianity beyond baptism. But Veniaminov was delighted with their attitude: "The most inexhaustible preacher might well be worn out before their attention and their eager desire to hear the word of God began to fail." He learned the Unanagan language, invented an alphabet, opened a school, and translated the gospel of Matthew. Somehow he found time to write a book about Aleut culture, Notes on the Island of Unalaska and a catechism called A Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Peering across the sea, the giant missionary saw spiritual and human needs everywhere and set out to meet them. During the four warm months of each year, he scrunched himself into a kayak for fourteen hours or more a day, paddling to the islands of his parish. After ten years, his feet were crippled. He moved to Sitka, learned the Tlingit language, opened an orphanage, and built a cathedral with icons so beautiful that visitors were amazed.

In 1839, Veniaminov approached the Holy Synod in St. Petersburg, leaving Catherine with family in Irkutsk. When he had explained the needs of Alaska to the church leaders, they appointed him bishop of the Aleutians, Kamchatka, and the Kurile Islands.

Veniaminov's gladness was crushed by news that Catherine had died. He returned to Sitka and set up a seminary to train priests. Like Paul Bunyan, no task seemed too great to him. He traveled across his whole diocese, even to the farthest north of Siberia. The church made him an archbishop, and added the provinces of Yakutsk and Amur to his care. At seventy Veniaminov retired. Or so he thought.

The Metropolitan of Moscow, highest figure in the Russian Orthodox church, died. Everyone clamored for Veniaminov to take his place. During his eleven years in Moscow, Veniaminov made missions a priority. Every Christian has a missionary obligation, he taught. With his support, the Orthodox Missionary Society was created . One of its first missionaries was Nikolai, who did impressive work in Japan. Veniaminov also set up a committee to offer good pay and pensions for priests who volunteered for at least ten years of service in Siberia. Many fine priests signed on.

In 1977 Veniaminov was canonized as the "Apostle to America." Two years later Alaska celebrated the bicentennial of his birth. A hymn in his honor has these words, "Rejoice! O holy Father Innocent, Equal to the Apostles and the Enlightener of North America."

Bibliography
World Relief and other major ministries argue that compassion and security are not opposing forces.

|

Image: World Relief

Despite previous plans to admit the highest number of refugees in decades, the United States will shut its doors to thousands displaced by conflict in the Middle Eastat least temporarilyunder an executive order President Donald Trump signed Friday.

Christian aid groups responsible for resettlement mourned and criticized the presidents decision to stop accepting any refugees into the United States for the next four months. The order puts an indefinite ban on refugees coming from Syria and a month-long pause on anyone entering America from a handful of Muslim-majority nations.

Our concern is that this action really does further traumatize a group of people that have already borne so much tragedy, said Scott Arbeiter, president of World Relief, one of nine agencies that partner with the federal government to resettle refugees. The human toll is really crushing.

World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), took on about 11,000 cases last yeara record high since 1999and had almost 1,200 churches volunteer to help.

The United States had been on track to meet the Obama administrations goal of resettling 110,000 refugees in fiscal year 2017the highest goal since 1995, the Pew Research Center reported. Trumps administration is expected to halve that goal to 50,000.

The executive order, part of Trumps campaign promise to crackdown on immigration, targets seven Muslim-majority countries: Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Sudan, Libya, and Yemen.

Syria, where ISIS violence has displaced more than a million residents, was the No. 2 country of origin among the nearly 85,000 refugees the United States admitted last year. ...
I have always struggled to understand God and faith and how they relate to everyday life. As a child, I remember sitting confused on a shrunken brown wooden chair, staring intently at the polished parquet floor my feet couldn't quite reach. My young, smiling Sunday school teacher never let on that she was fed up with my regular interruptions to her well-intentioned storytelling. Who made God, miss? Is God bigger than the universe, miss? Why did God tell Abraham to kill his son? Will he tell me to hit my sister? If I do hit my sister, then isnt God responsible, because he is in charge of the universe? Why?

My Sunday school teacher always had an answer that, I see in hindsight, wasn't really an answer. "If we could understand God, then we would be God." Or, "God works in mysterious ways." Or, as a last resort, "Dont be awkwardget on with your coloring.

Years later, as a pastor, I sat in a hospital ward and once again ...

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home World Archbishop of Canterbury tries to stop deportation of Iraqi Christian who escaped from ISIS

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has made an appeal to stop the deportation of an Iraqi Christian who fled his home in Mosul when ISIS seized the city in August 2014.

Welby wrote a letter to the Home Office in support of the refugee who is seeking a new appeal after his bid for asylum claim was denied. The Iraqi has already had two appeals turned down and is now seeking permission for a third appeal. Earlier this month, he was told to report to the Home Office center every fortnight or risk being detained, The Guardian reported.

In his letter dated Sept. 28, the archbishop said that he had "been impressed with his positive attitude, integrity, and the quality of his work."

"[The man] is clearly someone who wishes to contribute to society ... He is someone who would be a great asset to the United Kingdom. I strongly endorse [his] desire to seek asylum in the UK," he added.

Mark Poulson, Welby's interfaith adviser, wrote a second letter to endorse the man's appeal for asylum.

"We have been extremely impressed with his ... willingness to spend time helping others whilst his own situation is so distressing," Poulson wrote.

The asylum seeker, a Syriac Orthodox Christian who was a deacon of his church in Mosul, had met Welby while he was volunteering at the Lambeth Palace. He said that the archbishop had offered to write the letter.

He and his family were among the 100,000 Christians and Yazidis who fled to the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan after ISIS threatened to kill any non-Sunni who remained in Mosul or the surrounding Nineveh Plains.

The man, who came to Britain on a student visa, said that Christians could not return to Mosul despite the military victories against ISIS because the sympathy for the terror group and its intolerant ideology remained.

Judge Clive Lane, who dismissed the second appeal in October, upheld the previous ruling that the Iraqi would be able to join his family, "who appear to live in safety" in Irbil. Susan Liew, the asylum seeker's solicitor, argued that it was "erroneous, perverse and irrational" to believe that he could be relocated to Kurdistan, as his family is still forced to live in a church basement, where they had stayed for a year.

"I feel safe in Britain. I can't go back to Kurdistan, it's a different government, it's not our country. They don't deal with us like people from the same place. It's a different language," the man told The Guardian.
home US Donald Trump to sign executive orders to curb illegal immigration

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to begin signing executive orders aimed at curbing illegal immigration on Wednesday, beginning with a directive to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and another to boost personnel needed to crack down on illegal immigrants, congressional aides with knowledge of the plan told Reuters.

In the coming days, Trump is expected to limit the number of refugees admitted to the United States to 50,000 a year, down from 100,000, and to impose a temporary ban on most refugees.

Trump, who took office last Friday, will begin signing the orders at the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday. On Twitter on Tuesday night, Trump reiterated his promise to build the border wall, which was a cornerstone of his presidential campaign and which he has promised to make Mexico pay for.

The border enforcement order includes plans to hire 5,000 more U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents used to apprehend migrants at the border and to triple the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents used to arrest and deport migrants living in the United States illegally.

The Customs and Border Protection agency has already struggled to meet its hiring mandate, with a little more than 19,000 agents on the payroll, out of a congressionally mandated 21,000.

Immigration enforcement away from the border is also expected to be strengthened by seeking an end to "sanctuary cities" where local law enforcement officials refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Trump will call for an end to this practice and may instruct the federal government to stop providing certain funds to cities that refuse to comply.

Later in the week, Trump is expected to suspend the issuing of visas to people from countries where it is deemed that adequate screening cannot occur. Immigration experts expect those countries to include Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen.

A review will be conducted by the Trump administration to determine what screening must occur before travel for citizens from such countries can resume.
home World Iraqi PM announces liberation of Eastern Mosul from ISIS

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared that eastern Mosul has been "fully liberated" from the Islamic State, 100 days after the start of the operation to liberate the city from the terror group.

In a news conference on Tuesday, Al-Abadi commended the "unmatched heroism of all security forces factions" as well as the public support for the operation.

The announcement came a day after the defense ministry retracted an earlier claim that it had liberated the eastern part of Mosul from ISIS, Al Jazeera reported.

On Monday, the army stated on its website that it had completely liberated the left bank of the city. However, in a later statement on the same day, the defense ministry said that the ninth and 16th army brigades were still fighting against the terror group in the Al-Rashidiya district.

When the Prime Minister was asked how long it would take to liberate the western part of the city, he replied: "I can't tell now, but we are capable of doing so and we will do so."

Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, was captured by ISIS in the summer of 2014 when the terror group took over large swaths of northern and western Iraq.

Lise Grande, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, voiced out her concerns for the civilians in the western part of Mosul in a statement signed by 20 international and local aid groups.

She pointed out that the cost of food and basic goods was soaring, the electricity and water supply were intermittent, and some residents were burning furniture in order to keep warm.

"We hope that everything is done to protect the hundreds of thousands of people who are across the river in the west. We know that they are at extreme risk and we fear for their lives," she said in a statement, as reported by The Associated Press.

In Geneva, a spokeswoman for the U.N. human rights office has stated that it had received "reasonable corroboration" for a report that 19 civilians died in an airstrike in the al-Jadida neighborhood of western Mosul last week.

"Attributing responsibility for airstrikes is very difficult," Ravina Shamdasani said, adding that "it is clear that civilians are being killed in airstrikes."

The U.N. human rights office also said that ISIS militants have taken over "many hospitals" in western Mosul and are using them as military bases. It also noted that the group is diverting food and water to its fighters.
home World Nigerian Christians decry demolition of churches in Jigawa state

Nigerian Christians were alarmed after the authorities demolished two church buildings in Dutse, the capital of the northern state of Jigawa.

On Jan. 11, bulldozers, escorted by police officers, tore down the buildings of the Redeem Christian Church of God and the Lord Chosen Church, World Watch Monitor reported.

Rev. Yakubu Musa, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for Jigawa, said that the authorities arrived at the Redeem Church at around 10 a.m. The police blocked the entrance to prevent church members from entering the building, and those who tried to take pictures were chased away. The authorities started demolishing the second church at around 12 noon.

"It was a terrible experience, with so many Christians who witnessed the demolition crying. I felt so bitter because we were in a situation where you have been cheated and you cannot talk," said Musa.

Alhaji Garba Isa, the Executive Secretary of Urban Development Board, said that the buildings were torn down because the churches were built without permits. He claimed that notices have been sent to the churches three times to discontinue the development of the buildings. However, Musa stated that neither the pastors of the church nor the leadership of CAN received a notice of demolition.

"They just came in unexpectedly and they demolished everything. Nobody was allowed to remove any valuables in the church buildings and other nearby properties," he said.

He added that both churches have applied for the necessary documents but the government refused to grant them.

Musa further noted that none of the 36 churches in Dutse have been given building permission because the government has not responded to the applications.

"We feel we are equally citizens of this country and we have the rights to be allowed to practise our religion. But this demolition was done out of injustice and discrimination," he remarked.

Six more churches in Jigawa are slated for demolition. The authorities have not indicated any plans for compensation or other alternatives. The congregation of the two demolished churches will be holding services and other weekly programs out in the open.

Jigawa is one of the 12 states that adopted Sharia in the 2000s. Nigeria is currently ranked on the Open Doors World Watch List as the 12th most difficult place to live in as a Christian.
home US Poll reveals both pro-life and pro-choice Americans favor abortion restrictions

A new Marist poll has indicated that a majority of Americans, including those who identify as pro-choice, oppose the use of tax dollars to fund abortions and support substantial restrictions on the procedure.

The poll, which was sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, revealed that 83 percent of Americans oppose the use of tax dollars to support abortion overseas. Over six out of 10 Americans are against the use of public funds to support abortion in the U.S. This includes nine in 10 supporters of Donald Trump and even four in 10 supporters of Hillary Clinton.

The survey suggested that there is a bi-partisan consensus on limiting abortions to the first trimester, Life Site News reported. As many as 55 percent of Clinton supporters and 91 percent of Trump supporters said that they are in favor of such limits.

Overall, almost three-quarters of Americans want abortions restricted to the first trimester, at most. Among those who support the restriction, 74 percent want the Supreme Court to rule in favor of those limits. This amounts to about 55 percent of Americans who support such action by the Court.

Almost six in 10 Americans have said that limiting abortions to the first trimester is an immediate priority or an important one. This includes 78 percent of Republicans and 47 percent of Democrats. Among those who identify as pro-choice, 44 percent have said that restricting abortion is an immediate priority or is important.

"There is a consensus in America in favor of significant abortion restrictions, and this common ground exists across party lines, and even among significant numbers of those who are pro-choice," said Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson.

"This poll shows that large percentages of Americans, on both sides of the aisle, are united in their opposition to the status quo as it relates to abortion on demand. This is heartening and can help start a new national conversation on abortion," he continued.

Regardless of the respondents' views on whether abortion should remain legal, 59 percent, including eight in 10 Trump supporters and almost four in 10 Clinton supporters, believe that abortion is morally wrong.

The poll results were broken down by multiple categories, including religious affiliation. Among practicing Catholics, meaning those who attend Mass at least once a month, 62 percent believe that abortion does more harm than good for the woman. Forty percent of non-practicing Catholics said that abortion improves a woman's life while 42 percent said it does more harm than good.

The survey was conducted by the Marist Poll from Dec. 12 to 19 last year, with 2,729 adult respondents.
home US Senate confirms Mike Pompeo as CIA chief despite concerns over his views on torture

Republican Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas has been confirmed by the Senate as CIA director, despite concerns from some over his conflicting statements whether he would expand surveillance on Americans and bring back interrogation techniques that were banned under the administration of Barack Obama.

Senators voted 66-32 to confirm Pompeo, who will be vacating his congressional seat, to serve as the head of the agency, USA Today reported.

Senate Republicans had hoped to approve Pompeo's nomination on Monday, but Democrats stalled the move until they could debate.

Democratic Oregon senator Ron Wyden said that Pompeo was the "wrong man for the job," and added that his answers to some of the questions had been "vague" and "contradictory."

He also claimed that Pompeo had held extreme positions including enthusiasm for new surveillance programs directed at Americans, as well as bringing back controversial torture interrogation techniques.

In 2009, Obama issued an executive order banning waterboarding and other extreme interrogation techniques.

Pompeo stated earlier in his confirmation hearing that he would "absolutely not" bring back those techniques. But in response to questions to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he said that he is willing to review the waterboarding ban if it was shown that it impedes on the collection of "vital intelligence."

Supporters of Pompeo's confirmation have said that they believe Pompeo would uphold the ban on torture and mass collection of Americans' phone records by Intelligence agencies.

Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), recently wrote an op-ed piece for The Christian Post, warning Christians against supporting the use of torture.

He noted that around 100,000 people have signed a petition asking Pompeo to reaffirm the CIA's position that torture will never be used against prisoners.

"Our military leaders and intelligence officials are clear that torture doesn't work as a way of generating intelligence they can trust and use. And it puts our own troops at risk," he wrote.

"Finally, Christians in particular should understand best that God never asks us to respond to evil and darkness with more of the same. Jesus' example and teachings that compelled so many Christians to speak out against torture do not come from a place of weakness, but from the greatest strength," he added.

Stief further noted that Pompeo, Jeff Sessions (Attorney General), Gen. James Mattis (Defense), Gen. John Kelly (Homeland Security), and Rex Tillerson (State Department) all affirmed their absolute opposition to torture during the confirmation hearings.
home World Somali Christians keep faith alive by going underground

Somalia is one of several nations where persecution against Christians is severe, but believers have managed to keep the faith alive by forming small underground groups.

Open Doors has ranked Somalia as the second most difficult place to live in as a Christian in its World Watch List. The country has struggled with civil war and political unrest since the 1990s, and terror groups like al-Shabaab have gained control in much of the rural territories.

Yonas Dembele, International Law analyst for the World Watch Research Unit at Open Doors International, revealed that Somali Christians are in extreme danger from Islamic jihadists, and the mere suspicion of conversion to Christianity could warrant a quick public execution.

"Converts to Christianity in the country have been facing massive problems and their killing is very common. Unlike in North Korea, on their discovery they would not last a day in a trial or ever get the chance to be sentenced to a labor camp," Dembele told The Christian Post.

"Instead, the mere suspicion leads to a rushed public beheading. Christians cannot raise their children according to their faith and would face severe problems if they attempted to celebrate Christian holidays. In a nutshell, to survive in the country Christians must pretend not to be Christians," he continued.

Dembele said that there is little protection for Christians in the Islamic-majority nation. He explained that Somalia's draft Constitution has a provision for religious freedom, but it treats Islam as the state religion, and it strives to make its laws and policies comply with a restrictive form of Sharia or Islamic law.

He noted that in certain situations, the government would try to appease jihadists by imposing restrictions on Christians. In 2015, Sheikh Mohamed Kheyrow, director of Somalia's ministry of religion, warned against celebrating Christmas, saying that the holiday is only for Christians, and it has nothing to do with Islam.

He stated that the Christian faith is being kept alive by "brave converts" who managed to survive by going underground. He said that converts who were exposed had to flee the country.

According to Open Doors, those who gather in small underground groups have to constantly change the locations of their meetings to avoid being discovered by al-Shabaab militants or community leaders.

Dembele said that members of the international community such as the U.N., the African Union, and the administration of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, has attempted to bring the chaos in Somalia under control, but the suffering remains great.

He called on Christians to support the persecuted Somali believers by praying, to support charities like Open Doors USA, and to raise the issue of religious freedom with their government representatives.
home US Trump reinstates policy that bans funding for promotion of abortions overseas

President Donald Trump has reinstated a policy on Monday that blocks federal funding to nongovernmental organizations that promote abortions overseas.

The order, commonly known as the Mexico City Policy, was first introduced by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 at a United Nations conference in Mexico City. It required nongovernmental organizations receiving U.S. aid to sign agreements that they would not perform abortions.

The policy was blocked when former President Bill Clinton took office in 1993, but it was reinstated under the administration of George W. Bush. Former President Barack Obama rescinded it again on January 23, 2009, three days after his inauguration.

Prior to Obama's repeal, only International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPFF) and Marie Stopes International refused to abide by the policy and were consequently blocked from receiving funds, according to the Baptist Press.

Trump's move was decried by pro-abortion advocates while pro-lifers applauded it.

"This decision will save lives, will encourage the hundreds of thousands of men and women who will march on Washington this week [at the Jan. 27 March for Life] for the rights of unborn children, along with millions more around the country who believe that foreign aid should promote life, not end it," said Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).

"This is a welcome step in the right direction, and my hope is that the president will continue to defend human dignity and hold the predatory abortion industry accountable," he added.

Rep. Diane Black commended Trump for "protecting the conscience rights of American taxpayers and prioritizing federal funding for organizations that protect life over those that take it away."

Critics of the order have argued that it would impede women's ability in poor countries to obtain reproductive health services by blocking funds to health clinics that provide a variety of services, including abortion counseling, the New York Times reported.

The IPFF said that its partners in Nepal, Kenya and Ethiopia lost its American funding when the policy was reinstated under the Bush administration. Kelly Castagnaro, a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman, said that the nongovernmental groups in those countries were compelled to close clinics and offer fewer contraceptives because they refused to accept the terms of the policy.
British Knight Falls On His Sword In Vatican Condoms Row

The British-born head of the Knights of Malta, a chivalric and charitable order, has resigned in the latest twist in the Vatican condoms row.

Grand Master Matthew Festing, 67, was asked by Pope Francis to stand down after he refused to cooperate with a Vatican commission set up to investigate the sacking of one of his knights, Grand Chancellor Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager.

"The Pope asked him to resign and he agreed," a spokesperson for the order told Reuters.

Boeselager was fired by Festing because he had supported the use of condoms in a project for the poor. Festing then opposed the Vatican's enquiry into the dismissal of Boeselager because he said it was interference in the order's sovereign affairs.

"Considering the legal irrelevance of this group and of its findings relating to the legal structure of the Order of Malta, the Order has decided that it should not cooperate with it," the order stated on its website, in reference to the enquiry.

Festing, who like all Grand Masters was appointed as leader of the 11th century order for life, was correctly addressed as His Most Eminent Highness Fra' Matthew Festing, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, Most Humble Guardian of the Poor of Jesus Christ.

Festing is from an old British Catholic "recusant" family on his mother's side. He was educated at Ampleforth and has served as a Deputy Lieutenant for Northumberland and is a trustee for Northumbria Historic Churches.

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, the ultra-conservative who has has clashed with Pope Francis on issues such Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, is chaplain to the Knights of Malta.

The order, formed in the 11th century to provide protection and medical care for pilgrims to the Holy Land, has the status of a sovereign entity. It maintains diplomatic relations with over 100 states and the European Union and permanent observer status at the United Nations. It has about 120,000 members.

Members are not ordained but take vows of poverty and chastity.

When Festing fired von Boeselager, he accused him of hiding the fact that he allowed the use of condoms when he ran Malteser International, the order's humanitarian aid agency.

Von Boeselager and his supporters say the condom issue was an excuse by Festing and Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, an arch-conservative who has accused the Pope of being too liberal, to increase their power.

Von Boeselager said he closed two projects in the developing world when he discovered condoms were being distributed but kept a third running for a while because closing it would have abruptly ended all basic medical services to poor people.

Chris Gillibrand, a British Catholic commentator from the conservative wing, told Christian Today: "The Pope is trying to change the very nature of the Catholic Church. He will not succeed."
Could The Environment Be The Issue On Which Christians Break Ranks With Donald Trump?

If some people laughed when Donald Trump famously claimed that climate change is a Chinese hoax to keep American companies uncompetitive, they are not laughing now.

Just days into his presidency, Trump has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to delete all material related to climate change from its website.

"If the website goes dark, years of work we have done on climate change will disappear," one official told Reuters soon after the order to shut down the website was sent yesterday.

Meanwhile, Trump has drawn protests from Christian and Native American groups over his executive orders signed on the same day advancing the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline, to extend from the oil fields of North Dakota to Illinois, amid claims that it violates both US law and tribal treaties.

Shantha Ready Alonso, the executive director of the Christian group Creation Justice Ministries, said she was "shocked" by the move. "As Christians we are committed to responsible stewardship of the gifts of God's creation and to justice for our indigenous brothers and sisters," Alonso told the Religion News Service. "We call on the administration to respect indigenous rights and the safety of drinking water for millions."

And the Young Evangelicals for Climate Action group issued a statement saying its members were "deeply disappointed" by the president's action. "As evangelical Christians, we are committed to a vision of the gospel that understands that all things are under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and that the entire creation is being reconciled back to God through Jesus. This commitment will always lead us to advocate for the well-being of all people and for the protection of God's good creation," the statement said. "We will continue to stand with those around the world who are made most vulnerable by a changing climate. We will continue to stand with Native peoples asserting their right to clean air, water, and a stable climate."

Trump, it turns out, owned stock in Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the Dakota Access pipeline, until at least mid-2016, according to Reuters. His nominee for US energy secretary, Rick Perry was until recently a member of its board. And its chief executive, Kelcy Warren had donated $100,000 to the Trump presidential campaign.

As Trump pursues profit  and, as he would argue, jobs  ahead of the environment, could the latter be the issue on which some Christians break ranks with their president?

After all, for groups like Christians and Climate, "The same love for God and neighbour that compels us to preach salvation through Jesus Christ, protect the unborn, preserve the family and the sanctity of marriage, and take the whole Gospel to a hurting world, also compels us to recognise that human-induced climate change is a serious Christian issue requiring action now."

Today, anti-environmentalists and climate change deniers have a hero in the US president, who in turn enjoys the widespread support of US evangelicals: Trump has pledged to abandon the US commitment to the Paris climate agreement and payments to the UN climate fund, which helps developing countries tackle global warming.

But this unholy alliance was not always in place: the relationship between American Christians and the environment is more complicated and messy than that.

As Newsweek explained last year, in a lengthy article titled 'An Evangelical Movement Takes On Climate Change' religious and environmental groups began to converge after 1986, when Prince Philip, then president of the World Wildlife Fund, organised a summit with leaders of the five major world religions: Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism.

By the 1990s, groups such as the World Council of Churches were participating in international climate debates and conferences.

In 2002, the Evangelical Environmental Network launched a publicity-friendly 'What Would Jesus Drive?' campaign to call attention to fuel efficiency. In 2006, the same group organised the Evangelical Climate Initiative, which released a statement making a moral argument for climate action. Dozens of evangelical megachurch leaders signed, including Rick Warren, Leith Anderson and Joel Hunter.

Now, however, the environment has slipped far down the agenda of the evangelical movement  and of the government.

The most recent major Pew survey on the topic last year showed that only just over a third of Americans said that they care a great deal about climate change, while Americans remained divided on party lines: nearly seven out of 10 Democrats believe climate change is mainly a result of human activity, and fewer than a quarter of Republicans believed the same.

With a closer look at religion and the environment, a 2010 Pew survey found that 81 per cent of all adults, including strong majorities of all major religious traditions, favoured "stronger laws and regulations to protect the environment", while 14 per cent opposed them.

Hispanic Catholics, like Hispanics in general, are more likely to say the Earth is warming due to human activity, while white evangelical Protestants stand out as least likely to have this view.

Which may be why Trump feels he can press on with his apparent assault on the environment.

Whether those Christian groups who do not fall into the white evangelical category can protest loudly enough to stop him, remains to be seen.
'God's Hand Has Been On His Work': Missionary Honoured For Bringing Armed Rebels To Christ

A Christian missionary who has dedicated his life to attempting to convert Colombian rebels to Christ has been honoured with an award.

Russell Stendal, from the United States, has spent decades witnessing to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) after arriving in the country with his missionary parents more than 50 years ago, the persecution charity World Watch Monitor reports.

His work was a significant part of the influential Christian evangelism that took place throughout the 50-year war between the FARC rebels and the government. Church leaders and Christians were crucial to the talks that led to last August's peace agreement, finally ending the world's longest-running civil war.

During his work, Stendal was even at one point kidnapped by FARC.

He set up Colombia for Christ, based in Bogota, believing if that the rebels could only learn about Jesus, their hearts and minds would be changed for good.

The organisation First Step Forum, which builds bridges between faiths, governments and other agencies in countries where it is invited to do so, decided to honour Stendal for his work with the Shahbaz Bhatti Freedom Award.

The award is named after Pakistan's first Christian cabinet minister, who was murdered five years ago for criticising the blasphemy laws of Pakistan and for trying to defend the Christian woman Asia Bibi, currently in prison and facing the death penalty for blasphemy.

First Step Forum founder Johan Candelin, from Finland, said in his speech Stendal deserved the award for his "extraordinary peace work for 32 years", according to World Watch Monitor. Candelin said Stendal's work had led to a change of heart in many FARC leaders, and also in Colombian Army leaders:

He said: "Many have been healed as a result of prayer. I have never seen anything like this. God's hand has been on Russ Stendal's work in a unique way."

Previous recipients of the award include Pope Francis, Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Dr Hany Hanna in Egypt and Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili in Georgia.
Indian Christian Suffers Brain Haemorrhage Hours After Police Interrogation For Evangelising

An Indian Christian is in a coma from suffering a brain haemorrhage hours after he was interrogated by police.

KA Swamy, 47, was taken to the police station after he handed out Bibles and other Christian literature near a Hindu temple, according to World Watch Monitor. Angry Hindu nationalists accused him evangelising in the temple area and looked to prosecute him under "anti-conversion laws".

After six hours of interrogation he was eventually released by police but suffered a brain haemorrhage on his way home.

His brother-in-law told the persecution watchdog it was not the first time he had been arrested for preaching the gospel.

""Several times in the past also he has been caught by extremists from Vishwa Hindu Parishad [a Hindu nationalist group] and has been threatened. He has also been taken to the police station for verification many times before. This time he just couldn't take it."

He added: "They told me that they have over 200 photos of him distributing Bibles and tracts; these are the evidences of his converting people and that he was guilty."

Several Indian states have so-called 'Freedom of Religion Acts' which officially prevent religious conversions being made by 'force', 'fraud' or 'allurement'. But Christians and rights groups say in reality the laws are in reality 'anti-conversion laws'.

They claim Hindu nationalists use them to harass, arrest and inprison Christians.

Such laws are currently in force in five states  Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh  and have been discussed in several others.

Hindu nationalist MPs under the BJP party are said to be concered about the decline of Hinduism in India and point to census data that suggests the country's Hindu's population has dropped below 80 per cent.

"We have to take measures to arrest the decline," said Tarun Vijay, a BJP MP in the Upper House.

He plans to introduce a bill to ban any conversion away from Hinduism.

"It is very important to keep the Hindus in majority in the country. My argument is that religion must remain a matter of personal choice. But in India, it has become a political tool in the hands of foreign powers, who are targeting Hindus to fragment our nation again on communal lines. This has to be resisted in national interest and in the interest of all minorities in India."

Persecution charity Open Doors' recently released World Watch List showed a startling rise in attacks on Christians in India. India has risen to number 15 on the World Watch List, up from a ranking of 31 in 2013.

"This year there is a clear pattern of rising religious intolerance across the Indian sub-continent which affects many millions of Christians," said Lisa Pearce, CEO of Open Doors UK & Ireland.

"Religious nationalists attempt to forcibly convert people to the dominant faith of their nation, often turning to violence when community discrimination and non-violent oppression do not succeed in imposing their religious beliefs on minority Christians. These Christians are often from the lower castes, such as the Dalits in India who face huge socio-economic problems  they are an easy target for extreme nationalists."
Pope Francis Sends Vatican Delegation To War-Torn Aleppo

A delegation of Vatican officials has visited Aleppo, expressing the solidarity of Pope Francis with the people in the war-torn region.

The Vatican yesterday revealed that Mgr Giampietro Dal Toso, secretary-delegate of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, visited the city from January 18-23, accompanied by Cardinal Mario Zenari, apostolic nuncio to Syria, and Mgr Thomas Habib, an official at the nunciature.

The delegation met with "Christian communities and their pastors, who expressed gratitude to the Pope for his constant concern for beloved Syria," a Vatican statement said.

The officials also visited several refugee camps and Catholic institutions helping with relief efforts, including a humanitarian assistance centre run by Caritas Aleppo, according to the Catholic Herald.

Mgr Dal Toso and the delegation emphasised the importance of providing relief assistance to the Syrian people, according to the Vatican.

"With the support of the universal Church and thanks to the generous contribution of the international community, such help may be intensified in the future to meet the growing needs of the people," the Vatican said.

As well as taking part in several meetings with Islamic representatives, members of the delegation also took part in an ecumenical prayer service that coincided with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The "responsibilities of religions in educating for peace and reconciliation" was among the issues discussed during the meetings, the Vatican said.
Trump's Abortion Executive Order: What Is It And Will It Do More Harm Than Good?

Donald Trump on Monday signed a controversial executive order banning federal money going to international groups which perform abortions, or provide information about them.

In the week of the 44th anniversary of Roe v Wade, the land-mark 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion across the US, Trump signed the 'Mexico City Policy', named as such because President Reagan first implemented it at a United Nations population conference in Mexico City in 1984. The policy was abandoned under President Clinton, reinstated under George W Bush and revoked again under Barack Obama's administration.

Now it has been introduced again, requiring that non-governmental organisations receiving federal funding agree "neither [to] perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations". The active promotion of abortions, in this case, means not only referrals but also counselling. The measure is thus also known by some as the "global gag rule".

So what exactly does the policy mean? And how is it likely to effect women on the ground?

To be clear: American taxpayers' money has never been used directly to fund abortions by international NGOs as the Helms Amendment, passed in 1973, prohibits the direct use of American funding for terminations.

But the Mexico City Policy goes further in blocking all funding to any organisation that carries out or promotes abortions in its development work, even if US money is not used directly for that purpose.

In other words: many health groups receive US assistance to provide women's services, while using different funding sources to provide abortion counselling and procedures. Those organisations will now have to stop providing abortions if they want to continue to receive US aid for their other programmes.

Trump's move has been welcomed by conservative groups and evangelical Christians.

Russell Moore, the president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said: "This decision will save lives...This is a welcome step in the right direction, and my hope is that the president will continue to defend human dignity and hold the predatory abortion industry accountable."

Alveda King, the evangelist and niece of civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King, also praised the new president. "The die is cast and the path is clear for America to learn that abortion is not health care," she said. "Abortion kills babies and all too often harms the wombs, health, psyche and souls of mothers. By reinstating the 'Mexico City Policy' which saves the lives of thousands of babies and women, President Trump is raising the bar for genuine concern for the lives and health of mothers and our children."

Elsewhere, campaigners reacted with delight over a move which will result in the 'defunding' of the pro-choice group International Planned Parenthood. Critics argue that among other areas, International Planned Parenthood assists the population control programme in Communist China. Reggie Littlejohn, the President of Women's Rights Without Frontiers said: "We are elated that US taxpayer dollars will stop going to International Planned Parenthood, which has been working hand in hand with the Chinese Communist Party in their brutal, coercive population control programme in China, which includes forced abortion and sterilisation of women."

But is the effect of the measure purely positive? Trump has been widely criticised since a photograph of him signing the order surrounded by a group of men went viral in the West, with feminists arguing that men were trying to control women's reproductive organs.

However, experts say that the real effect will be on the developing world, where the policy will freeze millions of dollars in funding that has gone to critical health treatment, including HIV testing and neonatal care, the Washington Post reports.

Some feminist critics to say that women "will die" as a result of the measure.

In Kenya for example, there are fears that fewer accessible abortions will result in an increased number of women resorting to dangerous methods for terminations, including drinking battery acid, using wire coat hangers and hiring local healers to stamp on their stomachs until the pregnancy is considered to be over.

"Trump's policy means even fewer services will be offered," said Chimaraoke Izugbara, a researcher at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) in Nairobi. "Some women will not be reached, and providers may not be available to offer services. I think we are headed to a major disaster."

According to Izugbara, of the nearly 8,000 women who die in Kenya every year from complications caused by pregnancy and childbirth, at least a fifth of those deaths are caused by self-induced abortions.

Across Africa, around 1.6 million women are treated each year for complications from unsafe abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organisation based in New York.

Meanwhile, International Planned Parenthood claims that its USAID funding goes towards contraceptives in Ethiopia, counselling for HIV/AIDS patients in Kenya and family planning services in Nepal. In a statement, the group said it "will not support policies which actively restrict or take away an individual's right to choose".

Away from the speculation, perhaps the best clue as to what will happen comes from past experience.

According to a report published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization in 2011, when the policy was implemented under Bush, it actually led to "increases in abortion rates in sub-Saharan African countries".

One possible reason for the increase was that the policy in effect curtailed the activities of organisations that provided condoms and other birth-control methods, resulting in more unwanted pregnancies.

"The results were exactly the opposite as the intended effect of the policy," said Eran Bendavid, one of the researchers and an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University.
Trump's Supreme Court Pick: Who Are The Frontrunners And What Do They Believe?

It was the issue that swung the election for many of the 81 per cent of white evangelicals who voted for him.

Donald Trump's vow to pack the Supreme Court with conservative judges was crucial to his popularity with Christians who might otherwise be reluctant to support a man with such a dubious moral background.

Wayne Grudem, Franklin Graham, Eric Metaxas, Jerry Falwell and James Dobson all cited the court in justifying their support for Trump.

This is because the Supreme Court in America hangs in the balance. Out of nine seats, four are liberal leaning, four are conservative leaning and one is empty. The appointments are all lifetime positions. There is no limit to how long they can stay unless they are impeached, which last happened in 1805. Since 1970 the average tenure has been 26 years.

So it holds an immensely powerful position in the US legal system. But it is also highly political.

Supreme Court Justices are first nominated by the president but then have to be appointed by the Senate. Presidents suggest judges who are sympathetic towards their political leaning. Although the judiciary is supposed to be non-partisan, in reality it is nearly always neatly divided along party lines. It is difficult to find a judge in the US whose legal judgments aren't influenced by his or her political convictions.

In the current cohort John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy lean consistently to the right, although Kennedy is slightly more unpredictable. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer tend to be more liberal.

With upcoming battles over transgender bathrooms, restrictions to abortion provision and business' rights to refuse services to gay couples, it has never been more crucial for a politically minded conservative Christian.

On top of upcoming battles, Trump's nomination to the Supreme Court could secure his legacy for years to come.

With three judges 78 or older including 83-year-old liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whom Trump called on to resign in July after she called him a "faker", Trump's administration could make further appointments to the one current vacant appointment.

Fellow liberal Stephen Breyer is 78, while conservative Anthony Kennedy is 80.

If these three retired or died in the next four years the Trump administration appointments could dominate the court for decades to come.

If further vacancies come up, the finely balanced 5-4 conservative lean of the Court could be tipped to a 6-3 bias. With a stronger mandate, conservative judges could then look to repeal landmark rulings on abortion such as Roe vs Wade.

Trump has already released a list of 21 judges as nominees and is thought to be sticking to that list.

Now he has promised to announce his choice next week for approval by the Senate.

I will be making my Supreme Court pick on Thursday of next week.Thank you!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

Here are a few of his potential finalists.

William Pryor

Pryor, 54, is a protege of Trump's attorney general nominee, Jeff Sessions, and succeeded him as Alabama's state attorney.

A conservative firebrand, he famously labelled the Roe Vs Wade abortion ruling as "the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history".

The devout Roman Catholic is not universally loved by ultra-conservatives, however, despite being a fierce proponent of the death penalty and opponent of gay rights.

This is largely because he backed a ruling in 2011 that anti-transgender discrimination qualifies as sex discrimination and so was forbidden under the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution.

He also supported the suspension of Chief Justice Roy Moore for refusing to remove his monument to the Ten Commandments. Although Pryor supported Moore's right to have the display, after he refused a court order to take it down he backed Moore's suspension.

Neil Gorsuch

Gorsuch, 49, is another frontrunner and has earned a reputation as a scholarly conservative on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

He is known for defending religious liberty in battles over Obamacare and is seen as a safer pair of hands than the lightning rod Pryor.

But he is more likely to confirmed by the Senate than his more outspoken rival.

"He is very bright, well-respected and quite personable," said John Malcolm, a lawyer at the Heritage Foundation, according to the LA Times. "And there's no question he would not be as contentious as some others.

Thomas Hardiman

Hardiman, 51, has a similar conservative record to other candidates with a particular focus on gun owners' rights.

He voted to strike down a New Jersey law that would have required people to show a "justifiable need" for a permit to carry a gun in public.

Like Gorsuch he would provide an easier choice to pass the Senate than Pryor and would match the voting record of the late Antonin Scalia, the former judge whose seat on the court is vacant.

The Pennsylvania judge was appointed by George W Bush in 2007 and, if nominated, would be the only Supreme Court justice law degree holder from an Ivy League university.
'You All Smell Bad': Foul-Mouthed Philippines President Launches Another Attack On Catholic Church As Row Escalates

The controversial president of the Philippines has challenged the country's entire Catholic Bishops' Conference to resign over alleged corruption as his row with the Church escalates. President Rodrigo Duterte said that he would also quit if the bishops left their posts.

"I challenge all the bishops conference. Let's resign tomorrow, all together, okay? Resign. I will do it first. I will deliver my letter of resignation, you wait," Duterte said yesterday during a meeting with the families of 44 policeman killed in a massacre two years ago.He added: "We all have the same disgrace," The Tablet reported.

The outburst comes after the erratic president last week wrote an ingratiating letter to Pope Francis following divisions with the Catholic Church in his country over issues ranging from condoms and the death penalty.

In a speech riddled with characteristic profanities, Duterte encouraged his audience to read the book Altar of Secrets by the late journalist Aries Rufo, which accuses the Church of corruption and sexual abuses.

"I challenge you now. I challenge the Catholic Church... You all smell bad, corruption and all," Duterte said.

The latest disagreement with the Church came earlier this month when Bishop Teodoro Bacani, the Bishop-Emeritus of Novaliches, raised concerns over the spate of killings linked to the government's crackdown on illegal drugs. Bishop Bacani described Duterte's war on drugs as a "bringer of death" during a conference in Manila on January 18, according to local reports.

Retaliating the following day, Duterte accused the Church of corruption and its priests of molesting children and condoning and participating in alleged homosexual acts, in a speech given at the Malacanang presidential palace.

"You expose me, fine. I expose you. Why? When you commit mistakes, it's okay but when we do, no? That's stupid," Duterte said.

He added: "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."

In response, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles defended his fellow priests and bishops. "Even a sick doctor must still try to cure ailments of others and, of course, his [Duterte's] too," the Archbishop said.

"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," Arguelles added in an interview quoted by the news service of the Philippine Catholic Bishops' Conference on January 20. "The fault of some should not be blamed on all."

Duterte's attack came just a day after one of his senior aides met the Pope at the Vatican. Jesus Dureza said that Pope Francis had told him that he would bless the Philippines and "also bless your president".

Dureza was at the Vatican to present the letter from Duterte, which thanked the Pope for his visit to the Philippines in 2015.

It read: "Your Holiness, with profound respect, I have the honour to extend my own and my people's warmest greetings to Your Holiness."

Duterte's letter went on: "Our countrymen remember Your Holiness' apostolic visit in 2015 with deep appreciation, knowing that it was made with the most sincere regard for the welfare of the Church's flock," he said.

"The Philippines values its special relations with the Holy See and regards with gratitude Your Holiness' gracious stewardship of the Catholic faith... Please accept, Your Holiness, the assurances of my highest esteem and respect."

The president had drawn criticism during the papal visit after calling the Pope a "son of a bitch" for supposedly causing a traffic jam during his visit. He later claimed his comment was aimed at incompetent officials.

Earlier this month, Duterte angered Catholics by ordering millions of condoms to be handed out in a bid to curb unwanted pregnancies.

The Church does not allow the use of condoms as a means of birth control and says abstinence and monogamy in heterosexual marriage is the best way to stop the spread of HIV/Aids.

Separately, Catholic leaders and charities in the Philippines last month condemned as "very barbaric" Duterte's plan to restore the death penalty and execute "five or six" criminals each day despite what is widely acknowledged to be a corrupt legal system.

Duterte, 71, has made reviving the death penalty in the mainly Catholic nation his top legislative priority as part of a brutal war on crime that has killed 5,300 people.

"There was death penalty before but nothing happened. Return that to me and I would do it every day: five or six [criminals]. That's for real," he said.
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The Harris County District Attorney Office announced on Wednesday the appointment of two high-profile multicultural, fully bilingual lawyers, furthering a commitment of the office's leader, Kim K. Ogg, to mirror the diversity of Houston, a spokesperson said.

One of the appointees is Tom Berg, a retired Army Reserve colonel with a long career as a defense lawyer and public defender in Houston, distinguished himself as a military lawyer by challenging the U.S. government's use of torture at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the D.A. office said in a press release.

Berg will serve as First Assistant and oversee all lawyers engaged in criminal prosecutions.

"He put his own career in jeopardy because he believes in the higher principles of law," said Ogg, the new Harris County District Attorney that was elected in November. "Anybody with that kind of character, along with 40 years of experience, has the kind of qualifications we need in this office," she added in a press release.

The other new appointee is Ruben Perez, a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Southern District of Texas who has served as chief of the Human Trafficking and Civil Rights Unit and as a member of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.

Perez was the Chief of the Special Crimes Bureau, which traditionally prosecutes such offenses as organized crime, major fraud, major narcotics and money laundering, said the D.A. office.

Harris County District Attorney Ogg said that "Both (men) have a long history of standing up for what they believe in," Ogg said. "We promised experience, diversity and integrity."

Berg, born in Washington, is a fully bilingual English-Spanish speaker with an extensive international experience. He grew up and studied in Mexico City from K-12 grades before coming to Houston, where he went to Rice University and the University of Houston.

During his military career, Berg served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Perez, on the other hand, born in Seguin nears San Antonio, Texas, is a Mexican-American who also speaks fluent Spanish.

Ogg said that Perez "has prosecuted hate crimes, protected civil rights and gone after major drug and human trafficking organizations," Ogg said. "He will provide experienced leadership for the Special Crimes Bureau."

The D.A. office points out that Perez was the lead federal prosecutor in a major sex-trafficking case that took down a notorious Houston brothel that drew thousands of customers and operated for years by using women and teenagers illegally held against their will and forced into prostitution.

That prosecution also resulted in the forfeiture of millions of dollars in assets from the trafficking organization.

Earlier this month, the D.A. Office announced the appointment of Latino Judge David Mendoza as the new Office of Professional Integrity.

D.A. office sees these three appointees with strong ties with the Latino community as a commitment to the diversity of Houston.

"Its no coincidence that we are definitely reaching out to the Latino community," said Dane Schiller, the D.A. communications director. "Latinos are a huge part of Houston, and international, multicultural city that we must absolutely embrace."

Olivia.Tallet@chron.com

Twitter: @oliviaptallet
President Trump placed a gag order on multiple federal agencies preventing them from tweeting or engaging with the media  but perhaps he of all people shouldve known that theres no stopping the internet.

A new Twitter handle popped up Tuesday evening called AltUSNatParkService, which seems dedicated to tweeting out everything that the Trump administration has instructed agencies not to.

RELATED: Badlands National Park goes rogue on Trump, tweets global warming data

According to tweets made by the account, the handle is being run by several active NPS rangers and friends, based out of Mount Rainier National Park. However, there is no evidence that the account has any actual ties to the National Park Services or that those tweeting are park service employees. Seattlepi.com reached out to the account but has yet to hear back.

Can't wait for President Trump to call us FAKE NEWS. You can take our official twitter, but you'll never take our free time! tweeted the handle, Tuesday evening.

The National Park Service came under fire on Inauguration Day for retweeting unflattering and truthful photos of Trumps inauguration. The retweets were quickly taken down, and an apology was issued for the errant tweets.

Soon after, the Trump administration issued a gag order on the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agnecy, forbidding them from sharing information and scientific papers publicly. The administration later reportedly told the EPA to pull the climate change information from their website.

RELATED: Trump administration puts gag order on Dept. of Agriculture researchers

Then on Tuesday, the Badlands National Park account started tweeting out facts about climate change, seemingly in defiance of the administrations gag order. The tweets were swiftly removed from the internet, but not before many got screenshots of the handle and the scientific research it was tweeting out.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Seattlepi.com screenshot Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Seattlepi.com screenshot Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Now AltUsNatParkService seems to have picked up the mantle, tweeting out everything from pictures of the parks, to scientific research supporting climate change, to quippy comments directed at the president. The account is even publicizing a recently started effort for scientists to march on Washington, inspired by the Women's March.

No matter our politics: Dems, Reps, Indy, Martian, we all want the best for our parks & that starts with understanding the Earth, said the account in a series of tweets. To understand what's best for our parks, we need to have access to US science data on climate & the environment. We must not be silenced.
Joan Therese Maher

Joan Dawley Maher, a Decatur, Georgia resident, died on January 23rd at the age of 85. She was born May 8, 1931 in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Edwin R. and Josephine Heffernan Dawley. A true Brooklynite, she was raised, married, and started her family in Brooklyn.

She was predeceased by her husband, John Maher, in December of 2015 after 61 years of marriage. She is survived by their five children: Jeanne Marie Maher of Damascus, MD (R. James Alwood); John A. of Pittsburgh, PA; James A. of Oakland, CA; Helen M. Brownell of Decatur, GA, (Robert); and Therese M. Pfeifer of Lewisville, TX, (Thomas). She is also survived by seven grandchildren, and one great granddaughter.

After their marriage, Joan and John lived briefly in North Chicago, Ill, then Brooklyn, NY; Port Washington, NY; Montgomery, AL; and Carlisle, PA; prior to settling in Decatur, GA in 2006.

Joan earned a bachelors degree from the University of the State of New York; a law degree from The Dickinson School of Law; and two master degrees from the University of Pennsylvanias Fels Institute of Government.

In 1977, at the age of 46, Joan started law school full-time. Upon graduating law school in 1980, Joan clerked for a Pennsylvania appellate court judge. She later served as the Assistant Director of Corporate Finance Division for the Pennsylvania Securities Commission. Upon retiring she joined the faculty of Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA. Joan also enjoyed adjunct professorships at The Dickinson School of Law and Widener Universitys School of Law. In addition, she participated in numerous professional educational activities including chairing various ad hoc committees for the North American Securities Administrators Association and attending several International Economic Crime symposia at Cambridges Jesus College.

Throughout her life, Joan pursued various commercial, community, and charitable roles including managing her familys funeral home in Brooklyn, NY; and serving on various board memberships including St. Christophers R.C. Orphanage in Sea Cliff, NY; Domestic Violence Services of Cumberland & Perry Counties in PA; and the Board of Governors to The Dickinson School of Law to which she was elected by fellow alumni.

Joan was proud of her work with the League of Women Voters while living in Montgomery, AL in the early 1970s. During that time, she worked with the late Alabama State Professor Callie Warren to inspect rural Montgomery County voting precincts concerning amenability to racially fair voting, thus insuring conformance with Civil Rights standards.

Joan was active in several church based associations and the religious education of youth at her Port Washington, NY, and Carlisle, PA parishes. In 1970, at the insistence of The Vaticans Cardinal Tisserant, Joan was invested by the Archbishop of NY as a Lady of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher.

Joan often said that if she could only do one thing in her adult life, she would be a mother  and an amazing mom she was. She taught her five children important life lessons, some via conversation, many by how she conducted herself with others. Joan served many official roles in her childrens lives, including Girl Scout leader for each of her three daughters, and Cub Scout leader for both sons. She also served on the Nassau County, NY Girl Scout Council.

Joan suffered, but was not conquered by, a severe left-brain ischemic stroke in October 2008  the consequences of which included aphasia, an impairment of language production and speech. Joan achieved a recovery far beyond her doctors predictions. She forged through these last eight years as she lived her entire life: with grace, joy, optimism, and a genuine smile on her face.

Joans remains were cremated. A memorial mass will be held at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Decatur at 10:00 am on Saturday, January 28th. Family will visit guests at the church thirty minutes before the mass.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The National Aphasia Association at P.O. Box 87, Scarsdale, NY 10583 or www.aphasia.org, or The John A. & Joan D. Maher Scholarship at Southern Illinois University School of Law (Contact: Thomas C. Britton, Director of Development, at 618-453-8980 or thomasb@foundation.siu.edu). A. S. Turner & Sons Decatur, GA.
AUSTIN  Lobbyists would find it more difficult to avoid disclosing which legislators and state officials they wine and dine under a bill to be filed Wednesday to overhaul Texas ethics law.

"We have no more valuable bond in democracy than the trust people have in their government," said state Sen. Van Taylor, a Plano Republican who is making his second attempt at getting an ethics bill passed. "There is no sugarcoating last session's ethics reform failures. However, it did provide the legislature with a clear road map for ethics reform. Votes were cast and politicians were on the record."

Under existing law, lobbyists are required to fill out a report filed with the state Ethics Commission when they spend more than $114 on a legislator or state official. That form names the recipient and the lobbyist, and provides a precise dollar amount or a range on how much was spent.

To avoid disclosure, however, lobbyists will take two fellow lobbyists to dinner, for example, and the lawmaker's tab is divided by three credit cards so it is not more than $114.

Under Taylor's bill, the threshold would be lowered to $57 a day and lobbyists who split checks each would be required to disclose how much they spent if the total tab is above that amount.

Some legislators are wary of the wining and dining disclosure to the Ethics Commission, since political opponents can use it to accuse them of being in the pockets of lobbyists.

Another provision of Taylor's bill would see elected officials kicked out of office and lose their pensions if they are convicted of a felony.

"The thought of a criminal elected official sitting in jail cell getting a pension paid for by the very taxpayers they have betrayed is just reprehensible," Taylor said.

Also, elected officials would be required to disclose their government contracts, bond counsel work, and legal referral fees, and be barred from working as lobbyists. Former legislators would have to wait a full legislative session before working as a lobbyist. Currently, there is no "cooling off period." The bill also would prohibit ex-legislators who become lobbyists from using their campaign fund for two years for lobbying.

Taylor based his bill on provisions that either the House or Senate approved in 2015, but did not reach Gov. Greg Abbott's desk to become law. State Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, is expected to file the companion bill in the House.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick opened this morning's press conference by expressing his support for the bill.

"Texans hold their elected officials to a very high standard, as they should. Ethics reform is a top priority for me, top priority for our Senate," said Patrick, who added that bill has bipartisan support with 21 co-sponsors in the 31-member Senate.

State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, said he would be "shocked" if the Senate does not approve the bill unanimously.

Taylor's ethics bill last session passed the Senate, but fizzled when the House and Senate clashed over whether to require nonprofit groups to disclose their largest political donors  contributions commonly referred to as "dark money."

Taylor said legislators who want to crack down on "dark money" should file separate bills.

"If we fail again, what is at stake is not just this bill; it's people's trust, which is at the heart of our democracy," he said.
A nearly-deaf teenager from Arkansas, who is one of George Straits biggest fans, will soon head to Las Vegas to see the country legend live before his hearing escapes him.

According to Arkansas Online, a North Little Rock mother named Julie Pair wrote letters and started a social media campaign to fund a trip to Las Vegas so her son Chase, 15, could hear Strait live in concert before he loses the ability to.
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Italian Cultural Center

1101 Milford, iccchouston.com

MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA: The story of four American soldiers who get trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII. 7 p.m. Thursday

River Oaks Theatre

2009 W. Gray; landmarktheatres.com

PAN'S LABYRINTH: The bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world. Midnight Friday and Saturday

Houston Museum of Natural Science

5555 Hermann Park Drive; hmns.org

WILD AFRICA 3-D: A contrast of stunning deserts beside wild oceans and coral reefs. Multiple screenings daily

NATIONAL PARKS ADVENTURE: World-class adventurers hike and climb their way across America. Multiple screenings daily

EXTREME WEATHER: Discover the complex forces influencing our weather. Multiple screenings daily

14 Pews

800 Aurora; 14pews.org

NOTES ON BLINDNESS: Writer John Hull goes blind just before the birth of his son and starts making a diary on audio cassette to make sense of all the changes. 7 p.m. Saturday

Holocaust Museum Houston

5401 Caroline; hmh.org

Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story: Remarkable true story about "the largest rescue action by a single individual during the Holocaust." Discussion with Mendes' grandson follows the film. Free. 6:30 p.m. Thursday
With deadlines looming for the upcoming May elections, a federal appeals court has agreed to hear arguments Feb. 1 in a voting rights lawsuit that overturned the Pasadena election system.

The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will consider whether to temporarily halt the order from the Houston judge until after the appeals are exhausted. But that would leave in place an election system that has been found discriminatory against Latinos.
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Super Bowl security is going to the dogs.

Dozens of K9 teams have arrived in the Bayou City from departments across the country to sniff out explosives and keep ne'er-do-wells at bay in the week leading up to the big game on Feb. 5. The dogs and their handlers  all law enforcement officers  came from Phoenix and Washington, Los Angeles and Puerto Rico, and as far away as Guam.

"We can't take safety for granted," said Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, at a formal swearing-in ceremony Wednesday for the new arrivals. "Quite frankly, no one department in the country has the capabilities to undertake something as high profile as the Super Bowl by themselves."

U.S. Marshal Gary Blankinship, a former Houston police officer, deputized the officers at the Houston Police Officers' Union hall.

The canine cops join a unique pack of special deputies that dates back to the earliest days of the republic, when lone marshals called on locals to help them police the burgeoning frontier, said Chief Deputy Marshal Richard Hunter, based in Houston.

Posses of special deputies helped U.S. Marshals guard prisoners or apprehend dangerous outlaws. Now, they help with an assortment of tasks and events.

"You join a long list of bar owners, hotel owners, cattlemen and drunks," Hunter joked, as chuckles erupted. "So congratulations on doing this for us. We appreciate it."

The pack converged in Houston after a trip, that for some, crossed thousands of miles.

Guam Airport Police Officer Robert Umadhay, 40, spent seven hours flying from Guam to Hawaii, then another seven hours on a plane to Houston, with his German short-haired pointer, Rex, at his side.

"Oh man, it was tough!" he said, laughing at the hours they spent cooped up on planes. "But it worked out. ... It's an honor."

It's the first time his department has helped with Super Bowl protection, he said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Richard Faulk will be working his third Super Bowl, after San Francisco and Phoenix. Eight other LACSO deputies joined him, as did his 6-year-old black Lab, Clyde, who barked and scampered about after the ceremony.

"He's wound up," he said, as his partner waved a red rubber toy at Clyde to calm him down.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Walter Heilig, 46, said his German short-haired pointer quickly connected with his canine counterparts when Heilig tried to step away from their hotel room.

His dog - also named Rex - howled in protest, setting off a chorus of yelps from other rooms.

"I don't think I'd want to be a patron staying there if I didn't have a dog," he said. "It sounded like being in a kennel."
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It's been four days since Donald Trump was sworn in as president, and the internet can't stop talking about how sad first lady Melania Trump looked during Inauguration Day, going as far as to create a "#FreeMelania" campaign on Twitter.

A clip from Inauguration Day showing the new first lady putting on a smile as her husband turns and speaks to her during the proceeding and then quickly frowning as he turns back around has now gone viral.

Dozens of tweets have called for Melania Trump to "blink twice" if she wants to be saved, while others said how sad the first lady is making them.

No one is quite sure what the president uttered to Melania Trump, or if he said anything at all.

RELATED: 13 facts about Melania Trump, the new first lady

Mic spoke with a body language expert who said the way Melania Trump acted over the weekend showed signs she was not happy in her relationship.

"If you didn't know that they were married, you wouldn't know that they are married," said Susan Constantine, a communication and body language expert, to the website.

In comparison to Barack and Michelle Obama, Constantine said the previous first couple's body language is evidence of "genuine warmth and love between the two."

RELATED: Behind the scenes during the Trumps' first weekend as the first family

While some have said they feel bad for Trump, others aren't sure the first lady is so innocent.

In response to a tweet that said Donald Trump doesn't appreciate Melania Trump and she "doesn't seem happy at all," one Twitter user flipped the narrative.

"Melania is a rich, privileged 46-year-old woman who willingly married Trump, had his child and furthered the birther claims against Obama," they said.

The first lady supported her husbands birther theories that claimed former President Obama was not born in the U.S. in a 2011 clip unearthed by Teen Vogue.

RELATED: Here's how President Donald Trump has already redecorated the Oval Office

"It's not only Donald who wants to see (Obama's birth certificate), it's American people who voted for him and who didn't vote for him," she said on the Joy Behar show six years ago.

Teen Vogue argues that Melania Trump is not as innocent as the internet is making her out to be.

"Not only has she supported the birther movement, but she also backed her husband after multiple claims came out about him sexually assaulting other women. It also still can't be overlooked that she plagiarized Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention speech in her own Republican National Convention remarks this past summer, taking words from the former first lady and the wife of the man she's accusing of not being an American citizen," the reporter writes.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5
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Two Willis ISD administrators injured in a fatal San Antonio mall shooting Sunday afternoon have returned home.

Willis High School Assistant Principal Dr. Ivan Velasco and his wife, Meador Elementary Assistant Principal Adriana Velasco, suffered non-life-threatening injuries when they were among four wounded during a botched jewelry store robbery that left one good Samaritan dead at Rolling Oaks Mall.

"He was shot in the foot," Willis ISD spokesperson Jamie Fails said of Dr. Velasco. "It went all the way through, but it didn't hit any nerves or bones. She was hit with the bullet in the front of her lower lip and teeth area. She had a lot of stitches and she is going to need some follow-up care."

The couple, who have three children, returned home Monday night, Fails said.

"They are doing remarkably well ," she said. "We are thankful it wasn't worse than it was. I'm sure they are going to have a long road to recovery both physically and emotionally. We are sending lots of prayers and thoughts as a district hoping to help out any way we can."

Willis ISD made phone calls to parents Monday afternoon to explain the situation. Students are being addressed at WHS and Meador by principals individually or in a classroom setting that the assistant principals are safe and recovering.

The Velascos have been at Willis ISD for three years. They also have served at other school districts, including Conroe ISD, Tomball ISD, Huntsville ISD and Splendora ISD.

"They are both extremely dynamic personalities," Fails said. "They have been in education for many years. Collectively, they have a lot of experience, they bring a lot of talent to the table. They both are very positive and upbeat people--always smiling.

"They are both certainly missed right now. Everybody is just glad they are OK and we will get to see them again here soon."

While Ivan and Adriana Velasco were able to return home, Fails reflected on the life lost.

"People really want to hear some details, and I think the primary thing to remember is that they are OK and we did lose a life in that situation," Fails said. "Everybody should just be mindful of praying for the people impacted by it."

The Good Samaritans

Around 3:30 p.m. Sunday, two men entered Kay Jewelers in Rolling Oaks Mall and shot several people after trying to rob the store, according to San Antonio Express-News.

Jonathan Murphy, 42, was at the store with his wife Aimee to have their wedding rings cleaned. Murphy died from gunshot wounds suffered as the robbers left the store, according to the article, which stated officials said that two citizens intervened in the ("botched") robbery and one of the suspects was shot by one of those citizens, a man with a concealed carry license. Police have not released the identity of the other citizen who intervened.

Aimee Murphy said Monday that her husband Jonathan was not the one in possession of the firearm, San Antonio Express-News reported.

According to a GoFundMe page set up to rally funds for Murphy's family, "Jon, the protector, lost his life making sure nobody else did."

Suspects Arrested

Police identified Jose Luis Rojas, 34, as a second suspect at 10:50 a.m. Tuesday, according to an update from the the San Antonio Express-News.

"Rojas remains in critical condition at San Antonio Military Medical Center Tuesday morning after being shot several times during the robbery, and faces charges of capital murder and aggravated robbery," the article stated.

Late Sunday San Antonio Police Spokesman Douglas Greene reported Converse Police also arrested a 35-year-old man, Jason Matthew Prieto, believed to be the other robber who fled the mall, San Antonio Express-News reported.

"Prieto faces a charge of capital murder and two counts of aggravated robbery," the article stated. "He is being held on a $1.7 million bond."
A Houston physician was convicted in federal court Wednesday for his role in a $13 million fraudulent Medicare billing scheme involving hundreds of patients-for-hire.

Eight co-defendants - including the clinic director - had previously admitted to helping bill for unnecessary tests for the patients who were recruited and delivered to the clinic by marketers, according to participants' sworn testimony.

After hearing six days of evidence and arguments in the case, a federal jury convicted Dr. Faiz Ahmed, 64, of ordering hundreds of unnecessary EKGs and breathing tests as part of a conspiracy to defraud the government.

The doctor's lawyer, D. John Leger, said after the verdict that Ahmed was "extremely naive and his record doesn't suggest otherwise." Ahmed only worked at the clinic two days a week, his lawyer said, using an office in the back of the facility.

"He didn't have any interaction with patients until the nursing staff put their chart on the door," Leger said. "There was not any way of him knowing that they were paid patients."

Evidence presented at trial indicated Ahmed, who specialized in neurology, signed off on tests for 400 patients and let his staff bill Medicare using his physician number. Witnesses called by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Bradley and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Knutson told jurors that no patients had been referred to these clinics by other physicians, the office did not keep an appointment book and patients usually arrived at the clinic jointly with marketers.

But like other doctors swept up in these lucrative fraud schemes, Ahmed was not the mastermind behind the operation, prosecutors said.

That role was filled by Mkrtich "Mike" Yepremian, 59, of Houston, who ran a string of fake clinics in Houston and Conroe. In this instance, Yepremian hired marketers to deliver patients to the clinics and then he and others paid the patients to undergo unnecessary tests. He pleaded guilty March 4 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and paying kickbacks to marketers.

Others who pleaded guilty for their roles in the scam were Houston residents Bompa Mbokoso Mompiere, 57; Michael Wayne Wilson, 47; Jermaine Doleman, 39; Harding Dudley Ross, 62; Eric Johnson, 62; Ann Marie Rocha, 49; and Eddie Wayne Taylor, 57.

Yepremian paid marketers, including Wilson, Doleman, Johnson and Taylor, approximately $100 for each patient and the marketers paid the patients about $50 apiece.

All the defendants are scheduled for sentencing in April 6 before U.S. District Judge Gray Miller.
York is rolling out the welcome mat for everyone.

Mayor Kim Bracey, a Democrat, signed an executive order Tuesday declaring York a Welcome City, but the implications are more symbolic than they are an indication of change.

Bracey gathered a crowd of families, advocates and reporters at city hall essentially to tell immigrants they didnt need to be afraid of the police department. Policy-wise, nothings really changing.

That message is a welcome one for Remi Diaz.

Friends who are documented immigrants, the Dominican Republic native said, are afraid police will stop and arrest them for no reason.

We dont have to be hiding, he said after the mayors executive order. We dont have to be playing hide and seek with the police because we know police are going to do their job.

The police are here to protect and serve all residents, Bracey read from a prepared statement.

That was the point of the order announced in conjunction with advocacy group CASA. Its more or less a declaration that police are not immigration cops, that talking to them about a crime wont get them deported.

If people are afraid of being arrested theres an issue there that I need to speak out, Bracey said, and say, Please dont be afraid to talk to the police who are here to protect and serve and help you.

The Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center, based in York, commended Braceys declaration. The group provides legal help to immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking, PIRC says.

Sometimes immigrants are reluctant to report those kinds of crimes, the organization said in a news release following the order, when they think local police would refer them to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rather than work to remove perpetrators of violence from our communities.

While PIRC recognizes the right of the federal government to enforce immigration laws, the release states, we strongly believe immigrant survivors, their children, and the community are best served when local law enforcement resources are not deployed to identify the immigration status of individuals.

Bracey made clear her city also recognizes the rights of federal immigration enforcers; York is not a so-called sanctuary city  one that protects undocumented immigrants by not fully cooperating with federal authorities  she said.

Theyll still work with federal law enforcement. In terms of policy, nothing changes.

Nine-year-old Angello Salazar told the crowd Tuesday he hopes nothing else does, either. He came home crying recently after watching a video about Martin Luther King Jr. in school, he said.

It looked oddly familiar to him, and he was scared about his moms undocumented friends.

And she said, Well, its OK, because none of us will be deported from America just because of our new president and people that hate immigrants, Angello said.

Bracey did not say why she chose to do this now, only that its something shes been working on with CASA for a while.
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Crime Stoppers of Houston has boosted its reward to $7,500 for information on a man accused in the fatal shooting of a Houston ISD teaching assistant Dec. 19 in a Third Ward nightclub.

Untorio Jones, 39, died at the Dbar club after he was shot him several times during an argument, police said.

Three days after Christmas, prosecutors charged 27-year-old Mark Joshua Hall with the murder. Hall, who remains at large, is described as a 6-foot-3, 150-pound man with short black hair, brown eyes and a medium build.

FUGITIVE SOUGHT: Video: Man accused of elderly abuse in Memorial Villages

Hall used to live just around the corner from the club near Wheeler Avenue and Texas 288, according to public records. Court records show his most recent address was on Palm Street near Southmore and Scott.

Crime Stoppers increased its reward on Wednesday as family members pleaded for help finding the man accused of killing Jones, a special education teaching assistant whom a coworker remembered as having a "heart of gold."

Witnesses, including Jones' cousin ,described the shooter, police said in court documents. Surveillance video and images from a photographer at the club helped police identify Hall as the suspect.

PRISON LIFE: Jail holding 'El Chapo' called 'worse than Guantanamo'

The only charge that appears on Hall's criminal record is marijuana possession. He pleaded guilty in 2015 to possessing 2 ounces or less.

Bridgette Alford said she first met Jones around 2007 when they worked together at Westbury High School.

"He was a mentor and a role model and loved by everyone he met," Alford told the Chronicle last month.

Jones worked with students with autism at Westbury before teaching life skills and employment readiness at Jones High School, she said. He then moved to his most recent posting at Wisdom High School, the Houston ISD school known until this year as Lee High School.

LIFE ON THE RUN: Woman arrested in Houston 30 years after vanishing with kids

Jones was a role model for young men, Alford said. He would walk and talk with students who had emotional breakdowns. He worked to convince students that their circumstances would not dictate their futures.

Anyone with information about Hall's whereabouts can call 713-222-TIPS (8477) or submit online at www.crime-stoppers.org. Tips can also be submitted via text message by texting "TIP610" plus the information to CRIMES (274637). All tipsters remain anonymous.

>>>Click through the gallery to see fugitives wanted in Houston.
City Council unanimously signed off on a plan Wednesday to borrow $46 million from the Texas Water Development Board to accelerate work on the long-delayed Brays Bayou flood mitigation project.

Under the deal, the city would give the cash to the Harris County Flood Control District to hasten southwest Houston's Project Brays, to later be reimbursed with federal funds.
MEXICO CITY -- As Mexico's foreign minister was flying toward Washington on Tuesday for his first visit with the new administration, news broke that President Donald Trump, the very next day, planned to order construction of a giant wall across the Mexican border.

The outrage in Mexico was swift and emphatic. Trump's wall project has been widely condemned here since he announced it during his campaign. But many saw the timing of Trump's presidential action as an added insult -- with top Mexican officials in town and with President Enrique Pena Nieto scheduled to visit next week.

Former officials and top Mexican politicians across the political spectrum demanded that Pena Nieto cancel his visit with Trump after what many considered a slap in the face. Mexican news media was reporting Wednesday afternoon that Pena Nieto would indeed cancel, but spokesmen for the president's office and the foreign ministry would not immediately confirm that.

"The welcome that the Mexican government envoys are receiving is slamming in the door on their noses," Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, a former presidential candidate, said in a statement. "It seems to me that the least that could be done in these conditions is to not attend, to cancel the visit to the United States as a matter of dignity for Mexico."

Former foreign minister Jorge Castaneda said in an interview that if Pena Nieto doesn't cancel the meeting, "he runs a risk of having a new slap in the face, or being under such enormous pressure from public opinion in Mexico to stand up to Trump after today's insults, that he's going to have to be unpleasant and he's going to have to be macho and he's going to have to be strident."

"And first of all he doesn't know how to do any of that," Castaneda added. "He's just not very good at it. And second of all, that's not conducive to a productive visit."

Without the full State Department structure in place, Castaneda added, Pena Nieto would have been "doing it without a net. It was precipitated. It was premature."

Margarita Zavala, a likely presidential candidate and the wife of former President Felipe Calderon, wrote on Twitter that Trump's announcement was an "offense to Mexico."

Foreign minister Luis Videgaray, who was recently appointed in part because of his relationship with Trump's team and his skills as a negotiator, was still in Washington on Wednesday, Mexican officials said. But it was unclear if he planned to stay.

"Given the announcement about the wall, the visit of [Videgaray] today only makes sense as a way to announce that there will be no meeting" between Pena Nieto and Trump on Jan. 31, wrote Roberto Gil Zuarth, a Mexican senator from the National Action Party, on Twitter.

Another senator from the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, described Trump's announcement as an "act of hostility and emnity" and that Pena Nieto should call off his trip.
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Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced plans to "jumpstart construction" of his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall, the Associated Press reported.

That proposal, along with promises that Mexico would pay for the wall, was one of his 2016 campaign promises that riled many on both sides of the political aisle.

UH-OH: Donald Trump may have some problems with 'sanctuary cities'

The border between the U.S. and Mexico stretches for 1,989-miles, from the Gulf of Mexico in the east, to the Pacific Ocean in the west.

Along the way it intersects the Colorado and Rio Grande rivers, crosses through twin border cities, contains portions of the Chihuahan and Sonoran deserts and forms the boundary of Big Bend National Park.

LOOKING BACK: Maps show how Texas' borders have changed since the start

On that note, critics of Trump's proposal argue the sheer vastness of the area and the potential resource cost should cause anyone to shy away from the idea. Couple that with the president's silence on just how Mexico will contribute to the structure, the border wall will be a major challenge.



To get a better idea of what the border actually looks like check out the gallery above.
Years from now, when explorers first colonize Mars, they may be given credit for being the first settlers -- but that wouldn't be fair our robotic friends that spend their entire life (and death) on the Red Planet.

This week, NASA's Opportunity rover completes 13 years on Mars. The 400 pound robot has been active on the planet since January 25, 2004.
Kim Hartzell was a little concerned as her birthday approached.

Shes part of a group of friends that do crazy things to each other when one has a milestone birthday, and Hartzell was on the verge of her 60th.

I was nervous about what it could be because you never know, she said.

Tuesday evening, Hartzell was greeted by a flash mob dancing to Pharrells Happy at The Point at Carlisle Plaza. When the music played and the dancing started, people peeked out from nearby stores and mall walkers stopped in their tracks to watch the spectacle. Some in the crowd carried signs while others blew on horns.

Sporting a boa and tiara, Hartzell laughed and greeted the dancers.

The event was organized by Hartzells sister, Roxy Duncan, who said the idea came up over glasses of wine while visiting a friend in Arizona. They needed to come up with something good for Hartzells birthday to pay her back for some things shes done, Duncan said.

Duncan organized the event for her sister with a combination of Facebook invites, scrolling through her phone contacts and mentioning it to the people in her Zumba class. On top of that, she told them to invite others.

It just kind of exploded that way, Duncan said.

But, Hartzell almost had the last laugh by showing up earlier than expected.

Still, the mob pulled off their surprise.

I enjoyed it, Hartzell said.
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.
A feasibility study committee recommends Mechanicsburg Area School District reconfigure its elementary grades.

The Mechanicsburg Area School Board received the report and final recommendation Tuesday night. The school board authorized the study in June 2015 in response to the districts growing enrollment, which numbers 4,023 this year, a jump of nearly 330 students since 2005-06 and nearly 170 since last year, Assistant Superintendent Alan Vandrew said on Tuesday.

By 2025, the districts enrollment is predicted to reach 4,143 students.

Were the fastest growing county in Pennsylvania. We have to do something for our students to make sure we have the facilities available for education in our community, Superintendent Mark Leidy told the school board on Tuesday. Were not going to please everyone with this and solve every problem, but we have to do something. Weve got to keep moving forward. We cant get hung up on this.

After the feasibility study was completed by architects Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates in early 2016, an 18-member committee of district and building administrators and PTO representatives met on a monthly basis beginning in May to discuss results and develop a final recommendation for the school board.

The details

The committee has recommended that the Kindergarten Academys configuration remain the same. District students in grades 1 through 3 would be spread between Broad Street Elementary School, Northside Elementary School and Upper Allen Elementary School.

All district students in grades 4 and 5 would attend Elmwood Elementary School. District offices would then be relocated from the Elmwood building to the Shepherdstown Elementary School building.

No new buildings are being proposed, but some would be expanded. All existing buildings would be renovated. Although the high school and middle school are running under capacity, those building need renovations because theyre not fully adapted to the needs of 21st-century education, officials said.

If the proposal is approved by the school board at its Feb. 14 meeting, officials said it would take five years to fully implement. Leidy said that if approved then, nothing happens to the placement of students until the 2018-19 school year. Very early estimates place the total cost of the proposal between $55 million to $60 million, he said.

Theres lots of decisions that need to be done first before total costs are finalized, Leidy added.

Transportation

One undecided element is how relocated students will be transported to school, officials said. The committee has recommended that the district hire a transportation consultant if the school board accepts the proposal next month.

School board member Layne Lebo and vice president John Rupp said theyd heard from several residents who are concerned about how transportation changes would affect their children.

I struggle to make a decision about this without any information about transportation. Thats the issue we should have a little more information about. I think parents have a legitimate concern about how their children are getting to and from school and whats their involvement, Rupp said.

Board president Dawn Merris said the school board previously made a decision to relocate all district kindergarten students to the Kindergarten Academy at Filbert Street before transportation arrangements were in place.

Thats not a reason to stop moving forward, Merris said, reiterating a comment Leidy made earlier on Tuesday, Weve got to keep moving forward.
Oceanfront homeowners in the wealthy Bay Head, N.J., shore enclave have so little faith in the governments ability to protect them from catastrophic storms that theyve spent $5 million of their own money on boulders placed between their homes and the ocean.

Members of the group, which includes a national Republican fundraising powerhouse, wants a judge to exempt them from a plan by Republican Gov. Chris Christie to erect protective sand dunes along New Jerseys entire 127-mile coastline. Their homes lie in an area that was devastated by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

But they claim that parts of the town that had a rock wall underneath the sand fared better than those that didnt. And they are deeply skeptical of the ability and willingness of the federal and state governments to pay to maintain the dunes for the next 50 years.

On Feb. 6, they will go before the same Superior Court Judge who has already ruled in favor of Christies administration. Judge Marlene Lynch Ford ruled last year that the state Department of Environmental Protection has the legal right to use eminent domain proceedings to seize strips of land from oceanfront homeowners who dont voluntarily sign easements allowing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to carry out the work on their land.

The homeowners want her to allow them to opt out of the project, asserting that what they have done privately offers as much protection, if not more, than what the government proposes.

We already have sand twice as big as what they say we need, with rocks underneath it, said Thacher Brown, a leader of the group. He estimated about 18 homeowners paid for the bulk of the rock wall, but noted that more than 100 residents contributed to it, including those who dont live on the ocean.

Im a firm believer that no rational, intelligent person can look at the two options  a big pile of rocks and a big pile of sand  and not see that ours is better, said resident Bob Hein.

The dunes would be built in addition to the rock wall, which would remain in place. That would require giving up an additional slice of privately owned beach.

In other places along the shore, property owners also oppose the dunes because they will block oceanfront views. But Bay Head residents downplay such concerns; Brown said he already cannot see the ocean from his first floor because of sand atop his own rock wall.

While the rock wall protected some Bay Head homes during Sandy, others that sat behind it still sustained catastrophic damage. The residents say damage to those homes would have been even worse without the rock underpinning to sand dunes during the storm.

Our engineer says our system is better than what the DEP and the Army Corps propose, and we intend to prove that, said Anthony DellaPelle, an attorney for the homeowners. The litigation involves about 50 homeowners in Bay Head, as well as neighboring Point Pleasant Beach and Mantoloking.

DEP spokesman Bob Considine said the best storm protection involves sand dunes with a replenished beach.

Even after a moderate noreaster, there is no beach in Bay Head, he said. Theres just ocean beating up against a rock wall. What makes for better protection is an engineered beach and dune system in front of it.

Lawrence Bathgate II was the national Republican finance chairman under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and raised money for both of George W. Bushs presidential campaigns and Jeb Bushs 2016 primary campaign.

Were not asking the government to do anything, he said. We paid for this out of our own pockets.

Bathgate said he and his neighbors each pay between $1,000 and $1,500 two to three times a year to hire bulldozers to push sand back up onto the rock barrier. It is an expense they say they will gladly fund rather than relying on Congress to allocate money for beach replenishment or storm repairs for the 50-year life of the project; it will need touch-ups as frequently as every four years. They also worry they wont be permitted to maintain the dunes behind their individual homes.

Its going to wash away, and the money isnt going to be there to replace it, Bathgate said.

Hein articulated the feeling of many here that the project would be a waste of public money where its not needed.

We dont need any help, he said. Its a wonderful town; dont screw it up. This is a horribly stupid idea.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A judge has dismissed claims against Snapchat that blamed the social media companys speed filter for a highway crash. The judge said the Communications Decency Act provides the social media company with immunity.

Snapchat attorney Mark Trigg told The Associated Press Monday in an emailed statement that the the judges ruling in this case is precedent setting for the entire mobile app and product industry.

A loss for Snapchat would have been dangerous, opening a floodgate of lawsuits for everyone from cell phone manufacturers to billboard advertisers to makeup brands  virtually anyone that can potentially cause a distraction from driving. Snapchats win instead diverts blame from these companies and requires responsible use of these technologies by the driver, Trigg wrote.

Wentworth and Karen Maynard sued Snapchat and the driver, Christal McGee, in April, saying McGee was trying to reach 100 mph on a highway south of Atlanta when her car hit theirs, sending it across the left lane and into an embankment. The collision in September 2015 left Wentworth Maynard with brain damage.

The dismissal by Spalding County State Court Judge Josh Thacker on Friday leaves pending the claims against McGee, who allegedly hit them while using a Snapchat filter that puts the rate at which a vehicle is traveling over an image.

We disagree with the Judges ruling that the Communications Decency Act provides Snapchat with complete immunity for its negligent actions, Naveen Ramachandrappa, a lawyer for the Maynards, wrote in an email. He added that they are considering an appeal.

The judge found that the claims against Snapchat were barred by the immunity clause of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which says, No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

A key question is whether Snapchat had a legal duty because Wentworths injury was predictable, given that other users are alleged to have had wrecks while using the speed filter, and therefore should have removed or restricted access to the filter once it found out about those crashes, the judge wrote.

That duty would stem from Snapchats status as a publisher, and the law grants immunity on those grounds, the judge wrote.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The California Supreme Court on Monday upheld a state regulation that aims to give homeowners a more accurate insurance quote for replacing homes destroyed or damaged in wildfires.

The states insurance commissioner had the power to issue the 2011 regulation, a unanimous court said, rejecting a legal challenge by The Association of California Insurance Companies that argued that the commissioner exceeded his authority granted by the state Legislature.

The association is challenging the regulation on two other legal fronts that the California Supreme Court did not address, so the regulation still faces possible invalidation.

Association President Mark Sektnan said in a statement the commissioner had overreached, and the courts opinion does not accurately reflect the Legislatures intent.

He was joined in the statement by Kara Cross, general counsel of the Personal Insurance Federation of California.

The regulation requires insurers to include costs such as demolition and debris removal when providing homeowners with estimates of how much it would cost to replace their homes.

It came after complaints that homes destroyed in wildfires were underinsured  sometimes by hundreds of thousands of dollars each  because insurers had not presented complete replacement costs.

Insurers were accused of purposely underestimating those costs to provide artificially low premiums.

The California Supreme Court said state law gives the insurance commissioner broad authority to create rules and regulations to carry out the prohibition on untrue, deceptive or misleading insurance statements. The ruling overturned lower court decisions.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Union Cabinet approves ratification of the Second Commitment Period of Kyoto Protocol

Published: January 25, 2017

The Union Cabinet has given its approval to ratify the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol on containing the emission of Green House Gases (GHGs).

The second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 2012 and is set to expire in 2020. So far, 75 countries have ratified the Second Commitment Period.

Significance

This decision is considered as token measure to put pressure on developed countries to deliver on climate change commitments.

It further underlines Indias leadership in the comity of countries committed to global cause of environmental protection and climate justice.

Indias ratification of the Kyoto Protocol will encourage other developing countries also to undertake this exercise.

It will attract some investments in implementation of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects under this commitment period in accordance with Sustainable Development priorities.

About Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 to fight global warming by reducing GHGs emission and came into effect in 2005. The 1st commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol was from 2008-2012.

The 2nd commitment period for the period 2013- 2020 was adopted in 2012 by the Doha Amendment of the Kyoto Protocol.

The protocol is based on principle of Equity and Common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR) .

. It places obligations on developed nations to undertake mitigation targets to reduce emissions by 5.2% of 1990 levels during 2008-2012 period) and provide financial resources and technology to developing nations.

Developing countries like India have no mandatory mitigation obligations or targets under the Kyoto Protocol.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2017

Topics: Cabinet Decisions  Climate change  Environment  GHGs  Kyoto Protocol  National  Second Commitment Period

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Union Government releases National Action Plan for Children, 2016

Published: January 25, 2017

The Union Ministry of Women & Child Development (WCD) has released National Action Plan for Children (NPAC), 2016 on the occasion of National Girl Child Day (24th January).

It was released by Union Minister of Women & Child Development Meneka Sanjay Gandhi in New Delhi. The NPAC has been developed by the Ministry of WCD.

Features of NPAC, 2016

The Action Plan has four key priority areas. They are survival, health and nutrition ; education and development ; participation and protection.

; ; It defines objectives, sub-objectives, strategies, action points and indicators for measuring progress under the four key priority areas. It also identifies key stakeholders for the implementation of different strategies.

It puts focus on new and emerging concerns for children such as children affected by natural and man-made disasters, climate change and online child abuse etc.

Its strategies and action points largely draw upon the existing programmes and schemes of various Ministries and Departments.

It takes into account the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provides a roadmap towards achieving them though co-ordination and convergence with different stakeholders.

Background

The National Action Plan for Children (NPAC), 2016 was prepared as per the mandate of the National Policy for Children (2013). The policy provides for formation of a National Co-ordination and Action Group (NCAG) under the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development for coordinating and implementation of the plan and monitor the progress with other Ministries concerned as its members.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2017

Topics: Government Policies  Ministry of Women and Child Development  National  National Action Plan for Children

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on January 5, 2017, in New York City.

Check out which companies are making headlines after the bell on Tuesday:

Shares of Cree spiked nearly 5 percent in after-hours trading following the release of the LED light producer's second quarter earnings report. Cree reported earnings of 20 cents per share on revenue of $347 million, versus Wall Street expectations for 10 cents per share on sales of $325 million according to a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate.



Seagate shares soared more than 14 percent during extended trading after the data technology company posted third quarter earnings that blew through analyst projections. Seagate reported earnings of $1.38 per share on revenue of $2.89 billion while analysts projected earnings of $1.08 per share on revenue of $2.82 billion according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates.

Shares of Allergan dropped 2 percent in after-hours trading. Allergan is one of two drug companies (Endo being the other) that the Federal Trade Commission re-filed complaints Monday over generic drug delays.

Bob Evans shares spiked more than 16 percent during extended hours after the restaurant company announced that it would sell its restaurants to private equity firm Golden Gate Capital for $565 million and change its focus to grocery sales. Bob Evans also said it has agreed to purchase Pinelands Farm Potato Company for $115 million.

Shares of rose nearly 3 percent in after-hours trading following an announcement that that will acquire a Permian Basin crude oil gathering system from the natural gas and oil company for $1.2 billion. CEO Tim Leach says the sale "provide further optionality to redeploy capital into our drilling program, fund future acquisitions and reduce long-term debt."
One of Japan's largest hotel chains sparked an angry backlash from China after placing a book in guest rooms which claimed the infamous 1937 Nanjing Massacre committed by Japanese troops was a "fabrication."

China's tourism authority has called for a boycott of a Japanese hotel chain just days before the week-long Lunar New Year break after the hospitality group denied the 1937 Nanking Massacre and refused to withdraw a book placed in its rooms with its version, triggering a furor in the world's second largest economy and imperiling tourism flows to Japan.

Writing under the pen name Seiji Fuji, Tokyo-based hotel and real estate developer APA Group president Toshio Motoya said that stories of the Nanjing massacre were "impossible": "These acts were all said to be committed by the Japanese army, but this is not true," he wrote.

The book in Japanese and English is placed in APA hotel rooms across the chain's 400 establishments and Motoya has refused to pull them out even amid Chinese anger, triggering calls to boycott the hotel in the last week since the issue surfaced.

In a statement available on its Chinese language website on Tuesday, the China National Tourism Administration's spokesman Zhang Lizhong said APA's approach was a "blatant provocation of Chinese tourists".

"We call on Chinese groups and the many tourists who visit Japan to resist APA's wrong approach and avoid spending money at this hotel," he said.
Authorities in China have tightened their grip on internet use in the country through a 14-month long campaign that will target the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) and other "illegal" internet practices.

An advisory on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology website published on Jan. 22 stated that the campaign aimed at "cleaning up" the internet would last till Mar. 31, 2018. The release also stated that the campaign would strengthen the network information security and encourage the "healthy" development of the industry.

As part of the campaign, locally-based VPN providers need to be approved by the authorities before they can continue business or risk operating illegally. Data centers, internet service providers and content distribution networks will also have to comply with the rules.

VPNs are frequently used in China to access sites such as Facebook and YouTube that are blocked by authorities. The regulation of the internet in China is carried out through measures that are collectively known as the Great Firewall, which censor and criminalize sensitive material on the internet.

In the Freedom on the Net report published by Freedom House in 2015, China placed last in an index measuring internet freedom around the world.
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President Trump attempted to fast track the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines on Tuesday, proving to Jim Cramer that this will be the most pro-petroleum administration in American history. However, that doesn't mean the price of oil is about to skyrocket. "While the oil producers will definitely benefit from deregulation and the approval of new pipelines, the actual outlook for the price of oil is more murky," the "Mad Money" host said. Ultimately, Cramer likes oil stocks in this environment, but warned that investors need to believe they can do well, even if crude stalls out. His top pick was Magellan Midstream Partners . "This is still one more reason why I think the pipelines are the best way to play the oil patch," Cramer said.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Cramer also found five themes that can continue to roar higher and rebuke even the biggest doubters of the rally. They were housing, earnings, deregulation, higher oil, higher rates and the strength in materials stocks. "Aside from the deregulation component, most of this rally would have occurred regardless of Trump's initiatives, which means this move might be a lot more sustainable than the doubters would have you believe," he said. D.R. Horton reported strong earnings on Tuesday and confirmed orders were up 15 percent. This matters because mortgage rates went up this quarter too. Typically when rates go up, housing gets hit. Instead, the largest homebuilder had a surprisingly strong level of confidence. Horton even said better employment will lead to better housing demand.

Shares of medical device maker ResMed soared more than 9 percent on Tuesday after reporting a strong quarter, with revenues up 16.7 percent year-over-year. ResMed sells products to combat sleep apnea and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It makes continuous positive airway pressure machines  known as CPAP machines  that help people with sleep apnea not gasp for air when they sleep. Cramer spoke with ResMed's CEO Mick Farrell, who said the company intends to use data from more than 1 billion nights of sleep for patients to create actionable information that patients can use to manage their own care, physicians can use to help patients and insurance companies and governments can use for population health management. "The opportunities are boundless in what we can do with this," Farrell said.





Employees install electric batteries on a Ford Motor Co. C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid vehicle on the production line at the company's assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan. Jeff Kowalsky | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Former Republican U.S. presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz speaks during the third night of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Ted Poe reintroduced a controversial bill that allows governors to bar refugees from entering their state, The Hill reported.

The bill, entitled "The State Refugee Security Act," was initially introduced last year, The Hill Reported on Tuesday. It would require federal authorities to notify a state 21 days before settling a refugee there, during which the governor can request "adequate assurance" that the refugee is not a security threat. If the federal authorities can not provide this, the refugee will not be able to settle in the state.

"The first obligation of the president is to keep this country safe as commander in chief," Cruz said in a statement to The Hill. "I am encouraged that, unlike the previous administration, one of President Trump's top priorities is to defeat radical Islamic terrorism."

The act echoes the sentiment of President Donald Trump's plan to bar Muslims from entering the United States. While he proposed this plan during the primaries, it is unclear at this time if he still supports it.

Click here to read the full story from The Hill.
Earlier today, President Trump signed executive orders to advance construction of the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines, a project that was blocked by Barack Obama.

While environmentalists oppose the project, manufacturing and construction companies responded optimistically to the pipeline plans.

"I think the president is doing exactly what he said he was going to do, and that is putting Americans back to work," David Seaton, CEO of Fluor , a Texas-based engineering and manufacturing company, told CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Tuesday. "I think from a manufacturing perspective, when you break these projects down, whatever the value is, about 30 percent is going to be manufactured. And it's great that it's going to be manufactured in the United States."

That 30 percent ratio includes materials for the pipelines, manufactured products and machines. While Seaton looks forward to more U.S. workers going back to work, the CEO acknowledged that dealing with technology may need to be included in the skill set.

"I think in terms of capability, I would argue one point, and that is we don't do anything the way we did the old ways," Seaton said. "There's new technologies and there's new capabilities. But there certainly is the capability existing in the United States to produce pipe material and other things that would be used in this pipeline. So I think it's just a matter of retooling the system for the capacities that's going to be required to actually put that pipe in the ground."

However, despite possibly having to close the technology learning curve, Seaton remains optimistic for the future of manufacturing and providing jobs for U.S. workers.

"I think the good part is we got a little bit of lead time in order to provide that training and those opportunities for people," Seaton said. "I'm just excited that the United States is putting together policies that are going to put these people back to work. I think there's going to be a little bit of a shortage as we begin the process of building a lot of this infrastructure in the United States. But I've got great confidence in the workforce in the United States to rise to the occasion."
A member of security gestures near tarpaulin-covered armoured vehicles belonging to the Singapore military at a customs and excise facility in Hong Kong on November 25, 2016.

Hong Kong will release Singapore's armored vehicles impounded and detained in the Chinese-ruled territory during shipment from Taiwan following military exercises there, the city-state said on Tuesday.

In a statement, Singapore's foreign affairs ministry said Hong Kong authorities would release the Singapore Armed Forces' troop carriers and other equipment to the Singapore government.

The notification came in a reply by Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to a letter from Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, it added.

"This is a positive outcome," the Singapore foreign ministry said. "Prime Minister Lee has replied to Chief Executive Leung to thank him for Hong Kong's cooperation in resolving this matter."

Hong Kong customs seized the troop carriers in November as they were being shipped to Singapore from Taiwan after military exercises on the island that Beijing regards as a breakaway province, sparking tension between Singapore and China.

Beijing, which regained sovereignty over the former British colony of Hong Kong in 1997, then warned countries against maintaining military ties with Taiwan.

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Newly installed U.S. President Donald Trump has been encouraging companies across the world to build factories stateside in an attempt to increase American jobs. Samsonite , the world's largest travel luggage firm, may be one of them.

The Hong Kong-based firm was founded in Denver, Colorado but shuttered its manufacturing plant there back in 2001 due to profitability reasons. But the brand could soon return to its roots, global CEO Ramesh Tainwala told CNBC on Wednesday.

"We get guided by where the bulk of our business is being done. Today, with 40 percent of our sales happening in the U.S., we would not hesitate to look at the possibility of manufacturing in the U.S.," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Samsonite, which acquired rival Tumi Holdings for roughly $1.8 billion last year, makes the bulk of its suitcases in Europe and India; it also regularly outsources production to China and Vietnam.
U.S. President Donald Trump sits after signing one of five executive orders on Jan. 24, 2017. Shawn Thew | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Donald Trump holds the most powerful office in the world. But he's dogged by insecurity over his loss of the popular vote in the election and a persistent frustration that the legitimacy of his presidency is being challenged by Democrats and the media, aides and associates say. Trump's fixation has been a drag on the momentum of his opening days in office, with his exaggerations about inauguration crowds and false assertions about illegal balloting intruding on advisers' plans to launch his presidency with a flurry of actions on the economy. His spokesman Sean Spicer has twice stepped into the fray himself, including on Tuesday, when he doubled down on Trump's false claim that he lost the popular vote because 3 million to 5 million people living in the U.S. illegally cast ballots. "He believes what he believes based on the information he was provided," said Spicer, who provided no evidence to back up the president's statements. All 50 states and the District of Columbia have finalized their election results with no reports of the kind of widespread fraud that Trump is alleging. If the president's claim were true it would mark the most significant election fraud in U.S. history  and ironically, would raise the same questions about Trump's legitimacy that he's trying to avoid. Yet Spicer repeatedly sidestepped questions about whether the Trump administration would investigate the allegations pushed by the president. "Anything is possible," he said.

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Some Trump allies say Trump is justified in using his platform to defend his standing. They point to Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis' pre-inauguration statement that he did not see Trump as a legitimate president, as well as U.S. intelligence agencies' assessment that Russia meddled in the election in order to help Trump win.

"Segments of his own government keep driving this narrative," said Roger Stone, a longtime confidant. "I don't think it hurts to point it out." Key advisers in Trump's circle concede the focus on crowd claims and alleged voter fraud have been a distraction. But who's going to stop him from airing his complaints? After relishing in Friday's inaugural festivities, the new president grew increasingly upset the next day by what he felt was "biased" media coverage of women's marches across the globe protesting his election, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Trump was particularly enraged with CNN, which he thought was "gloating" by continually running photos of the women's march alongside the smaller crowds that attended his inauguration the day before, according to this person, one of several White House aides and associates who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. Trump has had a tumultuous relationship with the press, frequently calling the media dishonest and insulting individual reporters by name at his rallies and on Twitter. Still, two people close to Trump said he expected his coverage to turn more favorable once he took office. Instead, he's told people he believes it's gotten worse. The bad press over the weekend has not allowed Trump to "enjoy" the White House as he feels he deserves, according to one person who has spoken with him. The result has been a full display of Trump's propensity for exaggeration and more. During an appearance at the CIA Saturday, he wrongly said the inaugural crowds gathered on the National Mall stretched to the Washington Monument, despite clear photo evidence to the contrary. And during a reception with lawmakers from both parties Monday night, he repeated his false assertion that millions of illegal immigrants provided Hillary Clinton's margin in the popular vote.

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However, if the president only goes after domestic automakers then these companies will be at a disadvantage to the foreign competition who can build cars in places like Mexico. Cramer feared American auto companies could become losers.

President Trump met with major automaker CEOs on Tuesday to urge them to build more plants domestically, saying these plants could ignite economically depressed towns and spur manufacturing in the U.S.

"You can't have your protectionist cake and eat it, too. Meaning, when it comes to trade policy there is no scenario where everyone is a winner," the " Mad Money " host said.

Jim Cramer has been a skeptic of the value of unlimited trade for a very, very long time, but says he won't recommend Ford or General Motors if they close their foreign plants.

Employees install electric batteries on a Ford Motor Co. C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid vehicle on the production line at the company's assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan.

"There is already too much capacity, so this is a sucker's game for all the auto manufacturers in the room. The next targets need to be the foreign car companies  which spend billions in Mexico to take advantage of the ridiculous currency differential," Cramer said.

Trade issues are all about trade-offs, Cramer said. When a tariff is put on foreign goods, like the one President Obama introduced to Chinese companies dumping steel, then U.S. steelmakers get an earnings boost.

At the same time, the buyers of that steel will have to raise prices and make their goods more expensive. Unless competitive imports are shut off or have a tariff put on them, buyers of the product could be hurt versus overseas competitors.

While Cramer did not dispute the idea of putting more people to work in America, he couldn't ignore the gains that come from free trade. It means cheaper goods for everyone.

"I'm not picking sides here. I am saying there is no free lunch in this business. As a stock guy  not an ideologue  I can tell you that I simply cannot recommend Ford or GM  if they are going to have to close plants in Canada and Mexico and bring back those jobs to America," Cramer said.

This is especially the case if their foreign competitors continue to build cars in places like Mexico.

However, if U.S. companies get the big tax breaks that Trump wants and can repatriate overseas money and have less regulation, then Cramer recommended owning the stocks.

"Right now, Ford and GM are in a no-win situation that could severely impact the affordability of their cars versus those foreign automakers that weren't around the table today," Cramer said.

Cramer wants to buy American, but he also wants American companies to be able to sell American. He questioned how this could be possible for companies with "one hand tied behind their back."
"(Cloud computing) is a relatively new sector in China so there are many players trying to get in early to grab market share so inevitably, you see competition heat up pretty quickly," Li said, "That's why the cloud business, although it's only been in operation for a couple of years, you already see pricing pressure."

For starters, the company is likely to meet with fierce competition in its attempt to shift away from being a pure play e-commerce company to focus on cloud computing. The cloud computing space in China has seen intensified competition in recent years as internet companies like Baidu and Tencent stake their claims in the data management space.

As Alibaba takes the leap away from being a pure play e-commerce company into the cloud computing space, the road ahead might not be smooth sailing, according to experts.

For Li, it remains to be seen if Alibaba will be as successful in the cloud as it has been in e-commerce. "I think people are happy that Chinese consumers are still spending in the e-commerce sector but they are waiting to see how (Alibaba's) other businesses, such as cloud computing, will play out. I think it's too early to say," Li said.

Another problem that weighs on Alibaba has been its problem with the counterfeit goods sold on its e-commerce platforms. In December last year, the U.S. Trade Representative office placed the company's C2C platform, Taobao, on a blacklist that reflected the names of companies that sold counterfeit goods.

This has not negatively affected consumer perceptions of shopping on Alibaba's e-commerce platforms, which saw gross merchandise volumes for its Singles' Day shopping event increase by higher than 32 percent on year to reach $17.8 billion. However, this dents the company's reputation among brand merchants and could potentially be a stumbling block for overseas expansion.

In its Jan. 25, 2017 report on Alibaba's earnings from the last quarter, Maybank Kim Eng Securities noted that counterfeit products were a downside risk for the company's shares as they could lose global brand share to e-commerce rival JD.com . In addition, the report also stated that "unexpected regulatory changes" over the issue of fake goods and intellectual property could impact the company negatively.

In addition, while Alibaba has taken action against fake goods that are being sold on its websites, some analysts say that this is too little too late. "The numbers speak for themselves. They've removed so many millions of listings (of counterfeit products) but the problem is still rampant," said Bharat Kapoor, COO at Strategic IP Information.

"Very little has been done on the ground," Kapoor said. To remedy the situation, he said that companies should be given more power when it comes to removing counterfeit products under their brand name on Alibaba marketplaces.

"The complaint filing process on Alibaba is so complex. There are some 30 sub codes that you have to use to file a complaint for each listing on Taobao and you have to justify that a particular product is fake. This is not something that is required for any other marketplace," Kapoor said.

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Luke MacGregor | Bloomberg via Getty Images

Several U.K. based banks are poised to announce at least part of their business operations are being moved from London to another European city, with countries on the continent scrambling to attract top financial officials.





London's lenders are reportedly meeting various supervisors to explore the pros and cons of moving parts of its business, or indeed headquarters, to other European cities. City banks are seeking to maintain their services throughout the bloc post-Brexit.

"It is tricky to know for sure how many jobs will move or whether it is just lenders putting political pressure on the government but I do expect banks to downsize as a result of (quitting London)," Claus Vistesen, chief Eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics told CNBC, in a phone interview on Wednesday.

"These types of things always invite businesses to assess their staffing levels and I expect more cost-cutting throughout the relocation process. It will be up to each individual bank to decide which city is most attractive for them though of course" he added.

Banks are expected to finalize their decision in the first half of the year although the likelihood of one major European city securing the lion share of banking services from the U.K. is improbable, according to Andreas Dombret, a top official at Germany's central bank.

Netherlands - Amsterdam

The Dutch capital city has attracted an impressive array of technological companies including Netlfix , Tesla and Uber. Amsterdam can also boast European inter-connectivity as an attractive asset for banks looking to relocate.

However, the Netherlands could be disadvantaged by its cap of up to 20 percent on banker bonuses which is dramatically lower than the European Union's (EU) imposed limit of 100 percent.

Germany - Frankfurt

Frankfurt is relatively small in size with a reasonably unexciting reputation as a city yet Angela Merkel's financial powerhouse could be strengthened even further should lenders opt to move its business operations to Germany.

"Frankfurt is already somewhat of a financial hub with the European Central Bank (ECB) and the euro flows for example so it could play a key role which could be emphasized even further," Vistesen said.

Ireland - Dublin

The obvious attraction for Dublin is the fact it is an English speaking city. Other European cities cannot offer the global language of business as its mother tongue and Vistesen argued this concept alone is a "big plus".

Despite the language plus point, limited transport links to the rest of the world and relatively high property prices in the city could prove too much of a barrier to city bankers.

Spain - Madrid

A unique selling point for Madrid and Spain as a potential hot spot for London lenders could be its access to emerging Latin American (Latam) economies.

However, overwhelmingly hot weather during the summer months and lackluster English-speaking skills in comparison to the rest of Europe may be problematic.

France - Paris
Since Oct. 14, 2009  when the Dow index first closed above 10,000 after the financial crisis  to Wednesday's 20,000 milestone, Apple has been one of the best performing tech stocks, with a gain of more than 330 percent.



Pull the timeline back longer, and Apple's performance is even more impressive: Since March 29, 1999  the first time the Dow closed above 10,000  the stock has skyrocketed more than 9,000 percent as the company capitalized on the historic success of the iPhone.



Apple is by far the best performer among the blue chips over that time frame, though it's important to note that the stock was not included in the index until March 2015.



However, investors make money by placing smart bets on how companies will perform in the future. And there, Apple remains a source of intense debate on the Street.

Investors and analysts are divided on the prospects for Apple's best-selling product: the iPhone, which still accounts for more than 60 percent of the company's revenue.

Skeptics argue that the smartphone market is saturated, and all consumers who want smartphones already own them. This year, global smartphone shipments are expected to reach 1.45 billion units with a year-over-year growth rate of just 0.6 percent, according to research firm IDC.

In Apple's most recent quarterly report, it said it sold 45.5 million iPhones, or 2.5 million less than a year earlier.



Bears argue that the best days for this iconic product are now behind it, and the iPhone franchise will suffer due to a lack of innovation.

"There was a wonderful period when people rotated to buying smartphones instead of cellphones and smartphone growth exploded," BGC's Colin Gillis, who rates Apple a sell, told CNBC. "But similar to PCs, the speeds and capabilities are becoming adequate."



Gillis lists other reasons for concern: He questions if the company's business in China will meaningfully rebound; whether its services such as the App Store and Apple Music will meaningfully drive earnings; and how strong demand will really prove for the 10th anniversary iPhone expected next year.

Bulls counter that such skepticism is overdone.
"Due to the fact that wearable devices are typically worn on a body part of a user, there may be limited space available for functional components of the wearable device. Further, wearable devices are not usually expandable beyond their initial design to meet functional needs of individual different users," Apple said in the patent.

Apple explains the rationale behind such an idea in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filing , first reported by Apple Insider late Tuesday, suggesting that it can change the function of the wearable device even after it has been purchased.

The U.S. technology giant imagines a traditional-style metal watch band where links can be taken out and changed.

Apple has been awarded a patent for an Apple Watch with a "modular" metal band whose links can be replaced with anything from new batteries to sensors.

The modular components that could be added or replaced to the wristband include batteries, haptic devices that provide a sensation to the user, displays, photovoltaic cells, cameras, GPS sensors, speakers, as well as a range of health sensors including thermometers, hygrometers, blood pressure sensors and sweat sensors.

These modules to track body changes are perhaps the most interesting idea as Apple chief executive Tim Cook has expressed an ambition to get into the health space. Last year, Cook touted health care is an "enormous" opportunity for Apple and the Watch would play a key part.

"One day, this is my prediction, we will look back and we will wonder: how can I ever have gone without the Watch? Because the holy grail of the watch is being able to monitor more and more of what's going on in the body. It's not technologically possible to do it today to the extent that we can imagine, but it will be," Cook said at the Startup Fest Europe event in Amsterdam.

One of the modules could also be a "cellular antenna", potentially laying the groundwork for an Apple Watch that can give extra functionality without being tethered to an iPhone. Currently, an Apple Watch needs to be wirelessly connected to the handset to carry out functions that require cellular connectivity. But if there is a cellular antenna built in, this could allow a user to make calls or send texts without connecting to an iPhone.

Apple was not available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

It's important to note that Apple applies for, and is awarded many patents, a large number of which don't see the light of day in terms of becoming a real product.

Apple does not release official sales figures for the Apple Watch. Nevertheless. In early December, Cook said in an email to Reuters that the Apple Watch was on for its best quarter ever in terms of sales. Independent analysis from IDC showed Apple Watch shipments fell 71 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2016 to 1.1 million units.
Two men are in custody following a pursuit which began Tuesday afternoon in southern Madison County.

According to Madison County Sheriff Katy McCutcheon, the department received a call at 12:45 p.m. reporting a stolen Ford F-150 from a residence off of Route M in the southeast corner of the county. At 12:46 p.m., there was a report of a vehicle on fire at a residence on Madison County Road 310 less than a mile from the location where the pickup truck was reported stolen.

Madison County Deputy Wendell Bellew responded to the incidents and began a pursuit of a truck traveling north on U.S. 67. The pursuit continued onto South Main Street in Fredericktown, and one suspect drove the truck into Bellews patrol vehicle at the intersection of South Main and Eric Streets.

The truck then turned back west on South Main, went through the Mill Creek intersection and to the dead-end on County Road 275. McCutcheon said the truck then went around the barricade off the road and up onto U.S. 67.

The sheriff said she joined the pursuit at this time, as did Fredericktown Police Chief Eric Hovis and Police Sgt. Jason Fitzwater and Sgt. Hank Williams. The pursuit continued south on 67 to Route A and back to Route M and County Road 310.

They turned on to a logging road, the truck got stuck on a log, and the suspects fled on foot, McCutcheon said.

According to the sheriff, the two men were spotted by a homeowner on Route M who saw them walking through his property. The Missouri State Highway Patrol also assisted with the pursuit and subsequent search for the two men.

The suspects were apprehended by McCutcheon and Bellew at 4:42 p.m. behind a residence on County Road 314.

The sheriff did not release the names of the suspects, as the investigation continues. She said one man was a Madison County resident, and the other said he was from St. Francois County.

They are currently being held in the Madison County Jail awaiting formal charges, McCutcheon said.
A major risk to U.S. markets is looming, and it's bigger than headlines and President Donald Trump's tweets, Goldman Sachs' Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani told CNBC on Wednesday.

The threat is the Chinese economy, the Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management chief investment officer told "Squawk on the Street."

"We use the term that China could 'submerge' under the burden of its own debt," Mossavar-Rahmani said. "If you look at any of the debt measures in China, they're tremendously high."

Mossavar-Rahmani focused on the credit-to-GDP number from the Bank of International Settlements as a key measure of China's accumulating debt. As of the second quarter of 2016, China's ratio was 28.8 percent.

"China is about 30, the U.S. was at 12.4 percent just before the crisis. And if the U.S. didn't avoid a financial crisis with all its strength, how can we assume that China will?" the wealth manager asked.

China is still awaiting its 19th gathering of the National Congress of the Communist Party in the fall, which Mossavar-Rahmani said would weigh on the country's economic position in 2018. The meeting will determine 370 of China's Central Committee members for the next five years.

"Then we have to see, in 2018, will they put structural reforms on the front burner or does it stay on the back burner?" Mossavar-Rahmani asked.
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Ted Wheeler, mayor of Portland, Oregon, a so-called sanctuary city, has a message for President Trump. The U.S. Constitution is on his city's side in the battle over immigration policy. "We're not prepared to compromise on this and we believe that we stand on very firm legal and constitutional grounds," Wheeler said.

The tension between cities and President Trump over immigration policy reached a critical point on Wednesday as Trump, for the first time while in office, reiterated threats to pull federal funding if the cities won't comply with his administration's deportation plans. Trump also said in an ABC interview that he would start to build the border wall with Mexico which he promised on the campaign trail as soon as physically possible, within months. The cost to cities could be steep. On the line in a small city like Somerville, Massachusetts is $6 million in federal funding. In San Francisco, the federal funding is $1.2 billion, and in Seattle nearly $80 million, according to information provided by the cities to CNBC. Most of the federal funding Trump has threatened to cut goes to urban programs that support a variety of causes, Wheeler said. "Look at what those federal dollars in Portland are going for. They're largely going to help indigent populations, people who are lower income, people on disabilities, and school kids. I can't believe that at the end of the day Republicans are actually going to plant that flag in the ground," the Portland mayor said.





Getty Images

Many cities have vowed to maintain their sanctuary city status, no matter what measures the Trump administration takes. Mayors of Los Angeles, New York and Chicago have been among those voicing opposition to Trump's immigration plans since the day after he was elected. "Sanctuary cities often see immigrants as the key to prosperity. They see immigration as the wind in the sails of the city," Juliet Stumpf, Robert E. Jones Professor of Advocacy and Ethics at Lewis and Clark Law School, told CNBC's Aditi Roy. U.S. immigrants made up 13 percent of the population as of 2014, but contributed 14.7 percent of wages and salaries in the years between 2009 to 2011, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

From 2010 to 2014, Mexico led in countries with the largest unauthorized immigrant populations in the U.S. at 6.1 million people. Other countries with substantial unauthorized immigrant populations in the U.S. are: Guatemala (723,000), El Salvador (465,000), Honduras (337,000), China (268,000), India (267,000), South Korea (198,000), Philippines (188,000), Ecuador (143,000), Colombia (135,000), and Vietnam (118,000).

There may be legal room for pushing back against the Trump White House.

"There is no legal definition of a sanctuary city," Stumpf, said. "There isn't a body of law that governs sanctuary cities." She added, "The pathway to cutting federal funding to sanctuary cities is pretty cloudy." Stumpf cited the risk of violating Fourth Amendment right of the "the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures" which has been tested in the past and can result in a city being held liable for damages. Wheeler cited the 10th Amendment which gives local jurisdictions the right not to enforce federal mandates. "We're standing on strong legal ground here in the state of Oregon and there have also been federal court rulings here that back up our ability to be a sanctuary state."



Rattling urban communities
Alexandra Shulman is to leave her position as editor-in-chief of British Vogue, a role she has held for more than 25 years.

"Although I have had months to acclimatize to the idea of leaving Vogue, it hasn't made the moment of announcing this any less sad," Shulman said in a story on the British Vogue website this morning.

"I have been incredibly privileged to have been able to look after such a great magazine for so long and even more to have worked with so many people over those years who have made the experience so interesting and rich," she added.

A successor has not yet been named.
European authorities are continuing to warn about the effects of climate change even as the new U.S. administration under President Donald Trump is rolling back environmental policy.



The European Environment Agency (EEA) has highlighted that changes in climate are impacting ecosystems, economic sectors and the health and well being of people in Europe.

According to the EEA report, "Climate change, impacts and vulnerability in Europe 2016," climate change  both in Europe and the rest of the world  was continuing, with "climate-related extremes" such as droughts, heatwaves and heavy precipitation increasing in both intensity and frequency across "many regions."

While all regions in Europe where vulnerable to climate change, both southern and south-eastern Europe were seen as becoming climate change hotspots, the EEA said in a news release Wednesday.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. Trump's administration has instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to remove the climate change page from its website, two agency employees told Reuters. The move is seen as a further attempt to dismantle ex-President Barack Obama's climate change initiatives.

The EEA added that south and south-eastern Europe was experiencing significant increases in heat extremes and falls in precipitation and river flows, increasing risks of lower crop yields, forest fires, biodiversity loss and severe droughts.

In the west of Europe, floodplains and coastal areas faced an increased risk of flooding due to rising sea levels and a potential rise in storm surges.

"Climate change will continue for many decades to come," Hans Bruyninckx, executive director of the EEA, said in a statement.

"The scale of future climate change and its impacts will depend on the effectiveness of implementing our global agreements to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but also ensuring that we have the right adaptation strategies and policies in place to reduce the risks from current and projected climate extremes," Bruyninckx added.
President Donald Trump's move to exit the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership opens the door for China to "step into the void" left by the United States in Asia, said Bill Daley, who was as Commerce secretary in Bill Clinton's administration.

Daley, also former White House chief of staff for Barack Obama, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday that Trump needs to "follow up getting out of the TPP with an aggressiveness in Asia."



"That's the future growth of the world right now," Daley added. "We can't give the impression to our allies or friends in Asia that because the president is against TPP ... that therefore economically we're going to pull away from Asia."



"That's a terrible message," argued Daley, currently head of U.S. operations at Swiss hedge fund Argentiere Capital.



China was never part of TPP. In addition to the United States, the signatories were Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru.

The agreement, sealed by the Obama administration but never ratified by Congress, had aimed to open up key markets, including those in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to a statement from the White House after Monday's executive order, "The Trump administration will pursue bilateral free trade opportunities with allies around the world, wherever possible."

On Sunday, the president said he intends to renegotiate with Mexico and Canada the North American Free Trade Agreement, passed during the Clinton administration 23 years ago.

Daley, who helped Clinton with NAFTA, told CNBC on Wednesday the agreement could surely be updated, but should not be thrown out all together.

Later Wednesday on "Squawk Box," Peter Navarro, tapped by Trump to lead the newly created National Trade Council, said the president wants to pursue what he considers more nimble bilateral trade agreements.

"Bilaterals can occur much more quickly, because basically, it's just a few people in a room talking about what needs to be done," Navarro argued.
Mark Zuckerberg David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Mark Zuckberberg soon could be getting some more "likes" in Hawaii. The Facebook CEO now says he is "reconsidering" a set of lawsuits that he recently filed to compel hundreds of Hawaiians to sell him small plots of land they own that lie within his 700-acre beachfront property on the island of Kauai.

The billionaire's potential about-face came after widespread publicity last week about the suits, which target a dozen plots covering slightly more than 8 acres of land strewn throughout the acreage that Zuckerberg bought for $100 million two years ago. Currently, owners of the lots, which have been in their families for generations, have the rights to travel across Zuckerberg's property. But many of the owners likely are unaware of their ownership interest in the plots. Last week, Zuckerberg said, "For most of these folks, they will now receive money for something they never even knew they had. No one will be forced off the land." But on Tuesday night, Zuckerberg said, "Based on feedback from the local community, we are reconsidering the quiet title process and discussing how to move forward." "We want to make sure we are following a process that protects the interests of property owners, respects the traditions of native Hawaiians, and preserves the environment." Zuckerberg added, "We love Kauai. We want to be good members of the community and preserve the land for generations to come."
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Generali has done an impressive job of refocusing its business and strengthening its balance sheet post-financial crisis and is strong enough to remain independent, Twelve Capital's insurance specialist told CNBC's Squawk Box on Wednesday. Rumors hitting the media late Monday that Intesa Sanpaolo was considering making an offer in conjunction with German insurer Allianz were confirmed by a press release issued by the Italian bank after markets closed on Tuesday. The statement said that management was examining a range of growth options, "including possible industrial combinations with Assicurazioni Generali". The announcement followed Generali's pre-emptive move on Tuesday to block a deal by buying a 3 percent stake in Intesa Sanpaolo. "I don't think it needs to do a deal," argued Marcus Rivaldi,head of insurance credit and equity analytics at Twelve Capital. "Unfortunately the share price does seem to struggle from time to time given movements in market perceptions around Italian risk but fundamentally the business is strong," he continued.

Pier Marco Tacca | Getty Images

Generali's shares were trading up around 2 percent on Wednesday morning, after finishing Tuesday's session 8 percent higher on convoluted chatter of a potential bid for the company. While a combination between Italy's number one (Intesa Sanpaolo) and number two life insurers would inevitably raise competition concerns, Rivaldi posited that the 2012 merger between Unipol and Fondiaria Sai  which required the shedding of some premia but led to notable cost savings  set a positive precedent for working around anti-trust issues. "I don't think these are insurmountable.I think there may well be a route by which anti-trust authorities can make this work," he opined. Rivaldi also pointed to the combination of the U.K. bank Lloyds with compatriot insurer Scottish Widows as an example of the rising appeal of tie-ups for companies within these financial services sub-sectors. "Insurance products have changed massively over recent years, dropping a lot of risk, investment guarantees etc. and morphing more towards asset management type of products - more capital light in nature - so they're more suitable for banks to be invested in these businesses," he explained.

Alessandra Benedetti I Bloomberg via Getty Images

Reverting to the specific possibility of an Intesa Sanpaolo and Generali merger, Rivaldi affirmed that he saw strong industrial logic in this deal happening, despite investors' apparent scepticism. "I don't think the market is pricing in yet this deal happening. If you look at M&A premia that we see in the insurance sector, it's typically 25  40 percent and clearly Generali's share price has not moved that much as yet. So I think the market continues to place a discount on this deal happening," the insurance expert contended. Analysts have also raised the speculative possibility of French insurer AXA joining the fray, an idea which Rivaldi suggests merits the same industrial logic as a potential Allianz deal. However, Rivaldi believes it unlikely that Generali will succumb without a fight to any potential bidder. "Generali sees itself having a very clear, independent future if it wants it. And so I think we shouldn't discount a defensive approach from Generali," he concluded.
In his candidacy and first few days in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump's primary jobs focus has been on manufacturing and manufacturing jobs. From air conditioners to automobiles, companies who make big ticket items outside the U.S. for import to American consumers have been put on notice, and many have reacted by saying they'll add jobs. Good news!

But while those industries and the White House work it out, the question now turns to what industry may be next on the President's fix-it list. I think it may be retail, and one company in particular; Amazon.com.

Here's why:

First, few industries rely on imports as much as retail. Most of what is put on retailers' shelves every day is made outside America, primarily in China. If the trade talk tilts more toward taxes on lower-value items, such as apparel, toys, or other consumer goods, the industry is going to have to make some hard decisions about sourcing and costs. Higher importing costs could mean higher consumer prices, lower margins, or both.

Second, the President is all about jobs, and few industries employ as many people as retail. The federal government estimates there are nearly five million Americans working in the industry. An industry, it must be noted, that is increasingly in trouble. Major retailers are either shrinking and closing stores, or shutting down their physical presence entirely to move online. Most industry experts agree that much of retail's recent woes are due to the boom in online shopping. And you can't talk about internet commerce without mentioning the hundred-billion dollar elephant in the room: Amazon. Not only does Amazon continue to capture a larger piece of the retail pie, but it has also just opened a Seattle store called Amazon Go that features no cashiers! Other retailers are reportedly testing similar, nearly human-less concepts. For many retailers, employees are just another cost they are trying to cut. So consider that if they're successful at slimming the collective workforce by even just five percent, that's a staggering 250,000 jobs, which would far outweigh the number of manufacturing positions we've been talking about lately. It's doubtful the President will sit idly by and watch that happen. Plus, remember something President Trump said in his campaign: "Amazon is getting away with murder, tax-wise." The company is definitely on his radar.

Finally, let's not forget President Trump's origins in commercial real estate. Though he's not known as a retailer per se, it would be difficult to imagine someone with a background in buildings as strong as President Trump's to simply sit and watch retailers fail and malls go empty. Plus, any friends of his with big commercial real estate operations may likely already be in his ear, whispering about the potential loss of billions of square feet of space.

I have no idea whether this will happen. Perhaps the President will turn his attention to other matters. But if you're talking jobs, trade and China, it would be difficult to imagine any industry that may need more "Trump-eting" in the next few years than retail.
Sen. John McCain on Wednesday pushed back on President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated voter-fraud claims and a reported executive action that would order a review of interrogation policies.

The Arizona Republican has been one of Trump's most vocal GOP Senate critics since his election. In an MSNBC interview, McCain cast doubts on Trump's claim that 3 million to 5 million people voted illegally in the 2016 election, an unproven assertion he continues to press more than two months after the election.

"There's no evidence of that. And I think that those who allege that have to come up with some substantiation of the claim," said McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.



Trump on Wednesday tweeted that he will carry out a "major investigation" into voter fraud, a probe that he said will include voters registered in two states and dead voters still registered. Those cases are not considered fraudulent unless ballots are actually cast under a dead voter's name or by the same voter in more than one state.
The run-up to the upcoming German election has begun with the second-biggest party announcing who will fight against Chancellor Angela Merkel.



The Socialist Party, currently junior coalition partner of Merkel's CDU, has chosen Martin Schulz to challenge Merkel's leadership. The former President of the European Parliament is seen by analysts as a "real alternative" to Merkel, who has dominated German politics for the last 12 years.

"With Martin Schulz, the party now tries to present a real alternative to Angela Merkel. His personal background, being a former alcoholic, speaking six languages and having no high school diploma, already distinguishes him from many other national politicians," Carsten Brzeski, chief Economist ING said in a note.

"Even more important, in the German public opinion, Schulz has become the embodiment of Europe," he added, saying that this should force Merkel to be clearer about her vision for Europe.

One of the most critical European issues for the German election is the . Merkel has adopted an "open-arms" approach, which has backfired. The increasingly unpopular policy has impacted Merkel's poll rating and boosted support for the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

"Opposition from the far-right alternative for Germany will force the chancellor to put up a fight; Schulz's nomination means that on top of this, she will face a center-left contender with the capacity for emotional messaging and no history in domestic German politics  the advantage of a fresh face in times of anti-establishment politics," Carsten Nickel, deputy director of research at Teneo Intelligence said in a note.
DESLOGE -- Bob Ward, 76, of Bonne Terre, passed away January 23, 2017, at home surrounded by the love of his family. He was born July 3, 1940, in Bonne Terre, to the late Harry G. and Scbeulah Louise (Weitzel) Ward. Bob was a Democratic Representative in the 107 District in the Missouri House of Representatives, which covered St. Francois County and parts of Ste. Genevieve County. Elected to his seventh consecutive two-year term in 1994, Bob served as majority Floor Leader from 1991 through 1995. During the 84th and 85th General Assemblies, Bob was elected Majority Whip. He was also a member of the House Correctional and State Institutions Committee.

Bob served two terms on the North County R-1 Board of Education, and was also a member of the following organizations; Desloge Methodist Church, St. Francois County Democratic Club, Charter Member of the Mineral Area Elks No. 2583, Desloge Chamber of Commerce, and FOE Ozark Hills Aerie # 3350. Bob was one of the original organizers of the Desloge Labor Day Picnic and was very instrumental in the growth of our Community.

Significant legislative accomplishments for Bob include; bills on libraries and community colleges. A graduate of Desloge High School, Bob received a Bachelor of Science degree in business from Murray State University in 1963, then attended Southwest Missouri State University.

He is survived by his wife Joy (Vincent) Ward; children, Kevin Ward and wife Brenda, Shannon (Mrs. Dennis) Gerli; grandchildren, Rebecca (Mathias) Psalmonds, Katie (Jeremy) Boren, Allison (John Severs) Gerli, Mia Gerli; great-grandchildren, Mattilynn Psalmonds, Jarod Psalmonds, and Max Boren; brother, Bud (Pat) Ward; and many nieces and nephews also survive. Bob will be missed by the many constituents he served and the great friendships he established in the business community.

A memorial visitation will be held at C.Z. Boyer and Son Funeral Home in Desloge, Saturday, February 25, 2017 at 10 a.m. A Celebration of Life will be held in the chapel at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Bob Ward Political Science Scholarship Fund at Mineral Area College.
After the Trump administration denied it ordered a shutdown of a National Parks Twitter that went rogue, new accounts, critical of the White House, are springing up like wildflowers in Yosemite.

Twitter feeds associated with at least one other U.S. National Park, and another claimed to be led by active park rangers, also appear to be taking some swipes at the country's new leadership over issues as varied as climate change and the restriction of immigration from predominantly Muslim countries.



Then online publication The Daily Dot reported that a Twitter feed called @AltNatParkSer gained about 170,000 followers overnight, and was also publishing information about climate change and other issues on Trump's docket. By Wednesday afternoon, the number of followers rose to more than 550,000.

altnatparkser

Whoever is overseeing that feed claims it is run by "several active NPS rangers and friends," but they are not naming names.

altnatparkser2

Now someone at Death Valley National Park is joining the party, posting pictures of a Japanese-American man interned in Death Valley during World War II.

Togo

It could be a coincidence.

The message itself does not mention the Trump administration's proposed restrictions on Muslim immigration, but if the responses on Twitter are any indication, some are interpreting it that way.

altnatparkser

Joel

MIB

And Redwood National and State Parks tweeted about climate change.

Redwood

So did the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

golden



On Tuesday, a former employee of Badlands National Park in South Dakota took over the park's official Twitter account to post about climate change, an issue that has become particularly contentious since the election.



"The pre-industrial concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 280 parts per million (ppm). As of December 2016, 404.93 ppm.," a tweet on the Badlands park account said, according to NBC News.

Another read, "Today, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in the last 650,000 years. #climate."

The National Parks Service apologized for the "mistaken" tweets, which were later deleted.

Some had speculated that the administration was cracking down on social media accounts run by government agencies in light of the White House's recent interactions with the Environmental Protection Agency and President Trump's complaints that American businesses are being hampered by excessive environmental regulations.

The administration recently ordered the EPA to freeze all grants and contracts, pending a review. Reports surfaced Tuesday that the administration had also ordered the EPA to remove information about climate change from its web page, but newer reports suggest the White House is walking back that order.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Wednesday the administration did not force the removal of the tweet from the San Francisco account, which had retweeted a report about the inaugural crowd.

"No, no there's nothing that's come from the White House, absolutely not. I think in some case, I know in the Parks Services, for example, over the weekend somebody who was an unauthorized user had an old password in the San Francisco office, went in and started retweeting inappropriate things that were in violation of their policy," Spicer said.

He didn't address the Badlands account.

Correction: This story was revised to correct Spicer's first name.
North Korean military participates in the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on October 12, 2015.

North Korea is ready to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile "at any time, at any place," according to a senior regime official speaking exclusively to NBC News.

If such a launch was successfully carried out, it would be a major step toward Pyongyang's goal of targeting the U.S. mainland with a nuclear-armed weapon.

Tune into NBC News' Bill Neely's full report at on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt at 6:30 p.m. ET



The comments were made by Choe Kang Il, deputy director general for North American affairs at North Korea's foreign ministry, and highlight international concerns that the Kim Jong Un regime is more technologically advanced than previously thought.



More from NBC News:

North Korea warns it would use nuclear weapons first if threatened

Analysis: What will Trump do about North Korea's Kim Jong Un?

Accused cop killer curses at judge in court

Choe rejected the suggestion that any test launch would be provocative.

"Our measures to bolster our nuclear arsenal are all defensive in nature  to defend our sovereignty and to cope with the persistent nuclear blackmail and threats by the United States against our country," he said.

North Korea has conducted a total of five nuclear tests, including two last year, but the country has never successfully launched an ICBM.

The country regularly threatens nuclear attacks against the United States but, until 2016, analysts had thought the country was a long way from developing missile technology that would make them capable of doing so.
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Though Apple and Qualcomm are battling it out in court, the chipmaker has held on to its key client. Qualcomm will remain a "good" Apple supplier during a legal dispute between the two companies, CEO Steve Mollenkopf said on a conference call during the company's quarterly earnings report. But Qualcomm chief financial officer George Davis said recent probes were "not coincidental," and that Apple "has been actively driving regulatory attacks on Qualcomm's business in jurisdictions around the world."

Mollenkopf assured investors on the conference call he still believes there is "no better long-term partner for Apple than Qualcomm." "Our preference is always to resolve customer disputes through negotiations, rather than litigation, so it's regrettable that Apple has chosen this path," Mollenkopf said. "They want to pay less than the fair value that Qualcomm has established in the marketplace for our technology, even though they have made billions in profits from using that technology."

Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm Justin Solomon | CNBC

Apple filed a lawsuit for roughly $1 billion against Qualcomm, saying Qualcomm is "charging royalties for technologies they have nothing to do with." The iPhone maker filed similar lawsuits in Beijing, saying Qualcomm abused its clout in the chip industry.

"We have a long history of successfully defending our licensing practices and business model, which have been tested around the world, most recently in China," Mollenkopf said. The company's financial guidance was in line with estimates on Wednesday, despite its legal challenges. For the second quarter, Qualcomm said it expected adjusted earnings per share of $1.15 a share to $1.25 a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting about $1.20 a share. "Unlike China, where Qualcomm wasn't getting paid by Chinese handset vendors, I expect Apple to still pay, so I'm not surprised it wasn't factored into guidance for next quarter," said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. "I don't see resolution for at least a year." The U.S. Federal Trade Commission also filed a lawsuit this month against Qualcomm alleging unfair patent licensing practices, while Korean regulators fined Qualcomm $854 million for unfair trade practices in December. Qualcomm has said the FTC's case is "significantly flawed."



Earnings results

Qualcomm reported quarterly earnings that beat analysts' expectations on Wednesday, as shipments of 3G and 4G devices popped 8 percent, boosting its licensing division.

But revenue fell short of estimates. Davis told CNBC that it is seeing overall softness in its China business, particularly in its chip unit. The company posted fiscal first-quarter earnings per share of $1.19, adjusted. Revenue for the quarter came in at $5.99 billion. That's compared to adjusted earnings of 97 cents a share on revenue of $5.8 billion in the year-earlier period. Analysts expected Qualcomm to report earnings of about $1.18 a share on $6.12 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

One particular Chinese client had credit issues during the quarter, Davis told CNBC, and its unclear whether the softness in China is seasonal. Moorhead said he doesn't see the softness as seasonal. "The China smartphone market isn't doing great and that likely impacted Qualcomm," Moorhead said. "The rest of the industry is feeling it with the exception of Huawei and OPPO who are taking market share."

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Shares fell as much as 3 percent in extended trading, before paring losses. They were last down about 2 percent. Still, it comes as Qualcomm is in the midst of an acquisition of NXP Semiconductors. In Wednesday's earnings, the company said it still expects the deal to close by the end of the 2017 calendar year. Romit Shah, analyst at Nomura's Instinet, addressed the suits in a note to clients Monday. "Recent rulings and lawsuits are stronger and broader than anticipated," Shah said. "Considering recent developments with QTL [Qualcomm Technology Licensing], we believe it is logical to assume that the regulatory agencies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia might take longer to approve the NXPI deal." Mollenkopf introduced a new processor, the 835 Snapdragon, at technology tradeshow CES earlier this month. Qualcomm processors are found in phones like the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, BlackBerry's Android device and the Google Pixel. New 5G-enabled chips, made by Qualcomm, are expected to propel industries like virtual reality, video streaming, drones and the internet of things.  CNBC's Jon Fortt and Tae Kim contributed to this report.
The petition was set up by Briton Nicola Thorp after she was .

The inquiry, conducted by Britain's Petitions Committee and Women and Equalities Committees, comes in response to a petition which called for new legislation to be introduced making it illegal to require women to wear high heels at work. The petition was signed by more than 150,000 people.

Demands for female employees to wear revealing outfits, constantly reapply make-up and even dye their hair blonde were some of the examples of workplace discrimination cited in the study, prompting two Commons' committees to call for a review of current equality legislation in the U.K.

Women need greater protection from the law to prevent sexism in the workplace, a new British parliamentary report has found.

While government said the dismissal was unlawful, the Committees' survey of British employees heard that such sexist requirements are still widespread in the workplace and they have demanded government to take "urgent action" to address shortcomings in the U.K.'s Equality Act 2010.

"We heard from hundreds of women who told us about the pain and long-term damage caused by wearing high heels for long periods in the workplace, as well as from women who had been required to dye their hair blonde, to wear revealing outfits and to constantly reapply makeup," the report said.

"The Equality Act is clear in principle in setting out what constitutes discrimination in law. Nevertheless, discriminatory dress codes remain commonplace in some sectors of the economy."

The Committees also called for greater guidance for employers to ensure they are aware of their responsibilities to employees.

"The government has said that it expects employers to inform themselves about their legal obligations and to comply with the law. This approach is not working. The government must do more to promote understanding of the law on gender discrimination in the workplace among employees and employers alike."

The calls come just days after Women's Marches were held in cities globally to promote messages of equality and seek recognition for minority groups on political agendas.

The marches, which amassed crowds of an estimated 5 million people, were born out of an initial protest march - 'March on Washington'  which was created in response to the election of , whose campaign was shaken after footage emerged of his sexist comments against women.

Since assuming the Presidency on Friday, Trump has again angered equality activists by reinstating the Mexico City policy, or the , which prohibits the granting of American foreign aid to health providers abroad if they provide counselling on abortion services.
It's been a tale of two tech stories over the last 10,000-point gain for the Dow industrials index.

The older gray chips stocks  think IBM , Cisco or even Apple  versus the newer, so-called FANGs  Facebook , Amazon , Netflix and Google parent Alphabet : older tech companies founded before 1990 versus their younger brethren.

It's well known that the high-flying FANGs have been outperforming their legacy peers over the last few years. But the extent to which they've been outperforming them  and the broader markets  since the Dow crossed 10,000 is staggering.

Since Oct. 14, 2009  the Dow's first significant close above 10,000 after the financial crisis  the FANG basket has returned more than 950 percent.



The best performing FANG has been the "N"  Netflix, returning over 1,900 percent, followed by Amazon , up 740 percent since then.



In that same period, the basket of gray chip tech companies has returned about 130 percent.



The legacy laggards that pulled down the gray chip basket are Xerox, Cisco and IBM. All three have returned about 60 percent or less since October 2009.



Some gray chips, though, have proved more agile than others, modernizing their businesses and pleasing investors along the way. Microsoft , for example, has made a big bet on its cloud business under Satya Nadella and returned nearly 170 percent.



And Apple has been a Dow leader since 10,000, returning more than 370 percent.



And one of the biggest gray chip winners may surprise you. Texas Instruments  which has benefited from the semiconductors surge  has returned about 250 percent during this period, performing even better than Alphabet.
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Defense Secretary James Mattis arrives at the Pentagon and will likely have to get right to work forging a plan to defeat ISIS and tackling budget and staffing issues. Mattis, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, is expected to spend part of the first few months traveling to visit troops abroad and reassuring allies in Europe and Asia. But, experts say, there may be unexpected world events that could upset his plans. "There are wildcards of unexpected world events that could intrude," said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies' International Security Program in Washington, D.C. "Those are very hard to predict." Mattis will have a critical role in shaping and implementing President Donald Trump's plan to rebuild the U.S. military, including adding more troops, ships, and aircraft. The former general also may be asked to help sway members of Congress to undo the sequestration budget caps to allow for more defense spending.

Reuters

Moreover, his new job makes him a key part of Trump's "America First" strategy, which the White House website touts as including "defeating ISIS and other radical Islamic terror groups." "From a sort of geopolitical perspective, I think that ISIS is probably one of the top priorities," said Roman Schweizer, a defense industry analyst at Cowen. "Internally, the priority is getting the budgetary house in order and trying to figure out what kind of money they can put towards the Trump defense buildup." A U.S.-led coalition has deployed special forces to fight ISIS, or Islamic State, and had success with ground raids and bombing campaigns in the Middle East region against fighters and leaders of the terror group. A report this week suggested the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was critically injured by a coalition bombing strike.

As part of a campaign pledge, Trump promised to come up with a plan to defeat ISIS within the first 30 days of his presidency. Analysts say the plan could include increasing the number of special forces in the region, putting in more Marines, or having actual ground forces and additional aircraft.

Plan to defeat ISIS

"There is no easy button for ISIS," said Tom Mullen, a Boston-based defense industry expert for PA Consulting Group. "This is a complex problem, but we do have a lot of good plans to draw on. We're not starting from scratch here by any means." That said, there's also a chance the Trump administration could make a deal with Russia to work together defeating ISIS. The territory occupied by the militant group has been shrinking over the past year although ISIS continues to have a stronghold on the Iraq city of Mosul and Raqqa in Syria. Moreover, ISIS fighters have been getting more tech savvy, with recent video showing the terror group using drones to drop bombs. Mattis was asked during a Senate committee confirmation hearing Jan. 12 about the need to develop a strategy to combat ISIS in other regions of the world where the U.S. might not be focusing. "The way we do this, I think we have to deliver a very hard blow against ISIS in the Middle East so that there is no sense of invulnerability or invincibility there," Mattis told the panel. "There has got to be a military defeat of them there."

Trump defense budget

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Meantime, another front-burner issue for Mattis is the defense budget since the Trump administration is expected next month to deliver its so-called skinny budget detailing the new direction that the White House is going across the entire government. "On the budget, the calendar drives him to make a lot of budget decisions and get into a lot of budget issues whether he wants to or not," said Cancian.

Cowen's Schweizer, a former Navy acquisition profession, said Mattis has spent a large part of his career in the operational part of defense and doing actual war fighting and probably will find the arcane process of budgeting and acquisition "pretty dreadful."

The administration and GOP-led Congress need a fiscal 2017 defense appropriations bill and its early draft of its fiscal 2018 defense spending. Analysts say there's a good possibility we could see both fiscal 2017 and 2018 funding under discussion simultaneously in April. The continuing resolution that Congress reached last month to fund defense and other federal government operations in fiscal 2017 runs out at the end of April so there will need to be a spending bill for the entire fiscal year passed or another CR enacted.

The repeal of the budget caps was discussed by lawmakers during nomination hearings but as of now there's been no legislation presented to formally repeal the sequestration. Repeal of the Budget Control Act cannot happen unless there's at least 60 votes in the Senate, and with Republicans having just 52 members in the chamber they would need support from some Democrats too.

The Pentagon building in Washington, D.C. Staff | AFP | Getty Images

Nearly 50 percent of the U.S. defense spending involves personnel costs. There are about 26,500 people working at the Pentagon, with the majority of them civilian workers performing functions such as building maintenance, administrative support and force protection, among other things. Additionally, there also are around 60 political positions within the Department of Defense  all appointed by the president. They include influential posts such as the deputy secretary, under secretary posts, general counsel as well as the secretaries of different military service branches, among others. "There's still a whole lot of work to get done picking the right team  and forming them into a team so they're not just a bunch of people in offices," said Thomas Spoehr, a director of the Center for National Defense at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.

Picking defense team

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New executive orders expediting the approval and construction processes for oil pipeline projects may create jobs, but issues of sourcing and exports could slow negotiations for TransCanada's extension of the Keystone pipeline, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota said Wednesday.

"I think there's going to be a lot of pressure on the sourcing of the pipe," the Democratic senator said on CNBC's "Squawk Box," referring to the long-delayed Keystone project. "We don't know what the source of that pipe is. That's going to be an issue."

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders making it easier to build the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. Trump said the projects would create thousands of construction jobs.

Trump also signed an order insisting that pipelines built in the United States use American materials, adding that the terms of agreement with the two companies will be subject to negotiation.

The Keystone pipeline begins in the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, flows to Nebraska, then out to Texas and Illinois. The proposed extension of the project would create a direct route from Alberta to Nebraska, with an additional terminal where the oil is extracted in Montana.

"I also think it might be an issue on whether that oil gets exported, which is something we considered," Heitkamp said. She said an existing contract with Texas-based refiner Valero Energy to export the Canadian crude could complicate talks with TransCanada because though the pipeline is meant to lessen U.S. dependence on foreign oil, and Valero plans to export a sizeable amount overseas.

"It remains to be seen with this leg what the contract relationships are, but obviously TransCanada is very interested in engaging," she continued. "They said they're going to reapply. We look forward to that reapplication, and look forward to get American construction workers working again."



The Dakota Access Pipeline, built by Energy Transfer Partners , is nearly complete. TransCanada's Keystone project was denied a presidential permit in 2015 by former Secretary of State John Kerry. Trump's executive order will allow TransCanada to re-apply for construction in the United States.
President Donald Trump pressed the notion of widespread voter fraud again, despite a continued lack of evidence to back up those claims.



Trump tweeted Wednesday morning:

I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and....



even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday said: "[Trump] has stated his concerns of voter fraud and people voting illegally during the campaign and continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence people have presented to him."



The president's belief that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election costing him the popular vote has been widely challenged.



In court filings last year in the effort to block recount efforts by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, attorneys for Trump wrote: "All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake," according to The Washington Post.

Trump also tweeted on Wednesday morning a timetable for his Supreme Court nominee announcement to fill the vacancy on the nation's highest court created by last year's death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia.

I will be making my Supreme Court pick on Thursday of next week.Thank you!



The leading contenders, according to a person who spoke to the Associated Press anonymously, are judges William Pryor, Neil Gorsuch and Thomas Hardiman.

Senate Republicans prevented then-President Barack Obama from filling the seat, a political gamble that paid off when Trump was elected.



Correction: This story was revised to delete an outdated reference to Trump's status.
The administration of President Donald Trump wants manufacturing jobs to make up about a fifth of the American workforce, said Peter Navarro, tapped by Trump to lead the newly created National Trade Council.



Navarro told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday that part of his job at the National Trade Council is matching the needs of industry with the skills of U.S. workers.



"We envision a more Germany-style economy, where 20 percent of our workforce is in manufacturing," he said. "And we're not talking about banging tin in the back room."

"We're talking about high technology across the board, whether it's computer chips or cars or anything in between," said Navarro, a Trump campaign policy advisor and formerly a business professor at the University of California, Irvine.



President Trump's executive order this week to abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership and his stated intent to renegotiate NAFTA are moves away from many-nation free trade agreements, said Navarro.



"Multilaterals, you get hundreds of people and thousands of lobbyists and lawyers. It takes years and years and years," he contended.



Earlier Wednesday on "Squawk Box," Bill Daley, former Commerce secretary under Bill Clinton, said an exit from the TPP without engaging Asian trading partners would leave the door open for China.

Navarro rejected that notion, saying Trump wants to pursue what he considers more nimble bilateral trade agreements. "I strongly agree that bilaterals can occur much more quickly, because basically, it's just a few people in a room talking about what needs to be done."

"As we're negotiating with one country here, we're going to be negotiating with one country here, and another country here," Navarro said.


Uber's chief technology officer Thuan Pham blasted President Donald Trump in an email to a small group of staff shortly after the presidential election, according to a report from Business Insider.

The email reportedly resurfaced this week, as more employees circulated the message internally. In the email, Pham called Trump a "deplorable person" and said his election was a huge step backward  likening it to the rise of ruthless dictators and regimes such as Mao Zedong in China and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, Business Insider reported. Uber declined to comment.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is one of a number of tech executives named to Trump's Strategic and Policy forum. Some employees see this as a shrewd move to ensure the company has the president's ear on issues it cares about  like regulations governing autonomous cars  but others worry about the costs of being perceived as pro-Trump, according to the report.
Many in California's technology hotbed remain vocally opposed to Trump's stances on immigration and civil rights. At Uber, for example, protesters blocked employees from entering the headquarters during Trump's inauguration, with sighs reading, " Uber collaborates with Trump ."

"Silicon Valley has to engage," Eric Hippeau, managing partner at Lerer Hippeau Ventures, told CNBC's " Squawk Alley " on Wednesday. "They can't just live in their own little world."

Silicon Valley should be warming up to some of President Donald Trump's policies by now, and they have a responsibility to cooperate, one technology investor said.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, right, and PayPal founder Peter Thiel, center, listen as President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with technology industry leaders at Trump Tower in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016.

"I do not accept him as my leader," Uber's chief technology officer reportedly said of Trump, in an email obtained by Business Insider.



Uber told CNBC that the company will work with the Trump Administration, just as it did the Obama administration. Hippeau, whose firm has invested in companies like Birchbox, The Huffington Post, Venmo and Warby Parker, said that they should collaborate, especially on issues like immigration, which is important to technology companies.

"Silicon Valley is still in a little bit of a bubble," Hippeau said. "They're still kind of like, in 'the opposition.' Individually, people should feel the way they feel, there's no question. But companies have a responsibility to work with any administration, including this one."

Proposals for lower corporate tax rates and a holiday to bring back overseas cash should be especially helpful to technology executives, many of whom do business overseas. Technology companies also have an opportunity to cash in on a wave of infrastructure spending that Trump has promised, Hippeau said.



Technology entrepreneur Mark Cuban seems to agree. He tweeted Wednesday that America needs "To invest in infrastructure that supports an enables the future, not projects that tie us to a less competitive past." Education and broadband internet deployment are also areas where the U.S. lags, Hippeau said.

"It's not just building bridges or repairing our roads," Hippeau said. "We've got to put tech everywhere to make society work much better"

Kara Swisher, executive editor at technology blog and CNBC partner Recode, wrote this week that technology executives should be more courageous and stand up for their beliefs, against Trump. But Hippeau said he doesn't see that approach being helpful.

"People will feel better individually, but it's certainly not going to help their companies, or the shareholders of their companies," Hippeau said.
Respected on Wall Street for building one of the largest private equity firms out of just $400,000 in 1985, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman has developed a reputation as a skilled deal-maker who now boasts over $360 billion in assets under management. Navigating deals like a $30 billion real estate sale with General Electric in 2015 or a $26 billion buyout of Hilton Hotels in 2007, Schwarzman once told the Wall Street Journal he views each agreement as a contest to the death. "I always think about what will kill off the other bidder," he said. Speaking with CNBC, the billionaire reveals some of his best practices in the art of dealmaking that have helped him over his career:

Stephen Schwarzman speaking at Delivering Alpha in New York on Sept. 13, 2016. David A. Grogan | CNBC

Find your 'zone of fairness' "Deals really have to do with the overlap of what one side wants and the other side wants, and it's really just the discovery of where that overlap is and how you decide to get there," he says. "And so I always try and do something that's relatively quick rather than drawn out because you should know where you want to be and get there relatively fast, but with enough drama so that the other side thinks they're doing something. "It's called the zone of fairness." Transacting at a level that is more beneficial to your side than what exists within that zone is seldom possible, Schwarzman notes, because someone on the other side almost always ultimately wakes up. "Being reasonably direct about what you're doing, being comfortable, is the best way to do things."





Put in the time Schwarzman says it takes a while to reach a level of comfort at the negotiating table. He spent 40 years making adjustments in tactics and measures, he says, before establishing a reputation and accumulating a certain amount of confidence. "Always, always make good on what you say," he says. "It gets easier in a way the more you do things."

Stephen Schwarzman speaking at Delivering Alpha in New York on Sept. 13, 2016. David A. Grogan | CNBC

Read the people opposite you "You have to be able to read the people who are opposite you and and there are all kinds of ways of doing that from listening to intonations in their voice to observing them to see whether they're getting nervous or uncomfortable," Schwarzman says. "Watch their eyes to see whether they're narrowing  basically, measuring stress."





You never have to speed up. Steve Schwarzman co-founder of the Blackstone Group
Completion was expected in the second half of next year, the Swiss pharma group said. Arnd Wiegmann | Reuters

Novartis will launch a strategic review of its flagging eyecare business, Alcon, chief executive Joe Jimenez told CNBC's Squawk Box on Wednesday. "We are going to look at what's in the best interest of our shareholders, in terms of the future of that business, ranging all the way from retaining the business to a capital markets exit through an IPO or a spin," he explained. "We're going to take 2017 to do that and we will be back with an update on that by the end of this year," Jimenez added.

watch now

Among the raft of news for investors to digest in its fourth-quarter results announced Wednesday were a 2.75 Swiss franc ($2.75) dividend and an up-to $5 billion share buyback this year. This as the Swiss pharmaceutical company failed to meet either top or bottom line expectations, held back above all by the negative effects of a strong dollar. Core net income for the quarter fell 2 percent to $2.66 billion, underperforming average analyst expectations of $2.72 billion. Net sales dropped by the same percentage to $12.32 billion, although viewed on a constant currency basis, finished the three month period flat. The company was hit by the well-flagged expiration of the patent on Gleevac, which led to a $2.4 billion drop in sales for the blockbuster cancer drug. Admitting Novartis was going through a "tough time right now" due to the expiration, Jimenez nonetheless pointed out that new growth products fully offset that decline and the company expected to enter its next growth phase towards the end of 2017. Despite delivering sales of $170 million - and therefore falling short of its internal $200 million target - Jimenez struck a bullish note on the outlook for Novartis's highly anticipated heart failure drug, Entresto, saying market access had improved and the field force had now been fully deployed. The CEO also pointed to Cosentyx, a new psoriasis and auto-immune drug, as "one of the biggest growth drivers" for the company.

Despite powerful backing for the Right to Try bill, resistance among patient advocacy groups is strong. Dan Kitwood | Getty Images | Cancer Research UK

Turning to the question of President Donald Trump who recently raged that the industry was "getting away with murder" with regards to the prices charged for medication, Jimenez argued that the pricing issue was not new and Novartis had a plan in place. "Novartis recognized this a couple of years ago and we started down a path of contracting based on the outcomes that the drug delivered instead of just the transaction of getting a particular price," he began. "This kind of outcomes-based contracting is in its infancy but Novartis is a leader here and that's one of the ways that we defuse the arguments around pricing because if our products don't deliver then we don't get the same kind of pricing that they would if they deliver on, say, reducing hospitalization," he continued. Jimenez posited that the sizeable consolidation wave hitting the sector in recent years would likely persist, adding, "the best thing about Novartis is that we don't have to participate in big M&A because our pipeline is quite strong." Highlighting the four small bolt-on acquisitions made by the company in the past four months, the CEO said Novartis would continue down that path. "We are going to focus on the M&A strategy we have articulated before which is bolt-on acquisitions between $2  5 billion that can strengthen the pipelines of our different divisions," he concluded.
Wednesday marks the anniversary of poet Robert Burns' birthday, celebrated across the world with dancing, a bite of Haggis and of course, a few nips of whisky.

But on the day Scotland's most famous poet is remembered, the Scottish Whisky Association (SWA) says it is time for the so-called "water of life" to receive a tax cut.

The SWA said in a statement Wednesday that 77 percent of the cost of a bottle of whisky goes to the U.K. taxman and that number needs to fall.

"We are calling on the government to address the high and unfair level of taxation that distillers face in their home market.

"The current tax of 77% on an average priced bottle of Scotch is a burden on consumers and the industry," said Julie Hesketh-Laird, Scotch Whisky Association acting chief executive.

Scotch whisky contributes nearly 5 billion ($6.25 billion) a year to the U.K. economy, according to research commissioned by the industry.

Official U.K. statistics suggest Scottish Whisky was the single biggest net contributor to the UK's balance of trade in 2015 at 3.7 billion with whisky exports estimated to be worth about 4 billion.

The SWA want the U.K. government to cut excise by 2% in next month's Budget, claiming the move would further boost recent growth in the sector.

The industry representative said more than 40,000 jobs were supported by the industry across the UK, including 7,000 in rural areas.

It said an estimated 14 new distilleries have opened up since 2013 and a further 7 are under construction in 2017 alone.
With a series of major European elections in the calendar for 2017, measures are being unrolled across the continent to safeguard against fake news interfering with campaigning.

But, one analyst CNBC spoke to said that the phenomenon, which is thought by some to have led to U.S. President Donald Trump's electoral success, is already past its peak.

Jeremy Shapiro, research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told CNBC via telephone that fake news is "probably not going to (influence this year's elections) very much."

According to Shapiro, opacity concerning the sources of fake news stories is crucial to their success. He argued that the successful separation of fact and fiction in upcoming European elections was "deeply strengthened by things going on in the U.S."

Shapiro cast doubt over the potential future impact of fake news believed to be pushing a pro-Kremlin agenda, "in part because the Russians have so discredited themselves."

"It's harder to do the second time," he said, "We hit peak fake news about a month ago. There will never be that level of assumed impact again."

Shapiro's viewpoint comes as a series of stories swirl around the vulnerability to fake news of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's impending election campaign in particular.
"We know from French firms based in the UK and British firms based in the UK how damaging that would be."

"Let's be under no illusion about what that would mean," said of reverting to a WTO agreement or "no deal" between the U.K. and the EU.

Failure to strike a mutual partnership with the EU once Britain leaves the single market would be detrimental not only for the U.K. but businesses across Europe, the director general of the U.K.'s largest business organization has warned.

Speaking yesterday at a private event for French businesses hosted in London's French Residence, Fairbairn implored business leaders in the U.K. and across Europe to engage with government to ensure a fair new free trade agreement is made, adding that no deal would inevitably increase business costs and delay trading.

Fairbairn praised U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's commitment, outlined in last week, to ensuring the working rights of EU citizens working in the U.K. However, she also said that yesterday's , which stated that the British government must seek approval from parliament before triggering Article 50 - a prerequisite to exiting the EU - provided an opportunity for further debate.

"Let's not take this opportunity for granted. Let's speak up as European businesses on both sides of the channel about why this access to people and to markets matters," said Fairbairn at the event, which was hosted by the French Chamber of Great Britain and Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth.

"We at CBI are completely clear on this: we believe an ambitious and comprehensive free trade agreement should be achieved. We think that it can be done to deliver a result that is in both our interests."

Fairbairn will be meeting with the director general of (Mouvement des Entreprises de France), CBI's French counterpart, in Paris later today to discuss the future for businesses on both sides of the Channel and across Europe.

Currently, approximately 300,000 French nationals live and work in the U.K. and 3,000 French businesses operate in Britain. Since the creation of the EU's single market in 1993, trade between the U.K. and France has doubled.
UTICA, N.Y.  If the Mohawk Valley Health Systems (MVHS) hospital project moves forward, it could include research space for the Uticabased Masonic Medical Research Laboratory (MMRL).

The two organizations are exploring an expanded partnership that would locate a portion of the MMRL research facility within the new hospital, MVHS said in a news release issued last Friday.

Representatives from each organization have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which they consider the first step in that process, MVHS said.

MVHS is currently responding to a request for application (RFA) to secure $300 million in state funding to build a new hospital in Utica. The RFA must be submitted by Jan. 31.

MVHS is an affiliation of Faxton St. Lukes Healthcare and St. Elizabeth Medical Center (SEMC), both of Utica. The two organizations teamed up in March 2014.

MVHS and MMRL still need to finalize the scope and specific details of the affiliation, but a major highlight of the MOU is possible research space in the newly constructed hospital that would allow MMRL researchers and MVHS clinical staff to collaborate in ways that were previously hindered by physical separation, the organizations contend.

As the MVHS project moves forward, the staff from MMRL and MVHS will work to finalize the details of the MOU with a more formal agreement anticipated in the coming months.

The signing of this MOU continues our work toward our mission to provide for excellence in healthcare for our communities, Scott Perra, president and CEO of MVHS, noted in the news release. There is incredible work being done at MMRL and we are looking forward to the opportunity to integrate that work with the clinical work at MVHS.

The construction of a new hospital provides an opportunity to bring together the specialties of MMRL and MVHS, and to capitalize on each institutions respective role in the health-care system. MVHS contended.

The goal would be having MMRL scientists and researchers working with MVHS clinicians on new research to generate clinical benefits.

We are thrilled about the potential for this once in a generation opportunity for collaboration between our two nationally recognized institutions, David Schneeweiss, president of the MMRL board of directors, said in the release. We appreciate that Gov. Cuomo has recognized the value of MVHS to the Mohawk Valley with a significant investment, and hope that our partnership with MVHS will help to leverage that investment beyond the clinical floor and into the lab where cutting-edge discoveries are made.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
January 25, 2017

 When people think of the equipment astronauts take to space, clean white spacesuits, technical checklists and science apparatus may come to mind.



But what they probably don't think of are bagpipes, quilting kits and colorful space garments hand-painted by pediatric cancer patients. All of those however, were launched into space and are now the focus of a museum exhibit curated by a former NASA astronaut-turned-artist.



"Space for Art," which debuted Tuesday (Jan. 25) at Space Center Houston, the visitor center for the Johnson Space Center in Texas, highlights the connection between artistry and spaceflight, and how those two disciplines blend within one community.







Astronaut Nicole Stott's original watercolor that she painted on the space station in 2009, as part of "Space for Art." (collectSPACE)

"The exhibit is really about bringing together a local space community to present both the science and the art of that community  and I think in a unique way," said astronaut Nicole Stott, who not only organized "Space for Art," but is also exhibiting some of her own pieces, including the first- ever watercolor to be painted in space. "We're going to the people who we we normally consider to be our scientists, our engineers, our astronauts, and presenting their artistic side as well."



The temporary exhibit pulls from the largely-unknown art talents of the Johnson Space Center workforce. In addition to the art pieces flown, or in a few cases, created in space, there are also paintings, photographs, sculptures and even handcrafted longboards created by those who contribute to the space program from the ground.



"I am hoping people who come to Space Center Houston see that the artistic side of the astronauts, scientists and engineers is a really good thing," Stott told collectSPACE. "It can help us communicate about our space program and about the space station that is on orbit that I honestly think is a piece of art itself."



Stott lived for 90 days on the International Space Station in 2009 on the first of her two space missions. While on orbit, she became the first person to paint while in space using a small watercolor kit she brought and left aboard the space station. In 2015, after 27 years with the program, Stott left NASA to pursue a career as a professional artist.







A painting by the first spacewalker, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, and a quilt featuring a square sewn in orbit by astronaut Karen Nyberg are both on display as part of "Space for Art. (collectSPACE)

Among the artworks on display as part of "Space for Art" is a painting by cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first person to walk in space in 1965; star trail photos by NASA astronaut Don Pettit; a toy dinosaur that Karen Nyberg created using fabric scraps she found on the International Space Station; and a flute played by Johnson Space Center director Ellen Ochoa while aboard the space shuttle.



Alongside those pieces, are paintings by space artists Ron Woods and Pat Rawlings; sketches by the late Paul Calle, one of the first eight artists chosen by NASA to document the program; intricate styrofoam coffee cups decorated by engineer Jennifer Grassman; a fondant cake sculpted by Ginger Kerrick, the first woman to lead Mission Control as a flight director; and skateboards handcrafted by astronaut countermeasures trainer Bob Tweedy, among others.



"I think the public will be surprised by the biographies and statements we had the artists provide that speaks to their personal stories of how science and art comes together for them," said Stott.



Also featured in "Space for Art" are two spacesuits like no others on Earth  and the image of a third that is now on board the space station.







Longboards, coffee cups, stained glass and a sculpted cake are on display in "Space for Art" at Space Center Houston. (collectSPACE)

"Hope" and "Unity," created as part of The Space Suit Art Project, were painted by pediatric patients at the University of Texas MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital and by children from around the world. The third suit, "Courage," debuted on board the space station in September and was originally planned to make its post-flight premiere as part of the exhibit  were it not for a launch delay.



"'Courage' is still on the station," said Stott. "It scheduled to come back on SpaceX's next Dragon return vehicle, which is probably, sadly, just after we close out this exhibit  but we might have to do something special after it returns."



"Space for Art" will be on exhibit at Space Center Houston through March 19.
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Kwiecinski: Why Mizzou basketball should be fun to watch in 2022-23
Apple announced today a joint venture with Nevada Energy (NV Energy) to build out 200MW of photovoltaic solar capacity to power its data center in Reno, Nevada.

The solar farm is Apple's largest solar project to date and is expected to be live by early 2019.

Apples data center is located at the Reno Technology Park; the company has also submitted plans to build another data center campus adjacent to its existing one.

Apple has steadily been working toward a goal of 100% renewable energy over the past several years. It already uses 100% renewable energy for its data center in North Carolina; some of it comes from a biofuels plant and the rest from solar farms.

In 2015, Apple announced all of its U.S. facilities -- and 93% of its operations worldwide -- were powered by renewable energy. In Singapore, for example, the company is powering its manufacturing facilities with 32MW of solar panels that are located atop more than 800 rooftops. In China, the company is adding 170MW of solar power to supplement power used to manufacture iPhones and other products there.

Also in 2015, Apple announced it was investing $848 million in a solar farm to power its California operations, including its new Cupertino campus, along with retail stores and a data center in Fremont. The deal pushed Apple past Walmart as the largest corporate user of solar power. The 2015 solar project represented 130MW of solar power through a 25-year purchasing agreement from the California Flats Solar Project.

Apple Apple built a 50MW solar power plant on 300 acres in Florence, Ariz., which is used to power its Mesa data center.

Last September, Apple joined the global renewable energy initiative RE100, an organization committed to helping companies and municipalities reach 100% renewable energy.

[ To comment on this story, visit Computerworld's Facebook page. ]

"Investing in innovative clean energy sources is vital to Apple's commitment to reaching, and maintaining, 100% renewable energy across all our operations," Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president for environment, policy and social initiatives, stated in a news release. "Our partnership with NV Energy helps assure our customers their iMessages, FaceTime video chats and Siri inquiries are powered by clean energy, and supports efforts to offer the choice of green energy to Nevada residents and businesses."

In the coming weeks, NV Energy will file an application with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada to enter into a power purchase agreement for the new solar power plant.

The project will bring NV Energy's total to more than 529MW of new solar capacity under construction in Nevada, or under review for approval.

"Apple will also dedicate up to 5MW of power to NV Energy's future subscription solar program for residential and commercial customers," the company stated.
Below is the full text of the dissenting judgement given by Lord Carnwarth in the Supreme Courts response to the Article 50 case. The full judgments, including the majority judgment against the Government, can be found here.

243. For the reasons given by Lord Reed, I would have allowed the appeal by the Secretary of State in the main proceedings. In view of the importance of the case, and the fact that we are differing from the Divisional Court and the majority in this court, I shall add some comments of my own from a slightly different legal perspective. I agree with the majority judgment in respect of the Northern Irish cases and the other devolution issues.

Constitutional principles

244. At the heart of the case is the classic statement of principle by Lord Oliver in the Tin Council case (JH Rayner (Mincing Lane) Ltd v Department of Trade and Industry [1990] 2 AC 418):

 as a matter of the constitutional law of the United Kingdom, the Royal Prerogative, whilst it embraces the making of treaties, does not extend to altering the law or conferring rights upon individuals or depriving individuals of rights which they enjoy in domestic law without the intervention of Parliament  (Lord Oliver pp 499E-500D)

245. In the Tin Council case Lord Oliver was speaking only of the making of treaties, not withdrawal. Lord Templeman had earlier made clear that the prerogative enables the Government to negotiate, conclude, construe, observe, breach, repudiate or terminate a treaty  (p 476F-H). However, there was no discussion of how the classic statement might need modification or development in the context of termination or withdrawal. In principle the same basic rule should apply. Just as the Executive cannot without statutory authority create new rights or obligations in domestic law by entering into a treaty, so it cannot by termination of a treaty take away rights or obligations which currently exist. However, that tells one nothing about the process by which this result is to be achieved, nor at what stage of that process the intervention of Parliament is required.

246. Precedents are hard to find. Counsel have taken us on an interesting journey through cases and legal sources from four centuries and different parts of the common law world. The only example we were shown of withdrawal from a treaty was a recent decision of the Canadian Federal Court: Turp v Ministry of Justice & Attorney General of Canada 2012 FC 893. That was an unsuccessful challenge by the executive to the use of its prerogative powers to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, against the background of a statute (passed against the opposition of government) requiring the preparation of plans giving effect to the Protocol. On its face it is a striking example of the use of the prerogative to frustrate the apparent intention of Parliament as expressed in legislation. However, the authority is of limited assistance in the present context, since it had been held in a previous case (Friends of the Earth v Canada (Governor in Council), 2008 FC 118) that the obligations under the statute were not justiciable in the domestic courts.

247. In the end the search through the authorities tells one little that is not sufficiently expressed by the classic rule. It also confirms the lack of any direct precedent for withdrawal from a treaty previously given effect in domestic law, let alone one which has played such a vital part in the development of our laws over more than 40 years. However, lack of precedent is not a reason for inventing new principles, nor is there a need to do so. The existing principles correctly applied provide a clear and coherent framework for effective resolution of all the competing considerations, including the referendum result.

The balance of power

248. In considering that framework it is important to recognise the sensitivity in our constitution of the balance between the respective roles of Parliament, the Executive and the courts. The Divisional Court saw this principally in binary terms: the Executive versus Parliament. Under the general heading, the sovereignty of Parliament and the prerogative powers of the Crown, they referred on the one hand to the most fundamental rule that the Crown in Parliament is sovereign (para 20), and on the other to the general rule that the conduct of international relations and the making and unmaking of treaties are matters for the Crown in the exercise of its prerogative powers (para 30), the balance between the two being as explained by Lord Oliver in the Tin Council case (paras 32-33).

249. Although the Tin Council principles as such are not in doubt, they are only part of the story. It is wrong to see this as a simple choice between Parliamentary sovereignty, exercised through legislation, and the untrammelled exercise of the prerogative by the Executive. Parliamentary sovereignty does not begin or end with the Tin Council principles. No less fundamental to our constitution is the principle of Parliamentary accountability. The Executive is accountable to Parliament for its exercise of the prerogative, including its actions in international law. That account is made through ordinary Parliamentary procedures. Subject to any specific statutory restrictions (such as under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010), they are a matter for Parliament alone. The courts may not inquire into the methods by which Parliament exercises control over the Executive, nor their adequacy.

The FBU case

250. Defining the proper boundaries between the respective responsibilities of Parliament, the Executive and the courts lay at the heart of the dispute in the FBU case (R v Secretary of State for the Home Department Ex p Fire Brigades Union [1995] 2 AC 513). That case concerned statutory provisions (under the Criminal Justice Act 1988) providing for compensation for criminal injuries, intended to replace a previous non-statutory scheme established under the prerogative. Section 171 provided that the new scheme should come into force on such day as the Secretary of State may by order  appoint. No such date was appointed, but instead after some years the Secretary of State announced that a new non-statutory scheme would be introduced, which was inconsistent with the scheme provided for by the Act. The House of Lords held by 3-2 that this action was an abuse of power and so unlawful. In the leading judgment Lord Browne-Wilkinson noted that the new scheme was to be brought into effect 

 at a time when Parliament has expressed its will that there should be a scheme based on the tortious measure of damages, such will being expressed in a statute which Parliament has neither repealed nor (for reasons which have not been disclosed) been invited to repeal. , it would be most surprising if, at the present day, prerogative powers could be validly exercised by the executive so as to frustrate the will of Parliament expressed in a statute and, to an extent, to pre-empt the decision of Parliament whether or not to continue with the Statutory scheme even though the old scheme has been abandoned. It is not for the executive  to state as it did in the White Paper (paragraph 38) that the provisions in the Act of 1988 will accordingly be repealed when a suitable legislative opportunity occurs. It is for Parliament, not the executive, to repeal legislation  (p 552D-E)

He concluded:

By introducing the tariff scheme he debars himself from exercising the statutory power for the purposes and on the basis which Parliament intended. For these reasons, in my judgment the decision to introduce the tariff scheme at a time when the statutory provisions and his power under section 171(1) were on the statute book was unlawful and an abuse of the prerogative power. (p 554G)

The minority, by contrast, regarded the majoritys decision (in Lord Keiths words  p 544) as a most improper intrusion into a field which lies peculiarly within the province of Parliament.

251. In a recent article (A dive into deep constitutional waters: article 50, the Prerogative and Parliament (2016) 79(6) MLR 1064-1089), Professor Gavin Phillipson considers some lessons from that decision for the present case. As he points out (ibid p 1082), the apparently fundamental difference of approach between majority and minority came down ultimately to a narrow issue of statutory construction of section 171: whether the section imposed no duty owed to the public (p 544F per Lord Keith), or rather, as the majority thought (p 551D, per Lord Browne Wilkinson), it imposed a continuing obligation on the Secretary of State to consider whether to bring the statutory scheme into force, which was frustrated by implementation of the inconsistent non-statutory scheme.

252. Professor Phillipson also draws attention to the important observations by Lord Mustill on the balance between the three organs of the state, and in particular the means by which Parliament exercises control of the Executive, not restricted to legislative control. Although stated in a minority judgment, the underlying principles are not I believe controversial. Lord Mustill said:

It is a feature of the peculiarly British conception of the separation of powers that Parliament, the executive and the courts each have their distinct and largely exclusive domain. Parliament has a legally unchallengeable right to make whatever laws it thinks right. The executive carries on the administration of the country in accordance with the powers conferred on it by law. The courts interpret the laws, and see that they are obeyed. This requires the courts on occasion to step into the territory which belongs to the executive, not only to verify that the powers asserted accord with the substantive law created by Parliament, but also, that the manner in which they are exercised conforms with the standards of fairness which Parliament must have intended. Concurrently with this judicial function Parliament has its own special means of ensuring that the executive, in the exercise of delegated functions, performs in a way which Parliament finds appropriate. Ideally, it is these latter methods which should be used to check executive errors and excesses; for it is the task of Parliament and the executive in tandem, not of the courts, to govern the country (p 567D-F, emphasis added)

253. Lord Mustill went on to comment on the development over the previous 30 years of court procedures to fill gaps where the exercise of such specifically Parliamentary remedies has been perceived as falling short, and to avoid a vacuum in which the citizen would be left without protection against a misuse of executive powers. He thought these judicial developments were welcome but not without risks:

As the judges themselves constantly remark, it is not they who are appointed to administer the country. Absent a written constitution much sensitivity is required of the parliamentarian, administrator and judge if the delicate balance of the unwritten rules evolved (I believe successfully) in recent years is not to be disturbed  (p 567H)

254. Professor Phillipson comments:

 the British constitution works most effectively when parliamentary and judicial forms of control and accountability, rather than being framed as antagonistic alternatives, or mutually exclusive directions of travel, work together, but with clearly defined, differentiated and mutually complementary roles. (p 1089)

255. That observation is particularly pertinent having regard to the debate which took place on the opposite side of Parliament Square on the last day of the hearing in the Supreme Court. That led to the motion, passed by a large majority of the House of Commons, the terms of which have been set out by Lord Reed (para 163). In particular, it recognised that it is Parliaments responsibility to properly scrutinise the Government while respecting the decision of the British people to leave the European Union, and ended by call(ing) on the Government to invoke article 50 by 31 March 2017. Of course the House of Commons is not the same as the Queen in Parliament, whose will is represented exclusively by primary legislation. However, the motion lends support to the view that, at least at this initial stage of service of a notice under article 50(2), the formality of a Bill is unnecessary to enable Parliament to fulfil its ordinary responsibility for scrutinising the governments conduct of the process of withdrawal.

Application of the principles to the present case

256. The logical starting point for consideration of the present case is the power which is in issue: that is, the power under article 50 of the Lisbon treaty to initiate the procedure for withdrawal by a decision in accordance with our constitutional requirements, followed by service of a notice. The existence of that power in international law is not in doubt. The issues for the court are, first, who has the right under UK constitutional principles to exercise it, and, secondly, subject to what constitutional requirements. As to the first, under Tin Council principles the position is clear. In the absence of any statutory provision to the contrary, the power to make or withdraw from an international treaty lies with the Executive, exercising the prerogative power of the Crown. As to the second, it is necessary to consider whether that power is subject to any restrictions by statute, express or implied, or in the common law.

257. In agreement with Lord Reed, and for the same reasons, I find no such restrictions in the EU statutes. I agree with Mr Eadie that this issue must be considered by reference to the statutory scheme as it exists at the time the power in question is to be exercised. The 1972 Act of course provided the framework for what followed. But I find it illogical to search in that Act for a presumed Parliamentary intention in respect of withdrawal, at a time when the treaty contained no express power to withdraw, and there was no reason for Parliament to consider it. The 1972 Act did not remove the Crowns treaty-making prerogative in respect of European matters, whether expressly or by implication (as under the De Keyser principle: majority judgment para 48). No-one doubts the power of the Executive in 2008 to enter into the Lisbon Treaty, including article 50.

258. The critical issue is how Parliament dealt with that matter for the purposes of domestic law. In the 2008 Act Parliament recognised the Lisbon treaty (including article 50) by its inclusion in the treaties listed in section 1 of the 1972 Act. Thereafter it became (by virtue of 1972 Act section 2(1)) part of the statutory framework in accordance with which, and therefore subject to which, any rights and obligations derived from EU law by virtue of that Act were to be enjoyed in domestic law. Unlike other powers in the treaty, the 2008 Act did not impose any restriction on the exercise of article 50 by the Executive. That position was confirmed by the 2011 Act, which made specific reference to article 50(3) but placed no restriction on article 50(2). There the matter rests today.

259. Turning to the common law, the Tin Council rule is simple and uncontroversial: the prerogative does not extend to altering the law or conferring rights upon individuals or depriving individuals of rights which they enjoy in domestic law without the intervention of Parliament. Judged by that test the answer again is clear. Service of an article 50(2) notice will not, and does not purport to, change any laws or affect any rights. It is merely the start of an essentially political process of negotiation and decision-making within the framework of that article. True it is that it is intended to lead in due course to the removal of EU law as a source of rights and obligations in domestic law. That process will be conducted by the Executive, but it will be accountable to Parliament for the course of those negotiations and the contents of any resulting agreement. Furthermore, whatever the shape of the ultimate agreement, or even in default of agreement, there is no suggestion by the Secretary of State that the process can be completed without primary legislation in some form.

260. This analysis was in substance adopted by Maguire J in the McCord proceedings, in line with the submissions of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland (repeated in this court). He said:

In the present case, it seems to the court that there is a distinction to be drawn between what occurs upon the triggering of article 50(2) and what may occur thereafter. As the Attorney General for Northern Ireland put it, the actual notification does not in itself alter the law of the United Kingdom. Rather, it is the beginning of a process which ultimately will probably lead to changes in United Kingdom law. On the day after the notice has been given, the law will in fact be the same as it was the day before it was given. The rights of individual citizens will not have changed  though it is, of course, true that in due course the body of EU law as it applies in the United Kingdom will, very likely, become the subject of change. But at the point when this occurs the process necessarily will be one controlled by parliamentary legislation, as this is the mechanism for changing the law in the United Kingdom. (para 105)

261. The Divisional Court (para 17) took a different approach. They in effect adopted the analysis proposed by Lord Pannick, taking account of the agreed (albeit possibly controversial) assumption that the article 50(2) notice is irrevocable. On that footing, even if it has no immediate effect, it will lead inexorably to actual withdrawal at latest two years later (subject to agreement to defer). Lord Pannick drew the analogy of a trigger being pulled (written case para 11-12):

 it is the giving of the notice which triggers the legal effects under article 50(3). Those effects are that once notification is given, [t]he Treaties shall cease to apply to the state in question, from the date of a withdrawal agreement, or  if no such agreement is reached  at the latest within two years from notification, unless an extension of time is unanimously agreed by the European Council and the member state concerned. Notification is  the pulling of the trigger which causes the bullet to be fired, with the consequence that the bullet will hit the target and the Treaties will cease to apply.

262. Lord Pannicks trigger/bullet analogy is superficially attractive, but (with respect) fallacious. A real bullet does not take two years to reach its target. Nor is its progress accompanied by an intense period of negotiations over the form of protection that should be available to the victim by the time it arrives. The treaties will indeed cease to apply, and domestic law will change; but it is clearly envisaged that the final form of the changes will be governed by legislation. As the Secretary of State has explained, the intention is that the legislation will where possible reproduce existing European-based rights in domestic law, but otherwise ensure that there is no legal gap.

263. Although there is no evidence from any government witness on the intended role of Parliament, we were shown without objection or contradiction the statement made by the Secretary of State to Parliament on 10 October 2015 (Hansard Vol 615). Having described the mandate for Britain to leave European Union as clear, overwhelming and unarguable, he explained the governments plans for a great repeal Bill:

We will start by bringing forward a great repeal Bill that will mean the European Communities Act 1972 ceases to apply on the day we leave the EU  The great repeal Act will convert existing European Union law into domestic law, wherever practical. That will provide for a calm and orderly exit, and give as much certainty as possible to employers, investors, consumers and workers In all, there is more than 40 years of European Union law in UK law to consider, and some of it simply will not work on exit. We must act to ensure there is no black hole in our statute book. It will then be for this House  I repeat, this House  to consider changes to our domestic legislation to reflect the outcome of our negotiation and our exit, subject to international treaties and agreements with other countries and the EU on matters such as trade 

264. On the assumption that such a Bill becomes law by the time of withdrawal, there will be no breach of the rule in its classic form. The extent to which existing laws are changed or rights taken away will be determined by the legislation. Ultimately of course that result depends on the will of Parliament; it is not in the gift of the executive. But there is no basis for making the opposite assumption. Lord Pannicks argument in effect requires the classic rule to be reformulated: the prerogative does not extend to any act which will necessarily lead to the alteration of the domestic law, or of rights under it, whether or not that alteration is sanctioned by Parliament. We were shown no authority to support a rule as so stated, nor any principled basis for the court to invent it. In any event, that process, like the service of the article 50 notice, will be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny in whatever way Parliament chooses. It will be for Parliament and the Executive acting in partnership to determine the timing and content of the legislative programme.

Pre-empting the will of Parliament

265. One possible answer to the analysis in the previous paragraph is that it would involve the Executive unlawfully frustrating or pre-empting the will of Parliament. This point is touched on in the majority judgment by reference in particular to the Lord Browne-Wilkinsons statements in the FBU case (see para 250 above). They are said to establish the principle that ministers cannot frustrate the purpose of a statute for example by emptying it of content or preventing its effectual operation; and that it is 

 inappropriate for ministers to base their actions (or to invite the court to make any decision) on the basis of an anticipated repeal of a statutory provision as that would involve ministers (or the court) pre-empting Parliaments decision whether to enact that repeal. (majority judgment para 51)

266. As I understand the majority judgment, however, this line of argument does not ultimately form part of their reasoning, in my view rightly so. In the first place, the FBU case was case about abuse, not absence, of power. There was no doubt as to the existence of the prerogative power. But it was held to be an abuse to use it for a purpose inconsistent with the will of Parliament, as expressed in a statute which had it had neither repealed nor been invited to repeal. Such issues do not arise in this case. The Miller respondents base their case unequivocally on absence of a prerogative power to nullify the statutory scheme set up by the 1972 Act, rather than abuse (see Lord Pannicks response to Lord Reed: Day 2 Transcript, p 158, lines 8-25).

267. Further, Lord Browne-Wilkinson was not purporting to lay down any general principle about the relevance of future legislation in relation to the exercise of the prerogative. His comments were directed to the facts of the particular case, in which the new scheme was being introduced without any reference at all to Parliament. Similar arguments in the present case would have to be seen in a quite different context, which (as Lord Pannick accepts) would include the 2015 Act and the referendum result. It is one thing, as in the FBU case, to use the prerogative to introduce a scheme which is directly contrary to an extant Act, and which Parliament has had no chance consider. It is quite another to use it to give effect to a decision the manner of which has been determined by Parliament itself, and in the implementation of which Parliament will play a central role. In such circumstances talk of frustrating or pre-empting the will of Parliament would be wide of the mark. Conversely, it would be wrong to assume (as the majority appears to do: para 91) that the courts would necessarily have been powerless in the (politically inconceivable) event of the Executive initiating withdrawal entirely of its own motion, or even in defiance of a referendum vote to remain.

Protection of individual interests

268. I would not wish to leave the case without acknowledging the important submissions made by the other respondents and interveners, particularly as to the scale and significance of the interests which will be affected by withdrawal. It is not clear, however, how a requirement for statutory authority for the article 50(2) notice will do anything to safeguard those interests, nor indeed to advance the process of Parliamentary scrutiny which will ultimately be critical to their protection.

269. I take as representative the cases for the third and fourth respondents, presented by Ms Mountfield QC and Mr Gill QC. Their submissions provide vivid illustrations of the variety of ways in which individual and group interests will be profoundly affected by implementation of the decision to leave the EU. Ms Mountfield for example provides a detailed breakdown of fundamental and nonreplicable EU citizenship rights. The list starts with the fundamental status of EU citizenship (Citizens Directive 2004/38/EC preamble), leading to more specific rights, such as the right to move, reside, work and study throughout the member states, the right to vote in European elections, the rights to diplomatic protection, and the right to equal pay, and to non-discriminatory healthcare free at the point of use. She categorises the governments case as an assertion of 

untrammelled prerogative power to do away with the entire corpus of European law rights currently enjoyed under UK law, and render a whole suite of constitutional statutes meaningless, without any Parliamentary authority in the form of a statute.

While there is no reason to question her account of the profound effect of the prospective changes, I do not for the reasons already given accept that this can be describe as untrammelled use of executive power, nor that the control of Parliament will be improperly bypassed. Nor does she explain how that impact will be mitigated by a statute which does no more than authorise service of the notice.

270. Similar arguments are made by Mr Gill for the fourth respondents (the AB parties). They are representative, among others, of the very large numbers of EEA nationals and their children living in this country, whose rights to continued residence will be threatened unless adequate arrangements are made to protect them. Mr Gill refers in particular to the important right under the Citizens Directive for those who have lived in the UK for five years to apply for citizenship in the following year, a right which will be lost on withdrawal. Section 7 of the Immigration Act provides that a person shall not require leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom in any case in which he is entitled to do so by virtue of an enforceable EU right.

271. Typical is Mrs KK, a Polish national resident and working here since 2014, married to a third country national, with a Polish national child born in the UK in 2015. She feels in a complete state of limbo having received no assurance from the Secretary of State as to what her status will be during and after the withdrawal negotiations, nor how her husband and child will be affected. Such people, says Mr Gill, will have made life-changing decisions and moved permanently to the UK with the ultimate intention of acquiring permanent residence. They may also find themselves exposed to criminal liability under the Immigration Act 1971 if their status is removed. Mr Gill recognises that Parliament may prior to actual withdrawal put in place a statutory protection mechanism; but that depends on the will of Parliament, which, he says, the Secretary of State cannot lawfully pre-empt. It is, he submits, a misuse of the prerogative to foist such a situation on Parliament; the rights to remain must be addressed by Parliament before the giving of the article 50(2) notice.

272. There are two problems with that submission. First, it is difficult to talk of the Executive foisting on Parliament a chain of events which flows directly from the result of the referendum which it authorised in the 2015 Act. Secondly, however desirable it would be for issues of detail such as those affecting his clients to be addressed at this stage, it is wholly inconsistent with the structure of article 50. That assumes the initiation of the process by a simple notice under article 50(2), to be followed by detailed negotiations leading if possible to an agreement on the terms of withdrawal. The details of the protections available for Mr Gills clients must depend, at least in part, on the outcome of those negotiations.

273. No doubt for this reason such an extreme argument is not adopted by the other respondents. They accept that, at this stage of the article 50 process, they cannot reasonably expect anything more than bare statutory authorisation for the service of the notice. That is realistic. But it also underlines the point that successful defence of the Divisional Courts order will do nothing to resolve the many practical issues which will need to be addressed over the coming period, nor to protect the rights of those directly affected. Those problems, and the need for Parliament to address them, will remain precisely the same with or without statutory authorisation for the article 50 notice. If that is what the law requires, so be it. But some may regard it as an exercise in pure legal formalism.

Conclusion

274. Shortly after the 1972 Act came into force, Lord Denning famously spoke of the European Treaty as like an incoming tide. It flows into the estuaries and up the rivers. It cannot be held back  (Bulmer Ltd v Bollinger [1974] Ch 401, 418F). That process is now to be reversed. Hydrologists may be able to suggest an appropriate analogy. On any view, the legal and practical challenges will be enormous. The respondents have done a great service in bringing these issues before the court at the beginning of the process. The very full debate in the courts has been supplemented by a vigorous and illuminating academic debate conducted on the web (particularly through the UK Constitutional Law Blog site). Unsurprisingly, given the unprecedented nature of the undertaking there are no easy answers. In the end, in respectful disagreement with the majority, I have reached the clear conclusion that the Divisional Court took too narrow a view of the constitutional principles at stake. The article 50 process must and will involve a partnership between Parliament and the Executive. But that does not mean that legislation is required simply to initiate it. Legislation will undoubtedly be required to implement withdrawal, but the process, including the form and timing of any legislation, can and should be determined by Parliament not by the courts. That involves no breach of the constitutional principles which have been entrenched in our law since the 17th century, and no threat to the fundamental principle of Parliamentary sovereignty.
May wont address legislators in Dublin

The Prime Minister has declined an invitation to address the Dail  the Irish parliament  during a visit to Dublin later this month, the Irish Independent reports.

Enda Kenny, the Taoiseach (prime minister), extended the invitation, which would have made her the first Conservative and only the second British Prime Minister to do so since Tony Blair in 1998.

As our editor has been exploring, Ireland is one of the most complex issues facing the Government as it extricates Britain from the European Union. Given that Theresa May is working hard not to tip her hand to Brussels, she was probably wise to avoid a grilling by Irish legislators.

Rudd rules out separate Scottish immigration system

The Scotsman reports that the Home Secretary has rejected the idea that Scotland should operate its own immigration system after Brexit.

Amber Rudd apparently said that such a move would undermine Britains border control system by introducing too much additional complexity. The SNP cite Canada and Australia as examples of variegated systems, but both those countries span continents.

Earlier in the week David Mundell, the Scottish Secretary, also said that he remained unconvinced of any need for Scotland to try to stay in the Single Market should the UK depart it.

With the Supreme Court also confirming that foreign affairs remain as reserved to Westminster as ever they were, it has not been a good week for Nicola Sturgeons list of wriggle-outs from her referendum rhetoric.

Welsh Labour team up with Plaid Cymru over Brexit

Carwyn Jones dalliances with nationalism have been a frequent subject of this column ever since it started. Nominally unionist, the First Minister never hesitates to try to drive a wedge between London and Cardiff in order to secure more powers.

For example, before Junes EU referendum vote he suggested a Leave win might make Welsh voters choose the EU over Britain  a nonsensical suggestion, as we pointed out  and after it he demanded the Welsh Assembly get a veto on the Brexit deal.

Now hes teamed up with Leanne Wood, the leader of the Welsh Nationalists, to launch a White Paper for leaving the EU. At its core? Staying in the single market, and a proposal for how migration from the EU could be restricted without breaching the freedom of movement principle.

If that sounds very status quo, it shouldnt be surprising. What Andrew RT Davies, the Welsh Tory leader, dubbed the Cardiff Bay bubble was blindsided by Wales Leave vote and didnt allow itself to get knocked off its more powers! script for long.

Jones preoccupation the Nationalists isnt doing his party any favours. If he wants to see what lies at the end of the road hes on, he should make an inspection of Scottish Labour.

Dugdale puts pressure on SNP over budget

Speaking of, Labour seem to have made a little headway against the Nationalists at Holyrood this week. The Scotsman reports that the Scottish Government is under pressure to water down its budget proposals.

Labour are trying to unite the left-leaning opposition against plans to cut 327 million from local council budgets at the same time as the Tories have vowed to oppose the SNPs attempts to make Scotland the highest-taxed part of the UK.

Writing in the Daily Record Kezia Dugdale, Labours leader north of the border, points out that Scotlands economic growth already lags behind the rest of the UK, whilst its unemployment level is higher, and argues that cuts to local services will exacerbate these problems.

New leader for Sinn Fein ahead of snap elections

Following Martin McGuinness decision to step down ahead of next months snap elections in Northern Ireland, the largest nationalist party have chosen Michelle ONeill to be their new leader of the north.

The 40-year-old MLA for the Sinn Fein stronghold of Mid-Ulster is apparently part of the partys efforts to rebrand itself for the next generation of voters, according to the Belfast Telegraph, which also provided a handy analysis of her first interview.

Unless either Sinn Fein or the Democratic Unionists are displaced as the largest nationalist and unionist parties, which seems unlikely, ONeill will face an early test once the ballots are counted: navigating either the reconstruction of devolved government or avoiding the blame for its total collapse.
Theresa May entered the Chamber at 11.54 looking dangerously happy. Philip Hammond looked happy too. They shared a joke.

Chris Philp, the trusty MP for Croydon South, rose and asked for a White Paper on the plans for Brexit. One or two of us thought for a moment that Philp had turned into a rebel, a doughty defender of the Commons right to hold the Executive to account, for we were under the impression that the Prime Minister had refused to issue a White Paper.

How insulting of us to doubt even for a moment Philps loyalty. For the Prime Minister rose and announced that the Governments plans will be set out in a White Paper.

Three rows behind May, Kenneth Clarke was laughing now. He looked delighted, and also appreciative of the cool effrontery with which, in broad daylight, the Prime Minister had executed her U-turn.

Jeremy Corbyn rose. He asked when the White Paper is going to be available.

The Prime Minister rocked back with laughter, raising her foot off the ground. When it was again her turn to speak, she pointed out that Corbyn always asks about process, while she is focussing on the outcome of the Brexit talks.

A U-turn is often embarrassing. It exposes the U-turner to charges of weakness, cowardice, inconsistency, even panic.

But Mays U-turn was so palpably what the House wanted that it redounded to her credit. One could not help wondering if she had saved it up, so she could at a helpful moment make this concession to public opinion.

If Corbyn were quicker on his feet, he could have mocked the Prime Minister. He could have said she had adopted an indefensible position, which she was now being forced to abandon.

But Corbyn is not quick. He is a prisoner of his script, which contained the charge that May wants to turn Britain into a bargain basement tax haven off the coast of Europe.

Somehow he couldnt make the phrase sing. The gap between his bargain basement and Mays correct, front-parlourish manner was too wide for him to leap.

The Tories jeered him, while his own troops heard him in despondent silence. They know he is not up to it. May walks all over him.

One day she will stumble, for that is the nature of politics. But the only contribution Corbyn is ever likely to make to that stumble is to encourage her to become over-confident.

Corbyn also managed, during this PMQs, to express his condolences about a police officer in Northern Ireland who lost his life. The officer in question is still alive.

So is Corbyns predecessor, Ed Miliband, who suggested that when May meets Donald Trump, she should offer the services of UK scientists to the new President, in order to persuade him that climate change is not a hoax invented by the Chinese.

We did not think we would ever write, Bring back Ed Miliband. But he would be a clear improvement on the present Leader of the Opposition, whose main ability is to make his own side look feeble.

Now that May has promised a White Paper, Corbyn should have the decency to run up the white flag.
THEFT OF TRACTOR (North Dundas)  On January 20, 2017  SD&G OPP began an investigation into a reported theft of a tractor at a business on County Road 31, North Dundas Township (Winchester). A green 2014 John Deere JD3046R with a front end loader was stolen.

MAN CHARGED IN BREAK-IN

(North Stormont)  On January 20, 2017 at approximately 8:38pm, Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry (SD&G) Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers, assisted by OPP Emergency Response Team (ERT) and K-9 members responded to a report of a break-in in progress at a residence on Sand Road, North Stormont Township. Investigation indicated that a male suspect had attempted to forcibly enter the home and had fled on foot. He was located and arrested following a K-9 track.

Shaun TYPHAIR (35) of North Dundas Township is charged with;

 Break and Enter a Dwelling

 Possession of a Break-In Instruments

 Trespass by Night

He was held in custody pending an appearance (bail) at the Ontario Court of Justice in Cornwall.

BREACH OF CONDITION

(South Glengarry)  On January 21, 2017 at approximately 9:53pm, an SD&G OPP officer intercepted a vehicle on Cannon Street, South Glengarry (South Lancaster). A check of the adult male driver indicated that he was in contravention of a condition (non-communication order) imposed from a previous incident.

Kevin WALDROFF (20) of Cornwall, Ontario was arrested and is charged with;

 Fail to Comply with Recognizance

He was held in custody pending an appearance (bail) at the Ontario Court of Justice in Cornwall.

DRUGS SEIZED

(South Glengarry)  On January 22, 2017 at approximately 2:38am, an SD&G OPP officer intercepted a vehicle on Highway 401, South Glengarry Township. The stop resulted in the seizure of a quantity of suspected marihuana.

The male driver, Brendan CROCKETT (20) of Cornwall, Ontario and female passenger, Kimberly EVANS (19) of South Glengarry Township were both arrested and each charged with;

 Possession of a Controlled Substance

Both were released and scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Alexandria on March 8, 2017.

THEFT-DAMAGE TO TRAILERS

(North Stormont)  Overnight (January 21-22, 2017)  several camping trailers were entered while parked on a commercial lot at the corner of Highway 138 and County Road 43, North Stormont Township. Investigation indicated that 11 units were forcibly entered. A television was taken from one unit while six (6) others sustained damage.

An investigation continues.

DAMAGE TO MAILBOXES

(North Stormont)  Overnight (January 21-22, 2017)  several mailboxes were damaged along Eight Road, North Stormont Township.

An investigation continues.
Close

A year ago, James Hamblin, senior editor at The Atlantic gave up showering for an entire six months. It was not because he was too lazy to hit the shower, but because of an experiment he wanted to try out for himself.

James shared that the experiment started when he was pursuing a story about a company selling bacterial spray and heard about a journalist, Julia Scott who used the spray.

According to Huffington Post, Scott sprayed bacterial microbes on her body called nitrosamonas eutropha. She stopped showering and sprayed the bacteria every day for a full month as a replacement for her use of beauty products.

After a month, her body fully cultivated the healthy bacteria naturally. The body moisturized itself as Scott said her acne completely disappeared.

A chemical engineer launched the product in 2015 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The engineer claimed that he didn't shower for 12 years.

James was intrigued by the story. "I don't go as far as spraying myself with bacteria but it got me thinking ... maybe it doesn't make sense to be destroying this ecosystem by scrubbing ourselves with soap every single day," James told The Guardian.

Some scientists said that taking a shower regularly may disrupt the body's ecosystem and damage the microbiome. It is a group of bacteria that live in and on our bodies.

As an example, the scientists cite an indigenous tribe called the Yanomami in the Venezuelan Amazon. They have been found to host a community of diverse microbes that has ever been discovered in humans. This only goes to show that less use of products and water might be good for us.

Microbes make you smell like a human rather than smelling like a product. James' girlfriend said that he didn't smell bad either.

"But after a while, the idea goes, your ecosystem reaches a steady state, and you stop smelling bad. I mean, you don't smell like rosewater or Axe Body Spray, but you don't smell like B.O., either. You just smell like a person."

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Close

After the Zika virus outbreak that rattled the country, Brazil is now facing another health crisis. Health officials are now investigating a recent Yellow fever outbreak that has infected 47 people and killed 25 others.

The outbreak is centered in the east-central state of Minas Gerais, wherein the governor has declared an 180-state of emergency this month after an initial report of eight deaths.

Health officials revealed that the vaccines have been delivered to the area, Health Aim reports.

The government has sent 2 million extra doses of the vaccine against the mosquito-borne disease to the state and it said that hundreds of thousands of other doses will be sent there and the nearby province of Espirito Santo this week, Fox News reports.

The health officials have launched a probe into more than 160 other suspected cases of Yellow fever. In 2016, the country had only reported seven cases, which was way fewer than what the country had in the first month of 2017.

What Is Yellow Fever?

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that yellow fever is an acute hemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes, just like Zika virus and Dengue fever. The "yellow" in the name of the disease refers to jaundice or yellowing of the skin found in some infected patients.

The signs and symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, jaundice, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, and fatigue. Some patients may suffer severe symptoms and about half of those die within just seven to 10 days.

The virus is endemic in tropical areas like Central America, South America, and Africa. There is no specific treatment for yellow fever and the supportive care is based on the symptoms.

However, preventive precautions like wearing protective clothing and using insect repellent may help prevent mosquito bites. Vaccination against the disease may also help. The yellow fever vaccine is similar to that of other injections wherein it contains a live, weakened virus that is given in a single shot.



See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Close

The key in treating autism among children may not lie in the brain, but in the gut. A team of researchers found that children with autism may benefit from fecal microbial transplants to improve the gut microbiome.

Children diagnosed with autism are more likely to suffer from stomach problems than other children. Now, a team of researchers at the Ohio State University and the University of Arizona has shown that changing gut bacteria may reduce not just stomach problems but the behavioral issues linked to the condition as well.

Improved Autism Symptoms And Stomach Problems

In the study published in the journal Microbiome, the researchers examined 18 children with autism and gastrointestinal problems. They gave the children a 10-week treatment of fecal microbial transplants, which involved transferring live gut bacteria from a health donor to a patient.

The doctors and parents of the children reported positive changes that lasted at least eight weeks after the treatment. The children had about 20 to 25 percent improvement in autism behaviors including improved sleeping patterns and social skills. Moreover, they had 80 percent reduced stomach problems.

"Transplants are working for people with other gastrointestinal problems. And, with autism, gastrointestinal symptoms are often severe, so we thought this could be potentially valuable," Ann Gregory, study co-author, said in a press release by Ohio State University.

How It Works And Study Implications

There has been a growing body of research that draws connections between the bacteria and viruses found in the gut and problems in the brain. There is a possibility that the two are tied together in an important way in autism.

The fecal microbial donor materials contain about 1,000 different species of gut bacteria, which would act like a probiotic treatment to restore normal gut bacteria in patients.

The study showed that not only did the researchers provide good microbes in the gut, but the microbes that were provided changed the gut environment that would help the person recruit beneficial microbes.

The authors, however, caution families in replicating the study on their own.

"Although we see promise in this treatment, it is important that parents and children consult their physicians," Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, co-author from the Arizona State University, said in a press release. She added that replicating the study might result in severe gastrointestinal infection.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Close

The human voice bank has attracted numerous volunteers to donate their voices to people who rely on technology to communicate. Currently, there are computerized devices that sound robotic and do not match the person's identity.

VocaliD, a company based in Boston, aims to address the need of those with severe speech disorders. Rupal Patel, a speech scientist and VocaliD founder, believes that voice is an integral part of a person's identity. He added that the human voice bank is swapping the generic voice for a sound from the person who has a speech problem.

The new human voice bank harnesses sound patterns from people who are speechless, and mixes them with a real human voice. The donor voice is matched with the recipient according to accent, age and gender.

The human voice bank is becoming popular attracting 17,000 volunteers from 110 countries. In America alone, there are two million who suffer from severe speech disorders. Students from different universities who chose to take part in this advocacy have begun donating their time and voice. Instead of the usual fundraising activity, they spend an afternoon or the weekend recording their voices.

Another company, Speech Research Laboratory at the Alfred I. Dupont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, headed by Tim Bunnell, has also engineered more than 1,000 voices for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Unlike the VocaliD human voice bank, they have recorded voices for patients who were able to record their own before they lost their speech ability.

A hundred words takes about 20 minutes to record, and volunteers are asked to do 3,000 sentences, details a 7th grader donor in California. VocaliD will also record the sounds of the users and blend them with the donor voice for about six to ten hours of recording. The human voice bank is reported to have collected 19,000 voices around the world from donors aging six to 91 years old.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Close

A team of researchers has found a new species of parasites in Australia. These new species share an evolutionary ancestor to a dreaded group of "flesh-eating" parasites.

Published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the researchers at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) describe for the first time an Australian parasite, called Zelonia australiensis, in native biting insects. This insect share an evolutionary ancestor with the Leishmania group of "flesh-eating" parasites.

Previous studies on the evolution of Leishmania have shown that this parasite is adaptable and can spread over vast distances. The disease it causes, Leishmaniasis, is potentially deadly and affects both animals and humans through bites of sand flies.

On the other hand, the newly-discovered parasite is found in a species of black fly that bites mammals and humans as well.

Establishment Of Exotic Pathogens In Australia

According to the researchers, although the species probably does not eat flesh, the findings of the study shows the importance of scientists being aware of similar tropical diseases in the country. Moreover, the study raises questions about the potential for the establishment of exotic pathogens in Australia.

"In conjunction with previous research, this study provides clues as to what these parasites are capable of. They have invaded new lands in the past, adapting to infect new species," Dr. Joel Barratt, lead author of the study, said in a press release.

He added that learning more about these parasites, their origin and how they infect species to take up residence in places, could help curb outbreaks in the future. This has happened for other parasites in the past just like the spread of malaria from Africa to Europe and the Americas

Neglected Parasitic Diseases

The study authors call for the government and local health authorities to pay more attention to neglected parasitic diseases.

Australia, in general, is not very well equipped to deal with various tropical diseases like Zika virus, Japanese encephalitis, dengue fever, Chikungunya, MERS, Ebola, and SARS, the researchers said as reported by Science Alert.

They proposed the creation of the Australian version of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Leishmaniasis, a deadly disease caused by protozoan parasites, is a potentially deadly disease transmitted to humans by the bites of the infected female phlebotomine sandfly, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports.



See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Close

President-elect Donald Trump is paving a way to lower drug prices, which turned out to be something challenging. Despite making it clear that drug prices are too high, the pharmaceutical industry strongly opposed his decision.

Donald Trump has been very vocal in terms his stand on drug prices, stating that the pharmaceutical industry is "getting away with murder". Prescription drugs continually increase in terms of pricing over the years, leaving low-income citizens with a burden. Trump already made a move in having this dilemma reduced.

The president-elect previously made a proposal wherein he forced drug makers to make a bid for their rights in having their products sold to Medicare beneficiaries. His bid, however, failed to gather enough support as it was not able to attract the congress, even among his fellow Republicans.

"Pharma has a lot of lobbyists and a lot of power, and there is very little bidding," Donald Trump stated at the news conference this month. "We're the largest buyer of drugs in the world, and yet we don't bid properly, and we're going to save billions of dollars."

The New York Times mentioned that poll results reveal general public's voice in terms the prohibition of the federal government to directly negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for acquiring the drugs that are covered by Medicare, which is the government's health program for individuals over 65 and those who have disabilities.

There are several politicians that are not in favor of the prohibition, including Bernie Sanders, his gesture to remove the prohibition was opposed by the pharmaceutical industries and the Republicans. Medicare only started covering drug costs in 2006, after the government made a move to add a drug benefit.

The gesture to prohibit the government to directly make a transaction is said to be a risky step for the lawmakers as it can negatively impact the government's practice of medicine. As a tax paying citizen, are you in favor of Donald Trump's idea that the drug makers should make a bid to sell their products to Medicare? Do let us know your thoughts through the comment section below.

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On the backs of battlers

The Coalition government wished the big banks and corporations a Prosperous New Year with the promise of tax cuts and more corporate welfare. But the message was different for the most vulnerable and least well off as the government embarked upon one of its most callous and criminal exercises yet  Centrelinks Auto-Debt Recovery Program. Thousands of social security recipients and former recipients are being pursued to pay debts they do not owe in a massive exercise to reduce the budget deficit on the backs of the poor.

Alan Tudge, the Minister for Human Services, or more accurately the Minister for Inhumane Services, said the system is working as intended. It sure is!

Every letter that is initially sent is based on a discrepancy between an individuals income data held at the Australian Taxation Office with their self-reported income data at Centrelink, Tudge said. This is misleading to say the least.

The ATO sent Centrelink the annual income of recipients which the automated system at Centrelink averaged out on a fortnightly basis. If this average was over the threshold to receive payments then the automated system sent the recipient a debt notice for overpayment.

This method of calculation is completely inaccurate and either wilfully dishonest or incompetent. The ATO annual figure does not provide a fortnightly breakdown. So it does not take into account periods of eligibility when a persons fortnightly income was below the threshold, such as when they were unemployed or underemployed, or had a period of illness. It is inappropriate to compare it with Centrelink data.

The onus of proof is on recipients of debt notices to prove they do not have a debt. The so-called debt recovery program is causing considerable and undue stress and anxiety, to which the governments response was ring Helpline!

Our aim is to ensure that people get what they are entitled to  no more and no less. And to crack down hard when people deliberately defraud the system, Tudge said when announcing the introduction of the new automated system in December 2016.

He said that it would bring in $4.5 million a day instead of $295,000 as in the past when departmental staff manually checked apparent discrepancies and there were personalised avenues of redress such as the telephone. Savage staff cuts mean those receiving inaccurate notices have little or no means of redress except on the internet.

Blunt weapon

Centrelink should not be used by the government as a blunt weapon to achieve a deficit reduction on the backs of people who already carry the greatest burden of inequality, Dr John Falzon, CEO of the National Council of St Vincent de Paul Society said.

Falzon further criticised the inadequacy of the Newstart Allowance, which has not increased in real terms since 1994. The Society believes the allowance should be increased by at least $50 a week and indexed appropriately, he said.

Centrelink, no doubt under the instructions from the Abbott/Turnbull government, went back over six years and has been sending out debt notices at the rate of 20,000 per week. It has set a target of $4 billion in reclaimed debts!

How many people keep records for six years? The ATO only requires that they be kept for two or, in more complex situations, five years.

Social security recipients face a Catch 22 situation with gross understaffing at Centrelink offices and jammed phone lines that result in waiting times of hours. Trying to resolve issues without any personal contact on line is near to impossible.

The online myGov portal is difficult to navigate, even for those who are technically savvy, let alone those who do not use the internet.

Of all the people in the community who are least likely to keep records for even a few years, let alone six, the government is targeting them in a desperate attempt to reduce the budget deficit.

This includes people who have experienced homelessness, women who have fled domestic violence, those with mental illness, or workers in and out of work and others on low incomes below the tax threshold.

Thousands of people have already attempted to query and have their alleged debts reduced or wiped. But the system is complex, certainly not easy for someone to understand, let alone have ability to question the governments actions or the wherewithal to seek legal help or go to an account.

Social security recipients with mental illness, the long-term unemployed, those with inadequate literacy or a poor grasp of English are less likely than the general community to understand their rights, the processes or to have the skills to deal with the system or know where or how to seek help.

The government claims that the vast majority of people are resolving the issue online. But not according to the flood of complaints to welfare organisations, legal aid groups and the media.

The automated system should be halted immediately and all debts cancelled. The department requires a large number of additional staff to deal properly with questions of payments which should be done by the public sector.

Budget hypocrisy

Adding insult to injury, automated debt notices follow in the footsteps of the Omnibus Bill with its $6.3 billion in cuts. It was rammed through Parliament with Labors support last September. The government had lumped together 24 pieces of legislation into one bill.

Under the Omnibus Act, social security recipients will be charged nine percent interest on debts to the government if they do not agree to a repayment arrangement. The government is also set to introduce a Departure Prohibition Order to stop them leaving Australia until agreement is reached.

These cuts hit parental leave, family payments, students, pensioners, families of migrants among others. Again, they hit the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.

As the government continues with its cuts in the name of balancing the budget, it is still going ahead with its planned tax cuts for corporations and the rich. This will only further reduce income and be used as a justification for further cuts to social spending.

Needless to say the $1 trillion budget allocated for military spending over the next 20 years remains in tact. So too the multi-billion dollar infrastructure program for the private sector in northern Australia. This includes a $1 billion subsidisation of the Adani Carmichael coal mine proposal.

This mine and the proposed subsidy is yet another example of reckless and environmentally destructive spending by a government which dances to the tune of the mining corporations and turns its back on the consequences of climate change and the people.

The government should turn its focus on the big corporations who cheat the public purse out of billions of dollars by paying no tax.
Editorial

The way has been shown

The year 2017 is shaping up to be a huge one for the working class of Australia and all exploited and oppressed people around the world. Communists around the world will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Great October Revolution, a momentous turning point in human history in which Russian workers and peasants took power and built a new type of society.

In Australia, the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) will be involved in these celebrations and holding a number of activities focusing on the Revolution, its achievements and their meaning for Australia.

The CPA will be holding its 13th National Congress where it will be analysing current developments and charting the way forward for the next four years. There are also plans to update its program, a document that spells out its policies and longer term aims.

Many are asking how such a reactionary, racist, xenophobe as billionaire Donald Trump could be elected as President of the US. At the same time how did Bernie Sanders who put the word socialism on the agenda  something unimaginable a few years ago  gain so much support?

Around the world people are looking for change. Decades of neo-liberal economic policies with cuts to social spending, privatisation, deregulation and attacks on democratic and trade union rights have seen living standards drop, homelessness rise and the gap between the rich and poor widen.

There is confusion. Some fell for the demagogy of Trump, a ruthless billionaire capitalist pretending to care about the poor and exploited.

At the same time hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in the US and around the world to protest at his policies, in particular his attitude towards women.

Cracks are appearing in the two-party system  some very large  in a number of countries as a result of growing dissatisfaction with the major parties and the facade of democracy they give.

In Australia, the left forces remain relatively weak. Pauline Hansons One Nation is being promoted almost on a daily basis in the media. Hanson and her reactionary views have been mainstreamed. They also hold currency in the right-wing forces of the Coalition.

These reactionary forces must be defeated. They cannot be allowed to fill the vacuum left by the major parties.

The Russian Revolution showed that it was possible for the working class to win power and throw out the capitalists. It inspired workers around the world and during the years that followed communist parties were formed, including in Australia.

The Communist Party of Australia brought Marxism to the working class of Australia. Party members have been active in so many struggles  against war, for democratic and workers rights, for jobs, for social services, for Indigenous rights, in international solidarity, for a socialist Australia and much more.

Many causes that Australian communists have fought for are still to be won. The working class movement has been at its strongest when the Communist Party has been at its strongest. When struggles are successful it is not long before the capitalist class attempts to wind back workers gains.

The current situation, domestically and globally, dictates the need more than ever for socialism  high unemployment, global warming, homelessness, economic crisis, starvation, massive dislocation of people, and war.

These crucial issues will be on the agenda of the Partys 13th National Congress. Central to this is the building and strengthening of the CPA. So join us in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution and building the CPA and struggle in Australia.

As Lenin put it following the October Revolution: The ice has been broken, the road is open  the way has been shown.
Victoria on the path to a treaty

Victorias treaty process will next involve a second series of community consultations, which will culminate in a ceremonial on country event to be held in April involving the states traditional owners, Aboriginal organisations and the treaty interim working group.

The event and lead-up consultations are viewed as key components on the path to delivering treaty legislative options to state Parliament by July.

Last month, a summary of the first chapter of regional consultations was delivered to more than 300 stakeholders in a one-day forum held at Melbournes Convention and Exhibition Centre in Southbank.

Between May and December last year, international consultancy firm Ernst & Young  engaged by Aboriginal Victoria  worked with the treaty interim working group to hold 10 workshops in regional centres around Victoria. The objective was to explore how a state-wide Aboriginal representative body might be structured and what is expected to fall within its remit.

Summarising the process of each of those consultations, Ernst & Young representative Joe Hedger explained that each consultation began with three working assumptions: That the purpose of a representative assembly was to facilitate Aboriginal voices into genuine treaty negotiations; that a representative body was to be a formal and permanent organisation, established under legislation and independent of government; and that it was to be well-resourced to ensure its independence.

Mr Hedger, a Bundjalung man, said participants were then asked to discuss additional ideas and report back on key design principles, roles and functions of a potential Treaty Assembly.

Mark Dingle, also of Ernst & Young, described the findings of the consultations: We heard that they wanted a representative body that was practical, he said. They didnt want a complex and overly-engineered structure. They wanted simplicity and practicality in the way this thing is designed.

Issues

The issues of inclusivity, unity and transparency were also raised regularly in regards to developing a representative entity.

These will be the top set of design principles that will be given as instructions in our next phase of building a representative body, Mr Dingle said.

Earlier, state Aboriginal Affairs Minister Natalie Hutchins said the Victorian Cabinet had given its full support for the process for a treaty to go forward.

Theres a need for a roadmap to treaty and the decisions that are made here about developing that road map will be backed by the government. We want to walk in your shadows, she said.

Members of the treaty interim working group then discussed their observations of the regional consultations before addressing questions from the floor. The community down home really mentioned working from the ground up. Also working from our tribes and clans, said interim working group member Tarneen Onus-Williams, a Gunditjmara woman.

The forum also heard from international Indigenous legal experts Dr Carwyn Jones, from New Zealand, and Celeste Haldane, from Canada, as well as Melbourne Law Schools Associate Professor Mark McMillan.

The December forum followed a February 2016 self-determination meeting at which constitutional recognition was roundly rejected by representatives of state-wide Aboriginal communities in preference for a treaty. A two-day forum was then held in May 2016 during which stakeholders voted to proceed with the first chapter of community consultations to determine how a representative body might look.

But Gunai-Gunditjmara woman Lidia Thorpe criticised the form and direction of the first consultative process, describing a lack of Aboriginal control in the development of a representative body as just one aspect that led to her recent withdrawal from the interim working group, along with fellow Victoria Traditional Owners Land Justice Group representative and Yung Balag clan Elder Gary Murray.

List of things

Weve got a whole list of things that we had issues with, Ms Thorpe said.

We wrote those concerns to the minister and the premier at the time, before we withdrew. Still to this day weve had no response.

Mr Murray points to what he describes as low participation figures in the community consultations as evidence of the Aboriginal Victoria-led process being flawed.

Three hundred people going through a process that involved 10 forums locally and in some of those communities theres something like 5,000-10,000 people, yet only 15 or 30 turn up. I think that substantiates the allegations about how poor the process has been, he said. Mr Murray and Ms Thorpe argue that the treaty process needs to be less Aboriginal organisation-based and more clan-based.

The Minister in February had three motions put to her after the first state-wide meeting, Mr Thorpe said. One was we reject constitutional recognition. Two was to go down the treaty path. Three was to establish an Elders council.

She has still failed to come good with that last recommendation. We need our clans to be empowered through this process and they need to be in a position to self-determine if they want a treaty or not.

Responding to the criticisms, executive director of government peak body Aboriginal Victoria Jason Mifsud said: As always theres varying views about small parts of the process. And weve listened to some of those and acknowledged the fault  and made a commitment to improve in those areas during the next chapter.

Theres been a record amount of treaty consultations, a record number of people engaged. Constantly through this process weve accepted the feedback in order to be able to reach into more lounge-rooms and open up the dialogue to more people. One of the real highlights for us is the community to be actively engaged in advising us how the process might look.

Koori Mail
Another life at risk on Nauru

A refugee man on Nauru who appears to have suffered a serious cardiac event more than one month ago is being denied access to urgent medical treatment after Australian authorities have failed to transfer him to a facility with appropriate testing and treatment options.

Medical experts warn that the man, who the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre (ASRC) are calling Yusuf, may be at severe risk of suffering a heart attack or further complications that could lead to significant harm unless he immediately receives more advanced medical treatment that is unavailable on Nauru.

The case comes as the inquest into the death of Hamid Khazaei, who died after being denied an urgent medical transfer in 2014, hears damning evidence of the litany of mistakes and failed responsibilities made by the Australian government and Department of Immigration in the lead-up to his death.

We cannot allow Yusuf to become another appalling failure of our governments duty of care  he must be transferred to safety immediately, said Kon Karapanagiotidis, CEO of the ASRC.

Yusufs treatment shows our government has learned nothing from the revelations from the inquest into the death of Hamid Khazaei.

Australian authorities have a duty of care to refugees and people seeking asylum regardless of whether they are in detention centres or living in the community offshore and they are once again failing in that responsibility, he said.

It is clear that Yusuf requires immediate medical transfer, said Natasha Blucher, ASRC Detention Rights Advocate.

He has described ongoing symptoms to me, which medical specialists have explained are indicative of ongoing cardiac problems. These symptoms include sweating, pain in the chest that moves to the left side of body and very cold hands.

Despite the seriousness of his condition, he has been waiting for urgent medivac for more than one month. He is terrified.

The information Yusuf has given advocates once again raises serious questions about the adequacy of medical care for refugees and people seeking asylum on Nauru.

Yusuf is a refugee man in his 30s and living in the community on Nauru. On around November 5 Yusuf says he felt dizzy, had numb feet, strange sweats on his body and cold hands. He presented at Republic of Nauru hospital where doctors conducted an electrocardiogram and blood tests.

Yusuf was told that his condition was very serious and that he could not be treated on Nauru. He was then transferred to the IHMS clinic on Nauru where they did further tests and told him the doctor at the hospital was correct, and that he needed an angiogram which cannot be done on Nauru.

Yusuf completed paperwork and was told he would be sent to Papua New Guinea on 23 November. This date came and went and nothing happened.

On around December 1, a doctor told him that the transfer did not happen as there had been no planes leaving Nauru. Yusuf was told that flights had resumed and he would be transferred within the next week. Despite these assurances he is still in his home on Nauru.

He has described ongoing symptoms sweating, pain in the chest that moves to the left side of body, and very cold hands that are recurring every 2-3 days or when he walks or exerts himself.

Yusuf does not care where he goes, he just wants to receive treatment and to stay alive, said Natasha Blucher.

Dr Clare Arnott, a cardiologist based in Australia, has reviewed copies of Yusufs medical notes that he was able to photograph while in hospital and offered her assessment of the seriousness of his case. Yusuf was not provided with his complete medical records from the hospital or the outcomes of his tests.

This young man presented with left sided chest pain, diaphoresis (sweating) and dizziness. Such a presentation is potentially serious and conditions such as acute coronary syndrome, bradycardia and pulmonary embolus should be excluded, said Clare Arnett, cardiologist.

I have very limited information from his medical records but I understand that based on clinical assessment, examination, serial ECGs and Troponin blood tests his treating doctors were concerned that he was suffering from severe bradycardia and acute coronary syndrome.

His doctors recommended referral for specialist medical care and I agree with this assessment based on my limited information.

Furthermore, he has ongoing recurrent exertional chest pain which is of great concern. This for me increases the urgency of his condition, said Dr Arnett.

It is clear that Yusuf requires a level of medical care that is unavailable on Nauru.

The ASRC is calling on Australian authorities to immediately evacuate Yusuf to a facility where he can receive the urgent medical treatment he requires.
A rich history

Sitaram Yechury is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the parliamentary group leader of his Party. He was recently in Sydney to speak at a conference and while he was there visited the Communist Party of Australias headquarters. He kindly agreed to an interview with Anna Pha from the Guardian.

Anna Pha interviewing Sitaram Yechury.

Guardian: I thought we could start with some background about the Communist Party of India Marxist?

Sitaram: The Party has a very long history. It is the product of the fight of the Indian communists, first against revisionism that appeared in the communist movement and then against adventurism that surfaced a few years later.

G: What period are we talking about?

Sitaram: I am talking about the decade of the 1960s. Following the 20th Congress of the CPSU [Communist Party of the Soviet Union  1956] these trends developed in the international Communist movement.

Both these manifestations emerged rather strongly in India and we had to struggle against them. Eventually, the Indian Communist stream ended up in three streams: one the CPI, one the CPI(ML) which was more aligned to Chinese and in those days Mao Ze Dongs positions and then us, the CPI(M).

But over a period of time we grew to become the stronger of these three tendencies and emerged as a major player in Indian politics, a role we continue to play now though not in such a big way as it used to be. But still it is a force that Indian politics cannot ignore.

So there is a distinct point of view in Indian politics that is articulated by the CPI(M) and represented by the CPI(M).

G: So how large is the CPI(M)?

SY: It has over 100,000 members. We are very, very selective in our party membership. We have very rigorous criteria. But we have what we call the mass organisations in which the party leaders work, leading that section of the people.

Apart from the trade unions, youth, students, women, the agricultural workers and the peasantry, we also have employees like federations of financial organisations like the banks, like the insurance companies, like the teachers, university and college teachers, and all these federations. When you add up the membership of all that together it is around 40 million plus.

G: Are you concentrated in particular parts of India?

SY: Traditionally we have been stronger in three of the Indian states  in Bengal, Kerala and in Tripura.

Of these three we have now the state governments in Kerala and Tripura  elected governments in which the CPI(M) is in the lead of these governments. In Bengal, we have been under tremendous attack by a grand coalition of all the reactionary forces that managed to come together to put an end to our winning elections after our winning seven times on the trot and forming and running a government for 35 years.

They had the great, grand coalition for that.

G: When did they succeed?

SY: That was in 2011. They succeeded on the basis of and continue to maintain themselves on the basis of a very intense level of politics that is determined by violence and terror.

We have lost more than 200 comrades of ours during the last four years or so. And these struggles continue every day. Theres physical fights that continue to happen. We are facing it, our comrades are braving it and I think will be able to hold them.

G: I think the CPI(M) has a rich history of martyrs and struggle.

SY: We do. The Party has what we call a very rich history of what we call mass agitations, which are not only strikes but marches where we march through various stretches of the country.

It is not as the long march of the Chinese but it is the same idea. We cut across the lands in the various states and we still do that. In fact next week, all the agricultural workers and the farmers are organising seven different marches from all across India to congregate at a central place after a period of nearly 45 days of marching.

That is to highlight the issue of a very deep agrarian crisis in India.

Agrarian crisis

G: Could you tell us more about that crisis?

SY: India has traditionally been an agricultural economy but of late in the last 20 years or so with globalisation and all that  all of us are familiar with  the nature of the Indian economy underwent changes and today it is the services, that includes the information technology sector, where India has developed itself to be very good with human skills in the software branches.

So the services sector has actually become the dominant contributor to Indias GDP, and then after industry, agriculture has been reduced to the third position. But yet more than 60 percent of the Indian people are dependent on agriculture.

So therefore the agrarian distress is a very serious issue for us in India because of these new agreements that have been concluded. Whether it is the Doha agreement or the WTO [World Trade Organisation], or whether it is the access of foreign imports to India, Indian agriculture is actually suffering with the dumping of highly subsidised western products. That is really affecting our farming in a big way.

As a result of this the Indian farmer is not getting proper remuneration for his produce which is leading up to the farmers taking loans from the banks in order to survive. The inability to return these loans is pushing thousands of farmers to commit distress suicides. These distress suicides, very distressing as it is, the volumes are increasing rapidly.

So we have a very serious agrarian crisis. Unless the Indian government and the state intervene positively, giving relief to our farming community and ensuring proper wages to the agricultural workers, this crisis cannot be overcome.

In the last 10 years, for instance, the real wages of agricultural workers have actually declined so their living conditions are worse than what they used to be. So the march is highlighting these issues and demanding the government give these farmers an adequate minimum support price for their produce so that they dont have to starve.

Pitting worker against worker

G: If we could return to the question of services, this is an issue that concerns Australian workers and trade unions because, for example, Telstra recently announced the sacking of 400-500 workers because they are going offshore to India for call centres. There is a pattern of companies going offshore for cheap, skilled technical labour and sacking Australian workers which of course then has a tendency to pit Australian workers against Indian workers as they are seen as taking our jobs. I am wondering if there are any communications between the trade union centres and what approach the CPI(M) is taking on this question.

SY: There are approaches, in fact both between the trade unions and also as part of the World Federation of Trade Unions whose Congress, as I speak, is meeting in Dublin that issue figured. This is going to be a major issue on which there should be a unified position.

The point is very simple. This is the tactic of the bourgeoisie to pit one worker in one country against the worker of the other while the actual culprit is the bourgeoisie who in their search for maximising profits that this offshore business is happening. It is not that the Indian people are stealing Australian jobs. Its the Australian bourgeoisie who is maximising profits by shifting to India.

That target should not be missed out. What the bourgeoisie always does is to pit one section of workers against the other while they get away scot-free by their predatory profit maximisation which is what capitalism is all about.

So I think both the Australian workers and the Indian workers will have to bring back the central issue into focus. That is as far as the Party is concerned. We are trying to tell the trade unions that you have to bring it back to that focus, saying that the Indian workers be given the same rates of wages that are paid to Australian workers.

If that is done then they will not shift. Why would they shift?

Deindustrialisation

G: Could you say more about the governments domestic policies?

SY: Domestically the policies are imposing unprecedented burdens on our people. The economic policy is more connected with creating greater access for foreign capital to maximise profits. They have opened up every area of the Indian economy to the inflow of foreign capital.

The net result is that Indian domestic industry is very badly affected. Not just agriculture, but everything.

India has a very large component of industry which we call small scale industry. They are small units. They are not huge factories and these small units employ the maximum number of people.

Now with this inflow of foreign capital, these small units are the ones that are getting wiped out. And with them employment for millions of people is wiped out. So that is leading to growing unemployment.

There are completely uncontrollable rises in the prices of all food articles and social commodities. The subsidies are all being withdrawn, if not already withdrawn they are all being withdrawn.

So the net result because of the global capitalist thirst, by opening up Indias economy and resources for international capital profit maximisation, Indias domestic deindustrialisation has virtually begun.

G: It could hardly have been said to have become industrialised?

SY: Thats right. Last month data that had been put out by the government shows a negative, a minus 2 point something growth of industry and minus 3.3 percent growth of manufacturing.

Any economist would tell you that the production of capital goods is the index for the future of the economy. Last months capital goods production figure fell by minus 29.6 percent. Whopping! That means no new investment is being planned for the next few years.

So this is the overall crisis, difficult times in India.

Trade agreements

G: India is part of the Trans Pacific Partnership, the Trade In Services Agreement?

SY: Yes, and now they are going for a free trade agreement with the European Union which will be disastrous for India. It means that highly subsidised European dairy and agricultural products will flood Indian markets and the Indian farmer, already in crisis, is going to be completely drowned with this.

It is a right-wing government in India, but so far the right-wing policies were confined to domestic issues which are also very dangerous as they are going to completely disrupt the unity of our country and our people.

India is a huge multi-national country. You really cant have an exclusivist political situation where you speak for only one religion or you speak for one language.

But among its diversities what we have is a government that is pursuing a singularly exclusivist agenda of wanting to convert India to be more and more dominated by just one community, a religious community and that is Hindu and by only one language which is Hindi.

India will just implode. That is Indias domestic right-wing government that is happening and that is in current terms of employing people in various positions.

US Strategic Defence Partner

G: I think it would be worth you saying a few words about recent developments in Indias relations with the US and the recent military agreement because India until the Modi government, if I am correct, was considered non-aligned.

SY: Thats correct.

We are very, very concerned and critical of what our government, the Indian government, is doing in this area. In fact we have organised public actions against the governments move of virtually using India as a subordinate area of US imperialism.

India has now been reduced as a subordinate ally and the USA has declared India as its Strategic Defence Partner which is something that it has never been in Indias case. This is the first time you are having a Non-Aligned Summit where an Indian Prime Minister has not attended. This has never happened in the history of our land.

It is a very clear shift to pro-US imperialism. It is happening in all areas. Its not only in foreign policy, but it is happening in defence as a strategic defence partner; it is happening in the economic sphere with free trade agreements and the signing of various economic treaties; its happing with climate change where suddenly against the opinion of the Indian parliament, decided to go and ratify the Paris Accord. This happened just two days ago. So these are not usual developments.

G: Have the relations with Russia changed with this government?

SY: Yes, because the government has moved away from the traditional framework of our defence cooperation relations. So, they moved away from Russian defence cooperation which means they are buying a lot of western defence equipment which again is very disturbing for us because we have about 200 million Indian Muslims. India is now buying a lot from Israel.

India has the largest military budget from Israel in the world today. This means that we are financing to a large extent Israels continuing oppression of the Palestinians.

That is something that was impossible to have conceived of even a few years ago. Naturally it is disturbing Russia. Now they have signed to buy a huge number of French fighter planes and a lot of American equipment.

US imperialism is creating a situation, encouraging tensions between India and Pakistan.

Hindu fundamentalism

G: That brings me to my next question: what is happening in Pakistan and also in Kashmir?

SY: With the right-wing government in India it was only a matter of time before this became very sharply exposed. I mean if you are talking only of a Hindu India then you will have a Muslim reaction. So you have Muslim fundamentalists on the other side and you have Hindu fundamentalists in India and they both feed each other.

That is exactly what is happening, with greater tensions between the two countries and that is a playground for US imperialism and for the military industrial complex.

G: They play both sides

SY: Absolutely. The US have this defence agreement with India, calling it a major strategic defence partner and now they [the US] are talking with Pakistan along similar lines. So they do it with both sides, thats how they always come through.

But there has always been this tension between India and Pakistan on Kashmir.

Partitioning of India

On Kashmir, the fact of the matter has always been that British India was united, it included Pakistan, Bangladesh and Kashmir. When British India became independent, at that time, unfortunately the partition of India took place.

Many of these, what we call princely states, they are feudal kingdoms in British India  there were about 666 plus in British India at that time  so all of them were given the option to choose who they wanted to go with. India or Pakistan. So it was mayhem, some choosing here, some there.

So when that was finally settled, Kashmir remained in dispute, which actually was not a dispute because the ruler of Kashmir had signed the accord of acceding to the Indian union in 1948. But Pakistan contested that. That is a bone of dispute.

Now historically the rulers were given the option of choosing where to go. The ruler chose to go with India. Pakistans argument is that the ruler chose India because the ruler was a Hindu but the majority of the people are Muslim.

So it was not the people who chose to go with India but it was the ruler. So Pakistan claims that the people want to go with Pakistan. That is not a fact at all. Today, in fact, in Kashmir, if you ask anyone who they want to be with, they will tell you they neither want Pakistan nor India.

That is where we are worried because Kashmir is part of India but why are people getting alienated? For that we have taken, the CPI(M) have taken, a public position consistently through all these disturbances saying that the government of India should have a political dialogue with all the stakeholders in Kashmir.

Political parties, non-political parties, all those who are stakeholders and see where the promises made to Kashmir at the time of their joining India, if under those promises how much has not been fulfilled or not been kept by the Indian state, and how that has been constantly eroded by the Indian state that leads to the alienation of the people.

So they need to be addressed. Now the unfortunate part is that part of Kashmir is occupied by Pakistan, and that part of Kashmir they have not occupied Pakistan are saying is occupied by India.

G: And that suits the US?

SY: Absolutely. And that is the imperialist and the USA. Just look at it geographically and the geo-politics of it. Kashmir today, what is occupied today by Pakistan in that valley is what the US would love, that is what they want to have to create an independent state.

An independent state means that that is the point of access to Central Asia  to Afghanistan  and that is the part that joins with China, Tibet. And so it is a very, very strategic location. And that is exactly what the USA would want.

Pakistan, because of its own historical origins and because of its Muslim population is saying Kashmir is theirs and India is saying no, the king has signed accession to the Indian union, so it is ours.

And legally, India has the legal documentation, because that is what the ruler signed. That is what Mountbatten* told these princely kingdoms: you are to choose between India and Pakistan. They chose India. So legally India is right.

So all of this together contributes to a rather difficult situation. Therefore the only way is to win back the confidence of the people of Kashmir by the Indian state and this can only happen through a political dialogue with all the stakeholders concerned.

That is what we are pressing for.

* Lord Mountbatten was viceroy of India with a mandate to oversee the British withdrawal in 1947 when India won its independence from its British colonisers.
Under darkness, Gazans mark new year

A father and his two daughters were three of the first Palestinians to suffer injuries related to Gazas electricity crisis this year. They have been left with moderate burns after a candle the girls lit to do their homework started a fire in their apartment in Gaza City on January 2.

At least five children have burned to death and many more injured over the last few years in similar incidents, Gazan Abu Ahmed writes in a message to me at night, on an electricity-dependent device. There will be more candle-related disasters during a winter of 20-hour blackouts in the crowded Strip.

As nightly temperatures plummet, so do the number of hours of electricity. Two million Palestinians have been living on three to four hours of electricity per day for the past two months, with LED lights, batteries and candles the only substitutes for most families. Expensive generators and car battery inverters pick up the slack for some households and businesses while the most privileged install solar panels; a luxury few can afford.

These alternatives fill some electricity gaps but cannot power many appliances such as washing machines, baby bottle sterilisers and water pumps, says Gazan translator and blogger Jason Shawa. So you need to shift all washing, ironing and bathing to when you have electricity. Many people do such chores after midnight because that is when the power comes on.

The power cuts are devastating for Gazas hospitals. Incubators, ventilators and other life-saving equipment are powered by industrial generators but fuel, and money, is running out. Even if hospitals had access to enough fuel, generators are only designed to provide emergency electricity, not for hours, days and months on end.

Israels decade-long military blockade has helped create Gazas electricity and resource crisis.

The Strips sole power plant has been the target of repeated air-strikes during Israels three military bombardments of Gaza since the start of the siege. It has also been forced to shut down several times due to a lack of fuel.

Egyptian and Israeli electricity grids provide some of Gazas electricity but the two countries have severely restricted fuel imports into the tiny Middle Eastern enclave since the blockade began in 2007. Egyptian and Israeli authorities have destroyed the majority of tunnels built between Gaza and Egypt over the past few years, meaning it is no longer possible to smuggle in cheap diesel and other basic necessities.

Caravans for winter

A thousand families are still living in caravans and tents two and a half years since Israels 50-day military bombardment during July-August 2014, with only an extra layer of nylon keeping out the cold and harsh winds.

The offensive, dubbed Operation Protective Edge, killed 2,251 Palestinians and 72 Israelis, and destroyed 70 percent of Gazas infrastructure.

Some 20,000 homes were destroyed or so severely damaged that they became uninhabitable, leaving 100,000 people internally displaced and sheltering in makeshift shacks, schools, relatives homes, rented accommodation or in their dangerously damaged homes. Some families are still living in tents next to their destroyed houses because they are afraid that if they leave, their land might be taken  the only thing they have left.

Along with fuel, the military blockade has limited construction materials entering the Strip. The Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism set up in 2014, has tightened these restrictions, says Shawa.

Lack of funds have also prolonged the displacement of Palestinians: at Cairos Reconstructing Gaza conference in October 2014, US$3.5 billion was pledged to help. But only US$1.6 billion has been donated so far, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and Aidwatch.

The diversion of media attention to other parts of the region such as Syria and Iraq has taken the pressure off countries to deliver on their promises, while some donors say that the lack of unity between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the Hamas party in the Gaza Strip is frustrating efforts to fund projects, but the real issue, tweets Jewish Voice for Peace director Rebecca Vilkomerson, is the Israeli blockade.

Locked in

This June will mark the 10th anniversary of Israels military siege on Gaza. Movement has been restricted for Palestinians living in the 25-mile long enclave since the early 1990s, but when Hamas came to power in June 2007, Israel imposed a land, sea and air blockade. Many Gazans describe this blockade as living in the worlds largest prison, with two million people denied access to other parts of Palestine and the rest of the world.

Since the start of the blockade, Egyptian authorities have also restricted movement by closing the Rafah crossing into Egypt  and the only way in and out of Gaza  for days and weeks at a time.

The new year does not signal renewed hope for Gazans.

We are forgotten here, but we are desperate, says 24-year-old Rana via WhatsApp. Most people are even denied a medical permit to leave Gaza for urgent treatment.

Shawa feels the same. I see no glimmer of hope, he writes. We are totally locked in by Israel; they control every single aspect of what leaves or enters Gaza, be it people or food or medication or anything else. Egypt too has us locked in from their side.

Okay, there is big hope, starts Abu Ahmed, before abruptly changing track: but hope was there for many years and nothing changed. Things are even worsening.

The UN agrees. In 2015, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development published a report which said that because of de-development caused by the economic and military blockade, Gaza may be uninhabitable by 2020 if current economic trends persist. Hurtling towards that deadline and Gazans basic necessities for life  drinking water, shelter, physical and mental health and employment  are becoming ever more scarce.

Running out

Only 10 percent of Palestinians in Gaza have access to safe drinking water, and, according to the World Bank, unless desalination and waste water plants are given approval by Israeli authorities to replenish Gazas depleted natural aquifer by 2020, the water crisis will be irreversible. For now, Gazas poorest drink salty and dirty water from the tap, risking disease, others use water filters or buy expensive bottled water.

Unemployment is the highest in the world at 43 percent, with young people under 30-years-old particularly affected by the lack of work. The blockade has taken 50 percent off Gazas GDP and were it not for the multiple restrictions and Israels military bombardments, Gazas GDP would be four times higher.

One third of children displayed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder even before 2014s military offensive, says The Centre for Mind-Body Medicine, with many children having been born under siege and living through multiple bombing campaigns.

With Gaza at breaking point, will the rest of the world finally put pressure on the Israeli administration to end the siege?

Not with US President Donald Trump at the helm of the free world now, writes Shawa. We have heard some of his opinions on the Middle East and none of them are promising.

No. Other countries could end our suffering but they let Israel do what it wants, says Khan Yunis resident Rana, as her wifi signal comes and goes. But we will keep on surviving, just as we always have.

New Internationalist
Culture & Life

The last Veddas of Sri Lanka

Last month the United Nations Special Rapporteur on minorities Izsak Ndiaye praised the current Sri Lankan government for offering a glimpse of hope to excluded communities across the island. However challenges remain, and beyond the Sinhalese and Tamil friction, another minority is fast disappearing altogether.

The Veddas, or the Wanniyala-Aetto as they are traditionally known, are the last Indigenous people of Sri Lanka. Traditional hunter-gatherers and forest-dwellers, they may in fact become extinct within a generation. Here, the interplay of history, conservation, and human rights rub shoulder to shoulder, and the Wanniyala-Aettos future remains uncertain.

The world currently retains 370 million Indigenous people, and 70-80 percent of which live in the Asia-Pacific region. Emerging Asia is a term bandied about the development sector, but despite modernisation, more than half the continent lives below the poverty line. Indigenous people are generally, the poorest of the poor. Despite the UNs International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, and a raft of legislation from the International Labour Organisation, low education, high unemployment and poor health, remain common.

No matter how much the Wanniyala-Aetto assimilate into the dominant culture, they will still be seen as impostors and stigmatised regularly

The Wanniyala-Aetto are now consigned to a tourist attraction; courtesy of Sri Lankas Ministry of Culture. But a life traded as a heritage token is an imperilled life to say the least. Professor of Sociology Premakumara De Silva, is a foremost authority of the Veddas. Escaping the ivory towers of the University of Colombo, he has ventured into Wanniyala-Aetto settlements to find out the wider picture. He concedes, the Wanniyala-Aetto community is facing stresses that threaten to modernise them which could easily result in vanishing them as cultural group. However, it is true many maintain their traditional way of life, against the turn of the tide.

Clothed in a sarong, naked from the waist-up and an axe slung over the shoulder, they continue to hunt, fish and forage Sri Lankas forests. They also continue to practice traditional religious rites like the worship of the Na Yakku spirits of dead. However, even with their new protected status, in real life, they fare badly. The Wanniyala-Aetto traditional customs are now being abandoned or impinged upon to the extent that weapons and tools are becoming obsolete. Water scarcity and land alienation pave way to rising levels of malnourishment and obesity. Finally, social and economic exclusion is leading to friction with Sri Lankas police department and politicians. It appears, the 21st century has caught the Veddas in its crosshairs, and they continually find themselves undergoing a process of Sinhalisation and Tamilisation. Or being converted to Buddhism, Christianity, and of course Modernity.

The Wanniyala-Aetto displacement has been stretched out over decades. The south-east corner of Sri Lanka, the Uva Province, contains 3,300 square miles of dry zone. In the last 50 years, this land has been deforested, irrigated and marked for continuous redevelopment. Land acquisition of the region began almost immediately after 1948 independence. The Gal Oya project of 1949-53 and the Mahaweli Development Scheme 1964-83, were particularly important in raising living standards. However, such programmes, for the Wanniyala-Aetto, led to forced eviction and relocation to government reserve villages. Forced to adapt or die while living in exile, they have been in decline ever since. Yet there are other factors at work too.

The 21st century is the century of species extinction. A recent Living Planet Index study has concluded that the earth is set to lose two thirds of animals by 2020, and quite rightly societies have become increasingly concerned about conservation. Poaching and logging continue to contribute to the decline of the natural world. When the Sri Lankan government nationalised forests turning them into nature reserves, hunting was made illegal and even fishing required permits. So not only do we now see health problems in Wanniyala-Aetto, their lifestyle has been made illegal. This led to an upsurge in dangerous livelihoods revolving round an informal economy. Premakumara De Silva notes: Instances where women and children are alleged to have become in situ and ex situ sex workers [] Led by extreme economic deprivation and also incidents of children and women who are coerced, procured and trafficked into domestic servitude. Even when the Wanniyala-Aetto are able to get conventional jobs such as rice farming or construction work, it has been to the detriment of their identity. As their living space shrinks year by year, and economic pressures mount, many abandon their heritage altogether.

On the clay wall of the thatched house the ceremonial bow and arrow remain unused and obsolete  a warning for the Wanniyala-Aetto.

Unfortunately, no matter how much the Wanniyala-Aetto assimilate into the dominant culture, they will still usually be seen as impostors and stigmatised regularly. Either considered noble savages or backward primitives, they are seen as choosing to ignore the unstoppable rise of modernism. The truth is, some remain as part of their Indigenous community, but many will leave it. Either way, while the word Vedda is thrown about in common parlance as an insult, the Wanniyala-Aetto continue to face language barriers, educational barriers, and employment barriers. This means they are locked out of wider society. As one Indigenous community member, Uru Varige Sudu Banda, Henanigala, relates, discrimination becomes the norm:

Officers promised to build a tank and allow us to use forest resources. Now we are losing those [] He said that we will disuse our traditional ancestral worship. He was right. Now those traditions are not practiced.

Whats left of Sri Lankas forest remains partial to the natural rhythms of the island rather than the constitution. The Wanniyala-Aetto will continue to practise hunting and fishing regardless of the legal status. Conservation laws regarding the natural world are in direct conflict with the human rights laws of Indigenous people. Its a complex problem, but that doesnt mean it cant be solved. The living Planet Index makes clear it is not indigenous hunting practices that destroy ecosystems, but rapid land acquisition. Considering the finite number of the Wanniyala-Aetto, it would be sensible to grant exceptional rights to exceptional people. If we dont they will disappear.

As TB Gunawardena, Pollebedda, another indigenous community member, asserts:

We will be respected only if we remain as Veddas. If we become identical to the common Sinhalese, we will lose the pride of being Veddas. Therefore, we prefer to carry on our ancestry.

It is this defiant note of self-determinism and self-identity, that means the 10,000 remaining Wanniyala-Aetto may not only survive, but continue to remain Indigenous for this generation and even the next.

New Internationalist
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The only place you'll pay $1,600 for oxygen.

"Why would they charge people so much when they know patients can't afford it?!" you should be yelling at your computer by now. To both answer your question and infuriate you further, we're going to clue you in on something health care executives refer to as the "Saudi sheikh problem." Basically, because hospitals have to charge every patient the same amount for the same treatment, they don't want to lower their prices just in case a Saudi sheikh comes in with an enormous pile of money. If the hospital lowered its prices, they wouldn't be able to snatch that hypothetical enormous pile of money from that hypothetical sheikh. So because hospitals want to be able to charge huge sums of money of wealthy patients, the rest of us have to take out a second mortgage to pay for an emergency room visit.

Walt Disney

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The reason for your high hospital bills.

This is the true danger of letting your health care infrastructure run itself as a for-profit business. Each hospital has a de facto monopoly on any emergencies that happen within a few miles of it. When you're bleeding out due to a lawnmower explosion or vaping experiment gone awry, you're not going to go to go online to compare a handful of hospitals like you're booking a hotel. This seems like the perfect situation for the government to step in and hand down some good old-fashioned regulations and possible spankings, but they've been focused on providing people with health insurance instead of addressing the true cause of high medical prices -- which is seeing mixed results, to say the least.

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So next time you're in need of a hospital, you might want to suck it up, go online, book a hotel somewhere in Canada, fly up there in business class, and stumble into one of their socialist hospitals. It'll probably still turn out cheaper than getting your eyebrow sutured in an American hospital.

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 Cracked staffers Michael Swaim and Teresa Lee 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. Get your tickets here!

Also check out 5 Health Care Rip-Offs The Industry Hopes You'll Never Notice and 5 Ways U.S. Medical Billing Is Way More F#@ked Than You Think.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out If Insurance Companies Were Honest, and other videos you won't see on the site!

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OK I admit we cant make cybersecurity great again, because it never was great in the first place. We can make it great though, just like we can make America great again!

Making cyber security great wont be easy but making America great again wont be easy either. Why? Because we each have our own agenda and understanding of things. You either support crime free neighborhoods, Great jobs and putting America first or you dont. You either get cybersecurity or you dont. Besides fake news and ignorance there are so many reasons we are not getting cybersecurity right. I want to share my past experience and knowledge with you to support my belief on how we can make cybersecurity great!

In my most recent article on law firms and cybersecurity, I discussed how law firms and other industries fall between the cracks on cybersecurity, for example they dont have any required compliance model by default as healthcare has HIPAA and finance has Sarbanes Oxley, credit cards require PCI DSS, the payment card industry data security standard.

I went on to explain that any organization that processes, stores and handles healthcare data must comply with the HIPAA third-party rule. They must meet HIPAA compliance if they are handling HIPAA ePHI. That makes sense. See the issue? We dont have a uniform minimum compliance model thats required by law for all internet-connected businesses? Add to the issue HIPAA is a law, not a compliance framework, to implement HIPAA one must use NIST cybersecurity standards or choose from other options.

President Trump recently appointed Rudy Giuliani as cybersecurity adviser. Some reacted to this as a joke, but Giuliani has a track record as a great leader who can build great teams. He certainly turned New York City around! Giuliani stated they will be going to those in the industry for the solution.

Well me and my colleagues are in industry and we see the issues every day, we are the consultants, the IT auditors, systems administrators, security managers and network engineers. No we are not CEOs or business owners but its our job to educate and inform these business leaders of the risk of doing business on the internet. Sometimes they listen and too often they dont seem to hear us.

How ironic, the same government that has pushed electronic medical records (EMR) online, (see 2014 federal mandate for healthcare) has itself suffered one of the most severe and damaging data breaches of all time: The OPM data breach. The Congressional report on the OPM data breach stated:

The OPM data breach was preventable.

OPM leadership failed to heed repeated recommendations from its Inspector General, failed to sufficiently respond to growing threats of sophisticated cyber-attacks, and failed to prioritize resources for cybersecurity.

Data breaches in 2014 were likely connected and possibly coordinated to the 2015 data breach.

OPM misled the public on the extent of the damage of the breach and made false statements to Congress.

Brian Krebs highlighted the following from the OPM Congressional report: OPMs adoption of two-factor authentication for remote logons in early 2015, which had long been required of federal agencies, would have precluded continued access by the intruder into the OPM network, the panel concluded.

Several senior officials had much to say regarding the OPM breach which impacted me and my family and even the FBI Director, James Comey!

My SF 86 lists every place Ive ever lived since I was 18, every foreign travel Ive ever taken, all of my family, their addresses. So its not just my identity thats affected. Ive got siblings. Ive got 5 kids. All of that is there, Comey said.

Not long after congressional hearings began on the OPM breach, Krebs heard from a source in the U.S. intelligence community who wondered why nobody asked: If the attackers could steal all of this sensitive data and go undetected for so long, could they not also have granted security clearances to people who not only didnt actually warrant them, but who might have been recruited in advance to work for the attackers? To this date, Krebs stated he has not heard a good answer.

Key recommendations from the Congressional Report are spot on!

Key recommendations:

Reprioritize federal information security efforts toward zero trust.

Ensure agency CIOs are empowered, accountable, and competent.

Reduce use of Social Security numbers by federal agencies.

Modernize existing legacy federal information technology assets.

Improve federal recruitment, training, and retention of federal cybersecurity specialists.

Giuliani, if you are listening please consider the voices of IT consultants, cybersecurity professionals and IT security managers. We all have something to add to this important conversation. Im just scratching the surface in this short article, Im calling for a chance to be heard. Please consider talking with us as represented by The information Systems Security Association, The information Systems and Auditors and Controllers Association and The International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, all international non-vendor professional security and audit organizations.

Just a few areas we are concerned with:

Too many organizations are not funding cybersecurity roles within their organization.

I see this every day as I travel across Florida doing IT audits and assessments. The organizations with a security role funded do 90 percent better than those with no such funded position.

The NIST cybersecurity framework should be the minimum required by all internet-connected businesses in the US and conducting business anywhere in the world. Remember compliance is the minimum, its legalistic, static and backward looking, while security is proactive, intelligent and forward looking. We must do 100 percent of compliance as its the foundation for proactive and intelligent security!

All US businesses that are connected to the internet should have a cyber security role in place that is responsible for cybersecurity year round. All too often we see organizations relegating cyber security to the IT department. I have said this a hundred times, cybersecurity is a business problem not an IT issue. Its not acceptable to have the IT department pretend to be involved with cybersecurity when the IT auditor shows up once a year. Cyber criminals plan and attack 100 percent of the time, therefore we need to be proactive 100 percent of the time. We need a strategic and tactical plan and it starts with the CEO and boards getting cybersecurity. (See Cyber security questions for CEOs.)

All users need cybersecurity awareness training, this includes all K-12, colleges and all companies, and we can no longer afford to ignore this critical training for everyone that uses an internet-connected device! We are not covering all bases and cyber criminals are taking advantage of us every day!

Finally, we must remember that the internet was not designed to be secure, As Leonard Kleinroick one of the early pioneers of the internet stated in a CNN interview in 2009.

Kleinrock: There's a very dark side to the Internet, which we're all familiar with. It started with a worm in 1988, and it became spam in 1994, and now we have pornography, we have denial of service [attacks], we have identity theft, we have fraud, we have things like botnets [pieces of software that cyber thieves use to remotely and secretly control your computer], which really worry me.

One of the problems of the Internet is that we didn't install what I like to call strong user authentication or strong file authentication. We didn't anticipate the level of the dark side we see today. The culture of the early Internet was one of trust of all the users.

I knew every user on the internet in those early days. It was an open culture. We shared everything we did. We got our gratification by putting things out there, which people could use. And there was an etiquette -- net etiquette if you will, which people behaved.

In conclusion, my colleagues and I know how to solve this problem. No we dont have a magic bullet but we are in the trenches every day, educating senior executives, CEOs and users. We are auditing good IT security controls and responding to incidents and yes many data breaches that have become so common place that they make us all numb. We are becoming desensitized from all the noise, just like all the hateful crime in the cities. We can no longer ignore the failures of our society and how the failures have moved to the internet at lightning speed. Now is the time to Make America Great Again and while we are at it, lets make cybersecurity great for the first time!
January is the month when employees are most likely to think about changing jobs, according to a survey by Glassdoor. Almost one in five jobseekers cited January as the most popular month to make a move, which means that resumes, cover letters and reference contacts are eagerly shared through social media, email and company websites.

Cyber thieves are eager to take advantage of the busy hiring season, too, and theyve come up with several ways to infiltrate corporate systems. Security pros offer their tips on what to watch out for, and how to stop them.

Cyber criminals use LinkedIn and other social media sites to bypass company defenses

LinkedIn and other social networks are becoming targets for threat actors since they know it's a great way to bypass company's defenses, according to cybersecurity firm Cylance. LinkedIn is typically a site that is not blocked by network filters to allow HR departments the freedom to communicate with prospective job candidates.

Some 87 percent of recruiters use LinkedIn when vetting candidates during the hiring process, according to Jobvites Recruiter Nation Survey 2016. Jobseekers flock to the site as well, many of them browsing at the office, with 45 billion page views from LinkedIn members in the first quarter of 2016, according to LinkedIn.

These attacks are becoming more common because its easy and inexpensive, says Chris Stephen, channel engineer at Cylance. Companies have placed a lot of money in their perimeter security and purchased products to find sites with poor reputations scores. LinkedIn circumvents both of these layers.

Email scanning is almost completely circumvented in these types of attack, Stephen says. Most professionals sign into LinkedIn using their personal email addresses, not through their company account, so these emails will not be scanned by their email security. Though most email providers dont allow .exe file attachments, hackers can still upload resumes infected with malware via a Word document or PDF, which professionals are more likely to open, he adds.

For LinkedIn, youre providing them with your resume, and thats really the vector thats going to give (threat actors) an increased likelihood of payout, Stephen says. Job sites such as Monster and Indeed have candidates pre-fill their resume instead of attaching one, he adds.

Cyber thieves posing as legitimate LinkedIn users can also be hard to spot. Theyre often able to infiltrate a company by striking up conversations with recruiters or employees in social engineering plots or to share malware attachments. If the fake users account has a lot of shared connections, then the employee is less likely to be concerned, Stephen says.

For LinkedIn, youre providing them with your resume, and thats really the vector thats going to give (threat actors) an increased likelihood of payout.

Chris Stephen, channel engineer at Cylance

When asked about the vulnerability, LinkedIn issued a written response: "Growing your network is a crucial step in finding new business opportunities. The most important thing LinkedIn members can do to protect themselves is to only accept requests from people they know or recommended contacts from a trusted connection. We encourage our members to flag any profiles, messages or postings they believe are suspicious. We have many helpful articles in our Help Center to stay educated. We also have dedicated teams that work quickly to remove any instance of fraudulent activity and prevent future reoccurrences."

Executives face higher risks

Fake LinkedIn users pose a higher threat for executives, says Ray Kruk, a vice president in social media protection at Proofpoint. The average CEO has 930 LinkedIn connections, according to LinkedIn. Were seeing a lot more risk to the brand around fake users impersonating a trusted business partner and reaching out to an executive leader in the company, he says. Using a post or communication dialog over LinkedIn or social network, the fake user will include a malware link in the form of a shortened link. Clicking on the link will install software on the executives computer.

If an executive were to be compromised, cyber criminals would have access to perhaps more important or sensitive data and file systems than they would have simply by trying to socially engineer an HR department to get in, Kruk says.

Most collaboration platforms are vulnerable

LinkedIn isnt the only professionally focused social network in the crosshairs of cyber thieves. Collaboration platforms and semi-private social networks like Slack or Jive bypass all of the corporate controls that are in place at the network and infrastructure layers, and provide newer entryways for bad actors to infiltrate a company.

When it comes down to where the vulnerability is  its the human element in a cybersecurity strategy that is the vulnerable link, Kruk says. Security policy and governance needs to focus on how people interact with data, correspond with email and use tools like LinkedIn and others, he adds.

HR departments and recruiters use Slack and Jive to communicate with job candidates, but those tools are also unmanaged and the company has no control of the data that goes in or out, says David King, senior manager at professional services firm UHY LLP in the internal audit, risk and controls practice.

The biggest risk that I see with these types of services is thatif your recruiter leaves one firm and goes to another, they take all those Slack conversations with them.

King suggests greater control and oversight to solve the problem. First, establish written policies that forbid the use of personal social media accounts for professional work. Companies can also onboard temporary or part-time recruiters in the same way they welcome full-time employees, by setting up corporate email and social media accounts for them.

If youre onboarding one or two recruiters a week and attrition is high, then the overhead will be high, he says. Another option  setting up a company Slack account, and eliminate personalization for part-time employees. However, each time somebody leaves you will have to reset the credentials of that account, King adds.

Protecting corporate systems

Companies should first make sure that employees are aware that the vulnerabilities exist. Training programs, such as spear-phishing campaigns, are an effective first step, Stephen says. Endpoint security and application-layer software can also help deter the threats.

Private vs. corporate email address

Employees often use personal email accounts to access job-hunting sites like LinkedIn at the office, or list their private email in their contact information, which provides an entry point for social engineering schemes.

Theres mixed opinion here, but we hear more companies say that using your corporate email address vs. private email address tied to your social media profile may be a better security best practice, Kruk says. Your corporate email should be less vulnerable to attack if you have strong security controls around it, compared to your private email on Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail.

HR departments often use third-party recruiters to help with hiring, who also use their own social media accounts, he says. In those cases, many companies issue temporary corporate email addresses to those employees so they can provision and de-provision users relatively quickly, he adds.

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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Tuesday that industry needs to learn from the Galaxy Note7 experience and put more safeguards in place during the design and manufacturing stages of lithium-ion batteries.

CPSC said Samsung Electronics has been accountable in taking steps to drive up the recall response rate and keeps pushing. Samsung and the agency are working with the wireless industry, battery makers and electrical engineers to review voluntary standards for lithium-ion batteries in smartphones, said agency chairman Elliot Kaye in a statement.

Samsung and external experts such as Exponent and Underwriters Laboratories will also share details from the investigation, she added.

Samsung on Monday blamed faulty batteries supplied by two manufacturers as the likely cause for the overheating and even explosions of the Note7, leading to a costly recall of about 3 million phones.

The CPSC said a 97 percent recovery rate of the devices from consumers had been achieved in the U.S. But the concern of the agency going forward is on the long-term safety of batteries to avoid a recurrence of the problem.

Consumers should never have to worry that a battery-powered device might put them, their family or their property at risk, the agency said. It called for the industry to modernize and improve the safety standards for lithium-ion batteries in consumer electronics and also stay ahead of new power sources that will inevitably come along and replace these.

CPSC on Tuesday also called for the expansion of a recall of lithium-ion batteries containing Panasonic cells that were used in HP notebook computers. About 101,000 batteries were involved in the recall, which included 41,000 batteries previously recalled in June 2016.

The CPSCs operating plan for 2017 now includes a project for its technical staff to assess the state of high-density battery technology, marketplace innovations, gaps in safety standards, and research and regulatory activities in other countries, the agency said.
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An unlikely coalition of traditional and pro-choice education groups have banded together to pitch guidelines on how the state should revamp its school funding system.

The groups say there should be a single funding formula that applies to all students based on need, whether the students go to traditional public schools, magnet schools, technical high schools or charter schools.

The philosophy doesnt spell out a money follows the child directive, but it is implied. The system would essentially start over, calling on the state to provide equity based on where students are now.

We are not agreeing to anything that hurts the ability for districts to educate children, said Joseph Cirasuolo, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents. We start with  what does it take to educate every kid in the state?  and use that a basis for funding formula, traditional or charter.

What follows the child is his or her needs, added Jennifer Alexander, chief executive officer for the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now. There is no unified or predictable formula to ensure that funding resources are allocated based on student learning needs.

Others involved in proposing the new funding formula include the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, the Connecticut Association of Schools and the Connecticut Council for Education Reform.

CABE and the superintendents association are involved in the pending school funding lawsuit against the state that is headed to the state Supreme Court. In September, a superior court judge ruled the states formula for distributing school aid was not rational.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy promised this month to propose a more equitable formula when he presents his budget plan in February.

The new coalition found common ground on six guiding principles they say dont dictate spending levels, but provide a road map to developing the fair, equitable, and predictable funding scheme.

The amount of state funding public schools get depends on their type. Charter schools get $11,000 per pupil. Traditional public schools used to get state funds based on a formula that has been ignored by the General Assembly for years. That leaves a high-needs, property-poor district like Bridgeport, with less than $9,000 per student from the state.

There have been several failed attempts to base a system on student needs. The group says developing their plan this year would be a stretch. They also do not offer a price tag for it. A 2005 study tied to the school funding court case suggested the state would need an additional $2 billion a year to give students the services they need.

lclambeck@ctpost.com; @lclambeck
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The main lobbying group for cities and towns wants to raise the state sales tax and give the additional revenue to municipalities to help them cope with the governors austerity plan.

The groups is also calling for unions to lose their veto power when towns want to consolidate services to save money.

Thats the thrust of a report released Wednesday by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, a group led in 2016 by Danburys Republican mayor and gubernatorial hopeful Mark Boughton.

A vacationing Boughton skipped the rollout of the 90-page report, which contains a series of recommendations for diversifying tax revenues and other fees collected by the state. He said Wednesday that he was not distancing himself from the proposal, despite accounts from some of the groups other members that Boughton gave it lukewarm endorsement during a vote two weeks ago.

If they were adopted in (their) entirety, I could lower property taxes by 15 percent in Danbury, Boughton said of the recommendations. Thats real money were talking about.

Cities and towns are trying to insulate themselves from anticipated cuts in state aid by Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who is grappling with a $1.4 billion budget deficit. Malloys administration already cleaved $50 million in education and school construction funds for cities and towns in late December.

Looking for more

More Information Key recommendations Reduce sales tax from 6.35 percent to 6 percent, but then add a 1 percent local sales tax on to the total, which would set the new rate at 7 percent Allow regions to impose a 0.25 percent sales tax to fund recreation, tourism, historic and arts infrastructure and activities of regional significance Give cities and towns the option to levy a 1 percent percent local sales tax on food and beverages sold in restaurants - a public referendum would be required No longer give public-sector unions veto power over consolidation of municipal services as part of their contracts Give cities and towns the power to charge utility companies for use of the public right of way Eliminate a health insurance premium tax on municipalities See More Collapse

The mayor of the states largest city, Bridgeports Joe Ganim, did attend the plans rollout in Wethersfield.

We need additional revenue, Ganim said of the sales tax proposal. Im supportive of it if it helps us reduce property tax.

Municipal leaders say Connecticuts over-reliance on property taxes is unsustainable, and that its sales tax would still be more competitive with most other states in the region with a slight increase for cities and towns.

Its not the way to run a state or force the burden on cities or towns, Ganim said of the current taxation structure. Its absurd.

Boughton said more than half the states 169 municipalities would be able to cut local property taxes if the recommendations in the report were implemented, including eliminating the veto-power concession for the consolidation of municipal services.

Every time we come up with great ideas to save money, we dont want to turn it over to unions, Boughton said. Well, the next round they say, Well, you saved $500,000 on this insurance plan. Now you can afford a 4 percent raise instead of a 3 percent raise. Im not trying to demonize unions.

Union opposition

The head of one of Connecticuts largest unions said organized labor is open to discussing regionalization, but that the union wont have the terms dictated by politicians and opposes workforce elimination.

This is about a power grab for municipal leaders, said Lori Pelletier, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO. So when workers and managers come together and they come up with ideas to save the municipalities money, the workers shouldnt have an opportunity to negotiate increases? I guess thats what hes trying to say, that workers should be thankful to have a job and stay where they are. This is all about saving money off the backs of front-line workers.

Joe DeLong, executive director of CCM, which represents 163 of the states municipalities, said the group invited the AFL-CIO to give input to the consultant who prepared the report.

We never heard back, DeLong said. This is not about eliminating workforces. This about eliminating obstacles to deliver services more efficiently.

The head of the states Democratic mayors, Middletowns Dan Drew, who is considering a run for governor like Boughton in 2018, panned the sales tax proposal.

This is the exact wrong way to fix Connecticuts problems, Drew said. We dont need another tax. Instead, we need to be sure that the wealthy are paying their fair share, that corporate loopholes are closed, and that we reform state and local government to eliminate unnecessary costs forced on us by antiquated laws. A municipal sales tax is regressive, will hurt middle class families, and will pit towns against each other rather than building a statewide economy that works for everyone.

nvigdor@hearstmediact.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy
An Americans With Disabilities Act settlement announced Wednesday between U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly and the state Connecticut Department of Developmental Services will ensure that the DDS provides effective communication for individuals with disabilities, according to a press release from Dalys office.

The settlement agreement resolves three ADA complaints filed by the states Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities on behalf of two hearing-impaired individuals.

The complaints allege that the DDS failed to make sign language interpreters or appropriate auxiliary aids available. The DDS is working with the U.S. Department of Justice to develop and amend its policies and practices to ensure compliance with the ADA and the departments implementing regulations, Dalys spokesman said.

Individuals who have disabilities must not be denied equal access to the services offered by the State of Connecticut because of their disability, Daly said. We commend DDS for voluntarily agreeing to enter this settlement agreement, and to ensure they are providing effective communication to persons who are hearing impaired.

The ADA requires public entities, including local governments and state agencies, to ensure effective communication with qualified individuals with disabilities.

Under this agreement, a person who is deaf or hard of hearing will be able to benefit from the same services as every other person. For individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, auxiliary aids include qualified sign language or oral interpreters, use of relay services, computer-assisted real time transcription, and, for simple communications, the exchange of written notes.

The settlement agreement specifically requires DDS to:

 Conduct a detailed audit of its services to make sure individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing are being provided with effective communication during all programs and services;

 Ensure that appropriate auxiliary aids and services, including qualified interpreters, and specifically tactile interpreters, are made available to all individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing;

 Set aside funding to ensure that auxiliary aids and services are timely provided to clients;

 Ensure its policies and practices are nondiscriminatory, and provide effective communication for people with communication disabilities, including the provision of sign language interpreters;

 Post a notice of the policy in public areas, and

 Train staff on the policies.

People who believe that they may have been victims of discrimination can file a complaint with the U.S. Attorneys Office at 203-821-3700.

More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt. Additional information about the ADA can be found at www.ada.gov, or by calling the Departments toll-free information line at (800) 514-0301 and (800) 514-0383 (TDD).
DERBY-Hes baaack.

Stan Muzyk, who said he was resigning as a commissioner of the citys Housing Authority is back after a nearly three-week absence.

I got talked out of it by Steve Nakano, the Housing Authority director and Linda Fusco, the acting chairman, said Muzyk, a frequent contributor to the Connecticut Posts Letters page. I said I was resigning because I was upset with the mayors decision not to reappoint Joe Romano.

Romano, who was the Authoritys longtime chairman, is the father of J.R. Romano, the states Republican Party chairman.

Muzyk and J. R. Romano accused Mayor Anita Dugatto, a Democrat, of playing politics earlier this month. Dugatto repeatedly denied that and said she was seeking new faces for the Authority.

Dugatto said she never received a resignation letter from Muzyk. He did send out emails announcing it and then confirmed his resignation when talking to a reporter from Hearst Media Connecticut.

I enjoy being on the Authority, Muzyk said. Weve got one of the top ones in the state.

Muzyk said he may be 86 years old and blind in one eye but we 86-year olds have a lot of energy left.
The following excerpt is from Entrepreneur's book Finance Your Business. Buy it now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes

Prizes from business contests run the gamut. A seemingly infinite number of local and business-school competitions offer small-change awards of $5,000 to $15,000; meanwhile, Rice University doles out six-figure prizes annually, as do accelerators MassChallenge and Techstars. But some big-money contests require winners to sign over a percentage of their equity -- a deal-breaker for many entrepreneurs.

Related: What You Need to Know About Government Small-Business Grants

So which competitions should you enter? How will you dazzle the judges? And how can you walk away a winner even if you dont place?

First, dont just throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. Be selective about the contests you enter; choose those that focus on your market and/or business sector. This doesnt just winnow the competition; it also gets you in front of judges who know the community or industry youre hoping to take by storm.

For Jennifer Medbery, founder and CEO of Kickboard, an online student-data tracking program for educators, this meant focusing on contests for educational startups and businesses in New Orleans, where shes based. Between 2009 and 2012, she raised more than $150,000 in seed money from five wins.

But this strategy isnt just about money. Staying within your niche will get you targeted feedback from veteran investors and business leaders in your specific field. Pitching to people in the industry is going to help you hone the pitch that much faster, Medbery says. Youre then much better prepared when you talk to venture capital and angel investors.

Tim Faley, former managing director of the Zell Lurie Institute at the University of Michigans Ross School of Business and current Sokoloff Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas, agrees. All the students tell us that the moneys nice, but the feedbacks invaluable, says Faley. In fact, he advises founders of early-stage startups to pursue contests that emphasize feedback and mentorship over financial awards.

Medbery capitalized on both: She won $25,000 in 2010 from the Milken-Penn GSE Business Plan Competition, offered by the University of Pennsylvania, and nabbed two of the contests judges as close business advisors. That kind of access to senior leaders has been invaluable, she says. Because these arent the kind of people where you could just send them an email.

Think beyond the money

Contests arent just for newbies seeking seed funding, professional services and free advice. Young companies that have nailed down their business models and begun reaching out to customers, partners and investors can benefit, too. If youre more developed, then you go into the competition to build awareness, Faley says.

Jake Irvin knows firsthand how becoming a finalist in a high-profile competition can put a recently launched company on the map. After winning first place in the 2012 U.S. Imagine Cup, a student technology competition sponsored by Microsoft, Irvin received a flurry of media attention for his Tempe, Ariz., company, FlashFood, which delivers restaurant and catering leftovers to food banks and shelters.

This has been great for us in reaching out to the public, says Irvin, who founded the business with six Arizona State University classmates. Several charities, food-recovery groups, and national grocery and restaurant chains have since contacted FlashFood to partner with the company.

Some contest wins come not with a check but with something equally valuable. In March 2012, Medberys Kickboard won the New Orleans Entrepreneur Week Coulter Challenge. The grand prize: a trip to San Francisco to pitch investors. It was exactly the right prize for Kickboard at the time, Medbery says, noting its near impossible to place a price tag on the insights she gleaned from the financiers and business analysts she met -- not to mention the relationships she forged with potential investors, advisors and senior leaders at the regions public schools.

Related: 2 Services That Can Help You With a Friends and Family Business Loan

Of course, you have to be in a position to take advantage of such opportunities if they come your way. Simply being introduced to a venture capitalist doesnt make a six-figure angel investment appear, Medbery says. Its up to you as the entrepreneur to build authentic relationships with potential investors and advisors.

Do your homework

Winning a competition requires far more than a well-researched, passionately conveyed idea. One way to up your game is to seek feedback from entrepreneurs whove sailed through similar contests.

Take Dana VanDen Heuvel of The Docking Station, a Green Bay, Wis., co-working space. In 2009, VanDen Heuvel and his business partner entered the Northeast Wisconsin Business Plan Contest but didnt make the short list of potential winners. Before re-entering the following year, the pair contacted past winners and judges for pointers. Based on that feedback, they conducted surveys of local telecommuters on their workplace needs and compiled similar data from their chamber of commerce and area networking groups. That research became part of their second contest presentation.

The second time around we tried to drive home that we were really innovating by bringing this to the area, VanDen Heuvel says. The effort paid off: In 2010, The Docking Station took first place, winning $10,000 and a slew of local publicity.

Hone your performance

Practice your pitch before an impartial audience of savvy entrepreneurs (relatives dont count). Have your focus groups ask as many questions as they can to really try to poke holes in your idea, FlashFoods Irvin says.

Mike Grandinetti agrees. An entrepreneurship professor at Hult International Business School who has judged dozens of business plan competitions, Grandinetti calls the Q&A portion of the presentation the most important part of the whole experience. If you cant articulate why your ideal customer or leading competitor hasnt yet solved the problem your company intends to fix, and how much customers will pay for a solution, youre probably not ready to take the stage, he says. As he puts it, Thats what separates the winners from the losers.

How you conduct yourself offstage carries just as much weight, according to Tabrez Ebrahim, co-founder of Evanston, Illinois-based NuMat Technologies, a clean-energy technology company that has won about $1.3 million in contests, including top honors at the U.S. Department of Energys first National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition. Youre judged on every informal conversation you have -- over lunch, over coffee, even while exchanging business cards in the hallway, Ebrahim says: Its not just the 15- or 30-minute pitch session. From the moment you get there to the moment you leave, everythings important.

Related: The Paperwork You Must Complete for a Friends or Family Business Loan

Looking for competitions: The competitive landscape

Youll find listings of hundreds of competitions at sites like www.startupcompete.co and www.BizPlanCompetitions.com. Heres a sampling of the categories on offer:

Local competitions. Entrepreneurial contests held by neighborhood associations and other community groups are a great place to start. You might have the hometown advantage, and you wont have to shell out cash for travel expenses.

The university circuit. More than 50 U.S. universities hold contests annually. Some are so small that winners leave with nothing more than bragging rights. But bigger prizes at schools such as Rice, MIT, Stanford and Harvard can yield significant seed money: $25,000 to $100,000.

Corporate contests. Multinationals such as GE, IBM and Microsoft have recently entered the competition fray. Some award five- and six-figure cash grants. Others, such as IBMs SmartCamp competition, reward winners with premier industry mentorship and networking opportunities.

Social entrepreneurship contests. Entrepreneurs working on solving global problems such as hunger, poverty, energy and education now have a smorgasbord of contests from which to choose, including the Hult Prize, which awards a $1 million prize annually.

Accelerators. The real value of accelerators lies in educational and networking opportunities. MassChallenge, the granddaddy of them all, awards $1 million in cash and $10 million in in-kind prizes each year; additionally, finalists receive three months of extensive mentoring. As Hult professor Mike Grandinetti says, One could argue thats the best prize of all.

Related:

Entering a Small Business Funding Contest

What You Need to Know About Government Small-Business Grants

As 2016 Winds Down, It's Time to Plan For The New Year.



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
County-specific poll may foretell whether Pa. is going blue or red
Laydees and gennulmen, now we come to the highlight of this years glittering Academy Awards ceremony, live from Hollywood  the Oscar for the most ludicrous, sanctimonious, self-regarding, self-promoting, Trump-hating, Brexit-bashing luvvie.

The nominations are, in no particular order: Meryl Streep, Madonna, Helen Mirren, Julia Roberts, Scarlett Johansson, Cher, Emma Thompson, Emma Watson, Gillian Anderson, Whoopi Goldberg, Jamie Lee Curtis, Susan Sarandon, Yoko Ono, Lily Allen . . . and, naturally, the grandnanny of em all, Jane Fonda.

And thats just the women. The list of contenders reads like the line-up for the 2017 International Here We Go Looby Loo Awards.

Scroll down for video

Luvvies have come together to take aim at new US President Donald Trump, writes Richard Littlejohn

All of the above were among the cast of the Million Madwomen Marches against Donald Trump in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, London and, er, Cardiff.

Thats right, Cardiff. Hardly an A-list hangout, but everyone had to be in on the act.

Potty Welsh diva Charlotte Church took to the streets of her home-town to make her protest.

So much more convenient than schlepping to the United States in January.

Another actress called Ruth Wilson, who starred in the Sky TV drama The Affair, chose to make her stand on the stage of the National Theatre in London, where she is appearing in Ibsens Hedda Gabler.

In an echo of Benedict Cumberbatchs nightly rants about refugees when he was playing Hamlet at the Barbican, she harangued her audience about Trump before bursting into tears.

Perhaps shed have been better off confining herself to the Twittersphere  where no one can hear you cry, but they can definitely hear you thcream and thcream and thcream until you are thick, like Violet Elizabeth Bott in the Just William books.

For those delicate flowers who couldnt be bothered to climb out of their designer onesies to join the anti-Donald marches, there was always social media to proclaim their right-on credentials.

Online and on the streets, their language was peppered with gynaecological terminology, just to prove how daring and liberated they all are. It was a reference to Trumps unsavoury locker room jest about grabbing ladies by the crotch.

But I couldnt help harking back to the famous line in the fabulous Waldorf Salad sketch in Fawlty Towers. As Basil said to his American guests: Everythings bottoms, isnt it?

Millions of women marched in protest against the President in London, pictured, the US and Cardiff last weekend

You could certainly argue that was the case with Madonna, a 58-year-old, grown woman who behaves like a spoilt, attention-seeking teenager  and regularly publishes provocative pictures of her own well-travelled nether regions for our delight and delectation whenever shes got a new book or album to promote.

In a foul-mouthed dummy- spitting speech, she spouted anger at the election of Trump, and told her ecstatic audience: I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.

Clearly this was the kind of puerile hyperbole to which over-excited celebrities are prone in the heat of the moment.

It certainly didnt warrant calls for a secret service investigation and an indictment.

But just consider the reaction if, during the presidential election campaign, a prominent Trump supporter  actor Jon Voight, for instance, of Midnight Cowboy and Ray Donovan fame  had told a gathering of 100,000 Tea Party activists that he thought the White House should be blown up while Barack Obama was still in office.

There would have been all hell to pay. Voight would have been accused of being a member of the Ku Klux Klan, hed probably have been charged at the very least with incitement to racial hatred, if not plotting an assassination attempt.

But these are the double standards which apply on both sides of the Atlantic. Those who squeal about Love Trumps Hate are the biggest haters in town.

Just look at the bile emanating from the more extreme Remoaners. Being on the correct side means never having to say youre sorry.

The hypocrisy is breathtaking. Do you remember the Million Women March against Democrat President Bill Clinton, who actually physically abused women, compared to Trump, who only boasted about it?

Stars on both sides of the Atlantic, including US singer Madonna, left, and UK actress Ruth Wilson, right, have taken aim at President Trump

Nope, me neither. But although Clinton was a proven, serial sexual predator  including young White House intern Monica Lewinsky and Paula Jones, to whom he paid $850,000 to drop a sexual harassment lawsuit  he was feted by Hollywood.

Still, whats hypocrisy got to do with it when it comes to political posturing?

Yesterday, the actor Ewan McGregor pulled out of an interview with Good Morning Britain to promote the Trainspotting sequel T2 after discovering  shock, horror!  that he was to be questioned by shy-and-retiring Piers Morgan.

McGregor threw a hissy fit because Morgan had made some disobliging comments about the madwomens march on Mail Online.

Im sure Piers will get over this bitter disappointment with all the quiet dignity for which he is renowned.

But if I were the producers of T2, I would be livid. McGregor is contractually obliged and handsomely paid to promote the film. How dare he put his own showboating political sensibilities first?

More to the point, although he condemns Trumps sexism, McGregor was perfectly happy to appear in another movie, The Ghost, directed by convicted paedophile Roman Polanski, who fled America after pleading guilty to the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl.

McGregor is the father of four young daughters. How does he square that with agreeing to work with a notorious child molester? Still, its par for the course.

Ewan McGregor hit the headlines today after refusing to go on Good Morning Britain to promote the Trainspotting sequel because of presenter Piers Morgan's comments on the march

Meryl Streep, another prominent anti-Trumper who let rip at the Golden Globes recently, gave Polanski a standing ovation in his absence at an earlier Academy Awards ceremony.

With this years Oscar nominations announced yesterday, and the mutual back-slapping season getting into full swing, dozens of celebrities will be scribbling acceptance speeches dripping with vitriol aimed at the new President.

But, as I wrote on Saturday, one of the great joys of watching the unlikely rise of The Donald has been witnessing the deranged reaction of Luvvie Land, which has behaved exactly like our own hysterical Remain brigade.

How many of those who said they would leave America if Trump won actually intend to sell up and move to Canada or wherever? Precisely.

About as many as all those British celebs who said they would emigrate if we voted to leave the EU.

No, theyd rather stay where their breads buttered and lecture everyone else on how we got it horribly wrong.

They still think if they make enough noise theyll get their own way.

But the fact is theyve been routed. The louder they shout, the longer they sulk, the fewer people are listening to them, as the results at the ballot box demonstrate.

I suspect the main reason they are howling at the moon is that they are having to come to terms with their impotence the terrible realisation that they dont have the power they assumed they had.

Theyre not as clever as the lines theyre paid to recite. Nor are we as stupid as they think we are. They might believe their own publicity, but the rest of us dont.

Why should we take political instruction from someone simply because they play a superhero on screen, or perform Shakespeare on stage?

How would they like it if Trump supporters and Brexiteers took to the streets to organise a mass boycott of their movies, plays and records?

If such a boycott were successful, theyd be dropped by the hard-nosed studios quicker than they could scream Hitler at the new President.

Luvvies should 'get over it' and accept they lost rather than 'sobbing over the result'

Hollywood is already finding it increasingly convenient to replace real-life actors with computer-generated images.

We could be seeing the last knockings of the traditional Tinsel Town prima donna.

Of course, theyre entitled to protest, but theyre not entitled to treat the rest of us as fools, nor attempt undemocratically to overturn the result.

That applies equally to these Hollywood harridans as to our own resentful Remainers.

As Trump himself remarked: I was under the impression we just had an election. Why didnt these people vote?

Exactly. And even if they did vote, they were at odds with the people of Middle America who, despite many reservations and for all his apparent flaws, preferred The Donald over their darling Hillary Clinton.

Get over it, luvvies. In the words of the Kinks Ray Davies: It is time for you to stop all of your sobbing.

You lost.
The Mail could not have put it better. It is important for courts to understand that the legalisation of political issues is not always constitutionally appropriate, and may be fraught with risk, not least for the judiciary.

So said Lord Reed, one of the three judges who dissented from yesterdays Supreme Court ruling that only Parliament can trigger Brexit.

Whether the courts judgment was constitutionally appropriate, only history will decide. One thing is certain: this was not a good day for democracy.

The Supreme Court judges voted eight to three in favour of forcing the Government to put Brexit to a Parliamentary vote

For it was the day eight judges, from almost identical rarefied backgrounds, handed MPs and peers the right to overturn the wishes of 17.4million voters, as expressed in the referendum last June.

Forget that both sides in the campaign insisted the result would be binding.

(This is your decision, said David Camerons 9million propaganda leaflet for Project Fear. The Government will implement what you decide.)

In their questionable wisdom, the eight effectively dismissed the referendum as a mere opinion poll, without any legal force.

In so doing, theyve handed a weapon to Remoaners in both Houses who are determined to frustrate the will of the people by delaying Brexit or watering it down.

Naturally, the judges protest that their own views about Europe are irrelevant to their decision, saying they were guided only by law and precedent.

But while this paper does not question their integrity, we believe over matters of political opinion it is impossible for anyone to be perfectly neutral.

Like it or not, every one of us is influenced by our own views and those of the people with whom we share our lives.

This is why the Mail makes no apology for highlighting the backgrounds of those such as the Supreme Courts president, Lord Neuberger, whose wife tweeted that the referendum result was mad and bad, while his sister-in-law reacted by applying for a German passport.

And make no mistake. With no exact precedents to rely on, and statutes ambiguous at best, the issue before the court was quite as much a matter of opinion as of law.

Indeed, it is hugely significant that three of the 11 judges dissented from the majority, finding that ministers do have the right to trigger Brexit without a parliamentary vote.

This means different judges, less sympathetic to our EU membership, might well have ruled that the referendum could be treated as binding.

Instead, the court bowed to the wishes of Gina Miller, the gloating investment manager who alternates between glorying in self-promotion and complaining that her safety is under threat.

Indeed, the judges have handed a saboteurs licence to Remoaner troublemakers at Westminster.

(And how deeply ironic that MPs whove spent decades surrendering Parliaments powers to Brussels now huff and puff about the importance of parliamentary sovereignty!)

Gina Miller led the Remain campaign to victory but has 'handed a saboteurs licence to Remoaner troublemakers at Westminster

Yes, it could have been worse. The court could have given the devolved assemblies in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales power to block Brexit.

It could also have dictated elaborate legal procedures for withdrawal, holding up the process for years.

The question today is how far MPs and peers will dare go in their efforts at sabotage. For their part, the SNP and the Lib Dems pathetic rump of MPs have made clear they will use every trick in the book to frustrate the publics verdict.

As for the official Opposition, its anyones guess. Jeremy Corbyn has changed his position from one day to the next since he declared on the morning after the referendum that withdrawal should be triggered immediately.

But with so many Labour MPs representing Brexiteer constituencies  and at most a handful of Tory rebels  this paper is hopeful the Bill to invoke Article 50 will get through the Commons in time to meet the March deadline.

Less certain is its passage through the Lords, with its huge inbuilt majority of Remoaners  including the monstrously over-represented Lib Dems.

Suffice it to say that if this unelected House seeks to delay or frustrate Brexit, it will provoke a constitutional crisis that could finish the Lords.
She may be just 12-years-old but Millie Bobby Brown has already made an almighty splash in the Hollywood thanks to her role as Eleven in Stranger Things.

And now the Marbella-born youngster who was brought up in Bournemouth and Florida is set to stir things up in the fashion industry as she becomes the youngest ever model to front a Calvin Klein campaign.

The actress stars in chief creative officer Raf Simons first campaign for an offshoot of the brand named Calvin Klein By Appointment.

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Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, 12, is the new face of Calvin Klein, making her the youngest model to ever front a campaign for the brand

Millie revealed her involvement by sharing a picture of her modelling shot on Instagram last night.

The actress wrote: 'I am so honored to be a part of this -'A cast of distinct individuals brings the idea to life: Strength of character is key.

'Whether famous or unknown, all are treated equally' -- Calvin Klein By Appointment'

The new line by Simons, who was previously Creative Director at Christian Dior, will make Calvin Klein's made-to-measure service, previously only available to celebrities, to all customers.

Millie is most famous for her role as Eleven in Netflix Stranger Things which saw her tipped as Teen Vogues Breakout Star of 2016

The young star was born in Marbella and then grew up in Bournemouth and Florda

Millie models a pair of red tailored trousers with a white t-shirt that is embellished with burnt red coloured tassels.

The photograph echoes Millie's youth and the model is not seen wearing any makeup for the picture.

Speaking of the new collection Simons said: 'Calvin Klein is much more than underwear and iconic jeans. '

Following a stand-out performance in Netflixs hit series Stranger Things Millie is already the toast of both the fashion and film worlds.

She was tipped as Teen Vogues Breakout Star of 2016  and revealed as one of movie website IMDBs most searched for celebrities - the actress is now able to command in excess of 3 million per movie.

Indeed, after her parents sold up in the UK to move to LA, she already has three Los Angeles-based agents, and an American agent, and has already been signed up for a second series of the 1980s set Netflix show.

According to the industry bible Variety, the starlet has the kind of presence some actors take a lifetime to acquire [and] is about to be cast in a lot of projects.
When controversial teen drama Skins burst onto television screens via E4 on January 25th 2007, it quickly made a huge impact.

Serving up challenging subjects including eating disorders, drugs and bullying along with a side portion of good old fashioned teen angst, the show had garnered a cult following by the end of the first series.

Ten years on, the fresh-faced actors who played out such dramatic storylines are all grown up, with much of original cast list now mingling with A-list film stars for a living.

It was announced yesterday that Dev Patel, who played hard-partying Anwar Kharral, has been nominated for an Oscar for his most recent role in Hollywood tearjerker Lion, while Nicholas Hoult and Jack O'Connell are both on their way to becoming household names.

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Skins burst onto television screens on January 25th 2007 and the teen series, written by Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain, has since made huge stars of its young cast

Remember our names! The Skins cast back in 2008, when they were enjoying their first taste of fame (Pictured from left: Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Larissa Wilson, Joseph Dempsie, Daniel Kaluuya, Dev Patel and Nicholas Hoult )

Set in Bristol and written by father-and-son duo Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain, Skins documented life for a group of hormone-raging teenagers going through Sixth Form.

The sitcom's brave storylines clearly provided key actors with a blistering showreel - something that would stand them in good stead over the coming decade.

This week April Pearson, who played Michelle Richardson, posted images of her old cast-mates on Instagram, saying: 'I was so lucky and none of us knew how being part of something so special would change our lives. I wish I had held on to it tighter! They were the best of times.'

Below, we look at the show's breakout stars and how their careers blossomed after the series finished.

DEV PATEL: ANWAR KHARRAL

From Bristol to LA: Dev Patel is currently up for an Oscar for his role in new film Lion. Right, as a 16-year-old in Skins, where he played Anwar Kharral

Hollywood beckons! Patel's career has soared since he appeared on the show

Patel, 26, may not have had the biggest role in Skins, but his star has certainly been in the ascendance since he first appeared as Anwar Kharral.

Kharral wasn't entirely respectful of his religion, eating pork, indulging in pre-marital sex and taking drugs.

The role was enough of a showcase to capture the attention of director Danny Boyle, who was looking to adapt Indian novel Q&A for the big screen.

A plum role in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire ensured Patel caught the eye of LA directors; the star also enjoyed a lengthy romance with his co-star Frieda Pinto

Patel took the title role in the subsequent film Slumdog Millionaire and bagged a beautiful girlfriend in the shape of co-star Frieda Pinto, although the couple split after six years together.

Roles in The Last Airbender and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel followed, but it is Patel's most recent effort, in Lion, which may yet propel him to mega-star status.

He stars alongside Nicole Kidman as an adoptive son who is looking for his birth mother and his performance earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

JACK O'CONNELL: JAMES COOK

All grown up: Jack O'Connell played troubled chav James Cook. These days, you're more likely to find him collaborating with some of the biggest names in film

Hot on the heels of Patel's success, Jack O'Connell already knows what it feels like to star alongside some of the world's biggest actors.

After making an impression in independent films Starred Up and '71 he got his big break when Angelina Jolie cast him as war hero POW Louie Zamperini in Unbroken.

It's a far cry from the chavtastic 'Cook' who saw O'Connell show off his acting prowess as a 16-year-old womaniser who would rather carouse than show any hint of his real feelings.

A recipient of the BAFTA rising star award, his next project is playing late fashion designer Alexander McQueen in a biopic of his life.

NICHOLAS HOULT: TONY STONEM

Fresh-faced and still blossoming: Nicholas Hoult had already hit the big-time as a child star in the 2002 film About a Boy with Hugh Grant...but Skins very much kept him in the spotlight

Skins wasn't Hoult's first major role; he'd already won hearts as the unusually-fringed central protagonist in About a Boy, starring opposite Hugh Grant in the 2002 hit film.

His character is Skins couldn't have differed more but it showed Hoult had proper acting chops beyond the cute child star role.

While Tony Stonem caused mayhem in the first series, a brain bleed in the second left him a more vulnerable character.

The handsome actor, now 27, is set to play Serbian inventor, Nikola Tesla, in a new film with Benedict Cumberbatch

Now a fully-fledged star, the 27-year-old is very much part of the Brit pack currently wowing Hollywood.

Roles in Kill Your Friends, Mad Max and the X-Men films have made him a household name in the US, and his relationship with former girlfriend Jennifer Lawrence certainly helped to boost his profile too.

He's currently filming The Current War, starring alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, and plays Serbian inventor, Nikola Tesla.

DANIEL KALUUYA: POSH KENNETH

London-born Kaluuya, 27, not only impressed on screen as Posh Kenneth, he also had a hand in writing some of the scripts

London-born Kaluuya, 27, not only impressed on screen as Posh Kenneth, he also had a hand in writing some of the scripts.

After appearing on Channel 4's Black Mirror, his next project takes him across the pond; where he'll film Black Panther, the new Marvel film.

He's also had big screen roles in Johnny English Reborn and Kickass 2.

HANNAH MURRAY: CASSIE AINSWORTH

Tortured teen Cassie Ainsworth, who fought an eating disorder, was played by Hannah Murray. Now 27, the Bristol-raised actress is currently playing Gilly in Game of Thrones

Some of Skin's darkest storylines involved troubled Cassie Ainsworth, who battled anorexia, drug addiction and suicidal thoughts in the show.

She went on to pick up theatre roles and small film parts, and in 2015 she played Sara Bridgend, based on a spate of suicides of South Wales.

Hannah scooped an award for Best Actress at the Tribeca Film Festival, and more recently, she's a Game of Thrones regular, appearing as Gilly in the hit HBO series.

JOE DEMPSIE: CHRIS MILES

Another Game of Thrones regular, Joe Dempsie, played Chris Miles in Skins. His character reached an untimely demise after a brain haemorrhage

Chris Miles' demise, via a brain haemorrhage - the same condition that had killed his older brother, was one of Skins' most poignant moments.

Since the show, Nottingham-raised Joe Dempsie, now 29, has followed Ainsworth into Game of Thrones, playing Gendry, and also appeared in 'This Is England 90'.

A role in big budget film Monsters: Dark Continent followed in 2015 and a seventh series of Game of Thrones, airing in 2017, beckons.

APRIL PEARSON: MICHELLE RICHARDSON

April Pearson, who played Michelle Richardson, is still working with the Skins writing team. She's set to appear in new Channel 4/Netflix drama Kiss Me First

The vacuous Michelle Richardson, squeeze of Tony Stonem, was mostly interested in looking attractive for her boyfriend.

A role in slasher movie Tormented followed for April, after theatre roles and an appearance on Casualty.

Kiss Me First is Pearson's latest project. The book adaptation is set to be screened on Netflix and comes from the Skins writing team.

KAYA SCODELARIO: EFFY STONEM

Kaya Scodelario played Effy and became a key character in the show's second generation of actors. Now a newly married mother-of-one, Scodelario is wed to US actor Benjamin Walker

A slew of television roles have followed for Scodelario who became a central character in later series of the show.

She's currently filming the lead female role in the new Pirates Of The Caribbean, which will be released later this year, and she also starred in science fiction film Moon and Clash Of The Titans.

Now 24, the actress married American Benjamin Walker in 2015 and the couple now have a young son together.

ALEXANDER ARNOLD: RICH HARDBECK

Alexander Arnold burst onto our screens in his acting debut as Rich Hardbeck in the third generation of Skins

Alexander Arnold burst onto our screens in his acting debut as Rich Hardbeck in the third generation of Skins.

The 24-year-old has since gone on to star in two-part drama A Mother's Son and in zombie drama In The Flesh.

From 2015, he joined the popular programme Poldark on the BBC where he played Jim Carter for four episodes and was recently in a play called Shopping and F'ing.

AIMEE-FFION EDWARDS: LUCY SKETCH

Welsh actress Aimee made her television debut in Skins as the Maxxie-obsessed Sketch in series two

Welsh actress Aimee made her television debut in Skins as the Maxxie-obsessed Sketch in series two.

She went on to appear in Luther, Peaky Blinders and last year starred in the British-French comedy series Death in Paradise.

The actress also had a role as part of an ensemble cast in a television adaptation of Under Milk Wood to celebrate the centenary of Dylan Thomas.

LILY LOVELESS: NAOMI CAMPBELL

Best known for her role as Naomi Campbell in the second generation of Skins, Lily went on to land parts in The Fades, Bedlam and Sket

Best known for her role as Naomi Campbell in the second generation of Skins, Lily went on to land parts in The Fades, Bedlam and Sket.

In 2013 she scooped an award for Best Newcomer at the Monaco International Film Festival for her role in the coming of age film Fear Of Water.

The actress went on to briefly reprise her role as Naomi in the final series of Skins and made her West End debut last year in The Collector.

MIKE BAILEY: SID JENKINS

Bristol-born actor Mike Bailey first appeared on our screens as nice guy Sid Jenkins in the first series of Skins

Bristol-born actor Mike Bailey first appeared on our screens as nice guy Sid Jenkins in the first series of Skins.

He went on to star in British comedy Birmingham We Are the Freaks.

But he has fallen relatively off the radar since the series ended in comparison to his co-stars.

LUKE PASQUALINO: FREDDIE MCCLAIR

Luke Pasqualino has gone onto huge success since starring in Skins as heartthrob Freddie McClair back in seasons three and four

Luke Pasqualino has gone onto huge success since starring in Skins as heartthrob Freddie McClair back in seasons three and four.

After the series ended, he appeared as d'Artagnan in The Musketeers and played Elvis Harte in BBC show Our Girl with actress Michelle Keegan.

The 26-year-old can next be seen in new TV series Snatch alongside Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint and Gossip Girls' Ed Westwick.

He was also rumoured to have been dating Little Mix's Perrie Edwards for a time before they called things off at the end of last year.
Parents have been warned over the resurgence of a social media craze that has seen children across the country burning themselves with salt and ice.

The so-called 'salt and ice challenge' involves youngsters placing salt and ice on their skin, causing a chemical reaction that reduces the temperature of the ice to as low as -17C (1.4F).

Participants then see who can withstand the searing pain longest before sharing photos of the resulting burns, similar to frostbite, online.

Some teenagers have reportedly been taken to hospital with third degree burns, and the NSPCC has now issued a warning over the craze, urging parents and teachers to remain vigilant.

Painful: One mother shared this photo of her son's hand to warn other parents against the damaging effects of the salt and ice challenge, which can be similar to frostbite

The craze swept across schools in the US several years ago but has experienced a recent resurgence among British children and teenagers.

This week West Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Dee Collins also issued a warning on Twitter, writing: 'Please warn your children and those you know not to take part in this dangerous challenge.'

Over the last few weeks stories have emerged from around the country of children and teenagers who have been permanently scarred by the challenge.

One mother, from Swansea, said her son had been left with permanent nerve damage in his hands, according to the Hull Daily Mail.

Lasting damage: Images posted on Facebook show the marks left by the ice burns

Latest craze: Youngsters have to withstand pain as ice burns their skin. Pictured, the scars

The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'He has some feeling in the red part around the edge but nothing on the burn itself.

'It is like severe frostbite. It could have gone septic and caused organ failure.'

Another mother, from Fife, said her daughter had been left permanently scarred by her salt and ice challenge burns.

She told the Sun: 'It does not hurt at the time, however as you can see in the picture is causes lasting damage.'

Warnings: Teachers and parents were told of the dangers as photos of the burns emerged

An NSPCC spokesman said: 'It's important for schools keep a close eye on all emerging trends and we welcome the police's warning to head teachers.

'The rise of social media has contributed to increasing peer pressure amongst children and this 'craze' is another clear example of the risks.

'The NSPCC publishes advice and guidance for parents on discussing online safety with their children, as well as Net Aware  the UK's only parental guide to social media and gaming apps.'
From shards of glass to living plants, it seems there's nothing that beauty bloggers won't rule out when it comes to decorating their manicures.

But the latest nail art trend to sweep social media might just be the strangest yet.

Beauty aficionados are now using tiny pieces of gold wire to embellish their talons, using them to create arched metal tips and intricate patterns.

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Introducing wirework nails: Eun Kyung Park, the founder of Unistella salon in Seoul, has been dazzling Instagram with her metal creations which she says are inspired by neon signs

The trend, sparked by Japanese and Korean beauty bloggers, is currently being championed by Eun Kyung Park, founder of Unistella salon in Seoul, who has dubbed it 'wirework nails'.

Since uploading some of her clients' looks in recent weeks, the technique is now sweeping Instagram as technicians and amateur beauty bloggers try it for themselves.

Park, who says the look was inspired by neon signs, has a cult Instagram following and recent snaps of her 'wirework' technique have racked up thousands of likes and shares on social media.

She told FEMAIL she creates the look using tweezers and clear varnish, explaining: 'If you're doing this on your nails, use the thinnest wire you can find.

Would you try this? Beauty aficionados are now using tiny pieces of gold metal wire to embellish their talons, using them to create arched tips and miniature patterns

Instagrammer iamty1220 has shared her own take on the wirework trend, using tiny lengths of gold wire to create intricate patterns such as spirals and horseshoes

Japanese nail salon Atelier 405, left, and Instagrammer hattsu, right, have also dabbled with wirework nails, adding glitter and coloured paint to embellish their manicures

Growing trend: Since Eun Kyung Park uploaded a few of her clients' looks, the trend is now sweeping Instagram as technicians and amateur beauty bloggers try it for themselves

'When you place it on your nails, make sure the wire is inside your nail so that the wire doesn't go out of your nail surface.'

She also stressed the need to smooth down or finish any sharp edges to avoid them getting caught on clothes or even scratching the skin.

But some beauty experts have questioned how practical the look really is. Delia Cudrici, Nail Technician Specialist at clo&flo, a leading hair salon in London's South Kensington, told FEMAIL: 'It's always interesting to see the new and innovative techniques, especially from Unistella who are known for their awe-inspiring nail art.

'Overall I would say this trend is definitely for one night only rather than a more long-term manicure.

Growing trend: Park, who says the look was inspired by neon signs, has a cult Instagram following and recent snaps of her 'wirework' technique have racked up thousands of likes

Using tiny, delicate pieces of wire allows the wearer to embellish their cuticles while avoiding the need for chipped polish, although Park has also experimented with black polish, pictured

Park says you can create the look at home by using the 'thinnest piece of wire you can find' and making sure it is neatly tucked in to avoid any sharp edges getting caught on your clothes

'The layer of topcoat has to be really thick to keep the wire in place, and if you catch the negative space between wire and nail it could rip off and cause real damage to your nail plate.

'Not only this, you also risk damage others if the wire is not properly sealed, by lightly scratching people or catching on their clothes.

'Of course, the wire is so thin it will not do harmful damage but, like a paper cut, it can still be painful  not to mention embarrassing if you are around strangers. All in all, very impressive for a night out but maybe not one for the London Underground!'
A corset maker has sent Theresa May a pair of glittery nipple tassels to wear as a 'lucky charm' when she meets Donald Trump on Friday.

Aimee Veitch, who runs Kitty O'Hara's Corsetry in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, designed the American and British flag pasties for the Prime Minister to wear under her clothes when she shakes hands with the new President for the first time.

And while she is not expecting a reply from Downing Street, Ms Veitch, 35, said she will be keeping an eye out for a 'flash of red sequins around the Prime Minister's decolletage' when pictures emerge from the White House meeting.

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Gift: Corset maker Aimee Veitch said she hoped the Prime Minister would wear the tassels, pictured, under her clothes as a 'lucky charm' when she shakes hands with the new President

Secret sequins? Ms Veitch said she will be keeping an eye out for a 'flash of sequins around the Prime Minister's decolletage' when the pictures emerge of her meeting with Mr Trump, right

Ms Veitch said: 'Plenty of people wear lucky pants or a special piece of jewellery on important occasions, so I figured that when meeting Donald Trump for the first time Mrs May would need something to keep her grounded.

'We know for certain that the world's media will be scrutinising her policy discussions and also her fashion choices as she is famed for her statement necklaces and love of shoes.

'So I'm really hoping she complements that outer style with some inner confidence.'

Ms Veitch explained the idea came to her at a networking event shortly after the US presidential election results were announced last November.

Message of support: Ms Veitch packaged up the tassels in a special delivery envelope and posted them to Downing Street along with a hand-written note, pictured

'We hadn't expected Trump to win and we were wondering what Theresa was making of it all as they do seem like a very unmatched and very unlikely power couple,' she said.

They are just a bit of silliness, but we thought you could wear them under your suit or dress as your lucky charm.

'One of the ladies said their first meeting had the potential to simultaneously be the single most random yet most important meeting of Mrs May's political career to date.

'She then suggested, in jest, that I should make Mrs May some nipple tassels to wear under her dress as it would add some lightness to a day of immense pressure, a day when the eyes of the world would be on her and when she might not know what to make of former reality TV star Mr Trump.'

Inspired, Ms Veitch made the tassels in a matter of hours. She held on to them until Mrs May's first meeting with Mr Trump was announced over the weekend.

Racy: Ms Veitch, pictured in her workshop, said the matching American and British flag pasties (seen on the table) would give Mrs May 'some inner confidence' as she met President Trump

Yesterday Ms Veitch packaged up the tassels in a special delivery envelope and sent them to Downing Street along with a hand-written note.

It read: 'They are just a bit of silliness, but we thought you could wear them under your suit or dress as your lucky charm...

'So why don't you wear nipple tassels under your clothes and a smile on your face knowing we are behind you for the first time meeting the president. Good luck Prime Minister'.

Mrs May will be the first world leader to meet the new President.

The Prime Minister, who has publicly criticised the billionaire, said the focus of the meeting will be on trade, Nato and Syria but that she won't be afraid to challenge his 'unacceptable' views.

Mrs May also said she is looking forward to welcoming Mr Trump to Britain 'sometime this year' but said invitations for state visits are decided by Buckingham Palace.
Tiffany Trump made waves by wearing a pair of green suede booties featuring butterflies to her father Donald's inauguration, and according to the designer, the shoes were hand delivered to the First Daughter.

British designer Aruna Seth had her head of marketing hop on a plane and deliver her brand's $800 Farfalla boots to a hotel near the White House a few days before last Friday's inauguration.

For the big day, 23-year-old Tiffany donned a custom-made, double-breasted coat by Taoray Wang along with the hunter green suede boots.

Stand out style: Tiffany Trump wore hunter green booties by British designer Aruna Seth for her father Donald's inauguration

Nontraditional: The unique $800 ankle boots feature crystal butterfly embellishment and a leather lace-up design on the back

Special treatment: The designer had her head of marketing fly from London to Washington, D.C. to hand deliver the shoes to Tiffany

According to the designer, the company was contacted by someone from Tiffany's camp, who explained that she loved the shoes and wanted to wear a pair for the momentous occasion.

Several different pairs of shoes and boots were delivered to her, and she ended up choosing a pair of booties featuring a crystal butterfly embellishment.

The sky-high stiletto boots also feature a leather lace-up design in the back, which certainly made them an edgier option for the inauguration.

Lady's choice: According to the designer, several different pairs of shoes and boots were delivered to her, and she ended choosing the hunter green booties

'It is an absolute honor that our shoes were chosen by Tiffany to complement her outfit,' said Aruna Seth, creative director and founder.

'Over the years we have been involved in some momentous occasions but this really tops it.'

Tiffany also wore a pair of the brand's nude pumps to the prayer service on Saturday at Washington National Cathedral.

Bright in white: The 23-yera-old Tiffany donned a custom-made, double-breasted coat by Taoray Wang along with the suede boots. She is pictured with her half-brother Eric

Big fan: Tiffany also wore a pair of the brand's nude pumps to the prayer service on Saturday at Washington National Cathedral

Ella Weinberg, who delivered the shoes, told the Washington Post that Tiffany is a longtime fan of the brand, noting that she 'had specific requirements from us for the inauguration considering the weather'.

However, when asked about who paid for the shoes or the cost of the commercial flight from London to Washington, D.C., Ella did not answer the question.

'For us the most important factor was just the fact that we had been considered amongst many other brands for the momentous occasion,' she told the publication.

Designer duds: Tiffany's older half-sister Ivanka and her three children dazzled in Oscar de la Renta at the inauguration

Pricey pieces: Ivanka also had designer Kate Bowen, founder of Petit Peony, custom-made outfits worth nearly $1,700 designed for her children to wear throughout the weekend

And she wasn't the only one of Trump's daughters who went above and beyond for the big day.

Tiffany's older half-sister Ivanka dazzled in a white Oscar de la Renta pant suit at the inauguration.

Like their mom, her three children, Arabella, Joseph, and Tiffany, also wore the famous designer for the swearing in ceremony and for the inaugural parade.

In addition to their designer duds, Ivanka also hand custom-made outfits worth nearly $1,700 designed for her three children to wear throughout her father's inaugural weekend.

Designer Kate Bowen, the founder of Petit Peony, flew from Duxbury, Massachusetts, to New York to fit the children three times before the big weekend.
Australia Day is spent on the beach for many of us, and while dressing for a dip today means flinging on a bikini and a wrap, it wasnt always so simple.

Before the First World War, women wore full-body woollen suits, but altering attitudes and risk-taking designers began a movement of change.

This has evolved into the skimpy bikinis seen on Aussie beaches today.

As women across the nation get out their best bikinis for the national holiday on Thursday, FEMAIL takes a look at the evolution of women's swimwear.

Big Changes: In 1912, costumes were conservative, with the outfit worn by Olympic swimmers (left) considered risque. Now women wear bikinis on Australia Day (stock image right)

1910s

Victorian bathing suits were originally conservative baggy frocks. In the 1910s they began to shrink, exposing womens arms, necks and calves.

Female swimmers were allowed to compete in the Olympics for the first time at the 1912 Summer games in Stockholm.

While women from Australia entered wearing figure-hugging costumes similar to the male design, the American women's swim team was banned due to fears of public nudity.

The British team wore full-body woollen swimwear.

Daring to bare: Women of the 1910s were able to show off their knees as swimwear began to shrink

Champions: Fanny Durack (left) took out the gold medal in the 100m women's swimming at the Stockholm Olympic games in 1912. It was the first year women were allowed to compete

1920s

Tanning became popular in the 20s, meaning swimsuits were smaller to expose more skin to the sun's browning rays.

Shorts rose to mid-thigh, and one Californian designer sold a daring almost-backless swimsuit.

In the US, policemen measured womens swimsuits on the beach as modesty laws demanded shorts were no more than six inches above the knee.

Modesty was the priority: Female swimmers could not show too much skin and were expected to remain modest

In 1921 the first woman was elected to Australian parliament.

The Womens Rights movement fuelled womens demands for clothes that were easier to move in.

1930s

Women in the 1930s sought to flaunt their figures, donning nylon, latex and elasticated cotton swimsuits which hugged the body.

Figure-hugging: Cut-out sides, bare shoulders and higher hemlines were seen on 1930s beaches

Stretchy straps: Nylon suits left little to the imagination, shocking 1930s beachgoers

Stretchy shoulder straps were often lowered on the beach to avoid pesky tan lines.

Resort holidays in the Mediterranean, Bahamas and Florida became popular, and more women took two-piece bathing suits.

1940s

Australia played a vital role in WWII from 1939 to 1945. Over 993,000 Australian men left the safety of Australia to fight against the Nazis.

In this stressful time young people started to push the limits of fashion. The 40s was the era when the midriff became mainstream.

Tummies on show: Some women decided to show off their midriffs

The bikini was still modest compared to today's standards, with the bottoms looking more like a mini-skirt than undies.

1950s

Wartime rations were over by the 50s, so women could use materials like rubber for a swimming cap.

The ladies of the 1950s prided themselves on their hair, so the caps became an essential fashion accessory.

Fashionable caps: Ladies started to wear stylish head pieces to match their swimsuits

Fashion statement: Women protected their hairstyles with wacky caps featuring animals, flowers and bold patterns

Their popularity inspired many different styles. Some caps featured little rubber flowers, while others made a statement with bold pictures or patterns.

1960s

The 60s saw a social revolution and there was a rebellious movement away from the traditional past.

This was when the tiny bikini started to grace Australian beaches.

Birth of the bikini: Many people were shocked by women revealing so much skin

The two-piece swimsuit was considered so explosive and shocking, it was named after the Bikini Islands, where nuclear bombs were tested.

1970s

In the decade after the Vietnam War, Australian women started to let their beehives down and show even more skin.

High-waisted bikini bottoms were paired with bell-bottom jeans and the classic triangle bikini top, and teased-up hairstyles were held together with bandanas and thick ribbons.

Politics on the beach: Women pushed the boundaries with high-cut bikini bottoms

Women in the 70s pushed gender politics in both the office and on the beach, with one third of the Australian workforce made up of females.

This political empowerment meant Australian women felt free to flaunt their curves in itty-bitty bikinis without shocked onlookers clutching their pearls at their exposed skin.

1980s

The 1980s is considered the birth of the g-string bikini, as female beach-goers dared to bare in tiny swimwear bottoms which showcased their pert derrieres.

The era of the g-string: 1980s women weren't shy and would happily flaunt their cheeks

Shock factor was a thing of the past: Bikini-wearing beach-goers were showing more than ever in the 1990s

Nylon became the fabric of choice and neon colours dazzled the shoreline.

This was the decade of the high-cut bikini and stylish one-piece, and Australian women trimmed a little more down south to flaunt their taut legs and stomachs.

1990s

In the 1990s, the shock factor of a woman wearing a bikini faded.

Australian beaches were packed with two-piece wearing girls frolicking on the sand.

The final decade of the twentieth century meant almost nothing was off limits in the fashion world.

Designers reverted back to previous decades with retro colours and bold patterns. A skimpy bikini was the bread and butter of any stylish woman.

2000s

Flash forward to the present day, and every celebrity worth their salt is making a statement at the beach with a bikini or one-piece.

Cheeky! Swimwear now comes in all shapes and sizes, with skimpier swimsuits from brands like Moana surging in popularity and bold, bright prints a common sight

The classic triangle bikini made its way back onto the sandy runway and those once-dowdy one pieces your mum made you wear from the 1990s have made a stunning return.

In 2007 Australia won the Guinness World Record for the largest swimsuit photo shoot as 1000 bikini-clad girls flocked to the sand to take a photo and make history.
As nine year olds they stood in front of Ayers Rock and sang in one of the most iconic commercials Australia has seen.

And 18 years after their chance meeting, Melbourne couple Elysia Simons and Paul Van Der Toorren have married in a ceremony inspired by their love of the great outdoors.

The couple, who first met as nervous choir members filming Qantas's memorable 'I Still Call Australia Home' advertisement in 1999, tied the knot on 14 January in a vineyard ceremony.

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Happy day: Melbourne couple Elysia Simons and Paul Van Der Toorren (pictured) have married after meeting on the set of an iconic Qantas advert

Iconic: The pair were part of the choir that sang in the memorable 'I Still Call Australia Home' advert

Memorable: Paul and Elysia met in front of Uluru while filming the iconic Qantas advert. Years later they returned where Paul (pictured) proposed

'We wanted somewhere beautiful, and full of nature,' Elysia told FEMAIL, explaining she and her husband had always had a great love of the outdoors which had led to them choosing to marry at The Riverstone Estate winery in the Yarra Valley.

'I had a vision that I wanted everything to be outside. I wanted to be able to dance outside under the stars.'

Elysia, a wedding photographer, previously said that she and Paul immediately hit it off when they were placed next to each other for the last scene of the Qantas advert singing 'I Still Call Australia Home'.

Surrounded by nature: 'I had a vision that I wanted everything to be outside. I wanted to be able to dance outside under the stars,' Elysia told FEMAIL

Love at first sight: The couple immediately hit it off when they were placed next to each other for the last scene of the advert

Blushing bride: Elysia said she wanted something 'different' for her wedding dress - opting for a long-sleeved gown in blush pink by Kara Jade Designs

'During takes we would have to wait a while so would muck around together,' the 25-year-old said.

'I remember him looking over at me with this shy smile on his face. He was pretty quiet, but very cute and, like now, was just listening the whole time.'

The couple drifted in and out of contact in the coming years, until mutual friends at high school bought them back together again.

As they spent more time together, they began to realise they shared something special.

Meant to be: The couple drifted in and out of contact after appearing in the advert, until mutual friends at high school bought them back together again

Precious moments: Elysia had just eight months to make her dream wedding a reality

Paul and Elysia returned to Uluru in May 2016 where Paul - a 26-year-old graphic designer - popped the question.

Elysia said she then had just eight months to make her dream wedding a reality.

'I knew exactly what I wanted,' she said, explaining that because of her profession she knew who to contact in the industry.

The wedding decorations included 'lots of Persian rugs' and pretty lights strewn around the venue.

Pretty in pink: 'I knew exactly what I wanted,' the bride said of her big day, which included decorative lights and Persian rugs

Unforgettable: I did not want to forget anything. I enjoyed every part of it,' the bride said of her wedding day

The bride also said she wanted something 'different' for her wedding dress - opting for a long-sleeved gown in blush pink by Kara Jade Designs.

Naturally, she said the couple's memorable meeting was referred to in the wedding speeches.

'It came up,' she said. 'The speeches were one of the best parts of the day.'

'Some people say their wedding day is a blur but I was so present because I knew I did not want to forget anything. I enjoyed every part of it.'

Just like a movie: The couple's big day was captured by fine art photographer Madeline Druce - who Elysia said made every photo look like it was 'straight out of a movie'

Under the starlight: Elysia said she wanted the wedding day to reflect the couple's shared love of nature and she wanted to be able to dance under the stars

Back to where it began: Paul proposed to Elysia by taking her back to the place where they first met as children

The couple's big day was captured by fine art photographer Madeline Druce - who Elysia said made every photo look like it was 'straight out of a movie'.

The couple then enjoyed a honeymoon in Port Douglas, which was a gift from family.

In the coming year Elysia said she and Paul are hoping to get a house, a dog and perhaps even start a family.
Couture week is a celebration of the most exquisite - and expensive - hand-crafted gowns, tantalisingly out of reach for all but the A-list and the uber rich.

So Demna Gvasalia created something of a stir when he sent a middle-aged male model down the Paris runway in scruffy trainers, a coat fastened with a tie and trailing a Vetements branded sleeping bag.

The ultra-cool fashion collective's Georgian design chief dressed his 'vagabond' in a raggy EU hoodie for an eccentric show that also featured plastic raincoats, extra-long belts and re-worked shell suits.

As has often been the case since the radical new label burst onto the scene in 2015, the message behind the latest Vetements collection is not entirely clear - but that doesn't hinder Gvasalia's ability to captivate the fashion elite.

The Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia sent a man in a coat fastened with a tie down the runway during couture week. The model carried a sleeping bag bearing the Vetements logo

The down-and-out look, given a post-Brexit twist, was one of a parade of Paris stereotypes that Gvasalia - tongue very much in cheek - sent down the escalators of the Pompidou Centre art gallery.

This was the 'City of Light' in all its grandeur and naffness.

Down the runway came the ferociously snooty fur-coated upper class matron, a black bouncer, and a German tourist in see-through rain mac and shorts with brown socks and trainers.

They were joined by the office worker in ill-matched suit and anorak as well as the Filipina nanny in her Sunday best knock-off Chanel suit.

Other unlikely ensembles on the Paris runway included these khaki shorts worn with a green sweatshirt and a plastic rain coat

Fashion's enfant terrible used older models for his couture show at the Pompidou Centre

A model draped in oversized clothes wears an enormous scarf emblazoned with emojis

Down the runway came the ferociously snooty fur-coated upper class matron, a black bouncer, and a German tourist in see-through rain mac and shorts with brown socks and trainers.

They were joined by the office worker in ill-matched suit and anorak as well as the Filipina nanny in her Sunday best knock-off Chanel suit.

Gvasalia, 35, appeared to be holding an ironic mirror up to his adopted home, the world's fashion capital, and to himself - selling the clothes of the poor to the rich.

Gvasalia drew on stereotypes including the nanny wearing knock-off Chanel for Sunday best

Gvasalia's eclectic show skewered stereotypes like the punk (left), and his take on the traditional bridal closing gown - Generation Z's answer to Miss Havisham (right)

Vetements status is rising in the fashion world despite the avant garde label's habit of ridiculing its conventions

Gvasalia has said he gets his inspiration from travelling through the poorest and most ethnically diverse parts of Paris on the metro

Gvasalia, who fled his then war-torn homeland as a child for Germany, said he gets his inspiration from riding the metro through one of the poorest and most ethnically diverse parts of Paris.

He also skewered the hipster 'Parisienne' in her trench and coat and scooter helmet gentrifying those neighbourhoods, contrasting her with working class 'Chav' twins in reworked shellsuits - playing on the age-old prejudices against the poor.

There were a few laugh out loud moments, like the ageing Johnny Hallyday-like Parisian cowboy with 'Vetements' stamped across the gusset of his jeans.

Or the German tourist's green sweatshirt emblazoned with the title of the schlager pop song 'I am so lucky to come from Osnabruck'.

An older male model sports an ultra-long trailing belt - fast becoming a Vetements theme

The 35-year-old designer appeared to be holding an ironic mirror up to his adopted home

Vetements, the uber-cool collective Gvasalia leads, has always flirted at the edge of taste

But there were also touching moments, the disoriented 'Granny' being elbowed out of the away on the catwalk by the other urban tribes, the 'Stoner', the 'Secretary', the 'Emo' and 'Miss Webcam'.

Haute couture week shows often traditionally finish with a wedding dress. And Gvasalia, ever the provocateur, could not resist the temptation.

His bride was a Generation Z version of 'Great Expectations' spinster Miss Havisham, a ball of white tulle who looked like she had just been jilted at the altar.

This 'Parisian cowboy' drew a laugh from the crowd gathered at the Pompidou Centre in Paris

Gvasalia has previously included Frankenstein suits and post-Soviet chic in his collections

Vetements, the uber cool collective Gvasalia leads, has always flirted at the edge of taste, with his Frankenstein suits and Stasi officer post-Soviet chic.

And purists find it hard to swallow that someone who often recuts and reworks existing clothes should be allowed into couture week.

Just to rub salt in the wound, Vetements called their collection ready-to-wear.

Details from the Vetements show during couture week at the Pompidou Centre in Paris

Was this cream tweed suit Gvasalia's interpretation of a knock-off Chanel?

A pair of statement boots on the runway in Paris as part of the Vetements S/S2017 show

But Gvasalia's every innovation - appropriating logos to trailing 'gorilla sleeves', and pushing Belgian fashion designer Raf Simons' oversized look to the limit - is followed avidly and more often than not copied.

The brand's rising status was confirmed when Korean K-pop rapper G-Dragon - who had earlier paid homage to Karl Lagerfeld at his Chanel show - rushed back to his hotel to change into a Vetements hoodie so he could pay tribute to Gvasalia.

The sense of a changing of the guard was palpable.
Meet the woman who says she bears such an uncanny resemblance to Meghan Markle she gets stopped in the street by Suits fans 'a few times a week'.

Poker player Melisa Singh, 35, says her similarities to Prince Harry's girlfriend have drawn comparisons to the star for years.

But the New York divorcee says the attention has been amplified since it emerged that the star was dating the royal late last year.

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Melisa Singh, 35, from New York, says she bears such an uncanny resemblance to Meghan Markle she gets stopped in the street by Suits fans 'a few times a week'

Spot the difference! Poker player Melisa, left, shares the same dark hair, flawless complexion and freckles and Prince Harry's girlfriend Miss Markle, right

Melisa is now hoping her uncanny resemblance to Prince Harry's latest squeeze will land her a career as a lookalike.

She said: 'People started comparing me to Meghan Markle a few years ago. But people have been remarking on my resemblance to her a little more after the news came out that she was Prince Harry's girlfriend.

'I've always taken the comparisons to Markle as a great compliment She's a talented and beautiful woman. I'd be happy to do lookalike work if the right opportunity presented itself as I'm a big fan of hers.'

Attention: New York divorcee Melisa says the attention has been amplified since it emerged that the Suits star was dating Prince Harry late last year

The poker player, left, is now hoping her uncanny resemblance to Prince Harry's latest squeeze Meghan, right, will land her a career as a lookalike

Melisa said: 'People started comparing me to Meghan Markle a few years ago. But people have been remarking on my resemblance to her a little more after the news came out'

Melisa added: 'It makes me feel great to see someone like Markle find love. Like her, I am divorced and 35 years old.

'If she can find love with one of the most eligible bachelors in the world, there must be hope for me yet!'

Melisa has been likened to Markle since the first season of US legal drama Suits and she even gets stopped in public by fans confusing her for the actress.

And when Melisa uploaded her photo on the Celebrity Lookalike website, she amazed admirers with her similarities to Markle.

New Yorker Melisa said: 'I've always taken the comparisons to Markle as a great compliment She's a talented and beautiful woman. I'd be happy to do lookalike work'

Melissa, right, says she is a 'big fan' of Meghan Markle, adding: 'It makes me feel great to see someone like Markle find love. Like her, I am divorced and 35 years old'

The New Yorker, right, has been likened to Markle since the first season of US legal drama Suits and she even gets stopped in public by fans confusing her for the actress

Melisa playing poker. When she recently uploaded her photo on the Celebrity Lookalike website, she amazed admirers with her similarities to Markle

Melisa said: 'I think it's the fact that we both have freckles, which is unusual for olive skin tones. And I'm also biracial like Markle. My mum is Caucasian and my dad is Indian'

Melisa explained: 'I think it's the fact that we both have freckles, which is unusual for olive skin tones. And I'm also biracial like Markle. My mum is Caucasian and my dad is Indian.

'People point out that the way I talk or smile resembles her - it's definitely flattering!

'I actually get compared to Markle a few times per week. Once I was at a charity event and a woman insisted I must be "the girl from Suits". It took me a while to convince the woman I wasn't actually her!'

Miss Markle recently returned from a trip to Delhi, India, for the charity World Vision Canada.

Prince Harry's love interest took part in high level meetings with various NGOs during the visit, including an audience with Shamina Shafiq, a former member of the National Commission for Women.
They're admired for their impeccable, quintessentially British style so it's little surprise that Ivanka Trump is taking sartorial tips from the Middleton sisters as she steps into the spotlight.

Indeed, Ivanka turned to one of Kate and Pippa's favourite handbag brands when attending the national prayer service at the at the Washington National Cathedral over the weekend - and it seems she has the midas touch after the Aspinal of London tote completely sold out.

The first daughter carried the 595 Large Pearl Bowling Bag in smooth burgundy as she joined her father, President Donald Trump, and family for the service, which is a post-inauguration tradition.

Ivanka Trump turned to one of Kate and Pippa's favourite handbag brands for the national prayer service in Washington, D.C., carrying a 595 tote by Aspinal of London

As a fashion designer herself, it is rare for Ivanka to carry a handbag brand other than her own, but her relationship with the British label is one that the brand say happened 'organically'.

It is also rare for such a major public US figure to plump for a relatively small British brand.

The luxury arm candy sold out instantly after Ivanka was spotted carrying it and has only today been restocked online to meet demand.

A description of the bag on the brand's website describes the tote as a 'modern take on vintage sophistication with a minimal aesthetic.'

The description adds: 'Handmade from the finest smooth burgundy Italian calf leather and exquisitely adorned with delicate pearl detailing, this versatile bowling style bag has a deceptively spacious interior and comes with an optional shoulder strap for hands-free carrying, making it perfectly poised for everyday style.'

Ivanka is in good company; the Middleton sisters are staunch fans of the brand. Kate owns several of the brand's clutches. Pippa, meanwhile, favours the 795 monochrome or 750 Deer Saffiano versions.

Style icons Olivia Palermo and Michelle Dockery have also designed their own collections for the company.

A description of the bag on the brand's website describes the tote as a 'modern take on vintage sophistication with a minimal aesthetic'

Pippa has been spotted countless times carrying Aspinal totes and Kate also owns a few bags by the brand

Kim Sears, the queen of courtside fashion, has also been spotted carrying the 1,395 Marylebone Tote in Ivory Saffiano and Mouse Python while at Wimbledon.

Other famous fans of the luxury British brand include Millie Mackintosh, who is often spotted with her Marylebone tote, as well as Amanda Holden, and Mollie King, who has a satchel named after her.

Aspinal of London was established 14 years ago by Iain Burton, a one-time record producer who worked with Simon Cowell.

Serial entrepreneur Iain Burton set up the company in 2001 with the idea of reviving the English leather industry by selling wallets, diaries and writing journals to museums and gallery gift shops.

Kim Sears, the queen of courtside fashion, has been spotted carrying several versions of totes by the brand, left. Millie Mackintosh is also a stanch fan of the label, right

After a period selling its products online, Aspinal moved into standalone stores.

Aspinal of London is headed up by Creative Director Mariya Dykalo, who works from the West Sussex Headquarters, deep in the heart of The National Park of West Sussex Downs.

The brand has 10 own stores in London, as well as concessions in Harrods and Selfridges, and is opening a new grand London flag ship store.

It is also expanding its stores into the Middle East and opening a number of stores in China this year, with New York expected to open at end of this year.
Chris Evans was left stumped over what his wife really wanted after she asked for a lift home from London.

Speaking on his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, the DJ revealed his wife Natasha Shishmanian was travelling to London today and had asked for the lift 'if he is still around when she finishes' but that otherwise she would 'take the train back again'.

The 50-year-old star was left second-guessing over whether she actually wanted him to wait for her regardless, fearing that 'what she was saying wasn't what she meant'.

He eventually decided it was best to 'do what he is told' and drive Natasha home. The couple are believed to live in Ascot, Berkshire.

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Stumped: Chris Evans was left second-guessing after his wife Natasha said she would like a lift home from London 'if he was still around'. Pictured, the couple in September last year

Evans spoke through the conundrum with traffic reporter Lynn Bowles, who he described as his 'go to gal' for relationship advice.

He said: 'My wife is coming into London today on the train... Last night she revealed to me - this is for the first time - over dinner, when I am at my weakest.

'She said: "I am coming into London tomorrow on the train. If you are still around when I finish, can I get a lift back with you? But if you are not still around, don't worry about it, I'll get the train home again".'

Before Bowles had a chance to answer Evans, who will celebrate his tenth wedding anniversary in August, said: 'That's not what that means, is it? That means "stick around until I am ready to be taken home", that's what that means.'

Bowles put it simply, saying: 'I think you'll find your her husband and you just do what she needs you to do. End of story. She needs you to be here to take her home.'

Put in his place: Evans eventually decided it was best to 'do what he is told' and drive Natasha home. The couple, pictured in 2010, are believed to live in a mansion in Ascot, Berkshire

The DJ clarified: 'So when she says: "If you've finished what you're doing and I'm not finished what I'm doing, it doesn't matter". It does matter, doesn't it? That's not what that means.'

Bowles then asked Evans to 'look at her face' before Evans replied: ' Okay, no I have got it. I just wanted to check! I just wanted to check that what she was saying wasn't what she meant, as usual.'

Once again putting Evans in his place, Lynn added: 'You like to give the men in your life the choice but they that really they have to do what they are told.'

This is not the first time Evans has offered insights into his marriage on air.

Open: Chris Evans offers insights into his marriage with Natasha, pictured in 2008, on air

In December last year he revealed Natasha, with whom he has two sons, had come home late from her school mums' Christmas night out and eaten all the leftover lasagna.

Addressing his wife on air he said: 'I don't mind you going out with the school mums, why should I, how could I, it is your right.

'I don't mind you getting in at 10 or 11 or 12 or 1 or even ten to two or what happened in between but don't eat the lasagne! Natasha, when I get home, I am going to sit you down and give you a good listening to.'

Natasha is Chris' third wife following his ill-fated unions with Loose Women's Carol McGiffin and pop star Billie Piper.
From public appearances to lavish dinners, Crown Princess Mary has proved there is no occasion in which she doesn't dazzle.

The Australian-born Danish Princess managed to squeeze in two busy events just hours apart, appearing first at a gala dinner for the President of Iceland, before making multiple appearances across Denmark the following day.

The Princess even stopped to enjoy a glass of champagne while visiting the Copenhagen Hospitality College.

As usual, Princess Mary appeared effortlessly stunning on Tuesday evening in a navy, off-the-shoulder gown, which she adorned with a tiara and exquisite drop earrings.

Then she pulled off a more casual, but equally stylish look on Wednesday in an Oscar de la Renta dress paired with burgundy pumps, gloves and clutch bag.

Princess Mary appeared effortlessly stunning on Tuesday evening in a navy, off-the-shoulder gown, which she adjourned with a tiara and exquisite drop earrings

Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik both stun during an elegant state dinner at the Christian VII Palace

The mother-of-four was one of many Danish royals appearing in honour of Iceland's President Gudni Johannesson and his wife Eliza Jean Reid on their three-day long state visit

Danish Crown Princess Mary and the Icelandic ambassador to Denmark Benedikt Jonsson speak at the gala dinner for the visiting President of Iceland

The mother-of-four was one of many Danish royals appearing in honour of Iceland's President Gudni Johannesson and his wife Eliza Jean Reid on their three-day long state visit.

The dinner, held by Queen Margrethe of Denmark, took place at the stunning Amalienbog Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Along with the Queen, Princess Mary's husband Crown Prince Frederik also made an appearance, as did Prince Henrik, Prince Joachim, Princess Marie and Princess Benedikte of Denmark.

Princess Mary enjoys a glass of champagne while visiting the Copenhagen Hospitality College

Princess Mary and the Iceland's President wife, Eliza Jean Reid didn't party too late into the night, up bright and early to visit the UN City and the Kindergarten Tante Olga in Copenhagen.

The UN City houses 11 United Nations agencies under one roof in the Nordhavn area.

And during their visit to the Kindergarten Tante Olga, educators and the children showed how they use the material developed by the Mary Foundation.

The Princess also enjoyed a glass of champagne during a visit to the Copenhagen Hospitality College.

Eliza Jean Reid and Crown Princess Mary Of Denmark manage to dazzle as they wrap up warmly while leaving the Kindergarten Tante Olga

Stepping out in style: Princess Mary and the Iceland's President wife, Eliza Jean Reid didn't party too late into the night, up bright and early to make a number of appearances

The mother-of-four pulled off a more casual, but equally stylish look on Wednesday in an Oscar de la Renta dress paired with burgundy pumps, gloves and clutch

Simple but sophisticated: Princess Mary keeps her look refined, with just a touch of sparkle from her earrings

Australia's Danish princess and Iceland's First Lady learn how material developed by the Mary Foundation is used during a visit to the Kindergarten Tante Olga
Resplendent in a cobalt blue dress, Queen Mathilde displayed her trim figure as she put in a glamorous appearance at a reception in Brussels.

The 43-year-old royal showcased her enviable physique in a figure-hugging dress as she joined King Philippe at a New Year reception for the European institutions at the palace on Wednesday.

Mathilde wore her fitted dress, which had on-trend voluminous sleeves, with brown stilettos and some dazzling pearl earrings.

A glamorous Queen Mathilde and King Philippe arrived to meet representatives of European Union institutions during a traditional New Year reception at the Royal Palace in Brussels

She offset the look with a matching brooch, blingy bracelet and clutch bag and wore her hair in its signature coiffed bob.

The monarch joined European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, and President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, at the event.

Earlier this month, Queen Mathilde joined other European royals at the World Economic Forums Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

The royal offset the look with a matching brooch, blingy bracelet and clutch bag and wore her hair in its signature coiffed bob

The 43-year-old royal showcased her enviable physique in a figure-hugging dress as she joined King Philippe

Queen Mathilde and King Philippe meet EU Budget and Human Resources Commissioner Gunther Oettinger

Mathilde wore her fitted dress, with some dazzling pearl earrings and a brooch

There, she joined Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, Princess Beatrice of York and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, along with 3,000 of the worlds elite to attend panel discussions surrounding the world's economy.

The theme this year was Responsive and Responsible Leadership.

The Belgian royal family were last pictured all together at a special Christmas concert held at the Brussels palace in late December.

However, no one dazzled more than the extremely glamorous Queen Mathilde as she was joined by her husband King Philippe and their children Prince Gabriel, Prince Emmanuel, Princess Eleonore and Crown Princess Elisabeth.

Belgium Queen Mathilde (L front) and King Philippe, joined (Back L-R) Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and President of the European Council, Donald Tusk

Queen Mathilde greets EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom at the reception

European Council President Donald Tusk and EU Parliament President Antonio Tajani certainly seemed impressed with Mathilde's glamorous appearance

All eyes were on the 43-year-old monarch who was in a head-to-toe gold outfit.

The queen of Belgium looked stunning in the brocade design which she paired with black stiletto heels and a pair of jewelled drop earrings.

She had her shorter bobbed hair swept to the side and added a touch of rose pink lipstick.

Queen Mathilde was all smiles as she walked into the Brussels palace to listen to the festive performance.

She shared a happy glance with her children who were seated beside her as they held on to their playbooks no doubt ready to sing along.
Quuen Maxima of the Netherlands opted for a businesslike ensemble as she opened a conference in Wiesbaden, Germany, today.

The Dutch royal, who normally favours bright colours and graphic prints, looked sharp in a collarless black jacket over a fitted dress at the G20 finance conference at the Biebrich Palace.

Maxima, 45, who is married to King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, looked to be in her element as she took to the stage to deliver an impassioned speech about financial inclusion to an audience of more than 180 people.

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Queen Maxima wore a collarless black jacket over a navy and taupe striped dress at the G20 conference at Biebrich Palace on Wednesday as she delivered the opening speech

The Dutch royal pted for businesslike attire as she opened the conference in Wiesbaden, Germany, but added a feminine touch with diamond hoop earrings and jewellery

She added a touch of glamour to her otherwise simple ensemble with a pair of diamond hoop earrings and oversized beaded bracelet.

Digitising finance, financial inclusion and financial literacy was the theme of the conference organised by the Deutsche Bundesbank and the Federal Ministry of Finance.

Mother-of-three Maxima, who is Special Advocate for the United Nations, spoke about how technology can be used to make banking and financial services more accessible to the disadvantaged.

Maxima, 45, who is married to King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, appeared to be in her element as she took to the stage to give a talk about financial inclusion

Maxima, who is Special Advocate for the United Nations, spoke about how technology can be used to make banking and financial services more accessible to the disadvantaged

She joined over 180 G20 delegates, academics, government experts and representatives of the private sector meet to discuss opportunities and risks of the digitalisation of the financial sector.

Following her speech, Maxima was seen giggling as she attempted to get to grips with an iPad alongside German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann.

Argentinian-born Maxima is halfway through a busy week of royal duties, with today marking her third engagement in three days.

Stylish royal: Maxima added a touch of glamour to her otherwise simple ensemble, with a pair of diamond hoop earrings and oversized beaded bracelet

How does this work again? Maxima was seen giggling as she attempted to get to grips with an iPad alongside German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, right

The royal appeared to have run into some technical difficulties as she attempted to get the iPad's translator function to work during the conference

Back to back: Argentinian-born Maxima is halfway through a busy week of royal duties, with today marking her third engagement in three days

On Tuesday she opened the National Education Exhibition in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and the previous evening she attended a glitzy gathering in The Hague.

She opted for a characteristically glamourous look for Monday's event, donning a ruched dress in navy blue, upping the elegance factor in a matching navy coat with a furry trim around the shoulders.

Maxima wore it fashionably draped around her shoulders, and teamed the ensemble with a pair of blue heels and a clutch in a matching shade.

The conference, organised by the Deutsche Bundesbank and the Federal Ministry of Finance, focused on digitising finance, financial inclusion and financial literacy

The royal was sat next to Dutch Klaas Knot, President of the Nederlands Bank, left, and Jens Weidmann, President of the German Bundesbank, right, during the conference

Maxima joined over 180 G20 delegates, academics, experts and representatives of the private sector meet to discuss opportunities and risks of the digitalisation of the financial sector

The royal speaks to guests including German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble (seated) following her opening speech at the conference at Biebrich Palace on Wednesday

Inside the royal gave a speech to the audience at the NL Groeit event, which provides events, talks and training to connect people with mentors that can help them succeed in business.

Maxima, who is mother to Princesses Catharina-Amalia, 13, Alexia, 11 and Ariane, nine was born in Argentina and married into the Dutch royal family in 2002, after meeting her husband-to-be in Seville in 1999.

Despite apparently having no idea that Willem-Alexander was heir to the throne when the pair first met, she eventually became Queen consort when her husband was crowned in April 2013.
A mother who shared a video on Facebook of herself giving her young baby physiotherapy for cystic fibrosis has revealed her shock at 'child-beating' comments left by online trolls.

Sam Carrier, 29, a mother-of-two from Birmingham, posted a video of herself administering gentle pats to her daughter Daisy's chest - in a bid to raise awareness about living with the disease and to campaign for a drug that is currently unavailable on the NHS.

However, some of those viewing the footage misunderstood the physical actions, carried out under doctor's advice, and accused Carrier of hurting her child.

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Sam Carrier, 29, and 15-week-old Daisy, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis via a heel prick test in the first weeks of her life. Carrier and her partner Rob Evans, 27, posted the video to show how the family deal with the thrice-daily physiotherapy that Daisy needs

A sleepy Daisy stretches out as her mother firmly pats her chest. Right: the dozing youngster appears untroubled by the physical force

Carrier revealed that she had received some negative comments after posting the video

Carrier explained alongside the post that the force used on her young baby is to try to 'prevent lung damage'.

She decided, along with Daisy's father Rob Evans, 27, to show friends and family exactly what the family go through three times a day via the footage of one of the sessions.

She wrote: 'The point of this video is just a little insight into what physiotherapy is for a baby with cystic fibrosis. The treatment lasts 25 minutes and is 3 times a day.

She continued: 'Generally she just falls asleep. Or she lies there smiling at me. It makes them feel better. Its like when we have an irritating cough and we finally get it off our chest, how much better we feel. This is what it does for them.

However, a minority of those watching the video left negative comments on the post. Indeed, one troll even made a death threat to the family.

Kailey Davison penned: 'Omg stop' while Sophiee Hailess wrote: 'You'll break her ribs.' Kelsey Hindley followed up with: 'What are you doing?'

The couple have another daughter, Grace, 2, and hope that they can help to fundraise research for new treatments

Hello cutie! Daisy's condition is life-limiting and life long and her parents are hoping to raise awareness to support more research into the condition

Carrier, who's given up her role as a Assistant Manager to care for her daughter, says she hopes a vital drug, Orkambi, will become available on the NHS

Physiotherapy has been proven to help those suffering from cystic fibrosis

Support: There was an overwhelmingly positive response to the video

There was also a wave of support for the family, with plenty praising Carrier for offering insight into the condition.

Carrier told MailOnline: 'I posted this video on Christmas Eve to show our family and friends at the time who followed Daisy what exactly physiotherapy meant for a baby with cystic fibrosis.'

She explained that people had 'no idea' what it meant to perform physio and admitted that she'd never heard of the condition herself until her daughter was diagnosed via a heel prick test.

'So I've been on a mission raising awareness, fundraising and campaigning in parliament for Orkambi, a drug for cystic fibrosis that is being denied on the NHS.

She told followers who'd offered kind words: 'Unfortunately it doesn't get better for us. Cystic Fibrosis is life-long and a life-limiting disease. But we are fundraising the research to hopefully get new treatments and one day a cure.'

She added to MailOnline: 'I hope Daisy one day says: "wow, look at everything my mummy did for me". I hope she knows I love her so much and I've done my very best to raise awareness to help.'
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A farmyard hoedown might not be the most obvious source of fashion inspiration.

But designer Jean Paul Gaultier appeared to draw heavily on country bumpkin chic for his Haute Couture Spring Summer 2017 collection, which was showcased in Paris today.

The French creative powerhouse sent disheveled models down the catwalk in gold mini dresses finished with tufts of straw while others floated past the front row draped in gowns printed with fields of wild flowers.

Farmyard fashion: A barefoot model walked the runway in a straw-inspired mini dress, left, while another wore a straw hat

Wheely bizarre! Canadian model Coco Rocha looked elegant even as she was pushed past the front row in a wheelbarrow

Perfectly prairie: Coco held hands with a male model dressed in oversized denim overalls as they skipped down the catwalk

Disheveled: Other models sported less obvious nods to the trend - like this beauty who wore straw in her undone braid

Flower power: Fields of sunflowers, left, and poppies, right, provided the natural prints for other gowns seen in the show

Undone: Wheat is tucked into the braids of another model as she showcases on of Gaultier's more modern designs

While some of the models showed off more futuristic designs, many still had rural touches - be it a cropped denim jacket, high-end straw hat or a pair of undone braids.

Canadian model Coco Rocha looked angelic as she dropped on to the runway on a rope swing.

She was met by a male model dressed in oversized denim overalls, who pushed her down the catwalk in a rustic wheelbarrow.

When the pair stopped, Coco climbed out and delighted the front row by twirling gracefully, her feet delicately pointed.

The pair then shared a sweet handshake and skipped hand in hand down the catwalk.

Showstopper: French model Cindy Bruna also made a statement on the catwalk, showcasing her enviable figure

Accessory of the season: From silk scarves, left, to straw hats, right, a number of models sported outrageous headdresses

Rustic charm: A woven straw hat brought a touch of the country to this deep indigo dress with ruffle sleeves

Culture clash: Floral prints meet Eighties glamour in two of the looks from Jean Paul Gaultier's show that were debuted today

French model Cindy Bruna also made a statement on the catwalk, showcasing her enviable figure in a cut out black gown and gold accessories.

Another stand out feature of the show was the dazzling array of headdresses on show.

From silk scarves to straw hats, almost every model had her look finished with a piece.

Dramatic: Canadian model Coco Rocha looked angelic as she was lowered on to the catwalk on this large rope swing
What happens when you lose the person you love, though they continue to live? How do you manage that grief alongside the responsibility of caring for someone who needs you more than ever?

Six years ago I was catapulted overnight into this cruel scenario when my mum had a devastating stroke.

I had given birth to my third baby just days before, and my glamorous mum  who was very much still mothering me  was helping to care for my other two young children. I spoke to her at teatime on the phone. I was bringing my baby home from hospital the following morning and she told me she loved me, like she had done most days of my life.

Last moments: Alana Kirk with her mother and baby Ruby

It was the last time she would ever say that, or even my name. Two hours later, her brain bled away the life she had known, and she was rendered immediately, and permanently, paralysed and brain-damaged.

For the next five and a half years I cared for my mother. But I lost my mum that night. Ill never forget walking into her bedroom soon afterwards  a bedroom she would never see again as she would lie downstairs on a pressurised bed in the converted dining room.

By her bedside was a novel, the bookmark showing it was only half read. Her make-up was sprawled across her dressing table, and clothes she had left out to wear for lunch with a friend the next day were hanging up.

I looked at that book she would never finish, make-up she would never clear up and clothes she would never wear, and the immediacy of that loss was shocking.

Although my mother was still alive, mum was gone. The woman who had smothered me in love all my life, who was always by my side or on the end of a phone, was no longer able to support me.

The searing loss I felt was extraordinary, and yet it was hard to admit to, let alone talk about, because nobody had actually died.

Suddenly finding yourself grieving for the living can come about when someone suffers a traumatic brain injury like my mums stroke, or due to disorders such as dementia, which cause unpredictable or complete memory loss.

It can also happen with long terminal illnesses such as cancer, where your loved one is reduced to a shadow of themselves before your very eyes.

Six years ago Alana (left)was catapulted overnight into a cruel scenario when her mum (right) had a devastating stroke. She had given birth to her third baby just days before, and her mum was helping to care for her other two young children

It can be instant  as in my mums case  or be a long agonising drift as a mother or father, husband or wife, brother or sister, slowly changes.

While most people associate grief with the death of a loved one and can seek, or offer, the appropriate support, this sudden loss of a relationship can also trigger a very real and intense mourning which can be just as devastating.

Missing my mum while still caring for her was extremely difficult.

When a loved one dies, people rally round. But when a loved one is ill, the sense of loss is often not acknowledged, explains Caroline Scates of Dementia UK.

Carers are often living with crippling emotions such as guilt, anger and sadness, and yet it is not recognised. Roles and relationships change when someone is seriously ill, and you are grieving for the person they were  families and carers really struggle with that.

DUAL CARERS One in four people in their 40s and 50s are caring for their parents while also trying to bring up their children Advertisement

You dont love that person any less, but you do have to learn to live with the new relationship while mourning what you have lost.

Maureen Winfield is a glamorous 78year-old from Huddersfield who grieves daily for a man who still lives.

Ive lost my best friend and my husband, she says of Michael, to whom she has been married for more than 56 years.

People dont understand that I am grieving for our relationship. All I see is a shell there. Most of the time he just looks blank, though when I get a smile, it absolutely makes my day.

The Winfields had a strong marriage and did everything together as a couple, but Mike no longer recognises Maureen as his wife.

I think he is looking for the younger me. He knows Im someone that he knows, she tells me, her voice breaking. My face is familiar and there is an emotional connection. But he would say: Shes not my wife, and he felt he was having a wrong relationship and was living with the guilt.

The dark cloud that engulfed their marriage started to form five years ago when Mike became forgetful.

It was like living on a knife edge all the time, says Maureen.

Although my mother was still alive, mum was gone.

The eventual diagnosis  Alzheimers and vascular dementia  was in some ways a relief, but also, for Maureen, spelt the end of her marriage as shed known it.

It took a while, but I had to realise he was not coming back to me as my husband or my friend. He is still here, and I cant let go of him, but my relationship has gone. After caring for Michael at home for as long as she could, the agonising decision was made last June to move him into a home.

It was heartbreaking to leave him there, she says. The guilt was terrible. I made my marriage vows to him and I feel like Im letting him down.

She has to take two buses to get visit him there, five days a week.

I never come away without guilt, and have very much mixed feelings when I leave, she says. If I get a smile or some acknowledgement from him, then that for me is a good visit. The difficult ones are when there is little or no positive response or he just looks completely dejected.

As I discovered when my mum had her stroke, the sudden change this can bring to a relationship can be really debilitating.

It can be instant  as in Alana's mums case  or be a long agonising drift as a mother or father, husband or wife, brother or sister, slowly changes

Naturally, caring for her became a priority over most things, including at times my own young family. But I felt so angered by the situation. What I wanted, what I ached for, was the support, the humour, the comfort and the wisdom of the very woman I was helping to look after.

For many going through this ambiguous grief, there can be feelings of loss of your own independence, loss of control and of a lost future. For partners, there might also be loss of financial security, loss of freedom, sleep and family harmony.

I needed the support of my mum, but had to manage her care along with all the other demands on my time.

I constantly felt pulled by guilt, anger, grief and frustration. It took me a long time to realise that amid child-care and parent-care, I needed to also focus on self-care.

The dark cloud that engulfed their marriage started to form five years ago when Mike became forgetful

To get through this tumult of emotions, you have to build a new relationship with your loved one.

Maureen went on a course run by Dementia UK where she was given skills to cope.

At first I cut myself off and didnt want people to know about Michaels condition, she admits.

But going on the course gave me confidence when I met other carers like me.

One of the most important things I learned is to have access to others who are going through the same experience, says Maureen, who has two daughters to whom she is close, but says friends in a similar boat often offer the most comfort.

Maureen Winfield is a glamorous 78year-old from Huddersfield who grieves daily for a man who still lives. Ive lost my best friend and my husband, she says of Michael, to whom she has been married for more than 56 years

Sarah Clayton, 51, reflects on the other dark thoughts that cloud your mind when you are grieving the loss of someone still living.

She cared for her mother for nine years after she was diagnosed with Alzheimers, having already watched her father waste away from lung cancer

With both of them, there was a time when I knew there was no longer any quality of life for them, and I began to long for them to be free from the misery of their illness, she confides.

Its such a difficult time wishing your loved ones lives away. You desperately miss the people they once were, you are fearful of what is to come, but you just want their suffering to end.

My mother died three years ago and it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from me. I feel lighter emotionally, but do miss my parents and think about them most days.

I know with my own mum, I often wished it was over for her, even though I was simultaneously devastated at the thought of losing her.

This issue is explored beautifully in the recent book and movie A Monster Calls, where a young boy whose mother is dying of breast cancer struggles with the torment of wanting the whole scenario to be over, while dreading the final loss of someone he loves so much.

To get through this tumult of emotions, you have to build a new relationship with your loved one. Maureen went on a course run by Dementia UK where she was given skills to cope

With my mums stroke, with dementia, with long terminal illnesses, there is always a terrible conflict of emotions and grief.

Grieving for the relationship that has gone or changed is a very sad and difficult situation, explains Kathryn Smith, operations director of the Alzheimers Society.

Your parent or partner are not behaving in the way they used to, and people can feel grief and feelings relating to loss.

Gemma Little, 33, from Northumberland was only 11 when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimers.

For more than a decade she became her mothers carer, and lost the loving support that her mother should have provided as she was growing up. My dad had to do all those things I really needed my mum for, like puberty talks and girl stuff. The person I loved and often needed slowly disappeared and you become their carer, leaving you grieving for the person they were.

People definitely didnt recognise what we were going through as grief

People definitely didnt recognise what we were going through as grief, she adds, tellingly.

It was hard at home, but it was hard at school as well because I got bullied. People used to say that my mum was mad because they would see her walking the dog and she would shout random things that she didnt mean and didnt understand.

Sadly, Gemmas mum died at the age of 64, just before Gemmas 23rd birthday.

I thought it was a relief for her because it meant she wasnt suffering any more, says Gemma.

Its odd as well. You grieve as you go along because you are losing her as the dementia develops. I thought I was OK when she died, but then about a year afterwards I had a breakdown. I think youre trying to be strong for everyone when it is happening, and all of a sudden what youve been through just hits you.

Gemma Little, 33, from Northumberland was only 11 when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimers. For more than a decade she became her mothers carer, and lost the loving support that her mother should have provided as she was growing up

So for those struggling with an often ambiguous, silent grief, what can they do?

As I discovered, it is really important to acknowledge your loss, identify your feelings and let yourself mourn the changes that have happened in your life.

It took nearly two years of debilitating grief before I realised I had to let go of the relationship with my mum that I so craved and come to terms with the new one.

It was summer and I had woken early so I went out for a run. As I crossed the beautifully deserted beach near my home, I was sobbing.

I realised I couldnt continue to live life crippled by the grief of missing mum. It was stopping me enjoying every aspect of my life.

It was then I made the decision to let go of the relationship I was mourning for and to try to embrace the one we now had.

I miss her every day, but my grief began a long time ago

Later that day, I visited my mum and kissed her gently on the forehead. I left the house and walked around the park where we had taken endless walks together over the years before the stroke. Then I sat on our bench and looked to the skies and whispered a loving, tearful farewell.

It was agony. But when I returned, I kissed my mum again, knowing now I could carry on with the love and care she needed.

I never stopped missing her, but acknowledging things had changed for good helped me carry on.

Do not lock it up, advises Kathryn Smith. Recognising and not being ashamed of that grief is important, as is making time for yourself each day.

It is not just grief for a relationship, but your own loss and the life you once had, so its important to consider your own needs.

It is also important to focus on positive things you and the person you are caring for can still do together.

Gemma fundraises for Alzheimers UK and, as a nurse, often looks after dementia patients and can advise their family. Acknowledge that this grief is very real then try to enjoy as much time as you can with your loved one, she says

Dementia UKs Admiral nurses can support families through that adjustment. They helped Maureen deal with Michaels condition and to focus on care for herself.

I became aware of the Admiral nurses and attended one of their courses, learning so much about the condition, says Maureen. She bonded with others who understood her hidden grief. I set up a private support line on Facebook and we still talk. Every day we pour out our feelings and exchange our personal advice.

Maureen still visits Michael most days and mourns the loss of her relationship with her husband. But she also acknowledges the need to care for herself.

I learnt simple things like making a promise to do something for me. At the age of 78 I went to get my nails done for the first time in my life. I learned I am important, too.

Gemma fundraises for Alzheimers UK and, as a nurse, often looks after dementia patients and can advise their family.

Acknowledge that this grief is very real then try to enjoy as much time as you can with your loved one, she says.

A year ago, my mum passed away in my arms, with my dad and brother holding her hands, almost six years after her stroke.

I miss her every day, but my grief began a long time ago, when I realised she would never again tell me she loved me.

Alana Kirk is author of The Sandwich Years (8.99, Hachette).

Dementia UK helpline, 0800 888 6678; Alzheimers UK helpline, 0300 222 1122.
As their eyes locked, Gillian Assor felt a thunderbolt strike her very core. Irresistibly drawn to the stranger, she couldnt help but smile.

To her delight, the stranger smiled back, and they struck up a conversation.

And 22 years on, the pair have shared every heartbreak, every joy together.

As their eyes locked, Gillian Assor (right) felt a thunderbolt strike her very core. Irresistibly drawn to the stranger, she couldnt help but smile. To her delight, the stranger smiled back, and they struck up a conversation.

You might imagine this was the moment Cupids arrow struck, but Gillian had met her husband David three years before. No, the good-looking stranger was the woman she calls her best friend, Emma Cohen.

For rather than love at first sight, Gillian had been struck by friendship at first sight, a feeling of meant-to-be togetherness scientists are claiming is as real as the romantic spark that can occur when couples meet and hit it off.

Its not sexual, but the feelings it promotes can be just as powerful.

When Gillian began talking to Emma at a mutual friends wedding in 1994, she felt an inexplicable connection  a sensation shed had only once before, when she met David. This, scientists say, is friendship chemistry, which more than 60 per cent of us have experienced.

You might imagine this was the moment Cupids arrow struck, but Gillian (right) had met her husband David three years before. No, the good-looking stranger was the woman she calls her best friend, Emma Cohen (left)

For Gillian, 46, from Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, it was an unforgettable experience. She says she instantly felt as if shed known Emma all her life.

The pair were glued in conversation for the entire wedding, and in the decades since have shared a deep friendship Gillian can only describe as like sisters.

There was this deep-seated feeling she was going to be a very good friend, says Gillian, a mother of three who runs the Nanny To The Rescue agency.

I dont know if it was her open face and warm smile or just how easy it was to talk to her, but the next 20 years or so of friendship were sealed in that moment.

Her friend agrees. We laughed so much at that wedding and just clicked, says Emma, 46, a nursery administrator and mother of four boys, also from Borehamwood.

They speak an astonishing four or five times every day, thrashing out lifes big issues or just asking if they can please nip round and borrow an onion.

They speak an astonishing four or five times every day, thrashing out lifes big issues or just asking if they can please nip round and borrow an onion

Gillian is the only person Ill phone past 11pm at night, says Emma. No time, no subject, is out of bounds with her.

While it all sounds wonderfully supportive, experts say such intense connections can bring complications, not least that partners can feel excluded.

There can be a co-dependency in these types of friendships that can preclude the need for a romantic partner, says social anthropologist Jean Smith.

If you have a wonderful friend with whom you can share great times and conversation, why do you need a man?

But while Emma has recently divorced, she insists her friendship with Gillian never took precedence over her husband.

However, its true I could tell Gillian things I couldnt tell anyone else. I think my new partner took a while to get used to the fact I told her everything.

Today, best friends Ruth Sparkes and Nikki Baron live 190 miles away from each other, yet are as close as the moment their eyes met across a photocopier in 1995

Emma and Gillian live just a few minutes from each other, and Jean Smith believes its this proximity and repeated exposure that makes a bond last.

You can have instant friendship chemistry, but you need to have things in common with that person and see them often and in settings that encourage you to let down your guard, she says.

Today, best friends Ruth Sparkes and Nikki Baron live 190 miles away from each other, yet are as close as the moment their eyes met across a photocopier in 1995.

Nikki had the shiniest red hair Id ever seen and looked so cool, says Ruth, 47, a marketing director from Andover in Hampshire. We worked at the same newspaper in Cornwall, selling advertising.

But Nikki worked with bigger clients than I did, and I was in awe of her. I said something silly and she found it hilarious.

The seeds of the friendship flourished when both discovered they were about to go on a weekly management course and Ruth offered Nikki a lift

The seeds of the friendship flourished when both discovered they were about to go on a weekly management course and Ruth offered Nikki a lift.

Every Wednesday Id look forward to those journeys because we both had high- pressure jobs. It was an escape to talk and laugh, says Ruth.

Nikki, 45, who is an advertising manager and married mother of one from Truro, was also struck by the chemistry of that first meeting.

Its weird to think how two complete strangers suddenly connected over a photocopier, but thats how it was, she says.

We both love having fun and an adventure  weve even gone on impulsive day trips to France and Milan  but were there for the serious stuff, too, such as when a relationship ended and Ruth asked me join her and her husband Simon on a villa holiday in France.

As well as that initial spark, making intense, long-lasting friendships has a lot to do with timing, says Robin Dunbar, professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford

Ruth moved to Andover in 2009 and the pair see each other much less frequently.

We can go for a long time not talking, but I know Nikki is there if I need her, says Ruth.

As well as that initial spark, making intense, long-lasting friendships has a lot to do with timing, says Robin Dunbar, professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford.

University or secondary schools are a hotbed for developing those intimate friendships that have the feel of a romantic relationship, but without the sex side, he says.

This is because these are very emotional, intense times when you do a lot of dancing, weeping, singing  all the mechanisms that bind friendships.

Caroline Bacall and Andrea Kahn's telepathic friendship was present from when they met in 1989, while at university in Manchester

The downside is that if things go wrong then it can feel just like splitting from a lover.

Jean Smith says: If the friendship does come to an end, you will suffer intense feelings of heartbreak similar to when youve broken up with a romantic partner.

Thats certainly not the case with Caroline Bacall and Andrea Kahn, always known as Andy, whose telepathic friendship was present from when they met in 1989, while at university in Manchester.

DEAR OLD PALS Up to 55 per cent of British people have had the same best friend for ten years or more, a survey has found Advertisement

It was a very wet day and I had just flown back from Dublin, my home town, to start my second year at university, says Caroline, 45, a bilingual virtual assistant.

I got into a taxi, but the driver was clueless about how to get to where my house-share was. Eventually he just chucked me out in the street.

I just burst into tears and sat on one of my cases in the pouring rain. Then I heard this voice in a strong North London accent asking me if I was OK. It was Andy.

She helped me drag my bags to my house and as soon as I looked at her, it was as if wed known each other in a previous life! We felt instantly at ease.

The pair met when Caroline got kicked out of a taxi and Andy asked if she was OK in her strong north London accent - and they felt instantly at ease

Andy, 45, a teacher, from North- West London, says: I saw her face and her anguish and had so much empathy for her and wanted to make things better.

We had this sort of telepathic friendship from that moment that continues.

Both say their husbands dont feel threatened by their friendship  though, admits Caroline, when we get together, they dont get much of a look in.

And yes, there are some things I tell Andy that I dont feel comfortable talking about with other friends, she says.

She wont judge me, but will tell me straight how things are. She is the only person, other than family, who has seen me at my worst.

Both say their husbands dont feel threatened by their friendship  though, admits Caroline, when we get together, they dont get much of a look in

And that, says Robin Dunbar, is the point.

In our lifetime, we have a category of best-best friends. These are an inner core of five people to whom you can unburden your soul at all times of emotional need, he says.

These friends are like family and the chemistry between you is often ground into your friendship from day one.

Or, as these women would insist, from the first second the lightning bolt of friendship strikes.
If you were to choose the country that produces the best chocolate, it's fair to say that the United States would be far from the top of that pile.

American chocolate tastes distinctively different from the kind made in Belgium, Switzerland or the UK - and most of the time, British people agree that the taste is inferior.

But why does it taste so terrible? The secret lies with a chemical that is also found in parmesan cheese, rancid butter - and vomit.

Some experts believe American chocolate such as Hershey's contains a chemical that's also found in vomit

American chocolate is renowned for its slightly sour or tangy taste.

And some experts believe that's because some companies such as Hershey's puts its milk through a process called controlled lipolysis.

This breaks down the fatty acids in the milk and produces butyric acid - the chemical that gives vomit its very distinctive smell and acrid taste.

Hershey's has never said if its chocolate contains the acid or if it uses the process - but chocolatiers say the taste of the chocolate points to controlled lipolysis being used.

It's said that other US chocolate manufacturers simply add the acid to their products to recreate Hershey's distinctive taste.

Hershey's overhauled its ingredients in 2015 to reduce the amounts of genetically modified ingredients in its recipes but some believe that butyric acid is still present

In 2015, Hershey's overhauled its recipe to reduce the amount of genetically modified ingredients in its chocolate - another reason why so many people think American chocolate tastes worse than its European cousins.

Some people say the presence of the emulsifier PGPR also carries with it the taste and smell of vomit.

But Hershey's say there is less than 1 per cent of PGPR in its milk chocolate, and it upped the levels of cocoa butter in 2015.

Another key difference between American and British chocolate is in the quantities of sugar, milk and cocoa solids.

American chocolate is far sweeter than chocolate in Britain, with sugar being the main ingredient.

Meanwhile, milk is often the main ingredient in British milk chocolate.

American chocolate also often contains far fewer cocoa solids than British chocolate. In Britain, a chocolate bar must contain at least 20 per cent cocoa solids to qualify as chocolate.

But in the US, that figure can be as low as 10 per cent.

MailOnline has asked Hershey's for comment.
It has long been claimed that women are better at multi-tasking than men.

While some women relish the accolade, others suspect some males use it as an excuse for avoiding work.

Now scientists have found strong proof that men are inferior at juggling two activities - at least compared to women under 60.

Scientists have found strong proof that, compared to women, men are inferior at multi-tasking

Men asked to carry out complex thinking while walking on a treadmill without handrails were found to stop swinging their right arm while they walk.

But women under 60  described as pre-menopausal  were surprisingly not affected with both arms swung freely as before.

Tim Kileen at the Spinal Cord Injury Center, at University Hospital Balgrist, in Zurich and colleagues carried out an experiment on 83 healthy subjects aged 18-80.

They were asked to carry out a task called a Stroop test while walking on the treadmill. This involves the names of different colours flashing on a video screen.

The viewer then has to name the colour.

But the task is complicated as the name for the colour being spelled in a colour font that clashes with the text. So for example, the word red might be written in a blue font.

The test is known to make greater demands on the left side of the brain.

As this side of the brain controls the right side of the body, the researchers were interested to see what effect it would have on the swinging of arms while walking.

The authors, writing in the Royal Society journal said: Women under 60 are surprisingly resistant to this effect, revealing unexpected gender differences.

They suggest that sex hormones that are higher in women than men might underlie this female ability to multitask. The authors say that the effect of oestrogen on the brain enhances cognitive control and inhibits inappropriate responses.

Scientists say that the effect of oestrogen on the brain enhances cognitive control in women and inhibits inappropriate responses

The authors said that arm swing may marginally increase the efficiency of gait but is not necessary for walking.

One drawback was that the study only included four left handers, although two of these had been brought up as right handers. Arm swing was measured by using video footage of the participants, and tracking how much parts of their arm moved in different test conditions.

While it is widely believed women are better at multi-tasking than men and this is often explained that women have evolved this skill out of their greater involvement in child care, evidence for female superiority has so far been mixed.

Some theorists claim during humanitys hunterer-gatherer phase, natural selection favoured men developing more focused, hunting-related skills, while women, gathering food and looking after children, were under greater pressure to juggle tasks.

The phenomenon where the right arm is still while the left arm swings has been observed in Russian politicians and dignitaries including Vladimir Putin. It had previously been thought this was to do with KGB weapons training  and the importance of keeping ones right arm ready to draw a pistol.

A lighthearted article in the British Medical Journal in its Christmas 2015 issue dubbed this the gunslingers gait.

Is is often explained that women are better than men at multi-tasking because they have evolved this skill out of their greater involvement in child care

But the latest research leads Dr Killeen and colleagues to suggest that it is a more widespread effect seen in male politicians  but not women.

For example, old video footage of Ronald Reagan shows his right arm still as he walks, while both of Margaret Thatchers arms swing.

And footage of German chancellor Angela Merkel show both her arms swinging while she walks, while the prime minister of Portugal, Antonio Costas right arm is still.

In a letter to the British Medical Journal, Dr Killeen writes that it is unlikely Ronald Reagan had much weapons training.

He writes: In keeping with our findings that females are resistant to this effect until old age, netiher Mrs Merkel nor Mrs Thatcher exhibit any appreciable degree of asymmetry in the videos.

Dr Killeen and colleagues suggests the still right arm could be dubbed the orators gait.
A premature baby whose feet were the size of a penny and was born two days after the abortion time-limit was saved by doctors.

Victoria Bradley, 37, was told that her daughter would likely die after she weighed just 1lbs 6oz when she was born in April.

But had Francesca Bradley-Curran, who struggled to take her first breath, been born 48 hours earlier, she wouldn't have been assisted by doctors.

Under current UK law, infants delivered before the abortion limit aren't deemed 'viable' due to their known low survival rates.

Although survival rates are still low for those born prematurely after the termination cut-off as their bodies are often underdeveloped.

However, nine months on, the 'miracle' girl has battled meningitis, sepsis and two collapsed lungs to defy all expectations.

Victoria Bradley, 37, was told that her daughter, Francesca Bradley-Curran, would likely die after she weighed just 1lbs 6oz when she was born in April - just two days after the 24 week abortion cut-off limit

Ms Bradley, from Liverpool, was even given keepsakes of her daughter's tiny footprints as they didn't expect her to survive.

But now Francesca is thriving after her discharge from hospital just 17 weeks after being admitted. Ms Bradley said: 'It's just great to finally have her home.

'I didn't think she would be here. It's scary to think if she had been just two days earlier they wouldn't have worked to save her.'

Nurses allowed Ms Bradley to see her daughter for just three-and-a-half hours after she was born before keeping her isolated in intensive care.

She added: 'I thought she still looked like a foetus. Her skin was see-through, and she didn't have eyelashes or eyebrows. Her eyes weren't open yet.

'She was just tiny, and so poorly. We were told it was hour by hour with her, and they didn't think she would survive. Her blood was full of infections.

But nine months on, doctors say she is a 'miracle' after she battled meningitis, sepsis and two collapsed lungs while in hospital

Nurses even provided keepsakes of her tiny footprints as they didn't expect her to survive following her delivery just two days after the 24 week cut-off

Currently abortions in the UK are carried out before the 24th week of pregnancy as after this the foetus is deemed human.

However, under certain circumstances they can still be carried out after this period if there is a risk to either the mother or baby.

This timing matches up with the other guidance in terms of a baby's viability after they are born.

ABORTION TIME LIMIT Most abortions in England, Wales and Scotland are carried out before 24 weeks of pregnancy. They can be carried out after 24 weeks in certain circumstances  for example, if the mother's life is at risk or the child would be born with a severe disability. But last year, the Royal College of Midwives argued for women to be allowed to abort at any point without facing criminal sanctions. But critics fear such a radical change in the law will lead to terminations for the wrong reasons, including being the 'wrong' sex. The campaign came after a 24-year-old woman was jailed for deliberately inducing a miscarriage when she was eight months pregnant. Advertisement

For those born before 24 weeks, hospitals aren't obliged to intervene and revive as they aren't deemed 'viable'.

But research conducted in 2006 suggested that just 19 per cent of babies born at 23 weeks survived, leading many to argue the limit should be lowered.

Ms Bradley was initially told that she would never have children due to problems with her ovaries.

But she and her partner, Paul Curran, 46, were shocked to discover that she was pregnant.

However, after experiencing back and stomach pains after 24 weeks - the cut-off for women to have an abortion without medical reasons - she was taken into Liverpool Women's Hospital on April 22.

Doctors told her she was in labour the next morning - two days past the limit, and shortly after she gave birth naturally.

She was later told that if Francesca had been born before the cut-off then her chances of survival would have been even less as doctors would not have tried to save her.

Placed on a life support machine straight away, a team of 15 doctors and nurses battled to keep her alive.

It took 11 minutes for her to take her first breath, with Ms Bradley saying not knowing if she would survive was 'torture'.

Ms Bradley said: 'I thought she still looked like a foetus. Her skin was see-through, and she didn't have eyelashes or eyebrows. Her eyes weren't open yet'

She underwent 15 blood transfusions and laser eye surgery - to prevent her going blind after a scan picked up a rare condition - while in hospital.

But in the first few weeks of her life, she also had to ward off meningitis, sepsis, two cases of collapsed lungs and kidney problems.

Ms Bradley added: 'She just kept getting stronger each day, then something else would happen.'

After eight weeks she had managed to come off her incubator - baffling doctors as to how she survived.

It's scary to think if she had been just two days earlier they wouldn't have worked to save her Victoria Bradley, 37

Eventually she was discharged after 17 weeks and is considered by all to be a miracle.

And now doctors say she is completely free of life supporting medications, wires and oxygen.

Ms Bradley now has a tattoo of Francesca's penny-sized footprints on her wrist to symbolise her daughter's battle.

Last year, the Royal College of Midwives argued for women in the UK to be allowed an abortion at any point during pregnancy.

But critics feared that such a radical change in the law would lead to terminations for all the 'wrong reasons'.

Its campaign came after a 24-year-old was jailed for deliberately inducing a miscarriage when she was eight months pregnant.

Ms Bradley was initially told that she would never have children due to problems with her ovaries. But she and her partner, Paul Curran, 46, (pictured together with Francesca) were shocked to discover that she was pregnant
A mother was able to hear her eyes moving and blood pumping around her body as a result of a bizarre condition.

Philippa Thomson, 59, from North Berwick, Scotland, suffered from superior canal dehiscence syndrome for more than 10 years.

She claims she was even able to hear some body parts moving, including her neck whenever she turned it - 'like a horror movie'.

Her hypersensitivity was triggered by a hole in her head that was caused by pressure changes on board a flight in her 40s, experts discovered.

Surgeons performed two operations to repair the hole, allowing for the writer to finally stop hearing the sounds inside of her body.

However, she still suffers with barometric pressure changes, meaning she only feels well when it is sunny outside - as the cold weather causes her extreme headaches.

Philippa Thomson suffered from superior canal dehiscence syndrome for more than 10 years. It caused her to be able to hear her eyes move and her blood pump around her body

Ms Thomson said: 'I wondered whether anyone else felt like this. I would never talk to people about it. I was embarrassed.

'My eyes made a clocking sound for a long time. I didn't know that other people didn't have clicking in their eyes. It's quite creepy when you are hearing things that others can't.

'My neck would also start creaking like a rickety boat in a horror movie. The noises were loud enough to disturb you.'

She added: 'It's not something you expect but you do get accustomed to them. It was unusual but I didn't go round asking people if their neck also creaked. It was a revelation to get the diagnosis.

'Very disconcerting things were happening. It makes you feel like you're going a bit bonkers.

'Life became a constant battle to just live normally. It was like a form of torture sometimes.'

Surgeons performed two operations to repair the hole, allowing for the writer to finally stop hearing the sounds inside of her body (pictured after her final surgery in 2012)

However, she still suffers with barometric pressure changes that means she only feels well when it is sunny outside - as the cold weather causes her extreme headaches

The condition, caused when a hole develops between the inner ear and the brain, also caused her head to vibrate when she was exposed to loud external sounds.

She revealed how one time she went for a walk and heard a clanging noise - but was adamant that it was down to building works in the distance.

But she discovered that it was the keys in her pocket.

Initially, doctors discovered a hole in her head in 2007 after she went on a flight four years earlier.

This was repaired in 2008, leading doctors to believe they had cured the condition. But another hole was soon created, believed to be from a childhood bike accident.

She experienced headaches, fatigue, dizziness and the hypersensitivity often caused her eyes to unexpectedly close.

She said: 'Life became a constant battle to just live normally. It was like a form of torture sometimes' (pictured: her scars after surgery)

Ms Thomson added: 'If I hadn't had the condition I would have been more ambitious. It would have changed my life'

Surgeons conducted another operation to fix the hole in 2012 after she complained it was affecting her social life and affected her then marriage.

WHAT IS THIS CONDITION? Superior canal dehiscence syndrome was first described in medical literature in 1998. Patients diagnosed with the condition can suffer from vertigo, hypersensitivity to noises and oscillopsia - the sense that stationary objects are moving. The condition is caused when a hole, or thinning of the bone, develops between the inner ear and the brain. This bone should cover and protect the inner ear but with SCDS the inner ear is exposed to more vibrations. This can develop from a trauma or slowly over time as a result of the pressure placed on the bone by a part of the brain called the temporal lobe. The average age of diagnosis is 45 and it is believed that one to two per cent of the population have an abnormally thin bone covering the superior canal. Some people with the condition control their symptoms by avoiding the situations that distress them. However, for other patients, the symptoms are much more debilitating and usually require surgery to treat the problem. Source: American Speech Language Hearing Association Advertisement

Ms Thomson said: 'I used to get very anxious in social situations. I told myself to get a grip because I was a confident and articulate person but it was a vicious cycle. I never really talked about it.

'I was worried about going out of the house. There was no pattern to it, sometimes I would be fine and sometimes it would be terrible. I couldn't make sense of it.

'It would put a strain on my relationships. I was often cancelling plans and I couldn't explain why. It has a knock-on effect to the people in your life.

'If I hadn't had the condition I would have been more ambitious. It would have changed my life.'

She has since recovered from her 10th operation, but still suffers with tinnitus and barometric pressure changes.

Ms Thomson added: 'I'm still very affected by barometric pressure changes which will never go. I feel my best when it's sunny. That's when everything is functioning well.

'When the pressure starts to drop with changeable weather, wind and rain, my head starts to feel like a lead weight, everything starts to close in and I get severe headaches.

'I look out the window to check the weather and I do plan my day around it. I can tell from my head whether the pressure is high or low.

'It does tend to be windy days with changeable weather that affect me, which you get a lot of in Scotland.'

But she said she is now 'better than I have ever been' and that she is making up for lost time.

She is working on setting up an official organisation to increase awareness and promote research towards the condition, and has even written a book called A Hole in My Life. Battling Chronic Dizziness.
Now a new clinical trial may offer hope for Ely and save him from the same fate

His older brother, Titus, six, had the same disease but passed away last year

When Bekah and Danny Bowman, from California, were told that their older son had an incurable brain disorder, they were heartbroken.

But they could have never guessed that their younger son would also be suffering the same fate.

Both Titus and Ely were diagnosed with late infantile-NCL, a form of Batten disease.

The disease will eventually rob children of their speech, their mobility and will usually kill them by the time they are 12 years old.

Titus, six, passed away in September 2016 after losing his sight, being fed through a tube, and being confined to a wheelchair.

However, a new clinical trial underway at the Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, could prevent Ely from going down the same path.

Tragic: Ely Bowman, three, (pictured with his mother Bekah) was diagnosed with an incurable brain disorder called Batten disease in 2015. But a new clinical trial may slow down or even reverse the disease's effects

Devastating: Ely's older brother Titus (pictured middle) was diagnosed with the same disease in April 2015. His health rapidly declined and he lost the ability to walk, talk, and eat. He died last year at age six

Hopeful: Ely (pictured with his physical therapist Katie) is now taking part in a clinical trial at the Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where children are injected with an enzyme they are missing

Titus first began to show symptoms of the disease in 2013, when he was about three years old. He was struggling with his speech, began to suffer from seizures and was constantly falling over,

The Bowmans tried enrolling Titus in early-intervention speech therapy, and he was also outfitted with a helmet to protect him from falls.

Bekah told Fox News: 'Right before [the first seizure], he was losing skills. He couldn't name colors, shapes, letters of the alphabet.

'He was having a really hard time with that, and his eyesight was not doing well. He would fall with muscle spasms, and it got to the point where it was really scary and we didn't know why.'

In February 2014, a seizure sent Titus to the emergency room. He was immediately diagnosed with epilepsy, but it wasn't until 14 months later that a genetic test revealed he had Batten disease.

The disorder is caused by waste buildup in the cells, which creates neurodegenerative effects including blindness, seizures, personality changes and difficulties with motor skills.

Dr Raymond Wang, a metabolic geneticist who has been working with the Bowmans at Childrens Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) in Orange, California, said patients experience a rapid decline once seizures begin.

At one point, Titus was experiencing up to 100 per day.

Titus was diagnosed in April 2015 and, by the end of May, he was unable talk, walk or eat. He died in September 2016 at just six years old.

Happy child: Bekah and Danny Bowman said they knew Titus (pictured left, in hospital and, right, with his younger brother after his diagnosis) was seriously ill when he began having seizures, struggling to speak and falling over

Chance: This rare disorder is genetically-inherited, meaning both parents cary the gene. Both Titus (left) and Ely had a one-in-four chance of begin diagnosed with the disease

This rare disorder is genetically-inherited. For Titus to get the disease, both of his parents had to be carriers of the gene. Ely had a 25 percent chance of also getting the disease.

Two months after Titus was diagnosed, Ely was tested and was also found to have Batten disease.

Although Ely wasn't showing the severe symptoms his brother was, the confirmation was no less devastating for the Bowmans. What's different for Ely, however, is a clinical trial sponsored by BioMarin Pharmaceutical that came too late for Titus.

WHAT IS BATTEN DISEASE? Batten disease, also known as Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses, is a rare genetically-inherited disease. It is caused by waste buildup in the cells which creates neurodegenerative effects including: Blindness

Seizures

Personality changes

Dementia

Loss of motor skills and the ability to walk, talk and communicate Because it is a rare disease, it is often difficult to diagnosed and untested at birth. Ways to diagnose: Blood or urine tests

Skin or tissue sampling

DNA analysis

Electrical studies of the eyes There are 14,000 children worldwide that are diagnosed with the disorder. There is currently no known cure or treatment available for Batten disease. Advertisement

Dr Wang said that CHOC has treated six children with Batten disease with the typical course of treatment being supportive care.

'They developed a man-made version of the TPP enzyme that the boys are missing,' he told Fox News.

'I got ahold of BioMarin and told the Bowmans, "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure I can get this to your boys".'

During the trials, doctors surgically insert a reservoir device into a patient's brain that directly injects medication into the ventricles.

The enzymes are injected during a four-hour process every two weeks at the hospital where treatment is offered.

Although this process is not FDA-approved, it may be the only option available for patients like Ely.

So far, the treatment has shown promise in delaying the disease. Some patients have even shown improvement in motor skills that had begun to regress.

Titus's disease was too far advanced for enrollment, but Ely was accepted into the program and his first week of treatment was in October 2016.

Every 10 days, Bekah and Ely board a plane to travel from their home in Irvine, California, to the Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio - currently the only center in the US that offers the treatment.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family cover travel-related costs, as well as a Facebook page detailing the boys' journey.

Dr Wang is currently working with BioMarin and his hospital's staff to bring the trials to CHOC to make it more accessible

He said: 'This medicine was able to buy the kids time, and having to see kids decline so rapidly and see the families have so much heartbreak it's a very emotional thing. I felt like I needed to fight, especially for Ely.'

Titus's (pictured left) disease was too far advanced for trial enrollment, but Ely (pictured right) was accepted into the program and his first week of treatment was in October 2016

While it may be too soon for the treatment's impact to be noticed on Ely, he is still able to walk and attends school with his peers.

According to Bekah, the real test will be this spring - when Ely reaches the age that Titus was when the seizures began. In the meantime, she hopes to raise awareness of the disease and the trial.

Bekah said: 'I hope through our story we can raise awareness and maybe help kids get an earlier diagnosis.

'Titus was too far along for this treatment, and that was heartbreaking, but because of him, Ely's was caught early. We want to be a part of that movement to get early diagnoses for these kids.'
A crackdown on children being trafficked into Mumbai has led to their numbers being forced to work on roadside food stalls plummeting, police and activists said.

Investigations show that stepped-up efforts by police, non-governmental organisations and other government departments and greater vigilance on railway platforms has led to a gradual drop in child workers.

The drop in child labour was clear, according to the Indian education-focused charity Pratham.

Research shows less children are being worked on food stalls and in restaurants in Mumbai

The organisation mapped 200,000 shops across Mumbai over a week in January and found 500 child workers in as many shops - significantly down on previous years.

Most of the 500 child workers worked in restaurants or roadside stalls, lived on their own in Mumbai, and did not go to school.

Pratham counselled and warned shop owners to release the children and alerted the police, who are conducting rescues and have so far freed 10 children.

1,000 children were rescued in 2015, 800 in 2016 and 500 in same operation this year

'In earlier raids, we would find eight to 10 children in each shop, but now the numbers have gone down to one or two,' said Pravin Patil, a deputy police commissioner in Mumbai.

'This drop is possibly the effect of a major crackdown we did in 2015 when over 1,000 children were rescued and cases registered against their employers.'

Police rescued nearly 800 children in 2016.

The number of children working on food stalls in Mumbai has gone down (photo for representation only)

Children are commonly trafficked to Mumbai from other parts of India - particularly the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar - to work in factories, roadside tea stalls and grocery stores.

'The numbers are few given that we focused on roadside eateries and grocery stores that have traditionally employed children,' Kishor Bhamre, the project director of Pratham, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

As a perk for shops and eateries that did not employ children, Pratham pasted 'thank you' stickers on the shop walls, giving shopkeepers a little praise and sense of pride.

The International Labour Organisation in 2015 estimated there are 5.7 million child workers in India, out of 168 million globally

'Through this campaign we wanted to identify shops that employ children and appreciate those who don't,' Bhamre said.

Shops where child workers were found will be reassessed in a few days.

'We need to maintain pressure or the numbers will go up again,' said Patil of the Mumbai police.

The International Labour Organisation in 2015 estimated there are 5.7 million child workers in India, out of 168 million globally.
With a record number of winged visitors, Sultanpur National Park in Gurugram has a new feather in its cap.

The wetland planes of northern India have turned into a paradise of migratory birds because of heavy snowfall in Siberia, eastern Europe, Mongolia and northern China.

Gurugram's wildlife department has recorded 60% more such long-distance fliers at the Sultanpur sanctuary this season with many rare birds seen here for the first time.

With a record number of winged visitors, Sultanpur National Park in Gurugram has a new feather in its cap after the wetland planes of northern India have turned into a paradise of migratory birds

The park has also broken all records in terms of the number of domestic and migratory birds.

The previous highest figure was 60,000. But this time, it has counted 1.25 lakh birds, with 40,000 of them flying in from abroad.

Shyam Sundar Kaushik, divisional forest officer (DFO) of wildlife Gurugram range told Mail Today that migratory birds have been flocking here since the winter season started and arrivals will continue if the chill in the air remains for the next few days.

'We have registered 25,000 migratory pelicans of 40 varieties last season and the figure in this category has reached 40,000 already with at least 35 more varieties of birds this season.

'This is an encouraging sign for us and it is also an indication of good air quality in the region,' Kaushik said.

'The period between September and March is ideal breeding time for all birds in India near the Tropic of Cancer.

Birds in Shultanpur Lake, in Gurgaon, India

'We have made adequate food arrangements in the wetland areas spreads over 182 acres inside the sanctuary. Ideal breeding space inside the park also helps in enhancing the population of birds.'

The wildlife department has its own census process to count birds.

Camera-trapping is also helpful in this exercise.

The figures are significant as the park was closed for over a month following a bird flu scare in Delhi and Hisar late last year.

According to officials, migratory birds such as the brown-breasted fly-catcher, scaly thrush, Asian brown flycatcher, large tailed nightjar, besra, grey-headed lapwing, leaf warbler, domicile crane and spotted crane have been seen in the park for the first time.

The sanctuary is a popular picnic spot for NCR residents, especially during winter when thousands of birds visit here from across the globe.

The park has also broken all records in terms of the number of domestic and migratory birds

There are four watch towers (machans) located at different points, an education and interpretation centre, a library, films, slides and binoculars for the benefit of bird lovers.

Sube Singh, a bird specialist and guide at Sultanpur National Park, believes that birds are quite sensitive to nature and climate change.

They always look for food and ideal conditions with security. 'The chirm of migratory and domestic birds is attracting a large number of visitors.

Last weekend, we registered four thousand footfalls in the park and if conditions will remain the same for the next few days, it will attract more and more people from across NCR,' he said.

Apart from the Sultanpur sanctuary, a large number of migratory birds are seen in the Manger forest and Damdama lake of the Aravalli region.

The Sultanpur- Najafgarh-Jhajjar corridor is also an ideal place for domestic and migratory birds to stay in the winter season.

The Jhajjhar bird sanctuary is also witnessing a large number of migratory birds.
The BSF soldier, who was transferred earlier this month after claiming in Facebook videos that troops on the border with Pakistan get poor quality food, has been sent back to his base.

Sources told India Today TV that constable Tej Bahadur Yadav returned to the 29 Battalion in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch sector after his questioning in the state's Rajouri district.

However, sources say though Yadav has been sent back, he will no longer be assigned the Road Opening Party (ROP) duties that he initially had and will get another task within the battalion.

BSF constable Tej Bahadur Yadav had released four videos in which he complained of poor quality of food

Stills of some of the footage captured by the jawan which was later posted to social media

'A DIG-rank officer is investigating the allegations. Bahadur has been questioned, along with other jawans of the battalion. If need be he will be questioned again,' said a senior BSF officer.

The home ministry ordered a probe after Yadav's four videos of what he alleges is watery, unseasoned dal and burnt paranthas went viral on social media.

He also accused senior officers of siphoning off groceries meant for soldiers who, he said, go to bed hungry on some days after standing in the snow for 11 hours.

Prawin Kumar, supervising officer of Tej Bahadur has been transferred

While there were reports that Yadav had injured a finger, official sources said he was found to be 'physically and medically fit' to perform the task of a soldier.

As per sources, Yadav was stationed only for 10 days at the sensitive border outposts when he shot the videos that sparked widespread outrage.

The BSF denied allegations 'of poor quality of food being served to jawans' in its initial report submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Though the force is yet to submit its final report, it informed the MHA that no other soldier from the 29 Battalion has made a similar complaint.

Last week, the BSF transferred commanding officer Prawin Kumar and deputy of the battalion SS Sirhoi, under whose command Yadav made the allegations.

Kumar was shunted to Tripura and Sirhoi, who was due for posting, was also moved.

The mess commander was sent on leave pending investigation.

However the force maintained that 'the transfer of supervising officer was to ensure a fair inquiry into the allegations made by Yadav as the CO and second-in-command rank officers are at the supervisory level of ensuring proper rations and other due service benefits to jawans of a battalion.'

An official said the force is also preparing a detailed report on the transportation, stocking and distribution of ration meant for its jawans at the border.
On the eve of our 67th Republic Day, many are asking if the values that our democracy stands for are under threat.

While it is necessary to ask such questions periodically, not only on special occasions such as Independence or Republic Day, this time they are being raised in a special context.

Right-wing populism, it is alleged, has eroded the basic character of the country and the constitution.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'exemplifies the worldwide rise of populism

Style

Populism, of course, is the buzzword here. The view is that Donald Trump in the US, Vladimir Putin in Russia and, of course, Narendra Modi in India, all exemplify its worldwide rise.

Implicit to such an argument is the mistaken belief that populism is essentially a right-wing phenomenon.

Even a cursory glance at previous populists shows this as patently false.

Several left-wing and left-leaning leaders were also populist, including Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Juan Peron, and our own Indira Gandhi, who was as authoritarian as she was populist.

Donald Trump's rise to power in the United States is another example of the worldwide trend

Indeed, populism has little to do with ideology per se; it is more a political style, playing with and playing to the sentiments of the common populace.

It just so happens that in different parts of the world tough-talking, nationalist politicians are on the rise; hence the charge of right-wing populism.

Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as 'Prachanda,' also fits the bill

But in our own neighbourhood, Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as 'Prachanda,' also fits the bill, though none can forget that he led the Maoist insurgency.

That is why the contention that the essentially 'secular socialist' political fabric of the republic is being eroded by populism is somewhat suspect.

These two words, 'secular' and 'socialist' were introduced into the Preamble of the Constitution through the notorious 42nd amendment in November 1977 by Indira Gandhi during the twenty-one month Emergency.

Let us not forget that nothing in independent India's history threatened our democracy as much as the Emergency, when fundamental rights and civil liberties were suspended. Indira Gandhi effectively ruled by decree, bypassing Parliament.

The abominable MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act) was imposed and most major opposition leaders imprisoned. Needless to add, the press was also gagged, and a mechanism of internal spying set into motion to monitor dissent.

Slogan

Indira Gandhi, we must remember, was openly left-wing.

During the Cold War, she moved India closer than ever to the Soviet Union, and cosied up to the Communists at home.

That she was also populist is beside the point; that she damaged democracy and democratic institutions more than any other Indian Prime Minister is more relevant to the debate.

This is forgotten by her political and party descendants, who cry foul against the present run of populism.

The 'damage' Indira Gandhi (left) and her son Rajiv Gandhi (right) did to democracy are 'forgotten' by those that cry foul of populism

Similarly, they would also not like to recall that it was under her son, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, that the worst pogrom against a 'religious minority,' the Sikhs, was carried out in the very capital of the land.

More recently, UPA-I and UPA-II was also marked by a host of populist polices and measures. Such a reminder is not meant to deflect from the issue at hand.

Indeed, to justify a present wrong by a reminder of past wrongs is not only against good sense, but also against rajdharma.

Right populism is not necessarily 'better' than left populism. Both can be either good or bad, depending on what they really stand for.

'The view is that Donald Trump in the US, Vladimir Putin in Russia [pictured] and, of course, Narendra Modi in India, all exemplify its worldwide rise'

Appealing to the masses against the classes is an old political trick. But pitting any section of society against another does not quite comply with rajdharma.

If one must look for a slogan that is in keeping with dharmic nationalism, it would be sab kasaath, sab kavikaas.

This must be pursued earnestly by the present dispensation, not merely as a populist slogan.

Ideology

In this regard it is perhaps more important to be wary of the excessive promotion or personality cult of any leader, including our Prime Minister.

The larger than life presence of Narendra Modi on every calendar, poster, or public platform is not necessarily a good thing.

It is also not in keeping with a political culture wherein ideology (vichardhara) is more important than the individual (vyakti). Thus the question is not whether Modi has displaced the Mahatma on the Khadi calendar but whether there might have been a better way to make both its brand ambassadors.

When it comes to populism, we cannot forget that, to some extent, it is the very essence of democracy. No democracy can be entirely free of populism.

The danger to democracy is not from populism as much as demagoguery.

It is when populism degenerates to downright deceit that we must be really worried.

As long as Government governs well, discharging its duties sincerely, some populism on its part may be overlooked.

Winning elections, securing one's power is in the very essence of politics; it is only when the will to power overruns and destroys all dharma and decency that democracy is doomed.

Thankfully, we are very far from that today. Our democracy is alive, well  and rocking. So, happy Republic Day India!
Narendra Modi has been invited to the White House by new US president Donald Trump, looking to ensure continued ties between the nations.

The Indian Prime Minister pledged to work closely with his American counterpart on Wednesday following their first phonecall since Trump's inauguration.

The leaders of the world's two largest democracies both indicated they had had a warm conversation and extended mutual invitations to their respective capitals.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the new US leader agreed to strengthen ties in areas like the economy and defense

But while both leaders share similar backgrounds as establishment outsiders, analysts say their two governments could clash on issues such as trade and visas for Indians wanting to work in the United States.

Statements issued after Tuesday night's phone call indicated both men are keen to build on the recent improvement in ties that began under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama.

Writing on Twitter, Modi said he 'had a warm conversation' with the new US president and they had 'agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties'.

Both leaders indicated that it was a warm conversation and exchanged mutual invitations to their respective capitals

'Have also invited President Trump to visit India,' Modi added after the White House revealed Washington had extended a similar invitation.

Modi, a Hindu nationalist, was effectively barred from the United States after deadly communal riots in the western state of Gujarat during his time as chief minister.

Most of those killed were Muslims.

But after his landslide election victory, Modi built a strong rapport with Obama who became the first sitting US president to pay a second visit to India during the 2015 Republic Day celebrations.

Barack Obama (left) became the first US leader to be guest of honour at India's Republic Day parade in 2015, during an American presidency that saw relations strengthen

India-US bilateral relations have reached new heights in the past few years, and developed into a 'strategic partnership'.

The regular dialogues between the two countries have enabled them to broaden their bilateral cooperation, and today it covers trade and investment, defence and security, education, science and technology, civil nuclear energy, clean energy, environment, agriculture and health.

The US is also the sixth largest source of FDI into India and increasing Indian investments in the US has been an interesting feature of bilateral ties.

A phonecall between Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (left) and Donald Trump had earlier caused concern for many in Modi's government

In his address to the joint session of the Congress last year PM Modi had hailed the US as 'an indispensable partner in every working group.'

And a day before Christmas with less than a month to sign off, President Obama signed NDAA (National Defence Authorisation Act) which asks the Defence Secretary and the Secretary of State to take necessary steps to recognise India as America's 'major defence partner.'

But Donald Trump's win in the US presidential elections has raised many concerns about the ongoing bilateral advancement and its impact on the Indian economy.

The 'Make in India' policy could be at odds with the the new US president's protectionist instincts

A surprisingly convivial conversation in November between Trump and Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif caused alarm within Modi's administration which has been portraying its rival regime in Islamabad as the 'mothership of terrorism'.

Pakistan claimed that the then US President-elect praised Sharif as a 'terrific guy' in the what was the first call between the two leaders - dashing India's hope that it would be favoured by the US in the region.

But the US sources later hinted that the conversation hadn't gone quite as Pakistan media reported, although said it had been a 'productive conversation'.

There was widespread support for Trump among the Hindi people in America

And during this week's call with Modi, Trump emphasised the United States 'considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world,' according to a White House readout of the call.

'The two discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.

'President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the United States later this year.'

The 'Hindus For Trump' event held at the Edison in New Jersey roused the support of 5,000 US-Indians

Several commentators have argued that Modi and Trump should have a natural affinity as political outsiders who have risen to power in part by castigating the traditional ruling elite on a nationalist platform.

Some commentators believe Trump and Modi have a natural affinity

Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon described Modi's victory in India's 2014 general election as the first phase in a 'global revolt' against the existing order that culminated with Trump's victory in November.

But in a speech last week, Modi castigated 'rising parochial and protectionist attitudes' which was interpreted as a dig at Trump who has vowed to put 'America first' as his governing mantra.

Modi's flagship 'Make In India' policy is designed to fire up his country's manufacturing sector and ramp up exports, a goal that appears at odds with Trump's protectionist instincts.

Major US firms such as Walmart and Apple have in turn grown frustrated by the regulations and tariffs imposed by Indian authorities as they seek to crack what is a potentially massive market.

Rajrishi Singhal, a Mumbai-based geopolitical analyst, said other potential problem areas included Trump's reservations over an existing visa scheme allowing high-skilled foreign workers into the US.

'There are also issues with the pharma industry - the US thinks our patent regime is too lenient - and the US wants access to the Indian agriculture market,' he told news agency AFP.

'These issues have been on the boil for the last few years. It won't result in a trade war right away as the leaders will gauge each other first. Later, maybe a year down the line, we will have to see.'

Indians wait to get their foreign visas in New Delhi at a time when the Modi administration wants to extend the current scheme allowing highly-skilled workers into the United States

During his election campaign, Trump courted Indian-American voters and even released a campaign advertisement in Hindi for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights -albeit in a thick US accent.

The new president's hardline rhetoric towards Muslims during his campaign found favour in some quarters in India, which has had its fair share of tensions between the majority Hindu population and its Muslim minority.

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, editor of India's Economic and Political Weekly, said there were 'uncanny similarities' between Modi and Trump who both 'have scant regard for the minorities and the media'.
Ritu Sharma (name changed), a 34- year-old Delhi Police sub-inspector afflicted with kidney stones, has been asked by doctors to drink more water but says she cannot.

The officer, posted at India Gate from 3am to 12.30pm for 10 days ahead of Republic Day, pointed out that there was no toilet facility in the area.

The first day, Ritu was forced to answer nature's call behind a tree at night.

The officer, posted at India Gate from 3am to 12.30pm for 10 days ahead of Republic Day, pointed out that there was no toilet facility in the area (picture for representation only)

Embarrassed by the experience, she stopped drinking water after 10pm, ignoring doctor's orders.

A portable restroom has been placed nearby following the full dress rehearsal on Tuesday for the Republic Day celebrations when India will put her military might on display.

But the toilet facility will be removed after the parade.

Sources say that for the first time, senior officers asked cops deployed on R-Day duty to start reporting at India Gate from as early as January 9.

And the first shift starts at 3am and goes on till 12.30pm, during which personnel have to be alert and ready to face danger, and not leave their posts.

Senior officers brief the cops daily at 10am.

Around 15,000 police personnel have been deployed near India Gate for the Capital will turn into a fortress.

All the security arrangements were made by special commissioner of police Mukesh Kumar Meena.

He remained unavailable for comment.

Security personnel patrol on Rajpath ahead of Republic Day,in New Delhi,

The duties of most of these police personnel have been pushed till the beating retreat ceremony on January 29 that officially marks the end of Republic Day celebrations.

Also, an officer on Republic Day assignment has to go back to regular work before or after the special shift.

Sources say those posted in the first shift have suffered the most apathy from the department that, somewhat ironically, has the motto, 'With you, for you, always.'

Apart from Rehearsal Day, none of the cops, including assistant commissioner of police (ACP) and inspector, were served food and water.

Around 15,000 police personnel have been deployed near India Gate for the Capital will turn into a fortress

Speaking to Mail Today, an assistant sub-inspector said his wife is unhappy with him for asking her every day to pack him some food late at night so he can have breakfast.

'I stand at my position for more than nine hours without eating or drinking as we do not have any place to buy refreshments.

'But the spirit of being a policeman kept me positive, even though I was in pain,' said a 43-year-old head constable posted at the site.

When Mail Today spoke to joint commissioner Dependra Pathak, who is also the Delhi Police spokesperson, he said, 'Policing is a tough duty, but duty is paramount.

There is no limit to comfort and when it comes to Republic Day security arrangements, no matter what circumstances the police personnel have to be in, the security has to be perfect.'

Many of the female cops also complained that Delhi Police has not arranged any transportation facility for them early in the morning.

'Yes, we are in uniform, but we too are vulnerable,' said a female sub-inspector. 'After all, we are women and are always moving targets.'

Another officer pointed out that as private vehicles are also not allowed entry to the sensitive area, they have to park at least two kilometres away and walk up to their posts.

Pathak conceded that there were problems with the arrangements and there is also room for improvement.

'The New Delhi district is the best place in terms of infrastructure, but the issue related to unavailability of public convenience will be looked into.

However, the best possible arrangements were already made for the staff,' he said.
Five newborns became ill and turned pale blue at Delhi government's Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital with doctors suspecting they were administered discarded antibiotic injections.

The incident points to a new case of medical apathy at a hospital considered one of the city's 'world-class' healthcare institutes.

One of the babies died, but doctors have not attributed the death to a reaction from the foul medication.

Five newborns became ill and turned pale blue at Delhi government's Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital

AN RTI response in 2015 revealed that 12- 15 per cent children admitted to the neonatal and paediatric ICU wards of city hospitals had died in the previous five years.

The incident at LNJP Hospital was reported on Wednesday morning, when doctors in the neonatal department noticed the babies faces had turned blue and quickly moved them to the ICU where they are now under observation.

The newborns started showing symptoms of breathlessness, vomiting and abdominal pain, said a senior doctor at the institute.

'The preliminary inquiry suggests that a discarded injection was given to the babies,' Dr JC Passey, director of LNJP Hospital, told Mail Today.

'All the babies were getting treated for bacterial infection for which doctors use antibiotics.'

The newborns started showing symptoms of breathlessness, vomiting and abdominal pain, said a senior doctor at the institute (photo for representation only)

The same medicines were being administered to other newborns and even adults undergoing treatment in various wards of the hospital, but none of them displayed any adverse reaction, he said.

'For antibiotic treatment given to babies, a powdered concentration of the medicine is mixed with normal saline in a large syringe before injecting it in small doses.

'And once the concentration is ready, it should be used within a few minutes and leftovers should be thrown away,' said Dr Passey.

'But it is being observed that this leftover solution was injected to the infants and caused a deadly reaction.'

The hospital authorities have set up a committee under the nursing superintendent to probe lapses, if any. The panel will submit its reports on Monday, Dr Passey said.

Dr VK Paul, head of the paediatric division at AIIMS, told Mail Today, 'Proper care should be taken while treating infants.

'And for any age-group of patients, antibiotic injections should be used in minutes and leftovers should be thrown away.'

The same medicines were being administered to other newborns and even adults undergoing treatment in various wards of the hospital, but none of them displayed any adverse reaction (photo for representation only)

The babies turning blue suggests that the infection reached the lungs and they may be suffering from pneumonia, so in such situations they must be shifted to the ICU without delay, he added.

Sources said the health department called Passey and he briefed the private secretary of Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain on the matter.
The murder of a BJP worker named Santhosh in Kannur last week is the latest in a symphony of orchestrated political violence that has made Kerala a tinderbox of religious fundamentalism.

Over 44 per cent of Keralites are minorities - the highest ratio in India after Jammu & Kashmir. Over 25 per cent are Muslims. Another 19 per cent are Christians.

Kannur is a symbol of the inflammatory potential of mixing politics with religion.

BJP workers demonstrate outside CPI(M) office against the murder of a party worker allegedly by supporters of the Left party during a poll victory rally in Kerala, May 2016

An ancient trading city with deep links to the Arabs and Persians, Kannur was ruled by a Muslim dynasty, the Arakkal Sultanate. Along historically with imports of Arab spices and timbre, it has in recent years imported strains of Wahabism from the Middle East.

Santhosh was allegedly killed by CPI(M) activists in his own house at Andaloor in Dharmadam which ironically is Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans own constituency, Kannur, has given Kerala two chief ministers  K. Karunakaran and E.K. Nayanar.

It is a politically volatile district.

Muslims comprise 38 per cent of its population. Five out of 20 ministers in the Kerala cabinet are from Kannur - including the chief minister.

Violence

Kerala is no stranger to communal and political murders. Though the Left and the Congress have dominated the states politics since Independence, the RSS set up base in the 1940s.

Its rally in 1948 addressed by Sarsanghchalak M.S. Golwalkar was attacked by Communist workers in Thiruvanthuparam. The killings havent stopped since.

Kerala has a literacy rate of 98 per cent for men and 96 per cent for women, among the highest in India. Yet it ranks among states with the countrys most violent communal incidents.

Kerala is no stranger to communal and political murders. Though the Left and the Congress have dominated the states politics since Independence, the RSS set up base in the 1940s.

In May 2003, eight Hindus were killed by a Muslim mob in Marad. A judicial commission found the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) guilty of being involved in both the conspiracy and the massacre.

Other districts and towns in Kerala have witnessed similar outbreaks of communal violence.

With the growing influence of the RSS and the BJP nationally, fundamentalism in Kerala has spiked. Conversions are rife. Abductions and kidnapping have increased.

In several districts minorities are now the majority. For example, in Malappuram and Kottyam, Muslims comprise the majority.

In Ernakulam, Christians are in the majority. Communal violence is not restricted to Hindu-Muslim clashes. Muslims and Christians have rioted as well.

In May 2009, the two communities clashed in Cheriyathura. Five Muslims were killed.

Most communal clashes in recent years though have been between Muslims and Hindus.

State leaders claim the RSS and the BJP are deliberately polarising the communal atmosphere to expand their political footprint.

Of south Indias five states, the BJP has a solid presence only in Karnataka (which it could win in the next assembly poll in 2018) and, through ally TDP, in Andhra Pradesh.

It has tried to make headway, with little success, in Telangana.

In Tamil Nadu, following Jayalalithaas death, it senses an opportunity. Hence the central governments quick decision to bow to Tamil sentiment and issue an ordinance allowing Jallikattu.

Indian students and leftist activists throw stones as police fire teargas during a protest march to the Kerala assembly demanding the resignation of chief minister Chandy, in Thiruvananthapuram on July 9, 2013

However, the AIADMKs internal power struggles between Sasikala and Deepa Jayakumar (Jayalalithaas look alike neice) has muddied the waters.

Silence

That leaves Kerala where the BJP picked up 10.3 per cent vote share in the 2014 Lok Sabha election (up from 6.4 per cent in 2009) and 15 per cent vote share in the 2016 assembly election (up from 6.3 per cent in 2011).

Threatened by the BJPs rising numbers, the CPI(M) and the Congress have made Kerala a communal hotbed.

The silence of the media over Keralas descent into a communal abyss typifies how biased the Indian mainstream media has become.

Excessive police action in Jammu & Kashmir against stone-pelters is (rightly) excoriated by the media.

The death in random violence of Muslims and Dalits is (again rightly) headlined, often with week-long protests by NGOs and activists.

But political murders in Gods own country draw collective silence.

Backyard

Members of parliament from Kerala have been equally remiss. They are quick to denounce communal violence in Gujarat or Jammu & Kashmir (rightly so) but feign amnesia about communal murders in their own backyard, often instigated by cadres of the CPI(M) and the Congress.

The silence meanwhile of the BJP-led NDA government is astonishing.

Though law and order is a state subject, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has done little to reprimand the Left government in Kerala.

The rising tide of communal violence diminishes the reputation of a state that has led the country across a swathe of parameters: literacy, womens rights, education, culture and the arts.

Keralas matriarchal tradition too is one of Indias most progressive.

Yet when it comes to politics and religion, Kerala has succumbed to a virulent form of Wahabism from the Middle East where so many Keralites work.

Evangelical Christians regard conversion as their birthright. In the end, Hindus have themselves to blame.

The disgraceful treatment of Dalits by upper castes has allowed conversions to take place either through inducement or coercion.

Caste disunity has similarly let Muslims wage an undeclared communal war in sensitive districts of Kerala with Islamist undertones.

Last weeks murder of Santhosh in Kannur is an indictment of a state that has dangerously lowered the secular standard it once set for the rest of India.
US bank Citigroup has confirmed it plans to shift some jobs out of London to a rival European financial centre because of Brexit and will make a final decision on the location in the first half of the year.

James Cowles, Citigroup's chief executive for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the bank had been in talks with governments and regulators in different countries, including Ireland, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands, and was now evaluating all of the options.

It comes as Swiss bank Credit Suisse also confirmed it was looking at various European cities but was still in the early stage of considering alternatives outside of the UK.

Closing doors: Citi will decide where to relocate some of its UK jobs in the first half of this year

Neither of the two banks have yet specified which operations nor how many jobs will be moved abroad.

Speaking at the European Financial Forum in Dublin yesterday, Cowles said: We will be making a decision in the first half of this year, it's a decision that every bank has to make in the first six months of this year.

Citi, which currently employs 9,000 people in the UK, already has offices in 21 of the 28 states members of the EU, where it employs around 19,000 staff.

The headquarters of the Europe, the Middle East and Africa region are in London, although it also has offices in Belfast, Derby, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Cowles said that the decision to move some of the jobs was depending on several factors, including the countries different legal systems and their capacity to provide suitable relocation for its staff and families.

Meanwhile, the vice-chair of the board of directors at Credit Suisse said the bank was looking to move some of its UK operations to Europe.

We are in the early stage of looking at alternatives outside of the UK, she said.

'Early stages': Credit Suisse also confirmed it will move some jobs to Europe

It comes after HSBC last week said it will move 1,000 jobs, responsible for a fifth of the revenues of its UK operations, from London to Paris as a consequence of Brexit.

And Swiss bank UBS said it would have to move investment bankers from the UK capital to Germany or Spain, although it did not know yet how many.

London's financial firms have been waiting to discover whether the UK can hold on to passporting rights, which allow them to trade freely across Europe after Brexit.

Both UK and foreign banks and financial firms wanting to trade within the European Economic Area use this passport system to sell their products to any country.

However, the European Central Bank has previously warned that Britain would not be able to access the passporting system without remaining a member of the single market and abiding by its rules, which includes the free movement of people.

Without access to a passport, UK-based banks face a significant barrier when attempting to trade with countries within the European single market.
Prosecutors in Milan have opened a criminal investigation into BTs Italian unit over allegations of embezzlement and false accounting after the telecoms company was swamped by a 530million accounting scandal yesterday.

The investigation will be headed by high-profile prosecutor Fabio de Pasquale.

He has previously sent down former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlsuconi for tax fraud and also led a case against Italian gas company Eni over allegations of corruption in Nigeria.

The probe, whose details are not yet known, was launched after BT admitted that inappropriate behaviour at its Italian business had been far greater than previously identified and this caused it to overstate profits for a number of years.

Criminal probe: BT's Italian arm will be investigated over allegations of embezzlement and false accounting

The admission, following an independent review by KPMG into accounting irregularities, forced BT to write down the value of its Italian business by 530million.

This is a much larger amount than the 145million it had initially estimated last summer when it first revealed it had identified some accounting errors.

The impending legal action, which is the first external probe to be launched, will add to BT's costs and pile further pressure on its boss Gavin Patterson, who yesterday said he was deeply disappointed with the improper practices which we have found in our Italian business.

It comes as BT is also facing legal action over claims it misled investors about the scale of the accounting scandal.

A trio of US law firms are preparing to file suits to recover losses suffered by BT investors after almost 8billion was wiped off the value of the telecoms giant yesterday.

The Italian business accounts for around 1 per cent of BTs earnings, but following the announcement the group said profits for this and next year would come in lower, sparking a wave of selling.

BT's army of almost one million small investors saw shares plunge by almost 21 per cent to a four-year low of 303p yesterday. Shares in BT have recovered only slightly today, rising 2p to 305p.
Storm blows a 200ft hole in Guatemala City, swallowing a building



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This is the scene in Guatemala after a 200ft deep sink hole swallowed up a three-storey building.



The enormous crater appeared in the Central American country's capital, Guatemala City, as it was being ravaged by torrential rain and mudslides during Tropical Storm Agatha.



Agatha, the first named storm of the 2010 Pacific season, slammed into Guatemala and neighbouring El Salvador at the weekend, dumping more than three feet of rain in the region.

The enormous crater appeared while the city was being ravaged with high winds, torrential rain and deadly mudslides. Witnesses claim at least one man was in the three-storey building when it was swallowed up at a downtown intersection, and others remain missing.

Sink hole: This incredible picture shows a 200ft-deep hole in an intersection in downtown Guatemala City. In the top left of the intersection stood a three-storey building

Agatha has killed at least 146 people across Central America, and has sparked fears for the economies of Guatemala and El Salvador - as there has been widespread damage to the coffee crop in both countries.

' I've got no one to help me. I watched the water take everything,' said Carlota Ramos in the town of Amatitlan near the Guatemalan capital, crying into her hands outside her brick house almost completely swamped by mud.

As the sun came out, exhausted rescue workers hauled away stones and tree trunks from crushed houses as they fought to reach wounded people and find dozens still missing.

'We just have shovels and picks. We don't have any machinery to dig,' said firefighter Mario Cruz, who had been working almost nonstop since Friday night.

Lucky escape: Neighbouring buildings are left untouched after torrential rain led to this huge crater forming in the capital. The area has been closed off and evacuated

At least 123 people have died in Guatemala, and 59 others are missing, according to the government. Nine people were killed in El Salvador and 14 in Honduras, including a woman who was electrocuted as she was helped from her flooded home.

Helicopters ferried tents and medical supplies to remote towns on Guatemala's Pacific coast and the first foreign aid began to flow in on Monday.

The U.S. government donated $113,000 to pay for emergency supplies and to charter private helicopters to assist in the relief effort. The Guatemalan government is expected to formally appeal for aid today.

More than 94,000 people have been evacuated from the capital.

Sink holes can appear suddenly but are thousands of years in the making, geologists said.



The gaping holes are usually caused by rainwater gradually eating away at porous rock such as limestone below the surface, weakening it, and creating a honeycomb of caverns and caves which can become packed with mud. Floodwater may have flushed away that mud - leading everything above it to collapse.

Ash threat: Officials blame mudslides and sink holes in the capital on poor drainage, due to ash from the Pacaya volcano blocking drains. The volcano erupted last week, laying a blanket of ash on everything - including the runway at Guatemala City's international airport

The coffee crop in Guatemala and El Salvador is now at risk from a destructive fungus in the wake of the storm, but mudslides and collapsed bridges have made it hard to assess the damage.

Guatemalan officials have warned the flooding from Agatha could be worsened by ash from the Pacaya volcano blocking drains.

Last Thursday's eruption forced the closure of Guatemala City's international airport. Ash again covered the tarmac yesterday, delaying plans to reopen the facility, aviation officials said.


But in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Ramana Dienes-Browning reveals what it was like to be a member working on the ship

Cruise celebrated his 42nd birthday and, in a famous video clip, was seen singing and dancing on stage

The Freewinds cruise ship is the Holy Grail for any dedicated Scientologist: a coveted destination where members can mingle with rich and powerful A-listers - for a price.

Hollywood celebrities, such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Lisa Marie Presley and Kirstie Alley, and top-ranking management - most notably leader David Miscavige - have attended extravagant parties on Freewinds.

It was here that Cruise celebrated his 42nd birthday and, in a famous video clip, was seen wildly singing and dancing on stage, while scenes from his most popular movies played on a loop behind him.

Described by the Church as a religious retreat ministering the most advanced level of spiritual counseling in the Scientology religion, the ship is where Cruise was said to have been holed up when completing his very final level in Scientology, Operating Thetan VIII, which members believe signifies complete enlightenment.

Meanwhile, down in the engine room of Freewinds, quality of life could not be more different. It serves as a prison for punishing members of Scientologys hardcore sect, the Sea Org.

Scroll down for video

Before and after: When she was only 15 years old, Ramana Dienes-Browning signed a 'billion-year contract' with Scientology. Now 36, she opens up to DailyMail.com about the appalling working conditions she enountered on board the Church's Freewinds cruise ship

The Freewinds cruise ship is the Holy Grail for any dedicated Scientologist: a coveted destination where members can mingle with rich and powerful A-listers - for a price

It was on the Freewinds that Cruise celebrated his 42nd birthday and, in a famous video clip, was seen singing and dancing on stage, while scenes from his most popular movies play on a loop behind him

When Ramana (pictured third from right) joined the group, she quickly realized she had to denounce her father, who was not a Scientology member

Australian Ramana Dienes-Browning was a Sea Org member who signed a 'billion-year contract' with Scientology and, like many others who have escaped from the Church, tell of appalling working conditions.

The now 36-year-old endured ten years of hell, five of them what she calls imprisoned on the ship.

In a searing exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Ramana reveals what it was like to be a member of Scientology.

A lot of the celebrities use Scientology like a free thinking movement: "Im all powerful, I can bring my own reality."

[Celebrities] would come, go scuba diving, have their own cabin, eat in the officers mess, have their own waiter and cook, meanwhile Sea Org members are not sleeping, not eating, passing out, and some of them are literally cleaning their crap in the bilge.

'I dont think they believe that there are people like me in an engine room. They might know people get corrected, but they dont understand the reality of it, Ramana said, speaking from her home in the Blue Mountains, just outside Sydney.

Theyd come, go scuba diving, have their own cabin, eat in the officers mess, have their own waiter and cook, meanwhile Sea Org members are not sleeping, not eating, passing out, and some of them are literally cleaning their crap in the bilge.

Ramana joined the ship at the tender age of 15, when her parents gave away their guardian rights to the Church and saw that power being abused. She was brought up in Scientology through her mother, a devout member, but her father stayed out.

We grew up using a different language, using code.

'Id be five, Id say: Ive committed an overt, not Ive done something wrong. Id write letters to Ron [founder L.Ron Hubbard] all the time, he was our Jesus, I thought that was cool, I didnt know anything else. I totally took it as truth.

I was doing [Scientology] courses from the age of seven, like auditing. Some of it would be talking about sexual experiences. No way should a girl talk to an adult man about that sort of thing without it being a qualified psychologist. That happened over and over again,' she said.

Ramana said: [Celebrities] come, go scuba diving, have their own cabin, eat in the officers mess, have their own waiter and cook, meanwhile Sea Org members are not sleeping, not eating, passing out, and some of them are literally cleaning their crap in the bilge'

Scientologists host massive parties aboard the Freewinds, Pictured, a framed photo of founder L. Ron Hubbard

Once, when Ramana's family came to visit her, she was allowed to clean up and leave her post below deck. Pictured, at dinner at the Scientology headquarters in Clearwater, Florida, with her mother (left) and a sister (right), who were visiting from Australia

She was quickly forced to marry to an older man on the ship and punished when she didn't 'please' him sexually. Pictured right, Ramana being given away by the Port Captain, as her father could not be there, and left, a day spent ashore with her sister to prepare for her wedding the following day

But it was on a supposed holiday on board the Freewinds that life would change for her forever. A keen ballet performer, the young teen thought that shed have a career as a dancer.

I was training seriously, Id even left school to do full-time ballet, that was my dream. Theyd tried to recruit me before, and Id always said no. But when I got to the ship, I was out of my normal environment. I was 15, I thought it was exciting, we get to go on the world famous Freewinds.

The recruiters would not leave me alone, I spent hours in their office while my mother did courses, theyd made me read all about the Sea Org and why its so important, the world is in crisis, how you are needed to save it, it was total indoctrination.

'It got heavier and heavier during the week, theyd follow me everywhere. It makes me shudder now. I eventually said Id sign a contract to say that when I finished my ballet career, Id join the Sea Org. Its a billion-year contract, its ridiculous.

He was onto me as soon as I entered the ship at 15, he was part of the team trying to recruit me. It was bordering on pedophilia especially as he asked me to marry before I was 16.

But, once I signed it, they came on hard, they said I had to come as soon as possible. I was terrified. They brought in Commanding Officers to say Id never make it as a dancer, youll never change the world, screaming at me, I was in trauma.

'As a 15-year-old, it was confusing and overwhelming. There was one point my brain cracked, I had this vision of ballet on one side and the world on fire on the other, and I had a hose, I thought I had to do it.

I had to go back, tell my ballet teachers, break up with my boyfriend, I didnt even consider I had an option to change my mind. My dad is not a Scientologist, and he didnt understand what was happening to me, he thought I was joining Greenpeace, and I thought I was saving the world, so he signed the paperwork, so that a couple on the ship were my legal guardians, my new mum and dad, because I was underage,' she said.

Once on board the ship two months later in 1995, slowly but surely Ramana got a taste of what was to come. The teenager began to question everything - and everyone - in her previous life that didn't conform to the teachings of Scientology.

You write out your life history - the good, bad and ugly - then theres a Security Check on that to make sure youve not missed anything out. So as a 15-year-old, a 45-year-old man is asking me questions about my sexual experiences, and this would go on for days and days, 15 hours a day.

Ramana said goodbye to her family (including her sister, pictured left) in 1995 to begin work in the Sea Org: a dedicated group of Scientology members

The teenager quickly began to question everything - and everyone - in her previous life that didn't conform to the teachings of Scientology. Pictured, in 2001 she was allowed to visit home in Sydney

Ramana had a strict schedule and worked 11-hour work days, often going days without seeing sunlight. Pictured, her first visit home in six years to the Blue Mountains; in Ramana's words: 'It felt so good to put my hands in the water of my home! I only had 24 hours with my family'

'[If] they couldnt find a room, it was in a dormitory in between two bunk beds. They wouldnt be all sexual, but theyre obsessed with sexual perversions. This all gets stored in your personnel file.

That stayed with me for a long time and then when I joined the Sea Org. its meant to be a privilege to work on the ship, but, after two weeks, reality kicked in. I was the youngest on board.

'Over the first few years, they wouldnt stop trying to convince me that dad was a "Suppressive Person". On that point, they couldnt crack me.

Because the ship sails outside of U.S. territory - around the Caribbean, Bahamas and Mexico, with its base being the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao - Ramana realized that different rules applied on board.

SCIENTOLOGY RESPONDS DailyMail.com reached out to Scientology for comment on this story. This is a response given by the media relations team. 'Claims made by Ramana Dienes-Browning are completely false and not backed by any evidence. 'The Freewinds is a religious retreat onboard a 440-foot ship and has impeccable maritime qualifications and is much loved in all of the ports that it visits. 'Ms. Dienes-Brownings service aboard the Freewinds terminated 13 years ago in November 2003 when she was dismissed from the Sea Organization, the Church of Scientologys religious order. 'The truth is that Ms. Dienes-Browning had an exciting position, travelling to over 35 different locations in a period of five years to promote the Church services to parishioners all around the world, including in Australia. 'She flew by herself in most instances. She had opportunities that the bulk of young people in the world are never privileged to experience. 'She cannot now rewrite history 13 years later to suit her current prejudices against her former faith.' Advertisement

Were in international waters, so you can literally get away with murder. But to Scientologists, they claim that its the only place you can do the highest levels, to be away from the world. Its just a marketing ploy to get people to spend more money on the courses.

One of the Sea Org members who had recruited Ramana quickly made his intentions known.

He was a favorite of the Chairman of the Board [COB], David Miscavige, and his celebrity buddies, because of his position working in the VIP bar lounge.

Within a few months, Ramana, who had just turned 16, found herself married and forced into a sexual relationship.

He was onto me as soon as I entered the ship at 15, he was part of the team trying to recruit me. It was bordering on pedophilia especially as he asked me to marry before I was 16,' Ramana said.

'I just went along with it, he was a favorite of COBs, he worked in the VIP lounge where the celebrities and executives were when they were on ship, their private space. If they were smoking cigars and drinking whisky thats where itd be. It was like seventies kitsch, marble and white leather sofas, a gold-lined bar, supposed to be really VIP, but it looked tacky.

They wanted him in management. They like to get those sort of people hooked up with a wife, so theyre steady. He had met all the celebrities. He would have met John Travolta, hes like their servant.

Its very common to get married young in the Sea Org. Youre not allowed to even kiss a girl, its impossible to have a relationship without getting married.

'If I was a normal teenager, theres no way Id marry that guy. Youd just date and its over. I was 16 in June, and we were married in December. He was 25.

We got married in the VIP lounge, his work place. But we barely knew each other. We only saw each other at lunchtimes, it was like a school romance. Theres no help for girls like me, whod only kissed one boy in my life, to having a husband and expecting to have sex.

Then it came up that hed been masturbating, I got in so much trouble for not satisfying him, this was only after a year of marriage. Its impossible to keep secrets, every inch of your lives you have to tell them about.

Ramana eventually got off the ship after she was deemed a security risk because she threatened to commit suicide. Pictured, on a promotional tour for Scientology in Vienna in 1999

I was publicly shamed and called a f***ing b***h, really degrading names. I then felt this pressure to do it. I felt totally violated. Ive had to deal with that as sexual abuse, I wasnt ready at all emotionally or physically.'

The relationship fizzled as Ramana remained on the ship and her husband went away for training. After two years of being mostly apart they went through a divorce, namely because he needed to distance himself from his trouble-making wife.

[Scientology] is fine with it, people do it all the time: get married, divorce, four or five times. He needed to distance himself, and I was getting into trouble.

They set impossible targets, then you get nailed if you dont get them. Or you might do something against the policy. Theyll always get you. I was working in the Commodore Messenger Org - wed run messages for International Management, this was dating back to L. Ron Hubbard days, who had this little army of pert young girls running around for him.

Were like the Gestapo of Freewinds, wed investigate and interrogate people, ask why production is down in certain areas, which is a crime in Scientology. Wed go through their belongings, we could look through their private files, then wed find something, and wed write a program to handle this problem.

Ramana was moved onto selling Freewind packages across the globe to members of Scientology centres, called Orgs, who were desperate to go onto the ship and mingle with top celebrities. Pictured, on a promotional tour in Paris

I wasnt allowed time off. Up at 8, start at 8.30, you were meant to be in bed by midnight, but youd work hours after that. On Sundays, youd get three hours off to do your laundry.

'Every two weeks, youd be up for a day off if you could get a replacement, but thered always be a reason why I couldnt have the day off. Youd get paid $50 a week and two weeks off at Christmas.

I would go out on the deck when allowed and felt no joy for the exquisite beauty of my surroundings: the clear waters, yachts, Caribbean bands playing in the distance. Id feel nothing, I felt like a slave,' she said.

Time and again, the problem of Ramana's non-Scientologist father came up. They wanted her to fully disconnect from him by labeling him as evil and abusive.

I thought I was getting help, but no, they were interrogating me. You start making things up to please them, I started to believe that my dad had actually raped me and the next day, I was like that never happened.

'Its so damn perverted. Youre getting yelled at, and made to think my family sexually abused me.'

Punishment for some members who have committed crimes is to go to the lowest deck on board, the bilge, and scoop out the sewage that accumulates there.

Despite her newfound ability to leave the ship and travel, Ramana saw the cracks in the Scientology system: 'It was still the same every time we visited - people are broke, desperate, trying to pay for their Scientology courses'. Pictured, on a promotional tour in Athens

When you get in trouble, youre segregated from the crew, generally to do heavy labor in the engine room. Theres sludge, oil, hot, steam everywhere. Its hardcore.

'The ship is from the 1970s, theres lots of rooms with pistons, pipes and engines, then there was the bilge where you had to wear gumboots and scoop up sewage. Most of the punishment was cleaning lots and lots of pipework in hot boiler suits. I got to know it really well, I became a really good engineer!

They call it the Decks Project Force and youre made to go on a re-correctional program. First time was because of my dad. I kept thinking that I was evil, there were unknown spirits in me.

People coming down to do the services and courses wouldnt have a clue what goes on. My mum came to visit, and I was on a major re-correction program, below deck in the engine room. I was allowed out, and cleaned up, so we could have dinner. She had no idea, she thought I was so happy and fulfilled in my life.

Ramana worked in the engine room for roughly a year before she finally attempted a daredevil escape.

I was feeling the pressure, so I tried to escape, which is difficult on a boat. I chose a night where I knew it was sailing, I forged all signatures to get my passport, I told the port captain I was being sent out on a rush errand. He ran off the ship to get it cleared through customs.

I got to the gangway just before it was set to sail, I got two steps down it, and heard my name being called, Id been caught.

There had to be no smell in [David Miscavige's] room, no dust, no light, his window had to have special blackout shades. Hed have make-up on, then hed come in after ranting and raving at some of his executives, and hed scream: Put my make-up on, after beads of sweats would be running down his face, spoiling the mascara.

'Then I was in the engine room for a long time, on a re-correction program for a good year, in the engine room most of it. Id have oil all over me, and youd have to wash in diesel to get it off, so you were always smelling, it was such a stigma on ship as people knew you were being punished.'

There were mazes of pipes all painted different colors. There was this whole area that had been rusted and it was my task to paint them the right color. The worst job was to de-rust a huge pipe and having to get inside it. It was 11 hours a day in there, 20 minutes for lunch, 20 minutes for dinner, and five hours of study.

'This is what they call reconditioning. You had to run everywhere, and I was still on watch, so couldnt go anywhere on my own including the toilet. There were many, many days where I wouldnt see daylight. Cabin to dining room to engine room.

During the time when Ramana wasnt incarcerated, she saw first-hand the exclusive world of David Miscavige and his entourage of executives and celebrities; the latter she believes probably have no idea how bad it is down below the ship.

Miscavige and other VIPs would come at least once a year for the Maiden Voyage yearly gala; senior management would come more often. Id have weeks where Id have two hours a week sleep. Id be assigned as a runner, and Im literally just running after them.

I was in the kitchen holding this platter of food for COB [Miscavige] and he was in the dining room. I literally just fell asleep and dropped to the ground, thankfully, the food stayed on the plate,' she said.

Ramana was also able to witness Miscavige's infamous habits and desires up close.

'You are his servant, you would do any whim he wanted. I remember I had to find Camel non-filters, as he decided he wanted a cigarette late at night. The only place to get them was the airport, but I had to make it happen.

Ten years after joining, in 2004, she was allowed to leave Scientology after hours of completing the official exit procedure. Pictured, in her home in the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney

Ramana has also made a series of emotive artwork about her time in Scientology, created using thick paint coated over her leaving papers from the Church

This piece of art, named Bleeding Eye, 'represents the dichotomy of both the pain of my experiences and the simultaneous emergence of healing and identity'

'One of the few conversations I had with him was in the kitchen, and he came in out of the dining room, and said: So can you do the Macarena? I said: No, sir. He said: Are you sure?" I said no again. I wished I could have danced for him, but I just froze. I was a teenager.

His room had to be perfect, and only ever used by him: COBs room. They had hot water enemas in the shower every day, one for him, one for his wife Shelly.

'He had his own maid, Georgia, and I always wondered if she had to administer the enemas. He was obsessed with stuff like that.

There had to be no smell in the room, no dust, no light, his window had to have special blackout shades. Hed have make-up on, then hed come in after ranting and raving at some of his executives, and hed scream: Put my make-up on, after beads of sweats would be running down his face, spoiling the mascara.

It was like a holiday for him, scuba diving every day, he didnt have to say why he was there, just: Oh, I need to be away from everyone. Sometimes hed just come with his bodyguard and secretary, and Shelly would always be with him.

Finally after five years on the ship, and several failed escape attempts, Ramana threatened to commit suicide with a pocket knife, ironically, engraved with her name and given to her as a Christmas present by the Church.

They didnt realize I was suicidal. I seriously considered it. Id had one holiday in ten years. They were never going to let me leave, I thought it wasnt ever going to get better.

'I felt I was in this prison of an indefinite sentence. I thought I might as well start all over again, after all, we believe in reincarnation. But I just couldnt do it to my mum, though.

Ramana eventually got off the ship after she was deemed a security risk because of her suicide claims. She was moved onto selling Freewind packages across the globe to members of Scientology centres, called Orgs, desperate to go onto the ship and mingle with top celebrities.

I was on a world tour going from city to city, doing promotional events trying to sell packages to Freewinds. Wed have income targets to reach, $50,000 a week, and each week we had to make more money.

'It would cost between $3 and $10,000 to go on the ship, thats for board only, and sharing with three others, no flight, and maybe one basic course.

Despite a partially happy ending, Ramana was forced to disconnect from her mother Jancis, who remains in the Church, which she says made her integration into society that much tougher

'Wed send them in groups from five to 30 people. When they get on the ship, theyd get the hard sell to do more courses. The biggest sell is that you can mingle with the top executives, the VIPs, theyre the ones doing the talks and seminars: "Wow, you get to meet the celebrities like Tom Cruise and David Miscavige!"

I got to travel Europe and the US, which was great compared to the ship. But it was that repetitive selling to the same Orgs and nothing was really changing. It was still the same every time we visited - people are broke, desperate, trying to pay for their Scientology courses.

'Ive seen people whove lost everything, in debt upto their eyeballs, remortgaged their house, and theyd keep paying more, and still be the same person.

I saw this over, and over, and over, again. Hundreds of people. It was then I started doubting everything I held true. I was asking, "What am I doing?"

'I was really passionate: Id got through the Ship, the engine room, the reconditioning program, I thought I was sending people to the ship so they could be happier, better off and become pillars of their community.

'But I didnt see Scientology expanding, taking over the world, I was just seeing people struggling.

And every year, Id have to go back to the ship. Id be security checked, and theyd always find some crime, something wed done wrong while selling the packages, and Id get thrown down into the engine room, time after time.

Ramana couldn't take any more after being sent on another re-conditioning program: this time for selling too many packages.

I finally snapped after we started selling too many of the packages, and we got pulled up that it was anti-Scientology. It was then that I realized I hadnt got control of my own mind. I wanted to leave,' she said.

Ramana's true realization came when she met Jacob, a 'public' Scientologist - or a member who has a career outside of the Church and lives at home - while she was working in Sweden.

He got it out of me that I wanted to leave, and he agreed with me. It was totally forbidden for us to speak about this. I refused to get on a plane back to the ship. I knew that I wanted to be with him,' she said.

Eventually, though, Ramana did board another plane back and she went through more hard labor and studies'.

Finally, ten years after joining, in 2004, she was allowed to leave after hours of completing the official exit procedure.

She had a daughter with Jacob and the pair spent a year in England, but Ramana was desperate to return to Sydney to be close to her father, two sisters and brother.

They didnt realize I was suicidal. I seriously considered it. Id had one holiday in ten years. They were never going to let me leave, I thought it wasnt ever going to get better.

Ramana has also made a series of emotive artwork about her time in Scientology, created using thick paint coated over her leaving papers from the Church.

Despite a partially happy ending, Ramana is still disconnected from her mother Jancis, which she says made her integration into society that much tougher.

Even now Im trying to recover, Ive been mentally unwell, depression, self-harm. Having my dad there, hes an absolute rock, hes so supportive.

'I came back into the world, I felt like an outsider, how do you speak like a normal person?

'I had no normal experience of how to build up a friendship, and what does it mean to have a family? They never wanted you to have a family. People would always say they preferred to stay on the boat than see their family.

Now I have no relationship with my mum, it was very strained for years once Id got out, she was definitely under pressure to cut me off. We disconnected last Christmas.

'We had a final confrontation that she admitted I was going to have to deal with this "Suppressive Person Declare" if we were going to have a relationship. Its called the 88 steps, youve got to grovel to make up "the damage". You could be doing this for years. Theyd want me to go volunteering, get donations for the Church. I couldnt do that. Ive only just got my freedom back.

But Scientology is my mums life, for her to allow her brain to question it now, would almost kill her, I dont know how she would cope with it mentally.

'Its heartbreaking, Ive lost my mum to it. But its almost better that shes in it without talking to me, as she doesnt have this pressure. Scientology policy has forced her to choose between us, its evil.

Its a rock and hard place, if she leaves her religion, theres no reincarnation and shell be damned forever. One day I hope I dont hear that mum has died, but Im mentally preparing myself for it.
Mother-of-two Michelle Allison Fernandez is charged with grievous bodily harm after allegedly stabbing her ex-husband Mark

A mother-of-two has appeared in court charged with repeatedly stabbing her ex-husband in front of their young daughter.

Michelle Allison Fernandez, a former emergency nurse from Perth, is accused of attacking Mark Fernandez in a family park at Shelley foreshore in October 2015.

During the alleged attack, witnesses described to the court hearing the couple's daughter crying out: 'I don't want mummy to go to jail.'

The attack was so severe Mr Fernandez was left with his intestines hanging outside his body, and received severe cuts to tendons and nerves in his hands.

In total, he required 243 stitches - 105 in his upper body, and 138 in his hands, The West Australian reports.

A Perth Court heard on Tuesday that Mr Fernandez was in a park on Shelley foreshore with his daughter and spent around an hour playing 'energetically'.

Fernandez is accused of stabbing Mr Fernandez at a family park at Shelley foreshore, leaving him with his intestines outside his body and needing 243 stitches

He was then joined by his ex-wife and her brother, who had come to collect the girl.

Witness Claire Watkinson, who was at the park that day with her children, told the court she saw the group leaving before hearing a 'guttural' female scream.

Kylie Stone, a primary school teacher who was also in the park with her children, said she heard a man shouting 'help me, help me', according to the Herald Sun.

At first she believed the man was joking, she said, before turning around to see Mr Fernandez on the floor with his ex-wife on top of him.

Ms Fernandez denies causing grievous bodily harm, saying she acted in self-defense after her Mr Fernandez brought a knife to the park and tried to stab her.

Ms Fernandez, a former emergency care nurse, claims she acted in self-defense after Mr Fernandez brought the knife to the park and tried to use it on her first

She claims she managed to take the weapon away from him before using it on him.

Defense lawyer Tom Percy alleged that Mr Fernandez was upset because one of his daughters didn't want to see him, and handing the other girl over tipped him 'over the edge.'

But Mr Fernandez insists it was his ex-wife who attacked him with the 20cm kitchen knife, saying he has 'no idea why she did what she did.'

Ms Fernandez has been kept away from her children for the past 18 months as the case has progressed through court. The trial continues.
Triple execution in Kuwait in April 2013

Shaikh Faisal Al Abdullah Al Sabah was sentenced to death for the murder of his nephew





Kuwait on Wednesday executed seven convicts in the Central Prison, a Public Prosecution spokesperson said.





The convicts, two Kuwaitis (Shaikh Faisal Al Abdullah Al Sabah and Nasra Al Enezi), two Egyptians, a Bangladeshi, a Filipina, and an Ethiopian, were found guilty in cases of premeditated murder, rape or theft and were hanged in application of the verdicts pronounced by courts and upheld by the Court of Appeals and the Court of Cassation and endorsed by the Emir, the spokesperson added, Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) reported.





The convicts were allowed final visits on Tuesday by relatives in the cases of the Kuwaitis and by representatives from their diplomatic missions for the foreigners,





Shaikh Faisal was sentenced to death in October 2011 after the Criminal Court found him guilty of the murder of his nephew Shaikh Basil Salem Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah.





Shaikh Faisal, who worked as a captain in the Kuwaiti army, had gone in June 2010 to visit Shaikh Basil at the Maseelah palace owned by the late Emir. The two princes were sitting together with other people, when the alleged killer told his nephew that he wanted to speak with him in private.





The two princes left the main room and, seconds later, guests heard shots. Upon entering the room, they found Shaikh Basil wounded and promptly took him to Mubarak Al Kabeer Hospital where he was declared dead.





Medical staff said that the prince had been shot several times at close range. The police arrested the alleged killer and started an investigation into the case.





Shaikh Basil, 52, is the grandson of Kuwaits 12th Emir, Shaikh Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah, who ruled from November 24, 1965 until December 31, 1977, and the eldest son of Shaikh Salem Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah and Shaikha Badriya Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah.





His father was Kuwaits ambassador to the United States, Canada and Venezuela from 1970 until 1975. He held the portfolios of social affairs and labour, interior, defence and foreign affairs until 2001 when he gave up political work on health grounds.





The Kuwaiti authorities had ruled out any political motives behind the murder as Shaikh Basil did not hold an official position with the government.





The death sentence was upheld in 2013.





The Kuwaiti woman, Nasra Al Enezi, was sentenced to death after she set in 2009 a wedding tent in Jahra in the suburbs of Kuwait City ablaze, killing 57 women and children.





Investigations revealed that Nasra, 23 years old at the time, had started the fire in an act of revenge against her husband who was celebrating his marriage with a new wife.





The death sentence was upheld by the Cassation Court in 2011.





The Bangladeshi, Mohammad Shaha Mohammad, was sentenced to death in 2009 for kidnapping, rape and theft in Jahra.





The Filipina, Jakatia Pawa , was convicted in 2008 of premeditated murder while the Ethiopian was also convicted of murder in 2008.





One Egyptian, Sayyed Radhi Jumaa, was convicted in 2008 for premeditated murder while the other Egyptian, Sameer Taha Abdul Majed, was sentenced to death in 2009 for murder and theft.

Kuwait carries out first executions since 2013  Reprieve comment

Kuwait has carried out its first executions since 2013, amid a rise in the use of the death penalty throughout the Gulf. The killings come days after another Gulf Kingdom, Bahrain, carried out its first executions since 2010.





According to reports, the authorities in Kuwait executed seven prisoners this morning, breaking a four-year moratorium. The executions follow a recent announcement in Kuwait that the age of eligibility for the death penalty would soon be lowered to 16. The head of juvenile protection at the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry, Bader Al Ghadhoori, announced the proposals during a talk warning students about the use of social media and the internet.





The execution of juveniles is illegal under international law. However, in 2016 Saudi Arabia executed several prisoners who were arrested as juveniles. The Saudi authorities executed a total of 154 prisoners last year, nearing the previous years record total of 158.





At least three Saudis who were children when they were arrested remain at imminent risk of execution. In Bahrain, there are fears for two men who were sentenced to death after they were arrested in the wake of political protests and tortured into confessions.





The executions come as the UK seeks closer ties with the Gulf. During a visit to Bahrain last month, Prime Minister Theresa May told Gulf leaders: We in the UK are determined to continue to be your partner of choice as you embed international norms and see through the reforms which are so essential for all of your people.





Reprieve has urged the UK, and other governments, to intervene to prevent Kuwait from sentencing juveniles to death; and to take action to stop further executions in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.





Commenting, Harriet McCulloch, deputy director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said: "We are witnessing a disastrous resurgence in executions throughout the Gulf  even as the UK claims it is helping to improving human rights in the region. Governments with close Gulf ties  including the UK  must urgently call on Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to halt executions, before more lives are lost.





Kuwait carries out seven executions in deeply alarming setback for human rights

In response to the news that the Kuwaiti authorities have carried out seven executions by hanging this morning for the first time since 2013, Samah Hadid Deputy Director for Campaigns at Amnesty International's regional office in Beirut said:





"Today's execution of 7 people - including 5 foreign nationals - is a shocking and deeply regrettable step backwards for Kuwait.





"By choosing to resume executions now the Kuwaiti authorities have displayed a wanton disregard for the right to life and signalled a willingness to weaken human rights standards.





"The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, degrading punishment. Its use cannot be justified under any circumstances. Instead of resuming executions the Kuwaiti authorities should immediately work to review laws relating to the death penalty and establish a moratorium on executions with a view to ultimately abolishing the death penalty completely."





Kuwait is state party to 8 international human rights covenants. This is the 2nd group of people to have been executed in the country since 2007, the other occasion being in 2013 when Kuwait carried out the execution of 5 non-Kuwaiti nationals.

The 7 people executed today were:

 | 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



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Source: Gulf News , January 25, 2017Source: Reprieve, January 25, 2017. Reprieve is an international human rights organization.1- Mohammad Shahed Mohammad Sanwar Hussain, Bangladeshi national2- Jakatia Midon Pawa, Filipina national3- Amakeel OoKo Mikunin, Ethiopian national4- Nasra Youssef Mohammad al-Anzi, Kuwaiti national5- Sayed Radhi Jumaa, Egyptian national6- Sameer Taha Abdulmajed Abduljaleel, Egyptian national7- Faysal Abdullah Jaber Al Sabah, Kuwaiti nationalAmnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.Source: Amnesty International, January 25, 2017 OFW Jakatia Pawa hanged in Kuwait , January 25, 2017
Monks were given a gift from the heavens yesterday when an RAF helicopter delivered a new fire engine to their remote Welsh island.

The 4x4 fire truck was airlifted three miles across choppy seas by an RAF Chinook onto the home of their monastery on Caldey Island off the Pembrokeshire coast.

Caldey Island was given the vehicle by fire chiefs to serve its 40 inhabitants - 18 of which are an order of Cistercian monks.

An RAF helicopter delivered a new fire engine to a remote Welsh island inhabited by monks

The 4x4 fire truck was airlifted three miles across choppy seas by an RAF Chinook yesterday

The fire engine was transported to the home of a monastery on Caldey Island in Wales

The island off the Pembrokeshire coast was given the vehicle to serve its 40 inhabitants

Some 18 of the 40 inhabitants of the remote island in Wales are an order of Cistercian monks

The red engine was attached by metal hoists to the underside of the huge chopper, and dangled 70ft below as it was carried to the isolated isle.

Wing Commander Phil Greville, the RAF regional liaison officer in Wales, said: 'Air-lifting this type of vehicle underneath a Chinook has not been done before.

'And we were very pleased that the flight trial went according to plan.

'The fire service needed to get a new fire appliance out to the island and we wanted to get this type of fire-vehicle approved for air-lift by Chinook.

The red engine had been attached by metal hoists to the underside of the huge chopper

The fire engine had been dangled 70ft below as it was carried to the isolated isle in Wales

A Mercedes Sprinter style fire appliance next to an old fire tender on the island in Wales

RAF personnel unwrap the fire appliance after it was slung underneath the RAF Chinook

Caldey fire crews and RAF personnel stand by the new Mercedes Sprinter-style fire appliance

Fire risks on the sleepy island include factories, farm buildings and the Grade II-listed abbey

'The rural response pump vehicle is in widespread use throughout the UK.

Islanders experienced a serious fire in 1940 when the monastery suffered major damage

'And, in the future, we will be able to fly it to where it is needed when responding to major floods and other emergency situations.'

The fire appliance will be manned by volunteers from the small fishing and farming community which share the island with the monks.

The monks themselves were once responsible for running the fire service, but it has now been taken over by Mid and West Wales Fire Service.

Fire risks on the sleepy island include factories, farm buildings, churches, the Grade II-listed abbey, and other monastic properties.

Islanders experienced a serious fire in 1940 when the monastery suffered extensive damage.

Rob Quin, assistant chief fire officer at Mid and West Wales, said: 'We are grateful to the RAF and would like to offer a sincere thank you for all their assistance.

'It has been very rewarding to be involved in the air-lift trial and we now have a new fire appliance on Caldey Island.'
Congressional staffer Katie Malone who lost six of her nine children in a house fire in Baltimore has been released from the hospital, fire officials say

A Congressional staffer who lost six of her nine children in a house fire in Baltimore has been released from the hospital, fire officials say.

Katie Malone, a staffer for Rep. Elijah Cummings, was released on Friday from the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, where she was taken after the fire on January 12, the fire department said in a news release.

Killed were 11-year-old Bridgette Anna, 10-year-old Amelia Susan, 3-year-old Amanda Claire, 3-year-old Zoe Julie, 2-year-old William Francis IV, and nine-month-old Daniel George.

The three children who escaped the fire - eight-year-old Erin, five-year-old Jack, and four-year-old Jane - had been released from the hospital earlier.

Malone said on Facebook that the family must plan a funeral 'that is frankly impossible to fathom'.

On the Facebook page Love for the Malones, Katie Malone said 'we must plan a farewell that is frankly impossible to fathom'

The children are all seen in the photograph. Relatives identified Erin (right, in a pink top) as the hero who saved two of her siblings - Jack (the boy wearing glasses) and Jane (left, also in a pink shirt). The other six children died in the massive blaze

On the Facebook page Love for the Malones, the children's mother said: 'I would like to thank everyone for their kind thoughts, prayers and generous donations.

'While it will be impossible to replace everything that we have lost, I am strengthened by the outpouring of love and support my family and I have received.

'I have been released from the hospital and am so thankful to the staff at Hopkins Bayview for the care and support I and my family have received.

'Now, we must plan a farewell that is frankly impossible to fathom. I request and appreciate your discretion and respect during this overwhelming and difficult time.'

Seven of the nine children who were in the home at the time of the fire are pictured. This photograph was shared on an online fundraising page. The three middle children, Erin, Jane, and Jack (left to right) are the only ones who survived the blaze

While her husband was at work, Malone's eight-year-old daughter managed to lead her mother and two of her siblings to safety, but the other six children tragically perished. The family's destroyed home is seen above hours after the fire

Malone earlier said in a Facebook note posted by the Institute of Notre Dame High School's Class of 1992 to honor 11-year-old Bridgette by making art, 10-year-old Amelia by speaking out against injustice and three-year-old twins Amanda and Zoe by solving a problem.

She said people can remember two-year-old Billy by being helpful and nearly 9-month-old Daniel by smiling and laughing.

Malone said not to forget her surviving daughter Erin, 'a spunky super brave little soul' who got her mother and siblings Jack and Jane, aged 4 and 5, out of the house.

Officials say the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

William Malone, the father of the children, has said that he was away at work at the time of the fire.

In a Facebook post earlier this month, Malone listed ways to honor her late children

Malone suggests honoring 11-year-old Bridgette (far left) by making art and 10-year-old Amelia (second from left) by speaking out against injustice. Erin (second from right) and Jack (far right) survived the fire

Through a GoFundMe for the family, more than $339,000 has been raised.

Investigators were examining the possibility that a faulty electric heater caused the catastrophic house fire.

While they have admitted it is too early to say, fire chiefs have said that the inferno could have been started by a simple space heater.

Police and fire services have said the home did have a space heater in it, but also said it is not known if that contributed to the blaze.

Since their release from the hospital, the three surviving children have been staying with their grandparents in Gwynn Oak, Maryland, the Baltimore Sun reported.

Jack (left) and Erin (right) are being wheeled out on a gurney by firefighters

Katie Malone is a staffer for Rep. Elijah Cummings. They are seen together in this photo
A South Carolina politician who has defended the use of the Confederate flag resigned last night rather than be expelled from the Statehouse after being indicted over claims he brutally attacked his wife.

Chris Corley, a Republican, faces a felony aggravated domestic violence charge that could put him in prison for up to 20 years.

House Speaker Jay Lucas read out Corley's resignation letter, which arrived moments before legislation was introduced which would have forced him from his House seat.

Chris Corley was photographed (pictured, left) at Aiken County Detention Center last month after his arrest. He was easily re-elected as Representative in November

'I am grateful that the House did not have to take such extraordinary measures,' said Lucas.

While the state constitution gives the House authority to remove a member for disorderly conduct, the House has not expelled one of its own since the 1870s.

Last month Corley, 36, allegedly beat his wife Heather at their home in Graniteville after an argument broke out when she accused him of cheating.

A police report said he only stopped hitting her because two of their children, aged two and eight, started screaming as she bled.

The report said Corley threatened to kill his wife, pointed a gun at her and then said he would kill himself.

Corley appeared in court in shackles last month. He has since been bailed but faces a felony trial later this year

Corley, an attorney and former lobbyist who was previously best known for his defense of the Confederate flag, was easily re-elected with no opposition to a second term in November.

He was born across the border in Georgia and represents the 84th district, which covers Aiken County, a Republican stronghold. He has also support gun owners' rights and supported Donald Trump in last year's primary.

But his troubles at home became public record through a desperate 911 call the day after Christmas.

In the recording, released by Aiken County Sheriff's Office, a child's voice can be heard saying: 'Please stop...Just stop daddy. Just stop. ... Daddy, why are you doing this?'

On a 911 call released by Aiken County Sheriff's Office one of Corley's children can heard begging him: 'Please stop...Just stop daddy. Just stop. ... Daddy, why are you doing this?'

Legislative leaders repeatedly called on Corley to resign before the Statehouse session began on January 10.

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said state leaders wanted to make clear 'it's not OK to beat up your wife.'

Massey, a fellow Republican, accepted Corley was innocent until proven guilty but added: 'There's a big difference between the criminal and political side. It's a bad thing and we ought to be calling it out.'

Lucas suspended Corley from his seat on January 4 but it was only last night that he finally agreed to resign.

Corley has claimed his wife tried to punch him after accusing him of cheating.

Chris Corley (left) talks to his lawyer, John Delgado at the Aiken County courthouse earlier this month when his bail bond was set at $50,000

He was initially charged with first-degree domestic violence, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and pointing a firearm.

But the grand jury returned a more serious charge of 'domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature', which is punishable by up to 20 years.

Prosecutors said in court Corley threw his wife on their bed and began hitting her in the head, once even biting her nose as their young children stood in the doorway.

Assistant Attorney General Kinli Abee said Corley took away his wife's cellphone so she could not call for help but she managed to make the 911 call on her Apple Watch.

The attack allegedly ended with Corley pointing a gun at his wife and then going to a bathroom, which allowed her to run with her children to her mother's house across the street.

During the 2015 debate on whether to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds, which followed the massacre in Charleston of nine black churchgoers by Dylann Roof, who brandished the rebel banner, Corley mocked his colleagues by suggesting they raise the white flag of surrender instead.

In his Christmas card to House Republicans months later, he told his colleagues they lacked morals for voting to take down the flag, and suggested they 'ask for forgiveness of all your sins such as betrayal.'

Corley claimed it was a joke.

Roof was sentenced to death for the massacre earlier this month.
LAPD officers who fatally shot a mentally ill black man in 2014 will not face criminal charges because they acted in self-defense, prosecutors said yesterday.

The finding from the LA district attorney's office comes more than a year after a police oversight board found the two officers had no legal reason to stop Ezell Ford, 25.

But prosecutors said officers Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas were in fear for their lives and acted lawfully when they shot Ford dead on August 11, 2014.

The shooting happened days after black teenager Michael Brown was killed by a white cop in Ferguson, Missouri, triggering a series of Black Lives Matter protests in Los Angeles.

Speaking after the decision, Ford's mother Tritobia said: 'My son was unarmed. He was murdered, and there will be no justice.

'These officers get off scot-free. They just got away with murder. There is no justice for Ezell.'

A mural and memorial for Ezell Ford, a mentally ill black man who was shot in August 2014

District Attorney Jackie Lacey said: 'The question is did they honestly believe that Mr Ford was about to take out the gun and shoot them? There (are) a lot of facts that indicate that they did.'

Authorities said the officers had approached Ford - who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder - after seeing him in a known gang area and told him they wanted to speak with him.

They said Ford began walking away and the officers believed he was trying to discard an illegal substance.

Prosecutors said Wampler placed his hands on Ford's shoulders before the 25-year-old spun around and grabbed the officer by the waist.

Both Wampler and Ford fell to the ground and started tussling as Ford tried to grab Wampler's gun from the holster on his waist, prosecutors said.

Villegas shot Ford twice during the struggle, but Ford continued to fight with Wampler, District Attorney Lacey said.

Wampler was eventually able to retrieve his backup weapon, which was on his bulletproof vest, and he reached around Ford's body and shot him once in the back.

District Attorney Lacey said: 'This was not some officer who deliberately took out a gun and said, 'I'm going to shoot Mr Ford.'

'This was a struggle on the ground, for a couple of minutes, that was very tense.'

She said one of the most compelling witnesses told investigators they heard an officer shouting, 'Let go of my gun!'

Ezell Ford's mother, Tritobia, sheds tears while speaking at a news conference on Tuesday

Civil rights activist Najee Ali bites his lips while holding a portrait of Ezell Ford at the news conference on Tuesday

Lacey said she called Ford's mother on Tuesday morning before her office released the report on the shooting.

She said Ford's mother was very upset when she informed her they would not be bringing criminal charges against the officers.

Ms Ford said it 'felt like she was reliving it all over again.'

She said the shooting was unjustified and wanted the two officers removed from the police force.

Melina Abdullah, a local organizer with Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles, accused Lacey of ignoring what some members of the community consider a pattern of excessive force within the LAPD.

She told the Los Angeles Times: 'She has refused to prosecute officers who kill our people.

'This case is particularly troublesome given that she did have a Police Commission ruling that said the officers were out of policy. She could have prosecuted them, one would think, more easily than other cases.'

Protesters (pictured in August 2015) chant for Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck's firing during a Los Angeles Police Commission meeting in downtown LA

A police department spokesman said both officers were working 'in an administrative capacity' but declined to comment further.

Wampler and Villegas sued the city this summer, alleging they were being unfairly kept on desk duty, the LA Times reported.

The decision comes after the Los Angeles Police Commission ruled in June 2015 that the officers had no reason to stop and question Ford.

It said violation of department policy led to the altercation that ended with Ford's death.

The commission found Wampler was unjustified in shooting Ford and Villegas was wrong to draw his weapon but acted appropriately in firing it because he believed Wampler's life was in danger.

Following the decision by the district attorney's office, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the officers' union, said it agreed with Lacey's findings and that officers must be able to protect themselves and the public.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has not charged a law enforcement officer in an on-duty shooting since 2000, records show.
Cincinnati Zoo staffers have come to the rescue of a baby hippopotamus who was born six weeks early.

The zoo says 17-year-old Bibi gave birth early Tuesday to the first Nile hippo born there in 75 years.

The female calf wasn't expected until March. At only 29 pounds, she is well below the normal range of birth weight of 55 to 120 pounds and unable to stand to nurse from its mother.

Scroll down for video

A zoo employee uses a bottle to provide fluids to a female Nile hippopotamus calf born to 17-year-old mom Bibi and 35-year-old dad Henry six weeks before the anticipated March due date - she is too weak to stand to nurse from her mother

She is 25 pounds lighter than the lowest recorded birth weight for this species.

Mammals curator Christina Gorsuch said: 'We are giving her fluids and keeping her moist and warm.

'Her little system is underdeveloped, and getting her to a healthy weight will be a challenge. Vets and animal staff are doing everything they can to get her through this critical time.'

Keepers have collected milk from the mother. Gorsuch says they hope to get the newborn to drink its mother's milk and other supplements from a bottle.

The sweet baby female Nile hippopotamus gets her heart listened to while she snuggles with a zoo staff member

Mommy? A zoo employee swaddles an adorable female Nile hippopotamus calf born six weeks too early

The zoo says vets and animal care staff are providing round-the-clock care for the baby of Bibi and Henry, the 35-year-old father.

A video posted to the zoo's Facebook shows the calf heartily sucking from the bottle offered her while a staff member rubs her ears, jaws and legs.

Yesterday, when Bibi showed signs of labor, the staff gave her an ultrasound which confirmed the little one was not going to wait any longer.

Staff were able to collect milk from mom before the birth in order to feed her baby later.

Bibi, left, gave birth to her daughter on Tuesday but the baby was six weeks premature; (right) the baby in utero can be on an ultrasound in January

The little girl hippo seems to be taking to the bottle but staffers said they don't know how long it will be before she is strong enough to go to mama

The premature baby is much skinnier than she should be, and her spine can be seen as she rests on a staffer's knees

'Well continue to milk Bibi so we can provide these important nutrients to the baby and also stimulate production so shes ready to nurse when the baby is strong enough to be back with mom,' said Gorsuch.

The zoo said it wasn't sure how long it would take the baby to become strong enough to nurse on her own.
Farmer Ian Gabbert, 24, of Ulpha, Cumbria, was jailed for 22 months in 2014 for sexually assaulting and grooming a 14-year-old girl

A child sex predator who repeatedly flouted a Facebook banning order has blasted the social media giant for being 'like a drug'.

Farmer Ian Gabbert, 24, of Ulpha, Cumbria, was jailed for 22 months in 2014 for sexually assaulting and grooming a 14-year-old girl.

His criminal history also includes a sexual assault on a girl aged under 13 and taking a child without lawful authority.

Last September he was released on licence and slapped with a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), banning him from using the internet or Facebook to groom children.

But now Carlisle Crown Court has heard that police officers who monitored him discovered he was still accessing Facebook in October.

When challenged, the defendant said: 'It's like a drug to me, Facebook. I can't take myself off it!'

Judge Tony Lancaster said background reports showed Gabbert was lonely and seeking a relationship with a woman his own age.

He told Gabbert: 'The case is a troubling one because of your history.'

The judge said Gabbert should be jailed for his latest breach but explained that background reports allowed him to impose an 18 month suspended sentence.

The court heard that Cumbria Police visited Gabbert twice since his release last September and found him accessing social media via a mobile device.

Further investigation revealed Gabbert had used computers in Carlisle Library on nine occasions to search for people on Facebook.

The court was told in December 2014, a SOPO was enforced for the grooming of the 14 year-old when he was jailed for 22 months.

But in January 2016 he was jailed for 16 months by Judge Barbara Forrester after his fifth breach of that SOPO order, with the judge telling him: 'You are well aware of the seriousness of your position.'

At Carlisle Crown Court Pool, from Penrith, Cumbria, spoke only to confirm his name and enter his pleas

At Carlisle Crown Court he was also given an indefinite restraining order banning him from ever contacting his victim again.

At that hearing last year Keith Thomas, defending, said the breaches where him trying to apologise online to his 14 year-old victim

Mr Thomas said: 'His head was all over the place. He just wanted to make amends to the victim.'

Now a year later he has been sentenced again at the same court, this time for his sixth breach of the 2014 SOPO order.

Last Friday Neil Ronan, his defence barrister, argued there was nothing untoward in his client's use of the mobile phones or social media.

Diagnosed with learning difficulties, the defendant was now working with the Probation Service to address his problems.

He lives and works on his parents' farm in Ulpha, south Cumbria.
A NSW police special constable, who was sacked after telling NSW parliament colleagues about his genital piercing and fondness for a particular sex act, has claimed he was acting within workplace culture when he made sexual 'jokes' on the job.

George Torres, a decorated NSW police employee of about 25 years, contested his unfair dismissal after his termination over sexual harassment and bullying allegations last year.

Torres claims he is the victim of a workplace conspiracy, the Daily Telegraph reported.

George Torres, a decorated NSW police employee of about 25 years, contested his unfair dismissal after his termination over sexual harassment and bullying allegations (file image)

A NSW police special constable, who was sacked after telling NSW parliament colleagues about his genital piercing claimed he was acting within workplace culture

George Torres, a decorated NSW police employee of about 25 years, contested his unfair dismissal after his termination over sexual harassment and bullying allegations (file image)

'At work we have a culture, in the police I call you a name and you call me a name, we swear at work and everything and all that they used against me,' he said.

He denied many of the specific allegations against him but admitted he did make the occasional rude or dirty joke, 'as other officers did'.

Industrial Relations Commissioner John Murphy on Friday dismissed Torres' application, saying there was nothing funny about the man's 'extremely serious' misconduct, which included asking a junior officer if she too liked a particular sex act.

'It is the salacious outpouring onto work colleagues by the applicant of information about his particular sexual proclivities without any regard for the sensitivities of his fellow workers,' he said.

'(His) conduct ... is no joke.'

Torres, who had previously received a bravery award for disarming a mentally ill man in Sydney Police Centre and was the first to apprehend an offender during a bomb scare in Macquarie Street, was originally sacked for sexually harassing numerous colleagues.

He denied many of the specific allegations against him but admitted he did make the occasional rude or dirty joke, 'as other officers did' (file image)

Mr Murphy found Torres had discussed his sexual conquests and the 'existence of ball bearings, rings or piercings on his penis' with colleagues.

Torres admitted he had shown one employee a penis piercing, but only after he had been asked to.

The colleague denied making the request.

He also admitted to talking about the piercing.

'It was just the guys talking so I said it to them. I said I got a piercing on my d*** and whem I go overseas it beeps.'

Mr Murphy rejected claims that there was a workplace culture that condoned Torres' level of misconduct, despite hearing evidence that other officers made inappropriate jokes at times.

He said Torres could not use alleged code of conduct training deficiencies or lack of a formal warning as an an excuse.

'The bottom line is that it was the applicant alone who was responsible for his conduct,' he said.

'It is the applicant alone who must bear the consequences of his misconduct.'

Special constables carry firearms and conduct security tasks at NSW police and government complexes.
Big oil companies are using bogus international petrol price comparisons to justify ripping off Australian motorists.

The federal government is comparing foreign premium unleaded prices with Australian regular unleaded prices, which retailers use to defend their bowser mark-ups.

The Office of the Chief Economist's monthly Australian Petroleum Statistics report has been doing inaccurate global fuel price comparisons, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Australian motorists are being told they have the world's fourth cheapest petrol when it's the seventh dearest

The federal government has been comparing Australian 91 octane regular unleaded prices with 95 octane premium unleaded prices overseas

It means Australia's pre-tax petrol price is listed as the world's fourth-cheapest when it's actually the seventh most expensive among 27 developed economies.

The Department of Environment and Energy has compared Australian 91 octane regular unleaded petrol with 95 octane premium unleaded prices in other advanced economies since early 2010.

A spokesman told News Corp Australia it has recently changed its methodology to compare Australian premium 95 octane with 95 octane prices in comparable nations.

The Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association, which represents major fuel distributors, has previously used the federal government's international fuel price comparisons to argue Australia had the world's fourth lowest petrol prices.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has also relied in this information to argue Australia had low fuel prices by international standards, with chairman Rod Sims saying global comparisons are complex.

Australian fuel distributors have used inaccurate federal government global petrol prices comparisons to justify the hip pocket pain it inflicts in motorists
A mother is outraged after her nine-year-old son had three teeth removed during what she believed would be a simple cleaning.

Shanda Flemming, of Baltimore City, Maryland, was stunned when her son Michael returned home from school in tears with his teeth missing.

'I'm angry about this,' Flemming told CBS. 'I don't think that it should have happened like that.'

Shanda Flemming, of Baltimore City, Maryland, was stunned when her son Michael returned home from school in tears with his teeth missing

Flemming (pictured with her son) said that she had signed a permission slip for dental procedures to be carried out by Baltimore Public Schools, but she was under the impression her son Michael was just going for a dental clean

To make matter worse, the nine-year-old was forced to walk a mile home alone after the procedure made him miss his bus.

Flemming said that she had signed a permission slip for dental procedures to be carried out by Baltimore Public Schools, but she was under the impression her son was just going for a dental clean.

'They just said they was gonna clean my teeth,' Michael said.

His mother says she was never informed that her son would be having such extreme dental work.

'I just don't understand how a school or a company can take it in their hands to do something like this to a child,' she added.

Baltimore Public Schools refused to comment on the tooth extraction, saying they do not provide details regarding students' medical or dental care (pictured is Beechfield Elementary School where Michael is a student)

Baltimore Public Schools refused to comment on the tooth extraction, saying they do not provide details regarding students' medical or dental care.

But they do still have a signed consent for dental services on file for Michael Flemming.

School dental programs have become more common in Maryland after Deamonte Driver, 12, died as a result of an infected tooth in 2007.
Steve Harvey appeared in a federal court on Monday to try to block his old videographer from releasing old comedy tapes

Steve Harvey is trying to block his ex-employee from releasing offensive tapes of his old comedy routines where he says to 'spit on white people.'

The comedian is fighting Joseph Cooper in federal court in Dallas. Cooper and Harvey started working together in 1993 when Harvey hired him to film his comedy shows.

Cooper claims he has 120 hours worth of footage of Harvey performing at his club Steve Harvey Comedy House. This footage reportedly shows Harvey spewing racially insensitive remarks.

Cooper filed the lawsuit for breach of contact with damages amounting to $10million, forcing Harvey to meet him in the Dallas court on January 23.

In one of the tapes, Harvey allegedly exclaims: 'I dont give a s**** about America,' according to Radar Online.

In another, he reportedly tells the audience to: 'Go assault old white women.'

Harvey claims in the lawsuit that Cooper has used these tapes over the years in an attempt to blackmail him.

Harvey denies a contact has been breached with Cooper because he never signed one.

Part of the lawsuit reads: 'The parties also never had any discussions or negotiations regarding Plaintiff using Harvey's videotaped material for purposed of Plaintiff's display, publication or sale.'

Steve Harvey accuses his former employee of trying to extort him with two-decade-old tapes

Court documents show Harvey says he hired Cooper to film his shows for personal use. Harvey mainly planned to use the tapes to develop his routine and for in-house promotions.

Earlier this month Harvey landed in hot water when he joked on his talk show that black and white women don't have any interest in dating Asian men.

The actor and comedian was making fun of self-help books on the program Monday, January 9 in light of the new year, including one entitled 'How to Date a White Woman: A Practical Guide for Asian Men.'

As soon as he read the title and saw the book cover on the screen behind him, Harvey broke down in a fit of laughter that caused him to double over.

Once he finally managed to collect himself after about five seconds, he looked at the audience and asked: 'Excuse me, do you like Asian men?'

That was just a rhetorical question it seems however, as Harvey then said in a clipped accent while twice bowing his head: 'No. Thank You.'

In a message posted on Twitter last Tuesday, Harvey offered his 'humblest apology for offending anyone, particularly those in the Asian community.' He says the jokes were meant to be humorous and no 'malice or disrespect' was intended.

The majority of the remarks from the trial released today are heavily redacted.
The overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Kuwait who had been accused of killing her employers daughter was executed by hanging on Wednesday afternoon, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.





In a press briefing, DFA assistant secretary Charles Jose on Wednesday said Jakatia Pawa, who worked as house helper, was executed at 10:19 a.m. in Kuwait or 3:19 p.m. Manila time.





We have exerted different efforts through the embassy and political departments, Jose told members of the media. We respect the decision of the justice system of Kuwait.





Jose said they have been informed of Pawas execution only on Tuesday, Jan. 24. He added that the victims family was not amenable to the giving of blood money.





Following Islamic rules, Jose said the Filipino workers body might be buried in Kuwait.





Pawa was accused of stabbing her employers 22-year-old daughter while asleep in May 2007 and sentenced to death by Kuwaits Court of First Instance. The verdict was upheld by the Court of Cassation in 2013.





But Pawas camp had repeatedly denied the allegations, saying one of the victims relatives could have perpetrated the killing due to a love affair with a neighbor.





On Wednesday, Pawas brother Air Force Lt. Col. Angaris Gary Pawa said his sister informed him of the execution and bid goodbye to the family through a phone call.

OFWs mourn death of Jakatia Pawa

Jakatia Pawa

As we mourn the death of our fellow OFW, we express our strongest condemnation on the governments failure to save the life of Jakatia Pawa. The previous administrations are guilty of criminal neglect and the current regime is liable of acting too late to stop her execution.





This was the statement of Migrante International after Philippine post in Kuwait confirmed the death of Jakatia Pawa, a domestic helper from Zamboanga del Norte who was sentenced to death in April 2008 for allegedly killing the daughter of her employer. The verdict was upheld by the Court of Cassation in 2013.





Her death is a result of the governments policy of not providing immediate legal assistance to OFWs. We believe that she is not the culprit but the victim of a sorry condition that forced her to work in a foreign land in order to provide a better future for her children. We also believe that she will not have ended up on death row had the Philippine government attended to her case sooner. The government must be held accountable, lamented Mic Catuira, Acting Secretary General of Migrante International.





According to information gathered by Migrante, the knife that was used in the crime did not have her fingerprints on it and there were no bloodstains of the victim on her dress or body that could link her to the killing. Throughout the whole investigation and judicial process, Pawa maintained that she was innocent. The governments failure to provide her a lawyer in the early stages of trial made an unfavorable verdict possible.





Justice must be served, heads must roll! Nananawagan kami kay Pangulong Duterte na imbestigahan ang kaso at sibakin sa pwesto ang mga nagpabayang opisyal, said Catuira.





Migrante also challenged President Duterte to immediately call for a review of RA 8042 as ammended by RA 10022 as it does not guarantee the welfare and security of overseas Filipino workers just like what happened to OFW Pawa. According to Migrantes monitoring, almost 100 OFWs are currently on deathrow and more than 9,000 are in detention, many of those are not provided legal assistance from our government.





To save the OFWs from the perils of forced migration, what the present administration should ultimately strive to do is to decisively deviate from its 4-decade old labor export policy and focus instead on creating decent and sustainable local jobs for its citizens.

Filipina worker executed in Kuwait





The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday confirmed the execution by hanging of overseas Filipina worker (OFW) Jakatia Pawa in Kuwait.





"It is with great sadness that we announce the execution today of Jakatia Pawa, a Filipina OFW in Kuwait," DFA Spokesperson Charles C. Jose said in press conference on Wednesday. "She was executed at 10:19 a.m. Kuwait time," he added.





"Ms. Pawa was sentenced to death by the Kuwaiti Criminal Court on April 14, 2008 for allegedly killing the daughter of her employer," Mr. Jose continued. "The alleged incident took place on May 14, 2007."





The sentence was affirmed by the Kuwaiti Supreme Court on 2010.





"Since 2007, the department has pursued different channels in our effort to save the life of Ms. Pawa, including intercessions led by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo," Mr. Jose continued. "The embassy had always been unrelenting to appeal of the family of the victim given the tanazul or letter of forgiveness in favor of Ms. Pawa, but to no avail."





"The decision of the family of the victim, in this particular case... was not amenable to giving of the blood money in order to issue the tanazul," he added.





"The [Philippine] embassy [in Kuwait] was informed by the authorities only yesterday. They were told that the execution will be implemented today."





6 others were also executed on Wednesday, including Sheikh Faisal Abdullah Al-Sabah, the 1st royal to be executed in the emirate, was convicted of killing another member of the ruling family in 2010 over a dispute.





Jakatia Pawa, a native of Zamboanga Sibugay, left behind 2 children.





She was able to call her brother, Lt. Col. Gary Pawa, on Wednesday morning, to inform him of her execution.





"We pray for her and her bereaved family," Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto C. Abella said in a statement, adding:





"The Philippine government has provided the late Pawa all the assistance necessary to ensure all her legal rights are respected and all legal procedures are followed. The government likewise exerted all efforts to preserve her life, including diplomatic means and appeals for compassion."





"Execution, however, could no longer be forestalled under Kuwaiti laws."





In her statement, Vice-President Maria Leonor G. Robredo said: "We offer our most sincere condolences to the family of Jakatia Pawa."





"We hope to connect with their family and help them through this trying time," she added. "We enjoin everyone to continue working for the welfare of our overseas Filipinos, who sacrifice every day for their family and our country."





Senator Cynthia S. Villar in her statement said she believes Pawa was innocent.





"[Pawa] has professed innocence since the day she was arrested in 2007 and has not changed her statement until now," read Ms. Villar's statement issued before Pawa's death was announced. "The DNA found on the murder weapon did not match Jakatia's DNA, and there was no motive involved since Jakatia has been faithfully and peacefully serving her Kuwaiti employer for 5 years prior to her arrest."





In a separate statement issued after the announcement of Pawa's death, Ms. Villar said: "Instead of finger-pointing, let us come together in making sure that her 2 children will be able to continue their studies. I urge the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to prioritize the grant of assistance to the family of Jakatia."





For his part, Senator Joel Villanueva, chair of the Senate committee on labor, noted in his statement: "At present, there are 68 death penalty cases being faced by our OFWs in several parts of the world."





"It is our continuous call for the concerned government agencies to strictly monitor their cases and prevent another incident like this to happen in the future."

Pawa execution a case vs reimposition of death penalty in PH-CBCP

Triple execution in Kuwait in April 2013

The execution of Jakatia Pawa in Kuwait only stresses that the death penalty should never be reinstated in the country.





This was the stance of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines as bishops expressed their sympathies with the family of Pawa, who was hanged on Wednesday afternoon.





CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop Socrates Villegas extended the CBCP's condolences to the kin of the Filipina, who was executed for allegedly killing her employer's daughter.





In a statement, Villegas expressed sadness at Pawa's fate, which he noted only underscores his abhorrence at capital punishment.





"The fact that Jakatia protested her innocence to the end of her life only underscores the abhorrence at the death penalty. The sadness that we feel at Jakatia's death should make us all advocates against the death penalty," he said on Thursday.





Pawa was executed on Wednesday afternoon in Kuwait for allegedly killing her employer's 22-year-old daughter in May 2007.





Her hanging caught the public by surprise, although the Department of Foreign Affairs said Malacanang was aware of her case and that all efforts were made to save her life.





Balanga bishop Ruperto Santos also expressed sadness at Pawa's death, adding that a life and a dream was lost and shattered.





"Whatever region or religion she is a Filipina. She is one of us. And we are affected. We have to do something. Life matters," said Santos, chairperson of the CBCP's Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.





The prelate urged the government to save other overseas Filipino workers who are imprisoned for various crimes in other countries.





"The government should be not complacent nor rely on last 2 minutes. They have to act, decisively and swiftly for who are incarcerated," he said.





Like Villegas, Santos called on the government not to push through with its plan to reinstate the death penalty for heinous crimes, citing Pawa's plight.





"If there will be penalty in our country, we will lose any moral authority and legality to ask clemency for our Filipinos who are sentenced to death," he added.

 | 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



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Source: inquirer.net , January 25, 2017Source: migranteinternational.org , January 25, 2017Source: Business World Online, January 26, 2017Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net, January 26, 2017
Ten people have died from meningococcal disease in the Hunter Region since 2010, more than three times as many as any other region in New South Wales.

Five people died from the disease in the Hunter-New England region between 2014 and 2015 alone, a period during which other deaths were recorded in New South Wales.

The high number of deaths left health authorities baffled and parents struggling with the harsh reality of losing a child.

Two-year-old Ryder Manulat was one of the 10 people who died after contracting the disease.

Ryder, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome and a congenital heart defect at 2 days old, died from meningococcal disease when he was just two-years-old

Merran Manulat told Daily Mail Australia her son woke up at his Port Stephens home with purple spots and died in hospital just hours later.

'Ryder was taken from us so suddenly. We made the heartbreaking decision to turn his life support off only six hours after the rash first appeared,' Ms Manulat said.

'Ryder's passing, and the image of his little body ravaged by Meningococcal B Septicaemia has left our family devastated.'

'Our beautiful angel grew his wings 11th June, 2014,' Merran manulat said about her son Ryder

Ryder (centre) with his older brothers Hunter (left) and Jett (right) before Ryder died from meningococcal disease

Merran Manulat (pictured with son Ryder) said it was 'heartbreaking' to turn his life support off

WHAT IS MENINGOCOCCAL? Meningococcal disease is a rare bacterial infection that can cause death within 24 hours

There are five major strains  B is the most common

Five to 10 per cent who contract it will die

One in five people will be left with permanent disability

Children younger than five are at greater risk

Signs include flu-like symptoms, and a late stage rash with purple blotches

Spreads through human contact  coughing, sneezing or kissing Advertisement

Two women also died within two days of each other during the 2014-2015 period.

New South Wales Health Communicable Disease Branch director Vicky Sheppeard said the deaths were 'one of those things we can't really explain'.

Looking at short periods of time or small areas there can be apparent clustering, but we believe that is a random thing,' she told The Daily Telegraph.

Ms Sheppeard said there was no logical explanation for the spate of deaths.

She said there was also no problem with parents failing to vaccinate their children against the disease.

But the vaccination on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme prevented the C strain and most deaths resulted from the B strain, a vaccination only available on the private market.

Ryder lived with various health conditions and had to undergo heart surgery when he was just three months old (pictured)

Ms Manulat said her son Ryder's life could have been saved if the vaccination were on the PBS

Ms Manulat has now called for the Australian government to make vaccinations for all strains of the disease readily available and free of cost.

'The Meningococcal vaccine currently on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) does not cover the B strain. The B strain vaccine desperately needs to be added to the PBS,' she said.

'Ryder's death was preventable as there was a vaccine available to save his life.'

Local member for the Hunter region Kate Washington also called for an immediate investigation into why there were so many cases of meningococcal in the Hunter-New England region.

She urged the government to issue an alert to the community.

'If the Hunter has higher mortality rates for meningococcal disease than other local health districts, then the state health Minister should be investigating the cause,' she told the Daily Telegraph.



Signs of meningococcal disease include flu-like symptoms, and a late stage rash with purple blotches (pictured - stock image)

'Ryder's death was preventable as there was a vaccine available to save his life,' Merran Manulat said
Gina Miller is pictured smiling after the Supreme Court ruling that Parliament must vote on Brexit after leading a successful campaign against the Prime Minister's plan to trigger Article 50

The smile on Gina Millers face said it all yesterday.

Posing on the steps of the Supreme Court, an expensive black shearling coat to ward off the morning chill and with large sapphire and diamond earrings glinting in each lobe, the former model turned businesswoman and self-proclaimed philanthropist was in a triumphant mood.

Though her statement to journalists was measured  that bringing her landmark legal case was about the legal process, not the politics  there was no doubting she saw this as a political victory over Brexiteers.

Miller, the subject of countless gushing profiles in newspapers and magazines sympathetic to her cause, has carefully spun her image of a woman  a wife and mother of three as well as a City Superwoman regularly photographed in exquisitely tailored outfits  who fears a treacherous future outside Europe.

And because of her principled stand she has, shes revealed, been the victim of vile online abuse and hideous sexual and racist threats.

Her critics, though, see a shameless publicity seeker, a woman who is using her wealthy (third) husband Alan Millers very deep pockets  despite running a loss-making fund management business together  to defy the wishes of the majority of the British people.

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Some also question her track record in the City, where observers suggest she is determined to be seen as the acceptable face of capitalism: a stellar career as a fund manager and a philanthropist to boot.

So, who is Gina Miller, what exactly is driving her and what is the truth of her claims?

Born into a land-owning family in Guyana, the daughter of the attorney general, Miller, now 51, says she first took an interest in challenging the Brexit process after discussing with a lawyer her belief that the Prime Minister was not allowed under constitutional law to remove citizens rights without parliamentary consent.

The mother of three, pictured with allies outside the Supreme Court, claims her role as a figurehead of the campaign has led to sexual and racial threats

The Supreme Court judges, pictured, voted 8-3 in favour of Ms Miller's argument that Parliament must have a vote on leaving the EU

It was, perhaps, not an unexpected position for someone with a law degree as had been claimed on two company websites and an online brochure.

On the website of her firm SCM50, the following statement appeared: Gina has three degrees in marketing, human resource management and law.

A similar statement appeared on her Moneyshe website and in an online brochure for SCM Direct.

In truth, Gina Miller does not have a law degree. She did study for one at the University of East London, but left before sitting her final exams. (She does have the two other degrees.)

When asked about the discrepancy, her lawyers told the Mail she was unaware of the false claim prominently displayed on the website and said the responsibility for the mistake lay with a freelance copywriter.

Nevertheless, that reference to a law degree is included in some of the flattering profiles compiled with her co-operation, including one in the anti-Brexit Financial Times.

Separately, controversy has surrounded the business activities of her second husband, the maverick entrepreneur Jon Maguire.

During their time together, he and Miller set up a marketing company and she was a co-director with him of another business, Capital Communications Consultancy.

Critics have described Ms Miller, left and right, as a 'shameless publicity seeker' going against the wishes of the nation

She claims to have a law degree on two of her websites but never actually sat her final exams

Maguire was investigated by City regulators in 2011  after he had separated from Miller  over one of the most notorious City investment scandals of recent years when investors complained they had been misleadingly sold high-risk investments.

He was exonerated, but two fund managers were heavily fined.

No evidence was found against Maguire, and he has always maintained he was unfairly treated by the authorities.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme paid more than 58 million in compensation to hundreds of victims.

A man with extreme Right-wing views, Maguire stood for the little-known English Democrat party in the 2010 General Election on an anti-EU platform and lost his deposit.

He once said homosexuality is a cul-de-sac for the human race. Such views were diametrically opposed to those of Miller, who was until recently a long-time Labour supporter.

She has subsequently said that during their relationship, he subjected her to physical attacks.

In an interview last year, Miller told The Mail on Sunday: I am fairly fearless because of horrific experiences in the past. Im a victim of domestic violence. Having survived that it makes you fearless.

I survived for a reason  to be who I am now and to speak up when I dont think things are right.

Maguire, a fervent Christian, has denied her claims and retorted that she had a drink problem  an allegation she says is totally false.

Of course, she argues that such personal details are irrelevant to her legal challenge.

Ms Miller, pictured, founded her company SCM Private with her husband in 2009 but it has yet to register an annual profit

But as the self-proclaimed poster girl for Remain with two successive legal victories to her name that have far-reaching implications for the British people, it is reasonable to subject her life and work to scrutiny.

One important element in this is her own financial expertise. An investigation of the investment firm, SCM Private, shows that it has run up large losses since she and Alan Miller founded it in 2009.

It has yet to register an annual profit and has made total operating losses of more than 2.3 million.

The couple explain the losses by saying that they are investing in new technology and in growing the business.

They say it is running at so-called cash break-even  meaning its income is covering operating expenses.

There is no risk of SCM going under: the accounts note the Millers intend to support the firm for the foreseeable future, which they can well afford to do.

In the meantime, Ms Miller has taken occasional potshots at rival firms, denouncing them for charging high fees and for bamboozling savers with jargon.

She has a fair point, of course: rip-off charges and gobbledegook are shamefully common in the financial services industry.

But competitors have responded with counter-claims of double standards by Miller and her husband because they say their firm, SCM, has failed to disclose the size of the fund it is managing for clients, despite her own calls for more transparency in the industry.

The couple claim the performance of their three main sterling portfolios has been good over the past year, beating their target benchmarks.

Rivals, though, are sceptical  though, of course, this may be sour grapes. Either way, SCMs failure to hit the big time is not for want of trying.

The Millers have worked hard to acquire new clients among Londons assorted wealthy individuals, aristocrats, the nouveaux riche and foreign oligarchs.

Early on, they worked with Alexander Spencer-Churchill, a nephew of the Duke of Marlborough and a distant relative of Winston Churchill, in the hope he would bring in extra blue-chip business.

Though he had a contacts book of A-list names, he stepped down as a director in September 2009 after just nine months.

Another recruit was Lady Emily Compton, who is married to Ed Horner, a business partner of Pippa Middletons fiance James Matthews.

The former social editor of Tatler, Lady Emily was hired as an introduction agent  but stepped down as a director in 2012.

Whatever the issues in Gina Millers own business, they have not stopped her criticising others in the financial world.

Ms Miller, left and right, has also criticised charities for financial inefficiency in a 2015 report for her own charity the True and Fair Foundation, with the Charity Commission later describing the report as 'flawed'

In a report for her charity, the True and Fair Foundation, in 2015, she rebuked other charities for financial inefficiency, claiming that 1,000 organisations spent less than half their income on good works.

Inevitably, many of them were contemptuous of its findings. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations said the report wilfully misrepresented the facts.

More specifically, its director of public policy attacked Miller, saying for her it seems self-promotion trumps accuracy.

Even more damning, the Charity Commission described her report as flawed.

As City insiders point out, Ms Miller is not a finance expert by trade, but a marketing woman.

Indeed, finance wasnt her first choice of profession. Initially, she wanted to be a criminal barrister, but set up several marketing companies before moving into investment management.

She has lived in the UK most of her life, having been sent here by her parents at the age of ten and later attending Roedean, the elite girls boarding school in Sussex.

Likening the place to the German prison camp Colditz, she moved to another boarding school called Moira House.

She has said it was nicknamed Moron House because it produced some very strange girls. We were all very single-minded.

Because of political turmoil back home in Guyana, she was for a time left to live in a flat and fend for herself, working as a chambermaid to support herself.

She married her teenage sweetheart at the age of 21, but the relationship broke up, and Miller has said that by 1994 she was reduced to living in a one-bedroom flat in North London, where she was paying her way through university for a second time, studying law.

All I could afford was bread and baked beans, she has said of that time.

I did everything I could to make money from leafleting for phone shops to working at Pizza Express.

After the break-up of her first marriage, Ms Miller, pictured outside the Supreme Court, said she worked for phone shops and Pizza Express, as well as modelling jobs. She is now married to a man thought to be worth around 40million

She also did occasional modelling jobs. That is clearly no longer the case since she married Miller, who is said to be worth around 40 million.

He is the investment brains of the SCM operation, having made his fortune at fund management firms Jupiter Asset Management and New Star, which is where he met Miller in 2003.

Three years later he was involved in a bitter divorce case, during which he appealed unsuccessfully against a 5 million settlement awarded to his ex-wife Melissa.

Today, Ms Miller lives in a large house in South West London, bought three years ago for 7 million, and the family has a French holiday home.

Despite her wealth and overseas parentage, she says she has not claimed non-domicile status in order to save on her tax bill.

Gina Miller sees herself as what she calls a conscious capitalist who believes in the three principles of profit, people and the planet.

Critics, though, say her legal challenge against Brexit was partly motivated by an insatiable hunger for self-promotion and that a fourth principle should be added to her three Ps namely publicity hungry.
The majority of the country are about to enjoy a one day off work for Australia Day.

But for those who are working right up until Thursday, might not have had the chance to stock up the fridge ahead of the celebrations.

With the national holiday fast approaching, it might be worth checking the opening hours for all your last-minute shopping.

So what will be open on Thursday?

Most major retailers and supermarket giants will remain open but in some states, restrictions on trading may apply.

Service stations such as Caltex and 7-Eleven will remain open for those needing to fuel up between family events or one-day road trips.

And most bottle shops remain open but hours may differ at particular chains.

Daily Mail Australia has compiled a list of opening hours at major retailers - as well as events happening around the country.

The majority of the country are about to enjoy a one day off work for Australia Day on Thursday

Australians will be celebrating the public holiday at family barbecues, beaches and parks

Westfield

More Westfield shopping centres around the country are open on Thursday.

Despite the public holiday falling on a late night shopping day, most Sydney centres will open between 10am to 6pm.

However, hours may differ at some stores at other states, including Melbourne and Brisbane (10am-5pm), Perth (11am-5pm) and Canberra (10am-4pm).

Unfortunately for Adelaide, Westfield will be closed.

Westfield shopping centres around the country are open on Thursday but not for Adelaide

Woolworths

The majority of supermarket giant Woolworths around the country will remain open on Thursday.

More Sydney stores will trade between 7am to 10pm.

But hours may differ at some stores in Melbourne, including Southbank (8am-9pm), Flinders Street (7am-12am), Prahran (7am-11pm) as Bourke Street will be closed.

The majority of Woolworths around the country will remain open for Australia Day on Thursday

Last-minute shoppers in Adelaide will be able to grab their grocery at Rundle Mall between 11am-5pm and Hackney (24 hours), but particular stores will be closed.

Most stores in Brisbane will be open between 9am to 6pm and Perth (8am-9pm) and Canberra's Queanbeyan (7am-10pm) - but hours may differ for the rest of the state.

All stores in Darwin will be open but hours may differ around the state.

Coles

Most Coles stores around Sydney will be open - but hours differ at particular locations, including Castle Hill and Chatswood (7am-10pm), George Street (8am-9pm) and North Sydney (8am-8pm).

Most of Melbourne will remain open but hours may differ so contact your local store.

Most Coles stores around the country will remain open - but hours differ at particular locations

The majority of stores in Brisbane will operate between 9am-6pm but hours may differ at particular shops.

Only a handful of stores in Adelaide will be open, including Grote Street (11am-5pm) and Rundle Place (11am-5pm) - and Victor Harbor and Mount Barker (8am-8pm).

Tasmania's Launceston store at the Racecourse will be open between 6am to 10pm.

Aldi

There are no changes to trading hours at stores across New South Wales and Victoria.

Aldi stores in NSW and Victoria will operate at the usual times while times differ in other states

All stores in Canberra will operate between 8.30am to 8pm, most shops in Brisbane will open between 9am to 6pm but hours may differ at particular stores.

Majority of South Australia will be closed, apart from Berri (8.30am-9pm) and Mount Barker (8.30am-9pm).

Most of Western Australian will open between 8.30am to 5pm - but hours differ at particular stores, including Mandurah, Halls Head and Australind.

Despite all stores opened in Sydney on Thursday, Leichhardt will be closed.

Dan Murphy's will remain open for most of Australia Day, including Sydney and Melbourne

Alcohol

Dan Murphy's will remain open for most of Australia on Thursday.

Sydney stores will operate between 9am to 7pm while Melbourne (9am-9pm), Brisbane (9am-8pm), Adelaide, Canberra and Perth (9am-7pm), Darwin (9am-8pm).

BWS will remain open around the country but hours may differ at particular stores.

All 7-Eleven stores will be open 24 hours in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra

Petrol Stations

The majority of Caltex will remain open for 24 hours in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Darwin.

But for Adelaide, Caltex will operate between 6am to 10pm, and Hobart (7am-7.30pm).

All 7-Eleven stores will be open 24 hours in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra and most BP petrol stations will also remain 24 hours open.
A Queensland mother has said her daughter cried and grabbed her throat after taking Nurofen that tasted like 'biting into a chilli.'

Alicia Holder has warned parents to test medicine before giving it to their kids after her three-year-old daughter Riley suffered an adverse reaction to Nurofen for Children.

After seeing her daughter in pain, Ms Holder thought she should test the medicine herself.

A Queensland mother has said her daughter cried and grabbed her throat after taking Nurofen that tasted like 'biting into a chilli'

Alicia Holder (left) has warned parents to test medicine before giving it to their kids after her three-year-old daughter Riley (far right) suffered an adverse reaction to Nurofen for Children

Ms Holder and her husband Greg said they suffered a 'suffered a spicy burning feeling' at the back of their throats.

'It was like he'd (Greg) bitten into a chilli. He even started coughing,' Ms Holder told Kidspot.

Ms Holder took to Facebook to issue a warning to parents.

'Fellow parents, just a small warning about the children's Nurofen,' she wrote.

'Bought this bottle brand new yesterday afternoon and gave Riley a dose. She instantly cried and grabbed at her throat.'

'Myself, Greg and my brother all had small tastes and suffered a spicy burning feeling at the backs of our throats.'

The post has since been shared over 50,000 times and attracted a number of comments.

'My kids now aged 10 and 8 could never take it. One instantly vomited whenever he was given it. The other told me it hurt her throat,' one mother wrote.

Ms Holder took to Facebook to issue a warning to parents

Ms Holder (right) and her husband Greg (left) said they suffered a 'suffered a spicy burning feeling' at the back of their throats

'It happened with my 9 month too. Please update me when you find out what's wrong with it,' another said.

Ms Holder has since contacted the manufacturer who asked her to return the bottle.

'I am not stating that the product is faulty as I'm not a pharmacist. I am asking parents to taste test their product and then make an informed decision as to whether or not they want to give to their child,' she said.

Nurofen said they had been made aware of the 'customer concern regarding the after-taste of a Nurofen for Children product in Australia.'

'We are always concerned to hear of a consumer experience that is not as we would expect from our products,' a spokesperson for the company said.

'We take the health of our consumers very seriously and are looking into the case as a matter of priority.'
Fried chicken lovers were desperate to get their hands on a KFC scented candle after it was released last year.

But while some fans of the Colonel's original recipe were keen for the smell of greasy chicken to fill their homes, not many thought of eating the candle itself... or so you might think.

A group of chicken aficionados have now decided to put the scented candle to a taste test - and the results were rather surprising.

Finger lickin' good? A group of chicken aficionados put the KFC scented candle to a taste test - and the results were rather surprising

'That's pretty tasty': One man was particularly enjoying the taste of the fried chicken candle

Newshub asked the willing volunteers to eat the wax, with most of them liking it.

'That's pretty tasty,' was one man's verdict.

'It tastes like KFC's original recipe. Kind of peppery, kind of a bit of spice going on,' he added.

One woman was slightly less impressed, but while she may not have totally enjoyed the taste of the candle, she still thought it was 'edible'.

So far only one of the KFC scented candles has been released to the public, as part of a competition

When lit, the candle is supposed to produce a mouth-watering aroma of the 11 herbs and spices used in KFC's secret original recipe (file picture)

So far only one of the KFC scented candles has been released to the public, as part of a competition in New Zealand.

But another is soon to be auctioned off to raise money for Surf Life Saving New Zealand.

When lit, the candle is supposed to produce a mouth-watering aroma of the 11 herbs and spices used in KFC's secret original recipe.
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Ten-year-old Thalia Hakin is being laid to rest in a funeral five days after dying in the Bourke Street mall car rampage.

Hundreds of mourners lined the streets of St Kilda East, Melbourne, during a procession for Thalia on Wednesday beforehand.

Her nine-year-old sister Maggie, with a bandaged leg and in a wheelchair, attended the funeral against expectations - both she and her mother Nathalie have been in hospital since the tragedy on Friday.

Thalia was one of five people killed when a man allegedly deliberately drove into lunchtime crowds in Melbourne's central business district.

'She was a child of light, pure in spirit, truly spontaneous and true,' one rabbi told the crowd at the funeral.

One of her teachers recalled her as 'sparky, vivacious and colourful', while her father, Tony, said she was: 'pretty inside and she was pretty on the outside'.

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Bourke Street mall tragedy victim Thalia Hakin, 10, will be farewelled on Wednesday, January 24 with a memorial and funeral

Thalia will be laid to rest in a private funeral after a procession visits her school - where about 1000 people are expected to gather

Thalia's sister Maggie arrives at a memorial at Beth Tivkah Ladies College on Wednesday morning. About 1000 people were expected to attend

Thalia's Maggie was comforted as she arrives - bandaged and in a wheelchair - for the memorial

Large crowds gathered to farewell Thalia as a procession moved through East St Kilda on Wednesday

A huge procession gathered before Thalia's funeral in Melbourne on Wednesday

Mr Hakin remembered his daughter's piercing, beautiful blue eyes and said there wasn't enough he could say about Thalia - but said: 'from the day she was born until the day she died, that girl gave me pride and she gave me joy'.

'I've lost a little girl... My family has two legs, the left leg is Maggie and the right leg is Thalia. Now I'm hobbling along on one leg.'

From the day she was born until the day she died, that girl gave me pride and she gave me joy. Tony Hakin, Thalia's father

He said his wife would have wanted to be at the funeral to remember their little girl, however, she was still too ill to leave hospital.

'I'm really, really sorry Nathalie can't be here. It was very, very hard to do this,' he said.

Mr Hakin said he didn't believe his daughter had suffered when the car hit her.

'Thalia copped the full brunt of it,' he said.

'I think she fairly much died instantly, I don't think she would have known much about it.'

When he got to Bourke St he saw a body lying under a blanket, with blood coming out from under it. It was his daughter.

He said only 'pure evil' could have taken Thalia from her family.

'She was something special to everybody who ever met her,' Mr Hakin said.

Mourners embrace as they gather to farewell Bourke Street Mall tragedy victim Thalia Hakin, 10

Mourners gathered at Thalia's school before forming a procession to her funeral on Wednesday

Since the tragedy, her father has been running from one hospital to another to see Maggie and Mrs Hakin while dealing with the loss of his daughter, Rabbi Yehoshua Smukler said.

Before the funeral, a procession visited her school - where about 1000 people were expected to gather - before continuing to the funeral, the Herald Sun reported.

Thalia Hakin, 10, died in the Bourke St Mall tragedy on Friday

More than one million dollars has so far been raised for victims through various crowdfunding sites, with $80,00 raised for the Hakin family.

Three-month old baby Zachary Bryant was the first of the victims to be farewelled.

At a service on Tuesday, his parents described him as the most beautiful, loving, happy and perfect little baby.

'He leaves us with the best three months and 14 days of wonderful memories spent in this world,' they said.

Matthew and Nawwar Bryant said their two-year-old daughter Zara was also injured but is in a stable condition.

Matthew Si, 33, Sydneysider Jess Mudie, 22, and a unnamed Japanese national, 25, also died in the attack.

It's understood Mr Si's family will be holding a private funeral.

Eighteen people remain in hospital including two listed in a critical condition on Tuesday.

Dimitrious 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas, 26, was charged with five counts of murder on Monday and is likely to face more charges as police continue their investigation.

The accused man was on bail at the time of the offences.

Mourners prepare for a procession for 10-year-old Thalia Hakin on Wednesday morning

Mourners arrive at Thalia's school, Beth Tivkah Ladies College in East St Kilda, for her memorial

People pay their respects at at Bourke St Mall in Melbourne where a tribute to the victims of the tragedy has been set up

Floral tributes at Bourke St Mall for victims in Friday's attack, where thousands of flowers have been left

A driver - allegedly Dimitrious 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas - in a vehicle before the incident on Friday, January 20

The Victorian government is in the midst of reviewing bail laws, announcing on Monday that bail justices would be scrapped for serious matters and a new night court set up with on-call magistrates to deal with bail applications.

Senator Derryn Hinch on Tuesday called for 'dithering Dan' Andrews to recall parliament immediately to change the law and give senior police the power to remand offenders as they are 'familiar with the offenders they are dealing with'.

Parliament is due back on February 7.

A vigil was held at Federation Square on Monday, where thousands came to mourn the victims and a large floral memorial has amassed on Bourke Street.

Victorian's have also increased inquiries about learning first aid, with St John Ambulance saying calls about their courses had gone up 20 per cent following the attack.

Gargasoulas' case is due to return to court on August 1 for a special mention.
A 'media seeking' Russian translator who attended President Trump's inaugural celebrations in Washington DC has been accused of being the source of an unverified dirty dossier about his links to the Kremlin.

Sergei Millian, who a Belarus-born businessman, allegedly told friends he was in Moscow in 2013.

Explosive claims he is accused of making include the allegation Russian officials had a video of him engaging in lewd, sexual acts with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel room and that there was a 'conspiracy of cooperation' between Trump and the Kremlin.

Millian's allegations were fed on to Christopher Steele, the British ex-MI6 spy who compiled the dossier, sources close to the report told The Wall Street Journal.

President Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen undermined his credibility and claims to have written to him to warn him to stop posing as an approved Trump associate.

'You too are seeking media attention off of this false narrative of a Trump-Russia alliance,' he said in an email to Millian where urged him to 'stop attempting to inject yourself into this crazy, Clinton campaign lie.'

Millian, 38, who lives in New York and works as a real estate broker, has in the past boasted that he and Trump enjoy a business friendship and that he served as an 'exclusive broker' for the Trump Organization in the sale of properties in Russia.

Sergei Millian, pictured with the president at Gulfstream Parl Race Track in Miami in 2014 (left) and at his inauguration (right) last week has been accused of being the source of the dirty dossier

The president's lawyer Michael Cohen insists no such friendship exists and that he has asked Millian to stop publicly representing himself an approved associate.

Millian refused to answer questions on the phone on Tuesday night, instead insisting that all correspondence be carried out over email.

None of DailyMail.com's questions were immediately answered by the man who describes himself as a specialist in 'representing foreign investors in the USA' for the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce, a company he set up to boost business relations between the two countries.

The 35-page dirty dossier was a damning report full of uncorroborated allegations about President Trump's apparent links to Russia and Vladimir Putin.

It was leaked after his November election victory and was originally commissioned as a dirt-finding mission by his political enemies.

The Trump administration has not yet addressed his ties to the dossier but in the past shot down his claims to have a business relationship with the president.

Millian has for years boasted in Russian media to have worked alongside the billionaire, once describing himself as the 'exclusive broker' for Trump apartments in the country.

He told Russian media outlets they first met in 2007 when President Trump attended the 'Millionaire Fair'.

Millian then visited the businessman in Florida, accepting his invitation to the Gulf Stream Race Track where he claims he 'asked about Russia'.

The pair posed with billionaire property developer Jorge M. Perez at the track and Millian later shared it online under the caption 'Troika' - a Russian word for three colleagues or associates.

They later met at Trump Tower, he claims, where he was introduced to Michael Cohen, the president's personal lawyer and the lawyer for Trump Organization.

Millian at President Trump's inaugural celebration last weekend in photographs he shared proudly on social media

President Trump (pictured in the Oval Office on Tuesday) has denied the dossier's allegations that he cavorted with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel room during a 2013 visit

Cohen denied ever meeting the boastful broker on Tuesday. 'Ive never met the guy,' he told ABC.

'I have spoken to him twice. The first time, he was proposing to do something. Hes in real estate. I told him we have no interest. Second time he called me I asked him not to call me anymore.'

President Trump has repeatedly insisted that he has no business interests in Russia.

In social media photographs posted this week, Millian appeared at the Freedom Inaugural Ball, one of the events celebrating President Trump's inauguration.

Tickets to the ball were available to the general public online for $50. Thousands attended and watched as the newly sworn-in president danced with his first lady to My Way.

Millian previously boasted about helping the president market branded condos in Russia, shooting down his campaign claims not to have any vested interest in the country.

He previously appeared on Fox News to discuss Russia's relationship with the US

Millian's social media pages are littered with pro-Trump articles and photographs of him meeting prolific US politicians. He is seen above with Senator John McCain in 2014

Another of the real estate broker's photographs shows him posing with former president Jimmy Carter

'The level of business amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars -- what he received as a result of interaction with Russian businessmen,' he told ABC as part of an investigation into Trump's business presence in Russia.

He has also appeared on Fox News and Russian television networks to discuss America's relationship with the Kremlin.

Millian claims to have attended the Academy of Business Administration by the President of the Republic of Belarus and graduated from Minsk State Linguistic University with a degree in Foreign Languages and Diplomacy.

Millian, 38, lives in New York City. He would not answer questions about his ties to the dossier on Tuesday night

In 2005, he was appointed Director of the Russian American Federation, a charity which seeks to 'encourage interest in and understanding of Russian heritage among all communities in the US, as well as to promote reciprocal interest in and understanding of American heritage among global Russian-speaking communities.'

After traveling the world in his role to give speeches about Russian business, he moved to the US and began working as a real estate broker at the firm Nestseekers.

Among his listings were Grace Kelly's Upper East Side Townhouses, put on the market in 2013 for $48million.

Millian holds two leases in his name in New York City. One is a $2,000-a-month studio apartment in a doorman building on the Upper East Side close to Central Park.

The other is in Astoria, Queens, and is registered to his business, Millian Group Inc.

He also owns and operates Interchallenge Translation Services and is Vice President at thee World Chinese Merchants Union Association - a Beijing-based private company.

Millian's real estate company has offices in Atlanta, Georgia, and overseas in Belarus, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Bulgaria, China, Jordan and Russia.

President Trump has vociferously denied the unverified allegations in the dossier which was leaked after his November election victory.

Steele went into hiding after it was released and has not yet surfaced to address the scandal publicly.
The first legal cargo from Cuba in 55 years has arrived in the United States.

Two containers containing a total of 40 tons of artisanal charcoal arrived Tuesday morning at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale aboard a Crowley Maritime ship called the K-Storm, reports the Miami Herald.

The special charcoal is made from Cuban marabu by private, worker-owned cooperatives. Marabu is an invasive woody species from Africa that is considered a nuisance on the island.

The charcoal arrived on the K-Storm at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday

The charcoal is called a 'very highly efficiently burning charcoal' by Jim Pyburn, director of business development of Broward County.

The specialty charcoal can be used for fueling pizza and bread ovens and will be sold to restaurants and online throughout the US.

The exports are legal under a rule change by the Obama administration that allows the importation of some products produced by independent Cuban entrepreneurs.

The United States has imposed a trade embargo on Cuba for more than half a century.

The first legal shipment of product from Cuba to the US was nothing that remarkable - artisanal charcoal

'It's an opportunity for new jobs down the road,' said Pyburn. 'It's something we can enjoy for the first time, and hopefully help the Cuban people.'

'This is truly a momentous occasion,' said Scott Gilbert, who chairs a firm that helped put together the deal said last month. 'Now US consumers will be able to purchase this product, as have Europeans and others for many years.

More importantly, this marks the beginning of a new era of trade between the United States and Cuba.'

The artisanal charcoal is made from marabu, which is considered a nuisance on the island

'The importer hopes to have regular shipments' of the charcoal, Jay Brickman, vice president of government services and Cuba service at Crowley Maritime told the outlet.

But the 'new era of trade' might be short-lived under President Trump who said he might roll back the trade deals that Obama made with Cuba before he left office unless the US is given better deals.

Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson said he will be reviewing all Obama's deals regarding Cuba.

Port officials are preparing to receive a business delegation from Cuba later in the week.
The sole white woman running for the job of Democratic National Committee chair said part of her job would be to shush other white people up, so that voices of color could be heard.

Sally Boynton Brown, who's currently the executive director of Idaho's Democratic Party  a state she joked was 'so white, right?'  suggested that those volunteering and leading the party needed 'training' to have hard conversations about race.

'We have to teach them how to communicate, how to be sensitive and how to shut their mouths if they are white,' she said last night at a forum on race with the other six DNC candidates led by MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid.

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DNC chair candidate Sally Boynton Brown (pictured) gave a boisterous speech last night about race relations, suggesting that white people needed to shut up and listen

Brown was broadly critical of the Democratic Party's dealings on race, saying at the forum  held in D.C. last night at the George Washington University  that leaders had failed if there's even a question about embracing the Black Lives Matter movement.

Of course they should be for it.

'We have to accept that there is prejudice that exists within our own party and we have to be able to have that conversation,' she said.

'We cannot sweep that under the rug, we can't continue to hide it, we cannot smash voices down when they are trying to scream listen to me, you don't get it,' she continued.

'I'm a white woman, I don't get it,' she proclaimed.

She suggested that her job, as a white American, should be to listen  and check her privilege.

Better known candidates running for DNC chair include President Obama's former labor secretary Thomas Perez (left), who was pro-Hillary Clinton in the primary, and Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (right)

'My job is to listen and be a voice and my job is to shut other white people down when they want to interrupt,' she said.

'My job is to shut other white people down when they want to say, "Oh no I'm not prejudiced I'm a Democrat, I'm accepting,'" she continued.

'My job is to make sure that they get that they have privilege and until we shut our mouths and we listen to those people who don't ... we're not going to break through this,' she went on.

As Democrats look to who will fill the shoes of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who resigned as DNC chair on the eve of the Democratic National Convention over the email hack, much has been made about the party losing Midwestern white voters.

A trio of Democratic-leaning Rust Belt states  Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania  allowed for there to be a Republican President Donald Trump.

A handful of newcomers are challenging the old guard to become DNC chair including South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a 35-year-old openly gay veteran

DNC chair candidate Jehmu Greene argued that the Democratic Party did a 'piss poor pathetic job' engaging young people of color during last year's race

But last night's conversation centered around how the Democrats improve their standing in communities of color, as some have also argued that Hillary Clinton could have won if she had gotten younger voters, including black and Hispanic millennials, to the polls.

Brown appeared alongside two better-known candidates, former President Obama's ex-Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, who had supported Clinton in the primary, and Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., a big Sen. Bernie Sanders supporter, who's also one of only two Muslim members of Congress.

Beyond that, a number of up-and-comers are running to become the face of the anti-Trump opposition.

There's Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, who is black.

Two party chairs are also in the race: Jaime Harrison (left) who leads the Democrats in South Carolina and Raymond Buckley (right) in charge of the New Hampshire Democratic Party

There's Raymond Buckley, an openly gay, older, white politician who chairs the New Hampshire Democratic Party.

Jehmu Greene, is a black female Democratic leader, known for being a commentator on Fox News Channel.

And finally, Pete Buttigieg, a white gay veteran, who is the current mayor of South Bend, located, as he put it, in 'Mike Pence's Indiana.'

Buttigieg talked about how the Democratic Party has a 'salad bar problem.'

'We think the only way to speak to somebody is one group at a time,' he noted.

Greene made a similar point, but with a caveat.

'We have to do a better job as Democrats engaging Americans of all hues, genders, generations and backgrounds,' she said during her opening remarks.

'But, I will be very blunt, the DNC did a piss poor pathetic job of engaging young people of color in the 2016 election,' she argued.

Brown piggybacked on this with her eyebrow-raising remarks.

'This is not just rhetoric, this is life and death,' Brown argued.

'We need to make sure that our actions and our words and our values all match and around the issue of race we are so far out of alignment I don't even know the way back,' she said.
Lord Reed, pictured, was one of three Supreme Court judges to vote in favour of the Government starting the Brexit process without going to Parliament

Three of the 11 Supreme Court judges dissented from its majority ruling on Article 50 yesterday, with one warning his colleagues over the risk of intruding into politics.

Lord Reed said the court should have upheld the Governments appeal and allowed Theresa May to fire the starting gun on Brexit without first going to Parliament.

The judge said, in his opinion, it was not always constitutionally appropriate for the judiciary to interrogate political issues.

Doing so was fraught with risk, not least for the judiciary, he added, appearing to suggest that in doing so the courts risked provoking a public backlash.

Eight of the judges  including the courts president, Lord Neuberger  concluded a new law was required to give the Prime Minister power over Article 50, which begins the two-year process of leaving the European Union.

Ministers argued Mrs May did not need the approval of MPs and peers, and was entitled to use ancient prerogative powers.

The majority ruling concluded that triggering Article 50 would result in changes to domestic law  and ultimately would remove some rights which being in the EU gives to UK residents.

As a result, they said the Prime Minister required explicit parliamentary authority to start the Brexit process.

But in his minority opinion, Lord Reed  whose view was backed by Lord Carnwath and Lord Hughes  disagreed.

He argued that the 1972 European Communities Act simply translated EU law, which is the result of treaties signed by ministers, into domestic legislation.

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Lord Hughes, left, and Lord Carnwath, right, supported Lord Reed and ruled that the public referendum should be enough to trigger Brexit

And in a clear warning against judicial activism, he wrote: Courts should not overlook the constitutional importance of ministerial accountability to Parliament.

Ministerial decisions in the exercise of prerogative powers, of greater importance than leaving the EU, have been taken without any possibility of judicial control: examples include the declarations of war in 1914 and 1939.

For a court to proceed on the basis that if a prerogative power is capable of being exercised arbitrarily or perversely it must necessarily be subject to judicial control, is to base legal doctrine on an assumption which is foreign to our constitutional traditions.

It is important for courts to understand that the legalisation of political issues is not always constitutionally appropriate, and may be fraught with risk, not least for the judiciary.

It is important for courts to understand that the legalisation of political issues is not always constitutionally appropriate, and may be fraught with risk, not least for the judiciary Lord Reed, Supreme Court judge

Lord Carnwath argued that leaving the EU would undoubtedly require Parliament to pass legislation. But he added that the process, including the form and timing of any legislation, can and should be determined by Parliament not by the courts.

That involves no breach of the constitutional principles which have been entrenched in our law since the 17th century, and no threat to the fundamental principle of parliamentary sovereignty, he said.

Lord Hughes said the referendum result undoubtedly has enormous political impact but not direct legal effect.

He argued that leaving the EU did not alter the 1972 Act  it just meant it ceases to operate because there are no longer any treaty rules for it to bite upon.

Lord Reed, 60, one of two Scottish members of the court, has spent a significant proportion of his adult life working in European institutions, including the European Court of Human Rights.

Married with two daughters, he was educated at George Watsons College in Edinburgh, and Oxford University.

The Supreme Court judges, pictured, voted eight to three in favour of Parliament voting on the process of leaving the EU

Lord Carnwath, 71, served as a legal adviser to the Prince of Wales from 1988 to 1994, when Charless marriage to Diana was disintegrating. He was a High Court judge from 1994 to 2002.

Lord Hughes, 68, is seen as a traditionalist in the court. He attended Durham University and was made a QC in 1990.

He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2013, having served as a Crown Court recorder and a High Court judge.

Responding to the ruling, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith accused the Supreme Court of deciding to tell Parliament how to run its business and said Britains judges were already politicised.

He suggested there should be Parliamentary hearings for judges appointed to the court.

Theyve stepped into new territory where theyve actually told Parliament not just that they should do something but actually what they should do, he told BBC Twos Victoria Derbyshire show.

I think we should have something like the American hearings because we are creating a court which is challenging Parliaments supremacy. Parliament should have the final say on the appointments.

Professor Richard Ekins, head of the Policy Exchange think-tanks Judicial Power project, said the ruling was not justified by long-standing legal principle.

He praised the minority opinion, saying: It is encouraging that at least some justices saw through the claimants strained legal arguments The Supreme Courts judgment was not required to vindicate parliamentary sovereignty and is not supported by that fundamental principle of our constitution.

While the Courts decision is a mistake, not a conspiracy, it is very sad that on such a public stage a majority of the Supreme Court has fumbled the law.

AND HERE ARE THE EIGHT WHO OPPOSED MINISTERS

Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, President of the Supreme Court: Eurosceptic MPs called for Lord Neuberger to stand down from the Brexit case after it emerged that his wife Angela had dubbed the referendum mad and bad on Twitter. However, the Supreme Court stood by him. Lady Neuberger  a TV producer and one-time Labour aide who has made films for the EU  sent another tweet after the June 23 vote, saying that it seems unlikely a PM could trigger Article 50 without Parliaments approval. Her husband has praised the influence of the EU on British laws and said in 2013 that he would oppose withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights. Lady Hale of Richmond, Deputy President: The most senior female judge in British history, Lady Hale faced criticism for a recent speech in which she suggested that the Government could be forced to replace the European Communities Act before it could trigger Article 50, potentially delaying Brexit for years. The Supreme Court said she was presenting both sides of the argument to an audience of law students, and had not breached its guide to judicial conduct. In a 2015 speech in Oxford she spoke favourably of the process allowing European courts to overrule British ones. Her second husband Julian Farrands son Ben was an activist in the Remain campaign. Lord Wilson of Culworth: He has been accused of straying into areas traditionally decided by politicians including extending human rights law to change rules regarding assisted suicide. He sided with the Government in a high-profile case at the Supreme Court when he dissented from colleagues who voted to overrule the Government by ordering the release of Prince Charless so-called black spider letters to ministers. Lord Hodge: One of two Scottish justices, Lord Hodge has no known professional links to the EU or European institutions. But his son George was an ardent Remain supporter. Mr Hodge, who works for the UN, tweeted in June to say that the Leave campaign was one of the most disgraceful spectacles in modern British political history. Lord Clarke of Stone-Cum-Ebony: At 73, Lord Clarke is the oldest member of the Supreme Court. In 2000, he conducted the inquiry into the sinking of the Marchioness in the Thames in 1989, in which 51 people died. He has no known ties to the EU or European institutions, and has opposed attempts by the court to subvert Parliament. Lord Mance: The 73-year-old represented the UK on the Consultative Council of European Judges, which advises the Council of Europe, for more than ten years. His wife, Dame Mary Arden, 70, serves as an Appeal Court judge, a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and is an ad hoc judge on the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore: The 68-year-old former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland once sat as an ad hoc judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. He has insisted that the Supreme Court judges are not influenced by their personal views on the EU, adding: We are not involved in reaching decisions based on anything other than the legal principles as they are presented to us. Lord Sumption: Said to be the most Eurosceptic, he said in a 2013 speech that the European Court of Human Rights exceeded legitimate powers and undermines the democratic process. He was one of the highest paid barristers before his 2012 appointment to the court, and is the only one who had not previously served as a full-time judge. Advertisement




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Nicola Thorp (pictured) was ordered to wear heels of between two and four inches high when she worked as a receptionist

Company dress codes like those that ask women to wear high heels should be outlawed, MPs said yesterday.

Under proposed measures, employees who successfully argue they suffered discrimination would be awarded big compensation payouts.

Injunctions, like those used to shield the sex lives of celebrities, would also allow employment tribunals to force companies to stop enforcing dress codes as soon as a complaint is made.

Plans to order an instant end to codes that dictate what kind of shoes, clothes or make-up an employee should wear would have an impact on a string of industries. Staff are routinely required to wear uniforms or meet dress standards in sectors including retail, airlines and hospitality.

The call from MPs on both the Commons petitions and women and equalities committees follows the row last year over the case of 27-year-old Nicola Thorp, who was ordered to wear heels of between two and four inches high when she worked as a receptionist at accountancy giant PwC.

The agency for which Miss Thorp was working, Portico, has since changed its dress rules.

However, a Commons petition following the outcry attracted 150,000 signatures, prompting an inquiry by MPs.

Their report said: The existing law is not yet fully effective in protecting employees from discrimination at work. MPs said they had heard evidence from hundreds of women who described the pain and long-term damage caused by wearing heels for long periods as well as those who were required to dye their hair blonde, wear revealing outfits or told to constantly re-apply make-up.

The women and equalities committee, headed by former Tory Cabinet minister Maria Miller, and the petitions committee said the Government had done too little to tackle the issue. The subject was last raised in Parliament in 2011, when Theresa May  the women and equalities minister at the time  said dress codes encourage a sense of professionalism.

Currently the law says such rules are wrong if they are unreasonable or treat some employees less favourably than others. But Mrs Miller said: Many employers do not see it as a priority to be aware of their legal obligations in this area.

Employers appear to risk non-compliance because the likelihood of any serious consequences are minimal. MPs said wearing heels for long periods could change womens gait and cause knee, hip and spine problems, as well as the condition osteoarthritis.

THE SHAMED MP BEHIND A STRING OF BUSYBODY MOVES Maria Miller (pictured) is a former minister who fell from grace following an expenses scandal in 2012 The MP pushing for a change in the law heads a Commons committee responsible for a string of radical plans. Maria Miller, a former minister who fell from grace following an expenses scandal in 2012, is chairman of the women and equalities committee. Under her leadership, it called in January last year for a legal right for anyone over 16 to change sex without the need to consult a doctor. Transgender people would also be able to record their sex in a passport as x. In March, the committee said new fathers should be offered three months paid leave, despite an estimated 400million a year cost to business. And this month it announced a new inquiry into laws to encourage fathers to stay at home with newborns. Mrs Miller rose to be culture secretary in David Camerons Coalition government. But in 2012, the 52-year-old former advertising executive was reported to have claimed 90,000 for a South London house where her parents lived. She stepped down in 2014. Advertisement

The report highlighted examples in which women were expected to wear stilettos while carrying shop stock along stairways, climbing ladders and making emergency evacuations of aircraft.

The document said workers could also suffer unwanted sexual attention, while rigid gender stereotypes could make some workers, especially gay and lesbian staff, feel uncomfortable.

MPs said new legislation should substantially increase the financial penalties for employers found by employment tribunals to have breached the law.

They called for new guidance, issued by July, to deal with the most controversial dress codes  including heels, make-up, manicures, hair styles, tights, see-through clothing, low-fronted tops and skirt length.

The agency for which Miss Thorp (pictured) was working, Portico, has since changed its dress rules

A new law could also set out the legitimate aims of a dress code policy  including health and safety issues and preventing workers adopting a style that may cause offence.

On injunctions, MPs said: In the context of dress codes, [they] could be awarded to stop an employer requiring workers to comply with a certain dress code. The order would be in force while a case brought by a disgruntled employee was decided by a tribunal.
A 64-year-old accused pervert will face court on Wednesday after he allegedly indecently assaulted a group of young girls at a popular coastal tourist spot.

The young teenagers were at rockpools in Kiama, south of Wollongong, when the man approached them on Tuesday afternoon.

The man spoke to the young girls before he allegedly molested them and attempted to flee.

The young teenagers were at rockpools in Kiama, south of Wollongong (pictured)

A 64-year-old accused pervert will face court on Wednesday after he allegedly indecently assaulted a group of young girls at a popular coastal tourist spot (file image)

Concerned bystanders stopped the man from getting away after seeing the alleged assaults and called the police.

He was later charged with four counts of indecent assault of a person under the age of 16.

He will appear in Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday.
Deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has been slammed for telling people who can't afford houses in Sydney and Melbourne to move to the country.

The Nationals leader told ABC Radio National that people who can't afford a home in Sydney should consider moving to regional and rural areas, where property is cheaper.

'I get annoyed when people talk about that the only house that you can buy apparently is in Sydney and it's too dear,' Mr Joyce said.

Deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce (pictured) has come under fire for suggesting people who can't afford houses in Sydney and Melbourne to move to the country

'There are other parts of Australia. I live in one, it's called Tamworth.'

'Houses will always be incredibly expensive if you can see the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Just accept that,' Mr Joyce said.

He said houses were much cheaper elsewhere, giving examples of Tamworth, Armidale and Toowoomba.

'Sydney's wonderful and so is Melbourne. The trouble is so many people think it's wonderful that the price of houses is incredibly expensive. But there are other parts of Australia,' he said.

The Nationals leader told the ABC that people who can't afford a home in Sydney (pictured) should consider moving to regional and rural areas, where property is cheaper

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured) said 'a good society gives people choices', adding that if people live and work in Sydney and want to buy a house, then they should be able to

'I did move out west so I can say this - if you've decide you've got the gumption in you and you want to move [west], you're going to have a very affordable house. If you say 'I want a really affordable house in Mosman', well, don't we all.'

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has said young people will listen to Barnaby Joyce's views on housing affordability and say 'he's got to be kidding'.

'Sydney's housing is unaffordable an hour's drive from Sydney... to suggest people should just move to Charleville or Tamworth, seriously,' Mr Bowen told ABC radio on Wednesday.

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen (pictured) criticised Mr Joyce's views on housing affordability and said young people would think he was joking when they heard his comments

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has shrugged off Mr Joyce's suggestion priced-out Sydneysiders should pack their bags and head bush for an affordable home.

'A good society gives people choices,' she told ABC Radio on Wednesday.

'What I've articulated as one of my top three priorities of housing affordability is that the average person, who works in Sydney - if they want to buy a home in Sydney - it shouldn't be out of reach for them,' Ms Berejiklian said.

Ms Berejiklian wants to make housing affordability a key pillar of her time as premier.

She said the biggest challenge with regards to housing in Sydney and New South Wales was supply, and there were not enough houses coming on the market to meet demand.
Eurostar banned the Daily Mail for exposing a security threat that allows passengers to reach Britain without identification.

A manager wrote to staff telling them not to display this newspaper on services between London and the Continent.

The measure  in place yesterday and on Monday  was criticised by security experts and MPs.

Eurostar bosses have banned the Daily Mail from being displayed on their services to France

The Mail reported on Monday the ease of which potential terrorists could sneak into Britain

On Monday, the Mail exposed a significant flaw in the Brussels to London via Lille service, whereby passengers are able to travel from Belgium to the UK without passports or identification.

Those wishing to exploit the loophole purchase a ticket for a peak early-evening service between Brussels and Lille  where they are not required to show a passport because of the EU's passport-free Schengen Agreement  and simply remain on the train to London.

Single tickets for the trip are normally unavailable, but this newspaper managed to complete the journey twice by purchasing an 'abonnement'  a monthly commuter pass  for 240, which allows travel at peak times. Up to one month's worth of single tickets between Brussels and Lille on Eurostar's peak service can then be purchased for just 2.60 each.

Identification was not required for the abonnement and the Mail managed to purchase one pass in cash using a hotel address.

A security measure used during off-peak hours of segregating Lille-bound passengers into one carriage is abandoned for the line's busy 5.56pm weekday service to London. Home Secretary Amber Rudd acknowledged on Monday that the Mail had exposed 'a very serious matter'. Eurostar initially insisted it was adhering to Home Office guidelines.

But it bowed to pressure yesterday and released a statement saying all passengers on the 5.56pm service would be subject to the same security measures as passengers on quieter services.

Among other measures, full ID checks were announced for all passengers leaving the train at London St Pancras. A Eurostar spokesman said: 'The number of season ticket holders will be counted as they enter and disembark from the train and any discrepancy will be immediately reported to the UK Border Force who will then take action.'

Rory Geoghegan, founder of the Centre for Public Safety think-tank, said: 'The safety of the public is too important to be airbrushed out when the realities may be embarrassing.

'Britain  and mainland Europe  face a significant terrorist threat. Eurostar would do better to focus on fixing flaws rather than attacking the messenger.'

The 'Lille loophole' was first discussed during a House of Commons debate in 2001. A Eurostar worker said: 'Eurostar are angry it's now in the public domain because they could have closed the loophole at least two years ago.'

A Eurostar spokesman said: 'To be clear, there is no ban on the Mail on our trains or on board. There are occasions when we might choose not to display something in our departure lounges or on board, and the stories in the Daily Mail which implied a link between our service and terrorism is an example of this.

'We take our security and immigration requirements very seriously.'
A senior U.S. Secret Service agent said she wouldn't want to take a bullet for President Trump.

Kerry O'Grady, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Denver district, was a vocal opponent of the Donald during his campaign.

She has made several posts on social media in the past year criticizing Trump, saying he would be a 'disaster' for the country - particularly for women and minorities.

And in October, she posted that she would rather go to jail than 'take a bullet' for Trump - although she avoided referring to him by name.

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Kerry O'Grady (left), the special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Denver district, was a vocal opponent of the Donald (right) during his campaign

'As a public servant for nearly 23 years, I struggle not to violate the Hatch Act,' she wrote, referring to the act that bars executive branch staff from engaging in certain political activities.

'So I keep quiet and skirt the median. To do otherwise can be a criminal offense for those in my position. Despite the fact that I am expected to take a bullet for both sides.'

She continued: 'But this world has changed and I have changed. And I would take jail time over a bullet or an endorsement for what I believe to be disaster to this country and the strong and amazing women and minorities who reside here. Hatch Act be damned. I am with Her.'

'As a public servant for nearly 23 years, I struggle not to violate the Hatch Act,' she wrote, referring to the act that bars executive branch staff from engaging in certain political activities

Secret Service employees are covered by the act which bars people from posting partisan messages on social media, or sharing and disturbing partisan material, according to the Washington Examiner.

In operational security training, agents are warned against the use of social media because it can expose their personal information and their movements, sources say.

That post triggered at least one complaint to the Secret Service, those sources added.

The Secret Service confirmed that they are aware of O'Grady's tweets and are 'looking into the matter.'

O'Grady told the Examiner she took down the post just a couple of days after it was posted.

She explained that she wrote the post shortly after learning that Trump was being accused of sexually abusing a number of women. It was just days after the notorious video of Trump telling Access Hollywood' host Billy Bush he could grab women 'by the p***y.'

As a survivor of alleged sexual abuse, O'Grady said she had written the message while overcome with emotion by the news.

O'Grady has also made numerous other posts criticizing Donald Trump during his campaign - and even after his election

But she took down the post after realizing 'it was not the sentiment that I needed to share because I care very deeply about the mission.'

'My government is the most important thing to me,' she said. 'I serve at the pleasure of the president, but I still have the First Amendment right to say things.'

However, that was not the only anti-Trump post O'Grady made.

Over the past few months, she has made multiple political comments showing her support for Democrat Hillary Clinton and criticizing Trump.

O'Grady previously shared a Huffington Post story with the headline: 'Scott Baio Defends Trump's Sexism with More Sexism', with her comment; 'One word: douche. How do you like them apples?!'

A month after her 'bullet' post, she shared a Vox post, headlined 'Donald Trump nominates Jeff Sessions to serve as attorney general' on which Vox commented 'Just a few years ago, this would have been unimaginable.'

O'Grady, who removed the post a couple of days later, said she wrote it after being overcome with emotion following Trump's 'grab them by the p***y' video

O'Grady wrote: 'We are moving our civil rights into a period of bigotry, misogyny and racism that this country has not tolerated for decades. Dark ages. I am horrified and dismayed beyond words.'

Even after Trump's election, the agent continued to post.

During the Women's March, she posted the logo for the movement as her Facebook cover. She later posted: 'All of these women represent me! Proud to say it! #nasty,' referring to the phrase Clinton supporters referred to themselves by after Trump labelled Hillary a 'nasty woman.'

On Inauguration Day, she updated her profile picture to a picture of Princess Leia with the words, 'A woman's place is in the resistance' - a reference to the rebel alliance in Star Wars, or those opposing Trump's presidency.

All political posts have since been removed.

O'Grady said this week that she is devoted to her mission to serve her country and that nothing would stop her from doing her job.

'I hope you understand that's an emphatic no,' she said when asked if he political stance would affect her job, 'and I need to make sure that's resoundingly clear and just reinforces that this job needs to done well.'
A New Zealand father and daughter started an incestuous relationship when she was 16 and had two children together.

Dunedin District Court Judge Kevin Phillips has ordered the pair to stay away from each other for two years as they were sentenced for incest for the second time, the Otago Daily Times reports.

The 37-year-old New Zealand man's 23-year-old daughter was born after he had a sexual relationship with his foster mother when he was only 13 and she was 30.

A New Zealand father and daughter started a sexual relationship when she was 16 and had to children together (stock image)

The incestuous pair had their first child in 2012 and a second in 2013 which died (stock image)

The judge described their incest as 'very serious repeat offending which strikes at the heart of what the community would consider right and proper conduct'.

The father had little to do with his daughter when she was growing up but entered into a sexual relationship with her after they reunited in 2010 when she was 16.

They were first convicted in 2012 following the birth of their first child.

The daughter gave birth to a second child in June 2013 but three months later, the baby died of sudden infant death syndrome, stuff.co.nz reported.

A DNA test concluded the incestuous father and daughter were the dead baby's biological parents.

DNA tests proved the father and daughter were the biological parents of the baby which died in 2013 (stock image)

They appeared in Dunedin District Court on Wednesday morning, with the father sentenced to six months community detention and two years' intensive supervision.

His daughter was sentenced to two years' intensive supervision.

The pair had troubled upbringings marred by sexual and physical abuse.
Lives will be put in jeopardy if a 3.8billion project to introduce a new communications network for the emergency services is a flop, a damning report warns today WED.

Ministers have embarked on a high-risk scheme to replace the current Airwave radio system used by fire, police and ambulance crews.

In future, 999 crews will share a super-fast commercial 4G network run by mobile phone firm EE with the public.

MPs are concerned that ENS, which will be used by the 105 police, fire and ambulance services in the UK, may not meet security needs

But in a scathing report, the Commons Public Accounts Committee expressed concern about moving on to the controversial Emergency Services Network (ESN) because the unproven technology risked potentially dangerous failures.

MPs are concerned that ENS, which will be used by the 105 police, fire and ambulance services in the UK, may not meet security needs.

The committee urged the Government to address real security concerns about the communications networks ability to function on the London Underground  to avoid the risk of call blackouts.

Critics have warned that during the 2011 riots and the London bombings in 2005, mobile services across the capital crashed under the sheer volume of use.

MPs demanded the Home Office put in place independent testing of the ESN technology to ensure it works under pressure in a live environment.

The PAC report said: Good communications can make the difference between life and death for both emergency services personnel and the public.

Delays in introducing a new radio system for the emergency services may cost taxpayers 475million a year, the report warns.

The report revealed that the EE network currently covers only 74 per cent of Britain compared with 97 per cent covered by Airwave

MPs said the target date of 2019 to replace the radio system was unlikely to be met. Emergency services chiefs said they were less than 50 per cent confident the system would be delivered on time.

The report revealed that the EE network currently covers only 74 per cent of Britain compared with 97 per cent covered by Airwave.

Ministers insist 999 crews will have priority over other phone users on the system and allow emergency workers to receive faster internet connections to download data available using the latest smartphones.

They also said Airwave should not be switched off until it can be shown ESN would work to the satisfaction of the police, fire and ambulance services.

Meg Hillier, Labour chairman of the committee, said: The stakes in this programme are extremely high. It is absolutely right that emergency services will not commit to using ESN in potentially life-or-death situations until they are convinced it works.

Questions continue to hang over the technology, not least how it will operate on underground rail systems in London and elsewhere - high-risk environments that present unique challenges in emergencies. These must be addressed urgently.

She added: It is critical for public safety and achieving value for money that the Government has a firm grasp of the implications of delays in its timetable and a costed plan to tackle them.

Giving evidence on the introduction of ENS last year, the Governments national technology adviser Liam Maxwell told how he was being kept awake at night by his concerns about bringing in the new system on the Tube.

In October, a review by Lord Harris of Haringey of Londons readiness for a terrorist attack also expressed concern that the new system might not operate effectively on the Tube.

A Home Office spokesman said: The new Emergency Services Network (ESN) will give the dedicated professionals who work so hard protecting the public and saving lives the most advanced communications system of its kind.

Police, fire and rescue and ambulance crews will be able to do their work more effectively with ESN and the new system will deliver significant savings for the taxpayer.

The timescales are ambitious because we want to get the most from technology that will help save lives, but we are clear that no risks will be taken with public safety and the existing Airwave system will continue until transition on to ESN is completed.
Allo Allo star Gorden Kaye died after a secret two-year fight with dementia that left him unable to recognise his family.

The comic actor, 75, died from kidney failure at his care home on Monday morning, but his family has claimed that his passing was a 'blessing' because he would never have recovered.

The husband of Kaye's cousin Sheila, Raymound Shuttleworth, who visited star two weeks before he died, said: 'He has not been well for a while but he was coping and it was renal failure which finished him off.

Actor Gorden Kaye, best known for BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!, died aged 75. He is shown with 'Allo 'Allo! stars Sue Hodge, Kim Hartman, Kirsten Cooke, Vicki Michelle and Carmen Silvera

'We were warned it would be fairly fatal. I don't feel too sad because it was a blessing he died. No way was he going to get any better.

'He had also been diagnosed with dementia two years ago and he didn't recognise us any longer and just talked a lot of nonsense. He didn't even recognise himself. But he had amazing staff looking after him, they have been absolutely incredible.

'He had no brothers or sisters, just a few cousins, he never got married and was a lone survivor till the end. And it was just a case of surviving and he was very lonely. That is all very sad.'

Retired college lecturer Raymond, 86, paid tribute to his famous relative as 'a brilliant actor, a comic genius, who brought a lot of joy to many people.'

He said: 'It is a shame. He made his contribution more than most and he is still making people laugh today.'

Kaye was best known for his role as Rene Artois in the popular BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo which made light of the Nazi occupation of France.

The BAFTA nominated comic actor also appeared in Last of the Summer Wine, Are You Being Served?, Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

Raymond added: 'He always appreciated his fans saying 'They're my bread and butter' and he always stopped to sign autographs in the street.'

Actor Gorden Kaye, pictured with co-star Vicki Michelle, died at his care home in Yorkshire

Only child Kaye described himself as a 'shy, gay and overweight boy' and he remained a bachelor. He has very few surviving family members left.

Raymond and grief-stricken wife Sheila, 84, from Coalville in Leicestershire, are now busy planning the actor's funeral in the star's home town of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

They hope his former co-stars including Vicki Michelle will attend.

Michelle posted on Twitter: 'So sad to hear news of Gorden Kaye. A brilliantly talented actor consummate professional, loved the world over. There'll never be another Rene.'

Father-of-two Raymond said that sadly many of his friends snubbed him since he had gone to live in a care home.

He said: 'Not many people from London visited him, just one or two but not recently, they just seemed to forget about him. Me and my wife went up whenever we could but we're too old to drive and it's difficult by train and taxi.'

Their son Ian, 56, visited him last week at the Thistle Hill Care Home in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.

Raymond said: 'Ian told me he was just sat in a chair and didn't look well at all.'

'Allo 'Allo!'s Vicki Michelle led the tributes to Kaye. She wrote on Twitter: 'So sad to hear news of Gorden Kaye. A brilliantly talented actor consummate professional, loved the world over'

He told how the tee-total star  who cheated death in a horrific car crash in 1990 - 'smoked a bit but never touched alcohol.'

Raymond explained: 'He had moved to a big house in Yeadon near Leeds in 2000 and lived all alone there then spent the last years of his life in three different care homes, moving into Thistle Hill four or five months ago.

He recalled his last visit, saying: 'Gorden was sat up and talking but he didn't know us any more, he was saying all sorts of things but it didn't mean anything. He was in his own little world, one assumes he was unhappy but he was at that stage with the dementia that he may just not be aware.'

Raymond told how staff from the care home called him and housewife Sheila to break the news at 11am on Monday.

He explained: 'He had been all on his own. An hour later news of his death was all over Twitter and I thought 'How on earth has that got out so quick?' '

He added: 'I like to remember sitting with him and talking to him and remembering what a brilliant actor he was. 'Allo 'Allo was his best role. He was in 84 episodes of that which have been shown across the world and Germany was the last country to take it which is ironic as the show took the mickey out of the Germans.'

Raymond fondly recalls being invited to screenings with his wife on many occasions. He said: 'We were in the audience a lot at one time and did he make us laugh.

'He may have been forgotten by his acting friends but he'll never be forgotten by us, his family, and his legions of fans.'
Sir Oliver Heald, pictured, said no changes would be made to the Human Rights Act until after a deal on Brexit was agreed

Proposals to axe the Human Rights Act have been shelved until Brexit negotiations have been completed, ministers have confirmed.

Sir Oliver Heald said Government plans to scrap Labours hated legislation would be kicked into the long grass until Britain has secured a deal to leave the European Union.

It raises the prospect that the act  which has been exploited by foreign criminals, terrorists and others  may not be dealt with until after the general election in three years time.

But it spares Prime Minister Theresa May the potential headache of a troublesome Parliamentary battle when she is focused on getting the best deal for Britain after the historic Leave vote.

Ministers were quizzed over Tory plans to shake up the human rights laws during Justice Questions in the Commons yesterday.

Justice Minister Sir Oliver told MPs: We are committed to reforming our domestic human rights framework and will return to consider our proposals once we know the arrangements for our exit from the EU.

It is the first time that the Government has officially acknowledged that it is shifting away from David Camerons plan to introduce a British Bill of Rights.

Ministers were concerned that the bill would leave the UK in the grip of the European Court of Human Rights.

Instead, the Conservatives will campaign on a manifesto promise to leave the jurisdiction of the court, which is separate from the EU.

Ministers will try to put the content of the European Convention on Human Rights - which the Strasbourg court oversees - into British law.

This would replace the Human Rights Act but with the distinction that foreign criminals and terrorists would have no right of appeal to Europe.

It means Theresa May, pictured, will avoid a potentially troublesome Parliamentary battle

Protection could be written into the new regime to stop soldiers being hounded by lawyers over their actions in war zones.

Senior ministers say this is the best option and will achieve the ex-prime ministers aim to end meddling by foreign judges.

Mrs May has spoken in the past of her desire to quit the ECHR, which for a time frustrated her plans to deport hate preacher Abu Qatada.

But insiders have said she has decided that she cannot start that fight with the prospect of negotiating Britains exit from the European Union set to dominate Parliament over the next few years.
As soon as Remainers barrister Lord Pannick entered the supreme court at 9.25am, five minutes before kick-off, it was obvious how the verdict had gone.

Pannick was beaming with self-pleasure, two creamy dimples in his cheeks.

Contrast the pink, pressed look of his opponent Jeremy Wright, the Attorney General, who came beetling in three minutes later, flustered.

The verdict itself (like the whole case?) was an anti-climax. Lord Neuberger delivered it briskly, his diction lightly furred.

Lord Neuberger, pictured delivering the Supreme Court's verdict on the Brexit ruling today

The 11 judges voted eight-to-three in favour of forcing the Government to put the triggering of Article 50 to Parliament

The Government cannot trigger Article 50 without Parliament authorising that course, he said.

His fellow beaks, sitting in black, Mastermind-style chairs, betrayed no emotion.

They were arranged semi-circular in a room oddly lacking British majesty. It felt like a continental tribunal, the sort of thing you see at the Hague.

Behind Lord Neuberger stood a scruffy usher with some glasses round his neck.

The only reaction I saw, apart from a shake of the head by Mr Wright, came from a thickset activist near the back who clenched both fists and then started to pump hands with colleagues.

The spectacle was over in less than ten minutes. With that, the real action began: The TV grandstanding outside, where a knot of pro-Brussels protestors, one in a beret, chanted We love EU and waved a blue flag.

Ready for your close-up, Miss Miller. Roedean Remainer Gina Miller, frontwoman for this legal campaign, was done up in a chi-chi sort of fur coat.

Little Lord Pannick was next to her. He had to shimmy a few steps left to be in TV shot.

Meanwhile, the judgement document named the main lawyers involved. There were 57 of them! That was without counting the solicitors.

Mrs Millers tragi-triumphal soliloquy was largely inaudible in the crush, but I caught something about how Parliament alone is sovereign.

Remain campaign barrister Lord Pannick, left, and figurehead Gina Miller, right, were delighted with the result today

It did not always feel like that when the EU was raiding our national powers.

Nearby stood bodyguards, open-necked, burly, bristling. At the back of the crowd someone started playing accordion music.

A pro-Brexit placard said Britain will fight for Israel in the Third World War whereas Europe will fight against Israel and Against Christ.

You do not often see slogans containing the word whereas.

Pimlico Plumbers millionaire Charlie Mullins, a Remain moneybags, loitered behind Mrs Miller with his Rod Stewart hairdo.

Attention moved from this legal circus to the Commons, where Brexit Secretary David Davis soon stood before MPs.

Brexit would proceed unimpeded, said Mr Davis. Article 50 would be triggered by the end of March.

Below decks the engine pistons were pumping away, tempo unaltered  so he intimated.

There was no sign of Lib Dems Nick Clegg or Tim Farron. If the Supreme Court had really scuppered the Government, we might have had more than one Lib Dem MP (Tom Brake) in the Chamber.

Labour frontbencher Sir Keir Starmer QC wanted the Government to submit to a reporting-back procedure to Parliament throughout Brexit.

Novice parliamentarian Sir Keir, an underwhelming orator, concluded by saying what a waste of time and money the Supreme Court appeal had been. Cue Tory cheers.

Brexit Minister David Davis, pictured in the House of Commons, today warned MPs not to 'frustrate or delay' the Brexit process

Mr Davis thought this an unusual thing for a lawyer like Sir Keir to say. DD put in another unflappable, good-humoured performance.

Ken Clarke (Con, Rushcliffe) waffled about his memoirs. Iain Duncan Smith (Con, Chingford & Woodford Green) said of the looming Article 50 Bill: Keep it short, keep it simple, keep it swift.

Mr Davis: Well keep it straightforward.

Angela Eagle (Lab, Wallasey) demanded that the Government respect the spirit of the courts ruling. But what was that spirit?

Leaver Dominic Raab (Con, Esher & Walton) thought the Supreme Court had improved on the rather opaque High Court ruling.

Various Remain voices, including Broxtowe Tory Anna Soubry (whose tone to ministers is now avowedly constructive), longed for a Brexit White Paper. Beware, said Sir Desmond Swayne (Con, New Forest W).

Though originally a Remainer, he suggested that a White Paper could lead to judicial review.

We may have had enough of lawyers for a while.
Proponents of the idea that the mid-valley has what amounts to a regional economy have always met with some skepticism, and it's fairly easy to see why: There are, in fact, differences between the economies of Linn and Benton counties.

The old rule of thumb is that Linn County is a blue-collar, industrial town and Benton County is a white-collar, high-tech college town and that there's little common ground between the two.

There's some truth to that. But it never told the entire story, and today, with county lines increasingly porous, it borders on being misleading: There's plenty of high-tech in Linn County, for example, and Benton County has lots of agricultural activity. And mid-valley workers don't pay any attention to county lines when they're searching for jobs that will support their families.

All of this helps to explain why it's so exciting to hear about very tentative discussions underway regarding possible regional approaches to economic development.

A remarkable string of events is aligning to help to jump-start the discussions: The Corvallis-Benton County economic office recently lost one of its two employees when Amy Jauron took a job in Portland. The office's manager, Tom Nelson, has for the time being contracted out some Jauron's responsibilities, which buys some time.

And there's a bit of a similar flux going on in Albany city government: Kate Porsche, the city's longtime economic development officer, has taken a position in Redmond. Albany City Manager Wes Hare has announced plans to retire.

To top it off, the city manager in Corvallis, Mark Shepard, spent more than 20 years working for the city of Albany before accepting the Corvallis post. At a meeting of the Corvallis City Council on Jan. 17, Shepard talked a little about the regional idea, and noted that the city of Albany, Linn County, Philomath and Millersburg might have some interest in a discussion; Corvallis Mayor Biff Traber suggested that Lebanon also might be a good candidate to invite to the table.

This talk isn't unprecedented: These governments (and assorted agencies, such as the Albany-Millersburg Economic Development Corp., skillfully led for decades by John Pascone, a veteran of the economic-development battlefield) already are somewhat accustomed to working in a regional manner. Consider these examples:

 The governments all are partners in the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments, which handles some economic-development duties.

 Linn-Benton Community College has programs intended to boost entrepreneurs and those brave souls who want to start a business, not to mention programs to train workers for tomorrow's high-paying jobs. Oregon State University has programs designed to spin off technologies created at the university into viable businesses.

 School districts around the mid-valley are teaming up with the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce's Pipeline program, which aims to train students for good-paying jobs that don't necessarily require a four-year college degree.

 And programs such as the Regional Acceleration and Innovation Network aim to give a boost to area entrepreneurs aiming to create innovative traded-sector companies.

So, obviously, there's already some energy circulating around the idea of regional economic development.

The question now facing the cities of Albany and Corvallis is whether it makes sense for those governments to broaden their perspective as they reshape and restructure their economic-development efforts. It's not hard to imagine that there's a real opportunity here. But it will take some serious discussion to flesh it out, to determine what a regional approach can offer and what holes need to filled in our current patchwork of economic programs.

But the potential payoff is huge for the mid-valley, both in terms of a healthier economy and a trained workforce that's ready to take advantage of job opportunities across the entire region. (mm)
An internationally recognized hairstylist was found by his family beaten and stabbed to death in their upscale Los Angeles home around 5.45pm on Monday evening

An internationally recognized hairstylist was found by his wife and daughters beaten and stabbed to death in their upscale Los Angeles home around 5.45pm on Monday evening.

Fabio Sementilli, 49, a professional hairdresser and vice president of cosmetic giant Coty, was discovered with facial injuries and significant blood loss on the patio of his Woodland Hills home.

His vehicle, a 2008 black Porsche Carrerra 911, was also reported missing and is believed to have been be used as a getaway car.

His home at the 5000 block of Queen Victoria Road is heavily protected with a gated entry, home surveillance and night vision security cameras.

Scroll down for video

Fabio Sementilli, 49, pictured with wife Monica, was a professional hairdresser and vice president of cosmetic giant Coty

His home at the 5000 block of Queen Victoria Road is heavily protected with a gated entry, home surveillance and night vision security cameras

Video courtesy of KTLA:

The neighborhood has reportedly experienced a number of burglaries recently, but police are investigating whether the homicide was directly targeted at Sementilli, according to CBS LA.

Sementilli, known lovingly as 'Big Daddy', will be remembered for his love of family and mentoring, and has been mourned by his industry following his sudden death.

On Friday, he celebrated the 30 year anniversary of being certified as a hairstylist.

On Friday, he celebrated the 30 year anniversary of being certified as a hairstylist

Wella Hair Care, where he worked as a Vice President of Education, released a statement on Tuesday regarding his death.

It said: 'The Coty Professional Beauty North America family is devastated to learn we have lost one of our dearest members. Our Vice President of Education, industry icon and incredibly proud hairdresser Fabio Sementilli died tragically January 23. Our thoughts and prayers are with Fabio's family in the U.S. and Canada.

'We will be talking with members of our professional family soon to discuss what we can do to honor Fabio's legacy, but for now our hearts are broken. He will be sorely missed.'

Wella Hair Care, where he worked as a Vice President of Education, released a statement on Tuesday regarding his death

Canadian born Sementilli split his time between Toronto and Los Angeles

He pioneered the Hairdressers at Heart scholarship program through Wella Hair Care company, which 'supports stylists at every phase of their careers'.

Modern Salon posted a touching tribute to his life, and said he 'mentored tens of thousands of hairdressers with a hands-on approach either on a one-to-one basis or on a grander scale'.

Sementilli said that family is the most important thing to him, pictured here with his wife, who discovered him stabbed and beaten to death on their patio

Their tribute also discussed his humble beginnings in Canada. He had split his time between Toronto and Los Angeles as a successful stylist.

In an eerie artist profile by American Salon posted in June 2015, the artist discussed how he would like to be remembered personally and professionally.

He said: 'I always say I want to be remembered for the relationships I've built.

'I want to be remembered for, maybe, how I've made people feel, in a positive light.

'And if it was negative for any reason it's because I was honest.

'I hope that's what I'm remembered for. Family, my friendships, my real close friendships.

'And I think the third is for me all the stylists that I've touched in my life.

'I've traveled the world an I've been so fortunate, and I don't deserve any of this, but the stylists I have touched over my life has been so rewarding.

'I hope they also remember that maybe I gave them a hand or a leg up or maybe some good advice.'
Taxi drivers could donate a staggering $2.3million to support One Nation in Queensland's upcoming state elections after Pauline Hanson vowed to take on Uber

Taxi drivers could donate a staggering $2.3million to support One Nation in Queensland's upcoming state elections after Pauline Hanson vowed to take on Uber.

Taxi drivers reportedly plan to donate $720 each to Ms Hanson's political party following a rank-and-file meeting in Brisbane on Tuesday.

The huge donation could equate to more than $2.3million if all 3,265 licensed taxi drivers unite behind the right-wing party.

According to the ABC, taxi drivers believe the money will be raised in the next few months.

Cabbie Peter Conohan said 3,000 t-shirts had been printed with the slogan: 'I support taxis, Pauline Hanson's One Nation.'

'We've all had enough,' he said. 'Pauline is a worker, she voices her opinion very verbally when everyone else has put their head in the sand.

'We will put a slush fund forward ... to support Pauline Hanson in her effort to leave a footprint with the Government and help the taxi industry.'

Ride-sharing app Uber was made legal in Queensland last September and some taxi drivers believe the company is crippling their business.

The state government made a $100million one-off payment to the taxi industry as part of the legalisation, which included $20,000 payouts for drivers.

Taxi drivers reportedly plan to donate $720 each to Ms Hanson's political party following a rank-and-file meeting in Brisbane on Tuesday

Ride-sharing app Uber was made legal in Queensland last September and some taxi drivers believe the company is crippling their business

In December last year, Ms Hanson threw her support behind the taxi industry and said Uber's stronghold was 'unfair and unjust'.

She vowed to 'turn the light back on for the taxi industry' and take their concerns to Parliament.

Taxi Council Queensland denied that it was supporting One Nation and said none of the organisation's money would be donated to the party.

'Senator Pauline Hanson and Steve Dickson MP addressed a general meeting of TCQ yesterday and pledged to support the taxi industry and fight for fairness in upcoming legislation around personalised transport,' a spokesman said on Tuesday.

'We welcome that support, and we also welcome the support of any other MP from any party.

'For the past two years, TCQ members have financially contributed to our campaign for fair legislation and yesterdays commitment was a continuation of that.'

Uber did not comment on the planned donation but a spokesman said that the ride-sharing firm does not make political donations.
Middle class care home residents are paying an annual 8,000 care tax to subsidise those whose bills are met by the taxpayer, a report reveals.

The elderly who have saved throughout their lives are increasingly meeting shortfalls in the crisis-hit state care system, it said.

In total, privately-funded residents are being forced to shell out around 150 a week to plug the estimated 1.3billion funding gap.

The report, by care industry analysts LaingBuisson, said councils typically pay care home operators 100 a week too little towards the real cost of a place for a state-funded resident.

The elderly who have saved throughout their lives are increasingly meeting shortfalls in the crisis-hit state care system, a report reveals

Since six in ten places are funded by town halls, operators have no choice but to take the money.

However, they make up the shortfall by charging more to vulnerable residents and their families who pay their own bills. The report said that in England residential care homes with average staffing and pay levels need to charge between 590 and 648 a week.

But local authorities are paying just 486 a week  104 below the minimum costs for home operators. Filling the gap costs more than 160,000 care home residents who pay their own bills around 8,000 a year each, said the report  more than 150 a week.

LaingBuisson chief executive William Laing said: The entire care home sector for older people is being kept afloat through cross subsidies from the 40 per cent of care home residents who pay privately.

He said the estimate of the total care cost shortfall of 1.3billion was conservative and added: This can be viewed as a care tax that Government and councils are content to see private payers contributing to keep mixed funding homes in business.'

The report also examined the workings of the hugely unpopular means-test system that decides who pays care home bills.

Rules dictate that anyone with savings or property worth more than 23,500 must cover their own costs.

Those with less have their bills paid by town halls. It means that those who have worked and who have savings or own their own home must pay bills that can run in some areas to 1,000 a week.

If they own a home, council social workers have the power to sell it and use the proceeds to pay their care bills. As a result, families are stripped of their inheritance.

David Cameron promised to ease the burden of care costs by capping fees at 72,000, but its introduction has been delayed until at least 2020

David Cameron promised to ease the burden by capping fees at 72,000, but its introduction has been delayed until at least 2020.

Yesterday charities said the burden of subsidising the state with a care tax added another layer of unfairness.

Caroline Abrahams, of Age UK, said: More and more older people are paying their own care home fees and they are increasingly at risk of a raw deal because they are propping up a system that is seriously underfunded.

'Its an utterly miserable situation and, as we can all see, one that is now undermining the NHS.

Margaret Willcox, of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, said: Without significant, sustainable and long-term funding, the funding crisis means thousands... will face an increasing struggle to get the care and support they need.
GPs want to charge their own patients for minor surgery and injections to boost funding for surgeries.

A group of senior doctors are attempting to re-write their contracts to enable them to make money by carrying out more private work.

Current rules ban GPs from charging their own patients for any private treatment as this is deemed to be a conflict of interest.

Minor surgery and travel vaccinations are not offered for free on the NHS so if patients want them, GPs must direct them to other practices. But doctors from the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Local Medical Committee hope to use a loophole to be allowed to carry out private work.

A group of senior doctors are attempting to re-write their contracts to enable them to make money by carrying out more private work (file photo)

They are aiming to work under a private firm to carry out minor surgery, injections and other chargeable procedures.

Patients would then pay the company, and the cash would go back to GPs.

The family doctors behind the plan argue that they are not being given enough funding from the Government to meet soaring patient demand.

Dr Prit Buttar, chairman of the LMC, said he hoped the plans would be in operation by the end of the year. Speaking to Pulse magazine, which uncovered the proposals, he added they would allow practices to take on what they want.

He said: We have to look at alternative ways of increasing funding and look at models which will allow practices to operate within the rules. They will offer practice services, for example if someone wants a minor operation but can only do this in an evening then they can do this by charging a small fee.

It will allow GPs to value their own time more and puts pressure on the Government. The Government is a monopoly customer, they can dictate how much they are willing to pay. We want to put in place something which is robust which can be rolled out across the country and will allow GPs to specify which services they want to provide. We are in preliminary discussions with other LMCs to come up with terms of reference.

We want to get something in operation by the end of the year.

Earlier this month a Mail investigation uncovered how thousands of GP surgeries were shutting for three-hour lunches or for an entire midweek afternoon.

On just one day the Mail visited surgeries in London, Birmingham, Derby, Plymouth, Bristol, Cambridge and Newcastle which had all closed for the afternoon.

The Government subsequently ordered doctors to stay open for longer  including at evenings and weekends  warning them that they were contributing to the crisis in A&E units. In a personal intervention, the Prime Minister demanded easier access to surgeries to help tackle overcrowding in hospitals.

Dr Prit Buttar, chairman of the LMC, said he hoped the plans would be in operation by the end of the year

Now they will have to open from 8am to 8pm every day, unless they can prove there is no demand for it. This provoked a row among GP leaders who accused ministers of scapegoating them  and trying to distract attention away from the failings of the NHS. The British Medical Association, which represents GPs, appeared to distance itself from these latest plans to try to charge patients.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the BMAs GP committee chairman, said: All GP practices are contracted to provide free care to every patient irrespective of their financial ability to pay. This is a key cornerstone of the NHS which the vast majority of doctors support.

GPs are not allowed to charge their own patients for most private services even if these are not available on the NHS, including minor surgery procedures to some to remove benign lumps. This proposal, which is not fully developed, appears to seek to provide services outside of what GPs would usually provide to their patients as part of their NHS care.

Irrespective of this scheme and its aims, the immediate priority is for the Government to address the incredible pressure on GP services.

An NHS England spokesman said: All patients have a right to access high quality primary care services which are free at the point of delivery. Strict Safeguards are in place to ensure that GPs cannot charge patients for NHS services.

Meanwhile Dr Uzma Ahmad, GP and Wallsall LMC medical secretary, said other regions might follow the same plan, if they did not see improvements to their contracts.

Dr Ahmad said: We are going to wait for three months  if nothing positive comes up I think other regions might follow this plan.

We need to safeguard ourselves, there has to be some other way to continue to practise.
Britain is planning to give more than 1.1billion in aid to the world's most corrupt countries this year, it is revealed today.

Aid chiefs will boost spending in the 20 worst offending nations by 162million (17.2 per cent)  despite concerns the money could be stolen by officials or seized by terrorists.

Beneficiaries include war-ravaged states such as Somalia and Sudan, where terror groups are said to 'tax' aid payments from foreign donors, and Libya, where Islamic State forces have taken hold in places.

Former prime minister David Cameron described Afghanistan as 'fantastically corrupt'

Tory MP Nigel Evans, pictured said not one more penny of taxpayers' cash should go to corrupt regimes as part of Britain's foreign aid obligation

Campaign group Transparency International has published its annual table ranking countries by corruption and it shows that 11 of the 20 most crooked nations receive British aid cash.

Some 1.1billion of the UK's annual 12billion foreign aid budget will be spent in those countries in 2016-17, according to projections from the Department for International Development (Dfid).

Somalia, which is ranked the most fraudulent country, will see its aid cash soar by 14.9million to 142.3million compared with 2015-16.

Spending in Iraq will more than double from 40million to 95.2million. In Afghanistan, which ex-prime minister David Cameron last year described as 'fantastically corrupt', it will rise by 48million from 124.5million to 172.5million.

We are also giving aid to South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Haiti, Central African Republic, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which were in the top 20. The revelations come as Theresa May is under increasing pressure to take an axe to the ballooning foreign aid budget.

The Daily Mail has highlighted how cutting the aid bill could allow the Government to devote more cash to easing Britain's social care crisis. Some Tory backbenchers have called on the Prime Minister to ditch a commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas aid.

Last night Tory MP Nigel Evans, who sits on the Commons international development committee, warned: 'With corrupt governments, it is the people who lose, who are impoverished and are not getting the services and it is the politicians and businessmen who are lining their pockets. We want to make absolutely certain that not a single penny money of British taxpayers' money is being diverted towards the governments of those corrupt officials who are impoverishing their own people.'

But Robert Barrington, executive director of Transparency International UK, said it was important that people in need living in corrupt countries get the necessary humanitarian assistance.

He said: Aid is desperately needed by many people around the world who live in places where corruption is highly prevalent. The corruption both causes and perpetuates poverty, and also means that aid money intended to help can go astray, be rendered ineffective, or embed corrupt elites who negate long-term development efforts.

But nobody said delivering aid and development was an easy task, and its fundamental purpose is to help those in need irrespective of the obstacles. Our challenge is to reconcile these harsh realities and overcome the obstacles, and not to let poor people be punished twice - once through living in poverty exacerbated by corruption; and secondly by failing to help them.

A Dfid spokesman said: 'The UK Government works in some of the most dangerous and fragile places in the world to help keep British people safe, but that does not mean we're prepared to lose taxpayers' money to corruption.

'Dfid has stopped funding going through the governments of any of these countries for that very reason, and instead works through trusted partners who are helping the poorest directly on the ground.'
This is the bizarre moment a joyrider deliberately drove a stolen car into a canal.

Footage filmed by locals shows the man racing around a residential street in Dublin, Ireland.

He performs several handbrake turns as he speeds around, almost causing a serious crash as another driver has to dodge out of his path.

Sink my ride! This is the bizarre moment a joyrider deliberately drove a stolen car into a canal

The car's tyres can be heard squealing and the engine whirring as he puts the car under serious strain.

Then suddenly the driver heads for the river as the woman filming exclaims: 'He's heading for the water!'

Despite ample opportunity to turn or stop, the driver continues to head for the canal.

He manages to open the door and jump out on to the grassy bank before the car plunges straight into the water, much to the delight of a cheering crowd.

A Garda spokesman said: 'Gardai in Store Street are investigating this incident, which occurred on Monday at 10.50pm. The vehicle was reported stolen.'
Less than a week after moving in, it seems Ivanka Trump and her brood are well and truly settled in their Washington DC home.

The first daughter shared a bedtime photograph of her youngest son Theodore inside his immaculate new nursery on Tuesday, seeming very much at home as she tucked the ten-month-old in.

'Goodnight!' she wrote alongside the image of the beaming baby who sat upright in his crib for the snap.

A white and grey monogrammed pillow with his initials, TJK, rested behind him and two cashmere throws had been folded over the side.

White wallpaper adorned with delicate illustrations of boats coats the room and a grey velvet sofa is among the furniture.

Ivanka Trump shared a photograph of her youngest son Theodore from inside his Washington DC nursery on Tuesday night

Above baby Theodore's crib hung a charcoal grey, paper dial.

Jared Kushner was spotted rushing out of his new Washington DC home earlier in the day ahead of a busy day at the office.

The newly appointed senior advisor to President Donald Trump was outfitted in his standard uniform of a black suit and tie with a white button down as he made his way to a waiting SUV while speaking on his phone.

He carried with him a small notebook as he prepared himself for his day at the White House.

Soon after his wife Ivanka made a much more low key exit as she jumped into a car with the couple's three children, choosing to exit from the garage so she could not be seen by waiting photographers and the public.

Ivanka Trump at her husband's swearing in ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Sunday. She is pictured holding three-year-old son Joseph and is sitting next to her brother-in-law Joshua Kushner and daughter Arabella

On the go: Jared Kushner (above) was spotted rushing out of his Washington DC home on Tuesday on his way to work

Sharp: He was outfitted in his typical uniform of a black suit and tie with a white button-down shirt

Importnt call: Kushner was chatting on his phone and holding a small notebook as he hopped into a waiting SUV

New gig: Tuesday marked Kushner's second day at his job working as an unpaid senior advisor to his father-in-law, President Donald Trump

There had been reports that Kushner would be heading to Canada on Tuesday to speak with Prime Minister Trudeau, but it was revealed on Monday that those plans had been cancelled at this time.

Instead, Kushner was on hand Tuesday while his father-in-law signed an executive order directing that the permitting process and regulatory burden for domestic manufacturers should be streamlined to reduce what he called 'the incredibly cumbersome, long, horrible' process.

'Sometimes it takes many, many years and we dont want that to happen. If it's a "no," we'll get a quick "no." If it's a "yes," it's like, let's start building,' said Trump.

Among a total of five actions signed by Trump in an Oval Office ceremony, he also signed orders to expedite environmental review and approval of high-priority infrastructure projects, to accelerate the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects and to decree that any pipelines intended for the United States should be built in the country.

He said: 'We will build our own pipeline. We will build our own pipes, as we used to in the old days.'

Meeting of the minds: Kushner left) and the head of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn (right) talk with Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne

This guy: Presidnet Trump points to Ford Motors CEO Mark Fields while Kushner looks on Tuesday

Dynamic duo: Kushner and Steve Bannon talk to auto industry CEOs on Tuesday

Gang of five: Kushner and the rest of Trump's close staff (l to r: Reince Priebus, Kellyanne Conway, Hope Hicks, Kushner and Bannon) look on as he signs an executive order

Trump also said on Tuesday he will be announcing his pick for the Supreme Court next week.

'We will pick a truly great Supreme Court justice,' said Trump.

On Tuesday, Kushner also joined President Trump as he summoned the heads of the big three American automakers - General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler - for a breakfast meeting.

He pledged to scrap regulations and reduce taxes on corporations that keep jobs in the U.S., though he did not specify his plans for either.

His administration, he said, will 'go down as one of the most friendly countries' for business.

Sneaky: Ivanka snuck out of the house soon after with the three kids, loading into a waiting SUV that pulled out of the garage (above)

On the move: Ivanka went for lunch on Monday with some friends and son Joseph (her car above on Tuesday)

Keeping the peace: The family seems to have settled nicely into their new $5.5million home (above)

On Monday, Ivanka was photographed exiting her house and getting into a waiting SUV on Monday, with her head shielded from the cameras by a giant umbrella.

She was joined by her Secret Service detail and son Joseph, who joined her for lunch at the Open City coffee shop in Woodley Park.

Ivanka, 35, and her family moved to DC over the weekend, and on Monday Kushner began his unpaid job as a senior advisor to President Trump in the White House.

Last week, Ivanka finally broke her silence about rumors that she might fill the role of first lady when her father takes office on Friday in an interview with 20/20.

'Well, I think its an inappropriate observation. There's one first lady and she'll do remarkable things,' said Ivanka, referring to her father's wife Melania.

She later told Deborah Roberts in the interview that she also found the comments 'sexist,' saying that they seemed to suggest that two women could not have a powerful role in her father's White House administration.

Ivanka also revealed during the interview that she is still close to former first daughter Chelsea Clinton despite her father's victory over Hillary in the election, and said that she will likely go to her for advice.
President Donald Trump has threatened Chicago he will 'send in the Feds' if the city doesn' 'fix' its rising gun violence.

In an angry tweet on Tuesday night, he described the situation as 'horrible carnage'.

'If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!' he said.

Last year was the deadliest year in Chicago for the almost 20 years with 762 murders, 3,550 shooting incidents, and 4,331 shooting victims.

President Trump threatened to 'send in the Feds' if Chicago doesn't address its growing gun violence in a tweet on Tuesday night

The president (pictured on Tuesday) previously spoke of Chicago's 'inner city' violence

Twenty-four people were shot in the city over Martin Luther King weekend last week.

President Trump's tweet was in response to figures published yesterday which showed 2017 was on course to be just as violent.

During the presidential campaign, Trump periodically referred to Chicago, America's third most-populous city, as an example of rising inner-city crime, which ticked up nationally in 2016 after a two-decade downward trend.

On Jan. 2, Trump tweeted about Chicago's effort to lower its murder rate, saying: 'If Mayor can't do it he must ask for Federal help!'

The city's mayor Rahm Emanuel has not responded to Trump's most recent threat.

Over the weekend he shared his support for a Women's March taking place in Chicago in protest against the new president.

There have been 42 murders in Chicago since the start of the year. Above, a cemetery in Englewood with crosses for each of the victims

Last year Emanuel shared plans for a $36million effort to tackle gun crime.

President Trump also promised a 'big day' for National Security on Wednesday after vowing begin building his wall on the Mexican border.

The president is also expected to temporarily ban immigration from Muslim countries deemed a 'threat to national security' - namely Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, and Somalia.

He has already signed executive orders relating to the dismantling of Obamacare and has pushed through the Dakota access pipeline that was rejected by President Obama after a highly publicized protest in Standing Rock.
Southern Rail's timetable was described as 'a work of fiction' yesterday as passenger satisfaction on Britain's railways slumped to its lowest in a decade.

The percentage of travellers satisfied with their journeys fell to 81 per cent from 83 per cent a year ago, according to a report by the independent watchdog Transport Focus.

This is the worst result since 2007, when overall satisfaction was also 81 per cent.

The percentage of travellers satisfied with their journeys fell to 81 per cent from 83 per cent a year ago

Transport Focus, which polled almost 30,000 passengers, was particularly critical of Southern. The firm, which serves 300,000 commuters a day, received a score of 30 per cent for punctuality, and 12 per cent for handling delays.

Anthony Smith, the watchdog's chief executive, said: 'The timetable on parts of London and the South East's railway can be a work of fiction which passengers cannot rely on.'

The report said satisfaction with overall punctuality and reliability fell from 78 per cent in autumn 2015 to 73 per cent in autumn 2016.

Govia Thameslink Railway  which runs the Southern and Great Northern franchises  had promised to run a full service yesterday despite a strike by 12 train driver members of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union.

Its website described a 'good service' operating on most of its lines.

But by 8.30am Southern listed 79 trains as cancelled, delayed or running with fewer carriages than scheduled.

Aslef, the main train drivers union, has called off three days of strikes which were meant to start yesterday.

Southern said there had been 'one or two cancellations' involving the non-availability of train crew, arising from one case of sickness and a 'train planning error'.

Despite the poor service on many train services across Britain, fares have continued to rise and were increased by an average of 2.3 per cent earlier this month.

Lianna Etkind, of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: 'This survey confirms passengers are paying through the nose for a shoddy service, and the Government appears not to care as long as the money keeps rolling in.'

Jacqueline Starr, managing director of customer experience at the Rail Delivery Group, representing train operators and Network Rail, said: 'We know we must do better.

'We're sorry when customers don't get the service they expect, including those affected by strikes. Everyone in the railway is working hard to make train journeys better from start to finish.'

Transport Focus, which polled almost 30,000 passengers, was particularly critical of Southern

Passengers using Hull Trains are the most satisfied with their service, with an approval rating of 97 per cent according to Transport Focus. This was followed by Heathrow Express at 96 per cent and Merseyrail at 95 per cent.

More than 29,000 rail passengers took part in the survey.

Angie Doll, passenger services director at Southern said: 'Our service hasn't been good enough and I am truly sorry.

'The unprecedented industrial action has given our Southern and Gatwick Express passengers a reduced timetable, delays and cancellations which have made their lives a misery and affected the regional economy. We're doing our best to find a way forward with the unions.'
Andre Fuqua, 24, was shot in his car on Sunday. Police are searching for the killer

A 24-year-old former college track star was inexplicably shot dead in his black Subaru on Sunday in Corpus Christi.

The victim was identified as Andre Fuqua on Monday. He used to be on the track and field team at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

He was also part of the Corpus Christi Roadrunners club.

Corpus Christi Senior Officer Kirk Stowers told the Caller Times the reason for the murder is not yet clear: 'We don't know if he was in the middle of a drive-by shooting or if it was road rage and whoever is responsible is still at large.'

Fuqua was fatally shot several times and his SUV rolled on Interstate 37 Sunday night.

He was taken to Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial in critical condition and died early Monday morning. His autopsy results are not yet available.

Investigators are seeking video from local businesses that might show what happened that evening.

Fuqua's friend Adrian Marquez told KRISTV: 'Anybody that ever knew Andre, he always had the biggest smile on his face and a big heart.'

Andre Fuqua was part of the Corpus Christi Roadrunners club

'Anybody that was ever around him for more than five minutes could see that. (he was) free-spirited, always loving and always caring for everybody else.'

Fuqua was nicknamed Ghandi by his friends because of his gentle and caring nature.

Police are encouraging anyone with information about the shooting to call Crimestoppers at (361)888-TIPS.
Aug. 25, 1986  Jan. 7, 2017

Aaron James Stoll passed away on Jan. 7, 2017 in Philomath.

He was born in Oakland, California on Aug. 25, 1986. As a child he lived in Florida, Alabama, Washington, and Oregon, thoroughly enjoying the natural world in each of these places.

Aaron loved unusual plants, nature, animals, collecting old coins and old books. His favorite activity was going on long hikes with the family dog. He was happiest in nature and one of his favorite places to visit was Jedediah Smith State Park in northern California where he could bask in the magnitude of the giant redwoods.

He is missed dearly by his mother Denise Guinn; brother Justin Stoll; sister Rachel Nix; grandmother Marjorie Guinn; as well as his aunts and cousins.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 28, at Peace Lutheran Church in Philomath.

McHenry Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
A child soldier abducted from his mother at age six who went on to start a law firm could be the next Australian of the Year.

Deng Adut came to Australia as an illiterate 14-year-old refugee in 1998 without a word of English after being smuggled out of Sudan into Kenya.

His transformation from a boy, trained to use an AK-47 machine gun, into a criminal lawyer in western Sydney is inspiring.

Scroll down for videos

Deng Adut poses for a portrait in a morning tea at The Lodge in Canberra on Wednesday

A future prime minister? Deng Adut shakes hands with PM Malcolm Turnbull at The Lodge in Canberra during a morning tea for Australian of the Year finalists

Only a year ago, he came to national prominence after delivering an Australia Day address in Sydney.

The University of Western Sydney, where he finished his law degree in 2010, was so impressed with his achievement it put together a video of his life, which has been viewed more than 2.6 million times.

Mr Adut, who was born in the South Sudanese village of Malek in 1984, taught himself how to read, write and speak English.

He came to Australia after being smuggled out of South Sudan as a war-injured teenager by his brother John, who he had recently reunited with.

His journey included spending 18 months in a Kenyan refugee camp.

Deng Adut (left) with his brother John, who helped smuggle him out of the army and and into Kenya in early 1997. He is pictured graduating with a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Western Sydney in 2010

Artist Nick Stathopoulos (left) and Deng Adut with the Archibald Prize People's Choice Award at the Art Gallery of New South Wales last year

Deng Adut, who co-founded a law firm in western Sydney, at Government House in Canberra this week

THE CONTENDERS Deng Adut, lawyer, New South Wales Andrew Forrest, mining magnate and philanthropist, Western Australia Andrea Mason, businesswoman and indigenous leader, Northern Territory Paris Artistotle, refugee advocate, Victoria Rosalie Martin, speech pathologist, Tasmania Kate Swaffer, author and dementia advocate, South Australia Emeritus Professor Alan Mackay-Sim, biomedical scientist treating spinal cord injuries, Queensland Alan Tongue, former Canberra Raiders rugby league captain turned youth mentor, Australian Capital Territory Advertisement

The man who came to Australia with no English in mid-1998 taught himself to read, write and learn a new language.

Within seven years, he had gained a scholarship to study law and co-founded the AC Law Group in Blacktown by the time he was 30.

The 33-year-old high achiever was late last year named the New South Wales Australian of the Year, which makes him a finalist to be the 2017 Australian of the Year.

He will be vying for the prestigious title with West Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest, who has been recognised for his philanthropy, and Northern Territory-based businesswoman Andrea Mason, who tackles indigenous disadvantage.

The 48th Australian of the Year is being announced on Wednesday ahead of Australia Day.

Deng Adut (left) with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and billionaire mining magnate Andrew Forrest at The Lodge in Canberra

Deng Adut in November 2016 when he was named the NSW Australian of the Year

Northern Territory indigenous leader and businesswoman Andrea Mason is another contender to be the next Australian of the Year

Tasmania contender Rosalie Martin, a speech pathologist who helps rehabilitate prisoners

South Australia's finalist Kate Swaffer, an author and dementia advocate

Victorian Paris Aristotle, a refugee, torture and trauma advocate

Former Canberra Raiders captain Alan Tongue who is now a youth mentor is the ACT finalist
A 78-year-old woman has been robbed and assaulted at her home on Prospect Highway, Seven Hills in Sydney.

The woman was in her home when the attack took place and she was robbed of cash and her bank cards.

She then reportedly made her way to the nearby Commonwealth Bank, despite her injuries, to desperately cancel her bank cards.

The elderly woman is taken away by ambulance services from Seven Hills in Sydney

The financial institution had noticed that the woman had sustained serious injuries. Emergency services were contacted shortly after.

The injured woman was treated by NSW Ambulance Paramedics, before being taken to Westmead Hospital, where she remains in a serious but stable condition.

Officers from Blacktown Local Area Command were notified and have commenced an investigation.

'We were called to an elderly female patient who had sustained facial injuries. This was the result of an assault,' an emergency services spokesman said.

'She was subsequently transferred to Westmead Hospital for further treatment.'
The two men police say attempted to rob a jewelry store at a San Antonio mall have been charged with capital murder in the death of a good Samaritan who attempted to intervene.

San Antonio police said in a statement Tuesday that Jose Luis Rojas and Jason Matthew Prieto are each being held on $1.5 million bond.

Rojas is hospitalized in critical condition after being shot multiple times Sunday by another good Samaritan at the Rolling Oaks Mall.

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

The first good Samaritan, 42-year-old Jonathan Murphy, wasn't armed when he confronted the suspects and was fatally shot.

He was identified as a former Marine on Monday, and 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.

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.

Jason Matthew Prieto (pictured) has been charged with capital murder after the robbery and shooting and 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

Prieto has a long criminal history, according to News4 San Antonio.

He has previously been incarcerated for a year and a half for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2002, and assault with bodily injury the year after.

Last year, police arrested him for two car break-ins, two theft charges, and a slew of drug charges. One of the break ins occurred just a month after he was released from prison.

He has also plead guilty to four charges of possession of marijuana from 2000 to 2010, the last of which was a third degree felony that landed him back in prison.

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

Victim Jon Murphy's step-daughter wrote: '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.

'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.

'Jon, the protector, lost his life making sure nobody else did.'

The fundraiser had raised more than $41,000 Tuesday evening.

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.

Two weapons were recovered from the suspect.

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.

In total, five people - not including Murphy - were hospitalized after the shooting.

The injured shoppers were taken to a hospital, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said.

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.

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

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
A man has allegedly ordered his pitbull to attack a couple 'squatting' inside an apartment block, before dousing the man in lighter fluid and setting him on fire.

Timothy Illingworth, 41, faced Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday charged with throwing an explosive with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after the Tuesday night attack.

His alleged victims, who stayed in the Mangerton complex near Wollongong, both remain in serious conditions in hospital with burns to their upper bodies.

Timothy Illingworth, 41, faced Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday charged with throwing an explosive with intent to cause grievous bodily harm

The court was told the alleged victims entered the Myuna Way building about 9pm on Tuesday, before an argument started in the common area of the apartment block.

The fight then allegedly spilled out onto the front yard where Illingworth allegedly set his dog on the pair.

'The accused squirted liquid accelerant onto the face and torso of the victim while at the same time using a lighter to set aflame the accelerant,' the police facts state.

The male victim 'erupted in flames' on his face, chest, arms and torso area.

Police said the female victim grabbed the male victim and tried to smother him with her own body, suffering serious injury to her body as well.

In court on Wednesday, Illingworth (pictured) apologised to the magistrate for having difficulty answering questions

In court on Wednesday, Illingworth apologised to the magistrate for having difficulty answering questions.

'Sorry, I don't have my teeth in', he said.

The court heard Illingworth had an outstanding warrant for assault with a weapon in South Australia.

He applied for bail and denied any involvement in the incident, but Magistrate Mark Douglass denied the application.

The prosecution told the court Illingworth could be a risk to others in the community, as well as the victims, if released.

Friends and supporters of the accused got into a heated discussion with the media outside the Wollongong courthouse on Wednesday

Friends of Illingworth are pictured in heated discussion with media in Wollongong on Wednesday morning

Illingworth's best friend and girlfriend were noticeably upset after the Magistrate refused bail

Illingworth's best friend and girlfriend were noticeably upset after the Magistrate refused his bail.

Some of his supporters were also pictured in heated argument with media outside the Wollongong courthouse.

Residents said the victims of the attack were regulars at the apartment block and were known as 'lounge lizards' because they would squat in vacant units on the street.

Some of his supporters were also pictured in heated argument with media outside the Wollongong courthouse

The accused's girlfriend appeared upset after Illingworth was denied bail in Wollongong

The alleged male victim has been left with severe burns to his face, chest and both arms.

He remains in a critical condition hospital.

The woman also sustained injuries after trying to douse the flames and remains in a stable condition at Wollongong Hospital, the court heard.

The reported girlfriend appeared upset outside the Wollongong courthouse on Wednesday

Supporters and friends of the accused appeared upset after Illingworth was denied bail

Detectives searched the apartment the morning after the incident.

The street was eerily quiet in the hours after police finished searching the three- storey apartment block where the alleged petrol attack happened.

Residents peeped through bed sheets pulled across their windows after being overrun with detectives overnight.

A man was seen arriving at the unit block just after 11.30am with a large pitbull dog.

A single slab of concrete held open the foyer door where the court heard the alleged argument between Illingworth and the man and woman took place, before spilling out into the front lawn.

The dark stairwell leads out to the apartment common area and there were no signs of residents on Wednesday afternoon after police had left.

The Myuna Way apartment block at Mangerton is pictured where the court heard the alleged attack happened

The alleged attack started in the common room of the Wollongong apartment block

The attack reportedly spilled out onto the grass outside the apartment block, where the court heard that the accused allegedly ordered his dog to attack

Man arrives at the Mangerton complex where the alleged altercation took place, with a pitbull on leash

A man arrived home to the unit block just after 11.30am with a large pitbull dog
The accused driver in the Bourke Street Mall attack boasted that he would appear on TV just hours before the rampage, new witnesses have said.

Trent Schmidt and Robbie Houri say they saw Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 26, parked in a maroon Holden on a suburban street in Melbourne at midday on Friday last week.

The pair say he was ranting about government conspiracies and claiming he could see a comet in the sky, before adding: 'You watch, I'll be on TV later.'

Builders Trent Schmidt and Robbie Houri claim to have seen Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 26, the accused Melbourne attacker, parked in a suburban street hours before the rampage

The men said Gargasoulas was ranting about government conspiracies and a comet in the sky before bragging: 'You watch, I'll be on TV later'

'I'm one of the good guys', he told them, while also saying something about the State Library bunker, The Age reports.

Schmidt and Houri told Fairfax media that they were renovating a house in Drew Street, Yarraville, when they spotted a maroon Holden parked with a man inside.

The continued working before the man got out of the car, walked over, and shouted: 'Mate, do you know what's going on?'

Mr Schmidt said he started pointing into the sky, asking 'do you see that?', before telling them that a comet was coming.

Gargasoulas is accused of using a stolen maroon Holden to run down 37 people later that day leaving five dead, including 10-year-old Thalia Hakin (left and right)

Thalia's sister Maggie (pictured) attended her funeral on Wednesday, still wearing a plaster cast after being hurt in the same incident

Mr Schmidt said: 'My initial impression was he wasn't on drugs, he was very disturbed and quite disassociated from reality.'

Mr Houri added: 'I was just thinking "It's Footscray"...I didn't think anything of it.'

The men said they called police at around 12.50pm to report the driver, at which point a police helicopter showed up and started following him.

Hours later, police say Gargasoulas used the same Holden to run down 37 in Melbourne's CBD, killing five including a 10-year-old girl and three-month-old baby.

A funeral was held for Thalia Hakin, 10, in Wednesday, as eight-year-old sister Maggie attended with her leg in plaster after also being hurt in the accident.

Gargasoulas appeared in court this week charged with five counts of murder, though prosecutors say more charges will likely be added as they continue to investigate

Mother Nathalie remained in hospital after suffering severe injuries in the attack, though husband Tony said she was awake and speaking.

In total eighteen people remain in hospital, with two still in critical condition.

Police have charged Gargasoulas with five counts of murder, though said more charges will likely be added as the investigation continues.

The Melbourne man appeared in court on Monday where lawyers asked for more time to put their case together. He is scheduled to reappear in December.
The election of Donald Trump (above) has fueled a surge in support for secession among Californians, according to a new poll

The election of Republican businessman Donald Trump as president of the United States has some Californians dreaming of their own country.

One in every three California residents supports the most populous US state's peaceful withdrawal from the union, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll, many of them Democrats strongly opposed to Trump's ascension to the country's highest office.

The 32 per cent support rate is sharply higher than the last time the poll asked Californians about secession, in 2014, when one-in-five or 20 per cent favored it around the time Scotland held its independence referendum and voted to remain in the United Kingdom.

California also far surpasses the national average favoring secession, which stood at 22 per cent, down from 24 per cent in 2014.

The poll surveyed 500 Californians among more than 14,000 adults nationwide from December 6 to January 19 and has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of one percentage point nationally and five percentage points in California.

The idea of secession is largely a settled matter in the United States, though the impulse to break away carries on in some corners of the country, most notably in Texas.

While interest has remained about the same nationwide, it has found more favor in California and the concept has even earned a catchy name - 'Calexit.'

'I don't think it's likely to happen, but if things get really bad it could be an option,' said Stephen Miller, 70, a retired transportation planner who lives in Sacramento and told pollsters he 'tended to support' secession.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered for the Women's March in Los Angeles (above) on Saturday

During the campaign, Trump alienated many in the Democratic-leaning state with his promises to crack down on illegal immigration, threats of creating a Muslim registry, remarks women found offensive and vows to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

'There's such hostility towards Trump that many citizens believe it would be smarter to leave than fight,' said Democratic political consultant Steve Maviglio, who last year ran the campaign against a proposed ballot initiative to break California into six states.

In November's election, the state broke nearly two-to-one in favor of Trump's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton (above)

With 39 million residents and the sixth-largest economy in the world, California is already a nation-state, Maviglio said.

In November's election, the state broke nearly two-to-one in favor of Trump's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

In practice, secession is highly unlikely, facing political, legal and possibly even military obstacles, considering that the United States fought the Civil War over the secession of the South, Maviglio and others said.

Trump's election gave a huge boost to the quixotic campaign to remove California from the United States called Yes California, run by a former conservative turned progressive who now lives in Russia.

Dubbed 'Calexit' by pundits comparing the effort to 'Brexit' - Britain's vote to withdraw from the European Union - Yes California's email list jumped from fewer than 2,500 before the election to 115,069 currently, the group's president, Louis Marinelli, said in a telephone interview.

Marinelli, who moved to Yekaterinburg, about 1,000 miles east of Moscow, in September and has lived in Russia on and off for several years, said he became disenchanted with the United States after difficulties arose with the immigration process for his Russian-born wife.

Louis Marinelli (above) is the head of Yes California, a grassroots campaign aimed at drumming up local support for 'Calexit'

On Friday, activists from the group waved signs saying 'California out of the United States' and 'US out of California' at anti-Trump protests in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Marinelli said.

They have requested approval from the state to begin collecting signatures for a pro-secession ballot initiative.

In Lodi, California, Democratic party activist Bruce Rubly, who told Reuters/Ipsos pollsters that he 'strongly supported' California secession, said he thinks it could happen if Trump and the Republicans who dominate the US Congress impose conservative policies on such issues as the environment, immigration and marijuana legalization.

'There's a whole series of things that are going to get Californians riled up,' said Rubly, 68. 'And if he pushes those buttons in the wrong way, there's going to be hell to pay.'
Early on the day of her daughter's funeral, Bourke Street Mall tragedy victim Nathalie Hakin woke up in hospital and recalled what had happened.

During the funeral for 10-year-old Melbourne girl Thalia Hakin, her father Tony told mourners his wife was still too ill to attend her daughter's farewell.

'I know what happened. Some maniac hurt my family and I don't know how to deal with it, he took my angel,' Mr Hakin quoted his wife as saying.

Thalia Hakin, 10, died on Friday after the Bourke Street Mall rampage. Her mother Nathalie was injured and woke up in hospital on Wednesday - the day of Thalia's funeral

Bourke Street mall tragedy victim Thalia Hakin, 10, was farewelled on Wednesday with a memorial and funeral

Thalia's Maggie was comforted as she arrives - bandaged and in a wheelchair - for the memorial

Thalia was killed when a driver, allegedly Dimitrious 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas, plowed through crowds last Friday and her mother and sister Maggie, 9, were injured.

Mr Hakin said his wife would have wanted to be at the funeral to remember their little girl, but it was not possible.

'I'm really, really sorry Nathalie can't be here. It was very, very hard to do this.

'Nathalie would have wanted to say stuff about her, that she was a little butterfly and the light of her life,' The Australian Jewish News reported him as saying.

Maggie managed to leave hospital in a full leg cast and wheelchair to attend her sister's funeral on Wednesday.

Thalia's sister Maggie arrives at a memorial at Beth Tivkah Ladies College on Wednesday morning. About 1000 people were expected to attend

A huge procession gathered before Thalia's funeral in Melbourne on Wednesday

Large crowds gathered to farewell Thalia as a procession moved through East St Kilda on Wednesday

Mr Hakin said he didn't believe his daughter had suffered when the car hit her.

'Thalia copped the full brunt of it,' he said.

'I think she fairly much died instantly, I don't think she would have known much about it.'

When he got to Bourke St he saw a body lying under a blanket, with blood coming out from under it. It was his daughter.

I think she fairly much died instantly, I don't think she would have known much about it. Tony Hakin, Thalia Hakin's father

He said only 'pure evil' could have taken Thalia from her family.

'She was something special to everybody who ever met her,' Mr Hakin said.

Eighteen people remain in hospital including two listed in a critical condition on Tuesday.

Gargasoulas, 26, was charged with five counts of murder on Monday and is likely to face more charges as police continue their investigation.

He was on bail at the time of the offences.

The Victorian government is in the midst of reviewing bail laws, announcing on Monday that bail justices would be scrapped for serious matters and a new night court set up with on-call magistrates to deal with bail applications.

Gargasoulas' case is due to return to court on August 1 for a special mention.

A driver - allegedly Dimitrious 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas - in a vehicle before the incident on Friday, January 20
A 10-year-old surfer has had an amazing brush with death after gliding his board over a massive great white shark.

Eden Hasson was catching the last of the light while surfing at Samurai Beach in NSW on Tuesday evening when he got the fright of his life.

The young surfer said he didn't realise the dark shape he saw in the sea was a great white shark as he enjoyed the last of the day's waves.

Eden Hasson, 10, was catching the last of the light while surfing at Samurai Beach in NSW when he came face-to-face with a great white shark (pictured)

'When I took off I thought I saw something and when I went to do the first snap off the top I hit something and I thought it was seaweed,' he said.

'Then when [Dad] called me in I thought it must be a shark because there was a big school of fish we saw.'

His father, lifetime surfer Chris Hasson, was standing on the rocks taking photographs of his son when he saw a dark shadow in the water.

Mr Hasson, who is a Nelson Bay real estate agent with Real Estate Friendly, was snapping away when he zoomed in and caught the head of a three-metre great white shark just as Eden glided his board over it.

The young surfer at first thought that what he surfed over was seaweed (pictured)

Eden had been out surfing at at Samurai Beach in NSW (pictured) with his friends

'Check it's mouth,' Mr Hasson told his friends via Facebook. 'It's rolled over having a good look at his yummy yellow new wetsuit.'

Mr Hasson said the extraordinary photograph came about as Eden rode the wave to the beach. He quickly zoomed in and was shocked at the image he saw.

'Eden was half way out and I called everyone in. I showed them the photo and everyone was in awe laughing,' Mr Hasson said,

'One of the surfers said just before the wave a large school of mullet arrived.'
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley won strong support for the U.N. post despite her lack of foreign policy experience

The Senate confirmed President Donald Trump's pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations by a decisive margin Tuesday as Republican-led committees paved the way for three more of his Cabinet nominees to be approved just days into the new administration.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley won strong support for the U.N. post despite her lack of foreign policy experience. Senators voted 96-4 on Haley's nomination.

Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Haley is a proven leader who will be a 'fierce advocate' at the U.N. for American interests.

But not everyone was sold.

Delaware democratic Senator Chris Coons, said Haley didn't convince him that she'll serve effectively.

The U.S. ambassador to the international body should be an expert on international affairs, Coons said, 'not someone who will be learning on the job.'

Haley is seen congratulating new South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, who took her seat after she accepted the position as UN ambassador

A Senate vote is expected soon on Trump's choice for secretary of state, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson.

The Foreign Relations Committee narrowly approved his nomination Monday, 11-10. No Democrats on the panel voted for Tillerson.

Tillerson's bid got a key boost when Senator Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, announced his support on Tuesday.

Manchin, who faces re-election in 2018 in a state that backed Trump heavily in the presidential election, said Tillerson's extensive business career 'will bring a unique perspective to the State Department.'

The vote on Haley capped a day when the GOP-led panels endorsed Trump's choices to lead the Transportation, Housing, and Commerce departments. Yet congressional Republicans criticized Democrats for not moving quickly enough on all of the president's selections.

Delaware democratic Senator Chris Coons, said Haley didn't convince him that she'll serve effectively. The U.S. ambassador to the international body should be an expert on international affairs, Coons said, 'not someone who will be learning on the job'

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, forced a one-week delay - until January 31 - of the committee's vote on Trump's attorney general nominee, Sen. Jeff Sessions.

Feinstein said senators 'owe it' to the more than 1 million women who marched in Washington and other locations on Saturday to be careful in considering Sessions' nomination and his willingness to protect equal rights.

She also said the committee received 188 pages of new material that needs to be reviewed. Committee rules allow any member of the panel to delay a vote.

Deliberations over two of Trump's picks turned testy as both nominees faced questions from Democrats over their personal finances. Representative Tom Price, R-Georgia, the president's choice for health secretary, defended his decision to invest in health care companies as he testified before the Senate Finance Committee.

Representative Tom Price, R-Georgia, the president's choice for health secretary, defended his decision to invest in health care companies as he testified before the Senate Finance Committee

Panel staffers found Price undervalued around 400,000 shares of stock in Australian drug company Innate Immunotherapeutics that he purchased last August. He reported the shares were valued at $50,000 to $100,000, but those shares were worth up to $250,000. Price blamed a 'clerical error' and answered 'no' when Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked if he'd used poor judgment.

Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, said Trump's nominee for budget director, South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney, should be disqualified because he failed to pay more than $15,000 in payroll taxes for a babysitter more than a decade ago. Mulvaney said he discovered the unpaid taxes while preparing for the nominating process. He has since paid the taxes.

Trump's choice for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, is also being scrutinized by Democrats about her qualifications, political donations and longtime work advocating for charter schools and school choice in her home state of Michigan.

Trump's choice for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, is also being scrutinized by Democrats about her qualifications, political donations and longtime work advocating for charter schools and school choice

Senator Gary Peters, D-Mich., delivered a withering critique of DeVos on Tuesday, saying he has no confidence she will fully support traditional public schools and students.

The Senate Commerce Committee approved by voice votes Trump's choices of conservative billionaire investor Wilbur Ross to run the Commerce Department and Elaine Chao to lead the Transportation Department.

Ross has specialized in buying distressed companies that still have a potential for delivering profits. He has known Trump for more than 20 years, was an early supporter of his presidential campaign and served as an economic policy adviser to Trump's team.

The Senate Commerce Committee approved by voice votes Trump's choices of conservative billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, left, to run the Commerce Department and Elaine Chao, right, to lead the Transportation Department

Chao, an experienced Washington hand, was labor secretary in President George W. Bush's administration and deputy transportation secretary under President George H.W. Bush. She is also the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Chao is expected to play a major role in Trump's effort to fulfill his campaign promise to generate $1 trillion in infrastructure investment.

Ben Carson, nominated to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, won unanimous approval from the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. The former Republican presidential candidate and celebrated neurosurgeon would lead a sprawling agency with 8,300 employees and a budget of about $47 billion.

Sen. Michael Crapo of Idaho, the committee's Republican chairman, praised Carson and said the department 'will benefit from having a secretary with a different perspective and a diverse background.' Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the panel's top Democrat, said he had reservations but welcomed Carson's promises to address lead hazards in public housing.
Mexican drugs lord El Chapo has been locked up in the infamous New York jail which has housed mafia bosses, 9/11 terrorists and was even once compared to Guantanamo Bay.

Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman is being held at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center, MCC, during his trial where he stands accused of running one of the world's biggest drug-trafficking operations.

The notorious jail has housed some of the world's most dangerous criminals including 9/11 terrorist Ramzi Yousef, crime boss John Gotti and fraudster Bernie Madoff.

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Mexican drugs lord El Chapo has been locked up in the infamous Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center which has housed mafia bosses, 9/11 terrorists and was even once compared to Guantanamo Bay

Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, center, was transported from a plane to a waiting caravan of SUVs at Long Island MacArthur Airport on January 19 after he was extradited from Mexico

It appears that the authorities are taking no chances with the leader of the feared Sinaloa Cartel who has twice escaped from maximum-security Mexican prisons.

But it's unlikely he will be performing any incredible escapes from the MCC.

'It's got extra security above and beyond what you would have in a restricted housing area,' second only to the super-maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado, said Catherine Linaweaver, who served as the lockup's warden for 15 months before retiring in 2014.

'There is no other unit in the Bureau of Prisons like the high-security unit in New York.'

El Chapo, who pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of murder and distributing 200 tonnes of cocaine, can expect to be kept in a special unit inside the drab 12-story prison.

In the 10th-floor Special Housing Unit, known by its acronym, the SHU, pronounced like 'the shoe,' around a dozen prisoners spend 23 hours a day in 20-by-12-foot cells, prohibited from communicating with one another

Located just south of Chinatown, and built in 1975, the jail has slit-shaped windows with frosted glass to prevent prisoners from getting even a glance at the city below

Located just south of Chinatown, and built in 1975, the jail has slit-shaped windows with frosted glass to prevent prisoners from getting even a glance at the city below.

A tunnel leads to the adjacent federal courthouse which means inmates can be transported to and from their trial without ever seeing the sun.

The jail is sandwiched between federal prosecutors' offices and two federal courthouses and is protected by steel barricades that can stop a 7 1/2-ton truck. Cameras capable of reading a newspaper a block away are trained on the area.

Inmates can be transported to court through corridors linked to both courthouses, though Guzman will be ferried to and from court in Brooklyn, a potentially risky job for the U.S. Marshals Service.

In the 10th-floor Special Housing Unit, known by its acronym, the SHU, pronounced like 'the shoe,' around a dozen prisoners spend 23 hours a day in 20-by-12-foot cells, prohibited from communicating with one another.

It was home to the prison's worst criminals and will most likley be home to El Chapo.

The notorious jail has housed some of the world's most infamous s criminals including fraudster Bernie Madoff

Dangerous criminals such as 9/11 terrorist Ramzi Yousef (left) and crime boss John Gotti (right) have also called the MCC home

Meals are eaten in cells, and exercise is in a recreation area specifically for these inmates.

To reduce the risk that a wealthy inmate such as Guzman might try to corrupt jail staff, the number of jailers who have access to him will likely be limited and each will undergo extra screenings by top jail officials, Linaweaver said.

The special unit's strict confinement drew criticism in 2011 from the human rights group Amnesty International, which expressed concern that the sparse cells, exercise restrictions and isolation 'amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.'

'It is worse than Guantanamo,' New York attorney Joshua Dratel told Esquire. Dratel has defended several high-profile terrorism suspects once housed at MCC. 'It is about as soul-negating existence as there is in this country in the federal system.'

The jail saw an audacious escape attempt in 1982, when two armed people in a hijacked sightseeing helicopter tried to pluck an inmate off a roof. Four years earlier, three prisoners broke out by cutting through window bars.

Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, better known as accused drug lord 'El Chapo' Guzman, was transported from his cell in Mexico (pictured) to the New York jail to face his trial

Guzmanwas frogmarched out of his cell towards a jet, which flies him to the US where he is to stand trial for drug charges

Security there was tightened significantly after Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, described as a right-hand man to bin Laden and awaiting trial in a terrorism case, used a sharpened comb to stab a guard on Nov. 1, 2000. Salim, who later apologized for the stabbing, is serving a life sentence.

Guzman's case doesn't mark the first time federal authorities have grappled with how to hang onto a member of his Sinaloa drug cartel.

Authorities expressed concern that the cartel might attempt to break a son of one of Guzman's cartel partners out of a federal lockup in Chicago in 2011. Of particular concern in that case: A fenced rooftop recreation center officials feared could make a defendant susceptible to sniper fire. The son was moved to a more secure facility.

The facility holds about 700 prisoners who are awaiting trial.

But El Chapo has posed a particular concern after escaping maximum security prisons in Mexico twice - once by crawling through a tunnel which lead to the jail bathroom in 2014.

Prior to that escape, he is believed to have escaped by sneaking out in a laundry cart.

A caravan of police vehicles shuttles Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman across the Brooklyn Bridge from a court appearance in Brooklyn to the MCC on Friday

An official looks on as a New York State Police vehicle, part of a motorcade carrying Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, arrives at the MCC on Thursday

An armed officer stands guard moments before a motorcade carrying Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman arrived at the MCC

Federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing that 'it is difficult to imagine another person with a greater risk of fleeing prosecution' than Guzman.

'I assure you no tunnel will be built leading to the bathroom,' Angel Melendez, a Homeland Security agent, told Esquire.

The prison is due to be featured in a book on solitary confinement, titled Hell Is A Very Small Place - written by a former prisoner.

Uzair Paracha, a Pakistani convicted of assisting al Qaeda, claimed that everything in his cell - the bed, desk and chair - were all made of concrete.

'The cells were the coldest places because the metallic sheets on the walls turned the cells into ice boxes, freezing us inside instead of insulating us from the outside weather, and food items would freeze if I kept them in some parts of my cell,' he wrote.

'The summers made the cells into ovens.'

It is unclear how long El Chapo will be an inmate at the MCC.
March 29, 1923  Jan. 20, 2017

Lorraine Watson, 93, of Portland passed away Friday at Park View Assisted Living in Portland.

Lorraine was born in Newcastle, Nebraska to Nick and Gertrude (Ehle) Schuder. She attended Newcastle Public School and would go on to the Methodist Hospital School of Nursing and the University of Pittsburgh. During World War II, Lorraine served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps at Camp Carson, Colorado.

Lorraine continued her career in nursing and was married to Homer Watson in Sioux City, Iowa in 1946. She was a member of the South Albany Community Church and Gideons International.

Lorraine is survived by her children, Diana Watson of Portland, Darcy Schunke of Fairview, Dana Watson of Vancouver, Washington, and Drew Watson of Rockville, Maryland; sister, Betty Parr of Elgin; and two grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Homer; brothers, Allen and Myrle Schuder; and sisters, Rita McAnally, Rose Bagley, and Darrell Baker.

Lorraine will be laid to rest with her husband, Homer at the Willamette National Cemetery in Portland. A memorial service will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Disabled Veterans, The Salvation Army, or the American Red Cross.

Condolences may be posted online at www.fisherfuneralhome.com.
A group of inmates are on the run after escaping from a troubled youth detention centre and stealing a car.

Police are hunting down the group of up to 13 teenagers after they broke out of Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre at about 2.45pm on Wednesday.

The teenagers assaulted a guard and stole his swipe card, allowing them to escape and access restricted areas of the prison, the Herald Sun reported.

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A group of inmates have escaped from a troubled youth detention centre and stolen a car. Pictured, some of the inmates on the roof of the prison

Up to 13 of the teenagers escaped and stole at least one car before driving off.

According to 9 News, they abandoned a truck before stealing two more vehicles.

One of the cars is believed to be heading towards Melbourne while the other is driving in the direction of Bendigo, Victoria.

A police car and another vehicle are believed to have been damaged as the teenagers fled.

Six of the inmates are believed to have been captured, while the other seven remain on the run.

Aerial photographs showed five teenagers on the roof of the detention centre.

The teenagers are believed to have assaulted a guard and stolen his swipe card, allowing them to escape and access restricted areas of the prison

The public have been warned to stay away from the area.

'Police are at a correctional facility in Malmsbury following the escape of a number of inmates and the theft of a vehicle about 2.45pm today,' a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.

'Further updates will be provided once information comes to hand.'

Its not the first time that the juvenile prison, north west of Melbourne, has been hit with riots, with police storming the centre just two weeks ago after inmates armed themselves and forced out guards.
Pennsylvania's highest court is reviewing the conviction of a Pittsburgh man for making threats against police in a rap song after he was charged with drug offenses.

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would take up an appeal by Jamal Knox, who argues his song, which was briefly posted online, is protected by the right to free speech.

Knox wants the court to set aside his convictions for witness intimidation and making terroristic threats.

'Just because a police officer arrests you, doesn't mean you are stripped of any free speech ability to say, "Wait a minute, that officer did me wrong, and here's why I think so,"' Knox's lawyer Patrick K. Nightingale said Tuesday.

Rapper Jamal Knox, who goes by Mayhem Mal, served three years in prison for threatening two police officers in a rap song

Knox's lawyer argues that he was exercising his right to free speech and compared him to someone like Maya Angelou

The Allegheny County district attorney's office, which declined comment for this story, told Superior Court last year the song 'was not mere political hyperbole but, rather, the sort of 'true threat' that is not protected by the First Amendment.'

The case began with an April 2012 traffic stop in the city's East Liberty section, when Knox, now 22, drove away after telling an officer he did not have a valid driver's license.

Following a chase in which he hit a parked car and a fence, police found 15 bags of heroin and $1,500 on Knox and a stolen, loaded gun in the vehicle.

Seven months later, an officer came across the video online, performed by Knox under the name 'Mayhem Mal' of the 'Ghetto Superstar Committee' with co-defendant Rashee Beasley - and accompanied by photos of them both. Knox and Beasley posted another video in which they said they wrote the song.

The title is 'F*** the Police.'

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has agreed to hear the case; Knox's lawyer wants his conviction set aside

Fellow rapper Rahee Beasley was also convicted for the some offense

A transcript shows the lyrics taunt two officers involved in Knox's arrest and bringing up the name of Richard Poplawski, who's currently on death row for the shootings deaths of three Pittsburgh police officers in 2009.

The song starts with, 'If y'all want beef we can beef/I got artillery to shake the ... streets,' and uses the two officers' last names. A verse sung by Beasley says he has a 'clip filled to the tippy top wit some cop killas,' and boasts that 'like Poplawski I'm strapped nasty.'

Knox's lawyers argued that he did not post it online himself nor did he intend for it to be published. The video was taken down from YouTube after three days.

The two officers identified in the song were provided with additional security protections.

Knox's lawyers argued to Superior Court that the question of whether the song is protected free speech or a criminal threat 'could hardly be of more substantial importance; it is perhaps the most salient issue of our time.'

They said Knox's objective in creating the song, which they described as 'political hyperbole-laced,' was not to intimidate the police officers.

Rather, they said, he was trying to engage in therapy for anger management, to express political speech in protest of social injustice, to spread news to the community and to advance his artistic career.

A judge convicted Knox in February 2014, in relation to the video, of two counts of witness intimidation and two counts of terroristic threats. His sentence on all counts, including drug charges, was two to six years in prison. He was paroled from state prison last month.

Prosecutors have dismissed the argument that Knox and Beasley were engaged in works along the lines of Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes.

'He does not ... cite to any works of Ms. Angelou or Mr. Hughes - or any other artist, for that matter - in which they threatened to murder in his home a named police officer who had a pending a case against them,' the DA's office told Superior Court.
An Australian mother has been left shocked after her child's kindergarten banned birthday cake from the classroom.

The mother shared a note from the school on social media which explained cakes had too much sugar and went against the healthy eating policy.

The school, which has not been named, will be offering healthy options for the children instead.

The mother was appalled to learn 85 per cent of parents in her child's class were against celebrating birthdays with a serving of cake.

An Australian kindergarten has banned birthday cake because it has too much sugar (file image)

The kindergarten sent an email explaining 85 per cent of parents supported the ban (pictured)

'Why can't we just let kids live?' she wrote.

The mother explained if every child brought in cake for their class mates to celebrate their birthday it would amount to just 'one cupcake per fortnight'.

'Obviously a number might have sugar issues but 85% against?' she wrote.

The letter from the school explained the 'team' in charge of kindergarten will 'develop exciting new initiatives to celebrate birthdays'.

'Your children will still celebrate this special milestone with their friends at kindy.'

Other mothers commenting on the post appeared to be shocked, saddened and angered by the news.

'I'm all for cake on your birthday,' one mum said.

'The world has officially gone nuts,' said another.

A mother of one of the children in the class was shocked so many parents were against cake on birthdays and posted to social media to share her surprise

Many agreed to the no cake policy online - and explained how bad sugar is for children (file image)

But some agreed with the no cake policy.

'I agree with the email. Do your research on sugar,' one mum said.

'For my son's birthday this year I made Jelly cups from scratch. Super easy, gut friendly and refined sugar free,' another parent wrote on the post.

While another parent said at their child's kindergarten cakes had to be 'sugar free'.

Another mum warned against going sugar free at home.

'I have seen kids who aren't allowed sugar or have very limited amounts .... They get to their friends' little birthday parties and go absolutely crazy overboard,' one mum said.
A brave dog saved his friend by pulling him out of a rushing river. Or, he just really wanted to take the stick.

Footage from Cordoba, Argentina shows a black lab eagerly chasing a stick tossed near violent water in the YouTube video published on January 17.

He leaps across a small current and onto slippery rock to claim his prize.

A yellow lab trails behind and watches his friend beat him to the punch.

In a terrifying moment, the black dog slips from a rock and into the river. Even though he is splashed and pulled under the water, he does not let that stick budge from his grasp.

He gets pushed by the current through a small dip in the river when the heroic yellow dog grabs the stick clutched between the black dog's teeth.

The black lab with the stick rushes down the river towards the yellow pup who spots and opportunity to win a game of fetch

The yellow lab pulls their buddy to safety and takes the stick for him

Both pups maintain an impressive grip on the stick. The yellow lab pulls his buddy onto a rock to safety.

The black dog abandons the stick and starts shaking off.

The yellow dog then walks out of the frame holding the stick, indicating victory.

Neither dogs were injured in the video. The owner said in the video description both pups knew the area well.
An elderly right-wing politician who wants Muslim migration banned was denied a U.S. visa to see Donald Trump inaugurated because he was a security risk.

Veteran New South Wales MP Fred Nile is also anti-abortion, opposed to gay rights and strongly supports the new U.S. president.

The 82-year-old founder of the Christian Democratic Party and his second wife, Silvana Nero, were last week denied entry to the United States because they were regarded as an unspecified security risk, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Christian conservative MP Fred Nile (pictured in November 2016) was denied a U.S. visa to see Donald Trump's inauguration

Fred Nile (right) and his wife Silvana Nero (left) at a rally against Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood in 2013. They were denied U.S. visas to see Donald Trump swear on the Bible

The former Uniting Church minister has blamed former president Barack Obama's administration.

'No explanations or reasons were given,' he told Fairfax Media.

'The only suspicion I have is that someone in the Obama machine said, "We're not going to help this guy." That's my gut feeling but then again who would bother about me?'

Mr Nile said he had booked airline tickets to the U.S. after being invited to attend Mr Trump's inauguration on January 20.

Fred Nile missed out on seeing Donald Trump (pictured) speak at his inauguration on January 20 because he couldn't obtain a U.S. visa

Fred Nile (pictured in April 2015) had tweeted his support for Donald Trump

The Christian conservative politician tweeted his pro-Trump views on December 20, 2016

The NSW upper house member also congratulated President Trump on his close links with Russian President Vladimir Putin

A month before President Trump's Washington swearing-in ceremony, Mr Nile tweeted his support for the Republican and his close connection with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

'It is an insult to democracy to keep blaming Trump's victory on alleged hacking by Russia,' he said on December 20 last year.

'Trump is to be congratulated for establishing genuine friendly relations with the President Vladimir Putin. Let us make peace not war.'

Fred Nile (pictured in 2011) called for a ban on Muslim migration a decade before Donald Trump campaigned on the issue

Mr Nile, who has been a NSW upper house member since 1981, more than a decade ago called for a 10-year ban on Muslim migration to allow more Middle Eastern Christians into Australia.

President Trump campaigned to temporarily ban Muslim migration to the United States during last year's election campaign and on Wednesday signed executive orders barring immigration from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia.

Mr Nile has previously urged Australians to donate to the Assyrian Christian Militia, which is fighting ISIS in northern Iraq.

The US consulate declined to comment on Mr Nile being denied a visa.
Actress and activist Jane Fonda denounced President Donald Trump as 'predator-in-chief' during a protest in New York on Tuesday against his decision to renew construction of two controversial pipelines.

Fonda, 79, was one of hundreds of people gathered in front of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York's Columbus Circle on Tuesday.

The protest was called after Trump signed executive orders on Tuesday ordering the resumption of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects  both of which were frozen by the Obama administration.

'He does this illegally because he has not gotten consent from the tribes through whose countries this goes,' Fonda was quoted as saying by the New York Daily News.

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President Donald Trump (above) signs an executive order to resume construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in the Oval Office in Washington on Tuesday

Actress and activist Jane Fonda (second from left) denounced Trump as 'predator-in-chief' during a protest in New York on Tuesday against the decision

'The US has agreed to treaties that require them to get the consent of the people who are affected, the indigenous people who live there.'

Fonda has a long history of political activism  some of it controversial.

In July 1972, Fonda, who was protesting America's involvement in the Vietnam War, was photographed seated on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun during a visit to Hanoi.

The images of a smiling Fonda surrounded by North Vietnamese troops who were fighting the Americans angered many at home who denounced her as a traitor.

Fonda, 79, was one of hundreds of people gathered in front of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York's Columbus Circle (above) on Tuesday

Fonda has a long history of political activism  some of it controversial. In July 1972, Fonda was photographed (above) seated on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun during a visit to Hanoi

Fonda would later express regret for the photo.

Nonetheless, she has remained active in political and environmental matters.

Fonda also turned out for last Saturday's massive Women's March in Washington, DC.

Trump on Tuesday said that the renewed construction plans would result in 'a lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs, great construction jobs.'

Part of that prediction involves a third executive order, declaring that pipes manufactured moving forward for both projects must be made in America 'like we used in the old days.'

'I am very insistent that if we're going to build pipelines in the United States, the pipes should be made in the United States,' Trump said during his signing ceremony.

'Much pipeline is bought from other countries,' the president noted, but 'from now on we're going to start making pipeline in the United States.'

'We build it in the United States, we build the pipelines, we want to build the pipeline. We're gonna put a lot of workers, a lot of steel workers back to work.'

Trump quipped in an understatement as he signed the Keystone project's resurrection papers that it is 'something that's been in dispute.'

'And it's subject to a renegotiation of terms by us. We are going to renegotiate some of the terms, and if they'd like, we'll see if we can get that pipeline built.'
A man attacked two relatives and then set their home on fire over a bad cigarette, police in Fresno, California, say.

Detectives say Richard Garcia, 58, asked his brother-in-law for a cigarette but didn't like it and that led to an argument, KFSN-TV reported.

Fresno Police spokesman Lt. Joe Gomez says Garcia attacked his sister and brother-in-law with a crowbar and a hammer and then chased them with a knife.

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Detectives say Richard Garcia (pictured) asked his brother-in-law for a cigarette but didn't like it and that led to an argument

Fresno Police spokesman Lt. Joe Gomez says Garcia attacked his sister and brother-in-law with a crowbar and a hammer and then chased them with a knife

Firefighters are pictured at the Fresno, California, residence responding to the blaze

Speaking to The Fresno Bee, Gomez said that Garcia hit his brother-in-law's head with the crowbar and used it to strike his sister's leg and arm.

The couple got away and ran to a neighbor's home for help.

Gomez says Garcia was on the porch with a knife when officers pulled up to heavy smoke and flames.

Garcia had bloody hands and said he murdered someone who 'deserved to die', Gomez told the newspaper.

Authorities didn't recover any bodies from the home, the Fresno Bee reported.

Gomez says Garcia was on the porch with a knife when officers pulled up to heavy smoke and flames

The Fresno Fire Department posted this photograph on Twitter showing Garcia

Deputy Fresno Fire Chief Rich Cabral told KFSN: 'Certainly when we have a dispute like this, you can paint the picture as to what our thoughts might be in regards to a fire starting in a home.

'But when we have a dispute between individuals who are living there then our suspicions are raised.'

He was arrested and is facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon and arson.

He had cuts, burns, and singed hair, according to the television station.

Garcia's sister and brother-in-law were treated for minor injuries from being hit with the crowbar and hammer.

Firefighters are pictured at the scene responding to the fire
The man accused of carrying out the Bourke Street massacre reportedly had homosexual tendencies.

Dimitrious 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas, 26, is accused of stabbing his brother Angelo, who is gay, before allegedly killing five people in the sickening car attack on Friday.

Angelo's ex-boyfriend Shaun Schembri, 29, told news.com.au the accused killer wanted to take him home after the pair shared a kiss at a nightclub.

'One night when we were out at a venue... I leaned over to kiss Angelo, not realising it was Jimmy, and kissed Jimmy,' Mr Schembri told the publication.

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Dimitrious 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas, the man accused of Friday's Bourke Street rampage, reportedly had homosexual tendencies, despite allegedly stabbing his brother for being gay

Angelo Gargasoulas is still fighting for his life after he was allegedly stabbed by his brother

'He wanted it to go further, he wanted me to come home with him. I believe there was something there, maybe he was in the closet.'

Police said the accused killer and his brother came to blows at their mother Emily's housing commission apartment in Windsor.

The distraught mother claimed the fight started after an argument over Angelo's sexuality.

'Jimmy keeps saying to me, I'm going to kill all gays... and lesbians,' she told Seven News.

Tributes for Angelo have flowed on social media as the young man clings to life after being stabbed in the face during the alleged the attack.

'Praying for you brother hoping you can pull through this mate,' one friend wrote.

Gargasoulas, 26, is charged with five counts of murder over the shocking attack. His brother's ex-boyfriend says he thought the accused killer was 'in the closet'

Gargasoulas' rampage across Melbourne allegedly ended with him ploughing through pedestrians in the city centre

Prosecutors say Gargasoulas ran down 37 people on Friday, five of whom have since died

'Was only a couple weeks ago when i saw your face last and you where (sic) happy as larry now today your fighting for your life. Life can be so cruel.'

'Please god bless my friend Angelo Gargasoulas... Praying for your life and those who are have lost there (SIC) lives in Melbourne's tragedy xxx,' another well-wisher posted.

'Heart goes out to my blue eye hunnie pie Angelo Gargasoulas and his family at this sad sad time,' a friend said.

Tributes for Angelo have flowed on social media as the young man clings to life following the horrific attack

The rampage came to an end on Friday afternoon when police shot Gargasoulas in the arm

On Monday, Gargasoulas was due to front Melbourne Magistrates Court on five counts of murder but claimed he was feeling unwell

'Praying for the quickest safest recovery for u my darling!!'.

On Monday, Gargasoulas, 26, was due to front Melbourne Magistrates Court, but claimed he was feeling 'unwell' when summoned to face five counts of murder.

His defense lawyer told the court that his client was unable to appear after being released from hospital following surgery on a gunshot wound to his arm.
A father has been charged with drug driving after allegedly losing control of a jet ski which crashed into his nine-year-old son, killing him in shallow waters.

Shane Parkes, 34, had been riding a jet ski when he fatally crashed into his eldest son Tobi, at Queenalands Lake Moondarra, near Mount Isa, in November last year.

On Wednesday Mr Parkes was charged with a string of offences including drug driving and unlicensed driving, reports Courier Mail.

Police have charged Shane Parkes (left) with drug driving after his son Tobi's (centre) death, after he lost control of a jet ski and ran over the nine-year-old boy in shallow water

Police are believed to have been probing a number of theories about the tragic accident, which seriously injured another family member.

One of these theories is that Mr Parkes was trying to spray Tobi, who was playing in shallow water near the shore of the dam.

Horrified family members scrambled in vain to rescue Tobi when he vanished underwater after the crash.

Police divers spent 19 hours scouring the scene before they found Tobis body early on November 20.

The jet ski was forensically examined during lengthy investigations.

Mr Parkes was denied bail in the Mount Isa Magistrates Court on Wednesday. He will return to court on April 18.

On Wednesday Mr Parkes was charged with a string of offences including drug driving and unlicensed driving
Kuwait has hanged a member of the country's Royal family as part of a mass execution after he was found guilty of murdering a fellow prince.

Faisal Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who killed his nephew Basil Al-Sabah in 2010, was among seven people to face their fate today having been sentenced to death.

The men and women were killed at the country's central prison and included a woman convicted of killing 58 women and children when she set fire to a wedding tent.

Faisal Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (pictured), who killed his nephew Basil Al-Sabah in 2010, was among seven people to face their fate today having been sentenced to death

The first death sentences carried out in several years in the oil-rich emirate included a Bangladeshi, a Filipina, an Ethiopian, two Kuwaitis and two Egyptians, according to a statement carried on the state-run KUNA news agency.

KUNA said that all had been convicted of murder except the Bangladeshi man, who was convicted of rape, kidnapping and theft and that the executions had been authorised by Kuwait's ruler Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

The royal was identified as Faisal Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who killed his nephew Basil Al-Sabah in 2010.

Faisal was working as a captain in the country's army and visited his nephew at the Maseelah Palace in June 2010.

The two princes were sitting together in a group of people, according to Gulf News, when the killer asked to talk to the fellow prince privately.

They left the main room and seconds later guests heard gunshots.

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (right) performs Eid al-Fitr prayer at a mosque in Kuwait city, Kuwait

Basil had been shot several times from close range and was declared dead at Mubarak Al Kabeer Hospital.

The second Kuwaiti national executed on Wednesday was Nasra Al-Enezi.

She was convicted of setting fire to a wedding tent in 2009 after her husband took a second wife.

The blaze killed 58 women and children, her lawyer Zaid Al-Khabbaz said. The Bedouin-style tent, put up so women attending could be uncovered for the event, had only one entrance.

Dozens of others were injured in a stampede during the fire, which later led Kuwait to ban the tents.

The lawyer said he last spoke to his client a month ago.

'She sounded very fragile, very shaken, more than any other time,' Al-Khabbaz told said.

'It's impossible to say that she intended to kill all those women and children.

'It was a tragedy.'

In the Philippines, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose identified the Filipina hanged as Jakatia Pawa, who was convicted of killing her employer's daughter.

Pawa's brother, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Gary Pawa, said his sister called early morning Wednesday, crying as she informed him of her scheduled execution.

'My sister's only request was for us to take care of her two children,' he said.

Ernesto Abella, a spokesman for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, said in a statement that the authorities used 'all efforts to preserve her life, including diplomatic means and appeals for compassion.'

'Execution, however, could no longer be forestalled under Kuwaiti laws,' he said. 'We pray for her and her bereaved family.'

Kuwait, where the executions were carried out for the first time since back in 2013

Kuwait is home to 250,000 Filipino workers, with about 158,000 of them working as domestic helpers, Philippine ambassador to Kuwait Rene Villa said.

Executions are fairly rare in Kuwait, which has the world's sixth-largest oil reserves.

The last were carried out in 2013, when a Pakistani, a Saudi and a Bidoon  a name used in the emirate for people without citizenship  were hung.

Wednesday's executions drew immediate criticism from Amnesty International, which opposes the death penalty.

The mass execution 'is a shocking and deeply regrettable step backward for Kuwait,' Amnesty official Samah Hadid said in a statement.

'By choosing to resume executions now, the Kuwaiti authorities have displayed a wanton disregard for the right to life and signaled a willingness to weaken human rights standards.'

It's not clear what sparked the timing of the executions.
April 6, 1933  Jan. 20, 2017

Mary Alice Thomas was born April 6, 1933 in Alsea to Alice and Ishmael Thomas. She was the youngest of five children: Dorothy, Donald, Harold, and Stanley. She passed away at the age of 83 in Corvallis.

Mary Alice attended Alsea High School. She graduated in 1951. After high school she worked as a telephone operator. One summer she and Auntie Bobbie went to Salem and worked at the cannery. They would get off work every night at 11 p.m., and a policeman with a deep voice would escort them home because it was a rough part of town.

She married her high school sweetheart, Ken Hendrix, in February 1953. Someone spiked the punch at their wedding and her Grandma Harvey really liked it. They had three children: Lucinda, Walter, and Ginger. Ken passed away in February 1970.

Mary Alice remarried Forrest (Cork) Sapp on Jan. 6, 1971 in Reno. They listened to The Carpenters, who always remained one of her favorite music groups. Cork was a widower with four children, Russ, Rick, Earnest (Hug) and Carol. On July 11, 1972 Mary Alice and Cork welcomed their son, Jeremy. Cork passed away on Jan. 17, 2000.

Mary Alice was a member of the Theta Rowe Rebekah Lodge. She loved to dance with all the boys at local dances. She loved to people watch, especially after moving to Corvallis in 2000.

She picked blackberries every year as a little girl. Once, after throwing a blackberry at her best friend Lou Anne, it started a blackberry fight that will live on in infamy. When her mother came to pick them up, they were both covered in blackberry juice.

Years later, Mary Alice was helping Lou Ann paint her bathroom purple. A playful flip of the paintbrush resulted in a purple paint fight where everything ended up purple but the bathroom walls. To be fair, Mary Alice tried to tell Lou Ann that she wouldnt like a purple bathroom, and she was right.

Mary Alice was a member of the Poop Group and loved their gatherings. She loved to swim and was particularly happy near the ocean. The Poop Group went to Hawaii in 1986 and she stayed in the ocean nearly the entire time.

While living in Lobster Valley she was an experienced canner. She was a member of the Lobster Valley Church and loved to sing loudly and argue with the preacher. She stayed active in her community by helping with homecoming dinners and PTA meetings and teaching Sunday school. She did the books for Sapp Bros. Logging and loved to help take care of her grandchildren.

Mary Alice is survived by her four children; two stepchildren; and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents; all four siblings; and two stepsons, Rick and Hug.

At her request, there will not be a service. Donations can be made in her honor to the Lobster Valley Church of Christ.

McHenry Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
This is the moment a man was filmed setting the Australian flag alight while standing on top of a spray painted Aboriginal flag.

The incident occurred in the Sydney suburb of Newtown, just one day before Australia Day on January 26, the anniversary of the arrival in 1788 of the first British fleet.

It's understood the man featured in the footage is an activist campaigning for Aboriginal rights.

He can be seen standing on top of the spray painted Aboriginal flag which featured phrases such as 'decolonise', '229 years' and '#KeepTheFireBurning'.

This is the moment a man was filmed setting the Australian flag alight while standing on top of a spray painted Aboriginal flag

Footage was posted to social media early on Wednesday evening showing a group spray painting the Aboriginal flag onto the pavement

A witness at the scene said there were about four people involved.

'It was at the forecourt near the train station and there were a lot of people about heading home from work when it happened,' she said.

'It caught a lot of people off guard.'

Footage was posted to social media early on Wednesday evening showing a group spray painting the Aboriginal flag onto the pavement as bystanders watched on.

It's unknown whether the incident was part of a larger protest or the act of a small group.

Many Indigenous Australians refer to the Australia Day public holiday 'Invasion Day', marking the beginning of British colonisation of their lands and brutal subjugation.

Groups have called to change the date of the holiday out of respect.

Police arrived at the scene in Newtown but the group behind the protest had dispersed, no arrests were made.

Across the top of the flag protestors spray painted '229 years', the length of time since the arrival of the First Fleet into Port Jackson

Police arrived at the scene but the group behind the protest had dispersed, no arrests were made

The man can be seen standing on top of a spray painted Aboriginal flag which featured phrases such as 'decolonise' and '#KeepTheFireBurning
Joann Johnson (left) was watching the Live PD episode on A&E when the film crew and the sheriffs came across the body of her son Benjamin (right)

The mother of a 37-year-old man who was watching a live television program which followed police officers on duty suddenly realized with horror that he had been murdered almost in front of her eyes.

Benjamin Johnson's mother Joann, from South Carolina, confirmed to NBC News she had been watching Live PD on A&E on Friday night when she saw her son's body on television.

Mrs Johnson told KDSK TV: 'When they turned it to the channel, and I seen that my son is laying on the ground.'

Speaking through floods of tears, Mrs Johnson said: 'The way they showed it on TV, that's wrong. For a parent to find out about their child...you don't do that.'

The show, which was launched last year, follows police departments around the country as they carry out their work on the streets.

Around 9pm on Friday they were in Columbia, South Carolina, when they came across a shooting.

Benjamin Johnson (pictured) was shot dead while his family watched on live television

The Live PD team was riding along with Richland County Sheriff's Department deputies when they got the call. They arrived at the scene as paramedics fought in vain to save Mr Johnson's life.

The A&E crew filmed the victim lying motionless outside a house as detectives searched for shell cases and other evidence.

Mr Johnson, a father-of-four, was wearing the reflective vest he wore for his job as a garbage disposal operative but his face was not shown.

The episode has not been uploaded onto the TV channel's website. It is not clear if it will be uploaded with Mr Johnson's murder edited out

Nevertheless his mother recognized him and was heartbroken.

Lieutenant Curtis Wilson, from Richland County Sheriff's Department, said it was up to the show's producers to decide whether to air the footage of the victim.

'We are not controlling the cameras,' he said.

His brother, Chris Johnson, told NBC affiliate WIS he heard about the shooting and added: 'When I ran up the scene, I seen yellow tape, and when I see that I already know, somebody gone, and I knew it was my brother.'

Mr Johnson was eventually pronounced dead at the scene - having been shot once in the upper torso - and the coroner notified his family.

Live TV's executive producer, David Doss, told NBC Mr Johnson's death was filmed inadvertently and he said as soon as they knew he was dead 'we moved our cameras out of there. We got off of that shot right away.'

Mr Doss also said 'some family members knew' of Mr Johnson's death 'long before the audience knew.'

He also pointed out they chose not to film as the deputies went inside the family home to console his mother.

Lt Wilson said a meeting was planned today to discuss whether to change the ground rules for future broadcasts.

Nobody has been arrested in connection with Mr Johnson's murder.
Distressing video footage has emerged of a young boy being brutally attacked outside his school after he told his teachers he was being bullied.

The clip shows the 12-year-old first year student at Caldervale High School in Airdrie, Scotland, being repeatedly punched and kicked.

In the sickening footage, another pupil can be heard saying, 'You remember me, don't you?' before launching the attack.

The clip shows the youngster - believed to be a first year at Caldervale High School in Airdrie, Scotland - being repeatedly punched and kicked

Students can be heard in the background goading the attacker, while others try to stop the brutal assault which took place beside an ice cream van parked near the school on Monday lunchtime.

The victim also had juice poured over his head and was pushed in dog faeces.

The other student can be seen grabbing the victim by the hair and pushing him against a fence, before kneeing him in the stomach.

According to his parents, he was beaten up in retaliation for reporting a previous case of bullying.

The youngster had tried to phone his mother to tell her he was being attacked, before the bully snatched his phone away.

The boy's horrified family sent the disturbing video to Airdrie North councillor Sophia Coyle, who has called upon the school to do more to stop bullying.

According to Cllr Coyle, the school said it cannot do anything because the attack happened outside school grounds.

Students can be heard in the background goading the attacker and the school has now been told to do more to stop bullying

The boy's horrified family sent the disturbing video to a local councillor. The student is seen grabbing the victim by the hair and pushing him against a fence, kneeing him in the stomach

The youngster had tried to phone his mother to tell her he was being attacked, before the bully snatched his phone away

Cllr Coyle told MailOnline: 'The family of the victim are very distressed and angry.

'The school policy says they cannot do anything outside of the school grounds.

'When families send their children out at 8.55am they do not expect a phone call from their kids saying they've been assaulted.

'This school will not put teachers outside because they won't be covered if the staff member gets hurt - but it's okay for kids to get hurt?

'If it is that bad and they are scared that even staff are getting hurt at lunchtime, they should get police in.

'This boy had previously been beaten up by the same pupil, who was expelled for one day and grounded by his parents.

'The boy tried to phone his mum when he was first approached by the culprit but was quickly punched and kicked.'

Cllr Coyle said she had spoken to the school a number of times, following similar instances - including a fight on her own street involving children in school uniform.

She added: 'The school are saying that they can't do anything about this incident as it took place outside school grounds but I don't think that's acceptable.

'The boy who was attacked has been told to stay in school during lunch breaks and eat in the canteen for his own safety, but what kind of school life is that for him to lead.

'He shouldn't be restricted because of the violent actions of others.'

The 12-year-old clearly tries to shield himself during the vicious attack

Caldervale head teacher, Karen Kubica, said: 'I am aware of the incident which happened in the local community.

'It has been addressed with the pupil responsible and his parents. We will also continue to work with the child who was assaulted and his parents to offer support and advice.

'For their own safety, we recommend pupils remain within the school campus during the lunch break, when staff are available to monitor behaviour and deal with any issues.

'Pupils are regularly reminded of this during assemblies and it is highlighted to parents in school newsletters.

'The school works closely with the local community police officers on safety matters, to address issues in the school community.'

Police confirmed the victim's mother has reported the matter to them and that 'enquiries are ongoing'.

Inspector Steven Miller of Airdrie police said: 'We have a liaison officer in place for all of Airdrie's secondaries who regularly attend each one of the schools.'
Theresa May moved to defuse a parliamentary row over Brexit today by pledging to publish a White Paper on her plans.

The Prime Minister announced the concession during angry exchanges with Jeremy Corbyn after Labour threatened 'hand to hand combat' over legislation to trigger Article 50.

The Supreme Court dealt the PM a stinging blow yesterday when it ruled that she could not start the process of leaving the EU without approval from MPs and peers.

The White Paper is likely to make clear that at the end of the process, MPs face a choice between backing Mrs May's deal or crashing out of the EU with no agreement on trading rules.

Theresa May announced at PMQs today that she will publish a 'White Paper' plan for Brexit

The PM made the concession as she tore into Labour and Jeremy Corbyn for their chaotic positions on leaving the EU

The 8-3 majority decision at the Supreme Court left the government scrambling to rush through legislation, which will be published tomorrow.

Mrs May has insisted she is still determined to begin the process of cutting ties with Brussels by the end of March, despite fears that pro-EU politicians could seek to bog the law down.

The emergency Bill is set to be voted on by MPs next week, with Labour, the SNP and Liberal Democrats vowing to table a slew of amendments.

Up to 20 Tory rebels were said to be prepared to side with the Opposition to demand the publication of a White Paper on the government's approach to Brexit.

But during furious clashes with Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs today, Mrs May said: 'The House has overwhelmingly voted that Article 50 should be triggered before the end of March 2017.

'Following the Supreme Court judgment, a Bill will be provided for this House and there will be the proper debates in this chamber and in another place on that Bill.

'There is then the separate question of actually publishing the plan that I have set out, a bold vision for Britain for the future.

Jeremy Corbyn accused the PM of trying to turn the UK into a 'bargain basement' tax haven

Mrs May was flanked by Brexit Secretary David Davis as she slammed Labour for its incoherent stance on relations with Brussels

'I will do that in a White Paper and one of our objectives is the best possible free trade arrangement with the European Union, and that's what we will be out there negotiating for.'

The Labour leader claimed the Supreme Court ruling against Mrs May's approach to Brexit signified the Government's 'bad judgment'.

He complained that the PM was going to offer a 'blank cheque' to Donald Trump when she meets the US commander-in-chief in Washington on Friday.

The Labour leader claimed the Supreme Court ruling against Mrs May's approach to Brexit signified the Government's 'bad judgment'

'The bad judgment of threatening European partners while offering a blank cheque to President Trump,' he ranted.

'The bad judgment of wanting to turn Britain into a bargain basement tax haven.

'So will you offer some clarity and some certainty and withdraw the threats to destroy the social structure of this country by turning us into the bargain basement she clearly threatens?'

LIB DEMS REPEAT CALL FOR SECOND BREXIT REFERENDUM The Liberal Democrats have renewed their calls for a second referendum to be held on the Brexit deal. Party leader Tim Farron said a fresh vote was needed so the public could say 'thanks very much for asking but we will stay in the EU after all'. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'The Government does not have a mandate on a very narrow majority to go and negotiate any outcome it wants.' He added: 'One of the really upsetting things from a democratic point of view at the moment, from the point of view of someone who is proud to be British and wants our democracy to be fully functioning, is you have got one of the most ineffective oppositions in living memory.' Advertisement

But Mrs May shot back: 'You are the leader of the party - you can't even agree with your shadow chancellor about Brexit.

'The shadow chancellor can't agree with the shadow Brexit secretary. The shadow Brexit secretary disagrees with the shadow home secretary.

'And the shadow home secretary has to ring up the leader and tell him to change his mind.

'You talk about us standing up for Britain, they can't speak for themselves - they'll never speak for Britain.'

Aides to the PM refused to say exactly when the White Paper would be published. It is expected simply to list the 12 priorities she set out in her key Brexit speech last week.

There are fear Remainers could use the official parliamentary document as a springboard for a legal challenge to keep the UK inside the single market.

Speaking last night, Mrs Thornberry said the White Paper would be a key demand for cooperating with the legislation.

'Article 50, if it is going to be triggered, we will not get in the way of it, but we will try and amend the legislation in order to ensure that they keep coming back, that we keep an eye on them,' she told the BBC's Newsnight.

Gina Miller spearheaded the legal challenge that ended with the Supreme Court ruling yesterday that parliament had to approve Article 50

'And, if necessary, there will be hand-to-hand combat on this,' she told BBC's Newsnight.

Ms Thornberry said the PM had to accept the role of Parliament in the process.

'She can't say that she acts on behalf of the whole country without actually negotiating with Parliament, without listening to Parliament,' she said.

THE SUPREME COURT RULING: WHAT HAPPENS NOW? The Supreme Court has ruled against the Government and ordered the Prime Minister to consult MPs before she can start the process of leaving the EU. Judges agreed with the High Court decision that because invoking Article 50 was irreversible it meant citizens would lose rights currently provided by virtue of EU membership - even if the Government promised to match them. This meant ministers need to pass a law in Parliament to carry it out. The law is expected to very short and very simple - as little as one clause that is just three or four lines long. The Government could introduce a Bill as soon as tomorrow and push it through the Commons and Lords as quickly as possible. This is likely to take a couple of days but could be done over a couple of weeks. But attempts by opponents to amend the bill risks delaying the bill and if successful, could attach conditions that tie Theresa May's hands during negotiations. Advertisement

'The plan, it may be a piece of paper with "plan" written on the top, but it is a speech which she didn't make in Parliament and she wasn't answerable to questions, and so we want to have a white paper.'

Downing Street had not previously ruled out a white paper, but stressed that Mrs May had already set out her plan for Brexit with great 'clarity' in last week's speech at Lancaster House.

White papers are usually deployed to set out government policy ideas in detail ahead of legislation  allowing MPs and others to comment on ministerial thinking before it becomes law.

In the past they have been used as the basis for court challenges over government policy on everything from airports to the NHS.

Another court case could blow Mrs May's March timetable badly off course.

The PM has also argued that giving extra details of her negotiation strategy will not be in the national interest.

The rearguard action against Brexit could be even more fierce in the House of Lords, where peers are not answerable to constituents.

According to the Telegraph, one drastic move being considered by ministers is for the PM to create a group of 'sunset' peers.

They would promise to resign from the House after voting in favour of the legislation.

Labour former Cabinet minister Lord Blunkett exhorted his colleagues not to do the 'unthinkable' and block Article 50 yesterday, saying the public would be furious if the 'unelected chamber' stood in the way of the referendum result.

Brexit Secretary David Davis, pictured in Downing Street today, told the Commons yesterday that there was no question of delaying the timetable for Article 50

The rearguard action against triggering Article 50 is likely to be particularly fierce in the House of Lords
Leading Muslim women's campaigner Shaista Gohir was appointed OBE last year (pictured right: stock image)

A leading Muslim women's campaigner says making young children wear the hijab is as bad as youngsters having spray tans and pole dancing lessons.

Shaista Gohir, of the Muslim Women's Network, made the remark as she defended a Catholic school which has banned a four-year-old girl from wearing the headscarf.

And she insisted that it was not a requirement of the faith for young girls of that age, claiming the move could 'sexualise' children.

The MailOnline canvassed parents at this school this afternoon, with opinion split on whether or not the school was right to impose the ban.

One Muslim woman, who has four children at the school and who did not want to be named, said: 'The girl in question is my daughter's best friend.

'It's her own decision to wear the hijab. Her parents aren't forcing her.

'What I find ridiculous is the fact that Sikhs are allowed to their turbans and certain other religions are permitted to follow their rules, but Muslims are being singled out.

'Last year, lots of children were wearing hijabs. It has just been since September that this new policy has come into place.

'She has been told if she continues to wear it that she will have no break times, no swimming lessons and will be excluded from class trips.

'She was absolutely devastated. She is a young girl who was making her own decision which should be praised. She went home crying and was really upset.

'Her mum let's her wear the hijab at home now instead, but it shouldn't be that way.'

The mother's friend, another Muslim woman who has three girls at the school, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "Girls are wearing their hijabs on the way to school and then taking them off at the school gates because they are so scared of the repercussions.

Somiya Bibi and Parveen Achtar (shown together, left) both agreed the school was in the right, while Emina Ali (shown with her son Hassan, 8) said she could see both sides of the argument

Ms Gohir says the hijab is designed to discourage sexual advances from men and so enforcing it on young children could be 'sexualising' them

Clare Duffey, 28, (pictured) said it was important for students to follow the rules of the school

'I don't know if the headteacher has imposed this or the Catholic Church. Lots of the teachers and dinner ladies wear hijabs and they are role models to the children.'

It comes after campaigner Ms Gohir said the hijab is designed to discourage sexual advances from men and enforcing it on young children could be 'sexualising' them.

'We challenge parents who spray tan or give pole dancing classes to seven-year-olds, so we should be challenging Muslim parents who make young children wear the hijab,' she said.

'I've seen girls of two wearing them. We should let children be children.'

She added that St Clare's School in Handsworth, Birmingham, was within its rights to set its own uniform policy - and criticism of it had been unfair.

Ms Gohir said the hijab is designed to discourage sexual advances from men and enforcing it could be 'sexualising' children

'While schools do have to be inclusive, they haven't done anything wrong because there is no Islamic requirement for a four-year-old to wear a headscarf,' she explained.

'What is the need to put a headscarf on a four-year-old? Because it is not a part of faith.

'I would personally not like to see it normalised for four and five-year-olds to be wearing headscarfs,' she continued.

'In the current climate there is so much negativity towards Islam. By saying it is part of faith, when it isn't - or normalising it - is not a good thing.'

She explained that it the hijab is not suggested until girls reach puberty.

'But as it is not a matter of faith, the school is as entitled to tell children not to wear it as they are to stop a child wearing trainers or even a Superman costume,' said Ms Gohir.

'Let them be children, they've got their whole life to wear a headscarf if they want to.'

The row erupted after Birmingham City Council's Labour cabinet member for equalities, Waseem Zaffar, announced on Facebook that he was challenging the school's ban.

Faith schools are free to set their own uniform policy. Coun Zaffar (Lozells and East Handsworth) wrote on Facebook that he had met with the headteacher and told her the ban on the scarf was against the equalities act.

He added: 'I'm insisting this matter is addressed asap with a change of policy.'

Parent Munazza Jabeen, 44, said: 'I think if parents want their child to cover their face from such a young age, then it's far too restrictive.

'I am very strongly against allowing it. "They shouldn't put her in a Catholic school. The guidelines are very clear so they should adhere to them.'

Ms Gohir added that St Clare's School in Handsworth, Birmingham, was within its rights to set its own uniform policy - and criticism of it had been unfair.

Another parent, who gave her name as Sameena, said: 'She is far too young to be wearing a hijab. I think the teachers are doing the right thing.'

Rosemary, a woman who has a four-year-old son who attends St Clare's, said: 'I do not think a little girl should wear a hijab.

'Children that young don't understand religion and would question why someone was different.

'I think it would make her feel excluded. "I don't have any views on religion, but that's my personal opinion.'

One father, who did not wish to be named, said: 'I think it's very wrong that they are taking away her freedom. She should be allowed to express her religion.'
An elderly brother and sister have been forced to live separately for the first time in 80 years after social services put them in different care homes.

June and Jack Johnson, 86 and 84, were moved into separate homes after doctors said they were too ill to remain in their home in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

But despite a GP recommending that they stay together, local authorities moved them into different homes, on opposite sides of town.

The family of June and Jack Johnson, 86 and 84, are angry they have been forced to live apart

Mr Johnson has been blind since his 20s and has always lived with his older sister

Mr Johnson is totally blind and has dementia and broke his neck in a fall at home. His sister June has osteoporosis, arthritis, heart problems and mild dementia. She also recently suffered a fall and needed hospital treatment.

Mrs Johnson's daughter Lorraine Jordan, who is Mr Johnson's niece, said: 'They have been ripped apart.

'To hear my mum ask when they are going to be together again is heartbreaking, they rely on each other to keep going.

'When you are used to having someone around all your life it is upsetting and worrying.

'Family is everything and we are a family that has always stuck together. Their care needs are sufficiently similar to be together.'

The siblings were together at Ms Jordan's home for Christmas Day but they have only seen each other once since then.

Mrs Johnson's daughter, Lorraine Jordan, says the separation has been 'heartbreaking'

Mrs Johnson is being kept at this care home in north Stockport, where a decision is yet to be made on where she will live in the longer term

Mrs Johnson is at Marbury House, Heaton Chapel, still awaiting her assessment for a permanent place. The centre is four miles from Davenport Manor, where her brother is living.

A GP letter said the pair should 'be placed in the same care home as Jack is totally blind and because of his dementia is likely to be confused without the reassurance of his sister'.

Mr Johnson worked in engineering and has been blind since his 20s. He didn't marry so continued to live with his sister.

Councillor Wendy Wild, head of social care at Stockport Council, said: 'Unfortunately, for reasons of case confidentiality, Stockport council is unable to comment on individual cases.

'However, in all cases we aim to improve and maintain people's independence whilst providing them with the appropriate care to help meet their needs.'

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson is living at this care home four miles away in the south of the town




A university has warned staff against 'celebrating the arrival of European culture' on Australia Day because it could be 'deeply offensive' to minority groups.

Murrup Barak, head of the indigenous development institute at Melbourne University, posted the message on a staff notice board ahead of the national holiday.

In it, he urges staff to 'be respectful and inclusive' in how they choose to celebrate, adding that the day has 'complex meaning' for indigenous people.

Murrup Barak, head of the indigenous development institute at Melbourne University, has warned staff to be 'inclusive' with their Australia Day celebrations (file image)

In the post, which was handed to the Herald Sun, Mr Barak adds: 'For some our national day is associated with thoughts of mourning, struggle and survival.

'Remember when planning events or engaging with social media: images and words celebrating the arrival of European culture and people can be deeply offensive to many.'

A spokesman for the institution said: 'The University believes indigenous staff at the institution should be able to express a view on the matter.'

Mr Barak advised that the day has a 'complex meaning' for indigenous peoples, and 'celebrating the arrival of European culture' could be 'deeply offensive' to some (file image)

Not everyone was happy with the post, with one anonymous staff member accusing seniors of 'pushing a political agenda' to 'placate a vocal minority'.

Melbourne University promotes a policy of reconciliation between all Australian peoples as part of its Reconciliation Action Plan.

The policy aims to provide a better learning experience and better academic outcomes for indigenous students, and bring non-indigenous into contact with their culture.
A young man who was filming himself dancing in front of his camera was left red-faced - after his boss walked in on him.

The hilarious, but embarrassing moment, was recorded on the Walmart employee's phone in an 'empty' room during his shift.

He approached the camera and held his two necklaces up and then took a few steps back and performed a unique dance move.

The unnamed man, who was wearing his staff name badge, flicked his left leg up three times while saying something to the camera.

But just seconds later, his employer appeared after walking through the door - forcing the man to rush towards his phone.

His boss can be heard saying on the video, which was filmed in the United States, that the man was 'on the clock'.

He said: 'Hey man, you're on the clock now. You're not supposed to be doing all that "Facebook-ing" or whatever you're doing.'

The employee quickly replied: 'I apologise, sir. I apologise.'
Rebellious tweets uploaded to the Badlands National Park account were posted by an ex-employee who still had access to the account.

On Tuesday the employee at the South Dakota park posted a series of messages about climate change, an issue President Donald Trump has referred to as a 'hoax'.

It was in defiance of the new administration's gag orders on agency communication.

The tweets quoted climate science data, including the current record-setting high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

However the messages were unauthorized and the park removed them after realizing the account had been used by the former employee, a National Park Service official said.

By Tuesday evening, the offending tweets had been replaced with a photo of a goat standing atop a rocky cliff.

The Badlands National Park social media account sent out a flurry of rebellious tweets that included statistics on climate change on Tuesday. Officials revealed the posts were made by a rogue ex-employee

Another tweet by the former staff member at the park mentioned carbon dioxide levels

The agency sent out information about ocean acidification, which affects marine life and coral

The Twitter account of the South Dakota national park also referred to the problem of burning gasoline

Social media managers at the National Park Service are being encouraged to use Twitter to post public safety and park information but not content related to national policy issues, the official added.

Trump has promised to promote oil drilling and mining by cutting regulation, including by targeting Barack Obama's initiative to combat climate change.

The billionaire businessman has suggested pulling the United States out of a global pact on climate change signed by nearly 200 countries last year.

On the day of the inauguration, the White House deleted the climate change policies on its website.

The tweets came just four days after the Interior Department briefly suspended its Twitter accounts after the national park service retweeted photos about turnout at Trump's inauguration.

Aerial pictures showed fewer people in attendance at Trump's inauguration than at Barack Obama's in 2009.

Later on Tuesday, the offending tweets had been pulled down, with the park's Twitter page led by this tweet of a goat

The Twitter account of Badlands National Park sent out a series of tweets about climate change on Tuesday - but it has since emerged they were put out by a former employee

The National Park Service shut its own Twitter operation briefly on Friday after an apparent clampdown. But the accounts were reactivated after an apology for 'mistaken' retweets

Trump later falsely claimed more than one million people attending his inauguration, which

The former Apprentice star later falsely claimed that more than 1 million people attended his inauguration, which White House press secretary Sean Spicer insisted was the most watched in history.

The accounts were reactivated the next day after an apology was issued for the 'mistaken' retweets.

Trump has promised to promote oil drilling and mining by cutting regulation, including by targeting Barack Obama's initiative to combat climate change

Meanwhile, a media blackout has been introduced at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Trump administration has barred staff from awarding any new contracts or grants.

The EPA awards billions of dollars worth of grants and contracts every year to support programs around environmental testing, cleanups and research.

Emails sent to EPA staff and reviewed by The Associated Press detailed specific prohibitions banning press releases, blog updates or posts to the agency's social media accounts.

The main EPA account has not posted anything since January 19, a day before Trump's inauguration.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said he was 'looking into' reports of a gag order covering agency communications

Spicer said on Tuesday that he had no specific information on the blackout.

'I don't think it's any surprise that when there's an administration turnover, that we're going to review the policies,' Spicer said.

Similar orders barring external communications have been issued in recent days by the Trump administration at other federal agencies, including the departments of Transportation and Agriculture.

The new president angered environmentalists on Tuesday with two executive actions that advance two controversial pipelines.

But Trump claimed the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access pipelines were important because they would create thousands of construction jobs, drawing on the 'America First' rhetoric of his inauguration speech.
More than 2million people in Britain could be in line for a payout of 3,000 from Volkswagen if the High Court case over the emissions scandal is successful.

The number of customers that could be entitled to a payout is double what was first expected, and the total cost for VW in Britain alone could reach 6billion.

The news comes as the manufacturer prepares to fight the case in the High Court, where lawyers are trying to win compensation for the car owners.

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More than 2million people in Britain could be in line for a payout of 3,000 from Volkswagen if the High Court case over the emissions scandal is successful

Around 1.2million Volkswagens, Seats, Audis and Skoda in Britain were fitted with the 'cheat' devices that make emissions appear lower than they are.

Drivers who bought the cars, many of whom may have wanted to limit their impact on the environment, were therefore misled, the legal team argues.

There are already 20,000 people signed up to the legal action, which is open to anyone who has or has had one of the cars, which date back to 2009.

The average Briton changes cars every five to six years so the legal team expect there to be more people entitled to a payout who no longer drive the cars.

Slater and Gordon Lawyers, who are bringing the action, told The Mirror: 'In Germany one Skoda owner won the entire value of his car back after taking VW to court. That was one guy against the biggest car manufacturer in the world.

'Along with a decision in Spain to award an Audi customer 5,000 euros compensation, we believe things are looking really positive.

'VW sold people a car they said was X but was actually Y. If you have bought one of these cars at any point, even if you have since sold it, you can take a stand with this case.'

In the US, VW have so far been forced to agree to total payouts of nearly $22billion (18billion) in what could become the biggest group claim the world has ever seen.

The number of customers that could be entitled to a payout is double what was first expected, and the total cost for VW in Britain alone could reach 6billion

On Monday, a US judge ruled that dealers will receive an average of $1.85million in a $1.2billion settlement over the diesel emissions scandal.

US District Judge Charles Breyer said the 650 dealers would be paid over 18 months, ruling the settlement 'fair, reasonable, and adequate.'

VW also agreed to keep making volume-based incentive payments to dealers, and will allow them to defer capital improvements for two years.

In the United States, the company has so far had to address claims from owners, environmental regulators, US states and dealers.

VW admitted in September 2015 to installing secret software in its diesel cars to cheat exhaust emissions tests and make them appear cleaner in testing.

In reality, the vehicles emitted up to 40 times the legally allowable pollution levels and dealers say the resulting scandal tarnished the brand and cost them sales.
A young backpacker has been killed on a dream round-the-world trip after crashing her rented Jeep into a lamppost in Thailand.

Ali Lambert, 22, was driving the pink off-road vehicle with friend Nezi Borislavova, 25, in the passenger seat during heavy rains on the Thai holiday island of Phuket last week.

She smashed into a lamppost then skidded out of control down a steep embankment - flipping the Jeep several times leaving it 'completely destroyed'.

Ali, originally from Vancouver, Canada, died at the scene.

Ali Lambert, 22, left, was driving a pink off-road Jeep with friend Nezi Borislavova, 25, right

Her friend Nezi was rushed to hospital with severe internal injuries, two broken shoulders, a broken arm and broken wrist.

Distraught father Doug described the tragedy as 'every parent's worst nightmare'.

He said: 'Ali had texted us the morning of the drive, and was excited to announce to her mother that she was in a bright pink jeep. She told us "and Mom I wish you were here with us".'

Doug said the Jeep was an 'awful wreck' and Ali was non-responsive when she was taken to the hospital.

Ali, originally from Vancouver, Canada, died at the scene after crashing her rented Jeep into a lamppost in Thailand

He paid tribute to a 'real alternative kid' who was an 'artist and adventurer at heart.'

'We're never going to be the same, but we're going to get through this.

'Ali chose a different path for herself. We're just very glad we got to know her for 22 years,' he added.

'From what I hear, Nezi will be okay. She has a couple of broken bones but she does not have medical insurance. Ali didn't have a return ticket booked..'

Ali had been travelling through Europe and then Vietnam before arriving in Thailand on January 1.

Nezi Borislavova survived the car crash in Phuket and is currently being treated in hospital in the Thai capital Bangkok

She injured her leg, and has undergone abdominal surgery, and had a portion of her large intestine removed. She also sustained two broken shoulders, a broken arm and broken wrist

She met up with Neza during the trip and rented a Jeep to drive to Bangkok before flying to New Caledonia and Australia.

Ali had been using the Jeep for several days before it spun out of control in heavy rain shortly after crossing the Sarasin Bridge linking the island to the main land.

The heartbroken family now have to raise money to fly back Ali's body to Canada.

Nezi - who is understood to have had no travel insurance - has had surgery and is being treated at a hospital in Bangkok after being transferred there.

Ali had been travelling through Europe and then Vietnam before arriving in Thailand on January 1

She had rented a Jeep to drive to Bangkok before flying to New Caledonia and Australia

Abdominal surgery has stemmed internal bleeding and a portion of her large intestine has been removed.

Pals have so far raised more than $40,000 through a GoFundMe page to cover medical bills and travel expenses to fly her home.

Nezi's friend Pat Parenteau said: 'Nezi has limited resources through her family, so we are asking for people's support to bring her home.

'She has just undergone abdominal surgery and additional surgery to set broken bones. Nezi is alone, traumatized and in pain in a foreign country. We need to rally and bring her back to Canada.'

A spokesman for Phuket's Tourist Police confirmed that Ali had died in a road accident and that the details had been passed to consular officials.
A laptop discarded by the terror network behind the Brussels and Paris attacks revealed how they had links with top ISIS commanders in Syria - and were planning another attack.

The computer was found two hours after a team of ISIS suicide bombers murdered 32 people at Brussels Airport and on the city's Metro system on March 22 last year.

Files painstakingly retrieved from the laptop, belonging to one of the airport suicide bombers, Najim Laachraoui, show how the unit had been in contact with bomb-making experts in Syria.

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A discarded computer was found two hours after a team of ISIS suicide bombers murdered 32 people at Brussels Airport (pictured) and on the city's Metro system on March 22 last year

It comes as police sources revealed the airport attackers may have deliberately targeted Jewish people and passengers travelling to America as they went on the rampage.

Investigators examining the laptop also found chilling instructions, distributed among fanatics before they slaughtered 130 people in a wave of shootings and bombings in Paris attack on November 13, 2015.

According to CNN, they included subfiles relating to the Paris atrocity called Groupe Omar, Groupe Francais, Groupe iraquiens, Groupe metro and Groupe Schiphol.

There were also files called 'targets' and another using the Arabic word for explosives.

Another subfile made reference to 'Defense'.

Files were painstakingly retrieved from the laptop, belonging to one of the airport suicide bombers, Najim Laachraoui (pictured)

Belgian investigators think this referred to La Defense shopping quarter in Paris and that November 13 mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud was planning to strike the target before he was killed by French police during a dramatic siege.

It comes as police sources revealed that the ISIS suicide bombers who attacked Brussels airport last year targeted passengers travelling to the United States and also Jewish people.

The Belgian-led investigation believes a check-in counter for an American carrier was one of the targets in the March 22, 2016 attacks, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

They also suspect that travellers to Israel may have been in the crosshairs, and that airport security camera footage shows one bomber apparently pursuing Hasidic Jews seconds before one of the blasts.

ISIS bombers Laachraoui and Ibrahim El Bakraoui killed 16 people at Zaventem airport. Around an hour later Bakraoui's brother Khalid attacked a metro station near EU headquarters, killing another 16.

One source close to the investigation told AFP, which contacted investigators in several countries, that one of the airport bombers 'attacked the Delta Airlines check-in'.

'We know they wanted to target Americans,' said the source, who asked not to be named. 'It's clear they had quite specific targets.'

Asked if these targets included the check-in counter for a flight to Israel, he replied: 'We know they were obsessed with the Israelis too.'

Investigators examining the laptop also found chilling instructions, distributed among fanatics before they slaughtered 130 people in a wave of shootings and bombings in Paris attack on November 13, 2015

Belgian investigators believe November 13 mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud was planning to strike a Paris shopping quarter when he was killed by French police during a dramatic siege

The possibility that they targeted Russian travellers was an 'option' that had to be clarified, he said.

There were casualties from at least 40 nationalities in the Brussels attacks, but investigators and sources believe the Zaventem bombers had specific targets.

'Even early on (in the investigation) there were indications that they targeted US, Russian and Israeli check-in counters,' a US law enforcement source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

'That understanding has held up with later investigations, including with Abrini's alleged confession,' the source said.

TERROR RAIDS ACROSS BRUSSELS Belgian police have raided eight homes in the Brussels region as part of a counter-terrorism operation that is ongoing, prosecutors said. The raids are not related to either the ISIS attacks in Paris in November 2015 or the bombings in Brussels in March last year, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office told AFP. 'There were eight house searches in the Brussels region,' the spokesman said, adding the operation was ongoing and there would be a statement around noon. Belgian police have raided eight homes in the Brussels region as part of a counter-terrorism operation that is ongoing, prosecutors said Belgium has been on high alert since the Paris attacks that left 130 people dead and the Brussels attacks that killed 32 people. Investigators say the same Brussels-based cell carried out both attacks that were claimed by ISIS. The website of the newspaper La Derniere Heure first reported the raids, saying special forces backed up counter-terror police who raided homes in Molenbeek, Schaerbeek, Anderlecht and Laeken. It said several people were detained for questioning on suspicion that they had either travelled to Syria or returned from the war zone. Belgium is the EU country with the highest per capita number of fighters who have gone to wage jihad in Syria and Iraq, a figure estimated at 465. Advertisement

Mohamed Abrini is the so-called 'man in the hat' who fled the airport without detonating his suitcase bomb after his accomplices set off theirs. He was captured a month later.

Four Americans were killed at the airport and several injured, while two Israelis aged 23 and 28 were treated in Jerusalem after the attacks.

Israeli media identified the pair as members of the Belz Hassid ultra-Orthodox religious sect, who had been scheduled to fly from Brussels airport to Ben Gurion.

Sources close to the investigation added that camera footage never released to the public showed that Laachraoui had been standing among some 60 high school students before deciding to pursue two Orthodox Jews.

'The attacker seemed to rush towards two Orthodox Jews,' one of the sources said. 'He really, clearly wanted to kill a Jew.'

ISIS bombers Laachraoui and Ibrahim El Bakraoui killed 16 people at Zaventem airport. Around an hour later Bakraoui's brother Khalid attacked a metro station (pictured) near EU headquarters, killing another 16

A US government source said separately that Lachraoui was targeting a Hasidic Jew. Hasidic men are easily recognisable because they wear dark suits over white shirts, have long beards, hats and curly sidelocks.

Investigators 'are very confident they (bombers) were targeting US, Russia and Israel,' the US government source said.

Israeli security measures have dramatically increased since the attacks, an airport source added.

A Belgian press report said investigators had found an electronic message from Khalid El Bakraoui saying flights departed every Tuesday from Brussels to the United States, Russia and Israel, but investigators would not confirm that.

Mohamed Abrini (pictured) is the so-called 'man in the hat' who fled Brussels airport without detonating his suitcase bomb

However the attack did occur around 8am on a Tuesday, shortly before scheduled flights to all three countries by United, American, Delta, El Al, Brussels Airlines and Russia's Aeroflot, according to airport and other sources.

An airport source who asked not to be named said the bomb that did not explode was left near the United and El Al counters, which were facing each other.

Abrini appeared in unreleased airport CCTV footage as lagging behind the other bombers before hiding behind a pillar covering his ears, two independent sources said.

'Every indication was that Abrini changed his mind,' the US law enforcement source said.

Investigators have said the bombers were part of the same Brussels-based cell that orchestrated the November 2015 Paris attacks.

They believe they were spurred into action in Brussels by the March 18 arrest of key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.

'Completely cornered and hunted, they clearly improvised,' a source close to the Belgian investigation said, adding that one of the bombers left a message on an abandoned computer apologising for not having launched a new attack on France.

Belgium had also suffered an attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May 2014 which left four people dead. The alleged attacker, Mehdi Nemmouche, has been linked to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the ringleader of the Paris attacks.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said 'Israel does not comment publicly on security-related issues' when asked about the March 2016 attacks. The FBI, which is taking part in the investigation, did not respond to a request for comment.

Russia's investigation committee, which probes major crimes in Russia, said it is 'not investigating the Brussels attacks.'
Nudists are campaigning for all beaches in Victoria to have 'clothing optional' areas.

Skinny dipping at Campbell's Cove, one of the state's few remaining nude beaches located in Melbourne's south-west, was banned in 2015.

Stuart Whelan of the Australian Naturist Federation told the Herald Sun nudists are being treated like social outcasts.

Nudists are campaigning for all beaches in Victoria to have 'clothing optional' areas. Above, a naturist is pictured at Point Impossible Beach in Torquay, one of the state's legal nude beaches

Two nude women pose for a photograph on the rocks at one of Sydney's nudist beaches

'Although making up 9 per cent of the population, naturists and those that enjoy clothes free recreation are treated like ''social lepers'' and confined to out of the way beaches when there is nothing shameful about the human body,' he said.

'We would like to see all beaches have a designated nude bathing area,' Mr Whelan added.

'We are the only mammal that hides its body under artificial covering for no other reason than misplaced shame or an out dated ninetieth century sense of morality.'

Victoria's three remaining nude beaches are Sunnyside North Beach in Mornington, Point Impossible Beach in Torquay, and Anglesea's Southside Beach.

Stuart Whelan of the Australian Naturist Federation told the Herald Sun nudists were being treated like social outcasts. Above, a woman is seen at Point Impossible Beach

Victoria has just three remaining legal nude beaches after skinny dipping at Campbell's Cove in Melbourne's south-west was banned in 2015

A group of women go topless at Sydney's world famous Bondi Beach

New South Wales has eight legal 'clothing optional' beaches, but the state's beachgoers often wear barely-there swimwear or even nothing at non-nude beaches.

They could face a $1,100 fine, but they aren't likely to get one, as the laws are old and councils have relaxed the enforcement of them, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The laws were created when the approach to swimwear was much more conservative.

Mr Whelan said: 'We would like to see all beaches have a designated nude bathing area.' Pictured, a beachgoer at Point Impossible

A naturist takes a dip at Sunnyside North Beach, a 'clothing optional' beach in Mornington

However, attitudes have shifted - and so have the costumes, many becoming smaller and smaller.

A spokesman for Waverley Council spokesman said they 'never' had issues with toplessness at Sydney's famous Bondi Beach.

In Cronulla in Sydney's south, a spokesman for the Sutherland Shire said it was rare to receive a complaint about nudity and no fines had been issued in recent years.

In New South Wales, people could face a $1,100 fine for wearing barely-there swimwear or nothing at non-nude beaches, but they aren't likely to get one, as the laws are old and councils have relaxed the enforcement of them
With their big eyes and woolly fleeces, its understandable apartment dwellers might dream of owning an alpaca as a furry companion.

But these Sydney tenants landed in hot water after seemingly following through with their dream and leading one of the fluffy animals inside their apartment on a leash.

Images of the scene were plastered on the Wolli Creek apartment foyer with a stern warning to other tenants not to get any ideas about exotic pets.

Sydney tenants landed in hot water after seemingly taking an alpaca into their apartment

Dear residents, please note that Alpacas are not suitable for apartment style living, the apparent Building Management note reads.

We ask those who are currently keeping an Alpaca to please consider other options as it is extremely cruel and unhygienic to keep such animals in apartments.

The image has made a splash on Reddit, where commenters voiced their bewilderment at the extraordinary affair.

I thought this was going to a typo joke. Like, NO ALCOHOL AFTER 8PM became NO ALPACAS or something...but noLiterally an alpaca ban, wrote one.

The two tenants were caught on camera with the furry animal in a Sydney apartment

Alpacas, native to the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile, are bred for their fine silky fleece

As a renter, how dare these slum lords expect to tell me what pet I can and cannot keep in the property that they own? wrote another.

Alpacas, native to the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile, are bred for their fine silky fleece which is knitted into ponchos and jumpers, scarves and blankets.

They are known to be curious animals and are often used on Australian farms to guard flocks of sheep and goats against wild dogs and foxes.

Their prominence in inner-city apartments, on the other hand, is more unique.




Biomedical scientist Alan Mackay-Sim, whose work has been hailed 'more impressive than man walking on the moon', has been named the 2017 Australian of the Year.

The Queensland-based professor has dedicated his life to pioneering stem cell research and its use repairing damaged spinal cords, including helping to restore mobility in a quadriplegic man.

In emotionally-charged scenes, the 65-year-old was awarded the prestigious honour by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at Parliament House on Wednesday night.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and 2017 Australian of the Year Emeritus Professor Alan Mackay-Sim

The 65-year-old leading scientist has dedicated his life to pioneering stem cell research

AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR 2017 WINNERS Australian of the Year: Queensland's Professor Alan Mackay-Sim, an international leader in stem cell research

Senior Australian of the Year: Northern Territory's Sister Anne Gardiner, for her work helping the people of the Tiwi Islands for 62 years

Young Australian of the Year: South Australia's Paul Vasileff, who achievied international success in the fashion world from his hometown of Adelaid

Australia's Local Hero: Victoria's Vicki Jellie, who fundraised $30 million to open a new cancer centre in Warrnambool in 2016 Advertisement

An international leader in stem cell research, Professor Mackay-Sim hopes to raise awareness of what can be achieved in terms of scientific research in Australia.

'I really want to talk about science - about the importance of my kind of science which is neuroscience and studying rare brain diseases, conditions and injuries,' he said in his address.

'And let's develop a national, long term plan that can give young people a good career in science.'

In 2014, Prof Mackay-Sim's research played a central role in the world's first successful restoration of mobility in a quadriplegic man, helping paralysed Polish firefighter Darek Fidyka to walk again.

The efforts were deemed by fellow researcher Geoff Raisman as 'more impressive than the moon landing.'

As director of the National Centre for Adult Stem Cell Research, he's used stem cells to understand brain disorders like schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease.

Professor Alan Mackay-Sim reacts after being named 2017 Australian of the Year

Northern Territory nun Sister Anne Gardiner was awarded Senior Australian of the Year for her work helping the people of the Tiwi Islands for 62 years

The award for Senior Australian of the Year went to Northern Territory nun Sister Anne Gardiner, for her tireless work helping the people of the Tiwi Islands for 62 years.

The 85-year-old used her acceptance speech to call for greater recognition of Australia's indigenous peoples in policy.

Young Australian of the Year went to South Australian fashion designer Paul Vasileff, for achieving international success in the fashion world from his hometown of Adelaide.

The 26-year-old made history last year when he became the first South Australian to show a collection in Paris.

South Australian fashion designer Paul Vasileff won Young Australian of the Year

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and 2017 Australia's Local Hero Vicki Jellie, who funded $30 million to open a new cancer centre in the remote Warrnambool in 2016

(L-R) 2017 Young Australian of the Year Paul Vassilseff, 2017 Senior Australian of the Year Sister Anne Gardiner, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, 2017 Australian of the Year finalist Emeritus Professor Alan Mackay-Sim and 2017 Australia's Local Hero Vicki Jellie

Victorian woman Vicki Jellie was named Australia's Local Hero, making her late husband's dying wish come true.

After her husband died of cancer in 2008, Ms Jellie campaigned and fundraised, securing $30 million to open a new cancer centre in Warrnambool in 2016.

'He'd be really cross that he wasn't here, he would love it,' said Ms Jellie.
A North Korean defector fled the country because he didn't want his children to live 'miserable' lives under Kim Jong-Un's 'crumbling regime', it has emerged.

Thae Yong Ho, Pyongyang's former deputy ambassador to London, defected to neighbouring South Korea last year and now claims the dictator's 'days are numbered'.

He has since revealed he was lucky to have been able to bring both of his sons to London, unlike other North Korean diplomats who are forced to leave some of their children at home as 'hostages.'

After his sons, now 20 and 27, learned about life in Britain, they began asking him questions such as why North Korea barred use of the internet and executed people without proper legal procedures, he said.

Thae Yong Ho, Pyongyang's former deputy ambassador to London, defected to neighbouring South Korea last year

A defector has called on North Koreans to rise up against dictator Kim Jong-Un's regime and 'set the country on fire'

Their British friends at school made fun of them over the nature of their homeland, he said. For instance, when they grew long hair, their friends laughed and asked whether they could be arrested in North Korea because they had heard all young men were required to have short haircuts.

'These kinds of questions bombarded my sons,' Thae said.

Thae, who said as a diplomat abroad he had the privilege of access to outside information, said he decided to talk frankly with them about North Korea. He concluded that his sons would have 'miserable' lives if they returned home because they had come to know the truth about the country.

Ahead of their defection to South Korea, Thae said he told his sons that he was going to 'cut the chains of slavery and you are free men.'

He said his sons are happy and are 'now feeling a true sense of freedom' in South Korea.

Thae said his disappointment with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was another reason he defected. He said he initially had some hopes for Kim but eventually fell into 'despair' after watching him execute officials without proper reasons and pursue development of nuclear weapons.

Kim, believed to be in his early 30s, took office in late 2011 following his dictator father's death. He has since orchestrated a series of high-profile executions, purges and dismissals in what outside analysts say is an attempt to bolster his grip on power. Kim's pursuit of nuclear weapons has drawn tough international sanctions.

The 54-year-old said the North Korean elite are outwardly expressing their discontent towards Kim and his government as more outside information trickles into the isolated country

Thae has also said that the North Korean regime is on an inexorable decline towards collapse, with its people increasingly disillusioned but its nuclear ambitions undimmed.

'I'm sure and I can say that Kim Jong-Un's days are numbered,' said Thae Yong-Ho, who fled his post as North Korea's deputy ambassador to Britain in August.

In his first press conference for foreign correspondents, held under tight security, Thae said he was sure that more of his fellow countrymen would follow suit since North Korea was 'on a downward path'.

The elite were 'turning their backs' on leader Kim Jong-Un, he said, adding: 'The traditional structures of North Korean systems are crumbling.'

Nuclear-armed North Korea has been ruled by the Kim dynasty since its foundation in 1948. It is subject to United Nations Security Council sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes and is accused by the West of widespread human rights abuses.

Thae is among the highest-ranking defectors from the North for years. He said he had begun to waver as his diplomatic role granted him access to outside information.

Kim had his own uncle and one-time political mentor Jang Song-Thaek executed in late 2013 on an array of charges, including treason and corruption

His disillusionment turned to despair after Kim, who inherited power from his late father Kim Jong-Il five years ago, began ruthlessly purging officials, he added.

Kim had his own uncle and one-time political mentor Jang Song-Thaek executed in late 2013 on an array of charges, including treason and corruption.

Kim was installed as chairman of the State Affairs Commission - a new supreme governing body - in June, a month after his Workers' Party held its first congress in 36 years in what was widely seen as his coronation.

'The Kim Jong-Un regime abuses love between parents and children to control North Korean diplomats,' he said.

After Thae's defection the North's state media denounced him as 'human scum' and accused him of embezzling state funds, raping a minor and spying for South Korea in exchange for money.

Pyongyang carried out two nuclear tests and a series of missile launches in 2016 and Thae said Kim was planning to 'complete' its atomic development by the end of this year to take advantage of leadership transitions in South Korea and the United States.

'The only way to resolve the issue of North's nuclear threats is the elimination of Kim Jong-Un's regime,' he said.

Kim was installed as chairman of the State Affairs Commission - a new supreme governing body - in June, a month after his Workers' Party held its first congress in 36 years in what was widely seen as his coronation

He called for continued international sanctions on Pyongyang and publicity campaigns to spread external information in the North and encourage its citizens into 'popular uprisings'.

Some tentative economic reforms have been put into effect in the North, but 'those further down the food chain are finding life much tougher', Thae said.

Once 'unthinkable' acts of low-level dissent or criticism were becoming more frequent.

Since his release into society last month following months of custody by South Korea's intelligence agency, Thae has conducted a series of media interviews and appeared on various TV programs in what he says is an attempt to reveal the truth about North Korea.

Thae described himself as a big fan of South Korean dramas and other TV programs while serving in London, and said ordinary citizens in North Korea also enjoy watching them secretly at home. He said if North Koreas are able to obtain more information about their country's situation, it could trigger a public uprising against Kim's government.

Thae, reportedly under a police protection program, said he doesn't worry about any possible attempts by North Korean agents to kill him. 'I am quite confident that without sacrifice by any individual or any group ... reunification or the elimination of the Kim Jong Un regime cannot be achieved,' he said.

Thae is the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea. In 1997, the North Korean ambassador to Egypt fled but resettled in the United States.
Pope Francis has ended a bitter dispute with the Knights of Malta by obtaining the resignation of the ancient order's top official in a saga linked to a row over condoms.

The resignation of Grand Master Matthew Festing, confirmed by the order on Wednesday, follows a month-long stand-off that had become a test of the reforming Pope's authority over rebellious Church conservatives.

'The Grand Master was received on Tuesday by Pope Francis who requested his resignation, which the Grand Master agreed to,' a spokesman for the Order said.

Grand Master of the Knights of Malta Matthew Festing (right) has resigned from his role

Pope Francis (centre) greets the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta Matthew Festing (right) at the end of a private audience in the Pontiff's private library in 2015

The unprecedented and very public dispute between the Vatican and the Knights was seen by Holy See watchers as a proxy war between Church liberals and conservatives, led by American cardinal Raymond Burke.

The row erupted last month when Francis appointed a five-strong team to examine the circumstances in which the Order's number three Grand Chancellor Albrecht von Boeselager was forced out of his job.

The Knights, a Church-linked charity body descended from the crusaders of the Middle Ages, refused to cooperate.

Burke is a prominent conservative figure who has been outspoken in his criticism of Francis's efforts to reform Church teaching on questions related to the family, marriage and divorce.

Reports in the specialist Catholic press suggested Boeselager was targeted because Order charities he oversaw had taken part in a programme distributing free condoms to prostitutes and others in Myanmar to prevent the spread of AIDS.

Boeselager had claimed that he stopped the Order's involvement as soon as he became aware of it and refused to resign.

Burke reportedly insisted he had to go.

Conservatives say any use of condoms violates Church teaching that considers all forms of contraception to be an unacceptable barrier to life.

Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI have both adopted a more flexible stance, signalling that the use of condoms can be acceptable in circumstances where their use preserves life, such as in AIDS-ravaged communities.

A spokesperson for the Knights of Malta has announced Grand Master Matthew Festing (left) resigned from his position on request from the Pope (right) following a public dispute

The two men had clashed over condoms in an unusual airing of dirty laundry between the pair

In theory, Briton Festing was in the job for life.

His resignation will have to be approved by the Order's sovereign council.

Festing claimed in a leaked letter that three of the Vatican's appointees had a conflict of interest because of links to a Geneva-based fund in which the Order also had a stake.

That blatant defiance of papal authority appears to have been the last straw.

Von Boeselager's dismissal had been seen by some as being the result of him being too liberal for Burke, who has acted as the Vatican's liaison with the Order since being sidelined from more important roles by Francis.

Others said the issue was whether the Vatican was properly kept in the loop and whether Von Boeselager, who has a brother who is said to be close to Francis, was wrongly informed the pope had approved his sacking.

Pope Francis (right) holds the Wednesday General Audience in Nervi Hall at the Vatican today

The Order of Malta was founded in Jerusalem in 1048 as a community of hospitals caring for the sick.

It was recognised by the pope in 1113, and now operates in 120 countries, managing hospitals and clinics, with 13,500 members and 100,000 employees and volunteers.

Burke was one of four cardinals who wrote to Francis last year openly questioning the pontiff's revision of Church guidance to allow priests to decide on a case-by-case basis whether divorced and remarried believers should be able to receive communion.

Under the doctrine of the indissolubility of marriage, Catholics who divorce and remarry are deemed to be living in sin.
Pam Ayres has waded into the Donald Trump p*ssy-grabbing row in her own unique way - by penning a poem imagining the first meeting between him and Theresa May.

The British poet and songwriter treated followers of her Twitter account to a short ditty asking which part of May will the President shake when they come face to face.

Ayres - who became a household name in the 70s for her short, droll poems - even inspired other social media users to have a go, with similarly witty results.

Posting to her 38,000 followers, Ayres, 69, wrote: 'On meeting Mr. President, Poor Mrs. May must quake, Which part of her anatomy, Will he decide to shake?'

Pam Ayres (left) has waded into the Donald Trump p*ssy-grabbing row in her own unique way - by penning a poem imagining the first meeting between him and Theresa May

Posting to her 38,000 followers, Ayres, 69, wrote: 'On meeting Mr. President, Poor Mrs. May must quake, Which part of her anatomy, Will he decide to shake?'

In response, one user wrote: 'Perhaps he'll pat her shoulder But, being Donald Trump, He'll probably be bolder and slap her on the rump!'

Another added: 'Perhaps, as women often do, She'll not protest too much While tiny hands do damage To everything they touch.'

The poem is in reference to a video which captured a newlywed Trump boasting about how he gropes women back in 2005.

In the recording, released during last year's campaign trail, Trump can be heard saying 'when you're a star... you can do anything. Grab them by the p*ssy.'

It has been revealed that Theresa May would become the first world leader to visit Trump in the White House, amid revelations he refers to her as 'my Maggie'

Ayres - who became a household name in the 70s for her short, droll poems - even inspired other social media users to have a go, with similarly witty results

Pam Ayres made her name on Opportunity Knocks, a talent show in the 70s similar to Britain's Got Talent

Despite the ensuing backlash over the comments, Trump went on to win the Presidential election in a shock victory over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

Shortly after, it was revealed that Theresa May would become the first world leader to visit Trump in the White House, amid revelations he refers to her as 'my Maggie'.

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 next week.

The pair are expected to discuss a new deal for Britain as it prepares to exit the European Union.

It is believed that Trump hopes their co-operation will match the friendship between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
Paedophile: Michael Davey, of Washington, Tyne and Wear, warned the terrified girl not to tell anyone what he had done

A 64-year-old paedophile who raped and indecently assaulted a ten-year-old girl before terrifying her into staying silent has been jailed for 14 years.

Michael Davey, of Washington, Tyne and Wear, warned the terrified youngster not to tell anyone what he had done.

She finally plucked up the courage to report the abuse but has been left traumatised by his actions, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Davey, married for 40 years, was found guilty of one charge of rape and seven of indecent assault - some of which took place when the victim was just five.

Judge Robert Spragg told him: 'She feels angry and was physically sick with the stress of it all. She couldn't tell anyone about it because of what you said to her.

'She is waiting for counselling, believes her schooling has been affected and has lost trust in people.

'Who can forget the effect on her parents, both of whom had to give evidence about the nightmare that had befallen their child.'

Sentencing: Newcastle Crown Court (pictured) heard the girl finally plucked up the courage to report the abuse but has been left traumatised by his actions

As well as the prison sentence, Davey was told to sign the sex offenders register for life and made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

The court heard the paedophile, who suffered a heart attack in 2012, collapsed when the allegations against him were made and has health problems.

Davey poses a high risk of harm to children but a low risk of reoffending and has no relevant previous convictions, the court heard.

Tom Moran, defending, said: 'The inevitable custodial sentence is going to hit him harder than it would most defendants.

'He has already found he is having difficulty having his medical needs met in custody.

'He has previously led a blameless, hard-working life until illness prevented him doing so.'
Jeremy Corbyn faces a rebellion of a quarter of his Labour MPs who could refuse to vote for Brexit in the Commons next week.

Emergency legislation is expected to be called to a vote within days and former leadership contender Owen Smith has outed himself as the rebel leader.

Mr Smith said he could not support triggering Article 50 - which will officially start the Brexit countdown - despite his Pontypridd constituency backing Brexit.

Sixty Labour MPs would not be be able to stop Brexit entirely but in concert with other Remain rebels across Parliament could frustrate and water down the process.

Senior figures on both sides of the divide have urged the rebels to acknowledge Brexit is the will of the people and must not be stopped - with one senior Tory telling MailOnline a rebellion could even sabotage Theresa May's exit talks.

Former Labour leadership contender Owen Smith has outed himself as leader of the Labour rebels against Brexit

Labour frontbencher Tulip Siddiq has admitted she is prepared to quit Mr Corbyn's top team to vote No while senior backbencher Mike Gapes will also oppose Brexit.

Shadow foreign office minister Catherine West also plans to vote No, as does former minister David Lammy.

Mr Smith said the vote on Article 50 ordered by the Supreme Court was a 'fork in the road' for politicians, in a column for the Guardian.

He said: 'The decision we take, individually and collectively, will shape the future for our country and for our children, and it may also determine the fate of the current crop of MPs and the parties we represent.

'I have reached the decision that whatever the impact on my career, however difficult it may be to swim against the Brexit tide, I cannot, in all conscience, stand by and wave through a course of action that I believe will make our people poorer and our politics meaner.'

Mr Smith slammed the Remain campaign for failing to make the case for EU membership.

But he admitted his decision could lead to his constituents firing him at the ballot box, adding: 'So whenever the election comes I will tell my constituents, with a clear conscience, that I stood up for my convictions, and what I believe to be their best interests.'

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he will ask his MPs to back Article 50 in the Commons - but has refused to say how strong his orders will be

Mr Corbyn has insisted his MPs should not block Article 50 but has refused to confirm what level of 'whipping' he will impose.

Were he to use his strongest orders, known as a three line whip, shadow ministers who defy the instruction would normally be expected to resign.

Many Labour MPs bristle at being given orders by Mr Corbyn who as a backbencher rebelled against the whips hundreds of times.

Senior Tory Andrew Bridgen warned rebels MPs they could 'hinder' the negotiations on the exit deal if Britain appears disunited in Brussels.

He told MailOnline: 'I would urge all MPs to vote to endorse the will of the British people and vote to trigger Article 50.

'It is particularly important that our Parliament is seen as united behind our decision to leave the European Union.'

A series of Labour MPs have insisted they will not vote for Article 50 despite the Brexit vote. Helen Hayes demanded a second referendum or a general election to ratify the deal

Ilford South MP Mike Gapes said he would not vote to make his constituents poorer

Hampstead and Kilburn MP Tulip Siddiq said she would not vote for Article 50 - and pointed out her constituents had voted for Remain

He added: 'People are tired of the political elite telling them what they should think.

'Owen Smith is entitled to vote against his constituents - however I think that is his own decision and he could reap the reward of his actions at the general election.'

Labour MP Kate Hoey - who backed Brexit - warned her colleagues in the Commons yesterday that 'the public want us to get on with this and actually carry out what they voted for'.

And party grandee David Blunkett told the House of Lords it would be 'unthinkable' for Brexit to be blocked in 'confrontation' with the British people.
Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has launched an expletive-filled tirade against the Catholic Church declaring it is 'full of s**t'.

The controversial leader ranted that priests are 'corrupt' and engage in 'sinful acts' and even claimed he was abused by a priest when he was a student at Ateneo de Davao University.

His comments came during a speech to families of Special Action Forces who died in riots in Mamasapano in 2015.

Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has launched an expletive-filled tirade against the Catholic Church branding it 'full of s**t'

He also claimed that three of his cabinet members had also said they too had been abused by Catholic priests and said if his allegations proved to be untrue he would resign.

Durterte, 71, said: 'I challenge the Catholic Church. You are full of s**t. You all smell bad, corruption and all.

He also accused the Church of asking the Philippines government to fund top of the range cars for Church officials adding it was 'hypocritical'.

The president added: 'Shouldnt you be ashamed of yourselves. Thats so expensive and so many people have nothing to eat.

The controversial leader, pictured ranted that Catholic priests are 'corrupt' and engage in 'sinful acts

'Son of a b**ch, the jerks accepted it.'

His tirade against the Catholic Church comes after religious leaders have mounted a campaign to stop the killings in his anti-drugs drive, which has claimed about 6,000 lives in less than seven months.

Police have reported killing 2,250 drug suspects since Duterte assumed office, with 3,710 other people murdered by unknown suspects.

After largely keeping quiet over the drug war for months, Church leaders are now leading a campaign to have their flock denounce the killings.

But this has angered Duterte and just last week, he accused the country's priests and bishops of taking highly addictive crystal methamphetamine.

'The (critical) priests should take shabu to understand. I recommend one or two of the bishops take it also," Duterte said, using the local term for crystal meth.

The president, who has previously boasted about keeping multiple mistresses, also sought to discredit Church leaders by accusing them of violating their own vows of celibacy.

Since being elected, Duterte had launched an anti-drugs drive, which has claimed about 6,000 lives in less than seven months

After largely keeping quiet over the drug war for months, Church leaders are now leading a campaign to have their flock denounce the killings in the Philippines

He added: 'We're the same, with two, three wives. Don't get me started - all the hypocrisy.'

About 80 percent of Filipinos are Catholic, a legacy of the Philippines being a former Spanish colony.

The Church played a key role in the ouster of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and corruption-tainted president Joseph Estrada in 2001.

Church leaders say they are not plotting to oust Duterte, rather to just stop the killings.
Performers at the Australian of the Year Awards have thrown their support behind a campaign to change the date of Australia Day.

Hip-hop artist Kira Puru wore a choker which read 'Change The Date' as she performed at the ceremony in Canberra on Wednesday.

Joining her on stage was Tim Levinson, better known as Australian rapper Urthboy, who wore a T-shirt of an Aboriginal flag labelled: 'Australia has a black history.'

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Performers at the Australian of the Year Awards have thrown their support behind a campaign to change the date of Australia Day. Above, hip-hop artist Kira Puru is seen wearing a choker reading: 'Change The Date'

Tim Levinson, better known as Australian rapper Urthboy, wore a T-shirt labelled: 'Australia has a black history'

The pair performed a rendition of Icehouse's classic Australian hit, Great Southern Land and You're the Voice by John Farnham.

Urthboy rapped the lyrics: 'You aren't Australian because you were born in Australia. You're Australian because Australia was born in you.'

Supporters quickly took to social media to congratulate the pair on their political statements.

'So great to see #changethedate statement at #ausoftheyear awards. It's time. #AustraliaDay,' one wrote.

'So great to see': Supporters quickly took to social media to congratulate the pair on their political statements

Another said: 'That lead vocalist. What a woman! #changethedate Perfect.'

Queensland-based biomedical scientist Alan Mackay-Sim was named the 2017 Australian of the Year.

The award for Senior Australian of the Year went to Northern Territory nun Sister Anne Gardiner, for her work helping the people of the Tiwi Islands for 62 years.

Anne Gardiner, who was named Senior Australian of the Year, used her acceptance speech to call for greater recognition of Australia's indigenous peoples in policy

The 85-year-old used her acceptance speech to call for greater recognition of Australia's indigenous peoples in policy.

Australia Day, celebrated on January 26, is often deemed 'Invasion Day' for Aboriginal people.

The popular annual celebration marks the date of the arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships in 1788.
Do you know the students involved or have any pictures of the play? Please email: mark.duell@mailonline.co.uk

Lecturer: Dr T Jeff Allen was left feeling 'isolated' when university students portrayed him as a 'hyper-sexualised black man'

More than 30 university medical students were suspended for blacking up and wearing a large fake penis to impersonate their black American lecturer, it was revealed today.

Dr T Jeff Allen was left feeling 'isolated' when Cardiff University students portrayed him as a 'hyper-sexualised black man' in an end of term play.

South Wales Police were called in to investigate the charity production for racial hatred and 32 students were suspended from their medical course.

An independent report commissioned by the university has hit out at the play performed last year and also revealed complaints of racism, sexism and lack of diversity in the School of Medicine.

Dr Allen, 46, said he was left 'worried' at his portrayal in the play - and said the university could have supported him better. Two students quit their courses to move to other universities in the row.

The report said: 'There were three performances of the revue in February 2016 in which a medical school staff member was portrayed as a stereotypical, hyper-sexualised black man, wearing an oversized dildo.

Cardiff University: South Wales Police were called in to investigate the charity production for racial hatred and 32 students were suspended from their medical course

'Other lecturers too were made fun of. There were racist, sexist and homophobic jokes and stereotype references.

'The script of the show was not seen or approved by anyone in authority at the university, nor by the Student Union.'

Police were called in to investigate but decided that no further action would be taken. Two students involved in the blacking up admitted a lack of sensitivity.

The report revealed two students who complained about the play had decided to leave and transfer to other medical schools.

The panel - chaired by King's College academic Professor Dinesh Bhugra - found relationships between groups of students in the third year fell apart.

Some students described social life at Cardiff's School of Medicine as 'segregated' and said black students were separate from other non-white groups.

It said local doctors and the NHS play a role in perpetuating a 'rugby culture' among students in the medical school.

The independent panel, which spoke to 33 students and staff as well as carrying out an online survey of staff and students, has made 13 recommendations.

The report says: 'Several staff reported varying levels of what they considered to be racism and sexism at different times during their work in the university.'

Recommendations include giving all university staff regular training in diversity including race, gender and sexual orientation and actively discouraging offensive stereotyping of any person or group.

It says Cardiff University should urgently seek external help to bring the two groups of students involved - complainants and those complained about - together 'to work out their different perspectives so that everyone can move forward'.

Other recommendations are for a clear set of guidelines for dealing with complaints about racism and other forms of discrimination and ensuring the Medical School curriculum addresses issues of unconscious bias and stereotyping.

Mr Bhugra said: 'Our report does highlight a number of specific and overarching issues that the University needs to consider and address.'

University Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Riordan said: 'Our message is clear: offensive stereotyping of any person, or group of persons, is not acceptable.

'Cardiff University takes issues relating to equality and diversity very seriously and is committed to supporting, developing and promoting equality and diversity in all of our activities.'

The student play called Anaphylaxis which led to the complaints raised 1,800 for charity. A police spokesman said no action was taken against any student involved.

Do you know the students involved or have any pictures of the play? Please email: mark.duell@mailonline.co.uk
Aldi is hoping to break into the upper class market after running its poshest ever advert for discount horse clothing.

The supermarket chain, most commonly known for its cheap deals, is launching its winterwear for the animals in a bid to compete with the high-end consumer.

Adverts appeared in national newspapers for fixed neck turnout rugs, ladies' softshell breeches and riding gilets and standard neck stable rugs.

The slogan for the new range, which is available in stores from tomorrow, is 'Trot down to Aldi'.

The slogan for the new range, which is available in stores from tomorrow, is 'Trot down to Aldi'

A standard neck stable rug, which costs 52 at competitor R&R Country, costs just 19.99 at Aldi.

They are also selling fixed neck turnout rugs for only 34.99, compared to the 100 some places would charge. Pet Pony's discount price on the same item is 70.

The equestrian clothing is part of a wider Country Living theme in the Specialbuys section, going on sale tomorrow.

Aldi brings out different ranges each week and once they go on sale, products are only available while stocks last.

It's a bold step for the supermarket chain, as they attempt to tap into the upper class market.

Horses are not cheap to keep, costing owners between 6,000 to 10,000 each year.

Tony Baines, Joint Managing Director of Corporate Buying at Aldi UK, said: 'Aldi closely monitors consumer trends and strives to offer customers the products they desire at a competitive price without compromising on quality.

'As with all our Specialbuys ranges, our Country Living offers the best quality and value products to thousands more customers  opening up the opportunity to all to try a new hobby.'

They are selling fixed neck turnout rugs for only 34.99, compared to the 100 some places would charge

A standard neck stable rug, which is usually around 50 in other stores, costs just 19.99

The equestrian clothing is part of a wider Country Living theme in the Specialbuys section, going on sale tomorrow

A standard neck stable rug, which costs 52 at competitor R&R Country, costs just 19.99 at Aldi

They are also selling fixed neck turnout rugs for only 34.99, compared to the 100 some places would charge. Pet Pony's discount price on the same item is 70

Last year the chief executive of the budget chain revealed cut-price bottles of wine lured middle class shoppers through the doors and helped Aldi corner 12 per cent of the fresh food market.

Matthew Barnes, who started working with the German discount brand as a graduate 20 years ago, has put the success of his firm - which has seen sales double over three years - down to cheap, but good quality products, including wine, steak and lobsters.

Aldi picked up 16 awards at the International Wine and Spirits Challenge, with judges handing a 7.99 bottle of cream liqueur a gold award.

The retailer has received more than 90 international awards for its beers, wines, spirits and liqueurs this year alone.

Other strategies which have caused a surge of popularity among middle class customers include Aldi's 'Special Buys' - items such as Dyson Vacuum cleaners and satnavs - which drive one million hits to its website every week, as well as the introduction of healthier food lines, including quinoa and bean salads.

Aldi picked up 16 awards at the International Wine and Spirits Challenge, with judges handing a 7.99 bottle of cream liqueur a gold award

In 2015, a study showed 45 per cent of wealthy households stopped at Aldi or Lidl in  exactly the same percentage as for lower income families.

While the budget chains have made their name by selling household essentials at low prices, they have also made a concerted move to attract the wealthy with upmarket food and drink offerings.

Aldi is the UK's sixth largest supermarket with more than 660 stores and 29,000 employees.
Questions about whether a Secret Service officer wore a prosthetic hand to the inaugural parade to conceal a gun to defend the Trumps have been put to rest.

The theory spread like wildfire online after President Trump's inauguration last Friday.

They were based on several images that seemed to show the officer's right hand frozen in motion, and many believed he wore a prosthetic to conceal a gun he was holding under his coat.

But that has now been disproven thanks to another image and video that shows the officer bending one of his fingers.

The Secret Service agent's appears to be holding his hands in a distinctive pose as he escorts President Trump and the First Lady down Pennsylvania Avenue

There they are again. The agent's hands appear to be in the same position. The photos led to speculation that his right hand was fake, and that he was holding a gun at the ready under his coat

The theory was squashed when video and other photos showed the agent moving his hands.

On Friday there was high security as the presidential entourage of limousines traveled for more than two miles down towards the White House, occasionally getting out to greet the crowd.

The last President to be assassinated was John F Kennedy, in Dallas, in 1963 but Trump has polarized opinion in America on a scale never seen before and the Secret Service is clearly jittery about his security.

In March 1981, only two months after his inauguration, President Ronald Reagan escaped an assassination attempt in Washington.

White House Press Secretary James Brady was left paralyzed by a bullet from would-be assassin John Hinckley, who was released from a psychiatric hospital last year.

As the presidential entourage walked on and waved at supporters the agent (right) kept his hands in the same odd position. His eyes continually surveyed the crowd

Another still from the video footage shows the agent with his hands in the same position as Barron Trump (left) waves to the crowd

This image, taken by an AFP photographer on Friday, shows the agent's hands in a different position, showing they were real after all

In the footage from Friday the bald agent's eyes move constantly, scanning the crowds for signs of a potential assassin, but his arms do not move.

His right hand is splayed out and his left hand is bunched into a fist with one finger touching the other hand's pinky.

This led to Internet speculation he was concealing a weapon under his jacket and had his real hand on the trigger.

There was more specific speculation that he had a Belgian-made FN-P90 sub-machine gun under his coat.

The FN-P90, which holds 50 rounds, is used by the Secret Service's Emergency Response Teams and is small enough to tuck underneath a winter coat.

The first to discuss the agent was an anonymous writer on the gaming blog Frag Hero who wrote on Saturday: 'After yesterday's presidential inauguration, many members of the military and law enforcement community noticed something very unusual about one of Trump's bodyguards.

'The conclusion they reached was that he did indeed have tactical fake arms.'

The agent's arms (right) seem to stay permanently fixed in the same awkward position for the entire procession, a long time for a person to hold their arms in such a way

One blogger suggested the agent probably had his hand on the trigger of his Belgian-made FN-P90 sub-machine gun (pictured)

The blogger says the agent bears 'an uncanny resemblance to Hitman Agent 47', a character played by Rupert Friend in a 2015 action movie based on a video game series.

But the Task and Purpose website said the theory was untrue and pointed to several images taken on Friday of the same agent with his hands in different positions.

Task and Purpose writer Adam Linehan, who spent six years in the US Army, points to one image of the agent getting out of a car: 'The bodyguard, in the background of the image, exits one of the vehicles in the motorcade, and adjusts his tie and coat the way a man - a human man with functional arms - does whenever he's about to appear in public.'

Several bloggers said the Secret Service agent bore a resemblance to Hitman Agent 47 (played by Rupert Friend, pictured) in the 2015 film
A 50-year-old has today been arrested on suspicion of abusing Remain champion Gina Miller in an early morning raid on one of London's most affluent areas.

The male suspect, who has not been named was held at an address in Knightsbridge on suspicion of racially aggravated malicious communications.

Scotland Yard said officers from its Operation Falcon cyber crime unit arrested the man in an early morning raid, and is currently in custody at a central London police station.

A spokesman said: 'The arrest is in connection with a complaint made to police on November 6 by a 51-year-old woman relating to threats made online and a second unrelated comment believed to have been made by the same suspect in August 2016'.

The 51-year-old woman is believed to be Ms Miller and the 50-year-old man is the second man arrested over alleged abuse.

Held: A 50-year-old has today been arrested on suspicion of abusing Brexit champion Gina Miller in an early morning raid on one of London's most affluent areas.

The Met also revealed eight others across the UK have been handed eight cease and desist notices and warned they face prosecution if the abuse continues.

Yesterday Brexit challenger Gina Miller was flanked by bodyguards as she insisted the Supreme Court ruling was a victory for democracy.

The millionaire businesswoman launched into a three-minute address from the steps of the court, defending her decision to launch a legal challenge against the Government.

Mrs Miller, 51, hit out at the extraordinary and unwarranted criticism levelled at lawyers and judges during the court case, and said the Brexit vote was the most divisive issue of a generation.

Mrs Miller, 51, hit out at the extraordinary and unwarranted criticism levelled at lawyers and judges during the court case, and said the Brexit vote was the most divisive issue of a generation.

The Labour supporter has previously revealed she has spent thousands of pounds on personal security after she and her family were threatened because of her role in the case, and said police were taking the threats seriously.

She welcomed the Supreme Court ruling forcing a Parliamentary vote on Brexit, saying: Only Parliament can grant rights to the British people and only Parliament can take them away.

No Prime Minister, no Government, can expect to be unanswerable or unchallenged. Parliament alone is sovereign.

This ruling means that MPs we have elected will rightfully have the opportunity to bring their invaluable experience and expertise to bear in helping the Government select the best course in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations  negotiations that will frame our place in the world and all our destinies to come.

Mrs Miller launched the legal case with London-based hairdresser Deir Dos Santos and a small group of British expats who had crowd-funded their part in the legal process.

She previously said she felt compelled to act because the Brexit vote had opened a deep vein of ugliness and bigotry and she worried about the future for her three children, now aged nine, 11 and 28.

Mrs Miller was born in Guyana, South America, where her father was the attorney general, but came to Britain to go to boarding school and has spent her adult life here.

She is married to City financier Alan Miller, known as Mr Hedge Fund, and the couple run their own investment firm and philanthropic foundation from their 7million home in Chelsea, West London.

Mrs Miller has denied claims she is part of an elite intent on wrecking Britains exit from the EU, but described the Governments arguments during the legal battle as ludicrous.

Speaking outside the Supreme Court, she said: There is no doubt that Brexit is the most divisive issue of a generation but this case was about the legal process, not politics.

She added: In Britain we are lucky, we are fortunate to have the ability to voice legitimate concerns and views as part of a shared society'.
A pride of lions decided to stop and eat their lunch in the middle of a road - bringing traffic to a standstill.

The 18 hungry lions had recently killed a buffalo and decided to lay in the middle of the road to devour it at the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

But rather than be annoyed at the hold up, most of these drivers visited the park in the hope of spotting one of Africa's big five, so were overjoyed at the impromptu encounter.

The pride of lions (pictured) had stopped in the middle of the road so they could eat a buffalo they had just caught

One of the tourists lucky enough to capture the moment on camera was Suan Wright, 60, and his wife Rosemary.

Mr Wright, from Bedfordview, South Africa, said: 'I was on my annual trip to the Kruger Park when a pride of about 18 lions had killed a buffalo and were feeding on the carcass.

'The buffalo was killed no more than hour before we arrived on the scene.

'The fact that more and more vehicles appeared and could not pass because the pride were feeding in the middle of the main road did not perturb them in the least.

The animals brought the traffic in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, to a standstill

'We sat watching the spectacle for over an hour before moving on.

'It was an extremely rare sighting which makes one realise what a truly special place the Kruger National Park is.'
A controversial Hitler themed cafe decked with Nazi memorabilia in Indonesia has reportedly closed its door after years of protests.

The SoldatenKaffe, named after a cafe in Paris that was popular with Nazi soldiers, was a busy tourist spot in the city of Bandung.

Countless portraits of the leader of the Third Reich adorned the walls of the establishment, which was also decorated with Nazi flags and other memorabilia.

The inside of the SoldatenKaffe in Indonesia that is decked in Nazi memorabilia. It has now closed its doors for good

Indonesian customers in World War II motif military uniforms, one bearing a Nazi's swastika insignia would often visit the cafe

Customers eating at the cafe with the backdrop of a quote by Adolf Hitler in 2014. The owner has now decided to close the cafe

However, the Sun Online has now reported that the cafe has closed its doors for good and will be replaced with a karaoke bar.

When asked if the cafe was ever going to reopen, a spokesman told the website it was closed 'forever... sigh.'

The cafe opened in 2011 but shortly after faced widespread international criticism, especially from Jewish organisations.

Two years later, it was forced to close temporarily after owner Henry Mulyana received death threats.

Countless portraits Hitler adorned the walls of the establishment, which was also decorated with Nazi flags and emblems

An Indonesian Muslim customer, dressed in World War II motif military uniform, prays in the corner of the cafe in 2014

He then promised to remove any offending swastikas and Nazi insignia before relaunching the cafe a year later.

However, when it re-opened, it not only retained the name SoldatenKaffe, the prominent portrait of the Nazi dictator, posters, quotes and three iron eagles bearing swastikas, remained.

As well as the questionable surroundings, at the cafe's launch men dressed in Nazi uniforms and others as prisoners of war.

Cafe owner Henry Mulyana, pictured in 2014 outside the establishment. Mr Mulyana had previously insisted that there was no reason for anyone to be offended and the cafe's Facebook page insisted it is not pro-Nazi

But speaking at the time, Mr Mulyana insisted that there was no reason for anyone to be offended and the cafe's Facebook page insisted it is not pro-Nazi.

It stated: 'It is matter of fact, with the intention of exploring Hitler & the NAZIS as pop culture. The authors of the web page are not Nazis or neo-Nazis.'

Mr Mulyana also once told reporters that the cafe draws a lot of customers from Europe, claiming they aren't bothered by the theme.

He once said: 'I have a right to design my restaurant with anything that attracts people to come. I'm sure that I'm not violating any laws.'
A Tesco customer claims she suffered severe burns and scalds when a heat-proof Pyrex dish exploded in her microwave - showering her in burning food and glass.

Natacha Flamand, from Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, was left with scalds over her face and neck after using the dish she bought from the supermarket in her microwave.

Despite the label saying it was microwaveable, Natacha claims it had only been in for a minute before exploding when she took it out.

Natacha Flamand, from Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, was left with scalds over her face and neck after using the dish she bought from the supermarket in her microwave

She claims shards of glass sprayed across her kitchen but luckily didn't hit her or her three-year-old daughter who was in the living room eating her lunch.

There have been numerous claims of Pyrex dishes exploding on the internet, which some believe is caused by the rapid heating and then cooling of the product.

Tesco said today they would be taking up Natacha's claims with the firm.

On Tesco's website, they sell over 180 Pyrex products, however the one thought to have exploded is the 'Pyrex Classic 2L Mixing Bowl', which sells for 2.95 online.

In a post on Tesco's Facebook page yesterday, Natacha shared a picture of her injuries and wrote: 'Thought I had already posted this. A Pyrex bowl I purchased from one of your stores exploded on me today.

'The label says microwaveable. I think not. I'm now left with scalds all over my chest and neck from it exploding in my hands after being in the microwave for one minute.

'Luckily it's just scalds and not cuts from the shards of glass that flew all over my kitchen.'

Despite the label saying it was microwaveable, Natacha claims it had only been in for a minute before exploding when she took it out

The photo shows Natacha's neck and chest covered in red blotches and marks which she claims are caused by the exploding dish.

Tesco responded to her message to say: 'Hi Natacha, I'm really sorry for the delay in my response and also for the harm that had been caused to you by this dish.

'I've fully responded to your private message and look forward to your reply.'

Natacha responded to the message to say: 'Looking at posts on the page being replied to after I have messaged and posted on your page, clearly someone suffering scalds from a product Tesco stocks isn't as important as a mouldy biscuit.

'Can you actually believe they're offering me a replacement or refund for the price of the bowl, 3 after this happening to me? Absolutely shocking customer service in my eyes. I find their response laughable.'

Other Facebook users were quick to share their similar experiences.

One wrote: 'I've had that experience also. Ruined a whole pan of homemade soup. Never seen so many shards of glass, you'd think a window had been blown in.

Natacha replied to say: 'It gives you such a fright when it happens. Thankfully my three year old was in the other room eating her lunch literally seconds before this happened.'

Another user commented: 'That's terrible, are you okay? Take that a lot further.'

Whilst another added: 'Awful! Hope you are okay.'

A Tesco spokesman said: 'We were concerned to hear about this incident.

'We have offered the customer a refund and will be asking the manufacturer Pyrex how this could have happened.'

The internet is awash with claims of Pyrex dishes exploding in kitchens when people remove them from their microwaves or ovens.

It is thought to be caused when the product changes temperature rapidly, known as 'thermal shock.'

One user on an online forum reports how his Pyrex bowl exploded into many small pieces after one minute when using it to cook chicken whilst another explains how theirs shattered all over their kitchen worktop after they removed it from their oven.

Pyrex glassware was originally made from borosilicate glass but is now said to be made from tempered soda lime glass.

A Pyrex spokesman said: 'Were very sorry to hear about Natachas experience. We take all complaints seriously and will be working closely with Tesco to investigate further.

'This is a highly unusual situation as Pyrex branded glass mixing bowls sold by UK retailers/distributors have a thermal shock resistance of 220C and are made only from tempered borosilicate glass, not tempered soda lime glass.'
Roshad Richardson, 4, ended up shooting himself in the chest with a handgun

A four-year-old boy is lucky to be alive after he shot himself in the chest with a handgun that he found under a dresser at his home in Tampa, Florida.

Detectives say the little boy apparently grabbed the pistol and accidentally pulled the trigger.

The boy, Roshad Richardson, was taken to hospital on Tuesday where he underwent emergency surgery. Officials say he's in stable condition.

Akia Thomas, 26, was at home with the boy when the shooting occurred.

Tampa police have since confirmed that they have arrested Thomas who is said to be the boyfriend of the child's mother.

He has been arrested on a number of charges including possession of a weapon by a felon, possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, unsafe storage of a firearm and possession of cocaine.

The gun used in this particular shooting is a stolen .38 Taurus handgun.

The boy's mother had taken her one-year-old child to day care and another older kid to school.

Roshad's mom was out of the house at the time of the incident picking up his sisters from day care and from school

Akia Thomas, 26, has been arrested on various drugs and weapons charges

'The family is good,' said Roshad's mom, Delicia Forte, 24, to the Tampa Bay Times. 'I have a strong backbone, and I'm just grateful my son is doing great. He's talking, he's alive, he's stable, he's everything.'

'The only thing I want to discuss is my healthy, stable son,' Delicia said. 'He'll be coming home soon.'

Thomas remained in jail Wednesday. Records don't list a lawyer for him.

Thomas has a lengthy criminal record with 24 prior felony charges, involving drug charges, and has five felony convictions including convictions for cocaine and marijuana possession, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records.

The boy's mother, Delicia Forte, has refused to comment on the incident as she was out at the time of the shooting, but she believes her four-year-old son will recover from his wounds

He spent seven months in state prison in 2011 for possessing more than 20 grams of marijuana, records show.

'He shouldn't have a gun around him or be around them,' Col. Donna Lusczynski said in a news conference Tuesday.

Neighbors in the area claim there are too many guns in the community that are left unattended with children.

'Our law enforcement, they do their job. But, they can't be everywhere at one time. So, if you do have a gun, I pray to God that you lock it up,' sais neighbor Melvin Hicks to Newschannel 8.
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Vladimir Putin's huge aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov skulked past the white cliffs of Dover today closely escorted by the Royal Navy as it sailed home to Russia after its bombing campaign in Syria.

A squadron of RAF Typhoon warplanes were deployed to monitor the ageing Soviet-era vessel from the air as it passed menacingly close to Britain accompanied by the nuclear-powered cruiser Pyotr Veliky and support ships.

The flagship  branded the 'ship of shame' - entered the UK 'area of interest last night' and is due to pass the white cliffs of Dover at around lunchtime today.

Equipped with missiles, anti-aircraft guns and torpedoes, the 55,000-ton carrier will be continuously escorted as it skirts around the UK and into the North Sea before heading back to Russia.

The vast warship last came close to Britain in October on its way to its deadly mission. It crew was accused of an 'indiscriminate' bombing campaign in support of Syrian Bashar Assad. Two Russian planes crashed while attempting to land on the ship after returning from sorties.

The Admiral Kuznetsov (pictured left today) cruised through the English Channel at lunchtime today returning from its bombing campaign in Syria. It was flanked by nuclear-powered cruiser The Pyotr Veliky (pictured centre) and closely watched by the Royal Navy Frigate HMS St Albans (right) and RAF Typhoon jets (pictured above the St Albans)

Four RAF Typhoons, (one of which is pictured foreground) are patrolling the skies over the English Channel today as the Russian fleet passes England's south coast

The Ministry of Defence released the sensation images today after capturing the images from on board the Typhoon jets and a Navy helicopter during the policing operation

TRACKING RUSSIAN SHIP COSTS MILLIONS Escorting Russia's 'ship of shame' past British waters has been costing the taxpayer millions Escorting Russia's 'ship of shame' past British waters has been costing the taxpayer millions of pounds, it can be revealed. Figures disclosed by the Ministry of Defence under FOI rules estimate the bill for escorting the vessel last time it transited en route to Syria in October was 1.394million. The department said the cost had been calculated based on the length of the operation, man hours and fuel. The Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan sailed from Portsmouth to mark the Kuznetsov group, and the Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond escorted the group from the Norwegian Sea as it steamed south. Advertisement

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said it was a 'ship of shame' whose mission had been to 'extend the suffering of the Syrian people'.

He said: 'We will keep a close eye on the Admiral Kuznetsov as it skulks back to Russia; a ship of shame whose mission has only extended the suffering of the Syrian people.

'We are man-marking these vessels every step of the way around the UK as part of our steadfast commitment to keep Britain safe.'

HMS St Albans, equipped with a Merlin helicopter and one of the most capable frigates in the world, is 'closely monitoring' the ship, the Ministry of Defence confirmed today.

Four RAF Typhoon jets were also deployed to keep watch on the ship.

The Kuznetsov was dispatched last year to aid the regime's final push on the besieged city of Aleppo.

It passed through the English Channel in the autumn in what was seen as a provocative manoeuvre after widespread condemnation that Russia's military was indiscriminately targeting civilians.

Air strikes from the Admiral Kuznetsov on rebel targets in northern Syrian marked the first time the carrier had been used in combat.

This was despite having been in the Soviet Union's navy since the 1980s.

The British military kept a close eye on the Russian fleet (pictured right today) after the 55,000 ton Admiral Kuznetsov completed its mission in the Middle East

The Russian fleet arrived in Britain's 'area of interest' overnight and UK assets will monitor the ships until they clear British territory. Norway is likely to take over monitoring duties as the fleet heads north and home to Russia

HMS Albans (foreground) escorted the Russian warships Petr Velikiy (centre) and the Admiral Kuznetsov (background) past the white cliffs of Dover today

During its short deployment an Su-33 and an MiG-29 fighter jet were lost, both of which crashed while trying to land after sorties due to problems with the carrier's landing system.

Its passing came after Sir Michael flew into the Ukraine over the weekend to reassure the nervous ally as it fights Russian aggression.

On the eve of Mr Trump's inauguration, the Defence Secretary said the UK was sending a 'clear message' that its support for the country would not falter.

Then yesterday he said Britain was working hard to promote trade links with friendly nations like the Ukraine.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon (file picture aboard a Royal Navy Trident submarine last year) branded the Kuznetsov the 'ship of shame' for its operations over Syria

His comments followed No10 panic after Donald Trump proposed dropping economic sanctions against Vladimir Putin in return for nuclear arms cuts.

Last August foreign secretary Boris Johnson said Britain must 'normalise' its relationship with Russia after years of hostility.

They had hit rock bottom after an inquiry found Putin 'probably' approved the assassination of the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko.

But then relations between the two countries plummeted even further when Russia stepped up its fight in Syria and joined forces with President Assad to bomb Aleppo.

Last month Russia's top UK diplomat accused Britain of 'overt hostility' and of working with Nato to prepare for a 'major war' in Europe.

The Admiral Kutnetsov was last seen off Britain in October (pictured right) when it was monitored by the Royal Navy Destroyer HMS Duncan (pictured)
Gibraltar's chief minister warned that Spain is acting like a 'predator' by trying to use Brexit claim sovereignty over The Rock.

Chief minister Fabian Picardo hit out at 'disingenuous' offers from Madrid for Gibraltar to remain in the EU through a joint sovereignty deal with the UK.

'This is the generosity of the predator that thinks that its prey is finally prone and it's going to take the price it's been seeking to extract for the past 300 years,' he told MPs in Westminster as he blasted the actions of his Spanish neighbours.

Chief minister Fabian Picardo, pictured appearing before MPs on the Brexit committee in Westminster today, hit out at 'disingenuous' offers from Madrid for Gibraltar to remain in the EU through a transfer of sovereignty from the UK to Spain

'Neither the people of the UK nor the people of Gibraltar are a prey that is on its knees seeking any generous offer from the people of Spain.'

In June's referendum 96 per cent of Gibraltarians voted in favour of remaining in the EU but Mr Picardo suggested this not driven by a desire to remain in the EU but overwhelmingly about fearing the reaction of Spain to a Brexit vote.

Hours after the June 23 vote to leave the EU Spain's then-foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Brexit 'opens up new possibilities' for Spain to further its aim of taking control of Gibralter.

In comments that alarmed the 30,000 Gibraltarians, he said: 'The Spanish flag on the Rock is much closer than before'.

Reports in the media over recent days have suggested Madrid is stepping up moves towards claiming joint sovereignty over The Rock as it prepares to enter Brexit negotiations with the UK.

Chief minister Fabian Picardo blasted Spain's 'disingenuous' offer from Madrid for Gibraltar to remain in the EU, telling MPs in Westminster today: 'This is the generosity of the predator that thinks that its prey is finally prone and it's going to take the price it's been seeking to extract for the past 300 years'

But Mr Picardo was unambiguous about such threats today.

He told MPs: 'I've seen it said just this week in the Spanish press they consider their offer of joint sovereignty to Gibraltar is a 'generous' offer that would allow us to remain in the EU through Spain.

'The people of Gibraltar left the referendum and [the question of] leaving and remaining in the EU behind them on June 24, we are not looking to remain in the EU being partly Spanish.

'And the only way that somebody could describe that offer as generous would be to be entirely disingenuous.'

Mr Picardo dismissed the prospect of Gibraltar become a bargaining chip in Brexit negotiations.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy warned that Brexit poses a 'serious threat' to Spain because one in five tourists who visit the country are British - nearly 17 million Britons a year

He said Theresa May's clear plan for a clean break from Brussels by quitting the single market and possibly the customs union too had dealt a major blow to Spain's hopes of using Brexit to claim sovereignty over Gibraltar.

'We're not going to be accepting the payment of any price in our sovereignty, jurisdiction or control for our future participation with the UK in any trade deals with the EU,' Mr Picardo said.

He added: 'The less that the UK seeks in the context of the Article 50 negotiation then the harder it is for Spain to try and extract a price.'

Separately, Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy warned that Brexit poses a 'serious threat' to Spain because one in five tourists who visit the country are British - nearly 17 million Britons a year.

'I will also tell you that the United Kingdom is the first destination for Spanish companies' investment and our third commercial partner.'
A British soldier who killed a father-of-six outside a police station in Northern Ireland has been named, 46 years later.

Now deceased sergeant Allan McVitie from the Parachute Regiment fired two shots that killed van driver Henry Thornton in 1971, after mistaking the van backfiring for a gun attack, in Belfast.

Coroner Brian Sherrard had already ruled the paratrooper's actions were not necessary, reasonable or proportionate.

Now deceased sergeant Allan McVitie from the Parachute Regiment fired two shots that killed van driver Henry Thornton in 1971, after mistaking a van backfiring for a gun attack, in Belfast

Today, he lifted an anonymity order that had prevented Mr McVitie's identity being revealed to Belfast Coroner's Court.

Mr Thornton, 29, died almost instantly when the soldier shot him through the rear of his Austin works van close to Springfield Road police station in west Belfast in August 1971.

Mr Thornton, from Silverbridge, Co Armagh, and his colleague Arthur Murphy were driving to work early in the morning when the incident unfolded outside a police station that was repeatedly attacked during the Troubles.
A 28-year-old woman was found walking along a freeway about 60 miles from her home three days after she went missing.

Laura Lynne Stacy's roommate last saw her leaving their Hollywood Hills, California, apartment on Sunday and her parents grew increasingly worried after she stopped responding their texts.

Her cell phone was recovered in a puddle about 30miles away from her home on Monday, and the mystery deepened when her car found abandoned along a highway in Lancaster.

Authorities said Stacy appeared 'confused' and 'somewhat disoriented' when she was found, and the 28-year-old was taken to the hospital for a precautionary medical check.

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Laura Lynne Stacy was reported missing after she left her Hollywood Hills apartment on Sunday. She was found on Wednesday walking along the 14 Freeway near Avenue K

LAPD Detective Tim O'Quinn said Stacy appeared 'disoriented' and 'confused' when she was found, adding: 'Theres a lot of unknowns as to what transpired'

Stacy, who recently moved from Colorado to Los Angeles, was found walking along the 14 Freeway near Avenue K by detectives who were headed to the search effort.

LAPD Detective Tim O'Quinn told KTLA that Stacy appeared 'disoriented' and 'confused' when she was found, adding: 'Theres a lot of unknowns as to what transpired.'

She suffered from exposure to the cold as well as dehydration, according to fire officials who spoke toABC.

Photographs show Stacy on a stretcher, although officials said she was taken to the Antelope Valley Hospital for a precautionary screening.

Stacy was last seen by her roommate as she was leaving the house on Sunday, and her parents grew increasingly worried after she stopped responding to their texts.

They received a text from her number at around 5am on Monday morning - but it was sent from a stranger who found the phone at Golden Valley Park, about 30 miles from her home.

On Tuesday, a car matching the description of Stacy's was found abandoned near 97th Street East and Avenue E in Lancaster - another 30 miles north of Santa Clarita.

The 28-year-old was then found about 18 miles away on the 14 Freeway on Wednesday.

Her parents Steve and Marcy Stacy, who flew from Colorado to California on Tuesday to aid in the search, were reunited with their daughter after the 'nightmare'.

Stacy's car was found abandoned on Tuesday night and covered in frost in Lancaster, California - around an hour north of her apartment in the Hollywood Hills

Police told FOX there were no 'obvious signs of foul play' where they found the car. Her mother said there was a blanket and food inside

Stacy's parents Macy and Steve (pictured) flew down to California on Tuesday to aid in the search. They were reunited with their daughter on Wednesday

They said their daughter had recently moved to Los Angeles for the atmosphere and the warm weather.

Stacy had been studying to be a realtor, while also getting into art and photography.

They said she was excited about a recent job offer and initially thought the 28-year-old was headed to a meeting regarding her career.

It remains unclear why Stacy went missing, but her mother said she believed her daughter went to Golden Valley Park to take photographs, FOX reported.

She believes her daughter lost her cell phone, got lost without the GPS, and eventually ran out of gas, according to FOX.

'We think she ran out of gas and started walking,' she said.

Police searched local hospitals and looked through her phone and credit card records for clues on her whereabouts.

Stacy's mother says that her card was used at a local Wendy's but it's unclear if she was the person using the card.
Incredible night cam footage has captured the moment a rare Asian elephant was born following a short 20-minute labour.

Following a 22-month gestation the male calf was born to 20-year-old mother Sithami Hi Way at Chester Zoo.

Zoo keepers stayed up to monitor the birth via live CCTV and watched in awe as the baby dropped onto soft sand and scrambled to his feet in minutes.

Andy McKenzie, team manager of elephants at Chester Zoo said: 'Mum Sithami delivered her calf onto deep, soft sand and her instincts took hold as she started to stimulate him, encouraging him to get to his feet by kicking up sand around him.

The night camera captured the moment Sithami Hi Way (pictured) gave birth to the baby elephant at Chester Zoo

'The rest of the herd then excitedly gathered around and within just a few minutes they had helped him up, which was great to see.'

The male calf was the second recent Asian elephant arrival at Chester Zoo.

Mr McKenzie explained: 'The new baby has joined one-month-old calf Indali, who was born in December.

'Two births in one month is momentous for our Hi Way family herd of Asian elephants. Elephants are hugely sociable animals so this is an incredible boost to the group.

'It's great for each of them to have a playmate, not to mention one-year-old Nandita, who we're sure will enjoy pushing the youngsters around for a while.

'Equally importantly, this is magnificent for the conservation breeding programme.'

The elephant is the world's largest land animal, although an Asian elephant is marginally smaller than its African cousin.

Elephants live in matriarchal groups and form extremely close familial bonds with their herd.

Calves are looked after by the whole herd but males will generally leave the family unit between the age of 12 and 15.

The rare baby (pictured) was born at Chester Zoo. It was the second recent Asian elephant arrival at the zoo

The baby was born after a 22 month gestation period to mother Sithami Hi Way in Chester

Asian elephants are highly threatened in the wild and Chester conservationists are working in India to protect the species from human-wildlife conflict.

The new calf is an invaluable addition to the breeding programme for the endangered species.

Dr Mark Pilgrim, Chief Executive Officer at Chester Zoo, added: 'Asian elephants are an endangered species, threatened by habitat loss, poaching, disease and direct conflict with humans.

'We hope that news of her arrival will generate more much needed awareness of these incredible animals and the pressure for survival that they are faced with in the wild.

Chester Zoo is part of a breeding programme coordinated by the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) which focuses on sustaining the elephant population in Europe.
A sales assistant claims to have been hit with 2,000 worth of parking fines by a private firm despite having a permit to leave his car outside his home.

Dan Horwood, 25, alleges he has been pursued by 'devious' parking inspectors since moving to his new home in Dartford, Kent, six months ago - after builders started taking the spaces that his permit applies to.

He claims that the parking workers are trying to penalise drivers 24 hours a day and he has been given 20 tickets at 100 each  with one of them issued at about 2am.

Unimpressed: Dan Horwood, 25, alleges he has been pursued by 'devious' parking inspectors

Evidence: A worker is spotted fining a driver on the private Phoenix Quarter site in Dartford

Mr Horwood said that each of the 100 residents in the block have visitor parking permits for 15 spaces on the private Phoenix Quarter site.

And the parking scramble has got even worse with the housing association Hyde Housing recently having builders in, who have been using some of the spaces.

This has forced the residents to park wherever they can on the estate - and they say they are impeding no one, even though they are not in a designated space.

However, they are being fit with fines by Parking Control Management, which is a private firm based in Slough, Berkshire, that is working for Hyde Housing.

Mr Horwood told MailOnline: 'I'm getting ticketed at 6am and 1.45am and 12.15am. My friends are, my mother's being ticketed.

Mr Horwood has been fined 20 times since moving to his new home in Dartford six months ago

Each of the 100 residents in the block in Dartford have visitor parking permits for 15 spaces

'So now these people don't want to visit. I'm imprisoned in my own home because if I want to go out to the shops I might lose my space. I'm fed up with it.

'I want to move to be honest, because I can't go out. If I want to go out for a Friday night, go anywhere, you come in at 1am and there's nowhere to park your car.'

He added: 'I can't afford it  I earn 85 a day, I can't afford a 100 fine.'

Parking Control Management told MailOnline that people living on the site are given a visitor's permit for use on a first come first served basis in certain areas.

A spokesman said: 'Parking Control Management UK Ltd are employed to manage the parking at Phoenix Quarter.

The parking scramble has got worse with the housing association recently having builders in

Parking Control Management said the permits are for use on a first come first served basis

'When Housing Association individuals take residency within the complex they are informed there is no parking for residents and they will be permitted a visitors' parking permit for use by visitors on a first come first served basis in the areas specifically designated for visitor parking.

'We are currently aware of ten tickets which have been issued to Mr Harwood. He has not made any meaningful contact with us.

'We can confirm that no bailiffs have visited Mr Harwood as a result of tickets issued by PCM. However, if the tickets remain outstanding they will be pursued through the County Courts.

'We would urge motorists not to park anywhere other than in designated areas, while displaying a valid permit and complying with all terms and conditions.

'Parking in other areas causes significant difficulties for other uses of the complex and often causes costly damage to landscaped areas.

'Motorists are urged not to ignore parking conditions and reminded that while they are parking on land which does not belong to them it is incumbent on them to respect the conditions in place.'
A mother who was nearly killed when a concrete slab fell onto her head has made a miraculous recovery and is now well enough to look after her daughter.

Shocking CCTV video footage of Olga Klintsova manoeuvring a pram into the block of flats shows a block of stone cladding crashing down on her, missing her girl Katya by inches.

Now, after seven months of treatment, doctors have given her the all clear to take custody of her child, and judges awarded her more than 50,000 in compensation.

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Olga Klintsova, 32, manoeuvres her daughter Katya's buggy into the block of flats in Russia

Just as she pushes the pram forwards, a concrete slab falls from the roof of the building above

Had it fallen seconds earlier, it would've probably crushed the baby - Katya - in the pram

The force of the slab hitting her immediately knocks Olga out and the pram falls backwards

Olga Klintsova with her daughter taking a selfie on the day she got hit by the concrete slab

The mother and daughter are finally set to be reunited next month while Olga continues her treatment.

Youngster Katya has been staying with her grandmother at Olga's home city Murmansk while she recovers from her injuries.

Gruelling physiotherapy sessions mean Olga has recovered better than surgeons expected.

She said: 'I got shots of Botox in December, after I needed to take a course of PE.

'Even the easiest exercises turned out to be very difficult for me.'

Olga, 32, who spent the first two months in hospital, was captured on CCTV attempting to enter the block of flats last year.

Just as she goes to manoeuvre her daughter's pram through the door, a large concrete slab smashes her in the head.

It missed the baby by a matter of inches.

The mother was immediately knocked out and the pram fell backwards towards her as she was left sprawled out on the ground.

Two passers-by realised the gravity of the situation, and rushed to help the mother.

Passers-by notice the gravity of the incidents and rush to help the unconscious Olga Klintsova

Incident resulted in a court case in which the mother was awarded 53,728 in compensation

It resulted in a court case in which judges sitting in St Petersburg awarded her four million rubles (53,728.60).

Judges found the building's homeowner association head Andrey Kazakov, 47, guilty of negligence after viewing the shocking CCTV footage.

Police told the court he had known the slabs were loose, but did nothing to repair them or warn residents.

As well as ordering him to pay compensation to his victim, Kazakov was sentenced to two years' probation.
Mobile phone footage has captured the moment a hunt master told a married female activist he'd 'quite like to s***' her after she confronted him about illegal fox hunting.

Charles Carter, 33, was filmed telling the 41-year-old mother-of-four she was 'very pretty' before asking for her number and saying: 'Can I take you to bed please?'

The Tory councillor, who has since been suspended, made the remarks after being challenged by activists during a meet of the Middleton Hunt in North Yorkshire.

Mobile phone footage has captured the moment hunt master Charles Carter (pictured) told a female activist he'd 'quite like to s***' her after she confronted him about illegal fox hunting

Carter, 33, was filmed telling the woman she is 'very pretty' before asking for her number

The footage shows Linda Hoggard (pictured) confronting Carter while he is on horseback, dressed in a red hunting jacket and helmet, after allegedly seeing his hounds chasing a fox

Police confirmed they are investigating the incident, which happened on Monday, while constituents and animal rights activists have called for Carter to resign or be sacked.

The footage shows housewife Linda Hoggard confronting Carter while he is on horseback, dressed in a red hunting jacket and helmet, after allegedly seeing his hounds chasing a fox.

She begins: 'Excuse me, did you know hunting was banned? Hunting is banned and I have seen video chasing a fox along there.

'Hunting is banned so why are you still hunting? You still get away with it don't you, you lot?'

Carter, who has represented the parish of Saham Toney, Norfolk, on Breckland Council since 2011, then takes his own mobile phone out, prompting the irate woman to retort: 'What, you want to take a picture of me?'

He asks: 'What's your name?' and she replies: 'I couldn't give a s**t. It doesn't matter what my name is. I'm not bothered.'

The Tory councillor, right, who has since been suspended, made the remarks about Mrs Hoggard, left, after being challenged by activists during a meet of the Middleton Hunt in North Yorkshire

In the footage the married mother-of-four, pictured on her wedding day, told Carter to 'smirk as much as you like'

Carter then says calmly: 'I'd quite like to s*** you actually.'

Clearly taken aback, the woman says: 'Yeah I'll tell you something... pardon! I'll tell my husband that then shall I?'

But the huntsman, whose girlfriend  according to Facebook  is international event rider Harriet Morris-Baumber, 28, continues: 'Can I take you to bed please?'

Speaking to a friend who tries to calm the situation, the woman screams: 'Shut up Charlotte, it's fine, it's fine,' before Carter adds: 'You're very pretty.'

She retorts: 'Oh yeah really, whatever. So are foxes before this lot rip them apart.'

He replies: 'Can I have your number please?' while she repeatedly says: 'Smirk as much as you like.'

Carter then rides off without addressing the allegations that hounds belonging to the Middleton Hunt, who meet every Monday, were chasing a fox.

Fox hunting has been banned in England and Wales since 2005.

Mrs Hoggard, of Malton, North Yorkshire, was taking photos of wildlife on Monday afternoon when she spotted the Middleton Hunt.

She decided to stay with the riders and later snapped a photograph when she saw a fox run across a field, allegedly closely followed by hounds and the huntsmen.

Police confirmed they are investigating the incident, which happened on Monday, while constituents and animal rights activists have called for Carter to resign or be sacked

In the video Carter (pictured front) says to the female activist: 'I'd quite like to s*** you actually'

The mother-of-four said: 'I just went up to him on my own and said, "Did you know hunting is banned?" Because I am against fox hunting, it's cruel.

'I just thought I would go and see what his reaction would be.

'I couldn't believe it when he got his phone out. I said, "I'm not bothered," but when he said that rude word I was taken aback. It didn't go into my head.

Mrs Hoggard streamed the encounter live on Facebook (shown). It has thousands of views

'I said, 'Pardon?' For him to say it again was totally bang out of order - for an educated man to say something like that.

'At the end of the day, no one should speak to you like that. I'm just a housewife and I have got children. For someone to say that is absolutely disgusting.

'He wanted a reaction and he wanted me to get a***y, but I'm a better person than that.

'He wanted me to grab hold of him and pull him off the horse so I would get done.'

She added: 'The last couple of nights it has been going through my head. I didn't even know he was a councillor at first. He should know better.

'I'm glad he has been suspended. At the end of the day he has made his own bed, so let him lie in it.'

Mrs Hoggard, who says she has always been against fox hunting, streamed the encounter live on Facebook. The clip has since been viewed thousands of times.

According to Carter's social media, he has been a hunt master and huntsman with the West Norfolk Foxhounds.

He's also a ward member for Saham Toney where his role includes 'looking after the affairs of the residents at a local government level'.

Mrs Hoggard (pictured on her wedding day with husband Steve) was taking photos of wildlife on Monday afternoon when she spotted the Middleton Hunt. She filmed the confrontation

Since being elected in 2011 he's been a councillor and has also worked as executive cabinet member for growth, though he resigned from that position last November.

His Facebook page states that he now lives three-and-a-half hours away in Birdsall, York, and works at Middleton Hunt, where he is the new hunt master.

It is not the first time the Middleton Hunt has come under scrutiny. In 2013, four hunt members admitted hunting a fox with a dog and were fined by York magistrates.

Carter and the Middleton Hunt are yet to respond to requests for a comment

In 2015, North Yorkshire Police launched an investigation after footage of 16 fox cubs held in a barn near to the hunt's kennels emerged.

The force said they are investigating the altercation between Carter and the hunt saboteur.

They said: 'North Yorkshire Police were called at 10.38pm on Monday 23 January following reports that an altercation had taken place at 2.50pm earlier that day between a man and a woman in Duggleby, Malton.

'Investigations are ongoing.'

William Nunn, leader of Breckland Council, said: 'Having been made aware of the video this morning, I was appalled by the conduct of one of my Conservative councillors who has clearly brought the party and the council into disrepute as a result of his behaviour.

'I immediately took action and the individual concerned has been suspended from the Conservative group at Breckland Council pending the outcome of a full investigation by the Mid Norfolk Conservative Association.'

Carter and the Middleton Hunt are yet to respond to requests for a comment.

Harriet Morris-Baumber, an event rider and trainer who has represented Great Britain, declined to speak.

A woman who said she was her mother, Kim Morris-Baumber, 58, said: 'There is no connection with them other than the Facebook-related link.'
President Donald Trump laid down a firm date for his Supreme Court announcement this morning.

He said in a tweet: 'I will be making my Supreme Court pick on Thursday of next week. Thank you!'

Trump committed to having a name by the end of this week on Tuesday as he spoke to reporters in the Oval Office, telling them a formal announcement would come 'sometime next week.'

'We have outstanding candidates and we will pick a truly great Supreme Court justice,' he said.

His spokesman later said it would be 'early' the week. The president said this morning that he'd settled on Thursday.

He's said to favor three, male appeals court judges for the permanent position.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

President Donald Trump committed to having a name by the end of this week on Tuesday as he spoke to reporters in the Oval Office, telling them a formal announcement would come 'sometime next week.' He said this morning that he'd settled on Thursday

He's said to favor three, male appeals court judges for the permanent position

Trump held a closed-door session with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate panel, yesterday afternoon to discuss the matter.

The White House said he was meeting with Senate leaders from both sides of the political divide to get 'input on what they want' and 'any ideas that they have.'

Little appeared to change, despite the listening session, however, with Schumer vowing once again to fight any nominee he considers 'outside of the mainstream.'

Grassley said Trump's entire list of possible nominees fit the definition. Schumer's emphasis on the standard suggests they didn't, in his opinion.

He did not single out a specific candidate off Trump's initial list, which had 21 names, as more or less 'mainstream.'

The court has been operating with an even number of justices, eight, since conservative judge Antonin Scalia's death in February of 2016.

Republicans prevented Barack Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals from the District of Columbia, from getting a hearing or a vote as they hunkered down and hoped for a favorable result in the presidential election.

The vacancy became a wedge issue that motivated conservatives who didn't like Trump to get behind him rather than allow the bent of the court to become progressive.

Even before he was elected, Trump put out a definitive list of 21 candidates he would consider putting on the high court in Scalia's place.

It included Utah Sen. Mike Lee, Neil Gorsuch of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, William Pryor of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Thomas Hardiman of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Lee said through a spokesman at the time that he was uninterested, and Trump has since whittled the list down to the other three - Gorsuch, Pryor and Hardiman - the Associated Press reported. Each one of them is white and male.

The LA Times says Trump has already settled on Gorsuch, 49, despite the White House's claim that yesterday's meeting will senators would be a listening session.

NEXT SUPREME COURT JUSTICE? Neil Gorsuch of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals is said to be leading Trump's short list

Gorsuch clerked for Byron White and Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. He worked at a private practice in Washington, D.C. before taking a job at the Department of Justice.

He wasn't at DOJ for very long before George W. Bush appointed him to the appeals court, a position he was confirmed to by voice vote in the U.S. Senate.

If Trump is closing in on Gorsuch or someone else, his spokesman wouldn't say so Wednesday.

'The president has not whittled it down, at least not to the extent that he's willing to share with us,' White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.

'Maybe in his mind he's got that going, but...he's going through the process.'

Grassley suggested that Trump was still considering names off the broader list.

'I told the President that he made a very good start with his list of 21 widely respected and mainstream judges,' Grassley said. 'Im looking forward to learning who President Trump selects and the confirmation process ahead.'

Schumer has refused to comment publicly on specific names from Trump's larger list but has said more than once that Senate Democrats will oppose anyone they consider to be 'out of the mainstream' without explaining exactly what that is.

'I'm hopeful that President Trump may nominate someone who is mainstream and could get bipartisan support,' Schumer told CNN on Sunday. 'But if they don't, yes, we will fight it tooth and nail, as long as we have to.'

He said in a statement Tuesday night at the conclusion of his meeting with Trump, 'As Ive said many times, I believe the President should pick a mainstream nominee who could earn bipartisan support for the vacant Supreme Court seat.

'I reiterated that view in our meeting today, and told him that Senate Democrats would fight any nominee that was outside of the mainstream.'

NEXT SUPREME COURT JUSTICE? William Pryor of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Thomas Hardiman of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals are also said to be on Trump's shortlist

Senators in the meeting gave little away about the discussion afterward in their respective statements about Trump's thinking on the matter, but the discussion appeared to center on their respective interpretations of values and rulings that are within the 'mainstream.'

At a briefing with reporters earlier in the day Trump's spokesman, Spicer, said Trump would without a doubt 'appoint justices who protect our liberty and hold the highest regard for our Constitution.'

'He continues to carefully consider potential future justices based on their commitment to upholding these principles.'

Grassley later said he's looking for Trump to appoint someone who will 'adhere to the law and the Constitution.

'They must be committed to following the law, not making the law,' the Republican senator said.

The White House cast the meeting with lawmakers as an 'important opportunity for the president to consult with Senate leaders from both sides of the aisle on his potential choices for the bench.'

'The idea is to hear their input on what they want, how far he wants to extend himself on where he is on his thought process,' Spicer had said. 'But I think he wants to hear what they're looking for in a judge, maybe any ideas that they have.'

He was unwilling to say Wednesday how Trump's original list was received in the meeting, particularly by Democrats.

'He had very constructive and productive conversation with Senate leaders yesterday about the advice and consent role that they have, getting their ideas, the principles that they expect and he was sharing with them...the qualities and values that he expects in a judge to serve on the Supreme Court.

'I'm not gonna go further than that, but I would just say it was a very productive and constructive meeting,' Spicer said.

Republicans hold 52 seats in the Senate, and they'll need every vote, plus eight more, to put Trump's nominee on the court unless McConnell abandons Senate tradition and does away with rules that require 60 votes for Supreme Court appointments.

Spicer wouldn't say on Tuesday whether Trump would encourage the Senate leader to take that position.

'I think that he's going to appoint a quality associate justice that hopefully will achieve overwhelming support,' he said.

'His goal is that he's going to choose someone who hopefully I think everybody recognizes is a jurist that's gonna adhere to the Constitution, and not legislate from the bench, that [should] achieve bipartisan support.'

Pressed for Trump's thoughts on McConnell embracing what's known as the 'nuclear option,' the White House spokesman said, 'I think we're early in this process. He's gonna hear from them tonight.'

Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he was moving quickly.

'Ill be making my decision this week, and well be announcing next week,' he said, offering somewhat vague timing.

Spicer later said Trump would have a name 'by end of the week and an announcement early next week' following his talk with senators.
A woman who kept 74 cats and dogs in 'the worst hoarder conditions' an RSPCA officer has ever seen has been jailed.

Valerie Hicks, 69, pleaded guilty to 19 charges of animal cruelty at Glen Innes Local Court in New South Wales and was handed a one month sentence on Wednesday.

In May last year, RSPCA staff found 43 cats and 31 dogs at the woman's Deepwater property in the NSW Northern Tablelands.

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Valerie Hicks, 69, was jailed after keeping 74 cats and dogs in 'the worst hoarder conditions' an RSPCA officer has ever seen

RSPCA staff found 43 cats and 31 dogs at the woman's Deepwater property in the NSW Northern Tablelands

Conditions were so bad the attending animal welfare officers were forced to wear breathing apparatus.

Magistrate Michael Holmes said the animals were kept in some of the most 'horrific' conditions he has ever seen.

The Magistrate banned Hicks from owning more than one dog for a period of five years, according to North Coast Crime.

Magistrate Michael Holmes said the animals were kept in some of the most 'horrific' conditions he had ever seen

Conditions were so bad the attending animal welfare officers were forced to wear breathing apparatus

All 43 cats, which were suffering from severe psychological damage, had to be euthanised by the RSPCA.

Several dogs were also put down, with the others rehomed after extensive rehabilitation.

'I've been an RSPCA inspector for 14 years and seen some horrific abuse and confronting hoarder cases,' RSPCA NSW Inspector Alistair Hills said on Wednesday.

Several dogs were put down, with the others rehomed after extensive rehabilitation

RSPCA NSW Inspector Alistair Hills said: 'This is the worst conditions I've ever seen animals forced to live in'

All 43 cats, which were suffering from severe psychological damage, had to be euthanised

'But this is the worst conditions I've ever seen animals forced to live in.'

Hicks was also fined $19,000 by Magistrate Holmes.

She had previously been convicted of 83 animal cruelty charges in Queensland in 2008.

As well as being handed a one month jail sentence, Hicks was fined $19,000

Hicks had previously been convicted of 83 animal cruelty charges in Queensland in 2008
Blundering Jeremy Corbyn mistakenly said a police officer who was shot in Belfast over the weekend had died and paid his condolences to his family.

At Prime Minister's Questions today he paid tribute to the unnamed police officer - in his 20s - who 'lost his life over the weekend in Northern Ireland'.

But the police officer is still alive and recovering from emergency surgery. He is said to be in a stable condition.

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PSNI) blasted Mr Corbyn for the 'jaw-dropping gaffe' and urged him to apologise.

Blundering Jeremy Corbyn, pictured, mistakenly said a police officer who was shot in Belfast over the weekend had died. At Prime Minister's Questions today he paid tribute to the unnamed police officer - in his 20s - who 'lost his life over the weekend in Northern Ireland'

A dissident republican group known as the 'new IRA' claimed responsibility for the shooting of the police officer at a petrol station in north Belfast on Sunday evening

Nigel Dodds, the DUP MP who represents the constituency where the shooting took place, corrected the Labour leader later in the Commons.

He later described Mr Corbyn's mistake as 'one of the worst displays of crass ignorance that could be imagined'.

A dissident republican group known as the 'new IRA' claimed responsibility for the shooting of the police officer at a petrol station in north Belfast on Sunday evening.

Up to 10 shots were fired from an automatic weapon, it was reported, and the officer was hit two or three times in the arm.

Mr Corbyn was echoing Theresa May's tribute to the police officer but clearly did not know details of the incident.

Members of Jeremy Corbyn's frontbench appear to realise their leader's mistake

Theresa May told MPs in the Commons that 'our thoughts to the police officer who was shot in Belfast over the weekend and to his friends and family

The Prime Minister told MPs in the Commons that 'our thoughts to the police officer who was shot in Belfast over the weekend and to his friends and family.

'The PSNI do a superb job in keeping us safe and secure and they have our fullest support.'

As he rose to the Despatch box at PMQs, Mr Corbyn said: 'I join the Prime Minister in expressing condolences I'm sure of the whole house to the family of the police officer who lost his life over the weekend in Northern Ireland.'

Later in the session Mr Dodds corrected Mr Corbyn. He told MPs: 'I join the Prime Minister in wishing a speedy recovery to the police officer who was shot and injured in my constituency in north Belfast on Sunday night.

'Thankfully he was not killed, but that was not the intention of the terrorists of course.'

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn insisted he 'meant to say 'nearly died'.

The so-called new IRA is believed to have been responsible for a number of attacks on the Northern Ireland authorities, including the murders of prison officers David Black and Adrian Ismay. Pictured, a slogan on a wall reading 'PSNI No Welcome in Ardoyne' is plastered on a brick wall in north Belfast

Police have arrested three men following the shooting at a petrol station in north Belfast  one aged 36, another 30 and a third aged 39

Commons Speaker John Bercow, pictured, said there was 'no need for any further correction'

'Obviously, the last thing that was intended was any offence,' the spokesman said.

But chairman Mark Lindsay said: 'I'm appalled that the leader of Her Majesty's Opposition should get this so badly wrong on the floor of the House of Commons.

'It was a jaw-dropping gaffe and he should immediately apologise to the officer and his family.

'Mr Corbyn was either poorly briefed by his staff or he's that much out of touch with what is happening.

'Either way, it's a shocking error to make and needs to be corrected.'

The DUP's Ian Paisley said it was 'not, thankfully, the case' that the policeman had died in the shooting.

He added: 'For the family and for police officers generally, could we have that corrected by the frontbench spokesman as urgently as possible so as the record does not contain the spurious fact that a police officer was murdered in Belfast.'

Commons Speaker John Bercow said there was 'no need for any further correction'.

He said: 'It was an error. I recognise what he said about how upsetting that will have been, but it was a mistake. It has subsequently been corrected.'

Police have arrested three men following the shooting  one aged 36, another 30 and a third aged 39.

The so-called new IRA is believed to have been responsible for a number of attacks on the Northern Ireland authorities, including the murders of prison officers David Black and Adrian Ismay.
Advertisement

These fascinating black-and-white pictures by legendary photographer Diane Arbus offer a unique glimpse into how America lived in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

A new exhibition, organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in San Francisco, showcases some of the photographer's earliest works.

The collection, entitled 'diane arbus: in the beginning' considers the first seven years of the photographers career, from 1956 to 1962.

A lifelong New Yorker, Diane Arbus, who died in 1972, found the city and its citizens an endlessly rich subject for her art.

Working in Times Square, the Lower East Side and Coney Island, she made some of the most powerful portraits of the 20th century, training her lens on the pedestrians and performers she encountered there.

From a female impersonator in Long Island to a taxicab driver in his car, the images cast a light on some of the characters who inhabited the city at the time.

Some of the images also come from further afield, from a picture of a fire eater in New Jersey, to a portrait of a tattooed man in a Connecticut bar, the photographs reveal a lot about the forgotten era.

This picture, left, taken in 1957 or 1958, shows a boy stepping off the curb in New York City; while the image of a woman with white gloves and a pocket book, right, was also taken in New York City, in 1956

A kid in a hooded jacket aims a gun in New York City in this 1957 image, left; while the right hand image 'The Backwards Man in his hotel room' was taken in New York City in 1961

A girl with a pointy hood and white schoolbag stands at the curb in New York City in 1957

A female impersonator holds long gloves in Hempstead, Long Island in 1959, left; and a woman is pictured on an New York City bus in 1957

Diane Arbus captured this image of a woman on the street with her eyes closed in New York City in 1956

The image, left, of 'Jack Dracula at a bar', was taken in New London, Conn. in 1961; while an elderly woman whispers to her dinner partner, at the Grand Opera Ball in New York City in 1959, right

A Taxicab driver sits at the wheel as he carries two passengers in New York City in 1956
Scott King stole a selfie with the Prince of Wales when the heir to the throne enjoyed a visit to Leicester

A builder stole a selfie with the Prince of Wales when the heir to the throne enjoyed a visit to Leicester.

Scott King grabbed the photo as the Prince met shopkeepers in the city earlier today, before he paid a visit to a local college.

Mr King took the regal snap as Prince Charles strolled along the Narborough Road, believed to be the most multicultural street in the country.

The Prince was presented with a hamper containing produce from across the globe, including Bosnian coffee, Polish pasta and dried limes from the Middle East.

As he took a look at the contents of the hamper, local Labour MP Liz Kendall joked that the sweet treats would spoil any New Year resolutions he had made.

During a walk down the street - which has more than 200 shops and represents at least 23 nationalities - Charles also enjoyed a piece of baklava from the Istanbul restaurant.

Owner Gokhan Erdogan, 33, said: 'It was amazing really, he tried our home-made Turkish baklava and he loved it.

'We have footballers coming in, but you can only see Prince Charles once in your life so that was amazing.'

The Prince also visited Westcotes Library to meet traders and faith groups, and popped in to local businesses Sogscissor and Cake Box.

Mr King took the regal snap as Prince Charles strolled along the Narborough Road, believed to be the most multicultural street in the country

During a walk down the street - which has more than 200 shops and represents at least 23 nationalities - Charles also enjoyed a piece of baklava from the Istanbul restaurant

Pictured: Prince Charles pops into a ladies hairdresser during a visit to the Westcotes Library and local shopkeepers on Narborough Road

Later, Prince Charles visited Leicester College, where he met Afghan refugee Baseer Omarkhil Khan, who hitchhiked across Europe to meet Britain at the age of 11.

Baseer, now 16, did not speak a word of English when he first came to the UK with his family and enrolled in school.

But he has completed his schooling thanks to help from the Prince's Trust, which helps underprivileged youngsters.

Mr Khan, who settled with foster parents when he first arrived from Afghanistan and is now studying mechanics, admitted he was 'nervous' about the visit.

Baseer Omarkhil Khan, 16, completed his schooling with the help of the Prince's Trust charity, founded by Charles in 1976 to help youngsters reach their potential

The Prince of Wales meets young people as he arrives at the City of Leicester College today

The Prince appears to be in good spirits as he laughs with the children and teachers today

But they shared a joke after a misunderstanding when Baseer said he spoke 'four languages fully', but Charles misheard it as '44'.

'It was good to share my story with the Prince,' he said.

The Prince of Wales looking more serious at the college today, one of many stops on the list of royal engagements

He added: 'It was good, it was really good. I might have looked quite cool but on the inside I was pretty nervous.

'We spoke about how I got here and he told me he had been to Afghanistan as well.'

Baseer last year successfully completed the Trust's Achieve programme, a tailored form of study aimed at boosting teenagers' confidence and attitude to learning.

The prince also met current students and tutors from the Teach First programme, which aims to develop inspirational educational leaders.

Later, Charles met faith and community groups who have been building closer links with the British Army for the past two years.

He heard how Captain Chris Hughes, of 7 Infantry Brigade, has been attending Friday prayers at Leicester's central mosque.

Parvez Bhatty, a mosque committee member, said the informal and successful approach meant Capt Hughes is now seen as 'a friend' in the community, with other mosques sending invitations for him to visit.

Charles, who is the patron of the Prince's Trust, takes part in a personal development session

Speaking to the pupils at the City of Leicester College today, Prince Charles takes an interest in what they are currently learning about

Mr Bhatty said: 'Hopefully others will now take the step forward that we have.'

The Prince also met 14-year-old Lion Kheswa, from Peterborough, who was commended by police for talking a woman out of jumping from a multi-storey car park on Boxing Day.

A former armed forces cadet himself, the royal heir praised the schoolboy, a pupil at Thomas Deacon Academy, who was skateboarding past when he saw the woman in some distress.

Lion joked he had been so nervous about meeting Charles - having only been told on Tuesday morning - that 'I nearly wet myself'.

He said: 'He's charming - a good conversationalist.'

After visiting the college (pictured), Charles met faith and community groups who have been building closer links with the British Army for the past two years

Mr Khan discussed his journey with Charles during the visit and the Prince laughed during a misunderstanding when Baseer said he speaks four languages, although Cahrles heard '44'

After the meeting, attended by Army units from Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and Shropshire, Charles, a Field Marshal with the British Army, told those gathered: 'I hope this particular initiative will flourish.

'I hope we can build on the contacts... so that we can make the most of all of these connections in order to encourage a greater understanding between the different groups of this country and the military.'

Later, the prince will visit volunteers in nearby Rothley, Leicestershire, who have worked tirelessly to fundraise and restore more than a mile of track on the Victorian Mountsorrel Railway.

Charles will tour the railway's new heritage centre which opened last year and find out more about the group's future plans.
A Trump-supporting Republican has been censured for his Facebook post where he referred to Barack Obama as a 'Muslim' and threatened to send him and his family 'to Kenya where you were born' if they 'whined' about the new leadership.

Father-of-three Joel LaPierre, 47, a lawmaker for the St Lawrence County government, in New York, also called the former President 'BIG EARS' in the social media rant.

The post, written on January 5, was screen grabbed by freelance reporter Lauren Duca. It has since been deleted.

In the Facebook post, Joel LaPierre called the former President 'BIG EARS' and threatening to send him and his family 'on a one way trip to Kenya'

During the 2012 election campaign, Donald Trump challenged Obama to produce his birth certificate to disprove rumors he was born in Kenya and whether he was Muslim.

He largely dropped his effort when Obama, a Christian, showed his birth certificate which proved he was born in Hawaii.

On Monday night, St Lawrence County legislators voted to censure LaPierre in a 12 to 2 vote, the New York Daily News reported.

A censure is a formal statement of disapproval.

Joe Timmerman, finance committee chair, wrote in the censure order: 'The comments made by Legislator LaPierre demonstrate intolerance and have brought shame and embarrassment to the County Legislators and the citizens of St Lawrence County.'

LaPierre, a member of the New York State Pistol and Rifle Association and Shooters Committee of Political Education, holds the District 4 seat that represents citizens from the towns of Fowler, Edwards, Hammond, Macomb, Pitcairn and Rossie.

The censure resolution will become final if it is approved again at the February 6 full board meeting.

On Monday night, St Lawrence County legislators voted to censure LaPierre in a 12 to 2 vote

LaPierre, who has been married to Bridgette Pistolesi since 1993 and has three daughters, attended the meeting, but said 'no comment' when asked by Timmerman if he wished to make one.

In an email sent on Friday and seen by the Watertown Daily News, LaPierre said: 'I would like to apologize for my derogatory remarks made on my personal Facebook page on January 5.

'They were disrespectful and not becoming of a St Lawrence County Representative. This has been a learning experience for me; and in the future I will express my opinions in a more suitable manner.

'As a St Lawrence County Legislator I've done my best to serve my constituents and St Lawrence County and I will continue to do so.'

MailOnline has contacted LaPierre for further comment about his remarks.

Father-of-three Joel LaPierre, 47, also called the former President 'BIG EARS'

Republican legislators David W. Forsythe and Donald J. Hooper cast the only two votes against the censure.

Forsythe said: 'Although I do not support the Facebook post written by legislator LaPierre in any way, I do recognize his frustration. Also, I'm sure if he could pull back the send or post button he would surely do so.'

He added: 'I have to wonder if similar words were written about President Trump if they would receive the same amount of attention. I, for one, think not.'

On the St Lawrence county government page, LaPierre describes himself as an 'avid' sportsman, who also enjoys hunting and fishing.
A policewoman and her bank worker husband appeared in court today accused of laundering cash from Britain's biggest ever cyber fraud.

Manpreet Shergill, 33, who was attached to the Met Aviation Policing Command, allegedly helped to launder proceeds from the 113m 'vishing' scam masterminded by Feezan 'Fizzy' Choudhary.

Victims were contacted by scammers claiming to be from the Lloyds anti-fraud department who would dupe them into revealing their account details.

Manpreet Shergill, 33, who was attached to the Met Aviation Policing Command, allegedly helped to launder proceeds from the 113m 'vishing' scam masterminded by Feezan 'Fizzy' Choudhary. Shergill's husband, Hardial, 33, denies using his position as a Lloyds bank worker to supply fraudsters with 'mule accounts' to filter the stolen funds

These were then plundered of vast sums of money which were transferred through various accounts supplied by corrupt bank employees before eventually being withdrawn from banks and ATMs - often just hours after the original fraud.

Fizzy, from Glasgow, made so much money he was able to send a team of valets to Lahore to polish his fleet of Porsches.

He also partied with popstars while splashing out on Rolex watches, jewellery, trips to Dubai and shopping sprees in Harrods.

Fizzy was jailed for 11 years at Southwark Crown Court last September.

Shergill's husband, Hardial, 33, a Lloyds bank worker, has pleaded not guilty to one count of money laundering.

The couple appeared at Southwark Crown Court today for a preliminary hearing ahead of their trial on 14 August

The couple appeared at Southwark Crown Court today for a preliminary hearing ahead of their trial on 14 August.

Hardial Shergill spoke only to answer his name and deny the singular charge against him.

Manpreet is yet to enter a plea to one count of money laundering.

The couple, of Slough, Berkshire, were released on conditional bail until a further preliminary hearing at Southwark Crown Court on 20 February.
A dwarf credits his Yoda tattoo with helping him meet his wife-to-be who lived some 4,589 miles away.

Phil Lusted, who stands at 3ft tall after being born with the skeletal condition diastrophic dysplasia, got the inking of his favourite movie character alongside the quote, 'Judge me by my size, do you?'

And the 31-year-old's tattoo caught the eye of fellow Star Wars fan Kathleen Brogan, 27, from Seattle.

Phil Lusted, 31, met fellow Star Wars fan Kathleen Brogan, 27, from Seattle online

Phil got the inking of his favourite movie character alongside Yoda's quote, 'Judge me by my size, do you?'

After striking up an online relationship Phil, from Rhos On Sea in north Wales, flew to America to meet Kathleen and the pair fell madly in love.

Ten months later Kathleen proposed and the pair plan to tie the knot in October 2017 in Seattle at a Hobbit house inspired by Lord of the Rings.

Web designer Phil said: 'I am a complete Star Wars nerd and geek and so is Kathleen.

'It's funny how it has brought us together. She is an amazing woman and we love each other unconditionally.

'I was nervous when we first met and what she might have thought of me physically but we soon found out we have very similar tastes including tattoos and nerdy stuff.

'My favourite characters in Star Wars are Darth Maul and BB-8. I just love the imagery of it all.

'Kathleen proposed to me on a little island in Seattle. I said yes straightaway because I knew she was the woman for me. The foundation of our relationship is just like everyone else's.'

Phil says the Yoda quote, taken from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, was inspired by people's reaction to his size

After striking up an online relationship Phil, from Rhos On Sea in north Wales, flew to America to meet Kathleen and the pair fell madly in love

Kathleen was particularly taken with one of Phil's tattoos, showing 2ft 2in Jedi master Yoda alongside his famous quote

Kathleen was particularly taken with one of Phil's tattoos, showing 2ft 2in Jedi master Yoda alongside his famous quote.

Phil says the quote, taken from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, was inspired by people's reaction to his size.

He said: 'I got this tattoo because I like Yoda and his attitude towards being small. We are all unique and shouldn't be judged by our body appearance.'

Despite their long distance romance Kathleen and Phil stay in touch regularly on the phone and online.

Kathleen said: 'Phil is one of the kindest and most loving people I have ever met. He makes me laugh all the time and is a total babe.

'Yes, of course we are different but our biggest difference is the fact that he can climb to the top of one of those giant bouncy-house slides and I can't!'

Kathleen proposed and the pair plan to tie the knot in October 2017 in Seattle at a Hobbit house inspired by Lord of the Rings

Phil said: 'Now I have met a smart beautiful woman who loves me just for who I am. I'm a very lucky man'

Phil added: 'Neither of us can wait. It's going to be magical and I am so excited about Kathleen becoming my wife and us spending the rest of our lives together and hopefully go on lots of adventures.

'It isn't always easy being a dwarf. I've been asked if I am an Oompa Loompa by children who don't understand my condition - I tend just to laugh.

'Sometimes I am patted on the back by people telling me I look cute and that is embarrassing.

'Of course people stare because my condition is rare - but I really am just like anyone else inside.

'Now I have met a smart beautiful woman who loves me just for who I am. I'm a very lucky man.'
A Hollywood actor, 31, and his 89-year-old neighbor are melting hearts with their touching bond in her last months of life.

Chris Salvatore met Norma Cook when he moved across the hall from her apartment four years ago, and the two bonded immediately.

In the past year, Cook's health has declined as she's refused treatment for leukemia. Since she has no family in the state, Salvatore has stepped up to the plate - recently inviting her to move into his apartment so she wouldn't be forced to live in a county nursing home.

'Im giving her a gift of passing on and being at peace and having a good time in her last few months,' Salvatore told People of Cook.

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Chris Salvatore, 31 (right), has become the primary caretaker of his 89-year-old neighbor Norma Cook (left)

In a post on Go Fund Me, Salvatore writes that he first met his 'sassy' and 'full of life' neighbor Norma four years ago.

Salvatore says his neighbor would often wave to him from her kitchen window, and eventually he decided to walk over to introduce himself by knocking on her door.

'She offered me a glass of Champagne - it's her favorite drink - and we just sat down and talked. We connected right away,' Salvatore told the Today show. 'Back when she was a young adult, she had a lot of friends who were gay, and I'm also gay, so I think it made her feel safe at home and at peace to sort of have that bond again.'

The two became best friends immediately, and Cook now calls Salvatore 'the grandson I never had'.

'The day I entered her apartment and spoke with her face to face was the day my life was changed forever,' Salvatore said.

The Hollywood actor met the former interior designer when he moved into her building four years ago. The two quickly bonded and he has become like family in the past year, caring for her as her health has deteriorated

When doctors told her she could not live on her own anymore, Salvatore started a Go Fund Me campaign to raise money for 24 hour care

Salvatore says he was going through a rough break-up at the time, and it helped to be able to talk to Norma.

During their talks, Salvatore also learned that Norma had been diagnosed with leukemia 10 years ago and recently had to give up her car.

She was also struggling to make ends meet, with no money saved up and most of her Social Security check going towards rent each month. Norma, who was an interior designer, divorced at the age of 43 and never had any children, so she also didn't have any family in the state to look after her.

Over the next four years, the two grew close through their many champagne happy hours and dinner parties. Salvatore also helped Norma out whenever he could by driving her to the doctors, the bank, the pharmacy and even going with her to vote this past November (Norma wore a Nasty Woman shirt to the polls, leaving no ambiguity over who she cast her ballot for.)

The two recently realized they could save more money if Cook moved in to Salvatore's apartment. The two pictured above at their joint New Year's Eve bash

Salvatore and Cook are pictured above recently watching one of Norma's favorite movies - Harold and Maude

Salvatore calls Cook his 'bestie'. He says knocking on her door four years ago changed his life

Salvatore would regularly posts pictures with Norma, under the hashtag #MyNeighborNorma, and the two created somewhat of a following online.

Things have gotten harder in the past eight months though, as Norma's health has declined. She was hospitalized several times in the past year, and during her most recent hospitalization, doctors said she would not longer be able to live alone unless she had 24-hour care, something she did not have the funds for.

So Salvatore set up the Go Fund Me campaign to pay for Norma's home care, raising more than $30,000 in the first 23 hours. On Thanksgiving, he surprised her at the hospital by presenting her with a large check.

'Norma's last wish is to be at home with her cat Hermes as she transitions into the next life. She has been there for me so much these last past years just as much as I have been there for her and I feel that it is my duty to be able to give her this gift to live her last moments at home with 24 hour professional care,' Salvatore wrote on the fund's page.

When Norma was released from the hospital, she moved back into her apartment. But the two soon realized that they could save money if she lived with Salvatore full time.

'I do most of my work at home so I am here most of the time to care for her so it only made sense to the both of us,' he said.

Chris Salvatore grew up in Richboro, Pennsylvania. He started his career in entertainment as a singer/songwriter. In 2005 he studied vocal performance at Berklee College of Music in Boston and graduated from The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts in 2008 where he studied acting.

When Salvatore can't be there, caregivers are watching out for Norma and the rest of the funds are helping with medical bills.

'Im giving her a gift of passing on and being at peace and having a good time in her last few months,' Salvatore told People of Cook. Salvatore pictured above taking Cook to vote back in November.

'The only other option was for her to go into a facility. I just couldn't do that to someone who is like my own grandmother,' he told Today.

While the doctors and nurses said it would be a 'miracle' if Norma lived through the holidays, Salvatore says she is 'continuing to THRIVE' in her new room at Salvatore's apartment.

The two now spend their time cooking, watching the news and enjoying, as always, a little champagne.

Speaking to the Today show, Cook praised Salvatore's culinary skills.

'He cooks for me. If he can't make it as an actor, he can make it as a chef,' Cook joked.

Salvatore says he hopes their story will inspire other people to reach out to their neighbors - no matter their age.

'I want others to be inspired to be more kind to strangers and neighbors you may see who may seem different than you,' he told People. 'Norma taught me that, and I want others to learn from her. Kindness heals and were all on this planet together. When you light a lamp for someone else it brightens your own path.'

'Its funny because you think you dont have stuff in common with someone who is 89,. 'But age doesnt matter, its not something to hold you back from connecting to someone. You never know who could become your dearest friend.'
Republicans are fuming about the slow pace of confirmation proceedings for President Donald Trump's cabinet appointees compared to Barack Obama's.

One GOP Senator became so furious about a delayed vote on Mike Pompeo to head the CIA that he confronted Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on the floor of the Senate on Inauguration Day.

'This is bull***t!' Tom Cotton of Arkansas told him, as Schumer reportedly made excuses for a broken promise.

Outraged, Cotton told him moments later, according to The Weekly Standard, 'Eight years ago, I was getting my a** shot at in Afghanistan.'

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Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, left, became so furious about a delayed vote on Mike Pompeo to head the CIA that he confronted Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, right, on the floor of the Senate on Inauguration Day. He told him Democratic maneuvering was 'bull***t'

Schumer had previously promised a swift vote on Pompeo if the Senate Intelligence Committee bumped his confirmation hearing by a day.

Six hearings in one day was too much, Democrats opined. One ranking Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, said she wouldn't be able to make it to Pompeo's hearing as well as Jeff Sessions' if they were held on the same day.

Richard Burr, chairman on the intel panel, agreed to the change - on the condition that Pompeo, a well-regarded Republican congressman, receive his confirmation vote the day Trump took office. Schumer agreed.

Another Democratic senator, Ron Wyden of Oregon, wasn't having it. He said he intended to put up stumbling blocks to keep Pompeo's nomination from advancing to the full Senate on Friday.

Irate, Cotton confronted Schumer on the Senate floor. Schumer told his colleague, who is close to Pompeo, that the floor, which operates under the watchful eye of public broadcasting cameras, was no place for the discussion.

The two senators, along with several others involved in the argument, moved into the hallway. But not before Cotton told him that him the stalling tactics were 'bull**t' in remarks that were audible to viewers.

In the hallway, Schumer told his colleague, according to the Weekly Standard, that Barack Obama's CIA director didn't get a vote on his Inauguration Day, eight years before.

'Eight years ago, I was getting my ass shot at in Afghanistan,' Cotton shouted. 'So don't talk to me about where I was 8 years ago.'

Schumer told Cotton that he's not responsible for Wyden, even though he's part of his caucus, and refused to call the Democrat off.

'I said that I would not block him,' he reportedly said. 'I never said that I could speak for 47 other Democrats.'

Republican whip John Cornyn of Texas confirmed the exchange.

Pompeo, left, eventually got his vote on Monday. He was confirmed and immediately sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence, right, to lead the CIA

He told the Standard that Schumer told Cotton and Burr, who was also present, ' "I don't control my whole caucus."

'Either he'd lost control or he was trying to make excuses for an outcome he wanted.'

Burr told Schumer that he'd accepted the deal on the senior Democrat's word. 'I won't make that mistake again,' he reportedly said.

Schumer's office did not return a request for comment on the angry exchange.

Cotton did not deny it took place on Fox & Friends this morning.

'Well, let's just say that Senator Schumer and I had a frank exchange of views about the scheduling of some of these confirmation votes,' he said in a clip of his interview that was passed around to reporters by his office.

He told the Fox hosts the 'main dispute here is the Democrats in an unprecedented fashion are delaying the votes on President Trump's cabinet members.' Cotton confirmed most of the details of the Weekly Standard's article, sans the salty language.

'I've had good dealings with Senator Schumer in the past on legislation. I hope as he gets a little more experience under his belt as the leader he is able to keep control of his conference because that's the way you negotiate around here, you negotiate through our leadership,' Cotton said of the minority leader, who took over for Harry Reid after he retired earlier this month.

Cotton said it was imperative that Senate process conformations more quickly.

'And if it takes 24 hour, around-the-clock votes, then that's what I'm committed to doing to make sure we getting President Trump's cabinet in position.'

The Trump administration has blasted Democrats for holding up the process, saying that consensus picks like Nikki Haley for U.N. Ambassador, confirmed yesterday and sworn in today, should have been approved on Day One

Republicans hold the majority on the committees with approval powers and the full Senate but say Democrats are holding them back.

First, they demanded that their colleagues postpone confirmation hearings for nominees who had not completed their financial disclosure paperwork or been properly vetted by an independent ethics office.

They also complained that Republicans were flooding the zone, shielding Trump's more contentious nominees from necessary scrutiny by scheduling multiple hearings on the same day.

In several cases, like Pompeo and Education nominee Betsy DeVos, Republicans agreed to move hearings around to lessen the load.

But the moves came at a cost. Many of Trump's nominees had just come before the appropriate committees when he took the oath of office. Committee votes that would put them before the full Senate had not taken place.

The incoming administration blasted Democrats for holding up the process, saying that consensus picks like Nikki Haley for U.N. Ambassador, confirmed yesterday, Elaine Chao for Transportation, on this coming Tuesday's docket, and Ben Carson, who cleared committee yesterday, should have been approved last Friday.

Obama had seven of his nominees approved by voice vote in the Senate that day, Trump's spokesman, Sean Spicer, has repeatedly argued. The Democratic president had 12 of his picks confirmed during the first week.

Democrats controlled the Senate and the executive branch then. Republicans control the Senate and the executive branch now. They're blaming Democrats for the slow pace of approvals, nonetheless, citing instances like the kerfuffle over Pompeo.

WHAT'S THE HOLD UP? It's not clear why some Republican nominees have not yet received their vote in the GOP controlled committees. Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (left) pushed back a vote on Jeff Sessions for attorney general without providing a reason. He and ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein are pictured at Sessions' hearing

Just two of Trump's nominees were confirmed his first day in office. James Mattis to Defense and and John Kelly to Department of Homeland Security. They were immediately sworn in.

Haley was sworn in this morning, and Pompeo took his oath on Monday night.

Republicans from both legislative chambers are headed to Philadelphia today for two days of closed-door sessions, leaving Trump with 17 open cabinet or cabinet-level positions at the end of his first week in office.

It was not immediately clear why some of the Republican's nominees who had faced hearings not yet received their vote in the GOP-controlled committees.

Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley pushed back a vote on Sessions for attorney general after Feinstein requested that consideration be held over until the next business meeting, which any member can do.

The Energy and Natural Resources Committee was supposed to vote on Ryan Zinke to be Secretary of the Interior and Rick Perry to be Secretary of Energy on Tuesday.

Those votes were postponed indefinitely after the committee's ranking member, Maria Cantwell of Washington, asked committee head Lisa Murkowski of Alaska for more time to consider Perry, according to the Great Falls Tribune.

The former presidential candidate famously said he wanted to ax the department. He apologized for those comments during his hearing.

Meanwhile, Democrats on the Senate's Education committee say they want to haul DeVos back before them again.

'Education is too important an issue, and the Secretary of Education is too important a position for the country and for this Committee, to jam a nominee through without sufficient questioning and scrutiny,' they told the committee's Republican head on Monday in a letter, according to the Washington Post.

'This is not about politics, it should not be about partisanship  it should be about doing the work we were elected by our states to do to ask questions of nominees on behalf of the people we represent,' the insistied.
An autopsy of a woman who died inside the back of a Missouri police van shows she killed herself by overdosing on antidepressants and cocaine just prior to her arrest.

Emma Linda Lewis, 50, was found dead in a Platte County sheriff's office van after it arrived at a jail back on June 9 after a five-minute trip.

A medical examiner has since ruled her death a suicide after an autopsy found the mother intentionally overdosed, Kansas City Star reports.

Emma Linda Lewis, 50, was found dead in a Platte County sheriff's office van in Missouri in June after she overdosed on antidepressants and cocaine just prior to her arrest

Lewis was taken into custody in June when she refused to comply with a protection order filed by her daughter Antonia Ingelse given her violent and aggressive behavior.

Prior to her arrest, Lewis left a voice mail for her daughter in which she said she had taken all her pills. She had asked for her ashes to be spread in the backyard.

Authorities said she threatened to kill herself several times after being handcuffed.

She was heard thrashing about in the back of the police van during the five-minute trip to the jail.

A medical examiner has ruled her death a suicide after an autopsy found she intentionally overdosed just prior to being arrested by Platte County sheriff's officers

Lewis' autopsy report found traces of antidepressant citalopram and cocaine in her system

Officers found her slumped face down with her hands still bound behind her in the van. She wasn't breathing and was covered in vomit.

Her autopsy report showed no traces of pill fragments in her stomach. Traces of antidepressant citalopram and cocaine were found in her system.

'The concentration of citalopram is sufficient alone to cause death,' the autopsy report read. 'Cocaine intoxication can also cause sudden death.

'This death due to intoxication is considered to be intentional.'

A special prosecutor previously determined in October that no criminal charges would be filed against officers involved.

Details of the autopsy were sealed for 30 days after that decision was made public.

If you need to speak to a counselor, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 1 (800) 273-8255.
Out-of-control teenagers who escaped a troubled youth detention centre in stolen cars have led police on high-speed pursuits of up to 150km/h.

Police believe seven the inmates from Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre are travelling in a stolen blue Ford Falcon XR6 sedan (rego: ZKV598) and a stolen white Suzuki SUV (rego: WILMAK).

The rampage unfolded after the teens assaulted a guard and stole his swipe card during a riot, allowing them to escape the prison, the Herald Sun reported.

The inamtes are belived to be kleading police on dangerously high-speed pursuits in a white Suzuki SUV

About 30 youths were involved in a riot at the facility, with 15 initially escaping. Eight have now been arrested and seven remain on the run in up to three other stolen cars.

Dramatic footage shows the Ford hurtling down the Western Highway with police cars in hot pursuit about 8pm. It's believed a police car was rammed and two civilian cars also struck in the pursuit.

Police are appealing for help from the public to catch the young inmates.

The Ford was spotted on Wednesday night in the Werribee area and the Suzuki around Fountain Gate.

Police are now reviewing CCTV from a number of service stations where petrol was stolen to try to identify the escaped inmates.

It's believed a police car was rammed and two civilian cars also struck, as police pursued the youths.

A stolen blue Ford Falcon XR6 sedan and a red hatch back are also believed to have been stolen by the teens

A group of inmates seen in the riots before the high speed police pursuit

The teenagers initially escaped and stole at least one car before driving off.

According to 9 News, they abandoned a truck before stealing two more vehicles.

One of the cars is believed to be have headed towards Melbourne while the other drove in the direction of Bendigo, Victoria.

A police car and another vehicle are believed to have been damaged as the teenagers fled.

The public have been warned to stay away from the area.

Its not the first time that the juvenile prison, north west of Melbourne, has been hit with riots, with police storming the centre just two weeks ago after inmates armed themselves and forced out guards.
Cellphone footage captured the moment an armed man forced his neighbor to surrender at gunpoint outside his home after he allegedly shot and killed the woman who lived next door.

Hector Campos, 43, allegedly killed Ana Weed, 53, after her dog strayed into his yard in Spring, Texas - about 25 miles north of Houston, on Tuesday.

Locals say Campos resented the 53-year-old woman for helping his wife file for divorce and flee to Mexico last year.

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An armed neighbor is seen kneeling over the body of Anna Weed outside her suburban Houston, Texas, home and pointing his gun at suspect Hector Campus, just moments after he allegedly gunned the married woman down

Campos is seen laying outstretched on the ground outside his home as an officer arrests him following the shooting. Residents on the street forced him to surrender as they waited for cops to arrive at the scene

Dramatic footage recorded just moments after the fatal shooting showed Weed's husband kneeling over his wife's body, as a neighbor was next to him with a gun pointed at Campos.

The video, which was recorded by a neighbor from across the street, then showed other people in the street desperately flagging down a police car that was speeding to the scene.

An officer was then seen walking towards Campos, who was laying flat on the ground with the gun on the floor by his side.

The 43-year-old was held overnight on Tuesday on a $50,000 bond, however he was released on Wednesday morning, KTRK reports.

An officer is seen walking towards Campos after he surrendered in his driveway

As he was leaving jail, Campos was asked if he had anything to say to Weed's family, to which he responded: 'I'm sorry.'

The station also reports Weed died from a single-shot to the chest.

She was rushed from the scene to the Memorial Hermann Woodlands Hospital, where she later died.

Neighbors told reporters Weed was friendly and often walked her dog along the street, while Campos was 'scary' and he never waved or said hello to people.

Dramatic video from after the shooting shows neighbors flagging down a police car

Hector Campos (pictured), 43, has been charged with murder over the death of Ana Weed, 53, who he allegedly shot after her dog strayed into his yard in Spring, Texas, on Tuesday

'She was definitely the friendliest neighbor that we knew on this street,' Arturo Jiminez told KHOU.

Jiminez then detailed an altercation he saw between the two last year.

'It escalated enough to where he called the cops,' he said of the previous argument.

'She called the cops. They were here for a couple hours just trying to handle things because I think he really disrespected her verbally.'

He then gave an alleged account of the shooting on Tuesday, claiming Campos kicked Weed's dog moments before allegedly opening fire.

'My mom said she had the dog in her hand and was walking away as he shot her,' Jiminez said.

Campos was seen on Wednesday morning after he was released on a $50,000 bond

A group of police officers is seen standing outside the house where the shooting took place in Spring, Texas

However, court documents paint Campos is a different light, showing he was granted a restraining order against his wife in September last year, according to KTRK.

His lawyer released a statement, reading: 'He is anxious to tell his side of the story and for all the facts to be revealed before the public rushes to judgment.

'Once all of the details of this incident are presented, we are confident he will be exonerated of any wrongdoing.

'There have been many misstatements about my client and we ask for patience as he works through the legal process.'
Sainsbury's shoppers were confused by the supermarket trying to market what appeared to be burnt loaves as 'well fired'.

The 400g loaves costing 75p have blackened crusts - and eyebrows have been raised among some consumers thinking the chain was trying to sell burnt bread.

But the loaves are supposed to look black, are soft inside and have been popular for years in Scotland. The supermarket says they go very well with soup or cheese.

Unusual: The 400g loaves costing 75p have blackened crusts - and eyebrows have been raised among some consumers thinking the chain was trying to sell burnt bread

Product: The loaves are supposed to look black, are soft inside and have been popular for years in Scotland. The supermarket says they go very well with soup or cheese

The bread was first created at a branch in Birmingham in the 1980s when the bakery manager found the type of loaf was popular with local customers.

This week the Food Standards Agencys warned that burnt bread could increase the risk of cancer because of increased levels of the chemical acrylamide, which is caused by the browning process.

Brunel University student Sophie Crofts tweeted: 'Excellent marketing technique there, Sainsbury's - completely burn the bread and just brand it "well fired".'

And Twitter user 'Carole29' added: 'No Sainsburys, it's not "Well Fired", it's "S***, we've burnt the bread, quick think of a name for it so the gullible will buy it".'

A Sainsbury's spokesman told the Daily Telegraph last year: 'Sainsbury's Well Fired Loaf originated in the late 1980s in our Castle Vale store in Birmingham.

'The bakery manager at the time created the line in response to the popularity of the loaf from independent bakers with local customers.

Some shoppers have been confused by the supermarket marketing the loaves as 'well fired'

Other consumers say they have a craving for the bread and it is the 'best' they have tasted

'As its name suggests, the Well Fired Loaf is baked for longer to create a unique crust which makes it a great option to have with soup.'

It comes as the Food Standards Agency warned people against eating too much toast because of the link to a cancer-risk chemical called acrylamide.

The FSA said the cooking and browning process involved in frying, roasting and toasting was associated with the formation of the chemical.

But the agency tried to make clear that any risk to humans related to a lifetime of consumption - rather than occasionally eating toast.
The Duggar family has found themselves involved in yet another sex scandal after it was revealed that their live-in tutor is engaged to a man who was convicted of anally penetrating his roommate who worked in a strip club without her consent.

InTouch obtained court documents detailing how Timothy Robertson, 46, was accused of sexual battery while living in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina back in December of 1999.

On the day in question, Robertson walked into a room while a female 'was laying face down on her bed, placed himself on top of her and made penis penetration into her anus without her consent,' according to the arrest warrant in the case.

He ultimately pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct in the third degree and received a three-year prison sentence that was suspended by the judge, who instead gave him one year of probation and ordered him to pay $943 in restitution.

Robertson was also placed on the sex offender registry, but later taken off in 2008 when he was pardoned of his crime by the South Carolina Board of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.

He now claims he was 'falsely accused' of the crime, and thanks prayer with getting him off the sex registry.

The Duggars certainly seem to believe Roberston, having thrown an engagement party for him and his bride-to-be at their Arkansas home.

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Wedding bells: The Duggar family's live-in tutor Tabitha Paine, 31, is engaged to 46-year-old Timothy Robertson (couple above at the Duggars' home for their engagement party)

Past troubles: In 2000, Robertson was convicted of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree for engaging in anal sex with his roommate without her consent (Robertson in his photo from the sex offender registry above)

In a message posted on his Facebook page Monday, Roberston told his side of the story.

'I lived with a young lady who worked in a strip club and her boyfriend. One day after drinking all day and part of the night, the girl and I ended up in a situation together because her boyfriend had left to get food,' wrote Robertson.

'He came back sooner than we thought so I left her room and got in another part of the house. He wondered what was going on so I was accused of assaulting this young lady.

'I was given advice from a very good attorney to take a plea bargain which would put me on a registry for sex offenders. I was afraid of prison so I took his advice. I never spent one day in jail but had a record.'

Robertson went on to write that in 2003 'God began to deal with me about my eternal soul' and he learned to change his ways after years of 'drinking ,drugs, and partying.'

He began going to church and praying, which is why he believes he was eventually pardoned and taken off the sex registry.

'When my court date finally came, the attorney told me that it probably would not get taken care of the first time in court but God had given me a verse: Psalms 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. I believed this verse and clave to it,' wrote Robertson.

'My pastor and a number of people who know me wrote character letters about me and five people from my church went to South Carolina with me.

'When we finally got in to set before the council of judges and presented my case to them, they excused us out of the room to get back with me after their ruling. It seemed like forever but after about ten minutes they came out and said to go home.

'My Pardon had been granted and all my rights had been re-instated. God took me off this registry and took away this record and did it two years earlier than I was told it could be done.'

Tough times: Robertson received a three-year- prison sentence which was suspended by the judge in the case, but had to register as a sex offender

New life: Robertson was taken off the sex offender registry in 2008 and pardoned of his crime, for which he credits God and prayer

Family: Tabitha (right) is the older sister of Chad Paine (left), who is married to Erin Bates and featured on the show Bringing Up Bates

He now hopes that his story being made public can serve as a guide to others looking to turn their lives around.

Robertson also said while speaking with InTouch: 'I love my fiancee. And I think the Duggars are a fabulous family. Thats all I need to put out there.'

His mother, Ruby Ann Robertson, also commented on his arrest, saying: 'When these young people party and drink they do silly, stupid stuff! A whole bunch of em was drinking that day. They was drinking all day long and it was just a big mess.'

Meanwhile, his bride-to-be commented on Robertson's Facebook post sharing his side of the story by writing: 'Love you dear! So grateful for your open, sincere heart. God bless your future ministry!'

Tabitha is the older sister of Chad Paine, who is married to Erin Bates and featured on the show Bringing Up Bates.

She started working for the family after Michelle lost her helpers Jessa and Jill, who were busy raising their own families.

Big fans: Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar (above) seem to approve of their tutor's beau

Extreme measures: The party for Robertson comes after the Duggars were forced to hide son Josh from the cameras at his sister Jinger's wedding (above)

Hide from thecameras: At big moments, like when he stood for Jinger's walk down the aisle, he held his 2-year-old son Marcus directly in front of his face

The Duggars have embraced Roberston despite their decision to keep son Josh hidden from the cameras at the recent wedding of his sister Jinger.

Network sources revealed prior to the start of Counting On's second season that Josh had been banned from appearing on the show because of his molestation scandal.

At the time, there were reports claiming Josh would be featured on the program with his siblings, but sources made it very clear that this was not the case and that the 28-year-old would not become a part of the new Duggar series.

As a result, the Counting On production team was forced to find a number of ways to keep Josh out of sight and off camera on Jinger's big day - despite the fact that he was seated front and center at the ceremony in the second row.

Not filming Josh at Jinger's ceremony was made somewhat easier thanks to the fact that he was one of only three Duggar siblings who was not part of the wedding party.

Jinger's matron of honor was Jessa and her bridesmaids included sisters Jana, Jill, Joy-Anna, Johannah as well as sister-in-law Anna, who is married to Josh.

Jeremy selected John-David as one of his groomsman, and Joseph, Josiah, Jedeidiah, Jeremiah, Jason, James, Justin and Jackson all served as ushers.

Rounding things out, the youngest Duggar, Josie, was the flower girl, while Josh's son Michael was the ring bearer.

This meant that of the 19 Duggar children, only Josh and his sisters Jennifer and Jordyn-Grace did not play a role in the ceremony.

Jennifer and Jordyn-Grace were however seen in the episode, sitting next to their older brothers in the church for the ceremony.
A dramatic police body cam video has captured a rookie officer and his partner pulling an unconscious man from a burning vehicle just moments before the car exploded.

The astonishing rescue unfolded on Sunday night in Norton, Ohio, a town of 12,000 about 35 miles south of Cleveland.

Norton Police Officer Scott Seabolt, who has just a year on the force, and his partner Brody Fratantonio were responding to a reported vehicle fire around 11.40pm.

Arriving at the scene, they found the car in the middle of the lonely rural road, 'fully engulfed in flames' with the driver unconscious in the locked vehicle, Frantantonio told the Barberton Herald.

Norton Ohio Police Officer Brody Fratantonio (left) and partner Scott Seabolt got a call about a burning car on Sunday, and arrived to find an unconscious man inside the vehicle. They are seen shining a flashlight into the window of the locked car to try and get the driver's attention

Frantantonio said that when he arrived at the scene, all he could see was 'the brake light illuminated and dark smoke coming out.' The burning car was in the middle of the road with driver Lowell Sears, 60, locked inside

'All I could see was the brake light illuminated and dark smoke coming out,' said Frantantonio.

Using a knife with a glass breaker in the hilt, Frantantonio smashed the driver's side window.

Inside was Lowell Sears, 60, sitting unconscious as smoke billowed from the smashed window.

'It's kind of like a movie, something you would never think of, and then all of a sudden it happens and you have to react,' Seabolt later said.

'Come on, come on, let's go!' the officers shouted at Lowell as they struggled to pull the unresponsive man from the burning car. Smoke is seen quickly engulfing the vehicle

The two patrolmen dragged the 160lbs Lowell about 50 yards down the road to safety

'Come on, come on, let's go!' Frantantonio shouted at the unresponsive man.

Reaching inside the broken window, the officer searched for the inside door handle and sprang open the door.

With the rookie officer Seabolt, Frantantonio struggled to pull the man from his car.

'Let go of the steering wheel, come on we're here to save you!' one officer shouted.

Free of the car, the two officers dragged the 160-pound man about 50 yards down the roadway.

Just seconds after they laid Sears down at a safe distance, a loud explosion rocked the burning car behind them, shooting flames over the roadway where the officers had stood moments before.

Just seconds later, a loud explosion ripped through the vehicle, sending flames spewing from the car. Lowell is seen lying on the ground, unresponsive, beside the officers

Paramedics gave Lowell four successive doses of Naloxone, a rapid antidote for heroin and other opioids. He has been charged with driving under influence but denies using drugs

'It's a very good thing to be alive,' said Lowell (pictured) after the dramatic rescue

Paramedics arrived on the scene and, finding Sears groggy and unresponsive, administered four successive doses of Naloxone, a rapid antidote for heroin and other opioids.

Naloxone, also known under the trade name Narcan, is routinely administered when police suspect a drug overdose, and has no effects other than blocking opioid receptors.

Sears recovered consciousness after the fourth dose, and police have charged him with operating a vehicle under the influence, failure to control, marked lanes and driver seatbelt.

Although a police report said Lowell initially admitted to drinking and using cocaine, the man has since denied he was intoxicated before the incident, saying that he only remembers seeing double while driving.

'I guess I blanked out,' Sears told ABC Cleveland. 'When I came to I was in the paramedic's vehicle.'

Sears offered words of thanks for the two officers for their heroic rescue.

'I'm glad you got there when you did,' he said. 'It's a very good thing to be alive.'
Kamai Clerveaux is accused of kidnapping and raping at least two women at gunpoint

A 15-year-old boy is accused of kidnapping and raping at least two women at gunpoint in Florida last year.

Kamai Clerveaux was charged as an adult in Miami-Dade County court after being arrested on January 1 when police connected him to the most recent attack with DNA evidence, NBC Miami reported.

Authorities say Clerveaux, who was 14-years-old at the time of both incidents, was armed with a gun when he approached a 24-year-old woman while she exited her car in her driveway on December 28.

He allegedly threatened the victim with the gun before forcing her to get back inside the vehicle.

Clerveaux then drove the car to an unknown location where he asked the victim if she 'wanted to live or die' before attacking her at gunpoint, according to the police report.

The teen fled the scene after the attack where he also stole the victim's cellphone, police say.

He was charged as an adult in Miami-Dade County after being arrested on January 1 when police connected him to the most recent attack with DNA evidence. A judge denied him bond on Tuesday

Video courtesy of NBC Miami

Clerveaux is also accused in a second rape that happened on May 28, where the victim was targeted as she got into her car to leave for work.

Police say he also threatened her with a gun and told her 'I should kill you, I should kidnap you'.

Clerveaux then drove the victim to an abandoned residence where he allegedly raped her at gunpoint.

Authorities say the 15-year-old stole the victim's driver's license and cellphone before fleeing the scene on foot.

Clerveaux is charged with two counts of armed sexual battery, armed carjacking, armed burglary, felony possession of a weapon and kidnapping.

The teen appeared in court on Tuesday for a bond hearing where he was denied bail by a judge.

He is scheduled to appear in court again on Wednesday.
A 25-year-old Catholic primary school teacher who called herself the 'Provo Princess' in a series of pro-IRA tweets has been banned from the classroom.

Anne-Marie Clements was fined 600 after being convicted of posting the 'grossly offensive' messages when she appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court last year.

Clements, who also lost her job at St Mark's Primary in Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, in Scotland, has now consented to be struck off the teaching register.

Anne-Marie Clements (right), a 25-year-old Catholic primary school teacher who called herself the 'Provo Princess' in a series of pro-IRA tweets, has been banned from the classroom

Tweets: Clements was fined 600 after being convicted of posting the 'grossly offensive' messages (pictured) when she appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court last year

She tweeted the messages under the name @x---annemarie in November and December 2015.

In May last year the sheriff court heard that she wrote: 'Every day's a RA day' together with a picture of a crouched, masked man carrying a rifle.

The words on the picture said: 'When you're having a republican kind of day.'

In another tweet, posted before before Celtic played Dutch side Ajax, she wrote: 'Come on Celtic! This is the one. Get intae these Sons of William of Orange b****** Ronnie's Fenian Band.'

The teacher, in an apparent reference to the then Celtic manager Ronnie Deila, also wrote: 'Roaming in the gloaming with Ronnie's Fenians.'

The teacher's remarks were emailed to her school by another Twitter user.

Her twitter account, which had over 3,300 followers, has since been deleted. It featured photos with former Celtic star Anthony Stokes and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Banned: Clements, who also lost her job at St Mark's Primary in Barrhead, East Renfrewshire (pictured), in Scotland, has now consented to be struck off the teaching register

The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) today posted a notice of the removal with a consent hearing scheduled to take place tomorrow.

The notice said she 'did post material on to the twitter page...that was grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character'.

The material, said the GTCS, 'contained sectarian remarks and remarks and images in support of a terrorist organisation, namely the Irish Republican Army (IRA)'.

The GTCS notice said the teacher breached the Communications Act and that the offence was 'aggravated by religious prejudice'.

Her twitter account, which had over 3,300 followers, has since been deleted. It featured photos with former Celtic star Anthony Stokes and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (pictured)

It concluded: 'And in respect of the above offence, you were on 11 May 2016 sentenced to a fine of 600.'

Clements could not be contacted for comment.

In December last year secondary school teacher Victoria Amie Orr was handed a 'Reprimand with Consent Order' by the GTCS after she was found to have posted comments referring to the IRA on Twitter.

The teacher, who was employed at Park Mains High School, Renfrewshire, at the time, was found to 'have inappropriate comments' on her Twitter page and made comments referring to pupils as well references to the terrorist group.

She admitted her fitness to teach was 'impaired' and waived her right to a full hearing, accepting the reprimand imposed by the teaching watchdog.
The Australian Human Rights Commission is calling for the Same-Sex Marriage bill to be renamed to include people who don't identify as male or female.

AHRC president Gillian Triggs wants it changed to the Definition of Marriage bill, according to The Daily Telegraph.

'The draft title of the Act unnecessarily and inaccurately excludes couples which are neither ''the union of a man and a woman'' nor ''same sex'',' the agency told a Senate inquiry into the bill, the paper reported.

Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs is calling for the Same-Sex Marriage bill to be renamed to the Definition of Marriage bill

AHRC want the act renamed because it discriminates against people who don't identify as a man or a woman

'The proposed amendments to the Marriage Act would enable two people to marry irrespective of their sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status.

'This would also include couples in which one or both parties have something other than ''male'' or ''female'' recorded on their birth certificate.'

Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow recently expressed similar views, saying the bill should recognise unions between two people regardless of their sex or gender identity.

The AHRC told a Senate inquiry into the bill: 'The proposed amendments to the Marriage Act would enable two people to marry irrespective of their sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status'

'At the same time, the rights of everyone affected by this change must be respected  especially people of faith,' Commissioner Santow said at a public hearing into the Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment.

Debate on gay marriage in Australia has gone on for well over a decade and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull hoped to resolve the issue via a plebiscite on February 11.

But in November, the federal government's proposed plebiscite was knocked back in the Senate.

Debate on gay marriage in Australia has gone on for more than a decade. Above, equal marriage rights supporters march in a rally in Sydney last year

Labor said a plebiscite of 15million voters would be expensive and divisive, and also potentially harmful to those in same-sex relationships and their families.

Despite strong popular support for marriage equality, Australia is seen as lagging behind other nations which allow homosexual couples the right to wed.

Same-sex couples can have civil unions or register their relationships in most Australian states, but the government does not consider them married under national law.
The most senior Army officer to face court martial for 64 years has today admitted wrongly using taxpayers' cash to pay his two sons' private school fees.

Brigadier Charles Beardmore, 51, who earns more than 100,000 a year, pleaded guilty to negligently performing his duty at Merville Barracks in Colchester, Essex.

He admitted that in 2014 he failed to reveal his wife Charlotte, 53, was not living with him for more than 90 days in a single year and he continued to claim Continuity of Education Allowance for his sons.

The current rates allow for claims as much as 7,245 a term for students - the Army will not say how much he received.

In the dock: Brigadier Charles Beardmore , 51, pictured today, pleaded guilty to negligently performing his duty at a court martial hearing in Colchester

Army convention that he must be sentenced by an officer at least two ranks higher than him means that his punishment will be revealed in March.

80m bill for private school fees Continuity of Education Allowance is provided to eligible Service Personnel (SP) to assist with school fees if the mother or father is away frequently with the armed forces. CEA is available for children aged eight years and over and can be used in boarding schools and day schools. Parents can claim up to 7,245 per term. Last year 20 went to Eton. The idea is to ensure that service personnel and their children are not disadvantaged by their service, whether keeping Britain safe at home or abroad. Despite cutting 30million from the annual bill, Continuity of Education Allowance was paid in respect of 5,520 children at a total cost of 80.9million in 2015/16. Advertisement

Despite admitting an offence the court heard he had not been 'dishonest' and will pay back the undisclosed sum, likely to run into thousands of pounds.

Brigadier Beardmore was until recently the highest-ranking member of the Royal Army Medical Corps in Germany, and controlled a budget of millions of pounds.

The high-flying soldier was recently moved to London as a general staff officer.

Brig Beardmore was accused of 'performing a duty contrary to section 15(2) of the Armed Forces Act 2006'.

He and his wife are heavily involved with the charity Penguins Against Cancer, which has raised tens of thousands of pounds for specialist hospital wards and research centre.

At today's hearing held at Colchester Military Court Centre Brig Beardmore spoke only to confirm his name, rank, and address.

He appeared before to Judge Advocate General Jeff Blackett dressed in full uniform.

Colonel Nigel Jones prosecuting appeared by video link and told the court his wife had been absent from their home in for 173 days in one year, when in fact she was only allowed to be away for 90.

And that Brig Beardmore failed to monitor his wife's absences or inform the authorities.

Brigadier Charles Beardmore , 51, pictured at a charity event, earns more than 100,000 a year

He said: 'This case relates to the brigadier claiming for continuation of education allowance in 2014 when he was working in Germany.

'In order to claim continuous education allowance the brigadier's wife had to be reside with him and was only permitted under the rules to be absent from the registered place of work address for more than 90 days in a year period.

And added: 'The defendant as I understand it accepts that his wife was not present with him for this period in the rules.'

Top brass: The last British Army brigadier to appear before a court martial is thought to have been Mad Mike Calvert, pictured

During the brief address Judge Advocate General Jeff Blackett asked the solicitor: 'There's no accusation of dishonesty is there?'

He replied: 'None whatsoever.'

Sally Howes QC defending said the soldier has put the cash aside in case he is asked to pay it back.

She said: 'Brigadier Beardmore has in fact lodged the full sum of money received by him through Continuity of Education Allowance allowance for the Michaelmas term in respect for both sons.

'He has lodged that sum of money with my instructing solicitors.'

Judge Blackett accepted the plea and arranged sentencing to take place in March.

The last British Army brigadier to appear before a court martial is thought to have been Mad Mike Calvert, one of the most highly decorated commanders of the Second World War.

Brigadier Calvert, who was twice awarded the Distinguished Service Order after fighting the Japanese behind enemy lines in Burma, was found guilty of gross indecency with male persons in 1952  15 years before homosexuality was decriminalised.

The former Royal Engineers and SAS officer vigorously denied the indecency charge until his death in 1999, insisting that top brass had wanted to get rid of him because he was unconventional and a heavy drinker.

In 2007, Colonel Jorge Mendonca of the Queens Lancashire Regiment became the most senior officer in recent times to be court-martialled. He was cleared of negligently performing a duty after his soldiers were found responsible for the death of Iraqi civilian Baha Mousa in Basra in 2003.
A man who was filmed punching a female reporter's camera at a Women's March in Canada at the weekend after being asked why he was protesting about a US election has been charged with assault.

Dion Bews lashed out at journalist Sheila Gunn Reid, from the Right-wing Rebel Media, at the protest in Edmonton, Alberta at the weekend, telling her: 'Get out of my f***** face' and 'you're full of s***' as she tried to question him.

The Edmonton Journal reported that Bews, who makes and sells bespoke guitars, has been charged with uttering threats and one count of assault.

The rally outside the Alberta legislature attracted around 4,000 people, who were supporting the Womens March in Washington.

But a small group of counter protesters turned up and Bews got into a confrontation with them at one point.

WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT

Dion Bews (pictured, centre) was filmed punching a reporter's camera at a Women's March in Edmonton, Canada, on Saturday after fighting with counter protesters who questioned why he was so angry over an American election result

After telling him that she worked for the conservative news website Rebel Media, he launched his foul mouthed rant, first taking aim at the website founder Ezra Levant.

'Ezra Levant, f*** you,' he said as Reid attempted to question him over why he wanted the other protesters to leave a seemingly inclusive event.

'I'm just trying to ask you a question, do I seem unreasonable to you?' she asked as a visibly exasperated Bews raised his hands.

'Yes you seem unreasonable. You're full of s***.'

Another Rebel Media journalist chimed in: 'We're just trying to have a conversation here,' but Bews stood with his back to them.

After a few seconds, he turned around to say: 'Go away. Get out of my f****** face. I will break your camera. You do not have the right to film.'

At that he struck the camera and continued: 'You don't have the right to film everywhere you go,' as he was led away by female marchers.

Tiana Barnes, who watched the incident, was then filmed telling the journalist to 'calm down'.

The bespoke guitar maker told Reid she was 'full of s***' after giving a finger to her boss, Ezra Levant with the message: 'F*** you'

'I'm going to break your camera,' he threatened before jabbing the lens. Reid says she was standing at the viewfinder and was inevitably injured by the strike

Reid (left) is pictured being told by another protester wearing a furry hat to 'calm down' afterwards

Reid says she is a conservative and 'begrudgingly' began supporting Trump after he won the Republican National Convention nomination

'He just hit me in the face, don't tell me to calm down!' Reid responded.

The video was shared on social media and included in a Rebel Media report titled 'Thug punches Rebel reporter.'

It spread quickly on social media and Bews was quickly targeted by trolls. He has since deleted his Instagram page and disabled a Facebook page for his guitar business.

As scores of angry Twitter users claimed he had punched the woman directly in the face, Barnes, the marcher filmed telling Reid to calm down, released a statement to insist no such assault had taken place.

'In the video Sheila Gunn Reid claims that Dion hits her in the face while she is looking through the view find of her camera but this isn't true.

'He just hit the camera off of the tripod that was to the right and didn't actually assault her in any way. Had she been hit there would have been a reaction,' she said.

Bews has not commented on the incident.
Danny Holder, 68, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his stepson Randall Lowen

A Florida man is behind bars after he allegedly shot his stepson dead following a fight over a chili dog.

Danny Holder, 68, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 55-year-old Randall Lowen, who was killed in front of his own mother on Monday.

The fight allegedly began the night before when an argument over a chili dog became so heated that Holder threatened to shoot his stepson.

Jackie Holder, Lowen's 75-year-old mother, then hid her husband's gun inside a drawer.

But the pair began fighting again the next morning as Lowen was getting ready to go to work at his landscaping business, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Lowen had asked Holder what the time was, and his stepfather replied: 'You have a clock on the nightstand. Look for yourself', according to the police report.

Holder's stepson then walked into the kitchen, and Jackie Holder asked him what the two were fighting about again.

Lowen began to mimic what his stepfather said when Holder came into the kitchen and pulled out a different gun, police said.

Holder and Lowen (pictured right with his daughter Chantel James) allegedly got in a fight the night before the shooting at their Port Orange, home over a chili dog

As Jackie Holder tried to tell her son to run, Holder allegedly fired two shots at Lowen. One of the shots hit him in the face.

Jackie Holder put a towel under Lowen's head and then ran from the house, the police report states.

Chantel James, Lowen's daughter, was on the phone with Jackie Holder at the moment her father was shot and killed.

She told police that she could hear Holder and Lowen arguing, and that Jackie asked Holder to leave because she was tired of hearing them fight.

The next day the men began to argue again when Lowen (pictured) asked Holder what the time was

James said she heard her grandmother screaming before the sound of the gunshots, according to the report.

She then drove to the family's house, and saw her father lying dead on the floor.

Police said that when investigators arrived at the Port Orange home after the shooting, Holder told them it had been the 'final straw'.

Holder, who has to use a walker due to health problems, was wheeled into a courtroom on Tuesday.

He was denied bail and is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail.

James said that Holder and Lowen 'regularly' drank and argued with each other.

Holder and Lowen lived together in the house with Jackie Holder and her older son Michael Lowen, who was on vacation in Colorado at the time of the shooting.

The house is jointly owned by Michael Lowen, 57, and Holder.

The elder Lowen said that his brother and stepfather were fine with each other 'as long as they're not drinking'.

Holder appeared in court on Tuesday. His lawyer claims he shot Lowen 'in self-defense'

Holder, who requires a walker due to health issues, was wheeled into the courtroom

'I'm at a loss,' he said of his younger brother's death.

Holder's attorney is now claiming that the shooting was in 'self-defense'.

'There had been physical violence against my client that morning,' public defender Matthew Phillips told WKMG.

'It was just a difficult situation that involved self-defense.'

Michael Lowen believes Holder shot his younger brother on purpose.

He said Lowen often got argumentative when he drank, but that the family never felt in danger or threatened by it.

Port Orange police told Daily Mail Online that there is no documentation of any physical altercation between Lowen and Holder before the shooting.

Holder and Lowen (pictured in older photos) lived together in the house with Jackie Holder and Lowen's brother Michael - who believes his stepfather killed his younger brother on purpose

Chantal James said that her father was 'very good-hearted'.

'No matter what he was going through, he made sure to help anyone who needed it even though he didn't have much himself,' she said in a released statement.

'Below his exterior, he was kind and thoughtful, something I will always remember and teach my own children.'

Holder's daughter, Deanna Holder, defended her father - who she said is a Vietnam veteran.

'I'm not condoning what happened at all, but my father is a good man, father, and great-grandfather,' she said.

'I'm in total disbelief and in shock. The two had disagreements, but never to this extent.'
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.

A right delayed is a right denied.Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.

Martin Luther King Jr.

No one is born hating another person People must learn to hate and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

Nelson Mandela

We can disagree and still love each other, unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist

James Baldwin

There is a fine line between free speech and hate speech. Free speech encourages debate whereas hate speech incites violence.

Newton Lee

The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.

Albert Einstein
Devon residents have objected to plans for a new 4million whisky distillery because the pagoda-style design of it is 'too Scottish'.

A distillery is set to be built in Princetown, Devon, which would be the largest in the UK, outside Scotland.

The designs show the distillery in the Dartmoor National Park with a pagoda-style roof used throughout the industry north of the border.

But angry locals have told the architects to think again, complaining that 'Princetown is not Scotland'.

Devon residents have objected to plans for a new 4million whisky distillery because the pagoda-style design of it is 'too Scottish'

A distillery is set to be built in Princetown, Devon, which would be the largest in the UK, outside Scotland

The site has been chosen by distillers because of its high rainfall and low temperatures, which are ideal for whisky production.

The design incorporates the distinctive, curved pagoda found at numerous Scottish distilleries including Dalwhinnie in the Highlands and Laphroaig on Islay.

The parish council covering Princetown was given an opportunity to comment on the plans at a meeting on Friday and many locals vociferously objected to the sheer 'Scottishness' of it.

Alison Green complained: 'The pagoda whilst typical to Scottish distilleries is not typical here and inappropriate to a building in 'Princetown or anywhere on Dartmoor.'

Another person, known only as D Spence, wrote a letter of objection, stating: 'Even the architect for the distillery said the design of the high tower and general appearance of the property is purely cosmetic and in keeping to a traditional Scottish distillery.

'Well Princetown is not Scotland and the looks are not in keeping to the local area. I fear further growth once initial distillery is built which would impact further turning Dartmoor into an industrial area.'

Another objector wrote: 'The building design is based on traditional Scottish distilleries as we were told at the council meeting.

'There is nothing in the cultural history of Princetown connected with whisky distilling, although it does harbour a stinking eyesore of a brewery that does nothing to enhance our Dartmoor village, so perhaps a lesson could be learnt from that aberration.

The designs show the distillery in the Dartmoor National Park with a pagoda-style roof used throughout the industry north of the border

The design incorporates the distinctive, curved pagoda found at numerous Scottish distilleries including Dalwhinnie in the Highlands and Laphroaig on Islay

The parish council covering Princetown was given an opportunity to comment on the plans at a meeting on Friday and many locals vociferously objected to the sheer Scottishness of it

Despite the outcry, the parish council approved the scheme. Gareth Roberts, Director of Organic Architects, who submitted the plan, said: 'There is a character of distilleries to conform to We came to the conclusion that a traditional whisky distillery was best - we wanted to make it look pretty and not like a warehouse.

'The square plan is topped by an iconic pagoda roof which forms a new landmark feature. This style of roof form originally vented malting kilns and has come to typify distilleries around the world.

'The creation of an attractive pagoda roof is therefore an appropriate feature for this building typology.'

The pagoda at Laphroaig distillery, Lewis

Graeme Bowie, Distillery Manager at Tomintoul-Glenlivet Distillery, in Ballindalloch, Speyside, said the pagoda was not actually a Scottish feature, but was originally used on distilleries for practical reasons.

He said: 'I wouldn't say pagodas are traditionally Scottish - you get them in Japan for example - they are more of a feature of whisky distilleries generally.

'They were used when distilleries used to malt their own barley. They acted as a ventilator. Some would come out on different levels, and this produces the smokiness of the barley.

'Now, they're more of a design feature.'

Once operational, the Dartmoor distillery would be capable of producing around 400,000 litres of pure alcohol per year but Mr Bowie said that the creation of a major distillery outside Scotland would not challenge the Scotch whisky industry.

He said: 'It's a good thing to have new distilleries, but it will never compete with the Scotch whisky industry.

'The Scotch industry had been around for 250 years.'
An Indiana woman's beloved and quick-thinking dog saved her life as she slipped into diabetic shock.

Jennie Bailey, who has been diabetic for 31 years, was unable to call out for help as her sugar crept to dangerously low levels around 5am on December 29.

But her four-year-old Shih Tzu and Yorkie mix, Bailey, knew exactly what to do and began barking at Jennie's mother, Norene Debold, who was sleeping on the couch, according to NBC New York.

Indiana woman, Jennie Bailey (pictured), was saved by her beloved dog after she slipped into diabetic shock last month

Bailey, who has been diabetic for 31 years, was unable to call out for help as her sugar crept to dangerously low levels around 5am on December 29. But Bailey (pictured) knew just what to do. The quick-thinking pooch refused to stop barking until help came

The four-year-old Shih Tzu and Yorkie mix (right) barked at Jennie's mother, Norene Debold (left), who was sleeping on the couch. Debold said when she found her daughter, she 'was in the fetal position and ice cold'

'Bailey just kept barking and barking and barking, and when I went in there Jennie was in the fetal position and ice cold,' Debold said.

'She's not a big barker, so when she was barkingsomething was wrong.'

Debold immediately called 911 and woke up her husband, Thomas, who told NBC his wife flung their bedroom door open and said 'come quick, Jennie's unresponsive'.

Jennie Bailey has suffered renal failure in the past and that morning her body temperature reached 85 degrees by the time paramedics got her to the hospital.

'Her sugar was so low they gave her three things of glucose,' Mrs Debold said.

Jennie told NBC that she doesn't remember much about what happened, but she wasn't surprised when they told her Bailey was responsible for saving her life.

Jennie Bailey (pictured) has suffered renal failure in the past and that morning her body temperature reached 85 degrees by the time paramedics got her to the hospital

She said she doesn't remember much about what happened, but she wasn't surprised when they told her Bailey was responsible for saving her life. Jennie said that Bailey (pictured) is 'special' and that she's saved her life 'quite a few times'

'Oh, she's special to me,' Jennie said. 'She saved my life quite a few times.'

Mrs Debold told NBC that if it wasn't for Bailey, 'my daughter would be dead'.

According to the family, Bailey has not been trained to recognize her owner's symptoms and they have no idea how she knew.

Mr Debold praised Bailey for being an 'unbelievable' companion for his daughter.

'You know dogs can sense things that you don't,' he said.
President Donald Trump left the door open on Wednesday for a return to 9/11-era U.S. policy on torturing suspected terrorists, saying he believes it works.

'I want to keep our country safe,' he told ABC News, referring to America's protracted battle against the ISIS terror army.

'When they're shooting  when they're chopping off the heads of our people, and other people, when they're chopping off the heads of people because they happen to be a Christian, in the Middle East, when ISIS is doing things that nobody has ever heard of since Medieval times, would I feel strongly about waterboarding?' he asked in an Oval Office interview.

'As far as I'm concerned, we have to fight fire with fire.'

ABC News reported Wednesday that in a White House interview, President Donald Trump indicated that despite government reports to the contrary, he believes torturing suspected terrorists can generate useful results

Secretary of Defense James Mattis (left) opposes using torture as a means of interrogation, and Trump suggested he will listen to the retired Marine general  but made no commitments

Trump said he would defer to the judgment of Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo, both of whom are staunchly against torturing terror suspects or subjecting them to 'enhanced' interrogation techniques.

'I'm going with General Mattis. I'm going with my [Defense] secretary,' the president said. 'Because I think Pompeo is going to be phenomenal. I'm going to go with what they say.'

Pompeo, he said, will do a 'fabulous' job. Especially 'compared to the character who just got out, who was not fabulous at all,' Trump said, slamming Obama-era CIA Director John Brennan.

But he told interviewers that he had spoken recently with top U.S. intelligence officials who agree with him that torture can yield useful results.

'I have spoken as recently as 24 hours ago with people at the highest level of intelligence, and I ask them the question: "Does it work? Does torture work?"' Trump said.

'And the answer was: "Yes. Absolutely".'

Correspondent Jonathan Karl summed up the interview for ABC viewers during the lunch hour: 'So for now, no waterboarding. No torture. But he made it clear that he could bring it back.'

Resuming U.S.-sanctioned torture would go against strict bans put in place by former president Barack Obama and turn up the heat on Capitol Hill.

Trump told ABC News that he has asked high-ranking intelligence officers '"Does it work? Does torture work?" And the answer was: "Yes. Absolutely"'

CIA Director Mike Pompeo promised senators two weeks ago that he would 'absolutely' refuse to follow an order to allow torture in the war on terror

Some former government leaders have insisted 'enhanced interrogation' programs were effective in obtaining critical intelligence following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, others blame it for some of the worst human-rights abuses in the 'war on terror' that followed.

'The president can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law,' Republican Sen. John McCain, who was held captive during the Vietnam War, said Wednesday in a statement.

Torture and other 'enhanced interrogation' techniques have been hot-button issues for decades, and the Trump administration could put them back on the front-burner even though federal law puts them out of bounds

'We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America.'

But Trump sounded hours earlier like a man on the fence.

'I don't want people to chop off the citizens'  or anybody's heads in the Middle East, okay?  because they're Christian or Muslim or anything else,' he said.

'Look, now they chop them off and they put them on camera and they send them all over the world. So we have that, and we're not allowed to do anything. We're not playing on an even field.'

'I will rely on Pompeo and Mattis and my group,' the president said at last. 'And if they don't want to do [it], that's fine. If they do want to do [it], then I will work toward that end.'

'I want to do everything within the bounds of what you're allowed to do legally. But do I feel it works? Absolutely, I feel it works.'

Pompeo has already pledged not to go in that direction.

He told a Senate panel a week before Trump's inauguration that he would 'absolutely not' comply with an Oval Office order to resume the use of interrogation techniques that the international community considers 'torture.'

'Moreover, I can't imagine that I would be asked that by the president-elect,' he said.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer had to hold reporters at bay in the afternoon as he denied reports that the White House was preparing an executive order to re-examine the need for tough interrogations in offshore CIA 'black site' prisons

Separately on Wednesday, multiple news outlets reported on a document whose source claimed it was a 'draft executive order' awaiting action by the White House.

The document recommended a major review of America's methods for interrogating terror suspects and the possible reopening of CIA 'black-site' prisons overseas.

It instructs top national security officers to 'recommend to the president whether to reinitiate a program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States and whether such program should include the use of detention facilities operated by the Central Intelligence Agency.'

The document says U.S. laws should be obeyed at all times and explicitly rejects 'torture.'

Even so, White House press secretary Sean Spicer flatly denied that the White House had created or circulated it.

'It is not a White House document,' he told reporters during his afternoon press briefing.

'I have no idea where it came from. But it is not a White House document,' Spicer declared.

'We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America,' Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain declared on Wednesday

On the campaign trail, Trump spoke emphatically about toughening the U.S. approach to fighting ISIS. He said he would interrogate terror suspects with the outlawed practice of waterboarding, which simulates drowning, and a 'hell of a lot worse.'

Since becoming president, however, he has tempered those calls.

President George W. Bush publicly acknowledged clandestine CIA-run detention facilities in 2006. After condemnation in much of the world, Obama ended the program in his first days in office.
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Fascinating 112 year-old photographs of Bhutan taken decades before the remote country in the Himalayas became open to outsiders have been unearthed.

The images provide an unprecedented insight into the isolated kingdom nestled between India and China in the heart of the Himalayas at the beginning of the 20th century.

The country was almost completely cut off for centuries as it sought to protect its ancient traditions and has only become more accessible to visitors since the 1970s.

Such has been their desire to protect their heritage they didn't have TV until 1999.

Sewing maids in their ancient, traditional costumes pose outside a building in the unearthed historical photographs of Bhutan

King of Bhutan Sir Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck (pictured, left) and a cliff-side monastery (right) which forms part of the Paro-taktsang monastery, which is perched on the face of a cliff thousands of feet above sea level

The durbar at Poonakha (pictured) was included in the photographs which are believed to be 112 years old

The photographs are believed to have belonged to the family of someone who took part in the expedition to Bhutan in 1905 and have since been passed to a private collector.

The present owner has now decided to submit them for auction and they are tipped to sell for 15,000.

Included in the collection are photographs of the ruler and future king Ugyen Wangchuck and a wide snapshot of the community.

The photographs have the impressive backdrop of the world's tallest set of mountains, the Himalayas.

In the north of the country, there are peaks in excess of 23,000 ft.

Photographer John Claude White captured the ruler with his council, monasteries, homes, a burial chamber, natives in ancient costume and a musical band as well as homes precariously perched on the edge of steep mountain faces.

Mr White visited Bhutan in 1905 to present Ugyen Wangchuck with the order of Knight Commander of the Indian Empire.

The visit granted him intimate access with the people of Bhutan at a time when barely any Europeans had set foot in the far flung country.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the British were competing with the Russians and Chinese for influence in Asia, so this trip could be seen as an attempt to win the support of the ruler of Bhutan.

The Wangchuck hereditary monarchy has wielded power since 1907 and for many decades the country cut itself off, fearing that outside influences would undermine its monarchy and culture.

Also included in the collection are also images of neighbouring Sikkim, which include lakes, rivers and yak herders.

Sir Ugyen Wangchuk (centre) and his bodyguards, photographed in Bhutan in 1905 by Sir John Claude White

A Hermitis House sits on a cliff face through the gorge leading to Paro-taktsang in the fascinating photographs

The Gorina Monastery, surrounded by Lamasi houses, situated on a spur running into the Paro valley in Bhutan

Fascinating 112 year-old photographs of Bhutan taken decades before the remote country in the Himalayas became open to outsiders have been unearthed

Matthew Haley, book and manuscript specialist at Bonhams which is auctioning off the photographs, said: 'He was an extremely good photographer.

'Sometimes the photographer was just someone who was part of the exhibition so you would get reasonable photographs but the person was not artistically talented.

'John Claude White was an exceptionally good photographer so artistically they have got a lot going for them.

'The expedition to Bhutan was in the early 1900s and it was pretty much the first time that Europeans had been there.

'On this expedition White had a very close interaction with the native population.

'He was going there to present a Star of India medal to the ruler of Bhutan so he was right in the thick of things.

'At that time the British were going all around the Himalayas area, as were the Russians and Chinese, because they all wanted a piece of the action.

'They wanted to strengthen relations with the kingdom of Bhutan so they presented the ruler with a medal.

'This was part of the "great game", a power play to control Asia.

'We are not 100 per cent clear of the provenance of the collection but we believe at one point it belonged to the family of someone who was on the expedition and it has since been with a private collector for quite some time.

'The collector has no personal link to Bhutan so they think it is time to move it on to someone who has a fascination with Bhutan.'
Trump supporter Jon Voight has accused Miley Cyrus and Shia LaBeouf of 'treason' after they took part in protests against the 45th President.

Voight, one of a small band of Trump supporters in the film industry, said he was outraged by the actions of the pair, who he identified by name, and said they were trying to de-legitimize the new President.

Cyrus, 24, took part in a Women's March protest against Trump in Los Angeles while LaBeouf, 30, spent the weekend in New York at an art protest against Trump, entitled He Will Not Divide Us.

Voight accused Shia LaBeouf (left) and Miley Cyrus (right) of 'teaching treason' to their impressionable young fans after they protested against Trump at the weekend

Voight, 78, told TMZ: 'When you see the young people, like Shia LaBeouf and Miley Cyrus, and they have a lot of followers, a lot of young people, what are they teaching?

'They're teaching treason. They're teaching going up against the government, not accepting the will of the people on this presidency. It's a very sad day really when I see this.'

Voight accepted marchers and protesters had a right under the First Amendment to speak out but said: 'But what was the march about? The march was against the government...and trying to denigrate his office and his presidency.'

Jon Voight made the remarks after being collared outside a hotel in Beverly Hills (left). He spoke in support of Trump at the Lincoln Memorial (right) on the eve of the inauguration

Voight made no mention of his daughter, Angelina Jolie, who last year spoke out against Trump's comments about Muslims when he was running for the Presidency.

Jolie said: 'To me, America is built on people from around the world coming together for freedoms, especially freedom of religion. So it's hard to hear this is coming from someone who is pressing to be an American president.'

Voight is due to play George Shultz, who was Republican Secretary of State in the 1980s, in the forthcoming biopic Reagan.

He spoke in support of the new President at a rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial last Thursday, a day before the inauguration.
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Greenpeace activists unfurled a large banner with the word 'Resist' from a construction crane blocks from the White House Wednesday to protest against President Donald Trump.

The environmental group said on its Facebook page that the gesture targets what it called Trump's climate denial, racism, misogyny, homophobia, and bigotry.

Seven activists clambered up the crane and hung from it the 70-foot by 35-foot (20 meter by 10 meter) banner with 'Resist' in red against a yellow background.

Scroll down for video...

Greenpeace protesters unfold a banner reading 'Resist' from atop a construction crane behind the White House on Wednesday

The climbers are part of the non-governmental organization which strives to engage with the public on global environmental issues

The banner was unfurled at the construction site of the former Washington Post building

A police car blocks the street near the construction site of the former Washington Post building

They remained up there as of mid-morning, Greenpeace said.

The banner was visible from the White House residence.

'People in this country are ready to resist and rise up in ways they have never done before,' said Greenpeace Inc. Board chair Karen Topakian.

'While Trump's disdain and disrespect for our democratic institutions scare me, I am so inspired by the multigenerational movement of progress that is growing in every state. Greenpeace has used nonviolence to resist tyrannical bullies since 1971, and we're not going to stop now,' Topakian added.

'The sun has risen this morning on a new America, but it isn't Donald Trump's,' said Pearl Robinson, one of the activists who unfurled the banner.

'I fear not only the policies of the incoming administration, but also the people emboldened by this election to commit acts of violence and hate. Now is the time to resist,' Robinson said.

The sheer scale of the crane and size of the banner can be clearly seen in this picture

The activists are calling for those who want to resist Trump's attacks on environmental, social, economic, and educational justice to contribute to a better America

The protests comes a day after President Donald Trump's administration moved to delay implementation of at least 30 environmental rules and froze new EPA contracts and awards

The group is protesting Trump's orders to revive the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, after President Obama rejected Keystone and delayed final approval for Dakota Access

Officers called to the construction site in downtown Washington found that three people had attached themselves to the crane and another four people joined them, Capt. Robert Glover of the Metropolitan Police Department's special operations division told reporters.

The protesters told police they're conducting a First Amendment action, he said.

'Time is on our side,' Glover said. 'Safety is our foremost mission this morning.'

The protesters are calling for resistance to President Donald Trump and his agenda, Greenpeace spokesman Travis Nichols said by telephone. It's a continuation of protests that began with Trump's inauguration. Greenpeace said in a statement that the protesters are 'calling for those who want to resist Trump's attacks on environmental, social, economic, and educational justice to contribute to a better America.'

Seven Greenpeace activists unfurled a 70-foot by 35-foot banner

Police say protesters climbed a crane at the site refusing to allow workers to work in the area

The group said they are sending a message to Trump that will be visible at the White House

The protests comes a day after Trump's administration moved to delay implementation of at least 30 environmental rules and froze new Environmental Protection Agency contracts and grant awards.

'While we respect everyone's right to protest, today's actions are extremely dangerous and unlawful,' police said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Police would consult with prosecutors about appropriate charges, Glover told reporters. There was no continuing threat to anyone outside the site and minimal disruption to the area, he said.

Greenpeace is an international environmental group known for activism that sometimes involves confronting authorities and companies

It took several hours for the activists to open the banner. Traffic was delayed near the intersection for much of the morning

The demonstration began around 8 a.m. Wednesday when several protesters scaled the crane located on the site of the old 'Washington Post' building at 15th Street and L Street

Wednesdays protest comes after last weeks inauguration of President Trump, when demonstrators were present in large numbers throughout the city
Child welfare services were called to a home to investigate claims of physical and sexual abuse 13 times before a five-year-old boy was found dead on Sunday.

Michael Guzman was found unconscious by his mother, Phyllis Reinoso, on a bed in their Queens, New York, home with vomit around his mouth shortly after 4pm.

'Lil Mikey', as family members called him, had been dead for more than 12 hours before he was discovered by his 29-year-old mom.

Police sources have since revealed the house, where Reinoso lived with Mikey's father, Michael Guzman, 34, and her five other children, was frequently visited by Administration for Childrens Services officials.

Child welfare authorities were called to investigate the home where five-year-old epileptic boy Michael Guzman (pictured) lived 13 times before he was found dead on Sunday

On the 13 trips, child services officers found injuries on the children - including cuts and bruises, as well as 'signs of sexual abuse,' the New York Post reports.

A police source reportedly said the protective officers were able to 'substantiate abuse or neglect in eight instances', but refused to remove any of the children from the home.

The alleged incidents occurred between October 2008 and January 2016, and two were related to Mikey.

'How many chances do you want to give these parents, especially when these kids are defenseless victims?' the insider told the newspaper.

'They would be better off erring on the side of caution and taking the kids. You can always give the kids back. When they die, it is too late to take them.'

New York's Department of Investigation announced on Tuesday it is looking into the way the case was handled by the ACS.

Michael Guzman, 5, was found unconscious by his mother, Phyllis Reinoso (left), on a bed in their Queens, New York, home with vomit around his mouth. Reinoso lived at the home with Michael Guzman (right), and her five other children

Reinoso told officers she and Mikey's father left their home about shortly before midnight on Saturday, after giving the five-year-old his epilepsy medicine. When they returned home, she said he was 'fine' and they put him to bed

It comes after detectives revealed Reinoso told officers she and Mikey's father left the home about shortly before midnight on Saturday, after giving the five-year-old his epilepsy medicine.

She told cops her young son frequently had seizures, according to the New York Daily News, before going on to say when they returned at 2:30am he was asleep on the couch so they put him to bed and 'everything seemed fine'.

However, Mikey's siblings told investigators a much different story, according to the paper.

Mikey has five siblings: Jennifer Acevedo, 15, Jazabella Acevedo, 12, Maylee Acevedo, 11, Manny Prince, nine, and Mathias Guzman, two.

The young boy was found dead in a bed at his home in Queens about 4pm on Sunday. Police believe he had been dead for 12 hours

They claimed Jennifer, put him to bed while his parents were still out. Maylee, who shared a bed with him that night, then put a blanket on her brother about 11am on Sunday because his skin was cold.

His parents then found his dead body about five hours later.

Police said there were no signs of trauma on the five-year-old's body, and a cause of death is being determined.

Mikey's aunt told the Daily News that his mother has claimed the medicine she gave her son is what killed him and also blamed the five-year-old's doctor.

'The doctor prescribed too large a dose when he was in the hospital,' Alice Guzman said, repeating Reinoso's alleged claim.

Relatives have since created a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of the funeral.

'My lil cousin fell asleep today and never woke up, he's 5yrs (sic) old and was such a sweet heart. When his parents found him his dad gave him mouth to mouth to try to revive him he then threw up took his last breath and that was it,' Jonathan Padilla Jr wrote on the page.

Neighbors said Reinoso and Guzman were often heard screaming and arguing inside the home.

'I could hear them from the street... there was always a lot of screaming,' Kylee Green told the newspaper.
Butch Trucks, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, died Tuesday at his home in West Palm Beach, Florida at the age of 69.

The legendary drummer's booking agent confirmed his death to Rolling Stone, but said the cause was still unknown.

The West Palm Beach Police department issued a statement, saying they responded to Truck's home for a death investigation at 8:02pm and that foul play is not suspected.

Butch Trucks, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, died on Tuesday

Trucks was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1947, and started playing drums in the eighth grade. He was playing a gig in Daytona Beach while a student at Florida State University when he first met Gregg and Duane Allman, who invited him to join their band three years later.

He was one of the Allman Brother's Bands two drummers. Through the years, the band broke up and reunited three times and Trucks was there for every reunion.

During their most recent stretch, from 1999 to 2014, Trucks' own nephew Derek was brought into the band to play guitar.

After the band's most recent break-up two years ago, Trucks started a new group called Butch Trucks and the Freight Train Band. Trucks played his last show on January 6, and the group was scheduled for more shows this spring.

Trucks' booking agent confirmed his death to Rolling Stone, but said the cause was still unknown

He is survived by his wife Melinda, his four children (two from a previous relationship) and four grandchildren - and three of the five other founding members of the Allman Brothers Band.

Trucks had been very open about his demons, including the drug and alcohol problem he developed in his early years in the band.

Trucks told the Palm Beach Post that by 1974, the first thing he did in the morning was drink a beer or wine. He got into cocaine as a way to prolong the night.

When the band first broke up in 1974, he says he tried to quit both by moving his family to Tallahassee and going back to school to finish college.

Trucks and his wife Melinda are pictured attending the 2012 Grammy Awards

While he was able to kick hard alcohol and drugs, he kept drinking wine.

After his kids left the house, Trucks and his wife moved to Palm Beach where his alcohol demons came back to bite him.

'I promised myself no more than three glasses and I couldnt do it. I just couldnt do it,' he said.

In October 2001, he quit alcohol completely, without going to rehab of Alcoholics Anonymous.

'You have to make the commitment deep down inside that this is enough. That you care more for the people around you than the booze. My message is "life can get better,"' he said

Just this year, Rolling Stone named Trucks and bandmate Jai Johanny 'Jaimoe' Johanson among the 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time.

Having two drummers remains rare for bands, but Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dicky Betts said that the two brought different qualities to the sound.

'Jaimoe was a real good drummer, but more of a pocket guy  he wasn't really able to handle the power,' Betts said in the Allman Brothers biography. 'We needed Butch, who had that drive and strength, freight train, meat-and-potatoes thing. It set Jaimoe up perfectly.'

Following Trucks' death on Tuesday, friends and family members started posting memorials on Facebook.

'My cousin Butch Trucks died. Great drummer. Good person,' Trucks' cousin Lee posted at 8am on Wednesday.

Then came the tribute posts from his peers and fellow musicians.

'Just got work that original Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks has passed away. Condolences to family and band mates,' country musician Charlie Daniels, best known for 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia', tweeted Wednesday.
A dog could not control his excitement when he was reunited with his beloved owner after three weeks apart - almost knocking her over.

The German Shepherd was filmed jumping up repeatedly at owner Anny Chow as soon as she arrived back home in Brooklyn, New York.

He had sprinted towards the door after hearing her car pull up outside, wagging his tail enthusiastically.

Rambo the German Shepherd was filmed jumping up repeatedly at owner Anny Chow as soon as she returned home in Brooklyn, New York

At the start of the video, the 17-month-old pooch can be seen looking out the window when he sees his owner returning home.

He then runs towards the door and looks around impatiently as he waits for her to come through the front door.

As soon as Anny walks in, Rambo jumps up at her, almost reaching her full height.

Anny, who has set up an Instagram page for Rambo and her other dog MuiMui, said: 'I knew Rambo would be excited for me to be home but I didn't expect him to be so boisterous.

At the start of the video, the 17-month-old pooch can be seen looking out the window when he sees his owner returning home

'Once I realised how enthusiastic he was I tried to remain calm so he didn't knock me over.'

Her parents, who had been looking after Rambo, said he constantly stared outside waiting for her to come home and lost his appetite while she was away.

She said: 'I asked my sister to film our reunion and she said as soon as he saw me on the driveway he was jumping all over the couch.

'I've had him since he was 10-weeks-old and this was the longest I had left him so he was quite sad.

'Of course, I was really happy to see him again too.'

He jumps up at the security gate as he is reunited with his beloved owner after three weeks
Near-misses between drones and passenger jets in Britain nearly trebled last year.

There were 23 Category A - at serious risk of collision - drone-related incidents involving passenger jets in the UK last year - compared to the eight in 2015.

According to the National Air Traffic Service, more than two million drones are now in circulation in Britain.

And the rise in Category A misses between jets and the remote-controlled devices has resulted in fears of a tragic crash.

There were 13 'serious risk of collision' drone-related incidents involving passenger planes at the capital's airports in 2016

This map shows the number and location of serious incidents (A) as well as those of lower risk (B)

A total of 13 of the incidents involving passenger planes at London's airports in 2016.

The Heathrow cases where the collision risk was assessed by pilots as 'high' include an A320 close to the Shard, on July 18, an A320 close to Osterley Park, west London, on May 1, an A320 over East Barnet, north London, on August 15, an A321 on final approach to the airport on March 28, an A320 on climb-out on February 14, and an A320 near Slough on March 30.

An E190 jet which had left City Airport on July 20 was involved in a drone incident with a 'medium' collision risk.

While, a drone came close to a B737 around 11 miles north east of Stansted on May 3.

Out of the other Category A incidents, there were two at Manchester International and one at Manchester City, Liverpool and Glasgow airports.

There were at least 36 drone-related incidents involving London passenger jets last year.

Investigators are still to publish probes into four Heathrow cases, one Gatwick, one City Airport, as well as another over the Olympic Park.

Richmond Park MP Sarah Olney, whose constituency is overflown by many planes, told the Evening Standard: 'In the wrong hands, drones are endangering the lives of passengers and thousands more on the ground.

'There should be an annual report to Parliament on drone incidents over London and other highly-populated areas.'

In London there were several near-misses, particularly around the city's airports

According to the National Air Traffic Service, more than two million drones are now in circulation in Britain

There are currently no specific regulations limiting the maximum height for the drones that weigh 7kg or less.

It was announced last November that drones will be deliberately smashed into passenger jets as part of a radical testing programme triggered by fears of a catastrophe in British skies.

Ministers ordered the tests after a series of near misses, some near major airports.

They have committed more than 250,000 to pay for a private study of what would happen if a drone struck a window or the fuselage of a plane.

Pilots warn it is only a matter of time before there is a collision and at one stage a close call was being reported every week.

The Government has published a consultation to tighten regulations on drones.

The pilot spotted the drone, which measured roughly 20in across, out of a cockpit window as the aircraft was flying just 650ft east of the Shard skyscraper in London, pictured

In November 2016, a major air disaster was narrowly avoided after a drone came within just 60ft of a passenger plane as it flew over central London.

The A320 aircraft, thought to have some 165 passengers on board, nearly collided with the remote-controlled device while on its final approach to Heathrow.
Instagram model Elizabeth Ruiz, who was accused of trying to sell a video of her and Broncos linebacker Von Miller having sex for $2.5 million, now claims that Washington star DeSean Jackson's package is 'small'.

In a radio interview with Hollywood Unlocked, host Jason Lee, asked Ruiz if Miller had a 'big weenie'.

'I mean I can tell you who has a small one,' Ruiz replied. 'DeSean Jackson. Man, he's built like an Asian.'

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Instagram model Elizabeth Ruiz (left), who was accused of trying to sell a video of her and Broncos linebacker Von Miller having sex for $2.5 million, now claims that Washington star DeSean Jackson's (right) package is 'small'

In a radio interview with Hollywood Unlocked's host Jason Lee, Ruiz said Jackson (pictured), who is a wide receiver for the Redskins, 'is built like an Asian'. Jackson took to Instagram on Tuesday, a day after the interview aired and called Ruiz out

On Tuesday, a day after the interview aired, Jackson replied to her comments with an Instagram post without mentioning Ruiz by name.

'Females dyin for attention. Why you so mad. Speaking up on me. Smh. Real low life,' Jackson wrote under a photo that suggested Ruiz should 'go find a job'.

And Jackson, 30, who is a wide receiver for the Redskins, wasn't the only person to respond to Ruiz's comments.

His model girlfriend and his son's mother, Kayla Phillips, commented on Baller Alert's Instagram post about the interview.

Jackson's (right) model girlfriend and his son's mother, Kayla Phillips (left and right), also responded to Ruiz's comments on Instagram

'Wasn't too small for you to s*** and f*** tho. Never speak on another woman's man. Now we have an issue,' she wrote. Baller Alert shared this photo of Ruiz from the radio interview

'Wasn't too small for you to s*** and f*** tho. Never speak on another woman's man. Now we have an issue,' she wrote.

'I'll be in LA soon and we'll see if you're still reckless at the mouth @elizabethruizxo.'

Both Jackson's and Phillips' comments on social media prompted Ruiz to issue an apology on her Instagram page.

Ruiz, 25, insisted that she's 'not a bad person' and that she makes 'many mistakes'.

'I've been unhappy with my self and in the process I've been reckless,' she wrote.

'I'm under construction and I'm willing to deal with all the consequences for my actions and I'm sorry,' Ruiz added.

Last year, the Cuban model was accused of blackmailing Miller over a sex tape for money.

She officially denied those claims and said she kept the video for masturbation purposes, which she confirmed in Monday's radio interview.

Both Jackson's and Phillips' comments on social media prompted Ruiz to issue an apology on her Instagram page. She posted this photo and insisted that she's 'not a bad person'

Last year, the Cuban model (right) was accused of blackmailing Von Miller (left) over a sex tape for money. She officially denied those claims and said she kept the video for masturbation purposes, which she confirmed in Monday's interview

Miller, 27, reportedly wanted to prevent Ruiz from making the tape public after she filmed them having sex in private on her mobile phone.

Ruiz, who has more than 300,000 followers on Instagram, had offered to sell the tape to Miller for $2.5 million, according to court documents.

Although referred to as 'Doe' in the documents, news outlets have reported the plaintiff is the Super Bowl MVP.

During the radio interview on Monday, Ruiz also talked about the alleged sex tape between her and Miller, which she said never came out nor was it posted online.

She told the hosts that the court handling the case currently has all copies of the tape and she doesn't posses any.

During the interview, she also said that there was a restraining order against her and that she never asked Miller for the $2.5 million.
A new nude restaurant in Spain will allow diners to eat their food directly off the bodies of their model waitresses.

The Innato Tenerife - which opened this week - encourages diners to peel off for a mouth-watering menu in what owners describe as an 'orgasmic atmosphere'.

Guests have to check in their smartphones and cameras to spare other customers' blushes before they are led to a changing room to strip down to a bathrobe.

The naked truth: A couple hold hands over the table at the new nudist restaurant in Spain

The happy ending dessert: A male model poses with chocolate all over him ready to be eaten

Can I take your order, please? A waitress takes down an order at the bar of the new restaurant

Then they walk to their candlelit table where they take off the robes and soak up the intimate atmosphere.

Discreet bamboo partitions screen tables from each other so customers are able to let themselves go without the fear of being seen.

Specials include the 'aphrodisiac menu' served on male and female models who serve as human tables, with just the odd fig or vine leaf to cover their modesty.

Especially popular is the 'Happy Endings' dessert, where the models smother themselves in melted chocolate sauce so diners can dip their strawberries.

Al fresco: A waitress performs with fire in the outside dining area of the Spanish restaurant

Standing to attention: Two male models guard the doors to the Innato Tennerife in Spain

Hot food: Performer at the restaurant breathes fire in a performance for bathrobe-clad diners

Other favourites on the 150-EUR (129-GBP) a head menu include a dish called Pulp Fiction, with octopus, potato and paprika, and Olindo Lobster, with lobster mango, mustard and brandy.

Owner Tony de Leonardis - who was inspired by London's The Bunyadi pop-up restaurant - says customers at his venue in San Isidro soon get used to eating in the buff.

And some, reports local media, have revealed that the experience even revives their love lives.
CNN slapped back at President Donald Trump, who suggested that Fox News was the ratings winner on inauguration day.

In a pinned tweet from the CNN public relations team, the cable network pointed out that CNN and Fox News had similar numbers on inauguration day and Fox was not 'many times higher' as the president said.

'According to Nielsen cumulative numbers, 34 million people watched CNN's inauguration day coverage on television. 34 million watched Fox News,' the tweet read.

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President Donald Trump continued his war with the media by suggesting that Fox News had creamed CNN in the ratings on inauguration day

CNN's public relations team sent out a tweet in response to President Trump, which noted that throughout inauguration day, Fox and CNN basically had the same viewership

Last night Donald Trump tweeted that the 'public was smart' because Fox News' ratings were 'many times higher' than those of CNN on inauguration day

'There were an additional 16.9 million live video starts on CNN Digital platforms,' it continued.

'Those are the facts.'

Trump had gotten online last night to tout Fox News' performance.

'Congratulations to Fox News for being number one in inauguration ratings,' Trump wrote. 'They were many times higher than FAKE NEWS CNN - public is smart!'

Fox News did win the ratings war against CNN during parts of inauguration day.

Fox's viewership was higher than CNN's during the actual swearing-in ceremony and during primetime.

The numbers CNN provided in the tweet refer to viewership throughout the entirety of January 20, 2017.

CNN's Jim Acosta (left) and President-elect Donald Trump (right) got into it at a press conference in mid-January, in which Trump labeled the cable network 'fake news'

Trump has lambasted the mainstream media since the beginning of his candidacy, but has paid particularly close attention to CNN after the story of the dirty dossier broke.

CNN reported on the existence of the dossier, which was information gathered by an ex-British intelligence agent to be used as opposition research against Trump.

It was Buzzfeed, however, that released the contents of the memo, which included allegations that Trump engaged in lewd behavior in a Moscow hotel room that President Obama had once slept in.

Trump tore into both news organization and labeled CNN 'fake news' during a contentious back and forth at a press conference nine days before the president was sworn in.

The billionaire battled with CNN's Jim Acosta, who he wouldn't let get a question in, before shouting at the journalist, 'You are fake news.'

Trump later took a question from another CNN reporter.

Yesterday a CNN reporter, this time Jeff Zeleny, got into another heated display at a press conference, with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

Spicer had told reporters that Trump continued to believe in wide instance of voter fraud.

Trump has been making that claim as a push back against the fact that he won the election, but lost the popular vote to rival Hillary Clinton.

Zeleny asked how 'comfortable' Trump was with his win, if he's still making the voter fraud claims, adding, 'maybe he didn't win if that's the case.'

'He's very comfortable with his win,' Spicer replied.

Zeleny then asked what Trump's voter fraud claims 'mean for democracy.'

'It means I've answered your question,' Spicer said, before moving on.
With 'alternative facts' the latest catchphrase, George Orwell's '1984' is No. 1 on Amazon.com and the publisher has ordered an additional 75,000 copies.

Signet Classics told The Associated Press in a statement Wednesday that sales have been 'remarkably robust' for a book that already is a classroom standard.

The publisher noted that books such as Orwell's tap into 'the fears, anxieties, and even hopes' of readers.

George Orwell's (pictured) 1949 classic '1984' is getting a fresh read, as it's hit No. 1 on Amazon as readers are turning to dystopian novels in the age of President Donald Trump

As a comparison, 1984 was ranked at No. 89 on Amazon.com back in 2015.

The heightened interest in Orwell's dystopian classic, in which language itself is held captive, follows assertions by President Donald Trump and some White House aides about the size of his inaugural crowd and whether voter fraud led him to lose the popular vote to Hillary Clinton last fall.

Administration adviser Kellyanne Conway has called such assertions 'alternate facts' in a contentious back and forth with Meet the Press host Chuck Todd on Sunday.

Conway used the phrase to specifically refer to comments made by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer at the podium Saturday, some of which were easily disproved.

Trump, himself, then reopened the debate on election fraud, repeating a claim in a meeting with lawmakers that several million people voted illegally, giving that as the reason why he lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Today on Twitter the president announced a 'major investigation.'

Not only is 1984 flying off shelves, but Orwell's 'Animal Farm'  another classic commonly taught in classrooms  is getting a fresh look from the American public.

Two versions of the 1945 novel are currently among Amazon's top 20 selling works of Classic Literature.

The book 'It Can't Happen Here' by Sinclair Lewis has also seen a spoke in sales, reports Time's Money section.

The satirical political novel was published in 1935 as Germany's Nazi party gained power and tells of a fascist takeover of the United States.

Today it stands as the No. 5 top seller on Amazon's Classic Literature list and at No. 26 overall.

The country's authoritarian leader Buzz Windrip has been compared to Trump before.

Additionally, the 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley is getting a fresh set of eyes.

The 1932 novel ranks at No. 6 on Amazon's Classic Literature ranking.

The book was to serve as a warning about ignorance in politics.

Finally 'Fahrenheit 451' by Ray Bradbury is experiencing new found popularity.

Written in 1953, Bradbury's world contains a character who warns that 'intellectual' has become a swear word, as books are treated as evil.

The characters in the novel are controlled by censorship, propaganda and television.

It now ranks No. 7 on Amazon's Classic Literature list.
A man named Adolf whose body is covered in Nazi tattoos has been jailed in Austria

A man named Adolf who has his whole body tattooed with Nazi imagery has been jailed for selling songs praising Adolf Hitler.

The 'hardcore Nazi', identified only as Guenther Adolf A, was found guilty on Tuesday by a court in Steyr, a town in the Austrian state of Upper Austria, of selling Nazi propaganda CDs online.

The 38-year-old was convicted under the country's strict anti-Nazi laws after he sold the CDs promoting the Third Reich's Fuhrer Adolf Hitler.

The prosecution said that Adolf's was a clear case of re-engagement in National Socialist activities, and said he was an active supporter and a follower of the extreme right-wing scene.

Adolf had attempted to sell some of the CDs on Thiazi Forum, an infamous neo-Nazi forum that was shut down in 2012 after police raids in Germany and the UK, which saw many website administrators jailed.

Titles of songs on the CDs included 'Adolf Hitler Lives', 'Goebbels for All' and 'In Buchenwald', which reportedly describes the Nazi concentration camp to the tune of a popular children's song.

Adolf's body is tattooed with images including Nazi eagles, the head of the infamous Nazi activist Horst Wessel and an Aryan man performing Hitler salute.

Adolf, whose body is covered in far-right symbols, was jailed for two and nine months for selling songs praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler

Jailing Adolf, Judge Christoph Mayer said, somewhat sarcastically: 'At least he did not have a swastika tattooed on his face.'

Local media described the man as 'walking Nazi propaganda' after he twice showed off his tattoos at a swimming pool.

Adolf denied having done anything wrong, saying of his ideology: 'I back my nation.'

He told the judge: 'If the FPOe [the far-right Freedom Party of Austria] is right, then I am also right.'

The judge sentenced Adolf to two years and nine months in prison.
These two New Jersey thieves were ready for their close-up.

Surveillance cameras caught two men on camera as they installed and days later removed a card skimmer on an ATM machine.

The skimmer was first installed at the Lakeland Bank in Bloomingdale, New Jersey on December 23.

Surveillance photographs from the ATM machine itself show the first suspect who installed the device wearing a blue beanie hat as he squints his eyes while unknowingly getting up close and personal with the hidden camera on the machine.

The second suspect was also photographed in a similar manner as the first, except instead of squinting, he actually appears to be smiling for the camera.

Caught in the act: Surveillance cameras caught two men on camera as they installed and days later removed a card skimmer on an ATM machine. Pictured above is suspect one who installed the skimmer on the machine

Smile for the camera: The suspect above smiled while removing the skimmer from the ATM machine at the Lakeland Bank in New Jersey on December 26 after it was installed three days earlier

Police say the second suspect, who wore a black beanie hat and dark clothing, removed the skimmer from the ATM machine at the Lakeland Bank in Bloomingdale on December 26.

Another snap shows the same man with his face turned, putting his distinctive neck tattoos on full display.

Investigators with the Bloomingdale Police Department say a number of residents in the area reported unauthorized withdrawals on ATM/Debit cards.

In addition, police say similar incidents were reported in Lincoln Park and Jefferson Township at the other Lakeland Bank branches using similar skimming devices.

Another snap from the machine's camera shows the second suspect involved with the crime with his face turned, putting his distinctive neck tattoos on full display (right)

Investigators with the Bloomingdale Police Department say a number of residents in the area reported unauthorized withdrawals on ATM/Debit cards

At least 20 people had money stolen from their bank accounts due to ATM skimming at 5729 Berkshire Valley Road between December 23 and January 2, investigators with the Jefferson Police Department said.

Residents in the two areas who may have used the ATM during that time-frame are being urged to change their pin numbers, monitor their accounts and report any abnormal activity.

Card skimming is when thieves use hidden electronic devices that they install on ATM machines or card readers to steal personal information that is stored on cards.

The thieves are able to record the PIN number that's entered into machines, giving them full access to bank or credit card accounts.

Police released the images of the two suspects and are asking the public for help in finding them.

Anyone with information can contact the Jefferson Police Department at 973-697-1300 or the Bloomingdale Police Department at 973-838-0158.
Lapo Elkann will not face charges for a November incident in which he told a family rep and police that he had been kidnapped in what authorities believed at the time was a bid to get money for a two-day drug binge.

The Manhattan district attorney's office said Wednesday that it had declined to prosecute Elkann and had no further comment.

His attorney, Randy Zelin, said he presented information to prosecutors, who did an exhaustive review before determining no crime had been committed.

'We are very fortunate the district attorney listened to us, and conducted a thorough investigation,' said Zelin.

Soon after the incident, Elkann made the decision to enter rehab, where he has reportedly been for the past three weeks.

'This has been a difficult period for me, but it has also given me time to reflect quietly upon what happened and also about the future,' said Elkann in a statement.

He also said the decision to drop the charges reinforced 'the faith I have always placed in American justice.'

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Takeoff: The Manhattan district attorney's office said Wednesday that it had declined to prosecute Lapo Elkann (above in 2016)

Law enforcement officials reported back in November that Elkan, who is worth a reported $800million, spent the Thanksgiving holiday in a Manhattan housing project, where he was supplied with a steady stream of cocaine, marijuana and alcohol.

But when it came time for Elkann to settle up for the goods and services he had been providedwith during his two-day binge, the cash-strapped millionaire attempted to get his hands on $10,000 by allegedly calling up his family rep and claiming he had been kidnapped.

The family rep immediately called authorities and then Elkann filed a police report, leading to the arrest of 29-year-old Curtis McKinstry on a charge of grand larceny by extortion.

After investigating the matter further however police dropped the charges against McKinstry, and instead charged Elkann with a misdemeanor for falsely reporting an incident.

The incident came 11 years after Elkann overdosed on a mixture of heroin and cocaine while in the company of a 53-year-old transsexual prostitute.

Elkann is one of two sons born to writer Alain Elkann and Countess Margherita Agnelli de Pahlen, whose father Gianni Agnelli was the head of Fiat.

He passed away in 2003 and left behind a fortune reported to be close to $2billion. In the wake of his death, Elkann's older brother John became chairman of the company.

Elkann met up with McKinstry on Thanksgiving night after reportedly contacting a number of escort services in the city.

Room where it happened: Elkann went on a two-day drug binge while holed up at the apartment (above) of a transgender escort

The 39-year-old society fixture, who in 2009 was named to the Best Dressed Hall of Fame by Vanity Fair, headed with McKinstry to her government-subsidized apartment at the Strauss Houses on East 28th Street.

Elkann then proceeded to spend Thursday night, all day Friday and part of Saturday imbibing a mixture of booze, pot and blow according to law enforcement sources.

Then, on Saturday, Elkann allegedly called a representative for his family to inform them that he was being held against his will and needed $10,000 in ransom to be set free by his alleged kidnapper.

That story fell apart less than 24 hours later however according to law enforcement sources, who discovered that Elkann had placed the call to the family rep from his own cell phone.

Police also learned that Elkann had in fact been free to leave the apartment at any time.

He is now set to arraigned in a Manhattan court on January 25 for filing that false report.

The day before he departed for New York City, Elkann posted a video on his Instagram account discussing the business trip he was about to embark on, saying at one point: 'Ill be seeing many interesting characters in the creative field and in the entrepreneurial field in the next few days.'

It was reported in August that Elkann had proposed to girlfriend Shermine Shahrivar, an Iranian model who he only met this past May at the Cannes Film Festival.

The speculations was fueled due in large part to an Instagram photo posted by the Middle Eastern beauty that showed her wearing a diamond on her ring finger.

Both Elkann and Shahrivar refused to comment on the engagement rumors.

Problem: Reports emerged in August that Elkann was engaged to marry girlfriend Shermine Shahrivar after the Iranian model posted a photo wearing a diamond ring (above)

Deja vu: The incident came 11 years after Elkann overdosed at the apartment of transsexual Italian prostitute Donato Broco, who was known as Patrizia (above)

Two days after Elkann's scandal, the beauty queen posted a message on her Instagram account that appeared to address her boyfriend's legal troubles and alleged dalliance with another woman.

'Until you're broken, you don't know what you're made of. It gives you the ability to build yourself all over again, but stronger than ever,' read the post.

Elkann - who was born in New York City, spent his youth and teenage years in London and at the age of 17 moved to Turin - secured a job in the family business back in 2003 when he was named Fiat's Director of Marketing.

Ladies man: Elkann (above with Uma Thurman in May) said in an interview after his 2005 overdose: ''I am very pissed off with myself because I made a huge mistake, but nobodys perfect'

He was only in that position for two years however, stepping down after his 2005 overdose in the Turin apartment of transsexual prostitute Donato Broco, who was known as Patrizia in her professional life.

Elkann was just 28 at the time.

He had until that point been the face of Fiat since joining the automobile giant in 2003, and news of his overdose coupled with the company he was keeping at the time made headlines worldwide.

Early reports suggested he had been with his girlfriend of two years, Italian actress Martina Stella, when he overdosed, but those claims quickly proved to be untrue.

The couple split soon after the incident.

Patrizia was just one of three transsexual escorts that Elkann had been partying with that night before falling into a coma, with two other women named Cinzia and Tani also joining the group.

She would later reveal in an interview with Chi that the night of the overdose was the fifth evening she had spent with Elkann, who paid each of the women 1,000 euros according to one report.

Elkann spent two days in a coma, and checked himself in a rehab facility immediately after his release from the hospital.

He later said of the incident in an interview with Vanity Fair: 'I am very pissed off with myself because I made a huge mistake, but nobodys perfect.'
Two young men suspected of raping a woman in Sweden and livestreaming the attack on Facebook have been remanded in custody.

A 20-year-old Afghan national and an 18-year-old, also from Afghanistan, were arrested in the city of Uppsala at the weekend after police were tipped off by social media users.

A 24-year-old Swedish man has been detained on suspicion of failing to reveal rape.

The three, who cannot be identified under Swedish law, have not been charged. In Sweden a person suspected of a serious crime can be detained without being charged with the approval of a court if there is a risk they will flee the country.

Two Afghan men, aged 18 and 20, have been accused of the rape which was live streamed on Facebook. One of the suspects was seen holding a revolver (pictured above)

The Local said the men denied the allegations and reported that Christer Soderberg, a lawyer representing the 20-year-old, said: 'A woman is said to have been raped in an apartment. He is suspected of that.

'He denies any criminal offence, he has given in my opinion a perfectly coherent story about what happened. I cannot go into details, but he has told me in a way that is not contradicted by anything else.'

The 24-year-old's lawyer, Andreas Welin, said: 'I have seen stronger evidence in my days.'

Earlier this week investigators appealed to social media users who had images of the attack to turn them over to police.

Uppsala deputy chief prosecutor Magnus Berggren said: 'We have some picture and video material. But we don't have any images showing the attack itself'.

The film has been removed from Facebook but it has been circulated on the internet.

Swedish media have published excerpts of the footage, showing at least one of the suspects holding a revolver.

The suspects were arrested early on Sunday in an apartment in Uppsala, 45 miles north of Stockholm, in the presence of their 30-year-old victim.

Witnesses saw the victim being stripped and then sexually assaulted by armed men and alerted the police

The arrest were made after members of a Facebook group saw the attack streamed live and alerted police.

Josefine Lundgren, 21, was one of the witnesses who watched the incident online and reported it.

She 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.

Three men were arrested in Uppsala (pictured) in Sweden after the incident on Saturday night

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.
A driver making 'emotional phone calls' on his mobile phone crashed his car and killed a motorist in another vehicle, a court heard.

Lewis Stratford, of Oxford, caused the head-on smash in Berkshire last June which killed 28-year-old Gavin Roberts.

The 24-year-old today pleaded guilty at Reading Crown Court on Tuesday to causing death by dangerous driving.

Lewis Stratford (left) has admitted causing the death of Gavin Roberts (right) by dangerous driving after crashing while on his phone

Stratford had made three calls in 34 minutes before losing control of his Vauxhall Corsa.

He hit the central reservation of the A34 near East Ilsley on June 11 and crossed on to the opposite carriageway, where his car collided with a BMW.

The BMW's driver, Mr Roberts, was seriously injured and died in hospital four days later.

Mr Roberts had moved from Dapto, New South Wales in Australia to Swindon, where he worked as construction manager for Network Rail. Colleagues described him as a 'very popular member of any team he worked in'.

His girlfriend Megan Williamson later launched a petition calling for the speed limit on the road to be reduced.

She said: 'I want Gavin's legacy to live on and to get justice for all of the other drives involved in incidents on the A34.

'He was just going to work, doing his job. You don't expect them not to come back.'

Gavin's colleagues at Network Rail unveiled a plaque in his honour at their Swindon headquarters and he was praised by organ donor campaigns after his organs helped save the lives of others.

Mr Roberts' girlfriend Megan Williamson, pictured together on the Friday before he died, later launched a campaign to have the speed limit on the road reduced

She helped unveil a plaque in her boyfriend's honour at his Network Rail workplace

Police Sergeant Beth Walton said today: 'This was an avoidable collision, occurring because of the actions taken by Lewis Stratford, which was to drive his vehicle at speed whilst using his mobile phone, and caused the tragic loss of Gavin Roberts' life.

'Driving whilst using a mobile phone is one of the 'fatal four' driving offences, along with speeding, not wearing a seatbelt and drink- or drug-driving. It's an offence which can, as this case shows, have catastrophic consequences.

'The loss of a life in these circumstances and impact on families and friends is devastating.

'The conviction, I hope, will allow the family and friends of Gavin Roberts to have a sense of closure with regard to proceedings and enable them to continue through their grief at this difficult time.'

Stratford was released on bail by the court and is due to be sentenced at Reading Crown Court on March 3.

The crash happened on this stretch of the A34 near East Ilsley in Berkshire last June

The case comes as police forces across the country are taking part in a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of using a phone at the wheel, with stricter legislation expected to be introduced in March.

In an unconnected case, lorry driver Tomasz Kroker, 30, was jailed for 10 years in October last year for causing the deaths of Tracy Houghton, 45, her sons, Ethan, 13, and Joshua, 11, and her partner's daughter, Aimee Goldsmith, while also using his phone while also driving on the A34 in Berkshire.

Reading Crown Court heard that he was scrolling through music selections at the time of the accident near Newbury on August 10.
Prosecutors in Nevada are planning to seek the death penalty for Justin Tom Bennett, a 23-year-old married father-of-three, who is accused of beating to death his 3-year-old daughter

Prosecutors in Nevada are planning to seek the death penalty for a 23-year-old father who is accused of punching his 3-year-old daughter in the chest with such a force that her heart burst, killing her, after spending more than a year torturing the girl and her sister.

Justin Tom Bennett, a 23-year-old married father-of-three, was arrested on the evening of July 2, 2016, in Henderson in connection to the death of his young daughter, Abygaile Bennett.

On July 1, police and paramedics were called to the home of Bennett and his wife, Korie Morimoto, in the 2400 block of Tilden Way where 3-year-old Abygaile was found unconscious at 11am.

The toddler was rushed to St Rose Dominican Hospitals, where she was pronounced dead.

An autopsy later revealed that the child died of blunt-force trauma to the chest, and that she had a host of other injuries indicating chronic physical abuse, including a bruised lung and a fractured rib.

Troubled family: Bennett, pictured in this undated photo with his wife, Korie Morimoto, and their three young daughters, has been accused of torturing the two eldest girls for 18 months

Video courtesy of KTNV:

The Clark County Coroner's Office ruled the toddler's manner of death a homicide.

On Tuesday, the district attorneys death penalty committee announced its decision to seek the death penalty against the father.

His attorney said there is no evidence that Bennett ever intended to kill his young daughter, reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Justin Bennett was at home with his three daughters, aged 2, 3 and 4, at the time of Abygaile's death. The following day, he was booked into Henderson Detention Center on open murder charges and dozens of counts of child abuse.

An indictment filed in the case has laid out in graphic detail 18 months of torture Justin Bennett had allegedly inflicted upon his two oldest daughters, ages 3 and 4.

According to the document, the young father would kick and punch the two girls, throw them against the wall, force feed them mustard and cover their mouths and noses as punishment for lying.

Bennett would also allegedly make Abygaile and her older sister stand against the walls, and if they fell down or cried from exhaustion, he would beat them.

An indictment stated Bennett (far right) would punch Abygaile and her 4-year-old sister, throw them against the wall, force feed them mustard and cover their mouths and noses

He would also force feed them white habanero peppers.

'These were so hot it would cause the children to foam at the mouth,' the prosecutor said. 

'Their eyes would be bleeding with tears, and he would cover their mouths until they would swallow.'

On one occasion, according to the indictment, Bennett cut open a wound on the head of one of the girls that had not healed.

A prosecutor stated that in the days leading up to her beating death, little Abygaile had her back broken and suffered three fractured ribs.

During his initial interview with police, Justin Bennett said on the morning of Abygaile's death, he went into the bedroom to check on her and her sisters as they slept and found a blanket wrapped around the childs neck, reported the station KTNV in July.

Harsh methods: After initially denying that he spanked his children, the father-of-three later admitted to using a wooden spoon to strike their bare buttocks and said he was not a good dad

Unable to wake her up, Bennett said he tried splashing water on the toddler's face, then carried her downstairs and proceeded to perform CPP before calling for help.

When asked about his approach to discipline, Bennett said the 'punishment fits the crime,' according to an arrest report.

After initially denying that he spanked his children, the father-of-three later admitted to using a wooden spoon to strike their bare buttocks.

Speaking to police on the evening of Abygaile's slaying, the 23-year-old dad said the toddler came into his room that morning screaming and crying. About 10 minutes into her tantrum, he said he got angry, took the girl into the bedroom and put his hand on her mouth to stop her screaming.

When asked by detectives if he thought that is what a good father would do, Bennett reportedly replied that he is not a good father.

Missed opportunity: Morimoto and Bennett had been investigated by Child Protective Services in early 2016, but officials concluded the girls were not in danger

The autopsy found that when Justin Bennett allegedly punched the toddler in the chest, the force of the blow ruptured the right atrium of her heart.

At the time of Abygailes death, her mother, Korie Morimoto, was in Texas taking part in a US Air Force training program. She was later charged with child abuse and allowing child abuse or neglect with substantial bodily harm.

Morimoto and Bennett had been investigated by Child Protective Services in early 2016 after the parents accused each other of punishing their daughters too harshly.

In the end, investigators concluded the couples three children were not in any danger and recommended that Bennett and Morimoto enroll in a parenting class.
A website has apologized for an embarrassing gaffe after depicting Barack Obama, Beyonce and Jay-Z as Caucasians.

WikiHow, which boasts of being 'the world's leading how-to website', said it was 'disgusted and ashamed' by the blunder.

The photo of the world's highest paid celebrity couple with Obama from a 2012 New York fundraising event was turned into a cartoon - with all three being made white.

It appeared on an article called 'how to become a congressman.'

The website provides guides on how to do things and often uses cartoons to illustrate its step-by-step points.

The photo of the former president with the singer and rapper was taken at a 2012 fundraiser

The picture was turned into a cartoon on the website wikiHow and the trio were made white

After screenshots emerged comparing the cartoon with the original, the website issued a groveling apology, adding how they did not believe the illustrator 'intentionally whitewashed' the trio.

In a series of tweets, it said: 'When we saw the whitewashed image of Obama, Jay Z & Beyonce, we were disgusted and ashamed. It never should have been on wikiHow.

'Within minutes of the first tweet, a volunteer removed the image. We then started investigating how it got on wikiHow at all.

'We learned it was made three years ago by a team of illustrators who work as one. One person sketches, the other person colors.

'The sketcher sent the colorist a black and white sketch. The colorist did not know the race of the models.

'The colorist wasn't aware it was Obama and Beyonce. We don't think the illustrator intentionally whitewashed here.

'This doesn't excuse the fact that we hosted a terrible image on wikiHow and we needed more diversity on that article period.

'We're talking with our illustrators to prevent recurrence and encourage diversity. Especially in positions of power.'

WikiHow's investigation revealed the image had been created in January 2014 by a team of illustrators.

Jack Herrick, founder of the site, told the Guardian that wikiHow had issued a style guide in September 2014 requesting more gender and ethnic diversity in images, and since then 'pushed our requests for diversity further and further'.

He told the newspaper: 'We've improved a lot on this issue over the last three years. You can and should expect wikiHow to be even better about this in our future work.'




Crews are assessing a massive sinkhole that has swallowed parts of two residential yards and is threatening to swallow a pickup truck in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

Officials in Cheltenham Township say the hole, which appears to be about 20 feet deep, opened up about 4 a.m. Wednesday.

A tree could be seen teetering into the hole, but it also appeared to be keeping the pickup from rolling into the crater.

A pickup truck dangles over the edge of a sinkhole the swallowed parts of two residential yards

It happened Wednesday morning in the Philadelphia suburb of Glenside

The hole also swallowed part of the sidewalk and the edge of the street nearest the two homes whose yards are affected.

'I came out here to take a look at what was going on and I was shocked at what I saw,' said neighbor Kurt Baker to NBC 10. 'I heard a sort of a loud boom and what they heard was the water rushing through,' he said.

Ron Forster owned the home about three decades ago.

Officials in say the hole, which appears to be about 20 feet deep, opened up about 4 a.m.

Authorities say nobody's been hurt and there was no obvious, immediate cause for the sinkhole to develop

'We always wondered what was going on with the water table underneath... there was some water in the basement every now and then,' Forster said to NBC News. 'Now we know.'

Authorities say nobody's been hurt and there was no obvious, immediate cause for the sinkhole to develop.

Reporters at the scene say the two affected families have been evacuated from their homes.

Workers are now attempting to stabilise the ground in the hope of saving the truck and homes
Top aides to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were touted as being made available for joint bookings on the lucrative speaking circuit  until their agency yanked promotional materials from its web site Wednesday.

Robby Mook, the organizing wunderkind who ran Hillary Clinton's sprawling campaign, has teamed up with Corey Lewandowski, helmed Donald Trump's unorthodox campaign through the primaries, were listed as being jointly available for odd couple speaking gigs.

The men will provide a 'future-focused look at why Trump won' and be an 'entertaining pair sure to keep any audience engaged,' according to their agency.

But after BuzzFeed and other outlets reported on the booking, the advertisement vanished from the booking agency's site.

Robby Mook, campaign manager for Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was listed by an agency as being available for joint speaking engagements with Donald Trump's first campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski

Matt Jones, a spokesman for Leading Authorities, said the marketing material was ''was generated by our team'  not the speakers. 'We're removing it,' he told BuzzFeed.

'There has been great interest in both Corey and Robby individually, but want to be clear that they have not teamed up. This was solely our team's idea,' he added.

Mook tweeted Wednesday: 'To set record straight: I never committed to speeches w Corey & didnt agree to posts on teaming up. It was done w/o my knowledge/consent.'

'After seeing the posting in Buzzfeed, I called the firm and asked them to take the site down and correct the record w the reporter,' he wrote in another missive. Then he added: 'I had no appointments booked through this firm and am no longer affiliated with them.'

In the original marketing materials, the site touted the pair. 'Representing opposing ends of the political spectrum, Corey and Robby offer a future-focused look at why Trump won, highlighting the massive demographic shifts at play and what they mean for our country,' it wrote.

'An entertaining pair sure to keep any audience engaged, Corey and Robby debate the day's hot issues while sharing behind-the-scenes anecdotes from two of the most heavily-dissected campaigns ever run,' it continued.

The pairing drew immediate attention, in part because Mook has blasted the Trump camp for benefitting from Russian hacking, and Lewandowski ran a campaign that labeled Hillary Clinton 'corrupt' who should be locked up in jail.

Corey Lewandowski helmed Donald Trump's

EARNINGS POTENTIAL: Trump Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway and Clinton Campaign Manager Robby Mook speak during the event titled 'War Stories: Inside Campaign 2016' at the Harvard Institute of Politics. A paid pairing between Mook and Lewandowski was listed, then scrubbed Wednesday

'ENTERTAINING PAIR': The Leading Authorities website listed both men as being available for joint appearances

Lewandowski, who opened up a consulting shop just blocks from the White House, previously had a paid consulting arrangement with CNN.

Lewandowski's solo bio with the agency lists him as a 'veteran strategist who ran the most discussed and unconventional campaign of all time.' Lewandowski is billed as a 'brash, whip-smart maverick who tells it like it is.' He can take 'audiences behind-the-scenes of the 2016 electionand offers an overview of what's next in Washington.'

The only joint pairing the site showed early Wednesday afternoon showed him teaming with Democratic strategist Stephanie Cutter.

The earlier joint bio called the men 'two of the most important figures in the 2016 election,' who both 'ran large, complex organizations that leveraged targeted data and social media.'

I said they could 'deliver behind-the-scenes anecdotes from one of the countrys most unpredictable election cycles' and 'offer a balanced look at the future of public policy and the American electorate.'

According to Mook's current individual bio, he 'built a $1-billion, 50-state, and 3,500-person organization that mobilized more volunteers than any other campaign in history. He oversaw marketing, strategic communications, technology, data, fundraising, field organizing, and other critical aspects of campaign operations.'

His agent's bio notes that he took the ''toughest job in politics' at age 35.

Tensions between the Clinton and Trump camps were on display during the campaign. Mook was among the first to raise charges of Russian election interference on air.

President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski (R) greets guest at an Afternoon Tea hosted by the British Embassy to mark the presidential Inauguration

In joining the speaking circuit, Mook is following in the footsteps of other campaign professionals  and his former boss.

Clinton banked up to $200,000 for speeches as the former secretary of state, something Mook had to spend considerable time explaining as her campaign manager. Former President Clinton earned even more.

The speeches left the Clintons open to charges of influence by corporations and paying foreign governments. Sometimes the fees went to the Clinton Foundation, which itself became a constant source of headaches and media reports during the campaign.

Clinton rival Bernie Sanders during the primaries demanded the release of speeches Hillary Clinton made to Goldman Sachs. Those remarks eventually saw daylight after they got posted on WikiLeaks following election hacking that Mook and the intelligence community attributed to the Russians.

After Lewandowski got fired, his successor Paul Manafort, was found to have contacts with the pro-Kremlin party in Ukraine.
Quitting Europe's customs union will 'significantly hit' UK firms by hiking admin costs and causing crippling delays in deliveries to and from the continent, industry experts warned today.

Road haulage representatives demanded ministers make a public statement reassuring businesses that they 'understand the significance' of leaving the customs union, which allows free movement of goods across Europe.

Without a 'smooth transit of traffic in and out of the EU' UK firms will be put at a disadvantage to their European rivals, industry experts warned.

And setting out the wider impact of Britain leaving the customs union, James Hookham from the Freight Transport Association said there would be a 'serious disruption to the economy'.

Failing to secure a deal could leave firms being forced to pay an extra 50 per journey just for sorting out the extra admin costs, Jack Semple, pictured, from the Road Haulage Association told MPs today

Theresa May has signalled she intends to take Britain out of the customs union in order to take back sovereignty from the ECJ and the ability to strike solo trade deals with the rest of the world.

One option would be to opt back in to some elements of the customs union, but on our own terms.

Failing to secure a deal could leave firms being forced to pay an extra 50 per journey just for sorting out the extra paperwork, Jack Semple from the Road Haulage Association told MPs today.

And Graeme Charnock from Peel Ports - one of the UK's largest port operators - warned that imports and exports to Europe could delayed by an extra 2-4 days.

Research shows that an extra 60million forms will have to be filled in by UK businesses every year if ministers fail to agree a deal to stay in the single market.

Appearing before the Commons Home Affairs committee, Mr Semple said customs arrangements with the EU will have to be in place 'from day one' ahead of Britain's official departure date 'so the service to the UK economy can be assured'.

Graeme Charnock, pictured, from Peel Ports - one of the UK's largest port operators - warned that imports and exports to Europe could delayed by an extra 2-4 days

Also appearing at the committee today was Andrew Baxter, pictured, managing director of Europa Worldwide Logistics, who warned that the biggest concern was the extra transit time for goods being traded outside of Europe's customs union

He said HMRC would have to be given more money in preparation for the 'enormous increase in workload' at customs.

And he criticised officials for being 'slightly unfocused' over the customs union, adding: 'We have to really now get down to business'.

Mr Semple said: 'We have a very clear request of Government and that is that I think we really need a public statement from ministers to say they understand the significance of customs in this issue, that it is likely that customers will have to have a significant increase in its budget, will have to take on more people and will have to up-skill.

'But I think the key point is to say publicly that customs has to do what needs to be done, to have that in place from day one so the service to the UK economy can be assured...and also that companies can be reassured that it's going to be in place.

He also warned that haulage firms themselves will be required to train their staff on the transition to life outside the customs union.

Also appearing at the committee today was Andrew Baxter, managing director of Europa Worldwide Logistics, who warned that the biggest concern was the extra transit time for goods being traded outside of Europe's customs union.

Extra storage capacity will also be needed at customs, he warned.

Importers could be faced with an extra 50 customs clearance fee, while exporters would have to pay additional 15 for customs clearance going to the continent.

Quitting Europe's customs union will 'significantly hit' UK firms by hiking admin costs and causing crippling delays in deliveries to and from the continent, industry experts warned

He said UK businesses and manufacturers would be put at a disadvantage compared to their European rivals if they were forced to order products earlier or didn't have a regular, guaranteed delivery service.

'One of the biggest issues is in delaying good and delaying transit times,' Mr Baxter warned. 'That's a big issue - having a secure supply chain is massively important to our customers.'

Firms need reassurance that deliveries will turn up on time and 'don't get snagged in the process'.

Mr Baxter added: 'Most people's concerns in the supply industry is around this time issue. Can they get it when they want it? And if they can't, what are they going to do?'

The Open Britain group said today's warnings were further evidence that Theresa May must not go ahead with threats to walk away from EU talks without a deal on maintaining access to the customs union.

Executive director Joe Carberry said: 'Being a member of the Customs Union means we can trade products with the rest of Europe without any barriers, bureaucracy or time-consuming border checks.

'That saves money for British businesses, makes it easier to export and creates jobs here in the UK.

'The Government's plan to leave will mean increased red tape for British business that will lead to delays and cost, and could cost jobs. Goods could be backed up in ports while undergoing time-consuming customs checks and form-filling exercises. Complying with complex rules of origin checks will pile on the cost for British firms.

'There is a mandate for Brexit, but not for damaging UK business. The Government should have a rethink, or produce a cost-benefit analysis as part of their White Paper which justifies this position.'
A former Utah high school teacher who is behind bars for having sexual relationships with three underage male students broke down in tears during her parole hearing.

Brianne Altice, 37, pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse in November and was sentenced up to 30 years in prison.

Altice must serve at least two years in prison. The parole board will decide over the next month whether to set a release date.

The mother-of-two took responsibility for her actions during the hearing on Tuesday, telling the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole: 'This was no one's fault but my own'.

Altice said she had been attending therapy in prison and was facing the self-esteem issues that she said led to sexual relationships with a 16-year-old and two 17-year-old boys.

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Brianne Altice, 37, former Utah high school teacher who is behind bars for having sexual relationships with three underage male students broke down in tears during her parole hearing

The mother-of-two took responsibility for her actions during the hearing on Tuesday, telling the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole: 'This was no one's fault but my own'

'I clearly lost sight of all my values and principles and was seeking inappropriate means to address my own issues,' she said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

'Issues I'm very aware of now.'

Robert Yeates, the parole board's vice chairman, noted during the hearing that Altice had sexual encounters with a 16-year-old student in a church parking lot and during school lunch hours.

Yeates added that Altice had sexual relations with one of the 17-year-old boys in his home, and had inappropriate contact with the second 17-year-old while she was facing criminal charges and out on bail for the prior relationships.

'Did you grasp the gravity of this?' Yeates asked Altice during the hearing, according to Fox 13.

'I do not believe I did,' Altice replied.

The former English teacher added that she 'justified everything' because the boys 'said this and that and made me feel good about myself'.

'There's no justification for it,' she added.

Altice also took a moment to apologize to her three victims, who were not in attendance.

Alticepleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse in November and was sentenced up to 30 years in prison. She must serve a minimum of two years

She said she was 'extremely remorseful', and told the boys she hope they could move on from her 'poor decisions' to live happy lives.

Altice admitted that she took advantage of their attention.

'I understand that this was my doing,' she said.

'This was no one else's fault but my own. This was not my ex-husband's fault, or the school's fault, or my students' fault.'

'These were my poor, poor decisions. I'm very aware of it now and I am very remorseful. I regret the decisions I made that brought us here.'

Altice admitted in a plea agreement that she had touched the genitals of the three boys from January to September 2013.

All three teens testified that they had sexual intercourse with the teacher.

Two of the victims have since filed lawsuits against Altice and the Davis School District.

Both lawsuits claim that Davis High School was aware of Altice's inappropriate relationships with multiple students but did not fire her and protect them.

One of the suits claim that the the running joke in the high school was: 'Who is Ms Altice sleeping with now?'

Altice (pictured in 2015) admitted in a plea agreement that she had touched the genitals of the three boys in 2013. All three testified that they had sexual intercourse with the teacher

One of the victim's lawsuits claimed that the the running joke in the high school was: 'Who is Ms Altice sleeping with now?'. Altice is pictured here in court in 2014

Altice was first arrested in October 2013 when the 16-year-old victim reported having a relationship with her. The two additional victims then came forward.

The former teacher was defiant following her initial arrest, claiming at the time that the boy 'wore down her defenses' and 'ultimately broke down her resistance'.

Altice's victim claimed the relationship began after they exchanged numbers and flirted during class. They ultimately started kissing and having sex.

Court documents state that the students often skipped class to spend their days with Altice, and that she confided in them about her marital problems.

Altice fired back at the claims from prison with a two-page letter in which she lashed out at the parents of one of her victims, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

In the letter, Altice claimed the parents had failed to attend her parent-teacher conferences and said their son often complained about his strained relationship with them.

She also shot down claims that she wore 'risque' clothing in the classroom saying that there she had never received any complaints about her work attire.

Altice said she wrote the two-page letter that was submitted to the court last month in response to the lawsuit because she cannot afford legal counsel.

The former teacher (pictured in 2014) was defiant following her initial arrest, claiming that one of her victims 'wore down her defenses' and 'ultimately broke down her resistance'

Altice (pictured during sentencing July 2015) now claims she was facing the self-esteem issues that she said led to the sexual relationships with a 16 year old and two 17 year old boys

She said her victims would also frequently tell her 'youre hot' and 'youre sexy.'

Although Altice has been sentenced to a minimum of two years in prison, she has also been given credit for time served since January 2015.

Altice was ordered to jail at the time after it was revealed she had sex with a third victim while out on bail for her 2013 arrest.

Sentencing guidelines suggest Altice remain behind bars until January 2020, but the ultimate decision will be left to the parole board.

Altice told Yeates that she will never be able to teach again and does not plan to contact any of her victims. She also said she is willing to under sex offender treatment.

She plans on release to live in a home owned by her parents and resume as a job as an office assistant.

Altice's husband divorced her following her 2013 arrest and has custody of their two children.
A mother has described how she was hiding from a tornado in her bathtub with her son when it was picked up by the wind, flung into the air and dropped in nearby woods.

Charlesletta Williams, 75 and her son Rickey Williams were watching the local news in Smithland, Texas, at around 5.00pm on Saturday when they saw an urgent warning of a possible tornado, with their home in directly in the path of the storm, KSLA reported.

Just seconds later, the two heard the 130mph winds bearing down on the single-story home, and Rickey yelled for his mother to dash to the bathtub.

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Charlesletta Williams surveys tornado damage to her home in Smithland, Texas. The 75-year-old woman and her son survived the storm by flying through the tornado in a bathtub

The bathtub (pictured during cleanup efforts) is said to have flown through the air to the woods near the house, landing with Williams safely inside. Her son landed safely 20 feet away

'The whole house just started shaking, and she said "Oh, Lord," and I said, "Yeah, here it comes,"' her son told the news station.

What happened next is hard to believe, but the Williams family is adamant it's true.

The tub lifted straight into the air with mother and son inside, spinning furiously.

After flying to an unknown height, the tub flew some distance to woods near the house. Rickey Williams said he fell out of the tub and landed safely on the ground about 20 feet from his mother, who rode the flying tub all the way down.

'It felt like somebody had their hands on us and just placed us on the ground,' said Rickey Williams.

The Williams' home was lifted off its foundations. The white doorway (center) used to lead from the interior living room to the bathroom where the two hid

A view of storm conditions near Smithland, Texas on Saturday. The tornado first touched down just a mile or so from the Williams residence

The tornado, which had first touched down just a mile or so away from the Williams residence, continued on, carving a roughly 20 mile track that crossed over the state line from Texas to Louisiana.

Among other damage, the tornado winds lifted a party boat barge in Smithland and flung it 200 yards into a grove of trees, according to the National Weather Service.

The tornado was one of at least 12 generated by storms throughout Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana on Saturday.

Tornadoes killed at least 17 people in the U.S. last year, down from 36 the year prior and significantly less than the 10-year average of 110 from 2006 to 2015.

Charlesletta Williams says the family plans to rebuild, and that she hopes her wild ride will be the last of its kind.

'I tell you, I don't want to ride through another one.'
Horrifying footage shows the shocking road accident that blasted open an ambulance's doors and flung a midwife out onto the road.

The ambulance can be seen pulling out onto a busy crossroads, its flashing blue lights on.

But as it crosses the road, a Nissan Terrano SUV driving at high speed slams into the side of the Fiat Ducato ambulance, spinning it round and flinging open its rear doors.

The ambulance can be seen pulling out onto a busy crossroads its flashing blue lights on

But as it crosses the road, a Nissan Terrano SUV driving at high speed slams into the side of the Fiat Ducato ambulance, spinning it round and flinging open its rear doors

A midwife, who was in the emergency vehicle accompanying a pregnant woman to a maternity hospital, is hurled forcefully out of the vehicle by the impact.

She can be seen landing painfully on the tarmac, still tumbling from the force of the impact.

The incident was captured in the city of Arkhangelsk in northern Russia.

Reportedly the midwife, whose name and age were not disclosed, broke her knee bone in the accident. She was rushed to hospital.

The condition of her pregnant patient was not reported.

A midwife, who was in the emergency vehicle accompanying a pregnant woman to a maternity hospital, is hurled forcefully out of the vehicle by the impact

She can be seen landing painfully on the tarmac, still tumbling from the force of the impact

Reportedly the midwife, whose name and age were not disclosed, broke her knee bone in the accident. She was rushed to hospital

The driver of the SUV told traffic police: 'I was driving at 40 mph. The traffic light was green. Suddenly right in front of my car I saw the ambulance crossing the intersection. I didn't hear or see any signals or warning lights.

'The ambulance in my way was completely sudden for me. I slammed on the brakes, but it was not possible to avoid the crash.'

A child is believed to have been in the Nissan Terrano, but was not injured.

The ambulance driver was also hurt during the accident, though the nature of his injuries was not revealed.

One local news site suggested the driver had attempted to jump a red light at the intersection. Bad weather has also been blamed.

A police investigation is ongoing. No names were mentioned in reports.




Actress Pamela Anderson has made a surprise visit to a refugee camp in northern France, distributing children's books, food and other supplies.

Anderson's visit to the La Liniere camp outside Dunkirk was preceded by a stop at an aid group's warehouse in Calais, where a huge makeshift camp harbouring thousands of migrants was closed after a forced evacuation in October.

Wearing high heels, Anderson stooped to distribute fruit to children and passed out blankets, gloves and children's books.

Wearing high heels, Anderson stooped to distribute fruit to children and passed out blankets, gloves and children's books

La Voix du Nord newspaper quoted her as saying that everyone should see what a camp is like and ask what they can do.

Anderson, 49, promotes animal, human and environmental rights but, of course, she initially shot to fame as a pin-up girl and for her role in Baywatch.

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was refused entry to the La Liniere camp on Tuesday.

Anderson promotes animal, human and environmental rights but, of course, she initially shot to fame as a pin-up girl and for her role in Baywatch

Actress Pamela Anderson has made a surprise visit to a refugee camp in northern France

The model turned activists wants to encourage more people to visit the camp

Writing on her blog Anderson said: 'I'm leaving Dunkirk now. I'm speechless. I'm so angry. The children are so lovely and polite. I gave out blankets, hats, gloves, fruit, coloring books and crayons.

'Some were so fearful they wouldn't get a blanket or crayons or an apple -It was chaos. I'll never forget today.

'I brought some whisky to the volunteers.

La Voix du Nord newspaper quoted her as saying that everyone should see what a camp is like

'What an unusual and extraordinary group.

'They are amazing.

'They have been there for months, years. From the Calais Jungle to diff camps - tossed around.'

The model turned activists wants to encourage more people to visit the camp.

She said: 'Imagine if every person could come see this? Policy would change. It's hard to engage people to act without empathy - and unfortunately most people don't feel it by watching the news; but, by meeting people and seeing for themselves - It would change everything.

Writing on her blog Anderson said: 'I'm leaving Dunkirk now. I'm speechless. I'm so angry.'

Anderson called the volunteers at Dunkirk 'amazing' and said 'unusual and extraordinary group'

She said: 'Imagine if every person could come see this? Policy would change.'

'It's hard to engage people to act without empathy - and unfortunately most people don't feel it by watching the news,' she said

The model added: 'Just people trying to live.

'I encourage more people to come visit, and volunteer if at all possible.

'It's just not fair.

'Closing borders, and closing people out is not the answer.

'It's backwards.'
President Donald Trump has started the clock ticking on his pledge to build a wall between the United States and Mexico, and believes construction will start 'in months.'

He spoke in his first interview since being inaugurated, with ABC Nightly News anchor David Muir.

ABC News broke into lunch-hour programming  Washington, D.C. viewers missed a few minutes of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?'  in order to broadcast a brief teaser from Wednesday's Oval Office interview.

Construction will begin 'as soon as we can, as soon as we can physically do it,' Trump said.

Asked if it would be just a matter of months, the president agreed.

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BUILD THAT WALL: Asked for a timescale for construction he said: 'I would say in months, yeah. I would say in months. Certainly planning is starting immediately.'

BORDER BARRIER: A section of the border is already fenced at El Paso. Other section also have a high fence but Trump has promised a wall

DEFINITIVE: Trump repeated his frequent campaign claim that Mexico will, one way or another, 'absolutely, 100 per cent' pay for the wall.

'I would say in months, yeah. I would say in months. Certainly planning is starting immediately.'

Trump repeated his frequent campaign claim that Mexico will, one way or another, 'absolutely, 100 per cent' pay for the wall.

The president believes the giant public works project will dramatically reduce the northward flow of illegal immigrants and narcotics into U.S. border states and beyond.

On Wednesday he provided one of his vaguest explanations yet of how that payment would be structured.

'Ultimately it'll come out of what's happening with Mexico. We're going to be starting those negotiations relatively soon, and we will be, in a form. reimbursed by Mexico,' Trump said.

'It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form,' he added, putting less meat on his idea's bones than usual.

Trump dismissed Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto's steadfast denials that his country would ever pay to erect a wall on its northern edge.

Pena Nieto told his nation's diplomatic corps two weeks ago that he has 'differences with the new United States government on some issues, such as a wall that Mexico absolutely will not pay for. At no time will we accept anything that goes against our dignity as a country and our dignity as Mexicans.'

Trump scoffed.

'Well, I think he has to say that. He has to say that,' he declared. 'But I'm just telling you there will be a payment.'

FIRST INTERVIEW: Trump tells David Muir that the wall's go-ahead is 'good for the United States'.'It's also going to be good for Mexico,' he said.

NO: Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto told his nation's diplomatic corps two weeks ago of the wall that 'Mexico absolutely will not pay for' it

'What I'm doing is good for the United States,' the president declared. 'It's also going to be good for Mexico. We want to have a very stable, very solid Mexico.'

ABC's David Muir and Jonathan Karl interviewed Trump at the White House, and described an exchange about the president's views on torturing suspected combatants in the War on Terror.

'This is a fascinating conversation,' Karl recalled, describing differences of opinion between Trump and Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

'He tells you that General Mattis surprised him by saying he doesn't think that waterboarding works, he doesn't think that torture works,' Karl said.

'And then he made it very clear that Donald Trump still very much believes that torture works, and he said in the last 24 hours he has spoken to top intelligence people who say it does work.'

'So for now,' the newsman concluded, 'no waterboarding, no torture. But he made it clear that he could bring it back.'

'Beginning today the United States of America ...gets back its borders': Trump signs orders to build Mexican wall and attack sanctuary cities, announces 5,000 new border guards and triples immigration enforcement force as he goes to war on immigration

President Donald Trump cracked down on illegal immigration on Wednesday, signing off on two executive actions to restore law and order.

One of the orders he signed jumpstarts construction of a wall on the border with Mexico, the White House says, the other defunds sanctuary cities like Los Angeles, New York and Chicago that harbor illegal immigrants.

'A nation without borders is not a nation,' Trump told Department of Homeland Security employees after signing the orders. 'Beginning today the United States of America...gets back its borders.'

To help with the 'crisis' at the southern border, Trump gave DHS the authority to hire another 5,000 border patrol officers and triple its roster of immigration enforcement agents.

President Donald Trump is cracking down on illegal immigration, issuing two executive actions this afternoon that aim to restore law and order

For 'too long' immigration official and border patrol agents 'haven't been allowed to properly do their jobs.

'That's all about to change,' Trump told employees of DHS. 'And I'm very happy about it, and you're happy about it.' Immigration laws will be 'enforced and enforced strongly,' he added.

The president said he was recognizing members of those agencies in his remarks 'not because they unanimously endorsed me for president.

'That helps, but that's not the only reason,' he teased.

Trump signed the executive orders this afternoon at DHS before his address.

He said in the remarks that followed that he expects the United States' relationship with Mexico to improve as a result of his actions because the 'unprecedented surge' of illegal immigrants in the United States is bad for both countries.

'It's going to be very, very good for Mexico,' he said of the orders' effects.

Trump said he's looking forward to meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto next week for the first time as president, and the second time since the start of his campaign, to discuss the measures.

'I want to emphasize that we will be working in particular with our friends in Mexico to improve safety and economic opportunity on both sides of the border,' Trump said Wednesday. 'I have deep admiration [for] the people of Mexico.'

A proposal under consideration earlier this month had the U.S. footing the bill for the border wall 'for the sake of speed,' Trump said, and Mexico paying the money back.

He told ABC News in an interview that will air in full tonight, 'We're going to be starting those negotiations relatively soon. And we will be - in a form - reimbursed by Mexico.'

'I'm just telling you that there will be a payment. It will be in a form - perhaps a complicated form,' he said. 'And you have to understand. What I'm doing is good for the United States.'

At his daily briefing, Trump's spokesman previewed the executive orders Trump would be signing and what they entailed.

The first one called for 'Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements.'

'It addresses long overdue border security issues and is the first order in that to build a large physical barrier on the southern border,' Spicer said. 'Building this barrier is more than just a campaign promise it's a common sense first step to really securing our porous border.

Adding, 'And yes, one way or another, as the president said before, Mexico will pay for it.'

'We are going to get the bad ones out,' Trump told Department of Homeland Security employees after signing the orders, zeroing on criminals and drug dealers. 'The day is over where they can stay in our country and wreak havoc. We are going to get them out and get them out fast'

The order will empower immigration officials to do their jobs, he said, and create more detention spacer at facilities along the border.

'Under the Constitution, the American people get the final say on who can and cannot enter our nation and they've spoken loud and clearly through our laws.'

Trump will also end the previous administration's 'catch and release policy,' Spicer said, 'which has led to the deaths of many Americans.'

The president's directive continues one Obama-era policy. It places a priority on the 'the prosecution and deportation of illegal immigrants who've also otherwise violated our laws,' the White House said.

'And after these criminals spend time in prison for the crimes they've committed they're going to get back one-way tickets to the country of their origin. And their governments are going to take them back,' Spicer declared.

Trump said later at DHS: 'We are going to get the bad ones out.'

Zeroing on criminals and drug dealers, he said, 'The day is over where they can stay in our country and wreak havoc. We are going to get them out and get them out fast.'

The second document deals with sanctuary cities. Trump had said he would with Congress to cut off their access to federal taxpayer dollars until they obey national immigration laws.

'Federal agents are going to unapologetically enforce the law, no ifs ands or butts,' Spicer said today.

The order Trump signed today would affect major U.S. cities including Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel came to visit Trump in New York after the election to ask him not to move forward on the campaign promise. Emanuel has said Chicago will remain a sanctuary city regardless of federal action like the one Trump took today

The White House said those cities would still have access to funding for policing.

'There's other aid that can extended as well, either through the U.S. attorneys office or other means that will ensure that the people of Chicago have the resources to feel safe,' Spicer stated.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel came to visit Trump in New York after the election to ask him not to move forward on the campaign promise. Emanuel has said Chicago will remain a sanctuary city regardless of federal action like the one Trump took today.

'We'll hopefully get a dialogue started with Mayor Emanuel and try and figure out what a path forward can be, so we get - so we come up with a plan that can keep the people of Chicago safe and help ease the problem there,' Spicer said.

Trump's spokesman also hinted at another executive order dealing with immigration that's coming down the hatch: 'extreme vetting.'

Spicer suggested Wednesday that the administration has an order in the works to limit immigration from countries afflicted by terrorism.

'Youll see more action this week on keeping America safe,' he said. 'This has been something he talked about in the inaugural address. He talked about it in the campaign. As we get into the implementation of that executive order, well have further details.'

Trump was at DHS to deliver remarks at attend the ceremonial swearing in of his Homeland Security chief, John Kelly, who took his formal oath of office last Friday.

'He's a rough tough guy but he's also got a good heart,' Trump said and 'will do a very special job.'
Ohio's State Highway Patrol is facing criticism after a man was attacked by a police dog as he Facebook live-streamed the moment his cousin was arrested for a missing license plate.

Dannie Oliver, 36, who was a passenger in his cousin's car, was accused of ignoring troopers' orders as driver Samuel Tolbert, 31, was pulled over on Monday night.

State troopers had tried to stop Tolbert at Copley Road and Bacon Ave in Akron, for a missing license plate on the rear bumper, but Tolbert did not stop until he arrived at Oliver's home, two blocks north.

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Dannie Oliver (left) 36, posted a Facebook Live video of his cousin Samuel Tolbert's (right) 31, arrest and the moment he was attacked by a police dog

The driver told troopers he did not know he was being followed until he turned at Bye St and Bacon.

Dashcam footage obtained by the Akron Beacon Journal shows the trooper pulling Tolbert over and threatening to send the dog if he exits the car.

Tolbert is seen getting out of the car seeming confused as a trooper draws his gun. The footage also shows Oliver using his phone to live stream the incident.

In the three-minute video, Oliver is heard saying troopers arrived at his home and slammed Tolbert on the ground and pulled 'guns and tasers' on the two men.

Tolbert is shown being walked to the squad car in handcuffs as he asks Oliver to call his mother and to get his ID card from the glove compartment.

Oliver was getting Tolbert's ID from the car before the trooper shouted at him and released the dog

Dashcam footage shows the moment Tolbert exits the car and when a trooper draws his gun

Oliver is immediately ordered to get out of the car as he attempts to get the ID for Tolber

As Oliver obliged, he was immediately shouted at by a trooper who ordered him to get out of the car.

The 36-year-old is heard explaining he was trying to get the ID for Tolbert, who he described as his cousin.

'I don't care! Get inside your house!' the trooper is heard shouting as he threatens to put Oliver in jail for 'obstructing official business.'

Samuel Tolbert, pictured, was charged with with obstructing official business, willful fleeing, a probation violation and drug abuse

'Hey, hold up, whoa! You ain't got to grab me, dawg!' Oliver is heard saying.

Moments later, a police dog is heard barking before Oliver his heard screaming in pain as it bites its leg.

'Hey, why'd you release the dog, man? Hey, this f***ing dog is attacking me! My f***ing leg! Get this dog!,' he's heard shouting.

Dannie Oliver, pictured in a Facebook photo, was treated for his injuries and taken into custody at Summit County Jail

The trooper tells him to stop fighting the dog, which Oliver tells him he is not, before putting him in handcuffs.

He is heard asking the trooper why is was being arrested as he was 'not doing anything wrong.'

Oliver was charged with obstructing official business, and Tolbert was charged with obstructing official business, willful fleeing, a probation violation and drug abuse, according to reports.

Dannie Oliver was treated in a hospital for dog bites.

A spokesman tells the Akron Beacon Journal the patrol will review the Monday night arrests in Akron to determine whether appropriate force was used.

Both men were taken to Summit County Jail.
The woman who led the Supreme Court challenge against Brexit has claimed she was told she was 'not even human' by racist trolls.

Gina Miller said she has suffered disgusting abuse 'because she was a 'coloured woman' over the past few weeks as 11 judges deliberated whether to force Theresa May to go to Parliament to trigger Article 50, but that it was all 'worth it'.

It comes as police have confirmed they have arrested and bailed a second man for making threats against Ms Miller.

There is no suggestion this man is linked to the specific abuse Ms Miller has mentioned.

Gina Miller, pictured centre outside the Supreme Court flanked by private security, claims she has been told she is 'not human' because she is a 'coloured woman'

The mother-of-three told the Guardian she continued to receive abuse right up to the Supreme Court verdict.

She said: 'I've been told that 'as a coloured woman', I'm not even human, I'm a primate and only a piece of meat and I should be hunted down and killed.'

Ms Miller, 51, added she 'doesn't feel safe going outside' and has been told she should 'be the new Jo Cox'.

She has hired private security and reduced her use of public transport.

Ms Miller, pictured, said she had received torrents of abuse for leading the campaign to have Parliament vote on triggering Brexit

Speaking to the Guardian, she said it was 'all worth it' and added: 'Hopefully we have preserved democracy and the constitution.'

Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Operation Falcon confirmed they arrested a 50-year-old man at an address in Knightsbridge, central London, this morning on suspicion of racially aggravated malicious communications.

Police said that the arrest related to a complaint made to police on November 6 by a 51-year-old woman relating to threats made online, as well as to a second unrelated comment believed to have been made by the same suspect in August 2016.

The arrested man has been released on bail to a date in mid-February.

As part of the same investigation, officers have issued eight 'cease and desist' notices to individuals in various parts of the UK, warning them police could take action against them unless they stop acting in the way they have been doing.

The new arrest followed the detention of a 55-year-old man in Swindon, Wiltshire, in December, also on suspicion of racially-aggravated malicious communications directed at the businesswoman.

Police have today arrested and bailed a second man on suspicion of making threats against Ms Miller online

Speaking following her legal victory on Tuesday, Ms Miller said she and her legal team had faced 'extraordinary and unprecedented criticism' in what had been a 'challenging' period for them.

The Guyana-born mother of three became the face of the first successful legal battle against Brexit, but said in a radio interview that it had resulted in her becoming 'apparently the most hated woman in Britain'.

She successfully challenged Prime Minister Theresa May's plan to use prerogative powers to trigger withdrawal negotiations under Article 50 of the EU Treaties.

As a result of her victory, Mrs May must now obtain the approval of both Houses of Parliament before beginning the two-year process of pulling the UK out of the European Union.
The man tipped to become Donald Trump's ambassador to the EU predicted the euro 'could collapse' within the next 18 months.

Professor Ted Malloch, a former economist and close adviser of the US President, said he would bet on the euro failing and said Mr Trump believes the EU 'has overshot its mark'.

'The one thing I would do in 2017 is short the euro,' he told the BBC.

Professor Ted Malloch, a former economist and close adviser of the US President, said he would bet on the euro failing and said Mr Trump believes the EU 'has overshot its mark'

'I think it is a currency that is not only in demise but has a real problem and could in fact collapse in the coming year, year and a half.

'I am not the only person or economist of that point of view.

'Someone as acclaimed as Joseph Stiglitz - the famous World Bank economist - has written an entire book on this subject.'

Mr Malloch also suggested a 'mutually beneficial' US-UK free trade deal could be hammered out within 90 days by cutting out the 'bureaucrats' who delay negotiations.

He rubbished claims that an agreement could take more than seven years to be struck because Mr Trump is 'high energy' and 'can get things done'.

Ted Malloch said US President Donald Trump, pictured, believes the EU 'has overshot its mark'

But Britain would have to pursue a 'clean' break from the EU in order to be in a position to strike a deal with the US, he added in an endorsement of Theresa May's Brexit plan, which will take Britain out of the single market and likely the customs union too.

Mr Trump has yet to appoint America's man in Brussels but Mr Malloch is tipped to be picked to replace Obama-enthusiast Anthony Gardner and attended an interview with the President's team at Trump Tower earlier this month.

He is a former deputy executive secretary of the UN in Geneva.

He said: 'I remind people that the largest merger and acquisition deals in history are often done in about that time frame [90 days].

'Some of us who have worked on Wall Street or in the City know that if you get the right people in the right room with the right data and the right energy, and Trump is certainly high energy, you can get things done.

'I think this will cut out the bureaucrats in effect and it won't take two years, it won't take seven years to actually come to an agreement.'

Ted Malloch said Theresa May and Donald Trump could strike a free trade deal within 90 days

He added: 'Obviously there are things to iron out, certainly there are differences and compromises to make, but it can be done.

'So, there won't be a deal signed in the White House on Friday, but there could be an agreement for a framework going forward where people are empowered to have that kind of conversation behind closed doors and it could take as little as 90 days.

'That is very positive and it sends a signal that the United States is behind Great Britain in its hour of need.'

He also warned Brussels that any attempt to block Britain starting trade negotiations with the US would be 'absurd' and compared it to a husband 'trying to stop his wife having an affair'.

Warning of the existential threat to the EU, Mr Malloch said: 'I personally am not certain that there will be a European Union with which to have [free trade] negotiations'.
A suspected Florida cop killer yelled 'f*** you' to a judge after being hauled into court to face an additional charge of resisting arrest in relation to the death of a policewoman.

Markeith Loyd, 41, faced court at Orange County Jail in Orlando on Wednesday with a bandage over his eye for the third time since he was arrested last week.

The judge told him his bond was set at $500 for his most recent charge of resisting arrest without violence. He is already being held with no bond in relation to the two murder charges.

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Markeith Loyd, 41, screamed at an Orange County judge in Orlando on Wednesday after he was hauled into court to face an additional charge of resisting arrest

'I'm here for what? Resisting arrest? And this is what happened to me? F*** you,' he yelled at the judge before being escorted away.

The judge replied calmly: 'Have a good day, sir'.

Loyd was arrested last week and claims police beat him up after he crawled from an abandoned home where he had been hiding following a nine-day manhunt.

He is accused of shooting dead Orlando Lt. Debra Clayton on January 9 outside a Walmart as she tried to apprehend him over the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon on December 13.

Police said Loyd resisted arrest and that force was used to bring him in.

Loyd lashed out at the judge on Wednesday after his bond was set at $500 for resisting arrest without violence. He is already being held with no bond in relation to the two murder charges

Loyd has already face court twice over the fatal shooting of an Orlando police officer. He is pictured here attending his initial court appearance last Thursday

The most recent charge on Wednesday brings Loyd's total charges to 11 in relation to the two deaths, including murder of a law enforcement officer and attempted first-degree murder with a firearm of a law enforcement officer.

It isn't the first time Loyd has lashed out at a judge.

He appeared with his eye bandaged and flanked by two cops last Thursday to hear the murder charges when he screamed 'f*** you' at the judge.

'They done took my eye, broke my nose, broke my jaw,' Loyd complained, swearing as he described crawling out to the road to be arrested.

He is accused of shooting dead Orlando Lt. Debra Clayton on January 9 outside a Walmart as she tried to apprehend him over the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend

Loyd is also charged with the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon (pictured)

'I crawled out to the mother*****g road, so how did I resist?' he said.

'I didn't resist s***. They just did that s*** and tried to hide it from the news people, but I'm here right now.'

Orlando Police released aerial footage of the moment he was arrested, which appears to show an officer kicking the suspect in the face while he was laying on the ground.

Officers said he resisted arrest by not putting his arms behind his back as instructed.

Police said that Loyd (pictured leaving Orlando Police headquarters) resisted arrest and force was used to bring him in
President Donald Trump cracked down on illegal immigration on Wednesday, signing off on two executive actions to restore law and order.

One of the orders he signed jumpstarts construction of a wall on the border with Mexico, the White House says, the other defunds sanctuary cities like Los Angeles, New York and Chicago that harbor illegal immigrants.

'A nation without borders is not a nation,' Trump told Department of Homeland Security employees after signing the orders. 'Beginning today the United States of America...gets back its borders.'

To help with the 'crisis' at the southern border, Trump gave DHS the authority to hire another 5,000 border patrol officers and triple its roster of immigration enforcement agents.

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President Donald Trump is cracking down on illegal immigration, issuing two executive actions this afternoon that aim to restore law and order

TRUMP'S TWO EXECUTIVE ORDERS Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Wednesday. Both are part of his battle against illegal immigration. With one of the decisions, the president ordered work to begin on planning and building a wall on the Mexican border. The US leader instructed officials to begin to 'plan, design and construct a physical wall along the southern border' and see how it could be funded. 'A nation without borders is not a nation,' Trump said, echoing former president Ronald Reagan. In the order, Trump envisions the 'immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border, monitored and supported by adequate personnel so as to prevent illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking, and acts of terrorism'. Trump has promised to make Mexico pay for the wall, something the Mexican government has repeatedly said it will not do. The US president failed to clearly explain Wednesday how he intends to get Mexico to pay for the wall. 'All it is, is we'll be reimbursed at a later date from whatever transaction we make from Mexico,' he said. Meanwhile Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said: 'Mexico does not believe in walls. I've said it time and time again: Mexico will not pay for any wall.' The other executive order signed by the president Wednesday aims at preventing sanctuary cities across the country from offering protection to undocumented immigrants. The order strips sanctuary cities from federal funding. 'The Attorney General and the Secretary, in their discretion and to the extent consistent with law, shall ensure that jurisdictions that willfully refuse to comply with 8 U.S.C. 1373 (sanctuary jurisdictions) are not eligible to receive Federal grants, except as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes by the Attorney General or the Secretary,' the order reads. 'The Secretary has the authority to designate, in his discretion and to the extent consistent with law, a jurisdiction as a sanctuary jurisdiction.' Trump also gave officials authority to hire 10,000 additional immigration officers. Sources: AFP and Associated Press Advertisement

For 'too long' immigration official and border patrol agents 'haven't been allowed to properly do their jobs.

'That's all about to change,' Trump told employees of DHS. 'And I'm very happy about it, and you're happy about it.' Immigration laws will be 'enforced and enforced strongly,' he added.

The president said he was recognizing members of those agencies in his remarks 'not because they unanimously endorsed me for president.

'That helps, but that's not the only reason,' he teased.

Earlier in the week Trump ordered a federal hiring freeze but the White House indicated Wednesday that the DHS agencies singled out by Trump were receiving one of the previously stated exemptions.

Trump signed the executive orders this afternoon at DHS before his address.

He said in the remarks that followed that he expects the United States' relationship with Mexico to improve as a result of his actions because the 'unprecedented surge' of illegal immigrants in the United States is bad for both countries.

'It's going to be very, very good for Mexico,' he said of the orders' effects.

Trump said he's looking forward to meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto next week for the first time as president, and the second time since the start of his campaign, to discuss the measures.

'I want to emphasize that we will be working in particular with our friends in Mexico to improve safety and economic opportunity on both sides of the border,' Trump said Wednesday. 'I have deep admiration for the people of Mexico.'

Dismantling cartels and keeping illegal weapons and cash from flowing north to south is also on the agenda.

'They have to stop it. We have to stop it. We are going to save lives on both sides of the borders,' Trump said.

After Trump's press secretary announced the executive actions from the White House podium former Mexican president Vincente Fox issued a strongly worded declarative.

'Sean Spicer, I've said this to @realDonaldTrump and now I'll tell you: Mexico is not going to pay for that f***ing wall. #F***ingWall'

The American taxpayer will be footing the bill for the border wall 'for the sake of speed,' Trump has said, and Mexico will be paying the money back.

'We're going to be starting those negotiations relatively soon. And we will be, in a form, reimbursed by Mexico,' he told ABC's David Muir in a new interview, saying the wall would cost the U.S. 'nothing.'

Pena Nieto has said that's not going to happen. 'Mexico will never pay for a wall,' he claims he told Trump during their last meeting - even though he did not say it publicly during a joint appearance.

'He has to say that,' Trump said in the ABC interview. 'I'm just telling you there will be a payment. It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form.

Trump told Muir, 'You have to understand what I'm doing is good for the United States. And it will also be good for Mexico.

At his daily briefing, Trump's spokesman previewed the executive orders Trump would be signing and what they entailed.

The first one called for 'Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements.'

'It addresses long overdue border security issues and is the first order in that to build a large physical barrier on the southern border,' Spicer said. 'Building this barrier is more than just a campaign promise it's a common sense first step to really securing our porous border.

Adding, 'And yes, one way or another, as the president said before, Mexico will pay for it.'

Construction on the wall will begin 'immediately,' the president told ABC Wednesday, 'within months.'

'We are going to get the bad ones out,' Trump told Department of Homeland Security employees after signing the orders, zeroing on criminals and drug dealers. 'The day is over where they can stay in our country and wreak havoc. We are going to get them out and get them out fast'

The order will empower immigration officials to do their jobs, he said, and create more detention spacer at facilities along the border.

'Under the Constitution, the American people get the final say on who can and cannot enter our nation and they've spoken loud and clearly through our laws.'

Trump will also end the previous administration's 'catch and release policy,' Spicer said, 'which has led to the deaths of many Americans.'

The president's directive continues one Obama-era policy. It places a priority on the 'the prosecution and deportation of illegal immigrants who've also otherwise violated our laws,' the White House said.

'And after these criminals spend time in prison for the crimes they've committed they're going to get back one-way tickets to the country of their origin. And their governments are going to take them back,' Spicer declared.

Trump said later at DHS: 'We are going to get the bad ones out.'

Zeroing on criminals and drug dealers, he said, 'The day is over where they can stay in our country and wreak havoc. We are going to get them out and get them out fast.'

The second document deals with sanctuary cities. Trump had said he would with Congress to cut off their access to federal taxpayer dollars until they obey national immigration laws.

'Federal agents are going to unapologetically enforce the law, no ifs ands or butts,' Spicer said today.

The order Trump signed today would affect major U.S. cities including Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and Philadelphia.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel came to visit Trump in New York after the election to ask him not to move forward on the campaign promise. Emanuel has said Chicago will remain a sanctuary city regardless of federal action like the one Trump took today

The White House said those cities would still have access to funding for policing.

'There's other aid that can extended as well, either through the U.S. attorneys office or other means that will ensure that the people of Chicago have the resources to feel safe,' Spicer stated.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel came to visit Trump in New York after the election to ask him not to move forward on the campaign promise. Emanuel has said Chicago will remain a sanctuary city regardless of federal action like the one Trump took today.

'We'll hopefully get a dialogue started with Mayor Emanuel and try and figure out what a path forward can be, so we get - so we come up with a plan that can keep the people of Chicago safe and help ease the problem there,' Spicer said of the violence-plauged city.

An area that Trump's executive order didn't cover was illegal immigrants brought to the country as children.

The president told ABC he'd have a policy ready for them in four weeks.

'They shouldn't be very worried. I do have a big heart. We're going to take care of everybody,' he said.

Trump's spokesman also hinted at another executive order dealing with immigration that's coming down the pipeline: 'extreme vetting.'

Spicer suggested Wednesday that the administration has an order in the works to limit immigration from countries afflicted by terrorism.

'Youll see more action this week on keeping America safe,' he said. 'This has been something he talked about in the inaugural address. He talked about it in the campaign. As we get into the implementation of that executive order, well have further details.'

Trump was at DHS to deliver remarks at attend the ceremonial swearing in of his Homeland Security chief, John Kelly, who took his formal oath of office last Friday.

'He's a rough tough guy but he's also got a good heart,' Trump said and 'will do a very special job.'
Former President George H. W. Bush could be sent home over the weekend after a bout of pneumonia.

The 92-year-old Bush still has a lingering cough but his lungs are clearing, family spokesman Jim McGrath said Wednesday.

Bush continues to work with physical therapists to help him regain strength.

The nation's 41st president needed a breathing tube for a couple of days and was moved from the ICU Monday.

George H.W. Bush (pictured in a Houston hospital with his wife Barbara) could be released over the weekend after a bout of pneumonia, a family spokesman said Wednesday

Bush's son, 43rd President George W. Bush, said in a touching Instagram post on Thursday that he and his wife Laura would be represent his parents at the inauguration

The 92-year-old was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital on January 14 for breathing difficulties.

Former first lady Barbara Bush spent five days at the same hospital for treatment of bronchitis. She was released Monday.

McGrath shared an update about Bush's current condition on Twitter Wednesday, writing: 'President Bush continues to improve as he recovers from pneumonia.

'At his current rate of recovery, President Bush's physicians believe he could possibly go home over the weekend.'

The spokesman previously shared a heartwarming photo of Barbara posing next to her husband at the hospital.

George W Bush previously shared a touching message for his parents on Instagram, writing: 'Your prayers are working: 41 and mom are doing much better today and fighting on.

'Thanks for your messages of love and support for Mom and Dad.'

He had written that he and his wife Laura Bush would represent the elder Bushes at the inauguration.

The elder Bush and his wife were married January 6, 1945, and have had the longest marriage of any presidential couple in American history.

The 92-year-old (pictured with his wife Barbara in a file photo) was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital on January 14 for breathing difficulties
San Jose City Councilman Lan Diep donned a Captain America shield for his swearing-in

A newly-elected councilman from San Jose, California held a Captain America shield as he was sworn in on Tuesday night.

Lan Diep, 32, is a Republican legal aid attorney who received cheers after he recited his oath of office.

Speaking to NBC News the self-confessed comic book geek and Houston-born son of Vietnamese refugees said that Captain America stands for the 'kinds of things I strive for: equal justice, fair play and democracy.'

'These are the same ideals I hope to live up to as a representative of San Jose,' Diep said to the Mercury News. 'Plus, I had this really cool shield I wanted to show off.'

'I think it's a symbol of what's positive,' he said, 'in this darkened political landscape.'

Diep said that his Captain America stunt was not a direct message to Donald Trump, but he does have views on the new President.

The legal aid attorney donned a Captain America shield while taking his oath of office Tuesday. He claimed only 1,000 of the sheilds were made from the movie, right

Diep, a comic book nerd, said Captain America is the 'embodiment of America's ideals'

Diep said the shield is a limited edition movie-prop replica from Captain America: The First Avenger and only 1,000 were made

'I wasn't trying to protest the president, but it's a reminder of what America aspires to be. In this administration, local government will have more of a role to play in taking care of its citizens,' he said. 'In that way, realizing that this is the landscape I'm stepping into, I wanted to shine a ray of optimism and levity.'

Diep claims that he will wait to pass judgement on Donald Trump to see if he managed to fulfill any of his campaign promises including 'banning Muslims from the U.S.' and 'building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.'

Diep won his council seat last year. The eldest son of political refugees from Vietnam, but born in Houston, TX, he moved to the Bay Area with his family in 1994.

He later went on to earn a law degree at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.

Diep said the shield represents 'Americas ideals and I do hope to aspire to those ideals of fair play, equal justice, and democracy during my term'

Social media reactions to Dieps Captain America shield were split  some applauded Dieps creativity while others wondered what the heck was happening

After the BP Oil Disaster occurred in 2010, Diep moved down to Biloxi, Mississippi to provide free assistance to fishermen, small business owners, and other victims of the BP Oil Spill who needed help pursuing their claims against BP.

Fluent in Vietnamese, he particularly focused his efforts on aiding the limited-English-proficient Vietnamese American community in the Gulf, who account for over a third of the fishing industry in the area.

After two years of public service in the Gulf, Lan Diep returned to San Jose and took a job with the Legal Aid Society where he again used his Vietnamese language skills to help disenfranchised Vietnamese Americans learn about and pursue their rights, this time in the context of employment law.

Social media reactions to Dieps Captain America shield varied with some admiring his creativity while others questioned the level of maturity shown by the newly elected official.
Television icon Mary Tyler Moore passed away this afternoon at the age of 80.

The Emmy award-winning actress died Wednesday surrounded by family members who quickly flocked to say their goodbyes at a Connecticut hospital.

Her publicist, Mara Buxbaum,said in a statement: 'Today, beloved icon, Mary Tyler Moore, passed away at the age of 80 in the company of friends and her loving husband of over 33 years, Dr. S. Robert Levine.

Tragic: Television icon Mary Tyler Moore has died aged 80. She was first reported to be in 'grave condition' at a hospital in Connecticut on Wednesday. She is pictured above in 2013

'A groundbreaking actress, producer, and passionate advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Mary will be remembered as a fearless visionary who turned the world on with her smile.'

Moore, whose comic realism helped revolutionize the depiction of women on the small screen, was reported to be in 'grave condition' at the undisclosed hospital, TMZ first reported.

Her famed co-star Dick Van Dyke said: 'There are no words.She was THE BEST! We always said that we changed each other's lives for the better.'

Oprah Winfrey also led the celebrity tributes, saying she will 'love her forever' as she remembered her heroine, who moved her to tears when they met on her show in 1997.

Moved to tears: Oprah said she will love her heroine 'forever' in a moving tribute

Speechless: Oprah could not believe it when she came face to face with her icon

She tweeted: 'Even now looking at this picture I want to cry.

'I still can't believe Mary Tyler Moore touched my face. Will love her 4 ever.'

And in a separate message posted on Instagram, she said: 'Dear Mary, You already know how you majorly influenced my life and career.

'I respected and admired your business acumen, your passion and compassion for all life, and most importantly, the values espoused through your storytelling.

'Thank you for being a Light that shined so brightly, it let me see myself in you.'

Moore suffered from a number of health problems and her condition 'had become critical' recently. She is pictured above in the iconic opening scene of her 'The Mary Tyler Moore' show

The longtime actress, who gained fame in the 1960s as the frazzled wife Laura Petrie on 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', had been on a respirator for more than a week, TMZ reported.

Moore suffered from a number of health problems and her condition 'had become critical' recently.

The actress, who won seven Emmy awards over the years and was nominated for an Oscar for her 1980 portrayal of an affluent mother whose son is accidentally killed in 'Ordinary People,' had a long battle with diabetes.

She was first diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1966 at the age of 33, which is the same year of the last season she played Laura Petrie on 'The Dick Van Dyke Show'.

The New York native went on to play the groundbreaking role as Mary Richards on 'The Mary Tyler Moore' show from 1970 to 197, where she portrayed a single career woman working in a Minneapolis TV newsroom.

Moore truly made her mark on the series which aired at a time when women's liberation was catching on worldwide.

The Emmy award-winning actress died surrounded by family members who quickly flocked to say their goodbyes at a Connecticut hospital

Before her death, TMZ reported that her condition was 'so grim'. She is pictured above left in 2012 and right during her show in 1970

Her character brought TV audiences an independent, 1970s career woman. Other than Marlo Thomas' 1960s sitcom character 'That Girl,' who at least had a steady boyfriend, there were few precedents.

Mary Richards was comfortable being single in her 30s, and while she dated, she wasn't desperate to get married.

She sparred affectionately with her gruff boss, Lou Grant, played by Ed Asner and addressed always as 'Mr. Grant.'

The actress, who is well known for her role on ' The Dick Van Dyke Show', had a long battle with diabetes after being diagnosed with disease at age 33. She is pictured above with Dick Van Dyke in 1961

And millions agreed with the show's theme song that she could 'turn the world on with her smile.'

The show was filled with laughs. But no episode was more memorable than the bittersweet finale when new management fired the entire WJM News staff - everyone but the preening, clueless anchorman, Ted Baxter.

Thus did the series dare to question whether Mary Richards actually did 'make it after all.'

The series ran seven seasons and won 29 Emmys, a record that stood for a quarter century until 'Frasier' broke it in 2002.

The series ran seven seasons and won 29 Emmys, a record that stood for a quarter century until 'Frasier' broke it in 2002.

The Tony Award-winning star openly discussed her fight against the disease. She is pictured above in 1961 on set of 'Washington vs. The Bunny'

'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' spawned the spin-offs 'Rhoda,' (1974-78), starring Valerie Harper; 'Phyllis' (1975-77), starring Cloris Leachman; and 'Lou Grant' (1977-82), starring Asner in a rare drama spun off from a comedy.

Moore was born in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York on December 29, 1936 as the oldest child of three children.

Her family eventually moved to Queens before moving to sunny Los Angeles when she was eight-years-old.

At the age of 17, Moore decided to embark on a career as a dancer and first appeared on television as a tiny elf dancing on Hotpoint appliance commercials in the 1950s.

The icon won a total of seven Emmy awards over her illustrious career. She is pictured above in 1964 with Van Dyke after they both won Emmy's

Moore, who had been married three times, also underwent brain surgery in 2011 to remove a benign brain tumor. She is pictured above in a scene from her show in 1970

Her first regular TV role was playing a telephone receptionist on Richard Diamond, Private Detective'.

Moore's acting career quickly took off, as she appeared in several television shows and movies, including Bourbon Street Beat, 77 Sunset Strip, Surfside Six, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Steve Canyon, Hawaiian Eye, Thriller and Lock-Up.

How Mary Tyler Moore incarnated the modern woman on TV Moore's first major TV role was on the classic sitcom 'The Dick Van Dyke Show,' in which she played the young homemaker wife of Van Dyke's character, comedy writer Rob Petrie, from 1961-66. With her unerring gift for comedy, Moore seemed perfectly fashioned to the smarter wit of the new, post-Eisenhower age. As Laura, she traded in the housedress of countless sitcom wives and clad her dancer's legs in Capri pants that were as fashionable as they were suited to a modern American woman. Laura was a dream wife and mother, but not perfect. Viewers identified with her flustered moments and her protracted, plaintive cry to her husband: 'Ohhhh, Robbbb!' But it was as Mary Richards, the plucky Minneapolis TV news producer on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' (1970-77), that Moore truly made her mark. At a time when women's liberation was catching on worldwide, her character brought to TV audiences an independent, 1970s career woman. Other than Marlo Thomas' 1960s sitcom character 'That Girl,' who at least had a steady boyfriend, there were few precedents. Mary Richards was comfortable being single in her 30s, and while she dated, she wasn't desperate to get married. She sparred affectionately with her gruff boss, Lou Grant, played by Ed Asner, and always addressed as 'Mr. Grant.' And millions agreed with the show's theme song that she could 'turn the world on with her smile.' The series ran seven seasons and won 29 Emmys, a record that stood for a quarter century until 'Frasier' broke it in 2002. 'Everything I did was by the seat of the pants. I reacted to every written situation the way I would have in real life,' Moore told The Associated Press in 1995. 'My life is inextricably intertwined with Mary Richards', and probably always will be.' Advertisement

But when she was cast on 'The Dick Van Dyke' show where she gained even more fame in the 1960s playing Laura Petrie, the frazzled, homemaker wife of Van Dyke's character, comedy writer Rob Petrie, from 1961-66.

'She was an impressive person and a talented person and a beautiful person. A force of nature,' said producer, creator and director Carl Reiner, who created the 'The Dick Van Dyke Show,' told The Associated Press.

'She'll last forever, as long as there's television. Year after year, we'll see her face in front of us.'

With her unerring gift for comedy, Moore seemed perfectly fashioned to the smarter wit of the new, post-Eisenhower age. As Laura, she traded in the housedress of countless sitcom wives for Capri pants that were as fashionable as they were suited to a modern American woman.

Laura was a dream wife and mother, but not perfect. Viewers identified with her flustered moments and her protracted, plaintive cry to her husband: 'Ohhhh, Robbbb!'

Moore's chemistry with Van Dyke was unmistakable. Decades later, he spoke warmly of the chaste but palpable off-screen crush they shared during the show's run.

They also appeared together in several TV specials over the years and in 2003, co-starred in a PBS production of the play 'The Gin Game.'

On the big screen, Moore's appearances were less frequent. She was a 1920s flapper in the hit 1967 musical 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' and a nun who falls for Elvis Presley in 'Change of Habit' in 1969.

She turned to serious drama in 1980's 'Ordinary People,' playing an affluent, bitter mother who loses a son in an accident.

The film won the Oscar for best picture and best director for Robert Redford, and it earned Moore an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe.

'I am deeply saddened by the news of Mary's passing. She was a truly amazing person, a great friend, and an inspiration to all,' Timothy Hutton, her 'Ordinary People' co-star, said in a statement.

'I will always be grateful for her kindness and thankful beyond words for knowing her. She will be missed greatly.'

In her lifetime, Moore was married a total of three times. She first married Richard Carleton Meeker at age 18 in 1955, and within six weeks of their marriage she was pregnant.

The legend broke into Hollywood first as a dancer and appeared in several commericals before she landed roles on TV. She is pictured above in 1953 for her sophomore year photo at Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles

Her only child, Richard Meeker Jr., whom she had with her first husband, Dick Meeker, died of an accidental gunshot to the head while handling a sawed off shotgun in 1980. The mother and son are pictured in 1968

Her only child, Richard Jr., was born on July 3, 1956, but he died of an accidental gunshot to the head while handling a sawed off shotgun in 1980.

Moore divorced her first husband in 1961 and went on the next year to marry Grant Tinker who was a CBS executive who later served as the chairman of NBC.

Her marriage to Tinker lasted from 1962 to 1981, as they produced 'The Mary Tyler Moore' show and a number of other popular shows together through their television production company MTM Enterprises.

In 1983, Moore married cardiologist Robert Levine, who survives her.

The next year after marrying Levine, she spent five weeks at the Betty Ford Clinic for alcohol abuse.

In her 1995 autobiography 'After All,' Moore admitted she helped her terminally ill brother try to commit suicide by feeding him ice cream laced with a deadly overdose of drugs.

The attempt failed, and her 47-year-old brother, John, died three months later in 1992 of kidney cancer.

In 1962, Moore married Grant Tinker, who was a CBS executive who later served as the chairman of NBC. They are pictured together above in 1966

Moore told of her struggle with diabetes in her 2009 book, 'Growing Up Again.' She served as chairwoman of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International, supported embryonic stem cell research and was active in animal rights causes.

In 2004, she told the Chicago Tribune that she underwent several laser surgeries to help treat her deteriorating vision, as she considered the 'splotchiness and dimming' in her eyes as a problem.

The actress underwent brain surgery in 2011 to remove a benign brain tumor.

She recently celebrated her 80th birthday on December 29.

Her marriage to Tinker lasted until 1981, as they produced 'The Mary Tyler Moore' show and a number of other popular shows together through their television production company MTM Enterprises

In 1983, Moore married cardiologist Robert Levine, who survives her. They are pictured above together in 2008

After news of her hospitalization first broke, fans and celebrities took to social media to offer their prayers to the television icon.

Andy Cohen, host of Bravo's nightly series Watch What Happens and a longtime fan of Moore's took to Twitter and wrote: 'PRAYING FOR MARY!!!!!!!!'

Cohen and other celebrities took to Twitter hours later to offer their condolences to the icon.

'RIP beautiful, upbeat, shining, glorious, wonderful, iconic Mary Tyler Moore.', Cohen wrote.

In a third tweet about the legend, Cohen wrote: 'LOVE IS ALL AROUND RIP MARY'.

And Star Trek star George Takei said: 'She turned the world on with her smile.'

Michelle Rodriguez shared a photo of the star from the Mary Tyler Moore Show. The actress said, 'RIP to another legend.'

Selma Blair said: 'What an angel. Always was and will be. A great part of my childhood and so many people's lives.'

Sandra Bernhard added: 'You're going to make it after all oh no please tell me it's not true.'
The lead conservative to be France's next president has vowed to re-instate 'real' border controls to stop migrants and restrict terrorists.

Francois Fillon said he would break with the Schengen open borders agreement which allows visitors to travel without passport checks within 22 of the 28 EU member states.

'As long as Europe's borders are not protected by our partners, France will re-establish real controls at its borders,' Mr Fillon tweeted.

Francois Fillon said he would break with the Schengen open borders agreement which allows visitors to travel without passport checks within 22 of the 28 EU member states

His willingness to withdrawn France from the Schengen deal, a key EU policy, would be a major blow to Europhiles.

Mr Fillon made the comments after an hour-long meeting with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor.

'Schengen must be reformed,' he said. 'Free movement in Europe must have a non-negotiable counterbalance: systematic controls at the external borders.'

He added that France would 'make a different choice' from Germany if he wins the premiership.

Mr Fillon spoke after his main rival, Marine Le Pen for the far-right National Front, dismissed Mrs Merkel's willingness to help more than a million migrants and refugees.

The emergency border controls imposed within the EU's Schengen zone over the migration crisis should get a final three-month extension to mid-May.

The European Commission proposed that Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Norway extend border checks inside the so-called Schengen zone beyond their current expiry in February.

'We currently have temporary border controls in place. These are exceptional measures for an exceptional situation,' Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU's migration commissioner said in proposing the extension.

He made it clear, however, he wanted to restore the movement deal in full from then on: 'It's a question of three months to come back to normal.'

However Germany, which holds elections on Sept.24 in which immigration and security will be prominent issues, wants to be able to extend the measures for longer, diplomatic sources said.

Mr Fillon (pictured with wife Penelope) made the comments after an hour-long meeting with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor
Seven inmates on the run in stolen cars have left a trail of carnage including abandoned vehicles, collisions, cars forced off the road, stolen petrol and an allegedly assaulted mother after escaping a detention centre.

About 30 inmates were involved in a riot at Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre, Victoria, on Wednesday afternoon, with 15 initially escaping after assaulting a staff member and stealing a security pass.

With the seven still at large on Thursday after evading police overnight, the Victorian government's opposition slammed it, saying it had 'destroyed the state's reputation'.

'Daniel Andrews is turning Melbourne into the Johannesburg of the South Pacific,' opposition leader Matthew Guy said.

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The inmates are believed to be leading police on dangerously high-speed pursuits in a white Suzuki SUV

A blue Ford Falcon XR6 sedan and a red hatch back are also believed to have been stolen by the teens

The escapees used a stolen utility vehicle to break down the perimeter fence of the detention centre before speeding off, later dumping the vehicle and stealing a number of other cars.

Eight were arrested and seven remain on the run in two stolen cars, a white Suzuki van and a blue Ford sedan. Four are in one car and three in the other.

Early on Thursday morning police said the white van was involved in a collision and found dumped at the intersection of Springvale and Wellington roads in Mulgrave about 11.40pm on Wednesday.

It was not known whether the escapees in the car had fled the scene on foot or in another car.

Earlier police told reporters one of the cars had been spotted in the Werribee in Melbourne's west and the other in Fountain Gate, southeast of the city.

'We have communications out to all our frontline police who are actively looking for these vehicles', Assistant Commissioner Rick Nugent said.

'It's just a matter of time before they are arrested.'

Police say the escapees are 16 and 17 years old and photos and names will therefore not be released at this stage.

Police reviewed CCTV from a number of service stations where petrol was stolen in a bid to individually identify the inmates but it's understood the footage yielded no leads.

A witness says her mother was punched in the face by one of the escapees after five of them hijacked their sedan in Elphinstone about 3pm .

'He took the keys out of the ignition then reached across mum, undid her seatbelt, grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out backwards while punching her,' witness Brooke Lee told the Herald Sun.

Drivers were forced off a number of roads as the youths drove erratically on the wrong side.

'We were driving in the opposite direction and they swerved onto the wrong side of the road, just as we were passing and forced us off the road,' witness Sandra told ABC news.

A police car was rammed and two civilian cars also struck as police pursued and arrested six youths in a car in Lockwood, shortly after they escaped.

The Malmsbury facility was brought under control just after 8pm and all inmates have now been secured, police say.

Children's Affairs Minister Jenny Mikakos returned from leave as news of the escape and riot broke on Wednesday afternoon.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR? Thirteen youths from a group of 30 escaped from Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre in Victoria's northwest on Wednesday afternoon. They stole an access card from a guard and escaped by stealing a ute. Another group scaled the roof. The escaped group abandoned the ute and split up when they got into two different stolen cars. Police are in pursuit. WHO HAS BEEN CAUGHT? Six youths are in custody. Seven are still at large. All inmates who were on the roof of the centre are in custody. WHERE ARE THEY HEADING? Police don't know where both cars are travelling but reports say one is heading towards Melbourne and one towards Bendigo. WHO IS ON THE CASE? The police helicopter is trying to track the escapees, while police have enlisted the fugitive taskforce, the dog squad, the critical incident response team and operations response unit. CFA firefighters are on standby. RIOT HISTORY: Malmsbury and the Parkville youth justice centres have been damaged in numerous previous riots. At Malmsbury earlier this month detainees rioted and armed themselves with metal poles. A riot at Parkville in mid-November saw 30 inmates trash their cells, forcing the government to transfer some to the state's highest security adult prison in Barwon. Advertisement

The teenagers are believed to have assaulted a guard and stolen his swipe card, allowing them to escape and access restricted areas of the prison
Five men have been jailed for life for brutally killing Patrick Slater, who was stabbed with a screwdriver in a group attack in Perth hours after Australia Day celebrations last year.

Mr Slater, 26, was assaulted with weapons including a star picket and chunks of concrete near the Esplanade train station in the Perth CBD in the early hours of January 27, 2016.

He died from a stab wound to his chest which pierced his aorta.

Patrick Slater (pictured right) was stabbed to death with star pickets and screwdrivers last year

Mr Slater (pictured) died after his aorta was pierced during the brutal attack in Perth's CBD

Five men dubbed the 'Patrick Slater slayers' - Christopher James Birdsall, Dylan Terrance Wayne Anthony, Clinton Fredrick Mead, his brother Stefan Lazba Mead and Robert Christopher James Pickett - were convicted of murder and have been sentenced to life in prison with minimum terms ranging from 16 to 18 years, according to the ABC.

A sixth man, who cannot be named as he was 17 at the time of Mr Slater's death, has been sentenced to 12 years jail with a minimum of 10 years.

A 16-year-old boy, who was 14 at the time of the attack, was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison.

A 13-year-old boy, who was 11 when Mr Slater was killed, has also been charged and will be dealt with by the Perth Children's Court later this year.

Three children were among those charged over Mr Slater's death, aged 11, 14 and 17 at the time of the alleged murder.

The 11-year-old boy (pictured), thought to be the youngest Australian ever charged with murder
Four police officers have been sacked after a woman who reported a rape heard them making fun of her down the phone.

The Bedfordshire Police officers accidentally phoned the woman back and made 'disgusting and immoral' comments about her case.

One of the group was even heard to say 'he proper stuck it up her a***', while the others laughed.

Four Bedfordshire Police officers have been sacked after a woman who reported a rape heard them making fun of her down the phone (file photo)

She had reported an anal rape and a man urinating on her and then later received a call to her mobile phone from a police officer.

In the nine minute call she said she could hear one officer reading her statement about the incident while other officers were laughing.

Today officers Robin Denton, Matthew Neild, Todd Mills and Deanna Waite were all sacked for gross misconduct.

None of the group were involved in the rape investigation.

Recalling the upsetting incident at a police disciplinary tribunal, the woman said: 'Those nine minutes were torture for me...I could not stop crying and shaking.

'I will never trust the police and I will never ever forgive.'

'I started to receive numerous phone calls,' she added in a statement.

'My trust in the police is completely diminished. I was disappointed and upset with the police up to this point but the incident has pushed my emotional and physical health.

My trust in the police is completely diminished. I was disappointed and upset with the police up to this point but the incident has pushed my emotional and physical health. Victim, speaking at Bedfordshire Police disciplinary tribunal

'I feel broken and helpless and all because of the police - the people I hoped would help me find justice.'

The woman went on to describe the moment she answered the offending call, adding: 'I heard my statement being read out loud. I was with a work colleague, I started to scream down the phone yelling 'hello' and 'stop'.

'What I heard was truly disgusting, disrespectful, and immoral. They were joking about my statement and making comments about 'I would have done it this way' and 'when I f*** a girl'.

'They were unbelievably crude and graphic. I managed to make a recording of the conversation.'

The woman said the worst of what was said was not recorded but it still included statements like 'if she really don't want it she would leave' and 'if I was getting raped I wouldn't have stuck his d*** in my mouth half-heartedly.'

Her account was backed up from the woman's work colleague.

A statement from one of the officers involved in the report said: 'I believe the conversation started with how disgusting it was the male had put his penis in the female's mouth when it had been in her anus.

'Questions were asked about why the female would go to the house and then get into the male's bed.

'I can recall asking the male officers if it was physically possible to urinate after ejaculation and then the conversation centred around this.'

Recalling the upsetting incident at a police disciplinary tribunal, the woman said: 'Those nine minutes were torture for me...I could not stop crying and shaking' (file photo)

The statement added the officers were concerned when they found out the woman had heard the call as it was never meant for her and the terms they used were not 'medically correct'.

The officers were relieved from their duties after the complaint and were interviewed under caution.

In interview, one of the officers said: 'I wasn't laughing and joking about her or anything like that. There were comments and personal anecdotes told which I may well have laughed at.

'I don't feel I was joking about that situation.'

The investigating officer's report considered by the hearing stated: 'The officers did not consider the negative impact that their actions could potentially have on vulnerable and sexual assault victims coming forward.

'The impact of failings like these on public faith in the police could be enormous.

'It's not difficult to imagine the effect of this discussion on anyone who has had the courage to speak to total strangers and tell them about an (alleged) brutal assault.'

Today officers Robin Denton, Matthew Neild, Todd Mills and Deanna Waite were all sacked for gross misconduct

Acting for the victim at the tribunal was specialist legal expert Iain Gould from DPP lawyers.

He said: 'This is a shocking case. The officers involved showed utter disregard for my client's privacy and dignity, treating her allegations of rape as a subject for lurid banter and titillation.

'The fact that they would do this - even, as they thought in private - shows that none of the officers involved are of fit character to be invested with the special responsibility of being a police constable.'

Mr Gould added: 'I absolutely welcome the decision of the force to dismiss them with immediate effect - to have done otherwise would have been to send an awful message, namely that making jokes at the expense of rape victims is a legitimate pastime for officers, and that police culture tolerates misogyny.'

Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said: 'As soon as I was made aware of this case I immediately suspended the officers and visited the victim, with Assistant Chief Constable Jackie Sebire.

I have apologised to this remarkable and brave young lady and have continued to support her throughout the investigation. I would like to extend my apologies to her again for the anguish and distress this has caused.
The woman whose body parts were found at a waste sorting facility in The Bronx and whose head and other remains were discovered in a freezer in Brooklyn has been identified by relatives as the girlfriend of the prime suspect in the case.

Sandra Figueroa and Kenneth Foster have revealed to local media outlets this week that the slaughtered victim was their daughter, 32-year-old Leondra foster.

Although the Medical Examiners Office has not officially identified the deceased woman as of Wednesday afternoon, law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation confirmed that Foster was the victim.

The woman's boyfriend, convicted sex offender Somorie Moses, 40, was arrested on Sunday on charges of concealment of a human corpse and tampering with evidence after police say they found his girlfriends head, hands and feet stuffed inside the freezer in his Flatbush apartment.

Suspect charged: Registered sex offender Somorie Moses, 40, has been arrested and charged in connection to woman's remains that were found at a waste sorting plant

Gruesome mystery: A torso and leg belonging to Leondra Foster were found the Metropolitan Transfer Station in the Hunts Points section of The Bronx

Sources tell NBC4 New York The Bronx district attorney is expected to charge Moses with homicide in Foster's killing.

In an interview with the New York Post Tuesday, Kenneth Foster claimed that his daughter had been subjected to months of domestic abuse at the hands of her boyfriend, Moses, before her killing and dismemberment

He has a thing against women, Foster said of the suspect. We tried to get her to leave him, but she would just get mad at us.

The bereaved father called Somorie Moses 'an animal and said he deserved medieval torture for the rest of his days.

Speaking to the Spanish-language network Univision, Sandra Figueroa said her daughter Leondra was a caring mother-of-one.

She added that it hurts her knowing that her child died a violent death, followed by butchery.

Somorie Moses' arrest came just days after workers at the Metropolitan Transfer Station on Halleck Street in the Hunts Points section of The Bronx came upon a female torso and a leg without a foot in the trash.

A cadaver dog is pictured scouring the trash-sorting plant in Hunts Point

Employees at the privately owned Metropolitan Transfer Station unearthed a woman's torso and leg at 4.40am last Tuesday and notified the NYPD.

Waste from all areas across the city ends up at the Bronx facility, where it is collected and destroyed.

Crime scene investigators later found additional human remains, including a right arm and a left arm, both without hands, in Kearny, New Jersey, according to NBC4.

Police say they used surveillance video at the Hunts Point waste-processing plant and phone records to identify and track down Moses to his apartment on Erasmus Street in Brooklyn.

Moses was arraigned on Sunday in Bronx Supreme Court and ordered held without bail after a prosecutor argued that he was a flight risk and revealed that at the time of his arrest, the suspect knocked over a police officer during a failed attempt to flee, according to the New York Daily News.

Crime scene: Police executing a search warrant at Moses' apartment on Erasmus Street in Brooklyn (pictured) say they found a woman's head, hands and feet inside his freezer

Moses is a registered Level 2 sex offender who was convicted in 2006 on charges of promoting prostitution of a girl younger than 16 and profiting from prostitution.

His criminal record also includes no fewer than eight arrests on charges that included rape and patronizing a prostitute.

In 2003, Moses was picked up in connection to a non-fatal shooting incident. He was released from prison in 2016 after serving more than three years on an unrelated weapons charge, according to amNY.
Matthew Sammon, 46, was a fugitive in the Costa Del Sol for nearly two years

One of Britain's most wanted paedophiles was jailed for two-and-a-half years after an international manhunt ended with his dramatic arrest in a caravan in Spain.

Matthew Sammon, 46, was a fugitive in the Costa Del Sol for nearly two years after collecting more than 34,000 indecent images and videos of children in November 2014.

More than 250 of the images and almost 250 of the movies were classified as Category A, the most severe kind.

Police stormed Sammon's camper van in Fuengirola in October last year after a British expat tipped off officers.

Daniel Reid, a plasterer originally from Blackpool, had previously employed Sammon but fired him after six months because he 'creeped' him out.

He alerted authorities following the launch of Crimestopper's Operation Captura to hunt down British fugitives in Spain.

Mr Reid recognised Sammon's face among the most wanted, making him the 77th individual to be arrested under the operation.

Two undercover detectives arrested Sammon as he returned to his mobile home after walking his dog.

Linda Shamel, prosecuting, said Sammon's family home had initially been searched in April 2014 by the National Crime Agency which was targeting 'offenders using the internet to search for and download indecent images of children.'

Officers were let in by Sammon's father and seized computers, hard drives and USB sticks.

Folders found on his electronic devices were titled 'Lolita' and 'PTHC', which stands ford for 'pre-teen hardcore'.

The court heard that Sammon's computer was also found to contain a peer-to-peer filesharing program called Emu, which was where he told police the hardcore images were downloaded from.

Videos of children secretly filmed at swimming pools had been found on his computer.

Sammon has been a scuba diving assistant and had been a first aider at a 'Race for Life' fundraiser.

He was arrested in April 2014 and told police he had been downloading child porn for two years.

'It had got worse and worse over time, it had become like a hoarding addiction,' the pervert confessed.

Police stormed Sammon's camper van in Fuengirola in October last year after a British expat tipped off officers (Sammon's arrest pictured)

The arrest was filmed by Sky News, after a tip off said Salmon was living at a fairground

Robert Pardoe, defending, said Sammon's 'hoarding behaviour was about control' after his flooring business went bankrupt and he was forced to move in with his parents after losing his house.

'He began to become extremely depressed because he was out of work.

'He thinks that, as a result of the loss of his job, the loss of his house and feelings of depression and hopelessness and going back to live at home, for whatever reason deep in his psyche, he began to look at this material again.

'No doubt it generates significant self-loathing within himself, but that does not stop him doing that.'

Passing sentence, Judge Deborah Taylor said Sammon had filed his films and images 'in an organised manner' on his devices, using CDs and alternative hard drives when he ran out of file space.

'You possessed these images over a period of two years. There was a large volume of images and this was a collection which involved moving images,' the judge said.

Judge Taylor noted Sammon's 'involvement in a network or process that facilitated the sharing of indecent images' as an aggravating feature.

'Some remorse has been expressed, but this is a repeat offence,' the judge said.

Judge Taylor jailed Sammon for 30 months and imposed an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order, prohibiting him from deleting his internet history, owning any device capable of deleting or hiding his internet history and possessing any device capable of storing images without making it available to police.

The court heard Sammon was first convicted in August 1993 for an indecent assault on a child 'who was of a very tender age' and sentenced to four months.

He received a three-year probation order in 2000 for possession of indecent images, before he was given two years at Kingston Crown Court in 2002 for offences of possession, making and distributing indecent images.

TV cameras filmed the moment he was captured before he was driven away by police following an operation involving the UK's National Crime Agency and Spanish officers.

Officers discovered a ferry ticket from Cork, Ireland, to Roscoff in northern France inside Sammon's mobile home.

Sammon, formerly of Mitcham, Surrey, was extradited to the UK and was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court for downloading indecent images of children.

He admitted seven charges of downloading indecent images of children.
A migrant from Africa has drowned in Venice's Grand Canal as tourists and locals filmed the apparent suicide on their phones.

The young migrant, named as Pateh Sabally, a 22-year-old Gambian, was seen jumping into the water from a pier and swimming to the middle of the large canal.

Hundreds of people witnessed the leap and at least three life rings were thrown into the water near the man, but he refused to hold on to them, raising speculation he wanted to commit suicide. No-one jumped in to help him.

The young migrant, named as Pateh Sabally, a 22-year-old Gambian, was seen jumping into the water from a pier and swimming to the middle of the large canal

Hundreds of people witnessed the leap and at least three life rings were thrown into the water near the man, but he refused to hold on to them, raising speculation he wanted to commit suicide. No-one jumped in to help him

Italian magistrates have opened an investigation into the incident after a video of the scene was posted on the Internet amid claims were shouting racist abuse.

The recording appears to pick up some bystanders yelling at the flailing man. 'He is stupid. He wants to die,' says one person.

One person allegedly shouted: 'Go on, go back home.'

In the video, onlookers start to laugh and one man can be heard saying, 'Let him die at this point.'

Hundreds witnessed the migrant's death and later saw his dead body being pulled out of the water wrapped in a blue bag and tied to a ladder.

A taxi driver told local media: 'A young man threw himself into the water and two or three life jackets were thrown from the boat but he refused the help.'

A fellow cabbie added: 'This is despair. I do not know the story of this guy. They have said he is African. Who knows what he's been through, how many seas and deserts he has crossed? And he came to die in the most beautiful city in the world.'

The recording appears to pick up some bystanders yelling at the flailing man. 'He is stupid. He wants to die,' says one person. One person allegedly shouted: 'Go on, go back home'

Witness Abdus Sattar from Bangladesh confirmed that the drowning had seemed to be a suicide.

He said: 'He threw himself from the pier. At first I thought he slipped but when I saw they threw lifebuoys and saw that he refused, I realised that he had decided to call it quits.'

More than 181,000 migrants arrived in Italy by boat in 2016, most of them from sub-Saharan Africa, an increase of almost 18 percent compared with 2015.

Italian media said Sabally had residency papers for Italy.
The fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline may have recently been revived, but Standing Rock protesters have quite the heavyweight on their side.

Or, to be more specific, former bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, who made a secret trip to the Indian reservation last week to deliver supplies.

Rousey joined fellow Olympic judo athlete Paulina Macias to bring fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, tents and wood-burning stoves to the protesters.

MMA fighter Ronda Rousey was spotted with fellow Olympic judo athlete Paulina Macias (right) at Standing Rock, where protesters are fighting to block the Dakota Access Pipeline

The MMA fighter reportedly did not want attention for her visit and has not shared anything about it on either of her social media sites, according to TMZ.

But her contribution to the Standing Rock protest was revealed when Macias posted a picture of the two of them at the site.

'I had one of the best road trips of my life with @rondarousey to deliver supplies to the protesters at Standing Rock!' Macias wrote in the caption.

'This was such an incredible experience, & I can't thank my friend enough for allowing me to be a part of it!'

Macias and Rousey are pictured with Linda Black Elk, who has been a vocal protester of the $3.8billion Dakota Access oil pipeline since the movement began.

Rousey may not be allowed in the ring for at least 45 days due to a medical suspension, but she is clearly willing to help gear up for a different kind of fight.

Rousey visited the Indian reservation just days before Trump signed an executive order reviving the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines (pictured)

This isn't the first time Rousey and Trump have been at odds - the future president celebrated her loss to Holly Holm in 2015 after she said in an interview that she would never vote for him

Trump signed executive orders on Tuesday to advance the construction of both the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines.

Both projects had been blocked by the Obama administration due in part to environmental protests.

The Pentagon, which manages the Army Corps of Engineers, blocked construction of the 1,000-mile Dakota Access Pipeline and called for alternative routes to be considered.

Members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters say the project threatens drinking water and Native American sites.

Intense protests came to a head last year when police filed rubber bullets and water cannons at unarmed protesters in subzero temperatures.

The movement was also supposed by a number of celebrities including Mark Ruffalo, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Shailene Woodley, who was arrested during a protest.

The $3.4billion Dakota Access Pipeline had been blocked by the Obama administration due in part to environmental protests (pictured is the protesters camp site on T uesday)

The Pentagon, which manages the Army Corps of Engineers, blocked construction of the 1,000-mile pipeline, but it seems the fight has since been reignited

But Rousey is a weathered fighter when it comes to getting into the ring with Trump.

After Trump claimed in a CNN interview that Rousey 'likes' him, the MMA fighter staunchly declared 'I wouldn't vote for him' in her own interview with the network in 2015.

'I just really wouldn't trust the guy with running my country, that's all,' she said.

'I'm not really going to get into specifics of it, but, I mean, I don't want a reality TV star to be running my country.'

The dig put Rousey on Trump's ever-growing Twitter hit list.

Shortly after her diss, Rousey lost the bantamweight title to Holly Holm in November of that year.

Trump then tweeted that he was 'glad to see' Rousey lose in the ring.

Rousey is clearly gearing up for a different kind of fight after she was defeated by Amanda Nunes at the UFC 207 in December and revealed she may consider retiring from the ring

'Was soundly beaten - not a nice person!' the future president added.

Trump managed to stay silent during Rousey's brutal defeat in Las Vegas at the UFC 207 in December, when she was beaten in 48 seconds by Amanda Nunes.

The loss was especially hard for Rousey, who had spent a year training to overcome injuries to stage her comeback following her loss to Holm.

'Sometimes - even when you prepare and give everything you have and want something so badly - it doesn't work how you planned,' she wrote in a statement following the fight.

Rousey then hinted that she may be retiring from the octagon for good following the crushing defeat.

'I need to take some time to reflect and think about the future. Thank you for believing in me and understanding.'

Rousey may not be in the ring for much longer, but she's clearly not ready to back down from a good fight.
George Osborne was engulfed in a furious row last night over his lucrative new job with one of the worlds biggest investment firms.

It emerged that Mr Osborne had met with executives from BlackRock, the worlds biggest asset manager, a total of five times in his final two years as chancellor.

His final meeting with the investment management giant came just days before he was sacked by Theresa May in July last year.

George Osborne was engulfed in a furious row last night over his lucrative new job with one of the worlds biggest investment firms

The former Chancellor has since been handed a part-time role as a senior advisor at BlackRock, which is expected to earn him a six-figure salary.

Last night, the Whitehall appointments watchdog was facing questions over why it had waved through Mr Osbornes appointment without any objections.

The so-called Acoba committee wrote to the ex-Chancellor saying it had no concerns about him taking the post because he had made no policy decisions relating the banks interests.

But in another twist yesterday, it emerged that the committee had since been forced to correct the letter - to admit that Mr Osborne did make decisions affecting the asset-management industry.

Media reports from two years ago showed how BlackRock had gleefully greeted the ex-Chancellors landmark pension reforms, which gave savers control over their pension pots. At the time, the bank said that it was uniquely positioned to take advantage.

Last night, opposition MPs accused Mr Osborne of trading on his ministerial contacts book. They described Acobas handling of the appointment as an embarassing bungle and a farce.

The episode will fuel calls for the reform of Acoba, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which is supposed to vet ministers and senior civil servants when they take jobs in the private sector after leaving office. However, it has looked at more than 370 appointments in the last eight years without blocking a single one.

Mr Osbornes job with BlackRock was announced on Friday afternoon  just an hour before the inauguration of President Trump.

It emerged that Mr Osborne had met with executives from BlackRock, the worlds biggest asset manager, a total of five times in his final two years as chancellor

The ex-Chancellor said that he was taking the one-day-a-week role with the firm, which he will take up on top of being an MP, netting him at least 200,000 a year.

Acoba is supposed to examine such appointments, to look for potential conflicts of interest.

But the Treasurys official records of ministerial meetings yesterday showed that Mr Osborne had met BlackRock on five occasions since October 2014. Before that, only junior ministers had met with the firm since 2010.

In total, he held five meetings, inncluding January and October 2015, then January and July last year. The last meeting came just days before he was sacked by Theresa May.

There is no suggestion a future job was discussed at any of these meetings.

After Mr Osbornes appointment was announced, it emerged that Civil Service Commission chief executive Peter Lawrence had written to him on behalf of Acoba chair Baroness Browning to say the Treasurys Permanent Secretary Tom Scholar had no concerns about you taking the post.

The Committee was reassured by confirmation from your former department, Her Majestys Treasury that there were no specific policy decisions from your time in office that would have specifically affected Blackrock, he wrote.

But this appeared to contradict the way BlackRock had gleefully greeted Mr Osbornes announcement in the March 2014 Budget that he would remove all remaining tax restrictions on how pensions have access to their pension pots.

In a call to investors the following month, the firms president Robert Kapito said up to $25bn of UK pension savings annually was now money in motion thanks to the decision to remove an effective requirement for pensioners to buy an annuity.

BlackRock is uniquely positioned because of our multi-asset strategies and our product development specifically tailored to the retirement area, he added.

We intend to put a lot of effort into putting together more retirement products to capitalise on this market.

Mr Osbornes job with BlackRock was announced on Friday afternoon  just an hour before the inauguration of President Trump (pictured, the firm's offices in London)

Under the headline, Blackrock foresees UK pensions bonanza, the Financial Times reported the comments and how the firms was planning to swoop into Britains pensions market mounting an aggressive challenge to UK life insurers after concluding that government reforms could lead to the collapse of the annuities market.

On Monday afternoon, Acoba was forced into a backtrack and amended its letter to take account of how Blackrock had benefited from Mr Osbornes reforms.

The Committee was reassured by confirmation from your former department, Her Majestys Treasury that whilst you were responsible for general policy decisions that would have affected the asset management industry, none of the decisions from your time in office were specific to Blackrock.

Last night Douglas Carswell, the Ukip MP for Clacton, said: This embarrassing bungle exposes Acoba for the Whitehall farce that it is. It is a committee of grandees who rubber stamp rather than scrutinise. Parliament should make this its business.

John Mann, Labour MP and member of the Treasury select committee, said: This looks very bad.

It is outrageous if he makes any contact at all with the Bank of England, the regulator or the Treasury.

George Osborne is trading on his ministerial contacts book.

This embarrassing bungle exposes Acoba for the Whitehall farce that it is. Douglas Carswell MP for Clacton

While one former Cabinet minister added: Its clear that Osborne has been milking his contacts for all they were worth.

The Mail revealed last year that two thirds of ministers and officials who then go on to take private sector jobs do so in the same sector they were in charge of when in government.

Yesterday it emerged that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Hudson, is to consider curbs on outside employment for MPs.

She said yesterday there was an emerging consensus in favour of changes to the MPs code of conduct to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest when a politician takes a second job.

Around 10 per cent of MPs have a second job, earning an average of 46,000 a year of pounds on top of their 74,000 salary.

News of Mr Osbornes job with BlackRock Investment Institute caused consternation when it was announced at 3.30pm on Friday.

On top of his MPs salary he has earned at least 628,000 from after-dinner speeches following his sacking last July.

The watchdog, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, merely told him not to lobby government over the two years following his dismissal last July.

Treasury papers, seen by the Mail, show that Mr Osborne held his first meeting with a senior figure from BlackRock in October 2014, to discuss the financial services industry.

He met executives again in January 2015 and then again after the election, in October  to discuss the same issue.

Then in January 2016 the former Chancellor met BlackRock figures to discuss economic policy.

On top of his MPs salary Mr Osborne has earned at least 628,000 from after-dinner speeches following his sacking last July

The final meeting with the firm came after the EU vote, when he discussed post- referendum financial conditions.

It is listed as happening in July 2016. Mr Osborne was sacked as Chancellor on 13 July when Theresa May came in as Prime Minister.

The Treasury papers show that before October 2014, the ex-Chancellor had left it to junior Treasury ministers in his department to meet BlackRock executives.

Sajid Javid met them seven times between January 2013 and April 2014, when he was Financial Secretary to the Treasury in charge of City issues.

He is now in the Cabinet as Communities Secretary.

Other junior ministers met senior BlackRock figures, including David Gauke (now Chief Secretary to the Treasury) and Andrea Leadsom (now Environment Secretary).

Last week Mr Osborne was flown to the World Economic Forum at the Swiss resort of Davos by HSBC for a fee in the high five figures, where he spoke at an event for 20 of the banks important clients.

His new role, which he will take up on February 1, will reunite him with his former chief of staff, Rupert Harrison, who became a senior strategist at BlackRock last year.

A spokesman for Mr Osborne said last night: Blackrock is a highly respected financial institution that employs many people here in the UK and helps British pensioners and savers get a better deal.

Chancellors and other ministers have always met with them, and continue to do so, as they meet regularly with other major British employers - and the fact of those meetings is, rightly, made publicly available at the time.

The independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments is there to ensure that any appointments of ex-Ministers are properly vetted.

Not only have they cleared this appointment; but they explicitly say in their letter to Mr Osborne that none of the decisions from your time in office were specific to BlackRock; and the [Treasury] Permanent Secretary had no concerns about you taking up this post.

An Acoba spokesman said the advice letter had been changed because of a secretarial error in the original version. It was amended to better reflect the advice from HM Treasury, he said.

j.stevens@dailymail.co.uk

Free tickets for the gravy train: Committee that NEVER says no to ministers cashing in

Pictured: Thea Rogers OLD JOB: Chief of staff to George Osborne NEW JOB: Head of global communications and policy at Deliveroo, the food delivery firm

By Daniel Martin, Chief Political Correspondent

Hundreds of ministers and officials have cashed in on their time in office by picking up lucrative jobs in the private sector.

Yet the Whitehall committee that is supposed to scrutinise post-government appointments has a reputation for toothlessness.

It nodded through George Osbornes job at BlackRock and has not knocked back a single minister or civil servant in at least eight years.

Last year the Mail revealed that around two thirds of the ministers and officials are working in the very sectors they used to regulate while in government.

Those taking advantage of this revolving door include Mr Osbornes number two in the Coalition, Lib Dem former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander. He is now working in China as vice-president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Despite rules against the use of insider information, these former public servants are pocketing jackpot wages from private firms.

On leaving a government department two thirds of ministers and officials now take a private job in the same sector.

Records kept by the official appointments watchdog, Acoba, show that since 2008 it has dealt with 371 individuals. Of these, 247, took a job in the same sector. Not one application for clearance was turned down.

Before taking up roles outside government, ministers and senior civil servants have to apply to Acoba, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which examines potential conflicts of interest.

Sir danny alexander OLD JOB: Chief Secretary to the Treasury NEW JOB: Vice-president of the China-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Sir Danny Alexander OLD JOB: Chief Secretary to the Treasury NEW JOB: Vice-president of the China-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Sir Ed Davey OLD JOB: Energy Secretary who struck a nuclear deal with EDF NEW JOB: Senior adviser to MHP Communications, a lobbying firm which has EDF as a client

Sir Craig Oliver OLD JOB: Number 10 director of communications NEW JOB: Senior managing director at global consultancy firm Teneo David Laws OLD JOB: Chief Secretary to the Treasury NEW JOB: On the investment committee at asset management firm Stanhope Capital

Appointed under the auspices of the Cabinet Office, its job is to scrutinise job applications and stop outgoing ministers and mandarins exploiting their insider information.

It can advise the Prime Minister that a particular minister or crown servants job application is unsuitable  but it has never wielded this power. Not all those who benefit from Acobas lax regime are former ministers.

In the Treasury, 17 out of the 21 civil servants who applied for clearance left public service for jobs in the banking or business worlds.

Of 41 from the Ministry of Defence, 32 were poached by arms firms or other defence-related companies, the Mails dossier shows.

At the time, Bernard Jenkin, who chairs the Commons public affairs committee, demanded a complete revamp, saying: Acoba is an advisory body, with no regulatory powers and is frequently ignored.

Lord Lansley OLD JOB: Health Secretary who oversaw NHS reforms including handing over budgets to GPs NEW JOB: Adviser to pharmaceutical giant Roche Steve Webb OLD JOB: Pensions minister who led major reforms under the Coalition government NEW JOB: Director at pensions firm Royal London

Greg Barker OLD JOB: Energy minister who championed solar power NEW JOB: Paid adviser to Lightsource Renewable Energy, which sells solar panel Charles Hendry OLD JOB: Energy minister who signed electricity deal with Iceland NEW JOB: Director at Atlantic SuperConnection, a firm working on the project

Sir Henry Bellingham. OLD JOB: Africa minister who lobbied Mozambique in support of mining firm Pathfinder Minerals. NEW JOB: Chairman of Pathfinder Minerals

And Alistair Graham, former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said: The problem is we dont know what goes on behind closed doors.

It is very difficult to control these things. It may well be that people are abusing their past experience of government for personal advantage.

Acoba itself is aware of the problem. Its chairman, Baroness Browning, told MPs last year that her committee was worried about the trend towards ex-ministers seeking employment in related sectors. She said the watchdog had neither the resources nor the remit to make the significant changes required.

Paul Flynn, a Labour MP on the Commons public administration committee, said: Its a deep-seated and growing scandal, where MPs are allowed to prostitute their insider knowledge to the highest bidder.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has welcomed federal help with the city's violence problem - but said that just letting police get 'tough and rough' would undermine efforts to build trust in the city's crime-plagued communities.

Emanuel made the statements on Wednesday, a day after President Donald Trump tweeted that he would 'send in the Feds!' if the high rates of homicides and shootings didn't improve in Chicago.

Emanuel said if Trump wants to help in Chicago he should send aid for law enforcement and money for after school programs.

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Welcome: Rahm Emmanuel, the Chicago mayor, said he would welcome the offer of federal help from President Trump - but would resist the deployment of the National Guard

President Trump threatened to 'send in the Feds' if Chicago doesn't address its growing gun violence in a tweet on Tuesday night

Tragically common sight: Police examine a shooting death in Washington Park, Chicago, last May. The city's police cannot even agree with the city's medical officer on exactly how many people have been shot dead this year so far

The mayor said sending in the National Guard would be 'antithetical' to what the Chicago Police Department is trying to do to restore trust of officers in the city.

The president offered no details on what kind of federal intervention he was suggesting or if it could involve troops, but the mayor cautioned that using the military could make matters worse.

'We're going through a process of reinvigorating community policing, building trust between the community and law enforcement,' the mayor told reporters Wednesday. Sending troops 'is antithetical to the spirit of community policing.'

He said he welcomed federal help battling 'gangs, guns and drugs.'

Emanuel, a Democrat who once worked as former President Barack Obama's White House chief of staff, said the police department already partners with federal agencies such as the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration to combat crime, including efforts to halt the flow of illegal guns pouring into Chicago from elsewhere.

He said he would like to see that cooperation 'expanded dramatically.'

On Tuesday night, the mayor told WTTW's 'Chicago Tonight' that he welcomed government assistance in the form of more money to hire officers and more resources to track illegal guns. But he also bluntly said the government has not done nearly enough, something he reiterated on Wednesday.

Over the years, he said, when it comes to after-school activities, summer jobs and other youth programs, the government 'has walked away.'

Trump's intervention lit a fire under the Chicago mayor, whose city has become a byword for lawless gun gangs.

There have been 42 murders in Chicago since the start of the year. Above, a cemetery in Englewood with crosses for each of the victims

In an angry tweet on Tuesday night, he described the situation as 'horrible carnage'.

'If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible 'carnage' going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!' he said.

Last year was the deadliest year in Chicago for the almost 20 years with 762 murders, 3,550 shooting incidents, and 4,331 shooting victims.

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the Chicago Police Department is 'more than willing to work ... to build on our partnerships' with the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and others.

Disturbingly, police appear unclear on exactly how many people have been killed in the city so far this year.

The police department said Wednesday that 234 people have been shot in the city as of Tuesday and there have been 38 fatal shootings.

The department's homicide figures do not include officer-involved shootings, shootings considered 'justified' such as in self-defense, and shootings investigated by the state police because they occurred on expressways.

Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says it appears the president was relying on figures from the medical examiner's office and there was no dispute over them.

Democrats however were less warm than Emmanuel in their response.

Luis Gutierrez, a Democratic Chicago congressman says he doubted Trump 'has any serious intention' of finding a way to end gun crime.

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez said in an emailed statement Wednesday that he doesn't believe the Justice Department, under the direction of the Trump administration, will work with Chicago to address the gap between police and the community.
A victim of domestic violence was attacked by her abusive ex-husband after a social worker twice revealed the address of her safe house.

The woman, who gave her name as Ivy, suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of her ex and was considered by police to be at high risk of being murdered.

But a blundering social worker twice gave details of her address to the man, believing it was his parental right to know the whereabouts of his children.

Social services have since apologised for the failing, but have refused to say if the social worker was disciplined as it would breach 'her right to privacy'.

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Social services have since apologised for the failing, but have refused to say if the social worker was disciplined as it would breach 'her right to privacy'

Ivy, fearing for her life, was then sent to live in safe accommodation with her two children and it was then that the location was revealed to her ex by a social worker

Ivy  not her real name  told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show that she was raped by her ex-husband and his associates every week for 20 years. He also attacked her with knives and strangled her until she became unconscious.

She was told their children would be harmed if she went to the police. When Ivy finally reported the abuse to police, she says an officer told her he did not believe her and had said she got 'sexual gratification' from the assaults.

Of her treatment by police, she said: 'I left feeling completely degraded and humiliated.'

To investigate Ivy's claims police later went to the home of one of her ex-husband's associates to seize a mobile phone. The associate told Ivy's ex-husband that the police had been round and he took revenge for reporting him by assaulting her and breaking her ribs.

Ivy, fearing for her life, was then sent to live in safe accommodation with her two children and it was then that the location was revealed to her ex by a social worker. Ivy was found and brutally attacked.

She said: 'You trust them... that they're going to be there to protect you as the victim. [The social worker] completely breached our trust.

'The youngest walked into school one day last year and said they didn't want to be alive any more.'

Although it is not known if the social worker was disciplined, social services admitted falling 'well short of the expected standard'.

The woman, who gave her name as Ivy, suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of her ex she spoke on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire (pictured) show

Ivy also criticised the police investigating the abuse after she was forced to undergo 18 separate interviews with different forces  reliving the horror on every occasion. She had hoped a single specialist unit would be investigating.

She and her children moved home four times in three months because of her ex-husband's relentless efforts to find her.

One inspector even revealed to her that it may be impossible to keep her family safe as their details were being shared around 18 different officers.

She was told 'neither her life, nor her children's lives, were worth losing in the pursuit of justice'.

She dropped charges, a decision she described as devastating.

Ivy added: 'I was filled with guilt, guilt that it allowed my ex-husband and the other offenders to go free, therefore allowing them to potentially go on and harm other people.'

The Ministry of Justice said in a statement: 'The Victims' Code makes it clear that all victims are entitled to support from a range of organisations at every stage of the justice process.

'In addition, we have protected the victims' budget and given police and crime commissioners almost 70million to support victims in their areas.'
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jose Medina, 29, danced with Melania Trump at The Salute to Our Armed Services Ball on Friday night

The American soldier who had the privilege of dancing with the First Lady at The Salute to Our Armed Services Ball has revealed what they spoke about while cutting the rug together.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jose Medina, 29, of Puerto Rico, is the lucky service member who had the chance of lifetime to dance with Melania Trump on Friday night during the event that was hosted at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC.

Medina, who has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, said it was an 'honor'.

'It's incredible. Obviously it was a great privilege and honor to get the chance to dance with the First Lady,' he told Inside Edition.

Medina also shared that the 46-year-old former model congratulated him on being selected to dance with her.

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Medina is the lucky service member who had the chance of lifetime to dance with Melania Trump on Friday night during the event that was hosted at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC (above)

Medina, who has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, said it was an 'honor'. Of the First Lady, he added: 'She was just trying to get to know me. Behind the scenes, she wanted to talk to me more.'

'She [was] just saying hi to me, congratulating me on being selected, and I just told her that she was beautiful and that she had a beautiful family, and she smiled at that,' he recalled.

'She was just trying to get to know me. Behind the scenes, she wanted to talk to me more.'

While the two slow danced, Medina asked the mother-of-one if he could twirl her, to which she replied 'of course' with a smile.

'So I did it and then the crowd went crazy,' Medina said with a wide smile.

The soldier also shared that the First Lady seemed slightly nervous when they first hit the dance floor, but became more comfortable after time.

During the event, the 46-year-old First Lady dazzled in an ivory, off-shoulder gown that she helped co-create with designer Herve Pierre

'She was nervous,' Medina said. 'I don't think she was ready for all of that attention.'

During the event, the 46-year-old dazzled in an ivory, off-shoulder gown that she helped co-create with designer Herve Pierre.

While sporting the column gown with an organza ruffle featured a crimson waist ribbon, she opted for minimal accessories and styled her hair in loose waves around her shoulders.

The first lady helped design the silk gown with Pierre, who was the former creative director of Carolina Herrera. During his time with the designer, he dressed a number of other first ladies including Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama.
When the sudden, savage hurricane of firing had stopped, several bodies lay in the 'kill zone' on the forest floor.

On closer inspection, the ambush party from 42 Commando Royal Marines found two of the enemy casualties alive but hideously wounded. The officer in charge was still a teenager.

An Old Etonian and first-class scholar, he should have been at university but instead found himself 6,500 miles away on National Service in the Malayan jungle fighting a communist insurgency.

By that day in 1952, frontline action in the tropics had already taught Second Lieutenant Neal Ascherson much about life. But this particular incident towards the end of his tour of duty was to provide him with one of the very hardest lessons of war. And it would leave a memory that haunts him to this day.

Neal Ascherson, left, who studied at Cambridge was a Second Lieutenant during the Malayan emergency in 1952 while he completed his national service, when he shot dead two badly wounded insurgents following an ambush and put an end to their suffering

Ascherson was an officer in the same unit, 42 Commando Royal Marines as Sgt Al Blackman

'I went forward and found two men hideously wounded, unconscious but still just moving,' Ascherson writes in today's Times newspaper.

'One had his brains flowing out of his skull. The rib-cage of the other had been blown away so that his heart and lung were hanging out. I don't remember a moment's hesitation or doubt about what to do: I pointed my carbine and put them both out of their misery.

'Through the gun-deaf whistling in my ears, I heard a Marine say: 'You wouldn't leave a dog like that.' Still less two young men.

'Nobody said a word about it later. But I know now that this was legally murder. 'Mercy killing' isn't a category recognised by military law, although soldiers have always done it and  I don't doubt  still do almost daily in wars across the world.

'It's time that courts tried to grasp the context of battle and what happens to the minds of the warriors.'

He adds: 'I'm tired of hearing that 'nobody can conceive what it's like'. Of course they can  by reading and viewing and listening, and making an effort of imagination.'

This story  never before told  may come as a surprise to those who know of and admire Ascherson today. Some 65 years after his Malayan experiences, he stands as one of the grand old men of the liberal Left.

Having studied at Cambridge where the Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm described him as 'perhaps the most brilliant student I ever had', Ascherson enjoyed an outstanding journalistic career, principally as a foreign correspondent for the Observer.

British forces, pictured, were deployed to Malaya to counter a communist insurgency

Ascherson said his experiences in the Malayan jungles convinced him to join the campaign

On September 15, 2011, a Taliban attack on a British base in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, was repulsed when an Apache helicopter strafed the insurgents with cannon fire, mortally wounding one.

Acting Colour Sergeant Alexander Blackman, a veteran of five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a man described as a 'superb soldier' by his superiors, killed the wounded Taliban fighter with a bullet to the chest.

The incident was captured on video by one of Blackman's men. The video subsequently fell into the hands of the British police and Blackman was arrested.

In December 2013, Sgt Blackman was convicted at court martial of murder and jailed for life with a minimum of ten years and dismissed with disgrace from the British Armed Forces.

Sgt Blackman, pictured, was caught on video shooting a mortally wounded Taliban fighter

It is said that some members of the court martial panel saluted him as he left the court. An appeal against conviction in May 2014 served only to reduce the minimum tariff to eight years. Now 42, Blackman remains in HMP Erlestoke in Wiltshire.

But while it was clear that Blackman had done wrong, there was also evidence of a gross miscarriage of justice. He and his men were under intense pressure at the end of a gruelling six-month tour of duty and casualties among close colleagues were increasing.

The Taliban had taken to hanging body parts of dismembered Marines in trees as trophies.

Public outrage at Blackman's treatment was growing with rallies in his support and an online petition signed by more than 100,000 people. In the autumn of 2015, this newspaper, while recognising Blackman's culpability, began a campaign to have his case looked at again by the courts and established a fund to pay for a new legal team to secure this.

Readers raised an astonishing 800,000, which underwrote the efforts of leading QC Jonathan Goldberg and his team as they compiled a compelling new case to be put before the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).

In December 2016, the CCRC decided that there were no fewer than three grounds upon which the Blackman case was potentially unsafe and should be referred back to the Court of Appeal.

Sgt Blackman, pictured, was convicted of murder, dismissed with disgrace from the military and ordered to serve a minimum of ten years in prison, later reduced to eight

The first is that new psychiatric evidence shows Blackman was suffering from an 'adjustment disorder' which would have sufficed to reduce his crime from murder to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Second, the conduct of Blackman's defence prior to trial was deficient to the extent that it led to identifiable errors which rendered the trial process unfair.

Third, the Judge Advocate General who sat at the court martial had wrongly failed to leave 'unlawful act manslaughter' as an optional verdict for the panel, who were simply asked to decide whether Blackman was innocent or guilty of murder.

The Mail understands that Ascherson shares many of these misgivings. Last week, according to fellow Corps veterans involved in the case, he approached the Blackman campaign offering help. He could, he said, provide his own account of the pressures, complexities and moral iniquities of combat in a nasty little war in an obscure country that was just as unpopular back home as the Afghanistan conflict.

Second Lt Ascherson was a member of the Royal Marines Commando brigade sent from the UK to Malaya in 1951, when the communist insurgency was at its height and appeared to be spinning out of control.

Supporters of Sgt Blackman have been campaigning for his release from prison

He is also the author of a number of books, mainly on Eastern Europe, and still lectures on archaeology. He is as far from being a Right-wing reactionary as it is possible to be. No, Ascherson is an archetypal British liberal intellectual.

His participation as a combatant in the Malayan Emergency, one of Britain's last colonial wars, troubled him even as he was leading his men in jungle sweeps against the largely ethnic Chinese fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army. It was a gruelling war of shadows in which the opponent was rarely seen.

He has in the past written: 'The men with whom I had shared dangers in the jungle deserved all my loyalty and affection . . . Yet every month I spent in Malaya confirmed to me that we were defending an empire of injustice.'

More recently, though, Ascherson has been contemplating what he feels to be another 'injustice' arising out of an incident very 'similar' to that of his own epiphany. And, as a man of high principle, Ascherson has chosen to act upon it.

Sgt Blackman's wife Claire, pictured, has welcomed Ascherson's intervention

In 13 days, the Court of Appeal will begin to reconsider the case of another soldier who served in a foreign war with Ascherson's old unit, 42 Commando Royal Marines.

On September 15, 2011, a Taliban attack on a British base in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, was repulsed when an Apache helicopter strafed the insurgents with cannon fire, mortally wounding one.

Acting Colour Sergeant Alexander Blackman, a veteran of five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a man described as a 'superb soldier' by his superiors, killed the wounded Taliban fighter with a bullet to the chest.

The incident was captured on video by one of Blackman's men. This video subsequently fell into the hands of the British police and Blackman was arrested.

In December 2013, Sgt Blackman was convicted at court martial of murder and jailed for life with a minimum of ten years and dismissed with disgrace from the Armed Forces.

It is said that some members of the court martial panel saluted him as he left the court. An appeal against conviction in May 2014 served only to reduce the minimum tariff to eight years. Now 42, Blackman remains in HMP Erlestoke in Wiltshire.

But while it was clear that Blackman had done wrong, there was also evidence of a gross miscarriage of justice. He and his men were under intense pressure at the end of a gruelling six-month tour of duty and casualties among close colleagues were increasing.

The Taliban had taken to hanging body parts of dismembered Marines in trees as trophies.

Public outrage at Blackman's treatment was growing with rallies in his support and an online petition signed by more than 100,000 people.

In the autumn of 2015, this news-paper, while recognising Blackman's culpability, began a campaign to have his case looked at again by the courts and established a fund to pay for a new legal team to secure this.

Readers raised an astonishing 800,000, which underwrote the efforts of leading QC Jonathan Goldberg and his team as they compiled a compelling new case to be put before the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

In December 2016, the CCRC decided there were three grounds upon which the Blackman case was potentially unsafe and should be referred back to the Court of Appeal.

The first is that new psychiatric evidence shows he was suffering from an 'adjustment disorder' which would have sufficed to reduce his crime from murder to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Second, the conduct of Blackman's defence prior to trial was deficient to the extent that it led to identifiable errors which rendered the trial process unfair.

Third, the Judge Advocate General who sat at the court martial had wrongly failed to leave 'unlawful act manslaughter' as an optional verdict for the panel, who were simply asked to decide whether Blackman was innocent or guilty of murder.

Ascherson shares many of these misgivings. He writes: 'It's not so difficult to imagine Sgt Blackman. In a unit which felt abandoned, haunted by Taliban atrocities and obsessed with revenge fantasies as its morale decayed, he was half-deranged with stress.

'Did he shoot out of pity, or out of frantic loss of control, or to make sure that his squad made it back across a killing ground without the burden of a wounded prisoner?

'Whichever his motive, Blackman's act was 'culpable homicide'  manslaughter  and to call it murder is a tragic failure of justice.'

Of course, to support his argument Ascherson has also provided for the first time his own account of a moment of war; one which embodies the pressures, complexities and moral iniquities of combat in a nasty little conflict in an obscure country that was just as unpopular back home as the more recent Afghanistan conflict.

Ascherson was a member of the Royal Marines Commando brigade sent to Malaya in 1951, when the communist insurgency was at its height. Attacks on the security forces and the rubber plantations and tin mines  their revenues vital for the ailing post-war UK economy  were increasing.

Matters came to a head that October when a communist ambush on a road near Kuala Lumpur killed the British High Commissioner to Malaya, Sir Henry Gurney.

His replacement turned the tide of the 'Emergency' and set the course for an eventual victory. While Sir Henry was a career colonial officer, General Sir Gerald Templer was a decorated fighting soldier who established what came to be seen as a model for counter-insurgency.

Templer popularised the phrase 'hearts and minds' as an approach to winning over the civilian population. He also greatly increased the importance of intelligence gathering and could be ruthless in imposing punishments on communities where insurgents operated.

But to win he also had to fight and kill and Ascherson and his colleagues in elite units were the cutting edge for this aggression.

Ascherson has previously described how his enthusiasm for the cause diminished. 'When you do what you are trained to do, this extraordinary experience of shooting at people and being shot at, is a huge high when you are 18 years old,' he said.

'But afterwards it dawns on you. You remember the dead bodies and think: 'I'm responsible for that.' You reflect, rather self-consciously, why am I not considered worthy to vote in the British election [the voting age was then 21], but I'm not too young to take somebody's life?'

The year 1952 was pivotal. More communist guerrillas were killed in those 12 months than at any other time in the 12-year Emergency. The security forces suffered 600 casualties, killed and wounded. Some 29 Marines would die in Malaya on active service, mostly in battle.

The horrors of jungle fighting were also brought home to the UK. In April, the Communist Party of Britain's Daily Worker newspaper published a photograph of a Royal Marine holding the severed heads of two communist guerrillas.

There was an uproar and Parliament was told that the decapitations were carried out for identification purposes by Dayak headhunters who had been acting as jungle guides for the security forces.

After six months in the Kinta Valley, Ascherson's unit was sent to Selangor state, which is where the ambush took place.

His memory of the incident has altered with age. He writes: 'At first, what I remembered most intensely was the guerrilla who had tried to rescue his mate.' The insurgent had rushed from cover to reach one of the wounded only to have been cut down by the Marines, their bullets 'tattering' his shirt as he fell.

Ascherson says: 'I had been taught at school that 'greater love hath no man than this, that he lays down his life for his friends'. Now I had seen this done, but done by a Chinese communist supposed to be inhuman.

'Growing old, it was killing the dying men which came to haunt me.'

He adds: 'The wrong of taking a life doesn't diminish. Instead, it separates from all the justifications, however valid. Did I do the right thing? I think so. Would I do it again? I think not.

'Such acts are wrong, full stop, however powerful the justification rightly used to reduce any punishment, and it is good that it is held to be wrong back in Britain. But the law should also allow for the context of battle, in which both of us [Blackman and himself] perhaps, gave way to instincts that are stronger than the wrong of killing.'

At the time of the ambush Ascherson was already writing letters to politicians both in Malaya and at home, questioning the validity of the war and the treatment of the Chinese minority.

After demob, he resumed his studies at King's College, Cambridge where he read history  and was soon graphically reminded of where many on the Left stood on the issue of Malaya.

His tutor there and subsequent lifelong friend was renowned Left-wing academic, Eric Hobsbawm.

Their relationship had an inauspicious start when, as a new undergraduate, Ascherson attended drinks in the historian's rooms.

'Eric inspected me,' he recalled. 'What's that medal affair you're wearing?' 'It's my National Service campaign medal. For active service in the Malayan Emergency.'

'Eric pulled back and took a look at me. Then he said, sharply but without violence: 'Malaya? You should be ashamed to be wearing that.'

'I don't think I said anything at all,' Ascherson wrote in his obituary of Hobsbawm. 'I remember noticing the students around us, round-eyed with shock. Then I left the room, stumbling back down the dusky stairs, and out into the huge court where it was beginning to rain.

'For a time I walked round the court in the darkness, shedding angry tears. I was drunk and getting wetter, but after a time I felt for the miniature medal, unpinned it and slipped it into the pocket of my jacket. Something had been resolved. I never wore it again.'

What Ascherson, now 84, could not put away for good was his personal knowledge of battle and its impact on those who fight.

Last night Sgt Blackman's wife, Claire, said: 'I welcome the support of so distinguished a figure as Neal Ascherson.

'His own testimony of an incident on a battlefield in many ways resembles that in which my husband found himself in Afghanistan and indeed reflects the stories of so many others who have seen active service.

'The pressures that our soldiers are under in sustained combat can only be understood by those who have also served.'
Transcription

1 Eur J Echocardiography (2005) 6, 264e270 The use of isovolumic contraction velocity to determine right ventricular state of contractility and filling pressures A pulsed Doppler tissue imaging study Per Lindqvist a, Anders Waldenstrom a, Gerhard Wikstrom b, Elsadig Kazzam a,c, ) a Department of Public Health & Clinical Medicine, Umea University Hospital, Umea, Sweden b Department of Cardiology, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden c Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates Received 8 August 2004 Available online 29 December 2004 KEYWORDS Cardiac catheterization; Contractility; Doppler tissue imaging; Isovolumic contraction velocity; Right ventricular function Abstract Aims Echocardiographic techniques have not so far been able to provide a good estimation of myocardial contractility in humans. Myocardial motion during the isovolumic contraction phase, measured by Doppler tissue imaging, has only recently in experimental models been shown to describe myocardial contractility. The aim of the present clinical study was to investigate the relationship between right ventricular isovolumic contraction velocity and right ventricular state of contractility. Methods and results Doppler tissue imaging and cardiac catheterization were performed simultaneously in 26 consecutive patients with different cardiac diseases (18 males, mean age 52 G 12, range 23e75 years). Peak isovolumic contraction velocity was measured using Doppler tissue imaging at 2 levels of the right ventricular free wall. During cardiac catheterization, the first derivative of right ventricular pressure related to the pulmonary artery peak pressure (dp/dt/ P max ) was measured. Furthermore, right ventricular end diastolic pressure, right atrial mean pressure, pulmonary artery systolic pressure, and pulmonary artery resistance, were also measured. A significant relationship was found between isovolumic contraction velocity and dp/dt/p max (r Z 0.59, p! 0.01). This relationship was strengthened after excluding patients with elevated right atrial pressures ) Corresponding author. Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, P.O. Box 17666, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates. Tel.: C ; fax: C address: (E. Kazzam) /$30  2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The European Society of Cardiology. doi: /j.euje

2 Isovolumic contraction velocity and right ventricular function 265 (r Z 0.77, p! 0.001). Furthermore, a correlation was also found between basal and mid cavity isovolumic contraction velocity and right ventricular end diastolic pressure (r Z y0.47, r Z y0.49, p! 0.05) as well as right atrial mean pressure (r Z y0.63, r Z y0.55, p! 0.01). Conclusion Isovolumic contraction velocity is a reproducible and easily obtainable non-invasive parameter which correlates with invasive measurements of right ventricular state of contractility and right ventricular filling pressures.  2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The European Society of Cardiology. Introduction Reduced right ventricular ejection fraction is a powerful predictor for adverse outcome. 1 Thus, assessment of right ventricular function is of clinical importance. 2 However, most non-invasive diagnostic techniques have shown limitations due to the complex anatomy and geometry of the right ventricle. 3 Doppler tissue imaging has previously been suggested to be a reliable tool for the evaluation of regional myocardial function throughout the cardiac cycle. 4 Myocardial motion during the isovolumic periods, which is easily detected by Doppler tissue imaging has recently attracted much interest. 5 The duration and the peak velocity for the isovolumic contraction phase are proposed to reflect myocardial function and correlate to increased right ventricular end diastolic pressure. 6,7 Recently, Vogel et al. 8 demonstrated by using Doppler tissue imaging, that acceleration of isovolumic contraction velocity is a reliable measurement of right ventricular contractility. Furthermore, this parameter is not affected by loading conditions and is therefore useful as an index of right ventricular function. All these studies, however, were carried out in animal models and have not been validated in a clinical setting in normal and diseased ventricles. 9 Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between myocardial peak isovolumic contraction velocity and indices of right ventricular contractility in consecutive patients with different cardiac diseases using Doppler tissue imaging as validated to a simultaneous cardiac catheterization measurement. Methods Study population Twenty-six consecutive patients (18 were males) referred for routine cardiac characterization due to different cardiac diseases were studied. Their mean age was 52 G 12 (range 23e75) years. Two patients had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 10 with dilated cardiomyopathy, 4 with heart transplantation, 1 with systemic hypertension, 1 with mitral valve prosthesis dysfunction, 4 with primary hypertension, 1 with heart failure due to longstanding aortic stenosis, 2 with mitral valve disease, and 1 with ischemic heart disease (Table 1). All patients were in sinus rhythm and patients with right bundle branch block were excluded. Nine patients were on diuretics, 12 on ACE-inhibitors, 12 on beta-blockers, 1 on digitalis and 6 on calcium antagonist. All patients gave their written consent to participate in the study, which was approved by the local ethics committee. Echocardiographic examination Doppler echocardiographic examinations were performed simultaneously with cardiac catheterization with patients lying in the supine position. All patients were in stable haemodynamic condition and tracing were recorded during expiration. A commercially available ultrasound system (HP, Sonos 5500, Philips, Andover, Mass., U.S.) equipped with a multifrequency phased array transducer and pulsed Doppler tissue imaging technique was used. Parasternal and apical views were obtained according to the recommendations of the American Society of Echocardiography. 10 All recordings were made with a simultaneous superimposed ECG and phonocardiogram (PCG, HP 2105A, Philips, Andover, Mass., U.S.). 11,4 Recordings were made at a sweep speed of 50 and 100 mm/s and stored on magnetic optical discs. Values are presented as means of 3 consecutive beats. Right ventricular myocardial Doppler tissue imaging Myocardial systolic and diastolic velocities and the time intervals were recorded using pulsed Doppler tissue imaging technique. The sample volume was 6 mm. The acoustic power and filter frequencies were adjusted for detecting myocardial velocities.

3 266 P. Lindqvist et al. Table 1 Patient characteristics DCM Transplanted spht ppht HCM n Age (years) 49 G 9 56G 8 60G 8 30G 9 64G 6 HR (bpm) 62 G G G G G 1 SBP (mmhg) 118 G G G G G 16 DBP (mmhg) 76 G G 2 77G G G 7 Gender (m/f) 8/2 4/0 3/3 1/3 2/0 BSA (m 2 ) 2.07 G G G G G 0.21 NYHA (I/II/III/IV) 0/4/5/1 2/2/0/0 0/2/2/2 0/2/2/0 0/0/0/2 PASP (mmhg) 47 G G 3 71G G G 0 RAMP (mmhg) 7 G 5 6G 2 12G 7 14G 10 8 G 4 LVEF (%) 35 G G G G 7 43G 19 LVDD (mm) 71 G G G 7 43G G 18 RVS long axis (mm) 18 G 5 17G 2 16G 9 13G 7 13G 1 DCM Z dilated cardiomyopathy; spht Z secondary pulmonary hypertension; ppht Z primary hypertension; HCM Z hypertrophy cardiomyopathy; HR Z heart rate; SBP Z systolic blood pressure; SDP Z diastolic blood pressure; BSA Z body surface area; PASP Z pulmonary artery systolic pressure; RAMP Z right atrial mean pressure; LVEF Z left ventricular ejection fraction; LVDD Z left ventricular diastolic diameter; RVS Z right ventricular systolic. Cardiac catheterization One experienced investigator performed all the cardiac catheterization studies (GW). Briefly, a balloon catheter was inserted through the right internal jugular vein or right brachial vein (Becton Dickinson Criticath SP5 107 HTD catheter). Pressures were registered with a Cathcor O system 3.3 (Siemens Elema AB, Electromedical systems divisions, Solna, Sweden). Measurements The following measurements were made from the 2D and M-mode echocardiography recordings. Left ventricular internal diameter at end diastole (onset of the Q wave) as recommended by the American Society of Echocardiography. 12 From the 2D echocardiography registrations, ejection fraction was derived from Simpson s modified single plane method using 4-chamber view. Right ventricular outflow tract fractional shortening was calculated as the percentage fall in right ventricular outflow tract diameter in systole, as previously described. 13 Right ventricular systolic long axis amplitude was recorded from the apical 4-chamber view with the M-mode cursor positioned at the free wall of the tricuspid valve annulus. 14 Furthermore, right ventricular end diastolic and systolic areas were manually measured and right ventricular area change was calculated. All these measurements were done to compare dp/dt/p max to systolic indices of right ventricular function. Right ventricular myocardial Doppler tissue imaging Doppler tissue imaging was used to measure right ventricular longitudinal myocardial segmental function. 15,16 From the basal and mid cavity level the peak systolic (Sv) and isovolumic contraction velocity (IVCv) was measured (Fig. 1). Statistical analysis A commercially available statistical program (SPSS 10.1 and 11.1) was used. All data are presented as the mean G SD. Pearson s correlation and linear Tissue Velocity Pressure Figure 1 Schematic traces from Doppler tissue imaging with superimposed ventricular and atrial pressures. IVCv Z isovolumic contraction velocity; Sv Z systolic velocity during ejection period; Ev Z early diastolic velocity; Av Z atrial velocity; IRT Z isovolumic relaxation time.

4 Isovolumic contraction velocity and right ventricular function 267 regression analyses were plotted to show certain relationships. A p-value less then 0.05 was considered significant. Results General characteristics of the study population The patient s characteristics are presented in Table 1. Right ventricular isovolumic contraction velocity and right ventricular contractility A significant relationship was found between dp/ dt/p max and isovolumic contraction velocity at mid cavity of the right ventricular free wall (r Z 0.59, p! 0.01, Fig. 2). Furthermore, when only patients with atrial pressure! 8 mmhg were taken into account the relationship of both basal and mid segmental levels were strengthened (r Z 0.69, p! 0.01 and r Z 0.77, p! 0.001, Fig. 3). The isovolumic contraction velocity at basal and mid segmental level did not correlate with neither right ventricular end diastolic dimension nor heart rate. We found no relationship between right ventricular systolic long axis, right ventricular area change, right ventricular outflow tract fractional shortening, Sv at any segment to dp/dt/p max neither in total group nor in the subgroup. Right ventricular isovolumic contraction velocity and after-load dependence Isovolumic contraction velocity measured from either basal or mid cavity segmental level did not dp/dt/p (1/sec) MID SEGMENT y = 1,0613x + 10,943 r = 0.77, p< correlate to pulmonary artery systolic pressure or pulmonary artery resistance. Right ventricular isovolumic contraction velocity and right ventricular filling pressures Figure 3 Correlation between isovolumic contraction velocities at the mid segment of the right ventricle and right ventricular dp/dt/p max in patients with right atrial pressures! 8 mmhg. Isovolumic contraction velocity measured from base and mid cavity level correlated significantly with right ventricular end diastolic pressure (r Z y0.47 and r Z y0.49, p! 0.05, for both, Fig. 4). We also found a relation between right atrial mean pressure and isovolumic contraction velocity at both segments (r Z y0.62 and y0.54, p! 0.01, for both, Fig. 5). On the basis of the correlation between isovolumic contraction velocity at basal segment and right atrial mean pressure, we tested the sensitivity and specificity of a cut off value below 6 cm/s indicating an increased right atrial pressure (O6 mmhg). The sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 78%, respectively (Fig. 5) MID SEGMENT 3 2 MID SEGMENT y = -1,0192x + 16,485 r =-0.49, p<0.05 dp/dt/p (1/sec) y = 1,1912x + 11,546 r = 0.59, p<0.01 RVEDP (mm Hg) Figure 2 Correlation between isovolumic contraction velocities at the mid segment of the right ventricle and right ventricular dp/dt/p max in all patients. Figure 4 Correlation between isovolumic contraction velocity at the mid segment of the right ventricle and right ventricular end diastolic pressure in all patients.

5 268 P. Lindqvist et al. RAMP (mm Hg) BASAL SEGMENT y = -0,7302x + 14,852 r = -0.62, p<0.01 widening. The chamber narrowing in transverse direction is starting from the right segment of the basal loop during isovolumic contraction. The spiral fibres of the right ventricle are located in the subepicardium. 18 Therefore, the velocity during the isovolumic contraction phase might well be derived from the initial transverse right ventricular free wall motion. 0 Reproducibility of the data Intra-observer and inter-observer variability of isovolumic contraction velocity measurements was tested by repeated measurements in 10 consecutive tracings. Variability was expressed as the coefficient of variation. Inter- and intraobserver variability for isovolumic contraction velocity was 7%, respectively. Discussion We have demonstrated that peak myocardial velocity of the right ventricular free wall, measured by pulsed Doppler tissue imaging, during the isovolumic contraction velocity phase can be used to estimate right ventricular contractility as well as right ventricular filling pressures. These findings may be of importance as disturbance of myocardial motion occurs predominantly during the isovolumic phases (i.e. contraction and/or relaxation), and may therefore be a sensitive marker for myocardial dysfunction. 5 Cardiac anatomy Figure 5 Correlation between isovolumic contraction velocities at the basal segment of the right ventricle and right atrial mean pressure in all patients. Buckberg 17 described in a recent review article the arrangement of cardiac fibres in terms of 2 different myocardial bands whereas the first spiral is designated as the basal loop and the second one as the apical loop. The basal loop fibres are running in a transverse or circumferential motion of the ventricles and perpendicular to ventricular long axis which is related to the apical loop. These 2 loops are proposed to be responsible for 4 cardiac motions including systolic narrowing and shortening followed by a diastolic lengthening and Right ventricular isovolumic contraction velocity and right ventricular contractility An index of right ventricular contractility should ideally be sensitive to changes in the inotropic state but insensitive to heart rate as well as preand after-load conditions. Kaul et al. demonstrated a simple method to measure the systolic excursion of the tricuspid ring from base to apex. 19 This motion correlated with radionuclide derived ejection fraction. Recently, Meluzin et al. showed by using Doppler tissue imaging, that the peak systolic velocity of right ventricular myocardial free wall correlated to ejection fraction. 20 The major advantage of these measurements is the simplicity and the high reproducibility. 21,22 However, the use of peak systolic velocity in this respect is limited by being both load and heart rate dependent as well as being insensitive to alteration in the inotropic state. 8,23 dp/dt max has traditionally been considered as a measurement of myocardial contractility because its maximum rate of pressure rise occurs before the aortic and pulmonary valve opening. The main limitation of dp/dt max is its pre-load dependence as well as being influenced by cavity size and thickness index. 24 Therefore, dp/dt/p max was considered less sensitive to pre-load and a more reliable index for right ventricular contractility. 25 In an animal study, Vogel et al. showed that IVC acceleration is a reliable measurement of right ventricular contractility and relatively load independent. 8 The study concluded that the acceleration was a more sensitive marker than IVC peak velocity. We found it difficult to accurately measure the acceleration of isovolumic contraction velocity as this is commonly multidirectional as supported by the anatomical explanation by Buckberg et al. 18 Therefore, we proposed that isovolumic contraction velocity would be the most appropriate measure. In the present study, we found that isovolumic contraction velocity was influenced by the contractile state, especially at the mid cavity segments of the right ventricular free wall.

6 Isovolumic contraction velocity and right ventricular function 269 Right ventricular isovolumic contraction velocity and right ventricular filling pressures Our present finding that isovolumic contraction velocity is dependent on the right ventricular end diastolic pressure indicates that isovolumic contraction velocity can be used to estimate filling pressures within certain limits. This is the consequence of the Frank Starling relationship where an increase in end diastolic pressure results in increased initial fibre (sarcomere) length. We propose that an isovolumic contraction velocity value below 6 cm/s can be used as a cut-off point for elevated filling pressures. Study limitations Although a small number of patients were investigated in this study, this was sufficient enough to disclose the physiological consequence of right heart failure. Most patients, however, suffered from severe heart failure, and only 14 showed normal right atrial pressures. In this study we used a thermodilution catheter; a tip manometer catheter with higher frequencies would have strengthened the results. However, the catheter used by us is a commonly used catheter in the daily clinical practice in our lab. One should be conscious when interpretation IVCv in presence of elevated atrial pressure and presence of right bundle branch block since both elevated right atrial pressure and electromechanical disturbances are known to alter the isovolumic phases. 26,27 Therefore, the influence of different types of arrhythmias, bundle branch block and elevated atrial pressures needs to be further investigated. Conclusion Right ventricular contractility can be determined by measuring isovolumic contraction velocity, which is a reproducible and easily obtainable non-invasive parameter. Furthermore, isovolumic contraction velocity can also be useful in detecting patients with elevated right ventricular filling pressures. Acknowledgements This study was supported by the Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation, The Heart Foundation of Northern Sweden and Uppsala Academic Hospital Research Fund. Ulla-Marie Andersson, Mona Andren, Karin Fagerbrink, Kjell Karlstrom, Berit Lowen and Elisabeth Lindstrom are acknowledged for skilful assistance during the catheterization procedure. Johan Landelius was of invaluable support. References 1. Bleasdale RA, Frenneaux MP. Prognostic importance of right ventricula dysfunction. Heart 2002;88:323e4. 2. Burgess MI, Bright-Thomas RJ, Ray SG. Echocardiographic evaluation of right ventricular function. Eur J Echocardiogr 2002;3:252e Nagel E, Stuber M, Hess OM. Importance of the right ventricle in valvular heart disease. Eur Heart J 1996;17: 829e Sutherland GR, Hatle L. Pulsed doppler myocardial imaging. A new approach to regional longitudinal function? Eur J Echocardiogr 2000;1:81e3. 5. Edvardsen T, Urheim S, Skulstad H, Steine K, Ihlen H, Smiseth OA. Quantification of left ventricular systolic function by tissue Doppler echocardiography: added value of measuring pre- and postejection velocities in ischemic myocardium. Circulation 2002;105:2071e7. 6. Pislaru C, Bruce CJ, Belohlavek M, Seward JB, Greenleaf JF. Intracardiac measurement of pre-ejection myocardial velocities estimates the transmural extent of viable myocardium early after reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction. J Am Coll Cardiol 2001;38:1748e Yoshifuku S, Otsuji Y, Takasaki K, Yuge K, Kisanuki A, Toyonaga K, et al. Pseudonormalized Doppler total ejection isovolume (Tei) index in patients with right ventricular acute myocardial infarction. Am J Cardiol 2003;91:527e Vogel M, Schmidt MR, Kristiansen SB, Cheung M, White PA, Sorensen K, et al. Validation of myocardial acceleration during isovolumic contraction as a novel noninvasive index of right ventricular contractility: comparison with ventricular pressure-volume relations in an animal model. Circulation 2002;105:1693e9. 9. Weyman AE. The year in echocardiography. J Am Coll Cardiol 2004;43:140e Schiller NB, Shah PM, Crawford M, DeMaria A, Devereux R, Feigenbaum H, et al. Recommendations for quantitation of the left ventricle by two-dimensional echocardiography. American Society of Echocardiography Committee on standards, subcommittee on quantitation of two-dimensional echocardiograms. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 1989;2: 358e Garcia-Fernandez MA, Azevedo J, Moreno M, Bermejo J, Perez-Castellano N, Puerta P, et al. Regional diastolic function in ischaemic heart disease using pulsed wave Doppler tissue imaging. Eur Heart J 1999;20:496e Sahn DJ, DeMaria A, Kisslo J, Weyman A. Recommendations regarding quantitation in M-mode echocardiography: results of a survey of echocardiographic measurements. Circulation 1978;58:1072e Lindqvist P, Henein M, Kazzam E. Right ventricular outflowtract fractional shortening: an applicable measure of right ventricular systolic function. Eur J Echocardiogr 2003;4: 29e Henein MY, Cailes J, O Sullivan C, du Bois RM, Gibson DG. Abnormal ventricular long-axis function in systemic sclerosis. Chest 1995;108:1533e Garcia MJ, Rodriguez L, Ares M, Griffin BP, Klein AL, Stewart WJ, et al. Myocardial wall velocity assessment by

7 270 P. Lindqvist et al. pulsed Doppler tissue imaging: characteristic findings in normal subjects. Am Heart J 1996;132:648e Isaaz K, Munoz del Romeral L, Lee E, Schiller NB. Quantitation of the motion of the cardiac base in normal subjects by Doppler echocardiography. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 1993; 6:166e Buckberg GD. Basic science review: the helix and the heart. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2002;124:863e Greenbaum RA, Ho SY, Gibson DG, Becker AE, Anderson RH. Left ventricular fibre architecture in man. Br Heart J 1981; 45:248e Kaul S, Tei C, Hopkins JM, Shah PM. Assessment of right ventricular function using two-dimensional echocardiography. Am Heart J 1984;107:526e Meluzin J, Spinarova L, Bakala J, Toman J, Krejci J, Hude P, et al. Pulsed Doppler tissue imaging of the velocity of tricuspid annular systolic motion; a new, rapid, and noninvasive method of evaluating right ventricular systolic function. Eur Heart J 2001;22:340e Hammarstrom E, Wranne B, Pinto FJ, Puryear J, Popp RL. Tricuspid annular motion. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 1991;4:131e Alam M, Wardell J, Andersson E, Samad BA, Nordlander R. Characteristics of mitral and tricuspid annular velocities determined by pulsed wave Doppler tissue imaging in healthy subjects. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 1999;12: 618e Alam M, Samad BA. Detection of exercise-induced reversible right ventricular wall motion abnormalities using echocardiographic determined tricuspid annular motion. Am J Cardiol 1999;83:103e Katz. Physiology of the heart. 3rd ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Kanzaki H, Nakatani S, Kawada T, Yamagishi M, Sunagawa K, Miyatake K. Right ventricular dp/dt/p(max), not dp/dt(max), noninvasively derived from tricuspid regurgitation velocity is a useful index of right ventricular contractility. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 2002;15:136e Hatle L, Angelsen BA, Tromsdal A. Non-invasive estimation of pulmonary artery systolic pressure with Doppler ultrasound. Br Heart J 1981;45:157e Henein MY, Gibson DG. Long axis function in disease. Heart 1999;81:229e31.
A Chinese mother has had a tearful reunion with her two daughters who were abducted 28 years ago.

As she saw her long-lost children on Monday, Chen Jiaxiang, 72, hugged them tightly and said 'I have never thought I could see you again in my lifetime', according to Chinese media.

Ms Chen's elder daughter, 47-year-old Huang Ruixiu, told reporters that she and her sister, 42-year-old Huang Ruixiang, had been kidnapped by a cousin in 1988.

A long-awaited reunion: Cheng Jiaxiang (left), 72, finally met her two daughters, Huang Ruixiu (right) and Huang Ruixiang (middle), after missing them for 28 years

The emotional reunion took place at the Shiquan County of Ankang city in Shaanxi Province, reported People's Daily Online, citing a report from Huashang Daily.

All of the three women broke down in tears as they saw each other.

The reunion was organised by the local public security bureau and volunteers from an anti-human trafficking website, named 'Sanqin come home'.

Huang Ruixiu and her younger sister Huang Ruixiang were born in Banqiao Village, Shiquan County, Shaanxi Province. The sisters were abducted in 1988 in Suizhou, Hubei Province, where they were living at the time.

Prior to the abduction, the two had lived in Hubei Province for about five years. In 1983, Huang Ruixiu married at the age of 13 to a man living in Hubei and Huang Ruixiang followed her sister and moved to Hubei too.

Their parents had also moved to Hubei to live with their daughters, but they decided to return to their home in Shaanxi in 1985.

Touching moment: The three women hugged each other tightly as they were reunited on Monday in Shaanxi Province, China

According to Huang Ruixiu, she and her sister were abducted at the end of 1988. She said their abductors took them from Suizhou to Kaifeng in central China's Henan Province.

Huang Ruixiu told a reporter from Huashang Daily: 'My sister was not even 14 years old at the time. The abductors brought us to KaiFeng, then they took my sister away and sent her to another family.'

The woman said she begged the abductors not to send her sister away, but the abductors said a family had paid them 3,000 yuan (350) for her sister.

The report did not explain where Huang Ruixiu had been sold to, but she said she had not seen her sister Huang Ruixiang since then.

Huang Ruixiu has been renamed to Li Fengyi by her adoptive parents while Huang Ruixiang is now known as Huang Shunxiang.

Emotional: Younger daughter Huang Ruixiang (in black) cried when she saw her mother

Huang Ruixiu felt sorry for losing her sister and she swore to find her and their parents.

Thanks to volunteers and police, Huang Ruixiu managed to track down her mother Chen Jiaxiang in the summer of 2015. She learned from her mother that her father had passed away.

She carried on looking for her sister Huang Ruixiang.

According to the report, officers at the public security bureau of Shiquan county received a request from Huang Ruixiu who wanted them to help look for her missing sister. The police began an investigation in June last year.

Policemen looked through household archives in the area from the 1980s. They also climbed over mountains to visit around 60 villagers who knew the Huangs.

Eventually, officers followed leads and found a woman named Huang Shunxiang, who lives in Kaifeng. The police believed that she is Huang Ruixiu's sister, Huang Ruixiang.

Finally together: Elder daughter Huang Ruixiu (left), 47, claimed that she and her sister had been abducted by a male cousin

Police took a blood sample from Huang Shunxiang and a DNA test confirmed that she is Huang Ruixiang, the sister of Huang Ruixiu.

The 42-year-old Huang Ruixiang told the reporters that she is now a mother of two and a grandmother-to-be.

Having spent decades in Henan, Huang Ruixiang had forgotten Banqiao village and her original dialect.

According to her sister Huang Ruixiu, it was one of their male cousins who had abducted them and sold them for money.

She urged the public security bureau to investigate into the man.
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The 40-day-long Lunar New Year travel rush has kicked off in China as people head home to spend the holidays with their families.

A whopping 2.98 billion trips are expected to be made during the festive period between January 13 and February 21, reports the People's Daily Online.

Chinese New Year falls on January 28 and signals the beginning of the Year of the Rooster.

The long journey home: Passengers wait to board trains at Shanghai's Hongqiao Railway Station on January 25

A lot of people: Shanghai Hongqiao Railway station is packed with crowds awaiting their trains as they head home

On the move: A boy clings onto a suitcase as it is dragged by a passenger making their way through a station in China

Chinese Lunar New Year is a time for family reunions meaning that many people travel long distances to return home to their families.

The travel rush, also known as 'chun yun' in Chinese, is often referred to around the globe as the world's largest mass migration.

According to Zhao Chenxin, spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission, the number of trips expected to be made during this year's 'chun yun' is up some 2.2 percent on last year.

The number of road trips is projected to reach 2.52 billion as people head home to see their families.

For some migrant workers who work in the big cities, it will be the only time in the year that they get to see their families.

China has around 277 million migrant workers according to figures released last year by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Passengers wait to purchase train tickets at Shanghai's Hongqiao Railway Station as millions travel home

Passengers make their way through the ticket barriers in Nantong, eastern China as they start their journey home

Passengers wait to board trains at Shanghai's Hongqiao Railway Station as millions of Chinese travel home

Train travel in the country is expected to reach 356 million trips with cities such as Hangzhou, Nanning and Kunming noted as some of the busiest stations.

Air Travel is growing in popularity with 58.3 million trips expected, a 10 percent increase on 2016.

While the number of people travelling by boat during the holidays is set to hit 43.5 million.

However transportation authorities have warned that adverse weather conditions such as snow and fog could add pressure to the travel rush.

A recent survey of those travelling by train found that most people were concerned with the price of tickets and also waiting around at stations.

Queuing: Passengers queue at Beijing Railway Station during the travel period known as 'chun yun'

Luggage: Passengers carry bags and packages as they board a train at Nantong Railway Station in eastern China

Passengers arrive at the train station to travel to their hometowns for Spring Festival on January 24 in Beijing

What is Chunyun? Chunyun is the travel rush as people in China head home to spend time with their families for Chinese New Year. It is an official term used by the National Development and Reform Commission which releases the official data on the number of people travelling during the 40-day period. January 24 marked the peak day for passenger flow with around 83 million people travelling on that day. Many of the people travelling during this period are students or migrant workers who return home to visit their families. For many of the migrant workers who work in the big cities, this will be the only time they get to return home during the entire year. Advertisement

Passengers arrive at Beijing Railway Station as they start their journeys home to spend time with their families

Homeward bound: Passengers arrive at the train station in Beijing, China's capital to start their journeys to their hometowns

People make their way into Beijing Railway Station to begin their journeys home for Chinese New Year
A Chinese woman was stunned to find an egg she had bought had five yolks.

Ms Tao, from central China's Hubei Province, was preparing for her Chinese New Year meals on January 23 when she made the discovery, according to People's Daily Online.

An expert claimed that the egg was edible, adding that the unusual number of yolks could have been caused by the hen's ovulation disorders.

Egg-cited: Ms Tao and her family were amazed to see the egg containing five yolks

Lucky: Ms Tao (right) considered it good fortune to crack the egg before the Year of Rooster

Ms Tao told the reporter that she had purchased the egg from a local market on January 21.

She said she was going to make some deep-fried snacks to be eaten during the upcoming Chinese New Year.

The egg looked no different from the outside, but when Ms Tao cracked it open, five yolks came out, said the report.

Each yolk was said to measure 1.5cm (0.6 inches) in diametre.

Cracking story: Each yolk was said to measure 1.5cm in diametre. An expert claimed that the unusual number of yolks could have been caused by the hen's ovulation disorders

Ms Tao's family were stunned, particularly Ms Tao's 80-year-old mother who claimed that she had never seen an egg like this in her life.

The family were happy about the discovery. They considered the five-yolked egg a lucky sign as the upcoming Chinese New Year was the Year of the Rooster.

They shared pictures of the egg with their friends on Wechat, a Chinese instant-messaging app.

Ms Tao's friends replied wishing the family good fortune and good luck in the Year of Rooster.

Jin Guofeng, an associate professor of Food Science and Technology at Huazhong Agricultural University, told the reporter that it was common to see double-yolked eggs, however quintuple-yolked eggs were 'extremely rare'.

Professor Jin believed that the number of yolks could have been caused by the hen's ovulation disorders.

He said the egg is edible as long as it is cooked.
Six people in China's Hunan Province have been killed after a fire broke out triggered by firecrackers on January 24.

Witnesses reported an explosion of fireworks before the fireworks became intertwined causing a fire in a residential building, reports Huanqiu, an affiliation with the People's Daily Online.

The explosions were triggered after a customer set off the fireworks he had just bought 10 metres (33 feet) away from the shop, and one firecracker shot into the building.

The fireworks lit up the sky however they also caused a fire in an apartment block

Shocking incident: The fire engulfed a residential building killing six people

Around 14 fire engines and 84 officers were deployed to the scene in Yueyang City after they received a call-in at 9:08pm.

The fire broke out at a four-storey commercial and residential building leaving people inside trapped.

According to witnesses, the fireworks which were lit by a customer outside of the fireworks store, were deafening and filled the sky.

However at one point, the fireworks and flame became intertwined causing the fire to break out.

Video footage shows the moment the fireworks became out of control.

The fireworks completely light up the sky causing giant explosions on the ground.

Cars can be seen left burnt out by the explosions.

According to witnesses, a man out side the shop started setting off the firecrackers

14 fire engines were deployed to the scene following the explosion outside the store

China Radio International reported that three officials have since been removed from their posts following the incident.

According to the city government, one of the officials is in charge of work safety in the development and reform bureau of the economic development zone.

Both the shop owner and person who purchased the fireworks have been detained by police.

The cause of the fire is currently being investigated further.

Fireworks are a main part of China's New Year celebrations which take place later this week.
It could be a helping hand for the terminally ill.

Researchers have revealed a virtual reality simulation that can help people comes to terms with death.

It teaches then how to become 'disconnected' from their physical bodies.

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The moment of death: Researchers first used headset to trick participant's brain into thinking their VR body is real. Then, they were taken out of the body to simulate an out of body experience.

FOOLING THE BRAIN Researchers first fool the volunteers into thinking the virtual body was their own. While wearing a headset, the body would match any real movements the volunteers made. For instance, when a virtual ball was dropped onto the foot of the virtual body, a vibration was triggered on the person's real foot. Advertisement

Mel Slater at the University of Barcelona, Spain, and his team used an Oculus VR headset on 32 patients.

'Immersive virtual reality can be used to visually substitute a person's real body by a life-sized virtual body (VB) that is seen from first person perspective,' they wrote.

Researchers fool the volunteers into thinking the virtual body was their own.

While wearing a headset, the body would match any real movements the volunteers made.

They were also fitted with movement sensors and vibrating units on their hands and feet.

When a virtual ball was dropped onto the foot of the virtual body, a vibration was triggered on the person's real foot.

Once they became 'in sync' with the virtual body, participants were then transported to a virtual living room in which they could move their legs and kick balls thrown at them from a distance.

Then, they were taken out of the body.

Participants were fitted with movement sensors and vibrating units on their hands and feet to fool them into thinking the virtual body was their own

'The viewpoint of the participant was lifted out of the virtual body towards the ceiling of the virtual room, and just behind the body, so that the body could be seen below,' the team wrote.

'When the viewpoint is lifted up and out of the VB so that it is seen below this may result in an out-of-body experience (OBE).'

'Fear of death in the experimental group was found to be lower than in the control group.

'This is in line with previous reports that naturally occurring OBEs are often associated with enhanced belief in life after death.

People who had felt totally disconnected from their body  and the virtual body  reported having a significantly lower fear of dying.

'The effect was quite strong,' Slater told New Scientist.

He hopes the experience might give a feeling that a person's consciousness is separate from their physical body.

'It gives a sense that it's possible to survive beyond death,' he says.

The virtual experience is similar to some kinds of near-death out-of-body experiences.

The virtual experience is similar to some kinds of near-death out-of-body experiences, the team say.

Some people who survive heart failure have described seeing the hospital room from the ceiling during critical moments, says Slater.

'Our results open up the possibility that the virtual OBE experience provides an implicit learning that consciousness in the sense of the centre of perception can be separate from the physical body, and that therefore death of the physical body is not necessarily the end of consciousness,' the researchers concluded.
The Chinese government has approved a $168 million plan (1.15 billion yuan) to modify the countrys weather, potentially bringing more rain and snow across an area almost double the size of France.

Its one of the biggest programs of its kind, and will rely on four new planes, eight upgraded craft, 897 rocket launch devices, and 1,856 devices connected to digital control systems, according to the South China Morning Post.

With weather-modifying technology, the China Meteorological Administration estimates it will increase precipitation in an area of 960,000 sq km  10 percent of the countrys territory.

The Chinese government has approved a $168 million plan (1.15 billion yuan) to modify the countrys weather, potentially bringing more rain and snow across an area almost double the size of France. Storm clouds over Dongguan, Guangdong province are pictured

CLOUD SEEDING Microscopic particles of silver iodide are shot into existing clouds using land based generators or aircraft. Silver iodide is an ice-forming agent,which causes supercooled water droplets to freeze in the clouds. The 'ice embryos' interact with the surrounding water droplets, and eventually grow to snowflakes. These fall to the ground as snow or raindrops, depending on the surface temperatures. Cloud seeding can also, in some cases, cause the cloud to grow larger and last longer than it would have without the modification. Advertisement

Officials say the project will take three years to complete.

Many countries, including China, have turned to cloud seeding in the past to relieve drought.

This process relies on the use of a catalyst, such as dry ice, to induce rainfall from the clouds.

And, weather modification by firing chemicals into the sky has also become more popular across the country, according to SCMP.

Artificial rainfall enhancement has recently become a way to help clean up the smog-filled air of the cities.

According to He Shengcun, an official at the Qinghai provincial governments weather influencing office, these techniques have led to an increase in precipitation by 55 billion cubic metres from 2006 to 2016, SCMP reports.

This is the equivalent of roughly 150 percent of the water in the Three Gorges reservoir.

It isnt the first time China has revealed its interest in plans for weather modification.

Just this past summer, China allocated 199 million yuan ($29.76 million) to spend on its weather modification programme as part of efforts to combat drought and reduce the impact of natural disasters.

With weather-modifying technology, the China Meteorological Administration estimates it will increase precipitation in an area of 960,000 sq km  10 percent of the countrys territory. Dark clouds are seen over Zhangzhou city

The finance ministry revealed the project earlier in July, as state media reported flooding this year caused at least 237 deaths.

The Ministry of Finance said the additional funding had been made available in order to help China's regions respond to the large number of 'extreme weather events' this year, including heavy flooding in south and central regions as well as drought in the northwest.

China currently uses weather modification technology - including cloud seeding - to induce rain during droughts, to reduce hail, and to clear the skies ahead of prestigious international events, including the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

China aims to use weather modification technologies to create more than 60 billion cubic metres of additional rain a year by 2020, it said in a document published at the beginning of last year.
Samsung has been accused of 'hoarding' the first batch of Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chips.

An anonymous source has revealed that the chip is on back order until Samsung launches its Galaxy S8 on April 14, reports Forbes.

This means that LG, HTC and other Android makers will be forced to settle on last years model, Snapdragon 821 chip, for their flagship devices.

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Samsung is allegedly hoarding the first batch of Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chips. An anonymous source has revealed that the chip is on back order until Samsung launches its Galaxy S8 (pictured is an artist impression) on April 14

The Snapdragon 835 chips were first unveiled by Qualcomm earlier this month, which are a 10nm design with more than three billion ultra-efficient transistors and is 35 percent smaller than the previous model.

And it was also created in a way that uses 25 percent less power than its predecessor, which means huge battery savings, according to Qualcomm.

Other features include support for Quick Charge 4.0, which Qualcomm claims offers 20 percent faster charging than its last-gem tech, and compliance with Google's new USB-C charging specifications.

With long battery life, immersive experiences, cutting-edge camera capabilities, and Gigabit Class download speeds, the Snapdragon 835 processor is supporting the phenomenal mobile performance power users need and expect, explained the firm.

SAMSUNG'S GALAXY S8 RUMORS New renders of what could be Samsung Galaxy S8 have surfaced and they suggest the device will incorporate a dual-lens camera design and remove the home button for an edge-to-edge screen. It's speculated that Samsung could design a fingerprint-sensing display or place the feature behind the tempered glass. Because levels of concentration will be increased with a 'full screen', pictures and videos should be much clearer and even go so far as to produce a 3D effect. This means that LG, HTC and other Android makers will be forced to settle on last years model, Snapdragon 821 chip, for their flagship devices. Other rumors revealed the smartphone will debut on April 14 Rumors suggest that pixels of the dual-cameras will support 16 megapixels and 8 megapixels. Another new addition to the Galaxy S8 could also be an upgraded Application process (AP) that corresponds to handset's brain. Sources say Samsung is going to start mas-producing 10-nano Snapdragon 830s, which will be used for Galaxy S8, at the end of this year at the earliest. The artist impression also shows the handset in four vibrant shades of red, blue, purple and yellow - another feature yet to be seen by Samsung users. Advertisement

However, Samsung has either purchased all of the chips or may have struck a deal to stop distribution to other companies in order to separate itself from the competition and redeem itself for last years Note 7s fiasco.

Samsung recently announced that its own investigation into what caused some Galaxy Note 7s to catch fire has concluded that the batteries caused the devices to explode.

The first issue was that the battery components in the Galaxy Note 7 did not fit in the battery's casing.

This caused the battery cell's upper right corner to be crimped by the casing.

The second round affected the devices sent to replace the original faulty phones.

Samsung has either purchased all of the chips or may have struck a deal to stop distribution to other companies in order to separate itself from the competition and redeem itself for last years Note 7s fiasco - that caused many handsets to catch on fire

GIRL, 13, SUFFERS MINOR BURN FROM NOTE 7 REPLACEMENT A Minnesota father says his daughter suffered a minor burn to her thumb when her replacement Samsung smartphone melted in her hand last week. Andrew Zuis of Farmington, Minn., said his daughter, Abby, was holding the Galaxy Note 7 in her left hand Friday when it melted. Zuis saidthat the family had acquired the new phone on the day the replacement phones were released. There had been no problem with the original phone, he said. 'It's very fortunate Abby was not injured and was holding the phone,' Zuis said. 'If it was in her pocket, I think it would have been a whole different situation. I'm just very disappointed in Samsung and their product.' Zuis provided KSTP-TV with receipts showing that the family bought a Galaxy Note 7 in August and then exchanged it Sept. 21 after Samsung announced the recall. Andrew Zuis, of Farmington, Minn., showed the replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone belonging to his 13-year-old daughter Abby, that melted in her hand 'She's done with Note 7s right now,' Zuis said of his daughter. A Samsung representative told KSTP that an investigation is underway. 'We want to reassure our customers that we take every report seriously and we are engaged with the Zuis family to ensure we are doing everything we can for them and their daughter,' the representative said in a statement. Advertisement

These were caused by manufacturing issues, including poor welding at the battery manufacturer.

Within a few days of the launch on August 2, 2016, reports surfaced that Note 7 smartphones were bursting into flames.

Just a month after the launch, mobile chief D.J. Koh held a press conference in Seoul, South Korea where he announced the recall of 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 devices that would eventually be replaced with a new and safe Note 7.

In the end, the problem that plagued the handsets batter cost the firm at least $5 billion.

On , Samsung took the stage in New York to unveil its new 5.7 inch handset, the Galaxy Note 7.

The firm used also used this opportunity to take a stab at Apple's upcoming iPhone 7.

'Want to know what else it comes with?' teased Samsung's vice-president of marketing, Justin Denison.

'An audio jack. I'm just saying.'

The major blunder has somewhat tarnished the Samsung brand and has sparked many concerns among government and regulatory officials.

And since then, the the firm has been working around the clock to redeem itself in the mark - which could explain why they will be the only Android to launch with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip.
While most smartphones on the market feature a full touchscreen, Blackberry looks like it could be taking things back a step with its next device.

The Mercury phone is set to feature a Qwerty keyboard like more classic Blackberry devices.

Blackberry has confirmed that it will formally unveil the device on February 25, but has remained quiet about further specifications.

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The Mercury phone is set to feature a Qwerty keyboard alongside a more conventional touchscreen

THE MERCURY The Mercury will incorporate the firm's iconic Qwerty keyboard alongside the main screen which will be touch operated. But the Qwerty keyboard has been given an update, and according to Pocket Lint, the space bar doubles as a home button and fingerprint scanner. According to The Inquirer, the phone will have a Snapdragon 625 processor, 3GB of RAM, and two cameras  an 18 megapixel rear camera, and a 8 megapixel front camera. The price and further specifications remain unknown. Advertisement

The company first unveiled the Mercury phone at CES in Las Vegas.

TCL, a firm using Blackberry-branded handsets, has now confirmed that it will formally unveil the device on February 25th, just before the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The Mercury will incorporate the firm's iconic Qwerty keyboard alongside the main screen which will be touch operated.

But the Qwerty keyboard has been given an update, and according to Pocket Lint, the space bar doubles as a home button and fingerprint scanner.

The phone is also believed to have a Snapdragon 625 processor, 3GB of RAM, and two cameras  an 18 megapixel rear camera, and an eight megapixel front camera.

The price and further specifications remain unknown.

Blackberry's last device featuring a Qwerty keyboard was the Blackberry Priv, which came out in November 2015.

But unlike the Mercury, the Priv's keyboard was retractable.

The Qwerty keyboard has been given an update, and according to Pocket Lint, the space bar doubles as a home button and fingerprint scanner

Mercury will be the last device designed by the firm in-house, after Blackberry announced that it would stop designing its own smartphones after falling behind rivals firms including Apple and Samsung.

Ralph Pini, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager, Mobility Solutions, at BlackBerry said in a blog: ' We're very excited about the coming BlackBerry branded "Mercury" smartphone.

'It's the last phone that we designed and engineered in-house.

'Our global licensing partner TCL will be manufacturing Mercury and bringing it to market in many countries around the world.'
It's something cat lovers have known for years, but now science has confirmed it.

New research has found that felines are just as intelligent as dogs when it comes to memory tests.

Japanese scientists believe that cats, along with canines and humans, are one of the few creatures shown to have 'episodic' memories.

It's something cat lovers have known for years. Now, new research has confirmed that felines are just as intelligent as dogs. Japanese scientists found that cats were able to match dogs when it comes to certain memory tests

EPISODIC MEMORY Episodic memory is the ability to remember autobiographical and contextual details of events like where and when they happened. In November, scientists discovered that dogs share this talent with humans despite our distant evolutionary relationship Previously, evidence of animals using episodic memory has been hard to come by. This is because it's impossible to ask an animal, in this case a dog or cat, what they remember. The latest study, however, suggests cats may also have episodic memory. Advertisement

Episodic memory is the ability to remember autobiographical and contextual details of events like where and when they happened.

The study involved getting 48 cats to remember which bowl they had already eaten from and which remained unused after a 15-minute period.

The authors say that the results show the cats remembered not only what they encountered  the bowl and food - but the useful information that there was an uneaten bowl of food as well.

They wrote: Our results demonstrate that cats may possess an incidental memory system, similar to dogs and humans.

Saho Takagi, a psychologist at Kyoto University, said cats, as well as dogs, used memories of a single past experience, which may imply they have episodic memory similar to that of humans.

Episodic memory is viewed as being related to introspective function of the mind; our study may imply a type of consciousness in cats, she told BBC News.

An interesting speculation is that they may enjoy actively recalling memories of their experience like humans.

She added that the research may help to establish better relationships between pets and their cats.

Cats may be as intelligent as dogs, as opposed to the common view of people that dogs are much smarter, she added.

The study involved getting the cats to remember which bowl they had already eaten from and which remained unused. They discovered not only could cats recall where the food bowls were, but also what food had been given to them

Her team said they were going to test to see if cats could remember for longer 15 minutes.

The team say they suspect that this ability to remember is common among many carnivores  explaining the similarity between cats and dogs.

Professor Laurie Santos, of Yale University, said the experiment showed cats remembering information about where they searched before and also which locations used to have food.

He said: It opens the door to new studies examining how long cats' memories can be and whether they also remember richer episodes in their own life as humans do.

Experiments have shown dogs also appear to have memories linked to specific times and places.

The same team of Japanese scientists previously found that in similar tests, dogs had memories of food bowls from which they had eaten.

And last year, a team from Hungary found that dogs were able to recall their owner's actions, even when they were not specifically instructed to do so.

The research is published in the journal, Behavioural Processes.
A mission to smash a spacecraft into an asteroid moon to alter its trajectory - a possible dry-run for an exercise in saving the Earth from Armageddon - has run into a cash crunch.

The Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) would be the first time that humans have altered the course of a solar system body.

But the mission has suffered a major setback, as European space ministers have rejected the proposal for 250 million euros (213 million or $268 million) of funding.

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A mission to smash a spacecraft into an asteroid moon to alter its trajectory - a possible dry-run for an exercise in saving the Earth from Armageddon - has run into a cash crunch (artist's impression)

THE AIDA MISSION The mission will see a a NASA spacecraft launched at Didymos - an asteroid 8 million miles (13 million kilometres) from Earth, after a two-year self-guided journey through space. The spacecraft will crash into the Didymos' tiny satellite, Didymoon, at a speed of about six kilometres (3.7 miles) per second. The aim is to 'redirect' the moon. A small craft dubbed AIM (Asteroid Impact Mission), will also observe the crash up close and analyse its impact on the moon's structure and orbit. A camera on board the small craft will capture images of the impact, which is likely to leave a large crater on Didymoon and unleash a cloud of debris. Advertisement

In 2022, the idea is to launch a 600-kilogram (1,300-pound) NASA spacecraft at Didymos - an asteroid some 8 million miles (13 million kilometres) from Earth - after a two-year self-guided journey through space.

The craft will crash into the Didymos' tiny satellite, Didymoon, at a speed of about six kilometres (3.7 miles) per second, with the aim of 'redirecting' it.

For the European part of the futuristic project, a small craft dubbed AIM (Asteroid Impact Mission), will move in close to the action, observing the crash up close and analysing its impact on the moon's structure and orbit.

AIM will be fitted with a camera to capture images of the impact, which is likely to leave a large crater on Didymoon and unleash a massive cloud of debris.

'The goal is to test the technology so that if an asteroid threatens our planet one day, we will have the capability of changing its trajectory,' said Ian Carnelli, AIM project head at the European Space Agency (ESA).

The mission suffered a major setback, however, when European space ministers gathered in Switzerland in December for a regular policy and budget meeting, rejected funding for AIM.

The ESA had sought 250 million euros (213 million/$269 million).

ESA director general Jan Woerner says he remains hopeful and stressed 'the mission was not cancelled.'

The craft will crash into the Didymos' tiny satellite, Didymoon, at a speed of about six kilometres (3.7 miles) per second, with the aim of 'redirecting' it (artist's impression)

'We are still working on it and I am not giving up,' he told journalists in Paris last week.

'The member states, the ministers, asked me not to give up.'

Design of the AIM craft was on track, said Mr Woerner, but several cost-cutting options were being considered - including reducing the number of scientific instruments on board.

In 2022, the idea is to launch a 600-kilogram (1,300-pound) NASA spacecraft at Didymos, an asteroid some 8 million miles (13 million kilometres) from Earth, after a two-year self-guided journey through space

'By doing this, the budget may be lowered to about 150 million euros, launch excluded,' said AIM scientific head Patrick Michel.

The original design for AIM includes a camera, radio equipment, a tiny lander, mini-satellites and radar instruments.

But for AIM, the clock is ticking, as project development contracts with European companies come up for renewal soon.

The mission would be a possible dry-run for an exercise in saving the Earth from Armageddon. Pictured is a still from the 1998 film, Armageddon

'We have about two months left to... find the money,' Mr Carnelli said.

Scientists believe more than 1,700 asteroids are on trajectories that may pose a collision danger to Earth.

'We have to keep an eye on them,' said Mr Michel.

'If an asteroid of 150 metres falls on Earth, it will be like 10,000 Hiroshima (atomic) bombs in terms of energy released.'
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
A smart dress that changes colour depending on how the person wearing it feels has been unveiled.

The new take on the 'little black dress' incorporates a sensor which can detect the wearer's breathing rate, prompting the graphene dress to change colour.

During fast breathing, the dress glows a shade of purple, while deep breaths will result in a turquoise hue.

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The new take on the 'little black dress' incorporates a sensor which can detect the wearer's breathing rate, prompting the graphene dress to change colour

HOW DOES IT WORK? Within the bodysuit layer is a sensor, that can sense the breathing rate of the wearer. As you breathe, the sensor stretches, prompting the graphene material on the outside of the dress to change colour. Fast breathing glows a shade of purple, deep breaths glow turquoise and slow breaths glow green. Advertisement

The smart dress has been developed by London-based wearable tech company Cute Circuit who has previously dressed superstars including Katy Perry and Nicole Scherzinger.

A sensor located in the bodysuit layer of the dress can sense the breathing rate of the wearer.

As the wearer inhales and exhales, a sensor stretches and prompts the graphene to change colour accordingly.

Fast breathing glows a shade of purple, deep breaths glow turquoise and slow breaths glow green.

The dress, which is powered by a miniature battery, was unveiled at an event at the Trafford Centre in Manchester.

Fast breathing glows a shade of purple, deep breaths glow turquoise and slow breaths glow green

A smart dress that changes colour depending on how the person wearing it feels has been unveiled. Under a microscope, the structure of graphene is hexagonal and diamond like - which is incorporated in the dress

'The thing that is amazing is that graphene can conduct electricity, but also be transparent,' said Francesca Rosella, designer of the dress.

'So basically the triangle in the bust area of the dress, is made out of graphene, it conducts the electricity so that there are no wires needed in the dress to make it illuminate the different colours.

'This dress is a glimpse of what graphene can do, if you have a material that is transparent, can conduct electricity, is very lightweight and can be used as a sensor - you can create clothing for sportswear use and even everyday clothing, but with a hi-tech twist.'

Under a microscope, the structure of graphene is hexagonal and diamond like - which is incorporated in the dress.

Richard Paxton, general manager of the intu Trafford Centre, teamed up with the company Cute Circuit and the National Graphene institute at the University of Manchester to create the 'couture' LBD, which was described as 'priceless'.

Richard Paxton, general manager of the intu Trafford Centre, teamed up with the company Cute Circuit and the National Graphene institute at the University of Manchester to create the 'couture' LBD, which was described as 'priceless'

The smart dress has been developed by wearable tech company Cute Circuit who have dressed superstars including Katy Perry and Nicole Scherzinger (pictured)

THE TWITTER DRESS Cute Circuit already has celebrity clientele including Nicole Scherzinger who famously wore its Twitter dress with live updates streaming in 2012. The dress was constructed from eight metres of French silk chiffon, laden with over 500 Swarovski crystals and over 2,000 LED lights that lit up with messages from fans. Scherzinger wasn't the first to wear such advanced fashions. Singer Imogen Heap performed at the 2010 Grammy Awards in a dress displaying her Twitter feed, which she said was envisioned as a way to let fans 'accompany me on the red carpet.' Advertisement

'Technology and fashion have come together to create what is the world's most high-tech dress and could become the blueprint for what our millions of customers will be wearing in the future,' he said.

Dr Paul Wiper, Research Associate, National Graphene Institute said: 'The dress is truly one of a kind and shows what creativity, imagination and a desire to innovate can create using graphene and related two-dimensional materials.'

It is unclear how much the dress cost to create, or whether it is for sale.

The designers hope the same technology could eventually be used to invent a garment that can be programmed to showcase any colour hue or design.
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From the ultra-modern lobby of the new Jumeirah Al Naseem, the view is of the Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah's 'seven-star' hotel

Its not often that you go into a hotel and your first thought is blimey, what an amazing hotel, and youre thinking of another hotel. But thats exactly what happens as you walk into the lobby of Dubais new Jumeirah Al Naseem Hotel.

The surprising bit is, thats entirely by design.

Spin back. Al Naseem is the newly opened fourth hotel in the Madinat Jumeirah complex, adding to the existing three and the Souk Madinat, affectionately known as Dubais fake plastic souk. Open since 2004, the complex sits on a long stretch of Jumeirah Beach.

Next to the three existing hotels has always been a patch of undeveloped land, waiting for the right time to be developed. And now, in the shape of Jumeirah Al Naseem, it has been.

So whats that other hotel, that you cant but think of as you walk into the lobby? To one side of Al Naseem stands the rest of Madinat Jumeirah. To the other, out on an artificial spit, sits Jumeirah's seven-star hotel, the Burj Al Arab. Even now, almost 20 years after the Burj was completed, it remains one of Dubais defining landmarks, among the most striking buildings in this city of striking buildings.

And from the view through the lobbys plate glass windows to the view from pretty much every room in this hotel, Al Naseem has been designed to capitalise on that architectural wonder.

When I visited in late November, the hotel was still in the final stages of preparation to open. The rooms were complete, and all the guest services being tested by platoons of fake guests. The plastic sheeting had just come off the carpets, giving the whole place that new car smell. And workmen were putting the finishing touches to the hotels shops and restaurants. The first guests were due within days; by Christmas, the whole place was due to be up and running.

It looked very promising; the rooms are thoroughly modern, in tranquil shades of grey, blue and sand, and thoughtfully laid out - junior suites, for example, have an inside/outside terrace that makes a perfect place to sit and relax during the day (with, of course, that view of the Burj Al Arab), and closes up to become a childrens bedroom by night.

The Madinat Jumeirah complex is set on a long stretch of pristine beach, interrupted only by the seven-star Burj Al Arab

The rooms in Al Nassem are clean and modern, with a thoughtful inside-outside balcony that can double as a children's bedroom

With a brand new hotel comes brand-new conveniences - from stylish bathroom fittings to built-in USB charging points and HDMI inputs to feed your gadgets video into the TVs. It sounds like a minor thing, but rummaging around behind boxed-in screens is the kind of faff its nice to do without for a change.

Already, the restaurants look fun, the pools inviting (especially the adults-only pool, free from the screams of excited children), and the rooms comfy. With Jumeirahs experience behind it, it should be a safe bet.

But when we were there, it wasnt quite up and running, so my family stayed at the other end of the complex in the Al Qasr hotel. This could hardly be more different; where Al Naseem is fresh, clean and modern, Al Qasr (the palace in Arabic) is all about opulence and tradition. It claims to be designed in the style of a sheikhs summer residence, and if that means lots of carved dark wood, extravagant fittings and chandeliers, and ultra-luxe brands in the lobby, theyve hit the mark.

Our room was full of delightful architectural touches, from ornate archways to an intricately carved TV stand. Add a large bath, deep, comfy beds, ultra-thick blackout curtains, and a delightful balcony (again looking out over the Burj, just a bit further away), and youve got solid, traditional feeling accommodation thats hard to fault.

In Al Qasr, meanwhile, the focus is on opulence, with ornate details everywhere from the archways that lead to the bathrooms, to the TV cabinet

Madinat Jumeirah, affectionately known as Dubai's fake plastic souk, makes a cool tranquil setting, with a network of canals that make it easy to get about

By night, Souk al Madinat Jumeirah comes alive as a complex of bars and restaurants - with the ever-present Burj Al Arab in the background

The staff were thoughtful and attentive, too. Shortly after we arrived, we moved the fruitbowl off the dining table to clear room for an emergency nappy change.

A few minutes later, a member of staff came to the room and looked genuinely panicked at the thought that we hadnt received our fruitbowl.

And when #1 son was under the weather at lunchtime, we returned to our room to find that the staff had already left him a large plush turtle and a get well soon card.

The complex - three hotels and the souk - are surrounded by a network of canals, with abra shuttle boats gently chugging around them.

Theyre a cool, relaxing way to get around, and free for guests (for non-guests theyre a punchy Dh85 (18) for adults and Dh50 (11) for kids, making them a neat perk). There are free buggies, too, running along the sea front - handy as the whole stretch of hotels stretches for over a mile of coastline.

Theres an incredible - and huge - breakfast buffet. I counted 20 types of bread alone, along with English, continental and Arabic sections (foul medames, an Egyptian dish of herbed baked beans, is well worth a shot). There were some slightly odd options - poached eggs with bolognaise sauce, anyone? - but theyre easily ignored.

Bread, all the bread: Over 20 types by Karl's count on the breakfast buffet

All the hotels are currently offering a Jumeirah Flavours package, which includes access to the Wild Wadi waterpark, as well as breakfast and a meal a day from one of the complexs 50 restaurants.

Starting at Dh1,500 (320) a night, its an option well worth considering, especially since entry to the waterpark for a family of four would otherwise run you north of 200 a day.

If your idea of a lovely family holiday includes a daily tootle down some slides (and the slides in Wild Wadi are very good indeed), thats a very big saving.

With dozens of rides - from gentle to the truly terrifying Jumeirah Scarer - and a kids' area for the little ones, the Wild Wadi waterpark is sure to be a hit with families

Likewise, dining out can be painful with the pound so low - going out for a steak can be Dh300 (65), while many bars charge Dh90 (20) or more for a simple burger.

The complexs Chinese restaurant, Zheng He, has a decent set menu that covers all your bases - duck pancakes are present and correct, the starter dumplings are perfectly adequate but unexciting, and the chilli sea bass is delicious. But at Dh360 (77) a head for what is in the end a fairly ordinary Chinese meal - before youve ordered any drinks - the only wow factor here is in your wallet.

Things were rather better at Shimmers, the hotels Greek-themed sea front restaurant. The setting is beautiful, with a perfect view of the deep blue Gulf waters, and the food is on the money, too. My jumbo prawns were delicious, as was the chicken souvlaki. The boys enjoyed their meatballs and deliciously fresh calamari, thoughtfully served with plates, mats and cutlery in the style of a certain Danish clip-together plastic toy.

Kids' meals - calamari and meatballs - went down well at Shimmers, the delicious Greek-themed beachfront restaurant. The clip-together plates, trays and cutlery were pretty popular, too

The jumbo prawns at Shimmers were excellent, as was the chicken souvlaki

And there are plenty of other options, with over 50 eating and drinking establishments in Souk Madinat alone, catering for every taste from the excellent Persian eatery Anar, to the slightly divey Trader Vics (which still does a mean, and lethal, Tiki Puka Puka). And, of course, theres a whole city beyond.

But lets be honest, you come to Dubai for the weather. No wonder: for six months of the year, its a very pleasant high-20s and sunny every day. And with Madinat Jumeirah's delightful pools and beach, there really is no better way to make a miserable British winter seem a long, long way away.
From a pair of South African lions caught in a rain shower to the shadow of Christ the Redeemer framed by a rainbow in Rio de Janeiro, the stunning finalists of the National Geographic photography competition, in partnership with Cewe Photobook, have been announced.

The annual competition showcases the UKs best travel photographers in six categories  action, nature, people, urban, portfolio and video.

Talented finalists have travelled around the world to capture candid shots of locals on an Indian train and the striking costumes of Cancuns Day of the Dead festival.

Other inspiring snaps in the final selection include Northern Irelands dreamy coastline and a vibrant Botswana game reserve, shot from above.

Pat Riddell, editor of National Geographic Traveller, said: The entries for our Photography Competition get better every year, and this year's is no exception. The shortlist highlights some of the exceptional submissions and it's been really tough to whittle it down.

The award winners will be announced on February 28 and the overall winner will be sent on a photographic commission for the publication to Myanmar and Iceland.
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The plane cabins of the future may be here sooner than you think - and could mean more legroom for passengers and some fairly fancy digital wizardry if the aviation industrys innovators have anything to do with it.

The Crystal Cabin Awards have shortlisted 85 contenders for accolades in eight categories and are described as the Oscars for futuristic cabin designs. Some entries are recently introduced products, others are concepts.

Strong entries include heated stone flooring, touch screen windows and face-cradle head rests, which have been designed by teams in Austria and Brazil.

United Airlines has launched the Polaris business class, which gives every passenger aisle access

The Delta One suite on the Airbus A350 provides every business class flier with their own sealed off cabin area. Delta introduces the worlds first all-suite business class cabin which offers seats each accessible by sliding doors. The suite will debut on Deltas A350-900 in 2017 and be retrofitted on Deltas existing 777-200 fleet starting in 2018.

Aircraft manufacturers, airlines, suppliers, engineering firms and universities from 21 countries are battling it out for the awards.

The Crystal Cabin Award, run by Hamburg Aviation, has eight categories - Cabin Concepts, Cabin Systems, Electronic Systems, Greener Cabin, Health, Safety and Environment, Material and Components, Passenger Comfort Hardware, University, and Visionary Concepts.

American carriers Delta and United have both been shortlisted for the annual cabin award due to their new business class products.

The Delta One suite on the Airbus A350 provides every business class flier with their own sealed off cabin area.

United Airlines, meanwhile, has launched the Polaris business class, which gives every passenger aisle access.

Canadian manufacturer Bombardier is also in the running for the Crystal Cabin award for the first time, with two submissions.

Airbus is short-listed for its Smart Cabin family-friendly cabin concept where seats can foldaway

The innovators at BE Aerospace envisage an area designed with family travel in mind

The C-Series cabin concept is designed for short and medium-haul airliners and is said to compete with the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 range.

The cabin, which launched with Swiss Air Lines and Air Baltic in 2016, claims its seats offer in-flight comfort for all passengers.

Meanwhile Airbus has unveiled a smart cabin reconfiguration concept where crew can adjust seating based on reservations for the flight. For example, if a flight doesnt have many passengers then the last rows of seats can be packed away and moved, providing fliers with more legroom.

B/E Aerospace has also devised a cabin with an adjustable family friendly cabin layout.

Another entry making waves is Kestrels VIP concept for the Boeing 787, which converts a long haul aircraft for private use

In the running for an award is an exclusive private jet cabin with slick interiors that feature curved bench areas and long panoramic windows, developed by Lufthansa Technik and Mercedes-Benz. The S class of cabins features a galley for live cooking and a VIP lavatory for 16 passengers. The spiral layout is the central design theme extending throughout the aircraft from the entrance all the way to the bedroom

Jamco has developed a new cabin arrangement, spacious enough for four-person dining

Forget feeling the chill next time you fly, private jet innovations under consideration for an accolade include heated stone flooring designed by F.List GmbH in Austria.

Also in the running is an exclusive private jet cabin with slick interiors that feature curved bench areas and long panoramic windows, developed by Lufthansa Technik and Mercedes-Benz.

Another entry making waves is Kestrels VIP concept for the Boeing 787, which converts a long haul aircraft for private use.

Jamco has developed a new cabin arrangement, spacious enough for four-person dining.

Private jet innovations under consideration for an accolade include heated stone flooring which comes in 11 different stone types (left) and Kreuger aviation has developed the idea of a digital mirror to keep fliers posted on important announcements while freshening up (right)

Shortlisted entries include the Vision Systems window pane, which is a touch screen that projects flight information onto the window

Touch screens (right) and illuminated floor pathways (left) feature in Lufthansa's designs for the future

The 11th incarnation of the awards includes several digital innovations to make flying a more enjoyable experience.

Shortlisted entries include the Vision Systems window pane, which is a touch screen that projects flight information onto the window.

Other Kickstarter projects such as the FaceCradle, which supports flyers heads while they sleep, have also made the shortlist.

Meanwhile a team from the University of Rio de Janeiro has pitched the idea of 3D printing in-flight meals.

Other exciting proposals include the In-2-Sense digital tray table by In-2-Tech, which can also work as a keyboard for tablets.

In the sustainable category notable entries include an environmentally friendly lavatory from Zodiac Aerospace.

There is also a Re-Trolley from Airbus for compressing litter while it passes through the cabin and engineering firm Altran has designed a cabin trolley that serves passengers without needing to be manned by flight attendants
She's always impeccably presented when she co-hosts Studio 10 or makes a red carpet appearance.

And journalist Sarah Harris has revealed her very glamorous makeup routine and how it takes three people to get her ready to go live on TV.

The 34-year-old took to Instagram to share a humorous shot of herself getting dolled up, joking: 'I woke up like this.'

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'I woke up like this': Journalist Sarah Harris (M) has revealed her very glamorous makeup routine and how it takes three people to get her ready to go live on TV

'Yeah right. It's allllllllllllll (sic) smoke and mirrors. Thank for this TV #glamsquad,' Sarah wrote in part of her post to her more than 41,000 followers.

Perhaps not so glamorous, she sits in a pretty green dress holding her arms up with paper towels tucked into her sleeve, to prevent sweat stains and stains from bronzer.

She has one woman appear to wipe tan on her arms, another near her legs and one woman applying lipstick.

Glamorous: She's always impeccably presented when she co-hosts Studio 10 or makes a red carpet appearance (seen at the Logies in May last year)

Her hair is out and over her shoulders in curls.

After Amber Sherlock's diva meltdown, Sarah revealed she once nearly lost her job due to a meltdown prior to a live TV cross.

The presenter told Nova's Fitzy and Wippa that she 'dropped the F-bomb three times' on breakfast television.

'I had a bad day once when I was working for the Today show, where I dropped the F-bomb three times when I thought I was off-air,' Sarah said.

Making headlines: After Amber Sherlock's (seen recently) diva meltdown, Sarah revealed she once nearly lost her job due to a meltdown prior to a live TV cross

'There were audio problems, and I said to the link operator - who I was very good friends with - "Mate, we've gotta sort this f***ing earpiece out, I can't f***ing hear myself think."'

The blonde went on to explain that the incident, which happened 11 years ago, had put her job in jeopardy.

'There were polls on whether I should lose my job,' she said.

As for Amber's berating of her colleague Julie Snook - who also appeared in the viral footage - it didn't sit too well with Sarah.

'There were polls': The blonde went on to explain that the incident, which happened 11 years ago, had put her job in jeopardy

'I don't think she spoke that nicely to her colleague,' the journalist said of Amber's reaction, adding: 'But we've all had a bad day.'

Channel Nine newsreader Amber become a viral sensation, after leaked footage showed the 45-year-old chastising her co-worker for wearing the same colour as her.

Sarah started her media career at Channel Seven and recently became a mother, welcoming son Paul, one, with husband Tom Ward in December 2015.
Sam and Phoebe Burgess welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world on Tuesday.

The couple have named their bundle of joy, Poppy Alice Burgess.

The proud parents announced their happy news via Instagram on Wednesday, with Sam sharing a picture perfect snap of the new parents cuddling their tiny newborn.

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'My everything': Sam and Phoebe Burgess welcomed their beautiful baby daughter Poppy Alice into the world on Tuesday

Sam captioned the image: 'My two girls doing extremely well. My everything.'

Fans were quick to point out how great new mother Phoebe looked post-birth.

'How does she look amazing after giving birth wth,' wrote one.

Just last week the couple were eagerly awaiting the arrival of her first child, with Phoebe quick to laugh at her extra large baby bump.

Anticipation: Just last week the couple were eagerly awaiting the birth of her first child, with Phoebe quick to laugh at her extra large baby bump

The blonde beauty shared an image to her Instagram Story, showing her belly bulging out from her open shirt, joking she was '1000 weeks' pregnant.

Phoebe recently revealed she would be having a large baby and blamed her 6ft 4in tall British footy player husband Sam for his massive genetics.

She complained to her Instagram followers of, 'chronic back pain, suffering pubic symphysis (pain)' and revealed that she was carrying a '95th centile Bub'.

The co-founder of Love Your Form added the quip, 'looking at you @samburgess8' tagging her big beau.

A 95th percentile baby means the small TV host's daughter is about as large as a baby can get.

Glowing: Phoebe looked simply stunning throughout her pregnancy

Only 5 percent of babies are bigger than their daughter.

Phoebe hasn't been shy about documenting her pregnancy, recently sharing another humorous snap to her Instagram Story.

She revealed her growing baby bump meant she can no longer see her feet when looking down.

Dad's fault: Phoebe recently revealed that she was having a large baby and blamed 6ft 4in tall British footy player husband Sam Burgess for his massive genetics

'Toes? What Toes?' Phoebe wasn't shy about sharing details of her pregnancy, recently posting another humorous snap to her Instagram Story
Cate Blanchett appeared on Monday night's The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to promote her debut Broadway play, The Present.

But at the New York studio, talk soon turned to Donald Trump's inauguration as the 45th US President, last week.

Describing the businessman's decision to run as a 'midlife crisis,' the 47-year-old added that the turn of events is 'absurd' and 'ridiculous.'

She's not holding back! Cate Blanchett, 47, likened Donald Trump's inauguration as US President to a 'midlife crisis' on Monday night's The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, adding that it's 'absurd' and 'ridiculous'

'How many times has he [Donald Trump] been bankrupt?' Cate stated on the late night program.

'It's better to burn your money than give to the republican. It's great to be doing something about midlife crisis because it's absurd and ridiculous.

'I mean, almost as absurd and ridiculous as a man who has filed for corporate bankruptcy four times, whos running the largest economy in the world,' the Academy Award winner sarcastically added.

Candid: 'I mean, almost as absurd and ridiculous as a man who has filed for corporate bankruptcy four times, whos running the largest economy in the world,' the Academy Award winner sarcastically added in regards to Donald Trump's inauguration

Sighting: Meanwhile, it was only a few nights ago when Cate was spotted at New York's equality march, The Ghostlight Project

Meanwhile, it was only a few nights ago when Cate was spotted at New York's equality march, 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.

Passionate: The movement is dedicated to highlighting inclusion and compassion for everyone regardless of differences, as part of anti-Donald Trump marches across the globe

Cate is currently in New York, starring in the Sydney Theatre Company's production of The Present on Broadway.

The Present is Andrew Upton's adaptation of Chekhov's Platonov, running for 13 weeks from January 8.

Andrew, Cate, and actor Richard Roxburgh, have dabbled in New York theatre before, including 2012's run of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya at the Lincoln Center - but never on Broadway.

The Present unfolds over the course of a birthday celebration in the post-Perestroika Russian countryside when old flames reignite.
Jenna Coleman looks a world away from the set of Victoria, as she dons a denim boiler suit to run errands.

Coleman, 30, sported the all-in-one item with fashionable flatform style black boots, adding a couple of inches to her diminutive frame.

The actress won rave reviews last year for her portrayal of Victoria in the ITV period drama. She also found love in the form of Tom Hughes, 30, who played opposite her in the role of Queen Victorias husband Prince Albert.

Jenna Coleman looks a world away from the set of Victoria, as she dons a denim boiler suit to run errands

Speaking about working with Hughes, Coleman has said: It is wonderful because we are very old friends and . . . instantly that connection seems very strong.

Despite receiving her first-ever Academy Award nomination, actress Naomie Harris admits that she has some reservations about attending the ceremony in Los Angeles next month.

I have been to an Oscar party before, says Harris, who is in the running for the best supporting actress gong for Moonlight.

But the Americans dont really dance, you know, so I prefer the Baftas. I like to dance. If there is music playing, I want to dance.

Libby Purves pulls out of BBC show before it starts

Veteran broadcaster Libby Purves has quit her new Radio 4 series about the theatre world before it has even aired.

Purves, 66, was announced as the presenter of the new monthly programme to soften the blow when her long-running Midweek strand was axed after 34 years. But she has now officially resigned.

Veteran broadcaster Libby Purves has quit her new Radio 4 series about the theatre world before it has even aired

Libby never felt a monthly theatre show was a serious commitment from Radio 4 compared with the hours she was presenting at Midweek, says a friend. They railroaded her into signing off on a new show for the Press release but they didnt have a clue about the content.

Libby already has an outlet to reach theatre lovers on a daily basis with her reviews website.

Gwyneth Williams, Radio 4 controller, says: We are sorry to hear that Libby has decided not to take on the presenting duties for Radio 4s new monthly theatre programme as planned.

Three's company for little Bluey Branson

Sir Richard Branson, 66, is very much a hands-on grandad, as he proved when he posed for this picture of himself alongside his son, Sam, and the latest addition to his family.

Sir Richard Branson, 66, is very much a hands-on grandad, as he proved when he posed for this picture of himself alongside his son, Sam, and the latest addition to his family, Bluey

Sam, 31, and daughter-in-law, Isabella, welcomed their second child  a boy named Bluey Rafe Richard Branson  last week.

Sam posted this image online with the caption: A special moment. Three generations of Bs!

Wish you were here grandad to be on the top.

The Virgin tycoons barrister father Edward Branson, died aged 93 in 2011.

I'm misshapen and can't wear clothes, says Cold Feet star

Cold Feet and Downton Abbey actor Robert Bathurst, 59, is no fan of his own seemingly normal-looking appearance.

Cold Feet and Downton Abbey actor Robert Bathurst, 59, is no fan of his own seemingly normal-looking appearance

He sighs: What do I most dislike about my appearance? Just generally being generally misshapen probably and the inability of getting into any designer wear  its the sad looks I get from any costume designers when working on any job.

Bathurst, right, adds of his own wardrobe, which he says his wife Victoria normally chooses for him: I always make bad choices on my own. I have this inability to put clothes together.
Megan Marx has been making the most of some time away from girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon.

The Bachelor babe looked to be having a great time as she was seen sinking two drinks at the same time as she partied with friends in Bali while she awaits her partner's arrival.

Megan used her Instagram story to document her escapades as she flew solo on Tuesday night - a week after the couple revealed they were moving to the Indonesian island.

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While the cat's away: Megan Marx has been making the most of some time away from girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon

The 27-year-old, who has been staying in the village of Canggu, snapped herself having a nap before she headed out to party.

Megan then posted a series of videos from the night out - one of which shows her being filmed with a drink in each hand.

The blonde is seen drinking both at the same time as a friend takes control of her phone, momentarily taking a break from one before going back for more.

Letting her hair down: The Bachelor babe looked to be having a great time as she was seen sinking two drinks at the same time as she partied with friends in Bali

Worse for wear: Megan used her Instagram story to document her escapades as she flew solo on Tuesday night

Nap time: The 27-year-old, who has been staying in the village of Canggu, snapped herself having a nap before she headed out to party

After leaving the beachside night spot, Megan and her pals head off to the beach, where they began to set fireworks off.

The group are seen setting several handheld fireworks off as loud music plays in the background.

Megan will soon be reunited with Tiffany, with the latter flying out to Bali today after initially delaying her flight due to illness.

Reunited: Megan will soon be reunited with Tiffany, with the latter flying out to Bali today after initially delaying her flight due to illness

Flying solo: Tiffany uploaded a picture of her at Perth International Airport to Instagram as she prepared to board her flight

Tiffany uploaded a picture of her at Perth International Airport to Instagram as she prepared to board her flight.

In the caption, she wrote: 'Finally boarding my flight for Bali to be reunited with my partner in crime @megan.leto.marx.'

Last week, the 30-year-old had used her account to announce that the duo were Bali bound for 'the next few months' to work on 'some exciting projects and collaborations'.

Tiffany declared her excitement to head back to 'where it all began' - after the pair fell in love on a trip to the island following their spell on The Bachelor in 2016.
Hilaria Baldwin posted a shot to Instagram on Tuesday where she's with her three children.

In the shot, the wife of A-list stalwart Alec Baldwin is nestled next to her brood - Carmen, three; Rafael, 19 months; and Leonardo, four months, looking relaxed and content.

'Rolling around and doing baby yoga with my tiny clan,' she wrote in the caption.

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Happy day: Hilaria Baldwin took to Instagram Tuesday to share with shot with her brood - Carmen, three; Rafael, 19 months; and Leonardo, four months

The beauty, 33, told more than 220,000 followers on the social media site that she's hosting a sold-out morning yoga class.

It will be held at the famed department store Bloomingdale's.

'Aterwards, well head to their new demo kitchen on the 8 floor to try one of the recipes from my book, The Living Clearly Method,' she added.

Whole world in her hands: The busy mom-of-three updated her fans on an upcoming class she's hosting for charity

Admission to her class - only $12 - includes the price of 'the class, a mat, and a goodie bag,' the mother-of-three said.

'They'll be selling copies of my book and I'll be signing copies too!!!' she said. 'Hope to see you there!'

In a subsequent shot, in which she was holding her three children, Baldwin wrote, 'Group yoga!!! Upavistha Konasana!!'

Too cute! Leonardo, only four months old, relaxes in a baby floor seat while playing with teething toys

Fit pregnancy: The Spain-born stunner showed off her baby bump in this shot with her daughter Carmen last May

Agile: The famed yoga practitioner regularly shows off her flexibility on social media

Hilaria said that she's 'excited' to host this weekend's sold-out event, noting, 'I'm excited to see you all. Stay tuned for if you didn't get into the class. There will be more.'

She noted that yoga enthusiasts can always track her down at The Big Apple studio she co-founded, Yoga Vida, 'to take a class or sign your book.'

The Hamptons heart-breaker said that the day's process would be forwarded to the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a group that looks to empower 'kids to develop lifelong, healthy habits.'

Amazing: The brunette beauty last week showed off her belly button ring on Instagram

This June, Hilaria will celebrate her five-year anniversary with Alec, who's received much attention in recent months as a staple on Saturday Night Live with his impression of President Donald Trump.

The parents-of-three initially met in 2011 at the New York City vegan restaurant, Pure Food And Wine.
With her stunning black dress with sheer lace panels, Olga Kurylenko more than held her own at the star-studded Armani Show in Paris on Tuesday.

The Bond actress cut a glamorous figure in the frock which featured a round sheer lace panel with floral detail at the chest along with a high neck.

A slightly flared skirt and silver and black high heels added to the look as the Ukrainian-born actress posed for snaps at the Armani Prive Haute Couture Spring Summer 2017 show.

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Sleek and sophisticated: Olga Kurylenko stepped out at the Armani Prive Haute Couture Spring Summer 2017 show on Tuesday looking stunning in a black panelled dress

The 37-year-old star's glossy brown hair was worn on a sleek bob, while bright pink glossy lipstick and dusky eye-shadow completed the look.

The sleeveless number also showed off Olga's extremely toned arms to the maximum.

Earlier, she'd hit the Chanel show in a completely different ensemble, stepping out in a beige furry jacket and glittery skirt over footless black tights.

Pure class: The 37-year-old star's glossy brown hair was worn on a sleek bob, while bright pink glossy lipstick and dusky eye-shadow completed the look

Trim and slim: The frock also showed off Olga's toned arms to the maximum

Her hair was worn in lose waves while chic black ankle boots and a dusky lipgloss added to the look.

Later at Armani, Olga rubbed shoulders with Nicole Kidman and French actress Isabelle Huppert, who both received Oscar nominations earlier that day.

The actresses were spotted having a chat and congratulating each other with Isabelle, 63, sporting a sleek electric blue suit.

Then there was Chanel: Olga stepped out an earlier show dressed in a furry coat over a black glittery dress

Fur-bulous: Earlier, she'd hit the Chanel show in a completely different ensemble, stepping out in a beige furry jacket and glittery skirt over footless black tights

Strikingly different: Olga still looked as sophisticated as ever in the different ensemble

Nicole has been put forward in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in Lion alongside Dev Patel, who also scored a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

The film follows Dev as Saroo Brierley - a young man desperate to find his biological family 25 years after getting lost on the streets of Calcutta.

The Australian beauty, who plays his adoptive mother in the emotional flick, said after receiving the nod: 'I want to thank the Academy for all of the acknowledgements you have given this heartfelt film.'

So chic: Nicole Kidman was also at the show, dressed in a stylish number with high neck and long sleeves, before skimming her enviably slender figure to its calf hem

Well done! Nicole met Isabelle Huppert at the event with the pair not concealing their pride at their Oscar news - with Nicole giving the 63-year-old a squeeze on the arm in congratulations

Honoured: Nicole has been put forward in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in new drama Lion alongside Dev Patel - who also scored a nomination for Best Supporting Actor

'But, most importantly, I want to thank the Brierley family for putting themselves in such a vulnerable place and sharing their story with the world.'

Meanwhile Isabelle, 63, has been put forward for an award in the prestigious Best Actress category for her role in the French film Elle.

The French beauty plays Michele Leblanc in the psychological thriller, which sees her character battle with the fallout of a terrifying rape she endured in her home.

Vibrant: The new SS17 Haute Couture collection (above) focused on the bright hue of orange, tinged with luxurious gold and extravagant materials




She's never shied away from flaunting her Mediterranean curves.

And it appears Nancy Dell'olio was up to her old tricks once more as she flaunted her pins in a pair of racy knee-high boots as she attended the Community Awards of Mayfair and St James in London on Tuesday night.

The 55-year-old former Celebrity Big Brother contestant showcased her Italian figure in a thigh-grazing minidress that featured a plunging neckline to emphasize her buxom bust.

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Daring: Nancy Dell'olio was up to her old tricks once more as she flaunted her pins in a pair of racy knee-high boots as she attended the Community Awards of Mayfair and St James in London on Tuesday night

Looking youthful as ever, Nancy - who came to prominence while dating ex England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson - slipped on the leg accentuating number that highlighted her narrow waist with wraparound detail.

The lawyer-turned-reality-star paraded her pins in the ensemble as she injected height into her diminutive frame for the worthwhile evening as she arrived with her leopard print coat draped over her shoulders.

Adding a touch of class to her look, she wrapped a long beaded necklace around her neck that nestled amongst her cleavage before gracefully falling to her midriff.

Ever the glamourpuss, she worked her glossy locks into a voluminous curl as she accentuated her pout with lashings of nude lipstick.

Glamourpuss: The 55-year-old former Celebrity Big Brother contestant showcased her Italian figure in a thigh-grazing minidress that featured a plunging neckline to emphasize her buxom bust

Picture perfect: Looking youthful as ever, Nancy slipped on the leg accentuating number that highlighted her narrow waist with wraparound detail

Going solo at the event, Nancy has been previously linked with to Ex On The Beach star Jordan Davies, who at 23 is 31 years her junior, in February 2016.

The unlikely pairing recently went for drinks at swanky London bar 68 And Boston on Tuesday and are planning to meet up again.

A source told MailOnline: 'Jordan got in contact with Nancy's camp as he has admired her from a far (from CBB) and asked to meet her. Nancy agreed after seeing some pics.

'She's been to Bar 68 & Boston a few times recently and it's her new favourite haunt, so Nancy chose to have the date there. Eager Jordan travelled from Cardiff for the date. Nancy (in true Nancy style, was an hour late).

Class act: Adding a touch of class to her look, she wrapped a long beaded necklace around her neck that nestled amongst her cleavage before gracefully falling to her midriff

Spot the difference: Nancy arrived looking glamorous as ever at the bash with a male friend

'They hit it off. The air was electric - and they flirted and teased throughout the night. They were very touchy-feely with each other - spending the date holding hands.'

Still, never one to shun the limelight, she posed up a storm at the event and lapped-up the attention.

No doubt Nancy will be promoting her latest business venture at the bash - a new kind of Italian lemon liquor limoncello.

'Sugar is now the white enemy. This is the right time to launch a sugar-free drink,' she told The Telegraph in 2016.

In the nude: Ever the glamourpuss, she worked her glossy locks into a voluminous curl as she accentuated her pout with lashings of nude lipstick

Event goers: The event attracted a number of famous faces including model David Gandy and Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman

Award-worthy: Claudia and Selma Day pose for a picture at the exclusive awards

Aside from Nancy, the worthwhile gala attracted a number of famous faces including Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman, who looked divine in all black.

The BBC favourite sported a loose-fitting ruched neck silk blouse for the festivities which she teamed with a simple but chic cigarette pant and pointed pumps as her trademark fringe framed her delicate facial features.

Bringing his signature style to the event, model David Gandy sported his usual dapper style in a grey double breasted blazer, navy suit pant and matching tie.

Finishing his smart attire, he wrapped up for the evening in a wide lapel wool jacket as he posed for pictures.
She appears to spend more time in a bikini than out.

And Myleene Klass was once again up to her favoured swimsuit antics earlier this month when she larked around on the Sri Lankan shores with her daughters Ava, nine, and Hero, five for a post-Christmas family break.

The 38-year-old former pop star looked incredible in a skimpy black two-piece with a chic crochet detail at the chest while accessorising with blingy gold hoops and an eye-popping designer watch.

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Hello Miss Klass! Myleene Klass was once again up to her favoured swimsuit antics earlier this month when she larked around on the Sri Lankan shores with her daughters Ava, nine, and Hero, five for a post-Christmas family break

Myleene, who soared to fame in 2001 on pioneering talent show Popstars, looked sensational in her swimwear which highlighted every aspect of her frame

The stunning star showed off all her best assets as she larked around on the shores with her beloved daughters, who she shares with ex-husband Graham Quinn, in her stunning black two-piece.

Her halterneck top boasted an elaborate crochet detail on the chest which helped draw the eye to her perky assets while also glamming up the beach babe look.

Flaunting enviably taut abs, Myleene proudly wore her tie-side bikini bottoms in an extremely low-slung style to best maximise her skin exposure.

Sensational: The 38-year-old former popstar looked incredible in a skimpy black two-piece with a chic crochet detail at the chest while accessorising with blingy gold hoops and an eye-popping designer watch

All angles: Myleene worked all her best angles as she larked around on the shores

Pure shores: She dipped her lengthy brunette tresses into the idyllic blue waters to perfect her beach babe look and afford her locks a natural wave

Not content with letting her body do the talking, the songstress turned designer also injected a superstar touch with her heavy bling.

Pairing a pair of thin gold hoops with an eye-watering watch, Myleene ensured she looked every inch the celeb beach dweller as she hit the shores.

She dipped her lengthy brunette tresses into the idyllic blue waters to perfect her beach babe look and afford her locks a natural wave.

Who's who: Myleene's mini-me daughters sported matching plain black swimming costumes, which perfectly offset their mum's beach look

Look! The sweet family unit appeared to discover a sea dweller as they lapped up the warm water

Enviable: Myleene's penchant for a holiday no doubt induces envy in her fans

Making waves: The stunning star proved she knows exactly how to make a splash

Her make-up free complexion was simply stunning, with her sun-kissed glow providing a radiant feel to her overall look.

Myleene's mini-me daughters sported matching plain black swimming costumes, which perfectly offset their mum's beach ensemble.

The trio were clearly loving life on their holiday as the girls attempted to tackle their mum during an adorable rough and tumble session on the sand.

Myleene has lived life as a single mum since she split acrimoniously from Graham in 2013, after just six months of marriage and ten years as a couple.

Sisters are doing it for themselves! Myleene has lived life as a single mum since she split acrimoniously from Graham in 2013, after just six months of marriage yet ten years as a couple

Look out mummy! The trio were clearly loving life on their holiday as the girls attempted to tackle their mum during an adorable rough and tumble session on the sand

Come to mama! Myleene looked simply overjoyed to live it up with her girls

Lost love: Myleene shares her girls with ex-husband Graham Quinn

In 2015, Myleene vowed never to speak to her ex-husband after their marriage came to a shocking end. The TV host revealed just how devastating it was to have her husband walk out on her as she admitted: 'I thought I'd never smile or trust anyone ever again'.

Speaking in an interview with Woman magazine, she added: 'I felt so betrayed and so crushed. But I couldn't wallow in it. I said to my mum and dad, "I'm broken, but I will not sink."

Myleene revealed it was her role as mother that helped her through that dark time as she continued: 'I just had to keep going because my girls would be up every morning asking me to make breakfast or fetch their recorders. My girls saved me.'

Oh stop! Myleene was howling with laughter as Ava appeared to attempt to lift her

Hot mama! The brunette beauty certainly set temperatures soaring on the beach

Deep in chat: The girls appeared to be having a serious discussion

She fumed in a previous interview: Im never getting married again. Never. That was as stupid as it gets. One of my girlfriends said later: You married a former drug dealer who wouldnt sign a prenup. What were you thinking?

'Ill never let that happen again, so help me God. If Id decided to gamble with my money, I could take that, but someone taking it . . . No.

Last year Myleene enjoyed a brief romance with a mystery man, who she has so far refused to name.

What's up? The group were joined by a male pal

Never again? She fumed in a previous interview: Im never getting married again. Never. That was as stupid as it gets. One of my girlfriends said later: You married a former drug dealer who wouldnt sign a prenup. What were you thinking?"

Washboard: Myleene's incredibly taut body certainly invoked envy

Look here: The stunning star appeared to go into full mummy mode

Despite her upsetting split, Myleene's love life appears to be on the up as she is currently dating fashion PR Simon Motson.

The happy couple met in Autumn 2015 shortly after he split from his wife, and have slowly got to know each other better since.

According to the Sunday Mirror, Myleene has told friends: 'I have never, hand on my heart, been happier. Its new. Im not gonna put any conditions on it  Im literally gonna roll with the punches because Ive learned you cant plan anything.

Lucky guy! Despite her upsetting split, Myleene's love life appears to be on the up as she is currently dating fashion PR Simon Motson

Happier than ever: The happy couple met in Autumn 2015 shortly after he split from his wife, and have slowly got to know each other better since

Look at me! Myleene was certainly not shy while cavorting along the shore

She knows! As a frequent beach dweller, Myleene knows how to work all her best angles

Back to reality: After lapping up the sunshine on her luxury holiday, it was back down to earth for Myleene on Tuesday as she left work at Global Radio in London
Paris Jackson was spotted at LAX Tuesday for the first time after her explosive interview hit newsstands in which she claimed her superstar father was murdered.

She also revealed she tried to commit suicide multiple times after being raped as a teenager in the candid interview with Rolling Stone Magazine.

The 18-year-old daughter of Michael Jackson admitted she believes her father's death was a 'setup'.

'He would drop hints about people being out to get him. And at some point he was like, 'They're gonna kill me one day',' Paris said.

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Paris Jackson, the 18-year-old daughter of Michael Jackson, has claimed her superstar father was murdered in 2009 in what she describes as a 'setup'

'It's obvious. All arrows point to that. It sounds like a total conspiracy theory and it sounds like bulls***, but all real fans and everybody in the family knows it. It was a setup. It was bulls***.'

Since the interview went live, the pop star's daughter posted on Twitter, saying she wasn't interested in doing any press about the explosive coverage and if the press has any questions, 'read [the article], it's crystal clear.'

She also stated anyone trying to contact her mother or manager will not be answered either.

'Will not be answering any press regarding the rolling stone article whatsoever,' she began in her tweet. 'If you have any questions then read it, it's crystal clear.'

No comments: Paris made it clear she will not be answering any questions about the article and it speaks for itself

Paris does blame Murray for her dad's death but believes something more sinister happened and she wants justice.

Paris was just 11 when Jackson died from cardiac arrest in 2009 caused by a lethal combination of prescription drugs.

The pop star's personal physician Dr Conrad Murray was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to four years in prison over his death.

Paris does blame Murray for her dad's death but believes something more sinister happened and she wants justice.

'I definitely do, but it's a chess game. And I am trying to play the chess game the right way. And that's all I can say about that right now,' she said.

Paris said her father was exhausted at the time of his death because he was prepping for his This Is It comeback tour.

Paris, pictured with her father Michael in 2005 in London, said he would often drop hints that people were out to get him

Paris was just 11 when Jackson died from cardiac arrest in 2009 caused by a lethal combination of prescription drugs. She is pictured here at his funeral in Los Angeles

Jackson's personal physician Dr Conrad Murray was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to four years in prison over his death in 2011

Paris also revealed she was raped as a teen and opened up about her struggles with drug use and surviving 'multiple' suicide attempts.

THE CHECKERED LIFE OF PARIS JACKSON: Early 2000s: Paris and her brothers Prince and Blanket were rarely seen in public without face coverings. 2005: Jackson's daughter was left solely in her father's care after her mother Debbie Rowe surrendered her visitation rights. 2009: Paris was 11 when Michael died. She cried as she spoke at his public memorial saying he was 'the best father you could ever imagine'. 2012: Her grandmother Katherine Jackson temporarily lost her guardian rights after she went missing for a short time. Katherine's rights were renewed the following month. Paris told Rolling Stone she was sexually assaulted by a complete stranger when she was 14 in 2012. April 2013: Paris reconnected with her estranged mother Debbie. June 2013: She was hospitalized for a suicide attempt. Paris said she had been self harming for years and had made several attempts to take her life before this one incident became public. She was also struggling with depression and drug addiction during this time until she went to a therapeutic school in Utah. 2015: She graduated high school and attempted community college before taking up a modeling career. Advertisement

She said a 'much older complete stranger' sexually assaulted her when she was just 14.

Paris spiraled into the depths of depression and drug addiction.

The teen tried to commit suicide several times and managed to hide her self harm injuries from her family for years.

Her self harm only became evident in 2013 when she was hospitalized over a suicide attempt and it became public.

'It was just self-hatred... low self-esteem, thinking that I couldn't do anything right, not thinking I was worthy of living anymore,' she said.

She said she was prescribed the same depression medications her dad once took, but added she is no longer on any medication.

Having been home-schooled when her father was alive, Paris said she didn't fit in to the private school she attended for the seventh grade.

'I was doing a lot of things that 13, 14, 15-year-olds shouldn't do,' she said. 'I tried to grow up too fast, and I wasn't really that kind of a person.'

Paris said she went to a therapeutic school in Utah after her last suicide attempt for her sophomore and part of junior years.

She said it changed her into a 'completely different person'.

'I was crazy. I was actually crazy. I was going through a lot of, like, teen angst. And I was also dealing with my depression and my anxiety without any help.'

Paris said she is now sober but does still smoke menthol cigarettes.

The teen, who is dating 26-year-old Michael Snoddy, says she now wants to make her own money despite being an heir to her father's fortune. She currently works as a model and has plans to get into acting.

Candid confessions: Paris Jackson has opened up about being raped, her struggles with drug use and surviving 'multiple' suicide attempts in a very revealing interview with Rolling Stone released Tuesday

The middle child of The King Of Pop also told of her surprisingly 'pretty normal life' growing up on Neverland Ranch and how she does not question that the late star is her biological father.

'He will always be my father. He never wasn't, and he never will not be,' she said. 'People that knew him really well say they see him in me, that it's almost scary.'

Paris said growing up she didn't know she had a living mother but they reconnected when she was 13 and again at 16 when she was receiving treatment.

Paris also revealed she was raped as a teen and opened up about her struggles with drug use and surviving 'multiple' suicide attempts.

Paris said growing up she didn't know she had a living mother but they reconnected when she was 13 and again at 16 when she was receiving treatment

But she maintains she never sought a maternal figure.

'I've had a lot of mother figures. But by the time my mom came into my life, it wasn't a 'mommy' thing. It's more of an adult relationship.'

Paris and her siblings grew up on their dad's 2,700-acre California estate, which featured an amusement park, zoo and movie theater.

But she insists her childhood was normal and they weren't allowed to go on the rides whenever they wanted to.

'We had school every single day, and we had to be good. And if we were good, every other weekend or so, we could choose whether we were gonna go to the movie theater or see the animals or whatever. But if you were on bad behavior, then you wouldn't get to go do all those things,' she said.

For those seeking help, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255.
She's never been afraid of flaunting her impressive 32DD bust on Instagram.

And Wednesday was just another day for Devin Brugman, showing off her ample assets, while on vacation in Fiji.

'So many reasons to smile,' the beauty captioned the image, that saw her sporting a skimpy top and pair of Daisy Dukes.

'So many reasons to smile': Devin Brugman took to Instagram on Wednesday, flaunting her EXTREME cleavage in a skimpy top, while on vacation in Fiji

The image taken at Fiji's Namale Resort saw the curvaceous star posing in front of a picturesque background.

Showing off a generous amount of cleavage in a polka-dot top, a pair of high-waisted Daisy Dukes also drew attention to her toned mid-section.

With her shoulder-length locks falling in relaxed waves and accessorised with a pink hibiscus, Devin appeared to go makeup-free, allowing her natural beauty to shine through.

Trim pins: A previous snap shared to Instagram, while in the same outfit, saw Devin drawing attention to her impressively lean legs

A previous snap shared to Instagram, while in the same outfit, saw Devin drawing attention this time to her impressively lean legs.

Simply captioned 'Fji', the social media sensation turned her back to the camera, glancing at the skyline.

A pair of distressed Daisy Dukes left very little to the imagination, not only flaunting her trim pins but also offering a glimpse of her pert derriere.

'Always look for an underwire or under band support in tops': Just days earlier, Devin spilled her style tips for voluptuous women on blog site A Bikini A Day

Just days earlier, Devin spilled her style tips for voluptuous women on blog site A Bikini A Day.

When it comes to swimsuit shopping, Devin said: 'Avoid thin neck ties, it doesnt matter how cute the bikini is its not worth having your neck severed all day.'

She continued: 'Always look for an underwire or under band support in tops, this is the ideal scenario for us and most brands offer styles that do include it.'

The Instagram superstar also recommended buying a different sized top and bottom to make sure they fit your body correctly.

Tailored: The Instagram superstar also recommended buying a different sized top and bottom to make sure they fit your body correctly

At ease: When it comes to swimsuit shopping, Devin said: 'Avoid thin neck ties, it doesnt matter how cute the bikini is its not worth having your neck severed all day'

For everyday style, Devin told her fans to avoid baby doll style tops and dresses.

'These can make you look bigger than you are by distorting your natural shape and gorgeous womanly figure,' she explained.

The blogger also told her followers 'bodysuits are your friend' and to 'focus on accentuating your best assets, besides your chest.'

Follow the lead: The blogger also told her followers 'bodysuits are your friend' and to 'focus on accentuating your best assets, besides your chest'

Notoriety: Devin co-founded A Bikini A Day with her business partner and fellow Instagram model Natasha Oakley

Devin co-founded A Bikini A Day with her business partner and fellow Instagram model Natasha Oakley.

After launching in 2012, the friends have since become two of the best known digital influencers in fashion.

They're now moving into the fitness world with their own workout program.
Charlie Sheen has revealed that he was instrumental in helping fellow actor Woody Harrelson reach Hollywood icon status.

The 51-year-old, who is known for playing Charlie Harper on the long-running sitcom Two And A Half Men, told KIIS FM's Kyle And Jackie O on Wednesday that he had previously turned down two big movie roles that were eventually given to Woody.

'I turned down White Men Can't Jump, because I can and then I turned down Indecent Proposal,' he quipped when asked which films roles he had rejected.

'All my friends said Woody Harrelson should be sending you flowers!' Charlie Sheen, 51, told KIIS FM's Kyle And Jackie O on Wednesday that he had previously turned down two big movie roles that were eventually given to Woody Harrelson

'Then all my friends said Woody Harrelson should be sending you flowers every day for giving him a career,' he laughed.

Laughing, Jackie concurred: 'Totally, he took both those roles off you!'

Woody's performance in White Men Can't Jump earned him two MTV Movie Award nominations in 1992, while his role in Indecent Proposal saw him win an MTV Movie Award.

The role that got away: Woody's performance in White Men Can't Jump earned him two MTV Movie Award nominations in 1992

Success: His role in Indecent Proposal saw him win an MTV Movie Award

Charlie turned down a slew of high-profile roles throughout his career, including the leading role in A Nightmare On Elm Street in 1984, which eventually went to Johnny Depp.

He is said to have also been considered to play the lead role of Maverick in Top Gun before the part eventually went to Tom Cruise.

More recently, Charlie sparked an infamous twitter rant in 2014, after Ashton Kutcher replaced him on American sitcom Two And A Half Men.

'I was stupidly mean to him!' Charlie sparked an infamous twitter rant in 2014, after Ashton Kutcher replaced him on American sitcom Two And A Half Men

Speaking of the incident to Kyle and Jackie O this Wednesday, the charismatic showman said he blames his ego for his temper tirades and regrets the way he treated the actor stepping into his old role.

The controversial actor, 51, revealed his remorse to KIIS FM's Kyle And Jackie 'O on Wednesday, saying: 'I was stupidly mean to him!'

He went on to say: 'I overlooked the reality and difficulty of taking over a show... I should have been nicer.'
Naomie Harris has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Moonlight

She's a North London girl brought up by a single mother  and now Naomie Harris is an Oscar hopeful.

Fittingly, the 40-year-old was with the woman whos played such a vital role in her life when news of her best supporting actress nomination came through yesterday.

Harris, who plays Miss Moneypenny to Daniel Craigs James Bond, had arranged to be at home to be with her family, including mum Carmen, as the nominations were announced.

I was so preparing not to hear my name that I feel a bit numb to be honest, said Harris, who is recognised for the film Moonlight, in which she plays a heroin addict trying to raise a son on her own.

I was with my mum. I was too nervous to watch the whole announcement and I couldnt be on my own. I was shouting that I couldnt cope with the tension and in any case I didnt think I was going to be nominated.

I just sat with my mum and then my brother Max called, Youve been nominated. I found out in the best way possible.

There was something deeply moving about Harriss nomination. She needed to share the news, good or bad, with her mother, the woman who worked all hours and all manner of jobs in Harriss early years to put food on the table.

Reflecting on her remarkable rise, Harris said: My mum has always been here for me and I will always be there for her.

Carmen, a former screenwriter on EastEnders and Grange Hill, raised her to be resilient. She raised me on her own. We had nothing and my mum put herself through college to get a sociology degree, Harris has said.

Now, mother and daughter live just down the road from each other in North London. I sometimes put a coat over my pyjamas and go and visit her some mornings, the actress confided.

Harris is one of a host of British stars whose nominations mean theyll be heading off to Los Angeles next month for the glittering awards ceremony

Her mother and father had been dating for three years but when Carmen became pregnant at 19, he left. The Jamaican-born mother was left to raise Naomie alone, studying for her degree in sociology once her daughter was in primary school.

Carmen then began a writing career, penning scripts for EastEnders under the pseudonym Liselle Kayla. She is now a faith healer and lives in Muswell Hill with her long-term partner, Richard Tharp, with whom she has two children, Maxwell and Joely.

Naomies acting talents were noticed early on, and her mother chose to enrol her at the Anna Scher stage school in Islington when she was nine.

She attended St Marylebone School for Girls, a Church of England comprehensive school.

The actress was brought up by single mother Carmen in North London. Her mother and father had been dating for three years but when Carmen became pregnant at 19, he left. Ms Harris is pictured with her half sister Joely

After finishing her A-levels, she went on to study social and political sciences at Cambridge University, and later trained as an actress at the Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol.

Harris, who has appeared in dramas such as 28 Days Later and Pirates Of The Caribbean, joined the James Bond family six years ago when she was cast as Miss Moneypenny by director Sam Mendes.

When she started filming her first 007, Skyfall, people were not encouraging. They said, Arent you scared of the curse of the Bond girl, or Bond woman? Isnt your career going to go downhill? 

She added that she was flabbergasted to hear such comments, particularly after seeing the success actresses such as Rosamund Pike and Gemma Arterton have enjoyed since appearing in Bond movies.

There have been so many Bond women who are still standing tall and have done great things, she said. I have an Oscar nomination so now its true that it certainly isnt no curse to be part of the Bond franchise for any woman.

Harris, has appeared in 28 Days Later and Pirates Of The Caribbean and joined the James Bond family six years ago

She was one of a host of British stars whose nominations mean theyll be heading off to Los Angeles next month for the glittering awards ceremony.

Among them is Andrew Garfield, in the running for a leading actor Oscar for his role as an army medic in Mel Gibsons film Hacksaw Ridge. Dev Patel, from Rayners Lane in North-West London, is up for best supporting actor in Lion.

Others in his category included: Mahershala Ali in Moonlight, which opens in the UK on February 10, Jeff Bridges in Hell Or High Water and Michael Shannon in Nocturnal Animals.

Last year there were protests over what was perceived as the Oscars being So White after no non-white actors were nominated. This year seven actors of colour were nominated including Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, and London-based Irish-Ethiopian actress Ruth Negga who received a best actress nomination for the film Loving.

Lion was produced by Emile Sherman and Iain Canning, two of the producers behind Oscar-winning The Kings Speech.

Other nominations received by British talent include designers Stuart Craig and Anna Pinnock for their design work on Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, and costume designer Joanna Johnston for the clothes she created for the film Allied.

Londons ITN Productions was nominated for best documentary short subject for the film Watani: My Homeland.

Harris faces strong competition in her category from Viola Davis (Fences), Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures), Michelle Williams (Manchester By The Sea) and Nicole Kidman (Lion).

Kidman said Lion, in which she plays a woman from Tasmania who adopts a young boy from India, has gone global. She added: Its about a simple family who help out these boys and adopt them. One of the boys grows up and uses Google maps to find his real mum in India. Its a simple heartfelt story.
She was pictured a year ago looking worrying thin a month after her split from her husband of three years, Braith.

But a year on, former Home And Away actress Jodi Anasta has revealed a much healthier frame as she stepped out on Surfer's Paradise recently.

The 31-year-old wore a strapless bikini with scalloping detail as she was pictured looking happy and relaxed alongside her new beau, Warren Ginsberg.

What a difference a year makes: Jodi Anasta sported a much healthier frame as she stepped out on Surfer's Paradise recently (left). A year before the actress was seen looking worryingly thin, right

As Jodi walked back from the ocean, her toned limbs were on full display.

The mother-of-one wore her hair scraped back and went makeup free for the outing.

Daily Mail Australia reached out for comment.

White on: The 31-year-old wore a strapless bikini with scalloping detail

Warren, who she has been dating for the past few months, also joined her in the surf and the pair looked to be enjoying each other's company.

The handsome brunette is a real estate agent in Double Bay and has sold millions of dollars worth of properties throughout neighbouring suburbs.

Making a splash: Back in November 2015, Jodi told Daily Mail Australia that her slender frame was a result of having an 'active' daughter. 'Im just being a mum... and doing weights training. I'm trying to build muscle,' she said

A year ago: Jodi's tiny frame was in full view as she went to the beach in January 2016

A graduate of the private Jewish college, Emanuel School, Warren has worked in real estate since 2008 and has cultivated a reputation as one of the most successful salesmen in his field.

Jodi's handsome 'boyfriend' is also no stranger to Sydney's lively social scene, frequently attending various celebrity hot spots.

Warren has also previously been spotted partying with Home and Away's Pia Miller.

Au naturel: She wore her hair scraped back and went makeup free for the outing this year

Back in November 2015, Jodi told Daily Mail Australia that her slender frame was a result of having an 'active' daughter.

'Im just being a mum... and doing weights training. I'm trying to build muscle,' she said while attending the Cosmopolitan Fun Fearless Female awards.

'Im training with a new trainer so its going well. I'm lifting all different types of weights, but only once a week.'

Yummy mummy! Jodi is mother to two-year-old daughter Aleeia

Happy couple: Jodi's boyfriend Warren Ginsberg, who she has been dating for the past year also joined her in the surf and the pair looked to be enjoying each other's company

She explained further at the Sydney Star Casinos Summer Hits party, telling Daily Mail Australia she'd been doing weights, squats, and lunges.

The Myer ambassador added that she usually trains around lunchtime and likes to work her fitness schedule around caring for her two-year-daughter Aleeia.

She said: You name it, I'm doing it!'

New man! The handsome brunette is a real estate agent in Double Bay and has sold millions of dollars worth of properties throughout neighbouring suburbs

Jodi and her ex husband Braith announced they had agreed to a 'temporary separation' back in December 2015.

The news came just one week after the pair were pictured in a heated argument at a Coogee park.

Jodi and Braith said in a joint statement that they had decided to part ways after facing challenges 'like all married couples.

'We are going to continue to support each other and remain best of friends, we only want the best for each other and more importantly our amazing daughter Aleeia,' they said.

A spokesman for the pair added: 'They have had challenges like all married couples and despite best efforts to make things work they have agreed that a trial separation is best for them and their precious daughter.'

The couple had tied the knot in October 2012.
Fans of 800 Words will be pleased to hear that the drama will return for a third season.

Ahead of the second series airing next week, Channel Seven announced on Tuesday that they have already commissioned the next installment of the popular show.

The network's director of production, Brad Lyons, told Yahoo that 800 Words has an exciting future after enjoying ratings success in its first year.

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They're back: Fans of 800 Words will be pleased to hear that the drama will return for a third season

He said: 'We feel the Turner family's story is only just beginning. There is so much more in store and we can't wait to share it with Australia who have embraced this series with such a charming cast and brilliant production team.'

Production on the third series is set to commence in New Zealand next month.

Meanwhile, Erik Thomson and the rest of the cast will return to our screens next week in the second season of 800 Words.

Return: Ahead of the second series airing next week, Channel Seven announced on Tuesday that they have already commissioned the next installment of the popular show

Popular: Erik Thomson (middle), Melina Vidler (L) and Benson Jack Anthony (R) will return to our screens next week in the second season of 800 Words

The first season charted the struggles of Erik's character, George Turner, as he attempted to cope with the loss of his wife and being made redundant.

George relocated to the fictional town of Weld, New Zealand from Sydney, along with his children, who are played by Melina Vidler and Benson Jack Anthony.

The show was well received by audiences in Australia and New Zealand, leading to recognition at the 2016 Logies.

Success: The show was well received by audiences in Australia and New Zealand, leading to recognition at the 2016 Logies

Going up in the world: Erik, Melina and Benson were all nominated to receive awards, in addition to nods for 800 Words in the Best Programs and Most Outstanding Programs categories

Erik, Melina and Benson were all nominated to receive awards, in addition to nods for 800 Words in the Best Programs and Most Outstanding Programs categories.

Scottish-born Erik picked up Best Actor and Melina won Most Outstanding Newcomer - Actress, while Benson narrowly missed out on Best New Talent and Breakthrough Star of Tomorrow.

Home and Away beat the show to Best Drama Program and ABC's Glitch pipped 800 Words to the Most Outstanding Drama Series.

On Tuesday, 800 Words will return for a second series on Channel Seven at 9pm.
Over the New Year period, new couple Adriano Zumbo and former My Kitchen Rules contestant Nelly Riggio enjoyed a romantic break to the Maldives, shortly after confirming their romance.

And now the loved-up duo are back in holiday mode as they jet off on another escape.

Taking to Instagram, the pastry chef shared a shot of himself and his new flame sitting on a plane, writing: 'Off to Nambucca!!'

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Another airplane! New couple Adriano Zumbo and former My Kitchen Rules contestant Nelly Riggio are on another holiday after jetting to the Maldives over the New Year period

He added hashtags including 'Australia Day' and 'Aus Day' ambassador, suggesting the pair will be enjoying a short break at Nambucca Heads in Northern NSW.

He also used hashtags including 'happy,' and 'hottie,' to describe his girl.

They are both dressed casually, with Adriano standing out in a mustard colour T-shirt and Nelly in a grey long sleeve top.

Relaxing together: Just recently, Adriano whisked his girl away to the Maldives, where they posted plenty of loved-up shots of one another

Falling in love: The pair's relationship developed when Nelly started working for Adriano recently

Just recently, Adriano whisked his girl away to the Maldives, where they posted plenty of loved-up shots of one another.

Nelly's relationship with Adriano comes after she broke up with former flame JP Hulliet, who she appeared on MKR with as the show's 'lovebirds.'

Nelly and Adriano fell in love when she started working for him recently.

JP posted on Instagram saying he wished them well, writing in part of a post after news of Nelly's new relationship broke: 'Just so everyone knows I'm happy and healthy and wish nothing but the best for everyone involved.'

Smitten: It seems their relationship is going from strength to strength, with Nelly saying she 'loves' Adriano online

It seems their relationship is going from strength to strength, with Nelly saying she 'loves' Adriano online.

Adriano shared a photo of the couple on Instagram on Saturday - and his 26-year-old girlfriend commented below: 'I just friggen love him'.

The Zumbo's Just Desserts star also used the hashtag 'love' in a social media post about their recent day out in Sydney.
Elle Fanning donned a daring big blue bow tie to attend the Films Powered by Women lunch in Park City on Tuesday.

The 18-year-old pastel princess - who relies on stylist Samantha McMillen - was sporting the same wide-leg black trousers and belted pink Max Mara coat she wore Sunday.

The SAG Award nominee flashed her signature effervescent grin at the feminist function, which was hosted by Glamour Editor in Chief Cindi Leive.

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Menswear inspired: Elle Fanning donned a daring big blue bow tie to attend the Films Powered by Women lunch in Park City on Tuesday

Elle - born Mary - then snapped a selfie with Oscar nominee Alfre Woodard, whom she hasn't worked with yet.

Fanning took a seat at the table beside Transparent creator Jill Soloway and Girlgaze's Amanda de Cadenet.

Later that day, the Live by Night actress congratulated Mike Mills, the writer-director of 20th Century Women, on his best original screenplay Oscar nomination.

Sophisticated: The 18-year-old pastel princess - who relies on stylist Samantha McMillen - was sporting the same wide-leg black trousers and belted pink Max Mara coat she wore Sunday

Makin my way downtown  A video posted by Elle Fanning (@ellefanning) on Jan 23, 2017 at 4:04pm PST

Hey girl! The SAG Award nominee flashed her signature effervescent grin at the feminist function, which was hosted by Glamour Editor in Chief Cindi Leive

Luke Cage fan? Elle - born Mary - then snapped a selfie with Oscar nominee Alfre Woodard, whom she hasn't worked with yet

Ladies who lunch: Fanning took a seat at the table beside Transparent creator Jill Soloway (M) and Girlgaze's Amanda de Cadenet (R)

'I can truly say you are one of my favorite people and friends in this 21st century world!' Elle - who boasts 817K followers - gushed on Instagram.

'Filming your movie was an experience that can't be recreated!'

The Georgia-born blonde is in Utah for the world premiere of her film Sidney Hall at the Sundance Film Festival's Eccles Theatre this Wednesday.

Milestone: Later that day, the Live by Night actress congratulated Mike Mills, the writer-director of 20th Century Women, on his best original screenplay Oscar nomination

Elle gushed on Instagram: 'I can truly say you are one of my favorite people and friends in this 21st century world! Filming your movie was an experience that can't be recreated!'

Fanning also fronts Miu Miu's SS/17 'Suddenly Next Summer' campaign, which was shot by British lensman Alasdair McLellan.

Meanwhile at the lunch, Oscar winner Shirley MacLaine looked fetching in a bright purple pantsuit and pink floral scarf.

The 82-year-old movie legend was in Sundance for the world premiere of her film The Last Word happening Tuesday night.

Plays Melody: The Georgia-born blonde is in Utah for the world premiere of her film Sidney Hall at the Sundance Film Festival's Eccles Theatre this Wednesday

Modeling gig: Fanning also fronts Miu Miu's SS/17 'Suddenly Next Summer' campaign, which was shot by British lensman Alasdair McLellan

Sitting right beside MacLaine was Oscar nominee Salma Hayek, who attended the world premiere of her comedy Beatriz at Dinner on Monday night.

The 50-year-old Latina - whose husband Francois-Henri Pinault owns Gucci - donned a grey double-breasted caped coat with black tights and court shoes.

Zoey Deutch transformed the event into a family affair with her famous mother Lea Thompson.

Plum perfection! Meanwhile at the lunch, Oscar winner Shirley MacLaine looked fetching in a bright purple pantsuit and pink floral scarf

Speaking from experience: The 82-year-old movie legend was in Sundance for the world premiere of her film The Last Word happening Tuesday night

Female first: Sitting right beside MacLaine was Oscar nominee Salma Hayek (M), who attended the world premiere of her comedy Beatriz at Dinner on Monday night

Tinted specs: The 50-year-old Latina - whose husband Francois-Henri Pinault owns Gucci - donned a grey double-breasted caped coat with black tights and court shoes

Later on Tuesday, Shirley switched out her purple pantsuit for a more formal all-black top and bottom.

She wore the suit over the same pink shirt that she had on earlier as she attended the premiere of The Last Word at the Eccels Center Theatre.

Other stars kept a low profile at the widely attended festival, spotted out and about around the city.

Quick change artist: Later on Tuesday, Shirley switched out her purple pantsuit for a more formal all-black top and bottom, over the same pink shirt as she attended the premiere of The Last Word at the Eccels Center Theatre

In the streets: Star Wars and the Flash's Mark Hamill was cheery even while caught in the snow, carrying memorabilia as he prepared to hop into his ride

Star Wars and the Flash's Mark Hamill was cheery even while caught in the snow, carrying memorabilia as he prepared to hop into his ride.

Marjorie Prime's Geena Davis looked slender and youthful as she hit the streets in fur-lined boots and a stylish black jacket. Her blonde hair ironed straight as pin, she smiled as she brushed a wind-blown strand from her face.

Jon Hamm of Mad Men fame, also in Marjorie Prime, bundled up as he walked around Park City, as did Zoey Deutch between other engagements.

A league of her own: Marjorie Prime's Geena Davis looked slender and youthful as she hit the streets in fur-lined boots and a stylish black jacket

Having a walk-about: Jon Hamm of Mad Men fame, also in Marjorie Prime, bundled up as he walked around Park City, as did Zoey Deutch between other engagements

Zoey, whose film Rebel in the Rye premieres Tuesday, and the 55-year-old Back to the Future alum participated in the Women's March on Saturday.

The 22-year-old starlet sported wide-leg belted trousers while 64-year-old Alfre opted for an orange tunic and 51-year-old Jill rocked a trendy bomber and camo trousers.

The Luke Cage actress greeted Thompson during the female-centric event happening around the popular Utah fest.

Double take: Zoey Deutch transformed the event into a family affair with her famous mother Lea Thompson

Nasty: The 22-year-old starlet - whose film Rebel in the Rye premieres Tuesday - and the 55-year-old Back to the Future alum participated in the Women's March on Saturday

Attendees: Zoey sported wide-leg belted trousers while 64-year-old Alfre opted for an orange tunic and 51-year-old Jill rocked a trendy bomber and camo trousers
She has been relishing her time working backstage on Channel Seven's breakfast program Sunrise since last November.

But it was time for The Bachelor's Jacinda Gugliemino, 34, to bid farewell to her new gig, having announced her time on the show had come to an end on Wednesday.

Taking to Instagram to document her final day on set, the former flame of Sam Wood shared a photo of herself cuddling up with My Kitchen Rules hosts Manu Feildel and Pete Evans.

'Manu and Pete on my last day!' Jacinda Gugliemino buddied up with Manu Feildel and Pete Evans on her last day working backstage at Sunrise this Wednesday

'Manu and Pete on my last day! What a treat @mykitchenrules #mkr #channel7 #sunrise #morningshow #lastday,' she wrote in the caption.

Previously a children's entertainer and part-time radio presenter, it is believed Jacinda worked backstage in the green room, where she helped celebrity guests prepare for their appearances.

It comes weeks after Jacinda confirmed she has bagged herself a new boyfriend, Callum Saur.

Star struck! Jacinda recently started a new job behind the scenes at Sunrise, and appears to be loving every minute of it (Pictured with actor Dev Patel backstage at Channel Seven)

She debuted her handsome hunk at a party in Watson's Bay late last year, before sharing an Instagram photo of the couple.

It is understood Callum has made reference the new relationship on his private social media account.

Last year, around the time she broke up with a prior boyfriend, Jacinda retreated home to Griffith, NSW to spend time with her family.

Couple alert! Jacinda appears to have found love with marketing executive Callum Sauer, as she shared an adorable image of the pair celebrating New Year's Eve to Instagram

What a catch! Callum lives in Sydney works in marketing for Heineken. He previously played rugby union for Germany

As she brought in the New Year, she acknowledged in an Instagram post this was one of the best decisions she could have made.

'2016 you have been a god damn b**** of a thing... but I'm grateful for the lessons you have taught me,' she wrote in the caption.

'I'm grateful for the time I got to spend in Griffith to heal and work out my direction while meeting new friends and keeping the friendships that matter.

'I'm grateful I grew some balls, got realistic and set some goals,' she added.

Jacinda hinted to her 12,000 followers she was holding on to some big news, and her year ahead was looking 'handsome'.
She used to be employed by Kathy Hilton.

And on Tuesday night Bethenny Frankel had dinner with a now all grown up Nicky Hilton, who she used to nanny, at Manhattan's Carbone restaurant.

Bethenny Frankel, 45, and Nicky Hilton, 33, were snapped entering the intimate Thompson Street restaurant, showing off their fashion sense on a freezing and raining evening in the Big Apple.

The Real Housewives of New York City beauty displayed her impeccable taste in an all-black outfit that consisted of a textured furry vest, a black turtleneck sweater with white speckles, a black leather jacket and dark grey leggings. The beauty rounded things out with a black leather belt and silver-studded black-heeled boots, with a black handbag with red highlights.

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Girls' night out: Bethenny Frankel, 45, and Nicky Hilton, 33, were snapped meeting up for dinner in NYC Tuesday

Reunited: The socialites go back decades, as Frankel once worked as a nanny for Nicky's sister Paris

Bold beauty: The East Coast entrepreneur cracked a killer smile as she made her way to the eatery

Confidence: With her brains, beauty and je ne sais quoi, Bethany has emerged as one of the most successful reality stars of the decade

Demolition couture: The bold fashionista went with silver studs on her black-heeled boots

Stylish stunner: The mother-of-one beamed as she got ready for a nice meal at the upscale Italian restaurant

The reality star, who's currently dating banker Dennis Shields, wore her shoulder-length brunette tresses down on the drizzly evening.

Nicky gave the Skinnygirl stunner a run for her money fashion-wise on the damp night, wearing a black pea coat with dark blue jeans, grey boots and a designer purse. The elegant designer, and sister of Paris Hilton, wore her blonde locks up in a ponytail while using a large black umbrella to shield herself from the rainfall.

The wealthy beauty continues to look amazing less than a year after giving birth to daughter Lily Grace Victoria Rothschild, her first child with her aristocrat husband James Rothschild. (Bethenny was at her lavish baby shower held at the famed Waldorf Astoria last June.)

Elegance: The well-heeled beauty looked to be wrapping up a phone call upon her meeting with the Real Housewives stunner

Moving forward: Nicky has had a whirlwind few years with a storybook wedding and a new baby

Luxe life: Bethenny posted to social media this shot with her longtime bestie Kyle Richards and Nicky

The Bravo beauty has longtime ties to the Hilton family, as she told E! in 2015 that she was a nanny for Paris and Nicky years ago, getting the gig through her longtime friend and Hilton relative, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards.

'I've known Kyle for years,' she said. 'I used to work for Kathy Hilton and take Paris and Nicky to school and so I knew them through Kyle, who's a friend of mine and she was coming into town so I got together with her in the Hamptons.'
She's the Pretty Little Liars star known for speaking her mind.

And in an exclusive interview with women's lifestyle website The Grace Tales, Tammin Sursok has opened up about 'tumultuous experiences' at school and during her career.

'My whole life has been one big rejection,' the 33-year-old revealed, adding that 'persistence, resilience and fortitude' are the traits she will pass on to daughter Phoenix McEwen, three.

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'My whole life has been one big rejection': Tammin Sursok, 33, opened up to The Grace Tales about her past 'tumultuous experiences' and how she plans on helping daughter Phoenix McEwen, three, deal with bullies

'Even though on the outside our lives might look easy, I've definitely been through a lot of tumultuous experiences from school and during my career,' Tammin began.

'My whole life [especially my career] has been one big rejection, so I've had to really learn persistence and resilience and fortitude.

'Phoenix [whom the star shares with film producer husband Sean McEwen] is already exhibiting these traits and I think if she just watches how we navigate our lives she will be stronger because of it,' the Pretty Little Liars actress continued.

Precious: Tammin's candid comments were accompanied by a stunning pictorial by Jenna Potter, for The Grace Tales

Tammin's candid comments were accompanied by a stunning pictorial by Jenna Potter, for The Grace Tales.

One particular image saw the beauty sporting a patterned semi-sheer black frock, covering her slimline figure.

Allowing her long brunette locks to fall in relaxed waves behind her shoulders, Tammin offered the camera a look at her stunning side profile, as she planted a kiss on her precious daughter's face.

Phoenix looked cute-as-a-button in a pink pinafore dress with ruffles and had her curly blonde locks swept up off her face.

Picture-perfect: Another image saw the mother-and-daughter duo beaming as they stood in front of a white wooden door

While another image saw the mother-and-daughter duo beaming as they stood in front of a white wooden door.

The former Young and the Restless star made a bold statement in a red frock, with the hemline finishing just at the knee.

Cradling Phoenix on her right hip, the precious tot wore a soft pink frilly top, floral shorts, and had a pretty bow in her hair.

Tammin gazed affectionately at her daughter as the sweet moment was captured.

'In all your quarter pounder glory': Tammin revealed her 'painful' upbringing as an overweight teenager in a lengthy open letter to her 13-year-old self on News.com.au, in December last year

The brunette's comments about bullying come just over a month after Tammin published a letter to her 13-year-old self on News.com.au, in which she describes her past experiences of bullying.

The mother-of-one published her heartbreaking letter - which began with a sad tale of unrequited young love.

She warned her younger self that her teenage crush will embarrass her, laugh at her and call her 'fat' before walking away.

Tammin wrote: 'And you will feel like the lights just blasted and you are standing on a stage, naked, in all your quarter pounder glory.'

Humiliated: The letter described Tammin's most embarrassing moments, including being rejected by a high school crush who called her 'fat,' and being relentlessly bullied

She later detailed a high school bully who made it her mission to make Tammin feel insecure, and deliberately stole her 'first real love' to mock her further.

The former Home And Away favourite also recalled a swimming carnival, where she struggled to fit into her swimsuit and wished she didn't have to swim.

'All you hear is the muffled chuckles and with all eyes on you. You have become the punchline, once again,' she wrote.

'You have become the punchline, once again': The Australian actress recalled a swimming carnival, where she struggled to fit into her swimsuit and wished she didn't have to swim

Body confident: Tammin is now comfortable in her own skin and lives a blessed life with husband Sean McEwen and their daughter Phoenix, in Los Angeles

However, the lengthy essay did end with a positive message.

Tammin said her body would change, as well as her overall life outlook.

'A fire will spark in you...You will hear a voice, buried in other peoples opinions and words bathed in hate, that will rise like a Phoenix,' she wrote.

The star revealed she named her first child Phoenix to remind herself of her journey and to encourage the same attitude for her daughter.

Tammin shares her daughter Phoenix, three, with husband, Sean McEwen.

She married the film producer in 2011.
Life's always alright if you're Matthew McConaughey.

On Tuesday, the star looked cool as a cucumber as he arrived at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood.

The Texas-born actor wore a shaggy beard and dark shades before filming his appearance for Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Out on the town: Matthew McConaughey was spotted in Hollywood Tuesday, arriving at the El Capitan Theater before his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Low-key looker: The handsome actor wore dark shades and a shaggy beard before his late night appearance

The 47-year-old talent was flanked by help as he arrived at the Hollywood theater during the middle of the day.

Wearing sunglasses and a shaggy beard, the True Detective actor looked like he had little worry on his mind as he made his way forward.

He hit the pavement in a pair of low-key brown work boots that perfectly complimented the star's understated look.

Team Matthew: The 47-year-old star seemed to be in good spirits as he made his way to the theater with the help of several guards and aides

The Dallas Buyer's Club star looked laid back in a pair of comfortable jeans which he paired with a darker denim button up.

He covered up from the winter wind in a hearty green coat equipped with large pockets on its front.

The smiling star carried his phone in one hand while wrapping up his headphone as his assistants lead him to his destination.

Mean jeans: The Dallas Buyer's club lead looked cool in relaxed denim and a dark jean shirt

Matthew is out and about to plug his latest film, Gold.

The movie follows prospector Kenny Wells as he teams up with a geologist to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia.

The adventure drama stars McConaughey alongside actors Bryce Dallas Howard and Edgar Ramirez. Gold arrives in US theaters January 27 2017.
They have had something of a combustive relationship over the years.

And Emma Roberts wore an intense look on her face as she chatted with her rumoured fiance Evan Peters after a romantic lunch in Beverly Hills on Tuesday.

The Scream Queens beauty did not look like a lady to be trifled with as they exchanged words in the well-heeled area of Los Angeles County.

A feast for the eyes: But Emma Roberts looked keen to move on after a romantic lunch with Evan Peters in Beverly Hills on Tuesday

Emma, 25, looked as fantastic as ever in a brown leather jacket, black pullover and True Religion jeans. The fine filly was also once again wearing a ring on her engagement finger.

She was spotted wearing the bauble before, but stopped after it was revealed they had supposedly decided to tie the knot, suggesting she was reluctant to go public.

No doubt Evan, 30, was being careful with his words as he chatted with the spirited niece of Pretty Woman Emma Roberts, as she did not look in the jolliest of moods.

If the pair are going to get married it will be quite a turnaround in their relationship.

For back in 2013 Emma was memorably arrested for alleged domestic abuse in Canada after officers responded to a report of a fight in a hotel room.

Bling it on: The spirited actress, who wore a ring on her engagement finger, did not look in a mood to be trifled with as she chatted with her rumoured fiance

Hell bent for leather: The small screen beauty looked in fine form in a chic cowskin jacket

She was taken into custody after they allegedly found X-Men: Apocalypse star Evan with a bloody nose and a bite mark.

He declined to press charges and charges and she was released several hours later, with the couple saying in a joint statement that it was 'an unfortunate incident and misunderstanding.'

The dynamic duo are taking their third stab at a relationship after their second split in May last year.

Reports the pair had re-rekindled their stop-start romance resurfaced once again in September.

And since then they had been spotted indulging in public displays of affection on several occasions.

Serial flasher: She was also wearing her bauble when she stepped out last week

Lovely pair: She has been dating the X-Men: Apocalypse star on and off since 2012
Emmy Rossum got in touch with her wild side on Saturday by hiking the Switzer Falls Trail with two wolf dogs.

The 30-year-old Golden Globe nominee - who boasts 3.4M followers - wrote: 'This is lycan, he is a 9 month old high content 98% wolf and we went to see a waterfall together today!'

The Shameless actress and her furry friends enjoyed the spoils of nature in California's San Gabriel Mountains.

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'My face': Emmy Rossum got in touch with her wild side on Saturday by hiking the Switzer Falls Trail with two wolf dogs

The 30-year-old Golden Globe nominee - who boasts 3.4M followers - wrote: 'This is lycan, he is a 9 month old high content 98% wolf and we went to see a waterfall together today!'

'Hiking with wolves': The Shameless actress and her furry friends enjoyed the spoils of nature in California's San Gabriel Mountains

Rossum's woodsy excursion came three weeks after her 11-day holiday to New Zealand with her fiance of 17 months, Sam Esmail.

The native New Yorker originally met the 39-year-old Mr. Robot creator in 2013 when he directed her on the LA set of his romantic comedy Comet.

And Emmy - born Emmanuelle - was last seen looking relaxed while carrying a Starbucks to-go cup in Beverly Hills on Monday.

'Best trip of my life!' Rossum's woodsy excursion came three weeks after her 11-day holiday to New Zealand with her fiance of 17 months, Sam Esmail

'Top of the world!' The native New Yorker originally met the 39-year-old Mr. Robot creator in 2013 when he directed her on the LA set of his romantic comedy Comet

Caffeine fix: And Emmy - born Emmanuelle - was last seen looking relaxed while carrying a Starbucks to-go cup in Beverly Hills on Monday

The brunette beauty is relieved to settle her contract salary dispute with Showtime producers, who were paying her onscreen father William H. Macy more money.

'To be clear, parity was justified in this case,' Showtime CEO David Nevins said at the January 9 TCA - according to Deadline.

'We were advocating for that from the beginning. It is great for her and great for us. Emmy has been a force on that show. Not just in front, but behind the cameras. She'll continue to direct.'

'Back to work in May!' The brunette beauty is relieved to settle her contract salary dispute with Showtime producers, who were paying her onscreen father William H. Macy more money

Showtime CEO David Nevins (L) said at the January 9 TCA: 'It is great for her and great for us. Emmy has been a force on that show. Not just in front, but behind the cameras'

'She'll continue to direct': Rossum - who plays Fiona Gallagher - clearly had more leverage after making her directorial debut on the October 23 episode titled 'I Am A Storm'

Rossum - who plays Fiona Gallagher - clearly had more leverage after making her directorial debut on the October 23 episode titled 'I Am A Storm.'

Meanwhile, 66-year-old William - who plays Frank Gallagher - scored a SAG Award nomination for outstanding actor in a comedy series.

The Oscar nominee faces heavy competition at this Sunday's TNT/TBS telecast against Jeffrey Tambor, Ty Burrell, Anthony Anderson, and Tituss Burgess.

Eighth season ahead! Meanwhile, 66-year-old William - who plays Frank Gallagher - scored a SAG Award nomination for outstanding actor in a comedy series
Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week has attracted some of the most glamorous stars in the world.

So it's only right that the ever-youthful Monica Bellucci, 52, made an appearance at the Alexandre Vauthier show at the French capital's iconic Grand Palais on Tuesday.

The former Bond girl exuded class in an all-black ensemble as she showed off her age-defying looks while posing up a storm for the cameras.

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What's her secret? Monica Bellucci, 52, showed off her age-defying looks as she attended Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week at the French capital's iconic Grand Palais on Tuesday

The Italian model-turned-actress resembled a woman half her age as she stepped out in a figure-hugging black jumpsuit.

Featuring a waist-cinching belt, the ensemble perfectly accentuated Monica's hourglass figure.

Keeping the chilly winter chill at bay, the brunette beauty added a military style coat which she gently draped across her shoulders.

In true fashion show style, the Spectre star completed her outfit with a pair of killer heels - opting for chic Christian Louboutin ankle boots.

Forever young: The former Bond girl exuded class in an all-black ensemble as she showed off her youthful looks while posing up a storm for the cameras

Monica's chestnut tresses were parted down the centre in an elegant loosely tousled manner.

Pale rose lipstick and strategic eye make-up ensured the star's visage appeared flawless for her arrival at the star-studded fashion show.

The Italian beauty became the oldest actress in history to star as a Bond girl in the 007 franchise as she starred alongside Daniel Craig in Spectre in 2015.

Monica recently starred in the Emir Kusturica directed movie On the Milky Way, which is, 'a story that stretches across war, blossoming love and living as a recluse'.

Dressed to impress: Keeping the chilly winter chill at bay, the brunette beauty added a military style coat which she gently draped across her shoulders

The actress told the Daily Telegraph newspaper that she doesn't make too much effort to stay young, eschewing the gym and enjoying treating herself to cakes, pasta, wine and cigarettes.

Monica explained: 'Im not someone who wakes up at 6am to go to the gym.

'The truth is that I like cakes and pasta, the odd glass of wine and a very occasional cigarette.

'My advice is: eat well, drink well, have good sex  and laugh a lot. The rest comes all on its own.'
She's the beauty melting hearts already.

NRL player Thomas Burgess couldn't help but gush over his new niece, Poppy Alice Burgess who was born on Tuesday.

The proud new uncle shared a photo to Instagram on Wednesday as he cradled the newborn in his muscular arms, captioning the shot: 'A miracle, what a beauty!'

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'A miracle, what a beauty!' Thomas Burgess couldn't help but gush over his new niece, Poppy Alice Burgess who was born on Tuesday

Proud uncle and brother: The 24-year-old also paid tribute to his older brother and sister-in-law following the birth of their first child

The 24-year-old, who was dressed casually in a T-Shirt and shorts for the hospital visit, then paid tribute to his older brother and sister-in-law following the birth of their first child.

'@mrsphoebeburgess and @samburgess8 can't wait to see you be the best Mummy and Daddy for little Poppy,' Thomas wrote.

Fellow NRL star Sam and his journalist wife Phoebe welcomed their beautiful baby girl into the world on Tuesday, announcing the news via Instagram on Wednesday.

The couple revealed they have named their bundle of joy, Poppy Alice Burgess.

Sam shared a picture perfect snap of the new parents cuddling their tiny newborn looking euphoric.

'My everything': Sam and Phoebe Burgess welcomed their beautiful baby daughter into the world on Tuesday but announced the news on Wednesday

Sam captioned the image: 'My two girls doing extremely well. My everything.'

Fans were quick to point out how great new mother Phoebe looked post-birth.

'How does she look amazing after giving birth wth,' wrote one.

Just last week the couple were eagerly awaiting the arrival of her first child, with Phoebe quick to laugh at her extra large baby bump.

Anticipation: Just last week the couple were eagerly awaiting the birth of her first child, with Phoebe quick to laugh at her extra large baby bump

The blonde beauty shared an image to her Instagram Story, showing her belly bulging out from her open shirt, joking she was '1000 weeks' pregnant.

Phoebe recently revealed she would be having a large baby and blamed her 6ft 4in tall British footy player husband Sam for his massive genetics.

She complained to her Instagram followers of, 'chronic back pain, suffering pubic symphysis (pain)' and revealed that she was carrying a '95th centile Bub'.

The co-founder of Love Your Form added the quip, 'looking at you @samburgess8' tagging her big beau.

A 95th percentile baby means the small TV host's daughter is about as large as a baby can get.

Glowing: Phoebe looked simply stunning throughout her pregnancy

Only 5 percent of babies are bigger than their daughter.

Phoebe hasn't been shy about documenting her pregnancy, recently sharing another humorous snap to her Instagram Story.

She revealed her growing baby bump meant she can no longer see her feet when looking down.

Dad's fault: Phoebe recently revealed that she was having a large baby and blamed 6ft 4in tall British footy player husband Sam Burgess for his massive genetics

'Toes? What Toes?' Phoebe wasn't shy about sharing details of her pregnancy, recently posting another humorous snap to her Instagram Story
Tara Reid paid an emotional tribute to her beloved dad when she told fans on social media that he had passed away last month.

On Tuesday, the actress stepped out in public for the first time since the devastating news.

The American Pie star, 41, looked downcast as she headed out in Los Angeles, wearing a casual outfit of jeans and a fur jacket.

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Grieving: Tara Reid stepped out in public for the first time since the devastating news that her father had passed away last month

Taking her mind off her loss with a shopping trip, Tara added a pair of comfortable boots to her ensemble as she picked up some goods.

It comes weeks after she shared the news of her dad passing aged 75 with a poignant Instagram post.

Alongside a snap of her and her father, she said: 'Today, I've received terrible news that my father, Thomas Reid, has passed away,' she wrote. 'He was a man full of life, love, wisdom, and strength.

Pensive: The American Pie star, 41, looked downcast as she headed out in Los Angeles, wearing a casual outfit of jeans and a fur jacket

Personal tribute: It comes weeks after she shared the news of her dad Thomas passing aged 75 with a poignant Instagram post

'He was not only fun and in good spirits, but he was also one of the best story tellers I've ever heard.

She added: 'My dad was so supportive, kind, strong, and my hero. He was my heart, my soul, and my entire world. I love you and will miss you so much daddy! #RIPDaddyReid.'

Thomas had six children - Kathy, James, Tommy, Tara, and twins Colleen and Patrick - and eight grandchildren.

He and his wife Donna brought up their family in New Jersey where Tara was talent-spotted at an early age.

So sad: Tara tweeted about her father's death in December

Happy to be home! The news came after Tara posted several Instagrams from her family home over Christmas

The 41-year-old actress had spent Christmas with Thomas and Donna who worked as teachers and day car centre owners.

She had posted several shots of herself on Instagram sporting festive attire and posing with her dog.

'At home at my parents for Christmas and I just saw my doggie again. I love my dog!' she wrote on Christmas Eve, adding on Twitter: 'Just got to my parents house for Christmas! Just reunited with the love of my life! My dog Pasha!'
On August 21, 2013, Syrian government forces fired rockets containing the chemical weapon, Sarin at two rebel-controlled areas of Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, killing hundreds of people and injuring thousands more.

Amid the global outrage that followed, and despite vehement denials of responsibility for the attack, the Syrian regime accepted the Kerry-Lavrov Framework, joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, and relinquished its declared stockpiles of chemical weapons.

Nobody was held accountable for the deaths and terrible injuries of thousands of Syrians in Ghouta. Nor have any persons been held accountable for the chemical weapons attacks that have continued since the Ghouta incidents.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons - United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism, had been established by the UN Security Council to investigate incidents of already-confirmed chemical weapon attacks in Syria, and mandated to make attributions for a number of confirmed or likely chemical weapons attacks. In August and October of last year, it issued reports determining that the Syrian regime, specifically the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, used chemicals as weapons again the Syrian people in three separate incidents in 2014 and 2015.

For this reason, the United States government has imposed new sanctions on Syria. On January 12, the U.S. Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Asset control designated 18 senior officials connected to Syrias weapons of mass destruction program. The U.S. Department of State also designated the Organization for Technological Industries, or OTI, under Executive Order 13382, a sanctions authority from 2005 aimed at freezing the assets of

OTI, which belongs to the Syrian Ministry of Defense, is involved in furthering Syrias WMD-capable ballistic missile program and has been producing components for missiles built by the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, the key entity responsible for Syrias WMD and missile program that was previously designated in 2004.

As a result of this action, all assets of these individuals and companies that are under the jurisdiction of the United States are frozen, and U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

The Syrian regimes use of chemical weapons against its own people is a heinous act that violates the longstanding global norm against the production and use of chemical weapons, said Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Adam Szubin. Todays action is a critical part of the international communitys effort to hold the Syrian regime accountable for violating the Chemical Weapons Convention and UN Security Council Resolution 2118.
Her social media platforms have been littered with scantily-clad snapshots of her sun-soaked break in Mexico.

But Georgia Kousoulou swapped barely-there bikinis for a flesh-coloured underwear snap as she treated her Instagram followers to an insight into her holiday in Riviera Maya on Tuesday.

Clearly enjoying her winter getaway with boyfriend Tommy Mallet, the TOWIE star, 25, posed seductively in nothing but matching nude underwear.

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All eyes on her: Georgia Kousoulou treated her Instagram followers to yet another scantily-clad snap as she continued to holiday in Riviera Maya, Mexico, on Tuesday

Posing in front of a full length mirror, the blonde beauty gave an eyeful of her killer curves as the skintight co-ords clung to her voluptuous frame.

The sporty bralet pulled focus to Georgia's plentiful cleavage, while the matching briefs cut high up at her hips to display her incredibly tanned and toned pins.

Georgia left her long golden tresses in a simple back-swept fashion as she let her shapely figure do all the talking.

The reality star cheekily poked fun at her own snap, captioning the shot: 'If you have cute underwear on .. stand on a chair and get a full length selfie'.

Baywatch babe: The TOWIE star, 25, posed in a sexy scarlet swimsuit as she treated her adoring fans to yet more shots of her sun-soaked break on Saturday

Georgia continued to leave her social media followers green with envy thanks to her continuous posts of sunny snaps during her glamorous getaway to Mexico.

The reality TV personality looked every inch the Baywatch babe as she flaunted her gym-honed figure while posing up a storm on the balcony of her hotel room on Saturday.

The skintight ensemble cut high up Georgia's waist to display an eyeful of her incredibly tanned and toned pins, while she seductively stared into the horizon.

Clearly enjoying her break from reality, the blonde beauty captioned the shot: 'I think I was born to live in the sun & be a life guard.'

In another snapshot of her luxurious holiday, Georgia relaxed on a sun lounger while she was 'acting cute while I sip on pineapple juice'.

'I'll be in the VIP eating pizza': In another snapshot of her luxurious holiday, the reality star relaxed on a sun lounger while she sipped on a refreshing pineapple juice

Loved up: The Essex-native showed off her natural beauty in another snap, opting to shun all traces of make-up as she posed in the arms of her hunky beau, Tommy Mallet, 24

The Essex native showed off her natural beauty in another snap, opting to shun all traces of make-up as she posed in the arms of her hunky beau.

She simply captioned the shot: 'Wet hair. No makeup. Just Holiday vibes'.

Last week, Georgia couldn't help but flaunt her gym-honed physique once again as she enjoyed some R&R with her partner, while sharing a series of sunny and idyllic photos with her 970,000 followers.

Posing up a storm for one picture on her own, the reality star took the chance to showcase her enviable figure in a tiny black bikini.

Bikini babe: Last week, Georgia couldn't resist showing off her enviable bikini body as she posed for a snap in her hotel room

Fun in the sun! Sharing some sunny snaps from their break in Riviera Maya on Instagram, Georgia couldn't resist showcasing her enviable bikini body in a range of outfits

Opting for a plunging, strappy two-piece, Georgia showed a serious amount of skin whilst also flaunting her toned abs and lithe legs.

Sweeping her long blonde hair off of her face, the clothing designer and reality star looked to be channelling a beachy look.

But while pictures from both Georgia and Tommy's feeds on Instagram show them enjoying the sun, sea and sand in Mexico, the couple have also been keen to keep themselves fit.

The keen fitness followers have shared a series of workout snaps during their time at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya.

Flaunting that figure: Sharing a series of sunny and idyllic photos with her 970,000 followers, Georgia couldn't help but flaunt her physique as she enjoyed some R&R with her beau

Fighting fit: While pictures from Georgia and Tommy's feeds show them enjoying the sun, sea and sand in Mexico, the couple have also been keen to keep themselves fit

While Georgia has been shared a number of snaps of her taking in some exercise around the picturesque location ,Tommy, 24, has been more quiet on the gym front.

After suffering from piriformis syndrome [a condition which affect the piriformis muscle in the buttock] over December, the Essex boy revealed he'd piled on weight.

'Put so much weight on over December from having piriformis syndrome,' wrote Tommy next to one sullen picture in which he highlighted his struggle to get back in shape.

In pain: After suffering from piriformis syndrome [a condition which affect the piriformis muscle in the buttock] in December, the Essex boy revealed he'd piled on weight

Battling back: He wrote: 'Been stuck in a back brace... But lost a stone in 7 days... I ain't a ripped geezer but considering I've struggled to walk I think I've done ok!'

'Been stuck in a back brace... But lost a stone in 7 days... I ain't a ripped geezer but considering I've struggled to walk I think I've done ok!! Thanks @georgiakousoulou for pushing me.'

In another shirtless picture, the shoe designer made fun of his belly and arms, though it didn't stop him casting a smouldering look at the camera.

However, despite Tommy's back problems, the couple looked to be having plenty of fun in the sun.

Cute couple: DespiteTommy's ongoing back problems, the couple looked to be having plenty of fun in the sun

'We cute': Georgia in particular has been keen to share a number of loved-up selfies, with the blonde Essex girl cosying up to her boyfriend
She is the blonde millionairess who has never really had a taste for The Simple Life.

So Paris Hilton baffled onlookers in London on Tuesday when she stepped out clutching a mystery box to her chest.

The blonde hotel heiress, 36, had ditched her usual OTT glamour in favour of a chic all-black ensemble, consisting of black leather pants, a fur-timmed hooded jacket and a black trilby.

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Hidden treasure: Paris Hilton baffled onlookers in London on Tuesday when she stepped out clutching a mystery box to her chest

Rather than have her staff carry her haul, the pampered star did her own dirty work - carrying the heavy-looking wooden chest into the Mayfair hotel.

She star has been soaking up the sights and sounds of the UK capital over the past few days.

On an evening out earlier this week, Paris exhibited her lithe limbs in a pair of daring skintight leather trouser which accentuated her perky rear on Monday night.

Parading her shapely pins, she teamed her moto inspired look with an asset amplifying jersey vest top that teased at her black brassiere.

Undercover: The blonde hotel heiress, 36, had ditched her usual OTT glamour in favour of a chic all-black ensemble, consisting of black leather pants, a fur-timmed hooded jacket and a black trilby as she carried the bizarre haul

Edgy: During her London stint, the star has given an edgy twist t her usually sophisticated style as she channelled biker chic for a night out this week

The scooped neck tee showcased her ample cleavage as she exited her residence for the evening in her sky-high ankle boots with buckle detailing from Christian Louboutin.

Completing her leather themed attire, she added a splash of vibrancy to her look with a black and red jacket that boasted quilted detail along the sleeves as she held her phone to her ear.

Paris accessorised her look with a studded long-chained handbag that featured pom pom detail while she wrapped a nineties inspired choker arounf her neck before flashing her jaw-dropping diamond earrings.

Cheeky: The 36-year-old former Simple Life star exhibited her lithe limbs in a pair of daring skintight leather trouser which accentuated her perky rear

Walk this way: The scooped neck tee showcased her ample cleavage as she exited her residence for the evening in her sky-high ankle boots with buckle detailing from Christian Louboutin

Vibrant: Completing her leather themed attire, she added a splash of vibrancy to her look with a black and red jacket that boasted quilted detail along the sleeves as she held her phone to her ear

No shade: Despite it being night time in the city, Paris still opted to sport a pair of Jackie-O inspired sunnies in anticipation of flashing lightbulbs as she worked her locks into a stylish half-up 'do

Despite it being night time in the city, Paris still opted to sport a pair of Jackie-O inspired sunnies in anticipation of flashing lightbulbs as she worked her locks into a stylish half-up 'do.

Paris has been making the most of a prolonged stay in London, during which she made a welcome appearance at billionaire businessman James Stunt's 35th birthday on Friday evening.

Her appearance comes after she had flown straight in from Milan, where just hours earlier she had been enjoying Men's Fashion Week.

Fancy free: Paris has been making the most of a prolonged stay in London, during which she made a welcome appearance at billionaire businessman James Stunt's 35th birthday on Friday evening

Joined by former The Simple Life co-star Nicole Richie's younger sister Sofia Richie, Paris shared a fun snap from party venue Tramp.

'Reunited in London with my sis @SofiaRichie. #SistersTakingOverLondon,' Paris captioned the photo-booth image as they pulled faces.

The 18-year-old daughter of Motown legend Lionel Richie reposted the same image, calling it a 'girl's night in London.'

The socialite, who starred in hit reality show The Simple Life with Nicole Richie from 2003 to 2007, has turned her hand to DJing in recent years.

Pals: Paris was joined by former The Simple Life co-star Nicole Richie's younger sister Sofia at Tramp Nightclub, where they helped James Stunt celebrate his 35th birthday on Friday

What a diamond: Paris flashed her jaw-dropping diamond earrings as she stepped out for the evening

All in the details: She accessorised her look with a studded long-chained handbag that featured pom pom detail

Meanwhile, On January 5, the hotel heiress-turned-DJ filmed a segment of Bert Marcus' EDM documentary What We Started, which hits US theaters in July.

'I've learned so much more now. I've been DJing for six years. I produce my own music and I remix live. It's all me,' Paris told the Daily Star last August.

'Top name DJs that I really respect [were] like: "Oh my god Paris Hilton DJing, she can't do that." Well now those haters come to my nights and they get in the booth with me and are blown away.'
Sydney producer and DJ Flume is set to take out Triple Js hottest 100 on Australia Day if bookmakers sportsbet.com.au are to be trusted.

The 25-year-old artist, who's real name is Harley Edward Streten, holds 27 per cent of total money placed to win the Hottest 100 for his track Never Be Like You.

The track is now the $1.70 odds on favourite to take out the top spot, with the nearest competitor being Amy Sharks Adore, which is at $2.40.

Winner? Sydney producer and DJ Flume is set to take out Triple Js hottest 100 on Australia Day if bookmakers sportsbet.com.au are to be trusted

But the young Gold Coast songwriter's song has taken half the amount staked on Flume's Never Be Like You.

While the electronic 'trip hop' producer seems a safe bet to take out the annual Australia Day countdown, there are other horses in the race.

American rapper and actor Childish Gambino was noted as having an 'outside chance' by the Sydney Morning Herald with his track Redbone.

The paper noted that voting can be 'unpredictable' with surprise wins not unusual.

Any chance? Flume's track is now the $1.70 favourite with the next nearest competitor, Amy Sharks Adore, is at $2.40

Also in the running: American rapper and actor Childish Gambino was noted as having an 'outside chance' by the Sydney Morning Herald with his track Redbone

Last year, bookmakers were left scratching their heads when The Rubens trumped Kendrick Lamar and Major Lazer to take out the competition with their track Hoops.

There's a few Aussies in the mix this year, with self-taught, independent Melbourne artist Tash Sultana also coming up on bookmakers radars.

Her track Jungle is priced at odds of $11, which makes it a distant chance for the top spot but should see her place in the countdown.

In the mix: There's a few Aussies in the mix this year, with self-taught, independent Melbourne artist Tash Sultana also coming up on bookmakers radars

In with a chance? Melbourne based indie favourites Temper Trap are also distant favourites, and are priced at odds of $11

Melbourne based indie favourites Temper Trap are also distant favourites, and also are priced at odds of $11.

Listening to the Triple J Hottest 100 countdown has become part of the Australia Day tradition.

The broadcast kicks off at 12pm in NSW, Tasmania, the ACT and Victoria, at 11pm in Queensland, 9am in Western Australia, 11.30am in South Australia and 10.30am in the Northern Territory.
She's one of the hottest models in Australia right now.

But Jesinta Campbell, 25, has revealed that being in the spotlight has attracted its fair share of negativity, confessing she doesn't 'read much about myself', to protect her mental health.

The model, who secretly married Lance 'Buddy' Franklin last November, made the surprising revelation during an interview with Kate Waterhouse in her Date With Kate column for The Sydney Morning Herald.

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'I don't read much about myself': Jesinta Campbell reveals she steers clear of media to keep the negativity away and protects her private life on social media

The leggy brunette explained that she protects her well-being by surrounding herself with people who she can trust and keep her grounded.

Jesinta valued their opinion and advice over outside speculation, she said.

'I don't read much about myself because it can have an effect on my well-being,' the David Jones ambassador admitted.

A prolific user of social media, Jesinta said she limits what she shares with her 389,000 Instagram followers, being careful not to cross the line into private areas of her life.

Precautions: The leggy brunette explained that she protects her well-being by surrounding herself with people who she can trust and keep her grounded

'I don't really post a lot of personal things, what I am comfortable with I will put up but the rest I like to keep to myself,' she said.

'I post work, my workouts, my beauty regimes and what I do to keep fit and healthy.'

Jesinta has previously been frank about her battle with mental health and the steps she takes to have a healthy outlook.

The model revealed to OK! Magazine last year that she sought medical help for dealing with her worries and stress.

'I post work, my workouts, my beauty regimes and what I do to keep fit and healthy': Jesinta picks selectively what she shares on Instagram

I am not ashamed to say that I see a professional regularly myself,' Jesinta told the publication.

'I dont have any fear of talking about it and being open about my mental health or helping those around me feel more comfortable talking about it.'

Jesinta's husband Buddy has also previously taken time out from his stellar AFL career to seek treatment for depression in 2015.
She was left fuming after her love interest Ross Worswick licked vodka off rival Nicole Bass' lips on Tuesday's episode of Ex On The Beach.

But Harriette Harper put the love triangle drama to one side as she made an eye-poppingly sexy arrival at Tenerife Sur Airport in Spain on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old glamour model flaunted her busty cleavage in a daringly low-cut bodysuit, which she teamed with a cool pair of skinny Adidas joggers.

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Sexy arrival: Harriette Harper put her Ex On The Beach love triangle drama to one side as she flaunted her busty cleavage in a daringly low-cut bodysuit as landed at Tenerife Sur Airport in Spain on Tuesday

Completing the sports-chic inspired look, the MTV star tied a casual grey jumper around her trim midriff.

A chic gold necklace dangled down her flawless decolletage, complementing her long blonde tresses.

Making sure all eyes were on her, Harriette strutted forth in a pair of racy open-toe lace-up heels as she carted along her suitcase.

Topping off the sexy look, the bold star shielded her pretty features with a pair of black shades, while a matching handbag was draped on her left arm.

All eyes on her: The glamour model, 25, completed the sexy sports-chic inspired look with a cool pair of skinny Adidas joggers and towering lace-up ankle boots

Not happy about it: Harriette was left fuming after her love interest Ross Worswick licked vodka off rival Nicole Bass' lips on Tuesday's episode of Ex On The Beach

Harriette's attention-grabbing look came after the object of her affection, Ross Worswick, got hot and heavy with Nicole Bass on the latest dramatic episode of EOTB.

The TOWIE beauty, 25, enjoyed a date with the 27-year-old hunk on the new episode, which saw him licking vodka off the reality star's lips in a seriously saucy move.

Nicole had set her sights on Ex On The Beach original Ross from the very start of the episode - admitting she found him 'well fit' after discovering her ex Josh had been getting with someone else in the house.

Turning the tables on her love rat ex, Nicole and Ross were then sent on a date - where the pair enjoyed a smooch when she raunchily asked him to lick vodka off her lips to see if he 'likes what he tastes'.

However, the racy moment followed Ross professing his full commitment to Harriette - after developing feelings for her during their date last week - thus leaving her in a fiery rage.

Not impressed: The racy moment followed Ross professing his full commitment to Harriette - after developing feelings for her during their date last week - thus leaving her in a fiery rage

He's mine: Nicole had set her sights on Ex On The Beach original Ross from the very start of the episode - admitting she found him 'well fit'

Only making matters worse, Harriette also realised that Nicole was also an ex of a guy she had previously dated, and began to panic that the former TOWIE star was plotting to steal Ross from her as payback.

Upon their return to the house, things erupted into high drama in the usual style of the much-loved series.

Things quickly become heated between the two girls when Nicole accused Harriette of being cold towards her because of the kiss.

Later turning to Ross for an explanation, the ripped hunk insisted he was only messing around with Nicole - but Harriette stormed off in anger, admitting she had had 'enough of his games' after just one week in the villa.

Elsewhere in the episode, two new exes arrived on the holiday hotspot to cause even more chaos among the housemates.

Hotting up: Nicole and Ross (above) were sent on a date - where the pair enjoyed a smooch when she raunchily asked him to lick vodka off her lips to see if he 'likes what he tastes'

New boy in town: Two new exes arrived on the holiday hotspot to cause even more chaos among the housemates, including Jack (above), who has dated both new enemies Nicole and Harriette in the past

Differences: Alice also emerged from the sea to surprise fitness guru ex Jack - who was desperate for another chance with her during the episode

First up was Jack, who no doubt added fuel to the fire as an ex of new enemies Harriette and Nicole - before fitness guru Alex's ex Alice, who was desperate for another chance with her, arrived soon afterwards.

However Alice admitted to Josh that she had no interest in reuniting with her ex as he had been 'unfaithful numerous times' during their three year relationship.

Wanting the dancer to himself however, Josh stirred the pot by getting Alice to admit to her ex her desires to move on - which caused Alex to turn on his housemate.

Embarking on a huge row, Alex ended up fiercely throwing a table at lothario Josh in his rage, and to the shock of viewers and other housemates.

As if that was not enough for fans, the explosive episode also saw things turn from bad to worse between former lovers Zahida Allen and Joe McLean.

Devastated: Becoming jealous over Alice's blossoming bond with Josh, Alex (above) ended up fiercely throwing a table at lothario Josh in rage

Heartbroken: Meanwhile Zahida was left in tears when her ex Joe, who she admitted she still loved, left the house after confessing he couldn't be around her

After enjoying an idyllic horse ride with Sean Pratt, who she ends up in a relationship with when the show ends, the Geordie Shore star admitted that she is still in love with Joe away from her new beau.

However it appeared the pair were not on the same page with their feelings - as Joe went on to brand Zahida 'poison' later on, causing the other girls to turn on him as the leaped to the beauty's defence.

Embarking on a more emotional chat however, Joe then revealed to Zahida that he needed to leave the villa amid fears he looks 'like an absolute nutcase because of the raw passion she brought out in him'.

The chat ended with the realisation that while they both loved each other, their relationship would never work - causing Zahida to break down into tears as Joe left.

Ex On The Beach airs on Tuesday at 10PM, only on MTV

Bring on the drama: Ex on the Beach airs on Tuesday at 10PM, only on MTV




She's the Home and Away actress who recently revealed she won't be trading in Summer Bay for Hollywood like other soap stars.

And on Tuesday, Penny McNamee showed why when she attended the Sydney MKR launch with one of her co-stars, TV favourite Ray Meagher.

The two actors appeared close friends as they posed for photos and hung out at the event.

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'Who the flamin heck's this sheila?' Home and Away's Penny McNamee attended the MKR season launch in Sydney on Wednesday along with 'hot date' Ray Meagher

In one cute snap shared to Penny's Instagram, the bubbly actress and Ray pose for photos in front of a lit MKR sign.

The 33-year-old cuts a chic figure in a pencil skirt and blush pink blazer, paired with brown ankle boots.

The soap star wore her honey locks in loose waves over her shoulders, while her male companion looked dashing in a smart blue shirt and pants.

Fun times: The married mother-of-one shared another picture with her co-star as they waited for dinner

Penny cheekily captioned the photo with a series of hashtags, telling fans: 'told ya', 'hot date', 'mkr'

The married mother-of-one shared another picture of the co-stars together as they waited for dinner.

Throwing her arm around Ray, Penny looks admiringly at the actor as he makes an annoyed face, typical of his Home and Away character Alf Stewart.

Not moving away: Penny revealed recently that she has no plans to head to Hollywood

She captioned the photo: 'Me: "Ray, good news, you're my date for the MKR launch!" Ray: "Who the flamin heck's this sheila?"'

The fun with her co-star comes as Penny revealed to The Daily Telegraph she has no plans to head to Hollywood.

The actress said she had previously attempted to break into the competitive American market during her twenties.

Penny had spent two years in a row competing for parts during pilot season and spent four years living in New York City, where she did land some TV and movie roles.

Tried and tested: Penny had spent two years in a row competing for parts during pilot season and spent four years living in New York City, where she did land some TV and movie roles

But the beauty said she was drawn back to Australia and has no plans to follow in the footsteps of other Home and Away predecessors such as Chris Hemsworth.

'The work was pretty good. But now that Ive done it, I feel like Im done,' Penny told the publication.

'You cant beat the lifestyle here.'

Penny's younger sister Jessica McNamee is also an actress, starring in Packed To The Rafters before moving to the United States where she is forging a career.
He is used to being the main man when out in public.

But Arnold Schwarzenegger took a back seat as he met a man with even more public pull than him - Pope Francis.

The action movie legend, 69, attended the Catholic leader's weekly sermon in Vatican City on Wednesday.

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Aisle be back: Arnold Schwarzenegger took a back seat as he met a man with even more public pull than him - Pope Francis

Despite hundreds flocking to watch the Pope speak every week, the Terminator star was one of the few who got to meet one of the most in-demand men in the world.

The actor looked humble as he was warmly greeted by Pope Francis, who gladly shook the former California Governor's hand, before introducing him to girlfriend Heather Milligan.

As part of their introduction, Arnold actually introduced him to the delights of the region he once ran, by gifting him with a book all about the sunshine state.

The pontiff looked thrilled with a new addition to his library, and courteously flicked through the pages of the tome in front of the film star.

Humbled: The action movie legend, 69, attended the Catholic leader's weekly sermon in Vatican City on Wednesday

Warm: Despite hundreds flocking to watch the Pope speak every week, the Terminator star was one of the few who got to meet one of the most in-demand men in the world

Love: Arnold then introduced his girlfriend Heather Milligan, who looked rather shy as she waited in line to meet the Pontiff

A gift: As part of their introduction, Arnold actually introduced him to the delights of the region he once ran, by gifting him with a book all about the sunshine state

Good read: The pontiff looked thrilled with a new addition to his library, and courteously flicked through the pages of the tome in front of the film star

Arnold - who was Governor between 20032011 - is a devout Catholic and was forced to defend his faith during his time in office - insisting it would not play a part in his politics, especially when it came to science budgets.

He said at the time: 'I am a Catholic and a very dedicated Catholic, but that does not interfere with my decision-making because I know that stem-cell research, the way we are doing it in California ... is the right way to go and will save, very quickly down the line, lives and cure a lot of these illnesses.'

Their meeting comes after the religious leader spoke out to give a brief congratulations to Arnold's predecessor on The Apprentice, America's new President Donald Trump.

After Trump's inauguration in Washington, DC over the weekend, the Pope spoke out to remind the billionaire not to forget about the needs of the poor now he is in power.

'I offer you my cordial good wishes and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high office,' Francis said.

Meeting to remember: Arnold - who was Governor between 20032011 - is a devout Catholic and was forced to defend his faith during his time in office

Important: Their meeting comes after the religious leader spoke out to give a brief congratulations to Arnold's predecessor on The Apprentice, America's new President Donald Trump

Place of worship: Arnold looked smart for his Vatican City visit as he politely waited in line

He went on to express hope the US would be a beacon across the world 'above all by its concern for the poor, the outcast and those in need who, like Lazarus, stand before our door'.

Francis also reminded Trump of the 'humanitarian crisis' affecting parts of the world due to widespread trouble across the Middle East.

Last year, Arnold made it clear that he was a part of growing list of prominent Republicans who would not vote for Trump after he was caught making lewd remarks about women in a 2005 video that leaked in October.
He plays the Summer Bay doctor who is often unlucky in love.

But nothing could be further from the truth for Home and Away actor Kyle Pryor, who proposed to his long-time girlfriend Julia-Rose O'Connor during a romantic Noosa holiday.

The news has been confirmed through public Instagram posts, with Confidential also reporting that Kyle has announced his engagement on his private Facebook account.

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A Summer Bay wedding! Home and Away's Kyle Pryor engaged after proposing to filmmaker beau Julia-Rose O'Connor during Noosa holiday

Julia-Rose seemed to reveal the news on Wednesday, sharing a photo of the couple posing by a body of water, backlit by the setting sun.

A picnic and teepee tent are set up nearby.

Captioning the photo with a love heart followed by Kyle's name, friends of the couple were quick to deduct the photo was taken after the actor proposed.

The proposal setting? Julia-Rose seemed to reveal the news on Wednesday, sharing a photo of the couple posing by a body of water, backlit by the setting sun

Happy news: A mutual friend of the couple also posted her own congratulations, sharing a cute snap of Julia-Rose and Kyle at a cafe

Wishing well: Julia-Rose and Kyle's friend couldn't contain her excitement in wishing the couple the best

'Can't wait to see the ring,' one pal commented, with another one writing: 'How amazing, congratulations to you both!!!'

A mutual friend of the couple also posted her own congratulations, sharing a cute snap of Julia-Rose and Kyle at a cafe.

'Over the moon for my beautiful best friends! Congratulations,' Annabelle Oayda wrote, also adding an engagement ring emoji.

Long-term loves: Kyle has been dating Julia-Rose for three years, and the couple share a mutual passion for film-making

The couple have been holidaying in Noosa on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, previously sharing photos as their hiked and took in the region's stunning beaches.

Kyle has been dating Julia-Rose for three years, and the couple share a mutual passion for film-making.

The hunky actor has played the role of Nate Cooper on Home and Away since 2015, prior to that working as a stuntman on films such as Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans.
Television regulator Ofcom has received 29 complaints about EastEnders' dramatic bush crash scene earlier this week.

Some viewers found the scene, which saw a red double-decker bus plough into the soap's famous market, too similar to the recent Berlin terror atrocity in which a hijacked lorry was driven into a Christmas market killing 12 people.

A spokesman for Ofcom told MailOnline: 'We received 29 complaints about EastEnders. We are assessing these before deciding whether to investigate or not.'

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Dramatic: Television regulator Ofcom has received 29 complaints about EastEnders' dramatic bush crash scene earlier this week

While a spokesman for EastEnders said they didn't comment on Ofcom complaints specifically, they reissued an initial statement which read: 'EastEnders is a fictional drama and the crash in tonight's episode was not based on any real-life event. We are always mindful of the content within our episodes.'

The terrifying incident left several characters in the soap fighting for their lives and was slammed by some as 'insensitive' in light of the recent terror attacks.

However, it was a different story for Tuesday's installment, as viewers flocked to Twitter to praise the soap's shock ending - which implied Whitney Carter was the first casualty.

Fans took to the social media site in droves to applaud the cliffhanger, which heard Whitney's ringtone play from the wreckage - with many deeming it better than the recent Christmas special.

Although many were left bemused by the cast's ability to lift a double-decker bus off Martin Fowler.

Hard to watch: Some viewers found the scene, which saw a red double-decker bus plough into the soap's famous market, too similar to the recent Berlin terror atrocity

Emotional: EastEnders' Tuesday episode during its disaster week centered on the aftermath of the shocking bus crash from the night before

Starting where the crash left off, the next installment in the BBC soap's 'Disaster Week' saw the community team up to try and save as many people as they could.

In one emotional scene, Max Branning gathered residents together to help lift the bus away from a suffering Martin.

Many viewers questioned how realistic the scene was with one tweeting that a bus weighs around 12 tonnes: 'Just googled the weight of a double decker bus: 12.65 TONNES. Danny Dyer & a couple of old ladies just deadlifted that. #ok #eastenders.'

At risk: In one emotional scene, Max Branning gathered the residents together to help lift the bus away from a suffering Martin Fowler

World's strongest cast: Many viewers questioned how realistic the scene was with one tweeting that a bus weighs around 12 tonnes

Another added: 'See, I saw the world's strongest man pull a bus on telly once... I don't know if Max, Ben and Jay can lift one #Eastenders.'

The scene mirrored the real-life incident in London's Walthamstow in 2015 when 100 heroic bystanders rushed to help life a 12-tonne double decker bus off trapped unicyclist Antony Shields.

Fans were left wondering if a bloodied Martin would survive his injuries after he was seen declaring his love for Stacy after he was freed by his Albert Square neighbours.

Real events: The scene mirrored the real-life incident in London's Walthamstow in 2015 when 100 heroic bystanders rushed to help life a 12-tonne double decker bus off a trapped unicyclist

Help! Stacy (Lacey Turner) was distraught when she realised Martin was trapped

Shock: Viewers flocked to Twitter to praise the soap's shock ending - which implied Whitney Carter was the first casualty

Casualty: It was a different story for Tuesday's installment, as viewers flocked to Twitter to praise the soap's shock ending - which implied Whitney Carter was the first casualty

Distraught: However it was the final scene which sent chills down the spines of viewers, as Whitney Carter's ringtone was then heard from underneath the bus - but the brunette nowhere to be seen

Appearing to take a turn for the better, the episode then saw a distraught Denise Fox fight her way through the rubble alive and into the arms of Kim, weeping with relief.

However, it was the final scene which sent chills down the spines of viewers, as Whitney Carter's ringtone was then heard from underneath the bus - but the brunette nowhere to be seen.

The episode ended on her father-in-law Mick, played by Danny Dyer, putting two and two together - with his face crumbling as the eerie music played out to the square.

Fans were left in shock after the cliffhanger, and headed immediately to Twitter to vent their joy at the unexpected ending.

Devastated: Mick's eyes filled with tears as he heard his daughter-in-law's phone go off

Shocked: Fans were left in shock after the cliffhanger, and headed immediately to Twitter to vent their joy at the unexpected ending

One particularly enthralled fan wrote: 'I can't breathe. This is what EastEnders has lacked recently. That cliffhanger, oh my god. #eastenders' before adding in frustration: 'I HAVE TO WAIT TILL THURSDAY?!'

Another matched the excited reaction, writing: '#EastEnders was sooo good tonight, I hope Whitney's gonna be ok. I swear I cried like 3 times' (sic)

Meanwhile, others noted that the jaw-dropping episodes had exceeded all expectations of recent Specials - including the much-anticipated scenes aired on Christmas and New Year.

One fan observed: 'I don't understand how EastEnders can make the best episode on a Tuesday night but will fail to make a good one on Christmas Day #eastenders'

While another agreed, adding: 'That was better than Christmas, New Year and killing off the misery sisters! #eastenders'

Thrilling: Meanwhile others noted that the jaw-dropping episodes had exceeded all expectations of recent Specials - including the much-anticipated scenes aired on Christmas and New Year

Reeling: Fans were left reeling from Tuesday's event as they were left stunned by the chaos

The positive reaction followed Monday night's more controversial episode - which fans slammed for being 'insensitive' in light of recent terrorist attacks.

Ending on a dramatic bus crash scene in Albert Square, the cliffhanger could leave up to 11 characters fighting for their lives, in a dramatic plot twist.

Viewers were left disgruntled by the story - and went on to criticise show bosses for a lack of respect to victims murdered in the ISIS-orchestrated truck crashes in Nice and Berlin last year.

The long list of characters at risk from the crash include Denise Fox, Keegan, Bex Fowler, Shakil Kazemi and Louise Micthell, who were on the bus.

Stunned: The positive reaction follows Monday night's more controversial episode - which fans slammed for being 'insensitive' in light of recent terrorist attacks

While the collision send ratings through the roof, for some viewers it was an upsetting reminder of the terrorist atrocities of last year.

In July 2016, a HGV driven by Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel crashed into crowds of people on the southern French resort of Nice, killing 86.

While on December 19, a truck was driven into a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, leaving 12 dead.

On Twitter, one fan fumed: 'Slightly insensitive storyline from #Eastenders. Glasgow bin lorry crash, the lorry in France & Berlin Christmas markets.'

One EastEnders fan tweeted: 'Hmm not sure about this latest storyline considering recent terrorist activities. Seems a bit insensitive.'
They are about to become first time parents themselves.

But on Wednesday, it was all about their newborn niece Poppy Alice Burgess, as father-to-be George Burgess marvelled over the little one in his arms.

His new wife Joanna posted the heart-warming image to social media, captioning the post with a note that the NRL player was 'getting his practice in' before their own bub's arrival in a few weeks.

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'Can't get enough': George Burgess marvelled over his newborn niece Poppy Alice Burgess in a photo posted to Instagram on Wednesday, with wife Joanna telling fans the NRL star was 'getting his practice in' before their baby arrives

Parents-to-be: The newlyweds are expecting their first child in a few weeks

Wrapped in a hospital blanket, the newborn looked especially tiny in the buff hunk's muscular arms.

Joanna gushed about the special meeting in the caption, writing: 'We can't get enough of little Miss Poppy

'What a perfect angel you two have created @mrsphoebeburgess @samburgess8'

Poppy was born on Tuesday to South Sydney Rabbitoh's star Sam Burgess and his journalist wife Phoebe.

And George is not the only one of the Burgess brothers to pay a visit to the new arrival.

Earlier in the day Thomas couldn't help but gush over his new niece, with the proud uncle sharing a similar image to Instagram on Wednesday.

'A miracle, what a beauty!' Thomas Burgess couldn't help but gush over his new niece, Poppy Alice Burgess who was born on Tuesday

Proud uncle and brother: The 24-year-old also paid tribute to his older brother and sister-in-law following the birth of their first child

Also seen cradling the newborn in his muscular arms, Thomas captioning the shot: 'A miracle, what a beauty!'

The 24-year-old, who was dressed casually in a T-Shirt and shorts for the hospital visit, then paid tribute to his older brother and sister-in-law following the birth of their first child.

'@mrsphoebeburgess and @samburgess8 can't wait to see you be the best Mummy and Daddy for little Poppy,' Thomas wrote.

Fellow NRL star Sam and his journalist wife Phoebe welcomed their beautiful baby girl into the world on Tuesday, announcing the news via Instagram on Wednesday.

'My everything': Sam and Phoebe Burgess welcomed their beautiful baby daughter into the world on Tuesday but announced the news on Wednesday

The couple revealed they have named their bundle of joy, Poppy Alice Burgess.

Sam shared a picture perfect snap of the new parents cuddling their tiny newborn looking euphoric.

Sam captioned the image: 'My two girls doing extremely well. My everything.'

Fans were quick to point out how great new mother Phoebe looked post-birth.

'How does she look amazing after giving birth wth,' wrote one.

Anticipation: Just last week the couple were eagerly awaiting the birth of her first child, with Phoebe quick to laugh at her extra large baby bump

Glowing: Phoebe looked simply stunning throughout her pregnancy

Just last week the couple were eagerly awaiting the arrival of her first child, with Phoebe quick to laugh at her extra large baby bump.

The blonde beauty shared an image to her Instagram Story, showing her belly bulging out from her open shirt, joking she was '1000 weeks' pregnant.

Phoebe recently revealed she would be having a large baby and blamed her 6ft 4in tall British footy player husband Sam for his massive genetics.

She complained to her Instagram followers of, 'chronic back pain, suffering pubic symphysis (pain)' and revealed that she was carrying a '95th centile Bub'.

How's the view? Phoebe documented her growing bump with fans across social media throughout her pregnancy

The co-founder of Love Your Form added the quip, 'looking at you @samburgess8' tagging her big beau.

A 95th percentile baby means the small TV host's daughter is about as large as a baby can get.

Only 5 percent of babies are bigger than their daughter.

Phoebe hasn't been shy about documenting her pregnancy, recently sharing another humorous snap to her Instagram Story.

She revealed her growing baby bump meant she can no longer see her feet when looking down.

Dad's fault: Phoebe recently revealed that she was having a large baby and blamed 6ft 4in tall British footy player husband Sam Burgess for his massive genetics
After many meetings and debates, the Chicago delegation succeeded in working with the New York United Federation of Teachers, Local 2 (UFT) to push the AFT to take stronger stands on charter school accountability and school closings  though many delegates from Chicago would have liked the language to have been even stronger.

Generally speaking, the New York delegation represented organizing charters as the best model for handling their role in reshaping unions, despite the fact that according to many reports few charter schools in New York have been organized as is the case in Chicago. This logic is the same touted by the Progressive Caucus of the AFT. The few that have been organized are a part of the UFT local though they have separate contracts negotiated with the help of UFT. The Chicago delegation reflection the mindset that allowing new charters to continue to proliferate while attempting to organize existing charters is an end game in which public schools and the union lose.



Jen Johnson, CTU, Local 1 in Substance


She'll be hoping Coronation Street scoops Best Serial Drama at Wednesday night's National Television Awards.

And Kym Marsh, 40, looked in a jubilant mood ahead of the jewel in the television industry's crown, arriving at London's Euston Station with a beaming grin on her face.

The actress wore trendy thick-rimmed glasses, a black Belstaff coat, ripped blue jeans and black boots as she pulled her luggage beside her.

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Feeling good: Kym Marsh, 40, looked in a jubilant mood as she arrived at London's Euston Station ahead of the National Television Awards

She was joined by her Corrie co-stars Connor McIntyre, Alan Halsall, Qasim Akhtar as well as Hollyoaks' Anna Passey.

Soap villain Connor dressed flamboyantly in a red fedora and matching cardigan with a grey trench coat and white shirt.

Alan, who plays show stalwart Tyrone Dobbs, also opted for a smart casual style, combining a black jacket with a dark green jumper, fitted blue jeans and brown shoes.

Cutting a stylish figure: The actress wore trendy thick-rimmed glasses, a black Belstaff coat, ripped blue jeans and black boots as she pulled her luggage beside her

Soap stars: She was joined by her flamboyantly dressed Corrie co-star Connor McIntyre

Walk this way: Soap villain Connor dressed flamboyantly in a red fedora and matching cardigan with a grey trench coat and white shirt

Good luck: The pair will be hoping Coronation Street scoops Best Serial Drama at Wednesday night's National Television Awards

Fan favourite: Alan Halsall, who plays show stalwart Tyrone Dobbs, also opted for a smart casual style, combining a black jacket with a dark green jumper, fitted blue jeans and brown shoes

Nominated Jack P Shepherd proved popular with fans, with one stopping the actor for a selfie as he made his way through the station.

He goes up against Emmerdale's Danny Miller and Natalie J Robb, as well as EastEnders' Lacey Turner in the Best Serial Drama Performance category.

Wearing a quilted navy coat and traditional black and white Converse, he looked relaxed with his suit slung over his shoulder.

Keeping it casual: Nominated Jack P Shepherd wore a quilted navy coat and traditional black and white Converse

Snap happy: One fan stopped the actor for a selfie as he made his way through the station

Relaxed: Shayne Ward listened to some music and flashed the cameras a thumbs up

Smile! Hollyoaks' Jamie Lomas no doubt made this fan's day

Coordinated: Jamie dressed in an all-black ensemble and carried a brown leather holdall

Good to be back: Jamie looked to be relishing being back on the soap scene following a five year break

Feeling blue: Anna Passey couldn't be missed in her striking blue coat

Shayne Ward listened to some music and flashed the cameras a thumbs up, while Hollyoaks' Jamie Lomas was all smiles and no doubt made a female fan's day by having his picture with her.

Kym Marsh's ex-husband dressed in an all-black ensemble and carried a brown leather holdall.

Dermot O'Leary has hosted the NTAs since 2010, while Scarlett Moffatt will be making her debut with the veteran at this year's ceremony.

Excited by the news, Scarlett took to Instagram to share a snap of her dressing room which she captioned: '@OfficialNTAs wow wow wow!! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would have my own dressing room at the 02. Backstage presenting & head of social media!! I can't believe it #ntas #dream.'

Asked by a fan if she was feeling nervous or excited, the Beauty School Cop Outs star tweeted: 'mixture of both, more excitement than anything else, I'm going to meet everyone I've watched on TV all in one night #NTAs.'

Fighting spirit: Qasim Akhtar looked pumped up upon arrival

Energetic: The Corrie actor wore a cap and a military print Canada Goose gilet
She showed off her model credentials as she strutted down the Milan Men's Fashion Week a mere few weeks ago.

But this week, it was all about fun for Sara Sampaio as she took a well deserved break from her modelling duties and enjoyed a night out on the town at Catch LA on Tuesday evening.

Flashing a bright smile, the Victoria Secret's angel looked in high spirits while heading into the upmarket eatery.

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Put your back into it! Sara Sampaio, 25, enjoyed a night out on the town at Catch LA in West Hollywood, California, on Tuesday evening

The Portuguese model opted for a decidingly laidback look as she donned a pair of figure-hugging skinny jeans as she strutted into the hotspot.

Adding a simple yet sexy feel to the look, Sara wore a backless fluffy white sweater from Majorelle which gave onlookers an eyeful of the star's newly tanned complexion.

Ensuring her accessories were on point, the 25-year-old completed her ensemble with a semi-sheer embroidered choker while she toted her belongings in a chic white Chanel sling bag.

Strutting her stuff: The Portuguese model opted for a decidingly laidback look as she donned a pair of figure-hugging skinny jeans as she strutted into the hotspot

Backless beauty: Adding a simple yet sexy feel to the look, Sara wore a backless fluffy white sweater from Majorelle which gave onlookers an eyeful of the star's newly tanned complexion

The brunette beauty ditched her heels and opted for ankle-grazing black boots.

Her raven tresses were styled in loose waves that effortlessly framed her striking features, while she highlighted her good looks with subtle make-up.

Sara's outing comes just days after she hit the popular Los Angeles bar once again with fellow Victoria Secret's model Jasmine Tookes last week.

The stunner recently dazzled at the Milan Men's Fashion Week, where she strutted down the catwalk for the Alberta Ferretti Autumn Winter 2017 show.

Bring her A-game: The 25-year-old completed her ensemble with a semi-sheer embroidered choker while she toted her belongings in a chic white Chanel sling bag.

Low-key lady: The brunette beauty opted for ankle-grazing black boots

The model looked impossibly chic as she donned an opulent strapless black gown, before flaunting her lean limbs in a lacy blue skirt.

Sara's golden tan was thanks to a sun-soaked holiday to Tulum, Mexico, in December - where she posted an array of bikini-clad Instagram snaps.

In a particularly sultry shot, the brunette beauty stands looking at the sandy beach and blue ocean while giving an eyeful of her pert posterior.
She loves to leave little to the imagination with her skimpy displays.

And Lisa Appleton once again slipped her sensational curves into a super-tight dress as she arrived to catch a train at London's Euston station on Wednesday.

The former Big Brother contestant, 48, brightened up the average commuter's day in the thigh-skimming multi-coloured garment which showed off her eye-popping cleavage.

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She's on-board! Lisa Appleton, 48, slipped her sensational curves into a super-tight dress as she arrived to catch a train at London's Euston station on Wednesday

The plunging garment fell incredibly short on her frame, allowing the former bodybuilder to show off her trim legs.

Lisa donned a navy leather jacket, with a funky faux-fur collar, to shield herself from the British chill.

Her brunette locks were centre-parted and styled in immaculate waves, framing her signature coat of glamorous make-up.

The reality star opted for practical white trainers as she carted along a large silver suitcase, while a glossy black handbag was draped on her other arm.

All eyes on her: The former Big Brother contestant brightened up the average commuter's day in the thigh-skimming multi-coloured garment which showed off her eye-popping cleavage

Flashing the flesh: The plunging garment fell incredibly short on her frame, allowing the former bodybuilder to show off her trim legs

Lisa was also still sporting a deep tan from her recent sun-soaked break to Spain with Big Brother 15 star, Mark Byron.

While Lisa oozes body confidence, she's set to undergo a number of cosmetic enhancements to achieve the 'perfect look.'

'If you want to let yourself go and look like a testicle then go for it, but I don't want to look a testicle, thanks,' she revealed recently to OK Online.

In a bid to combat her worst fears, Lisa has a number of non-surgical treatments lined up - including a liposuction, a face lift, and lip and cheek fillers.

'I want to look young again and it's possible to reverse some of the ageing,' she explained her decisions.

Bright and bold: Lisa donned a navy leather jacket, with a funky faux-fur collar, to shield herself from the British chill

Balancing act: The reality star opted for practical white trainers as she carted along a large silver suitcase as she killed some time in pharmacy retailer Boots before catching her train

She is also hoping to achieve the highly-coveted, yet difficult to achieve, 'thigh gap' with a trip to a Harley Street Clinic.

Lisa shot to fame on the 2008 series of Big Brother, when she entered the infamous house with boyfriend Mario Marconi.

The couple went on to make history as the first couple to get engaged on the show, before tying the knot on Channel 4 series The Wedding House.

But in 2013 they called time on their eight-and-a-half year romance, with Lisa claiming they had been 'unhappy for a while'.

And clearly reflecting on her own experiences, Lisa has been unafraid to voice her opinions on the current contestants of Celebrity Big Brother.

Famous friends: Lisa was also still sporting a deep tan from her recent sun-soaked break to Spain with Big Brother 15 star, Mark Byron

Enhancements: In a bid to achieve the perfect look, Lisa has a number of non-surgical treatments lined up - including a liposuction, a face lift, and lip and cheek fillers

Speaking to OK! Online, she revealed that she thought controversial presenter Kim Woodburn 'needed a spanking' and should 'wash her mouth out''

'I just don't get it,' Lisa admitted.

'She's rude and she's ruthless in that house. She's coming across very rude and she's really going over the top with her words.

'She's acting like a bully and then crying when the other housemates argue back at her. Don't get me wrong, it's entertaining and she's got balls, but she doesn't know where to draw the line.'
Sofia Vergara is so in love that she's bursting to share her happiness with the world.

So much so, she says, that she badgered husband Joe Manganiello until he agreed to let Hola! into the luxury mansion they share in LA and open up about their marriage to fans via the magazine's pages.

'We wanted to show our fans what they wanted to see. Thats why its so special for us to do this cover and thats why I convinced Joe,' the Modern Family star explained in an exclusive interview.

'Because this is a really special time for us in our relationship and we enjoy our privacy, but we have the best fans in the world and we know it makes them happy to see us happy and in love.'

'Special time': Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello are on the cover of Hola! magazine and inside they gush about how in love and happy they are and how they want to share it with fans

Sofia, 44, and Joe, 40, who wed in November 2015, are featured on the cover of Hola! in a loving and relaxed pose.

The Colombian actress looks at the camera sideways off as she cuddles up to her hunky leading man in a pretty floral off-the-shoulder dress.

The Magic Mike hunk is dressed in a v-neck gray sweater and dark jeans.

Front and center is the massive diamond ring he gave to Sofia when he proposed in 2014 after just six months of dating.

Big romance: Sofia, 44, and Joe, 40, wed in November 2015. 'We realized very early on that we each had to put the other persons happiness and well being head of our own,' Joe said

Sofia was previously wed to her high school sweetheart Joe Gonzalez with whom she shares a son Manolo, born in 1992 when she was 20.

Prior to meeting Joe, she was engaged for two years to businessman Nick Loeb. The two remain locked in an ongoing legal battle over the fate of two embryos produced by IVF during their time together and that remain in storage.

The Latin beauty told the magazine why she waited until her son, now 24, went to college before moving in with a man.

'Partly because I hadnt found the right person and I knew that if I moved in with someone, it would have a psychological effect on my son. I wasnt going to bring a man into my sons home,' she said.

Made for each other: The Modern Family star and the Magic Mike hunk started dating in 2010 and got engaged after just six months. They're pictured at the SAG Awards in January 2016

As for why the couple got engaged so soon into their relationship, Joe revealed: 'We realized very early on that we each had to put the other persons happiness and well being head of our own. Once you realize that kind that kind of trust has manifested, you hang on for dear life. Or in my case, you go and buy a ring.'

Sofia's role on Modern Family was a groundbreaking one when the sitcom first came on the air in September 2009.

But she has also come in for criticism from some who object to her character because they consider her to be a stereotype of Latin women.

'Whats wrong with being a stereotype?' Sofia countered. 'Glorias character is inspired by my mom and my aunt. They are both Latin women who grew up in Colombia, like me. They love color, prints and shoes'

She added: 'It upsets me when Latinos complain about Gloria. I am grateful for the opportunity because the gringos have let me in with this strong accent I have. Eight years ago nobody had an accent like this on television.'
Anne Hathaway and Sarah Paulson were back to work on set of Ocean's Eight on Wednesday.

The actresses appeared to have an early start as they prepared to shoot scenes for the heist comedy in a very chilly New York.

Anne, 34, protected her alabaster skin with an umbrella as she was escorted to set by two staff members.

Back to work: Anne Hathaway walked with an assistant under the shade of an umbrella on the set of Ocean's Eight on Wednesday

The actress wore gym attire and a black cardigan while clutching a green juice drink and a book under one arm.

Anne appeared to have already been to the makeup chair as she showed off a bold red lip but covered her eyes with sunglasses.

In contrast Sarah, 42, was makeup-free as she wrapped up in warm layers and Ugg boots.

Getting going: Looked like an early wake-up call for Sarah Paulson as she clutched a warm drink on the New York set

The American Horror Story star carried a warm drink in a mug as she headed to her trailer.

The duo star alongside the likes of Rihanna, Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Helena Bonham Carter, Awkwafina in the all-female next installment of the Ocean's franchise.

Meanwhile, it was recently revealed Anne is to star in the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels remake.

The Les Miserables beauty is in talks to join the previously-cast Rebel Wilson in the upcoming twist on the con-artist comedy, which will now be called Nasty Women.

Health conscious: The 34-year-old star was dressed in gym clothes and a black cardigan as she clutched a green juice and a book under her arm

Makeup-free: The 42-year-old actress bundled up in warm layers and some comfy Ugg boots

The film will see the gender roles reversed from the 1988 saga - which starred Steve Martin and Michael Caine as two men competing to swindle an heiress, played by Glenne Headly, out of her fortune - as Anne and Rebel play two cultured scam artists competing to take billions from a naive tech prodigy.

As with the first movie, Nasty Women is expected to show differences in class between the two con artists.

Jac Schaffer - who has been working on The Shower for Anne - is writing the script for the film, but it doesn't yet have a director.

VIP treatment: The Hollywood star was escorted by two staff members who bundled up from the cold in padded jackets
Mary Tyler Moore died on Wednesday after battling Type I diabetes for nearly 50 years.

The iconic actress - best known for her 1970s sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show - was 80.

Carol Burnett, 83, whose own titular show was part of the CBS Saturday night line-up in the 1970s, said in a statement that Moore 'will be so missed.'

'She was a pioneer on television and also one of the sweetest, nicest people I ever knew,' Burnett said.

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A wonderful life: Mary Tyler Moore died on Wednesday at age 80 and stars were quick to react to the passing of the Hollywood icon

Pal: Longtime friend Larry King tweeted: '#MaryTylerMoore was a dear friend and a truly great person. A fighter. Rest in peace, MTM'

Television pioneer: Carol Burnett, 83, whose own titular show was part of the CBS Saturday night line-up along with Moore's in the 1970s, said in a statement the actress 'will be so missed'

Her famed co-star Dick Van Dyke summed it up succinctly, saying: 'There are no words.She was THE BEST! We always said that we changed each other's lives for the better.'

Longtime friend Larry King tweeted: '#MaryTylerMoore was a dear friend and a truly great person. A fighter. Rest in peace, MTM.'

Oprah Winfrey also led the celebrity tributes, saying she will 'love her forever' as she remembered her heroine, who moved her to tears when they met on her show in 1997.

She tweeted: 'Even now looking at this picture I want to cry. I still can't believe Mary Tyler Moore touched my face. Will love her 4 ever.'

Ed Asner, 87, who starred alongside her as Lou Grant, tweeted: '#marytylermoore my heart goes out to you and your family. Know that I love you and believe in your strength.'

Her TV boss: Ed Asner and Moore were one of the most iconic co-stars in television history with the actor's character Lou Grant providing the perfect foil for Moore's feisty character

Asner, 83, sent out a pair of heartfelt tweets on hearing of her passing Wednesday

British actor Stephen Fry paid tribute via Twitter as he was rehearsing his new sitcom The Great Outdoors on stage 2 at CBS Studios in Los Angeles where TMTM Show was filmed

A little while later, he tweeted again, saying: 'A great lady I loved and owe so much to has left us. I will miss her.'

Asner added: 'I will never be able to repay her for the blessings that she gave me.'

British actor Stephen Fry was rehearsing his new sitcom The Great Outdoors on stage 2 at CBS Studios in Los Angeles when news of the legend's passing broke.

He tweeted out a photo of the plaque that memorializes the sound stage as the place where The Mary Tyler Moore Show was shot.

'A minute's silence as we remembered 1 of the true greats of TV comedy,' he wrote.

Moore celebrated the unveiling in 2002 of a statue recreating her hat tossing moment from the opening credits of her hugely popular show at a Minneapolis mall

Comedienne and chat show host Ellen DeGeneres paid her condolences too, saying: 'Mary Tyler Moore changed the world for all women'

Bette Midler, like Moore a fierce and funny performer, mourned the loss of 'one of the groundbreaking stars of Television'

Ellen DeGeneres, who like many female stars benefited from the trail blazed by Moore in the sixties and seventies, paid her respects.

'Mary Tyler Moore changed the world for all women,' the chat show host and comedienne tweeted.

Bette Midler, like Moore a fierce and funny performer, mourned the loss of 'one of the groundbreaking stars of Television.'

Back in 2006, Moore had a guest star role in three episodes of hit sitcom That '70s Show.

Castmember Wilmer Valderrama paid tribute to the actress, tweeting: 'It was my honor to have met you .. & working with you when you graced us on That '70s Show a memory I will carry forever.'

Wilmer Valderrama recalled the 'honor' of having Moore appear as a guest star on three episodes of the hit sitcom That '70s Show in 2006

Sabrina The Teenage Witch star Melissa Joan Hart called her 'an amazing role model for all women!' in a touching Instagram post

Michael Keaton spoke of his sadness at Moore's passing describing her as 'iconic' and 'a friend'

Keaton starred with her on the short-lived The Mary Tyler Moore Hour in 1979

Dick Cavett told CNN I can't think of anyone else in show business that everybody who worked with liked and believe me, that's a big thing.'

Moore appeared on The Dick Cavett Show several times and he said she was as charming off stage as she was on it.

'She could do anything,' he added. 'She was just one of the best and could somehow just magically turn off the funny Mary so as not to mar a serious film like she did in Ordinary People with Robert Redford.'

In a statement to Variety, Redford himself said: 'Marys energy, spirit and talent created a new bright spot in the television landscape and she will be very much missed. The courage she displayed in taking on a role, (Ordinary People), darker than anything she had ever done, was brave and enormously powerful.'

Moore received her an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in the 1980 movie directed by Redford and co-starring Donald Sutherland and Timothy Hutton.

Moore earned an Academy Award nomination for her role in the Robert Redford-directed film Ordinary People in which she played the bitter mother of guilt-ridden Timothy Hutton

Donald Sutherland, who played her husband in the 1980 gut-wrenching drama, said in a statement that Moore 'was perfect'

Donald Sutherland, who played Moore's husband in the film, also put out a statement.

'Mary was and is and now always will be, perfect,' the Canadian actor said, according to EW.com.

'She was the perfect actor to work with, the performance she gave was perfect, painfully perfect, and the friendship she offered was perfect. I am in her thrall.'

Moore's rep announced the news of her death Wednesday in a Connecticut hospital, revealing the 'beloved icon' had 'passed away at the age of 80 in the company of friends and her loving husband of over 33 years, Dr. S. Robert Levine.'

Her early years: The star with Dick Van Dyke for The Dick Van Dyke Show in 1961

'A groundbreaking actress, producer, and passionate advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Mary will be remembered as a fearless visionary who turned the world on with her smile.'

She was diagnosed with diabetes when she was 33, early on during the run of her TV series, but the condition took a serious toll on her health in later years.

Moore had surgery to remove a benign brain tumor in 2011 and three years later it was reported that she was suffering from heart and kidney problems. She was also said to be almost blind.

The beauty made her first big mark in the 1960s with The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Actor Ben Stiller also chimed in tweeting: 'Such a huge part of our culture and consciousness. Sending love to her family'

Actress Patricia Arquette recalled working with Moore and the kindess the veteran star showed to her

Former Today host Katie Couric said she was devastated at the news of Moore's death

Couric's former co-host Al Roker said Moore 'will be missed terribly'

Out of this world: And Star Trek star George Takei said: 'She turned the world on with her smile'

Even Kermit the Frog had something to say about the loss of the legendary actress and comedienne, tweeting: 'Miss you already'

Britney Spears tweeted: 'So strong, so courageous and so beautiful.'

'Rest In Peace, Mary Tyler Moore.'

Gloria Gaynor shared a sweet message, saying Moore was a 'true entertainment icon & a national treasure.'

'#marytylermoore you could truly turn the world on with your smile and make millions fall in love and laugh along with you,' the singer shared on her Instagram.

Oscar nominated actress Viola Moore thanked Moore 'for the first real image of a woman being independent, funny & vulnerable.'

'Thank you for changing the face of TV,' the Fences star added.

Pop star Britney Spears added her voice to the chorus of compliments and adulation being heaped on the late star

Singer Gloria Gaynor took to her Instagram to share a photo of a young Moore laughing and called her 'a true entertainment icon & national treasure'

Actress and current Oscar nominee Viola Davis spoke of how Moore had pioneered a change in how women were portrayed on television

Hollywood star Mia Farrow expressed her sorrow on Twitter calling Moore 'wonderful' and 'pioneering'

Andy Cohen of Watch What Happens Live added: 'RIP beautiful, upbeat, shining, glorious, wonderful, iconic Mary Tyler Moore.'

And Star Trek star George Takei said: 'She turned the world on with her smile.'

Michelle Rodriguez shared a photo of the star from the Mary Tyler Moore Show. The actress said, 'RIP to another legend.'

Selma Blair said: 'What an angel. Always was and will be. A great part of my childhood and so many people's lives.'

Sandra Bernhard added: 'You're going to make it after all oh no please tell me it's not true.'

Fan: Andy Cohen of Watch What Happens Live added: 'RIP beautiful, upbeat, shining, glorious, wonderful, iconic Mary Tyler Moore'

Another legend: Michelle Rodriguez shared a photo of the star from the Mary Tyler Moore Show

She already misses her: Selma Blair said: 'What an angel. Always was and will be. A great part of my childhood and so many people's lives'

Sad: Sandra Bernhard added: 'You're going to make it after all oh no please tell me it's not true'

Saved By The Bell star and TV personality Mario Lopez recalled watching Moore growing up

Paula Abdul also tweeted about the effect watching Moore had had on her growing up
Scarlett Johansson has secretly split from her husband Romain Dauriac after two years of marriage.

The pair have a two-year-old daughter Rose Dorothy.

The 32-year-old actress was pictured in New York City on Wednesday morning without her wedding ring.

They were last pictured together in October at the opening of their gourmet popcorn store, Yummy Pop, in Paris.

However, insiders tell People magazine that 'they've been separated since the summer.'

Marriage split: Scarlett Johansson stepped out in New York City on Wednesday morning as it emerged her marriage to Romain Dauriac is over

The ring is off: The actress wasn't wearing her wedding ring

United front for the camera: The pair were last pictured together in October at the opening of their gourmet popcorn store, Yummy Pop, in Paris

Shortly after came reports that it was Scarlett who ended the relationship according to a Wednesday report from Us Weekly.

'Scarlett initiated splitting up and made the decision,' according to a source for the publication. They went on to explain that 'she felt like they didn't have much in common as far as lifestyle.'

The actress began dating Romain in 2012 and they got engaged in 2013.

They married in secret at The Ranch At Rock Creek in Philipsburg, Montana in October 2014 shortly after the birth of their daughter.

'They were really laid back and friendly and almost always had the baby,' an insider tells E! News at the time.

Separate lives: The Lost In Translation star and her husband have been 'separated since the summer'

'They were holding hands and hugging and smiling and flirting with each other. You could tell they were really happy.'

Early love: Seen in 2013 in Venice, Italy

Scarlett was previously married to Ryan Reynolds from 2008 until 2011; he now has two children with his wife, actress Blake Lively.

The actress has also dated Lena Dunham's beau Jack Antonoff, Jared Leto, Josh Hartnett, Sean Penn and Nate Naylor.

In 2007 the Lucy star was linked to singer Justin Timberlake, but it is not know if they were romantic.

The Horse Whisperer star previously said she found it 'easier' to date someone not in the public eye.

She said: 'It is [easier to be with someone who isn't famous], but it's more than that. We do different things. He's [Romain] in the whole art-scene world.

'So it's nice, because we can enjoy each other's worlds, but we don't have our crazy conflicting schedules and all that other stuff to contend with.'

Her other ex: Scarlett was previously married to Ryan Reynolds from 2008 until 2011; he now has two children with his wife, actress Blake Lively. Pictured December

In better times: Scarlett and Ryan looking happy together in 2010 at the Tony Awards

In 2015 she insisted they were a very normal couple.

'We like to go out and go dancing. Other times, we like to sit at home and eat Thai food and watch House Hunters International for four hours,' said the action star.

'And were interested in each others worlds. Hes interested in my weird, alien entertainment world. It fascinates him because its so different than what he knows. And I like to go to art openings with him and talk about art and emerging artists with him. Thats his passion.'

On Saturday, Scarlett descended on Washington DC alongside other high profile stars such as Emma Watson, Cher and Jake Gyllenhaal for the Women's March.

Speaking out: The A-lister took to the podium to speak about her personal experiences with Planned Parenthood amid President Trump's plans to cut government funding

With a friend: Here Johansson was posing with Cher at the march

The Hollywood star also spoke at the event, slamming President Trump's plans to shut down Planned Parenthood centers.

Scarlett has a slew of new films in the pipeline.

Up next, Scarlett will appear in the sci-fi action movie, Ghost in the Shell, as a robot policewoman attempting to bring down a computer hacker who threatens to destroy her.

The film is set for release on March 31.

In December Forbes announced that the movie star is officially the number one top-grossing actor of 2016 thanks to her role as Black Widow in Captain America: Civil War, which garnered $1.15 billion worldwide. Her part as DeAnna Moran in Hail, Caesar! helped bring in more money as well.
She's been starring in Broadway play The Present since previews began on December 17.

And Cate Blanchett may have been running a little late when she was spotted dashing into the Barrymore Theatre in New York on Wednesday.

The 47-year-old had a quick word with fans before darting in through the stage door.

Rushed: Cate Blanchett turned up at Broadway's Barrymore Theatre for her next performance in the Sydney Theatre Company's production of The Present on Wednesday

The Australian actress, who arrived in a black SUV, was warmly dressed on a chilly day in the city.

Cate looked chic in a light grey jacket worn over a cream blouse, black skinny trousers and ankle boots.

She covered her blonde tresses with a grey knitted hat and kept her eyes hidden by celebrity must-have dark glasses.

In a hurry: The actress may have been running a bit late but she had a quick word with fans as she dashed towards the stage door

Winter chic: The 47-year-old kept warm on a chilly day in New York wearing a light grey jacket, a cream blouse, black skinny trousers, ankle boots and a knitted hat

The celebrity carried a heavy coat over one arm as she went in.

Cate is co-starring with Richard Roxburgh in the Sydney Theatre Company's production of the little known Chekhov play. adapted by her husband, Andrew Upton.

It's the two-time Oscar winner's Broadway debut. She plays a Russian widow who is turning 40 and worried about how to hang on to her home.

Keeping it in the family: Cate and Richard Roxburgh in The Present, a little known Chekhov play adapted by her husband, Andrew Upton

A limited run: The production began previews on December 17, celebrated its first night on January 8 and is due to wrap on March 19

The limited production is due to close on March 19.

On Monday she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to talk about the play and her busy life.

Cate has been filming Ocean's Eight in New York, the all female spin-off of George Clooney's Ocean's Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen, due out next year.

She will next be seen in director Terrence Malik's Song To Song, with Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale and Rooney Mara among other stars.

The tale of obsession and betrayal set against the music scene in Austin, Texas, will be released on March 17.

Cate is also joining the Marvel universe as baddie Hela in blockbuster Thor: Ragnarok, alongside Chris Hemsworth as Thor, due out November 3.
She announced she was expecting her first child in October, much to the delight of her fans.

And Amy Childs was every inch the proud mummy-to-be as she set foot on the red carpet at the National Television Awards in London, on Wednesday night.

Arriving at the O2 Arena, the former TOWIE star, 26, slipped into a flowing scarlet gown which showcased her blossoming baby bump.

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Red hot mama! Amy Childs was every inch the proud mummy-to-be as she set foot on the red carpet at the National Television Awards in London, on Wednesday night

Amy - who first shot to fame on the reality series in 2010 - cut a glowing figure as she arrived at the awards solo.

Slipping into the flowing gown, the reality regular proudly showed off her ever-expanding bump whilst retaining a modest air.

Amy's scarlet number featured a flowing trail as well as a subtle cape. whicch flowed down from the shoulders.

Glowing: Arriving at the O2 Arena, the former TOWIE star, 26, slipped into a flowing scarlet gown which showcased her blossoming baby bump

She added a pair of high heels to the mix which only served to highlight her pregnant figure further.

Amy kept her look simple and chic when it came to the accessories department, with the former The Jump contestant adding a smattering of jewellery to her look alongside a glittering clutch.

Wearing her long red hair in carefully coiffed waves down past her shoulders, the Essex girl allowed her locks to frame her famous face.

Proud parent-to-be: Slipping into the flowing gown, the reality regular proudly showed off her ever-expanding bump whilst retaining a modest air

Lady in red: Amy's scarlet number featured a flowing trail as well as a subtle cape. whicch flowed down from the shoulders

Best foot forward? She added a pair of high heels to the mix which only served to highlight her pregnant figure further

Matching: Wearing her long red hair in carefully coiffed waves down past her shoulders, the Essex girl allowed her locks to frame her famous face

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She added some thick eyeliner and pink lip gloss to further define her features.

Amy and boyfriend Baradley Wright announced they were expecting their first child in October.

Amy and Bradley, who met in a pub in Essex two years ago, had been trying for a baby for some time before their efforts were put on hold when Bradley was sentenced to 16 months in prison for handling stolen goods.

However the jailbird, who is already father to daughter Lexi from a previous relationship, only served five months of his sentence as he was released early for good behaviour leading to their eventual reunion.
Elle Fanning looks good in anything she wears.

But on Wednesday the 18-year-old Maleficent actress looked especially dazzling in a white off-the-shoulder dress while at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

The sister of Dakota Fanning was attending the GOOGLE HOME & Super Crispy Films celebration of her new film Sidney Hall at the home of Barry and Amy Bake.

Flawless: Elle Fanning looked especially dazzling in a white off-the-shoulder dress while at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah

Party time: The sister of Dakota Fanning was attending the GOOGLE HOME & Super Crispy Films celebration of Sidney Hall at the home of Barry and Amy Bake

The Super 8 star wore her flaxen locks parted in the middle and straight.

Her makeup was minimal with beige eye shadow and pink blush with a hint of lipstick.

The beauty looked happy to pose with her Hall co-stars Michelle Monaghan and Andie MacDowell's daughter Margaret Qualley.

Three for the road: The beauty looked happy to pose with fellow actors Michelle Monaghan and Andie MacDowell's daughter Margaret Qualley

More to love: The film stars Elle, Michelle and Margaret as well as Logan Lerman, Kyle Chandler, and Nathan Lane

Sidney Hall is an upcoming American drama film directed and co-written by Shawn Christensen.

The film stars Elle, Michelle and Margaret as well as Logan Lerman, Kyle Chandler, and Nathan Lane.

Principal photography of the film began in late April 2016 and the film had its world premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

The story is about a young novelist, Sidney Hall, writes a generation-defining book that makes him world-famous. This sets him on a downward spiral that destroys him, as he is depicted from the ages of eighteen, twenty-four and thirty.
She's a Logie award-winning actress, best known for her role as Ricky Sharp on Home and Away.

But Bonnie Sveen set tongues wagging for a different reason on Thursday, while sharing her candid thoughts on Australia Day.

The 27-year-old Tasmania native called for a 'new National Day' that would see the January 26 holiday celebrated on a different date and while fans applauded the idea, critics did not.

Candid: Bonnie Sveen set tongues wagging for a different reason on Thursday, while sharing her candid thoughts on Australia Day

'For what it's worth, I hope that this is the last Australia Day held on the day we invaded your country,' she captioned alongside an Instagram snap of an Aboriginal flag-coloured map of Australia.

'May the new National Day be inclusive of you, acknowledge our unjust history and work to reconcile the injustices of your present.

She added: 'I want you to know that I am sorry for the blood spilled, the unimaginable trauma caused and boundaries crossed.'

Pouring her heart out: The 27-year-old Tasmania native called for a 'new National Day' that would see the January 26 holiday celebrated on a different date and while fans applauded the idea, critics did not

The Secret Daughter star, who recently applauded cultural diversity on her new show, said she believes the inhumane treatment at the hands of her 'ancestors' continues to affect native Australians today.

'I recognise that the European settlement (my ancestors) tore apart your families, treated you brutally and stole your sacred land,' she wrote.

'I acknowledge that those actions, from 229 years ago, affect the lives of Aboriginal people today and therefore ought not to be denied or forgotten.

Outspoken: The Secret Daughter star, who recently applauded cultural diversity on her new show, said she believes the inhumane treatment of her 'ancestors' continue to affect native Australians today. Pictured: Bonnie films alongside actress Jessica Mauboy

She added: 'For you, Survivors, the history of our Invasion is not something to "get over" and "move on from" but a part of the fabric of your realities; your culture, here in 2017.'

Not surprisingly, the post garnered mixed reactions in the comments section.

'So much respect for this post. Being an aboriginal my self I absolutely love this! Thankyou you are amazing!' one fan wrote with another writing: 'and this right here Bon is why I have so much love for you! ... I am so very proud of the woman you are.'

Proud: Last year, Bonnie applauded cultural diversity on The Secret Daughter, which is one of the few Australian dramas to cast an indigenous female lead - Jessica

Others, however, appeared baffled and even insulted by Bonnie's words.

'No one cares about your aboriginal bulls--t anymore, plus your white as f--k so shut your face,' one seemingly unimpressed follower wrote.

Last year, Bonnie applauded cultural diversity on The Secret Daughter, which is one of the few Australian dramas to cast an indigenous female lead - Jessica Mauboy, 27.

Hopeful: 'It's really important to me that all communities, particularly Indigenous, are represented onscreen and show that you can grow up and be whatever you want'

'It's been a long time coming and too long a wait, but it was an exciting prospect for me to be a part of something on commercial television with a female Aboriginal lead,' she told WHO magazine.

'It's really important to me that all communities, particularly Indigenous, are represented onscreen and show that you can grow up and be whatever you want.'
Whether it be hitting the gym or landing yet another coveted modelling job, it is no sweat off this star's back.

Sofia Richie once again made being an It Girl seem effortless as she got an early morning workout in.

The 18-year-old showed off her toned physique as she left a gym class in Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday.

No sweat: Sofia Richie once again made being an It Girl seem effortless as she got in an early morning workout in Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday

Despite working out, the model looked ready for her close as she trotted back to her car.

For her gym session, the daughter of Lionel Richie wore a pair of belly button-grazing Nike leggings with a grey crop top and an Adidas zip-up jacket which she draped over herself.

While she was just going about her usual routine, as she hit the gym it was revealed that Sofia is the face of DL1961 Premium Denim's newest Spring/Summer campaign.

The teen model leads the campaign - dubbed #TheUniform - which also stars Kim Kardashian's model pal Jasmine Sanders and male model/social media style star Nathaniel Dam.

Working it: For her gym session, the daughter of Lionel Richie wore a pair of belly button-grazing Nike leggings with a grey crop top and an Adidas zip-up jacket

New role:While she was just going about her usual routine, as she hit the gym it was revealed that Sofia is the face of DL1961 Premium Denim's newest Spring/Summer campaign

For the campaign, Sofia and her crew were photographed in the streets of New York Citys Chinatown and famed restaurant Nom Wah Tea Parlor by photographer Ryan Kibler.

Sofia also kicks it in a older hair salon wearing high waisted hot pants with silver mid-calf boots.

In another image, the teen models a pair of white jeans with a raw edge and blue denim worker-style shirt.

The cool kids: The teen model leads the campaign - dubbed #TheUniform - which also stars Kim Kardashian's model pal Jasmine Sanders and model/social media style star Nathaniel Dam

Understated style: In one image, the teen models a pair of white jeans with a raw edge and blue denim worker-style shirt

While the label has previously worked with Jessica Alba to create stylish by classic looks, this season is mixing it up a little.

Blending the label's classic styles with new edgier items set to come out this season the shoot was styled by Matthew Henson.

Henson is the personal stylist for A$AP Rocky and former Complex fashion editor so it has more of a fashion-forward music inspired-vibe.

Location, location: For the campaign, Sofia and her crew were photographed in the streets of New York Citys Chinatown and restaurant Nom Wah Tea Parlor by photographer Ryan Kibler

Sofia has become the darling of fashion recently, and last week was spotted partying with Pdesigner Jeremy Scott following this season's Moschino show in Milan.

After getting her fill of the Italian nightlife, the former fling of Justin Bieber then headed to France to attend the Balmain Menswear show in Paris.

The Select Model repped talent should be busy in the coming month, with worldwide fashion weeks kicking off in New York February 9.

Rocking it: Blending the label's classic styles with new edgier items set to come out this season the shoot was styled by Matthew Henson, who is the personal stylist for A$AP Rocky
She is't exactly known for her shy and retiring behaviour.

And fans were left questioning whether Marnie Simpson had selected a particularly audacious ensemble for Wednesday night's National Television Awards.

The star seemed to go without underwear in a floor-length sheer black gown and no underwear as she happily posed for snaps outside London's O2 arena.

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Sheer daring: Marnie Simpson appears to go without underwear in a black sheer lacy number as she stepped out at the NTA Awards on Wednesday night in London

It was unclear whether there was a skin-coloured underlay or garment under the dress which featured full lacy black sleeves and a high neck.

Despite the wardrobe faux pas at the televised awards ceremony, Marnie seemed happy with her ensemble, posing happily for the cameras before snuggling up to Lewis Bloor, confirming that the pair have rekindled their romance.

The pair have been fuelling rumours of a reunion in recent weeks after sending several affectionate tweets and Instagram posts to each other.

Cosying up: Marnie snuggled up to Lewis Bloor after the pair recently rekindled their romance

The couple recently posted an Instagram story together with Lewis declaring: 'Baby, you are so cool. Why are you so fit, man?'

Clearly feeling in a cheeky mood, she made a couple of thrusting motions in his direction.

Even after they split, Marnie and Lewis were still on good terms- with the exes still regularly contacting each other.

Speaking of the break-up, the Geordie Shore star said that she found the idea of being single 'scary' whilst seemingly blaming their split on distance.

Barely there: Marnie seemed happy with her ensemble, showing off her slim figure in the clinging and revealing ensemble

Writing in her column for Star Magazine, the MTV star revealed the relationship struggled to survive long-distance stints.

'It's hard because we live so far away from each other,' she wrote of the break-up with the former TOWIE star.

'We both care about each other so much and it didn't end on bad terms. We're still speaking every day.'

Reconciled: The pair have been fuelling rumours of a reunion in recent weeks after sending several affectionate tweets and Instagram posts to each other
The eighth season of his hugely popular reality show kicks off next Monday night.

And on Wednesday, Manu Feildel was ready to celebrate, bringing along his parents to the My Kitchen Rules launch party in Sydney.

The handsome chef - who is a judge on the show - cut a relaxed figure as co-star Pete Evans played down rumours of a rift between the pair.

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Symbolic gesture? MKR judge Manu Feildel cut a relaxed figure as he arrived at the launch party for the eighth season of his hugely popular reality show with his parents in tow

The handsome judge dressed in smart-casual attire for the event, which was held at Colin Fassnidge's 4Fourteen Restaurant in the trendy inner-city suburb of Surry Hills.

The 42-year-old was recently seen on holidays with his stunning fiancee Clarissa Weerasena in Malaysia and it appears the tropical break worked wonders for the star, who smile and gave a peace sign to waiting photographers.

Perhaps the gesture was symbolic, as he was seen taking selfies and hugging co-stars Pete and Colin at the soiree.

Family affair: Manu looked happy to be in the company of his parents, who were also beaming at the event

It comes after reports were published in Woman's Day on Monday, claiming tensions are 'so bad' between Manu, 42, and Pete, 43, they are forced to travel separately.

During a speech at the launch event, a glowing Pete gushed about his happiness working on the show, describing the two other judges as his 'best mates'.

The glowing praise echoed his appearance earlier in the day on Sunrise, when Pete slammed the rumours of a rift.

What rift? Manu was seen taking selfies with Pete and Colin at MKR season launch in Sydney on Wednesday

Meet the parents! Pete also brought along with mother, Joy, to the event

'We do love each other,' the Paleo-enthusiast told presenter Edwina Bartholomew, adding that they have a 'deep relationship.'

'We do love each other apart from what some people will write about us,' Pete insisted live on-air, wrapping one arm around Manu's shoulder.

'We have a very deep relationship with each other,' he continued.

Allowing Pete to do the talking, French chef Manu simply replied: 'Yes.'

Pete also used the Sydney event to joke about rumours certain reporters had not been invited to the launch.

Refreshed: Manu looked relaxed at the event, appearing deep in conversation at one point

Firm friends: During a speech at the launch event, a glowing Pete gushed about his happiness working on the show, describing the two as his 'best mates'

'Some invitations for tonight were lost in the mail,' the chef joked, with Manu also adding teasingly: 'they know why'.

Over the weekend The Sunday Telegraph alleged Pete 'blacklisted' select journalists from covering the upcoming season of the show.

Three journalists - two from Bauer Media and one from News Corp - were reportedly cut off from access to the show and its launch party this Wednesday night.

A spokesperson for the network denied the allegations, telling told The Sunday Telegraph that it was simply 'not true.'
Israeli tanks fire on Gaza after Palestinian attack: army

An Israeli tank fired shells towards the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, following an attack on an Israeli patrol, the army announced.

"A short while ago, shots were fired towards IDF forces on routine activity near the border with the southern Gaza Strip," the army said in a statement

In response an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) tank "targeted a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip".

JACK GUEZ (AFP/File)

Hamas, the main Palestinian Islamic movement which controls the Gaza Strip, confirmed that three Israeli tank shells had been fired towards an "observation post" near the Al-Maghazi refugee camp without causing any casualties.
'La La Land' and black actors score big with Oscar nods

Romantic showbiz musical "La La Land" topped the Oscars nominations list on Tuesday with a whopping 14 nods, tying an all-time record, as black actors were honored in all acting categories for the first time.

Damien Chazelle's whimsical tribute to Hollywood's Golden Age of musicals scored nods for best picture, best director and for its two stars, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Its 10 other nominations came in nine categories.

The haul ties the film with "Titanic" and "All About Eve" for the most nominations ever.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have both received Oscar nominations for their roles in showbiz musical "La La Land" ROBYN BECK (AFP/File)

"When you mention those movies, it makes my head spin even more than it's spinning. I'm a little speechless," Chazelle, in Beijing to promote his film, told trade magazine Variety.

In second place were sci-fi thriller "Arrival" and coming-of-age drama "Moonlight," tied at eight nominations each.

The 89th Academy Awards will be held on February 26 -- the climax of Hollywood's awards season, to be hosted by late night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel.

With a record six black actors nominated, this year's crop clearly reflected a push by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters to show more diversity after the #OscarsSoWhite controversy of the past two years that had prompted calls for a boycott of the annual bash.

Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris are first-time nominees for "Moonlight," while two-time winner Denzel Washington and multiple nominee Viola Davis are in the running again for their performance in "Fences."

"I hope I wasn't nominated because I was black. That has no relevance," Ali told The Hollywood Reporter. "I hope I was nominated for my work."

Also nominated are past winner Octavia Spencer, a best supporting actress candidate for "Hidden Figures," and Ruth Negga, in the best actress category for "Loving."

"This is not necessarily a message," Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said about the list of nominees.

"It really has to do with the talent. Each year, we recognize talents and films of a particular year. And this year has been just fabulous."

- Nine best picture nominees -

Industry watchers had predicted that Chazelle's "La La Land" -- buoyed by a record seven Golden Globe awards earlier this month -- would triumph at the nominations, but few thought it would tie for the all-time record.

"Titanic" went on to win 11 Oscars, while "All About Eve" -- starring Bette Davis -- won six.

"La La Land" will vie for best picture honors with eight other films, including "Arrival," grim family drama "Manchester by the Sea" and "Moonlight," the coming-of-age tale of a black man in Miami.

Others in the coveted top category are the film adaptation of August Wilson's play "Fences," Mel Gibson's bloody WWII drama "Hacksaw Ridge," the western crime drama "Hell or High Water," the real-life tale of NASA's black female mathematicians "Hidden Figures" and Garth Davis's family drama "Lion."

- Streep dancing for joy -

For best actor, Gosling will battle for a golden statuette with Golden Globe winner Casey Affleck ("Manchester by the Sea"), Andrew Garfield ("Hacksaw Ridge"), Viggo Mortensen ("Captain Fantastic") and Washington.

In the best actress category, France's Golden Globe winner Isabelle Huppert was nominated for her performance in the rape-revenge thriller "Elle," along with Stone, Negga, Natalie Portman ("Jackie") and Meryl Streep, who earned her record-breaking 20th nomination for "Florence Foster Jenkins."

Streep's nod delighted social media users, who called it a fitting rebuke to President Donald Trump, who described her as "overrated" after she denounced him at the Golden Globes.

The 67-year-old actress -- who broke her own record as the person with the most acting nominations -- reacted with a GIF featuring her dancing for joy.

- Comeback for Mel Gibson -

In the best supporting actress category, Davis, Spencer and Harris will compete against past Oscar winner Nicole Kidman ("Lion") and Michelle Williams ("Manchester by the Sea"), who was nominated three times before.

In the best supporting actor category, Ali will take on Jeff Bridges ("Hell or High Water"), Lucas Hedges ("Manchester by the Sea"), Michael Shannon ("Nocturnal Animals") and Dev Patel ("Lion") -- a British actor of Indian descent.

The foreign films nominated are "Land of Mine" (Denmark), "A Man Called Ove" (Sweden), "The Salesman" (Iran), "Tanna" (Australia) and "Toni Erdmann" (Germany).

In the best director category, Gibson's surprise nomination for the critically acclaimed WWII biopic "Hacksaw Ridge" marks his comeback a decade after being ostracized by Hollywood for an anti-Semitic tirade captured on tape.

Tuesday's nominations were also notable in that they marked the first time a streaming service -- Amazon Studios -- earned a best picture nod, for "Manchester by the Sea."

Also noteworthy was Patel's nomination, which marks only the third time that an actor of Indian descent has received an Oscar nod.

Nominations for best director Anella RETA, Gustavo IZUS (AFP)
Guantanamo war court resumes under President Trump

They spent seven years locked up under George W. Bush, then eight more under Barack Obama -- yet the five alleged terrorist plotters were convicted of nothing.

Now, the so-called "9/11 Five" are starting the next phase of their Guantanamo Bay legal odyssey under the presidency of Donald Trump.

Accused of plotting the September 11, 2001 attacks, the men are due in a military courtroom Wednesday, the first time the secretive tribunal has been in session since Trump was sworn in less than a week ago.

There is renewed focus on Guantanamo Bay after President Donald Trump famously vowed while campaigning he would load Guantanamo with "bad dudes" BRENNAN LINSLEY (POOL/AFP/File)

Renewed focus is on the military prison and the glacial legal process after Trump famously vowed while campaigning that he would load Guantanamo with "bad dudes," and said it would be "fine" if US terror suspects were sent there for trial.

It's been nine years since the United States first charged the 9/11 Five with plotting the September 11 attacks and killing nearly 3,000 people.

A multitude of procedural and legal problems, exacerbated by the logistical challenge of hosting a court in Guantanamo, have slowed the case to a crawl.

"We are just as determined as ever to try these individuals under the rule of law," lead prosecutor Brigadier General Mark Martins said.

"We will do that -- however long it takes."

The general said the government will be ready to begin jury selection in March 2018, but defense lawyers scoff at the idea, saying 2020 is more realistic.

The defendants are alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali -- Mohammed's nephew -- and Mustapha al-Hawsawi.

- 'Don't know what we don't know' -

One of Obama's first acts as president was to issue an order to close Guantanamo's jail, but he failed to do so in the face of Republican opposition and the reluctance of US allies to take in the detainees.

The remaining prison population is now 41, down from 242 when he took office.

On Wednesday, military judge Colonel James Pohl will consider whether hearings can even happen during this session's two allotted weeks.

Bin Attash's chief lawyer, Cheryl Bormann, broke her arm over the weekend, which prevented her from flying to the US naval base on the eastern tip of Cuba.

Because it's a death penalty case, each defendant has the right to a "learned counsel," or capital expert, during every step of the process.

Prosecutors want to crack on with the hearings if bin Attash waives his right for Bormann to be present, but defense teams worry doing so could set a precedent for future proceedings.

On Friday, a father whose son, granddaughter and daughter-in-law were killed aboard United Airlines Flight 175 when it was flown into the World Trade Center, is slated to give a recorded deposition.

The government wants to create a permanent record of such testimony -- the man is now in his 80s -- for use during the sentencing phase at an eventual conviction.

But if bin Attash declines to waive his right for counsel to be there, even that deposition could be nixed -- causing yet another delay in a case that sometimes seems terminally bogged down.

Underpinning everything is the CIA's handling of the 9/11 Five and other prisoners in the years following the September 11 attacks.

Some evidence came through so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques," which critics equate to torture.

Agents deployed an array of measures including waterboarding, chronic sleep deprivation and force-feeding -- either orally or anally.

Since the 9/11 Five were first charged in 2008, the taint of torture and of alleged wrongdoing -- including claims the government spied on defense teams -- soured proceedings.

An ongoing issue is the fact that much evidence remains classified in a government report on torture. Defense teams are infuriated they can't see the report, and thus cannot fully understand what evidence the government has against their clients.

"We don't know what we don't know, and that's the problem," said Hawsawi's defense attorney, Walter Ruiz.

An October, 2001 FBI phot shows Kuwaiti Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of the so-called "9/11 Five", whose legal case starts its next phase at Guantanamo Bay
Sundance turns lens on Syrian civil war, jihadism

In early 2014, the Islamic State group entered the northern Syrian city of Raqa, declaring it their capital and beginning a reign of terror marked by grisly public executions.

Armed sharia police patrolled the streets as "enemies" of the regime were crucified or decapitated, their severed heads impaled on spikes in the city square.

Student Abdalaziz Alhamza and his friends decided to form Raqa is Being Silently Slaughtered (RBSS), a band of courageous citizen journalists who risk their lives to document IS atrocities.

The atrocities of Islamic State members in Raqa are documented in the film "City of Ghosts"; image from IS' official Al-Raqqa site via YouTube HO (AFP/File)

Their work is chronicled in "City of Ghosts," by Oscar-nominated director Matthew Heineman, one of a raft of films on conflict and jihadist terror in the Middle East that premiered this week at the annual Sundance Film Festival.

"So often in documentaries, subjects become caricatures of whatever they're doing in life. For me, that's not very interesting," Heineman, 33, told AFP.

"I very much wanted to spend as much time as possible to understand who these guys are, what makes them tick, what are their emotions, feelings and thoughts.

"Until I get to that level of intimacy, I don't feel like I have a film."

No journalist has been able to enter the region, allowing IS -- also referred to as ISIS -- to control the message about what is happening in Raqa via increasingly slick videos.

While IS paints a picture of a fully-functioning, prosperous city, RBSS has been able to capture the shocking brutality and dysfunction of everyday life in the city of one million.

Following a lightning offensive in which IS was accused of numerous atrocities, the group declared its caliphate stretching from northern Syria to parts of eastern Iraq in June 2014.

- 'Amazing footage' -

Alhamza, 25, first encountered the group when a masked man with a Saudi accent burst into his university and recruited one of his friends, who later turned up dead.

RBSS documents the atrocities committed daily by the extremists on camera phones, smuggling encrypted footage via the internet to Alhamza and his fellow exiles, who disseminate it via social media.

Last year, they reported to the outside world on a 20-year-old jihadi who had shot his mother in the head with an assault rifle in front of a crowd, after she was accused of apostasy.

Heineman was touring America with his Oscar-nominated 2015 Mexican drug trade documentary "Cartel Land" as the plight of Syrians was becoming a near-daily part of the news cycle.

He began researching the conflict extensively and came across RBSS in the fall of 2015, and was struck by the sacrifices that its members had made.

He decided early on that he wanted the core of the story to be deeply personal "verite" footage, captured as the activists escaped Syria after the assassination of several members by IS fighters.

Heineman followed them in Turkey and then eventually to Germany as the IS group continued to threaten them.

"I knew I wanted to juxtapose this journey with the amazing footage that they had from inside Raqa to show life under the caliphate, the formation of the capital of ISIS," Heineman said.

- Reluctant heroes -

Heineman's story starts in Raqa but evolves into a rare human take on Europe's migrant crisis, as well as a moving chronicle of brotherhood and coping with trauma.

Elsewhere at Sundance, "Last Men in Aleppo," a documentary on the Syrian city's "White Helmet" first responders, also got its premiere.

A collaboration between Syrian filmmaker Firas Fayyad, Danish filmmaker Steen Johannessen, and the Aleppo Media Center, it follows three reluctant heroes who rush toward bomb sites while others run away.

"Cries from Syria," a third film on the crisis making its debut, tells how the country's people, inspired by events in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, rose up against the dictatorial rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

The Islamic State's influence has spread far beyond the Middle East, and last week the festival screened a startling film about the kidnapping of 276 girls from the Nigerian town of Chibok by IS-affiliated militants Boko Haram.

Documentary short "Waiting for Hassana," by first-time director Funa Maduka, tells the story of the abductions from the perspective of one of 57 girls who managed to escape.

"We know the global story, now we hear the personal one," said Maduka, who also worked on 2013 Nigerian civil war picture "Half of a Yellow Sun."

"As the director, my aim was to visually and sonically plunge audiences into the psychological and emotional landscape of our subject."

Abdalaziz Alhamza's work documenting IS atrocities in Raqa is highlighted in the film "City of Ghosts" Vidar Ruud (NTB Scanpix/AFP/File)
Pakistani female MP threatens to self-immolate after harassment

A Pakistani female lawmaker threatened to self-immolate after she was harassed by male colleagues in parliament, telling AFP that the widely-publicised incident shows how laws to protect women are not being enforced.

Nusrat Sahar Abbasi, an MP in Sindh province, spoke of her fury after provincial minister Imdad Pitafi invited her to his private chambers on the floor of the assembly Friday in comments seen as sexual harassment in conservative Pakistan.

She said she protested strongly but the deputy speaker of the assembly, also a woman, refused to take any action.

Nusrat Sahar Abbasi, a member of parliament in Pakistan's Sindh province has threatened to self-immolate after she was harassed by male colleagues RIZWAN TABASSUM (AFP)

A frustrated Abbasi was then pictured Saturday holding a small bottle said to be of petrol and threatening to self-immolate if action was not taken.

Federal party chiefs were forced to intervene as the incident exploded on social media, with Pitafi finally caving to the pressure and apologising in the assembly while offering Abbasi a chador, or veil, as a mark of his respect.

Abbasi told AFP Tuesday that the incident was now "over", but that it poses a question on the implementation of laws protecting women from such sexual harassment.

"Their implementation is still a dream," Abbasi said.

"Even us, the parliamentarians are not safe from gender biases and harassment," she said.

Pakistani women have spent decades fighting for their rights in a deeply conservative country where so-called honour killings and acid attacks remain commonplace.

Pakistan has passed several laws to increase protections available to women in recent years, some at the provincial level, but critics have warned that without proper enforcement they will have little impact.
Patriotic arm-twisting? Vietnam's flag-bearing duties

The lunar new year sees red and gold cascade across Vietnam as the unmistakable communist flag gets a proud airing -- an act of patriotism promoted each year by officials via loudspeakers or doorstep visits.

While it's not compulsory, those who refuse to hang gold-starred banners from their windows court trouble from authorities and social opprobrium from the communist faithful.

So, many comply -- though resentment sometimes follows the patriotic arm-twisting.

A street vendor walks past rows of Vietnamese national flags hung in outside homes in downtown Hanoi HOANG DINH NAM (AFP/File)

"I don't like being forced to hang flags. But the authorities will tell us to again and again over the loudspeakers," Hanoi resident Minh told AFP.

"I don't want to get into trouble, so I just do as I'm told," he added, refusing to provide his full name out of fear of retribution.

The Tet lunar new year, which starts on Saturday and runs for five days, is one of several dates in the calendar when flag-flying abounds.

"Most houses obey the encouragement because they don't want any trouble," Quan, a local official in Hanoi told AFP, also refusing to provide his full name.

The tradition of hanging flags in northern Vietnam dates back to 1954, when the French were thrown out of the country following a fiercely fought campaign led by independence hero Ho Chi Minh.

In those years, the banners were happily hung by patriotic northerners celebrating independence.

After the end of the Vietnam War and unification in 1975, the yellow-starred banner became the national flag, replacing in the south the flag used by US-backed forces -- a red and blue rectangle with a yellow star.

Since then, communist authorities in the tightly controlled country have leaned heavily on shows of pomp and nationalism.

And although enthusiasm is flagging, not everyone is bitter about the banners.

Flag-makers like Nguyen Van Phuc do swift business in the weeks leading up to Tet, churning out hundreds of the handmade banners every day.

He is careful to comply with strict state rules about the flag's design: rectangular and red, with a five-point golden star angled the right way up.

"Whether (the flag) is big or as small as a finger, it must comply with state regulation. Only then does it become sacred," Phuc said.

A man sets out newly printed Vietnamese flags to dry ahead of the Lunar New Year at a workshop on the outskirts of Hanoi HOANG DINH NAM (AFP)

The Lunar New Year, known in Vietnam as Tet, sees red and gold cascade across the country as the unmistakable communist flag gets a proud airing HOANG DINH NAM (AFP)
Killer avalanches hit Indian Kashmir

Avalanches killed five people in Indian-administered Kashmir on Wednesday -- four members of a family whose home was buried under snow and a soldier stationed at a military base.

The four family members died when an avalanche ripped through the small village of Badugam in the Gurez area, close to the unofficial border with Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, while they were asleep in their home.

Police and rescuers managed to pull an 18-year-old from the mounds of snow but he was the sole survivor.

Kashmiri villagers carry drinking water containers as they walk along a snow covered path on the outskirts of Srinagar TAUSEEF MUSTAFA (AFP/File)

"The avalanche struck the village at 4:00 am, killing four members of a family. One survivor was rescued," inspector general of police for the region, Javid Gillani, told AFP.

The victims were a 17-year-old boy, his 19-year-old sister and both their parents.

The soldier was killed when another avalanche hit an army barracks in the northern area of Sonmarg, said a military spokesman.

Indian-administered Kashmir has been witnessing one of the severest winters in recent decades, with heavy snow across the territory and temperature dropping to minus seven degrees Celsius (19 degrees Fahrenheit).

Meteorologists have forecast more heavy snow across the territory over the next three days.

Authorities had already issued avalanche warnings, advising residents in mountainous areas not to venture out.
28 killed in Shabaab attack on Mogadishu hotel

Twenty-eight people were killed Wednesday when Al-Shabaab fighters attacked a popular Mogadishu hotel, setting off two car bombs and opening fire on security guards, according to the city's main ambulance service.

The attack, claimed by the Al-Qaeda-aligned Shabaab insurgents, began when a car loaded with explosives rammed the gate of the Dayah Hotel near the Somali parliament and state house.

Security sources said at least four gunmen then entered the compound and exchanged fire with security guards, but they were shot dead before reaching the main building where guests were staying. They were not counted among the 28 dead.

Residents carry an injured man wounded during a complex car bomb attack targeting a Mogadishu hotel on January 25, 2017 MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB (AFP)

A second massive blast went off after ambulances and journalists had already rushed to the scene, leaving seven reporters with minor injuries, according to the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ).

They included an AFP photographer who suffered shrapnel wounds to his shoulder and leg, an Associated Press photographer and a reporter working with Al-Jazeera television.

"The number of casualties we have recorded today is 28 dead and 43 wounded. This is what we have confirmed with our teams but there were also other ambulances which carried some casualties (but) I don't know how many," said Dr Abukadir Abdirahman Adem, head of the ambulance service.

Somalia's Security Minister Abdirisak Omar Mohamed told reporters there were 10 people killed and 51 wounded in the attack.

"We commend the security guards of the hotel who fiercely fought the Shabaab attackers to defend the hotel," he said.

AFP images showed security forces and civilians milling about outside the devastated hotel -- its windows and doors blown out -- after the first explosion, when a second car exploded with a massive blast, sending thick plumes of smoke into the air and sending people fleeing.

Gunfire rang out from the hotel as civilians and rescue workers carried away the injured.

The Shabaab group claimed responsibility in a statement distributed on its Telegram messaging account.

"The mujahideen fighters have attacked a hotel and have managed to enter the hotel after detonating a car loaded with explosives," it said.

The Shabaab is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government of Somalia and regularly stages deadly attacks on state, military and civilian targets in the capital and elsewhere in the war-torn country.

- Election date set -

The attack -- the deadliest so far in Somalia in 2017 -- came shortly before the country's election commission announced that a long-awaited presidential vote would take place on February 8.

The date has been pushed back numerous times amid delays in a vote for lawmakers, who were finally sworn in in late December.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of president Siad Barre's military regime, which ushered in more than two decades of anarchy and conflict in a country deeply divided along clan lines.

The clan rivalries and lawlessness provided fertile ground for the Shabaab to take hold and seize territory, frustrating efforts to set up a central administration.

After a series of transitional governments were formed abroad, a previous parliament was chosen by 135 clan elders and set up in Mogadishu in 2012.

Somalis were promised a one-person, one-vote election in 2016.

But political infighting and ongoing insecurity due to the presence of Shabaab meant Somalis were handed a "limited" election, in which 14,025 specially picked delegates voted for 275 parliamentary seats distributed according to clan.

Another 72 seats in a new upper house were shared out according to region.

The 2016 process is seen as taking the country a step closer to a universal suffrage election now planned for 2020.

Map locating the Somali capital Mogadishu, where a car bomb attack Wednesday killed 28 people, emergency services said

People walk among rubbles following an attack outside an hotel on January 25, 2017, in Mogadishu MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB (AFP)
Lavrov to meet Syria's political opposition on Friday

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will hold talks with officials from Syria's political opposition on Friday, Moscow said, seeking to reinvigorate efforts for a peace settlement.

The meeting comes after Russian-brokered indirect talks involving the Syrian regime and armed rebel leaders in Kazakhstan ended Tuesday without a major breakthrough.

But it appeared that representatives from armed Syrian rebel groups had not been asked to attend.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet with Syrian opposition representatives after peace talks in Kazakhstan failed to deliver any najor breakthrough Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV (AFP/File)

"We have invited on Friday all the opposition representatives from the political opposition that wish to come to Moscow and we will brief them about what happened in Astana," Lavrov told lawmakers on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry could not name which opposition groups from Syria's vast array -- some of whom are dismissed by rebels fighting on the ground as not genuine -- would be represented.

A rebel negotiator from the armed opposition delegation that attended the Astana talks said they had not been invited to Moscow but did not rule out heading there if asked.

"We did not receive an invitation," Fares Buyush told AFP from Istanbul.

"The problem isn't the invitation, it's the topic of discussion. If it's serious and we'll be discussing a national issue, we'll go to the end of the world," Buyush said.

Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed in Astana to establish a joint "mechanism" to shore up a shaky three-week truce in Syria, but offered few concrete details on how it would work.

Representatives from Damascus and the armed rebels in the Kazakh capital were expected to hold their first face-to-face talks since the conflict erupted in 2011, but the rebels refused and mediators had to shuttle between the two sides.

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the meetings, saying they offered a "good basis for continuing" the process in Geneva, referring to United Nations-led talks due to take place February 8.

"Thanks to our joint efforts, the process is developing on the basis of a very important decision that we managed to achieve - the ceasing of military action, a ceasefire between the government forces and the armed opposition," Putin said at a meeting in Moscow with Jordan's King Abdullah II.

Russia has sidelined the West with its diplomatic push to find a political settlement to the war in Syria, after its military intervention to support President Bashar al-Assad turned the tables on the battlefield.

Rebel forces are reeling after regime troops, backed by Russian and Iranian firepower, dealt them the biggest blow in over five years of fighting, capturing their eastern Aleppo stronghold last month.
Trump set to move on Mexican border wall

US President Donald Trump will take a first step toward fulfilling his pledge to "build a wall" on the Mexican border Wednesday, as he rolls out a series of immigration-related decrees.

The White House said Trump will make the announcements during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security in the afternoon.

"Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!" Trump tweeted late Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump is expected to roll out a series of immigration-related decrees on January 25, 2017 NICHOLAS KAMM (AFP)

Trump is also expected to sign measures targeting US "sanctuary" cities, where local officials refuse to help round up people for deportation.

And according to CNN, he plans to expand the number of customs and border agents.

Stemming immigration was a central plank of Trump's election campaign. His signature policy prescription was to build a wall across the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border between the United States and Mexico.

Some of the border is already fenced, but Trump says a wall is needed to stop illegal immigrants entering from Latin America.

In 2014, there were an estimated 5.8 million unauthorized Mexican migrants in the United States, according to Pew, with fewer arriving each year.

Experts have voiced doubts about whether a wall would actually stem illegal immigration, or if it is worth the billions it would be expected to cost.

But the policy has become a clarion call for the US right and far-right -- the core of Trump's support.

Still, any action from the White House would be piecemeal, diverting only existing funds toward the project.

The Republican-controlled Congress would need to supply new money if the wall is to be anywhere near completed, and Trump's party has spent the last decade preaching fiscal prudence.

Furthermore, much of the land needed to build the wall is privately owned, implying lengthy legal proceedings, political blowback, and substantial expropriation payments.

A Morning Consult/Politico poll released Wednesday said 47 percent of voters support building a wall, with 45 percent against.

- Make Mexico pay? -

Trump again promised "100 percent" to make Mexico pay for the wall Wednesday, something that the Mexican government has repeatedly said it will not do.

"Ultimately it will come out of what's happening with Mexico, we're going to be starting those negotiations relatively soon. And we will be, in a form, reimbursed by Mexico," he told ABC.

"All it is, is we will be reimbursed at a later date from whatever transaction we'll make from Mexico."

"I'm just telling you, there will be a payment, it will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form."

"What I'm doing is good for the United States, it's also going to be good for Mexico. We want to have a very stable, very solid Mexico"

Trump aides have weighed hiking border tariffs or border transit costs as one way to "make Mexico pay." Another threat is to finance the wall by tapping into remittances that Mexican migrants sent home, which last year amounted to $25 billion.

Mexico's foreign minister Luis Videgaray and the country's economy minister are currently in Washington to prepare a visit by President Enrique Pena Nieto scheduled for January 31.

"There are very clear red lines that must be drawn from the start," Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told the Televisa network in Mexico just ahead of the trip.

Asked whether his country would walk away from talks if the wall and remittances are an issue, Guajardo said: "Absolutely."

Trump also wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada, warning last week that he would abandon the pact unless the United States gets "a fair deal."

Mexico has said it is willing to "modernize" the pact, which came into force in 1994 and represents $531 billion in annual trade between Mexico and the United States.

Some 80 percent of Mexico's exports go to the US market.

- Ban on Muslims? -

Trump has also floated the idea of a ban on Muslims coming to the United States.

Trump this week is set to slash the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the United States, according to the New York Times, particularly from Syria and other Muslim-majority countries.

Around 4.8 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries alone, according to the United Nations.

An estimated 18,000 Syrians have come to the United States.

Former officials said Trump could slow the flow down by moving resources away from processing visa requests, or cutting migrant quotas and programs.

The orders would restrict immigration and access to the United States for refugees and visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, according to the Washington Post.

Citizens from those countries already face large obstacles in obtaining US visas.

But the move has prompted a fierce backlash even before it was announced.

"A ban on refugees would not make America safer," said Stephen Yale-Loehr of Cornell Law. "Refugees from Syria already go through a 21-step screening process that takes 18-24 months."

"The head of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services told Congress in September 2016 that not a single act of actual terrorist violence has been committed by a refugee since 9/11."

Mexico and the US: the border barrier and migration

Donald Trump's signature election campaign policy was to build a wall across the 2,000-mile border between the US and Mexico ROBYN BECK (AFP/File)

People protest against US President Donald Trump's inauguration next to a fake wall with a Mexican national flag and a dummy representing him in Mexico City on January 20, 2017 PEDRO PARDO (AFP)
Kuwait hangs seven people including royal

Kuwait on Wednesday hanged seven people including a member of the ruling family and a woman who burned dozens of people to death at a wedding party, the authorities said.

The three women and four men are the first to be executed in the oil-rich Gulf state since mid-2013.

They included two Kuwaitis, two Egyptians and one each from Bangladesh, the Philippines and Ethiopia, a statement by the public prosecution office said.

Kuwait has carried out its first executions since mid-2013 Yoav Lemmer (AFP/File)

Sheikh Faisal Abdullah Al-Sabah, the first royal to be executed in the emirate, was convicted of shooting and killing his nephew, another member of the ruling family, in 2010 over a dispute.

Nusra al-Enezi, the other Kuwaiti, set fire to a tent in 2009 during a wedding party in an apparent act of revenge against her husband for taking a second wife.

Many of the 57 people killed were women and children.

Enezi, who was 23 years old at the time, threw petrol on the tent, where people were celebrating inside, and burned it down in one of the most devastating crimes in the history of Kuwait.

The Filipina and Ethiopian women were domestic helpers convicted of murdering members of their employers' families in two unrelated crimes.

Philippines presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the presidential palace was saddened by the execution of Jakatia Pawa.

Abella said the government had done everything it could to save Pawa, including legal assistance to ensure that her rights were respected and all legal procedures were followed.

Manila "exerted all efforts to preserve her life, including diplomatic means and appeals for compassion. Execution, however, could no longer be forestalled under Kuwaiti laws... We pray for her and her bereaved family," he added.

Around 240,000 Filipinos are working and living in Kuwait, some of them domestic helpers.

The two Egyptians were also convicted of premeditated murder while the Bangladeshi was convicted of abduction and rape.

- First executions since 2013 -

Kuwait resumed executions in 2013 after a moratorium of six years.

In April 2013, authorities hanged three men convicted of murder.

Two months later, two Egyptians, convicted of murder and abduction, were executed.

One of them, Hajjaj Saadi, was convicted of abducting and raping 17 children below the age of 10. He denied the charges in court.

Human rights group Amnesty International condemned the executions as "shocking and deeply regrettable."

"By choosing to resume executions now the Kuwaiti authorities have displayed a wanton disregard for the right to life and signalled a willingness to weaken human rights standards," Samah Hadid, Amnesty's deputy campaigns director, said.

The group urged Kuwait to review abolishing the death penalty.

Reprieve, a London-based rights group, also criticised the executions and urged countries to call on Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to halt executions.

Kuwait has executed 74 men and six women since it introduced the death penalty in the mid-1960s. Most of those condemned have been murderers or drug traffickers.

Around 50 prisoners are on death row.

Courts in Kuwait, which has an elected parliament and an active political scene, have in the past handed down death sentences to members of the Al-Sabah family that has ruled the country for two-and-a-half centuries.

Capital punishment is widespread in the Gulf region, particularly in Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Norway wealth fund removes Raytheon from blacklist

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, has removed US arms giant Raytheon from its blacklist after it stopped manufacturing cluster weapons, Norway's central bank announced on Wednesday.

The fund, worth around 7.42 trillion kroner (830 billion euros, $892 billion) and which is subject to strict ethical guidelines, excluded Raytheon from its portfolio in 2005 because of its role in the production of these weapons.

International campaigners have long sought a ban on cluster weapons because of the serious danger they pose to civilian populations.

Raytheon was excluded from Norway's sovereign wealth fund in 2005 because of its role in the production of cluster weapons ROSLAN RAHMAN (AFP/File)

"The Council on Ethics has received confirmation from Raytheon Co that the company no longer has any activities associated with production of cluster munitions (and) has on the basis of this information recommended the bank to revoke the exclusion," said the bank, which is tasked with managing the Norwegian fund.

The fund holds stakes in around 9,000 companies worldwide.

Its investment policy is focused on sustainable economic, environmental and social development.

Ethical rules bar it from investing in companies accused of serious violations of human rights, child labour or serious environmental damage, as well as manufacturers of "particularly inhumane" arms, tobacco firms and companies who generate more than 30 percent of their sales from coal production.

More than 130 companies have been blacklisted, including heavyweights such as Airbus, Boeing, Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Rio Tinto.
Gambia's Barrow to return home Thursday

The Gambia's new president will cap a prolonged political crisis by returning to Banjul on Thursday, after fleeing to Senegal for his safety.

President Adama Barrow flew out of his tiny west African country on January 13 to meet world leaders in Mali as ex-leader Yahya Jammeh's refusal to step down and hand over power threw the nation into crisis.

Barrow's aide Mai Fatty confirmed to AFP on Wednesday that the new president was preparing to head home from Senegal, where he has been since January 15.

Gambian President Adama Barrow was sworn in as the new head of state on January 19, 2017 at his country's embassy in neighbouring Senegal SEYLLOU (AFP/File)

"Yes, tomorrow afternoon," Fatty told AFP in Dakar.

Jammeh finally left on Saturday by which time Barrow had been sworn in at the Gambian embassy in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, but unease has been growing over the new leader's absence.

In Banjul, members of Barrow's new government spoke of "elation" at the news he would finally arrive after anxious days of waiting.

"He is coming tomorrow at 4 pm (1600 GMT)," a senior official in his coalition administration told AFP. "It is important for him to come to avoid the void."

The official said the priority would be "putting into place the pillars of reform and human rights," adding "people are very happy and it's elating."

Jammeh, who had been in power for more than two decades after taking power in a coup, went into exile in Equatorial Guinea under threat of a regional military intervention.

- Fleet of luxury cars -

Around 4,000 troops west African troops remain in The Gambia charged with ensuring the country's security, as it is believed rogue pro-Jammeh elements remain in the security forces that were once under his personal control.

Marcel Alain De Souza, head of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), told a briefing in Nigeria on Tuesday that the troops were working to secure Banjul and the surrounding area for Barrow's return.

"Today or tomorrow, we will be able to indicate that President Adama Barrow, if he's comfortable, can fly on," De Souza had said.

Barrow has assured Jammeh he will have all the rights legally ensured to an ex-president, which under Gambian law includes immunity from prosecution, barring a vote by two-thirds of the national assembly.

The new government has also confirmed that Jammeh will be permitted to keep a fleet of luxury cars, while Fatty said Sunday that the former strongman had plundered state coffers before heading into exile, making off with $11 million (10 million euros).

Diplomats have expressed a desire for Barrow to return straight away to ensure the economy, already in a fragile state, does not fall into further disrepair.

Barrow must also deal with the first internal crisis of his government after it was revealed his just appointed Vice-President Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang may be constitutionally over age for the role.

New Gambian president Adama Barrow, who has been in Senegal since January 15, had put off his return until his safety could be guaranteed
Gang violence on the rise on edges of Algerian cities

Tired of living in fear of gang violence, Karima and her children left the drab satellite town of Ali Mendjeli near Constantine in northeast Algeria to seek refuge with in-laws.

The 45-year-old mother of three, who asked not to give her surname, said living with in-laws is far from ideal but it beats the anxiety of daily life in her former home where rival gangs battle it out with knives and swords.

"I was afraid they would attack my children," she said. "I have two teenagers and I feared it would end badly."

A man looks out of the window of an apartment in Carriere-Jaubert, one of the oldest suburbs on the northern outskirts of the Algerian capital Algiers, known for its gang violence, on January 23, 2017

Experts say urban violence is on the rise due to social insecurity, traumatic memories of Algeria's civil war in the 1990s and the mushrooming of deprived towns like Ali Mendjeli on the edges of major cities.

Algeria's population has shot up from nine million when it won independence from France in 1962 to more than 40 million in 2016.

The demographic boom and rapid migration from the countryside to cities created an acute housing shortage. In 2000, the government launched a programme to build two million homes by 2019.

But new towns like Ali Mendjeli have been built "without any territorial and environmental logic", said Nadir Djermoune, a professor of architecture at the University of Blida, southwest of Algiers.

Rather than becoming urban spaces, they have become marginalised communities where gang violence is common, he said.

Professor Rachid Belhadj, head of Forensic Medicine at the Mustapha Bacha University Hospital Centre in Algiers, labels them "ghettos" where violence is growing "like a cancer".

"Violence was already there, but its use by organised gangs... is what worries us," he said.

Belhadj, whose centre examines victims of violence to verify their claims before they complain to police, said the number of people using his services has leapt from 2,500 to 6,000 per year in a decade.

No official statistics on crime rates are available, but Interior Minister Noureddine Bedoui has said the relocation of slum dwellers to the new towns has "caused friction between young people".

As for Karima, she feared her children would end up taking drugs and dropping out of school.

- Economic woes -

Unlike many countries in the region, including its neighbours Libya and Tunisia, Algeria has been relatively stable since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.

High oil revenues allowed it to massively increase wages and subsidies, helping it weather the unrest that shook other parts of the region.

But the 2014 collapse in crude oil prices has hit its budget, forcing Algiers to raise taxes on basic goods.

On top of that, youth unemployment hit 26.7 percent in September 2016, according to official figures, in a country where a quarter of the population is aged between 15 and 29.

Economic woes have pushed many young people into drug trafficking and kidnapping, said sociologist Fatma Oussedik of the University of Algiers.

"But the fundamental link that unites them is insecurity... which places them outside of society", pushing them into crime, she said.

"What scares us is that they turn to organised gangs for racketeering and bank robberies," said Belhadj. "For the moment, it is sporadic but it becomes a way of dealing with the crisis."

Some experts link the rising violence to the civil war between the government and armed Islamist groups in the 1990s that killed 200,000 people.

Algerians born at the start of the war are now in their mid-20s and many witnessed extreme violence during childhood.

That has left "a profound trauma in the population that has not yet been adequately addressed", the UN special rapporteur on the right to health, Dainius Puras, said during a visit to Algiers last year.

"While the number of suicides is declining, violence against oneself has turned into violence against others," he said.
The US State Department is reviewing a decision made in the final hours of former president Barack Obama's administration to release $220 million to help Palestinians rebuild the war-scarred Gaza strip.

Officials said some of the money has already been transferred but that President Donald Trump's new administration would investigate last minute spending decisions to see if they can be adjusted.

"In a final act, then-secretary of state John Kerry instructed USAID to release $220.3 million for Gaza recovery programs," acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

A Palestinian worker removes debris from buildings which were destroyed during the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas militants in the summer of 2014, in Gaza City, on April 5, 2016 MOHAMMED ABED (AFP/File)

"The Department of State is currently reviewing last minute spending approved by the previous administration and will make adjustments if needed to ensure that it aligns with the priorities of the Trump-Pence administration."

While a close ally of Israel, the United States is also a major donor to international efforts to help Palestinians to recover from recent conflicts.

In his final weeks in office, Kerry was critical of Israel's building of settlements on occupied Palestinian land, warning that it undercuts efforts to negotiate a two-state final peace deal.
Gambia leader to return home after crisis

The Gambia's new president will return to the capital on Thursday, aides said, ending a prolonged political crisis sparked by disputed elections that forced him to flee to neighbouring Senegal.

The announcement capped days of anxious waiting in the tiny former British colony that was thrown into chaos when long-time president Yahya Jammeh refused to step down after losing elections.

New President Adama Barrow is coming "tomorrow at 4pm (1600 GMT)," a senior government official told AFP. "It is important for him to come to avoid the void."

The official said the priority would be "putting into place the pillars of reform and human rights," adding "people are very happy and it's elating."

Speaking to AFP in Dakar on Wednesday, Barrow's aide Mai Fatty confirmed the president would be arriving "tomorrow afternoon."

Diplomats had urged Barrow to return quickly to ensure the tourist-reliant economy, already in a fragile state, does not fall into further disrepair.

And residents in the capital Banjul said Barrow's arrival would mark the beginning of the healing process after divisions created by Jammeh's regime.

"Not only the government has to change but all the Gambian people have to change, working hand in hand, and change our attitude," said one Gambian, who declined to give his name.

Barrow's first job is to deal with an internal crisis after it emerged his pick for vice president, Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, may be constitutionally too old for the role.

Around 4,000 west African troops remain in The Gambia charged with ensuring safety, as it is believed rogue pro-Jammeh elements remain in the security forces that were once under his personal control.

Marcel Alain De Souza, head of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), told a briefing in Nigeria on Tuesday that the troops were working to secure Banjul and the surrounding area for Barrow's return.

Jammeh finally left the country for exile on Saturday by which time Barrow had been sworn in at the Gambian embassy in Dakar, the Senegalese capital.

After more than two decades in power, he went into exile in Equatorial Guinea under threat of a regional military intervention.

Barrow has assured Jammeh he will have all the rights legally ensured to an ex-president, which under Gambian law includes immunity from prosecution, barring a vote by two-thirds of the national assembly.
James Baldwin 'unfiltered' in Oscar-nominated documentary

Raoul Peck's Oscar-nominated documentary "I Am Not Your Negro" presents the raw, "unfiltered" voice of US civil rights stalwart James Baldwin through his own words, the Haitian filmmaker says.

"He invented a language of incredible force," Peck told AFP at his Paris office, calling the novelist, essayist and poet the literary "father of everyone" who influenced authors from Beat Generation idol Allen Ginsberg to Nobel literature laureate Toni Morrison.

"The title is obviously a provocation," said Peck, president of La Femis, France's most prestigious film school.

Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck's documentary on American writer James Baldwin has been nominated for an Oscar Eric FEFERBERG (AFP)

He summed up the thinking of Baldwin, who was black and gay, by saying: "You can't park me in the ghettos and lynch me without becoming monsters."

Baldwin escaped American racism and homophobia in 1948, taking refuge in Paris for more than a decade before returning home to lead a nationwide campaign against segregation.

It was in Paris that the Harlem-born Baldwin wrote his semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story "Go Tell It on the Mountain".

Three years later he authored the frank, homoerotic "Giovanni's Room", one of the first acclaimed literary works to explore the gay experience.

Back in the United States, Baldwin became friends with African American civil rights icons Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Medgar Evers -- all three assassinated before they reached their 40th birthday, as Peck notes.

In 1963, Baldwin's deeply personal exploration of racial injustice in "The Fire Next Time" fanned the flames of the American civil rights movement as it was exploding in the segregated South.

Peck could not bear the idea of Baldwin falling into oblivion, that history would inherit his ideas "without quoting him".

- Unpublished notes -

The filmmaker combed through Baldwin's novels and correspondence on the way to creating what he called a "confrontation" between the man and today's world.

Black and white footage from scenes of more recent racial strife such as Ferguson, Missouri -- which saw a wave of protests after the police shooting of an unarmed African-American man -- remind viewers of the subject's continuing relevance.

The work, which Peck said is "high-stakes artistically and politically", aims to challenge the racism of "(US President Donald) Trump and all those like him".

But he said Baldwin's discourse is too politically incorrect for American television, predicting that his documentary would never reach the small screen.

Actor Samuel L. Jackson, whose breakthrough role was as a crack addict in Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever" (1991), voices Baldwin in the US version.

French rapper JoeyStarr does the French voiceover for the documentary, soon to be released on the German-French cultural channel Arte.

"They act from within" Baldwin's black skin, said Peck, who is in his early 60s and whose own family fled Haiti under the Duvalier dictatorship.

The idea of the documentary, which will hit US cinemas on February 3, enjoyed the "unflagging support" of Baldwin's younger sister and assistant Gloria, Peck said.

Now more than 80 years old, she gave Peck access to all the archives.

After four years of exchanges, she handed over 30 pages of notes that Baldwin made for "Remember This House", a book that remained unfinished when he died aged 63 in 1987.

She told Peck: "You'll know what to do with them," the director recalled.

The previously unpublished notes gave him an "entrance" into the film project he had begun several years earlier.

In the film, Peck envisions the book on US race relations through the lives and assassinations of King, Evers and Malcolm X.

The documentary is entirely in Baldwin's words, "unfiltered" so the audience can hear them, he said.

The film also takes on Hollywood for "fabricating the Negro", Peck said, asserting that the US film industry was built on the history of "two unspeakable genocides" -- that of Native and African Americans.

Film critics have their share of blame for the "missing image" of the black man in films. "They collaborated" whether or not they meant to, Peck argued.

"The dominant white male has a stranglehold on history," he said.
Syrians ride first train across Aleppo in years

Hundreds of Syrians took a train through battle-scarred east Aleppo on Thursday as services resumed for the first time after four years of fighting, a photographer working with AFP said.

Men, women and children peered out the windows as they rode across eastern districts after regime forces recaptured them from rebels in December, the photographer said.

It was the train's first such trip since rebels overran east Aleppo in the summer of 2012, effectively dividing the northern city into a regime-held west and a rebel-controlled east.

Syrian railway workers wait for a train to leave Aleppo's Jibreen station, on the city's eastern outskirts, for a one-hour round trip on January 25, 2017 George OURFALIAN (AFP)

A driver in a leather jacket ferried the full carriages from Jibreen station on the city's eastern outskirts across the city's former front line to Aleppo's main Baghdad railway station.

As they slowly moved through the rubble, the passengers -- surprised at the extent of the damage -- pulled out their mobile phones to take pictures.

On the ground in the eastern side, which is strewn with debris after years of air strikes, people gathered by the tracks, staring at the first train they had seen since 2012.

Passengers rode the train, which bore portraits of President Bashar al-Assad at the front and in the carriages, two ways in a one-hour round trip, the photographer said.

Syria's Transport Minister Ali Hamoud said the resumption of train services between the two stations came after "the victory of the heroes of the Syrian army, returning safety and stability to the whole city".

Because of Syria's conflict, services remain suspended between Aleppo and other main cities.

An inspection uncovered 40 points of damage "from terrorism" along the line, the minister said, using the term the regime uses to refer to the rebels.

The line was reopened after repairs that took less than 20 days, he said in a statement carried by the SANA official news agency.

Najib Faris, head of the public railway company, announced there would be four trips a day between the Jibreen and Baghdad stations for up to 600 passengers for each trip.

Once an economic hub, Aleppo has been ravaged in the country's nearly six-year war that has killed more than 310,000 people and displaced millions.

The conflict started in 2011 with the brutal repression on anti-government protests and has since spiralled into a complex war.
New Pentagon chief to visit Japan, South Korea next month

US Defense Secretary James Mattis plans to travel to Japan and South Korea next month on his first trip as the Pentagon's new chief, a spokesman said Wednesday.

He is set to depart on February 1 for South Korea before traveling to Tokyo on February 3.

"The trip will underscore the commitment of the United States to our enduring alliances to Japan and the Republic of Korea, and further strengthen US/Japan/Republic of Korea security cooperation," Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said.

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis will depart on February 1 for South Korea and then travel to Tokyo on February 3 PAUL J. RICHARDS (AFP/File)

The trip comes amid worries among the two long-standing American allies about the direction of US policy in their region under President Donald Trump.

During his campaign, Trump threatened to withdraw US forces from the two countries if they do not step up their financial support.

Mattis will be the Trump administration's first senior official to shed light on specifics of Washington's intentions in the region.

He will meet with his counterparts and other senior officials, Davis said.

Tensions are also rising with China over its moves to assert sovereignty in disputed areas of the South China Sea, and over North Korean threats to test an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the US mainland.

Trump has angered China with a hard line against Beijing, threatening an economic trade war and upending decades of US policy over Taiwan.

In another jarring note for the region, the president this week withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade agreement signed by former president Barack Obama but never ratified by Congress.

The agreement was signed by 12 countries bordering the Pacific. In addition to the United States, signers include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Since his appointment earlier this month, Mattis has sought to reaffirm Washington's major alliances.

On Monday, he emphasized its "unshakeable commitment" to NATO.

During his Senate confirmation hearings, he stressed the US strategic interest in its alliances with Japan and South Korea.

"The United States is stronger when we uphold our treaty obligations," he said.
Trump orders work to start on Mexico border wall

President Donald Trump ordered work to begin on planning and building a wall on the Mexican border, sounding a hardline tone on immigration as he moved to fulfill a key campaign pledge.

The US leader instructed officials to begin to "plan, design and construct a physical wall along the southern border" and -- perhaps more problematically -- see how it could be funded.

"A nation without borders is not a nation," Trump said, echoing former president Ronald Reagan, as he visited the Department of Homeland Security to sign two executive orders.

US President Donald Trump ordered work to begin on planning and building a wall on the Mexican border, saying "a nation without borders is not a nation" NICHOLAS KAMM (AFP)

"Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders," the Republican president said.

Stemming immigration was a central plank of Trump's election campaign.

His signature policy prescription was to build a wall across the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border between the United States and Mexico.

Some of the border is already fenced, but Trump says a wall is needed to stop illegal immigrants entering from Latin America.

The policy has become a clarion call for the US right and far-right -- the core of Trump's support.

A Morning Consult/Politico poll released Wednesday said 47 percent of voters support building a wall, with 45 percent against.

Experts have voiced doubts about whether a wall would actually stem illegal immigration, or if it is worth the billions it is expected to cost.

"I suspect that a lot of Trump supporters would be just as happy with a big statue of a middle finger pointed south," said Congressman Luis Gutierrez.

"Both are about equally effective as national security strategies."

Despite the high octane rhetoric, Trump's action was piecemeal, looking to identify existing funds that could be diverted toward the project.

The Republican-controlled Congress would need to supply billions of dollars more if the wall is to be anywhere near completed.

Trump's party has spent the last decade preaching fiscal prudence, so cuts to existing programs would likely be required.

Trump also ordered a survey of the border to be completed within 180 days.

Much of the land needed to build the wall would have to be seized from private citizens in Texas, the state of Texas or tribal authorities.

That could lead to lengthy legal proceedings, political blowback and substantial expropriation payments.

"The only real solution to reform our immigration system is to pass comprehensive immigration reform that provides a path to citizenship for the 11 million" undocumented people in the United States, top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said.

- Make Mexico pay? -

Trump has promised to make Mexico pay for the wall, something the Mexican government has repeatedly said it will not do.

"Ultimately it will come out of what's happening with Mexico, we're going to be starting those negotiations relatively soon. And we will be, in a form, reimbursed by Mexico," Trump told ABC earlier Wednesday.

Trump aides have weighed hiking border tariffs or border transit costs as one way to "make Mexico pay."

Another threat is to finance the wall by tapping into remittances that Mexican migrants send home, which last year amounted to $25 billion.

"There are a lot of different ways of getting Mexico to contribute to doing this, and there are different ways of defining how exactly they pay for it," House leader Paul Ryan said in an interview on MSNBC, while also conceding that the United States is "going to pay for it and front the money up."

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and the country's economy minister are currently in Washington to prepare for a visit by President Enrique Pena Nieto scheduled for January 31.

"There are very clear red lines that must be drawn from the start," Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told the Televisa network in Mexico just ahead of the trip.

Asked whether his country would walk away from talks if the wall and remittances are an issue, Guajardo said: "Absolutely."

- Ban on Muslims? -

Trump is also said to be floating the idea of a ban on refugees from Muslim-majority countries, including Syria.

Around 4.8 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries alone, according to the United Nations. An estimated 18,000 Syrians have come to the United States.

Former officials said Trump could slow the flow down by moving resources away from processing visa requests, or cutting or freezing migrant quotas and programs.

The move has prompted a fierce backlash even before it was announced.

"A ban on refugees would not make America safer," said Stephen Yale-Loehr of Cornell Law. "Refugees from Syria already go through a 21-step screening process that takes 18-24 months."

"The head of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services told Congress in September 2016 that not a single act of actual terrorist violence has been committed by a refugee since 9/11."

Mexico and the US: the border barrier and migration

Donald Trump's signature election campaign policy was to build a wall across the 2,000-mile border between the US and Mexico ROBYN BECK (AFP/File)

People protest against US President Donald Trump's inauguration next to a fake wall with a Mexican national flag and a dummy representing him in Mexico City PEDRO PARDO (AFP)

North American Free Trade Agreement John SAEKI (AFP)
Chicago mayor welcomes federal help, but not troops

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday that he would welcome federal law enforcement help to deal with a spiking murder rate, in response to a tweet from US President Donald Trump promising to "send in the feds."

But he strongly rejected the notion that Trump might employ the National Guard.

Political leaders in Chicago were abuzz over the president's tweet promising to act if the city cannot "fix the horrible 'carnage' going on."

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks to the media following a meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower, December 7, 2016 in New York Bryan R. Smith (AFP/File)

Chicago has struggled with a soaring murder rate and rampant shootings. Last year, there were more than 750 murders and 3,500 shootings, and this January has proven deadlier than last.

"The president has offered, and repeated, that he wants to offer federal help as it relates to public safety. I'm going to take him up on that offer," said Emanuel, a prominent Democrat who was former president Barack Obama's first White House chief of staff.

The mayor said he had spoken as recently as last week with White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Vice President Mike Pence.

"What we do agree is in using federal law enforcement resources to help and support local law enforcement," Emanuel said at a news conference.

But the president's "send in the feds" comment prompted speculation among some that the National Guard could be called upon to help police the city, a notion the mayor rejected.

"I'm against it, straight up," Emanuel said. "It's antithetical to the spirit of what community policing is."

- 'Dialogue' with Chicago mayor -

At the White House, press secretary Sean Spicer said the president was suggesting various forms of aid to Chicago to help it better enforce the law, "either through the US Attorney's office or other means that will ensure that the people of Chicago have the resources to feel safe."

"I think up next we'll get a dialogue started with Mayor Emanuel and figure out what a path forward can be so that we get -- we come up with a plan that can keep the people of Chicago safe and help ease the problem there," Spicer said.

But the president's tweet rankled city leaders, some of whom expressed dismay over Trump's penchant to address complex issues via Twitter's 140-character dispatches.

"I don't understand this gentleman," said Danny Solis, a member of the city council. "I think he's a little bit loco. I'm hoping that his Republican party educates him on a process of being president, and being a world leader that he now has become."

Chicago leaders were also defiant of Trump's executive order Wednesday  one of two concerning immigration  which would withdraw federal funds, where legally possible, from so-called "sanctuary cities."

Chicago is one of 200 local jurisdictions nationwide that limit cooperation with federal authorities in their efforts to detain and deport immigrants.

"I want to be clear, we're gonna stay a sanctuary city," Emanuel said.

He added that younger people -- so-called Dreamers who were brought to the United States as children but do not have papers and are currently in limbo over their legal status, are most in need of support.

"We have to hold our own and fight back. We can't give in," said Solis, who is of Mexican ancestry. "This is about human lives."
Philippines talks end with no ceasefire

A third round of peace talks between the Philippines and communist rebels ended Wednesday with no deal on a permanent ceasefire the government had billed as its primary goal.

Both parties described a week of Norwegian-brokered negotiations on the outskirts of Rome as "successful" in a joint statement that was delayed by last-minute wrangling over wording.

In their statement, the parties noted that "their unilateral indefinite ceasefires remain in place," but added that "there are issues and concerns related thereto."

Members of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines hold a demonstration calling for peace negotiations and social economic reforms in Manila on January 23, 2017 NOEL CELIS (AFP/File)

Despite the failure to tie down a permanent ceasefire after agreement on a temporary one in August, diplomats involved in bringing the two sides together told AFP the latest discussions had been cordial and that efforts to bring the two sides closer to a deal had advanced.

Both parties agreed to meet for a fourth round of formal talks in Oslo April 2-6. Officials dealing specifically with the ceasefire issue will meet again sooner, in Utrecht in the Netherlands on February 22-27.

The communist insurgency in the Philippines, launched in 1968, is one of the longest running in the world and has claimed an estimated 30,000 lives, according to the country's military.

The government's chief negotiator, Silvestre Bello, had voiced hopes at the beginning of the Rome talks that obstacles to a joint ceasefire agreement could be overcome during this round of talks.
US lawmaker says she met Assad on secret Syria trip

The US congresswoman who made a recent secret trip to war-torn Syria said Wednesday she met there with President Bashar al-Assad as part of her effort to end the years-long conflict.

House Democrat Tulsi Gabbard this month traveled to Damascus and the decimated city of Aleppo on a fact-finding mission, where she met with refugees, Syrian opposition leaders and relatives of fighters on both sides of the divide, in addition to Assad.

"Originally, I had no intention of meeting with Assad, but when given the opportunity, I felt it was important to take it," Gabbard said in a statement.

US representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), 35, was a member of the Hawaii National Guard and was deployed to Iraq in 2005 Aaron P. Bernstein (Getty/AFP/File)

"I think we should be ready to meet with anyone if there's a chance it can help bring about an end to this war, which is causing the Syrian people so much suffering."

In an interview on CNN, she added: "Whatever you think about President Assad, the fact is that he is the president of Syria. In order for any possibility of a viable peace agreement to occur, there has to be a conversation with him."

Gabbard, 35, was a member of the Hawaii National Guard and was deployed to Iraq in 2005.

Two weeks after Donald Trump won the November 8 election, she met with him to discuss Syria, raising speculation that he might consider her for a position at the Pentagon or State Department.

Gabbard, who often clashes with her own party on issues related to Syria, has long opposed a US policy of regime change there, arguing that the country would descend further into chaos should Assad be ousted.
The State Department is reviewing a last-minute decision by former Secretary of State John Kerry to send $221 million to the Palestinians late last week over the objections of congressional Republicans.

The department said Tuesday it would look at the payment and might make adjustments to ensure it comports with the Trump administration's priorities.

Kerry formally notified Congress that State would release the money Friday morning, just hours before President Donald Trump took the oath of office.

Officials said some of the money has already been transferred but that President Donald Trump's new administration would investigate last minute spending decisions to see if they can be adjusted.

Last-minute call: John Kerry authorized the movement of the cash for the Palestinian Authority and only told Congress hours before Trump was sworn in. The former Secretary of State was seen walking his dog at the Women's March on Saturday in Washington D.C.

'In a final act, then-secretary of state John Kerry instructed USAID to release $220.3 million for Gaza recovery programs,' acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

'The Department of State is currently reviewing last minute spending approved by the previous administration and will make adjustments if needed to ensure that it aligns with the priorities of the Trump-Pence administration.'

Congress had initially approved the Palestinian funding in budget years 2015 and 2016, but at least two GOP lawmakers  Ed Royce of California, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Kay Granger of Texas, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee  had placed holds on it over moves the Palestinian Authority had taken to seek membership in international organizations.

Congressional holds are generally respected by the executive branch but are not legally binding after funds have been allocated.

Granger released a statement Tuesday saying, 'I am deeply disappointed that President Obama defied congressional oversight and released $221 million to the Palestinian territories.'

West Bank: The cash which had been blocked was to fund humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territories. Republicans stopped it while the Palestinian Authority tried to join international bodies

She added: 'I worked to make sure that no American taxpayer dollars would fund the Palestinian Authority unless very strict conditions were met.

While none of these funds will go to the Palestinian Authority because of those conditions, they will go to programs in the Palestinian territories that were still under review by Congress.

'The Obama Administration's decision to release these funds was inappropriate.'
Restaurants: The next front for the immigration debate?

CHICAGO (AP)  The national debate over immigration policy could be coming to a diner near you.

From down-home delis to upscale bistros, dozens of restaurants nationwide are seeking "sanctuary" status, a designation owners hope will help protect employees in an immigrant-heavy industry and tone down fiery rhetoric sparked by the presidential campaign. First inspired by churches, the label is something cities and other public entities have sought to offer local protections to immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, whether it's barring police from asking citizens about immigration status or refusing to cooperate with federal agents.

Roughly 80 restaurants are participating, in locations including New York, Minneapolis, Detroit, Boston, Oakland, California, and Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In this Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017 photo, a sanctuary restaurant sign is shown at Russell Street Deli in Detroit. Dozens of restaurants are seeking sanctuary status, a designation owners hope will help protect employees in an immigrant-heavy industry and tone down fiery rhetoric sparked by the presidential campaign. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

The restaurants agree to anti-discrimination policies, put up signs on windows that pronounce their sanctuary status and receive know-your-rights training, such as webinars on how to ask federal immigration agents for proper paperwork if there's an attempted raid. Some will also offer a text line for customers or employees to report any incidents of harassment.

At Detroit's Russell Street Deli, customers walking in the front door of the racially diverse restaurant see a sign that reads: "SANCTUARY RESTAURANT, a place at the table for everyone."

"I have this one little place where I get to decide how people treat each other," said owner Ben Hall, who is biracial and was moved to sign up after a few customers' racially tinged comments. "If someone has the need to insult someone ... then they don't get to participate. I've told them, 'There's another diner next door.'"

The movement is loosely defined and largely symbolic. Restaurants are private businesses subject to workplace law and regulations, and a sanctuary designation will do nothing to prevent federal agents from arresting any workers in the country illegally.

But organizers of the sanctuary restaurants movement say it's a response to the uncertainty surrounding how President Donald Trump will carry out campaign pledges to step up deportations and a build a wall along the Mexican border, among other things. Trump signed executive orders Wednesday aimed at jumpstarting construction of the wall and punishing cities that declare themselves sanctuaries for immigrants. Organizers of the movement say the restaurant industry is more vulnerable than others, given its heavy reliance on immigrant labor.

Not all restaurant industry groups agree with the tactic.

The National Restaurant Association, which represents roughly 500,000 businesses, is instead pushing for an immigration overhaul, including an updated verification system that confirms employees' eligibility to work in the country legally. Association Senior Vice President Steve Danon said the organization "is looking forward to working with the Trump administration" on ways to make verification "easier and more cost-efficient."

Roughly 12 million workers are in the restaurant industry and immigrants make up the majority, including up to 70 percent in big cities such as New York and Chicago. An estimated 1.3 million in the industry are immigrants living in the country without legal permission, according to Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, which launched the campaign and works to improve industry conditions.

They pitched the program with an economic argument, saying restaurants need a "robust pool of workers." In a recent letter, they appealed to Trump as a businessman and urged him to "speak out to alleviate the fear of deportation and other harassment."

"This is not about a restaurant harboring people in a closet. This is about creating a safe space," said Saru Jayaraman, a co-founder of ROC United. "Employers have a responsibility to protect their workers."

In Chicago, the general manager at the rustic French restaurant Bistro Campagne said he applied to become a sanctuary restaurant because he wanted his employees to feel supported. Half the employees at his neighborhood bistro are immigrants, including from Romania, Ecuador and Mexico.

"Restaurants are part of embracing other cultures," said Todd Feinberg. "We are all an immigrant culture. The idea that we might not accept that disturbs me a bit."

At Brightwok Kitchen, an Asian inspired build-a-bowl restaurant in downtown Chicago, owner Jeremy Klaben said he sought sanctuary status because he wants employees and customers to feel included. The restaurant draws a busy lunchtime crowd of college students, corporate employees and tourists.

Employee Iris Quijano, 22, said it's an extension of how she and colleagues feel. The Chicago native who has family in Mexico was drawn to the restaurant after she graduated from college.

"In terms of all the negativity and the hatred we have in social media and in general ... it'll be good to be known as a sanctuary restaurant," she said. "All our co-workers stand for the same things. It's really important for others to feel the same vibes in the restaurant and have a good meal without having to worry about anything negative."

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This version of the story corrects the spelling of the name of the bistro in the 14th paragraph.

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Follow Sophia Tareen on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sophiatareen

In this Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017 photo, Ben Hall, owner of the Russell Street Deli, poses with a sanctuary restaurant sign in Detroit. Dozens of restaurants are seeking sanctuary status, a designation owners hope will help protect employees in an immigrant-heavy industry and tone down fiery rhetoric sparked by the presidential campaign. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

In this Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017 photo, a sanctuary restaurant sign is shown on the door of the Russell Street Deli in Detroit. Dozens of restaurants are seeking sanctuary status, a designation owners hope will help protect employees in an immigrant-heavy industry and tone down fiery rhetoric sparked by the presidential campaign. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

In this Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017 photo, a sanctuary restaurant sign is shown inside Russell Street Deli in Detroit. Dozens of restaurants are seeking sanctuary status, a designation owners hope will help protect employees in an immigrant-heavy industry and tone down fiery rhetoric sparked by the presidential campaign. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
While Trump stresses military, Asian allies seek trade, too

WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump's "peace through strength" could mean more U.S. military power in Asia, reassuring allies about America's resolve to counter China. That is, if they're still looking to Washington for reassurance.

Trump called his speedy withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership a victory for American workers hurt by multilateral trade pacts. But his reversal of years of U.S.-led efforts may mean the loss of Asian nations' trust and support in confronting an increasingly assertive Beijing after many of them, under Washington's pressure, barreled through similar domestic concerns over jobs and competition.

And a weakened partnership with East Asia's key commercial powers could have wide-ranging consequences for Americans, beyond them missing out on the trade pact's potential for lower prices and additional jobs.

In this Jan. 23, 2017, photo, Vice President Mike Pence, left, and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus watch as President Donald Trump shows off an executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact agreed to under the Obama administration in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Trumps "peace through strength" could mean more U.S. military power in Asia, reassuring allies about Americas resolve to counter China. That is, if theyre still looking to Washington for reassurance. Trump called his speedy withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership a victory for American workers hurt by multilateral trade pacts. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

"It's not as if we can send a bunch of ships and be protectionist at the same time," said Sheila Smith, an expert on Japan at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Asians don't see economics and military power as separate, she said, and flexing U.S. muscles with Navy boats and other assets while retrenching on free trade "just won't translate into American influence."

The 12-nation trade agreement was the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's outreach to Asia, cutting tariffs and setting new environmental and labor standards in countries representing about 40 percent of the global economy. While Trump said he wants to pursue bilateral trade deals instead, he may find U.S. credibility significantly dented after pulling out of a deal that took years to negotiate.

"Losing the United States from the TPP is a big loss, there is no question about that," Australian Prime Minister Turnbull told reporters, trying to salvage the deal without Washington. "But we are not about to walk away from our commitment to Australian jobs."

On bilateral deals replacing TPP, New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English said, "there's a pretty low chance of that happening in a form that we'd find satisfactory."

Governments' calculus would be different in a one-on-one negotiation. Japan, for example, may have less interest in opening up its agriculture and automobile sectors to American competition. Vietnam may balk at demands to allow independent trade unions. And instead of new deals that better advantage American workers, as Trump has vowed, the result could be a regional shift to an alternative, Chinese-backed trade pact promising more access to the world's biggest consumer market.

"Every country that went through the process of TPP had to do politically difficult things at home," said Vikram Singh at the Center for American Progress.

Trump's withdrawal "shows he cares not a whit about what counterparts in the Asia-Pacific have done to push forward with what was a top U.S. political priority," added Singh, a former Obama administration official.

For Asia, the U.S. turn inward is not without irony.

For decades, Washington was the prime purveyor of free markets, pressuring U.S. friends and foes alike to set aside regional rivalries and ideological incompatibilities for the mutual benefit of enhanced economic integration. This vision guided Democratic and Republican administrations, helping spur Japan's post-World War II redevelopment, the high growth rates of liberalized economies like Singapore and South Korea, and communist China's eventual absorption into the world capitalist order.

Under Obama and President George W. Bush, his predecessor, the American goal for Asia shifted somewhat to creating a fairer trading system that regulated China and didn't let it write the rules for global commerce.

But Trump and his top aides have emphasized military containment, with plans to increase the Navy by more than 20 percent and curbing China's dominance of resource-rich maritime areas also claimed by neighbors.

Walter Lohman, director of Asian studies at the conservative-oriented Heritage Foundation, said the U.S. must be a "full-spectrum power."

"It's great he wants to rebuild the U.S. military and get us up to 350 ships, but we have got to be there in other ways too  economically and diplomatically," Lohman said.

Details of Trump's policy in Asia are unclear beyond the desire to take a tougher stand on China, which enjoys a large trade surplus with the U.S. and has increasingly militarized its hold over parts of the disputed South China Sea. On Monday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said, "We are going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country."

Trump has tried to galvanize Asian allies. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was Trump's first post-election meeting with a foreign leader. On Tuesday, Trump spoke by phone with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who shares concerns about China, and invited him to visit the United States later this year.

As much as they need Trump, he needs them as well.
Avalanches kill 4 family members, Indian soldier in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AP)  Four members of a family and an Indian soldier were killed Wednesday when they were buried by two separate avalanches in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, officials said.

Police officer Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani said a home crumpled under the weight of heavy snow in the Gurez area, killing four people. He said one family member was rescued.

Indian army spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia said a soldier was killed and scores of others were rescued after an avalanche hit army barracks in the Sonmarg area.

Gillani said authorities have issued a "high danger" avalanche warning in many parts of the region, especially along the heavily militarized Line of Control that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Officials said the heavy snowfall has disrupted power and communication lines in Indian-held Kashmir.

Avalanches and landslides are common in Kashmir and have caused some of the heaviest tolls for the Indian and Pakistani armies camped near the de facto frontier dividing their territories.

Last year, at least 14 soldiers were killed in two avalanches in the region.
South Carolina lawmaker accused of beating his wife resigns

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  A South Carolina state lawmaker accused of beating his wife bloody resigned rather than be expelled from the Statehouse.

But Rep. Chris Corley still faces a felony aggravated domestic violence charge that could put him in prison for up to 20 years.

House Speaker Jay Lucas read Corley's one-sentence resignation letter Tuesday to his colleagues, which came as he was preparing to introduce legislation forcing Corley from his House seat.

FILE - This Dec. 27, 2016, file photo provided by the Aiken County Detention Center, S.C., shows South Carolina Rep. Chris Corley. The South Carolina state lawmaker accused of beating his wife bloody resigned on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, rather than be expelled from the Statehouse after a grand jury indicted him on a felony aggravated domestic violence charge that could put him in prison for up to 20 years. (Aiken County Detention Center via AP, File)

"I am grateful that the House did not have to take such extraordinary measures," said Lucas, R-Hartsville.

While the state constitution gives the House authority to remove a member for disorderly conduct, the House hasn't expelled one of its own since the 1870s, according to the speaker's office.

Corley, a Republican best known for his defense of the Confederate flag, was easily re-elected with no opposition to a second term in November. But his troubles at home became public record through a desperate 911 call the day after Christmas.

"Please stop" can be heard repeatedly in the recording released by the Aiken County Sheriff's Office. "Just stop daddy. Just stop. ... Daddy, why are you doing this?" their children say.

Legislative leaders had called on the 36-year-old attorney from Graniteville to resign ahead of the session that started Jan. 10.

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, whose district includes much of Corley's, said state leaders had to make clear that "it's not OK to beat up your wife."

While Corley is legally innocent until proven guilty, "there's a big difference between the criminal and political side," said Massey, R-Edgefield. "It's a bad thing and we ought to be calling it out."

He and others also said Corley's constituents deserve representation. Lucas suspended Corley from his seat Jan. 4 shortly after the indictment.

Corley said his wife tried to punch him after accusing him of cheating, and the police report noted a scratch on his forehead. Corley's wife told deputies he stopped hitting her on Dec. 26 only after noticing she was bleeding and hearing the screams of two of their three children, ages 2 and 8.

He was initially charged with first-degree domestic violence, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and pointing a firearm. The grand jury returned a more serious charge of "domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature," punishable by up to 20 years. The gun charge is punishable by five years.

Prosecutors said in court that Corley threw his wife on their bed and began hitting her in the head, once even biting her nose as their young children stood in the doorway. Corley took away his wife's cellphone so she couldn't call for help, but she managed to make the 911 call on her Apple Watch, assistant attorney general Kinli Abee said.

The attack ended with Corley pointing a gun at his wife and then going to a bathroom, which allowed her to run with her children to her mother's house across the street, Abee said.

Corley's attorney did not dispute the facts in court.

A judge set Corley's bail at $50,000 on the upgraded charge last week, and he spent a night in jail. The pro-gun lawmaker was also ordered to turn in his weapons and passport and not contact his wife or their children without permission.

Lawmakers said hearing the children's screams on the 911 recording compelled them to speak out.

During the 2015 debate on whether to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds, which followed the massacre in Charleston of nine black churchgoers by a white man who brandished the rebel banner, Corley mocked his colleagues by suggesting they raise the white flag of surrender instead.

In his Christmas card to House Republicans months later, he told his colleagues they lacked morals for voting to take down the flag, and suggested they "ask for forgiveness of all your sins such as betrayal."

Corley called it a joke, in his smart-aleck style. Democrats got a card with a photo of his children.

___
Burundi's government frees scores of prisoners after pardon

BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AP)  Burundi's government has started releasing scores of prisoners, including some accused of endangering state security, following a clemency order issued by President Pierre Nkurunziza.

Justice Minister Aimee Laurentine Kanyana says a total of 2,500 prisoners are expected to be released.

Kanyana calls the release "a surprise gift that the head of state is offering" in the spirit of national reconciliation.

Kanyana says that among those benefiting from the clemency are 58 members of the opposition MSD party, whose leader Alexis Sinduhije is in exile.

Many of those due to be released had been sentenced to jail terms of under five years and had served most of their terms.
Yazidi refugees languish in policy spat after IS attacks

AGIOS ATHANASIOS, Greece (AP)  As a member of a persecuted minority in Iraq, 24-year-old Shaker Mahie has seen his people massacred, raped and scattered across a new continent. Now, the Yazidi  whose faith is older than Christianity  are at the center of a new European dilemma.

Portugal has offered to take in several hundred of the 2,500 Yazidi refugees living in Greece, arguing that their mistreated community merits special protection. Athens has rejected the offer, worried that other countries might start cherry-picking asylum applications based on religion or ethnicity.

Does that make the Yazidis victims of discrimination or nondiscrimination? It's a question that could be keeping some of them in limbo.

In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016, a Yazidi refugee woman looks out of a window of a hotel room in the northern Greek village of Agios Athanasios, near Thessaloniki city. Portugal has offered to take in several hundred of the 2,500 Yazidi refugees living in Greece, arguing that the mistreated religious minority merits special protection. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

Ana Gomes, a European Parliament member from Portugal who has been an outspoken advocate of the resettlement proposal, says Greek concerns are misplaced. Yazidis, she noted, were targeted for slaughter by Islamic State militants at home and face ongoing harassment from fellow Iraqis stranded in migrant camps.

"These people have been victims of negative discrimination in resettlement to other European countries when they should be having positive discrimination in recognition of the barbarity they have suffered," Gomes told the Associated Press after returning from a visit to refugee camps in Greece.

The dispute comes as the European Union wrestles with how to protect the most vulnerable refugees while making sure that member nations are sharing the cost of taking in newcomers. Delays and political obstruction have impeded an emergency relocation program meant to ease the disproportionate load carried by Italy and Greece.

Over centuries, Yazidis have been the victims of purges by rulers who regarded their religious symbols and practices as devil worship. Islamic State militants used the same explanation when they targeted the insular community for conversion and elimination.

Iraq's remote Sijar region, the Yazidi minority's heartland, is where thousands of civilians were massacred and thousands more fled in 2014. The United Nations has described the attacks as genocide.

In a small hotel room near the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, Mahie watches his son and daughter play on the floor with a toy dump truck, and struggles to find words to recount the horrors witnessed by his young family. He remembers IS fighters entering his village two years ago.

"They (took) girls and women and killed the men," he said.

He and his family fled into the mountains of Sijar before crossing into Turkey and paying smugglers to get them to Greece.

The Yazidis' recent plight has been highlighted by the revelations of women being captured by IS fighters for sexual slavery. Two Yazidi women, Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar, received an annual award for human rights last month from the European Parliament.

But old prejudices also have followed the Yazidi to Europe, where they have reported being attacked by other refugees at camps and are often housed separately.

"We take the issue of Yazidis very seriously because they have suffered such violence and persecution. We are doing everything we can to ensure their protection," Greek Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas told The Associated Press.

Greece says more than 60,000 refugees and migrants who arrived there hoping to make it further into Europe are stranded in the country, after EU and Balkan countries closed their borders last year. Athens is struggling to shelter them over the winter and pressing other European Union countries to honor relocation commitments.

Portugal so far has taken in about half of the 1,618 asylum-seekers it pledged to accept under the EU's embattled relocation scheme. Nevertheless, it's Yazidi-specific invitation is unacceptable, Mouzalas said.

"No government can discriminate on a racial basis," he said. "And those making a lot of noise around this issue are not helping the Yazidis."

Yazidi refugees themselves are split on the offer from Portugal. Some worry about further dispersing the members of a minority group thought to number only several hundred thousand worldwide.

"I don't want to go to Portugal," Mahie said. "My mother and my brother are in Germany and my father is in Iraq. It's difficult for one family someone to (be) in this country and someone to (be) in another country."

To others, the idea of a safe haven is appealing.

Like Mahie, Riad Salo sought refuge from IS in the mountains of Sinjar; his father-in-law died there. The younger of Salo's two daughters, Xzidxan, was born in a tent at a refugee camp near Mount Olympus in northern Greece.

Salo said he feared continued persecution from other Iraqis even if another EU country agrees to relocate his family.

"I don't want to go to a country where there are many (other refugees)," he said. "I want to go to Portugal because it's very safe."

___

Online:

U.N. rights panel conclusion on IS group attacks: http://bit.ly/2jfoBCG

___

Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed. Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Follow Kantouris at http://www.twitter.com/CostasKantouris and Hatton at http://twitter.com/hattonlisbon

In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016, Yazidi refugee children play in the yard of a hotel in the northern Greek village of Agios Athanasios, near Thessaloniki city. Portugal has offered to take in several hundred of the 2,500 Yazidi refugees living in Greece, arguing that the mistreated religious minority merits special protection. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016, Yazidi refugees are pictured at the corridor of a hotel, in the northern Greek village of Agios Athanasios, near Thessaloniki city. Portugal has offered to take in several hundred of the 2,500 Yazidi refugees living in Greece, arguing that the mistreated religious minority merits special protection. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016, Shaker Mahie, 24, covers his ten-months daughter Maria with a blanket inside the room of a hotel in the northern Greek village of Agios Athanasios, near Thessaloniki city. As a member of a persecuted minority in Iraq, Shaker Mahie has seen his people massacred, raped and scattered across a new continent. Now, the Yazidi, whose faith is older than Christianity, are at the center of a new European dilemma. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016, a Yazidi refugee man looks at his child inside the room of a hotel in the northern Greek village of Agios Athanasios, near Thessaloniki city. Portugal has offered to take in several hundred of the 2,500 Yazidi refugees living in Greece, arguing that the mistreated religious minority merits special protection. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016, a Yazidi refugee girl with her mother are seen behind a window of a hotel room in the northern Greek village of Agios Athanasios, near Thessaloniki city. Portugal has offered to take in several hundred of the 2,500 Yazidi refugees living in Greece, arguing that the mistreated religious minority merits special protection. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016, a Yazidi refugee boy walks in the yard of a hotel in the northern Greek village of Agios Athanasios, near Thessaloniki city. Portugal has offered to take in several hundred of the 2,500 Yazidi refugees living in Greece, arguing that the mistreated religious minority merits special protection. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016, a Yazidi refugee man sits on a couch inside a hotel in the northern Greek village of Agios Athanasios, near Thessaloniki city. Portugal has offered to take in several hundred of the 2,500 Yazidi refugees living in Greece, arguing that the mistreated religious minority merits special protection. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016, refugees from the Yazidi community play cards inside a hotel in the northern Greek village of Agios Athanasios, near Thessaloniki city. Portugal has offered to take in several hundred of the 2,500 Yazidi refugees living in Greece, arguing that the mistreated religious minority merits special protection. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2106, a refugee girl from the Yazidi community plays with a jumping rope in the corridor of a hotel in the northern Greek village of Agios Athanasios, near Thessaloniki city. In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016,. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
Austria: Apparent drop in numbers of new radical Islamists

VIENNA (AP)  Figures from Austria's Interior Ministry suggest that the number of people newly embracing radical Islamist beliefs in the country may be declining even as authorities step up efforts to identify them.

The ministry says 34 people were detained last year for investigation of possible links to Islamic-motivated terrorism, compared to 49 in 2015.

Wednesday's figures show that the ministry designated 139 people as newly turned to radical Islam in 2014. That's compared to 59 in 2015, and 18 last year.
Germany to abolish law on insulting foreign heads of states

BERLIN (AP)  Germany's government says it's getting out of the business of defending the honor of foreign leaders.

Justice Minister Heiko Maas on Wednesday said Germany was abolishing a law requiring the government's permission to allow the prosecution of anyone deemed to have insulted a foreign head of state, saying it was "outdated and unnecessary."

Last year, the German government was put in the awkward position of having to grant a Turkish request to allow prosecutors to investigate a TV comic who wrote a crude poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Prosecutors later dropped the investigation of comic Jan Boehmermann, citing insufficient evidence that he committed any crime.

The case had complicated already tense relations between Berlin and Ankara.
Moscow: 'No illusions' about quickly restoring ties with US

MOSCOW (AP)  Moscow has "no illusions" about a quick thaw under President Donald Trump, but is ready to take its share of efforts needed to improve the strained ties with the United States, Russia's foreign minister said Wednesday.

Sergey Lavrov acknowledged that "time and serious work will be needed to repair the heavy damage inflicted to Russia-U.S. cooperation under Barack Obama."

"We have no illusions that there will be a new reset with the U.S., we don't have any naive expectations," Lavrov said in parliament. "We know that Trump is considered a master of the deal but Vladimir Putin knows how to make deals, too, in the interests of Russia."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gestures as he answers a question at the State Duma, lower parliament house, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. Russia's foreign minister says Moscow has "no illusions" that strained relations between Russia and the United States can quickly improve under President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

"Reset" was the term that Obama's administration coined in 2009 to describe a drive for repairing ties with Russia. After a brief period of warmer ties, tensions flared up again and ties eventually plunged to post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. elections.

Trump's victory has heartened Russian political elites, who have greeted his promises to mend ties with Moscow. The Kremlin has been careful, however, warning that rebuilding ravaged ties will take time.

Lavrov said that Moscow and Washington could find a way to cooperate while protecting national interests with "decency and predictability."

He voiced hope that, unlike the Obama administration, Trump would refrain from "meddling into affairs of other countries."

Lavrov also called for improving Russia's ties with the European Union, which he said are in a "deplorable" state now because of the past U.S. administration's efforts.

The EU has followed the U.S. in slapping Moscow with economic sanctions over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and support for a pro-Russia insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

"We are seeing that there is a growing demand in EU business and social circles for normalizing relations with Russia," Lavrov said, expressing hope that Brussels will stop following demands of a "small but aggressive group of Russophobes."

Lavrov also rejected the allegations by some politicians and media in the West that Moscow is interested in weakening and splitting the EU.




De Lindehof near Eindhoven - 2 Michelin stars Rating: 92. Rating index:

Extraordinary (96-100)

Outstanding (93-95)

Very good to Excellent (89-92)

Above average to Good (86-88)

Below Average to Average (80-85)

Avoid (below 80)

More info > Extraordinary (96-100)Outstanding (93-95)Very good to Excellent (89-92)Above average to Good (86-88)Below Average to Average (80-85)Avoid (below 80)



De Lindehof can be found just a few steps aways from Nuenen's reformed church, immortalised in paintings and drawings by Vincent van Gogh, most famously in his 1884 painting called





(courtesy of De Lindehof/Facebook)

De Lindehof is open for lunch and dinner Thursday through Monday (no lunch on Saturdays). You can choose between a 6-course "Menu Toque Blanche" for 120 or the a la carte menu, where the main ingredient is served in two or three ways/dishes (starters 42.50 - 47.50, mains 52.50 - 110.00, desserts 18.50 - 22.50). At lunchtime (except on Sundays) the restaurant also offers a set "Business Lunch" menu, including tea/coffee and homemade friandises for 42.50, and there's also a 3-course "Soenil's Signature" menu for 52.50. I had lunch at De Lindehof with my husband and we both ordered the Toque Blanche menu. *I was recognised and the chef served me his signature Beef Rendang as an extra course.



Waiting for us on the table were some thin and brittle tandoori-flavoured tuiles, accompanied by a corn espuma, sprinkled with chilli powder and black sesame seeds. Wonderfully creamy and intense espuma, with some nice heat in the finish, and lovely tuiles too, but they were so delicate and brittle that proper dipping was difficult.









Shortly after, we were served three bite-sized appetisers. A tapioca cracker aka a cassava cracker had a delicious topping of finely chopped tomato, cucumber, red onion, and red chilli, with chaat masala seasoning, and garnished with three dots of coriander creme. Served on a spoon was a moist and compact "nasi" cube, topped with an elegant peanut creme and a purslane leaf, and there was a delicious curry cracker with meltingly soft and spicy tuna and some curry mayonnaise. Three fantastic appetisers, all with a lovely long aftertaste, especially the curry and tuna cracker.





Three more appetisers followed. First up was a sweet potato and ras-el-hanout bonbon, served with some chilli foam. A lovely bite, but the cocoa butter casing could have been a bit thinner. The next one, a beetroot meringue with creme fraiche, horeradish and herring caviar, was served on our right hands (in Hindustan culture it is custom to eat with your right, clean hand). Finally there was an excellently made crisp souffle (pani pouri or pani puri), garnished with birambi (a type of tangy Surinam fruit). It was filled with an elegantly seasoned pumpkin espuma, with lovely warm spices and a touch of heat coming through.













Shortly after, we were served a deliciously spiced dahl, made with yellow split peas, served with two pieces of duck, one crisp, the other one soft and tender, snake beans, and crispy potato bits. A nice and refined dish.





The last appetiser was barbecued chicken, marinated according to a secret recipe of Soenil Bahadoer's wife Esmee; delectable chicken served with two dips, a creamy vadouvan-spiced emulsion and a sweet and mildly spicy tomato salsa/chutney. A very pleasing combination.





Time for the first course of the Toque Blanche menu. Northsea crab precisely decorated with avocado slices, little blobs of creme fraiche and black pearl caviar. Also on the plate was some shore crab jelly, a little garam masala-flavour meringue, avocado creme, and various preparations of radish, including a magnificent, pure and mildly sharp, pink radish sorbet. Vibrant flavours with a great balance between brininess, butteriness and sharpness, and the addition of the sorbet added a nice temperature contrast to the dish.











Second course was an excellent piece of hamachi aka yellowtail, lacquered with soy, and served with some cooked quinoa, quinoa krupuk, tamarind jelly and an unripe mango salad lightly seasoned with warm spices. Fantastic, well-cooked hamachi, with a lovely buttery texture, its richness perfectly balanced by the tanginess from the tamarind and the mango delivering sweetness, sharpness and warmth.





But I couldn't get enough of the next dish of succulent turbot topped with bonito flakes, teamed up with beautifully spiced pumpkin puree wrapped in a tayer leaf, a sublime apple and curry sauce, and a crisp bara, a popular Surinam snack made with split peas. The spicing in this dish was exceptional, lifting all the flavours to another level, but I was equally impressed by the attractive level of sweetness, which was was perfectly balanced.





On to the fourth course, an indulgent yet light pairing of pork belly with a thin and crisp seaweed layer, lobster, a brunoise-cut mixture of carrot, celeriac, parsnip and onions described as "aromatics", a liquid dashi and ginger "bonbon", and a coconut and lemon verbena sauce. Seafood and pork have such an affinity for each other as they share a lovely sweetness, and the combination worked wonderfully. The delicately balanced coconut and lemon verbena sauce had well-defined flavours, and completed the dish.





Beef rendang followed. I had had this dish for the first time in March 2015, when I found it astonishing. In fact, I remember ordering a second serving there and then. Encore! It's a truly distinctive and exuberant dish of beef rendang, served with a little quenelle of ginger beer ice cream, kimchi, savoy cabbage roll, potato and turmeric mousseline and a concentrated white soy sauce. An authentic beef rendang but then served in its most refined form, the warmth and spiciness of the rendang soothed by the ginger beer ice cream, which also made for a great temperature contrast. I could eat this all day.





The meal continued with some deliciously rich wagyu beef, served with roasted heart of palm, a quenelle of finely chopped, soft heart of palm seasoned with a bumbu, some pak choi, and a lotus crisp. The sauce was a beef jus flavoured with sambai vinegar, which complemented the beef without masking its natural flavours. A very pleasing, wonderfully creative dish with very precise seasoning and a perfect balance between richness and intensity.





Dessert was a combination of exotic fruits and yuzu. There was a pineapple and coconut bombe, placed on top of a bronze-coloured white chocolate disc and an almond biscuit cake. Arranged on the rim of the plate was some a nice and sharp yoghurt sorbet, a yuzu creme brulee, yuzu gel, and a piece of dragon fruit. Highlight of the dish was a fabulous, exotic fruit sauce flavoured with tandoori spices, making this a deliciously different dessert that worked both in flavour and in texture. The only let-down in this dessert was the almond biscuit cake, which was rock hard.





Van Gogh's early work in Brabant reflects the grey atmosphere and the then tough life of the peasants. His Nuenen paintings are no exceptions, with relatively sombre colours, particularly when compared to his later work. Soenil Bahadoer's food is anything but sombre; on the contrary, it is filled with the sunshine of a southern sun, a sunshine which Vincent only saw and started to paint when he travelled to Provence. A radiant and expressive cuisine reflecting Bahadoer's flair and Surinam-Hindustan heritage. This is displayed through his use of traditional Surinam ingredients and techniques, but most strikingly through a perfect blend and judicious use of exotic spices.











De Lindehof can be found just a few steps aways from Nuenen's reformed church, immortalised in paintings and drawings by Vincent van Gogh, most famously in his 1884 painting called "Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen" , returned to the Van Gogh museum in 2016 after it had been stolen 14 years before. De Lindehof was opened by chef/owner Soenil Bahadoer (b.1967) in 1995 with his then business partner/maitre d'hotel Frans Knaapen. Together they ran the restaurant for 10 years until 2005, when Knaapen left De Lindehof and Bahadoer became its sole owner. Soenil Bahadoer, born in Surinam and from Hindustan descent, moved to the Netherlands at the age of eight, around the time of Surinam's independence. Before opening De Lindehof in Nuenen, he trained alongside Cees Helder at Parkheuvel (then 2 Michelin stars) in Rotterdam and Roger Souvereyns at Scholteshof (then 2 Michelin stars) in Stevoort, Belgium, amongst others. De Lindehof was awarded its first Michelin star in 2004, a second star followed in 2014 (2015 guide).De Lindehof is open for lunch and dinner Thursday through Monday (no lunch on Saturdays). You can choose between a 6-course "Menu Toque Blanche" for 120 or the a la carte menu, where the main ingredient is served in two or three ways/dishes (starters 42.50 - 47.50, mains 52.50 - 110.00, desserts 18.50 - 22.50). At lunchtime (except on Sundays) the restaurant also offers a set "Business Lunch" menu, including tea/coffee and homemade friandises for 42.50, and there's also a 3-course "Soenil's Signature" menu for 52.50. I had lunch at De Lindehof with my husband and we both ordered the Toque Blanche menu. *I was recognised and the chef served me his signature Beef Rendang as an extra course.Waiting for us on the table were some thin and brittle tandoori-flavoured tuiles, accompanied by a corn espuma, sprinkled with chilli powder and black sesame seeds. Wonderfully creamy and intense espuma, with some nice heat in the finish, and lovely tuiles too, but they were so delicate and brittle that proper dipping was difficult.Shortly after, we were served three bite-sized appetisers. A tapioca cracker aka a cassava cracker had a delicious topping of finely chopped tomato, cucumber, red onion, and red chilli, with chaat masala seasoning, and garnished with three dots of coriander creme. Served on a spoon was a moist and compact "nasi" cube, topped with an elegant peanut creme and a purslane leaf, and there was a delicious curry cracker with meltingly soft and spicy tuna and some curry mayonnaise. Three fantastic appetisers, all with a lovely long aftertaste, especially the curry and tuna cracker.Three more appetisers followed. First up was a sweet potato and ras-el-hanout bonbon, served with some chilli foam. A lovely bite, but the cocoa butter casing could have been a bit thinner. The next one, a beetroot meringue with creme fraiche, horeradish and herring caviar, was served on our right hands (in Hindustan culture it is custom to eat with your right, clean hand). Finally there was an excellently made crisp souffle (pani pouri or pani puri), garnished with birambi (a type of tangy Surinam fruit). It was filled with an elegantly seasoned pumpkin espuma, with lovely warm spices and a touch of heat coming through.Shortly after, we were served a deliciously spiced dahl, made with yellow split peas, served with two pieces of duck, one crisp, the other one soft and tender, snake beans, and crispy potato bits. A nice and refined dish.The last appetiser was barbecued chicken, marinated according to a secret recipe of Soenil Bahadoer's wife Esmee; delectable chicken served with two dips, a creamy vadouvan-spiced emulsion and a sweet and mildly spicy tomato salsa/chutney. A very pleasing combination.Time for the first course of the Toque Blanche menu. Northsea crab precisely decorated with avocado slices, little blobs of creme fraiche and black pearl caviar. Also on the plate was some shore crab jelly, a little garam masala-flavour meringue, avocado creme, and various preparations of radish, including a magnificent, pure and mildly sharp, pink radish sorbet. Vibrant flavours with a great balance between brininess, butteriness and sharpness, and the addition of the sorbet added a nice temperature contrast to the dish.Even better was a side dish of king crab bursting with sweet, briny juices, placed on top of some (vegetarian) pointy cabbage rendang, and served with a foamy shore crab sauce. Big flavours delivered in a creative and sophisticated fashion and the rendang delivered a pleasant complexity to the dish, with distinctive rendang flavours coming through and a little bit of heat right at the end.Second course was an excellent piece of hamachi aka yellowtail, lacquered with soy, and served with some cooked quinoa, quinoa krupuk, tamarind jelly and an unripe mango salad lightly seasoned with warm spices. Fantastic, well-cooked hamachi, with a lovely buttery texture, its richness perfectly balanced by the tanginess from the tamarind and the mango delivering sweetness, sharpness and warmth.But I couldn't get enough of the next dish of succulent turbot topped with bonito flakes, teamed up with beautifully spiced pumpkin puree wrapped in a tayer leaf, a sublime apple and curry sauce, and a crisp bara, a popular Surinam snack made with split peas. The spicing in this dish was exceptional, lifting all the flavours to another level, but I was equally impressed by the attractive level of sweetness, which was was perfectly balanced.On to the fourth course, an indulgent yet light pairing of pork belly with a thin and crisp seaweed layer, lobster, a brunoise-cut mixture of carrot, celeriac, parsnip and onions described as "aromatics", a liquid dashi and ginger "bonbon", and a coconut and lemon verbena sauce. Seafood and pork have such an affinity for each other as they share a lovely sweetness, and the combination worked wonderfully. The delicately balanced coconut and lemon verbena sauce had well-defined flavours, and completed the dish.Beef rendang followed. I had had this dish for the first time in March 2015, when I found it astonishing. In fact, I remember ordering a second serving there and then. Encore! It's a truly distinctive and exuberant dish of beef rendang, served with a little quenelle of ginger beer ice cream, kimchi, savoy cabbage roll, potato and turmeric mousseline and a concentrated white soy sauce. An authentic beef rendang but then served in its most refined form, the warmth and spiciness of the rendang soothed by the ginger beer ice cream, which also made for a great temperature contrast. I could eat this all day.The meal continued with some deliciously rich wagyu beef, served with roasted heart of palm, a quenelle of finely chopped, soft heart of palm seasoned with a bumbu, some pak choi, and a lotus crisp. The sauce was a beef jus flavoured with sambai vinegar, which complemented the beef without masking its natural flavours. A very pleasing, wonderfully creative dish with very precise seasoning and a perfect balance between richness and intensity.Dessert was a combination of exotic fruits and yuzu. There was a pineapple and coconut bombe, placed on top of a bronze-coloured white chocolate disc and an almond biscuit cake. Arranged on the rim of the plate was some a nice and sharp yoghurt sorbet, a yuzu creme brulee, yuzu gel, and a piece of dragon fruit. Highlight of the dish was a fabulous, exotic fruit sauce flavoured with tandoori spices, making this a deliciously different dessert that worked both in flavour and in texture. The only let-down in this dessert was the almond biscuit cake, which was rock hard.Van Gogh's early work in Brabant reflects the grey atmosphere and the then tough life of the peasants. His Nuenen paintings are no exceptions, with relatively sombre colours, particularly when compared to his later work. Soenil Bahadoer's food is anything but sombre; on the contrary, it is filled with the sunshine of a southern sun, a sunshine which Vincent only saw and started to paint when he travelled to Provence. A radiant and expressive cuisine reflecting Bahadoer's flair and Surinam-Hindustan heritage. This is displayed through his use of traditional Surinam ingredients and techniques, but most strikingly through a perfect blend and judicious use of exotic spices.

Posted 25-01-2017







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Longtime British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman to step down

LONDON (AP)  The top editor at British Vogue plans to step down after a quarter century at the helm of the trendsetting fashion magazine.

Vogue said Wednesday that Alexandra Shulman will leave the position this summer. No replacement has been named.

Shulman has been an influential figure on the British fashion scene for many years and has helped nurture young British writers and designers.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016 file photo, Alexandra Schulman poses for photographers upon her arrival at the Design Museum opening party in London. The top editor at British Vogue plans to step down after a quarter century at the helm of the trendsetting fashion magazine. Vogue said Wednesday Jan. 25, 2017, that Alexandra Shulman will leave the position this summer. No replacement has been named. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP, File)

She said the decision to leave was difficult and that she will miss the daily contact with the people at Vogue House in central London.

In June Vogue marked 100 years of publication with a special issue featuring the Duchess of Cambridge on its cover.
2 homes destroyed in central Oklahoma wildfire; no one hurt

GUTHRIE, Okla. (AP)  Authorities say two homes were destroyed in a fast-moving wildfire that burned in central Oklahoma.

No injuries were reported in Tuesday's blaze in Logan County, about 30 miles north of Oklahoma City. Guthrie Fire Chief Eric Harlow says the wildfire destroyed two mobile homes, several outbuildings and many bales of hay.

Harlow tells The Oklahoman (http://bit.ly/2jQUIWZ ) that a third home was burned Tuesday, but crews are still working to determine the cause of that blaze. Other smaller fires were also reported in Oklahoma City.
Gambia's new president to arrive in the country on Thursday

BANJUL, Gambia (AP)  Gambia's new president finally comes home on Thursday, a week after taking the oath of office outside the country during a whirlwind political crisis that sent the tiny nation's longtime leader into exile.

President Adama Barrow is set to arrive Thursday afternoon from neighboring Senegal, where he has waited out the chaos for his safety, a spokesman for the coalition backing him confirmed Wednesday.

Gambians eagerly await Barrow, who has promised to reverse many of the actions taken by former leader Yahya Jammeh. Barrow defeated Jammeh in December elections that the ruling party challenged.

An ECOWAS Senegalese soldier guards the State House entrance in Banjul, Gambia, Wednesday Jan. 25, 2017. Gambia's new President Adama Barrow will arrive in the country on Thursday, a week after he was sworn into office in neighboring Senegal, officials with the new government confirmed Wednesday. (AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui)

Jammeh finally left the country over the weekend after international pressure, ending a more than 22-year rule. He has been accused by rights groups and others of leading a government that suppressed opponents with detentions, beatings and killings.

A West African regional military force that was poised to oust Jammeh if diplomatic talks failed has been securing Gambia for Barrow's arrival. He has been waiting for the force to confirm that it was safe for him to return, spokesman Halifa Sallah said.

A new inauguration will be held on Gambian soil, said Sallah, speaking on Senegalese radio. "We will organize a ceremony soon at the stadium. It will be an occasion to show strength. Everyone will be invited. The president will address his people."

Barrow has requested that the regional force remain in Gambia for six months, but it is unclear whether heads of state with the regional bloc, known as ECOWAS, will approve a deployment for that long.

The new president has been busy this week forming his Cabinet and has named a woman, Fatoumata Tabajang, as vice president. She has vowed to seek prosecution for Jammeh, who flew with family and close aides to Equatorial Guinea.

On Tuesday, Gambia's lawmakers lifted the country's state of emergency and revoked a three-month extension of Jammeh's term, as the new government began dismantling his final attempts to cling to power.

Victims of human rights abuses under the previous government "will have the benefit of appearing before a human rights commission," Sallah told reporters Wednesday.

"There will, in fact, be a freedom of information act," he added. "The desire is to expand the right to freedom of expression and freedom of media."
Secret Service investigating woman's anti-Trump tweet

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  The U.S. Secret Service is investigating a Twitter posting by a Kentucky woman who suggested someone could assassinate President Donald Trump.

The agency's field office in Louisville has interviewed Heather Lowrey and conducted a background check.

The tweet, according to a screenshot provided to The Courier-Journal (http://cjky.it/2jbovI4), says "If someone was cruel enough to assassinate MLK, maybe someone will be kind enough to assassinate Trump."

Special Agent Richard Ferretti said Tuesday that once the investigation concludes, the results will be sent to the U.S. Attorney's office, which would decide on any potential charges. Federal law prohibits threats to the president and the crime is punishable by at least one year in prison and a maximum of five years.

Ferretti suggested Internet users "think twice" before sending social media posts.

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Battles escalate between Syria rebels, al-Qaida-affiliate

BEIRUT (AP)  Al-Qaida-linked militants attacked a prison Wednesday where its fighters are held by other Syrian rebels in escalating violence in northern Syria after Russian-led talks urged mainstream insurgents to break with the extremists.

The infighting, some of the worst in recent years, is likely to weaken the rebellion but also could help isolate the extremist group.

The fighting pits the al-Qaida-linked Fatah al-Sham Front against several other groups, including its former ally, Ahrar al-Sham, one of the most powerful insurgent organizations in Syria's nearly 6-year-old civil war.

Mohammed Alloush, head of a Syrian opposition delegation, center, speaks to the media after the talks on Syrian peace in Astana, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Russia, Iran and Turkey _ sponsors of talks in Kazakhstan between Syria and rebel factions _ pledged Tuesday to consolidate the country's nearly month-old cease-fire and set up a three-way mechanism to ensure compliance of all sides. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Some of the rebels involved in the fighting were represented at talks this week in Astana, Kazakhstan, which were brokered by Russia and Turkey and aimed at shoring up a shaky Dec. 30 cease-fire with President Bashar Assad's forces. The talks brought the armed rebel factions face-to-face with Assad's representatives for the first time.

The two-day talks ended Tuesday with an agreement among Russia, Turkey and Iran to consolidate the cease-fire, take joint action against extremist groups and jumpstart peace negotiations.

Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said that if the al-Qaida-linked group comes out on top in the fighting, the rebels would be more inclined to cooperate with calls for dissociating with its militants.

The Fatah al-Sham violence sought to protect its dominance in northern Syria, one of the remaining strongholds of the opposition, he added.

"I think (Fatah al-Sham) found itself surrounded by potential threats and in an environment which politics suddenly was trumping military activities," Lister said.

Before the talks, Fatah al-Sham described them as a "conspiracy" to divide the al-Qaida-linked group from the other rebels.

"Ironically, we may now eventually see just that scenario play out in the future," Lister said.

But the rebel groups, who had been reluctant to dissociate with al-Qaida-linked militants in part because of their fighting ability and the lack of discipline in others, already are reeling under the offensive. One of the rebel groups in Astana, the Army of Mujahedeen, has lost a number of its ammunition depots to Fatah al-Sham.

Ahrar al-Sham already blamed Fatah al-Sham for starting the infighting, calling it "the greatest service" to those seeking to isolate the al-Qaida-linked group. It said it had deployed its own fighters to bring the situation under control.

Despite Ahrar al-Sham's attempts to control the fighting, Fatah al-Sham clashed with other rebel groups outside Idlib's central prison. Opposition activists said Fatah al-Sham apparently tried to free its members detained there recently.

A Twitter account of the central prison issued a call for help, asking civilians to march to the facility. It posted video of prisoners inside urging Fatah al-Sham "to fear God" and stop the violence.

Fatah al-Sham accused the rebel groups of "unprovoked" attacks on its bases in Idlib that left six fighters killed. It blamed Suqour al-Sham and the Army of Islam  both represented in Astana.

The clashes began earlier this week between Ahrar al-Sham and a faction associated with Fatah al-Sham, and has escalated since then. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebel groups had seized Fatah al-Sham checkpoints in four villages by late Tuesday.

Ahrar al-Sham, an ultraconservative group and one of the most powerful in northern Syria, refused to attend the Astana talks, in part because of attempts to isolate Fatah al-Sham, with which it was discussing a merger.

By going on the offensive, Fatah al-Sham is likely to turn its guns on other groups, something that will probably force Ahrar al-Sham "to declare war in defense of the opposition," Lister said.

The Syrian government and its ally, Russia, have long referred to the entire armed opposition as "terrorists," in part because they have fought alongside Fatah al-Sham. In a way, the Astana talks challenged that label when the government agreed to sit with at least 13 rebel factions.

Fatah al-Sham claimed to have severed ties to al-Qaida when it changed its name from the Nusra Front last year, but it did not change its leadership or strategy and is still widely seen as an extension of the global terrorist network.

Fatah al-Sham was excluded from the current and previous cease-fires, along with the Islamic State group, but until now the other rebel factions have been reluctant to break with the al-Qaida-linked group.

From left, Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Sedat Onal, Russia's special envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov, UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura and Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaber Ansari pose for a photo after the final statement following the talks on Syrian peace in Astana, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Russia, Iran and Turkey _ sponsors of talks in Kazakhstan between Syria and rebel factions _ pledged Tuesday to consolidate the country's nearly month-old cease-fire and set up a three-way mechanism to ensure compliance of all sides. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
New Oscar nominee Octavia Spencer plans talk with Steinem

NEW YORK (AP)  Fresh off her second Oscar nomination, Octavia Spencer has signed up to talk with Gloria Steinem about the progress of women of color in Hollywood and the recent Women's March at an upcoming conference.

Spencer is slated to join Steinem for the keynote discussion at the third Makers conference, to be held in Los Angeles on Feb. 6-8. Others slated to attend the event, which will be livestreamed on the site, include Sheryl Sandberg, Diane Von Furstenberg, Gabby Douglas, Debra Messing, Rosie Perez and Eva Longoria.

Spencer, already an Oscar winner for best supporting actress for her role in "The Help," received another nod in the same category Tuesday for her depiction of a groundbreaking computer scientist working for NASA in the hit film "Hidden Figures."

FILE - This Nov. 29, 2016, file photo shows Octavia Spencer at the 12th Annual UNICEF Snowflake Ball in New York. Fresh off her second Oscar nomination, Spencer has signed up to talk with Gloria Steinem about the progress of women of color in Hollywood and the recent Womens March at the third Makers conference, to be held in Los Angeles on Feb. 6-8, 2017. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

"With the global energy cell of Women's Marches in this country and six continents to push us forward, I'm especially glad for the reality and timing of the Makers Conference this year," Steinem said in a statement. "I look forward to listening, talking, learning, and making change together."

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PSA group reaches deal to return to India

PARIS (AP)  PSA Peugeot Citroen has reached a deal with the CK Birla Group that will see the French carmaker return to the Indian market by 2020.

PSA said on Wednesday that it will make an initial investment close to 100 million euros ($100 million) in capital expenditure for car and powertrain manufacturing in the state of Tamil Nadu.

PSA chief executive Carlos Tavares said the deal "represents a major step in PSA Group's worldwide profitable growth in key automotive markets."

The two groups plan to start with an annual production of 100,000 cars.
Trump announces 'major' voter fraud investigation

WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump tweeted early Wednesday that he is ordering a "major investigation" into voter fraud, revisiting unsubstantiated claims he's made repeatedly about a rigged voting system.

The investigation, he said, will look at those registered to vote in more than one state, "those who are illegal and ... even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time)."

Depending on results, Trump tweeted, "we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting with automobile leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Trump, despite occupying the most powerful office in the world, remains fixated on a belief that the legitimacy of his election is being challenged. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Trump has been fixated on his loss of the popular vote in the election and a concern that the legitimacy of his presidency is being challenged by Democrats and the media, aides and associates say.

Trump's own attorneys dismissed claims of voter fraud in a legal filing responding to Green Party candidate Jill Stein's demand for a recount in Michigan late last year.

"On what basis does Stein seek to disenfranchise Michigan citizens? None really, save for speculation," the attorneys wrote. "All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake."

Secretaries of state across the country have dismissed Trump's voter fraud claims as baseless. After the president's morning tweets, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted wrote on Twitter, "We conducted a review 4 years ago in Ohio & already have a statewide review of 2016 election underway. Easy to vote, hard to cheat."

Trump's exaggerations about inauguration crowds and assertions about illegal balloting have been distractions as advisers' have tried to launch his presidency with a flurry of actions on the economy.

His spokesman, Sean Spicer, has twice stepped into the fray himself, including on Tuesday, when he doubled down on Trump's false claim that he lost the popular vote because 3 million to 5 million people living in the U.S. illegally cast ballots.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have finalized their election results with no reports of the kind of widespread fraud that Trump is alleging.

"He believes what he believes based on the information he was provided," said Spicer, who provided no evidence to back up the president's statements.

If the president's claim were true it would mark the most significant election fraud in U.S. history  and ironically, would raise the same questions about Trump's legitimacy that he's trying to avoid. No details have been released about the possible probe.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Wednesday his panel has already sent letters to the attorneys general in all 50 states asking for reports of any election irregularities.

"The president can join me and my staff," Cummings said on MSNBC. He also said he wants Congress to restore voting protections, citing a Supreme Court ruling that "gutted" key sections of the Voting Rights Act, particularly the provision requiring southern states to get clearance in advance from the Justice Department before legislating changes in voting laws and procedures.

Some Trump allies say he is justified in using his platform to defend his standing. They point to Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis' pre-inauguration statement that he did not see Trump as a legitimate president, as well as U.S. intelligence agencies' assessment that Russia meddled in the election in order to help Trump win.

"Segments of his own government keep driving this narrative," said Roger Stone, a longtime confidant. "I don't think it hurts to point it out."

Key advisers in Trump's inner circle concede the focus on crowd claims and alleged voter fraud have been a distraction.

After Friday's inaugural festivities, the new president grew increasingly upset the next day by what he felt was "biased" media coverage of women's marches across the globe protesting his election, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Trump was particularly enraged with CNN, which he thought was "gloating" by continually running photos of the women's march alongside the smaller crowds that attended his inauguration the day before, according to this person, one of several White House aides and associates who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.

Tuesday night on Twitter, Trump slammed CNN again, referring to the network as "FAKE NEWS @CNN" while praising rival Fox News Channel.

Trump has had a tumultuous relationship with the press, frequently calling the media dishonest and insulting individual reporters by name at his rallies and on Twitter. Still, two people close to Trump said he expected his coverage to turn more favorable once he took office. Instead, he's told people he believes it's gotten worse.

Those around Trump are trying to get the cable news consumer-in-chief to be near a television less often, according to one person who has spoken with him. The bad press over the weekend has not allowed Trump to "enjoy" the White House as he feels he deserves, according to one person who has spoken with him.

The result has been a full display of Trump's propensity for exaggeration and more. During an appearance at the CIA Saturday, he wrongly said the inaugural crowds gathered on the National Mall stretched to the Washington Monument, despite clear photo evidence to the contrary. And during a reception with lawmakers from both parties Monday night, he repeated his false assertion that millions of illegal immigrants provided Hillary Clinton's margin in the popular vote.

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AP writers Stephen Ohlemacher and Vivian Salama contributed to this report.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Jonathan Lemire at http://twitter.com/jonlemire
Rights advocate urges democracies to step up in Trump era

GENEVA (AP)  The head of Human Rights Watch on Wednesday expressed concern "we will lose the U.S. voice as a defender of human rights around the world" under President Donald Trump, and urged other democracies to "take a leadership position" in the fight for rights.

Kenneth Roth of the New York-based advocacy group also challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to publicly call for a pullback of Russian-backed Syrian forces from their sieges on Syrian cities, and criticized the "long history of disregard" for civil rights shown by U.S. attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions.

"The U.S.  despite its flaws, despite its inconsistencies, despite its hypocrisy  has been an important voice for civil society, for civic space, in many countries," Roth told reporters on Wednesday in Geneva, home to the U.N.'s Human Rights Council. "I fear that governments are going to use the opportunity of Trump's arrival to crack down on dissent."

Kenneth Roth, Executive Director at Human Rights Watch, speaks to the media, during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

"That's why it's all the more important for other democratic governments to take a leadership position," Roth added. "I am very concerned that we will lose the voice of the United States as a defender for human rights around the world."

Roth said Trump's "expressed admiration for strong men" and his nomination of Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State, "who has yet to show any interest in human rights," were worrying. He also said that his group expects the Trump administration this week to issue an order to start "exploring or considering" a resumption of CIA "black sites" abroad.

"I hope that this time around, governments do a better job of standing up to the United States," he said, referring to the secret prisons where suspected terrorists were questioned and allegedly tortured after the Sept. 11 attacks. "Last time, these black sites were often in democracies."

Roth said he also expects Trump to start refilling the Guantanamo Bay detention facility "just as a matter of making a point," and expressed a need for "more vigorous oversight" from the Republican-controlled Congress "if some awful rights-violating policies are now going to be enacted" by the administration.

"It remains to be seen whether Congress just falls in line behind the president because he has a bully pulpit, or whether it exercises its proper oversight function," Roth added. "Obviously people are afraid because he does have the bully pulpit."
Body parts found in NYC garbage station linked to homicide

NEW YORK (AP)  Police say a woman whose body parts were found at a New York City garbage transfer station last week was a homicide victim.

Workers found a human leg and torso at the Metropolitan Transfers Station in Hunts Point in the Bronx on Jan. 17.

Forty-year-old Somorie Moses was arrested Sunday after police executed a search warrant at his home in Brooklyn and found the victim's head, hands and feet in a freezer.

Moses was initially arrested on a charge of concealing a human corpse.

Police classified the woman's death as a homicide on Wednesday. Additional charges are pending.

The woman has not been identified.
Anti-Defamation League award named in Beau Biden's honor

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP)  The Anti-Defamation League is creating an award for law enforcement in the memory of former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden.

The News Journal of Wilmington reports (http://delonline.us/2jZgAl7 ) that in March, the ADL Beau Biden SHIELD Award will honor law enforcement in Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey who have collectively combated hate groups, extremism and terrorism; presented and responded to hate crimes and bias-motivated activity; and promoted civil rights.

Philadelphia ADL regional director Nancy K. Baron-Bear says the award is named after Biden because he "was a champion for the most vulnerable."

The inaugural ceremony will be held March 29 in Wilmington.

The Anti-Defamation League is the foremost non-governmental organization in the U.S. training law enforcement on terrorism, extremism and hate crimes.

Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, died of cancer in 2015.

___
Suspect in officer's killing curses judge, again

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)  A suspect charged with murder in the deaths of his pregnant ex-girlfriend and an Orlando police officer cursed at a judge during a brief first appearance for a misdemeanor charge.

Markeith Loyd uttered the expletive after the judge set a bond of $500 for the charge of resisting arrest without violence during a Wednesday morning hearing.

The 41-year-old Loyd won't be bonding out since another Florida judge set no bond for two first-degree murder counts.

During two court appearances last week for those charges, Loyd also cursed and interrupted the judge.

Loyd, said "I'm here for what?" after the judge read the charge and set the bond during Wednesday's hearing, which lasted about a minute.
IMF's Lagarde in Central African Republic to urge support

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP)  The managing director of the International Monetary Fund is making her first visit to Central African Republic to encourage the global community to support a country whose infrastructure has been "shattered" by conflict.

Christine Lagarde was in the deeply impoverished nation on Wednesday and later was stopping in Uganda on her African visit.

Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera called for IMF support in mobilizing international donors to assist with the country's challenges in disarming fighters, welcoming back refugees and reviving the economy.

Lagarde pointed to the IMF Executive Board's approval in July of a three-year, $120 million arrangement under its Extended Credit Facility.
12 Haitians drown near Turks & Caicos; search ongoing

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands (AP)  At least 12 Haitian migrants drowned in the Turks & Caicos Islands after their small and crowded boat capsized near the British Caribbean territory, officials said Wednesday.

The majority of victims were female and were found near the northwest point of Providenciales island, police spokesman Keith Clarke told The Associated Press.

The boat was carrying 69 people, and officials said the U.S. Coast Guard is helping with an ongoing search for possible survivors.

"This is a tragic incident with significant loss of life," said Police Commissioner James Smith, who extended condolences to the victim's families.

Police said in a statement that they arrested a 23-year-old Haitian man who told them the single-engine boat left Haiti's north coast on Sunday and was carrying 50 men and 19 women. He said he swam to land after the boat struck a rock near the Turks & Caicos Islands early Tuesday and began to sink, police said.

Authorities said an unknown number of migrants made it to land.

The Turks & Caicos Islands are located between Haiti and the Bahamas and have long been a destination and smuggling route for Haitian migrants. Newly elected Turks & Caicos Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson pledged to crack down on this practice.
Magistrates: Romania's prisoner pardon plan unconstitutional

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  A top Romanian judicial body said Wednesday that a government proposal to pardon thousands of prisoners  which critics say would reverse the country's anti-corruption drive  is unconstitutional.

The Superior Council of Magistrates said that two government proposals to push through prisoner pardons by emergency ordinance violate an article in the constitution that requires such measures to be approved by Parliament. The council's ruling is not binding.

President Klaus Iohannis has strongly criticized the proposal and called for a referendum on the issue. Thousands have protested against it in cities around Romania, saying it would help government allies convicted on corruption charges secure early releases.

Premier Sorin Grindeanu says the move was proposed to ease overcrowding in Romanian prisons.

The justice ministry published a draft of the plan last week, which was criticized by Romania's top prosecutor and opposition politicians.

The proposal would primarily affect those with sentences under five years, except for those convicted of crimes of a sexual nature, violence or corruption.

Prisoners over 60, pregnant women and inmates with young children would see their sentences halved regardless of their convictions.

According to the draft, the government also intends to decriminalize cases of official misconduct where the financial damage is less than 200,000 lei ($47,800).
Darmstadt parts ways with Ben-Hatira over Salafist links

BERLIN (AP)  Bundesliga club Darmstadt parted ways with Tunisian player Anis Ben-Hatira on Wednesday following criticism of the midfielder's ties to an organization with alleged links to the radical Islamic Salafist scene.

Darmstadt president Ruediger Fritsch said the club "feels Ben-Hatira's private humanitarian assistance for the organization, the one he is serving, is wrong."

Ben-Hatira had been criticized for his work for Ansaar International - described by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia as "firmly interwoven in the German Salafist scene."

Before Darmstadt's draw with Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday, fans unfurled a banner calling on Ben-Hatira to distance himself from Ansaar, leading the Berlin-born player to respond on Facebook, "Are you not ashamed of such actions? Do you really think I'll let myself be intimidated by that?"

Politicians have also spoken against his work for the organization.

"You cannot let a professional footballer like Ben-Hatira carry on when he's in the vicinity of extremist organizations that are being observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. You have to draw a clear line here," said Peter Beuth, interior minister of the state of Hessen that includes Darmstadt, on Tuesday.

Fritsch did not refer to Ansaar by name in what he called a "very complex and sensitive issue," but he wished Ben-Hatira, "who has always behaved impeccably and as an example at our club, all the best for his sporting future."
Mark Twain House hopes for boost from 1879 fairy tale

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  Notes that Mark Twain jotted down from a fairy tale he told his daughters more than a century ago have inspired a new children's book, "The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine."

At the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, there is excitement that the story could help introduce the writer to wider audiences  and provide a financial lift for the nonprofit organization that curates the three-story Gothic Revival mansion where Twain raised his family.

A researcher found the story in the archive of the Mark Twain Papers at the University of California at Berkeley. When the University of California Press passed on taking it to publication, the archive's director, Bob Hirst, endorsed enlisting the Twain House as an agent in part because of financial struggles the museum has had to overcome.

This cover image released by Doubleday Books for Young Readers shows, "The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine," by Mark Twain and Philip Stead, with illustrations by Erin Stead. The unfinished fairy tale that Mark Twain told his young daughters in the 1870s is being published. The contract for the story's sale to Random House was steered through Hartford's Mark Twain House and Museum as a way to shore up the finances of the building where the author raised his family. (Doubleday Books for Young Readers via AP)

"I don't think it's a secret they need funding," Hirst said. "If it was going to make some money, which Mark Twain would certainly approve of, that house was a good place for it to go."

The Twain House connected the UC Press with DoubleDay Books for Young Readers, which hired an author and illustrator to turn Twain's unfinished notes into the book to be published in September. The publisher and others involved declined to discuss the financial terms.

Amy Gallent, the Twain House's interim executive director, said the museum has a balanced budget and its finances are sound. Since cost overruns brought the museum to the brink of closing a decade ago, it has reported strong admissions numbers and state aid has helped with needed improvements. But Gallent said she understands the Twain House will receive royalties on book sales and she hopes it is "incredibly successful."

The book tells the story of a boy who gains the ability to talk to animals by eating a flower from a magical seed and then joins them to rescue a kidnapped prince.

Winthrop University English professor John Bird was mining the Berkeley archive for a possible Twain cookbook in 2011 when he flagged "Oleomargarine," thinking it might be related to food. After reading over the 16 pages of Twain's handwritten notes, he realized the manuscript was a story Twain apparently told his daughters in 1879 while the family visited Paris.

The 152-page illustrated book, completed by Philip and Erin Stead, frames the narrative as a story "told to me by my friend, Mr. Mark Twain."

The author, born Samuel Clemens in Missouri in 1835, lived with his family from 1874 to 1891 at the house in Hartford. Tours feature the home's library and a discussion of the bedtime stories he would conjure there nightly for his three daughters.

Cindy Lovell, who recently stepped down as the Twain House director and helped shepherd the book project, said the story is exceptional because Twain was not known to write down any of the thousands of stories he told his children.

"To him, this was nothing. He never wrote it because it came so easily," she said. "I don't think it ever occurred to him that could have been a gold mine."

Lovell said the Twain House will benefit financially from the book, as will the UC Press and the Mark Twain Project, led by Hirst at Berkeley.

In 2010, a Twain autobiography became an unexpected best-seller when it was published a century after his death, at the author's request. Hirst said there are still other Twain works in the archive that could be published.

"The pile is getting smaller and smaller," Hirst said. "He left quite a lot."

FILE - In this June 4, 2008 file photo, visitors enter The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Conn. Notes that Twain jotted down from a fairy tale he told his daughters more than a century ago when living in Hartford, Conn., have inspired a new children's book, "The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine," set to be published in September 2017. The contract for the book was steered through the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford as a way to provide a financial lift for the museum. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)
Vandals paint Nazi graffiti at Polish graves in Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine (AP)  Unidentified vandals have spray-painted Nazi graffiti at a memorial cemetery in Ukraine where some Poles are buried.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin denounced the vandals' action Wednesday at the Bykivnia memorial on the outskirts of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital.

Bykivnia is a burial place for victims of the Soviet secret police, including some Poles, who were executed in the 1920s-1940s.

A Nazi symbol is seen painted on a memorial stone at a cemetery where Poles are buried in Bykivnia near the capital Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. The inscription reads SS Galitchina, a reference to the Galicia division of Nazi SS organization made up mostly of ethnic Ukrainian volunteers during WW II. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin denounced the vandals' action and said they will be punished. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Vandals spray-painted the name of SS division Galicia, a Nazi unit consisting of Ukrainian volunteers, on one tombstone at Bykivnia. They also put the name of UNA-UNSO, a Ukrainian far-right nationalist organization.

Poland and Ukraine have friendly ties, but some in Poland harbor bitter memories about the killings of up to 100,000 Poles by Ukrainian nationalists in 1943-1944 in Volyn and the eastern Galicia regions, which are now part of Ukraine.

A Nazi symbol is seen painted on a memorial stone at a cemetery where Poles are buried in Bykivnia, near the capital Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. The inscription reads SS Galitchina, a reference to the Galicia division of Nazi SS organization made up mostly of ethnic Ukrainian volunteers during WW II. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin denounced the vandals' action and said they will be punished. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A Nazi symbol is seen painted on a memorial stone at a cemetery where Poles are buried in Bykivnia, near the capital Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. The inscription reads SS Galitchina, a reference to the Galicia division of Nazi SS organization made up mostly of ethnic Ukrainian volunteers during WW II. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin denounced the vandals' action and said they will be punished. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Iowa governor's charity discloses donors, after IRS deadline

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP)  A charity controlled by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has disclosed the names of donors who collectively gave $1 million toward 2015 events celebrating his time in office, two months after missing a deadline for doing so.

The filing reveals that 68 Iowa companies, lobbying groups or individuals gave $5,000 or more to pay for events celebrating Branstad's inauguration to an unprecedented sixth term and, months later, to his becoming the nation's longest-serving governor. The charity will use the proceeds for college scholarships and grants to promote Iowa history under Branstad's name.

The largest donor was Des Moines-based Principal Financial Group, which gave $125,000. Other powerful Iowa companies dot the list, such as the Hy-Vee grocery store chain; the state's two largest power companies, MidAmerican and Alliant; farm equipment maker John Deere; and gas station chains Casey's and Kum & Go. Groups representing real estate agents, soda companies, nursing homes and bankers also chipped in, as did a number of casino interests.

The late filing could mean thousands of dollars in IRS late penalties for the charity, the Branstad-Reynolds Scholarship Fund, which has so far reported spending ten times as much on events celebrating Branstad as it has on scholarships.

The filing comes as the Republican governor prepares to resign to become U.S. Ambassador to China under President Donald Trump.

The Associated Press reported Jan. 2 that the charity, created in 2010 to raise money for Branstad's inauguration to a fifth term, filed its 2015 tax return as required Nov. 15 after receiving the maximum six months in extensions. But the filing failed to list donors, as is required for foundations.

Tax experts said the lack of disclosure invited penalties of $100 per day retroactive to Nov. 15 because the IRS considers incomplete filings to be late. Foundations can try to avoid penalties by showing cause for failing to meet deadlines, but experts doubt the justification offered by Branstad's group would qualify.

In the amended filing, the charity told the IRS that "certain records pertaining to contributors were unavailable" when the filing was due Nov. 15. "Those records have now been obtained," the filing said, allowing it to disclose "a complete list of reportable contributors."

The charity's initial incomplete filing falsely reported that Principal had given $25,000 and listed no other donors.

Branstad spokesman Ben Hammes said the amended filing was mailed to the IRS last week. He disputes that it would be considered late, noting that taxpayers have three years to file amended returns, and said the group doesn't expect penalties. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds serve as president and vice president of the charity.

Marcus Owens, former director of the IRS division overseeing nonprofit groups, said the incomplete filing would likely bring a fine and that the group may have more significant compliance issues that could threaten its tax-exempt status.

He noted that the IRS has held for decades that an organization formed to conduct inauguration activities is not operated for charitable purposes and that contributions to that entity are not tax-deductible. The fund has told the IRS that more than $400,000 it spent on 2011 inauguration activities was for "charitable purposes."

Through 2015, the fund has reported awarding $97,500 in college scholarships while spending more than $1 million on operating and administrative expenses, mostly on the two inaugurals. Hammes said the fund has since awarded $40,000 more in scholarships, and that it was set up as a long-term endowment. It reported having $1.7 million in the bank.

The IRS declined to comment. A spokesman for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, said that unlike many states, his office has limited jurisdiction over nonprofits and generally defers to the IRS for any enforcement action.

___
ELKO  Charlie Seemann, executive director emeritus of the Western Folklife Center in Elko, will be at the Northeastern Nevada Museum from 11 a.m. to noon Feb.2 to sign copies of his recently published book The Real Singing Cowboys.

There are many western musicians who perform cowboy music and then there are the Real Singing Cowboys. In more than 50 profiles, Seemann pays tribute to the music made by men and women who are, or have been, working cowboys, ranchers, packers, and horse trainers with deep roots in the cowboy culture. This event is free to the public.

Charlie Seemann holds a Master of Arts in Folklife Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. He worked as a folklorist and director of the Western Regional Folklife Festival at Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco, California, until 1981. Seemann then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he was deputy director of the Country Music Foundation/Country Music Hall of Fame for 12 years. He served as program director for the Fund for Folk Culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico, before assuming the position of executive director of the Western Folklife Center in 1998.

Seemann retired in 2014.
School district considers removing racial slur from musical

CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP)  A New Jersey high school is weighing whether it should allow students to utter racial slurs during performances of the musical "Ragtime."

Cherry Hill school district officials had planned to remove the N-word from the show that's due to debut March 10 at High School East, following complaints from a parent and some area civil rights groups. They also said disparaging lines from the play targeting other ethnic groups also would be removed.

But that has been met with resistance by many students and community members of all races who say it would be wrong to "sanitize" the show. They argue it's an accurate portrayal of the racist attitudes that many people held in the early 20th century, when the Tony Award-winning musical is set. Some Broadway actors and arts groups agree with that argument.

The issue was the focus of a lengthy public meeting Tuesday attended by about 100 people, but no decision has been made on how to proceed.

Officials have noted that if the script is altered in any way, the agency that licenses the play will likely rescind its permission for the district to perform the show, which is based on the 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow and includes themes of racism, intolerance and injustice.

Ezra Nugiel, a white student who plays a character who utters the N-word several times, was among several cast members who said they oppose changing the script, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

"I don't say (the N-word) happily, but I know I have to," Nugiel told the board, which has two minority members. "We want to hear these words to not let history repeat itself."

Cedric Middleton, a black student who also performs in the play, said he also supports using the script unaltered.

"I fully understand the feelings of discomfort," he said. "'Ragtime' is how we get through such ugliness."

Carey Savage, vice president of the Camden County East Branch of the NAACP, told the board that civil rights leaders don't "need to be refreshed on what racism is" by the unfettered use of the word.
House panel advances plan to reinstate Arkansas voter ID law

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP)  A House panel sought Wednesday to reinstate Arkansas' voter ID law, and expanded Republican majorities in the Legislature could help it survive yet another court challenge like the one that struck down a nearly identical plan more than two years ago.

The House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee endorsed the proposal requiring most voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot. The measure is expected to go before the full House next week

The panel endorsed the measure hours after President Donald Trump, who has made unsubstantiated claims that millions of ballots were cast illegally in last year's election, said he would order an investigation into voter fraud. Election officials across the country have dismissed Trump's voter fraud claims as baseless.

The Arkansas Supreme Court in 2014 unanimously struck down the state's voter ID law, ruling it amounted to a new requirement for voters in violation of the state's constitution. The latest proposal is aimed at addressing a concern three of the court's seven justices raised that the prohibition didn't pass with enough votes in the Legislature when it was enacted in 2013. The voter ID measure will require a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate.

"If the voters do not have confidence in the electoral process, then it also has a very strong causal link to lack of confidence in all of the other elements of democracy," Republican Rep. Mark Lowery, the voter ID bill's sponsor, told the panel.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which had successfully challenged the 2013 law, said the reworked proposal would still infringe on Arkansas voters' rights.

"It's the same law as before. We can call it a voter registration requirement all we want, but it applies to people when they go to vote so it's a qualification for voting," Holly Dickson, legal director for the ACLU of Arkansas, told reporters after the vote. "The Legislature should take a step back and examine what went wrong, what they need to be doing and not jeopardizing the rights of more Arkansans' ballots."

Lowery's proposal is counting in part on a new makeup on the state Supreme Court. Four of the justices who struck down the 2013 law are no longer on the court, and one of the new justices is a former Republican state legislator. The three justices who said the 2013 law didn't get the two-thirds vote needed remain on the court.

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to be playing games based on the political composition of a court when neutrality at the judicial level is supposed to be assumed," Democratic state Rep. Warwick Sabin, who voted against the measure, said.

Arkansas law currently requires election workers to ask for photo ID but voters didn't have to show it to cast a ballot. The new measure would allow voters without photo ID to cast a provision ballot that would be counted if they return by noon the following Monday to show ID or an affidavit stating they are indigent or have a religious objection to being photographed.

Like the previous law, the measure requires the state to provide photo IDs to voters who don't have another valid form of identification. The state still has equipment for providing the IDs that was purchased before the 2013 law was voided.

The measure is not the only attempt to revive the voter ID restriction. Republican Sen. Bryan King, who sponsored the 2013 law, said he will introduce legislation placing a proposed constitutional amendment on voter ID on the 2018 ballot.

Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said he generally supports voter ID measures, but has stopped short of saying whether he support the legislation or the ballot measure.

___
Crews search for toddler missing amid tornado destruction

ALBANY, Ga. (AP)  Crews searched a mobile home park strewn with twisted metal and other debris Wednesday for a toddler whose parents reported him missing after a tornado demolished their trailer during a weekend outbreak of deadly storms.

Albany Fire Chief Ron Rowe told a news conference the search for 2-year-old Detrez Green resumed at first daylight Wednesday. The boy's mother told authorities he slipped away from her Sunday afternoon and toddled into their kitchen just before a tornado sent an oak tree crashing through their home.

"He was playing with a toy the last time I saw him," Kevian Green, the boy's father, told reporters. "I just hope they can find him."

Crews were searching "every inch" of the Piney Woods Estates mobile home park where the boy lived, including up in any trees the storm left standing, said Albany Dougherty Search and Rescue Commander Chuck Mitchell.

"He could be anywhere," Mitchell told WALB-TV (http://bit.ly/2kjRsDw).

The twister was among at least 21 confirmed by the National Weather Service to have touched down in Georgia over the weekend, when a midwinter outbreak of thunderstorms and tornadoes threatened millions from Louisiana to the Carolinas. The storms were blamed for at least 20 deaths: 15 in Georgia, four in Mississippi and one in Florida.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal toured the destruction Wednesday by helicopter in Albany before heading to nearby Cook County, where seven people perished in a single mobile home park. He said more than 300 state workers were in southwest Georgia assisting with recovery efforts and federal workers were on the ground and ready to help once there's an official disaster declaration from Washington.

Asked if he was expecting a faster federal response under President Donald Trump, a fellow Republican, Deal said: "I told them this was their opportunity to show what they can do for Georgia. I hope that will spur them on."

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant announced Wednesday that Trump has issued a disaster declaration for four counties in his state, where a tornado Saturday ripped a 31-mile path and more than 500 homes were destroyed or seriously damaged. Residents of the impacted counties are eligible for individual assistance of up to $33,000.

In Georgia, state Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens has estimated the weekend storms caused at least $100 million in damage in Georgia.

Search and rescue workers in Albany were looking for the missing toddler from dawn until dusk. Rescue crews had combed through the rubble of the boy's home but found nothing. On Wednesday they were still sifting through debris of neighboring homes.
New York utility OKs wind energy project off Long Island

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP)  Environmentalists, union officials and others popped champagne Wednesday after a New York utility approved plans for a modest wind energy farm off the east coast of Long Island.

The project won't generate much power  just 90 megawatts from 15 turbines when it opens in 2022  but supporters hope it will help prove the feasibility of larger offshore wind farms.

"By taking this first step and committing New York to move forward with enough offshore wind power to light 1.25 million homes by 2030, Gov. Cuomo has positioned New York state to be the leader in realizing the infrastructure, jobs and economic development benefits of the emerging U.S. offshore wind industry," said Kit Kennedy of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Adrienne Esposito, right, and Maureen Murphy, of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, applaud a vote by the Long Island Power Authority at its meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017, in Uniondale, N.Y. LIPA approved a contract with Deepwater Wind to construct a 15-turbine offshore wind project about 30 miles east of Montauk, N.Y. Environmentalists and others see the project as another step toward expanding offshore wind energy in the United States. (AP Photo/Frank Eltman)

While Europe has been generating offshore wind energy for decades, the first offshore wind energy project in the United States opened late last year. Five turbines south of Rhode Island are generating enough energy for 17,000 homes. The Long Island project approved Wednesday would be three times larger, but there are ambitious plans for projects that would dwarf the first two.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which has jurisdiction over offshore wind energy projects in federal waters, has auctioned several large tracts of the Atlantic Ocean for wind energy development including a 79,000-acre area southeast of New York City where as many as 194 turbines could be built. Another auction is scheduled for March for 122,000 acres off the North Carolina coast.

The builders of the Rhode Island project that opened last month, Deepwater Wind, were awarded the contract for the wind farm approved Wednesday by the Long Island Power Authority. Deepwater Wind CEO Jeff Grybowski said the cost of the new project is $740 million.

"There is a huge clean energy resource blowing off of our coastline just over the horizon, and it is time to tap into this unlimited resource to power our communities," Grybowski said.

Cuomo says New York is committed to developing up to 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind power by the end of the next decade. That's enough power for 1.25 million homes.

Long Island Power Authority CEO Thomas Falcone said improvements in technology allow utilities to build wind power projects farther from the coast, which eliminates complaints about eyesores, and the efficiency of the turbines being built is continually improving the energy generating capacity.

"The most exciting thing is it's a gateway project," Falcone told authority trustees before their unanimous vote. "It's the first step. It is our first project. It is the first project for New York, it's the largest project to date, but it's not our last project and it will not be the largest project."

___

Follow Eltman on Twitter at @feltman41
Manual Aristy Arias, 51, owes $644,804, say police

Three New Jersey jitney drivers who owe more than $682,000 combined in unpaid tolls and fees have been arrested.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police say all three were detained Wednesday morning at the Lincoln Tunnel in Weehawken.

Each faces charges of theft of service and theft by unlawful taking.

The front runner in the amount of toll fees owed is by bus driver Manuel Aristy Arias, 51, of Paterson, who owes an incredible $644,804. Police say he has 9,219 known E-ZPass electronic toll payment violations.

Somaya Elkaramany, 47, of Bayonne, is accused of owing $24,522 for 383 known violations, and 31-year-old Washington Cevallos-Vega, of Union City, has 176 known violations adding up to $13,389.

Somaya Elkaramany, 47, left, allegedly owes $24,522 and Washington Cevallos-Vega, 31, right allegedly owes $13,389

Aristy Arias had not paid $183,904 in tolls and $460,900 in fees, cops said, according to the New York Daily News.

Elkaramany, who was driving a jitney, had racked up $2,417 in tolls and $5,050 in fees. This isn't her first brush with the law. In 2014, she was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer after she parked illegally, according to NJ.com.

Cevallos-Vega, who was cruising in a Chevrolet, had skipped out on $4,439 in tolls and $8,950 in fees.

On Friday, Alesandel Rodriguez, 31, was arrested on Friday owing $56,000 in unpaid tolls and fees.

And on January 9, Sean Haluska was nabbed owing $94,000 in violations. Police said he was caught as he whizzed through the Outerbridge Crossing bridge on his way to work without paying - again. Cops also said his license had been suspended, for the fourth time, according to CBS New York.

The toll busts were part of a ramped-up effort by the Port Authority to crack down on toll violators traveling between New York City and New Jersey.

The trio were all arrested Wednesday morning while doing what they allegedly always do - whiz through the toll booths without paying
Trump says torture works as his government readies a review

WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump declared Wednesday he believes torture works as his administration readied a sweeping review of how America conducts the war on terror. It includes possible resumption of banned interrogation methods and reopening CIA-run "black site" prisons outside the United States.

In an interview with ABC News, Trump said he would wage war against Islamic State militants with the singular goal of keeping the U.S. safe. Asked specifically about the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, Trump cited the extremist group's atrocities against Christians and others and said: "We have to fight fire with fire."

Trump said he would consult with new Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo before authorizing any new policy. But he said he had asked top intelligence officials in the past day: "Does torture work?"

President Donald Trump, accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence, Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly, and others, speaks during a visit to the Homeland Security Department in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

"And the answer was yes, absolutely," Trump said.

He added that he wants to do "everything within the bounds of what you're allowed to do legally."

A clip of Trump's interview was released after The Associated Press and other news outlets obtained copies of a draft executive order being circulated within his administration.

Beyond reviewing interrogation techniques and facilities, the draft order would instruct the Pentagon to send newly captured "enemy combatants" to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, instead of closing the detention facility as President Barack Obama had wanted. Altogether, the possible changes could mark a dramatic return to how the Bush administration waged its campaign against al-Qaida and other extremist groups.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer, questioned about the draft order, said it was "not a White House document" but would not comment further.

House Speaker Paul Ryan told MSNBC the draft order was not written by the Trump administration. "My understanding is this was written by somebody who worked on the transition before. ... This is not something the Trump administration is planning on, working on," Ryan said.

The draft says U.S. laws should be obeyed at all times and explicitly rejects "torture." But its reconsideration of the harsh techniques banned by Obama and Congress raises questions about the definition of the word and is sure to inflame passions in the U.S. and abroad.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, President George W. Bush authorized a covert program that led to dozens of detainees being held in secret locations overseas and to interrogation tactics that included sleep deprivation, slapping and slamming against walls, confinement in small boxes, prolonged isolation and even death threats. Three detainees faced waterboarding. Many developed psychological problems.

While some former government leaders insist the program was effective in obtaining critical intelligence, many others say the abuses weakened America's moral standing in the world, hurt morale among intelligence officers and proved ineffective before Obama shut it down.

The AP obtained the draft order from a U.S. official, who said it had been distributed by the White House for consultations before Trump signs it. The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.

The Pentagon didn't immediately comment and Spicer, Trump's press secretary, said, "I have no idea where it came from." But reports of the upcoming order quickly sparked alarm among Republicans and Democrats.

"The president can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law," said Republican Sen. John McCain, tortured himself as a prisoner during the Vietnam War. "We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America."

On the campaign trail, Trump spoke emphatically about toughening the U.S. approach to fighting the Islamic State group. He said he would authorize waterboarding and a "hell of a lot worse." After winning the election, however, he appeared to backtrack, pointedly citing Mattis' advice that torture is ineffective.

Pompeo, Trump's CIA director, said in his confirmation hearing that he would abide by all laws. But he also said he'd consult with CIA and other government experts on whether current restrictions were an "impediment to gathering vital intelligence to protect the country or whether any rewrite of the Army Field Manual is needed."

Specifically, Trump's draft order calls for reinstating an executive order  "to the extent permitted" by current law  that President Bush signed in 2007 and Obama later revoked.

Trump's draft would reverse two other executive orders of Obama's. One called for closing Guantanamo Bay. The other ordered the CIA to shut any detention facility it operated and prohibited the U.S. from using any interrogation technique not listed in the Army Field Manual, demanding treatment in compliance with the Geneva Conventions, including timely access for the International Red Cross to all detainees.

Among the interrogation techniques banned by the manual were forced nakedness, hooding, beatings, sexual humiliation, threatening with dogs, mock executions, electric shocks, burning and waterboarding.

Any changes would face steep legal and legislative hurdles.

McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee's chairman, may be the most formidable opponent in Congress, but he is not the only one.

"It is wrong and I hope he will rethink it," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said.

On Guantanamo, the draft order says detention facilities "are a critical tool in the fight against international jihadist terrorist groups who are engaged in armed conflict with the United States, its allies and its coalition partners." About 40 detainees remain in Guantanamo.

The document says "over 30 percent of detainees" who've been released have returned to armed conflict, with at least a dozen conducting attacks "against U.S. personnel or allied forces in Afghanistan." Six Americans, including a civilian aid worker, died as a result of those attacks.

U.S. intelligence agencies say 17.6 percent of detainees released from Guantanamo are confirmed to have re-engaged in conflict. An additional 12.4 percent are "suspected" of re-engaging.

Trump pledged on the campaign trail to "load it up with some bad dudes."

But it's unclear who the new detainees would be. As American ground troops have stepped back this decade from the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan, captures of high-level detainees have become much rarer, and Obama tried to direct them through the U.S. justice system.

___

AP writers Eric Tucker, Erica Werner and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.

FILE - In this June 27, 2006 file photo, reviewed by a US Department of Defense official, US military guards walk within Camp Delta military-run prison, at the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba. A draft executive order shows President Donald Trump asking for a review of Americas methods for interrogation terror suspects and whether the U.S. should reopen CIA-run black site prisons outside the U.S. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, file)
Brazil orders 11.5 million yellow fever vaccines

SAO PAULO (AP)  Brazil's Ministry of Health has ordered 11.5 million doses of yellow fever vaccines to reinforce its stockpiles amid the largest outbreak of the disease the country has seen since 2000, officials said Wednesday.

So far during the summer rainy season, 70 cases, including 40 deaths, have been confirmed. More than 300 cases are still being investigated.

That makes it the biggest outbreak since 2000, when 85 cases were confirmed, according ministry data.

FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2008 file photo, a person is vaccinated against yellow fever at a public hospital in Brasilia, Brazil. Brazils Health Ministry has ordered millions of doses of yellow fever vaccines to reinforce its stockpiles amid the largest outbreak of the disease the country has seen since 2000, the ministry said Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)

Around 5.5 million vaccine doses have already been sent to five states that have confirmed cases or are at risk, Eduardo Hage, director of the Department for Surveillance of Infectious Diseases, told a news conference.

The other 6 million ordered will arrive soon to join stockpiles. In addition, production of another 9 million doses has begun and should be available in the coming weeks.

Yellow fever is a mosquito-borne disease that causes fever, body aches, vomiting and can cause jaundice, from which it gets its name. Outbreaks are generally brought under control by vaccination campaigns.

Brazilian authorities recommend that the yellow fever vaccination be routine for anyone living in areas considered at risk. They are now advising anyone living in or traveling to areas with current outbreaks  or areas generally considered at risk  to get vaccinated, if they have not already. Brazil does not require a yellow fever vaccination for entry.

The current outbreak is centered in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, which is within the at-risk area but didn't see any cases last year. There have also been a handful of confirmed cases in the neighboring states of Sao Paulo and Espirito Santo, which has not had a case in decades.

"It's unusual," Jimmy Whitworth, professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said of the outbreak. "The more cases you have, the more chance that it's going to light up and take off in urban areas."

But he added that Brazilian authorities are taking the situation very seriously and appear to have enough vaccine stocks.

Officials at Wednesday's news conference said they are monitoring the disease closely to ensure it doesn't spread to urban areas, including ramping up vaccine stocks in Rio de Janeiro state, which has not had any cases but has a large population and is a popular beach destination is summer.
California zoo welcomes baby southern white rhinoceros

FRESNO, Calif. (AP)  A Northern California zoo has welcomed a new bundle of joy: a baby rhino.

The Fresno Bee reports (http://bit.ly/2jpFSrZ ) that the Fresno Chaffee Zoo announced Tuesday that a southern white rhinoceros calf was born overnight. The unnamed calf is the first rhino calf in the zoo's history.

Zoo officials say mother Kayla and calf are healthy and will be on exhibit soon after they are cleared by zookeepers.

In this Monday, Jan. 24, 2017, photo provided by the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, a newly-born southern white rhinoceros calf stands with its mother in an enclosure in Fresno, Calif. The unnamed calf born overnight, is the first rhino calf in the zoo's history. Zoo officials said Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2017, that mother Kayla and calf are healthy and will be on exhibit soon after they are cleared by zookeepers. The zoo only announced Kayla's pregnancy on Jan. 17 because zoo officials were unable to confirm that the rhino was pregnant. Rhinoceros' abdominal walls are too thick for normal ultrasounds. (Vernon Presley/Fresno Chaffee Zoo via AP)

This is Kayla's third pregnancy but first time in Fresno. She arrived at Fresno Chaffee Zoo in 2015 for the opening of the African Adventure exhibit.

The zoo only announced Kayla's pregnancy on Jan. 17 because zoo officials were unable to confirm that the rhino was pregnant. Rhinoceros' abdominal walls are too thick for normal ultrasounds.

___

Information from: The Fresno Bee, http://www.fresnobee.com

In this Monday, Jan. 24, 2017, photo provided by the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, a newly-born southern white rhinoceros calf stands in an enclosure at the zoo in Fresno, Calif. The unnamed calf born overnight, is the first rhino calf in the zoo's history. Zoo officials said Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2017, that mother Kayla and calf are healthy and will be on exhibit soon after they are cleared by zookeepers. The zoo only announced Kayla's pregnancy on Jan. 17 because zoo officials were unable to confirm that the rhino was pregnant. Rhinoceros' abdominal walls are too thick for normal ultrasounds. (Vernon Presley/Fresno Chaffee Zoo via AP)

In this Monday, Jan. 24, 2017, photo provided by the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, a newly-born southern white rhinoceros calf stands by its mother in an enclosure at the zoo in Fresno, Calif. The unnamed calf born overnight, is the first rhino calf in the zoo's history. Zoo officials said Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2017, that mother Kayla and calf are healthy and will be on exhibit soon after they are cleared by zookeepers. The zoo only announced Kayla's pregnancy on Jan. 17 because zoo officials were unable to confirm that the rhino was pregnant. Rhinoceros' abdominal walls are too thick for normal ultrasounds. (Vernon Presley/Fresno Chaffee Zoo via AP)
Michigan suspends license of gymnastics doc accused of abuse

LANSING, Mich. (AP)  Michigan has suspended the medical license of a doctor accused of sexually abusing gymnasts and other athletes during medical treatments.

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs announced Wednesday that it served an order Tuesday to immediately suspend Dr. Larry Nassar's license to practice as an osteopathic physician. The complaint alleges Nassar sexually abused a minor.

Nassar, a former doctor for USA Gymnastics who had a clinic at Michigan State University, was charged in November with sexually assaulting a girl at his Lansing-area home. He also is charged in federal court with possessing child pornography and faces at least five lawsuits from women and girls alleging abuse.
Donald Trumps nominee for secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, probably survived the grilling she got from angry Democrats last week.

When Sen. Patty Murray demanded she promise not to privatize public schools, DeVos replied, Not all schools are working for the students.

When Sen. Bernie Sanders asked her to make universities tuition free, DeVos replied, I think thats a really interesting idea (but) theres nothing in life thats truly free.

Those answers were fine. I suppose its important for a nominee to be polite.

But what I wish shed said was: No, Sen. Murray, I wont promise not to privatize! Didnt you notice the mess government schemes create? Many government-run schools are lousy! Private is better!

Sen. Sanders, how clueless can you be? Your free stuff is already bankrupting America! Your free health care plan was rejected by your own state  once your fellow Democrats did the math. Then your wife bankrupted Burlington College! You call yourself socialist! Havent you noticed that socialism wrecks peoples lives? You should resign in shame!

Sen. Elizabeth Warren demanded DeVos explain what she will do about schools like Donald Trumps fake university ... I am curious how the Trump administration would protect against waste, fraud and abuse at similar for-profit colleges.

DeVos tried, If confirmed, I will certainly be very vigilant...

How? interrupted Warren, who went on to sneer, Youre going to give that to someone else to do?

Warrens attack was absurd because Trump University was not an actual college that received federal funding. As the Cato Institutes Neal McCluskey points out, Of course it wasnt, and the education secretary did not have jurisdiction over it.

What DeVos should have said: I would do nothing about Trump University, you smearmonger! Trump U has nothing to do with schools that get federal money. Do you conflate the two just to make profit the villain?

Sen. Al Franken asked DeVos whether students learning should be assessed based on proficiency or growth. Proficiency means a third-grader masters third-grade-level work. Growth means improvement  thats fairer to disadvantaged students, who start from behind.

DeVos began, I would ... correlate it to competency and mastery...

Thats growth. Thats not proficiency, interrupted Franken, suggesting that DeVos didnt understand education terms.

DeVos should have said: Senator, neither measure is fair to teachers or kids! The proficiency vs. growth argument is a by-product of your stupid No Child Left Behind law. Such federal micromanagement is terrible because every kid is different. Thats why your opposition to choice is destructive. Of course, you dont even know how bad many government-run schools are. You sent your kids to a private school that charges $44,000 tuition. Get real, Al!

Sen. Chris Murphy demanded that DeVos support a ban on guns in schools. DeVos replied, That is best left to locales and states.

Murphy was incredulous. You cant say definitively, today, that guns shouldnt be in schools?!

Earlier at the hearing, Sen. Mike Enzi mentioned a Wyoming school that has a grizzly bear fence. So DeVos joked that there was probably a gun in the school to protect from potential grizzlies.

What DeVos should have said: Senator! Have you no understanding of federalism? You think Washington, or you, know whats best for all schools in America? As education secretary, I dont have the power to ban guns. No federal official does! Read the Constitution, you ignorant control freak!

OK. This is fantasy. No nominee can be that rude to politicians who have power over her.

But I can wish, cant I?
Man gets death sentence in slaying of 5-year-old girl

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP)  A Mississippi judge has sentenced a man to death for the killing of a 5-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted and hanged with the use of her socks.

Local news organizations report that 32-year-old Alberto Julio Garcia was sentenced Wednesday for the 2014 killing of Ja'Naya Thompson.

Garcia had pleaded guilty to capital murder on Jan. 18.

Harrison County Circuit Court Judge Lisa Dodson could have sentenced Garcia to the death penalty or to life without parole.
Texas man convicted in 2 slayings at Subway shop set to die

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP)  Terry Edwards was seen holding a gun when fleeing from a suburban Dallas Subway sandwich shop after a robbery where two workers were fatally shot. He was spotted ditching the weapon in a trash can nearby and was carrying more than $3,000 in a Subway bag when he was arrested a short time later.

Edwards admitted being in the store but told police a man he knew as "T-Bone" gave him the gun as they left and he was in a bathroom when that man shot and killed the two employees. Investigators later would determine the other man he claimed to not know by name was his cousin.

On Thursday evening, Edwards, 43, is set for lethal injection for the slaying of 26-year-old Mickell Goodwin more than 14 years ago. The shop's 34-year-old manager, Tommy Walker, also was gunned down in the holdup. Evidence showed Edwards worked at the store and was fired weeks earlier for stealing money from the register. No one else was inside the shop at the time of the shooting.

This undated photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows death row inmate Terry Edwards. Edwards, 43, is set for lethal injection on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017. Attorneys for the Edwards say he didnt do the 2002 shootings and that he had poor legal help at his trial and in earlier appeals. They want a federal court to stop his lethal injection. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)

He'd be the second Texas inmate executed this year and the third nationally.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Wednesday rejected an appeal from Edwards that sought to delay his execution.

An attorney for Edwards, John Mills, said the appeal would be taken to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A separate appeal at the high court also is seeking a delay. Attorneys want the court to order Texas prison officials to test the pentobarbital used in the lethal injection to ensure it is potent enough to keep Edwards from unconstitutional suffering.

Attorneys for Edwards also have contended that Dallas County prosecutors at his trial incorrectly portrayed Edwards as the shooter and that he was innocent of the shootings. They also said the jury for Edwards, who is black, excluded black people. The execution should be stopped and the case reopened for a "full and fair" hearing, attorney Carl Medders told the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"At every step of his proceedings, Edwards has received abysmal representation," Medders said.

The 5th Circuit, however, agreed with state lawyers who argued the appeals improperly raised new claims, were too late under filing deadlines and had insufficient evidence to back up their claims.

State attorneys also pointed out that while Edwards' trial lawyers argued he wasn't the shooter, jurors were instructed that the Texas law of parties  which makes non-triggermen equally culpable  also made Edwards eligible for a capital murder conviction.

The late appeals were "a bold-faced, last-minute attempt to inundate the court with a large amount of information, much of which is misrepresented or incomplete, in the hopes of obtaining a stay of execution," Jaclyn O'Connor Lambert, an assistant Dallas County district attorney, said in a court brief.

At the time of the killings, Edwards, the father of four, was on parole. He was released in October 1999 after prison time for car theft and possession with intent to deliver cocaine. He had only one more month remaining before his parole would have been completed.

Evidence showed two men walked into the Subway store in Balch Springs, about 15 miles southeast of downtown Dallas, shortly after it opened on July 8, 2002. Goodwin and Walker were each shot in the head at close range as the place was robbed. Walker, an ordained minister, had seven children and stepchildren. Goodwin was mother of two daughters.

People in an adjacent dental office in the shopping strip heard the gunshots and called 911. Police responded in time to see two men running away, and an officer saw one of them throw something into a trash can across the street. It later would be identified as the murder weapon, a .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun.

Edwards was caught and arrested nearby. An audio recording in the police car caught him lamenting over his accomplice not following his instructions, and that he wished he'd removed his shirt so he couldn't be identified. He also said that he had messed up "big time," using a vulgarity repeatedly to say that now he had two murders. Edwards' comments were inconclusive, his attorneys said.
Landry wins in the Bahamas, 2nd victory on Web.com Tour

GREAT ABACO, Bahamas (AP)  Andrew Landry took a step toward returning to the PGA Tour on Wednesday by closing with a 5-under 67 for a three-shot victory in the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic.

Landry, who shared the 54-hole lead with Chase Parker, took the lead for good with a birdie on the 13th hole and then made eagle on the par-5 14th to start to pull away. He finished three shots ahead of Jimmy Gunn, who closed with a 68.

Zecheng Dou of China shot 67 to finish third, with Parker (72) another shot behind.
The Latest: Ryan says Congress will front money for wall

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Latest on Congress (all times EST):

7:10 p.m.

House Speaker Paul Ryan says Congress will front the money for President Donald Trump's newly announced wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Capitol in Washington is seen early Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017, as members of Congress break for political retreats with the Democrats heading to Baltimore and Republicans to Philadelphia. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

He confirms in an interview on MSNBC that a suggested price tag between $8 billion and $14 billion is "about right."

Ryan also says that there are different ways to get Mexico to pay  something Trump long promised.

But he says the point is Trump promised to secure the border, congressional Republicans agree, and they will work together to finance the construction.

___

6:40 p.m.

House Speaker Paul Ryan is endorsing President Donald Trump's call for an investigation into voter fraud.

Trump has claimed falsely that votes from 3 million to 5 million immigrants in the country illegally cost him the popular vote. There's no evidence of that, but Trump announced on Twitter Wednesday that there would be an investigation into potential voter fraud, and action to strengthen voting laws depending on the results.

Ryan has said he's seen no evidence to suggest voter fraud on the scale Trump suggests. But he tells MSNBC that there probably is some fraud, adding, "If there's a concern here then the right thing to do is investigate and find the facts."

___

6:30 p.m.

The National Rifle Association is accusing "political elites" of forsaking the nation's police in an ad campaign backing President Donald Trump's nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions to become attorney general.

The Alabama Republican has been backed by GOP senators, but Democrats have questioned his commitment to equal rights. They forced a delay in a Senate Judiciary Committee vote on his nomination until next Tuesday.

The 30-second spot shows a police car being fired upon and a distraught officer leaning on a flag-draped coffin.

The narrator says, "After eight years of political elites abandoning police, we need an attorney general who supports police." He also says Sessions will protect gun rights.

The six-figure campaign was to begin running Thursday for a week on national cable television and on some websites.

___

5:35 p.m.

Congresswoman Liz Cheney is applauding President Donald Trump's plan to review interrogation techniques.

The Wyoming Republican is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, known for advocating enhanced interrogation techniques in the George W. Bush administration.

Cheney says she is "very heartened" to learn of the Trump administration move to conduct a sweeping review of how America conducts the war on terror, including possible resumption of banned interrogation methods.

Speaking to reporters at the congressional Republican retreat in Philadelphia, Cheney says that since stopping the enhanced interrogation program "we're not even in a position anymore frankly where we're very often capturing people."

She also says that enhanced interrogation helped lead to the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden, a contention that's widely disputed.

___

5:15 p.m.

A dozen senators have sent a letter to President Donald Trump accusing him of promoting a "culture of fear among federal employees" that may prevent workers from completing their mission to openly serve the American public.

Democratic Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts and other senators decried media reports that the new Trump administration has imposed a communications blackout on a number of federal agencies. Emails to federal staffers have banned press releases, blog updates or posts to agencies' social media accounts.

The letter says the American people expect an open, transparent and honest government, and says Trump's actions "are not only contrary to that expectation, they promote a long-lasting culture of fear among federal employees."

The letter is signed by 11 Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

___

5:10 p.m.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee says it will meet next Tuesday to vote on the nominations of Ryan Zinke and Rick Perry to head the departments of Interior and Energy, respectively.

The meeting was originally scheduled for this week but was delayed after Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, the panel's senior Democrat, asked for more time to review Perry's record and policy positions.

A spokeswoman for Cantwell says she still has questions about Perry's stance on energy efficiency and other issues, but hopes to have them answered before the vote.

During his confirmation hearing, Perry, the former governor of Texas, retracted a 2011 statement that he wanted to abolish the Energy Department. He said he now better understands and supports the department's mission, including protecting and modernizing the nation's nuclear stockpile.

___

5:05 p.m.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard says she met with Syrian President Bashar Assad during a recent trip to the war-torn country.

Appearing on CNN, the Hawaii Democrat says there is no possibility for a viable peace agreement in Syria unless Assad is part of the conversation.

Gabbard says, "Whatever you think about President Assad, the fact is that he is the president of Syria."

Gabbard, a major in the Army National Guard, met last November with Donald Trump shortly after the presidential election. She backed Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent.
UN discusses latest Israeli settlement plan, takes no action

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The Security Council discussed Israel's latest plan to expand Jewish settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians after a briefing by a senior U.N. official Wednesday, but the United States did not make any comments and the U.N.'s most powerful body took no action.

Sweden's U.N. Ambassador Olof Skoog, the current council president, told reporters after the closed-door meeting "this needs to be condemned"  and he said other council members who spoke agreed.

The meeting followed the Obama administration's stunning reversal last month which allowed the Security Council to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as a "flagrant violation" of international law. The U.S., Israel's closest ally, previously vetoed council resolutions on settlements but on this one it abstained.

Wednesday's meeting took place soon after former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who strongly opposes the settlements resolution, was sworn in as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a day after the Trump administration declined to take a position on Israel's latest expansion plan, breaking with past White House criticism of such construction but leaving its own policy unclear.

Bolivia, a strong supporter of the Palestinians and a council member, asked for the briefing by Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. envoy trying to promote Middle East peace.

Israel said Tuesday it approved plans to build 2,500 new settler homes in the West Bank, signaling a major ramp-up of construction just days after the swearing-in of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose election has emboldened the settlement movement.

Skoog said council members "are worried about any unilateral action that threatens the peace process  that moves us away rather than toward a two-state solution."

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, called Israel's intensification of settlement building illegal and in "complete disregard" of the council's resolution.

"It is the responsibility of the Security Council not to allow them to get away with that," he told reporters.
Montana temporarily blocks bison slaughters

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)  Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has blocked the impending slaughter of hundreds of Yellowstone National Park bison over disease concerns until a temporary home can be found for 40 animals wanted by an American Indian tribe.

Bullock prohibited the transfer of any Yellowstone bison to slaughter in a letter to park officials obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. The January 19 letter cited an executive order and was not previously publicized.

About 200 bison have been captured attempting to migrate from the park this winter. Federal and state officials have plans to kill up to 1,300 bison under a controversial disease control agreement.

FILE - This March 9, 2016 file photo a group of Yellowstone National Park bison await shipment to slaughter inside a holding pen along the park's northern border near Gardiner, Mont. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has blocked the impending slaughter of hundreds of Yellowstone National Park bison over disease concerns until a temporary home can be found for 40 animals wanted by an American Indian tribe. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown,File)

Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk said the 40 animals wanted by Montana's Fort Peck tribes faced possible slaughter because the park needs to clear space at the facility where they're being held.

___

This story has been corrected to show that the AP obtained a letter, not an executive order
A look at border security, fencing as Trump announces wall

HOUSTON (AP)  President Donald Trump announced his long-awaited plan Wednesday to build a wall on the 1,954-mile U.S. border with Mexico, calling for its "immediate construction" to stop illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking and acts of terrorism.

He is not the first president to embark on an aggressive buildup on the border.

Here's a look at what is already there:

A truck drives near the Mexico-US border fence, on the Mexican side, separating the towns of Anapra, Mexico and Sunland Park, New Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump will direct the Homeland Security Department to start building a wall at the Mexican border. (AP Photo/Christian Torres)

SEMI-FORTIFIED BORDER

One-third of the U.S.-Mexico border, or 653 miles, is already studded with fence in a potpourri of styles, from menacing barriers to those that can be easily hopped. The barriers arose from the Secure Fence Act passed in the last year of the George W. Bush administration.

In California, the fence climbs out of the Pacific. Its meanest stretch, three layers thick, separates San Diego from Tijuana. Half those 14 miles are topped by razor wire. In dunes to the east, a "floating fence" of 16-foot steel tubes can be raised or lowered as sands shift.

Almost all of Arizona's border is fenced, although the deterrence effect for human-and drug smugglers is constantly questioned. Cities such as Yuma and Nogales have high fencing but stretches of the remote desert have things like posts, wire-mesh and livestock fencing that can halt vehicles but people can hop. Vehicular fencing marks most of New Mexico's 180-mile border.

Nearly all Texas' 1,250-mile border is fence-free, the winding Rio Grande the only barrier. The state has just 110 miles of fences and fortified concrete levees .

Mountains, rivers and other natural barriers are expensive to build on and have been largely left alone . One stretch in Texas' Hidalgo County along the Rio Grande cost $10 million a mile.

SURVEILLANCE TECH

Politicians along the border, even GOP lawmakers in Washington, have endorsed surveillance technology as offering more security for the buck than fence or wall. The Border Patrol is expanding the use of eye-in the-sky tethered dirigibles that scan the horizon as they float on cables and of camera-studded towers. Its high-flying Predator drones have logged more than 3,000 hours a year since 2011.

Neither technology nor maintenance of existing fence comes cheap. The government spent $450 million last fiscal year on "Border Security Fencing, Infrastructure, and Technology."

And a major Boeing-led project in Arizona called the "SBINet," whose network was supposed to marshal surveillance monitoring, proved a boondoggle, costing taxpayers $1 billion before it was canceled in 2010.

PEOPLE CROSSING

Not a single person involved in a terrorist act in the United States is known to have illegally entered the country from Mexico along the southwest border. Apprehensions of people at the border are far down from a peak of 1.6 million in 2000 to 408,870 in the year ending Sept. 30, with net immigration by Mexicans at zero.

More Central Americans were apprehended illegally crossing the border than Mexicans last year. The Central Americans are fleeing a humanitarian crisis  the world's highest murder rates and abject poverty. Most surrender at the border and seek asylum. The Border Patrol has bulked up, too, from about 9,500 agents in 2004 to some 17,500 today.

The locals, meanwhile, mostly don't want a wall. A May poll in U.S. southwest border cities found 72 percent against the idea. The Cronkite News-Univision-Dallas Morning News poll had a 2.6 percent error margin

DRUG SMUGGLING

Most drugs entering the United States sneak through legal ports of entry  not through fence-less wilds. They hide in concealed compartments of passenger vehicles or commingled with legitimate goods in tractor-trailers, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says.

The U.S. Border Patrol says it seized 1.3 million pounds of marijuana, most of it in Arizona, and 4,180 pounds of cocaine, most split between the San Diego sector and Texas' Rio Grande valley, in the most recent fiscal year.

Smugglers have been tunneling under fences for years, primarily in California and Arizona where marijuana is the payload. Authorities also occasionally find ladders constructed a foot higher than existing fence as creative smugglers find new ways in  and under.

And since 1990, the DEA says, 225 border tunnels have been discovered. Off-road vehicles and backpackers are also used, but that tends to require scouts. Ultralight aircraft and drones have also made cross-border airdrops, mostly of marijuana.

___

Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Astrid Galvan in Phoenix, contributed to this report.

A Border Patrol vehicle sits alongside a border structure separating Tijuana, Mexico from San Diego Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. President Donald Trump moved aggressively to tighten the nation's immigration controls Wednesday, signing executive actions to jumpstart construction of his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall and cut federal grants for immigrant-protecting "sanctuary cities." (AP Photo/Julie Watson)
Bill: Make schools fly Mississippi's Confederate-themed flag

JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  A bill advancing in the Mississippi House of Representatives would require all K-12 schools to fly the state flag or lose their state accreditation.

House Bill 280, passed 13-8 Wednesday in the House Education Committee, is a broader mandate that schools must follow the state Constitution and all state laws.

But one of Mississippi's laws is an oft-flouted mandate that schools fly the banner, which includes the Confederate battle emblem in its upper left-hand corner. Districts, especially those with majority African-American student bodies, sometimes object to the flag as racist. One example of a district that doesn't display the flag is the city of Jackson, Mississippi's second-largest school system.

Sponsor Mark Formby, R-Picayune, says the bill includes the flag, but said that's not what motivated it. He said most complaints he gets concern schools disobeying other laws, such as those governing hiring and purchasing. His measure would allow any person to file a complaint with the state Department of Education and require the department to investigate. If the department found a violation, a district would have 30 days to correct it. If not, the Board of Education would be required to withdraw accreditation. Any district losing accreditation could have sports and extracurricular activities limited.

"This says a person could call them on the carpet if you don't enforce the laws," Formby said.

Rep. Jarvis Dortch, D-Raymond, objected to the possibility of complaints over the flag. But Rep. Dana Criswell, R-Olive Branch, said Dortch should instead change the law requiring schools to display the flag.

"You should repeal the law and not just go around it," Criswell said.

State Superintendent Carey Wright said she has no figures on how many schools don't fly the flag, although she said she gets frequent complaints about schools where the banner is missing. Wright says that now, state officials advise districts to follow the law, but have no power to sanction them.

The bill moves to the House Constitution Committee, where it must pass again before reaching the House floor. Requiring two committees to pass a bill is often a sign of disfavor from legislative leadership, and House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, has said he favors changing the state flag. No parallel measure is pending in the Senate.

The move comes amid continuing debate over Mississippi's flag. All eight state universities have stopped flying it. However, they are not required to display it under state law and the law would not affect them.

___

An earlier version of this story has been corrected to show the bill has been sent to another committee for more debate, not the full House.

___
President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders in keeping with campaign promises to boost border security and crack down on immigrants living in the US illegally.

The president signed the two orders during a ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday after honouring the departments newly confirmed secretary, retired General John Kelly.

The executive orders jump-start construction of a US-Mexico border wall, one of his signature campaign promises, and strip funding for so-called sanctuary cities, which do not arrest or detain immigrants living in the US illegally.

He campaigned on pledges to tighten US immigration policies, including beefing up border security and stemming the flow of refugees.

Signs that read "No more wars," "No more deportations" and "No racism." hang from a fence in front of the US Embassy in Mexico City

He also called for halting entry to the US from Muslim countries, but later shifted the policy to a focus on what he called extreme vetting for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

Mr Trumps insistence that Mexico would pay for the wall was among his most popular proposals on the campaign trail, sparking enthusiastic cheers at his raucous rallies. Mexico has repeatedly said it will not pay for any border wall.

Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto

Earlier this month Mr Trump said the building project would initially be paid for with a congressionally-approved spending bill and Mexico would eventually reimburse the US, though he has not specified how he would guarantee payments.
Labour has threatened to wage hand-to-hand combat with the Government on Brexit after the Supreme Court ordered that Parliament must have the final say on triggering withdrawal from the European Union.

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said Labour would insist on a white paper on leaving the EU as the Government hurries to rush emergency Brexit legislation through Parliament in the coming days.

MPs and peers will have the last word on withdrawal after Prime Minister Theresa May lost the Governments appeal against a High Court judgment stating Parliament, not Downing Street, must invoke the Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty mechanism that formally launches Brexit.

Emily Thornberry

"If necessary there will be hand to hand combat on this" - Emily Thornberry on Labour holding government to account over #Brexit #newsnight pic.twitter.com/s3BCWJq0Vi  BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) January 24, 2017

Article 50, if it is going to be triggered, we will not get in the way of it, but we will try and amend the legislation in order to ensure that they keep coming back, that we keep an eye on them, she said. And, if necessary, there will be hand-to-hand combat on this, she told BBCs Newsnight.

The Governments priority following the EU referendum is to respect the outcome and deliver it in the interest of the whole country. pic.twitter.com/qMCBGSqIrt  Department for Exiting the EU (@DExEUgov) January 24, 2017

Ms Thornberry said the Prime Minister must accept the role of Parliament in the process.

She cant say that she acts on behalf of the whole country without actually negotiating with Parliament, without listening to Parliament, she said.

The plan, it may be a piece of paper with plan written on the top, but it is a speech which she didnt make in Parliament, and she wasnt answerable to questions, and so we want to have a white paper.

Did you see @Keir_Starmer's response to today's Supreme Court #Brexitruling? Watch this clip of his speech  pic.twitter.com/QoYJ4blGC5  The Labour Party (@UKLabour) January 24, 2017

Labour MP Stephen Kinnock told the BBC: The Government has a mandate to take the UK out of the the European Union, they do not, in my view, have a mandate to turn us into some sort of European version of the Cayman Islands.

Legislation is likely to be introduced within days to keep Mrs Mays timetable for leaving the EU on track, after the Prime Minister suffered defeat in a historic legal battle over Brexit.

By a majority of eight to three, judges at the Supreme Court rejected the Governments plan to use prerogative powers to trigger withdrawal talks under Article 50 of the EU treaties, ruling that ministers must first obtain the consent of Parliament.

Downing Street insisted the ruling would not derail the Prime Ministers deadline of invoking Article 50 by the end of March and Brexit Secretary David Davis told the House of Commons that a straightforward bill would be tabled to give effect to the decision of British voters.

The @libdems are clear, we demand a vote of the people on the final deal and without that we will not vote for A50 pic.twitter.com/PQXxncVkUb  Tim Farron (@timfarron) January 24, 2017

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said a referendum on the deal must be held to allow voters to say thanks very much for asking but we will stay in the EU after all if they are unhappy with the package.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The Government does not have a mandate on a very narrow majority to go and negotiate any outcome it wants.
In his State of the State speech this past week Gov. Brian Sandoval tossed out tax money like trinkets and candy from a Mardi Gras parade float  a couple million here for this or that education program, a few million there for a veterans home, millions for a medical school, more millions for an engineering school and pay raises for state employees.

This session, my budget includes a 4 percent cost of living adjustment and increased funding for health benefits to recognize the shared sacrifice and dedication of our state employees, the smiling governor said about his spending proposal for the coming two years.

Overall, Sandoval proposed a 10 percent increase in the general fund portion of the state budget, even though the cost of living increase for 2016 was only 2 percent.

What the governor did not address was how the taxpayers are going to pay for the commensurately higher retirement pensions that are tied to the salaries of those state employees.

Nor did he take note of the fact his proposed budget  total budget, not just the general fund  is 49 percent higher than the total budget he proposed when he first took office, while over the past decade the Nevada median household income has fallen 17 percent.

A part of the growth in state government spending has been due to burgeoning pensions for state employees, who upon retirement are guaranteed a percentage of their highest salary level  which officially is 70 percent after 25 years, but can often top 100 percent after various pay add-ons and gimmicks are employed.

In 2008 the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce called on the Legislature to change public employee retirement benefits from the current direct benefit plan to a direct contribution plan, similar to a 401(k), because the expenditures were growing at an unsustainable pace.

In 2011 a report drafted for the Nevada Policy Research Institute by Andrew Biggs, an economist with the American Enterprise Institute, concluded the Nevada Public Employees Retirement System is vastly underfunded by more than $40 billion.

What people dont realize, Biggs said to a luncheon audience back then, is your typical public sector pension plan is a lot more generous than what a typical person is going to get in the private sector. Lets just take a person and run their wages through what they would get from PERS versus what they could get from a typical 401(k) plan combined with Social Security, because public employees here dont participate in Social Security. They both pay the same amount on average. The total contribution is about the same, but the benefits for someone under PERS  for a full career employee  is somewhere around 50 percent higher.

In 2015 Reno Republican Assemblyman Randy Kirner introduced Assembly Bill 190, which called for reforming PERS, which at the time was costing nearly $15,000 per Nevadan per year and growing.

The changes Kirner proposed would have applied to future state and local government workers and not current ones.

AB190 would have introduced a hybrid  part defined benefit, part defined contribution.

The bill also tied the minimum retirement age for receiving full benefits to that allowed under Social Security, though police officers and firefighters would be able to retire with full benefits 10 years earlier.

Kirner argued his bill would have a minimal impact on taxpayers, but the PERS administration claimed it would cost millions to implement. Kirner withdrew the bill so the funding could be studied and he could re-introduce it again this year, but Kirner decided to not seek re-election.

Instead, state Controller Ron Knecht has offered a bill nearly identical to Kirners, but it is questionable whether it will get much of a hearing before a Legislature that is now comprised of majority Democrats in both chambers.

This past summer NPRIs Director of Transparency Research Robert Fellner released a 36-page report warning that if the economy stumbles the PERS fantasy economic forecasts will be replaced by immediate bankruptcy  leaving every Silver State household with a sudden, implicit, $50,000-plus tax liability.

Nevada lawmakers have been kicking this can down the road so long it is now a 55-gallon drum ready to explode.
Johanna Konta bowed out of the Australian Open after losing 6-2 6-3 to Serena Williams in the quarter-finals.

Here, we take a look at five things that contributed to the British number ones defeat.

Missed opportunities

Chances against Williams are usually few and far between and Konta was not clinical enough with hers. She missed an opening for an early break when Williams was struggling with her serve in the first set and then instantly gave a break back after moving ahead in the second. When Konta had the momentum she was unable to sustain it.

Misfiring forehand

Johanna Konta

Kontas forehand is usually one of her most potent strokes but it proved less lethal than in previous rounds. The shot produced only three winners and with 10 unforced errors thrown in, it was also the cause of her most mistakes. To beat Williams, Konta needed to be firing on all cylinders. Her biggest weapons caused too little damage.

Serenas serve

Serena Williams

Williams grew agitated early on when she repeatedly missed her first serve and it was unreliable, delivering only 45 per cent of the time. When it went in, however, Konta struggled to respond, the Briton winning only three points from 26 on her opponents first serve and half of those on her second. Williams also produced 10 aces. Konta found the deadliest shot in the womens game too hot to handle.

Style of play

Konta has become one of strongest baseline hitters on the circuit as proven by her blistering displays en route to the semi-final. A rasping groundshot is music to the ears of Williams, however, who enjoys matching pace with pace and nearly always has the power to prevail. Unfortunately for Konta, it is craftier players, with greater variety of spin and speed, that tend to cause the American problems.

Newbie nerves

"No matter what happens, someone 34 or older will be in the final." @serenawilliams on playing #LucicBaroni in the SF #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/5qEATzXq26  #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2017
The Prince of Wales has met a former Afghan child refugee who hitch-hiked across Europe to Britain, as part of Charless day of engagements in Leicester.

The Prince hearing from cadets about life in the @ArmyCadetsUK in #Leicester - he's in and around the city all day. pic.twitter.com/H5wQvazRnm  Richard Vernalls (@rvernallsPA) January 25, 2017

Baseer Omarkhil Khan, 16, completed his schooling with the help of the Princes Trust charity, founded by Charles in 1976 to help youngsters reach their potential.

Baseer arrived in the UK aged 11 and unable to speak a word of English.

Teenage refugee Baseer Omarkhil Khan told Charles about his schooling with the help of the Prince's Trust charity

After settling with foster parents in the city, he has since completed school and has gone on to study motor mechanics at City of Leicester College.

He discussed his journey with Charles during the visit.

The Prince of Wales meets young people as he arrives at the City of Leicester College

The Prince of Wales meets young people as he arrives at the City of Leicester College

Baseer said: It was good, it was really good. I might have looked quite cool but on the inside I was pretty nervous.

We spoke about how I got here and he told me he had been to Afghanistan as well.

He shared a joke with the Prince after a misunderstanding, as Baseer said he spoke four languages fully, but Charles misheard it as 44.

It was good to share my story with the Prince, he added.

During the visit, pupils crowded into corridors as they tried to get a glimpse of the Prince.

Later, Charles met faith and community groups who have been building closer links with the British Army for the past two years.

The prince is meeting community and faith leaders, as well as @BritishArmy personnel from the East, East Midlands & North. #Leicester pic.twitter.com/CpXdPVNftV  Richard Vernalls (@rvernallsPA) January 25, 2017

He heard how Captain Chris Hughes, of 7 Infantry Brigade, has been attending Friday prayers at Leicesters central mosque.

Parvez Bhatty, a mosque committee member, said the informal and successful approach meant Capt Hughes is now seen as a friend in the community, with other mosques sending invitations for him to visit.

Mr Bhatty said: Hopefully others will now take the step forward that we have.

The Prince also met 14-year-old Lion Kheswa, from Peterborough, who was commended by police for talking a woman out of jumping from a multi-storey car park on Boxing Day.

Charles meets 14yo #Peterborough lad & @ArmyCadetsUK Lion Kheswa who talked a woman out of jumping from a multi-story car park on Boxing Day pic.twitter.com/sDWaix6kQw  Richard Vernalls (@rvernallsPA) January 25, 2017

A former armed forces cadet himself, the royal heir praised the schoolboy, a pupil at Thomas Deacon Academy, who was skateboarding past when he saw the woman in some distress.

Lion joked he had been so nervous about meeting Charles  having only been told on Tuesday morning  that I nearly wet myself.

He said: Hes charming  a good conversationalist.

The Prince of Wales, Field Marshal of the British Army, watches an army medical demonstration

Charles meets pupils from Krishna-Avanti Primary School

After the meeting, attended by Army units from Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and Shropshire, Charles, a Field Marshal with the British Army, told those gathered: I hope this particular initiative will flourish.
Jeremy Corbyn has offered his condolences for the death of a Northern Ireland policeman shot over the weekend  despite the officer still being alive.

The community officer was shot three times in the arm with a high-velocity rifle but survived the drive-by shooting in north Belfast.

The Labour leader took to the Commons despatch box to pass on the sympathies of the whole House for the police officer who lost his life.

Dissident republicans have been blamed for the petrol station shooting.

Theresa May opened the weekly session of Prime Ministers Questions by sending out thoughts to the police officer who was shot over the weekend.

Jeremy Corbyn

Mr Corbyn said later: I join the Prime Minister in expressing condolences, Im sure of the whole House, to the family of the police officer who lost his life over the weekend in Northern Ireland.

The DUPs Ian Paisley said it was not, thankfully, the case that the policeman had died in the shooting and called for Mr Corbyns mistake to be formally corrected.

He said: For the family and for police officers generally, could we have that corrected by the frontbench spokesman as urgently as possible so as the record does not contain the spurious fact that a police officer was murdered in Belfast.

Latest update on the investigation into the attempted murder of police officers at Crumlin Rd at https://t.co/xPwnpCC1fa #PSNI  Police Service NI (@PoliceServiceNI) January 23, 2017

Commons Speaker John Bercow said there was no need for any further correction.

It was an error. I recognise what he said about how upsetting that will have been, but it was a mistake. It has subsequently been corrected.
Watford have signed Argentinian forward Mauro Zarate from Fiorentina, the club have announced.

The 29-year-old has penned a two-and-a-half-year deal from the Serie A outfit where he has scored four goals in nine starts this season.

Zarate returns to the Premier League following previous spells with West Ham, QPR and Birmingham.

Mauro Zarate playing for West Ham (Nigel French/PA)

The much-travelled forward began his career at Argentinian side Velez Sarsfield before joining Qatari outfit Al-Sadd.

Zarate went on to make a loan move to Birmingham in 2008 before spending five years with Lazio, helping the Biancocelesti win the Coppa Italia in 2009.

Zarate briefly joined Inter Milan before returning to his homeland to play for his first club Velez. The former Argentina Under-20 international joined West Ham in 2014 and spent a brief period with QPR.
A survivor of an Italian avalanche said she only learned she had been buried by tons of snow after she was rescued, thinking until then that she had been trapped by one of the many earthquakes that have rattled central Italy in recent months.

Giorgia Galassi said she never imagined that an avalanche could have been responsible for the devastation around her in the Hotel Rigopiano.

The coffin of Hotel Rigopiano avalanche victim Alessandro Giancaterino (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

In an interview with the Associated Press, she said: We didnt know it until the firefighters told us.

We thought the whole time that it was a very strong earthquake.

Ms Galassi and her boyfriend Vincenzo Forti were two of the nine people pulled out alive from the January 18 avalanche. At least 25 others died and four remain missing.

Rescue vehicles near the Hotel Rigopiano

Ms Galassi and Mr Forti described their ordeal from her parents living room in Giulianova, a town on the Adriatic coast, saying they were scared but knew they would be okay because they had snow to fend off their thirst.

We took it and we put it in our mouths. At times, there was even glass and mud (in it). But it was survival, she said.

Ms Galassi said they believe they first heard rescuers at around 11am local time on Friday  nearly two days after the avalanche  as they spoke to another one of the hotel guests who was buried along with her son nearby.

And when I heard she was speaking with someone, I yelled Who are you speaking to? She said I am speaking with Mauro, who is a rescuer. They came to save us. They said to stay calm, that they would pull us out.
Greenpeace protesters have climbed a 270ft construction crane streets from the White House and unfurled a massive orange and yellow banner featuring the word resist.

The protest came the morning after US President Donald Trump issued orders to delay environmental rules and restart pipeline projects.

A spokesman for the environmental group, Travis Nichols, said the protesters are encouraging resistance to Mr Trump and his agenda.

Protesters have unfurled a banner from a crane near the White House

THANKS @PearlRanFast,@nancypili,@KarenTopakian & the rest of the brave activists for making this act of resistance happen!  #ResistOften pic.twitter.com/oWdi0x1yFC  Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) January 25, 2017

A Greenpeace statement said the demonstration is calling for those who want to resist Trumps attacks on environmental, social, economic, and educational justice to contribute to a better America.

Police closed three city streets to traffic around the site on Wednesday morning, but officers on the scene appeared to be doing little more than monitoring the activists, who were secured with ropes and harnesses as they hung from the crane.

Captain Robert Glover, of the Metropolitan Police Departments special operations division, told reporters that seven people were on the structure.

Statement regarding the ongoing incident at 15th & L Street NW pic.twitter.com/BqjzBALh4Y  DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) January 25, 2017

Time is on our side, Mr Glover said. Safety is our foremost mission this morning.

John Evans, 46, a carpenter who works on the construction site  previously home to The Washington Post  said the protesters must have arrived before workers turned up at 5am.

We didnt see them climb up, he said.

Greenpeace has scaled a crane to make a very public protest. I'm devastated that this image has to exist but I'm ecstatic that it does. pic.twitter.com/ufC7eD7FvX  Noah Michelson (@noahmichelson) January 25, 2017

The protest comes a day after Mr Trump signed orders intended to restart construction of two oil pipelines, the Dakota Access and the Keystone XL.

Former president Barack Obama halted the Keystone XL pipeline in 2015 and the Army Corps of Engineers blocked the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline in December after months of protests led by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which gets drinking water from a reservoir in the pipelines path.
Coking coal's bubble deflates, China's imports from North Korea remain key: Russell

By Clyde Russell

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Jan 24 (Reuters) - If you wanted to see what a speculative commodity bubble looks like, then coking coal's huge rally in the second half of last year and subsequent retreat provides a good example.

Like most bubbles, coking coal's surge had a solid foundation in supply and demand fundamentals, with top buyer China's appetite for the fuel used to make steel rising sharply in 2016, and suppliers unable to respond rapidly.

Coking coal futures on the Singapore Commodity Exchange leapt from $86.92 a tonne on June 1 last year to a high of $299.87 on Nov. 30, a gain of 245 percent.

They have since dropped by almost 40 percent to Monday's close of $184.17 a tonne, still more than double what they were in the middle of last year, but also probably a level more reflective of market dynamics.

Chinese coking coal futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange have dropped from a peak of 1,676 yuan ($244.39) a tonne on Nov. 14 to close at 1,180 yuan on Monday, a decline of almost 28 percent.

There is little doubt that the huge rally in coking coal was off the back of Chinese demand, with customs data showing that the country imported 59.23 million tonnes in 2016, a jump of 23.8 percent from the prior year.

This was partly because steel output was higher than expected because domestic coking coal production was crimped by government policies that lowered the number of working days at mines.

But delve deeper into the Chinese customs data and it seems that the rise in coking coal imports by itself doesn't really justify the sharp rally in prices in the second half of the year.

The SGX futures contract is based on the Steel Index free-on-board Australia coking coal price, and is thus reflective of the cost of the fuel at ports in Australia, the largest exporter of the fuel.

The almost fourfold increase in prices in the five months from June to November last year wasn't accompanied by a huge surge in China's imports from Australia.

China's total coking coal imports from Australia in 2016 were 26.77 million tonnes, an increase of just 4.8 percent.

In the seven months from June to December, China's imports of Australian coking coal were down from the year earlier months in four, namely June, July, November and December.

The three months in which they were rising, August, September and October, were also the months in which prices were surging, providing some fundamental basis for an increase in prices.

But overall, the tightness in the coking coal market appears to have been wildly exaggerated by the huge rally, with the relatively modest increase in demand for Australian cargoes standing in sharp contrast to the jump in prices.

MONGOLIA, NORTH KOREA ARE KEY

So where was China actually getting its extra coking coal from? The answer is neighbouring Mongolia.

Chinese imports from Mongolia jumped 85.2 percent in 2016 to 23.56 million tonnes, putting it just behind Australia among suppliers to China.

It's not surprising that Mongolian coking coal is gaining on Australian supplies, given it is massively cheaper, with customs data showing it cost China $62.93 a tonne in December, while cargoes from Australia were $233.72.

Another factor to consider is Chinese imports of North Korean coal.

This is classified as anthracite by customs, but North Korean supplies are largely used as coking coal in steel-making or as a high-quality fuel in other manufacturing, such as ceramics.

China imported 22.42 million tonnes of anthracite from North Korea in 2016, an increase of 14.6 percent from the prior year.

This was achieved despite Beijing saying it would place sanctions on imports from its neighbour in line with UN resolutions against Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.

Among other suppliers of coking coal to China, imports from Canada, its third-largest provider, dropped 9.3 percent in 2016, while those from fourth-ranked Russia slipped 19.4 percent.

The United States, which used to supply coking coal to China, didn't export to China at all in 2016, according to the customs data.

With the froth having come out of coking coal prices, the question becomes what will happen in 2017?

There are some likely trends in China that will shape the market.

Chinese coal mines are currently maximising output to take advantage of the still healthy price, but may face production restrictions later in the year as Beijing has made it clear it is still determined to cut excess capacity by closing older and less efficient mines.

Supply is likely to increase from Australia and elsewhere as miners bring back idled output or work existing mines harder.

Imports from Mongolia are likely to remain robust, given the massive price advantage, while those from North Korea are less certain, given Beijing's commitment to limit imports to an annual 7.5 million tonnes, about a third of the 2016 level.

If China does stick to this limit, it will certainly provide support for seaborne coking coal exporters, as Chinese buyers will have to seek alternatives, and it will be easier to import via ship than use trucks and rail cars from Mongolia.

China's purchases from North Korea thus remain the main x-factor for seaborne coking coal markets.
Woman at centre of South Korea scandal shouts out her innocence

By Joyce Lee and Jack Kim

SEOUL, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The woman at the centre of a corruption scandal gripping South Korea angrily protested her innocence on Wednesday, shouting that she had been made to confess as she was forcibly summoned for questioning.

Choi Soon-sil, who has been indicted for meddling in state affairs through her friendship with impeached President Park Geun-hye, made the protest at the special prosecutor's office, before being pushed into an elevator by correctional officers.

The dramatic scenes came as the outgoing chief judge of the Constitutional Court urged the bench to wrap up Park's impeachment trial by March 13, when the retirement of another judge will reduce the nine-judge court to seven and could raise questions about the verdict.

His comments were the clearest indication of the timing of a decision on Park, either to remove her from office with an election to be called 60 days later, or for her to be reinstated.

Park was impeached amid the influence-peddling scandal that has engulfed her administration over recent months. If the impeachment is upheld, she will become the first democratically elected leader to be removed from office.

Choi was brought into the special prosecutor's office on an arrest warrant after refusing to answer several summons.

"I am being forced to confess committing crimes jointly with the president," she shouted to reporters. "I don't deserve to be treated like this. And my baby and my grandson," she said as guards pushed her into the elevator.

The special prosecutor's office dismissed her protests.

"Regardless of such groundless claims of hers, the special prosecutor will thoroughly carry out the investigation by law and principle," office spokesman Lee Kyu-chul told a regular briefing, adding that Choi was trying to discredit the investigation.

As part of their investigation, prosecutors are looking into Samsung Group's sponsorship of the equestrian riding career of Choi's daughter, Chung Yoo-ra, 20, who was arrested in Denmark after being sought by South Korean authorities.

Chung has been accused of criminal interference related to her academic record and other unspecified charges.

Park was impeached by parliament in December after accusations that she colluded with Choi to pressure big businesses, including Samsung, to donate to two foundations set up to back the presidents policy initiatives.

Park, 64, remains in office but has been stripped of her powers while she awaits her fate.

Park, Choi and Samsung have all denied wrongdoing.

Prosecutors said on Wednesday they had summoned Samsung Group President Kim Jong-joong and Samsung C&T Corp President Kim Shin for questioning as witnesses.

The prosecution has now summoned seven different executives at Samsung Group or an affiliate of the countrys top conglomerate and have so far identified two of them  leader Jay Y. Lee and Samsung Group Vice Chairman Choi Gee-sung  as suspects in the widening graft scandal.

Chief Judge Park Han-chul, who retires on Jan. 31, urged the Constitutional Court to wrap up the impeachment trial by March 13, when the retirement of another judge will reduce the nine-judge bench to seven.

Speaking on the ninth day of the hearing, the chief judge said the retirement of two judges may distort the impartiality of the court.

"If another judge's seat is vacated, that is not just a matter of one vacated seat but could distort the outcome of the decision," he told a public hearing.

The court has previously stressed the need to balance a speedy resolution of the crisis with proper deliberation, but this was the first time the court has mentioned a specific timeline.

Seven sitting judges are the minimum required by law to rule on an impeachment, with six needed to vote to uphold the motion for Park to be removed.

Sources with intimate knowledge of the court's inner workings told Reuters that seven judges, for a landmark ruling such as this, were too few and could invite questions of the ruling's legitimacy, especially if it is not unanimous.
Aluminium rises to near 20-mth high on hopes for China capacity cuts

By Manolo Serapio Jr

MANILA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - London aluminium futures edged higher on Wednesday to trade close to a 20-month high on Wednesday, buoyed by reports of possible capacity cuts in China, while copper rose to its strongest level in almost two months.

Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.4 percent at $1,875 a tonne by 0703 GMT. The metal on Tuesday touched its highest level since May 2015 at $1,883.

Traders cited a Bloomberg story saying that China is drawing up plans that would halt about 3.3 million tonnes of operational aluminium capacity during the winter to combat air pollution.

There has been no official government confirmation of the plan, but CRU analyst Jackie Wang in Beijing estimated closures could happen in Shandong, Henan, Shanxi and Hebei, potentially halting a total of 2.3 million tonnes in aluminium production.

"We assume this will happen in November and that will impact two months this year and three months next year," said Wang. "As far as we know the Ministry of Environmental Protection is trying to consult the industry to see if it's possible to do such a thing."

China is boosting efforts to fight smog and has ordered curbs in heavy industries, including shutting producers of substandard steel products by the end of June.

Aluminium on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 2.3 percent to close at 14,050 yuan ($2,042) a tonne.

LME copper was flat at $5,945 a tonne, after peaking at $5,959.50 earlier in the session, its loftiest since Dec. 5.

Tracking gains in its London counterpart, the most-traded March copper contract in Shanghai rose 1.7 percent to 47,650 yuan a tonne.

Unionised workers at BHP Billiton-run Escondida, the world's biggest copper mine, said they rejected the company's latest wage offer and asked workers to vote for a strike and prepare for an extended conflict.

LME zinc eased 0.4 percent to $2,815 a tonne, after touching a nearly six-week peak of $2,830 overnight.

PRICES

Three month LME copper

Most active ShFE copper

Three month LME aluminium

Most active ShFE aluminium

Three month LME zinc

Most active ShFE zinc

Three month LME lead

Most active ShFE lead

Three month LME nickel

Most active ShFE nickel

Three month LME tin
Trump's defense chief eyes debut trip to Japan, S.Korea next week

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's defense secretary plans to visit Japan and South Korea next week, choosing the two close U.S. allies for his debut trip abroad as Pentagon chief, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

James Mattis, a retired Marine general, was sworn into the Pentagon's top job shortly after Trump's inauguration on Friday and a quick departure to Asia could be seen as a nod to the importance the new U.S. administration places on security ties.

The trip would closely follow Trump's withdrawal from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, fulfilling a campaign pledge but disappointing many key U.S. allies in Asia.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, for example, had touted TPP in part as a counter-weight to a rising China.

No further details were immediately available about Mattis' proposed itinerary.

Still, Mattis, in his confirmation hearing this month, described "the Pacific theater" as a priority and analysts expect new U.S. military spending under Trump's administration would strengthen America's military presence in Asia over time.

Topping U.S. concerns in the region are North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs and China's military moves in the South China Sea.

Tension with Beijing escalated this week when Trump's White House vowed to defend "international territories" in the strategic waterway. China responded by saying it had "irrefutable" sovereignty over disputed islands there.

Mattis, in his Senate testimony, also voiced concern about North Korea, describing Pyongyang's activities as a "serious threat" that required U.S. attention.

There are about 28,500 U.S. troops based in South Korea helping to defend the country against North Korea, which has technically remained in a state of war with the South since the 1950-53 Korean conflict.

South Korea and the United States say the upcoming deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system will better help to protect Seoul against North Korea's nuclear and ballistic capabilities.
Harry Reid is no longer in Washington, D.C., but he left behind a gift that is guaranteed to keep on giving for his Republican opponents.

There has been a lot of talk in the news about delays in getting President Donald Trumps Cabinet nominees confirmed. What we arent hearing much about is the fact that Democrats can do next to nothing to stop nominees who have full GOP support. Thats because in the fall of 2013 Reid worked to change Senate rules so that only a simple majority is needed for confirmation.

Reid pushed the so-called nuclear option after Republicans blocked some of Obamas federal judge nominees.

In the long term, the rule change represents a substantial power shift in a chamber that for more than two centuries has prided itself on affording more rights to the minority party than any other legislative body in the world. Now, a president whose party holds the majority in the Senate is virtually assured of having his nominees approved, with far less opportunity for political obstruction, reported the Washington Post at the time.

We have to wonder if Reid ever envisioned an outsider like Trump getting elected, and being backed by a majority in both the House and Senate. That it happened before Reids seat even got cold must have been a shock. The new minority leader, Sen. Charles Schumer, says he opposed and regrets the move.

Controversial nominees like former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson can be confirmed without any support from Democrats. Indeed, the Secretary of State nominee made it through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week with no bipartisan support, after Republican Sen. Marco Rubio set aside his reservations about Tillersons ties to Russia and voted to advance his nomination.

The old Senate rules were intended to prevent extreme policy shifts like the ones we will no doubt see under the Trump administration. Big changes are ahead, and Reid is at least partially to thank for that.

His replacement, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, is shaping up to be every bit the pit bull that Reid was  but without the authority that comes with seniority. Cortez Masto has opposed some of the more controversial Trump nominees, including Department of Education pick Betsy DeVos and Attorney General nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions.

Our newest senator is a fighter  as she proved during her tenure as Nevadas attorney general  and Democrats can be assured that she will stand behind their traditional values with force. As the nations first Latina senator she has opposed Trumps potential action on immigration even before he has formally proposed it.

Still, we expect she will work with Republican Sen. Dean Heller on critical Nevada issues just as Reid did. For example, she demonstrated no opposition to Interior nominee Rep. Ryan Zinke, a Republican from Montana. During his confirmation hearing she asserted the importance of Native American rights, controlling wild horse populations, and seeing that Nevada gets enough water from the Colorado River.

We hope our new senator is a free-thinker like Heller who will put Nevadas interests above party politics. Cortez Masto may not be able to block certain Cabinet nominees because of the rule change approved under Reid, but she can be a strong advocate for our state as Donald Trump redefines the role of the federal government to put America First.
PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - Jan 25

SOFIA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

-- Prosecutors have filed the indictment of former Sofia District Governor Veselin Penev with charges of abeyance with the Sofia City Court (Standart, Trud, 24 Chasa)

-- Blind Vaysha, directed by Bulgarian Theodore Ushev and based on a story by Georgi Gospodinov, is one of the five titles in the Oscars Awards' Animated Short Film category. The 89th Oscars will be handed out in Los Angeles on February 26 (Trud, Monitor, Standart)

-- Truckers' blockade on Danube Bridge 2, which connects Bulgarian town of Vidin with Romania's Calafat was lifted after protesting drivers have been assured by Vidin Governor Momchil Stankov that the situation at the crossing point will be addressed swiftly. Truck drivers say they have been waiting for many hours to cross the bridge (Standart, Trud)
Poland - Factors to Watch Jan 25

Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Wednesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 1 hour):

BZ WBK Polish lender Bank Zachodni WBK reported a 66-percent annual rise in its fourth-quarter net profit to 461 million zlotys ($113.20 million), beating expectations due to lower operating costs and write downs.

DATA

Polish statistics office is to release December unemployment data, with Reuters poll predicting a rise to 8.3 percent.

BUDGET DATA

Poland's budget data came good for 2016, providing basis for optimism in 2017, the daily Gazeta Polska cited Prime Minister Beata Szydlo as saying.

POWER UNITS

By 2025, Poland should be able to start new power units with a total capacity of 10 gigawatt of electric power. The construction of the units will cost about 45 billion zlotys ($11.04 billion) to 65 billion zlotys, Gazeta Polska cited Energy Minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski as saying.

PKN ORLEN

Shareholders of Poland's biggest refiner, PKN Orlen decided to cut in half the pay of the company's chief executive officer to 1.6 million zlotys ($392,397.30) per annum, the daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported.

POLISH CABLEWAYS

Polish Cableways, Poland's largest operator of mountain railways, has started preparations for an initial public offering (IPO), the business daily Parkiet cited the company's President Janusz Rys as saying.

IPOs

Polish urban bikes operator Nextbike and Energia dla Firm, a seller of electricity and gas are among companies mulling a debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, Parkiet reported.

****Reuters has not verified stories reported by Polish media and does not vouch for their accuracy.****
U.S. Republicans to map out strategy for Trump's agenda

By David Morgan and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - U.S. Republican lawmakers will map out strategy for enacting President Donald Trump's agenda of repealing and replacing Obamacare and overhauling the tax code as they gather in Philadelphia on Wednesday for a three-day policy retreat.

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are expected to huddle with the lawmakers on Thursday. British Prime Minister Theresa May will also visit on Thursday and is expected to discuss plans for a possible U.S.-U.K. trade deal.

House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan has set a goal of enacting at least two major pieces of domestic legislation before the congressional recess in August, according to lobbying and congressional sources.

During his presidential campaign, Trump offered up an ambitious agenda he said he would quickly pursue in the White House, from building a wall on the border with Mexico to easing Dodd-Frank banking regulations.

Obamacare repeal and tax reform are emerging, however, as the top priorities for congressional Republicans.

While there is broad enthusiasm about the idea of swift action in those two areas, the challenge for Trump and congressional Republicans will be getting lawmakers to coalesce around specific plans.

A Republican aide said House Republicans were "nowhere close" to deciding on a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, former Democratic President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law known as Obamacare.

Congress is under pressure from Trump to act quickly. But some congressional Republicans have expressed concern about starting a repeal without clarity about how to replace a law that has expanded health coverage to millions.

U.S. Representative Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican, told reporters on Tuesday he hoped lawmakers would use their retreat to have a "sober discussion" on what is politically possible on replacing Obamacare.

MIXED SIGNALS

Republicans have called Obamacare federal government overreach and have sought to undermine it in Congress and the courts since it was passed by Democratic majorities in the House and Senate in 2010.

Democrats say Obamacare has allowed growing numbers of Americans to get medical insurance and helped slow the rise in healthcare spending.

Trump, who took office on Friday, has sent mixed signals about what he wants from a replacement plan for Obamacare. He told the Washington Post he wanted insurance for all, but his staff now says it wants all Americans to have access to affordable healthcare.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said on Sunday the Trump administration would not allow the 20 million people who rely on Obamacare for their health insurance to go without coverage when the law is repealed and replaced with a new plan. .

Republican leaders also have to explain and build support among members for a complex tax reform package, backed by Ryan, that includes an unusual proposal to encourage exports and penalize imports through the tax code. A framework for legislation could surface as early as next month.

The retreat will provide an opportunity for Trump and his staff to build a rapport with lawmakers, many of whom have had little contact with the president, a New York businessman with no government experience before taking office.

Some lawmakers were rattled this week as the White House grappled with controversies over Trump's statements over the crowd size at his inauguration and his allegations of voter fraud in the U.S. election.
Jihadists crush Syrian FSA rebel faction in attack - FSA officials

BEIRUT, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The jihadist group Fateh al-Sham has taken over areas held by a Free Syrian Army rebel faction in northwestern Syria, effectively crushing it, two FSA officials said on Wednesday.

Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front, launched a major attack on FSA groups in northwestern Syria on Tuesday, including the Jaish al-Mujahideen group which the FSA officials said had been wiped out.

Fateh al-Sham was al Qaeda's official affiliate in the Syrian war until it officially broke the ties with it last year. The factions it attacked on Tuesday had representatives at a Russian-backed peace conference in Kazakhstan.
Saudi Aramco shelves plan for joint venture with Malaysia's Petronas -sources

By Reem Shamseddine

KUWAIT, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco has shelved plans for a partnership with Malaysian state-oil firm Petroliam Nasional Berhad in a $27 billion refining and petrochemical project in the southeast Asian country, industry sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

Aramco had been in talks with Petronas about a joint venture in the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project in the southern Malaysian state of Johor.

Aramco and Petronas officials did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

"I believe the proposal was still in an initial discussion phase," said Sadad al-Husseini a former senior executive at Saudi Aramco and now an energy consultant.

"In any case, considering the scale of the investment, China's growing regional exports of refined products, Singapore's existing refining capacity and the competition this project would have created to Aramco's own JV refineries in Korea, China and Japan, its deferral was probably a very well considered and prudent Aramco management decision at this time."

The RAPID project, launched in 2012 and expected to begin operations in the first quarter of 2019, is designed to have a 300,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery and a petrochemical complex with a production capacity of 7.7 million metric tonnes.

Petronas last year sought proposals for a $7.2 billion loan for the project, with separate guarantees from the company and Aramco, Thomson Reuters IFR reported in June.

Aramco's move to suspend plans for the Malaysian venture comes at a time when Petronas is struggling with the slump in oil prices.

In early 2016 Petronas said it would cut spending by up to 50 billion ringgit ($11.27 billion) over the next four years. It has also slashed the dividend it pays to the Malaysian government.
BlackRock jilts State St, moves $1 trillion in custody assets to JPMorgan

By Tim McLaughlin and David Henry

BOSTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - State Street Corp on Wednesday reported a 3.4 percent drop in fourth-quarter revenue and said it lost more than $1 trillion in custody assets to JPMorgan Chase & Co Inc, sending State Street stock tumbling as much as 7.5 percent.

State Street is the world's No. 2 custody bank with $28.8 trillion in assets under custody and administration, behind Bank of New York Mellon Corp. But the figure could shrink by more than 3 percent after JPMorgan said on Wednesday it was chosen by BlackRock Inc to be custodian for more than $1 trillion in assets being serviced by Boston-based State Street.

"We're disappointed," State Street Chief Executive Officer Jay Hooley told Reuters. "But our relationship with BlackRock is still very global and growth oriented" as it continues to service BlackRock iShares exchange-traded fund assets.

Hooley said asset managers are consolidating the number of custody providers in a move to lower costs. He said BlackRock is an exception, given that it manages more than $5 trillion in assets, the largest amount held by any financial institution in the world. He said BlackRock wanted to diversify its custody base.

"I view it as a kind of one-time recalibration of their service providers," Hooley said.

State Street has been BlackRock's custodian since 1988. Over the years, the two companies have grown together on a global scale and been "joined at the hip," as Hooley said on a conference call with analysts and investors.

State Street also reported fourth-quarter revenue totaled $2.53 billion, down 3.4 percent from a year earlier. Earnings rose 2 percent to $557 million from $547 million a year ago.

Assets under custody and administration declined 1.4 percent in the quarter from $29.18 billion in the third quarter. It will take about 18 months for the BlackRock assets to be moved to JPMorgan's platform.

For JPMorgan, the deal is more of a feather in its cap than a windfall to its bottom line. JPMorgan's assets under custody, which it pegged at $20.5 trillion at the end of December, were boosted by about 5 percent.

The new business is expected to add tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue, and be included in the company's securities services unit, which last year had about $3.6 billion in revenue. JPMorgan's total reported revenue for the entire company was $95.7 billion in 2016 and net income was $24.7 billion.

Still, the deal is the kind of prize sought by Daniel Pinto, JPMorgan's chief executive officer for corporate and investment banking.

Pinto, speaking to investors in February, named custody and fund services as one of his most important business lines and a focus of management attention "with technology being at the core of it."

Executives at State Street, meanwhile, said on a conference call the loss of BlackRock assets is not part of a broader trend. The bank said it won $1.4 trillion in new asset servicing commitments in 2016.
Bulgaria's new interim PM promises stability ahead of elections

By Tsvetelia Tsolova

SOFIA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's new caretaker prime minister, Ognyan Gerdzhikov, has promised political stability and calm as he leads the Balkan country towards a parliamentary election on March 26.

Gerdzhikov, a law professor and former speaker of parliament, will take over when the outgoing centre-right administration steps down on Friday. It announced its resignation after its candidate was defeated in November's presidential election.

Gerdzhikov was appointed by the winner of that November poll, Rumen Radev, who himself assumed power on Sunday. Radev has called for an early legislative election, Bulgaria's third since 2013.

"An interim government at first glance does not have a lot of tasks - its key task is to organise fair elections," Gerdzhikov, 70, told BNT state television late on Tuesday.

Under Bulgaria's constitution, the tasks of an interim cabinet are largely limited to preparing the country for elections and ensuring the smooth functioning of the state.

Gerdzhikov, a respected centrist whose appointment has been welcomed across the political divide, pledged to build on past achievements but said he would not shy from tackling shortcomings.

Radev unveiled other members of the caretaker cabinet on Wednesday. He said Kiril Ananiev, who has served a deputy finance minister in five different governments, would take over the country's finances, confirming an earlier Reuters report.

A Russia-friendly newcomer to politics, Radev also appointed Bulgaria's ambassador to Germany, Radi Naidenov, as foreign minister in a sign he wants to reaffirm Sofia's commitment to its allies in the European Union and NATO.

The outgoing government of Boiko Borisov revived Bulgaria's economy, the poorest in the 28-nation European Union, cutting unemployment to an eight-year low and bringing state finances back into surplus.

Borisov's centre-right GERB party is just ahead of the main opposition Socialists in opinion polls but is again unlikely to secure a stable parliamentary majority, raising the prospect of further political uncertainty that could harm the economy and hamper reforms that Bulgaria sorely needs.

Corruption remains a key obstacle to greater prosperity.

In its annual monitoring report published on Wednesday, the European Commission again criticised Bulgaria's failure to clamp down on graft and organised crime over the past decade and urged the new government to start delivering tangible results.

Radev, a former air force commander, appointed two interim deputy prime ministers to oversee social policies and internal order and security - a nod to Bulgarians' concerns about low living standards and the influx of migrants into Europe.
German police search homes in crackdown on far-right extremists

BERLIN, Jan 25 (Reuters) - About 200 German police searched a dozen homes in six states on Wednesday as part of an investigation into a far-right extremist group suspected of planning armed attacks against police, Jews and asylum seekers, the chief federal prosecutor's office said.

Two of seven suspects were detained and weapons, munitions and explosives were found during the raids, Frauke Koehler, a spokeswoman for the office, told reporters.

A spokesman for the German Justice Ministry said the raids underscored the government's determination to crack down on ultra-right extremists, whose numbers are rising across Germany.

"This is an important signal against the far-right extremist scene in Germany which shows that our investigative agencies are vigilant and will proceed with great resolve against extremists," he told a regular government news conference.

The prosecutor's office said the early morning raids included searches of the homes of six people believed to have founded the new group, and that of a seventh person who is suspected of helping the group obtain supplies.

"The goal of today's search measures was to obtain further evidence of the actual creation of a formal group, as well as the alleged planned criminal acts and any potential tools," it said in a statement.

It said the suspects were largely connected via social media and were believed to have begun planning armed attacks in the spring of 2016.

German officials said the raids were directed against people associated with the "Reichsbuerger", or Citizens of the Reich, movement, which rejects the modern German state as an illegitimate successor to Nazi-era Germany.

Koehler said a certain ideological closeness to the Reichsbuerger was perceptible but it was necessary to check whether there were actually such connections and how close they were.

Germany's BfV domestic intelligence agency put the group under observation in November, weeks after one of its members shot dead a policeman during a raid at his home.

The agency warned last year, following the arrival in Germany of more than a million migrants, that ultra-right extremists - many with links to groups in Europe and the United States - were increasingly ready to commit acts of violence.

The BfV also called for action to halt the emergence of what it called "right-wing terrorist structures".

The number of far-right extremists seen at risk of committing violent acts jumped to 12,100 in 2016 from 11,800 in 2015, according to a spokeswoman for the interior ministry.

German authorities broke up a suspected ultra-right militant group known as "Oldschool Society" last year.
Schwarzenegger attends Pope's weekly general audience

VATICAN CITY, Jan 25 (Reuters) - "Terminator" star Arnold Schwarzenegger swapped the stresses of the "The New Celebrity Apprentice" boardroom for the serenity of Vatican City on Wednesday as he attended Pope Francis' weekly general audience with his girlfriend Heather Milligan.

In a dark suit and green tie, the 69-year-old Austrian-born actor and former U.S. politician and Milligan watched Pope Francis as he did readings and then offered blessings.
Prosecutor urges Arizona man's conviction for Islamic State support

By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters) - A federal prosecutor on Wednesday urged jurors to convict an Arizona man who she said played a vital role in helping a New York college student travel to Syria, where he died fighting for Islamic State.

In her closing argument, Assistant U.S. Attorney Negar Tekeei told a federal jury in Manhattan that Mohammed El Gammal, 44, was a "steadfast and enthusiastic supporter" of Islamic State who in an online message had said he was "with the State."

Tekeei said the Egyptian-born Phoenix resident shared his support in encrypted messages with Samy Mohammed El-Goarany, a 24-year-old student at Baruch College in Manhattan, who like El Gammal had become "obsessed" with Islamic State.

She said El Gammal, settled in his American life, decided to guide the student toward his goal, traveling to New York in October 2014 to vet El-Goarany before putting him in touch with a friend in Istanbul who helped him get to Syria.

"It was the defendant who paved the way for that," she said.

But Sabrina Shroff, El Gammal's lawyer, said he did not know about El-Goarany's plan, saying the student misled people into believing he was planning to do humanitarian work in Syria and followed steps in an Islamic State manual to join it.

While El Gammal was not shy in his views, Shroff said no evidence existed showing he took any actions. She also said El Gammal's friend in Turkey belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood and would not have helped El-Goarany join Islamic State.

"Samy, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is the only terrorist in this case," she said.

El Gammal is one of more than 100 people to face U.S. charges since 2014 in cases related to Islamic State, which controls parts of Syria and Iraq and has claimed responsibility for bombings and shootings of civilians in other countries.

According to prosecutors, El-Goarany ultimately flew to Istanbul from New York in January 2015, and sometime after arrived in Syria, where he received religious and military training and fought with Islamic State.

Prosecutors said that in November 2015, an unidentified person via an instant messaging platform contacted El-Goarany's brother to report that he had been killed fighting in Syria.
Redefining a 'special relationship': Trump and May to talk trade

By Elizabeth Piper and David Lawder

LONDON/WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Trade will dominate the first talks between the new leaders of the United States and Britain this week, with both hoping commitments to a future deal will redefine their 'special relationship' in a new world order.

For British Prime Minister Theresa May - who will be the first foreign leader to meet new U.S. President Donald Trump - even a simple promise to deepen trade ties could strengthen her hand in divorce talks with the European Union.

Trump might use the meeting to go some way to winning concessions from Britain and bolster his vision of the United States exporting its way to prosperity.

But for both, the road to any firm trade deal is littered with pitfalls and could end up causing strains on the historically close relations between the countries, ties that have been almost driven as much by the personalities of their leaders as national interests.

Differences over genetically modified food, on meat production and public-sector procurement, and fears in Britain that U.S. companies might want to buy into its prized public health service could all hamper any swift movement on a deal.

Plus, while Trump has said a deal can be done "very quickly", both he and May both say they will put their respective countries' interests first.

May will meet Trump in Washington on Friday after stopping off in Philadelphia to meet senior Republican leaders from Congress at a retreat the day before.

"So as we rediscover our confidence together - as you renew your nation just as we renew ours - we have the opportunity, indeed the responsibility, to renew the special relationship for this new age," May will say in Philadelphia on Thursday.

"We have the opportunity to lead, together, again."

The prime minister will also underline areas where she says cooperation is vital, in defence and security both bilaterally and through NATO, and on Syria.

But it is trade where she hopes to "establish the basis for a strong and productive working relationship".

It is not yet clear, however, whether Friday's meeting with Trump will yield a clear shape for future ties. A British government source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, signalled that May's team was taking a cautious approach, first wanting to get to know Trump's negotiators and find out what a "quick" trade deal looked like.

'FUND OF GOODWILL'

The prime minister will be keen to press her Brexit message that she wants to build a "truly global Britain". But with the EU clear that Britain must not sign trade deals with other countries until it has left and British officials expressing concern over Trump's shift towards protectionism, May will probably be reluctant about making any binding commitments.

Trump has played up traditionally close ties with Britain, distancing himself from his predecessor Barack Obama who said the country would be at "the back of the queue" for a trade deal with the United States if it left the EU.

And London has made a strong play to court Trump after an initial diplomatic glitch when, soon after his U.S. election victory, he irritated UK officials by meeting British anti-EU campaigner Nigel Farage, a critic of May, and saying he would be a good choice for Britain's ambassador to Washington.

Following a secret trip by May's two most senior aides to the United States in December, British foreign minister Boris Johnson met Trump's close advisers this month and told parliament he had found a "huge fund of goodwill" for Britain.

But experts and former officials suggest that goodwill may run out fast, not only on trade, but over other areas where Trump and May have potential to disagree, such as climate change, the NATO military alliance and the Iranian nuclear deal.

"Beware of Donald Trump bearing gifts," Mark Malloch Brown, a former British government minister and United Nations deputy secretary-general, told Reuters, suggesting that the U.S. president was not a "fan" of trade deals.

Trump formally withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal this week and is also working to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement to provide more favourable terms.

BACK-FOOT BRITAIN

Britain has yet to launch its exit negotiations with the European Union, promising to do so before the end of March, and faces some of the toughest talks it has waged since World War Two to end a relationship of more than 40 years.

May says she will leave the EU's single market, instead focusing on winning a free trade deal with the bloc and agreements with other countries.

By making clear she will cut ties with the EU unless she wins a good deal, some experts say she has handed the United States and other countries the upper hand in any future talks.

"If the EU-UK discussion goes badly, the UK is going to be left in a position of being very exposed, and wanting to find new partners quickly. Who's going to be sitting there at that point? The U.S.," said a former trade official in the Obama administration, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

After a U.S.-EU trade deal, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), ground to a halt last year, Washington might press for Britain to drop its resistance to U.S. genetically modified foods and to smooth over regulatory differences for product safety, food and pharmaceuticals.

The two sides could also find a way to reduce regulation on financial services, although with New York and London as rival centres, any such agreement could be difficult, the former Obama trade official said.

In Britain, opposition lawmakers have already challenged May on whether she will lower health and safety standards to allow imports of U.S. beef that contains growth hormones, chicken washed in chlorinated water and genetically modified organisms.

"We will be looking for a UK-U.S. trade deal that improves trade between our two countries," May told parliament on Wednesday. "And I can assure ... that in doing that we will put UK interests and UK values first."
Turyaa Chennai, owned and operated by Aitken Spence Hotels has successfully met criteria for obtaining 5-Star Deluxe classification, ranking it as one of five hotels in Chennai to have obtained this highly sought after accreditation.

Turyaa Chennai now joins Hilton Chennai, Hyatt Regency Chennai, ITC Grand Chola Chennai and Park Hyatt Chennai in the 5-Star Deluxe category segment.

The 140-room property situated in the IT corridor of Chennai minutes away from the bustling city centre is recognised as one of the best new hotels in the city offering the perfect amalgamation of business and leisure. Situated 20 minutes away from the international airport, the hotel is the ideal location for the business travellers, the ardent shopper or cultural holiday seeker. With the recent classification status obtained by the property, Turyaa Chennai is now the only 5-star deluxe property in the IT corridor.

In order to achieve the 5-star deluxe certification the hotel had to comply with stringent requirements provided by the inspection committee which consisted of representatives from both national and regional key statutory bodies.

Aitken Spence Hotels, the first Sri Lankan hotel operator to enter the Maldives (1993), India (2007) and Oman (2009) broke new ground once again by being the first Sri Lankan company to own and operate a 5-star deluxe property in neighbouring India.

Turyaa Chennai receiving this classification is no doubt a reflection of the hard work and dedication put in by the team. Service excellence will remain our top priority as we continue strengthening and expanding our tourism portfolio in the region, said Susith Jayawickrama, Joint Managing Director, Aitken

Spence Hotels.

Aitken Spence Hotels operates a chain of 24 hotels and resorts in Sri Lanka, India, Oman, and the Maldives. Each of its properties caters to a diverse client base, having hotels suited to every need and budget while maintaining high standards of hospitality.

Located in key tourist locations, the Aitken Spence chain boasts of exotic properties such as the award winning eco-friendly Heritance Kandalama which is situated in close proximity to two UNESCO world heritage sites, Heritance Tea Factory which has been rated by The Independent, UK as one of the Top Five Factory Hotels in the world and one of the best 100 places to stay in the world by the Sunday Times, UK and Desert Nights Camp in Oman, rated as one of the top ten desert retreats in the world.
From left: Lakmini Senadheera (Manager - Sustainability Assurance & Advisory Services, SFG) ; Kanishka Jayasinghe (CCC); Sanith De S Wijeyeratne (CEO - CCC); Dinesh De Silva (Chief Executive Officer - Bodyline); Surath Chandrasena ( Director - Finance & Sustainability, Bodyline); Prasad Narayan Rege (Director - Strategic Projects, Bodyline); Sanjaya Jayawardana (Executive - Finance & Sustainability, Bodyline)

Marking its fifth year as a CarbonConscious company, Bodyline - Sri Lankas leading apparel group, renewed its certification making it the first sustainability milestone under its new leadership. The company recently appointed Dinesh de Silva as CEO to spearhead Bodylines operations, and joining him on the directorial board is Surath Chandrasena, who has been appointed as Director Finance & Sustainability of Bodyline.

The new appointments reaffirm the companys vision to consistently maintain and uphold the highest standards in their continuous efforts to not only remain CarbonConscious, but to also redefine standards of environmental sustainability within the business sphere. Bodyline, comprising four factories, was the first Sri Lankan apparel manufacturer to be certified as CarbonConscious, with the companys third plant located in Pimbura setting a new benchmark by being the first in the group of factories to be certified CarbonNeutral.

The CarbonConscious certification requires clients to join a programme of measurement, management and mitigation of a business entitys Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions through regular monitoring and reassessments, adhering to international standards and guidelines. To this effect, Bodyline has been collaborating with The Carbon Consulting Company (CCC) to obtain comprehensive annual GHG Inventories for its operations, as well as to monitor and update their Carbon Management Plan set up by the same. The certification was awarded by The Sustainable Future Group (SFG) - one of Asias first verification, validation and certification bodies to be accredited for ISO 14064 GHG Quantification and Reporting. The Conscious range is part of a proprietary, diverse range of certifications developed by SFG following internationally accepted standards and protocols to measure, manage and mitigate/enhance key environmental impact areas such as carbon, water, waste and biodiversity.

Stepping into a leadership role in a companywhich continues to demonstrate its commitment towards protecting earths life and compensating for its impact on the planet is a privilege explains new CEO Dinesh de Silva. Bodyline has already set such a high benchmark in its environmental practices and through this initiative, we hope to set an example and encourage other corporates to collectively work towards becoming a part of the solution for a greener future.He further added, As I believe, if we each take responsibility in shifting our own behavior, we can trigger the type of change that is necessary to achieve sustainability for all life on this planet. We change our planet, our environment, our humanity every day, every minute, through our work and we must take responsibility to make sure we change it for the greater good of Mother Nature.

Commenting on the progress over the past years, Sanith De S. Wijeyeratne, CEO - Carbon Consulting Company stated, We are immensely proud and encouraged by the fact that Bodyline continues to exceed expectations. Since we began this ambitious project, the emissions produced by Bodylines factories have significantly and steadily declined in comparison with its production levels, with a notable increase in performance and productivity. This is a testament to the Bodyline Teams hard work, commitment and steadfast pledge to uphold the ethos of being not only a leading business in Sri Lanka and an apparel sector trendsetter, but also one that sets an example as an entity that holds itself accountable for its environmental sustainability.
The rights of a woman has always been a topic of discussion in not only Asian countries but around the world as well. Although much progress has been made over the past few decades, women still remain a vulnerable group in society faced with unpleasant encounters such as sexual violence, molestation and abuse. The concept of abortions has often been subjected to much debate when considering the ethical implications.



The strict criminalization of abortion or termination of pregnancies except to save the life of a mother as contained in the Penal Code of Sri Lanka has been identified as detrimental to the mental and physical well being of the woman. Giving an opportunity for women to access safe and legal abortion procedures in certain identified circumstances is a matter that has been spoken about.

As this matter has raised concerns amongst some, the spoke to a few individuals in varied fields of interest.



Existing legal framework in Sri Lanka

As stated in an Interim report of the Special Committee on amending the Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure Act, the Penal Code recognises the act of causing a miscarriage and the termination of pregnancy as an offence except as necessary in circumstances which endanger the life of the mother.



Section 303 reads :

Whoever voluntarily causes a woman with child to miscarry shall, if such miscarriage be not caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the woman, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with both; and if the woman be quick with child, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.



Section 304 reads :

Whoever commits the offence defined in the last preceding section without the consent of the woman, whether the woman is quick with child or not, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 20 years and shall also be liable to fine.



Section 305 states :

Whoever, with intent to cause the miscarriage of a woman with child, does any act which causes the death of such woman, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to twenty years, and shall also be liable to fine.



Section 306 reads :

Whoever, before the birth of any child, does any act with the intention of preventing that child from being born alive, or causing it to die after its birth, and does by such act prevent that child from being born alive, or causes it to die after its birth, shall, if such act be not caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the mother, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, or with fine, or with both.

Proposed Recommendations

Based on the preceding findings, the Committee makes the following recommendations :

To decriminalise abortion and allow for medical termination of pregnancies in the specific circumstances of :



a) Rape and incest

b) The pregnancy occurring in a girl below the age of 16 (a victim of statutory rape)

c) Serious foetal impairment

To provide for a procedure for medical termination of pregnancies on one of the above grounds that will be rigorously regulated in order to prevent the abuse of

the process

To enact/amend legislation as appropriate to facilitate the inclusion of the above provisions.

We went through a long process in acquainting the concerns

Dr.Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe

Speaking to the Dailymirror, Justice Minister Dr.Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said that he is positive about

this decision.



We consulted the opinions of a panel of experts representing the medical, religious and other fields.

Through this we are trying to save the life of the mother under three circumstances.

I dont think there will be much challenges since we went through a long process in acquainting the concerns. In another three weeks time we will be presenting this proposal in Parliament.

A womans right to reproductive health is hers and hers alone

Visakha Tillekeratne

In her comments, womens rights activist and Co-convener of Citizens for a secure Sri Lanka, VisakhaTillekeratne said that if the mother wasm a child, abortion should be done as early as two months. It is up to the mother to decide what to do with her life and no other party, that is the family, spouse or doctor could force her to do an abortion.

When I was born in Russia, abortions were not a new thing in that country. Anybody could go and do one. But here there is less coverage and awareness. This should start at school level and expand to reach out to the masses. After all, the womans right to reproductive health is hers and hers alone.

Stringent laws would encourage mothers to do illegal abortions leading to fatal results 

Thushara Ranasinghe

Executive Director of the Family Planning Association, Thushara Ranasinghe said that the Sri Lankan Penal Code on abortion is quite archaic. We cannot move forward with archaic laws because they may not suit the prevailing circumstances.



We hear a lot about sexual violence and an abortion would be the obvious choice in most instances. Therefore relaxing the laws would give them a chance to get rid of some burden. In addition to that there are instances when there are foetal impairments and again due to the law the gynaecologist cannot allow the patient to have an abortion.



The life of the mother should be preserved and there is a debate about pro-life versus pro-choice. The bad side of imposing stringent laws is that it gives a chance for the mothers to do illegal abortions which could lead to fatal results. Most illegal abortions are not properly monitored and mothers have a high risk of losing their fertility as well.

Legalisation of abortions under special circumstances is a bit of a way forward 

Dr.Pabasari Ginige

Speaking about this issue in detail, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya and Consultant Psychiatrist at the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital, Dr.Pabasari Ginige said that although the issue of abortions had been discussed on earlier occasions there werent many progressive steps taken due to stringent laws. When living in a country governed by major religious concepts, we all value life. But as psychiatrists we cant only be looking at the religion, caste or creed. The life of the unborn as well as the mother are of utmost importance. In my opinion women should have the equal right to do an abortion in Sri Lanka. The family, the government or any other party cannot interfere with her decision. In fact women should have the right of choice  let it be to get married, have a child, do a job or for any other choice. A woman cannot be irresponsible, get pregnant and then use abortion as a method of contraception.



Therefore legalisation of abortions under special circumstances is a bit of a way forward. Speaking further she said that there are seven reasons for abortions around the world. Abortions are done to save the mothers life  this is the only provision which we can use at present, to preserve a womans physical health, to preserve a womans mental health, due to rape or incest, foetal impairments, economic or social reasons and genetic issues. Also in the case of minors or mentally challenged mothers, the significant other or the family could take a decision as to whether she could undergo an abortion. In the new legislation the concept of abnormal foetuses too is covered. This is a way of showing some respect towards the mother. We also need to spread awareness and educate people on sensitive issues such as these in order to give them

more insight.
A two-day international digital summit will be held in Sri Lanka on March 23 and 24 with the participation of experts and executives of well-known companies such as Facebook, Google, Social Capital and Infosys, the government said today.

Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure Minister Harin Fernando has submitted a proposal to the Cabinet to proceed with the activities related to this summit.

The objective of the summit is to make Sri Lanka a global digital hub.
Emirates, voted the Worlds Best Airline in the 2016 Skytrax World Airline Awards, has announced that it will operate the first ever scheduled commercial Airbus A380 flight to South America when it upgrades its Dubai (DXB)  Sao Paulo (GRU) service on March 26.

Replacing the existing Boeing 777-300ER used on this route, the A380 service will mark the airlines 10th year of operations in Brazil, which it began with daily flights between Dubai and Sao Paulo in October 2007. Back then, Emirates had already made history becoming the first airline to connect the Middle East and South America with a non-stop direct flight service. In 2012, Emirates expanded its presence in Brazil with the start of a daily service between Dubai and Rio de Janeiro.

The Emirates A380 is an iconic aircraft that continues to excite our customers and set the benchmark for travel comfort in commercial flying. We look forward to offering the award-winning Emirates A380 experience to our customers and to continue contributing to the economic success of Brazil, said Hubert Frach, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, West. The switch to the A380 offers a total of 959 additional seats per week in each direction meeting a growing demand from travellers on the route and demonstrating our commitment to Brazil and to the South

American region.

We made significant investments to upgrade the facilities at GRU Airport  Sao Paulo International Airport in order to make it A380-compatible. We are very excited about Emirates decision to deploy the first A380 in South America to our airport, said Gustavo Figueiredo, GRU Airport CEO.

Sao Paulo will join more than 40 destinations on Emirates global network served by its highly popular A380 aircraft, including Narita (commencing March 26), Bangkok, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The introduction of Emirates A380 service from Guarulhos International Airport, Sao Paulo, makes it possible for Brazilian travellers to fly only on A380s to their final destinations, particularly when to travelling to Asian cities, via Dubai. Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, facilitates trade between Brazil and its global trade partners. In addition to the cargo capacity offered on the A380 to Sao Paulo, Emirates SkyCargo also operates a freighter twice a week from Viracopos carrying Brazilian exports to other global destinations.

From March 26, EK261 will become an A380 flight, leaving Dubai (DXB) every day at 08:35 and arriving in Sao Paulo (GRU) at 16:30. The return flight, EK262, departs Sao Paulo (GRU) at 01:25 and lands in Dubai (DXB) at 22:55. Recently in October 2016, Emirates announced a codeshare and frequent flyer programme partnership with GOL Linhas AereasInteligentes S.A (GOL) allowing customers to purchase connecting flights on both airlines using one reservation, and a seamless ticketing, check-in, boarding and baggage check experience during the entire journey. Passengers booking flights from multiple destinations in Brazil with GOL, including Porte Alegre, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and Brasilia, will now be able to connect in Sao Paulo and fly the Emirates A380 to many

destinations worldwide.

Emirates is the worlds largest operator of A380s, with 92 currently in its fleet and a further 50 on order.

Since 2008, the airline has carried over 65 million passengers on its flagship aircraft. Emirates will deploy its three class A380 on the Sao Paulo route, offering a total of 491 seats, with 14 private suites in First Class, 76 lie flat seats in Business Class and 401 seats in spacious Economy Class cabin.

Passengers in all classes can enjoy Wi-Fi to stay in touch with family and friends or Emirates multi-award winning ice Digital Widescreen with more than 2,600 channels of movies, TV programs, music and podcasts. Passengers travelling on the Emirates A380, will enjoy spacious cabins and experience a peaceful journey in the worlds quietest long-range jet.

Emirates premium onboard experience is complemented by on-the-ground comfort with a network of 40 dedicated Emirates lounges located within major airports around the globe - all designed with the same attention to detail and exceptional service. Emirates this year completed a US$ 11 million refurbishment of its Business Class lounge at Concourse B in Dubai, which now includes a barista experience, a health hub with Voss water, and an exclusive Moet & Chandon

champagne lounge.
The electricity sector regulator, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), yesterday directed the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and Lanka Electricity Company Private Limited (LECO) to connect the domestic rooftop solar panels to the national grid within two weeks from the date of application.

The direction to provide the connection for rooftop solar plants to the national grid in an efficient manner within a time fame will encourage people to move for solar power, PUCSL Director General Damitha Kumarasinghe said.The PUCSL has asked the CEB and LECO to provide an estimate for the net metering installation within one week of submission and payment of the application and to provide the net meter installation and grid connection within a week of receiving the payment for the net meter installation.

Kumarasinghe said that among Sri Lankas non-conventional renewable energy sources, rooftop solar PV is considered as one of the fastest technologies that can be installed and integrated into the grid.

The PUCSL said that the aim is to add 200 MW of solar electricity to the national grid by 2020 and 1,000 MW by the year 2025.

So far Sri Lanka has added about 42 MW of capacity to the national grid through domestic rooftop solar plants by the end of 2016, Kumarasinghe added. Data further reveals that up to November 2016, 7,904 domestic rooftop solar plants had been installed and connected to the national grid. The PUCSL said that 1,420 domestic rooftop solar plants were added through the governments Soorya Bala Sangramaya programme, which was launched last year. Of the total, 4,806 are in the Western Province and 1,707 are in the Northern Province. Uva, the countrys most impoverished province, had just 32 rooftop solar plants installed.

The PUCSL said that the government policy is to increase the existing 50 percent of the electricity generation based on renewable energy sources to 60 percent by the year 2020 and to increase it further up to 70 percent by the year 2030. It added that the governments aim is to generate the countrys total energy requirement through renewable and other indigenous energy resources by 2050.

The country had faced major disruptions to power last year and there are concerns of a power crisis arising over the next two years, which has seen the PUCSL spurring the CEB to enact contingency measures.
Opening of the newly renovated principals office and the newly introduced school library at Duwegoda Primary School, Halkadawala, Kalutara

Ex-Sampath Bankers Club completed its first CSR project when it set up a childrens library at a school that lacked many facilities.

The executive council of the club in keeping with its objectives, took a decision to embark on a CSR project and selected education sector to be the focus. The members of the committee appointed visited some schools in the Colombo district and although most of them requested assistance the facilities they already enjoyed were such that they could not be categorized as most deserving, Therefore the committee decided to look at schools in the Kalutara district with the assistance of the Regional Manager of Sampath Bank responsible for that district and the Manager of their Kalutara branch. The manager discussed this issue some officials in the Regional Education Department in Kalutara and obtained their recommendation to decide on a deserving school. The school selected for the project was Duwegoda Primary School which is located in Halkadawala a remote area in the Kalutara district which lacked many facilities but having a highly motivated Principal and staff who took great pains towards developing the school.

During the initial discussions with the Principal of the school they informed the committee that they were keen in having a childrens library and a computer room as their immediate needs. The cub agreed to provide a childrens library. The next issue was a room to house the library. The Principal very generously agreed to give up his room which was the only room in the school with a ceiling, for the library. He offered to move to a smaller room in the building and requested the club to put up a ceiling in that room to which the club also agreed.

The room given for the Library was renovated repainted by the club To house the principal who gave up his room for the Childrens Library, the Club refurbished the room provided, by putting up the ceiling, painted the room and fixed two wall fans and lights. An office table and a new revolving chair were also provided for the Principals office

The handing over took place on 11th January, the day the New Year students were admitted to the school at a simple ceremony, with the parents of the new children also being present. Since the handing over of the Childrens Library and the refurbished principals office was scheduled along with the admission of new students the Principal requested the Club to consider providing gifts for the thirty nine new students. Sampath Bank very generously provided the thirty nine school bags along with tills for this purpose and they were presented to the new students at this ceremony. The school principal, teachers and the parents in their speeches expressed their appreciation of the contribution made by the Club to fulfill a long felt need of this poor remote school.

Ex-Sampath Bankers Club very sincerely thank all those who contributed towards this worthy cause and looks forward to their continued support for its future projects as well.
George Steuart Travel, the 43-year old travel arm of George Steuart and Co, the oldest mercantile establishment in Sri Lanka was recognized at the annual Passenger Sales Award Ceremony, hosted by Singapore Airlines at the Colombo Hilton recently with the Gold Award for Best Passenger Sales.

George Steuart Travels grabbed the No.1 position for the fourth consecutive year, Classic Travels (Silver winner) and Gabo Travels (Bronze winner) reiterating their consistent commitment towards service excellence. The Merit Award Winners were Hemas Travels, MacKinnons Travels, Metro Travels, World link Travels, BG Air, 2nd Chance Travels and Traveler Global.

Channe Wijemanne, Director/CEO of George Steuart Travel Ltd accepted the award from Joey Seow, Regional Vice President West Asia and Africa for Singapore Airlines. J.M.S Brito, Chairman Aitken Spence Aviation Pvt. Ltd/Deputy Chairman Aitken Spence PLC, MrRichard Kwee, General Manager, Singapore Airlines and Keethi Jayaweera, Managing Director, Aitken Spence Pvt Ltd were among the distinguished guests who graced the occasion.

Wijemanne acknowledged the achievement, saying I am truly humbled by the gigantic effort made by our young team of vibrant and committed professionals, who have been consistent in their service standards and professionalism to win the respect and trust of customers and partners alike. This prestigious accolade from one of the highly esteemed airlines certainly marks another milestone in our success story as it stands as a testament to the dedication and hard work of our team. I would like to take this opportunity to also congratulate all the award winners
The Sri Lankan Government said today it would sign a MoU with the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on diplomatic consultation with the objective of strengthening and developing bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries.

The proposal submitted by Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Harsha de Silva was approved by the Cabinet today.

The MoU is to be signed during the upcoming visit of Foreign Affairs Minister MangalaSamaraweera to Ethiopia.
Juan Hernandez Borja lent his friend Juan Carlos Romero a gold medallion valued at 7,000 to wear to a party. Then, in 2009, a provincial court accused Romero of drug trafficking , searching his home and confiscating, among other things, the piece of jewelry he had borrowed. Although Hernandez Borja had nothing to do with the case  something that Spains General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), the body that oversees the legal system, has subsequently accepted  he has never seen the medallion again, despite sending several letters to the judge concerned, including photographs of himself wearing it. The reason is that it was reportedly stolen from the courts safe.

Vehicles seized by a Madrid court. EL PAIS

Sometimes in Spain people with no relation to a criminal investigation, or those accused and later acquitted by the courts, can spend years trying to get valuable belongings  ranging from speedboats and cars to jewellery  seized by the authorities returned to them, only to learn that the items have either been stolen or destroyed. They then have to begin the equally lengthy process of pursuing compensation from the state.

Niels Henrik Vester was arrested in 2015 after a Marbella court order. The court then seized a number of valuable items belonging to him, among them a Hublot watch valued at 41,000. He was later acquitted of all charges and the items returned, minus the watch, which he was told had been stolen from the court safe. The CGPJ recognized Vesters claim for compensation, noting an irregular functioning of the Administration of Justice has taken place.

It took Alejandro Puche Sanz a decade to get three boats and 25 engines returned

The Justice Ministry pays out around 4 million in compensation for the courts mistakes every year, usually well below the amount victims claim. It is important to distinguish between court irregularities  such as failing to inform witnesses who have traveled long distances to hearings, trials that overrun, lost objects or unfair embargoes of assets  and miscarriages of justice, the latter being the responsibility of a higher court. Either way, the Spanish taxpayer foots the bill for compensation. Some six million lawsuits are brought each year in Spain, while the number of complaints for court irregularities amounting to just 10,000 in total since 2000, of which around 17% are actually admitted. Before making any decision on compensation, the Justice Ministry will take non-binding advice from the CGPJ and the Council of State, the governments advisory body.

Andrew Anthony Mattacks is demanding compensation of 330,000 from the Spanish state for the deterioration and damage that two light aircraft he owned suffered after they were removed from a hangar in Seville on a court order. The owner of the hangar was being investigated and the storage area had been sealed off. Mattacks repeatedly informed the judge overseeing the case that he had nothing to do with the owner and was simply renting space in it while he tried to sell the aircraft. The court refused to listen and eventually dismantled the planes, sending them to a nearby technical college. The aircraft were irreparably damaged in the process and when Mattacks finally recovered them they were useless.

Andrew Anthony Mattacks is demanding 330,000 from the Spanish state in compensation

It took Alejandro Puche Sanz a decade to get three boats and some 25 outboard motors returned after they were seized by a court in Cadiz. When he finally went to recover them he learned they had been destroyed due to their deterioration while in storage. The CGPJ accepted that the authorities were responsible and that Puche Sanz should be compensated.

Similarly, the CGPJ ordered Andres Henriquez Perez to be compensated after his Volkswagen van was stripped of its engine and wheels during the eight years it was in a Las Palmas storage area after a court there ordered it to be seized.

Many of the complaints regarding court irregularities are related to motor vehicles that the courts have seized in connection with drugs investigations. Very often, these vehicles are then handed over to the police who use them in undercover operations during which they are driven into the ground. When the cars are finally returned to their owner, they finds themselves with little more than scrap metal.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, in an interview with Dailymirror , says that the unity government was productive for the country. He said it would serve its full term despite any odds. The excerpts of the interview:

QHow do you see the current political developments especially in the context of unrest between the two main parties?

This is not a traditional form of governance in Sri Lanka. For the first time, the two main parties- the United National Party(UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party(SLFP)- have joined hands to form the national unity government. We act accordingly. We put the country before self.

We do not look at problems purely from a political angle.



We have achieved a lot since we joined the government as the SLFP. We managed to re-establish our diplomatic ties which remained strained in the past. We gained some form of relief at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in respect of allegations against us. Also, we secured a lift of the ban on fish exports to the markets in the European Union. We are now about to get the GSP plus. All these will translate into the good of the country at the end. These are positive developments.

QThough you talk about a bilateral approach, we see the UNP economic policies being implemented in main disregarding the left leaning policies of the SLFP. How do you feel about them?

The SLFP cannot implement its own policies. Likewise, the UNP cannot have its own way. The UNP comes up with its policy projects. Yet, when it comes to implementation of them, we reach a common position. Mostly, it has been proposed to form joint ventures for the revitalization of state institutions on the Private Public Partnership (PPP) model. A long list of institutions had been prepared to be covered under it. But, we managed to reduce it after talks with each other. We do not mind partnering with the private sector for the revitalization of state institutions. For example, SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka can be taken. During our time, we ran them at huge losses. We are not opposed to the PPP model for revamping them under the current administration. We are against the privatization of state institutions which are profitable at the moment.



We were able to omit some such profit making state institutions from the list, initially for consideration under the PPP model. It could be done because the SLFP was party to the government. We reached the middle path.



As for the national carrier, we acquired it during our time from the private investor Emirates. At that time, it was making profits. By the time, we ended our rule, it had sustained enormous losses. Ordinary people only see planes flying overhead. They do not even go near aircraft. However, they all pay taxes to maintain the airline, when they buy their daily essential items from the market. We need not object to them being restructured under the PPP model.



QThe two parties are unable to see eye to eye on the proposed constitution. How soon can you reach consensus?

One cannot rush through in constitution-making. This has been discussed. We hope we will be able to reach consensus. We are for constitutional reforms. All the parties have submitted their views on them. Nothing is being done in secrecy. Public views are also entertained. We are for a system that enjoys the consent of the people. We remain in that position.



QWhat is your partys position on power devolution?

We believe in power devolution. There is no change in that position. However, the unitary status of the country should not be compromised. We are not for the amalgamation of two or more provinces in any part of the country. We are not for anything that leads to the partition of the country. There is no compromise on the foremost position assigned to Buddhism. There is a separate committee working in this regard. We will come up with our stand at the right time.



QWhat is your position on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution?

We have to implement it.



QDoes it mean land and police powers should be devolved?

We have to devolve them to some extent. That is all. If we stick to the current status, there will be no use of talking about constitutional reforms. During our time, we even promised to devolve power beyond the 13th Amendment. We even talked about 13 plus. Now, there are allegations. We do not go for 13 plus.



QThe UNP MPs, in their press conferences, asked the SLFP MPs to quit the government. What did you feel at that time?

They are not mature politicians. They are just newcomers. They lack political understanding. Some of our MPs also responded to them. We did not hear such remarks being made by the UNP leadership or anyone in the party hierarchy. We do not care about such remarks. We know that even the UNP new-comers are disillusioned. They also entered Parliament for the first time with a lot of hopes. They are not in a position to implement all that they want. We ignore such voices of a handful of MPs.

The UNP leadership informed us that these MPs were warned.

The leadership also assured that it would not leave room for the repetition of such acts in the future.

We actually took it up with the leaders of the UNP. There were similar allegations against some of our members as well. Both sides agreed that such diatribes would not happen in the future.



QHow do you see the future of the unity government?

As I said earlier, this is not a government run by a single executive authority. In the past, the President and the Prime Minister belonged to the same party. Now the situation is different. Today, it is more democratic. In the past, the cabinet meetings lasted only for half an hour. Now it is dragged for two or three hours with arguments and counter arguments in a healthy sense. Cabinet papers are broadly discussed. It is a positive development.



QSome say it has hampered the decision making process. What is your response?

It is not true. It is always the correct decision that is made. In the past, it led to wrong decisions on some occasions. Decisions were rushed in. Had we averted losses of SriLankan Airlines, we could have built yet another airport without a loan from anyone.



QDoes it mean the unity government will serve its full term?

There is no question about it. Some people talk about toppling the government today or tomorrow. That is needed to please their supporters. This is not a problem. It is impossible to topple this government till 2020. An election is due only at that time. Before that, it is not realistic.



QHowever, State Minister Dilan Perera who is the media spokesperson of your party said that the Central Committee would meet later this year and decide on the future of the national government. What is your position?

As of now, our General Secretary Minister Duminda Dissanayake announced to the country that the government would serve its term till 2020. The Central Committee of the party has to give formal effect to this statement. We will take that decision at the Central Committee meeting.



QIs that to go on till 2020?

We cannot allow the country to be de-stabilized.



QHow are you planning to contest for the upcoming local government elections?

We, the SLFP, will contest separately. We have proposed to contest under the hand symbol of our party. If there is a strong demand from the like-minded parties to contest under the betel symbol of the UPFA, we will not make an issue out of it. After the elections, we will again implement the national government concept.



QHowever, there is a possibility of supporters of the two parties being pitted against each other at such an election threatening the stability of the unity government. How do you respond?

No, no, those are not major issues.



QAs the Fisheries Minister, how do you intend to resolve this fisheries issue with India?

We had cordial and fruitful talks with the Indian Minister. For the first time, the Indian side realized that bottom trawling was harmful. Since then, they do not issue licences for it. They have proposed a plan to address this issue in a phased out manner. They have converted 92 boats for deep sea fishing since then. They promote aqua culture.



QWhat have you done to stop encroaching by Indian fishermen?

It has stopped by 50 percent as of now.
Last week, State Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene bragged at a media conference that the Cabinet had rejected a proposal to decriminalize homosexuality. Then, two youthful Parliamentarians from the ruling UNP rushed in to reassure that Sri Lankas 2500-year-old Buddhist culture was non-negotiable for whatever, even to regain GSP Plus.



It should be clear to someone, who is not a bigot or an idiot, the type of buffoons who have dominated the decision making in this country. There is no immediate fix for that, even though the archaic Victorian Law could perhaps get stroke off someday.



The proposed amendment was intended to repeal Sections 365 and 365A of the Penal Code, which were enacted in 1886 and is a colonial relic.



The world has moved a long way since the Puritanical values of the Victorian era to become a freer and more inclusive place.



The two contentious sections of the Penal Code read as follows:

365: Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature, with any man, woman, or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term, which may extend to ten years, and shall also be punished with fine and where the offence is committed by a person over eighteen years of age in respect of any person under sixteen years of age, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than ten years and not exceeding twenty years and with fine and shall also be ordered to pay compensation of an amount- determined by court to the person in respect of whom the offence was committed for injuries caused to such person.



365A: Any person who, in public or private, commits, or is a party to the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any person of, any act of gross indecency with another person, shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description, for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or with both and where the offence is committed by a person over eighteen years of age in respect of any person under sixteen years of age shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than ten years and not exceeding twenty years and with fine and shall also be ordered to pay compensation of an amount determined by court to the person in respect of whom the offence was committed for the injuries caused to such person.



The two sections are not confined to homosexually alone- so the Puritans beware.



They, nonetheless, have been used exclusively to target homosexuals, though no conviction has been delivered during the past five decades.



In practice, the section of the law entrenches the victimization and stigmatization of the most vulnerable members of our community. It is the economically and socially vulnerable, who get the beating, and not the Cocktail Liberals and LGBT Activists of Colombo 7.



One cannot see why we should not get this archaic and dormant law struck off the law books. However, peddling bigotry, xenophobia, racism, or whatever you name it, it has been an industry in this country for decades.



It had driven the nation through the perilous path it took, costing hundreds thousands of lives, and reducing a country that held so much promise at its independence to its current precarious existence.



Our public discourse has been hijacked and to a large degree been monopolised by a small minority of loud mouthed bigots, who on every occasion in the independent history, have stood on the path of enlightened decisions, be it finding an acceptable solution to ethnic minority grievances, revamping the economy so that it could work, or now to end legally enshrined victimisation of sexual minorities.

The equally disturbing truth is that the wider and saner society and the so called civil society activism, which is also an industry-size business, has not dared to call the bigots as bluff. Bigotry does not just target Gays and Lesbians, it is part and parcel of a broader phenomenon of intolerance, monopolization and regulation of individual lives, that cannibalises our social fabric.



It confronts every shade of modern day individual rights, be it a woman to dress as she wishes, a rape victim to choose an abortion, a kid to pick his medium of education, or a teenager who cannot go to a public university to have an education.



Gay rights are also human rights, but the inability to come to terms with it is part of this broader phenomenon that traps us in the past and prevents us from emerging as an inclusive and forward looking society that respects all its members.



The roots of this problem lie at a sad miscarriage of the British effort to implant democracy in its colonies. Democracy entails three fundamental attributes: Economic, Social and Political.

Rushing through political empowerment prematurely before reaching the adequate level of social and economic empowerment is akin to giving a sword to the monkey.



That strategy was not only naive, but also dangerous, as it has been shown with devastating consequence in many times in the history, by the illiterate, the ignorant and the despondent, who pounced upon a minority of moderates, rolling back the progress and creating largely flawed and insular societies.



Ours was less disruptive though, partly because the Sinhala Buddhist culture was less invasive of public life and the social welfare and free education pre-dating independence, alleviated the venom of the mass impulses.



However, it slowed the progress, economically and socially, and was made worse over time as long term effects of Swabasha education began to manifest.



The Swabasha education and the closed economic model at the time shut off the masses from the world and modernising effects of a wave of social revolutions, which swept across the world. It also promoted a horde of mediocre individuals to the high positions of governance. Our politics now reflects the sad outcome of that process.



Sri Lankan public in general are not bigots, they have not considered the sexual orientation of their political representatives as a determinant in their electability.



There were and are senior politicians and Ministers who are Gay and their sexual orientation was their business alone.



However, our politics is cheap. It stoops to the lowest of low to score any potential political advantage. What is happening now is such a cheap manoeuvring. What is equally sad is politicians, who claim they are Liberal have shown little resolve to stand up to bigotry.



People like Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera can do much and that would enable him to be taken more seriously in the capitals around the world.



Why even the most enlightened politicians fear to tread in, is because of the sinister invocation of culture. That is no less than an attempt at bastardization of the Sri Lankan culture. Does Sri Lankan culture condone bigotry? Do the individuals brought up in this particular cultural milieu stand for implicit approval of bigotry? Highly unlikely!
Sri Lankas Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva this week labelled Chinese President Xi Jinping as the new champion of trade and globalization of the free world, who would fill the vacuum created by US President Donald Trump with his inward-looking political and economic policies.

Delivering a rather intellectual talk on the ascendancy of Trump as the US President and its repercussions during a meeting in Colombo, de Silva branded Trumps policies as highly inward-looking, anti-trade and regressive and stressed that they could dampen the global trade flows as never before. Even though people may not take what President Xi said at face value in Davos about free trade, it looks to me that he is a greater believer of Adam Smith and David Recardo than Donald Trump, de Silva said in reference to a speech made by the Chinese president in Davos, last week.

Jinping, in a clear reference to President Trumps nationalistic views said, China would open its arms to the people of other countries and compared protectionism, quite ironically, to locking oneself in a dark room, despite Chinas still very strong protectionist practices.

Adam Smith and David Recardo are two of the most influential classical economists whose theories propagate free movement of goods, services, investments and people across markets with zero barriers.

The deputy ministers praises on China come at a time when Sri Lanka had to go back to China with a begging bowl at a time his governments Western-oriented foreign policy has so far failed to bring in any tangible economic or political benefit to the country.

Probably the only bright spot would be the possible reinstatement of the GSP Plus status to Sri Lanka by the European Union. But the main beneficiaries of the tariff scheme, the countrys apparel exporters, have already evolved beyond the GSP Plus gains, catering to niche market segments.

Foreign direct investments (FDI) to Sri Lanka last year were woefully low at around US $ 300 millionjut one third of what the country attracted in 2014.

In the political front, Sri Lanka faces a crucial vote at the forthcoming United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in March on a US-co-sponsored resolution over the alleged violations of human rights during the final stages of the war with the LTTE.

However, according to political analysts, the non-interventionist foreign policy Trump announced during his inaugural speech could lend some respite to Sri Lanka to manage its position at the UNHRC. Meanwhile, earlier this week, signing his first executive order, Trump formally pulled the US out from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He also set dates with Mexico and Canada to renegotiate over two-decade-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), delivering on his key campaign pledges.

However, according to de Silva, who is also a trained economist, the Trump policies would hardly bring any jobs back to the US despite the rhetoric and instead would make the lives of the middle-class Americans worse, as they will have to pay more for the goods and services they consume in Trumps America.

The jobs are not going to come back. May be that the Americans (will) get paid somewhat more but then that is not going to be enough for what they are used to buying now. So, Trump says, I will bring back industrial jobs back to America; it is like saying I will bring back agricultural jobs to America. So, lot of rhetoric and it will stop soon, de Silva told the 58th Annual General Meeting of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka.

It seems that reality television is what Mr. Trump believes in. So, this is quite ridiculous, based on lies and misconceptions and not misconceptions, just pure, absolute fabrications. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka has long experience in post-truth politics, he added.

However, during his first two days in office, Trump met Americas top business leaders and leading automakers to promise incentives for their industries to manufacture at home or face a 35 percent border tax on outsourcing.

The business leaders who participated in the meetings were said to have shown their willingness to corporate with the policies of the new president.

Painting a further gloomy world under Trump presidency, de Silva said global trade, which has already slowed down from its heydays during the hyper globalization era, could further descend if the US closes its border for global goods or imposes a border tax.

According to de Silva, the signs of slowing global trade and supply chains have already hit the industries and businesses around the world.

And with Trump closing borders, people who are in the logistics business or freight forwarding or shipping business have already seen the repercussions. How (many) big shipping companies have gone bankrupt or they are merging because they cant survive? he questioned. President Trumps policies on trade, according to de Silva, would have serious implications on Sri Lankan exports as the US accounts for 27 percent of the countrys total exports. The deputy minister said Sri Lanka could leverage Trumps eagerness to have closer ties with India to offset some of the negative implications occurring from Trump trade policies. Dr.de Silva is a strong proponent of the much controversial Economic and Technology Cooperative Agreement (ETCA) between India and Sri Lanka. The talks on the pact have been put into the back burner due to the growing opposition from many quarters of society but the government says the pact will be inked by June this year. The deputy minister stressed that the current global geopolitics offers an opportune time and circumstances for Sri Lanka to open its borders to the rest of the world when others shut their doors.
By Supun Dias

To mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between the Peoples Republic of China and Sri Lanka, a high ranking ministerial level delegation will visit Sri Lanka in March and April this year, Cultural Attache of the Chinese Embassy in Colombo, Liu Dong, told reporters yesterday.

The objective of the visit is to further strengthen economic, cultural and bilateral relations between the two countries. Likewise a top level delegation from Sri Lanka is also due to visit the Peoples Republic of China shortly.

The timing of the visit will be an extremely interesting development at a time where a political firestorm has been sparked by the proposed Chinese development projects in Hambantota. Answering a question about a recent protest held in Hambanthota over the proposed Chinese Investments, the Cultural Attache stressed that one single incident does not hamper the strong relationship between the two countries which dates back to 2000 years.

Our relationship is based on a solid foundation ever since the rubber-rice pact, and since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1957, he added.
SRINAGAR AFP/ Jan24, 2017-

Police and troops killed three militants in two separate gunbattles in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday, one of them near the de facto border with Pakistan, officers said.



Soldiers and members of the polices special operations group surrounded Hadoora, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of the main city of Srinagar, after a tip-off about suspected rebels inside a house in the village.



In the ensuing gunfight two militants were killed. Both are foreigners (a standard reference to rebels from Pakistan-administered Kashmir), police Superintendent Imtiyaz Ismael told AFP.



In a separate incident a group of militants attempted to cross the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan in the Sundabani sector, but were intercepted by Indian soldiers.

One terrorist was eliminated in the operation while the balance group fled towards Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, said an army statement.
JAKARTA AFP /Jan24, 2017- Indonesia denied Tuesday that United Nations peacekeepers from the country had sought to take weapons out of Sudans conflict-wracked Darfur after they were allegedly caught leaving the region with arms.



The United Nations peace mission in Darfur last week opened an inquiry, saying that authorities had discovered weapons and military equipment in the baggage of a unit of peacekeepers at an airport in the region.



Authorities in Jakarta have confirmed the unit consisted of Indonesian police who were part of the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), made up of about 20,000 troops and police from more than 30 countries.
From left: IPS Research Economist Kanchana Wickramasinghe, IPS Research Fellow Manoj Thibbotuwawa, IPS Research Fellow Athula Senaratne and International Water Management Institute Water-related Disaster Risk Management Sub Theme Leader Giriraj Amarnath Pic by Kithsiri de Mel

By Chandeepa Wettasinghe

Amid reports that two thirds of the main Maha season paddy crops this year have been destroyed due to weather anomalies, the state-run policy think tank,Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), called for index-based climate insurance products to be developed for Sri Lankas farmers.

Index-based climate insurance is technically feasible in Sri Lanka, but can it be implemented? IPS Research Economist Kanchana Wickramasinghe who conducted the study Climate Insurance for Dry Zone Farmers in Sri Lanka questioned, while explaining her discoveries. The study had been funded by the Global Development Network, after Wickramasinghe won the First Prize in the Japanese Award for Outstanding Research on Development in 2014 for her research proposal.

IPS Executive Director Dr. Saman Kelegama noted that the development of index-based climate insurance has been long overdue in

Sri Lanka.

Colombia University Earth Institute International Research Institute for Climate and Society Financial Instruments Sector Team Lead Scientist Dr. Daniel Osgood, who delivered the keynote address through Skype, said that he is very positive about the potential for successful index-based insurance in

Sri Lanka.

According to the findings of the research, which was conducted in Anuradhapura, just 1 percent of the farmers in the countrys dry zone have voluntarily subscribed to crop insurance, while Central Bank statistics show that just 4 percent of the countrys paddy cultivated area has

crop insurance.

There are currently two indemnity-based crop insurance products provided by the states Agriculture and Agrarian Insurance Board and the countrys largest private sector insurance company Ceylinco Insurance, both of which had collected premiums of Rs. 418.97 million in 2015, but paid just Rs. 36.54 million in indemnities.

A compulsory insurance had been provided to almost all farmers under the now-discontinued fertilizer subsidy scheme, which Wickramasinghe said had not been implemented properly.

However, she noted that Sanasa Insurance has piloted a subsidized index-based climate insurance product, which has been successful in tea growing areas, but is progressing slowly in paddy growing regions.

Experts questioned whether private insurance companies would be willing to expand into this area, given that Sri Lanka has experienced more years with dysfunctional weather patterns than normal in recent times. (We) need to see if there is willingness from the private insurance companies or the government insurance providers to go for these (index-based) type of insurance, Wickramasinghe replied.

Index-based climate insurance relies on data collected through methods such as satellite imagery and rain gauges to compensate farmers as soon as within a week, which saves the farmer of the trouble of having to prove damages under indemnity insurance, where claims could drag on for years. Due to a lack of insurance, the farmers who already depend heavily on jewellery pawning to finance their daily operations, have to resort to further pawning to cover losses during a bad season, according to the study.

Insurance companies in attendance said that they had not penetrated the crop insurance market in the past due to the lack of information and ability to prove claims.

Janashakthi Group Chairman Chandra Schaffter, who was in the audience, said that index-based climate insurance is scientific and near-perfect and called on the government to subsidize and promote such insurance by following the example in India.

If you expect a farmer to pay premiums worth 8-10 percent of his crop, no farmer will insure himself, he said.

He added that if farmers continue to be trapped in climate-induced debt cycles, their children would move out of agriculture. Such a pattern could threaten President Maithripala Sirisenas vision to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in agriculture.

During the 3rd quarter of 2016, approximately 27 percent of Sri Lankas labour market was engaged in agriculture, contributing 7.6 percent to the countrys gross domestic product. However, according to the IPS study, 34 percent of farmers are not aware of insurance products, while 31 percent believe that insurance is only for large scale agricultural operations.

Further, issues have also arisen due to the lack of trust in insurance agents, some of whom have cheated farmers, or failed to provide comprehensive information regarding the limits of the coverage of insurance products, according to Wickramasinghe. IPS Research Fellow Manoj Thibbotuwawa added that farmers prefer to pay premiums at the post office or at Samurdhi Banks, instead of dealing with insurance agents. International Water Management Institute Water-related Disaster Risk Management Sub Theme Leader Giriraj Amarnath added that farmers in India prefer to pay premiums on their climate insurance seasonally than monthly. He further added that Indian farmers pay 2 percent out of the 10 percent insurance premium, while the government subsidizes the remaining 8 percent, with bids being called for private sector companies to provide the insurance product.

But for that, there needs to be cooperation between the Finance Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry, he said.
As political and business leaders met at Davos in Switzerland last week for the annual world economic forum, the international social justice movement Oxfam shook the world with a report showing how the gap between the rich and the poor has widened to obscene proportions.



The report came as the new United States President Donald Trump in his inaugural speech last Friday, repeatedly proclaimed that his priorities would be America first, America first and America first. History has shown that self-centredness does not work and often leads to self-destruction. All religions underline the need to work for the common good and to be other-centred. At an inter-faith meeting after the inauguration, all religious leaders fervently prayed for Mr. Trump, but going by what he is saying in the first few days, the new president appears to be getting more recklessly arrogant and has even declared war on the media. His spokespersons appear to be confusing facts with claims and inventing trump lies such as alternative facts.



Oxfam says eight super-billionaires own the same wealth as the 3.6 billion people classified as the poorest half of humanity. The eye-opening report which must strike the conscience of humanity is fittingly titled, An economy for the 99 per cent. Big business and the super-rich are aggravating the inequality catastrophe by dodging taxes, driving down wages and using their power to influence political leaders. Oxfam has called for fundamental change in the way various countries manage their economies so that they work for all people.



Oxfams Executive Director Winnie Byanyima says, It is obscene for so much wealth to be held in the hands of so few when one in 10 people survives on less than $2 or about Rs.300 a day.



In one of the most staggering parts of its report, Oxfam says the richest are accumulating wealth at such an incredible rate that the world could see its first trillionaire in 25 years. What does that mean? Such a human or inhuman being would need to spend $1 million every day for 2738 years to spend $l trillion.



Between 1988 and 2011 the incomes of the poorest 10 per cent increased by just $65 a person, while the incomes of the richest one per cent grew by $11,800 a person --182 times as much.



Women, who are often employed in low-pay sectors, face high levels of discrimination in the work place and women who take on a disproportionate amount of unpaid care work often find themselves at the bottom of the pile.



According to Oxfam, Corporate tax dodging costs poor countries at least $100 billion every year. This is enough money to provide an education for the 124 million children who are not in school and fund healthcare interventions that could prevent the deaths of at least six million children every year.



In terms of a long-tern solution, Oxfam says, Governments are not helpless in the face of technological change and market forces. If politicians stop obsessing with GDP, and focus on delivering for all their citizens and not just a wealthy few, a better future is possible for everyone. Its blueprint for a more human economy includes -- Governments end the extreme concentration of wealth to end poverty; Governments should increase taxes on both wealth and high incomes to ensure a more level playing field and to generate funds needed to invest in healthcare, education and job creation.



Oxfam has said Governments need to cooperate rather than compete. Governments should work together to ensure workers are paid a decent wage and to put a stop to tax dodging and the race to the bottom on corporate tax. It says Governments need to support companies that benefit their workers and society rather than just their shareholders. For instance, the multi-billion Euro Company Mondragon is owned by its 74,000strong workforce. All employees receive a decent wage because its pay structure ensures that the highest paid member of the staff earns no more than nine times the amount of the lowest paid.



Governments must ensure economies work for women. They must help to dismantle the barriers to womens economic progress, such as access to education and the unfair burden of unpaid care work. Oxfam is also calling on business leaders to play their part in building a human economy.



In Sri Lanka, the National Government needs to take these issues and recommendations into consideration when implementing the plans for a sustainable, all-inclusive green economy and poverty alleviation.
To mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between the Peoples Republic of China and Sri Lanka, a Ministerial level delegation will visit Sri Lanka in March and April this year. The visit aims at strengthening economic, cultural and bilateral relations between the two countries. A press briefing was held where Cultural Attache in Colombo Liu Dong spoke to the media about the events planned to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries as well as marking the Chinese New Year, which also known as the Spring Festival. Pix by Pradeep Pathirana
A Navy Lieutenant Commander was arrested by the Habarana police last night after his car skidded off the road and hit a police sergeant who was on duty on the Habarana-Polonnaruwa Road.

Police said the vehicle which was traveling towards Habarana had skidded off the road near the Eerigeoya Temple and hit the police sergeant who was on traffic duty.

The injured constable was rushed to the Dambulla Hospital.

Police said the naval officer had fled the scene after the accident but was arrested by a police team near the Moragaswewa School.

Investigations revealed that the naval officer was driving under the influence of alcohol when the incident occurred.(DS)
Two teenage girls from Vietnam spent four days at Barcelonas El Prat airport last December unnoticed by authorities. The pair wandered about the terminals international transit area with no ID or travel documents, according to police sources consulted by EL PAIS, and were able to get by because they had money on them.

The boarding area at Barcelona airports Terminal 1. Gianluca Battista

An officer discovered them on December 27 at 8pm as the pair were attempting to cross into the Schengen flight departure area in Terminal 1, where there are no border controls.

The girls told the officer they were aged 13. A medical examiner has confirmed that they are indeed minors.

The girls refused to say how they got to Spain or whether they were left behind by someone

Both were reportedly disoriented and crying, yet offered no information about how they got there, said a police spokesman. Investigators suspect the two landed in Barcelona on an international flight and were in transit to a third, non-European country.

The teens, who also had four cellphones between them, only gave their names and country of origin. They spoke no English, which delayed communication until a Vietnamese translator was found. Even then, the girls refused to say how they got to Spain or whether they came with someone else who left them behind.

AENA, Spains airport operator, has offered no explanation as to how two minors were able to spend four days within the airport. Border control is up to the police, said an airport spokesman.

Police sources said it is an exceptional occurrence and that they have not launched an investigation into the case.

They were discovered after attempting to cross into the Schengen flight departure area

The Catalan regional government is now their legal guardian and has sent them to a center for minors until their case is resolved. The regional police force, the Mossos dEsquadra, has opened an investigation of its own into the incident, and is trying to determine whether it is a case of illegal immigration or human trafficking, said a spokeswoman.

Every expert consulted by this newspaper said it is highly unusual that two minors were able to wander around the airports transit area without anybody noticing, especially when security controls are supposed to be tight due to the fact that Spain is on a level 4 alert (out of 5) for terrorism threats.

According to records, in 2015 a total of 414 unaccompanied underage foreigners were located on the Spanish coast, most of them from Algeria and Morocco. Authorities admit there are no hard figures on the real number of minors who may have entered Spain by land, concealed inside vehicles or through other means.

English version by Susana Urra.
Secularism has become the buzz word for all those who wish to drive out Buddhism from public life in Sri Lanka, both overtly and covertly.



When we refer to secularism we must be in a position to distinguish it from pseudo-secularism.

What is practised in a large majority of countries in the name of secularism is a pseudo variety of secularism.



We now see particularly in the Western countries in the light of the influx of a large number of refugees from Middle Eastern countries, deep seated nationalism and patriotic fervour rising to the surface and challenging the secular image these European countries had carefully cultivated and projected to the outside world in the decades following the end of the second world war.



In other words, beneath the veneer of secularism in Europe lurks an innate nationalism that had laid the foundation of the nation state and united the people on the basis of a shared past that bonded one another through affinities to a common religion, ethnicity and language.



Sri Lankas 2500 year old civilization was founded on this basis-similar to the great Chinese and Japanese civilizations, and several European Christian nations.



Yet, modern day pseudo-secular countries particularly in the West want Sri Lanka to discard its primordial national (Sinhala) and religious (Buddhism) identity, and embrace an artificial secular identity that has neither roots to the soil of the country nor been shaped either by history, common values, heritage or destiny.



Pseudo-Secularism

Secularism calls for equal treatment of religions without discrimination.



In which countries is that practiced?

Take for example the status of Buddhism (And other Eastern Dharmic Religions) in Western countries.



In Europe only two countries have officially given recognition to Buddhism- namely Russia and Austria.



The rest of Europe with a Christian heritage denies official recognition to Buddhism.



Buddhism is being tolerated but not recognised officially as a religion despite almost all majority Buddhist countries in Asia giving full official recognition to the major Abrahamic religions, i.e. Christianity and Islam.



It is this lack of reciprocity on the part of European Christian nations to give any form of recognition to Buddhism that has caused consternation at recent international Buddhist Conferences. Speakers have condemned the adoption of double standards by European countries in respect of different global religions.



Despite claiming to be Secular most European countries allow Political Parties to bear religious names such as the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of Germany. The leader of the CDU, Angela Merkel, is the current Chancellor of Germany.Christian Democratic Party (France), Christian Social Union in Bavaria, Christian Democratic Party (Norway), Christian Democratic Peoples Party (Switzerland), Christian Democrats (Denmark) are names of some of the political parties that openly espouse the cause of the majority religion in Europe.



There are no public holidays for Buddhism or any other non-Christian religion in the public holiday calendar of European nations with Christian heritage.



This is in stark contrast to the conduct of traditional Buddhist countries e.g. Sri Lanka, which has granted public holidays on days of religious significance to adherents of both Abrahamic and Eastern Dharmic religions.



Discrimination against Buddhism

The discriminatory stance against Buddhism in Europe has had several detrimental effects such as categorising Buddhists as being members of sects and cults among other things.



Official recognition would allow Buddhists certain rights, such as access to the media, financial support, legal standing, and recognition equal to those of Christian Churches, and right to be taught in a school. It would allow them the legal right to form voluntary societies as exclusive Buddhist Societies with membership restricted only to Buddhists.



It is regrettable to note that concepts such as Secularism, Diversity, Multi-culturalism and the like have now become code words for demonising the Sinhalese majority and removal of Buddhism (Despite its singular and overwhelming contribution to national life since it was introduced by Arahant Mahinda to Sri Lanka in circa 300 BC) from public life.



Manipulation of Secularism

Secularism in the West began with the objective of separating the Church (Which was trying to usurp the power of the State) and the State. Nevertheless, the Secularism in Christian countries remains unequivocally promajoritarian.



In contrast in the Eastern countries such as India and Sri Lanka, Secularism has been manipulated to become antimajoritarian.



Religious discrimination en masse and public policy wise, really began in Sri Lanka after the arrival of the Portuguese in 1505. They had an Inquisitorial mindset shaped by events commencing in Europe in the 15th century which required all non  Christians e.g. Muslims, Jews to convert to Christianity or face the Inquisition, which meted out a series of harsh punishments including burning the victims at the stake for being  heretics.



The Portuguese Inquisition in Sri Lanka (1505  1658) deserves a close and careful study as it was introduced to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese following the Catholic Inquisition in Europe and the Goa Inquisition. There were several Portuguese Captain  Generals like Jeronimo de Azavedo who were in charge of the Inquisition both in Goa and Portuguese occupied territory in Sri Lanka.



Secularism as a concept was conceived and evolved in an European context.



It is euro-centric in its very nature like the European Union and even the United Nations, which today is unashamedly promoting re-colonization and the right to intervene in the affairs of nation states that seek independence, self  reliance and non  alignment.



Instead of transplanting ideas grown in contexts that are far removed in respect to both time and space, the challenge for us in Sri Lanka is to develop our own home grown political ideas taking into consideration Lankas heritage and history, and more importantly the setbacks this country sustained as a result of nearly 450 years of western colonialism.



Unreasonable demands of the EU

How should Sri Lanka respond to constant unreasonable demands made by the European Union and the USA, to shape our public policy, Constitution, method of governance, national security and the like in line with hidden agendas drawn by these countries to suit their parochial interests and objectives?



Let me conclude with an edited quote from a very perceptive Indian writer:



I would like to reiterate that non-Europeans are better off being always suspicious of the motives behind the preaching of democratic, liberal and civilized forms of governance by the West. Being at the receiving end of colonial oppression for centuries, non-Europeans should naturally be distrustful of those lecturing them about the virtues of liberty, who had trampled these virtues the most. Just recount these events in last couple of centuries, Atlantic slave-trade to plantation slavery in Americas, violent and repressive colonies in Asia and Africa, brutal world wars in a span of thirty years accompanied by genocide (by US in Japan) and holocaust (by Nazis on Jews) on a scale never seen before, waging a cold war in its most violent form in Asia. If this were the track record of those lecturing the virtues of democracy, liberty and human rights then only the insane would listen to their diabolical propaganda. China feeds more than 1.2 billion of her people and the West is too worried about the lack of democracy in China. Let China start taking the Western panacea (by the way, isnt communism a Western theory?), famine would run havoc, automatic weapons will flood the streets of her cities, drug and narcotics will intoxicate her people and a total lawlessness will pave the way for Western powers to intervene and colonize using R2P. Therefore, we should remember that preaching Western (Anglo-Saxon) style democracy and liberty to any non-Westerner for serious implementation would be a one way ticket to frustration, chaos and turmoil in a non  Western country.
The Sri Lanka-Indonesia Business Council (SLIBC) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce organized a farewell for the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Sri Lanka, Harimawan Suyitno, at the Hilton Colombo Residences recently.

The Ambassador is the Patron of the Sri Lanka Indonesia Business Council, which was formed under aegis of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, almost 25 years ago. The farewell ceremony was well attended by members of the Business Council, their spouses, past presidents, heads of other Governmental departments and other well-wishers.

During his four-year tenure in Sri Lanka, the Indonesian Ambassador rendered yeoman service to enhance business and boost ties between the two nations. The President of SLIBC, Kalinga Wijesekera, delivered a warm welcome speech on the occasion, lauding the fact that the Indonesian Embassy had assisted the Business Council in numerous ways. He went on to underscore the fact that the granting of the On Arrival Visa Facility for Sri Lankans was a key the milestone during The Ambassadors tenure and highly appreciated by the people of Sri Lanka. He was hopeful that this would facilitate greater tourism and business ties between the two nations.

The new Counsellor, and Economic Affairs of the Indonesia Embassy, Pinardi Priambodo, who will be responsible for all bilateral trade, investment and tourism related matters, was also welcomed warmly on the occasion.

The primary objective of SLIBC is to promote trade, services, tourism and joint ventures between the two nations.
The Sri Lanka-Indonesia Business Council (SLIBC) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce organized a farewell for The Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Sri Lanka, His Excellency Harimawan Suyitno, at the Hilton Colombo Residences recently. The Ambassador is the Patron of the Sri Lanka Indonesia Business Council, which was formed under aegis of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, almost 25 years ago. The farewell ceremony was well attended by Members of the Business Council, their spouses, past presidents, heads of other Governmental departments and other well-wishers.



During his four-year tenure in Sri Lanka, the Indonesian Ambassador rendered yeoman service to enhance business and boost ties between the two nations. The President of SLIBC, Kalinga Wijesekera, delivered a warm welcome speech on the occasion, lauding the fact that the Indonesian Embassy had assisted the Business Council in numerous ways. He went on to underscore the fact that the granting of the On Arrival Visa Facility for Sri Lankans was a key the milestone during The Ambassadors tenure and highly appreciated by the people of Sri Lanka. He was hopeful that this would facilitate greater tourism and business ties between the two nations.



The new Counsellor, and Economic Affairs of the Indonesia Embassy, Pinardi Priambodo, who will be responsible for all bilateral trade, investment and tourism related matters, was also welcomed warmly on the occasion.



The primary objective of SLIBC is to promote trade, services, tourism and joint ventures between the two nations.




The British governments Brexit plan will be put to the test on Tuesday with a landmark court ruling on whether it has the right to kick-start the countrys EU departure without parliamentary approval.

The 11 Supreme Court judges are expected to rule against the government in a move which could delay Prime Minister Theresa May triggering Article 50 of the EUs Lisbon Treaty, which would formally begin exit negotiations.



Tuesdays decision follows a High Court ruling against the government in November, in a case which attracted protests and abuse against the lead claimant.



Businesswoman Gina Miller said she has suffered death threats and racist taunts since bringing the case.



Things that were considered unacceptable are now acceptable, she told AFP ahead of the Supreme Court decision.



Anger was also directed at the High Court judges following their decision, being branded Enemies of the People by one newspaper.



The legal challenge has tapped into divisions within British society after the June referendum which saw 52 percent vote to leave the EU. Brexiteers have claimed the case is an attempt to block Britains departure from the European Union, but MPs are not expected to vote against triggering Article 50. If they lose the case ministers are preparing to rush emergency legislation through the Houses of Commons and Lords -- and the opposition Labour party has promised not to block it.



Even if the Supreme Court rules that May cannot bypass parliament in Westminster, parliamentarians will be unlikely to go against the vote of the British people and block Brexit, said Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.

-AFP
Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and happy to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority.

~ Arthur Schopenhauer, Essays and Aphorisms

Kadiresan woke up early morning, a couple of hours before sunshine, looked up towards the starless skies and let out a deep sigh; he knew it was going to be another scorching, hot day in the peninsula. In the distance, beyond a parched landscape full of palms and groves lay his oasis of land; although it was only a quarter of an acre in area, it was watered regularly and with the rich red soil to nourish a crop of vegetables from cauliflower to beets, carrots and red onions, Kadiresan knew that his harvest promised more than an average cash inflow into his family of three, his wife and a school going daughter who was only seven years old and quite bright in her studies. Kadiresan managed to get his daughter admitted to the great Vembadi Girls High School, which according to some educators, is the best secondary school in all of Sri Lanka, surpassing Ananda, Royal, Nalanda,and other elite schools in the Island.



Kadiresans journey has not been an easy one. His middle-class parents bequeathed the land and other properties to him via Thesavalamai law. Whereabouts his parents are yet unknown and that is after the war. Right through the life story of Kadiresan flows the tale of our Tamil brethren in the North and some parts of the East. It is absolutely futile to run through the history of Tamils and try to portray a picture of negativity or one of positive genre, depending on the readers prejudices. Erudite historians and scholars may disagree with me when I point out that you see one, you see all notion applies to Northern Tamils. However, the canvass that I intend to paint on seems too broad and the finesse and training that a specialist historian needs, I confess, I do not possess. Yet, the simple, but not simplistic, approach I intend to take would have equipped me to confront the issues that our Tamil brothers and sisters had to face over the last century or so.



However, my task here is not to catalogue what had happened in the past, ancient or modern, the various events that had provoked the subsequent actions by succeeding generations, sometimes as a response to the varied State-sponsored or otherwise-underwritten legislations, regulations, constitutional changes or proactive measures initiated by the Tamil leaders over the last few decades. But I can certainly talk about events and proceedings that had a direct or indirect effect on the overall status of the mindset and psyche of a community that has been sharing the same land, traditional values and cultural bonds with the majority which happens to be Sinhalese Buddhist.



Human values whether they are born and nurtured by one community or another do not dis-empower our inherent powers. On the contrary, they enrich the very core of our being, they continue to upgrade our responses to various crises and every now and then catapult us from treacherous chasms to subliminal heights. When crises that are born essentially out of prolonged suppression of a people, in India in the eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds, the world was blessed to see a Mahatma Gandhi; in the nineteen fifties and sixties in America we saw Martin Luther King Jr.; in the latter part of the Twentieth Century we saw Mandela in South Africa. All these leaders managed to stay above the fray and transcend the mundane issues that irritate and annoy people at large.



The Tamil Question in Sri Lanka could be analyzed and understood only in the context of a rich environment of two able but inwardly narcissistic communities battling it out in the dark shadows of racial discrimination and ethnic mistrust. However rich the respective histories of these two communities, Sinhalese and Tamils, when it came to real decision-making levels, discrimination and mistrust crept in and any resolution to the issues at hand got buried under a sandstorm of vitriolic barrage and non-participation at meaningful discourse of real propositions. I have written earlier and I would not hesitate to repeat now, any attitudinal changes that are essential to a long-lasting resolution of the fundamental divisions and breakdown of mutual trust and faith have to be preceded by objective changes in our societal structures and societal makeup. As much as the 56- transformation made a change in the psyche and mindset in the Tamil people, the Thirteenth Amendment did have a very serious and grave adjustment in the mindset of the majority Sinhalese Buddhists. The minority mindset that has crippled the minds of our majority Sinhalese and provoked them to pogrom-like massacres of innocent Tamil civilians in the South as was evidenced in the 83 ethnic riots was given additional fodder when the Thirteenth Amendment was passed in Parliament under severest of conditions in the country in 1987. The political leadership in the Opposition was led by the SLFP and further strengthened by the then JVP which had turned into an ultra-chauvinistic protest group which later graduated into a mindless killing machine in the 87  89 Second Revolution phase.



The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, (LTTE) led by a murderous Prabhakaran of the Northern Tamils on the one hand and Rohana Wijeweera and Deshapremi Janatha Vyaparaya (DJV) - Patriotic Peoples Movement- an even more ruthless killer-group of the Sinhalese Buddhists on the other, held the nation and the central government led by an Executive President to ransom, particularly between 1987 and 1989. Sharpening of the already distorted mindsets had already occurred and what was necessary was the settling of the residue at the bottom of the barrel. Two peoples, who boast about their respective cultural heritage, two peoples who claim two non-violent religions- Buddhism and Hinduism- as their religious foundation, two peoples who are seen almost each Sunday at the front entrance of their Temples were entangled in a bitterest of all bitter battles, some at the negotiating table, Colombo, Timpu, Bangalore etc and more in the thickest jungles of Mullaithivu, Vavuniya, Kilinochchi and Jaffna.



In quelling these two wars, one commandeered by Prabhakaran and the LTTE and the other by Wijeweera and the JVP, General Sarath Fonseka and Ranjan Wijeratne, both battlefield leaders, showed remarkable traits of leadership from the front. And at both these violent uprisings, Sri Lanka showed the world that she is not ready nor is she willing to surrender to the whims and fancies of dictatorial and unrealistic leaders in the likes of Prabhakaran and Rohana Wijeweera. With all her flirtations with so-called revolutions and militant-led uprisings, Sri Lanka is yet to succumb to the unknown devil. That is the lesson that all our political leaders should learn.



In recent history, the Tamil Question was argued by the Ponnambalam brothers, C. Sunderalingam and G.G. Ponnambalam in the Legislative and State Councils and later in Parliament by Chelvanayagam, Amirthalingam and others. Demands from Fifty-Fifty to Tamil Traditional Homeland have done their usual rounds in the corridors of discussion in local and international domains. The violent expressions rendered unto these demands have been defeated with equal or even more ferocious violence. A caste-ridden community in its most discriminatory form, Tamils at one time were led exclusively by the Vellala caste leaders until Prabhakaran appeared on the horizons of Valvedditturai. When Prabhakaran took over the leadership of the Tamil militant struggle, the Colombo elites of the Tamil community buckled down and their Vellala-ness was thrown out the window. At that time, all power ran through the barrel of the LTTE guns. Wijeweera too tried these tactics in the 87  89 struggle, but could not subject the majority Sinhalese community to his will and guns. However, in historys strangest of ironies, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) although named as a common mans party, founded by a Sinhalese, Govigama, low-country, aristocrat, remains a political party, led exclusively by a man or woman of Govigama origin. In the SLFP, when caste is the issue, common man ceases to exist.



In this convoluted context, the Tamil Question remains unsettled to date and the mistrust the Tamil leadership holds against its Sinhalese counterparts has contributed to the aggravation of the issue. Prabhakaran managed to kill almost all of the moderate Tamil leadership; Amirthalingam, Yogeswaran, Thiruchelvam and Kumar Ponnambalam are all not in the land of the living; after the defeat of the LTTE forces in 2009, the leadership of the Tamil community once again has fallen on the shoulders of the leaders who belong to Vellala caste. How other caste-MPs are treated by the leadership is totally another matter. Yet this caste issue, though invisible to society as an obvious notion of grave division and discrimination, continues to keep the Tamil community, a people dwelling in a past once torn apart by this anachronism withholding talented and able men and women from the upper echelons of community leadership.



If the leadership of both communities need to resolve this irksome problem that has been haunting the souls of our people, they need to start afresh; they need to negotiate on a clean slate; they need to shed all their past prejudices, past philosophies, past mistrusts and everything that stood as an impediment to a long-lasting solution to the Tamil Question. One cannot go forward if one cannot forget the past. Future is not a mirage; it is a very real thing. One cannot step into that future with age-old baggage. Are our present leaders ready for that kind of a relationship? Are they capable of thinking of such an adventurous beginning, leave alone taking action on it? Otherwise, Kadiresans toiling is in vain; his sweat is in vain, his very existence would be in vain. H.G. Wells said long time ago that, Our true nationality is mankind. Let us be worthy of it.

The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com
The way for a new Constitution has literally become rutted, rugged and rickety because the two main parties harbour stark differences even on some salient points such as executive presidency, the unitary character and power devolution. The United National Party (UNP), as the main party in the government, seeks the abolition of executive presidency whereas the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by President Maithripala Sirisena is to retain it further.

The SLFPs position became clear as and when its ministers announced, on several occasions to the public that the partys next presidential candidate would be none other than President Sirisena. In a way, it was a message meant for the neutralization of the Joint Opposition in trying to find a candidate. Alongside it is a signal to the UNP that the SLFP is not ready for the abolition of executive presidency.



The abolition of the executive presidency is a key policy line taken by the UNP. It insists on it again and again. Its members counter-attacked the Presidents position saying the candidate is not for retaining it. Also, the SLFP outlined that it would not go beyond the 13th Amendment in power devolution.

At the last election, I spearheaded the campaign on behalf of the party. Yet, none of my members was offered a slot on the National list. Instead, some defeated members were nominated as MPs on the list. They are being used today to slander me. My people ask me why I am going to be duped once again - Mahinda Rajapaksa



Against the backdrop, the Constitution-making process has virtually been stalled for the moment. It can move, at least, an inch forward only if either party is ready to budge from its position and take drastic steps back to be accommodative by the other. Moreover, the SLFP which initially wanted to work according to a time-bound action plan for the submission of its proposals has now chosen otherwise.



We will not have any timeline fixed for the submission of our proposals to the Steering Committee. We will talk to whatever organization that wants to share its views with us on constitution-making, party spokesman Minister Dilan Perera said.



Such developments direct to the point that more hurdles lie on the ground against the Constitution-making process before it reaches its conclusion.

We will not have any timeline fixed for the submission of our proposals to the Steering Committee. We will talk to whatever organization that wants

to share its views with us on constitution making

- Dilan Perera



TNA MPs disillusioned

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which is an amalgam of three parties with their politics concentrated in the North and the East, clamours for constitutional changes with power-sharing more than any other party with parliamentary representation.



Recently, the party took stock of the current status of the process at a meeting. Most of its MPs are of the opinion that the process has already been derailed. However, the TNA chose not to articulate their despondency in this regard in the open. Instead, it would still try to cooperate with the government to forge ahead in whatever way possible to bring the process to a successful conclusion.

MR, CMs discuss party unity over hoppers

In an attempt to unite the factions of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), five Chief Ministers who represent the party called on former President Mahinda Rajapaksa last Sunday. Their efforts, undertaken with the knowledge of party leader President Maithripala Sirisena went awry because MR and his team were not receptive to the suggestion.

People from all walks of life rose against the government due to action by the Finance Ministry. However, even beggars would rise against the government now unless lottery issue is addressed - President Maithripala Sirisena



Right from the beginning, the Rajapaksa group viewed it as an attempt to dupe them this time to face the future elections - the local government and the Provincial Council elections due this year.

At the negotiation table, the Chief Ministers suggested that it was time for all the factions to shed differences and act in unison in view of elections.



Sceptical of the move, MR spoke out his bitter experience at the last parliamentary elections. At the last election, I spearheaded the campaign on behalf of the party. Yet, none of my members was offered a slot on the National list. Instead, some defeated members were nominated as MPs on the list. They are being used today to slander me. My people ask me why I am going to be duped once again, he said.



Further, he asked, How can we associate ourselves with a government that is implementing the UNP policies?

Supportive of this stance, MPs Bandula Gunawardane, Gamini Lokuge and Prasanna Ranatunga and former Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris put forth their views and said their people were dead against any patch-up under the current circumstances.



Some of these Chief Ministers are in close contact with MR, so they might have assumed that their good office could be used to politically court the former President. Acrimony between the incumbent president and his predecessor is now beyond redemption, and any compromise looks impossible as a result. After the meeting, all had hoppers for breakfast.



New party overwhelmed by heavy lawyers presence

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) had a confab for lawyers. It was addressed by both MR and party chairman Prof. Peiris. The latter said as many as over 500 lawyers attended it.

The new party or the Joint Opposition for that matter reportedly lacked cooperation from lawyers in the past. So, they are now overwhelmed by the presence of lawyers in a large number.



Finance Minister asked to lower price

Following widespread protest by lottery sellers, President Sirisena announced that he would take steps to reduce the price from Rs.30 to Rs.20. However, the Finance Ministry decided to stick to its guns. It was leading to a row between the President and the Finance Ministry. The lottery price hike came up for discussion at the Cabinet meeting yesterday. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake insisted on the need to proceed with the increased rate as otherwise revenue targets would fall short.

He did not receive wide support from the Cabinet Ministers in this regard and was finally asked to lower the price to the previous level.



In that instance, President Sirisena was sarcastic about the Finance Ministry.

People from all walks of life rose against the government due to action by the Finance Ministry. However, even beggars would rise against the government now unless the lottery issue is addressed, he said.



The President mentioned it because a large number of financially backward and physically impaired people had resorted to lottery sales as the means of their livelihood. It is learnt that as many as 20,000 families survive by it. Besides, there are 2,000 lottery ticket agents in the country.



Rs. 82 billion needed for bill payment unsettled last year

In a separate case at the same Cabinet meeting, some ministers stressed the need for the Finance Ministry to allocate as much as Rs.82 billion for the settlement of bills for projects carried out by various institutions last year. Out of this amount, as much as Rs.17 billion is due for the Provincial Councils.



John Seneviratne in heated talks with Ratnapura UNP MPs

The District Development Coordinating Committee meeting of Ratnapura took a tense mood after the politicians representing the district had a heated exchange of words over some power plants in the area. The meeting was co-chaired by Labour and Labour Relations Minister John Seneviratne and UNP MP A.A. Wijetunga at the District Secretariat.



A tense atmosphere prevailed right throughout the meeting after Disaster Management Deputy Minister Dunesh Gankanda started speaking and called for the cancellation of licences issued for the proposed minor power projects in two areas of the district. He cited environmental sensitivities involved in them.



However, Minister Seneviratne interrupted and countered him saying there was no harm in going ahead with the projects approved by the authorities concerned in the context of an impending power crisis. The Deputy Minister persisted with his argument that environmentally sensitive projects could not be approved. Minister Seneviratne also did not compromise his stand in this respect.



Then, Deputy Minister of Media Karu Paranavitana joined the cross talks and said that the prevention of environmental hazards in the district was more important than focusing solely on energy needs of the country. He argued against these projects in this manner.



Mr. Seneviratne shot back at him telling him to shut up instead of talking about subject matters which were not known to him. Along with Mr. Paranavitana, Mr. Wijetunga also voiced environmental concerns involved in proceeding with these power projects. Interestingly, all these members opposed to the project represent the UNP in Parliament whereas Mr. Seneviratne is from the UPFA.
Betel-leaf partys chief secretarial one is a long-faced one these days, they say.



His main grouse is that the special Police unit established by the unity government has become a veritable spectre stalking the Blue party politicos while turning a blind eye to more grave offences being committed by some big guns in the other main political party.



The elderly politico from the Colombo Central whose beard has turned grey with his years in the Blue party was summoned by the special Police unit reportedly to question him about the misuse of some government vehicles, but was quizzed about an entirely different issue linked to a lady, they say.



Meanwhile, the decision taken by the lady from Mulkirigala to give up the post of party organizer and the young politico from Chilaw quitting his office are attributed to the harassment they had to suffer.



The chief secretarial one, highly disconcerted by the numerous complaints made to him by the victimized party members have decided to place the issue before Number One who is also the leader of the Blue party and the multi-party alliance for a final decision.
The registration of three-wheelers has nosedived to a quarter of the previous levels since the new loan-to-value (LTV) ratios for automobile financing came into effect this month, according to an industry expert.

The rule has been in effect for only 10 days but the volumes are coming down to one-fourth. I cant tell you exactly because the leases were given based on the old rules for the first half of the month, so we will have to wait till the next month to see the accurate figures, Finance Houses Association of Sri Lanka Chairman Ravi Yatawara said.

The government last week introduced a 25 percent LTV ratio for three-wheelers, a 50 percent LTV ratio for motorcars and vans and a 90 percent LTV ratio for commercial vehicles.

The government excluded the vehicles imported for tourism purposes from being subjected to the new rules.

For the first 11 months of 2016, an average of 4,585 three-wheelers was registered each month, after a 70 percent LTV ratio was introduced in December 2015.

Around 4,000 to 5,000 three-wheelers were registered every month and I think this will come down to 1,000, Yatawara said.

In 2015, the average three-wheeler registration for a month was 10,743.

The government brought in the heavy LTV ratio and other regulatory measures on three-wheelers last week after evaluating the research submitted by the local academia. Currently, Sri Lanka has over one million three-wheelers, which is thrice the demand requirement for the country, according to research. However, the prices have not fallen in line with the supply glut, with some three-wheeler drivers continuing to charge ad hoc prices.

A wide section of society in Colombo blame three-wheelers and buses for creating unsafe and congested roads and bus and three-wheeler trade associations had strongly opposed the governments recent attempts to increase traffic fines.Despite the existence of the LTV ratio, some finance companies have resorted to creative methods to provide greater financing for customers, which the Central Bank officials said that the regulator is not in a capacity to monitor.
Stakeholders engaged in marketing Sri Lanka tourism should be creating colourful stories of the wildlife experiences in Sri Lanka instead of presenting basic facts in order to better promote tourism, an industry veteran stressed recently.

There is no promotion or communication, not necessarily by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau, but by private companies too. We need to create unusual stories, an ex-President of The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL), Srilal Miththapala said, at an event organized at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce recently.

Miththapala, a well-known wildlife enthusiast, said that when a potential tourist calls a hotel or a travel agency to inquire about the wildlife attractions in Sri Lanka, the employees usually list the animals that could be observed, instead of portraying wildlife in an attractive manner.

They dont need to know that the animals are there. Anyone can find that out. They need to hear the stories,

he said.

This would require private sector tourism professionals to have high levels of wild life experience and enthusiasm, which Miththapala said that he is trying to cultivate by conducting educational sessions in schools across the island.

While a number of high-powered private sector individuals were in attendance, Miththapala advised them that the message has to go down to their employees who communicate with tourists.

Miththapala presented dozens of stories on his encounters with various animals in Sri Lanka and especially the elephants in Pinnawela and the Elephant Transit Home in Udawalawe, in addition to the humorous, dangerous and often illegal practices he has observed park guides and drivers undertake in order to please their clients.

However, he stressed that the tourism industry has to act as a guardian of the wildlife attractions in Sri Lanka instead of causing their degradation, which the private sector has to be vigilant about.

Its the hotels and the tour operators that give 90 percent of the business to these drivers. So you could maybe blacklist these drivers, he suggested, and noted that Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators has now banned elephant rides, which is a welcome development that hotels should also follow.

Meanwhile, Miththapala added that hotels should encourage their naturalists engage in creating stories for tourists to enjoy. Jetwing Vil Uyana engages in this practice, with posters and logbooks recording encounters visitors have with wildlife in the area.

He said that with a country which has 30 percent of green cover, over 3,000 plants and over 1,000 animal species including the Big Four mammals; the blue whale, elephant, leopard and the sloth bear, Sri Lanka should have no shortage of tourism

promotional material.

In contradiction, Sri Lankas tourism promotional efforts have received criticism over the past

several years.

Miththapala alluded to the possibility that if Sri Lanka is able to attract the types of tourists who would value and pay for sustainable products, the government does not have to pursue its current numbers

oriented strategy.

I wonder whether Sri Lanka really needs these types of numbers, whether we can look at a different strategy, he said.

Sri Lanka welcomes 2.05 million tourists in 2016, raising US$ 3.5 billion in revenue. An official document released recently by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority placed the governments target for 2020 at 4 million tourists.

In 2015, when 1.8 million tourists visited the island, 19 of the 26 identified national parks had sold 558,521 foreign visitor tickets, raising Rs. 1.01 billion.

Miththapala said that there is greater potential to derive income from national parks, but that the government and the private sector have to work together to divert tourists from the overburdened parks such as Yala into lesser known parks, where creating stories could play a great role in achieving this objective. (CW)
RT.COM/23 Jan, 2017 - Dmitry Medvedev has been reelected as chairman of parliamentary majority party United Russia. Other senior leaders of the party also retained their posts and State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin joined its Supreme Council.



Boris Gryzlov was re-elected as head of United Russias Supreme Council and Sergey Neverov remains as chairman of its General Council. Former State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin, who currently heads Russias Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), remains in the Supreme Council.

In his speech before the party congress, Medvedev called United Russia the presidents main political resource and emphasized the importance developing the partys regional branches. To facilitate this, he proposed increasing the representation of regional groups in the General Council from the current 20 percent up to 30 percent.



He also announced plans to increase the number of United Russia grassroots-level organizations to make it the same as the total number of Russias electoral constituencies. This would allow us to send monitors to every ballot station and, through this, to make the polls cleaner, Medvedev said.
The son-in-law and a former employee of a 67-year-old Spanish businessman resident in Argentina whose charred remains were found by police on Tuesday have been arrested for his murder.

The two men, who have been named only as Santiago and Ricardo respectively, were caught on security cameras first removing a large bundle wrapped in bedspreads from the office of the murder victim, Roberto Fernandez Montes, and then placing it in the trunk of a car.

Fernandezs partner, who has been identified only as Maria del Carmen, has shed light on the events leading up to his death and a possible motive for the murder in an interview she gave to a local media outlet.

I am still waiting for him to turn up alive. I am not talking about him being dead. I was in touch with him on Saturday morning, but then I lost touch with him and went to his home around five in the afternoon. I called his daughter, who came over, because she lives with him. Then came the other daughter, the eldest. She arrived with this individual, who has now been arrested. This bad person told her to stay calm. Nothing was missing, except the bedding. I had been going out with Roberto for 13 years, she told C5N.

There were debts all over the place Partner of victim

Following a four-day search, police found  some 70 km from Buenos Aires  the Spanish businessmans body, which had been burnt, and, a few kilometers away, his car, a Suzuki Fan, which had also been torched.

Maria del Carmen described Fernandezs relationship with his former employee, saying: He trusted this guy, who is called Santiago. He left everything up to him. And this bad person began doing all sorts of things, taking out loans and not repaying them. There were debts all over the place, and I looked into his affairs to try to find out what was happening and discovered that there was fraud of at least a million pesos [$62,000].

They were all afraid of him. Roberto was afraid for his daughter. She told him that her partner had told her he was going to kill him. It all started when Roberto began to see what his son-in-law was up to. He has two daughters, the eldest is married to this guy, the one responsible for the disaster, added a friend of Maria del Carmen.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Does Arnab Goswamis upcoming news channel, Republic, have the potential to succeed in global markets? While foreign policy experts remain optimistic about an international news channel from India, the former Times Now anchor faces tough questions on saturated markets and editorial autonomy.

There is some scope for optimism with respect to a global news channel from India given the size of the Indian diaspora, the countrys growing weight as a political, economic and cultural power and its history as a democracy, said Oliver Boyd-Barrett, professor emeritus at the Bowling Green State University in the US. However, there are considerable obstacles to making it a profitable operation, added Boyd-Barrett.

Internationally, over the past decade there has been a growing trend of big state-run media from emerging economies such as China, Russia and Venezuela reaching out to the foreign audience in multiple countries. Many of these mammoth media networks such as China Global Television Network (CGTN, formerly called CCTV 9) and RT News (formerly Russia TV) exist primarily to extend the public diplomacy aim of their governments.

The traditional wisdom was that an Indian global news channel would have an edge in coveted international markets like the US than the big media from countries such as China and Russia, given that our private media were perceived in foreign shores as free and independent.

However, as the Republic promotes itself as a global channel the big question is: How would a privately-run news channel from India survive in saturated international markets that already have established players such as CGTN, RT News, Telesur and the Al Jazeera - not to mention global behemoths like the CNN and BBC.

As media markets became crowded with newer players and multiple digital news platforms over the past decade, even reputed networks like the BBC struggled to make profits.

It is impossible to survive in world markets without state support because an international venture needs massive investment and profits are difficult, said Sanjaya Baru, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs media adviser from 2004 to 2008 and author of the book, The Accidental Prime Minister.

Russias RT News, which runs Spanish and Arabic services along with RT America and RT UK networks, for instance, is supported by president Putins government. France 24, which currently offers services in English, French and Arabic, too is funded by the government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India too needs a world-class media to propagate its views like other big countries. [Photo: Indiatoday.in]

In recent past, just before Goswami announced Republic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India too needs a world-class media to propagate its views like other big countries.

But the financial resources necessary for a global news channel still remain sky-high by Indian standards. For instance, in 2009 the Chinese government invested 8.7 billion USD to step up the global expansion of its state-run media outlets such as the Xinhua News Agency and the Global Times newspaper that has English and Chinese editions.

An Indian news channel, a late-comer in the international arena, would have to match the state-of-the-art infrastructure and expertise of established players such as Al Jazeera, funded by the Emir of Qatar, and Beijings CGTN.

The state-run Chinese network offers a bouquet of channels including the flagship CGTN English, CGTN America, services in French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian as well as exclusive documentary channels that flaunt superior production value.

In the past Singhs UPA government reportedly expressed an interest in a global channel with Doordarshan but the project did not work out due to the paucity of funds. There were also talks at the time of NDTV entering into a partnership with the government for an international news channel but the plan didnt see the light of the day.

Indias private news groups such as Zee TV, which are more used to the domestic market than international ones, also remain lacking in the training and expertise needed to operate in global media centres.

Zees global channel, World Is One News (WION), which promised to beam in 34 countries at the time of its launch last year, struggled to hire international staff and so far failed to create a buzz.

Whereas, global networks like CGTN works with reporting teams in 70 countries and has centres in Beijing, Washington DC and Nairobi.

To carve out a niche in crowded global markets what remains essential is a refreshing editorial perspective and autonomy, say experts.

While the tightly-controlled Chinese state-run news media are often subject to criticism for presenting Beijings position on key foreign policy issues, in recent times, news outlets such as the CGTN attempted to report local news in a straight forward fashion in many African markets, moving away from overt state propaganda.

However, the upcoming Republic has already raised eyebrows at home by drawing Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Rajya Sabha MP and a member of the Kerala unit of the NDA, as one of its key investors.

Interestingly, despite their state-funding many state-run big media networks like Venezuelas Telesur manage to offer a different take of world events.

During its launch in 2005, Telesur made a difference with its refreshing reportage of Latin America and critical stand on the Bush administration on Iraq War and Palestine.

Telesur, inspired by the late Hugo Chavezs political vision, is currently funded by the governments of Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay and a few other Latin American countries.

Such regional cooperation, however, remains unthinkable in the Indian context. In a public address at a global media forum, Goswami said that India needs an international news channel to advocate for diplomatic isolation of Pakistan.
On the morning of January 24, I sent an SMS to Bastar IGP SRP Kalluri. I don't know him personally, neither does he know me. The reason that I felt compelled to contact him was because a woman I admire immensely, a very brave woman, was being hounded by anti-social elements out of her village in Bastar. The woman is Bela Bhatia, social scientist and human rights activist.

I had received information from friends that on January 23, a group of 30-odd men attacked Bela near her house in Parpa village, 8km south of Jagdalpur. They barged into her house violently, and threatened to burn the building down if she did not leave immediately.

Bela persuaded the mob to let her change her clothes and leave the building. In the meantime, the mob attacked the landlady of the residence, and started threatening her to make Bela leave the building immediately. The landlord of the residence and his sons had already been summoned to the station the previous day, and they had been threatened with dire consequences if Bela did not vacate the apartment immediately.

Social scientist and human rights activist Bela Bhatia.

Bela tried to again reassure the mob that she would leave as soon as possible. However, the mob continued to be belligerent, in the presence of the police, and even when the Sarpanch arrived.

Kalluris brazenness

Concerned for Bela's security, I sent the following SMS to IGP Bastar Kalluri: "Mr. Kalluri, please ensure that Bela Bhatia is not hounded out of her residence. The law of the land applies to Chhattisgarh too. Pyoli, Advocate"

Photo: Pyoli Swatija/Facebook.

An hour later, I got a reply from his number: "Naxals will be kicked out of bastar."

On getting this cryptic reply, I asked him what connection his answer had to my query and added that he should "please stop persecuting adivasis, activists, academicians and journalists".

The answer I got to this was: "F U".

Photo: Pyoli Swatija/Facebook.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a senior IPS officer on being queried about the safety of a citizen in his jurisdiction, gave the reply "F U".

As things stand, I am not the only well-wisher Bela has. Many activists, lawyers, teachers and others were also SMSing Kalluri and other senior police officers of Bastar district since they heard how Bela was being threatened to leave Bastar.

Some of the responses they got from Kalluri's numbers ( 09479194000, 08889900515, 0975430800, 0975563657) are as follows: "the drama has just begun dear"; "stop bitching"; if you come in front of me, I will chappal you, idiot; and, Yes, very soon Maoists and their dogs will be thrown out of Bastar. We will take strong action.

Sexual abuse of adivasi women

So, what makes an Inspector General of Police act with such brazenness and depravity? On January 7, 2017, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a press note indicting Chhattisgarh police of raping and sexually assaulting at least 16 women in Bijapur. Bela had been instrumental behind this interim order.

She and other friends of Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) assisted women in the villages of Chinnagelur, Peddagelur, Gundam, Burgicheru and Pegdapalli to file FIRs against police personnel for sexually assaulting them in November 2015.

The NHRC took suo moto cognisance of newspaper reports and visited the area to interview the women and issued the interim order. The NHRC also issued a notice to the Government of Chhattisgarh to explain why it should not recommend interim monetary relief of Rs 37 lakh to them.

The Commission (NHRC) was further awaiting the recording the statements of other victims who also suffered similar abuse. But between November 2015 and January 2017, Bela had been attacked twice.

On January 19 and 20, a five-member team of the NHRC again toured the villages of Peddagelur and Bellamnendra in Bijapur district. The team was on a mission to record the statements of the rest of the women who had filed cases of rape and sexual assault against the security forces.

They took down the statements of six victims on the first day and of five more on the second. The team was assisted by Soni Sori and Bela Bhatia. On January 23, the attack on Bela took place.

IGP Kalluris response to the attacks on Bela Bhatia makes it amply clear that he is in support of this concerted violence and campaign against Bela. An activist and researcher has been repeatedly attacked, harassed and abused, in full view of the police, and the highest ranking police officer in the district is not only blatantly encouraging these attacks, but is also abusing her well-wishers and friends who are calling up to enquire after Bela.

If such messages are being sent to women like me who are sitting in the safety of their offices and homes in Delhi and other metropolitan cities, just think for a moment the condition of the adivasi women in Chhattisgarh.

Labeling us as 'white-collar Naxalites'

Kalluri has a track record of harassing journalists such as Malini Subramanium and Prabhat Singh; activists such as Soni Sori and Lingaram Kodopi; and human rights lawyers such as the Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group, and a team of lawyers from Telangana, who were visiting Chhattisgarh in December 2016 on a fact-finding mission and who were arrested for "laundering 1 lakh rupees for Maoists".

IG Kalluri has recently said that in 2017 he is going to go after white-collar naxalites, by which he is referring to activists in the area. He also boasts of having killed 134 Maoists in 2016. These extrajudicial killings are under scanner and many victims are said to be civilian adivasis. One of the slain Maoists was a nine-year-old boy.

Kalluri thinks that his impunity will continue indefinitely, but the women who were receivers of his depraved messages think otherwise.

Yesterday afternoon, following the complaints filed yesterday by WSS and HRDA, NHRC chairperson Justice HL Dattu gave directions to immediately contact DGP Awasthi and ask him to ensure that Bela is protected from any further attack or harassment. He has been told to report back on the situation.

The NHRC has, in fact, summoned Kalluri earlier to depose in the case of mass sexual assault by police personnel and he has avoided appearing and has taken the plea that he is sick.

Yes, Mr SRP Kalluri, you are a sick man. Get well soon.
On the eve of our 67th Republic Day, many are asking if the values that our democracy stands for are under threat. While it is necessary to ask such questions periodically, not only on special occasions such as Independence or Republic Day, this time they are being raised in a special context.

Right-wing populism, it is alleged, has eroded the basic character of the country and the Constitution.

Style

Populism, of course, is the buzzword here. The view is that Donald Trump in the US, Vladimir Putin in Russia and, of course, Narendra Modi in India, all exemplify its worldwide rise. Implicit to such an argument is the mistaken belief that populism is essentially a right-wing phenomenon.

Even a cursory glance at previous populists shows this as patently false. Several left-wing and left-leaning leaders were also populist, including Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Juan Peron, and our own Indira Gandhi, who was as authoritarian as she was populist. Indeed, populism has little to do with ideology per se; it is more a political style, playing with and playing to the sentiments of the common populace. It just so happens that in different parts of the world tough-talking, nationalist politicians are on the rise; hence the charge of right-wing populism.

It is alleged that Donald Trump in the US, Vladimir Putin in Russia and Narendra Modi in India, all exemplify rise of right-wing populism.

But in our own neighbourhood, Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Prachanda, also fits the bill, though none can forget that he led the Maoist insurgency. That is why the contention that the essentially secular socialist political fabric of the republic is being eroded by populism is somewhat suspect.

These two words, secular and socialist were introduced into the Preamble of the Constitution through the notorious 42nd Amendment in November 1977 by Indira Gandhi during the 21-month Emergency. Let us not forget that nothing in independent Indias history threatened our democracy as much as the Emergency, when fundamental rights and civil liberties were suspended. Indira Gandhi effectively ruled by decree, bypassing Parliament. The abominable MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act) was imposed and most major opposition leaders imprisoned.

Needless to add, the press was also gagged, and a mechanism of internal spying set into motion to monitor dissent.

Slogan

Indira Gandhi, we must remember, was openly left-wing. During the Cold War, she moved India closer than ever to the Soviet Union, and cosied up to the Communists at home. That she was also populist is beside the point; that she damaged democracy and democratic institutions more than any other Indian prime minister is more relevant to the debate. This is forgotten by her political and party descendants, who cry foul against the present run of populism.

The larger than life presence of Narendra Modi on every calendar, poster, or public platform is not necessarily a good thing.

Similarly, they would also not like to recall that it was under her son, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, that the worst pogrom against a religious minority, the Sikhs, was carried out in the very capital of the land.

More recently, UPA-I and UPA-II was also marked by a host of populist polices and measures. Such a reminder is not meant to deflect from the issue at hand. Indeed, to justify a present wrong by a reminder of past wrongs is not only against good sense, but also against rajdharma.

Right populism is not necessarily better than left populism. Both can be either good or bad, depending on what they really stand for. Appealing to the masses against the classes is an old political trick. But pitting any section of society against another does not quite comply with rajdharma. If one must look for a slogan that is in keeping with dharmic nationalism, it would be "sab kasaath, sab ka vikaas". This must be pursued earnestly by the present dispensation, not merely as a populist slogan.

Ideology

In this regard it is perhaps more important to be wary of the excessive promotion or personality cult of any leader, including our prime minister. The larger than life presence of Narendra Modi on every calendar, poster, or public platform is not necessarily a good thing. It is also not in keeping with a political culture wherein ideology (vichardhara) is more important than the individual (vyakti). Thus the question is not whether Modi has displaced the Mahatma on the Khadi calendar but whether there might have been a better way to make both its brand ambassadors.

When it comes to populism, we cannot forget that, to some extent, it is the very essence of democracy. No democracy can be entirely free of populism. The danger to democracy is not from populism as much as demagoguery. It is when populism degenerates to downright deceit that we must be really worried.

As long as government governs well, discharging its duties sincerely, some populism on its part may be overlooked. Winning elections, securing ones power is in the very essence of politics; it is only when the will to power overruns and destroys all dharma and decency that democracy is doomed.

Thankfully, we are very far from that today. Our democracy is alive, well  and rocking.

So, happy Republic Day India!
At 8.30am on Friday January 20, Yunieski Marcos sat on a rocking chair on the porch of his cousins house in Westchester, a Miami suburb, smoking a cigarette. Cousin Roberto had gone out to take his son to school. Yunieski was wearing a brand new Calvin Klein shirt, a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a bracelet with green-and-yellow beads made specifically for him by a santero in his home town of Camaguey, in Cuba. I am the son of Elegua, the god who opens up the roads, he was told by the Santeria priest.

Yunieski and Kevin Marcos at the movies in Laredo.

More information El ultimo pies secos

A week before this, the 33-year-old had been blessed by a statistical miracle: out of the tens of thousands of Cubans who, like himself, have crossed the US border station in Laredo, Texas over the years, Yunieski and his seven-year-old son Kevin were the very last to be allowed into the United States without visas.

The move is the result of a decision made by the Obama administration to end the longstanding wet foot-dry foot policy allowing Cubans who made it onto US soil, either by sea (wet) or land (dry), to legally remain and apply for residency  unlike other Latin American immigrants, who are turned away. The last Cubans were allowed through on January 12.

I dont know, but it feels like even the sun is less harsh here than in Cuba

Yunieski Marcos

Yunieski was born in Cuba but conceived in Ostrava, in the former Czechoslovakia. His parents, both Cubans, had been sent there for training; his father worked at the local steel factory. Speaking on the telephone from Camaguey, his mother explained that they named their son Yunieski because my sister gave birth first, and she named her children Yoel and Yoandi, so I came up with another name starting with the letter Y.

If Yunieski and Kevin had arrived at the border station just one hour later, they would have been left literally at the doorstep of the United States, like endless other Cubans who are now stuck in Mexico, in Central America, in South America and even in Cuba. News of the decision to end wet foot-dry foot caught them all by surprise as they were planning their journey  or were already on their way.

Back home, Yunieski was an electronics technician. Kevins mother  the couple are separated  had emigrated to the US a year earlier. Following a flurry of paperwork that he describes as going through the Olympics, Yunieski finally secured a visa to Mexico and flew there with his child on January 11.

That same day they took another flight to Nuevo Laredo, and the following they crossed the border thanks to what Yunieski describes as divine intervention. The official who sealed his passport told him, in Spanish: Congratulations. You are the last Cubans to cross without a visa.

He was in shock as he walked away. I couldnt even dial a telephone number, he recalls.

A friend was waiting for them in Laredo, and he came to pick them up. On their way home they bought some beer, and drank it that night. The following day they went to a Wal-Mart.

Yunieski at his cousin's house in Westchester, outside Miami.

Boy, you cant imagine what that is like for someone coming from Cuba, he recalls. I didnt even know where to look.

They also went to the movies. Listen, those seats were like beds. You press a button and the seat reclines. This country is paradise for those of us who like technical things.

Yunieski and Kevin flew to Miami on January 15, and by Friday of last week Kevin was already in school and his father was getting the paperwork sorted out. Wearing a pair of sunglasses that a friend gave him when he arrived in Miami, he lights up another cigarette, and exclaims: I dont know, but it feels like even the sun is less harsh here than in Cuba.

English version by Susana Urra.
Spain has been given its worst rating in Transparency Internationals latest Corruption Perceptions Index, coming in at 41st place out of 176 countries with a score of 58. In 2015 it came in 36th out of 168 countries, with the same score.

Former PP treasurer Luis Barcenas gives evidence in one of Spains many high-profile corruption trials. Emilio Naranjo (EFE)

We have reached a historic record for corruption in comparative terms, said a statement issued by Transparency International, which shows Spain falling far behind its EU neighbors. We are joining a group of countries that have come close to systemic corruption very recently, such as Georgia and the Czech Republic, adds the organization, warning: The time has come to react.

Denmark and New Zealand lead the ranking with 90 points. The United Arab Emirates, Bhutan, the Bahamas, Botswana, Qatar, Cape Verde, Hong Kong and Uruguay all score better than Spain, which has been hit in recent years by a spate of high-profile corruption cases, mostly involving the ruling Popular Party.

Transparency International calls on voters to reject populist solutions

Transparency International highlights the lack of legal protection afforded to whistle-blowers in Spain and has called for a new law. It also points out that the public believes justice has been politicized and that many cases go unpunished. The organization also calls on the Spanish authorities to take a tougher stance with graft.

Our score is the same, at 58 points, but we have lost our position in relation to other countries. We have never had such a bad position compared to the rest of the world. The results should make us sad for the situation in the world and in Spain, says Manuel Villoria, Professor of Political Science at the Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid.

In Spains case, the experts and the public believe that there is more corruption since the start of the economic crisis. The data is disturbing and almost unexpected. We have never had such a bad position. We have hit the bottom. We cannot fall lower. It is time to react, adds Villoria about 2016, when Spain was under an interim government that was unable to take specific measures against corruption. If we dont reduce it, democracy in the world will start to be endangered and there will be a serious advance in authoritarianism, he states.

In November 2016, 80% of Spaniards said their government was failing to combat corruption. No other country in the EU registered such high levels of criticism on the part of voters toward their government.

The organization highlights the lack of legal protection whistle-blowers in Spain get

The only solution is for our politicians to set aside their differences and understand that corruption is a matter of state and that they must act together against corruption. That is the only effective way to combat it, says Jesus Lizcano, the president of Transparency International Spain, which carried out seven surveys here over the course of 2016.

Some 69% of 176 countries in the index scored less than 50. This shows how corruption is widespread around the world, says Transparency International, while calling on voters to reject populist or authoritarian solutions.

Rather than tackling capitalist clientelism, these leaders in general install corrupt systems that are worse, argues Jose Ugaz, Chair of Transparency International. It is only when there is freedom of expression, transparency in all political processes and solid, democratic institutions, that civil society and the media can demand that those in power account for their actions and it will be possible to successfully combat corruption, he added.

For Latin America, no country is among the worlds 15 nations where there is the least perception of corruption, with Mexico in 123rd place, garnering just 30 points out 100. Venezuela comes in at 166, with 17 points.

The United States, which occupies 18th place, was given 74 points. Uruguay came in at 21st place, Chile 24th, with Costa Rica sharing 41st place with Spain. Cuba ranked 60, Colombia, 90, Peru, 101, and Bolivia, 113th place.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets commercial aerostructures worldwide. It operates through three segments: Commercial, Defense & Space, and Aftermarket. The Commercial segment offers forward, mid, and rear fuselage sections and systems, struts/pylons, nacelles, and related engine structural components; and wings and wing components, including flight control surfaces, as well as other structural parts. This segment primarily serves the aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or engine OEMs of large commercial aircraft and/or business/regional jet programs. The Defense & Space segment provides fuselage, strut, nacelle, and wing aerostructures primarily for U.S. Government defense programs, including Boeing P-8, C40, and KC-46 Tanker. This segment also engages in the fabrication, bonding, assembly, testing, tooling, processing, engineering analysis, and training on fixed wing aircraft aerostructures, missiles, and hypersonics works, such as solid rocket motor throats, nozzles, re-entry vehicle thermal protections systems, forward cockpit and cabin, and fuselage work on rotorcraft aerostructures. The Aftermarket segment offers spare parts and MRO services, repairs for flight control surfaces and nacelles, radome repairs, rotable assets, engineering services, advanced composite repairs, and other repair and overhaul services. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. has a strategic partnership with Sierra Space to enhance access to commercial space economy of the future. The company was formerly known as Mid-Western Aircraft Systems Holdings, Inc. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.
Nabors Industries Ltd. provides drilling and drilling-related services for land-based and offshore oil and natural gas wells. The company operates through five segments: U.S. Drilling, Canada Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. It provides tubular running, wellbore placement, directional drilling, measurement-while-drilling (MWD), equipment manufacturing, and rig instrumentation services; and logging-while-drilling systems and services, as well as drilling optimization software. The company also offers REVit, an automated real time stick-slip mitigation system; ROCKit, a directional steering control system; SmartNAV, a collaborative guidance and advisory platform; SmartSLIDE, an advanced directional steering control system; and RigCLOUD, which provides the tools and infrastructure to integrate applications to deliver real-time insight into operations across the rig fleet. In addition, it manufactures and sells top drives, catwalks, wrenches, drawworks, and other drilling related equipment, such as robotic systems and downhole tools; and provides aftermarket sales and services for the installed base of its equipment. As of December 31, 2021, the company marketed approximately 301 rigs for land-based drilling operations in the United States, Canada, and in 20 other countries worldwide; and 29 rigs for offshore platform drilling operations in the United States and internationally. Nabors Industries Ltd. was founded in 1952 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.
PulteGroup, Inc., through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the homebuilding business in the United States. It acquires and develops land primarily for residential purposes; and constructs housing on such land. The company also offers various home designs, including single-family detached, townhomes, condominiums, and duplexes under the Centex, Pulte Homes, Del Webb, DiVosta Homes, American West, and John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods brand names. As of December 31, 2021, it controlled 228,296 lots, of which 109,078 were owned and 119,218 were under land option agreements. In addition, the company arranges financing through the origination of mortgage loans primarily for homebuyers; sells the servicing rights for the originated loans; and provides title insurance policies, and examination and closing services to homebuyers. PulteGroup, Inc. was formerly known as Pulte Homes, Inc. and changed its name to PulteGroup, Inc. in March 2010. The company was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
AutoZone, Inc. retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories. The company offers various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products. Its products include A/C compressors, batteries and accessories, bearings, belts and hoses, calipers, chassis, clutches, CV axles, engines, fuel pumps, fuses, ignition and lighting products, mufflers, radiators, starters and alternators, thermostats, and water pumps, as well as tire repairs. In addition, the company offers maintenance products, such as antifreeze and windshield washer fluids; brake drums, rotors, shoes, and pads; brake and power steering fluids, and oil and fuel additives; oil and transmission fluids; oil, cabin, air, fuel, and transmission filters; oxygen sensors; paints and accessories; refrigerants and accessories; shock absorbers and struts; spark plugs and wires; and windshield wipers. Further, it provides air fresheners, cell phone accessories, drinks and snacks, floor mats and seat covers, interior and exterior accessories, mirrors, performance products, protectants and cleaners, sealants and adhesives, steering wheel covers, stereos and radios, tools, and wash and wax products, as well as towing services. Additionally, the company provides a sales program that offers commercial credit and delivery of parts and other products; sells automotive diagnostic and repair software under the ALLDATA brand through alldata.com; and automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products through autozone.com. As of August 27, 2022, it operated 6,168 stores in the United States; 703 stores in Mexico; and 72 stores in Brazil. The company was founded in 1979 and is based in Memphis, Tennessee.
Validus Holdings, Ltd. provides reinsurance coverage, insurance coverage, and insurance linked securities management services worldwide. It operates through three segments: Reinsurance, Insurance, and Asset Management. The Reinsurance segment underwrites property reinsurance products on a catastrophe excess of loss, per risk excess of loss and proportional basis; and aerospace and aviation, agriculture, composite, marine, technical lines, terrorism, trade credit, workers' compensation, and other specialty lines, as well as casualty and financial lines. The Insurance segment underwrites property, accident and health, agriculture, aviation, contingency, marine, and political lines insurance products; bankers blanket bond, commercial crime, computer crime, cyber- crime, professional indemnity, and directors' and officers' insurance products for various financial institutions and other companies; and commercial and institutional risks comprising general, professional, and product liability, as well as miscellaneous malpractice insurance products. This segment also underwrites marine and energy liability, and political risk insurance products, as well as insurance products for repair, maintenance, and upkeep of aircrafts and premises for small companies. The Asset Management segment manages capital for third parties through insurance-linked securities, and other property catastrophe and specialty reinsurance investments. Validus Holdings, Ltd. was founded in 2005 and is based in Pembroke, Bermuda.
Deutsche Telekom AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated telecommunication services. The company operates through five segments: Germany, United States, Europe, Systems Solutions, and Group Development. It offers fixed-network services, including voice and data communication services based on fixed-network and broadband technology; and sells terminal equipment and other hardware products, as well as services to resellers. The company also provides mobile voice and data services to consumers and business customers; sells mobile devices and other hardware products; and sells mobile services to resellers and to companies that purchases and markets network services to third parties, such as mobile virtual network operators. In addition, it offers internet services; internet-based TV products and services; and information and communication technology systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions with an infrastructure of data centers and networks under the T-Systems brand, as well as call center services. The company has 242 million mobile customers and 22 million broadband customers, as well as 27 million fixed-network lines. Deutsche Telekom AG has a collaboration with VMware, Inc. on cloud-based open and intelligent virtual RAN platform to bring agility to radio access networks for existing LTE and future 5G networks; and partnership with Microsoft to deliver high-performance cloud computing experiences. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Bonn, Germany.
The following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 13125882 Canada Inc., 211 E. Russell Road LLC, 4458664 Canada Inc., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES ASIA PTE. LTD., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES BORROWER S.C.A., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES LLC, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES MIDDLE EAST FZE, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES SERVICES LIMITED, ASTRUM IT GmbH, Accudyne Industries Acquisition S.A r.l, Accudyne Industries Canada Inc., Accudyne Industries S.A r.l., Air Dimensions, Air Dimensions Inc., Albin Pump SAS, BOC Edwards Global Low pressure Air business, CISA S.p.A., Cameron-Centrifugal Compression, Comercial Ingersoll-Rand (Chile) Limitada, Comingersoll-Comercio E Industria De Equipamentos S.A., CompAir, CompAir (Hankook) Korea Co. Ltd., CompAir Acquisition (No. 2) Ltd., CompAir Acquisition Ltd., CompAir BroomWade Ltd., CompAir Finance Ltd., CompAir GmbH, CompAir Holdings Limited, CompAir International Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CompAir Korea Ltd, CompAir South Africa (SA) (Pty) Ltd., Consolidated Distribution Holdings Ltd., DV Systems Inc., Dosatron International SAS, Emco Wheaton Gmbh, Emco Wheaton USA Inc, Enza Air Proprietary Limited, FlexEnergy Holdings LLC, Frigoblock Grosskopf Gmbh, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Investments Limited, GD First (UK) Ltd, GD German Holdings GmbH, GD German Holdings I Gmbh, GD German Holdings II GmbH, GD German Investments GmbH, GD Global Holdings II Inc., GD Global Holdings Inc., GD Global Holdings UK II Ltd., GD Global Ventures I B.V., GD Global Ventures II B.V., GD Global Ventures III B.V., GD Industrial Products Malaysia SDN. BHD., GD Investment KY, GD UK Finance Ltd., GPS Industries, Gardner Denver (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Austria GmbH, Gardner Denver Bad Neustadt Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Belgium NV, Gardner Denver Brasil Industria E Comercio de Maquinas Ltda., Gardner Denver CZ + SK sro, Gardner Denver Canada Corp (Canada), Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Limited, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Engineered Products India Private Limited, Gardner Denver FZE, Gardner Denver Finance II LLC, Gardner Denver Finance Inc & Co KG, Gardner Denver France SAS, Gardner Denver Group Svcs Ltd, Gardner Denver Holdings Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Ltd, Gardner Denver Iberica SL, Gardner Denver Inc., Gardner Denver Industries Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd., Gardner Denver International Inc., Gardner Denver International Ltd., Gardner Denver Investments Inc., Gardner Denver Italy Holdings S.r.L., Gardner Denver Japan Ltd., Gardner Denver Kirchhain Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Korea Ltd., Gardner Denver Ltd., Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Nash Brasil Industria E Comercio De Bombas Ltda, Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd., Gardner Denver Nederland BV, Gardner Denver Nederland Investments B.V., Gardner Denver Oy, Gardner Denver Polska Sp z.o.o., Gardner Denver Pte. Ltd., Gardner Denver S.r.l., Gardner Denver Schopfheim GmbH, Gardner Denver Schopfheim Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Schweiz AG, Gardner Denver Slovakia s.r.o., Gardner Denver Sweden AB, Gardner Denver Taiwan Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH (f/k/a ILMVAC GmbH), Gardner Denver Thomas Inc., Gardner Denver Thomas Pneumatic Systems (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Garo Dott. Ing. Roberto Gabbioneta S.r.l., Ghh-Rand Schraubenkompressoren Gmbh, HASKEL EUROPE LTD., HASKEL HOLDINGS UK LIMITED, HASKEL INTERNATIONAL LLC, Hamworthy Belliss & Morcom, Haskel France SAS, Haskel Sistemas de Fluidos Espana S.R.L., Hibon Inc., Highspeed Newco LLC, Hingerose Limited, ILMVAC (UK) Ltd., ILS Innovative Labor Systeme, ILS Inovative Laborsysteme GmbH, INGERSOLL RAND ITS JAPAN LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND (CHANG ZHOU) TOOLS CO. LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND (CHINA) INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING CO. LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND CHINA LLC, INGERSOLL-RAND COMERCIO E SERVICOS DE MAQUINAS E EQUIPAMENTOS INDUSTRIAIS LTDA., INGERSOLL-RAND DE PUERTO RICO INC., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL COMPANY B.V., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL SP. Z O.O., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL U.S. INC., INGERSOLL-RAND PHILIPPINES INC., INGERSOLL-RAND SPAIN S.A., INGERSOLL-RAND U.S. HOLDCO INC., IR HPS Holdco. Inc., ITO Emniyet, Ingersoll Rand Cyprus Investments Ltd., Ingersoll Rand Finance LLC, Ingersoll Rand Global Investments LLC, Ingersoll Rand Global Ventures LLC, Ingersoll Rand Hong Kong Investments Limited, Ingersoll Rand Inc., Ingersoll Rand Investments (SG) Pte. Ltd., Ingersoll Rand Investments B.V., Ingersoll Rand Schweiz Investments Gmbh, Ingersoll Rand Technology R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand (Australia) Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand (China) Investment Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (Guilin) Tools Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (Hong Kong) Holding Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (India) Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Ab, Ingersoll-Rand Air Solutions Hibon Sarl, Ingersoll-Rand Beteiligungs Und Grundstucksverwaltungs Gmbh, Ingersoll-Rand Colombia S.A.S., Ingersoll-Rand Company Limited (Uk), Ingersoll-Rand Company South Africa (Pty) Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Cz S.R.O., Ingersoll-Rand De Mexico S.A. De C.V., Ingersoll-Rand Equipements De Production S.A.S., Ingersoll-Rand Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Industrial Ireland Limited, Ingersoll-Rand International (India) Private Limited, Ingersoll-Rand International Holding Llc, Ingersoll-Rand Italia S.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Italiana Manufacturing S.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Korea Holding Llc, Ingersoll-Rand Korea Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Lux Investments II S.A R.I., Ingersoll-Rand Lux Investments S.A R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Luxembourg Industrial Company S.A R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Machinery (Shanghai) Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Malaysia Co. Sdn. Bhd., Ingersoll-Rand S.A. De C.V., Ingersoll-Rand Services And Trading Limited Liability Company, Ingersoll-Rand Services Company, Ingersoll-Rand Services Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Singapore Enterprises Pte. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand South East Asia (Pte.) Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand Superay Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Technical And Services S.A.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Technologies And Services Private Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Technology R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand Tool Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Trading Gmbh, Ingersoll-Rand Vietnam Company Limited, Instrum Rand JSC, Interflex Datensysteme, Ir Canada Holdings Ulc, Ir Canada Sales & Service Ulc, Ir France Sas, Kryptonite corp, Lawrence Factor Inc., LeROI, LeRoi International Inc, MILTON ROY (HONG KONG) LIMITED, MILTON ROY (UK) LIMITED, MILTON ROY EUROPA B.V., MILTON ROY EUROPE SAS, MILTON ROY INDUSTRIAL (SHANGHAI) CO. LTD., MILTON ROY LLC, MILTON ROY US PURCHASER INC., MP Pumps Inc., Maximum AG Technologies Inc., Maximus Solutions, Mb Air Systems Limited, Nash Elmo, Officina Meccaniche Industriali Srl, Oina VV, Oina VV Aktiebolag, Plurifilter D.O.O., Pt Ingersoll-Rand Indonesia, Robuschi, Runtech Systems, Runtech Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Runtech Systems Inc., Runtech Systems OY, SEEPEX, Seepex (M) SDN, Seepex Australia Pty Ltd, Seepex Beteiligungs-Gesellschaft mit Beschrankter Haftung, Seepex France S.a.r.l., Seepex GmbH, Seepex Inc., Seepex India Private Ltd., Seepex Italia SRL, Seepex Japan Co. Ltd., Seepex Nordic A/S, Seepex OOO, Seepex Pumps (Shanghia) Co. Ltd., Seepex UK Ltd., Shanghai CompAir Compressors Co Ltd, Shanghai Compressors & Blowers Ltd., Shanghai Ingersoll-Rand Compressor Limited, Shenzhen Bocom System Engineering Co., Superay, Syltone, TIWR Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, Tamrotor Marine Comp AS Norway, Tecno Matic Europe s.r.o., Thomas Industries Inc., Trane Technologies, Tri-Continent Scientific Inc., Vacuum and Blower Systems division, Welch Vacuum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zaxe Technologies Inc., Zeks Compressed Air Solutions Llc, Zinsser Analytic, Zinsser Analytik GmbH, Zinsser NA Inc., and crayon interface.

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U.S. President Donald Trump is planning to sign more executive orders on Wednesday that will enable the construction of his wall along the border between the U.S. and Mexico and target sanctuary cities where leaders will not hand over undocumented immigrants to be deported, said officials at the White House.

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alerts:

These moves represent the first effort by Trump to deliver on what is considered by many as his signature issue that helped drive his campaign to the White House, which is the belief he has that illegal immigration remains out of control and threatens the security and safety of the country.

The blitz by Trump on immigration this week has been seen inside his administration as a victory for the populist wing within his inner circle that includes Stephen Bannon his chief strategist, Jeff Sessions his nominee for attorney general and Stephen Miller his policy advisor.

However, on Tuesday discussion continued about how far to move forward with some policies. In particular the program of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which is DACA, an initiative from 2012 that gave temporary protection from being deported to hundreds of thousands, who arrived in the U.S. as children.

During his presidential campaign, Trump promised to reverse DACA.

However, late Tuesday it was still not clear whether DACA was to be part of the immigration issues addressed by Trump, said one official in the White House.

This is due to differing views amongst advisers to Trump and associates over the scope, timing and benefits politically of bringing the program to an end or suspending it for newer entries.

Officials are also considering, without a final decision as of yet, whether to shut down indefinitely the program that allows refugees from Syria into the U.S.

The White House crackdown on sanctuary cities will resonate with the entire Republican base, which has criticized for a long time local officials who will not cooperate with immigration authorities at the federal level.

Any measures announced on immigration by Trump will create a fierce battle in the first week of his presidency between his administration and immigrant advocates, who reacted with alarm on Tuesday as immigration was coming to the table to be discussed by his administration.

Next week, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is scheduled to meet with Trump in Washington.
Hovik Abrahamyan's move was both expected and unexpected for HHK

We have what we have, Mkrtich Minasyan, a lawmaker from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), said on January 25 commenting on former Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyans decision to leave the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). We should admit that every politician is free to continue or discontinue his political activities. Hovik Abrahamyan has made his own decision, it is his right. I can say that he exercised his right, Mr Minasyan said adding that he did not expect Abrahamyan to take such a decision. It would be wrong to say that the move was expected. To say that the decision was unexpected would also be wrong, he added. Narek Ayvazyan, a member of the Free Democrats Party, said his party would run in the upcoming parliamentary elections alone without entering into an alliance with other forces. We shall include in our party-list social and political figures who share our ideology and system of values, he stressed adding that he could not officially give any names. Narek Ayvazyan added that the integration into the European Union lies in the core of their program. Besides, they want Armenia to withdraw from the Eurasian Economic Union. Edgar Arakelyan, Spokesman for the Armenian Revival Party, said in turn that his party would probably participate in the April 2 vote alone. We have been holding meetings in recent days but everything will be clear in the coming days, he said.
The Dangerous Belarusian Precedent for Nagorno Karabakh

On January 20, at the request of Azerbaijan, the Prosecutor Generals Office of the Republic of Belarus made a decision to extradite the famous blogger Alexander Lapshin arrested in Belarus. Note that Azerbaijan was demanding that Lapshin be extradited because of visiting Nagorno Karabakh Republic. Azerbaijan considers it as an illegal crossing of its state border. Lapshin and his lawyers have 10 days to appeal against the decision from the moment it was made. And though the blogger is still in Belarus and there is a possibility that his Israeli and Russian passports will save him from being extradited to Azerbaijan, we can already make a few conclusions from this story. Level of Safety in Belarus The decision of Minsk to extradite Lapshin shows that cooperation with Azerbaijan is more important for Belarus than its international image as a country where at least the foreigners rights are protected. In fact, if Belarus can extradite a person with Russian and Israeli citizenship to Baku, then it can take the same action towards any person that will visit Nagorno Karabakh What about Armenian Citizens Apparently, Armenian citizens who visit Karabakh can also appear in the same situation. In fact, there is no difference between an Israeli and Russian blogger visiting Karabakh and any other person. In both cases, people cross the Karabakh border which, according to Azerbaijan, is an illegal crossing of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This means that from now on, any person who has been to Nagorno Karabakh will face the danger of being extradited to Azerbaijan if he ever visits Belarus. In such a situation, the Armenian Foreign Ministry should not spare efforts in informing people who are in Azerbaijans black list or those who have ever visited Nagorno Karabakh Republic that it is not safe for them to visit Belarus anymore. Moreover, in the first place, the Armenian Foreign Ministry should warn its citizens about such a risk as many of Armenian citizens have been to Nagorno Karabakh. All the citizens who visit Belarus should know that visiting that country can cost them their freedom and they might appear in an Azerbaijani jail. Friends In the current situation, the most important circumstance that should concern Armenia is that Belarus is periodically taking anti-Armenian actions despite officially being Armenias ally within the framework of the EAEU and the CSTO. Naturally, Lapshins extradition has political reasons and is related to close relations between Belarus and Azerbaijan. We cannot rule out the possibility that other countries which have close relations with Azerbaijan will follow the example of Belarus. This claim particularly refers to Turkey, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, which may also receive such requests of extradition of people who have illegally crossed the border of Azerbaijan and satisfy the request. Anna Pambukhchyan, Union of Informed Citizens
The Albemarle County School Board met Tuesday for the first time since receiving the superintendents 2017-18 budget at the end of last week, hashing out some of the details as they work toward adopting a budget request for the Board of Supervisors.

Superintendent Pam Moran presented to the board the $180.8 million budget request last Thursday, which included $8.1 million in new expenditures and is up 4.7 percent from the previous budget process. This request, however, also features a smaller projected funding gap  $691,261  and higher projected revenues  $180.2 million  than the previous year.

Tuesdays budget work session meeting focused on a general overview, compensation and benefits, growth and continuing initiatives, and areas concerning non-instructional departments, if needed.

Of the $8.1 million in new expenditures in Morans budget request, $2.4 million would go toward increases in spending to accommodate 2 percent raises for teachers and classified staff. It also includes $1.5 million in increased contributions to the Virginia Retirement System and $1.2 million to cover increased health care costs.

Moran is asking for $497,355 in salary compression, which is the difference in pay between experienced employees and newly hired employees in the same job, for classified employees who have not had pay increases in recent years.

The superintendent also has asked for $1.07 million to increase staffing for special education needs and address need associated with growth in populations of students learning English as a second language, among others.

To continue several initiatives, Moran has asked for $355,663. That includes $76,005 to bring the remaining part-time school nurses in the school division to full-time status, which has been a three-year process.

Throughout the meeting, School Board members asked for some clarity but did not suggest any major changes or cuts.

After the meeting, Vice Chairman Jonno Alcaro, the at-large member, said this work session focused more on clarifying mandates and other reasonable increases that are being discussed versus anything thats not mandated or new.

Alcaro and Graham Paige, Samuel Miller District member, both said the next budget work session on Thursday  focusing on equity and access, the only new major initiative in Morans request  will likely garner more questions from the board.

I think that thats really a good thing to add in, even though it might be a lot of questions involved, but I think its going to be a very important thing to add into the system, Paige said.

Matt Haas, deputy superintendent, worked to put this $1.277 million portion of the request together, which addresses the academic and social, emotional needs of at-risk students in the county, particularly focusing on those students in elementary schools in the urban ring.

I think what were hoping to do is to be able to do a better job in intensifying services for some of our neediest students, and sometimes some of our most marginalized students, and I think that the board is going to have lots of questions about that, Haas said after the meeting.

Its a totally different approach, he added. I cant ever remember ever putting that kind of data in front of our board to show the gaps in learning and social, emotional growth that we have with those students and our overall population before, so I think  were going to get lots of questions about it.

The next budget work sessions are scheduled for Thursday and Jan. 31. The latter meeting will include a public hearing. A budget meeting has been set for Feb. 7 if needed, and the board plans to finalize the budget request to the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 9.

At Thursdays meeting, the board is scheduled to speak about the equity and access initiative, as well as technology, professional development and instructional departments.

More information on the 2017-18 budget process can be found at k12albemarle.org under the School Board page.
WASHINGTON - An executive order apparently drafted by the Trump administration calls for a policy review that could authorize the CIA to reopen "black site" prisons overseas and potentially restart an interrogation program that was dismantled in 2009 after using methods widely condemned as torture.

The document, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, would revoke former President Barack Obama's decision to end the CIA program and require national security officials to evaluate whether the agency should resume interrogating terrorism suspects.

The unsigned draft represents the clearest signal from President Donald Trump that he intends to at least explore ways to fulfill campaign threats to return the CIA to a role that supporters claim produced critical intelligence on al-Qaida, but ended in a swirl of criminal investigations, strained relationships with allies, and laws banning the use of waterboarding and other brutal interrogation tactics.

The proposal also puts a renewed focus on the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying it should be used for newly captured prisoners. No detainee has been sent there since Obama took office in 2009 and attempted to close the facility.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer cast doubt on the provenance of the draft document Wednesday, saying that "it is not a White House document" and, "I have no idea where it came from."

It's not yet clear whether Trump will sign the draft order, or whether senior members of his administration who have been skeptical of such plans, including Defense Secretary James N. Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo, were consulted.

Members of Congress denounced the draft order, which was first reported by the New York Times on Wednesday. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that Trump "can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America."

Human rights organizations expressed outrage.

The draft order "authorizes the CIA to restart their detention program, which was the source of so much of the torture that undermined our national security," said Elisa Massimino, president of Human Rights First. Those policies "made fighting the war harder and strengthened the resolve of our enemies. That's what's at stake here."

The draft, labeled "Detention and Interrogation of Enemy Combatants," notes that the United States has "refrained from exercising certain authorities critical to its defense" in the war against terrorism, including "a halt to all classified interrogations by the Central Intelligence Agency."

The document stops short of instructing the CIA to rebuild prisons or resume interrogating terrorism suspects. Instead it calls for reviews leading to recommendations to the president on whether he should "reinstate a program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States and whether such a program should include the use of detention facilities operated by the Central Intelligence Agency."

The order would vacate Obama's decisions to dismantle the CIA program during his first days in office, and would restore a 2007 order issued by then-President George W. Bush that sought to salvage the CIA's ability to capture and hold terrorism suspects after it had abandoned waterboarding and other extreme tactics.

Any attempt to resume the CIA's use of coercive methods at overseas prisons would face major obstacles. Among them is whether another country would be willing to allow such a facility after those that did so more than a decade ago - including Lithuania, Poland and Thailand - faced international condemnation for their complicity.

CIA veterans have said the agency has no desire to return to an assignment that continues to have damaging repercussions. A lawsuit against the architects of the program has forced the agency to release embarrassing documents, including internal memos showing that some employees were deeply troubled by the interrogation program from the outset.

"I just have to think there would be huge resistance and pushback," said John Rizzo, the former acting general counsel of the CIA. "I think, personally, it would be a huge mistake for CIA to get anywhere near a new detention and interrogation program given the years of histories and controversies and investigations."

The order would also presumably face opposition from senior figures in the Trump administration. Mattis in particularly has argued against deviating from the techniques outlined in the Army Field Manual, a position that Trump said had caused him to re-examine his views after discussing the issue with Mattis in New York.

The draft executive order, which states that it shall be implemented "consistent with applicable law," would not overturn any law banning torture. The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act reaffirmed laws limiting interrogation techniques to those used in the Army Field Manual and barring "the use or threat of use of force."

Some legal experts cast the order as part of moves by Trump, including his plan to limit visas from Muslim countries, as cynical political gestures designed to energize his most ardent supporters while changing little in practice.

"The president would get a huge symbolic boost with his base while not violating the law and while changing nothing of substance,'' Jack Goldsmith, a former head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and a Harvard Law School professor, said in an interview. "He would get maximum symbolic value while doing nothing. Trump's a genius at this."

But Goldsmith, who as OLC head rescinded some of the Bush administration's torture memos, also predicted that Trump would "regret" this executive order, if it is issued, and that the "symbolic bang that Trump sought would backfire" on the administration.

The document acknowledges that existing laws provide "a significant statutory barrier to the resumption of the interrogation program."

Congress' authorization of the fiscal 2016 defense budget turned into law sections of Obama's 2009 executive orders on detention and interrogation. It prohibits the use of any interrogation techniques not authorized or listed in the Army Field Manual on anyone in the custody of or controlled by any agency or employee of the U.S. government.

The law requires that the manual itself must be available to the public and that the International Committee of the Red Cross be notified and given "prompt access" to anyone detained in an armed conflict by any agent of the U.S. government, including contractors and subcontractors.

The draft order copy obtained by The Post contains editing marks and significant errors, including a reference to "the atrocities of September 11, 2011" missing the actual date of the 2001 attacks by a decade.

Some of the edits seem driven by a political impulse to distance the Trump administration from those of Obama and Bush. Trump frequently accused Obama of being reluctant to call certain attacks "Islamic terrorism." Edits to the draft add references to "Islam."

The phrase "global war on terrorism," coined by the Bush administration, is also struck out and replaced with "fight against radical Islamism."

There are other problematic assertions in the draft. It states, for example, that more than 30 percent of the detainees released from Guantanamo Bay "have returned to armed conflict." But statistics from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which tracks detainee matters, suggest that figure is closer to 18 percent.

Karen DeYoung, Ellen Nakashima and Julie Tate contributed to this report.
RICHMOND  Two bills that would let gas-drilling companies keep their hydraulic fracturing chemicals secret from the public were approved Wednesday by a Senate subcommittee.

Senate Bills 1291 and 1292, by Sen. Ben Chafin, R-Lebanon, are intended to protect trade secrets of companies that use fracking, which involves pumping water and chemicals into the ground to break open rock formations containing natural gas and oil.

The states Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy would be the only agency normally aware of the chemicals under provisions of the state Freedom of Information Act.

The bills mirror two similar measures pending in the House of Delegates, but the Senate subcommittee added an amendment.

The original bill allowed the chemicals to be revealed to first responders in the event of an emergency. However, opponents of the bill said that notification wouldnt give first responders enough time to respond during a crisis.

An amendment proposed by Sen. Bill DeSteph, R-Virginia Beach, and approved by the Senate General Laws subcommittee added the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Health and local and regional health directors to the list of those to be consulted about the chemicals.

Chafin said that because of geology, fracking is less dangerous in Virginia than in states like Pennsylvania.

The fact weve been doing this for over 65 years without accident is a pretty good sign its not going to taint the water, Chafin said.

Groups that opposed the House bills, such as Emily Francis of the Charlottesville-based Southern Environmental Law Center, supported the Senate legislation with the adopted amendment, saying it would allow localities to prepare for an emergency.

David Clarke, of the Virginia Oil and Gas Association, opposed the amendment, saying the DEQ already is involved in the process.

If anyone is going to drill in that area, there are requirements for a public hearing in the locality for an extensive environmental impact to be prepared that involves DEQ and any other state agency DEQ wants to include, Clarke said.

With the amendment, the subcommittee voted 8-0 in favor of both bills. They now go to the full Senate General Laws and Technology Committee for consideration.
Belarusian Ambassador calls on Armenians not to draw hasty conclusions on Lapshin case (video)

I call on Armenians never to draw hasty conclusions because there is a good saying ,   (Haste makes waste) and I do consider Armenians a wise and prudent nation, - Belarusian Ambassador to Armenia Igor Nazaruk said on January 25 speaking about the arrest of famous blog writer Alexandr Lapshin by Belarusian authorities and his extradition to Azerbaijan. Lapshin, 40, was arrested by Belarusian authorities on December 15, 2016 in Minsk, at the request of the Azeri authorities, who demanded his extradition because of his visits to the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic. Lapshin, who has Russian and Israeli citizenship, visited the Artsakh Republic in April 2011 and in October 2012, and later in his blogs called for international recognition of Artsakh. In its December 16 statement, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor-General's Office said Alexandr Lapshin illegally visited Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh without asking permission from Azerbaijani officials. On January 20, the Belarusian Prosecutor-General's Office granted the request of the Azerbaijani authorities to extradite Lapshin to Azerbaijan. You had better discuss the issue should be discussed with competent people, Igor Nazaruk said, adding that the Embassy did not possess the information that could interest the media. There is a Prosecutor-General's Office in Armenia. They can cooperate with Belarusian partners and resolve this issue. There is nothing easier than buying a plane ticket to Minsk, getting there and knowing answers to all questions on the spot, he added.
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Armenia ranked among authoritarian states

Today (January 25), the British influential Economist Intelligence Unit consulting company has published its annual report on democracy. The report bearing the title Democracy Index: Revenge of the deplorables also addresses the democracy index in Armenia for last year. Back, Armenia In 2015, the same Economist Intelligence Unit, in its annual report on democracy tendencies in the world, called Armenia a hybrid regime, i.e. a state system located in the continuum between democracy and authoritarianism. Moreover, in 2015, Armenia ranked 116th with its democracy index, closing the list of hybrid regimes. In other words, Armenia was just one step behind in joining the states that received an authoritarian status. This year Armenia has filled that gap and has moved 4 steps behind, appearing in the 120th position. In the aforementioned ranking, the first position belongs to the most democratic state and the 167th to the most authoritarian one). As a result, Armenias democracy index has appeared next to those of Nigeria, Mauritania, Kuwait and Cote dIvoire. In fact, this is the result of disproportionate force and special means used by the Police against peaceful protestors during the resistance in the Police Base in summer of 2016. Neighbors The situation with most of the EAEU member countries is much sadder. Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan rank 127th, 134th and 139th. Only Kyrgyzstan has been classified as a hybrid regime this year, ranking 98th in the list. Among Eastern Partnership countries, Ukraine and Georgia have been classified as hybrid regimes while Moldova has moved one step forward and has been classified as a flawed democracy. Apart from Belarus, Azerbaijan is also in the list of authoritarian states together with Armenia, occupying the 148th position. Anna Pambukhchyan, Union of Informed Citizens
Was meeting with Armen Amiryan providence? (video)

Was it an accident or providence? founding president of the Ashot Tigranyan Cultural Musical Foundation is befuddled. He got acquainted with Minister of Culture Armen Amiryan on board a plane and they immediately started a conversation. The minister offered Ashot Tigranyan to improve and beautify the surroundings of Hovhannes Tumanyan House Museum in Dsegh village within the framework of events dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the famous poet. Tigranyan agreed without a second thought. In 1986, violinist Ashot Tigranyan left Armenia and settled in the United States where he founded and directed the Classical Concert Chamber Orchestra. Later, he moved to France. Tigranyan did not live in his homeland for 30 years. Last year he came to Armenia and established a foundation bearing his name and an Armenian-American band comprising professional musicians from the two countries. Several days ago, the benefactor visited Dsegh village to get acquainted with the implementation of the Ministrys project. A toilet, a souvenir shop, a recreational area and sculptures of Tumanyans heroes made from wooden stumps will be built in the area under the program. A memorandum was signed in the Ministry today. Under the document, the foundation will allocate AMD 8 million to the Ministry for the construction which will begin when weather conditions are favorable.
Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

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PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

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The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan

Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement

With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building

OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh
Popular local Chef Aimee Saling is back in Dayton. Aimees passion for creating great tasting fresh food from local produce and responsibly raised local meats is an ideal match for recently opened Table 33. Owners Chris and Charlie share a commitment to providing quality food using local sources and are continuing their pledge to use grass fed beef and pasture-raised chicken from Keener Farms.

Aimee is a 2016 Best Chef in Cincinnati nominee for her successful rotating menus at Piccolo Wine Room in the Cincinnati suburb of Glendale. Known to feature just six items that are rarely repeated, City Beat staffer Pama Mitchell noted that the concept and execution make it worth a visit even from city folks. In Dayton, Aimee spent a couple years at One Bistro and had a brief stint at Lock 27 prior to Piccolo.

Chef Aimee plans to slowly introduce new menu items over the next few weeks allowing the entire team a chance to taste, get comfortable with, answer questions, and be able to make recommendations. Table 33 plans to formally introduce the new menu in early March. I was excited to hear that Aimee finds fabulous service an essential part of an incredible dining experience. Some of her favorite restaurant memories are of superb service, on one occasion she didnt even remember what she ate!

Aimee is hard at work on her plans to feature scrumptious soups, unique salads with homemade dressings, tacos, quiche, and more! I look forward to trying her Brussels Sprout Tacos and items like those in the photo above.

Tacos on freshly made light corn tortillas

Winter Salad : Organic Spinach, marinated artichoke hearts, jicama, toasted pumpkin seeds, and grass-fed Dubliner cheddar dressed w/ caramelized onion and gorgonzola dressing

: Organic Spinach, marinated artichoke hearts, jicama, toasted pumpkin seeds, and grass-fed Dubliner cheddar dressed w/ caramelized onion and gorgonzola dressing Broccoli Cheddar Bacon Quiche

Photos from Table 33s Facebook page
CBDT said income from transfer of unlisted shares would not be taxed in the case of certain categories of Alternative Investment Funds registered with markets regulator Sebi.

New Delhi: In a major relief to foreign investors, the government today clarified that income arising from transfer of unlisted shares by certain categories of alternative investment funds will not be liable for taxation.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said income from transfer of unlisted shares would not be taxed in the case of certain categories of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) registered with markets regulator Sebi.

The exemption would be applicable for Category I and II AIFs. Income from transfer of unlisted shares is being considered as capital gains and liable for taxation, a scenario which was seen as a hurdle for foreign entities investing in the country's stock market.

Category-I AIFs are funds that receive incentives from the government, Sebi or other regulators. This include Social Venture Funds, Infrastructure Funds, Venture Capital Funds and SME Funds.

Category-II entities can put in their money anywhere in any combination but are prohibited from raising debt, except for meeting their day-to-day operational requirements. Private equity funds, debt funds or fund of funds, among others come under this category.

IVCA (Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association) Chairman Gopal Srinivasan said the investor community welcomes this clarification before the budget. Great collaboration between the industry and government to pursue the goals of ease of doing business and manage in India, he added.

"Primarily, Sebi registered Category I and II AIFs invest in unlisted shares of ventures, many of which are new set ups or start ups, and thus, some form of control and management of the underlying business many be required to be exercised by such AIFs to safeguard the interest of investors," the circular said. It has been issued after receiving a representation.
New Delhi: To promote digital payments, the upcoming budget may offer incentives to companies which manufacture equipment like PoS machines and micro ATMs.

According to sources, the government may cut or eliminate excise duty on manufacturing of micro ATMs, finger print readers, biometric cards and PIN cards. Further, import duty may also be reduced on components used in the manufacturing of micro ATMs, they said, adding the excise duty exemption given by the government on these machines may be further extended.

The government has announced excise duty exemptions till March 31, 2017. The 'Committee on Digital Payments', headed by former finance secretary Ratan P Watal, had suggested incentives to encourage digital payments in India.

It had suggested withdrawal of all charges levied by government departments and utilities on digital payments and bear the cost of such transactions and mandate government departments and agencies to provide option to consumers to pay digitally. Currently India is dependent heavily on import of these items.
Islamabad: Raees and Kaabil may become the first Indian movies to be screened in Pakistan after the government lifts the four-months-long ban on the screening of Bollywood movies in the country, following Indo-Pak tensions.

The suspension of the screenings of Indian films came after several Bollywood producers banned casting Pakistani artists in Indian movies in the wake of Uri terror attack and 'surgical strikes' conducted by the Indian Army on terror launch pads along the LoC in Kashmir.

Though, it became evident that Pakistani cinema owners might not be able to sustain losses as local film industry was still in the nascent stage and unable to create revenues.

The cinema owners started lobbying the government to go soft on Indian films, prompting the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to set up a committee last week to consult all stake holders.

According to sources in the information ministry, the committee led by Minister of State for Information Maryam Aurangzeb and Sharif's advisor Irfan Siddiqui has made the recommendations to the PM's Secretariat to lift the ban.

The committee urged the government to revert the ban and allow the screening of Indian films, they said.

Once formally allowed by the Prime Minister, the information ministry will issue a letter allowing the import of Indian films.

It is believed that 'Raees' and 'Kaabil' are likely to be the first films to be screened after the lifting of ban.

Shah Rukh Khan starer Raees also feature Pakistani artist Mahira Khan, while Hrithik Roshan plays the lead in Kaabil.
Vadodara: Two residents of the city on Wednesday approached railway police and demanded that actor Shah Rukh Khan be booked for murder and culpable homicide in connection with the death of a person at Vadodara railway station, where a huge crowd had gathered to catch a glimpse of the superstar, who was travelling via train to promote 'Raees'.

Tragedy hit Shah Rukh's train promotion campaign for his upcoming film 'Raees', when Farid Khan Pathan, a local politician from Vadodara, died of cardiac arrest during a massive rush to have a glimpse of the superstar at the railway station, in which two policemen were also injured.

Rajesh Goyal and Waris Ali Saiyed submitted an application to Western Railways Superintendent of Police (Vadodara Division), Sharad Singhal, requesting him to register a complaint against the actor under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

An estimated 15,000-strong crowd went berserk in the rush to have a look at the 51-year-old superstar when the Mumbai-Delhi August Kranti Rajdhani Express train made its scheduled halt in Vadodara at 10.30 pm last night.

"We gave this application to Raiway Police in our individual capacity, seeking that a case be registered against Shah Rukh Khan under sections 302 and 304 of the IPC," said Goyal.

Singhal confirmed the receipt of the application and said, "Police would look into it."

Meanwhile, a local corporator said the victim had gone to meet one of his relatives at the railway station when the incident took place. Farid Yusuf Lakhajivala, Congress corporator in Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) claimed that Farid Khan Pathan had gone to the station to meet his sister-in-law, who was travelling in the same train as the actor.

"Due to the huge rush, Pathan fell down at the platform. Almost thirty minutes were lost at the station before he was finally taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead. He would have been alive had he been taken to hospital immediately after he collapsed at the platform," Lakhajivala told PTI.

The mortal remains of the deceased were laid to rest in a Karelibag locality of the city here on Wednesday.
Mumbai: Shah Rukh Khan understands business like no one does, and that's been evident in his promotional tactics for his films.

While he chose to keep it mellow with a film like 'Fan,' where he needed the content to speak for itself, he's gone all out for a film like 'Raees,' promoting the film every second of the hour.

The actor, who'd taken a train ride to Delhi from Mumbai via Gujarat, where his film is set in, causing some serious hullabaloo, fan frenzy, and a death, has been lauded for his recent choice of films.

The superstar was dancing away with the Sikh battalion of the Indian army, while the nation had finally embraced his movie with open arms.

The superstar did the Bhangra with Sikh dancers, in his own inimitable style, as they remained charmed by the much loved actor.

He also did his iconic 'Chaiyya Chaiyya' jig with the army-men, much to their amusement.

'Raees,' released alongside Hrithik Roshan's 'Kaabil,' today. Whilethe former had a phenomenal opening, 'Kaabil' couldn't live up to its box-office expectations, despite terrific reviews and word-of-mouth.

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Director: Sanjay Gupta

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Yami Gautam, Rohit Roy, Ronit Roy, Girish Kulkarni

A lot has been written about the clash between Kaabil and the highly anticipated Shah Rukh Khan starrer Raees, but it must be said that director Sanjay Gupta and producer Rakesh Roshan have made a film which will touch your heart. Rich on content, Kaabil would have done wonders if it would have been released with any other film as well.

Rohan (Hrithik Roshan), a blind man and a dubbing artist by profession, meets Supriya, (Yami Gautam) for an arranged marriage proposal. She is an independent woman who is blind but a pianist by profession. The two click and fall in love and eventually get married. Their lives turn upside down when a local goon Amit Shelar (Rohit Roy) rapes Supriya along with his friend. Situation becomes even worse when Supriya commits suicide and leaves Rohan helpless. Soon after, Rohan seeks help of cop Chaube (Narendra Jha) to get justice.

Madhav Shelar (Ronit Roy), enters to rescue his younger brother Amit and then starts the revenge drive of Rohan. What happens next is predictable but yet thrilling to watch.

When the film was announced with the name of Sanjay Gupta as a director, the reviewer was sceptical, considering his previous works, Jazbaa being the most recent example, but Sanjay Gupta totally stands out with Kaabil. He made an honest attempt to hold the grip of the film till the last frame. The film has no extraordinary plot but the treatment is so captivating that the film will give you tears of joy while you leave the theatres. Kaabil is probably the finest film of director Sanjay Gupta.

Kudos to producer Rakesh Roshan for remaining successful in making a film which is high on emotions. He is one of those makers in the industry who makes films for both the masses and the classes, the Koi Mil Gaya franchise being the obvious example.

The plot of the film will bring back memories of some films, one being 'Badlapur' which was also an intriguing revenge saga. And a scene of Rohit Roy dragging a steel rod will remind you of a scene in Aamir Khan's 'Ghajini'.

Hrithik Roshan proved that if given a brilliant script that has a scope to perform, he will nail it and that's what he has done with Kaabil. He played a role of a blind man with so much conviction that the character looks real. His helplessness of not being able to get justice on his wife's murder is touching. Guess he gives his finest performances when he plays a physically challenged role. Koi Mil Gaya and Guzaarish were exceptionally good.

The very beautiful Yami Gautam just steals the show. Her chemistry with Hrithik is just like a steaming mug of coffee. From the beginning of the film, you will be in awe of their brewing love story. Narendra Jha and Girish Kulkarni are good as investigative tough cops. Suresh Menon is good in his small role.

Special mentions to the villianous Roy brothers who will make you feel disgusted with their evil acts. The two are just a visual treat on screen. Music by Rajesh Roshan is melodious and songs aren't an interruption in the flow of the story.

The highpoint of Kaabil is that, the plot of the film is very okay but the screenplay is intelligently played out. The film wont bore you even for a second. Kaabil is overwhelming, magical and a feel good film. The film is one of the most interesting revenge sagas made in the recent times.
Its first phase will be rolled out in 100 districts in 32 states and Union Territories with about 1,000 sub-centres undertaking screening before March 31

Chennai: Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, stroke, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and cancer account for over 60 per cent of all mortality in India.

As these conditions fail to exhibit any symptoms until complications set in, the need to detect them early was found to be the need of the hour. With this in mind, the National Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is planning to launch a population-based prevention, screening and control programme for NCDs, which will be officially launched on February 4.

Its first phase will be rolled out in 100 districts in 32 states and Union Territories with about 1,000 sub-centres undertaking screening before March 31. The programme, as a part of the National Health Mission will focus on five prevalent NCDs, namely hypertension, diabetes and cancers of oral cavity, breast and cervix.

Tamil Nadu, which will also be included under the programme, is however, ahead in terms of its efforts towards early detection of the diseases. The state has an ongoing programme that was launched through the Tamil Nadu Health system project. The programme includes screening for diabetes and hypertension for both men and women over 30 years of age. It also includes screening for cervical and breast cancer among women and oral cancer for both, said Dr Kulandaisamy, Director, Department of Public Health.

Institutional as well as community based screening for oral cancer are already in place in the state. The programme has been budgeted under the National Health Ministry (NHM) and the Government of India. We are getting support from the Government of India under the NHM, said Uma, joint director, health department, Tamil Nadu, adding that the state will however, still fall under the programme that the national ministry is planning to launch.

With the Centres programme to focus on various districts, workers under the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM) will be trained and detailed protocols for treatment, referrals and follow-up on these disease conditions will be provided.

For some cancers, survival rates are good when they are detected and treated in early stages. Screening for these conditions, which can be undertaken at the level of the sub- centre or primary health centres (PHCs) helps early detection and also serves to raise health awareness among people to lead healthy lifestyles, said a health official.
London: A British parliamentary study into workplace dress codes has found that women have been told to wear high heels, dye their hair or wear revealing outfits at the office.

The inquiry followed the case of a London receptionist who was asked to go home after protesting that she was forced to wear 2-inch to-4 inch (5-centimeter to 10-centimeter) heels to the office while her male colleagues weren't. The Petitions Committee and Women and Equalities Committee said today that it became clear during the course of the inquiry that this wasn't an isolated incident.

The committee says that it heard from hundreds of women "who told us about the pain and long-term damage caused by wearing high heels for long periods." The committee noted that discriminatory dress codes remain widespread.
London: Cats are as good as dogs at certain memory tests, Japanese scientists say, suggesting they may be just as smart. A study - involving 49 domestic cats - shows felines can recall memories of pleasant experiences, such as eating a

favourite snack.

Dogs show this type of recollection - a unique memory of a specific event known as episodic memory. Saho Takagi, a psychologist at Kyoto University, said

cats, as well as dogs, used memories of a single past experience, which may imply they have episodic memory similar to that of humans.

"Episodic memory is viewed as being related to introspective function of the mind; our study may imply a type of consciousness in cats," she told BBC News.

"An interesting speculation is that they may enjoy actively recalling memories of their experience like humans," she said.

The Japanese team tested 49 domestic cats on their ability to remember which bowl they had already eaten out of and which remained untouched, after a 15-minute interval. They found the cats could recall "what" and "where" information about the food bowls, suggesting they had episodic memory.

The researchers suggest cats may remember for much longer periods than the short time tested. And they say cats can match dogs on various mental tests,

including responding to human gestures, facial expressions and emotions.

Saho Takagi said the research may have practical applications.

"Understanding cats more deeply helps to establish better cat-human relationships," she said. "Cats may be as intelligent as dogs, as opposed to the

common view of people that dogs are much smarter." Prof Laurie Santos, of Yale University, said the experiment nicely shows that cats are remembering information about where they searched before and also which locations used to have food.

"It opens the door to new studies examining how long cats' memories can be and whether they also remember richer episodes in their own life as humans do," she added. Experiments have shown dogs also appear to have memories

linked to specific times and places. The same team of Japanese scientists previously found that in similar tests, dogs had memories of food bowls from

which they had eaten.

Last year, a team from Hungary found that dogs were able to recall their owner's actions, even when they were not specifically instructed to do so. The research is published in the journal, Behavioural Processes.
The Irish government has specifically outlawed citizens from engaging in sexual intercourse with someone who has lost consciousness as a result of intoxication. (Photo: Pixabay)

From today onwards, Ireland has banned people from having sex with someone who has passed out from drinking too much. However it is interesting to note that the Law Reform Commission had recommended this new definition of sexual consent way back in the 1980s.

This new reform means that the Irish government has specifically outlawed citizens from engaging in sexual intercourse with someone who has lost consciousness as a result of intoxication. The wording of the previous Irish law had been vague which led courts in the past to create their own definition of what consent means.

The new law will also mean extra protection for people with disabilities and those who may be unable to communicate their consent in a clear manner, reports the Irish Independent.
Beijing: Maintaining a work-life balance is a struggle which every young working professional in the world can relate to, and when your job is to ensure security of a large number of people on a daily basis, it becomes even more difficult.

People missing out on important moments in life is not new in a hectic lifestyle for the present generation, but a police officer in China was about to miss his own wedding for his duty, when he and his significant other came up with a plan.

Zhang Qinghua and his bride Huang Mengjiao had planned to get married on January 23, but being a part of armed police, Zhang was busy in his duty for the upcoming celebrations on the 28th January for the Chinese New Year.

In order to make sure that duty didnt come in the way of the special day, Huang took a train to Zhejiang province to meet Zhang and the couple tied the knot on the railway platform in a brief yet adorable wedding ceremony, with Zhangs colleagues in attendance.

The heart warming incident is a reminder of how police officials have to sacrifice a lot from their life and miss out on several moments in order to maintain dedication to their duty.
New Delhi: A city court on Wednesday stayed an order of a magisterial court directing lodging of an FIR to probe the cause of death of two persons during the 1984 anti-Sikh riot.

Special Judge Pitamber Dutt stayed till February 7, the operation of magisterial court's January 23 order, on a revision petition filed by the police, saying a proper hearing is required in the case. He issued notice to the man on whose plea the trial court had passed the order for lodging an FIR.

The police challenged Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Sudhanshu Kaushik's order directing the concerned SHO to carry out thorough investigation after registration of FIR and furnish compliance report in 48 hours.

The magisterial court's order had come on a criminal complaint filed by Amrik Singh, a resident of Tilak Nagar in West Delhi, seeking lodging of FIR against then DCP of Delhi Police Amod Kanth and former ACP SS Menon.

Singh, who lost two of his family members during the riots, alleged that the two senior police officers violated the constitutional right of the complainant and his family and misused the power conferred on them.

"... in gross violation of law, arrested innocent citizens including women and minor children and subjected them to utmost cruelty," the complaint said.

The ACMM said "investigation needs to be carried out to collect evidence and find out the cause of death of Amir Singh and Narender Singh. The grievance of complainant and his family members needs to be redressed."

"It is clarified that the limited purpose of ordering the investigation is to find out the cause of death of Amir Singh and Narender Singh in the light of allegations levelled by the complainant," it clarified.
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh summons to Zakir Naik as part of its probe against the controversial preacher and his Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) under anti-money laundering laws.

Officials said the agency has handed over the second summons in the name of Naik to IRF's legal advisor, who was questioned by it on Tuesday at it's zonal office in Mumbai.

The first summons to Naik, issued last week, could not be delivered as Naik's address in Mumbai was found to be locked, they said.

Naik, as part of the fresh summons, has been asked to appear by this month-end before the Investigating Officer of the case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), officials said.

They said the agency wants to record the statement of Naik, who is understood to be abroad.

Meanwhile, the agency questioned IRF's legal advisor yesterday and recorded his statement under PMLA and may now go on to call others associated with IRF and Naik's associates for similar questioning, they said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a criminal case against Naik and IRF last month after taking cognizance of a complaint booked by the NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against them.

ED is looking into the charges of alleged illegal funds laundered by the accused and the subsequent proceeds of crime thus generated.

The agency has already scanned some documents showing "doubtful" banking transactions.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had last month registered a case against 51-year-old Naik under anti-terror laws for allegedly promoting enmity between different religious groups.

After registering the case against Naik and IRF, the NIA along with Mumbai police had carried out searches at 10 places in the megapolis, including residential premises of some of the office bearers of the foundation, which was earlier put on restricted list by the Union Home Ministry for receiving funds from abroad.

Naik, who is said to be staying in Saudi Arabia to evade arrest after some perpetrators of the Dhaka terror strike in 2016 claimed they were inspired by him, has been booked along with unnamed IRF officials under Section 153-A of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) beside various sections of UAPA.

The charges levelled by the NIA also include those under sections 10 (being member of an unlawful organisation), 13 (punishment for being member of illegal organisation) and 18 (punishment for being involved in a conspiracy for committing any terror act) of UAPA.

IRF came under the scanner of security agencies after one of the terrorists involved in the Dhaka cafe attack allegedly posted on social media that they had been inspired by Naik's speeches.

Maharashtra Police has also registered criminal cases against Naik for his alleged involvement in radicalising Muslim youth and luring them into terror activities.
Bhopal: A 21-year-old girl blindfolded her 23-year-old boyfriend and hacked off his private parts in Madhya Pradesh's Sidhi district on Monday, to ascertain that he didnt sleep with other women.

According to media reports, the boyfriend was set to marry another girl as the couples parents were not supportive of their relationship due to caste issues.

The police have arrested the accused girl and booked her under relevant sections of IPC. The reaping-hook used in the incident along with chopped part of the victim were also recovered using the information given by the girl.

They also said that the incident occurred on the intervening night of January 23-24 in which 21-year old girl bobbitised the victim using a reaping hook.

As part of a game, the girlfriend had blindfolded the victim following which she severed off his private parts. Initially, the victim had tried to hide the incident. But his parents discovered after he started to writhe in pain. Also, his room was covered with blood.

The girl and the victim are residents of Naugawan (Darshan Singh) village under Kotwali police station of the city.

"The girl was in a relationship with the youth since past 3-4 years. She was unhappy as the boy's marriage was arranged with another girl of his own caste from same village," Kotwali Police Police station in-charge Anil Upadhyay informed.

In an attempt to protect his girlfriend, the victim told the doctor that he had cut himself. However, police investigations revealed that the act was committed by the girl.

The victim who was rushed to the district hospital was transferred to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Rewa, due to his critical condition.

The victim had returned to his village from Mumbai only about 10 days back. He had been working in Mumbai for the past few months.
New Delhi: More Central institutions could be given increased autonomy and freed from government's "micro-management" on the lines of the IIM Bill, Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday suggested.

He also expressed hope that the proposed legislation would come in the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament and would be passed soon.

Speaking to reporters a day after the Cabinet gave its nod to IIM Bill, 2017 which empowers these institutes to give degrees, Javadekar said that it gives autonomy while also establishing a system of accountability in terms of CAG audits and presenting reports to the Parliament.

Giving autonomy to IIMs is a "milestone" Javadekar said adding that while government will continue to provide funds for development of these institutes but "sans government controls".

"It is not necessary that an IIM Director should sit at the table of a ministry Joint Secretary," Javadekar said.

Javadekar said that recently while heading a Council of IIM Directors he had mentioned that under the IIM Bill he may not be the chairperson but someone from among them could be.

The IIM Bill has a provision for setting up a coordination forum, the chairperson of which would be an eminent person, chosen by the members, it is learnt.

The HRD minister said that the IIM Bill was an indication that other institutes, which excel in their field, could get more autonomy.

He said it was being considered that best institutions are given maximum autonomy, those which are average get some autonomy and some regulation while a different system is there for those which are not performing too well.

Asked if the ministry planned to take the IIM Bill to the Parliament in the upcoming Budget session, Javadekar said that the government would introduce the Bill.

"If the House decides they can straight away discuss, or if comes to a Standing Committee, I am still sure it will be passed soon," he said.

He said the mentality that government would give money and control everything would not work in education.

"India lacks in innovation, and it comes with young minds working free and where there is no fear of failure," the HRD minister said.
New Delhi: Not content with raking up a controversy by claiming that his party had prettier campaigners than Congress Priyanka Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Vinay Katiyar on Wednesday dragged Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani into the row.

In an interview to NDTV, Katiyar refused to apologise for his remarks on Priyanka and said, I think Smriti Irani is (just) as beautiful and she is also campaigning.

Grilled over his sexist remarks and the ensuing controversy, Katiyar added, "I was responding to reporters. I said Priyanka is beautiful but others are beautiful too.

He added that he had huge respect for Priyanka and that she can say what she likes.

Priyanka is one of the star campaigners of Congress for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and has also played an important role in forging an alliance between Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP).

To a question, the BJP's firebrand leader said, "It doesn't matter...there are girls and women who are more beautiful than her (Priyanka) and are also star campaigners.

"Some of them are artists and heroines...they are more beautiful than her," he said.

Katiyar also reportedly walked out of the interview following the barrage of questions.

Talking to reporters earlier, Katiyar tried to downplay his remarks saying it was an internal matter of Congress as to whom they want to appoint as their campaigner.

But, he added that if Congress is under the impression that they have the beautiful face of Priyanka for campaigning then to counter they also have many beautiful faces which BJP may ask to campaign for party.

However, he said, "It is wrong and unfair to compare beauty with capability but Congress is doing this."

Priyanka Gandhi was included in a list of 40 star campaigners that the Congress released on Tuesday. The 45-year-old has in earlier elections campaigned in the family constituencies of Raebareli and Amethi, and her party on Tuesday said she may confine herself to these constituencies even this time around.

However, she has still been included as a speaker in the first set of constituencies that will vote on February 4, which do not include Amethi and Raebareli.

Katiyars comments came even as JD (U) chief Sharad Yadav remarked on Tuesday that the honour of a vote is more important than the honour of a daughter.

In comments that raised the hackles of the National Commission for Women (NCW), Yadav said, "If a daughter loses honour, the village loses its honour. But if a vote is sold, the nation will lose its honour, in an apparent exhortation to people to practice clean politics.

Ironically, Vinay Katiyar had condemned Yadavs comments.
Bengaluru: With growing clamour for allowing the traditional buffalo race Kambala, Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief BS Yeddyurappa on Wednesday asked the Siddaramaiah government to bring in an ordinance to facilitate holding of the event, saying the people are "emotionally" attached to it.

"Kambala is a must and should be held. The government should bring an ordinance on it and pave the way to hold the traditional sport in the coastal region," Yeddyurappa, a former Chief Minister, told reporters in Bengaluru.

Facing growing demand for holding Kambala after the success of the Jallikattu stir in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said on Tuesday that an ordinance could be brought in, if necessary, to allow the event after seeking legal opinion.

Siddaramaiah had also asked the Centre to take a favourable stand on Kambala as it did on Jallikattu, where both Tamil Nadu and central governments, facing public pressure, moved swiftly to facilitate the bull taming sport.

Asked about a pending case in the Karnataka High Court, Yeddyurappa said he was optimistic that the court would lift the ban on Kambala.

The court had passed an interim order last November, staying Kambala on a petition filed by PETA and the next hearing is on January 30.

Yeddyurappa said people of Karnataka are emotionally attached to Kambala and urged party men not to resort to any agitation.

"People are emotionally attached to the sport. I have discussed the matter with party leaders from Mangaluru and Udupi and have told them not to hold any agitation."

Meanwhile, the organisers of Kambala said they would hold the traditional sport near Mangaluru on January 28 despite the court orders restraining the same.

"Come January 28, we are going to hold Kambala at Moodbidre near Mangaluru, despite court orders restricting the same," Kambala Committee President Ashok Pai said.

The decision was taken at a meeting held on January 22 by members of the Kambala Committee in Mangaluru, Pai said.

A human chain would be formed in Mangaluru on January 27 in which 5,000 people, including politicians and those from the film industry are expected to attend, Pai said.

The rally would be held before commencement of Kambala and 200 pairs of buffaloes would be paraded, he said.

Pai also said Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Tulunad Rakshana Vedike outfits would participate in the protest.
Agitated and shattered over the alleged violence of police personnel, the victims being treated at Royapettah Government hospital shared with DC their shocking tales.

Chennai: As many as 29 victims of police assault, belonging to the fishing hamlets of Marina beach, will move the principle sessions court on Wednesday, urging the judge to grant them bail citing their injuries sustained during Monday violence.

Agitated and shattered over the alleged violence of police personnel, the victims being treated at Royapettah Government hospital shared with DC their shocking tales. With tears welling in her eyes, S. Devi, whose 24-year-old son was brutally beaten, said that the act portrays the the cruelty of city police. "My son was attacked in private parts. Who would vouch for his life? They have no right to vent out their anger on innocent people. I requested the police to not cane him. But they didn't bother," said S. Devi, who owns a small food outlet at Marina beach.

"He did not take part in agitations. He was also not involved in any violence. Almost 10 police personnel, including women cops, barged into our houses and indulged in such atrocities," said Devi.

The majority of the youngsters belonging to Ayodhya Nagar and Nadukuppam near Parthasarathy temple arch was attacked in the presence of their parents, giving no chance for them to prove innocence.

Narrating a similar tale, T. Suguna, a resident of Ayodhya Nagar, said, "My daughter's brother-in-law who was in the house was bashed severely and our house was damaged too. I pleaded with them to stop as he suffers seizures. I had never seen someone so rude."

All victims are being treated for fractures, swollen organs and severe external injuries. They were produced before the magistrate on Monday after the attact and he consented to the objection raised for remand. "Having noticed the external injuries, we requested the judge to admit them to hospital," said advocate R. Thirumurthy.

He would be filing a bail application on Wednesday under section 482, on the behalf of victims. Condemning the attack, he said, "It is a custodial torture. Rather than taking the law into their hands, police could have produced them before the magistrate."

As the locality comes under the jurisdictions of Marina police station, the Mylapore police who arrested the youth have handed them over to the former.

Rubbishing the statements, a senior police officer said, "We had arrested youngsters involved in burning vehicles at Ice House police station."
ADS Softek of Secundarabad approached the varsity in December 2010 and informed that the company had branches in India, Singapore, Malaysia and Kenya.

Chennai: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Thiruvallur has directed an IT firm to refund Rs 7 lakh to Veltech Dr RR and Dr SR Technical University, Avadi, as the company failed to conduct innovative programme and causing inordinate delay in starting a designed training course in information ecosystems.

In the petition, registrar, Veltech Dr RR and Dr SR Technical University, Avadi, submitted that the educational institution has been running engineering colleges, management and science, nursing colleges, polytechnic and schools.

ADS Softek of Secundarabad approached the varsity in December 2010 and informed that the company had branches in India, Singapore, Malaysia and Kenya.

It also claimed it had a tie-up with information technology industry leaders including Microsoft, Cisco, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Cognizant, Cap Gemini and IBM.

It came forward with various academic programmes to help the students community particularly engineering college students. It assured of commencing Microsoft Innovation Alliance (MIA) Program and designed training course in information ecosystems. The University paid ADS Softek Rs 9,36,000.

The firm conducted seminars and awareness programmes in the institution on October 12, 2011, February 17, 2012 and on July 5, 2012. Several students enrolled for the programme.

In view of inordinate delay, the students enrolled for training lost interest. In view of the indifferent attitude of firm, the institution called off the training programme. Hence, Registrar sought the company to return the amount received from him and sent a notice on May 14, 2014.

In its reply, the MD and director of ADS Softek denied the allegations. After signing MoU and agreeing in all aspects including the charges and fees, there was no reason why the university backs out from their deal is nothing but a cheating tactics on the part of the complainant, not only against the opposite parties. Hence, the company sought for dismissal of the complaint.

The bench comprising president, S. Pandian and member S. Sujatha the company caused inordinate delay in conducting the training programme.

The innovation programme was pending for nearly for four years. The forum said because of the irresponsible attitude of the company the students were put to irreparable hardship. The bench directed the company to return Rs 7 lakh and pay a cost of Rs 10,000.
Chennai: DMK Working President MK Stalin on Wednesday urged the Tamil Nadu Government to take steps to get the full quantum of drought relief from the Centre and sanction Rs 25,000 per acre to the affected farmers.

Accusing the AIADMK regime of not furnishing "complete information" on the drought situation, huge losses of ryots and farmers' suicides in Tamil Nadu to a visiting Central panel, he said the state government should give all such data to the panel.

Stalin, who is also the Leader of the opposition in the Assembly, claimed that while "225 farmers had comitted suicide due to loss of their livelihood," it was "shocking" that the state government had said only 17 had ended their lives.

The state government had clarified that such 17 farmers had committed suicide due to various reasons.

He alleged that farmers and their associations were claiming that the Central panel had not fully heard their grievances.

"Tamil Nadu government should get the full quantum of drought relief from the Centre," he said, adding that steps should be taken to claim crop insurance and disburse Rs 25,000 relief per acre to affected farmers.

On January 16, Chief Minister Panneerselvam had urged the Centre to sanction Rs 39,565 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund towards drought relief.

He had also requested Centre to release Rs 1,000 crore for immediate relief measures.

Stalin also urged Panneerselvam to waive borrowings by farmers from nationalised banks and their cooperative crop loans as well and protect their "future."
New Delhi: Laughing off Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Vinay Katiyars remarks that there are prettier campaigners than Priyanka Gandhi, the Congress leader said on Wednesday that the comments expose the ruling partys mindset towards women, who constitute half of the population.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala concurred, and added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must apologise for Katiyars remarks.

Rajya Sabha MP Katiyar on Wednesday, answering a question as to whether Priyanka campaigning would make a positive impact for the Congress in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls, said, There are more beautiful star campaigners...heroines, artistes...they are better.

Priyanka Gandhi was included in a list of 40 star campaigners that the Congress released on Tuesday. The 45-year-old has in earlier elections campaigned in the family constituencies of Raebareli and Amethi, and her party on Tuesday said she may confine herself to these constituencies even this time around.

However, she has still been included as a speaker in the first set of constituencies that will vote on February 4, which do not include Amethi and Raebareli.
New Delhi: In a big boost to their strategic ties, India and the UAE on Wednesday signed more than a dozen pacts in key areas like defence, security, trade and energy apart from a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement amidst assertion by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that cooperation stands poised for a "major take off".

However, much-anticipated pact pertaining to the $75 billion investment fund, committed by the UAE, was not among the fourteen pacts which were signed after the talks between Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Al Nahyan, who arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers, senior officials and captains of industry, will be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade on Thursday.

Terming his discussions as "fruitful and productive", Modi, at a joint press event with the UAE leader, said the discussions were wide ranging covering the entire spectrum of the bilateral engagement.

"We have shaped an ambitious roadmap of engagement to make our comprehensive strategic partnership purposeful and action oriented. The agreement that was exchanged just now has institutionalised this understanding," Modi said.

Asserting that security and defence cooperation have added growing new dimensions to the ties, he said their closer ties are of importance, not just to both the countries but also of significance to the entire neighbourhood.

He also said convergence between the two countries can help stabilise the region and the economic partnership can be a source of regional and global prosperity.

"We exchanged views on developments in West Asia and the Gulf, where both countries have a shared interest in peace and stability. We also discussed developments in our region, including Afghanistan. Our shared concern on growing threat from radicalism and terrorism to the safety and security of our people is shaping our cooperation in this space," Modi said.

He noted, "Moving forward, our cooperation stands poised for a major take off. I am confident, Your Highness, that your visit will build on the strong gains and understanding of our previous interactions. And shape its future framework marked by depth, drive and diversification of our partnership."

However, the two sides did not sign a pact pertaining to the $75 billion investment as was hoped by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials on Tuesday.

Holding that the UAE has the largest sovereign fund, Secretary for Economic Relations in MEA Amar Sinha on Tuesday had told reporters, "During the visit, we are hoping to sign an MoU between their investment fund and our National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF)" which will put in place a framework as to how the fund will be administered and which all sectors it can be invested in.

Asked as of why the accord was not inked, senior officials said, "Talks are in an advanced stage and this visit has helped in identifying sectors in which the investment can be made."
Police lathicharge to disperse pro-Jallikattu protesters during a violent clash with the police near Marina Beach in Chennai on Monday. (Photo: File)

Chennai: Madras High Court on Wednesday declined to pass any interim order on a petition which alleged police excesses during the crackdown on pro-Jallikattu protesters on the Marina Beach in Chennai and sought a CBI probe.

Justice R Mahadevan rejected the petitioner's contention that unless an interim order was passed, police would "destroy all evidences" and posted the matter for further hearing to January 30.

The petition was filed by B Kumar of Triplicane locality, abutting Marina Beach which witnessed violent incidents on January 23 when police started evicting the protesters who had been staging the agitation in support of jallikattu for six days.

When the matter came up for hearing, petitioner's counsel K Balu submitted he had enough materials to "show the police excesses".

He said the petitioner had also made specific averments and allegations against the police personnel and sent a complaint to the Tamil Nadu Home Secretary and the Director General of Police on Tuesday.

At this, the judge said the representation may have reached the officials only now and let them respond to it and that he would hear the matter on Monday.

Earlier, claiming that the police version that the violence was created by anti-social elements in the name of students and youth was not correct, the petitioner submitted he had information that it was police who instigated the violence.

He alleged that police personnel set fire to an autoricksaw, damaged parked vehicles and entered some houses and ransacked articles and said he had evidence in support of his charges.

These "incidents show crystal clear" that the police personnel only created the violence, he claimed.

The petitioner prayed to the court for seeking a report from the city Police Commissioner on the violent incidents and for a CBI Investigation.

In a related matter, Justice Mahadevan closed petitions filed by two pro-jallikattu protesters seeking a direction to police not to harass them, observing that the protests have already ended.

The petitions were filed by G Pavendhan and Senthil Kumar on January 23, hours after the police launched the crackdown on protesters at the Marina Beach here.

Justice Mahadevan in his oral orders on that day had directed the state DGP to ensure safety of public and pro-jallikattu protesters conducting their stir 'peacefully'.

When the matter came up for hearing today, the judge closed the petitions saying there was no point in keeping them pending as the protests were over.

Responding to allegations made by advocate Suresh that treatment was not given properly to persons injured in the violence, the Judge directed him to file a petition specifying the allegations.

The judge further said that he had already instructed the state Advocate General to ensure proper treatment to the injured.

Meanwhile, a sessions court in the city today granted bail to 27 people arrested in connection with the violence.

Principal Sessions Judge Nazir Ahmed granted bail and directed them to stay in neighbouring Chengalpet till further orders.

Petitioners' advocate and Madras High Court Advocates Association President G. Mohanakrishnan alleged that false FIRs had been registered against the 27 people and that they were not at all present at the protest venue.

However, police suddenly came to their houses and arrested the "27 innocent people", he submitted.

The advocate further alleged it was the Police who used force and lathicharged the protesters. Police had burnt vehicles and houses of innocent people, he added.

Recording his submissions, the PSJ said many people, including celebrities, participated in the pro-jallikattu protests.

He said there was no proof that these 27 people were present during the protests and granted them bail.

City police had last night said 170 persons had been arrested in connection with various violent incidents on Jan 23 when protesters fought pitched battle with police after being evicted from the Marina Beach.
Chennai: Two of the biggest trade associations in Tamil Nadu have asked their members not to sell products manufactured by Pepsi and Coca-Cola from March 1, 2017.

Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangam and Tamil Nadu Traders Federation asked their members not to sell these products, but it is to be seen whether these associations have the clout to get their members to put these products off their shelves by the given deadline.

Also read: Lead, heavy metals have been found in soft drinks: Government

The Jallikattu agitation brought forth the pent-up ill feelings against such multinational companies manufacturing and selling fizzy products as well as a range of juices, bottled water, chips and oats.

The Occupy Marina movement was the place where the idea germinated to boycott soft drinks from the two multinationals that are widely consumed in India, particularly by youngsters.

Also read: Pepsi and Coca-Cola refute allegations of heavy metal in bottles

There were token demonstrations against these products, with the Jallikattu ban protesters pouring down soft drinks and taking pledges to avoid them.

We have more than 15 lakh members in our organisation. We have told all our members not to sell Pepsi or Coca-Cola products, said Vikram Raja, Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangam President, in Villupuram on Tuesday night.

His comments may already have had the MNCs shivering as they dominate the soft drinks and bottled water market in the state.

Also read: Coca Cola, Pepsi restrained from sourcing Thamirabarani water

The reason for the boycott call is that these companies are exploiting the state's water bodies to manufacture aerated drinks, while farmers are facing severe drought.

There have also been an unprecedented number of farmer deaths and suicides in this harvest season.

The leaders of the traders associations are stressing that this is not a ban that they are calling for but a request to the members not to deal with the two most prominent MNCs.
Chennai: Tamil actor, editor and political satirist Cho Ramaswamy, who passed away on December 7 last year, was on Wednesday posthumously conferred the Padma Bhushan award for Literature and Education.

The Padma awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year. This year, 89 people have been confirmed for the awards.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed Ramaswamy, saying his death was a personal loss and that Chos satire made his criticism lovable even to those whom he criticised.

He was undergoing treatment for a prolonged time at Apollo Hospitals in Greams Road, said the report.

He was known to be very close to Jayalalithaa and mentored her during her film career, and even continued to support her after she entered politics.

The body of the founder of Thuglak magazine has been taken to his residence at MRC Nagar where his friends, family and public will pay their last respects to him.

Cho adorned many feathers to his hat like an actor, comedian, character actor, editor, playwright and dialogue writer, film director and lawyer and was known for his unbiased views on political issues.

He acted in 89 movies alongside famous artists like Rajinikanth and Kamal Hassan, in 15 plays, directed 5 movies and also wrote screenplay for another 5, said the report.
The incident occurred last night at the camp of a company of CAF's 14th battalion at Hurrapinjodi village under Amabeda Police Station. (Photo: Representational Image)

Raipur: A Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) official was allegedly shot dead by a subordinate at their camp in Chhattigsarh's Kanker district, police said today.

The incident occurred last night at the camp of a company of CAF's 14th battalion at Hurrapinjodi village under Amabeda Police Station, Additional Superintendent of Police, Kanker, Jai Prakash Badhai told PTI.

The deceased has been identified as Vishwanath (57), a platoon commander with the same CAF company, he added.

As per preliminary information, while Vishwanath was giving some instructions to jawans, a constable, identified as Samar Shekhar (29), shot him with his service rifle, leaving the officer critically injured, he said.

"The platoon commander was immediately rushed to Antagarh hospital where he was declared brought dead. The reason behind the murder has not been ascertained yet as the accused's statement is yet to be recorded," Badhai said.

The body has been sent for postmortem and the accused has been arrested, the ASP said, adding that a case has been lodged in this connection and further probe was on.
Sukna (West Bengal): Training her guns on the Modi government, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the people would "not forgive" it for demonetisation and demanded that the Centre withdraw all limits on cash withdrawal immediately.

"I am appealing to the Centre to take back all limits on cash withdrawal immediately. Central government has once again made us dependent despite so many years of Independence. Democratic and political rights are meaningless without financial rights," she said.

Nobody was "touched", but only TMC was targetted because "we protested against demonetisation", Banerjee told reporters here on the last day of her visit to north Bengal.

The TMC supremo asserted, "Sudip Bandyopadhyay (TMC leader in the Lok Sabha) is innocent. He has committed no fault. This is political vendetta, nothing else".

"The financial freedom of common people was taken away and they are still suffering due to demonetisation. They are not able to withdraw money from banks," the Chief Minister alleged.
Chennai: The state government has taken up works at a cost of Rs 955 crore in all local bodies, including Chennai to meet the summer drinking water requirements in the wake of failed monsoon.

State municipal administration and rural development minister S. P. Velumani on Tuesday reviewed the status of the drinking water distribution to the people living in the corporations, municipalities, town panchayats and village panchayats with TWAD and CMWSSB officials. The minister also appealed to the public not to unnecessarily waste water considering shortage in the wake of monsoon failure. He also urged officials to create awareness on water conservation among the public

An official release said that to meet the drinking water requirement during summer months in the Chennai city, works totalling Rs 61 crore have been taken up. With the storage in the drinking water supplying four reservoirs standing at 1,415 million cubic feet as against its total capacity of 12,522 mcft, water supply to residents has been cut down to 550 million litres a day as against the requirement of 830 MLD.

It said that steps have been taken to extract 50 MLD of water from Par-avanaar river and 30 MLD from Neyveli aquifers.
Madurai: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Secretary, Union Ministry of External Affairs to take appropriate steps within two months to salvage the 120 fishing boats of Tamil fishermen from the Sri Lankan government.

Advocate Thirumurugan from Morepannai fishing village, Ramathapuram district had filed a petition before a division bench comprising Justices A.Selvam and P.Kalaiyarasan stating that the livelihood of the fishermen has been affected after the Sri Lankan Navy seized 120 fishing boats including 80 boats belonging to fishermen of Rameswaram island recently. The advocate said that prolonged berthing without proper upkeep of the 120 boats would cause permanent damage to their structure.

The Tamil Nadu government had also written to the Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi to take appropriate steps to release the boats, but only in vain. Countering this, the Central government pleader told the court that the Ministry has been taking up the issue.
New Delhi: Hinting at the possibility of sabotage in the recent spate of train derailments, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has written to Home Minister Rajnath

Singh seeking a detailed probe by the National Investigating Agency into the incidents.

In a letter dated January 23 to the Home Minister, Prabhu sought an NIA probe into the recent spate of train mishaps and listed six incidents of "possibility of criminal interference by outsiders".

In the letter, he made a mention of Hirakhand Express derailment near Kuneru station in Andhra Pradesh, two goods trains that went off the track earlier this month on the Koraput-Kirandul section, the instance of a "cooker bomb" at Ghorasahan station, detection of deep cuts on tracks near Kanpur on January 1 and the obstruction on tracks on a rail bridge between Barauni-Samastipur stations on Monday.

Citing the derailment of Indore-Patna Express in Kanpur in which around 150 people were killed, he said: "Bihar police unearthed a conspiracy to train some persons in the country to tamper with railway tracks to cause train derailments and (their) possible involvement in the accident near Kanpur."

"Requesting all to be extra vigilant to foil nefarious designs of these anti-people elements trying to subvert system, dastardly inhuman acts(sic)," Prabhu tweeted today.

The minister has also directed railway security personnel to be careful and sought cooperation of the public to give information of any unusual activities by anti-national elements near stations to law enforcement agencies.

On January 1, Railway Protection Force Director General SK Bhagat had written to the CBI requesting for a probe into the suspected involvement of outsiders in making deep cuts on tracks near Kalyanpur, Mandhana stations near Kanpur.

There is a marked increase in derailments in the recent past with strong indications of "outside interference" on track to derail trains on busy routes, according to railways.

A major mishap was averted last night by an alert loco pilot of Jan Shatabdi Express who saw a 15-feet rail piece on the track and stopped the train near Diwa in Mumbai.
New Delhi: Asserting that terrorism was a major issue discussed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of United States Donald Trump, Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said India with the help of other nations aims to eradicate terrorism.

Addressing the media here, Parrikar said, "Terrorism is one issue which our Indian government took up as we want the world to come together against terror, so that terror can be eliminated."

Prime Minister Modi, earlier in the day, said that India and the United States have agreed to work closely to strengthen the bilateral ties between the countries and also invited President Donald Trump to visit India.

Prime Minister Modi, who had a telephonic conversation with the newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump, late on Tuesday night, took to his Twitter handle to inform about the same.

"Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening. President @realDonaldTrump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties," Prime Minister Modi tweeted.

"Have also invited President Trump to visit India," he added.

During the telephonic conversation, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he is looking forward to host Prime Minister Modi, later this year in Washington.

President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the U.S. and India will stand together in the global fight against terrorism.

It was the first conversation between the two sides after Trump took over the office as the new President of the Uniter States.

Earlier, they spoke in November, just after Trump's election win.

Prime Minister Modi is the fifth foreign leader to hold talks with Trump, after he was sworn in as the 45th U.S. President, on Friday.
Security vigil during the full dress rehearsal for the Republic Day parade, at Rajpath in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Thousands of Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel will be keeping a tight vigil on Republic Day in the national capital tomorrow with special emphasis on neutralising air-borne threats in view of intelligence inputs.

Security forces have also been asked to ensure that proper frisking and checking of police personnel and other personnel is carried out since there is a possibility that terrorists may disguise themselves as security personnel.

Also read: Delhi under ground-to-air security cover for Republic Day

According to the advisory, "terrorists may use uniform of security forces for fidayeen attack" and there should be adequate arrangements made for identification and frisking of personnel who are part of the celebrations.

Security agencies have also been warned that some Muslim extremist organisations are planning 9/11 type of attacks using aeroplanes carrying personnel and weapons on board.

Also read: Terrorists could use pets as suicide bombers for attack on R-Day: report

Special arrangements have been made at the historic Rajpath where President Pranab Mukherjee, who is the supreme commander of armed forces, will be witnessing nation's military might that will be on display.

Also read: Republic Day: Cops beef up security in Hyderabad

The entire Central and New Delhi region will have nearly 50,000 security personnel drawn from Delhi Police and Central security forces guarding every nook and corner.

In view of recent intelligence inputs that terror groups like LeT might be planning to use helicopter charter services and charter flights to launch attack through air, Delhi Police along with other security agencies are keeping a tight vigil.

Police is using anti-drone technology to thwart any attack or identify any suspicious flying object, a senior police officer said.

Also read: Travel to frontier posts to celebrate Republic Day with jawans: SSB to officers

Apart from this, security personnel will be stationed atop tall buildings with anti-aircraft guns. CCTV cameras have been installed and control rooms have been set up to monitor the feed from the cameras, the officer said.

The advisory that has been issued to security agencies states that "it is imperative for the security forces to be familiar with the range of threats for devising appropriate counter means" since the use of conventional weapons by the terrorist and criminal groups is a part of an ongoing process to develop new techniques and tactics.

No landing or take-off of any commercial flight will be allowed from IGIA in New Delhi between 10:35 to 12:15 PM on January 26.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) on Wednesday held a protest demonstration condemning alleged police excess while dispersing Jallikattu protesters from the Marina beach in Chennai.

Demanding a judicial inquiry into the alleged excess, TNCC chief Su Thirunavukkarasar wondered how anti-social elements could have crept into the congregation of peaceful protesters when a large number of police personnel were present.

He said had the law to allow Jallikattu had been enacted before, the situation would not have come to such a pass.

TNCC chief also hit out at the Centre for its demonetisation drive and said it had affected the people.
New Delhi: Border guarding force SSB has directed all its officers and field commanders to travel to remote frontier posts, locations in the interiors of Naxal affected areas and in Jammu and Kashmir to celebrate the Republic Day with their jawans on Thursday.

The forces' headquarter, acting on directions from Chief Archana Ramasundaram, has issued orders that mandates officers from the ranks of Deputy Commandants up to Additional Director General to travel to the outposts along the Indo-Nepal, Indo-Bhutan borders and those located in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas and in the counter-insurgency grid in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The idea behind this initiative is also to establish direct communication between the officers of headquarters and the jawans posted at remote locations on the borders.

"This endeavour will also ensure that senior officers appreciate the problems of jawans and instill confidence in them that the Director General and the headquarters are sensitive towards their problems and making all out efforts to provide them better facilities," the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) said in a statement.

During the events to mark the 68th Republic Day on Thursday, local population residing in the vicinity of SSB camps will also be invited to attend the flag hoisting ceremony with a view to forge "better relationship" between the men in uniform and the civilians.

"All officers will be celebrating #RepublicDay with the jawans. No overlapping of BOPs (border out posts). Each officer to visit a different BOP. Orders issued," the SSB said in a tweet message.

The new directive is being seen as an enhanced initiative being undertaken by the uniformed forces to connect with their personnel, in the backdrop of a number of security forces jawans recently taking to the social media to air their grievances.

The 80,000 personnel strong SSB also recently launched an Android-based application as a trial version on Google playstore.

The app is aimed to work as a communication bridge between various ranks of the force.

Jawans and officers of the force can check details about their salaries, provident fund, other service details, dispatch of grievances, transfer application and information about vigilance matters using this facility.

"However, the full operational version along with a Hindi variant is being developed after obtaining feedback of the trial version from the men and women of the force," a senior SSB officer said.

The SSB is tasked to guard the 1,751 km long Indo-Nepal and 699km long Indo-Bhutan borders apart from rendering a variety of roles in the internal security grid of the country.

Country's largest paramilitary CRPF too is working to launch such an App for its personnel while the CISF is working to add new features to a similar platform it has on the internet for its staff.
New Delhi/Washington: America considers India a "true friend and partner", US President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a phone conversation during which they resolved to stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" in the global fight against terrorism and work together for defence and security.

Read: President Donald Trump moves to pull US out of big Asia trade deal

During their conversation, the two leaders extended invitations to each other for visits. "During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in a statement.

"President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the US later this year," it said.

Read: 'Look forward to working with you': Narendra Modi to Donald Trump

The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.

Besides this, they also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the US and India stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, the statement said.

Modi, who is the fifth foreign leader Trump have spoken with over phone after being sworn-in as the new US President on January 20, said, they "agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties".

Read: Indian-American Nikki Haley confirmed as new US envoy to UN

"Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening," the Prime Minister tweeted.

"Have also invited President Trump to visit India," Modi said.

After Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the November 8 general elections, Modi was among the first world leaders to have congratulated Trump.

During his gruelling election campaign, India was among the few countries in addition to Israel with whom Trump spoke of strengthening ties if elected to power.

Read: US President Donald Trump speaks to Narendra Modi over phone

On January 21, Trump spoke with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

On Sunday, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and yesterday he had a telephonic conversation with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Vijayawada: YSRC chief Jagan Mohan Reddy has openly challenged the state government saying that he will participate in the Vizag candlelight rally. Arrest me if you can, he dared the government. He has asked Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to also participate in the protest.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, he asked whether it was right for a democratic government to threaten the public with arrests if they participate in a peaceful rally. He said that Mr Naidu should be jailed for ordering use of the PD Act against students who are protesting for Special Category Status.

He appealed to the Chief Minister to speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about Special Category Status, And if they don't agree, withdraw your support to the Centre and make your MPs resign. If you don't do so, we shall make all our MPs resign at any cost in June after the Budget session.

Jagan said that AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had compromised on the Special Category Status due to his fears about his various legal cases.

Pawans tweet war continues

Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyans tweet war on APs special status is continuing. He said Jana Sena knows when to cooperate and when to confront the government for the people.

He had sent warning signals saying that if the Centre and the state government stopped the peaceful protest which is being held on January 26, they will have to prepare for a long Battle of the Andhras for their rights.

Mr Pawan Kalyan said the state government reminds him of the proverb Mother doesnt feed her kids, and dont allow to beg. He told the state government, You dont fight for SCS and you dont allow youths to fight for that. He also said the people of Andhra are not the slaves of the leaders and parties at the Centre.

He tweeted, "Not to expect and the Andhra people being his slaves as the one who is looking for positions, personal benefits, business necessities, and leaders are bending and wishing him "Ji Huzzur".

Mr Kalyan also answered through his tweet the question on "Link between Jallikattu and Special Category Status". He said, when Tamilians protested for upholding their traditions how much should we do for necessities. The youth of Andhra has come forward to protest inspired by Jallikattu. If possible extend your support or else do not give statements that prevent them from protesting. He also said that stopping the protest for SCS is destroying the future of youth.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu-headed committee of state chief ministers has recommended banking cash transaction tax to discourage the cash payments in the country.

New Delhi: Despite a high-profile committee on cashless transactions headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu suggesting harsh measures including imposition of a banking transaction tax on cash transactions above Rs 50,000, the Central government on Wednesday said that it has not taken any final view on these recommendations.

This may indicate that the government is unlikely to include the controversial recommendation in the Union Budget on February 1.

The government is mindful of any negative reaction from the people after demonetisation in view of the crucial state Assembly elections.

The media has reported various aspects of the recommendations made by the committee, including a recommendation relating to the levy of banking cash transaction tax on transactions of Rs 50,000 and above. It is informed that the government has not yet taken any final view on the recommendations of the committee, said the finance ministry.

It said that the recommendations will be carefully examined and appropriate decisions will be taken in due course.

The banking cash transaction tax was initially introduced in 2005 by the then finance minister P. Chidambaram under the UPA regime. The levy was, however, withdrawn with effect from April 1, 2009.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu-headed committee of state chief ministers on digitisation submitted its interim report to Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi on Tuesday.

The panel, among other things, recommended a cap on cash payment in all types of big-ticket transactions and a levy on cash deals beyond Rs 50,000 as it sought to discourage the use of physical currency.

The committee has also suggested a host of incentives to encourage payments by cards and other digital means. The committee was set up after the Central government decided to demonetise 500 and 1,000 notes in November to examine and recommend measures for implementation of digital payment solutions.

In its report, the panel suggested that tax incentives should be extended to micro ATMs and biometric sensors and their domestic production should be encouraged.
Raipur: AAP leader and activist Soni Sori is not the only one who is being hounded in Chhattisgarh. There are reports of activist Bela Bhatia, who has formerly served on a Planning Commission-appointed panel to look at governance challenges in areas of the Maoist rebellion, being intimidated by a mob.

Ms Bhatia holds a doctorate from Cambridge University. The writer, sociologist and social activist was asked to leave Chhattisgarh. How-ever, a defiant Bela has penned an open letter saying that she would not do so.

Here's the excerpts of the letter: If somebody says you are a Naxal, does that make you one? Would you leave your place just because somebody wants you to? This is what has recently happened to me. All of us are aware of the ongoing war between the government and the Maoists in Bastar.

The smell of gunpowder barely reaches cities like Jagdalpur but war is an everyday reality for Adivasis living in the hinterland. You can imagine the plight of people who are caught in the crossfire between Maoists and security forces for a decade.

A time came when I felt it necessary to help these people fight for their rights. I find it strange that people insisting on the implementation of the law are being labeled Maoists.

Jagdalpur-based Samajik Ekta Manch has cited similar reasons to reiterate these accusations against me. It is because of the same allegations that I have been asked to leave Bastar. However, Ms Bhatia said, I had come to Bastar to stay. I will try to remain in the district despite everything that has happened.

Jean Derez comes out in support of Bela Bhatia

Noted economist jean Derez has come out in support of activist and his partner Bela Bhatia. According to catchnews.com, he said, I was surprised to hear that some people had come to my partner Belas house near Jagdalpur and instigated her neighbours against her.

They took out a procession in the neighbourhood, shouting slogans like Bela Bhatia murdabad and Bela Bhatia Bastar chodo.

They also distributed a leaflet accusing both of us of being Naxalites who are trying to tear the country apart  nothing less. Some of them advised Bela's landlady to evict her. Fortunately, Bela's landlady and neighbours are very fond of her and they did not lose their nerve.

He further said, Anyone who thinks that Bela and I are Naxalites is seriously out of touch with reality. Bela has already refuted these charges and clarified the nature of her work in Bastar.
SIPCOT had allotted 31.54 acres of land to both the MNCs in 2004 at Gangaikonda Cholapuram in Tirunelveli district.

Madurai: Expressing concern over the suffering of farmers facing acute water scarcity, the Madurai bench of Madurai High Court on Monday passed an order of interim injunction restraining popular American based soft drink and beverage products companies Coca Cola and Pepsi from sourcing water from Thamirabarani river in Tirunelveli district.

The farmers are suffering without water," Justice S Nagamuthu said in his oral observation before passing the interim injunction even as the government pleader sought time to file the response.

SIPCOT had allotted 31.54 acres of land to both the MNCs in 2004 at Gangaikonda Cholapuram in Tirunelveli district and also permitted them to source water from the river upto 15 lakhs litres each at a rate of Rs 37.50 for every 1,000 litre.

As the river Thamirabarani is the only source for drinking water and agriculture for people in Tirunelveli and its neighbouring districts, the Tirunelveli District Consumer Protection Association secretary D.A. Prabakar sought the court's intervention to direct the government to stop the two MNCs from drawing water from the river. He also told the court the PWD did not grant permission to SIPCOT to allow the companies to draw water.

The petitioner also explained that 12.5 crore litres of water has been sourced from the river to meet the drinking water requirement of people in Tirunelveli and another 10 crore litres had also been supplied to Thoothukudi, Virudhunagar and Ramanthapuram district for the same purpose.
New Delhi: In a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said India becoming a Republic on January 26, 1950 meant that it would not accept whims of any emperor nor a dictator.

In his Republic Day message greeting countrymen, the Congress Vice President also made an oblique attack on the RSS, saying that the country accepting the Constitution also means that no ideology will be imposed upon anyone in the country.

"On this day when we accepted the principles of freedom struggle and the great values of our heritage in the form of our Constitution, this meant that no emperor's whims and any form of dictatorship would any longer prevail. In this free world of ideas, no ideology will be imposed upon anyone in the country," he said.

With everyone having the right to self rule, Gandhi said even the voice of the weakest will be heard attentively and its intent is to protect the voice of every individual.

"If India has succeeded, its credit goes to everyone. Our strength is the voice of every Indian and this we have never to forget. We have to preserve and protect this message of our heritage and help fulfil bring its dreams," he said.

Gandhi has been critical of Prime Minister Modi accusing him of acting as a dictator and not listening to the voice of the people, while also attacking the RSS for imposing its ideology on the country.
Chennai: The BJP's Tamil Nadu unit on Wednesday alleged that the Indian flag was being "insulted" by some persons, including on social media, and urged the state government and police to prevent such incidents.

BJP state President Tamilisai Soundararajan also appealed against any insults to the national flag, saying persons doing so "cannot be Tamils or even humans".

She claimed that there had been instances of the national flag being "insulted" by some persons and expressed concern over it.

"Both sentiments and the law does not allow this and insulting the flag in the real world, as well as the virtual world is not acceptable," she said in a statement.

Such incidents should be avoided and those who had done so on social platforms like Facebook should immediately remove such posts, she added.

"I request the Tamil Nadu government and the police department to prevent insult to the national flag, both in person as well as on Facebook, by anybody. If they continue to do so they should be severely punished," Soundararajan demanded.

In an apparent reference to the recent pro-jallikattu protests, she said "anti-national forces which sneaked among youth had diverted a good movement and such anti-nationals could also do this (insult the flag)," she said.

The tricolour's respect should be upheld, she said while extending Republic Day greetings.

Recently, Tamil musician 'hiphop Tamizha' Aadhi had announced backing out of the pro-jallikattu protests, alleging presence of 'anti-national' elements.

He alleged that he had come across insult to the national flag during the protests at Coimbatore and that some had even tried to give a communal colour to it.
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu speaking at IIMC. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: Hours after Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Katiyar made a distasteful comment about Congress president Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said the statement was unacceptable to both - the party and the government.

"This is not acceptable to us and neither the party, nor the government supports such statements," he said.

Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav on Tuesday drew an analogy between a woman and a vote. He said that the honour of vote was bigger than the honour of a woman.

The senior leader raked in massive criticism over his statement.

Naidu expressed hope these senior leaders realise their mistake and withdraw their comments.

"We are each other's competitors in politics, not enemies. While speaking about women, one must be cautious and keep in mind the culture of our society," Naidu added.

Earlier in the day, Katiyar while taunting Priyanka's name in list of Congress' star campaigners made a sexist comment and said that there were many beautiful star campaigners.

"What difference will it make? We have more beautiful star campaigners...heroines, artistes...they are better," he said.

Despite being criticised by women activists and other politicians, Katiyar remained unapologetic.

Priyanka, on the other hand, laughed off the comment.

"He exposes the BJP's mindset towards the better half of the population of India," said a statement from Priyanka's office.
Preparations for one of the nations most decorated celebrations, the Republic Day, are underway as different contingents rehearse in full swing at New Delhi.

Like many occasions brimming with patriotic fervour, Republic Day is part-cause and part-commerce  a nationalism boost with military parades, honours to those who make India proud, stirring speeches, flags sold at street corners and traffic lights, albeit by streetchildren.

But since the DeMo (demonetisation) Era is here, can Digi Money be far behind? Paytms Maha Bazaar (68th Republic Day Sale) invites you to the 68 hours savings ki parade with 80 per cent discounts in top brands from January 24 to 26. Tour operators list the top five countries we, Indian nationals, can visit without a visa and urge us not to sit at home this long weekend. There are many more.

There arent too many promoting some quiet time in reflection and asking some questions. So heres my sales pitch.

As a citizen, I think of Republic Day as less about the speeches and the serenades to military power and more about the vision underlying Indias Constitution and the republic we can be, a reminder of the need for active citizenship and the fundamental right to equality of status and opportunity enshrined in our Constitution.

Its heartening to see that even in these turmoil-ridden times, when its so easy to become sceptical, there are a few thinking along these lines, launching initiatives to sensitise youngsters in becoming active citizens. One example that came to my notice recently is Samvidhan LIVE  The Jagrik Project, which has brought together more than two dozen civil society organisations.

This project has engaged young people in different parts of the country, helping them to understand the Constitution and its various articles. I like the idea of making the Constitution come alive to young people who make up the vast majority of Indians. I hope the awareness leads them to ask questions.

One question that nags me  why is it that we hear more about some bits of the Constitution and not others? Why is there so much outrage when some articles of the Constitution appear to be under attack but almost total silence when other articles of the same document are ignored?

Take the Constitution and the cow. Ever since the cow entered the political discourse of independent India, we have heard references to the Constitution. One of the key sources for the validation of cow protection is Article 48, enshrined in the Directive Principles of State Policy. It reads: The State shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.

Cow protection enthusiasts hold up this provision to buttress their argument that the Constitution supports their view. Very well, but what about the other Directive Principles of State Policy? What about protection of humans, their health?

Article 47 of the Constitution reads: The State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties.

According to the governments own data (National Family Health Survey IV 2015-16), even in an affluent state like Haryana, children under five who are stunted comprise 34 per cent of those surveyed. Arguably, there has been some improvement. During NFHS III, conducted more than 10 years ago, the corresponding figure was 45.7 per cent. But clearly, the progress is not good enough.

Take another indicator from another state in the same survey. Only 43.9 per cent of mothers in Andhra Pradesh had full ante-natal care. These are randomly picked data points and neither state is among the poorest and most backward in the country. But thats where we are. Even the most vocal defender of the Indian State will have to concede that the State has largely failed to live up this Directive Principle in our Constitution. Why isnt there any outrage about this, our own health?

Zoom to education. The latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), that measures overall learning level among Indian school students, shows that here again India is progressing but very slowly and not uniformly. There are glaring disparities between states and even districts. One telling statistic: the ability to do division among Class 8 students is continuing to drop. This trend has been visible since 2010.

Increasingly, one hears the argument that the State cannot do everything and the emerging template would be of public-private partnerships, or PPP. But I am yet to see any comprehensive nationwide study by the government which can serve as evidence that the PPP as it is being implemented in India is the best way to build an educated and healthy citizenry.

A recent national seminar organised by Public Health Resource Network, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan and Oxfam India on Evidence building on Public Private Partnerships in Healthcare presented multiple case studies that conceded there were yawning data gaps and that outcomes were uncertain.

What have all these got to do with Republic Day or the Constitution? The short answer: they directly impact the constitutional vision of equality of opportunity. The huge disparities that stare us in our faces goes against the fundamental spirit of the Preamble to the Constitution. And thats why its important to ask why the political class cherry picks bits from the Constitution.

As India gets into election mode, it is perhaps even more important to ask ourselves  why do we let politicians do such cherry picking? By keeping quiet were letting them do so. The alternative to keeping quiet is to risk being labelled as part of the chattering classes, inconsequential. But the issues are consequential, and who can predict what will happen once the chatter crosses a critical threshold.

India is young. Many more of us have to start thinking if this young India should be healthy and educated enough to give our country its rightful place in the world, and what should be done to reach these goals. Perhaps something to think about as we watch the tableaux go by.
We are celebrating our 68th Republic Day. We will see majestic marches and stunning feats by our security forces, and fantastic floats from various parts of our amazing country. We will stare in awe at the proud display of our weapons of mass destruction and marvel at our vast range of cultural talents. And we will feel impeccably important and powerful.

While it is fine to feel grand during the Republic Day ceremony, it may also be useful to recognise what exactly we are celebrating. Contrary to popular belief, Republic Day is not meant to celebrate our tanks and missiles. It commemorates a much deeper, far more durable power we have. It celebrates our Constitution.

Its the day the Constitution came into effect. It honours the rulebook for our democracy, the book that gives each of us the right to be a free and proud citizen of India. And the Constitution itself celebrates our many diversities and our equality as human beings and as citizens of India, it guarantees us equal rights irrespective of our position in society.

But over these 67 years, how loyal have we been to this superb Constitution of ours? As I write this, on the eve of our 68th Republic Day, lets take a look at some of todays headlines.

In Chhattisgarhs Bastar, distinguished academic and activist Bela Bhatia has been threatened by a violent mob, which seems to have police protection. She was told to leave immediately, if she didnt want her rented house set on fire and her dog killed.

Her crime? She has been helping village women raped and physically assaulted by the police to file FIRs and has been raising awareness about such atrocities in Maoist-affected villages away from the media spotlight.

A few days ago, the National Human Rights Commission sent a notice to the Chhattisgarh government about the sexual and physical assaults on 16 women by Bastars policemen and held the government responsible for such violations of tribal womens human rights. Ms Bhatia had helped the NHRC in its investigations. Naturally, the police was not pleased.

Shockingly, though, activists and lawyers who requested Bastar inspector-general S.R.P. Kalluri to ensure Ms Bhatias safety have received abuse in return. In response to messages of concern, the top cop seems to have sent back messages saying F U and Maoists and their dogs like you will be stoned out of Bastar. Beware. But locals may not be surprised by such shameful behaviour from the chief law enforcer of the region (Mr Kalluri has denied it).

Apparently he and his policemen have been issuing statements labelling researchers, fact-finding teams and journalists as white-collar Naxals and declared 2017 to be Mission White Collar  the year when they rid Bastar of these pesky people pursuing bothersome stuff like justice and democratic freedoms.

Like in most strife-torn regions, human rights are under severe attack in Chhattisgarh. And so are those trying to defend them. The mandate to fight Naxals and other extremists gives the police and security forces an impunity that crushes the very idea of human rights, justice and democratic freedoms as guaranteed by the Constitution.

Lawyers like Shalini Gera and Isha Khandelwal of the Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group, and journalists like Malini Subramaniam have been attacked and forced out of Bastar.

Ironically enough, though the long arm of the law fails to reach victims in these villages, it manages to grasp those trying to help them get justice. So members of a fact-finding committee who visited Bastar last year got slapped with a murder charge. Among them were academics like Nandini Sundar of Delhi University and Archana Prasad of JNU, activist Vineet Tiwari and Sanjay Parate, the CPI(M) state secretary of Chhattisgarh.

The fact is, if high-profile people from Delhi can be targeted, guess what the ordinary disempowered villager faces? Raman Singhs BJP government doesnt seem to mind either such brazen misuse of power or such blatant violations of human rights.

Lets get some things clear. Reporting human rights abuses is not a crime. Helping a victim of rape and physical assault to lodge an FIR or seek legal justice is not a crime. Documenting human rights abuse in the interest of justice is not a crime. But those attempting these are in trouble.

Because dissent or any independent thought, is a problem for an authoritarian administration. And people like Ms Bhatia, who refuse to be cowed down and insist on staying in Bastar and doing whatever is necessary to protect the human rights of these unfortunate citizens, are those who are truly celebrating the spirit of the Republic, by honouring the guarantees of the Constitution.

But then we have not liked dissent for quite some time. We use whatever means possible to stifle dissent or any independent thought. We could slap a sedition case against you for speaking about freedom. If you take up legal cases we dont like, or raise awareness of inconvenient truths, we could cancel your organisations license to receive foreign funds. We could toss you in jail for being a terrorist if we want. So, as the IGP of Bastar allegedly said to activists: Beware.

On the 68th Republic Day, this utter disrespect for the Constitution is not what we want to witness. And there are so many other ways we are failing our citizens and their constitutional guarantees.

We failed Baby Lakshmi, 3, who was run over as she played on the streets that was her home. There are about three million homeless people in India, citizens who live and die on the streets, battling the elements and our apathy. Citizens of India who have been grossly let down by the State.

But then there is a Shaheera Ahmed, and her community teachers. The schoolgirl from Kashmirs Dadsara village topped the Class 12 exams with an astounding 498 out of 500. This in spite of enormous hardship and political unrest due to the violence of security forces, including schools closed for almost five months. But community teachers stepped in, and Shaheera made the best of their guidance.

This never-say-die spirit is a celebration of our Republic Day. Not our missiles. Our real strength comes from our resolve to overcome hurdles and from the rights and freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution. If we nurture that some more, we would really feel grand and powerful.
Team Indus and Hakuto will share a ride on an Indian PSLV launcher.

Five teams have qualified to compete in a $30 million Google-backed competition to land and operate robotic spacecraft on the surface of the moon, the XPrize Foundation said on Tuesday.

Contenders now have until Dec. 31 for their spacecraft to be launched, said the foundation, which is running the Google Lunar XPrize and eight other technology stimulus contests.

Previously, competitors needed to complete activities on the lunar surface, such as having their vehicles travel 1,640 feet (500 meters) and broadcast high-definition video, by the end of the year.

Since the contest was announced in 2007, interest in the Google Lunar XPrize has been high, with 33 teams originally signing up to compete for the $20 million first prize.

Second place is worth $5 million and bonus money is available for accomplishing extra tasks, such as visiting an Apollo landing site or finding water on the moon.

Googles parent company, Alphabet has produced a documentary series about Lunar XPrize competition.

Five teams remain in the running: Israels SpaceIL, Florida-based Moon Express, an international team known as Synergy Moon, Indias Team Indus and Japans Hakuto.

SpaceIL plans to fly on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which recently returned to flight following a launch pad accident.

Team Indus and Hakuto will share a ride on an Indian PSLV launcher.

Moon Express is banking on a launch from startup Rocket Lab, which is developing a small rocket called Electron. Whether it wins the XPrize or not, Moon Express is building a business to provide lunar transportation and services, such as research and mineral extraction, Chief Executive Bob Richards said in an interview.

Synergy Moon is counting on one of its partners, Mojave, Calif.-based Interorbital Systems, for its launch aboard a new rocket known as Neptune.

Were thrilled to have five contenders that are working from all over the world on this one mission, XPrize Senior Director Chanda Gonzales-Mowrer said in an email.

The race to moon is among nine XPrize contests currently underway. The competitions are designed to make big technological leaps in aerospace, medicine, education and other fields by luring new participants and private capital with cash prizes.

The original 2012 deadline for the Google Lunar XPrize has been extended three times, but contest organizers said they will stand by the current timeline which requires teams to launch on or before Dec. 31.

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The watch is capable of showing the world time, countdown timer, and 5 daily alarms with Full auto-calendar (up to year 2099).

India is composed of languages and cultures of different types but there are some common sentiments that tie all of us together.

Slogans like 'Vande Mataram' are strong sentiments that have played a significant role in keeping the love for our country alive. Honoring such unconditional love for the nation with its philosophy of 'Creativity and Contribution', Casio India has introduced new G-Shock Republic Day limited watch collection for young India this. The watch signifies bold and rebellious attitude of today's Indian youth who wants to conquer the world while staying connected to their roots.

The new G-Shock GA-110GB comes with 'Vande Mataram' slogan imprinted in Hindi on Resin band, which symbolizes the true essence of Republic Day and ignites the sense of independence in every youth of the nation. Complementing the slogan, there is a Fighter Jet symbol that represents G-Shock's attitude towards reaching every height and conquering every challenge. It also features the finest printing of letters 'IND' on end side of band to bring an Indian feel and appeal.

Speaking about the new limited edition, Kulbhushan Seth, Vice President, Casio India said, "Casio believes in contributing to community with its latest innovations and creating a positive impact on consumers. 'Vande Mataram' as a slogan has so much energy that it infuses a new level of respect and pride in Indian youth. The new Republic Day edition celebrates the power of young India and ignites the true sense of being an Indian."

While the sturdy timepiece salutes the absolute toughness and futuristic outlook of Indian youth, it comes with amazing features to take care of your daily lifestyle needs. Protected with the Mineral Glass dial, it is water resistance up to 200-meter, featuring a bright LED light to use it at anytime and anywhere. Additionally, the watch is capable of showing the world time, countdown timer, and 5 daily alarms with Full auto-calendar (up to year 2099).

The limited edition watch is available at an attractive price of Rs 9795.

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Kaspersky Lab held a multi-city press conference focusing on Kaspersky Industrial Cybersecurity Solutions (KICS). KICS is a specialized protection for industrial control systems. The company brought together its senior team of experts to share their views at the gathering. Present on the occasion were Mr. Vicente Diaz, Principal Security Researcher, Kaspersky Lab Global Research & Analysis Team, Vikram Kalkat, Senior Key Account Manager, Kaspersky Industrial Cyber Security Global Business Development, APAC Region and Mr. Altaf Halde, Managing Director, Kaspersky Lab - South Asia. A number of critical issues were discussed during the consecutive events organized at ITC Grand Central in Mumbai and Le Meridien in New Delhi.

In addition to malware and targeted attacks, industrial organizations face a number of threats and risks targeting people, process and technology. As weve seen in the past, underestimation of these risks could have serious consequences. Kaspersky Lab has developed a comprehensive portfolio of technologies, solutions and services to help our customers tackle and manage many of these risks. Only cyber security companies that understand the differences between industrial systems and standard, business-oriented enterprises are able to deliver security solutions that meet the unique needs of industrial control systems and industrial infrastructure owners.

In his opening remarks, Vicente Diaz, Principal Security Researcher, Kaspersky Lab Global Research & Analysis Team said, In the current APT landscape, India is realizing that they need to keep up with new technologies and best practices in cybersecurity, as there are many cyber criminals and nation-sponsored attacks targeting both companies and governmental organisations perceived as low hanging fruit in the eyes of the attackers.

In his welcome address, Vikram Kalkat, Senior Key Account Manager, Kaspersky Industrial Cyber Security Global Business Development, APAC Region said, Operation technology of critical infrastructures should focus on infrastructure availability of automated systems rather than only data confidentiality. On top of that, in these cases business risks should be addressed by the CEO or CFO of a company rather than a CIO.

Some of the key highlights of the discussions are as follows:

Global and Local Cyber threats overview

According to KSN data, Kaspersky Lab solutions detected and repelled 171,802,109 malicious attacks from online resources located in 190 countries all over the world

45,169,524 unique URLs were recognized as malicious by web antivirus components

Kaspersky Labs web antivirus detected 12,657,673 unique malicious objects: scripts, exploits, executable files, etc

Attempted infections by malware that aims to steal money via online access to bank accounts were registered on 1,198,264 user computers

Crypto ransomware attacks were blocked on 821,865 computers of unique users

Kaspersky Labs file antivirus detected a total of 116,469,744 unique malicious and potentially unwanted objects

Kaspersky Lab mobile security products detected:

1,520,931 malicious installation packages 30,167 mobile banker Trojans (installation packages) 37,150 mobile ransomware Trojans (installation packages).

Cyber security culture in an ICS/SCADA environment

The modern ICS network infrastructure is insecure by design. It has a long utilization cycle of 15 years or more. Modern cyber security threats are sophisticated, causing catastrophic damage when penetrating ICS networks.

Energy, oil and gas, and critical manufacturing industries are most affected by cyber security threats.

We learnt from a cyber security incident in the Ukraine that a mediocre phishing attack, which started in spring of 2015, ended up with about 200,000 customers losing power for hours, disabling SCADA automation for weeks.

Critical infrastructure: a role model to protect normal businesses?

The most important part for every Organization towards security, is the need to have the right attitude. When you know that the wrong software update can cause so much damage and losses of thousands of rupees per minute, you have to alter your approach.

Traditional IT is usually more relaxed, although it is possible to lose anything from $66K (SMBs) to $1,4M (enterprises) due to downtime from a security incident. Given this, adopting a critical attitude when thinking about IT security seems to be a wise choice.

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Apple is slapped with a lawsuit for not using its technology to stop users from texting while driving. The complaint  Julio Ceja  filed the charges on Tuesday, 24 January in a Los Angeles County Superior Court saying that the device has the ability to lock users out from accessing the iPhones messaging app while driving but failed to do so.

According to Cejas attorney, Apple owns a patent for technology that disables handheld devices such as smartphones using a motion analyser and scenery analyser.

The suit doesnt demand for any monetary compensation but wants the Cupertino tech giant to stop the sale of all iPhones in the California region until the company implements this technology into the devices. In addition, the company is required to update all current iPhones to include a lock-out feature.

Ceja, who sustained injuries, rear-ended a driver at a stoplight while allegedly using an iPhone.

Jonathan Michaels of MLG Automotive Law stated, "The relationship consumers have with their phones is just too great, and the ability to slide under the eye of the law is just too easy. Embedding lock-out devices is the only solution."

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Overall, the smartphone shipments in India grew 18 per cent annually in 2016 compared to the global smartphone market, which grew 3 per cent.

Indian smartphone vendors have dropped out of the top five smartphone ranking in the country during Q4 2016, following the demonetisation, according to analysis done by Counterpoint Technology Market Research.

For the first time, no Indian brand figured among the top 5 smartphone rankings, Counterpoint said as a statement in their report. Demonetisation has widened the usual seasonal decline from estimated 12 per cent to 19 per cent YoY, they concluded.

However, amid the shortfall of Indian brands, Chinese brands contributed around 46 per cent of the total smartphone market in India. While the demonetisation had its impact on local players, it will be unfair to take credit from Chinese players that continue to expand their presence throughout India, riding on aggressive portfolio strategies and substantial marketing spends, Counterpoint added.

In the research, Counterpoint revealed November 2016 saw the Chinese brands shares reach an all-time high, accounting for 51 per cent of the total smartphone market.

Chinese brands OPPO, Vivo, Lenovo and Xiaomi continued to grow at the expense of Samsung and Indian brands. Their success was attributable to a variety of factors including strong marketing and channel push, as well as better access to components that were in limited supply. As a result, Chinese brands captured close to 50 per cent market share. said Counterpoint.

Although over 83 million smartphones in 2016 were Made in India, three in every four smartphones sold were manufactured in India and the local value addition remains close to 6 per cent.

Apple captured the 10th position in smartphone rankings during Q4 2016, but led the premium segment with a 62 per cent market share.

Overall, the smartphone shipments in India grew 18 per cent annually in 2016 compared to the global smartphone market, which grew 3 per cent.

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Somali men carry a civilian who was wounded in a suicide car bomb attack on a hotel in Mogadishu. (Photo: AP)

Mogadishu: At least eight people were killed and 14 injured as Somali security forces ended a siege by extremist fighters who stormed a hotel in the capital, police said.

Four al-Shabab attackers were also killed in the attack on Dayah hotel, which is often frequented by government officials, said Col. Mohamoud Abdi, a senior Somali police officer.

Survivors described chaotic scenes in which hotel residents hid themselves under beds and others jumped out of windows of the four-story building to escape the extremist attackers.

"They kicked down room doors and at some point posed themselves as rescue teams by telling those inside to come out (only) to kill them," said Hassan Nur, a traditional Somali elder who participated in the election of members of Somalia's new parliament.

He said two well-known clan elders were among those killed by the attackers in the hotel. The assault on the hotel started when a suicide car bomb exploded at its gates.

Dozens of people, including lawmakers, were thought to have been staying at Mogadishu's Dayah hotel at the time of the morning attack, said Capt. Mohamed Hussein. Heavy gunfire could still be heard inside the hotel, he said.

A nearby shopping center caught fire and dozens of people helped save goods in the business premises.

Somalia's homegrown Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack via its online radio, Andalus, saying its fighters succeeded in entering the hotel and an "operation is ongoing now."

Al-Shabab frequently targets hotels and other public places often visited by government officials and foreigners. Al-Qaida's East African affiliate is fighting to impose a strict version of Islam in the Horn of Africa nation.

In June, gunmen stormed the Nasa-Hablod hotel, killing at least 14 people. Two weeks before that, gunmen killed 15, including two members of parliament, at the Ambassador hotel.

Despite being ousted from most of its key strongholds, al-Shabab continues to carry out deadly guerrilla attacks across large parts of south and central Somalia. Earlier this month, a bomb explosion at a restaurant in Mogadishu killed three, and a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint near Mogadishu's international airport, killing at least three. That blast occurred a few hundred meters (yards) from the main base of the African Union peacekeeping mission.

Al-Shabab's assaults have threatened this nation's attempts to rebuild from decades of chaos. The presidential election, a key step toward recovery, already has been delayed several times because of security and other concerns.
A group of teepees at the Oceti Sakowin Camp on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation outside Cannon Ball, North Dakota, as native Americans and activists from around the country gather at the camp trying to halt the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. (Photo: AFP)

Washington: US President Donald Trump moved to advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines on Tuesday, a pair of projects that were blocked by the Obama administration due in part to environmental concerns. Both orders are subject to renegotiations of the agreements.

Mr Trump also signed a notice requiring the materials for the pipelines to be constructed in the United States, though it was unclear how he planned to enforce the measure.

"From now we are going to start making pipelines in the United States," Mr Trump said from the Oval Office.

Looking ahead, Mr Trump announced that he planned to nominate a justice for the Supreme Court next week, moving swiftly to try to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The president was summoning top senators to the White House later on Tuesday to discuss his upcoming nomination.

Mr Trump has sought to focus his first full week in office on jobs and the economy. Republicans, as well as some unions, have cited the pipeline projects as prime opportunities for job growth.

Former President Barack Obama stopped the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in late 2015, declaring it would have undercut US efforts to clinch a global climate change deal that was a centerpiece of his environmental legacy. The pipeline would run from Canada to Nebraska where it would connect to existing lines running to US refineries on the Gulf Coast. The US government needs to approve the pipeline because it would cross the nation's northern border.

Separately, late last year, the Army Corps of Engineers declined to allow construction of the Dakota Access pipeline under Lake Oahe, saying alternative routes needed to be considered. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters say the project threatens drinking water and Native American sites, though Energy Transfer Partners, the company that wants to build the pipeline, disputes that and says the pipeline will be safe.

The pipeline is to carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois.

Even as Mr Trump moves to implement his agenda, he is still making false claims.

During a reception with lawmakers at the White House Monday evening, Mr Trump claimed the reason he'd lost the popular vote to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton was that 3 million to 5 million immigrants living in the US illegally had voted. That's according to a Democratic aide familiar with the exchange who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

There is no evidence to support Mr Trump's claim. He made a similar statement on Twitter in late November that he had won the Electoral College in a "landslide" and "won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally." Ms Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes but lost the electoral contest.

Mr Trump's assertion appears to be part of a continuing pattern for him and his new administration in which falsehoods overshadow his outreach efforts.

On Tuesday, Mr Trump summoned the heads of the big three American automakers, General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Fiat Chrysler, for a breakfast meeting at the White House. He pledged to scrap regulations and reduce taxes on corporations that keep jobs in the US, though he did not specify his plans for either.

His administration, he said, will "go down as one of the most friendly countries" for business.

Mr Trump's actions signal a reset after a tumultuous weekend dominated by his and his spokesman's false statements about inauguration crowds and their vigorous complaints about media coverage of the celebrations. While Mr Trump's advisers have long accepted his tendency to become fixated on seemingly insignificant issues, some privately concede that his focus on inauguration crowds was unhelpful on the opening weekend of his presidency.

In addition to his executive action on TPP, Trump signed memorandums freezing most federal government hiring - though he noted an exception for the military - and reinstating a ban on providing federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information on the option. The regulation, known as the "Mexico City Policy," has been a political volleyball, instituted by Republican administrations and rescinded by Democratic ones since 1984.

The actions were among the long list of steps candidate Trump pledged to take on his opening day as president. But other "Day One" promises were going unfulfilled, including plans to propose a constitutional amendment imposing term limits on members of Congress and terminating Obama's executive actions deferring deportations for some people living in the US illegally.
Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign several executive orders on Wednesday restricting immigration from Syria and six other Middle Eastern or African countries, according to several congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter.

In addition to Syria, Trump's orders are expected to temporarily restrict access to the United States for most refugees. Another order will block visas from being issued to those from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, said the aides and experts, who asked not to be identified.

The restrictions on refugees are likely to include a multi-month ban on admissions from all countries until the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security can make the vetting process more rigorous.

Stephen Legomsky, a former chief counsel at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama administration, said the president has the authority to limit refugee admissions and the issuance of visas to specific countries if it is determined to be in the publics interest.

From a legal standpoint, it would be exactly within his legal rights, said Legomsky, who now is a professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. But from a policy standpoint it would be terrible idea because there is such an urgent humanitarian need right now for refugees.

The Republican president was expected to sign the orders at the headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security, whose responsibilities include immigration and border security.

On the campaign trail, Trump initially proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, which he said would protect Americans from jihadist attacks. Many Trump supporters decried former President Barack Obama's decision to increase the number of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States over fears that those fleeing the country's civil war would carry out attacks.

Both Trump and his nominee for attorney general, U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions, have since said they would focus the restrictions on countries whose emigres could pose a threat rather than placing a ban on people who follow a specific religion.

Detractors could launch legal challenges to the moves if all the countries subject to the ban are Muslim-majority nations, said immigration expert Hiroshi Motomura at UCLA School of Law. Legal arguments could claim the executive orders discriminate against a particular religion, which would be unconstitutional, he said.

"His comments during the campaign and a number of people on his team focused very much on religion as the target," Motomura said.

To block entry from the designated countries, Trump is likely to instruct the State Department to stop issuing visas to people from those nations, according to sources familiar with the visa process. He could also instruct Customs and Border Protection to stop any current visa holders from those countries from entering the United States.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that the State and Homeland Security departments would work on the vetting process once Trump's nominee to head the State Department, Rex Tillerson, is installed.

Other measures may include directing all agencies to finish work on a biometric identification system for non-citizens entering and exiting the United States and a crackdown on immigrants fraudulently receiving government benefits, according to the congressional aides and immigration experts.

To restrict illegal immigration, Trump has promised to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and to deport illegal migrants living inside the United States. None of the orders to be signed Wednesday are expected to focus on those issues.

Trump is also expected to swear in his new secretary of homeland security, retired Marine General John Kelly, on Wednesday.
Washington: President Donald Trump's press secretary on Tuesday mischaracterised the election results and the findings of a study that purported to show significant voting in the past by non-citizens.

Statements by Sean Spicer and how they compare with the facts:

Spicer: "He won overwhelmingly with 306 electoral votes, the most since any Republican since Reagan."

The facts: Not the most since Reagan, and not an overwhelming victory by history's standards. You only have to go back to George H.W. Bush to find a bigger Republican Electoral College winner. Bush captured 426 electoral votes in 1988, or 79 percent, well ahead of Trump with 306 electoral votes, or 57 percent.

Trump actually ended up with 304 electoral votes because of the defection of two electors in December, but he had won enough states to get to 306.

The broader context: Trump's victory ranked 46th out of the 58 elections since the nation's founding, far from the "landslide" that Trump himself has often claimed.

Reagan achieved true blowouts, winning 489 electoral votes (91 percent) in 1980 and 525 (97.6 percent) in 1984.

Spicer: "I think there's been studies. There's one that came out of Pew in 2008 that showed 14 percent of people who voted were non-citizens."

The facts: First, Spicer mixes up studies. Second, he misrepresents the conclusions.

The Pew study, released in 2012 and based in part on 2008 results, was about outdated or otherwise inaccurate voter registration records, not about votes illicitly cast by non-citizens.

David Becker, an author of that study, said his report never found fraud. Moreover, he tweeted Tuesday that voting integrity in 2016 was "better in this election than ever before."

The issue of non-citizen voting actually was examined in a 2014 study by two Old Dominion University professors who wrote about their findings in The Washington Post.

They did not conclude, as Spicer said, that more than 14 percent of voters were non-citizens. They said that an estimated 14 percent or more of non-citizens had registered to vote a much smaller universe of people. Moreover, only "some of these non-citizens voted," they said.

Their "best guess" was that 6.4 percent of non-citizens voted in 2008 and 2.2 percent in 2010.

Even those modest numbers were sharply disputed by other academics because of the study's methodology. But even if the study were right, it would not support Spicer's assertion. Nor does it support Trump's repeated statements that illicit voting by people in the country illegally cost him a majority of the popular vote in November.

The broader context: No evidence of significant voter fraud surfaced from the 2016 election, despite plenty of digging.
US President Donald Trump and Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto during an earlier meeting in Mexico City. (Photo: AP)

Mexico City: Under pressure from President Donald Trump, Mexico is preparing to discuss changes to trade rules about a product's country of origin to try to avoid a disruptive fight with the United States over commerce.

As the two countries begin a difficult new relationship, Mexico sees possible common ground with Trump on the "rules of origin" of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that binds the two countries and Canada, several sources said.

Rules of origin are regulations setting out where trade products are sourced from. Although formal negotiations about NAFTA have not begun, the rules could eventually be altered to favour U.S. industry over competitors from outside North America, particularly in Asia.

Changes to those rules could help align Mexico with Trump's industrial strategy of boosting U.S. manufacturing jobs and dovetail with the Mexican government's calls to strengthen North American competitiveness.

It could also help pave the way for a broader deal with Trump over border security and immigration, Mexican officials believe.

Talks about NAFTA rules of origin will be a "very important" point of discussion between the two countries now that Trump is in office, a Mexican official said.

A White House official said: "As a general rule, it is in the best interests of the U.S. to insist on strong rules of origin provisions in pursuing bilateral negotiations. Lax rules of origin in proposed treaties like the now defunct Trans-Pacific Partnership shrink and weaken our supply chain and contribute to the offshoring of American jobs."

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo will hold talks with top Trump officials in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday, where security, migration and trade will be discussed.

Fears of economic disaster have haunted Mexico since Trump won the presidency in November threatening to tear up NAFTA, impose protectionist tariffs and build a wall on the United States' southern border to halt illegal immigration.

While Mexico is reluctant to alter the 1994 trade accord, officials concede that some changes may be necessary to help keep trade open with the United States, which absorbs 80 percent of its exports.

"What we want is to maintain free access for Mexican products, without restrictions, without tariffs and quotas," Videgaray, the spearhead of the government's outreach to Trump, said on Monday.

Lesser evil

Speaking on condition of anonymity, two Mexican government officials and four other people familiar with ongoing discussions said Mexico saw rules of origin as an important avenue to brokering a deal with Trump, provided a fair compromise can be reached.

In trade agreements, content rules or rules of origin are often used to determine import duties.

Under NAFTA, 62.5 percent of the material in a car or light truck made in Mexico must be from North America to be able to enter the United States tariff free.

Trump's pressure on U.S. automakers such as Ford to build more cars at home worries Mexico, where the industry has been one of the main drivers of growth and accounted for 18.5 percent of manufacturing GDP in 2015.

Trump on Tuesday told the chief executives of the Big Three U.S. automakers - General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler - that he wants to see more auto plants in the United States.

Mexico warned it could pull out of NAFTA if a renegotiation of the pact does not benefit it.

Trump's team is behind the push for changes in the origin rules, seeing it as a means of reducing imports from China, two of the Mexican sources familiar with the matter said.

Trump's nominee for Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, spoke of the importance of content rules in protecting the automotive industry during Senate hearings last week, and Canadian media reported that Ross had told Canada rules of origin would be central to NAFTA talks.

US hard line

NAFTA rules of origin apply to goods made in any of the three countries. Two Mexican sources said the Trump administration could push for national content requirements that would ensure that the United States benefits from changes in rules of origin, and not just the NAFTA region as a whole.

However, that would be more complex to manage, they added.

So as not to hurt companies, any changes would need to be phased in gradually, and the more items that were targeted, the trickier negotiations would be, one of the sources said.

Any deal would need to ensure rules changes applied to all countries, not just to Mexico, one Mexican official said.

Of the foreign carmakers in Mexico, Toyota might be able to handle a higher NAFTA content ratio better than others. Its Camry car, for example, has very high North American and U.S. content.

Other Japanese automakers such as Mazda have a larger proportional reliance on Asia-based suppliers.

Kristin Dziczek, a labor analyst at the Center of Automotive Research, said deepening rules of origin could have some impact on U.S. jobs and would hit some foreign automakers harder especially those that produce more parts and vehicles outside North America.

The NAFTA rules are in place to prevent China or other lower wage countries from being able to produce the majority of content in a vehicle and export it to another country to assemble it without paying tariffs.

US automakers have not backed tougher rules of origin previously because they wanted flexibility on sourcing parts.

If the countries agree in negotiations, that percentage could be increased, potentially giving an advantage to U.S. industry at the expense of Asian competitors.

For Mexico, changing the rules of origin could be a lesser evil than Trump's threat to impose a 35 percent tax on certain goods made by foreign companies in Mexico for sale in the United States.
Louisville: The US Secret Service is investigating a Twitter posting by a Kentucky woman who suggested someone could assassinate President Donald Trump.

The agency's field office in Louisville has interviewed Heather Lowrey and conducted a background check.

The tweet, according to a screenshot provided to The Courier-Journal, says "If someone was cruel enough to assassinate MLK, maybe someone will be kind enough to assassinate Trump."

Special Agent Richard Ferretti said on Tuesday that once the investigation concludes, the results will be sent to the US Attorney's office, which would decide on any potential charges.

Federal law prohibits threats to the president and the crime is punishable by at least one year in prison and a maximum of five years. Ferretti suggested Internet users "think twice" before sending social media posts.
Bana Alabed, 7, lives in with her mother, Fatemah, and her brothers. (Photo: Twitter)

Istanbul: Seven-year-old Syrian girl Bana al-Abed, who came to international attention with her tweets giving a tragic account of the war in Aleppo, has written an open letter to new US President Donald Trump. In her letter Bana, who was evacuated from the besieged city to Turkey in December, appealed to Trump to help the children of Syria, the BBC reported yesterday.

I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war, she wrote, according to a transcript of the letter her mother sent to the BBC.

She told Trump her school in Aleppo was destroyed by the bombing and some of her friends had died.

Right now in Turkey, I can go out and enjoy. I can go to school although I didnt yet. That is why peace is important for everyone including you.

However, millions of Syrian children are not like me right now and suffering in different parts of Syria, she wrote.

You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you.

At least 15,000 children are among the more than 300,000 people who have been killed in Syrias six-year war between President Bashar al-Assads regime and rebel forces.

Through her tragic descriptions of life in besieged Aleppo on her @AlabedBana Twitter account, Bana became a symbol of the tragedy unfolding in Syria, although the government had slammed her and her mothers nearly daily tweets as propaganda.

Turkey, which backs the Syrian rebels, is hosting some 2.7 million refugees from the conflict.

Syrian rebels and Assads government are holding peace talks in Kazakhstan but there have been no signs of a breakthrough.

Trumps administration was invited to participate in the talks organised by key players Russia, Turkey and Iran but did not send a delegation.

Trumps spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday that the new US president was open to conducting joint operations with Russia to combat the Islamic State group, who control significant territory in northern Syria.
In this June 25, 2015 file photo, Pope Francis greets the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta Matthew Festing, right, at the end of a private audience in the Pontiff's private library at the Vatican. (Photo: AP)

Rome: The head of the Knights of Malta resigned after entering into a public spat with Pope Francis over the ouster of a top official involved in a condom scandal, a spokeswoman for the ancient lay Catholic order said Wednesday.

Matthew Festing met with the pope on Tuesday and offered his resignation, Knights of Malta spokeswoman Marianna Balfour told The Associated Press.

"I can confirm this," Balfour said.

Festing had refused to cooperate with a papal commission investigating his ouster of the grand chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, over revelations that the order's charity branch had distributed condoms under his watch. Festing had cited the Knights' status as a sovereign entity in refusing to cooperate.

Last week, the Holy See said in a sharply worded statement that it plans to take action to resolve the dispute, which had set the stage for one sovereign entity intervening in the internal affairs of another.

The remarkable showdown is the latest example of Francis clashing with more conservative elements in the Catholic Church, especially those for whom sexual ethics and doctrinal orthodoxy are paramount. In a Jan. 17 statement, the Vatican called the issue a "crisis of the central direction" of the Knights of Malta.

Festing suspended Boeselager on Dec. 8 over revelations that the Knights' charity branch had distributed thousands of condoms to poor people in Myanmar under his watch.

Church teaching forbids artificial contraception. Boeselager has said he stopped the programs when he learned of them. The order's leadership has said the scandal was grave and called it "disgraceful" that Boeselager refused an order to obey Festing and resign.

Francis appointed a commission to investigate after Boeselager said he had been told by Festing that the Holy See wanted him to resign over the scandal. The Vatican secretary of state has said the pope wanted nothing of the sort and wanted the dispute to be resolved through dialogue.

The order's leadership had said it wouldn't cooperate with the pope's commission, citing its status as a sovereign entity under international law.

In a Jan. 14 letter, Festing questioned the credibility of the pope's commission, saying there were "serious accusations of a conflict of interest" involving three of its five members. The three, he wrote, were linked to a Geneva-based fund in which the Knights had a financial interest and therefore couldn't be trusted to address the spat objectively.

He didn't elaborate. The National Catholic Register has reported that three of the commission members were involved, along with Boeselager, in a $118 million bequest to the order. Festing has decided to launch an internal inquiry into the matter.

The commission is made up of a noted Jesuit canon lawyer, three members of the order said to be close to Boeselager, and the Vatican's former U.N. envoy to the U.N. in Geneva.

In its Jan. 17 statement, the Vatican hinted that it plans to take measures based on the commission's final report, a move that could rile the Knights' over their sovereignty claim. The order is also a Catholic lay order and its leadership takes an oath of obedience to the pope.

The Vatican had said it "counts on the complete cooperation of all in this sensitive stage", an apparent reference to the order's refusal to cooperate.
Kamrul Islam, in-charge of food at the 'Prince of Bengal' curry house in Rhondda valley of south Wales, has admitted to throwing chilli powder in an act of self-defence.

London: A Bangladeshi-origin head chef of a curry restaurant in the UK, who threw a "large" bowl of chilli powder in the eyes of a diner for complaining about the food served, has been arrested for assault.

Kamrul Islam, in-charge of food at the 'Prince of Bengal' curry house in Rhondda valley of south Wales, has admitted to throwing chilli powder in an act of self-defence.

"It was self-defence and that is why I did what I did. It was all seen on our CCTV and I'm happy for the police to see it. I was defending myself," the chef told Wales Online. Mr Islam was arrested at his restaurant and bailed until the end of the month.

South Wales Police confirmed they were investigating the January 21 incident. "A man has been arrested on suspicion of common assault and has been bailed until January 31, pending further inquiries," a spokesperson said.

The diner, David Evans, had to be taken to hospital from the restaurant. He had been out for dinner with his wife Michelle when they were asked by a waiter if they were enjoying their food.

The couple said they told the waiter their meal was "tough and rubbery" and he passed the complaint onto the head chef.

"The chef came to the door with a large bowl of chilli powder which he threw at David's face. He instantly thought he had been blinded and didn't know what he'd thrown at him, he was shaking in shock, hanging on to the counter being sick thinking he was going to go blind," Ms Michelle said.

"The chilli had even burnt the skin on David's hands and chest where the chilli had fallen down his shirt," she added.

Her husband is now reportedly having specialist check-ups and is taking steroid eye drops to suppress his body's severe reaction to the chilli powder.

"Chilli will burn but it is not life-threatening. I've been running this restaurant here for 18 years and I've never had to do anything like this. I'm very upset by it all," said Kamrul Islam.
Participants highlighted that acceleration in economic growth on a sustained basis is an important policy objective for poverty reduction. (Photo: Representational Image)

Dubai: India and Pakistan must reform their institutions of governance to accelerate economic growth on a sustained basis for poverty reduction, lawmakers and experts from both the countries attending a meeting in Dubai said notwithstanding the chill in bilateral ties.

The fifth round of 'Pakistan-India Legislators and Public Officials Dialogue' was held on Tuesday and facilitated by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT).

"Participants highlighted that acceleration in economic growth on a sustained basis is an important policy objective for poverty reduction. For this policy and reform, the two countries must introduce reforms in institutions of governance," a statement released following the dialogue said.

According to the statement, participants from India highlighted a number of social safety net programmes that have helped alleviate poverty in India adding that success also needs to be based on equitable and sustained growth and the inclusion of stakeholders other than government.

"While the dialogue saw overall consensus on both global and South Asian success with some reduction in poverty numbers despite complexity of measuring poverty and disagreements on successful strategies, participants believed that continuing arms expenditure by both countries will be to the detriment of the welfare of the people," said the statement.

Those who attended the event included Kirti Azad, BJP MP from Darbhanga, Adarsh Shastri, AAP MLA, Delhi Assembly, Ajay Dutt, AAP MLA from Delhi, and Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya, MLA, Rajasthan Assembly from the Congress party. Some prominent journalists from India also attended the event.

Dr Arif Alvi, MNA from Sindh (Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf), Muhammed Tallal Chaudry, Punjab MNA Pakistan Muslim League Nawas (PML-N) and Syed Naveed Qamar, Hyderabad MNA representing Pakistan Peoples Party represented the Pakistan side.

While Pakistani participants showcased economic growth and role of remittances, they also cited some success emanating from targeted-subsidy programmes in reducing poverty.

"Dialogue also recognised with concern the growing gap in rich and poor segments of society both in Pakistan and India.

Comprehensive poverty alleviation strategies must also focus on reducing inequality within society in both countries. Participants highlighted exclusion of the poor in planning as well as in prioritising development schemes.

"There needs to be an increased focus on expenditures by governments in housing, public health, public education and in other social sectors," said the statement.

The two sides agreed that microfinance and availability of easy and cheap credit can go a long way in providing capital to poor and deprived sections of society for small business enterprises.

Highlighting food security as a critical looming challenge for Pakistan and India, dialogue participants emphasised that both countries must focus on revamping agricultural growth policies that are farmer-friendly and incentivise them as key stakeholders.

Tensions have been running high between India and Pakistan at the LoC and got escalated after the cross border terror attack on an army base in Kashmir's Uri town in September.
The 12-storey buildings were brought down to make way for a new business district that would also comprise of a 707-metre tall skyscraper. (Photo: YouTube Screengrab)

Wuhan, Hubei: Nineteen buildings in the Chinese city of Wuhan disappeared in the blink of an eye after they were demolished by a huge explosion in order to make way for a skyscraper.

The 12-storey buildings were brought down to make way for a new business district that would also comprise of a 707-metre tall skyscraper.

About 150,000 square metres of concrete, steel and glass was demolished in the night -- all within a matter of 10 seconds.

The residents of the buildings were already moved out a couple of weeks prior to the demolition.

Jia Yongsheng, general director of the demolition company, said about five tons of explosive material was used for the demolition, adding that the explosives were spread at around 120, 000 locations in the buildings.

"The demolition effect was quite ideal. The explosion didn't affect the public facilities around the blasted buildings. There was no damage and adverse effects of blasting," Jia was quoted as saying.
Prior to taking the issue to media, the female anchors Tanzeela Mazhar and Yashfeen Jamal had complained to the PTV management against Director Current Affairs Agha Masood Shorish for the alleged sexual advances and harassment. (Photo: Twitter)

Islamabad: Pakistan's state-run television has banned its two female anchors for "defaming" the channel by taking to social media and appearing in talk shows to raise alleged sexual harassment case against a senior official.

Prior to taking the issue to media, the female anchors Tanzeela Mazhar and Yashfeen Jamal had complained to the PTV management against Director Current Affairs Agha Masood Shorish for the alleged sexual advances and harassment.

The two took to social media to highlight their case, after which the PTV management on January 20 asked them to remove the contents on social media "within 24 hours" or face disciplinary action.

The anchors not only refused to remove the content from their social media but also participated in a private TV talk show on Sunday and discussed the issue on air.

PTV's Controller Current Affairs Habibur Rehman yesterday issued a letter banning both the anchors from appearing in any programme of the state broadcaster. Rehman accused the duo of "defaming" the PTV organisation.

He said already an internal inquiry headed by a female officer of the information ministry with authority of the judicial magistrate was underway to determine the allegations.

It was second major scandal of harassment hitting the PTV after similar made headlines last year when at least six female anchors accused Director News Athar Farooq Buttar of sexual misconduct.
Karachi: A Pakistani woman lawmaker threatened to self-immolate after she was harassed by male colleagues in parliament, telling AFP that the widely-publicised incident shows how laws to protect women are not being enforced.

Nusrat Sahar Abbasi, an MP in Sindh province, spoke of her fury after provincial minister Imdad Pitafi invited her to his private chambers on the floor of the assembly on Friday in comments seen as sexual harassment in conservative Pakistan.

She said she protested strongly but the deputy speaker of the assembly, also a woman, refused to take any action.

A frustrated Abbasi was then pictured on Saturday holding a small bottle said to be of petrol and threatening to self-immolate if action was not taken.

Federal party chiefs were forced to intervene as the incident exploded on social media, with Pitafi finally caving to the pressure and apologising in the assembly while offering Abbasi a chador, or veil, as a mark of his respect.

Abbasi told AFP on Tuesday that the incident was now "over", but that it poses a question on the implementation of laws protecting women from such sexual harassment.

"Their implementation is still a dream," Abbasi said.

"Even us, the parliamentarians are not safe from gender biases and harassment," she said.

Pakistani women have spent decades fighting for their rights in a deeply conservative country where so-called honour killings and acid attacks remain commonplace.

Pakistan has passed several laws to increase protections available to women in recent years, some at the provincial level, but critics have warned that without proper enforcement they will have little impact.

Last year a bill passed in Punjab province redefined "violence" to include "any offense committed against a women", prompting an Islamic religious body to protest that men should be allowed to "lightly beat" their wives.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, today moved the Delhi High Court seeking cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted by the trial court to Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a case of killing of three Sikhs. Justice S P Garg, before whom the plea came up for hearing, asked SIT how the trial court order is illegal and said the respondent is facing trial in other matters also then how is it possible that he could be present at all spots.



"Where is the illegality in the trial court's order. 32 years have passed and now you (SIT) are seeking to interrogate him (Kumar) in the matter pertaining to the incident. Prior to November 2016 there was no complaint against him by the present complainant. Suddenly, the complainant has grievances against him (Kumar)," the court observed. It was hearing a plea by SIT, which came in appeal against the trial court's December 21 last year order granting anticipatory bail to Kumar.



It had asked Kumar to cooperate in the probe and not to influence any witness related to the case. While granting relief to the former MP on a personal bond of Rs one lakh and a surety of the like amount, the trial court had also said that he will not leave the country without the court's permission.



Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, appearing for SIT, submitted before the bench that the cases filed against Kumar falling in jurisdiction of Janakpuri and Vikaspuri police stations in west Delhi, were lodged after delay of over 30 years as the complaintant was "scared" to name the accused due to his "powerful" position.



The ASG submitted that since his name has cropped up during the investigation in the case, he needs to be interrogated and his custody is also necessary as he has to be confronted with the evidence in the matter. He said that as per complainant Harvinder Singh, whose counsel also sought cancellation of Kumar's bail, on the fateful day at around 11 AM, the accused was seen leading a mob.



To this, the court asked the ASG, apart from the complainant's affidavit on the basis of which the cases were lodged, does he have anything more to establish that the respondent here was present at the spot. "Do you (SIT) have anything more to establish about his alleged involvement. We are not disputing the incident but his involvement is there or not is a question," it said. It later asked the ASG to produce records relating to the other case he is allegedly involved in and for which he has or is facing trial.



"There are other cases also against him (Kumar) relating to incidents at different places on the same day. So place before this court, if any, the material to show that the person against whom you have come was present at all spots at different times," the court said, adding that "it is not possible for a person to be present at all spots at one time". The ASG sought time till February 23 by when he could produce all the records.



The complaint in Janakpuri pertains to the killing of two Sikhs -- Sohan Singh and his son-in-law Avtar Singh -- on November 1, 1984. The other relates to Gurcharan Singh who was burnt on November 2, 1984 in the jurisdiction of Vikaspuri police station. As per the complaint, Gurcharan, who was half burnt, remained bed-ridden for 29 years. He died three years ago.



Seeking anticipatory bail from the trial court, Kumar had argued that his name had appeared in the case after 32 years and it was politically motivated. Seeking setting aside of the trial court decision, the high court was told that Kumar was summoned twice by SIT but he had appeared only once. SIT has also submitted that delay in registration of FIR and not assigning the investigation of the cases to an independent agency clearly suggest the influence of accused/ respondent at that time also.



SIT, which was set up in February 2015 on the direction of the Ministry of Home Affairs to reinvestigate the closed case, said that it filed a detailed status report of the ongoing investigation before the trial court. However, "without appreciating the relevant facts and without considering the established position of law and on very erroneous grounds, the trial court judge had passed the order and allowed the anticipatory bail applications of the accused/respondent," it said.


Seeking to boost security collaboration, India and the United Arab Emirates today inked two pacts to enable cooperation in the areas of cyberspace, armaments, defence industries and transfer of technology. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Mohammed Al Bawardi, UAE's Minister of State for Defence, exchanged Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of defence industry.



The agreement aims to establish cooperation in the identified fields of defence manufacturing and technology, including through studies, research, development, innovation and cooperation between public and private sector institutions of the two nations. Under this MoU, the two sides will also collaborate in areas of armaments, defence industries and transfer of technology.



The second MoU exchanged between Parrikar and Shaikh Khalid bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy National Security Adviser and Chairman of the State Security Department, UAE, was aimed at technology development and cooperation in cyberspace. It is noteworthy that in May last year, Parrikar's visit to the Gulf country focused on widening conversation with the UAE military on defence and security issues.



Possibilities of Indian defence manufacturers selling military equipment to the UAE were also explored during Parrikar's visit. Parrikar had also inked an MoU on the Mutual Protection of Classified Information. Bilateral defence interaction between India and the UAE has been witnessing a steady growth.



There have been regular high level exchanges at the level of service chiefs, functional level exchanges and military education exchanges between the countries. The ships of the navies of both countries have regularly made port calls enhancing bilateral defence cooperation. India and UAE also hold an 'Annual Defence Dialogue' to discuss the security and defence cooperation issues between the two countries.


Madras High Court today declined to pass any interim order on a petition which alleged police excesses during the crackdown on pro-jallikattu protesters on the Marina Beach here and sought a CBI probe. Justice R Mahadevan rejected the petitioner's contention that unless an interim order was passed, police would "destroy all evidences" and posted the matter for further hearing to January 30.



The petition was filed by B Kumar of Triplicane locality, abutting Marina Beach which witnessed violent incidents on January 23 when police started evicting the protesters who had been staging the agitation in support of jallikattu for six days. When the matter came up for hearing, petitioner's counsel K Balu submitted he had enough materials to "show the police excesses".



He said the petitioner had also made specific averments and allegations against the police personnel and sent a complaint to the Tamil Nadu Home Secretary and the Director General of Police yesterday. At this, the judge said the representation may have reached the officials only now and let them respond to it and that he would hear the matter on Monday.



Earlier, claiming that the police version that the violence was created by anti-social elements in the name of students and youth was not correct, the petitioner submitted he had information that it was police who instigated the violence. He alleged that police personnel set fire to an autoricksaw, damaged parked vehicles and entered some houses and ransacked articles and said he had evidence in support of his charges.



These "incidents show crystal clear" that the police personnel only created the violence, he claimed. The petitioner prayed to the court for seeking a report from the city Police Commissioner on the violent incidents and for a CBI Investigation. In a related matter, Justice Mahadevan closed petitions filed by two pro-jallikattu protesters seeking a direction to police not to harass them, observing that the protests have already ended.



The petitions were filed by G Pavendhan and Senthil Kumar on January 23, hours after the police launched the crackdown on protesters at the Marina Beach here.Justice Mahadevan in his oral orders on that day had directed the state DGP to ensure safety of public and pro-jallikattu protesters conducting their stir 'peacefully'. When the matter came up for hearing today, the Judge closed the petitions saying there was no point in keeping them pending as the protests were over.



Responding to allegations made by advocate Suresh that treatment was not given properly to persons injured in the violence, the Judge directed him to file a petition specifying the allegations. The judge further said that he had already instructed the state Advocate General to ensure proper treatment to the injured.


India and America will continue to fight terrorism shoulder-to-shoulder, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and new US President Donald Trump resolved in their first call after change of administration in Washington.





Modi and Trump resolved that India and the United States stood shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, according to a statement issued by the White House early on Wednesday.



The prime minister and the new US president discussed ways to expand bilateral cooperation in economy and defence and touched upon security situation in the neighbourhood of India and beyond.



Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening, Modi posted on Twitter on Wednesday. President @realDonaldTrump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties, added the prime minister. Modi was the fifth world leader to receive a call from Trump after the new US President took office in Washington DC on Friday.



Trump emphasised during his call to Modi that the US considered India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world, the White House said. The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.



The prime minister conveyed to the new American president that India and the US had made substantial progress in expanding bilateral defence and counter-terrorism cooperation over the past few years and New Delhi would expect that it would continue to grow in the coming years too, sources here told DH.



Modi may vist US this year

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit United States later this year on an invitation from new US President Donald Trump, DHNS reports.



Modi and Trump exchanged invitation to visit each others country during a phone-call late Tuesday.



The prime minister, himself, posted on Twitter that he had invited the new US President to visit India. A White House statement issued on Wednesday stated that Trump looked forward to hosting Modi in the US later this year.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has written to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) to look into the use of the word Republic, the proposed name for a new TV news channel to be launched by journalist Arnab Goswami.





In a letter to the I&B secretary, the BJP leader noted that certain names and emblems were prohibited from being used under the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950, for professional and commercial purposes. As per the schedule accompanying the statute, under Item 6, there is an express prohibition from using the phrase, Republic. Hence, the grant of licence to a news channel to broadcast under the name of Republic will be contrary to law and a direct breach of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950, he added.



Swamy, who wrote to the I&B secretary on January 13, posted a copy of his letter on Twitter on Wednesday. Your office may look into the use of Republic and determine if it is prohibited to use a licence under such name, he stated in the letter.
Days after BJP chief Amit Shah said the Goa government will run under the guidance of the defence minister if the party returns to power, Manohar Parrikar hinted that he was not averse to donning the chief ministers hat again.





Top BJP leadership, Shah and Union minister Nitin Gadkari who is election in-charge of the state, have been cashing in on the popularity of Parikkar in their political speeches to checkmate anti-incumbency of the Laxmikant Parsekar government.



Gadkari was the first to fuel the buzz while addressing a public rally last week when he said that an outsider will rule the state after polls, making it obvious that he was alluding to the defence minister, who the party leader says has his heart in Panaji.



When asked if is he returning as chief minister if the BJP retains power in Assembly polls as indicated by Amit Shah, the defence minister told DH, I have never said no to whatever responsibility party has given me.



Through out the conversation with a select few journalists, the Union minister never revealed what was in his mind in regard to his ambition.



Parikkar accused the AAP of using the Delhi government to fund its Goa Assembly poll campaign. He said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was making baseless allegations of corruption against the state government.
Senior JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav on Wednesday defended his comment comparing a womans honour to a vote, claiming that he has said nothing wrong.





Addressing a gathering of party workers in Patna on Tuesday, Yadav had said, Beti ki izzat se vote ki izzat badi hai (the honour of vote is much above a daughters honour).



The comment triggered a controversy, but Yadav defending himself by saying that he had not said anything wrong.



People should worry about their vote as much as their daughter. Only then the country will progress. Dont twist the facts or show my comments out of context, Yadav said.



The JD (U) leader further clarified his remarks by saying: There is a saying that vote and beti are both important Only then will the country progress.



We have been saying votes should be given as much value as one gives to their daughter. All I want to say is vote is the engine and driving force of the Constitution. Love and respect for vote and daughter should be the same. Everyone has a perspective, the JD (U) leader added.



NCW notice

National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Lalitha Kumaramangalam said a notice will be issued to Yadav asking him to appear before the commission.



Kumaramangalam said, Yadav has done it repeatedly. It has nothing to do with politics. There are so many people like him who demean women. We feel very strongly about it.



Yadavs comment has come in for severe criticism from CPM leader Subhasini Ali who said Yadav should be more sensitive in his comments. The ruling JD (U), however, expressed regret over Sharads statement. Whatever Sharad ji said is being shown out of context. But if it has hurt the sentiments of some sections of the society, we are sorry for it, said party national general secretary K C Tyagi.

DH News Service



JD (U) not to contest UP polls

Close on the heels of RJD chief Lalu Prasad making it clear that his party wont field its candidates in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Janata Dal (United) JD(U), too, toed Lalus line and decided to stay away from polls in the neighbouring state, DHNS reports from Patna.



Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, JD (U) national general secretary K C Tyagi said, The party, after discussing the Uttar Pradesh poll issue threadbare, has decided not to contest the election there. The JD (U) leader, however, lamented that the Congress failed to stitch a Bihar-type grand alliance in UP which should have included the JD (U), the RLD and the faction of the Apna Dal.



Much like in Bihar, there should have been a grand alliance of all non-BJP parties in UP so that the saffron march could be halted in the neighbouring state, said Tyagi, while reiterating that party decided to stay away from the polls in Uttar Pradesh so that there was no division in the secular votes, which otherwise would have helped the BJP. The JD (U)s decision on Wednesday is significant in the sense that party president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had held six meetings in Uttar Pradesh last year and wanted to spread the partys footprint outside Bihar.


President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday again came out in support of simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.





There are talks of simultaneous elections in the political circles. It could be possible if the political parties seriously arrive at a consensus. It may be possible because it can remove a lot of inconvenience in terms of management, Mukherjee said at the 7th National Voters Day celebrations here.



He added that the Election Commission should take the initiative. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said, however, that such an election would require constitutional amendments and political consensus.



Addressing a seminar on Strategies for Empowering Young and Future Voters organised by the Election Commission of India on the eve of 7th National Voters Day on Tuesday, Zaidi said, The commission, with certain additional resources, can undertake the exercise of simultaneous elections in future.



But, he said, there are two pre-conditions. One, there should be an amendment in the Constitution through a process of political consensus and we will need some additional resources in terms of electronic voting machines, etc. Mukherjees reiteration of support comes even as Modi is slated to call an all-party meeting on the subject. A few months ago, the law ministry had asked the Election Commission to submit its views on the report of a parliamentary standing committee which had supported the idea of holding simultaneous polls.
Raking up the contentious Ram Temple issue barely days ahead of the first phase of Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, saffron leaders have expressed serious concern over delay in its construction and vowed to launch a decisive battle for it after the elections.





Saints belonging to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) called for enactment of a legislation by Parliament paving the way for construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya.



A resolution to this effect was also adopted at the meeting of the VHP Margdarshak Mandal (advisory body) at Allahabad on Tuesday.



The meeting, which was attended by Ram Janambhoomi Trust president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das and representatives of the All India Akhara Parishad, also adopted resolutions demanding a ban on cow slaughter and Uniform Civil Code in the country.



The saffron leaders declared that a movement would be launched for Ram Temple after the UP Assembly polls with the help of the saints and other religious leaders.



The clamour for Ram Temple comes a day after Uttar Pradesh BJP president Keshav Prasad Mauryas reported remarks that a grand Ram Temple would be built at Ayodhya after the BJP came to power in the state. Maurya clarified later that Ram Temple was an issue of faith for the BJP and not an electoral issue.



The NDA government had recently decided to set up a Ramayana Museum in a bid to placate the saffron leaders, who had attacked the BJP for abandoning the issue.



Firebrand BJP leader and founder of the Bajarang Dal (BD) Vinay Katiyar had left his partys top leadership red faced, when he virtually termed the proposed Ramayana Museum as nothing but a lollipop and said that the nation wanted nothing less than a grand Ram Temple.



All these (museum, theme park) are alright but we want Ram Temple...without Ram Temple everything else is useless, Katiyar, who was among the prominent BJP leaders who had spearheaded the Ram Temple movement, had said a few days ago.



BJP Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy has on several occasions advocated for a Ram Temple and said that former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had lost the polls as he had abandoned the temple issue.



BJP MPs Yogi Adityanath, Sakshi Maharaj and some others are already clamouring for the Ram Temple at Ayodhya.

DH News Service
For China, President Donald Trumps scrapping of the US-brokered Pacific trade agreement is a chance to extend Beijings economic and political influence.





And it is an opportunity to deepen ties with its neighbours in Asia. But with a cooling economy at home and a looming leadership shake-up, the last thing President Xi Jinping wants is a trade war, though officials are girding for that possibility. Rather, Chinas leaders crave stability and predictability.



Early signs indicate they may not get their wish. The Chinese fear that if Trump was willing to toss aside years of delicate negotiations with allies and decades of US trade policy, he could also go his own way on issues he has staked out with Beijing, including Taiwan and the South China Sea.



As if to bolster that point, on Monday  the same day that Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the 12-nation trade agreement  his spokesman said the United States would prevent China from accessing islands it claimed in the South China Sea, a threat that one nationalist Chinese newspaper had already warned would mean war.



This shows that Trump might act on his words, Deng Yuwen, a public affairs commentator in Beijing, said in an interview. With previous presidents, their election promises werent taken so seriously. He added: That means China must take his other warnings more seriously, especially about the South China Sea and Taiwan.



Trumps goal in squelching the trade agreement was to protect American jobs and businesses. His trade officials have argued that the deal does not do enough to help the US or to contain China, which was not invited to join the agreement.



But in killing an agreement designed to limit Chinas vast economic reach in Asia and anchor Americas presence in the worlds fastest growing region, analysts said, Trump created a void that Xi was already practicing to fill.



Only last week, Xi was trying on the mantle of global leadership at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, suggesting that with the United States in retreat, China was prepared to step up as a champion of free trade and protector of the global environment.



The death of the trade agreement is likely to accelerate Beijings push for its alternative trade agreement, the China-centred Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.



That agreement would exclude the US and would reduce or eliminate tariffs on trade among China, Southeast Asian nations, Japan, Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. It includes few of the features of TPP that would have been most awkward for Beijing, such as protections for independent labour unions and the environment, and requirements that state-owned enterprises behave more like commercial enterprises.



The agreement has stalled on rifts between Southeast Asian nations and the others, but Thailands minister of commerce, Apiradi Tantraporn, said Monday that the talks are expected to be expedited without the TPP. But the end of the TPP will not be Trumps last word on trade with China.



His trade officials say they expect greater access to the Chinese market in exchange for the easy access Chinese goods have to the US. And they appear prepared to risk a trade war, an expanding tit-for-tat contest of tariffs and other trade restrictions, to get it.



Trumps trade officials have threatened to impose high tariffs on Chinese goods, starting with heavily subsidised products such as steel and aluminium, imported into the United States. Its a little weird that we have very low tariffs and China has very high tariffs, Wilbur Ross, the nominee for commerce secretary said at his Senate confirmation hearing last week.



Last week, China proposed allowing greater foreign investment in certain sectors, but there was little confidence the recommendations would be carried out in the foreseeable future, and American businesses said they felt less welcome in China than before.



While Trumps advisers say that China has more to lose than the United States in a trade war, Chinese officials told visiting American businessmen last week that Beijing was prepared. They had developed lists of punitive options they would take against the United States if Washington took the initiative, they said.



The signals are very clear: If this is going to be a trade war, China will reduce imports of American aircraft from Boeing and agricultural products, said Wu Xinbo, director of American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. We can turn to Europe, Australia and Canada for those products. And we know that 20 to 30 of the states in the United States with big agricultural lobbies and Boeing plants will be putting pressure on Congress.



A long-serving US trade expert in China agreed, saying China was prepared to go to the mat. Trumps trade team would be wise to shelve The Art of the Deal and focus on the Art of War if they really want to know whats ahead in US-China trade relations, said James Zimmerman, a managing partner of the Beijing office of the law firm Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton who has worked in China for 19 years.



China views Trump as a paper tiger that will likely back down on the complicated, thorny issues that are not negotiable. The Chinese also know that Trump wont risk a trade war lest the business community will be up in arms.



Insecurities abound



Others, though, detect anxiety, and read Chinas outward confidence as bluster. Bilahari Kausikan, ambassador at large for Singapore, said China had a real insecurity about a trade war. Both sides are likely to lose, he said, but China stands to lose more since the US domestic political order is not at stake in the same way as the Chinese Communist Party rule may be at stake.



The next few months, as Xi focuses on choosing new members of the ruling Standing Committee for his second five-year term, will be a particularly tense political period, and economic instability is the last thing he needs. Similarly, he will try at all costs to appear strong to his domestic, nationalistic audience in the face of challenges from Trump on Taiwan and the South China Sea. Trump has suggested that the One China policy, under which the US recognises the government of Beijing and not Taiwan, is not sacrosanct, a major concern for Xi.



Trump has also threatened China on control of territory it claims in the South China Sea. While Trump has not explained how he will keep China off islands where it has built airstrips and installed weapons, the comments by his appointees suggest the possibility of an American blockade. Indeed, while Obama tried unsuccessfully to leverage American allies in the region to compel China to back down, Trump seems willing to abandon them and face China on his own.



That go-it-alone attitude has raised alarms at the Pentagon and among American navy experts who said such a blockade would be tantamount to war. The idea has also alarmed Americas allies. Australia, Washingtons staunchest ally in the Asia Pacific region, said that a blockade could not be successful and could serve to persuade disenchanted American friends in the Asia Pacific region to pivot toward China.



With Trump portending divisive action on many fronts, Xi was calm and prepared, his foreign minister, Wang Yi, suggested. Serene under the tumultuous clouds, Wang said, quoting a line from a poem by Mao Zedong, the founder of Communist China. No one knows how long that will be the case.




President Pranab Mukherjee batted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi governments plans to improve the economy, including the decision to demonetise old currency notes and usher in a cashless system.





But he also sounded a strong note of caution on protecting Indias pluralistic culture. He was delivering his last address to the nation before he completes his term in July.



Mukherjee said, Our tradition has always celebrated the argumentative Indian and not the intolerant Indian. Multiple views, thoughts and philosophies have competed with each other peacefully for centuries in our country. A wise and discerning mind is necessary for democracy to flourish.



More than the unison of ideas, the President said a healthy democracy calls for conformity to the values of tolerance, patience and respect for others.



We have to work harder because our pluralistic culture and tolerance are still being put to test by vested interests. Reason and moderation should be our guide in dealing with such situations, said Mukherjee in what appeared to be an allusion to rise in hate speeches and attacks in recent years.



The President said India has had a noisy democracy. Yet, we need more and not less of democracy... And yet, our legislators lose sessions to disruptions when they should be debating and legislating on issues of importance. Collective efforts must be made to bring the focus back to debate, discussion and decision-making.



But, he said, it is the right time to acknowledge that systems are not perfect and those imperfections have to be recognised and rectified. The settled complacencies have to be questioned. The edifice of trust has to be strengthened.

DH News Service
Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday accused the Congress and its chief minister, Okram Ibobi Singh, of engineering the economic blockade in Manipur.





It (blockade) is by the state government, of the state government and for the state government. The Manipur chief minister and the Congress are behind the economic blockade and the people of the state are suffering because of it. The movement of goods and services is crippled and the prices are skyrocketing, he told reporters.



Forces kept idle

The human resource development minister, who is the BJP in-charge for Manipur, said the Centre had provided the required paramilitary forces to normalise the situation in the state.



The state government is deliberately keeping them idle. The chief minister is not listening to us at all, he said.



On November 1, the United Naga Council (UNC) had imposed economic blockade on NH-2 (from Imphal to Dimapur) and NH-37 (from Imphal to Jiribam) which serves as lifelines for the landlocked Manipur  demanding the release of council president Gaidon Kamei and publicity secretary Stephen Lamkang from police custody.



Javadekar dubbed the economic blockade the Congresss game plan for small political gains.



But this is not going to happen because people have seen through the Congresss game. On the eve of the elections, they divide people. They do not rule the state; just loot it. Therefore, we are very confident that this time, people will throw the Ibobi Singh dispensation out and elect a BJP government, he added.

DH News Service
India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday signed a series of pacts to lay the framework for a comprehensive strategic partnership and to step up cooperation in defence, energy, counter-terrorism and other areas.





A meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabis Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan  de-facto ruler of UAE  at Hyderabad House here was followed by signing of 14 pacts.



But a proposed Memorandum of Understanding between Indias National Investment and Infrastructure Fund and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to provide a framework for $75 billion investment flow from the UAE to India could not be inked.



We have shaped an ambitious roadmap of engagement to make our comprehensive strategic partnership purposeful and action-oriented.



The agreement that was exchanged just now has institutionalised this understanding, Modi said, while addressing reporters jointly with Sheikh Mohamed, who is also the Deputy Supreme Commander of armed forces of the UAE.



Its also refreshing to see how the Indian leadership is keen on strengthening relations with the UAE, which makes me even more confident about the prospects of the Strategic Partnership Agreement that we have signed, said the crown prince of Abu Dhabi.



Sheikh Mohamed is on a visit to New Delhi. He will be the chief guest at the Republic Day ceremony on Thursday. His last visit to New Delhi was in February 2016. Modi had visited Abu Dhabi in August 2015.



The pacts

One of the agreements was inked by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The agreement will provide a framework for the UAEs participation in building a strategic petroleum reserve for India. His Highness and I discussed ways to transform our energy ties in a strategic direction through specific projects and proposals. In this regard, long-term supply contracts and establishment of joint ventures in the energy sector can be beneficial avenues, said Modi.



Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Mohammed Al Bawardi, UAEs Minister of State for Defence, signed and exchanged an MoU on cooperation in defence industry.
At last, the BJP central leadership has taken note of the embarrassment caused by the tiff between state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa and senior leader K S Eshwarappa.





BJP national president Amit Shah has summoned the leaders to the national capital on Friday. A source in the party said a meeting has been scheduled at Shahs residence in New Delhi at 7 pm on Friday where the issue will be discussed at length.



Senior party functionaries Ram Lal, B L Santosh and P Muralidhar Rao will also be attending the meeting. Eshwarappa has been associating himself with the Sangolli Rayanna Brigade, a forum of OBCs and Dalits, much to the chagrin of Yeddyurappa.



Eshwarappa is participating in a convention of the Brigade in Kudalasangama, Bagalkot district, on Thursday despite Yeddyurappas diktat that no party functionary should attend the event. The rift between the two leaders reached a flashpoint recently after Yeddyurappa warned that action will be taken against those associating with the Brigade.


Small Scale Industries Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi on Wednesday said he is ready to make any sacrifice for the sake of the Congress in the wake of income tax raids at his residence recently.





In a statement to the media, he said the I-T raids were politically motivated and that his political adversaries have conspired against him. The raids are an effort to tarnish my image. My adversaries have not been able to digest my political growth. They are trying to remove me from my ministership, he stated.



He said he will soon submit a report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the raids and stick to whatever decision he takes. Sources in the Congress said Jarkiholi is planning to meet the chief minister on Thursday to brief him about the I-T raids.



Further, Jarkiholi claimed that the statement by the I-T department that it has seized Rs 162 crore unaccounted money and 12.8 kg jewellery is wrong. The department has neither found money nor any jewellery during the raids, he claimed.



Of the properties worth Rs 115 crore found during the raids, around Rs 80 crore belongs to the sugar factory and property worth another Rs 53 crore relates to various other businesses. Accounts of the entire Rs 115 crore have been submitted to the I-T department, he said. None of it is unaccounted for, he claimed.



BSY demands resignation



BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Small Scale Industries Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi after income tax raids unearthed Rs 113 crore undisclosed assets purportedly belonging to him. Instead of sacking Jarkiholi, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has stated he has no information about the I-T raids.



This is a very irresponsible statement and Siddaramaiah should contemplate whether he himself should continue in office, Yeddyurappa said. He also demanded that the Congress take action against its womens wing president Lakshmi Hebbalkar who has also been at the receiving end of the I-T raids. He said the statement by BJP national president Amit Shah at a recent party rally in Bengaluru that the Siddaramaiah government was the most corrupt in the country is turning out to be true.


Transport authorities on Wednesday set a three-day deadline for the app-based taxi aggregators  Ola and Uber  and their protesting drivers to thrash out the issues, after a meeting called to help both parties reach an agreement ended inconclusively.





Transport officials told DH that drivers aired their grievances and sought that meters be made mandatory. But officials said they were helpless in this regard as the High Court had stayed the matter. If there is no agreement, we will hold another meeting on Monday, a senior official said.



The meeting witnessed heated moments as leaders representing unions said the two persons each from Ola and Uber did not have any powers and that the managements had not taken the meeting seriously. Officials directed the company representatives to report the minutes of the meeting to their higher-ups.



Tanveer, leader of Ola, Taxi For Sure, Uber Drivers and Owners Union, said the companies were running shared taxis  Uber Pool and Ola Share  allowing more than two unknown people to travel in the same cab. But there are no rules here.



What if a girl is harassed or molested during the ride? If something happens, drivers will be held responsible, he said.



The company representatives denied running share taxis after officials said it was illegal. But I gave the proof and the authorities warned them of action, he said.



The companies say we can earn up to Rs 1 lakh per month, but we do not even get a copy of the agreements which are in English. How can a SSLC-pass driver understand contents of such documents? he said.



Other drivers attending the meeting said they were fined without giving notice for missing rides, which was again denied by the company representatives.



The unions have threatened to hold massive agitation if their grievances are not addressed by the companies on Monday. Tanveer and H E Somashekhar, leaders of two groups comprising more than 10 unions, said they may have no option, but take to the streets.


As many as 144 prisoners, including a woman, will walk free on the occasion of Republic Day on Thursday from central prisons throughout the state of Karnataka.





The highest number of prisoners (61) are being freed from Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru. Ballari Central Prison has the least number with the release of just nine prisoners. Only one woman prisoner will be released from Belagavi.



Prisoners will be handed over good conduct certificates and formally freed after the valedictory function at all the central prisons throughout the state that will start at 3 pm," H N Sathyanarayana Rao, DG Prisons, said.



We had sent requisition for release of 188 prisoners in total to the Home Department and around 172 prisoners were recommended for release by the Cabinet. As there were guidelines to be followed and legal restrictions on their releases, the final list from Raj Bhavan had 144 prisoners, he added.



Jailbirds



Bengaluru: 61

Mysuru: 23

Belagavi: 17 (including one woman prisoner)

Vijayapura: 16

Kalaburagi: 18

Ballari: 9


Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Wednesday submitted to the Karnataka High Court that just 124 unauthorised billboards needed to be removed in the city.





Out of 2,315 unauthorised hoardings in BBMP limits, the civic agency said that they have removed 2,439. BBMP has said that removing iron structures on which the unauthorised hoardings are displayed will take some time.



The counsel for the Palike has said that they would invite tenders for the removal of these structures. Justice Vineet Kothari granted three months time to remove these iron structures.



The judge is hearing a batch of petitions wherein Shine Outdoor Media, an advertising agency and others, have challenged the demand notices issued by the BBMP.



The judge had passed an order on December 5, 2016 framing certain guidelines for collecting advertisement tax. Based on the guidelines, the BBMP filed its second status report on the removal of unauthorised structures. However, the judge was not happy with the report as there were many details missing. He directed BBMP to file the report and adjourned the next hearing to January 27.



Stay extended

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday extended the stay on arresting Ibrahim Sharief, one of the accused in the currency conversion racket. It also directed the agencies not to harass him.



Sharief filed an affidavit saying that he had fully cooperated during investigation by the CBI. Certain other investigating departments were harassing him with their interrogation, he had said.



The income tax department had found Rs 4.80 crore in the new Rs 2,000 denomination notes during their raid at Shariefs apartment in RMV II Stage, Bengaluru. Along with CBI, the I-T department, Enforcement Directorate and the states Anti-corruption Bureau (ACB) are investigating the currency conversion racket. Justice Anand Byrareddy adjourned the hearing.

DH News Service
Governor Vajubhai Vala pointed that only those who vote can criticise the government. People nowadays talk of their rights and demands. They state that they have the Constitutional right to speak and to move around, but they forget that they have a bigger duty to vote, he said after inaugurating the National Voters Day event organised by the Election Commission of India.





Those who do not vote are the ones who have big cars and bungalows. All they do is sit and criticise the present political setup without doing anything about it. For a better country and society, people should exercise their right to vote, he pointed out.



On the occasion, Vala awarded some first-time voters and the best booth-level officers for bringing the maximum number of people into the voters list. The theme for this years National Voters Day celebration is Celebrate the Young and New Voters. First-time voters took an oath with Vala and BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad and Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner V Shankar that they will cast their vote and chose the right candidates in the coming elections. Prasad said that despite being highly opinionated and well aware of their rights, Bengalureans dont come out to vote.



7.35 lakh new voters

Anil Kumar Jha, Chief Electoral Officer and Ex Officio Principal Secretary, DPAR (elections) said that 7.35 lakh new voters were added and 3.15 lakh voters deleted. At present, the total number of voters in the state is 4.88 crore. The state has a voting population of 72%, which is a healthy number, he said. Female to male voters ratio is good, but it can be improved, he added. The census ratio of women to men is 980:1,000, but the voters ratio is 968:1,000.

DH News Service
Salman Khan Fans, Here's When The Superstar Will Start Shooting For Kick 2!
Nigerian communications minister Adebayo Shittu has cautioned that the countrys current investigation into alleged illegal activity by MTN must not scare away the market leader.

The countrys telecom authorities are looking into allegations that MTN used illegal channels to transfer $13.9 billion out of Nigeria over a ten year period, although Shittu stated that the firm is being presumed not guilty, saying [We] pray they remain innocent.

The accusations were made a scant three months after MTN settled a long-running dispute with Nigerias government regarding unregistered SIM cards, which concluded with the operator agreeing to pay a $1.04 billion fine over the next three years.

MTN CEO Ferdi Moolman has previously claimed that the allegations are completely unfounded and without merit, and there have even been suggestions that the market leader could pull out of Nigeria due to the endless hostility of the telecom authorities.

The operator had been cooperating with the Nigerian stock exchange into the second week of January ahead of a scheduled listing on the Nigerian stock market later on in 2017. Reports have surfaced indicating that this could now be delayed into 2018.
Surprise! Surprise! More fake bot accounts have been found on Twitter. If this is coming as a shock to you, then you must have been living under a rock all this while. Twitter, which was once a hub of comebacks, spiteful (and sometimes important) public banter, now belongs to a select few with the power of countless bot accounts at their fingerprints. A recent research undertaken at University College London only goes to confirm the sad state of affairs at the once celebrated microblogging platform.

The research discovered huge networks of bot accounts on Twitter, the largest consisting of 350,000 fake accounts. The extreme scale of destruction by not one, but multiple networks like these goes to show the decline of quality content on the platform. And, its nothing new. Twitter has been notorious for housing bot accounts for a while now, even if the company wishes to turn a blind eye to the problem. Last year, we met up with Twitters Senior Director of Business Development, Michael Fisher, and Arvinder Gujral, Senior Director of Business Development, Twitter (APAC), who collectively dismissed bots as a fancy four letter word. Probing the matter further, gave us a textbook response saying, We are tackling that at many levels. Sometimes algorithmically, sometimes manually, we are working towards making it more streamlined. Its a complex problem and theres no easy solution. Its an AI problem and we are working on it.

Clearly, Twitter has not looked into the situation, or has chosen to ignore the same, given that the user base of the platform is on a constant decline thanks to competitors like Snapchat and Instagram, that have left Twitter miles behind in the social media race. These fake bot accounts not only account for Twitters user numbers, but are actually responsible for misleading the public.

During the recent and highly controversial US elections, Twitters fake bot accounts played a huge role in swaying public sentiment on the platform, or at least tried to do so. According to a research conducted by the Oxford University, between the first 2 Presidential debates, one third of pro Trump Tweets and a fifth of Pro Hillary Tweets came from fake and automated bot accounts. In fact, the now U.S. President, Trump, even boasted of his 30-million strong Twitter and Facebook followers. Were those followers real or fake? Nobody knows. During the US elections, it was also discovered that hoaxers from 4Chan and Reddit used bots to game polls online in favour of Trump. In addition, a pro-Trump bot named @amrightnow spammed Twitter with 1200 posts on the final debate day alone. These are just a few, of the thousands of examples of fake bot accounts working to influence opinion on social media platforms like Twitter.

Another popular instance of fake bot accounts on Twitter hits closer to home. A report by Opindia revealed a popular Indian television channel, using bots to Tweet and Retweet its content. While we wont name names here, you can just click on the link and find out who it was. More that swaying public opinion, such attempts are made to rig social media engagement numbers, purely for marketing purposes, giving an unfair advantage to those who can afford to pay for large botnets.

It is difficult to assess exactly how many Twitter users are bots, said graduate student Juan Echeverria, one of the computer scientists at University College London, who discovered the massive networks of fake Twitter accounts.

While bots can also be used constructively on Twitter, like the @she_not_he bot that voraciously defends Caitlyn Jenners sexual orientation, it is difficult to differentiate between real bots and bots acting like humans.

In conclusion, the question we need to ask ourselves is how much we trust social media to fulfill our appetite for important information. The answer is - a lot! This needs to change. Users cannot be blindly trusting platforms which are plagued by fake accounts with evil agendas.

As for Twitter, the microblogging platforms days are numbered, if it cant pull out a magic rabbit out of a hat anytime soon. The platform was up for sale and may still be so, but it failed to gather bids for its business. Meanwhile, the company has lost a number of top executives to competition, given the dire straits it finds itself in. Will it do anything to keep up its user numbers? Even if it means knowingly allowing fake accounts? One can never know.
There was one slide at Motorolas press event today that caught my eye. It was divided in two: one side said last decade, with photos from Nokia to the Moto Razr. The other side said this decade, and had smartphones all of which looked the same, including the iPhone. That pretty much sums up the smartphone journey so far. Over the past few years, improvements have been incremental, and theres little reason to really buy a shiny new smartphone for your old one. Even Motorola itself has been a victim of saturation: until the Moto Z.

If I sound biased right now, its because the tech enthusiast in me is slightly biased. I have used it, but I do not own a Moto Z, nor do I think it is the best smartphone to buy today. However, I do think it is the most innovative. As has been the story time and again, Motorola took a step few dared to. Will the Moto Z work? I sure hope it does. Is it perfect, I would argue it isnt.

Moto Mods are indeed too expensive right now. Ive personally not bought a Moto Z because of the expense involved. Few of us can hope to spend Rs. 40,000 on a phone and then buy an accessory worth Rs. 20,000. In fact, to be perfectly honest, there is no Moto Mod that I really want right now. And thats where Motorolas event in Bangalore today comes in. The Moto Collide hackathon was kicked off in India. It is part of Lenovos million dollar program to get developers excited about Moto Mods.

Jan Huckfeldt, Vice President, Global Marketing & Communications, Lenovo MBG and Motorola Mobility speaking at the Moto Collide event in Bengaluru

Moto Collide

Much like any other hackathon, Moto Collide has a set goal. It is to build mods. Motorola has been quite candid in admitting that it doesnt have ideas for all the mods. However, sources who I cannot name tell me that the company has a roadmap of one or two in-house mods every quarter. In my book, thats a respectable start, if not an absolutely perfect one.

The Moto Collide hackathon is meant to do everything that the company alone cannot. This is not an Apple device after all. So third party developers arent quite flocking to make accessories at the moment. Motorola says sales of the Moto Z have been increasing, however, the company hasnt given out numbers yet. However, a new initiative needs business efforts to go with it.

In the hackathon, Motorola will take inputs from developers, some of whom are just college students, working on final year projects right now (more on that, later). Moto gave them access to its technical team and two of its hardware partners, Huaqin and Goerteke. The two companies have been OEM partners for Lenovo for a while now. The goal is to find and support a good idea. If you have the software, these hardware partners can help acquire the hardware. If you have the hardware, the technical team can help you identify and solve software challenges.

The final year engineering student explained to the technical team that his final year project was a blood glucose monitor. He wanted to adapt it to the Moto Mods program. The problem? Its built on Arduino. Can he adapt it? Some developer jargon later, we (the Motorola technical person) established that he can.

Similarly, another budding developer said his concept was coded on Python. Will that work with the Moto Mods? Unfortunately, this one has more work to do. The APK for the app thatll go with his Mod can indeed be coded on Python, but the firmware needs a different approach, possibly a language like C++.

Developers whose ideas qualify for Motorolas support, will be given access to the Moto Mods MDK to build their own mods. The winners of the hackathon will receive aid from Motorola to take their initiative forward.

A reference Moto Mod with a rear display, which can be used for a variety of things

Whos building these mods?

Motorola wont say whos building the mods at the moment, but the company has run hackathons in other countries, including the US. In fact, Motorola says its Indigogo campaign already has 5-6 finalists from India, among others. Further, a hackathon has already been concluded in the US, with the winners working on some kind of memory Mod for the Moto Z devices.

Motorola wont talk about the Mods in production, keeping them secret for business reasons right now. However, it did confirm that ideas for E-Ink displays, game controllers, even advanced robotics, are in the works at the moment.

The company said it is open to all sorts of partnerships right now. It can manufacture the mods for a partner, and even handle distribution. But more on that later.

The Moto Mods

On the conceptual level, the Moto Mods are revolutionary. Motorola had confirmed earlier that even the SoC of the Moto Z and Moto Z Play can be swapped using a mod, theoretically. In fact, theoretically, you can even have a mod on a mod. This means if you do change the SoC with a mod, that mod itself can have another set of magnetic connectors, which can then be used to fit another mod on top of it. Motorola really wants us to believe that the possibilities are endless, and it just may be so.

We have seen the Moto Mods work on the Snapdragon 820 and 625, on the Moto Z and Moto Z Play. A big question is whether the concept is possible in weaker phones, powered by a Snapdragon 430 or 415. Thats a question Motorola has not yet answered satisfactorily, but theoretically speaking, it should be possible, even if the amount of power and hence the actual use-cases are smaller.

The Indian hackathon had some interesting ideas. Unfortunately, the actual event will be held in secret, so we wont get to see the winning Mods till they actually come to market. The aforementioned college students Mod aims to measure a persons blood glucose and monitor the same using his/her phone. Another mod idea was for a touch-based game controller, with latencies as low as 100 milliseconds.

Lastly, a young developer expressed interest in putting AI capabilities via a mod. I didnt hear much about this one, but Motorolas technical team confirmed that the idea could indeed be implemented.

I must admit, the ideas, though innovative, dont really make me want to jump at them, but hey, a million dollar program should come up with better, right? Motorola says its Mods have a 40% attach rate in the US right now, with the JBL Soundboost at 13.5 hours of average usage per week. The Incipio battery mods are understandably used even more. Such numbers do look promising, for Mods that arent quite perfect, yet.

Whats Motorolas role?

Aside from making the Moto Z and Moto Z Play, Motorola says its open to all kinds of partnerships right now. The company plans to launch Moto Mod stores, hopefully by March or April this year, which will house all the Mods that are certified by it.

Speaking of certification, Motorola will also be involved in that process. A self certification process has been put in place, which will be verified by Motorola for Mods to be certified. However, third parties can still develop mods, but much like the Made for Apple program, Motorola will wash its hands off such third party Mods.

Next comes the support side of things. While support for Moto Mods will be up to the companies making them, Motorola said it will at least be in a position to police its partners. However, the actual support will not be in the hands of Motorola, unless a Moto Z or Moto Z Play is at fault. That said, support for "Mods commercialised by Motorola", like the Hasselblad True Zoom, JBL Soudboost or the Incipio battery mods, will be undertaken by Motorola itself.

Challenges and the future

Motorola reiterated that it is committed to the development of the modular design in future. However, its greatest challenge is obviously in feasibility. Based on the Moto Collide kick-off event I just attended, enthusiasts are truly interested in development. However, third parties will only develop mods if there are real returns possible. Will Motorola ever be able to sell 100 million units of the Moto Z every year? The biased enthusiast in me sure hopes so, but even I havent yet bought one.

Furthermore, Motorola admitted that its not looking at the price game at the moment. Right now, the question is technology, to provide enough power for the Mods, to ensure that things work seamlessly. The company says that adding the connectors will indeed add to costs and hence price, which means itll be a while, if ever, till we see a modular Moto G branded phone. Some would argue, though, that Rs. 24,999 for the Moto Z Play is perfectly reasonable for such a phone.

Lastly, we all wax eloquent about the saturation in the smartphone market, but is it only because companies dont innovate? That surely isnt the case. There are roadblocks from the processing side, from the lack of advancement in battery tech and more. More importantly, are consumers really paying for innovation any more? Thats a tough one to answer.

The modular concept of the Moto Z and Z Play are admittedly at a nascent stage right now, and its good to see events like Moto Collide. It shows that Motorola and Lenovo are following through with claims they made when these phones were first launched. Its an uphill battle, but one that I personally do hope Motorola can win.
Generic pharmaceutical products manufacturer Beximco Pharmaceuticals announced the creation of a joint venture with BioCare Manufacturing , based in Malaysia, as the company's first overseas manufacturing collaboration on Wednesday.

The AIM-traded firm said that under the terms of the venture, Beximco Pharma will provide full technical support to BioCare for the establishment of manufacturing facilities in Seri Iskandar Pharmaceutical Park, Perak, Malaysia to produce specialised pharmaceutical products.

Beximco will be issued 30% of the equity shares in the JV company, while BioCare will operate and fund the facility.

In the first phase of the project, an international standard metered dose inhaler facility has been created, the board said, which has already received good manufacturing practices approval from Ministry of Health, Malaysia.

Whilst it is expected that the JV's first sales from this facility will be made during 2017, the company said it does not expect a significant contribution to its profits from the collaboration in the short term.

However, it added the JV is an important testimony to the company's technical capability as a generic drug manufacturer.

The venture is intended to manufacture and supply differentiated medical products, such as inhalers, under the Malaysian government's Economic Transformation Program.

Beximco said the Malaysian government's initiatives are aimed at increasing investment in the country's pharmaceutical industry to provide dedicated drug manufacturing facilities, improve generic drug capabilities, and promote local production to qualify for government procurement.

This is our first overseas manufacturing collaboration and I believe our JV with BioCare will help address the unmet needs of patients and physicians by supporting the Malaysian government's initiative to promote the local pharmaceutical industry, said Beximco managing director Nazmul Hassan.

This kind of collaboration is also in line with our aspiration to continue to strengthen our global presence as a generic pharmaceutical company.
Specialist drug discovery and development company ImmuPharma provided further details of patient participation on Wednesday, following confirmation in December that the company had successfully completed patient recruitment into its pivotal 52-week Phase III clinical trial of Lupuzor.

The AIM-traded firm said Lupuzor is its lead programme for the potential breakthrough compound for Lupus, the life threatening autoimmune disease.

It said the study had 200 patients successfully recruited and randomised, with 293 patients initially screened - which it said illustrated the demand from physicians for a new safe and effective treatment for Lupus.

A total of seven countries and 28 sites are participating in the study - 11 sites with 70 patients randomised in the United States, five Countries and 16 sites with 81 patients randomised in Europe, and one site with 49 patients randomised in Mauritius.

ImmuPharma said as at the end of January, over 80% of patients will have been treated for at least three months.

So far, two patients have completed the study, 24 patients will have been treated for nine months, 50 patients will have been treated for six months, and 90 patients will have been treated for three months.

It said to date no drug-related - active or placebo- 'serious adverse events' have been reported, which is reportedly consistent with the strong safety profile of Lupuzor shown in its earlier Phase IIb study.

The company said top line results are estimated to be reported in Q1 2018.

We are delighted to be able to now provide more details involved in the completion of recruitment of patients within our Lupuzor pivotal Phase III trial in Lupus, said ImmuPharma chairman Tim McCarthy.

Putting the data into context, 293 patients were initially screened in this study.

We believe this illustrates the demand from physicians to meet the unmet medical need, for an effective and safe treatment for this debilitating and life threatening disease.

McCarthy said with the trial on track and two patients already safely completing their 12 month dosing regimen, the board was looking forward to providing further updates on the trial as it progresses through 2017.

Dr Robert Zimmer, president and chief scientific officer added: "Thanks to the diligent work performed by Dr. Fanny Valleix, Head of Clinical Research at ImmuPharma in conjunction with Simbec-Orion, our contract research partner, we achieved our goal to complete patient recruitment before the end of 2016.

Again it is important to note that no drug (active or placebo) related serious adverse events have been recorded to date which is consistent with the strong safety profile of Lupuzor shown in our earlier Phase IIb trial.
Vietnamese property investment firm VinaLand has sold a stake in a parcel of land in Binh Duong province, which has approval for a residential development, for $10.9m.

The AIM quoted company has sold its 17.4% stake in the BD project, which it bought in 2007, below the net asset value at the time of the companys recent shareholder meeting in November 2016, including adjustments for additional investments over the period.

The company did not disclose the buyer of the stake.

Managing director David Blackhall, said the proceeds received from the sale, together with those collected from past and future disposals, will be used to cover the companys commitments including operating costs and distributions to shareholders.

Shares in VinaLand were down 0.76% to 0.690p at 1020 GMT.
Major US banking group Citigroup is discussing plans with several European countries about moving some of its London operations, including Ireland, Italy, France, Spain and Germany, following Britain's departure from the European Union.

Many multinational firms have expressed doubt about the viability of some of their options in the country after Brexit, with some major names having already announced decisions to move to the continent.

James Cowles, Citi's head of operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa told the European Financial Forum in Dublin that many other companies will be having similar discussions.

"We will be making a decision in the first half of this year, its a decision that every bank has to make in the first six months of this year," Cowles said at the event.

Cowles cited the likely loss of passporting rights in Britain after Brexit takes place, which is likely within two years of triggering Article 50.

"Our issue is with our broker dealer, which is located in the UK and will lose, presumably, passporting rights," he said.

"We've reached out, we've talked to regulators and people at government across many countries in Europe, including Ireland, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands, and we're in the process of evaluating each one of them," Cowles said.

Other major financial institutions such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs have already indicated the likelihood of thousands of jobs moving out of the City due to uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
The Ifo Institutes business climate index fell to 109.8 from 111.0 in December, missing expectations for a reading of 111.3.

Meanwhile, the current assessment index rose to 116.9 in January from 116.7 the month before, while the expectations index dropped to 103.2 from 105.5.

The sub-index for the manufacturing sector fell to 13.8 from 15.4, while the sub-index for construction declined to 10.7 from 13.1.

Holger Schmieding at Berenberg said: Driven by less optimistic expectations, German Ifo business confidence fell back in January following a strong surge late last year. Few countries depend on free trade in the world as much as Germany does.

"While we should hesitate to read too much into somewhat volatile monthly data, the January correction in expectations could suggest that some German companies are starting to worry about the risks of rising protectionism.
US President Donald Trump has reversed a key decision made by predecessor Barack Obama by signing an executive order to pave the way for the expansion of the Keystone and Dakota Access oil pipelines.

Obama had blocked the progress of both projects due to environmental concerns, amidst a flurry of protests from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and climate change activists.

Trump, a climate change doubter, argued that the completion of the pipeline between the US and Canada would create new jobs in the industry.

The President pledged to speak with all of the parties concerned regarding the Dakota pipeline, in order to reach a satisfactory deal for everyone.

Five executive orders were signed by Trump on another busy day for the Republican, who has been quick to roll back many of Obama's key decisions from his last term.

"This is on the Keystone pipeline, something that has been in dispute and it is subject to a renegotiation of terms by us," he said to the press.

"We are going to renegotiate some of the terms. And then if they like, we'll see if we can get that pipeline built. A lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs. Great construction jobs."

Climate change activists and high-profile Democrats have spoken out against the decision to restart the pipeline projects, including former Vermont senator Bernie Sanders.

"President Trump ignored the voices of millions and put the short-term profits of the fossil fuel industry ahead of the future of our planet," Mr Sanders said.

Greenpeace director Annie Leonard added to the concern surrounding the construction of the pipeline.

"Instead of pushing bogus claims about the potential of pipelines to create jobs, Trump should focus his efforts on the clean energy sector where Americas future lives," Leonard said.
After more than a decade and a half in the role, Admiral Group chairman Alastair Lyons has stepped down from the role as the industry enters an uncertain period.

Lyons, who started in June 2000 and led the Cardiff-headquartered insurer through a management buy-out and an initial public offer in 2004 and promotion to the FTSE 100 index in 2007, told his fellow directors that he does not intend to seek re-election April's annual shareholder meeting.

With the appointment of new chief executive David Stevens last year completed successfully he said it was "the right time for me also to handover", highlighted the "astonishing" development of the business in recent years.

Stevens added: "There are very few people who deserve as much credit for Admiral's success over the last sixteen years as Alastair.

"A skilled and incredibly diligent chair, an articulate advocate and, above all, a clever ego-free deeply knowledgeable source of advice for myself and my predecessor, he's been everything our shareholders, and indeed our staff and customers, could have wanted from a chairman".

The board said it would announce a new chairman once regulatory approvals have been obtained.

Shares in Admiral were up 2% to 1,786p by late afternoon on Wednesday, having recently slipped to their lowest level since last February as UK insurers undergo a period of uncertainty ahead of the 31 January government review of the Ogden discount rate that carries the risk of increasing the cost of large bodily injury claims.

Goldman Sachs said earlier in the week that "until uncertainty is resolved, we see downside risk for all UK motor insurers", particularly Admiral, and while further modest price rises look likely, it expects greater volatility than in 2017 than last year.

"The Ogden review may cause disruption; though unlikely to be a capital-raising event, if reserve buffers are materially depleted, then special dividends from Admiral and Direct Line may be adversely impacted," analysts wrote.
Mining giant BHP Billiton posted its operational review for the half year to 31 December on Wednesday, with record production achieved at Western Australia Iron Ore, and total iron ore production of 118 Mt - a 4% rise year-on-year.

The FTSE 100 company also saw an increase in metallurgical coal production - up 1% to 21 Mt - though all other sectors were softer, with energy coal down 4% to 14 Mt, copper reducing 7% to 712 kt, and petroleum production falling 15% to 106 MMboe.

Full year production guidance was maintained for petroleum, iron ore and coal, while production guidance for copper was reduced to approximately 1.62 Mt - 2% below prior guidance - reflecting lower volumes now expected at Olympic Dam.

In Petroleum, following the successful bid for Trion in Mexico and positive drilling results at LeClerc and Caicos, an $820m exploration program was now planned for the current financial year.

BHP said all major projects under development were tracking to plan.

The Bass Strait Longford Gas Conditioning Plant project achieved initial gas sales in the December 2016 quarter, and mechanical completion was achieved at the Escondida Water Supply project with first water expected in the March 2017 quarter.

Underlying attributable profit in the December 2016 half year was expected to include gains related to asset divestments, in a range of approximately $150m to $200m, the companys board reported.

We have performed well during a period of higher prices, with record iron ore volumes achieved at WAIO, said chief executive Andrew Mackenzie.

Our simpler organisational structure has freed our assets to focus on what matters most and to deliver safer and more productive operations.

Our consistent delivery of operating and capital productivity, and strict adherence to our capital allocation framework have positioned us to maximise shareholder value.

In Petroleum, Mackenzie said the company will accelerate its counter-cyclical oil exploration efforts during the current year.

Our successful Trion bid leaves us in a leading position to develop the newly opened Mexican acreage in the Gulf of Mexico, where we can leverage our core expertise.

We are encouraged by recent positive drilling results at the LeClerc well in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caicos well in the Gulf of Mexico.

After the first successful rig, our onshore US gas hedging program will also be expanded to secure attractive returns.
Last-ditch proposals to overhaul the way the Link cash machine network operates have been tabled in a bid to avert charges for bank customers withdrawing money at thousands of ATMs. A number of ideas have been put forward in an effort to head off a breakup of the 70,000-strong network amid fears that if banks and building societies drop Link, thousands more machines could be forced to charge for withdrawals. - Guardian

The price of some toys could rise by up to 15% as a result of the plunging pound, manufacturers have warned. Lego and the producer of Peppa Pig merchandise are among the companies to have announced price rises recently. Natasha Crookes, spokeswoman for the British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA), said most UK toy makers, who typically design products in Britain but have them manufactured and imported from east Asia, had managed to contain price rises until now.  Guardian

Businesses across the EU are reeling from the "shockwaves" sent by Theresa May when she announced the UK will leave the single market, the CBI's director general has warned. Carolyn Fairbairn told an audience of French businesses in London that they should unite with British companies to stand up for continued links with the EU post-Brexit.  Telegraph

The world is becoming a more corrupt place but the UK remains one of the cleanest nations, despite last weeks record-breaking fine for Rolls-Royce after it admitted bribery spanning decades. Britain has been ranked the 10th most honest nation by watchdog Transparency International, which conducts an annual survey analysing corruption levels worldwide.  Telegraph

Services associated with clearing euro-denominated securities will be forced to leave London, costing the City up to 85,000 jobs as a result of Brexit, a former head of the Swiss central bank has warned. Philipp Hildebrand, chairman of the Swiss National Bank from January 2010 to January 2012, told a conference in Dublin yesterday that it was very clear that core financial functions such as clearing would leave London once the UK withdrew from the European Union.  The Times

Royal Bank of Scotland mistreated businesses because it was rushing to meet the terms of its taxpayer bailout in 2008, a claim lodged in the High Court has alleged. Stuart Wall is suing RBS for up to 400 million, alleging that the banks Global Restructuring Group caused the demise of his Opal Property Group, which collapsed into administration in 2013.  The Times
Multimedia company Johnston Press , owner of brands like The Scotsman and The Yorkshire Post, has won a contract to print the Monday to Saturday issues of the Daily Mail for an undisclosed sum.

The agreement comes after Associated Newspapers, a wholly owned subsidiary of DMGT responsible for production of the Mail, closed its print sire at Didcot, Oxfordshire.

Printed at Johnston's Portsmouth Web facility in Hampshire, the newspaper will go out throughout the South West.

The multi-million pound contract, which comes after the publishers Metro one year rolling contract win last October, is over a five year period which ANL has the option to extend.

Johnston Press also prints copies of the Daily/Sunday Express, the Daily/Sunday Star, The Guardian and Observer in Ireland and some Trinity Mirror regional titles.

Chief executive Ashley Highfield said: "We are delighted to win this new business on top of the Metro contract just recently won and this further confirms our printing services division as one of the best in the country. This latest long term contract will give the staff a real boost and their ability to deliver such prestigious titles against very tough competition is a great reflection on the business."

The share price rose 1.58% to 16.76p at 1034 GMT on Wednesday.
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By WAYNE PARRY

Associated Press

PEMBERTON, N.J.  As jobs-versus-environment clashes go, few issues have been as hard fought and generated as much passion in New Jersey as a proposal to run a natural gas pipeline through federally protected woods atop some of the nation's purest drinking water.

The plan was narrowly defeated in 2014. But since then, Republican Gov. Chris Christie has replaced several commissioners on the state agency that will reconsider the plan with supporters of the pipeline. On Tuesday, a public hearing on building the pipeline was held in Pemberton.





. . .
Supreme Court judges unanimously rejected claims that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be given a veto on Brexit. Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon led arguments that the devolved administrations should be consulted before Theresa May triggers Article 50 - the formal mechanism for leaving the European Union - which threatened to derail the PM's timetable for Brexit. The case came alongside the main Supreme Court ruling that MPs must be consulted before the government starts the process of leaving the EU. The Scottish Nationalist Party said it will put forward 50 ''serious and substantive'' amendments to the legislation. Former first minister Alex Salmond, the SNP's international affairs spokesman, said, ''We welcome the Supreme Court's decision and hope that their ruling brings this Tory government back to the reality that they cannot simply bypass elected parliamentarians to fulfil their role in carrying out due and proper scrutiny of one of the biggest decisions facing the UK. ''The Prime Minister and her hard Brexit brigade must treat devolved administrations as equal partners - as indeed she promised to do. ''For over six months the concerns surrounding a hard Tory Brexit have been echoing throughout the land and yet the prime minister has not listened. ''If Theresa May is intent on being true to her word that Scotland and the other devolved administrations are equal partners in this process, then now is the time to show it. Now is the time to sit with the Joint Ministerial Committee and not just casually acknowledge, but constructively engage. Consultation must mean consultation.'' Explaining why they decided the Scottish Parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies do not have to be consulted before triggering Article 50, the Supreme Court judges said, ''The devolution Acts were passed by parliament on the assumption that the UK would be a member of the EU, but they do not require the UK to remain a member. ''Relations with the EU and other foreign affairs matters are reserved to UK government and parliament, not to the devolved institutions. Withdrawal from the EU will alter the competence of the devolved institutions, and remove the responsibilities to comply with EU law. ''In view of the decision of the majority of the Justices that primary legislation is required for the UK to withdraw from the EU, it is not necessary for the court to decide if the NIA imposes a discrete requirement for such legislation ''The decision to withdraw from the EU is not a function carried out by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in relation to Northern Ireland within the meaning of section 75 NIA.'' They added, ''Moreover, section 1 NIA, which gave the people of Northern Ireland the right to determine whether to remain part of the UK or to become part of a united Ireland, does not regulate any other change in the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. ''As to the application of the Sewel Convention to the decision to withdraw from the EU given the effect on the devolved competences, the Convention operates as a political constraint on the activity of the UK Parliament. It therefore plays an important role in the operation of the UK constitution. ''But the policing of its scope and operation is not within the constitutional remit of the courts. The devolved legislatures do not have a veto on the UK's decision to withdraw from the EU.''








CBI arrests IDBI ex-CMD Yogesh Aggarwal in Rs900-cr Kingfisher loan case

The CBI on Monday arrested eight people, including former IDBI Bank chairman Yogesh Aggarwal and former CFO of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airline', A Raghunathan, in a case related to defaulting of a Rs900 crore loan seven years ago.

The CBI also arrested IDBI Bank's ex-deputy managing director O V Bundellu and two other officials, SKV Srinivasan and R S Sridhar. KFA executives Shailesh Borkar, AC Shah and Amit Nadkarni were among the eight arrested.

The nine people who were arrested on charges pertaining to criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct, would be presented before the CBI court in Mumbai.

The CBI team conducted searches at 11 places, including Mallya's residence, 3 floors of UB Towers in Bengaluru, residence of Yogesh Aggarwal and Raghunathan among others. "A CBI team visited UB Group offices in Bengaluru and we are fully cooperating with them," UB group spokesperson said in a statement.

As per the first information report filed by the CBI against liquor barn Vijay Mallya in July 2015, some officers of IDBI Bank had shown undue favour to Kingfisher Airlines in sanctioning Rs900 crore loan. The FIR had named Vijay Mallya and unknown IDBI Mumbai officers.

In its preliminary investigation report, CBI had reported collusion between bank officials and KFA and Mallya diverted the loan amount abroad on false claims. Loans were sanctioned and disbursed by IDBI Bank to Kingfisher Airlines at various times in 2009.



A Raghunathan, CFO, Kingfisher Airlines, had made a proposal for the sanction of a corporate loan of Rs950 crore which was marked for the attention of BK Batra (IDBI Bank official). Raghunathan referred to a meeting between Mallya and Aggarwal in a letter dated 6 October 2009, and requested the bank to lend the airline Rs150 crore for six months to pay overseas vendors.

A memorandum put up to the credit committee of the bank was approved and the loan sanctioned despite the company having a negative net worth and not satisfying the corporate loan policy of the bank. The credit committee comprising Batra, Bundellu and Bansal sanctioned the loan on 7 October 2009.

Moreover, Raghunathan, again referring to Mallya's meeting with Agarwal, also sought an ad hoc release of Rs200 crore. The proposal was put up to the corporate banking head, Batra, who recommended that the bank's CMD could approve it. A few days later, on 4 November 2009, IDBI Bank sanctioned a short-term loan of Rs200 crore, subsumed in the total loan. The sanction came from Yogesh Aggarwal.

As per the CBI report, these loans were disbursed while the original proposal for a corporate loan of Rs950 crore was pending. The proposal was put up again before the credit committee on 19 November 2009. On 27 November, IDBI Bank released a corporate loan of Rs750 crore, which was sanctioned by Bundellu, Batra and Srinivasan.

According to CBI, Aggarwal "approved the proposal while instructing for expediting the ratings though the auditors of the company had observed that funds aggregating to Rs4,630 crore raised on short-term basis were used for long-term purposes. Undisputed TDS amount of Rs100 crore plus was not deposited for over six months and the ratings were not available."

The CBI observed that the loans were approved by accepting as security the hypothecation and assignment of the Kingfisher brand, aircraft finance lease, a corporate guarantee from United Breweries Holdings and a personal guarantee from Mallya.

The CBI report said Rs263.48 crore of the loan disbursed by IDBI Bank was transferred to KFA's accounts in Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda from where funds were transferred to other KFA accounts. "This Rs263 crore was never used for the purpose it was sanctioned by IDBI Bank, to meet obligations to overseas vendors".

The report concluded saying, "A major chunk of the funds transferred to Axis Bank were used for foreign remittances towards lease rentals, purchase of aircraft parts, etc. Since these remittances have gone outside the country, further inquiry can only be made by sending Letter Rogatory (LR) for foreign investigation."

The CBI team has taken all these accused to Mumbai office to present before the CBI court, seeking 14-day remand. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also investigating the case, in fact, statements of few officials have been recorded, till now.


A Donegal TD has called on the Minister for Education not to introduce third level student loans.

Thomas Pringle (Ind) raised Pringle raised the issue as a Priority Question in the Dail. He was responding to recommendations in the the Cashells Report for increased investment in third level education sector, including the possible introduction of income-contingent student loans.

Deputy Pringle said,While I agree that urgent investment is needed in the sector, what was very worrying was that the report outlined on option of introducing income-contingent student loans, where students pay back the loan relative to their level of income.

The report also made the case for other options, including a predominantly State-funded system or a State-funded system alongside existing fees. I believe fees should be completely removed and that increased investment should come from general taxation.

Existing fees are already a barrier for many, especially for students travelling from rural areas. Many students from Donegal and their families are not just burdened with existing fees but also with rent and living costs if they need to live closer to their college/university. Ive been in touch with students from LYIT and this is the common experience for many."

He continued, saying he would not accept any form of "privitisation" of third level education.

We cannot treat education as a business but Fine Gael has allowed for creeping privatisation of various sectors so far and I fear we can expect the same for the education sector if we allow them to get away with it.

Repayment of loans, Deputy Pringle emphasised, is also problematic. Studies show that student loans introduced in the US and the UK have led to high rates of non-payment. In the UK, where income-contingent student loans were introduced a number of years ago, estimates of non-payment of student debts have reached 86 billion pounds, with 12 billion accumulated last year alone.

Clearly, this model is unsustainable. Graduates also earn more and therefore contribute more in general taxation, so really we should be reducing any barriers in the third level sector, as this would make more financial sense than building a system based on debt. "

Deputy Pringle concluded by saying that education should be accessible to all.

Ultimately, education should be seen as a right for everyone. This is the only way we can help reduce social inequalities in our society. My Economic, Social and Cultural Rights' Bill seeks to enshrine the right of education to all in the Constitution and I hope to have the opportunity to introduce it to the Dail soon.

Work on the Governments review into these options is due to conclude in April. I have urged the Minister to reconsider the option of income-contingent student loans in light of the financial restraints students already face entering third level education in Ireland."
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It is sad that prominent members of Congress chose not to attend the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump. Some of these same congressmen are the ones who in the 1960s championed civil rights and fought for everyone to have the right to vote.
Supporters of the Mazda MX-5 concept can rest assured the model is in good hands.

Masashi Nakayama, designer of the current "ND" fourth-generation roadster has taken over from Nobuhiro Yamamoto as the project manager for Mazda's MX-5 platform.

Having owned an immaculate first-generation "NA" MX-5 for more than two decades, Nakayama has a clear vision for future models.

And it's all about the past.

"We cannot forget the NA," he says.

"It's very pure, it's very special.

"I personally think the next one should be even lighter.

"It's so difficult to make the car smaller and lighter, but Mazda wants to make the car lighter and smaller - it's good for handling it's good for the environment. We don't want to give up.

"The next MX-5 should be even smaller and lighter. Much lighter."

That won't be easy, as the current car weighs just 1009 kilograms in basic 1.5-litre form.

Nakayama wants to investigate the use of carbon fibre and other composites for the machine, but only if the car remains affordable to enthusiasts.

He says a manual transmission is a must-have, and that Australian customers should think twice before paying extra to go with a heavier, more powerful 2.0-litre MX-5 option as opposed to the entry-level 1.5-litre model.

"You don't need a 2.0-litre engine," he says.

"I don't hesitate to say to you 'please buy the Toyota 86 if you really want the power'.

"Mazda really wants to stay lightweight in the future.

"We have to stay in this world - lightweight with affordable costs. Still small but not too powerful."

The designer is frustrated by potential customers who ask for more power and luggage space, yet still claim to love the original MX-5.

His aim is to keep future models true to their core appeal - simple open-topped cars that offer raw driving appeal.

"If you were on an island and nobody else was there - if you can't show off because there is nobody else there - in that situation what do you want to drive? Maybe you will select an MX-5," he says.

"That's our goal."
Mitsubishi has teased its all new compact SUV ahead of its official debut at the 2017 Geneva motor show.

The new compact SUV will sit between the current ASX and Outlander in the Japanese brand's range, which highlights Mitsubishi's strategy to move away from passenger cars and towards an SUV-centric range.

While the teaser gives limited details, the sharply angled design, slanted C-pillar and wedge-shaped glass house all bear a close resemblance to Mitsubishi's previous XR-PHEV and XR-PHEV II concepts.

As with the ASX, which is expected to adopt a slightly smaller overall size for its next generation, the new SUV will sport a traditional five-door, five-seat cabin.

Mitsubishi refers to a coupe-like design, leading some industry outlets to speculate that the new model could revive the Eclipse name, previously applied to a North American coupe model built between 1989 and 2011.

No powertrain details have yet to be revealed, but a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol and a 2.2-litre turbo diesel - found in the Outlander - are the most likely engine options. The petrol variant may be mated to a six-speed manual or a CVT automatic, while the diesel model should get a six-speed automatic. Both front- and all-wheel drive examples are expected.

Following the initial launch Mitsubishi is also expected to introduce a plug-in hybrid variant, based on a development of the Outlander PHEV's petrol-electric drivetrain.
"We must be ready to dare all for our country. For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. We must acquire proficiency in defense and display stamina in purpose." - President Eisenhower, First Inaugural Address
We know about as much about beating Trump as Ted Cruz  a Canadian who made an alliance with a birther

Until the last drip of opium hits my bloodstream, I shall be eternally grateful to the organizers and participants of last Saturdays Womens March.

In the most direct but charming way it warned our new president that he will face massive opposition to his policies, especially any coordinated assault civil rights or liberties. Just forcing him  or whatever staffer wrote that tweet  to have to admit that the First Amendment still exists two days into his term is an important victory. And its a sign that the mass opposition that brought about what could be the largest protests in our history cannot be ignored.

The momentum only seems to be building with efforts like Knock Every Door and the Indivisible Groups that spent Tuesday visiting Members of Congress offices and documenting it online with the hashtag #StandIndivisible. This is a movement of makers and coders and Etsytrepreneurs and nasty badasses of all shades and creeds, many of whom just realized that they can ignore politics but politics wont ignore them.

These efforts have had changed at least one debate. Trump had promised to sign an Obamacare repeal on his first day in office. Republicans are seem stuck debating each over of a replacement.

But this doesnt mean the Trump Administration isnt already living up to the lowest of expectations, as NARALs Illyse Hogue put it. Hes successfully building the machinery to execute the largest transfer of wealth to the richest in human history.

With just his signature, Trump is already doing damage to our health care system, our environment and to women around the world with the so-called global gag rule that will only lead to increases in unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, maternal and newborn deaths, as Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Rewire.

Two things I learned from 2016 were:

1. I suck at predictions.

2. Never underestimate Trump and his ability to summon the dark powers of resentment and revanchism.

Every day, remind myself that no one knows how to beat Donald Trump, yet. Hillary Clintons campaign knew how to beat him in the popular vote. But when it comes to actually stopping him from achieving his political goals, we know about as much as Ted Cruz  a man who was born in Canada and was still foolish enough to make an alliance with a birther.

Im looking forward to working with and learning from anyone who thinks they know how to stop Trump, always with the humility that their ideas are, like mine, all hypotheses.

Lets prove them together. If we dont, well all share the shame of watching the irreversible costs of our failures pile up on the most vulnerable.

[Photo by the great Anne Savage.]
Remember the old song, You Dont Mess Around With Jim? The chorus goes like this: You dont tug on supermans cape, You dont spit into the wind, You dont pull the mask off that old lone ranger, And you dont mess around with Jim.

One of the lessons we learned last year is that what goes for Jim likely also goes for Peter Thiel, who put Gawker out of business and is one of President-elect Donald Trumps leading supporters.

BuzzFeed, which is well known for click baiting, decided to publish a controversial dossier about Trump that includes some disgusting material. It wasnt published before because none of the other news services or any of the intelligence services could validate it.

Without validation, it is a poster child for both libel and retaliation. So, in exchange for some impressive Web traffic, BuzzFeed got on both Thiels and Trumps radar as a problem to be fixed.

Recall when WikiLeaks pissed off the Obama administration? The head of that organization had to take up residence in an embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden  where he might face jail time on what he claims are trumped-up sexual assault charges  as well as possible extradition to the United States. And Julian Assange never published the kind of thing about Obama that BuzzFeed just did about Trump.

It may not be a question of whether BuzzFeed is going to go out of business but when. Clearly, there is some irony here, given Trumps own prior focus on the birther issue, but going from questioning a birth certificate to claiming a known germaphobe (Trump wont even push elevator buttons) likes engaging in so-called water sports is, to put it mildly, a huge jump. This is an example of putting tactics before strategy  something that can, and often does, end companies.

Ill close with my product of the week: Teforia, an automated tea maker that is wicked expensive but will make the best tea youve ever tasted.

Chasing Clicks

One of the big problems that occurred when we moved from print and TV news to Internet news was the need to chase eyeballs. Revenue shifted from subscriptions and classified ads to ads on Web pages, and became linked to the number of people who read an article like this one.

That shift led the folks who were successful at making the transition to focus on ever-more-controversial topics, write specifically for defined groups (like Democrats or Republicans), and engage in some pretty unethical practices  like link baiting and click baiting, not to mention publishing fake news.

Publishing fake news has gotten so profitable that a city in southeastern Europe  Veles, Macedonia  (no, I hadnt heard of it before either)apparently is getting rich from the practice.

However, publishing fake news and tricking people into clicking on things that are false is highly tactical and eventually suicidal, because it destroys trust. It is likely to result first in pressure on sites to police it, and eventually in legislation that will force its elimination.

Eradicating fake news would be a great first step toward putting in place ever-more-rigorous censorship, because determining what is actually fake often is hard  and if a government entity is in charge, it likely would eliminate anything the party in power did not believe. By no stretch of the imagination would that be a good thing.

So, in exchange for some additional ad revenue, organizations that publish fake news are slowly killing off our freedoms, because the only way to address this behavior is to curtail it, and there is no absolutely accurate way to do that.

The Gawker Story

Gawkers experience should have been a bigger wakeup call than it was. Gawker effectively decided to attack Peter Thiel, based on his sexual orientation. If there were a list of seriously stupid things to do in this decade, it would be to launch an attack based on someones gender, color, religion or sexual orientation.

This should be as obvious as saying that if you have a gun, you shouldnt make it a practice to shoot people. Individuals who launch personal attacks have the equivalent of a gun, but news organizations have the equivalent of a cannon.

The movie Absence of Malice addressed this issue well, and anyone who writes for the media likely could learn something from it. The film speaks to one of the defenses against libel and defamation, and it showcases the kind of damage that can be done just to drive ad revenue  in this case, before the Internet.

By attacking someone as powerful, wealthy and creative as Thiel, Gawker inadvertently got into a war it couldnt win. Its behavior eventually would cross a line  and when it did, the result was devastating, and its parent company, Gawker Media, was done.

Spread of Questionable Practices

There have been a lot of questionable practices of late. Take the leak of the Trump audio tape, for instance. Trump maintained that the conversation was private and that he wasnt aware the microphone he was wearing was turned on.

NBC apparently couldnt decide what to do with the tape, so someone leaked the thing to The Washington Post, which published it minutes before NBC released it. Its arguable that the tape effectively ended the career of the reporter involved but did little or no lasting damage to Donald Trump, who was the actual target.

So, the act was ineffective, didnt do much for NBC, killed a reporters career, and likely made a lot of folks NBC has interviewed in the past and would like to engage in the future very distrusting of that organization.

Two acts of very bad judgment by Trump and NBC dont wipe each other out. Yes, it reflected badly on Trump  but his actions could be viewed as immature, while NBCs actions possibly were illegal. How can you report honestly about bad behavior when your own company is guilty of worse?

Wrapping Up: The Death of BuzzFeed and Trusted Reporting

This soon after watching Gawker go under, the idea of attacking someone closely connected to Peter Thiel, the guy who took Gawker out, seems foolhardy  particularly given that the information released has not been validated, and many believe it to be false.

Even Buzzfeeds own coverage suggests it doesnt believe it. Given how much the press and Trump arent getting along, it might be far easier to prove malice than defend the lack of it. In short, for an impressive number of clicks, Buzzfeed may have sacrificed its future. To me, that is a very bad bet.

I think this showcases a worrisome trend in media: the willingness to forget the long-term implications and the social and moral impact of an act in exchange for enhanced ad revenues. If news services continue to make these personal attacks, dont be surprised if their privileges get removed. That outcome, in the long term, would not benefit any of us.

There is already a ton of impressive irony with the Trump presidency. Lets hope that organizations trying to ensure freedom of the press dont kill it by focusing too much on ad revenue and what they have the power to do, rather than what they should be covering.

Finally, and this is a major point, this kind of behavior continues to showcase an excessive focus on short-term revenues while ignoring strategic risks. This isnt likely to be limited to killing news companies. I expect it will be the most common reason for companies to fail this decade. So, Gawker and BuzzFeed could, in hindsight, be the canaries in an increasingly deadly coal mine.

My wife actually found this, and at US$1,400, Teforia is no Nespresso for Tea. This is an expensive date. However, if you like tea  and I like tea  but you dont like the paper taste or bitterness associated with many teas, Teforia is pretty amazing.

Teforia Tea Infuser

It is kind of a pain to use, as the product design appears focused more on kitchen art than ease of use, and it currently works far better with iOS than Android (which means my wife is using it more than I am).

You can use Teforia tea and just scan the packet with the device, or you can use the app to define the type of tea you have and then let it auto-configure how to brew the best tea youve likely ever tasted.

It brews two cups at once, and the process takes about 5-6 minutes. I advise using an insulated cup, because the result is too good to waste and tepid tea is no fun. We have a very modern kitchen, and the Teforia isnt just one of my favorite appliances but arguably the coolest thing in the kitchen, and thus my product of the week.
The frenzied 2016 election cycle mercifully is over, but Facebooks fake news problem isnt going away. The company may face steep fines in Germany if it fails to address it satisfactorily.

A bill slated for consideration next year would establish fines of up to $500,000 euros per day for each day that a fake news story persisted after notification of its falsehood was provided. The legislation, which has bipartisan support, would apply to other sites as well, but Facebook clearly is its main target.

Treading Lightly

Facebook recently began testing and rolling out updates to help it fight fake news.

The company cannot become arbiters of truth ourselves, so were approaching this problem carefully, noted VP of News Feed Adam Mosseri.

Facebook is focusing its efforts on the worst of the worst, on the clear hoaxes spread by spammers for their own gain, and on engaging both our community and third party organizations, he said.

It is taking a four-pronged approach:

Letting users report a hoax on Facebook by clicking the upper right-hand corner of a post;

Flagging stories as disputed. Facebook is relying on third-party fact checking organizations that are signatories of Poynters International Fact Checking Code of Principles to make those determinations;

Informed sharing  that is, giving articles that are shared less a lower ranking because that may indicate they are misleading; and

Disrupting financial incentives for spammers. Facebook is eliminating the ability to spoof domains, as well as analyzing publisher sites to see where it might need to enforce its policies.

The company initially is working with five fact-checking organizations: ABC News, the Associated Press, FactCheck.org, PolitiFact and Snopes. It might add to the pool in the future.

It is very important to solve the fake news problem, said Mark Coker, CEO of Smashwords, because its critical to the future of our democracy.

If our society continues to make decisions big and small based upon, or influenced by, faulty information, that will take it to a bad place, he told TechNewsWorld.

The issue is probably best viewed on a spectrum, Coker suggested. On one end, there are the 100 percent blatantly false stories, and on the other there are true stories mixed with fake news, making it more difficult to recognize.

The Depth of the Problem

Fake news manipulates emotions and positions which then convert into decisions [people] make in their lives that arent in their own best interest, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

This really should be considered a crime for the damage it can do, he told TechNewsWorld.

Facebooks concern is driven by self-interest, suggested Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. Fake news shows how the company is being actively gamed, which damages its brand.

By serving as a repository for news stories, Facebook has become a de facto media company despite its insistence to the contrary, King told TechNewsWorld.

Fake news has been blamed for affecting the results of the recent presidential election, but the mainstream medias willingness to continually chase Trumps tweets and what turned out to be bogus or frivolous stories, like the Clinton email investigation, probably had a larger impact, he added.

Will Facebooks Efforts Succeed?

Facebooks program is unlikely to succeed on its own, because at the heart of the problem is that you can make a lot of money from Google with fake news, Enderle suggested.

The fix really needs to start with Googles ad funding model, as theyre the cause of much of the problem even though they arent the source of the fake news, he explained.

Macedonia, where theres massive unemployment, is making huge amounts of money just producing fake news, Enderle pointed out.

Then theres the question of how close Facebooks program might come to censorship.

It will be very hard to differentiate between fake news and something someone just doesnt agree with, Enderle cautioned.

Where Does the Buck Stop?

Opinion among members of the public is divided, based on an online survey of 1,600 adults conducted earlier this month by Morning Consult.

Among its findings:

67 percent of respondents thought search engines were responsible for preventing exposure to fake news;

66 percent thought the reader was responsible;

63 percent say social media sites should bear the responsibility; and

56 percent thought the government should be responsible.

About one-fourth of respondents said the reader should bear the most responsibility for discriminating between real and fake stories.
GENEVA - The Better Cotton Initiative's Growth and Innovation Fund (GIF) has been awarded grant funding of 2 million from Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation. The GIF is managed by BCI's strategic partner, The Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) and is a global investment vehicle for supporting Better Cotton projects globally. The BCI says the fund aims to help BCI advance its goal of reaching five million farmers and accounting for 30 per cent of global cotton production by 2020. In 2016, the Fund invested more than 5,000,000 in projects and it is said the BMZ contribution, "will enable a significant scaling-up of the portfolio for the next season."
In a political era where alternative facts are used in place of actual facts, several government bodies have been tweeting doses of reality in defiance of President Donald Trump and his many controversial stances. That is, until someone at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. notices and forces them to delete their social media missives.

The Badlands National Park in South Dakota really lived up to its name after tweeting out several posts about

climate change Tuesday afternoon, countering the president and most of his administrations notorious skepticism of climate science.

The pre-industrial concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 280 parts per million (ppm). As of December 2016, 404.93 ppm, the first post read.

A second tweet read, Today, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in the last 650,000 years. #climate.

https://twitter.com/AthertonKD/status/824021109515259904

The third, Flipside of the atmosphere; ocean acidity has increased 30 percent since the Industrial Revolution. Ocean Acidification #climate #carboncycle.

Finally, the fourth post stated that Burning one gallon of gasoline puts nearly 20lbs of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. #climate.

Although these tweets have since been removed, whoever was tweeting from the Badlands account was particularly audacious. The Badlands social media hero tweeted in spite of the Trump administrations earlier Twitter gag order on the entire National Park Service.

It all started on the day of the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20 when the National Park Service retweeted these two critical tweets about the new Commander in Chief, including one that poked fun of the size of Trumps crowd compared to President Obamas.

https://twitter.com/BCAppelbaum/status/822478866035986435

https://twitter.com/annetrumble/status/822537934616330243

Someone at the Trump Administration noticed shortly after and forced the National Park Service to temporarily

shut down its Twitter activity. As Gizmodo reported, heres an email that was sent to National Park employees that Friday:

All: We have received direction from the Department through [the Washington Support Office] that directs all [Department of Interior] bureaus to immediately cease use of government Twitter accounts until further notice. PWR parks that use Twitter as part of their crisis communications plans need to alter their contingency plans to accommodate this requirement. Please ensure all scheduled posts are deleted and automated cross-platform social media connections to your twitter accounts are severed. The expectation is that there will be absolutely no posts to Twitter. In summary, this Twitter stand down means we will cease use of Twitter immediately. However, there is no need to suspend or delete government accounts until directed. This does not affect use of other approved social media platforms. We expect further guidance to come next week and we will share accordingly. Thanks for your help!

The National Park Services Twitter account has since been revived and issued an apology about its mistaken retweets.

We regret the mistaken RTs from our account yesterday and look forward to continuing to share the beauty and history of our parks with you pic.twitter.com/mctNNvlrmv  National Park Service (@NatlParkService) January 21, 2017

As

Gizmodo surmised, one reason that the National Park Service might be sour at Trump is due to his nomination U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke for Secretary of the Interior, who will be tasked with the presidents plans to drill federal lands, including National Parks, for more energy development. Zinke is a climate change skeptic and coal mining advocate.

read page 1

Even though Trump

has previously said that he wants to keep public lands great and is not looking to sell off land, that doesnt mean the leasing of public lands and waters for energy production is off the table.

Best piece yet on Trump's Interior pick, Zinke @EcoWatch https://t.co/Pj4JYW44g1  Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) December 16, 2016

The Trump Administrations Twitter takedowns are particularly concerning as it emerged today that staffers at several federal agencies dealing with scientific data and environmental policyincluding the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Agriculture, National Park Service, Department of Transportation and Health and Human Serviceshave reportedly received various degrees of formal instruction barring them from speaking to press or using social media.

These actions will stem the free flow of information and have a chilling effect on staff in these agencies, Sam Adams, U.S. director of the World Resources Institute, said. This flies in the face of effective policymaking which requires an open exchange of ideas, supported by the best science and evidence available. Curtailing communications from these agencies will hinder their ability to provide clean air and water and protect peoples health across the country. The administration should lift these bans as soon as possible and ensure that the role of science is respected within our government agencies.

But in a happy twist, despite the Trump Administrations cone of silence, another plucky social media warrior from the Golden Gate National Park has

tweeted out this climate change fact that 2016 was the hottest year on record for the 3rd year in a row, and included a link to a

report from NASA and NOAA announcing the startling fact.

2016 was the hottest year on record for the 3rd year in a row. Check out this @NASA & @NOAA report: https://t.co/rLJUC56xqi pic.twitter.com/AKhFzYw6l6  Golden Gate NPS (@GoldenGateNPS) January 23, 2017

NASA also appears to be safe from Trumps social media ban for now,

tweeting out this post on rising average global temperatures.

Dec 2016's avg global temp was 3rd highest on record. Global avg atmospheric CO2 concentration was ~405 ppm. https://t.co/Q7xdVFTBf5  NASA Climate (@NASAClimate) January 24, 2017

Quartz also noted that on Monday the Department of Defense tweeted about the connection of social media activity to a persons mental health. Perhaps a cheeky reference to our Twitterer-in-Chief?

And, in a delightful turn of events, theres now an unofficial National Park Service Twitter that has 363K followers and counting called @AltNatParkSer. The account is apparently operated by three rangers from Washingtons Mount Rainier who have posted the same climate change information deleted from other park accounts.

The best thing about the account is that the Trump administration cannot do anything to stop it since its unofficial.

Its currently unclear if the tweets come from actual National Park Service rangers, but well support anyone trying to defy Trumps climate censorship.
By Kit Kennedy

New York State made clean energy history today when the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) approved a contract for the nations largest offshore wind project, which will be located in the waters off Eastern Long Island. The approval is the first step toward meeting a historic commitment announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier this month to put in place enough offshore wind power to light 1.25 million New York homes within 13 years.

It is proof positive that New York means business when it comes to clean energy. With his commitment to add the 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind by 2030, Gov. Cuomo has now positioned New York State to be the leader in realizing the infrastructure, jobs and economic development benefits of the emerging U.S. offshore wind industry.

Here are the latest details. The board of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), the areas public power provider, voted this morning to approve a power purchase contract with Deepwater Wind, the U.S. offshore wind developer that built the nations first offshore wind project off Rhode Island, which began commercial operation in December. The LIPA contract will enable Deepwater to finance the 90-megawatt South Fork project by guaranteeing a buyer for the projects electricity.

The South Fork project would be the secondand biggestoffshore wind power project in the country, following the 30-megawatt (MW) Block Island Wind Farm in Rhode Island waters. The South Fork project would power 50,000 homes in Long Islands South Fork region, helping to meet peak demand in the area. It would deliver electricity via an underwater cable directly to East Hampton, helping the town meet its forward-looking goal of getting 100 percent of its electricity from clean sources by 2030.

Deepwater Wind has already secured a lease for the project from the federal government but still needs to go through the federal and state permitting and environmental approval process. Because the project will be sited 30 miles from Montauk, it will be beyond the horizon and therefore invisible from shore, avoiding any possible complaints about visual impacts.

https://twitter.com/NRDC/status/810158628678369281

Protecting Marine Ecosystems

In terms of ecosystem and wildlife issues, Deepwater Wind has already shown its commitment to protecting the marine ecosystems. It has worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other environmental organizations to develop plans to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, which migrate up and down the East Coast. At its Block Island project, the company successfully put these protective measures in place. We intend to work with Deepwater to replicate similar ecosystem-protection measures for the South Fork project, assuming the project moves ahead.

Big Benefits

Scaling up offshore wind power in New York, beginning with this LIPA project, can bring a host of benefits to New Yorks electricity grid, as I have described before. The jobs and economic potential of offshore wind are huge, as well: A SUNY Stonybrook study found that a single, 250-megawatt offshore wind power project could create 2,800 jobs and generate $645 million in local economic output, while a companion study finds such a project could be built with essentially no impact on consumers electric rates. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that by 2050, with the right policies in place, the offshore wind industry could support 160,000 jobs nationwide.

The LIPA vote this morning also means that 2017 is already shaping up to be a pivotal year for U.S. offshore wind, as developers aim to build on the success of the nations first offshore wind project by pursuing plans for a dozen or more projects up and down the East Coast.

In December, bidding for the leasing rights to a federal offshore wind energy area south of Long Island went through 33 rounds of bidding before the Norwegian developer Statoil won the auction for a record $42 million. And last week, the U.S. Department of the Interiors Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which manages federal ocean energy resources, announced the nations next offshore wind energy lease auction, which will be for 122,000 acres off the North Carolina coast. Meanwhile Massachusetts has committed to build 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind power over the next decade and Maryland is moving forward with plans to put 870 MW of offshore wind in place.

I joined other clean energy advocates in celebrating todays contract approval. Natural Resources Defense Council

Gov. Cuomos support for the South Fork project and his commitment to developing 2,400 MW of offshore wind power as part of his broader plan to get 50 percent of New Yorks electricity from renewable resources by 2030 are a testament to what bold state leadership on climate and clean energy can achieve. In this new era, well need this state leadership more than ever.

Kit Kennedy oversees many of the Natural Resources Defense Council projects relating to energy efficiency, renewable energy and global-warming solutions.
Did you know that nearly a month, Indias National Capital Regiona massive swath of land that includes the nations capital territory, Delhioutlawed disposable plastic? On Jan. 1, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) enacted a ban on one-time use items such as plastic grocery bags and cups for the regions 54 million inhabitants, the worlds second largest urban agglomeration.

The initiative puts Americas local and state plastic bag bans to shame, not to mention our bans on plastic bag bans.

The Delhi government was ordered to take steps for storage and use of plastic materials with effect from January 1, 2017.

As Fast Company reports, three waste-to-energy plants in Delhi were singled out for the air pollution they caused from burning plastic waste:

Delhis three main trash dumpsOkhla, Gazipur and Bhalswaare a depiction of mess that can be created for environment and health of people of Delhi, said Indias National Green Tribunal (NGT) chairperson Swatanter Kumar at the tribunal.

Delhi uses waste-to-energy plants to produce electricity, and when those plants burn plastic waste, they spew pollution into the air. And if it isnt burned, the plastic ends up clogging the Yamuna, the second largest tributary river of the Ganges.

The plants will be fined around $7,300 for each act of non-compliance.

Many have questioned how easy it will be to enforce such an order. Shopkeepers and street vendors found themselves unprepared and even unaware of the ban.

Instead of targeting us, the authorities should stop the factories that make these items, an unnamed stationery shop owner in Meherchand Market told The Hindu. We have already started keeping cloth bags instead of plastic ones, but we havent been able to fully stop using plastic as customers ask for it.

Environmentalists, however, have applauded the ban.

These plastic materials end up clogging drains and some make their way into the Yamuna. There are several studies that prove how dangerous this is. The order of the NGT was much needed, but its implementation will be key, forestry and wildlife expert Manoj Misra told the same publication.

Indias latest plastic ban cannot come soon enough. A 2015 study ranked India as the 12th biggest plastic polluter in the world, but expected it to bump up to No. 5 as its economy grows.
By Steve Horn

On Jan. 24, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders calling for the approval of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines, owned by Energy Transfer Partners and TransCanada, respectively. He also signed an order calling for expedited environmental reviews of domestic infrastructure projects, such as pipelines.

Trump to Sign Two Executive Actions to Advance Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines https://t.co/RSzVormaWR @EARTHWORKS @earthisland  EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) January 24, 2017

Fights against both pipelines have ignited nationwide grassroots movements for over the past five years and will almost assuredly sit at the epicenter of similar backlash moving forward. As DeSmog has reported, Donald Trumps top presidential campaign energy aide Harold Hamm stands to profit if both pipelines go through.

Hamm, the founder and CEO of Continental Resources who sat in the VIP box at Trumps inauguration and was a major Trump campaign donor, would see his companys oil obtained from hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Bakken Shale flow through both lines. Kelcy Warren, CEO of Energy Transfer Partners, was also a major Trump donor.

The Intercept

Rick Perry, Trumps nominee for U.S. Secretary of Energy, served on the board of directors for Energy Transfer Partners until he received the nomination from Trump.

The signing of the orders comes as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is under order to undergo a thorough environmental impact statement process.

Trump claimed constructing Keystone XL would create 28,000 jobs at the executive orders signing ceremony, and said all of the steel for the pipelines would be manufactured in the U.S.

But a September 2011 report published by Cornell Unversitys Global Labor says the project will generate 2,500-4,650 construction jobs, also pointing to research which it said showed there is strong evidence to suggest that almost half of the primary material input for KXLsteel pipewill not even be produced in the United States.

TransCanadas decision to contract steel pipe for KXL from outside of the U.S. is consistent with past practice, the report stated. TransCanada imported almost all of the steel pipe needed for the U.S. portion of Keystone Phase 1 (Hardesty, Alberta to Patoka, Illinois) from Welspuns plants in India.

In November 2015, the Obama State Department denied issuing a permit for Keystone XL, citing lack of job creation which would come from giving the pipeline a permit.

The pipeline would not make a meaningful long-term contribution to our economy. So if Congress is serious about wanting to create jobs, this was not the way to do it, Obama said in nixing the pipeline. If they want to do it, what we should be doing is passing a bipartisan infrastructure plan that, in the short term, could create more than 30 times as many jobs per year as the pipeline would and in the long run would benefit our economy and our workers for decades to come.

TransCanada, in the aftermath of the Trump announcement, says it will re-apply Keystone XL through the U.S. Department of State.

JUST IN: TransCanada says it will re-apply for Keystone XL pipeline after Trump's executive order today. pic.twitter.com/exKLvhF2ev  CNBC (@CNBC) January 24, 2017

Trumps U.S. Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson, former CEO of Exxon, would presumably have some say over the approval of the U.S.-Canada border-crossing Keystone XL, which must receive a presidential permit by the U.S. Department of State. Exxon, as reported by DeSmog, extracts tar sands in Alberta which would flow through Keystone and also has refining capacity in Texas.

Expedited permitting of pipeline projects has long been on the oil and gas industry wish list, having recently generated comments submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineerstasked with key permitting tasks for domestic pipeline projectscalling for a more rapid approval process.

Environmental leaders said they intend to fight back.

Keystone, the Dakota Access Pipeline and fossil fuel infrastructure projects like them will only make billionaires richer and make the rest of us suffer, said Annie Leonard, executive director of Greenpeace USA. We will resist this with all of our power and we will continue to build the future the world wants to see.

Erich Pica, executive director of Friends of the Earth-U.S., echoed Leonard.

Trump has emphatically pledged his allegiance to the oil companies and Wall Street banks that stand to profit from the destruction of public health and the environment, said Pica. The movement to defend Indigenous rights and keep fossil fuels in the ground is stronger than oil companies bottom line.

The industry, by juxtaposition, finds itself in a state of elation.

We applaud and appreciate President Trumps immediate and decisive action to expedite the final easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline, said Craig Stevens, spokesman for the front group Midwest Alliance on Infrastructure Now, which is run by the Republican Party public relations firm DCI Group. President Trumps decision shows businesses that the rule of law will be respected and demonstrates an affirmation of regulatory certitude to those looking to invest in America.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) also weighed in.

We are pleased to see the new direction being taken by this administration to recognize the importance of our nations energy infrastructure by restoring the rule of law in the permitting process thats critical to pipelines and other infrastructure projects, said Jack Gerard, APIs president and CEO, in a press release. Critical energy infrastructure projects like the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access pipelines will help deliver energy to American consumers and businesses safely and efficiently.

Reposted with permission from our media associate DeSmogBlog.
(Photo: REUTERS / Erik De Castro)Happier times for the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Pope Francis smiles as Philippines' President Benigno Aquino talks to him upon his arrival at Villamor Air Base for a state and pastoral visit, in Manila January 15, 2015. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of the Philippines capital of Manila on Thursday to welcome Pope Francis on his first visit to Asia's largest Catholic nation amid one of the biggest security operations in the country's history.

He is one of a crop of worldwide populist leaders, and many of his words make Donald Trump look like a quiet-spoken diplomat as he has again been attacking one of his bugbears, the Catholic Church.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has unleashed what Russia Today called his colorfully-worded wrath on the Catholic Church again, saying the organization is corrupt, "full of sh*t," and he accused priests of committing sexual abuse.

Duterte on Jan. 24. accused the church and its bishops and priests of corruption, womanizing and said he was abused by a priest while he was a student of Ateneo de Davao University.

He also claimed three cabinet secretaries had been molested.

The sharp-tongued Philippines president was speaking to the families of Special Action Forces who died in Mamasapano in 2015.

Before his speech, The Manila Times newpspaper had carried a Jan. 21 editorial headlined, "Why President Duterte needs the Catholic Church."

and his own vice-president has chastised him on his frequents attack on the church.

Instead of lambasting priests and bishops, President Duterte should work with the Catholic Church to achieve the collective goals of Filipinos, Vice President Leni Robredo says.

She said Duterte's latest tirades against the Catholic clergy are unnecessary,

as these only "create animosity between the government and the Catholic Church."

"My hope is we should learn to respect our differences in faith and look for ways where we can help one another," the Vice President said in an interview in Camarines Sur over the weekend.

In his fiery sppech, however, the president advised the crowd to read "Altar of Secrets" by Aries Rufo to discover the truth about church officials, saying he would resign if its allegations were untrue. He added he might publish his own book about the Church, entitled "Hypocrisy."

"I challenge the Catholic Church," he said. "You are full of sh*t. You all smell bad, corruption and all."

It wasn't all hate, however, Duterte pointed out that he and the Church have something in common: womanizing. He told the audience that Bishop Teodoro Bacani had two wives, like him.

He dared the top Catholic Church officials in the Philippines to resign and said he would do the same if they would do so, the Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network reported.

The President launches his attack on the Catholic Church leaders after he defended his war against illegal drugs during his speech.

EXTRADJUDICIAL KILLINGS

Church officials have strongly condemned the extrajudicial killings that have followed Duterte's administration's crackdown on the narcotics trade.

Duterte said he and the Catholic Church officials have the same sin - that of womanizing. He noted that one bishop - Bishop Teodoro Bacani - had two wives like him.

But unlike the church leaders, he is not corrupt, he said.

He upbraided them for asking for a Pajero vehicles during the time of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

"Shouldn't you be ashamed of yourselves? That's so expensive and so many people have nothing to eat," he said.

The bishops knew they were not supposed to receive anything from the government, and yet they asked for the high-end vehicle, he said.

"It was pure graft and corruption," he asserted.

Most politicians have been afraid of offending officials from the Catholic Church, but not him, Duterte said.

He noted that despite the church officials "politicking" and warning people against him, he still won.

In its Jan. 21 editorial The Manila Times noted, "Indeed, the Church certainly commands far more credibility and respect than the government.

"The Philippine Trust Index of 2015, the latest nationwide survey done by public relations company EON, counted nearly three-quarters of Filipinos (73 percent) trusting the Catholic Church, far ahead of the academe (51 percent), media (32 percent), and the government (12 percent)."
Gulf of Mexico shrimp landings down in 2016

Some 5.8 million pounds of shrimp were landed in the Gulf of Mexico in December, roughly 34% below the prior 16-year historical average for the month (8.9 million pounds), the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) reported on Monday, Dec. 23.

"This was the lowest total of shrimp landed in the Gulf in the month of December in the years for which the Southern Shrimp Alliance has catalogued NOAA (US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) data going back to 2000", it said.

For the whole year of 2016, 93.8 million pounds of shrimp were landed in the Gulf, 27.6% below the average landings for the prior 16 years (129.7 million pounds).

SSA noted some discrepancies in the volume of shrimp landed in the Gulf of Mexico, however.

For instance, the "shrimp statistics" reported by NOAA indicate that 2016 was the fourth straight year of declines in the volume of shrimp landed in the Gulf of Mexico. However, the volume reported of shrimp landed in the Gulf of Mexico in NOAA's annual publication "Fisheries of the United States" differs from the amounts reported in the "shrimp statistics."

NOAA's "shrimp statistics" report that 106.9 million pounds of shrimp were landed in the Gulf in 2015, down from 114.5 million pounds in 2014. However, the 2015 Fisheries of the United States reported that 123.9 million pounds of shrimp were landed in the Gulf in 2015 (HLSO-equivalent weight), up from 116.6 million pounds in 2014.

"It is likely that the '2016 Fisheries of the United States,' when published by NOAA, will report a higher volume of shrimp landed in the Gulf of Mexico than that reported by the 'shrimp statistics'", SSA said.

While volumes have remained significantly lower than historical averages, ex-vessel prices reported by NOAA strengthened. Western and Northern Gulf ex-vessel prices for U15 count shrimp were the highest ever reported for a December ($9.92/lb. and $9.50/lb., respectively).

The most significant price increases were again seen in 41-50 count shrimp, with ex-vessel prices in December reported as being significantly higher than in December 2015 in all regions of the Gulf and prices in the Western Gulf up to $3.15/lb. compared with $1.40/lb. in December 2015.
Cultural activities showing basic specialties on Tet of Vietnamese people in the Red river delta such as Neu pole erection, folklore singing, cultural exchange, and exhibition on Kim Hoang folklore painting (Van Canh commune, Hoai Duc district, Hanoi) were held during the event.

Participants put on Ao dai to glorify the traditional clothes. All created fine and familiar images on traditional Tet of the nation.

The program also drew the participation of 22 Ambassadors to Vietnam.

Following are photos about the program:








































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An item performed at the meeting in the US (Photo: VNA)

On January 22nd, a meeting celebrating Tet was organized at the headquarters of the Vietnamese Embassy in the United Kingdom (UK), drawing nearly 400 Vietnamese from around the country.



Speaking at the meeting, Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK Nguyen Van Thao briefed Vietnams developments in 2016.



He affirmed the Vietnamese community is part of the Vietnamese nation and called on Vietnamese people in the UK to contribute more to the countrys development and the Vietnam-UK relations.



On the occasion, Ambassador Thao also highlighted the progress of the Vietnam-UK relations.

On January 21st, the Vietnamese Embassy in the US organized a meeting to welcome the Lunar New Year (Tet) together with the Vietnamese community living, working and studying in the Washington DC and its vicinity, with the participation of early 300 overseas Vietnamese from different parts in the US.

At the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Pham Quang Vinh reported developments of the country

He affirmed that overseas Vietnamese community is a part of the people of Vietnam; appreciated their enormous contributions to the development of the country in general as well as Vietnam - US relations in particular. The embassy will continue to make further efforts to facilitate the overseas Vietnamese towards the homeland and contribute to building the nation.

On this occasion, Mr. Vinh also reviewed the important developments of the Vietnam-US relations. He believed that the bilateral relations will continue to be enhanced substantially, efficiently, stably and in a long-term under the new administration like the content of the congratulatory message sent by Vietnamese leaders to newly-elected President Donald Trump on November 9th, 2016 and the content of the phone talk between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and President Donald Trump on December 14th , 2016.

He also announced Vietnams diplomatic achievements over the past year and said that the focus of Vietnams diplomacy this year is to successfully organize the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, an opportunity to further expand trade and investment cooperation in the region and contribute to Vietnams development, international position.

At the event, the Ambassador and representatives of the overseas Vietnamese community burnt incense to pray for a peaceful, prosperous and happy New Year for the nation as well as the overseas Vietnamese community. The participants also enjoyed an art program and traditional dishes.



On the same day, a ceremony to welcome the Year of the Rooster was organized by the Vietnamese Embassy in Sao Paulo, Brazil.



Speaking at the event, Ambassador Do Ba Khoa lauded the contributions of the Vietnamese community in Brazil to the socio-economic development and to the friendship between the two countries./.
CALM thrilled by abortion bill support

A group which has campaigned for the Island's abortion laws to be updated says it's thrilled a bill to make changes gained support in the House of Keys.

Ramsey MHK Alex Allinson was given leave to introduce a private members bill amending the current abortion laws, which prohibit many women having a termination carried out on Island.

The Campaign for Abortion Law Modernisation Isle of Man praised the resounding support from MHKs, with just three voting against the move.

CALM also described the support as a win for democracy, adding that it's tremendously grateful for the role played by MHKs.

Dr Allinson has indicated he believes women on the Island should have the same access to abortions as those in the UK.

The bill with have to undergo several readings in the House and be approved by the Legislative Council before it can be submitted for royal assent.
Vu Huy Hoang stripped of former industry-trade minister title (Photo: VNA)



The disciplinary measure was written in the Prime Ministers Decision No.106/QD-TTg dated January 24th.

The same day, the PM signed Decision No. 107/QD-TTg, giving the disciplinary measure of warning against Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa for similar infringements in the field.

In November 2016, the Party Central Committees Secretariat took disciplinary actions against Hoang, dismissing him from the position as Secretary of the Party Delegation during the time.

According to the conclusions of the Party Central Committees Inspection Commission, Vu Huy Hoang personally showed a lack of good example and had self-interested behaviour when receiving and appointing his son Vu Quang Hai as an inspector of the Vietnam National Tobacco Corporation (Vinataba), and allowing him to join the Board of Directors and take the position of Deputy General Director of the Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Company (Sabeco).

Hoang also violated the Party Central Committees regulations on not-to-dos by Party members, the Law on Corruption Prevention and Control, and the Secretariats regulations on officials and Party members responsibility for showing good examples.

He did not follow the Party and State law on principles, procedures and criteria in personnel work while incorrectly directing and implementing the working regulations of the Party Delegation in presenting the Hero of Labor title to the PVC and rewarding the third-class Labor Order to Dang Vu Ngoan, rector of the Ho Chi Minh city University of Food Industry.

He also loosened examination of some of the ministry's units, allowing them to break regulations on personnel recruitment, reception, evaluation, and appointment.

He was also found guilty of violating the Party and States regulations on reception and appointment of Trinh Xuan Thanh as Deputy Chief of Office and Head of Representative Office of the Ministry in Da Nang city, and Chief of Office of the Party Delegation to the Ministry.

Hoang also infringed principles, process, procedures and criteria when it came to personnel appraisal, planning, and approval of deputy minister post for Thanh and several other individuals.

The violations and shortcomings of the Party Delegation to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Hoang have caused serious consequences, hurting the prestige of the Party, State, the Ministry and himself, while sparking grave concern for the public./.
It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the
The political spotlight is now transferred to the new President of the United States Donald Trump and his family. As the Obamas are now left the White House, supporters of the former POTUS now wonder what will happen next to him and his kin, especially to his kids Malia and Sasha.

The youngest daughter of Barack and Michelle is just 14 years old and a freshman student of Sidwell Friends and is set to continue her education at the said school until she graduates. Hence, the former first family will be staying in Washington until she finishes her school.

"We're going to have to stay a couple of years so Sasha can finish school," the patriarch told People. The 44th president explained that it will be tough if they will transfer Sasha in a different school now that she is in the middle of high school.

Malia, on the other hand, takes one-year hiatus from school, but she's set to continue her studies at Harvard University in the fall. In fact, there are surfacing reports that she just had an internship with the critically acclaimed film producer Harvey Weinstein that she might start in February.

Moreover, while the kids are busy studying, the power couple Barack and Michelle will be flying to Palm Springs, California to enjoy the initial's post-presidency. In a report made by Heavy, the Obamas are not giving any details about their trip, thus it is not revealed if they are with their daughters.

It is not the first time that the 55-year-old first African American president will visit the said place as he has been there to meet the Chinese President Xi Jinping before. In fact, he loves the estate's desert and finds it as a wonderful place to stay with a very relaxing ambiance.

Barack Obama even revealed that he will be spending his time with his family and to write. "I want to do some writing. I want to be quiet a little bit and not hear myself talk so darn much. I want to spend precious time with my girls."
Prince William and Kate Middleton are taking a bigger role as they move to London and people are wondering if this is the will of Queen Elizabeth as she prepared her son, Prince Charles for the throne.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expected to work more starting this year as they already left their home in Norfolk for Kensington Palace. It has been reported that the royal couple will be taking bigger responsibilities as a royal transition will be happening soon.

According to Celeb Dirty Laundry, this move will force the royal couple out of hiding as they are expected to do more royal engagements while in London. And this time, there will be no excuses. Kate will no longer use Prince George and Princess Charlotte as an excuse to miss royal work.

Besides, their two children have been reported to start schooling in London so it's one reason also for them to pack their bags and move in the said place.

In fact, as reported before by E! News, a royal transition is happening in the British monarchy. Reports are escalating that Queen Elizabeth is preparing to pass the throne to her son Prince Charles who will be later called as King Charles.

The Queen has been the longest serving and hardworking royal but now, it looks like she is also looking forward to retire already. Part of this preparation is to put pressure to everyone in the royal family to work more.

It can be recalled that Kate Middleton wants to focus on being hands-on mom to George and Charlotte but it looks like that won't happen anymore. If Prince Charles will already take charge, she is also expected to do more along with her husband, Prince William.

The Queen just cancelled their Mustique trip and this shows that she wants them to focus more on royal works than on vacations.

If Queen Elizabeth is slowly passing her responsibilities to Prince Charles, then Prince William and Kate Middleton are also expected to work more.
The Originals Season 4 is all set to take off in March and fans can look forward to exciting episodes in the coming months as the Mikaelsons have a danger coming ahead of them but they will be joining hands to ward it off. What is more, showrunner Michael Narducci is leaving the series for he has got another project with ABC.

The Originals Season 4 will see the Mikaelson family under threat and they have to unite to face their greatest challenge, states Vampire Diaries Wikia. According to the site, the cruel strategy which they enacted in the past has led to the creation of an army of enemies that returned in Season 3 with revenge on their mind. This is why Hayley, who has been against Klaus over the issue of their child's custody, has to befriend him.

The impending destruction of the family calls for reunion and Freya has already revealed the dark prophecy regarding the ruin in Season 3. So, as the vampires come together to kill their makers, Cami finds that she is at the center of the tussle.

However, she tries to counsel Klaus to give up his merciless ways. Sadly, the Mikaelsons have no way left out and they have to execute a brutal strategy that makes everyone; even their friends and family, turn against them.

In related news, it has come out that showrunner Michael Narducci would be leaving the show as he has signed a deal with ABC Studios, claims The Hollywood Reporter. Narducci is ready to leave Warner Bros. Television and co-producer Julie Plec has admitted that she would miss him as he was a brilliant partner and friend.

The ABC contract of Narducci, which runs into two years, will see him creating and developing projects for the network. It includes popular shows such as American Crime and Grey's Anatomy.

It will also bring Narducci closer to the Disney family. For those who do not know, he already developed Vertigo comic book Unfollow for ABC last season and this was a part of his deal with Warner Bros.

The Originals Season 4 returns on 17 March on The CW. In the meantime, watch a teaser video below.
On the night of 8 November 2016, the Indian Prime Minister made a surprise announcement on television: currency notes of 500 and 1,000 denominations were to be withdrawn from the market with immediate effect (RBI 2016b; Bhatt 2016). The scheme, popularly called notebandi, was championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a way to end the menace of black money, counterfeit currency, and corruption. The government stated that honest citizens had nothing to fear. People holding the two withdrawn denominations could either deposit them in banks, or exchange them at the bank for new currency notes.

Following the announcement, there was a rush at banks and ATMs to exchange old notes and withdraw new currency (Roy 2016; PTI 2016a). The two withdrawn denominations represented 86% of the currency in circulation (RBI 2016a). As the queues at banks grew, reports appeared in the press about the suffering experienced by people, especially among the poor, who had no access to credit cards or mobile wallets (Biswas 2016; TNN 2016). As more days went by, the press reported that in both urban and rural India, the countrys large informal economy (Kalyani 2016) had been disrupted, and that notebandi would have a negative impact on gross domestic product (GDP) (Kohli 2016; Mishra 2016; PTI 2016b)

S P Jain Institute of Management and ResearchAbhyudaya (SPJIMRAbhyudaya), an educational non-profit working in slums in the K-West ward of Mumbai, decided to assess the impact of notebandi on the families they were working with. The objective was to get a first-hand picture of how these families were coping with notebandi.

About the Study

SPJIMR runs a non-profit initiative called Abhyudaya, where business students at SPJIMR mentor children from the slums in the K-West ward of Mumbai. The children are called Sitaras.





Each business student is paired with one Sitara. The students visit the Sitaras home in the slum and provide one-to-one mentoring through the year.

To study the effects of notebandi on the families of the Sitaras, the SPJIMR-Abhyudaya team designed a questionnaire in the last week of November.

It was decided that each business student would interview the family of the Sitara whom they were mentoring, and obtain responses to the questions. The responses would be collected using Google Forms, on smartphones.

On 3 December the questionnaire was uploaded on Google Forms, and the students were given a link to the questionnaire, to be filled online on the phone.

For slum locations without data access, the students were instructed to fill out the form on paper and then upload it on Google Forms when they returned to the campus.

From 3 December to 9 December, the students visited their Sitaras family, and obtained the answers to the questionnaire. The data collected via the questionnaire was then merged with the existing socio-economic data about each family, already held with Abhyudaya.

The survey consisted of 37 questions, which address the families initial response to the demonetisation announcement, the economic consequences for their income, expenditure, and savings, changes in payment choices following demonetisation as well as a subjective assessment of the policy.

Surveyed families

The sample of surveyed families includes 214 families living in 28 slum or lower-income neighbourhoods of Mumbai. Of the 28 neighbourhoods, 27 are located in Mumbais K-West Ward, while two families reside in the neighbouring K-East Ward. Appendix Table A1 lists all neighbourhoods included in the study as well as the number of families per neighbourhood.

The families interviewed for the purposes of this study have not been randomly selected (as their children were previously selected to participate in the SPJIMR-Abhyudaya initiative) and are not necessarily representative of slum communities in Mumbai. However, the following socio-economic characteristics of the interviewed families show that the vast majority belong to Indias lower-middle class. For example, Figure 1 reveals that 41% of fathers have at most seven years of schooling, while 30% of mothers are either illiterate or have only completed elementary school. The occupational profiles of fathers and mothers included in the sample, (see Figures 2A and B), show that some receive regular salaries as they work in service jobs as domestic helpers, cooks, and drivers, while many face substantial uncertainty as their wage income or customer volume will fluctuate day-to-day. Finally, Table 1 and Figure 3 provide information about monthly incomes in 2016 before demonetisation and the distribution of income across the families in the sample. The mean (median) monthly total family income is 12,777 (12,000) or approximately $190 ($179) at an exchange rate of /$ 67. For two thirds of the families, the monthly total income is between 8,000 and 18,000. Based on the recently completed ICE 360 Survey,[i] 2016, the average monthly household income is 16,840 across all Indian households and 29,690 across families living in metro areas such as Mumbai.

Figure 1: Education Profile of Respondents (Fathers and Mothers of Sitaras)

Figure 2: Occupation of Respondents

Panel A: Fathers Occupation

Panel B: Mothers Occupation

Figure 3: Histogram of Monthly Total Family Income before Demonetisation ()

(Frequency expressed as absolute number of families, N=214)

Table 1: Monthly Total Family Income before Demonetisation ()

Results

Initial reactions: The news of the unscheduled announcement to withdraw the legal tender of high denomination notes by the Prime Minister quickly spread and dominated media coverage. Not surprisingly, therefore, 77% of families in our sample heard about the policy the evening of the announcement, and 97% had heard about it by the end of the following day. Following the announcement, between 9 November and 18 November, 82% of respondents visited a bank branch or an ATM, 52% exchanged old notes for new ones, 49% to deposit old notes, and/or 22% withdrew new notes from the ATM. The majority (63%) experienced average wait times of one to three hours during these visits (Table 2). About 11% of families report that they exchanged old for new notes outside the banking sector, while about 25% continued to use old notes.

Table 2: Average Wait Time when Visiting Bank or ATM between 9 November and 18 November.

Losing income

About 31% of families report that they lost at least some income by the end of November. Table 3 Panel A and Figure 4 show that the fraction of those reporting lost income following demonetisation varies significantly as a function of the fathers occupation. Families with fathers that are self-employed were hit the hardest: 59% of these lost some income in November. Similarly, 47% of autorickshaw and taxi drivers who typically accept only cash payments report some income loss. The frequency of lost income is much lower (15%) for those with service jobs, such as domestic help, employed drivers, or cooks, who receive a regular salary.

To assess the magnitude of the income losses, we ask those that report lost income for November to provide an estimate of the lost income. After scaling this estimate by the familys monthly total income before demonetisation, we tabulate the median relative amount of income that was lost in Table 2 Panel B. Across all families that reported some income loss for November, the median loss relative to their total income is about 21%.[ii] Families with self-employed fathers experience the biggest relative drop in income (44%), while the median loss for families with fathers working as autorickshaw and taxi drivers report, labourers, tradesmen or in service jobs ranges between 14 and 24%.[iii]

Across all families, independently of whether they reported any lost income, the equally-weighted average relative income loss is 12%, while the income-weighted average is about 9%. While it is too early to establish the full income effect of demonetisation on the families in our sample, the initial evidence presented here suggests that for the month of November 2016 their family income was on average about 10% lower than in other months in 2016.

Table 3: Lost Income in November

Panel A: Fraction of Those That Lost Some Income

Panel B: Median Relative Amount of Income Lost

Figure 4: Fraction of Families Reporting Some Lost Income

Changing expenditure

We next examine the impact of demonetisation on households expenditures between 8 November and 30 November. Expenditures might be lower either because income dropped, because transactions could not be completed due to lack of new currency notes, or because of increased precautionary savings. Table 4 shows that across all families 54% report that they purchased less groceries between 8 November and 30 November than usually, while 43% report no change. Whether a family lost income is significantly associated with whether a family reduced grocery purchases in November, with 70% of those reporting lost income also reporting lower grocery purchases.

In Table 5, we investigate households postponing purchase decisions in November. Panel A reports the fraction of those households that report that they postponed at least one purchase decision in November. Across all households, 39% delayed a purchase decision. The fraction is higher for those that experienced income losses (46%), even though the association between postponed purchases and lost income is not statistically significant. Panel B shows that for 46% of those that did postpone a purchase in November, the postponed amount was at most 2,000, for 34% the amount was between 2,001 and 5,000, and only for 20% the amount was larger than 5,000.

Table 4: Grocery Purchases in November

Table 5: Postponed Purchases

Panel A: Fraction of Households Reporting Postponing Purchase Decision in November

Panel B: Amount postponed

Savings

Having investigated the impact of demonetisation on household income and expenditure, we analyse the policys impact of households savings in November as well as on the way households expect to save money in the future.

According to Table 6, only 10% of all households experienced a decline in their savings. The fraction is much higher (25%) for those households that experienced a loss in income. About 30% of households report that their savings increased in November, possibly due to precautionary motives or due to forced savings as new currency notes were not available.

Table 7 Panel A reports how families in our sample used to save before demonetisation and how they plan to save in the future. Before demonetisation, 80% of households held some of their savings in bank accounts, while 51% of households also used to store some of their savings in cash, only very small fractions used to save by lending money to others or by investing in gold or real estate. In the future, 92% of households expect to save at least some money in a bank account, while only 17% expect to store their savings in cash. The substantial changes for bank accounts (+12 percentage points or pp) and cash (-34 pp) are economically as well as statistically significant. In Panels B and C, we examine how the adoption of a bank account as a way to store the familys savings varies across different subsamples. Panel B reveals that those that were negatively affected by demonetisation in terms of lost income are more likely to report using a bank account for their savings in the future relative to those that did not experience a drop in their income. Similarly, in Panel C, we observe that the planned adoption of a bank account is particularly pronounced among families whose father is a labourer, self-employed, or an autorickshaw or taxi driver.

Table 6: Savings in November

Table 7: Changes in Ways to SavePast and Future

Panel A: Asset Classes Used to Store Savings before and after Demonetisation

Panel B: Bank Account Adoption by Income Lost

Panel C: Bank Account Adoption by Fathers Occupation

Payment tools

The Families also answered several questions related to cashless forms of payments they use or that they are aware about. Of the total, 8% report a difference in the mode of payments they have used in November. Out of those 8%, 54% have used debit cards, 29% have relied on credit (or udhar), and 12% have used cheques.

Several families (12%) also report that at least one vendor in their neighbourhood has adopted a cashless payment method. In 28% of those cases, the adopted method was PayTM.

Finally, 80% of families report that they are aware of at least one cashless payment method, with debit cards being mentioned most frequently (50%), followed by PayTM which was mentioned by 21% of respondents.

Policy assessment

A large majority of families (73%) confirm that as of the first week of December there was a significant shortage of cash in their neighbourhood. About one third (36%) of respondents expect the shortage to last until the end of December, 22% until the end of January, 7% until the end of February, and 9% beyond three months. The remaining 25% of families do not know how long the shortage will last.

When asked how respondents feel about demonetisation, 56% provide a positive assessment of the policy, while about 24% provide a negative assessment (Figure 5).

In Table 8, we show that the policy assessment varies by families experiences (Panel A) as well as their level of education (Panel B). Families that lost some income in November are more likely to view the policy negatively than families that did not experience a loss in income (31% vs 16%), even though a majority in both subsamples (51% and 62%) view the policy positively. Families in which both parents have less than 8 years of schooling are more likely uncertain, undecided, or neutral about their assessment of the policy than families with at least one parent with 8 years or more of education (34% vs 13%). Among families with at least 8 years of education, 63% view the policy as positive, while 25% of them view the policy negatively.

Figure 5: Subjective Policy Assessment (%)

(N = 194)

Table 8: Policy Assessment

Panel A: Assessment by Income Lost

Panel B: Assessment by Education Level

Conclusions

Responses to our survey, conducted among selected families in several slum neighbourhoods of Mumbai, provide an insight into how demonetisation has affected some of the underserved communities in India. It is important to keep in mind that surveyed population is not representative of Indias population as a whole nor of necessarily of those of low socio-economic status in India. Nevertheless, the results provide some initial understanding of the immediate and possibly longer-term effects of the demonetisation policy onto the urban poor.

First, the policy led to a drop in income. Across all families in our sample, the average drop in income during the month of November was about 10% of their typical monthly income. However, the effect on income varies significantly across different groups, in particular between those receiving a regular salary and those not. The drop in income is associated with a drop in consumption as well as changes in families savings in November. To assess the full impact of the policy on the economic conditions of the surveyed families, additional data will be needed in the future.

Based on respondents expectations, how lower-income families store their savings in the future might differ significantly from the past. In particular, bank accounts are expected to increase in importance, while cash is expected to drop substantially as a storage choice. Whether or not such changes actually occur remains to be seen.

Similarly, while there are signs of changes of how payments can be made and are made by vendors and customers in slum communities, it is too early to tell how significant these changes might be.

The majority of respondents view the policy overall as positive, including the majority of those that experienced some loss of income in November.

NOTES

[i] Live Mint on 2 December 2016: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/AvHvyHVJIhR0Q629wkPS5M/Indias-richest-20-account-for-45-of-income.html

[ii] The median relative loss is 23% when including families with missing information on fathers occupation (N=61).

[iii] Note that these subsamples are small and reported statistics are therefore imprecise.

REFERENCES

Bhatt, A (2016): Watch PM Narendra Modi's Entire Speech on Discontinuing 500, 1000 Rupee Notes, NDTV, 9 November, http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pm-modi-speaks-to-nation-tonight-at-8-pm-1622948.

Biswas, Soutik (2016): How India's Currency Ban is Hurting the Poor, BBC, 12 November, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-37947029.

Kalyani, Muna (2016): Indian Informal Sector: An Analysis, International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research (IJMSR), Vol 4, No 1, January, https://www.arcjournals.org/pdfs/ijmsr/v4-i1/9.pdf.

Kohli, Renu (2016): Demonetisation: The Impact on Agriculture, Live Mint, 22 November, http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/B1vFTOgwqHjdM5nkmg2CxJ/Demonetization-The-impact-on-agriculture.html.

Mishra, Ashit Ranjan (2016). Will Demonetization Adversely Impact GDP Growth? Live Mint, 10 November, http://www.livemint.com/Politics/IcNFg1Gdxh3QACZz9fcFbM/Will-demonetization-adversely-impact-GDP-growth.html.

PTI (2016a): Demonetisation: Finance Ministry Asks Banks to Hire Retired Staff to Deal with Cash Rush, Economic Times, 15 November, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/demonetisation-finance-ministry-asks-banks-to-hire-retired-staff-to-deal-with-cash-rush/articleshow/55439928.cms.

PTI (2016b): Demonetisation to Pull Down GDP Growth: Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Economic Times , 22 November, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/demonetisation-to-pull-down-gdp-growth-montek-singh-ahluwalia/articleshow/55568179.cms.

RBI (2016a): Annual Report, Table VIII 1 Banknotes in Circulation, 29 August, https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=38520.

RBI (2016b): Withdrawal of Legal Tender Status for  500 and  1000 Notes, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Notice, https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=38520.

Roy, Debayan (2016): Demonetisation Rush at Banks Has Cashiers 'Weeping', Say Bank Unions, News18.com, 22 November, http://www.news18.com/news/business/demonetisation-rush-at-banks-has-cashiers-weeping-complain-bank-trade-unions-1314593.html.

TNN (2016): Poor Lose Earnings and Time by Being in the Queue, Times of India, 30 November, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/Poor-lose-earnings-and-time-by-being-in-the-queue/articleshow/55695083.cms.

Appendix Table A1: Surveyed Families by Neighbourhood and Ward
The bulk of the runs came during a 122-run third-wicket stand between Brathwaite and Jonathan Carter , who dominated their partnership while making a brisk 75 off 63 balls. Jason Holder took two wickets with the new ball to make early inroads in Guyana's chase before the twin spin tandem of Ashley Nurse and Sulieman Benn did the rest of the damage. Offspinner Nurse claimed 4 for 42 while left-arm spinner Benn finished with 4 for 35 as Guyana were bowled out for 157 in just 32 overs.
The FIA has confirmed that Abu Dhabi and Hungary will complement Bahrain in this year's in-season group test schedule.

Bahrain will kick off the in-season sessions on April 18/19, but Hungary has come about as a switch from Silverstone, and will take place on August 1/2.

Teams will have a free agenda at these tests, but will have to run young drivers who have competed in fewer than three Grands Prix on two of the four days.

Abu Dhabi will once again host a post-season test on November 28/29, but for "the sole purpose of providing all competitors with the chance to test the tyre specifications to be used the following season," according to the governing body.

Pirelli will therefore trial its 2018 compounds before the December 1 extended deadline set by the FIA yesterday.

F1 2017 group test plans

Barcelona Feb 27 - March 2

Barcelona March 7 - March 10

Bahrain April 18 - 19

Budapest August 1 - 2

Abu Dhabi November 28 - 29

GALLERY: F1 drivers' wives and girlfriends

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Europe has recently seen a surge in the arrivals of North African migrants on its shores. The migrants from the Maghreb countries have been increasingly reaching the old continent despite the bad weather and tightened security measures. While this development is of major concern in Europe and especially Germany, North African countries do not see migration as their top priority mostly due to their own pressing issues that they face domestically.

Algerias future is uncertain under the ageing and frail President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and declining energy revenue while young people face very high unemployment rates and poverty. The World Bank reported that about 50% of the young people under the age of 20 have no tangible employment prospects. Oil revenues, the bank added, declined by a third and state treasury lost almost 35 billion.

Tunisia is an inexperienced democracy with similarly high joblessness rates among the young. Unemployment is especially of an issue in the southern and western parts of the country and it hardly comes as a surprise that it was precisely these regions that also gave rise to the 2011 revolution. Morocco, albeit the most stable among the North African countries, is not living up to its economic potential, with youth unemployment hovering at around 39%, despite tremendous help from the side of the EU.

A debate on the new wave of migrants has been heating up in Germany due two major developments. First, the number of illegal migrants has recently started going up again after the country finally managed to tame the influx. Second, crime rates among younger North Africans are high  the 2016 figures show that North Africans account for about a fifth of all convicted foreign criminals despite the fact that the proportion of North African migrants is not higher than 2 percent of all migrants in the country.

To tackle the root causes, Berlin is putting more and more pressure on the Maghreb governments to find solutions at home while German authorities deport thousands of people whose asylum requests have been dismissed. Chancellor Merkel has also urged German parliament, the Bundestag, to quickly classify Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria as safe countries in order to fast-track the deportation of illegal migrants from these three North African states.
Russias capital markets rehabilitation gained momentum in January with the announcement of the first IPO from the country to be fully marketed to international investors since the start of the Ukraine crisis.

Sistema, the conglomerate controlled by Vladimir Yevtushenkov, has picked three bulge-bracket banks  Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley  as global coordinators for the planned listing in Moscow of childrens goods retailer Detsky Mir.

The last Russian IPO to feature any western banks as bookrunners was that of hypermarket chain Lenta in February 2014. The few new listings to emerge from the country since then have all been led by local investment banks and targeted predominantly at a domestic investor base.

The announcement of the Detsky Mir deal was therefore widely hailed as a further sign of returning confidence in Russian equities.

Yuri Prilipov, BCS

As one of the few recent transactions to feature full marketing and a really strong syndicate, this is very important for the Russian market, says Yuri Prilipov, head of investment banking services at local securities house BCS.

Russian stocks have been among the best-performing in emerging markets since November, when the election of Donald Trump raised hopes of a speedy end to western sanctions and an agreement by Opec to cut production put a floor under oil prices.

The Micex index, which had been hovering just under 2,000 through October, soared to an all-time high of 2,285.43 in early January. Foreign buyers were among the main drivers of this recovery, with Russia-focused equity funds attracting cash in December at a rate not seen since 2011.

At some point late last year international investors started to realize that they were missing out on growth and returns in Russia, so they started increasing their exposure to the market, says Dmitry Bolyasnikov, executive director for ECM at VTB Capital. We expect that trend to continue this year.

In turn, the surge in share prices has attracted renewed interest from Russian firms considering a public listing.

For most of last year, investors were still not really willing to pay what owners were looking for, says Jacob Grapengiesser, a partner at emerging-markets fund manager East Capital. We are now getting to the point where the expectations of buyers and sellers are converging, which will be the trigger for IPOs to emerge.

We are seeing interest in listing from new, quality names, as well as long-term candidates. We expect to see regular transaction flow this year - Dmitry Bolyasnikov, VTB Capital

Bolyasnikov says the lack of opportunities to list over the last three years has resulted in a backlog of Russian issuers waiting to come to market.

There are companies that have been in the pipeline for a very long time, and shareholders seem to have decided that they want to get ready as this year may well present the opportunity for them to tap the market.

While agreeing that the Russian primary equity pipeline is filling up, however, bankers are reluctant to name potential IPO candidates. En+, the holding company of Oleg Deripaska, was reported in December to be exploring listing options in London and Hong Kong. Another possible is said to be footwear retailer Obuv Rossii, whose planned IPO  like that of Detsky Mir  was postponed following the Russian invasion of Crimea.

We are seeing interest in listing from new, quality names, as well as long-term candidates, says Bolyasnikov. We expect to see regular transaction flow this year.

He adds that this in turn could serve as a catalyst for widening investor focus on Russia: It will bring Russian issuers back onto the radar of global investors, not only funds dedicated to emerging markets and Russia.

Those expecting a rush of IPO supply from Russia in the first half of the year may be disappointed, however, according to Prilipov at BCS: It obviously takes time for companies to prepare for a listing, and the positive trends for Russian equities only emerged towards the end of last year.

Some firms that were already well advanced in their preparations may come in the first half, but the autumn is when Id expect to see more regular supply coming through, providing the geopolitical environment and commodity prices remain favourable.

Sovcomflot

One name that could come to market earlier in the year is Sovcomflot, the state-owned shipping giant that has been the subject of repeated IPO promises since 2010. VTB Capital was tapped in August to arrange the privatization and Alexei Yakovitsky, the banks chief executive, told Euromoney in October that he was confident a listing would go ahead this year.

The Russia finance ministry indicated in late January that it was aiming to raise R30 billion ($507 million) from the sale of 25% less one share of Sovcomflot, according to local media. An indicative date of March or April was given for the transaction.

It was unclear, however, if policymakers were targeting a public listing for the firm. VTBs Bolyasnikov hedges his bets: Privatizations could well make up a substantial part of the primary equity pipeline. There could, however, be other solutions for some of the names mentioned.

Bankers say a Sovcomflot IPO would meet with good demand from international investors. Fund managers, however, seem slightly less enthusiastic.

We would look at it but wed probably want some form of discount for state control, says Michael Reynal, emerging market portfolio manager at Victory Capital Management. Private-sector consumption plays are significantly more interesting for us.

Detsky Mirs IPO fits these parameters and is expected to prove popular with western investors. Pricing had not been released at press time but estimates of the value of the secondary listing were around $200 million to $300 million.
KBC is set to make its first big acquisition in emerging Europe since the financial crisis after winning the bidding to buy Bulgarias fourth-largest lender from National Bank of Greece (NBG).

The Belgian group will pay 610 million for United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) after beating off competition from Hungarys OTP Bank. The purchase price also includes NBGs Bulgarian leasing subsidiary, Interlease.

The acquisition will propel KBC into the number three slot in the Bulgarian banking market, a position the group has targeted since acquiring small local lender CiBank in 2007.

Luc Gijsens, KBC

We always want to have a top-three position in our core markets, which include Bulgaria. There was a gap in our coverage on the banking side, says Luc Gijsens, KBCs head of international markets.

Plans for expansion in Bulgaria were put on hold, however, after KBCs 3.5 billion bailout by the Belgian government in 2008. As a condition of receiving state aid, the European Commission required the group to dispose of several non-core assets in central and eastern Europe.

In 2012, KBC duly sold its Polish subsidiary, Kredyt Bank, to Santander and its 20% holding in state-owned Slovenian lender Nova Ljubljanska Bank to the local government. It also exited the Russian market via the sale of Absolut Bank to domestic private pension fund Blagosostoyanie. The following year, KBCs Serbian arm was bought by Telenor and Societe Generale.

That left the group with a banking presence in four CEE countries: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. In Czech Republic, KBC owns market leader CSOB, which is also number four in Slovakia. K&H Bank, the groups Hungarian subsidiary, is the second-largest retail lender in the country and in the top three overall.

The region accounted for around 22% of the groups total loan portfolio at end-2015, according to analysts at Raiffeisen Bank International.

KBC also has a strong presence in the insurance sectors across its CEE network, in keeping with its group bancassurance model. DZI, its Bulgarian insurance subsidiary, is one of the top three providers in the country.

Gijsens says the opportunity to sell insurance products to UBBs large retail client base was one of the main drivers behind the decision to buy the bank. We have been underrepresented on the banking side, so acquiring UBB will hugely increase the potential for cross-selling, he says.

The acquisition will also add asset management, factoring and leasing to KBCs product range in Bulgaria. This will give us the opportunity to benefit from the expertise we have in these areas in our other core markets, says Gijsens.

We are always open to suggestions, but we have found that dealing with NPLs in-house and on our own strength is less damaging - Luc Gijsens, KBC

Other factors that made UBB an attractive target were its strong brand and low cost-to-income ratio, adds Gijsens. He also praised the banks recent success in improving its asset quality, while noting that work remains to be done on reducing bad debts. Non-performing loans accounted for 28% of total lending at UBB in March 2016, down from 37% at the end of the previous year.

CiBank is also still dealing with legacy bad debts from the financial crisis era, mainly in the real estate sector. Gijsens says KBC is unlikely, however, to follow the example set by local market leader UniCredit Bulbank earlier this year by selling non-performing portfolios to third parties.

We are always open to suggestions, but we have found that dealing with NPLs in-house and on our own strength is less damaging, he says.

News of KBCs acquisition of UBB was greeted with enthusiasm in Bulgaria. Bankers hailed it as a vote of confidence in the sector after the upheavals of 2014, when the collapse of Corporate Commercial Bank and a state bailout of fellow locally-owned lender First Investment Bank (FIBank) attracted a slew of negative headlines.

The UBB sale is good news because it means we are past the crisis, says Levon Hampartzoumian, the long-serving CEO of UniCredit Bulbank. It is also good for the Bulgarian economy, because in due course there will be another strong player in the market.

Hopeful locals

Analysts also note that the deals pricing  at 1.1 times book value, or 1.29 times after 81 million of valuation adjustments  is handsome by recent CEE standards. Peter Atanasov, deputy CEO of regional investment bank BAC Securities, puts fair value for UBB at 0.96 times book value, based on an estimated return on equity of around 9.8% for 2016.

Locals are hopeful that the deal could also mark the start of what many see as an overdue wave of M&A in the Bulgarian banking sector.

The Bulgarian market is relatively fragmented, given the size of the country and the economy, says Hampartzoumian. We will likely see more consolidation in the next 12 to 18 months.

There is little agreement, however, as to what form that consolidation might take. No other banks are known to be up for sale, although local speculation has named FIBank and two more Greek subsidiaries, Eurobank and Piraeus, as possible targets.

On the buy side, OTP, which owns number two Bulgarian player DSK Bank, is known to be keen to boost its presence in the market. Gijsens says KBC could look at further acquisitions in Bulgaria, although he notes that the group will be happy with its market position once the UBB takeover is completed  an event that is expected before the end of the second quarter

Hampartzoumian says UniCredit Bulbank is unlikely to take part in any consolidation.

Our size is such that we can achieve very good results without needing to expend capital and effort on an acquisition, he says.
In confirmation hearings for Tom Price, nominated to head the Department of Health and Human Services, New Jersey senator Bob Menendez wielded science as a tool of partisan harassment. Watch the video at the Huffington Post. In rapid-fire queries intended to taint Dr. Price, a Georgia congressman and respected orthopedic surgeon, Senator Menendez threw out a series of oddball science claims and demanded that Price reject each in turn.

Swerving from purported leprosy-bearing illegal immigrants to doubts about the HIV/AIDS link, Menendez was clearly trying to put science to political ends. On the point about whether immigrants have led to outbreaks of leprosy in the United States, Price responded with a politely dumbfounded expression: I dont know what youre referring toI dont know the incident to which you refer. Are you referring to a specific incident? Im not sure Menendez had much of an idea either. He could say nothing more specific than, There are statements that have been made in the public domain.

(Left-wing sources have since tried to fill in the missing smear.)

Price went on to offer the observation that anytime anybody with an infectious disease comes in close contact with an uninfected individual, theres a possibility of infection.

Menendez built up to a climax of indignation:

MENENDEZ: Can you commit to this committee and the American people today that should you be confirmed you will swiftly and unequivocally debunk false claims to protect the public health? PRICE: What Ill commit to doing is doing the due diligence that the department is known for and must do to make certain that the factual information is conveyed to  MENENDEZ: And that factual information will be dictated by science, I would hope. PRICE: Without a doubt. MENENDEZ: Okay, so let me ask you about Medicaid specifically. Let me just say Im a little taken aback about your answer on the question of immigrants and leprosy. I think the science is pretty well dictated in that regard, too.

What the? Hes a little taken aback by the statement that infections diseases, from the common cold on up, are infectious? Menendez is a lawyer by training, not a scientist or doctor, though his name came up in connection with a physician in a legal context back in his 2015 indictment for bribery. From the Justice Department press release:

Robert Menendez, a U.S. Senator, and Salomon Melgen, a Florida ophthalmologist, were indicted today in connection with a bribery scheme in which Menendez allegedly accepted gifts from Melgen in exchange for using the power of his Senate office to benefit Melgens financial and personal interests

Dr. Price took a series of utterly mainstream positions, that abortions dont seem linked to breast cancer, that vaccines dont lead to autism, and so on. On vaccines, Price conceded that there are individuals across our country  only to be cut off by Senator Menendez: Im not talking about individuals. Im talking about science.

Im not so naive as to expect partisanship will play no role in these hearings, but the attempt to bludgeon a physician and congressman picked to head an important department is right in step with what science has become in the hands of both the media and academia. Its a weapon, little more.

H/t: Michael Medved.

Im on Twitter. Follow me @d_klinghoffer.
Betaout, a customer intelligence and marketing automation platform for ecommerce companies, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from SEA-focused East Ventures and angel investors.

This funding is earmarked by Betaout to bolster its operations in Indonesia and other parts of South-East Asia, expand its clientele, and focus on product development. Plans are underway to enhance its mobile offerings and introduce newer features on its platform such as machine learning, live chat plug-ins, etc.

Ankit Maheshwari, CEO and Co-founder of Betaout said, Indonesia is an important market for us and having the support and domain expertise of East Ventures will help us in executing our vision of enabling ecommerce marketers across South-East Asia to retain their customers and drive better ROI.

Prior to this investment, Betaout has been serving multiple SEA-based companies such as Tokopedia, Ralali, Tripvisto, Lemonilo, etc. The Betaout platform has helped these ecommerce companies to get better analytics on their customers and personalise and automate their marketing campaigns.

Founded in 2010, East Ventures is an early stage VC firm for consumer internet and mobile based in Indonesia, Singapore, and Tokyo. KPMG has ranked East Ventures as one of the most active VC in Asia in 2016. Speaking on the investment, East Ventures Co-founder and Managing Partner, Willson said, We are very pleased to partner with the Betaout team, seeing the efforts and innovations that the team has achieved since their founding. The growth potential of the South-East Asia ecommerce market is tremendous and Betaouts focus on this market excites us.

One of Betaouts key customers, Joseph Aditya, CEO, Ralali, said, We are confident that with the smart personalisation in communication offered by Betaout, for each of our different customer segments, we are better able to engage customers and also retain them for a longer period of time. Ralali is one of Indonesias leading online B2B marketplaces supplying MRO goods and other business needs.

Indonesia presents a great opportunity for ecommerce among other emerging Asian economies, with current projections putting this archipelago nations e-market at USD 130 billion by 2020 (coming in third behind China and India).

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
Hi all, hoping somebody with a bit more knowledge/experience can answer a few questions for me, specifically on what i can and can't deduct when doing my taxes.



I work as a soccer coach, my employer contracts me out to a specific club to work with for the majority of the time. So my work situation is basically as follows in terms of how i spend my time.



1. Most of the time I am working with said club in a role that sees me both work on field with players, teams, etc from that organization in a specific town, but also an administrative role - setting up programs, website managed, club communications, etc. So most days, I will spend working at home for the day, and then in the evening I will travel to said town and be on one of a number of fields, sometimes traveling between 2-3 different ones for different sessions.

2. My home is in a different town, about 10 miles away. I don't pay rent or own it. I have a desk area set up where i sit for my work. More home 'workstation' than home office. I also have access to a garage which i use some of for storing equipment.

3. My employers office is in the same town as where i am living. I don't go there very often, but it's maybe 2 miles away.

4. At some some times of year, my employer will give me different assignments - cover a session in a different town, go to a tournament somewhere, this kind of thing. Sporadic and various locations and distances away.



So my questions..



1. Can/should i claim a home office for the space I use? As i say i don't pay for it myself, so cant really say its an 'expense' but have found mixed info about this online so far.

2. If i am claiming that, can i also claim for the storage space in the garage?

3. What is my commute, and what counts as business mileage? So far also found mixed information on this as well. If i work all day at home, and then go to said town at night and back for my coaching, was that business mileage or simply my commute? I have read some things saying that because i worked at home, then the drive would count as going between locations and thus is mileage. Other things I've read suggest that because its a regular work location, then its just a commute.

4. If this is business mileage, what about at the weekend? when i typically haven't worked at home, and i am just going to the soccer fields to work.

5. Is it true that if i go to 2 different locations, then i can claim the drive in between? If that was the case, then weirdly, it would be financially beneficial for me to drive the 2 miles to my employers office every day first and then do the 10 miles to go to my training sessions.

6. Any of the different sessions that my employer assigns me to in different locations, i can deduct those miles correct?

7. Final one.. my Father In Law seems to think that if i do a drive that is eligible for deduction, then I can only claim anything over what my normal commute would be, even if its a totally different location. For arguments sake, lets say all i did for work was drive to and from my office 2 miles away, nothing else. Then one day my company asks tells me i need to go to a different site 10 miles away.. Does that mean i can only claim 8 miles for the journey, because the 1st 2 i would be doing anyway?



Turned into a long post, thanks for anyone taking the time to read, and any help or guidance would be much appreciated!
Hello



I really need help with the accommodation requirements.



I'm a British citizen and I'd like to bring my Egyptian husband to the UK this year, I am currently renting a double room in a house which is not over crowded at all.



So the people I rent from are also renting the property from an agency, so basically they are sub letting to me, would this be ok to bring him here. and what would I need to provide for this?



Thank you
Hi



A little update for those in my shoes and thinking of moving over.



I have been having seconds thoughts about going ahead with this and thinkig of 'what the hell am I doing' and 'this is the wrong thing'. Fear of failure and not owning my own house here in the UK, I should

not jetting off for a long holiday.



Well, I think these thoughts are just normal and part of the process. They have been getting less and less as the days go on and they are being replaced with excitement! I am just imagining myself wake up to sun and a more relaxing way of life.



The sale of my business is now going through much quicker than I thought and this should be resolved in the next few weeks. My next task is to organise the collecton of my car with Audi Finance, I can just give them the keys and say au revior. This leaves some furniture, which will remain in storage.



Having dreamnt of doing this for years it is finally happening. I will probably have more fears when as the day comes closer but the UK is only a short flight away if I need to pop back for a few days.
Thanks for the reply. If I recall correctly it was on the main SS road, more than half way distance past Campobasso. It was definitely closer to Sepino ruins. I have tried Google maps but without any success. As it is an unusual structure, I hoped someone may recognise it and help narrow the search. Im planning a trip to Italy later this year and Ill take a detour to Molise to retrace the route. See if I can find it again.
European students no longer see the UK as the most attractive English speaking country to study with countries like Canada and Australia moving higher up the wish list, several new pieces of research suggests.Brexit could be to blame, according to a study from UK based Red Brick Research which found that Canada tops the wish list with Britain pushed into second place, Australia third, the US fourth and New Zealand in fifth place.  Separate research shows that Australia has the highest percentage of international students with 26% globally. The report from Savills into student housing also showed that European institutions are increasingly trying to attract more foreign students and many are now offering courses in English to make themselves more attractive.English is still regarded as the most important language in the international business world and with prospective employers who work globally so more and more students are looking to study using the language.The UK is still popular with students from outside of the EU and the election of Donald Trump as the new President of the United States has had a Brexit style effect with potential students put off by his stance on immigration.While 64% of international students said that Brexit has made the UK a less desirable place to study some 73% said that the election of Trump has made the US less attractive.There is also the issue of university fees. EU students currently pay less for their studies than those from outside of the EU, but Brexit could mean they will pay more and 62% said they would definitely not choose the UK if they had to pay the same tuition fees as non-EU students.Also, some 59% said they believe that international students are less welcome in the UK following the Brexit vote, while 74% said that they think graduates from overseas are less welcome to stay in the country.The Netherlands has been leading the way in offering courses in English with 7.2% enrolled in English taught courses and in Denmark it is 12.4%. Whereas Germany has just 1% on English taught studies.With considerably lower living costs than their counterparts in the US, UK and Australia, and many universities appearing in top global rankings, European institutions are a very attractive proposition for international students.Cost of living is another issue for international students and both pieces of research suggest that the fall in the Pound in the UK makes it cheaper for foreign students and this may well also have an effect on decision making.
WASHINGTON  A day after President Donald Trump announced a hiring freeze to take effect immediately across the executive branch, the federal governments largest civilian agency was still scrambling to figure out whether the halt applies to 750,000 Defense Department civilians.

The confusion comes from the language in the memorandum, which clearly exempts military personnel. The Pentagon can continue to hire active-duty service members. But DOD officials say they still do not know whether the civilian workforce, which makes up about 35 percent of the 2.1 million civil servants in the federal government, also is considered military personnel and thus can continue hiring.

Our office for Civilian Personnel Policy is working with the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget to determine the applicability of this freeze to civilian personnel positions with the DOD, Pentagon spokesman Johnny Michael said in an email.

DOD civilians act as a massive base of support for the military, in jobs that include budget analysts, procurement, logistics and acquisition specialists, administrative staff, researchers and hundreds of other positions. Trump has pledged to boost the size of the military, but broadly speaking, it is not clear whether that mandate will apply to civilians.

Even if the halt to hiring turns out to apply to Defense Department civilians, there is potentially a way for the agency to get around it. Mondays memo also states that the head of an agency can exempt from the freeze any positions that it deems necessary to meet national security or public safety responsibilities.

That means that many, if not all, DOD civilians could, according to some interpretations, be considered employees whose jobs help secure the nation and be exempted from a freeze.

Its not clear how far DOD can go in construing all of their jobs as coming up national security, said Jeffrey Neal, former personnel chief at the Department of Homeland Security and Defense Logistics Agency who is now a senior vice president at ICF International.

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.

Neal says, however, that he believes the hiring ban clearly applies to Defense civilians since Mondays order freezes the hiring of Federal civilian employees to be applied across the board in the executive branch.

The memo also is vague on another group of employees: Those who work at agencies with public health missions as well as the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA workers are usually considered essential in any shutdown of the federal government. But in this case, the exemption applies only to those with national security or public safety responsibilities.

Right now, its unclear if public safety translates to public health and health jobs in general.
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AUSTIN  Around 3,000 people cheered for school choice Tuesday on the steps of the Texas Capitol as lawmakers inside begin to mull whether this would be the year they decide to let parents pay their childrens private school tuition with public dollars.

The crowd, made up mostly of charter and private school students from Houston and San Antonio, applauded and danced between speeches from top state elected officials who said they want to expand parents options for educating their children.

This is a civil rights issue, proclaimed Gov. Greg Abbott to the jubilant crowd marked by yellow scarves denoting National School Choice Week. We know when it comes to education, one size does not fit all.

Several school choice bills died in the 2015 legislative session, with the bill most favored by Senate leadership failing when the House left it in committee. Among the proposals again being touted this year are education savings accounts and tax breaks for businesses that underwrite individual student scholarships that could be used for private schools.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, an outspoken advocate for such programs, revved up the party-like crowd by calling on his House colleagues for an up-or-down vote, saying children should not have to stay in failing schools.

If you block a bill from a vote on school choice, you are blocking the future of that child, of that family, of that American dream, he said to cheers.

Jason Embry, a spokesman for House Speaker Joe Straus, said the lower chamber is more interested in addressing issues such as school finance reform and improving education for all students. The Texas Supreme Court last year ruled the states method for funding public education is constitutional but deeply flawed.

Traditionally, the members of the House have not supported spending taxpayer dollars at private schools, and there are many questions to be answered on this issue in the months ahead, Embry said.

The state spends a base rate of $5,140 per student in Texas, one of the lowest in the country. Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound and chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, said she wants lawmakers to consider rebuilding the school formula but has proposed a preliminary budget that would add no new money per student.

Democrats say vouchers would drain money from cash-strapped public school districts, while rural lawmakers have few private schools in their districts and see public schools as economic engines of their communities.

Expanding school choices has long been championed by President Trumps nominee for education secretary, Betsy DeVos.

Kathryn Dormady, 35, sends two of her children to Great Hearts Northern Oaks campus in San Antonio, and the other two to an Episcopal school.

Im a homeowner and I pay property taxes and none of my children go to my local school. I dont feel I should be funding them and not benefiting, she said.

About 50 people from San Antonio coordinated with Families Empowered to attend the rally, said Inga Cotton, who coordinates school partnerships for the school choice organization.

Families from the Great Hearts, KIPP, IDEA and Brooks Academy took buses, as did families on long waiting lists for the charter schools. Students from River City Christian School led the entire rally in pledges of allegiance to the American and Texas flags.

When you get a whole mass of people, it makes it hard to ignore that theres this change happening, that so many families are choosing from all these other options, said Cotton, who has two children in Great Hearts Monte Vista.

Jessica Payan attended the rally for the fourth time. She has two children in KIPP San Antonio schools and a third who graduated two years ago from KIPP University Prep.

Payan said her family was not living in poverty, but we dont make that much for me to be able to pay a private tuition, so charters were just the right answer for us.

Payan said she thought her neighborhood schools in Northside Independent School District were too oriented toward standardized tests and not providing adequate special education services. She wants funding equity between charters and traditional public schools.

But Payan and Cotton were both cautious on the issue of vouchers. Cotton said they would help families in some situations, but added, I dont think its a large-scale solution.

Express-News Staff Writer Alia Malik and Austin Bureau Reporter Nicole Cobler contributed to this report.

andrea.zelinski@chron.com
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Both suspects in the attempted jewelry heist at Rolling Oaks Mall have an extensive criminal history, according to court records.

Police on Tuesday identified the second suspect as Jose Luis Rojas, 34, who is now charged with capital murder and two counts of aggravated robbery. He remains in critical condition at San Antonio Military Medical Center after being shot several times by a bystander who witnessed the attempted robbery at Kay Jewelers on Sunday afternoon.

Jason Matthew Prieto, 34, the other suspect was arrested Sunday night by Converse police and has already been booked on the same charges as Rojas.

As they bolted from the store, one of the suspects  police believe it was Rojas, but the investigation is ongoing  shot and killed 42-year-old Jonathan Murphy, who was there with his wife to get his watch repaired. Murphy tried to protect his wife and perhaps thwart the robbers.

A bystander with a handgun license, whom police are not identifying, then intervened, shooting Rojas.

Prieto, 34, ran through the mall, firing his gun and injuring two people, according to a preliminary report from police.

Officials said Ivan Velasco and his wife Adriana Velasco, assistant principals in the Willis Independent School District, were shot, him in the foot and her in the lower jaw and lip. They were released Monday night from SAMMC.

Adriana Velasco is an assistant principal at Meador Elementary School and Ivan Velasco is an assistant principal at Willis High School. Willis is about 48 miles north of Houston.

Prietos criminal record extends over 15 years and 15 convictions, starting in 2000. One month after Prieto turned 18, he charged with possession of marijuana and later sentenced to 60 days in jail.

The crimes grew worse from then on: aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; assault causing bodily injury; attempting to evade arrest with a vehicle; attempt to evade detention; interfering with emergency telephone communications; theft between $50 and $500; burglary of a vehicle; and several drug charges.

Three occurred last year alone.

Prieto was also arrested on three additional drug possession charges that were later dropped.

Rojas criminal record starts about the same time. In 1999, when he was 17, he was charged with resisting arrest. He was tried as an adult, and when he turned 18, he was sentenced to six months in jail.

Over the next decade, Rojas was arrested and charged with assault causing bodily injury, possession of marijuana, and possession of a controlled substance. Twice, he was charged with driving while intoxicated.

At one point, in 2001, he was sentenced to eight years in prison, although court records show he served only two years.

Rojas hadnt had any run-ins with the law in the last six and a half years, according to court records, until Sunday afternoon.

Staff writer Jacob Beltran contributed to this story.

eeaton@express-news.net
The U.S. Census Bureau plans to open a regional office in Dallas in January 2018 that will ultimately bring in 200 workers to oversee the 2020 Census in a dozen states.

While the bureaus current regional headquarters remains in Denver and will continue to conduct ongoing data surveys, the Dallas office will be devoted specifically to the 2020 Census, the first that most Americans will complete online instead of on paper.

Texas is a large state and its had a lot of growth, said Vicki McIntire, assistant regional director at the census bureaus Denver office. Its just kind of a logical location for an office since its a high-growth area.

McIntire and other bureau officials discussed plans for the 2020 Census during an informational session Tuesday at the Alamo Area Council of Governments in San Antonio. The audience included city planners, demographers, officials from various school districts, social service agencies and San Antonio Chamber of Commerce employees.

The census bureau cant hire anyone right now because of a hiring freeze imposed Monday on most federal agencies. But it hopes to start hiring people for the Dallas office later this year, McIntire said.

The Dallas office will be staffed with a mixture of new hires and census bureau employees transferred there from other locations, she said. Those workers will supervise the 2020 Census survey in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana.

The 2020 Census is part of a massive undertaking to survey the demographics of each household in the United States every 10 years. The decennial census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution.

The data gathered is used to reapportion the U.S. House of Representatives  basically, to determine how many representatives each state gets in Congress. Texas gained four congressional seats as a result of the 2010 Census.

The data also determines how billions in federal funding are allocated each year to the various states  funds for Medicaid, highways, Section 8 housing vouchers, the Head Start educational program and other uses.

San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor told the crowd at Tuesdays session that its important to get the community ready.

We cant wait until the last minute, said Taylor, who has a masters degree in city and regional planning. We want to have everybody around the community mobilized and ready to get out and get an accurate count for our community.

pohare@express-news.net
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WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump revived the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects through executive orders Tuesday, signaling a dramatic shift in energy policy that will be far friendlier to the oil and gas industry.

With a few strokes of the pen before flashing cameras, Trump ordered government agencies to go ahead and approve the Dakota Access and quickly complete their reviews on a new application for the long moribund Keystone. The moves represented the first steps for Trump to make good on campaign promises to remove regulations and other measures that impede oil and gas development and made a sharp break with his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Obama blocked both projects as he increasingly focused on reducing the nations dependence on fossil fuels in an effort to slow the pace of climate change.

It is a positive signal to both the companies and to the people in the industry as a whole, were back in business, said Karen Harbert, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerces energy division.

More Information Tale of the Pipe Keystone XL Pipeline Owner: Calgary-based TransCanada Status: Rejected by the Obama administration in 2015; TransCanada said Tuesday it's preparing a new application. Overview: The 1,179-mile, oil sands pipeline would stretch from Alberta to the southern edge of Nebraska, connecting to a completed southern leg that treks to Nederland, Texas, as well as a pipeline later to Liberty County just outside of Houston. Cost: $8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline Owner: Dallas-Based Energy Transfer Partners (Houston-based Phillips 66 has a 25 percent stake) Status: The pipeline is more than 90 percent completed, except for a stretch under Lake Oahe. A final easement was denied by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in December to allow more time to study environmental impacts. President Trump wants to push the project forward. Overview: The 1,172-mile oil pipeline treks from North Dakota's Bakken Shale to Illinois, from where existing pipeline infrastructure can carry oil to Nederland, Texas. Cost: $4 billion See More Collapse

Trumps moves, just four days after he took office, appear good news for the oil and gas industry that drives the Houston and Texas economy, and particularly pipeline companies besieged by litigation from environmental groups designed to slow the construction of new lines. Houston is home to several of nations biggest pipeline companies, including Kinder Morgan and Enterprise Products Partners.

TransCanada, the Calgary-based developer of Keystone XL, is expanding its presence here with its recent $10.2 billion acquisition of the Houston-based Columbia Pipeline Group. The developer of Dakota Access, Energy Transfer Partners, is headquartered in Dallas; the Houston refiner Phillips 66 owns a 25 percent share.

Energy stocks moved broadly higher Tuesday, with Energy Transfer Partners shares climbing more than 3 percent.

Say what you want about Trump, said Ethan Bellamy, an energy analyst at the investment firm Robert W. Baird & Co. but he does not appear to be moving slowly or delicately on matters of import.

Within hours of Trump signing the orders, TransCanada announced it would submit new applications for Keystone, which could carry crude from Canadas oil sands. The project was rejected by the Obama administration in 2015 after a six-year review and strong opposition by environmentalists and Midwest landowners.

The $3.8 billion Dakota Access, developed to transport crude from North Dakotas Bakken Shale, was nearing completion last summer when the Standing Rock Sioux tribe launched protests to block the project, drawing international attention and environmental activists from around the country. In December, the Army Corps of Engineers declined to approve the final leg of the project and said it would explore alternative routes.

But, with Trump now ordering the agency to reverse that order, construction is likely to resume within 60 seconds of the permit being granted, Harbert said. Energy Transfer Partners did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Both pipelines would feed into networks that carry crude to Gulf Coast refineries near Houston, drawing cheers from Republicans and Democrats alike in Texas.

Its going to benefit us here in east Harris County, said Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston. Our refineries can use that heavy crude (from Canada).

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, blasted the Obama administration for pursuing policies that focused too much on renewable sources such as wind and ultimately cost the nation thousands of energy industry jobs.

An all of the above energy strategy includes moving these projects forward, Cornyn said in a statement. This decision is long overdue.

But Trumps actions were not without a catch. One of the executive orders he signed Tuesday orders the secretary of commerce to develop a plan within six months so all new and retrofitted pipelines are built with pipe made in the United States to the maximum extent possible.

Companies are going to have sort of gear up. Much pipeline is made in other countries, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday. Were going to put a lot of steel workers back to work.

That could be good news for pipe plants like the Lone Star plant outside Longview, where owner U.S. Steel cut back shifts last year citing market conditions, and the $1.8 billion plant Tenaris is building southwest of Houston in Bay City.

But the order appeared to catch pipeline companies by surprise. Officials with the trade group Interstate Natural Gas Association of America were trying Tuesday to determine whether such a demand was even feasible.

A critical fact in making this determination will be an assessment of the ability of mills and pipe manufacturing facilities in the United States to produce sufficient pipeline-quality steel and manufactured pipe,said Catherine Landry, a spokesman for the pipeline group.

Trumps orders seemed certain to further inflame environmentalists driving the keep it in the ground movement. Pipeline projects, while long controversial, have moved to the center of the debate over climate change and the future of fossil fuels, such as oil, natural gas, and coal, which the broad consensus of scientists say have accelerated global warming. Environmentalists have targeted and protested pipelines across the country, including West Texas, where Energy Transfer Partners is building the Trans-Pecos pipeline to carry natural gas from the Permian Basin to Mexico.

Dallas Goldtooth, of the Indigenous Environmental Network, said Native Americans and environmentalists would coordinate acts of civil disobedience on a larger scale than seen this summer in North Dakota.

There is going to be a unified call to action, Goldtooth said. Standing Rock has united a fire in all of us.

But pipelines are an area in which Trump might find common ground with many Democrats. Oil and gas development remains a divisive issue within the party, with some like Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont pushing for carbon reductions while politicians from fossil fuel rich states like Texas worry about refinery and oil field jobs.

Theres a lot of different viewpoints on this, said Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif, a member of the partys environmental wing.

With Dakota Access near completion, analysts predicted that project would be completed quickly. But they were less certain about Keystone.

While TransCanada has expressed continued interest in completing the pipeline, in the more than 14 months since Obama turned down its application, the company shifted its focus to projects like the Energy East pipeline, which would cross Canada to bring crude to Atlantic ports. At the same time, oil prices have fallen close to 50 percent since the project was first proposed in 2008, making it difficult to make money with the more expensive crude extracted from oil sands.

While a TransCanada spokesman thanked Trump and said it planned to reapply in a statement Tuesday, he stopped short of saying whether the project would be built.

Another wrinkle could come in Trumps proposals to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, and impose border taxes on imported goods, potentially raising the cost of oil from abroad.

If (Canadian) oil imports arent exempted from a hypothetical tax, Bellamy, said, that could put Canadian oil sands production at a substantial price disadvantage to U.S. production, throwing the rationale for Keystone into doubt.

Bloomberg News contributed reporting.

james.osborne@chron.com

jordan.blum@chron.com
President Donald Trump acted on two of the most fundamental, and controversial, elements of his presidential campaign, building a wall on the border with Mexico and greatly tightening restrictions on who can enter the U.S.

Trump signed directives Wednesday to set in motion construction of border reinforcement and toughening immigration enforcement within the U.S. during an afternoon visit to the Department of Homeland Security. The federal agency has primary jurisdiction over the border and would enforce many of Trumps immigration restrictions.

The Trump administration is also considering a 120-day suspension of refugee admissions and cutting the total number allowed into the U.S. in the current fiscal year from 110,000 to 50,000, actions that could be announced as soon as Thursday, according to a person familiar with the plan.

In an interview with ABC News, Trump said that construction on the wall could begin within months and that Mexico will reimburse the U.S. for the cost.

Ultimately, it will come out with whats happening with Mexico, Trump said, according to part of an interview released on Wednesday. Were going to be starting those negotiations relatively soon.

The Mexican peso, which has been among the worst performing major currencies since the U.S. election, reversed earlier losses after news of Trumps plan emerged and was up 1 percent at 1:49 p.m. in New York. The prospect of a large-scale construction project on the border that will drive up demand for cement, concrete and crushed stone had investors bidding up stocks of building-materials companies.

Trumps central promise during his campaign -- repeated at every rally, often in unison with his crowds -- was to build an impenetrable wall between the U.S. and Mexico to keep out people taking our jobs. He also promised to immediately round up and deport criminal aliens.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters that the administration also would seek ways to ban federal funding to so-called sanctuary cities that dont cooperate with federal deportation efforts.

The first order in that will be to build a large physical barrier on the southern border, Spicer said Wednesday. Federal agencies are going to unapologetically enforce the law -- no ifs, ands or buts.

Trump has repeatedly said he would force the Mexican government to pay for the wall, but may use existing appropriations for border security to start construction. Mexicos government has rejected the notion that it will ever pay for the wall.

I dont think Mexico is going to appropriate dollars from their Congress to pay for this, Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said at an event hosted by Bloomberg Government Wednesday morning.

Higher visa fees for citizens of Mexico and Central American countries could help offset the cost, he said. He pegged the price of the wall at $10 billion to $20 billion and said his committee would have to authorize the project.

Representative Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican who chairs an appropriations subcommittee, said he expects Trump to submit a request for extra spending this year for both border security and the military.

The S&P 500 Materials Sector Index is up 11 percent since the November election on bets that Trump would follow through on his promise. Among companies, Vulcan Materials Co., the biggest U.S. sand and gravel supplier by market value, advanced 2 percent to $134.98 at 9:36 a.m. in New York. Cement makers Martin Marietta Materials Inc. and Eagle Materials Inc. also rose, and Germanys HeidelbergCement AG surged the most in two months.

Tougher immigration enforcement will focus on people who pose a threat to people in our country, to criminals, Spicer said Tuesday. The administration hasnt so far acted to end an Obama-era program that has allowed more than 700,000 people brought to the country as children to obtain renewable two-year work permits.

The border wall -- and who will pay for it -- is already drawing the ire of Democrats.

The bottom line here is this is another divisive policy and its another polarizing policy, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said in an interview with CNN Wednesday. I think the American people are going to be able to see through this.

On a conference call with reporters led by the pro-immigrant group Americas Voice, activists said Trumps actions would ultimately harm the country.

Donald Trump is wasting absolutely no time taking a wrecking ball to the Statue of Liberty, said Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of Americas Voice Education Fund, which advocates for undocumented immigrants. Hell be walling our country off, both figuratively and literally.

Trumps tweet presaged whats expected to be broader moves in the coming days to curb immigration that would include limits on government programs to settle refugees in the U.S.

During his campaign, Trump warned that the U.S. risked allowing extremists to slip into the country as part of the refugee program, pointing to terrorist attacks such as the killing of a French priest and a bombing at a German music festival, as evidence of the danger posed by refugees. Hes said Germanys admission of hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict was a disaster.

The U.S. admitted about 12,500 refugees from Syria in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to State Department figures. The U.S. took in almost 85,000 refugees from across the world that year, up from about 70,000 the year before, as Obama sought to respond to the Syrian crisis that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. No refugee from the Syrian civil war has been implicated in a terrorist attack within the U.S.

McCaul said in an interview that he expects Trump to sign an executive action to require stronger vetting of visa applications for people coming from the Middle East and North Africa, countries including Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq and Iran. He said it would be left up to Congress to draw up specifics on what the vetting would entail.

The executive order isnt going to get that much in detail, he said.

Anne Richard, the assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration until Jan. 20, said that Trumps incoming administration never responded to an offer of a briefing on the refugee program before he took office.

Its unusual for an administration to come in and without having anyone brief them just issue a blanket decision like this, she said. They have not been briefed on how the program works. They should inform themselves first and then take action.

Trump once proposed a temporary ban on all Muslim immigration to the U.S.; after drawing bipartisan criticism, he subsequently proposed blocking immigration from countries with a proven history of terrorism. Other than Syria, he hadnt specified what countries would meet that definition during his campaign.

Were letting people come in from terrorist nations that shouldnt be allowed, Trump said at a campaign rally in September. This could be the great Trojan horse of all time.

Under President Barack Obama, the U.S. focused its refugee admissions on individuals with existing links to America, as well as women and children facing persecution or in desperate need of medical care. The screening process averages 12 to 18 months and includes biometric data and reviews by multiple law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
The Womens March on Saturday was a grass-roots mobilization effort the likes of which weve never seen, with an estimated 3 million participants in the U.S. alone.

But it wasnt long after the marchers dispersed that we started hearing detractors question what the point of the event had been.

The last thing the Womens March needs is mansplaining from me, but I dont think Id be out of line to suggest that people marched for reasons that were simultaneously universal and highly personal.

In San Antonio, for example, you had Faith Radle, manager of the band Girl in a Coma and daughter of former Councilwoman Patti Radle. After marching on Saturday, Radle noted on social media that the Affordable Care Act made it possible for her to have her baby daughter Maxine, because it enables self-employed women to find health insurance that covers pregnancies. Given newly inaugurated President Donald Trumps insistence that he will repeal the ACA, thats an issue of major relevance.

We also saw marchers throughout the country express concerns about the new administrations hostility to womens health and family planning services, including Trumps vows to defund Planned Parenthood.

But if ideology or theology prevent you from being persuaded on those issues, heres another one to consider. The Trump administration plans to slash federal funding to shelters for battered women and children, according to a Jan. 19 report by The Hill.

In a misguided budget-cutting move, the administration is looking to eliminate all 25 grant programs that are managed by the Justice Departments Office of Violence Against Women.

This grant money  established by the 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and other legislation  offers help to organizations that provide transitional housing assistance and other services for victims of assault.

The Bexar County Family Justice Center, which was created by the district attorneys office in 2005 to provide legal and social services to domestic-violence victims, owes its very existence to a $1.367 million federal grant from the Office of Violence Against Women.

Trumps strategy is based on a budgetary blueprint released last year by the conservative Heritage Foundation. The blueprint recommends a host of budget cuts designed to reduce federal spending by $10.5 trillion over the next 10 years.

The Heritage Foundation justifies its recommended VAWA cuts this way: VAWA grants should be terminated because these services should be funded and implemented locally.

Its a classic shift-the-burden game, but theres an obvious problem with it. Local governments dont have enough money to adequately support these programs, and even with the current federal help, battered womens shelters cant keep up with the demand for services.

In September 2015, a study conducted by the National Network to End Domestic Violence found that in Texas there were 1,539 unmet requests for domestic-violence services in a single day, with 48 percent of those requests for housing. The study found many programs, in Texas and the rest of the country, dealing with a critical shortage of funds and staff to assist victims.

Marta Pelaez, the president and CEO of Family Violence Prevention Services in San Antonio, said the elimination of VAWA grants would be devastating for local women and children victimized by domestic assault.

Every shelter that has certification to provide services receives some kind of federal money, she said. This is an issue that touches one out of every three women in our state. So I dont think it would be a very intelligent strategy to move against that many families.

As Pelaez points out, domestic violence also impacts many other social problems, with 80 percent of homelessness (and 90 percent of our incarcerated population) in this state being touched by it in some way.

Were making progress, but its very slow, and to go backwards at this time is not acceptable, said Pat Smothers, a longtime advocate for victims of domestic violence.

The elimination of the VAWA grant program would save the federal government only $480 million a year (a little more than one-hundredth of 1 percent of the federal budget), but would put the lives of many battered women and children at risk. Its callousness disguised as fiscal prudence, and it cant be allowed to happen.

Among other things, that is what the Womens March was all about.

ggarcia@express-news.net

Twitter: @gilgamesh470
President Donald Trump had just returned to the White House on Saturday from his final inauguration event, a tranquil interfaith prayer service, when the flashes of anger began to build.

Trump turned on the television to see a jarring juxtaposition  massive demonstrations around the globe protesting his day-old presidency and footage of the sparser crowd at his inauguration, with large patches of white empty space on the Mall.

As his press secretary, Sean Spicer, was still unpacking boxes in his spacious new West Wing office, Trump grew increasingly and visibly enraged.

Pundits were dissing his turnout. The National Park Service had retweeted a photo unfavorably comparing the size of his inauguration crowd with the one that attended Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony in 2009. A journalist had misreported that Trump had removed the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office. And celebrities at the protests were denouncing the new commander in chief  Madonna even referenced "blowing up the White House."

Trump's advisers suggested that he could push back in a simple tweet. Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a Trump confidant and the chairman of the Presidential Inaugural Committee, offered to deliver a statement addressing the crowd size.

But Trump was adamant, aides said. Over the objections of his aides and advisers  who urged him to focus on policy and the broader goals of his presidency  the new president issued a decree: He wanted a fiery public response, and he wanted it to come from his press secretary.

Spicer's resulting statement  delivered in an extended shout and brimming with falsehoods  underscores the extent to which the turbulence and competing factions that were a hallmark of Trump's campaign have been transported to the White House.

The broader power struggles within the Trump operation have touched everything from the new administration's communications shop to the expansive role of the president's son-in-law to the formation of Trump's political organization. At the center, as always, is Trump himself, whose ascent to the White House seems to have only heightened his acute sensitivity to criticism.

This account of Trump's tumultuous first days in office comes from interviews with nearly a dozen senior White House officials and other Trump advisers and confidants, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations and moments.

By most standards, Spicer's statement Saturday did not go well. He appeared tired and nervous in an ill-fitting gray pinstripe suit. He publicly gave faulty facts and figures  which he said were provided to him by the Presidential Inaugural Committee  that prompted a new round of media scrutiny.

Many critics thought Spicer went too far and compromised his integrity. But in Trump's mind, Spicer's attack on the news media was not forceful enough. The president was also bothered that the spokesman read, at times haltingly, from a printed statement.

Trump has been resentful, even furious, at what he views as the media's failure to reflect the magnitude of his achievements, and he feels demoralized that the public's perception of his presidency so far does not necessarily align with his own sense of accomplishment.

On Monday, Spicer returned to the lectern, crisply dressed and appearing more comfortable as he parried questions from the press corps.

"There is this constant theme to undercut the enormous support that he has," he told reporters. "And I think that it's just unbelievably frustrating when you're continually told it's not big enough, it's not good enough, you can't win."

Unlike other senior aides  Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, counselor Kellyanne Conway and senior adviser Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law  Spicer does not enjoy a close and long-standing personal relationship with Trump.

During the campaign, Trump was suspicious of both Priebus and Spicer, who ran the Republican National Committee and were seen as more loyal to the party than to its nominee. Some privately wonder whether Conway is now trying to undermine Spicer.

As Trump thought about staffing his administration following his surprise victory, he hesitated over selecting Spicer as White House press secretary. He did not see Spicer as particularly telegenic and preferred a woman for the position, asking Conway to do it and also considering conservative commentators Laura Ingraham and Monica Crowley  who ultimately stepped down from an administration job because of charges of plagiarism  before settling on Spicer at the urging of Priebus and others.

Yet if there was any doubt over the weekend about Spicer's standing with the president, it seemed to have been erased by his performance Monday, at least for the moment. Trump told his senior team that he was pleased with Spicer's more confident and relaxed turn at the lectern.

"His very first briefing as White House press secretary was a tour de force," Conway said. "He engaged the media, he was respectful and firm, he talked about accountability on a two-way street, he gave facts, he broke news in terms of what the president was doing."

But tensions and internal power struggles have plagued other parts of Trump's fledgling orbit, too.

Efforts to launch an outside group supporting Trump's agenda have stalled amid fighting between Kushner loyalists, such as campaign data and digital strategist Brad Parscale of San Antonio and conservative donor Rebekah Mercer, according to people familiar with the tensions. Major disputes include who would control the data the outside group would use, with Mercer advocating for Cambridge Analytica, a firm in which her father is invested, and who would control the lucrative contracts with vendors, these people said.

Two people close to the transition also said a number of Trump's most loyal campaign aides have been alarmed by Kushner's efforts to elbow aside anyone he perceives as a possible threat to his role as Trump's chief consigliere. At one point during the transition, Kushner had argued internally against giving Conway a White House role, these two people said.

Because Conway operates outside of the official communications department, some aides grumble that she can go rogue when she pleases, offering her own message and promoting herself as much as the president. One suggested that Conway's office on the second floor of the West Wing, as opposed to one closer to the Oval Office, was a sign of her diminished standing. Though Conway took over the workspace previously occupied by Valerie Jarrett, who had been Obama's closest adviser, the confidant dismissively predicted that Trump would rarely climb a flight of stairs.

Yet that assessment may misunderstand the Trump-Conway relationship. The president admires her dogged and fearless defenses of him and respects her on-camera ability to dodge, defuse and deflect whatever comes her way, according to numerous Trump advisers. On the eve of his inauguration, Trump called Conway on stage at a black-tie dinner to sing her praises.

Trump watched Sunday as Conway sparred with NBC's Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press." Some Trump allies were unsettled by her performance, but not the president, according to one official. He called Vice President Pence to rave about how she handled questions from Todd, whom Trump mocked on Twitter as "Sleepy Eyes," and called Conway to offer his congratulations. Trump was perturbed that the media focused on two words from Conway's interview: "alternative facts."

Conway is arguably Trump's most recognizable aide, which has caused her to receive threats against her life. She has been assigned a Secret Service detail, according to someone with detailed knowledge of the situation.

In perhaps the clearest sign of where the administration's power center resides, the "Big Four"  Bannon, Conway, Kushner and Priebus  stood in the front row at Sunday afternoon's swearing-in ceremony for senior staffers, in the White House's East Room.

Conway herself said that while the advisers sometimes disagree, rumors of dissension are overblown.

"We're a cohesive unit," she said. "The senior team exhibits many of the characteristics President Trump has always valued: cohesion, collaboration, high energy and high impact."

Some Trump insiders have suggested tension between Conway and Priebus, but she said that could not be further from the truth. "I really respect the job that Reince is doing most of all," Conway said. "He has a very good way of choosing battles wisely, which is a hallmark of a real leader and manager."

Conway said she now hopes to limit her television appearances. Instead, she is taking on an expanded portfolio, which will include health care and veterans' issues, and Pence  for whom she has worked for years as a pollster  is also expected to carve out more substantive responsibilities for her.

Longtime GOP fundraiser and adviser Fred Malek said that a president benefits from having advisers with distinct perspectives, noting the Ed Meese and Jim Baker debates in the Reagan White House.

"You want to have a robust discussion and you want to have competing points of view debated with vigor," Malek said. "To the extent that results in bruised feelings sometimes, so be it."
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TRT Holdings Inc., a multibillion-dollar Dallas company that owns the Omni Hotels and Resorts chain, has joined the development team for the new Frost Tower, a proposed 23-story skyscraper thats expected to transform west downtown.

TRT will work with local developer Weston Urban and another Dallas firm, KDC, to finance the tower, which will be the first new tall office building downtown in more than 25 years. The tower, designed by global architecture firm Pelli Clarke Pelli, will include about 460,000 square feet of class A office space and will be 386 feet tall.

Randy Smith, Weston Urbans president, declined to say how much financing TRT will provide. The tower has been projected to cost $142 million.

Weve known from the beginning that a project of this scope and scale would require a joint venture equity partner, Smith said Tuesday. TRT Holdings is a perfect fit.

The Frost Tower was originally set to start construction by the end of last year. Smith declined to say what caused the delay. The tower still needs final approval from the city Historic and Design Review Commission after getting preliminary approval in July.

Weston Urban bought the site of the tower in December from Frost Bank, which will occupy about 250,000 square feet of its space for its new headquarters. The firm has received a city permit to start excavating the site and prepare the buildings foundation.

TRT, which was founded in 1989, also owns the Golds Gym fitness chain and Tana Exploration, an oil and gas company that operates throughout the Gulf Coast, according to a news release. It has a large stake in Northern Oil & Gas, which drills for oil in North Dakota and Montana, according to news reports.

TRT has the characteristics that mean the most to us: character, integrity and an alignment of mission and purpose, Smith said in a statement.

The company has invested in various real estate ventures and has developed numerous hotels for its Omni brand. It is currently working on a 16-story luxury hotel in Frisco, a $321 million hotel in Louisville and a $235.5 million hotel in Oklahoma City, reports say. TRT also plans to build a 16-story hotel at the Atlanta Braves new ballpark.

TRT is operated by Robert Rowling, a major conservative political donor who held the No. 293 spot on Forbes 2016 list of the worlds wealthiest people.

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP, a commercial real estate services company with offices across the U.S., arranged TRTs investment, according to a news release.

Weston Urban is developing the new Frost Tower as part of an intricate public-private partnership with the city of San Antonio and Frost Bank. As part of the deal, the city is buying Frosts current headquarters on Houston Street, where it plans to consolidate much of its workforce. Weston Urban will buy a total of about 9.1 acres in west downtown from the city and Frost.

rwebner@express-news.net

@rwebner
"If people wanted to corporatise CBH - and that was one of the questions in the survey - you'd be far better corporatising it as CBH. All the members get the share, there's no bleed off of value, which would have been a far better way than what (AGC) were proposing."
Mr Thompson said the offering of 42 top quality young bulls from the seven different vendors is the largest offering of Charolais sires in WA at auction this year and will give purchasers an opportunity to select sires that best suit their breeding objective at the one venue.
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The Fat Leonard scandal has decimated the U.S. Navys Pacific Command. So far, sixteen defendants have been charged in the case. They include an Admiral, five Commanders, a Captain, and a Petty Officer. In other words, the chain of command.

Fat Leonard is Leonard Glenn Francis. The Malaysian national, 51, pleaded guilty to bribing scores of U.S. Navy officials with travel, meals, cash, electronics, parties, and prostitutes. Hes waiting to be sentenced.

His Singapore-based company  Glenn Defense Marine Asia  provided port services to U.S. Navy ships in Asia. As part of his plea agreement, Francis admitted over-billing the Navy more than $35 million on contracts to stock and clean ships.

Some defendants gave Fat Leonard sensitive Navy secrets  ship movement schedules, port-of-call plans, reports about investigations into his company, and pricing information from competitors. Others helped him defraud the Navy with phony or inflated invoices. One helped Fat Leonards vessels avoid customs inspections in and out of the Philippines. Most of the defendants lied to investigators about their dealings with Fat Leonard.

It was a scandal that could have been avoided. Fraud complaints about Fat Leonard and his company started in 2006, the Washington Post reported. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) opened 27 separate investigations into his company.

In each of those instances, however, NCIS closed the case after failing to dig up sufficient evidence to take action against the firm, the Washington Post said. The paper reviewed hundreds of pages of law enforcement records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Navy staffers at U.S. Pacific Fleet headquarters were so worried about potential trouble that they drafted a new ethics policy to discourage Navy personnel from accepting favors from Fat Leonard, the WaPo report said. But their effort was blocked for more than two years by admirals who were friendly with the contractor, according to officials familiar with the matter.

* * *

Every Navy officer takes and oath and is supposed to uphold it. So theyre all expected to be part of the compliance function.

I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

But when compliance is part of everyones job, is it sometimes no ones job? That looks like what happened in the Navys Pacific Command. Corruption reached all levels. Instead of exposing the graft, the chain of command covered it up.

* * *

What about the future?

Instead of relying on everyone for compliance, what about designated compliance officers who report to someone outside the immediate chain of command. Give that compliance officer continuous and open access to the books and records, like an on-site independent auditor. Make the compliance officer someone whistleblowers can trust and rely on to protect against retaliation from within the chain of command. See e.g. Compliance 2.0.

Embedding an independent compliance officer deters shenanigans  for the Navy or any other organization. Outside eyes always increase the chances of getting caught.

For the Navy, the objection to that arrangement is obvious. The military cant do its job without a chain of command. But the Navy already has a detailed complaint procedure. Even NCIS is supposed to have a role. None of that stopped Fat Leonards corruption and fraud.

Independent oversight. A safe outlet for whistleblowers. Checks and balances. Thats the only way real compliance can work.

The Fat Leonard scandal has already left behind too much human wreckage. For the Navy, something new is worth a try.

* * *

Heres a look at some of that human wreckage. It involves 16 defendants, so far.

In addition to Fat Leonard, four other executives from his company have been charged  Alex Wisidagama, Ed Aruffo, Neil Peterson, and Linda Raja.

Wisidagama pleaded guilty and was sentenced in March to 63 months in prison and $34.8 million in restitution to the Navy. Aruffo has pleaded guilty and is waiting to be sentenced. Peterson and Raja were extradited from Singapore to the United States last month. Their cases are pending.

The remaining 11 defendants are current or former U.S. Navy officials.

They include:

Admiral Robert Gilbeau (pleaded guilty)

Lt. Commander Gentry Debord (sentenced to 30 months in prison)

Commander Bobby Pitts (awaiting trial)

Captain Daniel Dusek (sentenced to 46 months in prison)

Commander Michael Misiewicz (sentenced to 78 months in prison)

Lt. Commander Todd Malaki (sentenced to 40 months in prison)

Commander Jose Luis Sanchez (pleaded guilty)

Former NCIS Supervisory Special Agent John Beliveau II (sentenced to 144 months in prison)

Petty Officer First Class Daniel Layug (sentenced to 27 in prison), and

Paul Simpkins, a former DoD civilian employee who oversaw contracting in Singapore (sentenced to 72 months in prison).

Three other Rear Admirals including the commander of naval forces in Japan retired in 2015 after the Secretary of the Navy censured them for the Fat Leonard scandal.

___

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog.
Summary

Company Announcement Date: January 24, 2017 FDA Publish Date: February 08, 2018 Product Type: Drugs Reason for Announcement: Recall Reason Description Due to the Presence of Particulate Matter Company Name: Hospira, Inc. Brand Name: Brand Name(s) Hospira, Inc. Product Description: Product Description Vancomycin Hydrochloride for injection

Company Announcement

Hospira, Inc., a Pfizer company, is voluntarily recalling one lot of Vancomycin Hydrochloride for Injection, USP (NDC: 0409-6510-01, Lot 591053A, Expiry Date 1NOV2017), to the hospital/retail level due to a confirmed customer report for the presence of particulate matter within a single vial.

In the unlikely event that the particulate is administered to a patient, it may result in local swelling, irritation of blood vessels or tissue, blockage of blood vessels and/or low-level allergic response to the particulate. The risk is reduced by the possibility of detection, as the label contains a clear statement directing the physician to visually inspect the product for particulate matter and discoloration prior to administration.

To date, Hospira has not received reports of any adverse events associated with this issue for this lot. Hospira places the utmost emphasis on patient safety and product quality at every step in the manufacturing and supply chain process.

Vancomycin Hydrochloride is indicated for the treatment of serious or severe infections caused by susceptible strains of methicillin-resistant staphylococci. Vancomycin Hydrochloride is effective in the treatment of staphylococcal endocarditis, septicemia, bone infections, lower respiratory tract infections, and skin and skin-structure infections. It is used in penicillin-allergic patients, and also for patients who cannot receive or who have failed to respond to other antimicrobials, including penicillin or cephalosporin agents, and for infections caused by vancomycin-susceptible organisms that are resistant to other antimicrobials.

The product is packaged in a carton containing 1x100 mL vial. The lot was distributed from August 2016 through September 2016 in the United States. Anyone with an existing inventory of the recalled lot should stop use and distribution and quarantine the product immediately. Inform health care professionals in your organization of this recall. If you have further distributed the recalled product, please notify any accounts or additional locations which may have received the recalled product from you. Further, please instruct entities that may have received the recalled product from you that if they redistributed the product, they should notify their accounts, locations or facilities of the recall to the hospital/retail level. Hospira will be notifying its direct customers via a recall letter and is arranging for impacted product to be returned to Stericycle in the United States.

For additional assistance, call Stericycle at 1-888-570-1678 between the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.

For clinical inquiries, please contact Hospira using the information provided below.

Hospira Contact Contact Information Areas of Support Hospira Global Complaint Management 1-800-441-4100 (8am-5pm CT, M-F) (ProductComplaintsPP@hospira.com) To report adverse events or product complaints Pfizer Medical Information 1-800-615-0187 (7am-6pm CT, M-F) Medical inquiries

Adverse reactions or quality problems experienced with the use of this product may be reported to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program either online, by regular mail or by fax.

Complete and submit the report Online: www.fda.gov/medwatch/report.htm

Regular Mail or Fax: Download form www.fda.gov/MedWatch/getforms.htm or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178

This recall is being executed with the knowledge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Summary

Company Announcement Date: January 23, 2017 FDA Publish Date: February 08, 2018 Product Type: Food & Beverages

Gravy/Sauces

Allergens

Food & Beverage Safety Reason for Announcement: Recall Reason Description Undeclared soy and peanuts Company Name: Carriage House Creations Brand Name: Brand Name(s) Carriage House Creations Product Description: Product Description Sauces

Company Announcement

Carriage House Creations issues a voluntary product recall on all Bourbon Basting Sauces, and Hot Barbecue Sauce, due to undeclared soy and peanut ingredients found in the Worcestershire Sauce used in the making of these products. People, who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to soy or peanuts, run the risk of serious or life-threatening reactions if they consume these products. The sauces were distributed in the state of Pennsylvania in Reynoldsville, Shippensburg, Dallas, Johnstown, New Germany, Tipton, Bedford, Nicktown, Harrisburg, Benezette, and Bellefonte through gift shows, wine festivals, craft shows and retail stores. The product was also sold through our on-line store and mail order.

The Bourbon Basting Sauces are packed in 12 ounce glass bottles from Carriage House Creations with product names; Mild Bourbon Basting Sauce, Bold and Spicy Bourbon Basting Sauce, and Hot Bourbon Basting Sauce. Hot Barbecue Sauce was packed in 16 ounce glass jars. Products were distributed from August 23 until December 30, 2016, with Best if Used By Dates coded: 2232018 to 5302018.

There have been no confirmed illnesses to date.

The recall was initiated after Carriage House Creations was informed that the Worcestershire Sauce ingredient was recalled due to undeclared soy and peanuts.

Consumers are urged not to consume the product if they are allergic to soy and peanuts. Consumers may return product for a full refund, to the place of purchase or if bought at shows or online, by contacting Carriage House Creations. Consumers with questions may also contact Carriage House Creations at (814) 653-8707, Monday through Friday, from 8am. to 4pm EST.

Company Contact Information Consumers: Carriage House Creations (814) 653-8707
PVH Corp has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the licensed Tommy Hilfiger mens tailored clothing business for North America from Marcraft Clothes, Inc. PVH intends to consolidate the North America mens tailored businesses for all of its brands under one partner, Peerless Clothing International Inc., beginning January 2018.

Marcraft operates the business under license from Tommy Hilfiger Licensing LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of PVH. As part of the transaction, PVH will acquire certain assets related to the licensed business and the license agreement would be terminated effective December 31, 2017.

We thank the Marcraft team for its partnership and for building a successful mens tailored clothing business for the Tommy Hilfiger brand in North America. However, we believe it best serves the needs of our company and brands to have all of the mens tailored businesses under the direction of one partner, said Emanuel Chirico, chairman and CEO of PVH.

PVH Corp has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the licensed Tommy Hilfiger men's tailored clothing business for North America from Marcraft Clothes, Inc. PVH intends to consolidate the North America men's tailored businesses for all of its brands under one partner, Peerless Clothing International Inc., beginning January 2018.#

We believe our longstanding relationship with Tommy Hilfiger and PVH has allowed us to drive the growth of the Tommy Hilfiger mens tailored business in North America and our overall business over the last eight years, said Gary Brody of Marcraft.

We believe the expertise we have developed will serve us well as we continue to operate our other existing businesses and identify future opportunities for growth, said Jeffrey Brody of Marcraft.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The distinctive product zones return to Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics  Spring Edition 2017, which will run from March 15-17, 2017 in Shanghai. These zones include, All About Sustainability, Functional Lab, Premium Wool Zone and Verve for Design, all in hall 5.2, while Accessories Vision and Beyond Denim zones are in halls 8.1 and 6.2, respectively.Hohenstein Institute, Intertek, Testex and SGS are among those returning to the Educational Zone of All About Sustainability, which will also feature an Ecoboutique display area showcasing eco-friendly garments and a Forum Space for presentations on the latest products, services and market information.

The distinctive product zones return to Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics  Spring Edition 2017, which will run from March 15-17, 2017 in Shanghai. These zones include, All About Sustainability, Functional Lab, Premium Wool Zone and Verve for Design, all in hall 5.2, while Accessories Vision and Beyond Denim zones are in halls 8.1 and 6.2, respectively.#

Around 300 domestic and overseas functional fabrics suppliers will feature in the Functional Lab Zone and will feature two pavilions hosted by the Gyeongbuk Natural Color Industry Institute and Dyetec, both from South Korea.The Premium Wool Zone will see wool and cashmere fabrics exhibitors from Peru and the UK, like Aris Industrial, Beijing Vitality Textiles, Harrisons of Edinburgh, Huddersfield Fine Worsteds, Loa Hai Shing, Merino Brothers and Scabal.The Beyond Denim Zone will have around 100 exhibitors from China and abroad, with products including denim yarn, as well as stretch, embroidered, jacquard and knit denim fabrics on offer. (AR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. a leading developer of genetically engineered spider silk based fibre technologies, has announced that it has secured a long term property lease in Texas for the Companys domestic mulberry production. The property offers the Company significant capacity for growth with room for tens of thousands of more trees.Over the next 60 days, the Company will complete the first phase of expansion by preparing the land and planting 2,000 mulberry trees. These trees will provide the Company with the continuous supply of fresh mulberry leaves needed to produce its record setting Dragon Silk.

Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. a leading developer of genetically engineered spider silk based fibre technologies, has announced that it has secured a long term property lease in Texas for the Company's domestic mulberry production. The property offers the Company significant capacity for growth with room for tens of thousands of more trees.#

The Company expects to see an improvement in materials performance and a reduction in production costs by as much as 30 per cent through the use of locally sourced mulberry.Kraig COO Jon Rice said, Signing this lease and opening this new facility brings with it a new era for Kraig Labs and silk production in the US. Establishing domestic mulberry production has long been a key piece of our growth plan. We are pleased to be able share the success of our efforts in bringing that vision into reality. Over the coming months, we will complete the planting of the first 2,000 trees and prepare the facility for the next phase of expansion. (GK )

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Union textiles minister Smriti Irani has called for promoting textiles tourism between India and Bangladesh and modernising infrastructures at the borders of the two countries to encourage border haats. She also emphasised on the need to promote business cooperation in jute and fabric segments to increase trade between the neighbouring nations.

Irani also addressed the issue of the imposition of anti-dumping duty on jute imports from Bangladesh while speaking at the Indo-Bangladesh Multi Sectoral Cooperation International Conference, according to media reports. She said that commodity dumping has affected Indian farmers, lower income workers as well as the entire Indian jute industry.

She suggested that Bangladeshi leaders in jute diversification can work with the Indian jute companies to explore the global market.

Union textiles minister Smriti Irani has called for promoting textiles tourism between India and Bangladesh and modernising infrastructures at the borders of the two countries to encourage border haats. She also emphasised on the need to promote business cooperation in jute and fabric segments to increase trade between the neighbouring nations.#

The minister also said that the firms from both countries can work together in the fabric sector and jointly address the issues of standards and non-tariff barriers. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
January 2017



Suva, Fiji  The Fijian Government has become the latest government to join a UN alliance of governments and organisations committed to accelerating the transition from cash to digital payments in order to reduce poverty and drive inclusive growth.



Fijis membership falls under the Better than Cash Alliance (BTCA). The BTCA partners with governments, companies, and international organizations that are the key drivers behind the transition to make digital payments widely available.



Fijian Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum endorsed Fijis membership under the BTCA and reiterated Fijis commitment to inclusive financial policies.



Fiji is developing its financial sector to give as many Fijians as possible access to efficient and reliable financial services. We have already put in place a number of policies and initiatives that have harnessed the potential of digital innovation to increase public participation in our formal financial sector. And we are keen to work with our international partners to help meet our target of channelling 85 per cent of government payments through digital platforms by 2020, he said.



The endorsement of the alliance was initiated by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) pacific-based flagship programme, the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP).



PFIP Manager Mark Flaming said the programme recognises that the Fijian Government is working toward creating an enabling environment for the digitisation of government payments. PFIP is eager to support the Fijian Government in the implementation of the alliance.



In becoming a member, Fiji endorses the guiding principles of the alliance including:



I. broad recognition of the benefits of replacing the use of physical cash with electronic payments;

II. sharing of approaches and lessons learned in replacing the use of physical cash with electronic payment systems; and

III. increased use of electronic payments systems in programmes and operations to promote financial inclusion, increased transparency and efficiency.





Over the past decade, the Fijian Government has made a strategic shift from cash and other paper-based mediums of exchanges to electronic payment forms. Today 70 percent of all government payments are made through electronic platforms.



In 2011, the Fijian Government, in collaboration with PFIP, introduced a ground-breaking platform for social welfare payments, marking a shift from voucher-based payments to electronic transfer to a bank account, benefiting approximately 33,000 recipients. Funds have since reached welfare recipients in a more timely and cost-effective manner and the new payment system has also provided recipients with a secure place to save. This was the first Government-to-Person (G2P) electronic payment initiative in the Pacific.



All pension payments to retirees from Fijis Superannuation Fund, the Fiji National Provident Fund are also made through banking and electronic channels and, more recently, lease payments through the iTaukei Lands Trust Board.



After the devastating Tropical Cyclone Winston in February 2016 (which caused estimated damage of $1.5 billion), the Fijian Government used e-cards pre-loaded with approved amounts to assist families who had lost their homes. Under this Help for Homes Initiative, recipients were able to purchase building materials with the e-cards from selected hardware stores.



Last year Fiji completed its first medium term financial inclusion strategy and is embarking on the second "National Financial Inclusion Strategic Plan 2016 - 2020" with a target of increasing access to formal financial services to at least 85 percent of the adult population by 2020.



One of the goals of the strategy is to elevate digital financial services. The strategy aims to increase the percentage of adults using digital payments from eight to 15 percent over the next five years.



These developments have the potential to not only provide substantial benefit to the Fijian Government but also promote financial inclusion by providing Fijians with an entry point into the formal financial sector, enhancing the welfare of individuals and the economy as a whole.



The Ministry for Economy will serve as the focal point for the alliance.



About PFIP

PFIP is a Pacific-wide programme helping low-income households gain access to financial services and financial education. It is jointly administered by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and receives funding from the Australian Government, the European Union and the New Zealand Government.



PFIP aims to add one million Pacific Islanders to the formal financial sector by 2019 by supporting policy and regulatory initiatives, funding innovation with financial services and delivery channels, disseminating market information, and empowering consumers.



PFIP operates from the UNDP Pacific Office in Suva, Fiji and has offices in Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Solomon Islands.



For more information, please contact:

Erica Lee  Communications Associate; Tel: +679 322 7538; Email: erica.lee@undp.org www.pfip.org
The Minister for Industry, Trade, Tourism, Lands and Mineral Resources, Hon Faiyaz Koya on Friday 20 January, addressed high level dignitaries from 57 countries, during an event hosted by the United Nations World Tourism Organizations (UNWTO) outgoing Secretary General Taleb Rifai held in Madrid, Spain.



In celebrating the Launch of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) 2017 International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, Minister Koya stated that the sustainable development of Fiji and the Pacifics tourism sector depended heavily on their ability to adapt to the reality of climate change.



In the face of this daunting challenge, every Pacific Island country still depends on tourism as their main source of income. Tourism contributes around 29.4 per cent of our GDP. The sector is also a vital source of employment for Fijians. Therefore, it is a priority of the Fijian Government to ensure that tourism activities are undertaken in a sustainable manner, said Minister Koya.



Furthermore, Minister Koya re-emphasised the importance of working together to harness the potential of tourism to grow our economies, foster greater inclusion in our societies and preserve our culture and our environment.



We share this planet, we share a duty to its well-being, and we owe each other mutual understanding and respect. Therefore, let us work together to keep our development sustainable, whether it be in tourism, agriculture, sport or any other source of prosperity and progress for our citizens, he said.



The Hon. Minister emphasised that countries need to work together to get industrial nations to pledge firm commitments on climate change, at COP 23.



Fiji is the first Pacific Island Nation to be President of the 23rd session of the global climate summit or COP 23, which will take place in Bonn, Germany in November of this year and our Honourable Prime Minister will preside over the negotiations. Fiji will do everything in our power to help forge international consensus on how to reduce carbon emissions and help protect vulnerable areas of the globe from the extreme weather events and rising seas that are already upon them and we will forward to support from countries that are party to the UNWTO, said Minister Koya.



To support the International Year, the Fijian Government through the Ministry of Industry Trade and Tourism is working closely with the UNWTO to roll out a work programme for Fiji. This work programme is a result of the UNWTO technical mission to Fiji in late November 2016.



The UN General Assembly has declared this year as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development and will play a facilitative role for the implementation of its scheduled activities together with Governments, relevant organizations of the UN System and other international and regional organizations.
The day-long National Water Forum promoted knowledge sharing on national and global water challenges and solutions, as well as to enhance sector coordination and governance.

Water conservation is a key factor in the overall endeavour of promoting sustainable development.This was highlighted by the Minister for Local Government, Housing, Environment, Infrastructure and Transport Hon. Parveen Kumar Bala as he opened the first-ever National Water Forum in Lami today.Minister Bala said in an effort to conserve water, the Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) was able to address water leakage problems as reflected by the reduction in the non-revenue water level over the years.This reduction has been made possible by programmes carried out by WAF such as meter replacement programme, pipe replacement programme and leak identification programme using sounding and step test that uses panametric and data loggers, Minister Bala said.As a result, non-revenue water level has been reduced from 51.7 per cent in 2013 to 39.6 per cent in 2015. This has resulted in a cost saving of $13.8 million.Government also provided assistance for communities in rural areas and low income earners to provide better access to clean and safe water supply.Government has offered support in Rainwater Harvesting Assistance programme and the communities need to capitalise on this. In 2015, Government introduced a Free Water Allowance of 250 litres per household per day to assist the poor and low income earners, Minister Bala said.
HON PM BAINIMARAMA REMARKS AT THE OPENING OF THE JIOMA FOOTCROSSING





Jioma,KADAVUBula vinaka and a very good afternoon to you all.Im delighted to be here with you all to dedicate the Jioma foot crossing. But beyond this dedication, I am here to make it clear that every person, every community, in Fiji is important. Though this is only a small project for your community, when we add one small project in one small community to other small projects in other communities, we strengthen our nation.This foot crossing will allow people from this village to travel easily to the local school and to the neighbouring villages of Vukavu and Soso. The people here have been without a foot crossing for a long time, after the previous one was washed away in a storm. But today, we are here with your new foot crossing.Ensuring public health and safety is one of the main reasons governments exist. And it means a great deal to me personally that we have now made it possible for the children of this community to walk to school safely and quickly. It means a great deal to me that you have a secure path to medical care and the other services at the main service centre in Soso.It means a great deal to me that you will find it easier once again to participate in gatherings and ceremonies at the seat of the Naceva district chief. It means so much to me because I know that if Government does not take seriously the health and security of the people in the small villages and remote areas, it has not done its job. If it does not take care to ensure that people in areas like Jioma and Vukavu and Soso can gather and trade and take care of basic needs, it has failed them and the nation. We cannot fix all problems immediately, but we must commit to fix them all in their turn.You live far from the television cameras, so your hardships may not be as visible to the rest of the nation as the hardships of people in the cities. But they are just as real, and Government must ease those hardships when it can. So we are here.Ladies and Gentlemen, I know that for many people, this may be just one of many projects the Government undertakes each year. But to me, it is important, and that is why I am here. We build the fabric of our nation thread by thread, stitch by stitch. Every village counts. Every citizen counts. And Government must do what it can to make all lives better. So if you tell me that your lives are better because we have rebuilt this foot crossing, then that will be my reward as your Prime Minister.And so, I am proud to declare this Jioma foot crossing open and ready to serve the people of Jioma, Vukavu and Soso.Vinaka vakalevu.
HON PM BAINIMARAMA SPEECH AT EQUIPMENT HANDOVER FOR KAVALA BAY PRIMARY





Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you.

Nabala na Turaga na Tui Nakasa,Teachers and School Children,Ladies and Gentlemen.Bula vinaka and a very good morning to you all.Im delighted to be here with you all on my first day in Kadavu to officially handover these desks, chairs, beds and mattresses to the deserving students of Kavala Bay Primary School. My first stop on what will be a very busy couple of days opening development projects all across Kadavu.Fiji has enjoyed tremendous success over the past ten years, both at home through our record economic growth and abroad as a respected advocate for Pacific Islands and small island states the world over. That success has been borne out of my Governments steadfast commitment to building a new and better Fiji, but none of it would be possible without the sweat and effort the Fijian people give to our nation every day.We owe our unprecedented progress and development to every Fijian, and it is my Governments duty to make sure the benefits of that progress are spread as far and widely as possible. To ensure that no matter where in Fiji you call home, you can rest assured that your Government is working hard to reach you, to give you access to essential services and reliable infrastructure, and  as we are making sure of today ensure that your children have the resources they need to be cared for and properly educated.Today, I am very pleased to handover 50 desks, 50 chairs and 50 double bunkbeds equipped with 100 mattresses. Brand new equipment worth a total of nearly $44,000 and that will replace furniture that wasnt of the quality and condition of which your children are entitled.For our students here at Kavala Primary, receiving this new high-quality equipment sends a very strong message. It says that my Government  that the Fijian people  care deeply about your success and are prepared to invest in your future. That we believe you deserve the best we can afford to give, we believe you are capable of doing well and we believe you will build an even better Fiji when it is your turn to inherit this great nation.Ladies and Gentlemen,Seeing the smiling faces of all our students here today, and sharing in your communitys optimism for all they have yet to achieve, serves as a reminder for me personally of everything my Government is working so hard to build and protect. Because  as every Pacific Islander knows  our way of life and our future are currently under siege from a threat over which we have little control: the rising seas and severe weather events caused by climate change.Last year, I spent many days abroad encouraging all nations of the world to change the wasteful and irresponsible behaviour that is warming our planet and causing severe weather events. And our efforts did not go unnoticed, as Fiji is assuming the Presidency of the 23rd Session of the Conference of Parties, known as COP 23, which is the governing body of the United Nations negotiations between countries to deal with climate change.So over the course of the next year, I will be championing our cause directly to the world, and I will be taking the stories, experiences and concerns of the Fijian people with me. So I look forward to speaking with all of you about what can be done for your community to adapt to our changing climate.I will be fighting for the future of the people of Kadavu, the future of every Fijian and the future of every citizen of vulnerable low-lying nations around the world. Because this is our collective struggle. It is we who are on the frontlines of climate-related catastrophe  the storms, rising seas and droughts we know all too well. And I am certain that it is our voices and our effort that will spare this world from the worst effects of climate change.But in the midst of this great effort, we can still find time to celebrate our small victories. And today, let us celebrate that the young people of Kavala can now attend their classes in the comfort of their new desks and chairs and our boarders can head to school each day well-rested from their new beds and mattresses.Thank you for the warm welcome you have afforded me and my delegation. I have very high hopes for what your students will go on to accomplish. And I ask that all of our students care for this new equipment and respect the big investment my Government has made in your education.
When Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury began shooting Pink, he had no idea that he would be triggering a movement  a mutiny of sorts against societal hypocrisy and censure of women  more so urban women who are otherwise deemed independent and educated! The new age director has already earned accolades in home turf Kolkata, directing award winning films like Anuranan (2006), Antaheen (2009) and Aparajita Tumi (2012). His sensitive films, hinging on unconventional relationships, found an instant connect with the urban audience.

His Hindi debut, the thriller cum courtroom drama Pink, produced by friend and filmmaker Shoojit Sircar, too has smashed all records to become one of the grossers of the year. You wake up, you read the newspaper, or go through your Twitter timeline only to come across news that upsets you and makes you feel helpless, he says. I know this lovely lady who entertains a lot of guests at her house. People started insinuating that she was running a prostitution racket. When Im not home, my wife Indranis friends visit her too. Is this moral policing right? questions Tony da, as hes affectionately called by colleagues in Bengal.

It was this angst against societal double standards that gave birth to the idea of Pink. He reveals that Pink is a culmination of a lot of instances that left him angry. In Guwahati, a woman was beaten up by a mob for going to a club. A video on Facebook showed a woman being harassed in Haryana and the complacent face of the man who harassed her. It was so humiliating. The only way to express this angst was through my work, he says. If I were a painter, Id have expressed it through my paintings, as a musician Id have expressed it through my songs like Bob Dylan did. As a filmmaker I made Pink, he says of the film that underlined the decree that when a woman says no it means no! Aniruddha maintains his movies have always spoken about women empowerment even if in subtle undertones. Be it Anuranan that won the National Film Award, Antaheen or Aparajita Tumi a message emerges organically. But Pink was an entertaining social thriller, he says.

With Shoojit Sircar and Amitabh Bachchan on the set of Pink

While Amitabh Bachchan as lawyer Deepak Sehgal was the biggest star in the movie, Aniruddha also cast new faces like Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tairang and Angad Bedi. Shoojit suggested Mr Bachchans name. The character of an old lawyer, who has given up practise and returns only for this particular case, was apt for him. When Mr. Bachchan said yes, we were euphoric. It felt surreal. The way he moulded himself to play the character was incredible, he shares. Mr Bachchan is a legend. On the first day of shoot, I was nervous. Im a fanboy after all. But he made things so comfortable given his humility. It was a family kind of atmosphere on the set, he says. We wanted one of the girls to be from the North-East. When I saw Andrea I immediately knew she was the girl. When you close your eyes and visualise your characters and story, you see images. She fit that image exactly, he says. Taapsee and Kriti have freshness hence they look real and convincing. Later, Angad Bedi was chosen as the arrogant Rajvir Singh. I told Angad you look so good, can you fit the part? So the next day he came with a certain attitude, he smiles. He appreciates the helplessness and the grit, which the girls managed to translate so beautifully on screen. Taapsee, Kriti and Andrea were brilliant. They were so spontaneous, he says adding, Im not a sentimental person but after watching certain scenes, I used to just sit in front of the monitor and cry. And that also explains why he chose Pink as the title of his film. Because pink is the colour of strength, he asserts.

Pink was a complex subject for a debut director. Playing safe doesnt give you creative satisfaction. If you believe in something, you should attempt it. Anuranan was romantic but it was complicated too - a married woman goes to a hill station with another man. People may not find this right. But for me she is not wrong. If thats what the woman wants, so be it, he says of his penchant for choosing the path less travelled.

He enjoyed his stint in the Hindi film industry and appreciates the work ethic here. Theres a strong sense of ownership here. The cast and the crew own the film. Its our film they believe. I loved that attitude, he reveals. Director Akira Kurosawa once said that film is a collaborative art form. That helps because there are separate departments to take care of things, he says. An ex ad-filmmaker, Aniruddha confides he wanted to be in the movie world since he was nine. I wouldnt study, only think about movies. I used to watch all kind of movies even adult cinema," he shares. Since he was in class 10, he got hooked to European movies. "I belonged to a middle-class family and didnt have money to watch these. So Id somehow try and get an entry into film festivals. By 20, I began doing theatre. Finally, I realised I wanted to make films, he smiles.

With Taapsee Pannu on the set of Pink

Initially, he worked in a couple of telefilms for Doordarshan and earned 1500 rupees as salary. In 1995, his wife Indrani Mukerjee and he founded Screenplay Films and he made his first film Anuranan. I asked my wife, Shall we buy a camera or a house? We bought a camera instead to shoot our movie, he smiles. Anuranan created waves by being the first Bengali film to be shot in London. Starring Rahul Bose, Rituparna Sengupta, Raima Sen and Rajat Kapoor, Anuranan was sleek, contemporary and urban. The journey has been tough but when you make your own film, its a different sort of high, he says adding, It has been a learning process. The more you know, the more you grow. I dont want to turn stagnant, he states.

A big fan of filmmakers Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak, Aniruddhas been heavily influenced by them. When I lose hope, I watch Rays Mahanagar (1963). When I want to know more about life, I watch Ghataks Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960). The other day I was watching Rays Jana Aranya (1976) and it answered some tough questions. These movies are an inspiration. Art helps you grow and heal, he says.
It seems like Dileep is all set to try his hands on different genre of films. Recently, there came an announcement regarding his upcoming project with director Jayasurya, which is expected to be in the lines of a thriller.

Now, here is an interesting update about the actor's role in this upcoming film. Reportedly, the actor will be seen in three different get-ups in this yet-to-be-titled movie.

According to a report by Times Of India, the actor would be seen in the role of a character named Jack, who is a con man. Reportedly, the actor's looks in the movie would be his disguises to deceive people.

The report also adds that the movie is about such a plan that the central character wants to execute and how he does that using his own ideas and techniques.

Jayasurya had earlier directed Dileep in the film Speed Track. Nothing much has been revealed about the rest of the cast and crew of the film.

Well, it definitely seems like the movie will be a different one. This upcoming film of Dileep is expected to go on floors in the month of August.
PLYMOUTH, MN--(Marketwired - January 24, 2017) - TruStone Financial Federal Credit Union is pleased to announce that its TruPartner Network Team has expanded to the Illinois lending market.

The TruPartner Network Team offers competitive products such as second mortgages, bridge loans and consumer loans that supplement those available in the traditional mortgage market.

"We are very excited about the opportunities available in the Illinois market," explained Tom Barkley, Assistant Vice President - Relationship Lending Manager. "Our diverse product offering, competitive rates, quick turnaround times and service-based focus have led us to successfully engage with mortgage originators in Minnesota and Wisconsin. We look forward to expanding on that success by working with current and future partners in Illinois to ensure that their clients have access to the best financing options."

In 2016, the nationally recognized lenders on the TruPartner Network Team originated more than 1,300 loans for $115 million in conjunction with their referring partners. The team's streamlined processes and boutique-level service has made it a partner of choice throughout the Midwest.

"The TruPartner Network Team's expansion is possible because of the hard work and success the team has achieved in its first two years," said Steve Steen, Chief Business Officer. "Our expert originators will take full advantage of opportunities to establish and cultivate relationships in the Illinois market."

About TruStone Financial

TruStone Financial is one of the fastest growing credit unions in the Midwest with assets of $1.16 billion and exceeding 102,000 members. There are 13 branches across Minnesota and Wisconsin. The credit union is headquartered in Plymouth, Minnesota. For more information and full membership criteria, visit TruStoneFinancial.org.

Katie Grindeland

Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications

Phone: 763.595.4002

Email contact


Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 24, 2017) - Fountain Asset Corp. (TSXV: FA) ("Fountain") announces that the board of directors of the Company has approved the granting of 450,000 incentive stock options (the "Options") pursuant to the Company's Stock Option Plan to certain directors of the company. The Options are exercisable at a price of $0.30 per share expiring on January 24, 2021.

About Fountain Asset Corp.

Fountain Asset Corp. is a merchant bank which provides equity financing, bridge loan services (asset back/collateralized financing) and strategic financial consulting services to companies across many industries such as oil & gas, mining, real estate, manufacturing, retail, financial services, technology and biotechnology. For further information, please contact Jason G. Ewart at (416) 488-7760 or visit Fountain Asset Corp.'s website at www.fountainassetcorp.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/24/17 -- Editors Note: There are two photos associated with this press release

Twenty-seven Grade 7 students from Britannia Elementary School are finding creative ways to be leaders and speak their minds this week, culminating in a public showcase this Thursday evening at 6:30 pm. All are welcome.

Their inspiration is 'The Gift', by John Aitken and Gail Noonan. 'The Gift' is a self-narrative of dancing and drumming about Salish youth, John Aitken, who did not speak for the first 18 years of his life, and sought out the transformative healing of the arts. 'The Gift', a movement based play with very little text, digs deep into the issues of acceptance, of overcoming adversity and of having the courage to speak, sing and dance.

In this week-long program by DAREarts, running from Friday, January 20, to Thursday, January 26, the young teens are exploring their own real life challenges and triumphs inspired by the content of 'The Gift' as they engage in visual arts, writing, music, dance, drama, videography and media arts. They are 'DARE-ing' to move from a state of voicelessness to a place where they acknowledge and celebrate their own gifts, creating a powerful bridge of hope between hurt and healing, silence and song.

"Through these artistic mediums, the children explore ways that the DARE values of Discipline, Action, Responsibility and Excellence can guide them through challenging times to become leaders," says Shelley MacDonald, DAREarts Vancouver Lead Teacher. "The children create artwork and performance pieces that speak for them of their self-exploration of these life values."

Their value-inspired Artistic Showcase and celebration will take place in the Auditorium at Britannia Secondary School on Thursday, January 26, 2017 at 6:30 pm. The media are invited to share in this incredible experience.

DAREarts (Canadian Charitable No. 88691 7764 RR0002) provides unique, values-based arts programs for 9-19 year olds in urban and rural areas across Canada, including Indigenous communities. The children explore personal values and identity while they paint, sculpt, sing, dance, compose, design, write, act and create, guided by arts professionals. DAREarts provides much-needed opportunities for children to discover how to express themselves in positive and creative ways. In its 21st year, DAREarts has influenced more than 200,000 children across Canada! Lead supporters are Northbridge Insurance, Scotiabank and TD Bank Group.

The DAREarts Vancouver program has been generously supported by ArtStarts in Schools, a charitable organization that promotes art and creativity among British Columbia's young people, and by Parker Art Salon. Special thanks to Presentation House, Opus Art Supplies and Britannia Elementary and Secondary Schools.

For more information, please visit www.darearts.com.

To view the photos associated with this press release, please visit the following links:

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20170124-Youths800.jpg

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20170124-Aitken800.jpg

Contacts:

Trisha De Luca

DAREarts Vancouver Coordinator

Tel: 604-928-1640

Email: trishdeluca@gmail.com



Marilyn Field, Founder

DAREarts

Tel: 1-888-540-2787

Email: mfield@darearts.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/24/17 -- Gem International Resources Inc. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: GI) is pleased to announce that subsequent to its news release dated January 9, 2017, it has entered into an agreement (the "Amendment Agreement") with Global Gems International Limited ("Global Gems") to amend its existing arrangement for the earn-in of an interest in the Dala diamond exploration Project in the Lunda Sul Province in Angola.

As announced earlier, Global Gems holds a 45% interest in the Dala Project. The Amendment Agreement provides that the Dala Project would be enlarged to include exploration and exploitation rights for kimberlites within the Dala License including the 6 known kimberlite pipes located by previous operators. These only received very limited exploration and have not been fully evaluated. Numerous magnetic kimberlite targets remain untested at Dala and an extensive data base exists.

Under the Amendment Agreement the Company may acquire 88% of Global's 45% interest in the restructured Dala Project by paying to Global Gems the amounts of US$300,000 on or before each of the 3rd and 4th anniversaries of TSX Venture approval and US$400,000 on or before the 5th anniversary of such approval. The Company would also be required to incur US$13,000,000 in exploration and development expenditures over 5 years (US$3,000,000 for each of year 1 (which must be raised and paid by May 31, 2017) and year 2, US$2,000,000 for year 3, and US$2,500,000 for each of years 4 and 5). The US$300,000 already provided to Global Gems as start-up capital would be credited against year 1 expenditures. The Company shall be entitled to a share of any revenues generated from saleable products, if any, from the property prorated to the proportion of expenditures spent to the total expenditures to be spent under the Amendment Agreement.

The Company will also be required issue to the principals of Global Gems 30,000,000 shares (10,000,000 shares on each of the 3rd, 4th and 5th anniversaries of TSX Venture approval). After completing the private placement of not less than CDN$500,000, the Company will pay to Global Gems the amount of US$150,000 (the "Payment"), which also will be credited against year 1 expenditures.

Accordingly, the Company intends to carry out a private placement (the "Financing") to raise proceeds of up to CDN$500,000 from the sale of up to 10,000,000 units at a price of CDN$0.05 per unit. Each unit will consist of one common share and one non-transferable share purchase warrant for the purchase of one further common share of the Company within two years of the date of grant at the price of $0.15 per such common share.

The funds raised will be used for Company working capital, the Payment, and the preparation of legal documents and regulatory approval costs related to the closing of the Amending Agreement.

The Financing is subject to regulatory approval and customary resale restrictions.

A maximum allowable finder's fee for funds raised may be payable in cash, shares or warrants in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

On behalf of the Board of GEM INTERNATIONAL RESOURCES INC.

Denis Hayes, CEO / Director

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Contacts:

Gem International Resources Inc.

Denis Hayes

CEO / Director

(604) 871-9916

(604) 871-9926 (FAX)




CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Australian dollar weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Wednesday. The Australian dollar fell to nearly a 2-week low of 1.4239 against the euro, from an early 5-day high of 1.4122. Against the U.S., the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the aussie dropped to a 5-day low of 0.7534, more than a 3-week low of 1.0408 and a 1-week low of 0.9895 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.7578, 1.0457 and 0.9969, respectively. The aussie slipped to 85.50 against the yen, from an early 5-day high of 86.51. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.45 against the euro, 0.73 against the greenback, 1.03 against the kiwi, 0.98 against the loonie and 84.00 against the yen. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.


CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Canadian dollar strengthened against most major currencies in the Asian session on Wednesday amid risk appetite following the record closing highs overnight on Wall Street, and higher crude oil prices. Investors are optimistic that clarity on U.S. President Donald Trump's economic policies will be forthcoming. Upbeat corporate results and economic data also boosted investor sentiment.



In the Asian trading, the Canadian dollar rose to a 6-day high of 1.4082 against the euro and a 1-week low of 0.9895 against the Australian dollar, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.4116 and 0.9969, respectively. If the loonie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.39 against the euro and 0.97 against the aussie.



Against the U.S. dollar, the loonie advanced to 1.3122 from yesterday's closing value of 1.3155. The loonie may test resistance around the 1.30 region.



Meanwhile, the loonie fell to 86.47 against the yen, from yesterday's closing value of 86.48. The loonie may test support near the 86.00 region.



Looking ahead, Swiss consumption indicator for December is due to be released in the pre-European session at 2:00 am ET.



The German Ifo business climate index and Swiss ZEW economic expectation index, both for January, are slated for release later in the day.



In the New York session, U.S. house price index for November and U.S. crude oil inventories data are set to be published.



At 10:30 am ET, Swiss National Bank President Thomas Jordan is scheduled to speak in Wiesbaden, Germany.



At 11:00 am ET, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney is expected be the panelist at the Deutsche Bundesbank G20 conference on 'Digitizing finance, financial inclusion and financial literacy'. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney are scheduled to speak at the conference in Wiesbaden, Germany.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
A conference call in French with the Company's Executive Management is planned for Wednesday January 25, 2017 at 6 PM (CET)

A conference call in English is scheduled on Wednesday January 25, 2017 at 7:30 PM (CET)

Regulatory News:

Adocia (Paris:ADOC) (Euronext Paris : FR0011184241 ADOC), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on diabetes treatment with innovative formulations of approved proteins, invites you to a presentation to update its programs.

 In light of the reaction of the marketplace, we intend to provide an update on our ongoing projects in order to clarify the contents of our press release issued last week,  said Gerard Soula, Chairman and CEO.

Given its 58 million cash position at the beginning of 2017 and current market conditions, Adocia would like to clarify that no capital increase is being considered.

Wednesday January 25, 2017 at 6:00 pm (CET) Conference call in French Dial-in number for France: +33 1 70 77 09 26 Wednesday January 25, 2017 at 7:30 pm (CET) Conference call in English Dial-in number for UK: ++44 203 04 32 439 Dial-in number for the US: +1 646 722 49 08 www.adocia.com

The following members of Adocia leadership team will conduct the call:

Gerard Soula, President and CEO

President and CEO Olivier Soula, R&D Director Deputy General Manager

R&D Director Deputy General Manager Valerie Danaguezian, CFO

CFO Remi Soula, Director of Business Development Intellectual Property

About ADOCIA

Adocia is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that specializes in the development of innovative formulations of already-approved therapeutic proteins. Adocia's insulin formulation portfolio, featuring four clinical-stage products and one preclinical product, is among the largest and most differentiated in the industry.

The proprietary BioChaperone technological platform is designed to enhance the effectiveness and/or safety of therapeutic proteins while making them easier for patients to use. Adocia customizes BioChaperone to each protein for a given application in order to address specific patient needs.

Adocia's clinical pipeline includes four novel insulin formulations for the treatment of diabetes: two ultra-rapid formulations of insulin analogs (BioChaperone Lispro U100 and U200), a rapid-acting formulation of human insulin (HinsBet U100) and a combination of basal insulin glargine and rapid-acting insulin lispro (BioChaperone Combo). Adocia is also developing an aqueous formulation of human glucagon (BioChaperone Human Glucagon), two combinations of insulin glargine with GLP-1s (BioChaperone Glargine Dulaglutide and BioChaperone Glargine Liraglutide), two combinations of insulin lispro with synergistic prandial hormones (BioChaperone Lispro Pramlintide and BioChaperone Lispro Exenatide), and a concentrated, rapid-acting formulation of human insulin (HinsBet U500), all of which are in preclinical development.

In December 2014, Adocia signed a partnership with Eli Lilly for the development and commercialization of the BioChaperone Lispro projects.

Adocia aims to deliver "Innovative medicine for everyone, everywhere."

To learn more about Adocia, please visit us at www.adocia.com

Disclaimer

This press release and the information it contains do not, and will not, constitute an offer to subscribe for or sell, nor the solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or buy, any securities of Adocia in the United States of America or any other jurisdiction where restrictions may apply. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States of America absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Adocia and its business. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that Adocia considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that the estimates contained in such forward-looking statements will be verified, which estimates are subject to numerous risks including the risks set forth in the "Risk Factors" section of the Reference Document filed with the French Autorite des marches financiers on April 8, 2016 (a copy of which is available on www.adocia.com) and to the development of economic conditions, financial markets and the markets in which Adocia operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to risks not yet known to Adocia or not currently considered material by Adocia. The occurrence of all or part of such risks could cause actual results, financial conditions, performance or achievements of Adocia to be materially different from such forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170124006366/en/

Contacts:

For more information please contact:

Adocia

Gerard Soula, +33 4 72 610 610

Chairman and CEO

contactinvestisseurs@adocia.com

or

Adocia Press Relations Europe

MC Services AG

Raimund Gabriel, +49 89 210 228 0

adocia@mc-services.eu

or

Adocia Investor Relations USA

The Ruth Group

Tram Bui, +1-646-536-7035

t.bui@theruthgroup.com
Capital increase of approximately 30.0 million, which may be increased to a maximum of approximately 39.7 million if the Extension Clause and Overallotment Option are fully exercised (based on the midpoint of the indicative price range)

Subscription undertakings totaling approximately 15.0 million given by existing shareholders, representing 50% of the gross amount of the Offering, plus a 2.0 million undertaking from a new investor

Indicative price range of between 6.80 and 9.20 per share

Close of the Open Price Offering in France: February 6, 2017

Close of the Global Placement: (12pm on) February 7, 2017

Shares eligible for PEA-PME plans and FCPI accreditation of the Company

Regulatory News:

Lysogene (Paris:LYS) (the "Company"), a biotechnology company specializing in gene therapy targeting two rare CNS diseases, today announces the launch of its initial public offering on Euronext's regulated market in Paris.

Following the registration of its document de base under reference number I.17-001 on January 9, 2017, the Autorite des marches financiers ("AMF"), the French financial markets authority, granted visa no. 17-031 dated January 24, 2017 to the prospectus for Lysogene's initial public offering.

Lysogene is a biotechnology company developing new drug candidates to treat two rare neurological diseases with devastating and fatal consequences, for which there is no disease modifying treatment currently marketed. The Company specializes in developing gene therapies and has expertise in designing and delivering therapeutic gene-transfer vectors to the central nervous system ("CNS"). Lysogene aims to become a leading player in rare pediatric CNS diseases by developing these innovative drugs capable of correcting the action of defective genes and radically improving the lives of patients.

Rationale for the Offering

The foreseen transaction is intended to finance Lysogene's activities and in particular to continue the development of its drug candidates. The proceeds of the Offering will mainly finance:

The pivotal clinical trial in Europe and the United States of LYS-SAF302 as a treatment for Sanfilippo A, consuming approximately two-thirds of the net Offering proceeds, i.e. 19.0 million.

The Phase I/II study of LYS-GM101 as a treatment for GM1 gangliosidosis, consuming approximately one-quarter of the net Offering proceeds, i.e. 6.5 million.

the remainder of the net Offering proceeds (one-twelfth) will finance the Company's continuing activities aside from these two R&D programs

Should the Offering be reduced to 75% of its original size (based on the low end of the Offering's Indicative Price Range), the funds raised would be devoted in priority to the clinical development of its main drug candidate in MPS IIIA, LYS-SAF302.

The Company will also consider allocating a portion of these funds in due course to expanding the portfolio of drug candidates for rare CNS diseases should the Extension Clause and Overallotment Option be fully exercised.

Lysogene's principal strengths

Lysogene: pioneer in gene therapies offering a technology for treating rare and fatal neurological diseases

Central nervous system diseases, are a group of neurological disorders that affect the structure or function of either the spinal cord or brain. Lysosomal storage disorders ("LSDs"), often involve the CNS. They are a group of rare-mainly pediatric-monogenic diseases, caused by a gene defect affecting the functioning of proteins, the "lysosomal enzymes", resulting in the premature death of patients. As a result of each defect, specific substrates are not broken down, and build up, triggering numerous debilitating symptoms.

CNS conditions are among the hardest to treat owing to their complexity and the limited access of drugs to the brain, because it is protected by the blood-brain barrier (1). To achieve this, the Company decided to use a gene therapy approach with direct and single administration to the CNS, which allows therapeutic agents to be delivered past the blood-brain barrier.

Gene therapy involves the transfer of genetic material to the patient to prevent, treat or cure a disease, With LSDs, the core approach of this therapy is to introduce the functional gene for the missing enzyme into the patients' cells and tissue by means of a vector such as adeno-associated viral vectors ("AAVs

Each cell "enhanced" with the correct gene will produce a functional enzyme used within the cell's lysosome to break down the toxic substrates. In addition, part of the enzyme is secreted outside the cell and captured by neighboring or more distant cells. This "cross-correction" phenomenon allows the therapeutic enzyme to be distributed widely within the brain tissue.

Lysogene's approach, a direct administration to the brain, would offer maximum therapeutic benefits

Lysogene believes its technique is currently most effective because it circumvents the issue of how to pass through the blood-brain barrier-the main obstacle diminishing the likely effectiveness of all the other techniques studied

It chiefly targets non-replicative cells, facilitating sustained and stable transgenic expression

This administration method allows the missing enzyme to be produced in situ , after which it can spread throughout the brain.

, after which it can spread throughout the brain. It uses a rapid proven medical procedure: already used for this disease and others administering the product once and in less than three hours



1 The blood-brain barrier is a group of cells that separates blood from the brain in order to regulate its flow. The blood-brain barrier also protects the central nervous system against pathogenic agents, toxins and certain hormones in the blood.

Two drug candidates under development for the treatment of extremely debilitating pediatric diseases causing the premature death of patients

Proof of concept: LYS-SAF302, the first drug candidate for treating MPS IIIA, at an advanced stage of clinical development

Mucopolysaccharidosis type III A ("MPS IIIA") or Sanfilippo syndrome A is a pediatric LSD characterized by heparin sulfamidase deficiency, which leads to a toxic build-up of heparan sulfate (primary substrate) in tissue, particularly in the CNS.

To date, no treatment for this disease has a market authorization. The Company is currently conducting the non-clinical trials requested by the regulatory authorities prior to the commencement of the pivotal clinical trials for LYS-SAF302, the drug developed by Lysogene. These are due to begin by the first quarter of 2018. The US healthcare authorities ("FDA") and the European Medicines Agency ("EMA") have granted Lysogene orphan drug status for LYS-SAF302, and the FDA has granted it the rare pediatric disease designation, which will enable specific and faster development.

Clinical trial planned for a second drug candidate, LYS-GM101, as a therapy for GM1 gangliosidosis

GM1 gangliosidosis (or Landing disease) is a severely debilitating pediatric LSD characterized by a deficiency of the -galactosidase enzyme, which leads to a build-up of toxic substrates in tissue, particularly in the CNS and causes premature death in patients

As with MPS IIIA, Lysogene is not aware of disease modifying treatment for GM1 gangliosidosis.

In February 2015, Lysogene launched a collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Auburn University (AU) in the United States. The aim of the project is to conduct the preclinical trials needed to prepare for clinical trials in GM1 gangliosidosis, which are due to start by the first half of 2018.

In December 2016, the FDA granted LYS-GM101 a Rare Pediatric Disease Designation.

Aim: capitalize on a renowned expertise and know-how by replicating its innovative therapeutic approach to other rare and fatal CNS diseases

Mirroring what has been done with LYS-GM101, the Company intends to capitalize on the progress it has made with its two main programs. It aims to replicate its innovative therapeutic approach by targeting other rare and fatal CNS diseases to expand its product portfolio.

An experienced team backed by prominent investors

The Lysogene team is highly specialized in rare diseases with renowned scientific, clinical and regulatory expertise. Lysogene partners with patient associations, leading clinical centers, opinion leaders and experts from the scientific and academic community. It is supported by its shareholders Sofinnova Partners, BpiFrance Investissement (InnoBio), and Novo A/S. Their total participation in the Offering will amount to 15 million (see "Subscription Undertakings" hereinafter), and they will also be represented on the Company's Board of Directors.

Terms of the Offering

Structure of the Offering

The shares offered for sale will be made available via a global offering (the "Offering"), consisting of the following:

A public offering in France in the form of an open price offering ( Offre Prix Ouvert ) aimed primarily at retail investors (the " OPO "); and

) aimed primarily at retail investors (the " "); and A private placement aimed primarily at institutional investors in France and in certain other countries, (the "Global Placement

Should demand received in connection with the OPO permit, the number of shares allotted to meet orders placed via the OPO will be at least equal to 10% of the total number of shares offered for sale via the Offering prior to any exercise of the Overallotment Option.

Initial size of the Offering

3,750,000 new shares to be issued through an increase in the Company's share capital in cash by means of a public offering.

Extension Clause

Up to 15% of the number of new shares initially offered for sale, i.e. a maximum of 562,500 additional new shares (the "Extension Clause"). The Extension Clause may be exercised in full or in part, on one single occasion, on February 7, 2017.

Overallotment Option

Up to 15% of the number of new shares offered for sale after any exercise of the Extension Clause, i.e. a maximum of 649,875 additional new shares (the "Overallotment Option"). This Overallotment Option may be exercised by Gilbert Dupont on behalf of the Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners (the "Lead Managers and Bookrunners") in full or in part at any time on or before March 9, 2017.

Offering's indicative price range

Between 6.80 and 9.20 per share2. The price of the new shares offered for sale via the OPO will be identical to the price of the new shares offered via the Global Placement (the "Offering Price

2 The Offering Price may be set outside this indicative price range. Should the top of the indicative price range be increased or the Offering Price be set above the top of the (initial or revised) indicative price range, depending on the exact circumstances, either the closing date of the OPO will be postponed or another OPO subscription period will commence such that at least two trading days elapse between the date of the press release announcing the new price range and the revised closing date of the OPO. Orders placed via the OPO ahead of this press release will be maintained, unless the buyers expressly revoke their orders on or before the revised closing date of the OPO. The Offering Price will be determined by matching up the supply of shares in the Global Placement with demand from investors using the bookbuilding method in accordance with customary practice. In a departure from customary practice, please note that firm subscription undertakings given by the Company's principal core shareholders totaling 5 million will not be taken into account for the purpose of setting the Offering Price.

Gross proceeds of the Offering

Approximately 30.0 million, which may be increased to approximately 34.5 million if the Extension Clause is fully exercised, and to approximately 39.7 million if the Extension Clause and the Overallotment Option are fully exercised (assuming that the Offering Price is set at 8.00, i.e. the midpoint of the indicative price range).

Estimated net proceeds of the issue

Approximately 27.1 million, which may be increased to approximately 31.4 million if the Extension Clause is fully exercised, and to approximately 36.3 million if the Extension Clause and the Overallotment Option are fully exercised (assuming that the Offering Price is set at 8.00, i.e. the midpoint of the indicative price range).

Subscription undertakings

Several investment funds managed by Sofinnova Partners, Innobio (Bpifrance Investissement) and Novo A/S have undertaken to place subscription orders totaling 15.0 million, or approximately 50% of the gross amount of the Offering (excluding the exercise of the Extension Clause and Overallotment Option and based on the midpoint of the Offering's Indicative Price Range) and 78.4% of the gross proceeds of the Offering (should the Offering be reduced to 75% and based on the low end of the Offering's Indicative Price Range), which would lead to a Company free-float that could be limited to 7.79% (should the Offering be reduced to 75%)

In addition, Financiere Arbevel, a new investor, has undertaken to place a subscription order in an aggregate amount of 2.0 million up to a maximum price per share of 8.27.

The intention is to meet these orders in priority and in full. However, it is possible that they may still be reduced in accordance with the customary allocation principles (chiefly in the event that the subscriptions received in connection with the Offering vastly exceed the number of shares offered for sale).

Lock-up and standstill arrangements binding the Company, the founding shareholders, members of the Company's Board of Directors and the Company's shareholders (covering all the shares and equity instruments in issue prior to the Offer)

Length of the standstill period: 180 days

Length of the lock-up arrangement binding the founding shareholders, members of the Company's Board of Directors and the Company's senior managers: 365 days

Lock-up undertakings binding the core shareholders: 180 days for 100%, 270 days for 90% and 365 days for 80% of their holding.

Eligibility of shares for PEA-PME plans and FCPI fund status

At the date of the Prospectus, Lysogene shares are eligible both for standard PEA and for "PME-ETI" PEA equity savings plans. Furthermore, Bpifrance Financement has confirmed Lysogene's Entreprise Innovante (innovative business) status. As a result of this 3-year accreditation period, French innovation funds (FCPIs) will be able to invest in the Company's shares.

Financial intermediaries

Societe Generale and Gilbert Dupont are acting as Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners.

SOCIETE

GENERALE Gilbert

Dupont

Societe de bourse Joint Lead Manager and Bookrunner Joint Lead Manager and Bookrunner

Indicative timetable of the IPO

January 24, 2017 AMF visa on the Prospectus January 25, 2017 Press release announcing the Offering and Opening of the Offering February 6, 2017 Close of the OPO at 5pm (Paris time) for counter subscriptions and 8pm (Paris time) for subscriptions via the internet February 7, 2017 Close of the Global Placement at 12pm (Paris time)

Setting of the Offering Price

Possible exercise of the Extension Clause

Beginning of the stabilization period, where applicable February 8, 2017 Start of trading of the shares on Euronext Paris in the form of share promises (on the "Lysogene-Promesse" trading line) February 9, 2017 Settlement-delivery of the Offering February 10, 2017 Start of trading in Lysogene shares on Euronext's regulated market in Paris on the "Lysogene" trading line March 9, 2017 Last day on which the Overallotment Option may be exercised End of the stabilization period, where applicable

Subscription arrangements

Persons wishing to take part in the ??? must submit their orders via a financial intermediary authorized in France no later than 5pm (Paris time) on February 6, 2017 for counter subscriptions and 8pm (Paris time) for subscriptions via the internet.

To be admissible, orders issued for the Global Placement must be received by the Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners by 12pm (Paris time) on February 7, 2017, unless it closes early.

Identification codes for Lysogene shares

Company name: Lysogene

ISIN code: FR0013233475

Ticker: LYS

Compartment: Euronext Paris (Compartment C)

Sector: 4573 Biotechnology

How to obtain the Prospectus

Copies of the prospectus for the Offering and the admission of Lysogene shares to Euronext's regulated market in Paris approved by the AMF on January 24, 2017 under no. 17-031 are available free of charge upon request from Lysogene (18-20 rue Jacques Dulud, 92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine) and from the Company's (www.lysogene.com) and the AMF's (www.amf-france.org) websites.

Risk factors

Investors are advised to read carefully the risk factors presented in Chapter 4 "Risk factors" of the document de base and especially the factors in section 4.2 "Risks arising from the Company's business activities and products", giving special regard to the factors in section 4.2.5 "Risks related to financing the development of the Company's business activities" insofar as the Company does not yet generate any revenue, and Chapter 2 "Risks related to the Offering" of the note d'operation, including therisk arising from the liquidity of the Company's shares should the size of the Offer be reduced to 75%, in which case the Company's free float may stand at just 7.79% upon completion of the Offering.

About Lysogene

Lysogene is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering in the basic research and clinical development of gene therapies that use vectors derived from adeno-associated viruses to treat rare and fatal central nervous system disorders in children, for which, to the best of the Company's knowledge, there is currently no treatment. Since 2009, Lysogene has established a solid platform and extensive network, along with innovative products in MPS IIIA and GM1 gangliosidosis, to become a global leader in gene therapies for rare and fatal central nervous system diseases.

For more information, visit www.lysogene.com

Important information

This announcement does not, and shall not, in any circumstances constitute a public offering nor an invitation to the public in connection with any offer.

The distribution of this document may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Persons into whose possession this document comes are required to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions.

This announcement is an advertisement and not a prospectus within the meaning of Directive 2003/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003, as amended (the "Prospectus Directive

With respect to the member States of the European Economic Area other than France (the "Member States", no action has been undertaken or will be undertaken to make an offer to the public of the securities referred to herein requiring a publication of a prospectus in any relevant Member State other than France. As a result, the securities may not and will not be offered in any relevant Member State other than France except in accordance with the exemptions set forth in Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive or in such other cases not requiring the publication by the Company of a prospectus in accordance with article 3 of the Prospectus Directive and/or regulations applicable in that Member State.

This document may not be distributed, directly or indirectly, in the United States. This document is not an offer of securities for sale nor a solicitation of an offer to subscribe securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction where such offer may be restricted. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or an exemption from registration. The shares of the Company have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act, and the Company does not intend to make an offer to the public of its securities in the United States. Copies of this document are not being, and should not be, distributed in or sent into the United States.

This document is only being distributed to, and is only directed at, persons that (i) are located outside the United Kingdom, (ii) are "investment professionals" falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended, the "Order"), (iii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc.") of the Order, or (iv) are persons to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of Article 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) in connection with the issue or sale of any securities may otherwise lawfully be communicated or caused to be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). This document is directed only at Relevant Persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not Relevant Persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this document relates is available only to Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons.

A prospectus, consisting of (i) the document de base registered by the French Autorite des marches financiers (the "AMF") on January 9, 2017 under no. I. 17-001 and (ii) a note d'operation (the "note d'operation") including the summary of the prospectus, will be subsequently filed with the AMF. The document de base includes a section describing certain risk factors relating to the Company. The document de base is available on the AMF website (www.amf-france.org) and on the Company's website (www.lysogene.com) and may be obtained free of charge from the Company. Potential investors should review the risk factors described in the document de base.

Investors may not accept an offer of securities referred to herein, nor subscribe such securities, unless on the basis of information contained in the document de base. This announcement cannot be used as basis for any investment agreement or decision.

This document may not be distributed, directly or indirectly, in the United States, Canada, Australia, or Japan.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170124006599/en/

Contacts:

Lysogene

Sarah Ankri, +33 (0)1 41 43 03 90

VP Finance

sarah.ankri@lysogene.com

or

NewCap

Investor relations

Julie Coulot, +33 (0)1 44 71 20 40

lysogene@newcap.eu

or

NewCap

Media relations

Annie-Florence Loyer, +33 (0)1 44 71 94 93

afloyer@newcap.fr
Implanet granted US FDA (510k) and European (CE) marketing clearance for its new Jazz Frame spinal implant

Regulatory News:

IMPLANET (Paris:IMPL) (OTCQX:IMPZY) (Euronext: IMPL, FR0010458729, PEA-PME eligible; OTCQX: IMPZY), a medical technology company specializing in vertebral and knee-surgery implants, today announces that it has been given the green light by the American and European authorities, through FDA 510k clearance and CE marking, to market its new Jazz Frame implant.

JAZZ Frame is a system of connectors, the final link in the JAZZ Band technological platform dedicated to the hybrid surgical technique. Implanet now offers surgeons the possibility of defining and optimizing a global strategy to reduce major deformities, thus maximizing long-term clinical outcomes.

"Since we have been using sublaminar braid implants to reduce and stabilize scoliotic deformities, we have been able to show significantly greater reductions than we previously obtained with our all-screw or hook-and-screw assemblies",says Professor Keyvan Mazda, MD, Ph.D, Robert Debre Hospital, APHP, adding: "Using the JAZZ Frame facilitates the restoration of both frontal and sagittal balance, thanks to the simultaneous reduction of both thoracic curves. This is most notable in the case of the most complex deformities where shoulder imbalance is common. The result of years of clinical experience and of close collaboration with Implanet, JAZZ Frame allows us to be even more efficient and quick for the sole benefit of patients.

Ludovic Lastennet, CEO of Implanet, adds: "We continue to strictly adhere to, and execute our business plan. The rapid marketing clearance in Europe and the United States is a real source of satisfaction, innovation that maximizes the clinical value of our technology. Optimized for implementation of the "frame" technique, we expect this implant to be rapidly adopted by our partner surgeons, pediatric and adult deformity specialists alike. The marketing release of JAZZ Frame in our various markets is scheduled for the first quarter of 2017.

Next financial press release: 2016 annual results, on March 28, 2017

Implanet will participate in the Invest Securities Biomed Event, on January 26 in Paris.

About IMPLANET

Founded in 2007, IMPLANET is a medical technology company that manufactures high-quality implants for orthopedic surgery. Its flagship product, the JAZZ latest-generation implant, aims to treat spinal pathologies requiring vertebral fusion surgery. Protected by four families of international patents, JAZZ has obtained 510(k) regulatory clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States and the CE mark. IMPLANET employs 48 staff and recorded 2016 sales of 7.8 million. For further information, please visit www.implanet.com.

Based near Bordeaux in France, IMPLANET established a US subsidiary in Boston in 2013.

IMPLANET is listed on Compartment C of the Euronext regulated market in Paris.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170124006126/en/

Contacts:

IMPLANET

Ludovic Lastennet, Tel.: +33 (0)5 57 99 55 55

CEO

investors@implanet.com

or

NewCap

Investor Relations

Florent Alba, Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

implanet@newcap.eu

or

NewCap

Media Relations

Nicolas Merigeau, Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 98

implanet@newcap.eu

or

AlphaBronze

US-Investor Relations

Pascal Nigen, Tel.: +1 917 385 21 60

implanet@alphabronze.net
Helsinki, Finland, 2017-01-25 08:30 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Norvestia Oyj Press release 25 January 2017 at 9:30Norvestia strengthens its Growth Equity portfolio by participating in Digital Workforce's funding roundNorvestia participates in a EUR 2 million funding round of Digital Workforce, a robotic process automation (RPA) growth company. The funding is used to expand international operations and accelerate growth. Investors participating in the funding round are Norvestia Oyj (now part of the CapMan Group) and earlier seed investors Leena Niemisto and Lifeline Ventures.Digital Workforce provides digital workers as a service, and is the only company purely specializing in RPA services in the Nordics. Digital workers automate the routine and rules-based tasks of knowledge work, freeing up human resources for more productive tasks. Digital Workforce's customers include major banking and insurance companies as well as healthcare and public organizations in Finland and Sweden.With the new EUR 2 million capital, Digital Workforce strengthens its market position in Sweden and expands its operations into the other Nordic countries. The investment allows the company to continue to innovate and create new products within automation of knowledge work and robotics."Digital Workforce has an extremely talented and productive team and a clear vision. Automation of knowledge work is a megatrend and the company develops unique solutions to address it. We look forward to supporting this growth story," says Juha Mikkola, Senior Investment Director at Norvestia."We have grown rapidly with the markets and exceeded the goals set for our first year. We offer our customers the most extensive network of RPA professionals in the Nordics. Our objective is to employ more than 100 top consultants by the end of this year. With the new capital, we can accelerate our growth and develop new, innovative and global services," summarizes Heikki Lansisyrja, one of the founders of Digital Workforce Service.Additional information:Norvestia Oyj / Juha Mikkola, Senior Investment Director, p. 050 590 0522, juha.mikkola@norvestia.fiDigital Workforce Services Oy / Heikki Lansisyrja, Partner, p. 050 558 7801, heikki.lansisyrja@digitalworkforce.fiNorvestiaNorvestia Oyj is a publicly listed investment company. Norvestia's twofold investment strategy consists of market investments and Growth Equity . Growth Equity investments are made in Nordic unlisted companies, growth-oriented listed companies and private equity funds. The target of Norvestia's Growth Equity investment activities is to be an active investor together with other main owners, and increase the value of the target company. Investments are long-term and no strict time limit are set for exits. In addition to Digital Workforce, Norvestia's Growth Equity portfolio consists of Aste Helsinki, Coronaria Hoitoketju, Fluido, Idean Enterprises, Polystar Instruments and Touhula Varhaiskasvatus. In addition, the company has investments in private equity funds. Norvestia is a subsidiary in the CapMan Group since 19 December 2016.www.norvestia.fiDigital Workforce ServicesDigital Workforce is the only company purely specialising in RPA services in the Nordic countries. Our digital workers automate the routines of computer based knowledge work freeing up the time of human employees for more productive and important tasks. The deployment of digital workers requires no changes to the existing information systems. Digital Workforce was founded in the summer of 2015 and it currently employs over 30 RPA specialists in Finland and Sweden.www.digitalworkforce.fi/en
ANKARA, TURKEY -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Comba Telecom Systems Holdings Limited ("Comba Telecom" or "the Group") (HKSE: 2342), a global leading wireless solutions provider, announced it has supplied a turnkey solution enabling high speed wireless services in the EurAsia Tunnel, the first undersea road tunnel connecting Europe and Asia through the Bosphorus strait. At the core of the solution is the ComFlex Modular Distributed Antenna System (DAS) which supports seamless user experience and stable connectivity inside the tunnel.

The 5.4km double-decked tunnel connects Kazlicesme from the European part of Istanbul to Goztepe, the Asian part via a 14.6 km route, crossing the seabed beneath the Bosphorus. The tunnel, officially opened in December 2016, overcame unique technical and deployment constraints in ensuring that every passenger has smooth wireless access to voice and data services.

Working through its local partner INTA Engineering, Comba Telecom's multi-operator, multi-system solution includes cabling, passive and active equipment and services such as system design, commissioning, technical support and maintenance services. ComFlex DAS brings together the latest wireless technology with high capacity and comprehensive multi-band functionality.

"We are excited to support the EurAsia Tunnel by connecting people efficiently across continents. Over the years, Comba Telecom has demonstrated its strength and experience in providing world-class wireless solutions as well as maintenance and project management services. We believe that ComFlex DAS is an ideal solution to addressing such large-scale projects with highly technical constraints particularly within a short lead time. We are honored to bring our efficient and effective solutions to this iconic undersea tunnel," said Mr. Simon Yeung, Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Comba Telecom and President of Comba Telecom International.

DAS is an important building block for commercial public mobile telecommunication networks and private mobile networks. The ComFlex system is a market leading solution and is one of the most flexible active DAS offerings available today. It supports multiple operators and multiple technologies (2G, 3G and 4G) on all commonly deployed EUTRA (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access) bands in the global market (700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 2300MHz, 2600MHz). Innovative antenna solutions of GSM900, GSM 1800 LTE 1800 and UMTS 2100 will play a crucial role in delivering stable and high-speed connections in this tunnel.

In recognition of Comba Telecom's achievements in conjunction with ComFlex DAS, the group recently won the 2016 Technological Achievement Grand Award at the Hong Kong Awards for Industries, for innovation and technical excellence. ComFlex DAS is also widely adopted by organizations around the globe, including international airports and the 2016 Brazilian summer games.

About Comba Telecom Systems Holdings Limited

As one of the leading wireless solution providers in the world, Comba Telecom is primarily engaged in the R&D and manufacturing of wireless products including RRU, antennas and base station subsystems and wireless transmission and access systems. The Group also provides complete turnkey solutions and services to its global customers. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Comba Telecom's global operations include manufacturing bases in China, R&D centers in China and the USA and more than 40 offices worldwide. Comba Telecom has been included into several indexes including the MSCI China Small Cap Index, Hang Seng Composite Index (Information Technology Industry Index, MidCap & SmallCap Index and SmallCap Index), Hang Seng Global Composite Index, Hang Seng Internet & Information Technology Index, as well as Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Benchmark Index. For further information, please visit: www.comba-telecom.com.

Media Contact:

Comba Telecom

Mr. Asher Bajwa

Tel: +46 70 422 95 85

Email: Email Contact




LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM and PLEASANTON, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- BETT Show Stand D462 -- WonksKnow, an innovator of technology that helps educators and learners achieve their potential, is introducing EdOptim at this year's BETT Show. EdOptim is a powerful and effective app that helps teachers focus more on teaching and spend less time on class administration. By making it incredibly fast and easy for teachers to communicate with parents about everything related to their child's participation at school, EdOptim improves student achievement and behavior, raises the efficiency of school operations, and boosts parent satisfaction. Ultimately, these are all factors that can elevate a school's reputation.

Parental support of students is a key determinant of student success. Vishal Raina, the designer of EdOptim, saw this first-hand as founder of YoungWonks, an after-school computer science and engineering program based in Silicon Valley. Raina set out to find a way to apply the latest technology to reinforce positive student achievement and behavior, increase operational efficiency, and improve parent engagement -- and therefore satisfaction. What started off as a homegrown system for YoungWonks has evolved into a comprehensive teacher-parent / teacher-student communication system that can be integrated with any school's workflow.

"EdOptim is designed from the ground up to include parents in their child's education by making it easy and fun for teachers to share all kinds of class and student information," said Vishal Raina, CEO of WonksKnow, the developer of EdOptim. "We think it's the most comprehensive solution available today, and what's great is that EdOptim can be adapted to any school's specific requirements."

Eliminates the "patchwork quilt" of different technologies and apps

Currently, many schools and teachers rely on a blend of apps, email, SMS and informational packets to engage with parents. EdOptim solves this problem by combining all the essential requirements into one app: teacher-parent and teacher-student chat, assignments/homework, student behavior feedback, class feedback, and general announcements. To improve school efficiency, EdOptim also offers administrative features such as teacher lesson plans, incident reporting, parental consent requests, sign-ups for special events and field trips, and more.

Adds Raina: "EdOptim also makes it easy for schools to implement and manage the latest educational techniques, such as flipped classroom and blended learning. And while there's no question that teachers can use all the help they can get, we hear from busy parents that they, too, like having a single app that centralizes all school interaction into a secure mobile app."

For a complete list of features, see the EdOptim website.

EdOptim also delivers bottom-line benefits for after-school programs

EdOptim also includes features designed specifically for day-care centers and after-school teaching programs. Ensuring that each class is full can be a costly and frustrating challenge for people who manage such programs. EdOptim's real-time schedule management module lets parents quickly cancel classes that they cannot make -- minimizing no-shows and immediately making the spot available for those parents looking to schedule make-up classes or additional classes. This increases occupancy rates and program revenue.

How to get started with EdOptim

EdOptim is live today, and we are currently enrolling schools and after-school programs. Comprehensive project planning and implementation services are provided, and typical go-live time is three weeks from start of implementation. EdOptim is a SaaS solution hosted on Amazon Cloud, and delivers a configurable range of features for school administrators, teachers, parents and students access via a suite of web and mobile apps (Android and iOS). For a limited time, EdOptim is offering special pricing: for more details, contact Vishal Raina at vishal@wonksknow.com, or visit the EdOptim website: https://www.edoptim.com.

ABOUT WONKSKNOW

WonksKnow is an innovator of technology that helps educators and learners achieve their potential. Wonksnow designs and develops educational tools and curricula, and runs an after-school educational program called YoungWonks. YoungWonks trains tomorrow's tech innovators and entrepreneurs through an advanced computer programming (coding) and engineering program for kids and teens in the San Francisco Bay Area. Structured as an after-school program focused on building foundational computer science fundamentals, YoungWonks employs the latest non-traditional teaching methodologies, such as self-paced, inquiry-based learning, flipped classroom and blended learning. To learn more about YoungWonks, visit www.youngwonks.com.

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Media contact:

Tim Cox

ZingPR

Email Contact

+1-650-369-7784




SINGAPORE--(Marketwired - January 25, 2017) -Zecotek Photonics Inc. (TSX VENTURE: ZMS) (FRANKFURT: W1I) (OTC PINK: ZMSPF), a developer of leading-edge photonics technologies for healthcare, industrial and scientific markets, is pleased to announce that it has signed a LFS scintillation crystal supply agreement with the Shanghai based company EBO Optoelectronics, to supply over $21 million worth of scintillation crystals over the next three years. The agreement stipulates that the supply of the LFS crystals will continue on a yearly basis after the initial three year period, unless otherwise agreed to by both parties. Zecotek will become the main supplier of Lutetium silicate based scintillation crystals to EBO.

"The Shanghai EBO Optoelectronics Company is a strategic customer with strong network and access to the medical imaging industry in China," said Dr. A.F. Zerrouk, Chairman, President, and CEO of Zecotek Photonics Inc. "Recent changes to the regulatory landscape in China, regarding medical equipment imports, has caused OEMs to manufacture medical scanning devices domestically. This initial contract is a starting point and we look forward to building an even more significant business with EBO to capture a significant portion of the PET medical scanner market in mainland China."

EBO is the largest crystal array producer and supplier in China. Their arrays are used in the very fast growing domestic PET medical imaging market. Zecotek will be supplying elements of LFS to EBO as the customer. In order to meet the growing demand, Zecotek is working on the gradual expansion of its manufacturing base and capabilities, however it will be using its present facility to start the present agreement, while fulfilling, as a priority, existing orders from Zecotek's OEM partner, as well as other current accounts.

Run-away medical costs from 2010 to 2014 has caused China to take measures to modify the regulatory controls covering medical equipment in its public and private hospitals. The Chinese government uses incentives to encourage domestic hospitals to use Chinese-made medical devices as it looks to stimulate the local market and reduce soaring healthcare costs.

China's medical device market has been growing and is now ranked second largest in the world. The significant growth in the medical device market is due to both an increase in discretionary income and the world's largest aging population. The annual growth of the medical device market has been 20 percent for the past six years and is expected to continue at this pace for the next five years. With the increase in the number of OEMs manufacturing PET scanning devices, Zecotek's management team is focused on becoming a leading supplier of the key components in this market.

About Shanghai EBO Co.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Shanghai, EBO has more than 120 employees and 4,000 square meters of manufacturing space. Shanghai EBO fabricates and supplies crystal arrays to an extensive customer base which includes: Neusoft Medical Systems, Samsung Medical, Topgrade Healthcare, FMI Medical Systems, IHEP of CAS, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and many domestic and foreign universities and research institutions. EBO has the highest standard processing production line and offers shaped crystal customization and crystal array assembly to end users.

About Zecotek

Zecotek Photonics Inc (TSX VENTURE: ZMS) (FRANKFURT: W1I) (OTC PINK: ZMSPF) is a photonics technology company developing high-performance scintillation crystals, photo detectors, positron emission tomography scanning technologies, 3D auto-stereoscopic displays, 3D metal printing, and lasers for applications in medical, high-tech and industrial sectors. Founded in 2004, Zecotek operates three divisions: Imaging Systems, Optronics Systems and 3D Display Systems with labs located in Canada, Korea, Russia, Singapore and U.S.A. The management team is focused on building shareholder value by commercializing over 50 patented and patent pending novel photonic technologies directly and through strategic alliances with Hamamatsu Photonics (Japan), the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Switzerland), Beijing Opto-Electronics Technology Co. Ltd. (China), NuCare Medical Systems (South Korea), the University of Washington (United States), and National NanoFab Center (South Korea). For more information visit www.zecotek.com and follow @zecotek on Twitter.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are based on management's expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual future results and trends may differ materially from what may have been stated.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release. If you would like to receive news from Zecotek in the future please visit the corporate website at www.zecotek.com.

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For Additional Information Please Contact:

Zecotek Photonics Inc.

Michael Minder

T: (604) 783-8291

ir@zecotek.com
Progress on potentially less harmful alternatives to smoking

Over one million adult smokers have converted to IQOS, PMI's leading heated tobacco product

Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE/Euronext Paris: PM) today re-affirms its commitment to designing a smoke-free future. With more than one million adult smokers who have converted to IQOS, momentum continues to grow behind the company's full-scale effort to market smoke-free products that can ultimately replace cigarettes. PMI's new website offers a look into its vision for the future, and how its new products can have a significant impact on adult smokers and society.

"Adult smokers are looking for product choices that offer the satisfying taste, ritual, and pleasure they get from cigarettes, but with far lower amounts of the harmful compounds found in smoke," said Tony Snyder, PMI Vice President of Communications. "After more than ten years of research and development, today we have both the science and the technology to make these products a reality for the world's 1.1 billion smokers."

IQOS is one of four smoke-free products from PMI to address adult smoker demand and varying preferences. It is a heated tobacco product that was launched in late 2014 and is expected to be available in key cities in over 30 markets in 2017.

Since 2008, PMI has hired over 400 scientists and experts and invested over USD 3 billion in research, product development and scientific substantiation. Results of scientific research to assess the reduced-risk potential of IQOS are very promising, and the company openly shares its scientific methodologies and findings for independent third-party review and verification. In December 2016, PMI submitted a Modified Risk Tobacco Product Application (MRTPA) for IQOSto the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products.

Snyder continued, "We're optimistic about the future as we work to progressively transition PMI's existing cigarette business to potentially less harmful alternatives. There is tremendous opportunity to positively impact public health with the availability of better choices than continued smoking, and we can't do it alone. Contributions from public-health experts, the scientific community and regulators will greatly accelerate switching from cigarettes to smoke-free products."

To learn more about how PMI is designing a smoke-free future, please visit the new company website at www.pmi.com.

Philip Morris International Inc.

Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is the world's leading international tobacco company, with six of the world's top 15 international brands and products sold in more than 180 markets. In addition to the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, including Marlboro, the number one global cigarette brand, and other tobacco products, PMI is engaged in the development and commercialization of Reduced-Risk Products (RRPs). RRPs is the term PMI uses to refer to products that present, are likely to present, or have the potential to present less risk of harm to smokers who switch to these products versus continued smoking. Through multidisciplinary capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities, and industry-leading scientific substantiation, PMI aims to provide an RRP portfolio that meets a broad spectrum of adult smoker preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. For more information, see www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005433/en/

Contacts:

Media enquiries

Philip Morris International media office

T: +41 (0)58 242 4500

E :media@pmi.com
LONDON, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Link Financial Group today announced it invested over 580m in non-performing and performing loan portfolio acquisitions in 2016, whilst also expanding into three new markets. Significant investments made during the year included sizeable pools of non-performing and re-performing retail loans from three of the UK's largest banking groups, totalling 345 million of investment value alone.

The Group also built on its 10 year presence in Italy with a ground-breaking deal to acquire the run-off of BBVA's Italian consumer finance business for just under 100 million as well as acquiring a second portfolio in the Italian mortgage market and a string of purchases in the auto sector in Spain. Further loan portfolios and a second operation in Ireland were added through the acquisition of Everyday Finance, based in Galway.

Capital was also deployed outside these core markets with smaller transactions in France and Poland. Link also established an operating presence in Portugal and is already eyeing up several local investment opportunities. The Group sees good scope in these new markets to grow both its investment capability and deploy further capital in 2017 and beyond.

2016's portfolio purchases take the Group's total managed assets to over 15.5 billion making it one of the larger, long-standing credit investors in Europe to be focussed on consumer and SME assets.

"These new portfolios demonstrate our ability to complete multiple, complex transactions across Europe within tight timeframes, despite the challenging market conditions. We see huge potential for further investment as we look to deploy available Group funds across our new and existing markets."

Selina Burdell, COO - Link Financial Group

Notes to Editors:

The Link Financial Group is owned by founders and management; the core leadership team has been in place for over 10 years

Since 1999 when the Group was founded, it has purchased more than 2,000 loan portfolios with a gross book value managed of over 15.5 billion

Link Financial Group manages over 2.5 million underlying customers, servicing a full range of consumer and SME loan types; including credit cards, auto loans, residential and commercial mortgages, leasing, utilities and student loans

The servicing businesses within the Group use the same in house systems, processes and procedures across 10 European offices, ensuring adherence to the highest quality standards. ESG principles and treating customers fairly have always been firmly embedded in the organisation

The UK servicing entity is rated 'Strong' by Standard & Poor's

Link Financial Group contact: Anthony Harrison, Group Marketing Director, T: +44(0)203-198-8635, aharrison@linkfinancial.eu
IRW-PRESS: International Lithium Corp.: International Lithium Corp. ernennt CFO und erweitert Management-Team

International Lithium Corp. ernennt CFO und erweitert Management-Team

Vancouver (British Columbia), 22. Februar 2017. International Lithium Corp. (TSX VENTURE: ILC.V) (ILC oder das Unternehmen) freut sich, die Ernennung von Patricia Fong zum Chief Financial Officer sowie zusatzliche Erweiterungen des Management-Teams des Unternehmens bekannt zu geben.

Patricia Fong, CPA, CMA, bringt bei der Arbeit mit borsennotierten Unternehmen in der Ressourcenbranche eine Erfahrung von uber 20 Jahren mit ein. Sie war elf Jahre lang als Controller fur die Lundin Group of Companies tatig und fungiert seit 2009 als Chief Financial Officer und Corporate Secretary mehrerer borsennotierter Unternehmen. Frau Fong spricht auerdem flieend Mandarin und Kantonesisch, was von unschatzbarem Wert fur das Unternehmen sein wird.

Frau Fong ersetzt Maurice Brooks, der zu Beginn dieses Jahres interimistisch die Funktion des Chief Financial Officer ubernommen hat (siehe Pressemitteilung des Unternehmens vom 25. Januar 2017). Herr Brooks, der kurzlich in das Board of Directors von ILC aufgenommen wurde (siehe Pressemitteilung des Unternehmens vom 16. Februar 2016), wird dem Unternehmen als Sonderberater erhalten bleiben und fur das strategische Risikomanagement sowie das interne Audit verantwortlich sein.

Das Unternehmen freut sich auch bekannt zu geben, dass Nancy La Couvee nunmehr Teil des Management-Teams ist und samtliche Aspekte der Unternehmensentwicklung unterstutzen wird, einschlielich der Corporate Compliance, der Verwaltung und der Kommunikation mit den Aktionaren. Frau La Couvee kann als Corporate Secretary einer Reihe borsennotierter und privater international ausgerichteter Unternehmen eine Erfahrung von uber 20 Jahren vorweisen.

Das Unternehmen heit auch Afzaal Pirzada, M.Sc., P.Geo., als Berater des Unternehmens willkommen. Herr Pirzada ist ein professioneller Geowissenschaftler (Professional Geoscientist) mit einer Erfahrung von uber 30 Jahren in der Mineralexplorations- und -abbaubranche und einem spezifischen Know-how im Bereich von Rohstoffen wie Lithium, Seltenerdmetallen, Grafit, Platingruppenelementen und Uran, die in den heutigen Hightech-Energiebranchen benotigt werden. Zuvor fungierte er als President, CEO und Director von Rock Tech Lithium. Er ist auerdem als professioneller Geowissenschaftler bei der Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia registriert. Herr Pirzada ist eine qualifizierte Person (Qualified Person) gema National Instrument 43-101. Er wird ILC als Chief Technical Consultant verstarken und im Bedarfsfall als qualifizierte Person des Unternehmens fungieren.

Ich heie unsere neuen Teammitglieder herzlich willkommen und bin davon uberzeugt, dass ihre umfassende Berufserfahrung dazu beitragen wird, die Geschaftsstrategie von ILC weiterzuentwickeln und einen Wert fur unsere Aktionare zu schaffen, ohne dabei die hochsten Standards der Verantwortung des Unternehmens zu vernachlassigen. Kirill Klip, Chairman, President und CEO von International Lithium Corp.

John Harrop ist als Vice President Exploration zuruckgetreten. Das Unternehmen mochte Herrn Harrop fur seine jahrelangen Dienste und seine technischen Fuhrungsqualitaten danken, die zur Erstellung des aktuellen Projekte-Portfolios des Unternehmens beigetragen haben.

Uber International Lithium Corp.

International Lithium Corp. ist ein Explorationsunternehmen, das uber ein herausragendes Projektportfolio verfugt, dessen Management einen hohen Anteil an Aktien besitzt, das mit einer soliden Finanzierung ausgestattet ist und mit Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. - einem fuhrenden chinesischen Hersteller von Lithiumprodukten - einen strategischen Partner und Schlusselinvestor an der Seite hat.

Der Tatigkeitsschwerpunkt des Unternehmens liegt im Lithium-Kali-Soleprojekt Mariana, einem gemeinsam mit Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. betriebenen Joint Venture. Das Projekt befindet sich im bekannten sudamerikanischen Lithiumgurtel, in dem der Groteil der weltweiten Lithiumressourcen und -reserven lagert und wo ein Groteil der Lithiumproduktion stattfindet. Das Projekt Mariana umfasst ein ganzes mineralreiches Verdunstungsbecken mit einer Grundflache von 160 Quadratkilometern, das zu den ertragreichsten Salaren oder Salzseen in der Region zahlt.

Das Lithiumsole-Projekt des Unternehmens wird von drei Seltenmetall-Pegmatit-Konzessionsgebieten in Kanada - den Projekten Mavis, Raleigh und Forgan - und einem Projekt in Irland (Avalonia) erganzt, das einen ausgedehnten, 50 km langen Pegmatitgurtel umfasst. Das Projekt Avalonia unterliegt einer Optionsvereinbarung mit dem strategischen Partner Ganfeng Lithium, wahrend die Projekte Mavis und Raleigh gemeinsam mit dem strategischen Partner Pioneer Resources Limited (ASX:PIO) betrieben werden. Die Projekte Mavis, Raleigh und Forgan bilden zusammen die Grundlage fur die neugeschaffene Upper Canada Lithium Pool-Initiative des Unternehmens, deren Hauptziel es ist, zahlreiche Projektgebiete mit nachweislich hohen Lithiumkonzentrationen in unmittelbarer Nahe zur bestehenden Infrastruktur zu erwerben.

Angesichts der steigenden Nachfrage nach High-Tech-Akkus fur den Einsatz in der Fahrzeugantriebstechnik und in mobilen Elektronikgeraten spielt Lithium in der auf Umwelttechnologien basierenden, nachhaltigen Wirtschaft von morgen eine entscheidende Rolle. Indem sich ILC als solider strategischer Partner positioniert und qualitativ hochwertige Aktiva fur die Lieferkette der Energiewende erwirbt, mochte es fur Investoren in grune Technologien der Partner der Wahl sein und seinen Aktionarswert weiter steigern.

Fur das Board of Directors:

Kirill Klip Chairman, President und CEO, International Lithium Corp.

Weitere Informationen uber diese Pressemitteilung erhalten Sie unter +1.604.687.7551.

Die TSX Venture Exchange und deren Regulierungsorgane (in den Statuten der TSX Venture Exchange als Regulation Services Provider bezeichnet) ubernehmen keinerlei Verantwortung fur die Angemessenheit oder Genauigkeit dieser Meldung. Aussagen in dieser Pressemitteilung - mit Ausnahme von historischen Tatsachen -, die sich mit von der Unternehmensleitung erwarteten Ereignissen oder Entwicklungen befassen, sind zukunftsgerichtete Aussagen. Historische Schatzungen gelten nicht als verbindlich. Diese Pressemeldung enthalt bestimmte zukunftsgerichtete Aussagen im Sinne des Abschnitts 21E des US-Wertpapiergesetzes (US Securities Exchange Act) von 1934 in der geltenden Fassung. Zukunftsgerichtete Aussagen basieren auf zahlreichen Annahmen und unterliegen samtlichen Risiken und Ungewissheiten, welche die Geschaftstatigkeit des Unternehmens mit sich bringt. Dazu zahlen auch Risiken in Zusammenhang mit der Ressourcenexploration und -erschlieung. Demzufolge konnen sich die tatsachlichen Ergebnisse erheblich von jenen unterscheiden, die in den zukunftsgerichteten Aussagen beschrieben werden.

Abgesehen von Aussagen bezuglich historischer Tatsachen enthalt diese Pressemitteilung auch bestimmte zukunftsgerichtete Informationen gema den anwendbaren Wertpapiergesetzen. Zukunftsgerichtete Informationen werden oftmals durch Begriffe wie planen, erwarten, beabsichtigen, glauben, vermuten, schatzen, werden, konnte und ahnliche Termini oder Aussagen zum Ausdruck gebracht, wonach gewisse Ereignisse oder Bedingungen eintreten konnten. Solche zukunftsgerichteten Informationen basieren auf einer Reihe von Annahmen und unterliegen unterschiedlichen Risiken und Ungewissheiten, einschlielich, jedoch nicht auf jene beschrankt, die in den Abschnitten mit dem Titel Forward-Looking Statements in den vorlaufigen und jahrlichen Lageberichten (Managements Discussion and Analysis) erortert werden, die unter www.sedar.com verfugbar sind. Unser Management ist der Auffassung, dass diese Annahmen vernunftig sind. Sollte eines oder mehrere dieser Risiken, Ungewissheiten oder anderer Faktoren jedoch Realitat werden oder sollten sich Annahmen, die diesen zugrunde liegen, als inkorrekt erweisen, konnten sich die tatsachlichen Ergebnisse erheblich von jenen unterscheiden, die in zukunftsgerichteten Informationen beschrieben wurden. Die hierin angegebenen zukunftsgerichteten Informationen und alle weiteren schriftlichen und mundlichen zukunftsgerichteten Informationen basieren auf Schatzungen und Meinungen des Managements zum Zeitpunkt ihrer Veroffentlichung und sind in ihrer Gesamtheit in diesem vorsorglichen Hinweis ausdrucklich qualifiziert. Sofern keine entsprechende gesetzliche Verpflichtung besteht, wird das Unternehmen keine zukunftsgerichteten Informationen aktualisieren, falls sich die Umstande oder die Schatzungen und Meinungen des Managements andern sollten.

Die Ausgangssprache (in der Regel Englisch), in der der Originaltext veroffentlicht wird, ist die offizielle, autorisierte und rechtsgultige Version. Diese Ubersetzung wird zur besseren Verstandigung mitgeliefert. Die deutschsprachige Fassung kann gekurzt oder zusammengefasst sein. Es wird keine Verantwortung oder Haftung: fur den Inhalt, fur die Richtigkeit, der Angemessenheit oder der Genauigkeit dieser Ubersetzung ubernommen. Aus Sicht des Ubersetzers stellt die Meldung keine Kauf- oder Verkaufsempfehlung dar! Bitte beachten Sie die englische Originalmeldung auf www.sedar.com , www.sec.gov , www.asx.com.au/ oder auf der Firmenwebsite!

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ISIN CA4598201065

AXC0132 2017-02-22/11:58
SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Solar Integrated Roofing Corporation (OTC PINK: SIRC) announced they have signed a Letter-of-Intent to acquire a unique specialty subcontracting firm, headquartered in Agoura Hills, California.

The company has developed a stellar reputation for quality work in Los Angeles' most exclusive neighborhoods on the west side, such as Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Hollywood Hills, Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Santa Monica. Specializing in the exterior work on new custom homes and estates, the firm has performed work for many "A-List" luminaries and celebrities, such as Magic Johnson, Cher, Ben Stiller, Dwight Yoakum and Kelsey Grammer. The company's range of services include all manner of waterproofing, custom sheet metal, all types of siding, roofing and exterior carpentry.

2016 revenues came in at just under $2 million.

Solar Integrated Roofing Corporation CEO Dave Massey said, "We're excited to move forward with this acquisition and propel our continued growth curve with this expansion into the affluent Los Angeles basin. We firmly believe we can double their revenues in 2017 to $4 million, by adding our solar expertise and marketing, as well as increasing the company's custom homebuilder client base."

For more information, please visit: www.solarintegratedroofingcorp.com

About Solar Integrated Roofing Corp.

Solar Integrated Roofing Corporation (SIRC) is an integrated solar and roofing installation company specializing in commercial and residential properties with a focus on acquisitions of like companies to build a footprint nationally.

Forward-Looking Statement: Any statements made in this press release which are not historical facts contain certain forward-looking statements; as such term is defined in the Private Security Litigation Reform Act of 1995, concerning potential developments affecting the business, prospects, financial condition and other aspects of the company to which this release pertains. The actual results of the specific items described in this release, and the company's operations generally, may differ materially from what is projected in such forward-looking statements. Although such statements are based upon the best judgments of management of the company as of the date of this release, significant deviations in magnitude, timing and other factors may result from business risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, the company's dependence on third parties, general market and economic conditions, technical factors, the availability of outside capital, receipt of revenues and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the company. The company disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward-looking statement. This press release shall not be deemed a general solicitation.

Contact:

John Randolph

760-916-7444

sircinformation@gmail.com




GILBERT, AZ -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- OfferPad, the premium online platform changing the way homeowners sell their homes, has secured a $260 million investment of combined equity and debt to continue expansion in additional markets throughout the US. Terms of the investment were made mid-year 2016, with the final tranche of equity about to be finalized. With the injection of capital from private funds managed by LL Funds, LLC., an investment management firm based in Philadelphia, OfferPad will bring this experience to more homeowners.

Founded by real estate industry leaders Brian Bair and Jerry Coleman, OfferPad is reinventing how people sell their homes by eliminating the hassle and uncertainty of the home selling process. Bair was formerly the second highest-selling real estate agent in the US, according to an annual ranking report by REAL Trends, Inc. and The Wall Street Journal. Coleman is one of the founders of Invitation Homes LP, a Blackstone Group company and the largest owner of single-family rental homes in US history with an investment of over $10 billion dollars. Through their experience acquiring approximately 100,000 homes across the country, the team recognized the needs of homeowners have evolved, while the traditional model has remained stagnant.

"Since teaming up almost a decade ago, the number one goal for Jerry and I has been to improve the experience for customers selling their homes," said Brian Bair, co-founder of OfferPad. "The idea came from a concierge service our firm offered, designed to take most of the hassle out of selling a home with us. The one thing we couldn't provide was control over the sale or the closing date. Now we can."

OfferPad buys homes directly from homeowners through an online platform -- allowing them to skip the painful traditional process millions experience each year when selling a home. The company utilizes technology, in unison with local real estate experts, to make the entire process convenient and stress-free.

"OfferPad is already providing a revolutionary solution in the single-family home industry. With the support of LL Funds, we can now continue to scale the business, offering a better option to tens of thousands of additional homeowners this year, and we're just getting started," said Jerry Coleman, co-founder of OfferPad.

Customer reception to the OfferPad model has been very encouraging, and the company is expanding rapidly. Soon to hit 100 employees, OfferPad has realized substantial revenue growth since launching in 2015, and it plans to increase operations and home purchases significantly. OfferPad is currently in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Tampa Bay and Orlando. The company will officially launch in Los Angeles this month, and already has plans to expand into additional markets soon thereafter, with a broader goal of taking the service nationwide in the coming years.

"We were impressed by the OfferPad team's insight and experience in the residential real estate market," said Roberto Sella, managing partner of LL Funds.

"Their passion for providing a great customer experience, combined with the opportunity to use technology, data and analytics to impact a market that's ready for a change, attracted us to this opportunity," added Shivraj (Raj) Mundy, partner at LL Funds and OfferPad board member.

"We believe this market will grow dramatically in the next five years and OfferPad is leveraging our industry knowledge to best support homeowners," said Bair. "We've optimized the customer experience without losing the personal touch required when people are putting their largest asset up for sale. We want to provide incredible customer service and the best purchase price to give homeowners confidence in our intent to offer a fair alternative to traditional home selling."

About LL Funds, LLC.

Founded in 2009, LL Funds, LLC. is an independent investment manager focused on identifying opportunistic investments with substantial positive return asymmetry. Currently LL Funds manages $1.4 billion for endowments, foundations, individuals and family offices through multiple private-equity and fixed-income investment vehicles.

About OfferPad

OfferPad is real estate reinvented, making buying and selling a home convenient and hassle-free. Created by technology and real estate experts, customers get the best of both worlds -- a fair and competitive offer all at the click of a button. OfferPad is a privately held company headquartered in Gilbert, Arizona, with markets in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Tampa Bay and Orlando -- with additional cities coming soon. For more information, visit www.offerpad.com.

Helpful links

Facebook: www.facebook.com/OfferPad

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/OfferPad

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerrycoleman1

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-bair-52aa1a4

Contact

Heather Thornton

WiredPR Group

Email Contact

602.538.2274




CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- BMO Harris Bank today announced the release of People Pay, a secure way to send money to friends and family using the BMO Harris Mobile Banking App. People Pay is the latest investment the bank has made to provide customers a more convenient, secure and reliable way to manage their finances.

Customers have the freedom to send money, from wherever they are, straight from their BMO Harris Mobile Banking App using People Pay. Recipients are not required to bank with BMO Harris Bank, and they are notified via email once the payment has been sent so they can quickly claim the money. There is no fee for using People Pay and the money gets deposited to the recipient's bank account in one to three business days.

"People Pay is going to enhance and simplify the way our customers pay for a number of things on a monthly basis - everything from rent to splitting a restaurant check between friends. It's easy and convenient," says Kyle Barnett, Head of North American Physical and U.S. Channels, BMO Harris Bank. "We strive to bring seamless and secure banking solutions that can be done right from your smartphone in order to simplify customers' money matters, because everyone's time is important."

With the smartphone quickly becoming the singular device that people use to help manage their life, People Pay will join the roster of innovative mobile products available to BMO Harris Bank customers via their device. People Pay joins BMO Harris Mobile Cash, which allows customers to withdraw money from 900 BMO Harris ATMs across the bank's footprint using their smartphones. The new sleek smartphone App design provides a more intuitive digital banking and payment experience for customers.

To learn more about BMO Harris Bank's People Pay, please visit: https://www.bmoharris.com/peoplepay

About BMO Harris Bank

BMO Harris Bank provides a broad range of personal banking products and solutions through nearly 600 branches and approximately 1,300 ATMs in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Arizona and Florida. BMO Harris Bank's commercial banking team provides a combination of sector expertise, local knowledge and mid-market focus throughout the U.S. For more information about BMO Harris Bank, go to the company fact sheet. Banking products and services are subject to bank and credit approval. BMO Harris Bank N.A. Member FDIC. BMO Harris Bank is part of BMO Financial Group, a North American financial organization with approximately 1,500 branches, and CDN $688 billion in assets (as of October 31, 2016).

Contacts:

Media contacts:

Emily Penate, Chicago

Emily.Penate@bmo.com

(312) 461-7956




CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Quorum Information Technologies (Quorum) (TSX VENTURE: QIS) announced the 2016 composite performance results for its dealership customers that are using the ground-breaking Communicator customer and dealership messaging system embedded in its dealership management system (DMS), XSellerator. The company also announced its next generation technology platform for the system that greatly enhances the features and value to dealerships.

Communicator provides dealerships with the ability to send text messages and emails to their customers based on their preferences right from within the XSellerator DMS. The messages can be custom ad-hoc or system-generated based on certain transactions or events. Customers can reply to the messages and all the electronic communication is stored both within the related transaction (such as a repair order) and within the customer's history. The system also offers messaging capabilities between dealership employees.

Communicator has continued to gain widespread adoption and high use among dealerships using Quorum's modern DMS. Approximately two-thirds of Quorum's DMS customers now use the system and in 2016 they collectively generated nearly four and a quarter (4.25) million messages using Communicator, up from three (3) million 2015 - an increase of forty percent (40%).

"The way our customers have embraced Communicator has been truly amazing," said Dan Ichelson, Quorum's Vice President of Product and Operations. "They recognize the enormous value and efficiencies that it brings to their operation and how it contributes to their own customers' satisfaction. One of our dealerships even sent us some of their service customer's satisfaction survey comments - many of which mentioned how pleased they were with the convenience of receiving texts and emails instead of calls. This is how modern consumers prefer to do business and Communicator helps the dealership do so in a reliable, professional, efficient and controllable manner."

Quorum has also developed an enhanced mobile platform for Communicator. Mr. Ichelson talked about exciting new developments for the messaging system stating, "When we originally built Communicator, it was based on a particular Microsoft technology. This served us well initially, but as we have grown the functionality over the past few years, we began to find limitations of the platform. So, we started a project about a year ago to replace the Microsoft 'engine' with an all new platform that we developed ourselves. The new platform makes it easy for dealership employees to 'go mobile' and use virtually any device (e.g.: a phone or tablet) to communicate with their customers, but still through the DMS and not their own phone numbers."

Beyond the mobility afforded by the new Communicator platform, dealerships will also benefit from a host of new features, including a new intuitive interface, better search capabilities and streamlined work flow capability.

Quorum is demonstrating the system at the NADA Convention in New Orleans this weekend, January 27th-29th. To schedule a demonstration, please visit www.QuorumDMS.com/nada2017. Quorum is exhibiting in booth number 4219 at the convention.

About Quorum

Quorum is a North American company focused on developing, marketing, implementing and supporting its XSellerator product for GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Subaru, NAPA and Bumper to Bumper franchised dealership customers as well as other franchised, independent and some non-automotive dealerships. XSellerator is a dealership and customer management software product that automates, integrates and streamlines every process across departments in a dealership. One of the select North American suppliers under General Motors' DTAP program, Quorum is also one of largest DMS providers for GM's Canadian dealerships with nearly 30% of the market. Quorum is a Microsoft Partner in both Canada and the United States. Quorum Information Technologies Inc. is traded on the Toronto Venture Exchange (TSX-V) under the symbol QIS and in 2016 was selected to the TSX Venture 50, an annual ranking of the strongest performing companies on the TSX Venture Exchange. For additional information please go to www.QuorumDMS.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed this release and neither accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Quorum Information Technologies Inc.

Mark Allen

403-777-0036

AllenM@QuorumDMS.com




NEW DELHI (dpa-AFX) - India-based software services company Wipro Ltd. (WIT) on Wednesday said it expects fourth-quarter revenue from IT Services business to be in the range of $1.922 billion to $1.941 billion. In the third quarter, the company's IT Services Segment Revenue was $1.903 billion, an year-over-year growth of 3.5%. Non-GAAP constant currency IT Services Segment revenue in dollar terms grew 6.2%. In the quarter, net profit attributable to equity holders of the company was 21.10 billion Indian rupees or $309 million, down 5.7 percent from last year's 22.37 billion rupees. Gross revenues were 136.9 billion rupees or $2 billion, an increase of 6.4% from last year. Total Income has increased to 143.36 billion rupees from 143.36 billion rupees last year. Further, Wipro declared an interim dividend of 2 rupees per share or $0.031 per ADS. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
NEW YORK, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Regional Analysis Concludes That Asia Pacific Will Remain a Fertile Market for Powder Coating Equipment Throughout the Assessed Period; it Will Possibly Remain the Largest as Well as Fastest Growing Regional Market Through 2024.A Fundamental Shift From Liquid Spray to Powder Coating is Predicted to Boost Gradual Sales of Powder Coating Equipment During the Period of Forecast.

Persistence Market Research analyzes the globalpowder coating equipment marketover an eight-year period, 2016-2024. According to a recent report outlook titled "Global Market Study on Powder Coating Equipment: General Metal Segment Projected to Gain High Market Share During the Forecast Period," the US$ 2,127.7 Mn market for powder coating equipment is likely to expand moderately over the forecast period, reaching a value of US$ 3,275.2 Mn by 2024 end.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161114/438683LOGO )



Key Driver Insights

The consumption of powder coating equipment will possibly increase by 1.6X through the aforementioned period, attributed to soaring adoption by end-use industries.

Although the market is expected to face extremely high competition from other surface treatment technologies, stringent favorable regulations will continue to sustain the sales in near future.

Increasing preference for powder coating technique as a superior, economic, viable, operationally and functionally effective technology is identified to be the key factor fueling the demand for powder coating equipment over the next few years.

In addition to surging adoption by various industries, prominent consumption by general metal and automotive manufacturing sectors will remain the crucial factors escalating the sales.

View full Powder Coating Equipment Market report overview@ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/powder-coating-equipment-market.asp

Key Trend & Opportunity Insights

Soaring demand for automated powder coating systems for batch manufacturing is a growing trend.

Increasing demand by architectural and furniture businesses will also push the sales.

The market is likely to benefit from the introduction of color-handling solution to encompass a diverse range of commercial applications.

Launch of vertical reciprocator units will also hold a positive influence on market growth.

Adoption of MDF material for applications in furniture industry within developing Asian and Middle Eastern and African markets will create a slew of opportunities through 2024.

Key Component Insights

By component, booths and system segment will remain dominant, accounting for over 38% share of the total revenues in 2024, followed by gun and oven segments. Booths and system segment will reportedly witness a relatively higher CAGR over 2016-2024. Within this segment, automatic sub-segment is likely to remain dominant but manual sub-segment will witness higher growth through 2024.

View Report Table of Contents, Figures, and Tables@ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/powder-coating-equipment-market/toc

Key Application Insights

Based on application, general metal will continue to lead in terms of consumption, capturing a revenue share of more than 33% in 2024, witnessing a gain by 460 BPS over the forecast period. Automotive will continue to represent the second largest segment with over 15% market value share in 2024. Others, appliances, and agriculture and construction will be the next key application segments; however, the fastest growth will be seen in the general metal segment.

Key Region Insights

On the basis of regional analysis, with a gain of over 250 BPS during the assessment period, APAC will retain the top regional market position. This region will account for nearly 38% share of the total revenues in 2024. China, India, and ASEAN countries will remain the prominent markets within APAC. North America will also be a key market, followed by Europe.

Key Vendor Insights

Among the leading companies profiled in Persistence Market Research's global powder coating equipment market report, tier 1 companies will continue to capture around half of the market revenue share.

A sample of this report is available upon request@ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/8110

Some of the key players partaking in the market are Nordson Corporation, Gema Switzerland GmbH, Sames Technologies, J. Wagner GmbH, Nihon Parkerizing Co. Ltd., and MS Oberflachentechnik AG. A few other notable companies include Asahi Sunac Corporation, Koryo Coating Machine Industrial Co. Ltd., Mitsuba Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd., and Hangzhou Color Powder Coating Equipment Co., Ltd.

Further details or quotes on the global powder coating equipment market are available at media@persistencemarketresearch.com

PMR Overview

Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.

To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.



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Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com



Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com
MANCHESTER, England, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

EDM, a leading global provider of training simulators to the civil aviation and defence sectors, announced today that it has won a contract from a major US airline to manufacture a combination B787 / B777 Cabin Emergency Evacuation Trainer (CEET).

Designed to meet the training requirements of the airline and the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), the CEET will be manufactured at EDM's UK headquarters in Manchester. The training simulator will enable cabin crew to be comprehensively trained in B787 / B777 emergency procedures (SEPs) including fire and smoke training, door and exit operation, secure cockpit procedures and emergency equipment usage.

The main CEET structure will be a generic wide body fuselage, built to a modular construction to facilitate its transportation and installation. The trainer will include 6 training doors in total with the front left and right doors fully functional B787s and the rest fully functional B777s. The CEET will also be fitted with SEPTRE, EDM's industry-leading audio-visual system that enables even higher levels of cabin crew training through the provision of pre-programmed emergency scenarios such as aborted take-off, engine fire, gear collapse, ditching and decompression.

Once completed, the CEET will be shipped and installed at the airline's aviation training academy in the United States.

For more information about EDM visit: http://www.edm.ltd.uk

About EDM

EDM is a leading global provider of training simulators to the civil aviation, defence, rail and other industries. Combining the highest engineering standards with leading-edge technologies, EDM providesairlines withDoor Trainers, Cabin Service Trainers, Cabin Emergency Evacuation Trainers andFull SizeMockups and defence organisations withProcedure Trainers, Maintenance Trainers, Ejection Seats, Simulators and Full Size Replicas. Serving organisations worldwide from its UK headquarters, EDM is committed to delivering exceptional quality and value to its clients to help them enhance safety and operational efficiency.
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Macroeconomic Opportunities and PESTLE Analysis of Turkey 2017" country profile to their offering.

Turkey economy is dominated by the service sector, which contributed approximately 71.2% to the total GDP in 2016. Transport and storage is the major contributing 12% of GDP. The Turkish government is expected to start a number of projects that will help further develop on various sectors such as infrastructure, health, and education. Turkey's government has planned to invest in the private sector and carry out a number of large infrastructure projects, including roads, retail, trade and industrial centers, and hospitals. The Turkish government is focusing on structural reform, which will encourage the consumer spending, business sector, exports, employment, income and saving, domestic and external demand, and move the economy toward an externally sustainable path.

The report highlights various drivers and challenges which have influence on investment decisions in the economy. The political system of Turkey is strictly a secular parliamentary representative democratic system. The country is largest exporter of automotive vehicles in the world. Turkey is highly dependent on mineral oil and products import, which is one of the main challenges. If oil prices increase, it directly affects the country's GDP. Turkey's GDP is mainly driven by consumption, spending, and expenditure. Turkey has strong international assessments of the business environment. Turkey has Development Goals which provides direction for prioritizing capital expenditure, encouraging private investment and creating jobs for nationals in the private sector. Another challenge for Turkey has facing social challenges that include increasing crime rate, which is raising the level of corruption.

This unique report will provide you with valuable information, insights, and tools needed to identify new growth opportunities and operate your business successfully in this market. This report will save hundreds of hours of your own personal research time and will significantly benefit you in expanding your business in this market. In today's stringent economy, you need every advantage that you can find.

To make business, investment, and strategic decisions, you need timely, useful information. This market report fulfills this core need and is an indispensable reference guide for multinational materials suppliers, product manufacturers, investors, executives, distributors, and many more that operate in this market.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Executive Summary

2. Political Analysis of Turkey

3. Economic Analysis of Turkey

4. Economic and Business Risk Analysis of Turkey

5. Social Analysis of Turkey

6. R&D and Technological Factors of Turkey

7. Legal Analysis of Turkey

8. Environmental Analysis of Turkey

9. SWOT Analysis Search of Potential Opportunities in Turkey

For more information about this country profile visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/dbn8lt/macroeconomic

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005597/en/

Contacts:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

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Related Topics: Country Reports
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Aurvista Gold Corporation's ("Aurvista" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: AVA)(OTC PINK: ARVSF)(FRANKFURT: AV2) President and CEO, Mr. Jean Lafleur, P. Geo., is pleased to update shareholders and stakeholders on the Company's objectives for the upcoming year as the Douay Gold Project ("Douay") moves into a more aggressive exploration stage by adding additional gold mineralization within a series of E-W corridors, termed the Adam Creek Gold Deposit, covering for now a minimum 10 km by 3 km of prime exploration ground.

Mr. Jean Lafleur, President and CEO, stated, "2016 was an excellent year for Aurvista. The Company raised a total of $7.5 million in three private placements at increasing share prices. The funds enabled Aurvista to re-interrogate and re-evaluate the entire Douay Gold Project or Douay from a gold and base metal perspective. Share prices culminated from a low of C$ 0.025 in February 2016 to a high of $C 0.385 in August 2016, now trading in the C$ 0.20 to $C 0.30 range. Our final raise in 2016 was led by Primary Capital Inc., and PowerOne Capital Markets Limited who brought a number of valued investors into the Company. We look forward to 2017 with optimism as we advance Douay to the next exploration stage with our 30,000 meters core drilling program by outlining the maximum quality mineral resources."

2016 Achievements

The entire geological picture of Douay was changed from a convoluted mixture of poorly understood and unrecognizable rock units and unconnected mineralized zones to now well recognized volcanic rocks and a porphyries package typical of Abitibi Belt gold bearing deposits. At Douay, these rocks structurally host for now an identified minimum of 11 gold-bearing lenses. The 10 km long gold system remains open along the remaining 10 km strike length and at depth below -300 meters. Similar gold systems in other portions of the Abitibi Belt, such as in Timmins, Kirkland Lake, Cadillac, Malartic and Val-d'Or host gold mineralization to depths beyond 2,000 meters, nearly 7 times the current Douay mineralization tested depth.

A significant base metal signature was uncovered in proximity to the gold mineralization. The base metal signature relates to sulphide bearing alteration pipes, again typical of other areas of the Abitibi Belt where copper-zinc-silver-gold bearing massive sulphides have been mined over the years, such as Kidd Creek, Noranda, Louvicourt and Matagami. Douay is located less than 70 kilometers from the Bracemac-McLeod Copper-Zinc Mine (Glencore Xstrata 65%; Donner Metals 35%) pegged in proven and probable reserves of 3.7 million tonnes grading 9.6% zinc, 1.3% copper, 28.3 g/t silver and 0.4 g/t gold, and with additional inferred resources of 2.6 million tonnes at 8.8% zinc, 1.1% copper, 38.8 g/t silver and 1.1 g/t gold (Donner Metals, 2013); and 15 km from Joutel's former copper-zinc producer, the Poirier Mine, with a historic production of 5.2 million tonnes at 2.3% copper, 0.6 % zinc and 4.5 g/t silver (Globex Mining website).

Resource potential increased by conducting ground geophysical UTEM surveys on (Anomalies "E", "F" and "G") all of which are in proximity to the porphyries. Aurvista is awaiting results from a recently completed ground geophysical UTEM survey to determine the size dimensions and depths to source of each anomaly for their massive sulphides potential.

2017 Objectives

Aurvista recently announced the start of a 30,000 meters core drilling program covering the central to western portions of the Adam Creek Gold Deposit where the bulk of the mineral resources occur (refer to the Douay Gold Project and Company Profile below). The targets are centered on the higher grade Douay West, Adam-Porphyry and NW zones and the lower grade Main Porphyry mineralization where there is potential to discover additional higher grade gold in the range of 2 to 20 g/t gold.

The new drilling program will be integrated with the new geology and resource models, as well as the more than 4,200 new gold assay results from the 2016 re-sampling program of historic core drill holes not previously assayed for gold.

The Company is currently updating the Douay mineral resources for Q2-2017 based on updated re-interrogation of historic drill core, and current and core drilling assay results. Micon International Ltd. (of Toronto, Ontario) has been contracted to update the Douay Mineral Resources statement which will be completed during this period.

Also Aurvista has commenced preliminary metallurgical test work on known gold mineralized zones. BASE Metallurgical Laboratories Ltd. (of Kamloops, B.C.) has been contracted to determine preliminary optimum metallurgical options in order to maximize the NSR realized values. In addition, the Company is working on a number of corporate and technical initiatives that could potentially appreciate the Douay asset valuation.

Aurvista also added key personnel under the leadership of Mr. Keith Minty, COO of the Company, which now counts more than 300 years in total of geological, mineral exploration and resources, mine development and mining experience to the management team. The team is focused on outlining new gold and base metal mineralization as well as developing them into quality resources and reserves.

Douay Gold Project and Company Profile

Aurvista Gold Corporation is a junior gold exploration and development Company with 131,162,407 shares outstanding trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and OTC Pink Sheets in the US. Aurvista's only asset is the Douay Gold Project, consisting of a 100% owned interest in 250 contiguous claims totaling 133.1 km2, plus a 90% interest in 5 contiguous claims totaling 0.2 km2 and a 75% interest (25% held by SOQUEM) in 32 contiguous claims totaling 11.9 km2. In total there are 287 claims covering 145.3 km2 located along a 20 km segment of the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone in the prolific Abitibi Belt of northern Quebec. Douay is located 40 km SW of the Matagami Zinc Base Metal Camp and 150 km N of the Val-d'Or-Malartic Gold Camp (both in Quebec).

In August, 2012, Aurvista updated the Mineral Resources estimates that included 657 holes in more than 185,000 metres drilled on Douay since its discovery to the end of March 2012. Douay contains base case Mineral Resources of 2.7 million tonnes of Indicated Resources at 2.76 g/t gold for 238,000 ounces above a 0.3 g/t gold cut-off grade. Under a sensitivity analysis cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t gold, the Indicated Resources total 2.5 million tonnes grading 2.98 g/t gold for 235,500 ounces. There were additional base case Inferred Resources of 115 million tonnes at 0.75 g/t gold for 2.75 million ounces above a 0.3 g/t gold cut-off grade. Under a sensitivity analysis cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t gold, the Inferred Resources total 62 million tonnes grading 1.06 g/t gold for 2.1 million ounces. Details can be viewed on the Company's website at www.aurvistagold.com.

Qualified Person

The technical contents in this news release have approved by Mr. Jean Lafleur, M. Sc., P. Geo., President and CEO for Aurvista Gold Corporation, a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS PRESS RELEASE.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimate of future events. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. When used herein, words such as "anticipate", "will", "intend" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to Aurvista Gold Corporation's filings with Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.com or the Company's website at www.aurvistagold.com.

Contacts:

Mr. Jean Lafleur, P. Geo., MSc

President and CEO, Director

Cell: +1 514 927 3633



Mr. Keith C Minty, P. Eng., MBA

Chief Operating Officer

Phone: +1 416 682 2671




CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar drifted lower against its major rivals in the European session on Wednesday. The greenback fell to 1.2606 against the pound, its lowest since December 14. The greenback declined to 113.09 versus the yen, 0.9966 versus the Swiss franc and 1.0769 versus the euro, from its early high of 113.99, 2-day highs of 1.0026 and 1.0711, respectively. The greenback reversed from an early 6-day high of 0.7515 against the aussie, edging down to 0.7575. Extending early slide, the greenback slipped to a weekly low of 1.3087 against the loonie and a 2-1/2-month low of 0.7286 against the kiwi, off its early highs of 1.3164 and 0.7224, respectively. If the greenback extends slide, it may find support around 112.00 against the yen, 1.27 against the pound, 0.98 against the franc, 1.10 against the euro, 0.78 against the aussie, 0.74 against the kiwi and 1.29 against the loonie. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 25, 2017) - White Pine Resources Inc. (OTC: WPRFF) (the "Company") announces that it has filed articles of amendment giving effect to the consolidation of its issued and outstanding common shares on a one (1) for fifty (50) basis (the "Consolidation"), resulting in its previously outstanding 33,966,533 common shares of the Company being consolidated into approximately 679,330 common shares. No fractional common shares will be issued pursuant to the Consolidation and any fractional shares that would have otherwise been issued have been rounded down to the nearest whole number. The Consolidation was approved by shareholders at an annual and special meeting held on December 19, 2016.

Letters of transmittal with respect to the Consolidation are being mailed to the Company's registered shareholders. All registered shareholders will be required to send their share certificates representing pre-Consolidation common shares, along with a properly executed letter of transmittal, to the Company's registrar and transfer agent, TSX Trust Company, in accordance with the instructions provided in the letter of transmittal. Shareholders who hold their common shares through a broker, investment dealer, bank or trust company should contact that nominee or intermediary for assistance in depositing their common shares in connection with the Consolidation.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Brian Murray

President & Chief Executive Officer

Tel: (416) 985-7810

Fax: (647) 438-6246

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "would", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is provided, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
Acquisition creates one of the largest ServiceNow implementation teams in Europe focused on helping clients to drive value from the As-a-Service economy

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) has acquired solid servision, a Germany-based privately owned consulting and system integration company that is one of the largest independent ServiceNow pure play companies in Europe. The acquisition further strengthens Accenture's position as a leader in the ServiceNow partner ecosystem, enhancing Accenture's technology capabilities and deep industry experience in cloud strategy, implementation, migration, integration and management.

"Our clients are eager to adopt As-a-Service operating models as they fuel their innovation through cloud," said Jack Sepple, senior managing director, Accenture Cloud and Accenture Operations group technology officer. "Accenture's Cloud First approach enables us to offer clients the latest capabilities for an easier and more efficient path to cloud adoption. This acquisition is the latest in a series of significant investments we've made in our cloud business to help our customers on their journey to cloud."

solid servision is now part of Accenture's global ServiceNow practice, adding approximately 100 professionals with more than 130 ServiceNow certifications to Accenture, creating a leading ServiceNow implementation team in Germany, and extending Accenture's cloud services leadership position in Europe and in the industry at large.

"The expertise of the solid servision staff and depth of their ServiceNow capabilities is a natural complement to Accenture's regional and global position," said Tobias Regenfu, Managing Director Accenture Infrastructure Services Austria, Switzerland and Germany, "solid servision brings one of the largest dedicated and certified ServiceNow Consulting, Implementation and Testing workforce in Germany to Accenture as well as a leading ServiceNow Training Provider in Europe. We are excited to be welcoming solid servision's talented professionals to our cloud team and to begin working together for our clients."

solid servision, headquartered in Dresden, Germany, was founded in 2011 and quickly became one of the largest independent ServiceNow pure play companies in Europe, earning the highest customer score in 2016 among all service partners globally and is a Gold tier ServiceNow Services Partner.

"solid servision' focus has always been delivery of excellence by having the exceptional technical and consulting skills and broad experience needed to leverage the cloud with the most complex customer demands in IT and non-IT," said Dr. Tilo Steinmeier, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of solid servision. "Accenture's deep industry expertise, business acumen and end-to-end cloud offering makes it a leader in cloud services. Combining solid servision and Accenture capabilities will bring unparalleled quality and scale to our clients when implementing ServiceNow and solve their IT business challenges more rapidly."

The acquisition of solid servision is part of a strategic growth plan aimed at strengthening Accenture's position as a leading provider of ServiceNow services and cloud implementations globally. It follows the acquisition of Nashco, a leader in the Canadian ServiceNow market, in November 2016 and US-based Cloud Sherpas in 2015, which cemented Accenture's cloud services leadership globally.

"In the face of industry disruption, companies need to move faster to keep up, Accenture's acquisition of solid servision furthers their ability to lead that transformation with ServiceNow," said David Schneider, chief revenue officer, ServiceNow. "With ServiceNow, customers are replacing manual work patterns of the past with intelligent workflows of the future across IT, HR, Customer service and Security, to energize employees, increase service levels and deliver game changing economics. Accenture's partnership with ServiceNow helps deliver these outcomes."

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions underpinned by the world's largest delivery network Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 394,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Accenture is a leader in helping organizations move to the cloud to take advantage of a new era of service delivery and flexibility, where applications, infrastructure and business processes are brought together and delivered As-a-Service. Accenture's Cloud First agenda offers comprehensive, industry-focused cloud services including strategy, implementation, migration and managed services, and assets including the Accenture Cloud Platform that can drive broader transformational programs for clients. Accenture has worked on over 20,000 cloud computing projects for clients, including three-quarters of the Fortune Global 100, and has more than 33,000 professionals trained in cloud computing.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "positioned," "outlook" and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include, without limitation, risks that: the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for the company; the company's results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company's clients' businesses and levels of business activity; the company's business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company's services and solutions, including through the adaptation and expansion of its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the changing technological environment could materially affect the company's results of operations; if the company is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company's business, the utilization rate of the company's professionals and the company's results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which the company competes are highly competitive, and the company might not be able to compete effectively; the company could have liability or the company's reputation could be damaged if the company fails to protect client and/or company data from security breaches or cyberattacks; the company's profitability could materially suffer if the company is unable to obtain favorable pricing for its services and solutions, if the company is unable to remain competitive, if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if it experiences delivery inefficiencies; changes in the company's level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, could have a material adverse effect on the company's effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition; the company's results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company's business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; the company's work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; the company might not be successful at identifying, acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; the company's Global Delivery Network is increasingly concentrated in India and the Philippines, which may expose it to operational risks; as a result of the company's geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue geographic expansion, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; adverse changes to the company's relationships with key alliance partners or in the business of its key alliance partners could adversely affect the company's results of operations; the company's services or solutions could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company might lose its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others; if the company is unable to protect its intellectual property rights from unauthorized use or infringement by third parties, its business could be adversely affected; the company's ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if the company is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; any changes to the estimates and assumptions that the company makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; many of the company's contracts include payments that link some of its fees to the attainment of performance or business targets and/or require the company to meet specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company's revenues and impact its margins; the company's results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; the company may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" heading in Accenture plc's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture's expectations.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005094/en/

Contacts:

Accenture

Alexander Aizenberg, 1 917 452 9878

alexander.aizenberg@accenture.com
EDMONTON, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Iberian Minerals Ltd. (the "Company" or "Iberian") (TSX VENTURE: IML)(OTCQB: SLDRF) today announced that, further to its news release of December 14, 2016, it has entered into a definitive agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement") pursuant to which Iberian will carry out the previously announced spin-out of its X-Leach reagent technology (the "Technology") to Enviroleach Technologies Inc. ("EnviroLeach").

Under the terms of the Arrangement Agreement, through a statutory plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) (the "Arrangement"), Iberian shall transfer the Technology to EnviroLeach in exchange for i) 28 million common shares of EnviroLeach (each an "EnviroLeach Share"), and ii) a promissory note in the amount of $1.6 million made by EnviroLeach in favour of Iberian. Iberian's shareholders of record on the effective date of the Arrangement (currently expected to be on or about March 16, 2017) will receive, by way of a return of capital dividend, approximately one EnviroLeach Share for every 10 common shares held in Iberian for an aggregate total of 26 million EnviroLeach Shares, representing approximately 53% of the issued and outstanding Enviroleach Shares. Iberian will retain 2 million EnviroLeach Shares representing approximately 4% of the issued and outstanding Enviroleach Shares. The closing of the Arrangement requires that Enviroleach obtain conditional approval for the listing of the EnviroLeach Shares on a Canadian stock exchange. Iberian's wholly owned subsidiary, Mineworx Technologies Inc. will receive a free sub-license to use the Technology in its business operations, provided it is not in competition with EnviroLeach.

Under the terms of the Arrangement, EnviroLeach will, prior to the effective date of the Arrangement, complete a private placement (the "Private Placement") of 10,000,000 subscription receipts of EnviroLeach (each, a "Subscription Receipt") at a price of $0.25 per Subscription Receipt for gross proceeds of $2.5 million, with each Subscription Receipt entitling the holder thereof to receive one EnviroLeach Share and one warrant to purchase one EnviroLeach Share upon the completion of the Arrangement.

Iberian has established a record date of January 23, 2017, for its special meeting of shareholders (the "Special Meeting") to be held to consider and if thought fit, approve the Arrangement. The date of the Special Meeting has been set for March 14, 2017 and is to take place in Calgary, Alberta. Only holders of record of the Company's common shares at the close of business on January 23, 2017 will be entitled to notice of the Special Meeting and to vote and have their votes counted at the Special Meeting and any adjournments or postponements of the Special Meeting. The full meeting agenda and additional information in respect of the Arrangement and EnviroLeach will be detailed in the proxy statement and management information circular which will be sent to Iberian shareholders.

After completion of the Arrangement, Enviroleach will be required to assume the payment of certain compensation to the inventors of the Technology, which include cash and net profit payments and 2 million shares of Enviroleach, all of which will be described in detail in the proxy statement and management information circular.

The Company also announced that it has obtained an interim order in respect of the Arrangement from the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (the "Interim Order") on January 24, 2017. The Interim Order provides for, among other things, the holding of the Special Meeting to approve the Arrangement and the conditions that must be met to apply for a Final Order of the Court approving the Arrangement.

The board of directors of Iberian has unanimously approved the Arrangement and the Arrangement Agreement and will recommend that the shareholders of Iberian vote in favour of the Arrangement.

The completion of the Arrangement is subject to certain conditions, including approval by not less than two-thirds (66 2/3%) of the votes validly cast by the shareholders of Iberian, present in person or by proxy at the special meeting, the Final Order of the Court approving the Arrangement, as well as approval by a Canadian stock exchange for the listing of the EnviroLeach Shares. If all necessary approvals are obtained and the conditions to the completion of the Arrangement are satisfied or waived, it is currently anticipated that the Arrangement will be completed on or about March 16, 2017.

Upon all necessary approvals and conditions being obtained for the completion of the Arrangement, Iberian's shareholders of record, on or about March 16, 2017, will receive, by way of a return of capital dividend, approximately one EnviroLeach Share for every 10 common shares held in Iberian for an aggregate total of 26 million EnviroLeach Shares.

About Iberian Minerals

Iberian Minerals is a Canadian junior mining company positioned for growth through the partnership of advanced cash flow mining opportunities utilizing the Mineworx environmentally friendly mineral processing technologies. In addition the Company is undertaking strategic alliances with its Spanish assets.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release contains certain statements which constitute forward-looking statements or information ("forward-looking statements"), including statements regarding Iberian's business. Such forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond Iberian's control, including the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, environmental risks, operational risks in exploration and development, competition from other industry participants, the lack of availability of qualified personnel or management, stock market volatility and the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. Although Iberian believes that the expectations in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward looking information. As such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward looking information, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are made as of the date of this document and, except as required by applicable law, Iberian does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Contacts:

Iberian Minerals Ltd.

Rick Gliege

V.P. Corporate Development

(250) 751-3661

rick@iberianminerals.ca

www.iberianminerals.ca




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- MOBI724 Global Solutions Inc. ("MOBI724" or the "Company") (CSE: MOS)(CSE: MOS.CN), a Fintech leader offering all in one fully integrated EMV payment, card link couponing and digital marketing, has signed with Dawson James Securities Inc. to act as the Company's Principal American Liaison ("PAL") for the OTCQB. The application with the OTCQB has been approved subject to administrative formalities and expects to commence trading on the OTC as soon as all said formalities have been completed.

About Dawson James Securities Inc.

Dawson James Securities specializes in capital raising for small and microcap public and private growth companies primarily in the Life Science/Health Care, Technology and Consumer sectors. Dawson James is a full service investment banking firm with research, institutional and retail sales, execution trading and corporate services. Headquartered in Boca Raton, FL, Dawson James is privately held with offices in New York, Maryland, New Jersey and North Carolina.

About OTC Markets Group

Empowering the Intelligent Investor

OTC Markets Group's financial markets provide investors with the information necessary to intelligently analyze, value and trade 10,000 U.S. and global securities through the broker of their choice.

To create clarity in the investment process, we organize these securities into three tiered markets - OTCQX, OTCQB and Pink - based on the quality and quantity of information the companies make available.

Our markets empower companies to provide the levels of transparency necessary to create more efficient markets. Together with our SEC regulated Alternative Trading System, OTC Link ATS, the combined transparency and transactional efficiency creates a compelling trading experience for investors.

OTC Markets Group provides services in three areas essential to creating better informed and more efficient financial marketplaces: Issuer Services, Trading Services, and Market Data Services.

OTC Markets Group (OTCQX: OTCM) is a public company traded on OTCQX under the symbol OTCM.

Please see our Investor Relations section for more information on OTC Markets Group.

About Mobi724 Global Solutions

MOBI724 Global Solutions Inc. (CSE: MOS), a leader in the Fintech industry based in Montreal (Canada), offers a unique and fully integrated suite of Payment & Digital Marketing solutions.

We are innovating in our market with a combined EMV Payment, Card Linked Offers, and Digital Marketing platform that works on any card and any mobile device. We pioneered in adding intelligence to all types of transactions benefiting banks, retailers and cardholders. We succeed in leveraging all available user and purchasing data to increase transaction volumes and spend.

MOBI724 provides a turnkey solution to its clients to capture card transactions on any mobile device, at any point of sale or from any payment card. Our easy-to-adapt gateway Switch is designed for easy integration with all payment protocols in our target markets.

Within the same solution suite we combined our Card Linked Offers solution, and provided financial institutions' payment card portfolios and retailers the ability to add offers and/or coupons which can be redeemed directly at the Point of Sale, in a seamless user experience for all the parties in the eco-system.

MOBI724 Global Solutions unleashes the true potential of both payment and card-linked couponing/rewards transactions for both online and offline points of sale (POS).

The Corporation provides its customers with full and comprehensive traceability and enriched consumer data through its offering. Its solutions enables card associations, retailers, manufacturers, offer providers, mobile operators and card issuers to create, manage, deliver and "track and measure" incentive campaigns worldwide to ANY mobile device and allow its redemption at ANY point of sales.

Our credit and debit EMV payment solutions will allow banks to process end to end EMV transactions, focusing on authentication, approved security and quick merchant adoption which allows the users to process payments with a wide range of devices over a secure and seamless transaction.

MOBI724's PCI and EMV cloud-based switch, with their device agnostic connectivity, simplifies deployment and integration, and introduces new payment and digital incentives solutions to the market enabling multi layered intelligent transactions therefore SMART TRANSACTIONS.

For more information on its products and on MOBI724 Global Solutions, visit www.mobi724globalsolutions.com.

Certain statements in this document, including those which express management's expectations or estimations with regard to the Company's future performance, constitute "forward-looking statements" as understood by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are, of necessity, based on a certain number of estimates and hypotheses; while management considers these to be accurate at the time they are expressed, they are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and risks on the commercial, economic and competitive levels. We advise readers that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other known and unknown factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. Investors are advised to not rely unduly on the forward-looking statements. This advisory applies to all forward-looking statements, whether expressed orally or in writing, attributed to the Company or to any individual expressing them in the name of the Company. Unless required by law, the Company is under no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events, or other circumstances.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed this news release and does not accept responsibility for its adequacy or accuracy. This news release does not constitute a solicitation to buy or sell any securities in the United States.

Contacts:

MOBI724 Global Solutions Inc.

Mr. Marcel Vienneau

1-514-394-5200 Ext. 413

www.mobi724globalsolutions.com




GRASS VALLEY, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Simlatus Corporation (OTC PINK: SIML) -- announces today the release of its Podcast with Uptick Newswire's host Everett Jolly.

Simlatus current revenues are based upon its IP design, manufacturing and global marketing commercial audio and video broadcast equipment to the broadcast industry with long-term national and international distribution. Our customers include large broadcast giants such as CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, ESPN and DIRECTV.

To listen to the interview please click the link below:

https://upticknewswire.com/ceo-gary-tilden-coo-mike-schatz-simlatus-corp-want-to-penetrate-immersive-technology-market

Chairman Robert Stillwaugh stated, "We are close and on schedule with the finalization of our SyncPal product, as our engineers are reviewing the final layout and fabrication of the circuit design. Once completed we will assemble and bench-test the first SyncPal unit prior to sending it to our major studio customer in Burbank, California. Our smart-phone application software engineer is finalizing the commercial software application that will control the operation and functions of our SyncPal. We continue to contract and expand new distributors and sell our existing product line as a result of implementing our new marketing program. Our 10-Q Ending 12/31/2016 is being prepared for filing and will provide an update on our financial status. Keep in mind that we had removed approximately $4M in toxic debt, and our strategic funding partners have agreed to prepare our $5,000,000 ELOC under an S-1 Registration. This is currently in process."

Mike Schatz, Chief Operations Officer stated, "I had the opportunity to attend a meeting on January 20th in Grass Valley, California with Brian Lowe, a top executive with HTC Corporation; sponsored by the Economic Resource Council. Our group discussed immersive technologies and progress that HTC is involved with in the virtual reality product market. The Simlatus-IBS product will provide an enhanced revenue stream for our existing customers to manage real-time commercial broadcast studios using immersive technologies developed by Simlatus."

Chairman Robert Stillwaugh further stated, "We have two vertical products, SyncPal and the Simlatus-IBS that will greatly expand our revenue model this year."

ABOUT SIMLATUS: www.simlatus.com

Simlatus Corporation designs, manufactures and sells commercial audio and video broadcast equipment worldwide. The company has a current expanding revenue base in the broadcast industry with long-term national and international distribution. Our customers include large broadcast giants such as CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, ESPN and DIRECTV, as well as many smaller broadcast customers, which include religious facilities, international broadcast facilities, colleges, and radio stations. The new Simlatus-IBS will allow the company to capitalize in the $120B growing industry of augmented/virtual reality.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes forward-looking statements. While these statements are made to convey to the public the company's progress, business opportunities and growth prospects, readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements represent management's opinion. Whereas management believes such representations to be true and accurate based on information and data available to the company at this time, actual results may differ materially from those described. The Company's operations and business prospects are always subject to risk and uncertainties. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ are and will be set forth in the company's periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investors:

Robert Stillwaugh, Chairman

Simlatus Corporation

(800) 390-8446

www.simlatus.com




DUBLIN, Jan 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Automotive Airless Radial Tire Market 2017-2021" report to their offering.

The global automotive airless radial tire market to grow at a CAGR of 39.87% during the period 2017-2021.



Global Automotive Airless Radial Tire Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.

One trend in market is in-tire technology to revolutionize airless tire market. Bridgestone has been developing a system known as Contact Area Information Sensing (CAIS) system since 2011. The company demonstrated the same in December 2015 in Japan and announced that the system was market-ready. In CAIS, tires have sensors mounted on them, which monitor the road surface and communicate the information to the driver in real time. This is expected to be a game changer for airless tires since noise and vibration have been some of the prime drawbacks of these tires (discussed in the section on market challenges).

According to the report, one driver in market is airless tires are expected to increase ride safety by preventing accidents due to blowouts and punctures. The primary danger that riders face from pneumatic tires is the chance of a flat (a puncture), or a blowout occurring at freeway speeds. A flat caused by any sharp object usually results in rapid deflation of the tire. On the other hand, blowouts occur due to many causes ranging from a puncture to exposure of the tires to high temperatures or pressure. TPMS usually prevent blowouts nowadays. In a case of a blowout, the tire pops and rapidly deflates, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The chances of a collision in such situations are quite high.

Key vendors



Bridgestone

Michelin

Hankook



Other prominent vendors



MacNeillie

SciTech Industries

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)



Key Topics Covered:



Part 01: Executive summary



Part 02: Scope of the report



Part 03: Market research methodology



Part 04: Introduction



Part 05: Market landscape



Part 06: Market segmentation by vehicle type



Part 07: Market segmentation by geography



Part 08: Market drivers



Part 09: Market challenges



Part 10: Market trends



Part 11: Vendor landscape



Part 12: Key vendor analysis: Conventional tires OEMs



Part 13: Key vendor analysis: Dedicated airless tire OEMs



Part 14: Appendix



For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/th5h45/global_automotive

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 25, 2017) - GONZAGA RESOURCES LTD. (TSXV: GN) (the "Company" or "Gonzaga") announces that it has granted an aggregate of 1,325,000 incentive stock options (the "Options") to directors, officers, consultants and employees of the Company. Each option is exercisable to acquire one common share at $0.30. The Options are exercisable for a period of five (5) years from the date of grant and are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. A total of 975,000 options issued to directors and officers will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the day of issuance.

The grant of options to directors and officers are "related party transactions" under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is relying on exemptions from the minority shareholder approval and formal valuation requirements applicable to the related party transactions under Sections 5.7(b) and 5.5(b), respectively, of MI 61-101. There has been no prior formal valuation of the options issued as there has not been any necessity to do so. The Grant has been reviewed and unanimously approval by the Company's board of directors, including the independent directors.

ON BEHALF OF GONZAGA RESOURCES LTD.,

"Cooper Quinn"

Cooper Quinn, President and Director

For further information please contact Gonzaga at (236) 521-0944 or cooper@ospreygold.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to Gonzaga within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements with respect to the to the grant of options. Gonzaga provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the completion of the Goldenville Transaction and exploration findings, results and recommendations in connection with the preparation of an updated technical report on the Goldenville property, as well as those risks and uncertainties identified and reported in Gonzaga's public filings under Gonzaga's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although Gonzaga has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Gonzaga disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.

UNITED STATES ADVISORY. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), have been offered and sold outside the United States to eligible investors pursuant to Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act, and may not be offered, sold, or resold in the United States or to, or for the account of or benefit of, a U.S. Person (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the United States Securities Act) unless the securities are registered under the U.S. Securities Act, or an exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act is available. Hedging transactions involving the securities must not be conducted unless in accordance with the U.S. Securities Act. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in the state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS.
CHEYENNE, WY -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Aircraft manufacturer PM&E, Inc. (OTC PINK: PMEA) announced today that the company has stepped up the pace of completion of audited financials for a very specific reason.

CEO Joseph Bourne stated, "One of our intermediate term goals is to up-list to the OTCQB level. One of the requirements to up-list is to trade above a penny for thirty days. Another is the requirement to be fully reporting. We feel strongly that these two objectives are mutually compatible. With that in mind, we have begun an aggressive search for the right partner for expediting the completion of audited financials. We are currently in discussions with several companies and feel that a decision should be made in the coming weeks."

Mr. Bourne also stated, "Last week we announced that we are retiring over two thirds of all outstanding shares. To date we have pre-sold 33 EVADA Aircraft through exclusive and non-exclusive agency agreements. We have completed our partnership and shared revenue agreement with ultra-light gyrocopter manufacturer, DiNelly EXOGYRO. We are expanding our workforce above and beyond our already existing team of 35 full time employees. Late last week we secured a 10 million dollar funding package. The step of expediting audited financials is just the latest component of our growth and expansion plans and one that will help to ensure integrity throughout the process."

Mr. Bourne finished up with, "Some have had questions about the trading trends of our stock as of late and the true value of the company. Here is my response and for the most part, it comes down to exposure, financials and access. 1) We were originally putting out press releases via a service that did not have universal syndication. We have remedied that and all major press releases from this point forward will be sent out via a major news wire. 2) I will be sitting down soon for a Q&A session about our company and I will publish the transcript of that discussion on our corporate website so that all investors can gain further insight into our overall business strategy. 3) The expediting of audited financials will hopefully allow us to publish the results earlier than originally planned. 4) We have a DTC Chill that came with the ticker symbol itself. We thought that it would have been lifted by now, but just know that we are working daily to get that removed so that all interested investors may purchase our stock through all available channels."

He continued: "As far as the value of the company is concerned, I cannot comment on the current price per share other than to say that we feel strongly that our conservative target of 25 million in revenue and 7 million in EBITDA will be met this year. Now that we are retiring shares and reducing our outstanding share count to 5.115 billion shares with 1.575 billion shares in the float, we'll leave it up to the investment community and the markets to determine the value of our stock. We are confident that the company's true market value will be reflected soon enough. As always, we would like to thank our existing shareholders for their support to date."

PM&E, Inc. is an aircraft company with a contracted manufacturing facility located in Sousse, Tunisia. The company is in the process of implementing a modern manufacturing plant in Tunisia and securing a facility for aircraft assembly in Wyoming. The company manufactures their signature line of EVADA Aircraft. Through a strategic partnership, DiNelly EXOGYRO also manufactures their commercial ultra-light gyrocopters at the same facility in Tunisia creating synergies and cost savings for both companies through a shared resources and revenues agreement.

http://www.pme-holding.com

http://www.dinelly-exogyro.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PME-Inc-432293210274534/

Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/110058910223174354829?hl=fr

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PMEA_Inc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUUREk7BtuTwfWVQEgBDqnA

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/10877337

Safe Harbor

Except for the historical information contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted and reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance. In addition to the factors discussed in the filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, among the other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: adverse changes in the business conditions and the general economy; competitive factors, such as rival companies' pricing and marketing efforts; availability of third-party material products at reasonable prices; the financial condition of the customer; risks of obsolescence due to shifts in market demand; and litigation involving product liabilities and consumer issues. PM&E Inc. cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. PM&E Inc. expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in the company's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Mr. Joseph Bourne

President/CEO

001 (307) 392-4771

contact@pme-holding.com




TV and radio council asks SBU to check if Klymenko is beneficiary of Radio Vesti

The National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine has asked the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to check if fugitive former tax and income minister Oleksandr Klymenko is an ultimate beneficiary of Radio Vesti, Deputy Chairperson of the Council Uliana Feschuk has said.

"Along with the analysis we have conducted in the council we asked the SBU to confirm information who is the ultimate beneficiary of Radio Vesti," she said on Espreso TV.

Feschuk said that the Media Law Institute revealed after studying the issue that Klymenko is the ultimate beneficiary of Radio Vesti.

She said that there is no concrete evidence that Klymenko is the ultimate beneficiary. The regulator asked the SBU to confirm or deny this information.

Vesti Ukraine Media Holding on November 29, 2016 said that the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting delays the prolongation of the license of Radio Vesti in Kyiv and Kharkiv that will expire in February 2017.

Earlier that month the council issued a warning to Radio Vesti over abusive comments about heroes of Revolution of Dignity and using obscene words by guests of the radio station.

Earlier the regulator decided not to prolong program concepts of Onyx, Komra, Stylne Radio TV and radio companies that were bought by the owner of Radio Vesti.

Vesti Ukraine Media Holding said on January 23, 2017 that all its companies license holders published and submitted applications to prolong the licenses and information about the ownership structure in the required terms and in full.

"As of today we have not received additional questions about the ultimate beneficiary of the holding from the National Council," the holding said.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Altus Group Limited ("Altus Group") (TSX: AIF), a leading provider of independent advisory services, software and data solutions to the global commercial real estate industry, today released its annual Construction Cost Guide (the "Guide"), a prominent publication for the construction and development industry which assesses costs across all major Canadian cities.

"Overall Canadian construction volume remains strong. Residential, which accounts for approximately 40% of all construction in Canada, is anticipated to increase due to upward pressure and momentum in the sector," said Michael Commons, Senior Executive Vice President, Cost Consulting at Altus Group. "With net international migration expected to rise in 2017, this factor along with continued employment and income growth should contribute to steady housing demand."

Altus Group's proprietary construction cost database consists of data representing $160 billion in total construction value. As Canada's leading provider of independent cost consulting and project management services to the development industry, the Guide, along with Altus Group's expert services and software solutions, is relied on by the industry to help ensure accuracy and predictability of construction costs and to assess project risks. The 2017 Guide includes:

-- Estimated construction costs on a dollar per square foot metric by building type in the private and public sectors, and on a national basis covering all major Canadian markets -- Breakdown of costs by categories and different building types -- Commentary on market trends impacting the construction sector

"In conjunction with leading technology solutions such as ARGUS Developer and BIM-enabled software, our cost experts provide advice that allows clients to improve cost forecasting and achieve optimal results for their development projects," said Naren Chande, Senior Executive Vice President, Cost Consulting at Altus Group.

For more than 50 years, Altus Group's Construction Cost Guide has provided insight into comprehensive real estate costs covering all aspects of construction and development budgeting and modeling. With a thorough understanding of both the demand and supply sides of the real estate equation as well as a comprehensive knowledge of construction costs gained through Altus Group's Cost Consulting practice, the Guide analyzes each market sector from a macro perspective.

The 2017 Construction Cost Guide can be downloaded at http://www.altusgroup.com/services/cost-guide/.

About Altus Group Limited

Altus Group Limited is a leading provider of independent advisory services, software and data solutions to the global commercial real estate industry. Our businesses, Altus Analytics and Altus Expert Services, reflect decades of experience, a range of expertise, and technology-enabled capabilities. Our solutions empower clients to analyze, gain market insight and recognize value on their real estate investments. Headquartered in Canada, we have approximately 2,300 employees around the world, with operations in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Our clients include some of the world's largest real estate industry participants across a variety of sectors. Altus Group pays a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share and our securities are traded on the TSX under the symbols AIF and AIF.DB.A.

For more information on Altus Group, please visit: www.altusgroup.com.

Contacts:

Altus Group Limited

Jeff Hayward

Vice President, Global Marketing & Communications

416-234-4212

jeff.hayward@altusgroup.com




CAMARILLO, California, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

TSX ticker symbol; BKX

BNK Petroleum Inc. (the "Company") (TSX:BKX) is pleased to announce that it has begun drilling the second well of its 2017 drilling program, the Hartgraves 1-6H well, in the Company's Tishomingo Field, Oklahoma.

The Hartgraves 1-6H well is expected to be drilled in 30 days. The Company has a 100% working interest in the well.

The previously announced Chandler 8-6H well is now scheduled to begin fracture stimulation operations a week later than originally anticipated, due to the fracture stimulation contractor being delayed on its previous job. Once the stimulation operations are complete the Company will immediately begin flowing back the well and put it on production.

About BNK Petroleum Inc.

BNK Petroleum Inc. is an international oil and gas exploration and production company focused on finding and exploiting large, predominately unconventional oil and gas resource plays. Through various affiliates and subsidiaries, the Company owns and operates shale oil and gas properties and concessions in the United States. Additionally, the Company is utilizing its technical and operational expertise to identify and acquire additional unconventional projects. The Company's shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the stock symbol BKX.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is used in applicable Canadian securities laws, including statements regarding the timing of and expected results from plannedCaneywells development and the timing of production and the performance of planned wells. Forward-looking information is based on plans and estimates of management and interpretations of data by the Company's technical team at the date the data is provided and is subject to several factors and assumptions of management, including thatthatindications of early results are reasonably accurate predictors of the prospectiveness of the shale intervals, that required regulatory approvals will be available when required, that no unforeseen delays, unexpected geological or other effects, including flooding and extended interruptions due to inclement or hazardous weather conditions, equipment failures, permitting delays or labor or contract disputes are encountered, that the development plans of the Company and its co-venturers will not change, thatthe offset operator's operations will proceed as expected by management,that the demand for oil and gas will be sustained, that the Company will continue to be able to access sufficient capital through financings, farm-ins or other participation arrangements to maintain its projects, and that global economic conditions will not deteriorate in a manner that has an adverse impact on the Company's business, its ability to advance its business strategy and the industry as a whole. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause plans, estimates and actual results to vary materially from those projected in such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause the forward-looking information in this news release to change or to be inaccurate include, but are not limited to, the risk that any of the assumptions on which such forward looking information is based vary or prove to be invalid, including that the Company or its subsidiaries is not able for any reason to obtain and provide the information necessary to secure required approvals or that required regulatory approvals are otherwise not available when required, that unexpected geological results are encountered,that equipment failures, permitting delays or labor or contract disputes or shortages are encountered,the risks associated with the oil and gas industry (e.g. operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration and development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of reserve and resource estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses, and health, safety and environmental risks, including flooding and extended interruptions due to inclement or hazardous weather conditions),that the offset operator's operations have unexpected adverse effects on the Company's operations,that completion techniques require further optimization, that production rates do not match the Company's assumptions, that very low or no production rates are achieved, that the Company is unable to access required capital, that occurrences such as those that are assumed will not occur, do in fact occur, and those conditions that are assumed will continue or improve, do not continue or improve, and the other risks and uncertainties applicable to exploration and development activities and the Company's business as set forth in the Company's management discussion and analysis and its annual information form, both of which are available for viewing under the Company's profile athttp://www.sedar.com, any of which could result in delays, cessation in planned work or loss of one or more concessions and have an adverse effect on the Company and its financial condition. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, other than as required by applicable law.

Wolf E. Regener, +1-(805)-484-3613, Email: investorrelations@bnkpetroleum.com, Website: http://www.bnkpetroleum.com
TUCSON, AZ -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- ABCO Energy, Inc. (OTCQB: ABCED) announced the FINRA approval of the 1 for 10 reverse split of its common stock. The effective date of the action was January 13, 2017 and the company will trade under the symbol ABCED for 20 business days or until February 8, 2017. The reverse split has become necessary because of conversions of several promissory notes totaling $246,711 into 198,737,390 shares during the last half of 2016. The common shares outstanding at December 31, 2016 became 268,645,844 shares. The reverse was also necessary to allow the Company to raise capital from the sale of its common stock through the previously announced $5,000,000 financing with Blackbridge Capital, LLC. In addition, OTC Markets required a stock price in excess of $.01 per share in order to continue the Company's OTCQB listing. These were the cause and effect and the driving force for the reverse split decision.

In addition to the reduction in shares outstanding, the company financial statement was improved by the elimination of $396,798 in direct and derivative liability and a reduction of related derivative interest and amortization expenses totaling $246,711 on the income statement. The total effect to the ABCO balance sheet for cancellation of the notes through conversion will be $643,509. This reduction in debt will improve the company credit lines and fund raising in the very near future. Due to the conversion of the debt to common shares, the company experienced a very large volume of trading and wide dispersion of it stock to many new investors and traders. Our post reversal of shares has resulted in approximately 26,871,761 shares being currently outstanding. This will benefit the Company in the future and will create a more reliable market for our stock.

"In the first day of trading under the new symbol, our stock price reached $0.0235, which will allow the Company to proceed with the Blackbridge financing and begin to satisfy the OTC share price rules," says Charles O'Dowd, President of ABCO. "This will also allow us to issue new shares with less dilution on an expedited basis to raise capital necessary to expand our operations."

ABCO Energy, Inc. is an Arizona licensed contractor for sales and installation of Photovoltaic Solar Systems, Solar Street Lighting and installation of LED and energy conservation lighting systems in their markets. ABCO provides products and services to residential, commercial, government and non-profit entities in all their markets.

Safe Harbor Statement

Note: Certain statements in this news release may contain "forward-looking" information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-5 under the Securities Act of 1934 and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than the statements of fact, included in this press release may include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. ABCO undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances or to reflect unanticipated events or developments.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3102247



INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT:

Benchmark Advisory Partners, LLC

Timothy Connor

President

2010 Jimmy Durante Blvd.

Carlsbad, CA 92009

Phone: 866-703-4778

admin@bmarkadvisory.com



CORPORATE CONTACT INFORMATION:

Charles O'Dowd

President

Email: info@abcoenergy.com

2100 North Wilmot, Suite 211

Tucson, Arizona 85712

Phone: 520-777-0511

Fax: 520-620-5574

Website www.abcosolar.com






OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - US President Donald Trump signed executive orders to advance completion of two controversial pipelines - the Keystone XL pipeline and Dakota Access Pipeline.



The President invited TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. (TransCanada), to re-submit its application to the Department of State for a Presidential permit for the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline, a major pipeline to import petroleum from Canada to the United States.



The Obama administration had previously denied approval for the final segment of the Keystone XL pipeline in 2015 after years of exhaustive study and delays.



Revival of the $6.1 billion Keystone project was one of the promises Trump made during election campaign to increase domestic energy production.



Talking to reporters after signing five orders regarding environmental issues in the Oval Office, Trump said they would be subject to terms and conditions being negotiated by the United States.



The President also ordered the Secretary of Commerce to develop a plan to ensure that if a pipeline is built in the United States, the pipe material should also be built domestically.



Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, welcomed the presidential action. 'I am pleased years of illogical and political delays preventing completion of the Keystone pipeline have finally come to an end,' said Corker.



'The Keystone pipeline is good for the economy and better for the environment than alternative methods of transporting the oil. Developing more of our domestic resources supports economic growth and the energy security demands of our country,' he said in a statement.



The 1,100-mile Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is designed to carry approximately 500,000 barrels per day of crude oil from the Bakken and Three Forks oil production areas in North Dakota to oil markets in the United States. Developed by Dakota Access, LLC, the DAPL is more than 90 percent complete across its entire route.



Oil producers in Canada and North Dakota are expected to benefit from a quicker route for crude oil to U.S. Gulf Coast refiners. But going ahead with the pipelines would mark a bitter defeat for Native American tribes and climate activists, who fear it would damage cultural sites, and have severe environmental impacts on the areas where they are built.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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LONGUEUIL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Department of Canadian Heritage

Sherry Romanado, Member of Parliament (Longueuil-Charles-LeMoyne), today announced that the Ville de Longueuil will receive $150,770 in funding for studies required to develop its cultural complex project. Ms. Romanado made this announcement on behalf of the Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage.

This funding, provided by the Government of Canada through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund, will allow the Ville de Longueuil to update select studies from 2012 and carry out further studies to prepare for construction of the complex.

Quotes

"With these specialized studies, the Ville de Longueuil will be one step closer to building its new cultural complex. The Government of Canada is pleased to contribute to this project, which will ultimately provide artists and artisans from the Longueuil area cultural community with modern, professional facilities."

- The Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage

"The Longueuil cultural complex will showcase the work of arts organizations on the South Shore, while providing spacious work areas adapted to their needs. Our government is proud to help the Ville de Longueuil achieve its goal of creating a cultural space in the heart of our beautiful region."

- Sherry Romanado, Member of Parliament (Longueuil-Charles-LeMoyne)

"This federal government funding is an important step toward completing this innovative and inspiring project that is our cultural complex. This project will not only strengthen our city's brand image, but also position Longueuil as an important regional cultural hub."

- Caroline St-Hilaire, Mayor of Longueuil

Quick Facts

-- The Longueuil cultural complex will be built at Place Charles-LeMoyne on city property. Four non-profit organizations in Longueuil-Theatre de la Ville, Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil, the Plein Sud gallery and the Motuswill theatre troupe-will relocate to the new building. -- To get the project off on the right foot, the Ville will first conduct a feasibility study that will examine financial, architectural, urban and environmental issues, as well as construction and management programs. -- The new complex will offer the four non-profit organizations the space and equipment needed to effectively carry out their mandates. Professionals from Montreal's South Shore arts and culture community will also gain increased visibility.

Associated Links

Ville de Longueuil

Canada Cultural Spaces Fund

Stay Connected

Follow us on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Flickr.

Contacts:

For more information (media only):

Pierre-Olivier Herbert

Press Secretary

Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage

819-997-7788



Media Relations

Canadian Heritage

819-994-9101

1-866-569-6155

pch.media-media.pch@canada.ca




DENVER, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Sometimes business transcends the bottom line. Turning donated ad dollars into societal change is surely one of those instances, which is why Boom Broadcast & Media Relations is pleased to have spent the last decade working closely with non-profits to create awareness of their clients' causes and calls-to-action. In 2016, Boom was tapped to place, track and report results for over 30 broadcast PSAs resulting in over $275 million in donated advertising value.

"At Boom, our focus and strength has always been broadcast content placement and working with non-profit organizations to advance causes not only allows us to share expertise in all areas of broadcast placement opportunities, but certainly affords us an opportunity to actively participate in causes that affect people's lives," said Joan Winkler, co-founder of Boom. "Beyond good will, if our work with non-profits has taught us anything, it's that success is written in more than black ink."

Boom ended the year with three new powerful public service announcements (click title to view campaign):

Stand Up to Cancer's powerful PSA featuring Morgan Freeman delivering an inspiring and poetic monologue about what it means to "Be the Breakthrough."





Joyful Heart Foundation's "Boys Will Be Boys" PSA that aims to raise a generation of boys to respect women and girls, featuring Dave Navarro, Ice-T and Nick Lachey among other male celebrities.





And, the re-release of Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's ("LLS") PSA celebrating the joy of cancer patients "Coming Home," through the support of LLS's pioneering research that is saving lives "today," featuring Academy Award-Winning Actress Linda Hunt.





With less than two months in distribution, these three PSAs have already generated over 25,000 airings on over 600 networks/stations with over $10 million in donated ad revenue.

About Boom Broadcast & Media Relations

Boom Broadcast and Media Relations is a specialty provider of broadcast public relations services. With offices located in Colorado and New Jersey, the women-owned company provides its clients with strategic broadcast campaigns including the production and distribution of video news releases, radio news releases, radio, satellite and internet media tours and b-roll packages as well as national media & in market pitching and counsel. Boom's website is located at www.boombroadcast.com

Contact:

info@boombroadcast.com

Joan Winkler

720-318-9561




Raul Damas and Hannah Stott-Bumsted join as Partners in New York and Washington, D.C.

LONDON, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Brunswick Group, a leading corporate advisory firm, announced today that Raul Damas and Hannah Stott-Bumsted are joining the firm as Partners.Raul joined Brunswick in New York on Jan. 9 from Purdue Pharma, where he was Vice President of Corporate Affairs & Communications. Hannah Stott-Bumsted will join on Feb. 13 in Washington, D.C. from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where she was Counselor to the Deputy Secretary.

Raul joined Purdue in 2013 after having spent seven years at Pfizer, most recently as Senior Director of U.S. Policy.Before this, Raul worked in politics as the White House Associate Director of the Office of Political Affairs and a senior administration official on political and public policy developments.Raul also served as National Coalitions Director at the Republican National Committee and co-founded Latino Opinions, a bilingual polling and strategic communications firm.

Hannah advised the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on a wide range of complex and high-profile policy and political matters, including the Affordable Care Act, drug pricing, and cybersecurity.Before joining HHS, she served in the Office of General Counsel at the Department of the Treasury where she was the lead lawyer on litigation matters and congressional investigations.Hannah joined the Obama administration after eight years at Williams & Connolly LLP, where she advised major corporate clients on litigation, investigations, and arbitrations.

Group Chief Executive Susan Gilchrist said: "The arrival of Raul Damas and Hannah Stott-Bumsted continues to strengthen our Healthcare & Life Sciences practice in the U.S. and globally. Raul Damas brings significant corporate communications and policy experience, including directly advising CEOs and boards. Combined with Hannah Stott-Bumsted's expertise and understanding of the regulatory, policy, and legal landscape, this is a very compelling proposition. We are delighted they are joining Brunswick and know they will be invaluable to clients at a time when they face incredibly complex challenges."

Raul Damas said: "Having been a client of Brunswick, I know firsthand the expertise that the firm brings to critical situations. Brunswick has a fantastic range of clients in healthcare and beyond, and I am excited to be joining at a time when great corporate communications has never been more vital."



Hannah Stott-Bumsted said: "I am thrilled to join Brunswick and to work with its clients as they navigate the exciting opportunities and challenges presented by a dynamic political and regulatory landscape."

Raul Damas

Raul Damas joins Brunswick from Purdue Pharma, a privately-held mid-cap specialty pharmaceutical company, where he was Vice President of Corporate Affairs & Communications. He was responsible for the company's corporate communications, government affairs, health policy, and alliance development functions.

Prior to joining Purdue, Raul spent seven years at Pfizer in roles of increasing responsibility for media relations, government relations, and policy development. Before that, he served in the White House as Associate Director of the Office of Political Affairs, where he advised the President and senior administration officials on political and public policy matters. Prior to this, Raul was Coalitions Director at the Republican National Committee. He also co-founded Latino Opinions, a bilingual polling and strategic communications firm.

Raul is a graduate of Villanova University, holds a master's of political management from George Washington University, and holds an MBA from Columbia University.

An avid runner, Raul serves on the board of New York Road Runners, as well as the Public Affairs Council.

Hannah Stott-Bumsted

Hannah Stott-Bumsted joins Brunswick from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she was the Counselor to the Deputy Secretary.As a member of the senior leadership team, she advised the Secretary and Deputy Secretary and managed teams responding to a number of high-profile policy and programmatic issues.Before joining the Department of Health and Human Services, Hannah was a senior official at the Department of the Treasury where she handled a number of high-profile congressional investigations.

Prior to joining the government, Hannah practiced law at Williams & Connolly and represented dozens of companies in adversarial matters, including litigations, investigations, and arbitrations.

Hannah is a graduate of Smith College and holds a J.D. from Georgetown University School of Law, where she periodically teaches a seminar in civil litigation practice.

About Brunswick Group

Brunswick Group LLP is an advisory firm specializing in critical issues and corporate relations. Founded in 1987, Brunswick is an organically grown, private partnership with 23 offices around the world. For more information, visit: www.brunswickgroup.com.

Contact

Cecilia Arradaza

Tel. +1 202 393 7337

Email. carradaza@brunswickgroup.com


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After more than 100 days of hard urban combat, Iraqi officials announced the liberation of eastern Mosul from Islamic State terrorists Tuesday.



While clearance operations are ongoing, the Iraqi security forces control all areas inside the city east of the Tigris River, the east bank of the river around all five bridges crossing the Tigris River, Mosul University and the Ninevah Ruins, the Pentagon said quoting Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials.



During their offensive to liberate the city of more than one million residents, which was held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant for more than two years, the Iraqi and peshmerga security forces fought through an elaborate defense formed over the past two years to not only keep the Iraqi security forces out, but the residents of Mosul captive. Through it all, the Iraqi security forces displayed their professionalism by placing the lives of citizens before their own and taking precautions to protect the citizens of Mosul while battling a brutal and fanatic enemy, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials said.



Meanwhile, they added, ISIL resorted to using children and other civilians as shields against coalition and Iraqi air and artillery strikes and used protected facilities such as hospitals, mosques and schools as weapons storage facilities and bases for its terrorist operations.



Since Oct. 17, the coalition has conducted 558 air strikes in assistance of the Iraqi forces, using 10,115 munitions against ISIL targets. These munitions have destroyed at least 151 vehicle bombs, 361 buildings/facilities, 140 tunnels, 408 vehicles, 392 bunkers, 24 anti-air artillery systems, and 315 artillery/mortar systems.



During the offensive, the Iraqis fended off an average of five vehicle bombs a day, and endured daily mortar and sniper attacks, as well as surveillance and frequent attacks by ISIL unmanned aerial systems dropping grenades on friendly forces.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 25, 2017) - Ely Gold & Minerals Inc. (TSXV: ELY) (OTC: ELYGF)("Ely Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive option agreement with Bitterroot Resources Ltd. (TSXV: BTT) ("Bitterroot"), through their wholly owned U.S subsidiary, whereby Bitterroot can acquire a 100% interest in the Hackberry North Project, located in Mohave County, Arizona. (the "Option") The total Option amount (if completed) is US$150,000 and 600,000 Bitterroot common shares. The closing of the Option is subject to TSX-V approval and delivery of final documentation which is expected shortly (the "Closing").

The three (3) North Hackberry unpatented lode claims cover 24 ha (60 acres) and host the Silver King past-producing high-grade silver mine. The Silver King high-grade deposit was discovered in 1879 and was mined from 1879 to 1884. The Silver King mine is an important part of the main Hackberry mineralized system, which also hosts the Old Hackberry (Sunshine) and South Hackberry Mines. Bitterroot now controls lands covering over 4.2 kilometres (2.6 miles) of prospective strike length along the Hackberry silver-mineralized structure.

The Option

Pursuant to the terms of the Option, subject to TSX Venture Exchange ("Exchange") approval, Ely Gold through its wholly owned subsidiary, Nevada Select Royalty, Inc. ("Nevada Select") has granted the exclusive option to Bitterroot to acquire the Company's 100% interest in and to the North Hackberry Project by making the following payments and share issuances over 4 years:

At Closing - US$20,000 cash and the issuance of 200,000 Bitterroot common shares;

Year 1 - US$30,000 cash and the issuance of 100,000 Bitterroot common shares;

Year 2 - US$50,000 cash and the issuance of 150,000 Bitterroot common shares;

Year 3 - US$50,000 cash and the issuance of 150,000 Bitterroot common shares; and

If the Final Option Payment is made Nevada Select will retain a total 3% net smelter returns royalty on the North Hackberry claims. Nevada Select will retain a .5% NSR on unpatented claims within a 2.66 mile area of interest. There are no work commitments or additional expenditures required other than Bitterroot's obligation to maintain the underlying agreements and claim maintenance fees per year of approximately US$600.

Bitterroot will pay Nevada Select annual advance royalty payments as follows:

US$10,000 on the first through third anniversary dates of the Final Option Payment;

US$15,000 on each anniversary date of the Final Option Payment thereafter.

Trey Wasser, President and CEO of Ely Gold commented on the Option, "We are very pleased to add another cash-flowing option agreement to the Nevada Select portfolio. Bitterroot has worked very hard to consolidate the Hackberry District for the first time since mine production in the late 1800's. The team at Bitterroot are proven asset builders and we are pleased to have concluded the Option for cash and Bitterroot shares while retaining a significant royalty interest."

Stephen Kenwood, P. Geo, is director of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Kenwood has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.

About Ely Gold

Ely Gold is focused on developing recurring cash flow streams through the acquisition, consolidation, enhancement, and resale of highly prospective, un-encumbered North American precious metals properties. Ely's property development efforts maximize each property's potential for acquisition, while reserving significant royalty interests. Additional information about Ely Gold is available at the Company's website, at www.elygoldinc.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Signed "Trey Wasser"

Trey Wasser, President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

trey@elygoldinc.com

972-803-3087 ir@elygoldinc.com

604-488-1104

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.
BRUSSELS and MUMBAI, India, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

2017 edition of the forum to outline a new strategy for Europe

Leading platform for public-private dialogue between industry and government leaders in Europe

TCS will serve as the Summit ' s exclusive Strategic Partner in a n agreement concluded at the World Economic Forum in Davos

Marks TCS' continued commitment to Europe and the growth of its Digital Economy

Tata Consultancy Services (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, today announced a strategic partnership with the European Business Summit (EBS). Held annually in Brussels, the EBS is recognized as the foremost platform for dialogue between business and government leaders. Its 2016 edition attracted 2,400 delegates, including eight European Commissioners and the Presidents of the European Commission, European Parliament and European Council.

With representation from over 250 companies, the Summit is designed to provide an engaging exchange of ideas and perspectives. In recent years, Europe has navigated unprecedented challenges posed by the financial crisis, regional conflicts, refugee crises, a changing political landscape and more recently, Brexit. Questions have been raised about the design of EU institutions and their capacity to adapt to disruptive forces in business, technology and politics. The 2017 Summit will address these challenges and find pragmatic solutions for business and policy leaders through open dialogue.

Themed around "A new Narrative for Europe", the event will discuss industrial and trade strategy, employment and skills, sustainability and smart cities, amongst a wide range of topics, underpinned by the role of digital transformation in finding new opportunities and addressing existing challenges. This strategic partnership with the EBS is a further component of TCS' long term commitment to the region and will help propel greater dialogue on key issues facing the business and policy circles in the region.

Amit Bajaj, CEO Europe at TCS, commented: "This year Europe will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome where the European Economic Community was first established. In recent decades the region has seen tremendous growth and prosperity, driven in large part by a progressive and innovative business community. As we look forward there are undoubted challenges ahead but also many opportunities. Probably the single largest opportunity is digital economy where the European Commission estimates growth of 415 billion a year if steps can be taken to support digital business.

He emphasized; "With the fourth industrial revolution bringing forth rapid change across all industries, and digital disruption reshaping entire sectors, it is essential that business and policy leaders come together to find the most inclusive way forward. We are honored to be playing an even bigger part in driving that debate through the European Business Summit."

With a growing footprint in 16 European countries, TCS works with over 350 leading companies and across the region, helping them evolve to the needs of the digital economy. In addition, TCS supports 220 European universities and schools to build vital digital skills, through training, scholarship programmes and internships. These investments are just one part of the company's commitment to help foster a vibrant digital economy that helps economies and communities thrive across the region.

Jean de Gheldere, CEO, European Business Summit, commented: "We are delighted to have Tata Consultancy Services as our Official Strategic Partner. Having a partner with a deep understanding of the importance of digital technology and how it can power Europe, will bring huge benefits to our endeavor EBS and, more importantly, help us serve the interests of Europe as a whole."

About European Business Summit

The European Business Summit (EBS) promotes the largest networking and debating events in Brussels. EBS is a key player in bringing business and politics together and aims to stimulate thinking on European issues that span political, social and environmental challenges. Through its events and publications, EBS delivers an inspired and informed contribution to policy-making in Europe. EBS, under the provision of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is supported by the FEB (Federation of Enterprises in Belgium) and BUSINESSEUROPE. First established in 2000, the annual European Business Summit (EBS) attracts a representative audience evenly distributed across policy makers, businesses, trade and industry associations, consultancies, civil society and other groups.



About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS)

Tata Consultancy Services is anIT services,consultingand business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio ofIT,BPS,infrastructure,engineeringandassurance services. This is delivered through its uniqueGlobal Network Delivery Model', recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata group, India's largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 378,000 of the world's best-trained consultants in 45 countries.The company generated consolidated revenues of US $16.5 billion for year ended March 31, 2016 and is listed on the BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) and the NSE (National Stock Exchange) in India.For more information, visit us athttp://www.tcs.com.

For TCS global news, follow@TCS_News. For TCS Europe news, follow @TCS_Europe
Kernel, a large Ukrainian agrarian group, has placed $500 million with a yield of 8.875% per annum, the company's press service has told Interfax-Ukraine.

The press service said that initially the yield for securities was assessed at 9.25-9.5% per annum.

"This is a symbolic placement both for Kernel and Ukraine in general. It again opens access to Ukrainian issuers to the international capital market after a three-year pause. In addition, the successful placement of eurobonds confirms good credit quality of Kernel and trust of investor society to the company," the press service said.

Kernel's debut eurobonds are due on January 31, 2022. The coupon rate is set at 8.75% per annum.

According to Bloomberg, the yield of Ukraine's eurobonds due before September 1, 2021 is 8.178% per annum and due before September 1, 2022  8.2% per annum.

The securities are secured by the group's subsidiaries Inerco Trade SA (Switzerland), Restomon Limited (the British Virgin Islands), Etrecom Investments Limited (Cyprus), Estron Corporation Limited (Cyprus), Russian Oils Trading Company (Russia), Agropolis LLC (Ternopil region), Arshytsia agricultural firm (Poltava region), Khliborob agricultural firm (Kirovohrad region), Bandursky Elevator LLC (Mykolaiv region), the Black Sea Industries oil extraction plant (Odesa region), Chorna Kamyanka LLC and Druzhba-Nova LLC (both based in Chernihiv region), Enselko Agro (Khmelnytsky region), Hovtva (Poltava region), and Kononivsky Elevator (Cherkasy region).

As expected, the eurobonds will be listed on the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE).

JP Morgan and ING Bank organized the issue.

Kernel is the world's largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil. It is the leading manufacturer and supplier of agricultural products from the Black Sea region to world markets.

Kernel's share of the world's sunflower oil production is about 8%.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump has revealed that he intends to announce his nominee for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court on Thursday, February 2nd. 'I will be making my Supreme Court pick on Thursday of next week. Thank you!' Trump said in a post on Twitter on Wednesday. The tweet from Trump comes a day after he met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the committee, to discuss his choice. The announcement of Trump's nomination would come less than two weeks before the anniversary of the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Trump has indicated he intends to nominate a justice in the mold of Scalia, whose seat on the court has been vacant since his death. Recent reports have indicated Trump has narrowed his list of potential nominees to three conservative judges appointed by former President George W. Bush. 10th Circuit judge Neil Gorsuch has been described as the front-runner, while 3rd Circuit judge Thomas Hardiman and 11th Circuit Judge Bill Pryor are also reportedly under consideration. While Republicans have a 52 to 48 majority in the Senate, they would need the support of some Democrats to avoid a potential filibuster. Democrats have suggested they would seek to block any nominee they consider outside the mainstream after Republicans refused to consider President Barack Obama's nomination of appeals court judge Merrick Garland. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Nutritional High International Inc. (the "Company" or "Nutritional High") (CSE: EAT) (CSE: EAT.CN) (OTCQB: SPLIF) (FRANKFURT: 2NU) is pleased to announce that it has entered into definitive agreements (the "Agreements") to acquire (the "Acquisition") provisional producer and processor licenses (the "Licenses") in Henderson, Nevada and a real estate property (the "Property") to which the Licenses are attached.

Jim Frazier, CEO of Nutritional High commented: "We are pleased to announce the acquisition of these licenses as our debut into South West United States. The recent passage of Question 2 has legalized cannabis for recreational use more than doubled the size of the cannabis market in the State of Nevada. We are excited to stake our claim. We also note the potential synergies that this opportunity presents given our partnership with Aura Health, which currently operates a medical marijuana clinic in Las Vegas."

Terms of the Acquisition

As consideration for the Acquisition, the Company shall pay the vendor (the "Vendor") US$1,000,000, US$800,000 of which is payable in cash, and US$200,000 of which, at the Vendor's option, is payable in cash or by the issuance of 1,176,470 common shares of the Company (the "Common Shares") at a deemed price of US$0.17 per Common Share. The Company has advanced US$100,000 as a deposit for the Acquisition, with the balance of consideration payable upon closing.

The Agreements also provide for an acquisition of the Property in consideration of US$1.6 million. A refundable deposit of US$160,000 is payable no later than February 21, 2017 and the balance to be paid within 60 days of the date of the Agreements.

About the Property

The Property is located in South East Henderson, and is comprised of five acres of vacant land. The Vendor has also received a conditional use permit for the Property from the City of Henderson to establish a medical marijuana establishments to be used for infusion/manufacturing and cultivation. As a part of the Acquisition, the Company has also acquired the architectural plans and vendor relationships, which would be used to construct a state of art 40,000 square foot facility that will cultivate cannabis and manufacture cannabis-infused products.

As Nutritional High's mandate is the focus on oils and edibles, it is intended that the right and costs under the cultivation license will be farmed out to a third party, with a cultivation-specific mandate.

About Nutritional High International Inc.

Nutritional High is focused on developing, manufacturing and distributing products and nationally recognized brands in the hemp and marijuana-infused products industries, including edibles and oil extracts for nutritional, medical and adult recreational use. The Company works exclusively through licensed facilities in jurisdictions where such activity is permitted and regulated by state law.

For updates on the Company's activities and highlights of the Company's press releases and other media coverage, please follow Nutritional High on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ or visit www.nutritionalhigh.com.

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR OTC MARKETS GROUP INC., NOR THEIR REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDERS HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Such statements include submission of the relevant documentation within the required timeframe and to the satisfaction of the relevant regulators, completing the acquisition of the applicable real estate and raising sufficient financing to complete the Company's business strategy. There is no certainty that any of these events will occur. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be correct. We assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.

Company's securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. All forward- looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law.

Contacts:

Nutritional High International Inc.

David Posner

Chairman of the Board

647-985-6727

dposner@nutritionalhigh.com



Boom Capital Markets Inc.

Steven Low

(647) 620-5101

steve@boomcapitalmarkets.com

www.boomcapitalmarkets.com




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With the advancement of technology, more and more smart apps and devices are coming up. However, there are doubts about the real utility of many such hi-tech devices. Doctors have raised such a question about the trendy baby monitor gadgets. These wearable smart device are popular nowadays and could be connected to a mobile device. It can continuously monitor the activities of your baby. There will be alerts based on the movement, respiration rates, heart rates and oxygen levels in blood. Experts alert that such monitors can generate fear in parents, especially when the signs go wrong. According to Child Health experts of University of Pennsylvania, the physiologic monitors are not proven to be life saving. They are doubtful about the accuracy of the device also, as most of them are not tested medically. The baby monitors are usually pinned to the cloths or used as a wristband. Some other model have socks with sensors. Certain models can be pinned to a nappy. One expert opined that the device can make unnecessary fear in parent's mind and can cause uncertainty and self doubt. If the device goes wrong, that may leads to unnecessary consultation of doctors. To pacify their fear factor parents may seek tests and scans. Doctors advice that parents care and monitoring are the best for infants and no other device can replace it. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VALLEY COTTAGE, New York, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

According to the research findings from Future Market Insights' report, titled "Smart Labels Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026," nearly 400,000 thousand units of smart labels sold globally in 2016 were accounted by Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which amounted to an estimated US$ 2,493.9 million. Surging demand for RFID tags in the global retail industry have instrumented the boost in sales of smart labels, globally. Furthermore, the advantages of RFID smart labels in maintaining, tracking and updating stock & inventory databases is predicted to continue driving their demand around the globe in the coming years.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161020/430874LOGO )



According to Future Market Insights,

The global market for smart labels amassed revenues worth US$ 4.7 billion in 2016, and is likely to reach US$ 22.6 billion market value by the end of 2026. During the forecast period, the global smart labels market size is anticipated to expand robustly at a CAGR of 17%.

in 2016, and is likely to reach market value by the end of 2026. During the forecast period, the global smart labels market size is anticipated to expand robustly at a CAGR of 17%. Organized retail sector will continue to instrument rampant growth in global smart labels sales, while warehousing businesses in the world are expected to actively adopt smart labelling for their benefits in tracking products.

Growing sales of biologics and specialty drugs that require thermal-sensitive packaging are promoting the use of smart labels that are equipped with temperature-control functions. Smart labels will be integrated in drug monitoring systems across pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world, facilitating efficiency in transportation, anti-counterfeit measures, and damage control.

Preview Analysis on Global Smart Labels Market Segmentation By Labelling Technology - RFID, NFC Tags, Electronic Article Surveillance, Sensing Labels and Electronic Shelf Labels; By End Use - Healthcare, Automotive, FMCG, Logistics, Retail and Others; By Printing Technology - Flexographic, Digital, Gravure and Screen: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/smart-labels-market

Key highlights of the research report exhibit RFID as the dominant labelling technology, however, Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) and sensing labels are also expected to gain traction while independently registering a rise at more than 16% CAGR over the forecast period. By the end of 2026, global retail industry will be the largest end-user of smart labels by procuring global revenue share of more than 30%. On the other hand, healthcare, automotive and logistics will be considered as lucrative end-user industries for smart labels, collectively accounting for sales of more than 1,561,000 thousand units by 2026-end.

Flexographic and gravure printing technologies are predicted to dominate the global smart labels market in terms of revenues. Over the forecast period, more than US$ 8 billion revenues are will be accounted by flexographic smart labels, while smart labels manufactured through gravure printing technology will amass an estimated US$ 6.4 billion market value.

Request a Sample Report with Table of Contents: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2704

North America's smart labels market is anticipated to procure over 40% of the global revenues, throughout the forecast period. Avery Dennison Corporation, CCL Industries Inc., Checkpoints Systems, Inc., Zebra Technologies Corporation, and Intermec, Inc., are some of the leading players in the global smart labels market that are based in the US and Canada. Smart label revenues in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region are projected to rise at the fastest CAGR - 18.2%, while Western Europe smart labels market is likely to reach an estimated US$ 3.6 billion market value by the end of 2026. Other companies participating in the growth of global smart labels market include, Sato Holdings Corporation, Smartrac N.V., Invengo Information Technology Co Ltd., Thin Film Electronics ASA, and Muehlbauer Holding AG.

More From FMI's Cutting-edge Intelligence:

North America Fresh Meat Packaging Market Segmentation By Material Type - PE, PVC, BOPP, PA, EVOH, PP and Others; By Layer Type - Monolayer, 3-Layer, 5-Layer, 7-Layer And 9-Layer; By Packaging Format - MAP, VTP, VSP and Others; By Meat Type - Beef, Pork, Poultry and Others: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/north-america-fresh-meat-packaging-films-market



Segmentation By Material Type - PE, PVC, BOPP, PA, EVOH, PP and Others; By Layer Type - Monolayer, 3-Layer, 5-Layer, 7-Layer And 9-Layer; By Packaging Format - MAP, VTP, VSP and Others; By Meat Type - Beef, Pork, Poultry and Others: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/north-america-fresh-meat-packaging-films-market Next Generation Packaging Market Segmentation By Product Type - Active, Intelligent, And Modified Atmosphere; By Application - Food And Beverages, Healthcare And Pharmaceuticals, Personal Care; By Key Regions - North America , Western Europe , Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan , Eastern Europe , Latin America and the Middle East and Africa : http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/next-generation-packaging-technology-market

About Us

Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights and an aerial view of the competitive framework and future market trends.

Browse More Packaging Market Insights



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BANGKOK, THAILAND -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Come celebrate the Year of the Rooster in Bangkok this January. Experience Thai-Chinese festivities this Lunar New Year in the heart of the vibrant city.

The Courtyard Bangkok city center hotel offers the best hotel promotion starting just from THB 2599 on 27-29 January 2017. With Silom, Pratunam Market and Central World close by, our hotel is the center of all the cultural activities happening in and around the city. Making the Chinese New year celebration in Bangkok even easier for guests, the hotel offers complimentary Tuk-Tuk pick-up service at the Rajdamri and Chitlom BTS stations.

With such convenience, guests can enjoy their vacation to the fullest while taking advantage of easy access to all this year's festivities. The downtown Bangkok hotel's spacious accommodations and modern features, including an outdoor swimming pool, fully equipped 24-hour gym, pool bar and vibrant restaurant "MoMo Cafe" make it an ideal destination for travelers to this year's event.

The property is also conveniently located within easy reach of Bangkok's main nightlife Silom Soi 2 and Soi 4, where several restaurants, clubs and late night bars can be found. Its vibrant setting and ease-of-access make it one of the most popular social event venues in Bangkok.

For bookings and more information please visit the Courtyard by Marriott Bangkok website or contact our reservation specialists via cy.bkkcy.rsa@courtyard.com or +66 2690 1888.

Terms and Conditions

Prepay in full and non-refundable. Limited numbers of rooms are available for this promotion. Tax is additional. Offer cannot be combined with any other promotions. Blackout dates may apply. Advance reservations required. Other restrictions apply. Rates are per room, per night and based on availability at the time of reservations.

About Courtyard Bangkok

Located right in central Bangkok, the Courtyard Bangkok hotel is an iconic oasis of leisure and pleasure. Combining simplicity and comfort with modern convenience, the property offers a choice of 316 rooms and suites spanning over 15 floors, blending contemporary decor with traditional Thai touches. Guests are invited to indulge at MoMo Cafe, the hotel's causal eatery, or surround themselves in tranquility at the property's poolside lounge. Positioned in the heart of Bangkok, travelers have access to the best of the city, with rooms that offer an array of amenities, like high-speed Internet access and flat-screen TVs. The hotel also offers highly versatile function rooms that can be configured into up to five meeting venues, accommodating a maximum of 160 people with unique spaces that sport the latest professional equipment.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3102572



CONTACT:

Courtyard Bangkok

155/1 Soi Mahadlekluang 1, Rajdamri Road Bangkok 10330 Thailand

Phone: +66-2-690-1888

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bkkcy-courtyard-bangkok/




OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors represented by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada will be meeting with a Conciliation Board on January 26-27 in an effort to break the impasse with the provincial government after overwhelmingly rejecting its contract proposal last year, with 97 per cent voting against it.

"We're hoping the government will come to the table ready to resolve the situation once and for all. A symbolic 1% wage increase after years of salary freezes, no improvements in our working conditions and an ever-increasing workload are no more acceptable today than they were in 2016", said Chris Titus, President of the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors' Association. "We're the lowest paid Crown prosecutors in the country, it's not unreasonable for us to want to be compensated fairly for the important work we do on behalf of the people of New Brunswick."

"We're going into our meeting with the Conciliation Board chaired by Elisabeth McPherson with an open mind," added PIPSC Vice-President Steve Hindle. "We hope the government does the same. Nobody wants a strike that can only have a serious impact on the administration of justice in New Brunswick."

The Conciliation Board is expected to issue its recommendations to the provincial Labour Board by mid-February.

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada represents some 55,000 scientists and other professionals across Canada's public sector, including some 60 Crown Prosecutors employed by the Government of New Brunswick. The collective agreement between the Government of New Brunswick and its Crown Prosecutors expired March 31, 2013.

Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter (@pipsc_ipfpc)

Contacts:

Pierre Villon

(613) 228-6310 ext 4928 (office)

(613) 794-9369 (cell.)

pvillon@pipsc.ca




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- The Executive Director of the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) has issued a notice of hearing alleging that Prabhjot Singh Bakshi, a B.C. resident, and SBC Financial Group Inc. traded securities without being registered and illegally distributed securities.

The notice alleges that between August 2010 and September 2014, Bakshi and SBC sold $3 million of securities of SBC without being registered. Prospectus exemptions were not available for $2.3 million of these sales.

SBC is a B.C. company that has never filed a prospectus respecting its securities. Bakshi was SBC's sole director and officer.

Bakshi controlled SBC and its bank account, prepared and signed SBC documents provided to investors, and raised money from investors for SBC directly and through two finders, to whom he paid commissions. Although he was registered under the Act from 2000 to 2009, Bakshi was not registered at the relevant time.

These allegations have not been proven. Counsel for the Executive Director will apply to set dates for a hearing into the allegations before a panel of commissioners on March 21, 2017, at 9:00 a.m.

You may view the notice of hearing on our website, www.bcsc.bc.ca, by typing Prabhjot Singh Bakshi, SBC Financial Group Inc. or 2017 BCSECCOM 16 in the search box. Information about disciplinary proceedings can be found in the Enforcement section of the BCSC website.

Please visit the Canadian Securities Administrators' (CSA) Disciplined List for information relating to persons disciplined by provincial securities regulators, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA).

About the British Columbia Securities Commission (www.bcsc.bc.ca)

The British Columbia Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating capital markets in British Columbia through the administration of the Securities Act. Our mission is to protect and promote the public interest by fostering:

-- A securities market that is fair and warrants public confidence -- A dynamic and competitive securities industry that provides investment opportunities and access to capital

Learn how to protect yourself and become a more informed investor at www.investright.org.

Contacts:

Media Contact: British Columbia Securities Commission

Alison Walker

604-899-6713

www.bcsc.bc.ca



Public inquiries:

604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393 (toll free)

inquiries@bcsc.bc.ca




GADSDEN, AL--(Marketwired - January 25, 2017) - The Alabama Realtors Land Institute (RLI) recently inducted J. Craig King, CCIM, CAI, AARE, as President at their annual meeting held at the Alabama Forestry Association in Montgomery, Ala. Craig King is President and CEO of J.P. King Auction Company, and takes over from 2016 Alabama RLI President Jonathan Goode, ALC, with Southeastern Land Group.

On being inducted, King said, "I am honored and delighted to serve as President of the Alabama RLI. J.P. King has a strong background in land sales including auctioning over one million acres of land throughout all 50 states. We benefit from the RLI structure that legitimizes brokers who focus on land sales and provides information to investors, purchasers, and land owners on safeguards we establish through the education of our members to insure they are being represented by knowledgeable and professional land specialists."

King has often been quoted in the national media, and also in President Donald Trump's book Trump, The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received, he quotes Craig King with the following, "The advice came from my father, J.P. King: sell dreams, not dirt. Dirt is cheap, but dreams are priceless. If you're selling land, focus on what the property can be -- such as a business, a home, a shopping center, a retreat. Capture a man's imagination, and he'll not only pay top dollar, but thank you for the privilege."

For his 2017 plans, King explains, "Land will remain an emphasis for J.P. King, and ethical, professional land sales practices are an important part to increasing wealth and economic development in Alabama. I look forward to participating in the 2017 National Land Conference in Charlotte, NC, March 31-April 2, to network, engage and learn with my colleagues committed to strengthening our national Realtors Land Institute."

Craig King has more than 35 years of real estate and auction experience. Professional designations he holds include, Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM), Certified Auctioneers Institute (CAI), and Accredited Auctioneer of Real Estate (AARE). He is a past president of the Auction Marketing Institute, and has been inducted into the National Auctioneers Association and the Alabama Association of Auctioneers Halls of Fame.

As an independent premier real estate auction firm, J. P. King's portfolio of property sales includes over a million acres of land, ranches and farms located throughout all 50 states. J.P. King Auction Company pioneered the use of auctions for land and luxury real estate and non-distressed clients. The firm has sold and closed billions of dollars' worth of property through more than 850 auction events. For more information, see www.jpking.com.

The Alabama RLI is a 501c(6) non-profit organization created for land sales professionals dedicated to gaining knowledge, building relationships, and increasing business for members who broker, lease, sell, develop, and manage our most precious resource: the land. RLI members strive to be the most knowledgeable and successful professionals in Alabama's rural land industry. Alabama RLI is the state chapter of the national Realtors Land Institute. For more information, visit www.alabamarli.com and www.rliland.com.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/1/25/11G128404/Images/Craig_King_-_outside_edited-5b4c8aa551799c52973dd71f39abc40e.jpg

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/1/25/11G128404/Images/alc_small-d3b6f01ec232b167b3b90ddb760ea196.jpg

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/1/25/11G128404/Images/Craig_King_-_headshot_edited-c81fadb6cab59e5ab950a8fc258d34db.jpg

Stacy Smith

Email contact


SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Today, Sorenson Communications, LLC, the company that revolutionized Video Relay Service (VRS) communication for Deaf people, introduced Sorenson Bridge, the first videophone tree designed specifically for users of American Sign Language (ASL).

Sorenson Bridge and its patented technologies were created as a way for schools, agencies, businesses and organizations that serve the Deaf to efficiently communicate in ASL, enhance the way they conduct business and strengthen the Deaf communities they serve. Sorenson works with these organizations to customize a phone tree menu for each organization's unique needs.

Until the introduction of Sorenson Bridge, Deaf callers had to navigate audio phone trees through sign language interpreters, a time-consuming and often tedious process. Now, with Sorenson Bridge, callers see and choose from video menus shown in ASL. Through the use of a keypad, callers select the option of the intended call recipient or department. For example, a caller may choose tech support, a receptionist or the accounting department from the visual phone tree menu. As ASL is the native language for most Deaf people, the visual phone tree is a welcome and empowering technology.

As a part of testing, Sorenson implemented Sorenson Bridge at the Indiana School for the Deaf (ISD) and worked alongside ISD to customize a menu that would be convenient and intuitive for Deaf parents and vendors who called the school.

ISD superintendent and CEO David Geeslin says, "Sorenson is a dream partner when it comes to collaboration for the benefit of students. ISD parents and staff who have made a call through Sorenson Bridge have remarked they can sense the positive energy of our students and staff and the values of Sorenson in supporting our educational endeavor for our students."

Geeslin adds, "When Sorenson offered ISD the Sorenson Bridge concept, we saw this as a perfect opportunity to bridge students' current knowledge and experience with real world interactions. In the past, often a child would make a call and then face the new and strange experience of the Video Relay Service (VRS) interpreter explaining a phone tree. But now, with Sorenson Bridge at ISD, our students can call us and see the phone tree flowchart and learn to use it well. Eventually, they will make a call through Sorenson to a public company and see the phone tree flowchart. They will know what to do because they will have experienced this approach in ISD's barrier-free environment."

Stephanie Mathis, executive director of the Sego Lily Center for the Abused Deaf, says, "Sorenson Bridge is key to providing immediate services for victims and survivors in crisis and dangerous situations. The phone tree feature empowers Deaf victims to choose whom to contact and which information they need to obtain safety. Sorenson Bridge also empowers Sego Lily staff to provide comprehensive and accessible services to Deaf victims of all ages in Utah. Sego Lily looks forward to continued partnership with Sorenson Communications in working together to keep our Deaf Community safe!"

For more information about Sorenson Bridge, contact your local Sorenson representative or email bridgesupport@sorenson.com.

Sorenson Communications

Sorenson Communications, LLC (www.sorenson.com) is a provider of industry-leading communications products and services for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing. The company's offerings include Sorenson Video Relay Service (SVRS), the highest-quality video interpreting service; the Sorenson ntouch VP and the ntouch VP2 videophones, designed especially for use by Deaf individuals; ntouch PC, software that connects users to SVRS by using a PC and webcam; ntouch for Mac, software that connects users to SVRS by using an Apple computer; ntouch Tablet, which turns the Apple iPad with a front-facing camera into a larger-screen mobile VP; and ntouch Mobile, an application empowering SVRS communication via mobile devices.
MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - January 25, 2017) -Clinical Informatics News, the leader in reporting innovative technologies from clinical trials to medical informatics, announces the winners of the Third Annual Clinical Informatics News Best Practices Awards on Wednesday at the Summit for Clinical Ops Executives, in Miami, FL. Prizes were awarded to Mytrus, CluePoints, and DrugDev.

The Clinical Informatics News Best Practices awards recognize outstanding examples of applied strategic innovation -- partnerships, deployments, and collaborations that manifestly improve the clinical trial process. An expert panel of judges assessed entries looking for solutions that are innovative, and needed in the industry.

"This year's entries again raised the bar on innovation in clinical trials," said Allison Proffitt, Clinical Informatics News' editorial director. "The clinical trials community and industry are so dedicated to improving the clinical trials process for the patients while upholding standards of excellence in drug development. It's an exciting time."

The judges named nine finalists, and from that pool chose winning entries in three categories: Clinical Data Intelligence; Study Startup and Design; and Patient Data Management.

Clinical Data Intelligence: CluePoints

Creating the Ultimate Risk-Based Monitoring and Data Quality Oversight Solution

Breaking new ground as an enabling technology for risk-based monitoring (RBM), CluePoints' Central Statistical Monitoring (CSM) software utilizes statistical algorithms to determine the quality, accuracy and integrity of clinical trial data both during and after study conduct. Deployed to support traditional monitoring and data management as well as improved "risk- based approaches," CluePoints' CSM software can be implemented as the ultimate engine to drive RBM. The value of the solution lies in its ability to identify anomalies in data earlier, offering the opportunity to eradicate issues as they are uncovered, increasing patient safety and reducing risks of data quality or integrity issues when submitting for regulatory approval.

Study Startup and Design: DrugDev

DrugDev Golden Number: Industry-standard unique identifier for clinical trial locations and personnel

DrugDev's Golden Number is an industry- standard unique identifier for clinical trial locations and personnel that enables drug developers and researchers to run more efficient trials and supports cross-industry collaborations like TransCelerate's Investigator Registry and the Investigator Databank. The objective of the Golden Number is to provide customers with a universal identifier across all available data sources to drive evidence-based site selection and master data management.

Patient Data Management: Mytrus, Inc.

Virtual Clinical Trials; Accelerating research and reducing data management risk on the ADAPTABLE Aspirin Trial

Utilizing a broad national network of healthcare organizations to pre-screen prospective participants using information in their electronic health records, then inviting them to visit a centralized study website using Mytrus' Engage virtual trial platform, Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) is able to rapidly engage patients remotely and provide an interactive platform to screen remotely consent trial participants. Once enrolled into the clinical trial, patients are able to create profiles and self-report medical histories, concomitant medications, electronic participant reported outcomes (ePRO), Quality of Life and health-based questionnaires, and patient surveys during this two-year study. The use of technology and electronic reporting allows study team members to quickly collect, review, and validate patient data and provide real-time input to the sponsor throughout the course of the study via web portals that share de-identified information. It also allows patients to provide their input from the comfort of their own home, office, or wherever they might be by using a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) platform, further reducing the study costs of supplying dedicated devices to each patient.

Judges for the 2017 awards included Beth Harper, Clinical Performance Partners; Jerald Schindler, Merck; Stephen Fogelson, Develotron; Marina Filshtinsky, Micah Lieberman, and Lee Yuan, Cambridge Healthtech Institute; Craig Lipset, Pfizer; Nancy Mulligan, UBC; and Allison Proffitt, Clinical Informatics News.

About Clinical Informatics News (www.ClinicalInformaticsNews.com)

Part of Cambridge Healthtech Publishing (www.HealthtechPublishing.com), Clinical Informatics News reports on innovative technologies from clinical trials to medical informatics. Technology continues to permeate all aspects of clinical trials and the patient experience, and the tools to support these efforts are maturing rapidly. ClinicalInformaticsNews.com, the Clinical Informatics News Newsletter and News Bulletins provide authoritative news, views and insights on the vast landscape of innovation between clinical trial management and delivery of care.

About Cambridge Healthtech Institute (www.healthtech.com)

Cambridge Healthtech Institute (CHI), a division of Cambridge Innovation Institute, is the preeminent life science network for leading researchers and business experts from top pharmaceutical, biotech, CROs, academia, and niche service providers. CHI is renowned for its vast conference portfolio held worldwide including PepTalk, Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference, SCOPE Summit, Bio-IT World Conference & Expo, PEGS Summit, Drug Discovery Chemistry, Biomarker World Congress, World Preclinical Congress, Next Generation Dx Summit and Discovery on Target. CHI's portfolio of products include Cambridge Healthtech Institute Conferences, Barnett International, Insight Pharma Reports, Cambridge Marketing Consultants, Cambridge Meeting Planners, Knowledge Foundation Bio-IT World, Clinical Informatics News and Diagnostics World.

Contact:

Lisa Scimemi

Publisher

Clinical Informatics News

lscimemi@ClinicalInformaticsNews.com
Russia's AvtoVAZ does not halt supplies of Lada cars to Ukraine

Information that Russia's AvtoVAZ will stop supplies of Lada cars to Ukraine this year spread by some Ukrainian media is untrue, the official importer of these cars to Ukraine UkrAVTOVAZ has reported.

"Recently online media published that allegedly Lada cars supplies to Ukraine will be stopped. The official importer in Ukraine refutes this information," the company said in a press release on Tuesday.

In 2016, the model range of Lada cars presented in Ukraine was narrowed due to several reasons. The main reasons are the certification of products meeting new UNECE standards that took effect on January 1, 2016 (the introduction of Euro 5 emission standards), the cancelation of the free trade regime with Russia and the imposing of additional anti-subsidizing duties.

"This resulted in temporary suspension of supplies of some Lada cars," the press service said.

At present, the Lada brand is presented by Lada four wheel SUV and Lada Largus station wagon.

According to Auto-onsulting analytical group, 1,516 Lada cars were sold in Ukraine in 2016. This was 49.2% more than a year ago, and its share of the new passenger market grew from 2.18% to 2.35%.

UkrAVTOVAZ also said that the importer will resume supplies of popular models Lada Granta and Lada Kalina, starting Q2 2017.
Washington DC--(Newsfile Corp. - January 25, 2017) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that a Massachusetts-based investment adviser agreed to be banned from the securities industry after the agency uncovered an illegal cherry-picking scheme through its data analysis used to detect suspicious trading patterns.

The SEC filed fraud charges in federal district court against Michael J. Breton and his firm Strategic Capital Management, alleging they defrauded clients out of approximately $1.3 million. Breton allegedly placed trades through a master brokerage account and then allocated profitable trades to himself while placing unprofitable trades into the client accounts.

Breton and his firm agreed to a partial settlement subject to court approval. Monetary sanctions would be determined at a later date. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts today announced criminal charges against Breton.

"As alleged in our complaint, Breton assured clients that he would put their interests first but did just the opposite, taking the firm's most profitable trades for himself and dumping the losing trades on his clients," said Joseph G. Sansone, Co-Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division's Market Abuse Unit. "Our probing analytical work will continue to root out investment advisers who subject their clients to cherry-picking."

The Market Abuse Unit's analysis of Breton's trading showed that he defrauded at least 30 clients during a six-year period as outlined in the SEC's complaint. Breton allegedly purchased securities for his own accounts and the client accounts through a block trading or master account on days when public companies scheduled earnings announcements. He typically delayed allocation of those trades until later in the day after learning the substance of the announcement.

According to the SEC's complaint, when companies announced positive earnings that would presumably increase the stock value, Breton disproportionately allocated those trades to his accounts. And when a company announced negative earnings that would presumably decrease the stock value, Breton disproportionately allocated those trades to client accounts.

The SEC's complaint charges Breton and Strategic Capital Management with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 as well as Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act. Breton and his firm agreed to be permanently enjoined from future misconduct, and Breton consented to the issuance of an SEC order barring him from the securities industry.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Caitlyn M. Campbell, Eric Forni, David Makol, and Michele T. Perillo of the Market Abuse Unit in the Boston Regional Office with assistance from John Rymas of the Market Abuse Unit and Stuart Jackson and Raymond Wolff in the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts and the Boston field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
DALLAS, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Dig-it Underground, Inc. (OTC PINK: DIGX) announces today that the company has launched its corporate website, www.digitunder.com as an online brochure to create a connection with our customers, advance our marketing, and to create more public awareness.

The President of Dig-It Underground, Inc., Mr. Lenoid Chernyakhovsky, commented that he is excited about the company's new website www.digitunder.com, stating that "it will allow us to better communicate with our shareholders and the public at large. It will be a work progress, as we are growing and looking forward to a strong business performance in 2017."

The company recently released their record breaking Third Quarter Financials, posting over a half million dollars of total revenue for the 3rd Quarter ended September 30, 2016. Mr. Chernyakhovsky stated that the company is poised to continue to build on its past successes and the management team remains focused to continue building revenue and profit growth.

Expressions Chiropractic & Rehab, a wholly owned subsidiary, currently has three locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas Metroplex area. Having operated for more than ten years, the operation is providing crucial stability to the company's other growth and expansion plans. Mr. Chernyakhovsky added, "Our ability to stabilize earning and income at these new levels, is giving us the strength we need to move forward with our growth plan and continue to target larger and even more profitable acquisitions and continue to experience these record breaking numbers."

ABOUT DIGX: Expressions Chiropractic & Rehab, our Wholly Owned Subsidiary, currently has three locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas Metroplex. For over 10 years, Expressions has provided Chiropractic, Rehab, and other Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) services to our patients and service area. Expressions is currently group credentialed with over 487 Insurance Plans, allowing instant access to patients, and the ability to expand the Company's operations to new locations with minimal additional expenditures towards Insurance Claims cost. CAM is an estimated $33 Billion per year segment of the Health Care Industry and is used by 83 million American adults annually. The demand for natural health care services is growing rapidly, as consumers become increasingly interested and educated in disease prevention and health maintenance. Chiropractic is recognized by Federal and State Governments as a viable alternative to traditional health care services, and, as such, is accepted for reimbursement by government-sponsored insurance programs, most third-party payers and managed care plans.

Forward Looking Statements: Statements in this document contain certain forward-looking Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are based on many assumptions and estimates and are not guarantees of future performance. These statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Dig-it Underground, Inc. to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Dig-it Underground, Inc. assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Our actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. There may be other factors not mentioned above that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statement. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or developments, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Contact:

Dig-it Underground, Inc.

info@digitunder.com

972-232-9489




Weekly net asset value ("NAV") is calculated as of the close of business on each Tuesday and posted on the following business day. In the event that Tuesday is not a business day, the Company will calculate the close-of-business NAV as of the business day immediately preceding that Tuesday. The end-of-month NAV is calculated as of the close of business on the last day of the month and posted on the following business day. For weeks that include a month-end NAV report, PSH will provide only the month-end NAV and not report the Tuesday NAV. Monthly NAVs are published in accordance with the Decree on Conduct of Business Supervision of Financial Undertakings under the Wft (Besluit Gedragstoezicht financiele ondernemingen Wft).

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Note to editors: There are two photos associated with this press release.

Mining for Miracles kicked off its 2017 Diamond Draw at the Mineral Exploration Roundup Conference today. Mining for Miracles is the BC mining community's longstanding fundraising campaign for BC Children's Hospital Foundation.

The Diamond Draw package, valued at over $16,000, includes a CANADAMARK Cushion cut 1.01 carat diamond in a gold designer setting, donated respectively by C3 Alliance Corp., Teck and Costen Catbalue Goldsmith + Design.

"Since 1988, BC's mining industry has raised more than $26 million for the children and families who visit BC Children's Hospital through Diamond Draw and other initiatives," said Jeff Hanman, 2017 Co-Chair, Mining for Miracles. "100 per cent of the funds raised by Mining for Miracles go directly to support areas of need at the hospital," said Joanne Klein, Co-Chair, Mining for Miracles.

Tickets are available at mining industry events and directly from Mining for Miracles member organizations. The draw will take place on May 30, 2017.

The launch of the 2017 Diamond Draw marks the completion of Mining for Miracles' $3 million commitment to the CAUSES Research Clinic (CAUSES) at BC Children's Hospital. Genome British Columbia is backing Mining for Miracles' commitment with an additional contribution to support the CAUSES Research Clinic.

CAUSES provides genome-wide sequencing to support the accurate and efficient diagnosis of rare genetic disorders in children who would otherwise require numerous tests or who might not be diagnosed at all. The program provides families with genetic counselling, clinical interpretation of complex testing results, and personalized recommendations for treatment.

The success of Mining for Miracles to fund initiatives like CAUSES depends on the generosity of individuals and organizations throughout British Columbia. Donations can be made through employee and corporate fundraising initiatives or through fundraising events such as Jeans Day, the Diamond Draw, Slo-Pitch Tournament or the Teck Celebrity Pie Throw, taking place on May 18, 2017. Visit www.miningformiracles.ca for more information and to donate.

About Mining for Miracles

Every year volunteers from the mining community work together through Mining for Miracles to help improve the quality of health care for children in our province. Through its support of the construction of facilities and acquisition of specialized medical equipment at the hospital, Mining for Miracles is helping to keep BC Children's Hospital at the forefront of pediatric care excellence. Visit www.miningformiracles.ca for more information and to donate.

Backgrounder:

The CAUSES Research Clinic:

CAUSES reduces the number of invasive tests required, such as biopsies, biochemical tests, expensive single gene tests or MRI scans. There are 7,000 known rare disorders and CAUSES uses a single genomic test capable of identifying all of these. This may reduce the number of tests required to diagnose a patient's condition from 10 or more to just one. This has the potential to reduce costs to families and the health-care system.

-- The CAUSES Research Clinic saw its first patient in June 2015 -- Over three years, 500 children and their parents will have their genomes sequenced through CAUSES -- CAUSES receives approximately 10 patient referrals a week. -- Since opening in June 2015, over 200 families have been seen in the CAUSES Research Clinic -- Over 40% of families seen in CAUSES receive a diagnosis (an "answer") -- 5 year old Collyns Doran of Prince George was the first patient to receive a diagnosis at the CAUSES Research Clinic at BC Children's Hospital. The diagnosis provided by genome- wide sequencing ends ended the family's 5-year journey to find an explanation for their daughter's developmental issues. http://www.bcchf.ca/stories/miracle- stories/collyns- doran/'stage=Live -- CAUSES provides this service to children across British Columbia, and in some cases, is utilizing Telehealth -- For some families, a diagnosis will lead to life-changing treatments for their child. For many children, there isn't a cure. Their diagnosis is important information that helps parents in planning for their child's future -- The CAUSES Research Clinic helps reduce the number of invasive tests - such as biopsies, biochemical tests, expensive single gene tests and multi-gene panels, and MRI scans often requiring sedation- needed to obtain a diagnosis for children. This is expected to reduce the average number of tests per child required for a diagnosis from 10 or more to one, resulting in significant savings for both families and the health- care system

About Genome British Columbia

Genome British Columbia leads genomics innovation on Canada's West Coast and facilitates the integration of genomics into society. A recognized catalyst for government and industry, Genome BC invests in research, entrepreneurship and commercialization in life sciences to address challenges in key sectors such as health, forestry, fisheries, aquaculture, agri-food, energy, mining and environment. Genome BC partners with many national and international public and private funding organizations to drive BC's bioeconomy.

www.genomebc.ca

To view the photos associated with this press release, please visit the following links:

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/BCCHF.jpg

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20170125-M4M125.jpg

Contacts:

Jeff Hanman

Mining for Miracles Co-Chair

604-354-5230



Joanne Klein

Mining for Miracles Co-Chair

604-696-3047



Veronika Spencer

BC Children's Hospital Foundation

Philanthropy Officer

604-875-2504

vspencer@bcchf.ca




Citigroup Inc. is announcing the redemption, in whole, constituting 663,077,000 in aggregate principal amount, of its 3.625% Fixed Floating Rate Callable Subordinated Notes due November 2017 (the "notes") (ISIN: XS0236075908).

The redemption date for the notes is February 28, 2017. The cash redemption price payable for the notes on the redemption date will equal par plus 1,584,754.03 in accrued and unpaid interest. The redemption announced today is consistent with Citigroup's liability management strategy, and reflects its ongoing efforts to enhance the efficiency of its funding and capital structure. Since 2014, Citigroup redeemed or retired $36.8 billion of its securities, reducing Citigroup's overall funding costs. Citigroup will continue to consider opportunities to redeem or repurchase securities, based on several factors, including without limitation, the economic value, regulatory changes, potential impact on Citigroup's net interest margin and borrowing costs, the overall remaining tenor of Citigroup's debt portfolio, capital impact, as well as overall market conditions.

Citigroup's Basel III Tier 2 Capital will not be affected by the planned redemption. Beginning on the redemption date, the notes will no longer be considered outstanding and interest will no longer accrue on such securities.

Citibank, N.A. and Dexia Banque Internationale Luxembourg, societe anonyme are the paying agents for the notes. For further information on the notes, please see the related final terms at the following web address: http://www.citigroup.com/citi/fixedincome/data/docs/3625due113017mtn.pdf

Citi

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125006275/en/

Contacts:

Citi

Media:

Mark Costiglio, 212-559-4114

or

Investors:

Susan Kendall, 212-559-2718

or

Fixed Income Investors:

Thomas Rogers, 212-559-5091
DUBLIN, OH--(Marketwired - January 25, 2017) - Epcon, a national home building franchise company, will host its annual conference from February 13-15 in Columbus, OH. Impact! 2017 will bring Epcon Franchise Builders, leading housing industry experts, vendors and service providers together to share intelligence and strategies for business growth in an evolving marketplace.

Epcon's ranch-style homes, with their low-maintenance approach and focus on lifestyle living, are popular with the coveted 55+ demographic. Epcon Franchise Builders can take advantage of extensive sales and marketing support that enable small and mid-size builders to grow into more regional players. The annual conference is an important extension of Epcon's commitment to its Franchise Builders, ensuring that they stay updated about industry trends and research and providing a robust forum for networking and learning opportunities.

Epcon invests in industry intelligence

The conference features a strong lineup of housing industry experts who will address various changes and evolution in the industry. Mollie Carmichael, Principal at John Burns Real Estate Consulting, one of the leading authorities in studying the 55+ demographic, will present the discussion "The Changing Face of Today's Active Adult Consumer."

Phil Fankhauser, Co-founder and President of Epcon Communities, emphasized that this year's conference is designed to educate Franchise Builders about practically every aspect of the homebuilding business, including cost containment, hiring talent, sales strategies, evaluating profit and loss statements and more. "This year's edition promises to include one of the best vendor fairs we have ever had," Fankhauser says, "with multiple opportunities to meet suppliers and national account trade partners."

Epcon conference to provide comprehensive insights

Conference sessions will be broken into four learning tracks: Construction, Sales, Marketing and Franchise Builders. "Purchasing and Estimating: A Link to Profits," presented in the Construction track, will discuss how purchasing procedures can decrease waste by focusing on cost containment. "Understanding Financial Statements and the Importance of Dashboards," part of the Franchise Builder track, will help Franchise Builders get a working understanding of their finances.

National homebuilding industry sales experts Jeff Shore and Amy O'Connor of Shore Consulting will spearhead a Sales track session, "Value Clarity and Value Purity," on how to communicate value to buyers. The hot new industry trend, virtual reality, will take center stage in the Marketing presentation, "Virtual Reality: It's Finally Real."

In a closing general session, Paul Emrath of the National Association of Home Builders will deliver NAHB's economic forecast in light of the new administration in Washington D.C. "Regardless of which party is in power in Washington, we are very much in favor of policies that reduce the regulatory burden placed on new home builders as well as new home buyers," Fankhauser said. "According to a recent study by NAHB, government regulations account for roughly 25% of the final cost of a new home. It's not sustainable, and it is negatively impacting our country, which is in desperate need of new housing supply."

Epcon is committed to staying at the industry's forefront and has gained valuable insights from its 30+ years of experience in homebuilding and 20+ years in franchising. Providing this valuable content to our Franchise Builders is a value-add that many home builders can't afford on their own, which they then leverage to build robust businesses of their own. Impact! 2017 promises to be a valuable tool in their arsenal for 2017 and beyond.

For more details about the Epcon franchise opportunity, visit www.epconfranchising.com.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/1/25/11G128446/Images/Epcon-franchising-Mollie-Carmichael-Conference-Ind-8c92cfd37ff88b17956120c8ec3c93f2.jpg

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/1/25/11G128446/Images/Epcon_Franchise_-_Home_Building-a2dbe9d2c24188dea373193325e40875.jpg

Embedded Video Available: https://youtu.be/GJUrSgHb014

Jason Coffee

Business Development Manager

855-746-8988

jcoffee@epconcommunities.com
NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- Brookfield Investment Management Inc. will host a webcast for the Brookfield Real Assets Income Fund Inc. (NYSE: RA) (the "Fund") on Thursday, February 2, 2017 at 4:30pm ET. Brookfield will provide an update on the Fund and on general market conditions.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions about the Fund during the call. Questions may also be submitted ahead of the call by sending an e-mail to funds@brookfield.com.

Access to webcast: http://services.choruscall.ca/links/brookfieldim20170202.html

(Note - Link will not be live until day of webcast.)

A replay will be available via this link shortly following the webcast until March 2, 2017.

Access to audio only: 800-319-4610

A transcript of the call will also be available by calling 855-777-8001 or emailing funds@brookfield.com.

Brookfield Investment Management Inc. (the "Firm") is an SEC-registered investment adviser and represents the Public Securities platform of Brookfield Asset Management. The Firm provides global listed real assets strategies including real estate equities, infrastructure equities, real asset debt and diversified real assets. With more than $13 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2016, the Firm manages separate accounts, registered funds and opportunistic strategies for institutional and individual clients, including financial institutions, public and private pension plans, insurance companies, endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds and high net worth investors. The Firm is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management, a leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $250 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2016. For more information, go to www.brookfield.com.

The Fund is managed by Brookfield Investment Management Inc. The Fund uses its website as a channel of distribution of material company information. Financial and other material information regarding the Fund is routinely posted on and accessible at www.brookfield.com.

Contacts:

Brookfield Real Assets Income Fund Inc.

Brookfield Place

250 Vesey Street, 15th Floor

New York, NY 10281-1023

(855) 777-8001

funds@brookfield.com




CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/25/17 -- BACANORA MINERALS LTD. ("Bacanora" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: BCN)(AIM: BCN), the Canadian and London listed company focused on developing the Sonora Lithium Project ("Sonora" or the "Project") in Mexico into a world class lithium carbonate operation, announces that Mr. Kiran Morzaria, a Non-executive Director of the Company, has stepped down with immediate effect to focus on his other business interests.

The Board of Directors of Bacanora would like to thank Kiran for the valuable personal contribution he has made in assisting with the development of Sonora, which is currently the subject of a Feasibility Study for a 35,000 tpa lithium carbonate operation. The Company is evaluating candidates with the relevant experience to complement its Board, as it focuses on advancing Sonora towards the construction and production phases.

ABOUT BACANORA:

Bacanora is a Canadian and London listed minerals explorer (TSX VENTURE: BCN)(AIM: BCN). The Company explores and develops industrial mineral projects, with a primary focus on lithium. The Sonora Lithium Project, which consists of ten mining concession areas covering approximately 100 thousand hectares in the northeast of Sonora State. The Company, through drilling and exploration work to date, has established an Indicated Mineral Resource (in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101")) of 4.5 million tonnes (lithium carbonate equivalent) and 2.7 million tonnes Inferred. A Pre-Feasibility Study completed in Q1 2016 demonstrated the positive economics associated with becoming a 35,000 tpa lithium carbonate and 50,000 tpa SOP producer in Mexico. The Company is led by a team with lithium expertise which have proven mine development, construction and operational experience.

Reader Advisory

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to developing the Project into a world class lithium carbonate operation and the evaluation of potential candidates for appointment to the Board. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information.

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: commodity price volatility; general economic conditions in Canada, the United States, Mexico and globally; industry conditions, governmental regulation, including environmental regulation; unanticipated operating events or performance; failure to obtain industry partner and other third party consents and approvals, if and when required; the availability of capital on acceptable terms; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; stock market volatility; competition for, among other things, capital, skilled personnel and supplies; changes in tax laws; and the other risk factors disclosed under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Bacanora Minerals Ltd.

Peter Secker

CEO

info@bacanoraminerals.com



Cairn Financial Advisers LLP, Nomad

Sandy Jamieson/Liam Murray

+44 (0) 20 7213 0880



Numis Securities Ltd, Broker

John Prior/James Black/Paul Gillam

+44 (0) 20 7260 1000



St Brides Partners, Financial PR Adviser

Frank Buhagiar/ Elisabeth Cowell

+44 (0) 20 7236 1177



Macquarie Capital (Europe) Limited, Corporate Adviser

Raj Khatri

+44 (0) 20 3037 2000




Digital Fineprint, a London, UK-based insurtech startup, recently closed a $400k funding round.

The round was le by Eos Venture Partners with participation from angel investors Carl Bauer (co-head of Financial Institutions Group at JP Morgan), Stephan Apel (VP at Merrill Lynch) and Shailesh Rao (VP at Twitter and Google).

Led by Founder and CEO Erik Abrahamsson, CTO Jin Chen, James Clarke, Head of Sales, and Austin Wellbelove, Head of Development, Digital Fineprint is an insurtech startup that leverages social media to create custom made online insurance propositions.

The company, which already conducted successful pilots with Hiscox, Allianz and four other major insurers, came out of Oxford University and later moved to London.

Following the recent acceptance into the FCA Innovation Hub, which support innovative startups with consumer-friendly propositions in navigating the regulatory landscape, Digital Fineprint has also been selected to take part in Accentures Fintech Innovation Lab, an annual 12 week accelerator program taking place in London, New York and Asia-Pacific that connects early stage financial technology companies and insurers and banks.

FinSMEs

24/01/2017
Illusive Networks, a New York City and Tel Aviv, Israel-based cybersecurity company, raised a new funding round of an undisclosed amount.

Microsoft Ventures made the investment, joining current investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Bessemer Venture Partners, Marker LLC, Citi Ventures, Cisco Investments, and Eric Schmidts Innovation Endeavors.

The company intends to use the funds to advance global expansion, invest in sales and marketing, and expand the engineering and support teams for its technology.

Led by Ofer Israeli, CEO, illusive networks provides a patent-pending cybersecurity deception technology that neutralizes targeted attacks and Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) by creating a deceptive layer across the entire network. The solution is deployed across dozens of financial institutions, insurance, retailers, law firms, healthcare providers, energy and telecommunication companies in the United States, EMEA and APAC.

FinSMEs

25/01/2017
Ukraine in 2016 showed a minor improvement by 2 points on this years Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) from 27 to 29 out of 100 possible points, while due to the increase in the number of countries assessed in the index from 168 to 176 the country declined to 131st position from 130th a year ago, Transparency International Ukraine (TI Ukraine) has reported on its website.

"The progress of the anticorruption reform resulted in an improved position in the world ranking, but the absence of an efficient judicial system and the reality of actual impunity of corrupt officials prevent Ukraine from making a huge leap forward and breaking through the 30-point barrier," TI Ukraine reported.

Ukraine is ranked 131 out of 176 countries in the World Ranking of Corruption Perception and shared this result with a rate of 29 points together with Kazakhstan, Russia, Nepal, and Iran.

According to the report, the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index survey gave Ukraine most of the points, which is taken into account in forming the CPI. The rate of our country increased of ten points in comparison with previous years. This is connected with the reduced abuse of office in the government (the rate has improved by 14%), in police and armed forces (the rate has improved by 6%), but the situation remained the same as under the Yanukovych regime in the judicial branch of power. The World Competitiveness Yearbook survey indicates this very problem that gave Ukraine three additional points.

TI Ukraine said that the Freedom House Nations in Transit survey plays an important role in civil society in the implementation of democratic transformations, which resulted in four additional points for Ukraine. The accountability of public procurement due to the ProZorro system, public funding for political parties, first NABU (National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine) investigations, civil society participation in the anti-corruption reforms  experts called these very changes to be the most important. But according to the survey, the biggest challenges are the weaknesses of the institutions, called to ensure the rule of law, excessive economy regulations, and the consolidation of power in the hands of oligarch clans.

According to the press release, Ukraine got negative assessments from the World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey (-1 point) and Economist Intelligence Unit Country Risk Ratings (-2 points). Business witnessed great corruption while allocating public funds, and feels the judicial system was unable to prevent this.

Average points this year was 43 and more than two thirds of the countries is less than 50, which is evidence of the high level corruption in the public sector.

Denmark scored 90 points and topped the ranking both in 2016 and in 2015. New Zealand shared the top position last year. Finland and Sweden ranked third and fourth. Somalia, South Sudan and North Korea were at the bottom of the list.
Sourcepoint, a New York  based content compensation platform for premium digital publishers, closed a $16m Series B funding round.

The round was led by Northzone with participation from existing investors Spark Capital, Foundry Group, Accel Partners, and Greycroft Partners. In conjunction with the funding, Par-Jorgen Parson, partner at Northzone, will join Sourcepoints board.

The company, which has raised $26m in total funding, intends to use the capital to further develop the platform and expand its presence, mainly across Europe.

Founded in June 2015 by CEO Ben Barokas, Brian Kane, Geir Magnusson Jr., and Jeroen Seghers, Sourcepoint provides premium publishers with content compensation alternatives that foster more open, balanced and transparent value exchanges with consumers.

Working with international publishers including Dennis Publishing, Gruner & Jahr, AOL, and Nyheter24, the company identifies monetization challenges  including the use of ad block software  and provides solutions to engage with audiences on compensation choice.

Sourcepoint has offices in London, Berlin, and Seattle.

FinSMEs

25/01/2017
Kingfisher Airlines allegedly diverted Rs 263 crore from Rs 900 crore IDBI loan for "personal use", CBI said in its chargesheet filed before a special court in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The agency has named former liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines and nine others, including the then IDBI Chairman Yogesh Aggarwal, who were arrested on Monday in connection with the 2015 loan default case, in the chargesheet.

It has slapped IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy, cheating and provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act on the accused.

CBI sources said the agency has kept its probe open in the issue of suspected quid pro quo by Mallya and executives of Kingfisher Airlines to expedite the loan process.

They said that in this probe, it has come to light that about Rs 263 crore from Rs 900 crore loan was diverted for 'personal' use against norms and regulations.

Nine persons, including former executives of Kingfisher Airlines and IDBI officials, were arrested yesterday "as the agency fears they might have influenced the witnesses", the sources said.

The CBI has not sought the custody of the nine and the arrest is only aimed at thwarting any attempt to compromise evidence and witnesses, they said.

Former CFO of Kingfisher Airlines A Raghunathan was among those arrested on Monday. They have been sent to judicial custody by the special court in Mumbai.

The chargesheet has now paved way for the CBI to approach authorities in the UK for deportation of Mallya who is believed to be in London, the sources said.

They said the agency has got a non-bailable warrant issued against Mallya and might also get a Red Corner Notice against him.

The CBI, in an FIR registered against Mallya, his defunct Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, Raghunathan and unknown officials of IDBI Bank, had alleged that Rs.900 crore loan was sanctioned in violation of norms regarding credit limits.

It had changed the nature of a lookout notice issued against Mallya within one month of issuance -- from seeking his detention while leaving the country to that of merely providing information about his travel plans.

In the lookout circular issued on October 16, 2015, CBI had said if "Mallya tries to leave the country, he should be detained at the exit point".

In a revised circular in November, the agency had asked the Bureau of Immigration to inform it about his departure and travel plans.

Mallya travelled abroad in October and returned in November. He made two trips in the first and the last week of December and another in January 2016, besides the recent trip reportedly to London on 2 March.
New Delhi: Natco Pharma Wednesday said the US health regulator has made six observations after the completion of inspection of its Kothur formulation facility in Telangana.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) had inspected the Kothur formulation facility between 16-24 January, 2017, Natco Pharma said in a BSE filing.

The company, however, added that all observations are correctable and procedural and it believes are minor in nature.

"The observations are related to complaint and incident investigations, stability backlog and procedural SOPs," it said.

Natco Pharma said it will provide due justifications and corrective action plan within next 15 working days to the address the USFDA observations.

In August last year, the drug firm had received Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) for the same facility from the US health regulator after successful completion of inspection.

EIR is given to an establishment after the completion of the inspection by the USFDA.

Shares of the company were trading 0.49 per cent higher at Rs 641.75 apiece on BSE.
New Delhi: The Finance Ministry on Wednesday clarified that a final call on the recommendations of the panel of chief ministers, which includes a tax on cash transactions above Rs 50,000, is yet to be taken.

"The recommendations of the committee (on digital payments, headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu) will be carefully examined and appropriate decisions will be taken in due course," the ministry said.

"The committee has submitted an interim report to the government. The government has not yet taken any final view on the recommendatidons of the committee."

The panel said the government must tax cash transactions above Rs 50,000, abolish banks' interest on credit card transactions, give tax refunds to consumers on digital payments and extend Rs 1,000 subsidy on smart phones to non income-tax payees to promote a less-cash digital economy.

The report was submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

The high-powered panel was asked to suggest measures to enable all sections of the population to migrate to digital payments, and recommend measures to leapfrog to the advanced digital payment systems of global standards.

It was constituted on November 30, 2016 after the government demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

"To curb use of cash for large transactions consider a levy of banking cash transaction tax on transactions of Rs 50,000 and above. Consider a cap on maximum allowable limit of cash in all types of large size transactions," it said among its various recommendations.
It was just last week when actor Salman Khan was acquitted in the Arms Act case by a Jodhpur court due to lack of evidence. The actor, along with his Hum Saath Saath Hain co-stars Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Saif Ali Khan were summoned by the same court on 25 January to give statements for another case, associated with the blackbuck poaching episode that happened back in 19998 during the shooting of filmmaker Sooraj Barjataya's family drama in Rajasthan.

Now, News 18 reports that Salman might not appear before the court today. The reason behind him not showing up remains unknown yet.

Now, in an update, the Jodhpur court has deferred the hearing till 27 January. Now, the five actors, including, Salman will have to appear before the court on Friday to record their statements in the blackbuck poaching case.

It was alleged that the five actors, in a gypsy driven by Salman, had shot two black bucks in Kankani village in Rajasthan on 1 October, 1998. Another case was registered against Salman for using a gun with an expired license to shoot the two black bucks. However, he was acquitted in the aforementioned Arms Act case by the same Jodhpur court last week.

#BREAKING -- Salman may not appear before a Jodhpur court in connection to Blackbuck poaching case: Sources tell @swativashishtha

File Image pic.twitter.com/7c2GvqSUGM  News18 (@CNNnews18) January 25, 2017

Out of six of the court cases that he was involved in, Salman has been acquitted in four of them while the verdict of the other two are pending. To make matters worse, appeals against three of those acquittals have been filed in higher courts. Clearly, the actors' legal troubles are far from over.

Salman Khan Blackbuck poaching case: Jodhpur Court defers hearing till January 27. pic.twitter.com/R4wmeCL0Ci  News18 (@CNNnews18) January 25, 2017

The next chapter in his history of tussles with the judiciary is now scheduled for 27 January as Salman and the other actors heave a short-lived sigh of relief.
On a Wednesday morning in central Mumbai, the theatre for the Kaabil FDFS was empty, with most people at work. Shah Rukh Khan comes on the screen in his Raees avatar, to remind you to switch off your cell phones. And with that reminder to the real-world box-office battle brewing between two of Bollywood's big releases, we're off.

Here's a by-the-minute lowdown, as Kaabil unfolds on screen.

We start with an introduction to the protagonist Rohan's 'senses': Sound (Hrithik Roshan speaks to someone on the phone); he eats and smells; he helps out a neighbour's child to fix a bicycle by listening to its bell.

The child asks him how he can do all these things (despite his visual impairment), and Hrithik replies that it's all about knowing the way in your head.

Rohan is a dubbing artiste for children's cartoons. He listens to their English versions and does very cute Hindi animal impersonations.

Rohan soon meets Supriya or Su (Yami Gautam), who is also blind. They're discussing marriage their marriage upon the pursual of a neighbour. She asks, "Do negatives positive kaise ho sakte hain?" After some cheesy dialogues, their marriage is fixed. (If you decide to watch Kaabil, cheesy dialogues will be a part of the whole film).

But there's trouble in paradise  and it takes the form of Amit (Rohit Roy), the local thug.

At this point, Hrithik is doing a rather convincing portrayal of a visually impaired person while Yami seems to be struggling. Unfortunately, there's virtually no chemistry between the lead pair. It seems quite forced at times.

Unlike (in) the trailer, Hrithik's acting comes across as very restrained.

Meanwhile, there's a song-and-dance routine in store for Su and Rohan with 'Mon Amour'. The only thing Su and Rohan have in common so far is that they are visually impaired, their neighbour auntie wants them to marry, and they can dance with abandon. It's not completely convincing.

This also indicative of the one problem that Kaabil does seem to have: an erratic narrative. It's difficult to decide at this point if they want sympathy for the characters or they want them to be cool.

What ruins a perfectly good story and makes it cliched is making love the inspiration for the narrative: Here are two people with a disability, who are trying to maneuver through life. There are many scenes through the first 30 minutes that focus more on the surroundings, or the life of a visually impaired person  which are all quite nicely done. But that they have to tie it to a love story is disappointing.

Coming back to the narrative, Su and Rohan find a house together and he tells her, "Mere zindagi ka maksad hai ki tumhaare liye kaabil banoo". Cue a tacky song called 'Main tere kaabil hoon yaar'. Why? Surely there are more interesting things to say/explore. Anyway, by the end of the song, they've moved into their new home.

Su and Rohan's 'first night' is the subject of much conjecture among the local goons, including Amit. He makes a crass remark of how they must be doing everything "touching-feeling".

The tension begins to build at this point. Amit and his fellow thugs are shown harassing Su a few times; Rohan fights back and warns them: "Kamzor mat samajh".

Spoiler alert

The stage is set for the impending threat: Su is raped and she and Rohan are kidnapped for 24 hours so all evidence of the crime can be destroyed. Su doesn't get any sense of her attacker's identity. When they go to the police, the cops are rude as there's no evidence. It is now that the story becomes gripping (although it is still trying to cash in on the sympathy factor).

The incident changes the couple's lives: Su believes nothing will be the same between them and develops a self-sacrificing mindset. Rohan, on the other hand, is restless and distant, because he feels helpless.

She misinterprets his silence and frustration as a sign that his feelings towards her have changed, and kills herself. It is after she dies that Rohan realises Su has been raped a second time. She writes him a Braille letter where she mentions that she wanted to save him from any further trouble, so decided to end her life.

[Side note: It's disheartening that rape is portrayed as the end of life. A stronger statement would have been made had the couple decided to fight this together. Why does have the girl have to die (along with her morality) for it to be serious film?]

Meanwhile, Amit's elder brother, (Ronit Roy) who is a collector, comes to visit Rohan. The elder Roy is by far the best actor to have appeared on screen so far.

This is where we get to the half-way point in the film. Post-interval, Rohan's transformation from helpless lover to avenging husband is complete. The background music changes to indicate this, as do his expressions. Hrithik so far is quite good in the film, but the scenes aren't adding up. For instance, even the one that shows his transformation could have been monumental, but is held back by cliched dialogues.

It highlights the basic problem with Kaabil: Every time there's a strong scene  and Hrithik helms most of them, be it with his impressive dubbing or his silent response to the rape, or the scene with the cops before the interval where he says he is going to take matters into his own hands)  they find a way to bog it down with something cliched or overly emotional. Everything about this film is over-the-top, apart from Hrithik's performance, and Ronit Roy, whose politician act is one of the best and most effective on screen in a while. In fact, Ronit is clearly the best actor in this film.

When Hrithik does switch into 'revenge' mode, he pits his other senses against those of his enemies. And they prove to be no match. He uses his 'disability' to his advantage. Now if only this tone had been maintained consistently throughout the film.

The songs tend to slow down the film and present a confusing message about what Kaabil really wants to be. At least 30 minutes could have been edited out to make for a much crisper viewing experience.

Having watched Kaabil I can only say that Hrithik Roshan's considerable acting abilities deserved a better scripted movie. More's the pity, because this is a film that starts off smartly, but stretches unnecessarily in a bid to establish Hrithik as the ultimate saviour. Everyone's trying too hard by the end to make it Hrithik's heroic story.
Pabandi hi baghawat ki shuruat hai (restriction is the starting block of rebellion), says the voiceover at the start of this film, while commenting on prohibition in Gujarat. It is a simple line, yet so effective within this story and in the larger current national context as India reels under bans, prudishness, increasing censorship of the arts, eating habits and life choices, and prohibition in states where governments are well aware of flourishing gray markets.

This is the kind of writing  straightforward and effective  with which writer-director Rahul Dholakia kicks off Raees.

Borne on the shoulders of this screenplay, the first half of the film is taut, pacey, action packed and utterly gripping. As the story takes us through little Raees early interest in the illicit alcohol trade, shows us how deeply entrenched the business is in the bylanes of his hometown such that children from ordinary homes become natural collaborators of criminals, and recounts the manner in which the adult Raees establishes himself as an entrepreneur with political connections and a social conscience, I found myself unable to take my eyes off the screen for a single second.

The only exasperating aspect of Raees up to that point is that it seems like the heroine is being treated as a good-looking side-show. (As it turns out, she becomes important later, though her husbands attitude towards her is disquietingly misogynistic, his actions repeatedly verging on violence. The films tolerance of his behaviour towards her and rose-tinted view of his other crimes becomes disturbing as it rolls along.)

That said, the narrative in the opening half is purposeful, single-minded in its desire to entertain us yet be realistic to the extent that it is possible within the confines of conventional Bollywood storytelling, and unapologetic about those goals.

So, Ram Sampaths songs are catchy, relevant to the storyline and well woven into the narrative. The stunts are deliciously amusing in their improbability and heart-stoppingly thrilling. And like every traditional Indian hero, like Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise a few continents away, Shah Rukh Khan too emerges miraculously more or less unscathed from every battering.

It does not matter, because Raees pre-interval storyline remains packed, and it does not pretend to be anything but what it is: a commercially driven entertainer.

The proceedings in that half are unrelenting, leaving us with little time to ponder over why the hero casually took to crime although there is nothing to suggest that he had no choice or was a congenital psychopath; and skimming over his questionable interpretation of his mothers conviction, Koi dhanda chhota nahin hota aur dhande se bada koi dharam nahin hota.

Then comes the second half and Raees loses its way. It is hard to understand why so many writers and directors conceive and execute their films in this fashion. Post-interval, Raees story boasts of limited depth, and tries to camouflage this failing with a swagger. The beginning of the end comes with the song Zaalima mindlessly thrown into the narrative immediately after the interval, and it goes downhill from there.

The sad part is that Khan as the titular character is very convincing. SRK has looked graceful and dignified in his films starting with Fan, in which he has made no obvious effort to camouflage his age. It helps that he rocks that beard. I do wish someone would remind him though that he looks so much nicer romancing a heroine closer to him in years.

It has been a pleasure in the past year or so to see Khan allowing the actor in him to subsume the star. In this film, he strikes an uncommon balance between being stylish, stylised and yet restrained.

Raees supporting cast is a roll call of some of Bollywoods finest character actors: Nawazuddin Siddique (yes that is how his surname is spelt in the credits, not as Siddiqui) plays Raees bete noir, the dogged policeman Jaideep Ambalal Majmudar, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub is in the role of the heros loyal lieutenant Sadiq, Atul Kulkarni plays Raees first boss Jairaj, and Narendra Jha his later business associate Moosa. Kulkarni gets the first shot at one of the films most wolf-whistle-worthy lines (which is later quoted by Raees): Baniye ki dimaag aur Miyabhai ki daring, dono hai iske paas. Mahirah (spelling taken from the credits again) Khan  a star in Pakistan, a debutant here  is naturally easy before the camera playing Raees girlfriend and later his wife.

Good actors need good writing and editing on which to peg their craft though, and the post-interval Raees seems not to know where to go in these departments.

One of the positive aspects of Raees, as with last years Salman Khan-starrer Sultan and several films in recent years featuring central Muslim characters is that their religious identity does not define them. This is a much-needed departure from the treatment of minority community members in Hindi films until a decade back. Dholakia is not needlessly conscious of his hero being Muslim, as a result of which we get to see him as a person who happens to be Muslim, male, Gujarati and many other things  in short, a human being.

If only that nuanced approach had been carried into every other element of Raees post-interval storyline. Instead what we get is a matter-of-fact account of how A happened in the heros life, then B, then C, then D, all the way to Z, with no detailing, no surprises, too much music, too many close-ups, shots that linger longer than they should, all in what seems like an effort to impress. This is unexpected considering that Dholakia is the man who gave us the deeply moving Parzania (2007) based on the true story of a child who went missing in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Raees is rumoured to be based on the true story of the gangster Abdul Latif, who operated in Gujarat in the 1980s and '90s. From information available on the Internet, there is a fascinating tale in there of his association with Dawood Ibrahim and the police-politician-underworld nexus that allowed him to rise. This film scrapes the surface but fails to take forward what lies beneath. Likewise, the potentially intriguing life-long face-off in Raees between the hero and Majmudar is well begun and could have been the fulcrum of the film, but Majmudar becomes only an intermittent presence after a point. The hypocrisy of governments that introduce prohibition, the politics of riots, the virtues of vicious men all could have been beautifully studied in this film but are not.

The first half of Raees is supremely interesting and filled with promise. Besides, Shah Rukh Khan is a joy to watch in this new, exploratory innings of his career.

The second half lets him down though. Style trumping substance is rarely a good thing for a film.
By Katya Golubkova, Dmitry Zhdannikov and Stephen Jewkes

| MOSCOW/LONDON/MILAN

MOSCOW/LONDON/MILAN More than a month after Russia announced one of its biggest privatisations since the 1990s, selling a 19.5 percent stake in its giant oil company Rosneft, it still isn't possible to determine from public records the full identities of those who bought it.The stake was sold for 10.2 billion euros (180 billion) to a Singapore investment vehicle that Rosneft said was a 50/50 joint venture between Qatar and the Swiss oil trading firm Glencore.Unveiling the deal at a televised meeting with Rosneft's boss Igor Sechin on Dec. 7, President Vladimir Putin called it a sign of international faith in Russia, despite U.S. and EU financial sanctions on Russian firms including Rosneft."It is the largest privatisation deal, the largest sale and acquisition in the global oil and gas sector in 2016," Putin said.It was also one of the biggest transfers of state property into private hands since the early post-Soviet years, when allies of President Boris Yeltsin took control of state firms and became billionaires overnight.But important facts about the deal either have not been disclosed, cannot be determined solely from public records, or appear to contradict the straightforward official account of the stake being split 50/50 by Glencore and the Qataris.For one: Glencore contributed only 300 million euros of equity to the deal, less than 3 percent of the purchase price, which it said in a statement on Dec. 10 had bought it an "indirect equity interest" limited to just 0.54 percent of Rosneft.In addition, public records show the ownership structure of the stake ultimately includes a Cayman Islands company whose beneficial owners cannot be traced.And while Italian bank Intesa SanPaolo leant the Singapore vehicle 5.2 billion euros to fund the deal, and Qatar put in 2.5 billion, the sources of funding for nearly a quarter of the purchase price have not been disclosed by any of the parties."The main question in relation to this transaction, as ever, still sounds like this: Who is the real buyer of a 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft?" Sergey Aleksashenko, a former deputy head of Russia's central bank, wrote in a blog last week.Glencore would not comment on the identity of the Cayman Islands firm or give a further explanation of how ownership of the 19.5 percent stake was divided.The Qatari Investment Authority said it would not comment on the deal, beyond confirming that it has participated in it.Rosneft declined to respond to questions posed by Reuters, including a request for comment on how ownership of the 19.5 percent stake was divided, information about the identity of the Cayman Islands buyer, or details of the source of any undisclosed sources of funds.The Kremlin did not respond to a list of questions about the deal sent by Reuters.MATRYOSHKA DOLL

Like many large deals, the Rosneft privatisation uses a structure of shell companies owning shell companies, commonly referred to in Russia as a "matryoshka", after the wooden nesting dolls that open to reveal a smaller doll inside.

Following the trail of ownership leads to a Glencore UK subsidiary and a company that shares addresses with the Qatari Investment Authority, but also to a firm registered in the Cayman Islands, which does not require companies to record publicly who owns them.The Singapore-registered investment vehicle that holds the newly privatised 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft is called QHG Shares. It is owned by a London-registered limited liability partnership, QHG Investments, which in turn lists as one of its two owners another London-registered limited liability partnership, QHG Holding, created on Dec. 5.One of the partners in QHG Holding is QHG Cayman Limited, registered at an address of the Cayman Islands office of Walkers, an international law firm.Jack Boldarin, Walkers managing partner in London, told Reuters the law firm would not be able to confirm whether any company was its client, or comment further.The use of an offshore company is by itself no indication of wrongdoing, but it can make it impossible to determine the true owner of an asset from public records.The Singapore vehicle is also the borrower for Intesa's 5.2 billion euro loan, and QHG Holdings, the London partnership that includes the Cayman Islands firm, is a guarantor of that debt.Banking experts say Intesa would be required by "know your customer" rules to verify the borrowers' identities. Regulators would exercise heightened scrutiny because of the size of the deal and the need to comply with sanctions on Russia.Reuters asked Intesa whether it knew who the beneficial owners of the Cayman company were. The bank replied with a statement: "Intesa Sanpaolo does not comment on the details of its client operations. But we wish to reiterate that the financing was completed with strict adherence to the regulations applicable to embargoes. Italian authorities found nothing that would prohibit such an operation."The Italian central bank, which serves as Italy's banking regulator, declined to comment.

(For a graphic showing the ownership of the privatised stake, click on: tmsnrt.rs/2jJvBpk )MYSTERY FINANCING

If the full identity of the new owners of the Rosneft stake is a mystery, so too is the complete source of the funds with which they bought it.Although Qatar has never publicly confirmed how much it has contributed to the deal or the size of the stake that it bought, Glencore and Rosneft say it contributed 2.5 billion euros. Along with the 300 million from Glencore and the 5.2 billion loaned by Intesa, that still leaves a shortfall of 2.2 billion euros.Glencore has said this additional money came from other, undisclosed banks, including Russian banks, but has given no further details. The Qataris and Rosneft have declined to comment on the source of this funding.The purpose of Russia's privatisation programme is to attract overseas money to cover a budgetary shortfall caused by low oil prices and Western sanctions. Putin has therefore banned Russian state-owned banks from participating in the financing of privatisation deals, which would defeat the aim of bringing in foreign capital.But public records in Singapore show that Russia's second-largest bank, state-controlled VTB, loaned the Singapore vehicle QHG Shares the full 10.2 billion euros that it paid to the Russian state last month to buy the stake.

VTB held the 19.5 percent Rosneft stake as collateral for that loan for part of December, before relinquishing it back to Rosneft's state-owned parent company Rosneftegaz, which in turn relinquished it back to the Singapore vehicle when Intesa's loan arrived in January.VTB and Rosneft say VTB's role in the deal was solely to reduce market turbulence which would have arisen if the 10.2 billion euros had arrived abruptly from abroad to be converted to roubles on the open market.Apart from saying that its role was to reduce market volatility, VTB declined to comment further, including when asked if the full 10.2 billion euros was paid back, or by whom.FINDING A BUYER

Rosneft is the world's biggest listed oil company by output and, along with natural gas export monopoly Gazprom, one of two crown jewels of the Russian state.Even at the best of times without the added risk of Western sanctions, there would only be a few foreign investors with deep enough pockets to buy a big stake.Glencore, one of the main buyers of Rosneft's crude, has Qatar's $335 billion sovereign wealth fund, the QIA, as its largest shareholder.Russia and Qatar have backed opposite sides for years in the war in Syria, but as the world's two leading natural gas exporters they have good reason to cooperate on energy issues and bury some of their differences over Middle East policy. "The idea looked appealing to Qatar. They like investing in energy. They saw upside in Rosneft. They saw upside in building relations with Russia, whose role in the Middle East politics is only set to rise," said one source involved in talks among members of the Qatar/Glencore consortium about the purchase. According to a source close to Rosneft's management board, the deal came as a surprise to Rosneft's shareholders, including Britain's BP (BP.L), which itself owns 19.75 percent of Rosneft and is represented on its board.The Rosneft board learned about the sale from Sechin himself only on Dec. 7, several hours after Sechin recorded his televised meeting with Putin announcing it, the source said.In response to questions from Reuters, BP said: "Matters of the board of directors are confidential."Two sources in the Russian government said the deal was also a surprise there: it had been agreed between Sechin and Putin's Kremlin, above the cabinet. "Sechin did it all on his own - the government did not take part in this," one of the sources said. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalia Timakova said: "All documents and procedures needed for privatisation were prepared and executed on time." (Additional reporting by Peter Graff in LONDON, Valentina Za in MILAN, Tom Finn in DOHA, Vladimir Soldatkin, Oksana Kobzeva, Darya Korsunskaya, Polina Nikolskaya, Andrey Ostroukh and Vladimir Abramov in MOSCOW; Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Peter Graff)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
There is no let-up in the continued intimidation of political and social activists in Chhattisgarh. Notwithstanding the severe criticism faced by the passive  if not complicit  state government, the Raman Singh dispensation consistently refuses to act against the perpetrators of violence. Under the shelter of an indulgent government, the Chhattisgarh Police has continuously used extrajudicial, violent means against supposed Maoists and their sympathisers. Moreover, mobs with full police protection have a field day intimidating, harassing and threatening opponents.

The latest incident in a long list of similar acts of intimidation occurred this Monday, when as many as 30 men barged into the home of activist and researcher Bela Bhatia in Bastar. Threatening to set fire to the house rented by Bhatia, the men asked her to leave Bastar within 24 hours. Media reports suggest that the Bhatia and her landlady have been made to sign an undertaking that the researcher will leave her house within a day. A report in The Indian Express, on Tuesday, quoted Bhatia as saying: A group of around 30 men arrived on motorcycles and a white SUV in the morning. They said I would have to leave the house immediately or they would burn the place. They were threatening the landlady, too, that she must see to it that I move out immediately.

The attack comes on the heels of Bhatias visit to the villages of Pedagellur and Bellam Nendra in Bijapur. The activist had accompanied a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) delegation which was there to record statements of women who were allegedly subjected to sexual violence, including rape, by security personnel between October 2015 and January 2016. Last November, Bhatia was involved with activists who were helping women victims of sexual violence in their efforts to lodge FIRs in Bijapur. Taking suo motu cognisance of the incident based on media reports, two weeks ago, the NHRC issued an interim order stating that 16 women had been sexually attacked by men in the security forces.

This latest threat to Bhatias house and life has to be seen within this larger context that has dominated the political atmosphere in Chhattisgarh for years  an atmosphere in which mobs, police and the Chhattisgarh government seem to be working in tandem to teach activists a lesson. It is true that hurling verbal abuse at activists and threatening them with physical violence is becoming increasingly common all over the country. One could also argue, therefore, that incidents of police and administrative vendetta are not unique to Chhattisgarh. This view might well be correct.

But it must equally be evident that blatant acts of intimidation  from threatening the lives of activists to levelling absurd charges against them, forcing them to leave the state overnight  have escalated to a truly exceptional status in Chhattisgarh. So much so that recently the state police recently booked Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar  along with Maoists and others  on the charge of murdering a tribal person in Chhattisgarh.

The police, who are ostensibly the states law-enforcers, are among the primary and most dangerous violators of the law. And this makes the situation particularly fragile; one that warrants immediate remedial measures. For many years now, Chhattisgarh has been teetering on the edge of a precipice. The police and security personnel have been given immunity to use any means  fair or foul (mostly foul, as some believe)  against so-called Maoists, and even those who speak in favour of tribals, the main victims of this narrative of bloody conflict.

Two things are of utmost significance to keep in mind in this context.

One: The act of speaking out against human rights violations does not in itself constitute an act of armed insurrection against the state.

Two: Even Maoists, who are waging a war against the state, cannot be eliminated in encounters. The rule of law demands they be made to stand trial.

It must be remembered that researchers like Bhatia have spent an entire lifetime with tribal populations in insurgency-ridden areas, taking huge personal risks to speak out against the rampant and severe human rights violations in the region.

Instead of restoring the rule of law, the Chhattisgarh administration and police have made it their business to make this kind of work more and more difficult.

Recall that last February, under conditions similar to Bhatias, lawyers of the Jagdalpur Aid Group, who provide legal aid to victims of sexual assault and physical assault in Bijapur, were also forced to leave Bastar. Journalist Malini Subramaniam, too had to leave after her residence was stoned and slogans were shouted outside her house. How long will the Raman Singh government allow such lawlessness and violence to continue on his watch?
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has backed Ukrzaliznytsia Board Chairman Wojciech Balczun in a conflict with Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan.

"Leave the conflict at home," he said at a government meeting on Wednesday, urging the officials to work constructively in the infrastructure and transport area.

Omelyan and Balczun exchanged critics of their actions at the posts at the government meeting.

"The increase of profit of Ukrzaliznytsia in 2016 is not a reform achievement. This is simply the increase of the tariff by 15% in 2016 that generated UAH 3.8 billion. Unfortunately, nothing happened with corporatization in 2016, there were no moves," Omelyan said.

He also expressed perplex why Ukrzaliznytsia announced a tender to buy 3,000 gondola cars for UAH 3 billion via Darnytsia wagon repair plant, while the public joint-stock company has own plants that can produce these cars.

"As for staff appointments, they are mad. We have amazing security officers that have been dismissed. We have an interesting appointment in the strategic development department, Mrs. Pushko-Tsybuliak, a famous and iconic figure in Luhansk region. Maybe she won a transparent and honest tender," Omelyan said.

He also said that Ukrzaliznytsia lost a EUR 60 million loan from KfW bank, adding that each credit line is signed under duress.

The minister also criticized the restructuring of the company's debt, bad claim and court work due to which Ukrzaliznytsia lost courts for UAH 2 billion.

"I have a question to Mrs. Balczun: how it is to work with Mr. Mykhalchuk [a board member of the company]? How well does Mr. Dubnevych [head of the parliamentary transport committee] back [the company]?" the minister asked.

Balczun said that he arrived to Ukraine to work using the standards which he got used to.

"I do not feel in comfort in a daily dialog with the minister who helps neither reforms nor Ukraine," he said.

Balczun said that the foreign team of Ukrzaliznytsia had to see the situation in Ukraine in practice.

"I am not responsible for all lost lawsuits worth $360 million that were left for us. They were lost in all court instances. We do not use PR, no matter if you hear it. We are solving concrete problems we have inherited. I did not appoint Mr. Mykhalchuk and other board members. I asked only to appoint two board members  Zalesny and Vasylevsky," the Ukrzaliznytsia head said.

He said that communications with the head of the parliamentary transport committee is natural, as he is responsible for the legislative base upon which Ukrzaliznytsia is operating.

After hearing the two officials, the prime minister asked for records of service of the two for the past five or seven years, and added that the minister unfortunately does not have expert knowledge in the railway sphere.

"I want to say that the minister is an important person who is to help, support and bring to success. The minister cannot afford personal relations with subordinates. It is important for me that Ukrainian railways become successful. As a prime minister I would do everything to make it successful. You can write it down and track it. This should unite us. Maybe one can pick a fight with someone in the minister's office. You should not do this in government. Conflict is not our style," Groysman said.
Raipur: Activist Bela Bhatia was on Monday allegedly asked to vacate her house in Pandripani village in Bastar district by the villagers who held a protest outside it accusing her of being a 'Maoist sympathiser', police said.

Bhatia claimed that she was allegedly threatened by a group of men who asked her to vacate immediately, failing which they will set the house ablaze.

The incident occurred in Pandripani village under Parpa police station limits.

"After getting the information of demonstration by local villagers in front of Bhatia's house in Pandripani village under Parpa police station limits, a police team was rushed to the spot," Bastar SP RN Dash told PTI.

He said the villagers left the spot after police pacified them.

"Enough security has been provided to Bhatia to prevent any untoward incident," Dash added.

In a complaint to police, villagers alleged Bhatia had named herself as "Somari Naag or Bela Somari" (to use tribal identity) which they feel is an insult to tribal masses, the SP said.

Besides, the villagers have also complained that Bhatia encourages their children to support Maoists and tries to mislead them by saying that ultras are fighting for the country and not the police, he said.

Bhatia, who has been working in the region for several years, claimed that her house was gheraoed by a group of unidentified people on Monday morning, who asked her to vacate her rented accommodation.

"A group of 30 or so men came on motorbikes and a SUV and threatened their way inside the house. They said I would have to vacate this place immediately or they will set the house ablaze. I went inside the house and called the collector who then sent the police," Bhatia told mediapersons.

She said the mob was agitated even after the police reached the spot.

"I have assured them to vacate the house by tomorrow. I will leave this house only since my landlord had been pressurised, but I will not leave Bastar. I have requested the collector to provide a safe place for me," Bhatia added.

Meanwhile, the Chhattisgarh police said in a statement that 15 police personnel, including four women, led by sub-inspector Kripal Singh Gautam have been deputed for Bhatia's security.

Notably, Bhatia was among a group of people who had accompanied a National Human Rights Commission team to villages of Bijapur two days ago to record the statements of alleged rape victims.

Early this month, the NHRC had sent a notice to the state government over alleged rape, sexual and physical assault of 16 women by the state police personnel in Bastar division (in October 2015 and January 2016), observing that the government is "vicariously liable" for it.
Washington: Describing India as a "true friend" of the US, President Donald Trump invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the country later this year, the White House said on Wednesday after both leaders spoke over phone and discussed issues such as trade, defence and terrorism.

Trump spoke to Modi on Tuesday night over phone, four days after he was sworn-in as the 45th President of America.

"During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in a readout of the call.

"President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the US later this year," the White House said.

Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

President @realDonaldTrump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

Have also invited President Trump to visit India.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.

Besides this, they also discussed security in the region of south and central Asia. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the US and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, the readout said.

After Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the 8 November general elections, Modi was among the first five world leaders to have congratulated Trump.

During his gruelling election campaign, India is among the few countries in addition to Israel with whom Trump spoke of strengthening ties if elected to power.

On 21 January, Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican Premier Pena Nieto.

On Sunday, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and on Tuesday, he had a telephonic conversation with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
The signs were visible as soon as the US presidential elections were over.

President Donald Trump's phone call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi simply confirmed the perception that the India-US relationship is set for a closer tango and a higher orbit in at least the next four years. Tuesday night's (IST) gesture was placed as an 'ice-breaker'. But in the world of diplomacy and geopolitics where one phone call can alter the course of bilateral relations (consider Chinese heartburn over the then president-elect receiving a congratulatory call from Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen), you get an idea why the White House called India ahead of other European leaders, Beijing or even Moscow.

Few details beyond the platitudes have been released at this stage. But the sketchy information still points to the huge premium that Trump administration places on India. The US president called the Indian prime minister a "a true friend and a partner in addressing challenges around the world" and invited him to Washington later this year.

The conversation is consistent with the new administration's outlook towards India and takes off from Barack Obama's Pivot to Asia.

During a Senate Committee hearing earlier this month Trump's nominee for secretary of defence James Mattis had called ties with India "of utmost importance" and indicated that Washington would pursue a long-term strategic partnership with New Delhi to stabilise the Asia-Pacific region. A deeper cooperation on defence and security is driven not only by a shared mistrust of China but also, as Mattis clarified in his written submission, "shared democratic values".

In my view, and particularly on security and defence issues, the US-India relationship has been strengthened in recent years. Cooperation on defence trade and technology has grown to the benefit of both countries under the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative. I also believe that Indias Act East policy allows it to play a greater role in contributing to security in the Asia-Pacific region," the retired marine corps general wrote in his submission, according to a Hindustan Times report.

It is quite clear that in Modi's 'Act East' policy, the Trump administration sees a meatier role for New Delhi in regional strategic affairs. It doesn't require reiteration that China poses a huge problem for India and US, albeit in different ways.

The China-Pakistan axis poses a huge security issue for New Delhi, which has also found it tough to cope with Beijing's new muscular foreign policy. For the US, a burgeoning trade imbalance and China's territorial aggression over South China Sea have proven to be areas of immense vexation.

Although he didn't take names, Modi had left little to imagination when he spoke about "rising ambition and rivalries" creating "visible stress points" in India's neighbourhood and had warned against "steady increase in military power, resources and wealth in the Asia-Pacific" that is raising the "stakes of security" during the recently-concluded Raisina Dialogue.

For his part, Trump had been quite forthcoming about a tougher policy on China. Bilateral ties are always subject to convergence on areas of mutual interest and on this regard, India and US seem destined for a closer trajectory. That this topic was discussed on Tuesday became quite clear from the statement that White House has subsequently released.

They (both leaders) also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia. (Trump) and (Modi) resolved that the United States and India stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the global fight against terrorism according to the statement.

Interestingly, while India maintains that "Pakistan is the global epicentre of terrorism" and has denounced the Nawaz Sharif administration for aiding and abetting terrorism on Indian soil, Trump had, in one of his earliest tete-a-tete with world leaders, called up Sharif and termed him a "great guy" and Pakistan a "fantastic country". It isn't known to what extent these areas were discussed, but New Delhi would have noted with some satisfaction that the word "terrorism" figures quite prominently in the official White House release following Tuesday night's conversation.

Although the stage is set for a greater bonhomie between the two nations, trade, more specifically the US H1-B visa program, poses the thorniest issue for both leaders. In his inaugural address, Trump laid out the new US policy as "Buy American, Hire American", sending a chill down the spine of Indian IT services firms whose revenue comes mainly from American shores.

Once again, there are no specifics, just a broad-based statement that "the two discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence" but one can bet one's bottom rupee that the issue came up for discussion. The vibes being displayed  Modi has spoken of the warmth of the conversation in a series of tweets since  indicate, however, that things went swimmingly.

Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

President @realDonaldTrump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

Have also invited President Trump to visit India.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

For now, it is a great start. The right notes have been hit in a bilateral relationship that may become the most crucial for both countries.
For the first time in its history, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had given a winter forecast for 2016-17 warning that winter temperatures would be higher than usual.

IMD chief KJ Ramesh said, "The winter will be above normal at the country level this year with North India having lesser cold waves." The weather office has hit the nail on the head because temperatures across the sub-continent are already much higher than usual. Mumbai temperature on Tuesday (January 24) was 36 degrees Celsius, six degrees above normal. The situation is no better in the south. Mysore known for its cool winters is already bracing itself for summer with temperatures eight degrees higher than normal. South India has long put the Vardah cyclone behind it with temperatures in some cities touching 38 degrees Celsius.

Pune-based weatherman S Sivananda Pai who heads the Long Range Forecasting Division at the IMD Pune confirmed, "This is indicative of global warming; we expect this winter to be warmer than usual". Pai added, "The frequency of the cold will be less as also the intensity of the cold this winter."

Goverdhan Rathore, former IMD chief and presently working as a consultant with the World Bank, pointed out that the atmospheric settings are such that they do not allow moisture to be picked up from the Arabian Sea. "The snowfall that has occurred in Kashmir and above it is because of the winds picking up moisture from the Mediterranean Sea," he said. Rising temperatures have confirmed that the ten hottest years on record have occurred since 1998. These numbers may appear shocking because global temperature records had in the past been broken by only a few hundredths of a degree.

Each year is getting hotter than the earlier year. 2014 was the hottest year on record but was overtaken by rising temperatures in 2015. Weathermen then dubbed 2015 as being the hottest year on record and yet they now find that temperatures of 2016 were even warmer than the year before.

James Hansen of the Columbia University Earth Institute believes that 2017 is set to have record higher global temperatures of about 1.25 degree C higher than the 1880-1920 average.

The abnormally high temperatures in 2016 were not restricted to India alone. Temperature spikes are being witnessed across the globe. The USA's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration looked at the data for just one month in April in 2016 has found that the earth's temperature in April was 1.1 degree Celsius higher than the 20th century average for April and 0.28 degree Celsius higher than the previous record in 2010.

Higher temperatures are known to affect precipitation levels and this is being felt across South Asia where rainfall is getting less.

The shape of the future is therefore not difficult to discern. Weather scientists warn that we must learn to cope with a 14 per cent variation in rainfall. Some scientists predict weather variations will result in a 10-20 per cent decrease in the monsoon. The situation is set to get further worsened with the melting of the Himalayan glaciers. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development have described how 54,000 individual glaciers in the Hindukush Himalayan region are shrinking and retreating.

Leading glaciologist, Professor Markus Stoffel at the Institute of Geological Sciences at the University of Berne fears this is a worldwide trend with glacial melting taking place across glaciers located in the Alps and the Andes also. Rising temperatures are also being reflected in the 170 per cent increase in forest fires across India.

The Parliament Standing Committee on Science and Technology headed by the Rajya Sabha MP Renuka Choudhary submitted a report in December 2016 expressing apprehension at the exponential increase in fires in both the central Indian forests and the Himalayan region. The report stated that while there were 15,937 forest fires in 2015, the number went up to 24,817 in 2016. Higher temperatures have created a tinder box situation which helped accelerate these fires.

India is poorly equipped to deal with these large shifts in climate. Summing up the present situation, Minister of Water Resources Uma Bharati told Firstpost, "From being a water rich country, we have become a water scarce nation". The vagaries of climate change will only serve to exacerbate the situation.
The Animal Welfare Board of India and other animal rights bodies have moved the Supreme Court challenging the Tamil Nadu government's bill that allows conduct of jallikattu in the state, a report in NDTV said. The SC has decided to hear their petitions on 30 January.

A bench of the Supreme Court is expected to hear the petitions on Monday, Jan 30  ANI (@ANI_news) January 25, 2017

A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said that in all likelihood a bench comprising him and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman would hear the plea on Monday on the bull-taming sport that is held in the state during Pongal.

Misra also referred to Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi's mentioning on 24 January, 2017, about an intent of the Government of India to withdraw a January 7, 2016 notification permitting the ancient sport.

Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing on behalf of the animal rights groups, told the court that they have filed an application pointing out that the state law permitting jallikattu was repugnant to the provisions of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

Animal rights activists say that jallikattu is cruel and have urged the government to keep the ban in place, whereas pro-jallikattu supporters have been demanding to conduct the sport as it is an important part of the Tamil culture.

Many in Tamil Nadu say the sport forms an important part of the Pongal harvest festival, which some Hindus celebrate after the winter solstice. However, according to animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, more than 1,200 spectators have been injured at such events between 2010 and 2014.

On Monday, after a morning of violent protests across Tamil Nadu, the state assembly passed a bill that legalised the bull taming sport.

The bill, which was tabled by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, was passed within minutes of its introduction. The bill replaced an ordinance that was promulgated on 21 January amending the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

Earlier on Monday, Chennai police started evicting scores of pro-jallikattu demonstrators from protest venues across the state, especially from the Marina Beach, which was the epicentre of the stir for the past week.

At the Marina Beach, the police action began early in the morning with roads to the beach being cordoned off and police personnel being deployed in large numbers. Some protesters lined up at the seashore forming a human chain and a group entered the water refusing to heed police requests to disperse.

Some staged a sit-in on the sands while others regrouped in nearby areas, shouting slogans and allegedly throwing stones on the policemen. Police burst teargas shells and reportedly lathicharged to chase away a section of protesters who had regrouped at Triplicane near Marina Beach and allegedly started throwing stones at police personnel.

There were also reports of vehicles being torched by angry protesters, however, some videos have emerged showing the police burning vehicles.

With inputs from IANS
A decade and a half ago, the midsummer nights in Delhi were haunted by the shadows of a certain monkey man. Laced with a chimpanzee's agility and the notorious intent of a human being, the character was blessed with Wolverines nails and Spidermans flight. He chose to frighten people mostly sleeping on rooftops and on folding cots along the streets of Sahibabad in Ghaziabad, along Delhis eastern border and in pockets of East Delhi. He caught the intrigue of state forces and civil society.

While the Delhi police checked with the city zoo if a chimpanzee had escaped and swiftly put a Rs 50,000 prize on its head, the National Institute of Human Behaviour (NIHB) and Central Forensic Laboratory (CFL) analysed the personality, socio-economic and psychological profiles of the victims and concluded that this is certainly a human being. Meanwhile, media channels romanced the ongoing collective delusion and the desire for supernatural sightings in a mundane world. For once, dont look at the incident like its spinning out of a cinema reel.

That year, heat waves and power cuts were competing with each other for litres of human sweat. Clearly, the government didnt consider sleeping in the breeze of ceiling fans or water coolers in soaring temperatures as some sort of a right. But, the state might just get up and save those people should they be threatened by a beast.

Little wonder then that the jallikattu furore has erupted in a state that is both thirsty and hungry. When a society is denied basic rights, it does all it can to attract the attention of the world towards it, first through debate, then by drama and ultimately by violence.

A report card: The National Human Rights Commission recently issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu government based on news reports that 106 farmers have died or committed suicide in the state due to crop failure. The Tamil Nadu Agriculture Minister R Duraikannu declared Thanjavur district as "drought-hit" because the damage suffered by crops was heavy. He visited Papanasam, Ullikadai, Thiruvidamaruthur in the district before making the statement. Tamil Nadu sought the Centre to urgently sanction Rs 1,000 crore for relief and rehabilitation measures to mitigate the ill effects of the drought. The state demanded a total of Rs 39,565 crore from the National Disasters Response Fund (NDRF). Out of the 16,682 revenue villages in the state, 13,305 villages have been identified as "drought-affected".

In 2016, the northeast monsoon arrived in the State on 30 October. The shortfall was 96 percent in Chennai and 69 in the rest of the state. Against a normal rainfall of 164.7mm between 1 and 27 October, the rest of the state received a frugal 50.6mm. In fact, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted that the drought situation has been caused by deficit rainfall in Tamil Nadu. Adding to the worries of the state was Karnataka's failure to release water in accordance with the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. As against the quantum of 179 TMC feet of water which was to be released by Karnataka during the period from June 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016, only 66.5 TMC feet of water was released. As a result, the storage in Mettur Dam, the reservoir that serves the Cauvery Delta, failed to secure paddy in the Cauvery Basin of Tamil Nadu.

The pent up frustration of a state has found a release in jallikattu. With a history of nearly 2,000 years, this bull-taming sport is organised once a year during Pongal in districts like Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Theni, Pudukkottai and Dindigul. The etymology of the word is such: Salli kassu stands for coins and kattu means package. The coins are tied to the bulls of domestically-reared cows, and the bulls and are the prize money for participants (generally men in their 20s) who are able to tame them. The festival combines a show of machismo by the young and fosters their bond with bovines that are integral to farming families.

In July 2009, the government of Tamil Nadu passed the Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act (TNRJA), which laid down conditions for holding jallikattu, like seeking written permission of the district collector, between January and May of any year and with the condition that it must have taken place for at least five years. In July 2011, the Ministry of Environment and Forests banned the use of bulls as performing animals.

The protests against the ban are no new thing. They happened in 2014, 2015 and in 2016. But this year, with the aim of bringing the blood fights to a halt, the international animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is actively protesting the festival. Their side of the story is that along with protecting bulls that are liquored and smeared with chilli peppers during jallikattu celebrations, 43 people have died and 5,000 people have been injured at these events between 2008 and 2014. The locals insist that the festival serves as a way of saving high-quality breeds of bulls, which are on the verge of extinction; the Kangayam bulls are preserved mainly through the tradition of jallikattu.

After Jayalalithas death, Tamil Nadu is showing signs of a child newly released from the clutches of a disciplinarian parent. Besides, with a wave of nationalism blowing through the nation, people are reaching out to jackets of community identities and protecting themselves by glorifying their histories, language and customs. With the help of the IT (many of them come from farming families and relate to the sport in sentiment), Marina Beach has turned into a symbol of mass angst.

"If our children are hungry and cant make a living, dont tell us how we should be taking care of our animals," says one protestor. "Dont glorify Spanish bullfights in Bollywood films made for NRI audiences and tell us we are archaic," says another.

Yet another one points to made snana, a ritual in Karnataka in which people from the Scheduled Tribes roll on the plantain leaves and food leftovers of lunch served to Brahmins in the temple town of Kukke Subrahmanya in Dakshina Kannada district. The practice is categorised as a "blind belief" in the proposed Karnataka Prevention of Superstitious Practices Bill (2013) but the tribals believe it is part of their tradition and strongly resist any intervention by the state.

"If made snana goes on unchecked, why are we asked to put an end to our festivities? We became Indians since Independence but have been Tamilians for 2,000 years," he said.

Staged on social media, the drama of jallikattu revolves around the real life story of denial that is performed in desperation.
Jammu: Five people, including an Army officer, were killed in snow avalanche that hit a house and an army camp in Kashmir valley on Wednesday, while four of a family died after their house was buried under the snow near Bandipora district.

As authorities issued fresh avalanche warnings and rescuers struggled to find trapped people, one more person was killed when he was clearing snow from the rooftop of his house taking death toll to six.

Meanwhile, snowfall is continuing in the region, with Jammu receiving rainfall on Wednesday afternoon. The Meteorological department Kashmir has warned that vulnerability of avalanches at higher reaches will increase as more snowfall in next 24 hours is expected.

The vulnerability of avalanches will increase more as we are expecting more snow for next 24 hours in Kashmir. Director MeT department, Sonam Lotus said.

On Wednesday an avalanche hit an army camp in Sonamarg area of district Ganderbal in central Kashmir, between 6 and 7 am, when majority of the soldiers were sleeping inside their barracks.

Major Amit Sagar of 115 Territorial Army, who lost his life in the incident, was also sleeping inside his room when the snow avalanche buried the entire building. However, the rescuers were able to save eight other soldiers.

Meanwhile, the Indian Army in Srinagar denied media reports suggesting that five of its soldiers have been killed. One casualty is conformed, Defence PRO, Col Rajesh Kalia, told Firstpost on phone. The moment avalanche hit the camp we immediately launched a rescue operation and all the trapped soldiers were rescued, he added.

Col Kalia also denied reports of army soldiers gone missing after the avalanche and said that the rescue operation was over in few hours after the avalanche struck the camp. All the soldiers are safe and no one is injured, he said.

However, another civilian family in Badoogam village in Tulail area of Gurez in north Kashmir, was not so lucky, whose house caved in after the avalanche killing four of the family. The rescuers had to struggle for hours before they could save one person of the family.

Kashmirs Inspector General of Police Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani said that the house crumpled under the weight of the snow.

It was miracle that we found one person alive, Dr Rouf-ur-Rehman, Block Medical Officer, Gurez said, but tragically four members of the family were killed.

MeT officials said that Gurez valley has received 4-5 feet and 6 feet fresh snow respectively in the last two days, thereby making the area prone to avalanches.

Divisional Administration in Kashmir has said that widespread rains and snow has been forecast in Kashmir Division for the next three days. A statement issued by the state government said that all the Deputy Commissioners of Kashmir Division have been asked to necessary precautionary measures in their respective districts.

In another incident one more person died in Kralpora village of Kupwara district when he was clearing snow from the roof of a house. The house collapsed suddenly in which two persons were trapped under the debris of the house for over forty minutes. Ganie died on spot, officials said.

The authorities in Kashmir have issued an avalanche warning for the higher reaches of the Kashmir Valley, following fresh snowfall on Tuesday. They also advised people to stay away from mountains and foothills.

Last year ten army soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer, were killed after an avalanche ripped off their post at 19,600 ft in one of the worlds highest battlefield between India and Pakistan, Saichen in the northern glacier sector of the Ladakh region.
New Delhi: The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Wednesday issued notice to Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Sharad Yadav over his 'honour of a vote is greater than the honour of a daughter' remark.

Calling Yadav's remark an "offensive, objectionable and misogynistic" statement, the NCW has sought a reply from him within 24 hours from the receipt of its notice, failing which he will have to appear before the Commission.

Yadav, a seasoned politician and a Rajya Sabha MP, had on Tuesday while addressing a public meeting in Patna said that 'beti ki izzat se vote ki izzat badi hai'.

Taking suo motu cognisance of Yadav's remark reported in the media, the women's panel said: "The NCW strongly condemns such an offensive, objectionable and misogynistic statement made by persons holding responsible positions, which shows extreme disrespect for women."

"Cosnidering the gravity of the offensive and objectionable statement, you are hereby required to provide a satisfactory explanation to the Commission on the matter within 24 hours of the receipt of this notice by return fax/email, failing which you will be required to appear before the Commission," the NCW said in its notice to Yadav.
Fifteen members of the elite para commando forces who conducted the surgical strike on terror launchpads inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) on 29 September last year will be honoured with gallantry awards, reported News18.

Heroes of #SurgicalStrike to be conferred gallantry awards; 15 soldiers to be awarded on #RepublicDay eve, no Ashok Chakra Award this year pic.twitter.com/TJ3dheu3WU  News18 (@CNNnews18) January 25, 2017

The New Indian Express in its 15 January edition had reported that the para troopers were recommended for the "unit citation" from army chief General Bipin Rawat. The publication had noted that Unit citation is the highest appreciation for a unit for its all-round operational performance including number of killings and less casualties on its side.

The report had also noted that the move may be to counter Pakistan's constant denial of any surgical strike on its territory by the Indian Army.

However, a report in India Today stated that the elite troopers will not be participating in the Republic Day parade this year. The army however denied the development to be connected to last year's surgical strike and claimed rotational policy to be the reason behind the decision.

"Para Commandos were there last year. This year the NSG Commandos are there. The Para Commandos may return next year," Major General Rajesh Sahai was quoted by the publication as saying.

On 29 September, para commandos belonging to the Indian Army entered PoK and destroyed "terror lauchpads" along the borders. While India did not officially announced how many militants were killed in the strikes, and only said it managed to neutralise a "significant" number of terrorists.

However, Islamabad has been disputing the Indian claim of surgical strikes and said it had lost two soldiers in cross-border firing by Indian troops that night.
The Swedish government knowingly called off the probe on Bofors scandal in order to prevent any embarrassment to Rajiv Gandhi, the then prime minister of India, a confidential CIA assessment which was declassified in December 2016 has revealed.

The document reveals that the Swedish government called off investigations into the Bofors scandal "in an effort to prevent future revelations of bribes to Indian officials that could embarrass Prime Minister Gandhi (sic)".

"Stockholm wanted to save Gandhi the troubles caused him by the Swedish leak, and Nobel Industries (a sister company of Bofors AB which took over Bofors AB in 1985) wanted to avoid a bribery indictment. The two sides cooperated, therefore, on a scheme to keep details of the payments secret. "

What's equally interesting is that even though the Indian connection to the scam where Bofors AB allegedly bribed Indian middlemen and officials, had come to light in 1987, the company was already under investigation for bribery since 1984, something New Delhi ignored.

"Stockholm called off a Swedish police investigation in late January 1988 after, following a trip by Gandhi to Stockholm," the document revealed. Sweden claimed inability to track the payments through Swiss bank accounts after making a half-hearted request for Swiss assistance, it adds.

The new revelations are party of an assessment report titled Sweden's Bofors Arms Scandal: A Summary of the Diversions, Investigations, and Implications (also available on CIA's online library) was prepared on 4 March 1988, two years after the government of India signed a $1.5 billion deal to purchase 410 155mm howitzer guns.

The latest CIA files are likely to give more firepower to the Narendra Modi-led government to attack the Congress ahead of the Assembly elections in the five states  Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Punjab and Goa. Congress, which is looking at making a comeback after its failed performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha Election. Especially as the BJP government continues on its path to fulfil the promise of a Congress-mukt India.

The Swedish angle

The document cites a lack of evidence in order to form a complete picture of the scandal but offers a few speculated scenarios that seem interesting.

According to the CIA report, the Swedish government and the Swedish arms manufacturers were worried that its restrictions on arms export to countries that are under conflict (or likely to be a part of) affect the companies profitability and may lead to possible layoffs in the country, and that the government likely ignored controversial transactions made by Swedish arms manufacturers before the Bofors scandal came to light in 1984.

"The Bofors scandal was supposed to be a scapegoat for the Swedish government, and the government knowingly tried to subside interest in the case by carrying it forward at a very slow pace. However, it was due to the efforts of the Peace and Arbitration Society in Stockholm kept the case alive. Interest in the case further increased after Nobel Industries' takeover of Bofors in 1985.

"The government began to lose control of the case," it said.

In January 1987, Anders Carlberg, head of Nobel Industries had information on government's involvement and is likely to have forced the government to agree to its new strategy, it said. According to this new strategy, Bofors would be blamed for using third countries for reexporting weapons and Nobel Kemi executive Mats Lundborg and private trader Karl-Erik Schmitz would be put on trial. Though Carlberg promised to Carl-Fredrik Robert Algernon, the leading investigator into the case, Algernon feared that the new strategy would eventually expose his failure to stop the deals. He probably committed suicide, the document said. Another theory suggests that an Iranian spy killed Algernon, something the CIA report claims is very unlikely.

The Swedish government has charged only two people  Lundborg and Schmitz  with violating the Swedish law in connection to the Bofors scandal.

You can read the full declassified document here:

SWEDEN'S BOFORS ARMS SCANDAL by Firstpost on Scribd
The Ministry of Health of Ukraine will assess the compliance of the quality of Ukrainian medical education with U.S. standards on undergraduate and postgraduate stages, the press service of the agency said.

The Health Ministry plans to use an examination test for the evaluation of conformity of quality of education on clinical disciplines "International Basics of Medicine" developed by the National Council of U.S. medical experts.
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh summons to Zakir Naik as part of its probe against the controversial preacher and his Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) under anti-money laundering laws.

Officials said the agency has handed over the second summons in the name of Naik to IRF's legal advisor, who was questioned by it on Tuesday at it's zonal office here.

The first summons to Naik, issued last week, could not be delivered as Naik's address here was found to be locked, they said.

Naik, as part of the fresh summons, has been asked to appear by this month-end before the Investigating Officer of the case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), officials said. They said the agency wants to record the statement of Naik, who is understood to be abroad.

Meanwhile, the agency questioned IRF's legal advisor and recorded his statement under PMLA and may now go on to call others associated with IRF and Naik's associates for similar questioning, they said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a criminal case against Naik and IRF last month after taking cognizance of a complaint booked by the NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against them.

ED is looking into the charges of alleged illegal funds laundered by the accused and the subsequent proceeds of crime thus generated. The agency has already scanned some documents showing "doubtful" banking transactions.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had last month registered a case against 51-year-old Naik under anti-terror laws for allegedly promoting enmity between different religious groups.

After registering the case against Naik and IRF, the NIA along with Mumbai police had carried out searches at 10 places in the megapolis, including residential premises of some of the office bearers of the foundation, which was earlier put on restricted list by the Union Home Ministry for receiving funds from abroad.

Naik, who is said to be staying in Saudi Arabia to evade arrest after some perpetrators of the Dhaka terror strike last year claimed they were inspired by him, has been booked along with unnamed IRF officials under section 153-A of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) beside various sections of UAPA.

The charges levelled by the NIA also include those under sections 10 (being member of an unlawful organisation), 13 (punishment for being member of illegal organisation) and 18 (punishment for being involved in a conspiracy for committing any terror act) of UAPA.

IRF came under the scanner of security agencies after one of the terrorists involved in the Dhaka cafe attack allegedly posted on social media that they had been inspired by Naik's speeches.

Maharashtra police has also registered criminal cases against Naik for his alleged involvement in radicalising Muslim youth and luring them into terror activities.
Mumbai: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Maharashtra government to explain reports of sexual abuse and mystery deaths of over 500 tribal girls in state-run ashram schools, an official said on Tuesday.

Taking cognisance of media reports, the NHRC has sent a notice to the state chief secretary seeking his detailed report in the serious matter within six weeks.

The NHRC said that the media reports "are indicative of violation of right to life and dignity of the girl students of the schools and also highlights the negligence and apathy of the authorities".

The media reported last week that the authorities maintained menstruation records of the minor girls and conducted pregnancy tests on them whenever they missed their period or returned from vacations, and this unethical practice was carried out without parental consent.

The matter was exposed when a tribal girl, who came home for Diwali vacation, complained of stomach pains and later she was found to be a victim of sexual abuse at school.

Another 12-year-old girl also alleged similar sexual abuse by a sweeper of the same school in Khamgaon, Buldhana district, which houses 70 girls without a single female superintendent.

According to official figures there are around 1,100 state-run or aided tribal residential schools in Maharashtra catering to 2.3 lakh male and 1.6 lakh female students.

In the past 15 years, over 1,500 students including 700 girls have died and sexual abuse is suspected to be a reason behind these deaths, the NHRC noted.

Frowning at the state government for not taking any initiatives to redress the grievance, the NHRC pointed out that the state has yet to submit a report to the NHRC on its notice of 10 October, 2016 on allegations of deaths of 740 tribal students in ashram schools, despite a reminder on 26 November.

Primary and secondary schools run in tribal areas are by-and-large a neglected topic in public discourse. Over the past fortnight, Firstpost published a five-part series that explored some of the issues affecting these schools, and their students. You can read them here:

Part 1: State of neglect endangers student health

Part 2: Students stare at malnutrition due to poor food, filthy kitchens

Part 3: Abysmal security, sexual assault cases remain an alarming concern

Part 4: With poor infrastructure, underqualified teachers, education takes a backseat

Part 5: Students subjected to rampant political interference
New Delhi: The Election Commission on Wednesday wrote to the Reserve Bank of India governor urging that the withdrawal limit for candidates in the upcoming Assembly elections to Rs 2 lakh per week against the present limit of Rs 24,000.

Every candidate is supposed to open a separate bank account and all receipts and payments during the election process has to be done only through that account.

Given the cap of Rs 24,000 on withdrawal per week post demonetisation, the candidates can withdraw only Rs 96,000 during the three to four week time before polls, against the expenditure limit of Rs 28 lakh for Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, and Rs 20 lakh for Manipur and Goa, the poll panel said.

"The Election Commission has been apprised of the problems being faced by candidates from different political parties due to imposition of limits on withdrawal of cash from banks," the commission said in its letter.

"Even considering that part of the expenditure would be incurred through cheques, petty and recurring expenditure is generally incurred in cash," the panel said.

"The issue further compounds in rural areas where banking facilities are not available or are negligible. Therefore, it is requested that withdrawal limit for the nominated candidates, as certified by the Returning Officer of a particular constituency, may be enhances to Rs 2 lakh per week," it said.

This enhanced limit may be kept in place only until the date of declaration of results, that is 11 March, 2017, the commission added.
By Irene Klotz

| CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Five teams have qualified to compete in a $30 million Google-backed competition to land and operate robotic spacecraft on the surface of the moon, the XPrize Foundation said on Tuesday. Contenders now have until Dec. 31 for their spacecraft to be launched, said the foundation, which is running the Google Lunar XPrize and eight other technology stimulus contests.Previously, competitors needed to complete activities on the lunar surface, such as having their vehicles travel 1,640 feet (500 meters) and broadcast high-definition video, by the end of the year. Since the contest was announced in 2007, interest in the Google Lunar XPrize has been high, with 33 teams originally signing up to compete for the $20 million first prize. Second place is worth $5 million and bonus money is available for accomplishing extra tasks, such as visiting an Apollo landing site or finding water on the moon.

Googles parent company, Alphabet has produced a documentary series about Lunar XPrize competition.Five teams remain in the running: Israels SpaceIL, Florida-based Moon Express, an international team known as Synergy Moon, Indias Team Indus and Japans Hakuto.SpaceIL plans to fly on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which recently returned to flight following a launch pad accident.

Team Indus and Hakuto will share a ride on an Indian PSLV launcher. Moon Express is banking on a launch from startup Rocket Lab, which is developing a small rocket called Electron. Whether it wins the XPrize or not, Moon Express is building a business to provide lunar transportation and services, such as research and mineral extraction, Chief Executive Bob Richards said in an interview.Synergy Moon is counting on one of its partners, Mojave, Calif.-based Interorbital Systems, for its launch aboard a new rocket known as Neptune.

Were thrilled to have five contenders that are working from all over the world on this one mission, XPrize Senior Director Chanda Gonzales-Mowrer said in an email.The race to moon is among nine XPrize contests currently underway. The competitions are designed to make big technological leaps in aerospace, medicine, education and other fields by luring new participants and private capital with cash prizes.The original 2012 deadline for the Google Lunar XPrize has been extended three times, but contest organizers said they will stand by the current timeline which requires teams to launch on or before Dec. 31. (Reporting by Irene Klotz; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
In an indication that he might relinquish his current job as India's defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said that he is ready to go back to Goa politics if his party, the BJP, is re-elected in the forthcoming polls in the state.

Speaking to CNN-News18, the former Goa chief minister said that he "never said no to any request by the party", in a clear indication that he might return as the chief ministership if asked by the central high command in New Delhi.

Parrikar was responding to BJP chief Amit Shah's comment during his public meeting at Goa's Vasco on Tuesday, where he said that the next government in the state will "function under Parrikar's leadership, irrespective of his posting".

Shah's statement had come just days after Union Minister Nitin Gadkari indicated that it is ready to bring in a leader from Delhi to rule Goa.

"(Prime Minister) Narendrabhai (Modi) needs him (Parrikar) at the Centre as well. We will decide after elections where Parrikar will be working. But let me assure you that wherever Parrikar may be working, the Goa government will function under his leadership," the BJP chief had said.

Toeing a similar line, state BJP chief Vinay Tendulkar said that the people of Goa wanted to see Parrikar back as the chief minister. "Parrikar has good mass contact, that is why there is demand coming up from people that he should be brought back to Goa. But the decision on it would be taken by elected MLAs after the polls," Tendulkar had told PTI.

Goa goes to the polls on 4 February. BJP"s campaign is being led by Laxmikant Parsekar, who had replaced Parrikar as chief minister in November 2014. The state is set to witness a multi-cornered fight, with the AAP and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party-led alliance vying to win the 40-seat Assembly.
The veil is finally off. Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar may have to shed the title of super and settle down as the chief minister of Indias tiniest state if the ruling BJP manages to retain power in Goa.

Parrikar for all practical purposes is BJPs undeclared chief ministerial candidate for the ensuing 4 February polling to elect the 40-member Goa State Legislative Assembly.

While Parrikar, of late, has been spending more time in Goa than in New Delhi, the veil finally came off earlier this week, when during an election rally in Vasco, BJPs national president Amit Shah declared that Goas next government would function under Parrikar.

An astute politician that Shah is, the BJP chief sugar-coated his words by terming Parrikar as a jewel in Prime Minister Narendra Modis Cabinet. There is a huge demand for Parrikar in Delhi and also here in Goa. People of Goa demand that we should send Parrikar back to Goa, said Shah, who has been credited for masterminding BJPs superlative performance as the then general secretary in-charge for Uttar Pradesh during the 2014 general elections. Shah was quick to leave a bit of suspense by stating that whether Parrikar remains in Delhi or returns to Goa, would be decided after the election.

But I want to say one thing, wherever Parrikar may be, the government in Goa will be under his leadership. Goans should be assured of that, Shah added, leaving no one in doubt as he did not bother to mention anything about the incumbent Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, though BJP had earlier announced that it would contest Goa election under his leadership.

It is amply clear that BJP has been somewhat rattled ever since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) started lampooning BJP and daring it to name its chief ministerial candidate after naming former bureaucrat Elvis Gomes as its chief ministerial candidate.

The AAP withdrew Parsekars picture that was placed alongside Gomes and asking Goa voters to decide who should be their next chief minister. Parsekars picture was dropped and replaced by a big question mark after BJP raised objections over it. The BJP was fully aware that Parsekar lacks the charisma in this comparison of personalities.

The BJP had come to the conclusion much earlier that Parsekar lacked the magnetism to lure voters. However, dropping him just months before polls would have been seen as BJP pressing the panic button and accepting defeat beforehand. And that was the time when Parrikar was sounded out that he must take charge of the government and the party unofficially and ensure BJPs victory since loss of Goa would reflect badly on Modi's image, coming as it does after his contentious demonetisation policy. Since then Parrikar had started functioning as Goas 'super chief minister', often undermining Parsekar by taking all the major decisions and making announcements that the chief minister should have done in the run-up to the election.

Parsekar, without knowing what wrong did he do and often seen wondering aloud in public over why he has not been named as the chief ministerial face, is confined to his Mandrem constituency, lest his outside prospects of retaining the chair is dented by a defeat. Parrikar, on the other hand, is free from any such worry, since he is not contesting the ensuing polls.

BJPs erstwhile ally Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) along with its allies Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) and Shiv Sena is trying to topple BJP from Mandrem and Panaji, which happened to be Parrikars traditional constituency. The main opposition Congress party is lending its indirect support to ensure a huge embarrassment for the BJP by fielding a relatively weak candidate in Mandrem and supporting United Goan Partys maverick leader Atanasio Monserratte in Panaji. The idea is to block possible entry of Parrikar through a by-election route from Panaji, in case he does become the next chief minister.

Emboldened by Shahs decree, Parrikar has been leaving none in doubt by making an announcement a day like bringing metro rail to Goa or shifting the main bus stand from centre of Panaji city to the outskirts, and the like. On Tuesday, Parrikar virtually threw his hat in the ring by responding to a question by stating that the newly elected BJP lawmakers would elect their leader, giving no hint that his handpicked successor Parsekar would continue in the coveted chair.

One may get a second hint about Parrikars future role, when Modi addresses his scheduled rally in Goa on 28 January. If he talks as highly of Parrikar as Shah did, then no one should be left in doubt that Parrikar would be packing from Delhi for Panaji in March.

By pushing Parrikar to the forefront, BJP intends to keep the doors ajar for MGP and other smaller parties for a possible post-poll tie-up in case it falls just short of getting the majority on its own. The MGP broke ties with BJP after its demand to replace Parsekar as the chief minister went unheeded. Compared to Parsekar, Parrikar is seen as more acceptable and resourceful to negotiate and seal deals. Pollsters have already predicted that BJP may emerge as the single largest party in a hung Goa Assembly.

There are speculations that under the garb of Goa wanting Parrikar, Modi may be intending to get rid of Parrikar. He has thus far failed to distinguish himself as a federal minister and has often created embarrassing situations for Modi and BJP with his unhindered habit of shooting from the lips as the defence minister. The only saving grace for Modi is that true to his image of being above corruption, Parrikar has remained untainted despite heading the lucrative and cash-rich Defence Ministry.

The BJP strategy appears to be to insulate Modi from any possible blame for defeat in Goa. Putting Parrikar as the partys go-to-man in Goa, thus puts BJP in a win-win situation. He is the best man to ensure BJPs victory in Goa and at the same time take the blame quietly if the party falters in its quest for a second successive shot at power in the south-western coastal state.
The area around it pulsates with the music, strobe lights and laser beams over the Club Cubana hilltop nightclub at touristy Arpora in Goa. The place advertises itself as an 'after beach party but its parties have not spilled into the early hours over the past few days. On Friday night, the music stopped at 10 pm, even though the high-spirited sounds of the guests revelry were still audible, even from afar.

'Because of the elections is the standard reply, if one asks a local why nights end uncharacteristically early in Goa. The fact is that election observers insist that the rules are followed, and the police is doing just that. On the next night, the 1980s sound of Boney M would have hit those who entered Arporas Saturday night market around 10 pm. There were live rock bands, and a DJ playing dance hits like 'La Bamba' for those who wanted to shake a leg under a couple of trees in one corner.

On most Saturdays through Goas winter-time 'high season,' Arporas Saturday night market is full of life, food, drinks, music and shopping stalls till 3 am. One can buy all kinds of cuisine, ranging from Greek to Georgian and from Thai soups to German tarts from the markets shacks.

Last Friday, all the various sorts of music stopped at 11 pm. The police had come by and enforced the rules. Thursday nights tend to draw large crowds of trance lovers to Curlys bar at the Anjuna beach. A similar crowd goes to the bar next door on Tuesdays. Both have had to stop their music early, and toned down their parties.

Politics as negotiation

For the operators of Goas tourism, politics is the space to negotiate a via media between legal requirements and income. Since a large proportion of Goas population lives off tourism, these are important negotiations  to the extent that they impact the outcome of elections.

At least tangentially, tourism brings benefits to those who own little shops or hire their vehicles, or run little food or drink places even away from the major tourism hubs. And of course tourism is the lifeblood of those who run hotels, hostels, shacks or taxis.

Already, long before the election code of conduct gave the Election Commissions observers power a few weeks ago, licences for beach shacks were delayed as this winter season approached causing much gnashing of teeth among shack operators.

The courts, the National Green Tribunal and other environmental ombudsmen have tried to restrict the damage to the shoreline. Goan politicians have for long walked a tightrope while they bent or extended the implementation of the law to try and accommodate their constituents. Beach toilets are a particular sticking point with environmental authorities. Even at hostels near the beach, foreign tourists are often amused by certain restrictions. The fact is, these establishments are very often not connected to sewerage drains; so, effluents from them pose a risk over time to the quality of the soil and the environment.

Environment activists highlight such dangers. Tourism operators focus on their pockets. The government seeks to negotiate via media. Elections are opportunities to put pressure on those who want to run the government. That this round of Assembly elections has come round at the peak of the tourist season means that the code of conduct not only affects the government-people interface, but also the years major round of income from the tourist sector. For, although monsoon tourism too has been successfully promoted over the past couple of decades, the 'high season' from early December to early March (after the annual carnival fiesta, which generally falls in late February or early March) remains the biggest draw for the state.

Demonetisation has already caused problems for some international tourists. That too happened just about the beginning of Goas 'high season.' Frustrated at not being able to withdraw local currency from ATMs, a lot of foreign tourists who were already in Goa cut short their trips. Some who were going to go cancelled their plans. One thing is sure: Many Goans are more focused on the extent to which elections, and such things as demonetisation, impact tourists than they are on any positive issue in this election season.
Does BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya's remark on Shah Rukh Khan matter, either to the film-going public of the country or to the actor himself? No. That leads us to a more serious question: should the media be wasting its time over routine, attention-hunting outbursts of loose cannons like him? It's difficult to reach an unambiguous answer in this case.

As this piece is being written, there's news on television that BJP leader Vinay Katiyar has made a sexist remark on Priyanka Vadra. "There are more beautiful women than Priyanka who can be star campaigners..." he told on camera. Obviously, Priyanka's looks are not supposed to be the talking point among rivals; they should be questioning her politics instead.

Both could be ignored by the media. It would deny them the publicity they seek so desperately, serving as a disincentive for making outrageous statements. But ignoring them won't be right either. They are leaders, one is general secretary of a national party. Neither can be allowed to get away with loose talk. Comparing Shah Rukh to Dawood does not show Vijayvargiya in edifying light. The same goes for Katiyar. They should be exposed the way they are. That is what they deserve.

Vijayvargiya draws in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi into his unsavory spiel. He took to Twitter, hinting on, Modi and Rahul Gandhi as 'Kaabil' and 'Raees' respectively after the tittles of the recently released films. It was neither smart nor in good taste. Worse, it was doing the cause of Modi or his party, the BJP, no good. What is more intriguing is that he has regularly been making such remarks but has not attracted censure from party bosses.

The party, for some reason, has ignored the fact that such people have been damaging its public image through their abrasive, reckless comments. Earlier, Vijayavargiya had called the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh as 'small', not anything big for the party. He had also made a sexist remark alluding to the kidnap of Sita by Ravan in the Ramayana. He had said that women crossing the lakshman rekha - read dressing provocatively - was a reason for them getting harassed. The party could ask its leaders to shut up if they cannot talk sense if it wanted. But that has not been the case.

Priyanka has responded to Katiyar saying it reflects the BJP's mindset. This debate is likely to get bigger in prime time debates if BJP sympathisers or spokespersons decide to put up a convoluted defence for him. It is apparent that the party has so far failed to gauge the impact of such posturing in public. In December 2014, the prime minister had to issue an appeal almost amounting to an apology in both houses of Parliament after Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti's nasty remarks in Delhi. He has been expressing his disapproval of uncouth statements at routine intervals. However, in the absence of strong action from the party the menace continues.

It may not actually be the mindset of the BJP, but with so many people talking in this fashion the wrong impression goes out. "What do you expect when people like Vijayavargiya are in high organisational positions? This is not how it was earlier," BJP watchers would say. With the assembly elections around the corner the party has to be very careful. Such occasions give opportunity to people to speak more.

It is rather unfortunate for Modi that while he maintains great restraint while speaking in public, others down the line would give a damn. Now, how does he handle the problem? There are no easy answers. Maybe party president Amit Shah can help with some tough action.
By Piya Sinha-Roy

| LOS ANGELES

LOS ANGELES Romantic musical "La La Land" led the Oscar nominations on Tuesday with 14 nods, including the top prize of best picture and best actor nominations for its stars, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.It will contend with sci-fi movie "Arrival" with eight nods; war movie "Hacksaw Ridge"; modern western "Hell or High Water"; and dramas "Manchester by the Sea," "Moonlight", "Hidden Figures," "Lion" and "Fences." The 14 nominations of "La La Land" for the highest honors in the movie industry equaled the record held by 1997 blockbuster "Titanic" and the 1950 film "All About Eve."In the best actor category, Gosling will compete with Casey Affleck, who plays a grieving father in "Manchester by the Sea"; "Fences" star Denzel Washington; British actor Andrew Garfield of "Hacksaw Ridge" and Viggo Mortensen's unorthodox dad in "Captain Fantastic."In a key difference from 2016 and 2015, seven people of color were among the acting nominees, and four of the nine best picture contenders told African-American or Indian stories.

They included supporting actor nominees Dev Patel for "Lion," and Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris for "Moonlight," the tale of a young boy struggling with his sexual identity in an impoverished Miami neighborhood."Hidden Figures," about three black female mathematicians working on the U.S. space program in the 1960s, brought a supporting actress nod for Octavia Spencer.

Last year, all 20 acting nominees were white, unleashing an #OscarsSoWhite backlash on social media for the second consecutive year.Some notable absences on Tuesday's list included Annette Bening's star turn in "20th Century Women" and Amy Adams performance as a linguist in "Arrival."Martin Scorsese's religious passion project "Silence," which was 28 years in the making, was missing from the main categories and earned just one nomination, for cinematography.

Jimmy Kimmel will host the Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood on Feb. 26. (The story corrects number of best picture contenders to nine in paragraph 5 and corrects "Silence" nomination in penultimate paragraph to cinematography) (Writing by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
A large concentration of artillery detected in Rostov region (Russia) in the framework of the inspection carried out by Ukraine, together with Canada and Denmark in January 16-19, may be used in the conflict in Donbas, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has said.

At a briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday the head of the Ukrainian part of the multinational inspection team, which conducted inspections I the Russian border regions, Oleksiy Vershyhora, said that the weapons were found in the area of Novocherkassk in Russia's Rostov region.

"The inspection team has identified and visually detected a significant concentration of artillery systems of different types - in the area of the city of Novocherkassk, as well as a maintenance and storage base for artillery weapons. These weapons may be used to arm the 150th Motorized Rifle Division, as well as pro-Russian terrorist groups on the territory temporarily beyond Kyiv control," he said.

Vershyhora also stressed that access of the inspection team to the facility itself has been banned, they were also prohibited from taking photographs of these facilities.

He recalled that during the inspection they recorded violations of the provisions of the Vienna Document dated 2011 on confidence-building measures and security.

"During this inspection we saw what we expected to see. In particular, the inspection has confirmed the formation a new military division by the Russian Federation  150th motorized rifle division of the Southern Military District. The headquarters of the division in the village of Persianovsky near the city of Novocherkassk, which is about 50 km from the Ukrainian border, has already been formed. Ukraine has already formed units of combat and logistic support, reconnaissance battalion and communications battalion, logistics battalions," the representative of the General Staff of Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

He said that the division was 10,500 strong. According to the Russian side, the division should be formed before the end of 2017.

"Now, there is an active movement of military equipment, it is concentrated in the area bordering on Ukraine, they are actively developing infrastructure and military camps in the areas bordering on Ukraine in order to deploy units there," Vershyhora said.

The representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also noted that during the discussion of the inspection plan Russia has restricted the area allowed to be inspected by a helicopter to the depth of 25 km along the border over military airfields and on military training grounds. "We used the road transport, walked, and also used a helicopter to fly over the area," he said.

At the same time, Acting Chief of the Verification Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vladyslav Ponomarev noted that the Vienna Document envisages no responsibility for the violation of its provisions by Russia.

"The Vienna document is a political document, it is based on the voluntary provision of information," he said.

Earlier in the comments to Interfax-Ukraine, head of the public relations office of the General Staff of Armed Forces of Ukraine Colonel Bohdan Senyk said that the main purpose of the inspection was to verify whether Russia really displays openness and transparency of its military activities as envisaged in the Vienna Document.
On a day when Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav compared the importance of a vote to the modesty of a woman, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Vinay Katiyar said that there are "more beautiful women than Priyanka Gandhi" who are star campaigners.

"Unse (Priyanka Gandhi) jyada bohut si sundar mahilayen hain jo star campaigner hain (There are more beautiful women than Priyanka Gandhi who are star campaigners)," Katiyar told ANI. "There are heroines and various artists who are more (beautiful than Priyanka Gandhi)." Katiyar went on to say that Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani is prettier than Priyanka. "Let her (Priyanka) come for campaigning, at least this way she will get out of her house," Katiyar added.

#WATCH: BJP MP Vinay Katiyar's remark on Priyanka Gandhi, says "unse jyada bohut si sundar mahilayen hai jo star campaigner hain" #UPpolls pic.twitter.com/7eo2CYUvLf  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 25, 2017

Katiyar also said that Sonia Gandhi was actually from "videsh (foreign country)".

Priyanka Gandhi reacted to the sexist remark and said that "this comment shows BJP's mindset about half of India's population."

"My colleagues have battled hardships to be get where they are," NDTV further quoted her as saying. "It is laughable that's all he sees in my brave, beautiful colleagues."

Congress leader Sanjay Jha also expressed his disgust at Katiyar's statement and told CNN-News18, "This is the culture of the BJP, RSS, VHP. They have contempt for women in general. I am sure that they are not going to apologise... This is the kind of language over which they believe their vote bank gets excited."

This remark is just the latest in a series of remarks made by politicians which reveals their sexist attitude. On the same day, Yadav, in a bizarre comparison, said that a daughter's honour is not more than the honour of a ballot. "Beti ki izzat se vote ki izzat badi hai. He added that if the modesty of a "daughter" was lost, the respect of a village would be lost but if a vote was sold, it affected the entire nation.

#WATCH: Senior JDU leader Sharad Yadav says "Beti ki izzat se vote ki izzat badi hai" in Patna (Jan 24th) pic.twitter.com/kvDxZpO2iZ  ANI (@ANI_news) January 25, 2017

Sexism, though, is something that infests all political parties.

In July last year, former BJP vice-president in Uttar Pradesh Dayashankar Singh had said that Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is worse than a prostitute. Satyadev Katare, Congress leader in Madhya Pradesh, had said, "Jab tak mahila tirchi najar se nahi dekhegi, tab tak purush use nahi chedega (No man will harass a woman till she looks at him in a suggestive manner)."

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had also earlier said that "rapes happen because men and women interact freely".

With inputs from agencies
An image can sometimes be more powerful than a thousand election stories. So, to get an idea of what is happening in Punjab, picture a meeting of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders.

Behold a few dozen of them sitting in a jail in Fazilka, a Punjab district on the Radcliffe Line, listening in rapt attention to Shiv Lal Doda, a liquor baron facing murder charges. Imagine the liquor baron holding his darbar, holding forth on election strategies, while the Akalis, who have driven up to the jail in a cavalcade of SUVs, courtesy and nod and a senior police official stands guard to ensure the deewan-e-khas is not disturbed.

Imagine the desperation of the Akalis. Imagine the sanctity of the law of the land. Imagine the depravity and decline of the system.

Picture this Punjab going to polls in a few weeks. It doesn't take a genius to imagine the result.

From Fazilka in the southwest to Gurdaspur right up in the north, there is a fierce wind blowing across Punjab. Unless there is a miracle, or the rumoured stocks of gold "tikkis"  dots of precious metal that have reportedly replaced cash as pre-poll sops  work their magic, the winds of change would blow away the Badals.

Who would win the election, race ahead to majority is not clear. But who is getting booted out is writ on every voter's face. From the moment you land at the Chandigarh Airport  a desolate, dark, gloomy place that seems perfect for shooting horror flicks after sunset, all you hear is whom the voters don't want.

"Everywhere you go, people talk of how drugs have ruined lives," says Manpreet Singh, 23, cab driver who charged a ransom for the journey from the airport to the centre of the city. "They have ruined it," he says and then starts tapping his fingers to the rhythm of the song Chitta Ve from Udta Punjab.

"The Badal family has become a metaphor for the current state of Punjab. This is 2014 redux with the SAD being the UPA government. Change is coming," says former DGP (Punjab prisons) Shashi Kant.

The ex-cop, a known crusader against drugs, offers another analogy. He says the Badals have become what Hosni Mubarak was to Egyptians. "If they are not dislodged democratically, people would come out on the streets to hound them out," he says.

Shiv Lal Doda, the liquor baron who held a meeting with Akali leaders in his Fazilka jail cell this January before it was busted by an election commission squad, is a perfect example of the rot in Punjab and the reason behind the rising anger against the Badals.

Starting out as an ice vendor in the 80s, Doda made rapid strides to become a Don Corleone-like figure in western Punjab within a decade. For years, he was seen as an ally of the Akalis, before the party tried to disown him after he was named as the main accused in the brutal murder of a Dalit allegedly at his palatial farmhouse.

To this man with a tainted past and alleged criminal record is tied the electoral fortune of the Akalis. A few days ago, Doda filed his candidature from Abohar, the constituency he had contested from unsuccessfully in 2012 against Congress heavyweight Sunil Jakhar. But after the meeting in the jail, he decided to withdraw his candidature in support of the BJP, which has been allotted the seat as part of its alliance with the Akalis. In a comic twist, due to some technical errors, Doda could not withdraw his candidature in time and still is in the fray in spite of publically withdrawing in favour of the BJP.

Voters say almost all of Punjab is now being run by the Badals and their cronies like Doda. The Badals are spread all across Punjab literally like a cloud cover over the state skyline.

Chandigarh is the seat of their power. Bathinda is their political turf, the family pocket borough. In Amritsar, Bikramjit Singh Majithia, brother-in-law of deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal, has his hand in every pie.

It is a dynasty that is forever in self-perpetuation mode. Father is the chief minister, son is the deputy chief minister. Family bahu Harsimrat Kaur Badal is entrenched in Delhi as a Union minister in the Narendra Modi government. Badal's son-in-law Adesh Partap Singh Kairon is an influential minister in the state cabinet. So too is Sukhbir's brother-in-law, Majithia. Only Rajasthan's Raje dynasty  represented by chief minister Vasundhara and parliamentarian son Dushyant Singh  currently has access to equal, if not less, power.

With so much power concentrated in just one family, it was inevitable that when the electoral tide turned, the family became the first target. "The general gets the bad name if his army is seen as inefficient and corrupt. Today, Punjab is rotting because of drug cartels, high unemployment, agrarian crisis and organised loot and plunder. People blame the Badals for all this," says Shashi Kant.

So, after ten years of incumbency, the Badals are in trouble. Their traditional vote bank of hardliners swayed by the panthic agenda is under threat. Young voters are being torn between AAP and the Congress. The development plank that had earned them a victory a decade ago has slipped from under their feet. Such is the outline of the battle that the family is now stuck in its bastions, fighting to save them before dreaming of venturing out.

In Lambi, chief minister Parkash Singh Badal is facing a resurgent Captain Amarinder Singh. In Jalalabad, Sukhbir is caught in a triangular contest with Bhagwant Mann (AAP) and Ravneet Singh Bittu, Congress MP from Ludhiana and son of former CM Beant Singh. In Majitha, Bikramjit Singh is on a shaky turf in a triangular fight.

A combative Kejriwal, whose party has suddenly got a second wind in the state, is promising to not just pack off the Badal dynasty but also send its members to jail.

The joke in Punjab is that if this happens, Doda would be guaranteed a bigger audience in his Fazilka jail darbar.
BEIRUT Syrian government forces and their allies drove Islamic State militants out of several villages northeast of Aleppo between Tuesday and Wednesday, a monitoring group said, bringing them closer to territory held by Turkish-backed rebels.Advances in the last week have brought the Syrian army to within 8 km (5 miles) of the Islamic State-held town of al-Bab, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Al-Bab, which the Turkish-backed insurgents are separately fighting to seize from the jihadist group, lies some 30 km northeast of Aleppo and 30 km south of the Turkish border.Turkey said on Tuesday it would not hand over al-Bab to Syrian forces after driving out Islamic State. The Turkish-backed rebels are closer to doing so than the Syrian army, having already reached the town's outskirts.Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman described renewed assaults by the Syrian army which began last week as a race to recapture the city before the Turkish side got there.The fight to seize al-Bab is one of several overlapping conflicts being fought in Syria.

The main struggle is between President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Iran, Russia and Shi'ite militias including Lebanese Hezbollah, against rebels that include groups backed by Turkey, Gulf monarchies and the United States.But both those sides, and a U.S.-backed, Kurdish dominated alliance, are fighting separate campaigns against Islamic State, which controls vast areas of eastern Syria and has made enemies of all sides involved in the war.

Turkey, which is fighting its own Kurdish insurgency, wants to drive both Islamic State and Kurdish fighters from areas along its border.In a sign of increasingly close Russian-Turkish cooperation even as they continue to back opposing sides, Moscow said last week its warplanes had joined forces with Turkish jets for the first time to target Islamic State militants in al-Bab. [nL5N1F84SZ]One Turkish soldier was killed and five were wounded in a clash with Islamic State militants near the town on Wednesday, Turkey's military said.

The wounded were taken to hospital after the clash at around 5 pm (1400 GMT) in the Kabr al Mukri area near al-Bab, the army statement said.Dogan news agency reported that the Islamic State fighters had staged a rocket attack on the Turkish unit, prompting retaliatory ground and air fire from the Turkish forces. (Reporting by John Davison in Beirut and Daren Butler in Istanbul; Editing by Dominic Evans)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The most defining moment in Priyanka Vadras periodic flirtations with politics up till now occurred on 5 May 2014 when she uttered the words, Smriti, who? when journalists questioned Smriti Iranis chances against brother Rahul Gandhi, both contesting from Amethi.

Perhaps Priyanka came to regret that statement, perhaps she didnt, in the light of how her party was smothered in May 2014.

The fact is that she is Priyanka Vadra, not Priyanka Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra but as has been the sickening norm, her party is politically lost without the Gandhi crutch. But then it appears that post May 2014, even this Gandhi crutch has become a liability as we shall see.

And so, Priyanka Vadra in a departure from said periodic flirtations has now jumped actively into the electoral battleground of Uttar Pradesh, which became the Congress partys political dustbowl about thirty years ago. That in every election cycle since then, the Congress has desperately sought to reap some semblance of political harvest there but has failed miserably, is evident. And that is the case even in the upcoming UP assembly polls, which might help the Congress save face, or wipe the party out completely in the state. But the greater threat is the fact that its sworn enemy, the BJP is in the pole position with a serious chance at capturing power.

Indeed, its mind-boggling when Priyanka Vadra is described as the Congress partys star campaigner given the minuscule number of times she has actually campaigned in all these long years or the fact that shes made absolutely no mark on any campaign trail either through oratory, ideas, or her ability to draw crowds. Perhaps the Congress party and its sympathizers have a different definition for star campaigner.

But to put Priyankas latest bout in perspective, we need to focus on what her party has tacitly admitted, finally, but what the nation always knew: that Rahul Gandhi has been an utter disaster.

As a Congress functionary recently told me, the general feeling among the karyakartas is that each time Rahul Gandhi makes a speech, the party loses votes in geometric progression. Far too many articles, analyses and critiques have been written on how Rahul Gandhi has become a liability for the Congress even by die-hard Congress supporters. In the wake of his attack against demonetization recently, Rahul Gandhi made a public show of standing in the queue at a Delhi ATM for withdrawing 4000. But barely a month later, he decamped from India and went abroad to celebrate at a New Year party. As the youngest scion of Indias oldest political party, the least he couldve ruminated upon was the sort of message this sends to the party cadre and the perception it generates about his political acumen. How would a nation place its trust in a leader with this kind of competence? In other words, it suggests that Rahul Gandhi doesnt realize that being a politician is a full-time affair with little or no personal life, let alone partying at whim.

It is to stem Rahul Gandhis  and therefore the Congress partys  very plausible potential gaffes and failures in this critical election that Priyanka Vadra has been roped in. But its too little too late. To put it plainly, Priyankas debut of sorts in UP has been a non-starter when we observe that the most noteworthy aspect is the fact that she has absolutely no prior political experience. Of course one may argue in her favour that her inexperience might bring in some out-of-the-box thinking. But in her case, shes dealing with two insurmountable challenges: one, an atrophying party that has failed to evolve and adapt to a rapidly changing profile of voters, and two, the real truth that Uttar Pradesh voters stopped taking the Congress seriously three decades ago.

Then theres the question of giving her abundant marks for stitching the so-called grand alliance between SP and Congress. But the said alliance is really the outcome of fear and desperation in the camps of both these parties. Lets quote from Ajay Singhs perceptive piece on Firstpost:

"For the first time, the state has witnessed socially and historically incompatible political forces like Congress and SP joining hands to defeat the BJP. Obviously there is a lot more than what meets the eye in the SP-Congress coalition. The prime motivating factor for Rahul Gandhi and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to bury the hatchet was to attract Muslim votes. The cry for "secularism" is a contrived facade to cover up their patently opportunistic strategy In 2017 elections, the Congress has given up the pretense of being a national party and will be trying to ride piggyback on the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party the anti-incumbency against Akhilesh government can not easily be wished away."

This is the precise reason why Akhilesh ultimately surrendered a large political space to the Congress.

But thats not all.

From 2012 when the Congress rode roughshod over Mulayam Singh Yadav using its favourite weapon, the CBI, to now having to grovel before his son over seat sharing in state elections, the national partys fall has been truly abysmal. When we read the actual details of how Akhilesh made the Congress eat humble pie, we get the true picture of Priyanka Vadras achievement of stitching up the alliance:

Congress sources confirmed that before the alliance was stitched both Mulayam Singh and Akhilesh Yadav had reassured Congress strategist Prashant Kishor that Samajwadi Party would leave Amethi and Raebareli even if that meant sacrificing seven of its sitting seats That also meant that Mulayam's 'blue-eyed boy' Gayatri Prajapati would have to forgo the prime Amethi seat. However, after the alliance was finalised, the Samajwadi Party stunned the Congress by announcing the controversial minister Prajapti's name from Amethi Assembly constituency.

Then theres another important factor of a cash-strapped Congress, a major reason for strategist Prashant Kishors acrimony with the party. Tied to this is the fact that the Congress  although it hasnt admitted openly  is also apprehensive about how demonetization will actually play out during voting time. Given Priyanka Vadras lack of experience, she, like her brother, must depend on advisors and friendly media to garner whatever mileage she can for her partys campaign. So far, the Congress campaign team has shown neither freshness nor a well-thought strategy to combat Amit Shah under whom the BJP has emerged as a formidable electioneering machine.

Meanwhile, even as the race intensifies, shell also need to explain why Sheila Dikshit (who was previously named as the CM candidate of the party) seems to be missing from Day One. Its anybodys guess that Dikshit has been set up as the fall woman. Obviously the party wont acknowledge it, but the reality is that were living in a post-Congress  that is, post-Nehru Dynasty  era.
People living in the plains are turning into Pahaadis(hill people) and the Pahaadis are rapidly becoming Maidaani(people from the plains). A friend from Dehradun laments about the tragic geo-social process that has accelerated in Uttarakhand since its inception in 2000. It was carved out as a hill state, but the subsequent governments not only failed miserably in containing the massive migration from the mountains to the flatlands of Dehradun, Delhi and Mumbai, but also sped up the process.

On the other hand, there has been a big increase in the Maidaani people making it to the charming hill places where there is less pollution, more nature and more secure habitat. Nobody has the exact statistics on the numbers of people who have migrated to and fro, and, alas, in the run up to the state assembly elections, no political party in the state has this concern on its election agenda.

Dislocation and migration probably remains the biggest crisis Uttarakhand has been facing for long. It has a long oral history too. But perhaps the first known migrant is a young man Gabar Singh who in 1913 at the age of 19 walked on foot many miles to Lansdowne which was the lone centre of recruiting soldiers from the hills. Two years later, he was killed on some front in France during the First World War. It means that the migration from the hills has completed more than a century.

Today, many people may not believe it, around 1100 villages out of a total of 16793 villages in the state are completely deserted, 600 villages are left only with 10 percent of population and 3000 villages have seen a migration of 10-20 percent. Some time ago, there was news about village Bandul in Pauri Garhwal where Vimla Devi, aged 62, was living as the sole human being and never ventured out in the evenings due to the fear of tigers and wild boars. In fact, there are many Banduls in Uttarakhand today where most of the people have banished themselves to the cities; there are neither people nor the will to cultivate the land, and the forest trees have taken roots in the agricultural fields where wild animals roam about freely. Those who havent migrated yet are willing to do so, to leave their trees, sweet waters, clear sky, their dialect and collective memory behind as there is nothing much to sustain their life in the countryside. The craze for the cities has increased so much that some time ago when the son of a friend of mine was to get married, he insisted on doing it in a nearby town where the DJ was available for the fanfare ceremony!

In his village, a DJ was impossible to avail. Another interesting example of this is a song by the well-known folk lyricist Narendra Singh Negi which has become quite popular in recent time. It goes like this:

"Mujhko pahaadi  pahaadi mat bolo, (Dont call me a pahaadi) Main dehradunwala hun! (I belong to Dehradun)

Needless to say, most of the young people want to be rid of village like an old and torn rag.

Dislocated people can hardly be relocated or rehabilitated even if they are compensated with sufficient money and land, which has never been the case in the massive migration of people from the area where a huge Tehri Dam stands today. They were rehabilitated in the flatlands between Dehradun and Rishikesh-Haridwar, but what they have left behind or lost forever seems to be nobodys concern.

No political outfit realises that the near future generations of the uprooted are sure to forget and forgo their cultural uniqueness, ethos, local mythologies, language, folk songs and expressions and nuances. In short, they will lose their Pahaadi identities and be assimilated as Maidaani. It can be recalled that the migrated communities used to be called, albeit derogatory, Kathmaalis by those living in the hill. Even though neither there is anything about being a Maidaani nor are they unwelcome in anyway, but being stripped of ones nativity is indeed a tragedy.

Political outfits in Uttarakhand should have addressed to this issue and how to reverse it, but the development blindness, which is common to all parties, prevents them to see the big crisis.

It is commonly believed that burning of firewood in the hearths and smoke rising from the rooftops give strength and longevity to the mud-and-stone houses in the hills. The dilapidation of a number of villages was caused by want of the fire and smoke because there were not the people to do this. With this, generation old and unique house architecture and tradition of wood carvings on the doors and windows are also almost gone.

In fact, the destruction of the traditional housing styles ant the intrusion of cement-concrete flat roof houses is one of the biggest architectural disasters in entire area where stones always played the elemental roleonly next to that of human beings  in residential constructions. A pity, we have forgotten the stones which are now cut into small pieces  rodis  to construct the roads. On the other hand, mining of sandstones and extracting sand from rivers has been thriving, mostly on illegal basis.

Undoubtedly, this is a very sorry state of things, but no political organisation participating in the Assembly elections has felt the necessity to have these on their agenda so far. Barring a very few radicals, leaders are busy in finding fair or foul ways to extract votes from the innocuous hill voters.
These Elections are an acid test for Uttarakhandiyat. People of Uttarakhand not only became victims of a natural disaster but they witnessed a political disaster also. Spirit of the Uttarakhand Movement will decide the future of the state.

These are the words of Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat. He claims that he did not get enough time in his current tenure, but he will work for the welfare of Uttarakhand in his next tenure.

Only if people elect him. Perhaps, he deliberately forgets to add that.

The stage is all set for the fourth Assembly elections in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, but it is ironical to see that even after 16 years of its formation, the politics in the state still revolves around the popular sentiments of the hilly areas. The villages in the hills have become ghost areas. Pahad ki Javaani aur pahad ka paani ab aur bhi badtar haal mein hain or aisa natakbaaj CM aaj tak nahi dekha. (The quality of the mountain as well as its water has been deteriorating, while I have not seem as more whimsical CM till now.) Did we fight for a separate state for this day? Sushila Balooni, the leading lady of Uttarakhand movement (for statehood) repents.

The general feeling in Uttarakhand is that the sensitivity of hills has been offended by the manner in which politics and economy developed in the state. Hills have been neglected in favour of the convenient prospects in the plains of Haridwar, Haldwani and Dehradun. This is a bitter truth that migration from hills has increased at a faster rate after the formation of Uttarakhand in November 2000.

Traditional rivals, Congress and BJP are again the key contenders, but the list of BJP candidates shows that more than one fourth of them are turncoat Congress leaders. Ex-chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, former Assembly speaker and former cabinet minister Yashpal Arya, former cabinet minister and former leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat and former Congress rebel MLA Subodh Uniyal are such prominent faces. It is a common joke in social media about this election being the contest of Congress versus Congress. Obviously this has generated severe discontent among the BJP leaders, some of whom are sitting MLAs. Congress was not late in taking some of them in party fold. Three of the BJP rebels will contest on Congress ticket. It shows that rebels and independents will play a decisive role in the election results this time too. Three independent MLAs in the last assembly election actually helped in the formation of Congress government in the last election. They were also the major saviours of the Harish Rawat government last year when nine congress MLAs rebelled. Incidentally these three gentlemen were congress rebels at the time when they were denied ticket in last assembly elections.

Former chief minister BC Khanduri, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Bhagat Singh Koshyari, all sitting MPs have not been given assembly tickets, but this does not mean that their strength in regional politics and within the BJP has weakened. In a dynastic move, BJP has given ticket to Khanduris daughter also. Quitting the Congress in eleventh hour, one of the prominent Dalit leaders of the state, Yashpal Arya also got BJP ticket for his son apart from securing a ticket for himself.

After the absorption ceremony of ND Tiwary and his son Rohit Shekhar, BJP has been facing tremendous criticism within the party. Perhaps this was why Rohit Shekhar was denied a ticket, constituting a huge setback for him. While ruling chief minister Harish Rawat is the face of Congress and chief ministerial candidate in this election, BJP is faceless as there are too many contenders for the post of the chief minister. And all former chief ministers of the state are with BJP. Former Congress MP and Senior Leader Satpal Maharaj who joined BJP about three years ago has been projecting himself as a strong chief ministerial candidate in BJP, There is no problem at all, party workers are just expressing their opinions. All of us are disciplined workers of the party and will follow the high command, he says.

Large cut-outs of Narendra Modi are being erected all over the state and in a way BJP is trying to take so called advantage of the firm leadership of Narendra Modi. Ajay Bhatt, state BJP head says, this election will end the corrupt rule of congress.

The presence of the Left in terms of mass base and vote share is almost negligible though CPM, CPI and CPIML have decided to show a joint face for the first time. This is rather surprising, looking at the mass struggles lead by these parties in hill and plain areas among village folk and labourers. In fact, the very first demand for separate statehood was raise by no one other than PC Joshi who led the then CPI in 1952.

Renowned social activist and the young CPI(ML) candidate Indresh Maikhuri (karnpayag seat) focuses his campaign on the emotional deprivation of the voters in hilly areas, No hill economy could be developed for the last 16 years, ministers and their assistants are the only ones who got employment in Uttarakhand. We could find only old people and women in the villages.

The leading regional party Uttarkhand Kranti Dal (UKD) is struggling for its existence. Perhaps this is the only regional party in India which could not muster political gains out of its grassroots support. UKD lost its significance in regional politics just after the formation of Uttarakhand, despite being at the front of the Uttarakhand movement in late 90s. UKD had been getting only one or two seats in the last three elections and its MLAs preferred to be a part of either Congress or BJP government submitting their own identity.

The infighting in Congress is no less as state Cong chief Kishore Upadhyay and Harish Rawat do not go well together. It is being said that the Rajput-Brahmin equations and Garhwal-Kumaon division have worsened their differences. Uttarakhand may be a tiny state with only 70 seats but the tussle for power has ruined the basic ethos of a hill state.

The last delimitation of Assembly seats has aggravated the situation. Now the hills comprising of nine districts and plains of Nainital, Udhamsinghnagar, Haridwar and Dehradun districts have almost equal number of seats. Most of the leaders have migrated to the plains and they are trying to harvest the votes in the name of the hills.
By Ali Abdelaty and Ahmed Aboulenein

| CAIRO

CAIRO "Wanted" was emblazoned across photographs posted online by Islamic State. Files bearing Islamic State logo showed faces of Egyptian military and police officers, alongside names, addresses, and ranks, urging followers to hunt them down and kill them. All the men listed were not domiciled in Sinai, the thinly populated and rugged peninsula bordering Israel and Gaza where the Sunni militant group has been waging an insurgency for more than three years; they were from elsewhere in Egypt.The files were posted on Telegram, an encrypted instant messaging system used by IS to communicate with its followers.Coupled with the group's highest profile attack outside Sinai, the bombing of Cairo's Coptic Christian cathedral in December which killed 28, the online campaign shows that the group has extended operations to the rest of Egypt, a key U.S. ally seen as a bulwark against Islamist militancy in the region.In turning its sights on targets outside Sinai, Islamic State puts more pressure on the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, presents new challenges for security services and threatens a potentially heavy blow to tourism, a cornerstone of the country's already battered economy.Islamic State claimed responsibility for seven attacks in Cairo last year, after mounting four in 2015. "Islamic State has had Egypt as a target  and not just Sinai  as part of its discourse for quite a while now, and independent security analysts, as well as official statements from the Egyptian state, show that attacks beyond Sinai have increased in the last couple of years," said HA Hellyer, senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington.Egypt's interior ministry did not respond to requests from Reuters for comment on wider IS operations and how the government was reacting. BROADENING THE INSURGENCY

Hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police have been killed fighting the Islamist insurgency in Sinai. It has gained pace since mid-2013 when General Sisi, then military chief, ousted President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest Islamist movement, after mass protests against his rule.Militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (Supporters of Jerusalem), bolstered by recruits from disenfranchised Bedouin tribes, had been fighting government troops in Sinai since before Mursi's ouster. It pledged allegiance to Islamic State and changed its name to Sinai Province in 2014, the year Sisi was elected president. When the group claimed the cathedral bombing, its statement did not bear Sinai Province's logo. It said "Islamic State Egypt". "When the attacks are claimed by 'Islamic State in Egypt' and not simply 'Sinai Province', it is a clear expression from them that they are not simply going to target Sinai, but the broader country," said Hellyer. Sisi denied lax security was to blame for the cathedral attack. "Do not say it was a security flaw; what happened was an act of desperation," he said.

Sisi cracked down on the Brotherhood and other Islamists after Mursi's removal and the dragnet widened to include opposition activists and journalists. Human rights groups estimate at least 40,000 political prisoners were detained.Sisi does not make a distinction between the Brotherhood, which says it is peaceful, and Islamic State. The Brotherhood denies resorting to violent tactics despite the government often linking it to attacks, including the cathedral bombing. Islamic State propaganda regularly portrays the Brotherhood negatively and its statements have called Mursi an apostate. CHANGING TACTICS

Islamic State strategy in Sinai mirrors its tactics in Syria and Iraq, security analysts say. It fights with a clear command structure using roadside bombs, suicide bombers and snipers.Its mainland Egypt operation, however, is more like its cells in Tunisia or Europe. It relies on small, secretive groups that do not communicate with each other using techniques it publishes online, such as how to make home-made bombs.The cells, or lone operators, then carry out attacks in Islamic State's name and the main group claims responsibility.

"These cells live normally amongst the population until it is time to strike. Security agencies foiled some, but Islamic State is now using that strategy in Cairo on a larger scale," said Khaled Okasha, security analyst and former police officer."Islamic State is not going to stop at Sinai and is betting on its mainland operations in the coming period."As Islamic State loses ground in Syria, Iraq and Libya, it is reasonable to assume their focus will shift towards Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation, security analysts say. Attacks in Cairo in the last two years included attacks on a tourist bus, a police truck, a security checkpoint, the Italian consulate, a homeland security building and a police chief.The military judiciary is currently trying 292 suspected Islamic State militants, some of whom are accused of plotting to assassinate Sisi. Only 151 are in custody.The military has killed at least 2,000 members of Sinai Province since the group pledged allegiance to Islamic State in November 2014, according to its statements. 'TRACKING DOWN THE APOSTATES'

"Support the jihadis and report the information of apostates around you be they soldiers, agents, conscripts, policemen, officers, bank managers, Christian leaders, atheists, crusaders or Zionists who live among you," Islamic State urged its supporters online.It provides a system by which supporters can send over the required information. The "Tracking Down the Apostates of Egypt" campaign is advertised as an alternative for supporters who cannot join the fight in Sinai.Still, maintaining a strong presence in Sinai appears to be an Islamic State priority, said Stephanie Karra, North Africa analyst at Risk Advisory in London."The capabilities of IS cells in and around Cairo are in no way comparable to those of IS in the Sinai," she said, adding: "But it's worth keeping in mind that a strategy IS has used in other countries is to mount attacks outside their areas of control to reduce military pressure on the group."Islamic State has made no demands of the Egyptian government, which it aims to topple. It says it fights to install Islamic sharia law and establish a global caliphate to which it wants to add Egypt. The government says the group has tried to assassinate Sisi more than once.PRESSURE ON SISI

Sisi has called Islamist militants an existential threat and has made security a priority for Egypt, a country of more than 90 million people that has a peace treaty with Israel and which receives substantial military aid from Washington.He campaigned in 2014 on a platform largely based on fighting terrorism and often tells Egyptians they were saved from the conflicts besetting Syria, Iraq, and Libya when he ousted Mursi.More attacks would further damage the ailing tourism sector, and a main source of foreign currency in this import-dependent and dollar-strapped country.Egyptian beach resorts, its pyramids and other cultural treasures took a hit after the political instability of the 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.It was then dealt a big blow in October 2015 when a Russian passenger plane was blown up over Sinai, killing all 224 people on board. Islamic State claimed responsibility.British flights to the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh from where the plane took off were suspended, as were direct flights from Russia to the whole of Egypt. Officials say they are close to restoring flights, but intensification of Islamic State's campaign in Cairo and elsewhere would create further obstacles to any recovery in tourism. (Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein, editing by Peter Millership)

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Washington: President Donald Trump will sign executive orders starting Wednesday restricting refugees, visas and immigration, making good on his signature campaign pledges, US media reported.

Trump is due to speak Wednesday to employees at the Department of Homeland Security -- which handles immigration  and sign orders there on refugees and national security, according to The Washington Post and CNN.

"Big day planned on national security tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!" Trump tweeted late Tuesday.

Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

Trump launched his presidential campaign with a promise to build a wall along America's long  and porous  southern border with Mexico, coupled with a tough immigration stance.

He also called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" until authorities can better screen those who come into the country.

What remains unclear is how the orders would be implemented by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who told his confirmation hearing that the border wall might not "be built anytime soon."

On Thursday, Trump is expected to sign executive orders on immigration and on so-called sanctuary cities, where local officials refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities on such things as handing over illegal immigrants for deportation.

The orders would restrict immigration and access to the United States for refugees and visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, according to the Post, which noted that citizens from many of these countries already face big obstacles in obtaining US visas.

Immigration experts told the newspaper that the orders would stop all admissions of refugees for 120 days, including those seeking shelter from Syria's brutal civil war, and a 30-day halt to issuing immigrant and non-immigrant visas to people from some countries with Muslim majorities.

The Post cited people familiar with the matter as saying that Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon, his attorney general pick Jeff Sessions and other senior advisers were heavily involved in discussions about the orders.

Trump has also controversially vowed to scrap the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which his predecessor Barack Obama instituted in 2012.

The program allows more than 750,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the country as young children to live and work in the United States without fear of deportation.

But whether, and how, Trump addresses DACA this week was unclear.

"Many options are being worked through on DACA," the Post quoted a White House official as saying.

In addition to the border wall, Trump also wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) with Mexico and Canada, warning last week that he would abandon the pact unless the United States gets "a fair deal."

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto vowed on Monday that there would be "neither confrontation nor submission" in the negotiations, which will include trade, immigration and other issues.
In a dramatic move that will have multiple ramifications on global trade, the United States under President Donald Trump withdrew from the multilateral Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal on Monday. The latest decision became one of the first executive orders signed by the newly-inaugurated president. It is to be noted that Trump during his electoral campaign had promised to scrap the deal on the first day of him taking office.

"Great thing for the American worker, what we just did," Trump told reporters on Monday after he signed the order.

US gov't shifting trade policies, as #Trump withdraws from #TPP trade pact. IMF warns protectionism could threat global growth pic.twitter.com/Y0j66cN8kW  China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 24, 2017

The TPP deal was finalised by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama who intended to strengthen United States' trade relations with countries in the Pacific region  Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru. Several Republicans and Democrats had been supportive of the deal, with Obama taking the help of House Speaker Paul Ryan to pass the legislation in House of Representatives. However, many others like Democrat Bernie Sanders opposed it, noted The Independent.

The publication added that the bill legitimising the deal is expected to be rejected by the Senate due to the controversy it has created among the working class Americans. Reacting to the scrapping of the contentious deal, Sanders, known for his socialist leanings, welcomed the move and was quoted by the publicaiton as saying, "Now is the time to develop a new trade policy that helps working families, not just multi-national corporations."

Sanders has reportedly also offered to work with Trump on economic issues. Sanders' statement on the TTP assumes significance as critics have been dismissing the deal as "Nafta on steroids". signifying it as the ill product of rampant globalisation. Opposition to the deal stems from the fact that TPP would have helped US multinationals get cheaper labour in low wage countries of Asia and South America- Vietnam and Peru; in the process shifting the country's manufacturing sector base to the other signatory nations of the deal, which critics feel, will take away jobs from workers in the United States. This is also the reason given by Trump, during his presidential campaign.

Here is an excerpt of what he said during one of his campaign speech condemning the deal:

"The Trans-Pacific Partnership will undermine our economy, and it will undermine our independence. The TPP creates a new international commission that makes decisions the American people can't veto, making it easier for our trading competitors to ship cheap subsidised goods into US markets  while allowing foreign countries to continue putting barriers in front of our exports."

Even Democratic Party presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, who once called the deal a "Gold Standard", did a complete volte-face and promised to reverse the deal if voted to power. Probably, the candidates were pandering to the anti-TPP sentiments among the working class Americans.

Will be meeting at 9:00 with top automobile executives concerning jobs in America. I want new plants to be built here for cars sold here!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2017

While political opposition to the deal revolves around its effect on workers and the US economy in general, some anti-globalisation activists look at a larger picture.

Writing for The Huffington Post, Dana Geffner of the Fair World Project, opined that while the TPP reportedly helps the agriculture sector, it is the large industry-level agriculturists and not the small ones who would be benefited by the now-defunct deal. Geffner also added that even many medical professionals oppose TPP as it could keep affordable drugs out of the hands of the poor on acocunt of stricter patent laws.

However, every story has a flip story to it. Supporters state geo-politics and the new economic opportunities that the deal opens up for a country rising from a slowdown as reasons to implement the TPP. With the TPP deal dead, Trump baiters feel that China has won an easy victory, which will help Beijing assert its dominance over the Pacific region.

The US, on the other hand, will gradually lose its grip over the region, were Obama intended to 'pivot' to Asia to counter a resurgent China.

With the Trump adminsitration reportedly taking an inward-looking stance on economic and domestic policy, the scrapping of TPP is just the beginning of the shift in US's policy. Many believe Nafta, the flagship trade deal signed by Bill Clinton in 1993, which also includes Mexico and Canada, is next in the list of Trump's plan to overhaul the economic trajectory of the country. Also, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which involves the European Union, is also on Trump's radar.

However, while India is not a signatory to the multilateral agreement, does it have any impact on our country? According to Dhruva Jaishankar, senior foreign policy analyst at Brookings India, the demise of the deal might slow down the negotiations to create a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with the help of China. Economically, however, it won't have a major impact on india, with India losing only two to six billion dollar or just 0.1 percent of GDP by 2030.

Trump's latest action is significant as the world's biggest economy is all set to break the general trend of globally integrated trade and commerce and adopt a more protectionist approach. This might have a long term impact on global economy as many other countries might follow suit.
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi, John Irish and Olzhas Auyezov

| ASTANA

ASTANA Russia and regional powers Turkey and Iran backed a shaky truce between Syria's warring parties on Tuesday and agreed to monitor its compliance, but on the ground rebels faced continued fighting on two fronts which could undermine the deal.After two days of deliberations in Astana, Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said the powers had agreed in a final communique to establish a system "to observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire, prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the ceasefire."While welcoming the text, the Syrian government's chief negotiator Bashar Ja'afari said an offensive against rebels west of Damascus would carry on. Rebels say it is a major violation of the ceasefire agreed on Dec. 30.Opposition negotiator Mohammad Alloush said he had reservations about the text which he said legitimised Iran's "bloodletting" in Syria and did not address the role of Shi'ite militias fighting rebels.In northwest Syria, heavy fighting erupted between the jihadist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and Free Syrian Army factions who were represented at the Astana talks.FSA groups are reeling after being driven from Aleppo city last month by government forces and their allies. Any further loss of territory in their main northern stronghold - this time at the hands of jihadist insurgents - could leave them too weak to achieve any meaningful gains from peace negotiations.In Astana, rebel and government delegates held indirect talks for the first time in nine months at a time when Turkey, which backs the rebels, and Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, want to disentangle themselves from the fighting. That has led them into an ad-hoc alliance that also appears to enshrine Iran in a process that could lead to some form of political settlement - leaving the United Nations' role unclear, especially with the United States distracted by domestic issues.The talks represent a coup for Moscow, which has evolved into the main powerbroker since its military intervention in September 2015 to shore up Assad. "We have managed ... to give birth to the Astana process," the head of the Russian delegation, Alexander Lavrentyev, told reporters.

The final text did not go into any details beyond reaffirming the Turkish-Russian Dec. 30 ceasefire. A Western diplomat said the three powers agreed to meet again in Astana on Feb. 6 to discuss the mechanism.In Washington, the State Department called on Russia, Turkey and Iran "to press regime, pro-regime, and opposition forces to abide by the ceasefire in order to create an environment more conducive to intra-Syrian political discussions."Acting spokesman Mark Toner said: "We look forward to the resumption of U.N.-sponsored intra-Syrian talks between the regime and opposition groups."

FIGHTING FOR WATER

Since the ceasefire announcement, government-backed forces have launched an offensive northwest of Damascus in the Wadi Barada area, where fighting intensified on Tuesday.The government and its allies, including Lebanese group Hezbollah were trying to push forward in Ain al-Fija, where springs and a pumping station that supply most of the capital's water are located.Rebels had come to the meeting hoping Moscow would put pressure on the Iranians to curb military offensives. "The Russians have moved from a stage of being a party in the fighting and are now exerting efforts to become a guarantor. They are finding a lot of obstacles from (Lebanon's Shi'ite) Hezbollah forces, Iran and the regime," Alloush told reporters after the talks.

He said he expected Russia to respond within a week to a rebel ceasefire proposal and that rebels would never allow Iran, which they accuse of trying to change the demographic make-up of certain Sunni Muslim areas, to have a say in Syria's future.Government envoy Ja'afari said it was "pitiful" that some "armed terrorist groups in Astana" were criticising Iran, one of the three guarantors.Western diplomats attending the talks informally said despite a lack of detail about the ceasefire, it was positive that the final communique mentioned reviving the U.N. political talks in Geneva under U.N. resolution 2254 and that the three powers agreed to jointly fight Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, which changed its name from Nusra Front last year, and to separate them from armed opposition groups.However, Assad's foreign backers and opponents have rarely agreed on exactly which fighters represent moderate rebel forces and which ones are jihadists.The U.N. Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who was attending the Astana talks, said he now hoped to reconvene peace talks in Geneva next month."We (the UN) are the main player in regards to the political process," de Mistura said. "The political process should continue in Geneva ... We cannot allow another ceasefire to be, in a way, wasted, because of a lack of a political process." (Additional reporting by Kinda Makieh, Denis Dyomkin and Lesley Wroughton; writing by John Irish; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Giles Elgood)

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The lawyer of Deputy Head of the Mejlis of Crimean Tatar People Ilmi Umerov, Nikolai Polozov, has been detained in Simferopol by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and taken for interrogation.

"Nicholai Polozov has been detained by FSB officers and is being taken for interrogation," Head of the Central Election Commission of Qurultay (the national congress) of the Crimean Tatar People Zair Smedlyaev wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

Russian lawyer Mark Feygin wrote on Twitter: "I phoned Crimean lawyer Kurbedinov and he confirmed the detention of Nikolai Polozov. He was taken to the FSB department for questioning in Umerov's case."

According to him, the aim of his detention is to prevent Polozov from defending Umerov. "I think they will try to question Polozov, he will refuse referring to Article 51 and they will let him go. But the goal will be achieved. He will not be able to defend Umerov," Feygin added.

Mejlis Chairman, MP Refat Chubarov wrote on his Facebook page: "The FSB of Russia is seeking to completely isolate the repressed Crimean Tatars from their defense lawyers."

Earlier Umerov said the FSB intends to present altered charges against him on January 27. "Yesterday, the FSB investigator called. We agreed to meet on 14:30 on Friday, January 27. I would be presented the altered charges. I do not really understand what this means. I will tell you what I can after the meeting," he wrote on his Facebook page.

According to the Information Center for Human Rights, Polozov was due to arrive in court on Wednesday for the case of Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Akhtem Chiygoz, but he didn't appear at the morning session.

As reported, investigators of the Crimean Russian FSB in May 2016 opened a criminal case against Umerov under Article 280.1 of the Russian Criminal Code on suspicion of incitement to violation of territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.

On May 13, FSB officers imposed travel restrictions on Umerov. On August 11, a court in Simferopol granted the petition of the FSB investigator on Umerov's forced forensic psychiatric examination. On September 7, Umerov was released from a mental hospital.
By Katie Paul

| RIYADH

RIYADH Saudi Arabia and France, both backers of Syrian rebels, said on Tuesday they hoped Syrian truce talks in Astana would lead to a resumption of U.N.-led peace efforts in Geneva and more aid to civilians suffering from five years of war.In a joint news conference, foreign ministers Jean-Marc Ayrault of France and Adel al-Jubeir of Saudi Arabia also suggested that cooperation with new U.S. President Donald Trump would be important on a range of Middle East issues.Iran, Russia and Turkey ended truce talks in Kazakhstan on Tuesday with the announcement of a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with a shaky truce between Syrian warring parties.Saudi Arabia did not take part in the Astana meetings, though a French envoy attended informally with other Western counterparts. The talks in Astana come after years of intermittent talks in Geneva failed to resolve the conflict. "We wish for the success of today's meeting. But I dont know if were going to reach a real agreement. We hope for negotiations to resume in Geneva," Ayrault said, according to an interpreter's translation of his remarks.

The next round of Geneva talks, led by the United Nations, will be held on Feb. 8. The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, took part in the Astana talks. Saudi Arabia, one of the chief backers of the rebels, has not indicated whether it will continue sending them military support since they were routed from their largest stronghold, Syria's second city of Aleppo, in December.The U.S. ambassador to Khazakstan represented Washington at the talks.

Jubeir said he was optimistic about the possibilities of regional powers working with the Trump administration. He expressed confidence in Trump's cabinet nominees, including national security adviser Michael Flynn, whom he described as "an American patriot."Flynn ruffled feathers with divisive rhetoric on the campaign trail, such as a Twitter comment that "Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL."

Ayrault was more circumspect about the likelihood of cooperation with Trump, and noted that uncertainties existed about the new administration's policies.He reiterated support for a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem, suggesting a conflict with Trump's plan to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and raised questions about U.S. leadership on trade and climate change."The U.S. is a powerful country. Its a superpower. And it carries responsibilities to the world. Even if it is defending the interests of its people, it cannot defend its peoples interests without a multilateral approach," Ayrault said. (Reporting by Katie Paul; Writing by William Maclean and Tom Finn; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

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BERLIN The leader of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) has called for the right to asylum that is enshrined in the country's constitution to be replaced by a non-binding right granted by grace.More than a million migrants, many of them Muslims from the Middle East, have arrived in Germany since the start of 2015, and ensuing fears about security and difficulties in integrating the newcomers have swelled the popularity of the right-wing AfD. Germany will hold its next general election in September."We are in favour of the asylum law laid out in Article 16a being changed and think it must be transformed into a grace privilege granted by the state," Frauke Petry, co-leader of the AfD, said in an interview with the weekly newspaper Die Zeit due to be published on Thursday.While war refugees must be helped, many who claim to be refugees are not, said Petry, who caused outrage last year by suggesting police be given powers to use firearms against illegal immigrants.She said those who authored the constitution had been talking about "a very small number of people who post-war Germany should take in out of a sense of responsibility for the atrocities of World War Two".

She added: "There is definitely no obligation for Germany to ultimately shelter twice as many asylum seekers as all of the other European Union countries put together."The right to political asylum in Article 16a of Germany's Basic Law (constitution) is considered fundamental and such rights cannot be abolished. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the fundamental right to asylum for those who are being persecuted for political reasons cannot be restricted.Earlier this month her conservatives and their right-wing Bavarian allies floated the idea of a flexible target for how many asylum seekers Germany should accept each year as a compromise to end a dispute between them over immigration.

A poll by Forsa for German magazine Stern published on Wednesday put the AfD on 12 percent, up one point from last week, despite a scandal stirred by senior party member Bjoern Hoecke's reference to Berlin's Holocaust Memorial as a "monument of shame".Manfred Guellner, head of Forsa, said the survey was another sign that a large majority of AfD supporters share radical right-wing views like those expressed by Hoecke.

The AfD is expected to clear the 5 percent threshold to enter the national parliament in a federal election on Sept. 24. (Reporting by Matthias Sobolewski; writing by Michelle Martin; editing by Mark Heinrich)

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By Ori Lewis

| JERUSALEM

JERUSALEM Israel announced plans on Tuesday for 2,500 more settlement homes in the occupied West Bank, the second such declaration since U.S. President Donald Trump took office signalling he could be more accommodating toward such projects than his predecessor.A statement from the Israeli Defence Ministry, which administers lands Israel captured in a 1967 war, said the decision was meant to fulfil demand for new housing "to maintain regular daily life".Most of the construction, it said, would be in existing settlement blocs that Israel intends to keep under any future peace agreement with the Palestinians. However, a breakdown provided by the prime minister's office showed large portions of the planned homes would be outside existing blocs.Trump spoke by phone on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Tuesday, the new president's chief spokesman refrained from stating a position on the settlement announcement but said the two leaders would discuss settlement building when they meet in Washington next month.Asked whether Trump supports the latest settlement announcement, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters: "Israel continues to be a huge ally of the United States. He wants to grow closer with Israel." Pressed again on the issue, he said: "We'll have a conversation with the prime minister."The muted response from the Trump White House, which has promised an approach more aligned with Israel's government, was a clear departure from Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, whose aides routinely criticized settlement construction plans.U.N. Middle East envoy Nikolay Mladenov is due to brief the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors on Wednesday at the request of council member Bolivia, diplomats said. About 350,000 settlers live in the West Bank and a further 200,000 in East Jerusalem, which Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war. Beyond the major blocs, most of which are close to the border with Israel, there are more than 100 settlement outposts scattered across hilltops in the West Bank.

Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the Israeli announcement and said it would have "consequences". The West Bank and East Jerusalem are home to more than 2.6 million Palestinians."The decision will hinder any attempt to restore security and stability, it will reinforce extremism and terrorism and will place obstacles in the path of any effort to start a peace process that will lead to security and peace," he said. Palestinians want the West Bank and Gaza Strip for an independent state, with its capital in East Jerusalem. Israeli troops and settlers withdrew from Gaza in 2005.OBSTACLE TO PEACE

The European Union said Israel's settlement plans "further seriously undermine the prospects for a viable two-state solution".Most countries consider settlements illegal and an obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace as they reduce and fragment the territory Palestinians need for a viable state.Israel disagrees, citing biblical, historical and political connections to the land - which the Palestinians also assert - as well as security interests.During the U.S. election campaign, Trump indicated he would dispense with Obama's opposition to settlement building, a stance that delighted Netanyahu's government. He was sworn in on Friday.

On Sunday, Israel announced plans for hundreds of new homes in East Jerusalem, and the right-wing Netanyahu told senior ministers he was lifting restrictions on settlement construction across the board."We can build where we want and as much as we want," an official quoted Netanyahu as telling the ministers.Following Tuesday's announcement, the prime minister's office listed some of the West Bank areas scheduled for new construction. Not all were in settlement blocs."I have agreed with the defence minister to build 2,500 new homes in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) - we are building and will continue to build," Netanyahu wrote in a tweet. Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman is himself a settler. The Defence Ministry statement said 100 of the new homes would be in Beit El, a settlement which has received funding from the family of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, now a White House adviser.David Friedman, Trump's choice for ambassador to Israel and a staunch supporter of settlers, has served as president of the American Friends of Beit El, a group that raises funds for the settlement. (Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; writing by Ori Lewis; editing by Mark Heinrich, Howard Goller and Andrew Hay)

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By Tom Perry

| BEIRUT

BEIRUT Heavy fighting erupted in northwestern Syria on Tuesday between a powerful jihadist organisation and more moderate rebel groups, threatening to further weaken the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad in its biggest territorial stronghold.Rebel groups fighting under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner, some of which attended peace talks in Kazakhstan, accused the jihadist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham of launching a surprise attack on their positions.Fateh al-Sham, previously known as the Nusra Front, issued a statement which said it had been forced to act preemptively to "thwart conspiracies" being hatched against it. The group accused rebels attending the Kazakhstan talks of conspiring against it, but did not refer to Tuesday's fighting directly.One of the biggest groups in the insurgency, Fateh al-Sham has been targeted in a spate of U.S. air strikes in the northwest since the new year. It was left out of a ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey that came into effect on Dec. 30.The group changed its name after announcing it was cutting ties with al Qaeda last year.FSA officials said the attack targeted FSA groups in areas west of Aleppo and the adjacent rebel-held province of Idlib. One FSA commander said that in response "a comprehensive war" was now underway against Fateh al-Sham.Long-standing tensions between Fateh al-Sham and more moderate rebels, a number of them backed by Turkey and other states that have opposed Assad, have surfaced again since government forces helped by Russian air power and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias drove the rebels out of Aleppo last month.

The commander of Jaish al-Mujahideen, one of the FSA groups, told Reuters the "extremely fierce" Fateh al-Sham attack aimed to "eliminate the revolution and turn it black", a reference to the black flag flown by the jihadists in Syria.He said the group had seized "some positions", though these were far from its headquarters. In a statement, Jaish al-Mujahideen called for rebels to unite against the group."DIVERTING THE REVOLUTION"

The aim of the meeting in the Kazakh capital Astana, organised by Russia, Turkey and Iran, was to shore up the ceasefire that excludes Fateh al-Sham. The jihadist group said rebels had been forced to attend on "humilitating" terms.The Fateh al-Sham statement, which was dated Jan. 23 but published on Tuesday, said "conferences and negotiations" were "trying to divert the course of the revolution towards reconciliation with the criminal regime (of Assad)".It accused rebel factions that attended the Astana talks of agreeing to "isolate" and fight it, and accused its foes of giving away its positions to the U.S.-led coalition.

Fateh al-Sham said it was forced to act militarily and politically to "thwart the conspiracies and to confront them before they happen". Fateh al-Sham has a history of crushing FSA groups in the conflict that began in 2011.The U.S. air strikes mounted against Fateh al-Sham in recent weeks included an attack by a B-52 bomber last week that killed dozens of its fighters. The Pentagon said more than 100 al Qaeda militants had been killed in the attack in Idlib province.Ahrar al-Sham, an Islamist group widely believed to be backed by Turkey, accused Fateh al-Sham of attacking other groups without justification. It said that it was deploying fighters to prevent further fighting and to stop "Jabhat Fateh al-Sham or others" from launching attacks. An official in Jabha Shamiya, another FSA group, told Reuters the attack began overnight, describing it as a large assault in several areas. The official said it was the first time Fateh al-Sham had attacked the FSA groups in that area."What they are doing serves Iran and the regime - so there is no FSA left in the north - particularly with the factions' delegation now in Astana where the regime offered nothing with regards to the ceasefire," said the Jabha Shamiya official. (Additional reporting by Ali Abdelatti in Cairo; Editing by Gareth Jones)

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Istanbul: Bana Alabed, the seven-year-old girl whose tweets from Aleppo gave devasting insights into the Syrian war, has pleaded with new US President Donald Trump to "do something for the children in Syria" in an open letter, the media reported.

Bana amassed hundreds of thousands of followers for her messages from war-torn Aleppo sent with the help of her mother, Fatemah. The family was evacuated to Turkey in December during the mass evacuations, and is now living in Turkey.

"You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you," she said in the letter. Her mother said Bana wrote the letter days before Trump's inauguration, because "she has seen Trump many times on the TV", the BBC reported on Tuesday.

"I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war," she wrote in the letter. The girl told Trump her school in Aleppo was destroyed by the bombing and some of her friends had died.

"Right now in Turkey, I can go out and enjoy. I can go to school although I didn't yet. That is why peace is important for everyone including you."

"However, millions of Syrian children are not like me right now and suffering in different parts of Syria," she wrote.

Bana also offered her friendship to Trump saying, "If you promise me you will do something for the children of Syria, I am already your new friend."

At least 15,000 children are among the more than 300,000 people who have been killed in Syria's six-year war between President Bashar al-Assad's regime and rebel forces. It is not known if Trump has responded.
By Julia Edwards Ainsley

| WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed directives to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and crack down on U.S. cities that shield illegal immigrants, proceeding quickly on sweeping and divisive plans to curb immigration and boost national security.The Republican president is also expected to take steps in the coming days to limit legal immigration, including executive orders restricting refugees and blocking the issuing of visas to people from several Muslim-majority Middle Eastern and North African countries including Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen.Trump signed two executive orders at the Department of Homeland Security, one ordering construction of a wall along the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) U.S.-Mexico border and the other moving to strip federal grant money from "sanctuary" states and cities, often governed by Democrats, that harbour illegal immigrants.In cities such as San Francisco local officials, often Democrats, refuse to cooperate with federal authorities on actions against illegal immigrants. "The American people are no longer going to have to be forced to subsidise this disregard for our laws," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said. In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Trump said construction on the wall would start within months, with planning starting immediately, and that Mexico would pay back to the United States "100 percent" of the costs. Mexican officials have said they will not pay for the wall.During a White House briefing, Spicer referred to the wall as "a large physical barrier on the southern border.""Building this barrier is more than just a campaign promise, it's a common sense first step to really securing our porous border," Spicer added. "This will stem the flow of drugs, crime, illegal immigration into the United States," he said.Trump has long said that he will make Mexico pay for the wall.

"We'll be reimbursed at a later date from whatever transaction we make from Mexico," Trump told ABC on Wednesday. "I'm just telling you there will be a payment. It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form. What I'm doing is good for the United States. It's also going to be good for Mexico. We want to have a very stable, very solid Mexico."His plans prompted an immediate outcry from immigrant advocates who said Trump was jeopardizing the rights and freedoms of millions of people.'POLITICAL THEATRE'

"The border wall is about political theatre at the expense of civil liberties," said Christian Ramirez, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition immigrant advocacy group.

"It is not national security policy. Border communities are among the safest in the nation and patrolling them with tens of thousands of heavily armed, poorly trained, unaccountable agents puts lives at risks. This will turn these communities into de facto military zones," Ramirez said.Trump made cracking down on illegal immigration a key element of his presidential campaign, with supporters often chanting "Build the wall," during his rallies.The cost, nature and extent of the wall remain unclear. Trump last year put the cost at "probably $8 billion," although other estimates are higher, and said the wall would span 1,000 miles (1,600 km) because of the terrain of the border.Many Democrats have opposed the plan and could try to thwart any legislation to pay for the construction in the U.S. Congress, although Republicans control both the Senate and House of Representatives.

Spicer said Trump's directives would also end the practice known by critics as "catch and release" in which authorities apprehend illegal immigrants on U.S. territory but do not immediately detain or deport them. He said they would create more detention space for illegal immigrants along the southern border to make it easier and cheaper to detain and deport them.Trump's actions could fundamentally change the American stance on immigration, as well as further testing relations with Mexico.Many Americans view their country with pride as "a nation of immigrants," and President John Kennedy wrote a book with that title more than half a century ago. But Trump successfully tapped into resentment toward the roughly 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States and said during the campaign he would deport them all.Trump, who in announcing his presidential bid in June 2015 accused Mexico of sending rapists and criminals into the United States, has also threatened to slap hefty taxes on companies that produce in Mexico for the U.S. market and to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the Mexico, Canada and the United States.Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto are due to meet next week.Asked about Trump's wall, Republican U.S. Senator John McCain said a physical barrier is not enough to secure the border and called for the additional use of observation towers, drones and other technology."Walls can be easily breached," McCain, whose home state of Arizona borders Mexico, told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. (Reporting by Julia Edwards Ainsley; Additional reporting by Mica Rosenberg, Doina Chiacu, Andy Sullivan and Susan Heavey; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Frances Kerry and Alistair Bell)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Patricia Zengerle

| WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to confirm South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as Ambassador to the United Nations on Tuesday, as Republican President Donald Trump rounds out his national security team.Ninety-six senators backed Haley, and four opposed her.The only "no" votes came from three Democratic senators, Tom Udall, Chris Coons and Martin Heinrich, and Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.

While most lawmakers praised Haley, 45, the governor of South Carolina, a few expressed concerns about her lack of foreign policy experience. She has only ever held office in the U.S. state.

"The position of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations requires a high level of expertise on international affairs, not someone who will be learning on the job," Coons said.Haley was easily approved earlier on Tuesday in the 21-member Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Only two Democratic committee members, Coons and Udall, objected to her then.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Grant McCool)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Washington: FBI Director James Comey will continue to lead the top US law-enforcement agency, a media report has said. Comey has informed his senior staff that President Donald Trump asked him to stay on, despite the criticism he received for the way he managed the Hillary Clinton e-mail probe during the 2016 election, New York Post reported on Tuesday. Comey was accused of trying to influence the election in Trump's favour.

Just after Trump's surprise victory in November, the then President-elect said during a TV interview that he wasn't sure if he would keep Comey on. But the newly minted President recently told Comey that he "loves him" and called him a "great guy," the Post quoted a law-enforcement source.

Trump reportedly told Comey that he didn't "want him going anywhere". Comey dropped the news on his senior staff during a video conference earlier, saying that he "was not leaving". He was sworn in as the head of the FBI by former US President Barack Obama in 2013. Comey was, however, reported earlier to be navigating through rough terrain with the new president.

The FBI opened formal investigations into Trump's ex-campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and his ties to Russia, according to the New York Times.
Washington: US President Donald Trump will be ordering the construction of a border wall with Mexico on Wednesday, according to a media report.

White House officials told the New York Times that Trump was expected to sign the executive order directing federal funds to create the structure during an appearance at the Department of Homeland Security.

Building a wall on the Mexican border was one of Trump's biggest promises during his campaign. He ultimately believes that doing so would put a stop to the influx of illegal immigrants coming into the US. He has already held that "illegal" immigrants were responsible for costing him the popular vote.

"Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!" Trump tweeted on Tuesday night.

While the wall would not be completed for quite some time, officials told the New York Times the president was also considering a policy that would temporarily stop refugees from coming from Syria as well as other majority-Muslim nations that were deemed "terror prone".
At 10 am on 21 January, the energy on the streets was palpable. Women were everywhere, spilling onto the sidewalks and on the stairs of public buildings. A sea of pink drowned out individual faces and clever signs were hoisted with pride.

Mike Pence likes Nickelback!

Free Melania!

Chants broke out periodically; a popular refrain was a rhyme about tiny hands and underpants.

While millions of women  and men  took to the streets in all fifty states, on all seven continents (yes, even Antarctica), Donald J Trump was busy hanging his garish gold curtains on the White House windows.

Since Saturday, media outlets have been in awe over the sheer number of protesters who took to the streets following the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States of America, and the breadth of the seemingly unified action, spanning the globe. Comparisons between the march and the inauguration itself, which saw a fraction of the estimated millions of marchers, have already led to new contentions between the media and the notoriously reactive Chief of State. Hailed as a major success, the Womens March on Washington is the Internets darling.

But what exactly was it?

If the march served one overarching purpose, it was catharsis. Yelling, chanting, and singing in the streets, wearing pussies on their heads and greeting each other with calls of Nasty Woman! Temporarily liberated women in a way that is not possible in most peoples daily lives. In a world where being a woman is often more of a hindrance than a help, the Womens March brought people together to celebrate and bring to light issues that arent normally part of polite conversation. The pride of woman-ness and the indefatigable spirit of women in the face of oppression resonated around the globe and the result was a spirited mixture of general pro-women, anti-Trump rhetoric with a dash of environmental and racial justice thrown in.

But once the streets had cleared and even the most ardent marchers had hung up their pink pussy hats, there was only question on everyones mind. Where do we go from here?

Many people are rightfully asking themselves, what now? What steps can we collectively take to make our ideas stick? Where do we go from here, as a group? These questions are important, and theyll need to be answered. But they skip over several equally pressing questions that dont seem to be asked. First and foremost, who are we? Its no secret that the march itself was fraught with internal controversy. Race issues plagued the organisation of the marches from the beginning, with many women of colour feeling appropriated or excluded. To anyone who attended the marches, its not hard to see why. White was as ubiquitous as pink, and oversized pictures of uteri far outnumbered Black Lives Matter posters. A few posters held messages in languages other than English, but immigrant women were largely left out of the conversation. For a protest called the Womens March, it seemed to leave out not only many the worlds women, but many womens rights issues as well. Equal Pay is a great message, but it leaves out a whole world of economic inequalities that plague women. Reproductive rights are critical, but so are environmental rights, immigration policy, housing discrimination, police brutality, and criminal justice reform. To be fair, many of these issues were supported by the Marchs organisers, whose principles encompassed a broader range of issues than what was seen on the ground.

Still, the question remains. Aside from hand-knitted caps purchased on Etsy and Instagram-worthy protest signs, what have these protestors brought to the table? Is this the beginning of a powerful, connected movement to promote equality and prosperity for all Americans or will the masses move on as soon as there emerges something that promises more likes? The question is a purposely cynical one.

Trump himself weighed in on his favorite medium, tweeting Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didnt these people vote?

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

His point, though irritating, was for once, salient (even if accidentally so). While he lost the popular election by nearly 3 million votes, a fact that often seems to slip his mind, the question stands  where were we? More importantly, where were we before Trump was elected? How many of those women who donned pins and sashes marched through their own communities in the months leading up to the election, knocking on doors and engaging their neighbors in serious discussions about womens health issues, or any issues?

If thats a criticism, its a mild one. Now is not the time to look back with regret, but to use past shortcomings to build a stronger movement going forward. As Trump blasts through his first week in the office, developing coherent platforms and effective organisation of resources is becoming increasingly pressing. To do this, women will need to focus on expanding their understanding of womens issues and reach out to leaders in a variety of communities. Women of colour, disabled woman, trans women, poor women, Native women, Muslim women, and immigrant women will need to be at the forefront of these movements. No successful and encompassing womens movement can be built on the ideal of a pantsuit nation. Nor can comprehensive and strategic political goals be met by simply showing up in a snarky t-shirt.

Just two days after the already-historic march, Donald Trump dealt a powerful blow to women across the world by re-instating the Mexico City Policy. Known as the Global Gag Rule, the policy prevents recipients of USAID and other types of US funding from perform[ing] or actively promot[ing] abortion in their health and family planning services. This ban covers the entire organisation that receives funding, meaning that these organisations are not allowed to use their own, non-US funding to provide informational, counselling, or treatment services relating to abortion. First instituted by Reagan, the Mexico City Policy effectively allows the United States to interfere with foreign healthcare services that predominantly affect women.

It is worth noting that every Republican president since Reagan has reinstated this policy, while Democratic presidents have rescinded it, making it a dynamic but ultimately predictable policy change. Additionally, various Amendments to the Foreign Assistant Act restrict use of funds for abortion as a family planning method and lobbying independently of the Mexico City Policy.

How the reinstatement of the Mexico policy will impact worldwide abortion and healthcare over the next four years is yet to be seen. However, research done during the 2002-2006 Bush Administration, when the policy was in effect, showed that several key health NGOs chose to forgo US funding altogether rather than comply with the requirements of the policy, resulting in significantly reduced funding and a lower level of access to care for rural communities in several African countries. Subsequent studies have shown a correlation between exposure to the Mexico City Policy and higher abortion rates in Sun-Saharan Africa.

Since news broke of Trumps reinstatement of the controversial policy, many women have taken to social media to express their concern about their reproductive rights, seemingly not understanding the actual implications of the policy. Once the confusion clears and they realise that its only foreign women, often marginalized, often poor; the other, will their outrage hold? Will these women who organise so well for themselves reach out to their senators and congress people, their representatives, their friends, to protest the further disadvantaging of women so far away?

Will they protest just as fiercely for the women (for everyone) at Standing Rock, now that Trump has authorised construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline? If Trump revokes DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival), putting millions of immigrant women at risk, will women across the country take to the streets?

Hope says yes, but history suggests no. Womens movements in the United States have always been centered around the needs of a certain type of woman (read: white, financially stable) and a specific right, such as the right to vote or better wages. Historically, there hasnt been much space for diverse voices, particularly outside of racial diversity. An overcrowding of one voice combined with the nebulous goals of equality and womens rights risks turning momentum and enthusiasm into a confused mess of undirected discontent with too many internal disagreements to be mobilized in any meaningful way. Five days post-march, its still too early to tell whether the Womens March on Washington will evolve into a formidable political force or collapse under its own weight. The bones are there, but theres still much work to be done.

The Womens March on Washington has brought to light far more questions than its organizers or participants could have anticipated, and now is the time to answer them. Actually, years ago would have been a better time, but hindsight is 20/20.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that Russian leaders are doing everything in their power to weaken and divide European Union member state countries.

"Who does not benefit from EU bloc membership? France benefits, as does Germany and the UK, even despite Brexit, as does Finland and the Finns. Russia is attempting to weaken the EU. Putin wants to dissolve trust in the bloc and to divide the EU in order to exert influence on EU member states individually," the Ukrainian president said in an interview with the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.

The Ukrainian head of state said he is upset with the current development of the situation in the EU.

"They say Putin believes the USSR was the biggest tragedy of the 1990s," Poroshenko said. "For me, it would be a tragedy if the EU collapsed."

Poroshenko said the Finns understand perfectly well what is taking place in eastern Ukraine because they themselves survived the so-called "winter war" [with Russia].

"Mannerheim [a Finnish leader and statesman] united the people of Finland. We are confident of our position in the situation with Russia, despite the fact that Russia's army is much more powerful than our own. We are capable of defending our state, our own European values. This is why Mannerheim is popular in Ukraine as well," Poroshenko said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its strong protest against the ruling of the Moscow's Lefortovsky Court to extend the arrest of Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko and demands to immediately release him, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marian Betsa has said.

"Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed protest in connection with the ruling to extend the arrest of Roman Sushchenko for another three months until April 30, 2017, which is actually based on trumped-up charges. It is a political process and a political case. The Russian judicial branch strongly denies to change the preventive measure to a not custodial detention, which indicates at political bias of the judicial system and continuation of the psychological pressure on the Ukrainian citizen," Betsa said in her comments to Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.

She also said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on the Russian authorities to immediately stop the arbitrariness against Ukrainian citizens and free Ukrainian journalist Sushchenko.

As reported, on Wednesday, the Lefortovsky court of Moscow sanctioned Sushchenko's arrest until the end of April, who is being charged of espionage by Russia.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is ready to take part in the reform of PJSC Ukrzaliznytsia but not as part of its supervisory board, EBRD Director for Ukraine Sevki Acuner has said.

"We do not participate in the supervisory board, but the reform of corporate governance at five priority state-owned companies is on our agenda  We will not be in the supervisory board, it is not our role," he said in exclusive comments to Interfax-Ukraine.

Acuner said the supervisory board should be independent.

He added the nomination committee for the appointment of heads of strategic state enterprises will hold its next meeting after the government makes decision on the need for the selection of heads of certain enterprises.
Unidentified vandals have defiled a memorial dedicated to the memory of the victims of mass political repressions executed by Soviet NKVD employees in Bykivnia, a suburb of Kyiv, head of the Ukrainian National Memory Institute Volodymyr Viatrovych said.

"The Ukrainian and Polish memorials to the NKVD victims were desecrated in Bykivnia near Kyiv. The vandals, who most likely did this at night, left traces resembling those in Huta Peniatska," he wrote on his Facebook page.

The photographs which Viatrovych has made public show the words 'SS Galicia' had been left in red paint on the Polish part of the memorial and the name of the OUN-UPA on the Ukrainian one.

The Polish Embassy to Ukraine has filed a note with the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry with the demand to determine the circumstances of the incident in Bykivnia, Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Joanna Wajda said on her Twitter page.

"The Polish Embassy to Ukraine has filed a note with the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, in which we are calling for the ascertaining of the circumstances and the uncovering of those who vandalized the Polish war cemetery in Bykivnia," Wajda wrote.

The Bykivnia Graves national historical and memorial reserve is situated in the Bykivnia populated locality. In 1937-1941 the Bykivnia forest was a secret burial place of the victims of mass political repressions who were executed by NKVD employees at Kyiv prisons. According to Ukrainian historians, 30,000-35,000 executed residents of Kyiv and its region, as well as over 3,500 foreign citizens, are buried in Bykivnia.

As reported, it became known on January 10 that unidentified vandals in the Lviv region partially damaged a monument to the Polish residents of the village of Huta Peniatska killed during the Second World War.
Google at the British Education and Training Technology (BETT) Show in London introduced Acer Chromebook Spin 11 (R751T) and Asus Chromebook C213 for education. Both these have a 11.6 inch (1366  768) touchscreen display. The Acer Chromebook Spin 11 also has military grade durability (U.S. MIL-STD 810G compliant) and comes with a stylus powered by Wacom EMR (Electro-Magnetic Resonance) technology.

Google is bringing support for handwriting recognition to Chrome OS to support pen input, using machine learning to improve text recognition. Apps like Google Keep will also support optical character recognition so that you can search for notes without first converting handwriting to text.

The Acer Chromebook Spin 11 R751T has two Acer HD wide view HDR webcams, including a 1MP camera above the screen and a 5MP camera above the keyboard, which can be used in tablet mode.

It comes in two models with Intel Celeron N3350 dual-core or Celeron N3450 quad-core processor, 4GB or 8GB of RAM and 32GB to 64GB eMMC flash storage options. It has two USB 3.1 Type-C ports, WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, two USB Type-A 3.0 ports and a microSD card slot. Detailed specifications for Asus Chromebook C213 are not known yet.

Both the Acer Chromebook Spin 11 and the Asus Chromebook C213 will be arriving late spring. No details about the pricing yet.

Source
The Canadian economy is highly dependent on natural resources, and when conditions in the commodity turned sour in 2015, shares of Canadian National Railway (CNI 3.02%) took a major hit. However, over the past year, Canadian National has done a good job of bouncing back from the difficulties it suffered and making the most of the tough environment. Coming into Tuesday's fourth-quarter financial report, CN investors were hoping for signs of further recovery, and Canadian National's results showed the progress that the railroad has made. Let's look more closely at the latest from Canadian National and what it means looking forward to 2017.

Canadian National steams ahead

Canadian National Railway's fourth-quarter results were encouraging. Revenue rose by 2% to C$3.22 billion, which was just shy of what most investors were looking to see. However, net income climbed 8% to C$1.02 billion, reaching a new record. That produced adjusted earnings of C$1.23, and that was C$0.02 better than the consensus forecast among those following the stock.

Looking more closely at the numbers, Canadian National's success came from a number of areas. The railroad attributed its sales gains to strength in the Canadian grain market, as well as soybean transport from the U.S., refined petroleum products, finished vehicles, and petroleum coke. However, weakness in crude oil, U.S. thermal coal, and drilling pipe weighed on revenue. CN enjoyed freight rate increases, but fuel surcharges were lower. Revenue from grain and fertilizers jumped 14% from year-ago levels, while declines of 6% for coal and for the metals and minerals segment led decliners.

From an operational standpoint, the company had a mixed performance. Car loadings for the quarter rose 3% to 1.37 million, and revenue ton-miles were up 4% from year-ago levels. However, rail freight revenue per revenue ton-mile fell 3%. Also, higher casualty and other expenses sent operating expenses up 1% for the quarter, although cost-management initiatives and productivity gains had the effect of keeping expenses down somewhat.

For the full year, CN's results weren't quite as pretty. Sales dropped 5% to C$12.04 billion, as coal, metals and minerals, and petroleum and chemicals all suffered double-digit percentage revenue declines. Car loadings were down 5%, and revenue ton-miles fell 5% as well. Still, Canadian National had good performance on its operating ratio, which fell to 55.9% in 2016, improving by more than two percentage from 2015's figures.

CEO Luc Jobin was happy with the results. "Despite facing difficult winter conditions in December," Jobin said, "CN delivered very strong fourth-quarter results and throughout 2016 demonstrated once again its ability to perform well in a mixed economic environment." The CEO noted that volume weakness didn't stop the railroad from adjusting to maximize efficiency and deliver high-quality service.

What's next for Canadian National?

Looking ahead, CN remains optimistic about its future. Jobin acknowledged that the economy remains "challenging" but believes that the railroad will see modest volume growth in 2017.

The question is whether investors will be satisfied with the extent to which Canadian National keeps rebounding. The company gave guidance for earnings-per-share growth in the mid-single digit percentage range for 2017, compared to its final figure of C$4.59 per share for 2016. The current consensus forecast among investors is for an earnings jump of nearly 8%, and so some might be disappointed with the forecast.

Nevertheless, Canadian National approved a 10% dividend increase for the year. Going forward, CN will pay C$0.4125 per share every quarter. That dividend growth is slower than the 20% hike that the railroad gave shareholders last year, but it still represents a nice boost under tough conditions.

Canadian National shareholders didn't respond immediately to the report, leaving shares unchanged in after-hours trading immediately following the announcement. Given how far the railroad's stock has climbed, it wouldn't be surprising to see a brief pause in its upward movement. However, if conditions continue to improve in the industries it serves, then CN could enjoy even greater fundamental business success in the near future.
"Excited" -- but with a "lot of uncertainty."

Those words were used by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 0.45%) CEO Alex Gorsky in describing his take on the healthcare industry going into 2017. President Donald Trump could deliver both excitement and uncertainty for the giant healthcare company that Gorsky leads. What impact might four to eight years of a Trump presidency have on J&J?

Obamacare repeal

On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order taking a swing at Obamacare. The executive order allows federal agencies to waive or delay enforcement of provisions in the health reform legislation 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."

President Trump promised in his campaign that he would repeal and replace Obamacare. Republicans in Congress have already taken the first steps to repeal the legislation, although details aren't available yet on what will replace it.

How might a repeal of Obamacare impact Johnson & Johnson? A permanent removal of the medical device tax included in the legislation would help the company. But anyone thinking that a loss of Obamacare could mean bad news for J&J with lower hospital utilization of its products might be surprised.

Alex Gorsky stated at the J. P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Jan. 9 that his company hasn't seen a significant increase in hospital volumes under Obamacare. It's possible that J&J won't feel much of an effect from repeal of the healthcare reform law.

Trade policies

President Trump's trade policies, however, could make a big difference for Johnson & Johnson. Nearly half of the company's revenue stems from international markets.

Perhaps the most important effect on J&J could be what happens between the U.S. and China. President Trump took a hard stance against China's trade policies during his campaign. His nominee for commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, referred to China as "the most protectionist country of very large countries" in his confirmation hearing. Ross also said that the U.S. "should not put up with" unfair trading policies.

A trade skirmish with China would hurt Johnson & Johnson. Although the company doesn't detail how much of its revenue comes from the country, J&J has specifically cited growth in China as a big driver for the success of several of its products, including Dabao cosmetics and prostate cancer drug Zytiga.

Drug pricing

President Trump wants to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. Should he succeed in making this a reality, it could cause heartburn for many drugmakers. How could this change impact J&J?

Medicare spent over $5.7 billion in 2015 on seven of J&J's drugs: Imbruvica, Invega Sustena, Prezista, Remicade, Velcade, Xarelto, and Zytiga. That represented 35% of the company's combined revenue from the drugs and over 18% of J&J's total pharmaceutical sales in 2015.

The financial effect on Johnson & Johnson from negotiating with Medicare will depend on how significant any price concessions are. It's fair to say, though, that the company's top and bottom lines could be negatively impacted from the proposed change.

Tax reform

So far, we've only looked at potential negative effects on J&J from potential actions by President Trump. However, there are a couple of the president's proposals that could help Johnson & Johnson tremendously.

First, President Trump has proposed reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%. We can relatively easily calculate the potential effect of such a reduction on J&J. The company expects to make around $72 billion for 2016. Assuming that roughly 52% of that total will be generated in the U.S., J&J would pay federal taxes of $13.1 billion under the current rate. With President Trump's proposed rate, the company would pay $5.6 billion. That's an additional $7.5 billion per year for Johnson & Johnson based on its 2016 performance.

Second, the president has also floated the idea of a one-time repatriation of corporate cash parked overseas at a lower tax rate of 10%. Johnson & Johnson reported $38.2 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities held by its foreign subsidiaries at the beginning of 2016. Using that amount as a guide, the company could potentially free up around $3.4 billion after taxes for use in the U.S. under President Trump's proposed repatriation plan.

Overall impact

What's the overall impact of President Trump's policies on Johnson & Johnson? The potential positives from the corporate tax reform proposals should outweigh any negatives from allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Repeal of Obamacare probably won't be a huge factor for the company. The big wild card, though, is the prospect of retaliatory trade policies with China.

Overall, it seems likely that Johnson & Johnson will do well under the Trump Administration. After all, the company has managed to perform well under the previous 22 presidencies. I think that J&J CEO Alex Gorsky is right, though: There's a lot of uncertainty.
NABU, SAP ask court to allow pre-trial investigation into judge Chaus' case in his absentia

Agents of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) in coordination with prosecutors from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) have lodged a claim with Kyiv's Solomyansky district court, asking for permit to conduct a pre-trial investigation into the case of judge of Kyiv's Dniprovsky district court Mykola Chaus in his absentia.

The two agencies decided to take such a measure because the suspect is at large and wanted internationally, the NABU's press service said on Wednesday.

"He has been informed about an interrogation in accordance with the laws. Relevant announcements, as required by law, were published in the official press: the government's Uriadovy Kurier and on the Bureau's website," it said.

Mykola Chaus, a judge from Kyiv's Dniprovsky District Court, on November 11, 2016, was placed on Interpol's international wanted list.

Chaus is suspected of committing a crime pursuant to Part 4 of Article 368 of Ukraine's Criminal Code (accepting, offering or promising a bribe).

As earlier reported, on August 9, 2016, agents from NABU with agents from the SAPO discovered Chaus had received a bribe of $150,000. The money was found in two glass jars, which Chaus dug in the yard of his residence.

Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada on September 6 supported the representation of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) to detain and arrest Chaus. Rada Speaker Andriy Parubiy immediately signed the bill.

SAPO the same day said Chaus had fled to Russian-occupied Crimea.

Kyiv's Solomyansky District Court on September 12 gave permission to arrest Chaus.

In early October 12 NABU Head Artem Sytnyk said it was possible Chaus could return to Ukraine. He added that the necessary documents to place him on the Interpol wanted list were being prepared.

NABU sent Interpol documents relating to the case on October 21.
A federal appeals court said Tuesday it won't rehear a panel's decision letting companies like Microsoft refuse to turn over to the government customer emails stored overseas.

The judges of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals split their votes 4-4. Four judges wrote opinions dissenting from the decision.

Judge Dennis Jacobs noted in his dissent, which was joined by three other judges, that the information sought by prosecutors in a 2013 narcotics trafficking investigation was easily accessible in the United States at a computer terminal even though it was stored on a server in Dublin, Ireland.

He found it odd that athree-judge panel had previously concluded Microsoft could keep the information secret on privacy grounds, saying, "Privacy, which is a value or a state of mind, lacks location, let alone nationality."

"Territorially, it is nowhere," he added. "If I can access my emails from my phone, then in an important sense my emails are in my pocket, notwithstanding where my provider keeps its servers."

He said the judges who ruled in Microsoft's favor treated the data stored electronically as if it were paper documents.

"But electronic data are not stored on disks in the way that books are stored on shelves or files in cabinets," he said. He called the approach by his colleagues in their July ruling "unmanageable, and increasingly antiquated."

The government had asked the 2nd Circuit to take the rare move of letting all its judges hear the case after a three-judge panel last July said prosecutors cannot force corporations to release customers' emails and other data stored on servers overseas.

Last summer's ruling was a victory for high-tech companies in the cloud computing business. Microsoft stores data from over 1 billion customers and over 20 million businesses on servers in over 40 countries.

Prosecutors had sought information in 2013 from an email account stored in Dublin, saying they thought it was being used in narcotics trafficking.

The government had no immediate comment, a spokesman for lawyers in the case said.

A lawyer for Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp. said that the company welcomed the ruling and that U.S. needed to update its laws.

"This decision puts the focus where it belongs, on Congress passing a law for the future rather than litigation about an outdated statute from the past," Brad Smith said.
President Donald Trump gave a single dad from Illinois the surprise of a lifetime.

Shane Bouvet was invited to the Make America Great Again concert the night before Inauguration Day. At the concert, 24-year-old Bouvet, who had volunteered to help Donald Trumps cause throughout the campaign cycle, was taken behind the scenes to meet the 45th President of the United States.

I started walking into the white tent and they all just started clapping, and I felt Gods presence in there, I really did, Bouvet told Liz MacDonald during an interview on "Risk & Reward."

But the surprise didnt end there. Trump called Bouvets sick father on the phone and gifted the family a $10,000 check to help pay for Bouvets fathers cancer treatments.

Donald Trump is the most genuine, humble, caring person Ive ever met in my life, and I owe everything to him, Bouvet said, adding that he was also invited to one of the inaugural balls.
As tech journalists find ever more creative ways of taunting Donald Trump, it was just a matter of time before someone evoked the hallowed name of Steve Jobs. In answer to the perennial question, What would Steve (Jobs) do? Recodes Kara Swisher says, He sure wouldnt eat humble pie as the Trump era dawns.

Maybe not, but its a mistake to assume that Jobs would have been against Trumps business-friendly policies.

Having previously argued that leaders of Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and other tech giants should have stood up for what they believe in and boycotted a December meeting at Trump Tower, Swisher now laments the end of Silicon Valleys pirate era  a willingness to go rogue and fight the status quo.

Theres just one problem with that argument. It assumes those CEOs disagree with Trumps economic agenda of reducing regulations, cutting taxes, improving trade deals, securing the border and bringing manufacturing jobs back to America. While Im sure some do, I doubt if Jobs would have been among them.

According to Walter Isaacsons biography of the iconic CEO, Jobs said that oppressive regulations, a broken immigration system and an antiquated education system crippled by union work rules made it impossible for him to build Apples products in America.

When they met in 2010, Jobs told President Obama that he was headed for a one-term presidency because his policies were not business friendly. He complained about the high cost of doing business here relative to China, and said he couldnt possibly find the 30,000 engineers needed to staff a factory in the United States.

Jobs pushed the president on immigration reform that would grant visas to foreign-born graduates so they could remain here after obtaining engineering degrees. It made no sense to him that we would sacrifice coveted slots in our best universities, only to ship such in-demand workers back home.

While Trumps immigration policy is focused on deporting criminals and keeping terrorists out, he has said that he supports immigration of highly skilled workers, as long as those jobs are offered to American workers first and not used as a cheap labor program. Makes sense to me.

Thats not all Jobs and Trump have in common. Jobs possessed an unshakeable belief that you could change the world or, as he famously told the first Macintosh team, make a dent in the universe. It was well-known among those who worked for him that the worst thing you could ever say to Jobs was it cant be done.

After meeting with the president, it infuriated Jobs that Obama kept explaining to us reasons why things cant get done.

Trump, on the other hand, actually believed that a real estate tycoon and reality TV star could somehow become the first American President with absolutely no political or military experience. Political pundits laughed at the notion  much like the tech pundits laughed at Apples plan to enter the cellphone market.

Meanwhile, Jobs hand-picked successor, Apple CEO Tim Cook, has long supported tax reform consistent with Trumponomics. Testifying before Congress in 2013, Cook lobbied for dramatic simplification to federal tax rules, a lower corporate tax rate and an even lower repatriation rate to bring overseas capital back.

And in a 2010 BusinessWeek cover story, How America Can Create Jobs, Grove  former Intel chairman and long-time mentor to Jobs  made a forceful argument for a nationalist trade policy and tariffs on imports to resurrect Americas manufacturing sector, which he considered critical to the health of the economy and the nation.

In addition to his business policies, one more thing about Obama disappointed Jobs: Hes having trouble leading because hes reluctant to offend people or piss them off, he said. Yes, thats not a problem I ever had. Nor has Trump.
The White House seemed to debunk media reports Wednesday that the Trump administration instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to remove the climate change page from its website.

No, there is nothing that has come from the White House. Absolutely, not, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Wednesday when asked if there was a broader mandate going out to federal agencies about stopping all speech on climate change. Later Spicer told FOX News John Roberts that federal agencies have been told to adhere to their own policies.

Reuters was the first to report that Trumps team instructed EPAs communications team to remove links containing scientific global warming research, as well as detailed dates on emissions. The page was still online as of 3pm ET Wednesday. Before the statement from the White House, InsideEPA.com, an online environmental newsletter, reported that the EPA was temporarily suspending its plans to remove the main climate page amid reports the Office of General Counsel (OGC) is reviewing the implications of getting rid of that material. The EPA and OGC declined to provide further comment to FOX Business.

Amid the back and forth on Wednesday the idea of climate change topics being removed from the government agencys website fired up several environmental activists.

This is a disaster waiting to happen for the climate and its also a disaster for our democracy when the Office of the President is promoting false information and further more eliminating and censoring all the discussion around it, Jill Stein, former Green Party candidate, told FOX Business in reaction to the Reuters report. The claim that there are these tens of thousands of jobs waiting here with Pipelines, is absolutely false. We would have a bonanza of jobs with clean and renewable energy.

The non-profit Environmental Working Group also fired off a statement saying the EPA, like all federal agencies, is funded by taxpayer dollars, and Americans have the right to know whats being done to protect or harm public health and the environment.

The Kremlin may be able to get away with this kind of iron-handed censorship, but Americans of all political stripes should be furious, EWGs President Ken Cook wrote.

However, whether the site gets an overhaul or not, some EPA critics argue the agency became overgrown under the Obama administration, and its policies created more roadblocks for job growth than they did for reversing rising temperatures  and it is time for change.

Passing clean air, land, and water to future generations of Americans is one of the most important things we can do as inhabitants of this earth. But, like with all things, there must be a balance. An overzealous, idealistic EPA that asserts its power ignoring the economic realities of regulation only makes the shared goal of protecting our environment more difficult, Rep. Sam Graves wrote in an op-ed last week for the Hannibal Courier-Post.

As soon as Trump took office, all information on climate change was removed from the official White House website. The Obama team had transferred most of the information to www.obamawhitehouse.gov. Additionally, shortly after Trump was elected in November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly postponed a climate change summit originally scheduled for next month in Atlanta, a CDC spokesperson told FOX Business.

We are exploring options to reschedule the meeting while considering budget priorities for fiscal year 2017, including the current continuing resolution, and potential overlap with an APHA conference on the same topic also being held later in 2017, a CDC rep told FOX Business.

Trump spoke about his take on climate change in November in an interview with The New York Times, saying that he does think there is some connectivity with human activity and climate change, but when it comes to how much government can help fix the problem, it depends on how much its going to cost our companies.

You have to understand, our companies are noncompetitive right now, Trump reiterated to the New York Times at the time.

Former vice president Al Gore, a vocal activist on climate change, told the Hollywood Reporter earlier this month that Trump was receptive to some of what I had to say [on climate change], and I appreciated that, when the two met in December.
The Canadian economy is highly dependent on natural resources, and when conditions in the commodity turned sour in 2015, shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI) took a major hit. However, over the past year, Canadian National has done a good job of bouncing back from the difficulties it suffered and making the most of the tough environment. Coming into Tuesday's fourth-quarter financial report, CN investors were hoping for signs of further recovery, and Canadian National's results showed the progress that the railroad has made. Let's look more closely at the latest from Canadian National and what it means looking forward to 2017.

Image source: Canadian National Railway.

Canadian National steams ahead

Canadian National Railway's fourth-quarter results were encouraging. Revenue rose by 2% to C$3.22 billion, which was just shy of what most investors were looking to see. However, net income climbed 8% to C$1.02 billion, reaching a new record. That produced adjusted earnings of C$1.23, and that was C$0.02 better than the consensus forecast among those following the stock.

Looking more closely at the numbers, Canadian National's success came from a number of areas. The railroad attributed its sales gains to strength in the Canadian grain market, as well as soybean transport from the U.S., refined petroleum products, finished vehicles, and petroleum coke. However, weakness in crude oil, U.S. thermal coal, and drilling pipe weighed on revenue. CN enjoyed freight rate increases, but fuel surcharges were lower. Revenue from grain and fertilizers jumped 14% from year-ago levels, while declines of 6% for coal and for the metals and minerals segment led decliners.

From an operational standpoint, the company had a mixed performance. Car loadings for the quarter rose 3% to 1.37 million, and revenue ton-miles were up 4% from year-ago levels. However, rail freight revenue per revenue ton-mile fell 3%. Also, higher casualty and other expenses sent operating expenses up 1% for the quarter, although cost-management initiatives and productivity gains had the effect of keeping expenses down somewhat.

For the full year, CN's results weren't quite as pretty. Sales dropped 5% to C$12.04 billion, as coal, metals and minerals, and petroleum and chemicals all suffered double-digit percentage revenue declines. Car loadings were down 5%, and revenue ton-miles fell 5% as well. Still, Canadian National had good performance on its operating ratio, which fell to 55.9% in 2016, improving by more than two percentage from 2015's figures.

CEO Luc Jobin was happy with the results. "Despite facing difficult winter conditions in December," Jobin said, "CN delivered very strong fourth-quarter results and throughout 2016 demonstrated once again its ability to perform well in a mixed economic environment." The CEO noted that volume weakness didn't stop the railroad from adjusting to maximize efficiency and deliver high-quality service.

What's next for Canadian National?

Looking ahead, CN remains optimistic about its future. Jobin acknowledged that the economy remains "challenging" but believes that the railroad will see modest volume growth in 2017.

The question is whether investors will be satisfied with the extent to which Canadian National keeps rebounding. The company gave guidance for earnings-per-share growth in the mid-single digit percentage range for 2017, compared to its final figure of C$4.59 per share for 2016. The current consensus forecast among investors is for an earnings jump of nearly 8%, and so some might be disappointed with the forecast.

Nevertheless, Canadian National approved a 10% dividend increase for the year. Going forward, CN will pay C$0.4125 per share every quarter. That dividend growth is slower than the 20% hike that the railroad gave shareholders last year, but it still represents a nice boost under tough conditions.

Canadian National shareholders didn't respond immediately to the report, leaving shares unchanged in after-hours trading immediately following the announcement. Given how far the railroad's stock has climbed, it wouldn't be surprising to see a brief pause in its upward movement. However, if conditions continue to improve in the industries it serves, then CN could enjoy even greater fundamental business success in the near future.

10 stocks we like better than Canadian National Railway When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

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Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Canadian National Railway. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
A year after hundreds of sites in the state were found contaminated with a suspected carcinogen, the safety of groundwater is under scrutiny in the Legislature.

Rep. Mindi Messmer, a Democrat from Rye, has introduced several bills aimed at better protecting residents from toxic groundwater, including two that got their first hearing Tuesday. One would set up a commission to study long-term goals and requirements for drinking water along the state's seacoast. The second would require the state to consider chemical exposure "to children and other vulnerable populations" when determining the allowable levels for about 20 emerging chemicals that have turned in up drinking water and would call for the state to revisit those standards each year.

"I'd like to find a way to develop standards in the state of New Hampshire that are more protective for our children  the unborn children and the young children  for exposure to toxins like this and to be able to keep up with the science as it emerges," Messmer told a legislative committee.

Among the most worrisome of those chemicals is perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, part of a family of chemicals used to make nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpeting. It has been linked to cancer and other illnesses.

Since last year, PFOA has been found in the drinking water at 222 sites across the state. More than 180 sites are connected to contamination from a plastics company's facility in Merrimack. Similar contamination was found near the company's now-defunct plant in Vermont, and regulators in New York identified them as potentially responsible for chemical contamination in Hoosick Falls' water.

Scores of parents testified the current standard for PFOA, 70 parts per trillion, is too lax considering scientists are still learning about the health impacts of it. In Vermont the standard is 20 parts per trillion, and several other states have considered even lower standards.

Another contaminant, the suspected carcinogen 1,4-dioxane, has leaked into the groundwater at several sites in New Hampshire, including from a now-defunct dump owned by Dartmouth College. And, like PFOA, the state's standard of 3 parts per billion is far higher than other states', such as Massachusetts', which is 0.3 parts per billion.

Alayna Davis, whose 6-year-old son has elevated levels of PFOAs in his blood from drinking contaminated water, told legislators House Bill 485 is the type of legislation "that will help make sure my family is protected."

"Unfortunately," she said, "superfund sites are in our backyards where our kids are playing, and our families are being exposed to many toxins and emerging contaminants as a result."

The state has come out against the bill, saying it trusts the federal government to set the standards for these chemicals  even as Republican President Donald Trump's administration announced a media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency and barred staff from awarding any new contracts or grants.

The assistant commissioner of the Department of Environmental Services, Clark Freise, said he believes implementation of a state-based approach to drinking water standards is unwarranted given the expertise at the EPA and the oversight process his department follows to assess its findings.
On Thursday, January 27, at 11.00, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press center will host a press conference entitled "How 2016 Will Be Remembered in terms of Observance of IDP's Rights and Freedoms" on the results of the activities of government and non-governmental organizations and major trends in the context of protecting the IDPs rights. The participants will include Deputy Minister of Ukraine on the Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Heorhiy Tuka; Coordinator of the CrimeaSOS NGO Tamila Tasheva; and coordinator of the Vostok-SOS Charity Foundation Oleksandra Dvoretska (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation. More information by phone: (098) 782 8496.
Alcoa (NYSE: AA) reported its fiscal Q4 and full-year earnings yesterday, and the upgrades are already rolling in.

This morning, international megabankers Citigroup and Deutsche Bank both announced new upgrades on Alcoa stock. As StreetInsider.com reports, Citi has upped Alcoa to buy with a $45 price target. Deutsche assigned a hold rating (not great, but better than its previous sell recommendation), and said the stock is worth $30.

What does this mean for investors? Well, if Citi is right, then Alcoa stock (currently trading at $38 and change) has 17.5% upside from today's prices, and could go even higher than that if conditions are right. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank's upgrade, while apparently a positive for the stock, actually suggests Alcoa stock could still decline by 22%.

So which of these analysts is right? Here are three things you need to know.

Blue skies ahead for aluminum roller Alcoa? Image source: Getty Images.

1. Alcoa's earnings could have been worse

Announcing earningsyesterday, Alcoa reported a net loss of $2.19 per diluted share for fiscal 2016 -- but only a $1.24 pro forma loss if you exclude "special items." The GAAP loss was also less than half what Alcoa lost in all of 2015 -- $4.73 per share. Revenue declined 18% year over year to $9.3 billion when compared to "carved out" results for rump Alcoa prior to the separationfrom Arconic (NYSE: ARNC).

That still doesn't sound great. But emphasizing the results it wants you to focus on, Alcoa pointed out that sequentially, it grew its revenue 9% quarter over quarter in Q4, and grew its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) twice as fast -- up 18% in comparison to Q3 2016. EBITDA was $335 million in Q4.

2. Citi takes the bait

Following Alcoa's lead, Citi upgraded its evaluation of Alcoa stock this morning, and placed most of the emphasis for its reasoning on EBITDA. According to the analyst, Alcoa stock currently sells for 6.2 times trailing EBITDA of $1.1 billion, but should be properly valued at seven times.

Furthermore, Alcoa management says it will generate EBITDA of between $2.1 billion and $2.3 billion this year, assuming average global prices of $0.81 per pound for aluminum metal, and $335 per ton for raw alumina. Taking Alcoa's projections at face value, this would imply a valuation of as much as $15.4 billion by the end of this year, which Citi says would turn Alcoa into a $60 stock, creating the potential for 60% upside to the stock price.

Citi is not quite ready to accept these projections at face value, however. Instead, the analyst posits a $0.76-per-pound price for aluminum, and $285 per ton for alumina. But even using these inputs, Citi gets an output of $1.35 billion in EBITDA for Alcoa this year. On this basis, Citi foresees at least the potential for Alcoa's market cap rising to $9.5 billion (38% higher than today).

3. How to move those prices higher

So what might drive aluminum and alumina prices higher, yielding more EBITDA for Alcoa, and higher stock prices for its shareholders? Here, Deutsche Bankchimes in with a prediction that China may idle aluminum production capacity this year, pinching supply and resulting in higher prices on constant demand. Even if that happens, however, Deutsche doesn't seem to agree with Citi's valuation method.

Instead of taking Alcoa's bait and valuing the company on EBITDA, Deutsche takes the approach I prefer, and focuses on the company's free cash flow. The news here is good -- Deutsche predicts cash profits of as much as $1.5 billion this year, and says that would be enough to pay off the company's entire net debt in 12 months, should Alcoa be so inclined. Yet apparently, it's not good enough to convince Deutsche to give Alcoa a buy rating.

Bonus thing: Is Deutsche being too stingy with its buy ratings?

Is Deutsche Bank making a mistake? After all, if Alcoa generates $1.5 billion in free cash flow this year, then on its current market capitalization of just $6.8 billion, Alcoa is selling for a mere 4.5 times free cash flow. Even factoring in the company's $1.4 billion debt load, its enterprise-value-to-free-cash-flow ratio would still be only 5.5, which would seem to be an incredibly cheap price to be paying for one of the world's leading producers of aluminum.

The problem, of course, is that no matter what Alcoa says, and no matter what Citi or Deutsche Bank think, Alcoa hasn't generated anything on the order of $1.5 billion in free cash flow any time in recent memory. Carved out (ex-Arconic) results from S&P Global Market Intelligence instead show Alcoa burning cash in 2013 and 2016, and averaging just $13 million (no, that's not a typo) in positive free cash flow annually over the past four years.

Long story short: Alcoa may be a buy if it can find a way to increase its free cash flow production a hundredfold in the next 12 months. But that's an awfully big if -- and Deutsche Bank is right to be skeptical.

10 stocks we like better than Alcoa When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

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A Cuban trade delegation arrived in the United States this week to visit four states and six ports, even as the Trump administration pondered what to do with a fragile detente initiated by its predecessor.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to scrap the move to normalize relations between Washington and Havana, one of former President Barack Obama's signature foreign policy initiatives, if he doesn't get a better deal.

Port authorities along the U.S. Southern coast are strong proponents of increased trade and travel with Cuba, and some have expressed interest in using Mariel, located on the northwest coast of the Caribbean island, as a transshipment hub.

"We're hopeful that when the Trump Administration conducts a thorough review of U.S.-Cuba policy, they will see how enhanced cooperation between our port terminals and the Port of Mariel, would be very beneficial to U.S. export industries, U.S. ports with access to Mariel's shipping lanes and could create jobs across the country," said James Williams, president of the Engage Cuba coalition that helped facilitate the trip.

Delegations from the ports of Houston, New Orleans, Norfolk, Virginia, and Port Everglades, Palm Beach and Tampa in Florida, have already visited Mariel, often with top local and state executives.

"For states with port facilities, there is substantial political and commercial interest," said John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, which has followed business ties between the two countries for two decades.

"Ports are under the authorities of states, counties and cities, which means governors and mayors seeking value for their respective constituencies and seeking votes," Kavulich said.

Seeking to reverse more than 50 years of U.S. efforts to force Communist-run Cuba to change by isolating it, Obama agreed with Cuban President Raul Castro in December 2014 to work to normalize relations. Since then the two countries have restored diplomatic ties and signed various cooperation agreements.

Obama, a Democrat, used executive orders to circumvent the longstanding U.S. trade embargo on Cuba and ease some restrictions on travel and business. The embargo can only be lifted by the U.S. Congress, which is controlled by Republicans.

Trump, who can reverse Obama's executive orders, has threatened to end the detente if Cuba does not make further political and other concessions, although the Republican businessman-turned-politician has not specified what these should be.

WAITING FOR TRUMP

The Cuban delegation, which includes top executives from the new container terminal and special development zone at Mariel and officials involved with cruise ships and investment and trade, is expected to sign non-binding cooperation agreements with some of the ports, meet with local businesses and visit Washington on Jan. 31.

The Cubans are in New Orleans on Wednesday, after visiting Texas earlier in the week, and will travel next to Port Everglades for a meeting with cruise line executives.

Cuba has avoided criticizing Trump since he took office on Friday and state-run media downplayed Saturdays protests against him in Washington and around the world.

Havana hotels and restaurants are full of U.S. travelers and cruise ships now crisscross Havana Bay almost daily.

"We are all waiting. We don't know what to expect from Trump. A hit on the head or a shake of the hand," said tour guide Paulo Perez, waiting for a group of Americans at the famed Hotel Nacional in Havana.

(Reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Paul Simao)
Image source: Getty Images.

What happened

Shares of oil and gas company Halcon Resources (NYSE: HK) rose over 22% Wednesday morning after announcing a $500 million divestiture, a $400 million stock offering, and an agreement to purchase $705 million of land in the Southern Delaware Basin. The independent energy developer has the option to purchase an additional $165 million of land in the trendy formation. Either way, it doesn't plan on wasting any time developing the new acres.

So what

These days it seems that every energy company is stampeding toward the Delaware Basin, part of the Wolfcamp formation, which the U.S. Geological Survey estimates could hold up to 20 billion barrels of oil. If everything goes according to plan, then the new assets could be a boon to Halcon Resources shareholders over time.

To finance the acquisition, the company is selling its East Texas Eagle Ford assets, currently producing about 6,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/D), for $500 million. A $400 million stock offering will bring the total of new funds to $900 million. Together, that would cover the base acquisition and option to purchase additional acres, which would total just over $870 million. Furthermore, if management pulls the trigger on the option, then its average acquisition price would drop to an attractive $20,000 per acre.

The new assets are producing just 2,600 BOE/D, but have a higher potential ceiling than the divested acres in the Eagle Ford. Halcon Resources believes there's enough oil for 12 years of drilling on the main tract. The acres contain roughly 70% oil and 85% liquids -- slightly lower oil content than Eagle Ford -- but have been derisked by drilling activity near and around the assets. Moreover, the contiguous acres will allow for easier development with larger laterals, which should lower production costs.

Now what

As may be expected, these transactions are expected to impact 2017 earnings. Halcon Resources now expects full-year production between 37,000 BOE/Dand 39,000 BOE/D, a decrease from the previously expected range of 39,000 BOE/Dto 41,000 BOE/Dnow that the highly productive East Texas Eagle Ford acres are gone. Management is also expecting capital expenditures to reach $280 million this year, up from a previously guided $200 million.

Clearly, the company is going all-in on developing the new assets -- and investors are hoping that it pays off. Whether or not oil prices go along with the plan remains to be seen.

10 stocks we like better than Halcon Resources When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

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The Schork Report Editor Stephen Schork explained why President Trumps energy policy could be a boom for the U.S. economy and job market.

If you believe in U.S. energy, if you believe that U.S. energy is the catalyst that will finally spur this long anticipated, but unseen to this point renaissance in U.S. industrial might, then you have to like these decisions, Schork told the FOX Business Networks Stuart Varney.

Despite former President Obamas opposition to the Keystone Pipeline XL, Schork pointed out many of the supporters of the pipeline, even within his own administration.

John Kerry, Hillary Clintons State Department, they signed off on Keystone XL. The Governor of Nebraska eventually signed off on Keystone XL, the EPA signed off on Keystone XL, the only one at the end who didnt sign off on Keystone XL were a couple of large contributors to the Democratic Party from a financial standpoint.

Schork views Trumps support of the Keystone Pipeline XL and his overall energy policy as key factors in creating more jobs in America.

This is a driver that will eventually spur industrial growth and job growth in this country so you have to be a fan of this.

According to Schork, Trumps energy policy helped him win key rust belt states.

We do have the catalyst to bring back jobs to the rustiest of the rust belt towns, Schork continued, Hence, why Trump was able to carry Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan through the election.
President Donald Trump's executive actions on the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines are aimed at turning the disputed projects into reality, but it's not clear how quickly that might happen.

Dakota Access is to carry North Dakota oil to Illinois. It's nearly complete but stalled while the developer and the Army battle in court over permission for the pipeline to cross under the Missouri River in North Dakota.

The Keystone XL project was to bring oil from Canada to Nebraska. Former President Barack Obama halted it in late 2015 for environmental reasons.

Trump's actions don't immediately clear the way for construction, and opponents of the projects are likely to fight in court.

Both projects also have been the focus of intense protests, and Trump's actions might reinvigorate those efforts.
Conservative economist Kevin Hassett is one of the top contenders to lead the Council of Economic Advisors under President Donald Trump, FOX Business has learned.

Hassett, director of research for domestic policy for the American Enterprise Institute, is a free market enthusiast and a tax policy expert. He was also an economic adviser to Republicans John McCain, George W. Bush and Mitt Romney.

One of his friends and colleagues, Glenn Hubbard, Dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, recommended Hassett to President Trumps nominee for Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, sources tell FOX Business.

Those same sources tell FOX Business that Hassett met with members of the Trump administration leading up to the inauguration to discuss the role.

Hassett joined AEI in 1997 as a resident scholar and has worked with Hubbard on cutting the national budget, income inequality and broad tax reform. He also has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

If he becomes chairman of the CEA, Hassett would work directly with two former Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) alums; National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and Mnuchin, who has yet to be confirmed by the Senate as the next Treasury Secretary. All three could be instrumental in directing President Trumps economic policies.

The role has traditionally served as a pipeline to the Federal Reserve. Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan all held the position before heading up the U.S. central bank.

As first reported by FOX Business, former Reagan advisor and economic commentator Larry Kudlow, is another top candidate for the job. Kudlow was an early supporter of Trump and became one of his top economic advisors on tax reform during the campaign. However, it is unclear whether Kudlow is still in the running. When reached for comment he told FOX Business, I think Kevin would be a great CEA chair.

Along with supply-sider Steve Moore, who appears on FOX Business, Kudlow worked with Mnuchin to establish a tax policy similar to what Trump proposed earlier this week.

In a meeting with business leaders on Monday, Trump reiterated his campaign promise of cutting individual and business taxes: We are going to be cutting taxes massively for both the middle class and for companies, he said from the Roosevelt Room at the White House.

A spokeswoman for the Trump administration did not return FOX Business request for comment. Nor did spokespersons for Hassett and Hubbard.

Hassett's consideration was first reported by a rival news network.
President Donald Trumps early actions on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, North American Free Trade Agreement, and the nomination of avowed protectionists to key roles have shaken the confidence of free traders. There is certainly cause for concern, but there are legitimate problems affecting U.S. trade policy that Trump should address to boost American competitiveness. And he can tend to these while keeping his campaign promise to drain the swamp.

For too long, American trade policy has rarely sought to promote true free trade. Recent trade agreements really havent been primarily about trade. Rather than work to facilitate win/win exchanges beyond the nations boundaries, U.S. trade negotiators have focused on helping exporters and shielding domestic firms from foreign competitionfavoring producer over consumer interests, while rarely displaying any sympathy for import-reliant firms. Under such a regime, lobbying clout is what matters for many businesses to survive.

Over the last few decades, U.S. trade policy has only gotten worse. Larded with lengthy provisions governing wide swathes of regulatory matters, trade deals have become regulatory behemoths chock full of special interest favors. The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership are but the latest examples. The Trump administration has an opportunity to reform this process.

Where to start? A look at recent history provides a clue.

Earlier trade negotiations proceeded under the 1947/48 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which sought to lower tariffs on products in commerce among countries that were party to the negotiations. In that sense, it was akin to promoting trade within the United States. Domestically, as one nation, we succeeded in creating a massive free-trade area, fueling dramatic economic growthwhich alleviated the dislocations such economic change created. But when economic competition crosses national boundaries, political integration and trust become strained, making trade liberalization much more difficult.

A trade agreement can be simpletwo parties agree to allow their citizens to buy and sell from the other with no interference, much like New Yorkers can trade with Texans without hindrance. But the voluminous side provisions in trade agreements over the last two decades are more akin to peace treaties between warring polities wielding tariffs as weapons. Trade agreements determine which trade barriers each nation will give up in order to gain market-opening concessions from the other. For companies, it means whoever has the better trade lobbyist wins.

Its long past time go back to basics on trade. In that regard, the original GATT provides a guide. It offered little more than a framework for common-sense trade rule changes to benefit each participating nation. Of course, entrenched economic or ideological interests might oppose trade liberalization, but negotiators were free to carry on in the knowledge that trade-driven domestic growth would mitigate opposition to trade deals.

Trade negotiations involved economic issues. But that changed as GATTs success gave way to calls to strengthen it by expanding its scope and grating it additional enforcement powers. That in turn prompted ideological interest groups to work to advance their agendas through trade negotiations that increasingly were bilateral and regional and were more open to special interests.

The first sign of that shift cropped up in the 1990s, in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations. And while NAFTA offered substantial benefits from lowered trade barriers, these newer participantsparticularly environmental groups and labor unionslobbied to attach side agreements to NAFTA outlining environmental and labor policy for all three signatory nations. Subsequent trade agreements have gone further, inserting labor and environmental provisions into the agreements themselves, as activists argue that the United States is falling behind in environmental protection, labor standards, what have you.

It all sounds quite lofty, but the truth is that embedding developed country standards in trade agreements protects rich countries industries, as it undermines developing nations competitive advantages during their economies takeoff stagewilling and able workers and untapped resources. In the end, American consumers and the foreign poor bear the costs.

The Trump administration should go after the primary threat to American industryand its not foreign competition. It should modify or repeal laws that distort markets and simplify the nations trade agenda going forward. Trade treaties should be about trade. Environmental protection, labor regulations, and other issues can be addressed elsewhere in other for a designed for those goals.

Regulatory liberalization, one of Trumps stated goals, would reduce costs, unleash innovation, and allow American firms to compete in all markets fairly and without politically imposed disadvantages. The end result would be more trade and economic growthand fewer trade lobbyists. For draining the swamp, that sounds like a good start.

Fred L. Smith, Jr. is the founder of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and director of CEIs Center for Advancing Capitalism. Marc Scribner is a senior fellow at CEI.
President Donald Trump signed two executive orders Wednesday aimed at tightening immigration policy and border security. Along with expanding tools for repatriating illegal immigrants, the executive orders call for withholding federal funds for sanctuary cities and the construction of a physical wall along the southern border.

"Building this barrier is more than just a campaign promise. It's a common sense first step to really securing our porous border," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said during a press conference on Wednesday. "This will stem the flow of drugs, crime, illegal immigration into the United States."

The executive action will include directing funds to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall, ending the catch and release program, increasing the number of Border Patrol agents and clamping down on sanctuary cities.

During an interview on the FOX Business Networks Varney & Co., syndicated talk show host Dana Loesch said President Trump is following through on his campaign promises effectively by transforming the nations immigration system.

His whole entire campaign was built on immigration policy, she said. His campaign was kick started by promising to build this wall just on the southern border right there.

The border between the U.S. and Mexico stretches more than 1,900 miles and spans across four states: California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

Loesch said border agents in her resident state of Texas are looking forward to the construction of a wall because they have been dealing with limited resources for far too long.

Ive been literally right there at the banks of the river Rio [Grande], where just hours earlier the last time I was there, there were drug cartels that were trying to fire up on our border agents, she said.

The host of the The Dana Show" said she also looks forward to the Trump administration ending the catch and release policy, which prevents Border Patrol agents from arresting and deporting new illegal immigrants.

We have to be able to do some things to the interior as well as putting up the wall, Loesch told host Stuart Varney.
As the Trump administration gets down to work on its new agenda, the United Nations could be in its line of fire. While the U.S. has always been among the top financial contributors to the international agency, incoming U.N. ambassador, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, described these contributions as disproportionate, hinting that the new administration will alter its decades-old relationship with the governing body.

GOP members of the House of Representatives, led by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), put together a bill in early January called The American Sovereignty Restoration Act, which would end U.S. membership in the U.N. altogether. The six Republican congressman who authored the legislation believe the intergovernmental organization is bad for American business.

In a statement to FOX Business, Congressman Rogers said, The United Nations (U.N.) has proven to be an ineffective and wasteful bureaucracy. The U.S. bankrolls nearly 22 percent of the U.N.'s annual budget.

The U.S. has been a member of the United Nations since 1945; yet as the geopolitical landscape continues to change, the U.S. appears to be shifting its priorities as well.

In an exclusive interview with FOX Business, Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC), another House member cosponsoring the American Sovereignty Restoration Act, echoed Rep. Rogers concerns about U.S. spending: Our nation is $20 trillion dollars in debt and we keep spending money that we cant even pay for. Most of the programs are borrowing money for the end of the year. I feel very strongly that if you have something like the United Nations with 22% of the budget coming from America then our country has to start thinking about the best interests of our own country.

According to a U.N. budget report, the United States contributed more than $610 million to the U.N. for 2017, the highest amount out of all 193 participating countries. The second highest contributor is Japan at $268 million.

Jones added that even if the bill doesnt pass, at the very least it might spark a conversation about government spending. I think at some point in time, whether congress agrees with the legislation or not, we have to have a debate about how we are spending our money, Jones said.

Its unclear how much support the bill is receiving from either the White House or Congress, but FOX Business has been told by sources that members of Rogers staff have reached out to the new administration to tout the bill. Those same sources also say that Rogers has met with congressional leadership, including the leaders of the House Freedom Caucus.

Haley, who was sworn in Wednesday, said the U.N. is "often at odds with American national interests during her confirmation hearing. Her views dovetail with President Trump who has been critical of the global governing body. After the Obama administration abstained from a U.N. Security Council vote to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem, Trump fired back in a tweet saying The United Nations has such great potential but right now its just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. He also said if the U.N. doesnt live up to its potential it's a waste of time and money.

The United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2016

Despite the criticism, Stephen Biddle, professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, says the chances of this bill passing are very slim. I suspect congress is looking more closely on actions that the administration will actually take rather than a bill like this, he told FOX Business.

A spokeswoman for the Trump administration, Hope Hicks, had no comment while House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) did not return calls for comment.

The United Nations had no official comment on the American Sovereignty Restoration Act, but cited a comment from a U.N. spokesman during a press conference on January 3rd. In addressing a question about the U.S. being the largest contributor to the U.N. budget, the spokesperson said Theres, obviously, room for intense cooperation between the U.N. and the U.S. The U.S. is obviously, as you know, the largest contributor to the United Nations. The U.S. has always been committed to United Nations reform, and we look forward to working with the new administration in that way. 
Chelsea Handler took a swipe at Melania Trump saying she wouldn't interview the First Lady because "she can barely speak English."

Perhaps the comedian, who does not hold a college degree, should do her research first. The First Lady speaks at least five languages, including English, French, Italian, German, and Slovene.

As far as we can tell, Handler speaks but one.

This isn't the first time the "Chelsea" host has gone after Melania Trump's accent. She shared several tweets over the course of the presidential campaign making fun of the First Lady.

Handler told Variety she wouldn't interview President Donald Trump for her Netflix show either even if he personally requested to be a guest.

"I dont respect either one of those people," she said.

Handler then launched into a speech about "divisiveness" not being "the answer" and the need to "reach across party lines." An interesting appeal considering Handler's comments about the President and First Lady.

"Divisiveness is not the answer," Handler explained. "And I think to get that message, we have to reach across party lines, forget your party. Im registering as an Independent. Im not gonna be a Democrat anymore because its too divisive. This isnt working, this two-party system."

When asked what she would tell the President if she saw him at Sundance.

"F--k off. I mean, gross."

A rep for Handler did not return Fox News' request for comment.
YouTube Removes Two Channels Linked To North Korea

YouTube remains determined to remove all content from its platform that oozes North Korean scent or promote the Kim Jong-un regime.

Less than 3 months after YouTube suspended the official channel of the news network of North Korea, the KoreaCentralTV1 (KCTV), the video platform has eliminated other two channels which, while not coordinated by the Pyongyang regime, they tried content Related to this country.

Specifically, it is coordinated by channel Emil Truszkowski, Polish YouTuber resident in Japan promoting tourism and culture of North Korea, that after 2 years and 5,000 subscribers, was canceled without notice for violating copyright (something his Author denies).

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One of the last two channels, "Pozdro z KRLD" offered videos travel to North Korea, and belonged to a Polish national living in Japan. "My channel was suspended for the first time on Sunday night," said Emil Truszkowski on his blog. "After eight hours I learned that the channel is not suspended, but was removed," he said. Truszkowski added that the channel did not contain any material protected by copyright that could have led to his suspension.

The other channel removed by YouTube is maintained by Vu Phuong Nam, Vietnamese user who published material combined with videos third own, to spread to the community inappropriate content, according to the Google platform.

In the absence of official explanations by the company, both YouTubers believe that the measure responds to the sanctions that the United States and United Nations have brought against North Korea.

When YouTube closed the channel Central Television North Korea, it was speculated that it was because he was entered money from advertising, which would violate those sanctions. So Google did not give figures and said only that " YouTube disabled accounts that violate the terms of service or community guidelines, or where the law requires us to do so".

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Dinesh DSouza, the filmmaker behind Hillarys America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party," said he isn't surprised that Hollywood is griping about Donald Trump's presidency.

Im not surprised Hollywood is acting the way they do, but I am pleasantly surprised Trump is acting the way he is, he said, praising the President's decision to "hit back" at the media.

DSouza said he thinks Trump's battle with Hollywood is far from finished.



I think what we will see in the next year or two is a massive effort to make Trump illegitimate. The left hates Trump much more than they hated Nixon, and they got their way with Nixon  They are unleashing unmitigated fury against Trump because they know if Trump [stays in office] it's very bad news for them.

DSouza said the media and Hollywood are both against President Trump.

One reason the media hates Trumps tweeting is that they want to be the sole filter of information that gets to people, he said. So these Hollywood people act as if they own the culture for the most part because they do, and they have the arrogance that goes with that.

DSouza praised Trump for fighting back.

So we think, for example, of poor President Bush who was lambasted by Hollywood and the media and just sort of stood helpless and invertebrate while they battered him. Trump doesnt do that. I think that is a very important aspect of Trump that is emerging early. He is a cultural warrior, not just a political warrior.

Hillarys America has just been nominated for five Razzie Awards  spotlighting the worst films of the year  but to DSouza, its an honor.

I think it is intended to be a kind of swipe at me, but it has the opposite effect, I am actually quite honored and amused, he said. Unlike a lot of the conservatives [in Hollywood] ... most of them are beholden to Hollywood. They work as screenwriters or actors, producers. So for Hollywood to attack them is harmful because it makes it difficult for them to get work. This is why a lot of them live in anonymity. I am not beholden to Hollywood at all. I am outside of that world, there is nothing they can do to me.

The Razzie Awards take place on February 25th.
Fresh Off the Boat star Constance Wu was outraged over Casey Afflecks Best Actor Oscar nomination for Manchester by the Sea, and she took to Twitter to go after him and The Academy.

Wus issues with the nomination stem from 2010 sexual harassment allegations against Affleck.

Men who sexually harass women 4 OSCAR! she tweeted. Bc good acting performance matters more than humanity,human integrity! Bc poor kid rly needs the help!

UPROAR AFTER CASEY AFFLECK GETS GOLDEN GLOBE NOD DESPITE SEX ACCUSATIONS, WHILE NATE PARKER DOES NOT

Affleck denied all allegations against him and settled a civil suit with his accuser out of court for an undisclosed sum.

Wu ranted, "Boys! BUY ur way out of trouble by settling out of court!Just do a good acting job,thats all that matters!bc Art isn't about humanity,right?"

CASEY AFFLECK GETS TESTY WITH STEPHEN COLBERT

In a longer post, Wu added: Hes running for an award that honors a craft whose purpose is examining the dignity of the human experience & young women are deeply human."

The actress called out the Oscars committee and said the voters should not "reinforce the industrys gross and often hidden mistreatment of women."

Wu said she was advised not to discuss Affleck any further -- though she didn't say by who.

"I've been counseled not to talk about this for career's sake. F my career then, I'm a woman & human first. That's what my craft is built on."



This isn't the first time in recent months that Affleck's years-old allegations have been brought up. His name came up when "Manchester by the Sea" earned a Golden Globe nod and Nate Parkers Birth of a Nation did not. Parker was acquitted of rape in a 2001 criminal case, and some social media users speculated racism was to blame for Parker being left of the nominations list.



The Academy and reps for Casey Affleck declined Fox News requests for comment.
After speaking at the Womens March on Main at the Sundance Film Festival, Chelsea Handler enjoyed herself at the late night pop up, TAO Park City Presented by Tequila Don Julio. Armie Hammer was the first to arrive to the party, while John Legend entered the party with his entourage and headed straight towards the VIP table. Mary J. Blige was also there and partied at a table next to Legend.

Brittany Snow was spotted at the XYZ Films cocktail party at the Kia Supper Suite with her pal Paul Wesley to celebrate her film Bushwick." Elijah Wood also made an appearance to celebrate his movie I Dont Feel At Home In this World Anymore, while cuddling with his girlfriend Kerry Bishe all night.

Jason Segel enjoyed the food at Applegates Reel Food Cafe munching on bacon. Al Gore made an appearance eating vegan pizza while running into John Legend who was at the bacon bar.

Jason Ritter was all smiles at Debbie Durkins 10th Annual EcoLuxe Lounge, where Christina Milian also stopped by.

Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner, Taylor Sheridan and Harvey Weinstein partied at the Acura Studio promoting their film, Wind River. Olsen enjoyed most of the night in a private area chatting with friends and cast mates while Renner stepped outside and posed for pictures with fans.

Connie Britton escaped the cold at the IMDb Studio after she participated in the Womens March on Main. She said it was a little overwhelming marching and was almost brought to tears. Kevin Bacon also popped into the studio.

Matt Bomer celebrated his premiere of Walking Out at the PepsiCos Creators League Studio.

The Stella Artois Filmmaker Lounge celebrated the premiere of Novitiate with Dianna Agron. Aubrey Plaza also celebrated her film Ingrid Goes West there and Jon Hamm stopped by to congratulate his former co-star.

Alison Brie greeted fans outside The Variety Studio at Sundance and as she went inside she asked where her fiance Davey was, aka Dave Franco. And Jaime King stopped by the Tim Tam bar at the studio, where she took a Polaroid selfie with Bitch co-star Jason Ritter to benefit Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

Jon Hamm and Pierce Brosnan were seen at the Sundance TV & The Hollywood Reporter Kick-off party on Main Street.

The cast of The Little Hours hit up Chase Sapphire on Main Street to celebrate their premiere. Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Kate Micucci, Aubrey Plaza, Molly Shannon and Adam Pally enjoyed the night hanging out in the VIP area.

Chloe Sevigny attended the Francis Ford Coppola Winery hosted Golden Exit party. Analeigh Tipton and Beastie Boys rapper Adam Horovitz, Jason Schwartzman and Mary Louise Parker were just several others who stopped by the party.
BLT Steak in Japan is making a yuuuge statement with an Inauguration Day themed burger in honor of the 45th president of the United States.

Behold the Trump Burger"-- a gourmet extravaganza featuring a five-ounce filet mignon patty, Gruyere cheese, caramelized apple compote and shaved truffles. The burger is made complete with a sauce made from port, balsamic vinegar, and ginger.

The burger which has a slightly orange hue is made to look like "the president himself," reports Rocket News 24, with the angles of the apples placed to bear a striking resemblance to the presidents iconic hairstyle. The meaty meal can be found at two of BLT Steaks locations in Tokyos Ginza and Roppong.

BLT Steak has over 30 restaurants worldwide, including a BLT Prime by David Burke located inside the new Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.

FOR THE LATEST FOOD FEATURES FOLLOW FOX LIFESTYLE ON FACEBOOK

Though the new president is rumored to enjoy quick fast food, his eponymous sky-high burger doesn't come cheap. It's listed at $51.

Those looking to get their hands on this fancy burger will have to make a reservation at least one day in advance as the restaurant only makes three Trump Burgers a day.
When doctors told Bekah and Danny Bowman that a neurodegenerative disease was robbing them of their then 5-year-old son Titus, they never imagined it would strike his little brother, 3-year-old Ely, too. But on June 26, 2015, just two months after Titus was diagnosed with Batten disease, the Bowmans were devastated all over again.

"We experienced all of that extreme regression and loss and grieving over that, and then we got the diagnosis for Ely at the end of June, Bekah, 33, told Fox News. I was at my in-laws in Idaho, I got a phone call and stepped outside, and collapsed on the sidewalk. I had never been that emotionally broken before."

There are 14 different forms of Batten disease that resemble other progressive neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinsons, Alzheimers and Huntingtons, Dr. Raymond Wang, a metabolic geneticist who has been working with the Bowmans at Childrens Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) in Orange, California, told Fox News. Titus and Ely have what scientists call late infantile Batten disease, also known as CLN2.

CLN2 is an inherited genetic disorder in which the brain cells are missing an enzyme called tripeptidyl peptidase 1 (TPP1), which causes waste buildup in the cells neurons. As a result, the cells gradually lose their function and die. Patients begin exhibiting symptoms with developmental delays in speech, and then progress to loss of motor skills, unsteady gait, visual impairment, seizures and eventual death. There are no curative treatments approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and patients typically die before they reach adolescence.

Titus began showing symptoms of the disease in 2013, around the time he turned 3. However, because they were no other indications of a serious condition, the Bowmans were hopeful that early-intervention speech therapy would help him develop in line with his peers.

We were pretty encouraged at the time that that was all we would need, Bekah, 33, told Fox News. Looking back now, I know what it was, but at about 3 [years old] I thought he was just a rough and tumble boy he would plow through things and fall a lot.

Titus was eventually outfitted with a helmet to protect him from falls, but on Feb. 10, 2014, he had a seizure that would set the Bowmans lives on a different course. Although he was immediately diagnosed with epilepsy, 14 months later, a genetic test revealed Titus had CLN2. Wang said CLN2 patients experience a rapid decline once seizures begin, and at one point Titus was experiencing up to 100 per day.

Right before [the first seizure], he was losing skills. He couldnt name colors, shapes, letters of the alphabet. He was having a really hard time with that, and his eyesight was not doing well, Bekah said. He would fall with muscle spasms, and it got to the point where it was really scary and we didnt know why.

Titus was diagnosed in April 2015, and by the end of May, he couldnt talk, walk or eat by mouth. He died September 17, 2016, when he was 6 years old.

Titus diagnosis was obviously really hard, Bekah said. I had spent the night before researching every disease that the test we did tested for, and I actually found CLN2. When I read it, I just knew in my heart that was what we were going to hear because he was textbook.

Wang said CHOC has treated six children with Batten disease, and the typical course of treatment is supportive care. Even though Ely wasnt showing symptoms as severe as his brothers when he received his diagnosis, the confirmation was no less devastating for the Bowmans. Whats different for Ely, though, is a clinical trial sponsored by BioMarin Pharmaceutical that came too late for his brother.

They developed a manmade version of the TPP enzyme that the boys are missing, Wang said. I got ahold of BioMarin and told the Bowmans, Im going to do everything I can to make sure I can get this to your boys.

Once a patient is enrolled in the trial, doctors perform surgery to insert a reservoir device into the patients brain that will directly inject the medication into the brains ventricles. The enzymes are injected during a four-hour process every two weeks in a hospital where the treatment is offered. Though the FDA has yet to approve the treatment, it is only option available to patients like Ely.

Thus far, the treatment has shown promise in holding the disease at bay, which buys researchers and families more time to find a cure. Some of the patients have even shown improvement in motor skills that had begun to regress. Titus disease was too far advanced for enrollment, but Ely was accepted into the early-access program and his first week of treatment was in October 2016.

Since then, Bekah and Ely have boarded a plane every 10 days to travel from their Irvine, California, home to the Nationwide Childrens Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, which is the only center in the United States that offers the treatment. A GoFundMe page has helped them cover travel-related costs, and Bekah regularly blogs to help cope and connect with other Batten disease families. Wang is working with BioMarin and his hospitals staff to bring the trials to their center, which would help make it more accessible to others. There is no confirmed timeline, but he is hopeful that they will begin enrolling patients within the coming months.

This medicine was able to buy the kids time, and having to see kids decline so rapidly and see the families have so much heartbreak its a very emotional thing, Wang said. I felt like I needed to fight, especially for Ely.

Although it may be too soon for the Bowmans to notice the treatments impact on Ely, he is still able to walk and attends school with his peers. The true test, Bekah said, will come this spring when Ely reaches the age that Titus was when the seizures began. For now, she is focused on sharing their story so families are aware of CLN2 and the trial underway.

I hope through our story we can raise awareness and maybe help kids get an earlier diagnosis, she said. Titus was too far along for this treatment, and that was heartbreaking but because of him, Elys was caught early. We want to be a part of that movement to get early diagnoses for these kids.
The family of a New York man battling cancer is fighting the citys health department ruling that ordered their fathers 180-pound therapy pig to be removed from the home. Cristy Matteo, the unidentified mans daughter, said the ruling requires the family to rid of Wilbur by the end of January, Fox 5 NY reported.

The Health Code prohibits pigs to be kept as pets in New York City  among other reasons, there is no USDA-approved rabies vaccine for pigs, city health officials said, according to the report.

The family claims the health department is overriding a previous court ruling that said they could keep their pet. For now, an animal refuge in North Carolina has offered to take the pig, Fox 5 NY reported.

Thats where hell go, Matteo told the news outlet. All I can do is pray and hope there is some kind of loophole out there.
A small study claims children with autism may benefit from fecal transplants, which involves introducing donated microbes into people with gastrointestinal disease to rebalance the gut. The Ohio State University, Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University researchers found a parallel between behavioral symptoms of autism and gastrointestinal distress, and improvements to both after fecal transplant.

Transplants are working for people with other gastrointestinal problems, lead study author Ann Gregory, a microbiology graduate student at The Ohio state University, said in a news release. And, with autism, gastrointestinal symptoms are often severe, so we thought this could be potentially valuable.

The researchers built off of previous findings that children with autism typically have fewer types of important bacteria in their guts and less bacterial diversity overall. The research team surmises the disparity is due to antibiotics prescribed within the first three years of life.

The study, which was published in the journal Microbiome, included 18 children with autism and moderate to severe gastrointestinal problems. The children ranged from 7 to 16 years old. A questionnaire was used to assess social skills, irritability, hyperactivity and communication. Parents and doctors reported improvements that lasted at least eight weeks after treatment. Children without autism were used as a control for the study, the news release reported.

On average, the score on a scale for ranking gastrointestinal symptoms dropped 82 percent from the beginning to the end of treatment, while average developmental age increased by 1.4 years, according to the release. Researchers also asked the childrens doctors to perform pre- and post-diagnostic evaluations, which suggested lasting benefits.

One of the studys limitations is its small size, and researchers cautioned that families should not try to replicate the treatment at home.

We have to be mindful of the placebo effect, and we have to take [the findings] with a grain of salt, Matthew Sullivan, an associate professor of microbiology at The Ohio State University, said in the release. But it does give us hope.
Grab a shovel, America -- President Trump is about to build that wall.

The White House on Wednesday rolled out a series of executive actions on immigration and border security  designed to restore American sovereignty  an issue I address in my new book, The Deplorables Guide to Making America Great Again.

Among other things  President Trump announced a crackdown on sanctuary cities that harbor illegal aliens. He also plans to provide the Department of Homeland Security with more resources to fight illegal immigration.

And remember the Obama administrations catch and release policies? Well, those days are now over.

In other words -- all of you illegals out there might want to pack a bag and catch the next Greyhound bus to Nuevo Laredo.

Click here to join Todds newsletter: a must-read for Conservatives!

The president also plans on temporarily suspending visas from countries that are loaded with radical Muslims  places like Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya.

These executive orders will not make our nation any safer, rather it will make our nation more fearful and less welcoming, and such restrictions run contrary to (the) very founding principles of our nation, Hassan Shibly, executive director of CAIR-Florida told CNN.

Its no surprise that critics are enraged  accusing the administration of being xenophobic and Islamophobic. They seem to think we should roll out the red carpet for illegals at the expense of law-abiding Americans.

We are barely a week into the Trump presidency and he's already managed to dump TPP, engage pro-lifers, rattle Democrats and discombobulate the mainstream media.

I really like this guy.

I mean, the sheer scope of his immigration policies is incredible. Hes cracking down on sanctuary cities -- temporarily suspending visas from hotbeds of radical Islam and building a wall.

Were going to build a wall, America! To be honest, there were moments during the presidential campaign when I wondered if the wall was some sort of metaphor. But no sir! By golly, he plans on building a great, big, larger-than-life, Trump signature wall.

Imagine that, folks -- a Republican president who does what he promised to do on the campaign trail. Never in all my life did I think I'd see that day.

All I can say is thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for keeping your word.

To be clear, the president's executive orders are not xenophobic or Islamophobic. They are not anti-Mexican or anti-refugee. Rather, President Trump's immigration and border security policies are pro-American. I know that must be a shocking concept  especially after the past eight years.

But President Trump promised to put America first -- and he's delivering on that promise.

To the nations of the world -- we are more than happy to welcome your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. But if it's all the same -- you can just keep the deadbeats and reprobates -- and the people who want to blow us up.
President Obama was elected on the promise of change, and there is no doubt that he delivered. It just wasnt the kind of change America needed.

Today our nations security is weaker and worldwide threats have proliferated.

Indeed, over the course of eight years, the Obama administration alienated our allies, accommodated our adversaries, and forgot about the foes plotting to do us harm.

Thats partly why Americans sent such a powerful message on Election Day and voted for someone who believes we must project strength to protect our homeland.

But the road ahead for our new commander in chief will not be easy.

First, our friends no longer trust us.

Too often President Obama shunned our foreign partners in favor of hostile nations, sowing uncertainty from Western Europe to East Asia.

He remained consistent to the very endfeverishly implementing a misguided nuclear deal with the worlds number-one state sponsor of terror, Iran, while deliberately allowing one of our closest partners, Israel, to get ambushed at the United Nations.

Such actions have made our allies less likely to defend U.S. interests and have driven others to seek closer relations with rival powers.

Second, our adversaries feel emboldened.

Obama not only catered to them, he also declined to exert U.S. leadership on critical issues, creating power vacuums that were filled by the likes of Russia, China, and Iran.

These nations have expanded their spheres of influence, frequently at our expense.

Russian meddling is a prime example. Would the Kremlin have interfered in our election if the Obama administration had forcefully stood up to Putin in places like Ukraine and Syria?

Well never know, but at a minimum Moscow might have been deterred from being so brazen.

Finally, our enemies are deadlier.

On Obamas watch, we witnessed the historic spread of radical Islamist terror. And because of his Administrations negligence, jihadists claim greater operating space and more recruits than ever before.

Terror plotting against the West has also reached unprecedented levels, especially in the United States.

Yet incredibly, in his final days in office Obama still seemed more focused on emptying the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bayfreeing final batches of extremiststhan with defeating our enemies.

Make no mistake: many of these hardened jihadists, whose hateful worldview Obama hesitates to name, will go back to fighting a war his administration had no strategy to win.

According to intelligence officials, scores of them already have.

Thankfully, the Trump administration is ready to turn the page.

Already, President Trump has put together a strong national security team filled with clear-eyed realists who see the threats for what they are, not what they wish they were.

General John Kelly has the no-nonsense approach needed to secure our borders and keep terrorists away from our shores.

General James Mattis is a bold leader and respected soldier who can restore our military might.

Rex Tillerson is the kind of CEO who will do a business-like turnaround of the State Department and its broken diplomacy.

And Rep. Mike Pompeo knows the CIA well enough to give our spies the tools they need to protect us.

But its not just about who is standing in each department or agency postits about what we stand for as a nation.

As President Trump has said, American values are the bedrock of Western civilization, and we are safer in a world where those values are shared and defended.

That is why we cannot falter in championing our ideals and interests abroad, nor should we apologize for doing so.

Gone are the years of indecision, when Washingtons reluctance signaled weakness to the rest of the world.

The Trump administration heralds a return to strength, and Congress will work to help the new president repair our relations, stand up to our rivals, and bring justice to our enemies.

Americas voice was heard on Election Night. And on the world stage, American leadership will soon be seen again.
President Trump has announced that his administration will be launching a major investigation of voter fraud, including those who are registered in more than one state, those who are illegal and those voters who are dead but still registered. This followed a media firestorm in which the New York Times and others called Trumps assertion a lie.

But just last week, President Obama told a whopper at his last news conference that went almost completely unnoticed, much less criticized.

He promised he would continue to fight voter-ID laws and other measures designed to improve voting integrity. The U.S. is the only country among advanced democracies that makes it harder to vote, he claimed.

This is demonstrably false. All industrialized democracies  and most that are not  require voters to prove their identity before voting.

Britain was a holdout, but last month it announced that persistent examples of voter fraud will require officials to see passports or other documentation from voters in areas prone to corruption.

The real problem in our election system is that we dont really know to what extent President Trumps claim is true because we have an election system that is based on the honor system.

What we do know, despite assertions to the contrary, is that voter fraud is a problem, and both sides of the political aisle should welcome a real investigation into it -- especially since the Obama administration tried so hard for eight years to obfuscate the issue and prevent a real assessment.

Former Justice Department attorney Christian Adams testified under oath that he attended a November 2009 meeting at which then-deputy assistant attorney general Julie Fernandes told DOJ prosecutors that the administration would not be enforcing the federal law that requires local officials to purge illegitimate names from their voter rolls.

This refusal to enforce the law came despite a 2012 study from the Pew Center on the States estimating that one out of every eight voter registrations is inaccurate, out-of-date or a duplicate. About 2.8 million people are registered in more than one state, according to the study, and 1.8 million registered voters are dead. In most places its easy to vote under the names of such people with little risk of detection.

The Obama administration did everything it could to avoid complying with requests from states to verify voter registration records against federal records of legal noncitizens and illegal immigrants who have been detained by law enforcement to find noncitizens who have illegally registered and voted.

The Justice Department has also opposed every effort by statessuch as Kansas, Arizona, Alabama and Georgiato implement laws that require individuals registering to vote to provide proof of citizenship. This despite evidence that noncitizens are indeed registering and casting ballots.

In 2015 one Kansas county began offering voter registration at naturalization ceremonies. Election officials soon discovered about a dozen new Americans who were already registeredand who had voted as noncitizens in multiple elections.

These blatant attempts to prevent states from learning if they have a real problem with illegal votes makes it impossible to learn if significant numbers of noncitizens and others are indeed voting illegally, perhaps enough to make up the margin in some close elections.

There is no question that there are dishonorable people who willing to exploit the loopholes in our honor system.

An undercover video released in October by the citizen-journalist group Project Veritas shows a Democratic election commissioner in New York City saying, I think there is a lot of voter fraud.

A 2013 sting operation by official New York City investigators found they could vote in someone elses name 97 percent of the time without detection.

A second OKeefe video showed two Democratic operatives mulling how it would be possible to get away with voter fraud.

They were both fired.

How common is this? If only we knew. Political correctness has squelched probes of noncitizen voting, so most cases are discovered accidentally instead of through a systematic review of election records.

The danger looms large in states such as California, which provides drivers licenses to noncitizens, including those here illegally, and which also does nothing to verify citizenship during voter registration.

In a 1996 House race, then-challenger Loretta Sanchez defeated incumbent Rep. Bob Dornan by under 1,000 votes. An investigation by a House committee found 624 invalid votes by noncitizens, nearly enough to overturn the result.

How big is this problem nationally? One district-court administrator estimated that up to 3 percent of the 30,000 people called for jury duty from voter-registration rolls over a two-year period were not U.S. citizens.

A September report from the Public Interest Legal Foundation found more than 1,000 non-citizens who had been removed from the voter rolls in eight Virginia counties. Many of them had cast ballots in previous elections, but none was referred for possible prosecution.

There are many other examples of Justices dereliction of duty. In 2011, the Electoral Board in Fairfax County, Va., sent the Justice Department, under then-Attorney General Eric Holder, information about 278 noncitizens registered to vote in Fairfax County, about half of whom had cast ballots in previous elections. Theres no record of anything being done.

A 2011 study by three professors at Old Dominion University and George Mason University used extensive survey data to estimate that 6.4 percent of the nations noncitizens voted in 2008 and that 2.2 percent voted in 2010.

This study has been criticized by many academics who claim that voter fraud is vanishingly rare. Yet the Heritage Foundation maintains a list of more than 700 recent convictions for voter fraud.

A postelection survey conducted by Americas Majority Foundation found that 2.1 percent of noncitizens voted in the Nov. 8 election. In the battleground states of Michigan and Ohio, 2.5 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, of noncitizens reported voting.

The best argument for a real investigation into just how big voter fraud is stems from the refusal of the general public to believe the medias claims it is insignificant.

The Washington Post conducted a poll last October using the Pollfish firm that found 84 percent of Republicans believe that a meaningful amount of voter fraud occurs in U.S. elections, along with 75 percent of independents. A majority of Democrats -- 52 percent -- also believed there was meaningful voter fraud. When it came to types of fraud, nearly 60 percent of Republicans told Pollfish they believed illegal immigrants were voting, but so too did a third of independents and a quarter of Democrats.

One Democrat who has personal experience with voter fraud is Bruce Franks Jr., a 31-year-old Black Lives Matter activist in St. Louis, who ran for state legislature last year. Last September, he got a local judge to call a new primary election after irregularities in hundreds of absentee ballots were found. He went on to win the new election with 71 percent.

Conducting an investigation that will help resolve the size of the voter fraud problem is straightforward. The Department of Homeland Security should cooperate with states wanting to check the citizenship status of voters on their rolls.

The Justice Department should put pressure on, or sue, counties and states that refuse to clean up their rolls.

The IRS has issued 11 million Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers, most of them to illegal immigrants so they can file taxes. Privacy rules allow the IRS to share information for some law enforcement purposes, but not in a way that results in deportations. Those rules could be tweaked to allow states to compare the names of illegal immigrants the IRS has with their voter records.

Our honor system for voting doesnt work. We dont know how big of a problem voter fraud really is because no systematic effort has ever been made to investigate it. But the public doesnt think its as insignificant as the media insists.

Its time to learn more about just how many people are exploiting weaknesses that damage election integrity.
Beijing has deployed advanced Dongfeng-41 ICBMs in northernmost Chinas Heilongjiang Province, which borders Russia, according to reports based on images.

Some Hong Kong and Taiwan media reported that pictures of China's Dongfeng-41 ballistic missile were exposed on Chinese mainland websites. It was revealed that the pictures were taken in Heilongjiang Province. Military analysts believe that this is perhaps the second Dongfeng-41 strategic missile brigade and it should be deployed in northeastern China.

According to reports, the Dongfeng-41 is a nuclear solid-fuel road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile. With a range of 14,000km and a payload of 10-12 nuclear warheads, it can target anywhere in the world and is widely considered one of the most advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles.

There has been constant speculation about the Dongfeng-41. Its deployment is classified at the highest military levels. But most military experts believe that China has finished the research and production of the Dongfeng-41 and the conditions for deployment are optimal. But there has been no authoritative information on whether China has a Dongfeng-41 strategic missile brigade, how many such brigades it has and where they are deployed.

Some media claimed that the Chinese military intentionally revealed the Dongfeng-41 and connected it with the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. They think this is Beijing's response to Trump's provocative remarks on China.

According to RIA Novosti, the alleged deployment of the DF-41 near Russias border should not be read as a threat to Russia, confirmed by military analyst Konstantin Sivkov.

DF-41 missiles placed near Russias border are a smaller threat than if they were placed deeper in the Chinese territory. Such missiles usually have a very large dead zone [area within minimal range that cannot be attacked by a weapon], he said, adding that the ICBMs would not be able to target Russias Far East and most of Eastern Siberia from the Heilongjiang Province.

Certainly, the actions of the Chinese military, if the reports prove correct, the military build-up in China is not perceived as a threat to our country, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The Kremlin agreed with the assessment, saying that China is Russias strategic partner in political and economic senses.
The first time I got a press credential, in the mid-1970s, my boss made sure I knew having it was a privilege, not a right. Dont do anything that will make me ashamed of you, he warned. Ive kept those words in mind over the past 40 years, though I might not always have lived up to the standard he set. Its something the current crop of young journalists might want to ponder.

Since then I have covered wars, riots, trials and crime scenes, always reminding myself that I was a spectator, not a participant. In Poland, I was chased down by riot police who didnt care that I was a reporter. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and paid for it.

In El Salvador, I came upon the bodies of six Jesuit priests, two of whom I knew well, who had been murdered hours before. I wrote the story, and kept my personal feelings out of it.

So when I read that as many as six journalists had been detained and charged with felonies during riots in Washington D.C., on the day Donald Trump became president, the first question I had was: were they taking pictures or taking part?

Two of those detained were described in news stories as journalist and activist. I dont know if that is accurate, but I do know that its not possible to be both at the same time. A journalist who uses his or her credentials to gain access to an event -- whether its a speech, a battlefield or a protest march  gives up the right to be part of the action. You cant riot while youre working and expect your press pass to protect you.

Steven Nelson of U.S. News was covering the protests near 12th and L Street, where windows were being smashed and at least one vehicle set ablaze, when he realized the group he was in had been hemmed in by the DC police.

I was not allowed to leave the group that had been detained, Nelson told me. After an hour, two local NBC reporters were allowed to leave after their boss called a lieutenant, and I was too. I think I just lucked out. Nelson told me he was wearing his press credential and tried to identify himself as a reporter. Many of the rioters were dressed in black. Nelson was wearing a button down blue shirt and a pea-coat.

I wasnt there, so I dont know what happened. It sounds like Nelson was carrying out his job, not his right to protest. I do know you cant do both at the same time. Nelson says he was hit with pepper spray fired into the crowd. Well, a reporter who puts himself in a dangerous situation may pay a price. A press badge wont ward off pepper gas. Thats not a violation of the First Amendment. Its bad luck, and maybe a lesson learned.

Carlos Lauria, the senior Americas program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, knows that reporters take risks. When they cover this stuff, they accept the fact that some of these protests will turn ugly. But its a different thing for them to face these excessive charges. The U.S. Attorneys Office in D.C. says its looking over each charge individually, and will decide how to proceed on a case-by-case basis.

Journalists arent very popular these days. President Trump says he has a running war with the Fourth Estate. And news organizations have returned the favor, with almost unremittingly negative coverage and comments.

Hows that working out for everyone? A Gallup poll late last year showed fewer than a third of the country has a great deal or fair amount of trust in the news media.

Those who are fortunate enough to make their living in this profession cannot simultaneously exercise their First Amendment rights with abandon, and expect to be considered objective. Most pilots know better than to drink before they climb into the cockpit though liquor is legal. Journalists have the same right to free speech as the rest of the country. Just not while they're working.
The Trump administration is making it very clear to the liberal, alt-radical left mainstream media that the old days of doing business are over.

New White House press secretary Sean Spicer made it known that accountability between the White House and the press will now go both ways. An exchange he had earlier this week with ABC News Jon Karl was particularly telling.

Is it your intention to always tell the truth from that podium? Karl asked. And will you pledge never to knowingly say something that is not factual?

Spicer answered that, of course, he has no intention of lying to the press. He gave a thoughtful answer that there can be room for dispute about so-called facts, but said he wont lie and if he makes a mistake, he will own up to it.

But what has the press corps in a tizzy is that Spicer had the audacity to expect the same from the media.

It is a two-way street, he said. There are many mistakes that the media makes all the time. They misreport something, they don't report something, they get a fact wrong. I don't think that's always, Okay, you are intentionally lying.

But the press is going hard after Spicer, claiming a dispute about the size of the crowd at President Trumps inauguration can only mean he is lying. Less than a week on the job, and some of the usual suspects want Spicer to quit.

He can still get out, Joy Behar, host of The View, said. Get out now, Sean. Get out now!

Then she offered Spicer some truly terrible career advice, telling him, You can get a job on CNN.

Dan Rather, the CBS anchor who blew up his career by running with fake news about President Gearoge W. Bush, even weighed in, calling the Trump communications team Nixonian for quibbling about crowd sizes.

And finally, Bloomberg News correspondent Indira Lakshmanan pronounced Spicers first press briefing similar to ones held in communist China.

That first briefing reminded me of some of the briefings I've been to in Beijing, she said. A lot of reporters who have worked in places like China, Russia and -- you know, and Cuba might have a pretty good advantage going into covering the Trump administration.

The media is going to be doing stuff like this for the next four years. But if members of the press really want to start with a clean slate, they need to come forward and admit that they're biased and that they openly colluded, as we have pointed out many times, with the Clinton campaign.

The mainstream media pretends to be unbiased seekers of truth, but according to the Center for Public Integrity, during the 2016 campaign, a whopping 96 percent of money that journalists donated to the two major presidential campaigns went to Hillary Clinton.

Journalists are of course free to support whomever they want to with their own money. But it should not affect their reporting. WikiLeaks exposed how the Clinton campaign was in direct contact with basically every major news organization except for the Fox News Channel, and showed that these media outlets allowed stories to be changed and quotes to be altered before publication. They leaked debate questions to Clinton in advance. They actively worked to advance the Clinton campaign's agenda.

If reporters do their job fairly, there shouldn't be any problems. If not, people from the Trump administration clearly stand ready to call them out and set the record straight.

Adapted from Sean Hannity's opening monologue on "Hannity," Jan. 24, 2017
The State Department said late Thursday that it had reduced the number of American personnel working in Yemen due to the ongoing political instability in that country, which came to a head with the resignation of the country's U.S.-backed president and cabinet.

A Senior State Department official said that the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Sana'a, would remain open and operate as normal, though with reduced staff. The official did not specify how many staffers had been removed or how many remained. The official added that the U.S. is continuously reassessing the situation on the ground.

On Wednesday, Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren told reporters that two American ships -- the USS Iwo Jima and the USS Ft. McHenry -- were on station in the Red Sea and prepared to receive any evacuees from Yemen's capital, Sana'a.

Shiite rebels known as Houthis, who are widely believed to be backed by Iran, now control the capital. Yemen's prime minister and his cabinet also stepped down Thursday.

President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi had earlier pledged political concessions in return for the rebels withdrawing from his house and the nearby presidential palace, but Houthi fighters remained deployed around both buildings throughout the day.

Military officials close to the president, who like the other officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters, said Hadi resigned after the Houthis pressured him to give a televised speech to calm the streets.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. was "troubled" by the reports of the fall of Hadi and his government.

"At this time, it is critical that all sides avoid violence," Psaki said in a statement. "The future of Yemen should be determined by the Yemeni people in accordance with Yemen's constitution ... All Yemenis have both a right and responsibility to peacefully participate in this process. The United States remains firmly committed to supporting all Yemenis in this endeavor."

U.S. intelligence officials have long feared the collapse of Yemen's government. The Al Qaeda affiliate based in Yemen, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), is the most lethal and active of the al Qaeda affiliates. More significantly, officials say there is growing cooperation between AQAP and Al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, known as the Khorasan group. That cooperation includes operatives trained by AQAP moving to Syria with training in non-metallic explosives.

The unrest has also put a brake on any plans by President Barack Obama to transfer detainees held at Guantanamo Bay back to Yemen, the country of origin for most the remaining 122 terror suspects.

"The conditions in Yemen today aren't any different than what they have been," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters Thursday, "and we don't send them back to Yemen."

Fox News' Catherine Herridge, Jennifer Griffin, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Federal investigators have found no evidence of any impropriety in a series of intercepted communications between President Donald Trump's national security adviser and the Russian ambassador to the U.S., a senior law enforcement source told Fox News Tuesday.

The findings related to the messages between Gen. Michael Flynn and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were first reported by the Washington Post.

The source was quick to add, however, that a broader probe of the Trump's campaign ties to Russia is ongoing.

The conversations between Flynn and Kislyak took place in late December, around the time that then-President Barack Obama announced sanctions against Russia and expelled 35 diplomats in response to Moscow's meddling in the 2016 presidential election campaign.

Flynn had been investigated for the past five months as part of a broader probe of Trump campaign officials ties to Russia.

That investigation was initiated last spring and involves an interagency task force that includes representatives from the FBI, CIA, NSA and Treasury Department. At least three members of the Trump campaign were the focus of the investigation.

At one point in the larger investigation, the FBI requested four warrants from the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, commonly known as the FISA court. At least one of the warrants was granted and at least one other was not. It is not known whether any of the warrants specifically dealt with Flynn's contacts with Russian officials, which escalated after the November elections.

On Monday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that the administration had not been informed of any particular investigation and would not interfere with any probe. Spicer added that Flynn told him Sunday night that Flynn and Kislyak spoke twice in late December.

During the course of those conversations, Flynn said the men exchanged Christmas greetings and discussed a Dec. 25 plane crash that killed members of a Russian military choir, peace talks in Syria and plans for a post-inauguration phone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was confirmed Tuesday as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, winning overwhelming approval first in a Senate committee, then hours later in final vote by all 100 senators.

The vote was 96-to-4, with three Democrats and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders voting no.

During her confirmation hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Haley declared her support for moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a change that has the potential to trigger increased violence in the Middle East.

She also took a hard line against Russia, saying she doesn't think Moscow can be trusted right now.

The two-term Republican governor gained national prominence in 2015 when she signed a bill that finalized the removal of a Confederate flag from the South Carolina statehouse grounds, following the killing of nine black churchgoers in Charleston.

Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, the committee's top Democrat, backed Haley's nomination.

He said what the 45-year-old Haley lacks in foreign policy experience, "she makes up for in capability, intelligence, and a track record of building coalitions in South Carolina."

Haleys parents immigrated to the United States from India, and she was the states first female governor.

Also on Tuesday, the Senate gave preliminary approval to three other Cabinet-level picks for President Trump, though Democratic leaders delayed consideration of the presidents choice for attorney general, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, forced a one-week delay for a Sessions committee vote.

The California senator asked to wait until Jan. 31, in part, she said, because the women who marched in Washington and other cities on Saturday voiced concerns about equal rights and equal pay, which are values that the attorney general must defend.

She also said the committee received 188 pages of new material Sunday that need to be reviewed. Committee rules allow any member of the committee to delay a vote.

Meanwhile, the Senate Commerce Committee approved Trump's choice to lead the Commerce Department, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, and Elaine Chao to be Transportation Secretary.

The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee also approved Ben Carson, Trump's nominee for Housing Secretary.

Ross, Chao, Haley and Carson still face a final confirmation vote on the Senate floor. But they also are expected to win approval, considering Republicans have 52 senators and need 51 of them to vote yea.

The Republican-controlled Congress has now approved four major Trump nominations since he took office.

On Friday, the day Trump was sworn in, the Senate confirmed retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to be Secretary of Defense and retired Marine Gen. John Kelly to run the Homeland Security Department.

On Monday, the chamber confirmed Kansas GOP Rep. Mike Pompeo to lead the CIA.

The 79-year-old Ross has specialized in buying distressed companies that still have a potential for delivering profits. He has known Trump for more than 20 years, was an early supporter of his presidential campaign and an economic policy adviser to Trump's team.

Chao was Labor Secretary in President George W. Bush's administration and deputy Transportation Secretary under President George H.W. Bush.

She is also the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and was known to many senators before Trump tapped her for his Cabinet.

Chao said during her nomination hearing that she hopes to "unleash the potential" of private investors to boost infrastructure spending.

She is expected to play a major role in Trump's effort to fulfill his campaign promise to generate $1 trillion in infrastructure investment. The administration is expected to release its infrastructure plan this spring.

Carson, the former Republican presidential candidate and celebrated neurosurgeon, would lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a sprawling agency with 8,300 employees and a budget of about $47 billion.

Also on Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee held its hearing on confirming Georgia Rep. Tom Price to run the Department of Health and Human Services.

As in earlier confirmation testimony this month, Price, an orthopedic surgeon, was questioned by Democrats about his investments in health care companies and his plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

Among Democrats concerns is Price's purchase last year of stocks in Zimmer Biomet, a major medical device manufacturer.

The acquisitions, in part through a broker, occurred at about the same time Price introduced legislation to suspend Medicare rules seen as problematic for such companies.

Price again on Tuesday denied that he bought stock on a tip from New York GOP Rep. Chris Collins, who has boasted about making millions on his deal.

Everything I did was ethical, legal, above board and transparent, Price said.

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the committee, also accused Price and other Republicans in control of Congress since Trump took office of racing to repeal ObamaCare without a replacement plan for the projected 18 million Americans who could lose their health insurance.

Congressman Price is the architect of repeal and run, Wyden said. The Price plan takes America back to the dark days when health care worked only for the healthy and the wealthy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Trump is set Wednesday to take the first steps toward building his big, beautiful wall to keep illegal immigrants out  but a more pressing issue may be dealing with the nearly 2 million criminal aliens whove already made it inside Americas borders.

At least 925,000 illegal immigrants had been targeted for deportation but remained in the U.S., as of a 2015 estimate from Immigration and Custom Enforcement. A Department of Homeland Security study, however, said that number is more than doubled  to a staggering 1.9 million  when applied to all criminal aliens in the U.S., not just those ticketed to be kicked out. A criminal alien is any noncitizen  in the U.S. legally or illegally  convicted of a crime. But The Center for Immigration Studies Jessica Vaughan has said the vast majority of those aliens are indeed illegals.

It shows you how dysfunctional our interior immigration system is, Vaughan told Fox News.

TRUMP TO MAKE GOOD ON BORDER WALL PROMISE

Trump began his candidacy by promising the mass deportation of illegals; however, as he emerged as the GOP nominee, and then eventually won the presidency, he softened his position to focus on criminal aliens.

Trumps actions Wednesday will be the first step in that process. Among other orders, Trump is likely to curb funding to so-called sanctuary cities, beef up the number of border patrol agents and stop the controversial catch-and-release practice in which immigration agents release illegals awaiting removal hearings.

Theyve been allowed to stay here and take advantage of our generous immigration court system, Vaughan said. But the result of letting people go instead of keeping them in custody is they disappear into the woodwork and dont fear any consequences.

Of the 925,193 illegal immigrants whove evaded a scheduled deportation, 179,040 had a criminal conviction  and 172,135 of those remained at large, according to ICE figures.

In 2015 alone, 19,723 criminal illegal immigrants were released back into the U.S.  including 208 convicted of homicides and more than 900 with sex crime convictions, an ICE analysis showed. Those 19,723 illegals combined for a total of 64,197 convictions.

TRUMP PROMISES MAJOR INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGED VOTER FRAUD

Judges are ordering people removed, but they are either skipping out on those orders or ICE is being told not to bother pursuing them because theyre being told they should focus only on people whove committed very serious crimes, Vaughan said.

And the numbers are trending upward. From 2012 to 2015, illegal immigrants set for deportation who remained in the U.S. grew by 20 percent.

[Obama administration policies] contributed to this sense that our government isnt serious about enforcing immigration laws, Vaughan said. And thats why I think the executive orders coming today from President Trump are going to go a long way toward changing the calculation that illegal immigrants make  that they can just get away with ignoring a removal order.

But Vaughan cautioned that, despite Wednesdays flurry of presidential orders, the interior immigration issue is no quick fix.

These people didnt arrive overnight and this problem didnt happen overnight, so its going to take a few years to make a big dent in that number, Vaughan said. But today President Trump is getting the immigration enforcement system back on track.
The Obama administration pumped more than $7 billion into an education program, first authorized under President George W. Bush, that had no impact on student achievement  according to a report released by the Department of Education in the final days of the 44th presidents term.

The Department of Educations findings were contained in its School Improvement Grants: Implementation and Effectiveness report. The study could energize the debate over national education policy just as the Senate considers President Trumps controversial pick to lead the department, Betsy DeVos, an outspoken school choice advocate who has questioned the way federal education dollars are spent.

The timing of this report is so important and so interesting  this could have a positive influence on her confirmation, American Enterprise Institute resident fellow Andy Smarick told Fox News.

The School Improvement Grants (SIG) program, first introduced in 2001 under the Bush administration, was created to fund reforms in the countrys lowest-performing schools with the goal of improving student achievement in test scores and graduation rates. The program directed money to schools with low academic achievement and graduation rates below 60 percent for high schools, among other factors. SIG was canceled under recently passed legislation, though similar funding can still be sought by school districts.

SIG was first funded in 2007, receiving $616 million under Bush.

But it wasnt until 2009, when the Obama administration designated $3.5 billion to the program through the stimulus, that funding soared. The administration continued to pump more than $500 million annually to the program for the rest of his presidency.

The report, though, focused on data from nearly 500 schools in 22 states that received SIG funding, and concluded the program had no significant impact on reading or math test scores; high school graduation; or college enrollment.

Overall, we found that the SIG program had no impact on student achievement, co-author of the report Lisa Dragoset told Fox News.

The authors are non-partisan researchers in the Education Department, according to Tom Wei, project officer from the departments Institute of Education Sciences.

We focused on districts with larger samples of schools, and so these schools tended to be more urban and more disadvantaged, Wei told Fox News. We looked at the schools that were on the cusp of being eligible to receive SIG funding.

A department spokesperson not involved in drafting the report told Fox News they are continuing to review the study.

Smarick said then-Secretary Arne Duncan had approached SIG as a big bet, considering the body of research out there for years that if you put more resources into failing districts and failing schools, youre not going to get better student achievement. In the end, he said, They decided to go ahead and put as much money as possible into the program to make it work, which led us to this dramatic report: what happened was what has always happened in the past.

Neither Duncan nor previous education secretaries under Obama and Bush responded to requests for comment on the billions spent and the reports findings.

But Nina Rees, deputy education undersecretary under the Bush administration -- and now CEO of the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools -- called the results no surprise.

Some of these schools received huge injections of cash and had an absent leader who did not know how to leverage the money constructively, and that is not a good recipe for success, Rees told Fox News. The premise of the program was extremely sound, but it is simply human nature to pick things that are easier to implement as opposed to a more aggressive approach.

Rees, who is a proponent of school choice, also supports Betsy DeVos for education secretary in the Trump administration and believes charter schools need more funding and full autonomy.

Smarick suggested, in light of the new findings, DeVos approach could be helpful.

DeVos career has been trying to answer these questions differently than SIG  Betsys approach is to empower the low-income families by pumping resources to expand the number of schools available so that the families can have the option of school choice, he said.

Charter schools, at the heart of the school choice movement, are publicly funded schools run by independent groups. President Trump has suggested pumping an additional $20 billion into school choice -- with the funds redirected from existing federal accounts.

The Trump/DeVos approach faces scrutiny from some Democrats, who chided DeVos during her confirmation hearing and suggested charter schools are held to a different standard.

"There are times when it appears that charter schools are used as a wedge to attack public education, and the signals of that tend to be that failing charter schools are protected compared to failing public schools," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said in the hearing. "The standards really aren't there."

Rees told Fox News the federal government has played a crucial role in education since 1965, ensuring the needs of low-income and minority students are met by spending more money to even the playing field.

Some argue that money isnt enough to make a difference, but I do think that it is important for us to pay attention to the needs of the lowest-performing students and schools and to continue to invest in them, she said, while also stressing the role of parents.

DeVos, meanwhile, is set for a vote on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Jan. 31.

It's no surprise that last week's report from the Education Department proves that the Washington-knows-best model of No Child Left Behind and the Obama administration waivers didn't work, a committee aide told Fox News.

Committee Republicans and DeVos instead are pushing the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which passed in 2015 and effectively replaced No Child Left Behind (also nixing the SIG program). The bipartisan measure preserves standardized testing but eliminates the consequences for states and localities with poor performance.

The aide said that legislation was in part a response to the heavy-handed approach of the School Improvement Grants, adding: This report is welcome news and proof that Congress was right to change the law.
President Trump tweeted Tuesday night that he will send in the Feds if Chicago doesnt take care of its gun violence problem  but what could this involve?

Trump tweeted that "if Chicago doesn't fix the horrible 'carnage' going on" then he would act, but it was not immediately clear what, if anything, he had in mind.

The ability of the federal government to wade into state affairs is deliberately limited as the founders intended, but there are options available to the president.

Send in the feds may bring to mind sending troops into Chicago. However, the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prohibits the federal government from deploying troops to deal with a local matter. The Act was passed to end the use of federal troops to police state-level elections in former Confederate states. However, there are exceptions. President Eisenhower in 1957 sent in the 101st Airborne into Little Rock, Arkansas to quell the civil rights unrest there.

In 2006 Congress revised the law in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, so the president can send troops in order to restore order whenever local and state authorities cannot, which gives Trump more wiggle room. Trump could also federalize the state National Guard and deploy it  Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson all did this. However, this would most likely be a last resort option.

Sending the National Guard into Chicago may seem extreme but it isnt entirely out of the realm of possibility. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, was asked about such an outcome in August, as the governor of a state can also mobilize the National Guard. However, he nixed the idea and said that while he had discussed the idea with police and the National Guard, he concluded it was not a good idea.

The Chicago Tribune pointed to the possibility of the U.S. attorney coordinating with branches of the federal government. The current attorney for Illinois' Northern District is Zachary Fardon and he has placed solving violent crime at the top of the citys agenda  although he warned that the city couldnt arrest its way out of the problem.

Fardon noted that his office and federal agencies including the FBI, DEA and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives "have ramped up their resources to help tamp down this spike in violence." The Tribune reports that Fardon also announced that federal agencies had launched new crime-fighting programs with city and state officials, though he didn't provide details.

Trump could encourage those agencies to up their game in violence-torn cities. He could, for instance, send FBI agents to be embedded with local law enforcement.

The Tribune also noted that federal prosecutors have used racketeering and gun laws to go after gangs  which are particularly prevalent in the Windy City. Putting higher priority on convicting and imprisoning gang leaders could do a lot to end the violence, although the Tribune noted that breaking up a gangs command structure can lead to more rivalries and more violence.

Another option for Trump would be to pressure Chiacago to reinstitute policies such as stop-and-frisk by withholding federal funds until they change.
Holding hands, hundreds of protesters opposed to the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines took to the streets of Washington Tuesday night for a fresh round of demonstrations after President Trump signed executive orders clearing the way for the controversial projects to move forward.

Theres a man sitting in that house right now who is not going to stand for anyone other than himself, Jicarilla Apache Nation member Eryn Wise told the crowd by the White House.

Others chanted, Were not going away. Welcome to your fourth day!

The backlash in D.C. and other cities swiftly signaled that the kind of anti-pipeline demonstrations that took over a swath of North Dakota last year are revving up again.

Only this time, they're going national.

The president, in signing the orders Tuesday, described them as a bid to put Americans back to work. The actions make it easier for TransCanada to construct the Keystone XL pipeline and for Energy Transfer Partners to build the final stretch of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

"It's about time," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said in a statement. "These pipelines will strengthen our nations energy supply and help keep energy costs low for American families."

Proponents say the pipelines will create jobs and reduce reliance on foreign energy. Opponents say the pipelines will harm the environment and could pollute drinking water.

Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, joined several environmental groups in denouncing Trumps actions.

Donald Trump has been in office for four days, and hes already proving to be the dangerous threat to our climate we feared he would be, Brune said in a statement.

Trump said the two pipeline projects would be subject to renegotiation of terms, but made clear that the government  with his approval  would resume consideration for both.

The Trump administrations politically motivated decision violates the law and the Tribe will take legal action to fight it, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II said in a statement, warning of a "second Flint" water crisis.

Several-hundred protesters already were making their way back to North Dakota's main protest campsite, where demonstrators clashed last year with law enforcement in an at-times chaotic scene, after Trump's inauguration.

However, their presence at that specific site may be short-lived.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe called for activists to leave, out of concern for their safety because of predicted seasonal flooding of the river near the area of the camps. The elements have created a dangerous situation. Videos have shown protesters huddled together for warmth and struggling to walk in minus 4-degree weather.

Demonstrators now have until the end of the month to leave, according to a resolution passed by the tribal council in Fort Yates. If they remain, the tribe could call on federal law enforcement officials to have them removed and block re-entry.

The tribe, though, says it will resume its fight in the courtroom.

Other protesters, meanwhile, hit the streets on Tuesday. In Seattle, hundreds gathered in Westlake Park to protest.

Were here today as a human family, Paul Cheyokten Wagner, of the Saanich First Nations of Vancouver Island, told Komonews.com. Were letting the world know that we will not allow the Dakota Access Pipeline of the XL Pipeline to harm our grandchildren.

In New York, more than 2,000 people had signed up to attend a protest near Columbus Circle only a few hours after Trump signed the executive actions.

Jane Fonda joined a group of protesters outside Trump Tower. The 79-year-old actress-turned-activist called Trump the predator-in-chief and denounced his pipeline plans.

Trumps executive orders, while expected, mark a major shift from the Obama administration, which had stalled both projects.

Were going to put a lot of  steel workers back to work, Trump said Tuesday. Well build our own pipelines, we will build our own pipes.

He said the Keystone XL would create 28,000 jobs  a number that is at odds with a 2014 State Department study that projected the pipeline would create 3,900 construction jobs and 35 permanent ones.

For the Dakota Access Pipeline, proponents estimate it would create 8,000 to 12,000 construction jobs and pump an estimated $156 million in sales and income taxes into the economy. The pipeline is expected to generate an estimated $55 million annually in property taxes in the Dakotas, Iowa and Illinois.

Moments after signing the executive order for the disputed pipelines, Trump ignored a reporters question about the Native American protesters and environmentalists who have fiercely opposed it.
The healthy school lunch program championed by former first lady Michelle Obama has had its fair share of criticism -- but with a new administration in place, the program could be rolled back.

A document released by the office of Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., called for repealing certain aspects of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010  the legislation that helped put Michelle Obamas hallmark program into law. The initiative is part of a broader plan released by Meadows titled, First 100 Days: Rules, Regulations, and Executive Orders to Examine, Revoke and Issue.

The document calls for the Trump administration to reverse nearly 200 rules and regulations, including the requirements of the 2010 law.

The regulations have proven to be burdensome and unworkable for schools to implement, reads a related report from the House Freedom Caucus, of which Meadows is a member. Schools are throwing food away that students are not eating.

Since 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has implemented the requirement  tied to the 2010 law  that schools include either a fruit or vegetable for lunches subsidized by the federal government. However, a report published in August 2015 by researchers at the University of Vermont found even though students added more fruits and vegetables to their plates, children consumed fewer [fruits and vegetables] and wasted more during the school year immediately following implementation of the USDA rule.

Titled Impact of the National School Lunch Program on Fruit and Vegetable Selection, the report noted that average waste increased from a quarter cup to more than one-third of a cup per tray. Observing students at two northeastern elementary schools during more than 20 visits to each, researchers took photos of students trays after they chose their items, as they were exiting the lunch line and again as they went by the garbage cans.

Had a very #healthylunch today. The apple definitely made up for the "mystery mush" #ThanksMichelleObama pic.twitter.com/RWCnQRCxJK  Hunter Whitney (@huntwhitney4) November 13, 2014

The study's conclusions comport with widespread complaints from school officials and parents that the program encourages food waste. It also has drawn criticism for cost, implementation difficulties and unpopularity with students.

Further, since the restrictions on calories, fat, sugar, sodium, whole grains, fruits and vegetables went into effect, it is estimated that over 1.2 million students have stopped eating school lunches, according to EAGnews.org. School systems also dropped out of the program because it led in some cases to compliance costs exceeding the amount of federal subsidies received.

According the education news site, some schools had to get creative in disposing of the food waste, feeding leftovers to pigs and other animals at nearby farms.

There have been positive results from the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, a report was released earlier this month in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics in which researchers from the University of Washington Nutritional Sciences Program concluded the standards had a substantial impact on the quality of food provided at schools.

The researchers looked at the nutritional value of nearly 2 million meals selected by 7,200 students in several middle and high schools in an urban school district in Washington state. The scientists compared data collected in the 16 months before the standards were carried out with data from the 15 months after the standards were put in place -- and found an increase in six nutrients: calcium, vitamin C, vitamin A, iron, fiber, and protein.
(Xinhua) 08:20, January 25, 2017

China said Tuesday that it was committed to the process of Asia-Pacific economic integration in a spirit of openness, inclusivity and transparency, despite the United Statesquitting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

"China will forge ahead with the negotiation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the construction of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) so as to add new impetus to regional and global economic development," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying at a daily press briefing.

U.S. President Donald Trump Monday signed a memorandum ordering withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The TPP, a free trade pact between 12 Asia-Pacific countries, was formally signed by ministers last February after more than five years of negotiation. China is not a member of the TPP.

Hua said that China had always called for an open, transparent and mutually beneficial regional free trade arrangement and believed trade rules should be made through neogtiation with all parties on an equal footing.

"The Asia Pacific region should continue to exert its role as the engine of global economy under the current economic downturn and establish an open economy," said Hua.

The RCEP covers 16 countries, including 10 members of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations and their regional trading partners, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.

The FTAAP was launched with a roadmap at the 2014 APECSummit in Beijing. A collective strategic study was subsequently conducted and the result approved at the APEC meeting in Lima.

By encompassing all 21 APEC economies in trade liberalization, the FTAAP will become the world's largest free trade zone, covering 57 percent of the global economy and nearly half of world trade.

When asked whether China would play the role of leader on the issue, Hua said "it is more precise to use the word 'responsibility' rather than 'leader.'"

She said that from the G20 Hangzhou Summit to the APEC meeting in Lima and to the Davos Forum last week, China had made constant promises and concrete efforts.

"China is willing to work with all other countries to solve the problems facing the world today so as to shoulder its due responsibility to promote the common development and prosperity of the world," she said.
The Trump administration has instituted a media blackout for the Environmental Protection Agency, banning press releases and social media posts on official agency accounts, a source told Fox News.

The prohibitions came to light as the agency moved to delay implementation of at least 30 environmental rules finalized in the closing months of President Obamas term, a potential first step to seeking to kill the regulations.

Staffers in EPAs public affairs office are instructed to forward all inquiries from reporters to the Office of Administration and Resources Management.

"Not the most inspiring time at EPA right now but we're fighters, the EPA staffer, who would only speak on condition of anonymity said.

The source, who also has direct knowledge of agency contracts and grants, confirmed that the agency has been asked to temporarily halt all contracts and grants pending review.

Yes to freeze on new contracts and grants and no new funding on existing ones. There will supposedly be exceptions moving forward but unclear at this point, the source said.

The Trump administration has also ordered what it called a temporary suspension of all new business activities at the department, including issuing task orders or work assignments to EPA contractors. The orders were expected to have a significant and immediate impact on EPA activities nationwide.

EPA contracts with outside vendors for a wide array of services, from engineering and research science to janitorial supplies.

The Washington Post reported Monday that an email was sent to employees of the Office of Acquisition Management from the incoming EPA administration to temporarily suspend all contract and grant awards. The email was reportedly sent within hours of Trumps inauguration ceremony.

Competitive Enterprise Institute director Myron Ebell, who oversaw the EPA transition for the Trump administration, told ProPublica that the move isnt unprecedented.

Theyre trying to freeze things to make sure nothing happens they dont want to have happen, so any regulations going forward, contracts, grants, hires, they want to make sure to look at them first. This may be a little wider than some previous administrations, but its very similar to what others have done.

However, one employee told the publication that he couldnt recall a similar event happening in 10 years with the agency.

Similar orders barring external communications have been issued in recent days by the Trump administration at other federal agencies, including the departments of Transportation and Agriculture.

Staffers in EPA's public affairs office are instructed to forward all inquiries from reporters to the Office of Administration and Resources Management.

"Incoming media requests will be carefully screened," one directive said. "Only send out critical messages, as messages can be shared broadly and end up in the press."

A review of EPA websites and social media accounts, which typically include numerous new posts each day, showed no new activity since Friday.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday he had no specific information on the blackout.

"I don't think it's any surprise that when there's an administration turnover, that we're going to review the policies," Spicer said.

Doug Ericksen, the communications director for Trump's transition team at EPA, said he expects the communications ban to be lifted by the end of this week.

"We're just trying to get a handle on everything and make sure what goes out reflects the priorities of the new administration," Ericksen said.

Fox News Serafin Gomez and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer defended the concept of "alternative facts" in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity Tuesday night and claimed that his statement about Donald Trump's inauguration audience had been twisted by the mainstream media.

"The press was trying to make it seem like we were ignoring the facts when the facts are that sometimes ... you look at a situation ... in the same way you can look at a weather report," Spicer said on "Hannity." "One weather report comes out and says it's going to be cloudy and the next one says there's going to be light rain. No one lied to you."

DISGRACED NEWSMAN RATHER THUMPS CONWAY OVER 'ALTERNATIVE FACTS'

Spicer claimed Saturday that Trump attracted "the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration -- period -- both in person and around the globe" after multiple news outlets published photos unfavorably comparing the National Mall crowd at Friday's swearing-in to that for former President Barack Obama's first inauguration in 2009. The press secretary was criticized for inflating the number believed to have witnessed the inauguration in person.

The following day, Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway told NBC's "Meet The Press" that Spicer "gave alternative facts" to the media narrative about the audience size.

WATCH: VOTERS WEIGH IN ON 'ALTERNATIVE FACTS' AND MEDIA FAIRNESS

"If you add up the number of people who watched [the inauguration] online, on Twitter, Twitter Live, Facebook Live, on YouTube, it broke all sorts of records," Spicer told "Hannity." "You combine that with what Fox did online, how many people streamed it, 31 million people watched it on the broadcast networks. Combine all that.

"Where are [the mainstream media's] facts? Because I got called a liar for something that I can add up and say, 'Here's how we come up with this number.' And yet, where's the number that [proves] that I'm wrong? In fact, the default was ... 'you're lying.'"
In just two days, President Trump has met with corporate honchos, union chiefs and auto executives, courted congressional leaders, frozen federal hiring, killed the Pacific trade deal and moved ahead on two major pipelines.

So are the media filled with headlines about how hes off to a fast start?

Not exactly.

A front-page New York Times headline says Meeting with Top Lawmakers, Trump Repeats an Election Lie.

This is the split-screen reality of the new administration. In television terms, the main image on the screen is the 45th presidents actions, and in a small box on the bottom right is the distraction du jourTrump declaring war on the media, tweeting something provocative or making an unsubstantiated claim.

And then all of a sudden, that small box is blown up until it fills most of the screen, and what hes doing officially shrinks to small corner at the bottom.

Some of this reflects the medias natural preference for sniping over substance. Conflict is captivating, bipartisanship is boring.

Some of it reflects a media aggressiveness toward Trump that was missing in the last administration, and in some quarters an underlying hostility.

And some is Trumps own doing.

The president turned what had been a sidebar story on the size of his inaugural crowd by taking it on himself and then sending Sean Spicer out for a blistering lecture of the press.

And its hard to understand why Trump again repeated his claim to congressional leaders, without evidence, that up to 5 million illegal immigrants voted in the election. State officials have found scant evidence of such illegal voting. I get that Trump is concerned about having lost the popular vote, but hes still president, and the comment sparked another round of falsehood stories in the media.

Reporters asked Sean Spicer about the issue at least a half-dozen times at yesterdays briefing. The press secretary simply said the president does believe that and continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence presented to him. He did not elaborate and quickly moved on each time it was raised.

Now we can debate the impact that Trumps executive orders on the Keystone and Dakota pipelines will have on jobs, along with his vow to slash regulations by as much as 75 percent. But when the leaders of unions that backed Hillary Clinton are saying nice things about their meeting with a Republican president, that sounds like news.

And when the GOP president has a constructive session with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi along with members of his own party, that strikes a contrast with Barack Obama, who didnt much like schmoozing with Hill types, including his fellow Democrats.

During the campaign, the media were constantly predicting doom and gloom for Trump as he plunged from one controversy to the next, sometimes hyped, sometimes self-inflicted. The larger story, his connection to working-class voters, was badly missed.

I suspect that the folks who voted for Trump in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are a lot more interested in business regulations and pipeline jobs than in how many people gathered last week on the Mall.
The State Department announced Tuesday that it will review the last-minute decision by former Secretary of State John Kerry to send $221 million to the Palestinians late last week over the objections of congressional Republicans.

The department said it would look at the payment and might make adjustments to ensure it comports with the Trump administrations priorities.

Kerry formally notified Congress that State would release the money Friday morning, just hours before President Trump took the oath of office.

Congress had initially approved the Palestinian funding in budget years 2015 and 2016, but at least two GOP lawmakers  Ed Royce of California, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Kay Granger of Texas, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee  had placed holds on it over moves the Palestinian Authority had taken to seek membership in international organizations. Congressional holds are generally respected by the executive branch but are not legally binding after funds have been allocated.

Granger released a statement Tuesday saying, I am deeply disappointed that President Obama defied congressional oversight and released $221 million to the Palestinian territories.

She added: I worked to make sure that no American taxpayer dollars would fund the Palestinian Authority unless very strict conditions were met. While none of these funds will go to the Palestinian Authority because of those conditions, they will go to programs in the Palestinian territories that were still under review by Congress. The Obama Administrations decision to release these funds was inappropriate.

The Obama administration had for some time been pressing for the release of the money, which comes from the U.S. Agency for International Development and is to be used to fund humanitarian aid in the West Bank and Gaza, to support political and security reforms and to help prepare for good governance and the rule of law in a future Palestinian state, according to the notification sent to Congress.

The Palestinian funding is likely to draw anger from some in Congress as well as the Trump White House. Trump has vowed to be a strong supporter of Israel and has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Washington next month.

Trump appears to be approaching the Middle East differently then the Obama administration.

For example, some members of Trumps administration have been split on whether to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

The Washington Post noted that most of the world doesnt recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital. East Jerusalem is also considered occupied territory, which Palestinians hope to call their capital if a two-state solution is ever reached.

Trumps next ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, supports Israeli settlements and other changes to U.S. policies in the region.

Friedman said he looked forward to carrying out his duties from "the U.S. embassy in Israel's eternal capital, Jerusalem," even though the embassy is in Tel Aviv. Trump advisers have said that the president-elect will follow through on his call for moving the embassy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Between his vows to replace ObamaCare, build a border wall and renegotiate trade pacts, President Trumps inbox is mighty full his first week in office.

But one of the biggest challenges will be the Department of Veterans Affairs, where massive problems persist  many in the same hospital that was the epicenter of the waiting-list scandal that rocked the agency, and shocked the public, in 2014.

Until Congress passes strong accountability measures, VA employees from top to bottom will have little incentive to change this toxic culture, said Mark Lucas, executive director of Concerned Veterans for America, a veterans advocacy group.

A recent survey of employees at the Phoenix facility reported employees have little confidence in the integrity of their supervisors -- findings Lucas called unsurprising. Two government audits also found little improvement and costly inefficiencies in the agency as a whole.

Trump, who vowed during the campaign to overhaul the scandal-scarred department, has nominated Dr. David Shulkin, a VA undersecretary in the Obama administration, to take over.

If confirmed, Shulkin and Trump together will confront problems that extend well beyond morale issues.

The Government Accountability Office for the third year reportedly will place the VA health system on its high risk list when its released in February, because of continued problems of waste, fraud or mismanagement. The forthcoming report will say the VA has showed only limited progress since the scandal erupted.

The VA Office of Inspector General also reported earlier this month that in 2015, the VA awarded more than $177 million in improper relocation or retention bonuses based on inaccurate information to 238 different employees, many of them executives. The report blamed the VA for ineffective oversight processes to ensure compliance, and ineffective procedures to recoup funds from individuals with outstanding recruitment and relocation incentive service obligations.

And the January survey of employees at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix  which has had seven directors since 2014 revelations about VA officials falsifying patient wait times as some died waiting for care  found fewer than one-third of employees feel their supervisors have integrity or that whistleblowers would be protected.

Trumps 10-point plan to reform the VA included firing bad employees; creating a special commission to investigate cover-ups; and ensuring veterans have the option of VA vouchers for private health care.

The department clearly is still high risk. Yet some of Trumps goals already are in the process of being realized, said Joe Chenille, executive director for the veterans advocacy group AmVets.

We have gone from 19 percent getting care from outside sources, paid for by the VA, to 31 percent, Chenelly told Fox News. My prediction is a surge of people will want care outside the system.

Shulkin, who has experience as a hospital CEO, came to the agency with now-former VA Secretary Bob McDonald to make reforms after the scandal, and has the confidence right now of the Trump administration.

Dr. Shulkin is a nationally-recognized turnaround artist, health care leader, and passionate veterans advocate who is eager to transform the VA and will be able to do so in the Trump administration, Trump spokesman David White said. If confirmed, Dr. Shulkin will be ready on day one to enact President Trumps 10-point plan to end mismanagement and incompetence at the VA, and ensure our veterans get the timely, quality care and support they deserve.

A VA spokeswoman declined to comment and deferred to the Trump team.

A new VA secretary isnt enough, though, said Lucas of the CVA.

These are problems that arose as a result of a system that is set up to fail, a system no one leader can change without meaningful reforms from Congress, Lucas said. The VA needs to be transparent with veterans and taxpayers about its performance and how money is being spent. But most importantly, veterans deserve to be empowered with choice over where and when to see a doctor.

In September, RimaAnn Nelson, became the seventh director of the Phoenix veterans health system since the 2014 scandal. Nelson is no stranger to other VA controversies. She previously was director of the St. Louis system, where an inspector general report determined 1,812 patients were potentially exposed to hepatitis and HIV infections because of breaches in cleaning and sterilization of medical equipment.
President Trump announced Wednesday that he will be asking for a major investigation into alleged nationwide voter fraud -- a day after his press secretary was grilled on Trumps claims that 3 million to 5 million people had voted illegally in November.

Trump announced the move on Twitter, and said the probe will focus on those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and even those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time).

I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017 even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

Trumps announcement comes a day after White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was forced to defend claims Trump had made at a private meeting with congressional leaders Monday that 3 million to 5 million people had illegally voted in the election.

The president took bipartisan criticism for the comments a day later, with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., saying he had seen "no evidence" of Trump's claim.

Spicer told the press that that is what Trump believes based on evidence presented to him.

It was a comment he made on a longstanding belief, Spicer said.  He believes what he believes based on the information hes been provided.

When pushed by reporters on why, if that is the presidents belief, the Trump administration would not order an investigation into voting practices, Spicer said the president was comfortable with his victory, but eventually said maybe we will.

Trump had claimed millions had voted illegally in the wake of his election victory over Hillary Clinton in November when it became clear that while he had won the all-important Electoral College vote, Clinton had won the popular vote by more than 2.8 million votes.

Trump tweeted at that time that he actually won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally, a comment for which he was widely criticized.

While cases of voter registration fraud are not uncommon, cases of actual recorded voter fraud are rare and sporadic. There is little evidence to suggest that as many as 5 million voted illegally. In his press briefing Tuesday, Spicer cited a 2008 Pew Research Study and supposed findings that 14 percent of voters were not citizens.

There is no such study. Spicer may be referring to a disputed 2014 Washington Post Monkey Cage report which came to a similar conclusion. That study found that 14 percent of non-citizens in 2008 and 2010 indicated that they were registered to vote, and extrapolated that 6.4 percent of non-citizens voted in 2008 and 2.2 percent in 2010.

Meanwhile, a 2012 Pew study found evidence of widespread outdated voter registration forms, but did not make any conclusions in terms of actual voter fraud. The author of that study, David Becker, tweeted Tuesday that voting integrity [is] better in this election than ever before. Zero evidence of fraud.

In his tweets, Trump promised that, depending on the results, voting procedures may be strengthened.

Democrats immediately pushed back on Trump's action, with Democratic National Commitee chair frontrunner Keith Ellison, D-Minn., urging followers to "Fight it NOW!"
President Trump tweeted Tuesday night that if Chicago is unable to reduce its homicide figures, he will send in "the Feds" to help reduce the citys murder rate.

"If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible `carnage' going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!" Trump posted.

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson responded late Tuesday, saying: "The Chicago Police Department is more than willing to work with the federal government to build on our partnerships with DOJ, FBI, DEA and ATF and boost federal prosecution rates for gun crimes in Chicago."

Trump did not offer specifics about how the federal government could help.

The White House website says, "Our country needs more law enforcement, more community engagement and more effective policing."

This is not the first time Trump used Twitter to voice concern about violence in Chicago. Earlier this month, he posted, If Mayor cant do it he must ask for Federal help!

GREG GUTFELD: IF I WERE RAHM, I'D SHUT UP

Reuters reported that The Chicago Tribune released data indicating that at least 228 people were shot in the city so far this year, a 5.5 percent increase compared to last year. Police reportedly said the numbers were incorrect and there were 182 shootings, the same as last year.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel criticized Trump on Monday for worrying about the size of the crowd at his inauguration.

Emanuel, a longtime political ally of former President Obama, also acknowledged his own frustration with Chicago's crime rate. Reuters reported that the two have spoken in the past and a spokesman from Emanuels office said the mayor welcomed the opportunity to work with Trump.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy's last day will be Friday, according to a State Department official.

Mark Toner, acting spokesman, told Fox News Wednesday that Kennedy "will resign as Under Secretary for Management on January 27, and retire from the Department of State on January 31."

Kennedy first joined the State Department in 1973, according to Toner.

Republicans have criticized Kennedy for his conduct related to classified email status, Libya, Benghazi and internal State investigations. Trump administration officials have wanted to replace him.

In October, Fox News reported that Kennedy proposed a quid pro quo to convince the FBI to strip the classification on an email from Hillary Clintons server  and repeatedly tried to influence the bureaus decision when his offer was denied, even taking his plea up the chain of command, according to FBI documents.

Fox News' Rich Edson contributed to this report.
Virtually every major smartphone vendor, from Apple to Samsung to LG to Huawei, is expected to release devices featuring artificial intelligence this year. Industry sources tell DigiTimes that virtual assistants will once again play a large role in the mobile industry in 2017, and that significant upgrades are on the way.

According to DigiTimes' sources, Apple is working on an "enhanced" version of its Siri virtual assistant for its next generation of iPhone devices. The report doesn't specify whether or not this new Siri will appear on the iPhone 8, but with all the talk of the sweeping changes and additional features Apple is planning to bring to the iPhone for its 10th anniversary, a more advanced Siri would make sense.

The report also points to Apple's acquisition of machine learning and AI startup Turi last August, which it says will allow the company to "further strengthen the functionality, as well as the market share" of Siri, which is now competing with the likes of Cortana, Alexa and Google Assistant.

As for Samsung, the new AI assistant Bixby is expected to be a standout feature of the Galaxy S8, even rumored to have its own button on the vendor's next flagship phone. Google will continue to push Google Assistant on to more devices, LG is expected to integrate Amazon's Alexa into the G6 and Huawei, as the third largest global smartphone vendor, wants to compete with Apple and Samsung on AI.

2017 might just be the year of the smartphone virtual assistant wars.
In signing a deal with the Cuban authorities last December, Google took on the challenge of improving internet access in what many consider to be one of the worst places in the world to go online.

But Havana residents are taking the development with a grain of salt. Recently Fox News spoke with some islanders who expressed doubts Google will make a success of it, at least anytime soon.

We call the internet a Trojan Horse. The success of this government has been possible thanks to the peoples lack of information, said a 57-year-old retired professor who requested anonymity for fear of retribution by the communist regime.

I would have a patrol car at my door tomorrow to monitor my life, he said.

On the other hand, he and others contend, this Trojan Horse is also providing the communist regime with technology that will empower the secret police with detailed reports of the users searches and profiles, right down to their location.

This means that Cubans generally, and Cuban dissidents in particular, will not only have their entire online lives to the last detail available, but also where they travel, who they meet with in the real world and many other details made available to Castro's intelligence services, said John Suarez, an activist.

Google would not provide any comment on this and suggested visiting its blog for further details. The blog broadly states that the deal allows the state-owned telecommunications company ETECSA to use Googles technology to reduce latency by caching  popular high-bandwidth content like YouTube videos at a local level.

Google has additionally partnered with Havanas Museo Organico Romerillo, a museum in Miramar, an upscale neighborhood dotted with embassies and mansions. The agreement is that the museum provides Google a space to showcase some of its products through the ETECSA network, but commits to grant internet access to all visitors.

We know, from the experience of many countries around the world, that new technologies and improved internet access can help people in their daily lives, provide new information and experiences, and help harness a countrys creativity and ingenuity, Google says in its blog.

However, connectivity in the communist nation continues to be extremely limited to the lucky few. In my visit to the island in early January I was mentally prepared to disconnect from the world -- which actually felt quite nice for a couple days.

This is how it went down for me: My quest for internet started at the Jose Marti International Airport, where I started looking for the prepaid ETECSA card I had been told was the only way to get connection. The card costs around $5 and gives you approximately an hour of internet per dollar.

ETECSA is an acronym for Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba Sociedad Anonima, and is the sole provider of internet access in the island.

The day I landed, the airport had run out of the coveted cards so I had to manage to buy one the next day at one of the city's hotels. They are not easy to find. There are just a bunch of official stores that sell them, and luxury hotels also offer them but for five times the price.

So, to my puzzlement, for the same $5 and the same exact card, I got access to only one hour online.

Around Havana, there are a few places where you can get Wi-Fi for your device. Your best bet are the upscale hotels, but even there be prepared for a signal too weak to make a call through WhatsApp, watch videos or even upload and download pictures.

You can tell you have found an oasis by the dozens of people  both locals and tourists  glued to their phones for hours in front of these hotels. The government also approved some hotspots in public parks where youll also find internet junkies, but with very weak connection.

The access is very limited and we cant enter opposition websites or read, for example, The New York Times, said the retired college professor. At home, all we can get to work is an email account. The government doesnt want us to have internet.

The government, however, blames the U.S. saying the embargo has prevented the country from developing its telecoms infrastructure.

In any event, so far Googles deal doesnt seem to have changed things much, as all the company has done is provide faster access to their services, like Gmail or YouTube -- and thats only available to the privileged few who belong to the government elite anyway.

To critics such as activist John Suarez, Googles deal with the Cuban government is a disturbing development that will only modernize Castro's totalitarian regime.

Any technological improvements are illusions to us, the retired professor added.

Marta Dhanis is a field producer for the Fox News Channel. She can be reached @MartaDhanis.
(Global Times) 08:37, January 25, 2017

US President Donald Trump (middle) makes remarks as he holds a listening session with American Labor leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Monday. Photo: CFP

US President Donald Trump's decision to officially withdraw the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact met with mixed reactions in China on Tuesday.

Some experts said that the move is a relief for China, which was noticeably absent from the pact, while others pointed to tough challenges ahead for bilateral trade with the US.

Trump on Monday took his first executive action as US President to withdraw his country from the 12-nation trade pact, which had been a pillar for the US' strategic rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region under Barack Obama and was widely viewed as a move to counter a rising China.

Though it came as no surprise, given Trump's staunch opposition to what he repeatedly described as a terrible deal for US workers, the move might have eased some of China's concerns over the trade deal, experts said.

"[China's] concerns about the TPP have now been relieved," Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Bai said the TPP was pushed by the US to challenge China on trade in the Asia-Pacific region. With the deal now "almost certainly" dead, China can focus on multilateral trade agreements with countries in the region such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a 16-nation trade pact that includes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

"The demise of the TPP could give a boost to the long-stalled RCEP negotiations," Bai said, noting that many countries had been mainly focused on the TPP and were not very enthusiastic about the RCEP. "Now they will look again at the [RCEP] and put more focus on it," he added.

But the relief will be minor and fleeting, according to Jiang Yong, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

"Despite all the talk about how the US would challenge China with the TPP, the deal didn't really have much substance that could threaten China as many had feared," Jiang told the Global Times on Tuesday.

He said though China was not part of the TPP, it has relatively healthy bilateral trade relations with most of its signatories, including the US.

What's more worrisome, according to Chinese experts, is the Trump administration's shift from multilateral trade deals to bilateral trade agreements, as well as its protectionist trade policy and tough stance on China.

In the executive order on Monday, President Trump, while noting the "paramount importance" of trade, said his administration will deal with individual countries on a one-by-one basis in trade negotiations, rather than on a multilateral basis.

"This will give the Trump administration the ability to challenge any country on trade," Bai said.

Given Trump's tough stance on China, an increasingly confrontational trade relationship is "no longer a question of if but how," Jiang said, adding that the US will likely increase anti-dumping measures against Chinese exports and scrutiny of Chinese investment. He said the US might also target the Chinese financial market for challenges.

But that would be a very damaging move for both China and the US, and it might even hurt the US more, if China takes countermeasures to target US imports and investment in response, Bai said.

In what Chinese experts called an ironic move, Australian Trade Minister Steven Ciobo on Monday signaled that the TPP is open to China and other countries to join. But experts said the chance of China's joining is slim.

"Just as the TPP wouldn't work without China in the first place, it wouldn't work without the US," Jiang said.

Asked about Ciobo's comment, the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday gave a non-committal response, saying that it is open to fair and transparent free trade deals.
Elite Iraqi units clearing Mosul from Islamic State occupation face aerial bombardment from modified ISIS drones every day.

I just returned from two weeks on the ground inside Mosul with Iraqs Emergency Response Division and the Counter Terrorism Service. These two units are Iraqs best, and are taking the fight to ISIS daily.

ISIS is using snipers, suicide car bombs and drones to attack Iraqi forces.

HISTORY OF REMOTE WEAPONS IN PICTURES

ISIS modifies commercial drones to drop 40mm rifle grenades. They are flown by the operator over Iraqi troops and the grenade is dropped by electronic command.

Iraqi forces call the drones tieyara, (Arabic shorthand for UAV, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and open fire with rifles and machine guns when they are spotted. Nearly half the time, they are successful in bringing the drones down.

The threat from these aerial robot snipers is expected to continue as Iraqi forces cross the Tigris River and clear the west side of Mosul from ISIS.

VIDEO SHOWS FIGHTER JETS LAUNCH SWARM OF TINY DRONES

Earlier this month a U.S. Commander said that American and Iraqi forces were enjoying increasing success in taking down ISIS drones in the fight for Mosul. Citing U.S. Army Col. Brett Sylvia, Military.com reported that, while ISIS had previously relied on winged drones, it was now harnessing small quadcopters to drop munitions.

Sylvia declined to describe how U.S. forces are taking down the ISIS drones, but said that Iraqi forces are using direct small arms fire.

Reports also indicate that ISIS has been using the drones as a diversion to attract the fire of Iraqi forces, according to Military.com.
Dubai International Airport would welcome a call from the Trump administration on ways to improve American airports, the CEO of the Mideast hub said on Tuesday as it retained the title of the world's busiest for international travel.

Paul Griffiths said the Dubai airport, the home of long-haul carrier Emirates and often lauded by U.S. President Donald Trump during his campaign, saw 83.6 million passengers in 2016.

The figure fell short of Griffiths' earlier estimates of 85 million passengers for 2016  something he blamed on the economic, political and terror-related turmoil of the past year.

"We know that the global economy has slowed a little bit and the propensity for travel has dropped, but I think that 2016 was quite an unparalleled year," Griffiths told The Associated Press. "Fortunately, our numbers are still holding up."

Dubai International Airport first surpassed London Heathrow as the world's busiest airport for international traffic in 2014. It has maintained the title ever since, with more than 90 airlines flying into skyscraper-studded Dubai, a gateway for East-West travel.

That rapid growth has angered U.S. carriers, which allege Emirates, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad and Qatar Airways receive unfair government subsidies. The three Gulf airlines repeatedly have denied the allegations.

Asked about Trump's protectionist stance, Griffiths said it would hurt consumers the worst.

"The result of that is reduced choice for the consumer and higher prices," he said.

He added that the Dubai airport would welcome any discussions with U.S. officials about how to improve their airports.

"If America and President Trump would like some of the expertise from Dubai, I'm sure we'd be pleased to assist." Griffiths said.

___

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap . His work can be found at http://apne.ws/2galNpz .
Move over, Japan: Next year, Africa will debut its first high-speed train, in Morocco.

Testing has begun on the French-made double-decker train cars that will reach speeds of 200 mph, CNN reports. Expected to fully roll out in 2018, the trains will carry passengers from Tangier to Casablanca and cut travel time more than in half.

Funded by governments in Morocco, France, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, the project costs $2 billion and is expected to help ferry passengers from city to city in a little more than two hours. (For reference, the drive is about three-and-a-half hours.)

Tangier, an entry point for many coming to Morocco on flights or ferries from Spain, Italy, and other Mediterranean countries, is currently about five hours by rail from Casablanca.

Current trains carry about three million people annually along the coast between the two, but the Moroccan national rail operator ONCF anticipates that number will grow once the new cars begin service next year, with the aim of six million passengers a year after three years of operation. The trains, which don't have an exact launch date yet, were originally scheduled to run in December 2015, but construction and infrastructure delays have plagued the project.

Fares for the train have not been announced, but they will likely be more expensive than the current train ticket, which costs about $20 one-way, while flights are around $200 round-trip.

Still, officials say it won't set travelers back too much: "We will run trains intended for Moroccans and thus adapted to the purchasing power of Moroccans," ONCF's director general Mohamed Rabie Khlie told Le Monde. "We do not want a train reserved for high-end customers."

RELATED: The Most Scenic Train Rides in the U.S.
The billionaire chief executive officer of Facebook on Tuesday said he is reconsidering the process by which he is trying to gain title to about a dozen small parcels of land on his sprawling estate in Hawaii.

The move to get the land through a unique Hawaii law angered locals and prompted a state lawmaker to propose a bill that would force Mark Zuckerberg into mediation before buying real estate on Kauai.

"Based on feedback from the local community, we are reconsidering the quiet title process and discussing how to move forward," Zuckerberg said in a statement. "We want to make sure we are following a process that protects the interests of property owners, respects the traditions of Native Hawaiians, and preserves the environment."

Zuckerberg owns an expansive estate on Kauai, but he doesn't own all the land on the estate. There are about 14 small pockets of land, some less than an acre. They originally belonged to Native Hawaiians who were given the land when private property was stablished in Hawaii in the mid-19th century.

Many of the landowners died without making wills, and it was never determined who inherited the land.

Zuckerberg's lawyers in December filed a lawsuit asking the courts to find these owners so Zuckerberg could provide fair compensation for their land through the quiet title process, according to the documents.

Last Friday, state Rep. Kaniela Ing said he would introduce legislation that would force Zuckerberg into mediation before purchasing land on the island.

"We love Kauai," Zuckerberg said. "We want to be good members of the community and preserve the land for generations to come."

Zuckerberg's reconsideration was first reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Two Los Angeles police officers acted in self-defense when they fatally shot a 25-year-old mentally ill, black man during a struggle over an officer's gun and will not face criminal charges for the 2014 shooting that led to protests, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Los Angeles Police Department officers Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas were in fear for their lives and acted lawfully when they shot Ezell Ford on Aug. 11, 2014 as Ford struggled over Wampler's holstered gun, the Los Angeles district attorney's office said.

The finding comes more than a year after a police oversight board found the officers wrongfully stopped Ford, violating department policy, which led to the fatal close-range shooting.

"The question is did they honestly believe that Mr. Ford was about to take out the gun and shoot them and there is a lot of facts that indicate that they did," District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in an interview Tuesday.

Authorities said the officers had approached Ford, whose family has said he struggled with an array of mental illnesses, after seeing him in a known gang area, telling him they wanted to speak with him. Ford, they said, began walking away, but the officers believed he was trying to discard an illegal substance. Prosecutors said Wampler placed his hands on Ford's shoulders before Ford spun around and grabbed the officer at the waist.

Both Wampler and Ford fell to the ground and started tussling as Ford tried to grab Wampler's gun from the holster on his waist, prosecutors said.

Villegas shot Ford twice during the struggle, but Ford continued to fight with Wampler, Lacey said. Wampler was eventually able to retrieve his backup weapon, which was affixed to his bulletproof vest, reached around Ford's body and shot him once in the back, she said.

"This was not some officer who deliberately took out a gun and said, 'I'm going to shoot Mr. Ford.' This was a struggle on the ground, for a couple of minutes, that was very tense," Lacey said. One of the most compelling witnesses, she said, told investigators they heard an officer shouting, "Let go of my gun!"

Lacey said she called Ford's mother Tuesday morning before her office released a report on the shooting and told her they would not be brining criminal charges against the officers. She said Ford's mother was very upset and that it "felt like she was reliving it all over again."

"My son was unarmed. He was murdered and there will be no justice," Ford's mother, Tritobia Ford, told reporters as tears streamed down her face. "These officers get off scot-free. They just got away with murder. There is no justice for Ezell."

She said the shooting was "unjustified" and wants the two officers removed from the police force. A police department spokesman said both officers were working "in an administrative capacity" but declined to comment further.

The Los Angeles Police Commission ruled in June 2015 that the officers had no reason to stop and question Ford, and that violation of department policy led to an altercation that ended with Ford's death. The commission found that Wampler was unjustified in shooting Ford and Villegas was wrong to draw his weapon but acted appropriately in firing it because he believed Wampler's life was in danger.

Ford's shooting, days after that of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, led to a series of Black Lives Matters protests in Los Angeles. In October, Ford's family reached a tentative settlement in a state civil rights lawsuit they brought against the city.


A 28-year-old California woman who was reported missing over the weekend was found alive Wednesday walking alongside a freeway, officials said.

Laura Lynne Stacy was last seen Sunday morning leaving her Hollywood Hills apartment. A day later, her cellphone was found in a puddle of water about 30 miles away at Golden Valley Park in Santa Clarita. Her vehicle -- with Colorado license plates -- was discovered Tuesday night with its doors locked along the side of a highway in a remote desert area of Lancaster, Calif.

Officers who were responding to the area Wednesday to help look for Stacy spotted her walking along the 14 Freeway nearly 60 miles from her home, police told FOX 11 Los Angeles.

Officials told FOX 11 she was taken to the hospital out of precaution, and was going to be reunited with her family.

Laura Stacy being put into stretcher - just out of precaution- she's being taken to Antelope Valley Hospital pic.twitter.com/YXPlwiKfVy  Zohreen (@Zohreen) January 25, 2017

Stacy's 2005 black Acura TL -- covered with frost -- was towed from the location early Wednesday morning. A law enforcement source told Fox News there were no "obvious signs of foul play" at the scene but said forensic testing is being conducted on the vehicle.

Stacy, who works in real estate and enjoys photography, had moved two months ago to Los Angeles from her home in Denver.

The woman's mother told Fox News on Wednesday that she believes her daughter visited Golden Valley Park to take photographs. While there, she said she thinks her daughter dropped her cellphone and was unable to use its GPS device when driving home.

Marcy Stacy said she believes her daughter got lost in bad weather conditions and pulled over along the side of the road. A blanket and some food were found inside the vehicle, Stacy said, adding that police have also searched area hospitals.

"I think she got lost when she was driving home," Stacy told Fox News. "You can tell she was in the car for awhile."

"We think she ran out of gas and started walking," she said.

Authorities on Wednesday conducted searches near Lancaster with helicopters and dogs for any sign of her.

Stacy's roommate was the last person to see her at their apartment on Sunday. At around 5 a.m. Monday morning, Stacy's mother said she received a text from her daughters cellphone. But the message came from a stranger who reported finding the phone on the ground at Golden Valley Park -- about 30 miles from Stacy's apartment.

The phone was later turned in to the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Station.

Click for more from FOXLA.com.

Fox News' Cristina Corbin contributed to this report.
Police say a group of elementary school students witnessed a woman get shot at a school bus stop during a domestic argument.

Prince George's County police spokeswoman Jennifer Donelan says investigators are looking for 42-year-old Roland Eugene Simms in connection with the shooting Tuesday morning in Oxon Hill.

EX-GANG MEMBER WHOSE SENTENCE WAS COMMUTED BY OBAMA IS MURDERED

Police say Simms shot the woman after he approached her at the bus stop and got into an argument that turned physical. Investigators declined to provide information about the hospitalized woman's condition for her protection in the domestic violence case.

Authorities say six children at the bus stop near Forest Heights Elementary School fled the scene. No children were injured.

It's unclear whether any of the children at the bus stop were related to the victim.
Transit police say they've arrested three New Jersey residents who owe more than $682,000 overall in unpaid tolls and fees.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police say all three were arrested Wednesday morning at the Lincoln Tunnel in Weehawken. Each faces charges of theft of service and theft by unlawful taking.

Authorities say 51-year-old Manuel Aristyarias, of Paterson, owes $644,804. They say he has 9,219 known E-ZPass electronic toll payment violations.

Authorities say 47-year-old Somaya Elkaramany, of Bayonne, owes $24,522 for 383 known violations.

And they say 31-year-old Washington Cevallos-Vega, of Union City, has 176 known violations and owes $13,389.

It wasn't clear Wednesday if any of them have retained an attorney.

___

This story has been corrected to show Aristyarias lives in Paterson, not Patterson.
The Denver Police Department announced a series of changes to its use of force policy Wednesday, which it labeled as "philosophical."

The new policy outlines when it is acceptable for officers to use batons, chemical agents, stun guns and deadly force.

The policy's stated goal is "force avoidance" and de-escalation is a core component.

Police Chief Robert White said the emphasis is switching from considering whether the use of force is justifiable to whether it will result in the best outcome.

In addition, there will be a series of community meetings where citizens can offer feedback on the policy plans.

Click here to read more at FOX 31.
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A draft executive order obtained by The Associated Press shows that President Donald Trump intends to stop accepting Syrian refugees and suspend the United States' broader refugee program for 120 days.

The president also plans to suspend issuing visas for people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen for at least 30 days, according to the draft. All are predominantly Muslim countries.

Trump is expected to sign the order this week. It was not clear if the draft will be revised before then.

The actions would continue Trump's rapid-fire attempts in his first week as president to move forward on signature issues of his campaign: cracking down on illegal immigration and blocking the entry of people from countries where terrorist organizations have a significant presence. On Wednesday, Trump issued orders aimed at moving ahead with a wall on the Mexican border and blocking federal funds from "sanctuary cities" that protect immigrants.

Trump's draft shows that he will order Homeland Security and State Department officials, along with the director of national intelligence, to review what information the government needs to fully vet would-be visitors and come up with a list of countries that don't provide it. The order says the government will give countries 60 days to start providing the information or citizens from those countries will be barred from traveling to the United States.

Exceptions would be made for diplomats, NATO visas or those people traveling to work at the United Nations.

During the campaign Trump, said vetting procedures were inadequate and suggested that terrorists could pose as Syrian refugees to infiltrate the United States.

Under the Obama administration, vetting for Syrians routinely took years to complete and included in-person interviews overseas, where they provided biographical details about themselves, including their families, friendships, social or political activities, employment, phone numbers, email accounts and more. They also provided biometric information about themselves, including fingerprints and Syrians are subject to additional, classified controls that administration officials at the time declined to describe.

While suspending visas for Syrians, Trump is also asking that officials from the departments of State and Defense to draft plans for safe zones in and around Syria.

Trump has the authority to determine how many refugees are accepted annually and he can suspend the program at any time. Refugee processing was suspended in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, restarting months later.

During the last budget year, the U.S. accepted 84,995 refugees, including 12,587 people from Syria and President Barack Obama had set the refugee limit for this budget year at 110,000.

Trump, according to his yet-to-be-signed executive order, will cut that program by more half to 50,000. The order said while the program is suspended, the U.S. may admit people on a case-by-case basis "when in the national interest" and the government would continue to process refugee requests from people claiming religious persecution, "provided that the religion....is a minority religion in the individual's country." That suggests that would allow the admission of Christians from Muslim-majority countries.

Trump's order also directs government officials to make a variety of changes to how visas are issued, including requiring that everyone applying for a non-immigrant visa be interviewed in person. Previously, waivers could be granted to skip the interview.

The order says its purpose is to make sure anyone allowed to enter the United States doesn't "bear hostile attitudes toward our country and its founding principles."

"We cannot, and should not, admit into our country those who do not support the U.S. Constitution, or those who place violent religious edicts over American law," Trump said in the order. He added that the U.S. should bar foreigners who "engage in acts of bigotry and hatred," citing honor killings or other violence against women and religious persecution.

There is no religious test to enter the United States and the Immigration Act of 1990 all but eliminated the government's ability to exclude would-be immigrants on ideological grounds. But it does allow the government to block someone from the country if their "entry or proposed activities in the United States....would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences."

___

Follow Alicia A. Caldwell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/acaldwellap
One of the four Chinese tourists shows all the U.S. dollars he possesses in Dubai. [Photo: cztv.com]

The Chinese Consulate in Dubai has asked the local police to consider all possibilities and prudently mete out the punishment against four Chinese tourists who are suspected of using counterfeit currencies in the United Arab Emirates.

Four Chinese tourists were detained at the Dubai International Airport over their suspected use of fake US banknotes with a face value of 2,800 dollars on December 28 last year.

The four Chinese were released on bail on December 29 with the help of Chinese consular officials, and a domestic tour operator in Dubai had helped arrange their accommodation and transportation.

On January 19, the banknotes they used were confirmed as counterfeit, and the police in Dubai thus registered the case against the four individuals.

The four people said they had obtained the banknotes after currency exchanges at different banks in China, noting that there were times that the money was out of their sight while they were in Dubai.

Further investigation is still underway, and the four tourists are required to stay in the UAE for the time being.

The receipt given to one of the four Chinese tourists by a bank in China showing an exchange of 2,000 U.S. dollars. [Photo: cztv.com]

The Chinese Consulate in Dubai has also reminded Chinese tourists who are traveling to the UAE to learn more about local laws and regulations, in addition to respecting the local religious customs.

Ma Xuliang, Deputy General Consul of the Chinese Consulate in Dubai, said on Monday that since the UAE began granting visas on arrival to Chinese visitors last year, the number of Chinese tourists visiting the country has significantly increased.

Ma added that it is anticipated that there will be more Chinese traveling to the UAE during the Chinese New Year holiday.

Ma said he hopes Chinese travelers would abide by local laws and respect local customs, in addition to taking care of their personal belongings.
A former gang member saw his prison sentence commuted by then-President Obama in Novemberonly to be killed almost exactly two months later.

Demarlon Thomas, 31, was transitioning out of the federal prison system in a Saginaw, Mich., halfway house after having his sentence commuted Nov. 22.

MANHUNT LAUNCHED AFTER GUNMAN KILLS 2 MEN AT STATEN ISLAND LOAN BUSINESS

Two masked gunmen brandishing assault-style weapons sought out and killed Thomas, a former member of Saginaws Sunny Side Gang, at that halfway house Monday night, reports MLive. "They were looking for this person," a Michigan State Police officer says, describing the shooting as execution-style.

One gunman shot Thomas numerous times, while the other held 23 others at gunpoint; ultimately, no one else was injured. "I think it was connected one way or another to the gang he was from or a rival gang," the officer tells Michigan Radio.

The suspects are still at large.

Thomas had been sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2008 for distributing cocaine after a federal investigation that authorities thought had put an end to the Sunny Side Gang. Thanks to Obama commuting his sentence, he had been scheduled to go free in March, about eight years earlier than his original release date.

Click for more from Newser.
Prosecutors and a defense attorney have clashed during closing arguments over whether an Arizona man aided a New York man who died in Syria fighting for the Islamic State group.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Negar Tekeei (neh-GAR' TIH'-kay) told the jury Wednesday that evidence is overwhelming that Ahmed Mohammed el-Gammal (ehl-gahm-AHL') helped Samy el-Goarany (ehl-goh-AHR'-nee) reach Syria in 2015. She says the 44-year-old Phoenix-area man wanted to live comfortably in America while he guided the 24-year-old college student toward the extremist group.

Assistant Federal Defender Sabrina Shroff denied the accusation and says el-Goarany was the only terrorist in the case.

El-Gammal could face decades in prison if he is convicted in Manhattan federal court on charges that he provided material support to the Islamic State group.
A Mears taxi cab driver was killed when she was struck by a car as she assisted a stranded motorist.

The Florida Highway Patrol says 47-year-old Dana Nelson, a single mother of two teenaged daughters, was in her cab when she pulled over to help a motorist who was stopped along the Beachline Expressway.

OFF-DUTY POLICE OFFICER RISKED LIFE TO HELP OTHERS AFTER TANKER EXPLOSION

She was just truly trying to assist this vehicle on the side of the road. Her vehicle and this disabled vehicle were hooked up by jumper cables. They were in the process of trying to jump that vehicle with this took place, said FHP Trooper Steven Montiero.

Nelsons family was too shocked and heartbroken to speak publicly on Tuesday. Neighbor Nicholas Grant said Nelsons mother told him about the accident Tuesday morning.

WATCH: OFFICER CARRIES ELDERLY WOMAN TO SAFETY WHEN TRUCK BURSTS INTO FLAMES

I hugged her to console her. Ms. Nelson was always a friendly neighbor. In passing by, she'd always stop and say hi, said Grant.

Troopers say the driver who hit Nelson did stop and could face charges for causing the fatal wreck.

For more on this story, visit Fox35Orlando.com.
The Latest on two California prisoners who walked away from a minimum security facility (all times local):

2:15 p.m.

California authorities are on the lookout for an escaped prisoner serving time for assault with a deadly weapon.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported Wednesday that they've captured one of two prisoners who walked away the night before from a Northern California minimum-security facility for inmate firefighters.

They say 27-year-old Brian Schueren of Orange County remains on the loose.

He was serving a four-year sentence at Alder Conservation Camp near Klamath, an hour's drive from the Oregon border.

They say 47-year-old Eddy Edwards was taken into custody without incident Wednesday morning along a road not far from the camp.

Authorities say the captured inmate is being taken to a state prison in Susanville, no longer eligible to serve his sentence at the camp.

10:15 a.m.

State prison officials say they're looking for two inmates who walked away from a minimum security facility in far Northern California.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports the two men were last accounted for late Tuesday in their housing unit.

They were part of an inmate firefighting crew based at Alder Conservation Camp near Klamath, a coastal community an hour's drive from the Oregon border.

Authorities say Eddy Edwards is a 47-year-old from Glenn County. He's serving a six-year sentence for making criminal threats and drunken driving.

And 27-year-old Brian Schueren of Orange County is serving four years following a conviction for assault with a deadly weapon.

Authorities ask anybody who knows their whereabouts to call local law enforcement.
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The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):

10:15 a.m.

A draft executive order shows President Donald Trump asking for a review of America's methods for interrogation terror suspects and whether the U.S. should reopen CIA-run "black site" prisons outside the United States.

The order also would also continue America's use of the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the draft from a U.S. official.

The document instructs senior national security officers to "recommend to the president whether to reinitiate a program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States and whether such program should include the use of detention facilities operated by the Central Intelligence Agency."

The document says U.S. laws should be obeyed at all times and explicitly rejects "torture."

__

7:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he will reveal his Supreme Court pick next Thursday. The court has had only eight justices since the death last year of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Trump tweeted early Wednesday, "I will be making my Supreme Court pick on Thursday of next week. Thank you."

A person familiar with the process said the president has narrowed his choice to three federal appellate judges. They all were on the list of 21 potential high court picks Trump announced during his presidential campaign.

The leading contenders  who all have met with Trump  are William Pryor, Neil Gorsuch and Thomas Hardiman, the person said, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly about internal decisions.

__

7:25 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he will order an investigation into voter fraud.

The president tweeted early Wednesday that the measures will affect those registered to vote in more than one state, "those who are illegal and even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time)."

Trump says that "depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures."

Trump repeatedly made disputable claims of a rigged voting system before the election, but now in the White House, he continues to raise concern over fraud.
Authorities in New York were searching for a masked gunman Tuesday night after two men were found dead at a loan business.

An NYPD spokesman said the shooting took place at Universal Merchant Funding on Staten Island at around 6:15 p.m. Officers found two men at the location. The men were pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities identified one of the victims as Michael Genovese, 57, of Edgewater, N.J. The other victim was not identified. Sources told the New York Daily News both men were shot in the head.

According to the Staten Island Advance, police were scouring nearby neighborhoods for a suspect. He was said to have escaped in a grey sedan, but police havent released a description of him.

Devon Rocco told the Advance that no money was kept at the business. Other residents described the neighborhood as quiet and some didnt hear any gunshots.

"It's scary," Tommy Casey said. "That something like this can happen here is unbelievable."

An anti-gun violence group offered a $2,500 reward for anyone who provides information on the suspect.
A Virginia mom and her two children who disappeared after going on a blind date and having her house burned down over the weekend have surfaced in North Carolina, authorities announced Wednesday.

"Investigators have determined that they left on their own free will," the Virginia Beach Police Department said in a statement, referring to Monica Lamping, her 9-month-old daughter Oria and 7-year-old son Kai.

The house Lamping was renting caught fire early Sunday morning. Firefighters found a dog and cat dead in the blaze and rescued two other cats, The Virginian-Pilot reported. The evidence reportedly suggested a space heater triggered the fire, but Virginia Beach Fire Dept. spokesman Art Kohn said the investigation was ongoing.

Prior to the fire, Moira Lamping, Kais stepmother, told WVEC that Monicas friend watched the children while she went on a blind date. Lamping then returned later Saturday afternoon to pick up the children and was not seen by family members again.

Kevin Lamping, Monicas ex-husband and father to Kai, wrote on Facebook Wednesday morning that she and the children were found in North Carolina. Police have not charged Lamping with any crimes.

Click for more from The Virginian-Pilot.
Authorities are investigating after a New Orleans police officer shot and killed an armed robbery suspect.

Multiple news outlets report the incident happened Tuesday at an apartment complex. Authorities have not released the names of the suspect or the officer involved in the shooting.

Police Superintendent Michael Harrison says the man killed was one of two suspected robbers inside an apartment that officers were watching.

Harrison says the suspects exited the unit, but before police could move in to arrest them, they ran and officers followed.

At some point, Harrison says one of the officers, who was wearing plainclothes, encountered one of the suspects, who was armed, and fired his weapon, striking the suspect.

The other suspect was taken into custody.

It's unclear whether the suspect fired a gun at the officer.
A pair of Russian Tu-95 Bear nuclear-capable bombers flew around Japan on Tuesday, prompting the Japanese military to scramble fighter jets as the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) increased its threat posture, two U.S. defense officials revealed to Fox News.

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: RUSSIA'S TRUE FEELINGS ON TRUMP A MYSTERY

The Russian bombers stayed in international airspace, the officials said. News of this latest Russian provocation came shortly after the Pentagon announced that new Defense Secretary James Mattis would make his first visit overseas to Japan and South Korea early next month.

A third Russian Tu-95 bomber took off from a base in eastern Russia near the Pacific Ocean but it did not fly around Japan. Instead, it acted as a communications relay to pass radio traffic between the bombers flying around Japan, the officials said.

REVIEW FINDS NO WRONGDOING IN FLYNN'S TALKS WITH RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR

In a statement, NORAD said threat posture changes were "not unusual" in response to "exercises or real world events," but declined to disclose any more information.

All three Russian strategic bombers took off outside the Pacific coastal city of Anadyr in eastern Russia. They returned to the eastern Russian airbase Ukrainka, roughly 1,000 miles from Japan.

Three Russian refueling tankers (IL-78) were also part of the flight. Two airborne radar and communications planes known as Beriev A-50 AWACs were also part of the Russian flying armada.

Only two Russian bombers made the flight around Japans major islands, according to officials.

The increase in threat posture from 5 to 4 meant the U.S. Air Force would place an extra tanker crew on standby ready to refuel the Japanese jets if necessary, according to officials.

It was the first time Russian bombers had circumnavigated Japans major islands in a year, the officials said.

The Diplomat first reported the flight.
A former Navy sailor imprisoned for taking photos inside a submarine has sought a pardon from President Donald Trump, who, as a candidate, often cited his case as unjust.

Supporters of Kristian Saucier, 29, say the one-year sentence he drew last summer was overly harsh in light of treatment afforded former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her illegal private email server, and former President Obamas granting of clemency to Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning, who leaked classified information.

Saucier's attorney, Ronald Daigle, told Fox News that he met with Trump's national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, about Petty Officer First Class Sauciers case, and at Flynns request submitted a formal pardon request.

Daigle said the punishment didnt fit the crime.

It was a hyper-charged political atmosphere, Daigle said, politics played a role in it.

Saucier, who served as a machinist's mate aboard the USS Alexandria from 2007 to 2012, used his cellphone to photograph parts of the submarine's nuclear propulsion system while it was docked at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Conn.

Saucier, who is married and has a 2-year-old daughter, began his 12-month sentence in October at the Federal Medical Center at Fort Devens, Mass.

He was convicted of unauthorized retention of national defense information, which is a felony, and received an "other-than-honorable" discharge from the Navy. He faced a possible 10 years in jail, his lawyers said.

His problems began when a worker at the naval base found Sauciers cellphone near a Dumpster and, while going through it, found the photographs. The worker brought the cellphone to a retired Navy petty officer, who then notified federal agencies about the sensitive submarine pictures.

When you look at how many years ago this occurred, coupled with his military service, and other individuals such as Hillary Clinton and [Clinton aide] Huma Abedin, who clearly mishandled classified information, its unfair, said Greg Rinkey, one of the attorneys who represented Saucier. It smacks of two types of justice systems in the United States.

Abedin was a Clinton adviser whose estranged husband and former congressman Anthony Weiner was found to have some of the former secretary of states emails on his computer when it was seized by federal investigators in connection to another case.

Daigle said that when he served as a military police officer in Iraq from 2005 to 2006, he saw hundreds, or thousands of photos that service personnel had taken that could be considered sensitive. The norm was to handle them in-house, Daigle said.

Sauciers family has said that he took the photos to show his future children what he did aboard the submarine.

Tom Carson, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney in Connecticut, declined to comment on Saucier's attorneys' criticisms that prosecutors were overzealous.

Carson said in an email to Fox News: "For any pardon application, when the Office of the Pardon Attorney requests our office's position on a pardon, we will review the application and provide our position."

At the time of the court proceedings on the charges, prosecutors balked at attempts to compare the petty officers actions to those of other officers or even that of Clinton.

Noting that intent is crucial when determining punishment, some experts noted that Clinton maintained that she did not know that she was doing anything wrong, whereas Saucier conceded that he believed he should not have been taking the photographs.

Acting on behalf of the Navy, Rear Adm. Charles Richard submitted a victim impact statement that described Sauciers photographs as having had far-reaching consequences for the United States and the Officers, Sailors and families who serve it."

"Therefore, the Navy respectfully requests that the court consider a sentence of confinement, and a fine, at the high end of the applicable range under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines," Richard said, according to Military.com

Daigle says that the photos he saw while in Iraq, where he had customs duty and had to go through belongings, were far worse than Sauciers photos.

He said that Saucier had an outstanding career, and had wanted to be in the service for the long haul.

Kris was an absolute great performer who made rank quickly because he did so well, Daigle said.

Daigle hopes that Saucier receives a pardon that would erase the conviction from his record, and commutation of his sentence.


(Xinhua) 09:04, January 25, 2017

The Syrian talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, ended on Tuesday, with a final communique backing a one year ceasefire reached recently in Syria, and brought six-year-old foes face to face for the first time.

Turkey, Russia and Iran, the three sponsors of the two-day Syrian talks, made a joint statement at the end of the meeting, stressing their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria.

They said the three countries support talks between the Syrian government and armed opposition groups and believe that there is no military solution to the conflict.

The parties reaffirmed their commitment to reach peace and fight against the terror-designated Islamic State (IS) and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and to separate them from other armed opposition groups.

The statement also supports the Syrian opposition's willingness to participate in the next round of negotiations.

The three states highlighted that the international meeting in Astana is an effective platform for a direct dialogue between the Syrian government and opposition.

The Russian, Iranian and Turkish sides have decided "to establish a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire, prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the ceasefire," according to the statement.

In short, the conference consolidated the ceasefire that was reached on Dec. 29 and implemented on Dec. 30 in Syria. The signatories of the ceasefire were the government and rebel groups, under the auspices of their backers, Russia as the supporter of the Syrian government, and Turkey the long time backer of the rebels.

The Astana talks also stressed on the need to separate the rebel groups, mainly those who attended the conference, from the terror-labeled ones such as Nusra and IS, as both groups have been labeled as terrorist groups by the UN and were excluded from any settlement.

This was a main demand of the Syrian government and this conference has helped in cornering the Nusra and IS, both powerful and enjoy considerable sway in many Syrian areas, mainly the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS, and the northwestern province of Idlib, the main stronghold of Nusra.

Russia said Monday that maps were being drawn on the locations of IS and Nusra in Syria for targeting them.

Analysts in Damascus hailed the results of the Astana talks, but said it all relies on the credibility of Turkey and the rebels it has vouched for.

Osama Danura, a Syrian political analyst, said If the Turkish side and the rebels it's backing complied completely with the plan, "it will be an important turning point in the course of resolving the conflict in Syria."

"Now the credibility of Turkey and the rebels who attended the Astana talks is on the line, because it will be under test in the coming days," he said.

He added that the rebels should be truthful in terms of separating themselves from the terror groups.

"The success of this means that an old obstacle, about the overlapping of the rebel groups with the terror-designated ones, is over," Danura said.

He stressed that "It's all about the credibility of Turkey", noting that Ankara has the means to guarantee the commitment of the rebels.

For his part, Hmaidi Abdullah, another analyst, said there are several good aspects in the Astana talks.

He said the talks underscored basic demands such as separating the rebels from the terrorists, and the second is the approach of the three countries to fight the terror groups in Syria.

It's worth mentioning that Turkey and Russia carried out their first joint airstrikes against IS positions earlier this week in Syria, a translation to the agreement between both countries.

Meanwhile, Zahra Fares, a Syrian journalist and political analyst, said Astana talks achieved things that failed to be reached in previous talks between the government and the political opposition.

"I think there were several breakthroughs in the talks in terms of the shape of the talks as for the first time we have seen the rebels and the government sitting face to face, for the first time Turkey was the guarantor and be part of a coalition with Russia and Iran in the face of the terrorist groups," she said.

Fares also pointed out to another new thing in the history of the Syrian talks, saying "it's the first time when we didn't see a main role for the U.S. in these talks," as the U.S. wasn't among those making the conference or reaching the ceasefire as the country was busy with its presidential elections.

Regarding the tension that was sensed in the first session, Fares said "even though there was tension in the talks, but it was normal as those in the meeting are fighting on ground, and it's their first meeting."
Fresno police say a man attacked two relatives and then set their home on fire over a bad cigarette.

Man allegedly attacks family with crowbar and then sets house on fire, according to Fresno police: https://t.co/AsvHpoILqT pic.twitter.com/YHq4tVdspZ  ABC30 Fresno (@ABC30) January 25, 2017

KFSN-TV reports detectives say Richard Garcia asked his brother-in-law for a cigarette but didn't like it and that led to an argument.

COPS HUNT HOME HEALTH CARE WORKER CAUGHT STRIKING 94-YEAR-OLD PATIENT

Fresno Police spokesman Lt. Joe Gomez says Garcia attacked his sister and brother-in-law with a crowbar and a hammer and then chased them with a knife. The couple got away and ran to a neighbor's home for help,

Gomez says Garcia was on the porch with a knife when officers pulled up to heavy smoke and flames.

He was arrested and is facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon and arson.

His sister and brother-in-law were treated for minor injuries from being hit with the crowbar and hammer.
A Pennsylvania prison guard accused of making racist remarks and pulling a gun inside a diner has been suspended without pay.

Authorities allege that 28-year-old Kory Kish, of Hughestown, entered a bathroom at D's Diner in Plains Township early Sunday and argued with two men. One of the men, a Puerto Rican, says Kish said "this country is for the white man," unholstered a pistol and pointed it at him.

Defense attorney Brian Corcoran says Kish didn't point the weapon at or threaten anyone. He also called the accusation of racial remarks "absolutely false."

The attorney says the Luzerne County corrections officer has a concealed weapons permit and carries a gun for protection against former inmates in light of past threats.

Kish is charged in Luzerne County with reckless endangering and simple assault.
The criminals knew what they were doing.

It's the most expensive car that we sell," said Mark Snethkamp, dealership owner.

At $75,000 it was a fun kind of target. At about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, it looks like three criminals broke into the Snethkamp Chrysler Dodge dealership in Highland Park.

They didn't just take any old car, they swiped a rare 2016 Dodge Hellcat Charger

It's hard for me to believe. They were pretty brazen. The lights were on in the show room, the lights were on in the parking lot, we have cameras, we have video of them. The police were here within 5 minutes," said Snethkamp.

It was too late. It didn't take the criminals long to snatch the car.

It took them about a minute and a half to get it off the showroom floor, said Snethkamp. So, they knew what they were doing for sure."

The car has a supercharged Hemi with 707 hp and is painted bright orange. Coincidentally, it was sold the day before.

Click for more from FOX2Detroit.com.
Reports of mysterious booms Tuesday left San Diego County residents rattled and in search of some answers.

Several people reported hearing large bangs and felt the earth shake at around 3 p.m., according to Fox 5 San Diego. The USGS didnt detect an earthquake at that time.

"I automatically thought it was an earthquake, my car started moving back and forth in Imperial Beach, Laura Reynold told the station.

Residents also took to social media to express their bewilderment as well.

"Are we having an earthquake? Our sliders won't stop shaking, but my chair isn't moving and it's not wind," a Coronado resident wrote.

San Diego police told NBC San Diego they didnt have any information on the reported noises. A Mirmar Air Station spokesman told the station they were looking into the noises.
Dozens of residents in Gwinnett County, Georgia have demanded that a commissioner resign after he called Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights movement icon, a "racist pig."

"If he's an elected official that is supposed to represent the whole district, how can he have views like that, how can he spread views like that," said Larry Burrell, according to FOX 5. "That is not what we are about here in Gwinnett County."

Residents held signs reading "No county for vile men" and "Hunter must go."

Commissioner Hunter called Lewis a "racist pig" on his Facebook page after the congressman said that he thought President Trump's election was illegitimate.

Hunter did apologize last week, although some resident at the meeting said that they did not feel his apology was sincere.

Click here to read more at FOX 5.
Relief efforts are ongoing in the Southeast after a deadly round of tornadoes and severe weather killed at least 20 people. Volunteers and aid organizations have stepped up to assist the victims in the hardest hit areas.

DESPITE TORNADO THREAT, SHELTERS RARE FOR MOBILE HOME PARKS

An estimated 1,200 homes in Mississippi suffered damage, according to the state's emergency management agency, which reported nearly 550 of those structures sustained heavy damage. At least 15 deaths were reported in Georgia where the states insurance commissioner says the cost of the damage is at least $100 million.

Divina Mims-Puckett, the regional communication manager for the American Red Cross of Georgia, says people affected by the storm will need long-term help.

TRAIN SMASHES THROUGH FEDEX TRUCK ON VIDEO

The quickest way for people to help would be to make a financial donation, said Mims-Puckett. That money [helps] us get the financial assistance into the hands of the people who need it most.

Mims-Puckett says the American Red Cross partners with organizations like Goodwill and the Salvation Army to get clothing items to victims of disasters.

President Trump has approved a FEMA request for Georgia and signed a disaster declaration for Mississippi, according to the states' governors. The House of Representatives also stood in solidarity with victims of the storms by observing a moment of silence on Monday.

The House of Representatives just observed a moment of silence for the victims of the severe storms in #Georgia and #Mississippi. pic.twitter.com/ZeVKnF52Fm  Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) January 24, 2017

The United Way of Southeast Mississippi is asking for donations, volunteers, clothing and household items for victims of an EF-3 tornado that struck the Hattiesburg, Miss. area on January 21.

Were accepting donations for different supplies, said Staci Cox, director of marketing and communications for the United Way of Southeast Mississippi. Because when you lose your home its kind of hard to start it back over from nothing.

Cox says her office is also accepting donations from people outside the region. She noted 100 percent of any financial donation for tornado relief efforts will go right back into the communities affected by the storm.

Emergency management agencies for Georgia and Mississippi have websites with information on clean up efforts and ways to help disaster victims.
A federal judge ordered Tuesday a fresh investigation into a Texas teachers aide who admitted to faking a cancer diagnosis to hide a criminal case in West Virginia.

Kevin MaBone pleaded guilty in October to misappropriating $6,600 in taxpayer money from 2007 to 2014 in West Virginia.

MaBone was hired to work at Wilkinson Middle School in the Mesquite school district in August as a teachers aide for students with behavioral issues, according to WFAA-TV. Over the next few months, health issues began to plague MaBone  or at least thats what he told school officials.

The 56-year-old told principal Leslie Feinglas he was battling prostate cancer. Faculty and students used his plight as a rallying cry and raised more than $11,000 in donations to help pay for medical expenses. He was also given a 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis on Friday, which was valued at around $5,000.

MaBone was set for surgery this week, but told Feinglas he had been cured of cancer. Feinglas immediately saw that as a red flag. A Mesquite police school resource officer then searched MaBones name on the internet and found his guilty plea in West Virginia, according to the station.

Were heartbroken. Were embarrassed, Feinglas said. "To know that he did this to the staff, he did this to the students, he took money from our students - how can someone do that?

Feinglas said shes working with Go Fund Me to help pay back the donations. The Grand Marquis donation hasnt been returned. Its believed he drove it to West Virginia for his sentencing.

A background check conducted on MaBone in August only revealed bankruptcy and a lien filing, according to the school district. Communications director Laura Jobe said they were duped.

Click for more from WFAA-TV.
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Suspicious fires at two major markets in Togo have fanned political flames and led to the arrest of opposition members ahead of Thursday's parliamentary polls, the latest chapter in the country's unsteady transition to democracy.

The market that was once the biggest in Togo's capital sits in ashes, blackened remains of brightly coloured wraps and smashed pottery scattered on the floor, while just outside conspiracy theories spread.

"We don't know!" a 35-year-old woman selling handbags outside the ruins of the two-storey concrete market said when asked who was responsible for the fire, adding that she lost some $16,000 in goods in the flames.

Others around her accused politicians and alleged that firefighters failed to respond.

Suspicious fires that burnt the Adawlato market in Lome as well as another major market in Kara in the north in the dead of night in January have played an important role in Thursday's elections in this west African nation.

They have also served as a reminder of the unsteady journey toward fully fledged democracy in the country of six million people run by the same family for more than four decades.

The fires have resulted in the arrest of some 35 people, most of them opposition members, some of whom are candidates in Thursday's vote.

Opposition members have denounced the arrests and called for an independent probe, calling the blaze an attempt by President Faure Gnassingbe's government to discredit them and distract attention from real issues.

In recent weeks, the opposition has obtained the release of 13 of its members as well as other concessions, resulting in a decision to drop threats of an election boycott and run in the polls.

But the truth behind the fires remains unclear at best, and the government says those released from jail will still face the brunt of the law if they are eventually found guilty.

The government minister for territorial administration said those accused would be presumed innocent, but added that the fires occurred at a time when protests were calling for Gnassingbe's departure.

"Maybe the regime did not collapse, but the markets did collapse," Gilbert Bawara told AFP. "So I'm saying that it is perhaps a chance coincidence, but we need to know what happened."

Jean Pierre Fabre, the country's most prominent opposition leader who has been accused but not arrested as part of the probe into the fires, demanded an independent investigation.

"Everyone must be freed," he told AFP as he arrived at a rally on Tuesday.

The fires came amid a series of protests organised by a coalition of opposition and civil society groups known as Let's Save Togo, which had demanded sweeping electoral reforms ahead of parliamentary polls.

Many of the protests were dispersed by security forces firing tear gas, and the elections initially due in October 2012 were delayed for months.

Negotiations in the lead up to the polls resulted in the opposition dropping boycott threats and running in the elections, though it says it continues to have concerns over potential vote fraud.

The deal reached allows the opposition to have representatives in polling places, while 13 people held over the fires have been released, including five candidates.

The elections represent the latest chapter in the impoverished country's transition toward democracy after the iron-fisted rule of Gnassingbe Eyadema from 1967 until his death in 2005.

The military installed his son Faure Gnassingbe as president after his death, and he has since won elections in 2005 and 2010 that the opposition claims were fraudulent.

Presidential elections in 2005 were marred by deadly violence, but observers called the 2010 vote significantly improved.

The last legislative elections in 2007 were also seen as a step forward by observers. Gnassingbe's party, formerly the RPT and now UNIR, won 50 of 81 seats.

Ninety-one seats are up for grabs on Thursday, and some analysts have said the opposition faces a difficult job in winning enough to gain real power despite persistent concerns over unemployment.

Meanwhile, incidents such as the market fires and the uncertainty surrounding them continue to raise concerns despite the government's stated commitment to reforms.

Kofi Yamgnane, a French-Togolese opposition politician currently based in France, accused the government of using the fires as a decoy.

"Then time is spent negotiating the release of opposition members and real problems are not addressed," he said.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, a San Diego, California, based Republican, says that Department of Homeland Security documents he obtained recently show Mexican officials have been helping thousands of Haitian immigrants to travel to the border and cross into the United States.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), since October 2015 more than 4,336 Haitians have entered the U.S., with 2,600 still stuck at the San Ysidro port of entry in Tijuana, Mexico. Another 3,500 are in route.

Hunter blames the Obama administration for the huge influx of Haitian asylum seekers.

Obamas saying, 'Come one, come all,' he told Fox News Latino. One of the issues the congressman has with the Mexican government's role in the issue is a transit visa the country has been issuing to migrants, allowing them enough time to traverse the country and cross into the U.S.

I dont think Mexico is giving them the 20-day transit document for them to stay in Mexico. Haitians know that America is a land of plenty, Hunter told FNL.

In fiscal year 2015, which ran through the end of last September, 339 Haitians without visas arrived at the San Ysidro border crossing, compared to 6,121 in 2016  an increase of more than 1,700 percent.

The first stop in the migrants' nearly 10,000-mile trek to the U.S., according to the DHS documents, is Brazil, which opened its doors to Haitians after the 2010 earthquake that devastated their nation and killed 220,000 people.

In their two- to four-month trek, Haitians need to travel across 11 countries by bus, boat, car and even on foot, until landing on the U.S. doorstep in Tijuana.

Just to get there, they pay as much as $2,300 apiece to smugglers  usually in $100 to $300 increments along the way, according to the documents.

It isn't just north of the border that the Haitian immigrants are causing concern.

Juan C. Lopez Lee of the Nationalist Front of Mexico, and extreme right-wing organization, says its time for the Mexican officials to put an end to issuing the transit documents, arguing that the country shouldnt have to take care of the Haitian migrants while they're waiting for asylum or pay to deport them.

In practice, theyre staying in Mexico,

Our organization has received reports that the situation is getting out of control, Lopez Lee told Fox News Latino. "[Haitians] are on the streets and begging for money. Mexico is trying to help them, but eventually its going to end. Mexican press has reported there are 700 Haitians arriving at the border per day.

On the way to Mexico, the DHS documents show, many Haitians assume Congolese identities, believing authorities will be reluctant to deport them to West Africa.

Once in Mexico, they are often detained, but then receive a 20-day transit document. When they arrive in Tijuana, they usually go to migrant shelters or a hotel before showing up at the border and presenting themselves to immigration agents.

CBP says agents process each Haitian immigrants on a case-by-case basis, and those who dont have permission to be in the U.S. are sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

As of Sept. 24, ICE was detaining 619 Haitians.

The responsibility rests with the Obama administration. Theyre allowing people to arrive and stay in the U.S., Jessica Vaughan, policy studies director at the Center for Immigration Studies, told FNL.

Theres widespread knowledge that if they can arrive, theyll [get to] stay. They wouldnt fork over the money [to smugglers] and go through the perilous journey if they didnt believe they could make it and stay. Its a powerful motivation. Not just for Haitians but Cubans, Central Americans.

Jeh Johnson, secretary of Homeland Security, said in a statement in September that conditions in Haiti had improved sufficiently to permit the U.S. government to remove Haitian nationals on a more regular basis.

Duncan says Johnson and the Obama administration only issued the statement after the wave of migrants to the southwestern border got out of control.

According to the New York Times, federal officials said the asylum law would continue to apply to newly arriving Haitians. Any migrant who reports a threat of persecution or torture upon returning to Haiti could apply for asylum.

We have the only double border fence in the country. Its 13 miles from the beach to the mountains. The part of the border that goes through Tijuana is secure, Hunter said.

All you have to do is go to border office, claim asylum with 'credible fear' and demand to be taken in," he added. "The fence only matters with drugs and criminals, but in terms of immigration it doesnt make a difference.
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Rescue crews have located an 18th body in the rubble of a hotel crushed by an avalanche even as they mourn colleagues who were killed in a nearby helicopter crash.

The emergency helicopter slammed into a mountainside Tuesday as its crew was rescuing an injured skier. The two pilots, three crew and the skier were killed. Some of the crew had been working at the avalanche site some 100 kilometers (60 miles) away up until Monday.

Eleven people remain under the hotel rubble.

Premier Paolo Gentiloni is to brief parliament on Wednesday on the series of earthquakes, heavy snowfall and the avalanche that have pummeled central Italy in recent days and weeks, and the round-the-clock response by civil protection, firefighter and emergency crews.
(Xinhua) 11:00, January 25, 2017

Australia's High Commissioner to Britain and former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer Wednesday backed calls for China to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal, following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the agreement.

Downer, Australia's longest serving foreign minister, is the latest in a strong chorus of Australian support for China to join the deal, after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Trade Minister Steve Ciobo backed China's entrance into the TPP.

On Wednesday, Downer, who is accompanying Treasurer Scott Morrison on a diplomatic mission in Britain, said while Trump's decision was "disappointing", the remaining 11 nations shouldn't "throw in the towel".

"Our point is why would you give up? We want to see what else we can do," Fairfax Media quoted Downer as saying.

The respected diplomat said if the TPP nations decided to approach another nation to enter the agreement, China would be a "desirable" ally.

"'Twelve minus one' is one possibility, maybe adding other countries like Indonesia and China to the TPP and get that ratified, there are all sorts of options and we're not ruling any of them out at the moment," Downer said.

"Basically from Australia's point of view we want to reach out and achieve free trade with as many countries as we can, we already have a free trade agreement with China."

Downer's sentiments echo that of the government. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Tuesday said there "certainly is the potential for China to join the TPP", while Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said China was most welcome if it so desired.

"What China decides to do is ultimately, of course, a decision for China," Ciobo said.
Figures from Austria's Interior Ministry suggest that the number of people newly embracing radical Islamist beliefs in the country may be declining even as authorities step up efforts to identify them.

The ministry says 34 people were detained last year for investigation of possible links to Islamic-motivated terrorism, compared to 49 in 2015.

Wednesday's figures show that the ministry designated 139 people as newly turned to radical Islam in 2014. That's compared to 59 in 2015, and 18 last year.

Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck says the numbers reflect the "reduced attractiveness" of the Islamic State group as it comes under increased pressure and new Austrian efforts aimed at combating radicalization.
Belgian police have detained seven people in a series of anti-terror raids in the Brussels area relating to an investigation into the possible return of fighters from Syria.

The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement that the detentions came during eight dawn raids, but stressed that the investigation wasn't linked to the Brussels or Paris attacks over the past two years.

A court will decide later Wednesday whether the seven will be arrested or released.

Belgian authorities have been on high alert since suicide bombers attacked the Brussels airport and subway system on March 22, killing 32 people.
Burundi's government has started releasing scores of prisoners, including some accused of endangering state security, following a clemency order issued by President Pierre Nkurunziza.

Justice Minister Aimee Laurentine Kanyana says a total of 2,500 prisoners are expected to be released.

Kanyana calls the release "a surprise gift that the head of state is offering" in the spirit of national reconciliation.

Kanyana says that among those benefiting from the clemency are 58 members of the opposition MSD party, whose leader Alexis Sinduhije is in exile.

Many of those due to be released had been sentenced to jail terms of under five years and had served most of their terms.

Burundi has been wracked by violence since April 2015, when Nkurunziza announced he would seek a disputed third term.
The European Commission is urging European leaders to endorse sweeping measures to help stop tens of thousands of desperate people from leaving Libya in search of better lives in Europe.

The commission said in documents published Tuesday that the leaders should "deploy the full range of EU missions and projects" to help Libyans manage their borders and protect migrants.

Conflict-torn Libya is a main departure point for African migrants trying to reach Europe via Italy. More than 181,000 people attempted the dangerous central Mediterranean crossing last year. About 4,500 died or disappeared.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement that "too many people are still dying in the Mediterranean."

He said: "First and foremost, stability in Libya and the region as a whole is required."
A senior European Union official has urgently called the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo following a recent spike in tensions between the two countries.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini encouraged them to put aside their differences and work harder for normalizing their relations, according to a statement issued late Tuesday.

Tensions starting building in December when the Serb minority erected a wall at a bridge in Mitrovica to keep out ethnic Albanians and others.

The friction increased in early January with the detention of Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovo prime minister, and days later when a Serbian train with signs reading "Kosovo is Serbia" was turned back from the border with Kosovo.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but that hasn't been recognized by Belgrade.
In the initial phase of combat to reclaim Mosul, (October 17th through mid-December 2016), the occupying ISIS radical Islamic terrorists inflicted heavy casualties (the UN previously estimated approximately 2000 IMC troops killed). Iraqi Military Coalition (IMC) forces cleared only several outlying villages and penetrated just a few blocks inside of eastern Mosul during this period.

ISIS FIGHT STAYS THE COURSE FOR NOW UNDER TRUMP, ARMY GENERAL SAYS

This slow and bloody slog prompted Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi to order his IMC generals to temporarily pause combat operations. PM Abadi immediately traveled to the front lines (10 miles south of Mosul) to meet with his generals and assess the IMC operations.

IMC forces were, among other things, confronting ISIS use of the following asymmetric tactics to neutralize IMC forces superior advantage in firepower:

Mosuls trapped civilians as human shields to prevent IMC forces from using their tanks and artilleryor suffer heavy civilian casualties;

Dense smoke from burning tires and entrenched oil fires along the IMC attack axis to obscure the vision and effectiveness of IMC attack helicopters and close air support from bombarding ISIS fortifications;

Extensive underground tunnel system for hiding their movements and stockpiling food, water, ammunition, and sophisticated bomb-making materials/devices;

Suicide car-bombs launched into the middle of the IMCs attacking forces;

Commercial aerial drones adapted with cameras and small bomblets to enhance ISIS intelligence collection and bombing against the IMC forces; and

Booby-trapped improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in buildings, embedded in roads, and left under dead bodies.

According to Stephen Kalin of Reuters on January 19, 2017, The coalition insists that on the battlefield the Iraqis own the plan. But Iraqi commanders say the Americans advice, like their firepower, has become indispensable.

HOW ISIS IS TURNING COMMERCIAL DRONES INTO WEAPONS IN THE BATTLE FOR MOSUL

After 16 days of intense preparations, IMC forces restarted their new Phase 2 assault on eastern Mosul on December 29, 2016. By January 19, 2017, IMC forces made quick and successful progress in recapturing most of eastern Mosul. This included controlling the approaches to all five US-bombed (and impassable) bridges over the Tigris River that connect western and eastern Mosul.

The latest update (as of January 22, 2017) on the tactical situation in eastern Mosul, according to Joel Wing of Iraq Musings (an eight-year-old blogspot covering Iraqi politics, economics, and national security) and the Falcon Group, a highly reliable commercial intelligence organization: The group [ISIS] is facing food shortages in west Mosul, and hunting down deserters, confiscating their property and burning their homes in west Mosul. The groups defenses collapsed in east Mosul.

So, let us assess ISIS current tactics and operational circumstances. This will enable the IMC to analyze its potential tactical options for the final attack on the ISIS stronghold in western Mosul.

ISIS strong point and operational hub (Mosul University complex) for executing the defense of eastern Mosul has been bombed and recaptured by the IMC forces.

ISIS has lost 2500 of its 8000 terrorist fighters thus far in the battle for Mosul. This degrades ISIS capacity to mass fighters on multiple fronts inside Mosul that can counterattack eventual IMC assault forces.

The IMCs bombing of all five bridges crossing the Tigris River that bisects Mosul from north to south, has succeeded in isolating ISIS in western Mosul. IMC forces have surrounded the Mosul metropolitan area. ISIS food, supplies, and arms are dwindling.

ISIS has demonstrated its critical weakness against night fighting. The IMCs CTS forces, with strong leadership from US special operations forces (SOF), conducted its first successful night operation last week in its penetration to the eastern bank of the Tigris River.

Now, the IMC is shooting down ISIS unmanned aerial drones with classified technical assistance from US forces. This degrades ISIS intelligence collection and situational understanding.

The IMCs new, more aggressive (mostly US artillery) fire support is bombarding key ISIS operational nodes while keeping civilian casualties relatively low. This firepower has enabled the IMC ground forces to recapture significant operational territory in eastern Mosul.

After studying the operational factors above, I believe that ISIS in western Mosul has several exploitable weaknesses for IMC to consider in its upcoming final attack plans for western Mosul:

ISIS is surrounded by the IMC and cut off from its supply lines. Time is not on ISIS side. IMC forces can, therefore, pick when and where to attack ISIS in western Mosul. The IMC can use some time to make sure they are planning every detail and rehearsing before the attack. ISIS supreme headquarters in Raqqa has its own survival problems; therefore, ISIS Mosul fighters are not likely to be reinforced or resupplied. Every day makes them weaker. The remaining 5000 (+/-) ISIS fighters in western Mosul are too small to react to multiple IMC attacks simultaneously. This weakness could be intensified by IMC feints, ruses, and deception activities. Five thousand ISIS fighters cant control over 500,000 Mosul civilians who will flee their entrapment. Fleeing civilians can provide actionable intelligence for the IMC. ISIS cell phone communications can be jammed by the IMC at a time and place of the IMCs choosing. This can severely degrade ISIS command and control. ISIS is vulnerable to night attacks now that IMC SOF has become more proficient at night attacks in eastern Mosul. This advantage will enable IMC forces to reduce both military and civilian casualties.

Michael Furlong is a Senior OpsLens Contributor. Furlong is a career Army Infantry Officer, Battalion Task Force Commander, Combat Veteran, and retired Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service.

Click for more from OpsLens.com
Since President Trump became commander-in-chief, "our mission has not changed" in the battle against the Islamic State terror group, a senior U.S. Army general told reporters Wednesday from Baghdad.

RUSSIA, IRAN, TURKEY PROMISE TO SAFEGUARD SYRIA CEASE-FIRE

Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin, commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division, said he has not received any change to his orders in prosecuting the ISIS war in Iraq and Syria. When asked if the military could do more to stop the terrorists, he responded, "Our role is where it needs to be right now."

Martin said there was a "significantly higher" operational tempo in the fight for the terror group's Iraq stronghold of Mosul. However, it started late last year when Iraqi forces supported by U.S. airpower started pushing ISIS out of many of their fortifications in the city, after a new offensive was launched. The operation to retake Mosul started more than three months ago.

HOW ISIS IS TURNING COMMERCIAL DRONES INTO WEAPONS IN THE BATTLE FOR MOSUL

Pentagon officials told Fox News it was still too early for Defense Secretary James Mattis to recommend any changes to the ISIS fight as he gets ramped up in his new role.

The military's aistrike campaign was operating under standard orders from the Obama administration, Martin said.

Iraq's prime minister on Tuesday declared eastern Mosul "fully liberated" from ISIS after a day of fierce fighting -- but U.S. officials warn the battle for western Mosul might be even more challenging.

Iraqi forces drove Islamic State militants from one of their last bastions in the eastern half of the city, while aid groups expressed concern for the estimated 750,000 people still in the militant-held west.

In his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Haider al-Abadi hailed the "unmatched heroism of all security forces factions" and public support for the operation.

Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and the IS's last urban stronghold in the country, fell into the hands of the extremists in the summer of 2014, when the group captured large swaths of northern and western Iraq.

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The fifth series of tests -- and the most complicated -- of the David's Sling Weapon System went off without a hitch Wednesday in southern Israel, as the defense measure successfully intercepted and destroyed a threat target over the Mediterranean Sea.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Defense, the test examined the capabilities and performance of the entire system.

"This test campaign is a critical step in ensuring Israel has the capability to defense itself from a very real and growing threat," said U.S. Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm. Jim Syring. "We remain strongly committed to supporting Israel's development of a missile defense system."

The Data collected during the test is being analyzed by program engineers for future development, the ministry said, and is being shared with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

The Davids Sling system was designed as part of the Israeli multi-tiered missile defense strategy, with different interceptors being created for different types and ranges of projectiles. The Iron Dome system is used against short-range projectiles and the David's Sling system against short-to-mid range ones, similar to the missiles Hezbollah and Hamas use. The Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems are meant to shoot down heavy, long-range projectiles.

IMDO Director Moshe Patal told Fox News that after these tests Israel can face the anticipated threats with more capabilities and more confidence."
An ex-diplomat described as "human scum" by North Korea spoke out Wednesday about why he risked escaping the oppressive regime with his wife and two sons, and claimed that corruption would soon doom the regime.

VIDEO: NORTH KOREA THREATENS TO 'POUR FURTHER MISERY' ON UNITED STATES

Thae Yong Ho, a former minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, was the highest-level North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea when he got out with his family last August.

"I am sure that more defections of my colleagues will take place, since North Korea is already on a slippery slope," he told reporters.



LITTLE IS KNOWN ON STATUS OF AMERICAN STUDENT TRAPPED IN NORTH KOREA

After his sons, now 20 and 27, learned about life in Britain, they started asking him questions such as why North Korea banned internet use and conducted rampant executions, he said.

Thae, who said as a diplomat abroad he had the privilege of access to outside information, said he decided to talk frankly with them about North Korea. He concluded that his sons would have "miserable" lives if they returned home because they had come to know the truth about the country.

Ahead of their defection to South Korea, Thae said he told his sons that he was going to "cut the chains of slavery and you are free men."

He said his sons are happy and are "now feeling a true sense of freedom" in South Korea.

Thae also revealed that the dictator Kim Jong Un was open to meeting with President Donald Trump, but he told CNN that Kim would talk only on his own terms.

The former diplomat told reporters that he was lucky to have been able to bring both of his sons to London, unlike other North Korean diplomats who are forced to leave some of their children at home as "hostages."

His sons' British friends at school had made fun of them over the nature of their homeland, he said. For instance, when they grew long hair, their friends laughed and asked whether they could be arrested in North Korea because they had heard all young men were required to have short haircuts.

"These kinds of questions bombarded my sons," Thae said.

Thae said he initially had some hopes for Kim but eventually fell into "despair" after watching him execute officials and pursue development of nuclear weapons. North Korea accused Thae of embezzling government money and committing other crimes.

Kim, believed to be in his early 30s, took office in late 2011 after his dictator father's death. He has since orchestrated a series of high-profile executions, purges and dismissals in what outside analysts say is an attempt to bolster his grip on power. Kim's pursuit of nuclear weapons has drawn tough international sanctions.

Since his release into society last month following months of custody by South Korea's intelligence agency, Thae has conducted a series of media interviews and appeared on various TV programs in what he says is an attempt to reveal the truth about North Korea.

Thae described himself as a big fan of South Korean dramas and other TV programs while serving in London, and said ordinary citizens in North Korea also enjoy watching them secretly at home. He said if North Koreas are able to obtain more information about their country's situation, it could trigger a public uprising against Kim's government.

Thae, reportedly under a police protection program, said he doesn't worry about any possible attempts by North Korean agents to kill him. "I am quite confident that without sacrifice by any individual or any group ... reunification or the elimination of the Kim Jong Un regime cannot be achieved," he said.

Thae is the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea. In 1997, the North Korean ambassador to Egypt fled but resettled in the United States.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The Latest on the influx of migrants into Europe (all times local):

3:05 p.m.

Several hundred migrants stranded in freezing weather in Serbia have staged a protest urging Europe to open its borders.

Holding banners, migrants gathered Wednesday outside an old customs warehouse in central Belgrade that has been a makeshift shelter for hundreds of men and boys from countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Ahmed Osmani from Afghanistan says "we want the border (to) open because 90 percent of people that are here are all sick." A huge blue-and-white migrant banner reads: 'Freedom of movement.' Another one pleads: 'Open border please.'

Aid groups have warned migrants in Serbia have been at risk of exposure since extreme winter weather gripped the Balkan country in early January.

Some 7,000 migrants have been staying in Serbia's asylum camps or sleeping rough in makeshift shelters or parks.

___

1:40 p.m.

The European Commission on Wednesday urged European leaders to endorse sweeping measures to help stop tens of thousands of desperate people from leaving Libya in search of better lives in Europe, with thousands dying during the perilous journey.

The Commission said in documents that the leaders should "deploy the full range of EU missions and projects" to help Libyans manage their borders and protect migrants.

Conflict-torn Libya is a main departure point for African migrants trying to reach Europe via Italy. More than 181,000 people attempted the dangerous central Mediterranean crossing last year. About 4,500 died or disappeared.

Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement that "too many people are still dying in the Mediterranean."

He said: "First and foremost, stability in Libya and the region as a whole is required."

Some senior EU officials predict that record new migrant arrivals are likely again this year, but Libya has no stable central authority that the Europeans can effectively negotiate with.

The EU has for several years tried to cobble together migration polices while people died at sea. Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, has warned that a new migrant crisis could reach European shores in coming months as the weather warms.

The EU leaders, meeting in Malta's capital Valletta on Feb. 3, are urged to earmark more funds to train Libya's coastguard and help set up a rescue center there. They are also being asked to provide more equipment to the coastguard and help maintain it.

Another aim is to get a Mediterranean anti-trafficking network up and running by the spring to improve information exchanges and coordination between the Libyan coast guard and EU member states. Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia would be encouraged to join it.

The Commission also recommended support to local Libyan communities hosting migrants, as well as an effort to provide alternative jobs to those who might be lured into smuggling.

Further south, the EU's executive branch said leaders should promote border cooperation between Libya and neighboring countries that serve as transit hubs for many on their way to Europe.
The number of Chinese who will travel abroad during the upcoming Spring Festival holidays is expected to exceed 6 million, with the US, Australia and Thailand among the most popular destinations, according to the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).

"Some 6 million Chinese will travel abroad during the weeklong holidays from January 27 to February 2, which will become a global Golden Week," said a statement on the CNTA website on Monday.

Chinese tourists going abroad will increase 49 percent year-on-year during the weeklong holidays, a record high for the annual festival, online travel agency lumama.com noted in a report sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.

International-bound tourists will account for a small proportion of the nation's overall tourists, as there is expected to be 343 million people traveling within the country, according to CNTA.

Preferences abroad

Medium- and short-distance destinations such as Australia, New Zealand and Thailand posted more online travel bookings and even farther destinations including the US, the UK and Spain also saw more orders, the bureau said.

As for travel packages, cruise, island and ice and snow tours are popular, said the CNTA statement. Phuket in Thailand, Bali in Indonesia and Jeju in South Korea were some of the noted hot tourist spots.

"Cruises are a new traveling mode, with excellent cost performance, attracting family outings," Zhang Lingyun, director of the Tourism Development Academy at Beijing Union University, told the Global Times Tuesday.

The number of bookings on lumama.com for cruises during the upcoming holidays is nearly three times that of the same period last year, according to data from the agency on January 12.

A Beijing white-collar worker surnamed Liu said he will visit Phuket for the upcoming holidays. "Our family plan to spend seven days there, not only because of excellent cost performance, but also for its warm weather and clean air," he told the Global Times Tuesday.

Given domestic pollution, air quality and natural environment have become crucial factors when choosing tourist resorts, the China Tourism Academy (CTA) said on Monday.

"Especially during winter when air pollution is serious in parts of the country, citizens are more willing to escape smog A considerable proportion of travelers even go to foreign islands to run away from the cold climate and smog," according to a statement on the institution's website.

Despite the peak in tourists during the Spring Festival, travelling fees are roughly the same as last year, thanks to an increase in the number of flights, advanced purchase of travel packages and travel agency discounts, according to a report that the online travel services provider Ctrip sent to the Global Times in December.

While the cost of traveling to Thailand, the US and the Philippines is 5 to 15 percent higher than last year, it's cheaper to travel to South Korea, Singapore and Italy, where costs are down 10-30 percent from the previous year, said the Ctrip report.

Many domestic airlines increased flights to cope with the rising need during the Spring Festival.

For example, China Southern Airlines proposed to increase more than 700 international flights along popular routes including lines from South China to Southeast Asian countries and from Northeast China to Japan and South Korea.

Travel surge

About 122 million Chinese travelled abroad in 2016, nearly the overall population of Japan, ranking No.1 in the world, according to a report released by CTA and Ctrip on Friday.

Chinese travelers spent $109.8 billion overseas in 2016, representing 16 percent of the country's total tourist expenditure, said the report.

Easier visa applications was a factor pushing Chinese people travel abroad. "After the US, Canada and Singapore granted 10-year visas to Chinese passport holders, Israel and Australia followed suit. In addition, Thailand reduced its visa fees for Chinese visitors in December, January and February," a travel agent surnamed Chen at lumama.com said in December.

There is a shift in mainland tourists' reasons for traveling overseas, according to a separate CTA report in September 2016. "In the past, they mainly wanted to sightsee and shop, but now more and more people want to experience local life," the report said.
Russia's foreign minister says Moscow has "no illusions" that strained relations between Russia and the United States can quickly improve under President Donald Trump.

Russian officials previously cheered Trump's election and expressed hopes of better ties between the two countries.

Speaking at the Russian parliament on Wednesday, Sergey Lavrov said Russia has "no illusions that there will be a new reset with the U.S., we don't have any naive expectations."

"Reset" was the term that President Barack Obama's administration and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev coined in 2009 to describe a drive for closer ties between the two countries. The initiative was, however, short-lived.

Earlier on Wednesday, Lavrov said Moscow welcomes Trump's assurances that he wants to improve relations with Russia.
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Poland's parliament has imposed unexpected restrictions on reporters, against earlier assurances that controversial plans to curb their movement have been waived.

Plans last month by the ruling conservative party to restrict media movement and journalists' access to lawmakers in parliament led to a political crisis and opposition sit-in in parliament. The ruling party then declared that the restrictions were abandoned.

But arriving for a session on Wednesday, reporters met parliament guards checking accreditations at an entrance to one of the corridors that has been freely accessible. Now, reporters can only conduct interviews there on lawmaker' consent.

Opposition lawmakers said it was a wrong move, apparently meant to shun the media.

The usual space for work and briefings and the main corridors remain unrestricted.
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Hundreds of students are gathering in downtown Warsaw and other Polish cities to protest the country's populist government, with a range of demands that includes better ties with the European Union and protecting the environment.

Many denounced an overhaul of the education system, passed recently by parliament, which will eliminate middle schools and return the country to an earlier system of eight years of primary school.

The matter has been a source of civic frustration in past months. The government says the current system isn't working well and that children will feel more secure remaining longer in primary schools. Critics say the government is using the change as a pretext for a more nationalistic curriculum with more focus on history and less on science.
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As a member of a persecuted minority in Iraq, 24-year-old Shaker Mahie has seen his people massacred, raped and scattered across a new continent. Now, the Yazidi  whose faith is older than Christianity  are at the center of a new European dilemma.

Portugal has offered to take in several hundred of the 2,500 Yazidi refugees living in Greece, arguing that their mistreated community merits special protection. Athens has rejected the offer, worried that other countries might start cherry-picking asylum applications based on religion or ethnicity.

Does that make the Yazidis victims of discrimination or nondiscrimination? It's a question that could be keeping some of them in limbo.

Ana Gomes, a European Parliament member from Portugal who has been an outspoken advocate of the resettlement proposal, says Greek concerns are misplaced. Yazidis, she noted, were targeted for slaughter by Islamic State militants at home and face ongoing harassment from fellow Iraqis stranded in migrant camps.

"These people have been victims of negative discrimination in resettlement to other European countries when they should be having positive discrimination in recognition of the barbarity they have suffered," Gomes told the Associated Press after returning from a visit to refugee camps in Greece.

The dispute comes as the European Union wrestles with how to protect the most vulnerable refugees while making sure that member nations are sharing the cost of taking in newcomers. Delays and political obstruction have impeded an emergency relocation program meant to ease the disproportionate load carried by Italy and Greece.

Over centuries, Yazidis have been the victims of purges by rulers who regarded their religious symbols and practices as devil worship. Islamic State militants used the same explanation when they targeted the insular community for conversion and elimination.

Iraq's remote Sijar region, the Yazidi minority's heartland, is where thousands of civilians were massacred and thousands more fled in 2014. The United Nations has described the attacks as genocide.

In a small hotel room near the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, Mahie watches his son and daughter play on the floor with a toy dump truck, and struggles to find words to recount the horrors witnessed by his young family. He remembers IS fighters entering his village two years ago.

"They (took) girls and women and killed the men," he said.

He and his family fled into the mountains of Sijar before crossing into Turkey and paying smugglers to get them to Greece.

The Yazidis' recent plight has been highlighted by the revelations of women being captured by IS fighters for sexual slavery. Two Yazidi women, Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar, received an annual award for human rights last month from the European Parliament.

But old prejudices also have followed the Yazidi to Europe, where they have reported being attacked by other refugees at camps and are often housed separately.

"We take the issue of Yazidis very seriously because they have suffered such violence and persecution. We are doing everything we can to ensure their protection," Greek Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas told The Associated Press.

Greece says more than 60,000 refugees and migrants who arrived there hoping to make it further into Europe are stranded in the country, after EU and Balkan countries closed their borders last year. Athens is struggling to shelter them over the winter and pressing other European Union countries to honor relocation commitments.

Portugal so far has taken in about half of the 1,618 asylum-seekers it pledged to accept under the EU's embattled relocation scheme. Nevertheless, it's Yazidi-specific invitation is unacceptable, Mouzalas said.

"No government can discriminate on a racial basis," he said. "And those making a lot of noise around this issue are not helping the Yazidis."

Yazidi refugees themselves are split on the offer from Portugal. Some worry about further dispersing the members of a minority group thought to number only several hundred thousand worldwide.

"I don't want to go to Portugal," Mahie said. "My mother and my brother are in Germany and my father is in Iraq. It's difficult for one family someone to (be) in this country and someone to (be) in another country."

To others, the idea of a safe haven is appealing.

Like Mahie, Riad Salo sought refuge from IS in the mountains of Sinjar; his father-in-law died there. The younger of Salo's two daughters, Xzidxan, was born in a tent at a refugee camp near Mount Olympus in northern Greece.

Salo said he feared continued persecution from other Iraqis even if another EU country agrees to relocate his family.

"I don't want to go to a country where there are many (other refugees)," he said. "I want to go to Portugal because it's very safe."

___

Online:

U.N. rights panel conclusion on IS group attacks: http://bit.ly/2jfoBCG

___

Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed. Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Follow Kantouris at http://www.twitter.com/CostasKantouris and Hatton at http://twitter.com/hattonlisbon
The hacking scandal, widely believed to have been orchestrated by Russia, that led to the leak of a vast amount of material from the Democratic Party, is hardly the item of interest in Russia that it is in America -- but the Russians have their own fears, security and communications expert Andrei Soldatov said.

RUSSIA'S TRUE FEELINGS ON TRUMP A MYSTERY

They have mixed feelings, he said of his countrymen. On the one hand, there is a sense of national pride that Russia can do something with the US elections, and become, essentially, the third player, but on the other hand, they have concerns about their privacy.

Soldatov says the street protests that followed President Vladimir Putins announcement that he and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev were essentially swapping jobs were the catalyst.

THE STATE OF INVESTING IN RUSSIA

Soldatov says, Its a direct consequence of the Moscow protests of 2011/2012. In 2012, the system of internet surveillance was expanded and it has expanded every year. More than one million Russian citizens were eavesdropped on over the last year. Its a growing thing. Its kind of a large scale offensive on internet freedoms.

A controversial law, which also sought to help the security service track potential terrorists was enacted. It forces telecoms providers here to install software that will allow the FSB, the successor to the KGB, to access peoples data, often without providers knowing. The legislation also forces those companies to store data for a period of time.

Concern about this system hit a fever pitch during the 2014 Sochi Olympics, when many spectators traveling from afar questioned the wisdom of switching on their devices at all. One member of the security community here counters that the NSA monitoring is more aggressive.

Meanwhile, Russia is coming under increasing attack from hackers. It fended off 70 million cyber attacks last year alone. There is a bill on the table to force all companies that are connected to what is deemed critical infrastructure to buy the means to protect themselves.

This, as a manager of Russias top cyber security firm  in fact one of the worlds top firms  Kaspersky Lab, was arrested, it was reported today, for treason.

It is not clear what he is in trouble for. Kaspersky says it has nothing to do with his work with them. But the employee, Ruslan Stoyanov, did work previously for the FSB.

The plot thickens.
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The head of Human Rights Watch has expressed concern "we will lose the U.S. voice as a defender of human rights around the world" under President Donald Trump, and urged other democracies to "take a leadership position."

Kenneth Roth of the New York-based advocacy group says he fears some repressive governments will use the opportunity of Trump's accession to power to crack down on dissent.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, home to the U.N.'s Human Rights Council, Roth said Trump's "expressed admiration for strong men" and his nomination of Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State, "who has yet to show any interest in human rights," were worrying.

Roth said he expects Trump to start refilling the Guantanamo Bay detention facility "just as a matter of making a point."
A Spanish judge has ordered the release of two people arrested last month on suspicion of exalting Islamic extremism, saying evidence against them appeared to have been planted by a police informer.

National Court magistrate Santiago Pedraz ordered the two Spaniards released without charges, concluding there was no evidence that they had anything to do with jihad activity. He cited police reports that said an informer described as troublesome may have set up both the police and the detainees by planting false evidence.

The two were arrested Dec. 28 in Madrid on suspicion of possessing arms and praising terrorism in videos.

Spanish police have arrested 183 suspected jihadi activists since Spain raised its national security alert to one step below the maximum following attacks in France and elsewhere in 2015.
U.S. President Donald Trump told Afghanistans president in a call in December that he would consider sending more American troops, Afghan officials said, in a step to halt the deterioration in the countrys security.

Afghan officials say Mr. Trumpat the time president-electand Afghan President Ashraf Ghani talked about the security situation and relations with Pakistan and Mr. Trump asked if the Afghan leader needed more U.S. troops.

President-elect Donald J. Trump said he would certainly continue to support Afghanistan security forces and will consider a proposal for more troops after an assessment, according to one Afghan official briefed on the call.

Mr. Trump, who hasnt outlined a plan for the war in Afghanistan, has inherited a difficult dilemma. He can either risk letting the security situation unravel further or again escalate U.S. involvement in a war that has dragged on for more than 15 years.

One U.S. military official said that, broadly speaking, there was a possibility that Mr. Trump would consider more troops for the mission in Afghanistan, but that it might not be one of the top priorities for the new commander-in-chief. Defense Secretary James Mattis, in his second full day on the job on Tuesday, was still assessing a variety of defense issues with which he is now confronted.

There are currently about 8,400 U.S. troops permanently stationed in Afghanistan and about 6,400 troops deployed there from North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations, according to Pentagon figures.

Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.
Emmanuel Abayisenga, soupconne du meurtre en Vendee du pere Olivier Maire decede des suites de coups portes a la tete en aout 2021, a ete mis en examen pour " assassinat "
(File photo)

More and more Chinese think tanks are being recognized by the worlds most authoritative think tank ranking, with the most recent rendition of the report putting the number of Chinese think tanks second in the world.

Over 6,828 think tanks were catalogued in the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) database. Close to 55 percent were based in North America and Europe. Specifically, there were 1,835 think tanks in the U.S., more than in any other nation. China came in second place with 435 think tanks, according to He Yuping, acting managing director of Penn Wharton China Center, when presenting this years report.

However, an organizations inclusion in the report does not indicate a seal of approval or endorsement by TTCSP, He stressed. The highest-ranking Chinese think tank was China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), which was 33rd on the list of the top 175 think tanks in the world. Nine Chinese think tanks in all were included among the 175.

China had 18 think tanks on the Asian list that included top 60 think tanks from China, India, South Korea and Japan. CICIR took the lead in fourth. Specifically, TTCSP also listed five Chinese think tanks as Think Tanks to Watch, including Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (31) and Center for China and Globalization (CCG) (54).

The figures were released as part of the annual Global Go To Think Tank Index from TTCSP at the University of Pennsylvania during a press conference in Beijing on Jan. 25. The program compiles one of the most authoritative lists of high-performing think tanks around the world.

Sun Weijia, a director with the Counselors Office of the State Council, said China can learn from the influential TTCSP project, especially in the face of increasingly complicated global affairs. Addressing the conference, Sun said Chinese think tanks should help guide the world to look at China in an objective way. He also called on the organizations to actively advocate for a supportive environment for Chinas development.

Think tanks are gaining importance in China, forming a ninth democratic party for political consultatiion and policy-making. However, there are still problems with domestic think tanks, including uneven development and insufficient cooperation, Wang Huiyao, CCG director, pointed out at the conference.

Xu Yongquan, deputy director of the China Center for Contemporary World Studies, added that Chinese think tanks are mostly focused on international relations, and more efforts ought to be be aimed at studying domestic affairs.
On Jan. 20, when a man riding a bicycle along the expressway was stopped by traffic police, he calmly explained that he was trying to get home before Spring Festival. Surprised, the traffic police informed him that he had been riding in the wrong direction.

The man works as a laborer and had spent all his money at a cybercafe. With no funds for a train ticket, he decided to ride his bike from Rizhao, Shandong province all the way to Qiqihar, Heilongjiang province. He had been asking for directions along the way, but evidently encountered some confused citizens. Eventually, he ended up in Wuhu, Anhui province after traveling for nearly a month.

After hearing his story, employees at a toll gate and some traffic police officers pitched in to buy the man a ticket home.
The Silver Cos. has been a name synonymous with big-box development in Fredericksburg, having completed large-scale projects like Central Park.

But according to a presentation by vice president for the residential division of the Silver Cos., Jervis Hairston, the company is focusing on mixed-use development and communities for senior citizens.

Hairston spoke to Wednesdays ACES (architects, contractors, engineers and site developers) meeting hosted by Froehling & Robertson Inc., updating the group on Silvers recent projects.

While the Silver Cos. portion of Amelia Square19 luxury town homes and Sedona Taphousehas been completed, there is still one more phase to go. Fredericksburg-based Simply Home bought the last section facing William Street and plans to build three mixed-use buildings there.

Silver is also developing The Silver Collection at Celebrate Virginia, a project with 578 apartments. Hairston said the first review comments from the city are being considered and similar projects are underway in Stafford and Spotsylvania counties.

Hairston said another focus for the company is memory-care facilities for people with Alzhimers Disease and other, similar conditions. The Silver Cos. recently completed two Poets Walk developments at Cosners Corner and Central Park. They plan to build similar communities in Warrenton, Leesburg, Loudoun, Frederick and Gainesville

On the commercial side, the company is still working on the Cowan Crossing Commercial Center. The residential component of 68 townhouses and six single-family houses is underway. On the other side of U.S. 1, the Silver Cos. purchased the Fredericksburg Trailer Park and is planning Cowan East.

The company is also working on commercial development along Garrisonville Road in Stafford County, where a new Sheetz has been built and a grocery store is planned.

The next ACES industry meeting on Feb. 22 will feature a regional transportation update by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Spring-like weather midweek will give way to more January-ish temperatures by the weekend.

Advice for today (Wednesday): If at all possible get outside and enjoy the weather! After a cool morning start temperatures will boost into the low 60s this afternoon. A weak area of high pressure overtop Fredericksburg will provide light southerly winds and plenty of sunshine to make the outdoors feel like spring today.

Alas these conditions cant last long this time of year. Sure enough a cold front will enter the region tonight, crossing the I-95 corridor at Fredericksburg near sunrise Thursday (see graphic). This frontal passage will open the door to cold air plunging south and east out of Canada.

The front will squeeze out some rain showers over Fredericksburg early Thursday so the morning commute looks to be damp. Behind the boundary winds will shift around from the west and strengthen, gusting over 25 mph. A westerly wind tends to pump up thermometer readings in the Burg via the downsloping effect so Thursdays high will still top out in the upper 50s.

This cold front is the leading edge of a pattern change that will drop local temperatures into a more typical January range in Fredericksburg. Beginning Friday daily highs will be back in the 40s with overnight lows in the 20s. Even though the cold air will settle back into place the upcoming weather regime also looks pretty dry so the chances of wintry precipitation remain low for a while.

Outdoor dining today, anyone?
The excitement of spotting a bald eagle may have reached a generational divide as the raptors become more commonplace throughout the commonwealth. They fly over schools where busloads of children seldom take notice or become part of the landscape as they nosh on a deer carcass along roadsides.

But the annual nationwide mid-winter count during the first two weeks of January, which is coordinated by the Army Corps of Engineers, remains important to a species even though they were taken off the endangered list a decade ago.

So on recent winter day, Bill Portlock, senior educator with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Bill Crouch, a deputy refuge manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, set out at sunrise to take stock, plying 35 miles of the Rappahannock River from Tappahannock in Essex County to Port Royal in Caroline County. The area has one of the largest populations of eagles in Virginia and can double or triple during the winter migration, according to Portlock, who initiated the Rappahannock count in 1987.

In the wintertime, as the rivers in the north along the Atlantic Coast and inland freeze, ducks migrate south and eagles follow them, said Portlock. The population peaks here around January to February, then head back north to reproduce.

Resident eagles stay behind.

Within 10 minutes on this outing, the first eagle was spotted near the Downing Bridge: an adult perched in a tree on the banks in Richmond County. From there, they averaged about 50 eagles an hour.

The greatest concentrations were in the bends and elbows of Essex Countys Cat Point Creek, where 44 young birds ranging from 1 to 3 years old were hanging out, some in groups of six or seven. Within an hour, 84 were counted.

As the small Boston Whaler approached Fones Cliffs, a burst of a dozen eagles, constituting what is called a kettle, swept off the trees, looping out over the river then back to the cliffs farther down. The cliffs are a favorite hunting ground because of the strategic long, wide views of the river where fish are easily spotted.

The boats fish-finder showed hundreds of dots layered throughout the river depths, the majority likely invasive blue catfish, an eagle favorite here and in the James and Potomac rivers, where Virginias other counts are being done. Because the Rappahannock is generally ice-free during the winter, it attracts eagles and other waterfowl.

As the boat went full throttle, it sent thousands of Canada geese upward, breaking into black, honking clouds over the river. A mixture of good weather and an abundance of black ducks and mallards brought out hunters to set up decoys and eagles to perch strategically along the river on towering trees atop cliffs and embankments on the lookout for weak or injured birds as their next meal.

It took an eagle eye to spot them when the sky grew cloudy and to discern the varying plumage used to tell how old a bird is.

By the end of the route in Port Royal, the count was at 192 eagles, two more than last year and eight more than in 2015.

There are nests, too. Some almost triangular, wedged between the branches of a bald cypress or balanced between the snapped trunk and branches of a dead tree.

They span about 4 to 5 feet and several feet deep. They can weigh several hundred pounds. At one point, the two surveyors spot the tip of a bald head of a female eagle already sitting on her nest.

Eagle nests are counted each year in March during flyovers organized by Bryan Watts, director of the Center for Conservation Biology of the College of William & Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University. Another flyover in April is done to count hatchlings.

Last year, the center documented 1,070 occupied breeding territories, with the densest in counties situated around major tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. Counties with the highest numbers included Westmoreland with 75 pairs, King George with 73 pairs and Essex with 71. Back in 1970, the population had fallen to a low of 20 pairs.

The most eagles Portlock has ever spotted was a few years ago when he was out on the Rappahannock with two biologists. They counted 395, what he calls quite a day.

Watts attributes the comeback of bald eagles to two legal actions during the 1970sthe banning of the chemical DDT and listing them as endangered. Since then, the population has been increasing by about 8 percent a year.

We effectively changed the trajectory of an endangered species, he said.

But he cautions that biologists are studying new threats. These include rises in water pollution from mercury, lead, fire retardants and prescription drugs taken by humans that eventually are passed into the waterways from sewage treatment plants.

Some of these drugs occur in small concentrations, but they are potent, said Watts. They can reduce productivity or increase adult mortality.

They can also impact behavior, such as the ability to forage, he said.

The national database once found online is no longer updated since the Corps took over the count. Watts attributes that to the loss of urgency and momentum as the species keeps improving.

For Virginia, the news remain good. Besides the 192 bald eagles counted on the Rappahannock, 70 were counted on the James River near Hopewell. The Potomac River may not be counted this year.

The sun emerged from the clouds one more time on the way back from Port Royal, easily revealing eagles. Every few miles, one would leave its perch along the Rappahannock, swooping down, skimming over the water and crossing in front of the boat, those famous eagle eyes focused on finding dinner.
Items linked to a famous incidentthe death of the highest-ranking Union officer killed in the Civil Wartook up residence here on Tuesday.

The Shaw family of Gordonsville gave the National Park Service a forage cap and frock coat that belonged to Capt. Richard F. Halsted, a friend and aide of Union Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick. Sedgwick was felled by a snipers bullet on May 9, 1864, during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. Halsted escorted Sedgwicks body home for burial in Cornwall Hollow, Conn.

The uniform group is a priceless bonus for the collection at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, where it will eventually be displayed, park staff members said as they received the items from the family on Tuesday.

This helps us complete the larger story of what happened here and what this officer did, Superintendent Kirsten TalkenSpaulding told the family. We are very grateful to you.

She and a gaggle of historians gathered at Chancellorsville Visitor Center to greet donor Greta J. Shaw, 85, and her family and to thank them. Four generations of the Shaws came for the occasion.

Shaw acquired the well-documented kepi and dress coat recently to honor her late husband, Raymond, a Civil War collector, and donated them to the National Park Service in his memory. In 1913, they had been owned by collector William H. Murray of Providence, R.I.

We couldnt think of a nicer thing to do than to share this with the nation, and donate it, Greta Shaw told TalkenSpaulding and her staff.

Her husband, a longtime student of history, became fascinated with the Civil War when he learned that their Louisa County property, Inglewood Farm, was where Confederate Gen. James Longstreets corps camped late in the war, Shaws son David said.

In time, after conservation, Halsteds cap and coat will go on exhibit in the visitor centers central display, where the names of those killed in the wars four major Fredericksburg-area battles line the walls.

Fabric itemsespecially ones that are 150 years oldare fragile, so Halsteds uniform will be exhibited there when another soldiers uniform is put back into curatorial storage, said the parks chief historian, John Hennessy.

We will care for this as long as there is an America, he told the Shaws.

Identified uniforms are rare, and identified uniforms associated with someone like Sedgwick, his staff or his death are priceless, Hennessy said. Not often do we get an artifact that so directly connects us or our visitors to an event, person or place. This does. Its a powerful addition to our collection.

The death of Sedgwickan affable man beloved by his troops, who called him Uncle Johnhit the Union army like an electric shock.

An 1837 graduate of West Point, he was one of the most experienced and competent officers in the Army of the Potomac. In the wars 1864 Overland Campaign, he was junior only to Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade (who wept upon news of Sedgwicks death).

Sedgwick died while trying to reassure men near Brock Road who were ducking sporadic Confederate sharpshooters fire.

Dodging this way for single bullets! he laughingly said. What will you do when they open fire along the whole line? I am ashamed of you. They couldnt hit an elephant at this distance.

He was repeating that line to a crouching soldier when a bullet struck him below his left eye, killing him instantly, according to his chief of staff, Martin T. McMahon.

Halsted wasnt just an aide to Sedgwick, he was a friend, Hennessy said. They had served together for years, and Halsted was on warm and familiar terms with the generals sister, Emily Sedgwick Welch, he said.

He regularly wrote Sedgwicks family on the senior officers behalf.

I rely upon him for writing all my descriptive letters, Sedgwick told one family member. He is very fond of it and happy at that style; I am not.

The Union army made the unusual gesture of assigning three officers, Halsted included, to escort the generals body home. Their wagon journeyed through Fredericksburg to the Union landing at Belle Plain on the Potomac River in Stafford County, and north to Washington, where his body was embalmed before traveling to New York City and Connecticut.

On the day Sedgwick died, Hennessy said its likely Halsted was wearing the kepi the Shaws gave to the park, and he may have worn the long frock coat while escorting his remains back north.

Six days later, the trio of officers participated in Sedgwicks funeral, which drew more than 1,000 people, including his neighbors, friends and members of the state legislature. They gathered at the 50-year-old soldiers house and then, less than a mile distant, at the Cornwall Hollow cemetery.

Twenty-three years after Sedgwicks death, many of his former officers, including chief of staff McMahon, traveled to Spotsylvania to dedicate a large granite monument to him, on the spot where he was killed. The Shaw family traveled via car caravan to visit it Tuesday.

It was the first major monument in what later became the national park, and is probably the most reliably situated where events actually took place, Hennessy said.

And since the stone marker honored a Union officer, it immediately prompted former Confederates to memorialize one of their own, Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Stonewall Jacksonwith a monument at the site of his mortal wounding in Chancellorsville.

That stirred the pot, nodded Shaw, whose Virginia forebears are the Trevilians, a name famed for a Charlottesville-area cavalry battle in which George A. Custer participated.
A defense contractor will receive $1.25 million in incentives from Spotsylvania County to significantly expand its operations there.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday night to approve an incentive agreement with Ohio-based HDT Expeditionary Systems, which has 30 employees working out of an office on Spotsylvania Avenue. Most of the incentives will be tax rebates paid out over 10 years.

Under the agreement, the company must rent at least 40,000 square feet of space on Lansdowne Road by the end of next year and more than double its workforce over the course of its 10-year lease. The Spotsylvania Economic Development Authority is expected to finalize the deal at its meeting Thursday.

In a county news release, Supervisors Chairman David Ross called the agreement a beautiful deal that creates high-tech jobs in the county.

HDT Expeditionary Systems produces shelters, generators, heaters, air-filtration devices and other technology for the military, civilian government and commercial sectors.

Its planned 8-acre facility in Spotsylvania is part of a $9 million commercial development, according to the incentive agreement, which does not provide an exact address.

Several HDT offices in the region will relocate to the facility, which a county spokeswoman said will be built near the CVS distribution center on Lansdowne Road.

The company must add 49 employees to its 30-person staff in Spotsylvania over 10 years, according to the incentive agreement.

It must hire 20 of those additional employees within a year of opening the facility on Lansdowne Road. By its 10th year there, the company must have 79 workers with an average annual salary of $91,334.

The bulk of the incentives, or up to $800,000, will come in the form of business, professional and occupational license tax rebates over 10 years. The rebates are capped at $80,000 per year.

The company will also receive up to $100,000 in personal property tax refunds.Those rebates are capped at $10,000 per year.

In addition, the county will reimburse the company up to $100,000 for permit fees incurred during the new facilitys development.

Lastly, the county will pay HDT $250,000 over five years to establish an internship program for science, technology, math and engineering students.

The company will hire eight interns a yeartwo in the spring, four in the summer and two in the fall, County Attorney Karl Holsten said. They will make $12 to $18 an hour, he said.

Two of the yearly interns, Holsten said, will be targeted for Spotsylvania residents interested in STEM careers.

HDT opened its office in Spotsylvania in 2011 with help from a $100,000 county grant. Efforts to reach company officials were unsuccessful.
A glass skywalk in Wanyuan, Sichuan province, built along the side of a cliff, is the highest such skywalk anywhere in China. The skywalk is located 2,288 meters above sea level. It stretches 108 meters and hovers 160 meters above the valley floor.
After facing the prospect of Gov. Terry McAuliffe hand-picking a successor to Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, Republican lawmakers are advancing legislation to strip Virginia's governor of the power to fill U.S. Senate vacancies.

A bill scheduled for a vote today in the House of Delegates would remove the governor's power to make temporary Senate appointments to fill a vacancy. Instead, the governor would be able to immediately call a special election.

Del. Daniel W. Marshall III, R-Danville, said the bill he's sponsoring would return electoral power to the voters rather than having it rest in the hands of one person.

Asked during a House floor debate how many times Virginia has had a Senate vacancy to fill, Marshall made clear he had Kaine's run for vice president in mind.

"It could have happened in '16," he said. "Thank goodness it didn't."

After the Democratic ticket's loss in the presidential election, there is no Senate vacancy on the horizon for Virginia.

House Minority Leader David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, argued that by putting no time requirements for a timely special election, the bill could allow a future governor to keep a Senate seat vacant indefinitely without giving voters a say.

"If I wasn't paying attention, I would think I was living in the North Carolina legislature at the end of last month," Toscano said, referring to Republican lawmakers' efforts in that state to take power away from the incoming Democratic governor.

The legislation, House Bill 1696, won initial approval in the House Tuesday and is scheduled for a recorded vote this afternoon.
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 improvementbut 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 federalstate 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 pleaded 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 lawyers 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 Richmond TimesDispatch
Alternatives to abortion offered at local center

This week, we acknowledge the 44th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion for any reason. Since 1973, this ruling has legally allowed more than 54 million children to die, as abortion stops a beating heart.

While the national abortion rate is at its lowest level in recent years, the rate in Fredericksburg and area counties is one of the highest in Virginia, the state Health Department reports.

The Choices Womens Center here in Fredericksburg provides hope and empowers women to consider other alternatives to abortion, including adoption and parenting, as well as fathers support. The window to the womb provided by free ultrasound services allows mothers to see their babies heartbeats and the reality that their baby is a human being and not just a piece of tissue.

While Roe v. Wade is the law of the land, there always has to be alternatives to abortion. Just because abortion is legal, it is not necessarily safe.

Eileen Roberts Spotsylvania
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Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenias Armed Forces have 7 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Jan. 25.

The Azerbaijani army positions located in Jafarli village and the nameless heights of the Qazakh district underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located in Azamut village and the nameless heights of Armenias Ijevan district.

The Azerbaijani army positions located in Qaraveliler village of the Gadabay district underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located on the nameless heights of Armenias Krasnoselsk district.

Moreover, the Azerbaijani army underwent fire from the Armenian positions located near the Armenian-occupied Javakhirli village of the Aghdam district, as well as from the nameless heights in the Goranboy and Khojavand districts.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Details added (first version posted on 10:23)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

The Caspian Seas legal status can be determined at the next Caspian States summit, Khalaf Khalafov, Azerbaijani deputy foreign minister, said at a session of the ad hoc working group on the Caspian Seas legal status in Baku Jan. 25.

A lot of work on the draft convention on the Caspian Seas legal status has been conducted, he said.

It is necessary to unite efforts to reach agreements on a number of issues regarding the final status of the Caspian Sea, Khalafov said.

"We intend to agree on a number of uncoordinated issues as part of the negotiations," he added.

The full approval of the draft convention will create the preconditions for determining the status of the sea at the level of heads of state, he said.

He added that Azerbaijan hopes for the speedy delimitation of the Caspian Sea and proceeds from the agreements reached among Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia.

"A mechanism will be created for effective cooperation of the Caspian states as a result of rapid solving of existing issues, Khalafov said. In particular, it is necessary to agree on the aspects of the access of the Caspian countries to other seas and ocean, the right for passage of warships through the territorial waters of other countries and rules of laying cables and pipelines."

Khalafov added that Baku is interested in the speedy coordination of issues on the central and southern parts of the Caspian Sea.

"I hope that the issues to be discussed in Baku today as part of the negotiations in accordance with international maritime law, respect for the sovereign rights of the Caspian countries and for the sake of mutually beneficial cooperation, stability and security in the Caspian Sea, will be solved through building confidence," Khalafov said.

Khalafov added that the confidence-building measures among the sides must ensure the safety of all Caspian countries equally.

The Caspian countries must contribute to the strengthening of stability in the Caspian region, he said. These measures must be based on the principles of respect for territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of the countries. The interests of all sides must be taken into account.

"We must continue to work together to preserve the Caspian Sea as a zone of peace, tranquility, stability and security," he said.

The Caspian littoral states  Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran  signed a Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003. Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea in order to exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use in July 1998. The two countries signed a protocol to the agreement in May 2002.

Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea and a protocol to it on Nov. 29, 2001 and Feb. 27, 2003, respectively. Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003. Summits of heads of the Caspian states were held in 2002 in Ashgabat, in 2007 in Tehran, in 2010 in Baku and in 2014 in Astrakhan.
Details added (first version posted on 11:30)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by governor of West Azerbaijan Province of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ghorbanali Saadat Qarabagh on Jan. 25.

Hailing the successful development of bilateral relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Iran in all areas, the president noted the importance of these relations for the two countries and peoples, as well as the region.

President Aliyev praised the development of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in recent years.

Underlining the importance of reciprocal visits, President Aliyev expressed his confidence that the visit of the delegation led by Ghorbanali Saadat Qarabagh to Azerbaijan and the meetings to be held here will contribute to the further strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries.

Ghorbanali Saadat Qarabagh emphasized that the foundation of Azerbaijan-Iran bilateral relations was laid by Azerbaijani national leader Heydar Aliyev, saying his country remembers national leader Heydar Aliyev with great respect.

Saying they visited Azerbaijan at the invitation of the Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Agriculture of the country, Ghorbanali Saadat Qarabagh hailed the good prospects for cooperation between West Azerbaijan Province of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan in agriculture, trade, tourism and other fields.

He noted that a number of meetings will be held with relevant authorities of Azerbaijan in this regard.
Story Highlights Approval averaged 83% among Democrats, 13% among Republicans

70-percentage-point party gap in approval exceeds previous high of 61 points

From Eisenhower through Carter, average party gap was 34 points

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Throughout his presidency, Barack Obama averaged 83% job approval among Democrats and 13% among Republicans. That 70-percentage-point party gap in job approval ratings easily eclipses the prior high -- 61 points for George W. Bush. All other presidents had party gaps of 55 points or less.

Average Job Approval Ratings of Presidents, by Political Party Ranked from largest to smallest party gaps Average approval, Republicans Average approval, Democrats Average party gap % % pct. pts. Obama 13 83 70 G.W. Bush 84 23 61 Clinton 27 82 55 Reagan 83 31 52 Nixon 75 34 41 Eisenhower 88 49 39 G.H.W. Bush 82 44 38 Kennedy 49 84 35 Ford 68 37 31 Johnson 44 71 27 Carter 30 57 27 Gallup began regularly measuring party identification and presidential approval in the same polls in the 1950s. Gallup

Although the extreme polarization in Obama's ratings could reflect his policies and approach to governing, it also reflects the era in which he governed. The last three presidents -- Obama, Bush and Bill Clinton -- and four of the last five (including Ronald Reagan) averaged greater than 50-point party gaps in their job approval ratings.

George H.W. Bush was the recent exception. He averaged 67% overall approval during his first three years as president, when the U.S. economy was strong, the Cold War was ending and he led a successful war effort against Iraq. In those years, the party gaps in his approval rating were between 32 and 34 points, typical of presidents prior to Reagan. His last year in office, when the economy struggled to emerge from a recession, the party gap was 54 points, similar to the polarization level for the most recent presidents.

On average, from Dwight Eisenhower's first year in office beginning in January 1953 through Jimmy Carter's last year in office that ended in January 1981, the party gap in presidential job approval ratings was 34 points. The average party gap in approval ratings for Presidents Reagan through Obama is 58 points.

Political polarization has continued to reach new extremes in recent years. In total, there have been 15 presidential years in which the party gap in approval ratings exceeded 60 points. That includes each of the last 13 presidential years -- George W. Bush's last five and all eight of Obama's years in office. The only other presidential years showing that degree of polarization are Clinton's and Reagan's fourth years -- when each sought re-election.

Initially, there are no signs that polarized evaluations of presidents are easing in Donald Trump's presidency. In Gallup's first measure of Trump's job approval rating, there is a 76-point gap in approval between Republicans (90%) and Democrats (14%).

Implications

In recent decades it has become clear that Americans' evaluations of presidents are more strongly tied to their personal political loyalties than in the past. This may reflect that recent presidents' actions have become more controversial or just more politically charged, such as their decisions on the use of military force, their economic policies, their attempts to reform healthcare and other entitlement programs, and their choices of Supreme Court justices.

To some degree, the closer link between partisanship and presidential evaluations could also result from the expanding and more varied news sources available to Americans today. In the past, Americans' exposure to a president's work was limited to a few minutes on one of the major network news broadcasts or to what they read in a local newspaper. More recently, Americans' options for news have expanded beyond those traditional sources to include national cable news and internet news and opinion sites. Many of these more recently developed news outlets take a decidedly pro- or anti-administration point of view. Americans' choices to engage with particular news sources are often influenced by, and reinforce, their own political leanings.

But even as available news sources multiply, so do other options for people's time. TV news viewership and newspaper readership has declined over time, with internet news offsetting only part of the declines. Those who do not pay much attention to political news, and thus have little basis for forming a judgment, may default to their party loyalties when asked in an opinion survey whether they approve or disapprove of the job the president is doing.

If highly partisan views of presidents are the "new normal," presidents will struggle to achieve majority approval ratings. George W. Bush did not have an approval rating of 50% or higher after May 2005, just four months into his second term. Obama's job approval held in the 40% range for most of his presidency, and he averaged 47.9% job approval throughout his eight years in office. His ratings stayed consistently above the majority level only during the early months of his presidency, around the time of his re-election and in the final months of his presidency.

The highly partisan initial ratings of Trump indicate he may not even enjoy the traditional honeymoon period prior presidents have had in the early months of their presidencies.

Explore President Obama's approval ratings in depth and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.

These data are available in Gallup Analytics.
Readers, we need your help to prove a merry Christmas for victims of domestic violence.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25



Trend:



More than 190 Azerbaijani families want to return to the Jojug Marjanli village of the Jabrayil District, liberated from the Armenian occupation in April 2016, said Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov in his interview with AzTV channel.



Hasanov, who also chairs the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs, noted that the April battles of the previous year have become a very significant event in Azerbaijan's history.



During these battles, two heights were taken back, tens of thousands of hectares of territory were liberated, and currently the work on mine clearance is underway there, he said. Prior to the April battles, the Leletepe height was under occupation, but one settlement of the Jabrayil district  the Jojug Marjanli village was liberated in 1993, during the Horadiz operation under the leadership of the great leader, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Heydar Aliyev.



However, this village at any time could have been shelled from the Leletepe. Thus, no one lived in the village, except for one family, which has been living there for 25 years," Hasanov said. He added that after the liberation of the Leletepe in April of 2016, the village became safe for living again.



The Azerbaijani army has made a significant progress in the direction of the Jabrayil district, he added.



Hasanov said that having learned about the possibility of safe living in the Jojug Marjanli village, the villages residents (more than 190 families out of 400 that once lived there) have already applied and expressed desire to return to their homeland.



This was reported to the Azerbaijani president and the head of the state signed a relevant order and allocated four million manats for the construction of 50 homes and a school, he noted.



The deputy prime minister added that the construction of these homes will begin soon. The president gave an instruction and the first 50 families out of 190 will be settled in this village.



The State Committee of Azerbaijan for Affairs of Refugees and IDPs will receive 4 million manats from the Presidential Reserve Fund for 2017 for construction of 50 houses, a school building and the relevant infrastructure at the first stage, according to the order.



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.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
Allegations of espionage : Turkish imams reportedly spied on teachers in NRW

Dusseldorf Five teachers in NRW were reportedly spied on by imams belonging to a Turkish religious organization. Authorities call for clarification and consequences.

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The Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (Ditib) is reported to have spied on at least five teachers at state schools in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). NRW state government confirmed that imams submitted espionage lists to Turkish consulates in Dusseldorf, Cologne and Munich. The lists contained the names of 28 persons and eleven institutions alleged to be supporters of the exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.

The NRW Education Ministry said on Tuesday that five of the teachers on the list were instructors of Islamic religion in state schools. Police have informed the teachers of the spying, but they were not given the names of those who reported on them.

For months now, there have been accusations that Ditib has carried out espionage. The organization is said to have spied on worshipers in many mosques in Germany. The German Federal Prosecutor General is investigating the matter.

More than 250 Muslim worship communities in NRW are associated with Ditib. Integration expert Serap Guler (CDU) said,  I expect a clear statement as to whether this organization is a reliable partner of the state of NRW or an instrument of Ankara and whether it is here to take care of the needs of Muslims or if it sees itself as the Turkish intelligence agency. The Ditib organization did not respond to the allegations of spying. It referred to a previously stated position that it promised to investigate to the allegations.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25

Trend:

The Ambassador of Romania to Azerbaijan Dan Iancu visited Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) and made a presentation for the Higher School students, teachers and staff members.

Welcoming the guest, BHOS Rector Elmar Gasimov emphasized that the visit took place on the day, which marked a remarkable milestone in the Romanian history.

Having reminded that January 24 is celebrated as the day of foundation of the Romanian modern state, he congratulated the ambassador on the anniversary.

Having thanked Gasimov for the invitation, the ambassador also spoke about the significance of this date for Romania, which was founded as a modern state on 24 January 1859.

The honorable guest noted that this was his second visit to the Baku Higher Oil School within three months after his appointment to Azerbaijan.

In his presentation, Iancu provided brief information about Romanias history and dwelled more extensively on the beginning of the oil extraction and processing in the 19th century, and further development of the oil industry in the country.

He emphasized that Romania, like Azerbaijan, is also working on exploration and utilization of alternative and renewable energy sources.

We are very interested in further enhancing our cooperation with Azerbaijan in many fields and will provide all necessary support to the Higher School in developing partner relations with universities in Romania, Dancu said while speaking about strengthening ties between Azerbaijan and Romania.

At the end, Iancu answered questions from the audience. The Counselor of the Romanian Embassy to Azerbaijan Ciprian Mirica and the Embassy representative Elmina Zeynalova also attended the meeting at BHOS.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25

By Huseyn Valiyev  Trend:

Silk Way East airlines company has passed the state registration in Azerbaijan, Vergiler newspaper of the Azerbaijani Taxes Ministry reported Jan. 25.

According to the newspaper, the company was registered through the "single window" system of the ministry October 25, 2016.

The companys authorized capital is 50,000 manats, the newspaper reported.

The official representative of the company is Zaur Akhundov.

The companys legal address: Heydar Aliyev International Airport, Cargo Terminal-2, Bina settlement, Khazar district, Baku, AZ1044.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25

By Anvar Mammadov  Trend:

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) forecasts Azerbaijans GDP to grow by 1 percent in 2017, Ivana Duarte, head of the banks resident office in Baku, said in an exclusive interview with Trend.

She said 2016 had been a very challenging year for Azerbaijan but the forecast for the countrys economy for 2017 is more positive.

Azerbaijans economy contracted by 3.8 percent in 2016 compared to 2015. The non-oil GDP decreased by 5.4 percent in 2016.

Capital investment, an important driver of growth in the previous years, dropped in January-September 2016, she said adding that the Azerbaijani GDP is forecasted to grow by 1 percent this year.

EBRD had been working extensively with its private sector clients to help them overcome the challenges connected with the regional economic crisis, Duarte said.

Special efforts were made by the EBRD to support local companies with restructuring their financial liabilities in connection with the change in manat rate, according to her.

EBRD has allocated more than 3 billion euros to Azerbaijan for implementation of 160 projects since 1992.

One of the main tasks of EBRD is to ensure stable development of Azerbaijan's non-oil sector by investing in small and medium-sized private enterprises.
Article

Protecting the worlds oceans  an important goal of Germanys climate diplomacy

The worlds oceans are vital to our survival. They regulate the global climate and are a source of food and income for billions of people. Only a very small part of the seas enjoys legal protection, however. Our diplomats are working in New York right now to change this state of affairs.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.25

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

The consortium of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) has commented on Russian Gazproms plans to use the pipeline for delivering gas to Europe.

Deputy CEO of Russias Gazprom Alexander Medvedev earlier said that the company is discussing the possibility of using Poseidon and TAP to export gas to Europe.

Lisa Givert, TAP Head of Communications, told Trend that TAP is underpinned by a long-term gas transportation agreement for a period of 25 years.

TAPs shareholders remain BP (20%), SOCAR (20%), Snam (20%), Fluxys (19%), Enagas (16%) and Axpo (5%), she added.

Givert pointed out that TAP is fully committed to transporting Shah Deniz phase II volumes  initially 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually  from the Caspian Sea through Greece, Albania and into Italy.

Our pipeline is strategically important for Europe to diversify gas supply sources in South Eastern Europe, she said.

Earlier, Federico Ermoli, Vice-President of Italys Snam company, which is one of TAP shareholders, said that the pipelines capacity can be expanded and used for delivering Russian gas to Europe.

Moreover, CEO of Fluxys Pascal De Buck told reporters on the sidelines of the European Gas Conference that this is a very good idea.

TAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor which is one of the priority energy projects for the EU.

TAP project envisages transportation of gas from the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas and condensate field to the EU countries.

The pipeline will be connected to the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.
clarajancita at 25-01-2017 02:41 PM (5 years ago) (f)

Swazilands schools opened for the new academic year on Tuesday under new government orders to teach only Christianity, a move criticised by opponents as fuelling intolerance of Muslims.



Officials said that old text books were being replaced with new ones that mention only the Bible, and that schools were required to submit a list of qualified religious studies teachers ahead of the start of term. Swazilands schools opened for the new academic year on Tuesday under new government orders to teach only Christianity, a move criticised by opponents as fuelling intolerance of Muslims.Officials said that old text books were being replaced with new ones that mention only the Bible, and that schools were required to submit a list of qualified religious studies teachers ahead of the start of term. Quote Other religions will not be offered at primary and high school level, said Pat Muir, a top education ministry official, adding that the policy sought to avoid confusing pupils. At tertiary level they will be able to make a decision to learn about other religions, he said. Some surveys put Swazilands Muslim population as high as 10 percent, but the US Department of State in 2015 put the figure at about two percent.

he said. Some surveys put Swazilands Muslim population as high as 10 percent, but the US Department of State in 2015 put the figure at about two percent.

Many Swazis combine Christianity with indigenous beliefs, and religious freedoms are written into the countrys 2005 constitution. The education ministry last week instructed all head teachers to ensure that the syllabus would not mention any religion other than Christianity, including Islam and Judaism.



Sahid Matsebula, a Swazi-born Muslim who works for a mosque near the capital Mbabane, said the governments policy could worsen religious friction in the southern African nation. Many Swazis combine Christianity with indigenous beliefs, and religious freedoms are written into the countrys 2005 constitution. The education ministry last week instructed all head teachers to ensure that the syllabus would not mention any religion other than Christianity, including Islam and Judaism.Sahid Matsebula, a Swazi-born Muslim who works for a mosque near the capital Mbabane, said the governments policy could worsen religious friction in the southern African nation. Quote What plan does the government have in place for our children who are not Christian? he told AFP. They will be taught one thing at home and taught something else at school.  Discrimination  The US State Departments International Religious Freedom Report said some schools have long sought to prevent Muslim pupils from leaving early for Friday prayers. It also said some Christian groups discriminated against non-Christian religious groups, especially in rural areas where people generally held negative views on Islam.

The new education policy comes after public complaints over Asian and Muslim migration into the country led parliament to set up a commission of enquiry last year. Some illegal migrants have since been deported, and Minister of Commerce and Trade Jabulani Mabuza told parliament that a law making it harder for foreigners to set up businesses in Swaziland was in the pipeline.

Church leaders in Swaziland welcomed the Christianity-only syllabus. Christianity is the bedrock religion on which this country was built, said Stephen Masilela, president of the Swaziland Conference of Churches. Swaziland, with a population of about 1.2 million, has been ruled by King Mswati III, Africas last absolute monarch, since 1986. The country suffers dire poverty and has struggled to lift its economy, and has faced international criticism that the government stifles dissent, jails its opponents and denies workers rights. The new education policy comes after public complaints over Asian and Muslim migration into the country led parliament to set up a commission of enquiry last year. Some illegal migrants have since been deported, and Minister of Commerce and Trade Jabulani Mabuza told parliament that a law making it harder for foreigners to set up businesses in Swaziland was in the pipeline.Church leaders in Swaziland welcomed the Christianity-only syllabus.said Stephen Masilela, president of the Swaziland Conference of Churches. Swaziland, with a population of about 1.2 million, has been ruled by King Mswati III, Africas last absolute monarch, since 1986. The country suffers dire poverty and has struggled to lift its economy, and has faced international criticism that the government stifles dissent, jails its opponents and denies workers rights.

Post Reply I am a metro reporter on Gistmania, I have been publishing news materials for over 5 years Posted: at 25-01-2017 02:41 PM (5 years ago) | Hero
Lenovo K6 Power Vs Smartphones with 4GB RAM: Mid-range battle Features oi -Harish Kumar Rivals of Lenovo K6 Power with 4GB RAM.

With decent specifications and pricing, the Lenovo K6 Power is one of the hot-selling smartphones in the market. In the first flash sale on Flipkart, 35,000 units of the phone were sold in just 30 minutes.

On January 31, when the 4GB RAM version of K6 Power goes on sale, we can see another massive sales figure from Lenovo.

Now, we at GizBot have compiled a list of mid-range smartphones with 4GB RAM that can compete with the Lenovo K6 Power. Take a look.

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications
Overall, dont let the bhoot mislead you, nothing bhootiya about this story. Had the makers tried to push the envelope, the idea could have been outstanding for a bhootiya comedy.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

Azerbaijan is planning to produce more gas and less oil in 2017, the Natural Gas World quoted Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natig Aliyev as saying Jan. 25.

Aliyev said that the country plans to increase gross gas output by 0.8 percent to 29.561 billion cubic meters in 2017.

That follows a decline of 0.6 percent year-on-year to 29.331 billion cubic meters in 2016, noted the minister, adding that some 18.714 billion cubic meters out of this amount accounted for commercial gas, a 3.9 percent decline from 2015, as more gas was needed for re-injection at the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil fields to maintain crude oil production.

Gas stored in underground facilities reached 1.167 billion cubic meters as of January 1, he added.

According to a combination of official statistics and NGWs survey, the countrys total gas export also stood at 7.78 billion cubic meters, so 625 million cubic meters less than 2015.

Aliyev said that it is expected to produce more than 10 billion cubic meters of gas from the Shah Deniz field in 2017, as compared to 9.9 billion cubic meters in 2016.

Azerbaijan is fully committed to its obligation on reducing oil output under the deal with OPEC and the country has reduced oil output by 35,000 barrels per day since Jan. 1, Aliyev said.

He noted that the countrys total oil production was 789,000 barrels per day in Jan. 1-20 in line with this pledge.

The minister added that the oil price in January increased by $25 per barrel year-on-year and this favors all producers.

Azerbaijan can cut oil output even more if other producers decide to shrink the production level to support prices, he said.

During a meeting in Vienna, Austria, on Nov. 30, 2016, OPEC members decided to implement a new production target of 32.5 million barrels per day. Later, non-OPEC countries agreed to cut the output by 558,000 barrels per day during the meeting held Dec. 10, 2016.

Eleven non-OPEC countries  Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan  agreed to reduce the oil output.

OPEC and non-OPEC countries pledged to start implementing the deal from Jan. 1, 2017 for six months, extendable for another six months.

According to Azerbaijans State Statistics Committee, 41.03 million tons of oil and gas condensate were produced in the country in 2016, that is, 1.5 percent less than in 2015.

Tank gas output totaled 18.71 billion cubic meters in Azerbaijan in 2016, or 3.9 percent less than in 2015.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
Bakcell, The First Mobile Operator and Leading Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan is pleased to announce yet another call to participate in its accelerated execution framework- AppLab.

Different from previous years, this time all local developers in the field of IT and simply anyone who has ideas and interest can apply for the participation and have chance to benefit from broad opportunities of the AppLab, by simply choosing the field of their interest and sharing the idea.

The registration process is open till February 23, 2017. To register, applicants should simply visit the link http://applab.bakcell.com/registration/ and fill out the form during period mentioned above. After the registration period is over, all submitted projects will be reviewed and ideas approved by the Selection Committee will pass to the second stage. Projects earning 15 points out of 20 and more will meet with the committee members of Applab and have a chance to become a part of AppLab program during 90-180 days depending on the project. During this period Bakcell will support these developers and work with them individually towards development of their products and promote them onto the market.

Within the framework of the project, young developers are granted with access to the AppLab office located at Uzeir Hajibeyov str. 48, 3rd floor (Next to Sahil park) with free Internet access, desk and training space and will have an opportunity to use the latest devices for testing products. Bakcells, Qualcomms and Applab partners dedicated team of experts will provide young developers with the required studies and advice to design and implement a proof of concept for new products or services aimed at local and international markets.

It should be noted that in comparison with other similar local programs and projects by providing support to selected developers, Bakcell does not claim any ownership from the projects becoming part of AppLab. The companys main goal is to be main supporting part in establishment of an adequate environment in national startup community. Apart from supporting the developers by providing space and tools to develop and distribute mobile applications, Bakcell, in partnership with Wayra UK, provides the local developers an opportunity to present their ideas and receive investments worth around 70.000 pounds every year. This investment is equally distributed for organizing and developing services.

Bakcell, The First Mobile Operator and the Leading Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan, offers a variety of products for modern mobile communications customers. Bakcell provides class leading 3G and 4G mobile internet experience in the country under the Su[email protected] brand name.

With more than 5300 base stations Bakcells network covers more than 99% of the population and 93% of the land area of the country (excluding occupied territories). Bakcell is a leader in innovation and it focuses on bringing the best of the mobile internet to Azerbaijanis through new partnerships and its Su[email protected] services. Bakcell 3G service is available in all regions of Azerbaijan and covers 93% of population.

For more information about Bakcell products and services, please visit www.bakcell.com or call 555. For press releases please see www.bakcell.com/az/news (or www.bakcell.com/en/news for press releases in English).

If you are not a Bakcell subscriber, but wish to find out about Bakcell and its services, please call 055 000 05 55.
Trump 'forgot he was president' in CIA speech: Panetta

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 3:7PM

Former CIA Director and Secretary of State Leon Panetta has voiced concerns about Donald Trump's recent remarks at the CIA, suggesting that Trump forgot he was president of the United States.

"I think to go off and start talking about the press, talking about how many people were at the inauguration, I just think that frankly that was not appropriate," Panetta said in an interview with CNN on Monday.

"I just think that the president needs to understand that he is president of the United States now. He's not just a candidate. He doesn't have to spend time embellishing himself or what he did," he added.

After a presidential campaign that saw a big rift emerge between Trump and the intelligence community, the president visited the CIA headquarters on Saturday to smooth out any differences.

During his speech in front of a memorial wall dedicated to fallen CIA officers, President Trump pledged support for the intelligence agency, but mostly he talked about himself, his inauguration turnout and the "dishonest" media.

"As you know I have a running war with the media," Trump said. "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."

"I just got the impression when he was speaking there that somehow he forgot that he was president of the United States," Panetta said. "That was not the appropriate place to start whining about what was happening in terms of numbers at the inauguration and what have you."

Panetta said he shared some of the concerns expressed by the most recent CIA director, John Brennan.

Brennan, who left the agency last week, said Saturday that the president "should be ashamed of himself" for his remarks, adding that he was "deeply saddened and angered at Trump's despicable display of self-aggrandizement."

Trump has been accused of undermining the intelligence community by questioning its findings in regard to alleged Russian intervention in the November election and likening the analysis to the false intelligence that led to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

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KC-135 MOD program closes out year with magic number: Block 45

By Greg L. Davis, 72nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs / Published January 24, 2017

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFNS) -- The KC-135 Block 45 upgrade program reached a milestone by closing out 2016 with the 45th aircraft in the modification line here.

Block 45 completely remodels the inside of the flight deck with new liquid crystal displays, radio altimeter, autopilot, digital flight director and other computer module updates, according to information provided by the Legacy Tanker Division located here.

Reaching milestone number 45 can be attributed, in part, to innovations taking place in the back-shops of the 564th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Belinda Schantz, Block 45 unit chief, said her people helped improve the process. "One person started it. Then everyone started getting ideas."

"This is the capstone modification that takes your 1950s/1960s-era tanker and makes it a 21st century asset that's as modern as any flight deck we have in the Air Force," said Col. Mark Mocio, the Legacy Tanker Division commander with the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. "It enables us to meet all the global rules we have on air traffic navigation now and for a long time to come."

Innovations have taken place from the ground up through empowered workers who established a speedline to shave off 30 program days.

The speedline has been the key to success as it removes a large portion of work that took place on the aircraft in cramped, poorly lit spaces while trying to work around others and brings it into well-lit shops where a majority of the work can be done in a "kitting" process.

The $910 million program began almost seven years ago as part of the Air Force's continuing efforts to keep the aging C/KC-135 series aircraft, the last of which were delivered in 1961, viable for many years to come. The Block 45 modification enhances the previous PACER CRAG cockpit and fuel management systems upgrade accomplished between 1997 and 2001.

In 2015 the Legacy Tanker Division within the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center in conjunction with the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, both headquartered at Tinker AFB, returned outsourced modification work to the OC-ALC workforce where the concentrated experience for the C/KC-135 aircraft is located. This move enhanced OC-ALC's ability to produce by leveraging the fact a majority of maintenance, repair and overhaul functions were already taking place at the base. Just moving the modification program back to Tinker AFB saved an estimated five production days.

Upon moving the modification work to Tinker AFB and the 564th AMXS, low rate initial production (LRIP) I began where efficiencies were realized as they began using the "Art of the Possible" to innovate through the speedline described earlier.

Once the Block 45 modification work was given to OC-ALC and the 564th AMXS, they began innovating with the establishment of a speedline. "Moving it from the contractor to here, we were confident we could reduce the flow days," Mocio said. However, he said he recognized "a lot of innovation had to be done to allow for that. There was kitting and technical innovation which allowed the maintenance folks to get it from the 120 days down to below 50 days. That initiative is pretty incredible. It's a challenge."

Lee explained another advantage of the speedline was to include small business in the process. "They installed a speedline that takes kits from Rockwell Collins and various small business contractors. Then we do it here organically. About 50 flow days to install using the 50/50 rule, 50 percent organic with 50 percent contracted out."

The modification is time consuming. The Block 45 modification is intensive, frustrating work fraught with opportunities for mistakes, Schantz explained. During LRIP I most of the actual work took place on the aircraft in cramped spaces with poor lighting.

"Gutting old wiring and then reinstalling new kits, liquid crystal display screens and supporting equipment is a multi-person job," Schantz said. "Complicating the installation is having to work around installed controls such as the throttle quadrant and trim wheel located in the middle of the flight deck."

The avionics rack presents its own challenges because it is a four-shelf rack with important components mounted on the shelves and the sides with thousands of wire connections. Schantz summed up the biggest challenge of working onboard the aircraft. "It was just a tangled mess."

"Art of the possible" empowered Block 45 avionics technicians, mechanics and even supply personnel to find ways to innovate. The 564th AMXS now builds kits using supplies from the prime contractor and small businesses in their back shops. Here they can complete a majority of the work with ease while making thousands of connections which are also tested and verified before the entire thing is bundled and kitted for delivery to the airplane. Once at the jet, the kit ensures a relatively quick installation and allows the technicians to move on to the next step in the process.

Lt. Joshua Neace, the KC-135 program manager, said he feels the word is getting out to the operators of the fleet of tankers which are always in high demand. "They're hungry. We work with Air Mobility Command, the Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve Command and there are people who decide which aircraft are coming to us and when. It's a huge integrated process. Everybody wants it."

The Block 45 modification upgrades or replaces 63 items such as analog instruments which are considered high-maintenance or obsolete altogether, Neace said.

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Military Strikes Continue Against ISIL in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Jan. 24, 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

Rocket artillery and bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 12 strikes consisting of 16 engagements in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an oil wellhead.

-- Near Bab, two strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed a vehicle, two mortar systems and an ammunition cache.

-- Near Shadaddi, a strike destroyed an ISIL front-end loader.

-- Near Raqqa, five strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed an unmanned-aerial-vehicle tower, an ISIL decoy tank and an improvised-bomb factory.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed two oil trucks, two oil pump jacks and two vehicles.

-- Near Palmyra, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.

Strikes in Iraq

Rocket artillery and attack, bomber, fighter, remotely piloted and rotary aircraft conducted seven strikes in Iraq, consisting of 38 engagements, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

-- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit; destroyed a vehicle, a supply cache and a fighting position; and damaged a tunnel.

-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units, a mortar cache, an improvised-bomb storage facility, an ammunition storage facility, two tactical vehicles, a fighting position, two mortars, a tow truck, 14 watercraft, three barges, two tanker trucks, two front-end loaders and eight vehicles; suppressed a mortar team; and damaged a supply route, a crane and a tractor.

-- Near Rawah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit; destroyed a recoilless rifle, a mortar system and a vehicle; and damaged a bunker.

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 Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

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Rotational Unit in Poland Adapts to Surroundings

By Army Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Tarr, 24th Press Camp Headquarters

ZAGAN, Poland, Jan. 24, 2017  Now you see them, and now you don't. Learning how to conceal 28-ton Bradley fighting vehicles and M1 Abrams tanks in any type of terrain takes a high level of skill.

Whether they are training in a desert environment or -- as they are now -- in the forested hills of Poland, the soldiers assigned to the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team trained on camouflaging Bradley fighting vehicles and M1 Abrams tanks at Presidential Range in Swietozow, Poland, Jan. 20.

"Today we're here to prove the concept that, regardless of the color of the vehicle, with enough preparation and dedication, we have the ability to camouflage in any scenery, but specifically here in the forest of western Poland," said Army Capt. Edward Bachar, commander of Company C, 1st Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment.

How it's Done

Army Sgt. Cody Flodin, an infantryman assigned to 1-68, said the initial step of camouflaging a vehicle is to place it in an assault position and cover the vehicle with a camouflage net -- a radar- and laser-scattering net that deters detection from the air or the ground.

Then, Flodin said he covers the vehicle using dead foliage from the forest floor to break up the visual outline of the vehicle.

Once the vehicle is concealed, Flodin said, he places snow on the foliage to mimic the natural environment, ensuring that all vehicle functions still work properly.

"We need to have the ability to quickly move into a wooded area and not be able to be observed by any potential enemy," Bachar said. "It is important that within approximately 15 minutes, this Bradley was able to go from maneuvering in a large open area directly into the wood line and blend in with the local surroundings."

The unit prepared for this mission during a 30-day training rotation at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California.

From Desert to Forest

"Three months ago, we had to do the same thing in the desert with these vehicles and we did it phenomenally," the captain said. "We have the ability to execute hide sites, [conduct] assembly area operations, [assume] assault positions and remain undetected from the enemy. To be able to do the same thing in a completely different environment really shows the proficiency of the crew themselves to camouflage their Bradley fighting vehicles and tanks."

The Bradleys and tanks are slated to be painted in green foliage camouflage in a few months, making it a little easier for the "Iron Brigade" soldiers to conceal themselves. In the meantime, Bachar said, they will continue to train and hone their skills.

"Field craft is a priority, really in anything, from a dismounted squad being able to blend into its surroundings to a Bradley fighting vehicle," he added. "So we will emphasize field craft camouflage and the ability to blend in to your immediate surroundings in every training exercise. This [Jan. 20 training] is just a proof of concept and the initial training to ensure we have the ability to do it. From here on out, we're going to continue to get better in our ability to do exactly that."

The Iron Brigade is here as the first rotation of back-to-back armored brigades in Europe in support of Atlantic Resolve. U.S. European Command officials said this rotation will enhance deterrence capabilities in the region, improve the U.S. ability to respond to potential crises and defend allies and partners in the European community. U.S. forces will focus on strengthening capabilities and sustaining readiness through bilateral and multinational training and exercises, officials added.

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Leaders Forge New Partnerships in Ukraine

By 1st Lt. Kayla Christopher January 24, 2017

Building relationships is key to the success of any mission, but cooperation and understanding is especially essential when working in a multinational environment.

Col. David Jordan, commander of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Oklahoma Army National Guard, recently assumed command of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine. Jordan, along with several members of his staff, spent time this week meeting with military and community leaders to discuss plans for future partnership.

The mission of the JMTG-U, which falls under U.S. Army Europe and 7th Army Training Command, is to provide assistance in strengthening Ukraine's internal defense.

Jordan met with Ukrainian Lt. Gen. Pavlo Tkachuk, the chief of the Ukrainian National Military Academy, to exchange ideas about the future of the International Peacekeeping and Security Center, near Yavoriv, Ukraine, the area where JMTG-U training takes place.

"We've been fortunate to visit Hohenfels Training Area in Germany," said Tkachuck. "It's our desire that the IPSC meets this standard in the future and that NATO nations seek to train here."

The mayor of L'viv, Ukraine and Oleg Synyutka, the governor of L'viv Oblast, also met with Jordan. Synyutka mentioned that since 2014, over 260 Ukrainian soldiers from L'viv Oblast, the region where the IPSC is located, have died conducting anti-terrorism operations in the east of Ukraine. The training soldiers receive at the IPSC is saving lives, he said.

"We are not only fighting for territory," said Synyutka, "but for our values, the same values that we share with the west."

Jordan, along with Tkachuck and members of the Ukrainian National Military Academy staff, toured Sts. Peter and Paul's Garrison Church where they met with the Ukrainian chaplain assigned to the academy's student soldiers.

There, the chaplain showed Jordan a memorial dedicated to those who have died in the fighting. Inna Shkodyak, an English teacher on staff at the academy, pointed to one of the soldier's pictures.

"That's one of my students," said Shkodyak. "He graduated a few years ago."

Visiting with local leaders drove home the importance of the mission at JMTG-U, Jordan said. The U.S. Soldiers under Jordan's command will supervise the training of four Ukrainian battalions during their time in Ukraine. Jordan discussed with Tkachuck how training should be tailored to the ability of each Ukrainian battalion.

"From what I've seen and heard, they're highly motivated," Jordan said of the Ukrainian soldiers, "I expect that, given their experiences, our Soldiers will learn just as much from them as they'll learn from us."

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Turbans, beards, dreadlocks now permissible for some Soldiers

By C. Todd Lopez January 24, 2017

WASHINGTON (Army News Service) -- Female Soldiers may now wear dreadlocks and male Soldiers whose religious faith requires beards and turbans may now seek permanent accommodation.

Army directive 2017-03, signed earlier this month, spells out changes to Army Regulation 670-1, the uniform policy, for the turban, worn by male Soldiers, the under-turban; male hair worn under a turban; the hijab, which is a head scarf worn by females; and beards worn by male members.

Sgt. Maj. Anthony J. Moore, the uniform policy branch sergeant major inside the Army's G-1, said the policy change was made largely as a way to increase diversity inside the service and provide more opportunities for Americans to serve in uniform.

"This is so we can expand the pool of people eligible to join the Army," Moore said. "There was a section of the population who previously were unable to enlist in the Army. This makes the Army better because you're opening the doors for more talent. You're allowing people to come in who have skills the Army can use."

DREADLOCKS

Female Soldiers have been asking for a while for permission to wear "locks," or dreadlocks, Moore said.

"We understood there was no need to differentiate between locks, cornrows, or twists, as long as they all met the same dimension," Moore said. "It's one more option for female hairstyles. Females have been asking for a while, especially females of African-American decent, to be able to wear dreadlocks, and locks, because it's easier to maintain that hairstyle."

The Army directive says that each lock, or dreadlock, "will be of uniform dimension; have a diameter no greater than 1/2 inch; and present a neat, professional, and well-groomed appearance."

All female Soldiers can opt to wear dreadlocks, Moore said.

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

The Army has granted waivers to Sikh Soldiers since 2009 to wear a turban in lieu of issued Army headgear and allowed those same Soldiers to wear the turban indoors when Army headgear would normally be removed. Moore said for those Soldiers, the waivers were permanent, but that it was unclear whether this was the case Army-wide. That is no longer true, he said.

The new policy is that a Soldier seeking religious accommodation to wear a turban must make the request only once, and the accommodation will apply to the Soldier for the Soldier's entire Army career.

In an Army directive dated Jan. 3, then Secretary of the Army Eric K. Fanning made official the policy regarding the wear of turbans, beards, hijabs, and under-turbans.

"Based on the successful examples of Soldiers currently serving with these accommodations, I have determined that brigade-level commanders may approve requests for these accommodations, and I direct that the wear and appearance standards established in ... this directive be incorporated into AR 670-1," Fanning wrote in the directive.

"With the new directive, which will be incorporated into the Army regulation, religious accommodations are officially permanent for Soldiers," Moore said.

The level at which requests for such accommodation can be approved has also changed. Whereas requests in the past rose to the Pentagon before they could be approved, permission can now be granted by brigade-level commanders. Bringing approval down to that level, Moore said, speeds up the approval process dramatically.

That was the intent, Moore said. "They are trying to speed up the process for the Army and for the Soldier."

Moore said the same religious accommodation rules apply for Soldiers seeking to wear a beard for religious reasons as well as female Soldiers who want to wear a hijab.

If brigade-level commanders feel it inappropriate to approve the accommodation for some reason, he said, then they can recommend disapproval, but the recommendation must be channeled to the GCMCA for decision. Under the new policy, requests for religious accommodations that are not approved at the GCMCA-level will come to the secretary of the Army or designee for a final decision.

GAS MASK ISSUE

Still at issue for Soldiers is wear of a beard in conjunction with a gas mask. In the Army directive, Fanning wrote that study results have shown that beard growth can degrade "the protection factor provided by the protective masks ... to an unacceptable degree."

"Although the addition of a powered air-purifying respirator and/or a protective mask with a loose-fitting facepiece has demonstrated potential to provide adequate protection for bearded individuals operating in hazardous environments," Fanning wrote, "further research, development, testing, and evaluation are necessary to identify masks that are capable of operational use and can be adequately maintained in field conditions."

Moore said that until further testing is completed and alternatives are found to protect bearded Soldiers in environments affected by chemical weapons, Soldiers with beards may be told to shave them in advance when there is specific and concrete evidence of an expected chemical attack.

If a chemical warfare threat is immediate, Moore said, instructions to Soldiers to shave their beards would come from higher up, at the General Court-Martial Convening Authority-level -- typically a division-level commander.

Likewise, Soldiers who seek religious accommodation to wear a beard will not be allowed to attend the Army schools required for entry into chemical warfare-related career fields, Moore said.

BEARDS AND MUSTACHES

For wear of the beard, Moore said, the new directive allows for beards to be as long as the Soldier wants, so long as the beard can be rolled up and compressed to less than two inches from the bottom of the chin. Additionally, for those Soldiers wearing a beard under a religious accommodation, the rules for wearing a mustache are also new. Mustaches may extend past the corners of the mouth but must be trimmed or groomed to not cover the upper lip.

Maj. Kamaljeet Kalsi, a civil affairs officer in the Army Reserve's 404th Civil Affairs Battalion at Fort Dix, New Jersey, is a Sikh Soldier who wears both a turban and a beard. He said he welcomes the new policy change as an indication that the Army is now looking to accommodate his faith and open its doors to talent in the United States that might have been previously untapped.

"To me, it says the nation is moving in a direction that the founders intended, a pluralistic democracy that represents all," Kalsi said. "I think we're a stronger nation when we can draw from the broadest amount of talent, the broadest talent pool. And it makes us a stronger military when the military looks like the people it serves."

Capt. Simratpal Singh, with the 249th Engineer Battalion prime power section, said for him the policy is about acceptance.

"On a personal level, it means that I can serve freely and without having to worry about any stipulations or constraint," he said. "That's all I want is to serve in the U.S. Army just like any of my peers."

Because the next edition of AR 670-1 is expected to be published next month, the Army will not be able to include the new rules. But Moore said Soldiers can expect to see these most recent changes in the AR 670-1 that comes out at this time next year.

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NATO marks closer ties with Gulf partners, opens new centre in Kuwait

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

24 Jan. 2017

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg led the North Atlantic Council in celebrating the opening of the NATO-Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) Regional Centre on Tuesday (24 January 2017). During an inauguration ceremony in Kuwait, the Secretary General highlighted the Centre's potential in strengthening the partnership between NATO and Gulf partners, including in the important fight against terrorism.

The Secretary General thanked Kuwait for hosting the Centre and for its long-standing leadership in promoting regional security. As NATO's first presence in the Gulf region, the NATO-ICI Regional Centre will be a vital hub for practical cooperation in a range of areas, including strategic analysis, civil emergence planning, military-to-military cooperation and public diplomacy. "The partnerships we will strengthen through this Centre are vitally important to NATO, because the security of Gulf countries is directly linked to the security of all Allies," said Mr. Stoltenberg.

Following the ceremony, the 28 members of the North Atlantic Council and its partners of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative met to discuss common security challenges. They were joined by Oman and the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council. In his opening remarks, Mr. Stoltenberg stressed NATO's commitment to working with partners in the Gulf region to enhance regional security and to counter shared threats, such as terrorism and extremism.

In Kuwait, the Secretary General met with Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and the President of the Kuwait National Security Bureau, Sheikh Thamer Ali Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah. Today, he also met with Bahrain's foreign minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohamed Al Khalifa and the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.

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Joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah - Secretary General's opening remarks

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

24 Jan. 2017

Thank you so much Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, and thank you so much for hosting us today. And I am very grateful for this opportunity to meet with you and to be here in Kuwait

And on behalf of the North Atlantic Council, I want to thank you and the government of Kuwait for hosting all of us here today.

Kuwait has been a strong and dedicated NATO partner for many years. And you help to build greater security and stability in the Gulf region.

Including through this very building  the NATO-ICI Regional Centre  which we inaugurated earlier today.

Minister, last year you and I signed a NATO-Kuwait Transit Agreement to facilitate the transit of personnel and supplies to our NATO Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan.

And to make any future NATO activities in the region more effective.

Back in 2004, Kuwait was the first country to join NATO's Istanbul Cooperation Initiative  the ICI.

Kuwait was also the first ICI country to establish an Individual Partnership and Cooperation Programme with NATO.

Today all four ICI countries  Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates  have these cooperation programmes with NATO.

This means that we will be able to step up our cooperation in many areas, including:

- Crisis management and the fight against terrorism;

- Energy security;

- Cyber defence;

- Non-proliferation;

- Defence against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons;

- Maritime security;

- And civil emergency management.

Our relationship with Kuwait and the other the ICI partners reached a new level last year, when all four countries opened diplomatic missions to NATO. So our ties are getting broader and they are getting deeper.

Today we held a meeting of the North Atlantic Council here in Kuwait.

Together with our ICI partners, as well as other countries, we are developing our cooperation and it is becoming stronger every day.

We discussed regional security challenges, and how we can work together to address them.

Including at this impressive new facility  the NATO-ICI Regional Centre  which we opened this morning.

It is the Alliance's first such presence in the Gulf. And this centre will be a vital hub for our practical cooperation.

This is essential. Because our security is directly linked. We face the same threats, like terrorism and failing states. And we share the same aspirations for peace and for stability.

We have learned over the years that we are much stronger with allies and partners than we are alone.

So I am extremely pleased that our cooperation with Kuwait and our other Gulf partners is reaching new heights.

And I look forward to working even more closely together in the future. Including at our new Regional Centre here in Kuwait  a proud home for a promising partnership.

So thank you once again for hosting us and for making this very centre such a great success and enabling us to inaugurate it today.

Thank you.

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Opening remarks by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the inauguration ceremony of the NATO Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) Regional Centre, Kuwait City

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

24 Jan. 2017

(As delivered)



Your Highness,

Prime Minister,

Foreign Minister,

Ministers,

Sheikh Thamer,

Secretary General,

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a real honour to be here today and I am really delighted to be back in Kuwait once again, for my second official visit as NATO Secretary General.

Last year I toured the construction site for this impressive facility.

Today I am honoured to celebrate the opening of the ICI-NATO Regional Centre.

In doing so, we mark two important milestones:

- A milestone in the friendship between NATO and Kuwait;

- And a milestone in the blossoming partnership between NATO and the entire Gulf region.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Sheikh Thamer Ali Al-Sabah.

So I thank him for his leadership and steadfast support. Thank you so much.

I also want to thank the State of Kuwait in hosting and the people of Kuwait for your generosity and in hosting this Centre, for being such a strong and valued NATO partner and for your long-standing leadership in promoting regional security.

NATO's Istanbul Cooperation Initiative  the ICI  was designed to contribute to long-term regional stability.

So I am extremely pleased that our three other ICI partners are represented here today:

Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

I am also glad to welcome the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation, and the representatives from Saudi Arabia and Oman.

This Centre is a historic first:

NATO's first such presence in the Gulf region.

It will be a vital hub for cooperation between the Alliance and our Gulf partners.

As well as with Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the Gulf Cooperation Council, including in our important fight against terrorism.

We will work together in a range of different areas, including:

- strategic analysis;

- civil emergency planning;

- military-to-military cooperation;

- and public diplomacy.

***

The partnerships we will strengthen through this Centre are vitally important to NATO.

Because the security of Gulf countries is directly linked to the security of all Allies.

We face common security threats like terrorism, weapons proliferation, and cyber attacks.

And we share the same aspirations for peace and for stability.

So it is essential that we work more closely together than ever before.

We have now developed individual cooperation programmes with all our Gulf partners.

Because modern security institutions and well-trained local forces represent our best weapons in the fight against violent extremism.

***

NATO has a long history of working with partners to project stability beyond our borders.

Over the past year, we have trained hundreds of Iraqi officers in Jordan to better fight ISIL.

And we are now extending our training and capacity-building efforts into Iraq itself.

NATO continues to fight terrorism in other ways, including with direct support to the Counter-ISIL Coalition.

Our AWACS surveillance flights provide surveillance data to support Coalition air operations.

And all Allies contribute individually to the Coalition in different ways.

My message is this:

In addressing the most pressing security challenges of our time, we are much stronger together than we are alone.

And that's what this NATO-ICI Centre is all about.

Deepening trust. Building cooperation. And working together to make our nations safer.

Today, I am proud to say that NATO has a new home in the Gulf region. And that we have opened a new chapter in our deepening partnership.

I would like to close by once again thanking Kuwait  and all our partners here today  for their strong support.

And for making the opening of this Centre today possible.

Thank you so much to all of you.

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Azercell CEO Mr. Vahid Mursaliyev met with the students who had obtained the title of Azercell scholars. Mr. Mursaliyev stated at the meeting that in addition to monthly stipend from Azercell, the program will also provide the students an opportunity to enrich their knowledge about telecommunications, participate in Azercells corporate events and social activities, receive various trainings, as well as take internship at the company. Azercell has supported the youth and students since the company started its business activity. A number of student programs, internships and other projects have been carried out so far. We also concluded cooperation agreements with the universities you study in. All these steps are aimed to develop our education, he stated. Azercell CEO wished the students good luck in their studies and assured that he will continue to support them.

The stipend winners currently study in Baku State University, Azerbaijan State Economic University, ADA University, Public Administration Academy under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Khazar University, Qafqaz University, Gandja State University, Nakhchivan State University, Baku High Oil School, State Oil and Industry University, Azerbaijan Technical University, Mingachevir State University, Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction and Gandja Agrarian University.

Name/Surname University Major Rafig Abbasov Azerbaijan State Economic University World economics Dunay Khasayl Baku State University Law Ali Alakbarli Public Administration Academy under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Law Aynur Asadli ADA University International sciences Sabina Azimova Public Administration Academy under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Computer sciences Gunel Abdullayeva Baku State University Law Azim Hashimov Khazar University Oil and gas engineering Sultan Isgandarov Gandja State University Chemistry and Biology teacher Hikmat Jafarli Qafqaz University Computer sciences Rasul Karimov l Qafqaz University Computer sciences Mammad Hajl Qafqaz University Computer sciences Zumrud Mlikzada Gandja State University Mathematics and Informatics Kanara Muradova Nakhchivan State University International relations and foreign languages Mustafa Bunyamin Qafqaz University Finance Tarlan Mustafayev n Public Administration Academy under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Management Mahammad Namazl State Oil and Industry University Oil and gas engineering Aysel Garayeva Baku State University Law Konul Gurbanl ADA University IT and system engineering Inji Rzayeva Nakhchivan State University International relations Asiman Saidzada Baku High Oil School Oil and gas engineering Shahin Khalilov Azerbaijan Technical University Computer sciences Hasan Shiraliyev Public Administration Academy under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Management Aladdin Shkhizada Qafqaz University Computer sciences Tajira Jafarova Mingachevir State University Economics and management Rukiyya Taghsoy Public Administration Academy under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Law Tahmina Azimzada Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction Architecture Nemat Zulfugarl Gandja Agrarian University Accounting and audit Kamilla Nabiyeva Baku State University International relations and economics

The Student Bursary Program had two-stage selection process. The first stage included the evaluation of received applications. In the meantime, HR specialists of Azercell visited universities in Baku and regions and made presentations about the program. In the second stage, the applicants took online tests to demonstrate their level of logical thinking and English proficiency. In addition, the students had face-to-face interviews with HR specialists and heads of departments at Azercell. They were evaluated based on their academic skills, world outlook and aspirations towards science and education.

Azercell has conducted the Student Bursary Program annually since 2008. Over 130 students from various universities in Azerbaijan have benefited from the Program.

The leader of the mobile communication industry of Azerbaijan and the biggest investor in the non-oil sector Azercell Telecom LLC was founded in 1996. With 48% share of Azerbaijans mobile market Azercells network covers 80% of the territory and 99,8% of population of the country. Currently, 4,5 million subscribers choose Azercell services. Azercell has pioneered an important number of innovations in Azerbaijan, including GSM technology, advance payment system, 24/7 Customer Care, online customer services, GPRS/EDGE, M2M, MobilBank, one-stop- shop service offices Azercell Express, mobile e-service ASAN signature, etc. Azercell deployed first 4G  LTE services in Azerbaijan in 2012. According to the results of mobile network quality surveys of Global Wireless Solutions company and international systems specialized in wireless coverage mapping such as Opensignal and Testmy.net, Azercells network demonstrated the best results among the mobile operators of Azerbaijan.
Remarks by Ambassador Tacan Ildem, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy at the inauguration ceremony of the Slovakia NFIU, Baracks Bratislava - Vajnory

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

24 Jan. 2017



(As prepared)



Minister Gajdos,

Generals,

Soldiers,

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

This is a momentous day  for Slovakia and for NATO.

On behalf of NATO's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, I thank all of you for being here to celebrate this special occasion.

I especially want to thank the government and the people of Slovakia for their strong support for NATO and for making this day possible.

I am also grateful to all of the Allies who are participating directly in this multinational NFIU headquarters.

Slovakia, of course. But also the Czech Republic. Germany. Hungary. Poland. Romania. The United States. And my own country, Turkey.

This is the eighth NATO Force Integration Unit that has been inaugurated over the past two years.

The other seven NFIUs are located in Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania.

This robust network of NFIU's in central and eastern Europe perform several critically important functions for NATO and our collective security.

This multinational unit will be staffed by 21 Slovakian personnel combined with 20 international personnel.

These personnel will play a vital role in military planning, exercises, and in facilitating reinforcements, if needed.

The message is clear: NATO is here in Slovakia. We are committed to defend your country and your people against any threat or act of aggression.

More broadly, these eight NFIU's symbolise NATO's solidarity.

They represent NATO's commitment to collective defence.

To the idea that we are in this together. That we will defend one another.

It's the notion of "one for all and all for one" that has kept NATO strong, our citizens safe, and our countries at peace for nearly 70 years.

We have learned over the years that we are much stronger working together than going it alone.

All eight NFIUs are part of NATO's Readiness Action Plan  or RAP  that was agreed to at NATO's Wales Summit in 2014.

And RAP, in turn, is part of NATO's response to the evolving security challenges we face following Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and ongoing aggressive actions in eastern Ukraine.

We have increased our NATO Response Force to 40,000 troops.

And we can now deploy them and other forces faster than before.

So this relatively small headquarters is part of a much bigger plan.

In fact, taken as a whole, NATO has implemented the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence capabilities since the end of the Cold War.

But let us also remember that NATO is, has always been, and will always be a defensive alliance.

The most successful alliance in history.

Everything that we do is defensive, proportionate and fully in line with our international commitments.

Our forces do not pose a threat to any country.

Our goal is to prevent conflict, not to provoke conflict.

This NFIU is designed to help us keep our countries safe.

And to uphold our shared values on which NATO was founded: democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law.

So I congratulate Slovakia on this momentous day.

It is an honour for me to be here to take part in the inauguration of this new headquarters.

Today we take an important step toward greater security for Slovakia and your people.

For NATO as a whole.

And for future generations.

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Engineers Demonstrate Value of Cold Spray Repairs to Naval Aviation

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170124-21

Release Date: 1/24/2017 1:44:00 PM

From Naval Aviation Enterprise Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- The Marine Corps Assistant Deputy Commandant for Aviation (Sustainment), William E. Taylor, visited Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW) Jan. 23 to learn more about cold spray additive technology.

Engineers and artisans from FRCSW did a demonstration and briefing for Taylor and Marine Corps aviation representatives from Camp Pendleton, California. The cold spray technique is saving the Naval Aviation Enterprise time and money in repairing aircraft components and returning them to the fleet, improving readiness across the Navy and Marine Corps.

"This has a lot of promise," Taylor said.

Cold spray is an additive, solid-state thermal spray process which can restore components' critical dimensional features lost due to corrosion, wear, or mechanical damage. It works by taking powdered metal alloys customized for the need of the specific part to be repaired and spraying it onto the metal of the damaged component, creating a mechanical bond. The process creates a low-porous or nonporous surface without making any heat-induced changes to the substrate.

Explained more in layman's terms, the process bonds metal to metal in a relatively low-heat environment, filling in any corrosion or other damage in machine parts. Repairs often take less time and are safer, too. To use a traditional chrome coating, for example, takes 20 hours to cover a part with 20 mL of metal; cold spray can do it with a tungsten/carbide/cobalt alloy in about two minutes. The process also eliminates the health hazards posed and safety precautions required using traditional methods.

The repaired parts come out stronger and less prone to mistake. According to Luc Doan, a materials engineer at FRCSW, of the approximately 150 parts repaired using cold spray so far, none have been returned for another repair. Additionally, none have resulted in machine rejections. With traditional methods, approximately 20-40 percent are machine rejected.

Conrad Macy, a secondary power Fleet Support Team (FST) engineer for Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), explained the parts can endure at least 10 times more stress and impact than traditional parts. It might be more, but at that point engineers stopped trying to test the damage limits.

Macy is the impetus behind bringing cold spray to naval aviation. In his job working with the fleet making repairs to aircraft, he became tired of throwing away expensive parts because of minor damage. He felt sure some process could fix the parts, so he began searching for it. About six years ago, through a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project, he found what he needed with cold spray. The SBIR with Inovati sealed the deal, showcasing the applicability of cold spray to increase fleet readiness by refurbishing previously scrapped components. Often, these components are in demand across naval aviation, but have long lead times.

Inovati's cold spray technique is called Kinetic Metallization. Cold spray can encompass a variety of techniques; this one uses low-pressure helium or nitrogen and a sonic nozzle to accelerate particles. The combination of low pressure and sonic gas speed significantly decreases gas consumption compared to conventional cold spray processes while still achieving high particle velocities, according to the company. It also wastes less material compared to other cold spray machines and techniques, according to the Navy.

This less expensive, faster method of repair has saved more than $1 million on one part alone. The F/A-18's Aircraft Mounted Accessory Drives (AMADs) cost approximately $168,000 each. Damage to one part of the AMAD would previously result in scrapping the entire drive, but with the repairs available through cold spray, 10 have been refurbished and sent back to the fleet for a savings of about $1.6 million.

To bring the process to naval aviation, Macy worked with engineers at FRCSW to explore different options. The team brought an Inovati machine to its laboratory environment three years, and its success led to installation of another machine in the production shop at FRCSW in December 2015.

FRCSW is the main depot for all variations of the F/A-18, so most of the parts it has repaired using cold spray have been for that platform. However, it has also been used for E-2, F-5, CH-53 and H-1 parts, as well as for the LM2500 ship engine.

Engineers now are pressing forward with future applications for the technology, including on V-22 window sills. Macy is exploring through another SBIR the use of a rotating nozzle in the cold spray machine. The current machine has a fixed nozzle, which works well for easily rotated parts, but not as well for bulkier ones. Though that change requires a hitherto unknown design, the engineers have no doubt they will determine the necessary techniques.

"We're going to be successful," Macy said.

The Naval Aviation Enterprise is a cooperative partnership of naval aviation stakeholders focused on sustaining required current readiness and advancing future warfighting capabilities at best possible cost. It is comprised of Sailors, Marines, civilians, and contractors from across service branches and organizations, working together to identify and resolve readiness barriers and warfighting degraders.

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Navy Installations, Commands Exercise Force Protection

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170124-08

Release Date: 1/24/2017 9:27:00 AM

From U.S. Fleet Forces and Commander, Navy Installations Command Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Naval installations within the continental United States (CONUS) will conduct Exercise Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield 2017 (SC-CS17) Jan. 30-Feb. 10.

SC-CS17 is a two-part, anti-terrorism/force protection exercise conducted by Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces (USFF) and Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) on all CONUS Navy installations.

This annual exercise is designed to enhance the readiness of Navy security forces and ensure seamless interoperability among the commands, other services, and agency partners. Exercise SC-CS17 is not in response to any specific threat, but is a regularly scheduled exercise.

"All commands under USFF tactical control for force protection will participate in the exercise," said William Clark, CNIC exercise director. "Local area residents in the vicinity of naval bases may see increased military activity and possible traffic and pedestrian congestion associated with the exercise."

Measures have been taken to minimize disruptions within local communities and to normal base operations, but there may be times when the exercise causes increased traffic around bases or delays in base access. Area residents may also see or hear security activities associated with the exercise. Advanced coordination has taken place with local law enforcement and first responders.

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Suspected militant attack kills UN peacekeeper in Mali

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:0PM

A United Nations peacekeeping soldier has been killed and two others have been wounded in an attack by suspected militants in Mali.

The UN peacekeeping force in Mali, known as MINUSMA, said in a statement on Tuesday that the attack targeted the camp of troops near the Algerian border.

"Mortar fire targeted the MINUSMA camp in Aguelhok... it took the life of a peacekeeper and seriously wounded two others," said the statement.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, although it had the hallmarks of attacks by militants loyal to al-Qaeda.

MINUSMA did not elaborate on the nationalities of the troops. Most of the soldiers in the mission, considered one of the deadliest in peacekeeping in the world, are from Chad.

The mission has deployed 13,000 soldiers to Mali, a country that has been grappling with rampant militancy in its north for the past years. Two militant groups razed parts of the desert north in 2012, prompting France to intervene militarily. A peace accord signed in 2015 has yet to be implemented as militants, both from al-Qaeda-linked groups and Tuareg-led forces, are still active across large parts of the region.

More than 70 people were killed in an attack last week in the city of Gao. Algerian Mokhtar Belmokhtar, allied to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), claimed the carnage, which targeted militia groups committed to restoring peace in Mali. The attack was described as Mali's worst in years.

Head of MINUSMA warned last week that attacks such as the one in Gao would seriously tarnish prospects for reaching a permanent peace in Mali.

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Al-Shabab bombing near Mogadishu kills 4, injures 5 Somali troops

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 4:27PM

At least four Somali soldiers have been killed and five more injured outside a military base near the capital, Mogadishu, in a roadside bombing claimed by the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab terrorists.

The Tuesday explosion took place as authorities in Kenya announced that Kenyan troops serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, had killed seven al-Shabab militants in a border district inside Somalia.

According to a statement by Kenyan Defense Forces, the al-Shabab militants were killed during an operation to flush them out of the southern town of Badhaadhe, where the group had taken over a police station and a mosque. It added that the troops recovered rifles, ammunition and two bombs among other items.

The bombing was carried out in the town of Afgoye, nearly 30 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu, one day after the terrorist group attempted an armed attack on the town that was repulsed by government soldiers, said police officer Major Osman Abdulle.

"We planted the bomb last night. At least seven soldiers died," said Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, the military operations spokesman of al-Shabab. The group has been waging an insurgency and terror campaign across the African country, aiming to overthrow the Western-backed government in the capital.

The group once held large swathes of Somalia, including Mogadishu, before being driven out of the capital in 2011 and losing further ground. It continues, however, to pose a major threat to the government's rule.

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Indian troops kill 3 as fresh violence erupts in Kashmir

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 3:17PM

Indian soldiers have engaged in a fresh round of gun battle in Kashmir, killing three people.

Police Superintendent Imtiyaz Ismael said on Tuesday that two separate gunfights erupted earlier in the day, one of them near India's de facto border with Pakistan. One person was killed there.

He said another incident happened in Hadoora, some 25 kilometers north of the main city of Srinagar, adding that police's special operations group surrounded the area after receiving tip-offs about suspects inside a house in the village.

"In the ensuing gunfight two militants were killed," said Ismael, using a reference to people infiltrating the area from Pakistan-administered Kashmir. He added that both victims were foreigners.

The Indian army also issued a statement about clashes that erupted in Sundabani near the Line of Control (LoC), which divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. It said the gunfight erupted after Indian soldiers intercepted a group of people who were attempting to cross the disputed border.

India claims it has been fighting armed groups loyal to Pakistan over the past decades in Kashmir, a Himalayan region where people have been seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan. The fighting has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, most of them civilians.

The death of a popular fighter in July 2016, which was blamed on Indian government forces, sparked months of anti-India unrest in the territory. More than 90 civilians were killed in the crackdown. Sporadic clashes have continued since then.

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Israel OK's construction of 2,500 settler units in West Bank

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 3:15PM

The Israeli regime has approved the construction of 2,500 new settler units in the West Bank in defiance of international calls to end such unauthorized activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Israeli ministry of military affairs said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the minister of military affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, had endorsed the settlement plans.

Most of the new structures will be built inside the existing settlement blocs in the West Bank, the statement said, adding that some 100 of the units would be erected in the Beit El settlement, which has reportedly received funding from the family foundation of Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law.

It further claimed that the constructions were intended "to maintain regular daily life" in the occupied lands.

"We are building and we will continue building," Netanyahu said on his Twitter account.

In return, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the construction plans as a new blow to attempts aimed at bringing peace to the region.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the decision "disregards" international opposition to the illegal settlements and urged the international community to take a "real and serious position" against Israel.

Tel Aviv has accelerated its settlement construction activities in the occupied Palestinian lands after Trump, a pro-Israel, was elected as the new US president.

On Sunday, Netanyahu said all restrictions on building settlements in East Jerusalem al-Quds were being lifted, announcing plans to expand construction in large settlement blocs in the West Bank.

More than 230 illegal settlements have been constructed since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. The unauthorized structures have hampered attempts to establish peace in the Middle East.

In December 2016, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2334 that denounced the Israeli settlements as a "flagrant violation of international law."

Moreover, the closing statement of a recent Middle East peace conference in the French capital, Paris, "stressed the need to end the Israeli occupation."

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Europe needs new military alliance: French politician

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 11:18AM

French presidential front-runner Francois Fillon has called for a new military alliance in Europe after US President Donald Trump described NATO obsolete.

Fillon, the former French prime minister, said the new alliance must aim to protect the continent and fight Takfirism, an extremist ideology which has its roots in Saudi Arabia.

The leading contender for France's April-May election made the remarks in an interview with Le Monde and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ahead of a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

Washington, he said, is aggravating the Takfiri threat as he urged Europe to "organize itself", citing Trump's "aggressive discourse". Fillon did not elaborate on how the new alliance would work with NATO.

Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Mekel, Fillon also condemned US fines against European banks.

He cited US penalties on German and French banks under the Obama administration as examples of American unilateralism that the Europeans need to confront.

"I think there's a shared vision by France and Germany that we can't let them impose rules tailored for the US and its banking system that are negative tools for Europe," Fillon said.

"I told Merkel we should put all these topics on the table," he said.

Fillon also called for the restoration of relations between Europe and Russia to help confront Trump's "America First" policy.

"Trump made rather aggressive comments toward Europe," he said. "The consequence must be to strengthen Europe solidarity and accelerate Europe's reform" while preventing Trump and Putin from making deals "behind our backs", he added.

The election of Trump as the US president has raised concerns among many US allies.

The spokeswoman for the British prime minister said Monday that Theresa May would stress the significance of free trade and voice her support for the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran during her upcoming meeting with Trump.

Trump threatened during his election campaign that he would "tear up" the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or try to renegotiate its terms if elected US president.

"You can expect the prime minister to be very clear during her US visit on the benefits of free trade and championing them and wanting to look at what more can be done to increase that," the spokeswoman said.

May is also expected to raise the continued importance of NATO during her talks with Trump.

She is scheduled to meet Trump in Washington on Friday, a day after she attends the annual "Republican Retreat" in Philadelphia.

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Pentagon chief vows 'unshakable commitment' to NATO

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:35AM

The new American government's commitment to NATO will be "unshakable," US Defense Secretary James Mattis has told his British counterpart Michael Fallon, playing down President Donald Trump's criticism of the Western military alliance.

On his first full day in office, the new Pentagon chief "emphasized the United States' unshakable commitment to NATO" during a phone conversation with Fallon, according to a statement by Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis.

He also thanked his British counterpart for the UK's commitment to dedicate 2 percent of its gross domestic product to defense, an issue that Trump and UK Prime Minister Theresa May had discussed and agreed upon during a phone call in November.

Fallon and Mattis reiterated their plans to fight the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group in Iraq and Syria together and said they looked forward to meeting each other during NATO's next defense ministerial summit in February.

Mattis' remarks came days after Trump called NATO "obsolete" in an interview with the German newspaper Bild, saying he had warned long ago that it had problems.

"One; that it was obsolete because it was designed many many years ago, and number two; that the countries weren't paying what they're supposed to pay," he noted.

Trump says NATO members should either pay for US military support or rely on their own military might at the time of war.

Mattis speaks to NATO chief

The new defense secretary, who once served as NATO's supreme allied commander for transformation, also talked to NATO's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg over the phone on Monday.

According to Davis, Mattis "wanted to place the call on his first full day in office to reinforce the importance he places on the alliance."

Mattis acknowledged the importance of America's shared values with NATO and said Washington would always put its European allies first when it comes to defend those values.

In another phone call, Mattis talked to Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan, reiterating the importance of the "indispensable partnership" between Washington and Ottawa as North American Aerospace Defense Command partners, NATO allies and North American neighbors.

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Taliban to Trump: Pull out troops or face 'shameful defeat'

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:9AM

Taliban militants in Afghanistan have called on the new US president, Donald Trump, to withdraw American forces from the "quagmire" of the war-torn country or face "shameful defeat".

In an open letter to Trump published on one of its official webpages, the group said nothing has been achieved in 15 years of occupation except bloodshed and destruction.

"So, the responsibility to bring to an end this war also rests on your shoulders," it said, adding the US has lost credibility after spending a trillion dollars on a fruitless entanglement.

Some 8,400 US troops remain in Afghanistan and Washington says they are there to train and support local forces and fight terrorists. However, the Taliban have gone from strength to strength and even Daesh terrorists have now found a foothold in the country.

Trump has said little publicly about Afghanistan but two of his top military appointments - General James "Mad Dog" Mattis as Pentagon chief and former General Michael Flynn as national security adviser - formerly commanded US occupation of the Central Asian country.

Trump has also sharply criticized past presidents for failed policies and the mishandling of conflicts in the Muslim world, Afghanistan included.

In their letter, the Taliban warned Trump against relying on the kind of "unrealistic" reports presented to former presidents by their generals.

"They would emphasize continuation of war and occupation of Afghanistan because they can have better positions and privileges in war," the letter said.

The group said the US was occupying Afghanistan while Washington would not accept foreign forces on its territory or even in a neighboring country.

"You have to realize that the Afghan Muslim nation has risen up against foreign occupation," it said.

The Taliban have made steady inroads against the government in Kabul since occupation forces said they ended their main combat mission in 2014, with troops now in control of only two thirds of the country.

The Taliban warned that if the US "insists on continuing her failed arrogant policies, one can foresee that she will ruin herself beyond repair due to a historically shameful defeat."

Fifteen years after the occupation, the economic and security situation across Afghanistan has become even worse than it was before the American invasion.

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Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed heads to new Labour and Social Protection of Population Ministry and Health Ministry, the presidential press-service said Jan. 25.

Tamara Duysenova was appointed to the post of Labour and Social Protection minister. She earlier served as minister of Health and Social Development.

Elzhan Birtanov became the minister of Health, according to presidential decree. He earlier served as deputy minister of Health and Social Development.

Earlier today Kazakh president ordered to divide the Health and Social Development Ministry into Labor and Social Protection of Population Ministry and Health Ministry.

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Trump admin vows to prevent Beijing's island building in South China Sea

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:3AM

The administration of new US President Donald Trump has stepped up war of words with China over the South China Sea and Beijing's trade policies, drawing a rocky future for Sino-American ties.

In his first daily briefing on Monday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that Washington was going to stop Beijing's "island building" in the South China Sea.

The US has long accused China of undertaking a land reclamation program in the disputed waters through making artificial islands.

"It's a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yeah, we're going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country," Spicer said.

"We're going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed," he added.

A similar statement was previously made by Trump's designated Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who said during his Senate confirmation hearing on January 11 that Beijing should not be given access to the islands.

Asked whether Trump agreed with the ExxonMobil CEO, Spicer asserted that Washington "is going to make sure that we protect our interests there."

The comments prompted a harsh response from the Chinese media, which claimed that Washington should "wage war" if it wishes to cut Beijing's access to its islands.

Spicer did not say how the Trump administration was going to enforce that policy or whether military action was an option.

"I think, as we develop further, we'll have more information on it," he said.

Trump has accused China of building a "massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea," a major gateway for trillions of dollars in maritime trade over most of which Beijing claims sovereignty.

The Republican president has also blasted Beijing's trade policies with the US, claiming that China outs heavy taxes on American goods and devalues its currency to make more profit.

Spicer said on Monday that Trump was aware of the US businesses' desire to enter China and would address concerns in that regard.

"In many cases, it's not a two-way street," he added.

Trump has already angered Beijing by questioning the 'One China' policy and contacting Taiwanese leaders, distancing himself from the politically correct policies of his predecessor Barack Obama.

The 'One China' policy refers to the policy or the diplomatic acknowledgement that there is only one state called China, despite the existence of two governments  one in China and another in the island of Taiwan.

Under the policy, the United States recognizes and has formal ties with the government in Beijing rather than Taiwan. China has considered Taiwan a breakaway province since a government was established there in 1949. Beijing believes the island will be reunified with the mainland one day.

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Trump Withdraws U.S. From Trans-Pacific Trade Pact

January 24, 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that withdraws the United States from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.

The move on January 23 is actually a formality since the controversial TPP agreement had not yet been approved by the Senate.

Trump called the ending of the United States' association with the TPP a "great thing for the American worker" and said instead that Washington will sign bilateral trade deals with other members, including Australia, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Malaysia, and New Zealand.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama had intended the trade pact to re-establish U.S. economic leadership in a region increasingly dominated by trade with China, which was excluded from the agreement.

German Deputy Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said Washington's withdrawal from the TPP would "open opportunities for us."

He told the daily Handelsblatt that "Trump must simply recognize that the U.S. economy often isn't competitive, while the German economy is."

Anatoly Aksakov, the chairman of the State Duma's Financial Market Committee, said Washington's withdrawal from the TPP "is a good signal" because it shows that Trump is "acting as a pragmatist in the interests of the American people instead of acting against other states."

Trump also said he will renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. He has blamed the agreement for taking jobs away from American workers.

Australia and other Pacific nations said they will try to salvage the trans-Pacific trade agreement, possibly by letting China fill the void left by the United States.

"Losing the United States...is a big loss, there is no question about that," Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters in Canberra on January 24. "But we are not about to walk away. ... Certainly, there is potential for China to join."

Turnbull said he wants to "maintain this momentum toward open markets and free trade. ... Protectionism is not a ladder to get you out of the low-growth trap. It is a shovel to dig it deeper."

The U.S. withdrawal gives China an opening not only to join the pact for the first time but to greatly influence the terms of trade in a region that makes up 40 percent of the world economy.

Meanwhile, Trump met on January 23 with the heads of several large companies, including Elon Musk of SpaceX and executives from Dow Chemical, Johnson & Johnson, Ford, and Lockheed Martin.

Trump said there will "be advantages" for companies that produce in the United States, but there will be a "substantial border tax" on foreign-made goods entering the country. He later met with several union leaders.

Based on reporting by AP, dpa, TASS, and Reuters

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/trump-ttp -pact-withdrawal/28254022.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Ahead Of Talks, Kosovar PM Says Serbia Seeks Destabilization

RFE/RL's Balkan Service January 24, 2017

Kosovo's prime minister has accused Serbia of seeking to destabilize it ahead of a new round of European Union-facilitated talks aimed at ironing out persistent disagreements between the Balkan nations.

"Recently, there has been systematic action by Serbia to destabilize the situation in Kosovo," Prime Minister Isa Mustafa told RFE/RL on January 24.

His statement came hours before the opening of the talks in Brussels, which the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo were expected to attend.

Tensions increased earlier this month after Belgrade sent a train toward an ethnic-Serbian-dominated enclave in northern Kosovo with the slogan "Kosovo is Serbia" emblazoned on the side.

The train did not enter Kosovo, but Kosovar President Hashem Thaci accused Belgrade of plotting to take control of the enclave using the "Crimea model," a reference to Russia's 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian region.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini's office has called for "increased commitment and engagement" by both sides in the talks.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after a war between Yugoslav forces and ethnic Albanian separatists.

NATO air strikes on Serbia forced Belgrade to withdraw its troops in 1999 after the deaths of some 10,000 civilians in Kosovo. NATO has around 5,000 troops stationed in Kosovo to keep the peace.

The United States and most Western nations are among 114 countries that recognize Kosovo's independence, while Serbia and Russia are among those that do not.

Both Serbia and Kosovo are actively pursuing membership in the European Union, and the EU-facilitated talks aimed at normalizing ties began in 2011.

"We expect this meeting to be the beginning of the final phase of the dialogue brokered by EU and backed by the United States," Mustafa told RFE/RL.

"Kosovo is committed to peace, security, and good neighborliness...but we are also firmly determined not to allow interference by anyone in Kosovo's internal affairs," he said.

Mustafa said that "regardless of who leads the government in the future, we have no alternative to dialogue" as a way to solve problems.

He also said Kosovo would seek to resolve the fate of missing persons and "stop all political warrants against our citizens" -- a reference to former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, who was detained on January 4 by French police acting on an arrest warrant issued by Serbia.

Serbia wants to try Haradinaj, who is also a former guerrilla commander, on charges related to the 1998-99 war in Kosovo.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/kosovo-says-serbia -seeks-destabilization/28254433.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Senate Armed Services Committee to Consider Closing Excess Military Bases in US

Sputnik News

00:17 25.01.2017

The US Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John McCain and ranking member Jack Reed will review closing bases in the United States.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The US Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John McCain and ranking member Jack Reed will review closing bases in the United States the US military no longer wants, but local communities depend on for economic survival, according to media reports on Tuesday.

"We are seriously considering the issue of base closure and realignment [BRAC]," McCain was quoted as saying by The Hill. "Reliance on BRAC is a cowardly act because it shows we can't make the tough decisions ourselves."

Members of the US Congress have come under pressure from constituents whose income depends on providing goods and services to military personnel on the military bases and installations.

However, community impact is only one of the closure selection criteria, and the BRAC law states that military value is of greater priority.

The last base closure and realignment action was undertaken by President George W. Bush in 2005, when he approved shutting down dozens of excess military bases. However, the US Congress voted overwhelmingly to reject the then president's recommendations.

 Sputnik

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Beijing to Trump: We'll Protect South China Sea Sovereignty

Sputnik News

22:06 24.01.2017(updated 00:33 25.01.2017)

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying issued a warning to the new White House administration that Washington "is not a party to the South China Sea dispute," even though the US Navy maintains a significant presence in the global trade hub.

After White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer called the sovereignty of the Spratly islands into question, Beijing responded in kind. "It's a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yeah, we're going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country," Spicer said on Monday. In what looks like a tit-for-tat game, the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded, saying China's sovereignty over the Spratly islands was "irrefutable."

"No matter what changes happen in other countries, what they say or what they do, China's resolve to protect its sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea will not change," Hua added.

On Tuesday, Lu Kang, a senior Chinese Foreign Ministry official, said there "might" be a difference of opinion over who has rights to the islands and waters of the South China Sea, "but that's not for the United States" to determine alone. Refuting Spicer's remarks, Lu told NBC News on Tuesday "that's not international territory, that's Chinese territory," adding that China has the right to build whatever it wants on what it considers to be its own territory.

On Sunday, Chinese state-media outlet The Global Times stated in an op-ed that military exercises in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait "will become a kind of normal, extremely normal drills."

Calling China's construction on the Spratly islands "illegal," former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, likely to become the next US Secretary of State following a committee vote of 11-10 in favor of his advancement, will see his vote go to the full Senate. Marco Rubio, a Florida Senator formerly critical of Tillerson's stance on human rights, has now signaled his support for the ex-business bigwig as, "it would be against our national interest to have this confirmation unnecessarily delayed or embroiled in controversy."

"We're going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed," Tillerson has declared.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Beijing on trade practices, currency devaluation, and for failing to keep Pyongyang at bay. Trump's argument generally lines up with a recently surfaced CIA memo on how Washington might approach economic sanctions against North Korea. Specifically, Beijing's role as an economic lifeline to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea "would strenuously opposeand assist Pyongyang in evadingan embargo." Trump has scolded Beijing, tweeting that it "won't help with North Korea," and adding sardonically, "Nice!"

 Sputnik

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India-UAE to Explore Joint-Production of Aircraft

Sputnik News

17:33 24.01.2017

India and UAE will strengthen their strategic partnership by attempting to step up defense and security cooperation during the visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi for the Republic Day parade.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik)  The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is visiting India and will be the Chief Guest at this year's Republic Day celebrations. The Crown Prince will be accompanied by a big delegation including prominent businessmen.

During the visit, India and UAE will strengthen defense and security cooperation and may sign some crucial agreements.

"We are looking at armaments, we are looking at armoured personnel carriers. We are looking at joint-production of aircraft," Ministry of External Affairs Secretary Amar Sinha told journalists during a press conference on Tuesday.

India and UAE are also likely to discuss the production of a portion of Rafale in India.

"For example, as in the case of Rafale, which we are buying and UAE is also using (the Rafale), there is some interest. This is something that we can do together in terms of portion of the Rafale that would be built in India. Those are the areas that we are identifying and will work together," Amar Sinha added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will also discuss issues related to security cooperation.

"We will be working with them with intelligence sharing on specific terrorist threats besides on larger security issues such as their air defense systems, their anti-piracy patrolling. We are also cooperating on maritime and cyber security that emerges from online radicalization," added Sinha.

 Sputnik

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Sweden to Scout Baltic Sea With New Radar

Sputnik News

16:35 24.01.2017

Amid incessant talks of the alleged "Russian threat," which rest on nothing but speculations and guesswork, Sweden is slowly stepping up its defense efforts. Among other things, the Nordic nation is working on a new radar station intended to boost the security of the Baltic Sea region.

Currently, Sweden relies on Denmark to watch over the southern Baltic Sea. However, the Nordic country is set to launch an independent radar monitoring station in the future. An upgraded radar station in Vissefjarda in Kalmar County is expected to become Sweden's eyes in the Baltic Sea.

The previous version of the Vissefjarda radar nested on a 25-meter-high tower stopped spinning several years ago. Today it is being replaced by a state-of-the-art system that can detect aircraft with its transponders turned off. On Monday, Swedish Infrastructure Minister Anna Johansson broke ground onthe first symbolic step towards an upgraded radar station.

"Civilian traffic controllers should be able to detect aircraft flying without a transponder, which is a growing problem," Anna Johansson said, as quoted by Swedish Radio.

The radar tower outside Vissefjarda is expected to become part of the civil service as the Swedish Armed Forces intends to rent out the system to the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA). However, the fact that the invited members of the press corps were requested not to reveal to exact location of the key radar tower reveals that it is still of major defensive importance.

"Military activity in the Baltic Sea region has increased and they are flying in a different pattern," CAA radar expert Anders Andersson told Swedish Radio. "Our needs have increased over time, it is as simple as that," he added.

The cost of the new radar station is estimated at 55 million SEK ($6.3mln).

In recent years, Sweden has voiced particular concern over Russia's alleged trans-Baltic flights with transponders turned off. Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom even summoned Russian Ambassador to Stockholm Viktor Tatarintsev to emphasize the country's dissatisfaction.

However, in the fall of 2016, it turned out that NATO was the real obstacle towards a safer Baltic Sea. In September, NATO rejected a Russian proposal for requirements that all flights across the Baltic Sea should be carried out with transponders on, venturing that it "did not improve flight safety." In a similar situation, Sweden was earlier invited to a meeting between Russia's Vladimir Putin and Finland's Sauli Niinisto, yet refused.

Since the early 2000s, NATO member states have conducted intelligence operations in the Baltic Sea Region, which in effect means flying with transponders off.

 Sputnik

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Taliban to Trump: Leave Afghan 'Quagmire'

Sputnik News

02:48 24.01.2017(updated 12:03 24.01.2017)

The Taliban is calling on US President Donald Trump to quickly exit Afghanistan given that over a decade and a half of US involvement has done little to end regional violence and instability.

"The responsibility to bring to an end this war also rests on your shoulders," the Taliban said in an official statement. NATO has kept forces in the country even after former President Barack Obama pledged to end the war in Afghanistan. Approximately 8,400 US troops are stationed in the country as part of a stated effort by NATO to counter terror threats.

The group that was linked to Osama bin Laden argued that Trump's picks for Defense Secretary and National Security Adviser, Gen. James "Mad Dog" Mattis and Gen. Michael Flynn, respectively, "would emphasize the continuation of war" and "occupation" of Afghanistan.

"You have to realize that the Afghan Muslim nation has risen up against foreign occupation," the group asserted. The Taliban has sought to establish sharia law in Afghanistan and Pakistan since the early 1990s, Sputnik previously reported.

The militant group has posed an ongoing threat to the integrity of the current government in Kabul. In November 2016, the Afghan government required the assistance of US forces to protect the city of Kunduz after the Taliban mounted a coordinated offensive. In the first week of January, Afghani security forces announced the elimination of nearly five-dozen militants, including two Taliban commanders and ten Daesh members.

Trump stated during his inaugural address, "We will reinforce old alliances and form new onesand unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth."

 Sputnik

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Update: air strikes against Daesh

24 January 2017

The RAF are continuing to take the fight to Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

Summary

- Thursday 19 January  A Reaper assisted Iraqi forces clearing pockets of Daesh resistance in northern Mosul, conducting three attacks against terrorists.

- Friday 20 January  A Reaper continued operations over northern Mosul, striking a concealed armed truck.

- Monday 23 January  Tornados destroyed a command post, tunnel and a vehicle in northern Iraq.

Detail

With most districts of Mosul east of the Tigris reported by the Iraqi commander to have been liberated, operations by Iraqi units have focused on clearing remaining pockets of Daesh resistance in the north of the city. RAF Reapers supported this work on 19 and 20 January.

On Thursday 19 January, a Reaper conducted three precision attacks using Hellfire missiles against small groups of terrorists spotted firing at Iraqi troops.

During operations on Friday 20 January, a Reaper identified a Daesh observation team at work, which enabled an attack by a coalition aircraft. The Reaper also provided surveillance support to two other successful coalition air attacks, before using one of its own Hellfires to destroy an armed truck which Daesh had attempted to conceal under a vehicle shelter.

After the Iraqi victory in eastern Mosul, valuable reconnaissance patrols were conducted over both Syria and Iraq, not only by Tornados, Typhoons and Reapers, but also the highly capable Sentinel surveillance aircraft.

On Monday 23 January, Tornados, supported by a Voyager air-refuelling tanker, attacked a Daesh command post near the town of Mullah Abdullah, west of Kirkuk. A Brimstone missile and a Paveway IV guided bomb were used simultaneously. The Brimstone destroyed a truck parked outside, with the Paveway impacting shortly afterwards to demolish the building and collapse an associated tunnel.

UK contribution to the fight against Daesh



Map of UK forces committed to Operation Shader

Campaign against Daesh



Map of Daesh losses and gains in Iraq and Syria since September 2014

Previous update

New Year's Day: Similar Reaper operations occurred on New Year's Day, with our aircraft destroying a group of terrorists with one Hellfire, then using a second to knock out an armed truck which it had spotted reversing in and out of cover to fire bursts from a heavy machine-gun. A flight of Typhoon FGR4s were also active over northern Mosul, where they used a Paveway IV to attack a mortar position just to the north of the city.

Monday 2 January: The British military training mission in Iraq sadly suffered a fatality when Lance Corporal Scott Hetherington from the 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment died in a non-combat incident at a training camp in Taji. Further information can be found here.

A Reaper patrol also on 2 January over Mosul provided surveillance support to coalition air strikes on terrorist fighters, including a recoilless anti-tank gun team, and employed a Hellfire to silence a Daesh rooftop position that was firing on Iraqi troops.

3 January: A further Reaper attack occurred in south-east Mosul, striking a pair of terrorists who were in close proximity to Iraqi forces, whilst some 20 miles south of Kirkuk, a Tornado flight destroyed a Daesh truck with a Paveway IV.

Wednesday 4 January: Two flights of Royal Air Force Typhoons carried out attacks on Daesh targets in northern and western Iraq. One pair of Typhoons headed to a site north of Tall Afar, where intelligence had located a group of three buildings used by Daesh to manufacture truck-bombs. All three buildings were demolished using Paveway IV guided bombs. The second flight, also armed with Paveway IVs, successfully targeted a bridge used by the terrorists to cross a tributary of the Euphrates in Anbar province.

Thursday 5 January: The main focus for RAF and other Coalition aircraft has remained the providing close air support to Iraqi operations to liberate Mosul. A Tornado mission used a Paveway IV to destroy a mortar position in central Mosul. Meanwhile, a Reaper remotely piloted aircraft flew overwatch for Iraqi troops advancing in the south-eastern area of the city. Our aircraft conducted three very precise attacks with Hellfire missiles against extremists as they fought with the Iraqis, and provided surveillance support to three further strikes by other Coalition aircraft.

Friday 6 January: Reaper operations over south-east Mosul continued, with three more Hellfire attacks which killed Daesh fighters engaged in very close-quarter combat with the Iraqi forces. Assistance was also provided to the Syrian Democratic Forces in their offensive towards Raqqa, with a pair of Typhoons bombing a Deash sniper position on the north-eastern shore of Lake Assad.

Saturday 7 January: A Reaper again used the precision of its Hellfire missiles to hit terrorists twice during street-fighting in south-eastern Mosul.

Sunday 8 January: Further Typhoon operations in support of the SDF west of Raqqa, destroying an artillery piece hidden in woods was hit with a Paveway IV. A Tornado flight also patrolled over northern Iraq, using a pair of Paveway IVs to destroy a truck-bomb workshop some 35 miles south-west of Kirkuk. A further pair of Paveways were used to attack a stockpile of weapons buried in shipping containers south of Sinjar. A Reaper, as ever maintaining a presence over Mosul, meanwhile observed a group of Daesh attempting to cross the Tigris in a small boat. A direct hit from a Hellfire completely destroyed the craft.

Monday 9 January: A pair of Tornados patrolled north of Mosul, assisting Iraqi forces as they cleared Daesh positions near Nineveh. The Iraqi troops came under fire from a Daesh-held building, as well as from a small group of extremists concealed under the canopy of another building. The Tornados were able to conduct a simultaneous attack on both targets, demolishing the first building with a Paveway IV guided bomb, and hitting those under the canopy with a Brimstone missile. A coalition aircraft had meanwhile identified a lorry-bomb nearby. Our Tornados destroyed the target with a second Brimstone. RAF aircraft then turned their attention to southern Mosul, where an armoured truck had been spotted. The truck was destroyed with a further Brimstone missile.

Tuesday 10 January: An RAF Reaper supported Iraqi troops as they advanced further into central Mosul. The Reaper's crew identified a Daesh mortar team trying to conceal their activity in a wooded area, and struck them with a Hellfire missile. A second Hellfire accounted for a group of terrorists close to an Iraqi unit. In the confusion of the street fighting, the Reaper observed Daesh firing on each other, with at least one terrorist killed by their own side.

Wednesday 11 January: Reaper operations over Mosul continued. Our aircraft conducted one attack in northern Mosul against a group of Daesh caught in the open. It then kept watch on a building where over a dozen Daesh fighters were observed assembling. The surveillance effort enabled a successful strike by a coalition fast jet which demolished the building. The Reaper then moved to patrol over eastern Mosul, where another coalition aircraft had successfully disabled a car-bomb. A Hellfire missile from the Reaper destroyed the threat outright.

Thursday 12 January: During the battle for Mosul, small armed remotely piloted aerial vehicles with grenades have been used by Daesh a number of times to harass Iraqi troops, with reports suggesting they have also been used to target civilian refugees. A building in the southern area of central Mosul was identified as being used as a base for these drones and their operators. A pair of Royal Air Force Typhoons targeted the site, demolishing the building with two Paveway IV guided bombs. Over south-east Mosul, a Reaper meanwhile flew overwatch for Iraqi troops as they cleared further Daesh positions. The Reaper's crew were able to identify a number of terrorists armed with heavy and light machine-guns firing at the Iraqi forces, and conducted three successful attacks with Hellfire missiles which eliminated the threat posed.

Friday 13 January: Two Tornados patrolled over northern Iraq, and were directed to a tunnel entrance which had been identified some 15 miles west of Kirkuk. Two Paveway IVs collapsed the entrance and set off secondary explosions from inside the tunnel. Reaper operations over Mosul continued, with our aircraft spotting a group of terrorists as they loaded a heavy rocket into a truck. They and the vehicle were promptly struck by a Hellfire missile. The Reaper then provided surveillance support to two Coalition air strikes which destroyed a heavy machine-gun position and a bridge.

Saturday 14 January: RAF Reapers have also been conducting armed reconnaissance patrols near Tall Afar, and one of our aircraft responded to a report from another Coalition surveillance aircraft which had identified a pair of armed trucks concealed in vehicle sheds some 30 miles to the south-west of the town. Both vehicles were destroyed using Hellfire missiles.

Monday 16 January: RAF Typhoons, armed with Paveway IV guided bombs, delivered an attack ten miles north-west of Mosul to breach a large defensive berm held by Daesh against the Kurdish Peshmerga. The Typhoons then flew to Mosul itself, where they first destroyed a terrorist strongpoint that dominated a road junction in central Mosul, then attacked a key route used by Daesh to move supplies and truck-bombs. A Reaper remotely piloted aircraft meanwhile provided close support to Iraqi forces engaged in close combat with Daesh. The Reaper used a Hellfire missile to kill a group of terrorists during street fighting.

Tuesday 17 January: Reaper support to the Iraqi units continued, when a car-bomb was spotted, hidden under a car-port in a newly liberated area of northern Mosul. The Reaper kept watch as the Iraqi security forces moved civilians in the area to safety, then destroyed the car-bomb with a direct hit from a Hellfire. Some 20 miles north-west of the city, a tunnel network had been identified close to the southern bank of the Tigris, and two Typhoons were tasked with its destruction. A Paveway IV struck the entrance, collapsing it.

Wednesday 18 January: Surveillance and strike operations have also been maintained against Daesh in Syria, Tornados conducted an armed reconnaissance patrol near Al Bab, where they used a Paveway IV to destroy an armed truck which Daesh had attempted to conceal in a vehicle shelter.

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South China Sea, Not Trade First Point of Friction for Trump, China

By William Ide January 24, 2017

Many thought trade would be the first area in which the administration of President Donald Trump could see tensions rising with China. On the campaign trail, Trump talked constantly about China and jobs, and pledged to label Beijing a currency manipulator and vowed to levy punishing tariffs to counter China's cheating on trade.

But on Trump's first workday in office, it was Beijing's claim to almost all of the South China Sea and its militarization of artificially made islands that began to quickly emerge as a point of contention.

During a briefing Monday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Washington would "defend international territories" in the strategic waterway and keep them from being taken over by one country.

Spicer did not say how the United States might do that, what circumstances might trigger such an action or the islands he was referring to, but he said the islands were "in fact in international waters and not part of China proper."

But just how confrontational Trump is prepared to be is unclear.

Block access

Earlier this month, Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson told lawmakers the United States should send a clear signal to China by first demanding the island building stop and second blocking access to the islands.

Chinese state media and academics have warned such a move would be tantamount to declaring war.

Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying offered a sharp response to Spicer's comments, arguing Beijing has "irrefutable" sovereignty over the disputed Spratly islands and their adjacent waters.

"China urges the U.S. side to respect facts and speak and act with caution so as not to impair peace and stability in the South China Sea region," Hua said at a regular briefing.

China has built up seven artificial islands in disputed parts of the South China Sea, which are now heavily fortified.

Declaring war

Speaking at a briefing on the new U.S. administration to foreign journalists Tuesday, Tang Jianqun called the notion of a blockade "absurd." Tang is the director of the department of American studies at the China Institute of International Studies.

"There is no way that the United States will send in warships to blockade islands that are being guarded by soldiers," he said. "That would be the same as declaring war."

Tang said that while there is no reason to believe economic and military frictions between the United States and China will lessen, he is confident the two will be able to manage their differences and find a way to make compromises or "make a deal."

But there is much uncertainty in China about how Trump's approach to the South China Sea could play out.

Broad, clear & vague

On the campaign trail, talk about the South China Sea was a mere whimper in contrast to Trump's remarks about China and trade. And while a July U.N. ruling rejected China's claim to almost all of the vast maritime region, Beijing has since mended fences with two big claimants in the hotly contested waters, the Philippines and Vietnam.

And it was the Philippines that filed the international suit against Beijing.

Because of that, Beijing seemed to believe the United States had no "entry point" to get involved in the South China Sea, said Sun Yun, an East Asia fellow at the Stimson Center, a Washington-based research group.

"Hypothetically, if they do push the Pacific Command to try to block the Chinese or intercept naval vessels or warplanes from going into the region or going into the occupational islands that China has reclaimed then that would be very confrontational. But are they wiling to go that far?" Sun asked, noting the Chinese and analysts are still trying to figure that out.

Channeling Reagan

What is clear, is the comments from the Trump administration did not just appear out of thin air.

In a recent article in Foreign Policy, Bill Hayton, a South China Sea expert notes that in September, James Kraska, a professor of international law at the U.S. Naval War College argued it would be legal for Washington to take such action.

"The United States can and should challenge China's rights to access its artificial islands as a lawful countermeasure in international law to induce China to comply with its obligations of the Law of the Sea Convention and customary international law," Kraska said during the hearing.

In a recent blog, Kraska notes that during Tillerson's nomination hearing he was echoing President Ronald Reagan's 1983 Oceans Policy. While China is a signatory of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, the United States is not. Reagan issued the Oceans Policy in response to that decision.

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Headline changed, details added (first version posted at 19:22)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

The forthcoming reforms to redistribute the presidential powers in Kazakhstan are based on the logic of the countrys development and the modern development in general, said President Nursultan Nazarbayev in a special address aired live by the Kazakh TV channels Jan. 25.

The main point is that the president gives a number of his powers to the parliament and government, said Nazarbayev.

A draft of the constitutional reforms will be put up for nationwide discussions, the president said, adding that a corresponding decree has already been issued.

Nazarbayev stated the need for redistribution of powers between the president, government and parliament in December 2016 at a ceremonial meeting on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Kazakhstans independence.

The president noted however that Kazakhstan was, is and will be a state with a presidential form of government.

A working group was created in January to develop proposals on the matter.

Nazarbayev also noted that under new conditions the presidents priorities will be strategic functions, the role of a supreme arbiter in the relations between government branches, foreign policy, national security and Kazakhstans defense potential.

At the same time, the governments and the parliaments roles will be significantly elevated.

The reforms will create stability in the countrys political system for many years to come, Nazarbayev said, adding that increasing the governments and parliaments roles will also provide a more efficient mechanism to respond to modern challenges.

The reforms are based primarily on Kazakhstans own experience and needs, according to the head of state.

The program of reforms is our response to the question: in what direction will Kazakhstan go? The answer is clear and consistent  in the direction of democratic development, he said.
Explosion Kills 7 Somali Policemen Just West of Mogadishu

By Harun Maruf January 24, 2017

At least seven policemen were killed in a huge explosion in a small town Tuesday near the capital, officials and witnesses said.

The explosion occurred at a base used by units from the Somali police force on the southern side of the town of Afgoye, 30 kilometers west of Mogadishu.

The Mayor of Afgoye, Abdinasir Alim Ibrahim told VOA's Somali service that the bomb had been hidden by al-Shabab militants who attacked the base Monday.

"During the attack yesterday we retreated from the area, that is when they buried the bomb in the base," said Ibrahim. "Our forces were today preparing to launch an operation against al-Shabab when the bomb exploded, four died at the scene, three more died in the hospital."

Ibrahim said Afgoye does not have military bases, which serve as defense against al-Shabab because Somali and AU forces vacated their stations nearby.

Tuesday's explosion follows an attack by the militants on Afgoye just hours earlier. A well-known Somali farmer was killed, and four others were injured in that attack, according to Somali government officials. Habibo Ali, a farmer and trader of agricultural products, was killed on her farm in the fighting.

The fighting marked the third time this month that militants have attacked the town.

Ibrahim Aden Najah, governor of Lower Shabelle region, told VOA's Somali service that the militants are relentless in their attacks on Afgoye because of its "strategic location" and its "symbolism."

"They [al-Shabab] want to destabilize the town closest to Mogadishu," he said. "Afgoye is like second Mogadishu to them; they want to show the government and the people that they are nearby."

Najah said that although the militants were pushed back, they remain on the outskirts.

"They are five to six kilometers away, it will take them less than an hour to reach the town, and it's inevitable that they will attack again," he said.

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China urges U.S. to watch how it talks about the South China Sea issue

Xinhua

Source: Xinhua 2017-01-24 20:39:10

BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday urged the U.S. side to speak and act cautiously on the South China Sea issue, reiterating that China was committed to solving the issue peacefully through negotiation with the countries directly concerned.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks at a daily briefing, when commenting on White House spokesperson Sean Spicer's comments on Monday concerning the South China Sea issue.

Noting that the United States is not a party in the dispute, Hua said that China exerts indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and its adjacent waters, and China is firmly committed to safeguarding its own sovereignty and maritime rights.

Hua said that China firmly preserves the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, as well as peace and stability in the region.

China makes continuous efforts to try to peacefully solve relevant disputes through negotiation with countries directly concerned, said Hua, adding that China's stance on the South China Sea issue is clear-cut, consistent, and unchanged.

According to reports, Spicer on Monday said that, "it's a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China property, then yeah, we're going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country."

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The West Bank

The area largely conceded to be a logical site for a Palestinian State is what is called the West Bank of the Jordan River, now under Israeli occupation. However, a number of Jewish settlements have been implanted in the occupied territories by Israel, with a great many more planned. This creation of "new facts" not only is in violation of international law and the United Nations Charter, but it makes more difficult an already difficult situation. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of the Interior, 1,561,000 Palestinians live in Judea and Samaria. In contrast, a census conducted by the PA in 1996 found 1,370,000 Palestinians in Judea and Samaria.

Palestine proper is bounded on the north by the Mediterranean Sea and Mount Lebanon; on the east by the Jordan, Dead Sea, and 'Arabah; on the south by the desert; and on the west by the Mediterranean. Along the Mediterranean coast is a plain, about fifteen to twenty miles wide at its southernmost end, and gradually narrowing to the northward. East of the maritime plain, and parallel to it, is a series of mountain chains. Ascending from the plateau the rounded summits about Hebron attain a height of about thirty-two hundred feet. The highest point in Jerusalem is about twenty-seven hundred feet above the Mediterranean; the Mount of Olives, twenty-seven hundred and twenty-four hundred feet. The Jordan valley commences in that of the Hasbani, on the western flank of Hermon. The valley, at its broadest part, at the parallel of Jericho, is about twelve miles wide. The Dead Sea is inclosed by mountains rising about four thousand feet from its surface, and in most places leaving not even a beach between their steep, often precipitous, sides and the sea. The tableland of Gilead descends at the latitude of the southern end of the Sea of Tiberias to the lower tableland of Hauran.

Prior to the First World War, the area now known as the West Bank was under Ottoman rule as part of the province of Syria. In the 1920 San Remo conference, the victorious Allied powers allocated the area to the British Mandate of Palestine. When the British government was given authority over Palestine under the League of Nations Mandate after the First World War, the area compassed Transjordan as well, the western part of which also had extensive associations with the history of the Israelite tribes. In 1922 Transjordan was separated from western Palestine in order to create a territory, encompassing both East and West Banks of the Jordan, for Emir Abdullah, Britain's client. In 1988 King Hussein of Jordan made a historic speech in which he declared that Jordan no longer had any claim to the West Bank. Henceforth, anyone wanting to deal with the Palestine issue should talk to the PLO.

Initially there were several reasons for the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories: The establishment of new frontiers for the state of Israel, and the holding down of the Arab population of the occupied territories in a state of permanent subjugation. The first, is to establish the future permanent border of the state of Israel in the consciousness of the Israeli Jews first of all; in the consciousness of the Diaspora Jews who are providing some of the money involved; and finally be creating "faits accomplis" in the eyes of world opinion to finish this process. In this connection the plan of the "inland population strip" as enunciated by General Sharon (Jerusalem Post, September 9, 1977) and which was based on plans proposed informally at least a year before, clearly showed the "Greater Israel" with a heavily populated eastern border "extending from the Golan, through the Jordan Rift Valley, the Arava and down to Sharm el-Sheikh". But there was a second reason for the settlements, a reason as important as the first: To divide the Arabs of the occupied territories into small segments, divide one from another by the "lines" or "wedges" of Jewish settlements, in order to make them "manageable" for the future of permanent subjugation.

The September 1993 Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements provided for a transitional period of Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Under a series of agreements signed between May 1994 and September 1999, Israel transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civilian responsibility for many Palestinian-populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza. Negotiations to determine the permanent status of the West Bank and Gaza stalled following the outbreak of an intifada in September 2000. In April 2003, the Quartet (US, EU, UN, and Russia) presented a roadmap to a final settlement of the conflict by 2005 based on reciprocal steps by the two parties leading to two states, Israel and a democratic Palestine.

Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT died in November 2004, and by January 2005 a new Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, was elected. A month later, Israel and the PA agreed to the Sharm el-Sheikh Commitments in an effort to move the peace process forward. By this time, Israeli Prime Minister Sharon had decided that negotiations could take a back seat to unilateral Israeli moves and he had committed to withdrawing his troops and settlers from Gaza by fall 2005, while speeding the construction of a barrier between the West Bank and Israel. Many thought the barrier eventually would mark the line that Israel might be prepared to accept as a future border. In September 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew all its settlers and soldiers and dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip and withdrew settlers and redeployed soldiers from four small northern West Bank settlements. Nonetheless, Israel still controls maritime, airspace, and most access to the Gaza Strip.

January 2006 saw two dramatic developments. Sharon suffered a massive stroke from which he did not recover. He was succeeded by Ehud Olmert, a less experienced politician who took time to find his footing. On the Palestinian side, elections were held for the Legislative Council in January 2006 and the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS, won a surprising victory to control of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). This meant that the new democratically elected prime minister would be from a party that still contested Israel's right to exist, while the president was from the Fatah Party mainstream and was committed to negotiations.

HAMAS took control of the PA government in March 2006, but President ABBAS had little success negotiating with HAMAS to present a political platform acceptable to the international community so as to lift economic sanctions on Palestinians. Violent clashes between Fatah and HAMAS supporters in the Gaza Strip in 2006 and early 2007 resulted in numerous Palestinian deaths and injuries. This awkward situation prevailed well into 2007, when the two major factions within Palestinian society engaged in a sharp conflict in June 2007 that left Hamas in control of Gaza and the PLO dominant in the West Bank. The Palestinian National Unity Government (NUG) experiment was ended, and a new Fatah/Independent government was established by Abbas with somewhat doubtful legitimacy.

Despite multiple rounds of Egyptian-brokered reconciliation negotiations, the two groups have failed to bridge their differences. The status quo remained with HAMAS in control of the Gaza Strip and ABBAS and the Fatah-dominated PA governing the West Bank. FAYYAD and his PA government continue to implement a series of security and economic reforms to improve conditions in the West Bank. ABBAS has said he will not resume negotiations with current Prime Minister NETANYAHU until Israel halts all settlement activity in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

The deployment of PA security forces throughout the West Bank beginning in 2007 has increased to all major cities. Violence in recent years has decreased markedly throughout the West Bank since the PA's security deployment. Among major West Bank cities, the level of violence is lowest in Jericho, Bethlehem, and Ramallah. Bethlehem, one of the most important religious sites to members of the Christian faith, is a significant stop for many pilgrims to the Holy Land. Following further deployments of PA security forces in 2008, the security situation in major cities within the Palestinian territories has also improved. U.S. Government employees frequently travel in the West Bank, with appropriate security measures.

Dozens of American firms have established agencies and distributorships, and Palestinian consumers have a strong preference for a wide variety of U.S. goods and services. Many American companies have reoriented their marketing efforts to acknowledge the Palestinian market as culturally, economically, and commercially distinct from the Israeli market. The U.S. Commercial Service in Jerusalem strongly encourages American exporters wishing to market their goods in the West Bank to use local Palestinian agents and distributors. Using Israeli agents for Palestinian markets does not utilize local, Palestinian market expertise, and does not allow U.S. firms to maximize their sales exposure to the local market.

Despite relatively low incomes, there is a sizeable middle/upper-middle class. The West Bank and Gaza (WB/G) have a population of around 4 million and boast one of the highest per capita rates of university graduates in the Arab world. Palestinians have a long-standing tradition of spending generously on higher education, regarded as an asset.

The United States is the leading provider of bilateral economic and development assistance to the Palestinians, having provided an estimated $2.9 billion since 1994 for programs in the areas of water and sanitation, infrastructure, education, health care, economic growth, and democracy.

Despite the markedly enhanced responsibilities and capabilities of PA ministries and other institutions, WB/G remain highly dependent on Israeli supplies, labor markets and export opportunities. About 85% of Palestinian annual imports are purchased from Israel and all Palestinian exports must go through Israel or Israeli-controlled checkpoints. Israeli currency (New Israeli Shekel-NIS) is used for most day-to-day transactions, although the Jordanian dinar is also considered to be legal tender and is frequently used for large purchases, such as real estate (as are US dollars). Most savings are held in U.S. dollars. Repatriated wages from Palestinian day laborers in Israel have traditionally provided cash that sustains many local businesses, so the Palestinian economy in WB/G is highly vulnerable to Israeli policies.

Resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the gradual restoration by Palestinians of greater control over their own economy has begun to spark increased donor spending on institution building and some major capital projects.

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Germany Prepares to Spend Hundreds of Millions on New Air Defense System

Sputnik News

22:22 24.01.2017(updated 01:11 25.01.2017)

Germany is reportedly close to deciding whether to replace its short short-range air defense systems. If approved, this action would signal the beginning of a 460-million (about $490 million) procurement program over the next 5-10 years.

There would likely be an additional 2 billion used at a later stage, according to Reuters,with new radars and lasers to be added at an additional cost further down the line. Berlin reportedly sees value in the system that German weapons manufacturer Diehl Defense developed for Sweden.

This system features a dual-cab tracked vehicle, built courtesy of BAE System's Hagglunds Vehicle AB, and a variant of the IRIS-T missile. Germany has used the IRIS-T on their Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets and a change in software could make the missile adaptable for a ground-based launch.

The Defense Ministry will submit its requirements once the matter has been settled. A formal strategy for acquisition would follow.

Last year military officials from Germany and the US recognized that Europe was experiencing an expanding gap of short-range air defense weapons (SHORAD), including an inability to defend against drones.

Following the meeting, Army acquisition chief Katrina McFarland told Defense News that the picture was not bleak, but that there definitely was progress to be made.

"We are better off than we thought we were and so we have at least the possibility of moving very quickly," she said, "And where we have gaps, we have already started providing technological solutions both internationally as well as organically to the US."

A report from the National Commission on the Future of the Army also highlighted an "unacceptable modernization shortfall" in that area.

In a white paper drafted in 2016, Berlin made missile defense a top priority, collaborating with forces in the Netherlands to better organize NATO missile and air defense systems.

This focus came after pressure from US President Donald Trump to increase military spending.

Decisions on SHAROD acquisition are not expected to be finalized until 2018, at the earliest, but primary work on the initiative could begin this year if the Ministry decides to add 20 million to the defense budget.

Currently, Germany plans to provide its 16 firing units with new equipment for short range missiles.

An alternative to Diehl's system, built by US-based weapons manufacturer Raytheon, is called the Network Centric Air Defence System. According to Raytheon, this weapon has been sold to Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Oman and the United States, and is the result of a collaborative effort with Kongsberg Gruppen of Norway. Slovakia and Belgium are also reportedly looking to expand their short-range missile capabilities.

One unnamed military official said, "It's great news for Germany and NATO that Germany is moving ahead to increase its short-range air defenses."

"NATO countries have been aware of the integrated air and missile defense challenge for some time," said Thomas Karako of the Center for Strategic & International Studies, "We have to get on it, but we're not there yet."

 Sputnik

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India, Pakistan Missile Race Continues Unabated

Sputnik News

17:29 24.01.2017(updated 17:35 24.01.2017)

India tested the guided Pinaka multi barrel launcher on the same day that Pakistan test-fired a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 2,200 kilometers, its second test in few weeks.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik)  Amid signals of a slight thaw in relations, India and Pakistan are nevertheless engaged in furious testing of ballistic missiles. Indian scientists successfully test-fired the 214 mm caliber rocket Pinaka from its launch pad in Chandipur on the eastern coast. It is the second developmental test of the rocket in a fortnight, which is guided by a combination of an inertial navigation system aided by GPS. Guided Pinaka will gradually replace SMERCH which, according to its Russian meaning 'whirlwind', can flatten an area of 1.1 sq km.

Scientific Adviser to India's Defense Minister G Sathees Reddy said that success of guided Pinaka has shown the capability of India in converting unguided systems into precision weapons.

Guided Pinaka is an advanced version of the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket system wherein the firing range has been enhanced to 65+ km from the existing 38 km. Sources says that guided Pinaka will have multiplier effect in battlefield as each individual rocket is guided separately whereas commander can change its position and path in every 20 microseconds.

On the other hand, Pakistan conducted its first successful flight test of Surface to Surface Ballistic Missile Ababeel, which has a maximum range of 2200 kilometers. The missile is capable of delivering multiple warheads, using Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology.

"Ababeel is capable of carrying nuclear warheads and has the capability to engage multiple targets with high precision, defeating the enemy's hostile radars. Development of Ababeel Weapon System is aimed at ensuring survivability of Pakistan's ballistic missiles in the growing regional Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) environment," read a statement released by the Pakistan Army.

On January 9, Pakistan had successfully tested the sea-launched nuclear capable cruise missile Babur 3. Both countries have been engaged in testing their missiles after an unprecedented level of small arms firing at the border last year. Earlier this month, the Indian Army chief announced the revival of Cold Start doctrine, conceptualized to attack rivals within 48 hours. This entails a pile-up of arms and ammunition of billions of dollars from Russia and Israel. In response, Pakistan has "threatened to use nuclear weapons should India invade."

 Sputnik

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Zarif: JCPOA not facing a serious threat

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Jan 24, IRNA -- Foreign Minister, Mohammad-Javad Zarif, says one of the major achievements of the landmark nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is that it has tranquilized international atomshphere in Iran's favor.

'The JCPOA is not facing a serious threath, if we try to preserve it ourselves,' said the foreign minister, while addressing the 22nd meeting of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture on Tuesday.

Referring to his ministry's recent report to Majlis (Parliament) on the one-year anniversary of the JCPOA implementation (January 16), Zarif said the statistics mentioned in that report have clearly indicated that after beginning of sanctions against Iran oil industry, oil price had fallen down with no increase.

When the US imposed its oil sanctions against Iran, it compelled other states to reduce their oil purchase from Iran by 20 percent every six months, Zarif said, noting that the US Department of Energy was also missioned to report to the country's lawmakers that sanctions would not lead to any rise in the oil price.

Therefore, Zarif said, ', they (the US officials) imposed sanctions on Iran with well-calculated planning.'

Elsewhere in his remarks, Zarif said sound implementation of the JCPOA led to removal of related economic sanctions.

He said under pretext of the country's nuclear activities, Iran's dossier had been referred to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and sanctions against Iran were hence further severed.

In fact, those sanctions had nothing to do with the JCPOA but had created an international atmosphere against the country, Zarif said.

'Sanctions are a concern and atmosphere more than being regulation, indicating that the other party is more concerned about its relations with you as well as prospects of relations with Iran,' Zarif said.

The JCPOA was successful in easing the world's psychological atmosphere in connection with Iran, said Zarif, adding that due to the same reason the ill-wishers did their best even before ratification of the JCPOA or even now to prevent establishment of peace.

'When US Senator Tom Cotton wrote a letter to Iranian officials asking them not to trust President Obama, he did not feel pity for us but wanted to give a message to the world that the psychological atmosphere persisted despite the JCPOA; and if we see that the US lawmakers take more than 50 bills to the Congress or the Senate, irrespective of the fact that they are executable or legitimate, this is because they attempted to create the atmosphere that maintaining ties with Iran is still as dangerous and costly as before,' he said.

Zarif said there is no longer any mention of the unpleasant comment referring to the political cost of work with Iran. They rather claim that a legal impediment is at work, he added.

He noted that it is claimed that in case of establishing ties with Iran, their prestige will be spoiled and all the attempts are concentrated on creating an atmosphere of concern.

'Our duty as the servants of the Islamic establishment and the country's entrepreneurs is that the reality of the JCPOA has put an end to such an atmosphere; so, let's not be influenced by the propaganda.'

The minister said despite those who believe he is ashamed of the JCPOA, he is proud of the deal.

He said that it is of no use for the world or any other person to dispute over scoring the JCPOA by 100 or five.

Noting that the JCPOA was a deal in which both sides reached agreement on some points, he said the US has accepted even more points.

'Some in the US believed and do still believe that Iran should not have even a single centrifuge and continued believing to the last day that Iran should not have a heavy water reactor, claiming that the sanctions are the biggest asset for the US. The US has lost all these.'

1483**9341**1430**1420**1771**1394

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Iraq Announces Liberation of Eastern Mosul

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Jan. 24, 2017  After more than 100 days of hard urban combat, Iraqi officials announced the liberation of eastern Mosul today.

While clearance operations are ongoing, the Iraqi security forces control all areas inside the city east of the Tigris River, the east bank of the river around all five bridges crossing the Tigris River, Mosul University and the Ninevah Ruins.

During their offensive to liberate the city of more than one million residents, which was held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant for more than two years, the Iraqi and peshmerga security forces fought through an elaborate defense formed over the past two years to not only keep the Iraqi security forces out, but the residents of Mosul captive. Through it all, the Iraqi security forces displayed their professionalism by placing the lives of citizens before their own and taking precautions to protect the citizens of Mosul while battling a brutal and fanatic enemy, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials said.

Meanwhile, they added, ISIL resorted to using children and other civilians as shields against coalition and Iraqi air and artillery strikes and used protected facilities such as hospitals, mosques and schools as weapons storage facilities and bases for its terrorist operations.

Air Strikes

Since Oct. 17, the coalition has conducted 558 air strikes in assistance of the Iraqi forces, using 10,115 munitions against ISIL targets. These munitions have destroyed at least 151 vehicle bombs, 361 buildings/facilities, 140 tunnels, 408 vehicles, 392 bunkers, 24 anti-air artillery systems, and 315 artillery/mortar systems.

During the offensive, the Iraqis fended off an average of five vehicle bombs a day, and endured daily mortar and sniper attacks, as well as surveillance and frequent attacks by ISIL unmanned aerial systems dropping grenades on friendly forces.

"This is a monumental achievement for not only the Iraqi security forces and sovereign government of Iraq, but all Iraqi people," said Army Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, the commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, the multi-national counter-ISIL coalition tasked with the military defeat of ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

"This would have been a difficult task for any army in the world," Townsend said. "And to see how far the Iraqis have come since 2014, not only militarily, but in their ability to put their differences aside and focus on a common enemy, gives real hope to the people of Iraq that after years of fighting and instability, peace and security are attainable."

"There is still a long way to go before ISIL is completely eliminated from Iraq, and the fight for western Mosul is likely to be even tougher than the eastern side," he said. "But the [Iraqis] have proven they are both a professional and formidable fighting force and I have every confidence that ISIL's days are numbered in Iraq."

"The warriors of the coalition join me in congratulating our comrades in the Iraqi security forces on this achievement and wish them good luck and Allah's blessings for the fight on the west side that lies ahead," the general said.

The coalition trains, equips and enables the Iraqi and peshmerga security forces with advise and assist teams, intelligence, artillery and air strikes. Since the start of operations in October 2014, the coalition has trained more than 50,000 Iraqi fighters and launched more than 17,000 strikes on ISIL targets in support of its partners on the ground.

Over the past two years, with coalition training and equipment, the Iraqis rebuilt their military and liberated more than two million people and major population centers such as Ramadi, Fallujah, Tikrit, Kirkuk, Qayyarah and Sharqat. Now they are well on their way to the complete liberation of Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, officials said.

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Abadi: Eastern Mosul fully liberated from Daesh terrorists

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 5:20PM

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has confirmed reports of the complete recapture of eastern Mosul as a large-scale operation goes on to rid the whole city from the Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

In comments broadcast live on state TV on Tuesday, Abadi also stressed the non-participation of foreign troops in the fight against Daesh terrorists in the Arab country.

The Iraqi premier said the liberation of eastern Mosul was made possible through the "unmatched heroism of all security forces factions" and the public support for the operation.

He further called on the security forces to swiftly begin the operation to recapture other Mosul areas, especially those on the city's right bank.

Asked how long it would take to wrest control of Mosul's western side, Abadi told The Associated Press, "I can't tell now, but we are capable of doing so and we will do."

He also dismissed as untrue claims about civilians going missing in the city of Fallujah.

On Tuesday, the commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Rasheed Yarallah, announced the liberation of four villages in northern Mosul.

The Iraqi national flag was hoisted over buildings in the villages of Bawira, lower and upper Sharikhan and Bisan, he said.

Additionally, Adnan al-Tamimi, the head of Muqdadiyah City Council, said security and popular forces were carrying out a joint operation from three fronts in northeastern Baqubah, Diyala's provincial capital.

Tamimi further stressed that the campaigns were aimed at preventing any Daesh infiltration into 40 already liberated villages nearby.

Meanwhile, Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units said 17 terrorists had been killed and four of their vehicles destroyed in the Sakariyat area in the northwest of Salahuddin Province.

Furthermore, Iraq's Arabic-language al-Sumaria TV network reported that the Daesh militants had withdrawn from their positions in central Tal Afar in western Mosul and burned their documents.

In another development, the Iraqi Federal Police said Daesh mortar attacks targeted residential areas in Sumer neighborhood in the southeast of Mosul.

Commander of Federal Police Forces Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat said the attacks injured a number of people, who were later taken to Hamdaniyah Hospital.

Iraqi army soldiers and allied fighters launched the Mosul liberation operation on October 17, 2016, and since then they have made major gains against Takfiri elements.

The Iraqi forces are currently gearing up for an offensive to purge Daesh from the western part of Mosul.

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Iraqi forces gear up for western Mosul liberation operation

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 1:30PM

Iraqi forces have begun preparations for an offensive to purge the Daesh Takfiri terrorists from the western part of Mosul after wresting full control over the eastern part of the strategic city.

Iraq's Mosuliya TV quoted the commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Rasheed Yarallah, as making the announcement on Tuesday.

Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), known as Hashd al-Sha'abi, are "preparing an operation in the next two, three days, to back up the operation to retake the right bank" of the city, he said.

Mosul is split by the Tigris River, with its eastern half known as the left bank and the western side as the right bank. The city is considered as Daesh's last urban stronghold in Iraq.

On Monday, Iraqi officials said that Mosul's eastern part had been completely retaken from Daesh after more than three months of fighting.

Since October 2016, a 100,000-strong force of Iraqi army troops and allied fighters has been leading the Mosul operation, the second phase of which began late last month. Advances have gathered pace over the past few days.

'750,000 civilians living in militant-held western Mosul'

Separately on Tuesday, the United Nations and several international and local aid organizations said in a statement that an estimated 750,000 civilians are still living in the Daesh-controlled western Mosul.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande expressed concern about the living condition of the civilians amid soaring prices of basic goods and intermittent water and electricity supply, saying the locals "are at extreme risk and we fear for their lives."

"We don't know what will happen in western Mosul, but we cannot rule out the possibility of siege-like conditions or a mass exodus," Grande said.

She further expressed hope that "everything is done to protect the hundreds of thousands of people who are across the river in the west."

Most of the Iraqis, who are trapped in Mosul, are believed to have been prevented from leaving the city by Daesh, which has routinely used civilians as human shields.

Defeating Daesh in Mosul would deal a crushing blow to the Takfiri outfit, which launched its campaign of terror in northern and western Iraq in 2014.

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Serial blasts kill six in Iraqi capital

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:42AM

Chain explosions have killed at least six civilians in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, leaving dozens of others injured.

The casualties occurred on Tuesday in three explosions across the city, Iraq's al-Sumariah news network reported.

The first blast saw explosives loaded onto a vehicle being set off at an automobile showroom in the al-Nahdah neighborhood in the city's central area.

Casualties were also caused after a blast rocked the capital's al-Sa'adoon neighborhood and a booby-trap went off in the Iskan neighborhood in the city's western part.

No immediate claims of responsibility were made. But Daesh terrorists have been taking Baghdad under almost daily bombing attacks in an apparent retaliation for an ongoing operation to retake the northern city of Mosul from them.

The military and volunteer forces jointly partaking in the push have almost liberated the city's eastern part.

Also on Tuesday, Lieutenant General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah, who commands the Mosul liberation operation, said the forces had started preparing an offensive to capture the western side of Mosul.

Late last year, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said it would take the country three months to be rid of Daesh. Earlier, he had promised an end-of-2016 deadline.

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Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are discussing resumption of train connecting between Uzbek capital of Tashkent and Issyk-Kul which is the main tourist destination in Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz Transport and Roads Minister Zhamshidbek Kalilov told KyrTAG.

Tashkent- Issyk-Kul- Tashkent tourist train connection was stopped after clashes between ethnic Kyrgyzs and Uzbeks in Southern Kyrgyzstan in 2010. It was resumed for summer period in 2015, but did not operate in 2016.

Kalilov said that the train connection is planned to be resumed in summer period. The exact date of the train launch has not been approved yet.

The railway administrations of the two countries are working on the work schedule of the train, he said, adding that the issue of pricing is being considered by the Uzbek side.

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
UN, partners voice deep concern about 750,000 civilians as battle expands to western Mosul

24 January 2017  A hundred days after the start of military operations to retake Mosul from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) militants, humanitarian partners are expressing deep concern about the plight of the estimated 750,000 civilians who are currently living in the western sections of the city where fighting is expected to start in coming weeks.

Up until now, eastern Mosul has been the main battleground. To date, 180,000 people have fled the city's eastern sections; more than 550,000 civilians have stayed in their homes.

"We are relieved that so many people in the eastern sections of Mosul have been able to stay in their homes. We hope that everything is done to protect the hundreds of thousands of people who are across the river in the west. We know that they are at extreme risk and we fear for their lives," said Lise Grande, Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, in a statement signed also by other humanitarians from UN agencies and the civil society.

"The reports from inside western Mosul are distressing," said Ms. Grande, noting that humanitarian partners are unable to access these areas and the prices of basic food and supplies are soaring. Water and electricity are intermittent in neighbourhoods and many families without income are eating only once a day. Others are being forced to burn furniture to stay warm, she added.

"We don't know what will happen in western Mosul but we cannot rule out the possibility of siege-like conditions or a mass exodus," said Ms. Grande. "They can be killed by booby-traps and in cross-fire and could be used as human shields."

The Iraqi security forces have adopted a humanitarian concept of operations putting civilian protection at the centre of their battle plan. Humanitarian partners welcome this approach and renew their collective call on all parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and ensure they have access to life-saving assistance.

"The world's attention is fixed on the military campaign in Iraq. But once this is over, there will still be a humanitarian crisis," Ms. Grande said, noting that as many as three million Iraqis, maybe even four million depending on what happens in Mosul, Hawiga and Tel Afar, may be displaced from their homes as a result of the conflict.

"These families will need to make crucial choices about how to rebuild and re-establish their lives. And we will need to be here to help them. We hope and trust that the international community will not walk away after Mosul. It would be a mistake  a very big one  if this were to happen," she added.

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Iraq: East Mosul Free of IS Control

By Carla Babb January 24, 2017

The Iraqi government says its security forces have taken complete control of eastern Mosul from the Islamic State group, more than 100 days after the fight for Mosul began in October.

IS fighters are now pushed into west Mosul and have lost control all five bridges crossing the Tigris River, Mosul University and the Nineveh Ruins.

"This is a monumental achievement for not only the Iraqi security forces and sovereign government of Iraq, but all Iraqi people," said Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, the commanding general of the international counter-IS coalition in Iraq.

Townsend added that the fight for western Mosul will likely "be even tougher than the eastern side."

However, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters Monday IS had lost many abilities and "a lot of their best fighters" in east Mosul.

Iraqi security forces fought off an average of five vehicle-borne explosives per day and saw daily mortar and sniper attacks, according to U.S. Central Command, which oversees the counter-IS operation in Iraq and Syria.

The terror group also used commercially-made drones to surveil Iraq-aligned forces and drop grenades on them.

Last week, Staff General Talib al-Shaghati, who commands the Iraqi counterterrorism forces, said the eastern section of Mosul had been "liberated" from IS jihadists.

Now, the army's attention will turn to Mosul's western half, where the United Nations said Tuesday it is "deeply concerned" for 750,000 civilians who could be in danger.

U.N. human rights commission spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said IS militants are basing themselves in civilian areas near hospitals and schools, and using children and other civilians as shields against coalition airstrikes.

VOA's Josh Fatzick contributed to this report.

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Israeli court convicts nuclear whistle-blower for violating terms of release

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 7:2AM

An Israeli court has convicted nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu of what it described as a violation of the terms of his release from prison under parole, more than a decade after he completed an 18-year prison sentence.

The so-called Jerusalem Magistrate Court made the ruling on January 10, but it was not cleared for publication until Monday. A sentence is due on March 14.

The 62-year-old former nuclear technician was convicted of meeting two US nationals in East Jerusalem al-Quds in 2013 without having permission to do so. He was, however, cleared of two other counts.

Vanunu had also been accused of moving apartments in 2014 without notifying Israeli authorities and attending an interview in 2015 with Israel's Hebrew-language Channel 2 television network.

In the interview, the nuclear whistle-blower reportedly revealed details about Tel Aviv's "greatest secrets" regarding its clandestine atomic activities. In the lengthy interview broadcast on September 4, 2015, Vanunu explained how he once exposed the existence of Israel's nuclear arsenal and elaborated on a potential disaster that could emanate from Israel's notorious Dimona nuclear plant.

Vanunu leaked the details and pictures of Israel's nuclear weapons program to Britain's Sunday Times newspaper in 1986.

Israeli intelligence agents drugged and abducted him in Italy in 1986 and then transported him to the occupied territories for prosecution. He spent the subsequent 18 years behind bars, 11 of which were spent in solitary confinement.

Vanunu faces a travel ban, among a long and stringent list of restrictions. He insists that he wants to annul his "citizenship."

The Israeli regime, however, has repeatedly rejected Vanunu's request for leaving the occupied territories and reuniting with his family in Norway.

Israel has never allowed any inspection of its nuclear facilities and continues to defy international calls to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The regime is widely believed to possess between 200 and 400 nuclear warheads in defiance of international law.

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UN rights expert 'deeply concerned' about reprisals against those she met on official visit to Myanmar

24 January 2017  A United Nations expert warned today about possible reprisals against the people she met during her recent visit to the country, noting that she was particularly struck by the fear of some she spoke to "who were afraid of what would happen to them after talking to me."

"There is one word that has hung heavily on my mind during this visit  reprisals," the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, said in a press statement wrapping up her 9 to 21 January mission to the country.

She said she is deeply concerned about those with whom she met and spoke, "those critical of the Government, those defending and advocating for the rights of others, and those who expressed their thoughts and opinions which did not conform to the narrative of those in the position of power." Moreover, she noted the increasing use of section 66 (d) of the Telecommunications Law against many, "merely for speaking their minds."

"It is particularly alarming to learn that the security forces' counter operations in the villages of Maungdaw north in Rakhine state have reportedly been resumed following a brief lull, with raids conducted in several villages including nearby the villages I visited," Ms. Lee stressed.

There are further allegations of arbitrary arrests and detention in relation to these latest reported raids.

The expert was especially dismayed to note that during the visit, feelings of optimism and hope had appeared to be fading among the country's ordinary people  just one year after nationwide elation over the last general elections.

The Special Rapporteur regretted that due to security reasons, she was only allowed to go to Myitkyina, and not Laiza and Hpakant in Kachin, stating that the situation "at the northern borders is deteriorating."

"Those in Kachin state tell me that the situation is now worse than at any point in the past few years. Whilst I was not able to travel to the areas most severely affected, the situation is now such that even in Myitkyina, the capital of the state and home to over 300,000 people, residents are afraid  and now stay home after dark," the UN expert explained.

In visiting a hard labour camp in Mon state, Ms. Lee was concerned over prisoners' living conditions, pointing to the use of shackles as a form of additional punishment and the lack of transparency regarding their transfer to the hard labour camp. Without an individual complaint system in prisons she was "struck by the fear of those prisoners who were afraid of what would happen to them after speaking to me."

A report from the visit will be presented in March to the UN Human Rights Council, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system. Ms. Lee's position is honorary and she does not receive a salary for her work.

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Pakistan test-fires 2nd nuclear-capable ballistic missile

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 4:2PM

Pakistan has successfully test-fired a new surface-to-surface ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads with a range of more than 2,000 kilometers.

The Pakistani army said on Tuesday that the Ababeel missile can carry nuclear warheads up to a distance of 2,200 kilometers.

The missile can evade enemy radar and deliver multiple precisely targeted warheads, it added.

The military, in a statement, said the latest test was a way of "enforcing deterrence" against arch-rival India.

"Development of (the) Ababeel Weapon System is aimed at ensuring survivability of Pakistan's ballistic missiles in the growing regional Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) environment," the statement said.

The test follows the firing of Pakistan's first submarine-launched cruise missile on January 9. The Babur-3 cruise missile, which has a range of 450 kilometers, had been fired from an underwater mobile platform in an undisclosed location in the Indian Ocean and "hit its target with precise accuracy."

The latest missile tests are expected to fuel already heightened tensions between neighbors Pakistan and India.

Last year, Pakistani officials expressed serious concern about India's anti-ballistic missile testing with Sartaj Aziz, the adviser to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on national security and foreign affairs, telling the upper house of parliament that it could lead to the "nuclearization" of the Indian Ocean.

Pakistan and India have routinely tested ballistic missiles since they first became nuclear capable respectively in 1998 and 1974.

Neither of the neighbors has signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or other international regulatory pacts that restrict developing or testing nuclear weapons.

India considers the NPT as discriminatory, while Pakistan has indicated that it will not join the international treaty until its neighbor does.

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Russia to Boost Far East Missile Defense Amid China's ICBM Deployment - MP

Sputnik News

13:53 24.01.2017(updated 14:46 24.01.2017)

Russia will not ignore the actions of China, which deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles near the Russian border, Russia's missile defense grouping in the Far East will be strengthened, first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Frants Klintsevich said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  One of three Chinese brigades of intercontinental missiles Dongfeng-41 (DF-41) may have been deployed in the city of Daqinq, the northern province of Heilongjiang bordering Russia, local media reported Tuesday.

"Of course we will respond," Klintsevich told Sputnik.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier in the day the reported deployment did not pose a threat to Moscow, underlining that China was a strategic partner and ally of Russia.

"Certainly any action in terms of the development of China's armed forces, if this information is true, any military development in China is not perceived by us as a threat to our country," Peskov said.

The DF-41 may carry up to 10 nuclear warheads and hit targets that are up 14,000 kilometers (about 8,700 miles) away from the launch site.

 Sputnik

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Iran, Russia, Turkey issue joint statement on Syria

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Astana, Jan 24, IRNA -- The Islamic Republic of Iran, Russia and Turkey issued on Tuesday a joint-statement to put an end to current conflicts between Syrian government and political groups.

The full text of the joint-statement has been issued in line with the already Joint Statement of their Foreign Ministers in Moscow on December 20, 2016 and the UN Security Council resolution 2336 respectively which reads as follows:

'Support launching the talks between the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the armed opposition groups in Astana on January 23-24, 2017;

Appreciate the participation in and facilitation of the above-mentioned talks by the UN Secretary-General Special Envoy on Syria;

'Reaffirm their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, non-sectarian and democratic State, as confirmed by the UN Security Council;

'Express their conviction that there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that it can only be solved through a political process based on the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution 2254 in its entirety;

Will seek, through concrete steps and using their influence over the parties, consolidation of the ceasefire regime established pursuant to the arrangements signed on December 29, 2016, and supported by the UN Security Council resolution 2336 (2016), contribution to minimizing violations, reducing violence, building confidence, ensuring unhindered humanitarian access swiftly and smoothly in line with the UN Security Council resolution 2165 (2014) and protection and free movement of civilians in Syria;

Decide to establish a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire, prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the ceasefire;

'Reiterate their determination to fight jointly against ISIL/DAESH and Al-Nusra and to separate from them armed opposition groups;

'Express their conviction that there is an urgent necessity to step up efforts to jumpstart the negotiation process in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution 2254;

'Emphasize that the International Meeting on Syria in Astana is an effective platform for a direct dialogue between the government and the opposition as required by the UN Security Council resolution 2254;

'Support the willingness of the armed opposition groups to participate in the next round of negotiations to be held between the government and the opposition under the UN auspices in Geneva as of February 8, 2017;

'Urge all members of the international community to support the political process with a view to swiftly implementing all steps agreed on the UN Security Council resolution 2254;

'Decide to actively cooperate on the Astana platform on specific issues of the UN-facilitated Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process so as to contribute to global efforts to implement the UN Security Council resolution 2254;

'Express gratitude to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, His Excellency Nursultan Nazarbayev, and to the Kazakh side in general, for hosting the International Meeting on Syria in Astana.'

1430**1420

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Russia describes 1st day of Astana talks on Syria as 'successful'

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Moscow, Jan 24, IRNA -- Russia's special presidential envoy on the Syria settlement, Alexander Lavrentiev says the first day of Syrian peace talks in Astana was successful.

The talks between the representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups in Astana resumed early on Tuesday with the participation of Russia, Iran and Turkey, which are countries-guarantors of the Syrian truce, the Russian news service of Sputnik has reported.

Meanwhile, Lavrentiev, speaking to reporters, said, 'We believe it was rather successful We were able to hold an international meeting on Syria in Astana. I think this event is quite significant because it was opened not only in the presence of the three countries-guarantors of the agreement, signed on December 29 last year, but also in the presence of representative of the UN Secretary-General [Staffan] de Mistura and US Ambassador to Kazakhstan, as well as in the presence of the delegations of Syrian government and Syrian armed opposition.'

The International Meeting on Settlement, which has been underway in the Kazakh capital since Monday aims to achieve truce in Syria, effectively fight against terrorism and hold intra-Syria dialogue between the government of that country and the opposition groups in order to prepare the ground for a political solution to the crisis there.

Iran, Russia and Turkey are the initiators of the Dec 30 ceasefire in Syria as well as those who planned for the Astana talks.

1483**1771

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Astana talks bolster Syrian government's legitimacy: Iran

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 2:5PM

A senior Iranian official says the recent Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan's capital city of Astana have bolstered the legitimacy of the Arab country's government.

Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on international affairs, made the remarks while speaking to reporters in Tehran on Tuesday in reference to the two-day Astana talks, which concluded earlier in the day by issuing a final statement.

"The Astana meeting showed that all sides, including Turkey and those groups, which follow this country and even countries not present there (in Astana), have acknowledged the Syrian government's legitimacy either directly or indirectly," Velayati said.

The peace talks started in Astana on Monday in the presence of representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups to explore whether or not they can find a mutually-acceptable solution to the almost-six-year conflict in their country.

Iran, Russia, and Turkey organized the Astana talks. The three also played intermediary roles at the talks, where the United Nations envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, was also present.

Velayati further assessed as positive the fact that representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition, except the Takfiri terrorist groups of Daesh and al-Nusra Front, had agreed to accept a nationwide ceasefire and operate under the Syrian government in the future.

There are high hopes that the peace talks would lead to the extension of the ceasefire, he added, noting that it is not, however, reasonable and correct to expect the Astana meeting to resolve all the disputes in Syria.

The senior Iranian official emphasized that such meetings must continue in the future.

At the end of the Syrian peace talks in Astana, Iran, Russia and Turkey agreed to establish a trilateral mechanism to support the ceasefire in the country and monitor possible violations.

Last month, Iran, Russia, and Turkey worked out a deal enabling the evacuation of civilians and militants from Aleppo as the Syrian forces were about to retake the northwestern city from Takfiri militants. The deal also paved the way for a ceasefire applying to the entire country, which has been largely holding.

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Syrian army, allies kill dozens of militants in, round Dayr al-Zawr

Iran Press TV

Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:30AM

Syrian government forces have launched a series of operations against foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants in the country's eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr, killing and injuring dozens of the extremists.

At least a dozen Daesh terrorists were killed in the Maqabir district of the provincial capital city of Dayr al-Zawr, located 450 kilometers northeast of the capital, Damascus, on Monday as Syrian troops and fighters from allied popular defense groups launched an offensive in the area, Syria's official news agency SANA reported.

Syrian army units also managed to lay siege to separate groups of Takfiri militants in the al-Ma'amel and Soriyeh Juneid regions, killing dozens of the terrorists in heavy clashes that ensued.

Considerable amounts of military hardware and munitions were destroyed in the Syrian army operations as well.

Moreover, Syrian military aircraft bombarded a Daesh command center close to the Albu Awad Mosque in the town of Al-Muhasan, located along the Euphrates River, killing 12 terrorists. There were four high-ranking militant commanders among the slain extremists.

Seven Syrian soldiers, however, lost their lives when Daesh terrorists mounted a surprise attack against their position in Sawaqah School.

Elsewhere, in the northwestern province of Aleppo, Syrian soldiers regained full control over the towns of al-Dar'ia and Khan Hafira in addition to Rasm al-Alam and surrounding farms.

Syrian warplanes also pounded a number of Daesh hideouts in the Kasara al-Bahr area of the strategic and mountainous region of Qalamoun, located about 330 kilometers north of Damascus, and killed scores of militants.

Additionally, Syrian army soldiers engaged militants from the terrorist group of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as the al-Nusra Front, in the al-Farhaniyah and Um Sharshouh villages of the central province of Homs, killing and injuring many of them in the operations.

Jabhat Fateh al-Sham cuts ties with allied terror group

Meanwhile, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militants say they have broken ranks with the Salafist Jund al-Aqsa terrorist group after the latter engaged in heavy exchanges of gunfire with Ahrar al-Sham Takfiris on the outskirts of Aleppo.

Turkey 'not to hand over al-Bab to Syrian forces'

In a separate development, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Tuesday that his country's military forces will not hand over the northern Syrian town of al-Bab to Syrian government forces once an operation against Daesh and Kurdish fighters is over in the town.

Kurtulmus also said the US-led military coalition had not honored its pledge to sufficiently support Turkey's operation to seize the town.

On August 24, 2016, the Turkish air force and special ground forces kicked off an operation inside Syria in a declared bid to support the Free Syrian Army militants and rid the border area of Daesh terrorists and fighters from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD).

The offensive was launched in coordination with the US-led coalition, which has purportedly been fighting Daesh extremists since 2014.

The incursion was the first major Turkish military intervention in Syria, which drew strong condemnation from the Syrian government for violating the Arab country's sovereignty.

The new remarks by Kurtulmus, the Turkish deputy prime minister, are now likely to further provoke tensions.

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Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Jan. 25

By Demir Azizov  Trend:

Uzbekistan and Afghanistan signed a bilateral trade and economic road map on the results of an official visit of the Uzbek delegation to Afghanistan, the Uzbek Foreign Ministrys press service said in a message.

The road maps implementation will allow increasing the two countries trade turnover up to $1.5 billion in a short period of time.

Moreover, several intergovernmental documents aimed at boosting the bilateral cooperation have been signed during the visit, according to the message.

During the visit, the delegation was led by Uzbekistans Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov, said the press service.

During the meeting with Afghanistans President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, the Uzbek foreign minister presented personal message of Uzbekistans President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in which the Uzbek head invited his Afghan counterpart to pay an official visit to Uzbekistan.

Abdulaziz Kamilov and Mohammad Ashraf Ghani discussed issues of development of relations between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan in various spheres.

Kamilov also met with Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah. The sides discussed directions of the development of cooperation, as well as the implementation of joint projects in the sphere of energy, social and economic revival of Afghanistan, infrastructure facilities.

In January-October 2016, trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan amounted to $429 million. The parties noted that the two countries have enough opportunities for boosting the trade turnover volume.

Abdullah Abdullah thanked Uzbekistan for the construction and commissioning of the railway line between Hairatan and Mazar-e-Sharif.

Moreover, Uzbekistans Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov met his Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani. They discussed issues of cooperation between the two countries within international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and others.

During the visit, entrepreneurs of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan signed contracts on supply of medicine and medical products, ambulances, wheat, electrical (household) appliances worth more than $49.3 million.

Moreover, a protocol of intention on further development of cooperation in the sphere of transportation infrastructure, envisaging the participation of the Uzbek side in joint railway and road projects, a protocol of intention on creation of a joint commission on security issues and a MoU between the two countries foreign ministries.

Uzbekistan and Afghanistan signed an agreement between the two countries interior ministries on cooperation in the fight against illicit traffic in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors.
Syria Sides At Odds As Truce Talks Conclude In Astana

RFE/RL January 24, 2017

Russian, Turkish, and Iranian officials meeting in Kazakhstan say they have agreed to create a mechanism to monitor a fragile cease-fire in Syria.

But they failed to make progress toward a political settlement of the Middle Eastern country's devastating 6-year-old civil war.

A joint statement issued at the conclusion of the two-day talks in Astana on January 24 said Iran, Russia, and Turkey would jointly monitor the cease-fire and "ensure full compliance...and prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the cease-fire," which was announced on December 30.

But the Syrian opposition -- which only met indirectly with Syrian government officials -- was dissatisfied with the final statement and issued its own plan for monitoring cease-fire violations.

Muhammad Allush, chief of the opposition delegation, said one of the main reservations the opposition had about the final statement was its use of the word "settlement."

"We have not come here for a settlement," Allush said. "We have come for a political solution, for talks aimed at reaching a political solution that will lead to a transition of power. This solution can be initiated through a first step, which is the establishment of a cease-fire."

But Allush said the opposition would not discuss "the mechanisms" of a political solution "before the first step is completed, and that is the real establishment of the cease-fire on the ground."

Allush said a real cease-fire should be followed by "humanitarian measures" -- and then, the opposition would be 'in support of a political solution to follow after that.

Allush also said that an alternative monitoring mechanism would help determine "the scope and degree of [truce] violations and those responsible for them."

Allush said the document had been given to Turkish, Russian, and UN officials at the talks in the Kazakh capital.

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition delegation spokesman Osama Abu Zaid -- who also is a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army (FSA) armed opposition group -- said opposition figthers were "not party" to the monitoring mechanism agreement.

"It is an agreement between Turkey, Iran and Russia," Abu Zaid said. "They are sovereign countries and can conclude any agreements they wish. This is their own statement. When the statement was presented to become the final statement, we said we had a lot of reservations. Above all, that Iran is listed as a guarantor."

The Damascus representatives, for their part, said they would not hold government-level talks with Turkey or sign any document signed by a Turkish official.

Turkey has openly called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave his post in order for the conflict to be resolved.

The three countries sponsoring the Astana talks also reaffirmed their intention to continue fighting the extremist group Islamic State and Jabhat al-Sham, previously known as the Al-Nusra Front, and "to separate them from the other part of the armed opposition."

Russia has been severely criticized for its air strikes against the moderate opposition groups that are supported by Turkey and a U.S.-led coalition of countries and are fighting against Assad's government, which Russia and Iran support.

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said the mechanism to monitor the cease-fire was an important development that could help the current truce to succeed where two previous cease-fires in Syria have failed.

When asked if he thought the monitoring mechanism -- which will be operating out of Astana -- would be effective, he said it was a detailed plan and that "we must give it a chance."

The final statement by Russia, Turkey, and Iran also said the three countries supported participation by the opposition in the next scheduled Syrian peace talks to be held in Geneva on February 8.

De Mistura said the UN was the "main player in regards to the political process" on resolving the Syrian civil war and that the peace process should continue in Geneva. He also praised Iran, Russia, and Turkey for coordinating the truce talks in Astana.

The Astana diplomatic initiative to end the conflict in Syria comes one month after government forces aided by Russian air strikes and Iranian militias recaptured the eastern part of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city before the war, in a major victory for Assad.

An estimated 300,000 people have been killed and millions more have been displaced since the Syrian civil war started in 2011 following a government crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and Interfax

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/syria-truce- talks-astana-conclude-cease-fire -mechanism/28254725.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Russia Not Ruling Out New Guarantors to Syrian Ceasefire

Sputnik News

19:13 24.01.2017(updated 19:14 24.01.2017)

Russia does not rule out that some other countries may become the new guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire but they must have real influence over the armed opposition, Alexander Lavrentyev, the head of Russian delegation to the Astana talks said Tuesday.

ASTANA (Sputnik)  According to a joint statement of Russia, Iran and Turkey issued following Syrian peace talks in Astana, the countries agreed to create a trilateral group on monitoring the Syrian ceasefire.

"I do not rule out that in certain circumstances there may be new guarantors but these countries must have a real influence on some of the armed opposition groups who control parts of Syrian territory," Lavrentyev told reporters.

He declined to give a direct answer whether the United States met these requirements.

"But obviously we would welcome the US inclusion in the Syrian settlement, a more active role of the US," Lavrentyev added.

The Syria talks were held in Astana on January 23-24. They were initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who proposed establishing in Astana a site of the Syrian peace process in addition to Geneva. The proposal was supported by the presidents of Turkey and Kazakhstan.

 Sputnik

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With international agreement on ceasefire monitoring, UN envoy praises Syrian delegations in Astana

24 January 2017  The talks to strengthen the ceasefire in war-torn Syria ended today in Astana, Kazakhstan, with agreement on how to monitor the effort started last month and praise from the United Nations Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura.

"Let me commend Russia, Turkey and Iran for their decision to establish a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire," Mr. de Mistura said, adding that the agreement is a "concrete step" towards implementation of Security Council resolutions on the issue.

In addition to representatives from the three countries, the two-day talks were the first time that Syrian opposition participated in the discussions alongside representatives of the Syrian Government.

Mr. de Mistura, who was a conduit for many of the discussions, praised the delegations noting that "it has required political courage from them to sit in the same room and listen to their respective demands."

He added that both Syrian parties had told him that "their immediate priority was and remains to strengthen the ceasefire."

With more than 650,000 people in besieged areas in Syria, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the ceasefire is expected to allow greater humanitarian aid to areas previously cut off by the fighting.

"The ceasefire can additionally help the fight of the international community against terrorism in Syria and the wider region," Mr. de Mistura said.

In addition, the ceasefire is expected to help create "a supportive environment" for engagement between the Syrian parties ahead of the 8 February talks in Geneva, the UN Special Envoy noted, adding that he will head to New York to consult with the Secretary-General and brief the Security Council ahead of those talks.

The discussions in Switzerland will be held under the auspices of the UN and include issues of governance, constitution and elections in the context of Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), which endorsed a road map for a peace process in Syria.

"We cannot allow another ceasefire to dissolve because of a lack of a political process. Now is the time for the international community in all its dimensions to come together and support one integrated political negotiating process, as provided for in SCR 2254," he said.

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UN Appeals for $4.6B to Assist Millions of Syrian Refugees

By Lisa Schlein January 24, 2017

The United Nations is appealing for $4.63 billion to assist nearly five million Syrian refugees and millions of people hosting them in neighboring countries. The appeal is being launched in the Finnish capital of Helsinki on behalf of U.N. agencies and 40 non-governmental organizations.

The United Nations plans to provide life-saving assistance to more than 4.7 million Syrian refugees. U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi says the appeal also will support 4.4 million people hosting them in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt.

"So, even if Syrians have stopped arriving in Europe in any significant numbers, I hope that everybody realizes that the Syrian refugee crisis has not gone away and continues to affect millions of host communities and continues to be a tragic situation for millions of Syrians," he said.

Grandi says most Syrian refugees fall below the poverty line and struggle to afford food, rent, health care and other essentials. He notes 70 percent of those in need are women and children. He says many of the host communities helping the refugees also are impoverished and in need of assistance.

Syria will enter its sixth year of war in March, about the same length of time as the whole of World War II. U.N. emergency relief coordinator Stephen O'Brien calls Syria one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world today.

"The crisis in Syria remains one of the most complex and volatile and violent in the world," he said. "Currently, 13.5 million women, children and men are in urgent need of humanitarian and protection assistance. Of course, we fear that it will get worse and even if peace was to take place from tonight, the humanitarian needs within Syria would continue for a good time to come."

The United Nations is in the process of finalizing an upcoming appeal for $3.4 billion. The United Nations estimates that amount will be required to meet the humanitarian needs of the 13.5 million destitute people within Syria this year.

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US Upgrades Taiwan's F-16 Fleet

Sputnik News

00:32 25.01.2017(updated 00:33 25.01.2017)

A state-owned aerospace company in Taiwan has confirmed reports that upgrades have been initiated on its fleet of 144 Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon jets. The Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) said that upgrades should be complete within six years and that four aircraft are already being retrofitted at the Taichung facility.

Once at full capacity, the new Taichung site will be able to upgrade 24 of the US-built aircraft a year, according to AIDC chairman Anson Liao.

Earlier reports originally had 10 aircraft going for upgrades this year, but software-testing delays in the US reduced that number to four.

According to Defense News, the upgrades for the F-16s include Embedded Inertial Navigation Systems/Global Positioning Systems, Terma ALQ-213(V) Electronic Warfare Management Units, new mission computers and Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, according to the original Defense Security Cooperation Agency Foreign Military Sale (FMS) notification from 2011.

Taipei is also reportedly looking into dual-mode GPS/laser-guided bombs, Raytheon's AIM-9X Agile air-to-air missile, and new targeting pods. Upgrades were also sought for existing Raytheon AN/ALQ-184 electronic countermeasures (ECM) pods to be integrated with Digital Radio Frequency Memory systems.

Lockheed Martin will serve as lead contractor in the $5.3 billion program, and $3.5 billion has already been set aside by Taipei to cover some of the cost. In 2015 the defense company flew one of Taiwan's F-16s outfitted with the AN/APG-83 AESA radar.

The new radar will give the fighter jet the ability to spot and engage stealth craft, particularly the Chengdu J-20, used by China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).

Though F16 deliveries began in the mid 1990s, Taiwan's fleet is relatively new. Singapore and South Korea also have fleets receiving upgrades through Lockheed Martin.

Arms sales between Taipei and Washington are considered delicate, as they consistently irritate nearby China, who does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation. Beijing does not approve of Taipei expanding its military capabilities, and successfully prevented the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama from providing the island with new F16s.

Tensions between Beijing and Washington have been simmering since Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen spoke on the phone with then-US President-elect Donald Trump, breaking decades of diplomatic protocol.

Tsai's visit to the US in early January, despite repeated protest from China, only stoked the issue.

 Sputnik

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The Road to Brexit Gets Rougher for UK's May

By Luis Ramirez January 24, 2017

British Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a setback Tuesday when Britain's supreme court ruled the government needs Parliament's approval to begin the process of leaving the European Union.

"The Supreme Court rules that the government can not trigger Article 50 without an act of parliament authorizing it to do so," Supreme Court President David Neuberger said Tuesday.

May had hoped to begin the two-year process of disengaging from the EU in March by triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. After the ruling, officials at Number 10 Downing Street said they would stick to their timetable.

With a 72-percent turnout, voters in a June referendum opted by a 4-percent margin to leave the EU. They were asked a simple question: "Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?"

Challenges ahead

The referendum results were advisory and non-binding, however, and analysts say that opened up the matter to further challenges, both legal and political.

In its decision Tuesday, the court ruled that pulling out of the European Union would mean Britain's domestic laws would have to be changed, and therefore Parliament would require a final say in what the laws would look like.

May's government argued that its executive powers entitled it to withdraw from international agreements.

Britain's leading opposition Labour Party on Tuesday said it would not stand in the way of Brexit, but instead would push to ensure that the government remained accountable to Parliament through the whole process.

"Labour respects the result of the referendum and the will of the British people and will not frustrate the process for invoking Article 50," tweeted Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. "Labour will seek to amend the Article 50 bill to prevent the Conservatives from using Brexit to turn Britain into a bargain basement tax haven," referring to key provisions of May's Brexit plan unveiled last week.

Polarized opinions

Outside the Supreme Court in London's Parliament Square, anti-Brexit demonstrators celebrated with EU flags and a small cake.

"Our prime minister thought, shamefully, that she had a mandate to impose on Parliament and to use her Conservative majority to take us out of Europe," said Richard Kirker, an anti-Brexit demonstrator. "What the judges have done, is just reminded the government that that is not the way that this country is governed."

Equally harsh words came from Brexit supporters.

"Today, democracy is only in name only. It doesn't exist any longer," said Herbert Crossman, a pro-Brexit demonstrator. "Now they got another vote against the wishes of the people, and I think that Brexit may be derailed somehow. This is what they were wishing for and I think they got their wish."

In his frustration, Crossman looks to America and invokes U.S. President Donald Trump's inaugural speech. "The one thing I like about what he said, 'America comes first, the rest can wait,'" Crossman said. "It's a shame our spineless, boneless MPs don't have the same attitude toward the UK."

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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.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Jan. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge, Inc. (CWVC), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing the medical industry with engaged volunteers for field-based assessments and research that advances treatment for wounded or injured veterans through challenging expeditions, announced that its Board of Directors has elected Captain (RET) Dominic Lee Pudwill Gorie, USN/NASA as its President, effective immediately.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bada99db-5128-4410-a367-426ad5a55ddf

CAPT Gorie, who retired in 2010, is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He served for more than 30 years in the U.S. Navy and the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), including on four space shuttle missions. Following his graduation as a Naval Aviator in 1981, CAPT Gorie flew the A-7E Corsair II with Attack Squadron 46 on USS AMERICA and the F/A-18 Hornet with Strike Squadron 132 on USS CORAL SEA. Upon completion of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, he served as a Navy Test Pilot assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 87 flying the F/A-18 Hornet from USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT. CAPT Gorie was also assigned to U.S. Space Command in Colorado Springs before his selection as an astronaut by NASA.

While with NASA, CAPT Gorie served as pilot on the Space Shuttle DISCOVER to the Russian MIR space station and once aboard ENDEAVOUR on a Space Radar Topography Mission. He then commanded twice on the ENDEAVOUR for missions to the International Space Station. He later was chief of the Astronaut Shuttle Branch.

CAPT Gorie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Ocean Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and a Master of Science degree in Aviation Systems from the University of Tennessee. CAPT Gorie is a member of the CWVC Board of Directors, and has led several of the

CWVC Challenges, including mountain climbing and backpacking treks in Alaska and Colorado.

About Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge, Inc.

The mission of the Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge is to improve the lives of our wounded or injured veterans by focusing on education, rehabilitation, research and innovations in field-based assessments/treatment of Orthotics & Prosthetics, Post Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury. CWVC provides Challenge expeditions that are physically and psychologically demanding. These rehabilitative high adventure and therapeutic expeditions, led by veterans, provide sufficiently arduous, reasonably achievable, and extremely motivational experiences. While participating in these grueling Challenges, the veterans voluntarily participate in case studies and medical research projects that further medical, physiological, biomedical and pathological sciences associated with their injuries. CWVC is a member of Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium, (MTEC), a biomedical technology consortium collaborating with multiple government agencies under a 10-year renewable Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC).

For more information, visit www.combatwounded.org or contact us at info@combatwounded.org or (727) 942- 8415.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Jan. 25

By Demir Azizov  Trend:

The current state and prospects of deepening of relations in political, trade and economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian and other spheres have been recently discussed in Beijing by delegations of Uzbekistan and China, the Uzbek Foreign Ministrys press service said in a message.

The discussions were held during the next round of Uzbek-Chinese political consultations held by the two countries foreign ministries, according to the message.

The progress of agreements reached during the visit of Chinas President Xi Jinping to Uzbekistan on June 21-22, 2016, was discussed during the meeting, said the message.

The sides also considered the preparation process for the upcoming visits at high and highest levels.

The press service also noted that on the same day, Beijing also hosted the next meeting of the Uzbek-Chinese intergovernmental committees subcommittee on cooperation in the security sphere. During the meeting, the sides evaluated results and discussed prospects of cooperation in this sphere, as well as exchanged views on international and regional issues.

As it was reported earlier, during the Chinese presidents visit to Uzbekistan, heads of the two countries signed a joint statement on comprehensive strategic partnership. Moreover, there were signed intergovernmental agreements on technical and economic cooperation and cooperation in the sphere of protection of intellectual property.

The two countries foreign ministries signed a cooperation program for 2016-2017, economy ministries signed two MoUs on investment cooperation and cooperation on trade of main goods.

The first meeting of the Uzbek-Chinese intergovernmental committee on cooperation was held in October 2011 in Beijing.

China is one of main trade and investment partners of Uzbekistan. The volume of trade turnover between the two countries exceeds $4 billion, Chinese investments and loans meant for the implementation of big projects in main fields of economy  $6.5 billion.
Crew members work on the exterior of the Meijer store on Tuesday morning in West Bend. The store is hiring. John Ehlke/Daily News
Tehran, Iran, Jan. 24

By Mehdi Sepahvand  Trend:

The number of the European tourists coming to Iran jumped 50 percent after the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), according to Zahra Ahmadipour, head of Irans Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization.

Many foreign media outlets introduced Iran as one of the top three tourist destinations in 2016, Ahmadipour told a press conference on the impacts of the JCPOA on tourism, Trend correspondent reported January 24.

The JCPOA was put into effect in January 2016, lifting heavy economic sanctions on Iran in return to limits on the countrys nuclear activities.

Over the past year, about 20 delegations from various countries have visited Iran to seek opportunities for building hotels, Ahmadipour said, adding currently four or five countries are in serious negotiations with Iran over cooperation in the hospitality sector.

"I can say this much that by March some good things will happen. In two or three weeks the representatives of some very famous hotel brands are also visiting Tehran," she added, noting that French companies are the pioneers in the talks.

Ahmadipour also said Iran is pursuing efforts to ease visa conditions with as many countries as possible.

"We have visa waiver with 37 countries. We recently increased the visa validity from 15 to 90 days. Also, we are in talks to bilaterally ease visa conditions for tourist groups."
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Jan. 25, 2017) - Horizonte Minerals Plc, (TSX:HZM)(AIM:HZM) ('Horizonte' or 'the Company') the nickel development company focused in Brazil, is pleased to announce that it has appointed Wagner Lucio Oliveira to a non-board position as its Feasibility Study Manager ('FS Manager') for the Company's 100% owned Araguaia nickel project ('Araguaia' or 'the Project') which is being developed as the next major nickel project in Brazil.

Wagner brings with him a wealth of nickel experience having worked with Anglo American Plc at its Barro Alto ferronickel mine in Brazil on its engineering, construction and start-up between 2007 to 2010. He is skilled in a wide range of technical areas including smelter technology, refining, processing, performance management, plant operations, project management and capital cost rationalisation. In addition to his nickel experience, Wagner has built a diverse skillset from work undertaken with other major companies such as Rio Tinto, Vale and most recently McKinsey & Company in Chile and Peru. Wagner has significant experience in the controlled planning, scheduling and operational readiness of large-scale projects and a proven track record in delivering on operational improvement and cost reductions.

Horizonte CEO Jeremy Martin said, "We are delighted to welcome Wagner to Horizonte as the Feasibility Manager to run the study on the Araguaia nickel project. He will be key as we work through the selection process to award the contracts for the Feasibility Study henceforth, in managing the study to deliver it on time and budget. Wagner has considerable experience in nickel having worked with Anglo American Plc on its Barro Alto ferro nickel operation and prior to this at the Codemin ferro nickel plant in Brazil. We welcome Wagner to the team and believe his experience will be invaluable as we move into the next phase of project development."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

For further information visit www.horizonteminerals.com.

About Horizonte Minerals:

Horizonte Minerals Plc is an AIM and TSX-listed nickel development company focused in Brazil, which wholly owns the advanced Araguaia nickel laterite project located to the south of the Carajas mineral district of northern Brazil. The Company is developing Araguaia as the next major nickel mine in Brazil, with targeted production by 2019.

The Project has good infrastructure in place including rail, road, water and power.

Horizonte has a strong shareholder structure including Teck Resources Ltd. 17.9%, Henderson Global Investors 14.11%, Richard Griffiths 13.8%, JP Morgan 8.98%, Hargreave Hale 6.84% and Glencore 6.4%%.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the potential of the Company's current or future property mineral projects; the success of exploration and mining activities; cost and timing of future exploration, production and development; the estimation of mineral resources and reserves and the ability of the Company to achieve its goals in respect of growing its mineral resources; and the realization of mineral resource and reserve estimates. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved".

Forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, and are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to risks related to: exploration and mining risks, competition from competitors with greater capital; the Company's lack of experience with respect to development-stage mining operations; fluctuations in metal prices; uninsured risks; environmental and other regulatory requirements; exploration, mining and other licences; the Company's future payment obligations; potential disputes with respect to the Company's title to, and the area of, its mining concessions; the Company's dependence on its ability to obtain sufficient financing in the future; the Company's dependence on its relationships with third parties; the Company's joint ventures; the potential of currency fluctuations and political or economic instability in countries in which the Company operates; currency exchange fluctuations; the Company's ability to manage its growth effectively; the trading market for the ordinary shares of the Company; uncertainty with respect to the Company's plans to continue to develop its operations and new projects; the Company's dependence on key personnel; possible conflicts of interest of directors and officers of the Company, and various risks associated with the legal and regulatory framework within which the Company operates.

Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
White Rock, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Asiamet Resources Ltd. (ARS or the "Company"), announces that it has applied for voluntary delisting of the common shares of the Company (Shares) from the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"). The Shares are currently listed for trading on the TSXV and AIM.

The directors of the Company believe that the minimal trading activity of the Companys common shares on the TSXV no longer justifies the expense and administrative requirements associated with maintaining this dual listing, and that the Companys continuing AIM listing will provide its shareholders with a sufficiently liquid market.

Subject to its application being accepted by the TSXV, it is expected that the Shares will be delisted from the TSXV at the close of trading 28 February 2017, with the Shares continuing to trade on AIM under the ticker "ARS".

Implications of the delisting for shareholders on the Canadian register

Following delisting from the TSXV, on 31 March 2017, the Company will also be closing its Canadian share register and merging it with the principal register in Bermuda to be maintained by Computershare Investor Services (Bermuda) Limited (the "Bermuda Register").

The Company's Canadian share register will, however, remain open until 31 March 2017 in order to enable shareholders and Canadian Depository for Securities ("CDS") participants currently on the Canadian register to request, if they wish, to have depositary interests ("DIs") in respect of their holdings issued to a broker/nominee within CREST, the United Kingdom ("UK") settlement system.

The Company is incorporated in Bermuda and its Shares are quoted on AIM in London. The Company uses DIs to enable electronic transfer and settlement within CREST for trading of its securities on AIM.

If CDS participants or shareholders on the Canadian register have not activated a DI issuance request by 31 March 2017, their holding will be automatically moved to a certificated holding on the Bermuda Register and they will be sent a new physical share certificate. Canadian share certificates previously issued will become null and void at such time. Following delisting from the TSXV, shareholders trading their holdings not held in the form of DIs within CREST may encounter delays or additional expense. Shareholders whose holdings are already held within CREST in the form of DIs, or who wish to receive new share certificates from the Bermuda Register need not take any action.

CDS participants or those with Shares held by a broker within CDS, who wish to have DIs issued in respect of their holdings, should arrange for the CDS participant or broker to complete and submit a Computershare xSettle Electronic Instruction or a "Register Removal Request - CDS Withdrawals to UK Depositary Interests" form to Computershare Investor Services Inc. (the "Depositary") for the issue of DIs to their broker/nominee in CREST. Shareholders who hold their Shares through a Canadian broker are encouraged to contact their broker to arrange for this to happen.

Registered shareholders with share certificates who wish to have DIs issued in respect of their holdings, will need to open an account with a CREST broker/nominee and complete a "Register Removal Request - Canadian Certificate to UK Depositary Interests" form and submit it to the Registrar together with the original Canadian share certificate(s). Alternatively, Canadian share certificates can be submitted to the CREST broker/nominee for them to arrange the issuance and deposit of the DIs into CREST.

These forms are available from: https://www-us.computershare.com/Investor/help/PrintableForms.

Shareholders are encouraged to contact Computershare Investor Services Inc., the Company's Canadian share registrar for any information about the delisting process on: toll free +1 866 277 2086; (or +1 781 575 4086 if dialling from outside Canada), or on: +44 (0)370 702 0000 for shareholders in the UK.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Tony Manini, Deputy Chairman and CEO

-Ends-

For further information, please contact:



Tony Manini



Deputy Chairman and CEO, Asiamet Resources Ltd.

Telephone: +61 3 8644 1300

Email: tony.manini@asiametresources.com

FlowComms Limited

Sasha Sethi

Telephone: +44 (0) 7891 677 441

Email: Sasha@flowcomms.com / Mehrdad@flowcomms.com



Asiamet Resources Nominated Adviser



RFC Ambrian Limited

Andrew Thomson / Oliver Morse

Telephone: +61 8 9480 2500

Email: Andrew.Thomson@rfcambrian.com / Oliver.Morse@rfcambrian.com

VSA Capital Limited



Andrew Raca / Justin McKeegan

Telephone: +44 20 3005 5004 / +44 20 3005 5009

Email: araca@vsacapital.com

Optiva Securities Limited



Christian Dennis

Telephone: +44 20 3137 1903

Email: Christian.Dennis@optivasecurities.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view this press release as a PDF file, click onto the following link:public://news_release_pdf/Asiamet01252017.pdfSource: Asiamet Resources Ltd. (TSX Venture:ARS, AIM:ARS)

To follow Asiamet Resources Ltd. on your favorite social media platform or financial websites, please click on the icons below.

Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com

Copyright  2017 Filing Services Canada Inc.
VANCOUVER, Jan 25, 2017 - InZinc Mining Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:IZN) ("InZinc" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the Indy zinc project ("Indy"), located approximately 100 kilometres south of Prince George, British Columbia, has been accepted by the TSX-V. Indy provides near surface exploration potential at the mineralized Tex Zone, and regional discovery potential through numerous large, untested soil geochemical anomalies. The project area covers 9.8 kilometres of deformed sedimentary rocks spanning the Cambrian to Lower Mississippian; a geological period known to produce most of the major western Canadian zinc deposits. The Company is planning geochemical and geological programs for 2017 with drilling subject to results. Maps and historical drilling results from the Indy zinc project can be found at this link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/IZN.pdfThe Indy project complements the Company's flagship 100% owned West Desert advanced stage zinc project in Utah. A Preliminary Economic Assessment (2014) of West Desert estimated 1.6 billion pounds of zinc production over 15 years, with low cost, bulk underground mining and conventional processing to produce high quality concentrates. The carbonate replacement deposits (CRDs) at West Desert are open for expansion in multiple directions and potential for further discoveries exists on a district scale. Multi-disciplinary programs including expansion and exploration drilling are being designed for 2017 in advance of prefeasibility studies. Exploration permits and bonds are in place to initiate drilling.InZinc is focused on growth in zinc through expansion and exploration of the advanced stage West Desert project in Utah and the Indy exploration project in British Columbia. West Desert comprises a large resource, is open for expansion and has district scale exploration potential. Indy comprises both near surface exploration targets and regional discovery potential. Both zinc projects are well located with easy access and existing infrastructure.InZinc Mining Ltd.Kerry Curtis, Chairman and Interim Chief Executive OfficerThis news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's next shareholder meeting. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, plan, design, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results, performance, or actions and that actual results and actions may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2015 filed with certain securities commissions in Canada and other information released by the Company and filed with the appropriate regulatory agencies. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.The PEA (2014) was prepared by Mine Development Associates with contributions from International Metallurgical and Environmental Inc. in accordance with the definitions in Canadian National Instrument 43-101. All dollar amounts are US currency. The PEA is considered preliminary in nature. It includes Inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative to have the economic considerations applied that would enable classification as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that the conclusions within the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Long-term metal prices used in the study included zinc at $1/lb, copper at $3/lb, iron ore at $105/t (62% Fe, CFR-Tianjin), gold at $1,300/oz and silver at $21/oz. The technical report is entitled "Technical Report on the West Desert Zinc-Copper-Indium-Magnetite Project - Preliminary Economic Assessment - Juab County, Utah" and is available both at www.sedar.com and the Company's website at www.inzincmining.com.Kerry M. Curtis, P.Geo. a Qualified Person as defined in NI43-101, has approved the technical content of this news release.Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Kerry Curtis, Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer604.687.7211www.inzincmining.comJoyce Musial, Corporate Communications604.317.2728joyce@inzincmining.com
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan 25, 2017) - Tantalex Resources Corp. (CSE:TTX)(CSE:TTX.CN)(FRANKFURT:1T0) ("TANTALEX" or the "Corporation"), is pleased to announce that it has now critically reviewed historic exploration data of its Buckell Lithium Project as well as that of the adjacent historic mining site of Manono-Kitotolo, located near the town of Manono, Tanganyika province. Raymond P. Spanjers P.Geo, Qualified Person, has prepared, approved and is responsible for the scientific and technical disclosure found in the NI 43-101 Technical Report (the "Report"), as well as this press release, dated January 25, 2017. The report has been filed on SEDAR and on Tantalex's website at www.tantalex.ca for further consultation.

The Buckell Lithium Project is comprised of two claims totalling a vast 920 km2 surface located in the Central African Kilbara Belt, the site of former large scale mining from 1916 to the early 1990's. The claims are found within a Mesoproterozoic geological structure, showing strong evidence of Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum (LCT) Pegmatites. Furthermore, the properties are located adjacent to and along strike south of the world-class LCT-Pegmatite Manono-Kitotolo (MK) mine, which has been defined as the largest pegmatitic deposit of spodumene, tin and tantalite ever worked (Bassot et Mario 1989). Previously owned by Geomines SA Belgium mining company, six open pit mines operated at MK from 1915 to 1988, producing 140,000-185,000 tonnes of tin and 4,500 tonnes of coltan concentrate (Zairetain 1981). Metallurgical test work carried out in 1956, 1976 and 1981 demonstrated that a 6% lithium concentrate was produced at average tailings grade of 1.25% Li2O using a combination of heavy media separation, tables and spirals.

Dave GAGNON, Chief Executive Officer of TANTALEX, adds: "We are very optimistic about the potential of the Buckell Lithium Project based on the preliminary results obtained through the NI 43-101. The area has a very significant mining history, however little attention was paid to lithium extraction as there was no urgent need by the market as there is today. We are at the right place at the right time, and we plan on uncovering the property's full potential for a lithium deposit. We plan on beginning work within the next few weeks, and the focus for the first half of 2017 will be on defining the resource."

LCT-Pegmatite (hard-rock) deposits are typically associated with high-value spodumene. Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate, and is a source of lithium. LCT-Pegmatite deposits are an important link in the world's supply chain of rare and strategic elements, accounting for about one-third of world lithium production, most of the tantalum, and all of the cesium (U.S. Geological Survey, 2011). Currently, lithium demand heavily outweighs current supply, with the market looking to hard rock deposits to respond quicker to the need than brine deposits. This is true particularly in the Chinese markets, where hard-rock lithium plants (45% of global lithium supply) are in search of lithium feedstocks, as they are operating at reduced capacities (65% capacity in 2015) (Deutsche Bank; Company data; USGS, 2016).

About TANTALEX Resources Corporation

TANTALEX is a mining company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and distribution of Lithium, Tantalum and other high-tech mineral properties in Africa. The Corporation is listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (symbol: TTX) and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (symbol: 1T0).

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Because of these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, the actual results, expectations, achievements or performance may differ materially from those anticipated and indicated by these forward looking statements. Although TANTALEX believes that the expectations reflected in forward looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward looking statements will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, TANTALEX disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward looking statements or otherwise.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed this news release and does not accept responsibility for its adequacy or accuracy.

For further information, please contacts Investor relations: ir@tantalex.ca

Or visit us at: WWW.TANTALEX.CA
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Jan. 25, 2017) -

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

Focus Ventures Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:FCV) is pleased to announce that Gordon Tainton has been appointed President and a Director of the Company effective immediately. Mr. Tainton brings many years of experience in the international fertilizer and financial markets and will succeed David Cass who is stepping down as President. David will remain as a Director and continue to provide services as a consultant to the Company.

Mr. Tainton has over 25 years of experience at senior management levels in various sectors of the fertilizer industry, including inspection and testing services across all nutrients, distribution, port/terminal development, trading, shipping, off-take agreements, and project finance. Within management teams, he has financed and developed port/terminal projects for bulk liquid and solid products in the Americas, Asia and Oceania. He spent eight years with Sumitomo Corp. of Tokyo sourcing, purchasing and delivering key intermediate bulk and bagged products to the phosphate production industry. In 1992, Gordon participated in a management led acquisition of Inspectorate plc, one of the world's largest independent control services groups, which was subsequently sold to British Standards Institute in 1998. During his tenure at Inspectorate plc, volumes of ferrous minerals, fertilizers and commodity chemicals inspected and tested increased by more than 25%. Since 2010 Gordon has held various executive and non-executive Board positions in both public and private companies. Gordon is currently a Director of NEOS Resources plc and Executive Director of Grange Mining plc.

Simon Ridgway, Chairman of Focus, commented: "On behalf of the Board I would like to welcome Gordon to the team. It has become clear from discussions with potential partners in the fertilizer industry that the Company would benefit greatly with leadership from an expert in fertilizers with the knowledge to know the value drivers in this industry. Gordon brings these attributes and we look forward to his input in guiding the Company to achieve its vision of becoming a Phosphate producer.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank David Cass for his tireless efforts since 2008 as Focus' President, which led to the discovery of the Bayovar 12 deposit and the completion of a positive Pre-Feasibility Study for the project. We look forward to his continued contributions at board level going forward."

Private Placement

The Company announces that it proposes, subject to stock exchange approval, to complete a non-brokered private placement financing of up to 80 million units at $0.05 per unit, for proceeds of $4.0 million. Each unit will consist of one common share and one full warrant, each full warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional common share of the Company at $0.10 for five years from closing.

The proceeds of the financing are intended to be spent on engineering and marketing of the Bayovar 12 Project and for general working capital purposes.

The securities referred to in this news release have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of such Act. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell, nor the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities. Any public offering of securities in the United States must be made by means of a prospectus containing detailed information about the company and management, as well as financial statements.

The Bayovar 12 Project

Bayovar 12 is located 40 km from the coast in the Sechura District of northern Peru, and hosts a large resource of highly-reactive sedimentary phosphate rock - a key raw material input for fertilizers and vital to world food production. The property is approximately 15 km northeast of the operating Miski Mayo Phosphate Mine, a JV between Vale, Mitsui and Mosaic. Focus is the majority owner in the Project through its 70% ownership of Juan Paolo Quay S.A.C., title holder of the Bayovar 12 mining concession.

In May 2016 Focus published an Independent NI 43-101 Prefeasibility Study on Bayovar 12 prepared by M3 Engineering, Golder Associates and International Mining Consultants. The Study demonstrates that a large-scale open pit mine producing 1MT per year of concentrates for use as direct application phosphate fertilizer has the potential to deliver impressive cash margins over an initial 20 year mine life, with payback in 3.9 years, a 26.3% IRR and after-tax NPV of $458 million (7.5% discount rate). The full report is available for review on the Company's website and at www.sedar.com.

Reactive phosphate rock from Sechura is a natural, slow-release source of phosphorus that can be applied directly to crops. Focus aims to supply direct application phosphate rock to the nearby agricultural regions of South and Central America, the fastest growing fertilizer market in the world. Natural, direct application phosphate rock contains no added chemicals and is absorbed into the earth more efficiently and safely than processed fertilizers, saving farmers money, providing better yields and helping to minimize environmental impacts.

Qualified Person

The information presented in this press release was reviewed by David Cass, a Director of Focus, who is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia, and a Qualified Person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101.

About Focus

For further information, please visit our web site www.focusventuresltd.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Simon Ridgway, Chief Executive Officer

Symbol: TSXV-FCV

Shares Issued: 132.2-million

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and include, without limitation, statements about the Company's Bayovar 12 project and the proposed financing. Often, but not always, these forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "estimate", "estimates", "estimated", "potential", "open", "future", "assumed", "projected", "used", "detailed", "has been", "gain", "upgraded", "offset", "limited", "contained", "reflecting", "containing", "remaining", "to be", "periodically", or statements that events, "could" or "should" occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations.

Forward-looking Statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and factors relate to, among other things, information regarding the Company's plans for the Bayovar 12 project; whether the financing will be completed as planned and whether the financing proceeds will be spent as planned; changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; the Company or any joint venture partner not having the financial ability to meet its exploration and development goals; risks associated with the results of exploration and development activities, estimation of mineral resources and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; unanticipated costs and expenses; and such other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's quarterly and annual filings with securities regulators and available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.

Forward-looking statements contained herein are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management, including but not limited to: that the Company's stated goals for the Bayovar 12 project will be achieved; that the financing will be completed as planned and that the financing proceeds will be spent as planned; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its properties; and such other assumptions as set out herein. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Tehran, Iran, Jan. 24

By Mehdi Sepahvand  Trend:

World Tourism Organizations Secretary General Taleb Rifai will attend an international convention of tour guides in Iran on Jan. 28, Trend correspondent reported from Tehran Jan. 24.

The event will bring together 300 tour guides from 50 countries.

Zahra Ahmadipour, head of Irans Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization, will give the inaugural speech.

The event is being held one year after the implementation of the nuclear deal, officially called the JCPOA, which ended years-long economic sanctions on Iran.

Official reports say since the deal was put into force, the number of the tourists coming from Europe to Iran has jumped by 50 percent.

Many hoteliers and famous hotel brands have also started talks with Iranian partners to enter the post-sanctions market.
About half of the states are facing budget shortfalls this fiscal year, but many governors are still pushing to cut taxes in their proposed 2018 budgets.The proposals vary in scope but generally fall within two categories: comprehensive and targeted.Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts' proposal is of the comprehensive variety and may be the most aggressive call for tax cuts so far. He is asking for property and personal income tax cuts to be phased in beginning in 2019 -- even as the state faces a $900 million budget gap. Property taxes would be reduced via a new valuation formula and income tax breaks would kick in incrementally and only in years when state revenue grows by more than 3.5 percent.On the whole, most of the comprehensive proposals are part of ongoing efforts."Many of these ideas are either follow-ons to things they've already done," said John Hicks, the National Association of Budget Officer's executive director. "Or they are things they hoped to do and haven't been able to yet."For instance, Maine Gov. Paul LePage is again proposing to expand the state's sales tax on services as a way to pay for income tax cuts. In the latest version, LePage has extended his sales tax proposal to include streaming services like Netflix and rental platforms like Airbnb.South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who, if approved, will be vacating her office to take over as the United Nations ambassador for the Trump administration, is pushing for a pared-down version of a previous income and corporate tax cut proposal.In Alaska, which faces a $3 billion budget shortfall, Gov. Bill Walker has toned down his previous efforts to overhaul the state's finances. He still wants to reduce citizens' annual bonus checks from the Alaska Permanent Fund and divert some of the fund's investment earnings into the state budget each year. But he has backed off previous proposals for a new state income tax, instead leaving a $900 million budget gap in his proposal for the legislature to fill.Meanwhile, some governors are taking a more targeted approach.Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb wants to exempt veterans' pensions from the income tax; Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson would cut taxes for low-income workers; and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to preserve planned tax cuts for the middle class.Only a few governors have pitched income tax hikes to fill holes in the budget.Cuomo is renewing his proposal for a millionaire's tax hike, which would help pay for that state's $3.5 billion budget deficit. In Montana, which is also facing a shortfall, Gov. Steve Bullock has proposed a tax hike on his state's wealthiest residents. And Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is proposing a new tax on capital gains to help pay for the state's court-mandated education funding increases.Outside of raising income taxes, some states are looking to excise or sin taxes to fill needs or budget deficits.Governors in California, Indiana and Tennessee have floated raising the gas tax to fund transportation projects. In recent years, roughly 20 other states have approved gas tax hikes to raise sorely needed money for infrastructure and overdue maintenance. Governors in Colorado and Nevada have pitched raising marijuana taxes, while Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is proposing an alcohol and cigarette tax hike.In both Colorado and Kansas, the tax increases would help cover projected budget deficits. That can be a dangerous habit, said Meg Wiehe of the progressive-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, because such tax increases tend to discourage consumption."Politically speaking they're low-hanging fruit," she said. "The problem in relying on this is it is a very unsustainable increase. When you increase taxes on cigarettes, smoking declines. If the motivation is for public health, then that's a different story. But if you're looking to address a short, medium or long-term budget hole ... it's a bad proposition."
Rep. Chris Corley, indicted on criminal domestic violence charges for beating his wife, resigned from his seat Tuesday as a resolution that called for his expulsion was about to hit the floor.The resolution would have been introduced by the chamber's most powerful member -- House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Darlington. Corley's resignation marks the third time in as many years that a House member has resigned under a cloud.But shortly after news broke Tuesday that Lucas was preparing to introduce the resolution, Corley faxed in his resignation shortly before 1 p.m. Had Corley been expelled from the House, it would have marked the first time in modern history that chamber took the drastic measure of booting one of their own.Lucas said in a statement that he was grateful the House did not have to take "such extraordinary measures" to expel Corley. He later added that his decision to introduce the resolution was based on the allegations against Corley, which Lucas said did not meet the "minimally accepted conducted of a member of this body.""I don't think I can ever place a member above the integrity of this institution," Lucas said. "(Expulsion) is only to be used in extreme situations."The resolution would been sent to the House Ethics Committee, though there was a planned effort to pull it directly to the floor for immediate consideration.House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, said he would have voted in favor of having Corley expelled if the resolution had been put up for a vote."Not only would I have supported (the resolution), I believe he would've been expelled if it had come to a vote," Rutherford said. "His situation distinguishes itself with the phone call that we were able to hear from 911 with his kids in the background. That is something that is intolerable to me and intolerable to most in this body."Corley's colleagues had been growing anxious over his fate in recent weeks. Several legislators told The State newspaper that repeated efforts to reach Corley had been unsuccessful. Lucas said his office had been in contact with Corley's attorney but declined to barter over the condition of his resignation.Lucas' resolution would have placed Corley's fate as a legislator in his colleagues' hands. Two-thirds of the House would have to vote in favor of the resolution to have him expelled. But getting kicked out wouldn't have prevented Corley from getting re-elected in a special election.The majority of the chamber's members were relieved Tuesday to have the issue resolved. Rep. Neal Collins, who was elected the same year as Corley, in 2014, said he would have voted for Corley's expulsion."I think, for the good of the House, it was a good and needed move that Representative Corley decided to resign, and I hope that he and his family can move past this," said Collins, R-Pickens.Corley was arrested Dec. 27 on charges of first-degree criminal domestic violence, which is a felony, and pointing and presenting a firearm at his wife in the presence of two of their children, ages 2 and 8, an incident report states. He was later indicted by a county grand jury on the most serious tier of domestic charges, criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature.Corley, 36, could spend 20 years in prison on the aggravated domestic violence charge.Since his indictment, the majority leaders of both the Senate and the House called for his resignation. Corley was suspended from the House on Jan. 4.Just a few weeks later, he was accused of an "escalating pattern" of domestic violence during his bond hearing on Jan. 18 by a prosecutor.It was revealed in court that Corley's wife, who The State newspaper is not naming, confronted him about a text message that led her to believe he was having an affair, said Assistant Attorney General Kinli Abee. Corley then threw his wife on the bed and began punching her, Abee said.His wife said Corley had grabbed a Smith & Wesson handgun from a vehicle outside their home and pointed it at her, according to the report. That happened after his punch drew blood, she said.The former lawmaker then went into a bedroom after saying he "was going to kill himself," his wife, 37, told deputies. As Corley headed for the bedroom, his wife and the children ran to her mother's house across the street, the report states. Her mother also called 911.
President Donald Trump directed federal workers Wednesday to start building a border wall and begin punishing so-called sanctuary cities and is considering dramatically limiting the flow of people from other countries, including a ban on Syrian refugees, in a flurry of steps that could fundamentally reshape how the U.S. deals with immigration, security and the war on terrorism.Trump signed two executive orders designed to begin building the wall, add lockups for detaining immigrants who cross the border illegally, enhance enforcement power for border agents and strip federal funding to cities that refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement."Reform of our immigration system has been at the top of President Trump's priorities since he announced his candidacy," spokesman Sean Spicer said early Wednesday afternoon. "We'll enforce the rule of law and restore value to the American citizenship."Trump said construction would begin as soon as possible and that the U.S. would pay for it, to be eventually reimbursed by Mexico, which has said it will not pay."There will be a payment. It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form," Trump said in an interview with ABC News.He did not detail how he would force Mexico to pay for the wall, though during the campaign he proposed ending remittances sent home by Mexicans in the U.S., which make up a large part of the Mexico's economy, to pressure it to negotiate.Trump is mulling a range of additional activity. It includes stopping admission of Syrian refugees and severe restrictions on travel from several majority-Muslim countries. Additionally, he is considering a reversal of President Barack Obama's efforts to shutter the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the reintroduction of torture techniques and secret overseas prisons designed to strip protections for terrorism suspects.All of those options fit Trump's broad campaign promises to crack down on people entering the country illegally, with an emphasis on those who he believes might harm Americans. Trump argued repeatedly during the campaign that the U.S. had become too "politically correct" to effectively defend itself.Trump administration officials were still deciding on the exact timing for announcing the rest of the new policies.The batch of actions Trump is contemplating amount to a clear repudiation of Obama's view, as well as that of many in the international community, that the U.S. abandoned some of its commitment to human rights in the early years of the war on terrorism and doing so helped terrorist groups recruit and win favor. Some of that thinking had begun to take shape in the Bush administration, which initiated the policy of moving detainees out of Guantanamo Bay and often underscored that the fight against terrorism was not religious-based.Obama pointed to a lack of Sept. 11-style terrorist attacks on U.S. soil during his administration as evidence that his approach worked. Yet Trump won the election in part because many Americans continue to feel vulnerable.But it all begins with the wall. Trump built his campaign largely on a call for stricter immigration enforcement, his central promise a vow to build the wall on the border with Mexico. Though it evoked cheers from his supporters at campaign rallies, his divisive rhetoric stoked fears among immigrants.Trump previewed his executive action Tuesday night, tweeting : "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"The first order signed by Trump directs the agency to begin building the wall, but still requires Congress to approve the estimated billions of dollars in funding to construct the 2,000-mile-long barrier. In the meantime, the Homeland Security budget includes about $175 million set aside for upgrading Border Patrol buildings and adding new equipment, which along with other funds could be diverted quickly to start construction.Details from one version of the directive reviewed by the Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau would include a requirement that the agency publicly detail aid it is giving to Mexico _ highlighting Trump's pledge to force that country to pay for the wall. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is scheduled to visit the White House next week to discuss trade, another Trump priority.The memo also includes language allowing federal law enforcement to access federal land for border security, a possible attempt to head off environmental lawsuits that could hold up construction. It would also prioritize border prosecutions and referrals to the Department of Justice.The second action withholds funds to punish sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with immigration officials. It includes directions for aggressive interior immigration enforcement and an advocacy office for victims of crimes committed by those in the country illegally. Relatives of those victims were often onstage with Trump during campaign rallies.Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a close ally of the new administration, telegraphed the sanctuary cities announcement during a speech Wednesday to the conservative Heritage Foundation. He called it a "common-sense" action that would "drive the left crazy."Beyond those actions, Trump is also looking at new restrictions on refugees and visitors, to follow through on his campaign promise to bar Muslims from entering the country for a period of time. That pledge has been one of Trump's most polarizing, drawing criticism from leaders in his own party, along with Democrats and security experts, but approval from many of his supporters.One memo he is reviewing would block all refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days and restrict admissions and some visa applicants for people from countries where the U.S. has counterterrorism concerns, not only Syria but also Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.The draft order temporarily suspends the U.S. refugee program while new vetting procedures are put in place and officials decide whether refugees from some countries should be blocked permanently from admission. This step would likely arouse an international outcry, given the historic role that the U.S. and other industrialized nations have long held in taking in victims of war and oppression.The draft orders the U.S. stop admitting refugees from Syria indefinitely until a review of security screening is complete. Trump also instructed the secretaries of state and defense to come up with a plan to create "safe areas" in Syria and nearby countries where Syrians could wait for resettlement. That could open the U.S. military to deeper engagement in the Middle East.In addition, the Department of Homeland Security would review how visas are issued and whether some countries should be required to provide more information before their citizens are allowed entry to the U.S., according to the draft order. The results of that review could allow Trump to block or slow visa issuance to countries with large Muslim populations or with terrorism concerns, a de facto ban on Muslims.The order goes beyond the Muslim world, however, creating new restrictions on visitors from some of America's closest allies. It would suspend the visa waiver program _ widely used by citizens from 38 countries, including most European countries, Australia, Japan and Chile _ which grants citizens of those countries a 90-day tourist visa after they submit their biographical information to a screening check. The new policy would require in-person interviews for most citizens from those countries.Trump is also considering lifting restrictions on harsh interrogations and renewing the use of secret overseas sites to hold terrorism suspects, both widely seen as dark chapters of the post-9/11 era, as he looks to follow through on his campaign promise to ramp up targeting of Islamic militants.During the campaign, Trump repeatedly said he would bring back waterboarding and other harsh tactics that were part of the so-called enhanced interrogation program, which was installed after the Sept. 11 attacks and widely considered a stain on the CIA's record. A Senate Intelligence Committee report in 2014 concluded that the torture methods diminished U.S. standing in the world and failed to produce significant intelligence.Aides have prepared executive actions to lift bans on both, according to a draft document being circulated. Spicer denied that it was a White House document.Trump is expected to ask national security officials to review what interrogation methods are allowed under the Army Field Manual. Techniques that go beyond what the manual allows were outlawed by Congress in 2014.He could also order the CIA to consider bringing back the use of so-called black sites for secretly holding terrorism suspects, a practice Obama banned in 2009, as well as sending detainees to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.Trump's CIA director, Mike Pompeo, repeatedly told senators at his confirmation hearing that he would not restart the CIA's use of secret prisons and would refuse any orders from the White House to torture suspects. The CIA and the military's Joint Special Operations Command are expected to play a major role in increasing attacks on Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, a priority for Trump. During his inaugural address, Trump promised to "eradicate from the face of the Earth" Islamic terrorist groups like Islamic State and al-Qaida.
Description

GIS - 25 January, 2017: Mauritius remains a privileged partner for India and has so far benefitted from special dispensation in various spheres namely, the most flexible modality regarding developmental finance; most favourable Nation in tax matters; and special dispensation for the Overseas Citizen of India card.

This statement was made this morning by the High Commissioner of India to Mauritius, Mr Abhay Thakur, following a courtesy call on the newly appointed Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, at the New Treasury Building in Port Louis.

Mr Abhay Thakur expressed his appreciation regarding his fruitful meeting with Prime Minister Jugnauth which he said was cordial and very productive. He congratulated the newly appointed Prime Minister and conveyed a letter of congratulations from his counterpart, the Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi.

The High Commissioner reiterated the invitation extended by Shri Narendra Modi to Prime Minister Jugnauth for an official visit to India. He also spoke of strengthening further the relations between the two countries while at the same time reinforcing cooperation in several areas including trade and investment.

On that score a business delegation from the Confederation of the Indian Industry and pharmaceutical companies will visit Mauritius in February to tap investment opportunities in Mauritius.

Both parties also discussed about the ongoing cooperation initiatives as well as the way forward towards cementing the relationships between the two countries. The possible financing modalities for future projects was also evoked whereby the High Commissioner stated that India will assist Mauritius in its developmental phase in accordance with the priorities of the Mauritian Government.
Description

GIS  25 January 2017 : During a visit this morning at the Subramania Bharati Eye Hospital in Moka, the new Minister of Health and Quality of Life, Dr Anwar Husnoo, named the improvement of the quality of health care as his main priority.

Underpinning enhanced health care quality are training of medical and paramedical staff, better treatment and modern infrastructure, upon which we should concentrate, and the rest will follow, said the Minister.

In Moka, Dr Husnoo met with Professor Wajid Ali Khan, Chief Consultant, and Dr Sultan Asif Kiani, Assistant Professor Ophthalmology, both from Al Shifa Trust Eye Hospital of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, who are presently in Mauritius to carry out voluntary ophthalmic operations. The Minister commended the two eye specialists who, since their first visit in 2008, have examined some 3,000 patients and operated on 450 complex ophthalmic cases.

Following discussions with the Al Shifa specialists, which focused on the direction for ophthalmology services in Mauritius, Dr Husnoo stated that the course of action in the ophthalmology sector will be geared towards a blindness prevention programme and provision of specialised training.

According to the Minister, with the trend towards increased sub-specialisation in ophthalmology, it is critical for local doctors to acquire the relevant skills and competence. Our objective, he said, is to have in the coming years a pool of sub-specialists in ophthalmology to undertake complex surgical procedures locally.

For his part, Professor Wajid Ali Khan pointed out that the main ophthalmic problem in Mauritius is due to diabetes. He cautioned that in the future, the problem will become more dominant. It is the right time to make a plan for future years on how we can go about it, how to treat the illness at the very early stages so that blindness is avoided, said the Professor.

Professor Ali praised the local ophthalmologists for their remarkable work and recalled that during the visit in Mauritius, the Pakistani team has been able to learn from their Mauritian colleagues as well as share experiences. He also spoke of the strong relationship between Mauritius and Pakistan in the field of ophthalmology, and gave the assurance of continued assistance and help when required.

In July 2012, the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life and Al Shifa Trust Eye Hospital of Pakistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further strengthen the existing cooperation in the field of ophthalmology for a period of five years. The MoU provides, among others, for the Al Shifa team to operate on complex cases on a voluntary basis using state-of-the-art technology and new techniques available in Mauritius, and training of local surgeons and nursing staff during surgeries.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25

By Emil Ilgar  Trend:

Irans oil export to the EU reached 767,000 barrels per day (b/d) in December, or 10 percent more than in November 2016.

According to official statistics from the Oil Ministrys OPEC Affairs Department, Turkey, Italy, Spain and Greece imported 287,000 b/d of Irans oil in December.

Currently, Iran has long term oil deals with Frances Total, Italys Saras, Greeces Hellenic Petroleum, Russias Lukoil, Spains Cepsa and Turkeys Tupras to export oil.

These companies get 60 percent of Irans total oil export to the EU, Mehr reported Jan. 25.

Iran also sells spot oil to nine European companies, including OMV, Lotos, BP, PKN Orlen, Vitol Repsol, MOL Group and Shell.
(TNS) -- When the Independence Utilities Center opened late last year on 23rd Street near R.D. Mize Road in a former medical office building, the city also now had a vacant building on its hands.The Water Department offices and a customer service center had been at the northwest corner of Truman Road and Forest Avenue. Tom Lesnak, president of the Independence Council for Economic Development, believes that building is ideal for a technology and small business center.In a presentation Monday to the City Council, Lesnak proposed a partnership with the city to repurpose what he calls the "Blu Building." It sits on the opposite corner from the EDC's Ennovation Center, in the former hospital building that also houses the Independence School District central offices.The proposal includes a renovation of about $200,000 to update the building - which is about 10,000 square feet and was built in 1964 - and the city would retain ownership while the EDC would manage it during a five-year, no-cost lease. The EDC would provide business support services, and the city's operating expenses would be phased out toward the EDC over the five years. The city would continue to provide gigabit internet service to the building.The EDC's goal, Lesnak said, is to build on the momentum of the Ennovation Center's business-technology incubator. Some start-ups are ready for more growth before striking out into their own space, but the Ennovation Center's biz-tech portion - the center also has food start-ups - is at capacity. All told, the Blu Building could provide functional workspace for about 50-75 people."The Ennovation Center has limitations," Lesnak said. "We provide hands-on service, but this is for businesses a little further down the line."Lesnak said funding possibilities could include Missouri Technology Corporation grant money, city enterprise funds that have paid for the building in years past, and Community Development Block Grant funds. Last year, the Independence City Council approved $600,000 in CDGB funds as incentive for an estimated $2.4 million building that would be a food-grade manufacturing facility for the EDC. But no private developer materialized, and the money was remitted back to the city, Lesnak said.STRATEGIC PLAN: City Manager Zach Walker outlined the Strategic Plan 2017-2021 that likely will be approved by resolution next week by the City Council. Walker, new assistant city managers Lauren Palmer and Mark Randall and the city staff had spent the past couple months compiling the plan, and Mayor Eileen Weir and the council had invited the public to attend Monday's meeting, resulting in unusually full council chambers for a study session.
Making connections

Non-traditional labs

Just last year, the city of Seattle handed out $320,000 in support of 10 community-based IT projects. And it was thanks to the Technology Matching Fund, which was founded in 1997 and has awarded over $4.2 million to 302 projects since 2008.Looking back over the past year, and across two decades of community-IT funding, program leaders see a changing landscape. While access to Internet remains a priority, it is no longer the driving need behind these projects.There is more Internet for everybody and it is getting cheaper. Issues of cost are no longer the primary barrier in Seattle. The battle has shifted to skills and knowledge. People dont know how to use the Internet effectively, said Jim Loter, director of digital engagement, a division within Seattle IT. The challenge now is in adoption, actually getting people to use the Internet effectively.The citys most recent survey, conducted in 2014, showed 85 percent of residents have some access to the Internet. Though that doesnt solve the matter entirely, it does free up community leaders to focus on schemes that look beyond matters of connectivity.That broader scope is evident among the 2016 grantees, with projects that put an increasing emphasis on the interpersonal nature of IT adoption.Take for instance the Coalition for Refugees from Burma, which received $34,040 for a tech training program run in partnership with the Somali Youth and Family Club. In immigrant communities, there is a need to have a trusted partner, a person who understands your needs, said Delia Burke, the citys technology matching fund manager.In this case, the recipient is teaming with other groups to sponsor family talk times. They bring people in, they have food," she said, "and through that one-on-one connection, they are giving people technology skills that meet that need."In addition to building skills, the training engages parents with their kids tech-related academic needs, including Internet research and email for communication with teachers.The 2016 recipients also showed a trend toward incorporating IT literacy as part of a larger service offering, moving beyond connectivity for its own sake.An advocacy group for homeless youth, New Horizons drew $10,560 in funding for a program to train young people on Microsoft Office products, offering certification in partnership with Seattle Public Library.People will go to organizations to find resources, to help them find a job. That in turn can give them an introduction to the technology, Burke said. If they get some basic computer training along with these other services, that can be a very effective combination. In this case young people come in for basic needs, they may come in for a place to stay, but then they have also developed a small computer lab where kids can get certified in Microsoft Office.Other grantees also focus on at-risk youth, including the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, which won $40,000 for a six-week summer university program serving 60 African-American middle- and high-school students. The Naah Illahee Fund also looked at an underserved population, winning $13,240 to support a year-long coding club for young women.Program managers say another emerging trend has to do with a shift away from the traditional computer lab. The project by El Centro de la Raza is typical of the new approach: That group won $43,000 to develop a mobile computer lab as a way to engage more effectively with low-incoming youth and seniors who might not be able to travel to a conventional computer lab.In the static computer lab, people might take a class, but that information didnt necessarily stay with them, said Loter, adding that mobile labs are more convenient and can be augmented by programs that allow people to check out tablets in order to further develop their skills at home. Now they have ways to follow up, so that the learning actually sticks.The Seattle Housing Authority is working along these lines with its Full Life Care program. It drew $44,640 in funding to support this effort, which aims to make mobile computer labs available to provide access and training in nine public housing communities.People really need technology where they live and where they work and where they are. So its an evolution away from the old model where people go to a place to learn the technology, Burke said. That is a critical need in public housing.Looking ahead, the matching-fund organizers say they would like to see more work along the lines of the New Horizons effort, where training leads not just to literacy, but to some tangible outcome.If someone walks out of a digital literacy program, they may know how to use computers, but they may have trouble translating that onto a resume, Loter said. So how do we take this digital literacy ecosystem up to the next level? Wed like there to be a way for organizations to do that, to develop common curricula or common credentialing that carries meaning and carries weight in the private sector.Applications for Seattles 2017 matching grants will be due in the spring.
(TNS) - Threats to the United States are sometimes made in peoples bathtubs or basements, according to members of the FBI who were in town Tuesday to educate the regions emergency responders about how to identify potential dangers.The training assists first responders to identify hazards they may find during their usual duties, Capt. Alexander Wild, medical operations officer for the 11th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team in Waterville, said during a break in the two-day training at Eastern Maine Community College.Areas of focus include biological threats, explosive and toxic chemicals, drug lab identification, the emerging threat of agri-terrorism and lessons learned from the Boston bombing, said Susan Faloon, spokeswoman for the Maine Emergency Management Agency, which hosted the event with the Maine Guard.FBI educators spent Tuesday breaking down the different threats  and what you might run across, Maj. Nehemiah Nattress, deputy commander for the 11th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, said Tuesday.Emergency responders are key to identifying emerging dangers to domestic security, he said.[With] hillbilly laboratories, its not like in Breaking Bad with all the [laboratory] glass, its what you can get in Home Depot and Lowes, Nattress said. There is so many odd little materials that you might run across. It helps a lot if you know the ingredients and you can say, That is not meth. Theyre making explosives, and I need to back away.There are ways to make chemical and biological threats that are like making bathtub gin, he said. And such simple methods have been used in domestic attacks.For an example, Nattress cited the biological threat found in castor beans that contain the poison ricin. Ricin was extracted from the beans and used to taint letters that were sent in April 2013 to the president and a senator from Mississippi.The poison is lethal in tiny doses if inhaled or ingested, and there is no antidote. Fortunately, the letters were intercepted before reaching their target.Nattress also pointed out how fertilizer was used as a weapon in the April 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.There are fairly innocuous substances out there that can be made into weapons, he said.Emergency responders may come across grains or materials, and they may not know what they are, [but] if they can look around and see the other precursors, they will know if its a clandestine lab, Wild said.Fake clandestine labs were set up in the back of the training area in Bangor, so the 200 or so firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians, law enforcement trainees, college and university security officers, teachers and hospital staff at the training session could see firsthand what to be on the lookout for. Attendees came from all over New England.Theyre all taking away something different depending on their scope, Wild said of attendees. The police departments pretty much already know about meth labs, but they may not know as much about explosives.Hospital staff attended because they also run their own decontamination  and they need to be aware of hazards and how to prepare, Wild said.The second part of the training was to make connections between the regions emergency responders and the FBI who would partner together if a major emergency occurred or a weapon of mass destruction was discovered, according to Special Agent Chuck Cabral, the weapons of mass destruction coordinator for the FBI Boston Division.We all work together. Teamwork is our No. 1 initiative, Cabral said. We are educating these folks about what we have [for resources]. Now, they are capable of calling  and we can call in federal assistance free of charge, of course.What is different nowadays is that you can go online and you can get step-by-step instructions to the process of how this stuff is made, Nattress said.This is a real threat because, unfortunately, people are doing this in the United States, he said. The FBI wants this information out there to first responders to make them safe, and in turn, make us all safe.2017 the Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine)Visit the Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine) at www.bangordailynews.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
1. Coding to Meet the Language Requirement

2. Driving AV Home  or Not

3. Protecting Data and Privacy

State lawmakers are poised to start new legislative cycles  cycles that will no doubt bring some new and exciting tech issues to the fore. From how the benefits and challenges around autonomous vehicles are negotiated to how agencies procure next-gen IT systems, the 2017 session could be the most tech-focused in the collective history of state government.The key themes are a direct reflection of whats happening in the public and private sectors. New technology is changing the way government interacts with massive companies to purchase mission-critical tools and protect citizens privacy when it comes to data  and the technology once limited to Hollywood blockbusters is making its way onto the streets of major cities across the country.One Florida senator plans to reintroduce legislation that would allow students to apply coding classes to school language requirements. In 2016 , the legislation passed in the Senate by a large margin, only to be shot down in the House. Critics have said the proposal would detract from the cultural benefits associated with learning a foreign language. But Sen. Jeff Brandes, author of Senate Bill 104 , said the option only makes sense given the prominence of coding as an international language.This is a bill that we have been kicking around in the Legislature for a couple of years, but I think this is the year to get it passed the finish line. Our new employers value coding as much as they value French or Latin, Brandes told. It is a language, as foreign as Latin to some, and so we think that we should consider it a foreign language and give college credit for it, or give high school credit and have colleges accept that as a foreign language credit.Under the legislation, high schools would not be required to offer the option, but state universities would be required to recognize the credits. Parents and students would be obliged to sign a statement saying they understand the implications of taking the coding courses. If passed in both the Senate and the House, the legislation would take effect July 1, 2017, but high schools would not begin offering the optional courses until the 2019/2020 school year.Autonomous vehicles (AV) have received a polarizing reaction in the regulatory space since they first drove onto the scene. On the one hand, public safety advocates have expressed concern about the technologys readiness for public roadways; business and technology advocates, however, have lobbied for less restriction in order to advance the vehicles.In California, Assembly Bill 87 and Senate Bill 145 propose amending the California Vehicle Code, which moves for certain restrictions of autonomous vehicles. Under the bills, manufacturers would be required to submit applications to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The applications would be evaluated and approved or denied by the department based on clarifications within the bills language.In Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder signed a four-bill package (SB 995-998) in early December 2016 meant to bolster the states competitive draw for AV manufacturers and their customers. The set of new laws effectively greenlit the purchase of the cars for use on public roadways, as well as the ability for ride sharing companies to deploy the vehicles when they become available. The package was reportedly an update to a similar 2013 law,In Washington state, lawmakers have proposed a bill that would place strict limitations on government surveillance and what lawmakers call extraordinary sensing devices. House Bill 1102 draws distinct lines in the sand around the types of data collection and the cases in which law enforcement can use certain devices. Among the finer points of the bill, lawmakers outline the need for the state CIO to construct a website where the public can access the written policies and procedures associated with this legislation.Californias Senate has also broached the issue with Senate Bill 21 , which would make the use of surveillance technology and the data collected a public conversation. Under the proposal, each law enforcement agency would be required to notify the public and hold hearings to disclose the technology being used and the types of data being collected. The bill would take effect July 1, 2018, if passed in both the Senate and House.Washington state is not unfamiliar with the larger technology/privacy conversation: It created the Office of Privacy of Privacy and Data Protection by executive order in early 2016 to better digest data uses issues for citizens and state agencies.In the data protection vein, House Bill 1421 , a consumer safety bill authored by Rep. Norma Smith, R-Clinton, places limitations on the retention of constituent payment credentials by government agencies. If enacted, the legislation would require the elimination of the information by July 1, 2020.Its about constraining how agencies and how long they can keep payment credentials, Smith told. One of the key issues we have as we become more dependent on data collection to do our business, the thing we have to be diligent about is protecting that data. We dont want government storing any more data than they absolutely need to in order for those agencies to do their jobs and provide that customer service most effectively.Smith said the issues of privacy and customer protection have been and will remain bipartisan issues for Washington legislators.
(TNS) -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security requested documents Tuesday from state officials after they alleged that the federal agency tried to hack into the Georgias voter registration system The request from the agencys inspector general is the first after Georgia congressman Jody Hice and Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, requested an independent review.They made that request after Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp said the agency had not been forthcoming in explaining what happened. Kemp said last month that security scans had found several attempted intrusions, which the states cyber security experts flagged as suspicious.David Dove, the chief of staff and legal counsel in the Secretary of States Office, confirmed the request during a hearing Tuesday before the state House Science and Technology Committee.Homeland Security officials have claimed a federal contractor based in Georgia used an agency computer to perform routine background checks of job applicants and that there was no malicious intent in the checks.Kemp has been at odds with Homeland Security over other issues, including former agency head Jeh Johnsons decision earlier this month to designate U.S. election systems as critical infrastructure. Kemp at the time called it a provocative but predictable decision and said he was completely opposed to this blatant overreach and will continue to fight to keep election systems under the control of state government where it belongs. Dove said the state is among those requesting that the administration of President Donald Trump rescind the critical infrastructure designation. Some committee members, however, challenged Dove over what they said were Kemps politicizing of his disagreement with Homeland Security.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25

Trend:

Iran will not consider the demands of the Syrian opposition to withdraw Hezbollah and Iranian militias from Syria as the demands are "mean and weak," Sputnik quoted Irans Deputy Foreign Minister for African and Arab Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari as saying Jan. 25.

We will not consider these claims and respond to them, as these are mean and week statements of the parties, which brought upon themselves, the Syrian people and the entire Middle East region misery and woe, one after the other, Ansari said.

Earlier, Mohammed Alloush, head of the armed opposition delegation to the talks in Astana, said Iran could not play any role in the Syrian settlement.

We do not consider these statements [as they] do not correspond to reality. We try our best with our partners of Russia and Turkey to put an end to this misery and begin a new phase of life in Syria, whose people have the full right to decide the future of the country, he added.
F1's new Liberty Media era is good news for "traditional" race hosts like Germany, new sport managing director Ross Brawn says.

Germany will not host a race in 2017, after talks with now former F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone broke down.

So as F1's new Liberty Media era began in earnest this week, German race hosts the Nurburgring and Hockenheim sounded more upbeat about the future.

"We are still keen to host a German grand prix at the Nurburgring," new managing director Mirco Markfort told Bild newspaper.

And Hockenheim's Georg Seiler said: "I have heard that the new owners attach great importance to tradition. In this respect, I am looking forward to talks for the period from 2019."

Indeed, Brawn indicated that Germany cannot expect to be an eleventh hour addition to the 2017 calendar.

"Not that I know of. I don't think there will be any changes," he told Auto Motor und Sport.

"But what I will say is that Germany is a traditional race, and we want to protect and preserve the legacy of formula one. Because it is one of the strengths of the sport," Brawn added.

(GMM)
F1 will relocate from Bernie Ecclestone's current offices in London, new CEO Chase Carey has announced.

Speaking to the media as he swept into power, replacing long-time F1 'supremo' Ecclestone, Carey said: "We will not be able to run the business from Bernie's offices. They are too small."

Replacing Ecclestone, 86, are Carey and managing directors Ross Brawn (sport) and Sean Bratches (commercial).

Referring to Ecclestone's 6 Princes Gate, Knightsbridge headquarters, Carey told the Daily Mail: "There isn't even room there for me now. We will find somewhere else.

"I am living here most of the time in an apartment in central London, and formula one will still be based in the United Kingdom."

Sources report that although Ecclestone said he is being "deposed" but staying on board as honorary chairman, the diminutive Briton was still at work this week.

Carey said: "It will be up to us where and when his advice is of help and appropriate."

And he told the Sun newspaper: "Bernie is a one-man team -- it was not right in today's world."

(GMM)
Tehran, Iran, Jan. 25

By Mehdi Sepahvand  Trend:

In the first session of the new Congress, US Republican Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Todd Young (R-IN) and John Cornyn (R-TX) reintroduced the Iran Non-Nuclear Sanctions Act, a legislation that would impose harsh financial and economic sanctions countering Irans non-nuclear activities, Rubios official website reported.

I look forward to working with the new administration to hold Iran fully accountable for both its non-nuclear and nuclear threats, Rubio said.

This legislation would impose real consequences on Iran, said Young.

Its time Congress and our new President impose real economic consequences for Irans actions, Cornyn said.

The GOP senators, who had introduced the same bill last December, slammed the administration of former President Barack Obama for not adopting adequate measures against Iran.

The bill comes despite the fact that under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), struck between Iran and the group 5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, plus Germany) in 2015, no further sanctions are to be imposed on Iran since the Implementation Day of the deal (January 16, 2016).

The Iran Non-Nuclear Sanctions Act would:
Tehran, Iran, Jan. 25

By Mehdi Sepahvand  Trend:

Irans Deputy Oil Minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia has said US President Donald Trump brings potential for engagement and partnership.

There is a great potential for President Trump as a non-conventional politician to review and revise the situation and see that there is great benefit both for the US, for American people, for creating jobs there, revitalizing the oil and gas business there. Theres great potential for engagement and partnership in Iran for American companies, Zamaninia told CNN January 25.

As an oil and gas official, I hope we can de-couple politics from economic cooperation. We would very much like to see the primary sanctions lifted, the deputy oil minister said.

He said despite concerns about US-Iran relations during the presidency of Trump, he does not foresee a conflict.

We see a lot of indication that there is a departure in the current administration from the campaign slogans and we dont see a conflict coming up.

During his presidential campaign, Trump spoke harshly about Iran, criticizing the then incumbent US administration for striking a nuclear deal with Tehran and stating he would tear the deal.
The California Energy Commission and California Air Resources Board released the annual Joint Agency Staff Report on Assembly Bill 8: 2016 Assessment of Time and Cost Needed to Attain 100 Hydrogen Refueling Stations in California. The 2016 Joint Report updates the time and cost assessments to design, permit, construct, and make hydrogen refueling stations operational and open retail for the stations funded under the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (ARFVTP).

As of 5 December 2016, California has 25 open retail stations selling hydrogen for use as a transportation fuel with 23 more open retail stations under development. Combined with two additional California Air Resources Board-funded stations that are open non-retail (in Harbor City and at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA)), Californias hydrogen refueling station network comprises 50 stations. When the 2015 Joint Report was published, six stations were open retail.
Two years after states around the country passed an unprecedented number of police reforms after the killing of George Floyd, some are struggling to make the new policies stick. The momentum for change has slowed from its earlier frenetic pace. Some of the reforms have been rolled back or at least tweaked after police complained that the new policies were hindering their ability to catch criminals. Legal experts say police killings of Black people over the last decade  epitomized by Floyds killing  have altered the trajectory of policing. But change has come about unevenly in thousands of police departments across the U.S.
Tehran, Iran, January 25

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the chairman of the Iranian Parliaments National Security and Foreign Policy Commission has arrived in Pakistan on an official three-day visit.

During his stay in Pakistan, he will meet with Pakistani Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and some other top officials of Pakistan, IRNA news agency reported January 25.

The Iranian parliamentarian will also submit an invitation from Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani to Rabbani and Sadiq to attend an upcoming conference on Palestine in Tehran.

Before departing for Pakistan, Boroujerdi stressed upon the need for more steps to strengthen Iran-Pakistan ties, hoping that his visit would play an important role in further boosting the bilateral ties.

He said that during his three-day visit, he will hold important meetings with Pakistani officials to discuss current regional security situation and further strengthening of cooperation in bilateral ties.

Boroujerdi said that having strong relations with Pakistan is an integral part of Iranian foreign policy.
Members of the Supreme Courts conservative majority are questioning the continued use of affirmative action in higher education. In lengthy arguments Monday, the justices wrestled with persistent, difficult questions of race. The justices heard from six different lawyers in challenges to policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard. Those policies consider race among many factors in evaluating applications for admission. One conservative justice likened affirmative action to giving some college applicants a head start in a footrace. But a liberal justice said universities are the pipelines to leadership in our society and suggested that without affirmative action minority enrollment will drop.
Taylor Swift scored a 10 out of 10 as she became the first artist in history to claim the top 10 slots of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
GREENSBORO  About 360 teachers with Guilford County Schools will receive merit bonuses in their Jan. 31 paycheck as part of a pilot program passed by the General Assembly in 2016.

The bonuses, approved as part of a state budget bill in July, reward work from the 2015-16 school year.

The extra money, covered by the state, totals nearly $660,000 for Guilford teachers who qualify. Those teachers could receive as little as $25, but some will get more than $8,000 under state guidelines, depending on the specific incentives for which they qualify.

While bonuses will be distributed in school systems across North Carolina, only a couple groups of educators are eligible: third-grade teachers, and high school teachers whose students take Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or career and technical certification exams. The roughly 360 teachers getting a bonus in Guilford County are a small portion of the nearly 5,000 teachers the school system employs.

The state is rewarding the third-grade teachers who have growth scores for reading in the top 25 percent for the state and for their school system. Each teacher is given a score based on the amount of progress, or growth, their students make as measured by standardized test scores. The bonus for scoring in the top 25 percent in the state is more than $3,000 per teacher, while the bonus for scoring in the top 25 percent for Guilford County Schools is about $5,000. Forty Guilford County Schools third-grade teachers qualified for both, while another five qualified for just the local portion. All of that money comes from the state.

High school teachers of relevant advanced classes are eligible for $50 for each student who receives a 3 or above in an AP exam, or a 4 or above for an IB or Diploma Programme exam. Career and technical education teachers of relevant classes are eligible for either $25 or $50 per student earning an industry certification or credential. The high school bonuses are capped at no more than $2,000 per teacher.

Nora Carr, the chief of staff for Guilford County Schools, said that, in general, the school system supports opportunities to reward effective teachers. She said she thinks the teachers getting the bonuses will be thrilled.

On the other hand, she said, the school system would definitely prefer a reward program available to a wider variety of teachers, not just these few narrow categories. Also, she said, teachers ideally would have some advance warning of a bonus, so they could work toward it.

This year we are rewarding staff for work they did last year when they didnt even know it was a possibility, Carr said.

The state guidelines require that teachers be still employed by the same school system, still teaching reading, or still teaching courses associated with AP, IB and CTE certification exams. Some who taught third grade last year, Carr said, may have switched grades this year before they learned of the bonus and thus forfeited a significant amount of money by doing so.

Guilford County Schools ended its local Mission Possible recruit and retain/reward bonuses last year after grant funding ran out.

The state bonuses this year are considered a pilot program. The State Board of Education is expected to study how the bonus program affects teacher performance and retention and report the results in March.

Carr said that with teacher pay in North Carolina lagging that of most other states and major staffing shortage issues for the school system, what Guilford County Schools would really love to see is both significant overall increases in salary for teachers and principals and then the addition of some more widely applicable merit bonuses on top.

I think some powerful things can start to happen at that point, she said.
Guilford Technical Community College will present Justice Not Seen for All: How Racial Bias Determines Capital Punishment Sentencing, a talk by Kimberly Cook, professor of sociology and criminology at UNC-Wilmington.

The talk will be held at noon Thursday in the Percy H. Sears Applied Technologies Center Auditorium on the Jamestown Campus, 601 E. Main St. The event is free and open to the public.

Cooks talk will cover her research on the racial disparities seen in the U.S. criminal justice system during capital punishment trials and sentencing and will compare and contrast how these crimes are investigated.

The event is presented by GTCCs Communication and Foreign Language Department and features local and regional speakers discussing issues related to the communication and foreign language disciplines.

For more information, call (336) 334-4822.

Graduating seniors can apply for scholarship

Scholarship opportunities for the academic year of 2017-18 are now available through the Aubrey Lee Brooks Foundation to graduating high school seniors residing in the counties of Alamance, Bertie, Caswell, Durham, Forsyth, Granville, Guilford, Orange, Person, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, Swain or Warren who plan to attend N.C. State, UNC-Chapel Hill or UNC-Greensboro.

Seventeen Brooks scholarships are awarded annually on the basis of financial need, academic standing, character and leadership. To complete the scholarship application, interested seniors must apply online through College Foundation of North Carolinas website at http://www.cfnc.org/brooks. To determine the applicants financial need, completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid is also required. Applications and supporting documents must be received by Jan. 31 to be considered.

For information, call (919) 248-4681.

Oak Ridge Youth Theatre to present play Saturday

The Oak Ridge Youth Theatre will perform The Night at the Wax Museum at 7 p.m. Saturday at Oak Ridge United Methodist Church, 2424 Oak Ridge Road in Oak Ridge.

The event is free; donations will be accepted to help youths who dont have enough food on weekends.

Complimentary desserts and drinks will be offered during intermission.

For information, visit www.oakridgeyouth theatre.com.

Annual fish fry is

Saturday in High Point

The 24th annual Warren T. Parris Fish Fry will be from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Springfield Friends Meeting, 555 E. Springfield Road in High Point.

Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for children 6 to 12.

The meal, dine in or take out, includes fried fish, cole slaw, hushpuppies, baked potato and a drink.

For more information, call (336) 884-8062.
Activities

The organization Lots of Love Community Volunteers celebrated 20 years of community outreach service by providing dinner on Dec. 24 to more than 240 elderly and home-bound Greensboro residents.

The meals were furnished by the organizations outreach ministry and John R. Rich.

The project was coordinated by Bonita R. and Burrell P. Brown III of Lots of Love Companions.

The meals were packaged and delivered by the Browns and these volunteers: Chris Allen, Donna Clapp, Walter Clinkscales, Crystal Dickens, Beverly Lee, Dennis Lee, Mia Lee, Sunny Lee, Tonia Pennington, Latroya Rogers, Velmora Taylor, Jocelyn Taylor and Jade Wayne.

Announcements

The Historic Korners Folly in Kernersville has a new restoration project.

In honor of the 120th anniversary of Cupids Park Theatre, an anonymous patron has donated the funds to have this theatre within Korners Folly restored. Work began in early January and is expected to take two months. Tours will continue while restoration is being completed.

Cupids Park Theatre has recognized as Americas First Private Little Theatre since the early 1900s. In 1897, Jule Korner renovated his home, Korners Folly, to transform his third floor billiards room into a theater space, adorning the room with cupid-themed murals by the famous German artist Caesar Milch.

One year earlier, his wife, Polly Alice Masten Korner established the Juvenile Lyceum, or Childrens Little Theater  a drama society where children in Kernersville, ages 7 to 13, were invited to create, rehearse, and perform on-stage performances.

Grants

The Housing Authority of the City of High Point is one of only nine public housing authorities nationwide to receive a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency for Education Program grant award in the amount of $156,938. The HPHA was the only applicant awarded a grant in N.C.

This two year grant will allow the HPHA to hire an education navigator to work with its public housing youths between the ages of 15 and 20 and their families in completing the FAFSA application, providing financial literacy and college readiness assistance, preparing college applications and providing post college acceptance assistance through community partnerships.

***

The North Carolina Veterinary Medical Association announced it awarded one of its five High Five Grants to the Guilford County Pet Responsibility Program. The program teaches fourth grade students in Guilford County the basic needs of pets, the importance of pet overpopulation prevention and how to handle encounters with unknown animals.

The responsibility program is a six-session educational program that serves as an integral part of participating schools Character Education Program. It is being taught in every fourth grade classroom in Guilford County. In addition to pet safety education, students are challenged to think deeply about responsibility and how simple decisions may affect their families and communities.

The program was based on the educational program developed by the Moore Citizens Pet Responsibility Committee in an effort to find a solution to pet overpopulation in Guilford County.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25

By Orkhan Quluzade  Trend:

Turkeys Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak will pay a working visit to Azerbaijan, Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Erkan Ozoral told Trend Jan. 25.

Albayrak is expected to take part in the third meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Advisory Council, to be held in Baku on Feb. 23.

Ozoral noted that Turkeys Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock Faruk Celik is also expected to visit Azerbaijan in February.

The ambassador said that Azerbaijani ministers are also expected to visit Turkey in 2017.

Meanwhile, preparation is underway for the sixth meeting of the Azerbaijan-Turkey High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, added the diplomat.

Invitations for participation in the meeting have been sent to energy ministers of countries involved in the Southern Gas Corridor  Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Albania and Bulgaria  as well as Balkan countries, European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic, heads of international financial institutions and representatives of other interested parties.

The SGC Advisory Council held its first meeting on Feb. 12, 2015, and the second meeting on Feb. 29, 2016.

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: @o_quluzade
GREENSBORO  A Superior Court judge sent jurors home shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday, an hour after they asked the judge whether they could deliberate on a lower charge in the trial of a man facing a first-degree murder charge.

The trial of Bertie McQueen went to jurors shortly before 2:30 p.m. McQueen, 35, faces charges of first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in the shooting death of 21-year-old Derrick Rogers, a father and culinary arts student at Guilford Technical Community College.

If jurors find McQueen guilty of first-degree murder, Superior Court Judge Bradford Long will sentence McQueen to life in prison. If convicted only of robbery with a dangerous weapon he faces 12 years in prison.

However, jurors late Tuesday sent a note to Long asking if they could sentence McQueen to second-degree murder with the robbery with a dangerous weapon charge.

State law defines first-degree murder as a crime that was premeditated and willful or results from a robbery, among other crimes. Second-degree murder occurs when someone is killed by another person. A robbery charge upgrades the offense to the first-degree charge.

Long told the jurors it is their job to decide whether the evidence proves McQueen committed first-degree murder and told them to read the jury instructions for guidance.

For three days, jurors listened to testimony that Rogers died in a white Cadillac De Ville while buying $2,000 worth of marijuana. McQueens co-defendant Damon Bell, who is charged with accessory after the fact, was also in the car.

Its absolutely ridiculous that a 21-year-old got killed for $2,000, Assistant District Attorney Veronica Edmisten told jurors during her closing arguments Tuesday morning.

Bell testified that he and McQueen drove to Northwinds Apartments on Lees Chapel Road in Bells car to meet with Rogers. Rogers and a friend were driving to the grocery store to buy food for a planned cookout when Rogers stopped to meet McQueen.

Bell said Rogers climbed into the backseat of Rogers car and McQueen handed Rogers a quarter-pound of marijuana. He said Rogers liked the quality but asked for a half-pound of the drug instead. Rogers, who supplied the drug for McQueen, said he added more marijuana to the purchase but did not have enough to fill Rogers order.

Bell said Rogers handed the marijuana back to McQueen and before anyone could react McQueen pulled out a handgun, said Look at my new ratch, (a slang term for handgun) and pulled the trigger.

Testimony from the N.C. office the Chief Medical Examiner indicated Rogers died of a gunshot wound to the heart fired at close range.

Bell said McQueen then turned his attention to him and told him to drive. Rogers body was still in the backseat as Bell drove and followed McQueens directions to Craven Street, Bell testified.

There, Bell said, he watched as McQueen pulled Rogers body from the backseat of the car into a parking lot in the pouring rain. Bell said he was then directed to drive McQueen to a housing development.

It would be two days before Bell learned Rogers was dead.

Bell said he went home, cried and smoked marijuana.

He later replaced the backseat, which contained a bullet hole, and then sold the car.

Meanwhile, Rogers cousin called police and told officers about the shooting. A resident on Craven Street found Rogers body in the parking lot and called police.

Greensboro Police Det. M.D. Matthews served as the lead detective on the homicide investigation.

After talking to witnesses he learned Rogers cellphone, the money, a cross on a chain and one of his shoes was no longer with the body. Matthews testified that none of these items have been found.

Matthews said he immediately ran cellphone records. A number had repeatedly called Rogers phone and sent him messages until the time of the shooting. Matthews asked a 911 operator to see if the number had ever placed an emergency call, and it had. The caller identified himself as McQueen.

Witnesses told Matthews about the white Cadillac. He began to look for ties to McQueen and learned that he and Bell claimed to be cousins and that Bell gave rides to McQueen, who did not own a car.

At that point, Bell had sold his Cadillac to a man in Richmond, Va.

Matthews testified that he found the new owner and searched the car. After pulling out the backseats of the car, Matthews said, he found a code on the bottom that led him to Durham where the seats had been replaced.

That number also then led him back to Bell.

Matthews said he attended Bells next probation meeting and asked him about Rogers death. Both Bell and Matthews testified that Bell initially denied his involvement. Within minutes though he told Matthews what had happened and that McQueen made him fearful of what would happen to his family, including his child, if he came forward.

McQueen denied his involvement in the shooting when Matthews interviewed him. He continues to deny any involvement in the death.

Robert McClellan, McQueens attorney, has repeatedly told the jury that it makes more sense that Bell shot Rogers and made up the story to cover his own crimes.

Can you trust a drug dealer? McClellan asked the jurors.

Bells charge is still pending in Superior Court. His testimony is not part of a plea deal.

McQueen chose not to testify during the hearing. The defense offered no witnesses or evidence.
GREENSBORO  A jury found a Greensboro man guilty of second-degree murder in the death of a Guilford Technical Community College student in 2013.

Bertie McQueen, 35, of 2818 Vanstory St., Apt. 2B, was facing first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in the shooting death of 21-year-old Derrick Rogers. He was also convicted of the robbery charge.

Rogers, a father and student at GTCC, was found shot to death on July 2, 2013, in the parking lot outside 1304 Craven St.

McQueens defense had been that he and Rogers were both present at the time of the shooting because of a drug deal.

A third man, 28-year-old Damon Jerel Bell, is charged with accessory after the fact and will serve as a witness for the prosecution. His case is still pending.

More details to come.
GREENSBORO  Two people were arrested and police are searching for two more after a man was assaulted this morning at Jake's Diner.

The assault happened at the restaurant at 2206 South Holden Road about 3:50 a.m., police said.

Officers were called to Jake's Diner about a fight in the parking lot involving the suspects and the victim, said Susan Danielsen, police spokeswoman.

The victim was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Danielsen said he sustained trauma to his head.

Two were detained, police said. They are still being interviewed, Danielsen said.

Officers are looking for two male suspects in connection to the crime.

Police ask anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at (336) 373-1000 or text the tip to 274637 using the keyword badboyz.
ASHEBORO  A Siler City man was arrested Monday in the October slaying of a woman.

William Edward Duty, 62, of 730 Willie Duncan Road, is charged in the Oct. 30 death of Jordan Whitney Baldwin, police said.

Baldwin, 29, was found fatally shot at the Matthew Grande Apartments at 2230 N. Fayetteville St. about 5:40 p.m., according to police. A second person was also shot.

Duty was jailed without bail.
GREENSBORO, N.C.  The Greensboro Grasshoppers made a play today to help a local food pantry restock.

According to a news release from the team, president and general manager Donald Moore presented Greensboro Urban Ministry with a check for $5,000 to purchase needed food items.

"Hunger and food insecurity create a terrible need in our community, and we thought it was the right thing to do to get involved and encourage others to step up so that our neighbors who need food can continue to receive help," Moore stated in the release. "This donation - and the tremendous support it represents - is such a blessing to the households who are counting on food assistance to make ends meet," said Rev. Myron W. Wilkins, GUM executive director. "We are thankful and grateful for the Grasshoppers' quick and generous response."

The Greensboro Grasshoppers are a key partner with the organization and Church World Service's annual CROP Hunger Walk, according to the release.

The Greensboro Urban Ministry on Monday called out to the community to help increase its supply of emergency food.

We have less than one weeks supply of food on our pantry shelves, Rev. Myron W. Wilkins, the organizations executive director, said in a news release. We dont want to suspend emergency food assistance, but that may be GUMs only choice. Our ability to help those in need is directly related to the communitys support.

The organization distributed nearly 50,000 pounds of food in the first business days in January, compared with about 59,000 pounds for all of January 2016.

The program serves an average of 102 households a day with food assistance, according to the release.

In 2016, Greensboro Urban Ministry gave 1,058,152 pounds of food to the community through the food pantry and the Potters House Community Kitchen, which serves lunch daily to anyone in need.

The most common foods needed include tuna or salmon, beef stew or Spam, peanut butter, greens, peas, corn, green beans, canned fruit, soups, dry milk, macaroni and cheese, bags of dry beans, rice, oatmeal, diapers, formula, baby food and Ensure.

Weve seen increases for emergency food assistance, as individuals and families are making tough decisions about how to make the little they have go as far as possible, said Tyra Clymer, Emergency Assistance Program director in the news release.

Greensboro Urban Ministry cites the Brookings Institution in stating that Greensboro was among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas of urban poverty in the nation in 2014 and 2016. Last year, the area is also ranked ninth-highest in the country in food insecurity issues, according to Food Research and Action Center.

Donated food is accepted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday, at Greensboro Urban Ministry, 305 W. Gate City Blvd. Donations can also be made at the organizations food donation boxes in local grocery stores, and financial donations can be made through the organizations website.

Greensboro Urban Ministry partners with the Boy Scouts and postal workers for food drives, as well as schools, businesses and civic groups.
New year. New governor. Same old issues.

Members of the N.C. House and Senate will reconvene in Raleigh Wednesday. This year is a long session, which happens in odd-numbered years. The General Assembly must approve a two-year budget for the state  in this case, 2017-19.

They're supposed to have the budget approved by July 1, but there is no proscribed date by which the annual session must end. And there's certainly precedent for it going into overtime.

Gov. Roy Cooper, a former state legislator, will offer his first budget proposal since becoming governor in November.

But Republicans, who control the House and the Senate, are unlikely to approve more spending. Sen. Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican who serves as leader of the Senate, said as much in his acceptance speech earlier this month.

We will not, under any circumstance, return to the failed tax and spend policies of the past, he said.

Top budget issues are likely to include:

Teacher pay: Cooper supports a pay plan that allows North Carolina teacher salaries to at least reach the national average. Berger has said only that that the Senate is committed to increasing todays average ($50,000) to $55,000 in the next two years. House Speaker Tim Moore has not proposed a specific plan.

Cooper supports a pay plan that allows North Carolina teacher salaries to at least reach the national average. Berger has said only that that the Senate is committed to increasing todays average ($50,000) to $55,000 in the next two years. House Speaker Tim Moore has not proposed a specific plan. Tax cuts: State revenues are already $322 million ahead of projections. Cooper would prefer that any tax reductions go to families with lower incomes.

That's all the legislators are required to do: pass the budget. But they'll definitely do more.

HB 2

Will state lawmakers repeal the controversial law that dictates which bathroom transgender people can use? Will they revise it? Or simply do nothing?

Cooper and most Democratic legislators want to repeal the law, which limits anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender residents, saying it has hurt the state's economy.

But the Republican's strong majority in both chambers makes that an unlikely proposition. What's more likely: tweaks that make the law less controversial.

Hurricane Matthew

In December, the previous legislature  led by then-Gov. Pat McCrory  unanimously passed a disaster relief bill totaling more than $200 million to help alleviate the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in flood-prone communities.

The bill, titled the Disaster Recovery Act of 2016, supplemented federal relief funding. More aid is likely as the General Assembly reconvenes this week, though it's unclear how much.

Ahead of the session, Cooper urged North Carolina residents and businesses affected by the hurricane to register with FEMA for federal financial assistance before the Jan. 23 deadline passed.

Redistricting

A directive from a federal three-judge panel to draw new General Assembly maps by March 15 is on hold for now after the U.S. Supreme Court did not issue an order on the matter last week.

Federal judges issued their ruling in August, finding that 28 N.C. House and Senate districts were unconstitutionally gerrymandered to diminish and exclude African-American voters. In November, after voters went to the polls to elect candidates in those districts, the judges ordered new maps to be drawn by March and elections held in any of the altered districts this year.

State lawmakers sought emergency intervention from Chief Justice John Roberts last month. Two weeks ago, Robert responded by issuing a temporary order to block the special elections while the justices decide whether to hear the case. If they do, the block stays in place until the case is decided.

Medicaid

Cooper wants to expand Medicaid to cover 500,000 more people. Again, he's unlikely to find support for such a sweeping change, since Republicans have super-majority control in both chambers.

And Cooper can't do it on his own. State law prohibits the executive branch from making such an attempt.

  

What: 2017 General Assembly opening session

When: Noon Wednesday

Where: Legislative Building, 16 W. Jones St., Raleigh

What is the makeup of each branch?

House: Republicans hold 74 of the 120 seats. Rep. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, appears likely to stay on as speaker.

Senate: Republicans hold 35 of the 50 seats, extending their dominance over this chamber. Berger will stay on in this powerful role for a third term.

What is the assembly's schedule?

Lawmakers typically hold committee and floor meetings Monday evening, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings most weeks.

How can someone learn what will happen at the legislature on a particular day?

The agenda for both the House and Senate are posted daily at www.ncleg.net. Information about individual bills, lawmakers' voting histories and more also are available.

  

Here's how our local delegation voted on HB 2 on March 23:

YES

Sen. Phil Berger (R-Rockingham)

Sen. Trudy Wade (R-Guilford)

Rep. John Blust (R-Guilford)

Rep. John Faircloth (R-Guilford)

Rep. Jon Hardister (R-Guilford)

Rep. Bert Jones (R-Rockingham)

NO

Rep. Cecil Brockman (D-Guilford)

Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford)

DIDN'T VOTE

Sen. Gladys Robinson (D-Guilford)

*Rep. Amos Quick (D-Guilford)

*Wasn't in office
In this season of colder temperatures and political discord, I am reminded of a warmer, more harmonious time.

Last September, Greensboro hosted the 76th National Folk Festival, which was attended by more than 138,000 people from all over the world. Those of us who attended enjoyed perfect weather, wonderfully diverse music and a flawless festival.

Hosting a music festival of this magnitude would not have been possible without the endless hours and dedication of the staff and hundreds of volunteers who made it a success.

As a local guitar builder and one of the vendors who participated in the festival-associated North Carolina Arts Marketplace, Fritz Guitars benefited from their timely communication and attention to detail. I also benefited when my vendor fees were partially offset by a generous donation from the Gallucci Creative Fund  a donation made to support the participation of Greensboro-based artists.

Thank you to Kathryn Gauldin, Marketplace coordinator, Amy Grossmann, local director, the Gallucci Creative Fund and the thousands of volunteers who made the 2016 festival such a success. You made our city proud.

I look forward to this coming Sept. 8-10, when our city will once again host The National Folk Festival.

Terry Fritz

Greensboro
The first attacks on Medicare, Obamacare and Social Security have begun as we were distracted by the kerfuffle over the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and the inauguration.

Republicans in the House included a provision in the rules for the new session barring the Congressional Budget Office from reporting on the cost of repealing Obamacare. They have removed the exemptions of Social Security and Medicare from blanket budget-cutting processes, which could allow for deep cuts to both programs.

The presidents first executive order attacks Obamacare. It is no coincidence these measures were adopted under cover of the reaction to neutering the OCE and the Womens March.

Our new president and his party are adept at distracting us. They dont share the values of the majority of Americans. They begin with the lowest approval rating in history for a new president. They dont care if we have health insurance or retirement income. They dont support a decent minimum wage or the right of workers to unionize. They are not interested in supporting womens rights or social justice. They are neither friends of the environment nor champions of free public education.

Trump leads the Republicans, and his only real interest is his self-interest. Dont be fooled.

Lawrence Brenowitz

Greensboro
The US Senate unanimously confirmed the former governor of the US state of South Carolina Nikki Haley as the next US ambassador to the United Nations, Sputnik reported.

The full legislative upper chamber of the US Congress voted 96-4 on Tuesday evening to affirm Haley will represent the United States in the United Nations.

The vote took place after the Senates careful consideration of Haley's experience and knowledge of international affairs and policies as well as her stances on Russia and the Middle East.

Prior to the vote, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker praised Haley's exemplary record of managing the state of South Carolina.

"We need a real driven person who cares about our US national interest, but also has the ability to break through the clutter and reform," Corker stated. "She has worked with legislators to work people together, to make that happen in her own state."

In November, President Donald Trump selected Haley to the position at the world body as one of his first picks for the new administration.
State Rep. Jon Hardister (R-Guillford) joined several other legislators Wednesday in filing a bill to help the surviving spouses of police officers, firefighters and other emergency personnel.

The bill would create a property tax exemption for the widow or widower of emergency personnel, including emergency medical responders and members of search and rescue teams.

The exemption waiving property taxes would continue for the rest of the surviving spouse's life, unless the recipient remarries or sells the property.

"We have a duty to support our first responders and their families. These are people who risk their lives every day to protect us," said Hardister, who filed the bill with three other Republican legislators.

The bill was the second to be filed in the North Carolina General Assembly's new session, which began at noon. The bill was modeled after legislation adopted in Virginia two years ago.

Read the bill here.
President Donald Trump has ordered the construction of a wall along the southern border of the United States on Wednesday. The order was part of a series of actions aimed at stopping illegal immigration and cracking down on the number of refugees resettling in the nation, Sputnik reported.

The executive order was signed by Trump during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Building this barrier is more than just a campaign promise. It's a common sense first step to really securing our porous border," said White House spokesman Sean Spicer. "This will stem the flow of drugs, crime, illegal immigration into the United States."

Chants of build the wall became a rally cry among Trump supporters during his campaign. On Tuesday, Twitter exploded with both outrage from the left and excitement from the right, after he tweeted, big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!

In an interview with ABC airing Wednesday night, Trump said that construction of the wall will begin "as soon as we can. A soon as we can physically do it." He added that it could be in just months.

Trump also told the network that the US "will be reimbursed at a later date" by Mexico.

"I'm just telling you there will be a payment, Trump said.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer reiterated this statement during a press briefing on Wednesday.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is expected to arrive in Washington to meet with Trump at the end of this month. Trump has asserted that immigration will be a focus of the meeting.

Trump was also expected to suspend immigration from seven nations known to be hot spots for terrorism on Wednesday, including Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

During his campaign, Trump had originally vowed a full ban on Muslim immigrants, but later corrected himself to say it would be focused on regions with high terrorist activity.

To think that Trumps first 100 days are going to be marked by this very shameful shutting of our doors to everybody who is seeking refuge in this country is very concerning, Marielena Hincapie, the executive director of the National Immigration Law Center told the New York Times. Everything points to this being simply a backdoor Muslim ban.

Other national security issues expected to be addressed in the coming days include reviewing whether to resume black site detention programs, and declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.

Additionally, Spicer said during Wednesday's press briefing that the orders will strip federal grant money from so-called sanctuary cities and end the "catch and release" policy of previous administrations.
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STAMFORD  Royal Bank of Scotland continues to downsize its downtown offices, as the company has announced plans to lay off 21 employees in March.

Reported to the state Department of Labor, the new reductions at RBS Americas headquarters at 600 Washington Blvd. affect employees in IT and operations. The layoffs represent the latest round of a May 2015 downsizing plan. In the past year, RBS has eliminated about 270 Stamford positions.

RBS declined to comment Wednesday on the new layoffs.

In a statement about the layoffs last year to Hearst Connecticut Media, RBS officials attributed the Stamford job losses to a company-wide plan.

In line with the strategy to make RBS stronger, simpler and more sustainable, we are reducing the size of the bank to focus on our core customers, products and locations, RBS said in the statement. This includes our trading and sales hub in Stamford.

RBS has declined to comment on its current number of employees in Stamford.

Following some modest job gains recently, the layoffs represent a setback for the local economy, said Jack Condlin, president and CEO of the Stamford Chamber of Commerce.

We were hopeful that we had seen the last of the layoffs in our financial institutions, but they are still adjusting to this bad economy, Condlin said. The number is small in comparison to when you consider the number of employees the Stamford business community has lost as a results of layoffs and/or jobs transferred during the recession. That is still of little comfort for those 21 people who are about to be laid off.

Known as one of the United Kingdoms big four banks, RBS has struggled financially in the past year. It took an approximately $2.7 billion loss for the first two quarters of 2016.

Weve always been pretty upfront that we are in a sort of transitional period over 2015 and 2016, Ewen Stevenson, RBS chief finance officer, said in an interview last year with CNBC.

The British government became the majority shareholder of Edinburgh-based RBS in late 2008 after the global financial crisis broke out. The government last year began selling shares back to the private sector, but it still owns almost three-quarters of the firm.

Another large European banking firm, UBS, has also recently shrunk its presence in Stamford. Throughout last year, it moved its employees from an approximately 700,000-square-foot complex across the street on Washington Boulevard to offices within RBS building.

RBS owns the building at 600 Washington Blvd., while UBS leases its space there. About 900 UBS employees remain in Stamford, according to company officials.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott
GREENWICH  After only having one leader throughout its 30 years, Greenwich Emergency Medical Services will have a new boss come March 1 when Tracy Schietinger takes over as executive director.

Schietinger has been with GEMS since 2006 when she was named operations manager and in 2016 she was promoted to the ambulance corps director of operations, putting her in charge of the more than 40 members of the GEMS field personnel team.

In a press release, Schietinger said she was honored to have been chosen for the position.

30 years ago, Charlee Tufts started GEMS and now it is my turn to move the organization forward and sustain its well-earned reputation as the premier ambulance service in the region, Schietinger said. I look forward to working with the amazing, talented and dedicated GEMS staff to make this a smooth transition for all.

Schietinger was chosen by GEMS board of directors after a search which considered both internal and outside candidates. According to the board, 21 candidates were interviewed by the search firm National Executive Service Corps and 11 were brought in for consideration by the boards executive committee.

That list was narrowed down to five before three finalists were interviewed last week before the final decision was announced Tuesday.

Although all the finalists were extremely qualified for the position, Tracys broad EMS experience, her in-depth knowledge of GEMS operations and her stated vision for GEMS in the near future make her an ideal person to succeed Charlee, John Raben, chairman of GEMS board of directors, said.

Raben praised Schietinger for her work in GEMS, saying she has already earned the trust and respect of the staff.

This will be essential in assuring a smooth transfer in the executive directors office, Raben said.

Schietinger will succeed Charlee Tufts, who has been executive director of GEMS since its inception in 1986. Tufts announced her retirement last year but her departure date wasnt set until a successor could be hired. Tufts will remain in an advisory role with GEMS to provide guidance through the transition until March 31.

Tufts time with GEMS even predates the formal approval of the ambulance corps. Tufts career began in Greenwich in 1977 as a volunteer in Old Greenwich.

Its a professional decision as well as a personal one, Tufts said in September when her decision was announced. I have four grandchildren now and Im really fortunate that the whole time Ive been working with GEMS people have been very understanding that Ill give 150 to 200 percent but my kids would always come first. Ive had the flexibility to have the time for my kids and be there on special occasions and now there are four grandchildren and there are opportunities out there. Im not closing my professional life forever but its time for me to step back from the 24/7 nature of this job.

GEMS is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit. While it does receive some town funding for its operational costs, its capital costs, including the purchase of new ambulances and equipment. GEMS is Greenwichs sole provider of emergency medical care and operates on a contract basis with the town.

According to GEMS, which has received high marks for its quick response times particularly for cardiac patients, it responded to 6,000 emergency calls in 2016.

kborsuk@scni.com
The human resources (HR) world continues its shift toward focusing on employees, with companies increasingly paying attention to improving their well-being.

Related: This Essential Leadership Trait Can Push Employees to Do Their Best

That issue -- the overall health of each employee -- is important in several ways. For one, it can have a direct impact on the value of the organization: A January 2016 study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found, for instance, that socially responsible companies that invest in the health and well-being of their workers show a higher market valuation than those that dont.

That may be why many companies are building strategies around their staffs well-being. Virgin Pulses 2017 Trends in Well-being & Engagement report found that 78 percent of companies surveyed viewed well-being as a critical component of business strategies. And that's not surprising, considering that 72 percent of them also agreed that well-being influences employee engagement.

Whats the best strategy for well-being? It starts with transparency. Here are ways in which managers can encourage the transparency that will improve employee well-being:

Define clear expectations.

Nothing is harder on employees than when they dont have clear direction from management or arent given enough information or tools to understand whats expected of them. As a 2015 Wrike study found, missing information and unclear leadership are some of the top stressors at work.

Transparency is the opposite of closed doors, where murmurs of leadership meetings shrouded in secrecy bounce down the halls. Instead, transparency is founded on the leadership being open and clear with the entire team. That could mean involving all levels of the staff on making major strategic decisions or cluing them in on how all of their roles are evolving.

Related: Let's Be Real: Why Transparency in Business Should Be the Norm

Paint your workforce a picture of what success looks like for each one of them, and create a space where they feel comfortable asking questions and making suggestions. Transparency is fueled on employees' voices being heard, so empower them with a communication tool.

For example, use an internal social network where employees can directly interact with leadership. This helps reduce the stress they feel when they dont know where they stand in managements eyes or are unsure of what the next steps are. So, the next time they dont know what they need to do to advance their goals, they should be able to message a supervisor to get clear direction.

Explain their value.

Employees tend to feel undervalued when they dont fully understand how theyre being compensated and where they stand in the market. This leads them to search for greener pastures amid a deep feeling of unease. After all, people want to feel that they are valued by their employers.

The solution is simple -- talk to them.

PayScale's 2016 Compensation Best Practices Report found a gap in how employers and employees perceive compensation. Among nearly 7,600 business leaders surveyed in the United States and Canada, 73 percent said their employees were fairly compensated -- but just 36 percent of employees agreed.

Take the time to openly discuss how compensation is calculated. The same Payscale report also found that 82 percent of employees would be satisfied with below-market pay as long as the employer was transparent about the reasons.

Open communication isnt just a one-way conversation where management lectures about pay rates. Its much more than that. Encourage employees to speak up and ask questions about why theyre paid what theyre paid.

When they know why, they will likely be more satisfied with their pay. They'll be less stressed and more engaged in their work because they understand how their employer attributes value to their performance.

Align goals.

The first step to aligning goals is getting people on track with contributing to organizational goals. Collaborate with them to set goals that are meaningful to them but also fit into the big picture.

Engage in ongoing discussions to keep them on track. To add more substance to goal progression tracking, provide employees with visuals, like charts or graphs. That way, they'll be able to see how much more they need to do to achieve their goals.

People like to see their progress. When they have a visual aid showing them that their efforts advance them toward completing a task, they'll be more motivated and engaged in the work.

Help them find balance.

Creating a work-life balance is integral in business strategies that involve helping employees improve their health and well-being. Empower them with tools and information to stay healthy through exercise and good eating habits.

Teach the workforce the importance of regular breaks and how their well-being directly impacts their performance. Employees who feel chained to their desks are prone to burn out.

Related: The 3 Steps to Building a Culture of Transparency

Instead, when they can maintain good health, they will be happier, more productive workers. So, dont stop at just teaching them the benefits of a healthy work-life balance. Go the extra mile and incorporate those benefits, in processes and policy.

Related:

Are Your Employees Stressed? You Need to Embrace Transparency.

5 Things Preventing You From Being Transparent

Should Your Let Your Clients (Or Your Staff) See Your Financials?



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
A passenger ferry has crashed into a quay in Lisbon, leaving at least 34 people slightly injured, Euronews reported.

The boat was travelling from Barreiro on the other side of the Tagus when the accident occurred. Those passengers who had already got up to disembark were apparently thrown forward and injured.

Though no cause has been established, the chairman of the ferry company said everything indicates that the accident was caused by intense fog, which reduced visibility at the dock.
Beats American brunch. Photo: Melissa Hom

Ever since chef Angie Mar purchased the Beatrice Inn from Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, shes received well-deserved attention and praise for her rich, animal-centric cooking. The West Village restaurant has always only been open for dinner, but Mars love of meat  and the fireplace!  make it a perfect fit for a Sunday Roast (the traditional British midday feast). So starting this Sunday, January 29 (and on Sundays only, of course), Mar will serve a special a la carte menu from noon until 8 p.m.

The decidedly anti-brunch offerings include lamb pot roast, halibut and chips, and a full English breakfast with slab bacon, black pudding, roasted tomatoes, mushroom marmalade, and cannellini beans. Mar says she felt inspired by her mother, who grew up bouncing back and forth between Taipei and Oxford, and now makes tea that Mar will feature. Afternoon Roast is how my family spent Sundays, she says. There was always a prime rib, scones, and a pot of tea. Take a look:

Pork lard scones with beurre de baratte and raspberry conserva. Photo: Melissa Hom

Sticky buns with hazelnuts, pecans, and clotted cream. Photo: Melissa Hom

Deviled crab with garlic, chili, and tarragon. Photo: Melissa Hom

Cornish pasties: lamb and pea, beef cheek and mushroom, giblet and brown gravy. Photo: Melissa Hom

Prime rib with mash, Yorkshire pudding, and Bordelaise. Photo: Melissa Hom

Photo: Melissa Hom

Photo: Melissa Hom
Turkish jets destroyed 12 PKK targets in northern Iraq, the Turkish military announced late Tuesday, Anadolu agency reported.

The airstrikes destroyed shelters, weapons and defense positions in the Zap, Gara, Hakurk and Avasin-Basyan regions, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement.

Turkeys military frequently conducts air operations in northern Iraq as a result of intelligence reports from the region.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU.

More than 1,100 victims, including security personnel and civilians, have lost their lives in PKK attacks in Turkey since the terror group resumed its decades-old campaign against the state in July 2015.

More than 10,000 PKK terrorists have been killed or apprehended during the same period in anti-terror operations.
New York, the city where there is a festival for everyone: people who like to get blackout drunk in Santa costumes, Guy Fieri festishists, comics nerds, and, apparently, the brunch brigade. The first-ever BrunchCon is going down in  where else?  Brooklyn, at Grand Prospect Hall on March 26, during the mimosa-soaked hours of 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be 50 restaurants on hand, including Bricolage and Manousheh, along with an open mimosa bar (it wouldnt be brunch without an all-you-can-drink offer), brunch-themed goods for sale, a hangover lounge, and, for some reason, speed-dating. Tickets go for $55 until February 15, after which theyll cost $60.
Life under the Trump administration.

The USDA yesterday became the latest federal agency to give Americans a Trump-induced heart attack. In an email published by BuzzFeed that morning, it instructed researchers not to release any public-facing documents until further notice. Per the memo, all employees in the USDAs Agricultural Research Service unit  including 2,000 scientists  were banned immediately from disseminating any kind of information, regardless of how innocuous. This includes, but is not limited to, news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content, it explained.



People instantly started blasting the gag order (which was going down at the same time the Badlands National Park account went rogue and started brazenly tweeting scientific facts about climate change):

So....USDA & EPA have gag orders from saying/warning ANYTHING that develops to us/the press? Do y'all realize how crazy this is?  ahmirquest 5 letters only (@questlove) January 24, 2017

Stunning. The USDA is now prohibited from sharing data with the public. This should send chills down your spine. https://t.co/u3OJRMJPwm pic.twitter.com/ackOwoZaED  Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) January 24, 2017

The EPA, HHS and USDA have all been prohibited from sharing info with the public. The transition to an authoritarian govt is happening fast.  Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) January 24, 2017

Interesting. Not a single @USDA spokesperson I've contacted today is responding.  Stephanie Strom (@ssstrom) January 24, 2017

Much like with White House press secretary Sean Spicers war on Dippin Dots, once the public outcry got deafening, the agency backed away from its position. The USDA has no secretary yet, and acting as deputy administrator, Michael Young told reporters hed actually sent out a memo of his own that morning listing interim procedures until Trumps pick is confirmed, and it contradicted portions of the ARS email. Young, who noted hes a career official, not a partisan appointee, then stressed that the USDA isnt in the business of putting gag orders on things like press releases and food-safety announcements. I would not have put that kind of guidance out, he said, adding that I had my memo drafted before the ARS memo, before then lamenting: I dont want any surprises on my watch. I was trying to avoid any surprises.

Around that time, the ARS finally sent out a second memo telling everybody to stick a fork in this ban: Yesterday, we sent an email message about Agency informational products like news releases and social media content, it read. This internal email was released prior to receiving official Departmental guidance and is hereby rescinded.
Introduction

Despite acquiring Motorola back in 2014, Lenovo didn't even slow down in churning new Android smartphones under its own brand name. One of the most recent phones in its arsenal is the budget friendly K-series, the Lenovo K6 Power.

The K6 Power is the smaller of the two new K-series devices, the other one being the K6 Note, which we recently reviewed. The two are much the same, except the K6 Power has a smaller 5-inch display that should appeal to those who want something more compact.

Previously, though, going for a smaller phone also meant getting a smaller battery, but that's not the case with the K6 Power, which has the same 4000mAh battery as the larger K6 Note. And that's really the main feature of the phone (hence the name), with Lenovo claiming two days of battery life.

Key features:

5.0-inch IPS LCD of 1080 x 1920 resolution; 441ppi

Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset; octa-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53; Adreno 505 GPU; 3GB of RAM

32GB of built-in memory; hybrid microSD card slot (up to 256GB)

Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow

13MP main camera with PDAF autofocus; single LED flash

1080p video capture @ 30fps

8MP front-facing camera

Rear-mounted fingerprint reader

Stereo speakers

FM radio

Dual nano SIM slots; Cat. 4 LTE support; 802.11 a/g/b/n, dual band Wi-Fi 802.11n; Bluetooth 4.2; GPS; FM Radio

4,000mAh battery



Lenovo K6 Power official photos

In markets like India, the K6 Power will primarily be facing against the Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime. Although a bit cheaper, the Redmi 3S Prime has a lower resolution display, less RAM, less storage, and no stereo speakers. It might seem, then, the Lenovo may have just beaten Xiaomi at its own game. But that's just on paper. Let's see what's it like in the real world.

You will notice that this review format is shorter than usual. That's because this review unit wasn't available at our HQ so we couldn't subject it to our usual standardized tests. Nevertheless, we've worked hard to present our opinion about the most important aspect of using this phone based on our rich experience and we hope you would enjoy the good read.
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Samsung has made it clear that it thinks AI will be the killer feature of 2017 flagships, but could desktop mode prove to be a dark horse? Weve seen leaked slides about Desktop eXperience (DeX for short) that will turn the phone into the heart of a desktop workstation. Yes, basically Continuum, but based on a more popular OS.

The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus should come with USB-C ports that are just the right port for a one cable workstation - power, video out, high-speed data and so on. There are USB-C monitors that double as USB hubs so you can hook up your peripherals to them.

However, it sounds like Samsung DeX will use a dedicated dock, a DeX Station, instead of relying on relatively rare monitors. Such things are hardly new - remember the Smart Dock for the Galaxy Note II? Here's hoping Samsung gets the software execution right this time.

Here's how Samsung described DeX:

Application software, namely, for projecting the screen of mobile device to displays via computer peripheral devices and wireless networks; computer peripheral devices; computer software for wireless network communications; computer software, namely, for controlling user interface mode adaption; computer software for use in computer access control.

Samsung has perhaps the biggest experience in running Android apps in split screen and floating windows (it has been doing it long before Google added it to Nougat). It has been doing it since the Note II in fact, so we wonder what Samsung has improved to make it more successful now than it was then?

Source | Via (in Dutch)
The Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) has started receiving a new update. Arriving as firmware version XXS3BQA6, the update - which is currently being rolled out by Vodafone to units in Europe - brings along Android security fixes for the month of January.

As is usually the case with OTA roll outs, it may take some time before the update notification pops up on your device's screen. Meanwhile, if you feel impatient, you can manually check for the update by heading to your handset's Settings menu.

Via
The Gear S3 smartwatch came in two versions, with only the more rugged frontier, having an cellular variant. However, that is no longer the case, since today an LTE-enabled variant of the Gear S3 classic launched.

But before you start hunting around online, initially it is an exclusive offering from SK Telecom in Korea. The price tag for the wearable is set at KRW 451,000, or about $387. SK Telecom is also offering a "Gear Happiness Compensation Program", which can shave 50,000 KRW off the price if you return an older Gear S device, before March 31.

To further sweeten the deal, the new Gear S3 classic LTE also comes with a trio of exclusive watchfaces. These aim to offer a traditional mechanical aesthetic, even complete with ticking sounds for the seconds hand.

Source | Via
Tizen is Samsungs OS for wearables, TVs and the occasional smartphones from the Z-series - though we haven't seen one of those since the Z3 Corporate Edition last July and Samsung Z2 following right after. Yet, according to reports there is another one coming and its OS will be Tizen 3.0.

The phone internally goes by the name Pride and has the model number SM-Z250F. It will be launched in India and other developing countries.

Specs are yet unknown, however some reports indicate that the phone will feature Bixby, Samsung's newest virtual assistant that should debut with the Galaxy S8.

We are also yet to learn what updates the new operating system brings compared to its current 2.4 version.

Via
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A Turkish soldier was martyred and five others wounded during the operations in northern Syria as part of the ongoing Operation Euphrates Shield, Turkish General Staff said on Wednesday, Anadolu reported.

One soldier was martyred and five others injured in clashes with Daesh terrorists in the al-Bab and Kabr al Mukri regions of northern Syria, the army said in a statement.

The injured were rushed to hospitals in Turkey.

The Turkey-led Operation Euphrates Shield, which began in late August, aims to improve security, support coalition forces and eliminate the terrorist threat along Turkeys border using Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters backed by Turkish artillery and jets.
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Not very many people take it upon themselves to found a company at an age when most people are retiring.

But there was no hesitation when, in 1990, Walter Lange had the opportunity to revitalise the factory of his forefathers, whose operations were interrupted by the Cold War and the division of Germany into East and West. He was 66 years old at the time.



The reunification of Germany opened a historical window of opportunity for the great-grandson of Ferdinand Adolph Lange, founder of the Saxony-based maker of fine watches. After a 40-year-long involuntary hiatus, Walter Lange managed to breathe new life into the legend of the historical brand and to successfully take on the powerful competition from Swiss watchmakers. The clever idea of bringing Germanys most famous watch brand back to life was so powerful that it made its way to reality.



With a small, committed team of in genious engineers and watchmakers, he and his partner Gunter Blumlein were able to find a convincing answer to the question of what an A. Lange & Sohne watch would look like at the end of the 20th century. Together, they understood how to win over the people around them for the ambitious goal of once again making the best watches in world right here in Glashutte. The example of his forefathers taught Walter Lange that, even in the most extreme of circumstances, a company can be founded and le d on a path of success. It also taught him that everything depends on believing in a well-thought-out plan to the very end and, during the plans implementation, on trusting in the commitment and abilities of others. Walter Lange was a firm believer in this message that was passed down from generation to generation.



As a trained watchmaker, he helped shape the rebuilding of his familys company under extremely difficult circumstances following the end of World War II  until compulsory purchase put an end to their hopes. That was an experience that shaped him, but never made him bitter. In the mid 1970s, he took regular journeys to the Erzgebirge mountains so that he did not lose touc h with the people in his home town. He saw it as his personal endeavor to ensure their continued subsistence, and therefore decided to make his vision of a comeback of A. Lange & Sohne a reality.



With his unerring feel for quality, Walter Lange advocated for both the preservation of traditional handicraft as well as for the development of technical innovations. Timepieces were created under the aegis of Walter Lange which held to a classic, artisan ideal and yet also featured the most cutting-edge technology. Thus they struck the nerve of a time which had just rediscovered its fascination with mechanical watches. The best example of this is the Lange 1, which has become the face of the brand since its presentation in the first collection. Both the outsize date as well as the decentralised dial arrangement were revolutionary at the time of their introduction.



Following a long series of watchmaking successes, A. Lange & Sohne has established itself as one of the most exclusive watch brands in more than 60 countries. The small pioneering team has now grown to 770 employees, and the first collection with only four watches has blossomed into five clearly distinguishable model families. The extraordinary product and design quality of A. Lange & Sohne watches has been recognised with over 250 international awards  this impressive development would not have been possible without the pioneering and organisational achievements of Walter Lange. For his work, he was awarded the Order of Me rit of the Free State of Saxon y in 1998 and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2015.



Walter Lange remained involved with the company he founded as a brand ambassador and consultant even long after he withdrew from company management. In a sentence that was very typical for him, he once said: I am the bridge to our past. Yet he was much more than that. Thanks to his courage, his vision, his critical spirit and his sincere interest in the people around him, he was not only a symbol of continuity, but also a father figure with whom people could identify. The factory he brought back to life has long since become independent and is growing  therein lies its true greatnessbeyond the personality of its founder. But the example set by this philanthropist who passed a way on 17 January 2017, at the age of 92 following a full life, still shapes the culture of the company today.




Haiti - FLASH : Deadly shooting in downtown Port-au-Prince





Tuesday, at the Hyppolite Market, armed individuals stripped merchants of their earning and at least one money exchange agent Telnort Maxime (54), who allegedly tried to resist his attackers, was coldly shot down by them before escaping while shooting in all directions to protect escape.



A bloody escape, since innocent citizens fell under the bullets murder and blind of these bandits, killing Nancy Nerette (40 years) at the Boulevard Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Monique Matthew (28) on Macajoux Street, 7 months pregnant and mother of five, according to witnesses...



Information confirmed by Inspector Gary Desrosiers, deputy spokesman of the National Police of Haiti, which revealed in the evening that 4 suspects had been arrested, Pierre Antoine Saint-Pierre, Black Alex Joseph, Jean Jeff and Gaspard Djoumyben, allegedly members of the Gang of teh street Porcelaine, Gang strongly suspected of being at the origin of this shooting, according to the first pieces of information.



PI/ TB/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping politics...





81 people extradited to the USA

Between 2002 and 2017, 81 people, including 11 former executives and officials of Haitian institutions, were arrested in Haiti for drug trafficking and extradited to the United States. Among these extradited there is the Senator of Grande Anse, Guy Philippe https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19721-haiti-flash-senator-guy-philippe-extradited-to-the-usa.html , the former President of the National Assembly, Fourel Celestin, the former Director General of the Haitian National Police, Lesly Lucien and the former Head of the Presidential Security Unit, Oriel Jean. In addition to Haitians, 8 Americans, 4 Colombians, 6 Bahamians, 2 Jamaicans and 1 Honduran were also extradited, according to data from the police archives.



Over 2,000 UNPol deployed

On Tuesday, the Minustah announced that 2,066 UNPol (United Nations police) agents are currently being deployed in support of the Haitian National Police (HNP) as part of the joint task force of security for this Sunday's elections https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19894-haiti-elections-d-6-signature-of-integrated-electoral-security-plan.html



Jovenel Moise in Miragoane

Yesterday Tuesday, elected President Jovenel Moise, was in Miragoane, in the department of Nippes, to support the Senate candidate Denis Cadeau (Bouclier, allied Party of the PHTK). He took the opportunity to speak in favor of voting by the 50th legislature of the law of the 3 shifts of a working day (7:00 am - 3:00 pm, 3:00 pm - 11:00 pm, 11:00 pm - 7:00 am) "This law will allow more young people to work to earn a living and especially to participate in the development of their country."



Privert in the Dominican Republic

De facto President Jocelerme Privert left the country on Tuesday for the Dominican Republic, where he will participate in the 5th Summit of the Latin American and Caribbean Community (CELAC) https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-19885-icihaiti-politics-privert-at-the-5th-celac-summit.html . Privert is accompanied by the President of the Senate Youri Latortue and the President of the Chamber of Deputies Cholzer Chancy, as well as Senator Jacques Sauveur Jean (Northeast) and Yves Romain Bastien, Minister of the Economy and Finance.



D-4, vote of representatives

The Executive Director of the Provisional Electoral Council, informs the representatives who represented their political parties in the elections of 20 November 2016 and whose parties and candidates will not participate in the second round, that they will vote in their usual voting centers.



Death in prisons, OPC meets PNH

On Tuesday, a working meeting was held between the High Command of the National Police of Haiti and the Protector of Citizens, Mrs. Florence of the Office of the Protection of the Citizen (OPC), to understand and adopt of measures to eradicate the waves of repetitive deaths of detainees, in particular at the National Penitentiary



Follow Sunday's elections on HL

On Sunday, follow the elections throughout the day on https://www.haitilibre.com



HL/ HaitiLibre


















The nation's largest outdoor Christian music festival, CREATION FESTIVAL NORTHEAST, became the exclusive host for mainstream media news outlet VICE MEDIA as they set out to produce the documentary film feature "I Saw The Light" on Christian Music in the Festival environment. NOISEY, the online daily music channel of VICE Media, traveled to the Creation Music Festival to film the documentary and catch a glimpse of the inner workings behind the Christian music industry. Watch the full-length documentary, here.

Taking viewers on a journey with Youth Pastor Steve Price and his youth group, "I Saw The Light" follows the troop on an adventure from the outskirts of Baltimore to the middle of Pennsylvania in God's Country. The documentary finds the characters packing up to attend Creation Festival, following the group all the way through the mosh-pit to the candle lighting ceremony.

"Youth ministry to Millennials and Gen Z is constantly changing," said Creation Festival Director Ben Comer. "Creation's broad array of music, Bible teaching, recreational activities, all at a heavenly venue, leads to unlimited opportunities for students to experience Christ's transforming power in their own lives."

The 35-minute piece-which also inspired an article for VICE's music issue-is produced by VICE's Chloe Campion and hosted by Noisey's editor-in-chief, Eric Sundermann. Through conversations with GRAMMY winning pop duo for KING & COUNTRY and rapper Andy Mineo-along with speakers from the 50,000+ attended festival-the documentary takes a thoughtful look at the world of Christian music, belief, growing up, and Jesus Christ.

"Creation has always been dear to the heart of our family, first with our sister Rebecca, and now with our band performing at the festivals," shared Luke Smallbone of for KING & COUNTRY. "The unity of singing below the banner that says, 'A tribute to our Creator' summons up the purpose behind what Creation is all about, but also what we endeavor to do with our music. We are honored to be a part of this project!"

Noisey is no stranger to the music industry with VICE TV, music channels, and a social media following in the millions. "I Saw The Light" has become one of the first inclusions of Contemporary Christian music on the website.

Pastor Harry Thomas, co-founder of Creation Festival stated, "We didn't know what to expect so we just welcomed their team and did what we always do at Creation. Our theme has always been 'To Give Tribute to Our Creator.' Our desire is and will continue to be to exalt the Lord and have people drawn to Him."

The superb narration and commentary of Eric Sundermann and the incredible production work of Chloe Campion and her crew, places the viewer right in the moment. The truth-saturated testimonies of the youth group members and attendees interviewed are nothing short of life-giving. For more information on "I Saw The Light," visit: www.creationfest.com.



About Creation Festival

Creation is one of the longest running Christian music festivals. Launched in 1979, Creation Festival was born out of the heart and vision of Pastor Harry Thomas and his wife Margery to reach the youth through Christian music. Creation Northeast is currently held at the Agape Farm in Mt Union, PA, set in the beautiful destination of the Allegheny Mountain range. Creation Northwest launched in 1998, is currently held at the Benton County Fairgrounds, in Kennewick, WA, set in beautiful eastern Washington State.

Creation's Mission is to bring TRIBUTE TO OUR CREATOR, by providing evangelistic events that offer kids of all ages opportunity to gather in community, to worship, experience fellowship, enjoy God's beautiful Creation and to encounter life-changing moments. We hope to inspire lasting and active change in our hearts through the love of Christ by His Holy Spirit, walked out through discipleship in the local church.

For more information:

Toll Free: 800-32-6921

www.creationfest.com

Creation Northeast 2017: June 28 - July 1

Agape FarmMt. Union, PA

Creation Northwest 2017: July 13 - 15

Benton County FairgroundsKennewick, WA

Get Connected With Creation Festival

Website // www.creationfest.com

Facebook // www.facebook.com/creationfest

Twitter // www.twitter.com/creationfest

Instagram // www.instagram.com/creationfest

Tags : i saw the light movie i saw the light movie news CREATION FESTIVAL NORTHEAST noisey documentary
Published on 2017/01/24 | Source

Added episodes 43 and 44 captures for the Korean drama "The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop" (2016)

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Directed by Hwang In-hyeok

Written by Koo Hyeon-sook

Network : KBS

With Lee Dong-gun, Jo Yoon-hee, Shin Goo, Kim Young-ae, Oh Hyun-kyung, Cha In-pyo,...

Sat, Sun 19:55

Synopsis

"Suited Gentlemen In Yanggye-dong" is based on a traditional tailor's with history. The drama depicts the tears, friendship, success and romance of four men.

Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2016/08/27

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Longines sold its first Flagship in 1957, and ever since, the collection has met with lasting success. This timeless watch, with its white dial, thin profile and fine fasteners, quickly won over Longines clients. A perfect blend of technical mastery and subdued elegance, the Flagship owes its name to the ship upon which the flag of the fleets commander in chief snaps in the wind. A symbol of Longines wishes for this new collection, this caravel is stamped on the back of Flagship watches.



Today, the Swiss watchmaking brand celebrates 60 years of this collection, a symbol of quality, high precision and distinction, by launching the Flagship Heritage  60th Anniversary 1957-2017. It was Longines Ambassador of Elegance, Kate Winslet, who chose the face of this anniversary timepiece. During a visit to the brands headquarters in Switzerland, the British actress fell in love with a model of the Swiss watchmaker. This is the timepiece from which Longines drew inspiration for the subdued and chic dial of this anniversary edition.











Available in steel, yellow gold or rose gold, the numbered timekeepers house an L609 mechanical calibre in their 38.5 mm case. Exclusive timepieces, the gold versions are limited to 60 watches while the steel versions are limited to 1957 watches. The brushed silvery dial is adorned with 8 indexes and 4 Arabic numerals, in yellow gold or rose gold colours. As with the original timepieces, the back of these commemorative watches bears a stamped caravel  the flagship. A brown leather watch strap completes this exceptional timepiece.




Harlow is a former New Town in Essex with a population of 86,000. Located in the upper Stort Valley, it was built in the decades after the Second World War to ease overcrowding and London and provide homes for people bombed out during the Blitz. It includes Britain's first pedestrian precinct and first modern residential tower block, The Lawn. Old Harlow, the historic part of the town, was mentioned in the Domesday Book. David and Victoria Beckham's former home, Rowneybury House, nicknamed 'Beckingham Palace', is nearby.

12:22, 4 NOV 2022
Actors Dominic Purcell (L) and Wentworth Miller attend the Fox Action Showcase: 'Prison Break' And '24: Legacy' during Comic-Con International 2016 at San Diego Convention Center on July 24, 2016 in San Diego, California. (Photo : Getty Images/ Kevin Winter)

After the original wrap of "Prison Break" Season 4 back in 2009, Dominic Purcell's fellow lead actor Wentworth Miller predicted the show's unexpected return. Five years on and the revival soon materialized against all the odds. At last, "Prison Break" Season 5 is now in its final rungs and here are the major facts:



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1. When did filming of "Prison Break" Season 5 start?



Filming of "Prison Break" Season 5 was initially scheduled for spring 2016 after Miller and Dominic Purcell had finished filming "Legends of Tomorrow" Season 1. It began in April 2016 in Vancouver Canada and in other Moroccan cities including Casablanca and Ouarzazate.



2. Who are reprising their roles in "Prison Break" Season 5?



The obvious members returning to the cast are Miller and Purcell (Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows). Others include Robert Knepper, Amaury Nolasco, Sarah Wayne Callies, Rockmond Dunbar, and Paul Adelstein.



Also, "Prison Break" is slotting in some new members in the cast including "Royal Pains" actor Mark Feuerstein, who will be playing Scott Ness and a husband to sara. This means Scofield's romance with her is no more.



Other new members of the cast are "Kick-Ass 2" actor Augustus Prew who will pay Whip, Marina Benedict as 'A&W,' Kunal Sharma as Sid, Inbar Lavi, and Rick Yune from "The Fast and the Furious."



3. What is the "Prison Break" Season 5 plot?



"Prison Break" Season 5 will serve as a sequel to the original series and its storyline will be more global, according to Deadline. Prison breakers will be positioned in different parts of the world although the latest trailer hints that the Middle East could be the core location.



In nine episodes, Season 5 will give a detailed logical explanation why some characters are still alive, after being portrayed dead. It will also dive deep into why they are moving around the world.



When the show starts, fans will be surprised to know that Scofield is alive. He will be held up in an uninviting Yemen prison where he will be plotting an escape by always sending cryptic messages to Burrows and C-Note.



A trailer released this month reveals that Scofield had been keeping tabs on his son and Sara during his nonappearance. It also confirmed that C-Note and Sucre would volunteer to get him back from the prison.



How Scofield ended up behind bars is still a mystery. "Prison Break" Season 4 had ended with him being presumably dead. But that was not the true state of things. Apparently, he ended up working for a terrorist organization.



In a recent interview with Digital Spy, Miller hinted that the regime in Yemen would be under collapse and in complete turmoil and chaos. Then the prison gates will open, and the prisoners will be set free. Burrows will try to spot his brother from the big crowds of prisoners, but all will be in vain. The rest is a mystery.



4. When and where will "Prison Break "Season 5 air?



"Prison Break" Season 5 will air on Fox in the US. The air date for the first episode is on April 4, Tuesday. However, no air date has been set for fans in the United Kingdom, and neither has any broadcaster communicated its interest in airing the show as at the time of writing.



5. Will there be a "Prison Break" Season 6?



As Miller pointed out, fans should not give up hopes for further adventures. "Prison Break" fans may, therefore, receive another season although this rests on many factors, including the ratings of the upcoming fifth season of the show.



Watch the second trailer for "Prison Break" Season 5:














Islanders shouldnt be taxed extra for teacher bonuses

by Joe Kent, Grassroot Institute, Jan 24, 2017

Governor David Ige offered the Hawaii State Teachers Union a 1 percent bonus for two years, but union leaders have been saying its not enough, contending that island teachers cannot afford Hawaiis high cost of living.

According to the teachers union, starting salary for a public school teacher in Hawaii is $46,601, which is on the low end compared to cities on the east and west coasts.

However, the average public school teacher in Hawaii makes $57,431, which is higher than teachers in 33 other states.

In addition, state taxpayers foot the majority of the bill for teachers health insurance, retirement and other post employment benefits. When average state benefits are included, Hawaii teacher pay rises to $79,328 on average, which is well above the salary and benefits for teachers nationally.

Of course, its important to adjust for Hawaiis high cost of living, and doing so drops Hawaii teacher wages and benefits to ninth lowest in the nation, at $62,316.

But non-government workers in Hawaii make even less on average, at $43,544 in annual pay and benefits adjusted for cost of living, which ranks as the lowest compensation in in the nation.

Its true that some teachers might be due for extra money, but that goal needs to be balanced with the need for all Hawaii citizens to advance and prosper. Cutting out waste from the state Department of Education could be a good place to begin finding creative ways of incentivizing new teachers.

After all, every teacher knows the DOE has many areas of wasteful spending, from highly paid consultants to long after-school meetings that take away from instructional time. Millions of dollars are wasted every year on new curriculums and administrative programs from the state and federal levels.

Performing a full-scale audit of the $2 billion budget of the state DOE might be a good place to start looking for ways to cut spending so more money can be freed up for those teachers who deserve a raise.

However, proposals have been submitted to the legislature that would take more money from taxpayers to pay for teacher pay raises. The new tax plans could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and take money away from Hawaii families.

Its not fair to tax island residents more when the average private sector worker already makes so much less than the average public school teacher. Adding taxes would only add to Hawaiis astronomically high cost of living.

Before raising taxes for bigger teacher paychecks, its important to remember that private school teachers are paid less for a starting salary, but get better results.

Starting salary for private school teachers in Hawaii averages $41,600, which is much lower than public school starting salaries. Yet private schools get much better results than public schools.

Clearly, it may be time to admit that more spending on education doesnt necessarily lead to better results. However, there is a way to incentivize teachers and get better educational outcomes without raising taxes.

For example, Hawaii pays $14,434 per public school student. What if a portion of that money could be given back to parents in the form of an Education Savings Account? Then, that money could be spent by parents on educational programs of their choice such as private schools, public schools, charter schools, online schools or private tutors.

For example, if $10,000 were given to back to parents to spend on education, $4,000 would still be left in the public school classroom. In this way, public school class sizes would be reduced, and per-pupil spending would increase.

This solution would raise more money for both public and private students, provide more educational choices for parents, while keeping taxes low. So far, Education Savings Accounts are being started in Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi.

There are many creative ways to inspire quality teachers, without raising taxes. Citizens, lawmakers, teachers and parents must work together to find a solution in the best interest of Hawaiis children.
Despite women making up half of the nations workforce, they only earn 77% of mens average full-time income, according to latest gender equality scorecard by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.



The Westpac 2016 Women of Influence Report also found that women in senior management were the most likely to believe they have experienced a gender-based salary differential (29%) compared to 8% of entry level positions, 11% of mid-senior level employees, 21% of mid-level management, and 7% of self-employed/business owners.



The Fair Work Act 2009 has restrictions in place on private sector employees rights to disclose much information about an employees pay with other staff.



With the primary method for setting pay in corporate Australia being individual agreements, there is a trend of salary secrecy whereby salary level discrepancies can arise among male and female employees.



In fact, 89% of Australian HR managers acknowledge a difference in salaries across genders in their company and 97% are taking measures to close this gap, according to new research by Robert Half.



Nicole Gorton, Director, Robert Half Australia said that todays female professionals have more opportunities available to them, however, the pay disparity continues which highlights the need for companies to take action.



Pay transparency will put the onus on employers to have to justify pay decisions, she said.



It is encouraging to see Australian companies actively aiming toward closing the gender salary gap, which not only promotes ethical business practices, but it can also lead to higher productivity within organisations as competitive and fair remuneration policies tend to lead to higher performing staff.



Furthermore, Australian organisations are actively taking measures to address and close the gender pay gap.



Thirty-one per cent of HR managers are implementing pay transparency, while 28% are undertaking salary audits.



A similar proportion (27%) are currently monitoring promotions and pay rises. Encouragingly, only 3% say they are taking no measures at all.



When asked what additional measures their company would need to take to further close the gap, more than one in three (36%) HR managers cite a system where promotions are linked to fixed pay rises.



Having a diverse talent pool within an organisation is crucial, particularly with the apparent skills shortage in several industries," said Gorton.



In light of this, businesses need to offer competitive salary packages to attract and retain top performing candidates, whether male or female. Promotions should also be awarded to the most competent contender who embodies the required skill set and business acumen that will benefit the company.



This approach needs to be part of an encompassing process where employers reward their staff fairly and evenly on the basis of their experience and contribution to the company, factors that completely disregard gender.




President Donald Trump Signs Executive Orders (Photo : Pool / Pool)

While almost everyone is caught off guard by Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), China will likely be gaining big benefits. Meanwhile, other countries might feel that they can't rely on the United States.



The new U.S. President signed the order in the Oval Office on Monday, saying, ". . . great thing for the American worker, what we just did."



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The TPP trade deal has been the main economic pillar of the Obama administration's "pivot" to the Asia-Pacific region to counter the second largest economy in the world. The accord was signed by 12 countries in 2015 but was never approved by the U.S. Congress.



"The U.S. is now basically in a position where we had our horse, the Chinese had their horse--but our horse has been put out to pasture and is no longer running in the race," said Eric Altbach, vice president at Albright Stonebridge Group in Washington and a former deputy assistant U.S. Trade Representative for China Affairs.



"It's a giant gift to the Chinese because they now can pitch themselves as the driver of trade liberalization."



The U.S. pulling out of the TPP presents a big opportunity for China to step in and take the leading role in Asia. Taking advantage of Trump's protectionism, Xi and other Chinese leaders can boost ties with traditional U.S. allies like the Philippines and Malaysia.



While the U.S. has it's TPP, China has its Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). It is a 16-nation pact that excludes the United States and lacks some of the environmental and labor protections that the previous administration has negotiated into the TPP.



Meanwhile, other nations such as Australia and Malaysia who have championed the TPP quickly signaled that they would now shift their attention to China's RCEP.



"Trump's withdrawal directly undermines all of this careful work and gives China yet another opportunity to demonstrate that it represents the future of the security and economic system in East Asia, and that the U.S. is in decline and can't be counted on to stick around," said Jack Thompson, a senior researcher at the Centre for Security Studies in Zurich.



The pull out of the TPP proves that Trump is quite serious in following through with his past pronouncements. Everyone will be in anticipation of the new U.S. President's next move.


leaner at Helensvale State School on The Gold Coast has been awarded $156,000 in compensation after his colleagues pretended there had been an orgy in the staffroom.In September 2014, Shane Green said he was traumatised after he found a staffroom room set up so that it portrayed the aftermath of a sex romp, according to the judgement published online.The scene allegedly included a bra, ladies boxer shorts, empty bottles of beer and wine, and condoms with cream in them.Green cleaned the room and only found out it was a prank two days later when he spoke to his colleagues.Green's lawyer Bruce Simmonds of Parker Simmonds Solicitors & Lawyers said Green had had to step down from his role and rely on WorkCover after the incident."He was horrified and subjected to great emotional stress by this trauma especially when they didn't own up to the joke and left him believing it was real," lawyer Bruce Simmonds said."Who could he speak to? Who should he report this to?"Mr Green would like to resume his job at the school, but he feels humiliated by the experience and right now his future is unclear."The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal found the prank amounted to sexual harassment, ordering the State Government and the two staff members to pay the compensation.HC contacted Helensvale State School for comment and a spokesperson for the Department of Education and Training provided the following statement:The Department of Education and Training is committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of staff.Every staff member has a right to feel safe at work and not be subjected to inappropriate conduct.As QCAT has found, the type of behaviour reported is not acceptable workplace behaviour and the Department has high expectations of all of its staff to uphold the public sector code of conduct.The Department is unable to provide any information on individuals due to privacy reasons.
On Jan. 24, 2017, at approximately 8:45 p.m., the Boone 911 Center received a report of a breaking and entering in progress at 143 Stoneybrook Court. When officers arrived, they found that an unknown suspect armed with a handgun had accosted a male resident outside of his apartment at 143 Stoneybrook Court.

The suspect forced the resident into his apartment and robbed him. The suspect fled the scene in an unknown direction. The suspect was wearing a black hoody, black ski mask, black pants, and black gloves.

Boone Police Investigators responded to the scene. The investigation is continuing. No one was injured as a result of this incident.

High Country Crime Stoppers and Boone Police seek the publics assistance in solving the following crime:

On Jan. 24, 2017, at approximately 8:45 p.m., an unknown suspect armed with a handgun accosted a male resident outside of his apartment at 143 Stoneybrook Court. The suspect forced the resident into his apartment and robbed him. The suspect fled the scene in an unknown direction. The suspect was wearing a black hoody, black ski mask, black pants, and black gloves.

Anyone with information on this crime or any other crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 828-268-6959 / 828-737-0125 or the Boone Police Department at 828-268-6900. You may also submit a Crime Stoppers Tip via our website at https://www.tipsubmit.com/webtips.aspx?AgencyID=1251 or Text NCTIP plus your tip to 274637 (CRIMES). All information will be kept confidential.

High Country Crime Stoppers pays rewards for information, which leads to arrests; recovery of stolen property; seizure of drugs and the location of wanted persons.

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Kaye Wilkinson Barley, a writer based in Boone, was among the hundreds of thousands of people who participated in the Womens March on Washington to protest Donald Trumps inauguration. She took a sold-out bus with 100 people from Boone to Washington D.C. on Saturday.

Barley called the event very inspiring and captured her experience on her blog, Meanderings and Muses, which includes nearly 100 photos from her trip and the event. Barley shared her post with High Country Press.

By Kaye Barley

Heres a little story.

When I returned home from DC, I asked Don Barley if he was proud of me for marching. He said he was, of course, proud of me. Always. (He is such a good husband ? ). He asked if I was proud of myself, and I said, yes, of course.

He then said to me, you should be proud of yourself for just getting on that bus. I know that was hard.

Yall.

Really?

Really.

That was THE hardest thing. A bus full of people I didnt know.

If it had not been for the fact that I knew our friends Amber Dollyhigh-Kwong and Pat Taylor were going to be there, I could very easily at the very last minute changed my mind and not gone.

Introverts may not always strike you as your version of what you think an introvert is, but believe me, we come in all disguises.

So, yes. I am SO proud of myself for getting on that bus that it makes me cry.

One thing that helped also is that I got on the bus with names of several friends who werent able to be in DC.

Some of them were marching elsewhere, some unable to march.

So, ALL of these people went to DC with me  in my pocket. And I was comforted by having them along.

We, the women from the Facebook Group Pantsuit Nation, Boone/Western NC, pulled out of the Walmart parking lot in Boone, NC Friday night at midnight.

Almost immediately, the adventure began.

We broke down.

But.

After a few minutes, things seem to right themselves..

(Do not ask me  I have no idea how bus things work. But in this case, the age old fix seemed to be to turn it off, then turn it back on. Voila!).

And then, about an hour later, on the other side of Wilkesboro, it happened again.

This time it took a little longer for things to right themselves.

But.

Right themselves, they did.

Our driver, who was great, kept us informed and kept in touch with the bus headquarters.

He let us know they were looking for a different bus, but wanted to make sure we were all okay and willing to keep going.

The response was a resounding YES!

So we kept going.

Then.

Then we got stopped for about 40 minutes behind a bad accident waiting for it to be cleared.

Then we changed over to our new bus outside of Greensboro. So. Running a little behind schedule, but everyone remained in good spirits.

I tried to go to sleep, but I managed to only doze a little off and on.

And then, it seemed like just all of a sudden, we were at our final rest stop before getting into DC.

The rush was on for hairbrushes and toothbrushes.

The Bus was awake and rocking to Arethas RESPECT.

Someone, and I am determined to find out who, played what I do believe was THE perfect playlist for going and coming back from the march.

On our drive into DC and to RFK Stadium, in addition to seeing iconic monuments, we saw more buses than I could have imagined.

And it wasnt hard to tell they were filled with women who were, like us, going to march.

The pink hats helped.

We saw women walking, arm in arm.

We saw women walking with their children.

Walking with their partners.

We saw men pushing baby strollers, many of whom were proudly sporting pink hats.

All good.

I did not see one instance of discord, did not encounter a single rude person.

We walked the two plus miles from RFK Stadium along beautiful Capitol Hill to the rally point at Independence and 3rd.

I am SO proud to have been a part of it. And tickled to have my friend Pat Taylor to experience it with.

Here are some random pictures, along with more of my thoughts about the day.

Most of the wonderful old brownstones we passed on our walk had signs in their yards with MLK quotes.

Many of the residents stood at their front doors and waved.

It was especially moving to see some mothers with babies on their hips waving at us. They knew we were marching for those babies.

Pat and I stopped and had some breakfast and much needed coffee and were still having a hard time believing we were really there.

Amazing.

Thats what we kept saying to one another.

Amazing.

There was a sea of people in front of us.

A sea of people behind us.

Amazing.

Once we reached the rally point, we learned that was as far as wed be going. The news guy showed us pictures of the streets from where we were standing beyond the White House and they were full.

The originally estimated crowd of 200,000 had grown to approximately 500,000.

Too many people to march the planned route, so we just spread out and stood.

Peacefully.

Proud to be there.

And still, every single person we encountered was kind.

People apologized as they brushed by to move somewhere else.

We smiled at one another.

It was . . .

amazing.

We were not far from the Rally Stage, but honestly? Dont have a clue as to who was up there, or what they were saying. It wasnt, for me, the point. The sheer numbers of people in those streets protesting peacefully. That was the point. Although I am a little irritated at myself for not paying attention to catch Gloria Steinem. dang.

After a couple hours of milling about near the rally point, Pat and I started our walk back to RFK Stadium.

We stopped and had a burger at Good Stuff Eatery (YUM!). We were able to snag a table and saw, for the first time, pictures and video of the march.

And the marches going on around the world.

And it made me cry.

The number of people marching in DC and everywhere  everywhere! Can you believe the numbers?!  sent a very loud message. If Trump is too ignorant to get it, Congress certainly should.

SOMETHING needs to come of the incredibleness (did I just make up a word? or just misspell one?) of January 21st.

I still have a lot of thoughts to process.

500,000 of us in DC. In the middle of the largest one day protest in our history, but I did not get the full impact of that, really, until I saw overhead shots of the crowd on TV. And Im still not down from that high.

Continuing our walk back to RFK Stadium to get on our bus, Pat and I could not pass up a little bit of shopping at Eastern Market which has been on Capitol Hill since 1873.

Nobody loves shopping more than me and Pat.

I wanted to bring something home, of course.

A souvenir to help me remember.

But something other than a TeeShirt.

I found David Kessler. A local DC artist, and bought this print on canvas.

It embodies the architecture Pat and I admired and enjoyed on our walk along Capitol Hill.

It wasnt until I was paying for it that Mr. Kessler told me it was a painting of the John Philip Sousa house, which was about two blocks away from where we were. Cool.

Finally boarding the bus, a little tired, but energized by being a part of something so big  so important, it was hard to believe it was over.

It was time to go home.

And the music was playing.

And there was our incredible play list back again.

Lean on Me.

Could there have been a more appropriate song on which to end this day?

The wine was flowing, there was singing, and then we all settled in for quiet conversations, self-reflection and a little sleep.

We got back into Boone about 3 a.m., and I got home about 3:30.

Woke [my husband] Donald, said, Hi, Honey, Im home.

And fell dead asleep.

When I finally woke up sometime around 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon, I spent some time going through Facebook, reading comments on my posts, and laughed a little and cried a little.

Thanks for going with me, everyone. You guys are the best and I love you.

But.

There is much to be done.

And we cant sit back and rest for long.

Stay strong. We can make a difference. We can.

Just remember 

Were just getting started.

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The following information is provided by local law enforcement agencies.

All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Compiled by Katie Benfield



The following were provided by the Watauga County Sheriffs Office.



Jan. 16

Incident: All other offenses was reported at 7443 N.C. Highway 194 N. in Boone.Jan. 17

Incident: Possession of more than a  oz. of marijuana but less than 1.5 oz. of marijuana and possession was marijuana paraphernalia were reported at 691 Howards Creek Rd. in Boone.

Arrest: A female suspect, 37, of 228 Alex Welburn Rd. in Deep Gap, was charged with contempt of court, perjury and court violations. Secured bond: $1,000. Trial date: Feb. 2. Jan. 16Incident: All other offenses was reported at 7443 N.C. Highway 194 N. in Boone.Jan. 17Incident: Possession of more than a  oz. of marijuana but less than 1.5 oz. of marijuana and possession was marijuana paraphernalia were reported at 691 Howards Creek Rd. in Boone.Arrest: A female suspect, 37, of 228 Alex Welburn Rd. in Deep Gap, was charged with contempt of court, perjury and court violations. Secured bond: $1,000. Trial date: Feb. 2. Jan. 18

Incident: Drug violations were reported at 6141 U.S. Highway 421 N. in Vilas.

Incident: Calls for service was reported at 1315 N. Pine Run Rd. in Boone.

Arrest: A male suspect, 22, of 137 Rachel Ct. in Boone, was charged with felony larceny. Secured bond: $10,000. Trial date: Feb. 9.

Arrest: A female suspect, 53, of 3170 Laurel Creek Rd. in Banner Elk, was charged with simple worthless check. Bond: $110. Trial date: Feb. 7. Jan. 19

Incident: Breaking and entering was reported at 368 Foggy Lane in Boone.

Incident: Breaking and entering and larceny from buildings were reported at 1233 Andy Hicks Rd. in Banner Elk.

Incident: Simple possession of Schedule VI was reported at N.C. Highway 105 S. at Devils Den in Banner Elk.

Arrest: A male suspect, 21, of 188 Herring Loop Apt. 106 in Boone, was charged with simple possession schedule VI CS and possession of marijuana paraphernalia. Trial date: Feb. 27.

Arrest: A female suspect, 28, of 140 Barnes Rd. in Sugar Grove, was charged with driving while license was revoked. Secured bond: $500. Trial date: Feb. 17. Jan. 20

Incident: Larceny from a motor vehicle was reported at 880 Fallview Lane in Boone.

Incident: Manufacturing Methamphetamine was reported at 7443 N.C. Highway 194 N. in Boone.

Incident: Simple physical assault, simple possession of schedule VI and possession of marijuana paraphernalia were reported at 205 Westview Heights in Boone.

Arrest: A female suspect, 37, of 7443 N.C. Highway 194 N. in Boone, was charged with the felony manufacture of methamphetamine. Secured bond: $100,000. Trial date: Feb. 27.

Arrest: A male suspect, 22, of 1121 Bamboo Rd. in Newland, was charged with a felony interfering with electronic monitoring device. Secured bond: $10,000. Trial date: Feb. 27.

Arrest: A male suspect, 29, of 7443 Highway 194 in Boone, was charged with a felony methamphetamine. Secured bond: $100,000. Trial date: Feb. 27. Jan. 21

Incident: PWIMSD schedule IV CS and possession of drug paraphernalia was reported at 1435 Highway 105 South in Boone.

Arrest: A male suspect, 26, of E40 Bear Creek Lane in Asheville, was charged with felony PWIMSD Schedule IV CS and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. Secured bond: $3,000. Trial date: March 1. Jan. 22

Incident: Larceny was reported at 373 Margo Rd. Unit B in Boone.

Incident: Drug violations and all traffic/DWLR was reported at U.S. Highway 421 N. in Zionville.

Arrest: A male suspect, 35, of 140 William Hunt Rd. in Boone, was charged with larceny, possession of stolen goods/property and probation violation. Secured bond: $5,500. Trial date: Feb. 27.

Arrest: A female suspect, 20, of 215 Wallace Circle in Boone, was charged with contempt of court/perjury/court violations, simple assault and drug violations. Secured bond: $2,000. Trial date: March 10. Jan. 23

Arrest: A male suspect, 54, of 129 Nile Park Dr. in Blowing Rock, was charged with contempt of court, perjury and court violations. Trial date: Feb. 14.

Arrest: A male suspect, 25, of 691 Howards Creek Rd. in Boone, was charged with possession of marijuana that was greater than  oz. but less than 1.5 oz. and possession of marijuana paraphernalia. Trial date: Mar. 30.



The following were provided by the Boone Police Department.



Jan. 16

Incident: Assualt on a female was reported at Speedway Gas Station, 1256 Blowing Rock Rd. in Boone.

Arrest: A male suspect, 21, of 454 Oak St, B in Boone, was charged with warrantpossess drug paraphernalia and warrantpossess marijuana. Trial date: Feb. 27.

Arrest: A male suspect, 40, of 326 Brown Farm Rd. in Boone, was charged with failure to appear. Trial date: Feb. 27.Jan. 17

Incident: Breaking and entering a vehicle and larceny were reported at 125 Cherrybrook Lane in Boone.

Incident: All other offenses/auto breaking and entering and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported at 178 Orchard St. in Boone.

Incident: Assault on a government official, disorderly conduct, injury to real property and resisting public officer was reported at 271 Wallace Circle, Apt 86 in Boone.

Incident: Breaking and/or entering a motor vehicle and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported at 193 Orchard St. in Boone.

Incident: All other offenses was reported at 188 Ivy Terrace Dr., #304 in Boone.

Incident: Breaking and/or entering a motor vehicle and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported at 269 Grand Blvd. in Boone.

Incident: Breaking and/or entering a motor vehicle and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported at 240 Wallace Circle in Boone.

Incident: FraudConfidence Games/larceny by trickery was reported at 286 Faculty St, #6 in Boone.

Incident: Fraudimpersonation was reported at Carolina West Wireless, 195 New Market Centre in Boone.

Incident: All other offenses/auto breaking and entering and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported at 286 Orchard St. in Boone.

Incident: Breaking and entering a motor vehicle and larceny after breaking and entering were was reported at 155 Campus Ridge Dr. in Boone.

Incident: Auto breaking and entering and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported at 207 Orchard St. in Boone.

Incident: All other offenses/auto breaking and entering and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported a 412 W. King St. in Boone.

Incident: Breaking and/or entering a motor vehicle and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported at 310 Grand Blvd. in Boone.

Arrest: A male suspect, 64, of Boone, was charged with trespassing. Trial date Feb. 27.

Arrest: A female suspect, 24, of 271 Wallace Circle, Apt. B6 in Boone, was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting public officer, damage to real property and assault on a government official. Secured bond: $5,000. Trial date: Feb. 27. Jan. 16Incident: Assualt on a female was reported at Speedway Gas Station, 1256 Blowing Rock Rd. in Boone.Arrest: A male suspect, 21, of 454 Oak St, B in Boone, was charged with warrantpossess drug paraphernalia and warrantpossess marijuana. Trial date: Feb. 27.Arrest: A male suspect, 40, of 326 Brown Farm Rd. in Boone, was charged with failure to appear. Trial date: Feb. 27.Jan. 17Incident: Breaking and entering a vehicle and larceny were reported at 125 Cherrybrook Lane in Boone.Incident: All other offenses/auto breaking and entering and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported at 178 Orchard St. in Boone.Incident: Assault on a government official, disorderly conduct, injury to real property and resisting public officer was reported at 271 Wallace Circle, Apt 86 in Boone.Incident: Breaking and/or entering a motor vehicle and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported at 193 Orchard St. in Boone.Incident: All other offenses was reported at 188 Ivy Terrace Dr., #304 in Boone.Incident: Breaking and/or entering a motor vehicle and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported at 269 Grand Blvd. in Boone.Incident: Breaking and/or entering a motor vehicle and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported at 240 Wallace Circle in Boone.Incident: FraudConfidence Games/larceny by trickery was reported at 286 Faculty St, #6 in Boone.Incident: Fraudimpersonation was reported at Carolina West Wireless, 195 New Market Centre in Boone.Incident: All other offenses/auto breaking and entering and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported at 286 Orchard St. in Boone.Incident: Breaking and entering a motor vehicle and larceny after breaking and entering were was reported at 155 Campus Ridge Dr. in Boone.Incident: Auto breaking and entering and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported at 207 Orchard St. in Boone.Incident: All other offenses/auto breaking and entering and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported a 412 W. King St. in Boone.Incident: Breaking and/or entering a motor vehicle and larceny from a motor vehicle were reported at 310 Grand Blvd. in Boone.Arrest: A male suspect, 64, of Boone, was charged with trespassing. Trial date Feb. 27.Arrest: A female suspect, 24, of 271 Wallace Circle, Apt. B6 in Boone, was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting public officer, damage to real property and assault on a government official. Secured bond: $5,000. Trial date: Feb. 27. Jan. 18

Incident: All other larceny was reported at 232 Furman Rd. in Boone.

Incident: Larceny from a motor vehicle was reported at 521 Meadowview Dr., Apt D201 in Boone. Jan. 19

Incident: Breaking and entering, damage to property and larceny were reported at 359 Old E. King St, Apt. 306 in Boone.

Incident: Larceny of auto parts and accessories was reported at 1563 Blowing Rock Rd. in Boone.

Incident: Misdemeanor larceny was reported at 314 Meadowview Dr., Apt. 319 in Boone.

Incident: DWLR and possession of marijuana less than  oz. were reported at 970 Rivers St. in Boone.

Arrest: A female suspect, 24, of 1503 Junaluska Rd. in Salisbury, was charged with breaking and entering a vehicle and larceny from a motor vehicle. Secured bond: $10,000. Trial date: Feb. 17.

Arrest: A male suspect, 57, of 338 Brook Hollow Rd. in Boone, was charged with DWLR and possession of less than  oz of marijuana. Secured bond: $500. Trial date: Feb. 27.

Arrest: A male suspect, 30, of 939 Hobson Rd. in Bakersville, was charged with DWLR and DWI. Trial date: Feb. 27.

Arrest: A male suspect, 24, of 130 Glory Dr. in Boone, was charged with failure to appear. Secured bond: $500. Trial date: Feb. 14. Jan. 20

Incident: Assault by strangulation and larceny were reported at 271 Wallace Circle in Boone.

Incident: Misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon was reported at 747 W. King St. in Boone.

Incident: Breaking and entering a place of worship was reported at 1043 W. King St. in Boone.

Incident: All other larceny was reported at 489 W. King St. in Boone.

Incident: Larceny from a motor vehicle was reported at 164 Winklers Meadow in Boone.

Incident: Fraudobtaining money/property by false pretense was reported at 166 Delorean Pl., Apt 105C in Boone.

Incident: Fraudobtaining money/property by false pretense was reported at 214 Locust St. in Boone.

Arrest: A female suspect, 16, of 1408 Flat Top Rd in Blowing Rock, was charged with drug violations/possession of Schedule IV and possession of alcohol by a minor. Trial date: Feb. 27.

Arrest: A male suspect, 39, of 538 Brook Hollow Rd. in Boone, was charged with DVPO violation. Trial date: Feb. 27.

Arrest: A male suspect, 20, of 168 Graduate Lane, #441 in Boone, was charged with no tail lights, provisional and DWI. Trial date: Feb. 27. Jan. 21

Incident: Criminal damage to property (vandalism) was reported at 321 E. King St. in Boone.

Incident: Criminal damage to property (vandalism) was reported at W. King St.

Incident: Breaking and entering a vehicle and all other larceny were reported at 314 Meadowview Dr. in Boone.

Arrest: A male suspect, 18, of 174 Old Ridge Rd. in Boone, was charged with left of center, driving after consuming and DWI. Trial date: March 30. Jan. 22

Incident: Criminal damage to property (vandalism) was reported at 454 W. King St. in Boone.

Incident: Criminal damage to property (vandalism) was reported at 1104 Highway 105 in Boone.

Incident: Simple physical assault was reported at 747 W. King St. in Boone.

Arrest: A female suspect, 48, of Boone was charged with fictitious tag, drug violations/paraphernalia/possessing/concealing and failure to appear. Secured bond: $1,000. Trial date: Feb 8.

Arrest: A male suspect, 24, of 447 Kirkman Rd. in Lexington, was charged with simple assault. Bond: $750. Trial date: Feb. 27.

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A Chinese man reacts as firecrackers he lit explode during celebrations of the Lunar New early on Feb. 19, 2015 in Beijing, China. (Photo : Getty Images)

A number of cities and regions in China have imposed stricter rules on the use of fireworks ahead of the Lunar New Year. The rules now require buyers to register their personal information and have reduced the number of retailers.



In Shanghai, authorities have allowed only seven retail outlets to sell pyrotechnics starting Monday over safety concerns. The same is now being done at Xi'ning City, which also covers Hui people and Tibetans.



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Meanwhile, authorities in Xinjiang require customers to register their real names when purchasing firecrackers. They have also banned online and mobile sales through the WeChat app. The number of retail outlets dropped from 600 to 500.



Central Henan Province has banned the use of fireworks in all cities and towns. While Hebei's Boading City has threatened to detain anyone who will be setting of pyrotechnics outside four days of celebration.



In Beijing, the number of retailers have been reduced to 511, which is 29 percent lower from last year. Authorities will also be looking out for the air pollution alert. If it reaches red or orange, the delivery and sale of fireworks will be suspended.



Lighting firecrackers and fireworks has been part of the tradition in celebrating the Spring Festival. It is believed that the noise scares off evil spirits and bad luck.



In light of the worsening smog problem, China has decided to impose these stricter regulations.



"Worsening pollution will engulf four norther Chinese provinces, including Hebei Province which surrounds Beijing, in the run up to the Lunar New Year, from Monday through to Thursday," said China's National Environment Monitoring Center on its official WeChat account.



While it is expected that there will be reduced industry activity and traffic during the festive period, the use of pyrotechnics could push levels higher by one or two grades in certain areas.



It may seem that reducing or banning the fireworks during the festivities will go against Chinese tradition. But with China's smog problem, fireworks can be traded off for clean air.


Sherlock is back in the sequel to Enola Holmes and tonight Henry is attending the premiere in New York City with the cast and crew. Look fo...

The Enola Holmes 2 junket interviews are starting to come in and this is where we'll be posting them! View this post on Instagram ...

About Us

We are a fan blog dedicated to bringing you the latest news on Henry's current and future projects. Everything from interviews to appearances, you'll find it all here first.



Have tips, pictures, or videos you want to share?

email us at henrycavillnews@gmail.com





DISCLAIMER



This blog is in no way affiliated with Henry Cavill or his representatives.



This blog does not claim copyright on any images used in our posts.
Struggling Cathay Pacific to Lay Off Staff; Rumors About New CEO Surface

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. employees walk inside the terminal at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong, China. (Photo : Getty Images)

Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific will slash its workforce as it tries to grapple with disappointing profits.



The struggling airline is also considering shifting flights to Cathay Dragon as discussed in its two-decade business review sent to its 33,700 employees. The restructuring will "start at the top" and take effect by mid-year, wrote Bloomberg, citing a statement from the airline.



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Cathay's lower-than-projected earnings are blamed on the growing rivalry against other premium airlines, as well as the weakening role of Hong Kong as a gateway to and from China. This has been the problem since chief executive officer Ivan Chu took the lead in March 2004. With this, rumors are swirling that Chu might be replaced in the near future.



"If the statement is any indication, it could well be that he may not be there for long," Shukor Yusof, founder of aviation consulting firm Endau Analytics, said in a phone interview with Bloomberg.



"They haven't embraced the changes. They've lacked the vision to grow the company and that has been one of the main reasons for the decline in the company's performance and profit."



A company spokeswoman declined to comment on the matter when asked by Bloomberg.



Despite plans of cutting several job posts, Cathay said that it will also create new positions and redefine existing ones.



"This change will create opportunities, but some jobs will no longer be needed," the airline said in a statement. "Some new jobs will be created and other jobs may be redefined."



The airline is looking to reorganize into seven portfolios, namely operational, commercial, people, customer, finance and strategy, IT, and cargo, wrote Reuters.



Cathay's share price rose 2.6 percent after Reuters reported last week that the business overhaul was close at hand.



Meanwhile, the company will add new flights to Tel Aviv and Barcelona and see the delivery of a dozen Airbus A350 planes.


You too could be a lottery winner

The search is on for Ireland's latest EuroMillions tycoon after a ticket sold here won the entire jackpot worth a whopping 88.6m.

Such was the level of frenzy after the win was announced at 9pm, the National Lottery's EuroMillions website crashed for a time last night.

The winning numbers drawn were: 1, 5, 7, 17, 23, while the lucky stars were 3 and 8.

The win marks the third- biggest jackpot in Ireland and the 10th time that an Irish ticket holder has won the top prize since 2004.

Jackpot

According to the National Lottery, there has been just one Irish winner of the whopping 88,587,275 jackpot, while the location of where the ticket was sold remained a mystery last night.

A number of users on Lottery.ie reported difficulties accessing the website and app after the draw last night.

It is understood that the temporary issues were caused as a result of the sheer volume of users trying to log on at the same time.

Officials from the National Lottery were not available for comment last night.

The massive win, however, is still far off the 115m haul that former cleaner Dolores McNamara from Limerick walked away with in 2005.

Her stroke of luck instantly put her on the list of the top one hundred richest people in the country.

A ticket for the second-biggest win was sold in Beaumont, north Dublin in June 2013 worth close to 94m in which the jackpot was split with another winner from Belgium.

A couple, who chose to remain anonymous, also won a 15m jackpot in July 2008.

But that still paled in comparison to the 29.4m won by a family syndicate who also chose to remain anonymous in June 2009.

In September 2013, a man from the southeast split a winning jackpot of 25.6m - later admitting that he chose one of the numbers by mistake.

Even Taoiseach Enda Kenny was bitten by the Lotto bug when he called into Staunton's Costcutter's on Main Street in Castlebar - his home town - to congratulate the shop owner who sold a winning ticket worth 15m to a family in April 2014.

Other winners have included a syndicate from Dublin that scooped 86.7m after buying a ticket in a local shop in Ballybrack in September 2014.

A group of friends also split the jackpot and picked up 66 million in January 2016 after buying a winning ticket sold in the Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow.

One of the most heart-warming lotto-winner stories was about a group of hard-working Dublin Bus drivers who collectively won almost 24m last July.

Biggest

The syndicate of 22 each bagged a cool million euro each. Yet despite this, they all vowed to return to work the following day after arriving at the lotto headquarters in Dublin in a double decker bus - driven by someone else.

Up until last night, there had been nine EuroMillions winners in Ireland so far.

The biggest of those was of course Dolores McNamara in 2005.

EuroMillions is played in Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.
RTE's Maura Derrane has said becoming a mum has changed her for the better as she's much more vigilant about her health.

She helped launch the 'Pearl of Wisdom' campaign which coincides with Cervical Cancer prevention week and encourages women to get regular smear tests.

The co-presenter of RTE's Today show said she would have put off having the test done in the past.

"Like many women, I would have been guilty of ignoring the issue and not going for regular smears. You make all sorts of excuses about how you're very busy and you don't have the time.

"You say to yourself, 'I've just had one done' but it could actually have been a year or two, so the reminders are great,'' she said.

''This campaign has given me a kick up the backside and encouraged me to get it done and I just went to my own GP under the Cervical Check programme. The thing about cervical cancer is it's a silent killer, there's no obvious symptoms.

"There's no history of cervical cancer in my family, but I've done enough interviews in my life to know it's not something you can leave to chance."

Health

Maura said that being a mum to Cal (2), her son with TD husband John Deasy, made her become more health conscious.

"Maybe with age does come a little bit more wisdom and you look at your life more closely.

"Since I had Cal, I'm more aware of my own health and you do have a responsibility to look after yourself more when you're a mum."

She is also overhauling her attitude to working out and keeping fit and has signed up with a new personal trainer near the RTE studio in Cork.

"I need to lose about 10lbs. I ate and drank everything around me over Christmas and I just feel like I want to tone up a little," she said.
A close associate of murdered gangster Gerard 'Hatchet' Kavanagh is suspected of being the Kinahan cartel figure behind a massive firearms haul seized in west Dublin.

At least 15 high-powered assault rifles and handguns were seized by gardai in the swoop yesterday afternoon.

One AK-47, a sub-machine gun, several handguns and a number of semi-automatic pistols were among the deadly arsenal.

A number of the weapons were loaded, with senior gardai stating that an "imminent attack" was prevented and that lives were saved.

The significant seizure is being linked to a highly-active south Dublin based criminal .

He has been a major target for the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and had a number of vehicles seized in a special operation by the agency last April.

Arrested

He was not one of the three men arrested by gardai in the massive surveillance operation yesterday, which resulted in the huge bust at Greenogue Industrial Estate in Baldonnel.

The operation followed weeks of investigation by the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB).

Three men, aged in their early 40s and early 50s, were arrested and were last night being questioned at Clondalkin, Ballyfermot and Rathcoole Garda Stations.

They have addresses in Celbridge, Rathcoole and Naas, with the Naas resident originally from Crumlin.

One of the individuals was arrested in the "lock-up", while the two other men were detained close to the scene in a car.

Gardai believe the two men in the car were due to collect the weapons, some of which were fully loaded.

Officers from the DOCB raided a warehouse in the Greenogue Industrial Estate, Baldonnel, west Dublin, in a dawn operation yesterday.

It followed a lengthy surveillance operation at the premises, with gardai storming the warehouse after witnessing one man enter the storage facility.

The main target of the operation was not caught up in the bust, however gardai believe that he is a very senior member of the murderous cartel.

It is understood the operation was part of a long-running probe into the activities of a very close associate of slain gangster Gerard 'Hatchet' Kavanagh (44), who was murdered in Spain in September, 2014.

Kavanagh was shot nine times by two masked men as he sipped a beer at Harmon's Irish Bar in Elviria near Marbella.

He was a senior member and enforcer for the Kinahan crime gang and gardai have been investigating whether he was killed by his own mob.

Detective Superintendent Tony Howard of the DOCB said: "This was an intelligence-led operation and forensic examinations by the technical bureau are ongoing as I speak.

"But I can say we have a minimum of 15 firearms recovered, possibly as many as 20, but we won't know the full figure until we've carried out a full search of the premises itself," he said.

Disrupted

"There is absolutely no doubt that this operation disrupted an imminent attack and I've no doubt that we have saved lives as a result of this operation," he added.

Members of the Armed Support Unit (ASU) guarded the warehouse as officers from the Garda Technical Bureau carried out a forensic examination.

It means that in the space of just 72 hours, gardai have seized almost 40m of drugs and up to 15 weapons from the deadly cartel.

"Obviously his particular operation and last weekend, as well as a myriad of operations we conducted through 2016, resulted in 18 firearms being seized," the senior garda added.
The search for survivors goes on at the avalanche-hit hotel

Hopes of finding more survivors in the avalanche-hit Italian mountain resort of Farindola are fading fast.

Fifteen bodies have so far been recovered from the Hotel Rigopiano, which was buried under thousands of tons of snow when four powerful earthquakes hit central Italy on Wednesday last week.

Nine people have been pulled out alive from the rubble, three of whom are still in hospital in nearby Pescara.

Fourteen people remain unaccounted for.

In a separate incident, six people died yesterday when a helicopter crashed in thick fog in nearby mountains.

Injured

The aircraft came down near the Campo Felice ski station after picking up an injured skier.

Rescue crews at the Rigopiano have been buoyed by the discovery of three puppies at the hotel - though they stressed they were found in a boiler room far from where the missing people are thought to be.

Firefighters' spokesman Alberto Maiolo said search crews aided by heavy digging equipment were finally able to penetrate the snow-covered central part of the hotel, but there were no sign of life other than the puppies.

"Logically, hopes fade as time passes, but we are continuing to search and trying to do it as quickly as possible," he said.

Crowds gathered outside a hilltop church to pay their respects to Alessandro Giancaterino, the hotel's chief waiter, who was one of the first victims to be pulled from the rubble.

Mr Giancaterino should not have been in the hotel at the time of the avalanche.

He offered to stay behind at the end of his shift to spare a colleague making his way to the hotel through the snow, which was up to 9ft thick.

"He was a great hard worker," said his brother, Massimiliano. "He was very professional.

"This is the memory that I want to keep of my brother, beyond the private ones that I keep in my heart."

Prosecutors are investigating whether missed communications, underestimations of risks and delays in responding to days of heavy snowfall contributed to the death toll.
Feng Qiyong (Photo : National Library of China)

Feng Qiyong, renowned Chinese academic, has passed away on Sunday at the age of 95.



Widely known for his contributions to Redology, the study of the 18th-century Chinese novel "A Dream of Red Mansions," Feng led the team that worked on the 1982 version of the novel. With its numerous corrections and annotations, this version is regarded as the bestselling edition of the Chinese classic.



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Feng authored more than 20 books on Chinese literature and history, and served as the chief editor for dictionaries on "A Dream of Red Mansions" and encyclopedias of Chinese art.



During the height of Cultural Revolution, Feng secretly copied "Red Mansions" by hand, which he finished by June 1967, according to the Global Times.



"To me, this handwritten version is as precious as my own life," Feng was quoted to have said.



According to Feng's preface in his autobiography "Rain and Snow: The Personal Reminiscences of Feng Qiyong" published in the Jan. 17 edition of the state-owned People's Daily newspaper, he endured torture during the Cultural Revolution to eventually become the head of the team that edited and proofread "A Dream of Red Mansions" in 1975 as well as spearheading the establishment of the Chinese Research Institute of Redology and the Chinese National Academy of Arts.



In addition to Redology, Feng also made major contributions in classic Chinese literature, art and archeology, with the most notable being the rediscovery of the route that the legendary Tang Dynasty Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who served as the inspiration for the Ming Dynasty novel "Journey to the West", once traveled on his return journey to China from India.



"I went to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 10 times and climbed the Parmirs Plateau three times to verify the Ancient Wahan Route that Xuanzang took when he first reentered China," Feng wrote in his autobiography.



"After that, I traveled all the way from the ancient city of Milan, the Lop Nor salt lake, the ancient city of Loulan, and the Longcheng, Bailongdui and Sanlongsha areas to the Yumen Pass to finally confirm the last part of the route on which Xuanzang traveled from Yutian, an ancient Western kingdom, back to Chang'an, the then capital of the Tang Dynasty."



Meng Xianshi, a professor at the School of Chinese Classic at Renmin University of China, praised Feng's "persistent" approach to his research over the years.



"Mr. Feng had a hard life, but he chose not to forget these ordeals. In fact, to some degree, he was grateful to have experienced these ordeals," Meng wrote in his review of Feng's autobiography.


Japanese Hotel Chain Stirs Outrage as It Refuses to Withdraw Books from Its Guest Rooms

APA's chain hotel is pictured in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo : Getty Images)

The Chinese people are outraged over a remark by a Japanese hotel chain. The hotel chain refused the withdrawal of a book from its guest rooms which denies the Nanjing Massacre in China during the World War II.



Hua Chunying, Foreign Ministry spokesman, reiterated that forgetting history means betraying it, and denying responsibility for a crime means recommitting it.



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She said: "The determination of a small group of people in Japan to ignore the country's historical crimes helps cultivate new ground for the far-right to flourish. These people's retroaction has already evoked strong indignation among the Chinese people."



Hua voiced out that the Japanese government should not neglect its duty under the excuse of freedom of speech by misguiding the Japanese people.



She added, "We urge the Japanese to realize the seriousness of the problem, shoulder their responsibility in earnest and properly handle related issues, to avoid new disturbances in the China-Japan relationship."



Reports on Sina Weibo, a Chinese social networking site, say that the APA Hotels, a Japanese hotel chain, was distributing the book "Theoretical Modern History II: The Real History of Japan."



The book claims that "Japan constitutionally guarantees freedom of speech, and no one-sided pressure can force any assertion that is made to be repealed."



After this event, major China travel agencies have refused to provide booking services for APA Hotels. This will be an issue, as China is the top source of Japan's inbound tourism industry.



Koro Hotels, an international hotel chain in Zhejiang Province, has begun distributing the book entitled "The Good Man of Nanking: The Diaries of John Rabe" in its guest rooms as a protest.



The book is a compilation of the personal journals of a German businessman that lived in Nanjing Province from 1937 to 1938. This was a time when Japanese troops overran the city. The book describes an unassuming hero who saved 200,000 Chinese lives.



"The APA incident is merely company behavior, it should not affect the bigger picture of tourism exchange between China and Japan," said Xu Xiaolei, a spokesman of the China Youth Travel Service. "Tourism as an industry is very easily affected by exterior factors including terrorist attacks, exchange currency rates and the political environment."


An anti-aircraft gun modified by the Chinese to fire cloud seeding rounds. (Photo : PLA)

Gripped by a raging drought, China is increasing the intensity of its already massive cloud seeding campaign to produce more rain despite new evidence this course of actions does the environment more harm than good.



China already spends more money every year than any other in cloud seeding, also called "artificial rainfall enhancement" and "weather modification." It believes cloud seeding actually increases the amount of rain over increasingly arid regions, especially in the parched northwest and including Beijing.



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The Chinese prefer firing rockets or anti-aircraft rounds filled with silver iodide, a rain inducing chemical, into the sky where rain is desired. Another means of cloud seeding is to have aircraft disperse silver iodide and other types of chemicals.



China this week announced it will spend some $168 million to quench the thirst of its northwestern provinces. The amount is one of the largest set aside for cloud seeding, and points to the severity of a relentless "desertification" that has now transformed one third of China's land mass into deserts.



Desertification has hit the hardest the provinces of Xinjiang and Tibet, the two most restive provinces in China where independence movements by restless Uyghurs and ethnic Tibetans still command respect.



China's other northwestern provinces (Gansu, Qinghai, Shaanxi and Ningxia) have China's largest deserts and are experiencing little rain.



Desertification is now also threatening Mongolia, another uneasy province also in the north. Political stability will become more uncertain in these three problematic provinces as desertification creeps forward.



The advance of desertification is alarming. Already over one million square miles or one third of China is classified as desert or wasteland. Creeping deserts are threatening 400 million people, or close to a third of the 1.4 billion people in China. Desertification costs China some $6.9 billion every year.



Over the past decade, Beijing reported deserts expanded 1,500 square miles a year. Since China's total land area is some 3,700,000 square miles, deserts will engulf all of China in some 2,500 years if nothing effective is done to stop this threat.



One of the things China has resorted to slow down the onslaught of desertification is cloud seeding.



The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) expects the investment of $168 million to increase rainfall and snow in over 960,000 square kilometer, or over 10 percent of the country's territory. But that's a big if and China has released no data to prove its cloud seeding works and is worth the massive amounts of money being plunked into it.



CMA said the cloud seeding campaign will take three years. The money will go to the acquisition of four new cloud seeding planes; upgrading eight existing aircraft and building some 900 rocket launch systems to launch silver iodide rockets into the atmosphere.



China said its previous cloud seeding programs increased precipitation by 50 billion cubic meters from 2006 to 2016.



International experts, however, are wary of this degree of claimed success.



The effectiveness of cloud seeding has never been well established.



"(The Chinese government has) made some claims but there is no evaluation available that can substantiate their claims," said Roelof Bruintjes, a scientist at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research and a proponent of weather modification a few years ago.



Cloud seeding might also actually cause other problems. Some experts claim that prematurely inducing rain prevents rain from falling elsewhere. Cloud seeding might also make hail expand, not shrink.



And, oddly, pollution (which China has in abundance) already seeds clouds automatically.


iOS 10.2 beta version with new emojis running on a iPhone. (Photo : YouTube/EverythingApplePro)

The hope remains, however faint, that there will be a jailbreak release coming from the Chinese hackers Team Pangu following the rollout this week of the official iOS 10.2.1 bump. And as Apple started seeding to developers beta 1 of version 10.3, rumors further fired up that either Pangu or Luca Todesco will create a JB tool based on the soon to be unsigned iOS 10.2.



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On Todesco's part, the iOS security researcher has made clear that work on an iOS 10.2 jailbreak is already in progress. What jailbreak fans stand to receive is supposedly a jump from the Yalu 10.1.1 JB tool, which to date remains in beta form, has limited coverage and in semi-tethered status.



There is no telling if the 10.2 jailbreak will be free from the issues mentioned above but Todesco himself has indicated that then initially released his upgraded Yalu jailbreak will likely not work on the iPhone 7 series. So the chance is high that the solution will turns out as incomplete - meaning it will be in beta and semi-tethered as its predecessor when it goes out.



And when the next Yalu jailbreak release, its maker will not say.



These uncertainties and a host of other reasons prompted jailbreak fans to pin their hopes on another possible provider of an iOS crack. That would be Team Pangu, which was last heard of when Cydia was shown running on the then unreleased iOS 10. That was back in July 2016 then the group went silent.



However, Neurogadget is convinced that Pangu will soon spring into action despite the absence of solid indicator that the group remains committed to provide a public jailbreak soon. It was said that the hacking team from China is working silently and is just waiting for the right time to finalize and release its take on the iOS 10.2 jailbreak.



"Tech experts are theorizing that Pangu is waiting for Apple to release iOS 10.2.1 before they would roll out their jailbreaking tool," the report said. And add to that the tech giant has already pushed out beta of version 10.3, which somehow indicates that work on 10.2xx has been wrapped as far as Apple is concerned.



So in the event that Pangu will release an iOS 10.2 jailbreak, the likelihood of the solution staying unpatched for quite some time is high. That translates to the JB tool getting a release date and if the same Neurogadget report is to be believed, it is an event that will happen "within the coming weeks."


It's been 125 years since Dracula was published. And it's still scary.
Actress Viola Davis, winner of Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for 'Fences,' poses in the press room during the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 8, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo : Getty Images/ Alberto E. Rodriguez)

"How to Get Away With Murder" Season 3 will see Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) facing more problems in the upcoming episodes.



In an interview with "Good Morning America" (via Refinery 29) Davis was asked to share some information from the second half of the hit ABC series and her character. According to the award-winning star, Davis would continue to go through hell first.



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"I am waiting for it to get better. I want her to just do better, maybe go to therapy. Let me tell you something, it is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better," she said.



In the midseason finale, Annalise found herself in jail for Wes' (Alfred Enoch) murder. However, it has not yet been confirmed whether or not she is really the one who killed the student.



Previously, Annalise has been very protective of Wes because she was around when Wes' mom killed herself because of the Mahoneys. However, Wes lost his trust and faith for Annalise, and it has become his recent mission to take her down.



After Wes' body was found burned in Annalise's house, Nate (Billy Brown) told Annalise that the body was just placed there in time for the fire. But Wes did not necessarily die after he was trapped in Annalise's home. Instead, he was already dead before it happened.



Meanwhile, the identity of Wes' killer will be revealed in "How to Get Away With Murder" Season 3, episode 10. In "We're Bad People," everyone will be shocked to know who is responsible for the character's death. On top of this, the person who burned Annalise's home will also be named. The motivations for doing so will also be explained.



In other news, Connor (Jack Falahee) will also be a hot mess in the winter premiere. Everything that has been happening to him and his friends will make his consider going to a facility. A glimpse of Connor talking to a professional was featured in one of the promos for the upcoming episode.



"How to Get Away With Murder" Season 3, episode 10 will air on ABC on Jan. 26 at 10 p.m. EST.






'Stranger Things 2' rumors: Will Byers to become the new Demogorgon; Cast member tease plot details for the second season!

"Stranger Things" is an American science fiction-horror web television series created by the Duffer Brothers. (Photo : Getty Images/ Maarten De Boer)

The latest details and spoilers for "Stranger Things" season 2 will feature its possible plot details and Will Byers being the new Demogorgon.



It seems that plot details for "Stranger Things" season 2 have been revealed as cast member David Harbour stated during the Fan2Sea Comic-Con cruise that the story will take place a year later after the events of season 1 and there are certain people in the town of Hawkins, Indiana that know what happened, and then there are other people who do not know what happened. So theres a lot of fall out with who knows what in the second season, HollywoodLife reported.



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The focus of "Stranger Things" season 1 was the disappearance of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and his friends Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) are searching for him. They then stumble upon a girl named Eleven (Millie Bobbie Brown) who has psychic abilities and knows how to find their missing friends.



These events led to several strange phenomena of murders and secret government conspiracies, which involves an "Upside Down" world and a monster known simply as the Demogorgon.



In other news, it seems that Will Byers will likely become the new villain in the events of "Stranger Things" season 2.



Showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer stated that they have been reading several fan theories and they were surprisingly spot on as Matt provided some hint of where there were going in the second season without giving anything away and think some of the titles will change.



However, there were titles they both did not want to put on there because they felt like it would give too much away and the whole season already broke when they did it.



The Duffer brothers added that "Stranger Things" season 2 will have nine episodes and tease the effects of the Upside Down world, particularly on Will Byers. Schnapp teased before that Will in season 2 will likely become evil due to his prolonged exposure to that world. Viewers have seen the last episode witness Will seeing hallucinations of the Upside Down world and coughing what appears to be a worm like creature from that world.



Schnapp added that Will could go crazy in "Stranger Things" season 2 due to the traumatizing experience as he struggles to be normal, but has a hard time fighting what is going on with him.



Could this changes mean that Will turn into a new Demogorgon? Though the statement from Schnapp did not outrightly reveal the fate of Will Byers, Schnapp's revelations intrigued a lot of "Stranger Things" fans as it was the first time that the notion that Will Byers may have turned into a monster, Mobile&Apps reported.



"Stranger Things" season 2 will premiere sometime in 2017 on Netflix.


Actors Meghan Markle and Rick Hoffman attend a Q&A following the premiere of USA Network's 'Suits' Season 5 at Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown Hotel on January 21, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Alberto E. Rodriguez)

It is time for the post-Jessica era on "Suits" as the show returns with new episodes on Jan. 25. Watch "Suits" Season 6, episode 11 online via live stream, here.



Warning: This article contains spoilers from "Suits" Season 6 episodes. Read to know more.



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"Suits" Season 6, episode 11 Spoilers Roundup



Louis, Donna, and Harvey sit down and plan a Jessica-less future for the firm. Meanwhile, Rachel considers various options and Mike explores life as a former convict.



Executive producer Aaron Korsh spoke with TVLine about the midseason premiere of "Suits" Season 6 and beyond.



Korsh is asked about the steps that Harvey and Louis will take after their partner's departure.



"The aftermath ripples through all the back six [episodes], but in particular, I feel like the first episode is them trying to reach a new homeostasis in the aftermath of her leaving and figuring out how they are going to move forward with Jessica being gone in a professional capacity. They're going to go through various steps in trying to come to that new way forward. They lean on the people in their lives that we know well to try to help them get through it, and those people help in different ways," Korsh said.



Meanwhile, towards the end of last season, Mike did not tell Harvey if he would be up for the consultant position with him. According to Korsh, this will be addressed early on in "Suits" Season 6, episode 11. Korsh added that he has an offer and Mike will have to figure out how he wants to move on in life.



"Does he want to work at Pearson Specter Litt and go back to corporate law in a consulting capacity? When he was on trial, he said, "I'm going to try to do good in the world because that's what I want to do," and he's going to struggle with that," Korsh said.



"Suits" Season 6, episode 11 airs Wednesday, Jan. 25 on USA Network.


An expert scans sample displayed on the monitor. (Photo : YouTube/ DNews )

HIV and AIDS cure has long been sought by experts. One of the known approaches being perfected today is immunotherapy, a technology that would be anchored on genetic alteration to control the virus from replicating.



Prominent HIV researcher, Dr. Larry Corey, aims to make a medical breakthrough in curing HIV through cell immunotherapy. He believes that by means of genetically altering T cells, the body may be aided in improving its response with towards HIV.



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"HIV creates such a persistent immune deficiency that one needs to improve the human immune response to develop an approach in which one's own immune system can control the virus from replicating," Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center quoted Dr. Corey as saying. "We think that we can bring the technology of genetically altering T cells, as is being used with cancer immunotherapy, to HIV,"



As a testament to the promising HIV cure, a funding was granted to the research of Dr. Corey. The California-based biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences granted $2.6 million boost to the study, according to the same website.



For the said Gilead project, the expert HIV researcher will be working with other experts from the University of Washington and Oregon Health & Science University. The team will also be accompanied by a biotech company developing immunotherapy treatments for cancer patients, Juno Therapeutics. The research team will utilize the resources awarded for the project in search for a better cure for HIV.



Moreover, the Gilead project will complement the current existing research on HIV immunotherapy of Dr. Corey, dubbed as Defeat HIV Project, according to Geek Wire. The said project aims to leverage the knowledge, expertise and resources of the group to create a realistic and promising pathway towards a definitive HIV cure.



Dr. Corey and his team are on the front line of revolutionizing the search for HIV and AIDS cure. The additional resources granted to the project will augment the research and the output of the team.



Watch here below the concept of immunotherapy:






Xi Jinping. (Photo : Getty Images)

Chinese President Xi Jinping heads a newly formed Central Commission for Integrated Military and Civilian Development experts said is vital for China's national defense.



The commission, which was launched Jan. 22, will decide and coordinate affairs on civil-military integration, which will be under the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.



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The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the armed forces of the CPC. It's controlled by the Central Military Commission of which Xi is president.



Civil-military integration is important in building China's national defense in peacetime, said Li Daguang, a professor at the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army.



"Building national defense depends heavily on the masses. Public support is of great importance to our military."



Some local governments have promoted civil-military integration, but the new central commission will provide uniform orders, he said.



Xi has stressed the importance of the integration, describing the coordination between economic development and national defense as mutually beneficial.



The integration, which is key to realizing the goal of a strong PLA, accelerated in March 2014 when it was upgraded to a national strategy.



In May 2014, the first "military and civilian integration forum" issued a list of 200 military items, attracting more than 100 private companies.



Li said civil-military integration can be improved if the government involves Chinese companies in high-tech industries.



He noted that laws and regulations are needed for greater transparency and efficiency, "and also to prevent private companies from leaking military secrets."



China's National Defense Industry Enterprise Military and Civil Integration Industry Alliance (CNDIA) was established earlier this month.



CNDIA was co-founded by the Association of National Defense Industrial Enterprises of China, China Great Wall Industry Group and China Fortune Land Development Company.



CNDIA chief Liu Dongkui said civil-military integration has become a national strategy. But civil-military integration on the national defense level faces problems, including bureaucratic red tape and an outmoded property rights system.


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Grand Prize Winner: Donna Rickey Blog Winners: A Song for her Enemies by Sherri Stewart: Mary Ann Hake Spies & Sweethearts by Linda Shenton Matchett: Connie Ruggles Sword of Trust by DebbieLynn Costello: Brenda Walters Justice for Julia by Donna Schlachter: Natalya Lakhno Party Prize winners: Sherri Stewarts Winners A Song for her Enemies: Angie Pool Bottle of Dutch Syrup: Carol Koch Alscheff Corrie ten Boom book: Deb Gramie Burgess Linda Shenton Matchetts winners: $5.00 gift card to online retailer or choice (Kobo, B&N, AppleBooks, Amazon): Karen Hadley A Bride for Seamus: Carol Osterhouse Wotring DebbieLynn Costellos winners: Sword of the Matchmaker: Melissa Planas Sword of Forgiveness: Paty Hinojosa Gomez Shattered Memories: Charlene Zall Capodice Sword of the Perfect Bride: Licha Haney Donna Schlachters winner: Leather Journal: Lisa Turley

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Nokia 6 (Photo : Facebook / Tech Updates)

Nokia 6 is now rumored to be available outside the China soon. The rumored Nokia P1 and Nokia 18.4-inch tablet are also now rumored to be available outside China.



The Nokia 6 is immensely popular in China even though it has arrived with a higher price tag compared to rival devices. More than 1.4 million customers registered for the first flash sale of Nokia 6. The second flash is scheduled to happen of Feb. 26, The Playful Droid reported.



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Lazada, a major retailer from Philippines has listed Nokia 6 for sale that will go live on Feb. 26. The product listing shows that the retailer will be selling white color variants of Nokia 6. JD.com, the Chinese retailer that sold only the black colored variant of Nokia 6 in its flash sale.



The Nokia 6 is available on JD.com with a pricing of 1,699 yuan ($245). However, Lazada is selling the smartphone for 18,590 peso ($374). At present, Nokia 6 seems to be out of stock on Lazada, but the retailer is expected to begin it sales starting from tomorrow, Phone Arena reported.



Nokia A1 was the first device that was sold in China after the company was acquired by Microsoft in 2014. The Nokia-Microsoft deal came to an end in December 2016. Starting from this year, HMD Global has taken the onus of developing Nokia branded devices.



Nokia 6 is the first device from the Finnish company under HMD Global. The device has been only available in China. However, it seems that Nokia 6 will be hitting other markets soon.



Nokia is expected to release 6-7 smartphones in this year. The Finnish brand is pegged to unveil new devices at the upcoming MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2017 event on Feb. 26. The rumor mill has revealed that the company has several devices like Nokia P1 flagship smartphone, an 18.4-inch flagship tablet and a cheaper version of Nokia 6 dubbed as Nokia Heart.



Now that the Nokia 6 smartphone appears to be hitting markets outside China, the aforementioned rumored Nokia devices are now also expected to be available outside the home country.



Here is an unboxing video of Nokia 6:






RALEIGH  Every two years, members of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners meet for two days to review legislative goals.

This year, Catawba County Commissioners Kitty Barnes and Dan Hunsucker attended the conference along with Catawba County Manager Mick Berry and Assistant County Manager Dewey Harris.

The conference was earlier this month in Raleigh.

The Associations two-day January Legislative Goals Conference represents the culmination of a thorough, deliberate and inclusive process to set a county focused legislative agenda for the 2017-18 Legislative Biennium. Each county is provided the opportunity to send a voting delegate, and many others attend this event for the Association. Catawba County Commissioner Kitty Barnes was the voting delegate this year, Harris said.

The legislature will approve the goals proposed in the coming weeks, after the NCACC counts the voting results from the conference.

The process of identifying broad goals begins in the fall, whittling those goals down to a smaller number (this year 21) and each county votes on its top five goals at the January goals conference, Harris said.

After the top goals are selected, county members and NCACC members will collaborate and advocate for the goals in front of legislature.

The board makes it a priority to attend this conference and ensure Catawba Countys voice is heard in the goal-setting process, Commissioner Kitty Barnes said. It is an effective forum for identifying shared goals across North Carolina counties and translating those goals into advocacy and action at the states highest levels.

Barnes is no stranger to the conference and even served as the president of the association and chaired the committee on two separate occasions.

The conference consists of several subcommittees, while an executive committee determines which goals will be considered at the January goals committee, Harris said.

County commissioners from across the state lead the smaller committees, while staff provides support.

At the conference there is lots of discussion and debate about whats best for all 100 counties. For me, it is interesting in how much common ground there is across the state despite regional differences in economic makeup, Harris said.

Barnes cast her vote on behalf of the board and the best interests in Catawba County on a number of issues. For health and human services, Barnes voted to support an increase in state funding for behavioral health services as well as support Medicaid reimbursement to EMS for behavioral health transport.

For education, the county is in favor of addressing statewide public school capital challenges. The funding should be consistent through all 100 counties in the state, according to documents provided by the county.

Barnes also voted in favor of legislation to support state funding for North Carolina courts, and reinstating funding for drug treatment court.

Once the goals are officially approved by the NCACC, the document is presented to the North Carolina General Assembly, the governor and other leaders.

The success of our legislative advocacy has a direct effect on residents of Catawba County, Harris said.
RALEIGH  One of the best gifts I received this Christmas was a history book entitled The Country Church in North Carolina. (Yes, Im just that nerdy.) The author, a Duke University specialist in rural sociology, began with a brief overview of the state. Observing that the growth rate of North Carolinas largest cities was far outstripping the rest of the state, Professor Jesse Marvin Ormond wrote that rural institutions are not keeping up with the march of social progress and that the result is that a social chasm between the ruralite and urbanite is evident.

Ormond wrote this in 1931. But with a few tweaks of language and examples, his argument could have been published last week. For decades, North Carolinians have fretted about the growing divide between urban and rural areas. For decades, their political leaders have promised to close it, usually without a large effect on relative growth rates or differences in cultural norms.

Thats not to say North Carolinians who live in places other than the largest cities have had to endure decades of grinding poverty, cultural backwardness, and deep despair. Thats the kind of caricature drawn by passing tourists and parachuting journalists who only see what fits their preconceived notions. Most North Carolinians still live in places other than the largest cities. Most of them like where they live, and the lives that they live there.

Of course there are places where the demise of traditional industries and other economic factors have constrained opportunities for employment and pushed residents to relocate to faster-growing areas. But theres nothing novel about this. Historically, economies thrive not on stasis but on dynamic change, even wrenching change.

North Carolinians responding to that change by leaving their traditional communities arent exactly flooding into uptown lofts and urban villages, in case you havent noticed. Most relocate to suburbs outside of downtowns, or to the counties that ring the urban centers.

In politics, those who think statewide elections are won in Charlotte and Raleigh are colloquially known as losers. Mecklenburg and Wake counties together make up about one-fifth of the North Carolina electorate. Thats a lot of voters. But you want to win, you better figure out how to talk to the other 80 percent. And not all voters who live in Mecklenburg and Wake live in Charlotte and Raleigh, or consider themselves to be urban voters.

In recent statewide contests, Democratic candidates have dominated the vote in North Carolinas big cities. And they have usually lost. In the 2016 cycle, for example, Hillary Clinton attracted 60 percent of urban voters. But nearly two-thirds of North Carolinians who voted in 2016 lived in suburbs, small cities, or rural communities. Most opted for Donald Trump.

Roy Cooper was the outlier, and his narrow victory actually makes the point. While he did a little better than Clinton in the cities and better still in suburbs, he outpolled her among rural North Carolinians by a solid five percentage points, at 44 percent. Smart Democrats know that they can neither win back a majority of statewide elective offices nor regain control of the General Assembly  regardless of how district lines are drawn, or by whom  unless they can rebuild their relationships with suburban and rural voters.

Does that mean coming up with practical, affordable ways to boost the economic competitiveness of small towns while addressing the rapid suburbanization of formerly rural counties such as Union, Iredell, Johnston, Harnett, Alamance, and Davidson? Yes. But as I observed, the fates of these communities are only partially determined by local and state policies. Politicians shouldnt overpromise, even when they propose useful ideas such as improving education, upgrading infrastructure, and lightening the regulatory burden on business investment.

What the task would require, more than anything else, is more face time and less condescension. If you exit the interstate looking for deplorables who cling bitterly to their guns and religion, you will find voters who enjoy their freedoms, cherish their relationships with God, and return your contempt measure for measure.

John Hood is chairman of the John Locke Foundation and appears on the talk show NC SPIN.
Catawba Valley Community College students Abbie Kincaid and LaToya Williams were recently awarded the Brian R. Porter Memorial Scholarship through the CVCC Foundation Inc.

The scholarship honors the memory and career of Porter, who served as a deputy sheriff for the Gallia County Sheriffs Office in Gallia County, Ohio. The scholarship was founded by Porters friend and Catawba Valley Community College faculty member Kristy Wooten to benefit students pursuing a career in criminal justice or law enforcement.

Kincaid is enrolled in the Basic Law Enforcement Training program. She earned an associate degree in Criminal Justice Latent Evidence at CVCC in 2015 and an associate degree in Criminal Justice Technology last May. She also holds certificates in law enforcement, retail-industrial security, court administrator, correctional-probation and parole, and latent evidence crime scene investigation she earned at CVCC.

She served as president and vice president of the Criminal Justice Club and now serves as treasurer. She is an active member of SkillsUSA and won first place at the state level and first place at the national level in the crime scene investigation competition in 2015. In the same category, she also placed first in the 2016 state competition and took third in the nation in 2016. She was awarded the Student Government Association award for Academic Excellence in Criminal Justice Latent evidence. She is a member of the Student Leadership Academy and Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society.

A native of Iowa, she volunteers with the Catawba County Humane Society and works as an officer at the rank of corporal for Allied Universal security company. She and her husband and family live in Maiden.

A Catawba County native, Williams is enrolled in the Criminal Justice Latent Evidence associate degree at CVCC. She attended Bandys High School and completed her high school diploma through the GED program at CVCC. Williams has achieved high honors for the past two semesters and has been invited to join Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. She is a member of the Criminal Justice Club and plans to graduate in early 2018.

Williams has been employed by Republic Service for nine years. She started out as a receptionist, and was later promoted to customer service. She has served as the maintenance shop administrator for the past two years. She and her three children live in Conover.

The mission of the CVCC Foundation, Inc. is to foster and promote the growth, progress, and welfare of CVCC. For more information on giving, contact Teresa Biggs, executive director of the CVCC Foundation, 828-327-7000, ext. 4288, tbiggs@cvcc.edu.
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HICKORY  Educators from 21 different school districts across North Carolina teamed up Saturday at Grandview Middle School to submerge themselves into unique classroom topics and resources.

We got the idea for this event about a year ago, Aaron Joplin, principal of Grandview Middle, said. A couple of colleagues of mine and I attended an Ed-Camp at Western Carolina and we thought it would be fun to host one here at Grandview.

Designed to encourage educators to learn more about topics that are applicable to their own classrooms, the Ed-Camp allows attendees to be the leader.

This is different from traditional staff development in that the teachers vote on the topics that they would like to discuss, Joplin said. We do not have pre made presentations or anything like that.

Weeks before the event, educators created ideas for the sessions and they chose which sessions that they wanted to participate in.

They may be discussing different makerspaces in the classrooms, which is very technologically focused now, or they could be learning about Google apps for education, Joplin said.

Educators are able to share resources at the Ed-Camp and create a common document online for note taking.

One of the great things about this is also networking opportunities, Joplin said. They meet people who are enthusiastic about the same things as they are, which is very beneficial.

To get started on bringing an Ed-Camp to Catawba County, Joplin contacted Dr. Carol Moore, who is the STEM Coordinator in Hickory.

STEM West brings business people in, local government and local educators together for our mission, Moore said. Basically, we looked at why and what we have to teach in schools, what businesses need for their employees and how we can align those two interests.

STEM West advocates and supports the alignment of educational and occupational objectives through the regional workforce and community partnerships.

School is boring if you just teach by the book and kids arent learning, and they are too wired now to be taught in the traditional way, Moore said. These kids want to make a difference, and they are actually making differences within these businesses.

By teaming up, the Ed-Camp featured free community resources that educators were encouraged to take advantage of.

Once a teacher partners with one of our partnered businesses, they identify a real problem within the business and create a project for their classrooms, Moore said. Then, once the students create a solution, it is then offered to the business to be used as an actual solution for the business.

Joplin, Moore and others worked continuously on this event for several months and had more than 200 educators across North Carolina register.

We have people from places like New Bern and Charlotte-Mecklenberg, so theyre coming from all over the state and staying at hotels for this event, Joplin said. We have a lot of local people, too.

The turnout was around 130 educators, Tonya Scott said, who is the curriculum coordinator for math and science for Hickory Public Schools. She said she was thankful for those who attended.

I am very excited to be a part of this Ed-Camp, because this is the first Ed-Camp that I have had the opportunity of helping organize, Scott said. This is a great way to showcase our community and our collaboration between school systems.

If the collaboration between the different school systems in the county was not enough support for the Ed-Camp, the donated refreshments and other items from local vendors was.

We had Chick-fil-a, Krispy Kreme and a ton of other businesses donate food and prizes to give out to the educators, Joplin said. The community support has been massive and very appreciated.

The event is referred to as an un-conference, where the participants create their own agenda at the start of the event and have the control of the conference in their hands.

Instead of one person standing in front of the room talking for an hour, people are encouraged to have discussions and hands-on sessions, Moore said. People could pay hundreds of dollars to attend another conference, or they could go to Ed-Camp for free.

One of the sessions available at the Ed-Camp was about virtual reality, where educators were able to have a hands-on experience with the technology.

Stacy Lovdahl is the instructional technology facilitator for Catawba County Schools and she is a great resource for the virtual reality session, Scott said. I was really excited to bring this opportunity to our teachers in Hickory for them to have some professional development on the topics that they chose to learn about, like virtual reality.

Another activity offered at the Ed-Camp was a hands-on experience for educators in the library.

Weve been revamping our library up with media technologies activities for the kids, so were working on building up a makerspace with different circuit building models and coding, Vanessa Lain, the media coordinator at Grandview Middle, said.

Traditionally only used for literary resources, the library at Grandview Middle is trying to find different tech-savvy projects for students to get involved with.

Our students are able to build radios and see how circuits work hands on, which is really great, Lail said. Hopefully, we will be able to add more technology opportunities in the near future for not only Grandview students, but for all students in the county.

All educators at the Ed-Camp were seen floating around the sessions and engaging in discussion about the topics that they chose.

I love the concept of people being here, because they want to be here and not being forced to be here, because they are actually interested in what is going on in the sessions, Scott said. This is hopefully a first annual event that will cycle through different locations in the county.
WASHINGTON - Seven activists who District of Columbia police said are affiliated with Greenpeace climbed a construction crane in downtown Washington on Wednesday morning, snarling traffic and bringing work on a new office building to a halt.

At least two protesters attached themselves to the crane, police said, while others were on the outstretched arm, or jib. Two wearing safety harnesses descended down ropes unfurling a 35-foot-by-75 foot banner that reads "Resist."

At times, two protesters were dangling from the jib, apparently using safety harnesses, as they unfurled a banner emblazoned with the word "Resist." Dozens of onlookers gathered at the scene, clutching coffee cups and peering upward over the site, the location of the former headquarters of The Washington Post. New offices for Fannie Mae are being constructed there.

District of Columbia Police Capt. Robert Glover, of the Special Operations Team, said investigators talked with at least one of the demonstrators. He would not describe how, nor would he say if anything had been discussed. Glover said police are in contact with Greenpeace.

"Safety is our primary concern," Glover said, adding that police are in contact with the U.S. attorney's office to determine possible criminal charges.

The protesters were first noticed about 6 a.m., and by 9 a.m. Glover said there was no immediate attempt to have police and firefighters climb the crane and remove the protesters.

"Time is on our side," Glover said.

One of the protesters, Pearl Robinson, 26, of Oakland, California, identified herself as an expert climber and said, "We're here to resist the normalization of this administration." She was referring to the Trump presidency.

Robinson, a national organizer for the Rainforest Action Network, noted that live-streams of the protest were trending on social media, which she called a success. "We'll come down soon enough," she said about noon. She called some of Trump's recent executive orders "a slap in the face" to residents.

Cassady Sharp, a spokeswoman for Greenpeace, an international environmental group known for activism that sometimes involves confronting authorities and corporations, said the site was chosen because it is about one-half mile from the White House. They want "to send a message to the people who are feeling discouraged after just a few days of [President Donald] Trump's administration."

Pictures showed a yellow banner with black letters that could be seen from the White House.

Specifically, Sharp said the protest is targeting Trump's signatures on executive orders Tuesday signaling support for the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines. She said the demonstrators "are going to stay up there for as long as they can to make sure their message is heard."

Sharp said the group hopes the banner can be seen from the White House, and that the protest location was "chosen for its visual value." She said the demonstrators who climbed the crane are from all over the country, including San Francisco, Brooklyn and around Washington.

Lee DeLong, a senior vice president for Clark Construction, the lead contractor, said workers discovered the protesters and called police. He said the group broke into the secured site by breaking a lock. He also said that getting into the crane and up onto the arm requires knowledge of how a crane works.

"These aren't amateurs," DeLong said.

DeLong said he support the decision by police to not send officers and firefighters up the crane to pull the protesters off, calling that maneuver dangerous. "Our primary concern is safety," DeLong said. "I think the police and EMS response has been appropriate."

DeLong said that the protest has brought much of Wednesday's work to a halt, and would so for the remainder of the day. He said that even if the protesters come down by noon, the crane would be out of commission for a series of safety inspections.

He would not say how much money the company is losing but said, "It is a significant impact."

District of Columbia firefighters with an elite rescue unit were wearing climbing equipment and standing nearby, along with construction workers. Some nearby streets were closed.

Erica White, 39, who lives around the block from crane, said she was out walking when she saw the banner. "It's got to be crippling for people to not to be able to come down L street. It definitely sends a message for sure." She backed the message: "People are going to hold his feet to the fire. they're not going to back down."

Dawn Reed, 35, who works in information technology in Arlington, Virginia, said, "I wish Trump would take notice of it. But I don't think he's going to care." She also said she supported Greenpeace. "I just had a baby and I want her to grow up in a world that's not polluted."

Steve VanAusdall, 50, works at a nearby construction site, was trying to get out of a parking garage to go home, but was blocked in by police vehicles. He said the garage is also hurting because it get let in any new vehicles.

"I'm all for freedom of speech and protesting peacefully and lawfully, but these guys could be here for two days," VanAusdall said. "It's going to be a long waiting game, I'm afraid."

Like other construction workers, VanAusdall said he was trying to get to another job, and the delay is costing him money. He's supposed to be at a site in North Carolina on Thursday. "This is hurting people financially," he said.

Wednesday's protest comes after last week's inauguration of President Trump, when demonstrators were present in large numbers throughout the city, particularly near Franklin Square, where some windows of businesses were smashed and a limousine was set on fire.

More than 230 people were arrested on Friday. Many were charged with felony rioting.
HICKORY  Hmong and Latino students at Harry M. Arndt Middle have found a new way to share their cultures.

They dance.

Both groups represent significant percentages of the schools population with Hispanic students at 30 percent and Hmong at 13 percent.

The school has a Hmong Dance Club and a Latino Dance Club, and they worked together last semester to perform in four shows, including a performance at Valley Hills Mall in Hickory and a Spanish showcase at Maiden High by the Latino Dance Club.

Eighth-grader Jair Garcia was excited by the idea of bringing some of his culture to others when he joined the Latino Dance Club this year.

Classmate Leslie Juarez has been performing traditional dances since she was little and couldnt wait to earn a spot in the group as well.

We see this as a chance to express ourselves and not being embarrassed about what we do or what we dance, Juarez said.

Spanish teacher Chassta Atkins has been the advisor since the Latino Dance club started six years ago and thinks the activity helps build some pride in the students for their culture.

They feel like they belong but they dont because some of them have parents who dont speak the language. Its just a very different world when you come into the public school system, Atkins said. This gives them the opportunity to have their little island they can live on and be a part ofand I love they can share it with other kids.

They have a chance to teach their culture through their dress, through their songs and dances.

Its become an opportunity for students in both clubs to grow as individuals and build up their confidence.

The most experienced dancer on my team, she was very meek and now shes the leader for her group, English Language Arts teacher and Hmong Dance Club advisor Sara Leonhardt said. What I wanted to do was not push them out of their comfort zone but make them feel encouraged.

Atkins has been the advisor since the Latino Dance club began and has been impressed with the growing interest shes seen from students.

This year I had so many that came to the club I had to have tryouts, so now its a team. I had thirty-two kids come outI ended up keeping eighteen, Atkins said.

The Hmong Dance Club is back after a three-year hiatus after the last faculty advisor left the school. It started with seven students and now has four but Leonhardt expects it to keep growing.

After talking to her Hmong students, Leonhardt is looking to expand their club to a broader group.

They dont even want to call it Hmong Dance Club. They want to be called International Dance Club, Leonhardt said.

The students explained to her some of their music isnt just Hmong and represents other Asian cultures like Korean.

The Latino and Hmong dance clubs are a source of pride for our school and the participating students. This type of activity helps students feel more connected to the school and community, Harry M. Arndt Middle Principal Lee Miller said. We know that students who are involved in extracurricular activities are typically happier, make better grades, and have fewer discipline issues than students who are not involved.

I am proud of how these students are representing Arndt Middle School. Mrs. Atkins and Ms. Leonhardt deserve a lot of credit for the time and effort they put into these clubs.

Serena Vang and Tiffany Thao are both eighth-graders and members of the Hmong Dance Club.

Thao learned many of their dances when she was younger but never got a chance to perform publicly and wanted to share her cultures with others.

I felt left out of the culture, so I just wanted to reconnect to my culture, Vang said.

The two groups will perform next Thursday in a pep rally at their school and then Feb. 15 at Startown Elementary at 8:30 a.m.
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Egypts army said it has killed three militants during a raid on two terrorist hideouts in central Sinai, a statement by the armed forces read late Tuesday.

Army spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said that Egypts third field army in central Sinai, in cooperation with air forces, was able to destroy two extremely dangerous terrorist hideouts.

Three militants were killed and two others injured in the offensive.

Eleven other militants were arrested.

The army said it was able to destroy a storehouse containing explosive materials, three four-wheel-drive vans, and three motorcycles believed to be used by the militants in their operations.

The offensive came one day after the army announced the deaths of five personnel late Sunday in a terrorist attack in Sinai.

No further details were given on the terrorist attack or its location.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Egypts army and police forces have been waging a war over the past three years against an Islamist militant insurgency in North Sinai; hundreds of security personnel and many militants have been killed in the violence.



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China is steadily making strategic inroads into Nepal. Chinas latest deal with Nepal to build another largely Chinese owned dam project in that landlocked Himalayan country highlights its growing success in clinching major infrastructure contracts in Indias backyard to advance its economic and foreign policy interests.

Imagine the nationalistic backlash in Nepal had India tried to similarly secure a contract to set up a largely Indian owned dam there? Maoists, communists and nationalists in Nepal have seriously impeded hydropower development in partnership with India, which they portray as a regional hegemon. China, however, does not face such opposition, which explains why the new deal over the planned 750-megawatt West Seti Dam does not constitute the first Chinese hydropower project in Nepal.

Read | Tibet infrastructure gives Beijing edge over India in Nepal: Chinese media

China is quietly enlarging its presence in and leverage over Nepal, which risks becoming a client-state of Beijing.

While dressing its investment in the cloak of economic aid, China is imposing stiff commercial terms on Nepal, plus taking majority project ownership upfront. For example, its State-run China Three Gorges Corporation will have a 75% stake in the West Seti Dam, in mid-west Nepal.

Nepal potentially holds up to 83,000 megawatts of hydropower reserves, which, if tapped even partially, could make it a major exporter of electricity. By harnessing the natural bounty of the Himalayas to produce renewable electricity, Nepal could emulate the success of Bhutan in generating the hydro-dollars to fuel its rapid economic development.

Read | A magical journey to the holy lake of Manasarovar

Yet today, Nepal produces barely 800 megawatts of electricity for its 30 million citizens from all sources of energy, with the result that power outages for several hours a day are common, even in Kathmandu. Nepal controls the headwaters of, or serves as the corridor for, several rivers that flow into India, yet it imports electricity from that country.

As opposed to Chinas water mega-projects at home, smaller scale, ecologically friendly projects in the Himalayas  if properly planned and designed, and backed by thorough and impartial environmental impact assessments  can yield major benefits without carrying significant environmental and social costs. Environmentally sound hydropower is particularly attractive because, despite the high upfront capital intensity, a hydropower plant has a life span almost double that of a nuclear-power reactor and generates electricity with no fuel cost.

Read | Nepal invites new Indian Army chief to visit in February

India, as the subcontinents largest energy consumer, has sought to incentivise a sub-regional energy grid. Yet, the vast majority of its own Himalayan hydropower projects have been delayed, suspended or shelved, largely due to grassroots opposition. Although India has employed water cooperation as a tool of its diplomacy with Nepal, including extending credit on concessional terms, the political dividends have been meagre.

Nepal serves as the corridor for several rivers that flow into Indias Gangetic plains from Tibet. In fact, virtually all of Nepals rivers empty into the Ganges basin. Five important river basins run through Nepal, including the Mahakali in the west, the Karnali, the Gandak and the eastern Kosi. The Kosi is a seven-river system drawing waters from the Arun, Sun Kosi, Indravati, Bhola Kosi, Dudh Kosi, Barun and Tamur rivers.

The United Nations describes Nepal, with a per capita notional availability of 7,296 cubic metres per year, as one of the Asian countries with the highest level of water resources per inhabitant. Yet, such is Nepals water curse that the failure to adequately harness water resources has resulted in water shortages in its major cities, including Kathmandu.

Read | Tricking China will stall Nepals development

Whereas countries afflicted by what development economists call the resource curse find it difficult to break out of slow rates of economic growth and high levels of income inequality, despite relying on major exports of natural resources, Nepals water curse has come without exploiting its resource reserves for its own needs, let alone exporting hydropower.

No less significant is the fact that Nepal has several water treaties with India but none with China, which has dammed the Karnali just before it enters Nepal, and which is planning to build a cascade of five dams on the upper reaches of the Arun. The construction of that cascade, by diminishing flows into the Ganges, could affect Indias Ganges water-sharing arrangement with Bangladesh, with India being forced by the treatys terms to bear the shortfall in downstream flow volumes.

Water can potentially be to Nepal what oil is to Arab sheikhdoms. The problem is that Nepal has been wracked by severe political flux since the early 1990s. It remains today in a politically shaky position  a country increasingly divided by its murky politics.

Read | Kathmandus triumphalism about China is misplaced

The sorry state of affairs in Nepal has seriously hampered its hydropower and irrigation expansion, even though such advance is essential to bring much-needed development and revenues and to help tame the trans-boundary rivers that often overrun their banks in Nepalese and Indian areas during the monsoons. Bangladesh has actively sought the construction of hydro works in Nepal to augment the Ganges lean-season flows at Farakka, the critical downriver point where the waters are shared between India and Bangladesh.

In fact, the integrated development of the Ganges basin demands trilateral institutional collaboration between Nepal, India and Bangladesh, with the cooperation extending to energy, transit and port rights.

However, the picture has been muddied by Chinas entry as an important player in the Nepalese hydropower sector and its dam-building activities in Tibet. Beijing is steadily increasing its clout in Nepal at Indias expense. Nevertheless, Nepal still needs India, simply because of geography.

Read | Is Mount Everest shrinking?

China can replace India as Nepals main provider of essential supplies only by moving the Himalayas southward. Given that Nepal shares multiple river basins with India, it must cooperate with India to harness the waters of the common rivers for shared benefit. But if Nepal remains battered by political turmoil, it risks becoming a failed state  a development that will carry major implications for India, given the open India-Nepal border, which is already a security headache for India.

Brahma Chellaney is a geostrategist and author

The views expressed are personal
India needed this economic shake up. Narendra Modi, in his capacity as the Prime Minister, had taken what the Indian overseas diaspora considers a brave step when on 8 November, he brought about the demonetisation of Rs 1000 and of Rs 500 currency notes. Never before has a country with a population of such scale and an economy of such proportion wiped out 86% of its currency in circulation on such short notice. What the Indian government had performed was clearly a socio-economic spectacle  a much sought after fodder to feed the voracious social class questioning inequality and injustice in the countrys landscape.

A significant and effective strategy of brand Modi has been his efforts to extend an olive branch as equally as his efforts to forge newer connections. In the larger perspective, the Non Resident Indians (NRIs) were suddenly under the direct purview and inclusion of the Indian government and especially that of a Prime Minister, for the very first time with Modi. From New York to London and Dubai to Melbourne, Narendra Modis message to the Indian diaspora was clear  inclusivity and integration with the rest of mainland India when it comes to the countrys decision making. This continues to be one his strong pillars, a key to attain global mileage through his ability to rally magnificent crowds even outside of India.

Read: NRIs back to their investing ways, expected to put in Rs 1150 crore in realty market in 2017

The televised broadcast on November 8, 2016 equally surprised NRIs as it did to the mainland Indians; however calmness generally prevailed amidst the diaspora since everyone were sure they were part of the plan. While the deadline for exchanging the old notes was capped at December 30, 2016, NRIs awaited for directions to get on with the process. Plaudits turned into panic as weeks passed nearing December 30, and there still seemed to be no clarity on how the NRIs could proceed on with converting their invalidated currency notes locally. The lack of communication from Modis government, which always remained vocal for the diaspora, was indeed baffling.

It was only after the deadline and fresh into the New Year that the first communication emerged of the extension until June 30, 2017. If NRIs are to travel to India within the window period to exchange their old currency, it may be tricky under the current FEMA guidelines considering the cap for bringing in Indian currency from abroad is set at Rs 25,000 per person, and it would be economically unviable to spend nearly Rs 70,000 on travel just to convert it. Expecting millions of Indians to return just to drop back dead notes is inconvenient and ineffective. Therefore, a localised solution through any of the Indian banks abroad would be a viable alternative.

Considering India is the second largest cash economy in the world after China, the demonetisation will cause inconvenience in the interim period  what Modi did had to be done. Could the government have better communicated and assured the NRIs? Perhaps.

Read: No clarity on campaigning by NRIs, EC writes to MEA

Having visited China regularly to meet clients since 1991, one can say that the country which was in worse shape than India then, has been able to achieve a great leap forward within 25 years to become the second largest economy in the world. One of course recognises that unlike China, India is a democracy and therefore the government has to overcome many obstacles to bring about development. The next step forward for India would be to ensure a complete control of its economy by minimising its dependency on cash. This will prevent the reappearance of the second parallel economy, streamline Indias market, and save high minting costs. In countries such as Sweden and Norway, economies already operate with less than 5% in cash, while Australias Citibank had very recently announced to stop accepting paper currency altogether. Once the demonetisation programme is complete in India, the Prime Minister should draw inspiration from these nations and work on an outline for a progressive plan for the country to reduce its dependency on cash by the next decade, The government appears to have already begun exploring this.

Sarosh Zaiwalla is founder and senior partner Zaiwalla & Co based in London

The views expressed are personal
The SP-Congress alliance in Uttar Pradesh has suddenly made things look up for Indias grand old party. Everyone knows that UP is a high-stake election for Narendra Modi. Now, suddenly, it has also become a high-stake election for the Congress, which was, till the other day, seen as a non-player in the countrys largest state, known for setting the political tempo nationally.

It is not as if the party is about to regain its lost glory. But if it can win Punjab, become part of a post-poll Akhilesh Yadav led government in UP, and retain Uttarakhand, and all are within the realm of possibility, it will be in business again, and perhaps begin to see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. For nothing succeeds like success in charging the flagging batteries of a party.

The 132 year old party is being criticised for clutching onto the coat-tails of regional outfits. It was the junior partner in Bihar in 2015 as also in UP 2017.

In the last 25 years, particularly since 1989, the Indian National Congress has been on the decline, barring two bursts of victory in 2004 and 2009 which led to 10 years of uninterrupted power at the Centre. After 2014, when it was reduced to a measly 44 seats in the Lok Sabha, many an obituary began to be penned about it. The BJP brass has vowed to create a Congress mukt Bharat, and will do their utmost to bring this about (even though a strong Congress is in the interest of India, as is a strong BJP).

Read:Congress lacks idealism, energy: Party should perish for India to flourish

Alliances have been the conventional route taken by weak parties to gain strength, and the BJP deployed this strategy again and again throughout its political journey. When the BJP got two seats in the 1984 elections, many were prepared to write off the party. But within five years, it had become a player, having aligned with the Janata Dal to create a national alternative against the Congressrather like the Congress is piggybacking on regional parties today.

Undoubtedly, the BJP had the backing of the RSS cadre and clear leadership at its helm at critical moments, whether it was LK Advani during the rath yatra or Atal Behari Vajpayee or Narendra Modi subsequently.

It is not as if there is no political space available for the Congress today. The BJP, after all, garnered only 31% of the popular vote when Modi swept to power with a clear majority. Modi is still popular, and he is trying to carve out new constituencies amongst the poor. But there is also mounting dissatisfaction, movements are erupting, a manifestation of the growing agrarian, socio-political crises, reflected for instance in the Patidar agitation in Gujarat, the Maratha upsurge in Maharashtra or the Jat violence in Haryana. In any case, the regional parties were formed at the expense of the Congress, and the reverse movement is always possible.

The core crisis in the Congress today is one of leadership, and it is here that the Congress will have to take a hard look  and hard decisions. There is a virtual vacuum at the top. Sonia Gandhi has taken a back seat, Rahul Gandhi is unable to connect at the popular level, Congressmen and women have tended not to accept each other in the leadership role, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has not stepped into the breach as yet. The UP polls are critical for the Congress, also for this reason. If Priyanka plays a larger role in the campaign, as is being projected, how will she click with the people?

Read: Congress cant be revived as major national party anymore says Ramachandra Guha

It is really not about dynasty (abhorrent though the idea is in a democracy), for scions of political families have found acceptance elsewhere (Akhilesh Yadav, MK Stalin). The Congress party turned to the Nehru-Gandhi family because of their ability to get them votes, and to keep the party united. It is this which has come into question of late.

And yet, at the end of the day, such is the unpredictability of Indian politics that you cannot write off anyone, or any group, so easily. More so the Indian National Congress, despite its state of disrepair, because it still has a pan-Indian character, and in its best form it represented Indias inclusive tradition, which still has a large following in the country.

Who would have thought that PV Narasimha Rao, having packed his bags to go home in 1991, would be installed as the Prime Minister of India a few weeks later? Or that VP Singh would go on to replace Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister, whittling down his 415-member majority, creating a national alternative to the Congress in 1989, all within two-and-a-half years?

Who would have thought that Narendra Modi would one day take the country by storm? Did anyone believe in 2009 that the BJP would hit the majority mark on its own and more than double its Lok Sabha tally, five years down the line?

It all depends on the mistakes the incumbent government makes and the citizens response to it.

Yes, the Indian National Congress is down, but it would be a mistake to conclude that it is out.

Neerja Chowdhury is a senior journalist and political commentator

The views expressed are personal
Amid the disclosure in United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) declassified documents that Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal sided with Sikh extremists after the Operation Bluestar, state Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday launched a twin-attack on the CM, blaming him for helping militants and attack on the Golden Temple.

Addressing a gathering in support of Congress candidate from Bathinda Rural constituency, Harvinder Singh Laddi, at Kotshamir, Captain Amarinder said Badal was responsible for thousands of innocent people killed by the terrorists. He referred to the CIA report, as reported in Hindustan Times, to point out that Badal had always been working to promote his personal agenda by colluding with the Sikh extremists.

Also read | CIA files: Parkash Singh Badal sided with Sikh extremists after Op Bluestar

Blaming Badal for the attack on the Golden Temple, Amarinder said, In response to an invite by Harchand Singh Longowal to Badal, Surjit Singh Barnala and Gurcharan Singh Tohra for discussion a day before the attack on the Golden Temple, Badal didnt turn up and ran away. Badal had earlier swore at the Akal Takht that he will stop the army at any cost, even if it meant sacrificing his life. But he ran away when the crisis erupted, said Amarinder. Badal even conveyed to Delhi that things were not in their control and they could do whatever they wanted, Capt said.

Reiterating his promise to get all the recent incidents of sacrilege in the state investigated once Congress forms government in Punjab. In the 1980s when Akali Dal was losing the peoples faith, Badal had played the communal card to promote his political and electoral interests and recent incidents of sacrilege appeared to be an attempt by the Akalis to create similar communal polarisation ahead of the assembly polls. I will put Badal in jail if found guilty of a role in these incidents, said Amarinder.

Dubbing both Badal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal as slimy individuals, Amarinder criticised presence of outsiders in Punjab elections.

He said Punjabis were deliberately being kept out by Kejriwals party to alienate them from the poll process as the AAP leader did not trust Punjabis and had no interest in their welfare.

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Left out by the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress in seat sharing exercise, Janata Dal (United) will not contest Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

JD(U) president and Bihar chief minister Ntish Kumar will also not campaign for any party or alliance, even if invited.

Partys national general secretary KC Tyagi on Wednesday said it was unfortunate that the SP and the Congress had failed to stitch a Bihar-like proven alliance to take on communal forces in UP.

At the same time, we dont want to split secular votes, as the SP did during Bihar elections, by fielding JD(U) candidates. We will not like to be a splinter group in the race, Tyagi said. If we have to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, then it is necessary that BJP must be defeated in UP polls, he added.

Tyagi said Rajya Sabha member RCP Sinha, who was spearheading the JD(U) campaign in UP and had also organised a few public meetings of the Bihar CM, would convince the enthusiastic party cadres in the poll-bound state about the decision and the reasons for it.

Asked if Nitish Kumar would campaign if invited by UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, Bihar minister Rajiv Ranjan alias Lallan Singh said when the JD(U) has not been considered for being part of an anti-BJP alliance, there is no question of going there.

However, according to sources, JD(U)s main ally in Bihar, the RJD, is likely to campaign in UP. On Tuesday, senior RJD leader and former MP Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had also said that the JD(U) should not throw its hat in the UP ring.

Our good wishes will be with the secular, progressive alliance, said Tyagi, citing the statement of RSS public chief Manmohan Vaidya for review of reservation policy as just the right trigger for a Bihar-like rout of the saffron party.

Tyagi said the desperation in the BJP was already showing with the statement of partys UP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya on construction of Ram temple if it was voted to power.

It is sheer mockery Election Commissions directive to desist from seeking votes in the name of religion and caste. But then, BJP has conveniently turned Ram ka mandir into chunav ka mandir, he added.

On demonetisation, the JD(U) maintained its stand of backing the move in keeping with its principled stand against corruption, but sought sops for the unorganised sector hit due to recession and job loss.

Nitish Kumar backed it from day one as a bold step, but always maintained that it was not enough. More than 75 days have passed since the note ban and it was high time the Centre shared its benefits with the public, he added.

He said that the attack on black money required taking on all kinds of benami transactions and more importantly transparency in political donations.

As per ADR report, BJP and Congress got Rs 750 crore and Rs 675 crore, respectively, through donations during last general elections, out of which nearly 70% was through unidentified sources. The last general elections were the costliest and the way corporates pumped in money, it hardly looked like donations, Tyagi said, demanding all donations to political parties should be accounted for.

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Defence minister Manohar Parrikar is back to the centre stage of politics in poll-bound Goa, campaigning for the BJP and taking on Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal whose Aam Aadmi Party is trying to set foot in the coastal state.

The former Goa chief minister, whose Mr Clean image helped his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win the last election, is dismissive about Kejriwal and the political impact.

The BJP won 21 of the 40 seats in the state in 2012.

Goa will go to polls to elect the 40-member House on February 4. For the first time in Goa politics, there will be a three-way fight between the ruling BJP, Congress and the AAP.

They talk of corruption but never pinpoint the issue, Parrikar told Hindustan Times. Imagine, they are spending Delhi government money for advertising in Goa. What has Goa to do with the Delhi government?

Read | Election Commission censures Arvind Kejriwal for bribe remarks at Goa rally

Parrikar said the corruption is not as big an issue as it was the last time when then Congress government had indulged in corrupt practices. He moved to the national scene in November 2014 but remains the BJPs most popular face in the coastal state.

Despite having a chief minister in place, the BJP is projecting Parrikar as the face of the party. It was BJP president Amit Shah who fired up speculation saying the next chief minister will work under him.

(Prime Minister) Narendra bhai (Modi) needs him (Manohar Parrikar) at the Centre as well. We will decide after elections where Parrikar will be working. But let me assure you that wherever Parrikar may be working, the Goa government will function under his leadership, Shah said at a rally at Vasco Town on Sunday.

Shahs comments came on the heels of a similar remark by Nitin Gadkari, the election in-charge of Goa, who said that the party will decide whether Parrikar will go to state politics.

Parrikar, too, is letting the suspense to continue.

I am a leader from Goa, and it is quite natural for me to campaign in my home state, Parrikar said.

My Raja Sabha nomination from Uttar Pradesh was incidental as there was no vacancy to the Upper House from Goa when I moved to national politics.

Full coverage of assembly elections

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Palestinian Hamas leader Mahmoud El-Zahar said on Tuesday that the movement's relations with Cairo have improved, evidenced by the reaching of an agreement this week on border control between the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula, state news agency MENA reported.

The Islamic resistance movement's leader said the parties did not agree on certain terms, however, without giving further details.

El-Zahar said in statements published by El-Ra'i news website, reportedly affiliated with the group, that a delegation of representatives from the group met with Egyptian officials in Cairo this week.

According to El-Ra'i, the group's delegation to Cairo included leaders Ismail Haniyeh, Moussa Abu Marzouk and Rouhi Moshtahi.

Previous news reports said that the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Cairo on Monday, on his return from a trip to Doha, to hold meetings with Egyptian officials.

The last official visit of Hamas representatives to Cairo was in March 2016.

Relations between Egypt and the Palestinian Islamic group became strained in the wake of a popular uprising that toppled Egypt's Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

Cairo has repeatedly accused Hamas of backing Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood organisation and smuggling through illegal tunnels in the Gaza-Sinai border.

The Egyptian government has demanded that Hamas sever ties with the Brotherhood, and take steps to prevent cross-border smuggling.

Cairo plays a central role in reconciliation efforts between rival Palestinian factions, as well as efforts to end the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
To keep its cycle of change moving, the Samajwadi Party has named Mahendra Chauhan, son of a bicycle mechanic as its candidate from Zahoorabad assembly constituency in Ghazipur.

Rambachan Chauhan was busy fixing a puncture at his shop on Kasimabad road in Zahoorabad on Monday evening when he came to know about the development.

Initially, he could not believe his ears and when he became sure that SP had indeed nominated his son for the assembly election, he informed his wife Girija Devi and other members of the family.

The news came as a pleasant surprise to me. My son is the partys candidate from Zahoorabad which is presently represented by former minister Shadab Fatima, Chauhan said.

Unlike his father, Mahendra, a graduate in humanities, was calm and composed. I am thankful to Akhilesh Bhaiyya and professor saheb (Ramgopal Yadav) who have given me the opportunity to contest the assembly polls from Zahoorabad. I will try to serve the people of the area and the party to my best.

Mahendra has been associated with the Samajwadi Party since 1995 after it fielded Shivpujan Chauhan as its candidate from Zahoorabad. At that time, Mahendra was a student of class 12. Though Chauhan lost the election, Mahendra turned a full time worker.

I was attracted to SP in 1995 after Mulayam Singh Yadav gave ticket to a member of my community. It was a great honour for our community, Mahendra said.

In 1997, Mahendra contested students union election for the post of general secretary at DCSK PG College. He lost the election and returned to his village to serve the party and the people.

In 2000, Mahendras wife Manju Chauhan successfully contested the election for the post of member, district panchayat.

In 2002, Mahendra applied for assembly ticket form Zahoorabad from SP and also called on Ramgopal when the meeting of SP parliamentary board was being held at the partys office in Lucknow.

Mahendra said Ramgopal told him he was too young to contest the election and assured him the party would field him in 2007.

The party fielded Dr Sanand Singh who lost the polls. In 2012, Ramkaran Dada, known as Gandhi of Purvanchal, requested Mulayam Singh Yadav to field him from Zahoorabad to which the SP patriarch responded positively. Mahendra could not get the ticket due to political equations.

Mahendra, who is an office-bearer in state unit of SPs OBC wing, lives with his children and wife in Varanasi. He said the people of his constituency would contest the election and he was not worried about the means required for election.

District president Rajesh Kushwaha, a party candidate from Jangipur assembly constituency, said, Mahendra is a dedicated SP worker. He has been announced the party candidate keeping in view the political equation in the region. It will definitely help the party.

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Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhis decision to field his sister Priyanka to negotiate an alliance with the Samajwadi Party might have caught eyeballs in Uttar Pradesh, but this marriage of convenience between traditional rivals looks set to be brief and rocky.

For one, their objective is limited to keeping the BJP out of power in UP, with the hope of setting the momentum for 2019 general elections. If the BJP gets the better of the two on March 11 when the results are declared, the SP and the Congress could part ways almost immediately-- until another opportunity arises to bury their differences once again in the name of secularism.

If they manage to foil the BJPs bid for power in UP and form the government, it would be on edge right from the beginning. Peaceful coexistence of the two traditional rivals could be possible at the cost of one or the other only.

In Bihar, the Congress rode piggyback on the parties that were responsible for its annihilation in the state to be on the winning side. The grand old party has since given up its organisational ambitions in Bihar to play second fiddle to its erstwhile rivals. If anti-Congressism was the cornerstone of all sorts of opportunistic alliances in the first five decades post-Independence, anti-BJPism is becoming a political ideology in the 21st century.

The BJP got the maximum number of seats in UP (71) and also in Bihar (22). If there is any hope for us to topple it in 2019, it has to start from the Hindi heartland, a general secretary of the All India Congress Committee told HT, explaining the reason for the partys desperation for alliances in these two states. He maintained that these tactics were limited to states only.

The Samajwadi Party released this poster of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav with Congress vide-president Rahul Gandhi and Dimpal Yadav with Priyanka Gandhi at Nadesar in Varanasi. (Rajesh Kumar/Hindustan Times)

The second reason for this alliance in UP becoming unsustainable after assembly elections is the conflicting ambitions on both sides. Congress leaders are wary of the SP camps oft-repeated assertion about the Prime Ministerial potential of its leaders-- first Mulayam Singh Yadav and now Akhilesh.

Theoretically, the alliance is expected to unite Muslims in favour of an anti-BJP formation and supplement the SPs Yadav votebank with the Congress partys amorphous support base among a section of the upper castes and the Dalits. Accordingly, the likely sight of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi sharing the dais should cast a spell on the youth in UP.

But outside the theoretical domain, there are many imponderables on the ground. Would workers of the two parties put aside their 26 years old rivalry overnight? The SP and the Congress have entered into a pre-poll alliance for the first time but they have provided tactical support to each other in the past. The Congress extended outside support to the SP government in UP and the SP returned the favour, supporting the UPA I government at the Centre. Both withdrew support in early 2007, ahead of Assembly elections. The SP accused the Centre of trying to dislodge the government in Lucknow, while the Congress cited lawlessness in the state. The SP hit the streets in 2008, accusing the Manmohan Singh government of selling Indias interests through the Indo-US nuclear deal. The party, however, made a U-turn on this issue in July the same year and saved the government by helping it to prove its majority on the floor of the Lok Sabha. But when it wanted to join the UPA II government in 2009, the Congress cold- shouldered it.

Congress leaders claimed that the pre-poll alliance in UP would be to their advantage in the long run. By virtue of our grand alliance in Bihar, we won several seats after a gap of 20-30 years. In UP, people wont see SP flags in 105 constituencies and it will help the Congress regain its lost base on those seats, argued a senior Congress leader, failing to mention that the Congress flag will also not be seen ion 298 seats.

As for the advantage in Bihar, here is a candid observation from a party leader from the state:You must be hearing what Nitish Kumar has been gaining popularity, especially among women, by imposing prohibition. Does anyone know that the Bihar excise minister is from the Congress? The party has become completely inactive. Forget expansion of the party, its support base might further shrink.

Political scientist Suhas Palshikar says that the alliance is to the advantage of the Congress- SP combine in UP elections but does not see it contributing to the revival of the Congress, given the prevalent stasis in the organisation.

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INDORE: Usually the industry gets attracted by an offer of land at concessional rates and assurance of fast tracking of a project, but in case of this Hong Kong based company, the USP of Madhya Pradesh is availability of pure water.

The general perception that water of Ganges is the purest notwithstanding, the pharma company in its internal survey has found that among major rivers, water of Narmada is the purest and most appropriate for making medicines.

Based on the report, the company -- Balaji Steroids and Hormones Pvt Ltd -- plans to set up a unit in Pithampur in Dhar district near Indore with an estimated investment of Rs 2,000 crore. While all the pharmaceutical companies have to install reverse osmosis (RO) water filter on a compulsory basis, the long-term cost of filtering the water comes down when the water being fed is less impure.

Talking to HT, company director Sidharth Aildasani said, Apart from Madhya Pradesh, we had conducted purity tests on different rivers in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. We decided to set up the project in Pithampur after the tests showed that purity level of Narmada water was the highest. We plan to invest about Rs 2,000 crore in the project in a phase-wise manner.

In March 2015, the state government agencies had taken remedial measures after getting rapped by the MP high court over discharge of effluents in Narmada in many districts. In August 2016, MP Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) categorized Narmada river water as A category after conducting tests of water samples collected from 31 different locations.

A number of steps have been taken in this regard, such as ensuring that there is no discharge from nullahs and doing regular monitoring in this regard, said MPPCB regional manager Hemant Sharma.

At present, the industries in Pithampur get water supply from two big water reservoirs, but a project to supply Narmada water to Pithampur from a distance of 20 km is underway.

Balaji has been allocated land in the pharma cluster of Pithampur. The company officials have cited availability of Narmada water as the main reason for setting up their unit here. Work is on in full swing to bring Narmada water to Pithampur, and the project is expected to be completed by mid 2018, said Kumar Purushottam, managing director of Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam (AKVN), Indore, the state governments nodal agency.
Katni: The ongoing enforcement directorate (ED) probe into the alleged Rs 500 crores hawala (money laundering) racket in Katni town of Madhya Pradesh could throw many stunners in the coming days.

The agency which lodged a case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) last week recently sent its three-strong team to Katni (375 km from Bhopal) for preliminary probe.

According to ED sources, its not only accounts of 40-odd bogus firms opened between 2008 and 2010 with Axis Bank in Katni, which are linked to the suspected money laundering racket.

Instead several dozen more accounts opened and closed between 2006 and 2010 with 10-15 more banks (among them several nationalized and public sector banks) in Katni could well be linked to the hawala racket under investigation.

One of these 10-15 banks importantly is located in the building owned by alleged masterminds of the racket, Satish and Manish Saraogi.

Sources added that detailed records pertaining to several dozen accounts with these banks in the name of bogus firms have been sought for examination by the ED.

With ED digging deeper and expanding its probe to accounts in other banks of Katni, the alleged hawala racket might well involve just 40-odd bogus firms, but well over 100 such firms.

Sources added that with more accounts in several other banks and related transactions being under the ED scanner now, the total magnitude of the alleged racket could be many times higher than the present Rs 500-plus crores racket.

According to sources associated with investigations, these accounts with other banks seem to have been opened since 2006 to help legalise unaccounted sales of subsidized coal, dolomite, bauxite and other minerals in open market.

Bills of these bogus firms could have been opened and closed within a year or two to make proceeds of illegal sale of minerals and coal.

Further, the Katni police investigating the four cases lodged in 2016 are now zeroing on merely on cheating and forgery per se opening of accounts of bogus firms.

The police which was on the verge of making major breakthrough in the entire matter after arresting key aide of Saraogi siblings, Sandeep Bardhan on January 5 night is now revisiting the four cases of cheating, forgery and fraud lodged in 2016.

The new SP of Katni Shashikant Shukla (who a few years back was part of CM Shivraj Singh Chouhans security apparatus) told Hindustan Times on Wednesday, who coined the hawala racket theory I dont know..were focusing only on investigations into the cheating, forgery and fraud, besides opening of accounts of bogus firms with the Axis Bank in Katni.

The fresh investigations into the four cases have led us to a few crucial disclosures which cannot be shared with media at this point of time. Were now trying to plug in a few loose ends of the earlier investigations in the case, which jumped a few key steps of investigations to arrive at a conclusion, said Shukla referring about investigations carried out by special investigation team (SIT) into the four cases under the previous SP Gaurav Tiwari.

The Katni SP also added that out of the four cases lodged in the matter, three of complainants have already stated on record that the bank accounts were opened with the Axis Bank in their knowledge. Only these accounts were used to carry out fraudulent transactions, said Shukla.

However, when queried about why the police has been unable to track the alleged masterminds of the racket, when the police was close to grilling them just two weeks ago, Shukla said before I came to Katni, the police had summoned Saraogi siblings for questioning in the matter, but the summon was not complied with. All I can say now is that they are absconding.

Importantly, Saraogi siblings are believed to be close to MP minister of state for MSME Sanjay Pathak, owing to which the opposition Congress has been enduringly demanding Pathaks ouster from Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.

Grilling of Saraogis key aides, including Sandeep Bardhan and Sanjay Tiwari three weeks ago had revealed that crores of rupees laundered between 2008 and 2010 via accounts of bogus firms opened in Axis Bank Katni using documents of ordinary individuals and BPL card holders were done at the behest of Saraogi siblings, who are close to Pathak.

Allegations of covering up the investigations, changing their track are all aimed to defame me, the state government and the minister by vested interests. This matter has now assumed national importance and investigations are on the right course, maintained Shukla.
Bhopal

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had brooded over the idea of total prohibition as in Gujarat and Bihar but didnt go for it, as he apparently considered the loss of Rs 7,500 crore revenue and the possibility of creating a parallel illicit drug and liquor trade.

Instead, his government has settled for some bizarre steps such as identifying habitual alcoholics and sending them to a rehab centre or a hospital.

Chouhan has sent teams to Bihar and Gujarat to study their prohibition models. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar had underlined the importance of liquor ban in the present scenario at a rally last year and even the RSS seems to have seconded a total prohibition.

Officials in the know said the state governments decision was based on fears of breakout of drug menace as in Punjab.

In Bihar and Gujarat, illegal brewing and smuggling of liquor from other states are going on with impunity, sources said.

Along Uttar Pradeshs border with Bihar, several liquor shops have sprouted whereas smuggling of liquor from Madhya Pradesh to Gujarat through Jhabua and Alirajpur is a well-known secret.

Recently, in Gujarat a good number of people were arrested during a raid which saw seizure of a huge quantity of liquor, said an official on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak on the subject.

What also played an important role in the state governments decision against prohibition was a similar ban having been withdrawn within a short span in India and abroad.

In Haryana, the then chief minister Chaudhary Bansi Lal had imposed a total ban on liquor but the order had to be withdrawn after about 21 months. In a developed country like US, prohibition had to be lifted after over a decade in the last century.

Total prohibition, as a phrase, sounds good, but in reality it is difficult to enforce, official sources pointed out, adding that there are also several problems which crop up consequent to the decision.

Finance minister Jayant Malaiya too admitted that total prohibition was a difficult task.

In a guarded responsewithout naming Punjab and Gujarat for obvious reasons, he said, Revenue is not a reason. In fact, its not an easy task (imposing total prohibition). At least this financial year the new excise policy is there.

We will have to think of other consequences like a possible rise in drug addictions because of this. And dry drugs can do more damage to the society than a few liquor shops, he explained.

Instead of prohibition, the state government has chalked out an elaborate plan to create awareness against the sale and consumption of liquor which includes seminars, promoting yoga and educating children about ill impacts of liquor besides posting warnings on liquor bottles.

A few days back, chief minister Chouhan announced closure of all liquor shops within 5 km of Narmada river. Chouhan is presently leading a Narmada Seva Yatra.

To identify habitual drinkers, liquor shops are mandated to keep a list of their customers.

Indo-European Chamber of Commerce and Industrys Anuradha Singhai, who has been a part of the anti-liquor campaign in the state, agreed that total prohibition is a contentious issue. She urged the government to at least ensure that liquor is beyond the easy reach of weaker sections.

As per WHOs global status report in 2014 on alcohol and health, approximately 3.3 million deaths every year or 5.9% of all deaths and 5.1% of the global burden of disease were attributed to alcohol consumption.

As per national family health survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4), as many as 29.6% of men and 1.6% of women consume alcohol in Madhya Pradesh.
Akshay Kumar has always felt strongly about matters concerning the country and its soldiers. In the latest display of his patriotism, the actor on Tuesday (January 24)  two days before Indias 68th Republic Day  sent out a heartfelt video message for the Indian Armed Forces. In his message, Akshay proposed developing a website or a mobile application that would allow people to donate and deposit money directly into a bank account meant for martyrs families.

Honestly, it is a cause I truly believe in. Ive spoken about it previously as well, during the unfortunate Uri (Jammu and Kashmir) attacks. But this time, Ive streamlined it more to suggest to people a way by which they can actually make a difference. This really doesnt require any inspiration; we are alive because of them [soldiers], and its the least we can do, says Akshay.

Akshay Kumar played an army man in his film, Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty. (HT Photo)

As per the actors idea, the proposed bank account will be closed once Rs 15 lakh has been donated. Akshay, who has also asked for suggestions from his fans, has also promised to anchor the mobile app and website if things work out with the help of the government and if he gets permission from the Indian Armed Forces.

Akshay, whose late father Hari Om Bhatia was in the Army, says, Im passionate about it, and thats the only reason Im voicing my stand repeatedly and doing my bit. Being an army mans son definitely made me feel more strongly for this cause. But even if I hadnt had an army background, Id still be equally supportive of it [the armed forces], he says.

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Bollywoods love for their adorable furry friends is known to all. From constant updates on social media, to giving their support to animal welfare, these celebs are all for their four-legged companions. While some celebs have turned vegetarian, others love their pooches so much that they also take them along on their travels. Get ready for some pet therapy!

Anushka Sharma: A handsome hunk called Dude Sharma is the apple of actor Anushka Sharmas eyes. Anushka keeps posting videos with her Labrador, and is a champion for animal welfare. She has also urged fans to have a cracker-free Diwali for the sake of animals in the past.

Anushka Sharma with her pet Dude Sharma. (Instagram/anushkasharma)

Alia Bhatt: Alia has two cats  Pika and Sheeba. Pika is a Ginger tabby and has been named after an anime character. Sheeba is a white and grey stray with striking lime green eyes. She has even called her cats her best friends. Alia is also an advocate for noise-free celebrations.

Alia Bhatt calls her cats her best friends. (Instagram/aliaabhatt)

Athiya Shetty: Athiya Shetty is an animal lover and is often seen at pet adoption drives. She has a brood of three Great Danes and a pug, but this one is a Husky named Brody. She often posts pictures of herself with dogs.

Athiya Shetty has a brood of three dogs. (Instagram/athiyashetty)

Jacqueline Fernandez: Jackie has a white Persian kitty named Miu Miu. Back home in Sri Lanka, she reportedly has dogs, fish and more cats. She has been reported as saying that she grew among a lot of dogs, rabbits, cats and turtles. She credits animals for teaching her about compassion and responsibility.

Jacqueline Fernandez is very fond of her cat, Miu Miu. (Instagram/jacquelinef143)

Sooraj Pancholi: At one point, the actor had 14 dogs along with hamsters, rabbits, chickens, fish and birds. His first dog was named Bullet. He now has a Husky called Fausto and a Chihuahua named Pepper, in addition to four strays. He has reportedly said that if he ever does charity, it will be for animals.

Sooraj Pancholi grew up with a lot of pets. (Instagram/soorajpancholi)

Arjun Rampal: The actor has two dogs, a bulldog named Gangsta, a pug named Muscles. He also loves stray dogs and feeds them whenever he can, and has been part of campaigns for PETA.

Arjun Rampal has two dogs. (Instagram/rampal72)

John Abraham: That the actor loves animals is no secret. He adopted a female stray pup and named her Bailey. He is also against the notion of bringing home only pedigrees and considers Bailey part of his family. He has repeatedly got on board for campaigns for animal welfare and urges people to adopt strays.

John Abraham and his pet, Bailey. (HT Photo)

Randeep Hooda: Hoodas love for horses is legendary. He has a stable where he breeds horses, some of them named Cupa, Johnny Walker, Ranji and a female named Dream Girl. He has also rescued horses, and helped dying horses get back on track. His dog is named Candy.

Randeep Hooda breeds horses and helps dying horses get back on track. (Instagram/randeephooda)

Mika Singh: Mika Singh has a farmhouse on the outskirts of Delhi-NCR, where he keeps farm animals, including horses, cows and dogs. He considers them his children. He recently posted: Leaving home again and the kids look so sad. Their faces are saying please papa dont go. I said I have to go work and Ill come back soon.

Mika Singh has a farmhouse with many animals. (Twitter/King Mika Singh)

Soha Ali Khan: She and her husband, Kunal Kemmu, are fond of animals and have three pet dogs named Mishti, Nimki and Masti. They are also seen supporting adoption drives and support animal welfare.

Both Soha Ali Khan and her husband Kunal Kemmu are animal lovers. (Instagram/khemster2)

Priyanka Chopra: This desi girl has two dogs: Brando, a cocker spaniel and Diana, a female pup she adopted. Diana also has an Instagram page called Diaries of Diana (diariesofdiana). The actor is also the guardian of a tigress (Durga) and a lioness (Sundari) in Bhagawan Birsa Biological Park in Ranchi. She takes care of all their expense.

Priyanka Chopra with her pet, Diana. (Instagram/priyankachopra)

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Shah Rukh Khans latest Raees, which was released in India, the US and Britain on Wednesday, could soon hit the screens in Pakistan as it has been cleared by a special government panel.

The committee formed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to look into the screening of Indian films has sent a summary or official note to the Prime Ministers Office on the film.

Sharif is now expected to issue a no-objective certificate (NOC) for the screening of Raees and Hrithik Roshans Kaabil soon, the Dawn newspaper reported.

We can expect that it will take at least two days after the NOC has been issued for the films to be screened, a senior official at Hum Films, which is releasing Kaabil and Raees in Pakistan jointly with Eveready Pictures, was quoted as saying.

Raees and Kaabil could become the first Indian movies to be released in Pakistan after film distributors and cinema owners imposed an informal ban on Bollywood productions last September.

The move was made in response to the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA)s ban on Pakistani actors, musicians and technicians working in India in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on an army camp in Kashmir.

Several Pakistani artists had to return from India as tensions between the two countries peaked. The tensions also resulted in Pakistani actor Mahira Khan, who plays a role in Raees, being kept out of the promotion of the film in India.
Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan has come down heavily on the Indian media and said he was allowed to remain silent on things that dont affect him or about which he has no knowledge.

In an interview to the Indian Express, the Raees actor targeted TV anchors, comparing them to stars who he said were yet to get over their wonderful, newly-gained stardom and asked them to take lessons from their Western counterparts.

Why dont journalists here behave the way their counterparts do in the West? You see journalists asking pointed questions to presidential candidates fearlessly and with facts. If the other person interrupts, they would stop and say, It is his time, Khan said.

Here, I want to tell the journalists that it is not your time, so can you please keep quiet. Can I listen to those two people you are asking questions to? Now, there are two journalists on the TV screen and both are talking over each other and the panelists, sitting there, are not talking. It is a strange space

He cautioned the media against trying to get cheap publicity. Why do you want to join the bandwagon of faceless people on social media who just want to say a thing and become famous?

Khan also criticised the media for taking things out of context, and asked if they were always going to utilise snippets, bytes, pieces and words to somehow bolster your point of view?

The actor was replying to queries that sufaced after Hollywood actress Meryl Streeps hard-hitting speech at the Golden Globe Awards where she hit out at US President Donald Trump without even mentioning his name.

Following the speech, the Hindi film industry came under attack for not being vocal on political issues unlike their Western counterparts.

What Meryl Streep spoke about at the Golden Globe Awards is related to whats happening in the US, something she believes in, and has a comment to make. Before any journalist starts comparing, is there a similar situation here that you want me to speak about? No. If there is a situation that is different, I am sure people who want to speak will speak differently, Khan said.

The actor said he found it very odd that when journalists start saying, when will Indian actors start speaking like this?

Why would Indian actors speak about a situation that does not exist? If there is an agenda and situation you want us to speak on, then you ask us about it and, obviously, we do speak.

He dished down some guidelines to the media that he felt could help draw a truce between the two groups.

Somewhere down the line, if you have a point of view and a very strong one, you need to directly tell me: I am doing this piece on you. Shah Rukh, would you like to comment, pro or against? Would you like to take a side on this point of view that I have? I might say that I agree with you, so I would like to make this statement. Or, maybe, I would say no, I dont agree with what you are saying and you can go ahead and put it in your story. Every interview has become an editorial

Khan, who has been at the centre of many controversies, has been again at the receiving end of media scrutiny for the promotion of his latest film Raees.

While Khan was promoting his film by taking a train ride from Mumbai to Delhi, a man died at the Vadodara railway station after chaos broke out as 15,000 peopled rushed to catch a glimpse of the superstar.

Khan also addressed the issue where he has been portraying more Muslim characters.

You may write a piece from the point of view that I am doing three back-to-back Muslim characters. With due respect to my professionalism as an actor, I did not even know what my name was in Karan Johars Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. I just went for two hours, did some shots and had fun with my friends, Karan, Ranbir (Kapoor) and Aishwarya (Rai Bachchan). I wrapped up around 2am and partied till 6am before flying back to Lisbon.

Shah Rukh Khan gave the interview last week to Indian Express.
Gurmeet Choudhary recently visited the CISF Headquarters in Mumbai to spend time with the jawans and also interacted with them.

The talented actor who hails from an army background discussed about how an actors life is way too different from the disciplined one of the jawans, and how they always feel protected in their presence. He also spoke about women safety. In fact, a few jawans also shared poems with Gurmeet and sung songs.

Also, a group of women performed martial arts in front of Gurmeet and also taught him some defence moves. Later, men commandos also performed Krav Maga (a martial art form) as the actor joined them.

The actor also shook a leg with the women in uniform on his famous romantic numbers including Khamoshiyan and Tu Har Lamha.

Invest in yourself . Grow n become better than who u were yesterday!! A photo posted by Gurmeet Choudhary (@guruchoudhary) on Jan 19, 2017 at 9:35pm PST

The actor was last seen in the film Wajah Tum Ho co-starring Sana Khan and Sharman Joshi.

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Official Israeli statements say the new settlements were delayed until US President Donald Trump came to power

Egypt condemned on Tuesday Israeli government approval to build additional settlement homes in occupied Jerusalem.

In an official statement, Egypts foreign ministry said that the continuation of settlement activities and its fast pace limits chances for a two-state solution.

On 22 January, shortly following US President Donald Trump's inauguration, Israel approved the building of 566 new settlement homes in occupied East Jerusalem.

The ministry added that the Israeli act also undermines exerted efforts to resume the peace process and revive negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides to reach a fair and comprehensive settlement for the Palestinian cause in accordance with international law and agreements.

The statement described the decision as one that violates the Palestinian peoples right to establish an independent state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, as the decision imposes a reality that breaches the principles and resolutions of international law.

We underline the necessity of a suspension of unilateral moves and intensification of efforts by the international community to encourage both sides to resume dialogue, the ministry said.

According to international law, building settlements on occupied territory is illegal.

Israeli officials said in press statements that the decision, which was reportedly delayed in the wake of a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlement activities last month, was made after Trumps arrival as US president.

The Israeli plan comes nearly a month after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution deeming the building of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 as having no legal validity.

On 23 December, the 15-member council adopted the resolution by a vote of 14 in favour with one abstention by the United States, causing a conflict between Israel and the administration of then President Barack Obama.

The resolution was sponsored by New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal after Egypt withdrew its own proposal a day earlier.

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Is Shah Rukh Khan not supposed to travel by train or visit a railway station, questions writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar, who is among the celebrities who feel it wasnt the actors fault if a person died due to suffocation in the crowd at a railway station where the Raees star was promoting his film.

Shah Rukh on Monday undertook a train journey from Mumbai to Delhi, and Vadodara was one the stations where the train stopped. He waved out at his hordes of fans, who created a commotion at the station. This led to one man collapsing, and when he was rushed to hospital, he was declared dead.

Shah Rukh has called the incident unfortunate and even the deceaseds family members have said they have nothing against the actor.

Commenting on the incident, industry veteran Javed said on the sidelines of the grand jury meet of Radio Mirchi Awards: It was not his (Shah Rukhs) fault. What do you want to say that he is not supposed to travel by train or visit a railway station? It is the responsibility of the railway authorities and the traffic police to ensure the safety of the fans or should have better control over the crowd.

At the same event, Ayushmann said, I think nowadays, celebrities are very much approachable. It was an odd incident... Very unfortunate. But I think at the same time, as a member of the film fraternity, I will support Shah Rukh Khan sir as it (train journey) was part of a promotional strategy and was just a security lapse. You just cant blame any celebrity or marketing team for such incidents.

At an event here for Tourism New Zealand, Sidharth said, Its very unfortunate... It was an activity and they were promoting their film. All of us plan to promote our films (innovatively) and its a good intention to promote our movies. We have been doing the marketing of films, and its not the first time that anybody was doing a marketing trip or going out to promote their film. But definitely, what has happened, is unfortunate. Nobody planned for it. Its something that shouldnt have happened.

A huge crowd had thronged Vadodara railway station to see Shah Rukh on Monday night as he was travelling to Delhi on August Kranti Rajdhani Express from Mumbai.
As Apple Inc presents its ready-to-execute manufacturing plan to the government, top sources say that India is also ready to facilitate the iPhone-maker.

In a crucial meeting with the Indian government on Wednesday Apple Inc submitted its India plans. But Apple Inc has a long list of incentives and tax sops that it wants before it starts manufacturing here.

Top sources indicate that the government is considering certain relaxations in electronic manufacturing that will benefit Apple.

Read: Indias importance grows as Apple CEO Cooks pay slumps on falling sales

The government is likely to relax the local sourcing norm for the iPhone-maker to eight years, keeping with its commitment towards companies that bring in cutting edge technology into India.

A foreign brand looking to open single-brand retail stores in India is mandated to source 30% from Indian manufacturers within three years of setting up shop.

Apple wanted higher exemptions since there are not many high-end phone-component makers in India to buy from, said a government official, who did not wish to be named. The company will have to manufacture the components in India, and it has to meet international standards.

Read: Apple CEO Tim Cook says its the right time to be in India

Sources in the government say that further sops are under consideration for electronic manufacturing in India, which will also benefit Apple among others.

If a manufacturer assembles phones in India, it will only pay 1% duty on the finished devices instead of 12.5%. Also, local assembly of earphones, adapters (chargers) and batteries will attract only 2% of import duty rather than 12.5% that is applicable on imported accessories.

Three departments within the Indian government are looking into Apple Incs list of demands. They are: the department of industrial production and promotion, department of revenue and department of information and technology. This panel met today to take a final call on Apples proposal and demands.

Read: MacBook launch: Will the new PCs cure Apples Achilles heel in India?

Apple has been looking for several duty and tax incentives for manufacturing handsets in India, but the government is unlikely to make any exception for one company, said a top official in one of the departments mentioned above. Speaking to HT on conditions of anonymity, the official said that any exception for the iPhone manufacturer will defeat the purpose of an integrated policy such as Make-in-India.

Apple Inc in a statement said that it was working hard to develop our operations in India.

We appreciate the constructive and open dialogue weve had with government about further expanding our local operations.

Read: As Apples iPhone turns 10 today, Cook says just getting started

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that the company was looking at India as the next big market. Apple was not in India for a year or two, instead 100s of years, Cook said during his visit to India earlier in the year.

In May 2016, Modi and Cook agreed to work towards a package of four projects: assembling iPhones, opening Apple stores, importing certified pre-owned iPhones and refurbishing them in India, according to the letter.

Apple said its initial focus was to set up manufacturing of iPhones in India over two phases, the first of which was to be introduced by spring this year.
Apple seems to be growing frustrated with the rising labour costs in China as it looks to shift its manufacturing base to India.

The iPhone-maker is betting big on India as it faces rising employment costs in China. Hence today they presented their manufacturing plan to the government, a source said adding that the government is yet to take a decision on the issue.

However, the official said that the iPhone-maker was betting on India because of low-cost labour and has said that it wants to shift its manufacturing base despite Chinas offer of bigger incentives.

Earlier, in an earnings call Cook has said that he was hopeful of turning around India into the next China for Apple. Our iPhone sales in India were up over 50% in 2015-16 compared to the prior year, and we believe were just beginning to scratch the surface of this large and growing market opportunity.

Looking ahead, were seeing some very exciting developments in India. Reliance Jio is rolling out a first-of-its-kind all-IP network in India with 4G coverage in 18,000 cities and 200,000 villages across the country. Theyre offering a free year of service to purchasers of new iPhones and were partnering with them to ensure great iPhone performance on their network.

Apple includes India in its Asia Pacific region, which reported $2.7 billion in sales during the quarter. iPhone sales in China, which slowed down 30% during the July-September quarter, have failed to make a mark in the companys balance sheet lately.

Overall, the companys sales declined 9% to $46.85 billion in the three months to September  the third consecutive quarterly fall. The sales fall hit the companys quarterly profits, which came in at $9 billion - a 19% decline on the same period a year earlier. For the year to September 2016, the iPhone maker reported its first decline in annual sales and profit in 15 years. Net sales stood at $215.6 billion during the period under review, an 8% decrease on the record $233.7 billion of sales in the previous year. Profits declined 14% year-on-year to $45.7 billion during the period.

Apple is expecting India to plug the declining sales. I think its clear that the population of India will exceed China sometime in probably the next decade or so, maybe less than that. If you sort of look at the number of people who are or will move into the middle class sort of over the next decade, and the age of the population if you look at India, almost 50% of the population is under 25, Cook said.

There are enormous investments going in on 4G and we couldnt be more excited about that because it really takes a great network working with iPhone to produce that great experience for people I see a lot of the factors moving in the right direction there.

In India, Apple has a long list of demands before it starts manufacturing. Apple has been asking for a lot of sops that includes freight subsidy as the country has logistical issues, continuation of differential duty on mobile handsets and components manufacturing even when the GST regime comes in and income tax holiday in the country just as China or Vietnam offers, an industry expert told HT, adding that exports should be made a top priority by enhancing sops under merchandise exports from India scheme (MEIS) from 2% to 5%.

A government official said that Apple wants the higher exemptions because there are not many high-end phone-component makers in India to buy from.

The company will have to manufacture the components in India, and it has to meet international standards.
The government must tax cash transactions above Rs 50,000, abolish charges on credit card transactions, give tax refund to consumers on digital payments and extend Rs 1,000 subsidy on smart phones to promote a cashless, digital economy, a panel of Chief Ministers has said in a report.

To curb use of cash for large transactions consider a levy of banking cash transaction tax on transactions of Rs 50,000 and above. Consider a cap on maximum allowable limit of cash in all types of large size transactions, said the panel led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

The interim report on promoting Digital Payments was submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday by Naidu and Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis and Sikkim Pawan Kumar Chamling.

Naidu later held a press conference to highlight the main points.

The report laid emphasis on the use of Aadhaar and said this unique identity number must be made the primary identity point for the know your customer (KYC) norms. It said the existing Aadhaar law can be applied towards this.

The report sought to point out how low in rankings India stood in terms of pay points for digital transactions (like swipe machines with merchants) -- it is 1,080 per million people in India, 16,602 in China, 7,189 in Mexico, 25,241 in Brazil and 31,096 in Singapore.

Among its various recommendations, the panel said infrastructure must be provided for the 1,54,000 post offices by way of interoperable Aadhaar enabled micro-ATMs and subsidy of up to Rs 1,000 be extended on smart phones for non-income tax assesses or small merchants.

All government sections like insurance, educational institutes, fertilisers, public distribution system and petroleum must switch to digital payments, it said. Rural and urban cooperative banks should be on-boarded to digital transactions mode immediately.

In terms of Unique Identity Number, the panel said all payment banks and correspondents, besides post offices, must be interlinked to the Aadhaar-enabled payments system.

The panel said for the success of a digital economy, all stakeholders must be on board -- large financial institutions and telecom entities including regulators, with awareness creation entrusted with microfinance institutions, NGOs, cooperatives, state-run units and panchayati raj bodies.

As per the report, some of the constraints listed by the panel in the adoption of a digital economy includes attitudinal issues, hardware including payments acceptance infrastructure, data connectivity and cyber security. It said cash transactions were also cheaper than digital ones.

The high-powered panel was asked to suggest measures to enable all sections of the population to migrate to digital payments, and recommend measures to leapfrog to the advanced digital payment systems of global standards.

It was constituted on November 30, last year after the government demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
India signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday that allows the Gulf OPEC country to fill half of an underground crude oil storage facility at Mangalore that is part of New Delhis strategic reserve system.

New Delhi announced a series of pacts with the UAE ranging from defence, trade, maritime cooperation to energy after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabis Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

UAEs Abu Dhabi National Oil Co will store about 6 million barrels of oil at Mangalore, taking up about half of the sites capacity, said Sunjay Sudhir, joint secretary for international cooperation at the Indian oil ministry.

India, hedging against energy security risks as it imports most of its oil needs, is building emergency storage in underground caverns to hold 36.87 million barrels of crude, or about 10 days of its average daily oil demand in 2016.

This will ... help to ensure Indias energy security and enable us to meet the nations growing demand for energy, said oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India needs massive investments in some key sectors, particularly infrastructure.

ADNOC said the Mangalore oil storage facility is the third that it has access to in Asia after Japan and South Korea, enabling the company to become more competitive in meeting market demand across south east Asia.

India is an important energy market and this storage agreement reinforces ADNOCs role as one of the worlds most trusted and reliable suppliers of oil, Sultan Ahmed al Jaber, UAE minister of state and ADNOC Group CEO said in a statement.

We will utilise the Mangalore facility to not only build on our existing business relationships across India but also to explore new downstream opportunities for ADNOCs expanding range of refined and petrochemical products.

During Modis visit to the UAE in 2015, the two countries announced a $75 billion joint infrastructure fund that would invest in Indias infrastructure development. UAE is Indias fifth biggest oil supplier.

The crude supplies will begin in the last quarter of this year, Sudhir told Reuters. We are talking to them (ADNOC) for two-three grades and most likely it will Murban.

The two sides had discussed ways to advance their energy ties through specific projects, including long-term supply contracts and joint ventures in energy, Modi said in a speech after his meeting with the crown prince.

India in 2014 began talks to lease part of its strategic storage to ADNOC. Under those discussions, India was to have first rights to the stored crude in case of an emergency, while ADNOC would be able to move cargoes to meet any shift in demand.

India has already filled the other half of the Mangalore storage in Karnataka with 6 million barrels of Iranian oil.

India, the worlds third-biggest oil consumer, has also filled a Vizag storage site in southern Andhra Pradesh with 7.55 million barrels of Iraqi oil and has invited bids from suppliers to fill an 18.3 million-barrel facility at Padur in Karnataka.

The crown prince of Abu Dhabi will be the guest of honour at the Republic Day parade on Thursday.
The government has reserved its decision on giving Apple sops to start its manufacturing plant in India for now as Apple top executives presented a detailed plan of its entry into India.

According to top officials in the commerce ministry, Apple in its presentation asked for sops like freigh subsidy, waiver of import duties and export subsidy.

An inter-ministerial committee on Wednesday was expected to decide if your Apple iPhone and iPad will get cheaper.

Apple has asked for sops from the government to start manufacturing in India and analysts along with industry leaders see this as an opportunity to lure big telecom equipment manufacturers to India.

How will the iphone get cheaper? Simple, if Apple starts locally assembling or making earphones, adapters (chargers) and batteries then it will only pay 2% of import subsidy rather than 12.5% that it pays to bring them the accessories to India.

Read: Apple may make in India, but with more incentives

Also if it assembles phones in India, it will only pay 1% duty on the finished iPhone rather than 12.5%. So essentially if the iPhone is priced at Rs 60,000, then as per 12.5% duty, Apple is expected to pay Rs 7,500. But if it locally makes the device, then it pays only Rs 600.

The differential duty structure will indirectly benefit consumers and Apple will be able to pass on most or rather the full Rs 6,900 balance to Indian consumers. If the government gives Apple sops, then simply your Apple devices prices will come down, a top industry expert told HT.

Read: MacBook launch: Will the new PCs cure Apples Achilles heel in India?

Though India is still keen for the U.S. tech giant to produce its signature smartphones here. Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad recently said that India would keep an open mind in negotiations.

We will very much like Apple to come and have a base in India, he said.

But Apple Inc has a long list of incentives and tax sops that it wants before it starts manufacturing in India.

Three departments within the Indian government are looking into Apple Incs list of demands. They are: the department of industrial production and promotion, department of revenue and department of information and technology. This panel will take a final decision on Apples demands on Wednesday.

Read: Apples improved iOS to change iPhone experience

Apple has been looking for several duty and tax incentives for manufacturing handsets in India, but the government is unlikely to make any exception for one company, said a top official in one of the departments mentioned above. Speaking to HT on conditions of anonymity, the official said that any exception for the iPhone manufacturer will defeat the purpose of an integrated policy such as Make-in-India.

Apple wants more incentives from the government under the Make in India. Local manufacturing will help Apple open retail stores in the country. Taiwans Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (Foxconn), which makes Apple devices, has a manufacturing facility in southern India.

Read: Apple leads in smartphone profits with 91% share, Samsung not in top five

Apple wants higher exemptions since there are not many high-end phone-component makers in India to buy from, said another government official, who did not wish to be named. The company will have to manufacture the components in India, and it has to meet international standards.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that the company was looking at India as the next big market. Apple was not in India for a year or two, instead 100s of years, Cook said during his visit to India earlier in the year.

The government already offers several initiatives, including differential duty structure, modified special incentive package scheme (MSIPS) and zero-duty on import of all components except adapters, batteries and headsets, for global and local manufacturers, under Make in India.

Read: Indias loss, Americas gain? Apple may shift iPhone factory to US

Aimed at promoting electronic manufacturing, MSIPS provides capital subsidy of 20% in special economic zones (SEZs) and 25% in non-SEZs, in the form of reimbursement of excise for capital equipment. For high-capital investment projects, it also provides for reimbursement of central taxes and duties.

However, Apple seems dissatisfied with just these benefits. A person in the know of things said that India is now being compared to manufacturing destinations like Vietnam and China.

Earlier, the Tim Cook-led company had sought relaxation of local sourcing norms under the shield of state-of-the-art and cutting edge technology providers.

Read: Nokia has sued Apple in 11 countries. Here is why

A foreign brand looking to open single-brand retail stores in India is mandated to source 30% from Indian manufacturers for a minimum period of three years. With Prime Minister Narendra Modis intervention, Apple is likely to see a relaxation on this.

Apple wants higher exemptions since there are not many high-end phone-component makers in India to buy from, said a government official, who did not wish to be named. The company will have to manufacture the components in India, and it has to meet international standards.

Competitors such as South Koreas Samsung Electronics and Chinas Xiaomi have already set up manufacturing in the country.

Read: Apple cuts iPhone 6S, 6S Plus prices by Rs 22,000 ahead of iPhone 7 launch

In May 2016, Modi and Cook agreed to work towards a package of four projects: assembling iPhones, opening Apple stores, importing certified pre-owned iPhones and refurbishing them in India, according to the letter.

Apple said its initial focus was to set up manufacturing of iPhones in India over two phases, the first of which was to be introduced by spring this year.
There is a big difference in the way 15th August and 26th January are celebrated. The former is led by the Prime Ministers speech from the ramparts of Delhis Red Fort while the latter by a grand military parade on Raj Path overseen by the President. Most people accept this difference as merely the artifact of tradition but the ceremonies carry important symbolism. In this column I suggest an innovation that would make the symbolism more appropriate and meaningful.

As all Indians are aware, Republic Day commemorates the date on which the Indian Constitution came into effect. In other words, it is a celebration of the Indian State and the power that resides in it by virtue of the Constitution. The growling Mauryan lions, our State emblem, reflect this power. It is appropriate, therefore, that Republic Day celebrations are led by military parades on Raj Path and that the President, as head of the Republic, presides over the event. It is a top-down show of strength and the national capital is the obvious place from which the celebrations are led.

Independence Day, in contrast, is a commemoration of the day we became free of British rule. By its very nature, it is a bottom-up celebration of freedom and belongs to the people rather than the Indian State. Therefore, the Prime Minister, as representative of the people, leads the celebrations with a speech. However, note that neither the national capital nor Delhis Red Fort have any special place in it beyond tradition. Freedom belongs equally to residents of the smallest village in Meghalaya or Kerala. This is why the symbolic importance of Independence Day would be greatly enhanced if the Prime Minister would deliver his annual speech from a different location every year.

Read: As it happened: Need to fight against social evils, says PM on I-Day

There are many locations across India that have strong historical associations with the idea of freedom. Here are a few suggestions that could be considered:

Chittaurgarh, Rajasthan: Few places on earth have a history of such heroic resistance against external aggression. The fort was sacked three times (1303 by Alauddin Khilji, 1535 by Bahadur Shah & 1567 by Akbar) and on each occasion it was defended to the last man. Each time, the women chose to commit mass-suicide rather than live in slavery and dishonour. Even after the fall of the fort, the people of Mewar kept up the resistance in the surrounding Aravali hills.

Jhansi, UP: This town and its fort will forever be linked to the brave resistance of Rani Lakshmibai to British domination. Given how the events of 1857-58 are immortalized in poetry and song, would it not be appropriate if Prime Minister Modi delivered this years speech from the same spot where the young queen is said to have leapt off the forts ramparts in order to escape the siege?

Colachel, TN: This is the coastal town where Martanda Varma, ruler of the tiny kingdom of Venad (later Travancore) decisively defeated the Dutch East India Company in 1741. This was a major feat as the Dutch were then the worlds leading maritime power and controlled what are now South Africa, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The Dutch never recovered and went into decline. No Asian would again defeat a European power decisively till the Japanese navy defeated the Russians at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905. A commemorative column still stands at the spot where Martanda Varma accepted Dutch surrender.

Read: 70th Independence Day: PM Modi opts out bullet proof enclosure for 3rd year

Saraighat, Assam: Indian history is full of invasions from the north-west but none from the north-east. For this we should thank the Assamese and the Manipuri who put up extraordinary resistance to foreign marauders such as the Burmese. Even when foreign invaders from the north-west managed to reach Assam, they too were defeated. Bakhtiyar Khilji, who sacked Nalanda and conquered Bengal, was soundly defeated by the Assamese. Similarly, when Aurangzeb sent a large army to subdue the Assamese in 1671, Ahom general Lachit Borphukan enticed the Mughals into a naval battle on the Brahmaputra and sank their fleet. This battle took place at Saraighat, not far from modern Guwahati.

Cellular Jail, Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Kala Pani) : In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the British used the Cellular Jail in Port Blair to imprison those whom it considered the greatest threats to continuation of colonial rule. Its inmates included the Maulvi Liaquat Ali, the Savarkar brothers, Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Barindra Ghosh and many others.

The above list contains mere suggestions and readers are free to add others. Of course, the Prime Minister may return to the Red Fort from time to time. The main point is that Independence Day does not belong exclusively to Delhi and should be shared across India. This would fit the spirit of freedom much better than the current ritual.

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Even before Arjena Bibi reached her village in West Bengal with the body of her husband Nazrul Islam, who was killed in the recent BMW accident, she had made up her mind to return to Delhi. I have no means to earn a livelihood in Delhi but I will camp there to ensure my husbands killer does not get away, Bibi told HT on Wednesday.

Nazrul Islam, an Uber driver, was killed when an allegedly speeding BMW rammed into his WagonR near IIT in south Delhi late on Sunday night. Islam was the primary breadwinner for the family that includes Bibi, their two children and Islams grandmother. With Bibi earning barely 2,000 from her work as a house help in Gurgaon, the family is left with hardly any source of income.

My earnings wont even pay for my rent in Gurgaon, but that does not mean I wont return to fight for my husband. The man who killed my husband is rich. If I am not physically present there, he will get away easily, said Biwi, a little after reaching her village at around 4am.

Shoaib Kohli, the alleged BMW driver, is an analyst with a multinational food company in Gurgaon. The BMW is one among many expensive cars owned by his family that lives in Panchsheel Park.

Kohli was allegedly driving at a speed of 100-125 km/hr at the time of the accident. Fearing a reprisal by the public, he fled the spot in an auto. He was arrested by the police from his home the next day and is currently out on bail.

I will leave my two children behind with my parents. I will stay with my relatives in Delhi so that travelling in connection with the case is not difficult, Bibi said, adding that she will look for another job as a house help in Delhi to sustain herself.

Her relatives have promised to stand by her. We will do the running around for her in Delhi. We also have the support of many other Ola and Uber drivers. We may be financially weak but we will fight the case, said Majid, Islams relative.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday declined to entertain Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson Swati Maliwals plea seeking a direction to the Lieutenant Governor to include AAP ministers in the reconstituted Special Task Force for women safety.

A bench of Justice BD Ahmed and Justice Ashtosh Kumar, however, asked LG Anil Baijal to consider including the Delhi State Legal Service Authority (DSLSA) in the 12-member task force that was reconstituted on January 20.

The task force, established in 2013 following the December 16, 2012 gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus, was disbanded last year.

The court was of the opinion that the DSLSA being a significant part of the rape survivors victim compensation scheme should be part of the task force. The DSLSA is the sanctioning authority that decides the quantum of compensation to be awarded to a victim.

On Maliwals plea, the court directed the police to identify areas where it is necessary to set up more street lights based on the crime mapping exercise it had earlier conducted.

Read: TB patient who is resistant to 12 out of 13 drugs could spread disease

Studies across the world have suggested that dark public areas, where there is insufficient street light, are crime prone, the bench remarked as it directed all civic agencies to put a logo and telephone complaint number on each street light pole under their responsibility.

The order came after Maliwal contended that the DCW was facing trouble in figuring out who owns street lights. She said a West Delhi area was quickly becoming prone to a lot of rape incidents because of poor lighting.

Advocate Meera Bhatia, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the case, said the issue of installation of CCTV cameras in the capital has been put in the backburner as both the city government and police had not done anything on it. Bhatia said the CCTV cameras had not even been installed most of the police stations here.

Delhi police said the proposal to install 18,000 CCTV cameras were rejected by the Centre citing technical objection of it being gender neutral.

The court directed the Centre, police and the city government to clarify the latest stand on installation of CCTVs in all police stations and crime-prone areas.

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Four young hackers have been arrested for allegedly digitally shoplifting vouchers worth Rs92 lakh by tampering with the data of e-commerce websites at the payment gateway stage. Two of them are BTech dropouts, one is pursuing engineering while the other is a BCA from Delhi University, police said.

Calling it the first such case reported from the national capital, DCP (south) Ishwar Singh said these hackers used these vouchers at popular e-commerce sites such as MakeMyTrip, Flipkart, Amazon, Dominos Pizza, Myntra and Shoppers Stop, among others, said police.

To avoid being tracked, the accused never lived in any place for more than a day or two, but they spent their time putting up at five star hotels, travelling by expensive flights and splurging on their girlfriends.

They would show-off their lavish lifestyle and offer expensive laptops and mobile phones for dirt-cheap to their friends on a social media website.

To come across as well-off persons, the four would hire cars like Mercedes and BMW while travelling with their girlfriends, said the DCP on Wednesday.

The three 18-year-old arrested youths, led by the alleged mastermind, Sunny Nehra, had allegedly undergone extensive training in hacking and had tied up with professional hackers in India, Netherlands and Indonesia to learn the tricks of the trade.

They had obtained special softwares that helped them go about their job. They even had a Dell laptop of 256 GB RAM configuration capable of supporting a particular hacking suite, said an investigator.

Nehra, a BTech dropout student, had obtained an additional expertise in looking for vulnerabilities in online payment sites. A few months ago, one of his hacker friends informed him that PayU, a payment gateway, was suffering from vulnerability and could be tested for data tampering, said the DCP.

Nehra studied the website and soon realised that it allowed changes in parameters at the processing page. He then targeted a website gyftr.com from where one can buy vouchers.

Read more: Websites of 7 Indian missions hacked, data allegedly put online

Explaining the modus operandi, Singh said, Nehra and his friends would first opt for a purchasing an e-voucher from the website. Using credit or debit cards obtained on fake documents, the hackers would enter the card details and make the payment using the PayU payment gateway.

Once the payment was being processed, one is generally led to a page that asks not to refresh, cancel or go back until the payment is through.

It is at this particular point that these hackers would press the cancel button to freeze the page. Using their hacking skills, they would change certain values before again proceeding with the payment.

Read more: Legion: Meet the hackers who broke into Rahul, Barkha Dutts Twitter accounts

For example, if they were purchasing a voucher worth Rs5,000, they would edit the value to just Re1. Since they had already decoded the source codes of that page during the experimentation stage in the past, they were able to make the payment go through.

While the hackers then used these vouchers to buy products and services from different websites, the portal offering the vouchers was duped.

It was on December 30, 2016, that representatives of an e-commerce website that administers the website gyftr.com approached Hauz Khas police with a complaint that they had been duped of vouchers worth Rs92 lakh.

A special team constituted to crack the case obtained records from the portals whose services were used. That helped police identify certain iPhones and iPads that were purchased by the accused. The IP addresses of these devices were tracked, leading police to the Facebook profile of Nehra, said the DCP.

He was finally traced to a five star hotel in Gurgaon where he had been staying. At his instance, his friends too were nabbed.
Egypts foreign affairs minister Sameh Shoukry will travel to Ethiopia on Thursday to attend a ministerial-level African Union meeting ahead of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisis participation in the AUs 28th General Assembly by the end of this month, a ministry statement read.

The General Assembly, titled Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in Youth, kicked off in Addis Ababa on 22 January and will conclude on 31 January.

Shoukrys participation comes in the context of Egypts ongoing efforts to communicate with its African brothers to strengthen bilateral ties with African countries, the statement read.

Aside from participating in the assemblys official meetings and activities, Shoukry is expected to hold bilateral meetings on the assemblys sidelines with his African counterparts as well as AU commissioners.

Egypt, which has been increasingly active with the AU in the past couple of years, currently holds a seat in the AUs Security Council.

In a presidential-level AU meeting in July, President El-Sisi told his counterparts that there is no substitute for adopting a model of regional integration in Africa.

El-Sisi also advocated for creating a free trade zone between AU countries.

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The Delhi Police, one of the largest metropolitan police forces in the world with a current strength of 76,000, requires an additional 54,482 posts to improve policing in the capital.

But only 14,753 new posts have been cleared by the home ministry and that too is pending approval by the competent authority. The police have been facing criticism for rising crime, particularly against women.

As per Delhi Polices official website, a total of 1,981 rape cases were registered as on November last year, a decrease from 2,017 rape cases for the same period in 2015 .

The Delhi High Court, hearing a public interest litigation on women safety and recruitment of additional cops in Delhi after the December 16, 2012 gang rape, on Wednesday asked the Centre and police to submit a status report on when the new appointments will be made and what happened to the remaining proposals.

The court is looking to separate crime investigation and law and order duty of the police.

Read: Delhi high court no to include AAP ministers in women safety pane

On the pilot project of PCR vans comprising all-woman staff, especially in vulnerable areas, the police said since they had no sanctioned posts of female drivers, women personnel who could be deployed after training were being identified.

331 women police officers with weapons have been deployed in PCR vans all over Delhi.

On additional telephone lines, the police said they required 100 active and 30 overflow lines. They said heavy flow of calls during festivals such as Holi, Diwali, Eid, etc, were handled by 40 overflow lines to reduce load on the system.

On digitisation of Malkhanas, it said the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) was developing a software for the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System and its bug free version was likely to be out by March end.

Data entry of all records of Malkhana has started. About 42,500 entries have been done but it will take another six to seven months to complete digitization of the remaining 4.75 lakh case properties .

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A 16-year-old boy lost an eye after being hit by a pellet shot from a toy gun in northeast Delhis Rohtash Nagar area last week.

The victim, Ishan, was shot by a toy gun by his neighbour, police said. Ishan lives with his family in Shahdara area and is a Class 10 student at a government school.

The accused, identified as 19-year-old Akash, has been arrested for voluntarily causing grievous injury, said Nupur Prasad, DCP (Shahdara).

The incident happened took place on January 19 when the victim, Ishan, was visiting his friend in Rohtash Nagar.

A police officer said Ishan was at his friends house and was talking to him on the balcony, when he noticed Akash shooting pellets from a toy gun on the street nearby.

Since the Ishan and his friend knew Akash as their senior from school, they requested him not to shoot the pellets in the air. However, Akash, allegedly turned a deaf ear to their pleas.

A few minutes later, one of the pellets shot by Akash hit Ishaan in his eye. He was immediately rushed to GTB Hospital from where he was referred to AIIMS.

Since the pellet had pierced his left eye, doctors had to operate on Ishan. Doctors told us after a few days that Ishaan had lost his vision in his left eye, said the DCP.

A case under Section 325 (voluntarily causing grievous injury) under the Indian Penal Code was registered against Akash. Since the section is non-bailable, Akash was arrested and sent to jail.
Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has decided that his fortnightly meetings with Delhi Police on law and order situation in the city will now be based on a theme. Safety of women will be the theme for the review meeting likely next week. The L-G wants representatives of other departments also to attend the meeting.

Till now, the review meetings were about crime statistics and action taken reports. But from now on, we will have a theme to discuss such as safety of women. Besides police officials, the meeting will be attended by representatives from agencies, including PWD, transport department and DDA. a senior official in L-G Secretariat said.

Officials said role of other agencies becomes critical in such matters as identifying dark spots, installation of lights and CCTV cameras is done by land-owning agencies.

Officials said the L-G secretariat is also going to ask public to write in with their problems and any solutions that they may like to suggest. People can approach the L-Gs office through post or email sent to the addresses provided on Delhi government portal http://delhi.gov.in/.

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The NITI Aayog has requested the prime ministers office (PMO) to take a call on increasing Delhi Metro passenger fares, saying unaltered ticket prices for the past seven years could compromise service quality of the Capitals popular public transport system.

Metro fares were last revised in 2009.

NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya wrote in a letter to Nripendra Misra, principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that at the current level, the fares are inadequate for the provision of high quality services and maintenance.

Panagariya expressed reservation over the delay in implementing recommendations of a Centre-appointed fare fixation committee, which suggested an initial steep hike to make up for the seven years.

He requested the PMO to review the matter with the Union urban development ministry.

Urban development secretary Rajiv Gauba heads the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) board, which also has the DMRC chairman and the Delhi chief secretary as its members.

The corporation has written repeatedly to the Delhi government as well as the urban development ministry in the past several years to increase passenger fares, citing rising operating cost.

Since 2009, electricity tariff has recorded a more than 90% spike. The power bill accounts for almost 30% of the Metro operating cost.

In 2015-16, the DMRC suffered a net loss of Rs 708.5 crore, the urban development ministry had informed Parliament.

There is considerable evidence pointing to the fact that without such increases, Metro service and physical infrastructure deteriorate, over time, Panagariya wrote in his letter.

In its report last September, the committee formed to suggest Metro fares said the minimum ticket price should be increased from Rs 8 to Rs 10 and the maximum from Rs 30 to Rs 50.

But apprehensive of an adverse political impact on the citys municipal polls scheduled this year, the Centre as well as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has put on hold the decision to raise fares.

Delhi government officials are part of the DMRC board, which is mandated to take a final call on increasing fares.

The board met last November but could not take a decision. It wanted more time to go through the committees recommendations.

Panagariya said in his letter to the PMO that a fare hike will help Metro maintain its services and infrastructure at its current standards.

Sources said the Delhi government and Union urban development ministry want to delay a decision as they think it will be politically inexpedient to increase the Metro fare ahead of civic polls.

Since it started its service in 2002, Metro has expanded its network to 213km, connecting the national capitals satellite cities such as Noida, Ghaziabad, and Gurgaon. It carries around 3 million passengers on an average every day, with about 1,300 trains making more or less 3,000 trips.

The fares were revised only thrice between 2002 and 2009. People paid a minimum Rs 4 for a ride for two years after the service began.

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Breaking the long tradition of Delhi doctors bagging Padma awards, the Narendra Modi government has not awarded civilian honours to a single medical practitioner from the National Capital Region this year.

It was a deliberate decision, indicated a source from the Prime Ministers Office (PMO).

The list of Padma awardees for medicine is missing the usual popular names from the elite hospitals of the capital. Not a single doctor from Delhi has made it to the coveted list, which usually features many. Doctors of the rich and famous who usually push for their doctor nominees to be awarded, have been given a miss this time, said a PMO source.

The government claimed that it has awarded the unsung heroes of Indian healthcare system.

The list of awardees include 91-year old Dr. Bhakti Yadav from Indore who has been treating her patients for free over the past seven decades.

Another awardee, Dr. Subrato Das, has been described as the highway messiah for setting up Lifeline Foundation in Vadodara which works with existing resources to optimise medical response to road accident victims on highways.

Late Dr. Suniti Solomon has been awarded for her work on HIV/AIDS.

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Thousands of Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel will be keeping a tight vigil on Republic Day in the national capital on Thursday with special emphasis on neutralising air-borne threats in view of intelligence inputs.

Special arrangements have been made at the historic Rajpath where President Pranab Mukherjee, who is the supreme commander of armed forces, will be witnessing nations military might that will be on display.

The entire Central and New Delhi region will have nearly 50,000 security personnel drawn from Delhi Police and Central security forces guarding every nook and corner.

In view of recent intelligence inputs that terror groups like LeT might be planning to use helicopter charter services and charter flights to launch attack through air, Delhi Police along with other security agencies are keeping a tight vigil.

Police is using anti-drone technology to thwart any attack or identify any suspicious flying object, a senior police officer said.

Apart from this, security personnel will be stationed atop tall buildings with anti-aircraft guns. CCTV cameras have been installed and control rooms have been set up to monitor the feed from the cameras, the officer said.

The advisory that has been issued to security agencies states that it is imperative for the security forces to be familiar with the range of threats for devising appropriate counter means since the use of conventional weapons by the terrorist and criminal groups is a part of an ongoing process to develop new techniques and tactics.

Security forces have also been asked to ensure that proper frisking and checking of police personnel and other personnel is carried out since there is a possibility that terrorists may disguise themselves as security personnel.

According to the advisory, terrorists may use uniform of security forces for fidayeen attack and there should be adequate arrangements made for identification and frisking of personnel who are part of the celebrations.

Security agencies have also been warned that some Muslim extremist organisations are planning 9/11 type of attacks using aeroplanes carrying personnel and weapons on board.

No landing or take-off of any commercial flight will be allowed from IGIA in New Delhi between 10:35 to 12:15 PM on January 26.
Every year, Republic Day turns New Delhi into a fortress, with threats of a terrorist attack peak to a frenzy. This time, even the scrawny street mongrel is not above suspicion.

It is that time of the year when an extra-alert intelligence bureau believes anything that moves cannot be trusted  drones, kites, animals, trucks carrying apples.

Terrorists can enter New Delhi and deploy their tools of destruction in interesting shapes and sizes. Cows, stray dogs and cats could be used as fidayeen or suicide bombers rigged with a lethal pack of explosives, the bureau warns.

The warning is taken seriously. From beat constables to patrol cars, the citys men in uniform were told on Wednesday to keep an eye on stray animals.

Wedding photography with camera-fitted drones may be a rage abroad. But not in a city known for its big fat weddings. Unmanned aerial vehicles could be used as chartered flying bombs.

Drones, paragliders and hot air balloons are banned through the year in the Capital.

Even kites could be next in line, despite being the favourite holiday pastime every January 26. Sleuths fear terrorists could use kites to drop bombs.

At the central function on World Yoga Day last year, police banned kite-flying in and near India Gate.

The Yamuna, one of the filthiest rivers in the world, poses a terrorist threat too other than its toxic slime that threatens to kill the citys more than 20 million people.

River patrols are common around this time. The bureau has advised Delhi Police to watch out for vehicles and boats near the riverbank as these could be used to sabotage Republic Day celebrations.

What if terrorists poison the citys water mains? That prospect is looked into. Police have floated tenders to buy kits to test poison in water.

The Capital has some of the biggest and oldest markets  wholesale and retail  in the country. It also is a transit route for trucks laden with goods crisscrossing the Indian heartland.

More than hundred thousand trucks enter the city every day, making them potential movers of terrorist stowaways and their weapons behind, er, apple crates.

Last Diwali, police were asked to be on the lookout for a lorry carrying apples that was apparently ferrying two terrorists.

Some intelligence inputs say four or five men entered Delhi in a white car and are planning spectacular attacks. If somebody saw them in the white car, why did they wait and allow them to enter Delhi? a police officer asked.

Frustrated, but they cant let their guards down. Besides deploying additional men and women, they are using digital surveillance, stakeouts and stealth to guard the countrys capital.
Motorists travelling to areas in and around India Gate areas will be compelled to take alternate routes from Wednesday noon until Thursday noon in view of the Republic Day celebrations.

The Delhi Traffic Police have banned movement of vehicles from Vijay Chowk to India Gate on Rajpath from 3 pm on Wednesday until the parade gets over the day.

No cross traffic will be allowed on Rajpath at Rafi Marg, Janpath and Man Singh Road from 11 pm on Wednesday until the end of parade.

More importantly, the entire C-Hexagon of India Gate will be out of bounds for vehicles beginning 2 am on Thursday until the parade crosses Tilak Marg. This restriction is expected to be in place until about 11:30 am on Republic Day.

Delhi Polices traffic advisory map for Republic Day (Graphic: Delhi Police )

Vehicular movement on Tilak Marg will be curtailed from 10 am on Thursday until the parade crosses the area.

Hence, even at the busy ITO intersection, the Delhi Gate and beyond will traffic be permitted only depending on the movement of the parade, said a senior traffic police officer.

Motorists are also advised to keep away from the areas bounded by the T-Point of South Avenue, Tyag Raj Marg, K Kamraj Marg, Sunheri Masjid Maulana Azad Road, roundabout of Man Singh Road, the Akbar Road between Man Singh Road and C-Hexagon, the C-Hexagon between Akbar Road and Ashok Road.

Also, the routes on Ashok Road up to the roundabout of Jaswant Singh Road, Dr. Rajender Prasad Road, Red Cross Road, Sansad Marg, Imtiaz Khan Road, Rakab Ganj Road, Pandit Pant Marg and the Church Road will remain out of bounds.

Police said these routes will be restricted and only vehicles with Control and Duty labels will be permitted to ply here from 11 pm on Wednesday until the end of the function.

Though police have arranged for alternative routes and enough traffic personnel will be deployed to guide the motorists, these restrictions are expected to cause major traffic jams in the area on Wednesday.

The situation is expected to be better on Thursday as there is lesser vehicular movement on Republic Day because of the national holiday.
Thousands of Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel will be keeping a tight vigil on Republic Day in the national capital on Wednesday, with special emphasis on neutralising air-borne threats in view of intelligence inputs.

Securitymen are on alert after inputs that terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba might be planning to use helicopter charter services and charter flights to launch attack through air.

Special arrangements have been made at the Rajpath where President Pranab Mukherjee -- the supreme commander of the armed forces -- will be witnessing the military might.

The central and New Delhi region will have nearly 50,000 security personnel drawn from the Delhi Police and central security forces guarding every nook and corner.

The police are using anti-drone technology to thwart any attack or identify any suspicious flying object, a senior police officer said.

Security personnel will also be stationed atop tall buildings with anti-aircraft guns. Cameras have been installed and control rooms have been set up to monitor the feed from the cameras, the officer said.

The advisory that has been issued to security agencies states that it is imperative for the security forces to be familiar with the range of threats for devising appropriate counter means since the use of conventional weapons by the terrorist and criminal groups is a part of an ongoing process to develop new techniques and tactics.

Security forces have also been asked to ensure that proper frisking and checking of police personnel and other personnel is carried out since there is a possibility that terrorists may disguise themselves as security personnel.

According to the advisory, terrorists may use uniform of security forces for fidayeen attack and there should be adequate arrangements made for identification and frisking of personnel who are part of the celebrations.

Security agencies have also been warned that extremists are planning a 9/11-style of attacks using aeroplanes carrying personnel and weapons on board.

No landing or take-off of any commercial flight will be allowed from the Delhi airport between 10.35am and 12.15pm on January 26.
The Persian Gulf, and West Asia as a whole, has been seen as holding a fatal attraction for Indian foreign policy. New Delhi has enormous stakes in the region. That Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the chief guest for the 68th Republic Day is proof of Indias growing ties with the United Arab Emirates, and, by extension, the Gulf region as a whole. The region is the countrys largest trade and investment partner, the primary source of oil and gas imports, all undergirded with a long-standing historical relationship. But it is also riven by mediaeval forms of tribal, ethnic and sectarian rivalries. The sort of instability and violence that regularly engulfs parts of this region serves as a warning to New Delhi which oversee a similar patchwork society.

New Delhi encourages the export of labour and import of fossil fuels, but works hard to ensure that West Asias poisonous ideologies are not stowaways with the more benign cargo. This uneasy relationship is only further complicated by Pakistan, a country that actively imports the worst that West Asian minds produce  and adds some homegrown hatreds to the brew. Islamabad initially did so as a means to access the wealth of countries like Saudi Arabia. But part of its leadership has come to believe that radical Islam is actually the glue with which a Pakistani state can be assembled. India had, therefore, assumed there was little in the way of strategic convergence between itself and the Gulf states, especially the Sunni monarchies, and shunned such arrangements.

Read | 5 numbers that sum up ties between India and the UAE

There is now evidence, signalled by the crown princes presence and an earlier visit by the then Saudi Arabian monarch 10 years ago that a revisiting of both Gulf and Indian assumptions about each other are afoot. The most important, and least mentioned, development is a growing recognition among some Sunni Arab leaders that their past patronage of radical Islamicist movements has proven a double-edged sword, the worst manifestation being the Islamic State.

Read | Indian businessman to spend $1 million to help prisoners in UAE

The United Arab Emirates is at the forefront of this reconsideration with the present ruling faction of the Saudi royal family also struggling to find a reformist path. In addition, uncertainty over the Gulfs strategic utility to the United States  the regions traditional external power broker  and the rise of Indias economy and energy imports has made the Gulf region come to see New Delhi in a new light. Automatically Pakistan has become devalued in this new regional equation and it is the possibility of engendering a giant regional pivot away from Islamabad to New Delhi that has led India to become so much more proactive in the Gulf.

Read | How Republic Day chief guests over the decades impacted bilateral ties

The actual construction of a new path requires an economic equation that goes beyond workers and crude, a military relationship that at present is largely on paper and, finally, a careful examination of how far each side is prepared to go on promoting the sorts of Islam, such as Sufiism, that have India at their core.
Political activist and journalist Khaled Dawood has been elected as the new leader of the liberal Dostoor Party

Egypt's Dostour Party announced on Wednesday that it has elected well-known journalist, leftist activist and party co-founder Khaled Dawood as its new president.

The party said in a statement that Dawood won uncontested, as other potential candidates did not meet the requirements necessary to run for the leadership position.

Dawood has been the partys spokesperson since 2012.

The liberal Dostour Party was founded in April 2012 by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei.

In February 2014, the party elected veteran leftist activist Hala Shukrallah as its president.

Shukrallah resigned her post in August 2015 over divisions within the party, leaving the organisation leaderless till now.

In 2013, the party supported the movement to oust Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

However, Dostour boycotted the latest parliamentary elections in 2015, citing an unfavourable atmosphere for political work as a reason.

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All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has released online registration forms for the MBBS course at AIIMS, New Delhi, Patna, Bhopal, Jodhpur, Bhubaneshwar, Rishikesh and Raipur.

The registration for applications which began on January 24 closes on February 23 at 5pm.

Those who have passed/appearing/appeared in Class 12 exams with English, physics, chemistry and biology as their subjects are eligible to apply for the exam. They should have scored at least 60% marks for general category and 50% for SC/ST/OPH candidates can apply.

The entrance examination will be held on May 28, 2017, at various centres across the country. The computer-based test will be conducted in two shifts - 9am to 12:30pm and 3pm to 6:30pm.

How to apply:

1) Go to exams section of AIIMS website

2) Click on Academic courses

3) Click on MBBS under the undergraduate category

4) Click on proceed below AIIMS MBBS - 2017 Registration has been started on the new page that opens

5) If you have already registered, then enter your ID and Password for login

6) If you have not registered, first complete the registration process and then log in

7) Follow the instructions properly to register for the exam

Candidates can visit the website at www.aiimsexams.org for the prospectus, detailed instructions and online registration.

Note: Please visit the AIIMS exam website for further details and updates.

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Actor Dev Patels ex-girlfriend, actor Freida Pinto has congratulated him on earning an Academy Award nomination this year.

The 32-year-old actor took to social media to give a shout-out to Dev, who has been nominated in the best actor in a supporting role category for Lion in 2017 Oscars.

Sharing a black-and-white picture of Dev, Freida wrote on Instagram, So proud of you, Dev! A fine example of what hardwork, focus, humility and crazy amazing talent rewards one with. Long time coming, so well deserved! @lionmov @theacademy #Oscars2017 #OscarNominations2017 #bestactorinasupportingrole.

Dev and Freida met on the sets of the Oscar-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire and started dating after that.

The couple split amicably after a six-year-long relationship in December 2014.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
The following are reactions from some of the nominees for the 2017 Oscars.

The list of nominations, which for the first time includes a record number of black actors, was revealed Tuesday, ahead of the February 26 ceremony:

- Beautiful morning -

What a morning. I am so grateful for this honour and Im so happy to share this feeling with my La La Land family. The greatest part of life is connecting with people, and I love the deeply talented, kind and passionate people I was lucky enough to work with on this movie.

-- Emma Stone, nominated for best actress for romantic musical La La Land, which earned a record 14 Oscar nods.

Chazelle was nominated for an Oscar for best original screenplay on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, for the film, La La Land. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

- Speechless -

When you mention those movies, it makes my head spin even more than its spinning. Im a little speechless.

-- Damien Chazelle, the 32-year-old director of La La Land, to Variety from Beijing, after learning that his film had tied the all-time record for Oscar nominations set by Titanic and All About Eve.

This image released by A24 Films shows Mahershala Ali, left, and Alex Hibbert in a scene from, Moonlight. (AP)

- Is race relevant? -

I hope I wasnt nominated because I was black. That has no relevance... I hope I was nominated for my work.

-- Mahershala Ali, best supporting actor nominee for coming-of-age drama Moonlight, to The Hollywood Reporter.

- Focus on colour -

I think its unfortunate that we still have to focus on colour.

What the Oscars are about and what the awards should be about is a recognition of talent and incredible hard work, irrespective of colour.

-- British actress Naomie Harris, who is black, to The New York Times on her best supporting actress nomination for Moonlight, in which she plays a crack-addicted mother.

- Love not dictated by colour -

Lion reaffirms the message that love is not dictated by the colour of your skin, not by race, gender, sexuality, social status or origin. It is a message I am proud to be spreading during these uncertain times. This will forever be one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

-- Dev Patel, about his best supporting actor nomination for Lion. He is only the third actor of Indian descent to receive an Oscars nod.

- An inspiration -

It has been such an honour to have been given the opportunity to tell the incredible story of Richard and Mildred Loving, who serve as an inspiration that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. The Lovings fought quietly yet tirelessly, and changed the course of American legal history. Today, to be among such extraordinary women -- my fellow nominees, my peers with films this year, and the legendary performers whose work of years past has long inspired me... this means a great deal to me.

-- Irish-Ethiopian actress Ruth Negga, nominated in the best actress category for Loving. The film told the true story of an interracial couple from the American South who fought before the Supreme Court in 1967 for their right to marry.

- Save humanity in Syria -

The White Helmets films nomination for an Oscar is a new confirmation of the civil defenses credibility in Syria. It will help us to reach the goal and the slogan we have been using since the start: To save one life is to save all of humanity.

-- Raed Saleh, leader of the rescue group featured in The White Helmets, nominated for best documentary short the film, told AFP after the announcement.

This image released by Cohen Media group shows Shahab Hosseini, left, and Taraneh Alidoosti in a scene from The Salesman. (AP)

- Strive for empathy -

I am overwhelmed and honoured by the Academys recognition of my newest film... What I have strived for in my filmmaking has always been to create a sense of empathy toward my characters; empathy meaning understanding the conditions and situations of other human beings who very much resemble us.

-- Iranian writer/director Asghar Farhadi, on being nominated for an Oscar for the third time for his movie The Salesman, up for best foreign film honours.

This image released by Summit shows director Mel Gibson, centre, and actor Vince Vaughn on the set of the film, Hacksaw Ridge. (AP)

- Back in Hollywoods good graces -

What could be more exciting than listening to the nominations being announced while holding my newborn son! This is a truly wonderful honour.

-- Mel Gibson, on his surprise best director nomination for bloody WWII movie Hacksaw Bridge, which marks his comeback after being ostracized by Hollywood for an anti-Semitic tirade. The film earned a total of six nominations.

French actress Isabelle Huppert poses for photographer after an interview with the Associated Press in Paris, France. (AP)

- Infinitely grateful -

I am infinitely grateful to the Academy. It is a tremendous joy and honour for me.

-- Frances Isabelle Huppert, nominated for best actress for rape-revenge thriller Elle -- one of the rare foreign language performances recognised in a lead acting category.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Opposing some recent decisions taken by GST Council, various indirect tax officials associations on Wednesday decided to start a non-cooperation movement.

To start with, the employees associations will not celebrate international customs day on Friday. Besides, they will observe black day by wearing black badges on Martyrs Day on January 30, as per minutes of meeting held among their representatives here.

The associations said that their members are highly disappointed and feel cheated over the decisions taken by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley-led GST Council in its meeting on January 16.

The Council had agreed to give states the powers to levy tax on economic activity within 12 nautical miles of territorial waters and to administer 90% of the tax payers under Rs 1.5 crore annual turnover.

We feel that the biggest tax reform of the century should have been in conformity with the principles of responsibility and authority going together and also in conformity with the Constitutional design. We feel that the decision shall weaken the Centres ability to ensure its revenues.

The decision will not only adversely affect the career of revenue officers but it is not in national interest. We oppose the decisions taken by GST Council and requests for deferment and review of above inappropriate and incorrect decisions, as per the minutes of meeting of steering committee of associations representing Group A, B and C employees of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).

The decision came after a meeting of representatives of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), All India Association of Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers, All India Central Excise Inspectors Association and All India Central Excise and Service Tax Ministerial Officers Association, comprising 70,000 personnel, here, office bearers said.

According to them, the decision taken by GST Council in its January 16, meeting will not only weaken the Centre but also adversely affect the Indian economy and revenue collection but also national security.

They have decided to request authorities concerned to take immediate necessary action to resolve the issues and to defer the unjustified decision of GST Council taken under pressure of state VAT officers.

We feel that if the above genuine demands in national and revenue interest are not considered then this disciplined service will be forced to initiate non-cooperation movement following Gandhian methods of Satyagraha, the associations said.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is likely to be rolled out from July 1, as against April 1 decided earlier by the government.
While the Aam Aadmi Partys non-resident Indian volunteers have been termed outsiders and attacked by Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarainder Singh as they campaign in the state, its Canadian unit is also focusing on bolstering support within the diaspora community ahead of the assembly elections.

While more than 35,000 volunteers from abroad, including more than 5,000 from Canada, have caught attention in India, the Canadian unit continues its outreach through activities including fund-raising and phone-banking among the largest Punjabi diaspora in the world.

AAPs National Secretary for Canada Sumesh Handa, also in charge of fund-raising, said they had collected funds worth over three crore rupees in Canada. He said a third of that amount was raised in the last month, adding, This is much higher than the funds generated in last elections.

This figure is nearly equal to the total raised in Canada for the 2013 and 2015 Delhi Assembly elections and the 2014 Lok Sabha polls cumulatively.

We have taken all donor calling data since 2013 and reached out to all those people, Handa said. Fund-raising has been held not just in large metropolitan areas like Toronto and Vancouver but also in smaller cities and towns like Winnipeg in the province of Manitoba and Hamilton in Ontario.

Handa also said that volunteers who have remained in Canada had made over 36,000 calls to Punjab as part of the campaign.

Last year, as Captain Singh was scheduled to visit Canada to meet with NRIs, the hardline activist group Sikhs for Justice filed a complaint with Global Affairs Canada which resulted in the Congress leader cancelling that trip. The Canadian government frowns upon foreign electoral campaigns on Canadian territory but, as the department clarified earlier: Neither Canadian law nor policy keeps Canadian citizens and permanent residents from joining or financially contributing to legitimate foreign or domestic political parties. Aware of this loophole, AAP has continued fund-raising in the country while cancelling a proposed visit by Kejriwal to Canada.

As part of the outreach activity, AAPs Canadian unit has been using an interactive voice calling or IVR system with which it has been targeting the diaspora with a pre-recorded message from AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. This is aimed at identifying those who are willing to donate to the Punjab campaign fund.

In addition, AAP has also ensured it has a outsized presence on the Punjabi media in the country, including on Punjabi-language radio and television shows .

As part of this publicity campaign, it has organised call-in interviews with Punjab leaders like Punjab State convenor Gurpreet Ghuggi. The Canada unit has also been organising online hangouts with senior leaders such a Delhis Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

Of course, the initiative that has captured most attention in India has been Chalo Punjab, which started in Canada and has resulted in the influx of volunteers into the poll-bound state.

The Congress complaint to the Election Commission in this regard has already been rejected by the party and Handa said even more volunteers were en route to Punjab.

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The Animal Welfare Board of India and other animal rights organisations have moved the Supreme Court against Tamil Nadus new law allowing popular bill-taming sport Jallikattu.

Senior advocates AM Singhvi and Anand Grover mentioned the applications before a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra, who said the court will hear them on January 30.

However, the hearing will be subject to the availability of the other judge, Justice Rohinton Nariman.

Justice Misra and Justice Nariman had heard the main matter after which they reserved the verdict. They are expected to give a judgment on the validity of the Centres 2016 notification that allowed Jallikattu despite the top court banning it in 2014.

On Tuesday, the Centre informed the apex court that it intended to withdraw the said notification.

According to the petitioners, the Supreme Court held in 2014 that Jallikattu per se was cruel and the Tamil Nadu law should be stayed pending the final outcome of the case.

The state cannot regulate the sport by amending the central law to defeat the purpose of the judgment. By legislating, the state was attempting to overturn and overcome the 2014 verdict, the court was informed. Its in the teeth of the SC judgment, Singhvi told HT.

The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2017 piloted by chief minister O Panneerselvam, was adopted unanimously by a voice vote in the assembly after a brief debate on January 23. The bill will now be sent for approval to the President.

Nearly 70 caveats have been filed in the Supreme Court seeking prior hearing if pleas challenging the new legislation allowing Jallikattu in the state come up for consideration.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on Tuesday told a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra that the Centre has decided to withdraw the January 6, 2016 notification issued by the ministry of environment and forests allowing the sport.

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An officer died after an army unit was hit by an avalanche in northern Kashmirs Ganderbal district on Wednesday, authorities said.

Army spokesperson Rajesh Kalia said the army major was killed after the avalanche struck a unit of the Territorial Army stationed in Sonmarg.

Kalia said others have been rescued. Nobody is missing now, Kalia said.

The unit is stationed in the area for the past some years, said Imtiyaz Parray, Ganderbal superintendent of police.

With heavy snowfall continuing in northern Kashmir, four members of a family died in a house collapse in Bandipora early on Wednesday.

Besides militancy, weather has always been a major adversary of the armed forces in Kashmir.

At least 242 soldiers were killed in the Valley between January 2007 and March 2012. Of them, 180 lost their lives fighting militants. The rest were consumed by natural calamities, mostly snow deluges.

On February 03, 2016, ten army soldiers died after an avalanche hit Kashmirs Siachen Glacier, the highest and coldest battlefield of the World.

In frontier district of Kupwara, a man died as the roof of his house collapsed.

Police said Abdul Gani was clearing snow from the roof of his house when it suddenly collapsed in Kralpora area of Kupwara.

The man died while another of the inmates was injured, said an official.

He said that the snowfall continued in the district for the second consecutive day and it was already crossed 3 feet in Kralpora.
After BJP leader Vinay Katiyar stoked a controversy by saying his party has more beautiful women campaigners than Priyanka Gandhi, Union minister Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday asserted that nobody is expected to make personal comments on women and the party does not approve of it and it was unacceptable.

Asked about the demand for an apology made by Robert Vadra and the Congress, the Union information and broadcasting minister said people criticising do not have any moral right as they have called Prime Minister Narendra Modi by different names.

I do not know who made this comment. I saw it in television that Vinay Katiyar name is coming and Sharad Yadavs name is coming. Nobody is expected to make any personal comments particularly on women. We do not approve it at all. Party does not approve and appreciate any such comments.

The party does not subscribe. Whoever it is whether it is Priyankaji or somebody else, it is a different matter. Woman is a woman. We are all political rivals. We are not enemies also. We have to respect to get respect. All such comments are not acceptable to the party, he told reporters during an interaction at the Indian Womens Press Corps.

Stoking a controversy, senior BJP leader Vinay Katiyar on Wednesday said there were more beautiful women star campaigners than Priyanka Gandhi in his party, provoking a sharp response from the leader who said his sexist remarks exposed the saffron partys mindset towards women.

In a lighter vein, when asked about the demand of an apology made by Robert Vadra, Naidu asked who has made the demand to which reporter said Robert Vadra. To this Naidu said,Who is he?

We will see what exactly he has said. I am not justifying anything at all. But these people who are criticising, they have no moral right. They called Narendra Modi by names like Hitler, Moussolini, Gaddaffi and impotent also.

Former external affairs minister of a country called the Prime Minister an impotent. They do not have the right to preach others. I do not want to say anything on any person who is not in politics. Whoever has given such statement, that is not acceptable, he said.

Asked about Priyanka being named as a star campaigner by Congress for UP polls, Katiyar said, It doesnt matter... there are girls and women who are more beautiful than her (Priyanka) and are also star campaigners.

Some of them are artists and heroines...they are more beautiful than her, he said, adding that I think Smriti Irani is beautiful and she is also campaigning.

Reacting to his statement, Priyanka Gandhi said, If thats all BJP sees in my colleagues who are each strong, brave and beautiful women that have battled through all sorts of hardships to get where they are, then he makes me laugh even more. Because he exposes the BJPs mindset towards the better half of the population of India!!
Sharing the stage with the Congress in their first joint campaign, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying the saffron party will have to do an ulta asana after people vote against it in large numbers in the upcoming assembly polls.

Akhilesh, who shared the dais with Congress leader Prem Prakash Agrawal, defended the alliance of the two parties, saying now the bicycle (SP symbol) will run even faster as there is a hand (Congress symbol) to help in the ride.

The Samajwadi Party and the Congress on Sunday sealed a pre-poll pact to contest the upcoming UP assembly elections, with the two parties declaring that while SP will have the lions share of 298 of 403 seats, Congress will contest the remaining 105.

There is an ulta asana in yoga, which is being propagated by the BJP but this time round, people will come out in large numbers to vote against BJP and make the party do ulta asana, Akhilesh said, addressing an election meeting of his party in flood-prone Dhaurehra constituency here.

See how have these people (BJP) misled us...We have already seen bad days by standing in long queues (because of demonetisation), now tell me where are the achche din, he said. We felt the country will make progress but these people pushed it back by bringing demonetisation and statistics prove this...note ban which was brought to check corruption saw corruption also in deposits of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

The entire country stood in queues...it was only the SP government which extended financial help to families of those who lost their lives in queues, he added.

Attacking the BJP government for surgical strikes, he said several jawans were killed on the border later and questioned what help was extended to their families.

It was the SP government which gave an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh to their families...our government helped everyone...I appeal to people that the state elections are also going to decide the direction of the country and all should cast their votes judiciously, he said.

The chief minister was flanked by SP national general secretary Ravi Prakash Verma, party district chief Anurag Patel, Dhaurehra SP candidate Yash Pal Chaudhary and the Congress leader.

The SP does what it says and there is no difference between its words and deeds, he said, exuding confidence that the party will get a thumping majority after its alliance with Congress.

Mocking BJP, Akhilesh said its leaders lacked even in common sense that money is not black or white, rather transactions make currency black or white.

But the BJP government banned all high denomination currency causing trouble to everyone--traders, farmers, rural women, he said.
Burj Khalifa tower, the worlds tallest building located in Dubai, was lit up in the colours of the Indian National flag on Wednesday to celebrate Indias 68th Republic Day, a media report said.

The LED shows will be held on Wednesday and Thursday along with complimenting Dubai Fountain shows, the Khaleej Times reported on Wednesday.

The Indian consulate in Dubai also has a flag-hoisting ceremony at the consulate premises by consul general Anurag Bhushan, followed by flag-hoisting at the Indian High School grounds in Oud Metha.

The ceremony at the school will include a march-past by the students. In the evening, a cultural programme titled Aaj Ki Shaam Desh Ke Naam will be hosted at the school grounds where the students will perform various folk dances and other activities.

The programme, under the patronage of the consulate, will also present people a chance to try various India cuisines.

The lighting comes as the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the guest of honour for Indias Republic Day on Thursday. He was ceremonially welcomed by President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday and held talks in New Delhi with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both sides inked a number of agreements.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders starting on Wednesday that include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries, say congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter.

Trump, who tweeted that a "big day" was planned on national security on Wednesday, is expected to ban for several months the entry of refugees into the United States, except for religious minorities escaping persecution, until more aggressive vetting is in place.

Another order will block visas being issued to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, said the aides and experts, who asked not to be identified.

In his tweet late on Tuesday, Trump said: "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"

The border security measures probably include directing the construction of a border wall with Mexico and other actions to cut the number of illegal immigrants living in the United States.

The sources say the first of the orders will be signed on Wednesday. With Trump considering measures to tighten border security, he could turn his attention to the refugee issue later this week.

Stephen Legomsky, who was chief counsel at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama administration, said the president had the authority to limit refugee admissions and the issuance of visas to specific countries if the administration determined it was in the publics interest.

"From a legal standpoint, it would be exactly within his legal rights," said Legomsky, a professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. "But from a policy standpoint, it would be terrible idea because there is such an urgent humanitarian need right now for refugees.

The Republican president, who took office last Friday, was expected to sign the first of the orders at the Department of Homeland Security, whose responsibilities include immigration and border security.

On the campaign trail, Trump initially proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, which he said would protect Americans from jihadist attacks.

Both Trump and his nominee for attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, have since said they would focus the restrictions on countries whose migrants could pose a threat, rather than a ban on those of a specific religion.

Many Trump supporters decried former President Barack Obama's decision to increase the number of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States over fears that those fleeing the country's civil war would carry out attacks.

LEGAL CHALLENGES POSSIBLE

Detractors could launch legal challenges if all the countries subject to the ban are Muslim-majority nations, said immigration expert Hiroshi Motomura at UCLA School of Law.

Legal arguments could claim the executive orders discriminate against a particular religion, which would be unconstitutional, he said.

"His comments during the campaign and a number of people on his team focused very much on religion as the target," Motomura said.

To block entry from the designated countries, Trump is likely to tell the State Department to stop issuing visas to people from those nations, according to sources familiar with the visa process. He could also instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to stop any current visa holders from those countries from entering the United States.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday the State and Homeland Security Departments would work on the vetting process once Trump's nominee to head the State Department, Rex Tillerson, is installed.

Other measures may include directing all agencies to finish work on a biometric identification system for non-citizens entering and exiting the United States and a crackdown on immigrants fraudulently receiving government benefits, according to the congressional aides and immigration experts.

To restrict illegal immigration, Trump has promised to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and to deport illegal migrants living inside the United States.

Trump is also expected to take part in a ceremony installing his new secretary of homeland security, retired Marine General John Kelly, on Wednesday.

AUSTRALIA DEAL UNDER THREAT

Trump's executive order threatens a refugee resettlement deal with Australia signed late last year, and could leave more than 1,000 asylum seekers in limbo.

The U.S. agreed to resettle an unspecified number of refugees being held in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the tiny South Pacific island nation of Nauru on Australias behalf.

The deal followed agreement by Australia in September to join a U.S.-led program to resettle refugees from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador as part of its annual intake.

Australia's tough border security laws mandate that asylum seekers intercepted trying to reach the country by boat go for processing to detention camps on PNG's Manus island and Nauru.

Australia does not provide information on the nationalities of those held, but around a third of the 1,161 detainees were from countries covered by the executive orders, lawyers and refugee workers for the asylum seekers told Reuters.

"We already didn't have much hope the U.S. would accept us," Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian refugee who has spent more than three years on Manus island, told Reuters.

"If they do not take us, Australia will have to."

A spokeswoman for Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declined to comment.

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Home Minister Rajnath Singh warned Pakistan that India will return countless fires if it (Pakistan) dares even one bullet towards Indian soil.

Speaking at an election rally on Wednesday at Sujanpur town in Punjab,situated few kilometres away from India-Pakistan border, Singh reminded Pakistan about the surgical strike which was a befitting reply of India for the terrorist attack at Uri Army camp.

We stand by our commitment that we will not fire first, but will react heavily if neighbouring country violates ceasefire and its acts come between our national interests, Singh added.

Days of showing white flags by the army have gone and it has orders to retaliate strongly against any evil design of Pakistan, Rajnath Singh said.

Indian youth who are on the enemy countrys target with the help of narco-terrorism are ready to defeat this notorious country, he claimed.

Coming down heavily on the opposition parties for tagging Punjabs youth as addicts, Singh said that it is a serious offence of these parties for which youth of Punjab will give a suitable reply by choosing SAD-BJP combine again that will put Punjab on the front seat.

Aiming at Congress, the home minister said that in its rule of 70 years, the country ran with a tag of poor nation but the situation started improving after Narendra Modi took over the countrys command. World has started giving us respect and we are seen sitting next to the developed nations who consider India as an integral part of the world now, he said.

Have you heard about any scam in last two and a half years? Singh asked the gathering assembled despite heavy rain.

Terming Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government a big flop in Delhi, Rajnath cautioned voters of Punjab to not to fall in the trap of AAP which will ruin the state like Delhi. They are not aam aadmi but khaas who pretend to be an ordinary person but are enjoying every facility, he added.

I am happy with the manifesto which has been designed by BJP and SAD as it is going to benefit people of all sections, Rajnath claimed.

He further said that Sujanpur MLA Dinesh Singh Babbu will be given a portfolio this time if the voters ensure his victory in these elections. He,however, did not mention terrorist attack on Pathankot Airforce Station during his nearly half an hour address.
Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the deputy supreme commander of the United Arab Emirates armed forces will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday noon. He will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade. It will be the second time a leader from a Persian Gulf country will be attending the Republic Day parade after king of Saudi Arabia in 2006,

The momentum of cooperation between India and United Arab Emirates has accelerated over the last few years and the two countries are seeking to elevate the bilateral relationship to higher levels.

Here are five figures that can sum up the state of affairs in the India-UAE ties

1) $50 billion

That is the bilateral trade between India and the UAE. The growth of trade has been very impressive over the years. The trade figure was mere $128 million, 30 years ago. The Gulf nation is Indias third biggest trading partner after the USA and China. India and the UAE now want to double that figure.

2) 2.8 million passport holders

That is the number of Indian passport holders in that country. They are the biggest expatriate community in the UAE which proudly proclaims of being home to 200 nationalities. The total remittance from the UAE is estimated to be $13.6 billion.

3) $10 billion

That is the total investment the UAE has made in India. Out of this, $4 billion is in the form of the foreign direct investment. In the last 11 months, the UAE has pumped in one billion dollars in FDI.

4) $75 billion

This is the money the UAE promised to pump into Indias infrastructure development from its sovereign wealth fund. A concrete pact in this regard with the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund is expected to be signed after the meeting between Modi and the crown prince

5) 38 pacts

There are 38 pacts or memorandum of understanding between the two countries across various fields. Another 13 agreements are expected to be signed during the crown princes visit. The first pact, a cultural cooperation agreement was signed in January 1975 and the last one was signed between the Reserve Bank of India and the UAE Central Bank on currency swap in February 2016.

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The telephonic conversation between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi could set the tone for the future of Indo-US relationship under a Republican administration. While official statements have not gone into specifics of their conversation, here are five things we know:

1. Modi is the fifth world leader Trump has spoken to since taking over as US President on January 20. Trumps phone call is seen as sign of the priority the President is attaching to Indo-US ties.

2. Both Modi and Trump invited each other for state visits.

3. Modi said he and Trump agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen Indo-US bilateral ties

4. Modi and Trump also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia.

5. Modi and Trump resolved that the United States and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, which has been a priority for both of them.
Four members of a family died on Wednesday after their house collapsed due to heavy snowfall in Kashmirs northern district of Bandipora, officials said on Wednesday.

Army officials have informed me that the house collapsed due to heavy snowfall burying alive four members of a family, Bandipora deputy commissioner Sajad Hussain Ganai said.

Officials said that the house collapsed in Budu village of Tulail in Bandipora.

The dead have been identified as Habibullah (55), his wife Azizi (50), their son Irfan Ahmad (22) and daughter Gulshan (19).

The deputy commissioner said that one member of the family has survived but was not able to provide further details.

However, police said that the house came under snow after an avalanche. Officials said the area is avalanche prone and that there were six to seven feet of snow after the latest snowfall from Tuesday.

Man dies in roof collapse

In frontier district of Kupwara, a man died as the roof of his house collapsed.

Police said Abdul Gani was clearing snow from the roof of his house when it suddenly collapsed in Kralpora area of Kupwara.

The man died while another of the inmates was injured, said an official.

He said that the snowfall continued in the district for the second consecutive day and it was already crossed 3 feet in Kralpora.

Road, air traffic hit

The third spell of snow in January started in Kashmir from Tuesday disrupting road and air traffic and forced Kashmir University authorities to postpone examinations scheduled to be held up to (and including) January 26.

The Srinagar-Jammu highway, which connects Kashmir valley to rest of India, was closed on Tuesday afternoon due to slippery road conditions and the threat of shooting stones. All flights to and from the Srinagar International Airport also remained suspended on Tuesday due to poor visibility.

After a relatively dry month of December, Kashmir received good snow on January 6-7 and there was another spell on January 16-17.

This is after four years that we have received a good snowfall in the month of January and we are expecting more snowfall for the next two days, an official of meteorological office in Srinagar said.

The snowfall is expected to continue for the next two days and may affect the official Republic Day celebrations on January 26.

The Kashmir valley is passing through Chillai Kalan (intense winter) which started from December 21 and lasts for 40 days followed by Chillai Khurd (20 days which are less intense) and Chillai Bache (10 days of mild cold).

Houses damaged

In Kashmirs summer capital Srinagar, a residential house belonging to Arshida resident of Panthchowk came under a sliding boulder, resulting in damage to the house.

Police also launched an operation to shift some 25 families comprising 150 members from avalanche-prone Khadiyall and Ismarg villages of Gurez in Bandipora to safer areas.

In Baramulla districts Sopore, police said that they received information about two pregnant women, in need of hospitalisation, were stranded in their homes due to heavy snowfall.

The police team cleared the snow on roads and both the ladies were shifted to sub district hospital Rohama. However one of the ladies gave birth to the child while on way to hospital, a police spokesman said.
Even as Haryana police claimed to have detained two alleged suspects behind murder of Hisar lawyer, the advocates of Punjab and Haryana high court decided to abstain from work on Wednesday.

A delegation of Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana (BCPH) on Wednesday morning met Haryana chief minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, demanding arrest of the accused.

As per reports reaching here, lawyers didnt attend district courts in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in Chandigarh following a strike call given by BCPH on Tuesday evening.

The 57-year-old lawyer, Subhash Gupta, was murdered in broad day light in Hisar town of Haryana on Tuesday afternoon when he was on his way home from court complex.

Unidentified miscreants had stabbed Gupta multiple times. On Wednesday police in Hisar claimed to have detained two persons in connection with the murder. Hisar police will address media later in the day to share details about investigation so far.

Meanwhile, the executive committee of Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association (PHHCBA) met at 9:30 am on Wednesday and decided to go on strike.

One of the important cases listed in the high court was a petition in which a Haryana resident had demanded recusal of bench hearing Jat quota case claiming both the judges belonged to Jat-Sikh community.

Reacting to this stunning contention of the petitioner the high court bench had observed that if such demands are accepted it would imply that courts are entering the realm of caste war.

After meeting Haryana chief minister here, the high court bar president HS Brar said: We requested CM Khattar to ensure safety and security of lawyers in court premises. CM has assured that culprits will be arrested.
The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the Telangana government over the alleged refusal of hospitals to treat a minor HIV patient citing non-availability of facilities.

The state chief secretary has been asked to submit a report on the matter within six weeks.

The human rights body said the 14-year-old boy underwent treatment at Hyderabads Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) for two weeks. He was then referred to Niloufer Hospital in that city for Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) as the facility is not available at the NIMS.

However, the teenager was allegedly denied admission at Niloufer Hospital on the pretext that it did not admit children over the age of 12.

The boy was then directed to the Osmania General Hospital (OGH), where he didnt receive medical help either.

A few volunteers arranged for the overnight stay of the boy and his grandmother in the hospital corridors. Later, OPD doctors refused to examine the boy and referred him to an ART Centre at the Chest Hospital in Erragadda, where doctors again referred him to OGH to undergo a liver function test besides getting an expert opinion from a gastroenterologist, before the treatment could be initiated, the commission said.

The NHRC said the case points towards lack of infrastructure and coordination among different government healthcare centres.

The boy, who could be under trauma due to AIDS, and his aged grandmother have suffered due to the callous and insensible attitude of the hospitals. Instead of initiating treatment, they made the boy and his grandmother run from one hospital to another in the name of jurisdiction and non-availability of different facilities, the NHRC said.
India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) made a strong bid at consolidating their growing ties with a comprehensive strategic partnership and another 13 pacts in key areas such as defence, security, trade and energy on Wednesday.

However, the much-anticipated pact pertaining to the $75 billion investment fund for infrastructure development in the country, was not among the agreements signed after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

In pics: Republic Day celebration with open arms: Modi hugs Abu Dhabi Crown Prince | Pics

Al Nahyan, who is accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers, senior officials and business leaders will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade on Thursday.

We have shaped an ambitious roadmap of engagement to make our comprehensive strategic partnership purposeful and action oriented. The agreement that was exchanged just now has institutionalised this understanding, Modi said.

He also said convergence between the two countries can help stabilise the region and the economic partnership can be a source of regional and global prosperity.

Read: The Abu Dhabi crown prince as the R-Day guest suggests Indias renewed West Asia focus

Our shared concern on growing threat from radicalism and terrorism to the safety and security of our people is shaping our cooperation in this space, Modi said. He added that bilateral cooperation stands poised for a major take off.

However, the two sides did not sign a pact pertaining to a $75 billion investment.

During the visit, we are hoping to sign an MoU between their investment fund and our National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF) which will put in place a framework as to how the fund will be administered and which sectors it can be invested in, Shaktikanta Das, secretary, economic affairs, external affairs ministry said.

The two nations however, did sign a strategic oil pact. India began talks to lease part of its strategic storage to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Under the proposed dea, India would have first rights to the stored crude in case of an emergency, while ADNOC would be able to move cargoes to meet any shift in demand.

The deal was signed by oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan and a representative of ADNOC after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabis Crown Prince.

Read: How Republic Day chief guests over the decades impacted bilateral ties

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A Dubai-based Indian businessman has pledged to spend $1 million (3.8 million dirhams) to help free prisoners, including Indians, who are behind the bars in the UAE due to non-payment of debts.

As the first step in this initiative, Firoz Merchant, founder and chairman of Pure Gold Jewellers, paid 150,000 dirhams for the release of 132 prisoners from Ajman Central jail.

The fund will be used to help those who are behind the bars due to non-payment of debt or overstaying in the jail despite completing their terms as they do not have money to return home.

These prisoners are from India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Ethiopia, Syria, Yemen, Oman and Ghana.

These people are unfortunate victims of circumstances and are not real criminals. They have ended up in jail because of debt-related cases and I want to do my best to send them back to their families, Merchant said.

He said that 2016 was challenging for a lot of people working in the UAE some of whom could not pay their debt.

That is why I decided to pay off their debts and get them air tickets so that they can go back to their home countries. Funds to be made available will be against cheque bounce of up to AED 30,000 for rents, school fees, medical, car loan etc, he said, adding that they are only considering applications forwarded by jail authorities across the UAE.

Besides air tickets, Merchants office is also giving 100 dirhams equivalent of local currency so that the released inmate reaches home safely.

Most of these prisoners told us that once they land in their home countries, they will need public transport to reach their villages. It only made sense to give them some petty cash so that they manage the last leg of their journey, he said.
Indian and Chinese armies met in Ladakh on Wednesday on the occasion of Chinese Spring Festival, a defence spokesman said.

A ceremonial Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) on the occasion of Chinese Spring Festival was conducted on 25 Jan 2017 at Chinese BPM hut in Moldo garrison of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in Chushul sector of Eastern Ladakh, said Col Rajesh Kalia, PRO (Def) Srinagar.

The official said that the delegations were led by Brigadier RS Raman of the Indian side and Senior Colonel Wang Jun Xian from the Chinese side.

Kalia said that the proceedings commenced by ceremonial hoisting of flags of both the countries which was followed by ceremonial address by both delegation leaders while was followed by exchange of greetings and wishes. Thereafter, the PLA personnel organised a cultural programme showcasing vibrant Chinese culture.

Both the delegations interacted in a cordial and friendly environment. The Chinese delegation also extended an invitation for another ceremonial Border Personnel meeting on 29 Jan 2017 at Daulat Beg Oldie, the official said.

The delegation parted amidst feeling of friendship and commitment towards enhancing the existing cordial relations and maintaining peace along the LAC, he added.
Justice J Chelameswar, who stirred a controversy in August after he refused to attend the collegium meet to discuss names of high court (HC) judges for appointment to the Supreme Court (SC) unless transparency is followed in the procedure, has refused to compromise with his earlier stand.

It has been learnt that Justice Chelameswar did not attend the first collegium meet that Chief Justice JS Khehar called on Wednesday, twenty days after the latter took over as the 44th CJI. The judges decision to stick to his stand has raised concerns over how the intra-collegium logjam would be broken, causing uncertainty over future appointments.

The logjam comes in the background of strained relations between the NDA government and the judiciary over filling up 550 odd vacancies in various high courts. With Justice Chelameswar now getting elevated to the panel of top three judges that recommends names to the Centre, future appointments also seem unsure. Earlier his opinion was taken only for SC appointments and transfer of HC judges.

Last year, in a missive shot off to then CJI TS Thakur, he demanded that the minutes of the meetings be recorded. Reasons for both  approving or rejecting a candidate  should be noted in the minutes, he insisted.

The logjam brewed at a time when the spat between government and judiciary escalated, with CJI Thakur blaming the government over HC vacancies in public.

In the absence of Justice Chelameshar, the other members of the collegium comprising CJI JS Khehar, Justices Dipak Misra, Ranjan Gogoi and Madan B Lokur reportedly met and discussed some names.

A list of the candidates which includes the names of Madras high court chief justice (CJ) Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Bombay HC CJ Manjula Chellur, Himachal Pradesh HC CJ Ahmed Mir, Chhattisgarh HC CJ Deepak Gupta and J&K HC CJ NNP Vasanthakumar, has been sent to Justice Chelameswar for his comments.

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A South Sudanese activist is being held in Kenya and is facing deportation to his home country where he has received death threats and could be arrested, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.

Prominent lawyer Dong Samuel Luak, who fled to Kenya in August 2013 after receiving death threats for defending a high-ranking politician accused of treason, was detained on Monday according to the US-based rights body.

HRW said Luak had been denied access to legal counsel and was subject to a deportation order.

Kenyan officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

"Dong Samuel Luak has been a vocal advocate for human rights in South Sudan for many years, and could face serious mistreatment if returned to South Sudan," said Leslie Lefkow, HRW's deputy Africa director, in a statement.

The rights group said Luak -- who has publicly criticised human rights abuses and corruption by South Sudanese government officials -- was brutally attacked at his home in Nairobi in October 2015.

HRW noted that in recent years Kenya had "unlawfully deported several prominent opposition members from neighboring countries to their countries of origin, despite being recognised as refugees under Kenyan law."

These include James Gatdet Dak, the main spokesman for exiled opposition leader Riek Machar, who was deported in November 2016 and arrested upon his arrival in Juba. He has been held without charge ever since, according to HRW.

The world's youngest nation, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, two years after achieving independence, leaving tens of thousands dead and more than 3.1 million people displaced.

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Factions of Jat groups are once again singing two different tunes regarding the agitation that is scheduled to begin on January 29.

While the group led by Yashpal Malik is set to hold dharnas in Haryana districts from Sunday, the one led by state leader Hawa Singh Sangwan has attacked him, calling it an inappropriate time to hold protests.

Another group Jat Jagriti Manch has announced dharnas from January 27 and hunger strikes in district jails. Meanwhile, the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal are ready to hop the train by supporting agitations to woo the Jat voters.

The matter of Jat quota is in the final stage in the court. Protesting right now means disrespecting the court, which we dont want to. We are urging all our supporters to ignore Yashpal Malik. He only comes to Haryana to brighten his politics because no one listens to him in his home state of Uttar Pradesh, said Sangwan.

Malik, on the other hand, said the Sangwan group just echoes governments words.

We also know the matter is in the court. But our protest this time is for OBC status at the Centre, martyr status to Jats killed in February and removal of cases against those who were booked and arrested during February stir. As many as 90% of the khaps are on our side. Only those who are puppets of the government are opposing us, the Jat leader further added.

However, in case of Jat agitations, as seen in previous protests, rebels become supporters whenever a protest picks up momentum.

If people support protests, then we will also lend our support. Theres no choice when it is about community, said Sangwan.

Previously, in June, Khaps that had maintained distance from dharnas initially had lent their support after the protests started getting crowds.

The two Opposition parties Congress and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD)  too had come to protest sites, giving their partys support to the demands of the protesting Jats, increasing troubles for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

This time, even before the agitation has began, both the parties have said they were supporting the demands of the community.

Like last time, they have our support this time too, said Congress spokesperson Krishan Moorti Hooda.

Leader of the opposition in Haryana assembly Abhay Chautala said their party was fully supporting Jats agitation and their demands, and will raise voice for them.

It is the government that has forced them to protest again. They had promised to fulfil Jats demands in June, after which the community ended protests last time. But the government betrayed the community yet again. What other choice is left with them? Chautala further asked.

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Bollywood celebrities Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan and others allegedly involved in the 1998 blackbuck poaching couldnt make it to a court here on Wednesday. The hearing was deferred to Friday.

The actors cited security reasons for their absence from the court.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) was to record the statement of Salman, Saif, actresses Neelam Kothari, Tabu and Sonali Bendre as well as a local resident, Dushyant Singh.

However, applications seeking exemption from personal appearance was submitted on behalf of the accused, saying police were not able to provide adequate security to them due to Republic Day celebrations.

This year, the state-level Republic Day celebrations are being held in Jodhpur.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Dalpat Singh Rajpurohit posted the matter to Friday, K K Vyas, counsel for Saif, Sonali and Neelam, told IANS.

Dushyant Singh was present in the court.

The five Bollywood celebrities are accused of poaching blackbucks in 1998 during the shooting of Hindi movie Hum Saath Saath Hain.

Two blackbucks, a protected animal under the Wildlife Protection Act, were killed on the outskirts of Kankani village near Jodhpur.

Salman was accused of carrying and using illegal arms too but the court acquitted him of the charges.

Read| Salman Khan acquitted in Arms Act case by Jodhpur court
In his address to the nation on the eve of Republic Day, President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday spoke about the need for simultaneous elections to Parliament and assemblies, saying that it is the Election Commission who has to move forward in consultation with political parties.

The President also brought up the issue of demonetisation in his speech and said that currency ban may have led to temporary slowdown in economy but it will bring more transparency in the system.

India celebrates its 68th Republic Day on Thursday.

The official celebration of Republic Day spans over four days. It is marked by illumination of Raisina Hill area, address by the President, parade past the India Gate and the Beating Retreat ceremony.

The crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyanwould is the chief guest for the parade.

Read | How Republic Day chief guests over the decades impacted bilateral ties

Highlights of the speech:

 President Pranab Mukherjee extends his greetings to all forces and pays his tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives in duty.

We waited till January 26, 1950 -- when the Indian people got their constitution... On that day, we became the biggest democracy of the world, the President says.

 Indian democracy has been a scene of oasis in a region troubled by unrest, says Pranab Mukherjee.

 President Mukherjee lists out the strides made by India in the fields of economy, development, education since its Independence.

Our economy has been performing well despite global challenges.... we are showing sustained recovery, says Mukherjee, who was also the former finance minister of India.

 Demonetisation may have led to temporary slowdown of economic activity, but it will improve the transparency of economy: Mukherjee talks on the contentious issue of currency recall.

The Narendra Modi-led government had demonetised old Rs 500/1000 notes in an announcement on November 8 last year. The Opposition, including Congress party, have maintained vigilant attack against the Modi government, saying that note ban has hurt the poor.

 Ahead of Assembly elections 2017 in which five states go to polls this year, the President says time is ripe for a constructive debate on electoral reforms.

As our Republic enters her sixty-eighth year, we must acknowledge that our systems are not perfect #PresidentMukherjee  President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) January 25, 2017

 Mukherjee enumerates the benefits of Clean India initiative, MGNREGA, Digital India, Start-up India, National Skill Development mission.

 Hailing the plurality of India, Mukherjee says ideas, tolerance and respect for others are values inherent to India. We are the argumentative India, not the intolerant Indian.

Our tradition has always celebrated the argumentative Indian; not the intolerant Indian... Multiple views, thoughts and philosophies have competed with each other peacefully for centuries in our country. 

We are a noisy democracy, yet we need more, not less.

We have to work harder because our pluralistic culture and tolerance are still being put to test by vested interests #PresidentMukherjee  President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) January 25, 2017

 Referring to the recent Budget session that ended on December 16, Mukherjee slams parliamentary disruptions and says that legislators lost time arguing.

 In his speech, the President talks about the issues facing India, including ensuring the well-being of security personnel, womens safety, ecological degradation and food security.

 Our motherland asks each of us in whatever role we play to do our duty; with integrity, commitment & unflinching loyalty, the President says, ending the speech swiftly.

Pics | Republic Day celebration with open arms: Modi hugs Abu Dhabi Crown Prince

(With agency inputs)
Organisers of Maratha protests in Maharashtra are leveraging the support for the mass movement to move into politics but overriding ambitions are causing rifts among them.

While Sambhaji Brigade, a militant Maratha outfit, has recently become a political party with plans to contest upcoming municipal polls, some others who played key roles in galvanizing the community including former Sambhaji Brigade state unit chief Praveen Gaikwad, office bearers of Maratha Seva Sangh Shantaram Kunjir and Srimant Kokate along with their supporters joined the leftist political outfit Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) in Pune on January 12.

After a brief lull, local Maratha outfits have planned another protest rally in Mumbai on March 6 with plans to make it a success after December 14 Nagpur rally turned out to be lacklustre.

According to political observers, activists of Maratha outfits plans to leverage the support generated by the recent protests for which the community hit the streets in large numbers demanding reservation and repeal of Atrocity Act in the upcoming municipal and panchayat samiti elections.

However, their separate paths have raised eyebrows about ego clashes among them and bigger political aspirations.

There have been experiments in the past when caste-based outfits formed political parties with little or no success. I think Sambhaji Brigade as a political party has no future which is why I decided to join PWP, said Gaikwad while admitting that he had stopped overseeing Sambhaji Brigade work due to ego clashes even before he joined the PWP.

This is not the first time Maratha outfits are flirting with politics. In the past, Maratha Mahasangh and other organisations formed political outfits such as Shiv Sangram and Maratha Swarajya Party but failed to make an impact. When asked why he and others have joined PWP when there were other options available Gaikwad said he would not have got the status he aims to achieve in other political parties.

Earlier, Sambhaji Brigade president Manoj Akhare while justifying outfits decision to convert into political force, said, political power is necessary to achieve change in the society.

Sambhaji Brigade has been into social work for the past two decades. However, besides social activities, nothing substantial was achieved which why we have set up a political party through which we intent to fight all the upcoming polls, said Akhare.

Besides being the driving force behind Maratha agitation which erupted after a minor girl from the community was raped in Kopardi of Ahmednagar district last year, Sambhaji Brigade came into focus during 2004 after its activists vandalized internationally acclaimed Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) in Pune. Recently, the outfit was in the news for vandalizing statute of famous Marathi playwright Ram Ganesh Gadkari.

The Maratha outfits joining politics have worried mainstream parties such as Congress and the NCP as they feel the community organizations will eat into their vote-bank. For years, Marathas have solidly stood behind NCP and the Congress in the state. It was for the same reason that both Congress and the NCP opposed Sambhaji Brigades act of vandalizing Gadkaris statue despite the fact that both parties in the past have shared proximity with the Maratha outfit.

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Meghalaya governor V Shanmuganathan has denied allegations of molestation labelled against him by a job aspirant who had applied for the post of public relations officer (PRO) in the Raj Bhawan.

The governors reaction came a day after a section of the local media in Shillong carried a news item stating that the female candidate had accused Shanmuganathan of molesting her during an interview last month.

I wanted to meet them (the job aspirants) before finalising the candidates and they all came. Everyone was there for half an hour. I have great respect for everyone. I have not done anything wrong, the governor told local newspapers over phone from Itanagar.

As per the media report, the victim accused the governor of making inappropriate advances during a personal interview with her on December 8. Seven candidates had been shortlisted for the post.

The report further quoted the victim saying she was irked by the unprofessional and unfriendly behaviour of the Governor.

However, no official complaint has been filed by anyone against the Governor.

The governor has made his stand clear and there is no FIR or complaint lodged against him by anyone, secretary to the governor, HM Sangpliang, told HT.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited US President Donald Trump to visit India even as the leaders have agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen ties between their countries.

Modi and Trump held a telephonic conversation late on Tuesday, and the Indian Prime Minister described their talks as warm. Though details were awaited, a US official described the call as a great conversation.

On Wednesday morning, Modi tweeted:

Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

President @realDonaldTrump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

Have also invited President Trump to visit India.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

It was earlier expected that trade in services, read H-1B visas, would figure prominently in the talks between the two leaders who head the worlds largest and oldest democracies.

The fate of the temporary US visa programme for high-skilled foreign workers is Indias most significant concern from the Trump administration, given Trumps reservations about it, and those of leading members of his team.

They believe the H-1B programme is being abused by US companies to outsource American jobs to temporary foreign workers, a large number of them from India, and they have been considering ways to make it harder for that to happen.

In Tuesdays conversation, Trump said the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world, according to a White House statement after the phone conversation between the two leaders.

Modi and Trump, who were speaking for the first time after Trump was sworn in as the new US President last Friday, also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia, the statement said.

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The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh summons to Zakir Naik as part of its probe against the controversial preacher and his Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) under anti-money laundering laws.

Officials said the agency has handed over the second summons in the name of Naik to IRFs legal advisor, who was questioned by it on Tuesday at its zonal office here.

The first summons to Naik, issued last week, could not be delivered as Naiks address here was found to be locked, they said.

Naik, as part of the fresh summons, has been asked to appear by this month-end before the Investigating Officer of the case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), officials said.

They said the agency wants to record the statement of Naik, who is understood to be abroad.

Meanwhile, the agency questioned IRFs legal advisor on Tuesday and recorded his statement under PMLA and may now go on to call others associated with IRF and Naiks associates for similar questioning, they said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a criminal case against Naik and IRF last month after taking cognizance of a complaint booked by the NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against them.

ED is looking into the charges of alleged illegal funds laundered by the accused and the subsequent proceeds of crime thus generated.

The agency has already scanned some documents showing doubtful banking transactions.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had last month registered a case against 51-year-old Naik under anti-terror laws for allegedly promoting enmity between different religious groups.

After registering the case against Naik and IRF, the NIA along with Mumbai police had carried out searches at 10 places in the megapolis, including residential premises of some of the office bearers of the foundation, which was earlier put on restricted list by the Union Home Ministry for receiving funds from abroad.

Naik, who is said to be staying in Saudi Arabia to evade arrest after some perpetrators of the Dhaka terror strike last year claimed they were inspired by him, has been booked along with unnamed IRF officials under section 153-A of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) beside various sections of UAPA.

The charges levelled by the NIA also include those under sections 10 (being member of an unlawful organisation), 13 (punishment for being member of illegal organisation) and 18 (punishment for being involved in a conspiracy for committing any terror act) of UAPA.

IRF came under the scanner of security agencies after one of the terrorists involved in the Dhaka cafe attack allegedly posted on social media that they had been inspired by Naiks speeches.

Maharashtra Police has also registered criminal cases against Naik for his alleged involvement in radicalising Muslim youth and luring them into terror activities.
A Sahara Group company has been directed by the apex consumer body to refund Rs 1.11 crore for its failure to give possession of a bungalow in one of its housing projects near Indore to a home-buyer.

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) rejected the contention of Sahara India Commercial Corporation Ltd (SICCL) that it could not hand over the property to an Indore-based couple due to certain clearances having not been given to the company.

The consumer body, which also imposed a litigation cost of Rs 10,000 on the firm, said there was no justification for the abnormal delay of four years on the part of SICCL which had not delivered the bungalow to the couple since the expiry of the due date in 2011.

Though a bald averment was made that there was delay in obtaining requisite clearances, there is no evidence to substantiate it. There is no evidence as to on which date the statutory clearances were applied and on which date, the same were granted.

It is also not known what were the reasons for statutory clearances not being granted in time. If the delay in grant of statutory clearances occurred on account of deficiencies or short-comings on the part of respondents (SICCL and Sahara Prime City Ltd), it cannot take any advantage of such delays.

Therefore, I find no justification for the abnormal delay of more than four years in completing the construction of the bungalow booked by the complainants, NCDRC presiding member V K Jain said.
The Finance Ministry on Wednesday clarified that a final call on the recommendations of the panel of Chief Ministers, which includes a tax on cash transactions above Rs 50,000, is yet to be made.

The recommendations of the committee (on digital payments, headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu) will be carefully examined and appropriate decisions will be taken in due course, the ministry said.

The committee has submitted an interim report to the government. The government has not yet taken any final view on the recommendations of the committee.

The panel said the government must tax cash transactions above Rs 50,000, abolish banks interest on credit card transactions, give tax refund to consumers on digital payments and extend Rs 1,000 subsidy on smart phones to non income-tax payees to promote a less-cash digital economy.

The report was submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

The high-powered panel was asked to suggest measures to enable all sections of the population to migrate to digital payments, and recommend measures to leapfrog to the advanced digital payment systems of global standards.

It was constituted on November 30 last year after the government demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

To curb use of cash for large transactions consider a levy of banking cash transaction tax on transactions of Rs 50,000 and above. Consider a cap on maximum allowable limit of cash in all types of large size transactions, it said among its various recommendations.
The Reserve Bank of India may allow citizens another chance to deposit the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes but the exchange would be for a limited sum, sources in the government and banking sector said on Wednesday.

The central bank has been flooded with queries and requests from people who failed to deposit all their money by the December 30 deadline, seeking relief, sources said.

The amounts are as small as Rs 2,000 the issue is being looked into and the advice would be to hold on to those notes as we are examining (opening) another window for these genuine people, the source said.

Many people were discovering old currency notes tucked away somewhere. Interestingly, one of the queries was from a person who found a Rs 1,000 bill in a book.

If allowed, deposits would only be for smaller sums to ensure that the window, which will be for a limited period, was not misused, sources said.

A government official said the amount expected from this window was minuscule.

The government had set December 30 deadline for depositing junked bills in banks when Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 announced the recall of the two high-value notes that accounted for 86% of the cash in circulation.

People can deposit old notes but only at RBI offices. They have to give a valid reason for missing the December 30 deadline. The RBI deadline ends March 31.

The demonetisation decision, aimed at fighting black money and fake currency, sucked Rs 15.4 lakh crore out of the system. The entire amount has come back into the banking system though the expectation was around Rs 2.5 lakh crore would not come back.

It would have reduced the central banks liability, leading to a higher surplus for the exchequer. It would have also given the government headroom to spend on welfare schemes to ease the cash pain brought by demonetisation.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Wednesday to rapidly examine a constitutional bill that would expand his powers, ahead of an expected referendum in April on the controversial legislation.

Erdogan's signature would be the final executive step in the adoption of the bill ahead of the public vote, a date for which Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said would be announced this week.

Parliament approved on Saturday the new 18-article constitution, which would create an executive presidency for the first time in Turkey, in the final of two readings.

Brawls erupted in parliament during debates over the bill, which critics fear will lead to one-man rule.

The changes are the most far-reaching constitutional shift since the creation of modern Turkey in 1923.

Erdogan told journalists in Madagascar during a tour of east Africa that he would make his decision on the bill "without delaying too much because the people are waiting for this".

The referendum would be held 60 days after Erdogan's formal approval is published in the Official Gazette, Yildirim said, adding that the date for the plebiscite was expected to be announced this week by the Supreme Election Council (YSK).

"I think it will be in the first half of April, a suitable date would be up until the 20th (of April)," he said.

The new constitution would give the head of state the power to appoint and dismiss ministers. There would be no longer a prime minister but instead one or more vice presidents.

Turkish officials have dismissed concerns over the legislation, saying the changes are needed to bring in effective government in a system similar to the United States or France.

But the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) said it would challenge the bill in the constitutional court, an action which Erdogan dismissed as an irrelevance.

"We don't have the right for any preventative action (or) to say 'why are you going there?' in this regard," he said.

"I hope that the constitutional court will at once give its decision on this issue as well."

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has only 317 seats in the 550-seat parliament and sought the support of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) to pass the bill in two readings earlier this month.

But Yildirim insisted there would be no "joint campaign" with the MHP to get a "Yes" vote for the changes.

He defended the bill, saying MPs' powers would be "strengthened" and that they would still have the right to bring draft laws to parliament.

Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan also said a presidential system would speed up the decision-making process for infrastructure projects in an interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency on Wednesday.

While Yildirim was speaking the lira plunged to 3.82 against the US dollar, a loss of over one percent on the day, amid fears of continued political instability.

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Watch out for stray animals wandering on roads and public places that look suspicious as those can be used as suicide bombers by terrorists to carry out terror strikes during the Republic Day celebrations, Delhi Police has warned in an advisory.

Animals like dogs, cats, goats and cows are usually considered harmless, but Delhi Polices anti-terrorist squad, Special Cell, issued the advisory to its 78,000-plus police personnel and asked them to watch out for any suspicious animal.

In the advisory issued on Wednesday, Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (special cell), said, According to a reliable input, terrorists may use animals as suicide bombers to attack during the Republic Day celebrations.

All police personnel have been asked to take help from civic agencies to keep animals away from the main venue as well as the route of the parade.

HT has a copy of the letter, which was forwarded to the commissioner of police and 44 other senior police officials, including all special commissioners, joint commissioners and the 13 district DCPs.

A senior police officer on the condition of anonymity said station house officers (SHOs) of all the 190 police stations have been asked to alert their staff about the advisory and ask them to look out for animals wandering on roads and public places.

The staff have been asked to take help from animal catchers and NGOs that rescue street animals to spot and catch such animals. This message has been conveyed to all our staff and they have been asked to remain alert till the completion of the Republic Day celebrations on Thursday, the officer said.

Police sources said the personnel have also been asked to prepare a list of recent cases that involved theft of pet animals.

Police officials believe some pets could have been stolen by terrorists for the purpose of carrying out terror strikes during the Republic Day celebrations in Delhi.

Investigating officers of such cases have been asked to give status reports to their SHOs through whom those will be sent to the concerned district DCPs, said the source.
On the eve of Republic Day, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday greeted President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying special and privileged strategic partnership with India is an invariable priority in Russias foreign policy.

Over the decades of independent development, India has achieved impressive success in economic, social, scientific, technical and other spheres. Your country plays an important and constructive role in solving pressing issues of the regional and international agenda, Putin said in a congratulatory message.

See: Buildings light up to celebrate 68th Republic Day

I would like to reiterate our readiness to further strengthening of mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation in various areas. In this respect, great importance is being attached to the implementation of the map of events dedicated to the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between our countries, he added.

With all my heart, I wish you good health and success, and to the friendly people of India -- well-being and prosperity, he added.
Suspecting the possibility of sabotage in the recent spate of train derailments, railway minister Suresh Prabhu has written to home minister Rajnath Singh seeking a detailed probe by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) into the incidents.

In a letter dated January 23 to the home minister, Prabhu listed six incidents of possibility of criminal interference by outsiders.

He mentioned the Hirakhand Express derailment near Kuneru station in Andhra Pradesh, two goods trains that went off the track earlier this month on the Koraput-Kirandul section, cooker bomb at Ghorasahan station, detection of deep cuts on tracks near Kanpur on January 1 and the obstruction on tracks on a rail bridge between Barauni-Samastipur stations on Monday.

Read: 39 dead, 67 injured after Hirakhand Express derails in Andhra Pradesh

Citing the derailment of Indore-Patna Express in Kanpur in which around 150 people were killed, he said, Bihar police unearthed a conspiracy to train some persons in the country to tamper with railway tracks to cause train derailments and (their) possible involvement in the accident near Kanpur.

The mangled remains of Hirakhand Express which met with an accident near Kuneru station in Vizianagaram, Andra Pradesh on January 22. (PTI photo)

Requesting all to be extra vigilant to foil nefarious designs of these anti-people elements trying to subvert system, dastardly inhuman acts(sic), Prabhu tweeted on Wednesday.

The minister has also directed railway security personnel to be careful and asked the public to give information of any unusual activity by anti-national elements near stations to law enforcement agencies.

Also read: Train safety cannot go off the rails

On January 1, Railway Protection Force (RPF) director general SK Bhagat had written to the CBI requesting for a probe into the suspected involvement of outsiders in making deep cuts on tracks near Kalyanpur, Mandhana stations near Kanpur.

There has been a marked increase in derailments in the recent past with strong indications of outside interference, according to railways.

Read: Train accident averted after stone slabs found on railway track in Bihar

A major mishap was averted on Tuesday night by an alert loco pilot of Jan Shatabdi Express who saw a 15-feet rail piece on the track and stopped the train near Diwa in Mumbai.
As India gears up for assembly elections in five states, the political atmosphere is charged. With politicians engaging in a battle of words every day, some seem to be crossing the line, often blurting out sexist and demeaning comments.

On Wednesday, BJP leader Vinay Katiyar made a sexist comment on Priyanka Gandhi Vadras election campaigning in Uttar Pradesh. There are many beautiful star campaigners. There are many heroines and artistes who are more beautiful, he said.

A day ago, Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav had made a bizarre analogy between the izzat or honour of a vote and a woman. Honour of vote is bigger and important than honour of daughter, Yadav said at a function in Patna.

This was not the first time that Yadav has made controversial remarks that demean women. In 2015, he said in the Rajya Sabha, The body of women from south is as good as beautiful they are. They (women) in our region are not that good as those (in south) know dancing.

But sexism and misogyny are rampant among the political class. Here are six shamefully sexist remarks made by Indian politicians in the past few years:

1) Giriraj Singh, BJP MP

In 2015, the lawmaker targeted Congress president Sonia Gandhi in a racist remark , questioning whether the party would have accepted her as its chief if the colour of her skin had not been white.

If Rajiv Gandhi had married a Nigerian and if she wasnt white , would Congress accept her as a leader? the BJP MP from Bihar had said.

2) Digvijaya Singh, Congress leader

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh was widely panned in 2013 for referring to Lok Sabha MP Meenakshi Natarajan as 100% tunch maal. The colloquial tunch maal is widely used in the Hindi heartland to commodify women as a sexy item. Singh argued that what he meant was an alternate, but rarely used, meaning of tunch - pure and solid.

Gandhivadi hain, saral hain, imandar hain. Sabke paas jaati hain, gaon gaon jaati hain. Rajneetigyon ko thodi si baat me pata chal jaata hai ki kaun farzi hai, kaun sahi hai. Main purana jauhri hoon, ye 100% tunch maal hai. (Natrajan is a Gandhian. She meets everyone, visits villages. She is genuine. I am a veteran goldsmith and I know she is 100% tunch maal), Singh said, with Natrajan on the podium.

3) Abhijit Mukherjee, Congress leader and President Pranab Mukherjees son

Abhijit Mukherjee, a Congress MP and son of President Pranab Mukherjee, shocked the nation in December 2012 when he labelled women protesting against the Delhi gang rape as highly dented-painted.

Whats basically happening in Delhi is somewhat like Egypt or elsewhere, where there was something called the Spring Revolution, which has very little connection with ground realities. In India, staging candle-light marches, going to discotheques - we did all this during our student life too, we were students too - I know very well what kind of character students should have, Mukherjee said.

Those who claim to be students - I can see many beautiful women among them they were highly dented-painted - theyre giving interviews on TV, theyve brought their children to show them the scenes, Mukherjee said. He later apologised for the off-colour remark.

4) Abu Azmi, Samajwadi party leader

After the recent allegations of mass molestation in Bengaluru, Samajwadi Partys Maharashtra unit chief Abu Azmis made an appalling remark, blaming women in half dress for the reported incident that happened on December 31, 2016.

When few women in half dress come out on streets at late night with their friends, such incidents do occur... Ladies hailing from well-to-do families, be it from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan or UP, they come out in decent attire and mostly with their family members, he had said.

Police, however, later said no such incident ever took place.

5) Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2014 said it was unfair to award death penalty to rapists for their mistakes. Rape ke liye phaansi dena ghalat hai, ladkon se ghalti ho jaati hai, hum satta mein aaye to kanoon mein badlav karenge (Handing death sentence for rape is not fair... boys make mistakes... there will be changes in the law if we come to power).

He added boys and girls fall in love but part ways due to differences. When their friendship ends, the girl complains she has been raped, said Yadav.

6) Laxmikant Parsekar, Goa chief minister

Goa chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar in 2015 allegedly advised protesting nurses not to stage a hunger strike under the hot sun as it could darken their complexion and affect their marital prospects, joining a growing list of ministers from the state who have drawn criticism for their public comments.

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BJP MP Subramanian Swamy has objected to the phrase Republic as the name for the yet-to-be launched news channel by veteran TV journalist Arnab Goswami.

In a letter written to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Swami said the grant of license to the news channel to broadcast under the name of Republic will be contrary to law and a direct breach of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950.

It may be noticed that certain names and emblems are prohibited from being used under (the) act for professional and commercial purposes. As per the schedule, accompanying the statute, under item 6, there is express prohibition from using the phrase republic, he said in the letter, also posted on his Twitter account.

Swamy asked the ministry to look into the matter.

Official sources in the ministry told IANS that an under secretary-level officer was looking into the matter for further action.

Goswami, the former editor-in-chief of Times Now channel, announced in December in 2016 that his new venture would be called Republic.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday described the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as one of Indias most valued partners and a close friend in an important region of the world.

In his press statement after holding talks with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Modi said he held very fruitful and productive discussions and that the talks particularly focused on implementation of various decisions taken during their last two meetings.

UAE is one of our most valued partners and a close friend in an important region of the world: PM @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/OR9uE7Gkvb  PMO India (@PMOIndia) 25 January 2017

We agreed to sustain the momentum of our relations in key areas including energy and investments, Modi said.

We agreed to sustain the momentum of our relations in key areas, including energy and investments: PM @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/g5TKOVHcyZ  PMO India (@PMOIndia) 25 January 2017

We have been successful in creating new synergy in out ties. We have shaped an ambitious road map of engagement to make our comprehensive strategic partnership purposeful and action oriented, the Prime Minister said.

We have shaped an ambitious roadmap of engagement to make our comprehensive strategic partnership purposeful and action oriented: PM pic.twitter.com/pSqwNlrmp6  PMO India (@PMOIndia) 25 January 2017

I expressed gratitude to His Highness for looking after the welfare of Indian nationals in UAE, he said, and added that he had also thanked him for allotting land for a temple for the Indian diaspora in Abu Dhabi.
Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Wednesday claimed to have busted an international call racket allegedly involved in spying on Army units in the country.

We arrested 11 people on Tuesday from Lucknow, Sitapur, Hardoi and New Delhi for operating international call racket by running parallel exchanges, inspector general (IG) of ATS Asim Arun said, adding the action was taken on information by Jammu Kashmir military intelligence.

An FIR in this regard has been registered at Gomti Nagar police station, he said, adding a large number of SIM cards, mobile phones and laptops used in the clandestine operations had been recovered.

Sources said the gang used to gather information regarding vital army installations, troop movements and deployments.

The officials said the accused made calls to various army stations posing as government officials and that spying was done using mobile numbers with Direct Inward Dialling Network to route calls.

Arun said the spying agents were skipping the legal international phone gateways to make such calls (for spying).

It will now make the work of terrorists or any spies difficult. The government and mobile companies will also be able to avoid losses to the tune of crores of rupees due to these dubious exchanges, he added.

The IG explained that such exchanges provide facility to those sitting abroad to make calls through internet. These calls are then converted to voice calls through sim box and connected to receivers in India. However, the receivers could only see Indian numbers on their telephone screens.

The officer said action will be intensified against such people with the help of the army and TERM (Telecom Enforcement resource and monitoring).
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Gujarat unit of Shiv Sena on Wednesday sought a ban on Shah Rukh Khan-starer Raees, claiming the movie glorifies a real- life criminal.

The Rashtra Sena, a little known outfit, has also put up banners in several parts of Surat against the Bollywood superstar and the movie, which hit the screens on Wednesday.

VHP leader Ranchhod Bharwad said the title character of Raees, played by Khan, is based on the life of Abdul Latif -- a bootlegger-turned-politician.

India had so many great personalities on whom you can make a movie. But Khan chose Abdul Latif, who was a dreaded criminal, bootlegger and a mafia don. Khan claimed the movie is based on fictional character but everyone knows that Raees is based on Latif, said Bharwad.

He also slammed SRK for casting Pakistani actor Mahira Khan as the female lead, alleging that she made anti-India statements after going back to Pakistan.

We believe that government should ban the movie and book Khan for sedition for making such a movie, said Bharwad.

The VHP leader also held Khan responsible for the death of a person at Vadodara railway station two days back, when the crowd which had gathered to have a glimpse of the actor went out of control. The police must book Khan for the death, he said.

The government should ban this movie, as it indulges in hero-worshipping of mafia dons, said Bharwad.

Some VHP and Bajrang Dal workers also shouted slogans outside a theatre in Valsad on Wednesday morning. The police dispersed them before the situation could worsen, said a police officer.
Keen to forge deeper ties with non-BJP parties on a national platform, West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee may attend a couple of rallies of Samajwadi Party- Congress In Uttar Pradesh, where both Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav will be present.

She is also ready to attend a couple of Congress rallies in Punjab, where Gandhi will be present, where she would directly appeal to vote for Congress against the BJP- Shiromani Akali Dal alliance, a senior member of the West Bengal cabinet told HT.

Incidentally, soon after SP- Congress alliance was officially announced on January 22, Mamata Banerjee, in a twitter message, hailed the alliance decision and promised full support to the alliance. Full support from Trinamool Congress to the good alliance for UP between Congress and Samajwadi Party. the chief minister twitted.

It is almost final that Trinamool will not field any candidate this time either in UP or Punjab as the chief minister wants to give a message that she is against division of anti- BJP votes. But she is keen to be part of a couple of mega rallies in both these states to highlight Trinamools relentless movement against the anti- people policies of the BJP- lead Union government, especially demonetisation, the minister said.

The schism between Mamata Banerjee and Narendra Modi has never been so wide as it is now. (HT Photo)

According to preliminary decision, Trinamools national spokesman and Raja Sabha member, Derek OBrien will be accompanying the chief minister in rallies both in UP and Punjab.

In addition, party Look Sabha member, Sultan Ahmed and the state urban development and municipal affairs minister, Firhad (Bobby) Hakim, both fluent in Hindi and Urdu, might accompany the chief minister in the UP rallies, the member of the state cabinet said.

In the rallies in Punjab, her most likely companion will be Trinamool legislator from Tarakeshwar in Hooghly district and former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Rachpal Singh, the only Sikh representative in West Bengal assembly now.

Meanwhile, political analysts said that the chief ministers move to attend rallies in favour of anti- BJP forces in UP and Punjab is an indicator of her desperation to get Congress by her side. Incidentally, Congress stood by Bengals ruling party after the two MPs Tapas Paul and Sudip Bandyopadhyay were arrested in connection with the Rose Valley.

If the investigation of Narada sting operation case in which a dozen ruling party ministers, MPs and MLAs are seen accepting cash, is also handed over to the CBI enquiry, Trinamool Congress will need political parties such as Congress by her side, a city- based political analyst said.

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Ranjit Pal, state committee member of CPI(Maoist) and one of the few leaders to have eluded the police yet, surrendered with his wife, Anita, in front of Surajit Kar Purkayastha, director general of West Bengal police, on Wednesday afternoon.

I have followed this path for 17 years and realised the futility of it, said Ranjit Pal after handing over his self loading rifle to the top cop of the state.

With the Pals giving up arms, a total of 219 Maoists surrendered to the West Bengal government. After Pals arrest, Akash is the only senior rebel leader who has managed to stay beyond the clutches of the police.

Pal was active in the area of Ayodhya Hills in Purulia and Jharkhand adjoining Purulia. Between 2006 and 2011, he led the 34-member Ajodhya platoon of the CPI(Maoist) and maintained close liaison with the squads active in the Dalma hills and Gurbandha in Jharkhand.

Ranjit Pal, who looked younger than his mid forties sat with his wife by his side at the state police headquarters Bhawani Bhavan and read out a statement to repudiate the movement. Both of them were dressed in dark shirts and trousers and wore jungle fatigue caps.

Delivering the goods for the people through armed struggle is not possible. What the government is doing actually constitutes welfare of the people. I want to be a part of that and therefore, I surrendered. I wish to start a new life. I also appeal to the members of CPI(Maoist) to eschew violence and return to the mainstream, he said.

Ranjit and Anita Pal realised that they were going the wrong way. This realisation prompted them to surrender to the police, said Surajit Kar Purakayastha, DGP of West Bengal.

Ranjit Pal is a native of Barikul of Bankura district.

The Maoists held sway in large tracts of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura districts between 2008 and 2011. With the elimination of their leader Kishenji in the winter of 2011 and subsequent surrender by several senior leaders, the movement fizzled out in the state.
A court in Gaza on Wednesday sentenced eight members of the rival Palestinian Fatah faction to lengthy jail terms for undermining "revolutionary unity", the Hamas-run interior ministry said.

The men were found to have collected "security information" against Hamas, including on the "structure and movements" of its militants, in cases dating back to 2014, the ministry said in a statement.

Three were jailed for life by the military court, while the rest received sentences ranging from seven to 15 years.

They were members of the Fatah-led security services.

Fayez Abu Eita, a spokesman for Fatah in the Gaza Strip, called the sentences "political and unjust".

Hamas has run Gaza for a decade after forcing out Fatah in a near civil war. Fatah still runs the West Bank.

A number of attempts at reconciliation between the two sides have failed.

The Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank, run by Fatah, regularly arrest Hamas members.

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Alampur, a locality in Metiabruz area on the outskirts of Kolkata, has been under Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) since January 23 evening.

According to the city police, unlawful assembly of more than four people is restricted as a few members of a community erected road blocks in the area, leading to tension between two groups.

For the past few months, small communal clashes have become a major headache for the Bengal government. The flare-ups started last October and since then have been taking place in different parts of the state  Kaliachak, Chanchol (Malda district), Jalangi (Murshidabad), Chandannagar (Hooghly), Bhagabanpur (East Midnapore), Gol Bazar (West Midnapore), Kanchrapara (North 24 Parganas), Dhulagarh (Howrah), and Kaksha (Burdwan), to name a few.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been emphasising the need for communal harmony. Trinamool Congress leaders have dubbed the incidents as an outcome of a pattern and have asked the administration to contain the incidents. Our CM has already stated that communal harmony, which is our tradition, will be maintained at any cost. Those who are conspiring against the people of Bengal, from spreading rumours to spreading communal tension will fail, said a senior Trinamool Congress MP.

Police force, including Rapid Action Force was deployed, Section 144 was imposed in these areas and several miscreants were arrested in each incident.

Of these, Dhulagarh grabbed most attention in December-end, with the BJP, Congress and CPI(M) sending out their leaders to the epicentre. General secretary Sitaram Yechury himself was part of the team.

So far, the state government has been silent about the problem but state BJP leaders have appealed to governor Kesari Nath Tripathi and demanded Centres intervention. On the one hand, the CM is dubbing these incidents as minor, on the other hand, the police officers are being transferred. After the Dhulagarh incident, the police superintendent was removed. Low-intensity attacks on a community are going on in different parts of the state. In Kaliachak, a police station was vandalised and everyone knows how. Metiabruz is the latest in the series and the administration has failed to control it, said Sayantan Basu, state BJP secretary

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Former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) heavyweights Swami Prasad Maurya and RK Chaudhary figured prominently on the Bharatiya Janata Partys third list of 67 candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly election. The list was declared on Tuesday but left a majority of the remaining 32 undeclared seats for smaller parties that have a say among OBC voters, especially in eastern UP. With this, the BJP has now named candidates for 371 out of 403 seats in UP.

Like the two lists before, the third list too includes several turncoats. Maurya has been fielded from Padrauna in Kushinagar. Another prominent BSP rebel Rajesh Tripathi has been given the ticket for the Chillupar seat in Gorakhpur.

The BJP roped in Bahujan Samaj Swabhimaan Sangharsh Samiti founder RK Chaudhary, a Dalit from the Pasi caste, the second largest Scheduled Caste group in UP after Jatavs.

Despite opposition from cadre, the BJP has left the Mohanlalganj seat for RK Chaudhary.

The BJP got its UP in-charge Om Mathur to reach out to Chaudhary after he exited the BSP for the second time months before UP polls.

Chaudhary, who had invited Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to his Lucknow rally soon after he left the BSP, has demanded six seats from the BJP.

The party can also leave more seats for the associates of Chaudhary, who has been assured of at least one seat other than his own, Bachrawan, in Congress president Sonia Gandhis Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency.

Even before the formal announcement, Chaudhary started campaigning in Mohanlalganj, the seat he had won in 2007 on the Rashtriya Swabhiman Party ticket. He floated the party after walking out of the BSP for the first time in 2001.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) rebel Dara Singh Chauhan, who was made the BJPs OBC Morcha chief, has been made the party candidate from Madhuban.

Amid speculation that the BJP will leave Ramnagar in Barabanki for SP leader Beni Prasad Vermas son Rakesh Verma, the party fielded its district unit chief Sharad Awasthi for the seat.

Old party hands like former UP BJP president Surya Pratap Shahi (Pathardeva) and former state unit chief Om Prakash Singhs son Anurag (Chunar) also figure on the list.

The party has also declared its candidates for a majority of assembly seats in Prime Minister Narendra Modis Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency. It has replaced its seven-time sitting MLA Shyamdeo Rai Chaudhary from Varanasi (South) with newcomer Neelkanth Tiwari.

Barring a few seats for which it could declare candidates on its symbol, the party may leave a majority of the remaining 32 seats for its pre-poll partners like the Kurmi-dominated Apna Dal and the Rajbhar-packed Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP).

Besides being a Dalit, Chaudharys USP is the fact that he has been among the BSPs founder members. Chaudharys name has figured on the BJP list making some wonder if the BSP rebel has formally joined the party.

BJP chief Amit Shah had announced tie-ups with Apna Dal and SBSP. Though formal seat sharing hasnt been revealed, it is expected that the party might leave out at least 10 seats for Apna Dal (Anupriyal Patel faction), eight seats for Bharatiya Samaj Party (BSP) and two seats for Chaudhary.

Shah had suggested that SBSP chief Suheldev Rajbhar could consider contesting from Mau against sitting lawmaker and gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari. The SBSP chief said he was ready to take up the offer.

At one time, the SBSP had partnered with Ansaris Qaumi Ekta Dal (QED) that has now merged with the Samajwadi Party. Since beginning, the party has focused more on east UP where BJPs performance hasnt been good for the last couple of elections, a party leader said.

Read more: Rajnaths son makes debut after a 14-yr wait

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Mohammadpur Umri, a small village near Bamrauli air force station, has the distinction of having the largest number of twin voters in the state.

A mystery for scientists around the globe and an interesting destination for genetic researchers, this village has the divine blessing of around 120 twins at last count, in comparison to its small population of 1,300. This year, a whopping 30 sets of twins (60 voters) are eligible to vote.

However, successive governments have failed to ensure development of the village as it lacks proper roads, drinking water, irrigation and medical facilities.

The oldest surviving twins of the village, Rehan and Hassan aka Chhote and Bade Guddu, are aged around 50 and stand out with their identical looks even at this age.

Older twins have died and many girls have got married and moved to other villages. However, we still have around 60 such voters of different age groups who will cast votes, says Rehan.

Development is an area of concern in the village. Many more like us would have been walking the streets if the village had proper medical facilities, Rehan laments.

We grew up in the village and used our identical faces to trick our teachers, police and even parents. We brothers used a single driving licence for several years and have even cast votes in place of the other for fun, confesses Rehan.

Zeeshan and Atishan (25) are, however, cautious in choosing their candidate. They jointly run furniture business.

Some other twin voters in the village include Sonu and Shebu (24), Anzaf and Arhan (20), Vipin and Amit (30), Nikhat and Farhat (22), Rekha and Suman (24), and Abusaid and his sister Maria (19).

Village head Mohd Umar says out of the total population of 1,300, there are more than a hundred twins, including infants. Although there is no exact figure, the number of such voters is 60. More such voters will be added to the voter list in the coming years, says Umar.

Mohammadpur Umri is famous for extraordinarily high number of twins. The village will have many twins voting in this election, says sub-divisional magistrate (Sadar), Allahabad, Vaibhav Mishra.

Read more| No road, no vote: Villagers tell candidates
The Election Commission (EC) will launch a voter express, a bus equipped with poll-related paraphernalia, across the state to raise awareness among the voters and motivate them to exercise their franchise.

Chief election commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi is likely to flag off the voters express in Lucknow on Friday.

The voters express will visit all the districts and the respective district administration will organise painting, slogan writing and rangoli competitions there.

Chief electoral officer (CEO), UP, T Venkatesh told HT, The assembly election is being held in the state in seven phases and voters express will visit the districts accordingly. It will visit the districts of west UP where election is being held in the first phase, later it will go to the districts of Central UP, Bundelkhand, Terai region and east UP, he said.

The EC is launching a massive voter awareness campaign in the state with the launch of National Voters Day on Wednesday. The voters express will keep the awareness programme going till the polling day.

Read more: Cops using pedal power to educate voters

Venkatesh reviewed the preparation for the assembly election through video conferencing with district magistrates and superintendents of police. The district administration officers were told to implement the orders of the EC and take strict action against those who violate the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

The district magistrates were directed to dispose of the complaints lodged by political parties and candidates on priority basis. The filing of nomination papers, their scrutiny and withdrawal should be made transparent, he said.

To check intimidation of voters, the district magistrates were told to identify the sensitive and critical polling booths. Extra police force will be deployed to ensure free and fair polling. The district magistrates have been also directed to make arrangements for drinking water, wheelchair and toilet at all the polling booths.

Third phase notification issued

The notification for the third phase of the UP assembly election was issued on Tuesday. Nomination papers for this phase poll will be filed till January 31 and February 4 is the last date for withdrawal. During this period, offices and banks will remain closed on January 26, 28 and 29. A candidate can file nomination papers on five days. The district magistrates have been directed to ensure that candidates face no problem during the filing of the nomination papers, he said.

In the third phase, 69 assembly seats spread over 12 districts will go to polls. The districts going to polls in the third phase are Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur, Unnao, Lucknow, Barabanki and Sitapur.

CEC to visit Lucknow on Friday

Chief election commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi will visit Lucknow on Friday to review the preparations for the assembly election. He will hold a meeting with the district magistrates, the superintendents of police as well as senior police and administrative officers.

The officers against whom the political parties lodged a complaint are under the EC scanner. Sources said EC might shift senior police and administrative officers during a two-day review meeting by the CEC. Zaidi will also meet chief secretary Rahul Bhatnagar to discuss the election preparations.

Read more: 10,000 students expected to attend voter awareness workshop in Greater Noida
This is the era of post-truth, the time in the world when facts matter less than they did or nothing at all, when emotions and personal beliefs trump factual arguments. The term has come to stay in politics, media and public life. In fact, the Oxford Dictionary chose it to be the Word of the Year in 2016. And, last week, President Donald Trumps administration handed us a delightful nuance  alternative facts.

Cut through the chatter: Post-truth and alternative facts are nothing but pretty words to dress up deception and lies. But given their currency now, how can the important election to the 227-member Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai  colloquially the BMC  with its Rs37,000 crore annual budget, be free of them? So, heres a slice of this universe.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, a swash-buckling politician with an enviable ear to the ground, has to only raise a finger and his partys ally, the BJP, comes sprinting to work out the nitty-gritty of contesting the election as one indivisible force. The BJP may run governments in India and Maharashtra but in Mumbai, only Thackerays word counts. The far-sighted leader wants power only and only to deliver world-class civic services to Mumbaiites.

Thackeray offers promises or alternative facts: New technology for good and pothole-free roads (the post-truth world still has pre-historic quality roads), scientific treatment of waste and 24X7 drinking water supply (carried over from 20-year-old agendas), employment to those who pass out from civic schools (these schools saw a disturbing drop in students numbers in the last few years but facts dont matter in the alternative facts realm), rejuvenation of open spaces (forget that leaders squat on public open spaces with their clubs). He praised Tamilians as they stood up for Jallikattu (the hostility towards lungiwalas is pre-post-truth).

The BJP does not want to be the junior partner to that parochial, patriarchal, and muscle-flexing Shiv Sena. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who in the post-truth world is the chief executive officer of Mumbai, wants to trump the Sena on grounds of non-transparent and corrupt administration of the BMC in the last 20 years. In this world, the BJP was not partnering the Sena every step of the non-transparent, corrupt way; instead, miraculously, it has been the beacon of honest and ethical governance.

The Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson lamented that Thackeray offered Mumbaiites a bagful of lies. The NCP is the other shining star of clean politics in the post-truth world in which its leaders, especially its first family of Pawars, has been the nominee for the Mahatma Gandhi Award for Sterling Honesty year after year, Pawar has been bestowed Indias second highest civilian honour which is second only to the top job he coveted, the NCP governs the state, and it presence in Mumbai is such that its words are taken seriously.

The Congress, which took shape in this city in December 1885, believes that the BMC election is not one but multiple elections, and therefore, has fragmented itself into factions so that some of them can win. The fact is that its leadership is unimaginative and purposeless. The alternative fact is that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi has made Mumbai his karo-ya-maro bhoomi, like the anti-British Do-or-Die agitation of 1942 launched at August Kranti Maidan. As for the Samajwadi Party and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, they operate in a different alternative reality altogether.

Away from this post-truth world, the truth is Mumbai has become an unbearably dense, traffic-congested, filthy, unliveable, unequal and rude city. This cannot be fixed with mega investments in a few high-profile projects, pre-poll promises and cynical politics; it calls for high-quality urban governance across the city through five years. If the Bandra Kurla Complex is a reality, so are M-East and P-North wards whose Human Development Indices are worse than some of Indias backward states. This is not an alternative fact. Thackeray, Fadnavis and others, better face the complex reality that is Mumbai. There is no alternative.

Also read: Women in BMC election: Half the House is a good thing

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See candidates distributing freebies and cash, promoting themselves through paid news or violating the poll code in any other way? Theres now an app you can use to report it.

For the first time, the State Election Commission (SEC) has created a mobile application, Citizen on Portal (COP), to help citizens report violations of the election code of conduct during their campaigns. The poll code ensures candidates do not sway voters with money, liquor and benefits, but often, citizens dont report violations to avoid trouble. Officials said the SEC introduced the app,on which complaints will be anonymous, in an attempt to maximise voter participation.

Citizens groups welcomed the move. It is a fantastic move to involve citizens in governance issues. The SEC should make sure these complaints are acted upon swiftly, or the purpose of using technology will be lost, said Milind Mhaske, project coordinator at NGO Praja.

The SEC has also been using technology to educate the voters, especially the youth, about the election process. On Wednesday, SEC commissioner JS Saharia held a conference at Mumbai University to increase voter awareness among youth.

In the backdrop of the Centres demonetisation move, the SEC has also announced that a team of 15 income-tax officials (ITOs) will monitor spending by candidates contesting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls. Forty ITOs will also monitor spending in the other nine municipal corporations that are going to polls next month. The increased vigilance on unaccounted cash also includes instructions to banks from the SEC to report suspicious transactions and cash withdrawals to an elections monitoring committee headed by BMC chief Ajoy Mehta.

The BMC elections are set to be held on February 21 and results will be declared on February 23. For the mega elections, the BMC will set up 7,433 polling booths across the city with 12,000 voting machines. Around 35,000 police officials and 42,000 civic officials will be on duty on voting day.

Read more:

Youngsters dont want to raise voice beyond social media, only 1.37L first-time voters in Mumbai

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The Central government has decided to introduce an age limit for medical aspirants taking the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), on Tuesday. The age limit for those aiming at 15% all-India quota seats has been set to 25 years whereas those from reserved categories will be able to take the test till they turn 30 years old. But the number of attempts for each candidate will the three only.

NEET was first introduced in 2013, when Maharashtra scrapped their own medical entrance test. After a petition was filed in the Supreme Court in 2014, NEET was scrapped and the state conducted its own CET based on the the NEET syllabus, while in 2015, the MH-CET was conducted on the basis of state board syllabus. In April 2016, however, the Supreme Court once again lifted the ban on NEET and proposed to conduct admissions to MBBS, BDS and post-graduate courses through this one common test. CET for medical admissions has since been scrapped in Maharashtra.

The move will help bring better quality candidates in medical education because we know of cases where a student has appeared for the entrance test almost ten times, and then passed. This cannot be allowed as it compromises with the quality we hope the candidates to have, said Dr Pravin Shingare, director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER).

This decision was taken at a meeting held in Delhi and a notification on the same will reach all state governments soon. While officials as well as many parents are lauding this move, experts said this might affect many from the reserved categories attempting to become doctors. Many from the reserved categories have no back up of tutorials guiding them so they might need more than three attempts, said Mahesh Sethi, who tutors medical aspirants. Many also said that the age limit should be the same for all categories.

Meanwhile, parents are more worried about the delay in the registration process for NEET exams. The process starts in mid-December but we have not heard from the authorities yet. We hope that they are not planning to start the process when our children will be busy with their class XII exams, which starts in February, said Ankit Maniar, a parent. CBSE authorities said that a circular on the process and final dates of NEET 2017 exam should be released by next week.

READ MORE

NEET aftermath: Health sciences students lose semester to late admissions in Maharashtra

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Weeks after arresting the kingpin of the ephedrine racket, Kishoresingh Rathod, the Gujarat police arrested his driver, Bharat Kathiya,38, on Tuesday. Kathiya had arranged for the drug to be transported from Solapur to Gujarat to Kenya, said H Shukla, deputy commissioner of police, anti-terrorism squad, Gujarat.

Kathiya had fled with Rathod after the Thane police raided Avon Pharma Life Sciences Pvt Ltd at Solapur in April last year. Since then, he had been hiding at Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi and other states. He would come back to Gujarat at regular intervals to take stock of the situation, said the police.

Kathiya was hiding in a remote area of Surendranagar district, which is almost 100 km from Ahmedabad. He is Rathods personal driver and had arranged the transport of 1,364kg of ephedrine, worth Rs270 crore. Before he could send it to Kenya from Gujarat, the consignment was seized and many were arrested, said Shukla.

Police said Kathiya and Rathod stayed together for several weeks, but separated to evade arrest. They disguised themselves to avoid being identified.

They choose a remote area, which did not have mobile network. They did this so their social networking accounts could not be traced. They tried contacting their family and friends using different mobile numbers, said Shukla.

Kathiya was produced at a Gujarat sessions court and remanded in police custody till January 27.

Kathiya was also in touch with the director of Avon Pharma Life Sciences Pvt Ltd. They planned to transport more ephedrine to Kenya via water routes after the 1,364-kg consignment of the drug was sent, he said.

We are gathering technical evidence. We will file another supplement in a few days, said Bharat Shelkhe, assistant commissioner of police, Thane.

We have submitted documents to the Gujarat court and will take custody of Rathod once the Gujarat police finish their investigation. We will bring him to Thane. We have gathered evidence against him, including phone call records, chats and emails with international drug baron Vicky Goswami. We have arrested 12 men while eight are still wanted. Two are from Gujarat, five from Kenya and one from Nigeria. We are on the lookout for them, said Shelkhe.

Read

Ephedrine haul: Thane cops to file fourth supplement to charge sheet

Mumbai ephedrine haul accused earned more than Rs50L a month: Cops

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I am humbled. The credit goes to those who strived hard to make my work a success, said Nationalist Congress Chief Sharad Pawar on getting the Padma Vibhushan, Indias second highest civilian award.

Known to have friends across the political spectrum, Pawar has dominated public life in Maharashtra and been a key figure in Indian politics for decades. In fact, the grand function in New Delhi in February 2016 to celebrate his 50 years as a legislator saw the whos who of Indian politics gather on one stage  President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and the top leaders of all political parties.

For my continuous 50-year-long career in the state legislature and Parliament, there are a number of party workers who worked for my election year after year. During elections, I used to hold just one public meeting in my constituency and my workers used to handle the campaign, he told Hindustan Times on Wednesday.

During the post-Emergency era, he was seen as a promising leader of the anti-Congress parties. After the emergence of Rajiv Gandhi, he returned to the Congress. He even made a bid for the Prime Ministers post when the Congress won the election after Rajivs assassination, but lost out to PV Narasimha Rao.

Pawar was an early supporter of liberalisation, backing Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister in opening up Indias economy. He quit the Congress for the second time to form the Nationalist Congress Party but later mended fences with Sonia Gandhi and remained a reliable ally till the UPA lost power in 2014.

During his decade-long tenure as agriculture minister in Manmohan Singhs government, Pawar is credited with giving a major push to the agriculture sector. It was during this period that the UPA government waived the loans of farmers ahead of the 2009 elections.

When my consent was sought for the award, I asked them why they wanted to give it to me. I was given three reasons: The progress India made in the field of agriculture during the ten years when I was agriculture minister. India started exporting agricultural products that it used to import earlier. Second, the way I handled the state administration in Maharashtra during two disasters  the Latur earthquake and the Mumbai riots-bomb blasts. The third reason was my 50-year-long political career in which I was always elected to either the Maharashtra Legislature or Parliament, Pawar said.

However, the credit for Indias progress in agriculture should go to the farmers who worked hard, the scientists/experts at the Indian Council for Agriculture Research and various agriculture universities, which developed new varieties that helped farmers to produce more, Pawar said.

On September 30, 1993, a 6.2 Richter scale earthquake struck Latur and Osmanabad district. About 10,000 people in 52 villages died and about 30,000 were injured. Pawar camped at Latur to supervise rescue and relief. The teams worked overtime to prevent outbreak of diseases and provide help to the injured and homeless.

On March 12, 1993, Mumbai was rocked by 12 serial bomb blasts across the city, killing 257 and injuring 700 persons. Within two-three days, the city returned to normalcy and even the Bombay Stock Exchange started functioning soon. Pawar was credited with ensuring law and order was maintained.

Pawar himself said on Wednesday that the credit in both these cases should go to the people in the administration who worked hard to restore normalcy.

Down-to-earth in his approach, Pawar enjoyed cordial relations with most prominent politicians including Narendra Modi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Jyoti Basu, Pramod Mahajan and Farooq Abdullah. He was also known for his friendly ties with litterateurs, actors, social workers and even industrialists.

Asked about his feelings on receiving the award, Pawar said his thoughts were with his late mother, Shardabai. She would have been very happy to see her third son too getting a Padma award. My brothers, Appasaheb and Prataprao, were awarded the Padma Shri earlier, he said.

Read

Padma awards full list: From cricketer Virat Kohli to politician Sharad Pawar

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After two weeks of unfruitful talks and a tussle over seats, the fate of the alliance between the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Mumbai civic polls is likely to be decided in the next 24 hours. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis met early Wednesday morning, according to sources.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said he will make the penultimate statement on the alliance on January 26, at the partys gathering of all local office-bearers and Sena footsoldiers in the city. This will be the Senas first show of strength ahead of the elections.

Both the parties have readied their list of 227 candidates, in case the alliance falls through, and the sentiment across both the Sena and the BJP is the parties will contest solo. Neither of them has officially pulled the curtains down.

So far, on the basis of its exponential rise in the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections, the BJP has demanded 114 of the 227 seats in Mumbai, up from the 63 it contested in 2012. The Sena is, however, willing to part with just 60, in an attempt to cut the BJP to size, after being reduced to a junior partner in the alliance in the state.

If an alliance has to be stitched, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will have to get the talks restarted with a final seat-sharing proposal. Currently, Fadnavis is holding discussions with Mumbai BJP leaders on the issue.

Without an alliance, the Shiv Sena and BJP are likely to be each others biggest competitors this election, with both the Congress and NCP dealing with an internal leadership crisis, and the influence of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on the wane.

Read more: Mumbai: Shiv Sena first off blocks to set pace for poll race

Shiv Sena, BJP squabble over transparency

MNS hopes for timely Shiv Sena-BJP split

Shiv Sena releases manifesto for Mumbai civic polls

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Schools in Maharashtra will observe Marathi Bhasha Gaurav Din on February 27, the birth anniversary of poet Kusumagraj. The state school education department has asked schools to hold book fairs and writer forums to celebrate the day. But schools might refrain from organising all this as they said they will have their hands full with exams and election duties for teachers on that day.

Marathi laureate and famous poet VV Shirwadkar, popularly known by his pen name, Kusumagraj, was a Jnanpith award winner, which is considered as the highest literary honour in India.

A recent circular issued by the department states that Kusumagraj contributed to Maharashtras cultural heritage and took great efforts to develop the Marathi language. For this reason, schools, government offices and private institutions have been asked to pay him a fitting tribute.

This is the third year in a row when the department has asked schools to celebrate the day, officials said it has met with a lukewarm response from most private unaided schools. We hope this year schools will show more enthusiasm, said BB Chavan, deputy director of education, Mumbai region.

Principals said they are unable to hold big events on February 27 as they are busy preparing for upcoming board and school exams. We have no problems in honouring Kusumagraj but we are in the midst of conducting oral and practical exams for Class 10 students then, said Uday Nare, teacher from Hansraj Morarji Public School, Andheri.

The department has suggested varied creative activities that can be conducted in schools to teach students importance of Marathi. The programmes should convey information on Marathi, its history and status in the society, states the circular.

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Dhiraj, the youngest of former CM Vilasrao Deshmukhs three sons, is joining politics, and unlike other scions of big politicians who eye the Assembly or Lok Sabha elections, Dhiraj is starting off in local politics, as he gets ready to contest the Zilla Parishad, or district council polls from his hometown in Latur.

Dhiraj has sought party candidature from the Ekgurga seat of the Latur ZP and wants to represent the Congress party.

If he wins, Dhiraj will join his elder brother Amit Deshmukh, also an MLA from Latur city, in politics.

The people of Latur requested me to contest the elections. They want me to work for them, and I felt I should stand with them. I decided to go for the electoral politics now,he said.

Dhiraj has been active in the organisational set-up for the past three years  as Latur district president of the youth wing of the party  and wants follow in his fathers footsteps.

The late Vilasrao Deshmukh had started his political career as a sarpanch of the Babhulgaon village in Latur, and went on to become the chief minister of the state.

Following Dhirajs decision to join politics, only one of the three sons of the former CM  actor Ritiesh  is not in politics. The Congress, however, is yet to decide on his candidature as there are around 12 aspirants for the seat. All of them, however, have agreed to support Dhirajs candidature.

Dynasties in Indian politics are common, and the people support the rule of political families. Shiv Sena MLA Sada Sarvankar is making efforts for his son, Samadhan Sarvankar, to get the partys candidature from Dadar, his own constituency.

Congress MLA Kalidas Kolambkar is also trying to launch his son Prathmeshs political career from Naigaon. Kolambar has been representing the constituency since 1990.

Former MP Eknath Gaikwad wants the political career of his son, Tushar, to be launched during these polls and is lobbying for a ticket. His daughter Varsha is already an MLA from Dharavi.

State BJP chief Raosaheb Danve is trying to get a candidature for his brother, Bhaskar Danve, for the ZP elections from Jalna; state housing minister Prakash Mehta wants his son Harsh to contest from Ghatkopar; BJP legislator Raj Purohit is vying party candidature for son Aakash from Colaba.

Similarly, the BJP MP Kirit Somaiya also wants his son Neil to contest the BMC elections from Mulund and has sought ticket from the party.

State water supply and sanitation minister Babanrao Lonikar too is making efforts to get candidature for his son Rahul for ZP polls from Parbhani. The list goes on.

However, state labour minister Sambhaji Nilengekar Patil, is an exception, as he rejected party workers request to nominate his brother, Arvind Patil, as a candidate for the ZP elections in Latur.

Nilangekar, who had contested on a BJP ticket against his grandfather and former CM Shivaji Patil Nilangekar, took the decision inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is against dynasty politics.

My brother is also is a devout party worker, but instead of getting him the candidature, I decided to promote a party worker from a non-political background.

Read more: Congress to face Mumbai civic polls united: Hooda after meeting squabbling leaders

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In less than a month, the candidates you vote for will decide how good your roads will be and whether you get clean water and more open spaces in your area. Before you go out to vote, find out how your representatives fared the last term.

Between 2013 and 2016, the Bharatiya Janata Party was the best performing party, but the Shiv Senas corporators consistently ranked Number 1, according to a report card by NGO Praja.

The performance was measured on various parameters  councillors who asked the most and least questions, raised issues that mattered to you and those who were most accessible to solve your woes.

The analysis showed the BJP, with 31 corporators in the civic body, fared the best, scoring an average of 63.1 points, followed by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with 60.86 points and the Shiv Sena with 60.51 points.

The BMCs dominant party Sena, however, scored brownie points by bagging the top councillor position thrice in the last five years. Sena corporator Hemangi Worlikar was ranked the best twice, and Mayor Snehal Ambekar was the top councillor in 2014.

The ranking of top councillors is based on an average over the last five years.

The list has four Sena corporators and three from the BJP. The rating is measured by councillors attendance, the questions they asked and the importance of the issues. Praja obtained the details under the Right To Information (RTI) Act.

The analyses is also based surveys conducted in the 227 electoral wards.

The parties are scored by summing up performance of all corporators . This means the overall scores of parties with a larger presence, like the Sena or Congress are likely to go down.

Milind Mhaske, the project co-ordinator at Praja, agreed and said the corporators in the Sena and BJP (75 and 32 respectively) could be a reasons for the BJPs higher ranking, but added the average score of all the parties was dismal.

There is a lot at stake for allies Sena and BJP during these elections, which will take place on February 21.

While the BJP will test the waters in Mumbai, after its huge victory in the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2014, this will be the first time the Sena will be contesting after its chief Bal Thackerays death in 2012.

Although talks of an alliance between the two parties are on, there has been no official declaration yet.

The difference in their performance, in terms of scores, has been marginal. But none of the parties scored even above 70, which is a huge disappointment, Mhaske said.

The Sena also had more corporators scoring when it came to questions asked in the last five years and the importance of the issues raised at committee meetings. Six of the 10 corporators that citizens said were most accessible are also from the Sena.

But three Sena councillors also found themselves in a list of corporators who asked questions not related to citizen complaints.

Despite its small presence in the BMC, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), with just 28 corporators, managed to feature in the top 10 list, the number and importance of questions asked and raising citizens issues in the meetings. MNS corporator Santosh Dhuri from Worli was top-ranked in 2016.

Mhaske credits this to the energy with which MNS won the 28 seats in the civic elections in 2012. It was represented by just seven corporators earlier.

The party did well because it wanted to prove itself, he added.

Opposition party Congress, despite its numbers, did not make a mark in the top 10 categories.

The top 10 councillors in each category has the same names  opposition leader Pravin Chheda from Ghatkopar and standing committee member Sunil More from Naigaum. Being the main opposition, the party has 52 members in the corporation.

The Congress also has four corporators in the list of those who scored least in perceived performance.

Performances are getting better with each year, but there still needs to be an improvement in the quality of their deliberations, better participation in meetings by corporators and doing work that citizens appreciate, Mhaske said.

READ MORE

Spotted code of conduct being violated? Tell EC on this app

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1. In 24 hours, you will know if Shiv Sena, BJP will tie up for BMC elections

After two weeks of unfruitful talks and a tussle over seats, the fate of the alliance between the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Mumbai civic polls is likely to be decided in the next 24 hours. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis met early Wednesday morning, according to sources. Read

2. BMC polls: Mumbai police to keep an eye on parties spend on Facebook, Twitter campaigns

Not just outdoor campaigning, candidates and political parties in Mumbai will also have to explain their expenditure on social media promotion this Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. The Mumbai police have handpicked a core group from among their social media cell (SMC) to keep an eye on promotional posts on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, WhatsApp and other social media sites and report the matter to the state election commission (SEC). Read

3. Morning walk, cycle ride along cleaner, greener Mithi river in Mumbai may soon be possible

You could soon walk and cycle along a clean Mithi river, as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has selected a final design for the revamp of the Maharashtra Nature Park at Dharavi. The park, transformed from a wasteland into a green woodland, is spread along the south bank of the river. Read

4. Weather concerns: El Nino shows signs of resurfacing, could affect monsoon 2017: Skymet

El Nino could resurface this year, affecting rainfall in the country, private weather forecaster Skymet has said. Skymet said that climate models from across the world suggested a shift in weather conditions from mid-January, that could lead to the resurfacing of El Nino  a weather phenomenon caused when warm water from the western Pacific Ocean flows east. Globally, it rains where the water is warm. If the Pacific warms up, the precipitation shifts in that direction, weakening monsoon currents in other parts of the world. Read

5. Mumbai police arrest 3 Guj residents deported from London for travelling on fake passports

The London airport authorities deported three people from Gujarat -- two women and a man -- who were on their way to Canada on tourist visas for travelling using fake passports. The trio landed in Mumbai on Saturday and will be in the custody of Sahar police till January 26. Read
A 3,500 sq ft trauma care centre constructed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) on the Mumbai-Pune expressway, which has been ready since the past two years, will be operational by April. The state health department is currently evaluating proposals from three medical institutions to supply staff to the centre.

The centre at Ozarde, near Talegaon has operation rooms, recovery rooms and two helipads. However, it was not commissioned as there were no doctors or paramedical staff to treat accident victims. A senior MSRDC official said the corporation has written several letters to the state health department over the past two years, asking them to appoint an agency to run the centre. However, they have not received a response.

The state health department received proposals from Mahatma Gandhi Medical College in Kamothe, Shree Shankar Charitable Trust in Pune and Sancheti Hospital in Pune to supply staff.

We are currently evaluating their proposals based on parameters we had set. This will be done by the end of the month and the centre will be operational by April, said Dr HH Chavan, deputy director of health services, Pune.

The 94-km expressway, touted to rival the best in the world, is fast emerging as a death trap considering the number of accidents and deaths on it. Between 2010 and 2016, 4,634 accidents on the expressway cost 1,323 people their lives. With such a high rate of accidents, a trauma care centre is essential to provide medical assistance in the golden hour to save lives.

Mumbais Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust has agreed to fund the equipment required for the centre. We have told the MSRDC that we will fund the equipment, for which we have made a provision of Rs1.25 crore in our budget. As soon as the government appoints an agency to run the centre, we will release the funds. We are prepared to donate more if the need arises, said Naresh Rane, chairman of the trust.

Read:

Stronger mobile network, WiFi on Mumbai-Pune Expressway soon

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A 24-year-old constable of Uttar Pradesh police was shot at by an armed assailant in Chotpur Colony in wee hours of Wednesday.

Police said constable Brijesh Yadav was attacked around 4am when he was on patrol duty in a PCR van along with another constable Rajiv Kumar.

The patrolling team found two youths on motorbike with a bag and signalled them to stop. The men tried to flee the spot and the PCR van gave chase.

The duo, on a white Karizma motorcycle, was chased for 1km by the police team. The constables closed in on the two suspects and a fight ensued between the policemen and the suspects.

During the scuffle, one of the suspects allegedly opened fire on Yadav. A bullet him on his right hand and he was rushed to Fortis hospital, where his condition is stable. The police party returned fire, but the assailants escaped after ditching their motorbike.

Superintendent of police Dinesh Yadav said, After the incident, constable Rajiv Kumar informed the nearby police station. The area was cordoned off and documents and the bike were seized. On the basis of those documents, the addresses of the culprits were traced.

Police said the accused have been identified as Ashwani and Subodh Yadav, residents of Kannauj and Farukhabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Teams have been constituted to nab Subodh Yadav. A case under relevant sections has been registered at Phase-3 police station of Noida.

Yadav, who hails from Sambal, was recruited in police in 2016 and is presently posted at Chijarsi, the police said.

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Ahead of Republic Day celebrations, the city police are on high alert and security at various public places has been stepped up. PCR vans and police personnel in civil clothes will be deployed at public places in order to maintain law and order during the celebrations, senior police officers said.

The police have started checking hotels, shopping malls, metro stations and other public places in a bid to prevent any untoward incident.

According to senior officers, anti-terror squad and civil police carried out a joint checking spree at Vaishali metro station and Kaushambi metro station on Wednesday afternoon.

We carried out a checking in the parking spots of both metro stations and also removed squatters and hawkers from the periphery of the metro stations. The officials of the Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) are also on high alert and have intensified their checking as well, said Anil Kumar Yadav, circle officer, Indirapuram.

Further, the police also carried out a checking drive at shopping malls such as EDM in Kaushambi, Mahagun Metro Mall in Vaishali and Shipra Mall in Indirapuram, which are expected to see a large crowd on Republic Day as various schemes are currently on at the shopping outlets to celebrate the occasion.

Our main focus will be on shopping malls and areas around liquor shops. Special instructions have been given to all security agencies in malls and parking areas to check each and every vehicle, and frisk each visitor thoroughly, Yadav said.

In Noida too, the police and anti-terror squad carried out similar checks at GIP Mall in Sector 38A, DLF Mall in Sector 18 and Spice Mall in Sector 25A.

Officials said round-the-clock duties have been assigned at border police posts in Noida to monitor suspicious activities.

We are keeping an eye on the border and a 24-hour duty has been assigned at border check posts with one assistant sub-inspector and one constable doing the night shift. Apart from this, security at all six metro stations in Noida has also been increased, said Dr Gaurav Grover, additional superintendent of police, Noida.

Meanwhile, officials of the meteorological department have predicted rain on Republic Day.

It is expected that it may start raining from Wednesday night and may go on till Thursday afternoon. Consequently, the temperature is also expected to go down and the maximum temperature is expected to be around 19 degrees Celsius on Thursday. The maximum temperature was 26 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, said an official from the department.

Several Republic Day celebrations have been organised in the open by residential societies.

Unfurling the flag and cultural programmes in our society are being done in the open. In case it rains, we will have to shift the prize distribution ceremony indoors as it is the only activity that can be done in a closed space. If it rains heavily, we may have to cancel the programme, said KC Mishra, member of sector 2, Vasundhara residents welfare association.

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There are rare people in society who draw inspiration from tragedy in personal life and make a career out of it.

Meet Rakesh Srivastava, 44, who has made a career in prosthetics and orthotics, after his left leg was amputated 34 years ago following a road accident at Bihars Begusarai district, about 120 km from Patna.

An American Board certified prosthetics and orthotic, Srivastava is currently based in the USA. Founder and chief executive officer of Innovative Prosthetics and Orthotic, he successfully runs three clinics at Omaha, Hastings and Grand Island Nebraska in the USA and has treated about 1000 patients there.

Though he is miles away from Begusarai, where he was born to Manorama Srivastava and Late Upendra Prasad Srivastava, A grade operator in electrical department of Indian Oil Corporations Barauni unit, his heart beats for Bihar.

He wants to pay back to the state and establish a centre of excellence in prosthetics and orthotics. For this, he is scouting for venture capital to set up a manufacturing and rehabilation centre in Bihar.

In May I will meet the Bihar chief minister and the state health secretary with a team of foreign delegates to give a presentation on my project and seek government support to set up the centre in Bihar, he said. I wish to introduce an affordable prosthetics using 3D printing technology here, he said.

Youngest among two brothers and equal number of sisters, Srivastavas life took a turn when he was just 11 years old.

I was a Class 5 student in St Pauls School, Begusarai, when during the summer vacation I along with my parents was going to Nariyar village under Kahara block in Saharsa district, about 240 km from Patna. Spotting my father, who had come to see us off, I ran to the other side of the road to hug him when a truck hit me, Srivastava told HT.

The next thing he remembers was that he was in Begusarai sadar hospital. An unidentified woman volunteered to donate blood, which saved me. I was later rushed to Nazareth hospital, Mokama, (now closed), about 35 km from Begusarai, he said. The doctor there amputated my left leg. On the hospital bed when I asked my mother to massage my left leg and found it missing, I slipped into unconsciousness for six days, he said.

With such a colossal loss, Srivastavas life moved from hospital bed to school campus but the 11-year-old boy maintained his strong mental frame. However, to escape from being paid special attention, thereby making him feel weak mentally, his parents shifted him to another school, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Barauni Refinery Township in Begusarai.

On doctors advice, when I along with my father visited Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), a government undertaking in Kanpur, to get a prosthetic limb, I started developing interest in the field of prosthetics, he said. The prosthetic limb they gave at ALIMCO was painful to wear and many a times it bruised the remaining portion of my leg. This ignited fire in my belly to do something in the field of prosthetics, he recalled.

Srivastavas 82% disability was not an impediment in his studies in school. Despite the accident, I did not drop a year and scored well in matric and inter exams. Contrary to pressure of my parents to switch to engineering or medical stream, I cleared the entrance exam of National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research, Cuttack, in 1990, he said.

Armed with a diploma degree, he worked for some time in New Delhi with an NGO where he met his life partner Anchala Srivastava, an occupational therapist.

In 1997 he got scholarship to study bachelor and masters degrees in prosthetics in the US. He got a degree from American Board of Certification for Orthotics and Prosthetics, which he claimed was an extraordinary achievement due to its strict parameters.

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For over 37,000 university and college employees in Bihar, the wait for salary continues to get longer. In the 2016-17 fiscal, they received salary only twice, the last being on November 2, for four months -- June, July, August and September.

Already into the fourth month without salary, resentment brews afresh among teachers. Universities have not received salary grant since October and with the new fiscal approaching, they may have to wait longer for the sanction.

In the current fiscal, university teachers and employees received their first salary in June for three months -- March, April and May.

The delay in salary payment has affected nearly 7,000 teachers and 30,000 non-teaching employees.

Though universities are functioning at barely 40-45% of their sanctioned strength, timely salary payment continues to be a big ask. Unadjusted accounts by some universities are often cited as the main reason for delays, besides objections from the state finance department.

There was an unadjusted account of around Rs 1,900 crore last fiscal, which now stands at Rs 90 crore. We are trying to convince the treasury to accept it for now. The adjustments took time since the outstanding amount had not been reconciled since 2005. Hopefully, the entire adjustment will be completed soon, said an officer of the education department.

Sources said efforts were underway for the release of salary, which may happen in a weeks time. Once the backlog is adjusted, things will be smoother in future, they added.

Leaders of the Federation of University Teachers Associations of Bihar (FUTAB) KB Sinha and Sanjay Singh, MLC, said the chronic delay in salary payment to teachers and employees showed the governments continued apathy towards higher education.

Talking of wi-fi in colleges without getting even basics rights, can at best be called populist, as it will hardly contribute to quality of education, they added.

The leader said after the human chain in support of prohibition and de-addiction that brought the entire state together, FUTAB would also plan a similar event to raise consciousness about the plight of universities and colleges in the state.

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Mumtaj Bholi stands out. Not only because she is the only transgender among 1,145 candidates in the Punjab assembly polls, but also because its hard to find a candidate whom voters greet by touching her feet, even when she is far from the top rung of her party and, at 48, not that old either.

This is traditional respect for mahants. After all, we bring good luck and most happy occasions are incomplete without our customary visit, says Mumtaj, as we meet her on the campaign trail in villages of Bhucho segment, 15km from district headquarters Bathinda.

Wearing a salwar-suit and sneakers, she has an entourage of 20-odd workers and a tricycle-cart that carries an announcement system blaring songs about inquilab or revolution, a buzz word of the polls this time. She follows the cart, folding her hands, distributing pamphlets, asking the people to vote for hathi, elephant, the symbol of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). How did she get the ticket? I am a known figure in this area. And the BSP is a party that backs the oppressed classes, because winning is not everything.

Mumtaj Bholi during her election campaign in Nathana village on Wednesday. (Sanjeev Kumar/HT)

But she is no novice in politics. Since the 90s, she worked to gather votes for the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) under Bathinda councillor Santosh Kumari, also a transgender, whom Mumtaj has mentioned as her guru in the father/mother section of her nomination form. By 2007, when Mumtaj got involved with the BSP, she had grown out of the gurus wings. Shed been assigned four villages of Bhucho area from where only she or her designated mahants could collect the wadhai. Going and singing at a sons birth still remains my bread-and-butter work. Thats the work God has assigned to us, she says.

Born in a family of Mazhabi Sikh Dalits, she has a younger sister and a brother. When she realised she was a transgender, she had to follow tradition to live in a dera of mahants near her village Lehragaga in Sangrur district. I was barely 10 years old. But my mother was constantly taunted by people when they saw me dancing and hanging out with the hijra group. By the time she entered teenage, she had shifted to Bathinda.

Now, she lives alone in a two-bedroom house. Her sisters husband, son and daughter-in-law are in the house for now, to help out. My parents are dead now. But I visit my family frequently, she says.

In a segment reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs), among the promises she makes is reservation for the general-category poor. And for transgenders! she tells us later. But being a Dalit is harder than being a transgender. As a Dalit, I may not be welcome in certain houses, but as a dancing khusra, I at least have a traditional occupation, she says. Mumtaj talks fondly of a general store that she had started as my collection area is not large enough to sustain me and others who work with me. But then she got into politics, and too busy.

Mumtaj Bholi during her election campaign in Nathana village on Wednesday. (Sanjeev Kumar/HT)

Yet, whats the prime purpose of her contesting the election? Its a first for a transgender in at least the last two assembly polls for which data is available. And, of the 273 voters who have enlisted under the other gender, only four are from her segment.

Some people still hide their identity out of ignorance or embarrassment. I want to make our identity our strength  the shared identity of Dalits, mahants and all other oppressed classes, she says.

How will she do that without enough votes? Thats not all that elections are about. I want to use my recognition to get things done. And its also about making a point to people in the ruling classes. They baulk at the thought of a khusra getting into their raj (fiefdom). I dont remember anyone whos done this before. Winning is not everything, I told you.

As for the contest, the SAD has fielded Harpreet Singh Kotbhai, the Congress has given the ticket to Pritam Singh Kotbhai, who was the SAD candidate in 2012, and the AAP has fielded a former teacher, Jagsir Singh.

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British Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday she would publish her Brexit plan in parliament so that MPs can scrutinise it, but insisted the government's timetable was on track.

The announcement is a concession to lawmakers angered at what they say is the lack of detail so far in May's proposals for leaving the European Union.

It also came a day after Supreme Court judges ruled against May's government and said the prime minister must win parliamentary approval before starting formal talks to exit the bloc.

The Conservative leader said MPs would be presented with a "white paper" policy document outlining her negotiating strategy, though she did not say when it would be published.

"I recognise that there is an appetite in this house to see that plan set out," she told parliament's lower House of Commons in her weekly questions session.

White papers outline proposals for future legislation and form a basis for consultation and discussion.

"I can confirm to the house that our plan will be set out in a white paper published in this house," May said.

However, the white paper was a "separate issue" from a draft law that is expected this week and which will give MPs a vote on formally beginning the Brexit process.

It was reported Wednesday that she will introduce the bill on triggering Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty -- serving notice of Britain's intention to leave -- on Thursday.

May's Downing Street office later said that the white paper would "be based on the speech" she gave last week, in which she announced Britain's intention to leave the EU's single market.

The British Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday was a landmark judgement and a setback for May, just before she flies to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump.

In angry exchanges in parliament with Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour main opposition party, May said she would protect workers' rights in leaving the EU and was "not afraid to speak frankly" with Trump.

But the legal case on leaving the EU has revived divisions within Britain -- after last June's referendum saw 52 percent vote to exit, splitting the country and presenting a potential constitutional crisis.

May had wanted to start the two-year Brexit process -- invoking Article 50 -- without a vote in parliament, but she failed to overturn a High Court ruling that said lawmakers must be consulted.

As the appeal was being heard in December, May managed to win a parliamentary vote that MPs would stick to her March deadline for triggering Brexit in return for explaining her plans.

"The house has overwhelmingly voted that Article 50 should be triggered before the end of March 2017," May told MPs.

"Following the Supreme Court judgement, a bill will be provided for this house and there will be the proper debates in this chamber," and in the upper House of Lords revising chamber, she said.

"There is then the separate question of actually publishing the plan that I have set out: a bold vision for Britain for the future.

"I will do that in a white paper and one of our objectives is the best possible free trade arrangement with the European Union."

A series of high-profile Conservative MPs who backed Britain staying in the EU, including former finance minister Ken Clarke, had called for May to produce a white paper.

There had been concerns that rebel Conservatives could team up with opposition parties to amend the Article 50 bill to force ministers into publishing a white paper if they did not do so voluntarily.

May's Conservative government currently has a working majority of 16 in the 650-member parliament.

May flies to the United States on Thursday, before holding talks at the White House with Trump on Friday.

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Islamist militants rammed a car bomb into the gate of a popular hotel in Somalias capital Mogadishu on Wednesday and stormed inside, killing at least 28 people, government officials said.

Gunfire rang out as fighters entered the Dayah Hotel, which is popular with politicians. A second blast shook the area shortly afterwards, injuring several journalists and others nearby.

Colonel Abdiqadir Hussein, a police officer, said security forces eventually managed to secure the building.

We have rescued the people and concluded the operation at Dayah hotel. The security forces are now inside the hotel and we shall give further details of casualties later, he said.

A still from a Reuters TV video shows a secondary explosion after a suspected suicide car bomb rammed into the gates of a hotel in Mogadishu. (REUTERS)

Duniye Mohamed, a doctor at Madina hospital, said some of the people taken there were very seriously wounded.

The preliminary casualty figure is 28; 43 others were wounded in the two blasts at the hotel, security minister Abdirizak Umar told reporters at the scene.

Several cars and buildings were destroyed by the explosion.

Islamist group al Shabaab, which until 2011 controlled much of Somalia including Mogadishu, claimed responsibility for the attack. Well-armed mujahideen (fighters) attacked the hotel, and now they are fighting inside the hotel, said an announcer on Andalus radio, which is linked to al Shabaab.

The insurgents often launch bomb and gun attacks in the capital in their quest to topple the Western-backed government and impose their strict interpretation of Islamic law on the nation.

In the past two years, African Union and Somali forces have driven the group out of key urban strongholds but it remains active from bases in rural areas.

Somalia swore in nearly 300 members of parliament last month. The lawmakers are due to pick the president but that vote has repeatedly been postponed.
A Bangladeshi man, accused of having married 28 times, has been arrested after one of his wives complained to police, officials said on Wednesday.

Yasin Byapari, 45, was arrested at Taltali in Barguna district and a court sent him to jail in connection with a dowry case filed by his 25th wife, Shiuli Akhter Tania. His plea for bail was rejected pending further legal procedures, officials said.

Taltali police stations chief Kamalesh Halder confirmed the arrest.

Byapari was picked up on Sunday evening from the home of the parents of his 27th wife in Gondamara village.

Tania, who hails from Khulna district and married Byapari in 2011, had filed a dowry case against him in the court of the local judicial magistrate in September. The court then issued a warrant which led to the arrest.

Tania also accused Byapari of suppressing information about his marriages. Officials said the man had confessed to marrying only twice.

After the birth of a daughter, Tania discovered her husband had other wives. She told the media that she had managed to trace the names and addresses of 17 of these wives, and that Byapari has at least five other children.

Tania also accused Byapari of assaulting her and demanding dowry.
Brazilian authorities say more than 150 prisoners have escaped a so-called semi-open prison during a riot, and more than 60 remain at large.

Inmates set fire to one of the cellblocks before escaping from the Penitentiary Progression Center, a semi-open prison in the town of Bauru, northwest of Sao Paulo, the national prisons authority said.

The revolt broke out in protest after a prison guard confiscated a mobile phone from an inmate, it said.

The prisoners started a commotion and some took advantage of it to flee, a source in the prisons authority said.

Inmates set fire to the roof of the cellblock but firefighters soon put out the blaze, the source said.

Graphic locating deadly prison riots in Brazil this month. (AFP)

During the melee, 152 inmates escaped. Military police recaptured 90 of them and were looking for the rest.

The penitentiary department says in a statement that the situation has been brought under control.

At Brazils semi-open prisons, inmates are allowed to leave for work and family visits.

The country has seen a spate of violence at its higher-security lockups this year, with more than 120 people killed.
UKs minister of state for Asia Alok Sharma has extended wishes to the British Indian community and the people of India on Republic Day, saying he believes India and Britain have a bright future ahead.

This is the first time that the role of an Indian-origin minister in the Foreign Office includes India. Sharma was appointed after May took over as prime minister following the resignation of the David Cameron government after the EU referendum last year.

Sharma, a Conservative MP from Reading, responded on behalf of the government at the end of a debate on Kashmir in the House of Commons last week. He said Britain has no role in conflict resolution.

In a message for Indias Republic Day, he said: As the Minister of State for Asia, I would like to extend my warmest wishes to the people of India and the British Indian community in the United Kingdom on the occasion of Indias Republic Day.

Republic Day also reminds us of the deep and longstanding ties between our governments and, more importantly, the living bridge between our people, supported by 1.5 million British Indians who make up our successful and vibrant diaspora community.

He added, I have the honour to represent the government on UK-India affairs and am proud to see our partnership go from strength to strength.

Sharma, who campaigned for Britain remaining in the European Union before the June 23 referendum, said: Our two countries have much in common, our shared history, values, culture and language. We have a bright future ahead.

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British Prime Minister Theresa May has turned down a rare invitation to address the Irish parliament during an official visit scheduled for next week, her Irish counterpart Enda Kenny said on Tuesday.

My understanding is that the prime ministers schedule will not allow that to happen and I am not in control of that schedule.

Obviously, when details are absolutely finalised, we will be aware of those, Kenny told lawmakers.

Dublin is yet to confirm the precise date for next weeks visit, during which Kenny will hold a meeting with the British prime minister.

The invitation to address parliament was sent to Mays office earlier this month, following earlier confirmation of the one-day visit to discuss the implications for both countries of Britains decision to leave the European Union.

Ireland is set to be the only country in the EU to share a land border with Britain after it leaves the bloc, leading to considerable concerns in Dublin over the implications of a return to border controls with Northern Ireland.

Finances will also likely be discussed during the bilateral meeting, as Britain is the countrys single biggest trading partner.

Had May accepted Kennys invitation to address parliament she would have been the second British prime minister to do so, after Tony Blair in 1998 after the signing of an historic peace accord in Northern Ireland to end three decades of violence.
Amid reports of China deploying long range intercontinental ballistic missiles near Russian border with the aim to be able to reach targets in the US, Beijing on Wednesday said it was just a speculation spread online.

When asked by a Russian journalist about the reports, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, What you mentioned is a speculation spread online. We attach great importance to the development of China-Russia relationship. Our relationship is developing at a high level with a deepening mutual trust. We would like to further exchange our cooperation in different fields, she said, appreciating very positive remarks from the Russian side on missile deployment reports.

Russian official news agency TASS quoted Chinas state-run Global Times as saying that DF-41 ballistic missiles have been deployed in northeastern Heilongjiang province near Russian border.

Read: White House vows to stop China taking South China Sea islands, Beijing hits back

China has deployed inter-continental ballistic missiles near Russia with the aim to be able to reach targets in the US, Canada and Europe, the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, doctor of military science Konstantin Sivkov told TASS.

This is an inter-continental class missile with an effective range of 10,000 to 12000 km. The missiles dead zone is no less than three thousand km. A large territory of Russia, practically the entire Far East and West Siberia are not within the missiles reach, Sivkov said.

Selecting this area for deploying the missiles targeted against Russian territory would be not expedient from the military point of view, he said.

If that were the purpose, the missiles should have been stationed deep inside mainland China or on its southern border, Sivkov explained.

In his opinion, missiles of that class stationed where they are will have the capability to reach targets in the United States, Canada and Europe.

This is Chinas response to threats pronounced by the new US president, Donald Trump. Also, Chinese missiles would be able to use a more advantageous northern strategic route for approaching targets in the United States, thus bypassing the US missile defence, Sivkov said.

Strategically, Russia moved closer to China under the previous Obama administration following differences over Ukraine and Cyber attacks.

However, recent reports in state-run Chinese media spoke of Russia may warm up to US as Trump disassociated himself from Obamas policy and looks to pursue more soft line towards Moscow which may in turn impact ties between Russia and China.

The movement of the missiles was highlighted by official Chinese media as Hua on Tuesday said China will not back down from its island building in the disputed South China Sea after Trump administration official made critical comments.
A Pakistani female lawmaker threatened to self-immolate after she was harassed by male colleagues in parliament, telling AFP that the widely-publicised incident shows how laws to protect women are not being enforced.

Nusrat Sahar Abbasi, an MP in Sindh province, spoke of her fury after provincial minister Imdad Pitafi invited her to his private chambers on the floor of the assembly Friday in comments seen as sexual harassment in conservative Pakistan.

She said she protested strongly but the deputy speaker of the assembly, also a woman, refused to take any action.

A frustrated Abbasi was then pictured Saturday holding a small bottle said to be of petrol and threatening to self-immolate if action was not taken.

Federal party chiefs were forced to intervene as the incident exploded on social media, with Pitafi finally caving to the pressure and apologising in the assembly while offering Abbasi a chador, or veil, as a mark of his respect.

Abbasi told AFP Tuesday that the incident was now over, but that it poses a question on the implementation of laws protecting women from such sexual harassment.

Their implementation is still a dream, Abbasi said.

Even us, the parliamentarians are not safe from gender biases and harassment, she said.

Pakistani women have spent decades fighting for their rights in a deeply conservative country where so-called honour killings and acid attacks remain commonplace.

Pakistan has passed several laws to increase protections available to women in recent years, some at the provincial level, but critics have warned that without proper enforcement they will have little impact.

Last year a bill passed in Punjab province redefined violence to include any offence committed against a women, prompting an Islamic religious body to protest that men should be allowed to lightly beat their wives.

Read| Controversial Pakistani model Qandeel Baloch killed by brother for honour
In a slew of executive orders starting on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump is expected to order the construction of a wall along the Mexican border, temporarily prevent people from some Muslim countries from entering the US and suspend the refugee programme.

Trump is also expected to issue orders related to national security such as reviewing and reopening black sites operated by US Intelligence to interrogate terrorism suspects outside the US, and keep the Guantanamo Bay prison open.

Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow, Trump said on Twitter on Tuesday. Among many other things, we will build the wall!

He is expected to announce his border security plans, which would include the wall and beefing up enforcement by bringing in more personnel, on Wednesday during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security.

Read | India should guard its interests in Trump era: Policy experts at JLF

He will follow up the next day with plans to suspend the refugee programme entirely and temporarily ban people from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen and Libya from entering the United States, according to multiple reports.

The wall along the border with Mexico was the centrepiece of Trumps presidential campaign, aimed at keeping out illegal immigrants, whom he had controversially described as criminals and rapists while launching his run.

The US-Mexican border is about 1,900 miles and a wall  definitely a wall, not a fence, Trump has insisted  could cost in his estimation $10 to $12 billion (other estimates pegged the cost at a much higher level) and he wants Mexico to pay for it.

Mexico has rejected any suggestion that it will pay for it, with some leaders resorting to rather colourful language to express their disdain for the idea. But Trump has continued to insist he will make them pay and may push it when he meets Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto shortly.

Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

Also on Wednesday, Trump is likely to announce steps to punish officials of sanctuary cities  cities that shelter illegal immigrants and dont give them up to federal authorities for deportation  and beef up enforcement appointing extra border agents.

But the world beyond Americas southern neighbours will be watching closely Trumps orders expected on Thursday that will prevent people from certain designated countries from entering the US  initially for 30 days, according to some reports.

The list of designated countries also differed  Afghanistan was included in some reports. But the plan was to suspend admissions from these countries by denying visas till the administration figured out a process to vet them adequately.

Trump had started by proposing a blanket ban on all Muslims from entering the US temporarily, had toned it down to restricting the ban only on visitors from countries impacted by terrorism to, eventually, just extreme vetting.

Read | H-1B visa curbs coming, says Donald Trumps pick for US attorney general

The administration was also planning to suspend the countrys refugee programme for 120 days to give authorities time to determine the countries of origin that pose the least risk, according to a news report citing an unidentified official.

The programme for Syrian refugees might be ended, as desired by the president, and the issuance of fresh visas could be suspended till a later, but undetermined date. The new administration also wants to reduce the intake of refugees to 55,000 this year.

Bana al-Abed, the Syrian girl whose tweets about the war in Aleppo caught international attention, has, in the meantime, written a letter to Trump asking him to do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you.
President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders starting on Wednesday that include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries, according to several congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter.

Trump, who tweeted on Tuesday night that a big day was planned on national security on Wednesday, is expected to order a multi-month ban on allowing refugees into the United States except for religious minorities escaping persecution, until more aggressive vetting is in place.

Another order will block visas being issued to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, said the aides and experts, who asked not to be identified.

In his tweet late on Tuesday, Trump said: Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!

The border security measures likely include directing the construction of a border wall with Mexico and other actions to reduce the number of illegal immigrants living inside the United States.

The sources have said the first of the orders will be signed on Wednesday. With Trump considering measures to tighten border security, he could turn his attention to the refugee issue later this week.

Stephen Legomsky, who was chief counsel at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama administration, said the president had the authority to limit refugee admissions and the issuance of visas to specific countries if the administration determined it was in the publics interest.

From a legal standpoint, it would be exactly within his legal rights, said Legomsky, a professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. But from a policy standpoint, it would be terrible idea because there is such an urgent humanitarian need right now for refugees.

The Republican president, who took office last Friday, was expected to sign the first of the orders at the Department of Homeland Security, whose responsibilities include immigration and border security.

On the campaign trail, Trump initially proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, which he said would protect Americans from jihadist attacks.

Both Trump and his nominee for attorney general, U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions, have since said they would focus the restrictions on countries whose migrants could pose a threat, rather than placing a ban on people who follow a specific religion.

Many Trump supporters decried former President Barack Obamas decision to increase the number of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States over fears that those fleeing the countrys civil war would carry out attacks.

LEGAL CHALLENGES POSSIBLE

Detractors could launch legal challenges to the moves if all the countries subject to the ban are Muslim-majority nations, said immigration expert Hiroshi Motomura at UCLA School of Law. Legal arguments could claim the executive orders discriminate against a particular religion, which would be unconstitutional, he said.

His comments during the campaign and a number of people on his team focused very much on religion as the target, Motomura said.

To block entry from the designated countries, Trump is likely to instruct the State Department to stop issuing visas to people from those nations, according to sources familiar with the visa process. He could also instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to stop any current visa holders from those countries from entering the United States.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that the State and Homeland Security Departments would work on the vetting process once Trumps nominee to head the State Department, Rex Tillerson, is installed.

Other measures may include directing all agencies to finish work on a biometric identification system for non-citizens entering and exiting the United States and a crackdown on immigrants fraudulently receiving government benefits, according to the congressional aides and immigration experts.

To restrict illegal immigration, Trump has promised to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and to deport illegal migrants living inside the United States.

Trump is also expected to take part in a ceremony installing his new secretary of homeland security, retired Marine General John Kelly, on Wednesday.
No one knows how seriously to take President Donald Trumps threat to seize Iraqs oil.

Doing so would involve extraordinary costs and risk confrontation with Americas best ground partner against the Islamic State group, but the president told the CIA this weekend, Maybe youll have another chance.

The recycled campaign comment is raising concerns about Trumps understanding of the delicate Middle East politics involved in the U.S.-led effort against extremist groups. Trump has said he was opposed to the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Husseins dictatorship. But on the campaign trail and again on Saturday, the day after his inauguration, he suggested the costly and deadly occupation of the country might have been offset somewhat if the United States had taken the countrys rich petroleum reserves.

To the victor belong the spoils, Trump told members of the intelligence community, saying he first argued this case for economic reasons. He said it made sense as a counterterrorism approach to defeating the IS group because thats where they made their money in the first place.

So we should have kept the oil, he said. But, OK, maybe youll have another chance.

The statement ignores the precedent of hundreds of years of American history and presidents who have tended to pour money and aid back into countries the United States has fought in major wars. The U.S. still has troops in Germany and Japan, with the permission of those nations, but did not take possession of their natural resources. And taking Iraqs reserves, the worlds fifth largest, would require an immense investment of resources and manpower in a country that the United States couldnt quell after spending more than $2 trillion and deploying at one point more than 170,000 troops.

U.S. enemies and friends would oppose the move. While Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has accepted U.S. help to retake IS-held territory in his country, he has repeatedly asserted Iraqi sovereignty. He said of Trumps oil vow in November, I am going to judge him by what he does later.

Asked about the matter Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer stressed Trumps economic argument.

We want to be sure our interests are protected, he told reporters. Were going into a country for a cause. He wants to be sure America is getting something out of it for the commitment and sacrifice it is making.

There is uncertainty as to where Trumps idea derives from, though the president has noted that taking the oil is something I have long said. Hints of this notion existed in some of the pre-2003 rhetoric from the Bush administration about the Iraq war paying for itself. But top advisers to President George W. Bush have stressed how the future of Iraqs resources were pointedly left out of decision-making related to the invasion so as not to fuel a perception that the war was driven by oil concerns.

Bush almost bent over backwards not to make a special effort to gain access for us to the oil resources, John Negroponte, who was Bushs director of national intelligence, told CNN.

Regarding Trump, former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Robert Gates told NBC, I have no clue what hes talking about.

Taking the oil would require a permanent U.S. occupation, or at least until Iraqs 140 billion barrels of crude run out, and a large presence of American soldiers to guard sometimes isolated oil fields and infrastructure. Such a mission would be highly unpopular with Iraqis, whose hearts and minds the U.S. is still try to win to defeat groups such as IS and al-Qaida.

This is totally wrong, said Zaher Aziz, a 42-year-old owner of a market stand in Irbil. They came here by themselves and occupied Iraq. And now they want the Iraqis to pay for that?

However unrealistic Trumps suggestion, intelligence officials believe more has to be done to cut off Islamic State oil revenues. The group seized significant oil when it stormed across Syrias border in 2014 and seized the city of Mosul and large swaths of Iraqi territory. The Treasury Department estimated that IS raked in $500 million from oil and gas sales in 2015. That figure is likely lower now as a result of U.S.-led operations, but officials say oil continues to fund the groups recruitment and far-flung terrorist activities.

In terms of oil helping establish ISIS, of course thats oversimplification, said Hassan Hassan, co-author of the book ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror, using an alternate acronym from the militants. He said oil was a small part of the groups origins and early years, when it morphed from an al-Qaida branch to an organization claiming a worldwide caliphate.
The billionaire chief executive officer of Facebook on Tuesday said he is reconsidering the process by which he is trying to gain title to about a dozen small parcels of land on his sprawling estate in Hawaii.

The move to get the land through a unique Hawaii law angered locals and prompted a state lawmaker to propose a bill that would force Mark Zuckerberg into mediation before buying real estate on Kauai.

Based on feedback from the local community, we are reconsidering the quiet title process and discussing how to move forward, Zuckerberg said in a statement. We want to make sure we are following a process that protects the interests of property owners, respects the traditions of Native Hawaiians, and preserves the environment.

Zuckerberg owns an expansive estate on Kauai, but he doesnt own all the land on the estate. There are about 14 small pockets of land, some less than an acre. They originally belonged to Native Hawaiians who were given the land when private property was established in Hawaii in the mid-19th century.

Many of the landowners died without making wills, and it was never determined who inherited the land.

Zuckerbergs lawyers in December filed a lawsuit asking the courts to find these owners so Zuckerberg could provide fair compensation for their land through the quiet title process, according to the documents.

Last Friday, state Rep. Kaniela Ing said he would introduce legislation that would force Zuckerberg into mediation before purchasing land on the island.

We love Kauai, Zuckerberg said. We want to be good members of the community and preserve the land for generations to come.

Zuckerbergs reconsideration was first reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
A 4-year-old Muslim girl in the UK has been banned from wearing a hijab by a Roman Catholic school under a strict uniform policy, sparking a massive row on social media.

The unnamed child was told by staff at St Clares School in Handsworth, Birmingham, that she should not wear her hijab to lessons.

The school has a strict uniform policy, including no headwear or scarf and asked parents of the girl to respect it.

The girls father called on Birmingham City Councils Labour cabinet member for equalities Waseem Zaffar to intervene causing the row to erupt.

The row has now divided senior councillors and womens rights activists who have been locked in a feud over facebook and twitter, the Birmingham Mail reported.

Zaffar wrote that he had met with the head teacher and told her the ban on the scarf was against the equalities act.

Im insisting this matter is addressed asap with a change of policy, he said.

However, his cabinet colleague Majid Mahmood countered that as a faith school St Clares is maybe within its rights to insist upon a particular dress code, just as a Muslim faith school may require girls to wear headscarves.

Mashuq Ally, a former head of equalities for Birmingham City Council, agreed saying there is no religious requirement for girls of infant school age to wear the hijab.

He also pointed out that a faith school is allowed to set its own uniform policy and exempt from discrimination legislation.

Where there are demographic changes which lead to a significant number of Muslim children attending a Christian school, then the parents should ask the school governors to consider changing the uniform policy, he said.

Campaigner Gina Khan attacked Zaffar on twitter, accusing him of backing parents who enforce the hijab on little girls as a means of control.

Councillor Brigid Jones, cabinet member for children, families and schools, was quoted as saying, Each schools governing body is responsible for the creation and implementation of its own uniform policy. However, the local authority is supporting the school to ensure its policy is appropriate, in line with legal requirements, and we are engaging with all schools to remind them of their responsibilities when it comes to setting school uniform policies.
Iraqs oil is the property of Iraqis, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday, in reaction to US President Donald Trump who argued that the United States should have taken possession of the nations crude reserves.

In a speech to CIA officials on Saturday, Trump suggested the United States should have taken Iraqs oil in reimbursement for the 2003 invasion that put an end to Saddam Husseins rule.

Trump also suggested that taking Iraqs oil would have prevented Islamic State from rising up, by removing a source of the groups funding, according to a Huffington Post report of the encounter.

It wasnt clear what he meant, Abadi told a news conference when asked about Trumps comments. Did he mean in 2003 or to prevent the terrorists from seizing Iraqs oil?

Iraqs oil is constitutionally the property of the Iraqis, he said.

The new U.S. president has also sent messages offering to increase the level of assistance to Iraq, Abadi said, without giving details on the nature of the assistance.

Ive got assurances from President Trump that the assistance to Iraqi will continue and that it will also increase, Abadi told a news conference in Baghdad.

Trump has made the fight against Islamic State, the hardline group that declared a self-styled caliphate over parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014, a priority for his administration.

A US-led coalition is already providing critical support to an offensive by Iraqi forces to take back Mosul, the largest city under control of Islamic State. The United States is also providing financial support to Iraq.
India has never interfered in Nepals internal matters as some sections of people often claim, Indian ambassador Ranjit Rae said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters on the eve of Indias Republic Day, he asked what India would gain from interfering in Nepals internal matters. Yes, we keep on hearing in Kathmandu during some political speeches that India is interfering in Nepals internal matters, but actually people in Nepal do not feel that way.

Nepals instability wont benefit India. Thus, we hope that whatever political changes, conflicts and dilemmas Nepal is currently facing can be resolved as soon as possible. It will be beneficial for progressive change in both countries, he added.

India has always been cooperating in efforts to resolve the crises Nepal is facing, said Rae, who will complete his three-year tenure at the end of February.

The role of India in Nepal has been a subject of political and diplomatic debate for long because of the close proximity, the open border, visa-free travel on both sides and the cultural, religious, economic and social similarities.

Rae said Nepal and India must work closely to boost all-round development in both countries. India has always been thoughtful about the economic development of Nepal, he said. We have been keeping up with the efforts that could help Nepal-India relations grow stronger and positive.

He also said the detailed project report of the Pancheshwar multi-purpose project is in the final stage and if the project is implemented, it will incubate several other developmental chains.

The proposal to build the project on Mahakali river in far-western Nepal was floated by Nepal and India almost two decades ago. However, it has been delayed for several reasons. Things finally started moving when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Nepal in August 2014.

Rae said, I believe this mega development will strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries and will lay the foundation for further economic development.

He said work on a cross-border electricity transmission line is expected to be completed in two weeks and Nepal can expect an extra 100 MW from the line.
The US senate confirmed Nikki Haley as the next ambassador to the United Nations, a position of cabinet rank that an Indian-American will hold for the first time in the countrys history.

The 44-year-old politician was cleared with a 96-4 vote in the 100-member chamber.

Haley, a rising star in the Republican Party, had earlier made history by becoming the first Indian-American woman to be elected governor of a state. She was serving her second term when President Donald Trump named her his nominee for the UN job.

As the governor of South Carolina, a state with a long history of racist tensions, Haley caught the nations attention in 2015 by leading the call for removing a Confederate-era flag from the premises of its seat of government and legislature. The horrific massacre of nine African-Americans at a church in Charleston by Dylann Roof, a white supremacist, had spurred the demand.

Haley  born Nimrata Randhawa to a Sikh family  is the fifth Indian-American to be appointed to a senior position in the Trump administration until now. The others are Seema Verma, who will head medicare and medicaid; Ajit Pai, to head the Federal Communication Commission; and Raj Shah, to the White House. The fifth, Preet Bharara, will continue to hold office as the US attorney for the southern district of New York  which has jurisdiction over US financial hub Wall Street  from the Obama administration.

Haley was once considered to be a top contender for the position of running mate for the Republican presidential candidate, and Marco Rubio was expected to pick her if he won the primaries. He didnt, and Haley was at odds with Trump  publicly.

Though Haley did endorse him eventually, few expected her to be picked for a cabinet-rank position. When she first met the president-elect at the Trump Tower in Manhattan, there was speculation that she was being considered for secretary of state.

She may have been, but it was the US job that she got.
Israel has approved 2,500 settler homes in the occupied West Bank, officials said Tuesday, marking a major settlement expansion following the election of US President Donald Trump.

The planned new homes approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman may be the largest number to have been given the green light since 2013, said settlement watchdog Peace Now.

Settlements in both the West Bank and east Jerusalem are viewed as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace as they are built on land the Palestinians want for their own state.

The defence ministry announced the plans, saying most of the homes would be located within large settlement blocks in the West Bank.

Around 100 are to be located in the settlement of Beit El near Ramallah, it said.

Trump, his nominee for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, and the parents of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have all reportedly contributed financially to Beit El.

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Friedman has been president of a group called American Friends of Beit El Institutions.

It said the group raises about $2 million a year for Beit El.

Netanyahu referred to the settlement approvals on Twitter.

We are building and we will continue building, he wrote.

The announcement comes after Israeli officials on Sunday approved building permits for 566 settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem.

- Encouragement by Trump -

The United Nations denounced the move, stressing unilateral actions were an obstacle to peace.

For the secretary general there is no plan B for the two states solution, UN chief Antonio Guterress spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Palestine Liberation Organisation secretary general Saeb Erekat said the international community must hold Israel accountable immediately over the expansion of settlements.

The European Union Tuesday warned that Israels announcements that it will build thousands of new settler homes in occupied Palestinian territory further seriously undermine prospects for a two-state solution.

The Israeli leadership had been emboldened by what they consider encouragement by American President Donald Trump, he told AFP.

Map showing occupied West Bank where Israel officials announced Tuesday 2,500 new homes will be built. - (AFP )

Trump has signalled strong support for Israel, and Israeli right-wing politicians have sought to take advantage, with hardliners calling for an end to the idea of a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu has said he still supports a two-state solution, but reportedly told ministers Sunday that all restrictions on building settlements in east Jerusalem were being lifted.

He also said Sunday he plans to expand construction in large settlement blocks in the West Bank, Israeli media reported, and that he foresees eventually bringing all settlements under Israeli sovereignty.

On Monday, in a reference to former US president Barack Obama, Netanyahu said after eight years of withstanding huge pressures on a large array of topics, first and foremost Iran and the settlements, I definitely welcome the change of attitude.

Were (now) facing great and significant opportunities for the security and future of the state of Israel.

Netanyahu and Trump spoke by phone on Sunday and the two leaders are to meet in early February.

Obamas administration grew frustrated with Israeli settlement building, warning it was eating away at prospects of a two-state solution.

The United States, in a rare move, declined to veto a December 23 UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement building, allowing it to pass 14-0.

Trump had called for the resolution to be vetoed.

- Push from the right -

Israel seized the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 1967. It later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community.

The Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel views the entire city as its capital.

Some 400,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank, with another 200,000 in east Jerusalem.

In comparison, about 2.9 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Netanyahu currently heads what is seen as the most right-wing government in Israeli history and faces strong pressure from the settlement movement to expand construction.

On Monday, he spoke of the advantages the Trump presidency could provide, but also called for restraint.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the hardline Jewish Home party has been among those pushing for immediate moves, such as the unilateral annexation of a large West Bank settlement near Jerusalem called Maale Adumim.

Trump also vowed during his campaign to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital and move the US embassy to the city from Tel Aviv.

The move would constitute a break with decades of precedent and be in opposition to nearly all of the international community.

The White House has however since seemed to downplay the promise, saying it was only at the beginning stages of discussing such a move.
An Israeli tank fired shells towards the Hamas-run Gaza Strip late Tuesday, following an attack on an Israeli patrol, the army announced.

A short while ago, shots were fired towards Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) on routine activity near the border with the southern Gaza Strip, the army said in a statement

In response an IDF tank targeted a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip.

Hamas, the main Palestinian Islamic movement which controls the Gaza Strip, confirmed that three Israeli tank shells had been fired towards an observation post near the Al-Maghazi refugee camp without causing any casualties.

Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008 and the coastal enclave has been under an Israeli blockade for a decade.
Pope Francis ended a bitter dispute with the Knights of Malta by obtaining the resignation of the ancient orders top official in a saga linked to a row over condoms.

The resignation of Grand Master Matthew Festing, confirmed by the order on Wednesday, follows a month-long stand-off that had become a test of the reforming popes authority over rebellious Church conservatives.

The Grand Master was received on Tuesday by Pope Francis who requested his resignation, which the Grand Master agreed to, a spokesman for the Order said.

Read: Knights of Malta take on Pope over sacking leader for allowing condoms in Myanmar

In theory, Briton Festing was in the job for life. His resignation will have to be approved by the Orders sovereign council.

The unprecedented and very public dispute between the Vatican and the Knights was seen by Holy See watchers as a proxy war between Church liberals and conservatives, led by American cardinal Raymond Burke.

Festing and the Vatican have been locked in a bitter dispute since one of the orders top knights, Grand Chancellor Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager, was sacked in December after the charity distributed condoms as part of a medical project for the poor.

The row erupted last month when Francis appointed a five-strong team to examine the circumstances in which the Orders number three was forced out of his job.

The Knights, a Church-linked charity body descended from the crusaders of the Middle Ages, refused to cooperate.

They said the December dismissal of Boeselager was an internal affair.

Festing claimed in a leaked letter that three of the Vaticans appointees had a conflict of interest because of links to a Geneva-based fund in which the Order also had a stake. That blatant defiance of papal authority appears to have been the last straw.

Von Boeselagers dismissal had been seen by some as being the result of him being too liberal for Burke, who has acted as the Vaticans liaison with the Order since being sidelined from more important roles by Francis.

Others said the issue was whether the Vatican was properly kept in the loop and whether Von Boeselager, who has a brother who is said to be close to Francis, was wrongly informed the pope had approved his sacking.

Burke is a prominent conservative figure who has been outspoken in his criticism of Franciss efforts to reform Church teaching on questions related to family, marriage and divorce.
Police say a masked man gunned down two other men inside a cash advance company in New York City.

The shooting happened on Tuesday evening at the Universal Merchant Funding, a small business loan and cash advance company on Staten Island.

Police say the gunman went inside and shot the men in their heads. The suspect then fled in a vehicle.

Police say 57-year-old Michael Genovese, of Edgewater, New Jersey, and an unidentified 52-year-old man were both pronounced dead at the scene.

No arrests have been made and police have not given a motive for the shooting.

No other information was immediately available.
The North Korean elite are outwardly expressing their discontent towards young leader Kim Jong Un and his government as more outside information trickles into the isolated country, North Koreas former deputy ambassador to London said on Wednesday.

Thae Yong Ho defected to South Korea in August last year and since December 2016 has been speaking to media and appearing on variety television shows to discuss his defection to Seoul and his life as a North Korean envoy.

When Kim Jong Un first came to power, I was hopeful that he would make reasonable and rational decisions to save North Korea from poverty, but I soon fell into despair watching him purging officials for no proper reasons, Thae said during his first news conference with foreign media on Wednesday.

Low-level dissent or criticism of the regime, until recently unthinkable, is becoming more frequent, said Thae, who spoke in fluent, British-accented English.

We have to spray gasoline on North Korea, and let the North Korean people set fire to it.

Thae, 54, has said publicly that dissatisfaction with Kim Jong Un prompted him to flee his post. Two university-age sons living with him and his wife in London also defected with him.

North and South Korea are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The North, which is subject to U.N. sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes, regularly threatens to destroy the South and its main ally, the United States.

Thae is the most senior official to have fled North Korea and entered public life in the South since the 1997 defection of Hwang Jang Yop, the brains behind the Norths governing ideology, Juche, which combines Marxism and extreme nationalism.

Todays North Korean system had nothing to do with true communism, Thae said, adding that the elite, like himself, had watched with unease as countries like Cambodia, Vietnam and the former Soviet Union embraced economic and social reforms.

Thae has said that more North Korean diplomats are waiting in Europe to defect to South Korea.

North Korea still outwardly professes to maintain a Soviet-style command economy, but for years a thriving network of informal markets and person-to-person trading has become the main source of food and money for ordinary people.

Fully embracing these reforms would end Kim Jong Uns rule, Thae said. Asked if Kim Jong Uns brother, Kim Jong Chol, could run the country instead, Thae remained sceptical.

Kim Jong Chol has no interest in politics. He is only interested in music, Thae said.

Hes only interested in Eric Clapton. If he was a normal man, Im sure hed be a very good professional guitarist.

(Reporting by James Pearson; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Pakistans envoy to India, Abdul Basit, is among four candidates being considered for the post of foreign secretary, which is set to become vacant when the incumbent, Aizaz Chaudhry, moves to Washington as the ambassador.

Basit is among the four candidates in contention for the post, and the others are former ambassador to France Ghalib Iqbal, high commissioner to the UK Syed Ibn-e-Abbas and permanent representative to the UN Tehmina Janjua, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Intense jockeying for the foreign secretarys position has begun and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has begun deliberations over prospective candidates, the report said.

Sharif has not dropped any hint about his preferred candidate but the Dawn quoted multiple sources as saying that Janjua is the leading choice.

Basit was out of favour as differences had emerged when he hosted Kashmiri separatist leaders ahead of a planned meeting of the foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India in New Delhi August 2014. The move led to the cancellation of the bilateral talks.

Chaudhry will replace outgoing ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani in Washington. Jilani is expected to relinquish charge in the first week of February but Chaudhrys departure may be delayed because he is involved in preparations for the Economic Cooperation Organisation summit to be held in early March.

The government is expected to be extremely cautious in picking the new foreign secretary and Sharif has not even appointed a full-time foreign minister even though more than two-thirds of his tenure has passed. Sharif runs the Foreign Office through an adviser, Sartaj Aziz, and a special assistant, Tariq Fatemi.

Basit is the most senior of the four candidates and joined the foreign service in 1982. He has served as ambassador to Germany and deputy high commissioner in the UK. He was also the Foreign Office spokesman.

Basit was also Sharifs choice for foreign secretary in 2013 and was asked to return to headquarters from Berlin for the new assignment. But Sharif changed his mind and appointed Chaudhry in December 2013, and Basit was then sent to New Delhi as high commissioner.

Ghalib Iqbal is a former naval officer who entered the foreign service in 1983. He mostly served as director in the offices of the foreign secretary and foreign minister.

Syed Ibn-e-Abbas also joined the foreign service in 1983 and has served as deputy high commissioner in India. Tehmina Janjua joined the foreign service in 1984 and has experience in multilateral diplomacy.
The morning after President Donald Trump issued orders to delay environmental rules and restart pipeline projects, Greenpeace protesters climbed a 270-foot construction crane blocks from the White House and unfurled a massive orange and yellow banner with the word, RESIST.

A spokesperson for the environmental group, Travis Nichols, said the protesters are encouraging resistance to Trump and his agenda. A Greenpeace statement said the demonstration is calling for those who want to resist Trumps attacks on environmental, social, economic, and educational justice to contribute to a better America.

Police closed three city blocks to traffic around the site Wednesday morning, but officers on the scene appeared to be doing little more than monitoring the activists, who were secured with ropes and harnesses as they hung from the crane.

Greenpeace protesters unfurl a banner that reads "Resist" at the construction site of the former Washington Post building, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo)

Capt. Robert Glover of the metropolitan police departments special operations division told reporters that seven people were atop the structure.

Time is on our side, Glover said. Safety is our foremost mission this morning.

John Evans, 46, a carpenter who works on the construction site  previously home to The Washington Post  said the protesters must have arrived before workers showed up at 5am.

We didnt see them climb up, he said.

Evans said the protesters were clearly experienced, noting that they were moving their legs and shifting positions to maintain their blood circulation.

Police say protesters climbed a crane at the site refusing to allow workers to work in the area. (AP Photo)

Look how organised they are. They have the same equipment that I use every day, he said. Theyre professionals. Amateurs couldnt stay up there that long.

The protest comes a day after Trump signed orders intended to restart construction of two oil pipelines, the Dakota Access and the Keystone XL. Former president Barack Obama halted the Keystone XL pipeline in 2015 and the Army Corps of Engineers blocked the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline in December after months of protests led by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which gets drinking water from a reservoir in the pipelines path.

Also on Tuesday, Trumps administration moved to delay implementation of at least 30 environmental rules and froze new Environmental Protection Agency contracts and grant awards.

Protesters begin to unfurl a banner at the construction site of the former Washington Post building. (AP Photo)

Police said on Twitter that the protesters actions were extremely dangerous and unlawful. Glover said police would consult with prosecutors about appropriate charges.

A few dozen people were standing outside the site, taking photos, but many just paused briefly before moving on.

David Presgraves, 27, and Victoria Oms, 26, who work nearby in non-profit communications, said they agreed with the protesters message. They both participated in the Womens March on Washington on Saturday.

Greenpeace protesters unfurl a banner that reads "Resist". (AP Photo)

The pipelines have got to stop, Presgraves said. Theres no respect for the native people, no respect for the environment.
In an alleged hate crime, a restaurant owned by a Sikh man in the US state of California has been targeted with abuses like terrorist and the N word written on its front wall.

CJ Singh, owner of Quiznos in Woodland, California said, someone also unsuccessfully tried to light the business on fire and stole money I saved for donations. They even got away with the DVR for the surveillance cameras, likely to avoid getting caught.

On Monday, when he came to work, found terrorist and the N word written on the front wall. This is, like, scary, he was quoted as saying by the Fox40.com.

Woodland Mayor Pro Tem Enrique Fernandez said he is helping to fight back by distributing fliers throughout Woodland in an attempt to fight intolerance.

Were eager to move forward and figure out ways to combat the hatred and the intolerance thats kind of resonated nationally from this most recent election, Fernandez said.

We feel safe all the time, but after this incident, we feel concerned, its not the first one, its the second incident in two months, said Mike Gill, Singhs relative.

Singh said in late October, someone came into Quiznos, told him to go back to his country then thew a rock into the window, the report said.

He and his family are now shaken and upset but not angry at whoever insulted their faith.

Anyone have problem with us, any question, they can come talk to us, Singh said.

Throughout the day, customers came in to eat at Quiznos to support Singh after hearing what happened. The community urges people to learn about the Sikh faith.

Over 200 incidents of hateful harassment and intimidation across the US have been reported since Donald Trump won the presidential election.
Seven-year-old Syrian girl Bana al-Abed, who came to international attention with her tweets giving a tragic account of the war in Aleppo, has written an open letter to new US President Donald Trump.

In her letter Bana, who was evacuated from the besieged city to Turkey in December, appealed to Trump to help the children of Syria, the BBC reported Tuesday.

I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war, she wrote, according to a transcript of the letter her mother sent to the BBC.

She told Trump her school in Aleppo was destroyed by the bombing and some of her friends had died.

Right now in Turkey, I can go out and enjoy. I can go to school although I didnt yet. That is why peace is important for everyone including you.

Read | Now in Turkey, young Syrian Twitter star Bana Alabed dreams of return to Aleppo

However, millions of Syrian children are not like me right now and suffering in different parts of Syria, she wrote.

You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you.

At least 15,000 children are among the more than 300,000 people who have been killed in Syrias six-year war between President Bashar al-Assads regime and rebel forces.

Through her tragic descriptions of life in besieged Aleppo on her @AlabedBana Twitter account, Bana became a symbol of the tragedy unfolding in Syria, although the government had slammed her and her mothers nearly daily tweets as propaganda.

I am very sad. No one is helping Syrian children. Please please please evacuate all of them out of the war.  Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) January 19, 2017

Turkey, which backs the Syrian rebels, is hosting some 2.7 million refugees from the conflict.

Syrian rebels and Assads government are holding peace talks in Kazakhstan but there have been no signs of a breakthrough.

Trumps administration was invited to participate in the talks organised by key players Russia, Turkey and Iran but did not send a delegation.

Trumps spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday that the new US president was open to conducting joint operations with Russia to combat the Islamic State group, who control significant territory in northern Syria.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday asked Japan to lift the travel advisory asking its citizens to avoid visiting Pakistan, following a series of major terror attacks in the country.

Sharif, who met the Japanese envoy Takashi Kurai at the PM House here, said that law and order situation has improved significantly as a consequence of operation Zarb-e-Azb and the country hoped that Japan would review Pakistans inclusion in travel advisory that asks its citizens to avoid visiting Pakistan.

The travel advisory, issued by the Japanese government, identifies different risk zones in Pakistan and advises its citizens to be evacuated immediately from terror-infected border regions with Afghanistan including Baluchistan, and several parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Gilgit Baltistan.

Punjab and Sindh are placed in level 2 risk zone, where citizens are advised to suspend all non-essential travel.

Several other countries, including the US, UK, and Canada, have issued similar travel advisories for their citizens, asking them not to travel to Pakistan, after a series of major terror attacks rocked the country.

The drying up of tourists from some of the worlds biggest economies has badly impacted Pakistans nascent tourism industry and has destroyed a much-needed source of earning foreign currency.

Sharif also said that Pakistan regards Japan as a close friend and a reliable economic partner, according to an official statement.

He said that Pakistan looks forward to greater level of cooperation between the two countries particularly in the areas of trade, investment, infrastructure and energy.

PM stated that both sides need to initiate negotiations on bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the statement said.

The Prime Minister also welcomed Japanese companies to invest in Pakistan that would enhance the capacity of the countrys industrial sector to produce value added goods.
With an aim to establish their first place of worship in Geelong city of Australias Victoria state, Sikh leaders are seeking to convert a former church building into a gurdwara to host daily prayers and weekly gatherings, the media reported.

An application has been lodged with the City of Greater Geelong Council and seeks to convert a former South Geelong Uniting Church building into a gurdwara, reported local daily Geelong Advertiser on Tuesday.

Applicant Prabhjot Singh Dhaliwal said Sikhs who had been living in Geelong for up to 20 years didnt currently have their own local base and that people of the community have to go to Melbourne for worship and social gatherings. The Moorabool/ Fyans Street site, which included the church and the UnitingCare headquarters, was sold in 2013 for an estimated $4.5 million as the Uniting Church offloaded several assets. The property was sold to help ease debt linked to the costly closure of Acacia College in Melbourne, with the church holding its last service in April 2014.

Under the new plan, the gurdwara would be established in the churchs old Sunday school building, which is accessed from Balliang Street, the newspaper reported. Hours of operation would be from 7am to 9pm (Monday to Saturday) and 9am to 9pm on Sunday. The weekly gatherings would be held on Sundays, attracting an estimated 100 people during both periods.

All the activities will be held indoors. No alcohol and smoking will be permitted within the premises at any time, the application stated.

A council decision is not expected to be made before February 8.
At least six persons have been killed in an explosion at a fireworks shop in a market in Yueyang City of central Chinas Hunan Province.

The six victims were suffocated by the smoke from the blasts, late on Tuesday night. Another individual was hospitalised and is now in stable condition, according to local authorities, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The incident took place in a commercial and residential building at 9:08 pm on Tuesday.

It was triggered by firecrackers lit by a buyer outside the store after purchase.

China permits fireworks to be used in month long Chinese New Year celebrations, starting from January 27.
In a long rambling letter, the spokesman for the Taliban is telling US President Donald Trump that its time to leave Afghanistan.

The letter, emailed to journalists on Wednesday, was written on behalf of the so-called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Talibans spokesman, warns Trump that peace will be elusive as long as foreign troops are on Afghan soil.

He adds that independence from foreign dominance is the only asset that an impoverished nation like Afghanistan truly has.

Written in English, as well as Afghanistans two prominent languages Dari and Pashto, the four-page letter waxed on about Afghanistans history, its numerous defeats of invading armies and the reported corruption widespread in Afghanistan on Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump will begin rolling out executive actions on immigration Wednesday, beginning with steps to build his proposed wall along the US-Mexico border, according to two administration officials. Hes also expected to target so-called sanctuary cities and is reviewing proposals that would restrict the flow of refugees to the United States.

The president is expected to sign the first actions  including the measure to jumpstart construction of the wall  Wednesday during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security. Additional actions will be rolled out over the next few days, according to one official.

Trump is said to still be weighing the details of plans to restrict refugees coming to the US The current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim majority countries, according to a representative of a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues. The person was briefed on the details of that proposed action by a government official and outlined the expected steps for The Associated Press.

The officials and the public policy organizations representative insisted on anonymity in order to outline the plans ahead of Trumps official announcements.

On his personal Twitter account Tuesday night, Trump tweeted: Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!

Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten US immigration policies, including beefing up border security and stemming the flow of refugees. He also called for halting entry to the US from Muslim countries, but later shifted the policy to a focus on what he called extreme vetting for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

While the specific of Trumps orders were unclear, both administration officials said Wednesdays actions would focus in part on the presidents plans to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico. Hes also expected to move forward with plans to curb funding of cities that dont arrest or detain immigrants living in the US illegally, which could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars.

Trumps insistence that Mexico would pay for the wall was among his most popular proposals on the campaign trail, sparking enthusiastic cheers at his raucous rallies. Mexico has repeatedly said it will not pay for any border wall.

Earlier this month, Trump said the building project would initially be paid for with a congressionally approved spending bill and Mexico will eventually reimburse the US, though he has not specified how he would guarantee payments.

Trump will meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the White House next week.

In claiming authority to build a wall, Trump may rely on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-President George W. Bush and the majority of the fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office. The last remnants were completed after President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

The Trump administration also must adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built along the border. The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the US-Mexican border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint US-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.

It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still to be finalized. The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the US for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though the person cautioned the details could still change.

There is also likely to be an exception in the refugee stoppage for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.

As president, Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing. President George W. Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.

Other executive actions expected Wednesday include bolstering border patrol agents and ending what Republicans have argued is a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

If Trumps actions would result in those caught being immediately jailed, the administration would have to grapple with how to pay for jail space to detain everyone and what to do with children caught crossing the border with their parents.

_

Zoll reported from New York. AP writer Alicia A. Caldwell in Washington contributed to this report.

_

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC , Vivian Salama at http://twitter.com/vmsalama and Rachel Zoll at http://twitter.com/rzollAP
In a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world, according to a White House statement.

The two leaders also discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India in broad areas such as the economy and defense, the statement said without citing specific areas, sectors or goals.

Modi and Trump, who were speaking for the first time after the new US president took charge last Friday, also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia, but the statement left out details.

South and Central Asia cover many areas of mutual interest to both India and the United States including Pakistan and Afghanistan, and it could not be immediately confirmed if the leaders discussed the drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan.

But Modi and Trump resolved, according to the White House statement, that the United States and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, which has been a priority for both of them and both countries.

Trump is hosting Modi later in the year, but it was, once again, not immediately clear if that will be in September-October when the Indian Prime Minister comes to the US for the UN general assembly meeting, or some other time.

But the two, who first spoke in November when Modi was among the first foreign leaders to call Trump on his election win, are likely to meet during the next meeting of the G-20, which is scheduled to take place in Germanys Hamburg in July.

Since that first call, India engaged with Trump on two separate occasions: The first was a meeting between Indian foreign secretary S Jaishankar and then vice president-elect Mike Pence, and the second on December 19 when Ajit Doval, Indias national security adviser, met Trumps NSA Michael Flynn.

And now the call. The US statement contained no details and it was not known if trade in services, read H-1B, came up during their phone call, as many had expected, since it being the one issue that had agitated New Delhi the most about Trump.

The fate of the temporary US visa programme for high-skilled foreign workers, which is at the heart to Indias burgeoning IT exports to the US, seemed uncertain, given the Presidents own reservations about it, and those of leading members of his team.

They believe the H-1B programme is being abused by the US companies to outsource American jobs to temporary foreign workers, a large number of them from India, and they have been considering ways to make it harder for that to happen.

There is no other area of potential dispute or differences with the United States under President Trump, said an Indian official, who spoke strictly on background. He added: H-1B is the only problem for us as of now.

Read: Five things we know about the Trump-Modi phone conversation

In response to a question on India-US relations, White House press secretary Sean Spicer had said Monday that as with other countries, the Trump administration is focussed on access to markets in manufacturing and services.

Since being sworn in last Friday, the new President has begun engaging with world leaders and has spoken to the prime minister and president of neighbouring Canada and Mexico first  with whom he plans to renegotiate the NAFTA trade deal.

He has also talked since with Egypts Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Israels Benjamin Netanyahu, who he has invited to a meeting in early February. And he meets Teresa May, prime minister of Americas closest ally the United Kingdom, on Friday.

The Tuesday call with Modi, on the second day of Trumps first week in office, is being taken as sign of the priority he is attaching to the relationship, after an unprecedented outreach to the Indian-American community during election.

At an election rally in New Jersey, Trump had said India and the US will be best friends on his watch as president and added in a typically Trumpian hyperbole that there will be no relationship more important to me.

At the suggestion of the Republican Hindu Coalition founder Shalli Kumar, who had organised the rally, Trump recorded a campaign call modelled on Modis election slogan Abki baar Modi sarkar, replacing Modi with Trump.

Also, Prime Minister Modi appears to have an admirer in Steve Bannon, chief strategist and senior counseller to the president, who had in 2014 called Modis election a great victory  very much based on  Reaganesque principles.

Bannon was then chief executive officer of Breitbart News, a stridently conservative news publication, and would become in 2016 a leading and early supporter of Trump, and later went on to head his campaign in August.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would seek an investigation of what he believes was voter fraud in the November election, despite overwhelming consensus among state officials, election experts and politicians that voter fraud is rare in the United States.

The new Republican President has bristled at references to losing the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton and said he would have won it if not for fraud. Trump, a real estate mogul and reality television star, has never substantiated his fraud claim.

I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and....even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time), Trump said on Twitter. Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!

He did not elaborate beyond the two Twitter posts.

I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

Trump complained even before the November 8 election that its outcome was being rigged against him and has said 3 million to 5 million illegal immigrants voted against him.

He lost the popular vote to Clinton by more than 2.9 million votes but won the state-by-state electoral college tally that decides the presidency.

The popular vote and allegations of Russian meddling in the election have led to criticism that his victory was not legitimate. Trump initially rejected US intelligence findings that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered cyber attacks that hurt Clintons campaign to Trumps benefit.

State officials have said they found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the election and there is no history of it in US elections. Leading Republicans also have rejected fraud claims, with House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan saying he had seen no supporting evidence.

On Wednesday, Republican Senator John McCain said Trumps assertions were unsubstantiated.

Theres no evidence of that and I think that those who allege that have to come up with some substantiation of the claim, he told MSNBC.

No evidence

Trumps announcement on Twitter follows a White House news briefing on Tuesday in which his spokesperson, Sean Spicer, confirmed Trump continued to believe that millions of illegal immigrants voted in the election. Spicer did not provide any evidence to support those beliefs.

Federal investigations of voter fraud are rare. A five-year probe initiated by the George W Bush administration turned up no evidence of voter fraud and ended in resignations and more investigations for the Department of Justice, which enforces federal voting rights laws.

Democrats worried Trumps persistence would allow Republicans to impose restrictions on voting.

The great political crisis we face is not voter fraud, which barely exists, Senator Bernie Sanders, who had sought the Democratic presidential nomination, urged in a Twitter post. Its voter suppression and the denial of voting rights.

.@BernieSanders on Trump's unsubstantiated voter fraud claims: "He is sending a message" to GOP "to go forward with voter suppression." pic.twitter.com/MWo2XwCWQ2  ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 24, 2017

Trumps attorney general nominee, Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, has been criticised for his record on voting rights and race relations. A voter fraud case he prosecuted as a US attorney in Alabama helped derail his confirmation as a federal judge in 1986.

Voting rights experts at New York Universitys Brennan Center for Justice urged Sessions to heed lessons of the past.

In 2007, the Justice Department was upended by scandal because it had pursued a partisan agenda on voting, under the guise of rooting out suspected voter fraud, Adam Gitlin and Wendy Weiser wrote in a January 7 report for the centre.

DOJ political leadership fired seven well-respected US attorneys, dismissing some top Republican prosecutors because they had refused to prosecute non-existent voter fraud, they wrote.

The firings scandal prompted the resignation of the attorney general Alberto Gonzales, they said.

A 2007 Brennan Center report titled The Truth About Voter Fraud, cited voter fraud incident rates between 0.00004% and 0.0009%.

A study by the Washington Post found 31 credible cases of impersonation fraud out of more than 1 billion votes cast in elections from 2000 to 2014. Arizona State University studies in 2012 and 2016 found a similarly low rate.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed directives to build a wall along the US border with Mexico and crack down on US cities that shield illegal immigrants, proceeding quickly on sweeping and divisive plans to curb immigration and boost national security.

The Republican President is also expected to take steps in the coming days to limit legal immigration, including executive orders restricting refugees and blocking the issuing of visas to people from several Muslim-majority Middle Eastern and North African countries including Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen.

Trump signed two executive orders at the Department of Homeland Security, one ordering construction of a wall along the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200kilometre) US-Mexico border and the other moving to strip federal grant money from sanctuary states and cities, often governed by Democrats, that harbour illegal immigrants.

In cities such as San Francisco local officials, often Democrats, refuse to cooperate with federal authorities on actions against illegal immigrants.

Read | Donald Trump signs order withdrawing US from Trans-Pacific trade deal

The American people are no longer going to have to be forced to subsidise this disregard for our laws, White House spokesperson Sean Spicer said.

In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Trump said construction on the wall would start within months, with planning starting immediately, and that Mexico would pay back to the United States 100% of the costs. Mexican officials have said they will not pay for the wall.

During a White House briefing, Spicer referred to the wall as a large physical barrier on the southern border.

Building this barrier is more than just a campaign promise, its a common sense first step to really securing our porous border, Spicer added. This will stem the flow of drugs, crime, illegal immigration into the United States, he said.

Trump has long said that he will make Mexico pay for the wall.

Well be reimbursed at a later date from whatever transaction we make from Mexico, Trump told ABC on Wednesday. Im just telling you there will be a payment. It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form. What Im doing is good for the United States. Its also going to be good for Mexico. We want to have a very stable, very solid Mexico.

His plans prompted an immediate outcry from immigrant advocates who said Trump was jeopardising the rights and freedoms of millions of people.

Political theatre

The border wall is about political theatre at the expense of civil liberties, said Christian Ramirez, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition immigrant advocacy group.

It is not national security policy. Border communities are among the safest in the nation and patrolling them with tens of thousands of heavily armed, poorly trained, unaccountable agents puts lives at risks. This will turn these communities into de facto military zones, Ramirez said.

A section of the US-Mexico border wall at Sunland Park, US opposite the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Reuters File Photo)

Trump made cracking down on illegal immigration a key element of his presidential campaign, with supporters often chanting Build the wall, during his rallies.

The cost, nature and extent of the wall remain unclear. Trump last year put the cost at probably $8 billion, although other estimates are higher, and said the wall would span 1,000 miles (1,600 km) because of the terrain of the border.

Many Democrats have opposed the plan and could try to thwart any legislation to pay for the construction in the US Congress, although Republicans control both the Senate and House of Representatives.

Spicer said Trumps directives would also end the practice known by critics as catch and release in which authorities apprehend illegal immigrants on US territory but do not immediately detain or deport them. He said they would create more detention space for illegal immigrants along the southern border to make it easier and cheaper to detain and deport them.

Trumps actions could fundamentally change the American stance on immigration, as well as further testing relations with Mexico.

Read | In open letter to Trump, Twitter girl Bana asks for help for Syrian children

Many Americans view their country with pride as a nation of immigrants, and President John Kennedy wrote a book with that title more than half a century ago. But Trump successfully tapped into resentment toward the roughly 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States and said during the campaign he would deport them all.

Trump, who in announcing his presidential bid in June 2015 accused Mexico of sending rapists and criminals into the United States, has also threatened to slap hefty taxes on companies that produce in Mexico for the US market and to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the Mexico, Canada and the United States.

Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto are due to meet next week.

Asked about Trumps wall, Republican US Senator John McCain said a physical barrier is not enough to secure the border and called for the additional use of observation towers, drones and other technology.

Walls can be easily breached, McCain, whose home state of Arizona borders Mexico, told MSNBCs Morning Joe program.

Read | US President Donald Trump signs order reviving Keystone, Dakota pipelines
President Donald Trump stands by his belief that millions of people voted illegally in the US election, the White House said on Tuesday, despite widespread evidence to the contrary.

The president does believe that, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters.

State officials in charge of the Nov 8 election have said they found no evidence of widespread voter fraud and there is no history of it in US elections. Even House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, the most senior Republican in Congress, said he had seen no evidence to back up Trumps claims.

Republican Trump won the Electoral College that decides the presidency and gives smaller states more clout in the outcome, but he lost the popular vote to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by about 2.9 million.

Trump has repeatedly said he would have won the popular vote, too, but for voter fraud. He has never substantiated his claim.

The comments were the latest in a series of distractions in the opening days of the Trump administration that run the risk of overshadowing his legislative goals and efforts to advance policy proposals.

On Saturday, the day after his inauguration as the 45th president of the United States, Trump complained about media coverage of the crowds that attended his swearing-in ceremony and described journalists as among the most dishonest people on Earth.
The how-to website WikiHow has apologised for a disgraceful cartoon showing Barack Obama, Beyonce and Jay-Z as white people on an article about how to become a congressman.

Billed as the worlds leading how-to website, WikiHow publishes crowd-sourced instructional articles on a wide variety of subjects.

Illustrating its seven-point tutorial on How to become a congressman was a cartoon rendition of a photograph of Barack Obama with Beyonce and Jay-Z that depicted all three individuals as white.

Screenshots comparing the cartoon with the original image, taken after a fundraising event in New York in 2012, was circulated by a Beyonce fan account on Twitter on Monday.

Wikihow turned Obama, Beyonce, and Jay Z white to explain "How to become a congressman." pic.twitter.com/QNTGz5wjaq  FORMATION (@beyupdates_) January 22, 2017

A representative of wikiHow responded on Twitter, calling the image disgraceful and stating that an investigation had been launched into its origins.

In a fuller apology and explanation tweeted on Wednesday, a representative said WikiHow was disgusted and ashamed to have published the image, but that it did not believe it to have been intentionally whitewashed.

When we saw the whitewashed image of Obama, Jay Z and Beyonce, we were disgusted and ashamed. It never should have been on wikiHow.

Jack Herrick, the founder of wikiHow, told the Guardian that the image had been removed, as well as the instruction it accompanied (schedule and attend fundraising events), because the article was being re-written and re-illustrated.

According to the tweeted statement, WikiHows investigation had found that the image was created in January 2014 by a team of illustrators.

1/ When we saw the whitewashed image of Obama, Jay Z & Beyonce, we were disgusted & ashamed. It never should have been on wikiHow. https://t.co/tCIgpPpD2R  wikiHow (@wikiHow) January 24, 2017

One person sketches, the other person colours. The sketcher sent the colorist a black and white sketch. The colorist did not know the race of the models [and] wasnt aware it was Obama and Beyonce. We dont think the illustrator intentionally whitewashed here.

This doesnt excuse the fact that we hosted a terrible image on WikiHow and we needed more diversity on that article, period. Were talking with our illustrators to prevent recurrence and encourage diversity. Especially in positions of power.

Herrick said that WikiHow had issued a style guide in September 2014 that requested more gender and ethnic diversity in images, and since then pushed our requests for diversity further and further.

The 2016 style guide strongly encourages illustrators to be mindful of diversity and asks that they strive to achieve 50:50 male to female character ratio; no more than 50% of characters with white or light-coloured skin; and a variety of body types and, when applicable, ages.

Weve improved a lot on this issue over the last three years, said Herrick. You can and should expect WikiHow to be even better about this in our future work.

The site is infamous for its often bizarre illustrations, which are often circulated without context for comic effect on Twitter, Tumblr and elsewhere on social media.

An online game matching cartoons with the titles of the wikiHow article they accompanied went viral in April last year.
Ten weeks after its sneak attack on Oahu the same Japanese carrier group hit the port city of Darwinand caught the Aussies napping.

The morning of Feb. 19, 1942, dawned hot and humid in Australias Northern Territory. Some 50 miles north across Beagle Gulf from Darwinthe regions sparsely populated seaside capitalRoman Catholic Father John McGrath was working in a field near his mission station at Nguiu on Bathurst Island. Shortly after 9:15 the growing rumble of multiple engines drew the priests gaze skyward, where, through breaks in the clouds, he saw a large formation of aircraft flying toward the mainland.

When not performing his ecclesiastical duties, McGrath served as a volunteer coast-watcherone of several hundred military and civilian observers scattered throughout northern Australia and the South Pacific whose job it was to report sightings of potentially hostile ships or aircraft. Though the Pacific War was scarcely two months old, the Japanese had already landed in the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies and New Guinea, moved into Thailand and Malaya, and taken Hong Kong. Singapore had fallen on February 15, and most Australians believed their island nation was next on Tokyos list.

Unable to positively identify the high-flying aircraft, McGrath ran to a small hut built in the middle of a citrus orchard and turned on his pedal-powered radio transmitter. After anxious minutes spent waiting for the set to warm up, he sent an urgent message to Darwin warning of the incoming formation. Told to stand by, the priest wondered if war had finally come to Australia. He didnt have to wait long for his answer, as minutes later six Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighters of the Imperial Japanese Navy swooped down from the clouds and methodically machine-gunned a civilian transport plane parked on the missions short airstrip.

But the damage done on Bathurst was nothing compared to what was about to befall Darwin.

Though he did not know it, the planes Father McGrath saw had lifted off earlier that morning from four of the six aircraft carriers that just 10 weeks earlier had launched the devastating attack against the U.S. Pacific Fleet and military installations on Oahu, Hawaii. The 188 planes that passed over Bathursta mix of Zeros, Aichi D3A1 Val (a later Allied reporting name) dive-bombers and Nakajima B5N2 Kate torpedo bombers, carrying conventional bombswere on their way to Darwin. Less than two hours behind them was a second attack wave, 54 land-based Mitsubishi G3M2 Nell and G4M1 Betty medium bombers that had taken off from island airstrips in the Dutch East Indies.

While the primary reason for the Pearl Harbor attack had been to cripple American naval power in the Pacific, the Japanese targeted Darwin because of its location. Since the 1939 outbreak of World War II in Europe, the Australian government had developed the port cityhome to the northernmost harbor in Australiaand its environs into something of a logistical hub. The outbreak of war in the Pacific had only increased Darwins importance, and it quickly became a major supply base for the Allied defense of the Dutch East Indies and, to a lesser extent, for the resupply of the threatened Philippines. The Japanese believed they had to neutralize Darwin if they were to continue their advance through the Pacific. Initially, there was talk in Japanese naval circles of actually invading Australia, not with intent to overrun the continent, but simply to carve off the Darwin area and turn it into a huge bomber and fighter base. Cooler heads prevailed, and the plan evolved into a massive air strike. The Japanese military command assigned the mission to Vice Admiral Chu ichi Nagumos Kido Butai, the strike force then centered on the aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu and Soryu , and the man tapped to lead the carrier-borne aircraft was Commander Mitsuo Fuchida, who had led the first wave over Oahu and was determined to turn the attack on Darwin into Australias Pearl Harbor.

Darwin, however, was no Pearl Harborat least not in terms of its military importance. For starters, the harbor was not home to a powerful armada of warships. It was rather cramped, had a bottle-necked entrance with a single L-shaped pier and lacked the floating dry docks and other repair facilities that made Americas Hawaiian bastion so valuable a target. Nor were there numerous airfields nearby, packed with squadrons of fighters, bombers and transport aircraft. Indeed, the single small Royal Australian Air Force field at Parap, just north of Darwin proper, was little more than a refueling depot and maintenance facility. On the day of the raid it was home to just five CAC Wirraway armed trainers, none of which was serviceable, and a handful of twin-engine Lockheed Hudson light bombers. Ten U.S. Army Air Corps Curtiss P-40E Warhawk fighters had taken off from the field early that morning en route to Java via Timor but had run into foul weather and were on their way back.

Nor was Darwin bristling with the sort of anti-aircraft defenses that had protected Pearl Harbor. Indeed, there were only 18 guns in and around the Australian town that could reach airplanes flying at 20,000 feet, most of them 3.7-inch quick-firing weapons, plus a scattering of World War I Lewis machine guns for use against strafers. Most of the Lewis guns were mounted on improvised wooden stakes hammered into the ground.

And Darwin was no Honolulu. Town itself was tiny; a saloon-dotted frontier outpost literally on the fringe of civilization, cut off from the rest of Australia but for a single dirt track to Alice Springs, the lonely town amid the vast area Australians refer to as the back of beyond. Darwin, according to one Australian journalist, was being used as a military Siberia. Soldiers and sailors assigned to the city soon went troppo, symptoms of which might include throwing sticks to an imaginary dog or screaming at ones laundry to dry.

So, again, why did the Japanese attack Darwin?

Since the outbreak of the Pacific War the citys less-than-ideal harbor had been a staging area for convoys bearing troops and equipment to the battle zones north of Australia. And following the early defeats suffered by the Allies in those battle zones, units seeking to escape capture or destruction by the seemingly invincible Japanese came flowing back into Australia through the citys port, civilian airfield and RAAF base. Darwin might not have been the mighty bastion Pearl Harbor was, but by attacking the city and its infrastructure, the Japanese hoped to interrupt the Allied flow of men and materiel toward the Philippines, New Guinea and the islands of the South and Central Pacific, while at the same time inflicting a similar blow to Australian morale as Pearl Harbor had to American morale.

Japans ultimate success in achieving those goals owed much to several unfortunate similarities between the first two great carrier-borne raids launched by the IJN in the Pacific War.

American losses at Pearl Harbor might have been mitigated had a duty officer not disregarded the radar detection of incoming Japanese aircraft, assuming instead the radar had painted a group of B-17s arriving from California. Ironically, Australias first operational radar unit had been set up a few miles north of Darwin and was said to be capable of picking up aircraft as far as 100 miles away. Unfortunately, just one element of the station was missing: the antenna. Yet even if the radar had been functional, operators might only have confirmed the RAAFs belief that the aircraft spotted by Father McGrath were the returning USAAC Warhawks. Finally, just as casualties in Hawaii might have been reduced had authorities triggered air raid sirens following that initial, disregarded warning, the Darwin raid would have resulted in far fewer deaths and injuries had authorities blown the sirens after receiving McGraths warning.

When Fuchida and his strike force arrived over Darwin, there were 45 ships in port, moored and anchored in a manner that largely prevented defensive maneuvering or escape. Sitting ducks generally display more common sense and more instinct for self-preservation, journalist Peter Grose wrote in An Awkward Truth, his history of the attack.

The largest warship present was the destroyer USS Peary, an aging four-stacker that had evaded destruction by the Japanese in Manila Bay, arrived in Darwin on January 3 and been engaged in a series of uneventful antisubmarine patrols. While the ship had more sea room than most of the other vessels in port, by the time its crew realized they were under attack it was already too latefive bombs rained down on the destroyer. Peary was now like a dying animal, dragging painfully along, with her stern gradually sinking, Grose wrote. More than one eyewitness wrote that the forward guns were still firing as she slid under the burning waters. Eighty-eight crewmen were killed, 13 wounded.

Japanese dive-bombers also hit the Australian hospital ship Manunda, killing 12 and injuring seven. Fuchida later said hed seen the prominent red crosses on the ships hull and funnel, but he would have been flying above the melee in a command-and-coordinate position. Unfortunately, several dive-bomber pilots didnt have as good a view and released their bombs on Manunda. To this day many Australians believe the Japanese purposely attacked the plainly marked hospital ship.

The attackers ultimately sank eight ships in port, while 25 others were bombed, thoroughly strafed or beached by their crews. Darwins equivalent of Pearl Harbors USS Arizona disaster was the explosion of the docked cargo vessel Neptuna, which was loaded with ammunition and depth charges. The blast killed 45 seamen and stevedores and, combined with the detonation of several large oil-storage tanks, largely obliterated the port itself.

The ships and port facilities were not the only targets. One bomb struck the post office, killing nine civilian staffers, while other bombs largely destroyed a public hospital. Distress calls were impossible, as the attack had also disabled the telephone, telegraph and cable infrastructure, while the RAAFs jury-rigged communication system radios salvaged from a crashed B-17 and powered by car batterieswasnt operational by the time the Japanese arrived. This despite the fact Australia had been at war with Germany for nearly two and a half years and had watched the Japanese inexorably advance for 10 weeks.

The attackers, for their part, escaped relatively unscathed. The 10 returning USAAC Warhawks had arrived over Darwin just before the Japanese appeared, and five of the American fighters had already landed while the other five provided top cover. Attacking Zeros quickly downed four of the airborne Warhawks and destroyed all of those on the ground; the pilot of the surviving U.S. fighterLieutenant Robert Oestreicher of the 3rd Pursuit Squadronmanaged to down two Vals and survive the experience. His were the first confirmed aerial victories over Australia. Ground fire claimed one other Val and a Zero.

While the departure of the last Japanese aircraft from Darwins skies marked the end of the attack, it was only the beginning of what became the bitter legacy of Australias Pearl Harbora legacy of panic, cowardice, incompetence, desertion, looting and near anarchy.

The first order of business was a measured evacuation. Panicky civilians were impeding recovery efforts, yet no one had the say-so to remove them in an orderly fashion. The local government refused to declare martial law, fearing further panic, and since nobody else was willing to step up, many workers simply dropped their tools, and civilian air-raid wardens, firefighters and other first responders walked off the job.

The American steamship President Grant fortuitously arrived from Manila soon after the raid, the captain having navigated the thicket of Dutch East Indian and Javan islands with nothing more than a National Geographic map. The ship was able to evacuate some 250 women and children (owner American President Lines later billed the Australian government 100 per passenger, though the standard Darwin-to-Sydney fare was only 25).

Others, both military and civilian, fled southward by foot and aboard every available vehicle, including a road grader, an ice-cream vendors bicycle and, notoriously, a fully loaded sewage honey wagon. Many feared the air raid was the prelude to an invasion. With their destinations in mind, horse racing fans dubbed the bugout the Adelaide River Stakes or Alice Springs Derby. One confused sailor asked for directions to the city of Adelaide and was told, Straight down that road2,000 miles straight down it.

Some of the worst confusion involved the men at the heavily hit Darwin airbase, virtually all of whom stampeded after the second attack. There was an awful panic, and a lot of men simply went bush, said RAAF Group Capt. Frederick Scherger. I thought at one stage they had disappeared to a man. We were in a horrible mess. Evacuation instructions had been given in Chinese-telegraph fashion, one person passing them to the next, inevitably garbling the original orders. Some troops were told to trudge a half-mile down the road and camp in the brush, others were told to make for Adelaide as fast as possible. One man even made it to Melbourne, 2,300 miles away, in a 13-day trek. Two hundred seventy-eight airmen never looked back, having gone AWOL or worse.

Meanwhile, in Darwin looting and hoarding became endemic as residents abandoned their homes and shops. Hardly a window along the main street remained intact, and roving gangs, often comprising servicemen, stripped vacant houses bare. Officers, unable to control their troops, either participated in the looting or excused the robberies, claiming their men were running out of food and supplies and, apparently, cigarettes, liquor and beer.

Authorities called on merchant seamen who had survived the sinking or beaching of their own ships to help crew the remaining navigable ships and help unload desperately needed stores. Nothing doing: Union rules insisted they were to be paid and returned to their home ports and could not accept other work in the meantime.

Darwin resident Aubrey Abbott, administrator of the Northern Territory, was the one man who might have steered the town away from anarchy. Instead, he seems to have been preoccupied with the rescue of valuable dishes and other crockery, as well as the substantial contents of his liquor larder, from the damaged Government House, even commandeering policemen to help load the housewares and booze into his car.

The Australian government clamped down on news of the raid, downplaying any information on casualties or damage and decreeing that the media were not to report on it. At the time of the raid Darwin was more remote from Sydney than Easter Island is from New York today, and the media blackout only served to spawn wild rumorsDarwin was in flames; thousands had died; soldiers were shooting looters and deserters; the Japanese were on their way to Sydney. Australian officials should have taken a lesson from President Franklin Roosevelt, whose brutal honesty about the drubbing the Japanese had given the United States at Pearl Harbor helped swing a largely isolationist nation toward a pro-war footing almost overnight.

The death toll for the February 1942 attack known in Australia as the Great Darwin Raid was initially placed at 243 civilians, seamen and military personnel. Postwar estimates boosted that number, and 310 killed and 400 wounded is the generally accepted toll. It may seem a modest loss compared to the 3,600 killed and wounded in Hawaii on December 7, but it ranks among the deadliest events in Australian history. Perhaps more important, the aftermath of the attack was deeply humiliating for many Australians, a people proud of their self-sufficiency and frontier spirit who were shocked they had proven less able to handle adversity than the Pommies back in Englandafter all, neither Londoners nor Coventrians had fled en masse from far worse air raids.

The Great Darwin Raid was the firstand worstof many such attacks. The town and its harbor were bombed 63 more times, the last attack coming in mid-November 1943. But Australia never again faced attack from aircraft carriers. The Battle of the Coral Seaat worst a standoff, at best an Allied strategic victorycame less than three months after the Darwin raid, and the Battle of Midway followed just a month after that. It would be scant consolation to the people of Darwin, but Japan would advance no farther.

Stephan Wilkinson is a frequent contributor to Military History and Aviation History. For further reading he recommends An Awkward Truth: The Bombing of Darwin, February 1942, by Peter Grose, and Carrier Attack: Darwin 1942, by Tom Lewis and Peter Ingman.

Originally published in the March 2015 issue of Military History. To subscribe, click here.
In 1944, though their country lay shattered after years of Axis occupation, Greek partisan forces engaged in a bitter civil war with far-reaching consequences.

On a Friday in mid-September 1944, after a fierce three-day battle outside the Greek town of Meligalas, the victors marched 50 captive soldiers and more than 1,000 civilians into the main square. There, with the frenzied assistance of other villagers, they proceeded to torture, mutilate and murder themsome victims shot or stabbed, others hanged, many beaten to death with clubs, stones, canes, even shoes. When the slaughter was over, the killers unceremoniously dumped the corpses into a nearby well.

The perpetrators were not soldiers of the occupying German, Italian or Bulgarian armies; they and their victims were Greek. The incident occurred during an unspeakably bitter civil conflict between the communist and nationalist forces of a war-ravaged Greece, a clash that began even while the country remained under Axis control.

On Oct. 28, 1940, Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini sent his forces into Greece. The Greek army, despite having no armored support, mounted a ferocious counterattack and drove the Italians back across the Albanian border in what many historians consider the first Allied land victory of World War II. Shortly thereafter the British reinforced the Greek army with a small expeditionary force. In April 1941, howeveroutraged by the humiliating repulse of his Italian allies and anxious to keep the British from using Greece as a base from which to bomb critical oil fields in German-allied RomaniaAdolf Hitler postponed his plan to invade Russia and instead launched a blitzkrieg toward Athens. By early June the Wehrmacht had overrun mainland Greece and the Aegean Islands, driving out Allied forces and sending King George II and his government into exile. What followed was a brutal occupation that lasted nearly three and a half years.

Hitler carved up the country, keeping the most strategically important locations (including Athens, Thessaloniki and several key islands) for himself and doling out the remainder to Italy and Bulgaria (which promptly annexed a long-contested portion of northern Greece). The German high command then established a Greek puppet government comprised of collaborators who considered it preferable to go along with their conquerors rather than die resisting them.

It soon became evident, however, no workable accommodation was possible. From the outset the Germans imposed restitution fees, ostensibly to reimburse them for the cost of their invasion and occupation. After stripping the country of its currency, they systematically seized crops and other foodstuffs, as well as the products of Greek commerce, and diverted all commodities and modes of transportation for their own use. The program, little more than officially sanctioned pillaging, left the conquered without food or adequate clothing. By the winter of 194142, during what has come to be known as the Great Famine, Greeks were starving by the hundreds each day, with the death toll climbing exponentially. The collaborationist government, which didnt want to displease its German masters, did nothing to help. To make matters worse, when other nations sent food for relief, it often fell into the hands of either the Germans or government officials and black marketers, who would swap it in exchange for money or personal property. Literally adding insult to injury, as the Greeks starved, growing numbers of German soldiers and civilians came to tour the nations ancient monuments, bask on its beaches and frolic in the clear Aegean.

The heavy hand of the occupiers drove thousands of Greek men and women into the mountains to form resistance units. In addition to striking at Axis patrols and outposts, they attacked German supply lines, seriously impeding the flow of materiel to Hitlers forces in Africa. Far from united under one banner, however, the resistance groups were separated by politics and even regional mistrust. There were really only two forces of significant sizeand their mutual enmity nearly rivaled their hatred of the Germans. The largest and best organized movementthe National Liberation Front (EAM) and its military arm, the Greek Peoples Liberation Army (ELAS)had been formed in 1941 by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and was in direct ideological conflict with the smaller, weaker National Republican Greek League (EDES).

The two forces would occasionally unite to fight their common enemy. The most dramatic example of their tentative cooperation was a raid designated Operation Harling. On Nov. 25, 1942, 86 ELAS and 52 EDES partisanssupporting a dozen-man demolition party of Britains Special Operations Executive (SOE)destroyed the Gorgopotamos railway viaduct linking Athens and Thessaloniki, temporarily crippling a vital supply link to Field Marshal Erwin Rommels forces in North Africa. Although Operation Harling proved one of the most successful Greek tactical operations of the war and provided a textbook example of effective guerrilla warfare, the truce between EAM and EDES was an uneasy one at best.

Reprisals by the Germans were harsh and indiscriminate, and their Italian and Bulgarian allies followed suit. It was not uncommon for them to execute 50 or more captives, mostly noncombatants, for every Axis soldier killed by Greek guerrillas. They destroyed hundreds of villagesoften after having killed the entire male populationand left nearly 1 million people homeless. Again, the collaborationist government did nothing to protect its people. Instead, in a show of solidarity with Germany it formed a 22,000-strong all-Greek force known as the Security Battalions, which roamed the countryside killing anyone suspected of fighting as, or sympathizing with, partisans. The battalions took special pains to hunt down communists, who had opposed the prewar Greek monarchy.

The Germans and their allies initiated an anti-Semitic mini-Holocaust in Greece, rounding up as many of the nations Jews as possiblegenerally with the assistance of the collaborationist governmentand shipping them off to Auschwitz and Treblinka. More than 80 percent of Greeces estimated prewar Jewish population of 60,000 died during the occupation, though some escaped extermination by fleeing to the hills and joining the resistance.

According to the Greek National Council for Reparations From Germany, when the Germans finally evacuated in October 1944 they left more than 800,000 Greek corpses in their wake. As Hitlers forces withdrew, they destroyed whole towns and villages, roads, bridges, canals and power stations, leaving widespread devastation. Yet the two major Greek resistance forcesEAM and EDESdid not wait for the Germans to leave before turning on one another. They embarked on a civil war that would continue long after the Axis guns were stilled and would suck in British and American dollars, military resources and troops.

In early 1944, months before the German exodus, the communist-dominated EAM set up a provisional government in the mountains of northern Greece, openly defying both the EDES forces and the royalist government in exile. Immediately after the Germans left, the British, who had actively supported Greece throughout the war, re-established a presence in Athens. They brought the opposing factions together and set up a fragile unity government. That effort soon came apart when ELAS refused to turn in its weapons and disband. On Dec. 3, 1944, civil strife broke out, and for the next month and into the New Year, in a series of clashes known as the Dekemvriana (December Events), Athens became a battleground between ELAS and the British-supported government forces.

Ironically, amid the partisan chaos, many of those who had collaborated with the Germans during the occupation managed to elude arrest and punishment, some even finding positions within the government. Greek authorities did try several collaborationist leaders, sentencing one to death (later commuted to life), two to life imprisonment and others to various prison terms. One of those receiving a life sentence was former Prime Minister Ioannis Rallis, who was instrumental in creating the Security Battalions. However, Greek authorities showed little interest in pursuing German war criminals, which was a source of embarrassment to the British, who had set themselves up as the power behind the new government. This pattern, tactfully described as benign judicial neglect, is hardly surprising when one considers that in 1945 liberal-leaning Prime Minister Nikolaos Plastiras was driven from office when it was discovered that during the war he had offered to head a pro-German government in Athens. Two years later the former head of EDES had to resign his cabinet position when his wartime ties to German officers came to light.

The Dekemvriana was the start of the partisan clash. Filling the vacuum left by the German withdrawal, ELAS had established control of most of Greece, with the exception of Athens and Thessaloniki. Britainunder the direction of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his foreign secretary, Anthony Edenrefused to allow communist rule in Greece and committed troops and weapons to the defense of the government. Seeking to minimize popular support for EAM, the British rounded up 15,000 suspected communist sympathizers, deporting 8,000 to camps in the Middle East.

ELAS responded in brutal fashion by unleashing a Red Terror, seizing and executing thousands of members of what it deemed reactionary families and even whole villages. They abducted thousands more enemies of the people generally citizens guilty of nothing more than a modicum of prosperitydriving them through gauntlets of leftist-allied countrymen on into the wintry hills without shoes or coats and feeding them little or nothing. Many died of exposure, while those who couldnt keep up were shot.

While ELAS exacted its bloody reprisals, the government continued its policy of communist suppression, marked by forced evacuations and mass deportations. Tragically, it was noncombatant civilians who suffered most.

Inevitably, EAM-ELAS was destined to lose, given its enemys superior numbers and technology. By early January 1945 ELAS forcesbattered by British artillery, armor and air attackshad conceded defeat. Peace was formalized on February 12 with the signing of Treaty of Varkiza, which promised a political voice to the members of EAM-ELAS, provided they surrender their weapons. Most leftists complied and turned in their arms, only to expose themselves to an unchecked rightist backlash. By July, during the ensuing White Terror, a British-supported national guard largely comprising former troops of the collaborationist Security Battalions had arrested some 20,000 EAM-ELAS members and executed 500. By comparison, the total number of collaborationists executed by the postwar Greek government was 20. By years end ELAS resistance fighters in Greek prisons outnumbered jailed collaborationists 10-to-1. Some would languish behind bars well into the 1960s.

Greece held a general election in March 1946, but in protest of the unfolding rightist persecution the Communist Party of Greece refused to participate, virtually ensuring the victory of its nationalist opponents. And within months a plebiscite voted to return King George II to his throne. With the formal return of the royalists to power, civil war broke out in earnest. By early 1947 the collective force of communist guerrillasrebranded the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE)controlled much of the countryside, and by years end it had again established a provisional government in the northern mountains.

Neighboring Yugoslavia and Albania initially supported the DSE, and its fighters crossed freely back and forth across their borders. One of its more contentious programs involved the abduction of Greek children between 3 and 14 years of age as many as 30,000, according to some sourcesto be raised in Eastern Bloc countries as communists. (Greeces Queen Frederica responded by setting up a network of refugee camps to shelter such at-risk children.) In July 1948, however, relations between Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and Yugoslavias Marshal Josip Broz Tito suffered a major rift that resulted in the two countries severing ties. The Greek communists had to choose a side; they aligned with the Soviets, whereupon Tito closed his border with Greece. Although this proved a major blow, by that time the DSE faced an even starker reality the United States had actively taken the royalist side.

Since its intervention in 1944 Britain had been supporting nationalist forces with economic and military assistance, but by February 1947 Prime Minister Clement Attlees governmentdeep in the throes of postwar austerityinformed the United States it was unable to continue its support and asked President Harry Truman to assume the role of Greeces protector. Truman saw an immediate opportunity to take a stand against an increasingly powerful Soviet Union, while announcing to the world Americas intention to stem the communist tide wherever it arose. As Truman saw it, communism threatened both Greece and Turkey, and he feared that the resultant collapse of free institutions and loss of independence would be disastrous not only for them but for the world. On March 12 he addressed a joint session of Congress to petition for extensive and ongoing aid for both countries.

After detailing the devastation wrought by the Germans, Truman blamed a militant minority, exploiting human want and misery, [that] was able to create political chaos. Greece, he said, was threatened by the terrorist activities of several thousand armed men, led by communists, who defy the governments authority and rely upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio, fixed elections and the suppression of personal freedoms. Only with support from the United States could Greece realize its destiny as a self-supporting and self-respecting democracy. Describing a potential communist takeover as having effects that will be far reaching to the West as well as to the East, Truman said, It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.

By redefining the very nature of American foreign policy, Truman was in essence declaring the Cold War. He pointed to the Soviet Union as the main foe of democracy; the communist credo, he argued, presented a global threat to freedom, through both military invasion and, more diabolically, internal subversion.

Ironically, the basis for Trumans argument that the Soviets were behind the Greek communist insurgency was flawed. The Soviet Union had, in fact, provided virtually no help to Greek communist forces. At the Fourth Moscow Conference in October 1944 Churchill and Stalin had entered into a coldblooded secret pactthe percentages agreementwhereby the Soviets ceded 90 percent control of Greece to Great Britain in exchange for 90 percent Soviet control over Romania, and 75 percent influence over Bulgaria. Thus when the Greek Civil War heated up, the Soviets were content to watch from the sidelines. As one ELAS veteran recalled years later, Right until the very endwe did not receive a single Soviet bullet.

Nonetheless, Truman successfully painted the Soviet Union as the chief threat to global democracy, and Congress accepted his not-unreasonable premise. Truman requested an allocation of $400 millionwhat he referred to as an investment in world freedom and world peacefor the provision of economic and military aid to Greece and Turkey; two months later Congress complied, thereby initiating the Truman Doctrine. It would define American foreign policy, for better or worse, for decades to come.

The Greek civil war raged until the fall of 1949, inflicting further destruction on a country that had yet to emerge from the devastation of World War II. The Greek National Army, fortified by American dollars, weapons and advisers, systematically drove the leftists from their mountain strongholds. The last battlefought on Mounts Grammos and Vitsi in far northern Greecesaw the communist fighters hopelessly outgunned and outnumbered more than 5-to-1. Finally, on Oct. 16, 1949, the Greek communist radio station announced an end to hostilities to prevent the complete annihilation of Greece. As the firing ceased, many of the communist fighters fled across the border into Albania. An estimated 150,000 Greeks had perished since the commencement of civil hostilities, including 165 priests slain by the communists. Up to a million people had been displaced from their homes. But for the first time in nearly a decade, peace prevailed.

In the wake of the conflict Greek authorities outlawed communism. Although there were sporadic guerrilla flare-ups over the next few years, the KKEs struggle soon dissolved into a war of words, marked by dissension and splits within the party.

Far from embracing the guarantees of individual liberty and freedom from political oppression for which Truman had so eloquently campaigned, the new Greek government instituted a rightist regime defined for the next several years by repression and intolerance. It came as no surprise; a precedent had been set before the outbreak of World War II, when in 1936 Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxaswith the full awareness and support of King George IIhad established a neo-fascist dictatorship that banned political parties, abolished parliament, arrested dissenters and introduced systematic police brutality. When the Germans forced that government into exile in 1941, many Greeks hoped it would never return.

Yet the postcivil war Greek governmentinstalled with the economic and military support of the United States and run by nationalist politicians, backed by the army and marked by autocratic suppression of political expressionwas little better than the Metaxas dictatorship. Shortly after a 1967 military coup that brought anti-communist Greek army officers to power, the junta designated thousands of its leftist opponents enemies of the countryeven as it provided state pensions for former members of the Security Battalions. Not until the 1974 collapse of this Regime of the Colonels did Greece emerge from the miasma of military occupation and internal strife to reassert its claim as the cradle of democracy.

Ron Soodalter has written for Smithsonian, Civil War Times, Americas Civil War and Wild West. For further reading he recommends Inside Hitlers Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 19411944, by Mark Mazower; The Struggle for Greece, 19411949, by C.M. Woodhouse; and Children of the Greek Civil War: Refugees and the Politics of Memory, by Loring M. Danforth and Riki Van Boeschoten.

Originally published in the March 2015 issue of Military History. To subscribe, click here.
What I Learned From Desert Storm

[Re. What We Learned From the Highway of Death, by Stephan Wilkinson, January:] Wilkinson is quick to fault the Allies for not finishing the job in Kuwait, but it was impossible to do with the assembled coalition and impractical to do based on the international situation. I know. I was there.

The coalition was a U.N.-enabled force that included Syria and Egypt. There was no way once Kuwait was freed they would continue on to Baghdad. The U.N. mandate was to free Kuwait. Even the commander of the 101st Airborne Division wanted to take advantage of his position to enact a rendezvous with destiny and move on Baghdad. We were dressed and had all our stuff, so why leave Saddam Hussein in power? The reason was best illustrated by an elderly Kuwaiti man who told me that he hated Saddam, and that if he were present, the man would shoot him. But Saddam stood between him and Iran. The Kuwaitis figured Saddam had been spanked and would stay on his side of the line, and as a Sunni brother they feared him less than the wannabe nuclear Shiite wackos in Iran.

Wilkinson mentions that the war was fought over the United States own oil interests. Well, yeah. This was pre-fracking, cars do not run on rubber bands, and there are no solar-powered airliners.

The lesson of Desert Storm is never again will an army in the open challenge the United States. Do not start wars with people who have thermal night imaging and depleted uranium rounds. We had this stuff to fight the Soviet Union and used it to fight Iraq. Its like going to play against the Oakland Raiders but Crosstown High shows up.

The only exception will be if the enemy senses we have no will to fight. The thought of being degraded doesnt put fear into an enemy like Warthogs and Apaches running up and down your lines with miniguns.

Major Mark P. Brewer U.S. Army (Ret.)

Saratosa, Fla.

Empire vs. Tribe

Empire vs. Tribe [by OBrien Browne, January] was very interesting, and I enjoyed reading it. There is one part with which I would take issue. It is the statement at the end: Yet the grandeur that was Rome survives only in crumbling marble ruins and a few magnificent texts. Hardly anything in the world could be further from the truth. Here are just a few examples where that arguably evil empire has influenced our lives and the world:

The Latin alphabet. Military History is written using this.

The calendar. Even the names of most months come from Roman gods or emperors.

Latin languages like French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Italian. It seems many modern-day French, Spaniards and Portuguese are descendants of Celts. Yet their languages are not derived from those of their ancestors but from that of their conquerors.

Infrastructure. Many roads and canals built by the Romans are still in use.

Cities. Europes biggest cities, London and Paris, were founded by the Romans.

Roman law. The basis of law of all European countries that do not use common law is derived from Roman law.

The cross of Christianity. It was originally a device used by the Romans to kill people in a very cruel and inhumane manner. (The concept of human rights was not a Roman invention.)

George Nielsen

The Hague, Netherlands

Cold War Map

[Re. The War That Wasnt, by Robert M. Citino, January:] Did V Corps and VII Corps get transposed on the map on P. 39?

My experience (late 1980s, early 90s) in Germany was that V Corps was headquartered in Frankfurt (the IG Farben Building), and VII Corps was headquartered near the Stuttgart Airport (almost next door to the Mercedes HQ), and many/ most of the VII Corps units were in Bavaria. V Corps was in Hessen and other nearby states around Frankfurt. VII Corps was basically disbanded upon returning from Desert Storm in 1991. V Corps I believe is now based around Wiesbaden.

James Ross

Goodland, Kan.

Editor responds: Youre correct about the Cold War deployments/headquarters of V Corps and VII Corps, and we apologize for transposing them on our map. VII Corps was inactivated in 1992, within months of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. V Corps was later based in Wiesbaden, but it, too, has since been inactivated, in June 2013.

Originally published in the March 2015 issue of Military History. To subscribe, click here.
Author: Neither side innocent in conflict

between whites and Native Americans

PETER COZZENS is the author of The Earth Is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West, Alfred A. Knopf, October 2016, $35. He has written or edited 16 books on the Civil War and the Indian Wars of the American West. His next book will be a biography of Shawnee Chief Tecumseh.

What does it mean to balance the historical accounts of whites conflicts with American Indians? It means presenting both perspectives as faithfully and evenhandedly as sources permit and examining the actions of both American Indians and white Americans within the context of those cultures. Its less a question of restoring balance than of creating balance. No epoch in American history has been more subject to narrative imbalance and mythologizing than the Indian Wars of the American West. The popular concept tends to be an absolute struggle between good and evil, in which the roles of hero and villain reverse as needed to accommodate a changing national conscience. The story was far more nuanced.

Why isnt what happened to the Indians genocide?What is genocide? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines genocide as the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. The government never intended the physical extermination of the native population of the West. But the government did recognize that cultural genocide would be the outcome of a policy, which, in the parlance of the day, was to civilize or Christianize American Indiansmake them peaceable farmers and citizens. And honestly, as tragic as the story is, it really was inevitable that the Indians would be pushed aside. The United States was growing so fast in the 19th century that native ways of life requiring millions of acres of land to support tribal populations of a few thousand were unsustainable.

Who started the cycle of violence? Clearly the whites; in the West, American Indians fought defensively. The proximate cause of certain conflicts was Indian raidsdepredations as they were often calledbut you have to remember thats the way Indians fought. For them, the common practice of mutilating the dead, which so outraged whites, had a spiritual basis. Warriors believed that a body that entered the afterlife mutilated would pose no threat in that world.

Talk about personalities, starting with the Plains Indian warrior. He would have been raised from boyhood in a culture that extolled warrior virtues. Unless he showed the necessary spiritual gifts to become a medicine man, really the only way to wealth, prestigeand womenwas to prove himself as a warrior. So young men strove to distinguish themselves as early as they could on raids against other tribes. Among the Crow, a young man could not even court a girl until he had proven himself in battle by stealing horses or taking a scalp. The greatest feat of courage was counting coup, or touching a live enemy, usually with a decorated lance called a coup stick. Getting close enough to touch an armed enemy without trying to kill him ranked higher than counting a dead enemy. Plains Indians, by the way, considered white scalps far less desirable than tribal enemy scalps. Warriors saw whitescivilians and soldiersas far less able opponents.

What about the U.S. Army cavalryman? Soldiers in the frontier army were generally from the lowest rungs of society, or were recent immigrants. Many saw the Army as a free ticket to the West. Soldiers deserted in droves after reaching their stations. The exception were the Buffalo Soldiersblack troops who enlisted in large measure to prove the worth of their people. Black cavalrymen were much more reliable, much more dedicated, much less likely to desert than white counterparts. And Buffalo Soldiers were more skilled because they served longer.

Indian agents. During the Indian Wars there were three classes of Indian agent: Many agents were political appointees, who took the job to amass small fortunes by cheating Indians out of their annuities. Army officers, from time to time, were appointed Indian agents. Ive found no instance of dishonesty among them, and they generally had the Indians welfare at heartafter all, if they engaged in any corrupt act, they would be court-martialed and cashiered. The third type were agents chosen by religious denominations, particularly Quakers. They could be too idealistic but they were uniformly honest.

General William T. Sherman. Sherman was doing as ordered, clearing areas of the West for white settlement. When he was angry, he had a tendency to utter some very infelicitous comments. Once, after soldiers were killed, he said, We must exterminate the Sioux down to the last man, woman, and child. He didnt mean that literally. In another breath, addressing a West Point graduating class in the late 1860s while, he advised young officers to help achieve the inevitable resultherding the Indians onto reservationsas humanely as possible. So Sherman was of two minds. He was not an exterminationist.

Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull was determined to resist white encroachmentbut not by aggressive, offensive warfare. He and his followers wanted to be left alone, and fought only when they had to. So if you define greatness as the determination to defend the traditional way of life, then you could argue that Sitting Bull was the greatest of the Plains chiefs. But is that realistic? I would argue that Spotted Tail of the Brule was as great a chief as Sitting Bull. Many Lakota viewed Spotted Tail as a sellout because he was the first of the leading Lakota chiefs to come to an accommodation with the whites and settle peaceably on the reservation. But Spotted Tail fought hard and continually for the best possible terms and preserve what he could of his peoples way of life. It depends on how you define greatness.

What do we get wrong about the Little Bighorn? The assumption that General George Armstrong Custer was a fool and that he disobeyed orders. I subscribed to that theory until I began researching the Little Bighorn and realized that in attacking the Lakota-Cheyenne village Custer was carrying out orders from General Alfred Terry. And yes, Custer was outnumbered but he was acting on the best intelligence that the Army had at the moment that he began his mission. The Army assumed that there were at most 800 warriors in the village when in fact, in the days before Custer began his four-day march to the Little Bighorn, that number grew to 1,800. Custer had no way of knowing thatand there was also a longstanding assumption among soldiers that when attacked, the inhabitants of an Indian village would flee. On the afternoon of June 25, 1876, Custer didnt want to attack; his men were exhausted and he wanted to rest overnight and attack in the morning. But he was led to believe, incorrectly, that he had been discovered. He erred in splitting his command. But to say that he disobeyed orders is incorrect, and to call him a fool for launching an attack is unfair. I think if he had kept his men together he would have prevailed.

If you could have been present at one moment, what would it be? The tragedy at Wounded Knee, just to make sure that what I conclude is in fact what happened. I do not call Wounded Knee a massacre, because a massacre is the purposeful killing of noncombatants with little or no threat to the perpetrators.

Even in the ravine? In the ravine, individual soldiers committed atrocities. Firing Hotchkiss guns into the ravine was horrible, but among those women and children, there were warriors still firing on the soldiers. It was not the intent of the Seventh Cavalry leadership to massacre noncombatants. Tragically, many women and children who were killed early on were hit by Indian bullets in the crossfire.

Which site did you find the most moving? The site of the Dull Knife fight in November 1876. This was the principal village of the Northern Cheyenne. They were camped in a huge box canyon along a fork of the Powder River in Wyoming Territory. The 4th Cavalry attacked at daylight and the entire village was destroyedand with it, almost all of the Northern Cheyennes cultural patrimony. After the battle, the villagers were forced to flee into the mountains in temperatures that dropped that night to 30 or 40 degrees below zero. That battlefield is preserved with complete integrity because it is on a private ranch. The fact that the site is so well preserved and was the scene of a cultural apocalypse make it particularly haunting and poignant.
The 2,000-year-old hilltop fortress stands as a revered symbol of Jewish nationalism but does the historic record support the myth or a very different reality?

In 1963 Yigael Yadin, famed archeologist and former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, began excavating an ancient mountaintop fortress overlooking the Dead Sea. Known as Masada, the site was established in the 1st century BC by Judaean King Alexander Jannaeus and later fortified on the order of King Herod the Great, who envisioned Masada as a last redoubt in the event of war or civil unrest. Herods workers enclosed the flat top of the steep-sided, quarter-mile-high plateau within a casemate wall, the first line of defense for his palaces, barracks and other structures built over the course of some two decades. Cisterns hewn from solid rock and vast grain storehouses provided Masadas residents the means to hold out for months against besieging enemies, and rich furnishings ensured Herod and his chosen guests would pass the time in luxurious surroundings.

Sparking Yadins interest in Masada were the writings of Flavius Josephus, a 1st century Roman historian of Jewish origin. In his writings on the First Jewish-Roman War of 6673 Josephus related the story of a group of Jewish rebels who occupied Masada after being driven from Jerusalem. Known as the Sicarii (dagger men)a name derived from the small, wickedly sharp knives that were their preferred weaponthe rebels used the fortress as a base from which to raid the surrounding region. Finally, in 73 the Romans had had enough and set out to destroy Masada and its occupants.

Josephus writes that the Romans first constructed a wall around the base of the steep mount atop which Masada sat, to prevent the defenders escape, and then constructed a siege ramp leading to the top of the hill. Following the ramps completion, the Romans assaulted the stone outer wall with a battering ram and a makeshift inner timber wall with blazing torches. When they finally broke through on April 16, Josephus notes they encountered no resistance but instead met with a multitude of the slain. The defenders had drawn lots and killed each other in turn, down to the last man, who then committed suicide. In all Josephus says 960 men, women and children died at Masada. Only two women and five children, who had hid in a subterranean cavern, survived to tell the tale.

In 1966 Yadin published a book in which he refers to Masadas defenders not as Sicarii but as Zealots, whom the author regarded as the leaders of a nationalist movement seeking to drive the Romans from Judaea and who had led the resistance in Jerusalem after Roman general Titus Flavius Vespasianus (the future Emperor Titus) took the city under siege in 70. Yadin believed some of these Zealots fled to Masada, where they made their last stand against the Romans and chose suicide over surrender and lifelong slavery. That narrative became widely popular, turning the fortress into a major tourist attraction and a heroic symbol that played a significant role in forging a national identity for the fledgling Israeli state.

Yet there are serious discrepancies with Yadins version of the Masada event.

The story of Masada begins with the Sicarii, sometimes described as anti-Roman freedom fighters. They were, in fact, something quite different. The movement, if it can be called that, has its roots in a family of thieves that gradually assumed the mantle of a quasi-religious militia using profits from robbery, contract killing and kidnapping to support its vague messianic ideology. Originating sometime in the mid-1st century BC, this band of Jewish thieves exploited the area around Galilee and along the Syrian border. The patriarch of the band was Hezekiah, who made a name for himself as a sort of Robin Hood figure by stealing from wealthy landowners and merchants, while leaving the peasantrywho had little worth stealing anywaypretty much alone. After a run of good fortune lasting more than a decade, Hezekiah was captured and executed by King Herod in the mid-40s BC. Leadership of the family business then passed to Hezekiahs son Judas of Galilee.

Judaea was absorbed into the Roman imperium in AD 6, and procurators arrived to govern the country. Authorities ordered a census and required Judaeans to pay the Roman head and land taxes in addition to the civic tax paid to their king and a religious tax to support the Temple in Jerusalem. For reasons that are unclear, Judas led a sporadic revolt against the latter tax. He wasnt paying it anyway, but the turmoil it generated offered more opportunities for banditry. Judas also seems to have fallen into some sort of messianic eschatological reverie and declared that Jews should have no ruler but God and therefore ought not to pay taxes. Predictably, the Romans soon crushed the revolt and executed Judas.

His sons, Jacob and Simon, in turn took over the family business of robbing the rich and prosperous, using the slogan No Lord but God to justify their escapades and gain popular support. Galilee at the time was a hotbed of religious messianism, a land beset by false prophets, self-proclaimed messiahs, bandits and wandering troublemakers. The religious ideology of this Jewish mafia clan went over well with the general populace, however, and Jacob and Simon enjoyed steady profits and wide popularity until captured and crucified by Roman procurator Tiberius Alexander. In the tradition of successful crime families everywhere, leadership fell to yet another relative, Judas grandson Menahem.

Things were generally not going well in Judaea, however. A disastrous drought struck the country between 44 and 48, followed as it almost always was in antiquity by a terrible famine that forced thousands from the land and into the cities and towns. Banditry became endemic, and the countryside erupted in spontaneous rebellions led by mystics foretelling of the coming messiah and the end of Roman rule. Over the next decade the procurators Ventidius Cumanus and Antonius Felix mercilessly crushed the outbreaks, arresting and crucifying many innocent peasants. Such conditions and the messianic ideology of Judas followers made for good recruiting, however, and the business continued to grow.

The Judas crime family made its bones, so to speak, when in 57 it assassinated Jonathan, the high priest. He had been sending reports to Rome regarding Felixs corruption and harsh methods. The procurator sought to put a permanent end to the troublesome priest and had Jonathan stabbed to death while on his way to the Temple in Jerusalem. Josephus recorded it as the first public murder committed by the Sicarii.

When Felix made no effort to apprehend the murderers, the Sicarii entered Jerusalem and continued their outrages for private and mercenary reasons. The crimes and murders went on for days, and panic spread throughout the city. When the Sicarii finally left Jerusalem, they retired to their old haunts in the countryside and continued their campaign of brigandage. To protect themselves, the wealthy and powerful recruited their own gangs of thugs, whom they employed in the increasingly violent conflicts between those who wanted to drive the Romans from Judaea and those who wanted to make an accommodation with the occupiers. The country teetered on the brink of civil war, as various Jewish groups fought one another more than the Romans.

In 66 a minor altercation in Caesarea between Jews and Greeks over the use of an old synagogue flared into sectarian violence. When the Roman garrison failed to intervene, tensions escalated. In protest a clerk in the Temple in Jerusalem suspended the daily prayers and sacrifices for the health of the Roman emperor, at which point procurator Gessius Florus sent troops into the city to confiscate 17 talents of gold from the Temple treasury. When the unrest spread throughout Jerusalem, Florus arrested a number of city leaders and citizens and had them publicly whipped and crucified. Outraged, various Jewish groups converged on the Holy City, overran the small Roman garrison and occupied the capital. Shortly thereafter Jewish militias and rebel groups began attacking Roman citizens and pro-Roman Jewish officials throughout the country. The entire province was in turmoil, Josephus says, till all Judaea was filled with the effects of their madness. And thus the flame was every day more and more blown up, till it came to a direct war.

The Roman governor of Syria, Cestius Gallus, led a 30,000-man army into Judaea to put down the revolt. He pacified the northern coast and Galilee before taking Jerusalem under siege. Yet despite his initial successes, and for reasons that remain unclear, Gallus broke off the siege and sought to withdraw down the Bethhoron pass, descending from the central mountains to the coastal plain. There Jewish militia ambushed the retreating Romans. Josephus records that the rebels killed 5,300 Roman infantrymen and 380 horsemen, while Gallus abandoned his army and fled to Antioch. The defeat further emboldened the Jewish rebels.

The Sicarii were never part of the growing Jewish liberation movement, however. They didnt share the nationalist goal of ridding Judaea of the occupiers, and Josephus does not mention a single instance in which the Sicarii attacked or killed Romans. Even when they returned to Jerusalem in 66 following the takeover of the city, they spent most of their time fighting other criminal groups and terrorizing the population with robberies and murders. The Sicariis primary goal was to appoint their leader, Menahem, as high priest. When the effort failed, and many of their members fell in fights with other factions, the Sicarii fled Jerusalem for Masada.

Gallus defeat in the Bethhoron pass brought a swift Roman response. In April 67 the general Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus (the future Emperor Vespasian) arrived in Ptolemais (present-day Acre, Israel) at the head of two legions, X Fretensis and V Macedonia. Legion XV Apollinaris, led by Vespasians elder son, Titus, joined him from Alexandria. Vespasian further increased his army with troops from local allies and from King Herod Agrippa II of Judaea for a total of 60,000 men. He moved quickly into Galilee, taking several towns from the rebels and forcing the remnants south toward Jerusalem. Within six months Vespasian was in Caesarea preparing to assault Jerusalem. Troubles in Rome forced his recall, however. Command transferred to Titus, who immediately marched on Jerusalem, driving the civilian population before him into the city. Josephus tells us Jerusalems population swelled to 1 million.

While Vespasian was moving through Judaea, the conflict in the southern Judaean towns, between the advocates of resistance and those who wanted to surrender, grew more violent. Those favoring resistance got the upper hand and began looting their neighbors and ravaging the countryside. Then they entered Jerusalem, where the various groups merged into one amorphous gang and began to terrorize the city arresting, imprisoning and murdering many of the most prominent citizens, seizing the Temple and appointing a new high priest. Members of this group called themselves Zealots, and the siege marked their first appearance in the historical record. The city fairly overflowed with a number of factions, including the leaders of the collapsed northern revoltJohn of Giscala and Simon bar Giorawho had managed to elude Vespasians dragnet. Cut off by the Romans, Jerusalem descended into anarchy and brutal civil war, with the Zealots executing anyone who advocated surrender.

Before the revolt broke out, Menahem had formed an alliance with the Jerusalem priesthood, thus en abling the Sicarii to gain control of Masada by treachery. With access to Herods armory, Menahem was able to recruit and arm a considerable number of troops. Marching on Jerusalem, he entered the city and threw in his lot with the other factions against the leaders of the northern revolt who had fled Vespasians advance. But Menahem had personal ambitionshe wanted command of the revolt and to be appointed high priest. To achieve this, he planned to kill Ananias, the current high priest. The Sicarii carried out the murder.

Menahem did not have long to enjoy his new position, however. Eleazar ben Ananias, son of the high priest Jonathan murdered in 57 and now leader of the Temple faction, had the Sicarii leader assassinated as he walked to the Temple clad in the vestments of the high priest. This provoked a violent struggle between ben Ananias faction and the Sicarii, with the latter getting the worst of it. After losing a good number of men, the Sicarii again fled Jerusalem and took refuge in Masada under the leadership of Eleazar ben Yair, whom Josephus describes as a relative of Menahem and who assumed command of the Sicarii after Menahems son was killed.

Thus, by late 66 or early 67 the Sicarii had already been driven from Jerusalem, their leader had been killed, and they had taken up residence in Masada, where they sat out the rest of the revolt against Rome. The Sicarii occupying Herods fortress supported themselves as they had always done, by raiding and robbing. They plundered all the villages around the fortress, Josephus says, and laid waste the entire area while many from every side were daily corrupted along with them.

In early 70 Titus and his legions laid siege to Jerusalem. The Romans first encircled the city with a deep trench, and then used its earthen walls as a place to crucify anyone caught trying to escape. According to one source, on some days the Romans executed 500 people in this manner. That summer, after a seven-month siege, Titus legions breached Jerusalems defenses, slaughtered its population, pulled down its walls and burned down the Temple, the flames quickly spreading to the rest of the city. Sporadic resistance continued in the countryside but was soon overcome. In the spring of 71 Titus sailed for Rome, directing Lucilius Bassus to sweep up any remaining rebels. Bassus died, however and command passed to Lucius Flavius Silva. In late autumn 72, Legion X Fretensis, supported by auxiliary troops and employing thousands of Jewish slave laborers, laid siege to Masada.

As mentioned earlier, Yigael Yadins version of events at Masada has come increasingly into question. defenders of Masada were Sicarii At the most basic level, Josephus makes it clear the and not Zealots. When Menahem was killed and the Sicarii driven from Jerusalem in 66, the Zealots had yet to coalesce as a recognized faction. Indeed, their formation was a spontaneous response by young men in the southern towns to Vespasians advance, and nowhere in the record do they appear before the winter of 6768almost a year after the Sicarii fled to Masada.

Moreover, there simply was no three-year siege of Masada. Yadin lumped the siege of Jerusalem together with the later attack on Masada, which occurred two years after the fall of Jerusalem, making it appear that Zealot resistance was long and continuous when in truth it was short and episodic. While Josephus implies the siege of Masada lasted about four months, in fact the Romans probably concluded operations in about six weeks. Equally curious is the claim that its defenders did nothing to resist the Romans. This stands in stark contrast to Josephus accounts of sieges elsewhere in Judaea, where defenders made strong efforts to hinder the Roman attack. Except for the ramp leading to the Masada summit, the only other archaeological evidence for the siege are a few arrowheads whose quality falls below the usual Roman standard for these weapons.

The story of mass murder and suicide at Masada is also suspiciousthere is no archaeological evidence to support it. Disposing of so many bodies would have been vital in the heat of the Judaean Desert, and the Romans would have quickly buried the dead in a mass grave. Yet Yadins efforts to find any such burial place proved fruitless. He did discover the skeletons of a man in his 20s, a woman in her late teens and a 12-year-old boy. Yadin pronounced these remains of an important commander of Masada and his family. Israeli forensic experts later determined the bodies were actually those of Romans possibly taken captive by the Sicarii. By then, however, the skeletons had already been given a state funeral and burial.

Josephus tells us some Sicarii escaped the Romans and fled to Alexandria, where they also caused trouble. He is unclear as to where they came from, but Masada is at least a possibility. The Roman wall around Masada could hardly have been complete enough to prevent all escapes. The area is devoid of wood and building stones, thus the wall may have been little more than a ditch with pointed wooden stakes on the earthen rampart, much like the typical palisades erected around Roman field camps.

Josephus account of two long and detailed speeches delivered by Eleazar ben Yair to convince his followers to submit to the murder-suicide scheme are likely a literary device, common in Roman-Hellenistic literature, whereby the author invents a speech to explain an event. These speeches are found in the works of almost every Roman and Greek historian of antiquity. Josephus was writing for a Roman audience and utilized the literary motifs most familiar to them. The length and detail of ben Yairs speeches suggest a literary invention more than an actual account, as Josephus had no way of knowing what ben Yair may or may not have said.

Josephus story is more typical of Greek and Roman values, with its characteristic glorification of a heros martyrdom in service to a moral cause, and runs counter to Judaisms basic ethical values. Judaism holds life to be the highest human value and never hopeless, even when it is difficult or tragic. Judaism regards murder and suicide as terrible sins.

That Yadins take on the Masada story gained such wide acceptance is understandablethe parallels between the situation of Jews forced to live under brutal Roman occupation and the situation in which the relatively young state of Israel found itself at the time of Yadins work at Masada are obvious. Yet now, decades later, it is perhaps time to discard patriotic symbolism in favor of the facts history provides.

Rick Gabriel is a frequent contributor to Military History. For further reading he recommends The Jewish War, by Flavius Josephus; Masada Myth: Collective Memory and Mythmaking in Israel, by Nachman Ben-Yehuda; and Selective Remembrances: Archaeology in the Construction, Commemoration and Consecration of National Pasts, edited by Philip L. Kohl, Mara Kozelsky and Nachman Ben-Yahuda.

Originally published in the March 2015 issue of Military History. To subscribe, click here.
With the formal signing of the Treaty of Ghent on Dec. 24, 1814, the War of 1812 drew to a close or at least it should have, if only there had been a faster means than sailing ship of spreading the word. One day after the signing, on Christmas Day, Maj. Gen. Sir Edward Pakenham arrived at the British encampment outside New Orleans to take charge of the army Vice Adm. Sir Alexander Cochrane had landed in Louisiana 10 days earlier. Their goal was to seize New Orleans, with its stores of sugar and cotton, take out the ports privateers and smugglers, and block the Mississippi River to American ship traffic.

That same day newly arrived Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson was putting every man he could muster to work, preparing breastworks of sugar barrels covered with earth, fronted by a disused canal and surmounted by artillery. He also mobilized a motley defensive force combining U.S. Army, Navy and Marine regulars with militiamen and civilian volunteers, the latter including free blacks, Choctaw Indians and Jean Lafittes freebooters4,732 men in all.

Pakenhams 6,000 British army regulars, 1,000 West Indian troops and 1,000 marines could have taken New Orleans in one swift stroke on December 25, but the British general didnt make his move until Jan. 8, 1815, by which time Jacksons preparations had produced a solid defensive line, anchored on one flank by the Mississippi and on the other by impassable swampland. Pakenham was to have opened his assault with a predawn feint on Jacksons left, but Colonel William Thornton of the 85th Regiment of Foot got a late start. Just before daybreak the British main attack set out for the center of the American line. British skirmishers succeeded in reaching the canal, but, incredibly, they had not brought fascines to bridge the ditch or ladders to mount the breastworks. That obstacle and the destruction of British cannon by American guns stopped the main thrust in its tracks. Rolling American musket fire combined with grapeshot reaped devastation. The few British who reached the breastworks were killed or captured.

Pakenham made one last, personal attempt to rally his men, only to be felled by grapeshot. So ended the promising career of the Duke of Wellingtons brother-in-lawnot to mention the 290 other British troops killed, 1,261 wounded and 484 captured or missing. And so began the political career of Jackson, whose brilliant victory had cost just 13 dead, 39 wounded and 19 missing and would eventually propel him to the American presidency.

Lessons:

Be prepared. New Orleans was virtually indefensible when Jackson arrived, but he remedied the situation without delay. The British failure to equip their assault troops with fascines and ladders was a critical factor in their defeat.

Dont dally. Had the British attacked on Christmas Day, the battle would have ended very differently.

Timing is everything. The Americans well-prepared defensive positions constituted an age-old combat multiplier. For the British to overcome their enemys advantage would have required a better-coordinated assault than the one they launched.

Leaders matter. Ned Pakenham had earned the loyalty of his well-disciplined troops through numerous Napoleonic battles and campaigns. But Old Hickory proved just as adept at commanding respect, not only from his regulars but also from the ragtag troops he whipped into a coherent defensive force.

Know the field. Whatever Jacksons auxiliaries may have lacked in discipline was compensated for by their knowledge of the home ground. The Redcoats relative ignorance of their objective was another dooming devil in the details.

Originally published in the March 2015 issue of Military History. To subscribe, click here.
It was a nasty fight with grandiose operational names (Desert Shield and Desert Storm), but the 199091 Gulf War was Americas post-Vietnam catharsisthe first large-scale conflict the nation had won since evacuating Saigon. It was also a demonstration of General Colin Powells doctrine of having a clear objective, assessing the risks, ensuring widespread support, and using overwhelming force to end the conflict as quickly as possible.

All that was accomplished, but did America achieve victory? The enemy went home and regrouped, just to rehash the conflict a dozen years later. The U.S. objective had been clear kick Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait but the job was left unfinished.

The war began when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, claiming that the Kuwaitis were stealing Iraqi oil through slant drilling, and that Kuwaita region arbitrarily split off by the British after World War Iwas actually an Iraqi province. The United States jumped in to defend Kuwaiti sovereignty but more so its own oil interests in both Kuwait and its threatened ally Saudi Arabia, unleashing a six-month bombing and Tomahawk-missile campaign against Baghdad and Iraqi defenses.

At 4 a.m. on Feb. 24, 1991, the ground portion of the war began with a coalition armor advance from Saudi Arabia into Kuwait. Much of the force attacked straight into Kuwait, but an entire corps shifted 135 miles to the west, planning to hook around behind Saddams forces and trap his Republican Guard.

Two iconic scenes from Operation Desert Storm resonate through the decades. One is the sky completely blackened by the 700 Kuwaiti oil wells the retreating Iraqis torched. The other is the utter destruction along Highway 80, which came to be known as the Highway of Deaththe six-lane superslab running from Kuwait City to the border with Iraq.

When Saddams military lost control of the situation within Kuwait, the highway quickly filled with vehicles heading back toward Iraq, and coalition aircraft pounced. Yet of the estimated 1,900 vehicles bombed and gunned on Highways 80 and 8 (which continued from the border to Basra, Iraq), only about 2 percent were tanks or armored personnel carriers. The rest were buses, trucks, tractor-trailers, farm vehicles, stolen Kuwaiti luxury cars and anything else that could carry loot and desperate Iraqis. They were fleeing, not fighting.

Lessons:

Armor needs air cover. Without an air force to protect them, Iraqi vehicles were sitting ducks. To the dismay of the brass, who didnt want the job to sound so heartless, coalition pilots began referring to their operations as tank plinking.

Dont let public opinion trump strategic aims. The devastating air assault paved the Highway of Death with vehicles and charred bodies, so President George H.W. Bush ended hostilities, fearing further attacks would be perceived as simple slaughter. Thus Saddam withdrew to Baghdad with the cream of his army intact.

Dont let a moral crusade morph into a PR problem. If Saddam was the Hitler that Bush so vividly painted, why did the coalition leave him in power?

Dont assume enemy self-correction. Planners widely thought Saddams officers would depose him for having made a hash of the war, and that the U.S. would only need to oversee the transition to a friendlier despot. Never happened.

Desert warfare is for the strong. It awards logisticians who can support forces over long distances, provides the enemy no hiding place, frees the tactician from the constraints of linear warfare, allows airpower the freest rein and turns withdrawal into rout.

Originally published in the January 2015 issue of Military History. To subscribe, click here.
W hen Javier Garcia-Alzorriz picked up the keys to his first home he was full of ideas about how to turn it from a sad-looking little box into something more glamorous. Alas, hed spent almost every penny buying the place, so his taste for luxury  encouraged by his job with a high-end interior designer  did not match his budget.

However, with a willingness to get stuck into the DIY and some super-clever spending, he reinvented the one-bedroom flat in a modern block in Harlesden, north London, from light fittings to flooring, for just 4,000.

It took a year and I worked evenings and every weekend, says Javier, 28, who came to the UK in 2010 from his native Spain to study at the KLC School of Design at Chelsea Harbour. During the one-year diploma course he was introduced to interior designer Jo Berryman who gave the young graduate a chance and he has since worked his way up from intern to project director and senior designer. As his career progressed, in 2013 he decided it was time to give up his tiny rented flat in Notting Hill and invest in a property.

With savings, plus a little help from the Bank of Mum and Dad, he put down a 25,000 deposit on the 185,000 flat which he chose for its affordability, convenient location and good security. About the only thing the property itself had going for it was good light.

His first project was the kitchen, which was laid out in an awkward L-shape in a corner of the open-plan kitchen/living room. He took down the white built-in cupboards and rearranged them along one end of the room. To increase storage he added new upper cabinets from Ikea and painted them all in City Life, a deep, charcoal blue-grey from Crowns Fashion for Walls range. He fitted new Buster & Punch handles, and made a glam work surface using sheets of brass he had cut to size and fitted himself.

Mirrors and reflective surfaces ping light around the large living area / Juliet Murphy

He wanted a mirrored splashback to ping light around the dark space but custom-cut glass was expensive, so he used two Ikea wall mirrors for 60 instead. He then painted the room in the same dark tone as the kitchen. The whole flat is only 475sq ft but Javier said: The room is west facing, very bright with large windows. I felt it could take it if I had the mirrors and the brass to reflect light. He painted walls, cornices, skirting and doors the same colour for a streamlined look.

His job helped  a supplier offered him free parquet flooring, which Javier laid himself. A giant mirror was one of several great eBay finds  it cost 150 and he gilded it himself. He also bought a replica Tulip table and old G Plan chairs, now reupholstered in blue cotton velvet. But his favourite piece is the curved retro Fifties bar he haggled over and got for 200 in Marche aux Puces de Saint-Ouen in Paris. It would have cost 300 to ship it home so he searched lift share websites and found a man heading back from France in a family car who picked it up and delivered it for 80.

The highlight of the room is a retro Fifties bar found at a French market / Juliet Murphy

Javier became an eBay expert, learning that the best bargains were to be had in auctions ending during the working day when most bidders were otherwise occupied. He bought a pair of chrome mid-century armchairs for 17 and as he only had room for one, he listed the spare on the auction website for 10 days starting on a Thursday evening, giving buyers two weekends to discover it and a Sunday night to bid. It made 100.

The small hall is the same blue-grey as the living room, with a gallery of framed family photos on the back of the front door. With Ikea shelving, the boiler room is now a walk-in wardrobe. Marble replaces tatty tiles and is teamed with deep orange paint to give the bathroom a luxe feel. The bedroom is in Farrow & Balls Castle Grey at 46 for 2.5L, with bin ends of Porter Teleo inkblot paperas a feature wall behind the bed.

The bedroom is painted in Farrow & Ball's understated Castle Grey / Juliet Murphy

Bookshelves are Billy shelving from Ikea, spray-painted with a gilt trim, and Javier bought a dressing table from Bluesuntree. Above it, a painting by Moises Ramirez, found on Instagram, cost about 100.

Javier estimates the flat is now worth over 300,000 and he is considering whether its time for his next step up.
A s young London renters continue the struggle to find homes they can afford, housing minister Gavin Barwell promises the imminent release of his much-delayed White Paper aimed at boosting the supply of private rental homes and improving choice for the capitals tenants by encouraging investment in build-to-rent. London Mayor Sadiq Khan also recently pledged his support for the sector.

London accounts for half of the 60,000 build-to-rent homes under construction or in the pipeline across Britain, but this serves only a fraction of the expected demand from two million renters in the capital.

At the same time, the supply of conventional rental homes by small-scale landlords has been hit by strict new laws on buy-to-let mortgage lending.

From 1,375 a month: flats with one, two or three bedrooms at Rehearsal Rooms in North Acton

Get in on Crossrail's act: North Acton

One of the UKs largest build-to-rent groups is M&G Real Estate, which has committed 600 million since 2013 and has 2,200 rental homes under way or planned, many of them in London.

Alex Greaves, M&Gs head of residential investment, says the group is in it for the long haul.

M&G completes its latest scheme next month, Rehearsal Rooms, a joint venture with developer HUB in North Acton, an area soon to benefit from Crossrail. On offer will be a choice of one-, two- and three-bedroom flats, with rents starting from 1,375 a month. Tenants pay council tax and utilities but no service charge, plus there will be high-speed fibre connectivity and parking will be available.

Named for the areas historic ties to the BBC, the scheme will have a full-time on-site building manager to deal with maintenance problems and try to create a community, with regular get-togethers for the residents.

Greaves says they are pricing at local levels, and cutting back on expensive extras. There will be no swimming pools or valet parking and we are not aiming at big-salary earners or investment bankers.

M&Gs primary focus is on 25 to 35 year-olds, but the groups existing tenants in its other London schemes include everyone from students to downsizers and pensioners.

Hopefully more in line with the expectations of people who want to live real lives rather than flit in and out of pieds-a-terre, the flats offer ample storage, with extra space available if required. They come unfurnished or furnished, and bespoke furniture packages are also offered.

M&G offers three-year tenancies but Greaves says tenants prefer to renew annually although the typical length of stay is two-and-a-half years, in line with the national average. He adds: We look at salaries to see what is affordable, and this is affordable for people earning salaries of 30,000 each upwards. Thats our market.

Johnny Morris, research director at agent Countrywide, says other build-to-rent specialists who add extra facilities for premium tenants demand 10-20 per cent above the rents charged by smaller buy-to-let landlords, which isnt much use to Londoners on the average salary of 34,500. Campaign group Generation Rent says this build-to-rent model only helps a small percentage of lucky renters.

From 250 a week: an apartment at Berkshire House in Maidenhead, which will be in Crossrail commuter territory

Rent a hotel lifestyle: Maidenhead and Archway

Scott Hammond, managing director of Essential Living, says his company will be moving into commuter territory shortly with the launch of Berkshire House in Maidenhead, also soon to benefit from Crossrail.

Rents will start from 250 a week and include wi-fi, insurance and furniture, although not utility bills, following a change in legislation. There are no agents fees, no service charges and the shared areas are all free to access  important considerations, he says.

Essential Living designed its first scheme in London, Vantage Point, above Archway Tube station. To encourage community living, a feature of this 17-storey tower is the communal space on the top floors. Rents for the 118 flats start at 375 a week. With a lobby and 24-hour concierge, Vantage Point is run like a hotel.

From 375 a week: flats at Essential Living's Vantage Point, a 17-storey tower built above Archway Tube station in N19

Discount for families: Greenwich

In Greenwich, Essential Living claims its Creekside Wharf will be the UKs first purpose-built block of family homes for rent, designed by Russell Pedley of Assael Architecture.

Pedley says: The design was about maximising outside space and providing a range of facilities and amenities that families would typically want in an out-of-town location. Important things such as extra buggy storage will give these family-size apartments more usable space.

When it completes next year, the 249-home development will also give privately renting local families, chosen by the council, the chance of a home. They will be able to live there at a significant discount to market rents.

MD Scott Hammond adds: Greenwich is the perfect place for families and because we are long-term investors, its important to have a range of apartments people can graduate up through. We would hope that someone taking a studio may one day graduate to a three-bed when they have kids. Offering an on-site nursery, play area and extensive green space means they can create a home in the area, which means renting doesnt have to be transient any longer.

Creekside Wharf: the Greenwich development will be the UK's first build-to-rent block aimed specifically at families

Buy into a brand: Lewisham

If you are a London professional on an average salary of 44,000, premium brands are available. Backed by Thames Valley Housing Association and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Fizzy Living has eight schemes across the capital, with the latest in Lewisham where rents start from 1,315 a month and 1,615 per month for one- and two-bedroom flats respectively.

Compared with the rents on other new-build flats nearby, Harry Downes, Fizzys managing director, says we do charge a bit more  probably less than five per cent.

Fizzys model is popular with 25- to 35-year-old professionals, earning on average 44,000. The Fizzy package includes online portal for residents, free wi-fi, utilities billed separately and an on-site manager to deal with any problems. If required, furniture packs are billed over 40 months before reverting to the resident. On average, tenants live in Fizzy flats for two-and-a-quarter years.

Downes adds: Our service is very specific and every building is run the same way. People now completely get what we do and how we do it. They hold us to it, and were happy to be held to it.

American digital marketing director Kelly Strodl, 36, and husband William La Gone Jr, 33, moved into Fizzys Lewisham development last July after finding it online. They wanted a two-bedroom, unfurnished flat that would accept their dog, Gambit. Happy with Fizzy they signed the lease before leaving the US.

The 1,725 monthly rent includes 50 for Gambit. The bonus, says Strodl, has been a much-used rooftop patio, which they share with other residents. She adds: Ive never been able to chat with mates from the building like this before.
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Last month, Kendall Jenner was reportedly still weighing her options between two potential suitors: Jordan Clarkson and A$AP Rocky. Pretty Flacko may have got the upper hand though because paparazzi spotted him strolling with the younger Kardashian through the streets of Paris. The love birds stopped by a flea market and other shops possibly taking a breather from all the menswear and couture shows theyve attended during Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week.

Tagging along not far behind, A$AP Ferg played third wheel to the couple. The Victoria Secret model and the stylish rapper have all but confirmed their relationship. Their trip to the fashion mecca is the latest bit in Rockys long courtship that has included sushi dates and late-night escapades.

Does Jordan Clarkson have an honest chance with that pretty motherfucker hanging around?

A$AP Rocky & Kendall Jenner
The chest area of 20-year-old model Bella Hadid has been a major focus of photographers during the Haute Couture portion of Paris Fashion Week. This weekend, she was spotted wearing a jacket with a sheer top underneath. As it was fully unzipped, there were moments when the jacket allowed for whats known as a nip slip. There was no slippage last night. Wearing a see-through Dior gown and no jacket, her nips were fully exposed throughout the night.

She wore the visually arresting ensemble to Diors masquerade ball, where she was greeted by two leading members of the A$AP Mob. They were both highly impressed with the manner in which Diors design was able to bring out Hadids physique. Ferg, a fashionista himself, was mesmerized by the bodice area.

Hadid is far from the first female celebrity to join the Free the Nipple movement. In fact, Kendall Jenner, whos rumored to be dating Rocky, has freed hers  which happen to be pierced  many times before. Earlier this month, Kourtney Kardashian revealed the full anatomy of her chest while on a date with Justin Bieber. And speaking of Biebs, the savage Canuck is now beefing with The Weeknd for dating Selena Gomez  who, on her part, is rumored to have tensions with Hadid, The Weeknds most recent ex. Its expected that Hadids recent public exposure will only further entangle this web of celebrity love.

Bella Hadid
Notorious drug kingpin and escape artist Joaquin El Chapo Guzman is currently in Manhattan at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Specifically, Guzman is being held in the most high security wing called 10 South, where inmates are held in permanent solitary confinement and the lights are kept on 23 to 24 hours a day, according to the New York Times. The inmates of 10 South are also prohibited from calling out to each other at all, making for a truly solitary experience.

An interview with a prisoner who had served time in Guantanamo before being transferred to the notorious 10 South unit in New York City described Guantanamo as more pleasant and more relaxed in comparison to the wing El Chapo is now staying in. The photo above shows his cell in Mexico.

El Chapo has plead not guilty of his charges, and faces a life sentence in the United States if convicted. Other infamous inmates at the facility have included Bernie Madoff (of the $20 billion Ponzi scheme) and Ramzi Ahmed Yousef (orchestrator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing).

Only one successful escape has been made from the prison, all the way back in 1990. Wed assume any weak points in security have since been patched up, so El Chapo will have a tough time escaping from this one. Maybe he even misses his Mexico prison and sexually harassing prison guard.

[via NYTimes]

ElChapo
The three-piece are set to embark on their first tour coinciding with the release of their newest single, Clutch.

Two years on from an initial explosive emergence, the Dublin-based three-piece havent so much discovered their voice as honed and refined it.

Their sonic aesthetic, while being raw and even a touch frenzied, manages to harness the strongest elements of rock, grunge, metal, hardcore and melodic electro-pop.

In their short time together, the trio have shared the stage with the likes of Fucked Up, Torche, The ZZZs, Glen Hansard, Les Butcherettes, No Spill Blood and Red Enemy, unapologetically stealing the spotlight at every turn.

After a busy 2016 where they stormed the stages of Body & Soul, Indiependence, Knockanstockan & Electric Picnic; Bitch Falcon will take flight for Canadian Music Week and other international events in 2017 as well as releasing brand new material throughout the year.

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February 10 - Central Arts - Waterford

February 11 - Kavanaghs Pub - Portlaoise

February 16 - Roisin Dubh - Galway

February 18 - Dolans Warehouse - Limerick (supporting Redneck Manifesto)

February 25 - Workmans - Dublin

March 10 - Connollys  Leap

March 11  Cyprus Avenue  Cork

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The Academic, Little Hours & Barq are all confirmed for May's Olympia bash...

The first batch of acts have been announced for The Gig, FM104s annual fundraiser for Help A Dublin Child and ISPCC Childline.

Descending on the Olympia Theatre on May 6 are, for starters, The Academic, Little Hours, and BARQ.

Top Irish talent and an impeccable cause to boot.
Houstonians may soon have another avenue for car buying: inside the nation's largest retailer.

Dealership franchise AutoNation reports that it is teaming with online retail platform CarSaver and will start offering a way to facilitate vehicles sales inside 25 Wal-Mart supercenters in Houston, Dallas, Phoenix and Oklahoma City.

The selected stores will house CarSaver kiosks where customers can browse vehicle models, apply for financing and insurance and make an appointment at a local dealership to finalize the purchase, said Marc Cannon, AutoNation's chief marketing officer. The news also was reported in Automotive News.

Cannon said customers who shop through the program will have access to more competitive prices, as well as loans through Ally Financial.

"We like the fact that it's a win-win for the dealer and the consumer," he said.

In Houston, four AutoNation stores, including its Ford and Toyota locations, will participate in the program. Twelve others in Dallas and Phoenix have also agreed to join.

A pilot version of Wal-Mart's program was tested last year in Stuart, Fla. Its expansion is expected to launch April 1, Cannon said.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Molly Blakeman declined to confirm these plans, saying the company hasn't yet made the decision to launch the program in other markets. CarSaver did not respond to a request for comment.

Another Wal-Mart spokeswoman said the company is "evaluating customer response" to the pilot program.

The program mirrors similar ones from Sam's Club, a unit of Wal-Mart, and competitor Costco.

Costco, which launched its program in 1989, sells vehicles through its partner, Affinity Auto Group. About 3,000 dealerships pay a fee to participate.

Sam's Club launched its auto program online in 2015 in partnership with TrueCar, another online retail platform. It connects members with 13,000 participating dealerships.

The programs are meant to help customers skip haggling at dealerships and potentially find a better deal. Steve McDowell, owner of InfoNation and publisher of the TexAuto Facts Report, said Wal-Mart's foray into auto sales could benefit the company by expanding the service beyond its member-based club.

"Anyone buying a new car now wants to get some kind of help before going into the dealership," he said. "Wal-Mart customers cover the whole range (of incomes)."

A number of dealers in the Houston area now pay to participate in online retail platforms such as TrueCar, said Virgil Skinner, chairman of the Houston Automobile Dealers Association and owner of Fort Bend Kia. He added the structure of such partnerships can sometimes cut into profit margins and complicate the buying process for consumers.

"I don't think we make a lot of money on those deals to be honest," he said.

In the Wal-Mart program, dealers will pay a $350 "success fee" to CarSaver upon making a sale, Automotive News said.

Cannon said AutoNation, which used to participate in Costco's program, considers the CarSaver model to be more competitive.

Note: This story has been amended to clarify the status of the project and the relationship between Wal-Mart and the vehicle retailers.
AUSTIN  Regulating and overseeing the oil and gas industry in Texas requires people and money, and the Texas Railroad Commission needs more of both.

That's not exactly what lawmakers want to hear when they are slashing other agencies' budgets and trying to find enough money to fund schools and health care, but oil prices are on the rise, and so is drilling. At the very least, the Railroad Commission needs to maintain its current budget just to keep up with the industry, Commissioner Ryan Sitton told me in an interview.

The commission, much like the rest of the industry, has been whipsawed by the global oil markets. For decades, the commission was shrinking as drilling declined, but in 2008 the shale drilling boom added hundreds of new rigs to the commission's purview. Almost as quickly, prices dropped in 2014, and Texas shed 1,000 drilling rigs.

"No one really knew how to account for those swings," Sitton said, explaining how the budget ended up falling short. "But I'm pretty optimistic going forward that we are getting it right, and industry is even saying that the Railroad Commission needs more stuff, particularly staff."

Sitton, who founded an engineering firm in Pasadena before running for office, says he'd like to hire 100 additional people. With the cost of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling going down, he and the other two commissioners, Christi Craddick and Wayne Christian, want to build a staff that can meet the demands for the next 10 to 15 years.

Finding qualified people, though, won't be easy. Not only does the private sector pay 30 percent more for a skilled engineer, other state agencies have higher salary scales for attorneys, engineers and technical staff than the commission.

"We've got to get to a place where we are at least in the hunt," Sitton said. "If we can get 2 percent more money to pay our staff, then we can give those monies out to key spots, and it helps us."

The commission is facing the same generational problem as the rest of the industry. Baby boomers are retiring, not enough Generation Xers trained for the industry, and millennials don't have enough experience yet.

"We've got a very knowledgeable workforce, but a lot of them are going to retire over the next 10 years, so how do I get, train or build real expertise here to support things we need to do?" Sitton asked.

Lack of staff and funding means the commission can't respond as quickly to the public's and industry's needs as it would like. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the backlog of abandoned wells that the commission needs to cap.

While operators today post a bond before they can drill, that wasn't always the case. Money for plugging abandoned wells comes from the industry-financed Oil and Gas Regulation and Cleanup Fund, but the Legislature determines how much can be spent each year.

While all high-risk wells are immediately plugged, Sitton says the commission has identified about 5,000 wells that need attention sooner than later.

"That's going to cost more than what we are currently allocated in our budget today, about $20 million a year," he said. "The number of wells is bigger than we'd like it to be, so we're coming up with some options for the Legislature."

At least part of the commission's money problems come from how it self-finances with fees and taxes collected from the industry. The Legislature says the commission can spend $80 million, but only if it collects that much. When drilling activity dropped, so did revenues, and the commission is about $15 million short, Sitton said.

"Even if the Legislature doesn't give us another dollar from a budgetary perspective, please make sure we get the revenues to spend what we've been budgeted," Sitton said. But he opposes any suggestion that the Legislature should raise the taxes or fees charged to the industry that contributes more to the state revenues than any other.

"Asking them to pay more would be pretty silly," he said.

The Legislature is also expected to renew the commission's charter this year and hopefully change its name in the process. While the "Texas Railroad Commission" has historic significance, the agency no long works with railroads and should have a more descriptive title, such as Texas Energy Commission, Sitton said.

Some politicians fear that changing the name will attract additional attention to the commissioners' races. But a healthy democracy demands a more descriptive name.

"I think it's time to change the name so people out there can know what we do, so they will want commissioners with the right expertise, so they can hold the commission accountable for doing its job, so they know you don't have to be all that political to do this job," Sitton said.

Texas' economy relies on a safe and healthy energy industry. Critics may complain that the commission is not tough enough on energy companies or that it should set stricter environmental standards. But even existing regulations can't be enforced by an agency that is short of employees and cash.

Ahead of a revival in drilling, lawmakers need to make sure the Texas Energy Commission has the funding  and name  it deserves.
On Monday morning, President Donald Trump met with business leaders to present a plan for keeping jobs in the U.S. He offered a carrot - a dramatic cut in the taxes and regulations - as well as a stick - a substantial tax on companies that decide to offshore their factories.



Whether companies follow suit will depend on how they weigh the benefits Trump is offering with the potential higher costs of keeping production in the United States. But in Trump's statements, he claimed that the move would have no cost at all - a statement that rankled some economists.



"There will be advantages to companies that do indeed make their products here," Trump said. "And I've always said, by the time you put them in these massive ships or airplanes and fly them and  I think it's going to be cheaper."



Economists disagreed. Though some said the policy could benefit some American workers by creating jobs and in turn expanding the U.S. economy, most said it would also impose a greater cost on companies, who would in turn pass those costs on to consumers. Either consumers would buy goods made in the U.S., which would be more expensive due to the higher cost of American wages, or they would buy foreign goods that would be pricier because they had been subject to an additional tax.



"Companies of course have these international supply chains because it makes it cheaper for them to produce their products. So almost inevitably, if you don't let them do that, their products will become more expensive for consumers," said Stan Veuger, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "For sure it's going to increase prices."

More for you Trump signs executive orders to revive Keystone, Dakota Access...



Just how much prices would increase if more goods are made in America is unclear, but it could be substantial. Research firm IHS Technology has estimated that producing an iPhone domestically might inflate its cost to as much as $2000. As Business Insider has pointed out, U.S.-made jeans by Levi and JCrew range from 40-170 percent more than foreign-made styles. The same is true of a range of products, from shoes to solar panels.



The ultimate price increase would likely be determined by two factors, economists said. One is how much the high cost of American wages would factor into the goods final price. For some products that require a lot of human labor - like clothing or shoes  the cost of worker wages represents a big chunk of the final price. For others, it's less significant.



The other factor is the likelihood that a worker in any given industry would be replaced by a robot. Some jobs, for example auto manufacturing, can be automated more easily. Economists like Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics says that if companies are forced to bring facilities back to the U.S., we're likely to see much more automation.



"If [manufacturers] can't lower costs by producing in other countries, they'll lower their costs by producing with fewer workers, figuring out ways to automate the making of their products," Bown says.



Companies that can automate might be able to keep costs low even if they bring facilities back to the U.S., says Bown. But in that case, the ultimate benefit for U.S. workers might be negligible.

For Veuger and Bown, these dynamics create a paradox at the heart of Trump's job plan. If more products are made by American workers, prices will rise for American consumers. If prices don't rise for American consumers, it's because the products are being made not by American workers, but by robots.



"If we're worried about the manufacturing blue collar worker that's non-educated, this does nothing to help them ... So no, I don't see any benefits. I would much prefer to directly attack the problems facing those workers," Bown says.



Not all economists agree. William Spriggs, chief economist at the AFL-CIO, says that of course manufacturing jobs that return to American shores would be less labor intensive - but that would be a good thing, since working conditions in places like China are too inferior to American standards.



"I would want it to be automated and high productivity work with high wages," he said. Offshoring did have a substantial impact on undermining the manufacturing industry in the last two decades, and coaxing production back could help reverse that, Spriggs said.



Economists also widely disagreed with Trump's claim that the greater cost of manufacturing in the U.S. would be offset by lower costs for transporting products by ship or airplane around the world. "If that were the case, then they would already be produced in the US. Presumably, companies realize that they are paying transportation costs when they bring stuff in from abroad," said Veuger.



While shipping costs are substantial for some heavier items like steel, for many consumer products transportation costs make up a far smaller percentage of the final cost than worker wages. Veuger points to the example of the Trump apparel collection, much of which was made elsewhere and imported.



"[Trump] himself imports his ties from China. Presumably if the transportation costs were such a big deal, he'd make them in Wisconsin."




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The sprint to dismantle the Affordable Care Act has Houston's hospital leaders worried about a potential fallout that could sweep beyond the poor if the uninsured rate rises again.

Texas already leads the nation with more than 4 million uninsured, with Harris County topping the state at about 740,000. A recent analysis by the Urban Institute predicts that the Texas uninsured rate could climb to as high as 6.9 million by 2019 should the law also known as Obamacare be repealed without a swift and comparable replacement.

At Harris Health System, one of the largest public hospital systems in the nation, more than 62 percent of the 330,000 patients across the system currently are uninsured.

"If people think Harris Health can absorb this, that is a miscalculation," said George Masi, president and CEO.

Events in Washington, D.C., are moving quickly, with Congress voting to establish the framework for repeal and President Donald Trump signing an executive order allowing agencies to lift or ignore some of the restrictions and enforcements under the current law. His action, signed hours after he assumed the presidency, appears aimed at the individual mandate that requires most people to carry insurance or be penalized.

For two months now, Masi, who oversees a system with 48 facilities, has been watching with a growing sense of unease.

"This is not just about me," he said, gazing over the crowd of fellow administrators at a gathering at the Texas Medical Center just after the election. "This is about all of my colleagues in this room."

It's unclear what will replace the ACA, so no one knows how the changes will play out. The biggest worry is that a spike in the local uninsured rate could trigger a chain reaction - one so hidden even the insured middle class who have never set foot in a public hospital will feel it and never know why.

Without coverage and regular treatment, people will get sicker and eventually flood emergency rooms, because by federal law hospitals have to see them regardless of ability to pay, Masi said.

Overburdened public facilities, which care for the bulk of the uninsured, won't be able to keep up. Wait times could double or even triple. And while the most critically ill will be treated at the public hospitals, others with lesser needs will migrate to other hospitals.

But those non-taxpayer-supported facilities do not have sufficient federal funding to offset the bad debt of unpaid medical bills. Prices for everyone could rise, Masi said.

"It's how you get $12 Tylenol," he said. "It's because the person in the next room can't pay. As the insured patient, you're going to pay for the uninsured patient."

Ripple effect

The ripple effect could show up in premium prices.

Before the ACA, Families USA, a nonprofit consumer health advocacy organization, reported that a family of four paid just over $1,000 more per year in their health coverage to compensate for the uninsured.

Lydia Mitts, a senior policy analyst at the organization, said it examined data from the reimbursement rates between hospitals and insurance carriers and concluded the cost of treating the uninsured is baked in.

"It trickles down into everyone's premiums," she said.

Vivian Ho, a health economist at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, is skeptical about that piece of the puzzle, calling it unproven. But she predicted the impact could be felt in other ways.

Because public hospitals in Harris County are funded through a portion of property taxes, homeowners' tax bills could rise, Ho said. Hospitals also may begin to reduce services, including staff.

"The Memorial Hermanns, the Methodists, they're going to have to try to figure out a way to cut corners," she said.

"It could be very bad for all of us," said Dr. Benjamin Chu, the new president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health System, the region's largest health care system, which treats nearly 2 million patients a year, about 10 percent uninsured.

Chu said so much remains unknown that it is hard to prepare.

"You have to make up costs somewhere," he said.

Houston Methodist would not comment for this story.

The amount of uncompensated care needed to serve the uninsured and underinsured in Texas is already more than $8 billion each year, both from shortfalls in Medicaid payments and about $5 billion in unreimbursed care, according to a report by the Texas Health and Human Services Committee.

This month, the Urban Institute projected that without a comparable replacement plan, the total amount of uncompensated care in Texas could rise to $70 billion between 2019 and 2028.

Congressional promise

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, who has been leading the charge against the ACA for years, said the anxiety is overblown.

Last week, the Congressional Budget Office released a report that estimated 18 million people nationwide would lose their insurance in the first year if the ACA is repealed without a replacement. But Brady struck back quickly, saying the prediction "doesn't even tell half the story."

He joined a chorus of Republicans who called the report flawed because it based its finding on a previous repeal model that did not include the replacement piece.

At a Chamber of Commerce meeting with constituents in The Woodlands the same day, Brady sought to reassure a skeptical crowd that repeal will happen next month and a replacement plan will be unveiled by year's end.

The full implementation of the undetermined replacement plan, he said, will occur in stages and could take years. But he stressed that no one who wanted insurance will be left stranded.

Despite Trump's push for speed, agreement among Republicans on how to proceed remains elusive.

"Everyone says Republicans don't have a plan. I think the problem is they have too many," said Sally Pipes, president of Pacific Research Institute, a California free-market think tank.

She has analyzed several plans floated by Republicans, including one by Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., who is Trump's nominee to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Under his plan, the federal subsidies used by most ACA enrollees to lower premium prices will be replaced with age-based tax credits.

Those buying individual coverage, regardless of income, would get set amounts ranging from $1,200 to $3,000 per year to help with the purchase. A prohibition against denial of coverage because of pre-existing conditions or chronic illness is expected to remain untouched. But getting there could be tricky.

Instead of the mandates requiring that most everyone have comprehensive insurance to enlarge risk pools, most of the Republican plans favor letting people decide their own range of coverage, including opting out. The sickest will be offered plans through a return of high-risk pools.

As the clock ticks toward repeal, the nation remains almost evenly split on a law that could end soon.

Gary Benson wants a new law because he has grown frustrated with the uncertainty and expense of coverage under the ACA.

The owner of an insurance agency in The Woodlands who does not sell health coverage, he is now on his third insurance plan after losing previous ones when they were discontinued. He has a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas health maintenance organization plan, or HMO. It costs $1,500 a month for him and his wife and carries a $6,500 deductible.

"I feel like I'm being forced to buy an inferior product," he said.

A Republican who voted for Trump but not because of health care, he looks to Congress to come up with something broad enough to cover the doctor he prefers and stable enough to give him peace of mind.

Benson applauds the ACA for insuring those who could not get it before but is skeptical that universal coverage is ever achievable. He has little doubt the uninsured rate will rise after repeal.

"I think there will always be a segment of the population that will never buy insurance," he said.

'You never know'

Thirty-five miles away in Houston's Fifth Ward, Beverly Bryant believes the ACA saved her life. The 64-year-old worked for two decades for the plant company that gave her insurance. When she hurt her knee and had to quit, she lost her insurance, too.

She missed the enrollment deadline for 2014, so she went an entire year doing without.

"I was praying, please don't let anything happen," she remembered.

She signed up quickly for 2015 and got a plan that cost $60 after a $500 subsidy. She made an appointment for a checkup at Legacy Community Health, and there her doctor found an aggressive form of breast cancer. It is unknown how long it had been growing.

She had her right breast removed in late 2015 and a series of reconstructive surgeries in 2016. Her last follow-up appointment was in December. The early Medicare she applied for two years ago has now come through, but she worries others might fall into the uninsured ranks like she did.

"You never know what life has in store for you," she said.
President Donald Trump is right to move ahead with expanding the nation's pipeline system, including Keystone XL.

Environmentalists are wrong to battle pipelines as a proxy war against fossil fuels. They are only encouraging more spills by pushing crude onto the nation's railroads.

If they really want Americans to stop using fossil fuels, they need to develop affordable alternatives and then convince people to choose them.

For years now, I've argued for the Keystone XL pipeline - and other new pipelines - because they are the safest way to transport crude oil across the country. Where there are no pipelines, oil companies must rely on rail cars, and they tend to tip over.

We know that, on average, 10 trains hauling oil or ethanol will derail every year and cause about $4 billion in damage. Many of these trains have more than 100 rail cars full of crude. Sometimes, they even explode and kill people.

When you consider the number of barrels transported, pipelines are much safer than trains. So why on earth would a true environmentalist try to stop both new pipelines, or replacing old ones?

The same reason why generals want to cut the enemy's supply lines. It's a step to winning a larger battle.

One look at the photos coming from the Dakota Access Pipeline protests and anyone can see the potential for great theater in the fight to end America's dependence on fossil fuels. Many landowners resent pipeline operators because they can use eminent domain to force through a new project, and that produces a helpful David and Goliath narrative.

When environmentalists claim they are opposing pipelines out of safety concerns, though, they are being dishonest. They know full well that Canadian oil will reach Gulf Coast refineries by other means, and whether it's by rail or barge, those methods are much less safe.

Confront an environmentalist about this fact, and they will acknowledge that what they really want is to shut down the production of oil from Canada's tar sands because it is so much more polluting than other grades of oil.

While I am sympathetic to that cause, because I acknowledge the reality of climate change, it doesn't excuse their anti-democratic strategy. The people of Canada support mining oil from tar sands, and even left-leaning, pro-environment Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not going to stop them.

The truth is that wealthy countries are addicted to oil, and just like with the drug war, trying to block the movement of oil is a fool's errand. Activists who oppose fossil fuels need to take a more intellectually honest and democratic approach by changing people's minds.

For example, they can politically organize to help Trudeau phase-out tar sands oil. Or help develop alternative technologies that consumers will prefer to oil-burning cars and trucks. Or better yet, sell that 10-year old Japanese car that so many environmentalists drive and buy an American-made electric car.

We are already seeing the beginning of the end of the combustion engine, and I think Americans will buy electric cars in ever-larger numbers. But putting people's lives at risk to speed up that process does not help to overcome the technological and economic reasons it can't happen any faster.

So yes, build the pipelines because safety must come first. If you want to change the world, you have to change one mind at a time with reason and opportunity, not protests and lawsuits. That's the only hope for change that will last longer than a single president's time in office.
The tech industry brought us self-driving cars, artificial intelligence and 3-D printers. But when it comes to racial and gender diversity, its top companies are no trailblazers.

Despite touted efforts to hire more blacks, Latinos and women, especially in tech and leadership positions, diversity numbers at the largest tech companies are barely budging.

In 2014, 2 percent of Googlers were black and 3 percent were Hispanic, numbers that have not changed since. The picture is similar at Facebook and Twitter. Microsoft is slightly more racially diverse (though not when it comes to gender) and Apple even more so, though still not reflective of the U.S. population. Amazon is more racially diverse still, although it counts a large, lower-wage warehouse workforce in its totals.

Women, meanwhile, make up less than a third of the workforce at many companies - even less in engineering and other technical jobs.

Tech companies themselves tend to blame a "pipeline problem," meaning a shortage of women and minorities with technical qualifications. But a number of academic experts, industry employees and diversity advocates say there's a bigger problem. Silicon Valley, they argue, has failed to challenge its own unstated assumptions about what makes for great tech employees.

Top tech companies are spending a lot of time and money on improving diversity, from outreach at high schools and historically black colleges to internship and mentoring programs and sponsorships for coding boot camps. So far, to little avail.

Subtle biases?

Why? Interviews with more than 30 tech workers, executives and diversity advocates suggest the blame lies with subtle biases in hiring, unwelcoming work environments and a paucity of diverse role models in top positions.

Aniyia Williams, CEO of the startup Tinsel, says companies should focus on their own cultures rather than blaming external factors they can't control, such as limited computer-science education in U.S. schools. It's not enough to release diversity reports and say, "Oh, not a lot has changed, but it's the world, not us, that's the problem," she says.

Williams, who is African-American, says she has made sure to hire women as well as underrepresented minorities. Tinsel makes tech jewelry targeted at women.

Diversity isn't just about fairness. It's about having designers who reflect the diversity of the people they are designing for. For tech companies hoping to reach millions or billions of users, a lack of diversity could mean their products "will not appeal to a large population," says Lillian Cassel, chairwoman of computer sciences at Villanova University.

Some 11 percent of computer science graduates were black and 9 percent were Hispanic in the 2013-14 school year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Education. Yet only 4 percent of Google's 2015 hires were black, and 3 percent were Hispanic. Numbers at other tech companies are comparable.

Major tech companies have a long tradition of hiring applicants from top-tier universities - and those schools also have a problem with diversity, even if they're doing better than the companies. Some minority applicants, meanwhile, earn their computer-science chops through community colleges or coding boot camps instead - places often overlooked by recruiters.

'Culture fit'

Silicon Valley startups like to talk about "culture fit" - in theory, the question of whether a job candidate's attitude and behavior meshes well with a company. In practice, though, it can mean that since a lot of people are white and male, they "hire what they know," says Dave McClure, an angel investor in Silicon Valley.

Leslie Miley, engineering director at the message service startup Slack who once worked at Twitter and Google, can't understand why diversifying the industry's workforce "seems to be such an intractable problem."

"I wonder if it is coming up against  the deep-seated belief that the people in these organizations are special and they want to keep out people who are not special," says Miley, an African-American.
When chef Ryan Hildebrand was strategizing his upcoming FM Burger restaurant, most of his thoughts naturally turned to his signature beef-burger construction. Not so fast, said his wife, Mollye, who practically insisted the new restaurant also feature a fried chicken sandwich.

"She loves the Chick-fil-A sandwich," Hildebrand said. "So I can't not have one on the menu."

And, he added, "It's going to be good."

Better be. Because fried chicken sandwiches are having a moment and, like so many foods that peak at once (the pizza battle royale; the great barbecue smoke-down; the sugar-dipped doughnut duels), it'll probably end up being survival of the fittest. A wave of fried-chicken-sandwich appreciation that began sweeping the country last year now has Houston in the grips of a finger-licking-good trend. The fried chicken sandwich, it appears, has arrived.

The fortunes of the FCS turned last year when Danny Meyer's Shake Shack began the nationwide rollout of its crispy chicken breast sandwich - a thing of beauty made with lettuce, pickles and buttermilk herb mayo. Even before that, Momofuku genius David Chang launched Fuku - a casual, quick-serve fried chicken sandwich shop (basically, an honest riff on Chick-fil-A) - in New York in 2015 and began expanding in Manhattan. Now everyone wants a Fuku. As Meyer and Chang are among the most respected restaurateurs in the country, many in the industry took notice of their interest in the fried chicken sandwich.

Today, the fried chicken sandwich is beating its breast all over America. "Fried chicken's still on the upswing. And it is getting 'cheffier' in the sense that, like all other simple foods in America, enough is never enough. So there's lots of gastro-tinkering going on," said Michael Whiteman of Baum & Whiteman, the international restaurant consulting firm that tracks dining trends. "Last year, you thought you'd gone to heaven with a perfectly fried brined chicken thigh topped with a pickle, or with pickle and coleslaw. Now we're getting fried chicken topped with green papaya salad; or cherry peppery aioli; or preserved lemon remoulade and harissa. We're even getting fried chicken banh mi with pickled vegetables to cut the fat."

So not just cheffier but also more international (witness the Korean fried chicken craze that includes fried chicken sliders at Bonchon and fried chicken bao at Dak and Bop). Last year, Bon Appetit magazine was moved to scour the country for the best fried chicken sandwich. The magazine chomped through Nashville-style hot fried chicken po'boys and other boutique creations (brioche buns, carrot-rutabaga slaw, sweet-and-spicy pineapple glazes, pretzel buns) until it found nirvana in the fried chicken sandwich at Buxton Hall in Asheville, N.C. Here's why: smoked chicken that is buttermilk dipped, then deep fried and topped with pimento cheese, white barbecue sauce and bread-and-butter pickles on a toasted bun.

Houston is no slouch when it comes to the crispy fried chicken sandwich. At the doughnut and coffee shop Morningstar, one of the best dishes on the menu happens to be the Sambal Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit. Revival Market serves a crispy chicken sandwich with avocado, chipotle crema, shaved cabbage and cilantro on a challah bun. State of Grace is turning out a Korean-inspired hot fried chicken sandwich with a Thai herb slaw. State Fare is scoring with its all-American fried chicken breast sandwich dressed with American cheese, tomato, iceberg lettuce, onion, bread and butter pickles and a house burger sauce. Moonshiners in downtown Houston is keeping it real with the straight-ahead Mama's Fried Chicken Sandwich made with applewood smoked bacon, Bibb lettuce and tomato. And when Ronnie Killen opened his much-anticipated Killen's Burgers last year, his fried chicken sandwich was as integral to the menu as the beef lineup.

If you call yourself Lee's Fried Chicken & Donuts, you'd better make good fried chicken and doughnuts. And the Heights restaurant does, especially its popular mash-up: fried chicken tenders lodged between two glazed doughnuts. Lee's also serves a classic fried chicken sandwich with bread and butter pickles and hot-sauce mayonnaise (guests can sub out spicy H-town Hot Chicken for regular chicken tenders).

Owner Lee Ellis suggested that the FCS might be having its day due to a burger backlash. "Everyone's doing them," he said. "I guess everyone's getting tired of burgers?"

Maybe, maybe not. But Ellis, like others, gives credit where credit's due: Chick-fil-A.

Hildebrand referenced the popular Georgia-born chain; his chicken sandwich (a brined, breaded and fried breast painted with agave butter and served on a potato roll) even looks a little Chick-y.

He's not the only chef whose wife is a fan. Robert Del Grande said his wife, Mimi, is the reason his fried chicken sandwich is on the Cafe Annie menu. "Mimi has always loved a fried chicken sandwich," the James Beard Award-winning chef said. "When we first moved to Houston, she took me to Chick-fil-A."

Cafe Annie's version is marinated in buttermilk, then dredged and deep-fried to order. It's served with a cabbage slaw and an apple and celery salad dressed in black pepper ranch. Very uptown, yes, but Del Grande said at its heart it's still a fried chicken sandwich.

"There are a lot of ideas that are good," he said, "like really good fried chicken on a really good bun. There's just something about that."

We know.
Of all the wonders the Houston barbecue renaissance has wrought, the one that I least expected was the magnificent pickle and condiment bar at The Pit Room.

I've never been a pickle person when it comes to barbecue consumption. Give me some crescents of raw onion, a dab of sauce, maybe a pickled jalapeno cartwheel and I'm happy. No mass-produced dills for me. But at The Pit Room I'm a greedy kid with eyes that are bigger than her stomach, piling my little cardboard boats with snappy rods of marinated scallion, wheels of lightly brined cucumber and carrot, magenta swirls of red onion.

And is that a vat of roasted red chile salsa? Some of that, too. Then I graze among the squeeze bottles of sauce that huddle together in their aluminum corral: a dusky-sweet bourbon-and-coffee concoction; thin, sunset-hued hot sauce full of bounce and tang; bright ochre mustard with a Chinese-style sharpness that nips the sinuses, a provocative accent for The Pit Room's house-made sausages.

That's sausages, plural. Owner Michael Sambrooks and his executive chef (yes, you read that right) Bramwell Tripp offer three varieties daily, the meats butchered, ground, seasoned and stuffed into casings. They're interesting sausages, too, in ways that highlight both the considerable strengths and the sometimes vexing weaknesses of this enormously likable new Montrose establishment.

Start with the venison sausage, a meld of finely ground and chunkier deer meat, seasoned with black and red peppers, garlic and so much salt the burn can ramp up toward searing territory. I want to love it. I almost do. But its fierceness tempers my enjoyment. Same goes for the coarse pork sausage spangled with melting cheddar and supercharged with jalapeno, so aggressive I can never eat more than a slice, even though I want to.

But then comes the all-beef Czech style sausage, cut thinly on the bias and dotted with mustard seeds, its salt and pepper nicely controlled. It's a marvelous example of the care and detail that goes into the food at The Pit Room, and the pleasure that ensues when this promising kitchen gets things right.

I've experienced vivid barbecue moments here. A simple sliced brisket sandwich, the hauntingly wood-smoky beef yielding and expressive under its toasted, eggy bun. It was a triumph of meat and bread that needed no sauce or accoutrements to maximize enjoyment. The pulled pork sandwich that has become a 21st-century Houston barbecue staple was first-rate, too, buoyed by a clear note of oak smoke. On two occasions, the lengthy pork ribs have been stellar, with sticky bark salt and peppered and spiced just so, the meat sliding apart from bone at each bite. They're my favorite item here.

Well, not so fast. There's Texas chili so pure and persuasive it could make a contest judge weep (and probably will). The beef has a properly rubbly grind and the cumin never gets out of hand. You'll want to take a carton home with you. I did.

More Information The Pit Room x 1201 Richmond Ave. 281-888-1929 Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily Credit cards: all major Prices: sandwiches $8.75-$10.75; plates $11.75-$17.75; tacos $4.25-$4.75; sides $3.25; desserts $4.50 Must-orders: pork ribs; Czech-style beef sausage; pulled pork sandwich; sliced brisket sandwich; Texas red chili; mustard potato salad; coleslaw; grilled okra; chicharrones; cherry pie; bananas Foster ice cream sandwich Reservations: first come, first served Noise level: moderate Website: thepitroombbq.com STAR RATINGS xxxx: superlative; can hold its own on a national stage. xxx: excellent; one of the best restaurants in the city. xx: very good; one of the best restaurants of its kind. x: a good restaurant that we recommend. No stars: restaurant cannot be recommended at this time. See More Collapse

And may I draw your attention to the sour cherry pie? In a state where fruit pies get short shrift, this one's a landmark: tart and sweet, the cherries barely held together by a slightly almondy gel, the bottom crust short and crumbly. There's streusel rather than crust on top, which some might consider a design flaw. Not me. I could eat this pie for breakfast - and I have.

So what's the hitch at The Pit Room? It's not the high-ceilinged, whitewashed room, with its rustic wooden tables and its classic country music on the sound system. It's not the willing service on the line, although the process seemed discombobulated the night I made a dinner visit. (During the day, there's more management on hand, walking the floor, assisting diners, keeping an eye on tables.) It's not the retro presentation, in which the meats and sides are arrayed for maximum Instagram impact on butcher-papered plastic trays.

The trouble lies in uneven execution. It's very hard to produce consistent wood-smoked meats day in, day out. Brisket tends to be the acid test, and The Pit Room's brisket has varied wildly on my three visits.

My first sample, when I failed to specify lean or fatty, was forbiddingly dry and depressing. (A small sample from the fatty side was far better.) The sliced brisket sandwich another day sang; but a dinner order the next week produced fatty-side slices that glistened with an off-putting iridescent sheen, along with lean-side slices so dry I could only manage a bite or two before giving up. Granted, it was 7:15 p.m., a time when most barbecue spots aren't even open. But still.

Sometimes, too, the exciting ideas for sides and accessories run afoul of a tendency to overseason. The scratch-made charro beans could be great if they weren't so ferociously hot. (I like hot chiles as much as the next person, but it is possible to overdo, and The Pit Room overdoes.)

The much-talked about chopped brisket taco on one visit was so aggressively salty I couldn't enjoy it, and the flour tortilla made with beef fat was on the leaden side, translucent with grease. It's one of those ideas that sounds captivating but is hard to pull off.

Nevertheless I always feel cheerful here, because I know some memorable discovery is right around the corner. The airy, porky puffs of chicharron that crack under the teeth, for instance, jolted with some of the bright house hot sauce. Or the very fine mustard potato salad, laced with just enough crunch elements and blessedly savory rather than sweet.

I admire the invigoratingly tart slaw here, which (again) does not rely on sugar for effect.

Jalapeno-vinegar potato chips fried in beef tallow? Don't mind if I do. And yeah, I believe I will have a glass of rustic red Chinon to drink with my 'cue. That Cab Franc from the Loire is deeply berried, herbal and tannic enough to stand up to smoked meats, and while I've never been tempted before to drink wine with barbecue, the Chinon has made me a believer.

When I complimented Tripp on the choice during one of his frequent turns around the dining room floor, stopping to speak to guests about their experience, he told me had had learned a lot from Jeb Stuart, the excellent sommelier at Coltivare. Tripp was one of the opening cooks there, and his experience at ambitious restaurants shows in The Pit Room's thoughtful details.

There is beer, of course, both in a range of local and national; iced-down bottles and cans, and from seven taps - including Texas brews and an actual Czech lager.

The Pit Room is very much a new breed of barbecue spot in its chefly touches and genre-bending ideas, from that dazzling condiment buffet to the Mexican-flavored smoked meat tacos.

Incidentally, I ended up liking the smoked chicken version of the flour-tortilla taco quite a lot, with its verde sauce and rubble of charred garlic. I was chagrined to miss a special of a house-smoked bacon BLT one afternoon. And while I tend to think many made-from-scratch ice cream sandwiches are ponderous millstones not worth the trouble it takes to eat them, Tripp's bananas Foster version, made with a slightly chewy brown-sugar butter cookies, is a delightful exception.

With daily hours and dinner service, The Pit Room makes itself super-useful, too.

Tripp's weekly features, like a fajita night and patio crawfish boils in season, promise to make it even more of an amenity in the Montrose neighborhood. All it will take is some evening out for it to vault into the ranks of distinguished Houston barbecue joints.
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With 1986 behind us, let's kick off 1987 with a look at the photos from 30 years ago this month.

* Houston Chronicle reporter Carole Keeney dropped in on the folks who keep the Hermann Park train running. From July 1, 1985, through June 30, 1986, it carried 748,000 passengers.

When the customers pass through the gates each day, they see a group that looks the part it plays. Weathered faces, hard-working hands and a quick "howdy" spark visions of railroad men, sitting high in big locomotives, riding the rails to adventure.

For at least some of the crew, the image they project has some basis in fact.

John Glaze, 46, has headed up the train crew for 18 years. But he started loving trains even earlier. His father worked for the Sante Fe Railroad. And his uncles were railroad men.

"I started out when I was 9 years old in Kansas City," he said.

"A guy gave me $1 to wipe the steam engine off."

At 16, he started working full time in Kansas City's Swope Park, taking care of a miniature train like the one he now supervises. He stayed with the park, running the train, until he moved to Houston and Hermann Park. He's only wavered once from the train business.

Two years ago, he decided to take a job with a mobile home company. In six months he was back at the microphone, announcing "All aboard, the Texas special for an air-conditioned ride" in a slightly nasal tone, the words tripping from his tongue like the clicketyclack of a big wheel turning.

"My heart was always in the park," he said. "People say to me, 'How can you do the same job everyday?' But it's not the same. Every day is different."

* Vietnamese immigrants here were increasingly concerned about crime and the city's efforts to deal with it.

Here's what Susan Warren found in her Feb. 15, 1987, article:

Refugee Tony Nguyen spends long hours in discussion with a friend in an attempt to come up with a solution. Neighborhood patrols? Vietnamese police? Handguns? It seems, he says, they have exhausted every possibility.

Though the refugees are concerned and many are afraid, most are not yet ready to throw their safety concerns entirely into the hands of authorities. The ways and traditions of their old country are still very much a part of their lives.

"Vietnamese people handle police problems within the group," said Fred R. von der Mehden, a political science professor at Rice University who specializes in Asian studies. "They try to do it within the family, within the village, within the smaller community."

In spite of this, refugees who have most successfully acclimated themselves to American ways believe that to successfully combat crime in their community, their people must learn to cooperate with police.

To accomplish this, Nguyen says, police need to be more visible and a more consistent force in the Asian community to gain the refugees' acceptance and trust.

"It's a two-way exchange," said Nguyen Ngoc Linh, publisher of the Vietnamese Ngay Nay newspaper. "If you come to us, we open up to you. But if you don't come, and only breathe down our necks looking for witnesses whenever there are problems, then we don't know anything."

One Vietnamese refugee, a resident of the robbery-plagued South Belt area, said community meetings to explain the criminal justice system would help Asian refugees to better decipher and comprehend the whys and hows of this country's laws. Many Vietnamese refugees have tried to educate themselves, but often don't understand what they see or read, or don't know where to go to obtain the proper information.

"We read the newspapers, but we find many things strange," he said.

Refugees have been disillusioned by a justice system that they see as weak and inconsistent and an encouragement to people who view crime as a safe and easy way to make a living.

"You have freedom over here, but the freedom is too large," one refugee said, trying to explain why Vietnamese refugees can't understand criminal justice in the United States.

* Jerry King, president of Jamstone Records, thinks he can get Houston out of its economic doldrums.

From Patricia Smith Prather's Jan. 28, 1987, article about the black recording industry in Houston:

King, president of Jamstone Records, believes a strong record industry in Houston could help cure some of the city's economic ills.

"The record industry supports a lot of other businesses, including oil," he said. What does oil have to do with records? "Records are made from petroleum products, and strong record sales mean profits for the oil business."

But a lot of other businesses would prosper, too, King says, continuing his scenario. "Let's say a local performer's records become a top hit. Nightclubs will book the act, which will boost their profits, as well as sales of soft drinks, liquor, cigarettes, peanuts, potato chips and other snacks. Record shops will prosper. Printing companies will produce record labels, album covers, advertising posters and fliers. Photographers and artists will also help create albums and promotional materials."

Add to that the fashion designers who make costumes for performers, hair stylists, booking agents, distributors and other businesses, and a vision of economic advancement appears, King theorizes.

But it's not a yellow-brick road to success - in some cases the road isn't even paved - for local black-owned record companies looking for the veritable Land of Oz.

This specialized group of Houston entrepreneurs has been around since 1949 when the first black-owned record company in the South began operating on Lyons Avenue just east of downtown. Peacock Recording Co. and its owner, Don Robey, created jobs and hope for black artists who had been denied a chance up to that time.

When Peacock Recording Co. was launched just after World War II, blacks were segregated in all segments of society. Negro music - blues, gospel, jazz - was referred to as "race music," and its audiences were almost exclusively blacks. Race music was primarily played on jukeboxes and at nightclubs, churches and other places blacks frequented.

A black-owned, record-related business had the potential to thrive under such conditions, and Robey proved it could be done by building his Peacock empire.

Robey first owned the Bronze Peacock Club, a supper club on Lyons Avenue in Houston's Fifth Ward. The club featured black musicians, many of whom Robey promoted. To help ensure sales of the records, and hence attract supper club customers, he opened a record shop near the Bronze Peacock.

Evelyn Johnson, Robey's right-hand woman in the record business, says they put up a loudspeaker outside the Peacock Record Shop to advertise their records.

"We learned a lot about distribution when we opened the record shop," she said.

Robey's next step was to produce his own records. When Johnson asked Robey how he expected to go about making a record, his answer was, "I don't know, that's for you to find out."

Johnson researched every step it took to produce a record, including getting copyrights. In 1949, Peacock Recording Co. began its operations in the back of the Peacock Record Shop. "Louis Jordan was in town performing at the city auditorium, and he came out to cut the ribbon when we opened Peacock Recording Co.," Johnson recalled.

Not long after that Peacock followed yet another avenue into the record industry by purchasing the record printing press operations used to manufacture Peacock-labeled records. At the height of Peacock's businesses, hundreds of people were employed, including studio and road musicians, songwriters, producers, arrangers, technicians, distributors, accountants, attorneys and promotional people in key U.S. cities.

* Years before it moved out to the old Compaq Center (aka The Summit), the Lakewood Church campus was located out in northeast Houston. The Chronicle went out to photograph the Rev. John Osteen as the church was getting ready to break ground on a 8,000-seat sanctuary on its campus.

From Julia Dunn's Feb. 14, 1987, write-up:

Lakewood's fame as an integrated church (40 percent white, 30 percent black and 30 percent Hispanic) may be one of the secrets that has catapulted the church into a leading position on Houston's varied religious landscape. Church officials will break ground at 10:15 a.m.

Sunday for an 8,000-seat sanctuary that will be Houston's largest church when it is dedicated in the fall.

Purposely designed without columns so that no one's view of the stage will be restricted, the new brick and metal building will surpass First Baptist (4,000 seats), Second Baptist (6,000 seats) and First United Methodist (2,200 seats) in size.

The ground breaking will represent a personal triumph for Osteen, the Southern Baptist minister who founded Lakewood in 1959 after his involvement in the charismatic movement made him something of a pariah in Baptist circles.

Osteen, 65, almost didn't make it to this high point in his ministry. While undergoing a routine heart catharization Sept. 3 at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, he almost suffered a heart attack. Famed Houston heart surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley performed a quadruple bypass on the stricken pastor.

Ten days later, Osteen was at home. Three weeks later, he was back at Lakewood, and six weeks later he was preaching at his church, which is described as "the oasis of love."

"People have said to me that the reason they love this church is that (we) don't put a difference in the color of skin," said Osteen's wife, Dolores (Dodie). "What brings them here is that one little slogan, 'the oasis of love.' People are hurting no matter what color their skin is."

"My observation is that it is probably the most integrated church in town," said Houston City Councilman Anthony Hall, who has visited Lakewood several times. Hall, who is black, calls Lakewood's integration level "unusual," adding that, "When you go over there, you perceive that color doesn't matter."

Mayor Kathy Whitmire, who has also visited Lakewood several times, will be at Sunday's ground breaking.

"I was very impressed by the large congregation, their interest in extending their ministry around the world and how they draw people from all over Houston," Whitmire said. "A couple of my staff members go there."
Two Democratic state senators on Wednesday called on the governor to improve the diversity of University of Texas Systems board of regents, saying there are no black people on the board.

Sen. Royce West and Sen. Borris Miles said they were concerned by the lack of black regents leading the UT system. Their remarks come the day before the state Senate confirmation hearing of three regents Gov. Greg Abbott nominated on Monday.
All day I have been teaching Shakespeare: King Lear to sophomores, Hamlet to freshmen. You are not supposed to call them "freshmen" anymore: You are supposed to call them "first-year students."

In any case, some of them are rookies.

For some, the language is daunting: so many words in long passages, so many passages in long acts. We have become accustomed to soundbites, Twitter, the cold but efficient text. I am not blaming anyone for this: It is what it is.

Some of them ask me, "Why are we reading this?"

I say "Reason not the need!" and I laugh.

Some of them laugh with me. Some of them wait for me to answer the question for real.

I tell my students, all of them, that I had an adventure Monday night. I drove from Friendswood to The Wortham Center, endured single lanes, slow-downs, the trick of parking not too far from the venue. I'll go to great lengths to hear new words. It is thrilling to hear them in new combinations. I never get sick of it.

The event was the Inprint Reading from Annie Proulx. She is 81, doesn't travel so much now. I was excited that she was coming all the way to Houston. The reading was sold out. How many literary readings are sold-out? Hardly any. But Inprint has sold out many. You must be quick to get your tickets: a lot of people want to hear high-quality writing.

Maybe that says something about what we read and listen to every day. There is always a reason for yearning.

I tell my students that it is really something when you hear an author read her own work. Then, when you read the book, you can imagine that voice.

Book club The Inprint Book Club will discuss Barkskins at 4 p.m. April 9, at Inprint House, 1520 W. Main. Free and open to the public. See More Collapse

Proulx was reading from her new, long novel, Barkskins. It spans 300 years and many generations. It is about a lot of things: fur trappers, rivalries, trees. You might remember that Proulx wrote "Brokeback Mountain," which was made into a riveting film. She has won many awards, including the Pulitzer and the National Book Award. She is no rookie.

When she reads, you can picture the novel's places vividly in your head. You don't need a camerayou just need to listen, and then things start to come alive. She pronounces each French name and phrase perfectly.

When Rich Levy, executive director of Inprint, introduced Proulx, he was right: She has "lean, fresh prose," a "sharp wit."

Proulx reminded us that in 1695, when her story begins, there were only 600 million people populating the world. Now there are over 7 billion. I let that sink in, but I can't completely comprehend it. I heard it, but it is too staggering. That's what happens at a reading: Whatever you might have glossed over in an almanac seems rich and strange when an artist is uttering it.

You hear the reading, get excited about reading the book.

And you take mental souvenirs with you. You marvel that you are in warm and sunny Houston, hearing about characters who died of "winter starvation." You picture being "plunged into the gloomy country." You imagine a "fabric sky," "the narcotic effect of deep forest." You think of that terrifying movie with Leonardo DiCaprio called The Revenant, the times you went camping, fairy tales that took a turn for the worse.

As you hear the words, you want to remember some of them: the forest and "its moody darkness," "the funereal spruce and hemlock," and you think of how the natural world has left its inprint on you, even when you didn't realize it.

Then, if you are lucky, you stay for the Q and A, and you learn a few things about how to write, how to make people listen. For Proulx, when she is working on a short story, "it is realer than one's own life." She rewrites and rewrites and rewrites, until she creates "a sentence that I can live with." She recommends that if they are too long, with too many extraneous words, that you "get at it with the scissors." For her, everything starts with history and place: "Everything springs from place." She has a point: You cannot escape where you come from.

So I tell my students, if you are lucky, and you go to a reading, you might learn about a new novel that you would like to read. But usually, you learn a lot more, like how to observe, how to take it in, how to get it on the page. And then, maybe someone will listen, in a sold-out crowd in Houston, how to imagine trees, the sweep of history, how to find your own way. It could happen.

Doni M. Wilson is an English professor and writer in Houston and has a high schooler named Christopher. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Bookmark Gray Matters. Reason not the need!


Former President George H.W. Bush, recovering from pneumonia at Houston Methodist Hospital, could be discharged this weekend and go home.

A family spokesman said Wednesday that the 92-year-old 41st president continues to improve from the illness that required he be connected to a ventilator in Methodist's intensive care unit for 48 hours. He was transferred from the ICU to a regular room Monday.
AUSTIN -- Thousands of students, parents, teachers and school leaders from the state's non-traditional schools gathered outside the Texas Capitol to dance and cheer at the prospect of parents having more choice over where their children go to school.

Organizers estimate some 4,000 people attended the rally, which was one of more than 20,000 events scheduled around the nation this week in recognition of National School Choice Week.

The rally comes as state lawmakers brace for a fight over whether to allow parents to use public school dollars toward tuition at private schools.

"This is a civil rights issue," proclaimed Gov. Greg Abbott from the stage of the rally after winning recognition from the group as a school choice champion. "We know when it comes to education, one size does not fit all."

The last proposed voucher-like program died in the 2015 session because legislation did not reach a vote in the House. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, an outspoken advocate for voucher-like programs, rallied the crowd by calling for an up-or-down vote, putting his House colleagues on the spot.

"If you block a bill from a vote on school choice, you are blocking the future of that child, of that family, of that American dream," he said to cheers on the south lawn of the Capitol complex.

Opponents say Patrick's plans to allow parents to pay for private school with public funds will drain money from already struggling public schools.

"Democrats and Republicans in Texas have come together to defeat vouchers in every legislative session since 1995. It's time state leaders drop their pursuit of vouchers and instead focus on giving our public schools and the children of Texas the resources they need to succeed," said Kathy Miller, president of the left-leaning watchdog group Texas Freedom Network.

Kathryn Dormady, 35, sends two of her children to Great Hearts' Northern Oaks campus outside of San Antonio, and the other two to a private Episcopal school.

"I'm a home owner and I pay property taxes and none of my children go to my local school. I don't feel I should be funding them and not benefiting," she said, adding she acknowledges a voucher program probably would not cover full private school tuition.

Donna Ray brought her four grandchildren from Buda to the rally. They are all home-schooled.

"I know that a lot of my friends struggle to keep their kids in private school because of the cost," she said. "We're here to support the choices for our friends who don't have the option of homeschooling because they have to work."

Rally attendees, donning signature yellow scarves in support of school choice, included groups from charter schools, private schools, religious schools and those in home school.

Reporter Nicole Cobler contributed to this story.
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WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump revived the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects through executive orders Tuesday, signaling a dramatic shift in energy policy that will be far friendlier to the oil and gas industry.

With a few strokes of the pen before flashing cameras, Trump ordered government agencies to approve the Dakota Access and quickly complete their reviews on a new application for the long moribund Keystone. The moves represented the first steps for Trump to make good on campaign promises to remove regulations and other measures that impede oil and gas development and made a sharp break with his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Obama blocked both projects as he increasingly focused on reducing the nation's dependence on fossil fuels in an effort to slow the pace of climate change.

"It is a positive signal to both the companies and to the people in the industry as a whole, we're back in business," said Karen Harbert, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's energy division.

More Information Keystone XLThe 1,179-mile oil sands pipeline would stretch from Alberta to Nebraska, connecting to a leg that treks to Texas refineries. Dakota Access The 1,172-mile oil pipeline, 90 percent completed, treks from North Dakota to Illinois, from where existing pipeline infrastructure can carry oil to Texas refineries. See More Collapse

Trump's moves, just four days after he took office, appear good news for the oil and gas industry that drives the Houston and Texas economy, and particularly pipeline companies besieged by litigation from environmental groups designed to slow the construction of new lines. Houston is home to several of the nation's biggest pipeline companies, including Kinder Morgan and Enterprise Products Partners.

TransCanada, the Calgary, Alberta-based developer of Keystone XL, is expanding its presence here with its recent $10.2 billion acquisition of Houston-based Columbia Pipeline Group. The developer of Dakota Access, Energy Transfer Partners, is headquartered in Dallas; the Houston refiner Phillips 66 owns a 25 percent share.

Energy stocks moved broadly higher Tuesday, with Energy Transfer Partners shares climbing more than 3 percent.

"Say what you want about Trump," said Ethan Bellamy, an energy analyst at the investment firm Robert W. Baird & Co. "but he does not appear to be moving slowly or delicately on matters of import."

New application

Within hours of Trump signing the orders, TransCanada announced it would submit new applications for Keystone, which could carry crude from Canada's oil sands. The project was rejected by the Obama administration in 2015 after a six-year review and strong opposition by environmentalists and Midwest landowners.

The $3.8 billion Dakota Access, developed to transport crude from North Dakota's Bakken Shale, was nearing completion last summer when the Standing Rock Sioux tribe launched protests to block the project, drawing international attention and environmental activists from around the country. In December, the Army Corps of Engineers declined to approve the final leg of the project and said it would explore alternative routes.

But, with Trump now ordering the agency to reverse that order, construction is likely to resume "within 60 seconds" of the permit being granted, Harbert said. Energy Transfer Partners did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Both pipelines would feed into networks that carry crude to Gulf Coast refineries near Houston, drawing cheers from Republicans and Democrats alike in Texas.

"It's going to benefit us here in east Harris County," said Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston. "Our refineries can use that heavy crude (from Canada)."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, blasted the Obama administration for pursuing policies that focused too much on renewable sources such as wind and ultimately cost the nation thousands of energy industry jobs.

"An 'all of the above' energy strategy includes moving these projects forward," Cornyn said. "This decision is long overdue."

But Trump's actions were not without a catch. One of the executive orders he signed Tuesday orders the secretary of commerce to develop a plan within six months so all new and retrofitted pipelines are built with pipe made in the United States "to the maximum extent possible."

"Companies are going to have to sort of gear up. Much pipeline is made in other countries," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. "We're going to put a lot of steel workers back to work."

That could be good news for pipe plants like the Lone Star plant outside Longview, where owner U.S. Steel cut back shifts last year citing market conditions, and the $1.8 billion plant Tenaris is building southwest of Houston in Bay City.

'Call to action'

But the order appeared to catch pipeline companies by surprise. Officials with the trade group Interstate Natural Gas Association of America were trying Tuesday to determine whether such a demand was even feasible.

"A critical fact in making this determination will be an assessment of the ability of mills and pipe manufacturing facilities in the United States to produce sufficient pipeline-quality steel and manufactured pipe,"said Catherine Landry, a spokesman for the pipeline group.

Trump's orders seemed certain to further inflame environmentalists driving the "keep it in the ground" movement. Pipeline projects, while long controversial, have moved to the center of the debate over climate change and the future of fossil fuels, such as oil, natural gas, and coal, which the broad consensus of scientists say have accelerated global warming.

Environmentalists have targeted and protested pipelines across the country, including West Texas, where Energy Transfer Partners is building the Trans-Pecos pipeline to carry natural gas from the Permian Basin to Mexico.

Dallas Goldtooth, of the Indigenous Environmental Network, said Native Americans and environmentalists would coordinate acts of civil disobedience on a larger scale than seen in North Dakota

"There is going to be a unified call to action," said Goldtooth.

"Standing Rock has united a fire in all of us."

But pipelines are an area in which Trump might find common ground with many Democrats.

Oil and gas development remains a divisive issue within the party, with some like Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont pushing for carbon reductions while politicians from fossil fuel rich states like Texas worry about refinery and oil field jobs.

"There's a lot of different viewpoints on this," said Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif, a member of the party's environmental wing.

Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
A Louisiana man who sued a Houston fertility clinic and his ex-girlfriend after his frozen sperm was released without his consent is expected back in court Wednesday.

Layne Hardin and Katherine LeBlanc were awarded more than $870,000 after winning a jury trial in Harris County court against Hardin's ex-girlfriend, Tobie Devall, and Texas Andrology in 2015.

That award was later reduced to $19,500 by the Harris County judge who heard the case.

Attorneys for Hardin and LeBlanc are expected to argue before a three-judge appellate panel that the original verdict and monetary damages should stand.

"The pivotal question before the First Court of Appeals is whether or not people and institutions who wrongfully take or misappropriate another's genetic material will be held accountable under Texas law," said Cade Bernsen, a lawyer for Hardin and LeBlanc.

The 2015 trial centered on allegations that Devall took two samples from the sperm bank without authorization and was artificially inseminated. She gave birth to Hardin's son, then refused to allow any custodial rights with the boy, now 6.

Hardin and LeBlanc, who have a teenage son, went to the sperm bank in 2002 because he wanted a vasectomy. The couple later broke up and he dated Devall beginning in 2006. While they were dating, Hardin and Devall met with doctors at the sperm bank to discuss artificial insemination, but Devall apparently never had permission to use the sperm she later took after they broke up.

Hardin and LeBlanc won their lawsuit against Devall for taking the sperm, and Texas Andrology, for releasing the sperm without authorization.

Although arguments are expected Wednesday afternoon, the appeals court generally takes weeks or months to hand down a ruling.
A recently completed study by researchers at the University of Texas has brought forward new data on the extent of human trafficking across the state -- a notoriously difficult crime to quantify.

In a news release sent Tuesday, researchers highlighted several findings in particular: around 313,000 people in Texas are currently human trafficking victims, of whom nearly 79,000 are minor and youth sex trafficking victims and 234,000 are adult labor trafficking victims.
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Heights-area residents woke up Tuesday to a sunny day in more ways than one, finding that road crews had opened the new Yale Bridge spanning White Oak Bayou.

The opening late Monday was roughly 10 months ahead of the original schedule laid out by Texas Department of Transportation officials when the old bridge closed to traffic in April. During the resulting lengthy detour, traffic often bottled up along Heights Boulevard between Interstate 10 and Allen Parkway.

The early opening was the result of "resourceful coordination between TxDOT and the contractor," said Quincy Allen, district director for TxDOT in Houston. The new bridge was built for $2.8 million.

Crews benefitted from favorable working conditions from October to earlier this month, which allowed for speedy construction of the bridge supports and deck.

The new bridge has two lanes in each direction and eight-foot sidewalks on each side to accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists, separated from vehicles by a metal railing. Lighting and railings on the edges of the bridge mimic those from the original bridge.

"It's nice," Catherine Dempsey, 38, said Tuesday after walking across the bridge with her daughter, Charlotte, 7. "Now that it's finally open, I think a lot of the frustrations will go away."

Work on landscaping and some features of the bridge continues, though none of the remaining tasks restrict use.

Even when completed, the bridge remains an ongoing topic of discussion. After residential and commercial development on or near Yale Street led to a boom in bridge use, TxDOT banned heavy trucks from using it, complicating freight shipments to the stores nearby, including a Walmart approved by the city on Yale that was opposed by some Heights residents.

"I still think the original bridge was fine," Sam Gehry, 74, said, adding the weight limits that pushed trucks to the Heights shouldn't be a reason to rebuild the span.

"But that's Houston," he said. "We'll rebuild something that's fine the way it is."

The original bridge, built in 1931, was one of seven in Houston listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
A leadership transition for the University of Texas System's board of regents proposed by Gov. Greg Abbott would end a contentious era for the system, since the governor decided against reappointing a controversial regent and his two allies nominated by former Gov. Rick Perry.

Abbott nominated three regents on Monday who will be considered by the state Senate on Thursday. If they're approved, the board's changed composition would mark the end of the long clash between UT and the three outgoing Perry-appointed board members. UT Chancellor William McRaven called the governor's regent appointees "stellar."

Regent Wallace Hall Jr., who sued McRaven in 2015, and the other two departing regents are set to end their terms on Feb. 1. Hall, however, has urged the state Senate to delay the regents' nomination hearing until the Texas Supreme Court rules on his lawsuit.

To replace them, Abbott nominated former UT regent and chair of the Port of Houston Authority Janiece Longoria, former state Sen. Kevin Eltife and businessman Rad Weaver.

The planned transition would tilt the board's makeup in favor of the current governor's regent selections. Abbott had nominated or reappointed four of the current UT regents, while Perry tapped six of them. If Abbott's three nominees are confirmed, his regents would outnumber Perry's seven to three.

Former regent Bobby Stillwell, a Houston businessman who served on UT's board from 2009 to 2015, said Abbott's appointments this week indicate that McRaven, UT at Austin President Gregory Fenves, the full board and the governor will be "like minded."

"They're on the same page and seeking the same outcome," Stillwell said, a contrast to the mindset of the three outgoing regents. "It seemed to me, and I think to (other regents,) that they were advocating a change of the education model at UT-Austin."

Tension elevated between the governor's office and UT in 2008, when Perry, a Texas A&M University graduate, began asking Texas universities to adopt more business-like practices as tuition and student debt ballooned. He urged universities to cut back on research and asked Texas schools to come up with a $10,000 degree program.

Hall, appointed in 2011 by Perry, worked extensively to find wrongdoing by former UT President Bill Powers. In 2014, after intensive records requests that cost taxpayers about $1 million, Hall was censured as a regent and nearly impeached for allegedly abusing his power as a board member.

But his work helped uncover an admissions scandal at the system's flagship university: Outside investigators found that top UT leaders admitted some unqualified students from 2009-2014 after high-profile alumni and influential lawmakers wrote recommendation letters on their behalf. UT, subsequently, changed its admissions protocols to ensure this wouldn't happen anymore.

Hall - supported by other departing regents Alex Cranberg and Brenda Pejovich - sued McRaven in 2015 to access the unredacted documents involved in this matter.

On Tuesday, Hall asked Abbott and the state Senate to hold off on the nomination hearing for new regents, citing his case which had oral arguments before the state's top court earlier this month.

"Why rush, unless there is a preference to preempt the Supreme Court in a ruling Texans have waited years to obtain?" Hall said in a statement. "It will be unfortunate if pressure by Governor Abbott preempts a ruling by the justices that could support pro-reform practices in our state institutions."

When Abbott last appointed UT's regents in 2015, the state Senate held a confirmation hearing in February and confirmed them in March.

American Council of Trustees and Alumni president Michael Poliakoff said Tuesday Hall's service to UT showed "integrity and devotion." Regents, Poliakoff said, must "not be cheerleaders or check writers or public relations figures, (but) fiduciaries, guarding the public trust."

"It may be hard to find others like him," Poliakoff said in an email.

McRaven said in a Twitter post that he was "very pleased" with the regents' nominees from Abbott and that he looked forward to working with them. The Texas Coalition for Excellence in Higher Education, a group that backed Powers in his fight with Hall, and the high-profile alumni group Texas Exes also praised Abbott's choices.

Longoria previously served as a UT regent from 2008-2011. Eltife is a business owner and longtime lawmaker who previously served on the state Higher Education Coordinating Board, and Weaver manages the investments of San Antonio billionaire Red McCombs, whose name is on UT's business school.

Eltife said in an interview that his goals are to lift up the UT system while keeping a degree affordable. He said he'd like to help improve communications between the system and the legislature.

"We're only hurting ourself and our state if we're fighting," Eltife said.

Attorney General Ken Paxton said in 2015 that UT should pay Hall's legal fees, since Hall sued McRaven in his capacity as a regent. Hall's attorney Joseph Knight said he did not expect the decision's timing to affect the university's responsibility for the fees. Paxton's office and UT declined to comment Tuesday on the legal fees.

Abbott on Monday also nominated three regents to the boards of the Texas Tech University and Texas A&M University systems.

Houstonian John B. Walker, CEO of EnerVest, Ltd., and executive chair of EV Energy Partners, L.P., will serve on Texas Tech's board, if confirmed by the state Senate on Thursday.
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A federal judge has ruled that former Houston Independent School District trustee Larry Marshall should not be shielded by immunity in a bribery and corruption judgment and is liable for millions of dollars in civil damages.

Marshall had argued, after the jury's verdict, that his liability should not exceed $100,000 under to the Texas Education Code, which protects school employees from liabilities while doing their jobs.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison said in a ruling last week, however, that Marshall was not acting within the scope of his position when he interfered with business contracts.

The ruling stemmed from a 2010 civil lawsuit by an upstart contractor who said he lost lucrative school business because he refused to pay kickbacks to Marshall and his campaign treasurer, Joyce Moss Clay. A federal jury last fall found Marshall, Moss-Clay and the other defendants liable for illegally interfering in business contracts and violating the law that prohibits racketeering and corruption.

The jury also awarded more than $4.5 million in damages under two separate laws to the Gil Ramirez Group, which filed the suit.

In his order last week, the judge said the company cannot seek damages under both claims and must collect under either the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act violation or the tort claim.

Chad Dunn, the attorney for Gil Ramirez Jr., said his client plans to reserve the right to recover damages under both claims and to seek reimbursement for attorneys' fees.

"Our client's business was devastated in the days following his refusal to pay bribes," he said. "The recovery in this case will do a lot to return the Plaintiff to a reasonable life but his steadfast opposition to corruption in the face of the status quo is likely to continue to harm his business."

Dunn praised Ramirez for daring to fight back.

"The ruling in this case serves notice on elected officials all over the state that juries will not tolerate the corruption of their institutions," he said.

Richard "Rick" Morris, who represents Marshall, and the lawyers for HISD could not be reached for comment.

HISD was dismissed as a defendant in the civil case in 2015. No criminal charges have been filed.

The jury's verdict may still be appealed after Ellison signs a final order.

Marshall was one of the longest-serving and best-known Houston school trustees. He joined as a teacher in 1955 and helped in the effort to integrate the nation's seventh-largest district.
Police shocked one of two suspected car thieves with a Taser when the man punched an officer as he was being taken into custody after a brief chase Wednesday morning in southwest Houston, officials said.

The chase began about 1:30 a.m. in the 9400 block of South Kirkwood near Bissonnet when officers tried to stop a driver for a traffic violation, said Lt. Larry Crowson of the Houston Police Department.
Texas has more than 300,000 human trafficking victims, including nearly 79,000 youths or minors who have been forced into prostitution or other forms of sex trafficking, a new University of Texas study has found.

The 110-page study offers extensive new data on the extent of human trafficking across the state - a notoriously difficult crime to quantify.

By its estimation, at least 313,000 people in Texas are currently human trafficking victims. Of those, 234,000 are adult labor trafficking victims, researchers said. They have not yet analyzed adult sex trafficking in their work, which is ongoing.

The release of the report comes as Houston-area groups are trying to raise awareness about human trafficking in advance of Super Bowl LI on Feb. 5. Houston is considered by many to be a hub of human trafficking.

The information released Tuesday offers what the leader of the study, Noel Busch-Armendariz, called a "trailblazing" effort in building evidence of how many people in the state are affected by this crime and in need of services.

"It's quite an endeavor because other states, to our knowledge, do not have these numbers," Busch-Armendariz, who directs the university's domestic violence and sexual assault institute, said in a midday conference call with reporters.

'Hidden population'

The crime of human trafficking includes both forced or coerced sex and labor, both of which can be difficult to identify.

Even when in contact with law enforcement or social services agencies, victims often do not speak up about their plight due to fear, attachment to their trafficker or other reasons.

"The study's impetus is grounded in the scarcity of empirical studies of trafficking, compounded by a 'hidden population' that is historically difficult to reach," the report said.

While researchers on the new study cautioned that their work should be considered preliminary and conservative, they said the report marked an important step forward.

"Historically, this has been a big question," said John Nehme, president of Allies Against Slavery, who also collaborated on the work and participated in the conference call.

The extent of human trafficking has previously been analyzed with methods like counting calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline or tallying an area's online sex ads. But the University of Texas study arrived at its conclusions by identifying at-risk populations, including construction workers for labor trafficking or homeless youth for sex trafficking, and calculating victimization rates, then adding the totals.

Economic toll, too

Completed in December, the report also evaluated the economic impact of the crime. In particular, it highlighted $6.6 billion in lifetime costs to the state to care for minor and youth sex-trafficking victims and $600 million in estimated annual wages lost from victims of labor trafficking.

A $500,000 grant from the Office of the Governor's criminal justice division funded the study, which was proposed by the researchers.

The governor's office found the report's findings "deeply disturbing and troubling," said John Wittman, a spokesman for the governor.

But the study helped bring to the forefront an issue that Gov. Greg Abbott has long cared about, he added.

In the ongoing legislative session, state Sen. Joan Huffman and state Rep. Senfronia Thompson have been working with recommendations from the Texas Human Trafficking Task Force, organized by the state Attorney General's Office, to prepare a bill to help continue addressing issues related to the crime, like involving truck drivers in identifying victims, adding traffickers to sex-offender registrations and getting preferential settings for child sex-trafficking cases.

"It just demonstrates the continuous work that we need to do," she said of the study.

Huffman agreed the report would be a "valuable tool."

In Houston, Natasha Paradeshi, who co-founded a drop-in center for sex-trafficking victims called The Landing, said many advocates like herself had hoped for a study like this to help meet the need for data, even if the numbers were conservative.

"This will help get more people on board to help disrupt this underground, criminal business," Paradeshi said.

Still, she said, as a service provider, the only number of victims she needs to know of to keep working is one.
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WASHINGTON - In a sometimes contentious confirmation hearing, education secretary pick Betsy DeVos pledged Tuesday not to dismantle public education and said she wasn't selected for the job simply because of her wealthy family's generous contributions to the Republican Party.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state, the top Democrat on the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pension Committee, asked DeVos point blank to pledge that she would not seek to privatize public schools or take money away from them.

DeVos, who has spent more than two decades advocating for charter schools and school choice, promised to work to address "the needs of all parents and students."

Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a former education secretary, expressed confidence that DeVos is an "excellent" choice for the job.

But as other Republicans praised President-elect Donald Trump's pick, Democrats grilled her on a range of issues from child care to students with disabilities and making public colleges and universities tuition-free.

Asked outright by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont if she got the job because of her family's political contributions, DeVos said: "As a matter of fact, I do think that there would be that possibility. I have worked very hard on behalf of parents and children for the last almost 30 years."

On tuition-free public colleges and universities, DeVos said: "I think we also have to consider the fact that there is nothing in life that is truly free. Somebody is going to pay for it."

Sanders fires back

She skirted Sanders' question on whether she would support making child care free or much more affordable for low-income families as is the case in many countries around the world, saying only that she feels strongly about "parents having opportunities for child care for their children."

"But it's not a question of opportunity," Sanders fired back, raising his voice. "It's a question of being able to afford it!"

Responding to fierce criticism from teachers unions that she is working against public education, DeVos told the committee that she will be "a strong advocate for great public schools."

"But," she added, "if a school is troubled, or unsafe, or not a good fit for a child - perhaps they have a special need that is going unmet - we should support a parent's right to enroll their child in a high-quality alternative."

Murray said she was "extremely disappointed" that DeVos has not yet finalized her financial and ethics disclosures ahead of the hearing. She also asked whether DeVos will divest herself of any family business enterprises that may represent a conflict of interest in her job, including one student loan refinancing company.

"Where conflicts are identified, they will be resolved. I will not be conflicted. Period," DeVos said.

DeVos, 59, also said she will seek to address rising higher education costs and massive student debt, but also advance trade and vocational schools as well as community colleges because "craftsmanship is not a fallback - but a noble pursuit."

Another priority for DeVos will be weakening "burdensome" federal regulations and giving local communities greater control over education policies.

"President-elect Trump and I know it won't be Washington, D.C., that unlocks our nation's potential, nor a bigger bureaucracy, tougher mandates or a federal agency," DeVos said. "The answer is local control and listening to parents, students and teachers."

Groups voice concern

DeVos, the wife of Dick DeVos, the heir to the Amway marketing fortune, has spent more than two decades advocating for charter schools in Michigan.

In a letter addressed to the committee, 38 prominent education groups and teachers' organizations expressed concern over DeVos' track record.

"Over the course of her career as a major campaign contributor, soft-money donor and lobbyist, DeVos has used her considerable wealth to influence legislation and the outcomes of elections to advance policies that have undermined public education and proved harmful to many of our most vulnerable students," the letter said.
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JERUSALEM - Israel announced plans Tuesday to build 2,500 more settler homes on the West Bank, moving to step up construction just days after the swearing-in of Donald Trump brought to power a U.S. administration seen as friendly to the settlement movement.

"We are building - and we will continue to build," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a Facebook post.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer did not answer directly when asked about Trump's reaction.

"Israel continues to be a huge ally of the United States," Spicer said. "He wants to grow closer with Israel to make sure that it gets the full respect that it deserves in the Middle East."

While Trump has signaled that he will be far more tolerant of Israeli settlement construction than his predecessors, he also has expressed a desire to broker a peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians, and siding closely with Israel on such a contentious matter could hurt U.S. credibility.

Netanyahu repeatedly clashed with President Barack Obama over settlement construction. Obama, like the rest of the international community, considered the building of settlements on occupied lands claimed by the Palestinians to be an obstacle to peace.

More Information Funds to Palestinians under State review The State Department is reviewing a last-minute decision by former Secretary of State John Kerry to send $221 million dollars to the Palestinians late last week over the objections of congressional Republicans. Kerry formally notified Congress that State would release the money Friday, just hours before President Donald Trump took the oath of office. Two GOP lawmakers had placed holds on it over moves the Palestinian Authority had taken to seek membership in international organizations. Congressional holds are generally respected by the executive branch but are not legally binding after funds have been allocated. The funds are aimed at political and security reforms. Associated Press See More Collapse

Netanyahu's office would not say whether he had consulted with the White House before Tuesday's announcement, but just a day earlier, the prime minister told a meeting of his Likud Party that there should be no surprises for the new president.

The construction plans were announced by Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who said in a statement that he and Netanyahu agreed on the approval "in response to housing needs."

The approvals were for early stages of home development, meaning construction is not expected to begin anytime soon.

"This decision destroys the two-state solution," said Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian official in the West Bank.

The Palestinians want the West Bank and east Jerusalem - areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war - for their hoped-for state, a position that has wide international backing.

In Brussels, the European Union condemned this week's Israeli settlement announcements, saying they "seriously undermine" the prospects for a peace deal. "It is regrettable that Israel is proceeding with this policy, despite the continuous serious international concern and objections, which have been constantly raised at all levels," a statement said.
WASHINGTON -President Donald Trump is planning to sign executive orders on Wednesday enabling construction of his proposed border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and targeting cities where local leaders refuse to hand over illegal immigrants for deportation, part of a multi-day rollout of his long-promised crackdown on illegal immigration, officials familiar with the decision said Tuesday.

The moves represent Trump's first effort to deliver on perhaps the signature issue that drove his presidential campaign: his belief that illegal immigration is out of control and threatening the country's safety and security.

Trump's immigration efforts this week are widely seen inside the White House as a victory for the self-described populist wing of his inner circle - which includes chief strategist Stephen Bannon, attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions and top policy adviser Stephen Miller.

But discussions were ongoing Tuesday about just how far to go on some policies, in particular the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA. The 2012 initiative has given temporary protection from deportation to hundreds of thousands of people who arrived in the United States as children. Trump vowed during the campaign to reverse it.

It was not yet clear how DACA would be addressed as part of Trump's actions, if at all, according to a White House official, because of differing views among Trump's advisers and associates about the timing, scope and political benefits of ending the program or suspending it for new entries.

"Many options are being worked through on DACA," the official said.

Refugee program

Officials are also considering, but have not decided yet, whether to indefinitely shut down the program that allows refugees from war-torn Syria into the United States. Trump may also put the entire refugee program for all countries on hold for four months, according to an administration official familiar with the options under discussion.

This official said that Trump will also potentially bar for 30 days any travel to the U.S. from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, until new visa procedures are developed. Trump may also ask DHS and the Director of National Intelligence to evaluate if immigrants are being adequately screened for potential terrorist ties.

On Wednesday, Trump plans to speak to a town hall of employees at the Department of Homeland Security's headquarters in Washington, where he is expected to sign the orders relating to the wall and so-called sanctuary cities. The effort to crack down on these localities will resonate with the Republican base, which has long criticized local officials who refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

White House aides said Trump planned to meet Wednesday with several parents of children who were killed by immigrants who are in the country illegally. These activists, who refer to themselves as "angel moms," were frequently featured during Trump's campaign rallies and during the Republican National Convention.

Any immigration measures announced by the president will set up a fierce battle in Trump's first week between the White House and advocates for immigrants, who were reacting with alarm Tuesday as word spread that immigration was on the table.

The planned visit to DHS will be Trump's second to a Cabinet-level agency since he took office Friday. He spoke to employees at the CIA's headquarters in Northern Virginia on Saturday.

The presidential visit to DHS also would symbolize some of the more controversial parts of Trump's agenda. He centered his campaign to some degree on his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to keep out illegal immigrants, a plan that has been vehemently opposed by Democrats and immigrant advocates.

Immigration enforcement

Trump has also promised to beef up immigration enforcement along the border and inside the United States - including a tripling of the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents - in an expensive and logistically difficult operation to remove millions of people from the country.

Perhaps most in dispute were Trump's campaign comments on Muslims. He called at one point for a ban on all Muslims entering the United States as a counterterrorism measure and said he would halt immigration from Syria and deport Syrian refugees already in the country.

It is unclear how this week's executive actions will sit with the man who would enforce them: Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. Kelly, a retired Marine general who was confirmed Friday, struck a markedly different tone from the president during his confirmation hearing, saying the controversial southwest border wall might not "be built anytime soon."

Kelly noted that when he was a Marine officer in Iraq, his forces secured stability in part by reaching out to clerics and other Muslim leaders. He also vowed to promote "tolerance" and said he didn't think it was appropriate to target any group of people solely based on religion or ethnic background, including through the development of a registry.

DHS declined to comment on Tuesday. But people familiar with the matter said Kellyis already under intense pressure from the White House to enforce the immigration crackdown.

ials said, by halting a decades-old program that grants refuge to the world's most vulnerable people as he begins the process of dramatically curtailing it. He is considering a policy that would temporarily freeze refugee admissions from Syria and other majority-Muslim nations that are considered "terror prone," and would halve the number of displaced people who can be resettled on American soil.On Wednesday, Trump is planning to speak to a town hall of employees at Department of Homeland Security headquarters in Washington, where he will sign the orders. The effort to crack down on so-called sanctuary cities will resonate with the Republican base, which has long criticized local officials who refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Later this week, officials said, the president plans to sign other orders restricting immigration and access to the U.S. for refugees and some visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, though the exact timing was being arranged and subject to change.

Residents from many of these places are already rarely granted U.S. visas.

Senior Trump advisers such as chief strategist Stephen Bannon and attorney general designate Jeff Sessions were deeply involved in the extended debate over the orders, said several people familiar with the discussions, who emphasized that the week's actions are intended to start fulfilling Trump's campaign promises on immigration and bring Republicans behind Trump on the issue, one day before he speaks Thursday at a congressional GOP retreat in Philadelphia. These people spoke of condition of anonymity because the executive orders are still being finalized.

DACA action debated

While Trump's immigration efforts this week are widely seen inside the White House as a victory for the self-described populist wing of his inner circle - which includes Bannon, Sessions and top policy adviser Stephen Miller - there are ongoing discussions about just how far to go on some policies, in particular the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA. The 2012 initiative has given temporary protection from deportation to hundreds of thousands of people who arrived in the United States as children. Trump vowed during the campaign to reverse it.

It was not yet clear Wednesday how DACA would be addressed as part of Trump's immigration actions, if at all, according to a White House official, due to differing views among Trump's advisers and associates about the timing, scope, and political benefits of ending the program or suspending it for new entries.

But whether DACA will be the target of an executive order remained unclear late Tuesday as discussions continued at the White House over how and when to address the program.

"Many options are being worked through on DACA," the official said.

A second person close to Trump noted that Sessions remains highly influential and said during his Senate confirmation hearing this month that ending DACA "would certainly be constitutional."

The person said Sessions and Bannon are working to make sure DACA is not shelved or addressed but have not finalized a new policy with Trump.

White House aides said Trump planned to meet Wednesday with several parents of children who were killed by illegal immigrants. These activists, who refer to themselves as "angel moms," were frequently featured during Trump's campaign rallies and during the Republican National Convention.

Battle expected

Any immigration measures announced by the president will set up a fierce battle in Trump's first week between the White House and advocates for immigrants, who were already reacting with alarm Tuesday as word spread that immigration was on the table.

Immigration experts said they had been told the orders later this week would include a halt to all admissions of refugees for 120 days, including from the Syrian civil war, and a 30-day pause in issuance of immigrant and non-immigrant visas to people from some predominantly Muslim countries.

The visit to DHS is Trump's second to a Cabinet-level agency since he took office on Friday. He spoke to employees at the CIA's headquarters in Northern Virginia on Saturday.

The presidential visit to DHS also symbolizes some of the more controversial parts of Trump's agenda. He centered his campaign to some degree on his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to keep out illegal immigrants, a plan that has been vehemently opposed by Democrats and immigrant advocates.

Trump has also promised to beef up immigration enforcement along the border and inside the U.S. - including a tripling of the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents - in an expensive and logistically difficult operation to remove millions of people from the country.

Perhaps most in dispute were Trump's campaign comments on Muslims. He called at one point for a ban on all Muslims entering the United States as a counterterrorism measure, and said he would halt immigration from Syria and deport Syrian refugees already in the country.
A group of demonstrators are criticizing Senator Ted Cruz and his staff for not answering phones or making time to meet with constituents  leading many to believe the junior senator is trying to squash some of the momentum generated by Saturday's Women's March on Washington.

The group was organized in part by a movement known as Indivisible, grown from the Women's March and President Donald Trump's unpopular political agenda. It's similar to the Tea Party movement formed shortly after President Barack Obama took office in 2008.

"We're working with the Tea Party's playbook now," said Ruth Nasrullah, a local activist, working to establish a Southeast Texas Indivisible chapter.

The successes of the Tea Party's efforts were recognized by many political experts, who decided to create a quasi-mirror movement, she said.

Nasrullah said the physical push back at Cruz's office on Tuesday is the senator's way to avoid meeting with people who likely oppose his views and stance on various policies.

But she said those tactics won't work because Indivisible has it's own practical guide that outlines how to "resist the Trump agenda" and avoid letting resistance destroy momentum.

On Tuesday, a crowd of about 30 people  mostly women  got their first taste of political resistance post-Women's March.

They met at Cruzs office in downtown Houston at the Esperson Building to convince Cruz to oppose the policy changes proposed by President Donald Trump. A similar gathering was held at Senator John Cornyn's office.

"My intention was to show that this legislation has real-life implications for people's real lives. This is not an abstract concept," said Lisa Villegas, a demonstrator.

At least four of the demonstrators, including Villegas, managed to meet with a spokeswoman for Cruz, but the remaining women, visibly upset, were asked to leave the building or face trespassing charges.

Cruz's office said they tried to accommodate as many of the visitors as they could. The remaining group waited in the halls of the building, which disturbed tenants, who then called HPD.

A video circulating of HPD escorting the women out of the building circulating shows the women were upset when they were asked to leave. But HPD spokesman Victor Senties said the women were escorted peacefully without incident.

Villegas, however, said the women felt the unanswered phone calls, police escorts and limited contact with the senator are well-thought out schemes to avoid constituents who aren't there to "simply pat him on the back."

"Again, what is surfacing here is evidence of effective disenfranchisement of those constituents who do not approve of the senator's actions,"Villegas said.

A few of the changes Villegas said she and others were opposing included the secretary of Health and Human Services nomination and the repeals of the Affordable Care Act and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

Phil Novack, a spokesman for Cruz, said all of the women were not accommodated because they did not have an appointment, not because they were a nuisance.

"We're always happy to accommodate a constituent who makes an appointment with our office for a meeting," he said. "We always try to do our best with walk-ins."

A similar demonstration occurred at Cruz's Austin office, too.

It was reported that more than 100 people gathered in downtown Austin to pressure the senator to vote against the appointees, including Betsy DeVos for education secretary and U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama for attorney general.

"This issue has pressing immediacy," Villegas said. " ... we have not even a moment to spare with the extreme legislature Trump is set to be pushing, including repealing DACA and the ACA, as well as the congressional hearings of [Trump's] cabinet nominees."
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After local leaders stood on the banks of Brays Bayou to celebrate a creative agreement that is expected to speed up work on a long-delayed effort to lessen the risk of flooding in southwest Houston, some angry Meyerland-area flood victims peppered them with questions.

The press conference was called to tout a plan under which the city of Houston would borrow $46 million from the state, give the cash to the county to speed up work on Project Brays, then be reimbursed later with federal dollars.

City officials hope to repeat that process for two other bayous - White Oak and Hunting- ultimately forwarding the county about $130 million.

For more background on this effort, click here. For more information on another recent flooding initiative Mayor Sylvester Turner and his "flood czar," Steve Costello, announced, click here.

And for more information about Project Brays, visit this county Flood Control District page.

Meyerland resident Sheldon Weisfeld, who said his home has flooded five times since he bought it in 2003, was among the loudest voices at the gathering, saying local officials had failed to properly design the area's drainage. Tuesday's announcement was "a show," he said.

"If the bayou rises, even if it doesn't come out of its banks, our homes -- the places we called home in the past -- are no longer habitable," Weisfeld said, as some neighbors clapped. "It's just frustrating, mayor, when you live in the heart of it and you wake up in the morning and your feet are wet."

Turner -- who, like flood control officials -- was mobbed by residents after he stepped down from the podium, answered questions for several minutes before departing.

"There's no question that there are frustrations and I understand the frustrations," the mayor said. "Nobody wants their homes flooded once, four times or seven times. And that's why the city, in an unprecedented move, took the lead and borrowed the $43 million. Now we have certainty that this project will be completed."

Harris County Flood Control District Director Russ Poppe said his agency expects to complete channel widening through Meyerland to Fondren in the next two years. The city loan, which will be used chiefly for downstream bridge replacements, is important, he said, because bridges that are too low can create significant backups, heightening the flooding risk for those upstream.

Not all local residents were upset. Art Pronin, civic leader who lives between Westbury and Meyerland, said his first childhood memory was seeing his grandmother crying in her ruined apartment along Brays Bayou after Hurricane Alicia in 1983.

Then, and many times since, he said, politicians have promised to help Brays Bayou. Project Brays, he noted, would have the explicit impact of removing him and his neighbors from the 100-year floodplain, lessening their risk and reducing their flood insurance rates.

"To get this money is something we've been promised and promised for a long time. It's hugely positive," Pronin said. "This is a big day for us in southwest Houston."
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AUSTIN - Around 3,000 people rallied on the steps of the Texas Capitol on Tuesday, cheering for school choice as lawmakers inside the building begin to mull whether this will be the year they decide to let parents pay their children's private school tuition with public tax dollars.

The crowd, made up mostly of classes of charter and private school students from Houston and San Antonio, cheered and danced between speeches from the state's top elected officials about wanting to increase parents' choices for where to send their children to school.

"This is a civil rights issue," proclaimed Gov. Greg Abbott from the stage, looking into a jubilant crowd of students and school leaders donning yellow scarves denoting this as National School Choice Week. "We know when it comes to education, one size does not fit all."

Abbott said he is ready to sign a school choice bill if one arrives at his desk.

Several school choice bills died in the 2015 legislative session, with the bill most favored by Senate leadership failing because the House left it in committee. Among the proposals again being touted this year are education savings accounts and tax breaks for businesses that underwrote individual student scholarships that could be used for private schools.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, an outspoken advocate for similar programs, revved up the party-like crowd by calling on his House colleagues for an up-or-down vote, saying children should not have to stay in failing schools.

"If you block a bill from a vote on school choice, you are blocking the future of that child, of that family, of that American dream," he said to cheers erupting on the south lawn of the Capitol complex shortly before the crowd began dancing to Justin Timberlake's song "Can't Stop the Feeling" and marveling at break dancers who later took the stage.

Patrick would repeat that call again, sharing a video on social media of him urging the House to vote on a voucher bill.

A spokesman for House Speaker Joe Straus said the lower chamber is more interested in addressing issues such as school finance.

"Traditionally, the members of the House have not supported spending taxpayer dollars at private schools, and there are many questions to be answered on this issue in the months ahead," said Jason Embry, a Straus spokesman. "The House's priority remains improving education for all students and reforming the school finance system to improve equity and allow more local dollars to stay in local schools."

The call to pass a voucher program comes less than a year after the Texas Supreme Court ruled the state's method for funding public education is constitutional but deeply flawed, spurring lawmakers at the Capitol to consider if and how they can tweak the funding formula. The state spends a base rate of $5,140 per student in Texas, one of the lowest rates in the country.

Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, and chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, said she wants lawmakers to consider rebuilding the formula from scratch but has proposed a preliminary budget that would add no new money per student.

Tuesday's rally was one of more than 20,000 events scheduled around the nation in recognition of National School Choice Week, giving way for advocacy on expanding access to charter schools, private schools, magnet schools, online learning and home schooling.

It is a view shared by President Donald Trump's nominee for Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, a billionaire and school choice champion who has little to no experience with public schools.

One of the most popular proposals among school choice advocates involves the so-called "education savings accounts," in which tax dollars that would be spent on a student in public school would be diverted to a private account the child's parents could use to cover the costs associated with education as they choose. That could include private schools, online classes or even home schooling.

The House has stood in the way of voucher proposals in Texas for years. Democrats argue vouchers will drain money from cash-strapped school districts, while rural lawmakers have few private schools in their districts and see public schools as economic engines of their communities.

"Democrats and Republicans in Texas have come together to defeat vouchers in every legislative session since 1995. It's time state leaders drop their pursuit of vouchers and instead focus on giving our public schools and the children of Texas the resources they need to succeed," said Kathy Miller, president of the left-leaning watchdog group Texas Freedom Network.

Kathryn Dormady, 35, sends two of her children to Great Hearts' Northern Oaks campus outside of San Antonio, and the other two to a private Episcopal school.

"I'm a homeowner, and I pay property taxes, and none of my children go to my local school. I don't feel I should be funding them and not benefiting," she said, adding she acknowledges a voucher program probably would not cover the full cost of private school tuition.

Dua Syed, a ninth-grader at Al-Hadi School of Accelerative Learning in southwest Houston, said she personally has seen how important school choice legislation could be for Texas students. Her friend had to stop attending Al-Hadi, an Islamic secondary and primary school, because tuition was too high.

"I think that everyone should have an equal opportunity to receive the education they prefer, whether it's private or public," she said. "And regardless of their financial background, because kids can't really choose that."

Donna Ray brought her four grandchildren from Buda to the rally. They are all home-schooled.

"I know that a lot of my friends struggle to keep their kids in private school because of the cost," she said. "We're here to support the choices for our friends who don't have the option of home schooling because they have to work."

Nicole Cobler contributed to this report.
We don't know when it'll happen, but sometime soon new recruits to Houston are going to quit being surprised by its diversity, its culture, its food and the startling lack of hitching posts in front of its buildings.

Consider recent transplant Dr. Tom McGillivray, who accepted a job in the Texas Medical Center after seeing Houston for himself. MacGillivray, a recruit from Harvard, told reporter Mike Hixenbaugh that he was pleasantly surprised by the city's cosmopolitan character.

Houstonians have built a remarkable place, and it's time once and for all to let everyone know it.

Case in point: In the past decade, Houston's restaurants secured a spot on every important culinary list. Our city's next target should be the arts.

We have three home-grown arts directors managing capital investments that are poised to change the visual arts scene as we know it: Allison Weaver of the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University, Rebecca Rabinow of the Menil Collection, and Gary Tinterow of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

The new Moody Center, opening next month, will nurture cross-disciplinary collaboration between the arts, sciences and humanities. The Menil Drawing Institute, opening the first weekend in October, is positioned to become a leading international venue for thinking about the role of drawing - the initial entry point of visual art creativity for most young people - in contemporary culture.

The MFAH has three construction projects at various stages of development: a new home for the Glassell School of Art on Montrose, now under construction; the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building for 20th- and 21st-century art, planned on the parking lot now on Bissonnet; and the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation Center for Conservation, a state-of-the-art conservation center to be built on the roof of an existing parking garage on Bissonnet and Main.

Houston's progress in the arts rests on many pillars, including a relatively affordable cost of living for contemporary artists, a diverse international population and a variety of nonprofits engaged in a wide range of art-related activities. Private funding - from large corporate and foundation gifts, to attendance fees - has sustained steady growth in our arts community. And then there is the continuing public support out of earmarked taxes on hotels.

In order to fully capitalize on these public and private investments and elevate Houston as an arts destination, the boards and professional staff of arts organizations - large and small - and city and county officials should put their heads together and devise a plan to create greater public awareness of all that is going on in this city in the visual and performing arts.

The MFAH's Tinterow is right when he observed that increased collaboration "will lift all boats."

The Super Bowl host committee and various organizations supporting it have shown all that can be achieved when city and county leadership is focused and coordinated. After this national event concludes, Houston First, the Greater Houston Convention and Business Bureau and others that have contributed to the Super Bowl effort should apply lessons learned to highlighting our artistic and cultural offerings.

To understand the magnitude of the city's potential as an arts destination, consider a fact that Tinterow shared with the editorial board. The MFAH hosted more visitors to its recent Degas exhibit than could fit in NRG stadium at the Super Bowl. Who were those Degas visitors? 85 percent are from Houston and its suburbs, according to Tinterow.

The challenges to greater destination tourism are well-known, but manageable. Houston has always been a city for business travelers, not for the leisure traveler. Hospitality providers ranging from hotels to airlines need to support a range of offerings at prices attractive to leisure travelers.

For decades Houstonians have invested their time and treasure to build a competitive, world-class arts scene. It is now time to reap the benefits by showing it off.

It is great for newcomers to be pleasantly surprised. It will even better if newcomers come to Houston, and our city meets their high expectations.
Don't consider it mission accomplished.

The 3 million protesters at Saturday's Women's Marches across the nation may be tempted to proclaim victory after learning that they got under the skin of Donald Trump. The Washington Post is even reporting that the president became "visibly enraged" after seeing that the women-led gathering turned out more people in Washington, D.C.

But his administration is only starting its first full week, and there's miles to go before you sleep.

Houstonians who joined the march in our nation's capital learned how steep the journey will be. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz locked his door to the visiting constituents who wanted to discuss healthcare issues.

Sometimes you have to force elected officials to pay attention.

Those politicians were more welcoming here in Houston, where more than 20,000 women and men marched on City Hall at our local branch of the Women's March. Congressman Al Green, Councilwoman Ellen Cohen, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, state Rep. Gene Wu and Phyllis Randolph Frye, an openly transgender judge, joined others in addressing the crowd.

It doesn't take a political genius to guess that these officials are staking out their niche in the anti-Trump resistance. The movement doesn't seem to be dying off anytime soon.

Political reporter Dave Weigel has pointed to echoes of the 2009 tea party movement in this newfound political activism.

Like those activists, today's protesters are inspired by a litany of issues.

The crowd chanted and raised signs about health care, immigration, global warming and the man in the White House. For plenty of young girls in the crowd, however, the loudest shouts were reserved for police on horseback. What little girl doesn't love to see horses?

Consider those young women as the core of march. Our nation is led by a man who had been caught on tape bragging about grabbing women and who faces extensive allegations of sexual assault. He lies about simple facts and provable numbers.

How can we expect girls, or boys, to grow up under this sort of president? Now he's driving an agenda that's only working to divide the nation, despite losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million.

Consider the unifying theme in these national protests.

Organizers of the Women's March announced a "10 Actions for the first 100 Days" campaign, which will keep march participants focused on direct activism, with a new project every 10 days. The first action? They're asking people to write postcards to lawmakers stating their key issues. Postcards can be downloaded online at womensmarch.com/100.

Even Houston's relatively placid political scene is receiving a shake-up from Trump opponents. The Democratic Socialists of America has set up shop in our city, inheriting the spirit of Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign.

The Texas Organizing Project is holding meetings to teach people how to meet with their elected representatives. Republican congressmen, like John Culberson and Kevin Brady, have already been forced to confront angry constituents at town hall meetings worried about their health care.

The Harris County Democratic Party, the only real political opposition to Trump in our two-party system, seems to have newfound energy as it faces an unexpectedly heated race for the next party chair.

And, this Saturday, Texas Southern University is hosting a day-long conference on the future of the Democratic Party, including a forum moderated by Evan Smith of the Texas Tribune and featuring candidates for DNC chairman.

But regardless of party, politics begins with yourself. Call your elected officials, from City Hall to the state Legislature and Washington, D.C. Write emails. Stay informed about the issues that directly affect you and your community. Register to vote. Speak at City Council's public session. Join civic organizations. Volunteer.

For those 3 million protesters, every passing day might seem to drag our national government deeper into the darkest evening. But the path to political victory is dark and deep. And there's miles to go before you sleep.
Common cause

Regarding "Hundreds of thousands of women across U.S. and world rally against Trump" (Page A1, Sunday), there were about a thousand of us, spread across all ages, at the Mexico City Women's March. Here, the chant that received the overwhelming support was "No Trump. No KKK. No racist USA."

Here, also, the police are experienced and well-equipped to deal with a large crowd; after a while, the transit police adjusted the traffic to flow in two directions on one side of the street esplanade, while some of the crowd was placed into the other. No clash, no tempers, no danger.

Sterling A. Minor, Houston

Proud moment

I attended the Houston Women's March Saturday. I was never more proud to be a Houstonian. Even though the turnout was more than twice the expected number, the crowd was civil and respectful. The police officers there were very professional, and some were even quietly thanking us for standing up for them.

State and federal government leaders should take notice! Women's issues are human issues based on love and inclusiveness.

Susan Jackson, Houston

Mobilized

Regarding "Across Texas, marchers 'just can't be silent anymore'" (Page A3, Sunday), Columnist Lisa Falkenberg pictures the Women's March on Washington as important and says that these protesters' fears are "real." If so, the march backfired.

Falkenberg neglected to say that many millions of Americans see these demonstrators as marginal malcontents whose attitudes are destructive.

The most coherent message from speakers was that supporters of President Trump were not America and these demonstrators were. This message distracted from the issues that most Americans care about, such as the falling labor participation rates, ballooning number of food stamps recipients, increasing poverty, greater racial division, disturbing murder rates, stagnant wages and the weakness of America internationally.

Rather than persuading voters, the march is likely to mobilize voters against its purposes.

David Crump, Houston

Human dignity

On Saturday I was proud to be an American. Millions of people across the globe spoke out for human dignity. At first right after the election, I said let's give Donald Trump a chance but that was short-lived.

At the CIA he lied about the size of his crowd and then sent his mouthpiece, White House spokesman Sean Spicer, to double-down and even chastise the press for reporting the factual news. Give us a break!

Bill Philbin, Houston

Freedom

Thank you to the protesters who peacefully voiced their opinions and the media for doing its constitutional duty of reporting it. There are many countries around the world where citizens are not allowed to protest and the media can only report what the dictatorial regime allows.

We are blessed to live in a country where diversity and freedom exist.

Bonnie Newman, Crosby
Tillerson: the right stuff

Regarding "Tillerson appears set to win confirmation" (Page A1, Tuesday), the questions and probes of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reviewing Rex Tillerson's qualifications for secretary of state glaringly demonstrate the ignorance and naivete of the committee members.

In his 10 years as ExxonMobil CEO, Tillerson boosted the company and its oil and gas production to the most prominent world position it has ever held.

Russia's Sakhalin Island is a prime example. In 1989, Russia did not have the technology knowhow to develop a massive oil reservoir offshore Sakhalin Island, under the ice of the Okhotsk Sea. With ExxonMobil knowhow that development now produces more than over 300,000 barrels of oil per day. No international company, no matter how big, could have done that without Russia's cooperation.

Of course Tillerson had to be friendly with Vladimir Putin. Without Putin's blessing, none of that development could ever have happened.

As a negotiator, Tillerson has more experience dealing with Russia, China, and the Arabs and Persians of the Middle East than all the so-called congressional experts put together.

Laurence Shallenberger, Houston

Public education

Regarding "Education champ" (Page A18, Jan. 18), thank you so much to H-E-B CEO and Chairman Charles Butt for investing $100 million into creating the Holdsworth Center in support of public education in the state of Texas.

While many of the powers that be in Texas and the soon to be head of the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., are trying diligently to have only a voucher system for schools, most of us prefer public education.

With the oft-mentioned $2,100 voucher, who will pay the rest? No one can attend a private school for just $2,100, I have checked.

Everyone needs to speak in support of our public schools and excellent teachers.

Donna Kelly, Tomball

Glass half full

Regarding "Haves and have-nots resides in 77055 (Houston Chronicle, Page D1, Monday) I find the banner "Haves and have-nots alike reside in 77055" insensitive. While these so-called have-nots experience economic disparity, they may have wealth in love, faith, family and friends. No labels, please.

Judy Bernard, West Columbia

Opera evaluation

Regarding "'Nixon in China' hides behind art to avoid social responsibility" (Page D1, Tuesday), a sociological diatribe is not an opera review. Please send someone who knows and cares about music and theater to write a real review of "Nixon in China."

And note: It is fine with me if Asian artists continue to perform roles written about Europeans or Americans, just as I was enthralled by Leontyne Price's performance of "Tosca."

Mary Lee Johns, Houston
Trade protectionism could be the biggest risk to President Donald Trump's growth-and-greatness agenda. Trump the dealmaker needs to decide whether to play case-by-case defense or to use America's leverage to open markets.

The United States has free-trade agreements (FTAs) with 20 countries that account for 10 percent of the global economy but nearly half of U.S. exports. In the first five years of these deals, U.S. exports on average increased three times as rapidly as export growth globally.

The United States enjoys a manufacturing trade surplus with FTA partners, while about 60 percent of imports are for intermediate goods that lower costs for U.S producers. U.S. free-trade agreements support innovation by incorporating new rules that help cutting-edge businesses. Congress, the co-owner of these agreements, should push for more.

To make a fresh start, Trump could negotiate an FTA with Britain in parallel with the Brexit bargaining. A U.S.-Britain deal should focus on the core issue that Britain also faces with the European Union: how to devise trade terms for modern service sectors and advanced industries while respecting sovereign decisions about regulation.

U.S.-British solutions may suggest ideas to EU-British negotiators, and, at a minimum, offer Britain an option if the EU decides to make Brexit painful. Trump's team should complement the British deal with an offer to the EU to jump-start the stalled transatlantic trade negotiations by dropping controversial arbitration provisions that would enable private investors to challenge foreign governments. Investors should instead look to U.S. and European courts.

Trump's approach to North America should be grounded in his observation that the United States and Mexico need to compete together with China and other economic powers. Each dollar of Mexican and Canadian exports includes about 40 cents and 25 cents, respectively, of U.S. inputs, whereas the comparable figure for China is about 4 cents.

Wilbur Ross, Trump's nominee for commerce secretary, recognized this competitive reality a decade ago when he supported the U.S. free-trade agreement with Central America; Ross welcomed provisions that helped his U.S. and Mexican apparel operations integrate with Central America in order to compete with Asia. NAFTA, now more than 20 years old, can be improved with new terms on energy, digital business, anti-corruption, logistics and labor standards.

A Trump trade policy for the Asia-Pacific could concentrate first on the prevention of currency manipulation. Both the World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund charters state that economies should not use unfair exchange-rate maneuvers to boost exports and restrict imports, but those directives have not been enforceable. Fred Bergsten of the Peterson Institute for International Economics has come up with a solution: The United States could deter currency manipulation through "countervailing currency intervention" under special circumstances.

U.S. counter-intervention would target governments with large reserves, big trade surpluses and no security justification for buying dollars to depreciate their currencies. Congress should authorize the executive to counter-intervene against any economy with a tradeable currency, which would include Japan and now China.

Whether the Trump administration negotiates country by country, or with groups, it must not ignore the economies of the Asia-Pacific and the potential of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which still could be resurrected. In today's competitive world economy, the United States cannot withdraw in a huff; retreat is defeat. Similarly, the FTAs that the United States already has with 12 countries in the Western Hemisphere could provide a road map for future negotiations with Brazil and Argentina if their reformist governments welcome competition to clean up crony capitalism.

A Trump trade policy also needs a plan to help workers adapt to change and job loss, whatever the cause. The U.S. government spends about $18 billion a year on about 40 employment and training programs run by nine agencies; according to the Government Accountability Office, these schemes have been rarely evaluated.

The American Enterprise Institute's Michael Strain and other reformicons have proposed innovations such as wage support, mobility packages and skill-job matching to get people back into jobs. A job offers the dignity of self-responsibility, even if incomes need to be supplemented.

Trump says he is an economic nationalist. From its earliest days, the new American republic pressed for freedom to trade in a world of mercantilist empires. The first American treaties were for "amity and commerce." A dealmaker who is an economic nationalist should not just blame the world and revert to costly protections of special interests. That's the "Art of Bankruptcy."

Instead, President Trump needs the "Art of the Deal" to open markets, keep America competitive and leverage U.S. economic strength.

Zoellick was U.S. trade representative from 2001 to 2005, deputy secretary of state from 2005 to 2006 and president of the World Bank from 2007 to 2012. This commentary was first published in the Washington Post.
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 womens 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 wouldnt have spent 18 hours in Washington, D.C., and taken the bus for seven hours both ways if I didnt 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.

I feel like theres been an awakening, she said.

More than a million people turned out Saturday to nationwide demonstrations opposing President Donald Trumps 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 Walkers 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 GOPs domination of state-level elections in recent years.

Organizers of Saturdays marches are promising 10 additional actions to take during the first 100 days of Trumps 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, its coming.

The left has really woken up and said, My gosh, weve been fighting the symbolic fight, but we havent 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 womens march.

Theres still value in symbolism. Saturdays 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. Its like dealing with a schoolyard bully and some of us need to go back to middle school and revisit what thats 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 womens 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 wasnt 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 theres nothing guaranteed.

One positive sign for the left, he added, was that the womens 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 Clintons inauguration.

After Trump won, she canceled the trip. She was heartbroken again when she realized that meant she could not attend the womens march. But a friend invited her to a meeting to plan a womens march in Austin instead.

Andre has never been involved in a protest movement before. Still excited after Saturdays demonstration, shes 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.

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Recent news caught my attention while browsing the Internet for employee leave rights at workplace. It had to do with sick pay entitlement and its repercussions on the employees status of employment. An employee who handled outside sales for a firm had availed FMLA leave for his CT scan, stress test and surgery for cardiac blockage. On returning to work, he was shocked to find out that not only he was labeled as a poor performer in the appraisal cycle (despite of achieving the sales target) but also was given a forced choice to accept some lesser role or get fired. The employee sued the firm and won the case as FMLA clauses were in his favor. This made me explore the subject of employee leave rights from the employers perspective, as in the above case the firm did a very clumsy job of managing this leave type. What is the Employee Leave Rights Scenario Around the World? Most countries around the world have labor laws that mandate employers give a certain number of paid time-off days per year to workers as annual leave. Nearly every Canadian province requires at least two weeks; in the European Union the countries can set freely the minimum, but it has to be at least 20 days (not including national holidays). Full-time employment in Australia requires twenty annual leave days a year. US law does not require employers to grant any holiday entitlement, and about 25% of all employees receive no paid vacation time o...
Dispelling the myths and getting employees on board According to a 2015 study, more than two-thirds of American adults currently own a smartphone. And the majority of them spend at least three hours and eight minutes each day using mobile apps. With this in mind, it's no wonder mobile time tracking apps are taking the business world by storm  and with them, GPS tracking in the workplace. For business owners, the benefits are clear. GPS tracking boosts employee accountability and eliminates common time theft issues like buddy punching. But for employees, the benefits might not be so obvious. In fact, a recent GPS survey conducted by TSheets found that 6 percent of employees who had no previous experience with GPS tracking said they would quit if GPS tracking was required at work. Another 38 percent said they would feel negatively about being tracked on the job. On the other hand, employees who were familiar with GPS tracking in the workplace, or had been tracked before, responded in favor of the technology. Only 5 percent of these employees felt negatively about being tracked at work, while more than half claimed to have had a positive experience. In short, employees who are unfamiliar with GPS can be expected to react with fear and anger, while employees who are in the know are more likely to respond positively. Knowing that, communication is everything when it comes to helping your employees understand the benefits and necess...
Happy New Year! It is that time of year when I gaze into my crystal ball and divine the top trends for workforce management for the next 12 months. When I consider what 2017 has in store for WFM, one word sums up what I see: Agility. 2017 will keep employers on their toes. WFM professionals, human resource practitioners and managers at all levels will need to be nimble and adaptable to keep up with changes caused by a competitive labor market and complex regulatory environment coupled with a new administration in Washington, D.C. What makes 2017 particularly unique is the rate at which change will likely occur. In the past, changes to wage and hour laws, entitlements and even the job market have been slow moving. Legislators would pass a new law one year, it goes into effect the next, and employers used the intervening months to prepare. Even the creation of Affordable Care Act (ACA) provided us with years to prepare, but right now, we face two pending events that could force employers to adapt to change almost immediately. The first is the federal overtime rule. As you know, the Department of Labor (DOL) had planned to raise the salary threshold for overtime eligibility from $23,600 to $47,476 annually on December 1, 2016. Nine days before the law was supposed to go into effect, a Texas federal court issued injunction to block the rule. The DOL has pressed for an expedited appeal and a de...
st impressions last  its an age-old saying which weve all heard but just how many employers actually take notice and apply it to themselves? Well, according to one industry expert, not enough.A new employee will decide in their first few days of working in an organisation how long theyll stay with it and whether this is for them or not, says Diana Barry, director of Dough HR.So, how an employer uses that limited time to build a great relationship with their new staff member is crucial to future success, she continues.According to Barry, who co-founded the boutique HR consultancy last year, its vital employers are well-organised from the outset because the first stages of contact will set the tone for rest of the employment relationship.Employees feel respected when the welcome they receive is well-planned and in turn theyll develop respect for their employer that will help them to be a loyal part of the team and business, says Barry.However, despite the importance, Barry says employers dont always focus on forging a strong relationship.I think HR professionals in any organisation, especially these days, are often under pressure to recruit and fill vacancies as soon as possible and sometimes the basics of recruitment and employment processes might not be followed as well as they could be, she says.So things like the hiring process might be a little bit hasty, sometimes poor job descriptions are used, hurried interview processes, and the result of that is that you end up with someone who doesnt have the best impression of your organisation.According to Barry, the employment relationship begins as far back as when employers post job advertisements and can extend many months into employment.A job description needs to be clear and it needs to be easily understood, she says. They need to be robust, a lot of job descriptions are just minor with the small key tasks written in but there is such an opportunity to make a job description which is really relevant to the culture and the values of that particular business.Further down the line, if the employee is successful, Barry says employers should consider sending out induction packs ahead of time.If theyve been given the position and a week before they start theyve received a little induction plan in the mail  even things along the lines of where to go, where to park, what to wear, who to ask for  that will show an employee that this business is well-organised, she says.It shows them that the people are keen for them to know whats going on and they feel comfortable coming on their first day. Even that very small point is huge.Barry says employers should also think about the best way to introduce a new recruit to leaders and colleagues and even consider providing a plan to guide them through their first week.A rough plan for their first week in the role can be hugely beneficial because theyll have something in their hand which shows them whats going to happen every day, she says.I think thats really good value and I think managers also need to talk to their other employees about what they need to do, what their part is in welcoming a new staff member.Then once theyve actually started, Barry says HR professionals shouldnt assume the new recruit is now the responsibility of their department manager.I do think that as an employee starts and they complete their induction and they settle into their work area, sometimes another mistake is that theyre left to their own devices, she says.Once the initial induction is over, that new employee still needs to be supported and given assistance. It might be three months, perhaps, but someone should be talking to them each week to see how theyre managing and if they have any questions, give them information, that type of thing.Barry says all of these measures help the employee settle into work faster which ultimately pays off for both them and their employer.If theyre well settled into place, if they know where they are and whats expected of them, they will feel respected as well as welcomed and thats a really good start for an employee to work towards.
terday, the government confirmed it would be boosting New Zealands minimum wage to $15.75 but the plan hasnt been praised by everyone  less than 24 hours later and multiple unions have already spoken out, saying 50c extra simply isnt enough.A 50 cent increase is certainly a step in the right direction but with small steps like this it will take a very long time to achieve a fairer New Zealand, says Richard Wagstaff, president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.Mike Treen, national director of Unite, agrees  he says the minimum wage plays a huge role in maintaining inequality which only a significant hike would help."There are widespread and unacceptable levels of poverty in this country and inequality is getting out of control, he says. One way to address those issues in a meaningful way is to progressively increase the minimum wage in real terms."Both Wagstaff and Treen are calling on the government to rethink the way the minimum wage is calculated, tying it to New Zealands average salary.The minimum wage needs to be two-thirds of the average wage, this would make it much fairer, says Wagstaff.As of April 1, the minimum wage will represent approximately 50 per cent of the national average  a level which Treen says was already achieved in 2008.We need to be more ambitious as a society, he urges.If the government was to increase the minimum wage to two thirds of the national average, it would sit at $19.88 per hour  8c above the Living Wage.Mat Danaher, E tus Living Wage campaign lead organiser, says implementing the Living Wage as the national minimum wage would make a meaningful difference to Kiwis lives  but any less will do little to help.While many will welcome the slight improvement to their finances offered by this increase, most minimum wage families will notice little difference to their circumstances, he says. They need a Living Wage to help pay the bills and ensure a quality life for their families.Union heads havent been the only ones to offer criticism with Labours workplace relations spokesperson claiming the 50c increase would be a cold comfort to many Kiwis.Fifty cents an hour simply is not enough to keep up with the enormous increases in housing costs that many New Zealanders currently face, said Iain Lees-Galloway.A 3.3 per cent increase in wages is nothing when rents went up by 5.8 per cent last year and house prices rose by 12.5 per cent.
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this week he "misspoke" when predicting the oilsands would someday have to be phased out, a new study says reducing oil production is exactly what the country needs to be doing if the world is going to meet its targets under the Paris climate agreement.

Canadas exports of fossil fuels do not need to drop to zero immediately, but we cannot pursue policies that further increase extracted carbon, economist Marc Lee wrote in the report for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Parkland Institute.

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The report also says that a "major shortcoming" in the Paris climate accord has created an incentive for Canada to extract as much oil as quickly as it can.

Under the agreement that Trudeau signed last year, countries measure their progress in reducing emissions by looking at "territorial emissions"  in Canada's case, the carbon that's burned on Canadian soil. But it doesn't include carbon extracted in Canada and sent abroad, in the form of oil or natural gas.

Because Canada extracts much more oil than it burns (about twice as much at this point), it can export oil without taking a hit to its carbon emissions numbers  in essence, the emissions become the importers problem. But those importers will soon be looking to cut their own consumption of fossil fuels.

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"Therefore, countries like Canada have a powerful incentive to extract fossil fuels now before their value evaporates," the CCPA said in an email. "This green paradox is bad news for the climate."

Neither industry nor government appear to be considering the Paris agreement in their future planning exercises."  Marc Lee, senior economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Many industry leaders and policymakers in Canada have argued against measuring the emissions of oil for export at the source, as the CCPA study does.

They argue smaller oil exporting countries like Canada would be unfairly burdened with reductions in emissions on behalf of energy consumers elsewhere.

But the CCPA study argues that "demand-side" policies, like the carbon tax Trudeau introduced, won't be enough to meet the temperature targets in the Paris climate deal. Governments need to implement "supply-side policies to keep carbon in the ground."

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Many climate scientists have pointed out that keeping a cap on global temperature growth will require keeping some existing oil reserves in the ground.

"This means a planned, gradual wind-down of these industries needs to begin immediately, rather than the continued pursuit of new fossil fuel infrastructure," the study says.

The CCPA report landed a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order moving the Keystone XL pipeline forward  though to what extent is unclear. Trump said he wants to "renegotiate" the project, to ensure  among other things  that the pipeline is built with U.S.-made steel.

It also comes a day after Trudeau appeared to backtrack on a comment earlier this month that the oilsands would eventually need to be "phased out."

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The Prime Minister's Office initially defended the comment, pointing out that former Prime Minister Stephen Harper said much the same thing. On Tuesday Trudeau said he "misspoke" by making the comment  but then went on to give a long defence of why he believes the oilsands will be phased out.

No change in future expectations after Paris deal

The Paris deal didnt set out specific emissions reductions for each country, but rather set a goal of keeping temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels.

What that means is that the deal creates a carbon budget for the world  a total amount of carbon that can be burned if global warming is to be kept under that 2 C limit.

No matter how that carbon budget for Canada ends up being calculated, its much smaller than Canadas proven reserves of fossil fuels, economist Marc Lee wrote in the report.

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The ... carbon budget implies that Canada could extract carbon at current levels for at most between 11 and 24 years."

The CCPA report suggests that the Trudeau government hasnt taken the first steps necessary to plan for a reduction or phase-out of fossil fuels.

Neither industry nor government appear to be considering the Paris agreement in their future planning exercises, Lee wrote. In spite of the agreement, the National Energy Board continues to forecast increases in Canadian fossil fuel production and exports.

Also on HuffPost
OTTAWA  Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch wants Canada to immediately move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, but some Canadian Jewish groups arent echoing her call.

Leitch launched a webpage Monday calling on the Trudeau government to relocate the mission from Tel-Aviv.

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Kellie believes that moving the Canadian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Israel's capital and the home of the Knesset, is the right thing to do, said spokesperson Richard Chiano in an email.

[T]he embassy's presence in Tel-Aviv sends an incorrect signal about Canada's support for Israel.

Chiano said Leitchs position is not motivated by President Donald Trumps controversial election promise to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, although it is encouraging and helpful that he is in favour of the same thing.

RT Join me in calling on the Government of Canada to immediately move our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. https://t.co/Fern3cIri3#cpcldr  Kellie Leitch (@KellieLeitch) 23 janvier 2017

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Moving the Canadian embassy to Jerusalem will signal a sharp turn in Israel-Palestine policy. Canada currently recognizes East Jerusalem as part of the occupied territories.

Former foreign affairs minister John Baird earned a sharp rebuke four years ago, for example, when he met Israels justice minister at her East Jerusalem office.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday that the Trump administration is still at the early stages in this decision-making process.

Trumps ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, however, said he expects to work from Jerusalem, not from Tel Aviv, as soon as he begins his appointment, according to Israeli media.

Jewish organizations weigh in

On this side of the border, Jewish organizations were careful in their comments when asked if Canada should follow Trumps example.

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I think that Canada, just like other American allies and other countries in the world, should be looking very, very closely [at moving the embassy], said Michael Mostyn, CEO of Bnai Brith, in an interview.

Hopefully, Canada will move forward to help support peace. And theres no question that at some point in the future, embassies of the world should be relocated in Jerusalem because it wont be controversial,he said.

Richard Marceau, a senior political advisor with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), said in a statement that his organization would welcome any international recognition that validates that Jerusalem is Israels capital.

The Trump administration will have to contend with international law if it aims to fulfill his promise, warned Rachad Antonius, a specialist on Middle East relations at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal.

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Neither [former Conservative prime minister Stephen] Harper nor [former U.S. president George W.] Bush wanted to move their embassies. Why? Because relocating an embassy to Jerusalem is recognizing a unified Jerusalem as Israels capital and that is against international law. [] It would not only be a hostile action against Palestinians and Arabs, but it would be illegal.

The professor added that Trump could also very well decide to ignore legal experts advice and relocate the U.S. embassy anyway. In the Trump administration, a lot of people are more right wing [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu himself, in terms of supporting colonization.

Canadas new minister of foreign affairs, Chrystia Freeland, stayed mum when asked about the subject. Her spokesperson, Chantal Gagnon, said that the White Houses decision was not official yet and that Freeland would not speculate on this.

Feds accused of ducking issue

Antonius accused the Trudeau government of safeguarding its political interest by avoiding the question. If [the minister] had a little bit of courage, she wouldve said that international law applies and that we beg to differ.

CIJAs Marceau said Canada needs to show coherence and consistency in the application of principles that guide its foreign policy.

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If Canada thinks that it should abstain from recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel  it should also abstain from defining disputed territories as occupied Palestinian territories, he said. There cant be one kind of standard in terms of prejudgment.

Mostyn, from Bnai Brith, said the relocation of the embassies in Israel is a necessity.

Sooner or later, embassies are going to be moving to Jerusalem. So the question is: how is it done in a proper way that leads to a peaceful resolution?

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OTTAWA  A controversial government survey designed to gauge public appetite on reforming the electoral system has concluded that two-thirds of Canadians are satisfied with this countrys democracy.

The findings indicate, however, that while 17 per cent are very satisfied with the state of Canadas democracy, half the respondents are only somewhat satisfied.

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MyDemocracy.ca was launched on Dec. 5, 2016. Invitations to participate in the online survey were sent to 15 million Canadian households. Six weeks later, approximately 383,074 unique users had taken part in the poll, the surveys creator, Vox Pop Labs, said in a report released late Tuesday.

The results, which were weighted to the census to increase the representativeness of the findings, found Canadians are generally satisfied with the current electoral system, Clifton van der Linden, the founder and chief executive officer of Vox Pop Labs, suggested in the report.

Though satisfaction does not necessarily preclude a desire for reforming the electoral system, a majority of Canadians (67%) report being somewhat or very satisfied with the way democracy works in Canada, he stated.

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The surveys responses could give the Trudeau government an excuse not to push forward with changes.

The online consultation was celebrated by former Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef as a way to consult directly with Canadians on the values they wanted to see reflected in a new electoral system. The Liberal party promised during the 2015 election campaign that it would be the last under the first-past-the-post, or winner-take-all, system. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau pledged he would make every vote count.

Since forming the government, however, the Grits have not shown as much enthusiasm for reform.

Critics panned the survey because it didnt ask Canadians what electoral system they would prefer, nor did it ask simple questions such as: Do you believe a political party that obtains 30 per cent of the popular vote should have 30 per cent of the seats in the House of Commons?

Van der Linden wrote in his report that many Canadians value different features associated with different types of electoral systems. For example, 58.6 per cent of respondents said having the ability to hold governments to account was important  a feature often associated with the first-past-the-post system, where lines of party accountability are clear.

At the same time, 55.7 per cent of respondents said collaborating with other parties should be a priority in Parliament  this is often a hallmark of legislatures with voting systems that are more proportional.

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This could embolden advocates of proportional representation, such as the NDP and the Green party, which have long championed having more disparate voices in Parliament and, likely, more minority governments.

The governments survey found a clear preference for a Parliament that is more co-operative, where parties work together to develop policy and share responsibility, as long as it is clear who is ultimately responsible.

Seventy per cent of respondents preferred a government where several parties have to collectively agree before a decision is made rather than a government where one party governs and can make decisions on its own, the report said.

Monsef was shuffled out of the democratic institutions portfolio earlier this month. The new minister, Karina Gould, said Tuesday that she was grateful so many Canadians had participated in the process.

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We will carefully consider these findings as we move forward, she said in a statement.

Legislation promised for this spring

The Liberals promised during the campaign they would introduce legislation this spring so that changes could be enacted before the 2019 election.

A Commons committee dominated by opposition MPs recommended in December that the Liberals bring forward a new system of proportional representation. It also asked that Canadians be consulted n a national referendum on whether they preferred the proposed new system or the current first-past-the-post.

The Liberals on the committee, however, suggested the government should cool its heels and do nothing for the moment but take time to consult citizens before bringing in any potential changes.

The MyDemocracy.ca survey results revealed several interesting findings. Among them:

Canadians want a voting system that is easy to understand, where the ballot is not difficult to interpret;

Canadians are divided on whether special measures should be adopted to increase the representation of groups  such as women  who are currently under-represented in Parliament;

Canadians want members of Parliament to be less tied to party discipline and to have more autonomy to represent the interests of their constituents;

A slight majority of Canadians, 53 per cent, oppose mandatory voting;

A majority of Canadians support online voting but only if it doesnt increase security risks;

Two-thirds of Canadians, 66 per cent, oppose lowering the voting age.

More than 90 per cent of Canadians support placing limits on the length of a federal election campaign.

Also on HuffPost

Voting Around The World See Gallery
OTTAWA  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he misspoke when told an Ontario audience earlier this month that the oilsands need to be phased out.

I misspoke. I said something the way I shouldnt have said it, Trudeau told journalists Tuesday after a cabinet meeting in Calgary. But then, the prime minister offered a long defence for why he believes the oilsands will be phased out some day.

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Rick Bell from the Calgary Sun told the prime minister there was quite a little bit of anger in Alberta about his comments and he offered the PM the opportunity to set the record straight.

Trudeau suggested his critics had jumped on his words to try to make political hay but he stood firm in his belief, saying the country and the planet need to move off of our dependency on fossil fuels.

First of all, Im happy to highlight that from the very beginning of my political career I have been coming out to Alberta and listening to people and talking about how important Albertans are and Alberta is as a driver of the Canadian economy.

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One of the fundamental responsibilities of the government, the prime minister added, is to get Canadian resources to market  in a responsible and sustainable way.

'I will not run against Alberta'

Trudeau proudly noted that unlike the previous Conservative government, his Liberal government had approved two significant pipelines already with a third possibly on the way after U.S. President Donald Trump gave the Keystone XL project a green light Tuesday.

I have said many many times, that I will not run against Alberta, he told reporters.

Trudeau also noted that what he said during that Peterborough town hall was nothing really new.

I have also spoken many, many times about our need to move off of our dependency on fossil fuels I have always talked about managing that transition responsibility, he said.

I talk about phasing out our dependency on coal, I talk about phasing out our use of fossil fuels, I talk about making sure that we understand that the resources in the oilsands, you know, 100 years from now we probably are not going to be using it for our fuel and energy sources except perhaps in jet fuel depending on alternatives that come up, he later added.

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But the petrochemicals involved and the potentiality of these fossil fuel resources are always going to be valuable.

While the transition off of fossil fuels dependency would take a long time, Trudeau said his focus as prime minister will be to ensure Canadians have good jobs, communities are prospering, the economy is growing and that everyone has opportunity. All that must be done, he said, in a way that understands our responsibilities towards the environment, towards future generations, in a thoughtful and reasonable way.

That, Trudeau said, is what he has always showcased and what he continues to believe in.

Tory rivals pounced on remarks

In mid-January, the prime minister told a town hall in Peterborough: We cant shut down the oilsands. We need to phase them out. We need to manage the transition off of our dependence on fossil fuels. That is going to take time. And, in the meantime, we have to manage that transition."

His words set off a firestorm in Alberta. NDP Premier Rachel Notley lashed back, saying Albertas oil and gas industry wasnt going anywhere, anytime soon.

Conservative leadership candidates piled on. Saskatchewan MP Andrew Scheer, for example, called Trudeau himself to be phased out.

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"We can't shut down the oilsands tomorrow. We need to phase them out." -- PM Trudeau No, Mr. Trudeau. Canada, we need to #PhaseHimOutpic.twitter.com/NzF4F6mPyy  Andrew Scheer (@andrewscheer) January 13, 2017

The Prime Ministers Office tried to downplay the incident, noting Trudeau hadn't said anything former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper hadnt said.

Though Harper was a vocal champion of Canadian energy and a fierce advocate for pipeline projects, he joined with other G7 leaders in 2015 to commit to the full phase out of fossil fuels by the year 2100. At the time, one of his advisors called it an aspirational target.

With a file from Ryan Maloney

Also on HuffPost
Do you think Donald Trump is a misogynist?

Its the kind of question that might shake a prime minister off his talking points, especially one who will sit down with an unpredictable, new U.S. president in weeks to talk about revising a major trade deal.

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Especially a prime minister whose reputation as a feminist has sparked international headlines and acclaim.

But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear Tuesday, speaking with reporters at the Liberal cabinet retreat in Calgary, that he isnt going to go there.

I am pleased to have a constructive working relationship with the new administration. It is and I have made very clear over the past year, it is not the job of a Canadian prime minister to opine on the American electoral process, Trudeau said.

It is the job of the Canadian prime minister to have a constructive working relationship with the president of the United States and that is exactly what I intend to do.

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"It is not the job of a Canadian prime minister to opine on the American electoral process."

Moments earlier, Trudeau was asked about the thousands of Canadians and millions of people around the world who took to the streets Saturday to demonstrate against Trump. A reporter wondered what he might say to those who might be uncomfortable to see him working with Trump.

Trudeau said Canadians expect him to both seek out opportunities for the Canadian economy and stand strong for its values.

We know how important a strong, positive trading relationship with the United States is for our communities, our businesses and Canadian workers, Trudeau said. But we also know that we have perspectives and (an) outlook that is deeply rooted in our sense of a shared opportunity and respect for rights.

These are things that anyone who engages with Canada will understand and I look forward to, as always, as Canadians expect me to, having a positive working relationship with the new American administration.

Trudeau's tweet goes viral

Trudeau steadfastly refused to criticize Trump during the U.S. campaign, saying it was his responsibility to work with either Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton.

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The prime minister did not release an official statement Saturday addressing the events in Canadian cities and towns that coincided with the massive Womens March in Washington, D.C. Maryam Monsef, the new Status of Women minister, did not attend any of the marches. Monsefs office told The Toronto Star she had prior commitments in her riding.

But Trudeau did take to Twitter to share his thoughts on the events.

Congratulations to the women and men across Canada who came out yesterday to support women's rights, he wrote Sunday. You keep your government inspired.

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

Trudeaus tweet made some waves and was picked up by some U.S. media outlets. Trudeau's Response to the Women's March is Yet Another Reason You Should Move to Canada, read the headline on Cosmopolitan.

Trump, unsurprisingly, had a different reaction to the protests.

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

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But the new president eventually noted that peaceful protests are all part of a functioning democracy.

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

Also on HuffPost
The University of Winnipeg is offering students a chance to learn the Ojibwe language on the indigenous people's traditional land.

The fast-paced, land-based language courses give students a chance to learn practices like medicine and beadwork in Riding Mountain National Park.

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U of W has been a leader in promoting indigenous studies. All students at the university, regardless of their background, are required to take an indigenous studies course to graduate, according to Maclean's.

Students have the option of learning Cree or Ojibwe, or learning about topics like "indigenous self-determination," "legacy of residential schools" or "indigenous women and resilience." They can also take anthropology studies focusing on North America's indigenous groups, religious classes, or history classes focusing on Aboriginal, Metis or Inuit peoples.

Learn to speak Ojibwe in this intensive, land-based language course offered by #UWinnipeg. pic.twitter.com/edqYIMI659  UWinnipeg (@uwinnipeg) January 23, 2017

The school, whose population is 12 per cent First Nations, Metis or Inuit, also offers awards and financial aid for indigenous students.

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Signs at the school welcome students in Ojibwe, Cree, Dene, Michif, Dakota, and Inuktitut, and the school's website offers an "Ojibwe word of the week."

This banner outside Centennial Hall will welcome all visitors in Ojibwe, Cree, Dene, Michif, Dakota, and Inuktitut. pic.twitter.com/x8qjTm8ImZ  UWinnipeg (@uwinnipeg) April 18, 2016

Aimee Guiboche and her 11-year-old daughter took Ojibwe classes from the university's Wii Chiiwaakanak Learning Centre in 2015.

"My mom and dad never spoke the language to me," Guiboche told CBC News. Now, she's making sure her daughter has that opportunity.

Dr. Lorna Wanostsa7 Williams talks about how universities can promote indigenous languages.

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The language program was developed from an earlier immersion program where students would learn about flora and fauna in Assiniboine Park, all while practicing their Ojibwe.

We learn the language, but then we go out and we use it, Jarita Greyeyes told Metro News.

Follow The Huffington Post Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose says she doesnt buy that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau misspoke when he said Albertas oilsands need to be phased out.

I think that is Mr. Trudeaus ideology, Ambrose told reporters Wednesday in Quebec City at her caucus retreat. I think he is anti-energy.

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When asked if she thought the oilsands should be phased out, Ambrose said such a shift shouldnt be done until theres a replacement that makes sense for our country.

If were moving towards another kind of energy then it has to be done in a way that is sustainable and affordable, Ambrose said.

Trudeau raised the ire of Alberta politicians and Tory leadership contenders when he told a town hall in Peterborough, Ont. earlier this month that Canada must transition away from burning fossil fuels.

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We cant shut down the oilsands tomorrow, Trudeau said at the time. We need to phase them out. We need to manage the transition off of our dependence on fossil fuels. That is going to take time.

Trudeau addresses issue in heart of oil country

Trudeau addressed the controversy surrounding those remarks Tuesday with reporters covering his cabinet retreat in Calgary. The prime minister said he should have chosen different words.

I misspoke. I said something the way I shouldnt have said it, Trudeau said.

But the prime minister did not shy away from his position that the Canada needs to break its dependency on fossil fuels in the long term. He insisted its not a new message from him.

I talk about making sure that we understand that the resources in the oilsands, you know, 100 years from now, we probably are not going to be using for our fuel and energy sources, he said, adding jet fuel could be the exception.

The Prime Ministers Office also made the case last week that Trudeaus words werent so different from those of former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, who joined with other G7 leaders in 2015 to commit to the full phase out of fossil fuels by 2100.

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Trudeau made reference to Harpers pledge Tuesday night when an angry Calgarian at a town hall accused him of having a different message about the oilsands when hes in western Canada than he does down East.

The man said Trudeau was either a liar or... confused, but said he was starting to think the prime minister was both.

Even Stephen Harper recognized we have to get off fossil fuels eventually. We have to do that, Trudeau responded, sparking cheers. We cannot do that right now.

"Even Stephen Harper recognized we have to get off fossil fuels eventually."  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Again, Trudeau said every prime minister needs to get resources to market, including fossil fuel from the oilsands.

I've also said that we need to do that in a responsible, sustainable way  that you cannot separate what's good for the environment and what's good for the economy."

With a file from Patrick Bellerose, The Canadian Press

Also on HuffPost
While public awareness campaigns are fighting to end the stigma associated with adult mental illness, two Ontario parents are hoping the same spotlight can be shone on children's mental health.

Janet Ashby-Petrella and Frank Petrella of Cobourg, Ont., are heartbreakingly aware of the stigma and hurdles surrounding this issue. In August 2014, their 12-year-old son Chazz hung himself from a tree in their backyard, despite years of seeking assistance from numerous medical practitioners, agencies and organizations.

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Sadly, Chazz is one of far too many. In Canada, suicide is the second-leading cause of death for kids aged 10 to 24, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Ontario had an average of 52 suicide deaths each year from 2013 to 2015 by kids aged 10 to 18. Kids Help Phone recently reported one in every five callers surveyed had considered suicide.

Knowing these statistics, Chazz's parents and four older siblings want answers. They want to know how the system failed their son and brother because they don't want this to happen to any other family.

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However, Chazz's family was denied a public inquest into his care in July 2016 after a two-year investigation by the Pediatric Death Review Committee (PDRC).

The PDRC reports to the Ontario Chief Coroner and is responsible for investigating deaths of children or youth when concerns have been identified with their diagnosis or care.

The PDRC and Kingston supervising coroner Dr. Paul Dungey found Chazz's care to be "good" and advised the family that the agencies and organizations involved had taken voluntary steps to improve any concerns found during their investigation. But the family thinks more needs to be done.

"The system that failed Chazz cannot be simply 'fixed' behind closed doors by the representatives of that very system," maintain Chazz's mom and dad in a letter sent in July 2016 to Dr. Dirk Huyer, Ontario's Chief Coroner.

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They want Dr. Huyer to use his discretionary power to call a public inquest by jury. They feel that many key questions about their son's care haven't been answered, and some questions were not even asked at all.





In the same letter to Dr. Huyer their lawyer Julie Kirkpatrick states:

"My clients again ask you to recognize that a public inquest into the complete circumstances surrounding Chazzs death is the only mechanism that will achieve a reliable factual foundation for meaningful recommendations to be made by a jury of individuals who have not emerged from, worked within, or become invested in the very system that failed Chazz and his family. My clients believe that the nature and result of this coroners investigation underscores the need for a jury of citizens to take a deep and careful look at what actually went so terribly wrong for Chazz."

Irwin Elman, Ontario's Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth, doesn't mince words when he describes Ontario's mental healthcare system for children: "At best, we don't actually have one, and at worst, it's a mess."

He says Ontario isn't alone and that his counterparts in other Canadian provinces have similar frustrations. Elman has identified the following problems:

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1. Fragmented and sometimes conflicting silos among Ontario services such as healthcare providers, community services, justice systems, schools and child-centric agencies.

2. Little collaboration between these support mechanisms.

3. Some treatment options have wait times exceeding 300 days.

4. Parents don't have any support in navigating the system when they try to find the right help for their child's mental illness, leaving entire families debilitated.

In light of all of this, Elman feels a public inquiry is an opportunity for those involved in Chazz's care, including his parents, "to come around him." This is a term he uses to describe how those individuals and mental healthcare organizations can move past defensiveness and blame because nobody wanted this to happen to Chazz.

"A jury of citizens in Chazz's community can objectively hear what happened to him, although it may be painful," says Elman. "And apply a lens of common sense to see what needs to change."

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Meanwhile, Chazz's parents wait.

A public inquiry seems to be a way for them to finally find the right help on behalf of Chazz, to ensure other families dealing with childhood mental illness don't have to endure what they've been through.

Nothing will bring back their child, but changes to the system for children would at least give his death some meaning.

Where to get help:

1. Kids Help Phone: Call 1-800-668-6868 or visit www.kidshelpphone.ca for online chat counselling.

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Two are always better than one, but this duo are completely one-of-a-kind.

Nine-month-old twins from Quincy, Illinois, are making headlines after photos of them have gone viral.

Yes, they are adorable, but they are also a set of rare "chromosome twins."

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"We're chromosome twins. Kalani(on left) is light with blue eyes and Jarani (on right) is the darker one with brown eyes. This is rare but so awesome to share!," their mom, Whitney Meyer wrote on Facebook site last year. Both babies were born in April 2016

At first when they were born, I wanted to believe it but its so rare I didnt think itd happen to my twins! But sure enough theyre biracial twins! Meyer told local news outlet KHQA on Monday.

In 2015, another set of twins in the U.K. went viral after people constantly confused them as friends.

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Lucy and Maria Aylmer from Gloucester, U.K. were born to a mixed background couple.

"No one ever believes we are twins because I am white and Maria is black. Even when we dress alike, we still dont even look like sisters, let alone twins. When weve met friends for the first time they never believe we are twins and they have even made us produce our birth certificates to prove that we are actually twins," Lucy told Itv News.

A photo posted by @mariaaylmer on Feb 10, 2016 at 1:47pm PST

But how rare are a twins like Lucy and Maria? According to the BBC, for mixed background couples expecting twins, there's a one in 500 chance those babies will be born with different complexions.

"Our skin colour is determined by a number of gene variants -- at least 20 variants, I would say, probably quite a few more than that," Dr. Jim Wilson, a population geneticist at the University of Edinburgh told the news site.

"Some of these we know, and some of them we don't yet know, and at each of these genes, that are influencing the colour of our skin, there tends to be two or more variants. One of which is producing a darker skin tone, and one of which is producing a lighter skin tone."

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awesome day with my twin @lucindaaylmer  A photo posted by @mariaaylmer on Feb 24, 2015 at 10:44am PST

And although Kalani and Jarani share the same genes, they don't share the same habits just yet.

Meyer says Kalani is energetic and crawling, while her twin sister has yet to crawl. But both of them are equally adorable.

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Dan Aykroyd has opened up about his engagement to his "Blues Brothers" co-star Carrie Fisher.

The Canadian comedian and actor penned a heartwarming note honouring the late actress. Aykroyd's tribute is one in a series that will be published in the March 2017 issue of Empire magazine.

"I grew up as a simple Catholic kid from a government family in Hull, Quebec, so you can imagine how much of a privilege and honour it was for me to have known this one-off, broke-the-mould woman as a great friend," he wrote.

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Aykroyd shared a series of anecdotes about Fisher, from how the pair first met on "Saturday Night Live," to his proposal with a sapphire ring in 1979, and her reciprocal gift: "a Donald Roller Wilson oil painting of a monkey in a blue dress next to a tiny floating pencil, which I kept for years until it began to frighten my children."

The pair never married  Carrie reunited with her earlier love, Paul Simon, who she married before divorcing a year later.

"She was also in love with Paul Simon. She married him but I hope she kept my ring," Aykroyd wrote.

Carrie Fisher died in December from cardiac arrest. She was laid to rest, alongside mother Debbie Reynolds who died just one day after her daughter. They were both buried on January 6.

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"Our beautiful brilliant funny wise kind and generous Blues Sister -so ironic - Xmas was Carrie's favorite thing next to babies."  Dan Aykroyd (@dan_aykroyd) December 27, 2016

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Tell it like it is, girl!

Top model Hanne Gaby Odiele has revealed she's intersex in a new interview with USA Today.

The 29-year-old beauty, who was born in Kortrijk, Belgium, said she was born with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome and was born a woman with XY chromosomes more typically found in men. Doctors removed undescended testes when she was 10.

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Hanne Gaby Odiele poses for photographs at the amfAR's 23rd Cinema Against AIDS Gala at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 19, 2016 in Cap d'Antibes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/WireImage)

It is very important to me in my life right now to break the taboo," Odiele said in the interview. "At this point, in this day and age, it should be perfectly all right to talk about this."

In telling her story to the public, the model said she hopes she can help the up to 1.7 per cent of people born intersex (according to the United Nations) and lower the rate of surgeries to remove unformed reproductive organs, which often occur before children can give their consent.

"I am proud to be intersex, but very angry that these surgeries are still happening," Odiele said, who noted that doctors told her parents that they had to perform surgery on their daughter because "I might develop cancer and I would not develop as a normal, female girl."

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Dear #intersexyouth , doctors and parents, Whats up #intersex #StopIGM (Intersex Genital Mutilation) #intersexHanne #intersexy Feel free to share  A video posted by Hanne Gaby Odiele (@hannegabysees) on Jan 23, 2017 at 2:07pm PST

As Odiele was only a young girl at the time, she said she didn't fully understand why she had to get surgery and wishes she was fully informed of the reasons for the operation.

"I knew at one point after the surgery I could not have kids, I was not having my period. I knew something was wrong with me, she said. Its not that big of a deal being intersex. If they were just honest from the beginning... It became a trauma because of what they did.

According to the United Nations, intersex people "are born with sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads and chromosome patterns) that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies."

"Intersex is an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of natural bodily variations. In some cases, intersex traits are visible at birth while in others, they are not apparent until puberty. Some chromosomal intersex variations may not be physically apparent at all."

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About last night  thx for the good Times @marcjacobs celebrating #marcthenight  by @tracyalfajora A photo posted by Hanne Gaby Odiele (@hannegabysees) on Nov 18, 2016 at 6:53am PST

It's also important to note that being intersex is distinct from a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

Odiele, who married husband, model John Swiatek, last summer, said she hopes her coming out makes it a bit easier for other people born intersex.

It is an important part of my life to talk about this, she said. You can be whoever you want. It doesnt matter."

Also on HuffPost

Famous LGBTQ Canadians See Gallery
A former prime minister whose relationship with his American counterpart became strained over the Keystone XL pipeline has lauded President Donald Trump for giving new life to the project.

Stephen Harper took to social media with a short message Wednesday, a day after Trump signed an executive order that could help spur construction of the much-discussed Alberta-to-Texas pipeline.

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Harper called it a great first step in the advancement of the project.

Stronger resource development means a stronger economy, he wrote on Twitter and Facebook.

Great first step by President Trump in the advancement of #KeystoneXL, stronger resource development means a stronger economy.  Stephen Harper (@stephenharper) January 25, 2017

Harpers words were more subdued than the ones he used in office while trying to convince former U.S. president Barack Obama to get on board with the project.

The former Conservative leader famously told Bloomberg TV in New York in 2011 that approving the project should be a complete no-brainer for Obama.

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The economic case is so overwhelming, Harper said at the time. The number of jobs that would be created on both sides of the border is simply enormous.

In 2013, he told another business audience in New York he would not take no for an answer.

He also suggested the Obama White Houses reluctance to approve TransCanadas application to build the pipeline had more to do with politics than policy.

The logic here is overwhelming, Harper said. "I remain an optimist that, notwithstanding politics, that when something is so clearly in everybody's interest  including our interest as Canadians, but the national interest of the United States  I'm of the view that it has to be approved."

Harper also told Bloomberg in 2015 the pipeline would eventually be built, with or without Obama.

"I believe that whether this project goes ahead or not under this administration, it will ultimately go ahead under a subsequent administration," he said.

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During a foreign policy debate in the 2015 election, Trudeau accused Harper of spoiling the opportunity to forge a connection with Obama because of a single point of disagreement over the pipeline.

"Canadians are sitting around worried about their jobs because we have a prime minister that doesn't like Barack Obama," Trudeau said at the time. "We need to do much better than that."

Harper dismissed the notion that he had a personal beef with Obama as an invention.

"We have a great relationship with the U.S. administration. I have a great relationship with President Obama, he said.

Obama officially rejected Keystone in November 2015, just two days after Trudeaus Liberal government was sworn in. Trudeau expressed disappointment, but said at the time the Canada-U.S. relationship was bigger than any one project.

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Tories have, at times, reminded Liberals that Keystone was rejected under their watch. They have also accused Trudeau of not pushing back hard enough against Obamas rebuff.

Trudeau told reporters in Calgary Tuesday that he pressed Trump on Keystone in each of his two recent conversations with the new president.

In both the conversations I've had with President Trump now Keystone XL came up as a topic and I reiterated my support for the project,'' Trudeau said.

I've been on the record for many years supporting it because it means economic growth and good jobs for Albertans.''

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Conservative natural resources critic Mark Strahl released a statement Tuesday commending Trumps decision and noting the work done by the previous government to promote the project.

Tories want more pipelines in Canada

Strahl did not offer any kudos to the Liberals, instead calling out the government for rejecting the Northern Gateway pipeline project on this side of the border. Strahl also urged Liberals to support the Energy East pipeline process.

While we are pleased with the Trump administrations approval of this project, it does not reduce the need for new pipelines in Canada, he said in the release.

We are pleased that President Trump has approved Keystone XL in principle but will remain vigilant to ensure that Canada's interests are protected as more details emerge."

Trumps approval of Keystone comes with conditions. He wants the terms of the deal renegotiated and for U.S. pipelines to be built with American steel. If constructed, the $8-billion project will see more than one-fifth of the oil Canada exports carried to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.

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Trump also signed an executive order Tuesday on advancing the $3.8-billion Dakota Access pipeline.

With files from The Canadian Press

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This truly is the meaning of family.

When Celia and Geff Kinzel got married earlier this month surrounded by a small group of family and friends, one very important family member had to be part of the ceremony, Us Weekly reports.

Their two-year-old son Logan, who is currently being treated for brain cancer, didn't miss the opportunity to be with his parents on this big day.

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The Ohio couple ended up exchanging vows at the chapel at the Nationwide Childrens Hospital (where their son is being treated), and now a photo of them carrying their precious two-year-old in the hallway has gone viral.

"Sometimes when you can't come to the wedding, the wedding comes to you," the hospital wrote on their social media pages.

Sometimes when you can't come to the wedding, the wedding comes to you. #hospitalwedding #crushcancer #pediatriccancer #pediatriccancerawareness #nationwidekids #nationwidechildrens A photo posted by Nationwide Children's Hospital (@nationwidekids) on Jan 10, 2017 at 1:28pm PST

We were worried that Logan would get sick during the ceremony. But it was the first day that he was full of energy, really happy, really talkative. He was ready to see people and be there," the 26-year-old bride told Us Weekly.

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Online, people related to the photo with their own stories, and also sent the Kinzels their warm wishes.

"Somehow, this picture makes me feel like all the problems I think I have are completely moot. What a lovely, touching moment. The love of a parent is awesome! Thank you for accommodating this family!," one commenter wrote.

"That's what happened to us my mom had a stroke on my honeymoon and passed away. We went to see her on our wedding day," another one added.

According to Us, Logan was first diagnosed with stage four medulloblastoma last year when he was 17 months old.

In November 2016, doctors had noticed the cancer had returned. And although he currently lives in the Ohio hospital for treatment, his mother told the magazine he's full of joy.

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When he laughs, hell throw his head back and its so cute! Even when hes throwing a temper tantrum, hes still super cute.

The Canadian Cancer Society notes childhood cancer is relatively uncommon, but it still stands as the most common disease-related cause of death.

Cancers in children are found in different organs of the body compared to adults, and it acts quite different as well.

In Canada, childhood cancer accounts for less than one per cent of all new cancer cases, the organization notes.

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Sometimes the hardest lessons are the ones related to size 90 font gaffes.

Last week, Liberal MP Dan Ruimy used a large novelty cheque to announce $100,000 in government funding for the City of Pitt Meadows during a municipal council meeting.

This funding will support community recreation at Harris Road Park for children and their families in Pitt Meadows, with a brand-new water-efficient spray park system and expanded play features, Ruimy said at the time.

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The cheque featured the Government of Canadas logo and arms, as well as a line at the bottom with the B.C. MPs name and his Pitt Meadows  Maple Ridge riding.

Ruimy attended the meeting on behalf of Navdeep Bains, the minister for innovation, science and economic development.

Conservative MP Mark Strahl called out his Liberal colleague for having his name emblazoned on a prop associated with government funding. Strahl noted on social media that Liberals "used to lose their minds" when Tory MPs put names and signatures on similar cheques.

Remember when Liberals used to lose their minds when Conservative MPs put their names and signatures on novelty cheques? Ok now, apparently. pic.twitter.com/RbwINWJSkg  Mark Strahl, MP (@markstrahl) January 18, 2017

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The Treasury Board discourages MPs from using the arms of Canada  an official symbol  on novelty items. The Government of Canada is a corporate identity, so rules are in place to restrict their possible partisan or personal use.

Ruimy did not respond to The Huffington Post Canadas request for comment before publication. This story still be updated if the members response is received.

Blurred lines

The hullabaloo over the government use of novelty cheques is a chorus Conservatives are familiar with.

Liberal MPs grilled the former Conservative governments penchant for using the props to announce millions in government funding.

Back in 2010, then NDP MP Bill Siksay urged the Treasury Board to impose rules to make it absolutely clear that linking government spending to a specific party or individual member of Parliament is improper.

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The outcry from opposition parties forced the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner to launch an investigation into 63 complaints against 60 House members accused of breaking rules.

Mary Dawson agreed complaints over the use of the Conservative Party logo on props associated with government funding were problematic.

The use of ceremonial cheques or other props in making government announcements is not improper, Dawson said in a statement at the time. But concerns arise when partisan or personal identifiers are used, as they were on these cheques or other props, in connection with government-funded initiatives.

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A former radio host for New Brunswick's K93 FM in Grand Falls said she was wrongfully fired after asking for medical leave to deal with her depression and anxiety.

Maria McLean said she met with her supervisor earlier this month to ask for two weeks off to adjust to new medication. In an article on Canadaland, she recounted that she felt nervous but fairly confident that her employer would understand and appreciate her honesty.

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After the meeting on Jan. 12, McLean was fired.

"I was fired an hour after handing in a doctors note for 10 days off work. I was fired an hour after opening up about my struggles. It seemed I was fired because struggling with mental health was nothing more than a burden to my employer," the afternoon radio host wrote on Wednesday.

The station McLean works for belongs to Bell Media, which marked Wednesday as Bell Let's Talk Day, a national initiative that seeks to end stigma around mental illness.

"Today, a giant Canadian company is doing a wonderful thing for mental health awareness," McLean wrote on Canadaland. "The hashtag #BellLetsTalk will be used a record-setting number of times and will raise a record-setting amount of money."

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"Tomorrow, praise will rain down on Bell for their record-setting generosity, and all Ill be able to think about is how Bell responded to my mental health needs when they were my employer."

McLean said she didn't receive any explanation for her dismissal, but thought everything was going well at work until that day.

"While we would not normally comment on specific employee issues, I can confirm that Bell does not dismiss employees because of mental health issues, in this case or any other," Matthew Garrow said in an email statement to The Huffington Post Quebec. "When people make such claims after the fact, we always reach out and offer counselling and other support, and have done so here."

He added: "Bells a clear leader in workplace mental health, and it is of course a fundamental part of our human resources approach."

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With files from Emilie Clavel

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She was famous for her megawatt smile, but in real life Mary Tyler Moore's life was marked by tragedy.

The actress, whose namesake show revolutionized the portrayal of women on television in the 1970s, died on Wednesday. She was 80 years old.

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Moore and her mother both struggled with alcoholism, and her younger sister died from a combination of alcohol and painkillers at 21, the Associated Press reports. Her only son, Richie, also fought a battle with addiction, and accidentally shot himself when he was 24.

Moore wrote in her autobiography, excerpted in People magazine, that drinking became a problem during her unhappy marriage to Grant Tinker.

In case there's any doubt about the acute state of my alcoholism, and the insanity it produced, I can recall with sickening clarity that on more than one occasion I played Russian roulette with my car. What's more, some unwary, innocent people played with me.

After separating from Tinker in 1980 and moving to Manhattan on her own, Moore wrote that her alcoholism only got worse.

Not surprisingly, during that summer the distillation of my growing alcoholism took place. Even though I was accomplishing things by myself, it was all so uncomfortable that I anesthetized myself at the end of the day. Nothing was so tough I couldn't get through it until 5:30 or 6. Then the effects of vodka on the rocks made it all go away.

Decades later, Moore opened up about her recovery in an interview on Larry King Live.

She told King that she visited the Betty Ford Center, an addiction treatment clinic in California, where she found "a lot of spirit and determination."

"Somebody said something ... if you want to get all the air out of a glass, what do you do? There's no way to do it but fill it with something else. And that something else is joy of living, reading, being creative, know you're doing the right thing," she said.

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"With alcoholism, you tend to drink because you're angry, or you drink because you're sad now, or you drink because you are just so happy you want to celebrate," she continued.

"But unfortunately, it's debilitating."

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Paris Jackson is opening up about what her life has been like since losing her father.

The 18-year-old daughter of Michael Jackson gave her first-ever full-length interview to Rolling Stone, revealing she developed extreme depression and anxiety after her father's death, and even attempted suicide several times as a teenager.

@rollingstone issue hits the stands tomorrow check ittt  many thanks to david, one of kindest human beings and most talented photographer i've had the honor of working with A photo posted by Paris-Michael K. Jackson (@parisjackson) on Jan 24, 2017 at 1:18pm PST

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In the new feature entitled, "Paris Jackson: Life After Neverland," the teen also discusses being sexually assaulted at the age of 14 by a "complete stranger."

"I don't want to give too many details," Jackson told Rolling Stone. "But it was not a good experience at all, and it was really hard for me, and, at the time, I didn't tell anybody."

Paris Jackson attends the Dior Homme Menswear Fall/Winter 2017-2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 21, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty Images)

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A year later, in June 2013, Paris tried to kill herself by slashing her wrist and taking 20 Motrin pills.

"It was just self-hatred," she said. "Low self-esteem, thinking that I couldn't do anything right, not thinking I was worthy of living anymore."

Jackson also discussed her struggle with mental health and revealed she didn't fit in with her classmates at school and was cyberbullied. This led her to start hanging out with the wrong people.

"I was doing a lot of things that 13-, 14-, 15-year-olds shouldn't do. I tried to grow up too fast, and I wasn't really that nice of a person," she said.

 A photo posted by Paris-Michael K. Jackson (@parisjackson) on Jan 17, 2017 at 12:11pm PST

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After her last suicide attempt, Paris was sent to a therapeutic school in Utah which she said was great for her.

"I'm a completely different person ... [Before that], I was dealing with my depression and my anxiety without any help."

Now sober and happy, Jackson is ready to embrace her celebrity and the platform her father left for her.

"Am I gonna waste it and hide away? Or am I going to make it bigger and use it for more important things?" she said.

Last week, it was reported that Jackson shot a campaign with Chanel. And in the photos, she is the spitting image of Michael's old flame, Madonna.

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Toronto police say they are reviewing a video apparently showing an officer stunning someone with a Taser  and two cops telling the person filming they would seize his cellphone.

Waseem Khan was walking near Ryerson University Tuesday when he saw the incident unfold, according to the Toronto Star. The video he shot, which was shared by CityNews, shows a group of officers holding a suspect down on a sidewalk.

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"He's down and they Tased him!" Khan says.

Moments later, one of the officers asks Khan to move back if he's going to be a witness.

"I'm not obstructing your arrest," Khan replies and continues filming.

Get that guy out of my face, please," the officer says moments later as he points at Khan.

Later, two officers come up to him and threaten to seize his phone if he chooses to be a witness.

Police in Canada do not have the authority to do this. As long as someone is not obstructing police from doing their job, witnesses have the right to photograph an officer doing their job in public.

'Wrong approach'

Even Toronto police spokesperson Mark Pugash admitted the video was a "teaching moment."

They have no authority [to seize the phone]," Pugash told the Star. "That approach is the wrong approach.

Pugash told CTV that Toronto officers have been informed people can film them so long as they are not obstructing or interfering with police work.

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"And as far as I could see from this video, the person filming wasn't doing anything wrong," he said.

Khan's video takes an even more bizarre twist toward the end. As the two officers walk toward him, one of them says the suspect is going to "spit in your face, you're going to get AIDS."

Khan told CBC News the incident was disturbing to witness.

"You don't get HIV from someone spitting on you ... I think this speaks to the way this officer or these officers look toward certain demographics of people," he told the broadcaster.

Experiences like Khan's happen much more frequently in the U.S.

Despite it being legal to film and photograph police officers there, there have been many cases of cops seizing phones or ordering people to turn off cameras.

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There are First Amendment protections for people photographing and recording in public, Mickey Osterreicher, an attorney with the National Press Photographers Association, told The Huffington Post in 2014.

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It's interesting to see that who we are today is actually the same person we've always been. As someone who has always stood for fairness and equality, I see that I've always been "marching" in my own way.

My first memory of questioning the status quo was in the early 1960s when, at the age of 12, I wrote a letter to Glamour magazine. My theme: why aren't men and women equal? A big question for a young girl, however, it never made any sense to me why men and women weren't treated equally. It still doesn't.

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Then later in my teens, I chose to leave high school and attend university as a business administration student. As one of 10 girls in a class of 400, it never dawned on me that very few women thought of business as their career path back then. Times have certainly changed.

Times have certainly changed.

Women's Rights Movement

A profound memory was walking to class and seeing several women running down the hall waving papers, yelling, "Have you heard about the women's lib movement... the feminist movement? Join us, we're having a meeting!"

Of course, few of us had heard of the movement... at the time. We didn't realize that we were on the cusp of radical changes in the world, moving into an era where the wide gap between men and women was about to be altered forever!

So many of the issues we might take for granted today -- like reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment and sexual violence -- were all issues the women's movement fought for to change.

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Human Rights Today

Many of our hard-fought and hard-earned human, environmental and even animal rights now seem at risk. And women's rights are at the top of the list. How did we get back to this place we thought we'd left behind us? Are all of our efforts and successes in danger again? It almost seems impossible to comprehend.

This is a time in our history and herstory when we all must stand up and let our voices be heard. It simply doesn't work anymore to "wait and see" or to "hope" someone else will fix things. But how do we stand up?

Women's March On Washington

When I first heard about the Women's March on Washington back in November, I felt called to get involved. Originally I was sure I wanted to march in Washington on January 21, as I'd never marched for anything (other than a 2015 Climate Change March) when I was younger.

I decided to stand with the thousands of other concerned citizens and march in solidarity.

People laugh when they hear I've never physically marched, as they know me as the hippie values advocate who grew up during the hippie era of the '60s. Instead, I've used my words and my voice over the years, but have never physically marched. It was finally the time!

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Ask Me Why I March

After considering joining the busloads of women going to Washington from Toronto, I decided to stand with the thousands of other concerned citizens and march in solidarity here in Toronto.

Having no experience marching with a large group, I stayed open, curious to having whatever the experience would be. Although I knew I was marching to support women's rights and human rights, I was also interested in why others had chosen to march.

I asked everyone I met why they were marching. There were several recurring themes. Kris Sandels King, who was photographing the march, was most concerned about, "equality for all of our sisters around the world, and the rising tide of misogyny, racism and hate."

It was incredible to hear that women around the world came together, making history! There were 673 sister marches drawing an estimated 4.8 million people to the streets worldwide. A great day confirming that the power is with the people. In Washington, the guesstimate is that at least 500,000 or more people came out to march!

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Signs, Signs Everywhere

Although my sign was created to offer a gentler, more positive message, many of the signs were not. Before the march, I'd seen a sign online that had me laughing and also shaking my head in agreement. It was a photo of a woman from my generation holding a sign that read, "I can't believe I still have to protest this f--king shit."

While marching I saw very similar messages on signs all around me. My friend Gretel Meyer Odel, wondered, "how we get past the despondent feelings and ennui that I saw reflected in the signs that my mother's generation held. How did we allow ourselves to land in this place where the most fundamental human rights are being cranked rapidly in reverse?" This echoed my feelings, confirming why I marched!

Another theme was solidarity with "our LGBTQ brothers and sisters, our indigenous peoples and the beautiful and wise people of every culture who experience racism and hate."

People were marching for their children and the future we will leave them.

Before the march, I struck up a conversation with Deborah Osborne and she reflected it had been decades since the activism around the women's movement here in Toronto. She wondered how we were here again protesting the same issues, curious if we "were just kidding ourselves thinking they had really been resolved back then."

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People were marching for their children and the future we will leave them. Isaac, a father of two sons, rejects the kind of world that Trump represents, marching for the future of his family and his children - for a future that is compassionate, loving and optimistic. "No one is equal until everyone is equal", mirrors my, 'include everyone', philosophy.

Connecting with Like-Minded People

While marching, I was struck by the diverse range of people who had shown up. Stuart Knight was marching because he was "painfully aware that too many people will find an excuse not to march and I simply can't be one of them. While all of their excuses are important, they simply are not as important as ridding the world of sexists, bigots, racists and demagogues."

Seems many people felt the same way! Every possible demographic was represented, from young children to older seniors. Women and lots of men too! It was a march for all people, for all rights.

What most amazed me were the people I connected with. Ronda Benjamin, who I met online, kindly offered me a link to the "We The People" graphics which became a prominent part of my poster/sign.

She felt compelled to march because since the U.S. election she's been feeling that perhaps "as a society, we haven't come as far as we'd hoped." As a person of colour her fears have been amplified, wondering if looks from strangers are based on long-held ingrained biases relating to the colour of her skin. Like me and others, she loved the idea of "participating in an event whose core values were inclusiveness, love and togetherness."

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Democracy must not be taken for granted. It is something we stand to lose.

My experience was that the Toronto march was respectful, inclusive and peaceful. Reportedly, 60,000 people showed up!

And So We Keep Marching

Other than women's rights, was there a theme? Gloria Steinem, an original leader of the women's movement, referred to the women's march as "a wake-up call for anyone who cares about democracy." That theme has been echoed everywhere. From the brilliant interview Sarah Silverman did with Bernie Sanders after the election, to president Obama saying "Democracy needs you" in his closing address. Democracy must not be taken for granted. It is something we stand to lose.

Whether you choose to march physically or symbolically, it's a time to stand up, speak up and show up. This is truly not a time for complacency. The future is in all of our hands. How will you march?

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I knew it was coming. At some point, Donald Trump would resurrect the Keystone XL pipeline, using his own dark magic to drag its lifeless corpse from where Barack Obama laid it to rest nearly a year and a half ago.

It's not a surprise, there was pretty much no chance that Donald Trump would pass up an opportunity to help the fossil fuel industry. The question now for Canada is, what is Justin Trudeau going to do about it?

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The unfortunate truth is that Trudeau doesn't really have to do anything. His support for the Keystone pipeline has been well recorded. In fact, Trudeau's Natural Resources Minister, Jim Carr, specifically called for Trump to approve Keystone after last Friday's inauguration.

Donald Trump makes no secret of the fact that he doesn't really care about climate change or indigenous peoples.

On top of that, as Carr pointed out, the approvals for Keystone in Canada are already in place, meaning there is no contentious review for this pipeline (it also means the pipeline was approved without any consideration of climate change). But having the decision already made by a previous government doesn't absolve Trudeau of the responsibility to do what's right.

Donald Trump makes no secret of the fact that he doesn't really care about climate change or indigenous peoples. Justin Trudeau does the exact opposite. He waxes poetic time and time again about there being no relationship more important to him than the one between Canada and indigenous peoples. And on climate change, he goes on, at length, about the pressing crisis that is our warming world.

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But, when it comes to pipelines -- the fuses that run through Indigenous lands and light the carbon bombs to cook our planet -- both Trudeau and Trump seem to be on the same page. Both seem A-OK with ignoring community opposition. And, while Trump ignores climate science outright, Trudeau just dances around the stark reality that we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground with hollow rhetoric and half measures.

Trump is clearly on one side of this issue, and while Trudeau paints himself on the other side, his policies are planting his flag firmly beside the Donald's. Shortly after Trump signed executive actions on Keystone and the Dakota Access Pipelines, Jim Carr and newly minted Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, applauded the move, calling it "a great decision for Canada and Alberta."

My question is will Trudeau and his ministers continue to stand by, and seem to walk in lockstep with, Trump when his government tears up the Paris Climate Agreement? How about when he calls in the National Guard on indigenous communities peacefully protecting their water and sacred places?

With Trump trying to fast track Keystone, it's time for Trudeau to show some backbone.

But we don't even actually have to wait that long. In some of his first moves in office, Donald Trump silenced employees at the Environmental Protection Agency, deleted references to climate change from the White House website and froze a range of work being done around environmental protection. Sound familiar? That's because these are exactly the sorts of things that Justin Trudeau railed against when Stephen Harper did them as prime minister of Canada.

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With Trump trying to fast track Keystone, it's time for Trudeau to show some backbone. Trump's presidency is a moral crisis, and his policies will only make climate change much, much worse. History will remember which side people, especially the prime minister of Canada, stood on. Your move Justin.

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City

Aside from dance reality competitions and amazing and wild adventure shows where pairs embark on a race or journey together, I don't really dig reality shows. Big Brother, The Bachelor, Jersey Shore, The Real Housewives -- all shows I can't wrap my head around. It probably doesn't help that many of the contestants (of the ones in which a pot of cash is awaiting a winner) or cast members (where cameras follow them around, waiting for stupidity and hijinks to ensue) can be so damn annoying.

So if I didn't know the premise of The Project: Guatemala, I would've been throwing something at the TV. OK, a slight exaggeration; I would've just changed the channel. Really, though, just about everyone involved -- with the exception of awesome host Ray Zahab (Running The Sahara) -- deserved a punch in the mouth at one point. Again, perhaps a slight exaggeration, but a slap upside the head would also do nicely.

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The Project: Guatemala features nine privileged 20-somethings who think they've been chosen to take part in a fluffy reality show where they can drink, party and hook up with fellow hotties in paradise. But because it looks like a reality show and sounds like a reality show and annoys like a reality show, then it must be a reality show, right? Well, let's just say it's certainly real.

The nine knuckleheads -- all of whom hail from either Ontario, Alberta or B.C. -- learn that instead of a posh hotel in Guatemala City, they're actually headed to a rural area to help build a community hall for orphaned children via Canadian-run charity The Project Somos Children's Village.

Back in June, Zahab spoke about the show, telling media at the City upfronts, "I'm very proud it's Canadian. This is groundbreaking, it's something that's never been done before on TV." Honestly, how many times can a reality show (or any show, really) boast that?

The young Canadians are given the choice right off the bat on whether to stay or go, and no one is forcing them to stay. They can go back to their privileged lives and pretend this awful, horrible nightmare didn't happen. Or they can suck it up, lose the "woe is me" attitude, look around and see what a true nightmare is and how lucky they actually have it, and work like they've never worked before. (No, really, some of them have never worked before.)

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Once reality (real reality, none of this concocted BS "reality") sets in, it's the girls who are most affected by what the following six weeks will bring. Like, OMG, what are they going to, like, do without their heels and hair products and self-tanners? How could they go a day without showing their cleavage?

Maybe it's because my idea of dressing up involves a comfy pair of jeans and flats, not sky-high heels, shorts up to here, and a shirt down to here, but the women crying over what their hair looked like and bitching about being told what not to wear was both laughable and infuriating. I get that they're really far out of their comfort zones, but considering their new surroundings, one would think they would realize how trivial their complaints are. Honestly, I think I would have more of a problem with the latrine situation but, funnily enough, that doesn't seem to faze them.

The guys have an easier time of it, presumably because clothing and accessories and beauty products aren't that much of a concern, and some of them actually seem ready to embrace the challenge. And that is what I can't wait for with the rest of them. I can't wait for them to have that sense of accomplishment, something only hard work and dedication can get you. I want them to feel actual emotion about someone other than themselves, and while they might not completely lose the flighty, nitwit attitudes, I am rooting for them to dig deep and learn things they would have never known about themselves and the world. For the next six weeks, I can't wait to see how this entire experience changes them. Fingers crossed.

'The Project: Guatemala' premieres Monday, Sept. 23 at 10 p.m. ET on OLN and City.
agustavop via Getty Images You can see my collection of photos of stunning Island of Aruba and Mexico (Cancun & Riviera Maya) stunning Beaches and culture, sunrises, sunsets, and much others!!) in the following link below:

Winter escapes are all about long days lounging in the sun -- or are they? Many North American travelers are seeking more than just a warm place to sip Pina Coladas. They want heaping doses of culture, picture-perfect scenery, and authentic cuisine thrown into the recipe too. One of the few warm-weather travel destinations in the world that offers history, authentic traditions, and more mouthwatering eats than you can cram into a single visit has been right under our noses all along.

Mexico is a Latin American country that often gets pushed into the "a great place to lay on the beach and party" category, but even its most popular vacation destinations offer so much more than that. These four Mexican towns, lying along the 130-kilometer-long stretch of postcard-worthy coastline known as the Riviera Maya, are some of the best places to discover the country's rich culture and history while spending plenty of time catching rays by the pool or sea.

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Playa del Carmen

Photo credit: Steve Erdelen

You've probably heard of Playa del Carmen, and that's because those who have been there can't help but talk about it. Also located in Mexico's fabled Riviera Maya region, Playa del Carmen is known as much for the town's infectious atmosphere as its sugar-sand beaches. Head down to iconic 5th Avenue, and you'll find world-famous restaurants, souvenir shops, boutiques, and plenty of bars to fuel your afternoon of sightseeing and shopping. There's arguably no better place in Mexico to dine on the freshest seafood in all seasons. Travelers seeking a laid-back beach town that hasn't lost its authentic Mexican flair will want to call Playa del Carmen their go-to winter getaway destination every year.

Tulum

Located roughly 30 minutes south of Playa del Carmen is the historic yet happening town of Tulum. Home to one of Mexico's most famous archaeological sites, which sits overlooking the turquoise Caribbean sea, Tulum is a place that is even more stunning in person than in photographs. The nearby Coba and Muyil archaeological sites offer even more opportunities to explore Mexico's ancient civilizations. Known for its bohemian, eco-chic atmosphere, Tulum seamlessly combines ancient history with nightlife and award-winning Mexican and international cuisines to create a destination that suits travelers of all ages.

Puerto Morelos

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Photo credit: Laurie Button

Puerto Morelos is one of Mexico's oldest communities lining the Caribbean Sea, and its unique history and culture are major parts of what will make your winter escape so unforgettable. Just a 20-minute drive south of Cancun International Airport, Puerto Morelos feels light years away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. The small fishing community welcomes you to relax under a palm tree, snorkel in a portion of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, and explore the historic town square. Don't forget to dine at a waterfront "Pelicano," serving just-out-of-the-water seafood and enjoy the simple life of Mexico in the winter months.

Cancun

Cancun locals know their slice of heaven on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula is a gem. While the city is known as one of Mexico's top vacation destinations, it retains an authentic feel that's portrayed through a long list of authentic restaurants, street vendors serving elotes and shrimp-on-a-stick, and hole-in-the-wall cantinas offering that infectious Mexican hospitality. For those who want to lounge under a palapa with a frozen Pina Colada, Cancun also provides that resort town feel that truly lets you know you're on vacation.
undrey via Getty Images Woman typing on laptop at workplace working in home office hand keyboard

I had such an overwhelming response to my last blog post, in which I described my recent trip to Arizona and how having some "family time" with my kids and ex eventually resulted in tears. I want to thank you for reading, empathizing, and for sharing your feedback with me. It really means a lot to know that when I pour my heart out it actually matters to someone.

As a writer, it's hard to know what to share and where to draw the line. This is especially the case since I tend to write about my kids, whom, for the record, are the most interesting people I know. We have been through all the ups and downs you can experience in the wake of divorce, plus all the ordinary experiences of childhood and parenthood. Perhaps because they spend so much time with me, an open person, they have become particularly good at expressing themselves.

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I know them so well -- all their thoughts and feelings -- that I have become adept at knowing exactly what's going through their brains just by looking at the way they walk or carry themselves, even when I'm looking at them from a distance. I never tell them to keep it in, not to share, not to feel. They tell me everything, and I often carry the burden of their worries on my shoulders, along with my own. I spend a lot of my own time, after I've soothed them to bed, fretting about their fears, their failures, and feelings. I want to fix everything, shield them from harm and be their warrior.

Sometimes, though, all I can do is write.

After my last post, my ex and I had a big discussion. He's afraid that years from now, our kids' peers will read my words and laugh at my kids for crying when they were little or for fantasizing about their parents getting back together. He feels I'm exposing their vulnerabilities, showing their weakness, and that one day someone in their class will use this as some sort of bullying tactic.

I understand that not everyone is as expressive as I am. Not everyone blogs about personal things. People make a choice. But what do you do when parents don't agree as to how their children are depicted on social media? What happens when you're divorced and don't agree? What happens when one of these divorced parents is a writer who somehow feels it's her mission to help others by sharing her own stories? I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I'm not sure there's a right answer.

All I can speak to is the reasoning behind my approach. To begin, it is completely normal for kids to cry. In fact, it's a healthy form of stress relief and even helps get rid of toxins in the body. All kids do it, and while, over time, we learn to control it, I hope nobody would judge me or any parent, for that matter, for admitting to what we already all know. Kids cry. Big deal.

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Second, it is completely normal for kids to fantasize about their divorced parents remarrying. It's nothing new or ground breaking. I really just said the obvious, but perhaps more poetically than someone who isn't a trained writer.

Third, I don't know much about SEOs, but one day, these blogs from 2017 will be buried beneath lots of other blogs and articles about other topics about which I will choose to write. If someone wants to do the research, dig these up these old posts, and somehow use it to laugh at my kids then I hope they enjoy wasting hours of time online.

I'm trying to teach my kids to be strong, capable people who will stick up for themselves and each other when they need to. I'm not posting naked photos of them online. I'm not posting inappropriate pictures of myself. Those would be fair game for anyone who wanted to laugh. The truth is, I'm not going to be writing about this moment in time forever. At some point, as they get older, I won't write about my experiences with my kids at all. It will be off limits. I'll have moved on to other things.

But for now, I take precautions. I don't post their names or advertise our address online. There are no photos. I don't say anything embarrassing or out of the ordinary. It's my job to protect them and I will do that online and off.

I think what might have struck a chord in my ex and perhaps any other detractors I may have is that I actually said something personal aloud; that I actually shared with readers what it's really like to cope with the aftershocks of divorce. Families don't just spit and go their merry ways once the divorce papers are signed. It just doesn't happen.

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I always want to be honest. I always want to be true to myself and my experiences. If I, a writer, am not able to share my stories, how will anyone else going through the same thing know that what they're going through is normal? Somehow divorce and single parenthood happened to me. For good or bad, I have a mission, perhaps even a bit of a talent, to write. If I'm not able to write about things that matter to me you might as well tear out my heart. This is just who I am now and it's what I do. If anyone asks, you can attribute the following quote to me because I'm making it up on my own: I write, therefore I help.

I hope you'll agree.
onurdongel via Getty Images Compass on background.

I have always approached achieving a work-life balance like investing for the long-term. Just as market volatility means every day can't generate gains for your investment portfolio, you can't expect to perform professionally at peak levels all the time. Don't be too hard on yourself and expect professional perfection and growth all the time. Like successful, long-term investing, a life well-lived requires balance and consistency between home and office.

It's a new year and that holiday (if you allowed yourself to take one) is now a distant memory. Topped up with New Year's resolutions ranging from making the most of your new gym membership to meeting your sales targets, you've also promised your partner you'll spend more time with your kids, parents, and parents-in-law.

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All of sudden, the end of January is in sight and what once seemed doable three weeks ago is starting to cause you stress.

That stress may be based on the time famine you are facing or you have simply over-promised at home or at the office and don't have the mental and physical energy to come through on either front. Regardless of the cause, you may feel torn and incomplete as you try to tackle everything but do nothing well. In a 2013 Statistics Canada survey, 6.6 million Canadians said they feel "quite a bit" or "extremely" stressed throughout most days.

The juggling act that attempts to balance work and life activities is as old as the workplace itself. Henry Ford, arguably one of the most successful entrepreneurs ever, determined that production would drop if workers lacked work life balance. He cut the workweek from 48 to 40 hours as his car manufacturing business was gaining real traction. Transition to modern business and self-aware progressive groups such as the French government requires workers to take at least 31 days off each year.

North American government employers got it for a while in the fifties and sixties when they cut a six-day week down to five. By contrast, seven-day workweeks are now common in the retail and food service and hospitality sectors, as the pendulum has swung to the other extreme.

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Regardless of your role or occupation at home or at work, here are six road-tested tips to help you find a work-life balance that is realistic and will help you over the long term.

Clear up unresolved issues: Get the difficult conversations that keep you awake at night out of the way - at home and at the office. If you have unresolved issues at work that you bring home every weekend, they will eat away at your personal and family time. Clear the slate at the office to the best of your ability by being forthright in resolving issues before they get bigger. Similarly, if you bring personal issues to the office on Monday, your focus and performance will suffer. It's difficult to be thinking in two spaces at once. Sort issues out at home before the workweek begins. Weekends are good times for family meetings versus during the evening after a busy work or school day. Create a professional and social divide: Develop interests outside of work that don't involve socializing with co-workers. Consider exploring a new hobby that introduces you to new people and environments, such as volunteer work at a cultural institution or help centre for homeless people. Get offline: Declare one day a week to be work/social media and information gathering free by staying off line, which may be easier said than done. On that day, try to walk while doing errands and free yourself from traffic and the stress it can bring. Non-negotiable personal time: Set aside a specific period of time each week (even if it is a couple of hours) to spend with your partner or family. Plans can change but make this time as non-negotiable as possible. When you all have something you can all look forward to, trying times are easier to navigate as you remain close. Plan ahead: Book holidays, whether individually or with your partner and family, well in advance. Regardless of how demanding your work or home life, you will benefit from a change in routine and scenery. Whenever possible, try to move through your "bucket list" a little faster than you anticipated. Give yourself a break: Even if you are a sole proprietor of a small business with just a few or no employees, you owe it to your business to find a work-life balance. Trust that your clients won't desert you and your employees won't take advantage of your absence when you choose not to be at work. Just let them know of your plans in advance. And be sure to follow through on those plans. By following through on your commitment to taking a planned day off, you are demonstrating your confidence in their ability to do their jobs without watching over them.
Welcome to 2017: The Year of the Carbon Tax. The mid-winter chill that ushered in the New Year across Canada is a fitting symbol of the bleak prospects we face under our country's climate "leadership" plans.

When I wrote Canada May Be Carbon Neutral, So Why Are We Keeping It a Secret? several months ago in the National Post, I asserted that Canada's leaders were setting us up to fail by refusing to scientifically measure and claim our fair share of global CO2 absorption.

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Since then, the federal government has announced its mandatory national carbon tax plan, and the provinces are joining in with their own questionable schemes. They will tell you that these taxes fulfill our commitments under the Paris Agreement, as if reaching targets that we never should have accepted is the only explanation you should need.

We cannot affect global climate change in any significant way.

What they won't admit is that no matter how much Canadians pay in taxes, or how we change our behaviour, we cannot affect global climate change in any significant way.

That may sound defeatist, especially because Canadians often feel the need to soothe our national psyche by "setting an example for the rest of the world."

However, for examples to be effective, they have to be followed. And no country responsible for a large portion of CO2 emissions has ever followed our environmental lead.

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Global fossil fuel use has increased at or above the rate of population growth since the 1960s. Multiple agencies forecast that fossil fuel use is similarly expected to grow at one per cent per year until mid-century.

Case in point: China is by far the planet's largest CO2 emitter, representing 29 per cent of the world's total emissions. China would have to reduce its CO2 emissions by 90 per cent to approach being carbon neutral (i.e. emitting only what their land can absorb). Not going to happen.

Since the signing of the Kyoto Protocol in the mid-1990s, China has doubled its coal-based economy. India has signed onto the Paris Agreement, but still plans to burn more "dirty" coal (produced without modern emissions controls) to fuel their economy.

China and India could have learned from the past mistakes of Western industrial nations and leapfrogged over dirty energy sources and straight into cleaner alternatives. Instead, they chose the cheapest, least innovative, dirtiest way forward.

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Developing countries will follow those examples because it leads to perceived prosperity; they'll ignore Canada's example because it leads to perceived sacrifice.

Nowhere is the Canadian government's cognitive dissonance more obvious than in its desire to bend over backwards to increase relations with China, considering the latter's unsustainable population, human rights abuses, dirty coal economy, and ravenous appetite for our jobs.

They'll ignore Canada's example because it leads to perceived sacrifice.

Since our government has decided in error to levy a carbon tax on Canadians, the least it could do is levy a carbon tax on dirty imports from places like China. Yes, such levies would increase the price of some consumer goods, but so will a carbon tax. Aren't Canadian jobs more important than more cheap, imported junk?

Various organizations like the Canadian Ecofiscal Commission, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, and EcoJustice Canada assert that a carefully designed 'border carbon adjustment' must be considered for inclusion in any fair carbon tax policy.

Preferential treatment for imports from the planet's worst polluters while taxing Canadians? Something doesn't add up.

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At his pay-for-access fundraising dinners, does Justin Trudeau remind his Chinese billionaire guests how many ordinary citizens die in China from coal pollution-related illness in order to produce their wealth? Does he make it clear that it's not Canada's job to fix China's massive CO2 imbalance problem? I hope he does, but I doubt it.

Simply put, climate change does not originate in Canada, but we're being taxed. Climate change is "Made in China," but they get off scot-free.

Regardless of how we deal with trade, we need to admit one simple truth: handicapping Canadians with a tax will have zero effect on global climate change. However, that doesn't mean we can't exert influence and pursue real solutions.

Canada could call all the fossil fuel producing nations of the world together to work out a climate sensitive, price-fixing and supply management plan that would effectively solve the climate change problem. The new group's goal would be to establish a global agreement on sustainable supply levels and higher prices.

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If the various nations cooperated and agreed, Canada would be commended for brokering a deal that makes a positive impact on the world climate. We would also be able to negotiate our fair share of market access.

Conversely, if other major fossil fuel-producing nations refused to cooperate, at least Canada could stop pretending that our gestures of good faith are meaningful or that our willingness to sacrifice our economic future via a carbon tax is appreciated or reciprocated.

We need to admit one simple truth: handicapping Canadians with a tax will have zero effect on global climate change.

Of course, such a cartel-style approach is less than perfect, but its hard to believe a cartel could hurt Canadians more than the current solution of going it alone. For instance, Canada's recent 'Mid-Century Strategy for a Clean Growth Economy' submission to the United Nations lays out the path to reducing our CO2 emissions by 80% below 2005 levels by 2050.

In that scenario, Canada's fossil fuel industry, the biggest economic driver in our country, will basically wither and die while the world industry continues to grow.

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The end of the Canadian fossil fuel industry might be some activists' dream, but what would replace it? The idea of an entirely "green" or "knowledge-based" economy is built on the assumption that those new jobs won't be lost to outsourcing and automation like our old manufacturing and service jobs were. That requires blind faith in our politicians, and seems likely to fail.

Canadians deserve a fair climate policy that acknowledges the importance of our natural carbon sinks, treats foreign goods no better than Canadian-made ones, and demands that the biggest net polluters do the heaviest lifting to reverse climate change.

Instead, our leaders refuse to demand that Canada get its due credit for mitigating CO2, they obtusely ignore our reality within the global context, they tax us under the auspices of impacting climate change, and then they bully us with taxpayer-funded propaganda campaigns.

Our governments were setting us up to fail in 2016, and they're knocking us down in 2017. If Canadians weren't so polite, we'd be outraged by this kind of climate injustice.

Larry Martin served as deputy minister to the premier of Saskatchewan, and assistant deputy minister of rural development and intergovernmental affairs in Manitoba. He is retired and lives in Canmore, Alberta.

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Countries die. Nations fade away.

They do, they do. Great nations -- however great they may be -- are not eternal.

Pierre Trudeau certainly thought so, some 30 years ago. Appearing before the Senate to condemn the Meech Lake Accord in the Spring of 1988, Trudeau said:

"If the people of Canada want this Accord, and that is not beyond the realm of possibility, then let that be part of the Constitution. I, for one, will be convinced that the Canada we know and love will be gone forever. But, then, Thucydides wrote that Themistocles' greatness lay in the fact that he realized Athens was not immortal. I think we have to realize that Canada is not immortal; but, if it is going to go, let it go with a bang rather than a whimper."

T.S. Eliot, Thucydides, Themistocles and realpolitik, all in three pithy sentences. Those of us who are old enough can recall watching him on that cold March day, simply in awe that one man could say such a thing -- that Canada could die! How could a country like this one disappear? Was Trudeau right?

As with many things, he was. In the intervening years, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Yugoslavia, the U.S.S.R have all slipped beneath history's waves, supplanted by something else entirely. Replaced -- in the cases of the U.S.S.R. and Yugoslovia -- with something where monstrous and horrific things have happened. It could happen to Canada, too.

It was not arrogant for Pierre Trudeau to say what he said. It is arrogant, instead, to insist that a nation -- which is mostly just the shared hopes and dreams and values of a people, a body of laws, and some squiggles on a map -- is incapable of dying. Nations, like the people who constitute them, die.

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The United States of America, for example.

Ascertaining the moment of America's demise, as a forensic scientist might do, is subjective. It is in the eye of the one doing the autopsy. And, in this case, America died in degrees.

JFK. His brother. Dr. King. Watergate. The Depression. Civil war. Slavery. Lynchings. Internment camps. McCarthyism. Iraq. Enola Gay. Vietnam. 9/11. All of these, and too many more, were grievous wounds. They deeply weakened the only democratic superpower, but they did not fully kill it.

Nations, like the people who constitute them, die.

For this writer -- who lived in the United States, went to school there, and can still even recite the Declaration of Independence -- two less-historical moments come to mind. One was in the late '60s, when my family was living in Texas, and my best friend was an Hispanic boy, David.

David and I did everything together, but he mysteriously did not go to my school, David G. Burnet Elementary. I asked my mother why. She had no answer, so she asked the Stevensons, the Texas family who had taken this group of newcomer Canadians under their wing. Wasn't the day coming, my mom asked, when David and Warren would be allowed to go to school together?

Mrs. Stevenson, the sweetest and most generous person you could ever hope to meet, looked at my mother and said: "On that day, I will go down to the school with my gun."

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The other moment came much later, in 1993, when I was holed up in a cabin in Lake Placid, New York, trying to finish up my book about racism in Canada and the U.S., Web of Hate. In the evening, to get a break, we went into town for a burger and beer at a place on Main Street. Mid-way through our meal, a guy walked in with a T-shirt with a swastika and the words WHITE POWER on the front of it. What was remarkable wasn't him, or his shirt: it was how he was greeted by the people there, like an old friend. "In Canada," I said to my partner, "you don't see that, so much. Here, they don't care."

The United States died -- the United States was killed -- on Dec. 14, 2012. On that day in Newtown, Conn., a 20-year-old man carrying a gun that was legal for him to possess gunned down 20 children between the ages of six and seven years old. He also killed six adult staff members, but it is those tiny victims we remember most.

And what was the response to that act of evil by the United States of America, the nation that likes to claim it is the greatest on Earth? What did it change, what did it do? Nothing. It defeated any and all attempts to prevent Sandy Hook from happening again.

It was then, right then, that the United States of America died. When you can let 20 six- and seven-year-olds be murdered, and do nothing to prevent it from happening ever again, you cease to be a country. You cease to be a people worthy of the name.

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The United States didn't die when Donald Trump was sworn in as president. In a nation where savageries like Sandy Hook could happen, over and over again, Donald Trump is not an aberration.

He is its logical conclusion.

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The five things you need to know on Wednesday, January 25

1) FORTHRIGHT FORTNIGHT?

Its PMQs day again and as Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn square up over the despatch box a Brexit bust-up is inevitable. And with by-elections in Copeland and Stoke-on-Trent Central, Id be surprised if the February 23 contests didnt get a namecheck either (May could talk nuclear and Nato, Corbyn could talk NHS and the fact the Tories are admitting they wont win Stoke).

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Government sources now suggest a short bill triggering Article 50 will be introduced tomorrow and then passed through the Commons in just a fortnight. The Lords will get the European Union Withdrawal Bill in mid-February. There could even be a fast-tracking, to cheer up Eurosceptic backbenchers. Note that the PM has always talked of triggering Article 50 by the end of March, not actually on March 31. The Telegraph claims she will bring the date forward by two weeks and spark the exit in mid-March.

Some MPs say the Government is just not being forthright enough about its plans. Yet David Davis pointed out last week that Mays speech is the plan. And the Supreme Court stressed that a simple clause (not a 'White Paper') in Camerons referendum bill would have avoided the need for this new legislation. So ministers are in no mood to give any more information beyond Mays position statement. They note that the pound went down after the court ruling yesterday, because it undermined the certainty of her speech.

Bafflingly, theres an idea around that the White Paper rebels - Tory Remainers who back Labours call for details in amendments - could somehow scupper the Government. But as Ive said before, Mays usual Commons majority of 14 is actually a Brexit majority of about 30, thanks to the Democratic Unionist Party and others. It was no coincidence DD yesterday repeatedly reassured Northern Irish MPs that the Irish border would remain unchanged.

Labours painful splits on the bill are unavoidable and the timing of all this could not be worse in Leave-voting Copeland and Stoke. Shadow Cabinet sources tell me they expect a three-line whip to be imposed to back the bill, despite all their reasoned amendments. Keir Starmer blogs for HuffPost HERE on why triggering Article 50 is just the start, not the end of the process. And this is where the real action will be, on the votes on the actual Brexit deal hammered out with Brussels.

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The programme motion on the timing of this bill will be interesting. But the real deadline is not Mays self-imposed March 2017 deadline for triggering Article 50. It is the resulting, immoveable March 2019 deadline for withdrawal. And immoveable deadlines are troublesome in politics. Just as the Jubilee Line extension had to be built in time for the Millennium, just as Olympic stadiums have to be ready for their games, the UK has to quit the EU two years after May fires the starting gun. That gives the EU27 a huge advantage in the bad deal or no deal game of brinkmanship.

DD yesterday said he hadnt given any thought to ensuring our Parliament voted on the final deal around the same time as the European Parliament (possibly six months before March 2019). But time is not on the Governments side - nor the Oppositions. It is on the side of Brussels, Berlin, Paris et al.

2) LORDS, HAW, HAW

Before Tony Blairs reforms, Supreme Court judges used to be known as Law Lords. After their 8-3 verdict yesterday, this time Lord Chancellor Liz Truss was swift to praise their integrity. David Davis praised them too in the Commons, saying the judges were not the Enemies of the People, quite the converse. Given his civil liberties credentials, it's safe to assume DD meant that the legal eagles were the friends of the people, rather than saying they were the people of the enemies.

The Daily Mail, which famously came up with that splash after the original High Court case, headlined yesterdays Mailonline piece thus: Yet Again The Elite Show Their Contempt For Brexit Voters! Wait till they find out that the Law Society launched a Brexit toolkit to help schools teach pupils that unelected judges really did matter in a democracy.

But the Spectators Steerpike points out that of the three judges who actually sided with the Government, two of them (Lord Carnwath and Lord Reed) had been given a five-star and four-star Europhile rating by the Mail. Funnily enough, they werent Lord Haw Haws, after all.

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As for the Lords more widely, there are dark warnings that the other unelected arm of our constitution should not block Brexit. Labours Lord (David) Blunkett told their lordships such a thing would be unthinkable. Tory sources are again threatening to flood the Lords with peers. And the Telegraphs Chris Hope quotes a source saying peers will be given enough time to debate the Article 50 bill: We will let the Lords talk until they wet themselves. Yerrgh.

3) BREXIT HEALTH WARNING

Jeremy Hunts appearance before the Health Select Committee yesterday was notable for the way Brexit dominated. First he admitted that it was likely the European Medicines Agency would quit the UK once we quit the EU, a move that could put us in the second rank in access to new life-saving drugs. It would also lead to the loss of 900 jobs.

Then Hunt said his own department was losing 500 staff but would be hiring 200 more to deal with Brexit. And he had another bombshell: the Queens Speech bill to curb health tourism was being shelved because of Brexit was a priority (which seems odd as many foreign nationals accused of not paying their healthcare bills are from non-EU states).

But there are Brexit upsides, this former Remainer argued, including on sugary drinks and food. He said that once we were outside the EU single market, the UK could ask food manufacturers to clearly label the number of teaspoons of sugar in their products. What was signally missing in all of this however was a pledge to give the NHS 350m a week

BECAUSE YOUVE READ THIS FAR

Watch this utterly brilliant video from the Government of the Netherlands, welcoming Donald Trump.

4) SCHOOL SQUEEZE

Education is slowly going back up the political agenda. Today Labour has an Opposition Day motion seizing on the NAOs warning of cuts and on HuffPosts reports of Tory backbench unease over the new school funding formula. Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner has blogged for us on how the Tories have broken their manifesto pledge that the amount of money following your child will be protected.

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The BBC underlined the point this morning with a report on state grammar heads asking parents to to make up the shortfall in cash. The head of Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, Tim Gartside, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he and his governors were considering asking for voluntary contributions of 30 or 40 pounds a month from parents if the cuts took place. Other heads threaten the same, but Altrincham matters because its in the constituency of a certain Mr Graham Brady - chairman of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee. Watch out Justine Greening.

The strange thing is that until Monday night Labour had planned its second Opposition day debate to be on disability benefit cuts. PoliticsHome reports Mencap and Mind are disappointed at the late switch and some claim that Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Debbie Abrahams decided to pull the debate after a robust exchange of views with John McDonnell.

The Shadow Chancellor last night had a neat soundbite, attacking the Government's 'Charter for Alternative Facts' after the Treasury dumped the OBR as the referee on its fiscal rules. But in other news, I'm told there's growing unease about Labour's lack of preparedness for a snap election.

5) GREEN DAY

The Goverment yesterday published a warning to children and the elderly not to exert themselves too much outdoors amid a high alert on pollution levels. Our filthy air really is becoming a thing (though all those trendy wood-burning stoves arent helping, a new academic study shows). So far, Theresa May shows no sign of shifting from the Osborne-inspired backtrack on Cameroon environment pledges. All that green crap appears to remain the mantra.

But over in the US, Donald Trump really isnt messing about. On his first day in office, the White House web page on climate change was deleted. Yesterday he signed orders to resume a new oil pipeline to create good construction jobs.

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And the US Environmental Protection Agency, soon to be headed by a climate change sceptic, was yesterday ordered not to issue any new grants or even press releases. No social media will be going out. A Digital Strategist will be coming on board to oversee social media, staff were told. But we also report that there are rogue green government tweeters. The Badlands (great name) National Park in South Dakota fired of a series of tweets pointing out how real climate change was. The tweets were then deleted. Vladmir Putin would be proud, the Democrats tell us.

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This week marks the terrible anniversary of the murder of a 28-year-old Cambridge University PhD student.

Giulio Regeni, an Italian national, had travelled to Egypt to conduct fieldwork into independent trade unions in Egypt. Unexpectedly, he disappeared, and tragically, nine days later his body was found dumped by the side of the road showing signs of torture.

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The brutal nature of his death shocked the world and yet one year on we are still far from knowing the truth of what happened.

The months following Giulio's death were filled with contradictory statements from the Egyptian authorities who have consistently fallen short of their obligations to fully investigate his murder.

The Government's response has been very limited. In the Commons, the minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Tobias Ellwood MP simply said that the government has urged Egypt to co-operate fully with the investigations being carried out by Italian authorities and the FCO has maintained that the allegations that the Egyptian state is involved in the killing remains unfounded.

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Giulio's parents have led a vociferous campaign through the Italian media for answers and Amnesty International have kept up the pressure with their truth for Giulio campaign.

Finally this week we have seen some progress with the authorities in Cairo permitting Italian experts to retrieve and examine CCTV footage from the underground station where Giulio was last been seen alive.

Yet it is clear many questions still need to be answered and serious pressure applied, not least because this was an attack on a student.

This is not about a blame game. Academics have long travelled the globe carrying out research in dangerous locations. No amount of risk assessment can eliminate risk. But in a world where we have facts and 'alternative facts' and where experts are dismissed, there is now a need more than ever to defend the principle of academic freedom.

Britain should lead by example. Universities need to retain their institutional autonomy, and the Higher Education and Research Bill should seek to enshrine this rather than threaten it. Universities should be the arena in which ideas are freely discussed in respectful, constructive ways, enabling the critical thought to be applied to society's challenges. One of the most effective ways of dealing with and neutralising extremism is to undermine it through reasoned debate.

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If free speech and open democracy is to one day flourish in places like Syria, Turkey and Iraq then their fleeing academics need sanctuary so that when the time comes they can return and help to rebuild civil society. An example for us, from one of our European partners is the German Academic Exchange Service which provides funding and support to academics who have fled their country, often because of the repression of academic freedom.

We should call out the scandal of challenges to freedom of thought in the West too, such as the "free speech zones" that many US campuses have. These designated zones imply that academic debate that takes place outside of these zones should be muted, controlled and restricted.

Last year the European Parliament noted declining academic freedom had been reported in some countries in the European Higher Education Area. I have therefore asked Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign affairs chief what more the EU can do to protect and promote academic freedom across Europe and around the world. Along with our other red lines on human rights, this must include a commitment to academic freedom when negotiating trade agreements.
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It's Holocaust Memorial Day this Friday. I'll never forget a Holocaust Memorial event a few years ago where I heard two Auschwitz survivors speak. Their talks were fascinating, but the bit that's stuck with me ever since is an exchange they had after their talks were finished. One of them was convinced the Holocaust could happen again: the other was adamant that it couldn't.

I remember wrestling with this question for a long time afterwards. Could it really happen again? Surely we've learnt the lessons of history by now - we can at least take that for granted?

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But of course, the past year has shown us that nothing can be taken for granted. Yes, people had different and complex reasons for voting for Brexit and Trump. Many were sincere and honest reasons, and those of us who opposed them may yet be proven wrong, at least on some of our assumptions and beliefs.

But a good many people had reasons for supporting Brexit or Trump that we should never condone. The atmosphere of xenophobia was strong both in the run-up to and immediate aftermath of the June EU referendum - as were the incidents of abuse and violence. Theresa May has condemned this, but I've waited in vain for such condemnations from Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove. I suppose Johnson was too busy forging his path to Number 10, and Gove and Farage preoccupied with sucking up to Trump, to worry about a few hundred abused and attacked EU nationals.

And it's the growth of this hatred in the US and abroad, facilitated by Trump in his vehemently polemical campaign, that worries me. Look at some of the support that Trump has gained - endorsements from the KKK, cheers from Neo-Nazis, and crowds chanting "We hate Muslims, we hate blacks, we want our great country back" after his election victory was announced.

You might say those are simply extreme fringe groups - what sway can they possibly have? Yet Steve Bannon, when he wrote Trump's inauguration speech and made the phrase "America first" a centrepiece, knew full well that this was not simply an innocuous statement about the new government's priorities. It's a slogan that was popularised by American Nazi sympathisers in the 1930s.

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To me that's deeply disturbing. But to be clear - I'm not saying Trump is Hitler or a neo-Nazi. I'm saying he's deliberately influenced the public's views and used his powerful position to stoke up hatred and division.

And that must be a lesson we learn from the past. The rise of Hitler (which after all was achieved through democratic elections) shows us how easy it is for people in power to influence the public's opinions, turn people against one another and stoke up violence, fear and hatred.

I still don't know if the Holocaust could happen again. I really hope it couldn't. But what I do know is that we must guard against our society becoming divided by leaders who stoke up hatred.

How? I don't have an easy answer. But we can start by calling out prejudice in the powerful and in the less powerful. The global women's march was a great start for sending a powerful message. (Those who objected to the march on grounds that Trump was democratically elected completely missed the point. It's not about overthrowing Trump; it's about people using their voices in a free society to influence those in power, and remind them they're accountable to the public).
Sitting from the relative comfort of my office, the January cold seems somewhat manageable. Apart from my walk to and from work, my exposure to it is limited. Sadly, for the 8,000 homeless people in the capital, sleeping outside is a dangerous reality and one which could become true for a lot of people very soon.

With rising living costs and increasingly costly rent prices in the capital, the future for a lot of young people appears uncertain. It is estimated that there will be a 24.4 per cent increase in the number of people privately renting in the capital by 2025 and youth unemployment still stands at 587,000. Plenty has been written about sky rocketing rent prices so I won't go over the same thing but will just mention that for a lot of young people, paying rent and eating are fast becoming mutually exclusive things. It is not a surprise then that more and more young people are choosing to move back in with their parents, preferring to save up and have more security than they would with rogue landlords and astronomic property prices. But what happens when this isn't an option? What about the thousands of young people who, in a few years, would be looking at where to work, where to live and how to do it all without having a safety net?

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I consider myself lucky in that I have accommodating parents who allow me to continue living at their home. Family breakdown, mental health issues amongst so many other factors however means that that luxury isn't available to everyone. For many Londoners, the idea that they can be 'one pay cheque away from homelessness' is a frightening reality. Crisis' 2016 report states that rough sleeping in the capital doubled during the coalition's term in Parliament.

So what about proactive solutions? The national Youth Homelessness Parliament published their report in 2016, highlighting the importance of protecting vital lifelines of those who may be vulnerable to homelessness. They cited a lack of awareness and understanding regarding difficulties of homelessness and living alone as one of the key factors that can lead to youth homelessness. Yes, homelessness is a complex beast and there are many variables that can lead to it, but identifying key reasons why it can happen and tackling them head on through early intervention would cushion future generations from at least some of the dangers.

Indeed the National Citizenship Curriculum recommends that schools teach key stage 4 students about income and expenditure, credit and debt and other financial areas. But despite Citizenship being a statutory National Curriculum subject many schools around the UK still simply cannot deliver on this - lack of funding, resources and expertise means that thousands of young people leave school each year without having skills in these areas. There are no guarantees that being clued up on these areas would mean a person cannot become homeless, nor does it mean that if you become homeless you lack knowledge on managing money. However what we can appreciate is that entering into the workplace or the property market requires knowledge on employment laws and tenant rights, taxation and budgeting - things we may take for granted as adults but could be crucial for an 18 year old about to live alone for the first time.

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A call for proactive measures in schools would ensure that our young people, when leaving school, would at least be armed with some knowledge and skills on the reality of living in the UK amidst the housing crisis and aftermath of a recession. Preventive measures like this would ensure that we cement life skills at an early stage rather than scrabbling to deal with the consequences.
London welcomed the opening of a new commercial art gallery this month. The Amar Gallery, situated round the corner from Islington's Chapel Market, aims to be not only a place to view art but also to act as a community hub in which a range of local business events can take place. There is also a studio upstairs in which artists from around the world can take up residencies.

Owner Amar Singh, an Indian prince educated here and in the United States, has devoted several years to raising money to promote women's and gay rights in India. For the past eight years he has dealt in renaissance drawings, contemporary prints and artworks. Part of his own art collection has been loaned to a number of museums, notably the Aspen Art Museum and The Fogg at Harvard University of which he is an alumnus.

The Amar Gallery marks the latest development and he deliberately chose 20 January as its opening date to coincide with the inauguration of President Trump, a day on which many galleries in the United States closed in protest.

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"I think rather we should be celebrating the arts, not necessarily the election, but closing your creative outlets in protest is not the route I wanted to go down."

Amar Singh chose the London-based Australian born artist Howard Tangye to inaugurate his gallery. A former London fashion illustrator and inspiration to many fashion icons like John Galliano, Stella McCartney and Richard Nicoll, Tangye has given up teaching to concentrate fully on his art.

His concentration on form and line is his work's signature. Using oils, graphite and pastel chalks, he manages with great elegance to capture the essence of the models he works with. There's a resemblance in style to Egon Schiele though without the sexual expressionism. Rather, as in Evergreen (above) Tangye's mood is that of an idyllic childhood, reminiscent of his days as a youngster growing up in north-west Queensland, free from responsibility and where the imagination could run free.

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"I started to realise that the line is a bit like when you have the pedals on the piano that create different sounds to the tone and I hope that's what I've got in my line."

Tangye succeeds in creating a feeling that his subjects are floating in a way a camera can seldom capture. Rob and Nobu (above), has that same effect though more minimalistic. Tangye's mentor, Elizabeth Suter, always advised him to look first for the bones and use form as a sculptural premise to start with. Here he evokes a sense of freedom, of playing with space.

Tangye's work has become more experimental than when I last saw his work, using multiple portraits , sometimes turning the paper to see what might happen.

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Another aspect of his work, and indeed one of the reasons Amar Singh finds him so enthralling is his use of what the Italians term pentimenti, or repentance, in which traces of a change of mind by the artist is left in the finished piece. It's evident in a number of his drawings, as with Pamela (above) and it's unusual to see the technique in contemporary art. So, bodies coalesce and limbs appear detached. The pleated skirt the model wears, with its linear quality, lends itself to that sense of movement and floating.

"I sometimes change my mind about things and then I think well why do I need to change that, I think I'll just leave those mistakes in the drawing to recall part of the journey. Then I discovered that there actually was a name for it and that gave me confidence that it was legitimate."

The exhibition entitled Links incorporates 25 of Tangye's drawings. It is showing at the Amar Gallery, 48 Penton Street, London N1 9QA until 3 March 2017.
Since this is my story, I will start with my name. You may have heard of me before. My name is Psychiatry. Yes, that Psychiatry. Although I admit I cannot read your mind, I can already see my tattered reputation precedes me.

I know I look weary. Ever since I was born I have struggled. First for recognition, then for acceptance, next for importance and throughout for funding (but this is neither the time nor the page to vent frustrations about governmental policy). I know I look weary, you would too had you spent years carrying the burden of stigma on your shoulders. Do you know how much shame weighs in metric units or otherwise? Jung said shame is a "soul eating emotion", so imagine the irony that it weighs heavier with every passing year. These knees, buckling, drawing ever closer to the ground have begun writing their eulogy before the curtain falls.

Many, myself included, see me as the illegitimate daughter of Medicine. You are probably familiar with my other sisters, who deal with matters of the heart, cancer, bones to name just a few. They invoke a sense of romanticism, admiration and nobility to their cause. The archetypal white-coat (the doctor) pitted in a battle against the enemy (the disease) to rescue the captive (the patient).

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Unfortunately not all captives are created equal. Often in my case, the captive is accused for the actions of the disease and put to trial at the mercy of an (at the risk of sounding politically incorrect) ignorant jury, guilty of harbouring their own prejudices. The suffering of misunderstood patients trivialised by the failure to discuss misunderstood diseases has left certain taboos unchanged. It is much harder to wage a war against an enemy we know little about. It is worse still if we refuse to acknowledge its existence.

If ever a biography of Medicine were to be written, I fear my story would not find its way to the page. Perhaps it is considered too dark, too embarrassing, or maybe it touches on issues that make us uneasy and morally queasy. I fear my story will be hidden in the footnotes, with just enough room for my small footprints written in even smaller print.

Art can hold a mirror to society and then proceed to paint the ugly reflections. "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" No this is not a reference to colour (that is another uncomfortable conversation to have for another day) but about what is just.

My people are afflicted with maladies of the mind that steal from them a large part of what it means to be human. Their freedom of thought withered away leaving their freedom for choice suspended in a cognitive limbo. The notions of capacity, autonomy and dignity may be the norm for you, but in my country they are valued at a higher price. Such is the exchange rate between our respective currencies.

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The compassion you have for those in sickness, is it open and effortless? Unconditional and endless? Compassion you would proudly display on your Twitter feed? Does it differ to the one you feel towards an addict? Or is this brand of compassion slightly cheaper to accompany the second hand sympathies extended from a distance? Not all compassion is created equal.

The label of primitive has stuck with me, one I cannot completely peel off. Today where Technology is the pervasive king, I am seen as an analogue pauper in a digital age. We are like strangers on a train, uneasy after finding ourselves alone in the same cabin. Awkward silences followed by awkward sounds of overlapping sentences. A marriage founded on a prenuptial agreement rather than love at first byte. This has led people to wonder, if sadness does not show up on a blood test, then is depression even real?

Social media is full of people sharing their surgical scars, wounds both physical and visible, as a symbol of graduation from their triumph over sickness. But not all scars are created equal - just ask those who always wear full sleeved tops even during the rarest of British summer days. The sleeves hide their scars and stories alike.
The UK Supreme Court has decided on Brexit by an 8-3 majority that Theresa May's government cannot trigger Article 50 without the consent of Parliament. This is undoubtedly the right decision, for two basic reasons, as I pointed out in my Huffington Post blogs going back to 12 July 2016 - first, because the referendum was purely advisory and secondly because of the fundamental constitutional principle of the Sovereignty of Parliament.

No Provision in EU Referendum Act 2015

Could the referendum have been made binding instead of being merely advisory? Certainly. The EU Referendum Act 2015 setting up the referendum would just have needed the insertion of one sentence authorising the Government to trigger Article 50 in the event of a Brexit vote. But that Act actually made no provision whatsoever for what was to happen after the referendum.

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Ignominious

That was the fault of the laid-back and lackadaisical approach to the referendum taken by David Cameron's government -- a government only slightly less incompetent and ineffectual than its successor. Even after the Cameron government's failure to make the referendum result binding, what was there to stop Theresa May's incoming administration from taking my advice, biting the bullet and presenting a Bill to Parliament before being ignominiously forced to do so by the courts?

Dismal Failure

Theresa May has never had a good grasp of Europe. On 25 April 2016, when she still favoured "Remain", she said in a speech: "It isn't the EU we should leave but the European Convention on Human Rights and the jurisdiction of its court." Needless to say, that is no longer her position. And her six years as Home Secretary amounted to a dismal failure to do anything to control non-EU migration, over which she had complete control, and which was (and still is) a much bigger problem than EU migration. [See my blog here of 4 July 2016].

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The Supreme Court has rightly told Theresa May that what is needed is an Act of Parliament -- not just a joint resolution. This will give MPs an opportunity to table amendments, no matter how short the government Bill is and regardless of any attempt to curtail debate by guillotine. If genuine parliamentary debate is stifled, another application to the court may well be on the cards.

Bad Omen for Democracy
A Medical Protection survey shows that a startling 90 per cent of GPs feel that patients are more likely to complain now, compared to 10 years ago. Yet advancements in medical science and clinical knowledge have seen patient's live longer, healthier lives. So why then are more complaints being made about GPs than ever before?

There is no straightforward answer but it is likely to be largely down to changing patient expectations. That is not to say that we have turned into a rabble of demanding and ungrateful patients, but that there has been a shift in culture generally which dictates we should question authority, promote autonomy, and deserve respect.

Indeed changing expectations are experienced across all sectors, with service industries now starting to embrace consumer feedback good or bad. GP practices are no exception, which is positive as complaints can be used as a valuable learning tool. Some doctors do however view complaints as a personal slight and may not truly reflect on the reasons why a patient has complained, especially when there has been a positive medical outcome. By understanding the root causes of why patients may complain, it is possible to prevent future complaints.

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We also commissioned a survey of over 2,000 people in Britain. A third of respondents agreed that they were more likely to complain than 10 years ago, and 21 per cent agree their expectations are higher now, than a decade ago. When asked what triggered a past complaint, three of the top five reasons cited were down to communication and behaviour - this includes issues such as manner, attitude, communication breakdowns, and also not managing expectations effectively.

This could relate to a patient's expectation that a GP can deal with all their ailments in a 10 minute appointment, or because they have entered the consultation with a fixed idea of how they wish to be treated. For example they may believe antibiotics are required, when in fact this may not be clinically appropriate, or they may have tried to diagnose themselves using the internet. It is important therefore, that the doctor establishes a patient's expectations as early on as possible to prevent a misunderstanding on what is and isn't possible.

Understandably some doctors may find it frustrating to be contending with 'Dr Google', however taking the time to explain why a certain option or treatment may not be helpful may assist the patient in not feeling that their concerns were dismissed.

I often see complaints which relate to a patient feeling like they were not listened to properly or their underlying anxieties not addressed. For example, a patient may have a non-threatening condition but present with a high level of anxiety, perhaps due to a fear they have cancer, as a relative died of cancer. By taking the time to communicate and pick up on non-verbal cues, a GP may alleviate stress and prevent a dissatisfied and anxious patient making a complaint.

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Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Everything has changed, and yet nothing has changed. In the NHS, the one spring of hope for healthcare workers in this winter of despair is that finally the country has woken up to the daily struggle for staff and the frustration faced by patients. A struggle summed up perfectly by one man in the BBC documentary, Hospital, waiting to see if his cancer operation will go ahead, or whether the intensive care bed he needed would go to someone else:

'If they die, then the bed is available for me and we can do the operation'

You could be forgiven for thinking that the NHS woke up one morning last week to suddenly find itself in this situation. But the truth is that frontline staff have been warning healthcare leaders and politicians about this for years.

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Each year, winter is worse, with hospitals full to bursting and community services compromised by cuts to social care and a shortage of general practitioners. The reality for our patients is cancelled operations, record waiting time and emergency departments resorting to pushing chairs together to make up a bed for a sick child.

The response from government has been borderline farce. Emergency departments report the worst four-hour time-to-treatment performance on record, Jeremy Hunt suggests we scrap the target. Record demand for hospital care, Jeremy Hunt blames patients and the Prime Minister blames GPs, both ignoring the fact that patients waiting 12-hours for an inpatient bed are unlikely to be candidates for community care.

How did we get here? The answer is poor planning by successive governments. The UK spends less on healthcare, as a percentage of GDP, than many of our European neighbours. We also have fewer doctors, nurses and hospital beds per head of population. Yet instead of trying to bridge this funding and resource gap, the last parliament saw through 20bn in cuts and now a further 22bn in 'efficiency savings' have been ordered. Sustainability and Transformation Plans, the mechanism by which the government intends to carry out these savings, will close emergency departments, wards and even entire hospitals. Things are going to get worse, not better.

What we have witnessed in recent weeks is not the fault of patients, lazy healthcare workers or immigrants abusing the system. Without migrant workers, the NHS would have failed decades ago. Without healthcare workers, including GPs, routinely working above and beyond their normal duties the NHS would have toppled under rising demand years ago.

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Consistent cuts, the disastrous Health and Social Care Act and ruinous Private Finance Initiatives were political choices. This NHS Crisis is the result of political choice.

Politicians have chosen to underfund our health and social care system and ignore the warnings of healthcare professionals. Tragically, patients are now seeing the very real cost with clear examples of avoidable harm reported widely across the right and left-wing press.

If the government wants to solve the problems the NHS faces, it must first come clean about the scale and scope of the crisis.

If we want safe, high quality healthcare, free at the point of use, we must increase our investment in the NHS to a level that at least matches other leading countries. We must recognise the increased pressure that austerity and cuts to social care have created within the NHS.

The government must acknowledge that healthcare workers are uniquely placed to provide solutions to the problems we face. They must engage and work with unions, like the BMA, and listen to our ideas and concerns rather than impose draconian change like the junior doctors contract.

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At the start of February we mark the first anniversary of the London "Supporting Syria and the Region" Conference. While the succession of international conferences on Syria easily blur in the memory and too often feel disconnected from - and sometimes irrelevant too - the bloody events unfolding on the ground, London 2016 was genuinely different.

With leadership from Germany and the UK in particular, the London Conference was the first time the major international donor governments clearly and collectively called out an evident truth: that there won't be a quick fix. Such is the massive fallout from this most savage of wars that short-term humanitarian funding - while vital - cannot be sufficient to meet the scale and duration of need in the neighbouring countries where the vast majority of Syrian refugees are living.

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Instead, the donors gathered in London accepted the need to switch gears and to make a serious, long-term commitment to the region - to get refugee adults into work and refugee children into school and to ease the burden on Syria's extraordinarily generous neighbours.

Mid East countries are bearing the burden

Let us not forget the numbers. There are almost 5 million Syrian refugees, more than the entire population of Ireland, New Zealand or Norway. Jordan hosts 655,833 of these, roughly one in six of its total population. As of last December there were 2,814,631 Syrians living under temporary protection in Turkey, more than 90% of whom are living outside the 26 state-run refugee camps.

In Lebanon the country's new Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, explained in January that "five years ago, our population was 4.5 million and today we are at 6 million. The international community has to help because we have less electricity, less water, less infrastructure, fewer schools and fewer hospital beds".

Behind each of these statistics is a story; a tale of flight from one's home and one's country, a life left behind and a future whose contours are defined by uncertainty, exclusion and vulnerability. Meanwhile wealthy countries have offered homes to fewer than 3% of Syria's refugees and show no inclination to step up and take more.

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There is a humanitarian imperative to meet the basic needs of these people. There is also a moral imperative to find ways to offer them some hope for their futures. And there is a social and political imperative not to pretend that the refugee crisis created by the war in Syria will somehow, magically, go away any time soon. Leaving millions of refugees to live precarious existences for years on end, out of school and out of work in one of the most volatile parts of the world, isn't in anyone's interests - except, perhaps, for those who have a stake in fomenting even more violence and instability.

The difference between hope and despair

A new era of collaboration, solidarity and responsibility-sharing is needed. In practice this means making sure Syrian refugees in the region have the right to legal stay, education and to access decent work and economic opportunities, and that the governments hosting them have the funding they need to make this happen.

Access to education is particularly critical. In Jordan almost 91,000 Syrian children registered with UNHCR remain out of formal education. The equivalent figure in Lebanon is more than 200,000 and in Turkey, according to Human Rights Watch, it is more than 400,000. This is a fixable problem, requiring only funding and political will. And of course educating Syria's children today is the only way to ensure a viable Syria tomorrow.

On Tuesday, a conference in Helsinki launched the latest Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan, the so-called "3RP" which brings together more than 240 partners in a coordinated, region-wide response to the crisis. This will be followed in April by a pledging conference in Brussels. These conferences may lack the media attention that follow peace talks such as those scheduled to start next week in Astana, yet for millions of vulnerable people - people who have suffered more than most of us can even imagine - they can mean the difference between hope and despair, between life and death.
Memphis Depay Adam Davy / PA Archive

Manchester United bade farewell to Memphis Depay in mid January as the Dutch winger joined Lyon to resurrect his stalling career.

Just 18 months previously, Memphis had arrived from PSV Eindhoven with comparisons to a young Cristiano Ronaldo. He had been the Eredivisie top scorer and the youngster subsequently impressed with his confidence and charm when presented before the media for the first time as a United player. He later took the vacant number seven shirt in a bid to live up to his billing.

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Memphis was largely poor at United, though. Flashes of brilliance against the likes of Club Brugge and FC Midtjylland aside, he struggled to make the kind of impact that he'd promised. The confidence that had been so visible promptly disappeared, and by the time he left for France he hadn't started a single Premier League game in 2016/17.

And yet, few fans were ready to fully write him off. He remains, even now, still only 22 years of age. It seems the club didn't want to cut ties too permanently either, because despite Lyon purchasing Memphis outright for around 16 million, United made sure to insert a buy-back clause.

The clause will see Old Trafford chiefs maintain at least some control over the player's future, albeit without any hands-on input, while manager Jose Mourinho publicly expressed within hours of the Lyon sale that the door is wide open for Memphis to return to United.

It is a transfer tactic that is becoming increasingly common at the elite level, one that is replacing more traditional loans in certain circumstances, and is arguably significantly more beneficial to all parties as well.

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Barcelona have been a major proponent of buy-back clauses in recent years. Rarely does a young player leave Camp Nou without some kind of first option that would allow the Catalans to bring them back at a pre-determined price should they begin to fulfil their potential.

Gerard Deulofeu joined Everton with a buy-back agreement in place, while Adama Traore's initial transfer away to Aston Villa was arranged similarly  Barca declined their option to re-sign the winger when he moved on to Middlesbrough. Alen Halilovic, Jonathan dos Santos and Andreu Fontas are among the others who were allowed to leave the club with buy-backs.

Seldom may they actually exercise them, but Barca did last summer when Denis Suarez made the return journey from Villarreal having initially been sold 12 months earlier. The midfielder has since become an important member of the first-team squad back at Camp Nou and has played 20 times in all competitions this season.

La Liga rivals Real Madrid activated a much more high profile buy-back clause last year when Alvaro Morata re-signed for the club after two seasons with Juventus. He was sold for 20 million in 2014, established himself as one of the most promising young strikers in Europe, and returned to the Bernabeu in 2016 for the already agreed fee of 30million.

But more than just an insurance policy for clubs who may or may not be sure if they are quite ready to lose a player for good, there are obvious other benefits to buy-back clauses.

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The life of a young player on loan can be uncertain at best and therefore a potential hindrance to overall development. An emerging talent may begin to thrive with greater first-team chances on loan, but it is so temporary that they will soon be back where they began within a few short months, struggling to then break into the team at their parent club and subsequently left to start from scratch with another loan somewhere else.

Countless young talents are lost this way, passed around from club to club, sometimes for years on end, without the opportunity to lay down off-field roots that could benefit them on the pitch. Chelsea's army of global loanees dotted at clubs around Europe is a prime example.

In a buy-back scenario, chances of game time for the youngsters have the potential to be better than as part of a normal loan as well, because a club has actually invested money and time into bringing them in, chasing them for a real purpose.

From a purely financial standpoint, clubs who insert buy-back clauses could actually profit out of them should they so wish. That was one of the scenarios that could have played out with Morata and Real Madrid, with rumours that Los Blancos would trigger their 30 million option with the sole intention of selling him to any one of several interested clubs at twice the price.

For Manchester United and Memphis Depay, a permanent sale with a buy-back clause is the best scenario both parties could have wished for, while even Lyon have more control this way. The player has a fresh start somewhere new, and the club don't have to completely give up on a clearly talented individual that may still come good in time.

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As I travel through the small central African nation of the Republic of the Congo, the poverty is evident. Dozens of makeshift markets and roughly put together houses line the streets of the nations capital Brazzaville. Thousands of children dart through the dusty streets and small makeshift markets line the sides of the road. The wealth from the country's lucrative oil businesses has clearly not trickled down to the majority of the population.

I've come here as part of my work for my foundation Project Monma in trying to raise awareness about violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world. Having heard about the phenomenon of child prostitution, I wanted to find out more about what was making young girls take up prostitution in this small oil producing country.

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Travelling from Brazzaville to Pointe Noire, the country's second biggest city I was able to meet with the staff from ASI, a French based organization working to combat child prostitution as well as a number of other human rights workers.

From the many conversations I held it was clear that for the women and girls of the Republic of Congo the combination of poverty, vulnerability and discrimination have been harsh.

I went to meet Claire Marks, a Human Rights Specialist from the US embassy in Brazzaville. According to Marks, women have equality under the constitution, so there is no official discrimination against women. But culturally there is. There is polygymy for example, where men can have 3 or 4 wives.

Domestic violence is another problem according to Marks. She reports that it's generally considered completely acceptable to hit your wife. With no specific laws against domestic violence, there is very little to protect women from violence.

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'The situation for women in the countryside is particularly harsh. There is discrimination against indigenous women in the forest dwelling communities or what they call pygmies. There is a lot of rape and men preying on the younger girls. There is a lot fistula here as well, particularly in the villages,' she explained.

The problems for women do not end there however. Marks states that in many cases women are passed up for jobs and there are cases where women are expected to sleep with their professors at the universities.

Thus, for women and girls trying to survive in such a climate, there are often few opportunities. In cases of extreme poverty, prostitution may be one of the only means of survival.

Joseph Bikie Likibi National Coordinator for Reiper, an organization working on child protection in Brazzaville says while traditionally in Congolese society the girl works at home, in cases of poverty, prostitution is one of they key ways that young girls seek to help their families.

'Girls can start working as prostitutes as young as 14,' he says.

Amelie Lukuba, a capacity builder from ASI explains how most of the girls working prostitution are in a difficult situation. 'There are cases where girls are selling themselves for as little as $1.'

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Women and girls face further problems from the Pentacostalist Church. Christian Kouyakaba, a social worker from ASI explains how the church is telling their followers that if there is a problem in the home, it is likely due to witchcraft. Women and girls are most often accused and as a result are then thrown out of the home. With few other opportunities girls often turn to prostitution as a way to survive.

Fear of sorcery also often prevents women and girls from speaking out about violence. 'They believe that if they accuse someone of violence than they will go to a marabout, a local witchdoctor, and they will do a spell against them,' says Kouyakaba. Girls therefore often choose to remain silent about violence they have experienced.

Women and girls are also afraid of the police. Everyone who I spoke with throughout my research in the Republic of the Congo reported that the police was raping young girls working as prostitutes.

'The girls can't go and report the violence because the police rape the girls and steal their money. A lot of the girls were hiding because they had been raped by the police and they were really scared,' explained Kouyakaba.

'There is no real justice in the country. There is no protection,' he continued.

Ronny Roberts and Darniche Enit two brothers from Brazzaville also emphasize that there is very little protection for young girls working as prostitutes in the Congo.

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'The police wouldn't protect them. There was a video where the police picked up four prostitutes and put them in the back of the car and then sexually assaulted them. If you want the police to do something for you then you have to pay them. Prostitutes can't afford that. I don't think that the police look at them like human beings,' says Darniche.

The violence facing young girls and women affected by poverty in the Republic of the Congo are stark.

Christian Kouyakaba believes that for the situation to improve, girls who are working in prostitution need to stop being condemned. 'We must also improve the situation for women in general in the Congo. Our culture says girls should not do things outside of her house or her family and so we need to change this. Girls must also speak out against the rapes and all the violence that they are facing. They don't have to keep quiet. When they are attacked they must complain to the police.'

He then looks at me and tells me that I must continue with the work that I am doing. Speaking up for women and girls, it's important he explains.
"I have personally buried more of my congregation than I can count... I've received texts from Boko Haram telling me they know where I live and they're coming to kill me... but my wife and I have decided to stay."

Pastor Aminu from Nigeria definitely had the attention of the room last week, as the Open Doors 2017 World Watch List was launched to almost 90 MPs in Parliament.

The Open Doors World Watch List stems from a global annual survey which measures the scale and trends of Christian persecution around the world, right down to a village level. It's thorough, it's independently audited, and it's worrying.

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In speaking up for the rights of Christians we also speak for the rights of all people from every faith and none to practice what they believe. And of course, it is not only Christians who suffer.

So what about the big trends? In last year's report we highlighted that despite the horrors that unfolded in Iraq and Syria, persecution of Christians was growing most rapidly across sub-Saharan Africa thanks to the likes of al-Shabaab, Boko Haram and their many imitators.

This year, Asia has leap-frogged sub-Saharan Africa as the region of the world where persecution of Christians is rising most rapidly: in fact four out of the five countries where persecution is rising fastest are in Asia. In India alone last year, a Christian was beaten for their faith on average 15 times per week. The increases in many Asian countries in the last year have been significantly driven by the disturbing rise of religio-ethnic nationalism - the practise of effectively conflating national and religious or ideological identity - making anyone who does not follow the state-sanctioned religion or ideology a target for oppression, expulsion or worse.

Persecution is a global phenomenon and it often increases by stealth. Our research unit refer to the 'smash' and the 'squeeze' of persecution. The smash of the big incidents affecting a lot of people at once are the ones that often hit the headlines. But arguably the squeeze - the insidious limiting of the rights of minorities, the difficulties in getting a job, the exclusion of Christian children from education, the community beatings and tauntings in remote towns and villages beyond the media radar - these are the most dangerous. Because when communities can squeeze the Christians with impunity, the situation usually escalates - just as when the state at a national or regional level make life impossible for Christians, then hostile communities know they can do what they like to the Christians and the government won't interfere. So again the situation escalates.

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The headline-grabbing activities of Daesh - the so-called Islamic State - have precipitated a major migration crisis impacting Europe, as well as the countries where Daesh operates with impunity, as never before. Another big finding of this report is that religious persecution is a significant driver of global forced migration. The UNHCR states that 34,000 people are displaced each week due to conflict or persecution. Eight out of the 10 countries listed by the UNHCR as providing the most refugees globally are on our 2017 World Watch List. In each of these countries, being a Christian compounds the pressure they are under from other more obvious drivers of displacement - and often the trouble for Christians does not end when they reach the refugee camp.

They can flee a particular violence only to have fresh violence being perpetrated against them in the place they have run to for sanctuary. That may not surprise you when the refugee camp is in Nigeria. It might just surprise you when the refugee centre is in Germany. Our research unit gained access to some of the German refugee centres after a number of phone-calls reporting violent incidents against minorities. The research team conducted interviews with 753 Christians; 743 Christians and 10 Yazidi. Between them they had experienced 416 violent assaults, 46 sexual assaults and 314 death threats. The team took photographs of some of the related injuries, which you would not want your children to see.
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After the Supreme Court's ruling this week and continued parliamentary pressure, Theresa May today pledged at PMQs that the government will produce a White Paper - an official statement of government policy on its plan for Brexit.

So what should the White Paper contain? The outcome of the negotiations will of course depend on the interests of both sides, and it is impossible to predict what deal might be finally agreed. But the opening objectives of the UK will be critical for establishing the tone and framework of the ensuing discussions. IPPR, the progressive policy think tank, has been looking at what the priorities for the negotiations might be. Here are our suggestions on ten of the most important areas:

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1. Timing: First of all, it is vital that the UK is able to being discussions about its new relationship with the EU in parallel with the negotiation of the 'divorce proceedings'. Otherwise, falling out of the Single Market without a trade deal in place would be disastrous for the UK economy. The government must ensure the Commission is willing engage in trade talks at the same time as negotiations on withdrawal to maximise the chance of getting a deal in place. At the same time, at the first opportunity the UK should look to get an agreement in principle from the other members to extend the two-year timetable if needed. This isn't about reversing Brexit. But it would be a necessary pragmatic solution if negotiations are dragging, in order to avoid the UK being forced out without a deal in March 2019.

2. The framework: The deal needs to deliver on both market access in goods and services and freedom of movement. IPPR has suggested that the new Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between the EU and Ukraine could be a useful model for a deal. But attempting to simply put migration rules to one side and decide them unilaterally is unlikely to lead to the most favourable outcome. The government should be open and willing to find a suitable compromise.

3. Tariffs: The UK should aim for zero tariffs on goods travelling between the UK and the EU, as exists currently. Maintaining zero tariffs on industrial goods will probably be relatively straightforward to negotiate, based on the experience of previous trade agreements between the EU and third countries. Tariffs on agricultural and fisheries products will likely be trickier, but still feasible.

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4. The customs union: Staying in the EU's customs union - or alternatively agreeing a new customs union with the EU, like Turkey has - might well be problematic, given it will most likely leave the UK out of control of its own trade policy. An alternative arrangement could be to decide not to agree a new customs union with the EU, but at the same time identify the most challenging areas for complying with customs 'rules of origin' and seek to negotiate specific relaxations in these areas. There is some precedent for this in the recent EU-Canada deal.

5. Trade in services: This will be one of the hardest area for the negotiations but with 44% of British services exports going to the EU it will be vital. The UK needs to aim to maintain passporting rights for the financial services sector and more broadly agree to continue to align with key EU legislation of key-trade related areas, in return for market access.

6. Dispute resolution: If the UK continues to adopt a large body of EU law in return for comprehensive access to the single market, as we propose, then there will need to be a parallel process for overseeing this legislation and administering the relationship. A possible way forward here could be a new joint UK-EU court with a balance of UK and EU judges to address relevant UK-EU disputes, as proposed by the Cambridge law professor Markus Gehring.

7. Migration: Migration is destined to be the most contentious area of the Brexit negotiations. Two possible compromises should be on the table (perhaps in combination). First, the UK should be willing to consider a temporary, rather than permanent, system of controls on EU migration - something like the 'emergency brake' proposed by a number of voices during the lead-up to the referendum. Second, the UK should consider a devolved system of migration, retaining freedom of movement in parts of the country (such as London and Scotland) and not others.

8. Security: On cross-border security, the UK has stronger leverage than other areas, because of the major contribution of the UK to EU security policy and the public safety benefits of continued close cooperation. The government should therefore aim for an ambitious settlement. It should prioritise a bespoke partnership with Europol that gives it continued full access to intelligence and a seat at the table to influence policy direction. It should also seek continued access to the Schengen Information System (though this may prove challenging, given the UK will be outside both the EU and Schengen) and other data sharing mechanisms, in return for upholding equivalent EU data protection rules. Another priority is the European Arrest Warrant: the government should aim for an agreement that effectively replicates this mechanism to easily facilitate the extradition of suspected criminals.

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9. Budget payments: As the government seems to have acknowledged, some budget payments will almost certainly have to form part of the deal. In particular, the UK should pay into the EU to get access to certain funds and schemes, such as Erasmus+ or Horizon 2020 (or future equivalent programmes), and it should pay for the maintenance of any regulatory bodies or agencies with which it wants to participate. Finally, as a gesture of good will and as a means of strengthening trade relations, it should also put on the table the option of making payments, as EEA members such as Norway do, to reduce social and economic inequalities across the continent.

10. Non-EU trade deals: A key priority for the UK must be to retain the trade deals with non-EU countries that the EU has already agreed, including with South Korea and Mexico. To avoid going back to the drawing board, the government therefore needs to negotiate an arrangement with the EU and non-EU to retain or renegotiate these deals post-Brexit.

Of course, this only scratches the surfaces of how the negotiations might proceed. But if the government's White Paper is going to be worth its salt it will need to address each of these critical areas with pragmatism and foresight. Only with a clear negotiating strategy can the government secure a favourable deal.
Manchester United are set to reduce the capacity of Old Trafford by 2,400 to allow works to be completed to meet minimum standards for disabled fans.

The announcement has been met with joy from many disabled fans who have missed out on attending games due to lack of seating, whilst generating disappointment also as the phased introduction of seating over 3 years means that a collective Premier League pledge to have the changes fully operational by next season will be broken.

The plans will mean that:

The current East Stand wheelchair platform will be extended across and into the Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Charlton Stands

New amenity seating will also be added in these areas

When complete, the total number of wheelchair positions at Old Trafford will increase from 120 to 277, and the number of amenity seats will increase from 126 to 278

All structural work will be complete ahead of the 2017-18 campaign, allowing all the new accessible facilities to be used immediately for friendlies and some cup games.

However the club state that owing to the fact that the changes will displace a total of 2,600 Season Ticket holders, and given that very few seats become available each summer, the club has agreed a three-year phased programme of relocating affected fans in order to allow time to find suitable alternative seats, with around 800 being relocated for the 2017-18 season.

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To enable this phased & flexible approach, the design will incorporate state-of-the-art reversible platforms and for next season, 100 of the 300 new positions created will be used for Premier League and some cup games.

The charity Level Playing Field described the three-year timescale as "seriously disappointing".

The list of clubs who won't meet the Premier League Access Pledge made in 2015 includes the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Watford as well as recently promoted clubs like Hull, Burnley and Middlesbrough.

Tony Taylor, the chairman of Level Playing Field said: "All the clubs made a pledge with a self-imposed timescale and, one by one, they seem to be saying that they are not going to meet it." He went onto state that

"Whilst we welcome the changes that have been set out, the timescale is seriously disappointing. Consideration must be given for the disabled fans who have never seen their team play at Old Trafford because of a lack of availability of tickets. It must also be stressed that the planned increase in wheelchair user spaces are spaces that have been owed to disabled fans for over 20 years."

Rebecca Hilsenrath, the EHRC chief executive said

"Manchester United have recognised that more should be done for their disabled supporters and this is the right thing to do, In our meetings we have encouraged them to implement their changes in a quicker time frame. Premier League clubs need to urgently demonstrate to us what they are doing to ensure they are compliant with the law."

United managing director Richard Arnold defended the plan which addresses the needs of disabled fans whilst taking into account the existing season ticket holder's needs. He said :

"Old Trafford is a home for all United fans and these changes will help many more of our loyal disabled supporters attend games to watch their heroes.

The Manchester United Supporters' Trust welcomed the expansion of disabled facilities but said it "noted with concern" the impact on existing season ticket holders whilst also having concern over the reduction in capacity.

On this subject Richard Arnold said,

"It's a difficult and emotional subject. We have a unique situation in that we have some 55,000 season ticket holders and enjoy sell-out crowds for every game, and the number of seats that become available each summer is very small. This makes moving large numbers of fans to similar seats within the stadium impossible in a short space of time."

To assist with the smooth transition and the disappointment of season ticket holders of losing their seats the club has introduced a compensation scheme where existing affected season ticket holders will be moved to equivalent or better seats. They will also receive complimentary cup tickets and prices will be frozen.

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Chas Banks, Secretary of the Manchester United Disabled Supporters' Association (MUDSA) also welcomed the changes, saying:

"I'm filled with pride that the club I've supported since first coming to Old Trafford as a little boy in 1957, is leading the way in increasing accessible seating to meet the standards set out in the Accessible Stadia guide. It's a dream come true for me and many other disabled United fans. This is a huge task and it can't be completed overnight. However, it will be completed faster than most believed possible."

Manchester United stated that it prides itself on its work with MUDSA for more than 25 years, and will continue to ensure that accessibility remains at the forefront of our thinking:

As a campaigner for better disabled facilities, and having spent many an hour campaigning for many of these changes I have mixed feelings also on the announcement. I did hope that the changes would be brought into place in a quicker way. After all, if the structure is there why not use it? But I also see the reasoning behind the phased approach.

I remember meeting Richard Arnold back in 2015. In reply to his email requesting a meeting with me I jokingly said "Bring your own biscuits" and he did. After that meeting he said to me, don't judge me on what I say, and judge me on what I do. In reply I said when he does what he says, ill repay him with a pack of matching biscuits (green club biscuits to be precise).

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Since then the club has introduced designated areas where wheelchair users can sit alongside friends & family, which is why my campaign started. They were also one of the first stadiums in the country to install a Changing Places facility.

Many more changes are taking place also, including the introduction of Season Tickets for disabled fans, and changes to disabled policy's that will mean disabled policies are more in line with other policies at the club. The club seem to be placing an emphasis on "equality", which in my books is a good start.

So now it seems the date for the biscuit delivery has been delayed until August 2020. But in hindsight, maybe getting it right over a 3 year period is better than making do this August.
It is 2017. With the unrelenting bombardment of tweets, both in the news and on our phones, one would think that the world is at peak digital and we have no further roads left to travel. Well it turns out that this isn't the case.

Research out this week from eBay UK highlights the huge number of small businesses that are not engaging with digital - and missing out to the tune of over 20 billion in lost revenue. This equates to 20,000 on average per business. How is this possible when it seems our every thought and action is reflected somewhere online? Yet it seems that in the melee of digital noise, small businesses are being lost in the crowd.

Small businesses are a key part of both our economy and our culture. When we talk about the 5.5 million small businesses in the UK we are not talking in the abstract - we mean the one man bands who run everything from manufacturing, to marketing, from comms to finance; we mean the micro businesses with less than ten staff who are multi-taskers at their core; and we mean small family businesses, growing businesses, manufacturing, retail, services and trades.

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Small businesses make up a sector with many faces, from cake makers to engineers, and they are critical to the fabric of our society. We all have a personal stake in their success. With 5.5 million small businesses employing 16 million people, small businesses are a part of our lives - our brothers, cousins, wives, neighbours - small businesses are personal to us all.

What is increasingly clear is that these small businesses have a huge opportunity ahead of them - the tangible financial opportunity offered by greater digital skills and engagement is phenomenal. To realise this potential, small businesses need our help.

In 2017, Do It Digital, an independent, not for profit campaign, along with many businesses and organisations across the UK is going to work with these small businesses to achieve more - not just for themselves, but also for their communities and the economy as a whole. Whether it is a website, trading on a platform or beefing up their social media, small businesses can benefit significantly on their bottom line if we get them all fully on board.

When small businesses are successful, they employ more people, give more back to their local communities, drive innovation in the economy and encourage this in others.

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This is not just about trading at home. The best way to get small businesses exporting is by getting them to excel online. Most small businesses are not going to get on a plane to meet customers - they need a cheaper and more accessible way to do that. Digital is surely the silver bullet in driving this huge export opportunity.

To reach Do It Digital's target for helping one million small businesses in 2017, every part of the economy needs to work together. Stepping up to this challenge are big businesses with huge reach, membership organisations, charities and not for profits; and the Small Business Taskforce led by GDS and Lloyds who are already committed to this challenge.

We need to turn up the volume on what is available for small businesses, and we need to drive small businesses to take up that help. Small businesses are time poor, often on a tight budget and not without fears around the risks of digital, whether that be cyber security, data sharing or brand exposure. We need to reassure and encourage small businesses to overcome these barriers.

This week, Do It Digital is asking the UK to make a pledge to up its game in helping small business digital engagement in 2017. If we all make a step change, in whatever way is relevant to each of us, we can make a significant overall difference to the small business community. This commitment can be training in digital tools or skills, increasing access via new website or trading platforms, or on-going mentoring to help small businesses maximise the potential of digital.

Many organisations have already got behind this. eBay UK is among the first to make a commitment launching eBay for Business this week. But it is not just big businesses that can play a role here. The British Library and its national network of Business and IP Centres are committed to helping 10,000 small businesses in digital engagement this year.

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Enterprise Nation has committed to train 20,000 small businesses this year with its Go and Grow Online campaign.

Google is also committed to making a step change - Google will expand its digital skills training programme to make five hours of free digital help available to everyone in the UK, with specialist training for small businesses. The Google Digital Garage will expand to 100 cities and towns adding on online courses for those who wish to train at home

The Federation of Small Businesses is also committed to supporting its 200,000 small business members in a number of ways, including partnering with Facebook to deliver the #shemeansbusiness campaign and providing free cyber security insurance are two ways in which the FSB is increasing its support for digital engagement this year.

And finally The Good Things Foundation has pledged to support 10,000 small businesses through its community digital skills programme with Google.
Waiting to meet the rapper Poke in Amsterdam's De Duivel bar I was anticipating to meet an eclectic character. As I expected, a hilarious, charming young man with an overwhelming sense of personality walks in. He needs no introduction because his persona speaks for itself. Poke is the kind of person who owns the room with his cheeky smile and fearless nature. I see him as a Dutch Young Thug, but with better lyrics.

Poke's music is a blend of trap, hip-hop and Suriname, as he describes "I'm not the kind of rapper whose music you can fall asleep to. I turn up". His version of turning up is transforming 1 track into a 3 beat frenzy and scathing lyrics to match. Poke is not afraid to act as a caricature of himself and that is what makes him refreshing. His songs are borderline schizophrenic. The last time I heard somebody lyrically slaying a beat like Poke is with rappers Big L, Big Pun, Guru and Tupac who when they talked about putting you in an ambulance, you really believed that they would put you in an ambulance.

Poke takes me back to the old school hip-hop where rappers were charismatic, clever with their words and knew how to put the fear of God in people with just one look. J Cole is a rapper who talks a lot about how the essence of hip-hop is being drained by those who are only in the business for the shallow consumerism. Poke is not the kind of hip-hop artist who raps for money. He raps because it is a burning desire within him to express himself through lyrical art. I am fond of how Poke is so unapologetically afraid to be himself and I admire that he does not take himself so seriously.

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Music needs more than just a beat and promotion team, it needs a charismatic leader who preserves the subversive nature of rap. Not fitting in and being a non-conformist who goes against the status quo is the phenomenon that gave birth to hip-hop in the first place. Poke tells me that he does not smoke or drink. When I ask what his vice is he replies: "I get a kick from myself". Poke continues the legacy of old school rap by going against the grain and showing people that you having nothing to lose by being yourself.

What got you started into rap? Was there an 'aha' moment when you thought "Yes, I'm a rapper"?

I never thought that I'm a rapper. I do different things. I'm an entertainer.

In what way is your music different?

A lot of rappers don't dare to be themselves. They spend their time rapping about other people to look hard. My music is different because I am myself.

How do you stay connected to your lyrics?

Through the desire to express myself.

You mix hip-hop and Suriname so well, how do you do this?

I don't have a certain, stable style that I focus on. I want to try and make all kinds of music. As long as I do what I feel like.

How much is freestyle?

Everything from me is freestyle. I don't write. I get into my flow state by focusing on the song, I concentrate and what comes out is music.

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What does rap personally mean to you?

Turn up and have fun. Get crazy.

You come across as fearless in your music. Is this really who you are?

That is me for real. I am my own hype man [laughs].

What inspires your lyrics?

The fans. The people around me. I love seeing people around me having fun. I can see faces full of happiness and I'm enjoying it with my kids.

Will you write a love song?

[Laughs] Fuck love songs. But, I think I can do it.

How close are you to your Suriname culture?

Very close. My people are always proud to see me representing Suriname.

Do you feel treated differently as a black Dutch man?

Of course a little bit. I stay positive and I always want the best for my self, a better future and I do my best. It's irritating but I'm always positive. Some little rocks come in my path but I move them out of my way. That's life. Things get harder and you get stronger

What can we expect in the future?
One of the best parts of my job is meeting and hearing about the thousands of small businesses around the country who are going from strength to strength using our marketplace.

Believe it or not, becoming a successful small business on eBay isn't just the preserve of digital experts. In fact, some of our biggest success stories are small businesses who began as purely bricks and mortar enterprises, before they saw the potential of going online.

One such example is Bristol-based Bookbarn International, which specialises in second-hand and antiquarian books. The company launched as a physical book store back in 2000, but in 2008 started selling on a website and through eBay as well. Today, it has an annual turnover of 1.2m, with up to 85 per cent of this coming from its online business alone.

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Director William Pryor, captures both the challenge and the opportunity so many small businesses face:

"Taking the business online seemed slightly daunting at first, due to the large volume of books we needed to create listings for. But the speed and volume of sales we started seeing straightaway quickly made it all worth it. We now have buyers in territories as far away as India, China and Japan who we simply would not be able to do business with if we weren't online."

Bookbarn still has its high street presence, with its cafe for local people to visit as a destination. But they've now developed a new, profitable part of the business. The potential audience for William's business is no longer just Bristol, but the entire globe.

For me William's story encapsulates the opportunity for businesses who haven't made the digital leap just yet, but there is also a huge opportunity for the UK as a whole. Research we've commissioned reveals that small businesses in Britain without key digital infrastructure - like a website, social media channels or a presence on an online marketplace - are missing out on 20.2 billion in revenue each and every year.

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Worryingly, over half (57 per cent) of those we spoke to as part of our research, without even a website said they had no plans to change this in 2017, citing a lack of time and expertise to be able to develop it.

Last week a campaign launched - Do it Digital 2017 - which aims to put that right. It will share, signpost and celebrate all things that help small businesses get more out of digital, whatever their current level of skill and engagement may be. It aims to reach 1 million small businesses this year.

As part of our pledge to support Do it Digital (alongside Digital Minister Matt Hancock MP, pictured below), we are launching eBay for Business. This is our initiative to help British SMBs get online in 2017.

Photo Credit: Simon Jacobs

If small businesses bridged the digital gap we've identified it would equate to an average of 20,000 in increased revenue or efficiency savings per business every year, across all sectors from retail to manufacturing. Quite the prize, and one which shows just how important the work of the Do It Digital campaign is. Let's make 2017 the year to get online.

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To prove just how simple it is to make the digital leap, here are my five tips for getting online:
People with learning disabilities are five times more likely than those in the general population to develop dementia.

This shocking statistic, included in recent NHS Digital and Public Health England research, reflects the health inequalities for people with learning disabilities.

The latest publication by VODG and our strategic partners, focuses on the issue of learning disability and dementia and explores how best to support the growing numbers of people with the condition. The publication is based on recent work with care providers aiming to improve the quality of life of people with a learning disability and dementia, and the challenges to this goal.

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The prevalence of dementia among people with a learning disability will surprise many, despite the fact the condition currently commands a high-profile.

The Prime Minister's challenge on dementia 2020 issued under the previous coalition government, sets out how England can be a world leader in dementia care, research and awareness. Across the UK there are over 1.7m "dementia friends" - people who have a basic understanding of what it is like to live with dementia and turn understanding into action. Last summer, actor Carey Mulligan was appointed the UK's first Global Dementia Friends Ambassador by Alzheimer's Society and health secretary Jeremy Hunt and now over 200 areas are signed up to become "dementia-friendly communities" - welcoming environments for people with dementia.

The disability sector has increasingly been turning its gaze to raising awareness and taking action on disability and dementia.

A strategic partnership of voluntary sector organisations is focusing on dementia and equality issues, including through a report, Dementia, Equity and Rights, about support within the context of the "protected characteristics" defined under the Equality Act 2010. In addition, the sector can make use of resources on dementia and equality prepared by the National Care Forum.

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Despite this progress, we need a more targeted action on taking a rights based approach. The fact that the condition is now the leading cause of death in England reflects improvements in diagnosis rates. Timely diagnosis increases the chances of appropriate treatment, but dementia in people with learning disabilities is less likely to be detected in the early stage due to diagnostic overshadowing (when dementia symptoms are mistaken for behaviours related to the person's learning disability).

Timely diagnosis is also more difficult to secure for people with learning disabilities because they often present behavioural changes - rather than memory loss - in the initial stages of dementia. In addition, they may have physical health conditions that are not well managed, which can complicate diagnosis. As one staff member recently told us, "We found that out of 50 people with a learning disability and dementia, not one person had been seen by a specialist in dementia."

People with learning disabilities and dementia may already be receiving social care support, but staff may lack specific dementia knowledge or experience. This is despite the fact people with Down's syndrome, for example, are at greater risk of developing dementia at a younger age.

The challenge is to enable people with learning disabilities and dementia to continue to be supported in the ways in which they decide; whether that is in their own home, care home or using services in some other way. And, as the condition progresses, there needs to be good access to specialist services.

Care provider MacIntyre, a VODG member, launched a Dementia Special Interest Group in February 2011 to bring together staff from across the organisation supporting those who have developed or are at risk of developing dementia. The aim is to investigate and share best practice and provide peer support. A self-advocate group, Keep Going.......Don't Stop, is shaping resources for the sector by commenting on drafts and contributing ideas on what is important to people as they age.

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Self advocate Rosie Joustra says: "My main message to either parents, carers or even support workers [is] make sure that people or a person with dementia can have that information, so that they know what they're facing."

Karen Duggan, MacIntyre's dementia project manager, says: "We know people with a learning disability are more likely to get dementia younger...but they're not included in that group [young onset dementia]. For example, if you go to conferences or to workshops quite often people with a learning disability are not mentioned". She adds that the aim of the dementia project is to "have people living well with dementia", enabling them to do things they enjoy and involving them in their community.

The MacIntyre team suggests care providers can improve support if all staff are aware of dementia, including the risks, the early indicators and the possibility of diagnostic overshadowing. A staff forum to share best practice and ideas is also important, as is ensuring that people supported by the organisation have opportunities to learn more about the condition and the choices available to them.

The latest report also suggests ways to improve the support of people with a learning disability who have dementia. Firstly, providers must monitor how many people they support have a learning disability and are living with or are at risk of dementia. This will help providers assess the scale of need, plan resources and consider dementia within their overall strategy.

Next, providers should adopt a rights-based approach, placing the person at the centre of planning their support. In addition, providers can ensure that staff have a level of training reflecting their degree of involvement in supporting people with dementia. All frontline staff in CQC-registered services, for example, must have awareness training; staff working directly with people with a learning disability and dementia will need more in-depth training.

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Finally, providers can offer people with learning disabilities the opportunity to get involved in dementia research. Clinical researchers at universities need people for a wide range of projects. For example, the University of Cambridge is looking for volunteers to take part in their study of the causes of dementia in people with Down's syndrome.

The Cambridge study aims to find a treatment that, in the future, will overcome dementia in people with Down's syndrome. The idea is to discover early changes in the brain, which precede the clinical symptoms of Alzheimer's in people with Down's syndrome.

As we improve social care provision for people with a learning disability who have dementia or are at risk of developing it, we should try and progress clinical developments, encouraging disabled people to participate in research if they wish to. Stronger links between researchers and providers will offer up more opportunities for research participation.
SAUL LOEB via Getty Images

It is hard to find anything positive to write about the appointment of Donald Trump to the most powerful political position in the world. Even without considering his far right views, his links with white supremacists, his obsession with Putin and his sexist behaviour, the man lacks the experience and knowledge to play a key role in world diplomacy.

I will leave it to the politicians to determine if there are any silver linings to come from the Trump cloud. The lack of Sarah Palin in his cabinet might be a cautious note of optimism as might the fact his Twitter account has been suspiciously circumspect since his inauguration. His wall that turned into a fence and which I now suspect is heading toward an ornamental privet hedge may also be an indication that he will step away from some of his more controversial campaign promises. I hope so. But as an anti hate group ResistingHate.org are more concerned with people than policies and though undoubtedly we will all be keeping a very close eye on the news in the weeks and months ahead it is the impact on hate crime and how this affects societies and individuals that is uppermost in our minds.

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The initial picture looks pretty bleak. We have all seen the stats on the rise in hate crime. In a similar manner to Brexit in the UK hate crime has shot up in the USA since the election results and both the newspapers and social media are filled with reports of abuse against People of colour, Muslims, Jews and the old far right catch all "immigrants."

These crimes are being depicted as reactionary and some of them undoubtedly are. But it is also human nature to see patterns where there are none. It is inconceivable that every piece of Anti Semitic or Islamophobic graffiti is a direct result of the controversy surrounding the presidency of Donald Trump. We cannot attribute that level of influence to the man. Nor can we credit the kind of people who do write their hate slogans on bus shelter walls as necessarily being politically aware enough to have followed the election campaign. Hate has been with humanity since the dawn of time. Hate was around before Trump and it will be around after Trump. What I am saying is try not to feel despair if you are seeing it for the first time. Trump may have brought this hate out into the open but he has not created it.

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Bringing the hate into the open is obviously not a good thing for the people being subjected to hate and prejudice but it is also not a good thing for those who perpetuate the hate. People like Stephen Bannon for example were not, relatively speaking, well known public figures prior to the election. (Many in the UK had never even heard of Breitbart let alone knew who runs it). Now he and his ilk are making headlines and being openly recognised for who and what they are. The consequence being they will be unable to promote their insidious agendas behind closed doors. We may not like the Republican party but even they would balk at the more extremist hate views promoted by Neo Nazi white supremacists. It is perhaps better we can see and publicly shame these people for what they are. Ironically we are best placed to do so when they hold public office.

Seeing the hate crimes publicly reported so widely also exposes the underbelly of hate that has been festering both sides of the Atlantic for a long time now. I want this stuff highlighted in the press. I want people to be aware that there are sick people in our societies who talk with glee about "ovening Jews" and blowing up mosques. This hated has been smugly written off for too long as "just words" or "just social media". It is imperative we understand the repercussions this hate has in our communities. It is only through direct exposure that people will understand why it has become such a problem and will finally come to the conclusion that something must be done about it. If you were too apathetic to vote in the last election then read the papers, you sure as hell won't be in the next one.

Trump ran his campaign capitalising on the fact that he was the candidate of change, the candidate against the establishment. If he sticks to many of his campaign promises and legislates on hate principles then hate will become entrenched in his politics. Hate will effectively have become the establishment. And just as the people voted for change in 2016 a sadder and wiser electorate will vote for change again in 2020. They will vote to kick the hate right back out of politics. It took 71 years for the world to forget Nazi Germany to the extent where they would welcome fascism back into mainstream political systems. After Trump I believe it will be at least another 71 years before it is welcomed in again.

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Much as I do believe exposing the hate is important and confident as I am that Trump's political future will be a short one the actual positives that come out of this farce of an election are positives that lie in our own hands. Minority groups may be being targeted but these groups are only a minority if they stand alone. Now is the time for unity. If a world that has suddenly become very aware of an undercurrent of hate is willing to unite and stand together as a force for human decency then possibly Donald Trump could end up being the catalyst for something very good.
China has warned the United States it would not retreat from claims that it controls the South China Sea.

"China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters at a Tuesday news briefing in Beijing. "The United States is not a party to the South China Sea issue," Chunying added.
13th is a documentary film produced by Filmmaker Ava DuVernay, exploring the history of racial inequality in the US, that has manifested itself in different forms, one of which is the mass incarceration of African Americans. The US population comprises 5% of the total world population, yet 25% of the world's prisoners are in the US, ironically the land of the 'free'.

The name of the film 13th refers to the 13th amendment (XIII) of the US constitution that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime and here where the mythology of black criminality that led to the mass incarceration of African Americans began. As a British Muslim woman committed to fighting and tackling Islamophobia, watching such a film has not only raised my awareness of the struggle of those who belong to the black minority people and communities of colour but also opened my eyes to the tactics and methodology of oppression allowing me to draw parallel lines between the discrimination of African Americans and the discrimination of Muslims.

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The film shows how black criminality has been portrayed for over 100 years, by painting certain images that match well with the white imagination of black slaves as being savages, animalistic and rapists. An example of such a portrayal is a silent drama film produced in 1915, titled The Birth of a Nation that showed black men as animalistic, unintelligent and sexually aggressive towards white women. In this silent drama, these black men were later brutally persecuted by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). These types of images continued for decades, building a negative collective memory around the black community, to be eventually seen as the 'Other', a cause of harm and treated as an exception.

The story is the same when it comes to the Muslim community in the US and the UK, where they are portrayed and presented persistently in the media as a demographic, ideological and violent threat, to the extent the public fail to differentiate between average Muslims in the street and Da'esh (ISIS). There is also a failure in addressing the root causes of the creation of Da'esh and the political and social instability of the Middle East, Asia and other parts of the world.

The process of 'Otherness' is then followed by the dehumanisation of the black community, in order to provide justification for the denial of their rights and liberties that are fundamentally universal. Subsequently, the black community was put under special measures such as Jim Crow's laws of segregation from 1890 until 1965, followed by Arizona Senate Bill 1070, Probation and Parole laws, GPS system for prisoners and Stop and Frisk policy all of which were in the name of 'War on Drugs' that continues to ensure the mass incarceration of African Americans and communities of colour, allowing the private prison industries to thrive.

The story is no different for British Muslims who have been disproportionally the main subject of many new laws in the name of 'War on Terror', allowing the arms industry to thrive. Such UK laws include Section 44 of Terrorism Act (2000), Anti-Terrorism - Crime and Security Act (2001), Prevention of Terrorism Act (2005), and the Justice and Security Act (2013), which allows secret courts and extradition of UK residents and the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act known as PREVENT which has become public statutory duty since 2015.

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It might be argued that the comparison between the black civil rights and the anti-Islamophobia movement is unfair, as such arguments diminish the 400 years of slavery and oppression of black people. Although this is true to some extent, it is worth mentioning that Islamophobia in Europe did not start with the 'War on Terror' or 9/11 but way before. Some historians trace Islamophobia in Europe back to the 15th century in Iberian Peninsula where Spanish Christians planted the seed for the historical foundation of racism led to the exclusion of the Moors (North African Muslims). In fact, the word race in Spanish dictionaries referred to lineage applied on horses. Something they learnt from Arabs who categorise horses. From here the word 'pure blood 'as an expression was initially applied to horses which then invaded the English dictionary. Eventually skin colour and religion began to replace blood as a racial and visible marker, which would give the authority to reproduce superiority.

Another common argument that I often hear especially from those who have verbally abused me in the streets is that they are not racists because Islam is not a race and therefore Islamophobia is not racism. It is true Islam is a religion rather than a race but indeed Islamophobia is the new racism. It is known that the majority of Muslims are black or of colour. However, interestingly racism is not exclusively based on a biological quality or skin colour but it can be also cultural. According to Stuart Hall a leading sociologist, cultural racism is when a group of people perceive their beliefs and customs as being culturally superior to the beliefs and customs of other groups. Therefore, the idea that "civilised" western culture is superior to "uncivilised" Islamic culture, whereby the latter does not respect liberty, democracy and freedom, has led to Muslims being perceived as savages and animalistic needing to be reformed if not abolished altogether. This is the kind of narrative that transformed the rhetorical cultural war into a literal war led by the UK and the US, since the time of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, opening the doors for the fatal alliance of Tony Blair and George W. Bush, destroying Iraq and Afghanistan.
Rob Ward Photography via Getty Images

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Over the last two years, I have been involved with Vocalise, a prison education program administered by Gray's Inn that trains student barristers, like myself, to go into prisons and teach British parliamentary debating to prisoners across Greater London. The project culminates in a final debate, adjudicated by QCs and senior lawyers, between a group of prisoners in each prison and elite debaters from the Oxford and Cambridge Union. The prisoners are, more often than not, victorious and humble their seasoned opponents.

My experiences with incarcerated people have completely altered my understanding of human potential and hopefulness. Behind bars, I witnessed the most fascinating and exuberant debates: about space travel and Brexit, about smoking in prisons and the right to euthanasia, about the best theme park in the world and the rise of populism in Europe. I remember vividly one debater. His name was Rufus. He is the most talented public speaker I have ever met - his way of debating was lyrical, bold and spontaneous. One of the judges was dumbfounded enough to ask him, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Prisoners can only confound expectations. We live in a society that renders prisoners into superfluous beings, outside the pale of human empathy - they are either subjects for sensationalist tabloid headlines and television or they are objects to be managed and controlled. As a Co-Director of Vocalise, I am now responsible for training a new batch of student barristers to teach in prisoners. The questions I get asked by recruits corroborate the social stigma of imprisonment: "Are we safe?" "What do we do if we are in danger?" "Do we know their crimes?"

I remember when we were wondering about our own safety when three volunteers and I first went into prison. In the end, the classroom we taught in could have been any class of learners in London - diverse in age and ethnicity, many enthusiastic and curious, some despondent and quiet. There was nothing to doubt their humanity, except for their condition as individuals that were locked up. That three-fifths of prisoners leave prison without any educational or training outcome, with a high likelihood to reoffend, thus must be recognized as a consequence of prison regimes and the prejudices that underpin them. In some instances, prisoners are spending up to 23 hours a day locked in their cells and face a punitive daily regime under the revised Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) scheme.

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In broad strokes, education in prisons is determined by two views. On one hand, there are prison education departments and those that make it their business to know prisoners by name, to get inspirational posters and mantras to decorate classrooms, scout out for innovative programs and guest speakers and debate with security officials to get a prisoner out of his cell to sit an exam. They recognize the prisoner in his actuality and potential.

On the other hand, there is an outer-world of target-driven educational models and practices that determine a prisoner's education on his prospect of release, on funding arrangements and quotas, on the security regime, on demonstrable proof that a program will minimize reoffending or increase employability. These targets and models change yearly when there is a need for 'prison reform'. But such determinations are consistently estranged from any concept that considers education, pre-eminently concerned with fulfilling potential and development, as a fundamental a priori concern for prisoners and their human dignity.

Through Vocalise, I know that the gap between society and the convicted can be bridged. As a profession, the bar represents the most privileged section of society: approximately 70% of the bar is privately educated and around 80% attended Oxbridge. In contrast, 42% of adult prisoners report having been permanently excluded from school. Every year, Vocalise trains up to 70 volunteers from the bar to go into prisons and teach debating. My hope is that they go on to help change perceptions where they need to be changed most - outside the prison walls.

Prisoners' names have been changed.
For generations women's rights campaigners have been working to create a world where there is greater gender equity and parity.

But across the world there have been growing signs that hard fought gains are in danger of being rolled back.

It is not just the rhetoric that has evolved. Women's human rights are in danger of being reversed. Women cannot be complacent.

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This week in Russia lawmakers are being urged to back a bill that will decriminalise almost all acts of violence in the home.

Ultra conservatives in the country say the state should not interfere in the 'rights and life' of the family. Instead men who are violent towards their wives or partners, may soon be able to evade prosecution.

The new proposed law stipulates that only 'broken bones or concussion or repeated offences' will lead to criminal charges.

As women survivors of violence know - violence comes in many forms - not just those the Russian state is now describing.

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According to the Russian Interior Ministry figures, 40 women a day are killed by their husbands and partners.

Lawmakers will call for changes in Russia's domestic violence laws so rape and 'serious bodily harm' are criminalised.

But being caught for beating a spouse or a child will only result in a fine of less than $500 and the culprit facing community service or 'administrative arrest.'

But it is not just Russia where women's legal protections are being eroded.

Child marriage

In Bangladesh where ActionAid works, there are currently attempts to row back on legal protections for girls by changing the law so girls under 18 can be married legally to preserve a girls 'honour' and her families reputation.

Women in Bangladesh will be taking the streets this week to protest attempts to reduce the age of child marriages.

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Meanwhile in Pakistan violence and sexual harassment of women and girls is being reported more widely than ever before. Yet 'honour' killings continue.

This includes the murder of social media star Qandeel Baloch in Pakistan in 2016 which has been widely reported around the world.

But here too, legislation to protect women and girls is under pressure.

Around the world, so called honour and family reputations continue to be entwined with the forceful control and exploitation of girls and women's bodies.

There is no honour in treating girls and women as sub human and denying them their human rights. There is no honour in killing girls and women.

The shifting global landscape

In the past year there has been a huge shift in the political landscape across Europe and the USA and a rise in reported hate crime and open bigotry on both sides of the Atlantic.

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Women are amongst the most vulnerable to hate crime, its women who are visibly identifiable as 'other' such as Muslim women who wear the hijab or niqab who face threats because of their identity.

The challenge for organisations such as ActionAid and grass roots campaigners is not just to advance the rights of women and girls - it is to defend the rights that have already been won.

Whether in Bangladesh, Pakistan or in the United States and Europe - there is a global urgency to protect women and girls from violence and ensure funding is safeguarded to defend their rights.

Finally, global women's rights defenders, campaigners, and feminists must urgently embrace intersectional feminism fully or they too will stand accused of denying marginalized women their agency and rights.

The message from women's rights campaigners is clear: patriarchy is political and in 2017 there must be no rowing back on the rights of women and girls.

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There are over 200,000 protected areas (PAs) in the world as of 2014, covering 30 million km-sq - that's over 10% of our planet's land and oceans. Protecting these PAs is fundamental to the preservation of our planet's biodiversity and ecosystem.

Sadly, many of these parks are inadequately resourced and poorly managed and it often proves impossible to assess if the programmes are working. It is also difficult, given the scale of the parks and the limited ranger resources they have, for many parks to detect threats from poachers and loggers and to apprehend. It's safe to say given the statistics we're hearing that the PAs need help.

The traditional answer to these problems is to wait for more people, more funding, more equipment, improved skills. We need to be realistic how much of such scarce resources can or will be thrown at all the PAs on the planet and for this reason we turn to technology for the answer to help PAs do the job we need them to do.

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There is much discussion about applications of the Internet of Things. Exhibitions, such as CES 2017, full of gadgets that no-one really needs or wants, sadly fails to show off the real value of interconnected devices. The IoT will serve a much higher purpose if it's applied correctly: IoT sensors and network technologies have the power to help us save the planet.

Africa is an obvious focal point in demonstrating how the IoT can deliver immediate benefits in wildlife conservation and the Pendjari National Park in Benin is the location of an ideal case study. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has been working with technologists and conservationists from UK charity Smart Earth Network and IoT consultancy Eridanis to develop an IoT-based 'Digital Maturity Model' for Protected Areas such as the Pendjari Park.

This model is designed to enable PAs to assess themselves against an accepted structure and importantly, on the back of this, to establish the technology infrastructure requirement and via phased investments help them deploy it quickly and cost-effectively to achieve a full IoT capability on a shared platform.

How can the IoT make a difference?

1.Cost-effective hybrid wireless communications systems to improve park management and visitor and staff safety: A combination of inexpensive radio, private 4G and other technologies to enable voice, text and data communications which, working with GPS, can resolve these issues and enable connected devices to be deployed effectively.

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2.Drone cameras and sensor based ecological monitoring: The task is today highly time consuming and produces inadequate and sporadic results. Drones with powerful cameras, connected cameras and acoustic sensors, and other tools combined with advanced analytical software, can deliver faster and better results for less effort, freeing up valuable resources for more mission critical work.

3.IoT as a decisive solution to poaching, logging and herding threats: park patrolling is inadequately resourced and unable to effectively identify and respond to threats. A combination of security cameras and acoustic sensors strategically positioned and supplemented by day and night automated drone surveillance using infrared can detect the threats readily, and send alerts to the rangers in real-time, enabling a rapid response. These solutions release rangers from time-consuming random patrolling to focus on addressing real threats.

4.Cloud-based platform and big data analysis for improved information-sharing: improves park governance and collaboration between stakeholders, from park staff, to NGOs, universities, local communities and businesses is very poor today. Combined with appropriate data storage and analytics creates the foundation for effective collaboration and knowledge-sharing.

5.IoT provides comms infrastructure to support conservation via citizen science and an improved visitor experience: Only a handful of the wealthiest parks can afford any comms infrastructure - and even then, it's focused on giving simple cellular / internet access rather than utilising visitors' data to improve park management and wildlife monitoring.

Deploying these technologies in PAs has its problems. Most PAs have no connectivity, and the tendency is to undertake piecemeal investments in standalone technologies often with expensive satellite comms. The skills to govern and manage such investments are rarely there and the initiatives that are taken often fall into disrepair.

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The Smart Earth Network believes that for PAs to become effective they must achieve 'digital maturity' hence why we developed a Digital Maturity Framework. This Framework covers not only the technology but also the organisational steps necessary to create a sustainable capability which transforms the effectiveness of these vital Protected Areas in preserving our planet's biodiversity.

Image Source: Author's own (Smart Earth Network)

Readers interested in understanding more can read the public report: 'The Internet of Things for Protected Areas: The Application of Innovative Technologies to Improve Management Effectiveness, First report of IUCN Mission to Pendjari National Park' Simon Hodgkinson and Daniel Young, IUCN, 2016.
Susan Walsh/AP

When Donald Trump rose to give his inauguration address on 20 January it was clear that we were at an apex in the American journey.

As he himself noted during a speech filled with barking, vague, campaign rhetoric, this was not just a new President but a wholesale changing of the guard in American politics.

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But in the days following the inauguration, we have caught a first glimpse of what President Trump might mean for the power of the press and how his revolutionary approach to communications could spell a dangerous break with the traditional role and power of the White House Press Corps.

By deliberately eroding trust in the news media - not on any specific issue but by creating a perception of fundamental dishonesty - Trump is dismantling the power that journalists hold over governments and replacing it with his own brand of direct-to-consumer messaging.

Somewhere in-between fake news, alternative facts and echo chambers, we may have just unwittingly entered a new age of political mass communication and time might be up for the primacy of the so-called fourth estate.

Fake news and alternative facts

American leaders have always been wary of the power of the press - one need only look back to Richard Nixon, whose administration was taken down to political reporting such as the Watergate scandal.

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Since the early 90s, politics on both sides of the Atlantic has been a game played by the rules of the news media. Clinton, Blair, Obama, Cameron and to a slightly lesser extent George Bush, have all been credited their victories by savvy and effective use of the news media within their campaigns.

Spin doctors, in awe of the reach and influence of the press, play the most significant and sexy roles in government life, charming journalists, dishing out exclusives and preparing marquee speeches. And In the UK, the meeting with Rupert Murdoch is widely acknowledged to be the most significant meeting for a would-be PM.

But why does all this effort go into press relations? Because the news media has, for the past 50 years and more, shaped the views of the public more than any other force. And political journalists make the final call on the success of administrations.

The reason that journalists hold power is because of the impact their words can have with voters.

Life in President Trump's administration won't play to these rules. Things are going to be different. And they might never be the same again. Here's why:

Firstly, Donald Trump has worked hard throughout his campaign to sow public distrust across the news media. Whether it is berating CNN reporters by shouting 'you're fake news,' to avoid questions, or repeatedly questioning the integrity of journalists and newspapers that call him out on contradictions, Donald has managed to created doubt in the mind of voters around media organisations that are not of their political persuasion.

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By scapegoating elements of the American press, Trump has stripped back some of their power. But this phenomenon also has another impact on the press: the way people consume news are changing. People increasingly see news via snippets shared through Social Media and within the prism of their own beliefs. Even if parts of the press are 'fact-checking' and calling Trump out on his behaviour, you can guarantee that this coverage might not filter down to millions of voters who are not consuming this angle on events.

Couple this with 'gaslighting' or, arguing over the basic premise of facts - a favourite tactic of Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway throughout her career - and Washington correspondents have a tougher time of reaching people with their coverage if they are not already part of that demographic.

What this all adds up to is a Washington press that is sapped of power and fighting to stay relevant.

The 140 character President

Secondly is that Donald Trump uses social media as a primary, not a secondary news source. Where Barack Obama might have sent a tweet outlining new policy or programme, the launch of the activity would have been co-ordinated through traditional press relations, with a focus on in-depth and positive coverage in traditional political channels.

Trump has expressed his intention to continue Tweeting in the same way as President as he was a candidate. This method of news generation - where single tweets can instantaneously become global headlines - means that Trump directly controls the timing and the nature of news stories.

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With the ability to 'break' news eroded by this tactic, reporters increasingly become analysts and commentators: the very people who are now at 'peak distrust' with the American public. Again, Trump wins, the media lose.

Distraction, distortion and bullying

The final point is also the most sinister. Donald Trump - I believe - actively seeks to carry out a protracted and ugly 'air-war' with the mainstream media throughout his Presidency, for the reason that it will mask any chinks in. the frail armour that is his policy

Donald Trump is not only seeking to limit the power of the media by encouraging his supporters to distrust it, he also simultaneously seeks to use his knowledge and skill of news values to create a permanent distraction to the minutiae of his administration.

By playing a game of tit-for-tat and who-said-what with the Press Corp, Trump will always have the upper hand and the continued support of his base, who will in turn become even angrier with the tactics of the news media.

Shaun Spicer, Kellyanne Conway and Reince Preibus - firmly part of the inner circle - have already come out swinging against a press that is set on 'de-legitimising' the President. In Spicer's first White House Press Briefing, he warned journalists that if they didn't play to these new rules they would find themselves out in the cold. In his second Briefing, Spicer told one reporter: 'I think we can disagree about the facts.'

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Fundamentally, the Trump administration is happy for the press corps to cover the President in this way. The more focus there is on arguing over details, the less the American public will care about what the press in Washington have to say, and the more Trump can continue to blame the news media for bogging down his Presidency and its bold ambitions. The words 'the media is the enemy of the people's President,' is a threat that will not be too far from Donald's lips.

When, predictably, the jobs do not all reappear from Mexico, or the wall is not built, or veterans do not receive improved care, and the 'drugs, gangs and rapists' of the inner cities are not removed, dishonest reporting will be one of the major scapegoats. The groundwork for this is already being set by the Trump team.

This is a carefully thought out and terrifyingly modern way of media manipulation without ever impinging on the concept of a free press. Let's never forget that Trump is a man obsessed with the media. During the 80s and 90s when The Donald was a B-list New York celebrity, he scoured every newspaper looking for mentions of his own name. This narcissistic tendency also gave Trump an intricate knowledge of the power of the media and how it could be used to further his own ambition.

What is more, is that whatever your views on the Trump administration, it will write the next chapter of the guide to political communications. If Trump and his team are able to effectively bring the Washington press to heel through its strategy, it may alter the journalist/President relationship irreparably.

Let us remember, politicians want to speak directly to people. The political press exists because they are the conduit. If the Donald can find a way to bypass this process and still win votes, others can too.

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So where does this leave the news media?
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

Millions of people who support refugees and asylum seekers in Britain and elsewhere will be utterly appalled by President Trump's plans to close the door to people fleeing war and persecution.

By signing executive orders to place even a temporary ban on refugees in the middle of the worst refugee crisis on record, the human cost of Trump's cruel and misguided plans would be huge.

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For the families who are expecting to be resettled in America, today's news will be causing untold uncertainty and worry.

Any restriction on the numbers of refugees being resettled in the US will leave tens of thousands more people struggling to survive in camps and on the borders of conflict zones.

The US has been a world leader in offering sanctuary to refugees. In 2015, 64% of refugees resettled through the UNHCR's global resettlement programme were given the opportunity to rebuild their lives in America - that's 52,683 out of a total of 81,893 worldwide.

Trump's plans could have a huge impact on global resettlement system as US funding underpins the entire infrastructure of the programme. The UK should step up and increase its commitment to resettlement.

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Restricting routes to safety for people fleeing some of the world's most dangerous conflicts and terror in the Middle East and Africa based on their religious beliefs is inhumane.

Trump's policy is also based on a lie. Contrary to his claims, refugees resettled to the US already undergo an incredibly rigorous vetting process that can take up to two years.

Resettlement offers people who have fled unimaginable horrors, the chance to rebuild their lives in peace and safety.

Today we feel proud that Britain takes the opposite view to Trump; we welcome refugees from around the world who need our protection.

The UK Government must uphold its commitments to refugees, including plans to resettle 20,000 Syrians by 2020, and build on them.

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We cannot let these policies of fear spread. Turning our backs on some of the world's most vulnerable people will only play into the hands of fanatics whose warped ideology feeds on division.

Now is the time to stand together against this hate and stand steadfast in our compassion and support for those forced to flee terror and conflict.
Van Tine Dennis/ABACA USA

Hanne Gaby Odiele is a beloved fashion model who has achieved global success. She also happens to be intersex, like myself and many others. Yesterday, she shared her intersex status with the world.

For those who aren't familiar, and I know that many of you aren't, intersex people are born with sex characteristics that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies. These physical variations can include chromosomes, internal organs and/or genitals.

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Nearly 2% of the population is born with intersex traits, similar to the number of people born with red hair.

However, in many countries, intersex children are subjected to repeated surgery and treatment to try to change their sex characteristics and appearance, causing terrible physical, psychological and emotional pain - and violating their rights. The interventions are often driven by the fear of non-binary bodies, rather than any medical need. Despite the United Nations High Commissioner on Human rights and The World Health Organisation issuing declarations in support of intersex rights, they continue today. Hanne understands first-hand the harm caused by unnecessary intervention routinely done to "fix" intersex children having lived through two traumatic surgeries herself.

Increased visibility and representation is crucial, but up until recently we've been relatively invisible. Despite how common it is to be intersex, laws, policies and medical best practices still fail to protect intersex children from harm.

Like so many, I idolised fashion models growing up. I developed cancer as a teenager and intensive chemotherapy meant I could barely finish a sentence, let alone a book, I would look to the pages of Vogue for inspiration and escape. As small as it may sound, models like Agyness Deyn and Hanne, with their androgynous and fearless style made me feel less afraid to go outside with my shaved head and, later, bleached blonde quiff. (I've regularly considered writing Agyness a fan letter - thanking her because she made a fair few teens in chemo feel 'cool'.)

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At 16, I was told about my intersex variation. I learnt that I have XY chromosomes and streak gonads instead of ovaries, which had been removed months before. Eventually through my work with the Teenage Cancer Trust, I got the opportunity to be in British Vogue at the age of 17 to tell my cancer story and raise awareness. In my interview for the September issue, I sat opposite the journalist and lied about my intersex variation, absolutely terrified of being 'outed'.

Despite the support and love around me I felt alone and confused. I was told repeatedly not to tell anyone, that I was rare and would probably never meet another intersex person. I was made to believe that the world would not accept me as I am. As is often the case, I internalised that shame and stigma. I stopped feeling worthy. I didn't know where to look for people like me. I didn't know if there was anyone like me. Difficult and often cruel encounters with doctors in following years cemented this belief.

That was nearly a decade ago. Yesterday, that same Vogue covered Hanne's story with dignity and kind interest.

I am proud to be openly intersex today, and to know a strong community of intersex advocates. Hanne's own rational is going public is equally inspiring; "It was important for me to make this declaration now, based on where I am in my life. I want to live authentically as who I am and help to break down the stigma that intersex persons face--but...to give back to those without a voice. I want to be there for people who are struggling, to tell them it's OK--it's one part of you, but it's not who you are." Hanne joins a global network of intersex activists, some of whom have been paving the way, in fields from advocacy to academia, for over 20 years.

Hanne partnership with advocacy group interACT, will raise awareness in the mainstream. interACT champions the rights of intersex youth using law and policy, raising awareness and collaborating with the media, and by empowering intersex youth in their teens and twenties to speak out to reduce stigma and promote intersex rights.

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Hanne's trademark is her spirit and innovative style. Her message for intersex people today is "you can be whoever you want." I truly believe there are people, like me, reading Hanne's story who now feeling stronger, supported, beautiful, and hopeful about the future.
Violent extremism today presents a chilling challenge to the world's prison correction communities.

Anis Amri, shot dead before Christmas by Italian police after killing 12 people in the Berlin terrorist attack, was allegedly radicalised in prison. His story follows a shocking trajectory that enables murderous terrorism due to the incitement and recruitment of vulnerable prisoners.

Cases such as Amri's show that, today, for the small minority, prisons have become the first step towards committing horrific acts of mayhem and destruction. How can we get this minority back on the rehabilitation path and defeat the violent extremists. While no quick remedy exists, there are approaches that can make prisoners less susceptible.

Extremist recruiters are adept at spotting fragile inmates open to joining extremist causes and who can be convinced to commit terrorist acts upon release. Using the tedium of prison life, they exploit hatreds and frustrations and bend inmates towards a shared ideological commitment to using violence.

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Prisons may not help by exerting their own coercive pressures encouraging prisoners to join groups due to violence, threatening behaviour, overcrowding and poor management.

Based on UNODC's assessments in a recent publication on managing violent extremist prisoners, there are three crucial areas requiring intervention: prison staff training, risk management, and rehabilitation efforts.

Prison staff, including its management, must build constructive relations and to protect, maintain, and uphold the dignity of inmates. Every staff member should receive specialist training on working with violent extremist prisoners.

Professionalism, ethics, as well as support for staff coping with stress are at the centre of this work. Sufficient staff need to be employed and trained to safeguard everyone's security.

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Risk management is founded on implementing the appropriate security measures to ensure inmates are held in safe custody and on good, solid prison intelligence. It starts with a risk-based assessment on the prisoner's arrival and should continue with dedicated prison intelligence systems. Such work can inform interventions and rehabilitation and help prison management make strategic decisions on a prisoner's future.

Professional judgement needs to be applied when making these assessments. Post-release assessments can assist prisoners to disengage from violence and to eventually return to their communities.

Rehabilitation and disengagement are underpinned by the logic that those prisoners who become engaged can also be turned away from radical beliefs and attitudes. To be effective, attention needs to be given to gender, countries and cultures, as well as the prison environment.

Our goal must be behavioural change allied to an acceptance that radical beliefs do not always threaten prisons or communities. Only a small number of radicals become violent extremists. Further research is needed on all aspects of disengagement interventions to appreciate the situation.

One of our strongest instruments is the adoption and full implementation of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners--known as the Mandela Rules. The rules set out good practices on prisoner treatment and prison management.

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Violent extremism and radicalization in prisons and their relationship to terrorism are high on the international agenda. The world cannot have individuals entering prisons who may already feel angry and frustrated only to have them leave more embittered and determined to kill.
Some Twitter employees' long hours are making news, but research shows there's a point at which working more doesn't help at all. In fact, it has big downsides.
Seldom has an idea been pronounced dead recently more often than that of making peace between Israel and the Palestinians through a two-state solution. Politicians, experts, pundits, analysts and columnists have lined up to deliver their eulogies, lay it to earth, fill in its grave and recite Kaddish. Like Monty Python's famous parrot, it has apparently shuffled off its mortal coil and joined the choir invisible.



Except that it still lives.



It lives on, supported by the majority of both Israelis and Palestinians, because the two-state solution is and remains the only viable, equitable and reasonable way of ending the seemingly endless conflict between them. There is no other solution. The moment the two-state solution really does die, both nations condemn themselves to a future of conflict without end, generation after generation - and that is a future too awful to accept. For Jews, there is also this bitter truth to contemplate: the moment the two-state solution dies, the dream of a Jewish and democratic homeland for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel dies along with it.



At that point, Israel will enter an era of permanent control over another people, the Palestinians, who already outnumber them in the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Israel will continue to offer democratic rights to its citizens, Jewish and Arab, living within its pre-1967 borders - but it will offer those rights only to Jews living beyond those lines in the occupied territory. What do you call such a system? Certainly not democracy. There are other, uglier words.



The two-state solution is both an abstract idea and a political blueprint -- and it is true that today the chances of implementing that blueprint seem slim to the point almost of vanishing. That is what many people mean when they declare the two-state solution dead. Fortunately one cannot kill an idea quite so easily. Nobody should know that better than the Jewish people who dreamed of returning to their homeland for 2,000 years before the State of Israel was finally established in 1948.



As an idea, the two-state solution draws its strength from a deep well of ethical precepts and morals first enunciated in the Torah, built upon, endorsed and enhanced by Christianity and Islam and enshrined in the founding documents and principles of the US Constitution and every democratic document subsequently written.



At the core of this idea are the fundamental principles of peace and justice. With beautiful simplicity and economy, Psalm 34 tells us to "seek peace and pursue it." With equal terseness, Deuteronomy 16:20 commands us, "Justice, Justice shall you pursue." And the US Declaration of Independence asserts that all men are born equal with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.



Interestingly, the word "pursue" appears in all three. To pursue something suggests that it is elusive, not easily found or trapped and never stationary. One has to chase after it -- it is always running away. That is certainly the case with the two-state solution. But without peace and without justice, there will be no happiness either for Israelis or Palestinians.



Like all powerful ideas,this one is so simple that we teach it to our children at nursery school and even earlier. Two kids want the same toy. The can fight over it until one grabs it and the other one cries -- but eventually they must learn to share. Two peoples, who live side by side in the same land, can either fight over control of every square inch, denying the other side any ownership or control or dignity, or they can decide to share. The two-state solution does not pretend to give either side everything that they want - but it does give them everything that they need.



All other so-called solutions to this conflict rest on the idea of one party essentially imposing its will on the other. But both nations are proud, resilient and stubborn and neither will surrender or disappear. The more one tries to impose a solution on either one, the more they will resist.



Of course, steps that the parties or others take can and do make a two-state solution harder to achieve. Endless settlement building by Israelis eats up the land on which the Palestinian state should be established. Terrorism, incitement and rejectionism hardens hatred on both sides.



For every idea that is strong enough to survive there comes a moment. I believe that the moment for the two-state solution will come because eventually both sides will realize they have no other choice and that the status quo will become intolerable. The moment may come in five years, it may take longer. But ideas, unlike mortals, have the power to persist for generations, centuries and even millennia when they stand on the fundamental human principles of peace and justice. This is an idea that is too strong to die. Eventually, it will offer a better life to both peoples.
Earlier this month, Pakistan successfully tested for the first time a submarine-launched, nuclear-capable cruise missile with a range of 450 kilometers. Officials say the "Babur-3" missile provides Pakistan with a secure second strike capability.

Tuesday's maiden flight test of the Ababeel missile was announced by military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor. He said it "has the capability to engage multiple targets with high precision, defeating the enemy's hostile radars."

Pakistan says it has successfully tested a surface-to-surface ballistic missile that is capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads and can hit targets with precision as far as 2,200 kilometers.

 Show of Force

Tuesday's Ababeel launch is Pakistan's attempt to credibly demonstrate its technical ability to defeat "all ballistic missile defense systems" India is developing, says Syed Muhammed Ali, a senior research fellow at Islamabad's Center for International Strategic Studies.

"This also indicates Pakistan's scientific expertise to miniaturize its nuclear warheads," he observed.

Western critics insist Pakistan has the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world, assertions Islamabad dismisses as "misleading." Pakistani officials cite close defense and nuclear cooperation between the United States and India for reinforcing its nuclear deterrence capabilities.

The Pakistani prime minister's foreign policy adviser, Sartaj Aziz, speaking last week to VOA, again underscored the importance of maintaining "strategic stability" in South Asia.

"We have been emphasizing to the U.S. that if you start your defense cooperation and arms agreement in such a way that disturbs our strategic stability, then we will have no option but to respond," said the de facto Pakistani foreign minister.

The latest Pakistani missile tests come amid heightened tensions with neighboring India. Militaries of both countries until recent weeks had been engaged in deadly clashes across their disputed Kashmir border.
The evening before the #WomensMarch on Washington, over 50 individuals from diverse backgrounds board a bus in Chicago heading for our nation's capital. Christian, Muslim and Jain; men, women and youth; black, brown and white together settle in for the 12-hour trip ahead. Many of them had never gone to a march, none of them had protested in a rally at our nation's capital, but all of them had one thing in common: They yearned for social justice. By choosing to travel with a faith-based organization, Muslim Women's Alliance (MWA), these individuals valued religious freedom. This journey to the Women's March would be a milestone marker for many.



Ammiel Mateen marching in Washington D.C. with 9-year-old Jennah and her mother Jamilah Salahuddin



These protestors and those who joined around the globe affirmed their #WhyIMarch statements: From standing against sexual harassment in the workplace; to taking action as a man because simply "wishing" for equality is not enough. Some marched because they believed that none of us can move forward if half of us are held back; some protested for the sake of their undocumented mother. Others demonstrated because they insist on public education that affords quality schooling for all, and some were literally putting their feet down on the street to protect the future for their trailblazing daughters. On this particular bus, we also heard time and time again, "I march as an American Muslim Woman," and non-Muslim allies stood up to say, "I march in solidarity with my Muslim sisters." This unity wrapped the travelers like a warm, velvet blanket.

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Truth be told, many were worried about their safety: Were they being irresponsible to loved ones by possibly putting themselves in harm's way at the protest? Despite the anxiety of this unchartered territory, they arrived in D.C. and were immediately enveloped in a sea of love. As Michael Moore pointed out at the rally, the powerful pink hats at the Women's March replaced the red caps from the Presidential Inauguration the day before. Now true strength was in the air. It is fitting that Leasha Prime, a rally speaker shared with the crowd the compelling teaching in Islam that states, "The womb of the woman is connected to the throne of God." Yes, indeed women have a special status.

Many Muslim women mustered up the courage to travel to Washington D.C. and participated in rallies around the world because of the leadership and example set by Linda Sarsour, one of the Women's March Co-Chairs. With her pure conviction, Linda declared to the over 500 thousand marchers in D.C. and 3 million around the globe, "I stand here before you unapologetically Muslim American...Sisters and brothers, you are what democracy looks like! You are the hope for my community. I ask you to keep your voices loud..." Linda and many other American Muslim women are role models who continue to push Americans and Muslim women in particular to be trailblazers. As Muna Odeh, a dynamic leader and MWA march organizer admitted, "Muslim women have historically been unapologetic fearless leaders and we won't change now."



Muna Odeh, one of the MWA leaders who organized the bus delegation to D.C.

"Often physical exercise is emphasized as most important to improve your health and to rejuvenate your body. This march was an emotional and mental rejuvenation," reflected Suroor Raheemullah, MWA Board Member. The results of this campaign had many in fear, but the global Women's March cultivated renewed faith in good. As Sadaf Syed, renowned photojournalist of the book "I Cover" noted, " I truly believe that this new presidency will be challenging but collectively as humans, ALL of our voices will be relevant." Zahra Billloo, a strong national voice echoed similar sentiments in her speech at the rally when she stated, "We are unafraid and will not be silenced. I and American Muslims like me are committed to putting our faith into action. We live and breathe the understanding that justice cannot be for just us, that our liberation is interconnected and that we cannot be free at each other's expense or when any of us remain targeted."

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Marchers Gary & Joan Newton, Carol Peasley, Danielle Wiedeman come together to march with MWA Marchers Ayesha Ahmed, Laura Jendusa, Veer Kothari, Sadaf Syed, Maaria Mozaffar, Anam Eljabali & Anisha Ismail Patel (Article Author)



The strong sense of unity in diversity at the #WomensMarch in D.C. was truly heartwarming. The Muslim Women's Alliance marchers witnessed this sense of solidarity first hand. People from diverse backgrounds came up to our group of 55 marchers to tell us that they stand with us, they hugged us and cried when they witnessed us performing our prayer. We were deeply moved by these compassionate individuals some who approached us at the rally and asked to march with us in solidarity. They proudly held up our signs and composed creative chants in support of Muslims.
History was made Saturday, January 21st, 2017 when more than three million people came together to march in Washington DC, cities across the United States, and in countries all around the world. Young, old, black, white, Christians, Muslims--people from all races and religions gathered together to protest. Although the march addressed many specific issues facing women, the overall theme was "Women's Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Women's Rights."

The feeling of unity, purpose, and love in the air was palpable even to a bystander just watching on TV. A few of the more positive signs that I particularly liked were "Love Trumps Hate", "If Mom's Not Happy, Nobody's Happy". "Girls just want to have FUNdamental rights" " No Longer I Am Accepting the Things I Cannot Change, I Am Changing the Things I Cannot Accept".



The Goddess is in Connections

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Change is in the Air

History has shown that women coming together are powerful agents of change. During the second Liberian civil war, it was the women who went to Ghana and sat outside the government buildings until the warring factions came to a peace agreement. It was the women in Iceland who went on strike for a day in 1975 and gained equal rights. Suffragettes coming together in England and the USA won the right for women to vote.

Women protesting around a united purpose have proven to be an effective means for change during times of great need. However, there is an even more powerful level that can bring profound change.

Change on the Basis of Non-changing Silence?

No two people on this planet are the same. We all have different thoughts and feelings based on our background, culture, needs and desires. However, deep inside everyone on this planet is a place that is the same, the state of pure silence within. The unique quality of this silence is that my silence is the same as your silence. Silence is silence no matter who you are, no matter what the color of your skin, or where you live on this earth.

This silence, the source of thought, can be systematically experienced through the practice of Transcendental Meditation (TM). Scientific research shows that during TM, even from the first meditation, the brain produces coherence in high-power alpha waves. This distinct brain pattern corresponds to the state of silence, or inner wakefulness. This coherence spreads throughout the brain and is strongest in the prefrontal cortex -- the seat of your brain's executive judgment.

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A coherent brain operates from a state of unity. All the various specific neurons are united in this holistic experience of total brain functioning, the restful alertness present in the state of transcendental consciousness This is a place where everyone can be united on the deepest level of life. When we are coherent and harmonious within, that coherence and unity will naturally spill out into the environment, creating more order and unity in our surroundings.

As women, we are the creators of life and as mothers the main nourisher of our families. Naturally inherent in us is also the tendency to be nourishers and uniters of our world family. If women can also meditate together and contact the field of pure consciousness, the unified field of infinite peace, this nourishing, uniting power will be amplified many times in the environment. From this level of nature's functioning we can radiate a powerful influence of harmony in our family, society, and nation.

While it is important to take immediate and strong actions on the outside to combat the present onslaught of racism, homophobia, and injustice, and continue to fight for equal rights and other issues facing women today, all these actions will be much more powerful if we can support them by accessing the deepest level within everyone. Einstein said that "Problems cannot be solved from the same level of consciousness that created them"; accessing more unified and unbounded levels of life will raise consciousness to a state where the solutions will emerge spontaneously.
There are times when it is darkest that all you have left is hope. That hope may be directed anywhere, from simple survival to revival, from protecting one's family to defending one's country. My family has lived through the darkest times in modern history, with most not having survived the darkness, and others having fought their way through to a better world. That better world was created by those with courage and vision, and today a new generation needs to project its courage and vision.

There's something happening here

But what it is ain't exactly clear

There's a man with a gun over there

Telling me I got to beware There's battle lines being drawn

Nobody's right if everybody's wrong

Young people speaking' their minds

Getting so much resistance from behind What a field day for the heat

A thousand people in the street

Singing songs and carrying signs

Mostly saying, "hooray for our side" It's time we stop

Hey, what's that sound?

Everybody look - what's going down?

That courage and vision was on display worldwide the day after the First American Republic died. The deeds of the Second have now been planted. 3.2 million people, mostly women, took to the streets from Antarctica to Anchorage, with a million in DC and  million in LA, and 1.5 million abroad. Strikingly, hundreds of smaller cities in the Heartland and Confederacy, from Helena to Jackson to Palmer, Alaska, had 10-20% of their populations turn out.

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Those estimates are low. The number for the DC rally was calculated simply on the Mall, but I know from personal experience that there were hundreds of thousands streaming along streets parallel to the Mall because there were too many barricades. Nobody bothered to look there.

I was most struck by several things. First, the diversity of age was stunning. The next generation was out, with babies and parents and grandparents. Most attendees were Gen X and millennial women, many of whom had never been politically active. The racial, ethnic, and sexual diversity was evident, highly visible, and tactically irrelevant, putting the lie to the canard from both Republicans and some liberals as well that left politics is only about identity (as if Republican politics isn't just as much - country club Republicans, evangelicals, white supremacists, Second Amendment extremists, etc.). This rally was about women standing up to Trump, regardless of one's personal issues.

Secondly, the participants were patient, peaceful and helpful, and I did not see a single person with headphones or earbuds. No one was in his bubble; everyone was listening, talking, and engaging, face to face. This was not a crowd of individuals; it was a movement.

Thirdly, putting aside the wise Hawaiian grandmother who sparked the idea on November 9th, the organizers were all young women, with a majority women of color. More importantly, they did a great job. They kept expectations low, maintained a minor degree of control, and let the participants drive the events. There was too much talking from the stage; it seems rally organizers still haven't learned to keep things short, but the talking was surprisingly good.

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The talk included advice on how to move forward, and things to do for people who are not politically active. They included candid talk from Ashley Judd, whose recitation of a poem, "I'm a Nasty Women," from Nina Donovan of Tennessee smashed another ceiling, similar to the effect Eve Ensler had with The Vagina Monologues two decades ago. Intersectionality was present but neither didactic nor intrusive.

None of this is to say that this largest demonstration in American history, which clearly got under the skin of the new regime and its Fuhrer, is in and of itself the solution to the current crisis. As Nate Silver points out above, 80% of the attendees hailed from states won by Clinton, and most came from cities. More evidence of the need for ultimate disunion. But as I mentioned earlier, there were many smaller but even more impressive proportional turnouts across the country.

When you add these immense responses to the end of American democracy, the toxic messages from the stained White House about carnage and illegal voting, the elevation of alternative facts in the alternative delusional universe of the PINO (President in Name Only) and the Nazi alt-right, you have a situation in this country that is as unprecedented as the previous 18 months and the victory of the narcissist-in-chief. Remarkably to me, while the Democrats appear to still be generally spineless, with a few notable exceptions such as John Lewis, the press is finally beginning to stand up. Politeness is gone. The New York Times is calling a lie a lie. Jim Rutenberg of The Times used footnotes in a story, the first time I've ever seen that in a newspaper. Laurence Tribe and colleagues have already filed a federal lawsuit against the illegitimate president for violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution the moment he finished his oath. The march organizers are already preparing for further demonstrations. And the counter-intelligence unit of the FBI is considering violations of the Espionage Act and acts of treason committed by General Flynn and other members of the Trump campaign, including Trump himself.

And while it's only been six days, I must believe that when this regime starts actually doing its evil deeds, the response will be exponentially greater. Americans have never seen fascism at home. So far it looks like they don't like what they see. Republicans created this monster, own all of it, and will have to ride it forward. And next year, they will have nowhere to hide.

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Suddenly, all eyes are on the 47,000 unaccompanied minors from Central America who have been apprehended at the U.S. border since the beginning of this year, the largest number of whom are from Honduras. Quite rightly, most discussions have underscored that gangs and violence are the immediate cause of their flight.

Missing from the discussion about Honduras, though, is the post-coup regime governing the country that is largely responsible for the vast criminality that has overtaken it. Equally absent is the responsibility of the United States Government for the regime. Yes, gangs are rampant in Honduras. But the truly dangerous gang is the Honduran government. And our own tax dollars are pouring into it while our top officials praise its virtues.

This June 28 marks the fifth anniversary of the military coup that deposed democratically-elected Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. Since then, a series of corrupt administrations has unleashed open criminal control of Honduras, from top to bottom of the government. Current President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who entered office in January, was himself an enthusiastic supporter of the coup, reports from the Honduran congress establish, and in 2012 led the illegal 2012 ejection of four members of the Supreme Court and the illegal naming of a new attorney general to a five-year term.

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The Honduras police are overwhelmingly corrupt, working closely with drug traffickers and organized crime. Last August, even a Honduran government commission overseeing a cleanup of the police force admitted that 70 percent of the police are "beyond saving." InSight Crime concludes: "a series of powerful local groups, connected to political and economy elites...manage most of the underworld activities in the country. They have deeply penetrated the Honduran police."

Hernandez's answer to police corruption, though, has been dangerous militarization. Not only does the regular military now patrol residential neighborhoods, airports, and prisons, but Hernandez's new 5,000-strong military police force is fanning out across the country. The judiciary and prosecutors are often corrupt as well. The U.S. Department of State's Human Rights Report for 2013 on Honduras speaks of "widespread impunity" caused by a weak justice system. "Perpetrators of killings and other violent crimes are rarely brought to justice," reports Human Rights Watch. As a result, post-coup Honduras now boasts the highest murder rate in the world, according to United Nations figures.

Worse, the police and military themselves kill and beat people with impunity. Human Rights Watch has documented widespread allegations of killings of land rights activists by security forces, and reports that "impunity for serious police abuses is a chronic problem." Until last December, the national chief of police was Juan Carlos "El Tigre" Bonilla, who according to documents obtained by the Associated Press (AP) participated in death killings in 1998-2002. More recently AP has documented at least five alleged death squad killings by the Honduran police. On May 13, the new military police surrounded, tear gassed, brutally beat up, and forcibly ejected from the main hall of congress all 36 congressmembers of the center-left opposition party LIBRE.

At the same time, the post-coup government is rapidly destroying much of what is left of the Honduran economy. In the two years following the coup, 2010-12, spending on public housing, health, and education all dropped, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, while extreme poverty rose by 26.3 percent. "Through neoliberal privatizations, cutbacks, and reorganizations they're wiping out unionized public sector jobs," observes German Zepeda, Secretary-General of Honduras' Federation of Agroindustrial Workers. In May, for example, the entire agency charged with children's interests was eliminated and all its asset liquidated. The AFL-CIO reports that labor laws are rarely enforced, assassinations and threats against trade unionists are not investigated, and a much-touted private-sector "jobs creation" program breaks apart full-time, permanent jobs into part-time precarious ones, eliminating access to the public health system and eligibility for unionization, along with a living wage.

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In this overall scenario, children indeed die. With few jobs and without a functioning criminal justice system, truly terrifying gangs have proliferated, and drug trafficking engenders spectacular violence, including multiple massacres of children in April and May splayed all over the papers. According to Casa Alianza, the leading independent advocate for homeless children in Honduras, in May 2014 alone 104 young people were killed; between 2010 and 2013, 458 children 14 or younger were assassinated.

On May 6, Jose Guadalupe Ruelas, the director of Casa Alianza, charged that police are operating operate "social cleansing" death squads killing children.

Two days later, stationary car was rammed by a government security vehicle and he was brutally beaten and arrested by the military police, according to Amnesty International.

Yet despite overwhelming evidence, the U.S. government continues to support, even celebrate the regime. Two days after the military police attacked the opposition members in congress, U.S. Ambassador Lisa Kubiske baldly praised President Hernandez, lauded the TIGRES -- a dangerous new special forces unit he has promoted--and said that the U.S. wants to invest "more and more in the Honduran police." Commander John Kelley of the U.S. Southern Command, visiting Honduras on May 19, praised Hernandez for his "impressive" and successful work against drug traffickers. Now, as a response to the influx of unaccompanied minors at the border, the White House has authorized $18.5 million in additional funds for the corrupt Honduran police.

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The U.S. is indeed pouring funds into the Honduran police and military, in the name of fighting drug trafficking. Exact figures are unavailable, but according to the Congressional Research Service approximately $25 million flowed to Honduran security forces in 2013. Other U.S. funds support Honduran forces through USAID, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI).

At the same time, U.S. policies are contributing directly to the destruction of the Honduran economy -- hence the lack of viable jobs. The Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), for example, has forced small and medium-sized producers to compete with U.S. agribusiness and other corporations. In Honduras as elsewhere, neoliberal policies enforced through the U.S.-funded International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank promote the elimination of public-sector jobs, privatization, and the reduction of social services A June 13 statement from the IMF Executive Board, for example, advocates "reducing the wage bill" of the Honduran government.

The U.S. Congress, though, is loudly and clearly challenging U.S. policy. On May 28, 108 Members of Congress, led by Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-Illinois), sent a letter to Secretary Kerry questioning U.S. support for the regime. The 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act places human rights conditions on a substantial chunk of U.S. to Honduran security forces.
By Ariel Cohen

Now that President Donald J Trump has been sworn in, it is time to clear the air concerning Russia. It will take an effort by Congress and the intelligence community.

What Russia did during the election campaign is likely to be the subject of a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation and an intelligence community probe. The time for lessons learned and counter-measures is now.

Putting America first should mean making the US security a top priority, including in cyber-space. Every country should protect its vital systems from cyber attacks, intelligence collection, and hostile interference into it political process by foreign powers. The hostile actors include China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.

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This is hardly the first time foreign powers attempted to interfere with American politics. The British Empire did it at the dawn of American independence; the Communist International and the USSR relied on communists and sympathizers to spy and to modify US foreign policy; Nazi Germany nurtured German-American Bund before World War II, and the USSR, China, North Korea, and Cuba supported numerous efforts against the Vietnam War.

Presumably, President Trump's overtures to Russia are being driven by two of his priority agenda items -- putting pressure on China, and having an ally in the fight with Islamist terrorism. However, when his administration considers its policies towards Russia, it needs to keep in mind that there is a hierarchy of issues between Washington and Moscow, based on their difficulty.

Some problems may be relatively easy: arms control, both nuclear and conventional, European security, especially the Baltics, and even Syria. In regards to this last, it is worth noting that Russia and Turkey invited the U.S. to attend the Astana peace talks.

Russia and the NATO allies may productively revive the Conventional Forces in Europe talks to reduce the chances of a military clash in Central and Eastern Europe; and nuclear disarmament talks need to take into account the need to modernize the U.S. nuclear triad in view of the fact that Russia has already done so. Moreover, these talks should not be linked to the building of the missile defenses by the U.S. While Moscow will try to do this, but the president should not take the bait.

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My recent trip to Moscow and meetings with experts there suggest that Ukraine, which is both historically and geographically close to Russia, will be a tough nut to crack. Suggested solutions include "freezing" the conflict, or moving forward under the flawed Minsk II process, which is supposed to provide a ceasefire and restore Ukrainian control over its Eastern border - but failed so far.

It should be noted that the majority of Ukrainians do not support the Russian occupation of Ukraine or the idea of its subservience to Mother Russia. The Ukraine conflict cannot be resolved behind the backs of the Ukrainians and the Europeans, as their buy-in is absolutely necessary to make it work, especially if the Trump Administration seeks to reduce its foreign engagements. And even if a solution to the Eastern Ukraine conflict is found, it is far from clear what will happen with the future of the Crimea, occupied and annexed by Russia in 2014.

Another area the U.S., NATO allies, especially Turkey, and the moderate Arab states could cooperate with Russia on is the fight against ISIS and other radical Islamist terror organizations. However, Russia is interested in becoming a major power in the Middle East, displacing the U.S. or at least working alongside it. Its priorities go beyond killing ISIS murderers.

Russian objectives is in the Middle East include demonstrating its reliability as a strategic ally for Bashar Assad, working with Iran against the Sunni Arab agenda, securing its naval and air bases in Latakia, Tartus, and Khmeimem in Syria, and showing off its weapons to potential Middle Eastern customers.

Finally, Russia desperately needs an influx of Western investment, technology and management skills. Its economy is shrinking due to low oil prices, and the Western sanctions over Ukraine have targeted Russian oil and gas companies and financial institutions, as well as top officials.

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However, Moscow is still a glitzy, Western-style city, and the Russian elites do not feel the rest of the country's pain. The Russian leaders are anxious to get the sanctions waived, but are unwilling to compromise. Bottom line, the Western sanctions over Ukraine have failed to change Russian diplomatic behavior. The Administration needs a comprehensive policy review on Russia, clearly defining its security goals in Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and assessing the damage from Russia's violations of European security and international law over Ukraine, including the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

Washington should realistically assess Russia's interests in economic ties with the West. A country that has less than a $2 trillion GDP cannot be America's equal. The Trump Administration should be fully aware of the power of its policy tools, both carrots and sticks, protect the homeland against cyber attacks, and remember that America is the only power that can check Russian ambitions.
I'm Fred Raillard, Creative CEO, Co-founder and Creative Chief Officer with Farid Mokart of FRED & FARID, an independent creative boutique network based in New York, Shanghai and Paris. #FredinChina is an essential social media podcast to know and understand the world's largest economy.

I fell in love with China, and live in Shanghai with my wife and three sons since September 2012. With my teams at the FRED & FARID Shanghai agency we monitor, analyze and decrypt this ultra-connected China with nearly 800 million netizens by sharing what we see, hear and read on Weibo, WeChat, Huaban, Youku. I prepare this column with Zhuomin Qin from FRED & FARID Shanghai.

Thanks to Zhuomin Qin, Feng Huang, Jalila Levesque, Jules Chaffiotte, Radouane Guissi, Yi Zhang, Ying Zhang, Aliou Maro, Tina Liu, Louis Caudevilla, Dushan Karageorgevitch, Jing Qian, Jonathan Roy, Maxime Aubanel and Antoine Robin for their participation to this chronic.

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Click here to listen to all the podcasts.

China boycotts Japanese hotel chain over Nanjing Massacre denials in a book

The HotBrand of the week generated 23,000 discussions on the web for 23.5 million media impressions. It is a Japanese hotel chain called APA Hotel. Chinese netizens discovered that APA's CEO had written a book under the guise of a pseudonym where he denies the Nanjing massacre of 1937 by the Japanese army.



On January 15, the user of Sina Weibo @KatAndSid ("Kat" is US and "Sid" Chinese) uploaded a video in which he explains that the APA Hotel chain sells the Chinese and English versions of the book and offers them in the Hotel rooms or at the reception. In the book, the author even implies that he will use the money raised in his various enterprises to support his political views. In 3 days, the video generated nearly 700,000 reposts, 34,000 comments and 370,000 likes on Weibo.



Very quickly, the netizens were offended and shared their shock on the social network and called for a boycott of the chain of hotels as long as the CEO did not apologize. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said the book demonstrates that there are still influences in China that refuse to face, deny or prefer to rewrite history. For its part, APA Hotel stated that the book was not intended to criticize, but to let readers learn a "factual interpretation of modern history", and that they had no intention of withdraw the book from their hotels.

'Motorcycle Army' all the way back home for Spring Festival

The HotTopic this week is the beginning of the Spring Festival, or Chunyun season. This is a tourist period that takes place during the Chinese New Year, when the population moves massively, since the whole country benefits from these annual holidays. For some Chinese, this is their only holiday of the year. All of China moves at the same time, so it's very impressive! Every year, the Spring Festival is the HotTopic of the week.



This year, the topic of discussion around the Spring Festival was an army of motorcyclists that had been seen driving all around China. Obviously the Chinese have adapted and many have therefore chosen to travel on two wheels. There were some spectacular scenes, with the motorcycles always being overloaded. But most surprisingly, the police provided food, and sometimes escorted the bikers to the rest areas and support them rather than intervene with these dangerously overloaded motorcycles.



This provoked a lot of conversations on social networks: 177,000 for 310 million media impressions. The government even wanted to help some rough-and-tired bikers, and also encouraged this new mode of transportation throughout China. Since China is so much larger than France, it is rather surprising to see millions of Chinese traveling 500 kilometers on a motorcycle. One of the suggested solutions was simply to increase the number of train routes in the country.



Others however, think that the problem is much more complex, and that it is very complicated for Beijing to control and direct the migratory flow of the billion Chinese. For them, it is normal that the Government decided to ensure the safety of the travelling Chinese through the Police.

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This song describes perfectly millennials' uncomfortable Chinese New Year experience

On the sidelines of the Spring Festival, a Chinese band released a new song called "How to save yourself during Spring festival" which became viral in a few hours. Only 1 day later, the video had reached 27 million views, 86,000 shares, 15,000 comments and 44,000 likes. The song lists all the embarrassing questions or situations that young Chinese people experience every time they return to their families for Chinese New Year, and gives an amusing solution to each of these situations.



Millennials naturally loved the song and shared it all on social networks saying that the group (Rainbow Chorus) should be invited to the Spring Festival Gala, which is the big annual show broadcast on CCTV at the CNY, which is similar to the Super Bowl. Other millennials wrote that they directly shared the clip with their entire family.

(Turn on English captions in the video.)
Standing beside senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made national news when he announced this month the most recent in a growing number of free college tuition proposals. Coming on the heels of similar proposals by Sanders, presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, Cuomo's "Excelsior Scholarship Program" would provide free tuition for low- and middle-income families to attend public colleges and universities in New York if their families earn $125,000 or less per year.

This New York proposal can serve as a case study (or cautionary tale) about how such free tuition plans nationwide can produce unintended consequences if they are not informed by input from higher education leaders.

Like all of the free tuition plans proposed to date, the Cuomo plan in its present form will have unintended consequences that could be devastating to the state's economy. In New York, more degrees are conferred each year by private institutions than by public colleges. Suddenly injecting massive funding into public-sector colleges could result in an immense flood of students from private to public colleges, thereby immediately overwhelming state institutions.

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Faced with a deluge of new students, state colleges would have no choice but to appeal to state government for millions of dollars in additional permanent funding to handle the influx. New faculty and staff would need to be hired and buildings built in order to accommodate these new students.

The state's community colleges would also be endangered. Many students attend community colleges because of the low tuition. If state institutions were tuition free, there would be no incentive to attend the local community college rather than the nearby research university. Consequently, the community colleges would also experience a sudden precipitous drop in enrollment.

What's more, if students abandon private colleges and inundate the state's public institutions, independent colleges that are already experiencing financial difficulty could potentially collapse, as Dowling College on Long Island did last year and other small colleges do across the nation every year.

Collectively, the independent not-for-profit colleges in New York have an estimated economic impact of 79.6 billion dollars annually. Even small private colleges contribute substantially to the economy. For example, Daemen College with a student population of just under 3,000 has over 600 employees and contributes nearly $130 million to the economy annually. If multiple colleges collapse as a result of the governor's proposal, the economy would suffer a huge blow because hundreds if not thousands of faculty and staff would suddenly be out of work, and tax revenue would necessarily shrink.

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If the New York governor had consulted with higher education leaders in both the public and private sectors, he would have discovered that he can achieve his objectives and avoid these unintended consequences by simply investing the funds into the state-wide college financial aid system, thereby allowing families to decide which colleges to attend--state universities, community colleges, or independent institutions. This is precisely how it has been done in New York. The state's Tuition Assistance Program has worked well and would work even better with additional funding.

So, as the New York proposal illustrates, public officials on both the national and state levels need to consult with higher education leaders as they craft proposals that potentially could affect hundreds of thousands of students. Not doing so increases the chances that a plan could have serious negative consequences both for institutions and--most importantly--for our students.
Hays: I've seen good leaders and bad during my Air Force and business careers, but the best had three primary characteristics: integrity, competency, and energy. Republican House Majority Leader Amy Stephens has all three in abundance....

Amy Stephens applies her abundant energy in leading her colleagues, listening to constituents, mentoring new representatives, and raising support for her fellow Republicans. She fights for her values and for the people of Colorado. Her honors and awards are numerous, but she values the affirmation of her constituents and the respect of her colleagues far above any plaque or title.

Integrity, competency, and energy -- three hallmarks of successful leaders and three reasons to support Republican Amy Stephens for HD19.
"Alternative Facts": The skies were clear over Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. The U.S. won the war in Vietnam in 1962. September 11th, 2001 was just another Tuesday in New York City.

The problem with obliterating "facts" is that it's an all-or-nothing proposition. In destroying truths that do not serve power, when the inevitable time comes when the Trump people will need real "facts" to pursue something vital or to rally the nation there won't be anything there.

At some point, even with all the manufactured distractions that flow from the fertile imagination of Stephen K. Bannon, the U.S. military is going to be asked to fall in line behind some Trump foreign policy adventure and in the back of every service-member's mind is going to be: "Am I risking my life for alternative facts?"

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A hundred years ago propagandists like Edward Bernays and George Creel believed the only way to bring an open "democratic" society like the United States to war was for the government to go to great lengths to "manufacture consent" among the masses of people.

The task for the Woodrow Wilson Administration to drive public support for entering the "Great War" in Europe was to spread fear about the unique evilness of the "Huns" and push emotional buttons such as crying out for the victims, protecting American womanhood, and exacting revenge against foreign predators. People needed to believe the lies, therefore the government needed a degree of credibility.

In 1917, Arthur Bullard, who had been a student of Wilson's at Princeton and became a successful journalist and commentator, sent the president a copy of his book, Mobilizing America, his treatise on propaganda.

"Truth and falsehood are arbitrary terms," Bullard wrote. "There is nothing in experience to tell us that one is always preferable to the other. . . . There are lifeless truths and vital lies. . . . The force of an idea lies in its inspirational value. It matters very little whether it is true or false."

Sound familiar? The type of propaganda already emerging from our new government that hasn't even been in power for a week looks less like the kind intended to "manufacture consent" in a democracy, and more like the state-sponsored propaganda of authoritarian dictatorships. Spouting off about "alternative facts" is a big signal that the new administration doesn't really give a damn about "manufacturing consent" and is determined to just ram this new reality down our throats.

Conservative Republicans, once the self-proclaimed purveyors of cultural "truth" have now apparently found it useful to go down what they used to call the "slippery slope" of relativism because it serves a propaganda function that enhances their power in the 21st Century media environment.

It's interesting to see right-wingers who have been whining for decades about the rise of post-structuralism and deconstruction on college campuses - (Google: Allan Bloom) - come around to signify in their own discourse that there's really no such thing as "truth" in any case thereby proving that Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and all the other philosophers and academics they so disparaged were correct all along.

The concept of "alternative facts" is a fitting example of what we can expect from the Trump White House spokespeople because it betrays a kind of self-indulgent irrationalism and a narcissistic relation to their own rhetoric. Richard Nixon famously said: "We are all Keynesians now"; the Trump people should proclaim: "We're all post-structuralists now."

It's not surprising that in an Internet atmosphere where the opinions of anonymous weirdos and trolls matter more than scientists or educators, and hostile "alt-right" foot-stomping obliterates "truth" and "objectivity," that a skilled demagogue would rise out of this linguistic swamp.

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The Trump election shows just how young and naive a country the United States is. Young, in that it has never suffered the direct consequences of war as people in Europe or Asia have, and has never seen the rise of fascism; naive, in that our educational system has failed to teach citizens how to spot a demagogue when they see one, or understand the pitfalls of fusing belligerent nationalism with corporate power.

Instead of actually engaging ideas and realistically parsing policy proposals we get bizarre denials of fact and Big Lies that boomerang back into the discourse in ways that challenge our grasp of reality itself; this is why lying politicians are corrosive to our democracy.
There were many memorable moments at last week's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, from speeches by global leaders like Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to sparkling award ceremonies with international artists like Shakira, Forest Whitaker, and Anne-Sophie Mutter.

But for me, what set this year's WEF apart was a dinner discussion that took place beyond the headlines, exploring how, in a time of heightened insecurity and mistrust of "the other," we can summon the courage to welcome those who are different from us into our lives.

It was, to paraphrase Victor Hugo, a conversation whose time has come.

The event was inspired by a music video produced by will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas, remixing their 2003 megahit, "Where is the Love?," and featuring images that warn us of where "other-ing" can lead, from a cameo of Valerie Castile, whose son Philando was shot and killed by a policeman, to the bloodied face and shell-shocked expression of a five-year-old in Aleppo.

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I was invited to be a speaker because my life's work has focused on "where the love isn't," and on what we can do to bring it back by planting seeds, building bridges, and standing up for injustice, secure in the knowledge that there really is no other; the other is always and only us.

My lens is the pervasive, yet often unseen, problem of social isolation. Technically defined with academic detachment as "the absence of meaningful social connections," social isolation is a crippling condition that leaves its victims suffering in silence.

This is an entrenched problem. It has taken root over decades of our failure, as a society, to respect, recognize, and reciprocate the voices of our most vulnerable members.

And I am convinced that it lies at the core of many of the challenges our world faces today.

Why? Because, when we isolate and exclude other people; when we tell them they do not belong; when we segregate and stereotype our fellow human beings by age or income or ability level or the color of their skin or how they pray or who they love, we diminish what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called their "sense of somebodiness." We deprive them of their agency and voice. We send a message that they are "less-than."

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This can create a negative feedback loop that weakens entire societies.

In Mozambique, for example, where I was researching multidimensional poverty, I met a woman who told me, "Poverty means being lonely and not being able to get things because you are lonely." She felt isolated because she was poor, and poor because she was isolated. And her internalized notion of being "less-than" was more debilitating than any lack of income.

This isn't just a problem for developing countries. We see the effects of "other-ing" everywhere, including in the United States and Europe, where populist leaders have stoked the fires of xenophobia, scapegoating, and fear. In the days following the Brexit vote in the UK, citizens reported over 2,300 hate crimes. Meanwhile, a Southern Poverty Law Center survey of more than 10,000 schoolteachers across the United States in the wake of the 2016 presidential election found that "Eight in 10 report heightened anxiety on the part of marginalized students, including immigrants, Muslims, African Americans and LGBT students"--what the SPLC calls "The Trump Effect."

So, what can we do about it?

The good news is, there are lots of programs and policies that can bolster belonging and stamp out isolation. But before they can work, we need the hope and belief and conviction that we are all one, and that every single one of us has an intrinsic human right to belong.

Let me offer three keys.

The first is striving to truly see each other, eye to eye. To actively listen. And to seek "common ground," as the "Where Is the Love?" video urges.

But the point of doing this isn't just to recognize shared vulnerability. Nor is it simply to sympathize with someone else's pain.

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In genuinely seeing one another, eye to eye, we can celebrate one another's strengths. We can honor and value one another's contributions. We can demonstrate mutual respect.

And that gets to the second key: recognition of reciprocity. Connectedness is a two-way street. When we extend a hand to others, we are touched, as well.



To me, there is no better example of this than the Special Olympics movement. Special Olympics uses the power of sport to create inclusion and build community among people who have intellectual disabilities and people who do not. Its entire way of being is based on shared understanding, and on valuing every individual's unique gifts--an inspiring model that can be used throughout the world to bolster dignity and build belonging.

The final key is understanding that inclusion requires equality. As we think about how to bring connectedness and compassion into the policymaking arena, it isn't just about making sure that marginalized groups get a seat at the table; it's about ensuring that everyone at the table can be a full and equal participant.

Instead of imposing top-down solutions, we need to cultivate solutions from the bottom-up. Instead of leading from the front, policymakers should get behind the priorities communities identify for themselves.

Because, overcoming social isolation is always done with and not for.
France's interior minister says authorities have blocked or ordered search engines to de-list hundreds of websites in 2016, a significant increase over 2015.

Bruno Le Roux told a cybersecurity conference in the French city of Lille that his government has requested the blockage of 834 websites and de-listing of 1,929 others as part of the fight against "child pornographic and terrorist content."


SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- 'Felicity Jones' Episode 1715 -- Pictured: (l-r) Cecily Strong as a lawyer and Alec Baldwin as President Elect Donald J. Trump during the Trump Press Conference Cold Open on January 14th, 2017 -- (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Here's a known fact: President Donald Trump has a very, very fragile ego. There is no limit to his butthurt when challenged or mocked, and if you have a large platform, you're in a unique position to chip away at whatever shred of sanity he has left.

Consider these points:

White House sources recently told The Washington Post that Trump became "visibly enraged" after learning the Women's March dwarfed the crowd at his inauguration and that his joyful mood turned into "flashes of anger" less than 24-hours after he took office.

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It's also very clear Alec Baldwin has lodged himself under Donald Trump's thin skin, and he's only just getting started. Baldwin's portrayal of Trump on Saturday Night Live is not only awe-inspiring and hysterical, it's the perfect vehicle to showcase much-needed resistance, and most importantly, it drives Trump mad. We all know it drives him mad because he takes the bait and angry-tweets about it every time.

When Congressman John Lewis said he would be boycotting the 2017 inauguration ceremony because Trump's presidency is "illegitimate," Trump responded with another childish tweet saying the civil rights icon was "...all talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!"

Examples of Trump's petty, immature hissy-fits are all over the Internet, and they provide everyone with a glimpse into the kind of prodding that really eats at him. He desperately believes he's entitled to respect, and when he's mocked, ridiculed or challenged, he has a measurable, negative public reaction. If his reaction is private, there are always White House sources ready to spill the beans.

Imagine if ten or twenty high-profile liberals make a daily effort to pick on him. He won't be able to control his rage and that could lead to his ultimate demise.

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Whether it's in the form of mocking or unrelenting insistence that his presidency is illegitimate, high-profile personalities hold the key to his undoing. A small, petty man on the inside, Trump behaves like a big, angry schoolyard bully who feels empowered when he brandishes his big stick. However, like all bullies, when he's challenged by ballsy dissenters, he crumbles like a stale taco bowl.

This tactic is not about being mean; it is about giving the bully a taste of his own medicine and crippling his limited ability to focus. The key is to hit him with one thing per day - give or take. It could be a tweet or a Facebook post, or a video. It's about picking one subject that will drive him bananas and then staying on message. It might also be in addition to any kind of legislative pushback or resistance. The sole purpose of this mission would be to get under his skin - much like Baldwin so brilliantly does on SNL, or when Trump was heavily pushing the birther rumor, Bill Maher demanded he provide his birth certificate to prove he isn't part orangutan.

Senators Al Franken (D-MN) Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Corey Booker (D-NJ), California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel are great examples of government officials who can relentlessly troll Trump on a daily basis - whether it's about policy, unconstitutional actions or simply reminding him that his position is not legitimate. Trump and his team provide us with more than enough mock-worthy material to work with, and that makes the task easy!

George Clooney, Rosie O'Donnell, Rose McGowan, Meryl Streep, Jane Fonda, Bill Maher and George Takei all have the unique ability to get under his skin with a simple comment on social media - and their fans will make sure Trump sees all of it. He does love Twitter, you know.

Most of the personalities mentioned have already been outspoken, but I'm suggesting a daily and unrelenting campaign. Whether it's about civil rights, a piece of legislation, or something as silly as his hair, I am calling on our famous, beloved personalities who can, and in my humble opinion should, make the most of their power to help save our wounded democracy and bring down the man who refuses to say one negative thing about his bestie, Vladmir Putin.
Those who voted for President Trump based on his longstanding campaign promises have not found themselves disappointed in the first five days of the Trump administration.

Those fearing Trump's campaign promises find themselves entering into a dire and dim reality that seems unstoppable.

In the days since he took office, President Trump has signed executive orders that have begun repealing the Affordable Care Act, revived the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, and he is expected to sign executive orders that will significantly limit the immigration of people from the Middle East. President Trump has likewise lashed out at reporters for accurately reporting issues related to his early presidency. In vain attempts to present what little sensible image his administration has, Trump has ordered a media blackout from the EPA.

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These actions come after a lengthy election in which the now-president mocked a disabled reporter, degraded a military family, and tapes depicting Trump bragging (thereby admitting) about grabbing a woman by the genitals. When pressed about this issue, Trump downplayed the issue, calling it "locker room banter." When Trump was taking the oath of office, I made myself remember the horrific and violent words he spoke in the infamous Billy Bush interview. I had to. Our memory must be long.

Donald Trump is not a man that deserves respect. He has done nothing to deserve respect and has done everything to lose it.

While it might be true that the current president does not deserve respect, the office of the presidency does. That is to say, respecting the presidency does not necessarily mean respecting the person in office. The blatant disrespect that Trump has shown for women, for minorities, and for immigrants speaks volume about the character of this man. Trump has and will continue to wield power in an effort to maintain his image and self-interest.

This is not a man who deserves respect. It does not appear that he himself respects the office that he holds. And for that reason we as a people need to stand united in opposition to his actions. Opposition to Trump is not normal political banter. Disagreement on political and social matters should not lead to disrespect. I can disagree with the policies of former president Bush, or Senator Ted Cruz or the host of other Republican candidates for president. Disagreement can challenge us and make us stronger. It is part of democracy. Yet disrespectful actions - such as those that President Trump has continuously exhibits - warrant the opposition that we are seeing. The Women's March on Washington (and Chicago, and Los Angeles, and Denver, and Seattle, and New York City, and so forth) is but the beginning of a movement that will continue unless the president begins to earnestly change his character and rhetoric. I have little hope that this will be the case, but the marches and protests must continue in an attempt to hold this president accountable.

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That is to say, the united marches and protests are occurring to make visible a justified opposition to a disrespectful man precisely because the office of the president should be respected.
There's a time in every generation when Americans have had to take a stand. Every time, there were heroes who lead the country forwards, and every time America emerged stronger. This time it's different, because the only hero left, is you. If you believe there's a better version of the world possible for your children, say something. If you believe we can continue to do the right thing as a country, say something. If you STILL believe that yes we can, say something. The surplus of 3 million in this election's popular vote means that if we say something, someone will have to listen. TAKE A STAND.
U.S. President Donald Trump (R), flanked by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly (L), delivers remarks at Homeland Security headquarters in Washington, U.S., January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The terrifying Age of Trump has begun with the celebration of "alternative" facts, gag orders on civil servants, journalist harassment and arrests, the disappearance "inconvenient" government data on climate change, proposals to eliminate government departments that support inconvenient programs (for women and minorities) or produce "inconvenient" data that would not adhere to the "party" line. These opening moves are strands of a narrative that is being woven into a mythical reality designed to enable Mr. Trump to establish and maintain unrivaled personal power. These bold power moves underscore a prescient message from George Orwell's masterpiece, 1984, published in 1949 and once again on the bestseller list..

"Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to understand me."

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That chilling passage from a great work of literature, of course, had real world roots and has real world ramifications. Orwellian empowerment depends in large measure upon the more chilling reality of "The Big Lie." In the words of Joseph Goebbels:

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."

I wish I could suggest another scenario, but doesn't it seem like the Trump administration is playing a very dangerous game that will undermine what's left of our democracy and eviscerate long standing American values -- the value of civic debate, the necessity for a free and open press, institutional transparency, and respect for science and scientific truth? These longstanding bedrocks of American civil society are now under brutal attack

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They must be defended.

There is no shortage of outcry about Trump's freedom-bashing moves. Journalists and scholars will spend much of their time refuting the scores of false claims that Trump and his surrogates have already made and will continue to make. I am confident that there will be a sustained critique in the press and on social media in which intelligent writers -- journalists, dissenting public officials and scholars will point out the dangers to be found on an authoritarian path littered with Trump's big lies. Sadly, such a critique is not likely to have much of an impact.

You can't fight big lies with little truths.

There is a way, however, to combat Trump's Big Lies is an effective way -- ethnography. At first glance this suggestion may seem silly or naive. Here's why I think that ethnography, the description of social life as lived, could provide a powerful counter-narrative to Trump's incessant lying. Big Liars use misinformation and fear to create a master narrative of control -- a narrative in which "truth is the enemy of the State." Factual scientific refutation, which is usually expressed in the bloodless prose of scientific plain style, is no match for the hyperbole of Trump's mythic narrative. Ethnographic counter narratives, however, can be an effective response. In ethnographic narratives, writers (journalists, dissenting officials and scholars) describe the conditions of social spaces and places to tell the stories of a person or group of people. How will their lives be inalterably upended by Trump's proposed policies on health care, taxes, the environment, foreign policy or civil liberties? What are the human costs of living in a mythical world constructed of Big Lies? Put another way, ethnographic narrative dramatically links personal experience to larger social, political and economic issues. A continuous stream of well-crafted ethnographic narratives can have a powerful effect on general audiences of people who read blogs, listen to podcasts, or watch short and/or feature films on social platforms like YouTube or Vimeo.

The ethnographic blog is perfectly suited to writing resistance. A factually informed plain language counter-narrative can be published immediately on any number of social media platforms. If you are a scholar who wants to learn how to write resistance, ask your institution to organize a blogging or ethnographic writing workshop. In my experience, these workshops produce very positive results, for they encourage specialized writers to step into the public sphere. Such participation can become a sustained way of writing resistance to dispute big lie narratives with powerful ethnographic counter narratives that can begin to lift the fog that is quickly obscuring our social vision.

In the end The Big Lie builds a mythical social edifice that has no foundation. Writers of factual ethnographic counter-narratives know well that on the path of life "you cannot walk," as the Songhay people of Niger and Mali are fond of saying, "where there is no ground."
The latest idea of the ruling Polish party Law and Justice is to limit the term of mayors' office to two consecutive terms of four or five years. Studies have revealed benefits and costs of both: extending or limiting the candidate's term. One has been universally certain: the law cannot be retroactive. The proposal of the governing party, however, would exclude city mayors who, even before the introduction of the new law had held the office for at least two terms. Thus, the implementation of the idea would be a violation of one of the foundations of European civilization and legal culture - the principle that the law is not retroactive.

The ruling party proposes that the limit would take place "immediately", and include currently acting city mayors. As a result, in the coming local elections, out of a total of 107 mayors of big Polish cities and towns, as many as 66 of them would have to resign and never be able to apply for the office. Since out of 107 bigger Polish cities and towns, only 10 mayors belong to the currently governing party, the move is obviously designed to oust the popular city mayors with different party affiliation in order to promote their own candidates.

There has been an outcry of indignation in Poland. Many agree that this is not the beginning, but the continuation of a dismantling and demolition of a democratic legal system. It aims at disciplining the society into subjects of the omnipotent power.

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As a mayor of Gdansk, I also openly, in public interviews, express my resentment. Let there be a two-term limit, but starting from the elections in 2018, and not involving officials, who had been already elected to their posts. They cannot be subjected to the new law, erasing the rules under which they had been put in office. We cannot stand idly watching how the ruling party (PiS) is dismantling the democratic institutions that we spent years building.

Struggle for democracyThe world has heard and reacted to the previous, undemocratic actions of the ruling party, which has all but destroyed the independent constitutional judiciary in Poland (an equivalent of the Supreme Court in USA). There has been much talk about the protests and concerns of citizens, non-governmental organizations, the European Commission, the Venice Commission. Peace and Justice party, however, did not retreat and now, after legally doubtful appointment of a new president of the Constitutional Court, we can hardly see the guardian of the constitutionin this institution.

This tribunal was a brake, protecting the state against the introduction of non-democratic change by the government. Today, this brake is gone, and authorities have no resistance or shame in introducing and voting in such ideas.

Results, not promisesThe thorn in the side of the authorities, the next target after the tribunal has been conquered, are now primarily mayors of Polish cities, popular leaders, who often remain in office for several years. It is the expression of confidence on the part of citizens to their local leaders, who skilfully use EU funds to develop a city entrusted to them. During the 18 years of my post as a mayor of Gdansk, my city has changed from the city undergoing tough transformation, into a thriving commercial and tourist centre and place of the development of modern industry.

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These were the years of great infrastructure investments - new streets and tram routes were created, a modern stadium and a historical Shakespearean theatre built. Gdansk has become a thriving workplace market, attracting growing numbers of tourists, students, and new residents.

Despite fierce fighting, the PiS candidate has not been able to beat me in democratic elections. Voters made their decisions at the ballot box, on the basis of the quality of live in the city, and the speed with which their surroundings are changing for the better. Today the ruling party wants to take this right away from them.

It's as if the city authorities were being punishment for their success, for the experience gained, for the efficient implementation of the needs of the local community. It's a bit like arbitrarily prohibiting the professional and experienced dentist, lawyer, or an architect to do the job for which they were trained.

In Europe, there is no lack of mayors, whom people had entrusted with the function to act as their leaders for 3, 4 or even more terms. Herbert Schmalstieg was the mayor of Hanover for 34 years, from 1972 to 2006. Michael Haupl has been serving as mayor of Vienna since 1994 till today. The Hanseatic city of Lubeck has been enjoying the same mayor, Bernd Saxe for 17 years now. And in Hungary, whose practices are so dear to Polish ruling party PiS, there are city mayors with long experience. In Pecs - 12 years with a break between terms ruled Zsolt Pava, and in Szeged for 15 years - Laszlo Botka.

Limiting the number of terms may be a good excuse for incompetent politicians. They could say then: I would have achieved better results, but unfortunately, the law would not let me. You could see this approach in Mexico, where until 2014 a ban on re-election, even for another term, was active. As a result, elected politicians were often mere puppets controlled from the rear seat by hidden party leaders, hid in the shadow.

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An al-Qaeda linked militant group killed 77 Malian soldiers and security personnel and injured hundreds with a suicide bombing in the northern Malian city of Gao on January 18 in the latest of a series of deadly terrorist attacks across the region. The slain soldiers and police had been working side by side with United Nations Peacekeepers, who themselves have lost 110 soldiers in Mali since being deployed there nearly four years ago.

As Donald Trump assumes the presidency with a pledge to crack down on terrorism and "decimate al-Qaeda," and Governor Nikki Haley assumes her role as U.S. Ambassador to the UN, the insurgency in Mali and surrounding countries is an early foreign policy challenge. But it's also an important reminder to the incoming Administration and to Members of Congress who have proposed cutting all funds to the UN that UN Peacekeepers are an important partner in the global battle against terrorism.

Let's take a step back to appreciate the significance and barbarity of this recent terrorist attack. Al-Qaeda aligned Islamist militias (AQIM) joined with the Taureg separatist National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad in 2012 to overrun northern Mali, including Timbuktu and Gao, before being repelled by French soldiers. Since being forced from the cities, AQIM and related groups have conducted a series of deadly terrorist attacks against Malian military forces, UN Peacekeepers, and civilians across several countries in the region.

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The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), has responded to repeated terrorist attacks on its forces by supporting the training of former rebels and pro-government militias to become front-line forces fighting extremism. As these soldiers were assembling for joint patrols with UN Peacekeepers on Wednesday morning, militants drove through security and into the compound, detonating an explosive device near a housing complex for soldiers. Just last month, the same terrorist organizations had nearly struck the offices of the MINUSMA mission.

MINUSMA is currently the deadliest UN Peacekeeping mission, with 110 peacekeepers from countries such as China, Togo, and Netherlands losing their lives. "If the security situation continues to deteriorate, then soon there won't be any peace to keep in Mali," UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said at the UN Security Council. Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita declared three days of national mourning following the attacks.

MINUSMA operations in Mali are complicated by additional terrorist activities in the region. Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed Algerian jihadist veteran of the Afghan and Algerian civil wars described as "one of the most elusive and deadly terrorists in North Africa" by Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA), has directed another terrorist organization, al-Mourabitoun, in a series of attacks across West Africa in the past several years as part of regional insurgency featuring both al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Al-Mourabitoun attacked a Uranium mine in Niger in 2013, took hundreds of hostages and killed 40 at an Algerian gas plant later that year (including 3 Americans), and killed 20 in an attack on the Radisson hotel in the Malian capital of Bamako. In January of last year, AQIM-linked militants killed 30 at a hotel in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, and nineteen in an assault on beachgoers at an Ivory Coast resort in Grand-Bassam in March.

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The U.S. government has announced a five million dollar reward for the location of Belmokhtar and has targeted him with airstrikes in Libya several times over the past two years. Belmokhtar had reportedly been killed several times over the past couple years, but American military officials have not been able to confirm his death.

MINUSMA, with a mandate limited to Mali, faces the challenges of porous borders and militant safe havens in neighboring countries. Al-Mourabioun and AQIM represent a transnational threat and have engaged in attacks against targets in other countries in the Sahel region such as Mauritania. Other terrorist groups, including a branch of the Islamic State, are also taking advantage of the lack of security to operate in the region.

In light of bipartisan agreement that the U.S. has a central role to play in battling terrorism, it's surprising that some Members of Congress have introduced legislation to cut off all U.S. funds to UN Peacekeeping, including the anti-terrorism mission in Mali. Fortunately, Ambassador Nikki Haley repeatedly pledged her opposition to a "slash and burn" approach to UN funding and promised to address "terrorism in Africa" in her confirmation hearings. The recent attacks demonstrate all the more clearly the necessity of continuing American support for UN operations in volatile regions vulnerable to terrorism rather than paring down funding for political purposes. President Trump himself has advocated using UN resolutions to suspend terrorist financing and impose sanctions to terrorist-supporting nations.
Close-up of stethoscope on desk in clinic

Ever wonder about the people who make our health care system work at a time when reports of greed, fraud, profiteering and harmful malpractice are rampant and remedies are not advanced?

I was recently reminded how hard these proficient and caring physicians, nurses and physician assistants are working day after day and how their commitment to patients and their profession receives so little recognition. The sad occasion for these reflections was the passing this month of Dr. George H. Haddad, an alert 101-year-old surgeon who had worked for many years in New York City's public hospitals.

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Growing up in Egypt, he graduated from the American University of Beirut Medical School and returned home to serve poor farmers in a small village in the Nile Delta. Later he would say that was one of the most fascinating experiences in his life.

He came to New York City in 1947, and began a life of singular commitment to patients. He believed profit-seeking should be taken out of medical practice as much as possible. He certainly practiced what he preached as a staff physician who worked long hours for modest remuneration. Soon after his arrival in New York, fellow physicians and nurses noticed his drive toward perfection, his keeping up with developments in surgery, his quiet, reassuring bedside manner, his unfailing courtesy and mentoring of staff, and his readiness, as a bachelor, to take the place of other doctors wanting to spend holidays with their families.

He took the hard cases in emergency rooms where victims of crimes flowed into highly pressurized situations. One year he conducted more surgeries than any other physician in New York City. During these procedures, he noticed that many surgeons could not easily differentiate between the wounds that penetrated into the abdominal cavity from those that did not. As a result, the customary procedure was to operate into the abdominal cavity, which was often excessively invasive. Drawing on the medical literature and his experience, he was instrumental in introducing surgical techniques to save patients from unnecessary operations, an improvement that, since the late sixties, has spread all over the world.

Dr. Haddad also knew a great deal about the waste, redundancy and gouging in the health care economy. He favored a reorganization of medical care where primary care would be very local and the more technologically-intensive care would be in regional centers. He saw the increasing corporatization of his beloved profession as interfering with professional judgments, leading to profitable over-diagnosis,over-treatment, and higher prices resulting in patients, without universal health insurance, not being able to afford to pay for basic health care.

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Inasmuch as he was my second cousin, I would often call and ask him for specialists to help friends and associates. He had an uncanny sense of who the best physicians in many field were, not just in their skills, but also for their character and personality.

He viewed the profession of medicine as one where self-renewal was critical, where prevention was the first duty and availability for treatment was to be maximized. He was always willing to be on call and ready for any emergency.

I would frequently query him whether any public official would ask for his advice on improving the healthcare industry, about which he knew so much, or whether anybody in the media ever wanted to interview him in place of the usual bloviators or hucksters. He would smile and shake his head no.

As far as disputes over medical behavior, he wished for lawyers not to be just adversarial but also technically informed. In that pursuit, he wrote a meticulous chapter in the encyclopedia, Proof of Facts, on foreign items left inside patients during operations and ways to avoid such damaging malpractice.

George Haddad's self-effacing, honest, generous lifetime work for sick and injured people evokes the observation by the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle. The sage wrote that "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

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In response to questions from senators who will be voting soon on his Treasury Secretary nomination, Steven Mnuchin pulled an old trick on the issue of CEO pay.

I'm well familiar with this maneuver after having spent a couple decades pushing for reforms to rein in excessive executive compensation. Overpaid CEOs make everybody's blood boil. But the minute you suggest there might be a responsible role for policymakers in addressing the problem, watch out. The CEO pay defenders will immediately accuse you of trying to set an iron ceiling on what somebody can earn. "And what," they hyperventilate, "could be more un-American than that?!"

Here's how this played out in Mnuchin's written response to a question from Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.

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Wyden: One area where I see a lot of unfairness in our tax system is executive compensation. According to the Economic Policy Institute, top CEOs were paid 276 times more than the typical worker in 2015. Do you think that's fair? In many ways, the Tax Code encourages employers to pay their employees large sums of money on a tax-preferred basis. Do you agree? Do you commit to working with me to shut down executive compensation loopholes?

Mnuchin: I am committed to work with Congress to ensure that the tax code is fair. I believe these issues need to be addressed in the context of broad tax reform. As to the issue of what executives are paid, I believe this is for shareholders to determine. I don't think it is the proper role of the federal government to prescribe limitations.

You see how Wyden asked about eliminating tax loopholes that favor CEOs and Mnuchin responded as if the Senator had proposed a firm limit on executive compensation?

Not that the idea of a wage cap isn't worth discussing in our current era of extreme wealth and income concentration. British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn recently called for a ceiling on individual income, as one of several options for addressing his own country's widening divide. And as my Institute for Policy Studies colleague Sam Pizzigati pointed out last week, Corbyn's proposal echoed one initiated by an American president - Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In 1942, FDR called for a limit on income after taxes of more than $25,000, about $370,000 today.

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On June 2, 1982, armed members of the Guatemalan military walked into the village of Pambach. They separated men from the women and children, then took about 80 men from the village down into the valley. They told the women that the men were being conscripted to serve in the military and would be back in two years. Later that day, the same group of men were taken to a forest near the town of Tactic where they were butchered -- bludgeoned, beaten, stabbed -- and left as a carpet of corpses on the forest floor. The next day, the military returned with trucks and moved 84 corpses to Military Zone 21 military base. Unknown to them, one man had survived the massacre despite near fatal wounds. He eventually made his way back to Pambach and broke the news to the women that they would never see their menfolk again. And indeed they never did. They were the latest "disappeared." The old military base still exists today. It is now a U.N. Peacekeepers training base, run by the Guatemalan military. It is also home to 533 corpses of Guatemalan "disappeared" who did not in fact disappear. They were murdered in cold blood then buried at the base away from prying eyes, but now the evidence is speaking from the grave.

Fredy Pecerelli is a forensic anthropologist who, with his team of experts, has been scouring the countryside of Guatemala for hard evidence of atrocities committed during the civil war from 1960-1996. At its height in 1982, Pambach was one of many Mayan villages accused of supporting guerillas, and purged -- which often meant the wholesale slaughter of its men, women and children. Sifting through the 533 corpses at the U.N. training base, 49 bodies have been positively identified by Pecerelli's team, 13 from the village of Pambach.

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After extensive forensic tests, six of the corpses were being returned to their families 32 years to the day since they were forcibly removed and murdered. Small wooden coffins were loaded into a flatbed truck. Each contained the lab remains of one victim. The truck set off for Pambach. I was in the next vehicle with Fredy. A backup vehicle followed as we wound our way through steep hills in pouring rain, a six hour funeral cortege high into the hills. Clouds drifted across the landscape occluding the peaks. Deep mud and drizzle dampen the dirty school where six sparkling varnished coffins adorned with flowers are lined up. The schoolyard is full as 250 family members await the arrival of their loved one's remains. They had done this once before, when the first six identified corpses were returned. There was an air of procedure and expectancy about the ceremony, but it was not religious or liturgical; it was more like a wedding or bar mitzvah -- a mic, a band, expectant relatives. But there was also sorrow clinging to the families like the clouds hugging the hills. A sudden commotion caught my attention at the end of the courtyard. Standing there were what looked like a military commander in fatigues and a red beret. Closer examination revealed teenagers with fake blood and wooden guns wearing former U.S. Army issue combat wear. It was the beginning of a memorial play, in which children from the local school became perpetrators and victims as they re-enacted the events of 32 years ago. It was chilling to see grandchildren of the disappeared dressed to kill or waiting to be killed. "They need to learn and this is a good way," says a woman in her 40s. Large candle flames wafted in the breeze as brightly clad Mayan women with babies strapped to their backs listened as older family members gave their eulogies to their long lost dead. None of this would be happening at Pambach without the work of Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation (FAFG), which began over 20 years ago by Pecerelli. It is tough work, digging through corpses and confronting the past they reveals. There are few people in power today in Guatemala who will gain from FAFG's painstaking work and so support is hard to come by. It is easier to forget after all. No one is immune. Perez Molina, the current president of Guatemala was in a senior intelligence role in the Kaibile -- the special forces responsible for murders similar to those at Pambach among the 200,000 mainly Mayans whowere murdered by the military. "We can only dig where the prosecutor allows us to," says Pecerelli, pointing out that the exhumations are not for memorial purposes -- they are all criminal investigations. FAFG is interested in ending impunity and meticulously document the evidence as a part of the judicial process.
This year could become another banner year for online extremism. Far-right political parties in Europe could make significant gains in 2017's elections. And ISIS, though it has lost much of its territorial foothold, is far from dead, as recent events in Berlin, Istanbul, and Baghdad have shown. Social media surely will continue to play a role in the success or failure of these extremist groups.

Social media is a neutral communications platform that can be used for good or evil purposes, but it has become the weapon of choice for extremist propagandists. This is not surprising. Extremists from the Nazis onward long have gravitated to the latest communications technology to give them the most bang for the buck. In the 1930s and 40s, radio was the Internet of its time, spreading propaganda, fake news, and hatred through the airwaves to listeners throughout the world. Neither radio nor social media were designed for such nefarious purposes, but propagandists, then as now, understand how to exploit communications platforms.

In recent years, ISIS has enlisted thousands of foreign fighters through its online activities, notably via slick videos posted on YouTube and other Internet channels. Because of the large amount of personal information posted online by social media users, ISIS recruiters and other extremists now personalize their messages directly for individuals. As the Nazis understood as early as the 1920s, establishing a personal relationship with a targeted audience is crucial part of a successful propaganda strategy. Today, the meeting sites are no longer the beer hall, rally, or street parade. They're more likely to be email, Whatsapp, and Skype.

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Extremist groups reach out to those who are disaffected or disillusioned with the status quo. Social media permits discontented individuals to seek out like-minded persons or for radical recruiters to find them. This was something that Adolf Hitler grasped more than 90 years ago, when as he was building the Nazi Party's propaganda machine. The Nazi movement, he pointed out, was "not meant to constitute an organization of the contented and satisfied, but to embrace those tormented by suffering, those without peace, the unhappy and the discontented."

In Europe, alt-right and far-right political parties often outdo the mainstream political parties on social media. Germany's Alternative fur Deutschland has more Facebook followers than Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Germany combined. In France, the far-right National Front has more than 400,000 followers, while the Socialist Party has less than 50,000. In the United States, racists were able to inject themselves into the recent elections through fake news, threats, and virulent social media campaigns.

So, how do we address this problem? For some, the answer is shutting down the offending websites and driving extremists off social media. Such censorship is a straightforward response, but not necessarily effective. Twitter, for instance, suspended 360,000 accounts in 2015-16 that threatened or promoted terrorist activities. In accordance with its guidelines, Facebook prohibits and removes hate speech and bans terrorist and criminal organizations. Yet extremists continue to find space on social media.

Closing down ISIS accounts is a bit like a whack-a-mole game. Once one site is shut down, another appears. Recruiting propaganda no longer comes from a single centralized location, but is disseminated via many points throughout the world. ISIS propagandists understand that even if the jihadist group is defeated on the battlefields of Syria and Iraq, they can still recruit and incite terrorist actions without occupying a single bit of physical territory. While few free-speech advocates would contest a decision to shut down accounts that openly advocate terrorism or killing, where should the line be drawn? Should sites that promote "radical Islam" be shut down, even if they don't explicitly advocate violence? How about videos that show marketplaces, amusement parks or schools in ISIS-held territory? What about sites that show happy, ethnically-homogeneous families coupled with appealing slogans about the beauty of their homeland?

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And who should determine the parameters for unacceptable content in the digital realm? Some governments, for instance, propose prohibiting individuals or groups from using the Internet if they upset the social order or harm the public interest. Such broad definitions of criminality could be abused by authorities eager to shut down opposition. Some social media companies, such as Facebook, argue that counter-speech on their platform can be a more effective tool in addressing extremism than censorship alone. This line of reasoning encourages people to respond to extremist narratives with their own counter-messages. In this way social media strengthens the marketplace of ideas without endangering freedom of speech. Today many online companies are developing handbooks and toolkits for groups combating extremism online. Just as there is no single path to radicalization, there is no single path to stopping extremism. In addition to curbing or countering dangerous speech, there must be a strong educational response. Audiences, particularly younger ones, need to learn how to recognize and deconstruct propaganda and to become critical consumers of information. This is not a new idea. American educators in the late 1930s urged students be taught how to discern fact from falsehood in the media. Classes in propaganda analysis encouraged pupils to adopt a healthy skepticism toward information, rather than cynicism, and to promote religious, racial, and ethnic tolerance at a time when democratic values were being threatened by Fascism, Nazism, and Communism.

Such "consumer education" is especially important now. A recent Stanford University study concluded that even digital-savvy students in U.S. middle schools, high schools, and colleges are unable to distinguish between real and false information on the Internet and social media and are easily duped. Using algorithms to recognize fake news or hate speech won't solve this problem entirely, nor will hiring inspectors to sift through the postings of 1.8 billion Facebook users. Education must be part of the solution.
The launch comes 28 days after a group of members not aligned with President Park Geun-hye broke away from her sinking ship on Dec. 27 last year in the wake of the parliamentary vote to impeach her.

The Bareun Party made up of lawmakers who defected from the ruling Saenuri Party was launched in Seoul on Tuesday.

The party's most senior lawmaker Kim Moo-sung read a statement to the applause of some 5,000 party members from across the country.

"We believed it would no longer be possible for Park's private party, which has already lost the ability to cleanse itself, to open the future for the conservatives," he said. "We launched the Bareun Party because we believe it is our patriotic duty to take over the historic mantle of conservative politics and prevent the left from taking power."

Lawmaker Yoo Seung-min and Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil, who are planning to announce their candidacy for president this week, laid out their visions for the presidency.

Both Yoo and Nam asked former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has returned after his retirement last month, to join their party and compete with them in the presidential primaries.


A hospital nurse checks the temperature of all visitors in Conakry (Guinea) in 2014, at the height of the Ebola epidemic. Marie-Agnes Heine/OMS, CC BY

The 2013-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa caused thousands of deaths - precisely 11,310, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). But what happened to those who were infected, but survived?

Over a four-year period the Ebola virus, which causes bleeding and vital organ failure, struck in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, and less severely in Mali, Nigeria and Senegal.

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In addition to those who died, the disease also infected more than 17,000 people who survived and were declared cured, at least officially. In the history of this newly emerging disease, this number of survivors is unprecedented in its scale.

The virus after the 'cure'

The Ebola virus was first identified in 1976, but scientists still have a lot to learn about the disease.

What happens to someone who has recovered from infection? What are the subsequent health impacts? Are they temporary or permanent? Is the virus definitively eliminated from the body, as in the flu, or may it reactivate one day, as with herpes? We are only now beginning to understand the answers to these and other questions.

Our research team conducted an intervention study with a large number of Ebola survivors: 802 out of the 1,270 identified in Guinea. We found that seven survivors in ten are affected by what we call "post-Ebola syndrome", a higher proportion than initially assumed.

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The condition is characterised by several symptoms that can come and go, including severe fatigue, muscle and joint pain, head or stomach aches, neurosensory disorders such as dizziness or a loss in hearing, and an eye inflammation called uveitis (it affects the part of the eye called the uvea). These symptoms tend to decrease over time, suggesting that the majority of damage caused by the Ebola virus could be reversible.

Through this cohort, doctors will know how long survivors of an Ebola epidemic need to be followed for, and the standards of care they require.

A package of rice, but no medical follow-up

The project began with my arrival at the height of the epidemic, in September 2014, as a doctor and head of a research unit. I intervened at the request of the French Ebola taskforce. In the treatment centres, survivors were declared cured on a purely biological basis, after they had provided two negative blood tests for the virus.

Patients were then released with a "compassionate" kit, which consisted of a small sum of money and a package of rice. No medical follow-up was proposed.

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On my return to Montpellier, France, I set up a team of French and Guinean researchers, including Mamadou Saliou Sow, a specialist in infectious diseases; the pharmacist and biostatistician Abdoulaye Toure; and the physician and biologist Alpha Kabinet Keita.

All are continuing the research project, working on the ground in Guinea. Until June 2018 at least, they are working with Ebola survivors to help manage the complications related to the disease.

Many symptoms, some severe

The good news at this point is that few post-Ebola syndromes take a severe form. We found only two cases of renal failure, one of which resulted in death. Eight people went blind as a result of inflammatory cataracts.

Doctors remain hesitant to operate on patients' cataracts because it isn't known how to eliminate the virus from the eye. There are also concerns that cataracts could recur in the absence of an antiviral therapy. Deafness occurred in one patient, a child, who was able to return to the school after being equipped with a hearing aid.

But scars left behind by Ebola are not only physical: 17% of the survivors studied suffer from depression. Given that they came close to death, and that many lost relatives, it's almost certainly post-traumatic syndrome, which requires dedicated care. One person committed suicide after surviving the disease.

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To survive Ebola is also to confront the unfounded fear that former patients could pose a risk to those around them. In our study, 26% of survivors complain of feeling stigmatised. Anthropologists Desclaux Alice and Bernard Taverne worked with the same cohort of patients and found that some had lost their jobs, and a number of women were rejected by their husbands after returning home.

When Ebola returns

One crucial question is the risk of survivors falling ill again. This has already happened in Scotland and the US, with cases detected thanks to the more advanced health-care systems of industrialised countries. It is likely that similar cases have occurred in West Africa but were missed.

In 2014 a Scottish nurse developed the disease on her return from in Sierra Leone. Initially declared cured, nine months later she became ill with a meningitis resulting from persistence of the Ebola virus in her brain. After treatment with an experimental antiviral drug, she was again declared "cured".

The same year, an American physician was repatriated from the same country. After being declared "cured" he again exhibited declared symptoms, in particular an eye infection - the color of his irises had even changed from the blue to green.

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Can the Ebola virus hide in "reservoirs" in the human body? Certain parts of the body, including the eye, the brain and the central nervous system, joint cartiledge and the testicles are called "immunologically privileged". They behave like fortresses that protect themselves from infection with a strong immune response. Their ramparts are difficult to cross for a disease, but once a virus manages to penetrate their defences, it can be difficult to dislodge.

In particular, sperm remains contaminated for up to 18 months after the acute phase of the disease. After this period, the virus disappears definitively and with it, any risk of transmission to a sexual partner.

For other parts of the body, the question of whether a virus might be able to reactivate later remains unanswered.

Staying with survivors

The WHO announced in December 2016 that an effective vaccine against Ebola had been developed, and with that, the men, women and children who survived the 2013-2016 epidemic began to fade from memory.

In the affected countries, most NGOs and aid organisations have shut down. Those that remain are often far removed from the daily lives of those who were affected. Public health systems in the areas hit by the disease are not in a position to take over.

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But following survivors is vital to understanding how this terrible diseases affects people's health and communities, and help deal with any future outbreaks.
Embattled President Park Geun-hye's lawyers huddled around her for more than an hour Tuesday to discuss strategies as the noose tightens in her impeachment trial.

Park's attorney Lee Joong-hwan said in a text message sent to journalists, "The meeting took place at Cheong Wa Dae and lasted for about an hour and 20 minutes."

The legal team briefed Park on the testimony of witnesses who have been summoned to the National Assembly hearings and the parliamentary impeachment panel's revision to the original impeachment motion that was passed on Dec. 9 last year.

The Constitutional Court has asked Park to explain what kind of help she received from her longtime crony Choi Soon-sil and who planned the dubious Mir and K-Sports foundations that received vast donations from major conglomerates.

Legal experts believe Park's defense strategy will be revealed in the next hearing Wednesday.

Park and other suspects in the massive corruption scandal have so far done everything they can to stall the impeachment trial but seemed largely headless in answering snowballing revelations.


With technology becoming more and more a part of our lives, it was only a matter of time before it started to impact the way 
For Music, Artificial Scarcity Has Become Scarce [David Lowery]

Uses of the term "artificial scarcity" appear to be declining. Once often slung around by those discussing copyright, in reference to copyright holders limiting the authorization of creative work, the frequency of the terms appears to have dropped.

____________________________

Guest Post by David Lowery on The Trichordist

The use of the term artificial scarcity by Reddit users has declined dramatically since its peak in 2008. (Source FiveThrityEight.com)

The use of the term artificial scarcity is becoming increasing rare in generalized discussions concerning copyright on the internet. At least on Reddit as measured by FiveThirtyEight.com Its a positive for artists that this pseudo scientific argument appears to be dying.

Artificial scarcity is one of those dubious (and more dubiously applied) concepts from economics that has been used for the last decade to direct moral opprobrium at individuals and companies that hold rights to intellectual property in some form: music, books, films, patents etc. The idea is that the owners of intellectual property control the copying and production of each additional copy by authorizing only certain websites or manufacturers to reproduce a good, thus creating artificial scarcity. In the case of copyright, the argument is often made that file sharing and torrenting websites are naturally making available a good that has been artificially made scarce.

And of course like artificial coloring and artificial sweeteners anything artificial is bad, right?

The problem with this argument should be obvious: the goods in question are generally not scarce at all. My recordings that are legally licensed to Apples iTunes may be infinitely reproduced by the terms of the contract. Like all recording artists I make no restrictions on the number of copies Apple may reproduce. When music distribution was largely confined to the physical reproduction of vinyl it wasnt scarce either. My independent record label was happy to produce as many copies as the public demanded. Consequently properly licensed and reproduced music is not scarce and never was. This basic fact seems to have gone unnoticed by those who decry the artificial scarcity imposed by copyright.

Sure, if a consumer is unwilling to pay for a recording there is a sort of scarcity. My recording may be scarce in the users music library. But this is a condition the consumer has freely imposed on themselves. Isnt it? Perhaps the consumer is unable to pay for the song? The problem then is not that my song is scarce the problem is that money is scarce for that consumer. It seems stupid to have to note this but: this is not a condition imposed by copyright!

The dubious concept of artificial scarcity as applied to copyright doesnt even seem to rise to the level of pseudo science. It is not logically coherent. It hardly seems like something worthy of review and discussion by academic economists and law professors. Yet,look at all the papers a Google Scholar search produces for copyright and artificial scarcity.

Fortunately the argument seems to be dying. Good riddance!

++++++++++++++++++++++

Rather than artificially scarce a more accurate description of a copyright protected work is a non-rivalrous good that is also excludable. That is, making a copy of my song does not make less available elsewhere or somehow diminish or degrade preexisting copies. And since its a private good I can exclude others from using or reproducing it. Sometimes economists call this type of product a club good. Unlike the dubious application of artificial scarcity to copyright there are legitimate debates as to whether some forms of club goods are harmful to the greater good. For example a company creates a life saving medicine but poor people are unable to afford this medicine. Clearly there is a real human and economic loss if thousands of people needlessly die. One solution of course is to allow other manufacturers to make very cheap generics of the drug, thus effectively making the good non-excludable. I believe this is what happened with life saving drugs used to treat HIV in poor countries in Africa.

The problem comes in when economists (and especially law professors) try to assume a generalized economic loss (dead weight loss no pun intended) for all forms of club goods. Some critiques of club goods are well thought out. But in my experience when these arguments are applied to cultural goods they fail. In its most common formulation critics argue that profits above and beyond the fixed and marginal costs of producing club goods are creating a dead weight loss. The problem is these arguments rarely take into account the cost of the failures. Many songs, recordings, books and other works never even make it to market! I work on at least a dozen song ideas for every one that I finish. I often spend days on these before I abandon them. Further for every professional working there are thousands of aspirants producing dozens of songs hoping to one day become at least a semi professional. Without accounting for this hidden effort it is impossible to calculate a dead weight loss.

If such a loss even exists.

Considering the fact the culture business is so aspirational, I suspect if it could be accurately measured copyright incentives would prove to provide a valuable surplus to consumers

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With Trump's team of telecom advisors having made clear their intentions to dismantle net neutrality, startups and smaller companies that lack the lobbying muscle of companies like Netflix are in a state of panic.

_________________________

Guest post by Karl Bode from Techdirt

With Trump's telecom advisors and the remaining FCC Commissioners making it abundantly clear that they intend to gut net neutrality rules and dismantle pretty much all of the FCC's consumer watchdog functions, there are more than a few worried companies, startups and consumers concerned that the net neutrality fight is about to get downright stupid. One of Trump's telecom advisors doesn't even think telecom monopolies are real, which should speak volumes about our looming vacation to dysfunction junction.

One company that's busy pretending it's not worried is Netflix, which penned a letter to the company's shareholders this week (pdf) insisting that it doesn't expect the death of net neutrality rules to materially impact the company's revenues:

Weakening of US net neutrality laws, should that occur, is unlikely to materially affect our domestic margins or service quality because we are now popular enough with consumers to keep our relationships with ISPs stable.

Of course, that's easy to say when you're now the biggest pay TV provider in the United States, coming off one of your most successful quarters in history, while quickly expanding into hundreds of countries internationally. But what about the smaller, disruptive Netflix-like companies of tomorrow? They're about to face a future in which the government doesn't appear to give two flying shits about the wide variety of problems caused by AT&T, Comcast, Charter and Verizon's stranglehold over the broadband last mile. In fact, likely FCC boss Ajit Pai has made it repeatedly clear he does't even think any broadband competition issues exist.

Clearly, smaller companies and startups won't have the size or lobbying muscle to defend themselves from ISP efforts to use this very real competitive logjam as a weapon against competing services (see: usage caps, overage fees, interconnection shenanigans, and whatever other "creative" efforts ISPs haven't even birthed yet to allow them to double dip). And Netflix appears to have forgotten that the mere presence of the FCC's rules prevented ISPs from attempting to extract significant, new interconnection fees at the network edge. So really, even companies the size of Netflix will have plenty to worry about.

Fortunately Netflix does indicate the company isn't entirely oblivious to the advantage it holds, and proceeds to acknowledge that yes, a healthy and functioning internet free of obnoxious gatekeepers is kind of important:

However, strong net neutrality is important to support innovation and smaller firms. No one wants ISPs to decide what new and potentially disruptive services can operate over their networks, or to favor one service over another. We hope the new US administration and Congress will recognize that keeping the network neutral drives job growth and innovation.

If you've spent even five seconds reading comments made by Marsha Blackburn and other Trump telecom advisors, you should realize there's a snowball's chance in hell of that happening. The most likely path forward begins with the incoming FCC simply refusing to enforce the net neutrality rules on the books. After that, you can be fairly certain (said as somebody that has watched this industry for two decades) that the GOP will be pushing a new Communications Act rewrite (or some other new stand-alone legislation) packed with breathless platitudes toward broadband expansion, jobs, and net neutrality.

In reality this legislation will have one, singular, unwavering focus: eliminating any and all government oversight of some of the least liked, and least competitive companies in any industry in America. Any network neutrality provisions in this looming legislation will be comically hollow, much like the promises surrounding job creation, innovation, and broadband competition. If Netflix execs truly think they're going to be immune from the repercussions of this shift back to letting AT&T, Comcast and Verizon dictate internet policy, they've got a lot of painful learning to do over the next few years.
Minnesota governor Mark Dayton wants to push the margins of health insurance to provide subsidized coverage for the states working poor.Duluth News Tribune reported that the state is mulling the provision of health plans through MinnesotaCare to individuals who do not receive federal subsidies on their current coverage.The public option plan will be sold through MNsure and is expected to compete with private insurance.This public option could offer better benefits than many policies presently on commercial markets, said Dayton in his State of the State address. It would include more options for people to keep their doctors and clinics and less expensive coverage than what is available today, he added.According to the report, Minnesotans can avail of the public option for an average price of $469 per month, which is 12% less than the 2017 private insurance premiums available in the state.The plan would come with a $12 million start up price tag. It could be available by 2018 if state legislature approves it this April.
Rising Medicaid rolls in Massachusetts  the first state to require residents to have health insurance  is causing employers to push back.Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, will propose his annual budget today. Included in that budget is a proposed $2,000-per-worker penalty on businesses that dont pick up enough of the health insurance cost, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The proposal is an attempt to solve what Baker sees as a problem in Obamacare  low-income workers opt for Medicaid rather than high-deductible employer plans, raising costs for the state.In Massachusetts, thats becoming a problem. MassHealth, the states version of Medicaid, eats up nearly 40% of the states budget, even with unemployment in Massachusetts below 3%, according to the Journal.But employers in the state say the proposal woulf punish them for a problem they didnt cause, the Journal reported. They say the state could lower premiums by taking steps to lower health care costs, like discouraging people from using more expensive hospitals for routine care or repealing legislation that requires insurers to cover some specialty services and products.Its not the fault of employers that we have exploded the Medicaid budget, Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, told the Journal.The additional Medicaid burden isnt restricted to Massachusetts. Around the country, employers say that rising insurance premiums are forcing them to go with high-deductible plans. That, in turn, drives employees to Medicaid.People are making rational decisions, Richard Lord, president and CEO of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, told the Journal. If its going to cost them less and they are eligible for a subsidized product, they are choosing to do that.
South Carolina legislature has recently approved a measure that will enable policyholders to transact with their insurers through electronic means.A significant feature of the law, which was proposed as House Bill 3488, is the legal acknowledgement of e-signatures to validate electronic documents in online transactions, as stipulated by widely accepted conventions such as Esign and UETA.The law will take effect on January 01, 2018.Trade group Property and Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), welcomed the development as an expansion of consumer choice and a convenient option for accessing policy information through digital means.There is a growing trend across the country to enable insurers to conduct all policyholder transactions over the internet with the consumers consent, Oyango Snell, PCI state government relations counsel, said in the statement.Among others, the new law will allow policyholders to renew or review their insurance policies; and receive their insurance bills or other notices through the internet as opposed to paper mail delivery, upon their choice.
Korean soprano Jo Su-mi's tour of three Chinese cities that had been scheduled to start on Feb. 19 has been canceled without explanation.

The cancellation comes amid growing signs of petty retaliation in China for Korea's decision to station a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery from the U.S. here.

"I'd like to tell you that my tour in China has been canceled," Jo tweeted Tuesday. "At their invitation, I have prepared for the concerts for two years but they did not even give me a reason for it. It saddens me to witness the current situation where conflicts between the two countries are affecting even the pure cultural and arts sectors."

She put up a link to a New York Times article on the cancellation. "The cancellations have heightened suspicions that South Korean classical musicians are the latest casualties of political tensions with China that go back to July, when the government in Seoul announced that it would deploy [the battery] on its soil," the paper said.
Hinds, Mark Re-File Bill Aimed To Help Volunteer Ambulance Services

LANESBOROUGH, Mass.  A bill to change the staffing requirements of an ambulance service could be a game changer for struggling volunteer services.

But, the state Department of Public Health has opposed the bill in previous legislative sessions.

State Sen. Adam Hinds and state Rep. Paul Mark have sponsored a bill that would alleviate the requirement that two emergency medical technicians be on every basic life support transports. The change would allow for first responders, who are slightly less trained, to be drivers during those calls while a certified EMT handles patient care in the back.

"There are a number of communities in the district that bump up against this state law that requires two EMTs," Hinds said on Monday. "It is very difficult for a volunteer ambulance service to do that ... This is essentially a pretty basic shift."

But that seemingly small change hasn't been easy.

The bill dates back to 2011 and came at the request of Hinsdale, which was looking for ways to improve its volunteer service. It was filed by former state Sen. Benjamin Downing and Mark. The first version was sent for a study in 2012. The pair re-filed it the next session, this time joined by Reps. William Pignatelli and Gailanne Cariddi, and it again fell short of passing.

"The same issue was happening in Charlemont and they got on board with advocating for it," Mark said on Tuesday. "It's become more of a Charlemont and Hawley issue [more than Hinsdale] now."

Last year, the bill got even further through the process but the Department of Public Health publicly opposed it. The opposition led to a recrafting of the bill limiting it to towns with a population of 3,000 people or less or with a density of fewer than 500 residents per square mile. But even then it didn't pass.

Mark refutes DPH's concerns saying it is in the best interest of those living miles away from a hospital to receive care quickly. "DPH put out a statement that they didn't feel it was safe," Mark said. "But what is not safe for some of these people to wait 45 minutes to get to the nearest hospital."

Earlier this year DPH spokesman Tom Lyons told New England Public Radio, "Day-to-day staffing for basic life support ambulances with two emergency medical technicians is the standard of care for all ambulance services in the state, and we believe this is in the best interest of our residents and anyone in Massachusetts who may need an ambulance. ... We are always available to work on strategies with communities to meet this standard of care."

Hinds has now picked up where Downing left off on the bill, re-filing the same version as the previous three sessions  without the restrictions on town sizes  alongside Mark. The bill allows class I, II or V ambulances to use first responders on the basic life support calls as drivers. If passed, it would be a huge help in keeping rural volunteer services in business, many of which are barely holding on.

The Lanesborough Ambulance Squad is one of those volunteer services that could benefit from the change. The service has been facing financial struggles in recent years and part of that is because of an inability to get volunteers to answer calls, thus lowering the revenues received from making the transports.

Deputy EMS Chief JD Hebert says many times there has been only one of the six or seven who are active in the department available to handle a call. However, there are another 30 or so volunteer firefighters who are trained first responders but because of the license requirements can't fill in to drive the rig.

"There are a lot of times when we only have one available. Being a volunteer service we are challenged," Hebert said.

Hebert said there are four levels of emergency medical service certifications  first responders, EMT-Basic, Advanced EMT, and paramedic. Some commercial services are able to get a waiver to have an EMT-Basic be the driver and a paramedic in the back on advanced life support calls, he said. The volunteer service handles basic life support calls and he doesn't see why those training level requirements couldn't be similar for a basic life support.

"If you take that same concept to a basic in the back and a trained first-responder in front, why wouldn't that work?" Hebert said.

Lanesborough officials have tried to recruit town employees to become emergency medical technicians to help handle more calls during the day but the training is extensive and officials found only one volunteer willing to become certified. Fire Chief Charlie Durfee has repeatedly said that not many people are lining up to become certified EMTs.

The Ambulance Squad used to be able to support itself but regulations and unpaid bills have been making it increasing difficult to make the ends meet.

Hebert said the staffing requirement change would have to be "under strict guidelines and controls" but would be a huge help to the volunteer services.

If the Legislature again compromises on regulating it to population sizes, Lanesborough would fall 91 people short of being under the 3,000 mark, according to the 2010 Census, but would still be eligible because of the population density.

More recently in Lanesborough, the squad's future has been questioned when County Ambulance submitted a proposal to become the primary response for all of the calls at no charge to the taxpayers. There is a chance Lanesborough shuts down its ambulance service.

And the same story is true for many rural services throughout Western Massachusetts, some much farther from their nearest hospital.

The threat of shutting down looms over Charlemont, which is trying to save its 70-year-old service, and Hawley. Village Ambulance in Williamstown, a good 30 minutes or more from Berkshire Medical Center, is the latest to face the possibility of a shut down because of financial challenges.

"Charlemont and Hawley could lose their accreditation this year. They've been trying to find ways to address this," Mark said.

Charlemont Ambulance Service had previously received temporary permission from the state to use a first-responder as a driver with an EMT in the back. But, the temporary waiver doesn't provide much certainty as town officials seek to develop long-term plans.

A second bill proposed is to allow Charlemont to charge a 3 percent recreation tax on commercial outdoor facilities such as ski resorts and whitewater rafting. But that, too, had been objected to by the Department of Revenue and failed the last session. Mark and Hinds have re-filed that bill as well.

Squads all over Western Massachusetts have been struggling. Volunteer ambulances are particularly important to small rural towns where the distances between population centers are vast compared to the eastern portion of the state.

Mark added that the rural towns not only have greater distances to cover but also smaller tax bases to support switching to full-time services, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

"In these small towns, it is very difficult for them to afford more employees," Mark said.

Mark says this time around the lawmakers at least have a better understanding of where the Department of Public Health is coming from. He hopes to improve communication and bring those officials out to the rural towns to show them exactly the difficulties facing the towns.

For Hinds, the seemingly small but important piece of legislation is just one example of regulations that don't help rural Western Massachusetts he'd like to change. He said he's been getting involved with the rural caucus and is hoping to find more ways to help the small towns throughout the district.

"My hope is we can take a practical approach to this," Hinds said. "There are a number of state regulations that don't apply to small towns. This is just one example."
Police escorted Gaetani out of the chambers Tuesday night.

Pittsfield Resident Escorted Out Of City Council Meeting After Disruption



Craig Gaetani had been warned by City Council President Peter Marchetti to stop speaking or else he'd be escorted out. Gaetani refused. PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Police escorted former mayoral candidate Craig Gaetani from the City Council meeting Tuesday night and a no trespass order could be in the works.

Gaetani has been a repeated thorn in the side of the City Council for almost two years. Tuesday isn't the first time Police were called to the chambers but it was the first time he was actually escorted out.

City Council President Peter Marchetti says he will now seek a no trespass order to keep him from returning.

"Since this isn't the first experience we've had, I'll weigh my options for filing a no trespass order so our future meetings won't be disrupted," Marchetti said.

Gaetani has a long history of using threatening and insulting language when addressing the council and ignoring the president's orders - both current president Marchetti and former Council President Melissa Mazzeo. He often has long-winded statements, goes over the allotted time, and has been ruled out of order on many occasions. Several times his refusal to stop speaking has led the council to take recesses from its meeting.

"To me, it is a case of some people don't think the rules apply to them. I don't want to speak for my colleagues, but myself and all of my colleagues have had enough," Marchetti said. "This isn't the Craig Gaetani show. This is the Pittsfield City Council where we have the important business we need to address."

On Tuesday Gaetani arrived about five minutes late to the meeting, missing his chance to sign up to speak during the council's open microphone period. But, Gaetani approached the podium to speak anyway while Marchetti was moving the meeting on. Gaetani began to provide comments and Marchetti gaveled him out of order, asking him to refrain from speaking.

But Gaetani continued and Marchetti called a five-minute recess, at which time Gaetani said he'd still be waiting with the intent to speak.

A few minutes later three officers arrived in the chambers and asked him to leave. Gaetani refused at first and police handcuffed him. He then walked out with the officers.

He was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

"Mr. Gaetani is no stranger to the Pittsfield City Council. He knows the rules. We run a meeting to do the people's business. There is an opportunity for the folks to speak at open mic and they need to sign up before the meeting starts. Their ability to speak is at the discretion of the chair and I clearly asked the gentleman to stop speaking. He refused to stop speaking so I used my powers to have him escorted from the building," Marchetti said.

The council president said he'll consult with legal council on Wednesday and pursue a no trespass order. It would be the second city office Gaetani would be banned from.

Gaetani had previously had a no trespass order placed on him for the city offices at 100 North Street after he was accused of threatening a clerk in the Fire Department. That led to criminal charges in court while he maintained that he had not threatened her and that instead the charges were "trumped up" by city officials in an attempt to discredit his mayoral campaign.

A major point of his contention is his claims that he invented the technology used to build the city's water treatment plant. He says he was a director of Krofta Engineering and the technology has saved the city millions - though the exact number has changed nearly every time he has addressed the council. Gaetani continues to demand access to the treatment plant but has been refused by city officials.

Marchetti said Gaetani had called him on Tuesday afternoon once again demanding access to the plant.

In 2015 Gaetani launched a campaign for mayor but was defeated during the primary in which he received just 3 percent of the vote - 176 total votes. In the November election, he received 57 write-in votes. Gaetani is routinely in the police logs, being arrested on various warrants, and also hosts a show on Pittsfield Community Television.
The school department is looking to move Grade 7 to the high school to make room for preK classes in the elementary schools.

North Adams Mulls Moving PreK and Grade 7 Classes

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The Finance and Facilities Subcommittee will recommend the School Committee approve moving Grade 7 up to the high school.

The move to consolidate resources will also relocate the preK program from Johnson School into the elementary schools and add one class.



The change to a preK-Grade 6 and Grade 7-12 reconfiguration will require a School Committee vote and the approval of the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which the school department is already pursuing.



Malkas said she had spoken separately with School Committee members about ways to consolidate resources before bringing the proposal to the subcommittee. There were two options: moving the preK program into each of the three elementary schools or creating a single early childhood center at one school.



"After doing some research looking at enrollment patterns and facilities use, knowing that we still had an open MSBA project at Colegrove Park, the decision was to pursue the first model," said Superintendent Barbara Malkas.



MSBA had approved the district's realignment as a K-7, 8-12 configuration in the renovation of Colegrove Park Elementary School so any change requires the state agency's approval. The school department had to provide it information on enrollment and educational and special education programming.



"We have submitted all that information we have not received a response right away," Malkas said. "If we get their approval then we will be able to proceed forward."



She told the subcommittee of Tara Jacobs, Mark Moulton and Nicholas Fahey that she did not anticipate any difficulties because of the minimal impact on enrollment and how the grades are so closely configured.



"We're basically swapping out two classrooms at one grade level for two classrooms at another grade level," she said, adding that North Adams' enrollment has remained fairly steady even as other school districts have declined.



The preK classes at Johnson are designed for children requiring special education services. However, for every one child on an individualized education plan, two typically developing children can attend. There are other limitations related to class size and instructors.



"We don't have enough spots for typical peers and we have a waiting list," Malkas said.



There are five preK programs, including the Castles program for children on the autism spectrum. That program would move to Colegrove Park Elementary to align with the existing K-7 Castles program, with the expectation a sixth preK classroom would be created there. Greylock and Brayton would also have two preK classrooms each.



Malkas said putting the preK children into their neighborhood schools would help in terms of continuity, as would moving the seventh grade to create a middle school program at Drury High. Grade 7 tends be the odd grade out at the elementary schools and Grade 8 at the high school. Giving the students more time prepare for the high school experience may also help with the transition from Grade 8 to 9.






iciHaiti - Social : Laying the foundation stone of the Red Cross Training Center





The National Society of the Haitian Red Cross (CRH) and its partner the American Red Cross proceeded in the commune of Quartier-Morin, in Cap-Haitien (North), to the laying of the foundation stone of the new CRH Training Center. This project, which is part of the strengthening of the operational capacity of the CRH, receives financial support from the American Red Cross to the tune of about $800,000.



The project is designed in two stages. The first phase, to be completed in July 2017, will include the construction of the new premises, which will have an administrative area, training rooms and facilities to meet operational needs. During the second stage of the project, dormitories will be set up for users of the training center.



IH/ iciHaiti


















We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector
The motorways are forecast to be most congested on Friday morning and Saturday afternoon over the Lunar New Year holiday.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Tuesday said 36.6 percent of travelers are expected to hit the road to their ancestral hometowns on Friday morning, the day before Lunar New Year's Day.

The forecast is based on phone interviews with 9,000 households nationwide by the Korea Transport Institute.

Some 28.5 percent said they will head home on Saturday afternoon, and 25 percent on Sunday afternoon. The vast majority or 85.1 percent said they will drive, while 10.2 percent and 3.6 percent said they will use buses and trains.

A ministry official said the number of people traveling is expected to reach 31.15 million, up 4.5 percent from last year. Travel times may increase as rain or snow is forecast for southwestern parts on Friday morning, and for southern parts and along the northeast coast on Sunday and Monday.

The Korea Expressway Corporation will use four drones equipped with CCTV cameras for the first time during the holiday to crack down on traffic violations.


Officials said Trump was also considering a four-month freeze on all refugee admissions, as well as a ban for at least 30 days on entry to the U.S. by anyone from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen  all Muslim-majority countries. The ban could include an exception for people who are religious minorities in their country and are facing persecution.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the U.S. would build more detention facilities along the border to house migrants who cross the border and then give them a "one-way ticket back to the country of their origin." He said the Trump administration would end what he called the "dangerous catch-and-release program" border agents have employed, eliciting promises from migrants to appear later in court, which they then have often ignored.

Trump told ABC News that construction of the wall would start within months, and he continued to contend that Mexico would pay for it, although Mexico has repeatedly said it will not. Trump said the payment would perhaps be in a "complicated form," signaling it would not be a direct payment from Mexico City to Washington.

The orders served as an exclamation point to one of the major forces behind Trump's lengthy run to a four-year term in the White House: his contention that illegal migrants in the U.S. threaten its security and cost American workers their jobs. At rally after rally during his campaign, his most fervent cheering supporters shouted, "Build that wall!"

The new president signed the immigration executive orders as he visited the Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency charged with protecting the U.S. border, and he planned to take additional actions in coming days.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered construction of a wall along the country's southern border with Mexico to thwart illegal migration, and at the same time he confronted hundreds of U.S. cities that have refused to help federal authorities identify and deport undocumented migrants.

 National Security

Trump often used his campaign rallies to criticize U.S. admissions of refugees, employing the phrase, "We have no idea who these people are." He also initially proposed a ban on admitting people from Muslim countries, drawing sharp criticism. He later amended his stance to include countries with links to terrorism.

Trump, on his Twitter account Tuesday night, wrote, "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"

The president wants a wall along the entire 3,200-kilometer length of the U.S.-Mexico border. Currently, there is a barrier along only some of the border, although U.S. agents patrol it in vehicles and monitor it with unmanned drones, infrared video and other means.

Trump frequently has vowed that Mexico will pay for the wall, saying Congress will initially authorize the U.S. government to pick up the cost -- possibly $10 billion or more -- and be reimbursed later by the Mexican government.

Mexico has repeatedly stated it will not pay for the wall. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is due visit the White House next week to discuss border security issues and extensive trade between the two neighbors.

Trump has said building the wall will be easy, though others are not as confident of that, noting the rough terrain along the border, with regular peaks and valleys. Some of the property along the border is owned privately, and the owners say they oppose construction of a wall.

 Sanctuary Cities

Also Wednesday, Trump targeted several hundred U.S. cities that by law or their political decisions have declared themselves "sanctuary cities," with their law enforcement agencies refusing to help federal agents identify undocumented immigrants so they could be detained and eventually deported.

Spicer said the president would attempt to block federal funding to the cities that showed "disregard for our laws." The cities individually could lose millions of dollars in assistance from the national government for a range of local programs. Many of the cities, including some of the biggest in the country, are in states that Trump won in the November election.

Even with Trump's immigration decrees, the new administration is grappling with how to deal with former President Barack Obama's order allowing immigrant children who entered the U.S. illegally when their parents crossed the border to stay in the U.S. for two years without fear of deportation. Many of the children know only the U.S. as their home and now are students or are working in the country.

Immigration hard-liners want these children deported, along with their parents, but their supporters call them "Dreamers" and have advocated allowing them to stay in the U.S.

Spicer said Trump officials would review the cases of the undocumented children "in a humane way."

 Targeting Criminals

On the campaign trail, Trump said everyone in the U.S. illegally would be subject to deportation, but subsequently he softened his stance and said only those with criminal records would be targeted initially, with the fate of law-abiding immigrants considered later.

Obama said his priority was to protect Americans, while also working to help immigrants who had been pushed from their homes by war, terrorism and political instability.

The Obama administration said refugees were "the most thoroughly screened travelers" to the United States and were required to undergo security checks, examination of biographic and biometric data, vetting by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and extensive interviews before they were allowed into the country. For many refugees, the process takes up to two years to complete.

In 2016, the U.S. admitted about 85,000 refugees, including more than 12,500 Syrians. Obama set a goal for the 2017 fiscal year, which began in October, of 110,000 refugee admissions.
American actress Mary Tyler Moore, who starred in two of the most beloved and critically lauded television series in history, died Wednesday in New York.

No cause of death was announced. She was 80 years old. A trained dancer, Moore began her career appearing in television commercials for an appliance company, dressed as a pixie, and dancing on stoves and ovens.

No one saw her face in hew next role -- just her legs as she portrayed a secretary named Sam on "Richard Diamond, Private Detective."

But the whole country saw her face and the rest of her in 1961 when she won the role as suburban housewife Laura Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," named for her comic co-star.

The sharply written series about the home and office life of a TV comedy writer gave Moore the opportunity to display a talent for comedy as well as her ability to sing and dance. She was an early role model for young women, playing a TV wife who stood up to her sometimes bungling husband. The series became a huge hit and ran until 1966 and is still shown in reruns.


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The Taliban, in a so-called "open letter" to U.S. President Donald Trump, has called on him to help end what it denounced as a "futile" and "un-winnable" American war in Afghanistan.

A copy of the letter, written by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, was released to journalists Wednesday. There has been no immediate reaction from the Trump administration.

The letter blamed the United States for starting the Afghan war 15 years ago and called the presence of "foreign invading forces" in the country the principle cause for the continued human and material losses being suffered by both sides.

"It is on these basis that we send you our message to control this war of occupation launched by your military," Mujahid wrote, reiterating that the Taliban will not end fighting until all the U.S.-led forces are withdrawn from Afghanistan.

The U.S.-led international military coalition ousted the Taliban from power in 2001 to punish it for harboring and refusing to handover al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was wanted for plotting deadly terrorist attacks against American cities.

 Corruption Allegations

The Taliban letter has again accused the U.S.-backed Afghan national unity government of President Ashraf Ghani of being a "corrupt regime" that has lost public trust.

Trump stated almost nothing about his plans for the Afghan war during his election campaign. But hours after his inauguration last Friday, the new U.S. president apparently vowed to continue with the military campaign until victory.

"We are with you a thousand, a thousand, a thousand percent. You are doing just an incredible job. So, thank you all very much. We will see you and keep fighting. We are going to win, we are going to win, we are going to win, keep fighting," Trump told U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan during a brief chat with them via satellite link.

Afghan officials are also reported as saying that in a phone call in December, Trump told President Ghani that "after an assessment" he would consider sending more American troops to Afghanistan. The Trump administration has not commented on those reports.
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

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A Dogs Purpose - Oscar nominee Lasse Hallstroms upcoming film - is currently engulfed in controversy after TMZ released footage seemingly showing a German Shepherd being pushed into and pulled out of a rushing stream of water against its will

Soon after being uploaded, the edited clip was shared across the Internet, leading to Universal canceling the films scheduled premiere and press junket. Actor Josh Gad and Hallstrom both condemned the footage while writer W. Bruce Cameron has defended the film.

With A Dogs Purposes US release incoming, reviews have been published, most of which have been highly negative, most of which agreed the films take on the meaning of life was mediocre.

In their F-rated review, IndieWire writes: What is the meaning of life? Are we here for a reason? Is there a point to any of this? We may never know, but knowing this movie exists may bring some viewers one step closer to giving up on the whole damn thing.

Referring to killing animals in the film as pushing the red button, LA Weekly says: Lasse Hallstrom isnt notably clumsy, but given a script that called for repeatedly mashing that big, red button, hes smacked on it like the bongos in a Santana song.

Films to get excited about in 2017 Show all 13 1 /13 Films to get excited about in 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Star Wars: The Last Jedi Director: Rian Johnson Rian Johnson Cast: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Lupita Nyong'o Plot: No details yet, but it will continue directly on from Rey coming face-to-face with Luke at the end of The Force Awakens. Release Date: 15 December 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Thor: Ragnarok Director: Taika Waititi Taika Waititi Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, Jeff Goldblum, Karl Urban, and Mark Ruffalo Plot: Story details are minimal as of now, but Thor's third return to screen has already been teased to feature a loose adaptation of the famous 'Planet Hulk' storyline. Release Date: 27 October 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 You Were Never Really Here Director: Lynne Ramsay Lynne Ramsay Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola Plot: A war veteran's attempt to save a young girl from a sex trafficking ring goes horribly wrong. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Annihilation Director: Alex Garland Alex Garland Cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac Plot: A biologist's husband disappears. She thus puts her name forward for an expedition into an environmental disaster zone, but does not quite find what she's expecting. The expedition team is made up of the biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a surveyor. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Wonderstruck (image from Far From Heaven) Director: Todd Haynes Cast: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Amy Hargreaves Plot: The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Mother (image of Darren Aronofsky) Director: Darren Aronofsky Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, and Ed Harris Plot: A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Killing of a Sacred Deer (image from The Lobster) Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Alicia Silverstone Plot: A surgeon forms a familial bond with a sinister teenage boy, with disastrous results. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 Blade Runner 2049 Director: Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, and Jared Leto Plot: Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years. Release Date: 6 October 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Lady Bird (image of director Greta Gerwig) Director: Greta Gerwig Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Lucas Hedges Plot: The adventures of a young woman living in Northern California for a year. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara (image of director Steven Spielberg and star Mark Rylance) Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Mark Rylance, Oscar Isaac Plot: The Kidnapping Of Edgardo Mortara recounts the story of a young Jewish boy in Bologna, Italy in 1858 who, having been secretly baptized, is forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents' struggle to free their son becomes part of a larger political battle that pits the Papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 How to Talk to Girls at Parties Director: John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell Cast: Elle Fanning, Ruth Wilson, and Nicole Kidman Plot: An alien touring the galaxy breaks away from her group and meets two young inhabitants of the most dangerous place in the universe: the London suburb of Croydon. Release Date: Unknown Films to get excited about in 2017 The Dark Tower Director: Nikolaj Arcel Nikolaj Arcel Cast: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Taylor Plot: Gunslinger Roland Deschain roams an Old West-like landscape in search of the dark tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world. Release Date: 28 July 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Suburbicon Director: George Clooney George Clooney Cast: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Josh Brolin, and Oscar Isaac Plot: A crime mystery set in the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, where the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and betrayal. Release Date: 24 November

In their two-star review, We Got This Covered writes: This is a movie so disjointed and out of touch that even the smallest drop of sincerity is mistaken for a barbed rose meant to draw blood.

More favourable reviews came from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety who both praised the films canine actors steal the show, while the humans are adequate.

A Dogs Purpose - based on the book of the same name by Cameron - reaches UK cinemas 21 April.
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Controversial director Roman Polanski has stepped down from presiding over Frances Cesar awards after 61,000 people signed a petition calling on the public to boycott the event.

The awards - which are the countrys equivalent to the Oscars - courted controversy after announcing Polanskis participation: the 83-year-old, who lives in Paris, is wanted in the US over historic child sex conviction.

He pleaded guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977 and served 42 days in prison after accepting a plea bargain. Polanski fled the US for Britain and then France a year later over fears the judge hearing his case could overrule the plea bargain and he could be imprisoned again.

Polanskis lawyer, Herve Temime, released a statement, picked up by Agence France-Presse, saying the row was unjustified and the row had profoundly saddened the director.

Temime continued: However, in order not to disturb the Cesar ceremony, which should focus on the cinema and not on the appointment of the president, Roman Polanski has decided not to accept the invitation.

Polanski freed as Switzerland rejects US extradition plea Show all 3 1 /3 Polanski freed as Switzerland rejects US extradition plea Polanski freed as Switzerland rejects US extradition plea 412397.bin GETTY Polanski freed as Switzerland rejects US extradition plea 412396.bin GETTY Polanski freed as Switzerland rejects US extradition plea 412398.bin GETTY

Last month, Poland's Supreme Court upheld its refusal to extradite Roman Polanski to America if he enters the country, the Rosemarys Baby director saying: Ill finally be able to feel safe in my own country.

The petition - which has once again spurred on discussion about separating art from the artist - claimed Polanski enjoyed scandalous protection and the nomination to preside over the Cesar awards was an insult to women and to the suffering they endure, an insult to rape victim.

Clare Serre-Combe of Osez le Feminisme ('Dare Feminism'), previously said feminist groups were extremely angry about the decision to nominate Polanski.

"We cannot let this pass," she told AFP. "Making Polanski president is to snub rape and sexual assault victims. The quality of his work counts for nothing when confronted with the crime he committed, his escape from justice and his refusal to face up to his responsibilities."

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Polanski has won the Cesar award for Best Director on four occasions, including for Tess, The Pianist, and The Ghost Writer.
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WikiHow has issued an apology after a cartoon for an article on how to become a congressman depicted Beyonce, Jay-Z and Barack Obama as white people.

The how-to website publishes crowd-sourced articles on a variety of subjects.

Its tutorial on becoming a congressman featured a cartoon version of a photograph taken at a fundraising event in New York in 2012, which portrayed all three individuals as white.

A Beyonce fan account shared the two images for comparison on 22 January with the caption: "Wikihow turned Obama, Beyonce and Jay-Z white to explain 'How to become a congressman'."

At the time of writing the post had been retweeted more than 18,000 times and 'liked' 23,700 times.

A wikiHow representative tweeted from its official account and called the cartoon "disgraceful".

A fuller statement later read: "When we saw the whitewashed image of Obama, Jay-Z and Beyonce, we were disgusted and ashamed. It should never have been on wikiHow.

"Within minutes of the first tweet, a volunteer removed the image. We then started investigating how it got on wikiHow at all."

The statement claimed that the illustration was made 3 years ago by a team of illustrators "who work as one - one person sketches, the other person colours.

"The sketcher sent the colourist a black and white sketch," is said. "The colourist did not know the race of the models."

Wikihow said that the colourist was not aware that the people in the image were Obama, Beyonce or Jay Z, and that it did not believe that the illustrator had deliberately whitewashed them.

Recommended Madonna banned from Texas radio station after White House remarks

"This doesn't excuse the fact that we hosted a terrible image on wikiHow and we needed more diversity on that article," the statement added.

"We are talking with our illustrators to prevent recurrence and encourage diversity. Especially in positions of power."

The Guardian noted that wikiHow is infamous for its bizarre range of illustrations that accompany how-to articles.

An online game where the player had to match cartoons to the correct wikiHow articles they were used on went viral in 2016.
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It's as a great onrush of sometimes laugh-out-loud verbal virtuosity that Emmet Kirwan's very talented two-hander bowls you over. On a stage empty but for a couple of microphones, Kirwan and Ian Lloyd Anderson play off each other with a brilliant rhythmic rapport and a keen instinct for when to vary the pace and the dynamics as the material shifts around a variety of modes. There's the swagger and linguistic self-intoxication of rap and a kind of vernacular concrete poetry that you can almost see materialising in mid-air as it is uttered. There are passages that reminded me a bit of Martin Amis in their openness to the low farce of bodily life and in their aplomb at comic exaggeration  It's a napalm explosion in the south-east Asian jungle that is my nose hair reports our hero after he's snorted up a wrap of ketamine. And there are quieter, fully dramatised scenes that have a huge emotional charge and prove that Kirwan's power as a theatre-maker does not depend on constant verbal pyrotechnics.

The author portrays Jason, a Dubliner in his late 20s, whose fruitless ambition is to do the warm-up set for one of the visiting star DJs at a rave. We follow him over a drug-fuelled weekend in the capital's scuzzy club scene as he gives his mind a chemical kicking and stumbles through a series of misadventures that include a police bust, a humiliating run-in with his ex-girlfriend and tasting the penalties of being a mere gopher for a celebrity DJ who puts a hole in the landlady's wall: Ten minutes later I'm standing in the street with a six-foot speaker, shepherding the expelled exodus of revellers to the promised land of the Bernard Shaw like some sort of techno Moses.

Jason can be so droll and perceptive about his unenviable lot but his ability to see it at a distance doesn't mean that he's not firmly stuck in it. He keeps spotting (or so he believes) his doppelganger. And there are crucial chance encounters (are these in his mind too?) with Daniel, his university-educated older brother who is now a homeless heroin addict (beautifully played by Anderson --- who also creates a cascade of cameo characters). The siblings haven't seen or spoken to one another in three years. These excellent scenes establish that Jason, who says he plans to come off recreational drugs in three years, is in denial about how much he has in common with Daniel. But to put it that way would misrepresent the tone of the episodes that are funny, awkward and heart-wrenching as the painful twist of intimacy and hurt, love and resentment in their relationship now is exposed. During the police bust, Jason had to dump his wallet and he's farcically reduced to begging money from his homeless brother who only has a sock full of change.

The odyssey over very precise locations in Dublin; the mock-heroic pitch (Epic. In small ways.) and the purposefully limited time-span naturally  and outrageously  put one in mind of Ulysses. The lost weekend trope is reminiscent pf fellow Irish dramatists, Conor McPherson and Marcus O'Rowe. I think that all threee of those authors (Joyce had the gifts to be a killer rapper, if not quite the temperament) would get a kick out Dublin Old School which is Kirwin's first play. Philip McMahon's compelling 70 minute production has appeared in Dublin and in Edinburgh; all honour to the National Theatre to give it this prominent platform in London.
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Actress Mary Tyler Moore died on Wednesday in Greenwich, Connecticut. She was 80-years-old.

Ms Moore's family announced that her death was caused by cardiopulmonary arrest after she contracted pneumonia.

The seven-time Emmy Award winner battled diabetes over the years and had been breathing through a respirator for more than a week, a source told TMZ.

She was first diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 33 when she began starring in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which told the story of a young, independent woman working in a Minneapolis newsroom.

The sitcom aired from 1970 to 1977, and was a hit for CBS. Ms Moore's role earned her four of her seven Emmy Awards for her depiction of a single, career woman who was hailed by feminists and fans of the sitcom.

Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Show all 26 1 /26 Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Actresses Cloris Leachman (L) and Mary Tyler Moore present the Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series award onstage at the 13th Annual Screen Actor Guild Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium on January 28, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) Getty Images Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos American actress Mary Tyler Moore, who starred in a number of sitcom TV series. E Milsom/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos circa 1974: Full-length studio portrait of American actor Mary Tyler Moore. She is wearing a long sleeved, full-length dress which has a nautical collar. Hulton Archive/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Actress Mary Tyler Moore speaks on stage at the 2nd Annual TV Land Awards held at The Hollywood Palladium, March 7, 2004 in Hollywood, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos American actress and animal lover Mary Tyler Moore, at the Los Angeles Zoo cuddling 'Lina', a baby Lowland gorilla. Keystone/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Actress Mary Tyler Moore poses backstage at the 2006 TV Land Awards at the Barker Hangar on March 19, 2006 in Santa Monica, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Mary Tyler Moore with Fidel, a therapy dog who aided families in the wake of September 11, at the ASPCA Humane Awards at The Pierre Hotel in New York City. Ms. Moore received the Lifetime Achievement Award for her efforts in preventing cruelty and suffering in animals. Scott Gries/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos backstage at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 29, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos onstage during the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 29, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Mary Tyler Moore and Whoopi Goldberg with the producers of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" in the pressroom during the 56th Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. June 2, 2002. Photo by Scott Gries/ImageDirect via Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Onstage at the 13th Annual Screen Actor Guild Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium on January 28, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Actors Carl Reiner (L) and Mary Tyler Moore attend the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 29, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos NO. HOLLYWOOD, CA - AUGUST 07: (L to R) Actors Betty White, Mary Tyler Moore, Georgia Engel and Cloris Leachman pose at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences celebrating Betty White's 60 years on television at the Leonard Goldenson Theatre on August 7, 2008 in No. Hollywood, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Actress Mary Tyler Moore receives the Groundbreaking Show Award on stage at the 2nd Annual TV Land Awards held on March 7, 2004 at The Hollywood Palladium, in Hollywood, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Mary Tyler Moore hosts the 5th Annual Broadway Barks July 12, 2003 at Shubert Alley in New York City. Broadway Barks assists New York animal shelters in their mission to find homeless pets good homes. Myrna Suarez/Getty I Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Actress Mary Tyler Moore arrives at the celebration for Cloris Leachman's 60 years in show business at Fogo De Chao restaurant on October 5th, 2006 in Beverly Hills, California. Vince Bucci/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Actress Mary Tyler Moore attends NBC's taping of 'Betty White's 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America's Golden Girl' at Millennium Biltmore Hotel on January 8, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Angela Weiss/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Actress Mary Tyler Moore presents onstage at the 2006 TV Land Awards at the Barker Hangar on March 19, 2006 in Santa Monica, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Actor Dick Van Dyke (L) presents the Life Achievement Award to actress Mary Tyler Moore onstage during the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 29, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Actress Mary Tyler Moore and Donna Hanover (centre) attend the "Women Who Change The World" Matrix awards April 28, 2003 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Mark Mainz/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Actress Mary Tyler Moore performing at the Holiday Celebration from Broadway to benefit the Actors Fund December 15, 2003 in New York City. Peter Kramer/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Actress Mary Tyler Moore Waves To The Crowd Next To The Statue Honoring Her May 8, 2002 In Minneapolis, Mn. The Statue Depicts Moore Tossing Her Tam (Hat) From The Opening Credits Of The "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". Mike Ekern/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos Flanked by a member of his Secret Service detail Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets guests during a campaign stop at Iowa Central Community College on November 12, 2015 in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Yesterday Trump was assigned the protection detail. The stop comes on the heals of Tuesday's eight-candidate Republican debate in Milwaukee where a national poll of viewers declared Trump the winner. Scott Olson/Getty Mary Tyler Moore's Life in Photos American actress Mary Tyler Moore leaves London Airport (Heathrow), London, 12th July 1969. Dove/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty

When the doctor said I had diabetes, I conjured images of languishing on a chaise longue nibbling chocolates, she told USA Today in 2009. I have no idea why I thought this.

Ms Moore was born in the New York City neighbourhood of Brooklyn Heights in 1936 to George and Marjorie Tyler Moore. When she was just 8-years-old, her family made the move to Los Angeles.

After the reports of Ms Moores death surfaced, Hollywood mourned the actress on social media.
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London diners, who are also partial to the odd viral meme, will no doubt be elated that Nusret Gokce aka salt bae  is planning to open a restaurant in the UK capital.

Amid the fake news, Donald Trump tweets and real news about alarming world events which have been flooding the internet of late, there was a break in the madness when a video of a Turkish butcher sensually and flamboyantly seasoning and slicing a steak went viral.

Gokce was renamed salt bae by the internet, used in various memes and videos on the internet, spray-painted onto a wall in Melbourne and even surfaced on a t-shirt worn by Rihanna.

Now, he is branching out and has told Turkish newspaper Hurriyet there are plans for chains of his Nusr-et grill house to open in both London and New York over the next few months.

He said he does not know much English or other foreign languages but that he could communicate with people through meat.

He also said the salt action which has brought him this new found fame is his signature move.

Food and drink news Show all 35 1 /35 Food and drink news Food and drink news Healthy living makes us more inclined to binge, research suggests Gluten-free breads, dairy-free milks and other plant-based products have been some of the most favoured foods in British supermarkets this year. However, while were busy filling our shopping trolleys with gluten-free goodness, were also jamming it with junk food and alcohol, new research suggests Getty/iStock Food and drink news Growing list of Vegan celebs Making the switch to veganism is a major lifestyle choice, one that many claim can improve energy levels, lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and clear up any skin issues. Beyonce, Natalie Portman and Jessica Chastain are among the growing list of Hollywood stars who have eschewed animal products from their diets in recent years. Theres also been an increasing number of professional athletes who have gone vegan, such as boxing champions Mike Tyson and David Haye, thus debunking the myth that following a plant-based diet will leave you feeling weak and malnourished. AFP/Getty/NARAS/iHeartMedia Food and drink news McDonald's has announced the launch of a new vegan burger on its menu in Germany This will mark the first time the German franchise of the fast food chain has offered a vegan burger to its customers. The Big Vegan TS burger consists of a patty made from soy and wheat. It is served in a classic sesame seed bun, and contains salad, tomato, pickles and red onion. McDonald's Germany Food and drink news Drinking too many protein shakes could lead to an increased risk of obesity and a reduced lifespan, a new study has claimed Researchers from the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre carried out an investigation to determine the impact excessive consumption of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) has on the body. BCAA supplements are often consumed in the form of powder, which is then added to water to make a shake. Published in journal Nature Metabolism, the study found that while BCAAs help to build muscle, they can also negatively impact an individual's temperament, cause weight gain and lead to a shortened lifespan Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Britain consumes more chocolate than any other country Most people love chocolate but it turns out no one does more than the Brits  with the average Brit found to have consumed 8.4 kg of chocolate in 2017, according to new data. Chocolate consumption around the world is on the rise, according to Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), which found that in the past year alone, Easter chocolate production has risen by 23 per cent Food and drink news 'Easter eggs should be banned for children under four' Dr Becky Spelman, chief psychologist at Harley Streets Private Therapy Clinic, is calling for Easter eggs to be banned for consumption for children under the age of four, claiming that giving them the opportunity to binge on chocolate so young will give them an unhealthy relationship with food later on. "This is a nightmare situation for parents of this generation as they have no idea how to teach their children to delay their response to cravings, she said, explaining that too many young kids binge on these chocolates because their parents dont know how to stop them. "Once a child starts overeating behaviour at a young age its very hard to turn things around for them in terms of food and their eating habits moving forward, leading to obesity from at very young age," she added PA Food and drink news Pineapple overtakes avocado as the UK's fastest-selling fruit According to Tesco, pineapple has overtaken avocado as the UKs fastest-selling fruit, with sales increasing by 15 per cent in 2017. In comparison, avocado sales rose by just under 10 per cent last year. The popular supermarket says the surge in popularity comes as shoppers buying the versatile fruit are beginning to use it as a main ingredient in everything from curries and barbecues, to juices and cocktails Getty Food and drink news Marks & Spencers launches stoneless avocados Rather than the result of genetic modification, the avocados are formed by an unpollinated avocado blossom. The fruit develops without a seed which in turns stops the growth, creating a small, seedless fruit. Whats more, the skin is actually edible, unlike a regular avocado. The flesh is much like that of a normal avocado - smooth and creamy, pale in colour and rich in flavour M&S Food and drink news Office teabags contain 17 times more germs than a toilet seat, reveals study The average bacterial reading of an office teabag was 3,785, in comparison to only 220 for a toilet seat. Other pieces of kitchen equipment also stacked up highly in their findings, with the bacterial readings averaging at 2,483 on kettle handles, 1,746 on the rim of a used mug and 1,592 on a fridge door handle Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New study shows drinking more coffee leads to a longer life There is good news and a final hope for coffee addicts and lovers. You will now be able to drink coffee for longer as new study shows its can lead to a prolonged life. Scientists showed that those who drank between two and four cups of coffee a day had 18% lower risk of death compared to non-coffee drinkers. PA Food and drink news Coke Zero is replaced with Coke Zero Sugar Coca-Cola is pulling the plug on its Coke Zero. The much loved drink will be replaced with a new improved taste. The move, backed with a 10 million campaign, is said to come from Coca-Cola supporting people to reduce their sugar intake. Coca-Cola want people make this move while not sacrificing sugary taste of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola Food and drink news Starbucks introduce new avocado spread The avocado craze has grown from hipster brunch restaurants to Starbucks. Starbucks have introduced their new avocado spread earlier this year and it has the internet in debate. Some argue that it not a spread but guacamole while others question if there is any avocado in there at all. When buying the new spread you can also buy an optional toasted bagel. It is a must try for all avocado connoisseurs. Starbucks Food and drink news New Mars chocolate bar The iconic British chocolate bar is about to get its partner in crime. The new bar, named Goodness Knows, will replace the gooey caramel goodness of the mars bar with oats. It is said to be more like a Florentine biscuit with a thin dark chocolate bottom. While being moderately healthy Mars says that is has good intentions. One pack has 154 calories and will sell for about 90p. Mars Food and drink news Wine prices could increase because of Brexit Wine lovers across the UK might soon have to shell out close to a quarter more for their favourite tipple after Brexit, as a weaker pound and sluggish economy takes its toll, a new study shows Rex Food and drink news Chocolate may be good for the heart A new study, published in the British Medical Journal: Heart, found that moderate chocolate intake can be positively associated with lessening the risk of the heart arrhythmia condition Atrial Fibrillation Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Brits throw away 1.4 million bananas each year British families are throwing away 1.4 million bananas that are perfectly good to eat every day at cost of 80m a year, new figures have shown PA/Armin Weigel Food and drink news Rosemary sales spike over exam time There has been a surge a surge in sales of the herb rosemary after a recent study found it helps improve memory. According to high street health food chain Holland & Barrett, sales of the herb have increased by 187 per cent compared to the same time last year Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Gluten-free diets 'not recommended' for people without coeliac disease Avoiding wheat, barley and rye in the belief that a gluten-free diet brings health benefits may do more harm than good, according to a team of US nutrition and medicine experts Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Starbucks launches two new coffee-based drinks Starbucks is launching two new coffee-based drinks in the UK, as it strives to tap into consumers growing appetite for healthy beverages. The Cold Brew Vanilla sweet cream and the Cappuccino Freddo, will both be available in stores throughout the UK from the start of May Twitter/@SbuxCountyHall Food and drink news Cadburys Dairy Milk Tiffin is making a permanent comeback after 80 years The Cadbury Dairy Milk Tiffin, first produced in 1937, is making a permanent comeback to the UK. The raisin and biscuit-filled chocolate bar is being launched after a successful trial last summer saw 3 million chocolate treats  at the cost of 1.49 for each 95g bar- purchased by nostalgic customers Cadburys Food and drink news Pizza restaurant makes worlds cheesiest 'Scottie's Pizza Parlor' in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Facebook/Scottie's Pizza Parlor Food and drink news A pizza joint in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Why not eating before a workout could be better for your health A study published in the American Journal of Physiology by researchers at the University of Bath found you might be likely to burn more fat if you have not eaten first Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New York restaurant named best in the world A New York restaurant where an average meal for two will cost $700 has been named the best in the world. Eleven Madison Park won the accolade for the first time after debuting on the list at number 50 in 2010. The restaurant was praised for a fun sense of fine-dining, blurring the line between the kitchen and the dining room Getty Images Food and drink news Why you crave bad food when youre tired Researchers at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University in Chicago recently presented their results of a study looking into the effects of sleep deprivation upon high-calorific food consumption. Researchers found that those who were sleep-deprived had specifically enhanced brain activity to the food smells compared to when they had a good nights sleep Shutterstock Food and drink news Drinking wine engages more of your brain than solving maths problems Drinking wine is the ideal workout for your brain, engaging more parts of our grey matter than any other human behaviour, according to a leading neuroscientist. Dr Gordon Shepherd, from the Yale School of Medicine, said sniffing and analysing a wine before drinking it requires exquisite control of one of the biggest muscles in the body Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news British dessert eating surges after people ditch healthy eating in February : In heartening news for anyone feeling guilty about quitting their New Year diet, it seems lots of us have given in to our sweet tooths once again. New data from nationwide food-delivery service Deliveroo reveals there was a surge in Brits ordering desserts in February compared to the first month of 2017 Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news US congress debates definition of milk alternatives A new bill has been created that seeks to ban dairy alternatives from using the term milk. Titled the DAIRY PRIDE Act, the name is a tenuous acronym for defending against imitations and replacements of yogurt, milk, and cheese to promote regular intake of dairy every day. It argues that the dairy industry is struggling as a result of all the dairy-free alternatives on the market and the public are being duped too Getty Images Food and drink news Cadburys launches two new chocolate bars UK confectionary giant Cadbury has launched two new chocolate bars, hoping to lure those with a sweet tooth and perhaps help combat some of the challenges it faces from rising commodity prices and a post-Brexit slump in the value of the pound.The companys new products will be peanut butter and mint flavoured. They will be available in most major super markets as 120g bars, priced at 1.49, according to the company Cadburys Food and drink news You can now get a job as a professional chocolate eater The company responsible for some of your favourite chocolate brands  think Cadbury, Milks, Prince and Oreo  have officially announced an opening to join their team as a professional chocolate taster. The successful candidate will help them to test, perfect and launch new products all over the world. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news MSG additive used in Chinese food is actually good for you, scientist claims For years, weve been told MSG (the sodium salt of glutamic acid) - often associated with cheap Chinese takeaways - is awful for our health and to be avoided at all costs. But one scientist argues it should be used as a supersalt and encourages adding it to food. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Lettuce prices are rising Not only are lettuces becoming an increasingly rare commodity in supermarkets, but prices for the leafy vegetables seem to be rising too. According to the weekly report from the Governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a pair of Little Gem lettuces had an average market price of 0.86 in the week that ended on Friday, up from an average of 0.56 in the previous week  thats an almost 54 per cent increase. Getty Images Food and drink news Do-It-Yourself restaurant To encourage more people to cook and eat together, IKEA has launched The Dining Club in Shoreditch  a fully immersive Do-It-Yourself restaurant . Members of the public can book to host a brunch, lunch or dinner party for up to 20 friends and family. Supported by their very own sous chef and maitre de, the host and their guests will orchestrate an intimate dining experience where cooking together is celebrated and eating together is inspirational Mikael Buck / IKEA Food and drink news Ping Pong menu with a twist Gatwick Airport has teamed up with London dim sum restaurant Ping Pong to create a limited edition menu with a distinctly British twist; including a Full English Bao and Beef Wellington Puff, to celebrate the launch of the airports new route to Hong Kong Food and drink news Zizzi unveil the Maamgharita Unique pizza art has been created by Zizzi in celebration of the Queens 90th birthday. The pizza features the queen in an iconic pose illustrated with fresh and tasty Italian ingredients on a backdrop of the Union Jack Food and drink news Blue potatoes make a comeback Blue potatoes, once a staple part of British potato crops, are back on the menu thanks to a Cambridge scientist turned-organic farmer and Farmdrop, an online marketplace that lets people buy direct from local farms. Cambridge PhD graduate-turned farmer, Adrian Izzard has used traditional growing techniques at Wild Country Organics to produce the colourful spuds, packed with healthy cell-protecting anthocyanin, which had previously disappeared from UK plates when post-war farmers were pushed towards higher-yielding varieties

I did not do that to show off. It is just my signature. You can think of it as a kind of final touch for a painting. It was a final touch to the meat; I was blessing the meat, he said.

And bless that meat, he did.
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All major TV makers have stopped building 3D functionality into their sets, with LG and Sony reportedly following the likes of Samsung, Sharp and Hisense by opting not to make it a feature of their latest televisions.

3D shot to prominence back in 2010, shortly after James Camerons Avatar hit the big screen, with manufacturers quick to embrace the technology at the time.

However, lack of content, the requirement for viewers to wear 3D glasses and calibration issues meant that it never really took off as the industry had expected it to.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

On a personal level, Ive always found the 3D viewing experience utterly underwhelming, and I know Im not alone in feeling that way.

Since its emergence, more useful technologies and services, such as streaming, 4K and HDR  even curved displays  have taken off, leaving 3D all but forgotten.

3D capability was never really universally embraced in the industry for home use, and it's just not a key buying factor when selecting a new TV, Tim Alessi, LG's director of new product development, told Cnet.

Purchase process research showed it's not a top buying consideration, and anecdotal information indicated that actual usage was not high.

That said, it certainly wont be good riddance from everyone. A Change.org petition has already been created, calling for LG to revive 3D on one of its 2018 OLED TVs.
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Elon Musk has suggested that Donald Trump's government may actually be good for climate change.

The SpaceX and Tesla founder has tweeted his support for Rex Tillerson, Mr Trump's controversial pick to be his secretary of state. After Mr Tillerson was appointed to the foreign affairs job by only a slim margin, Mr Musk said that he has "potential" to be "excellent" in the job.

In a post directed at The Economist magazine, which had tweeted an editorial praising Mr Tillerson's "integrity", Mr Musk said that he agreed.

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

"This may sound surprising coming from me, but I agree with The Economist," he posted. "Rex Tillerson has the potential to be an excellent Sec of State."

In later updates, Mr Musk wrote that "Rex is an exceptionally competent executive, understands geopolitics and knows how to win for his team. His team is now the USA."

Recommended Trump tells environmental agency to delete climate change from website

He also praised Mr Tilllerson's belief that climate change exists and that something should be done about it. He praised the new secretary of state's support for a carbon tax and said that it was "what is really needed to move the needle".

Elon Musk was initially an outspoken opponent of Mr Trump and his campaign. But when the billionaire and reality TV star became president he indicated an interest in working with him, attending his initial "tech summit" at Trump tower and a number of other meetings since, including at the White House.

In another tweet, Mr Musk suggested that he may have heard something in those meetings that gave him the impression Mr Tillerson may be a positive force.

In response to a Twitter user who questioned whether Mr Tillerson, who was boss of oil and gas giant ExxonMobile, actually believed in climate change, Mr Musk encouraged the idea that he should wait and see.

"I'm just saying that we should see what happens first," he wrote. "The actions may be surprising."
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The US Department of Defense has praised a soldier who came to the US as a refugee, as Donald Trump prepares to ban all of them from the country.

The department's official account posted the story of Corporal Ali J Mohammed, who serves in the US Marine Corps. "From refugee to Marine," the account wrote, praising the actions of a soldier who "takes the fight to the doorstep of those who cast his family out".

The post is in line with the kind of updates that tend to be done from the account. Except it was sent on the same day that Donald Trump intended to sign an order entirely banning refugees from the US, as part of measures he claimed were required for national security.

Trump Inauguration protests around the World Show all 14 1 /14 Trump Inauguration protests around the World Trump Inauguration protests around the World Activists from Greenpeace display a message reading "Mr President, walls divide. Build Bridges!" along the Berlin wall in Berlin on January 20, 2017 to coincide with the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United State Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World An activist holds up a sign at the "We Stand United" rally on the eve of US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration outside Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York on January 19, 2017 in New York Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Protesters burn a U.S. flag and a mock flag with pictures of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump outside the U.S. embassy in metro Manila, Philippines Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Filipino protestors hold placcards during a protest rally in front of the US embassy in Manila, Philippines, 20 January 2017. On the eve of President-elect Donald Trump's inaguration as the 45th president of the United States, Filipinos and Fil-Americans held a protest in front of the US embassy in Manila to denounce the incoming US president. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Hong Kong police officers and security guards look on as an anarchist protester belonging to the Disrupt J20 movement sits after using a heavy duty D-lock and motorcycle lock to chain himself to a railing at the entrance gate to the Consulate General of the United States of America in Hong Kong to protest the inauguration of United States President-elect Donald Trump, Hong Kong, China, 20 January 2017. Two activists were arrested and taken away by Hong Kong police during the demonstration. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World A banner is unfurled on London's Tower Bridge, organised by Bridges Not Walls - a partnership between grassroots activists and campaigners working on a range of issues, formed in the wake of Donald Trump's election, which aims to build bridges to a world free from hatred and oppression. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Protesters chain themselves to an entry point prior at the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Washington, DC, U.S. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Bridges Not Walls banner dropped from Molenbeek bridge in Brussels, Belgium, 20 January 2017, in an Greenpeace action part of protests Wolrd protest in solidarity with people in the US, the day Donald Trump sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World A woman holds an anti-U.S. President-elect Donald Trump placard during a rally in Tokyo, Japan, Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World A Palestinian protester holds a placard during a demonstration against the construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and against US President-elect Donald Trump, on January 20, 2017, near the settlement of Maale Adumim, east of Jerusalem Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Banners on North Bridge in Edinburgh as part of the Bridges Not Walls protest against US President Donald Trump on the day of his inauguration Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Russian artist Vasily Slonov (L) and his assistant carry a life-sized cutout, which is an artwork created by Slonov and titled "Siberian Inauguration", before its presentation on the occasion of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, in a street in Krasnoyarsk, Russia Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World A woman holds a banner during a march to thank outgoing President Barack Obama and reject US President-elect Donald Trump before his inauguration at a park in Tokyo, Japan, 20 January 2017. EPA Trump Inauguration protests around the World Palestinian demonstrators protesting this week against a promise by Donald Trump to re-locate the US embassy to Jerusalem Reuters

Corporal Mohammed moved to the US from Iraq. That is one of the seven countries that Mr Trump will ban from entering the country at all, which also includes Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Anyone from those countries will not be allowed to visit the US until more aggressive vetting procedures are in place. That is expected to take several months and will bring an end to much of the work the US has done in taking in refugees.

Recommended Trump expected to order Mexican border wall and ban refugees

In writing about Corporal Mohammed, the official Pentagon account linked out to a story that was posted on the official website of the Marines on 23 January. It tells the story of the soldier, who was born and raised in Baghdad until he was 16.

After receiving death threats for having supported the US in Iraq, Corporal Mohammed and his family were forced to move to the United States.

He decided in November 2014 to sign up to the US Marine Corps and as a result was deployed back to Iraq. He now works in part to translate communications between the Marines and the Department of Defense and members of the Iraqi military.

To be able to read, write and speak Arabic is normal to him, and for him to be a U.S. Marine and understand how we operate is just phenomenal, said Major Ryan Hunt, Corporal Mohammed's team leader, in the post on the Marine's website. Hes just a pleasure to work with and is a huge asset to this team. Hes had such a positive attitude and is very mature; sometimes I forget hes only 23 years old.

In the same post, Corporal Mohammed described how "America is my home, but Iraq is my homeland".

My biggest motivation right now is to help drive these extremist groups out of my home land, and being able to do that as a United States Marine is the most rewarding thing I could have asked for, he said in the article.
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Almost one in ten women experience pain when they have sex, a new study has found.

The survey of almost 7,000 British women, published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology found that 7.5 per cent of sexually active women between the ages of 16 and 74 reported painful sex lasting three months or more over the past year. A quarter of those women reported morbid painful sex occurring very often or always for six months.

The age groups who were most likely to be affected by the issue were women between the ages of 55 and 64, followed by younger women between the ages of 16 and 24.

The authors concluded that painful sex is reported by a sizeable minority of women in Britain and recommended health professionals look to holistic treatment which could take into account the context of the symptoms.

Love and sex news: in pictures Show all 31 1 /31 Love and sex news: in pictures Love and sex news: in pictures What makes a perfect penis? Scientists have now answered one of these great unknowns. According to a new study, general cosmetic appearance is the most important penile aspect when it comes to what women value down there. This is swiftly followed by the appearance of pubic hair, penile skin, and girth. Length comes in at number six, with the look of the scrotum trailing closely behind. The least important facet of the phallus, say the scientists, is the position and shape of meatus, the vertical slit at the opening of the urethra. Getty Love and sex news: in pictures Half of divorcees had doubts on their wedding day Over half of divorcees considered abandoning their husband or wife-to-be at the altar on their wedding day, a new study has revealed. On top of likely worrying about wedding favours and making sure guests behave on their big day, 49 per cent of divorcees admitted they were unsure before the ceremony that their marriage would last. Some 15 per cent of divorcees polled said they were so wracked with doubt that they felt physically sick in the run up to their wedding. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Love and sex news: in pictures Students who marry after studying the same subject Picking a university subject is already difficult enough for young people. But heres an extra piece of data to weigh on your decision: you may be picking a life partner as well. Dan Kopf of the blog, Priceonomics, analysed US Census data and found that the percentage of Americans who marry someone within their own major is actually fairly high. About half of Americans are married, according to the 2012 American Community Survey (part of the Census). And about 28 per cent of married couples over the age of 22 both graduated from college. (The survey didnt recognise same-sex marriages for the 2012 data, but it will for 2013 onwards, says Kopf). Sean Gallup/Getty Images Love and sex news: in pictures How much sex we have (and how much we'd like) As a nation, we dont have as much sex as we would like, a survey has (somewhat unsurprisingly) confirmed. In a poll of 1523 people by YouGov, 64 per cent of Britons said they would wish to have sex at least a few times a month. The same sample said that only 38 per cent had sex at least a few times a month. In addition, 10 per cent said they wished to have sex every day, a goal which only 1 per cent admitted reaching. Rex Love and sex news: in pictures The new female condom Picture an internal condom. The chances are youre thinking of something which resembles a carrier bag. However, this could all be about to change with the new VA w.o.w. Condom Feminine. Not only is it a wireless, Bluetooth enabled, vibrating interactive device, which comes available in the shape of a heart, but the manufacturers think youll love it more than not using a condom at all. Love and sex news: in pictures One in five Brits admit to having had an affair One in five British adults admits they have had an affair, according to a new poll. 20 per cent of male respondents and 19 per cent of female respondents admitted to having had an affair in a new poll of 1660 respondents by YouGov. Orlando /Three Lions/Getty Images Love and sex news: in pictures The UK's favourite sex position Casting aside the myth that Brits are a prudish bunch, a new survey has revealed that doggy style is the nations favourite sex position. As many as a quarter of UK adults surveyed said doggy style was their favourite way to indulge with a partner. Missionary, which is sometimes scoffed at the most boring position, was favoured by a fifth of the 1,000 people surveyed by high street sex shop Ann Summers, seeing it come in as third under "woman on top". Caiaimage/REX Love and sex news: in pictures Who's most likely to cheat? Men and women who are economically dependent on their spouses are more likely to cheat, a new study has revealed. Researchers have found that men who are solely financially dependent are more like to cheat than women, at 15 per cent and 5 per cent respectively. Men who are rely on their wives may cheat because they are undergoing a masculinity threat by not being the primary breadwinner as is culturally expected, said study author Christin L. Munsch, a UConn assistant professor of sociology. Eye Candy/REX Love and sex news: in pictures Jailed for loud sex noises A woman who breached a court order barring her from causing nuisance by making "loud sex noises" was sent to jail. Gemma Wale, of Small Heath, Birmingham, was given a two-week prison sentence after a civil court judge concluded that she had breached the order by "screaming and shouting whilst having sex" at a "level of noise" which annoyed a neighbour. Rex Features Love and sex news: in pictures Photo of wedding guest proposing to girlfriend in front of bride and groom goes viral When the staggering amount time, money, and effort that goes into to planning a wedding is considered, it seems pretty obvious that all guests have is to do is turn up with some gifts, and not upstage the couple. But this fact seems to have escaped one man, whose grinning face has gone viral after he decided to propose to his girlfriend in front of the bride and grooms top table. The photo, which has been viewed over 1.4 million times on Reddit, shows a boyfriend perched on one knee in front of his crying girlfriend. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Love and sex news: in pictures Sexual fantasies The results of a sex survey are busting the myth that Britons are sexually repressed, by revealing how the majority of women have lived out their sexual fantasies. As many as 81 per cent of women and 77 per cent of men have shared and acted out fantasies with a partner  with having sex in public topping the list of turn-ons. The study also laid bare the influence of TV and film on our desires, with three-quarters of couples saying they had inspired them. Meanwhile, a further three quarters of women and over half of men have played out a fantasy theyd found in a book. LEO RAMIREZ/AFP/Getty Images Love and sex news: in pictures The world's sexiest nationalities Irish men are the worlds sexiest, according to a survey of thousands of jet-setting women. In a poll of 66,000 of single American women who use MissTravel.com, as many as 8,000 said that Irish men are the sexiest. Around half of the females who took said they were turned on by Irish men said their accent influenced their choice, according to the Irish Times. ANDREW COWIE/AFP/Getty Images Love and sex news: in pictures More sex = happiness? Couples were asked to double the amount of sex they had each week over a three month period by researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University, who compared them to couples who had their normal amount of sex. Their findings, published in the Journal of Economic Behavior, went against advice given by the average self-help book  having more sex doesnt automatically make a person happier. Instead, couples who were instructed to have more sex reported a decrease in happiness levels. Mood Board/Rex Love and sex news: in pictures Most sexually satisfied countries It is often considered the most amorous nation on the planet, but France doesn't even feature in a new list of the most sexually satisfied countries. According to a Durex global survey of 26,000 people, aged 16 and older, across 26 countries, only 44 per cent of people are fully satisfied with their sex lives. In the wake of these results, AlterNet has compiled a list of the 12 most sexually satisfied countries, with Switzerland, Spain and Italy topping the list. INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images Love and sex news: in pictures Sex o'clock They say women are from Venus and men are from Mars  but a new sex survey suggests that members of the opposite sex seem to operate in different time zones too. While women like to get steamy between 11:21pm on average, men are more likely to be turned on at the rather inconvenient time of 7:54am. These times fall into the broader timeslots of 11pm and 2am for women, and 6am and 9am for men. PIERRE ANDRIEU/AFP/Getty Images Love and sex news: in pictures More sex = more money People who have more sex are likely to earn more, new research claims. The research, partly conducted from the responses of 7,500 people, found employees who have sex two or three times a week earn 4.5 per cent more than colleagues who do not. Rex Love and sex news: in pictures The effects of watching porn Contrary to suggestion that porn desensitises viewers to sex, a study has found that it doesn't "negatively impact sexual functioning" and in fact boosts couples' sexual attraction to one another. In research published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, scientists at the University of California tested the effects of visual sexual stimuli on men in relationships, finding that it "is unlikely to negatively impact sexual functioning, given that responses actually were stronger in those who viewed more VSS." Rex Love and sex news: in pictures 'I have herpes' A woman diagnosed with herpes at the age of 20 has written an emotional essay about living with the common condition to fight the stigma surrounding it. Ella Dawson, now 22, said she had never had unprotected sex and thought she wasn't the sort of person STDs happened to when the symptoms first appeared during her time at university in the US. She wrote that the diagnosis initially felt like a punishment for her values and relationships and worried her that telling boyfriends would ruin her love life. Ella Dawson Love and sex news: in pictures More sleep, better sex A new study could have a simple answer to enhancing your sex life  just get a good nights sleep (if you are a woman at least). A study conducted by a team at the University of Michigan Sleep and Circadian Research Laboratory found women who get an extra hour of sleep at night reported higher levels of sexual desire and were more likely to have sex with their partners. Getty Images Love and sex news: in pictures Swipe right A woman has detailed her experiences of a week of always swiping right on Tinder. 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Susannah Ireland Love and sex news: in pictures Pornhub searches by age of user Pornhubs prolific Insights blog fires out many reports of sociological interest, none more so than its latest on age, which lays bare different age groups' sexual proclivities. Looking at the most popular searches among 18-24s, there are several familial terms including 'step mom', 'milf', 'mom' and 'step sister', a trend that seems to die out somewhat in users' 30s. By 65, 'massage' becomes the top term, while 'granny' perhaps unsurprisingly also hits the top ten. PlaceIt/Just Another IKEA Catalog Love and sex news: in pictures Mature sex Research into the sexual lives of more than 7,000 men and women between the ages of 50 and 90 in England reveals that half of men and almost a third of women aged 70 and over were still sexually active, with around a third of these sexually active older people having sexual intercourse twice a month or more. Around two-thirds of men and over half of women thought good sexual relations were essential to the maintenance of a long-term relationship or being sexually active was physically and psychologically beneficial to older people. Getty Creative Love and sex news: in pictures The secret to an eighty year marriage Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that 42 per cent of marriages in England and Wales end in divorce, and the average British marriage which ends in divorce lasts 11 years and six months. Helen and Maurice Kaye, now aged 101 and 102, have been married for 80 years, and say the secret is: I think its important to have patience and tolerance. You're two entirely different people who suddenly live together, which can't be easy. But if you love each other, you get over the difficulties. Love and sex news: in pictures Valentine's Day porn Pornhub saw a (slight) drop in traffic on Valentine's Day as people focused on pleasuring their partners rather than themselves. 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Of the many women who reported painful sex, links were found with other issues around sexual health and wellbeing:

Lack of enjoyment in sex: 62 per cent of women who reported painful sex said they lacked interest in having sex and 40 per cent said they lacked enjoyment. Almost a quarter said they experienced no excitement or arousal during sex too.

Vaginal dryness: 45 per cent of women who reported painful sex said they had an uncomfortably dry vagina compared to 10 per cent of women who did not report painful sex but experienced the same condition.

Mental health: Links were found between the women experiencing pain during sex and mental health issues. A fifth of women who had painful sex said they felt anxious during sex, compared to only 4 per cent of women who had no pain. Additionally, 11 per cent of women who reported painful sex said they were experiencing depression.

Poor health: Physical health was also an issue when it came to women who experienced pain, 13 per cent reported their physical health status to be bad or very bad and 11 per cent said they suffered more than two chronic conditions.

Sexually transmitted infections: Of the women who experienced painful sex, 13 per cent had reported having an STI over the past five years.

Emotional connection: 13 per cent of women experiencing pain during sex said they did not feel emotionally close to their partner during sex. Eight per cent of women who had pain also said they found it difficult to talk about sex with their partner.

History of sexual abuse: 14 per cent of women who had sex said they had experienced non-volitional sex. Researchers noted they found a link with sex against ones will after the age of 13, suggesting that non-volitional sex in adolescence and adulthood is also important.

Menopause: Almost ten per cent were menopausal.

Just under a third of women who reported painful sex said they were dissatisfied with their sex life compared with 10 per cent of women who said the same but did not experience pain. Almost half (44.9 per cent) of women who had experienced painful sex were also more likely to have avoided sex over the past year. The study found no link between the amount of times women had sex and those who reported pain.

The study found no relationship between general happiness in the relationship and sex but strong associations with sexual aspects of the relationship including different levels of interest in sex, the lack of an emotional connection and not sharing the same sexual likes and dislikes.

The researchers suggested that health professionals should take into account the womans history and relationship context if a patient reports painful sex.

Co-author Dr Kirstin Mitchell from the University of Glasgow told The Independent there is a tendency of health professionals to just focus on the presentation of pain and find an underlying cause, while sometimes health reasons like endometriosis or STIs will be a reason for painful sex, when this is not the case health professionals should delve further.

Sometimes women may want to discuss the impact on their relationship, how its causing them anxiety, what they can do within the relationship to improve it, for example couples being assisted on having enjoyable sexual activity without doing what causes the pain that could bring relief to the patient. So it is important for health professionals to be aware of the context, she said.

She also noted that they found a low proportion of women affected by the issue sought help, which could be because they are not sure where to go, how their doctor could help them or they think they have found some sort of solution like having less sex or abstaining. Dr Mitchell also suggested embarrassment could be a reason.

For the younger group of women who reported the second highest levels of pain during sex, Dr Mitchell suggested this could be weaved into sex education, particularly around the issues of young women feeling like they can tell their partner what they like or do not like or reach a point where they feel comfortable discussing if they experience pain with their sex

In terms of prevention, this could be addressed in sex education in school , for example the importance of being able to talk about what you like and dont like, for young women not to go into their sex lives feeling that painful sex is something they have to accept. Younger age groups could also have difficulties becoming aroused or they feel anxious which could be a sign they are not ready or are in a relationship where they do not yet feel comfortable or trusting  all of these issues could be addressed in sex education.

Of course, with younger age groups, some of it may be due to experimental . You learn what you like and dislike as you get older and older people have had time to figure out what they want.
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Gary Cohns jump from Goldman Sachs to Donald Trumps administration is helping him unlock more than $284m (227m) in bonuses, shares and other investments through the Wall Street bank.

Cohn is selling his Goldman stock as it trades near a record high on speculation Mr Trumps policies  on which he will advise  will be a boon for the bank.

In an attempt to assuage conflicts of interest as Mr Trumps top economic advisor, the bank is letting its former president immediately collect about $65m in cash and stock tied to its future performance.

Recommended Goldman Sachs and Citigroup toast Donald Trump profits windfall

Thats on top of roughly $220m of Goldman equity he already held or was awaiting, as well as stakes in company-run investment funds, according to regulatory filings on Tuesday. He must liquidate the holdings to take his new post.

Diversifying his holdings will lower his risk for major losses if the firm stumbles in years ahead. That turned out to be an advantage for former chief executive Henry Paulson, who sold off his stock in the bank to become US Treasury Secretary in 2006 just before the global financial crisis.

Fortuitously, all of this divestiture happens as stock in Goldman Sachs hovers near a multi-year high, said Frank Glassner, chief executive of Veritas Executive Compensation Consultants. But its not like hes jumping out of an airplane thats headed down. And being forced to quickly sell stakes in Goldmans buyout and hedge funds probably means Cohn is stepping out of that stuff at a discount, he said.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled  leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

Cohn was already free to sell some of the stock holdings before his career change, but a large disposal would have been awkward, because investors may have viewed it as signalling a lack of confidence in the companys future, Glassner said.

Cohn will also be able to defer significant taxes as he sells, assuming he puts the proceeds into government securities or certain mutual funds. The extent of that benefit will become clearer when authorities release his financial disclosures for joining the government. He didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bloomberg
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The author of an influential piece of economic research frequently heralded by leading Brexiteers as evidence that immigration from the European Union undermines native British wages has stressed that the negative impact is infinitesimally small and that his findings had been widely misrepresented.

In the EU referendum campaign last June Iain Duncan Smith cited research by Sir Stephen Nickell and Jumana Saleheen to argue, wrongly, that workers average wages are 10 per cent lower thanks to EU immigration over the past decade.

The same claim was repeated by two senior figures in the Vote Leave campaign, Boris Johnson and Gisela Stuart.

Sir Stephens research, originally published in December 2015, is still cited by Brexiteers when asked to provide evidence that immigration has had a negative effect on natives living standards.

The work is thought to have been behind the claim from Theresa May at the Tory party conference in October where the Prime Minister asserted that I know a lot of people dont like to admit this [but to] someone who finds themselves out of work or on lower wages because of low-skilled immigration life simply doesnt seem fair.

Yet the 10 per cent claim was based on a significant misunderstanding of the researchs findings.

As the immigration expert Jonathan Portes has pointed out, the actual results suggested only a 1 per cent fall in the wages of low-skilled workers due to immigration  and this impact was spread over a period of eight years.

There was no negative impact found from immigration on the wages of skilled workers and professionals.

And in an interview with The Independent Sir Stephen has confirmed that Brexiteers grossly misrepresented his findings.

Its very small, he said of the wage impact.

They [low-skilled workers] lose out by an infinitesimally small amount.

Sir Stephen was until December a senior official at the Office for Budget Responsibility, the Treasurys official forecaster, and says that he wasnt allowed to get cross about the public bowdlerisation of his research findings by the Brexit camp and anti-immigration commentators.

He adds that his co-author Ms Saleheen, who works at the Bank of England, has also been unable to speak out publicly to correct misleading statements.

The Brexit vote has been interpreted by the Government as an overwhelming mandate to end freedom of movement for EU workers to come to the UK.

In a speech last week Ms May confirmed the UK will be leaving the single market  something economists almost unaminously argue will damage the British economy in the long run  since the rest of the EU has made it clear that it will not compromise on the principle of freedom of movement, one of its original four freedoms in the Brexit negotiations expected to begin in March.

Asked if he was concerned that ministers might continue to misrepresent his research to justify cuts to immigration in the wake of Brexit, Sir Stephen suggested there would probably be constraints imposed by the civil service.

Recommended The left is playing a dangerous game over immigration

They wont be able to misrepresent the data, our research findings, because when they introduce this policy the civil servants will produce a document that will say what the consequences are, an impact assessment. Itll have to be right, he said.

He also said the Governments own Migration Advisory Council would act as a check on ministers.

The MAC has also done work on similar lines [to our research on wages]. Theyll take the information theyve got  not just mine, he said.

According to the Office for National Statistics there are 2.35 million EU workers in the UK labour force, up from around 730,000 in 2001.

Research by the Resolution Foundation think tank last year suggested that any downward impact of increased immigration on native wages over the past seven years in some sectors has been dwarfed by the overall general pay squeeze on all workers since the global financial crisis.
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Spains Banco Santander posted a 4 per cent rise in 2016 profit on Wednesday, thanks to a robust performance in its Brazilian business offsetting lacklustre figures out of Britain.

The bank said that profit in the UK, its second biggest market, slumped by 14.7 per cent in the year, hit by the introduction of an 8 per cent bank corporation tax surcharge and the falling pound since the UKs referendum on European Union membership in June.

In sharp contrast, the groups profit in Brazil increased by 9.5 per cent despite what Santander described as a backdrop of a complex macroeconomic environment.

Overall, net profit for the full year across all regions was 6.2bn, narrowly beating the average analyst estimate in a Thomson Reuters poll.

Going forward, we have many opportunities for profitable growth in Europe and the Americas, in an environment we anticipate will be volatile but generally better than 2016, Ana Botin, the banks executive chairman, said in a statement.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled  leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

The banks so-called common equity tier 1 ratio, a metric closely watched by regulators, increased by 50 basis points in the year to 10.55 per cent.

Santander also reiterated its outlook for next year and said that it aims to raise that ratio to 11 per cent.
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British universities are already losing out on vital research as a result of Brexit, a leading advisor has warned, with universities reporting that academics are already pulling out of research bids as a consequence.

Dr Jo Beall, Director of Education and Society for the British Council, said the Government must take action immediately into securing the future of university research, or risk irrevocable damage to industry reputation.

Her comments were given alongside evidence presented to the Education Select Committee as part of an inquiry into the impact of Brexit on higher education.

Speaking on the panel with Dr Beall, representatives from the University and College Union, the Erasmus scheme, Universities UK and London Economics voiced fears over the future of university funding and said detailed reassurance was needed for EU students and staff living and working in the UK.

Sally Hunt, General Secretary of the University and College Union, which represents academics from thousands of universities across the UK, said the Prime Ministers speech on Brexit negotiations had left many issues concerning the sector unclear.

The sector feels, alongside many others, that those who are from the EU feel a sense of being unwelcome, she added. Thats something that the Prime Ministers speech did not address.

Our EU national members feel very strongly that they are having to look elsewhere for long-term employment, she said.

The hearing at University College London on Wednesday was the second evidence session to be held by the committee, following months of concern from top academics and education leaders over the practicalities of Britains departure from the EU.

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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 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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

Appearing in front of the committee in Oxford earlier this month, Alistair Fitt, vice-chancellor of Oxford Brookes University, told committee members that Brexit would probably be the biggest disaster for the university sector in many years.

Vice-chancellors had previously complained that reassurances were yet to be made from the Government over the future of funding for university research, as much of this comes from the EU.

It was also said that early indications show the number of prospective EU students choosing to study in the UK might fall as a result of Brexit  a loss that could cost the UK economy more than 690m per year.

Applications from across the European Union have already dropped by 14 per cent at Cambridge University for undergraduate courses alone, MPs were told.

Speaking on Wednesday, industry members said Theresa Mays speech had done little to address these issues, leaving millions of university staff and students in the dark.

Last week the Prime Minister indicated that she wanted EU nationals to have the right to remain in Britain, but gave no guarantee.

Speaking on Wednesday, industry members said her speech had done little to address the industrys concerns, leaving millions of university staff and students in the dark.

 Theresa May pledges white paper on Brexit strategy

Sally Hunt said that instead of trying to pass the responsibility onto other countries yet to offer reciprocal deals, the Prime Minister should "act now to reassure the thousands of EU staff working in UK universities that they will be able to remain in the country".

Panel members also discussed the threatened future of the Erasmus scheme, which is funded primarily by the EU and allows access for students to study abroad as part of their degree course.

Ms Hunt said: It will make the study of languages in the UK almost redundant if we cant have Erasmus.

Referring to the Prime Ministers vision of a truly global Britain, Rosie Birchard, of Erasmus Student Network UK, said there was a "distinct contradiction between the aspirations of a global Britain and what those actions will be.

Dr Beall added that if UK wanted to be successful globally, students will need to speak and have access to other languages".

The advisor added that any alternative model would cost the Government substantially more, and would not necessarily guarantee students of all backgrounds the access to studying abroad that the Erasmus scheme does.

With Erasmus, we get a lot of bang for our buck, she said.

Written evidence published by the House of Commons Education Committee in recent weeks highlighted concerns from 190 individual groups within the sector, following an inquiry into the impact of Brexit.

Cambridge Universitys submission warned that Brexit could push the reputation of UK universities off a cliff edge, leading to serious repercussions should academics be denied free movement and required to apply for visas.

EU citizens from outside the UK currently make up around five per cent of students, accounting for almost a quarter of maths students at Russell Group universities and more than 20 per cent of academic staff overall.

Students from other EU countries are estimated to have contributed 2.7bn to the British economy, along with 19,000 extra jobs.
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Pollution levels in London were worse than in Beijing at points this week.

The air in the Chinese capital is notoriously contaminated, but on Monday readings from the Air Quality Index showed particulate matter was concentrated at 197 micrograms per cubic metre in London, and 190 in Beijing.

It's the first time London has pushed higher than Beijing on this key measure, according to the Telegraph, though nitrogen dioxide levels did spike higher in 2014.

London smog: Then and now Show all 18 1 /18 London smog: Then and now London smog: Then and now London A London policeman wearing a mask for protection against the thick fog which hit most of the country and turned to smog in the city London smog: Then and now London A cyclist wears a mask with an air filter as he cycles through Hyde Park London smog: Then and now pollution-UK-2.jpg Heavy smog in Piccadilly Circus, London, 1952 London smog: Then and now London The Shard and St Paul's Cathedral from Hampstead Heath in London London smog: Then and now London A couple of office workers wearing masks to protect them from the dangerous smog in London, 1953 London smog: Then and now London A cyclist wears an anti air pollution mask as she cycles along The Mall London smog: Then and now London A London bus makes its way along Fleet Street in heavy smog,1952 London smog: Then and now London A view of London skyline covered in smog.The environment department confirmed that the air pollution level could reach the top rung on its 10-point scale London smog: Then and now London Morning traffic at Blackfriars, London almost at a standstill because of the blanket smog,1952 London smog: Then and now London Dust settled on a vehicle in South Kensington, which has blown up from the Sahara desert London smog: Then and now London A tugboat on the Thames near Tower Bridge in heavy smog, 1952 London smog: Then and now London A view of the Tower Bridge as the country continues to experience 'very high' levels of pollution London smog: Then and now London A couple wearing masks to protect them from the smog in Blackfriars,1954 London smog: Then and now London Tourists wear face masks London smog: Then and now London A woman wears mask in London, 1953 London smog: Then and now London A woman wearing an anti-pollution mask rides a bicycle at Hyde Park Corner London smog: Then and now London Smog masks have become all the rage in London due to the life threatening levels of air pollution with result in severe smog or 'pea soupers', 1953 London smog: Then and now London A couple stands on the viewing platform of a skyscraper

As the English capital was choked by smog, pollution levels were particularly acute in the City, Westminster, Kensington and Camden.

Particulate levels in London have returned to a maximum of 108 in Kingston-upon-Thames, and around 100 in the centre of the city, while rates in Beijing have surged back towards the 300 mark.

These figures refer to PM2.5, or fine particles of dust smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. They're produced by all types of combustion, from power plants and industrial processes to motor vehicles and residential wood burning.

Almost three years since the nation 'declared war' on pollution, stretches of China remain plagued by smog (Reuters)

This week, certain areas of London were put on 'black' alert, the highest pollution warning level. In a tweet, Mayor Sadiq Khan said: The shameful state of Londons toxic air today has triggered a very high air pollution alert under my new air quality warning system.

The weather at the moment is still and cold, meaning pollutants are not being dispersed. Last week, a cloud of toxic air produced by factories in Germany moved over London, combining with vehicular pollution from London's congested roads.

Recommended Toxic air alert in London as pollution hits top level for first time

A text message warning from City Hall sent to people in affected boroughs read: High air pollution forecast for Thursday. Consider spending less time outdoors, take medication. If unwell contact GP.

Underground station, bus stop and river pier signs all broadcast warning messages to commuters, while road-side display boards warned drivers to cut their engines when stuck in traffic to reduce emissions.

High levels of pollution have also been recorded in South Wales and elsewhere across the UK.
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A Royal Navy warship is escorting a Russian aircraft carrier and support ships as they pass through the English Channel.

The Portsmouth-based Type 23 frigate HMS St Albans is keeping watch on the Admiral Kuznetsov carrier, which is being accompanied by the Petr Velikiy battlecruiser and a salvage tug as it passes close to UK territorial waters on its way home from operations in war-worn Syria.

Defence secretary Michael Fallon said: "We will keep a close eye on the Admiral Kuznetsov as it skulks back to Russia; a ship of shame whose mission has only extended the suffering of the Syrian people.

"We are man-marking these vessels every step of the way around the UK as part of our steadfast commitment to keep Britain safe."

 Russian warships move through English Channel under Royal Navy watch

HMS St Albans, equipped with a Merlin helicopter and state-of-the-art radar, is working alongside RAF Typhoon aircraft to monitor the ship in order to "provide reassurance to the nations which border the North Sea and English Channel", according to a Navy spokesman.

He added: "Remaining at a respectful distance, but keeping the Russian warships clearly visible, Royal Navy sailors keep watch on every movement through their binoculars and use state-of-the-art radars to track the course and speed of the ships as they pass close to the UK."

Commander Chris Ansell, the commanding officer of HMS St Albans, said: "This tasking demonstrates the Royal Navy's commitment to protecting our home waters and readiness to undertake short notice operations.

"The movements of the Russian ships are being continually monitored in a co-ordinated response between the Royal Navy, RAF and our Nato partners.

In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis

"As an island nation, the security of the seas around our coastline is vital and this sort of task is routine business for HMS St Albans and the Royal Navy, which stands ready at all times to protect UK territorial waters.

"My ship's company of 190 sailors take great pride in the role they play as one of the UK's on-call warships to deal with this type of situation."

The Kuznetsov carrier group previously passed through the Channel last autumn on its way to the Mediterranean and was escorted by Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan and Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond.

Press Association
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Claims that there were four unreported Trident missile test failures in 2015 have been denied by the Ministry of Defence.

William McNeilly, a former Royal Navy submarine weapons engineer published a dossier in which he said that he had witnessed three failed Missile Compensating Tests and a one Battle Readiness Test over the course of that year.

There were failures during end-of-patrol shakedown tests which are designed to determine whether the weapons system is capable of performing a successful launch, his report said.

The test showed that the missile compensation system wouldnt have compensated for the changes in weight of the submarine during missile launches," the dossier, which appeared on whistelblowing website WikiLeaks, added.

This meant "the missiles wouldve been launched on an unstable platform, if they decided to launch", it said.

It added that a BRT "was cancelled due to the main hydraulic system containing mostly seawater instead of actual hydraulic oil.

Mr McNielly, who was discharged from the Navy in June 2015, has accused the government of endangering the public and spending billions upon billions of taxpayers money for a system so broken it cant even do the tests that prove it works.

But the MoD spokesperson called his claims were un-credible and denied there had been four tests while he was in service.

They said: McNeillys claims, from his brief serving time before being discharged, have proved to be factually incorrect, demonstrate a lack of understanding or drew on historic, previously known, events. We have absolute confidence in the nuclear deterrent.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The news came shortly after Theresa May faced questions over a Trident misfire last year. Downing Street has been accused of covering up the incident which occurred just a month before a crucial parliamentary vote.

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.

The US government apparently asked the news of the misfire be swept under the carpet to avoid embarrassment for both sides.
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The chance that Angela Merkel could be ousted as German chancellor half-way through Brexit negotiations has increased after a heavyweight social democrat moved to take charge of the countrys main opposition party.

Polls suggest Martin Schulz, who served as president of the European Parliament until last week, would dramatically close the gap between the centre-left SPD and Ms Merkels centre-right CDU if he takes the helm ahead of elections to the Bundestag.

Mr Schulz has publicly presented a more hard-line approach again Britain and Brexit than Ms Merkel, having accused top Tories of having left rubble behind them in a bid to fuel their personal ambitions. He has also said that Brussels would need to defend the interests of its citizens, just as the UK will do.

 Angela Merkel's senior economic adviser says May's Brexit plan is impossible

Room was made for Mr Schulz at the top of the SPD after current leader Sigmar Gabriel said he would not continue in post ahead of the federal elections scheduled for September.

A poll by ARD published at the end of last year found that Mr Schulz would likely give his partys fortunes a bounce. In a forced choice between Ms Merkel and Mr Gabriel Ms Merkel polled 57 per cent to 19 per cent. With Mr Schulz in charge the gap closes to 43 per cent for Ms Merkel and 36 per cent for Mr Schulz.

The SPD does not necessarily need to poll more than the CDU to oust Ms Merkel as it has a wider potential choice of allies to form a coalition government in the Bundestag. Ms Merkels main potential partner is the struggling liberal FDP, while the SPD could team up with the Greens and left-wing Die Linke.

Matters are further complicated by the rise of the right-wing Alternative for Germany, which has mostly eaten into CDU support in recent years, though the SPD has also seen its poll share fall.

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

Ms Merkel has dominated German politics since the noughties, with her party barely falling below first place in the polls while she has led it. She confirmed in recent months that she would indeed lead her party into the next federal elections and her presence leading Germany during the Brexit process was until now considered a given by most observers.

The Chancellor has survived in part by adopting the policies of her opponents whenever they appear to be on the verge of finding a chink in her armour  posing the possibility that she might adopt Mr Schulzs more hardline anti-Brexit approach.

The German federal elections come five months after France picks its new President. The final round of that contest is likely to be between a centre-right candidate and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
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Theresa May refused to guarantee she will not water down food standards or open up the NHS to US firms in a trade deal with Donald Trump.

The Prime Minister faced repeated questions about how much she is prepared to give away, ahead of her face-to-face talks with the President later this week.

Jeremy Corbyn urged her to rule out any deal that would give US healthcare giants a toehold in the NHS  after similar concerns over an aborted EU-US agreement.

And the SNP raised fears that such a deal will open the door to British supermarkets being stocked with meat produced in unhygienic ways currently outlawed across the EU.

The price of freer transatlantic trade will include the sale of chickens washed with chemicals  a practice in the US  critics say.

In further evidence of growing worries at Westminster over a headlong rush to get close to Mr Trump, a Tory MP demanded a guarantee the UK will not facilitate torture.

And Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, urged her to take along British scientists who could convince the President that climate change is not a hoax invented by the Chinese.

In reply, Ms May said her government was very clear we dont sanction torture  and made clear she hoped Mr Trump will not walk away from the Paris agreement to cut carbon emissions.

However, she declined to discuss details of her hopes for trade from her trip to Washington, instead saying they were to increase prosperity and bring growth.

Mr Corbyn warned of a blank cheque to President Trump, telling MPs: Many have concerns that, in your forthcoming meeting with President Trump, you will be prepared to offer up, for sacrifice, the opportunity of American companies to come in and take over parts of our NHS or our public services.

Will you assure the House that, in any trade deal, none of those things will be offered up as a bargaining chip?

Angus Robertson, the SNP leader at Westminster, said: They want to export genetically modified organisms, beef raised with growth hormones and chicken meat washed with chlorinated water.

Will the Prime Minister tell President Trump that she is not prepared to lower our food and safety standards?

But Ms May, in reply to the Labour leader, said her early meeting was evidence of the bond between the two countries, a special relationship on which he and I intend to build.

And, she told Mr Robertson: It is very simple  we want to achieve an arrangement that ensures the interests of the United Kingdom are there and are put first.

She did add: I can ensure the right honourable gentleman that, in doing that, we will put UK interests and UK values first.

Nick Clegg said Joe Biden, the former US Vice President, told him the US would not agree to anything that the chicken farmers of Delaware dont like.

Those farmers use chemical washes  to make up for inadequate hygiene at farms and abattoirs, food experts protest.

In contrast, the EU uses a so-called farm to fork approach, requiring steps all along the production chain to ensure the food sold is safe.
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Theresa May has pledged to release a Brexit "white paper" to spell out the Government's plans for Britain outside the EU.

Ms May was responding to calls by potential Conservative rebels and Labour to give more detail on what she wanted the UK to look like after it left the EU.

"I have been clear, as have senior ministers, that we will ensure that Parliament has every opportunity to provide that scrutiny on this issue as we go through this process," she told the House of Commons at Prime Minister's Questions.

"I set out that bold plan for a global Britain last week and I recognise there is an appetite in this House to see that plan set out in a white paper  I can confirm that our plan will be set out in a white paper published in this House."

Ms May would not say when the white paper would be published when she was asked by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The Prime Minister has pledged to trigger Article 50 by the end of March, starting the negotiating process.

The Government has previously said explaining its negotiating position to MPs in detail would put it at a disadvantage.

Rumours of a rebellion by pro-EU Conservative MPs and calls by Labour for a white paper however appear to have pushed the Government to take further action.

Issues still to be established include the nature of any new immigration controls and the extent of free trade with the EU and other trading blocs.

Ms May gave a broad outline of her approach in a speech last week. She ruled out single market membership and retention of the European Court of Justice.

The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that MPs must be given a vote in order to trigger Article 50. A bill is expected to be introduced by the Government as early as this week.

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

Keir Starmer , Labours Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, commenting on the Governments announcement that they will publish a White Paper, said:

This is a significant and welcome U-turn from the Prime Minister.

Labour has repeatedly called for the Government to publish a plan for Brexit before Article 50 is triggered and we made clear Labour would table amendments on this to the Article 50 Bill.

This U-turn comes just 24 hours after David Davis seemed to rule out a White Paper, and failed to answer repeated questions from MPs on all sides of the House.

The Prime Minister now needs to confirm that this White Paper will be published in time to inform the Article 50 process, and that it will clear up the inconsistencies, gaps and risks outlined in her speech.
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British citizens may lose their right to free or subsidised medical treatment when they visit the EU after Brexit, the Health Secretary has admitted.

Jeremy Hunt told MPs he could give no guarantees that the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) will survive EU withdrawal.

Giving evidence to a Commons committee, Mr Hunt agreed that the card was a very positive thing but warned any decision on its future must await the final Brexit deal.

The Department of Health would be closely involved in deciding priorities for those talks, but the Government as a whole would decide its red lines, he said.

Heidi Alexander, a former Labour health spokeswoman, described the cards as one of the most tangible benefits from EU membership.

She raised the prospect of the Government having to strike different agreements with the 27 other EU members to deliver the same benefits.

Mr Hunt replied: I hope not, because  as we have made clear  what we seek is the closest possible arrangement, partnership with other countries of the European Union, on the basis of co-operation.

Its perfectly possible to agree the continuation of reciprocal healthcare rights as they currently exist  but its not possible to predict the outcome of the negotiations.

His admission comes after Theresa May acknowledged British citizens may have to pay to visit the EU after Brexit under a planned visa-waiver scheme.

An EHIC gives British citizens the right to state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in another EU or European Economic Area (EEA) country.

It covers treatment that is medically necessary on the same basis as enjoyed by a resident of that country, so either free or at a reduced cost.

Pre-existing medical conditions and routine maternity care are also covered, provided someone has not travelled specifically to give birth or seek treatment.

Without the cards, it is feared that the cost of travel insurance will rise as insurers find themselves liable for medical treatment that is currently free of charge.

Figures released last year suggested UK travellers in Europe had saved around 1.2bn since the EHIC scheme began in 2006. Around 30m cards are currently in circulation.

Mr Hunt also came under fire for suggesting the European Medicines Agency is likely to move its office from London to elsewhere in Europe.

MPs were told the UK would seek a relationship with the EMA after Brexit, but the Health Secretary did not say if the Government would seek continued membership.

Norman Lamb, the Lib Dems health spokesperson and a supporter of the pro-EU Open Britain campaign, said: If true, this would mean 900 high quality British jobs being lost  a real blow.

Withdrawing from the EMA altogether could cause significant problems for the pharmaceutical industry and our NHS.

Drugs companies would find themselves tangled up in red tape, making treatments more expensive for our NHS and for patients. It could also delay access to new drugs in the UK.
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The Home Office has obtained the personal data of thousands of NHS patients as part of a Government crackdown on illegal immigration.

Details of an agreement between the health service and the Home Office allowing requests for information on suspected immigration offenders has been made public for the first time.

Non-clinical details that can be sought from NHS Digital include names, dates of birth and the individual's last known address.

Between September and November, the Home Office made 2,224 requests. In 1,659 instances details were traced, in 516 there was no trace, while 69 requests were turned down.

This represents a threefold rise in requests since 2014 amid Government attempts led by Theresa May to toughen immigration policy, reported The Guardian.

The practice has been called unacceptable by Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott.

We have already seen this Government using schools to gather immigration data on children. Now we find they are using the NHS in the same way, she said.

Brexit racism and the fightback Show all 9 1 /9 Brexit racism and the fightback Brexit racism and the fightback Demonstrators protest against an increase in post-ref racism at London's March for Europe in July 2016 PA Brexit racism and the fightback These cards were found near a school in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, the day after the EU referendum Twitter/@howgilb Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback Romford, Essex, June 25 @diamondgeezer Brexit racism and the fightback A worker at this Romanian food shop was asleep upstairs at the time of this arson attack in Norwich on July 8, but escaped unharmed. Hundreds later participated in a love bombing rally outside the shop to express their opposition to racism and their support of the shop owners. JustGiving/Helen Linehan Brexit racism and the fightback This neo-Nazi sticker was spotted in Glasgow on June 26 Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback But after news emerged of neo-Nazi stickers appearing in Glasgow, some in the city struck back with slogans of their own. Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback More signs began to appear in some parts of the UK, created by people who wanted to show their opposition to post-referendum racism Courtesy of Bernadette Russell

Other public services should not be expected to cover for this Tory Government's cuts to the border agency.

Information may be requested in relation to those who have failed to comply with reporting restrictions, absconded from immigration control, escaped from detention, exceeded their time limit to stay in the UK or sought to obtain leave to remain by deception.

The memo states that the Home Office can only request information in cases where the person in question is not in contact with authorities and other reasonable and appropriate efforts to locate them have failed.

It says NHS Digital retains the right to seek more information if necessary, adding: Without limitation, NHS Digital may refuse a request for information from the Home Office if it is not satisfied that the request is in the public interest.

A Government spokesman said: We share limited information between health agencies and the Home Office to trace immigration offenders and vulnerable people, and prevent those without the right to access benefits and services doing so at the expense of the UK taxpayer.

Access to this information is strictly controlled, with strong legal safeguards.

No clinical information is shared, and before anything at all is shared, there has to be a legal basis to do so.

Additional reporting from Press Association
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Jeremy Corbyn has been criticised for offering his condolences to the family of a 'murdered' police office in Belfast, despite the fact that the man has not died.

The Labour leader paid the tribute to the police officer who was shot by paramilitaries on Sunday in North Belfast. However, despite Mr Corbyn expressing his sorrow that the man "lost his life", the officer did not die in the incident and is in a stable condition in hospital.

The police officer was shot in the arm and taken to hospital to receive treatment for his injuries. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Police Service For Northern Ireland said he was wearing protective body armour during the attack and is "recovering well".

The error is thought to fuel criticism from critics that Labour have a poor grasp of the current political crisis in Northern Ireland.

He made the comments while he was speaking at Prime Minister's Questions.

Following the error Nigel Dodds, MP for North Belfast, the constituency in which the officer was shot, stood up in the House of Commons and told fellow MPs, "actually he's still alive". The Democratic Unionist Party politician, added that he wished the officer a speedy recovery.

Ulster Unionist MP Tom Elliot tweeted that the gaffe showed "very poor knowledge or briefing" of current events in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland is currently facing major instability after power-sharing collapsed last week when Sinn Fein withdrew from the executive. A snap election has been called for 2 March in the hopes of electing a new government who are willing to return to Stormont and revive the institutions.

The shooting in North Belfast is thought to be the first time in eight years that a police officer has been shot in Northern Ireland. Politicians from across the divide have condemned the action and appealed for calm.
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The number of people sleeping rough on the streets has risen by 16 per in a single year, the latest Government figures show.

4,134 people slept rough across England on any given night in 2016, up from 3,569 in 2015, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Charities and opposition parties branded the new statsappalling and a national scandal while the Government said it was piloting new legislation to address the problem.

Recommended Squatters turn Oxford University building into homeless shelter

A breakdown of the figures also paints a worrying picture, showing that the number of rough sleepers with mental health support needs has tripled over the last five years.

Rough sleeping charity Crisis said that sleeping on the streets was no way for anyone to live and called for urgent action from ministers.

The number of people sleeping on our streets continues to rise at an appalling rate. Behind these statistics are thousands of desperate people, sleeping in doorways, bin shelters, stations and parks  anywhere they can find to stay safe and escape the elements, chief executive Jon Sparkes said.

Rough sleeping ruins lives, leaving people vulnerable to violence and abuse, and taking a dreadful toll on their mental and physical health. Our recent research has shown how rough sleepers are 17 times more likely to be victims of violence. This is no way for anyone to live.

St Mungo's chief executive Howard Sinclair called for "a truly cross government strategy to tackle the national scandal of rough sleeping", adding that it was "not inevitable". Graeme Brown, interim chief executive of Shelter, said rough sleeping was only the "tip of the iceberg" and that many thousands more were homeless and living in emergency hostels or on sofas.

The lack of affordable homes coupled with cuts to welfare have led us to this tragic situation. Until the government provides more homes that people on low incomes can actually afford to live in, the problem will only get worse," he said.

Labours shadow housing minister John Healey said the figures were a direct result of Government policies on housing investment and benefit cuts.

It is a national scandal that in England in the 21st century the number of people forced to sleep rough on our streets is spiralling upwards  and this is only the tip of the iceberg, he said.

These figures are a terrible reminder of the consequences of Conservative Ministers seven years of failure on housing.

The number of people sleeping rough fell under Labour but has more than doubled since 2010, and has risen every year under the Conservatives.

This is a direct result of decisions made by Conservative Ministers: a steep drop in investment for affordable homes, crude cuts to housing benefit, reduced funding for homelessness services, and a refusal to help private renters.

Ministers long-promised housing white paper will fall at the first hurdle if it does not set out how they will end the national shame of rough sleeping, as Labour has committed to do.

The party said last month it would double the number of homes allocated to a previously successful rough sleeping if it took power. The Government has meanwhile taken a different approach, committing itself to giving local authorities a new duty to house people in danger of losing their homes. That legislation, contained in the Homelessness Reduction Bill, was championed by backbench Tory MP Bob Blackman and is currently subject to amendment and scrutiny.

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The Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron said the stats were an utter disgrace in twenty first century Britain. He said Britain was a rich country and could afford to house people.

A spokesperson for the Department for Communities and Local Government said it was updating legislation to prevent rough sleeping.

This Government is determined to help the most vulnerable in society, which is why we're investing 550million to 2020 to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, he said.

Homelessness is more than just a housing issue so we are now funding projects in 225 local authorities to help those people at risk of becoming homeless, already sleeping rough or those with complex needs, to get back on their feet.

We are going even further and changing the law by backing Bob Blackman MP's Bill. This will mean that people across the country get the help they need to avoid becoming homeless in the first place.
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Britains top judges have ruled that Theresa May must seek Parliaments approval to trigger Article 50 and kick-start the Brexit process.

In one of the most important legal cases in British history, eight of the 11 Supreme Court justices upheld the High Courts decision  meaning MPs will be given a vote before the UK can formally declare its intention to leave the EU.

While the judges have been berated by Leave supporters, Gina Miller, the campaigner who instigated the legal challenge, hailed the ruling as a triumph for democracy and said it showed Parliament alone is sovereign.

Lord Chancellor Liz Truss has described the UKs most senior lawyers as people of integrity and impartiality. But who are the eight judges who may have just thrown a spanner in the works of the Governments Brexit plan?

Lord Neuberger

Lord Neuberger (Supreme Court)

David Neuberger has been President of the Supreme Court since 2012.

The 69-year-old Londoner is from a medical family: his father was a chemical pathology professor and all three of his brothers are or were in academia  one is a professor of medicine and another was a professor of molecular immunology. He studied Chemistry at Oxford University.

He is a patron of Mental Health UK and has previously been chair of the Schizophrenia Trust.

Lord Neuberger is married to TV producer and writer Angela Holdsworth, whose pro-EU tweets have led Brexiteers to call for him to stand down from the Article 50 hearing.

Lady Hale

Lady Hale (Press Association)

Brenda Hale, the Supreme Courts Deputy President, became the first and only women in the group when she was selected to join the UKs highest court in 2004.

Lady Hale, 70, was born in Yorkshire and taught law at Manchester University, specialising in family and social law, while working as a barrister.

She was then appointed to the Law Commission, where she introduced reforms such as the Childrens Act 1989, granting protection to minors.

Lady Hale has spoken out against the lack of diversity among her colleagues, saying the Court should be ashamed if it does not appoint more senior judges from different backgrounds.

Lord Mance

Lord Mance (Supreme Court)

Jonathan Mance is no stranger to the intricacies of Britains relationship with the EU, having previously served on the House of Lords European Select Committee.

Lord Mance, 73, read law at Oxford and is married to a fellow judge, Dame Mary Arden. He is said to enjoy languages and music, and he has also worked in Germany.

However political sensitivities surrounding the Article 50 hearing led him to cancel a scheduled lecture on the law and Europe in November.

Lord Wilson

 Brexit round-up: Supreme Court rules against Government

Nicholas Wilson became a justice of the Supreme Court in 2011, having specialised in family law for 26 years.

The 71-year-old has publicly backed gay marriage, saying the availability of marriage dignifies same-sex love.

Lord Kerr

Brian Kerr, former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, read law at Queens University in Belfast and became a High Court judge in 1993.

He was the youngest member of the Supreme Court when it was created in 2009, and is now 68.

Its important not to confuse him with a Scottish peer also named Lord Kerr, who wrote Article 50 and has said leaving the EU could result in a decade of delay and disruption for Britain.

Lord Clarke

Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Show all 13 1 /13 Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Supreme Court Brexit Challenge People wait to enter the public gallery outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Gina Miller, co-founder of investment fund SCM Private arrives at the Supreme court in London on the first day of a four-day hearing Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waves the EU flag in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Satirical artist Kaya Mar poses with two of his paintings in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin. The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Businesswoman Gina Miller arrives at the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Attorney General Jeremy Wright arrives at the Supreme Court in London EPA Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Protesters outside the Supreme Court in London, where the Government is appealing against a ruling that the Prime Minister must seek MPs' approval to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union PA wire Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protesters wearing a judge's wigs and robes stands outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protester holds up a placard outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waiting to enter the public gallery waves a European Union flag outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters

Anthony Clarke, 72, studied law at Cambridge and specialised in maritime and commercial law. In 1989 led an enquiry into a boat crash on the Thames in which 51 people died.

Lord Clarke was formerly Master of the Rolls, the second most senior High Court judge.

Lord Sumption

Lord Sumption (Supreme Court)

As well as being a judge, Jonathan Sumption is an author and medieval historian. He is fluent in French and Italian and can read a number of other languages.

Alastair Campbell said the 68-year-old had a brain the size of a planet during the Hatton Inquiry, in which he served as a barrister. He also defended Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in a private lawsuit.

Lord Sumption was promoted straight to the Supreme Court without having served in the lower courts first - a rare achievement.

However he provoked controversy when he suggested his salary of 1.6 million was puny in comparison to those at the top of business, sport and other fields, and again when he said positive discrimination to achieve gender equality in the Supreme Court could have appalling consequences for justice.

Lord Hodge

Patrick Hodge is one of two Scottish judges in the Supreme Court along with Lord Reed, but he was the only one to rule in favour of a Parliamentary vote to trigger Article 50.

He studied law at Cambridge and the University of Edinburgh has worked as a civil servant as well as a barrister, specialising in commercial and property law, and judicial review.

The three judges who backed Ms May but were outvoted

Lord Carnwath, Lord Hughes and Lord Reed went against the majority and ruled in favour of the Government.

They said the other judges had not fully considered the importance of the tradition of ministers taking prerogative powers when signing treaties and in foreign affairs.
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Theresa May has refused to say whether she will urge US President Donald Trump not to pull out of the Paris climate change accords.

The Prime Minister is to meet the new President at the end of the week and faced questioning over her planned discussion from former Labour leader Ed Miliband during Prime Minister's Questions.

He asked her to reassure the House of Commons that she would tell Mr Trump that climate change is not a hoax invented by the Chinese  as the President has previously suggested.

He added that, as the first foreign leader to meet Mr Trump since his inauguration, Ms May has "a huge responsibility on behalf not just of this country but the whole international community".

Ms May did not comment directly on Mr Trumps stance, or whether she would raise the issue in the meeting, saying only that all parties should abide by the agreement.

I hope he recognises the commitment that this Government has shown to this issue of climate change with the legislation that we've put through and the changes that we have brought about in terms of the energy sector, she said.

The Obama administration obviously signed up to the Paris climate change agreement, we have now done that.

I would hope that all parties would continue to ensure that that climate change agreement is put into practice.

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Mr Trump has been quick to act on a number of his election pledges, this week signing an executive order to restrict access to womens healthcare, such as abortions.

In May of last year Mr Trump said he would cancel the Paris climate change agreement, though in November he said he now had an open mind about the accord.

Ms May is heading to the US for talks on Friday, after which she will fly directly to Turkey to meet with President Tayyip Recep Erdogan.
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Theresa May is under pressure to confront Donald Trump over his stance on torture, as she prepares to jet in for make-or-break trade talks.

The Prime Minister will leave London on Thursday morning and fly straight to Philadelphia where she will address the annual congressional Republican Retreat, the first serving Head of Government or State from outside the US to do so.

Ms May believes politicians at the event could be critical to securing the UK a trade deal with the US after Brexit.

In her speech, she is expected to say: As we end our membership of the European Union  as the British people voted with determination and quiet resolve to do last year  we have the opportunity to reassert our belief in a confident, sovereign and Global Britain, ready to build relationships with old friends and new allies alike.

So as we rediscover our confidence together  as you renew your nation just as we renew ours  we have the opportunity, indeed the responsibility  to renew the special relationship for this new age. We have the opportunity to lead, together, again.

The PM will meet Mr Trump for discussions in the Oval Office amid a growing storm over the Presidents plans to lift a ban on overseas CIA black site prisons. Mr Trump is expected to rip up restrictions put into place by Barack Obama  after earlier stating he wanted to bring back waterboarding and a hell of a lot worse.

Recommended May refuses to rule out private US firms taking over NHS services

The move threatened to disrupt Ms Mays hopes of smooth White House talks to pave the way for a rapid trade deal, once Brexit is completed.

In the Commons, Andrew Tyrie, a senior Conservative MP, urged her to put torture on the agenda for her landmark first meeting with the President.

He said: President Trump has repeatedly said that he will bring back torture as an instrument of policy.

When she sees him on Friday, will the Prime Minister make it clear that in no circumstances will she permit Britain to be dragged into facilitating that torture, as we were after 11 September?

In reply, Ms May said: I assure my right honourable friend that our position on torture is clear  we do not sanction torture and do not get involved in it. That will continue to be our position.

Later, after reports suggested President Trump was preparing an executive order to reopen black site prisons, that message was toughened up by the Prime Ministers spokeswoman.

She said Ms May had been very clear on the issue, adding: We dont condone torture or inhumane treatment in any form.

However, the spokeswoman declined to say whether the Prime Minister would take the opportunity to raise the issue, adding: There are going to be issues where we differ in our approach and view from President Trump.

In Washington, the President claimed his Defence Secretary had convinced him to tone down his position on torture.

Give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers, Mr Trump claimed General James Mattis said, during their November meeting, and I do better with that than I do with torture.

But, Elisa Massimino, president of campaign group Human Rights First, told The New York Times that the draft order was flirting with the return to the enhanced interrogation programme seen under George Bush.

The controversy blew up after Ms May also refused to guarantee she will not water down food standards, or open up the NHS to US firms, in any trade deal.

At Prime Ministers Questions, she faced repeated queries about how much she is prepared to give away in her face-to-face talks.

Jeremy Corbyn urged her to rule out any deal that would give US healthcare giants a toehold in the NHS  after similar concerns over an aborted EU-US agreement.

And the SNP raised fears that such a deal will open the door to British supermarkets being stocked with meat produced in unhygienic ways currently outlawed across the EU.

However, Ms May declined to discuss details of her hopes for her trip to Washington, instead saying they were to increase prosperity and bring growth.

She told Angus Robertson, the SNP leader at Westminster: It is very simple  we want to achieve an arrangement that ensures the interests of the United Kingdom are there and are put first.

She did add: I can ensure the right honourable gentleman that, in doing that, we will put UK interests and UK values first.
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British aristocrats who rank among some of the countrys richest landowners could be set to receive hundreds of thousands of pounds a year from UK taxpayers after Brexit, Theresa May has indicated.

Members of the landed gentry such as Prince Georges godfather, the Duke of Westminster, are currently given vast farming subsidies as part of the EUs Common Agricultural Policy.

They are set to be stripped of those subsidies when Britain leaves the bloc, and the Prime Minister suggested the aristocrats would not be left out when the UK comes up with its own agricultural rules.

Recommended Theresa May bows to pressure to spell out Brexit plan details

Chris Bryant, the Labour MP for Rhondda, asked at Prime Ministers Questions: When she introduces a UK agricultural policy, because we are out of the common agricultural policy, will the Duke of Westminster still receive 407,000 a year? Will the Duke of Northumberland still receive 475,000 a year?

And will the Earl of Iveagh still receive 915,000 a year from the British taxpayer?

Ms May replied: One of the tasks that we will have when we leave the European Union is to decide what support is provided to agriculture as a result of being outside the common agricultural policy.

I can assure him we are taking the interests of all parts of the United Kingdom into account when we look at that system and what it should be in the future.

Hugh Grosvenor, also known as the Duke of Westminster, is estimated to be worth more than 9 billion  inherited when his father died in August 2016. At just 25 years old, he is reported to be the richest person in the world under the age of 30.

Ralph Percy, the Duke of Northumberland, was a hereditary peer in the House of Lords until their right to sit in the house was ended in the House of Lords Act of 1999. He lives in Alnwick Castle, used as a backdrop to Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films, and owns a 50,000 hectare estate.

And Edward Guinness, the Earl of Iveagh, is a member of the Guinness family  still owners of the beer of that name. He lives on the 22,500-acre Elveden Estate in Suffolk, and sold the familys Irish ancestral estate to the Irish Government in 1999 for almost 30 million (25.6 million).
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Tens of thousands of children are at risk of starving to death in Nigeria unless the world takes action, the United Nations children's agency has warned.

Labelling it the worlds most under-funded humanitarian crisis, Unicef said the terrorist insurgency of Boko Haram has left 400,000 children severely malnourished and millions more in desperate need of humanitarian assistance after they fled their homes.

The agency warned that 90,000 children could die of Severe Acute Malnutrition in the coming year unless the international community takes swift action. That amounts to more than 240 child deaths each day.

Doune Porter, Unicef's chief of communications in the west African nation, told The Independent that despite attempts to raise global awareness of the crisis in November, the number of children at risk of starving to death has increased further.

Forecasting a "tragedy" if the rest of the world continues to turn its back, she said: Three months ago we estimated that over the year in the three states most effected by conflict  Borno Yobe and Adamawa  400,000 would suffer from Severe Acute Malnutrition. This projection has now increased to 450,000.

We continue to be hampered by a lack of funds and by access security in the region. There are a lot of children who we cant reach because of insecurity and attacks in certain areas.

If the situation continues where we cant reach people or we do not have enough funding, we estimate that one in five of these children  90,000 of them  are expected to die in the coming year.

Aid organisations have warned that a continued lack of funding will put tens of thousands of children are at serious risk (Save the Children)

The conflict in North-eastern Nigeria has led 1.7 million people to flee their homes to live in other communities or refugee camps within Nigeria as well as neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Unable now to generate an income to support their families, trade has been limited and food prices have escalated as a result.

Displaced people in the worst-affected areas of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa have been unable to farm and are now suffering from a severe food crisis.

In total, 15 million people have been affected, with seven million people in need of urgent life-saving assistance  more than half of them children.

Acute malnutrition is an extremely dangerous condition for children. Its clinging to life. It makes them nine times more likely to die from an ordinary illness such as pneumonia and diarrhea, said Ms Porter. "In this crisis there are children starving to death. And we cant reach these children if we dont have the funding. So few people know about the depth of this crisis.

She added: Were scaling up the efforts. But this is a crisis that is so big that we really need the world to mobilise around the children of north-east Nigeria. If we dont get the funding, then we cannot reach the children whose lives we could save. And thats a tragedy.

Mike Sunderland, Save the Childrens West and Central Africas media manager, has been working with malnourished children in Nigeria and warned that as well as the children being treated, there are thousands more that haven't yet been reached.

Despite efforts to increase awareness, the projections for survival rate of children caught up in the crisis has decreased in recent months (Save the Children)

Mr Sunderland told The Independent: Were seeing a lot of widespread malnutrition of children, children with missing parents. Around a million children have been moved from their homes. This is a widespread humanitarian crisis.

Everyone you meet has got some sort of distressing story. Most of them their villages have been raided by insurgents, some of them may have lost homes or wives may have lost partners or lost parents."

He added: For many children, it might be the second or third time theyve fought malnutrition, so their immune systems are already severely weakened by malnutrition. Theyre entering a cycle of continuous illness and threat of death.

Recommended Terror groups in Nigeria now using babies in suicide bombings

These children are the lucky ones who have reached help. If thats the case for them, we can only image the ones who are out of our reach."

The crisis "is grossly under-funded," he said, adding: "We need a humanitarian response that is well-funded, and that will allow people involved in this crisis to save as many children as possible."

Boko Haram has been on a violent campaign since 2009 to impose their version of Islamic law in Africas most populous country, and has so far killed more than 20,000 people and forced an estimated 2.6 million from their homes.

The conflict has been characterised by systematic, widespread violation of childrens rights, with abductions and sexual abuse and the forced recruitment into militias commonplace.

As the Nigerian army continues its advance into insurgent strongholds in areas bordering Niger, Chad and Cameroon, many children have  as well suffering a shortage of food  witnessed atrocities first-hand, or have themselves been subject to attacks.
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Chelsea Handler has said she is not interested in interviewing Melania Trump because she thinks the First Lady can barely speak English.

The outspoken comedian, who was a Hillary Clinton supporter, insisted she would never have Donald Trump or his wife on her Netflix show Chelsea. She said she has zero respect for either of them.

Handler made her views about the President clear, saying he was the grossest and she would tell him to f*ck off if he was in the room.

When asked about whether she would have the First Lady on her show in a video interview with Variety, she said: Melania? To talk about what? She can barely speak English!

Of course Handler is a comedian so she might be joking. For the record, Ms Trump is multilingual and can speak English, Slovenian, French, Italian, and German.

This is by no means the first time Handler has taken aim at the First Lady. She poked fun at her accent several times during the presidential campaign.

Trump said Melania will give two or three more speeches Hopefully an interpreter will be present, she quipped in October.

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Sounds like he learned how to say China from Melania. #debate, she also joked.

When pressed about what she thought about the First Lady in the Variety interview, she snapped back: Exactly what I think about him as the First Man - nothing. I dont respect either one of those people.

Gross. He is the grossest," she said of Mr Trump. "Physically, emotionally, mentally. Those statues they made of him were accurate. I bet you that is what he looks like naked with a little grape in between his legs.

Handler said racism was the single issue which most concerned her under a Trump administration and planned parenthood was one of the issues which most worried her as a woman.

No one has any right to tell us what to do with our bodies. Get off your religious bullshit soap box. I am my own person, no man gets to tell me what to do with my body, no-one, not your husband, not your politician.

Handler explained she was going to register as an independent because she does not think the two-party system is working.

A representative for Chandler did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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Hundreds turned up outside the White House on the fourth day of Donald Trump's presidency to protest against his executive orders advancing the construction of the controversial Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines.

Protesters known as "water protectors" staged a demonstration outside the White House on Tuesday, after many travelled from Standing Rock, where they had been camping out for months in protest against the proposed pipeline.

Some reports suggested thousands had turned up to the protest.

Organisers of the protest said it was organised at the last minute after Mr Trump announced the two executive orders.

"Join us tonight as we stand with Indigenous leaders and climate activists, commit to the fight ahead and show that these pipelines will not be built without a fight," the organisers wrote on Facebook.

"Stopping these projects will require action at home, in the halls of power, and in the path of each pipeline."

Mr Trumps orders overturn decisions made by Barack Obama to halt the construction of both projects.

Mr Obama rejected the Keystone pipeline in November 2015.

A year later, the US Army Corps of Engineers denied the permit to build the $3.8bn Dakota Access Pipeline amid months of protest outside the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.

The terms of the order would be subject to renegotiation between the US government and the companies involved.

Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Show all 15 1 /15 Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota A person pours a pepper spray antidote into a protester's eyes during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota People swim across a river to where the police officers are standing guard during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota A man holds up a ceremonial object while police officers look down from a hill during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, U.S Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota People protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota November Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Two people stand in the water of a river while police officers guard the shore during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota A man stands on a makeshift bridge over a river while police officers stand on the opposite shore during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, U.S Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Police use pepper spray against protesters in a boat during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, U.S Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Police use pepper spray against protesters in a boat during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, U.S Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Police use pepper spray against protesters in a boat during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, U.S Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Tonya Stands recovers after being pepper sprayed by police after swimming across a creek with other protesters hoping to build a new camp to block construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, near Cannon Ball, Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Dakota Access Pipeline protesters stand in the foreground and in the waist-deep water of the Cantapeta Creek, northeast of the Oceti Sakowin Camp, near Cannon Ball, N.D., Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016. Officers in riot gear clashed again Wednesday with protesters near the Dakota Access pipeline, hitting dozens with pepper spray as they waded through waist-deep water in an attempt to reach property owned by the pipeline's developer. Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Dakota Access Pipeline protesters stand in the foreground and in the waist-deep water of the Cantapeta Creek, northeast of the Oceti Sakowin Camp, near Cannon Ball, N.D., Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016. Officers in riot gear clashed again Wednesday with protesters near the Dakota Access pipeline, hitting dozens with pepper spray as they waded through waist-deep water in an attempt to reach property owned by the pipeline's developer. Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota People who were tear gassed return to the shore during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota People yell at police officers standing on the opposite shore of a river during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, U.S Reuters Protesters occupy Standing Rock reservation, North Dakota Police use pepper spray against protesters in a boat during a protest against the building of a pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota, U.S Reuters

Environmental groups promised significant action in response to Mr Trump's decision.

A powerful alliance of Indigenous communities, ranchers, farmers, and climate activists stopped the Keystone and the Dakota Access pipelines the first time around, and the same alliances will come together to stop them again if Trump tries to raise them from the dead, said Greenpeace USA executive director Annie Leonard said.

Instead of pushing bogus claims about the potential of pipelines to create jobs, Trump should focus his efforts on the clean energy sector where Americas future lives.
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Donald Trump would have to seek congressional approval if he wanted to launch a first strike with nuclear weapons, under new legislation introduced in a direct response to his election as president.

Congressman Ted Lieu and Senator Edward Markey, both referenced Presidents brash discussion of nuclear weapons on social media when they submitted the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017.

Mr Trump's ignorance of nuclear defence theory increases the risk of an accidental nuclear war, the Democrats said in a statement accompanying the legislation, which would forbid the President from launching a first strike with nuclear weapons without a declaration of war by Congress.

The question over the Presidents authority to launch nuclear weapons at very short notice was more urgent than ever, they added.

Mr Trump caused concern among defence experts when being briefed on nuclear weapons, when he allegedly asked why they couldnt be used if possessed by the US.

Taking to his Twitter account in December, he said the US must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.

The President has also threatened to nuke Isis territory in response to an attack.

After introducing the new bill, Senator Markey insisted that neither President Trump, nor any other president, should be allowed to use nuclear weapons except in response to a nuclear attack."

He said: Nuclear war poses the gravest risk to human survival. Yet, President Trump has suggested that he would consider launching nuclear attacks against terrorists. Unfortunately, by maintaining the option of using nuclear weapons first in a conflict, US policy provides him with that power.

That policy drastically raised the risk of unintended nuclear escalation with another nuclear-armed country, he added.

 Clinton: 'Man who can be provoked by a tweet should not be anywhere near the nuclear codes'

Recommended This is what happens if every nuclear weapon on Earth is launched

His colleague, Congressman Lieu said: It is a frightening reality that the US now has a Commander-in-Chief who has demonstrated ignorance of the nuclear triad, stated his desire to be unpredictable with nuclear weapons, and as President-elect was making sweeping statements about US nuclear policy over Twitter.

The nuclear triad is the method the US would use to make a nuclear attack, utilising submarines, bomber aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles fired from land.

Congress must act to preserve global stability by restricting the circumstances under which the US would be the first nation to use a nuclear weapon," Congressman Lieu said. "Our Founders created a system of checks and balances and it is essential for that standard to be applied to the potentially civilization-ending threat of nuclear war.

Despite their concerns, the new bill and it is unlikely to pass through the US Congress and Senate, both of which are controlled by Mr Trump's Republican party.

Professor Malcolm Chalmers, Deputy Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), also highlighted potential issues with it.

North Korea threatens 'sacred' nuclear war Show all 6 1 /6 North Korea threatens 'sacred' nuclear war North Korea threatens 'sacred' nuclear war Reuters North Korea threatens 'sacred' nuclear war Reuters North Korea threatens 'sacred' nuclear war Reuters North Korea threatens 'sacred' nuclear war Reuters North Korea threatens 'sacred' nuclear war Reuters North Korea threatens 'sacred' nuclear war Reuters

He told The Independent that exerting more congressional control over the Presidents power to use nuclear weapons had the potential to give an enemy a strategic advantage.

The nature of war is that it is very unpredictable, he said. And whatever legal constraints are announced publically, a potential adversary can take those into account in calculating what they do  if they believe those constraints are credible.

If the decision to use nuclear weapons was an urgent one, he added that there was the question about whether the President would have the luxury of consulting Congress in "what would inevitably be quite a time consuming process.

But other experts have supported the bill, including William Perry, who served as Secretary of Defence under the Clinton administration and has had a high level inside view of the governments nuclear weapons policy and procedure.

He said: During my period as Secretary of Defence, I never confronted a situation, or could even imagine a situation, in which I would recommend that the President make a first strike with nuclear weaponsunderstanding that such an action, whatever the provocation, would likely bring about the end of civilization.

I believe that the legislation proposed by Congressman Lieu and Senator Markey recognises that terrible reality. Certainly a decision that momentous for all of civilization should have the kind of checks and balances on Executive powers called for by our Constitution.

Anti-nuclear proliferation groups also expressed support for the bill.

Derek Johnson, Executive Director of Global Zero, who work to eliminate nuclear weapons, said: In the wake of the election, the American people are more concerned than ever about the terrible prospect of nuclear war  and what the next commander-in-chief will do with the proverbial red button.

That such devastating power is concentrated in one person is an affront to our democracy's founding principles.
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President Donald Trump is expected to restrict the issuing of visas to people from seven Middle East and north African countriesof which his military is currently bombing four, as shown in these infographics created by Statista.

Mr Trump tweeted he was planning a "big day" on national security matters on Wednesday and is also thought to be preparing to ban Syrian refugees from entering the US, until the State and Homeland Security departments finalise a new, stricter vetting process.

Countries subject to the temporary visa restrictions are said to be Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iran, Sudan and Somalia. The US military is fighting Isis terrorists in the first four states, and carried out an airstrike in Somalia as recently as September last year.

Recommended Trump signs order to speed up review of infrastructure projects

Nihad Awad, the national executive director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, condemned the initial media reports of President Trumps immigration orders.

"These [executive orders] will not make our nation safer," he tweeted on Tuesday night, "rather they will make it more fearful and less welcoming."

Stephen Legomsky, who was chief counsel at US Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama administration, told Reuters the president had the authority to limit refugee admissions and the issuance of visas to specific countries if the administration determined it was in the publics interest.

He said: "It would be exactly within his legal rights. But from a policy standpoint, it would be terrible idea because there is such an urgent humanitarian need right now for refugees."

The countries on which visa restrictions could be enforced

Iraq

The US is currently trying to retake the city of Mosul from Isis. Iraqi troops, Kurdish forces and Shia militias have advanced through much of the city's east, regaining control of key local government buildings and the citys university on Friday, but areas to the west of the river Tigris remains under Isis control.

Living under ISIS: Children in Iraq not receiving education

About 1.5 million civilians were living in the city when the operation to retake it began in October, according to UN figures, and 400,000 have now been freed.

Syria

More than 100 Islamist fighters were killed by US air strikes on a training camp in Syria as American forces expanded their assault beyond Isis on Thursday.

The Department of Defence said warplanes and drones were involved the operation on the Shaykh Sulayman camp in northern Syria, on the last day of Barack Obamas presidency.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the Syrian civil war and millions more have fled the country or been displaced internally amid the destruction of major cities.

Where do immigrants to the US arrive from?

Libya

US stealth bombers recently carried out strikes against Isis fighters who had fled their former stronghold of Sirte, and who officials said were plotting terror attacks against Europe.

Ashton Carter, the outgoing US defence secretary, said initial estimates suggested more than 80 fighters were killed.

Isis expanded into Libya in the chaos that followed the ouster and assassination of former dictator Muammar Gadaffi.

Yemen

The US has carried out drone strikes in the nation, aimed at al-Qaeda militants

The latest of these strikes were carried out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, killing a handful of al Qaeda militants, according to the Pentagon.

The strikes were aimed at al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and were the first such strikes to take place under President Donald Trump.

 The world has forgotten the Yemen war, says senior UN humanitarian official

The strikes, which were later confirmed by the Pentagon, did not require Trump to sign off on them. Under then-President Barack Obama, the authority to order such strikes in Yemen was devolved to the four-star commander of US Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel.

The strikes killed five al-Qaeda operatives and took place in the town of al Bayda, according to Pentagon spokesman US Navy Capt. Jeff Davis.

Outside of US activity, the United Nations has said the civilian death toll in Yemen's nearly two-year conflict has reached 10,000, with 40,000 others wounded.

The conflict pits Shiite Houthi rebels and allied forces against a Saudi-led coalition of nations. The coalition began an air campaign in March 2015 to restore the internationally recognised government that fled the country after Houthis seized the capital.

Preparations for Mr Trump's promised border wall are also expected to get under way on Wednesday. He tweeted: "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"
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The Trump administration broke US law when it ordered information about carbon emissions to be removed from the Environmental Protection Agencys website, a leading environmental campaigner has claimed.

David Doniger, director of the Natural Resources Defence Council's climate and clean air programme, said a law passed by Congress in 2008 required the EPA to make emissions by individual power plants and other major producers of greenhouse gases publicly available.

Information about global warming has been removed from the White Houses website and EPA staff have been told to remove its webpage on climate change, which contains links to scientific research, along with details about carbon emissions.

And there appears to be a much wider bid to stop government officials from talking about climate change, with a Twitter ban even imposed on some staff.

But Mr Doniger said the decision to remove emissions data violated the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Act.

Writing on Twitter, he said: Congress passed [a] *law* ordering EPA to collect and make public facility by facility greenhouse gas emission data. Now Trump-ists order it deleted.

Deleting these pages breaks 2008 Omnibus Approps law that requires EPA to keep a public registry of plant-by-plant greenhouse gas emissions data.

Greenhouse gas reporting requirements are permanent law, not just a one-year item.

The ban on EPA staff communicating with the press and public was described as chilling by the World Resources Institute think tank.

And the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) issued a statement, saying: Censorship, intimidation, or other restriction on the freedom of scientists employed or funded by governmental organisations to communicate their unclassified scientific findings and assessments not only to each other but also to policymakers and to the public is inimical to the advance of science and its appropriate application in the policy domain.
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Donald Trump has threatened to send the feds into Chicago to suppress the carnage of gun violence in the American city.

The President frequently cited Chicago's violent crime and homicide rates on the campaign trail, claiming he would be able to bring them down once in the White House.

On Tuesday night, Mr Trump claimed 228 shootings and 42 killings had taken place in America's third-largest city in 2017, therefore rising by 24 per cent from 2016.

 Chicago: US city on track for most violent month in 20 years

"If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible 'carnage' going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!" he wrote on Twitter.

But the Chicago Police department has disputed the figures which were cited by both the Chicago Tribune and the President, saying there have actually been just 182 shootings in the city so far this year which is exactly flat from last year. They also said there had been just 38 homicides this year, compared to 33 for this period in 2016.

It is not clear whether the billionaire property developer's reference to the Feds means the national guard, the FBI, or a number of other federally backed services. What's more, it is also unclear what kind of unilateral government intervention Mr Trump favours to tackle the issue from his tweet.

Civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson did not appear to agree with Mr Trump's warning about Chicago. We need a plan, not a threat. We need jobs, not jails, he said on Twitter.

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 not immediately clear what triggered Mr Trumps latest tweet about Chicago violence but the citys mayor, Rahm Emanuel, did recently criticise Mr Trump for his continued fixation with the size of his inauguration crowd.

You didnt get elected to debate the crowd size at your inaugural, Emanuel told reporters on Monday. You got elected to make sure that people have a job, that the economy continues to grow, people have security as it relates to their kids education. It wasnt about your crowd size. It was about their lives and their jobs.

Earlier in January, Mr Trump suggested Chicago, President Barack Obama's hometown, would need federal assistance.

Chicago was a common theme during Mr Trumps presidential campaign. In an interview with Bill OReilly in August, he said his strategy in Chicago would involve the police being very much tougher than they presently were. He also claimed a top police officer in the city had informed him he could fix many of the problems in one week. At the time, Chicago police denied any member of the senior team had met with him.

Chicago pushes for police transparency

Mr Trump also spoke about Chicago, which is home to one of his tallest skyscrapers, during the third presidential debate in September.

We have a situation where we have our inner cities - African Americans, Hispanics are living in hell because its so dangerous, he said. You walk down the street, you get shot. In Chicago, theyve had thousands of shootings, thousands since January 1. Thousands of shootings. And I say, where is this? Is this is a war-torn country? What are we doing?

Mr Trump was forced to cancel a Trump campaign event in Chicago back in March due to security concerns after violent clashes erupted.
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President Donald Trump is expected to lift the ban on overseas CIA black site prisons, reversing an executive action signed by Barack Obama to shut down such sites.

Mr Trump will revoke the restrictions put into place by the Obama administration, which had been celebrated by human rights advocates, as he asserts a more openly aggressive approach to dealing with suspected terrorism abroad.

The draft order, titled Detention and Interrogation of Enemy Combatants, would also revoke the International Committee of the Red Cross access to wartime detainees.

The document orders top national security officials to "recommend to the president whether to reinitiate a program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States and whether such program should include the use of detention facilities operated by the Central Intelligence Agency".

Mr Trump made it clear that he hopes to bring back waterboarding and a hell of a lot worse. But the President claimed that Defence Secretary James Mattis convinced him to tone down his position on torture.

"Give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers," Mr Trump claimed Mr Mattis said during their November meeting, "and I do better with that than I do with torture."

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

In 2007, President George W Bush issued an executive order in response to a Supreme Court decision in the prior year that held CIA interrogators to the Geneva Convention, putting them at risk for war crimes prosecution. Mr Bush's directive defined prisoner abuses that counted as war crimes under international law. It still allowed interrogators to use tactics that were not included in the list.

President Obama issued an overhaul in the US detention policy that undid much of what the second Bush administration allowed, limiting interrogation techniques to what was listed in the Army Field Manual. Congress approved an action to make that directive a law.

 Theresa May rules out torture despite Trump's promise to bring it back

But news of the order has already inflamed the concern of top Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

"The president can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law," said Republican Sen John McCain. The Arizona senator was held captive during the Vietnam War  for which Mr Trump ridiculed him during the campaign.

"We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America."

Human Rights First director Elisa Massimino told the New York Times that the draft order was "flirting with the return to the 'enhanced interrogation programme' and the environment that gave rise to it", despite the fact that former military leaders have denounced torture as "illegal, immoral, and damaging to national security".

"It would be surprising and extremely troubling if the national security cabinet officials were to acquiesce in an order like that after the assurances that they gave in their confirmation hearings," she added.
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The Trump administrations decision to stop Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials and other government staff from speaking out publicly has prompted the countrys leading scientific organisation to warn against censorship and intimidation.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest scientific society in the world, said many federal agencies had policies that prohibit political interference in how they relay information to the public.

And the World Resources Institute think tank said the move to stop the free flow of information would have a chilling effect on staff.

In addition to the media blackout at the EPA, some other federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture, were also told to suspend external communications, although the latter department's gag order was subsequently lifted.

The ban includes the issuing of press releases, blogs, messages on Twitter and Facebook posts, according to information leaked to several media organisations. All media requests must be screened by the administration.

The decision came after the new administration ordered a temporary suspension of grants to the EPA, stopping new business activity.

Donald Trump appointed Scott Pruitt, who is known as a climate science denier, to run the EPA, an organisation he has taken to court on a number of occasions.

Recommended UK as bad as Donald Trump at burying the truth about climate change

In a statement, Rush Holt, the AAASs chief executive, said: We are concerned about reports that federal agencies  including the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency  have issued directives to staff that may silence the voices of scientific researchers and others working for the federal government.

Our hope is that this is a temporary measure put into place until the new government agency heads are confirmed by the Senate.

Many federal agencies have existing scientific integrity policies that prohibit political interference in the public dissemination of scientific findings.

As the AAAS Council stated in 2006: Censorship, intimidation, or other restriction on the freedom of scientists employed or funded by governmental organisations to communicate their unclassified scientific findings and assessments not only to each other but also to policymakers and to the public is inimical to the advance of science and its appropriate application in the policy domain."

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

And Sam Adams, the US director of the World Resources Institute, called for the bans to be lifted.

These actions will stem the free flow of information and have a chilling effect on staff in these agencies, he said.

This flies in the face of effective policymaking which requires an open exchange of ideas, supported by the best science and evidence available.

 Climate change: It's "game over" for planet earth

Curtailing communications from these agencies will hinder their ability to provide clean air and water and protect peoples health across the country.

The administration should lift these bans as soon as possible and ensure that the role of science is respected within our government agencies.
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Donald Trump is expected to sign multiple executive orders on immigration this week, beginning with the construction of his infamous, Mexican border wall on Wednesday. Hes also seeking to prevent Syrian refugees and Muslim immigrants from entering the United States.

The president will begin rolling out executive actions that include preparations for his wall on the US-Mexico border along with other enforcement plans, according to two administration officials who spoke to The Associated Press.

On Wednesday afternoon, the president will travel to the Department of Homeland Security to direct the agency begin construction on the wall and repair fencing along the border. The executive order will also increase the staff at the Customs and Border Protection agency by hiring an additional 5,000 employees.

A second order seeks to eliminate sanctuary cities where governments refuse to hand over undocumented immigrants to federal authorities. CNN reports that it will triple resources for Immigration and Custom Enforcement and direct the feds to identify illegal immigrants in the states.



In addition to the border wall construction, the president is preparing to restrict access to the country from immigrants, refugees, and some visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, Reuters reports, citing congressional aides briefed on the orders.

The restrictions will likely include a multi-month ban on admitting immigrants from all countries until the State Department and Department of Homeland Security finalize an "extreme vetting" process.

On the campaign trail, Mr Trump pledged to tighten US immigration policies, including a complete ban on Muslim immigrants from entering the states. He also promised to strengthen border security by building a wall while basically forcing the Mexican government to pay for it. The promise became one of the earliest policies and staple of his campaign.

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

He eventually softened his stance on both policies while promising to implement the process of extreme vetting for immigrants leaving countries in the Middle East. And come January, the newly elected presidents transition team began asking Congress to push funding for the wall through the US appropriations budget.

Humanitarian groups and civil action organizations across the states immediately expressed concern over the executive orders Tuesday night.

"Donald Trump is making good on the most shameful and discriminatory promises he made on the campaign trail, National Iranian American Council said in a statement. He called for a Muslim ban and is now taking the first steps to implement one. This will not stand. The American people are better than this.

Nihad Awad, the national executive director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, condemned the initial media reports of President Trumps immigration orders.

"These [executive orders] will not make our nation safer, he tweeted Tuesday night, rather they will make it more fearful and less welcoming.

Bill Frelick, the Refugee Policy Director for Human Rights Watch, also condemned President Trump for his decision to suspend refugees from war torn countries.

Presidents Trump possible executive order to suspend admission of refugees disregards the fact that refugees identified for US resettlement are, by US statute, people for whom the United States has found a special humanitarian concern, and who have been thoroughly and extensively vetted and screened. Refugees come from all over the world, from a diverse range of religious and economic backgrounds, but have in common that they are all fleeing persecution, he said in a statement Wednesday.

If there are any questions whatsoever concerning a refugees background, that person is not admitted. In fact, many refugees who have been admitted to the US, whether Syrian or from elsewhere, are the victims of terrorism and other persecution.

He continued, At a time when there are more displaced people around the globe than there have been since the end of World War II, a decision by the Trump administration to suspend the US refugee program would not only abandon the US leadership role on this issue but also reject the longstanding bipartisan nature of support for this initiative and undermine commitments to important allies, such as Jordan and Kenya, who host hundreds of thousands of refugees.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Monday that President Trump would be making his immigration policies a priority in the coming weeks.

"First and foremost, the president's been very, very clear that we need to direct agencies to focus on those who are in this country illegally and have a record  a criminal record or poses a threat to the American people," he said at the briefing. "That's where the priorities are going to be."
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Donald Trump is facing a pre-emptive backlash over his reported plans for a ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries entering the US.

The President is widely reported to be planning a series of executive orders and policy announcements on Wednesday, which he has billed as a big day planned on national security.

Reuters reported that the orders could include a temporary ban on most refugees and a block on any visas at all being issued for people from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It cited congressional aides and immigration experts who had been briefed on the matter, who asked not to be identified.

The UN led criticism of the reported plans, saying even a temporary delay on existing refugee relocation programmes would be highly concerning for those involved. And legal experts suggested the ban on people from Muslim-majority countries could be challenged as unconstitutional if it was proved to discriminate on religious grounds.

Recommended Trump expected to order Mexican border wall and ban refugees

Any substantial delay in the relocation of refugees...would be highly concerning from a humanitarian perspective, said Catherine Stubberfield, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

These men, women and children can no longer afford to wait.

Hiroshi Motomura, an immigration expert at the UCLA School of Law, said detractors could launch legal challenges if the visa ban does indeed target only Muslim-majority countries.

Legal arguments could claim the executive orders discriminate against a particular religion, which would be unconstitutional, he said.

 Rex Tillerson refuses to rule out Muslim registry

His comments during the campaign and a number of people on his team focused very much on religion as the target, Mr Motomura said.

Tweeting in reaction to early media reports last night, the director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Nihad Awad said: These [executive orders] will not make our nation safer, rather they will make it more fearful and less welcoming.

And Stephen Legomsky, who was chief counsel at US Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama administration, said the President had the authority to limit refugee admissions and the issuance of visas to specific countries if the administration determined it was in the public interest.

From a legal standpoint, it would be exactly within his legal rights, said Mr Legomsky, a professor at Washington University School of Law in St Louis. But from a policy standpoint, it would be terrible idea because there is such an urgent humanitarian need right now for refugees.

While it remains to be seen precisely what Mr Trump will announce on Wednesday, some plans for his sixth day in office are more certain.

He is expected to take part in a ceremony installing the retired Marine General John Kelly as his new secretary of homeland security.

And according to one of Mr Trumps late night tweets on Tuesday, he will make good on his promise to order the building of a border wall between the US and Mexico.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that the State and Homeland Security Departments would work on what Mr Trump has billed as an extreme vetting process once Trump nominee Rex Tillerson has been installed as Secretary of State.

Sources told Reuters the Mexico wall and immigration orders were likely to be the first signed on Wednesday, while the refugee ban will come afterwards, possibly later in the week.

The latter threatens a refugee resettlement deal with Australia signed late last year, and could leave more than 1,000 asylum seekers in limbo.

The US agreed to resettle an unspecified number of refugees being held in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the tiny South Pacific island nation of Nauru on Australias behalf, under a deal to be administered by the U.N. refugee agency.

That came after Australia agreed to help resettle refugees from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador under a US-led programme.

Australia's tough border security laws mandate that asylum seekers intercepted trying to reach the country by boat go for processing to detention camps on PNG's Manus island and Nauru.

"We already didn't have much hope the US would accept us," said Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian refugee who has spent more than three years on Manus island.

"If they do not take us, Australia will have to."

Additional reporting by Reuters
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The world is once again reminding Donald Trump that one of the most famous Americans was the son a Syrian migrant ahead of the President's expected ban on new Muslim arrivals.

The father of Steve Jobs, the Apple founder who died in 2011, moved to the US to study in the 1950s.

Abdul Fattah Jandali was born in 1931 to a well-off family in Homs, Syria  a city now home to some of the worst fighting in the countrys civil war.

 'Alt-right' movement founder urges Trump to freeze immigration for 50 years

He and his partner, Joanne Carole Schieble, had Jobs out of wedlock and were forced to give him up for adoption.

Jerry Durham tweeted today: "Steve Jobs' father was from Syria... Please choose wisely on who to keep out."

Walied Shater also wrote: "@POTUS as U ban people, remember, if U banned Syrian immigrants 50 years ago, there would be no Steve Jobs, no Apple!"

Mr Trump is expected to sign executive orders this week to restrict access of immigrants, refugees and some visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. He is also expected to order the construction of his Mexican border wall on Wednesday.

A simple Twitter post, noting that Mr Jobs shared Syrian heritage with three-year-old refugee Aylan Kurdi, who was pictured washed up dead on the seashore, was shared thousands of times on social media in 2015.

Posted by Geneva-based tech entrepreneur David Galbraith, it included a picture of Jobs and the caption: A Syrian migrants child [sic].

Galbraith, who was co-founder of the company where Yelp was created and helped author RSS technology, said he was a fan of Jobs and remembered his family history when news about desperate Syrian refugees made headlines around the world.

He told the Chicago Tribune that he could barely look [at the photographs of Aylan] as I have two beautiful young children of my own.

He said: It seemed to be that what the most precious thing in the world, a small child, was washed up on the sea shore like a discarded object of no value, when a child with a parent of the same nationality, given opportunity had created the largest company in the entire world. And here we are seeing an acrimonious debate, about stopping migrants.

The image he chose of Jobs comes from the cover of the late entrepreneurs best-selling, self-titled autobiography.

The refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 70 1 /70 The refugee crisis - in pictures The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Syrian refugee holding a baby in a lifetube swims towards the shore after their dinghy deflated some 100m away before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A refugee raises a child into the air as Syrian and Afghan refugees are seen on and around a dinghy that deflated some 100m away before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrian and Afghan refugees fall into the sea after their dinghy deflated some 100m away before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A refugee cries as he holds a child on the Serbian side of the border with Hungary in Asotthalom Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees stand in front of a barrier at the border with Hungary near the village of Horgos, Serbia Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A refugee from Syria prays after arriving on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos aboard an inflatable dinghy across the Aegean Sea from from Turkey. Greece sent troops and police reinforcements to Lesbos after renewed clashes between police and migrants, the public broadcaster said, while Syrian refugees on the island were targeted with Molotov cocktail attacks The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Police try to stop refugees going under a fence to board a train at a station near Gevgelija, Macedonia. Several thousand refugees in Macedonia boarded trains to travel north after spending a night in a provisional camp. Macedonia has organised trains twice a day to the north border where they cross into Serbia to make their way to Hungary The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees push each other as they try to board a bus following their arrival onboard the Eleftherios Venizelos passenger ship at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees are welcomed by locals after their arrival at the main railway station in Frankfurt, Germany. Over 1,000 more refugees arrived in Germany to cheers and "welcome" signs, but calls grew for a European solution to its worst refugee crisis since World War II The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A young Syrian boy arrives on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing in a dinghy with other refugees from Turkey AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees walk on the railway tracks between Bicske and Szar, some 40 kms west of Budapest, trying to reach Germany EPA The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Hungarian policemen stand by the family of refugees as they wanted to run away at the railway station in the town of Bicske, Hungary The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A family is arrested by local police after their local train coming from Budapest and heading to the Austrian border has been stopped in Bicske, west of the Hungarian capital The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man is arrested by local police after his local train coming from Budapest and heading to the Austrian border has been stopped in Bicske, west of the Hungarian capital The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict More than 2,500 refugees have died trying to reach Europe this year and the struggle continues as they travel through the continent Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees protest in front of a train at Bicske railway station. Hundreds of people, were stranded on a train in Hungary for a second, demanding passage to Germany in a standoff with riot police The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrian refugees arrive on the shores of Lesvos island Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrian refugees on the Greek Macedonian border Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees storm into a train at the Keleti train station as Hungarian police withdrew from the gates after two days of blocking their entry The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees storm into a train at the Keleti train station in Budapest The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees cross the border between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece, near the town of Gevgelija, Macedonia. The Gevgelija-Presevo journey is just a part of the journey that the refugees, the vast majority of them from Syria, are forced to make along the so-called Balkan corridor, which takes them from Turkey, across Greece, Macedonia and Serbia to Hungary, the gateway to the European Union, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A refugee helps up an exhausted fellow refugee as they cross the border between Macedonia and Greece, near the town of Gevgelija, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People breaking through a police cordon and crossing the border between Macedonia and Greece, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees pass the border between Macedonia and Greece, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Macedonian policeman carries a child across the border between Macedonia and Greece, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrians sleep on railroad tracks waiting to be processed across the Macedonian border in Idomeni, Greece, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Czech police officer marks a refugee with a number after more than than 200 refugees were detained, mostly from Syria, on trains from Hungary and Austria at the railway station in Breclav, Czech Republic, September 2015 AP Photo, CTK/Igor Zehl The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A baby is lifted on to the Norwegian vessel Siem Pilot during a search-and-rescue mission off the Libyan coast, September 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Budapest's main international railway station ordered an evacuation as hundreds of people tried to board trains to Austria and Germany, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People wave their train tickets and lift up children outside the main Eastern Railway station in Budapest, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People protest at the Eastern (Keleti) railway station of Budapest, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugee children sleep in the surrounding green area of the Keleti railway station in Budapest, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrians cross under a fence into Hungary at the border with Serbia, near Roszke, August 2015 Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees who have just crossed the border from Serbia into Hungary walk along a railway track that joins the two countries, August 2015 Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Police arrest refugees at Cobham Services on the M25 in Surrey, August 2015 Twitter: @bigwheeluk The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Men hold a boy as they are stuck between Macedonian riot police officers and fellow refugees during a clash near the border train station of Idomeni, August 2015 AFP/Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Syrian father holds his children close as his arrives on the Greek Island of Kos, August 2015 Eyevine The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A tourist offers water to Iranian refugees as they arrive by paddling an engineless dinghy from the Turkish coast (seen in the background) at a beach on the Greek island of Kos, August 2015 Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Syrian holds his 30-day-old baby on an overcrowded train as they travel through Macedonia. Tens of thousands of refugees, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, use the Balkans route to get into the European Union, passing from Greece to Macedonia and Serbia and then to western Europe, August 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man rests on a platform at the train station in Gevgelija, on the Macedonian-Greek border, August 2015 Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees react after boarding the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) ship MV Phoenix some 20 miles (32 kilometres) off the coast of Libya. Some 118 refugees were rescued from a rubber dinghy off Libya. The Phoenix, manned by personnel from international non-governmental organisations Medecins san Frontiere (MSF) and MOAS, is the first privately funded vessel to operate in the Mediterranean, August 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Authorities are being overwhelmed as they try to fight off hundreds of refugees, prompting France to beef up its police presence, July 2015 AFP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People escape from the French Police as they try to catch a train to reach England, July 2015 EPA The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man jumps over a fence as he attempts to access the Channel Tunnel, in Calais, northern France, July 2015 PA/Thibault Camus The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Two men cling to the roof of a freight truck as it leaves the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone, July 2015 Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man climbs a security fence of a Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles near Calais, July 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Men help a man squeeze through a gap in a fence near the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles in Calais, July 2015 Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Desperate for entry to the EU, the group of people risked being washed away by the sea at Ventimiglia rocks, June 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Stranded refugees spend night on rocks - they were supplied with emergency blankets after a cold night next to the sea, June 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees climb in the back of a lorry on the A16 highway leading to the Eurotunnel in Calais, June 2015 Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A police officer sprays tear gas to men trying to access the Channel Tunnel on the A16 highway in Calais, northern France, June 2015 PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Men jump out of a lorry after being discovered by French gendarmerie officers, June 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man sits under the trailer of a lorry, June 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Belgian navy sailor passes life vests to refugees sitting in a rubber boat as they approach the Belgian Navy Vessel Godetia, June 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People on the Belgian Navy vessel Godetia after they were saved during a search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast, June 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Iraqis wait as they are detained by Hungarian police after crossing the Hungarian-Serbian border illegally near the village of Asotthalom, Hungary, June 2015 Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrian refugees walking on train tracks through Macedonia on the Western Balkans migration route, after entering Europe through Greece, June 2015 Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A group of people huddle together during an operation to remove them from the Italian-French border in the Italian city of Ventimiglia. Italy and France engaged in a war of words as a standoff over hundreds of Africans offered a graphic illustration of Europe's migration crisis. Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano described images of refugees perched on rocks at the border town of Ventimiglia after being refused entry to France as a "punch in the face for Europe", June 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man is carried by Italian police in Ventimiglia, Italy. Police reportedly removed refugees from under a railway bridge, June 2015 EPA The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People queue after disembarking from the Royal Navy ship HMS 'Bulwark' upon their arrival in the port of Catania on the coast of Sicily, June 2015 GIOVANNI ISOLINO/AFP/Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Syrian child holds a drawing as he waits to disembark from Belgian Navy vessel Godetia at the Augusta port, Italy. Around 250 refugees from Syria arrived at the Sicilian harbour from a Damascus refugee camp, June 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A dinghy overcrowded with Afghan refugees arrived on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict An Afghan child is helped off a rib on the Greek island of Kos, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict An Afghan girl holds the hand of a woman as they arrive on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees crossed part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Afghan refugees arrive on a beach of Kos, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Rescuers help children to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy in April 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A boat transporting refugees arrives in the port of Messina after a rescue operation at sea, April 2015 Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Armed Forces of Malta personnel in protective clothing carry the body of a dead man off Italian coastguard ship Bruno Gregoretti as surviving refugees watch in Senglea, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, April 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Rescued people talk to a member of the Malta Order after a fishing boat carrying refugees capsized off the Libyan coast, is brought ashore along with 23 others retreived by the Italian Coast Guard vessel Bruno Gregoretti at Boiler Wharf, Senglea in Malta, April 2015

It contrasted that of Aylan Kurdi in every way and made me wonder what little boys like him could have achieved if they had been given the chance, Galbraith said.

While the reminder of Mr Jobs background has been shared more than 11,000 times, not everyone agreed with the apparent sentiment behind it.

One wrote that it suggests that human life is worth something only if it achieves 'great things'. Another said the picture implied we should only perceive children as future assets, adding: Must we even value the human in economic terms?

But many others were positive about Galbraiths message. One said it was a brilliant tweet, while another wrote: Most times the simplest statements are the most powerful.
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One of President Donald Trump's top advisers is registered to vote in two states  which the New York business man incorrectly classified as "voter fraud".

Stephen Bannon registered to vote in New York prior to the election, but he still is registered to vote in Florida. He cast only one ballot in New York.

Florida state records show that Mr Bannon is registered at the home of a former Breitbart colleague, Andy Badolato. It remains unclear whether Mr Bannon actually lived at the property  a requirement of Florida registration rules  at the time of his registration.

During a controversial first week in office, that saw the President signing a number of executive orders to revoke Obama administration policies, Mr Trump has circulated the lie through Twitter and via his Press Secretary that millions of people voted illegally.

The White House has not provided any evidence for their claim  as it has been exhaustively debunked by state election commissions. But the minority President points to 'illegal votes' that resulted in his loss in the popular vote by nearly three million.

"I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal, and ... even those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time," he wrote. "Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures."

 Donald Trump claims Hillary Clinton is 'protected by a rigged system'

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Incidentally, Mr Trump's daughter, Tiffany, is also registered in two states. According to the libertarian blog Heat Street, and addtionally confirmed by the Washington Post, Ms Trump is registered in both Pennsylvania and New York.

It is not illegal to register to vote in two states  only if more than one ballot is cast.

Earlier this week, Sean Spicer told reporters that "anything is possible" when asked if the White House would launch an investigation into Mr Trump's baseless claims.

"The President does believe that [millions voted illegally], I think he's stated that before, and stated his concern of voter fraud and people voting illegally during the campaign and continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence people have brought to him," Mr Spicer said.

Still, analysts and even Mr Trump's lawyers have asserted that there is absolutely no evidence of voter fraud in the 2016 election.

"All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake," the President's lawyers said, in objection to a Michigan recount effort led by Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
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Donald Trump is preparing executive orders that would dramatically reduce US funding of the United Nations, as well as other international organisations that do not meet certain criteria.

The executive order plans to repeal certain multilateral treaties too, officials told the New York Times, which would likely include treaties on climate change.

The first order, called "Auditing and Reducing US Funding of International Organisations", will take away funding for any United Nations agency or international body that meets criteria, including: organisations that give full membership to the Palestinian Authority or Palestine Liberation Organisation; support abortion and any group that circumvents sanctions on Iran or North Korea.

 Ed Miliband: PM must discuss climate change with President Trump

Recommended US Republicans consider ending American funding of United Nations

Funding will be taken away from any organisation that is "controlled or substantially influenced by any state that sponsors terrorism" or is behind the persecution of marginalised groups or systematic violation of human rights.

The order has singled out peacekeeping, the International Criminal Court and the United Nations Population Fund. The UNPFA targets violence against women, fights to keeps childbirth and abortion, where it is legal, safe, and was a key presence in safeguarding women in Haiti following Hurricane Matthew.

The order demands decreasing US funding towards international organisations by at least 40 per cent. Mr Trump has included the International Criminal Court here, yet the US currently pays nothing to the ICC.

If this order is signed, it would essentially decimate a global peacekeeping operation which is present in 16 countries.

Earlier reports revealed that Congress was planning legislation to stop funding the UN after it voted to condemn Israeli settlement building in the Occupied Territories.

President Trump dismissed the UN last December as a "club" for people to "have a good time".

He also signed an executive order on Monday, re-instating the Ronald Reagan-era law which prohibits federal funding for any international organisation that carries out abortions or even mentions abortions, or tells its patients or clients where to go to get an abortion.

For this reason, the Mexico City Policy is also called the Global Gag Rule.
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Donald Trump has said he will call for a "major investigation" into voter fraud in the 2016 election. Mr Trump's team have repeatedly suggested "millions" of illegal ballots swayed the result of the popular vote last year, which went in Hillary Clinton's favour, without presenting evidence.

The President tweeted on Wednesday morning: "I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and ... even those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

Trump supporters have widely shared unverified claims, published by right-wing websites, that at least three million illegal immigrants were able to vote in the staunchly Blue states of California and New York.

Mr Trump brought up the claim during a meeting with congressional leaders on Monday night, referring to "three to five million illegals", to the confusion and dismay of senior Republicans.

And on Wednesday, Republican Senator John McCain said Mr Trump's assertions were unsubstantiated.

"There's no evidence of that and I think that those who allege that have to come up with some substantiation of the claim," he told MSNBC.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a prominent Trump supporter, earlier in the week told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo he did not understand why the President kept bringing the matter up.

"I have no evidence whatsoever, and I don't know that anyone does, that there were that many illegal people who voted and frankly it doesn't matter," he said.

The actual rate of voter fraud in the US is estimated to be between 0.00004 per cent and 0.0009 per cent, according to The Truth About Voter Fraud, a report written by experts at the Brennan Centre for Justice.

Democrats are worried that Mr Trump will use the claims about voter fraud to make it harder for people to register on the electoral roll. Studies suggest crackdowns on registration tend to impact low-income families and minority groups the most.

"The great political crisis we face is not voter fraud, which barely exists," Senator Bernie Sanders, who had sought the Democratic presidential nomination, urged in a Twitter post. "It's voter suppression and the denial of voting rights."

White House press secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily briefing (Getty) (Getty Images)

On Tuesday, the White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the illegal voting claims were "a longstanding belief [Mr Trump has] maintained".

"He continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence people have presented to him," Mr Spicer said.

When pressed on what those studies or sources were, Mr Spicer referred to a Pew Research study into the 2008 election "and other studies that have been presented to [him]".

The Pew study in question found that the voter roll included some names of people who had died, suggesting it was in need of being updated. There was no evidence any votes were cast in the names of the deceased, and the author of the study has previously made clear it "made no findings re: voter fraud".
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Donald Trumps administration has appeared to ban at least three Government agencies from speaking to journalists, providing documents to the public or even tweeting.

Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and Human Services and Environmental Protection Agency staff are all reportedly subject to gagging orders.

It comes amid the presidents expected order to begin construction on a Mexico border wall and temporary ban on refugees.

The 70-year-old property magnate also this week signed executive orders to advance construction of controversial pipelines and for the global abortion funding ban.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

As well as the prohibition of social media posts, an order reportedly handed down this week, it has been claimed the EPA has been ordered to freeze all grants, contracts and other agreements until further notice.

A memo sent to EPA staff said there should be no press releases sent to external audiences and that no social media will be going out.

The letter, published by the Huffington Post, also says that a digital strategist will be drafted in to oversee the agencys social media and that existing, individually controlled social-media accounts may become more centrally controlled.

It also orders no new posts be made to any agency blogs, that staff send a list of external speaking arrangements, that incoming media requests be carefully screened, and no new documents be uploaded to any public website.

Recommended US government cancels climate change summit before Trump first day

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Employees were told not to publish any new documents or correspondence in any public forum, including the Federal Register, and not to discuss any documents or rules with public officials until it is reviewed by the administration, according to the Huffington Post.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an arm of the health department, cancelled a major climate change summit without explanation just a couple of weeks before Mr Trump was sworn in.

 Donald Trump believes 'millions voted illegally' says Sean Spicer

An ex-CDC director said he did not bother buying a plane ticket to the February conference once Mr Trump was elected in November.

Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Staff at the USDAs Agricultural Research Service received a memo on Monday telling them not to provide any documents to the public including press releases and social media, according to BuzzFeed News.

The email told employees, including about 2,000 staff scientists, that starting immediately and until further notice, they could not release any documents or post on social media.

An official statement from the USDA however said: This internal email was released without departmental direction, and prior to departmental guidance being issued.

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

ARS values and is committed to maintaining the free flow of information between our scientists and the American public.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer refused to comment on the reports, but said: "I don't think it's any surprise that when there's an administration turnover that we're going to review the policy.

An HHS spokesman said: Contrary to erroneous media reports, HHS and its agencies continue to communicate fully about its work through all of its regular communication channels with the public, the media and other relevant audiences. There is no directive to do otherwise.

The Independent has contacted the other two agencies for further comment.
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The State Department is reviewing a last-minute decision by Barack Obama and John Kerry to send $221 million dollars to the Palestinians late last week over the objections of congressional Republicans.

The department has said it will look at the payment and might make adjustments to ensure it comports with the Trump administration's priorities.

Kerry formally notified Congress that State would release the money on Friday morning, just hours before President Donald Trump took the oath of office.

Congress had initially approved the Palestinian funding in budget years 2015 and 2016, but at least two GOP lawmakers  Ed Royce of California, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Kay Granger of Texas, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee  had placed holds on it over moves the Palestinian Authority had taken to seek membership in international organizations.

Congressional holds are generally respected by the executive branch but are not legally binding after funds have been allocated.

Granger released a statement Tuesday saying, "I am deeply disappointed that President Obama defied congressional oversight and released $221 million to the Palestinian territories."

She added: "I worked to make sure that no American taxpayer dollars would fund the Palestinian Authority unless very strict conditions were met. While none of these funds will go to the Palestinian Authority because of those conditions, they will go to programs in the Palestinian territories that were still under review by Congress. The Obama Administration's decision to release these funds was inappropriate."

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

The Obama administration had for some time been pressing for the release of the money, which comes from the U.S. Agency for International Development and is to be used to fund humanitarian aid in the West Bank and Gaza, to support political and security reforms and to help prepare for good governance and the rule of law in a future Palestinian state, according to the notification sent to Congress.

AP
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After a well earned break, Hillary Clinton is planning her next move following her defeat in the US presidential election.

While it is unlikely whether a return to frontline politics is on the cards for the 69-year-old, the former New York senator has reportedly discussed working with former President Barack Obamas Organizing For Action initiative, which aims to nurture young party leaders.

But that is just one of the options on the table for Ms Clinton, who is fashioning a new life with her husband and former president, Bill.

Recommended Trump praises FBI director who reopened Clinton email probe

Mr Clinton is said to have been poring over results from the 2016 race as part of an investigation into FBI Director James Comeys late campaign intervention and Russias involvement.

Despite the grave disappointment, resilience is in the Clintons DNA, Mack McLarty, Ms Clintons first White House chief of staff, told the Politico website. So, while I certainly dont expect to see them trying to assert their authority, I think there will be natural and welcome opportunities for them to engage."

It is unlikely Ms Clinton will start her own political group, but she has apparently talked to friends about her own party's efficiency, after damaging emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) were leaked during the presidential campaign.

 Hillary Clinton receives standing ovation on attending Broadway show

The couple are however keeping a low profile amid the DNC chairmanship election next month, which is widely seen as a Clinton-Sanders proxy battle.

Party leaders and friends expect them to jump back into political fundraising and the campaigning circuit by the 2018 midterms.

I would be surprised [to see Bill Clinton step away from politics] only because he has so many friends who are still involved, who hes worked with for so many years, said Skip Rutherford, the dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service and the founding president of the Clinton Foundation.

However, the one-time Secretary of State has already ruled out running for mayor of New York.
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A further four journalists are facing up to 10 years in prison and 20,000 fines after they were arrested while covering unrest in Washington DC after Donald Trumps inauguration.

They have been named as Jack Keller, a producer for a web documentary series, Matt Hoppard, an independent journalist who was live-streaming the events online, Shay Horse, an independent photojournalist and activist, and Aaron Cantu, whose LinkedIn profile describes him as an editorial and web intern at The Nation magazine.

They were arrested at the same time as Evan Engel of the technology news website Vocativ and Alex Rubenstein of Russia Today (RT) America.

All six were covering a protest march which became violent when a group of masked protesters clashed with police and smashed windows of local businesses.

The criminal complaint said they had been charged with a rioting offence under section 1332(b) of Washington DC's criminal code which carries a maximum penalty of up to 180 days in prison and a fine of up to $1,000 (800), according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

But the language of the complaint refers to rioting that results in bodily harm or more than $5,000 (4,000) in damage  a much more serious offence that carries a maximum penalty of a $25,000 (20,000) fine and 10 years in prison.

All six appeared in the US capital's Superior Court and were released on bail until further hearings in February and March.

Press freedom groups have expressed outrage at their detention and called for the charges to be dropped immediately.

Calling the charges clearly inappropriate, Carlos Lauria, a programme coordinator at the CPJ, said they sent a chilling message to journalists covering future protests.

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

A spokeswoman for Vocativ denounced the arrest of Mr Engel and the other journalists, saying it was an affront to the First Amendment and journalistic freedom.

She said the police had seized Mr Engels camera and mobile phone and insisted the website would vigorously contest this unfounded and outrageous charge.

News of the arrests comes as Mr Trumps press secretary, Sean Spicer, became embroiled in a row with the US media over the new Presidents claim that outlets like CNN were lying about the size of the inauguration crowd.

Several media outlets tweeted overhead pictures comparing the crowds at Mr Trumps swearing-in ceremony with that of Barack Obama in 2009 and 2013. It showed the crowd had thinned out as it spread along Washington DC's National Mall.

Mr Spicer issued a furious denunciation of the press for reporting the difference in numbers, and claimed Trump had had the largest turnout for an inauguration ever, before threatening to hold the media accountable for its lies.

He was later defended by the senior counsellor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, who claimed he was presenting alternative facts during an interview with CNN when the host accused Mr Spicer of lying.
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A Minnesota House committee has approved a bill to charge protesters for police costs associated with disruptive demonstrations.

Protests erupted immediately after the measure was passed 6-3 by the House Civil law Committee.

"Shame on you," CBS Minnesota reported John Thompson, who said he was a friend of Philando Castile, a black man shot and killed by a St Anthony police officer last summer, as shouting.

You should leave, because those seats youre sitting in will be replaced by somebody who represents us," Mr Thompson added.

Other reports added his shouts of: Being black is a crime in Minnesota. We are coming for your seats.

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

Shouts of "shame, shame!" prompted lawmakers to walk out without taking up a second measure.

State representative Nick Zerwas, who proposed the measure, said police agencies in the state had spent $2.5m in the past 18 months dealing with protests.

"Taxpayers are holding the bag," Mr Zerwas said. "That's not right."

The bill will go on to the House Public Safety Committee.

Republican lawmakers in several states have proposed bills which could potentially criminalise peaceful protest over the last few weeks.

In Washington, senator Doug Ericksen proposed a law to make protests a felony if they are deemed "economic terrorism".

A Republican lawmaker in Iowa pledged to introduce legislation establishing criminal penalties for protesters who shut down highways.
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The Badlands National Park, located in South Dakota, has tweeted and deleted posts on climate change. The account is the latest from the National Parks Service (NPS) social media presence to post on topics off-message from the White House. 

The tweets discussed information about how levels of carbon dioxide are at their highest in history, citing the Organic Act of 1916, a federal statute that calls for the preservation of lands for the enjoyment of future generations.

(Twitter)

Tuesday morning President Trump signed a series of executive orders giving the green light on the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines as well as expediting environmental reviews and approvals. Opponents argue that the pipelines will increase carbon emissions and contribute to the disastrous effects of climate change on the environment.

The Badlands account tweets came on the heels of an order from the White House that the NPS immediately cease using its official Twitter accounts after posting retweets on January 21 which compared the National Mall crowd sizes of the 2009 Obama 2017 Trump inaugurations.

Crowd size has been a topic of heated exchanges the last few days, with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer falsely claiming the 2017 crowd was the largest audience to witness an inauguration, period.

Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Show all 18 1 /18 Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters gather outside the White House at the finish of the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds attended the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters hold up signage near the Washington Monument during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Drew Angerer/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters gather during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. The march is expected to draw thousands from across the country to protest newly inaugurated President Donald Trump. Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters arrive at the Capital South Metro station for the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, the Women's March has 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. Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters arrive on the platform at the Capital South Metro station for the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, the Women's March has 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. Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Demonstrators protest during the Women's March along Pennsylvania Avenue January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Joshua Lott/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 21: Protesters attend the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, the Women's March has 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. Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A marcher holds a sign during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. The march is expected to draw thousands from across the country to protest newly inaugurated President Donald Trump. Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A woman chants while attending the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Mario Tama/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters attend the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Mario Tama/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters march in Washington, DC, during the Women's March on January 21, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded US cities Saturday in a day of women's rights protests to mark President Donald Trump's first full day in office. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A protester gestures toward the White House on the Ellipse near the South Lawn of the White House during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Drew Angerer/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A protester, holding a Donald Trump doll wearing a pink cap, marches in Washington, DC, during the Womens March on January 21, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded US cities Saturday in a day of women's rights protests to mark President Donald Trump's first full day in office. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters take to the National Mall to demonstrate against the presidency of Donald Trump Washington, DC on January 21, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters march during the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Mario Tama/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Demonstrators gather on The Ellipse during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Zach Gibson/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Demonstrators march down Pennsylvania Avenue during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Zach Gibson/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protester's signs are left near the White House during the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Mario Tama/Getty

The White House also issued gag orders on the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Agriculture, and Health and Human Services on Tuesday, forbidding employees of the agency from speaking to reporters, posting on official social media accounts, blog posts, and press releases. An email to staff stated that the administration will screen any media requests for the time being.
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A Republican politician has called for abortion to become a crime in the US, arguing that to do so would force women to be more personally responsible about sex.

Tony Tinderholt, who represents Texas, has introduced a bill to the House titled Abolition of Abortion in Texas Act. The bill seeks to make it a criminal offence to have an abortion in the state at any stage, regardless of whether a woman has conceived following rape or incest.

Mr Tinderholt told the Texas Observer, that he supported such a move as it would force women to be more personally responsible with sex. He explained: Right now, its real easy. Right now, they dont make it important to be personally responsible because they know that they have a backup of oh, I can just go get an abortion.

Now, we both know that consenting adults dont always think smartly sometimes. But consenting adults need to also consider the repercussions of the sexual relationship that theyre gonna have, which is a child.

If successful, Mr Tinderholts law would mean that women who have an abortion could be charged with murder until Texas states penal code.

Texas already has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, due the states conservative Christian culture. In 2011, new legislation was put in place requiring women to have an ultrasound at least 24 hours before she has an abortion, requiring at least two trips to a clinic.

The Republican Party has taken a number of steps in the last few weeks to tighten abortion laws further in the US. House Republicans voted in favour of permanently banning federal funding for abortions. This has routinely been put in place every year since 1976 through a clause inserted to the annual funding bill, known as the Hyde Amendment. However, Republican politicians voted to make it a permanent law, rather than an annually inserted amendent.

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

One of Donald Trumps first acts upon assuming office was to reinstate a ban on international aid organisations receiving any funding from the US if they give information about terminations to women or girls. Known as the Mexico City Policy, or Global Gag Rule, it is routinely put in place by Republican presidents, before being repealed by Democratic ones. It was last reinstated by George W Bush, and was subsequently removed by Barrack Obama.
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Native American protesters have vowed not to back down after US President Donald Trump signed an executive action allowing construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline to move forward.

Last November the US Army Corps of Engineers denied the permit to build the $3.8bn (3bn) pipeline amid months of protest outside the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. The tribe said the project would contaminate its water supply.

Lawyers for the tribe said Mr Trumps action was done hastily and irresponsibly, and they will pursue legal action.

Linda Black Elk, a Catawba Nation member who works with Standing Rock medics, told The Guardian: "We cant back down now. We have to continue to stand to protect the water for future generations. Im not scared for myself, but I admit I am frightened for the future."

"We are not opposed to energy independence," Standing Rock chairman David Archambault II said. "We are opposed to reckless and politically motivated development projects, like DAPL, that ignore our treaty rights and risk our water. Creating a second Flint does not make America great again."

Authorities and residents in Flint, Michigan, have been dealing with a public health crisis relating to contaminated water since 2014.
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The Trump administration removed an apology from the State Department to the LGBTQ community for discrimination dating back to the 1940s, prompting criticism for advocacy groups.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry published an apology on the site for the departments past discrimination based on sexual orientation  but it has since disappeared from the site.

[T]he Department of State was among many public and private employers that discriminated against employees and job applicants on the basis of perceived sexual orientation, forcing some employees to resign or refusing to hire certain applicants in the first place, Mr Kerrys statement said. These actions were wrong then, just as they would be wrong today.

Recommended Every mention of global warming deleted from White House website

But since the transfer of power, the new administration had removed LGBTQ, civil rights, and climate change content, as well as the Spanish language version of the White House website.

Speaking at a press briefing earlier this week, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that all of the content would return to the site as the administration revamps its issues pages.

Administration-specific content that was posted on state.gov during President Obamas tenure was archived, the State Department told LawNewz.com. Content that remains on state.gov includes, but is not limited to, the functions and operations of the Department information; Congressionally-mandated reports  legal treaties, and air transport agreements.

New items created by the Trump Administration will be posted to state.gov.

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

The Human Rights Campaign condemned the removal of the apology note and suggested that it was indicative of the Trump administrations regressive approach to LGBTQ rights.

With each passing hour, the Trump administration continues to show the extent of their contempt for the enormous progress made over the past eight years, said HRC president Chad Griffin. Secretary Kerry's apology to LGBTQ employees and their families who were targeted, harassed, and fired set the right tone for the State Department, even if it couldn't undo the damage done decades ago.

 Crowd of people hold LGBT dance party outside Mike Pence's house

It is outrageous that the new administration would attempt to erase from the record this historic apology for witch hunts that destroyed the lives of innocent Americans, he added. The apology, along with the other important LGBTQ content that has been removed, should immediately be restored, and President Trump should condemn such behaviour at all departments and agencies.

However, Politifact pointed out that the Obama administration laid out its digital transition plan in October. Mr Obama turned over all content to the National Archives and Records, preserved at ObamaWhiteHouse.archives.gov.

The Trump administration now has the ability to shape the White House website  which National Archives considers official presidential record. When it appeared that they removed climate change, LGBTQ issues, and civil rights from their website, it was a matter of omission. Although, given Mr Trump's position on progressive politics, the omission is notable.

Instead of repopulating those issues, Mr Trump's team filled the website with so-called "America First" policy positions in the changeover.
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The US House of Representatives has voted to pass legislation making it more difficult for poor women to have an abortion.

Despite the recent demonstrations across US cities demanding womens rights be protected, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, also known as HR7, was approved by 238 votes to 183.

It is designed to prevent terminations from being covered by insurance funded by the taxpayer, such as 'Obamacare' or Medicaid  relied on by many lower income people and public sector employees.

Millions of women stand to be affected, according to the Centre for Reproductive Rights.

The legislation must now be approved by the Senate, though this is not guaranteed and a similar attempt was blocked twice by the Democrats during Mr Obamas tenure.

If passed, HR7 would pass the Hyde Amendment  an addition to the budget which bans taxpayer funded abortions except with the above caveats  into law. The amendment has been passed in every budget since 1976 but has never been enshrined in legislation.

Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Show all 18 1 /18 Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters gather outside the White House at the finish of the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds attended the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters hold up signage near the Washington Monument during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Drew Angerer/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters gather during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. The march is expected to draw thousands from across the country to protest newly inaugurated President Donald Trump. Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters arrive at the Capital South Metro station for the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, the Women's March has 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. Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters arrive on the platform at the Capital South Metro station for the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, the Women's March has 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. Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Demonstrators protest during the Women's March along Pennsylvania Avenue January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Joshua Lott/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 21: Protesters attend the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, the Women's March has 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. Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A marcher holds a sign during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. The march is expected to draw thousands from across the country to protest newly inaugurated President Donald Trump. Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A woman chants while attending the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Mario Tama/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters attend the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Mario Tama/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters march in Washington, DC, during the Women's March on January 21, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded US cities Saturday in a day of women's rights protests to mark President Donald Trump's first full day in office. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A protester gestures toward the White House on the Ellipse near the South Lawn of the White House during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Drew Angerer/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A protester, holding a Donald Trump doll wearing a pink cap, marches in Washington, DC, during the Womens March on January 21, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded US cities Saturday in a day of women's rights protests to mark President Donald Trump's first full day in office. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters take to the National Mall to demonstrate against the presidency of Donald Trump Washington, DC on January 21, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters march during the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Mario Tama/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Demonstrators gather on The Ellipse during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Zach Gibson/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Demonstrators march down Pennsylvania Avenue during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Zach Gibson/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protester's signs are left near the White House during the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Mario Tama/Getty

It would be much harder to remove once passed and the move, initiated by Republican representatives, is being widely regarded as part of the partys anticipated attack on abortion.

Its particularly shameful that politicians in Congress are voting to restrict a womans ability to get basic health care services just three days after millions of women, men, and families mobilized and marched for their rights, said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Centre for Reproductive Rights.

In far too many circumstances, a womans paycheck determines whether she can get the health care she needs when she has made the decision to end a pregnancy. For low-income women and women of color, the barriers to care are even more severe. Its cynical and cruel that politicians have made it a top priority to further drive safe and legal abortion out of reach for millions more women.

We call on Congress to abandon this latest attempt to rob women of their rights and focus their efforts on measures which would actually improve the lives of our families and communities.

Earlier this week, President Trump passed an executive order reinstating the Mexico City Policy which forces NGOs to agree to neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations as a condition aid funding, even if non-US funds are being used for the abortions.

Reproductive rights campaigners slammed the decision, pointing out that the effect of such rules simply increases unsafe abortions in developing countries, greatly endangering womens health.

One family planning NGO, Marie Stopes International, estimated the Mexico City Policy could result in 6.5 million unintended pregnancies, 2.2 million abortions, 2.1 million unsafe abortions and 21,700 maternal deaths  in Mr Trumps first term alone.
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The White House has made it clear they do not want Barron Trump preyed upon by the press.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the White House demanded privacy for all of Donald Trumps children and asked for them to be shielded from the public eye.

It is a longstanding tradition that the children of Presidents are afforded the opportunity to grow up outside of the political spotlight, a statement from the Office of the Press Secretary said. The White House fully expects this tradition to continue. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.

While they did not mention Barron, who is just 10 years old, by name, it is likely he was at the forefront of their minds given the fact he has dominated headlines this week.

Barron, who is Donald and Melania Trumps only child, was subject to a barrage of memes mocking his facial expressions and accusing him of being bored during inauguration day.

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

The furore saw Katie Rich, a writer for Saturday Night Live, suspended for saying Barron would become the nations first homeschool shooter in a since deleted tweet. Rich later issued an apology on Twitter, saying: I sincerely apologise for the insensitive tweet. I deeply regret my actions & offensive words. It was inexcusable and I'm so sorry.

Chelsea, the only child of Hillary and Bill Clinton, stood up for Barron against the mocking he received from people, saying: Barron Trump deserves the chance every child does - to be a kid.

Recommended Chelsea Clinton defends Barron Trump after torrent of memes mock him

But she also alluded to the fact some of Mr Trumps policies might have a detrimental effect on children. Standing up for every kid also means opposing @POTUS policies that hurt kids, she said on Twitter.

Monica Lewinsky, who had an affair with former President Bill Clinton when she was a White House intern, also defended the youngest Trump.

All children need to be protected from bullying + mockery. (incl Barron Trump). Let's be better than this, Lewinsky, who is now an anti-bullying activist, said on Twitter.

But Lewinsky did not just defend Barron who is currently back in New York to complete school. She also came to Richs defence on Tuesday after the SNL writer also became the target of online harassment.

Online mobs are not the answer either. @katiemaryrich has apologized. comedy is an imperfect science. (trust me!), Lewinsky wrote.
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North Korea's most senior defector has claimed Kim Jong Un would fire a suicidal nuclear salvo at Los Angeles if his rule was threatened.

The dictator would "press the button" to destroy the Californian city despite the inevitable consequences, Thae Yong-ho, the former deputy ambassador in London, said.

He told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire Show he thought the dictator "will press the button on these dangerous weapons when he thinks that his rule and his dynasty is threatened".

Recommended Trump working on missile defence system to protect from North Korea

Asked if Mr Kim would act even knowing a nuclear attack on the US mainland would mean his destruction, Mr Thae replied: "Yes."

Mr Thae has previously said the Kim regime is aiming to complete its development of nuclear weapons by the end of 2017, and would not stop even if it was offered trillions of dollars to do so.

Pyongyang has asserted it will conduct its next nuclear missile test "anytime and anywhere".

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has announced the development of a "state-of-the-art" missile defence system to protect the US from Iran and North Korea, according to a statement posted to the White House website minutes after the new commander-in-chief was sworn into office.

Mr Thae added: "Kim Jong Un knows quite well that a nuclear weapon is the only guarantee for his rule. If he lose the power then it is his last day. He may do anything."

But he believes the Kim regime "one day would collapse by people's uprising".
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Angela Merkel has taken an indirect dig at Donald Trump by urging people to use "facts instead of fakes".

The German chancellor made the remarks while speaking at a reception at the Federal Chancellery on Monday.

There needs to be an understanding of persuading people with facts instead of fakes, Ms Merkel said, according to a translation from The Local.

 Donald Trump believes 'millions voted illegally' says Sean Spicer

She added: We all know the word post-factual It means how we think about a topic is more about the emotion and less about the situation.

"But when the mood counts more than the facts, then  at least  in politics we are getting into a crisis of reasoning.

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

The US president's team was widely ridiculed after Trump senior aide Kellyanne Conway said controversial comments by the White House press secretary were not lies, but "alternative facts".

"Alternative facts are not facts. They are falsehoods," NBC's Meet the Press host Chuck Todd replied.

CNN have also fact-checked one of Mr Trump's tweets about his inauguration viewing figures, showing one of his claims to be false.
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Refugee and migrant children are routinely suffering dog bites and violent beatings by police as they attempt to cross borders along the Balkans route, Save the Children has warned.

Children as young as 12 are being forcefully and unlawfully pushed back into Serbia from Hungary and Croatia, despite having already crossed the border, the charity said.

Up to 100 refugees are arriving in the country each day, with children accounting for 46 per cent of new arrivals.

Migrants are being beaten by police and mauled by dogs, having their blankets and shoes stolen. It is a way for police to make the passage as inhospitable as possible, Gemma Parkin, spokesperson for Save the Children, told The Independent.

A whole group of teenagers told me beatings, dog bites and push-backs had become commonplace.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR), 1,600 migrants have been illegally forced back across borders of Balkan countries since November, leaving those who have arrived in Belgrade trapped in limbo and unable to continue their journey.

A homeless refugee in Belgrade is pictured with their toes poking out of their tattered footwear in freezing conditions (Tatjana Ristic/Save the Children)

The charity believes an average of 30 clandestine push-backs are happening each day, with many refugees being denied their right under asylum law to an individual assessment of their need for international protection.

Save the Children warned push-backs were causing more migrants to cross woods and snow-covered mountains that border Bulgaria to try and continue their journey.

Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Show all 7 1 /7 Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants arriving in Italy on MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie DeardenI Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants undergoing health checks after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants undergoing security checks after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants being fingerprinted after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants being fingerprinted after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily A man being taken to hospital from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden

One Iraqi family with an 8-year-old daughter walked through the night with two blankets between them in -12 temperatures - the girl when she arrived at the aid centre in Belgrade was deeply distressed, Ms Parkin said.

Charities fear Serbia is increasingly becoming a dumping ground for refugees and migrants who have been refused access to neighbouring countries.

The Government has been categoric that it can only accept 6,000 refugees  an estimated 7,000 are now believed to be in the country.

Since reaching its quota, Serbian officials have advised NGOs to desist from providing warm clothes, food and shoes to people outside of official shelters.

Homeless refugees and migrants in Belgrade queue for the one hot meal a day they are given by aid groups (Tatjana Ristic/Save the Children)

Save the Children said the measures are causing a spike in the numbers of refugees suffering frostbite in the perishing conditions.

Unaccompanied children as young as eight, many without gloves or proper shoes, continue to sleep rough in Belgrades abandoned warehouses in freezing temperatures, waiting for smugglers to facilitate an illegal entry into Hungary.

An estimated 20 per cent of refugee children in Serbia are unaccompanied and travelling alone.

In truth the refugee crisis has not abated. Its simply a more dangerous route, especially for children, Jelena Besedic, Save the Childrens advocacy manager in Serbia said.

The EU-Turkey deal has given smugglers a firmer grip on a hugely profitable business, incorporating increasingly dangerous tactics to circumvent authorities.

The migrants are arriving on the Balkans Route, which was officially closed in March 2015 but remains in active use by those hoping to make it to Northern Europe.
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The Netherlands is seeking to set up an overseas abortion fund to counteract Donald Trumps recent ban against funding international groups which give women information about terminations.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen for the Dutch government has announced she intends to establish an international fund which would finance projects relating to access for birth control, abortion and womens education, throughout developing countries.

Ms Ploumen announced the plan in reaction to an extensive memorandum signed by Mr Trump to restrict access to information on abortion for women who are in receipt of aid from international development groups.

 Sean Spicer: Trump to reinstate global abortion funding ban

Known as the Mexico City Policy or the global gag rule, the ban was one of Mr Trumps first actions upon entering office last week. It prohibits US funding for any international aid groups which give women information about abortion, even if they do not perform the procedures.

Ms Ploumen said the fund could be supported by governments, businesses and social organisations concerned by the US Presidents actions in order to compensate this financial setback as much as possible.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

She told colleagues: This has far-reaching consequences. First of all, for all those women who have to make, if they want to have a child, a choice, but also for their husbands and children and society as a whole. Banning abortion does not lead to fewer abortions. It leads to more irresponsible practices in back rooms and more maternal deaths.

She also quoted figures from Marie Stopes International, one group which would lose funding under the initiative, suggesting up to 14 women a day could die as a result of the gag.

The Mexico City Policy is a traditional tool used by Republican administrations and is frequently put in place under GOP presidents, before being rescinded by Democratic ones. It was last put in place under George W Bush and then subsequently repealed by Barack Obama when he entered office.

The policy has been criticised by many womens rights and healthcare groups who fear the lives of women and girls may be put at risk by the policy, either due to continuing risky pregnancies or attempting to perform terminations dangerously. However, many Republican politicians support the policy for religious reasons.
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Francois Fillon faces a crisis in his campaign for the French presidency with prosecutors having opened an inquiry for misuse of public funds after a report that his wife drew a salary as his assistant but had never actually worked.

Mr Fillon, a right-wing former prime minister, said earlier he was outraged at the report by the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine which he said showed contempt and misogyny.

I see the stink bomb season has started, the 62-year-old said from the city of Bordeaux.

Just hours later, financial prosecutors in Paris said they were opening an inquiry into potential misuse of public funds relating to the matter.

Following the publication on 25 January 2017 in Le Canard Enchaine of a story calling Mrs Penelope Fillon into question, the financial prosecutor'ss office today opened a preliminary investigation into misappropriation of public funds, misuse of company assets and concealment of these offences, a statement said.

It is common practice for French parliamentarians to employ wives and children in their offices.

But the allegation that Mr Fillon's British-born wife, Penelope, was paid for fake jobs  a charge to which he did not reply directly on Wednesday  could undermine his pledge to pursue an honest and transparent campaign, and hurt his ratings as the race for the presidency gathers pace.

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

Mr Fillon is running for the Republican party in the presidential election on 23 April and 7 May.

While favourite to win election, he faces a strong challenge from the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, second in the polls, and from the independent centrist Emmanuel Macron.

That lead could be affected by how Mr Fillon handles a crisis that risks denting his image as a devout Catholic and family man with a relatively scandal-free record in office.

Polls have for months highlighted voter discontent with the political elite and any hint of improper use of public finances could worsen that perception at his expense.

For the French voter, the case has echoes of past scandals over phantom jobs.

Alain Juppe, another former prime minister whom Mr Fillon was visiting in Bordeaux on Wednesday, was convicted over use of public funds for fake jobs more than 10 years ago in a case that also led to the conviction of former President Jacques Chirac.

Socialist former prime minister Manuel Valls, who hopes to win his party's ticket as presidential candidate, urged Mr Fillon to explain himself on the matter.

You can't be the candidate of honesty and transparency and not respond, Mr Valls told France Inter radio.

Ms Le Pen usually trades in voter distrust of mainstream leaders but she has so far remained silent.

Her own Front National (FN) party is under judicial investigation over allegations of improper employment of assistants by its MEPs in the European Parliament.

Le Canard Enchaine reported that Penelope Fillon had been paid 600,000 (511,000) for many years of employment as a parliamentary assistant to him and later to his replacement as a National Assembly lawmaker, and for work at a cultural journal.

It said that its research had showed there was no evidence she had ever really worked.

Mr Fillon's public relations team have emphasised there is nothing illegal about her working for her husband in the National Assembly.

They explained her apparent absence from the workplace by saying she preferred to work in the background, in keeping with a self-effacing style. They have not said how much she was paid.

Mr Fillon and his wife, who is from Wales, were married in 1980 and have five children. Last October, she told a newspaper, Le Bien public: Up to now, I have never been involved in the political life of my husband.

Reuters
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Germany has decided to abolish a law which defends the honour of foreign leaders.

International heads of state will no longer be able to ask the German government to prosecute people deemed to have offended them under an obscure passage of German law.

The decision comes just days after Donald Trump's inauguration as US President and a year after Angela Merkel authorised the investigation of a TV comic who wrote a crude poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

German ministers have agreed to scrap a line of the penal code known as lese majeste, which prohibits insulting the representatives of international governments.

Justice Minister Heiko Maas called the law outdated and unnecessary.

The idea of lese majesty arose in an era long gone by. It no longer belongs in our criminal law, he said.

Comic Jan Boehmermanns expletive-filled work, including allusions to bestiality, child sex abuse and ethnic discrimination in relation to Mr Erdogan, sparked a diplomatic row between Ankara and Berlin when it aired on German television last March.

 German comedian faces criminal inquiry over Erdogan

It described Mr Erdogan as stupid, cowardly and uptight before descending into sexual references and language later described by judges in Hamburg as abusive and libellous content.

The outraged Turkish leader filed a complaint with German prosecutors on the basis of lese majeste.

Angela Merkel controversially granted Turkey's request, but prosecutors later dropped the investigation of Mr Boehmermann, citing insufficient evidence that he committed any crime.

Recommended Melania Trump sues Daily Mail for libel over sex work claims

Ms Merkel was widely criticised for allowing prosecutors to pursue the case against Mr Boehmermann, which arose at a time of tense bilateral relations because of the massive flow of migrants from the Middle East through Turkey.

The Bundestag lower house of parliament still has to decide on the law change.

Insulted foreign leaders can still pursue their own libel and defamation cases, in the same way as anyone else.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes Show all 8 1 /8 Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes Just a week before he was elected President, he called Erdogan Amberin Zaman, the Turkey correspondent for 'The Economist', a "shameless militant woman disguised under the name of a journalist" after she had asked an opposition leader whether "Muslim society is able to question" the authorities. "Know your place," Erdogan said. "They gave you a pen and you are writing a column in a newspaper. "And then they invite you to a TV channel owned by Dogan media group and you insult at a society of 99 per cent Muslims," he said he said according to Today's Zaman newspaper. Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes Turkish people are pictured chanting slogans during an anti-government protest on Taksim square in Istanbul, on 29 June, 2013. The protests were sparked by brutal police action against a local conservation battle to save Istanbul's Gezi Park, and soon turned into nationwide demonstrations against the government. Amid the protests - the worst in Turkey for years - Erdogan accused demonstrators of being "arm-in-arm with terrorism," according to Reuters. "This is a protest organized by extremist elements. We will not give away anything to those who live arm-in-arm with terrorism," he said. GURCAN OZTURK/AFP/Getty Images Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes During last years protests, activists used social media to organise and disseminate information. Several dozen tweeters were arrested following the protests, according to local media reports. Erdogan responded by calling the technology a "menace". "There is now a menace which is called Twitter," Erdogan said. "The best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society," BBC New reported. Vladimir Astapkovich/RIA Novosti via Getty Images Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes Not helping to allay accusations of authoritarianism, after Turkish police detained 49 people, including well-known business people and those close to the ruling party, Erdeogan ominously told reporter that Turkey "is not a banana republic" that can be affected by unnamed "operations", according to Today's Zaman newspaper. People who are backed by the media and certain funders cannot change this country," he said. "People backed by certain dark gangs both inside and outside Turkey cannot mess with the country's path. They cannot change conditions in Turkey. Turkey is not a country that anyone can launch an operation into. The [Turkish] nation will not allow that. The AK Party, which is governing this nation, will not allow this." Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes Friends and relatives of the miners who died in an explosion at the Soma mine are pictured praying following the burial in Soma cemetery of the last body to be recovered from the mine in May 2014. At the time, the then-Prime Minister badly misjudged the Soma mining disaster, in which 301 workers died. He told the relatives of dead and dying miners that "these types of incidents are ordinary things", following allegations that the government had ignored safety concerns about the privately owned mine, the Guardian reported. In his defence, Erdogan recounted in a separate speech a list of mining disasters which occurred abroad, including a British disaster in 1862, and one in America "which has every kind of technology". Oli Scarff/Getty Images Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes Palestinians pictured attending Friday noon prayers in a destroyed mosque that was hit by Israeli strikes, in Gaza City. As Prime Minister, Erdogan has condemned Israel, accusing it of deliberately killing Palestinian mothers and warned that the it would "drown in the blood it sheds." Speaking to thousands of supporters during a rally in Istanbul ahead of the 10 August election, Reuters reported him as saying: "Just like Hitler, who sought to establish a race free of all faults, Israel is chasing after the same target." "They kill women so that they will not give birth to Palestinians; they kill babies so that they won't grow up; they kill men so they can't defend their country ... They will drown in the blood they shed," he said. AP Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes Amid the worst protests in Turkey for years which had spread across dozens of cities last June, Erdogan accused demonstrators of being "arm-in-arm with terrorism," according to Reuters. A demonstration to halt construction in a park in an Istanbul square grew into mass protests against a heavy-handed police crackdown and what opponents called Erdogan's authoritarian policies. "This is a protest organized by extremist elements," Erdogan said before departing on a trip to North Africa. "We will not give away anything to those who live arm-in-arm with terrorism," he said. Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes In March 2014, Erdogan accused a 15-year-old boy who died from injuries sustained in last year's anti-government protests of being linked to terrorism. Berkin Elvan, who became a symbol of anti-government protests, had gone to pick up bread when he was hit with a teargas canister - sending him into a nine-month coma before he passed away. In a speech broadcast on state TV, Erdogan said of Berkin: "This kid with steel marbles in his pockets, with a slingshot in his hand, his face covered with a scarf, who had been taken up into terror organisations, was unfortunately subjected to pepper gas. How could the police determine how old that person was who had a scarf on his face and was hurling steel marbles with a slingshot in his hand? ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

A civil law dispute between Mr Erdogan and Mr Boehmermann is not yet over. A district court in Hamburg will decide on Erdogan's action for an injunction on 10 February.

Last year the Hamburg court issued a preliminary injunction banning re-publication of parts of the poem.

Additional reporting from agencies
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For generations, life in Temir Kanat has stood still. High in the Tian Shen mountains, 1,000 once-nomadic villagers lead the timeless life of the jailoo, the alpine pastures grazed by prized horse herds and stalked by tamed hunting eagles. It is an ancient existence which has withstood a succession of invaders, from the Mongol hordes to the armies of Soviet Russia.

But where Tamerlaine and the Kremlin's imperial commissars failed, there is alarming evidence that poverty and an enforced re-awakening of the wandering instincts of the Kyrgyz people  taking an entire generation of young men out of the countryside to find work abroad  is imperilling centuries of tradition and culture as never before.

With rural unemployment at epidemic levels and the once-booming economies of neighbouring Russia and Kazakhstan sucking in migrant labourers, some 800,000 Kyrgyz, in particular men aged 18 to 35, have simply left. The community of Temir Kanat, where 75 per cent of those of working age have already departed, is bitter testimony to what happens to those left behind.

At this time of year, in temperatures that average about minus 15C and regularly reach minus 40C, the burden of sustaining the village  a strip of tumbledown houses some 200 miles east of the capital, Bishkek, and reached by an icy track that twists through 2,000m mountain passes  falls on its ranks of wizened grandmothers or babushkas and their meagre pensions of barely 25 a month.

As a result, Temir Kanat, whose name translates as Wing of Metal, is a ghost village. So are thousands of places like it. These are places populated almost uniquely by the very old and the very young, where the certainties of an age-old existence defined by livestock and the production of such staples as kumys, a much-loved drink made from fermented mare's milk, appears to be slowly dying out.

Kaken Kyrgyzova, 74, wrapped in the heavy layers of colourful felted wool that villagers wear to keep out the all-pervading cold, said: "My son has left to work in the city. I look after my three grandchildren. It is my duty. My son cannot send money so we survive on my pension of 1,600 som [23] each month. It is hard. We eat noodles and tea because I can no longer tend the crops. Our fire is heated by animal dung. This is what our lives have become." Sat against a backdrop of intricately patterned traditional felt rugs known as shyrdak which, along with a pile of corn she is looking after for a neighbour, represents her worldly wealth, Kaken co-habits in a single room with neighbours and struggles to send her two granddaughters and grandson to school, each attending on alternate days. Bolsunbek, 13, her ruddy-cheeked grandson, is clear about what he wants to do as soon as he is old enough to earn a living. He said: "I want to join my father as a builder. I will leave here."

The cycle of departure, and debt, is beginning to erode the communal customs that hold together a culture in one of central Asia's least-known countries, where men still hunt with eagles taken as chicks from the nest and trained to live with a human keeper for the rest of their 40-year lives.

It is a measure of the failure of modernity to penetrate Kyrgyz society that the national obsession remains traditional horse games, of which Kok Boru or Grey Wolf is the epitome. Famed for their horsemanship, all year through the Kyrgyz play this visceral form of polo in which the "ball" is a decapitated goat, wrestling over possession of the corpse which must be heaved into a raised earthen platform to score a "goal".

The departure of so many young men, a trend critics of Kyrgyzstan's increasingly autocratic government claim the authorities are happy to accept because it removes the strata of society most likely to lead a political rebellion, means there are diminishing numbers in the jailoo ready to continue such traditions. Already, families have to make up for their absence by paying shepherds to tend animals, including herds of horses kept as much for meat as riding, duties that would have been looked after within the extended clan.

Salamat Omurov, 78, a village elder or akasal (literally, "white beard"), spent his life as a shepherd in the pastures surrounding the village, living in a traditional yurt or felt tent during the summer. Mournfully, he said: "It used to be that the skills of shepherding, hunting and riding were passed on from grandfather to grandson. What child will now spend 40 years in the same place to care for a hunting eagle?"

Kyrgyzstan has been called "the Switzerland of central Asia" because of its unspoilt mountainous terrain that shares borders with Kazakh-stan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. But beyond a preponderance of snowy peaks, including the forbidding Tian Shen mountains that separate the country from China to the east and loom over Temir Kanat, the legendary land of the 40 tribes of the Kyrgyz bears little resemblance to its European alpine counterpart.

The country is ranked in the United Nations' poverty index below Equatorial Guinea and Guyana. Its per capita GDP of $951 for its population of 5,200,000 is comparable to Haiti or Chad. But between 2004 and 2008, about 800,000 Kyrgyz men, and increasingly women, scratched together the $100 to $500 required to make the journey from Kyrgyzstan's agricultural hinterland to work in often wretched conditions on building sites, tobacco farms and sweatshops from St Petersburg to Siberia.

With up to 90 per cent of migrants working illegally in their host country, the true figure could be higher. Although at least 80,000 have returned because of the downturn, most remain abroad, either unwilling or unable to return. The exodus of the most economically active tranche of the population means Kyrgyzstan is now probably the third most remittance-reliant nation, said to be after the Philippines and Nepal. The annual sum sent home by the country's diaspora rose from $481m in 2004 to $1.2bn in 2008, accounting for 27 per cent of GDP. Put another way, a third of Kyrgyz households are reliant on money earned outside the country. Women such as Kaken, who have become the guardians of fading tradition, see hardly any of this money. The British charity Help Age International, set up by Help the Aged and Age Concern, has conducted studies on their problems, amid evidence that remittances make up less than 5 per cent of the income of the "ultra-poor" in places much like Temir Kanat or the nearby town of Bokonbaevo.

Eppu Mikkonen-Jeanneret, the regional representative for the charity, said: "There is a perception that migration works for developing countries because of the money that is sent home. The problem in Kyrgyzstan is that it is not reaching those who need it most. "In the towns and villages, we have households of the old and the young where a very modest income often cannot even meet the basic needs of food, heating and providing education for the children. Particularly in winter, we see households going into debt."

There is much talk of a hardening of attitudes among the haves and have nots of a newly stratified society where the certainties of the Soviet era are viewed with yearning. The custom of koshumcha and raja, whereby each member of a community pays a contribution between 2.80 and 7 to each wedding and funeral, has become a means of social isolation. Those failing to pay, often the elderly, can end up being shunned. Batyrkanova Zarylkau, 73, said: "Life in this community is extremely changed. People were equal. They looked after each other. Then all that stopped. Now there are some very poor and some very rich. Nobody wants to help each other because if you have something in your hands, you will be respected by others. If you have nothing, you will have a lot of troubles. That is why we send our children away, even if we lose them. There is nothing here for them. Those who remain have no jobs. Instead, they sit around and drink and play cards."

Attempts to counteract the corrosive effects of migration are at a fledgling stage. The government last month added an extra 200 som (2.80) to pensions to help offset a proposed tripling in electricity prices, and 400 per cent rise in electricity costs. There are plans to increase tourism to bolster what remains an agrarian economy. But the elders of Temir Kanat and the surrounding area are resigned to the ebbs and flows of global capitalism and seek merely to survive.

Rosa Konobyava, 70, a Russian Tartar who cares of her four grandchildren and has not heard from her two sons in Kazakhstan since they left six months ago, said: "I love them. I can hug them and kiss them. They bring only good things. But our way of life has changed and we are losing things that were once certain. There is an old Russian proverb, 'Old age is not happiness and youth is not life'. There are many who feel that way."

Kyrgyzstan: The facts

* Independent since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kyrgyzstan has a population of 5.2 million and is home to a number of ethnicities including Kyrgyz, Uzbeks and Russians.

* The country has a per capita GDP of $951, and the United Nations' poverty index ranks it as poorer than Equatorial Guinea and Guyana.

* In 2008, $1.2bn (741m, or 27% of GDP) was sent home by Kyrgyz working abroad  an increase of $719m (444m) from 2004.

* Agriculture accounts for a large proportion of Kyrgyzstan's economy, and there are 4.25 million sheep in the country according to the government  which earlier this week announced that each sheep would receive its own passport in a move intended to limit disease.

* In 2005 the "Tulip Revolution" brought about the downfall of President Askar Akayev, who had been in power since 1990. He was succeeded by the current President, Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

* The country loses 2.57 people per 1,000 of population every year due to emigration.

www.helpage.org
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Marine Le Pen has been refused entry to an state-recognised refugee camp in northern France.

The Front National leader arrived at the Grande-Synthe camp in Dunkirk on Tuesday afternoon, along with several media outlets, but was refused authorisation to enter by organisations running the camp and regional authorities because she had turned up unannounced.

In response, Ms Le Pen claimed it was a political move and that she was refused only because she doesn't agree with the organisers of the camp. She told BFMTV at the scene: Its a political move. They only let people in who agree with them, and later tweeted: Today we were prevented from entering the Grande-Synthe camp. That's French democracy for you!

But Grande-Synthe authorities have said the reason she wasn't granted entry was because she failed to inform the organisations running the camp or the regional authorities that she was coming prior to her arrival.

Matilde Regne, a spokesperson for the mayor of Grand-Synthe, told The Independent: She didnt bother to let the organisations that run the camp know that she was coming. Neither the mayor, nor the organisation that manages the camp. No one was informed of her visit. She turned up completely unannounced, said Ms Regne.

She told the press that she likes that she was coming. Weve had many high-profile figures visit the camp before, and all of them informed us beforehand, even journalists. Its important so that security can be organised.

Because she came without pre-warning, she wasnt given authorisation. You cant enter a humanitarian camp for refugees just like that.

In a tweet posted while she was standing outside the camp, Ms Le Pen denounced the crazy immigration policies by the French government. In front of the Grande-Synthe migrant camp, I denounced the crazy immigration policies carried out by successive governments, she wrote.

We must deport illegals back where they came from and control our national borders, if not the camps with reconstruct themselves."

She added in another tweet: Migrants are coming back to Calais and will ontinue to come as long as we dont control our borders.

According to France3, Damien Caerme, mayor of Grande-Synthe, said: It is not a zoo. It is out of the question for [Ms Le Pen] to make a buzz by coming to Grande-Synthe. What is she trying to achieve? She constantly incites hate and divisions.

Mr Careme later tweeted: I refused Marine Le Pen access to the humanitarian camp who dared to present herself. Humanity is a value that she ignores."

There are around 800 refugees residing in the Grande-Synthe camp, a number that has been growing since the demolition of the Calais 'Jungle', as refugees  particularly unaccompanied minors  flee from the accommodation centres across France they were taken to following the eviction.

Ms Le Pen meanwhile boasts an openly anti-refugee policy, and controlling France's borders is one of the principle objectives in her election campaign.

Earlier this month, the Front National leader, whose father was convicted over racial hatred, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, denounced the EU as a force of sterilisation and attacked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her refugee policy.
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Russian MPs have voted overwhelmingly to back a bill which would decriminalise some types of domestic violence - a move which campaigners have said endangers victims and exonerates tyrants.

Just two politicians in the country's parliament, known as the Duma, voted against the so-called slapping law, while 385 voted in favour of it. One abstained.

The bill will move on to the upper house, which usually rubber stamps new laws. President Vladimir Putin will then have to personally approve it.

Domestic abuse which doesnt seriously harm family members will now be treated as a civil, rather than criminal offence, unless done repeatedly.

The bill was brought by Yelena Mizulina, an ultra-conservative MP, known for her stance against the LGBT community.

Supporters of the law say they want to protect parents' right to "discipline" their children, while reducing the state's ability to meddle in family life.

Anyone who inflicts serious physical harm will still be criminally liable, they say.

 MP delivers passionate speech on domestic violence

"This is a historic vote because in certain countries the state's role in family life is way too much," said Andrei Isayev of Mr Putins United Russia party. "Today's vote will end such practices in the Russian Federation."

But women's rights campaigners say it is a step backwards.

"This law calls for the exoneration of tyrants in the home," said Maria Mokhova, executive director of the Sisters crisis centre for domestic abuse victims.

Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Show all 19 1 /19 Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Afghanistan Recommendation: I urge the Government of Afghanistan to adopt legislative reforms to ensure that sexual violence offences are not conflated with adultery or morality crimes and to establish infrastructure for the delivery of protection, health and le gal services to survivors. I call on the Ministry of the Interior to accelerate efforts to integrate women into the Afghan National Police, thereby enhancing its outreach and its capacity to address sexual and gender-based violence Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Central African Republic Recommendation: I urge the authorities of the Central African Republic to ensure that efforts to restore security and the rule of law take into account the prevention of sexual violence and that monitoring of the ceasefire and peace agreement explicitly reflects this consideration, in line with the joint communique of the Government and the United Nations on the prevention of and response to conflict-related sexual violence signed in December 2012. I further encourage the authorities to make the rapid response unit to combat sexual violence operational and to establish a special criminal court Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Colombia Recommendation: I commend the Government of Colombia for the progress made to date and its collaboration with the United Nations, including through the visit of my Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict in March 2015. I encourage the authorities to implement Law 1719 and continue to prosecute cases of sexual violence committed during the conflict to ensure that survivors receive justice and receive reparations. Conflict-related sexual violence should continue to be addressed in the Havana peace talks, as well as in the resulting accords and transitional justice mechanisms. Particular attention should be paid to groups that face additional barriers to justice such as ethnic minorities, women in rural areas, children, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals and women abused within the ranks of armed groups. I encourage the Government to scale up its protection measures and share its good practices with other conflict-affected countries Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Congo Recommendation: I urge the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to ensure full implementation of the armed forces action plan against sexual violence, to systematically bring perpetrators to justice and to deliver reparations to victims, including payment of outstanding compensation awards. I call on donors and the United Nations system to support the Government in its efforts and to pay increased attention to neglected areas, including unregulated mining regions Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Iraq Recommendation: I commend the Government of Iraq for its national action plan for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) and urge its swift implementation, including by training its security forces to ensur e respect for womens rights. Programmes to support the social reintegration of women and girls released from captivity by ISIL are urgently needed, as is community-based medical and psychological care. The capacity of the United Nations system should be enhanced through the deployment of Womens Protection Advisers or equivalent specialists Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Libya Recommendation: I urge the national authorities in Libya to implement Decree No. 119 and Resolution 904 of 2014 to ensure redress for all victims, including those affected by the current conflict, through the establishment of multisectoral services and the adoption of legislation to categorically prohibit sexual violence Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Mali Recommendation: I urge the Government of Mali, with support from United Nations Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict, to develop a comprehensive national strategy to combat sexual and gender-based violence and to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers so that services can reach remote areas. I further call on all parties to ensure that conflict-related sexual violence is addressed in the inter-Malian dialogue and that perpetrators of sexual violence do not benefit from amnesty or early release Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Myanmar Recommendation: I urge the Government of Myanmar to continue with its reform agenda and, in the process, take practical and timely actions to protect and support survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and to ensure that security personnel accused of such crimes are prosecuted. Sexual violence should be an element in all ceasefire and peace negotiations, excluded from the scope of amnesty provisions and addressed in transitional justice processes. It is critical that women be able to participate consistently in and influence these processes Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Somalia Recommendation: I reiterate my call to the Federal Government of Somalia to implement the commitments made under the joint communique of 7 May 2013 and its national action plan to combat sexual violence in conflict, including specific plans for the army and the police. I encourage the adoption of a sexual offences bill as a matter of priority Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life South Sudan Recommendation: I urge the parties to the conflict in South Sudan to adopt action plans to implement the commitments made under their respective communiques. I call upon the Government of South Sudan to address the negative impact of customary law on womens rights and to reflect international human rights standards in national law. I also encourage the African Union to make public and act upon the report of its Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Sudan (Darfur) Recommendation: I call upon the Government of the Sudan to grant the United Nations and its humanitarian partners unfettered access for monitoring and the provision of assistance to people in need in Darfur. Given that there has been grave concern over sexual violence in Darfur for more than a decade, I encourage the Government to engage with my Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict to develop a framework of cooperation to address the issue comprehensively Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Syria Recommendation: I acknowledge the Governments invitation to my Special Representative to visit the Syrian Arab Republic and call upon the authorities, in the context of such a visit, to agree on specific measures to prevent sexual violence, including by members of the security forces. I condemn the use of sexual violence by ISIL and all other parties listed in the annex to the present report and call on them to cease such violations immediately and allow unfettered access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Yemen Recommendation: I urge the authorities in Yemen to undertake legislative reform as a basis for addressing impunity for sexual violence, ensuring the provision of services for survivors and aligning the minimum legal age of marriage with international standards. I further call on the authorities to engage with local community and faithbased leaders to address sexual and gender-based violence and discriminatory social norms Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Bosnia and Herzegovina Recommendation: I urge the relevant authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to harmonize legislation and policies so that the rights of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence to reparations are consistently recognized and to allocate a specific budget for this purpose. I further call upon the authorities to protect and support survivors participating in judicial proceedings through, inter alia, referrals to free legal aid, psychosocial and health services, as well as economic empowerment programmes Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Ivory Coast Recommendation: I urge the Government of Cote dIvoire to ensure the effective implementation of its national strategy to combat gender-based violence and the action plan for FRCI, and call on the international community to support these efforts. It is critical to accelerate disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and strengthen law enforcement to ensure that ex-combatants who have been reintegrated into the transport sector do not pose a risk to women and girls who are reliant on those services. The Government and the international community must provide monitoring and awareness-raising to mitigate the possibility of a recurrence of sexual violence in the context of the presidential elections to be held in October 2015 Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Liberia Recommendation: I call on the Government of Liberia to continue its critical efforts to combat sexual and gender-based violence including through the United Nations-Government of Liberia Joint Programme, and in the context of recovery from the Ebola virus epidemic Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Nepal Recommendation: I encourage the Government to ensure that survivors of conflict-related sexual violence are recognized under the law as conflict victims, which will enable them to access services, judicial remedies and reparations. I further call on all parties involved in the transitional justice process to ensure that the rights and needs o f survivors of sexual violence are addressed in institutional reforms and that these crimes are excluded from amnesties and statutes of limitations Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Sri Lanka Recommendation: I call upon the newly elected Government of Sri Lanka to investigate allegations of sexual violence, including against national armed and security forces, and to provide multisectoral services for survivors, including reparations and economic empowerment programmes for women at risk, including war widows and female heads of household Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Nigeria Recommendation: I encourage the Government to implement its national action plan on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) to ensure that womens protection concerns are mainstreamed throughout its security operations. I also call upon the authorities to guarantee security in and around internally displaced persons camps and to extend medical and psychosocial services to high-risk areas

"The message is: Let's not punish a person who at home beat up his family, just because he has the right to do that, she said.

Speaking two days before the vote took place, Human Rights Watch's Russia researcher Yulia Gorbunova said: Passage of this law would be a huge step backward for Russia, where victims of domestic violence already face enormous obstacles to getting help or justice.

The domestic violence bill would reduce penalties for abusers and put victims lives at even greater risk.

A survey released earlier in January by a state-run pollster showed 19 per cent of Russians believed "it can be acceptable" to hit one's wife, husband or child "in certain circumstances".
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The Turkish army is suffering unexpectedly serious losses in men and equipment as it engages in its first real battle against Isis fighters holding al-Bab, a small but strategically placed city north east of Aleppo. Turkish military commanders had hoped to capture al-Bab quickly when their forces attacked it in December, but they are failing to break through Isis defences.

At least 47 Turkish soldiers have killed and eleven tanks disabled or destroyed according to the Turkish military expert Metin Gurcan writing in al-Monitor. Isis have posted a video showing a Turkish tank being destroyed, apparently by an anti-tank rocket and Isis fighters looking at the wreckage of other armoured vehicles.

The Turkish military intervention in northern Syria, known as Operation Euphrates Shield, which began on 24 August last year has also led to heavy civilian casualties. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing local witnesses, says that 352 civilians including 77 children and 48 women have been killed by Turkish artillery bombardments and air strikes over the last five months. Drone footage taken by Isis shows that the buildings in al-Bab, that once had a population of 100,000, have been devastated.

Recommended Syria peace talks begin in Kazakhstan with Russia taking centre stage

Turkey had intended to make a limited military foray into the territory between the Turkish frontier and Aleppo city 40 miles further south which would make it a serious player in the Syrian conflict. It would drive Isis from its last big stronghold in northern Syria at al-Bab and, above all, prevent the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) from linking up their enclaves at Kobani and Qamishli with one at Afrin, north west of Aleppo.

The strategy has proven far more costly and slower to implement in the face of determined and skilful Isis resistance than Ankara had foreseen. It wanted primarily to rely on Arab and Turkman militiamen under Turkish operational control, though these would be nominally part of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) umbrella group. These proxies would be backed up by Turkish artillery, air strikes and a limited number of Turkish ground troops.

The plan seemed to work in the beginning as the Turkish forces took over the Isis-held town of Jarablus, where the Euphrates River crosses the Turkish border. But swift success here came because Isis did not fight, its men retreating or shaving off their beards and melting into the local population. But when the Turkish-backed FSA advance failed to break through Isis lines in and around al-Bab, Turkey had to reinforce them with its own units which now do the bulk of the fighting.

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

Turkish leaders blamed their problems partly on the US which has failed to make more than a few air strikes in support of the al-Bab offensive. The US does not want to aid militarily a Turkish intervention aimed primarily at the YPG, who have proved the most effective US ally against Isis in Syria. The YPG has at least 25,000 battle-tested ground troops who are backed up by the massive firepower of the US-led air coalition. Ankara is hoping that the new Trump administration will be less cooperative with the Kurds and more so with Turkey.

Isis is using an effective cocktail of tactics similar to those which it employed to slow down the offensive of the Iraqi security forces in east Mosul which took them three months to capture. These tactics include frequent use of suicide bombers driving vehicles packed with explosives (VBIEDs),often especially armoured in Isis workshops so they are difficult to stop.

Isis uses VBIEDs to disrupt its enemies field planning, organisation and morale, says Mr Gurcan. With tunnels, Isis maintains mobility, despite air attacks. As in Mosul, Isis is able to move small mobile units containing snipers, specialists using ant-tank missiles and suicide bombers from house to house without exposing them to superior enemy fire power. The Turkish forces have been unable to encircle al-Bab and cut the main supply route to Raqqa, the de facto capital of Isis in Syria.

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Turkey benefited at this weeks peace talks in Astana in Kazakhstan from being one of three foreign powers  the others being Russia and Iran  with ground troops in Syria. It had previously provided crucial aid, sanctuary and a near open border to the Syrian armed opposition. Reinforced by a diplomatic marriages of convenience with both Russia and Iran, Turkey has acquired significant influence over the outcome of the six-year long war in Syria. But the slow military progress at al-Bab shows Turkeys growing military engagement in Syria is coming at a price  even in its initial phases.

The fighting in and around al-Bab underlines an important weakness of the plans announced at Astana to bolster the current shaky Syrian ceasefire announced on 30 December. The two most powerful rebel military movements, Isis and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, al-Qaedas branch in Syria, are not included in the ceasefire and have no reason to abide by its terms. On the contrary, Nusra has launched an offensive in west Aleppo province to eliminate rebel groups sympathetic to peace talks and a ceasefire.

Significantly, Isis is showing that, despite claims by the Iraqi and Syrian governments that it is facing imminent defeat, it is still capable of fighting on multiple fronts. It holds west Mosul in Iraq with a population of 750,000, recaptured Palmyra in Syria in mid-December and has repeatedly attacked the Syrian government enclave in the provincial capital of Deir Ezzor over the last ten days. The Russian air force was compelled to launch intense air strikes to help the Syrian army hold the city.
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An Israeli police probe into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu investigating corruption allegations has been widened, according to local media, to include a deal to purchase submarines from Germany.

AFP reports that police are addressing two other matters related to Mr Netanyahu, according to Israel's Channel 10.

One of the issues is understood to relate to a deal for Israel to purchase German submarines, while the other remains unclear. It is also not known whether the polices interest in these issues are preliminary inquiries or official investigations.

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The current corruption investigation is looking into allegations that Mr Netanyahu and his wife allegedly received improper gifts from billionaire Israeli producer Arnon Milchan worth thousands of shekels, and allegations the prime minister negotiated a quid pro-quo deal with one of Israels newspaper moguls, Arnon Mozes, to receive favourable coverage.

Mr Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing. Following the leak of hours of tapes being investigated by police, the probe has been widely reported on, which Mr Netanyahu has claimed is part of a plan by the media to see him ousted.

In the past few days the media has orchestrated a campaign of unprecedented scope to bring down my Likud [ruling party] government, he said in a statement.

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This campaign is intended to put pressure on the Attorney General and others in the prosecution so that they will indict me, he claimed.

Senior police officers involved in the investigations have reportedly been harassed, the Times of Israel reported, while malicious rumours have allegedly been spread about those linked to the probe.
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A British university has been fined 400,000 after two of its students were left fighting for their lives following a botched science experiment.

Sports science students Alex Rossetto and Luke Parkin had volunteered to take part in the test at Northumbria University, which aimed to measure the effect of caffeine on exercise.

But after a calculation error, the second year students were given 100 times the correct dosage, causing violent side-effects and them being admitted to hospital with life- threatening reactions in March 2015.

Prosecutor Adam Farrer told Newcastle Crown Court the overdose could easily have been fatal.

The volunteers should have been given 0.3g of caffeine, but were in fact given 30g, he said  the equivalent of 300 cups of coffee in one dose.

Mr Rossetto and Mr Parkin were both admitted to an intensive care unit to receive emergency dialysis.

Delivering his verdict, Judge Edward Bindloss said the university knew that excess caffeine could have been fatal, and the fact the victims were in good physical shape was likely a factor in their recovery.

On top of the fine, Northumbria University was ordered to pay 26,468 in costs as well as a 120 victim surcharge.

Mr Farrer said the drugs given for the experiment would be mixed with water and orange juice but they were erroneously given 30.7g and 32g of caffeine, which was 100 times the dosage they should have been given, he said.

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He told the court that death has previously been reported after consumption of just 18g and the students were left in a life-threatening condition.

The university, which has more than 30,000 students and a budget of almost 250m, had switched from using caffeine tablets to powder, which, he said, meant supervision was vital.

The staff were not experienced or competent enough and they had never done it on their own before.

The university took no steps to make sure the staff knew how to do it.

The court was told about a catalogue of errors that led to the overdose, which included the calculation being done on a mobile phone, the decimal point being put in the wrong place and there being no risk assessment for the test.

 Pro-Palestine protest turns violent at UCL student Israeli society

The failures to follow basic health and safety requirements were cumulative, persistent, long-standing and systemic, he said.

The university failed in its duty to ensure the safety of its students.

Mr Rossetto, who has gone on to study a Masters degree at the university, was kept in hospital for six days, reported short-term memory loss and lost 26.5lb (12kg) in weight.

Mr Parkin was treated for two days and lost 22lb (10kg) in weight.

Both men have since made a full physical recovery.

The university admitted the health and safety breach at a hearing at Sunderland Magistrates Court last month.

Peter Smith, defending, said vice chancellor Andrew Wathey was in court, along with other members of staff, as the human face of the university.

They are deeply sorry, genuinely sorry for the breach in this case, he said.

The university community is a close one and they wish to emphasise that they take the welfare of their students and staff seriously.

Additional reporting by PA
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For a third day, thousands of Heathrow passengers are suffering delays and cancellations due to poor visibility.

Arrivals regulated due to weather (freezing fog), reports Eurocontrol. High delays peaking around 1100.

British Airways has cancelled 20 flights to and from Heathrow, mostly serving domestic and German destinations. The airline said: For safety reasons, Air Traffic Control has to allow greater space between landing aircraft in fog and this will mean a reduced number of aircraft being allowed to land each hour at Heathrow.

As a result we are slightly reducing our Heathrow flight schedule, and other flights may face some delays.

We are sorry for the difficulties caused by the poor weather and will do all we can to minimise the effect it has on our operations.

Lufthansa cancelled one round-trip to Heathrow from Frankfurt.

More than 250 flights have been cancelled since Monday, affecting an estimated 30,000 passengers.

Rail commuters in south-east London and Kent faced a second day of serious disruption following yesterdays derailment of a freight train at Lewisham, one of the key junctions on the Southeastern network.

Delays and cancellations are expected for the rest of the day.
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It is not even a week since the US inaugurated its 45th President but already we have a striking indication of the nature, intention and course this administration is likely to follow. The inauguration address strongly appealed to the nationalist agenda and promised to deliver America First.

President Trump flexed his muscles this week by showing exactly how serious he is about this  not only did he sign executive orders pulling out of national trade deals but also reinstated the global gag rule which prevents any US funding to NGOs which aid access to reproductive health and contraception services. It even prohibits the use of any health professional engaged in providing preventive services to either perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations, since this risks the loss federal funding.

It was noteworthy that when signing this order, President Trump was surrounded by seven people, none of whom were women. Watching seven old white men make decisions about what women can do with their reproductive organs doesnt exactly make for the most inspiring photo from 2017.

At the White House Press Conference, Sean Spicer (who had earlier this weekend come under fire for the use of alternative facts) made clear that the Trump presidency had a pro-life stance and would continue to stand up for all Americans, including the unborn, intimating that future policies would reflect this.

The reality is that by withdrawing $600m (476m) dollars from international development efforts to ease access to contraception services and family planning, Donald Trump has effectively restricted millions of women in developing and war-torn countries access to safe abortions, which the WHO estimates leads to almost 13 million deaths worldwide. As one of the richest economies in the world, this is staggering  the money saved is miniscule  but the message it sends to women is stark: you are on your own.

 Sean Spicer: Trump to reinstate global abortion funding ban

As a woman, an obstetrician and someone who has recently moved to the States, this was a horrifying edict of the man who effectively legitimised grabbing women without their consent in the now infamous Access Hollywood audiotape. In the UK, it is almost 50 years since 1967 Abortion Care Act was passed, providing safe and legal access to abortion services. This law does not allow women to end a pregnancy just because they want to  instead, it allows doctors to exercise their clinical discretion to decide whether there are medical grounds to support a womans request for abortion which can threaten her physical or mental health or that of her other children.

In my personal experience of women that have undertaken this difficult decision, it is rarely taken lightly: it hurts, it is painful and it lingers. But the decision is the womans, and my role as a health professional is to guide her through the process with compassion, information and, most importantly, with no judgement. The fact that we can do this in the UK safely is an incredible achievement when we look across the Irish Sea and see women who are not quite so fortunate.

The recognition that this hard-won right in the UK is not easy has led the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to lead a campaign in Africa aiming to strengthen the competence and raise the standard of family planning and abortion care professionals. This work is necessary as it protects women who have experienced a pregnancy and are unable to continue with it. It prevents women from seeking illegal services or methods and also provides women with the ability to take control of their reproductive choices by using contraception  because more unintended pregnancies lead to more abortions. Aiding access to abortion does not increase it; it allows women to make informed choices.

President Trumps actions in the US set a very worrying precedent. In the past 40 years, there have been many attempts to overturn the rights afforded to women by the act which came into being after Roe v Wade. During the election campaign, Trump stated his pro-life stance and we know that Vice President Pence is vehemently anti-abortion. The Supreme Court in America is a lifetime appointment and there has been a vacancy since February 2016 because Republicans refused to confirm ex-president Barack Obamas nominee.

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 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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

President Trump is expected to nominate a new justice to the court who has a conservative pro-life agenda. This by itself is unlikely to overturn Roe v Wade; however, there is concern that that Trump may get to appoint additional justices during his tenure as president, since three of the liberal justices are all in their late seventies or early eighties. This in turn puts the act  and access to abortion for women in America  at risk.

While 40 years of case law and precedent would be hard to undo, there is a legitimate fear that if the ruling was overturned, abortion regulations would be decided by individual states. Those in more liberal states would continue to have the same access to abortion, but women in more rural and conservative states might have to travel long distances or consider unsafe or illegal means to end a pregnancy. This is not acting for all Americans  this is just the opposite.

A pro-choice stance is not pro-abortion; it is something very different. It values autonomy for women and recognises that it is a woman  not the men around her  who has control over her body and what happens to it. Without that, we face very dark times ahead indeed.
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I moved to Germany in September 2015 with my family, when Brexit was a distant and highly unlikely possibility. I was of the opinion we should remain in the EU, but also realised something had to be done.

I sat in Germany and watched the Brexit debate (if you can call it that) unfold. From the start I was concerned by what was happening in Britain on both sides of the debate, but more so by some of those who wanted to leave, with mindless racist incidents on the increase, and false information at every turn. But also because I knew if Britain decided to exit the EU nothing would change in the eyes of the public.

Twenty-eight per cent of the British population voted to leave the EU (yes, 17 million is only 28 per cent), and  let us be honest  they voted on what they saw in their everyday lives, what was in front of them. They saw three million immigrants from the EU in Britain, and blamed them for everything: taking jobs that British people could do; overcrowded schools; a stretched-to-breaking point NHS; rent so expensive it is outside the reach of the ordinary working family; and lack of integration.

These points fuelled some, if not the majority, of Brexit voters, and on the face of it they were in part justified, not because of the immigrant element, but because of a lack of dedicated action by the government to improve the areas of concern.

What people forgot then and forget now, is if and when Brexit is achieved nothing will change. The perceived cause of all the problems will still be there, namely three million EU citizens in Britain. Theresa May has clearly said she hopes to be able to guarantee the rights of EU nationals in Britain, as long as UK nationals rights are guaranteed in Europe, which is the correct thing to do. I would prefer it if she unilaterally guarantee those rights, but little steps first I suppose. If nothing will change in the eyes of the public (with the exception of a new dimension, trade, industry and banking, which may well be badly affected by Brexit), why have Brexit at all?

Why not use the multimillions from taxes already raised from hard working EU nationals and a few billion from the billions they are going to spend on improving the Houses of Parliament, and spend it on rectifying the problems the public see every day and blame on immigration.

I fear for the future of Britain, not because of Brexit, but because of what its doing. I would say at this point before it all goes too far, if we ignore those who are shouting so loudly in favour of Brexit and just consider the facts then most people will turn against Brexit. But that relies in some parts on the media and politicians, so little chance of that.

Name and address supplied

Germany

Are we to be plagued by politicians doing the right thing? The referendum was a poorly conducted opinion poll. MPs are appointed to look after the interests of their electorate in accordance with their conscience. They should strengthen the Governments negotiating position by requiring the Government to come back to Parliament for approval on the final terms. If that encourages Europe to offer different terms on the UK's participation in Europe, and MPs think they are worth considering, they should not be dismissed out of hand. Nothing is cast in stone. The US get a chance to change their president in 2020, when they know Trump better. We can have another opinion poll on Europe when we know the alternatives better.

Jon Hawksley

London EC1R

How can we be assured that the current MPs will have the ability to act in the best interests of the country during what will undoubtedly be the most complicated negotiations we have ever faced?

If they didnt get the terms of the referendum right, what chance the Brexit negotiations?

Lesley Gross

Wantage

Theresa May doesnt speak for women

Jane Merrick seems to be confused about the nature of the monster known as Trump (Im sick of hearing that Tory feminism doesn't exist  if you say Theresa May can't speak for women when she meets Trump, you've given up, 23 January).

Whether speaking to Trump or to anyone, I have no confidence in Theresa May speaking for women. Or for the poor. Or for anyone not particularly wealthy. And if you're an immigrant or one of the few refugees to have made it to our shores, do not rely on Theresa May to speak for you. So, yes, I may have given up on her.

But to return to Trump. Theresa May's very presence in the White House that Jane Merrick champions as positive for women is all about politics and, by itself, sends absolutely no message to Trump about women whatsoever. Let's not pretend it does.

In any case, Trump is clearly not, per se, anti-women. After all, he has given his own daughter a high-profile role in his company and now in his nepotistic administration. He says he rates her skills very highly. OK, he referred to her publicly as a piece of ass and said he would be dating her if she weren't his daughter, but that's just the way men talk, isn't it?

Beryl Wall

London W4

UK Government should apologise to Palestinians

While the new US President Donald Trump has pledged to move the American embassy a few miles down the road from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the Prime Minister of Israel has announced plans authorising the construction of more houses in illegal settlements in the Palestinian quarter of East Jerusalem.

This is happening while Israeli Occupation Forces are busy destroying the villages of Palestinian families, people who have lived on their land for centuries, but who since 1948, have the misfortune to be citizens of Israel.

This is unjust, unfair and brutal. People who have never lived in the Middle East can move into Palestine, if they happen to be Jewish. While Palestinian families are forced to make way for more Jewish immigrants.

It is important to remember that this sorry state of affairs is the continuation of something our British government set in train 100 ago this year, with the 1917 Balfour Declaration. It is time our Government apologised and helped correct the historical injustices that we are responsible for.

Sue Cooke

York

Fighting pollution will improve the lives of our children more than hand-washing will

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) are advising that children need to be taught good hand-washing and drying techniques to help lower the likelihood of spreading germs.

The biggest threat to childrens health is surely pollution and CO2, from motor vehicles, and the faster they travel, the more fuel they burn, the more lung disease they create, and the faster sea levels rise.

Furthermore, according to Unicef, children in The Netherlands are the happiest children in the whole wide world, not least because they cycle to school. If we had zero tolerance of drivers abusing and skimming cyclists, and parking in cycle lanes, it would surely improve UK childrens health and well being, if not their parents.

When theres a move for zero tolerance to drivers using mobile phones, zero tolerance to exceeding speed limits must surely be a far greater priority? If Donald Trump is going to generate more CO2, we must generate less.

Allan Ramsay

Radcliffe

New diabetes research

An opportunity exists for Scotland to play an important role in the search for new treatments and even a cure for type 1 diabetes, which is why we hope that news that Scottish scientists are to lead new research into the effects of the autoimmune condition will inspire others.

There are more than 30,000 people with type 1 diabetes in Scotland  the third highest incidence in the world  and numbers are increasing.

Scotland has world class experts in medical research and an unrivalled database of patient records and samples available for scientific analysis. JDRF is a charity dedicated to funding type 1 research and we have committed nearly 4m to projects at Scottish universities. We believe that Scotland is ideally placed to help accelerate the path to a cure and look forward to others stepping forward to support us in that challenge.

Peter Jones

Aberdeen
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The Supreme Court decision was predictable, but momentous nonetheless  a reaffirmation of the result of the Civil War, namely that parliamentary sovereignty trumps executive power, whether the executive is the King or May and her Cabinet. Article 50, the departure lounge for leaving Europe, cannot be accessed other than by a statute passed by Parliament, which repeals the 1972 European Communities Act. Parliament took us into Europe, and only parliament can take us out.

The bad news for May is that this means her Great Repeal Bill must be a fully fledged piece of legislation: its length may be short, but its time of passage will not be, if MPs do their duty and discuss it, both in the House of Commons and in Committee, and peers debate it in the Lords and make use of their power to remit and delay. Although both major parties seem wedded to the claim that the British people have decided to leave, the British people have done no such thing. At the Referendum last June, 37 per cent of the voting people supported Brexit, 35 per cent wanted to remain, and 28 per cent did not vote at all  many, no doubt, misled by opinion polls indicating a Remain result. Since 63 per cent of the British public did not vote to leave, there would seem plenty for Parliament to debate: whether a non-binding referendum should be allowed to produce a further fall in the currency, for example, or diminish human rights and workers' rights.

Whether MPs and peers will do so is an open question which will test their own integrity. MPs have a duty, by constitutional convention, to speak and vote according to their conscience and what they honestly consider to be in the best interests of the United Kingdom, irrespective of the opinions of their constituents. Although this duty was first laid down by that redoubtable conservative Edmund Burke, Europhile Tories other than Ken Clarke seem reluctant to do it. As for Labour, who knows? Its policy in the lead-up to a referendum that the Supreme Court now confirms had no legal effect, was to remain. That is also the policy of the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party. Might a coalition  now, or in some future Parliament  reverse Brexit?

 Brexit round-up: Supreme Court rules against Government

The Supreme Court decision is clear: Parliamentary Sovereignty means that we cannot leave Europe without Parliamentary passage of the Great Repeal Bill. What is less clear  and what the judges have deliberately left opaque  is whether, once Article 50 is triggered, it can be reversed before the UK has to depart Europe within two years (unless all 27 members allow us more time). The Supreme Court assumed for the purposes of making a judgement on the case  for no better reason than counsel on both sides agreed  that triggering Article 50 was irrevocable. But this is only an assumed premise, and judges in the majority went out of their way to state that they did not necessarily agree with this assumption, which had not been argued, and one dissenting judge described it as possibly controversial.

So here is the great remaining, unresolved question: does Article 50 start an inexorable Brexit from which the UK cannot withdraw, or might another parliament repeal Mays Great Repeal Act in the future, before we have actually left? The answer may lie in the simple principle that in this representative democracy Parliament may do virtually anything. This year, May might induce it to repeal the 1972 European Communities Act, but next year it might decide to repeal her Great Repeal Act (2017), and to remain in Europe. Although this was not the view of the parties in the Supreme Court, it follows both from the judgement and from the language of Article 50 itself, which tells a departing state that it may decide in accordance with its own constitutional requirements. So unless de-Brexit is blocked by European states fed up with the UK by this stage, it would be possible for a future parliament to decide to withdraw from the Brexit process.

Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Show all 13 1 /13 Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Supreme Court Brexit Challenge People wait to enter the public gallery outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Gina Miller, co-founder of investment fund SCM Private arrives at the Supreme court in London on the first day of a four-day hearing Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waves the EU flag in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Satirical artist Kaya Mar poses with two of his paintings in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin. The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Businesswoman Gina Miller arrives at the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Attorney General Jeremy Wright arrives at the Supreme Court in London EPA Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Protesters outside the Supreme Court in London, where the Government is appealing against a ruling that the Prime Minister must seek MPs' approval to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union PA wire Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protesters wearing a judge's wigs and robes stands outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protester holds up a placard outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waiting to enter the public gallery waves a European Union flag outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters

The real message from the Supreme Court is that it is early days yet. It gave the Government some relief by ruling that devolved assemblies have no right to throw spanners in the Brexit works. But its core decision is that the determination must be made by both Houses of Parliament. It will be absurd for tabloids to protest this time about enemies of the people and the power of unelected judges  the Supreme Court judges were not exercising power themselves, but rather deciding which institution of government should exercise it.

Their verdict in favour of Parliament now casts responsibility upon elected MPs and appointed peers. What the people must now expect from their representatives is careful and conscientious debate about whether Mays plan (which should be fully revealed) will make Britain great again, or turn it into a bargain-basement offshore tax haven with sunken sterling.

Geoffrey Robertson QC is co-head of Doughty Street Chambers
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Consigned to a destiny over which they no longer have any power or influence. Sinking to their knees in resignation. Thudding their fists against impenetrable glass.

Dramatic? Yes  but such is the depth of desperate voicelessness suffered by all the devolved nations, which are all likely to suffer worst from a loss of single market and customs union membership. Having no influence over your destiny is a frightening thing, and after hearing Theresa Mays Brexit speech, it is becoming clear that the devolved institutions pleas are falling entirely on wilfully deaf ears.

If in any doubt, see the frustration spewing from the Joint Ministerial meetings (the discussions between David Davis and ministers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). After its very first meeting, Sturgeon shocked reporters with how candid she was  describing it as greatly frustrating; she noted words are not matched by substance and action, while the Labour first minister of Wales said nothing concrete came out of the meeting and I am none the wiser as to what her proposals are.

After the most recent, a Sinn Fein minister said Theresa May treated the council with utter disdain by giving her Brexit speech two days before the council met, highlighting its impudence, with a Sinn Fein source describing the meeting as heated with the devolved nations feeling they are being treated with contempt and disdain.

What experts have said about Brexit Show all 11 1 /11 What experts have said about Brexit What experts have said about Brexit Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond The Chancellor claims London can still be a world financial hub despite Brexit One of Britains great strengths is the ability to offer and aggregate all of the services the global financial services industry needs This has not changed as a result of the EU referendum and I will do everything I can to ensure the City of London retains its position as the worlds leading international financial centre. Reuters What experts have said about Brexit Yanis Varoufakis Greece's former finance minister compared the UK relations with the EU bloc with a well-known song by the Eagles: You can check out any time you like, as the Hotel California song says, but you can't really leave. The proof is Theresa May has not even dared to trigger Article 50. It's like Harrison Ford going into Indiana Jones' castle and the path behind him fragmenting. You can get in, but getting out is not at all clear Getty Images What experts have said about Brexit Michael OLeary Ryanair boss says UK will be screwed by EU in Brexit trade deals: I have no faith in the politicians in London going on about how the world will want to trade with us. The world will want to screw you  that's what happens in trade talks, he said. They have no interest in giving the UK a deal on trade Getty What experts have said about Brexit Tim Martin JD Wetherspoon's chairman has said claims that the UK would see serious economic consequences from a Brexit vote were "lurid" and wrong: We were told it would be Armageddon from the OECD, from the IMF, David Cameron, the chancellor and President Obama who were predicting locusts in the fields and tidal waves in the North Sea" PA What experts have said about Brexit Mark Carney Governor of Bank of England is 'serene' about Bank of England's Brexit stance: I am absolutely serene about the  judgments made both by the MPC and the FPC Reuters What experts have said about Brexit Christine Lagarde IMF chief urges quick Brexit to reduce economic uncertainty: We want to see clarity sooner rather than later because we think that a lack of clarity feeds uncertainty, which itself undermines investment appetites and decision making Getty Images What experts have said about Brexit Inga Beale Lloyds chief executive says Brexit is a major issue: "Clearly the UK's referendum on its EU membership is a major issue for us to deal with and we are now focusing our attention on having in place the plans that will ensure Lloyd's continues trading across Europe EPA What experts have said about Brexit Colm Kelleher President of US bank Morgan Stanley says City of London will suffer as result of the EU referendum: I do believe, and I said prior to the referendum, that the City of London will suffer as result of Brexit. The issue is how much What experts have said about Brexit Richard Branson Virgin founder believes we've lost a THIRD of our value because of Brexit and cancelled a deal worth 3,000 jobs: We're not any worse than anybody else, but I suspect we've lost a third of our value which is dreadful for people in the workplace.' He continued: "We were about to do a very big deal, we cancelled that deal, that would have involved 3,000 jobs, and thats happening all over the country" Getty Images What experts have said about Brexit Barack Obama US President believes Britain was wrong to vote to leave the EU: "It is absolutely true that I believed pre-Brexit vote and continue to believe post-Brexit vote that the world benefited enormously from the United Kingdom's participation in the EU. We are fully supportive of a process that is as little disruptive as possible so that people around the world can continue to benefit from economic growth" Getty Images What experts have said about Brexit Kristin Forbes American economist and an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England argues that the economy had been less stormy than many expected following the shock referendum result: For nowthe economy is experiencing some chop, but no tsunami. The adverse winds could quickly pick up  and merit a stronger policy response. But recently they have shifted to a more favourable direction Getty

People are getting frustrated, angry and worried at the prospect of a Brexit guided solely by English politicians swayed by hard Brexit sentiments, which has elevated hard controls on immigration and building nonsensical new trade deals as a priority far above economic prosperity or political stability in the devolved nations. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each harbour specific anxieties about Brexit but with the Governments ears so finely tuned to the needs of the loudest Leave voters, they cannot hear them.

There is serious concern in Northern Ireland about a hard border. People lazily couch this concern in the language of peace or war, which is ridiculously out of touch. But it is simply impossible for the UK to leave the customs union without a hard border being installed, either around the island of Ireland or between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Either would damage trade, with the former increasing our sense of isolation from our closest brothers in the Republic or with the latter isolating us from the rest of the UK  if that happens, to travel between areas in the UK, Ill need to go through a customs check and passport check, so well be both within and without the UK. And that would be with a UK passport: life would be even more difficult for the sizeable amount of Northern Irish citizens with just an Irish passport.

Recent submissions to the Parliamentary Northern Ireland Affairs Committee highlight the impact on peoples lives that Brexits direction will have. Looking at one industry alone, Dairy, the head of the Northern Irish arm of Dairy UK, insisted how damaging the current course will prove to be. No longer being part of EU trade deals (the other side of the coin to this incessant desire for the UK to strike its own) will see exports to major markets like Malaysia and Thailand face at least double tariff rates, which would kill that business.

On a hard border, he stated: Its a major, major issue for the dairy industry. We are very, very dependent on what we call an all-island value chain. If we have any interruption in the current practices it is going to affect the longer-term viability of the industry.

 Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage reacts to Brexit ruling

Faced with such dire consequences, we sought refuge in the law, specifically what is called the Sewel Convention, which is essentially a political promise that the UK will listen to the devolved institutions. In Tuesdays judgement, all 11 Supreme Court Justices rejected the request for each of the devolved assemblies to be consulted on leaving the EU.

The Supreme Court noted: The sanction for nonobservance of a convention is political in that disregard of a convention may lead to political defeat, to loss of office, or to other political consequences, but will not engage the attention of the courts which are limited to matters of law alone.

And here lies the problem the devolved nations face: quite simply, no one will be subjected to a political defeat or a loss of office in Westminster as a consequence of completely neglecting us. If anything, it might even play well among some of the 52 per cent.

So with no legal or political consequences for ignoring us, what is to stop Westminster blocking us out entirely?

Nothing  and it shows.
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Tom Price, the Georgia Congressman who is President Trumps nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services went before the Senate Finance Committee todayand the grilling he underwent at his confirmation hearing only underlined how hard it will be for Republicans to keep their promise to swiftly repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

Right now, all is confusion. Congress has set in motion the process of repeal, and on his first day in office, Mr Trump, signed an executive order, directing government agencies to minimise the costs of implementing Obamacare. Taken literally, the order could threaten the individual mandate  the requirement that Americans purchase coverage or face a tax penalty for not doing so  and throw health insurance markets into chaos.

That might be acceptable, if Republicans had a ready-made plan to replace Obamacare. But despite voting some 60 times to repeal the ACA since it became law in 2010, they dont. Mr Trump has declared that a plan was all but ready and would be unveiled once his nominee was confirmed. But Mr Price, who spent most of his time avoiding direct answers, said nothing to bear that out  prompting one Democratic Senator to ask if the president had told a lie. Mr Price ducked that question as well.

The central problems for Republicans are two. First, key provisions of Obama are so popular their removal would cause uproar. These notably include the right of children to stay on their parents insurance until the age of 26, and a ban on insurance companies refusing to cover people with pre-existing conditions.

Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Show all 18 1 /18 Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters gather outside the White House at the finish of the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds attended the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters hold up signage near the Washington Monument during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Drew Angerer/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters gather during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. The march is expected to draw thousands from across the country to protest newly inaugurated President Donald Trump. Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters arrive at the Capital South Metro station for the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, the Women's March has 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. Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters arrive on the platform at the Capital South Metro station for the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, the Women's March has 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. Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Demonstrators protest during the Women's March along Pennsylvania Avenue January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Joshua Lott/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 21: Protesters attend the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, the Women's March has 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. Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A marcher holds a sign during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. The march is expected to draw thousands from across the country to protest newly inaugurated President Donald Trump. Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A woman chants while attending the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Mario Tama/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters attend the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Mario Tama/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters march in Washington, DC, during the Women's March on January 21, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded US cities Saturday in a day of women's rights protests to mark President Donald Trump's first full day in office. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A protester gestures toward the White House on the Ellipse near the South Lawn of the White House during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Drew Angerer/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington A protester, holding a Donald Trump doll wearing a pink cap, marches in Washington, DC, during the Womens March on January 21, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded US cities Saturday in a day of women's rights protests to mark President Donald Trump's first full day in office. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters take to the National Mall to demonstrate against the presidency of Donald Trump Washington, DC on January 21, 2017. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protesters march during the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. Mario Tama/Getty Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Demonstrators gather on The Ellipse during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Zach Gibson/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Demonstrators march down Pennsylvania Avenue during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands of protesters spearheaded by women's rights groups demonstrated across the US to send a defiant message to US President Donald Trump. Zach Gibson/AFP/Getty Images Thousands attend Women's March on Washington Protester's signs are left near the White House during the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Large crowds are attending the anti-Trump rally a day after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Mario Tama/Getty

Second, Republicans have promised a system that offers improved benefits, maintains Obamacare coverage but costs less. Squaring that circle is all but impossible. The only specific Republicans agree on is that the replacement should be less bureaucratic and more patient-friendly.

To achieve this they pin their faith in the magic of the markets  that improved choice and greater competition between health care providers and drug and insurance companies will increase options and drive prices down. That however rests on the dubious proposition that health care is a market like any other.

Then there is the Medicaid problem. Expansion of Medicaidthe health care coverage programme for the poor brought in by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965accounts for 11m of the 20m people who have gained coverage under Obama, thus reducing the rate of uninsured to the lowest point in US history.

Right now this expansion is paid for directly by the federal government. Mr Trump and most Republicans however want to replace this system with one of block grants from Washington to individual states. But there is near-universal agreement that this will sooner or later lead to big cuts in in government-subsidised coverage for the poor.

Among Democrats moreover lurks a deeper suspicion: that changes to Medicaid would be but the opening salvo in a grand plan to rein in spending on Medicaid and its sister programme Medicare for the elderly, in part by privatisation.

Republicans of course will not say, repeating their mantra that they want to offer access or opportunity of access to coverage to all Americans. Whatever that might mean. As Bernie Sanders, the populist challenger to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, put it at a separate Price confirmation hearing last week, I have access to buying a $10m home, I dont have the money to do that.

No wonder Republicans, beyond their non-stop vilification of Obamacare, are so split on what to do. Some want to repeal it at once and let the chips fall where they may. Others insist that the ACA must stay until a comprehensive replacement is settled and ready to go. Some want to allow individual states to keep Obamacare if they wish.

One way and another, the issue is shaping up as a new third rail of American politics, the electricity-loaded rail that politicians touch at their peril. Such is the difficulty of replacing an entitlement that for all its imperfections, roughly half of Americans want to keep.
Ray Hernan said all jobs will be lost in the event of a threatened insolvency

Ireland's claim culture could help collapse Bus Eireann as it struggles to cope with a 7 million euro compensation bill during an existential financial crisis, it has warned.

Ray Hernan, acting chief executive at the State bus company, revealed its insurance costs have rocketed to almost five times their levels just three years ago, when they were 1.5 million euro.

The spike is down to Irish people being more inclined to take legal action for payouts and is a key cost that could lead to the company going bust on its 30th anniversary, he claimed.

Before a parliamentary committee, Mr Hernan said Bus Eireann will be insolvent by the end of this year unless an emergency survival plan is urgently implemented.

He warned its going under would result in the loss of all 2,600 jobs at the State-owned transport company.

"This is not scaremongering," he told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport.

"It is the stark reality of what this organisation now faces."

Mr Hernan said Bus Eireann lost between 8 and 9 million euro last year, and had only 7 million euro left in reserves.

"If that run rate continues we will be insolvent before the end of this calendar year," he told TDs and senators on the committee.

The bus chief said one of the "key" costs - that are rising faster than increased revenues from more passengers - is insurance claims and increased payouts.

"We have become much more litigious," he said of the country.

"We are a public transport provider, we carry 40 million people a year and our claims are going up.

"We are trying to manage those as effectively as we can, but we are exposed."

Mr Hernan said property damage, which he suggested was a result of bigger buses and the need for more driver training, as well as passenger slips and falls, are behind the increasing compensation costs.

But he also indicated staffing costs other than basic pay, such as overtime shift allowances, rota allowances and lunch expenses, will come under the axe in a root and branch cost-cutting review expected in March.

Absenteeism, which is double the national average, will also have to be tackled, he told the hearing.

Mr Hernan said Bus Eireann's board of directors have until the end of March to sign off on last year's accounts but it would not be able to do so unless there a drastic and decisive rescue plan is in place before then.

"That is the fact and why I am saying there is such an urgent need to implement what I consider to be a survival plan," he said.

Unions representing Bus Eireann workers claim cost-cutting measures being proposed by the company will result in effective pay cuts of up to 30%.

They have refused to sit down face-to-face with the company and are meeting on Thursday to decide their strategy.
It is never too late for people to come forward with information on the murder of Detective Adrian Donohoe, the Garda Commissioner has said .

On the fourth anniversary of his killing during a credit union robbery, Noirin O'Sullivan said extensive inquiries continue to be carried out at home and abroad, including with the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The Commissioner said the force is as determined as ever to bring those behind his murder to justice.

"This is a highly complex investigation and it is important that as with all such investigations that we make sure we have every single detail right," she said.

Mr Donohoe died after being shot as he confronted a gang holding up a small credit union near his home in Lordship, on the Cooley Peninsula in Co Louth, on January 25 2013.

The Irish League of Credit Unions has offered a 50,000 euro reward for information that leads to any arrest and prosecution.

The Commissioner praised the work of the murder inquiry and said it will not stop until justice is done.

"We cannot do this alone, we still need the public's help. Even the smallest piece of information could be vital," the police chief said.

"At this time, I would appeal to anyone with information on Adrian's murder to come forward and help us with our inquiries.

"There are still people out there who know who the killers are. It is never too late to do the right thing. Any information provided will be treated sensitively. "

The Commissioner said Mr Donohoe was the epitome of all that is good about the force, dedicated to the community he served both professionally and personally.

Anyone with information on the murder should call the incident room in Dundalk Garda station on 042 9388470 or use the Garda Confidential Number on 1800 666 111.

Mr Donohoe was posthumously awarded the country's highest policing honour, a g old Scott Medal.
The study found 38% of parents are very concerned about the weight of their child's school bag

More than a fifth of parents believe their child has been hurt carrying their school bag, a survey has found.

The National Parents Council Primary said 22% of mothers and fathers reported that one of their children experienced injury or pain because of the weight of books on their back.

The research also found that more than half of children get a lift to school and 38% of parents are extremely concerned about the weight of their child's school bag.

The findings were revealed at the Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs as it examined options on how to limit the amount of books children are being asked to carry to and from schools.

Aine Lynch, chief executive of the National Parents Council Primary, said 3,009 parents gave their input on the issue over four days when they were notified of the committee's work.

"It's very hard to look at weight without looking at other issues as well. It's been mentioned a few times already around the homework issue," she said.

"We are clearly stating that we are looking for a review of how much text books are needed and relied on. That's it. If we muddy the waters with weights or costs or what homework should look like, around this particular issue, we keep missing the point."

Ms Lynch said primary education should be experiential and group-learning.

"Certain text books may be needed at a primary level. The question is do we need as many as we have," she said.

In some European countries and in the US, Australia and New Zealand guidelines were introduced to limit the size of a school bag to 10% of a child's weight, the committee heard.

Dr Sara Dockrell, chartered physiotherapist and assistant professor at Trinity College, told the hearing that there is evidence both for and against the regulation.

"It is a very difficult one to call," she said.

"That's why most of the recent research, including our own, would emphasise that the school bag weight limit isn't what we should hang our hats on here.

"We should really look at it in the context of all sorts of other issues."

Dr Dockrell also told the committee that having a similar weight ratio guideline in Ireland would be inappropriate due to rising levels of childhood obesity.

"I'm not suggesting for a minute that we should expect children to carry excessively heavy loads.

" Carrying a weight on your back is not necessarily a problem," she said.

Committee chairman Jim Daly also questioned if schools were taking initiatives to deal with the issue.

"That thing you see every time you walk on a plane, where you have to put your bag in - if there was one of those in every school with a weighing scales," he said.

"It just creates awareness."
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been accused of dodging Dail questions on Britain's departure from the EU despite anointing himself as the 'Minister for Brexit'.

The Taoiseach's office is "regularly refusing" to answer "simple" Brexit queries and tries to deflect them to other departments, according to Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin.

"The Dail is simply not being properly briefed by the Taoiseach," Mr Howlin told the Irish Independent.

Twice a week TDs have the opportunity to table Dail questions to the Taoiseach for oral reply but they are vetted by officials in advance.

Among the rejected queries cited by Mr Howlin was one asking about the discussion by EU leaders on the European Fund for Strategic Investment and Ireland's bid to become the new base for the European Banking Authority (EBA) and European Medicines Board (EMB).

Another sought clarification on territorial ownership in Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough with the advent of a hard border.

Read more: Ireland would be 'ideal' choice for European Banking Authority, says Kenny

The Labour Party has supported the decision by Mr Kenny to take the leading role in Ireland's Brexit team "on the basis that responsibility for the biggest issue facing our nation is genuinely held by An Taoiseach".

However, Mr Howlin added: "The Taoiseach has said he is the Minister responsible for Brexit.

Disallowed

"But he has been refusing to take Dail questions on the many issues that are developing across Government that require a central response."

The Labour leader said that large parts or entire questions are being disallowed or redirected.

"I know this is an issue that has been affecting all TDs who question him, and there is no appeal mechanism when questions are ruled out or transferred," he said.

The former minister said question on the European Fund for Strategic Investment should be a priority "considering the turmoil a 'hard Brexit' will cause in Ireland".

A spokesman for Mr Kenny rejected the charge, noting that the Taoiseach "loves talking" about issues such as investment.

The spokesman said Dail questions were ruled out of order by "officialdom" and not Mr Kenny.

On the specific questions cited by Mr Howlin, the spokesman noted that the Taoiseach had "made no secret" of the Government's goal to attract the EBA and EMB to Ireland.

He said talk about a hard border was "speculation" and not something the Government intended to see happen, thereby making the query about Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough invalid.

He said that some questions were redirected because while the Taoiseach would be the "top person" on Brexit, he had "repeatedly said the response has to be cross departmental".
Citigroup denied as recently as November that it was planning to move as many as 900 jobs to Dublin as part of its Brexit battle plan. Photo: Getty Images

Global banking giant Citigroup will expand its staff numbers in Dublin and announce by the summer where its London-based broker-dealer services are going post-Brexit, its European chief has said.

The US bank, which already employs 2,500 staff in Dublin, is talking with regulators in Ireland, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands, according to James Cowles, chief executive of Citigroup's Europe, Middle East and Africa operations. He said employment in its Dublin operation would continue to grow, but other countries were being looked at.

"When we take a look at different aspects of our business that are currently in London, there will be some things that we move," Mr Cowles told the European Financial Forum in Dublin yesterday. "We will be making decisions in the first half of this year in terms of what jurisdictions."

Citigroup denied as recently as November that it was planning to move as many as 900 jobs to Dublin as part of its Brexit battle plan. A report at the time suggested the bank was scouting for office space in the capital.

But a spokeswoman for the bank denied the claim. However, Mr Cowles said no decision had been made yet.

"We've reached out and talked to regulators and people in governments across many countries in Europe including Ireland, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands," he said.

"We're in the process of evaluating each one of them."

It came after Taoiseach Enda Kenny upped the rhetoric in the Government's pitch for financial services firms displaced as a result of the UK referendum, declaring the IFSC in Dublin was "Brexit-ready". Mr Kenny also reiterated that Dublin would be an "ideal choice" for a relocated European Banking Authority (EBA) post-Brexit.

It is understood Financial Services Minister Eoghan Murphy will meet senior figures at the EBA in London next week.

But Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes has already poured cold water on Government plans, reportedly stating the consensus among some of the larger member states is that the EBA should go to either Warsaw or Milan.

The failure to attract the EBA would be a blow to the Taoiseach's reputation. Government sources argue Ireland remains in the mix, with the relocation ultimately for the member states to discuss.
Jolyon Maugham QC told the Irish Independent he was hopeful the defendants in the case, Attorney General Maire Whelan (pictured) and Ireland, would not oppose the lawsuit. Photo: Tom Burke

The British lawyer behind plans to bring a Brexit legal challenge via the Irish courts is hopeful the Government will not oppose the lawsuit.

The case, expected to be filed on Friday, is being taken in Dublin so that it can ultimately be referred on to the European Court of Justice.

Jolyon Maugham QC told the Irish Independent he was hopeful the defendants in the case, Attorney General Maire Whelan and Ireland, would not oppose the lawsuit.

The purpose of the case is to ask for clarification on whether an Article 50 notification can be withdrawn if a government changes its mind about leaving the EU. The barrister has argued that UK parliamentarians should have the ability to reconsider leaving the EU when the shape of a deal with Europe becomes clear.

Read more: Q and A: The Brexit Supreme Court case explained

"If our working hypothesis that Brexit is what we want turns out not to be an accurate hypothesis, it would be a terrible shame for the UK to be forced to go anyway," he said.

The names of the plaintiffs have yet to be revealed, but they are said to be a number of UK politicians and could include a member of the Northern Ireland assembly.

It will be argued that Ireland and other EU member states have behaved improperly by excluding the UK from a number of European Council meetings since the Brexit vote.

But Mr Maugham said he would certainly be hopeful the Attorney General would not oppose the action.

"I don't think that Brexit is being viewed as anything other than a bad thing for the people of Ireland," he said.

"It is a bad thing economically. It is very alarming for the peace that was achieved.

"In those circumstances it has to be a possibility that the Irish Government forms the view that it is really in everybody's interest that we have certainty."
Two Irish mushroom firms are to merge in a move that will help both to survive the challenging environment brought about by Brexit.

Gorey firm Walsh Mushrooms has acquired the business and assets of Golden Mushrooms, a Tipperary producer that employs 90 people. All of the staff at Golden Mushrooms will be kept on under the terms of the deal.

The Irish mushroom industry has come under huge strain since the Brexit vote last June, with a number of firms forced to close after a rapid decline in the value of sterling.

Around 150 jobs have been lost in the industry since the vote, with Sinn Fein TD Caoimhghin O Caolain claiming before Christmas that 10pc of the country's producers had already gone out of business as a result of Brexit. Around 80pc of Irish mushrooms are exported to the UK.

The deal will see Golden Mushrooms continuing to trade and operate as normal, albeit it will now come under the Walsh Mushrooms umbrella.

"The last seven months have certainly been incredibly difficult but we are confident that the sector will overcome the challenge created by Brexit," Padraic O'Leary, managing director of Walsh Mushrooms, said.

"The fact is that mushrooms are the second largest vegetable category in the UK, yet the market is not self-sufficient and needs to import 50pc of its mushroom requirement. A long-standing, strong relationship exists between our markets and we are confident that ultimately the UK will return a more sustainable price for Irish mushrooms reflecting the new, post-Brexit, foreign exchange rates."

Walsh Mushrooms is currently the second largest provider of mushrooms to the UK market with a market share estimated at around 15pc. The acquisition will see the number of people employed by the Walsh Mushrooms group rise to 380.

Golden Mushrooms' Michael Bergin said he was "proud to have grown a successful business from scratch".
Gina Miller, the businesswoman who led the challenge to a Brexit without a parliamentary vote speaks outside the Supreme Court in London following a majority ruling against the UK government. Photo: Getty

Legislation will be introduced "within days" to keep Theresa May's timetable for leaving the EU on track, after the British prime minister suffered defeat in a historic legal battle over Brexit.

By a majority of eight to three, judges at the Supreme Court rejected the government's plan to use prerogative powers to trigger withdrawal talks under Article 50 of the EU treaties, ruling that ministers must first obtain the consent of Parliament.

Downing Street insisted the ruling would not derail the prime minister's deadline of invoking Article 50 by the end of March. Brexit secretary David Davis told the House of Commons that a "straightforward" bill would be tabled to give effect to the decision of Britain's voters.

He said the Supreme Court ruling did not affect the fact Britain would be leaving the EU in line with the result of the 2016 referendum, telling MPs: "There can be no turning back. The point of no return was passed on June 23 last year."

Delivering the court's verdict, Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger stressed: "The issues in these proceedings have nothing to do with whether the UK should exit from the EU, or the terms or timetable for that exit."

Read more: Legislation 'within days' to keep Brexit timetable on track after May's historic legal defeat

Withdrawal from the EU would mean a "fundamental change" to the UK's laws by cutting off one of its sources, as well as changing the legal rights of British citizens, he said.

"The UK's constitutional arrangements require such changes to be clearly authorised by Parliament," Lord Neuberger said. "To proceed otherwise would be a breach of settled constitutional principles stretching back many centuries."

No date has yet been set to begin the process of taking an Article 50 bill through the Commons and Lords, with officials at Mr Davis's Department for Exiting the EU due to finalise its wording over the coming days.

"Parliament will rightly scrutinise and debate this legislation, but I trust no-one will seek to make it a vehicle for attempts to thwart the will of the people or frustrate or delay the process of exiting the EU," Mr Davis said.

With Labour declaring it would not frustrate the invocation of Article 50, there is little doubt Mrs May can get a bill through Parliament. But she risks having her hands tied in negotiations by any conditions inserted by MPs into the legislation, with the Scottish National Party declaring it would table 50 "serious and substantive" amendments.

Mr Davis resisted pressure from MPs in the Commons to commit himself to a White Paper setting out Mrs May's objectives in withdrawal negotiations.

Number 10 insisted Mrs May had already set out her aims in full in a speech last week, but the chair of the Commons exiting the EU committee, Hilary Benn, said the failure to spell them out would show "a lack of respect" to Parliament.

Labour's shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, warned that the PM's speech set out a "high-risk" strategy, containing "big gaps, inconsistencies and unanswered questions" which could impose a heavy cost on British families and businesses.

To relief in Downing Street, the judges unanimously rejected a bid to require Mrs May to consult devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The SNP's Alex Salmond confirmed plans to table multiple amendments, adding: "If Theresa May is intent on being true to her word that Scotland and the other devolved administrations are equal partners in this process, then now is the time to show it."

The ruling was welcomed by investment broker Gina Miller, the lead claimant in the case against the government.

She said: "This ruling today means that MPs we have elected will rightfully have the opportunity to bring their invaluable experience and expertise to bear in helping the government select the best course in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations."
Two thirds of Irish consumers say it's 'important to buy local' and according to new research by Bord Bia, one third are following through and buying more local food.

A new Bord Bia study has revealed that two thirds of Irish consumers believe it is important purchase local food and it seems that many are carrying through on this good intention.

The study shows that Irish people claim to buy local food at least once a week and one in three consumers say they are purchasing more today than they did 12 months ago.

Two thirds of Irish consumers told Bord Bia that they believe it is important purchase local food and two thirds perceive local food to be of high quality with natural and 100% ingredients, rendering it better quality than mass produced food.

However, the research also highlighted that there are a number of different meanings and associations with local food. Some three in four consumers understand it to be food made, produced and sourced within their local area, compared to a similar study in 2010 where there was more focus on the producer behind the product.

The awareness of the term local food has fallen by 16% since 2010 to 77% while the awareness of the term artisan food has increased by 26% to 50%.

Nearly four in five people believe that they are supporting the community when purchasing local foods, while three quarters say this food is fresher having been produced locally.

The research also showed that in terms of product benefits, local food is understood to be better for you thanks to the perceived quality of the ingredients, freshness and health cues.

Speaking about the research findings, Mary Morrissey, Bord Bias Food and Beverage Manager said, It is encouraging for small food businesses to hear consumers saying they buy local food products at least once a week and that one third are purchasing more today than they did a year ago."

The results of Bord Bias research into consumer attitudes to local food were presented today to over 200 small food and drink producers at Bord Bias Small Business Open Day in Enfield, Co. Meath.

Bord Bia also revealed that the number of small food and drink businesses it works with has grown by over 40% (42%) from 400 to 700 in just under four years. Bord Bia estimates that the small food and drink business sector is worth some 400m.

Opening the conference, the Minister of the State at the Department of Agriculture, Food, Andrew Doyle that the most immediate impact of the UKs decision to leave the European Union has been sterling depreciation and volatility.

"While demand for premium quality, safe food products is increasing long term, todays advice and information can help companies in very practical ways to hold on to business."
Ornua - formerly the Irish Dairy Board - has announeced plans to acquire FJ Need (Foods) Ltd, a Cheshire-based cheese ingredients company.

Some 53% of Irish cheese is sold into the UK market last year, down from 60% the previous year, and Ornua says the acquisition will strengthen its position within the UK market.

Ornua already has a large footprint in the UK cheese market - it is the largest buyer of British cheese in the UK and it owns the brand Pilgrim's Choice, which is the UK's number two cheddar brand, worth 72m.

FJ Need was established over 40 years ago, and is a family-run cheese company, and includes a cheese cutting, grating and slicing facility, two cheese brands and a distribution fleet.

According to Ornua, the acquisition is central to Ornuas strategy of further strengthening its core businesses in Germany, North America and the UK.

It says that FJ Needs strong competences will also strengthen Ornuas UK businesss capabilities in the post Brexit environment.

FJ Need supplies a range of British and Irish cheese ingredients to the foodservice and food manufacturing sectors and Ornua has been a supplier of high quality Irish cheese to F.J Need for many years.

FJ Needs cheese production facility currently produces 16,000t per annum and Ornua says it believes that there is significant potential to expand this capacity to take advantage of the rapidly growing foodservice market for cheese ingredients both in the UK and in international markets.

This potential for expansion into new sectors, including leveraging Ornuas existing export routes to market, is a key benefit identified by Ornua in concluding the transaction.

The FJ Need acquisition will be the latest in a series of investments by Ornua, targeting new routes to market for Irish dairy products.

Completion of the acquisition is subject to UK competition approval.
AS the winter sun gradually climbs a little higher in the sky, and the dry weather continues, the mart trade for cattle has taken on something of an early spring feel.

With most marts now returning to business it is great to see such positivity so early in the year.

And this positivity is reflected in the majority of last weeks bullock and heifer figures, with the only negative movement of consequence being in the heavier ends of both tables.

The biggest mover was the 400-499kg bullock which rose by 10c/kg or from 40-49/hd to reach an average of 2.08/kg for a rounded out average price of 832-1038/hd.

Both the top and bottom halves in the quality stakes in this section moved almost in unison with the top quarter up 7c/kg and the bottom quarter up 6c/kg.

This indicates strong demand across the sector as there were enough buyers anxious to hoover up the majority of offerings.

Several mart managers I spoke to last week commented that demand exceeded supply and that they would have sold more stock if the cattle had been available.

In the 500-599kg section, while the figures show the average up the bare minimum at just 1c/kg, the top quarter here gained a very respectable 7c or from 35-42/hd.

The bottom quarter did fall by 5c/kg or 25-30/hd, as buyers carefully assessed the factory price prospects for finished stock into the summer.

That same factory price assessment, but in a shorter time frame, may have also influenced the markets pricing of the heavier 600kg+ bullocks last week; they fell back by 5c/kg on average, with factory prices effectively stalled at 3.80-3.85/ kg for carcase beef.

Indeed rumours that 3.75/ kg had been accepted by some with possibly out of spec or poorer confirmation stock helped push the poorer quality 600kg bullock onto an average of 1.63/kg or 978/hd. Thats down 11c/kg or 66/hd on the previous week.

But last week the average price of the better Aberdeen Angus/ Hereford bullock at 2.09/ kg was 4c/kg better off than the average price of the continental at 2.05/kg; food for thought for those in the suckling business perhaps.

The only other animal to see an average downward push on price was the 300-399kg stock; but with the top quarter gaining 6c/kg or from 18-24/hd I dont read too much into that average fall of 1c/kg.

The heifer trade was also in good fettle last week although the average price gains across the various weight divisions from 350-599kgs were less spectacular than those of the bullock.

The biggest average price rise was in the 350-399kg section where prices rose by 5c/kg on average, with the top quarter gaining 9c/kg. That left the average price at 2.13/kg or from 745-850/ hd, with the top quarter on 864-985/hd or 2.47/kg.

As you go up the weights the gains become less. The 400-499kg average price rose by 3c/kg to sit on 2.05/ kg, while the 500-599kg heifer average price only improved by 1c/kg, although the tops here gained 3c/kg or 15-18/hd.

1 GORTATLEA

Gortatlea in Kerry celebrated its second anniversary in some style last Friday. A very strong turnout of stock was mirrored by keen local interest and serious competition from Northern buyers. Trade was brisk with your good continental cow making 2.00-2.11/kg. Among the heifers both Hereford and Aberdeen Angus saw prices in the 2.10-2.20/kg range, with continentals hitting 2.51/kg. In the bullock ring the trade was no less buoyant, with 680kg Friesians making 1.85/kg, while 10 545kg Herefords made 2.11/kg.

2 BALTINGLASS

There was also a big turnout of local and Northern buyers in Baltinglass for the annual bullock and bull show and sale. Mart owner Joe Kinsella was happy with the very large entry but even more so with the quality and prices achieved. Among the prices were 380-395kg Limousins who made from 2.50-2.60/kg, while slightly heavier 417-420kg Belgian Blues made 2.37-2.42/kg. Moving to the heavier end you had the champion, an 810kg Limousin, making 2.34/kg.

3 SIXMILEBRIDGE

Considering where the factory price is, the mart trade has started 2017 strongly. This was manager Sean Ryans assessment of the mart trade at this early point. His sale on Saturday saw the stronger heifer make from 2.10-2.50/kg, while Hereford bullocks saw their prices hit 2.40/kg off a base of 2.10/kg. In the weanling ring, both farmers and shippers were active, with the lighter 350kg animals price ranging from 2.30-3.71/kg, and Belgian Blues coming in at 3.00-3.60/ kg.

4 BALLINASLOE

Numbers were reported as up slightly on the previous week but so to were the number of buyers. The top of the market saw 595kg Charolais bullocks make 2.27/kg, which made the various lots of Limousins from 640-660kgs that made from 2.08/kg-2.13/kg, interesting. In the heifer ring the Charolais were again top with various lots at 450kgs making 2.47/kg, although at 2.42/kg some of the Limousins werent too far away.

5 CARRICK-ON-SUIR

Auctioneer John Curran said he felt a little bit like Gay Byrne, commenting that although the sale wasnt overly big the diversity of stock was such that there was something for everyone in the audience. That something could have been four Aberdeen Angus bullocks of 608kgs who made 1,225 and six 485kg Friesians that went for 850/hd. If heifers were your thing how about four 475kg Limousins that averaged 1,030 or a couple of 256kg weanling Angus at 500/ hd or their similar weighted bull brothers at 520/hd, while at 860 got you a 640kg dry cow.

6 MACROOM

Trade in Macroom saw the better quality dry cow sell for 490 with her weight, with the poorer animal dipping to 150 under the 1/kg. Aberdeen Angus bullocks in the 490-565kg bracket hovered around 2.00-2.12/kg, while 2.03/kg was the price of two 520kg Herefords. Among the continentals were five 340kg Limousins that went for 2.28/kg
IRISH aviation leasing companies are able to write down the value of their assets over just a fraction of their useful economic life - a significant boon to the industry - according to figures from the Central Bank.

There are 1,132 Irish-resident aircraft-leasing companies in Ireland although researchers said that detailed information was only available for 848. The sector has been bolstered by tax rules that allow owners to depreciate their assets just a fraction of the way through their productive life, according to new research conducted by staff at the Central Bank.

The study looked at the development of Ireland as one of just two major hubs for the global aircraft leasing industry, alongside the US.

As part of their research, they used a newly created internal database on aircraft leasing. It shows that, including limited companies and special purpose vehicles, more than 1,100 entities registered here are linked to aircraft leasing.

Estimates put the number of people employed by the sector at between 1,000 and 2,000 - concentrated in Dublin and in and around Shannon, Co Clare.

The scale of the industry - with assets estimated at somewhere between 83bn and 113bn - has been blamed for distorting attempts to measure the size of the economy.

That's mainly because planes bought by Irish leasing companies are counted along with other investment in official data, even if the aircraft themselves never touch down in Ireland.

The growth of the aircraft leasing sector here began with the late Tony Ryan's GPA in the 1970s.

Today, factors that make Ireland attractive include the skilled work force that has developed here in tandem with the growth of the sector.

Ireland's comprehensive double tax treaty network with approximately 70 countries - which makes it easier to conduct cross-border business without hitting tax barriers is another factor.

The authors cited Ireland's tax regime - both the headline 12.5pc corporate tax rate that applies to all sectors, but also depreciation rules that allow aircraft owners to write down the value of aircraft over just eight years. The depreciation treatment allows owners to use the decline in the value of assets to reduce their annual tax bills.

According to the Central Bank report however, which cites industry analysis, the useful life of a commercial jet aircraft is closer to 25 years, on average. Half of all planes remain in service even beyond that, it said.

"The useful economic life , then, tends to be considerably longer than the depreciation period allowable for tax purposes," they said.

Even with an apparently generous regime, the sector is now a significant contributor to State coffers, the report shows.

The authors cite research commissioned by the Federation of Aerospace Enterprises in Ireland.

The industry body found that the sector contributed 270m in corporation tax in 2007.

More recent studies also cited in the research put the tax take from the sector at closer to 310m - vast sums relative to the tiny numbers employed.

Assessing the true value of the sector remains challenging, the authors say.

They point to the lack of hard data on the number of people employed by aircraft leasing firms or details on the purchases by the companies of services within the Irish economy.
Business at Lillie's Bordello and another flagship pub in the Porterhouse Group, the Porterhouse Pub, continued to increase last year.

New accounts for Noyfield Ltd, which is the firm behind celebrity haunt Lillie's and the adjoining Porterhouse Central bar show that it recorded operating profits of almost 120,000 in the 12 months to the end of last February.

The accounts show that the business recorded a loss of 208,281.

However, this includes a non-cash depreciation charge of 325,000, giving an operating profit of 118,719.

Separate accounts for Iskasinc Ltd, which operates the Porterhouse Pub on Dublin's Parliament Street, show that the business recorded a profit of 213,566 last year.

The profits at Iskasinc last year followed profits of 182,098 in the 12 months to the end of February 2015.

The Porterhouse Group was co-founded by the late Oliver Hughes (55), who passed away suddenly at his home from a suspected heart attack last July.

Set up more than 25 years ago, the Porterhouse Group now employs over 500 people across its pubs in Dublin, London and New York.

The group incorporates seven bars, five restaurants, Lillie's Bordello, the Dingle Distillery and its brewing operations.

Commenting on the results for Noyfield and Iskasinc last year, group business development director Elliot Hughes - Oliver's son - said that the group saw the businesses "as two of its most important flagship premises".

"The group is very encouraged that both sites are running at a profit before depreciation and amortisation and continuing to grow year on year," Mr Hughes said. "The growth of tourism and the craft beer sectors in particular in Ireland has been extremely good news for the Porterhouse Group."

He said that, overall, the Porterhouse group "performed very well last year, with our bars and restaurants growing on previous years as well as the introduction of The Whitworth to our portfolio".

"The Porterhouse Group have excellent plans for growth in 2017 with our new brewery coming on board during the year, which will allow us to grow our beer sales domestically and with export, a bar in New York as well as a couple of ventures in Ireland that we are actively looking at," Mr Hughes said.

Accumulated profits at Noyfield Ltd at the end of February last totalled 1.62m. The firm's cash pile more than doubled, going from 521,615 to 1.23m.

Numbers employed by the firm last year remained the same at 48, with staff costs totalling 1.66m.

Accumulated profits at Iskasinc last year totalled 2.66m. Numbers employed total 40, with staff costs of 1m for the 12 months to the end of February 29 last.
The issue is due to be raised in the Oireachtas today by the partys Seanad leader Catherine Ardagh. Photo: Damien Eagers

Fianna Fail is demanding changes to the Government's controversial first-time buyers' grant after it emerged just 17 contractors across the country have registered.

The main opposition party last night said first-time buyers have found themselves in the "distressing" situation whereby contractors they have approached say they are not registered for the help-to-buy scheme.

Under the scheme, buyers can avail of a maximum refund of 20,000 for newly-built properties valued up to 400,000.

The measure was one of the cornerstones of Budget 2016.

But figures provided by the Revenue Commissioners show just 17 contractors or developers have registered with the scheme.

A spokeswoman for Revenue last night said the grant is not available to buyers who approach a developer that has not registered.

Read more: Comment - To combat the housing supply shortfall, our developers need 'Help to Build' measures

She said that this requirement is laid down in the recently passed legislation.

"Where a contractor is not a 'qualifying contractor', the first-time buyer would not qualify for any refund under the incentive," the spokeswoman said.

"The contractors' registration requires consent to publication of their name and tax registration number on the Revenue website as a 'qualifying contractor', so that potential purchasers can check that the contractor is qualifying."

The issue is due to be raised in the Oireachtas today by the party's Seanad leader Catherine Ardagh.

Last night, Ms Ardagh called on Housing Minister Simon Coveney to consider making registration mandatory for contractors.

She said she has been contacted by first-time buyers who are upset over the issue.

"It simply isn't good enough that the Government and Mr Coveney have allowed a situation to arise where they have made this commitment to first-time buyers, and yet only 17 contractors in the entire country have registered," Ms Ardagh told the Irish Independent.

"That means many developments across the country, and particularly in Dublin, presently do not qualify for the grant. With rising house prices and exorbitant rents, it is grossly unfair, adding further pressure to purchasers.

"I am calling on Mr Coveney to explain how he has left first-time buyers in this situation and what steps he will take to urgently rectify the matter, perhaps make registering with revenue mandatory."
Etihad Airways president and chief executive James Hogan will leave his role in the second half of this year, the airline has announced.

Mr Hogan, who has led Etihad since 2006, will join an investment group with Etihad's chief financial officer James Rigney, who will also leave the airline.

Etihad chairman Mohamed Mubarak Fadhel Al Mazrouei said the company was "very grateful" to Mr Hogan.

"In just 10 years, he has overseen the growth of the company from a 22-plane regional carrier into a 120-aircraft global airline and aviation group," he said.

Mr Hogan said he was "very proud of what we have built together at Etihad".

In recent months, a slowing regional economy, overcapacity in the industry and a strong US dollar have put pressure on Etihad's earnings.

Company and industry sources told Reuters in December that Etihad was reviewing its policy of investing in European airlines ("equity partnerships") after continued losses at Air Berlin and Alitalia.

That month, Etihad said it was cutting jobs in some parts of its business, but did not give a number.

Mr Al Mazrouei said Etihad was now embarking on a strategic review but was committed to the equity partnerships.

"We must ensure that the airline is the right size and the right shape. We must continue to improve cost efficiency, productivity and revenue. We must progress and adjust our airline equity partnerships even as we remain committed to the strategy."

(Additional reporting Reuters)
US President Barack Obama(R) and First Lady Michelle Obama(L) welcome Preisdent-elect Donald Trump(2nd-R) and his wife Melania to the White House

US President Barack Obama(R) and First Lady Michelle Obama(2nd-L) welcome Preisdent-elect Donald Trump(L) and his wife Melania(2nd-R) to the White House

President-elect Donald Trump (C),and his wife Melania Trump (L), are greeted by President Barack Obama (R), and his wife first lady Michelle Obama, upon arriving at the White House on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. Later in the morning President-elect Trump will be sworn in as the nation's 45th president during an inaugural ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

US President Barack Obama(R) and First Lady Michelle Obama(L) welcome Preisdent-elect Donald Trump(2nd-L) and his wife Melania(2nd-R) to the White House

President Barack Obama greets (L-R) Melania, Tifffany and Ivanka Trump prior to the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States on the West front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

One lump or two? Melania Trump and Michelle Obama met for tea in the White House in the days following Donald Trump's election victory Photo: Chuck Kennedy/The White House

President-elect Donald Trump (2ndR),and his wife Melania Trump (2ndL), are greeted by President Barack Obama and his wife first lady Michelle Obama, upon arriving at the White House on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. Later in the morning President-elect Trump will be sworn in as the nation's 45th president during an inaugural ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.

US President Barack Obama(R) and First Lady Michelle Obama(L) welcome Preisdent-elect Donald Trump(2nd-R) and his wife Melania to the White House

US President Barack Obama(R) and First Lady Michelle Obama(L) welcome Preisdent-elect Donald Trump(2nd-R) and his wife Melania to the White House

Footage of Melania Trump calling for proof of Barack Obama's birth certificate has resurfaced.

In a 2011 interview with Joy Behar, the US First Lady, then appearing as a guest who was described only as 'Married to The Donald', was echoing her husband's birther arguments nearly verbatim, denying the authenticity of the former president's certificate of live birth.

This last week has proven an interesting one for supporters and critics of Trump, with most taking to the internet to express their concern for Melania - whether it's the gif of her face dropping suddenly at the inauguration or the 'Sad Melania' trend gaining traction on social media.

The mother-of-one tends to avoid publicly denounced or supported her husband's political beliefs and she told GQ in 2016, "No one will ever know".

What we do know is that she was vocally supportive of the birtherism campaign in 2011, when she asked host Joy Behar: "Do you want to see President Obama's birth certificate or no? In one way, it would be very easy if President Obama just show it because it's not only Donald who wants to see it - it's American people who vote for him and who didn't vote for him."

And it was clear she was campaigning early for her husband's presidential campaign, saying he was not "obsessed" with the birther claims, saying they "leech on that one issue and they go on and on".

"I would not say obsessed," she began. "He's very passionate about the country doing well and to be what it was once before because can you imagine the next generation - children, our children, how they will do?

"It's just going down down down."

Watch the clip here:
Ewan McGregor took exception to Piers Morgan's remarks about the women's march

Piers Morgan has spoken out over Ewan McGregor's no-show at an interview

Piers Morgan has said Hollywood star Ewan McGregor "let down" Good Morning Britain viewers by refusing to appear on the programme.

The Star Wars actor, 45, pulled out of an interview on Tuesday - saying he objected to host Piers Morgan's comments about last weekend's women's march.

As Morgan, 51, opened the breakfast show on Wednesday, he told viewers he was "disappointed" with McGregor's decision.

He said: "Ewan McGregor is a major star, perfectly entitled to have his opinion about politics, I'm entitled to mine.

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"We should all be able to have different views.

"I would have respected him more if he'd walked out here sat down and said: 'You are wrong about the women's march', and we could have had an adult conversation about it."

He added: "Having a conversation about these things is how we all move on.

"I was very disappointed with what he did - he let down the viewers and he let down himself."

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McGregor was due to appear on the ITV breakfast show to talk about his new movie, the Trainspotting sequel.

But after arriving at the studio, and discovering Morgan was presenting the show, he made his feelings clear when he tweeted his fans: "Was going on Good Morning Britain, didn't realise Piers Morgan was host.

"Won't go on with him after his comments about women's march."

Morgan had previously voiced his displeasure at the women's march which took place around the world.

Video of the Day

The TV host had objected to the marches in a series of tweets, saying: "I'm planning a men's march to protest at the creeping global emasculation of my gender by rabid feminists. Who's with me?"

Hundreds of thousands of people joined women's marches in London and Washington DC as protests were held around the world following President Donald Trump's inauguration.

At least 500,000 people gathered for a rally outside the US Capitol building in Washington, while organisers said an estimated 100,000 descended on central London on Saturday as similar events were staged in Edinburgh, Bristol and cities across the US.

Celebrities showing their support included Madonna, Katy Perry, Drew Barrymore, America Ferrera and Michael Moore.
The Acting Chief Executive of Bus Eireann has said the company could go out of business by the end of this year, with the loss of 2,600 jobs.

Ray Hernan indicated that the financial crisis is worse than previously thought as he had said it could become insolvent within 18 months. Mr Hernan was speaking at a Dail Transport Committee meeting this morning.

He urged unions to come to the table urgently and warned he could not implement a survival plan without their assistance.

He said a final cost cutting plan will be put to the company's board by the end of March although the company wants to implement some cuts and efficiencies immediately.

Mr Hernan said losses amounted to 8m to 9m last year and said without drastic cuts it "will be insolvent before the end of this calendar year".

Mr Hernan said his recent letter to staff outlining cuts, including axing shift payments, reductions in allowances and creating a pool of casual drivers, was not a precondition of talks with unions.

"I am ready to meet the unions day or night," he said. "We need to implement these changes. Otherwise this company will not exist this time next year."

Mr Hernan disputed unions' claim that the cuts oulined for staff would amount to a reduction of up to 30pc in earnings although he did not elaborate on what they would amount to.

He refused to say what severance packages were paid to former CEO Martin Nolan or former HR Manager Joe Kenny who left the company recently. He said he could not give his own salary because it has not been agreed although he said pay for the CEO stood at around 180,000 or 190,000 last year.

When asked by AAA deputy Mick Barry if a new HR consultant was earning 2,000 a day, Mr Hernan would not say but revealed that a derogation was obtained to normal procurement procedure for the contract.

He revealed that insurance costs have spiralled from 1.5m in 2014 to close to 7m last year.

He also said that absenteeism at Bus Eireann is double the national average.

He said he had only met the shareholder Minister for Transport Shane Ross once but said he "understands the predicament" facing Bus Eireann.

Unions have refused to enter talks on the cuts outlined by Mr Hernan and are due to meet tomorrow to discuss their next move. The Nbru has threatened an all out strike if cuts are imposed on staff.

Transport Minister Shane Ross was under pressure earlier today to intervene in the dispute, amid claims he is "now a spectator".

Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin told the Dail that Mr Ross is overseeing a situation that is set to "undermine a vital national company.

To date Bus Eireanns problems have focused on the Expressway service which must compete with private companies without the aid of State subvention.

However Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin suggested the public might be getting the full story about restructuring plans at the bus company.

He said the threat to the Expressway service has caused deep concern among the workforce and the travelling public.

However, Mr Martin went on to claim that there has been a ratcheting up of language by management.

It seems to me that theres something afoot, he said, adding the Transport Minister Shane Ross is trying to keep his fingerprints off the situation.

A bit more transparency from all would be welcome, he said.

Mr Howlin said: Management have been engaged in a public relations doomsday exercise. Taoiseach Enda Kenny replied that there is nothing underfoot going on but people needed to be aware of the commercial reality.

Its a matter that is essentially under discussion between management and trade unions, he said. Government policy in this is are is that the travelling public should have access to the best quality of transport services, Mr Kenny said.

He defended Minister Rosss record on the issue, saying that the minister does not underestimate the problems.

But the Taoiseach added: This is a commercial problem now and it deserves a commercial response. That means a resolution has to be found between the company and the trade unions.
Many builders who went bust are back in business  but many people who bought defective houses from them are left without redress, the Dail has been told.

Green Party TD, Catherine Martin, said that more than five years after scandals like Priory Hall in Dublin, little had changed. She said the only change had been a strengthening of the building inspection regime.

Ms Martin, a TD for Dublin Rathdown, said that people whose homes were incomplete or with serious defects had little real recourse  in contrast to the second chance given builders who went bankrupt.

There has been lots of talk  but very little action, the Green Party deputy leader said.

Deputy Martin added that many people found remedies for their problems were statute barred because of an expired time limit. At the same time inspection services were underfunded.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the problem occurred in many other countries and he cited the Berkeley College tragedy in California as an example of something caused by builders cutting corners.

Mr Kenny said the only remedy was independent inspection of buildings to ensure they complied with planning permission terms. He said the rules were already there and must now be implemented.

The Taoiseach said builders who flout the rules should not be allowed build again. But he said there were no guarantees of cases like Priory Hall not happening in the future.

Can I say this is the last case in the country? No, I cant, Mr Kenny said.
The Catholic Girl Guides of Ireland (CGI) will not presently accept boys identifying as girls into their organisation.

As revealed in yesterday's Irish Independent, the Irish Girl Guides says it is considering welcoming boys who "self-identify" as girls.

However, while the CGI says it is taking a lot of time and effort to examine this measure, it will not currently welcome a self-identifying girl into the group in the meantime.

"I think this would be in the best interests of everyone, and especially for that child, until a policy is developed," said Michelle Finnerty, spokesperson and volunteer for CGI.

"We would tell the parent 'leave it with us, we are actively working on it and we will have a policy very soon'.

"We don't want to be in a position of making their [boys identifying as girls] lives any more difficult for them."

Ms Finnerty added that although the CGI has not been approached with a scenario such as this, one of its volunteers travelled to Sweden recently to attend a round-table discussion on gender and membership with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

Interest

"One of our members has a special interest in this area and had gathered a lot of useful information on this topic while she was over there.

"Putting together a policy on this is going to take a long time, because it will need a lot of consultation. We have to listen to the views of our youth members and parents' opinions, along with expert advice, too," she said.

Linda Peters, chief executive officer of the Irish Girl Guides, said in yesterday's Irish Independent that "our policy is that anyone who lives their life as a female is welcome to join our organisation".

However, when asked if she would presently accept a boy identifying himself as a girl, she said: "I don't know. It's a hypothetical question, so I'm not going to answer it or comment further. We'll be in a better position to go into more detail when we finalise our guidelines on this topic."

Ms Peters added that there is an IGG volunteer who has a transgender child, but who is not a member.

"The adult is a volunteer leader with us and has a child that is transgender. We're consulting with her from a leader's perspective. Her child is not a member," she said.

Alan Matthews, group leader of the all-boys St Patrick's Scout Group in Dundalk, said that he wouldn't see any problem with allowing a self-identifying boy from joining his troop.

"I don't see why we wouldn't let them join. If they want to identify themselves as a boy, fair enough. I suppose it's their human right and we're not going to stand against them. I'm sure six- and seven-year-olds wouldn't notice the difference," Mr Matthews said.
Two Aer Lingus employees have been charged in connection with the people-smuggling claims. Photo: Colin O'Riordan

An Aer Lingus worker facilitated non-nationals illegally entering the State by "bypassing" passport controls and security before exiting Dublin Airport, a court has heard.

Peter Kernan (56) had bail set at 22,000 after a court was also told he had an "alleged association with organised criminal gangs who have access to false documents".

Mr Kernan was one of two Aer Lingus employees charged by gardai investigating alleged people-smuggling operating through the airport.

Both Mr Kernan, with an address at The Old Rectory, Celbridge, and Frederick Cham (61), of Railway Cottages, Hazelhatch, Celbridge, both in Co Kildare, appeared in Dublin District Court on Human Trafficking charges. They are each charged with two counts of facilitating the trafficking of a non-national into the State at the airport on January 9 and 22.

A third man, Xing Wang (28), from China but of no fixed address here, was charged with separate offences - failing to produce a passport or identification card and failing to present himself to an immigration officer on January 22. He is also charged with possession of a false Hong Kong passport.

Judge Cormac Dunne remanded Mr Kernan in custody, with consent to bail, to appear in Cloverhill District Court next Monday. The two co-accused were remanded in custody to Friday with no bail applications yet made on their behalf.

Read more: 18m people-smuggling ring involving Aer Lingus staff has 'Italian Mafia and Chinese Triad' links

Detective Garda Keith Cleary of the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) said he arrested Mr Wang at 9.35am on Sunday, January 22, in Dublin Airport.

He was brought to Coolock garda station, where he was charged on Monday night. Gda Cleary said there would be bail objections.

Defence solicitor Michael Kelleher said there was no bail application being made, adding that there were "ID and status issues" to be resolved.

Detective Garda Lorcan Tighe, also from the GNIB, said Mr Cham was charged at 2.05am at Ballymun garda station and made no reply after caution.

Mr Kelleher said a bail application would be made on Friday. Judge Dunne deferred a decision on legal aid in his case, to give the gardai an opportunity to "explore the circumstances of the accused".

Detective Garda Brendan O Somachain said while he was objecting to bail for Mr Kernan, some terms had been agreed with defence solicitor Amanda Connolly.

He cited the seriousness of the charges and the likely penalties on conviction, as well as "his alleged association with organised criminal gangs who have access to false documents".

An independent surety had been withdrawn due to the level of publicity surrounding the case, the court heard.

"The allegation is that Mr Kernan, along with others, organised to facilitate the illegal entry into the State of non-nationals, for them to bypass passport control and exit the airport without having any contact with security personnel at all," Det Gda O Somachain said.

"It is alleged there was a considerable sum of money paid for this to be done."

The court heard a sum of money had been seized from Mr Kernan. Ms Connolly said Mr Kernan had two sons with his ex-wife, who were in court. His current partner and her daughter were also present in court.

Judge Dunne granted bail, in the accused's own bond of 2,000, and an independent cash surety of 20,000. The judge said two separate sureties of 10,000 would also be accepted. He must surrender his passport and sign on three times a week at Leixlip garda station.

Mr Kernan, wearing a tan-coloured jacket, green shirt and black trousers did not address court.
A couple whose infant daughter was placed in emergency care soon after birth due to allegedly unexplained significant bruising to her have lost their High Court challenge over that order.

The parents complained they were given insufficient time to respond after the Child and Family Agency (CFA) informed them in June 2015 it intended to apply the same day for the emergency care order (ECO).

The ECO was sought after a public health nurse called an ambulance after noting allegedly significant bruising to the six week old babys upper body and head.

The child was taken to hospital where a paediatric consultant described bruising on the left shoulder muscle and left lower arm, left side of the chest and left temple area. A CT scan of the babys head was normal as was a renal ultrasound scan.

The consultant concluded the cause of the injury was likely non-accidental and had not been satisfactorily explained by the childs carers.

The CFA was notified and interviewed the parents. Five days after her hospital admission, the child was considered fit for discharge but it was agreed she would remain there pending a CFA assessment of her welfare.

Four days later, the CFA informed the childs father it would be seeking an ECO that same afternoon. The parents sought a solicitor but by the time they and their lawyer arrived in court for the hearing, it had gone ahead without them.

The District Judge, who had heard the matter, adjourned it to the next morning when he refused to discharge his care order.

That same day, the baby was discharged into her grandmothers care.

Two days later, the parents went to the High Court. Their application for an inquiry into the legality of the childs detention by the CFA was refused but they were given leave to pursue the matter via judicial review.

When the parents later undertook to move in with the grandmother and care for the child there, the CFA secured a six month supervision order with the effect the baby was no longer under CFA care.

Following a further child protection review conference held by the CFA, it was decided in early 2016 the baby no longer needed a child protection plan because the risk of significant harm had been addressed.

The CFA told the parents the infants record on the child protection notification system (CPNS) would be changed to inactive, meaning she was previously at risk of harm and had a child protection plan in the past.

In his High Court judgment refusing judicial review, Mr Justice Seamus Noonan ruled the case was now moot or pointless as the ECO expired eight days after it was made and it had no effect afterwards on other orders or any future proceedings.

Given that finding, it was unnecessary to address other issues raised, including the parents' complaints about inclusion of their names on the CPNS until their child turns 18, he said.
A single mother went on a massive spending spree after a bank accidentally deposited 51,000 into her bank account.

Margaret McDonnell (23) spent the money on items for her two children including on bedclothes, clothes and shoes, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.

For two weeks McDonnell ate out every night, brought her friends and family out for dinner and bought gifts including two crystal vases and a crystal mushroom lamp.

Oisin Clarke BL, defending, said it was a case of the goose laying golden eggs and McDonnell spending the money before it stopped.

McDonnell of Rathvilly Park, Finglas, Dublin pleaded guilty to 13 counts of theft of cash from Bank of Ireland on dates between March 7 and 16, 2013. Between large ATM withdrawals and money spent in shops and restaurants, a total of 24,946 taken.

Judge Cormac Quinn adjourned the case to April next and ordered a Probation Services report to assess McDonnell's suitability for community service.

Detective Garda Karl Smith told the court that in March 2013 a Bank of Ireland customer went into the branch in Finglas to get details to allow the transfer of 51,808 into his account from a foreign bank account.

He was given an IBAN number but when the money did not later show up in his bank account he contacted the bank again. It was then discovered he had been incorrectly given the details of McDonnell's account.

The 51,808 had dropped into her account on March 6. The following day she withdrew 5,000. Over the next nine days she spent large amounts in Dunnes Stores, Tesco, Heatons, Centra, Lifestyle Sports, Shoe Rack and New Look.

On discovering its mistake the bank took back the 26,862 remaining from the original deposit. They also wrote to McDonnell asking her to repay the rest but she ignored the letter.

After her arrest she accepted full responsibility for spending the money. She told gardai that she thought the money was hers if it was in her bank account.

I just went on a high. It was such a lot of money. It was in my account so as far as I was concerned it was mine, she said. She said she spent the money on everything and anything, stupid things.

Asked if she was bothered by the thefts she told gardai: If only you knew me, you would know I was bothered by this. Any young girl on social welfare like me would have done what I did.

She said she ignored the letter from the bank because she was scared and realised she had done something wrong.

Mr Clarke said that his client had never before had disposal income to spend and had never been able to buy gifts for friends or family. On March 7 she spent 3,844 in a gift shop after buying two crystal vases and a crystal lamp.

Counsel said McDonnell had never been in trouble before and had always tried to live her life in an upright fashion. Dt Gda Smith it was highly unlikely she would re-offend.

He said that looking back on her younger self she could not believe how stupid she was. He said she had flittered the money away and had nothing to show for it all.

Mr Clarke said McDonnell was in receipt of 250 lone parent allowance each week and could only afford to pay 10 or 20 out of this to make up the stolen money.
A woman died of complications arising from a hairball that extended more than 25cm from her stomach into her intestines, an inquest heard.

Surgery was recommended for Karen Carroll (24) from Portland Square, North Circular Road, Dublin 1, in 2009 but this did not happen and she died five years later.

The hairball, known medically as trichobezoar, is associated with a rare condition called Rapunzel Syndrome which results from the ingestion of hair.

Ms Carroll, who worked as a supervisor at Debenhams, did not proceed with planned surgery to remove the mass of hair but continued to live a full life, Dublin Coroner's Court heard.

Towards the end of 2014 she became unwell and experienced dramatic weight loss. She presented at the Mater Hospital on February 13, 2015, complaining of abdominal pain. She was described as thin, malnourished and disorientated and had lost up to four stone in two months.

Dehydration

Ms Carroll was admitted to the Mater Private Hospital that day suffering from dehydration. Tests showed a hairball extending from her stomach into the second section of her intestine with a diameter ranging between 6.2cm and 10cm. The first section alone, the duodenum, measured between 25cm and 38cm. She was treated with nutritional supplements and the painkiller Tramadol.

On the morning of February 17, she complained of hiccups, nausea, abdominal pain and tenderness. She collapsed on the ward later that day.

Emergency surgery was performed to remove the hairball and doctors found the mass of hair had fractured and moved further into the small bowel.

Ms Carroll remained in a critical condition afterwards and died on February 19. Cause of death was septic shock due to bronchial pneumonia, due to gastric obstruction secondary to trichobezoar.

Pathologist Dr Niall Mulligan said she developed pneumonia two to three days before she died. The hairball was affecting her ability to breathe, the court heard.

Consultant in Emergency Medicine at the Mater Private Hospital, Dr Gerard O'Connor, said this was only the second such case he had experienced.

Planned surgery to remove the hairball in 2009 was postponed for six weeks initially because Ms Carroll was taking an oral contraceptive. She did not return to hospital to proceed with surgery, the court heard.

Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane returned a narrative verdict.
Gardai have arrested a fourth man as part of their investigation into a massive firearms haul seized in west Dublin.

Detective Superintendent Tony Howard, of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB), has also confirmed that gardai seized "tens of thousands of euro" during a planned search operation overnight.

Speaking to RTE Morning Ireland D-Supt Howard confirmed that 15 high-powered weapons, including a sub machine gun, an assault rifle and over 1200 rounds of ammunition were seized by gardai in the swoop yesterday afternoon.

"As a result of the action of gardai we have saved lives," he added.

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A number of the weapons were loaded, with senior gardai stating that an "imminent attack" was prevented and that lives were saved.

Three men, in their 40s and 50s, were arrested a short time late. D-Supt Howard confirmed that a fourth man was arrested overnight.

The significant seizure is being linked to a highly-active south Dublin based criminal .

He has been a major target for the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and had a number of vehicles seized in a special operation by the agency last April.

Arrested

He was not one of the men arrested by gardai in the massive surveillance operation yesterday, which resulted in the huge bust at Greenogue Industrial Estate in Baldonnel.

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The operation followed weeks of investigation by the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB).

The first three men arrested were last night being questioned at Clondalkin, Ballyfermot and Rathcoole Garda Stations.

They have addresses in Celbridge, Rathcoole and Naas, with the Naas resident originally from Crumlin.

One of the individuals was arrested in the "lock-up", while the two other men were detained close to the scene in a car.

Gardai believe the two men in the car were due to collect the weapons, some of which were fully loaded.

Officers from the DOCB raided a warehouse in the Greenogue Industrial Estate, Baldonnel, west Dublin, in a dawn operation yesterday.

It followed a lengthy surveillance operation at the premises, with gardai storming the warehouse after witnessing one man enter the storage facility.

The main target of the operation was not caught up in the bust, however gardai believe that he is a very senior member of the murderous cartel.

It is understood the operation was part of a long-running probe into the activities of a very close associate of slain gangster Gerard 'Hatchet' Kavanagh (44), who was murdered in Spain in September, 2014.

Kavanagh was shot nine times by two masked men as he sipped a beer at Harmon's Irish Bar in Elviria near Marbella.

He was a senior member and enforcer for the Kinahan crime gang and gardai have been investigating whether he was killed by his own mob.

Detective Superintendent Tony Howard of the DOCB said: "This was an intelligence-led operation and forensic examinations by the technical bureau are ongoing as I speak.

"But I can say we have a minimum of 15 firearms recovered, possibly as many as 20, but we won't know the full figure until we've carried out a full search of the premises itself," he said.

Disrupted

"There is absolutely no doubt that this operation disrupted an imminent attack and I've no doubt that we have saved lives as a result of this operation," he added.

Members of the Armed Support Unit (ASU) guarded the warehouse as officers from the Garda Technical Bureau carried out a forensic examination.

It means that in the space of just 72 hours, gardai have seized almost 40m of drugs and up to 15 weapons from the deadly cartel.

"Obviously his particular operation and last weekend, as well as a myriad of operations we conducted through 2016, resulted in 18 firearms being seized," the senior garda added.
Some 31pc said their children couldn't walk to school because of the weight of their bags.

Almost one in three parents of primary aged pupils said their children could not walk to school because of the weight of their schoolbag, an Oireachtas committee heard today.

The survey, which gathered more than 3,000 responses in four days last week, was conducted by the National Parents Council Primary (NPC-Primary) in preparation for todays hearing at the Committee on Children and Youth Affairs.

The committee is concerned about the implications for childrens' back health as a result of carrying heavy loads to and from school.

NPC-Primary chief executive Aine Lynch said their survey showed that nearly 70pc of parents had a significant concern about the weight of the bag, including 38pc who were extremely concerned. Some 31pc said their children couldn't walk to school because of the weight of their bags.

Read More

Ms Lynch said the issue at primary level was whether there was an over-reliance on textbooks in teaching and said the curriculum implemented in 1999 suggested that fewer were needed for children at these ages.

She said a number of reports had identified this as an issue, which, "should be further explored rather than accepting the necessity of text books and then continually trying to find ways of dealing with cost and weight issues".

Ms Lynch added: "We need to look at what teaching and learning is looking like in the classroom, and what do we want it to look like.

Committee chair, Fine Gael TD Jim Daily, said that what prompted him to look at this issue was developments in Estonia, which was now looking at introducing legislation in this area.

Mr Daly noted that there were Department of Education circulars on the issue, but expressed concern that these were advisory. Another Fine Gael TD, Lisa Chambers supported the idea of legislation.

Dr Sara Dockrell of Trinity College Dublin, who has carried out research in this area, felt there was no need for "heavy-handed" legislation. She said people responded much better to a health promotion approach, when they understood what they needed to do.

She agreed with Ms Chambers that there was research showing that the weight of a bag should be no more than 10pc of a childs weight, but there was the same amount of research showing that this need not be the case.

"It is a difficult one to call" she said, adding: "It is not to say that we should expect children to carry excessively heavy loads, but carrying weight on their back is not necessarily a problem."

Dr Dockrell said that people argued that a heavy schoolbag caused children to bend forward, but we all bend forward when we sit.

Paul Beddy, a director of the National Parents Council Post Primary (NPC Post Primary) said it there was a need for all the stakeholders involved, including publishers and the Department of Education, to discuss the issue.

He said it was 18 years since a working group report on the matter was published and we could say we are not seeing much by way of progress. He thought that could be done against the backdrop of a threat of legislation.
Growing up in Lucan, Co Dublin, beside Weston Airport, was where my interest in aviation was first sparked. Every day, light aircraft would fly overhead.

I received my first flying lesson aged 13 and that sealed the deal! I began to research a possible career in aviation, only to find out that the cost of training to become an airline pilot was 100,000.

I didn't have access to this kind of money and so I began to put a plan into action.

What subjects could I pick for my Leaving Certificate that might help? Physics, maths and engineering kept popping up. There was just one problem: in my opinion, I was only average at all of these subjects - an excuse widely used by the younger generation today ("I'm rubbish at maths", etc), who often accept it instead of asking for help.

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Whatsapp Aer Lingus pilots Sonya Bisset and Lisa Cusack

I asked for, and received, extra tuition in both physics and maths. The additional support made me realise that I actually wasn't as bad as I thought; I just needed to put in a little extra work.

I set a goal to be an airline pilot by the time I was 30. I chose to study applied physics in DCU in the hope that it would benefit me one day. In first year, I found myself immediately out of my depth but I didn't let this deter me and instead chose to focus on my goal and to get a little help.

After a fantastic six-month work placement in Air Traffic Control in third year, I was gifted 10 flying lessons, one of many acts of kindness I experienced throughout my journey.

I returned to DCU to complete my final year and was thrilled to graduate with an honours degree.

I headed straight back to Dublin Airport and got a job working as a flight dispatcher for Sky Handling Partner, where I remained for seven years. I gained invaluable experience, including learning how to marshal aircraft and drive the pushback tugs.

I managed to save 20,000 and thought this might just be enough to secure a 100,000 loan. It wasn't. I continued to save and returned to the bank manager a year later with 30,000: "I'd like to borrow 100,000 to be a pilot please!" The recession was in full swing and I was refused. Disappointed, but not disheartened, I kept going.

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Whatsapp Baking cupcakes helped Lisa realise her dream of becoming a pilot

Fast-forward to 2011, Aer Lingus advertised its cadetship programme for the first time in 10 years. I could not believe it. I applied and was sent a series of 10 aptitude tests online.

Two weeks later, I received an email: "Dear Lisa, thank you for your application. Unfortunately, on this occasion, you have not been successful." Heartbroken, I drove straight to the nearest bookshop and bought five aptitude-test books, and I did one every day until it would be advertised again.

The hardest part was returning to work in an aviation environment and everybody asking me, "Oh, did you not apply for that Aer Lingus cadetship?"

"I did... I wasn't good enough." That's what I said, and that's how I felt.

Then, one day, a colleague put me on to the phone to his wife.

Unbeknownst to me, this was Captain Sonya Bissett - an Aer Lingus pilot. Sonya's kind words convinced me that I absolutely had what it took to be an Aer Lingus cadet and not to give up. Sonya was, and still is, a huge role model for me.

To increase my savings, I became a qualified personal trainer and earned a small amount of extra cash in my spare time.

Then, spotting a small gap in the market, I flew to London to do a one-day course in baking and decorating cupcakes. Back home that night, I set up my cupcake business.

I originally sold them to family and friends, then expanded to Dublin Airport.

The business exploded. I was working 20 hours a day between the airport and baking, and before I knew it, I had baked and sold more than 10,000 cupcakes in one year.

This is when I made a decision. I was going to take the first steps towards gaining my private pilot's licence and so I booked my ticket to America. One month later, Aer Lingus again advertised the cadetship. I applied, but this time with a different attitude. It was okay if I was unsuccessful as, either way, I was going to do it.

With a lot more preparation this time, I passed the aptitude tests and was invited to a group interview.

A few months later, I still hadn't heard back but was not dismayed as I set off to begin my training.

Again, I was faced with many challenges. After 10 hours' flying with an instructor, I was sent solo. Taking a light aircraft to the skies on your own for the first time is a feeling I will never forget. The next day, on my second ever solo flight, I took off and, at about 800ft, silence... My engine had failed.

I looked down and, with nothing but houses all around me, I decided that this was it. I was going to die (dramatic, I know). I made a mayday call (my dad still has the recording) and, from a split-second decision, I turned back and glided on to the nearest available runway.

I was met by three fire engines and the entire school. I got out of the plane, walked to my room and locked my door for two days.

This was all I had ever wanted to do and now I was questioning all of it.

When I finally resurfaced, I was greeted with a trail of shamrocks on the floor: all the way to the front door there was a sign that read: "One day you will be an 'Air Lingus' captain" ('Air', as my Alabama housemate had never heard of Aer Lingus). He was right, though. Just a minor setback and I certainly learned from it. I left Florida six weeks later with my private pilot's licence in my hand, fully funded by 10,000 cupcakes.

I landed in Dublin to be greeted with the news that I had been selected as the only female, and Irish person, to win a scholarship worth 4,000 to complete the next stage of my training, with Bristol Groundschool.

Suddenly, when I began to believe I could achieve it, everything started happening.

This is a lesson I still reflect on to this day with any challenges that I face.

Less than one month later, I got a phone call. It was Aer Lingus inviting me to the next round of interviewing. As I burst in the door to tell my parents, my mam had to sit down before she passed out.

With over 3,000 applicants and only 18 lucky spots, I tried not to get my hopes up. I spent the next week preparing, with super help from my dad and brothers, who built a mini jet-engine model to explain in depth its working principles.

I was greeted in the interview by two Aer Lingus captains and was super-excited to tell them about my private licence, while the horrendous engine failure certainly made for great conversation. As they looked through my CV, they mentioned that they were impressed with my degree in physics. At last, it had all been worth it.

Next, a meeting with a psychologist, followed by a medical. I was so close now. Finally, December 9, 2013 - it's 5.30pm on a Friday evening, it's lashing rain and I'm driving on the M50 in rush-hour traffic: "Hi, Lisa, Captain John Kelly speaking... You're not driving, are you?"

"Absolutely not, John," I said, as I swerved into the hard shoulder.

"Great. Well, I just wanted to be the first to congratulate you and say...WELCOME TO AER LINGUS."

It was, and still remains, the best day of my life. To date.

Having completed all the training, I'm now thrilled to be working in my dream job as an Aer Lingus pilot.

My family and friends lined the runway to cheer me on for my first landing into Dublin, just two days before my 31st birthday.

I'd made my goal by the skin of my teeth.

Little did I know that less than three years after joining, I would be sharing the flight deck with Captain Sonya Bissett - on our first flight together to Vienna.

Was it all worth it? Absolutely. Were there days when I wanted to give up? Definitely.

It doesn't matter where you come from, your upbringing, how much money you have or haven't got, how smart you think you are, or aren't.

If you are willing to work hard, believe in yourself and never give up...you can absolutely be anything you want to be.

Lisa told her story at the Student Life Summit, held recently in Croke Park
Mr Bruton recently announced plans to limit or remove the role religion plays in the school admission process. Photo: Tom Burke

Education Minister Richard Bruton has opened a four-week public consultation process on the so-called 'baptism barrier' to entry to church-controlled schools.

Mr Bruton recently announced plans to limit or remove the role religion plays in the school admission process, and put forward four possible approaches.

The consultation paper, published on the Department of Education website, highlighted the associated challenges with each option.

One suggestion is catchment areas, which would prohibit religious-run schools from giving preference to children of their own religion, who live outside the area, ahead of children of a different, or no, religion, living inside the catchment.

Read more: Analysis - Bruton is facing a baptism of parental ire over the Catholic school enrolment policies

The paper cautions that methods would be needed to ensure schools did not draw catchment areas artificially large and to avoid catchments for two schools of the same religion from overlapping.

The 'nearest school' option would allow a school to give preference only where it was the child's nearest school of that religion. This would require detailed calculations about distance, such as whether the front or back door of a child's home is the starting point.

A quota system would allow a school to give priority in respect of a certain proportion of places - careful design would be needed to avoid a situation where children of the school's religion, who lived quite a distance away, were given preference.

The fourth option is an outright prohibition on the use of religion as an admission criterion. This includes three sub-options, including asking parents or students to sign a declaration they would support the school's ethos.

The closing date for submissions, from groups that stand to be affected and members of the public, is February 20.
The daughter of tragic Martin Finn has paid tribute to her "hero" father who died saving her life in a road accident.

Martin (60) died after he was struck by an SUV while walking along the Newcastle Road, west Dublin, last week.

He was returning from feeding horses with his daughter Abbie (18) when they were both struck from behind. They had been walking back to meet Martin's wife Carol, who was parked nearby when the tragedy struck.

Martin pushed Abbie to one side and took the impact of the collision last Tuesday.

Abbie was seriously injured, but Martin, from Gurteen Avenue in Ballyfermot, died shortly afterwards.

Abbie was brought to attend her father's funeral at St Matthew's Church in Ballyfermot in an ambulance to join her mother, family and friends to bid goodbye to her dad, known to most as 'Whacker'. The teenager, whose head was braced by metal rods attached to a collar on her shoulders to prevent damage to her spinal cord, made her way to the altar at the invitation of Fr Joe McDonald.

"I'm only here because of them, and because of my dad, my hero, whose last gift to me was to save my life," she said.

"My dad was my best friend. We had a special bond like no other. I would also like to thank my mother, who has always been my rock throughout my whole life."

Abbie also had a special message for the driver involved in the accident.

Read more: 'We want him to know that it was an accident' - Family of fatal accident dad to driver of SUV

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Whatsapp The remains of Martin Finn leave St. Matthew's Church following his funeral in Cherry Orchard, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

"We would like you to know we are praying for you and your family. We wish we could ease your pain," she said. "We do not want my dad's legacy to be your suffering, as that is the last thing he would want."

She also thanked the fire crews, and paramedics, as well as the doctor, nurses and surgeons of Tallaght and the Mater Hospital, who worked to try to save her dad's life and have been providing her with medical treatment.

Abbie also thanked her baby son Arthur, who was born on November 1, saying he would be of comfort to her throughout this time.

There were fond memories of horse-lover Martin, too, and his sense of humour, even when he saw the funny side after a stallion once bolted while he had his hand wrapped with the rope securing him, and Martin got dragged through horse dung and nettles.

"My dad loved horses just as much as I do. He left me his legacy of his love for animals which I, in turn, will pass on to baby Arthur. My dad might have been just one man in the world to everyone, but to me he was my world, my best friend, my hero, all in one. I promise to live a great life, full of the fullest potential, for him," Abbie said, to applause from the mourners.

Fr McDonald told the mourners that Martin's death and funeral were an "unspeakably sad, and tragic occasion, when we bring the heartache of his passing to the altar".

He praised Abbie for her strength and courage in speaking, considering her grief and the extent of her own injuries.

"It was extraordinarily brave what Abbie did at the start of the Mass. She really wanted to do that. Abbie used the word 'legacy', and no doubt when Arthur is growing up, we'll see that in his genes and he'll hear about his granddad, who loved dogs and loved horses," he said.

Following the Mass, Martin's remains were brought to Newlands Cross cemetery for burial.
Hundreds of Irish people will celebrate Australian citizenship during an official ceremony on Thursday.

January 26 is 'Australia Day', where many Irish expats will become an Australian citizen.

Edwina Shanahan, migration expert with VisaFirst.com, said that once the person's application to become an Australian citizen has been approved they will be attend a ceremony where they take the Australian Citizenship pledge.

Irish workers typically enter Australia on a temporary or permanent resident visa but they need to be living in Australia on a valid visa before being eligible to apply for citizenship.

This must include 12 months as a permanent resident visa holder and they must not have been absent from Australia for more than one year in total in the four year period before applying, and no more than 90 days absent from Oz in the year before applying.

Recently Australia called for more Irish expats as applications for its Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visa programme has tanked in recent years.

The programme aims to inspire potential travellers to turn the dream of an Aussie lifestyle into reality.
Owen OCallaghan will be laid to rest after a Mass today. Photo: Tom Burke

Hundreds last night paid tribute to property developer Owen O'Callaghan (76), who died after a short illness.

The Cork businessman, who took ill over Christmas and died on Monday, ranked as one of the most influential Irish developers of the past 40 years. His firm, O'Callaghan Properties, was responsible for many major residential and shopping developments in Cork, Dublin and Limerick since the late 1970s.

Amongst the projects he helped mastermind was Liffey Valley in Dublin, Arthur's Quay in Limerick, as well as Douglas, Merchants Quay, Paul Street, North Main Street, Opera Lane and Mahon Point retail developments in Cork.

Major housing estates across Ireland were also built by O'Callaghan Properties.

He also became a central figure in the Mahon Tribunal because of his involvement in the Liffey Valley project in Dublin and disputed allegations levelled by rival developer, Tom Gilmartin.

Mr O'Callaghan was last night removed from O'Connor Brothers funeral home at Temple Hill to St Patrick's Church in Rochestown, just a short distance from his long-time Cork home.

He will be buried after 1pm Requiem Mass today.

The mourners were led last night by his wife, Shelagh, children Brian and Zelda, and grandchildren Isobel, Robbie and Harry.

Mr O'Callaghan is also survived by his brother, Jack, and sister, Gene.

The founder of construction giants O'Callaghan Properties was predeceased by his youngest daughter, Hazel.

The 22-year-old died in a freak accident in 2002 when she suffered head injuries after falling backwards from a ramp while loading a horse box.

Amongst the large attendance at Mr O'Callaghan's removal last night were officials from across the worlds of business, arts, charity, politics and construction.

They included Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, former education minister Batt O'Keeffe, Opposition health spokesman Billy Kelleher and former minister Dan Wallace, as well as members of Cork city and county councils.

Almost a dozen former Lord Mayors of Cork were present.

Business leaders attending included Cork Chamber of Commerce officials Roger Flack and Barrie O'Connell and Cork Business Association officials Lawrence Owens and Pat O'Connell.

Cork developer Michael O'Flynn was also there.

Tributes to Mr O'Callaghan were further paid by the Construction Industry Federation.

Several tributes stressed that the lifetime work of Mr O'Callaghan had helped transform the face of modern Irish cities.
The interior of the Stardust which went on fire on the morning of the St. Valentines Day 1981, killing 45 young people. Photo Independent Newspapers

Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance have resolved the political row over the Stardust tragedy.

Alliance minister Finian McGrath has agreed to a Government proposal that will appoint an independent person to examine new evidence uncovered by the victims families.

The counter motion - tabled on the back of a motion by Independents4Change TD Tommy Broughan - is expected to to be passed tomorrow.

The counter motion also calls on the Government to meet the victims families and it commits to setting up a commission of investigation after the scoping inquiry, if called for.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has indicated a willingness by the Government to set up a commission.

Mr Kenny told the Dail that new evidence being put forward by the victims families should be examined first.

Fine Gael has so far resisted such calls - but Independent Alliance minister Finian McGrath is backing the families demands.

Speaking during Leaders Questions on Wednesday, Mr Kenny expressed deep sympathies with the families of the 48 people who lost their lives in the 1981 fire at the Artane nightclub.

Nothing we say or do can bring back those loved-ones, Mr Kenny said.

Those of us who can remember that tragedy on that particular weekend can never forget it, he added.

Responding to questions from Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams, Mr Kenny indicated that the Government is willing to set up a commission of investigation.

There is no disregard to a principle for having a commission of investigation, he said.
The adult channel at the centre of a row with residents in Westport, Co Mayo has invited Regional Development Minister Michael Ring to meet them when they travel to his constituency tomorrow.

Babestation representatives and three of stations models will travel to Westport tomorrow to apologise to residents who have inadvertently been receiving calls from users of their adult chatline.

The station decided to travel to Westport to meet residents after the Sunday Independent revealed Mr Ring had contacted broadcast regulators and gardai about constituents receiving calls from people believing they were calling an x-rated phone service.

When callers to the UK based chatline do not included an international dial code they get put through to residents in Mayo.

Read More

Today, Babestation released a second statement inviting Mr Ring to meet them and announcing the names of the models who will also travel to Mayo to meet locals.

Babestation have formally invited Minister Michael Ring to meet representatives in Westport, but he has declined the invitation. Given that this problem was brought to the attention of Babestation in the public domain, they would like to rectify the issue in kind, it said.

The visit signals both an opportunity for residents, and the media, to liaise with Babestation, as well as providing a platform to make clear the changes that are set to be made in order to ensure such an issue doesn't arise again.

Three models (Vicky Narni, Priya Young and Alexa Brooke) will attend alongside Babestation colleagues; with the sole intention of achieving the above. They are set to arrive into Westport at around 2pm and will make arrangements to speak to those that wish from then onwards, it added.

Mr Ring said he would not meet the station and said they were making fools out of his constituents and the media.
Emergency Services at the scene of the accident in Glasnevin

A woman in her 50s was taken to the Mater Hospital in Dublin after her bike collided with a truck.

The accident happened shortly before 8.30am on Wednesday on the Finglas Road near Glasnevin Cemetary.

Very bad accident outside Glasnevin cemetery! Heads up to anyone heading in either direction on the Finglas road @aaroadwatch #dublin  Niamh Garrahan (@niamhgarrahan1) January 25, 2017

Dublin Traffic - Delays on the Finglas Road at Glasnevin Cemetery due to a collision.  An Garda Siochana (@GardaTraffic) January 25, 2017

Her injuries have been described as not life threatening.

A garda spokesperson said no arrests have been made.

Meanwhile, there were reports of a ladder on the M50 southbound after the J15/Kilternan exit this morning.

It has since been removed.

There was also a crash on the M50 southbound between the Blanchardstown and Lucan exits, which has now been cleared.
What could you buy if you woke up 88m richer with the winning EuroMillons ticket?

The answer? Lots of things!

Here are some potential investments you could make:

1. Your very own castle

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Glin Castle in Co Limerick Photo: Sherry Fitzgerald The luxury home on Mermaid Isle Photo: PrivateIslandsOnline.com / Facebook

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With 88m behind you, living life like a lord or lady is perfectly realistic.

Glin Castle in Co Limerick could be yours for just a mere 6.5m.

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Only an hour's drive from Limerick city and Shannon Airport, this 13th century castle boasts a 380 acre estate overlooking the Shannon estuary.

Sure why not.

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2. An island

Nothing like the privacy of your very own island.

Mermaid Isle in Kenmare Bay, Co Kerry could be yours for just under 3m.

It also comes with a luxury onshore six-bed home. Bargain.

3. Copper Face Jacks

While there is no valuation currently available for Copper Face Jacks, surely you could get yourself a nice share in Ireland's most popular nightclub with 88m.

You'd get a sold return on all that hard-earned money you spent on shots over the years.

4. A new set of wheels

Wave goodbye to that Nissan Micra which had you breaking out in a rash before the NCT.

Say hello to your new 250,000-valued Ferrari 458.

However, if you're planning on keeping your lotto win a secret, probably not the most modest purchase to make...

5. The Bord Gais Theatre

Valued at 20m, you'd never have to buy a ticket for any event again.
Jeremy Corbyn (C) speaks during the weekly Prime Minister's Questions session in the House of Commons in central London. Photo: /AFP/Getty Images

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been told to apologise after he wrongly told the House of Commons that the PSNI officer shot in north Belfast had died.

The shooting happened at Edenderry filling station on the Crumlin Road at around 7.30pm on Sunday. The community officer was hit three times in the right arm after up to 10 shots were fired.

He remains in a stable condition in hospital.

During Prime Minister's Question Time, Prime Minister Theresa May, opened the weekly session by saying her thoughts were with the family and friends of the officer.

She said: "The PSNI does a superb job in keeping us safe and secure and they have our fullest support."

The opposition leader joined the Prime Minister in commenting on the incident, but wrongly stated that the officer had died.

Mr Corbyn said: "I join the Prime Minister in expressing condolences, I'm sure of the whole House, to the family of the police officer who lost his life over the weekend in Northern Ireland."

Following the gaffe the DUP's Ian Paisley said it was "not, thankfully, the case" that the policeman had died in the shooting .

He added: "For the family and for police officers generally, could we have that corrected by the frontbench spokesman as urgently as possible so as the record does not contain the spurious fact that a police officer was murdered in Belfast."

Commons Speaker John Bercow said there was "no need for any further correction".

Jeremy Corbyn makes huge mistake at PMQ by saying that a police officer lost his life in NI at the weekend. Very poor knowledge or briefing  Tom Elliott (@telliott_UUP) January 25, 2017

"It was an error. I recognise what he said about how upsetting that will have been, but it was a mistake. It has subsequently been corrected."

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI) which represents rank and file officers, has called on the Labour leader to apologise.

PFNI Chairman, Mark Lindsay, said: Frankly, Im appalled that the Leader of Her Majestys Opposition should get this so badly wrong on the floor of the House of Commons.

It was a jaw-dropping gaffe and he should immediately apologise to the Officer and his family.

Mr Corbyn was either poorly briefed by his staff or hes that much out of touch with what is happening. Either way, its a shocking error to make and needs to be corrected.

Our colleague is recovering after the ambush on the Crumlin Road. We welcome the expression of good wishes from the Prime Minister, which preceded Mr Corbyns contribution, and which more accurately reflected the mood of the House.

We have excellent working relationships with a number of MPs and I know they will be appalled and embarrassed by Mr Corbyns comment.

DUP MP Nigel Dodds called it "one of the worst displays of crass ignorance that could be imagined".

"The idea that someone who sees himself as an alternative Prime Minister could be so out of touch to make such a basic and hurtful error is almost unbelievable.

A spokesman for the Labour leader later said: "He meant to say 'nearly died'. Obviously, the last thing that was intended was any offence."
A man in his 50s has been arrested after criminal damage to the grave of Eamon de Valera was discovered.

Gardai are investigating the damage to the grave of the former president and taoiseach at Glasnevin Cemetery in north Dublin.

The man was arrested at around 3.30pm on Wednesday afternoon and taken to Mountjoy Garda Station for questioning.

A garda spokesperson told independent.ie that the gravestone was vandalised with graffiti and some damage was caused to the headstone.

The man will appear at Court 1 at 10am on Thursday morning at the Criminal Courts of Justice.

The headstone of WT Cosgrave, the first leader of the Irish Free State, was smashed by vandals last March.

The grave of WT Cosgrave, the father of former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, was amongst 13 damaged at Goldenbridge in Inchicore.
Gardai have arrested over 50 and seized a quantity of drugs and diesel as part of a major crime clampdown.

Operation Thor-Project Storm took place in the Kilkenny area over the past three days, a garda spokesperson has confirmed.

A total of 51 people were arrested during 19 planned searches over the past three days.

Fifteen of those arrested were detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at various Garda Stations in the Kilkenny/Carlow Division

According to a garda spokesman seven were charged in connection with assault, misuse of drugs, theft and fraud investigations. They are all due to appear before Kilkenny District Court at later dates.

A total of 35 people were arrested for court related offences. One person was arrested for the purpose of charge and appeared before Kilkenny District Court on Tuesday.

Heroin worth 1,200, cannabis herb with a value of 2,500 and 3,000 of diesel was seized.

"The planned searches were undertaken and coordinated by Garda search teams at a number of locations in the Kilkenny District. Quantities of heroin and cannabis herb were seized along with diesel, power tools and gas cylinders," a spokesperson confirmed.

As part of the operation Gardai conducted a total of 28 checkpoints. Crime Prevention leaflets were also handed out to members of the public to increase the awareness of protection of personal property and possessions.

The statement concluded: "Operation ThorProject Storm constitutes a high visibility targeted tactical deployment of operational resources in the Kilkenny-Carlow Division. The operation is designed to prevent crime, disrupt criminal activity, apprehend criminals wanted on warrant and enhance public relations."
Police at the scene of the death. (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Police are investigating the sudden death of a man in Belfast.

The man, thought to be aged in his 20s, was found dead in a property off the Antrim Road in the north of the city on Tuesday morning.

A police spokesman said: "Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the sudden death of a man, aged in his 20s, whose body was discovered in a house on the Antrim Road in north Belfast shortly after 11.30am.

"A post mortem examination will take place to determine the cause of death.

"A 37-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of a number of drugs offences and remains in police custody at this time."
A young boy who failed to turn up for school this morning has been found.

Greenlanes National School in Clontarf issued the appeal on Facebook and on its website after the young boy was reported missing earlier today.

The school has since released a statement saying the young boy had been found safe and well.
Dublin Bus Euromillions winners arrive at the National Lottery office following their win in July. Photo: Mark Condren

As the search begins for the tenth Irish person to scoop a EuroMillions jackpot, Independent.ie looks back at the previous winners and how they spent their millions.

Understandably, a lot of the winners chose to remain anonymous.

EuroMillions was launched in 2004 and the following year Ireland had it's first and biggest winner to date.

Limerick woman Dolores McNamara picked up a cheque for over 115 million.

Expand Close It could be you: Dolores McNamara from Limerick toasts her 115m win in the EuroMillions draw in 2005. Photo: David Conachy / Facebook

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Whatsapp It could be you: Dolores McNamara from Limerick toasts her 115m win in the EuroMillions draw in 2005. Photo: David Conachy

Her win made her the 58th richest person in Ireland at the time, richer than Van Morrison, Enya and the creators of Riverdance.

Since the win, Dolores spent 3.5 million on Lough Derg Hall in Clare along with houses for her six children.

A lucky couple won a 15 million jackpot in July 2008, followed by a family syndicate who took home 29.4 million in June 2009. Both groups remained anonymous.

A ticket sold in Beaumont split the prize with a winner from Belgium in June 2013, with each ticket winning almost 94 million. The winner stayed anonymous but said in a statement that they were excited about the new opportunities open to them.

An Irish man from the Southeast split a 25.6 million jackpot in September 2013  by accident.

The anonymous winner admitted after his win that he had marked the number 32 by mistake and said "I wouldnt mind making a few more of those mistakes".

A family who wished to stay anonymous picked up 15 million in April 2014 in Castlebar.

They had been playing for a number of years and said the result was "overwhelming".

Taoiseach Enda Kenny called into Stauntons Costcutter on Main Street to say congratulations to the shop that sold the ticket.

A syndicate from Dublin took home 86.7 million with a ticket sold in Ballybrack in September 2014. The shop owner told media at the time that he knew the winners, but he never gave up their identities.

A group of friends split the jackpot and picked up 66 million in January 2016 from a ticket sold in the Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow.

And finally, a syndicate of 22 Dublin Bus drivers won a 23.8 million jackpot this July.

They arrived in a double decker to collect their cheques and said they would all be back in work the next day despite picking up a cool million each.

Craig Shearer, one of the lucky winners, said winning the lotto after beating leukemia was like winning twice.

"This is like a second win for me. I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia two years ago. And I want to thank Dr Michael Fay in the Mater Hospital in the haematology ward and his team, without whom I would not be here today doing this.
Fine Gael General Secretary Tom Curran has told his TDs and senators that the recent controversy surrounding election donations proved embarrassing for the party.

Without singling out at member by name, Mr Curran told a Fine Gael meeting on Wednesday that such controversies must not dog the party again in the future.

Earlier this month, it emerged the party's deputy leader James Reilly is among 66 general election candidates to be referred to the gardai by the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO).

Dr Reilly, the former Health and Childrens Minister, accepted a 1,000 cash donation but failed to properly file returns.

I apologise. It is nobody elses fault but myself, Dr Reilly said earlier this month.

I put my hands up. I forgot to give a receipt, he added.

The senator was not present at the meeting of the parliamentary in Leinster House when the issue was raised.

Mr Curran also revealed that the membership fee for Fine Gael is increasing from 15-20. He said this is not a reflection on the party being in a poor state financially.

He also revealed that Fine Gael is axing a special rate for the unwaged, who previously secured a discounted membership.

TDs and senators were also told that they avail of special slide up advertisements promoting themselves at party events at a cost of 90 each.

During the meeting, Fine Gael senator Neale Richmond criticised the delay it has taken to appoint a number of figures to party positions.

Later on during the meeting, the issue of speaking time for backbenchers was raised.

Wexford deputy Michael DArcy said backbenchers are not afforded enough opportunities - however Chief Whip Regina Doherty claimed that the time is available but TDs are not using it.

The Taoiseach spoke for a number of minutes about the issues of Brexit and Rural Ireland.
The payments were approved by ministers after Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe brought the order on the additional salaried allowances to Cabinet. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

The Government has approved salary top-ups for politicians totalling around 2.2m over a full five-year Dail term.

The sum includes more than 1m for the chairpersons of Oireachtas committees and 543,000 for TDs who serve as party whips or assistant whips.

Two Government members who attend Cabinet - Disabilities Minister Finian McGrath and Defence Minister Paul Kehoe - are entitled to 15,829 per year each. That's in addition to their junior minister-level salaries of 121,639. A payment of 15,829 is also available to Government chief whip Regina Doherty. Some changes to the system of payments reflect the different make-up of the Dail after last year's election.

The allowances are on top of a TD's basic salary of 87,258. That salary is set to increase by 2,700 this year, amid wider pay rises in the public sector.

A small number of TDs have said they won't take the pay hike while ministers' salaries have been frozen.

Among the payments approved last night is 5,520 for the whips of the Social Democrats, the Green Party and Independents4Change. These three groups weren't catered for under the system in place during the last Dail. The Fianna Fail whip, Michael Moynihan, can draw down a payment of 17,480. That is unchanged from the figure previously on offer to his party's whip.

The sum available to Sinn Fein whip Aengus O Snodaigh is 9,200, up from 5,520 previously listed for his party when it had fewer TDs. Sinn Fein says its TDs "take an average wage" and use the balance for constituency services. The whip's allowance is used for expenses relating to the role, a spokesman said.

The 8,740 on offer to committee chairpersons remains unchanged from the last Dail. There are currently 25 committees with chairpersons entitled to a payment.

Senators that hold leadership positions or serve as whips are entitled to payments of more than 160,000 over five years.

The payments were approved by ministers after Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe brought the order on the additional salaried allowances to Cabinet.

A Department for Public Expenditure spokesperson said it was standard procedure for the system of allowances to be considered to reflect the changes in the make-up of the Dail and Seanad after an election. "Certain rates have been revised to better reflect current party numbers," she said. "New parties are also now represented in the Dail, which must be accounted for."

She pointed out that other rates - including payments for junior ministers that attend Cabinet - remained unchanged. TDs and senators can only claim one payment, so a party whip that also serves as a committee chairperson can only claim one of the allowances. The salaried allowances are subject to all taxes, PRSI and pension deductions.

An Oireachtas spokesperson said the sums set out by the department were linked to the various roles listed and weren't necessarily drawn down by the individual TDs or senators.
The school bus drivers pay claim may pose another major problem for the company. (Photo by: Photofusion/UIG via Getty Images)

Unions at Bus Eireann will demand a 21pc pay rise for 400 school bus drivers at talks this morning.

Siptu and the Nbru are due to attend the Workplace Relations Commission on behalf of the drivers, whose wages are funded by the Department of Education. It is unclear how the company will deal with the claim after ruling out the same pay rise for other staff.

However, unions will argue that the school bus drivers' wages are fully funded and it is understood that they are not included in a drastic cost-cutting plan that unions estimate will reduce earnings for other workers by up to 30pc.

The school bus drivers' pay claim may pose another major problem for the company after its strategy of seeking a Labour Court intervention in a dispute with unions over cuts that are part of its survival plan was ruled out last night.

The threat of industrial action is looming larger as the company faces the possibility of insolvency by the middle of next year, with the loss of 2,600 jobs.

Read more: Bus Eireann: 'Management behaviour putting future of company at risk'

Leaving a meeting at the court, unions said the court confirmed it would not reinvigorate a process that begun last month after unions lodged a claim for a pay rise. They said the court has no role in the current dispute over cuts as talks had not been held at the Workplace Relations Commission, which would be normal procedure.

Accused

They accused the company of trying to circumvent normal industrial relations practice by going directly to the court in a bid to fast-track its cost-cutting plan. The Nbru and Siptu said they will not engage in talks until the company withdraws its cost-cutting plan. Unions have threatened an all-out strike if management imposes the cuts.

Earlier yesterday, Bus Eireann said it would ask the court to intervene after unions refused to attend talks on the cuts, which include reductions in premium payments and allowances. It said it was a "very regrettable situation" that unions had not turned up for a meeting they were invited to at Broadstone in Dublin.

Acting chief executive Ray Hernan recently revealed that cuts would include the axing of shift payments, reductions in Sunday premiums, and cuts in allowances.

Redundancies are also expected and the company has not ruled out compulsory job losses.

Mr Hernan has said that management and support grades will be "streamlined" and clerical staff are overpaid.

Read more: Shane Ross under fire for 'not reading report' on cuts to Bus Eireann

The company said the court had accepted it could not deal with a pay claim last month until it had produced a more detailed plan. It said it had now given these details to unions in an attempt to deal with the wage claim in the context of the "urgent financial crisis" it faces.

Mr Hernan is expected to tell a Dail committee today that all 2,600 jobs are at risk because the company faces insolvency in 18 months.
The terrifying moment a car is recklessly driven around a Dublin street before it is driven into the water has been captured on film.

The vehicle was reported stolen on Monday night and was seen driving dangerously in the Spencer Dock area shortly before 11pm that night.

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A joyrider can be seen speeding and pulling dangerous handbrake turns in late night traffic on Sheriff Street in the north inner city, narrowly avoiding pedestrians and other cars.

In one heart-stopping moment the car can be seen driving in the wrong direction down the main road, causing other drivers to jam on their brakes.

In another the car drifts through a junction.

After terrorising drivers in the area the driver of the car has a narrow escape when the car crashes into Spencer Dock.

Grainy footage captured by a shocked onlooker shows the driver jumping out of the car moments before it goes over the wall.

A garda spokeswoman confirmed that the matter had been reported to them.

No arrests were made and there were no reports of injuries, but the car was reported stolen and the matter is under investigation, she said.

However, the car remained in the water today with the driver and passenger doors open.

Tyre marks could be seen on the grass and the roadway where the car had been raced before it was driven into the Royal Canal in the north inner city.

A spokesperson for Dublin City Council  who would be responsible for removing the car from the canal  was unavailable for comment.

Locals told the Herald that another car had been joyriding in the area last week, but that it wasnt a significant problem in the area.

The shocking video has made headlines around the world, and has been picked up by the New York Post.
Deputy Michael McGrath (right) at the funeral mass of developer Owen O'Callaghan in St. Patricks Church, Rochestown, Cork. Photo:Mark Condren

Flowers at the funeral mass of developer Owen O'Callaghan in St. Patricks Church, Rochestown, Cork. Photo:Mark Condren

Noel C. Duggan at the funeral mass of developer Owen O'Callaghan in St. Patricks Church, Rochestown, Cork. Photo:Mark Condren

Michael O'Flynn at the funeral mass of developer Owen O'Callaghan in St. Patricks Church, Rochestown, Cork. Photo:Mark Condren

Brian O'Callaghan is consoled after the funeral mass of his father Owen O'Callaghan in St. Patricks Church, Rochestown, Cork. Photo: Mark Condren

Michael O'Flynn at the funeral mass of developer Owen O'Callaghan in St. Patricks Church, Rochestown, Cork. Photo:Mark Condren

Frank Dunlop at the funeral mass of developer Owen O'Callaghan in St. Patricks Church, Rochestown, Cork. Photo:Mark Condren

Shelagh O'Callaghan with her children Brian and Zelda after the funeral mass of her husband Owen O'Callaghan in St. Patricks Church, Rochestown, Cork. Photo:Mark Condren

Shelagh O'Callaghan with her children Brian and Zelda behind the coffin of her husband Owen O'Callaghan after his funeral mass in St. Patricks Church, Rochestown, Cork. Photo:Mark Condren

Developer Owen O'Callaghan was hailed as an inspirational businessman whose loss had robbed Ireland and his native Cork of "a national treasure."

Mr O'Callaghan (76) was described at his Requiem Mass by Fr Pat O'Mahony as "a man of huge integrity."

"He was a man of his word - a family man.

"While the papers were saying we have lost a national treasure and Cork city has lost a champion and a great Cork treasure, it is his family who have lost the treasure that Owen O'Callaghan was," Fr O'Mahony said.

"What a treasure - what a giant he was. He was a big man with a huge heart. He was a man who gave and nurtured so many things in the city and so many organisations - so many charitable organisations. Books could be written about him.

"But he always did his stuff, as Owen would do, very discreetly and very quietly. Owen was a friend to so many.

"He was a very big (figure), a well-known national and international figure, (but) he was also a private man.

"One of the articles in the newspapers over the past few days said Owen O'Callaghan's great legacy can be seen in the buildings around Ireland and in the buildings around Cork.

"That is so very true."

The tribute came as hundreds attended the Requiem Mass in Cork of the father-of-three who died last Monday after falling ill on Christmas Day.

A native of Ballincollig, Mr O'Callaghan settled in Rochestown with his Requiem Mass taking place in St Patrick's Church, not far from his long-time home.

The mourners were led by his wife, Shelagh, children, Brian and Zelda, and grandchildren, Isobel, Robbie and Harry.

Mr O'Callaghan is also survived by his brother, Jack, and sister, Gene.

The founder of construction giants, O'Callaghan Properties, he was predeceased by his youngest daughter, Hazel.

The 22-year-old died in a freak equestrian accident in 2002 when she suffered fatal head injuries after falling backwards from a ramp while loading a horse box.

Yesterday's funeral proved a who's who of the worlds of politics, business and the arts in Ireland.

Amongst the mourners in Rochestown yesterday was former Government press secretary and lobbyist, Frank Dunlop.

Mr Dunlop, like Mr O'Callaghan, was a key figure at the Mahon Tribunal hearings.

Also present was Opposition finance spokesman Michael McGrath, developers Michael O'Flynn, Theo Cullinane and Tom Coughlan, Cork Chamber of Commerce officials Conor Healy, Roger Flack and Robin O'Sullivan, Millstreet businessman Noel C Duggan, Cork Airport director Niall McCarthy, rugby official Tom Kiernan, Lord Mayor of Cork Councillor Des Cahill and the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, Dr Paul Colton.

Apologies were sent by the Bishop of Cork & Ross, Dr John Buckley, who is currently in Rome.

Mr O'Callaghan ranked as one of the most influential developers in Ireland over the past 40 years.

His firm was responsible for major residential and shopping developments in Cork, Dublin and Limerick since the late 1970s.

Amongst the projects he helped mastermind was Liffey Valley in Dublin, Arthur's Quay in Limerick as well as Douglas, Merchant's Quay, Paul Street, North Main Street, Opera Lane and MahonPoint retail developments in Cork.

Major housing estates across Ireland were also built by O'Callaghan Properties.

His firm is currently completing a 90m office complex in Cork, Navigation Square, the largest ever built outside Dublin.

Mr O'Callaghan had also unsuccessfully proposed to build a new hospital in Cork as well as the city's 70m new conference and events centre.

The developer became a central figure in the Mahon Tribunal because of his involvement in the Liffey Valley project in Dublin and disputed allegations levelled by rival developer, Tom Gilmartin.

Central to the Mahon Tribunal hearings was the purpose of payments made by Mr O'Callaghan to Mr Dunlop in respect of lobbying over planning issues in Dublin.
Mitsubishi's debutant is expected to be styled on the XR-PHEV concept

They are coming out of the shadows and into the dazzling lights of the motoring world.

Manufacturers are well on their way already with sneak previews and hints and teases of the new cars they will reveal at the forthcoming Geneva Motor Show in March.

It's little wonder, I suppose, that two of this week's 'hints' are compact crossovers/SUVs.

It's the genre which accounted for one-in-four of all cars bought in Europe last year and that proportion is likely to increase this year.

Mitsubishi's debutant (top) is expected to be styled on the XR-PHEV concept which was shown initially way back in 2013.

It is, Mitsubishi say, the first of a new generation of cars from the marque.

The coupe-like SUV will join the underrated ASX and larger Outlander to bolster the range.

They're not giving much away but are saying it will be much 'sharper' looking than a conventional coupe-type SUV.

As you'd expect they are promising all sorts of radical looks and design and breakthroughs - among them: "highly chamfered contours with a wedge-shaped belt line and a distinctive V-line in the rear quarter stemming from the forward-slanted C-pillar and the chunky, muscular rear fenders".

In other words it should look fairly smart.

Expand Close Subaru will show their second-generation XV crossover / Facebook

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Meanwhile, Subaru will show their second-generation XV crossover (above) at the show in the Austrian capital.

It will be based on a new platform and will have, of course, the company's renowned symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system.
Unveil: Ducati is to have six new models

Ducati is to 'exclusively' unveil six of its latest models in Ireland this spring - including the much sought-after Monster 1200S.

The famous brand will do so at the Carole Nash Irish Motorbike & Scooter Show in the RDS in early March.

The Monster is regarded by many as Ducati's most iconic bike over the past two decades.

The 1200S gets a new frame, resized chassis and redesigned bodywork.

Along with its renowned suspension, it has a carbon-fibre front fender, new triple Y-spoke cast aluminium wheels, an LED daytime running light and LED turn signals.

The 1200cc Testastretta 6spd engine produces around 150hp at 9,250rpm.

The company will also unveil at the Dublin show the latest Supersport, the Monster 797, the Multistrada 950, the Scrambler Cafe Racer and Desert Sled.

The show runs from March 3 to 5.
Just as I expected, there was a huge reaction to last week's piece on people's experiences with puncture repair kits.

People are confused and feel let down.

There are several instances of people promising to get a skinny spare or to make sure there is one with the next car they buy. Here's what you had to say.

Eddie, That article frightened me. Imagine being stranded off down the country. I checked my car this morning. No, there is no spare. I'm off to my dealer on Saturday. I just hope nothing happens in the meantime.

-Josie

Eddie, Why haven't we heard more about this? We should have it pointed out to us when we buy. And we should be shown how to work that puncture repair kit. I wouldn't know where to start.

-Maeve.

Eddie, Lot of people over-reacting if you ask me. Call the roadside assistance service that we all pay for.

-Liam

Eddie, I do a 24-hour breakdown service. I would say 95pc of my after-hours breakdowns have to do with punctures. The tyre solutions that come with the cars are for small punctures.

So here we are in 2017 with ultra-modern technology and low emissions and when a customer has a puncture we have to tow the car away.

Picture a bank holiday Friday night, a family heading off for the weekend and they hit a pothole. It's happened many times.

There are 24-hour tyre companies but it's costly; they want payment up front and they may not have the size. They will charge an average 75 for fitting and the price of a tyre. All because the car has no spare wheel.

(Many cars) have no space in the boot wells these days because they have put control units and Adblue tanks in there. If you buy a spare wheel it takes up your boot. And it needs to be properly strapped down in case of a rear-end collision.

Surely they can find somewhere else to save on the emissions and give these people back their precious spare wheels. And by the way the retro-fit wheel is costly - 400. Not cheap. It's all so frustrating for us and the customers.

The worst thing is that most people don't realise they have no spare wheel/tools etc until they have a puncture.

- (Name supplied)

Eddie, Just change some of the details (of last week's story) and it would cover our situation.

On November 30 at 5pm, around 3km from Carlow, we got a puncture: a cut in the side of the tyre about 25mm long.

Clearly there was no point in trying to use the repair kit. We made 10 calls without response. We phoned the selling agent and he said he would try. No luck there either. He also admitted he had a similar problem trying to contact the breakdown service.

After about an hour and a half we phoned a local repair man. A car transport guy arrived to take us home around 7.30pm.

The selling agent phoned at about 9.30pm to say he had no luck in contacting any breakdown guy.

We are awaiting a space saver wheel. It was ordered on December 16. This wheel will take up boot space; it is oversized for the spare-wheel pocket.

It was our first time to buy a car with no spare wheel and most definitely never again will we do so.

-Pat
Drivers claim their wheels have been damaged by speed bumps and ramps

'Speed bumps' are costing drivers hundreds of extra euro in maintenance costs, it is claimed. But is it the ramps or the drivers who are really at fault?

Independent.ie has been inundated with complaints in recent months from drivers who claim their vehicles have been damaged by speed bumps and ramps.

To get an idea of how widespread such damage can be, we contacted a number of garages.

Several told us that repairs to suspension systems constitute a high proportion of their work now. One independent owner in the Dublin area estimated that up to 80pc of repairs carried out at his workshop, on robust modern vehicles, required work to damaged suspensions.

Work includes repair or replacement of coils, springs and bushes. We were told there has been an "explosion" in demand for such repairs.

A lot of people have complained about the cost of damage to the underside of their car. One frustrated driver said recent expensive repairs were directly as a result of colliding with speed bumps, many of which, he claimed, are "too severe and of flawed design".

His repair bill came to just under 600 - to replace two coils and shock absorbers after traversing a bump at relatively slow speed. The damage was compounded by an adjacent gaping pothole.

"There are far too many speed ramps in suburban areas, particularly in housing estates. Many are poorly sited and many are too sharp and poorly marked. Many are of shoddy construction and can cause a serious road hazard," he complained.

Another reckoned the damage by speed bumps is "greatly underestimated".

Several people believed ramps are not properly maintained and are causing damage to wheel rims and tyres as well.

The manager of a Dublin-based outlet of a leading national motor parts distributor described ramps as "a bloody nuisance". Apart from suspension damage, the impact on cars can include the misalignment of headlights and their mountings. He said the combined cost of repairs can begin from "the 300 mark".

Anecdotal evidence suggests that even if a motorist's claim for damages against a local authority in such circumstances is upheld, it can be years before compensation is paid out.

THE OTHER SIDE

According to Dublin City Council's website, the criteria for it to consider installation of a speed ramp where requested by local residents, are:

*15pc of all vehicles travelling through the area faster than 50kmh.

* More than 60 vehicles an hour using the road.

* The road should have a straight run of approximately 200 metres.

* There should be genuine concerns about safety, based, for example, on accident statistics, and confirmation by the Garda Traffic Division.

A spokesperson for the Road Safety Authority (RSA) said the organisation had no role in the usage of speed bumps or ramps.

Apart from motorists, environmentalists claim speed bumps are a cause of pollution because drivers slow down and speed up.

However, the managing director of one of the country's biggest civil engineering firms, which carries out major road contracts for many local authorities, disputed the claim.

He said the link was "very tenuous". Drivers need to accept that speed bumps are sometimes necessary, and if motorists drive slowly between each (which is the objective), then he could not see there would be any additional pollution.

Anyone really concerned about pollution "should walk more and make more use of public transport," he continued.

He believes drivers who damage their vehicles are those who refuse to slow down sufficiently when they meet a speed bump.

It was, he said, because of such drivers that speed bumps had become a necessity in some areas. Those who keep speed limits and slowed sufficiently are unlikely to do damage.

In the past, many housing estates were designed with major traffic routes running through them. Planning has improved and most new estates are designed so there are no houses fronting on to through roads, and fewer, so-called 'rat-runs'. That minimises the need for speed bumps. However, the cost of retrofitting traffic-calming schemes in older developments is prohibitive - hence the need for speed bumps in these areas.

The fact of the matter is that speed bumps are part of the landscape. But should that mean that damage to cars is inevitable?

* Let us know what you think: email ecunningham@independent.ie
An inauguration weekend getaway at one of President Trumps hotels could have set you back as much as 55,050.

Two nights in a Trump Townhouse suite, the best room available at Trump Washington DC, a mile from the US Capitol building, where the 45th President of the United States was sworn in on Friday, chimed in at 47,501/55,050.

That's according to UK-based currency analysts FairFX, who examined the cost of the cheapest and most expensive rooms in Trumps properties.

At the other end of the spectrum was Trump International Doonbeg in County Clare, where a room for a weekend cost 334/387.

10 most expensive rooms in Trump hotels (2-night stays)

Trump Washington DC, Trump Townhouse, 47,501/55,050 Trump Doral Miami, Presidential Suite, 13,855/16,057 Trump Waikiki Honolulu, Penthouse Suite, 6,059/7,022 Trump Las Vegas, Penthouse Suite, 4,137/4,794 Trump Panama, Executive Suite, 3,129/3,626 Trump New York, Park View Suite, 2,770/3,210 Trump Soho, New York, SoHo Suite, 2,596/3,008 Trump Chicago, Grand Deluxe Lake View Suite, 2,464/2,855 Trump Vancouver, Executive Suite, 1,890/2,190 Trump Doonbeg, Premier Courtyard View Suite, 1,618/1,875

Source: FairFX

Bringing a new level of luxury to Pennsylvania Avenue #TrumpDC Posted by Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. on Thursday, November 3, 2016

A total of 14 Trump hotels were examined by FairFX (eight in the US, two in Canada, two in Scotland, one in Panama and one in Ireland).

The most expensive suites are found in his US properties.

The Presidential Suite at Trump Doral in Miami costs 13,855/16,057 for two nights; followed by the Waikiki Penthouse Suite in his Honolulu hotel, and the Penthouse Suite in the Trump Las Vegas.

The cheapest rooms, after Trump Doonbeg, were in his Panama outlet, followed by Trump Turnberry. Even the cheapest room in Trump Washington DC, however, would still have set you back 1,245/1,443 for two nights.

10 cheapest rooms in Trump hotels (2-night stays)

Trump Doonbeg, Co. Clare, 334/387 Trump Panama, 345/400 Trump Turnberry, Ayrshire, 498/577 Macleod House & Lodge, Aberdeenshire, 500 Trump Toronto, 569/579 Trump Soho, New York, 575/666 Trump Chicago, 633/733 Trump Las Vegas, 637/738 Albemarle Estate, Charlottesville, 694/804 Trump Vancouver, 704/805

Regardless of what one thinks of Trumps politics, his branded hotels are highly regarded, as New York travel expert Douglas Rogers explained.

Expand Close Doonbeg Lodge / Facebook

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"It's an odd dichotomy that for all his garishness and vulgarity, Trump is a master hotelier," he wrote on Telegraph Travel.

"Trump Hotels  and there are 15 of them, on three continents  are rather good. Actually, let me rephrase that. Theyre fantastic. They feature all the finer things in life  Michelin-starred restaurants, great wines, Waterford crystal  and appear to be the epitome of good taste. Which seems very at odds with the man himself."

Indeed, Trumps primary residence, the top three floors of Trump Tower in New York, does not seem to have been designed with the same good taste.

The work of Angelo Donghia, it features a Louis XIV theme - in that it is a parody of Versailles - and boasts 24-carat gold and sickeningly sweet marble decor in addition to various neo-classical columns, artworks and sculptures.

NB: Exchange rates correct as of 24.01.17.

Read more:

Read More

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Passengers flying with Ryanair could be prohibited from carrying two free bags on board in future because flyers are trying to pack too much into them.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary has warned the airline is having problems with its current cabin baggage policy.

"We're struggling at the boarding gate because far too many passengers are turning up with half the contents of their homes now instead of one normal-sized bag and one small bag," he said, adding that some passengers are also arriving at boarding gates with three bags.

"If it doesn't stop, we're going to have to change that policy."

He said the baggage problem is interfering with Ryanair's quick aircraft turnaround procedures because it's having to load cabin bags into aircraft cargo holds. Once a Ryanair plane lands, the airline aims to have it take off again within 25 minutes.

Ryanair's relaxed cabin baggage policy was unveiled in October 2013 as part of its 'Always Getting Better' campaign to improve its customer service.

At the time, the airline said that the new policy would allow a passenger to carry on a normal-sized piece of hand luggage as well as a small, second bag - just big enough to hold a bottle of wine, for instance.

But the warning yesterday is unlikely to be heeded by passengers, meaning Ryanair could well end up reviewing its baggage policy. The airline could make it so expensive to have bags transferred from the boarding gate to the aircraft hold that it eventually deters passengers from trying to bring too much on board.

Due to cabin space limitations, only 90 large cabin bags can be carried in the cabin. The remainder will be carried free of charge in the aircraft hold.

Oversized cabin baggage is refused at the boarding gate by Ryanair, or where available, placed in the hold of the aircraft for a fee of 50, according to the airline's current rules.

Ryanair prefers to have no luggage in the hold to speed up its arrivals and departures.
Premium

Sinead Moriarty: 'Weve got to disconnect to reconnect to our gift of the gab'

Are we losing our world-famous gift of the gab? In an attempt to save our traditional national pastime, a pub in west Cork has banned people from using mobile phones. Billy Fleming, owner of the Anchor Bar, in Courtmacsherry, has said that the locals who drink in his pub support his decision and that mobile phones have gradually killed conversation over the last few years.
Leaving the back door open was for generations considered 'normal practice' in parts of Ireland, where a stranger would be spotted a mile away.

People felt safe in the knowledge that their neighbours had their backs and in any event, there was little to steal.

Nowadays you'd be seen as either naive or downright stupid to leave a door unlocked - but that's what we are asking the UK to do by campaigning for the retention of the Common Travel Area.

The Brexit referendum last June wasn't about immigration, but at times you would be forgiven for believing it was.

Remember Nigel Farage was accused of attempting to incite racial hatred with a poster campaign showing lines of migrants under the headline 'Breaking Point'.

"We must break free of the EU and take back control of our borders," was the tagline.

The subject reared its head again last week during British Prime Minister Theresa May's Lancaster House speech, when she said: "The message from the public before and during the referendum campaign was clear. Brexit must mean control of the number of people who come to Britain from Europe."

Attention has now been drawn to our border controls after a number of people appeared in court on allegations of using Dublin Airport for people smuggling.

The news will make life very difficult for the Irish Government when it enters the room of EU nations to argue for a 'soft border' between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

How can Mrs May honestly tell her citizens she has taken back control of the UK border unless there are checkpoints from Louth to Donegal?

It is believed that many of those who enter this country illegally through whatever means have a final destination in the UK. We were merely a back door.

In normal times it would be a worrying development. Ahead of the triggering of Article 50 in March it is a devastating development.

In the Dail yesterday, Taoiseach Enda Kenny insisted that he had made "certain agreements" with Mrs May in respect of the Common Travel Area.

He said that prior to her Lancaster speech the two heads of state "had agreed to maintain the Common Travel Area and that there should be no return to a 'hard' border".

"What do I mean by a 'hard' border? It means customs posts on every road. Nobody wants the return of what was there along with those in the form of military installations," Mr Kenny said.

"Neither does the British prime minister want that. The negotiations will take place in respect of customs union or whatever; we will have to negotiate hard and creatively in order to comply with the agreement we have with the British government in this regard."

One suggestion which has been floated is that the island of Ireland would serve as a gateway for the UK and the Republic. This would require the bulking up of resources at entry and exit points, as well as even more sharing of information between gardai and their UK counterparts than already takes place.

For that to happen both sides will have to be able to reassure themselves and the EU that the checks are watertight.

Mrs May, who visits Dublin next week, may be genuine in resisting a 'hard border' but if flaws are found in the Irish system she may well face domestic calls from Mr Farage and others to slam the back door.
Tanya Burr attends the Vogue and Ralph Lauren Wimbledon party at The Orangery on June 22, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

Tanya Burr attends the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House on February 14, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

Tanya Burr arrives for the Revlon Choose Love Masquerade Ball at Victoria and Albert Museum on July 21, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images)

Tanya Burr attends The Fashion Awards 2016 at Royal Albert Hall on December 5, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Danny E. Martindale/Getty Images)

Tanya Burr wearing Burberry at the Burberry Womenswear February 2016 Show at Kensington Gardens on February 22, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Burberry)

Tanya Burr attends the Vogue and Ralph Lauren Wimbledon party at The Orangery on June 22, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

Jim Chapman and Tanya Burr attend the Vogue and Ralph Lauren Wimbledon party at The Orangery on June 22, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

Tanya Burr attends the Royal Film Performance of "Spectre"at Royal Albert Hall on October 26, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images)

Tanya Burr and Jim Chapman attend the GQ Men Of The Year Awards at The Royal Opera House on September 8, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Tanya Burr attends the Burberry show during London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2016/17 at Kensington Gardens on February 22, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)

Tanya Burr with the Manuka Doctor Youtuber Award in the press room at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards 2016

Tanya Burr attends the UK Premiere of "Joe & Casper Hit The Road USA" at Cineworld Leicester Square on November 17, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

Part of Tanya Burr's mass appeal is her girl-next-door image.

The British super vlogger hit the beach in Miami and is being praised by fans for having a "normal" figure and not covering up her curves.

The 27-year-old, who wed long-term love Jim Chapman last year, was pictured in an on-trend one piece by Tommy Hilfiger as she soaked up the sun with a friend in her latest trip The Magic City.

Burr shared pictures of her on the beach on her Instagram and is being praised her army of loyal fans for giving a healthy body image.

Expand Close British beauty blogger Tanya Burr hits the beach with friend in Miami Beach. Picture: Splash News / Facebook

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Whatsapp British beauty blogger Tanya Burr hits the beach with friend in Miami Beach. Picture: Splash News

"You look beautiful and it's lovely to see someone with a 'normal' shaped body flaunting it," one wrote.

She has never shied away from showing off her figure and hit out at "body shamers" last year who accused her of photoshopping her pictures when they compared the images she shared vs the ones taken by paparazzi.

"You don't know you're being photographed and so it's not going to be nice, whereas when I Instagram a photo of myself of course I'm going to be standing in the most flattering position and I'm ready for the photo, so of course I'm going to look better, but I don't edit them," she explained.
Paris Jackson attends the Dior Homme Menswear Fall/Winter 2017-2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 21, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Francois Durand/Getty Images)

Michael Jackson's children, Prince Michael and Paris, took the stage at the Grammys to accept his lifetime achievement award. Photo: Getty Images

Michael Jackson's children Prince, Blanket and Paris have spoken about their father in a new documentary

Paris Jackson attends the 18th Annual Post-Golden Globes Party hosted by Warner Bros. Pictures and InStyle at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 8, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Paris Jackson attends the Dior Homme Menswear Fall/Winter 2017-2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 21, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Paris Jackson attends the Dior Homme Menswear Fall/Winter 2017-2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 21, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Paris Jackson attends the Dior Homme Menswear Fall/Winter 2017-2018 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 21, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Vanni Bassetti/Getty Images)

Michael Jackson's daughter Paris has revealed she was sexually assaulted when she was a teenager.

The 18-year-old, who tried to avoid the limelight for most of her teenager years, sat down with Rolling Stone to discuss the obstacles she's overcome in her life - including her battles with addiction and depression.

Following the death of her father in 2009, Paris admits that she "tried to grow up fast" and was mixing with the wrong crowd after agreeing to attend a private school after previously being homeschooled her entire life.

"I was doing a lot of things that 13, 14, 15 year olds shouldn't do. I tried to grow up too fast, and I wasn't really that nice of a person," she explained.

Expand Close Michael Jackson (3rd R) poses with Mohamed Hadid (3rd L), Hadid's children and Jackson's children Michael Joseph Jr. (L), Paris Michael Katherine (C) and Prince Michael II (2nd R) on November 27, 2008 at the Jackson Holmby Hills residence in Westwood, California. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Michael Jackson (3rd R) poses with Mohamed Hadid (3rd L), Hadid's children and Jackson's children Michael Joseph Jr. (L), Paris Michael Katherine (C) and Prince Michael II (2nd R) on November 27, 2008 at the Jackson Holmby Hills residence in Westwood, California.

During this time, when she was aged 14, the aspiring actress said she was assaulted by a "complete stranger".

"I don't wanna give too many details," she told the publication. "But it was not a good experience at all, and it was really hard for me, and, at the time, I didn't tell anybody."

Paris, who is the middle of the late singer's three children, opened up about attempting suicide "multiples" times, one of which was made public in 2013. At the time, she had also been self-harming and abusing drugs.

"It was self-hatred. Low self-esteem, thinking that I couldn't do anything right, not thinking I was worthy of living anymore," she said.

Expand Close Paris Jackson attends the 18th Annual Post-Golden Globes Party hosted by Warner Bros. Pictures and InStyle at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 8, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Paris Jackson attends the 18th Annual Post-Golden Globes Party hosted by Warner Bros. Pictures and InStyle at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 8, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

After a third suicide attempt, she was sent to a residential therapy program and finished off her secondary school education at a therapeutic school where she described as "great"

"I'm a completely different person," she says. "I was crazy. I was actually crazy. I was going through a lot of, like, teen angst. And I was also dealing with my depression and my anxiety without any help."

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While she is now based in LA, staying at the Jackson family estate and pursuing a career in modelling and acting, she said her father supported her whether she wanted to follow in his footsteps in the spotlight or not.

"If you wanna be bigger than me, you can. If you don't want to be at all, you can. But I just want you to be happy," she remembers he would tell her.

Expand Close Michael Jackson's children Prince, Blanket and Paris have spoken about their father in a new documentary / Facebook

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Whatsapp Michael Jackson's children Prince, Blanket and Paris have spoken about their father in a new documentary

Plenty of people think I'm ugly, and plenty of people don't. But there's a moment when I'm modeling where I forget about my self-esteem issues and focus on what the photographer's telling me  and I feel pretty. And in that sense, it's selfish."

Despite being one of the most famous men in the world and having their every move documented by the paparazzi, she says she and her brothers Prince Michael (14) and Michael Joseph (19) had a "pretty normal" childhood.

"Like, we had school every single day, and we had to be good. And if we were good, every other weekend or so, we could choose whether we were gonna go to the movie theater or see the animals or whatever. But if you were on bad behaviour, then you wouldn't get to go do all those things," she said.

"My dad raised me in a very open-minded house. I was eight years old, in love with this female on the cover of a magazine. Instead of yelling at me, like most homophobic parents, he was making fun of me, like, 'Oh, you got yourself a girlfriend.'cation."

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Whatsapp Paris Jackson attends the 18th Post-Golden Globes Party hosted by Warner Bros Pictures and InStyle at the Beverly Hilton Hotel

"Nobody experienced him being a father to them. And if they did, the entire perception of him would be completely and forever changed."

As for his death eight years ago, she remains continued that her father was murdered, saying "it's obvious".

"All arrows point to that. It sounds like a total conspiracy theory and it sounds like bullsh**t, but all real fans and everybody in the family knows it. It was a setup. It was bulls**t."
Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House (AP)

President Donald Trump has signed executive actions to jump-start construction of a US-Mexico border wall and block federal grants from immigrant-protecting "sanctuary cities".

"Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders," Mr Trump declared during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security.

"We are going to save lives on both sides of the border."

Mr Trump cast his actions as fulfilment of a campaign pledge to enact hard-line immigration measures, including construction of a wall paid for by Mexico.

With the families of Americans killed by people living in the US illegally sitting in the audience, Mr Trump said: "When it comes to public safety, there is no place for politics."

Funding for the border wall project is murky.

While Mr Trump has repeatedly promised that Mexico will pay for it, US taxpayers are expected to cover the initial costs and the new administration has said nothing about how it will compel Mexico to reimburse the money.

One of the executive actions Mr Trump signed on Wednesday appears to signal that he could restrict aid to Mexico.

In an interview with ABC News earlier on Wednesday, Mr Trump said: "There will be a payment; it will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form."

Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto, who has insisted his country will not pay for a wall, is expected to meet Mr Trump at the White House next week, despite calls from some lawmakers for him to cancel his visit.

Congressional aides say there is about 100 million US dollars (79 million) of unspent appropriations in the Department of Homeland Security account for border security, fencing and infrastructure.

That would allow planning efforts to get started, but far more money would have to be appropriated for when construction got under way.

Mr Trump has insisted many times the border structure will be a wall.

The order he signed referred to "a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous and impassable physical barrier".

The president's orders also call for hiring 5,000 additional border patrol agents, although the increase is subject to congressional approval.

He also moved to end what Republicans have labelled a catch-and-release system at the border.

Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are released and given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

Later in the week, Mr Trump is expected to sign orders restricting the flow of refugees into the United States.

His current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as a temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim-majority countries, according to a source from a public policy organisation that monitors refugee issues.

Mr Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten US immigration policies, including strengthening border security and stemming the flow of refugees.

His call for a border wall was among his most popular proposals with supporters, who often broke out in chants of "build that wall" during rallies.

In response to terrorism concerns, Mr Trump controversially called for halting entry to the US from Muslim countries.

He later turned to a focus on "extreme vetting" for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

To build the wall, the president is relying on a 2006 law that authorised several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier.

That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-president George W Bush, and the majority of that fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office.

The last remnants were completed after Barack Obama took office in 2009.

The Trump administration must also adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built.

The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the US-Mexico border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint US-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.

Mr Trump's order to crack down on sanctuary cities - locales that do not co-operate with immigration authorities - could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars.

However, the administration may face legal challenges, given that some federal courts have found that local jurisdictions cannot hold immigrants beyond their jail term or deny them bond based only a request from immigration authorities.

It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still being finalised.

The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the US for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, although the person cautioned the details could still change.

There is also likely to be an exception for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country.

That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.

As president, Mr Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing.

Mr Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.

AP
Al-Shabab frequently targets hotels and other public places visited by government officials and foreigners

The hotel in Mogadishu was heavily damaged by a car bomb blast (AP)

At least eight people have been killed and 14 injured as Somali security forces ended a siege by extremist fighters who stormed a hotel in the capital Mogadishu.

Four al-Shabab attackers were also killed in the attack on the Dayah hotel, which is often frequented by government officials, said Colonel Mohamoud Abdi, a senior Somali police officer.

Survivors described chaotic scenes in which hotel residents hid themselves under beds and others jumped out of windows of the four-storey building to escape the extremist attackers.

"They kicked down room doors and at some point posed themselves as rescue teams by telling those inside to come out, (only) to kill them," said Hassan Nur, a traditional Somali elder who participated in the election of members of Somalia's new parliament.

He said two well-known clan elders were among those killed by the attackers in the hotel.

The assault on the hotel started when a suicide car bomb exploded at its gates.

Dozens of people, including politicians, were thought to have been staying at the hotel at the time of the morning attack, said Captain Mohamed Hussein.

Heavy gunfire could still be heard inside the hotel, he said.

A nearby shopping centre caught fire and dozens of people helped save goods in the business premises.

Somalia's homegrown Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack via its online radio, Andalus, saying its fighters succeeded in entering the hotel and an "operation is ongoing now".

Al-Shabab frequently targets hotels and other public places often visited by government officials and foreigners.

Al Qaida's East African affiliate is fighting to impose a strict version of Islam in the Horn of Africa nation.

In June, gunmen stormed the Nasa-Hablod hotel, killing at least 14 people.

Two weeks before that, gunmen killed 15, including two members of parliament, at the Ambassador hotel.

Despite being ousted from most of its key strongholds, al-Shabab continues to carry out deadly guerrilla attacks across large parts of south and central Somalia.

Earlier this month, a bomb explosion at a restaurant in Mogadishu killed three, and a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint near Mogadishu's international airport, killing at least three.

That blast occurred a few hundred metres from the main base of the African Union peacekeeping mission.

Al-Shabab's assaults have threatened the nation's attempts to rebuild from decades of chaos.

The presidential election, a key step towards recovery, has already been delayed several times because of security and other concerns.

AP
The Netherlands is seeking to set up an overseas abortion fund to counteract Donald Trumps recent ban against funding international groups which give women information about terminations.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen for the Dutch government has announced she intends to establish an international fund which would finance projects relating to access for birth control, abortion and womens education, throughout developing countries.

Ms Ploumen announced the plan in reaction to an extensive memorandum signed by Mr Trump to restrict access to information on abortion for women who are in receipt of aid from international development groups.

Known as the Mexico City Policy or the global gag rule, the ban was one of Mr Trumps first actions upon entering office last week. It prohibits US funding for any international aid groups which give women information about abortion, even if they do not perform the procedures.

Ms Ploumen said the fund could be supported by governments, businesses and social organisations concerned by the US Presidents actions in order to compensate this financial setback as much as possible.

She told colleagues: This has far-reaching consequences. First of all, for all those women who have to make, if they want to have a child, a choice, but also for their husbands and children and society as a whole. Banning abortion does not lead to fewer abortions. It leads to more irresponsible practices in back rooms and more maternal deaths.

She also quoted figures from Marie Stopes International, one group which would lose funding under the initiative, suggesting up to 14 women a day could die as a result of the gag.

The Mexico City Policy is a traditional tool used by Republican administrations and is frequently put in place under GOP presidents, before being rescinded by Democratic ones. It was last put in place under George W Bush and then subsequently repealed by Barack Obama when he entered office.

The policy has been criticised by many womens rights and healthcare groups who fear the lives of women and girls may be put at risk by the policy, either due to continuing risky pregnancies or attempting to perform terminations dangerously. However, many Republican politicians support the policy for religious reasons.
Rescuers hold three puppies that were found alive in the rubble of the avalanche-hit Hotel Rigopiano. Photo: AP

A nine-year-old boy trapped in the wreckage of the Italian hotel hit by an avalanche kept up the spirits of two younger children by singing them songs and telling stories from the Disney film 'Frozen'.

The heart-warming account of Edoardo Di Carlo's bravery came as the death toll from the disaster rose to 15.

Six bodies were recovered from the shattered ruins of the Hotel Rigopiano yesterday, leaving 14 people still unaccounted for. Nine people have been pulled out alive.

Edoardo, who is recovering in hospital, was hailed a hero after it emerged that he hugged and reassured six-year-old Ludovica Parete and seven-year-old Samuel Di Michelangelo as they endured two days and nights of freezing temperatures.

After the children found themselves imprisoned in a small space, without food or water, Edoardo sang songs and told stories from 'Frozen' when he learnt it was Ludovica's favourite film.

"The three children clubbed together in a little team and in that way they managed to overcome their fear," Alessandra Pagnani, a psychologist, told 'La Repubblica' newspaper. Now an orphan, Edoardo will be looked after by his older brothers.

Meanwhile, hopes faded yesterday any more survivors of the devastating avalanche in Farindola , north-east of Rome, would be found.

Firefighters' spokesman Alberto Maiolo said search crews aided by excavators were finally able to penetrate the central part of the hotel for the first time and found bodies in the bar and kitchen area. He said there were no signs of life.

"Logically, hopes fade as time passes, but we are continuing to search and trying to do it as quickly as possible," he said.

The first funerals were held yesterday, with crowds gathering under a steady rain outside the hilltop church in Farindola to pay their respects to Alessandro Giancaterino, the hotel's chief waiter.

Giancaterino, one of the first victims pulled from the wreckage, had offered to stay for a double shift on January 18 to spare a colleague from having to make his way to the hotel through the snow, which was two to three metres high in some places.

"He was a hard worker. He was very professional," said his brother, Massimiliano Giancaterino. "This is the memory that I want to keep of my brother."
Russia is trying to influence the outcome of several key elections in European countries this year with fake news, a special task force set up by the European Union has warned.

The EU is reportedly allocating more funds to its East StratCom task force to counter the disinformation, amid fears Russia will target elections in France, Germany and the Netherlands.

"There is an enormous, far-reaching, at least partly-organised, disinformation campaign against the EU, its politicians and its principles," a source close to the task force told Germany's 'Spiegel' magazine.

It is "highly likely" Russia would try to influence European elections "as it did in the US", the source said.

The number one target is Angela Merkel, who has been subjected to a "bombardment" of fake news over her refugee policy and support for economic sanctions against Russia.

Disinformation is "part of state policy" and a "military tool" for the Kremlin.

A report by US intelligence agencies earlier this month found that President Vladimir Putin personally "ordered an influence campaign aimed at the presidential election".

German intelligence warned last year that Russian hackers may seek to influence the country's elections in September.

But fears are now growing over the effect of fake news, after a completely false story spread claiming that Germany's oldest church had been burnt down by 1,000 Muslims chanting "Allahu Akbar".

East StratCom, set up by the EU in 2015 to counter Russian propaganda and disinformation, says it has already found evidence of a massive fake news campaign targeting European countries.

The unit's experts found more than 2,500 examples of "stories directly contradicting public facts" in 18 different languages over just 15 months.

The stories were repeated on a daily basis and reproduced in multiple languages.

Fake news stories uncovered by the task force range from conspiracy theories over who shot down Flight MH17 over Ukraine to claims the EU is planning to ban snowmen as "racist".

They also include a fake terror video threatening attacks in the Netherlands if the country supported an EU association agreement with Ukraine.

Russia has been accused of launching an "influence campaign" to help Donald Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US election

"There is no doubt that the pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign is an orchestrated strategy," the task force, which is part of the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU's diplomatic service, says on its website.

"The aim of this disinformation campaign is to weaken and destabilise the West, by exploiting existing divisions or creating artificial new ones.

"Often, outright lies are deployed, aimed at denigrating a particular person, political group or government.

"Another strategy is to spread as many conflicting messages as possible, in order to persuade the audience that there are so many versions of events that it is impossible to find the truth."

Most Russian disinformation in the EU was spread by "domestic actors" who independently repeated talking points that first appear on Russian state news outlets because it suits them ideologically, said Jakub Janda, a deputy director of the European Values think tank in Prague. It monitors suspected Russian disinformation efforts and works closely with the EU task force.

He singled out Milos Zeman, the Eurosceptic president of the Czech republic, as an example of a high-ranking European politician who "copy and pastes Russian messaging and helps Russian foreign policy by repeating its talking points on Syria and Ukraine". ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Protesters unfurl a banner that reads Resist at the construction site of the former Washington Post building in Washington (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

Greenpeace protesters have climbed a 270ft construction crane streets from the White House and unfurled a massive orange and yellow banner featuring the word "resist".

The protest came the morning after US President Donald Trump issued orders to delay environmental rules and restart pipeline projects.

A spokesman for the environmental group, Travis Nichols, said the protesters are encouraging resistance to Mr Trump and his agenda.

A Greenpeace statement said the demonstration is "calling for those who want to resist Trump's attacks on environmental, social, economic, and educational justice to contribute to a better America".

Police closed three city streets to traffic around the site on Wednesday morning, but officers on the scene appeared to be doing little more than monitoring the activists, who were secured with ropes and harnesses as they hung from the crane.

Captain Robert Glover, of the Metropolitan Police Department's special operations division, told reporters that seven people were on the structure.

"Time is on our side," Mr Glover said. "Safety is our foremost mission this morning."

John Evans, 46, a carpenter who works on the construction site - previously home to The Washington Post - said the protesters must have arrived before workers turned up at 5am.

"We didn't see them climb up," he said.

Mr Evans said the protesters were clearly experienced, noting that they were moving their legs and shifting positions to maintain their blood circulation.

"Look how organised they are. They have the same equipment that I use every day," he said.

"They're professionals. Amateurs couldn't stay up there that long."

The protest comes a day after Mr Trump signed orders intended to restart construction of two oil pipelines, the Dakota Access and the Keystone XL.

Former president Barack Obama halted the Keystone XL pipeline in 2015 and the Army Corps of Engineers blocked the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline in December after months of protests led by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which gets drinking water from a reservoir in the pipeline's path.

Also on Tuesday, Mr Trump's administration moved to delay implementation of at least 30 environmental rules and froze new Environmental Protection Agency contracts and grant awards.

Police said on Twitter that the protesters' actions were "extremely dangerous and unlawful".

Mr Glover said police would consult with prosecutors about appropriate charges.

A few dozen people were standing outside the site, taking photos, but many just paused briefly before moving on.

David Presgraves, 27, and Victoria Oms, 26, who work nearby in non-profit communications, said they agreed with the protesters' message.

They both participated in the Women's March in Washington on Saturday.

"The pipelines have got to stop," Mr Presgraves said.

"There's no respect for the native people, no respect for the environment."

AP
Pope Francis greets Matthew Festing in a meeting between the two men in 2015

The Vatican has said it is taking over the embattled Knights of Malta lay Catholic order in an extraordinary display of papal power after the Knights' grand master publicly defied Pope Francis in a bitter dispute over condoms.

The move marks the intervention of one sovereign state - the Holy See - into the governance of another, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, an ancient aristocratic order that runs a vast charity operation around the globe.

The Vatican said Matthew Festing, 67, offered to resign as grand master on Tuesday during an audience with the pope, and that Francis had accepted it on Wednesday.

The statement said the order's governance would shift temporarily to the order's No 2 "pending the appointment of the papal delegate".

The naming of a delegate signals a Vatican takeover, harking back to the Vatican's previous takeovers of the Legion of Christ and Jesuit religious orders when they were undergoing periods of scandal or turmoil.

But those are religious orders that report directly to the Holy See.

The Knights of Malta is a sovereign entity under international law, making the Vatican intervention all the more remarkable.

Mr Festing had refused to co-operate with a papal commission investigating his ousting of the order's grand chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, over revelations that the Knights' charity branch had distributed condoms under his watch.

Mr Festing had cited the Knights' status as a sovereign entity in refusing to co-operate with what he said was an act of internal governance.

Many canon lawyers had backed him up, questioning the pope's right to intervene.

But Mr Festing's defiance had been fraught from the start, given that he took a promise of obedience to the pope as a top-level knight, and regardless was the leader of a prominent Catholic order who was entering into a public fray with the leader of the Catholic Church.

The spat unfolded against the backdrop of Francis's increasing clashes with more conservative elements in the church, especially those for whom sexual ethics and doctrinal orthodoxy are paramount.

The dispute had once again pitted Francis against Cardinal Raymond Burke, a leading conservative and Francis critic who also happens to be the pope's envoy to the order.

Cardinal Burke had been by Mr Festing's side on December 6 when Mr Festing first asked, then demanded Mr Boeselager's resignation.

Mr Boeselager refused, but was ousted two days later under a disciplinary procedure he contends violated the order's own rules.

Mr Boeselager had been the Knights' health minister when its charity branch Malteser International was found to have been involved in programmes that distributed thousands of condoms to poor people in Burma.

Church teaching forbids artificial contraception.

Mr Boeselager has said he stopped the programmes when he learned of them.

The order's leadership has said the scandal was grave, that Mr Boeselager had hidden the revelations of the programmes, and called it "disgraceful" that he had refused an order to obey Mr Festing and resign.

Mr Boeselager has challenged his removal, appealing to the Knights' internal tribunal.

Many of the order's members had lamented how the confrontation with the Holy See had drawn unwanted negative attention to the order, which relies on donations to fund its charity works around the globe.

Francis appointed a commission to investigate after Mr Boeselager said he had been told by Mr Festing, in Cardinal Burke's presence, that the Holy See wanted him to resign over the scandal.

The Vatican secretary of state has said the pope wanted nothing of the sort and wanted the dispute to be resolved through dialogue.

Last week, the Holy See said it expected the order to co-operate with its probe, and in a sharply worded statement said it planned to take action to resolve the dispute.

The Order of Malta has many trappings of a sovereign state, issuing its own stamps, passports and licence plates and holding diplomatic relations with 106 states, the Holy See included.

The Holy See, however, has a unique relationship with the order since it is a Catholic entity, and the pope appoints a cardinal to "promote the spiritual interests" of the order and its relationship with the Vatican.

Francis appointed Cardinal Burke to that position in 2014 after removing him as the Vatican's supreme court justice.

The knights trace their history to the 11th-century Crusades, with the establishment of an infirmary in Jerusalem that cared for people of all faiths.

It now counts 13,500 members and 100,000 staff and volunteers who provide healthcare in hospitals and clinics around the world.

AP
Israel has announced controversial new plans for 2,500 more settlement homes in the occupied West Bank.

It is the second such declaration since US President Donald Trump took office signalling he would be less critical of such projects than his predecessor.

The defence ministry, which administers lands Israel captured in a 1967 war, said the move was meant to fulfil demand for new housing "to maintain regular daily life".

It claimed most of the construction would be in existing settlement blocs that Israel intends to keep under any future peace agreement with the Palestinians. However, a breakdown provided by the prime minister's office showed large portions of the planned homes would be outside existing blocs.

About 350,000 settlers live in the West Bank and a further 200,000 in East Jerusalem, which Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war. Beyond the major blocs, most of which are close to the border with Israel, there are more than 100 settlement outposts scattered across hilltops in the West Bank.

Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the Israeli announcement and said it would have "consequences" in any peace talks.

"The decision will hinder any attempt to restore security and stability, it will reinforce extremism and terrorism and will place obstacles in the path of any effort to start a peace process that will lead to security and peace," he said.

They want the West Bank and Gaza Strip, from which Israeli troops and settlers withdrew in 2005, for an independent state, with its capital in East Jerusalem.

Most countries consider settlements illegal and an obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace because they reduce and fragment the territory Palestinians need for a viable state.

Israel disagrees, citing biblical, historical and political connections to the land - which the Palestinians also claim - as well as security interests.

During the US election campaign, Mr Trump indicated he would dispense with former president Barack Obama's opposition to settlement building, a stance that delighted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

On Sunday, two days after Mr Trump's inauguration, Israel announced plans for hundreds of new homes in East Jerusalem, and Mr Netanyahu told senior ministers he was lifting restrictions on settlement construction across the board.

"We can build where we want and as much as we want," an official quoted Mr Netanyahu as telling the ministers.

The prime minister's office yesterday listed some of the West Bank areas slated for new construction, but not all were in settlement blocs.

"I have agreed with the defence minister to build 2,500 new homes in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) - we are building and will continue to build," Mr Netanyahu said in a tweet. Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman is himself a settler.

The Defence Ministry statement said 100 of the new homes would be in Beit El, a settlement which according to Israeli media has received funding from the family of Mr Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Mr Trump has nominated David Friedman, a staunch supporter of settlers, as his ambassador to Israel.
Russia, Turkey and Iran, the sponsors of the peace talks between the Syrian government and rebels, have agreed to act as joint monitors for the war-torn country's fragile ceasefire, in a promising step towards ending the violence.

The accord was signed by Ankara and Moscow - the two major powers brokering the negotiations - and Tehran, on behalf of the Syrian government and armed rebel groups, which have not officially endorsed it.

Bashar Jaafari, the Syrian government's representative to the United Nations, immediately hailed the talks a success, but the opposition said it had major reservations.

The 14-member rebel delegation objected to the inclusion of Iran, which it said could not be a credible monitor as its proxies on the ground had repeatedly violated the ceasefire.

It singled out Hezbollah, the Tehran-backed Lebanese Shia militia, for carrying out attacks on the Wadi Barada valley outside Damascus, which has been fought over fiercely since the December 30 truce came into force.

"The rebels do not trust Russia. This will be a test to see how much they can control their allies [the regime and Iran]," Asaad Hanna, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, said.

"Moscow presented itself as the moderator, so it must moderate them."

Iran has a great stake in the war, providing the manpower and resources that have helped Bashar al-Assad's government. It has bolstered the regime in order to maintain its influence and secure a supply route through the country for Hezbollah in Lebanon.

It sees the conflict in Syria as part of a broader Sunni-Shia struggle.

For this reason, the opposition does not believe Iran is serious about finding a political solution.

Such a deal seemed difficult to imagine a year ago, when the last peace talks in Geneva collapsed without agreement. It is the first time in the six-year-war that the rebels and the government had sat in the same room as each other. (Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Donald Trump has been in office for less than a week but has already signed a raft of controversial executive orders on everything from abortion to the environment.

The former reality star made few concrete promises on the campaign, aside from the pledge to build a wall on the border with Mexico and draining the swamp" - a reference to turning his back on lobbyists and the Washington political establishment.

As a result, some commentators have suggested his rhetoric may be tempered now he is president.

Here are some of the things he has done in his first few days in office:

Abortion

The rule, known as the Mexico City Policy, prohibits US aid from going to any charity working abroad which offers abortion or contraception services.

While it is not new, having being first signed by Ronald Reagan in 1984, it was rescinded during both Bill Clinton and Barack Obamas administrations, although George W Bush reinstated it during his eight-years in office.

However, this time the rule goes much further as it also threatens funding for HIV/Aids prevention and treatment, some domestic violence programmes, maternal and child health, nutrition and the fight against several infectious diseases including malaria, TB and certain tropical diseases.

Expand Close Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House (AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House (AP)

The order has been condemned by health groups who said it was an assault on womens health which is likely to increase the rate of abortions in developing countries.

Marie Stopes International, an non-government-organisation (NGO) that lobbies in favour of abortion and provides a variety of family planning services in both the UK and abroad, estimates this could lead to the death of 21,000 women.

Although the order does not affect women in the US, the order is a signal that Mr Trump plans to follow through on campaign promises to restrict abortion access.

Environment

Mr Trump has also revived two controversial oil pipelines, the Keystone XL pipeline between the US and Canada and the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAP), which has been the subject of months of protests by environmentalists and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

Both were vetoed by President Obama.

Nearly 1,200 miles long, the $3.7bn (2.8bn) DAP is set to transport some 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day across four states, from North Dakota to a terminal in Illinois, where it can be shipped to refineries.

But while most of it has been built, the section closest to the Standing Rock Sioux reservation has been bitterly disputed.

Although the construction sites are technically just north of the tribe's reservation, The Sioux says the (DAP) will threaten their way of life, water, people and land.

Read More

It has also raised concerns about the damage to their sacred sites and culturally important landscapes.

The tribe has also claim that the government took the land from them illegally in a series of treaties in the 1850s and 1860s.

It has also accused the current government of approving pipeline construction without consulting them, a requirement under US law.

The Trump Administration has also told the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to suspend all grants to fund education, research and pollution monitoring ahead of the Presidents pick for EPA chief, Scott Pruitt, being confirmed by the Senate.

But the administration has gone a step further by banning the agency, along with the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, from talking to the press or updating social media.

The Department of the Interior was also told to stop using its official Twitter accounts after the National Parks Service tweeted climate change facts in defiance of Mr Trump.

Obamacare

Mr Trump signed an order which directs federal agencies to start easing the regulatory burdens of the The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

While it suffered with teething problems, the act aimed to extend health insurance coverage to some of the estimated 15 per cent of the US population who lack it.

Those people received no coverage from their employers and were not covered by US health programmes for the poor and elderly.

The law required all Americans to have health insurance, but offered subsidies to make coverage more affordable. It also required businesses with more than 50 full-time employees to offer health insurance.

It also banned insurance companies from denying health coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions, allowed young people to remain on their parents' plans until age 26, and expanded eligibility for the government-run Medicaid health programme for the poor.

But Mr Trump's order requires agencies waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of the healthcare law that imposes 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.

This does not repeal the act completely, as it was passed by Congress and Mr Trump does not have the power to undo it by executive order.

But it has the potential to do enough to destabilise funding for the scheme so it has to be repealed.

Trade

Mr Trump has signed a notice saying the US will be withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal with 11 other Pacific countries.

He called it a great thing for the American worker but the gesture was largely symbolic as the move as it was unlikely to have ever been approved by the House of Representatives because of its unpopularity with the public.

More crucially he signed a separate executive order signalling his intention to renegotiate the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) between the US, Canada and Mexico.

He has criticised it for allowing US jobs to flow abroad and even threatened to abandon it altogether  but his critics say the deal supports millions of US jobs which depend on exports.

Federal Government Freeze

One of Mr Trumps first orders froze the hiring of federal government workers with the exception to national security employees.

It is not known whether the move is temporary or permanent but White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, said the creation of new jobs would only be allowed if they were to meet national or public security responsibilities.

He said the move was to counter the dramatic expansion of the federal workforce in recent years  even though official data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the number of federal employees only rose three per cent between 2014 and 2016.

The move is likely to be popular with Mr Trumps supporters who want him to drain the swamp of corruption and special interests in Washington DC.

War with the press

While not exactly a policy, Mr Trump complained bitterly about media coverage throughout the election and that has continued after he entered office.

Although his administration is unlikely to make any legal moves against news outlets, Mr Trumps Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, has not appeared in a conciliatory mood in his first press briefing.

Mr Trump said they had deliberately downplayed the number of people who had come out to see the inauguration in Washington DC on Friday.

Several news outlets, including The Independent, published photographs comparing the size of the crowd at Mr Trumps inauguration with that of Mr Obamas in 2009.

The photos, seen side by side, show a much denser crowd at Mr Obamas inauguration  with the crowd noticeably thinning as it extends further back along Washington DC's National Mall in the Trump photograph.

But Mr Spicer insisted the inauguration was the most watched ever and accused the media of lying.

He also warned that the administration would hold the press to account.

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus later defended Mr Spicer saying the purpose of the press conference was to call out the dishonesty in the media and their obsession with delegitimising the President.
US actor Shia LaBeouf (centre) speaks during his He Will Not Divide Us livestream outside the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York, as a protest against President Donald Trump. LaBeouf has vowed to keep the camera running for the duration of Mr Trumps presidency and has invited the public to join in the protest. Photo: Getty Images

President Trump signed an executive order yesterday to permit the Keystone XL pipeline, from Canada to Texas

Donald Trump signed executive actions to push ahead with two controversial oil pipelines and promised to curb regulations on US industry yesterday, saying that environmentalism had grown "out of control".

The US president also reportedly banned all employees of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from discussing their work on social media or with the press as he seeks to unwind steps taken by Barack Obama on the environment.

At a meeting with automotive executives, Mr Trump said that he was personally "to a large extent an environmentalist" but that regulations were hampering the economy.

"Our friends that want to build in the United States, they go many, many years and then they can't get the environmental permit over something that nobody ever heard of before," he said. "It's absolutely crazy."

"I believe in it," Mr Trump said of protecting the environment, "but it's out of control".

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, also expanded on Mr Trump's statements that he believed three to five million illegal immigrants had cast fraudulent votes during the election, denying him the popular vote. "The president does believe there was voter fraud," he said. "He continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence presented to him."

Election officials have not reported any cases of widespread fraud.

Mr Trump's comments on the popular vote were similar to claims he made on Twitter in late November that he had won the electoral college in a "landslide" and also "won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally".

The announcement that the Keystone and Dakota Access oil pipeline projects would move forward was met with horror from environmental activists, who counted the stalling of construction on both projects under the Obama administration as a victory.

Protesters had gathered for months at the Standing Rock Indian reservation in North Dakota to protest against the Dakota pipeline, with environmental activists joining Native Americans who said the pipeline would desecrate sacred lands. Federal officials denied the permits needed to complete the project in December.

Mr Trump said that the projects would bring "a lot of jobs", particularly because he would insist that the pipelines be built with US-made steel.

Bernie Sanders, the senator and former presidential candidate, was one of many on the Left to vehemently object to the announcement.

"Today, President Trump ignored the voices of millions of people and put the short-term profits of the fossil fuel industry ahead of the future of our planet," he said.

Mr Trump also signed another order to expedite environmental reviews to allow for prompt approvals on construction projects. "We can't be in an environmental process for 15 years if a bridge is going to be falling down or a highway is crumbling," he said.

Mr Trump was an outspoken critic of environmental regulations during the presidential campaign. He has more recently emphasised the importance of keeping America's water and air clean, but wants to ramp up oil production.

Mr Trump also plans to scrap Mr Obama's landmark move in 2015 to cap greenhouse gas emissions.

The apparent gag order on the EPA was perhaps the most surprising step taken yesterday, and came after Mr Trump nominated Scott Pruitt, a prominent opponent of environmental regulations, to run the agency.

The new US president also announced that he plans to nominate a justice for the Supreme Court next week, moving swiftly to try to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. (Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Donald Trump has already applied to trademark his 2020 election slogan  Keep America Great.

The newly elected US President apparently came up with the idea during a rare interview with The Washington Post.

While discussing his slogan, and the fact that he didn't know until last year that Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush had used the slogan 'Let's Make American Great Again' in 1980, Mr Trump discussed his next campaign.

Are you ready? he told the Washington Post jounalist.  Keep America Great, exclamation point.

He then followed by summoning a lawyer immediately, who arrived within two minutes.

Will you trademark and register, if you would, if you like it  I think I like it, right? Do this: Keep America Great, with an exclamation point. With and without an exclamation. Keep America Great,  Trump told his lawyer.

Got it, the lawyer replied.

Later that day Donald J. Trump for President Inc had filed for the trademark protection, as Trump looks toward re-election for a second term in the White House.

It covers campaign merchandise like hats, as well as blogs and other campaigning services according to Politio.

Meanwhile, Trump is expected to sign a number of executive orders to introduce a suite of new immigration control measures.

Among them was 'extreme vetting' of people from seven predominately Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa.

It is also expected that he will make an announcement about building a wall on the boarder between the US and Mexico.

The President tweeted:

"Big day planned on national security tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"
In this handout picture provided by PETA, actress Pamela Anderson delivers presents to children in the Grande-Synthe refugee camp in northern France (AP)

Actress Pamela Anderson has made a surprise visit to a refugee camp in northern France, distributing children's books, food and other supplies.

Anderson's visit to the La Liniere camp outside Dunkirk was preceded by a stop at an aid group's warehouse in Calais, where a huge makeshift camp harbouring thousands of migrants was closed after a forced evacuation in October.

Wearing high heels, Anderson stooped to distribute fruit to children and passed out blankets, gloves and children's books.

La Voix du Nord newspaper quoted her as saying that everyone should see what a camp is like and ask what they can do.

Anderson promotes animal, human and environmental rights.

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was refused entry to the La Liniere camp on Tuesday.

AP
The Russian parliament has passed the second reading of a controversial Bill to decriminalise some forms of domestic violence.

The State Duma voted 385-2-1 to eliminate criminal liability for battery on family members that does not cause bodily harm.

The Bill that makes battery on a family member punishable by a fine or a 15-day day arrest has yet to be approved in the third reading.

From the Duma, it would proceed to the upper house, largely a rubber-stamp body, and then to President Vladimir Putin's desk.

The Bill stems from a Supreme Court ruling to decriminalise battery that does not inflict bodily harm, but to retain criminal charges for those accused of battery against family members.

Conservative activists objected, arguing it was a threat to parents who might spank their children.

Activists picketed the Duma on Wednesday morning to oppose the Bill, which has caused controversy and attracted more than 200,000 signatures online against it.

Olga Batalina, one of the Bill's co-authors, rejected suggestions that it would sow impunity for those who beat up their families.

"The Criminal Code still carries criminal responsibility for battery, but now it will be applicable only for repeat offenders," she told state television.

All those "who terrorise their family members, who do it repeatedly ... will face criminal responsibility".

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov would not comment on the Bill.

A survey this month by state-run pollster VTsIOM showed that 19% of Russians said "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 from January 13-15. The survey had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

AP
The sales boost came after Donald Trump's assertions that his inauguration had record attendance and millions of illegal votes were cast against him (AP)

New US president Donald Trump and his aides may have made incorrect or unprovable statements , but one truth is undeniable - sales of George Orwell's 1984 are soaring.

First published in 1949, Orwell's classic dystopian tale of a society in which facts are distorted and suppressed in a cloud of "newspeak", topped the best-seller list of Amazon.com on Tuesday evening.

The sales bump comes after the Trump administration's assertions that his inauguration had record attendance and his unfounded allegation that millions of illegal votes were cast against him in the US election.

Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway coined an instant catchphrase on Sunday when she called his claims about crowd size "alternative facts", bringing comparisons on social media to 1984.

Orwell's book is not the only cautionary tale on the Amazon list.

Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel about the election of an authoritarian president, It Can't Happen Here, was at No 46 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World at 71.

Sales also were up for Hannah Arendt's seminal non-fiction analysis The Origins Of Totalitarianism.

AP
A banner ridicules Donald Trump during a demonstration outside the World Trade Centre in Portland, Oregon (AP)

Donald Trump is dogged by insecurity over his loss of the popular vote in the US election and a persistent frustration that the legitimacy of his presidency is being challenged by Democrats and the media, aides and associates say.

The president's fixation has been a drag on the momentum of his opening days in office, with his exaggerations about inauguration crowds and false assertions about illegal balloting intruding on advisers' plans to launch his presidency with a flurry of actions on the economy.

His spokesman Sean Spicer has twice stepped into the fray himself, including on Tuesday, when he commented on Mr Trump's false claim that he lost the popular vote because 3-5 million people living in the US illegally cast ballots.

"He believes what he believes based on the information he was provided," said Mr Spicer, who gave no evidence to back up the president's statements.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have finalised their election results with no reports of the kind of widespread fraud alleged by Mr Trump.

If the president's claim were true it would mark the most significant election fraud in US history - and ironically, would raise the same questions about Mr Trump's legitimacy that he is trying to avoid.

Yet Mr Spicer repeatedly sidestepped questions about whether the Trump administration would investigate the allegations made by the president.

"Anything is possible," he said.

Some Trump allies say the property billionaire is justified in using his platform to defend his standing.

They point to Georgia Democratic congressman John Lewis' pre-inauguration statement that he did not see Mr Trump as a legitimate president, as well as US intelligence agencies' assessment that Russia meddled in the election in order to help him win.

"Segments of his own government keep driving this narrative," said Roger Stone, a long-time confidant.

"I don't think it hurts to point it out."

Key advisers in Mr Trump's circle concede the focus on crowd claims and alleged voter fraud have been a distraction.

After relishing in Friday's inaugural festivities, the new president grew increasingly upset the next day by what he felt was "biased" media coverage of women's marches across the world protesting at his election, according to a person familiar with his thinking.

He was particularly enraged with CNN, which he thought was "gloating" by continually running photos of the women's march alongside the smaller crowds that attended his inauguration the day before, according to the source, one of several White House aides and associates who spoke anonymously.

On Tuesday night Mr Trump slammed CNN again, referring to the network on Twitter as "FAKE NEWS @CNN" while praising rival Fox News Channel.

Mr Trump has had a tumultuous relationship with the press, frequently calling the media dishonest and insulting individual reporters by name at his rallies and on Twitter.

Two people close to the president said he expected his coverage to turn more favourable once he took office - instead, he has told people he believes it has got worse.

The bad press over the weekend has not allowed Mr Trump to "enjoy" the White House as he feels he deserves, according to one person who has spoken with him and t he result has been a full display of his propensity for exaggeration and more.

During an appearance at the CIA Saturday, he wrongly said the inaugural crowds gathered on the National Mall stretched to the Washington Monument, despite clear photographic evidence to the contrary.

And during a reception with politicians from both parties on Monday night, he repeated his false assertion that millions of illegal immigrants provided Hillary Clinton's margin in the popular vote.

It's not the first time that Mr Trump, who is known to be both thin-skinned and dedicated to polishing his public image, has become fixated on details that challenge his success.

When journalist Timothy O'Brien wrote in a 2005 book that Mr Trump was a multi-millionaire, not a billionaire, Mr Trump sued him for five billion dollars (4bn).

The case was dismissed but Mr Trump appealed, accusing the journalist of libel. He lost that, too.

Mr Spicer hinted at Mr Trump's feelings during his maiden press briefing on Monday.

"There is this constant theme to undercut the enormous support that he has," Mr Spicer said.

"And I think that it's just unbelievably frustrating when you're continually told it's not big enough, it's not good enough, you can't win."

Less than one week into the administration, Mr Spicer has twice been sent to the White House briefing room to reiterate his boss' message.

Mr Trump is said to have approved of Mr Spicer's angry tirade against the media on Saturday, which included false statements about the inaugural crowds.

But the president, who is intensely focused on optics, was said to be critical of Mr Spicer's on-camera image.

By Monday, Mr Spicer was donning a darker suit and his lectern in the briefing room had been lowered.

Underscoring Mr Trump's habit of stoking rivalries among his staff, he has told people he wants his counsellor Kellyanne Conway to be on television more - but aides are trying to get the cable news consumer-in-chief to be near a television less often, according to one person who has spoken with him.

He cheered Ms Conway's use of the phrase "alternative facts" in a recent interview as a way to counteract what he believes is the media's inherent bias.

AP
Dr David Nabarro has worked in the UN for decades

A British doctor has made it onto the World Health Organisation's shortlist of candidates to be its next leader.

Dr David Nabarro, who has worked in the UN for decades, is joined on the list by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a former Ethiopian health minister, and Dr Sania Nishtar, a Pakistani heart specialist.

The UN health agency announced the shortlist following a meeting of its executive board on Wednesday.

Two leading contenders - from France and Italy - were cut from the list despite their countries' campaigns.

WHO leads the global response to outbreaks but its credibility was severely damaged after its botched response to the biggest Ebola outbreak in history.

The successor to WHO's current chief, China's Dr Margaret Chan, will be picked by UN member countries in May.

AP
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The unfortunate incident that happened during the promotions of Raees has left the entire nation shocked. It's rather sad that an innocent life was lost. However, while many are pinpointing fingers at the Railway authorities and movie actors, the deceaseds mother has now come out in a support of the superstar, saying that it wasn't his fault.

Farid Khan Pathan died of cardiac rest as the crowd went berserk after Shah Rukh arrived at the Vadodara railway station on Monday night by August Kranti Rajdhani Express. He was the relative of a journalist, who was traveling in the same train with Shah Rukh.

However, the deceased's mother spoke to media and said that SRK's promotional gimmick has nothing to do with her sons unfortunate demise. A MissKyra report quoted her saying,

HQ : #SRK spotted outside Mannat while leaving for #Raees promotion in train from Mumbai to Delhi #RaeesByRail || #shahrukhkhan A photo posted by Team Shah Rukh Khan (@teamshahrukhkhan) on Jan 23, 2017 at 4:57am PST

We have nothing against Shah Rukh Khan as he is not at fault. He is also like my son, I would like to thank him for making last moment arrangements for our family to be a part of my sons funeral. The incident has nothing to do with SRKs Raees promotional event, my son fell prey to the crowd and succumbed to death due to suffocation. All we want is prayers from everyone for my son."

Farids niece, journalist Samina Shaikh, also said that the actors team ensured that she and her family reached her uncles funeral safely.

@iamsrk boarded the August Kranti Rajdhani express from Mumbai to Delhi as part of the Raees promotions. #raeesbyrail Isn't he the coolest?! A photo posted by MissMalini (@missmalini) on Jan 23, 2017 at 9:20pm PST

Its unfortunate that my uncle lost his life due to suffocation in the crowd as he was a heart patient. However, Shah Rukh Khan and his team made sure that my mother and I reach safely to my uncles funeral.We got down at Ratlam and SRKs team arranged a car for us to Vadodara to attend my uncles burial."

The journalist also spoke about how Shah Rukh broke down while consoling her.

When I narrated the incident to Shah Rukh, he was in tears as he could genuinely feel the pain that I and my family were going through. Apart from making arrangements for me and my mother from Ratlam to Vadodara, he also made arrangements for my relatives who flew in from Mumbai to Vadodara to attend my uncles last rites. Though SRK was busy with his films promotions in Delhi event, he even made sure to know about my family and provided whatever help possible.
The capital has put its foot down in one aspect of pollution dealing with plastics by banning all types of disposable plastics throughout Delhi-NCR.

Reuters

Last year in December the National Green Tribunal passed a law that banned disposable plastic and that law came into force on the first day of 2017. Included in the ban are bags, chai cups and cutlery.

Banning disposable plastic is a huge step for the capital and the country because India is among the top four biggest plastic polluters in the world, responsible for around 60% of the 8.8 million tons of plastic that is dumped into the worlds oceans every year.

Reuters

This step is in part a reaction to three local dumping sites in Okhla, Gazipur and Bhalswa, which operate as waste-to-energy plants but according to residents in the vicinity, illegal mass burning technology causes air pollution.

The National Green Tribunal said in a statement, Each of these sites is a depiction of the mess that can be created for environment and health of people of Delhi."

We direct that use of disposable plastic is prohibited in entire NCT of Delhi.

Reuters

It added that INR 10,000 environment compensation will be imposed on vegetable vendors and slaughterhouses if they throw garbage in public places.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with the United States President Donald Trump, first time after the latter took his office in Washington DC.

During their talk, Trump reportedly told PM Modi that India is "a true friend" and invited him to visit the US. Modi tweeted to say that their conversation was "warm" and that he also urged the US President to visit India.

AFP

"Had a warm conversation with President Donald Trump late last evening. President Trump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties. Have also invited President Trump to visit India," the PM tweeted.

Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

President @realDonaldTrump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

Have also invited President Trump to visit India.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

Trump's call to Modi came four days after he was sworn in as the US's 45th President. It was also only his fifth call since then to a world leader - ahead of calls to Russia, China or Japan - underscoring the importance of India in US foreign policy.

AP

Late last night, the White House said the two leaders discussed several issues including trade, defence and terrorism.

"They also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the US and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism."

AP

Trump also emphasised that the US considers India "a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House readout added.

During his gruelling election campaign, India is among the few countries - in addition to Israel - with whom Trump spoke of strengthening ties if elected to power.

AP

"Under a Trump Administration, we are going to become even better friends, in fact I would take the term better out and we would be best friends," Trump told a largely Hindu-American gathering in Edison, New Jersey, during a campaign speech last year.

"We are going to have a phenomenal future together," he said, and also praised Modi as "a very energetic leader he looked forward to working with."
India and Pakistan have come dangerously close to a nuclear conflict several times. About 930,000 declassified documents posted online by the CIA provide interesting insights into India's increasing concerns over Pakistan's nuclear programme in the early 80s.

BCCL

One such set of documents pointed out how India had planned to bomb Pakistan's nuclear plant at Kahuta. This was a covert operation planned by India that was shelved after international pressure.

The Pakistani target

In 1981, India planned to bomb Kahuta, inspired by a daring attack done by Israel on under-construction Iraqi nuclear reactors.

BCCL

The Israeli jets flew all the way to Iraq, over several enemy nations, bombed the plant and returned safely. For India, it could have been much easier than that as Pakistan was a neighbour. But it could lead to a full-blown nuclear war.

India's inspiration

Operation Opera also known as Operation Babylon was a surprise Israeli air strike carried out on 7 June 1981 that destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor under construction.

Secret documents revealed that the US Ambassador to Pakistan handed over a letter by President Ronald Reagan to General Zia-ul Haq which warned Pakistan about a possible Indian military attack on the Pakistan's nuclear reactor at Kahuta.

But the plan never happened

BCCL

Even the USSR was aware of India's plans. Indeed, rumours had started flying thick and fast. An article in Washington Post in 1982 revealed Indira Gandhi was advised by the Indian military to target the Pakistani nuclear plant.

The covert plan

BCCL

Israel, according to reports, wanted to use Gujarat's Jamnagar base to launch its jets and another base for refuelling. In March 1984, Indira okayed the operation, bringing India, Pakistan and Israel within striking distance of a nuclear conflict.

But Gandhi backed off after the Regan administration warned of action, say reports.

Message from Pakistan

BCCL

Some reports also say India's plan was shelved after a Pakistani nuclear scientist met Indian Atomic Energy Commission chief Raja Ramanna (in pic) at an international meet in Vienna.

The Pakistani scientist warned of a retaliatory strike on India's nuclear plant at Trombay.

But this did not deter India to junk its plan to attack Pakistani nuclear plant. It again planned a strike in 1984.

Bad press

BCCL

The ABC television of the US said that India was about to attack the Pakistani nuclear facilities.

The TV report cited a CIA communication to a US Senate committee. The CIA director in Pakistan had also informed the country about India planning to attack the Kahuta plant soon.

Losing plot

BCCL

When India found that Pakistan had immediately increased air defences around the Kahuta plant, it had to shelve its plan because the chief element of the strike plan was surprise, which was now lost.
A powerful avalanche has hits an Indian army camp in Sonamarg, Jammu and Kashmir.

According to initial report, at least one soldier has been killed and eight are missing after the mishap. ANI news agency quoting army reported that the death toll could rise.

A massive search operation has been launched to trace those missing.

Last year in February, a powerful avalanche had hit the Siachen glacier killing ten Indian soldiers.

Separately, four members of a family died today as an avalanche buried their house in Gurez sector, also near the Line of Control, PTI said.

The avalanche struck at Badoogam village in the Tulail area of Gurez in the wee hours and buried the house of Mehraj-ud-Din Lone, a police official said. He said the house collapsed under the debris of the avalanche resulting in death of the family.

Authorities in Kashmir have issued an avalanche warning for the higher reaches of the Kashmir Valley, following fresh snowfall since Tuesday. They also advised people to stay away from mountains and foothills.
American President Donald Trump might sign executive orders, this week that will stop Syrian refugees and Muslim immigrants from entering the country. And he might also order the construction of the Mexican border wall, he trumpeted about during his election campaign.

Representational image/Reuters

This information was reported by Reuters, who credited congressional aides briefed on the orders. Trump, if he signs the orders, will restrict people  immigrants, refugees and visa holders  from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

Reuters

His restrictions are most likely going to include a multi-month ban on immigrants until the State Department and Department of Homeland Security figure out an extreme vetting process that Trump spoke about in his campaign.

Reuters

President Trump is also expected to start the process construction of the wall along the US-Mexican border, according to officials quoted by The Associated Press.

During the election campaign, Trump repeated promised American people that he would construct a wall along the US-Mexican border to stop illegal immigrants from entering the States, and he also promised to implement a complete ban on Muslim immigrants from entering the country.
. 20 is the latest date now being cited as the deadline for concluding the now delayed second review of the Greek program (third bailout), with a Eurozone official on Wednesday adding that the possible return of creditors' representatives to Athens will be discussed at Thursday's Eurogroup meeting.
Trump to Sign Orders Reviving Pipeline Projects By Jennifer Jacobs and Jennifer A Dlouhy January 24, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " Bloomberg " - President Donald Trump intends to take action today to advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, according to a person familiar with the matter. TransCanada Corp. s Keystone pipeline was rejected under former President Barack Obama, and Energy Transfer Partners LPs $3.8 billion Dakota Access project was stalled when the Obama administration halted work on in on land near Lake Oahe in North Dakota amid protests by Native American groups. The moves, taken on Trumps fourth full day in office, illustrate his plan to fulfill his campaign pledge to give the oil industry more freedom to expand infrastructure, create jobs and ease transportation bottlenecks. TransCanada climbed as much as 1.1 percent to C$63.25 at 9:33 a.m. in New York. Energy Transfer Equity LP and Energy Transfer Partners LP climbed as much as 3.3 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively. TransCanada had no immediate comment on the presidents proposed actions and Energy Transfer didnt immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for the Standing Rock tribe that opposes the Dakota project says theyll comment "if it happens." White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday said Trumps goal was to balance environmental protection and projects that can grow jobs and the economy. TransCanada may need to submit another formal application to build the pipeline. But the companys plans for Keystone XL already have been vetted, with years of environmental scrutiny culminating in former President Barack Obamas 2015 decision that the pipeline was not in the U.S. interest. TransCanada has not said it would reapply for permission to build the pipeline, but the day after Trumps election, the Calgary-based company said it was looking for ways to convince the new administration of the projects benefits to the U.S. economy. The company has previously said it remains "committed to Keystone XL." Environmentalists fiercely battled the project, making it a flashpoint in broader debates about U.S. energy policy and climate change. Landowners in the pipelines path warned that a spill of dense crude could contaminate the Ogallala aquifer, a source of drinking water that stretches from Texas to South Dakota. And activists said it would promote further development of oil sands in Alberta, Canada that generally require more energy to extract. Dakota Access opponents say the pipeline would damage sites culturally significant to Native Americans and pose an environmental hazard where it crosses the Missouri River. Earlier this month, the Department of the Army withheld the final easement necessary for construction beneath the lake. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Why The Keystone Pipeline Will Actually RAISE Gas Prices In the U.S. : Big Oil Is Gaming the System to Raise Domestic U.S. Prices Trump orders EPA media blackout; Agriculture Department research service bans release of new info to public : The Trump administration has instituted what it described as a temporary media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency and barred staff from awarding any new contracts or grants.
Analyst Believes Chinas Missiles Near Russian Borders Target USA An analyst says China has deployed inter-continental ballistic missiles near Russia with the aim to be able to reach targets in the US, Canada and Europe



By TASS MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. China has deployed inter-continental ballistic missiles near Russia with the aim to be able to reach targets in the United States, Canada and Europe, the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Doctor of Military Science Konstantin Sivkov, has said.



Earlier, the daily Global Times said China had deployed inter-continental ballistic missiles of its own design (DF-41) in northeastern Heilongjiang province bordering Russia. "This is an inter-continental class missile with an effective range of ten thousand to twelve thousand kilometers. The missiles dead zone is no less than three thousand kilometers. A large territory of Russia, practically the entire Far East and West Siberia are not within the missiles reach," Sivkov told TASS.



Selecting this area for deploying the missiles targeted against Russian territory would be not expedient from the military point of view.



"If that were the purpose, the missiles should have been stationed deep inside mainland China or on its southern border," Sivkov explained.



In his opinion missiles of that class stationed where they are will have the capability to reach targets in the United States, Canada and Europe.



"This is Chinas response to threats pronounced by the new US president, Donald Trump. Also, Chinese missiles would be able to use a more advantageous northern strategic route for approaching targets in the United States, thus bypassing the US missile defense," Sivkov said.



The three-stage solid propellant ICBM DF-41 (Dongfeng-41, also known by its NATO reporting name CSS-X-10), was designed by Chinas Academy of Rocket Motor Technology. It is presumably armed with a multiple warhead consisting of ten to twelve independently targetable reentry vehicles. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Beijing urges US to exercise caution when dealing with South China Sea issue : We urge the US side to respect the reality, to be cautious in its remarks and actions, so as to avoid undermining the peace and stability in the region, she said. China calls for ban on nuclear weapons; urges leadership at UN treaty negotiations: Massive reinvestments in nuclear warheads, delivery systems, and infrastructure are dangerous and contradictory to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons.
From War to More War



Experience tells us it matters little whether a liberal democrat or an autocratic republican sits in the White House.



By Stanley L Cohen January 24, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " Al Jazeera " - Well, it's over  and good riddance. What began with a purchased Nobel Peace Prize and a lecture to the Middle East, under the then omnipotent eyes of Hosni Mubarak, has ended with a parting bang  yet another round of massive US air strikes in Libya and Syria. Forgive my cynicism, but if history is, in fact, a fair guidepost of what comes to be, Barack Obama's parting shots at so-called "jihadi" camps most likely did little more than slaughter civilians  thereby enticing 10 times as many others to pick up a gun or a bomb and strike back, however possible, wherever feasible. Eight years ago the world held its collective breath for what would prove to be an all-too-brief moment with the election of a self-professed anti-war "liberal" to the most powerful and deadly office in the world. In October 2002, then Senator Obama, an orator of rare talent with keen mind and extraordinary youthful vigour and promise, announced he was "opposed to dumb wars". He was going to be different. He said so. He lied. Wartime president Well  not quite. He was different. After all, he's the only two-term president in US history who has waged war every single day of his eight years in office. Indeed, not to be outdone by the hawkish George W Bush, Obama conducted air strikes on seven countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Libya and Syria. That's three more than Bush bombed. During his two terms, our peace president ordered a total of 563 "special" air strikes, largely carried out by drones, that targeted Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, in particular, compared to "but" 57 such strikes under Bush. While impossible to know for sure, the total number of those killed by these attacks during attempts to target three dozen or so "terrorists" - including US citizens afforded no due process - apparently resulted in the deaths of almost 1,200 civilians . As a parting peace gesture, Obama left behind "Special Operation Forces" deployed to more than 130 nations; that's 70 percent of the world's countries. On the other hand, let's give some credit where credit is due. Obama did slap around Benjamin Netanyahu to the tune of $38bn, largely for weapons, before refusing to veto the toothless settlement resolution in the United Nations. War means profit, and that's something that brings a huge smile to the face of the new president. The US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan alone have earned the American weapons industry trillions of dollars and counting. Saudi Arabia, which has obtained more than $100bn worth of weapons during the Obama administration, heard its "concerns" about how US-made weapons were being used in Yemen before proceeding to purchase another 153 tanks, and hundreds of machine guns in a deal worth $1.15bn. Egypt also felt the pinch of Obama's pacifist hand when he required that it make "credible progress towards democracy" before releasing billions in military aid frozen since Abdel Fattah el-Sisi came to power after the military coup that toppled the elected government of President Mohamed Morsi. We all know how well Egypt has been progressing in its steady slither towards democracy. Perpetual warfare? Perhaps, in a strange sort of way, the election of Donald Trump, consumed by the chase of money and women in that order, may at day's end be the best thing in years that has happened for the prospects of peace in the Middle East. Unlike Obama - who has spent his lifetime wanting to be loved and who figured the best way to earn it was by proving just how tough he could be - Trump has spent his life proudly ensuring there's just nothing there to love and, seemingly, could not care less about it. Maybe, when it comes to war, the shrinks are right: those who need to prove just how tough they can be are far more dangerous than those who just don't give a damn. Hope surely springs eternal. But wait a minute; these guys in the Trump cabinet seem awfully familiar, don't they? Isn't that retired General James "Mad Dog" Mattis wearing an Armani suit? Wasn't he the general who lost his tour of duty because Obama found him too hawkish on Iran as he pushed the military to punish it and its allies through more covert actions to capture and kill Iranian operatives and interdict its warships? Didn't he only recently oversee combat operations throughout the Middle East? And that other guy in the corner - the one looking awfully nervous sitting there without his chest full of medals - can that be retired Marine General John Kelly? Wasn't he in charge of Guantanamo; you, know, the guy that challenged Obama any time the president had the temerity to bring up the subject of closing it? Didn't he lose a son to combat in Afghanistan against the Taliban? How about that third guy? He looks an awful lot like retired Army Lieutenant-General Michael Flynn, whom Obama forced out of the Defense Intelligence Agency (the Pentagon's version of the CIA) because of his description of Islam as a "cancer" and saying "fear of Muslims is rational". What's the worry with him as National Security Adviser? No problem. Does anyone really think that Trump can - or cares to - reign in a collection of misanthrope generals with likely a century or more of battle scars  those warriors that see peace as very much a pastime of the meek  who see moderation as soft, quiet as weak, and talk but prelude to attack ? Of course not. Profits and more What of Trump himself? Though he's gone on record as being opposed to regime change and committed to allies assuming more of their own military costs, he's often expressed a hawkish stand on the Middle East, specifically with regard to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and sees other threats, real and imagined, against the US almost everywhere. That translates to money - big money. Indeed, Trump has called for tens of thousands of additional troops; a Navy of 350 ships; a significantly larger Air Force; an anti-missile, space-based Star Wars-style programme; and an acceleration of the Pentagon's $1 trillion "modernisation" programme for its nuclear arsenal. War means profit, and that's something that brings a huge smile to the face of the new president. The US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan alone have earned the American weapons industry trillions of dollars and counting. It's not by accident that in the days following Trump's election, stock values for military contractors soared: Lockheed Martin - up 4.8 percent; Northrop Grumman - up 5.1 percent; Raytheon - up 6.2 percent; General Dynamics - up 4.1 percent; L-3 Communications - up 5.4 percent; Textron - up 2.2 percent; Boeing - up 0.76 percent; Huntington Ingalls - up 6.5 percent. While hope may spring eternal, reality flows from bitter experience. Here, that experience should tell us that it matters little whether a liberal democrat or an autocratic republican sits in the White House. In the history of the US, colonialism has always found a "welcome" host in the Middle East, with or without its age old network of surrogates. It knows of no such restraint as political party or allegiance. Profit and military madness make for a bad combination indeed. That marriage will continue as eight years of unabated war will surely grow to 12. Stanley L Cohen is a lawyer and human rights activist who has done extensive work in the Middle East and Africa. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.
Trumps Foreign Policy: An Unwise Inconsistency? By Ron Paul January 24, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Throughout the presidential campaign, Donald Trumps foreign policy positions have been anything but consistent. One day we heard that NATO was obsolete and the US needs to pursue better relations with Russia. But the next time he spoke, these sensible positions were abandoned or an opposite position was taken. Trumps inconsistent rhetoric left us wondering exactly what kind of foreign policy he would pursue if elected. The Presidents inaugural speech was no different. On the one hand it was very encouraging when he said that under his Administration the US would seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world, and that he understands the right of all nations to put their own interests first. He sounded even better when he said that under Trump the US would not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example. We will shine for everyone to follow. That truly would be a first step toward peace and prosperity. However in the very next line he promised a worldwide war against not a country, but an ideology, when he said he would, unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate from the face of the Earth. This inconsistent and dangerous hawkishess will not defeat radical Islamic terrorism, but rather it will increase it. Terrorism is not a place, it is a tactic in reaction to invasion and occupation by outsiders, as Professor Robert Pape explained in his important book, Dying to Win. The neocons repeat the lie that ISIS was formed because the US military pulled out of Iraq instead of continuing its occupation. But where was ISIS before the US attack on Iraq? Nowhere. ISIS was a reaction to the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. The same phenomenon has been repeated wherever US interventionist actions have destabilized countries and societies. Radical Islamic terrorism is for the most part a reaction to foreign interventionism. It will never be defeated until this simple truth is understood. We also heard reassuring reports that President Trump was planning a major shake-up of the US intelligence community. With a budget probably approaching $100 billion, the intelligence community is the secret arm of the US empire. The CIA and other US agencies subvert elections and overthrow governments overseas, while billions are spent spying on American citizens at home. Neither of these make us safer or more prosperous. But all the talk about a major shake up at the CIA under Trump was quickly dispelled when the President visited the CIA on his first full working day in office. Did he tell them a new sheriff was in town and that they would face a major and long-overdue reform? No. He merely said he was with them 1000 percent. One reason Trump sounds so inconsistent in his policy positions is that he does not have a governing philosophy. He is not philosophically opposed to a US military empire so sometimes he sounds in favor of more war and sometimes he sounds like he opposes it. Will President Trump in this case be more influenced by those he has chosen to serve him in senior positions? We can hope not, judging from their hawkishness in recent Senate hearings. Trump cannot be for war and against war simultaneously. Let us hope that once the weight of the office settles on him he will understand that the prosperity he is promising can only come about through a consistently peaceful foreign policy. Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American author, physician, and former politician. He was formerly the U.S. Representative for Texas' 14th and 22nd congressional districts.  Copyright 2017 Campaign for Liberty
US Drone Killing Machine Now on Autopilot By Laurie Calhoun January 24, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - For years now I have been pointing out that Obamas lasting legacy would be his ill-advised decision back in 2009 to normalize assassination, which his administration successfully rebranded as targeted killing. This was supposed to be the latest and greatest form of smart war: the use of unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), or lethal drones, to go after and eliminate evil terrorists without risking US soldiers lives. It all sounds so slick and, well, Obama cool. The problem is that any sober consideration of Obamas foreign policy over the course of his eight years as president reveals that the reality is altogether different. Judging by the murder and mayhem being perpetrated all across the Middle East, smart war was not so smart after all. Its not easy to tease out how much of the mess in the Middle East is specifically due to Obamas accelerated use of lethal drones in signature strikes to kill thousands of military-age men in seven different lands. For he also implemented other, equally dubious initiatives. Planks of Obamas bloody smart power approach included deposing Libyas dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, and massively arming (from 2012 to 2013) a group of little-understood appropriately vetted moderate rebels in Syria. Adding fuel to the fire, Obama oversaw the largest exportation of homicidal weapons to the Middle East ever undertaken by a single US president. Saudi Arabia wasted no time in using its US (and also UK) military provisions to lay Yemen to waste. Conjoined with Obamas use of drones in that land, the result has been a horrific civil war in which many civilians have been killed and many civilian structures destroyed. As if all of this were not bad enough, Obama also managed to drop more than 26K bombs in 2016, after having dropped more than 23K in 2015. Given all of this very warlike behavior in undeclared wars, no one can truly say precisely how much drones are to blame for the ongoing carnage throughout the Middle East. What is beyond dispute is that together these measures culminated in a huge expansion and spread of ISIS and other radical jihadist groups. At the same time, given the tonnage of bombs dropped by Obama in seven different countries, the use of drones does seem to have led directly to a willingness of the president to use also manned combat aerial vehicles, notably in countries with which the United States was not at war when Obama assumed his office. While his predecessor, George W. Bush, can be properly credited with the destruction of Afghanistan and Iraq, Obama managed to contribute heartily to the destruction of Libya, Yemen, and Syria, while attacking the people of Somalia as well. Enter Donald J. Trump, who became the new US president on January 21, 2017. On that same day, two drone strikes in Yemen killed a slew of people, three of whom were said to be suspected Al Qaeda leaders. The US government has not confirmed that it launched the strikes. It is the policy of the CIA, put in charge by Obama of the drone program outside areas of active hostilities (in countries such as Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, et al.), not to share the details of its covert operations. This would seem to imply that the drone strikes on January 21, 2017, were not the doings of the Pentagon, now under the direction of General James Mad Dog Mattis, who was sworn in on the same day as the new president. Trumps choice for CIA director, Mike Pompeo, has not yet been sworn in, as his confirmation process is still underway. In other words, the drone strikes carried out under the auspices of the CIA this past weekend were done so without a director in place. Obama therefore succeeded not only in normalizing assassination as targeted killing when the implements of homicide used are missiles, and they are launched under the direction of the CIA, but he also left the killing machine on autopilot. Note that the former CIA director, John Brennan, who first served as Obamas drone killing czar, before being promoted to director, has spent his time in recent days bashing the new president, not serving as Trumps interim adviser. The incineration of military-age men using missiles launched from drones has become so frequent and commonplace that US citizens, including legislators, did not blink an eye at the fact that the killing machine set in motion by President Obama is now effectively on autopilot. Its worth remembering that, once upon a time, acts of war were to be approved by the congress. Now even acephalic agencies such as the directorless CIA are permitted to use weapons of war to kill anyone whom they deem to be worthy of death. All of this came about because Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Barack no boots on the ground Obama wanted to be able to prosecute wars without appearing to prosecute wars. Fait accompli. Laurie Calhoun, a philosopher and cultural critic, is the author of We Kill Because We Can: From Soldiering to Assassination in the Drone Age (Zed Books, September 2015; paperback forthcoming in 2016) and War and Delusion: A Critical Examination . https://thedroneage.wordpress.com
Three Days In And Trump Has Already Kept One Pledge By Paul Craig Roberts January 24, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - On Trumps third day Trump is one up on the Establishment. Can this last? I am not a Trump booster. I am a scorekeeper. On the third day of his presidency Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacificic Partnership (TPP). Based on this we must assume he will also deep-six the Trans-Atlantic Partnership. Trump and his advisors regard the Pacific and Atlantic partnerships as trade deals like NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement that sent American jobs to Mexico at the expense of Americans. However, the most strategic part of these agreements is that they make global corporations immune from the laws of the countries in which they do business if those laws adversely impact the profits of the global corporations. Who decides the question? Not the courts of the countries or a world court.

The question is decided by a corporate tribunal staffed only by corporations. In other words, the sovereign laws of sovereign countries, such as Frances laws against GMOs, are subject to damage suits decided by corporate tribunals, which means the end of the legal sovereignty of countries. The so-called trade partnerships are weapons of American economic imperialism. Whether Trump and his advisors are aware of this or not, Trump has on his third day dealt a lethal blow to a power lusted after by US global corporations. How will this formidable force respond to this blow inflicted upon them by Trump? That remains to be seen if the blows that Trump has promised against the interests of the elites continue. Global corporations are Fifth Columns in the countries in which they are incorporated and also in the foreign countries in which they do business. They have no loyalty to any country, only to the profits that comprise their bottom line. Anything that increases those profits they regard as legitimate. Anything that diminishes those profits they regard as illegitimate. Modern capitalism is a profit-driven world, in which capitalists are devoid of the loyalty to their native countries that Adam Smith and David Ricardo assumed them to have. US global corporations have demonstrated their disloyalty to the US by moving US jobs to Asia. Think Apple, Nike, Levi, and all the rest. Jobs offshoring separates consumers from the incomes associated with the production of the goods that they consume, which leads to penury. The rewards for the offshoring global corporations have been large profits from reduced labor and regulatory costs, resulting in executive performance bonuses and capital gains to shareholders and to executives with stock options or some similar income booster. The costs have been the dismantling of the ladders of upward mobility that made the US an opportunity society. High productivity, high valued added manufacturing and professional skill jobs, such as software engineering jobs, have been moved offshore, and in the case of software jobs also given to foreign H1B work visa holders. The consequence is the collapse of the state, local, and federal tax base, and the consequent assault on Social Security, Medicare, and state and local pensions. A county like the US that gives its GNP away to other countries is locked into a transformation from First World to Third World. This is what Trump has said he will reverse. How can he do it? Is this something that he can deliver by cutting corporate tax rates and by imposing an import or border tax? The US is a member of the World Trade Agreement, which prohibits tarrifs or border taxes. If this is correct, Trump would first have to pull the US out of the WTO, something that might be difficult. However, what Trump can do is to offset the labor cost advantage to corporate profits from offshoring their production for US markets by changing how corporations are taxed. If US corporations add value to their product in the US, that is, if they produce the products that they market to Americans in the US with American labor, they would have a lower tax rate than if they produce the products abroad with foreign labor. The difference in the tax rate can be calculated to offset, or more than offset, the advantage of the lower labor and regulatory costs abroad. This is a matter of domestic taxation and not a matter of tarrifs on foreign-produced goods, and, therefore, it is not subject to WTO rules. Because of the globalist propaganda, Americans have forgotten that the strength of their economy was domestically-based. The development of the US economy was never based on foreign trade. It rested firmly in the rise of consumer spending power from America labor receiving the bulk of the productivity gains. What jobs offshoring did was to transfer the income gains from productivity to corporate profits by underpaying Asian labor. It was easy to pay Asian labor less than labors contribution to profit, because of the immense excess supply of Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, and other labor. When labor is plentiful and jobs are scarce, labor goes begging. Even today the Chinese and Indian labor forces are under-employed. The only way American labor can compete is to accept a wage below the US standard of living. Trump understands this, just as did Ross Perot and Pat Buchanan. Ross Perot was a billionaire; yet he stood up for ordinary working Americans. Yet, the left says all billionaires are evil. Pat Buchanan was royalty in the Republican Establishment; yet he deserted them and stood up for the ordinary working American. And the left says he is a Nixon-Reagan fascist. Clearly, the pathetic remnant of the American left has more hate for those who stand up for the working class than they have for those oppressing the working class and those fomenting war. Why did the women so quick to march against Trump not march against the Clinton, Bush/Cheney, and Obama regimes for killing, maiming, orphaning, widowing, and dislocating millions of peoples in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, and Syria? That we see the left aligned with the ruling elites against Trump is proof that the left has abandoned the working class. Chris Hedges doesnt know how desperately revolution is needed in the US. If revolution occurs, it is more likely to be led by Donald Trump than by the left. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West , How America Was Lost , and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order .
Distracted Media Fails To Catch Trump Policy Decisions By Moon Of Alabama January 24, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " Moon Of Alabama " - For two days the media have been busy counting people gathering in Washington DC. 90.3% of the voters in Washington DC had chosen Clinton. A recent DC gathering of a Republican aligned crowd on a rainy work-day attracted many people. A following gathering of a Democratic aligned crowd on a work-free day without rain attracted more people. The media watched, counted and was "astonished". Thousands of lines of "political analyses" were written to explain the difference of the crowd size without mentioning the significance of where it happened, what day of the week it happened and the environmental circumstances. The result of such analysis was a lot of bullshit. The new Trump administration was quite happy about this diversion of attention. It additionally lampooned the media when its new spokesperson condemned the press for not being able to count at all. More lines of bullshit analysis were written about that insult. Just like during the election campaign the media fell for the cheap stunt and thereby missed the serious processes and the decisions that were taking place behind the curtains. Today the Trump administration announced the end of the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement: The presidents withdrawal from the Asian-Pacific trade pact amounted to a drastic reversal of decades of economic policy in which presidents of both parties have lowered trade barriers and expanded ties around the world. Although candidates have often criticized trade deals on the campaign trail, those who made it to the White House, including President Barack Obama, ended up extending their reach. The NYT seems astonished that, unlike Obama, Trump stood by his words. The media had expected different and was distracted. It failed to report the issue until the decision was taken. The TPP would have imposed "free trade" on more countries and products. The "free" in those trades would have meant that private companies would have been "free" to overrule national governments and their jurisdiction. They could have sued for "compensation" if a country, for public health or environmental reasons, rejected or hindered one of their businesses. Everyone should be happy that this monster died. In another policy surprise a new coordination between Russian and U.S. intelligence circles in Syria is bearing fruits: Russia has received coordinates of Daesh targets in Al-Bab, Aleppo Province, from the US via the 'direct line,' the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday. The United States has provided coordinates of the terrorists' targets in the city of Al-Bab in Aleppo province for Russian airstrikes. After the reconnaissance check, Russia and two coalition jets have conducted joint airstrikes on the Daesh targets in the region. The U.S. military seems to deny: Any involvement or participation of American assets on the ground in country, in support of a series of Russian airstrikes against the northern Syrian town of al-Bab was 100 percent false, said Pentagon spokesman Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway. The U.S. coalition spokesperson also said it is: "not coordinating airstrikes with the Russian military in Syria" Before jumping up and down and claiming that the Russians are lying the media should take a fine comb and reread the statements. The DoD only denied it coordinated airstrikes or helped with "assets on the ground". It does not deny the transfer of coordinates. The Russians do not claim U.S. airplanes took part in the mission - only "coalition jets". Turkey is part of the U.S. coalition and coordinates airstrikes with the Russian forces in Syria: Earlier, Russian and Turkish combat planes have carried out a new series of joint airstrikes against Daesh targets in war-torn Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday. "The Russian and Turkish planes carried out joint airstrikes against Islamic State terrorists in the outskirts of the town of al-Bab in Aleppo province on January 21," the ministry said in a statement. The Russian statement is likely as correct as the DoD statement. The political significance here is the transfer of ISIS targeting coordinates from some U.S. agency directly to the Russian forces in Syria. That is something Russia has asked for for over a year and it now suddenly seems to happen. This is next to the TTP decision a second significant change under Trump the media missed to report on as it developed. While the blustering against Trump in U.S. media as well as in some countries abroad goes on and on, serious decisions are taken and implemented by the new administration. The media fail in some systematic way. Minor diversions from "political correctness" are blown up into big headlines while big policy decisions pass unnoticed. It is simple: The task with reporting on the Trump administration is the same as with any politician. Do not listen to what they say, watch what they do. It is high time for the media to get back to that basic rule. Digression: As a German I am embarrassed on how much my government failed to anticipate Trump and, since he is elected, fails to prepare for the coming onslaught on its export orientated economic model. Wages in Germany were held down by all means (including by importing additional workforce from Syria and elsewhere) and a huge export surplus was created that benefited only a few moneyed pockets. The scheme created a huge imbalance in Europe and the credit crisis in Spain, Greece and elsewhere. Trump's policies will finally blow this model apart. But neither of the ruling parties in Germany has yet developed an alternative or prepared a way towards one. Germany needs to re-orientate its industry from export to local consumption. That requires higher buying power for the general public via higher wages and lower taxes. A lower degressive VAT compensated by higher progressive taxes on non-work income would be a way to go. If such steps are delayed the economic damage will be serious and further open the way for a demagogic right. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.
Mr. Damian Chukwu, the Borno State Commissioner of Police, on Wednesday, confirmed the killing of three villagers and abduction of seven women by suspected Boko Haram terrorists on Sunday in Dagu, Askira/Uba Local Government Area of the state. The Police Commissioner provided the confirmation at a press conference he addressed in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

From the information we received two days ago, three persons were killed, cars were burnt, and Dagu village was razed. When the terrorists arrived, villagers ran into the bush, but they abducted seven women from the village, said Mr. Chukwu.

Source: SaharaReporters
A house belonging to the former Assistant Director (Finance and Account), of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), Mahmud Deji Sambo, was on Monday confiscated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Mr Sambo is currently facing trial with Musti Bukar for allegedly stealing N58 million belonging to the hospital with which he allegedly used in obtaining the seized property.

A statement by the Head of Media and Publicity of EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said: The EFCC has secured the forfeiture of the property at Plot 114, Gamji Road, New GRA, off Bama Road, Maiduguri, belonging to Mahmud Deji Sambo, a former Assistant Director (Finance and Account), with the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.

Sambo is being prosecuted on a three-count charge of stealing. The property, to have been acquired with proceeds of crime, was attached pursuant to an order by Justice M.T Salihu of the Federal High Court, Maiduguri.

It will be recalled that Sambo and Musti Bukar were arraigned by the EFCC last April for alleged fraud perpetrated in the finance department of UMTH, to the tune of N58 million.

They pleaded not guilty to the charges. So far, the prosecution has called 10 witnesses as trial continues.

Sections 28 and 34 of the EFCC (Establishment Act) 2004 and Section 13(1) of the Federal High Court Act, 2004, empowers the anti-graft agency to invoke Interim Assets Forfeiture Clause on any serving or former public officer or any Nigerian under probe.
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday gave an insight into how, between 1999-2007 in Lagos State, a reform of the judiciary ended the perception of corruption in that arm of government, saying it was achieved by putting in place the principle of punishing bad behaviour.

Speaking earlier yesterday at the monthly meeting of the Presidential Enabling Business Council (PEBEC) in Aso Villa, Prof. Osinbajo said that, in 1999, an overwhelming 89 per cent of lawyers in Lagos, in a survey, said there was corruption in the state judiciary, yet no one was being sanctioned.

According to him, So we decided to deal with the situation. In the first year, we sacked 21 magistrates, and three judges in the second year. By 2007 when we conducted the same survey, the result was zero per cent, with the lawyers surveyed responding that there was no corruption in the Lagos State judiciary.

Nigerians, like any others, will behave well if we put in a system where people wont get away with misconduct. We are the ones to do it, he said.

He said once a system is in place that punishes bad behaviour and enforces the consequence for misconduct, the people will behave well.

We are at a point when we feel obliged to do our very best to improve in all the factors and create an enabling environment for businesses in the country.

We have to be committed to what we want to achieve. We must develop a system that punishes bad behaviour and reward good behaviour, the vice president said.

The Council considered different options and decisions that would be taken in the nations ports, on starting a business, construction permits, registering property, getting credit, trading across the borders and enforcement of contracts, among others.

President Muhammadu Buhari had demonstrated strong political will to establish the Council with the mandate to identify and implement the reforms that will improve the business environment in Nigeria and thereby improve Nigerias rating in the annual World Bank Doing Business global ranking.

Yesterdays meeting of the Council, with nine cabinet ministers in attendance, included an interactive session with the World Bank team led by the country director, Rachid Benmessaoud, and other senior officials from the Washington DC head office of the global financial institution.

Ministers at the meeting included those for Industry, Trade and Investment, Okey Enelamah; Justice, Abubakar Malami; Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma; Finance, Kemi Adeosun; Interior, Lt. Gen. (retd) Abdulrahman Dambazau; Transport, Rotimi Amaechi; Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, and the minister of state for the Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril.

Source: Leadership
The Governor of Ekiti State in the early hours on Wednesday stopped the operatives of Department of State Services from arresting the founder of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleiman, in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

The pastor who is in the state for a two-day crusade that started on Tuesday was alleged to have been preaching against the killings of the Fulani herdsmen and asked members of his church in Auchi, Edo State to resist killings from the herders.

Recall that, last week, a video footage widely shared on social media, showed the preacher, telling his congregants that someone had informed him of a plan by Fulani herdsmen to attack and assassinate him.

I have told them in the church here that any Fulani herdsman that just enter by mistake and want to pretend, kill him. Kill him. Cut his head. If they are busy killing Christians and nothing is happening, we will kill them and nothing will happen, he said to the cheers of his congregants in a packed church auditorium.

According to reports, Gov Fayose who had participated in the first day of the programme responded to a distress call by the pastor that, DSS operatives had trailed him to Midas Hotel in the Adebayo area of the town, where the he was staying after visiting the governor

Mr. Lere Olayinka, the media aide to the governor in a statement posted on the popular social media page, Whatsapp, claimed that the security operatives arrived in three Toyota Hilux vans and almost forced their way into the controversial preachers room; but were stopped by security officials in the hotel, who insisted on knowing their mission.

He said when alerted, Mr. Fayose drove himself to the hotel and took the preacher to the Government House, Ado-Ekiti.

Apostle Suleiman, while narr

I called some people and they said there were some men here who said they want to see me at the dead of the night. Something was fishy, the preacher was seen saying in a video footage posted on Mr. Olayinkas Facebook page, around 3 a.m. on Wednesday.

Only for the people to come and I discovered they were DSS men with trucks but the governor came and took me out of the hotel. They were trying to break into the room. It was the crowd that scared them, he said.

The preacher threatened dire consequences if he is arrested.

The truth I want to pass out: If I spend a day with security operatives, if I spend one day with security operatives, I have churches in 42 countries and I have alerted them. Every Nigerian embassy in those countries will be in trouble.

If I spend one day with security operatives the damage that will happen in Geria will take one year to repair. In this country alone I have over half a million people and the reaction already.. If I spend one day, the damage that will happen will take one year to repair, he said.

The DSS has no spokesperson and could not be reached for this story.

Another video posted by Mr. Olayinka showed Mr. Fayose and Mr. Suleiman walking ahead of an entourage into what appears to be the Government House of the State. Mr. Olayinka also shared video of the governor and the preacher alighting from a black SUV and walking down a street.
High school students in Mbabane, the capital of the largest city in Swaziland, blame sexually attractive teachers for causing their failure in their final exams late last year.

The students said their female teachers who wore revealing dresses and exposed cleavage affected their concentration in class and resulted in their poor performance, local newspaper Times of Swaziland reported.

The majority male Ngcoseni Central High School recorded huge failures in the past two years with about 166 students failing in 2016.

Some of the students who are repeating their classes told the paper last week that their female teachers were disturbing them as they were old enough to be attracted to sexy women.

The students whose identities were withheld also accused some of the teachers of reluctance to teach them and unprofessional conduct.

After the publication last week, the schools 54 teachers were summoned by the Deputy Prime Minister of Swaziland, Paul Dlamini, for a meeting on Thursday with Social Welfare Department officers, the Times of Swaziland reported on Wednesday.

The school has been in the news several times for the wrong reasons including last years failure in the final exams and violence among others.

The secondary and high school education system in Swaziland is a five-year programme divided into three years junior secondary and two years senior secondary.
Kidnappers have set free three students and five employees of the Nigerian Tulip International College (NTIC), kidnapped two weeks ago from the school premises in Isheri, Ogun State.

They were released at about 8:45pm on Tuesday and have been reunited with their families,The Nation reported. The kidnapping in the school, formerly known as Nigerian Turkish International College stirred national concerns.

They regained their freedom hours after the Police AIG in the zone promised that they would be freed within 24 hours.

The new Assistant Inspector General of Police AIG , Zone 2, Kayode Aderanti gave the assurance while speaking with newsmen shortly after his visit to former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his hill top residence in Abeokuta.

The AIG said that he spoke with the leader of the search team shortly before his visit and that he got a positive response from him.

He denied rumours that the families of the victims had been paying ransom, insisting that no ransom has been paid.

Aderanti commended the states Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, for putting in place an effective security system in the state.

He urged residents of Ogun to partner with the police to ensure that lives and property were properly secured
A 45-year-old Bangladeshi man is accused of having married 28 times.

Police arrested Yasin Byapari from Taltali of Barguna district.

A court sent him to jail in a dowry case filed by his 25th wife Shiuli Akhter Tania.

Taltali ASI Saidul Islam said Yasin was arrested Sunday evening at the parents house of his 27th wife in Gondamara village in the area.

He said Shiuli Akhter Tania, a woman from Gopalpur village in Paikgacha Upazila in Khulna district, filed a case with the Khulna Chief Judicial Magistrate, implicating Yasin in a dowry case on Sep 29.

The court issued an arrest warrant for him, which led to his Sunday arrest, Saidul said.

Taltali OC Kamalesh Halder said Tania has accused Yasin of suppressing information and marrying 28 times.

He, however, said Yasin had confessed to marrying only twice during preliminary interrogation.

Speaking to bdnews24.com, Tania said she married Yasin in 2011.

After the birth of a daughter, she discovered she was not the only wife of her husband.

In fact, she was his 25th wife!

After she came to know of this, she managed to trace the name and addresses of 17 of her husbands spouses.

She claimed Yasin has two daughters with his second wife, one son with his third wife, one son with his seventh wife and a daughter with his 24th wife.

She said after their marriage, Yasin cited work as an excuse to often stay away from home.

At one point, he began to assault her physically while demanding dowry.

Then without informing me, he married a girl from Matibhanga area of Rajapur Sadar Upazila, she alleged.

But the girl divorced Yasin after she discovered his exploits, she said.

Then in the middle of 2015 he married a Chittagong-based girl from Taltali. But he did not take her to his house and went on to marry a garment worker from Khulna, she said.

Although Tania provided the name and address of her husband, police have not been able to corroborate the claims.
Nigerian newspaper headlines today, January 25, 2017.

Guardian

The Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in 2016 arrested 103 suspected drug traffickers and seized 779.919kgs of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances with an estimated street value of N30 billion.

Thisday

The Senate tuesday said it would screen the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, in accordance with legislative procedures, but elected to stand by its resolution calling for the sack of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Babachir Lawal.

Vanguard

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday, adjourned till February 16, to deliver judgment in the suit by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,) seeking forfeiture of funds linked to a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke.

Punch

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, said on Tuesday that the Police High Command dismissed the six policemen attached to him because they refused to allow the security agencies to assassinate him.

Leadership

Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, in the early hours of Wednesday foiled an alleged attempt by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) from arresting Apostle Johnson Suleiman, who is in Ado Ekiti for a crusade.

The Sun

About three people have been reported killed in two separate bomb attacks which occurred on Wednesday morning in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.

Premium Times

A United States multinational company, General Electric, GE, Tuesday, proposed to invest in Nigerias three refineries.
The All-Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) says it has embarked on sensitisation of its members on handling security challenges in view the rising spate of school-targeted kidnappings.

Mrs Omotunde Lawson, President, Lagos State Chapter of ANCOPSS, told reporters in Lagos that the sensitisation focused on how schools could secure their environment.

ANCOPSS president spoke against the backdrop of recent spate of abduction of students and staff in some schools in Lagos and Ogun States.

She advised school principals to clear overgrown weeds in their premises to prevent kidnappers from using such bushy environment for their nefarious operations.

We are also sensitising our members on how to comport ourselves in times of danger.

Schools with bushes are to clear them while security guards should ensure that no one goes into the school compound or comes out without signing, she said.

Lawson said that the Lagos State Government had pledged to recruit 5,000 neighbourhood watchmen who would also help in securing public schools.

The ANCOPSS president, however, urged both staff and students to be vigilant and report potential security and safety threats around schools to law enforcement agents.
Former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has thrown his weight behind the possible emergence of a president of Igbo extraction in the future.

By the same token, the former leader who was silent on the timing of such opportunity, observed that in the interest of justice and fairness, Ogun west senatorial district should be given the chance to produce

the next governor of the state.

The former President, made these disclosures yesterday while hosting the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Ogun state chapter at his Hilltop residence for a special New Year service, in Abeokuta.

Obasanjo said his stance against marginalisation was responsible for him working for the emergence of a south-south President in 2009. but, irrespective of the thinking of the people ahead of 2019, I personally think that Southeast should have a go at the Presidency too.

The same is happening here. If Ijebu and Egba have produced the

governor, it is only fair and just to allow the Yewa or Ogun west to

also produce governor. Or else, one day, they will also stand up and

take up arms against this injustice against them. That is my

personally position on this.

On the Southern Kaduna crisis, Obasanjo urged Nigerians to be responsible in their positions cautioning people on commenting on what they do not really have detail reports of, saying this

is largely responsible for the escalation of the situation.

My findings so far show that everyone is talking from the position of

strength. People are not talking from knowledge of what they know and

this is not helping. We must be able to dump all our sentiments to

overcome the challenges.

Just like other cases of injustice around us, we need peace; it is only peace with justice that can solve all these crises. Genuine peace is what everyone is craving for and this can only come when there is justice, Obasanjo said.

In his remarks, the state chairman of CAN Bishop Tunde  Akin Akinsanya described Obasanjo as a gift to Nigeria and the entire world considering

his exploits and fatherly role so far in global affairs.

Source: Leadership
US President Donald Trump is expected to order the building of a wall along the Mexican border on Wednesday, fulfilling one of his key campaign pledges.

Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall! Trump tweeted late Tuesday.

The newly inaugurated president is expected to sign executive orders enabling construction of the wall at a town hall meeting of employees at the Department of Homeland Security, the Washington Post reported, citing officials familiar with the matter.

Trump will also sign orders cracking down on sanctuary cities, the Post reported, where local leaders refuse to hand over illegal immigrants for deportation.

The orders are set to coincide with a visit by Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, who is preparing the ground for President Enrique Pena Nietos visit next week.

It was unclear if Mexico knew in advance of the plans.

Trump insisted repeatedly during his campaign that he would build a big, beautiful wall along the border to stop illegal immigration and force Mexico to pay for it, despite Mexicos rejection of the plan.

Videgaray has previously been burnt by his association with Trump, having organized the then Republican candidates visit to Mexico during the presidential campaign.

The invitation infuriated Mexicans, and Videgaray, then finance minister, was forced to step down, though he was later reinstated to the cabinet following Trumps victory.

The New York Times wrote that Trump may also begin targeting legal immigrants this week, including by freezing refugee admissions from Syria and other Muslim-majority countries considered terror-prone.

The move would be in line with Trumps proposal during the campaign to ban Muslim immigrants because of terrorism fears, a plan which alarmed human rights groups.

The then candidate also said he would impose extreme vetting of immigrants to combat Islamic extremism.

An official told the Post that Trump may also suspend the issuing of visas to people from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 30 days, until new visa procedures have been developed.

Other orders expected in the coming days include a review of whether to keep open the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, whether to resume the black site secret CIA prison network, and whether to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, according to the Times.
Cotton Closes with another Triple Digit Gain Barchart - Fri Nov 4, 4:46PM CDT Front month cotton futures added triple digits to the climb on Friday. Dec cotton closed up by another 4.73%, for a weekly gain of 20.5%. The December to December spread is now an 8.56 cent premium for... CTZ22 : 86.93s (+4.73%) CTH23 : 85.67s (+4.26%) CTK23 : 84.63s (+3.21%)

Cattle Markets Fade into Weekend Barchart - Fri Nov 4, 4:46PM CDT Live cattle futures ended the Friday session 10 to 50 weaker in the front months. For the week, Dec fats faded by $1.35. The weeks cash price was mostly near $150 in the South and mostly near $153 in... LEZ22 : 151.650s (-0.20%) LEG23 : 154.375s (-0.32%) LEJ23 : 158.000s (-0.19%) GFX22 : 177.825s (-0.10%) GFF23 : 179.625s (+0.11%)

Mixed Close for Hog Futures Barchart - Fri Nov 4, 4:46PM CDT Hogs went into the weekend mixed but mostly lower with 15 to 40 cent losses in the nearbys and 5 to 20 cent gains in the deferred contracts. For the week, December hogs ended with a $13.13 loss, while... HEZ22 : 82.975s (-0.48%) HEJ23 : 92.400s (-0.16%) KMZ22 : 93.875s (-0.13%)

Soy Futures Rally into Weekend Barchart - Fri Nov 4, 4:46PM CDT Soybean prices traded higher with 1.14% to 1.7% gains in the front months to go into the weekend in the black. Jan beans closed the week with 4.4% gains. Soy oil futures led the rally, closing the week... ZSX22 : 1451-4s (+1.73%) ZSPAUS.CM : 14.2554 (+1.92%) ZSF23 : 1462-2s (+1.76%) ZSH23 : 1469-0s (+1.73%)

Wheat Futures Gain on Friday Barchart - Fri Nov 4, 4:46PM CDT Fridays wheat trade worked higher after a re-balancing from the Russia related run-up to start the week, and subsequent collapse on Wednesday. On net, December SRWs 7 1/4 cent gain into the weekend... ZWZ22 : 847-6s (+0.86%) ZWH23 : 866-6s (+0.81%) ZWPAES.CM : 7.7988 (+0.94%) KEZ22 : 953-2s (+1.27%) KEPAWS.CM : 9.1129 (+1.33%) MWZ22 : 954-4s (+1.22%)

Corn Closes Net Stronger Barchart - Fri Nov 4, 4:46PM CDT The week of corn trade saw strength out of the weekend on Russia pulling out of the grain export corridor, but quickly reversed midweek when Russia re-entered. On net, Fridays 1 3/4 to 3 1/4 cent gains... ZCZ22 : 681-0s (+0.26%) ZCPAUS.CM : 6.7795 (+0.35%) ZCH23 : 686-6s (+0.29%) ZCK23 : 686-6s (+0.29%)
Westport Properties Inc. (WPI), which operates 110 self-storage facilities under the US Storage Centers brand, has acquired the three-property Sentinel Mini-Storage portfolio in Phoenix. The facilities are at 1940 E. Indian School Road, 4817 N. 7th Ave. and 2563 W. Indian School Road.

The portfolio includes more than 75,000 rentable square feet in 1,507 climate-controlled units. Each has elevator access and security measures. All are in densely populated areas on major arterial roads, according to a press release.

"The acquisition of this portfolio marks a great start to 2017 and indicates how full our acquisition and development pipeline is for the rest of the year," said Jason Lopez, vice president of marketing. "With these three properties, our Phoenix portfolio now includes seven properties; and there are another four locations in this market we expect to add to our portfolio early this year. Phoenix has been one of our best-performing markets, so we are very excited about these new additions to our portfolio."

Founded in 1985 and based in Irvine, Calif., WPI is a real estate investment company that acquires, develops and operates self-storage facilities as well as provides third-party management services. Its portfolio comprises more than 7.5 million rentable square feet in 13 states. It's affiliated with Westport Memphis Self Storage LLC.
Henderson Brothers Inc., a Pittsburgh, Penn., based insurance broker, has hired David Trushel as an account executive in the commercial lines department.

Trushel will use his four years of industry experience to assist clients with creating specialized insurance programs and providing customer service.

He earned his bachelors degree in accounting from Washington and Jefferson College. Trushel is originally from Pittsburgh and will be based there in his new role.

With a team of more than 140, Henderson Brothers is the largest independent broker in the greater Pittsburgh region. Its product offerings include: property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, retirement planning, wealth management, fiduciary services, captive management, enterprise risk management, loss control, claims management, strategic planning, succession planning and personal lines.

Source: Henderson Brothers Inc.

Topics Pennsylvania
The last vote on November 2 was his 34th since he began voting in India's first general election.
A former employee of a Connecticut real estate management and development business has been sentenced to four years in prison for stealing more than $700,000 from the company.

Federal prosecutors say 50-year-old Debra Biagi, formerly of Greenwich, was also sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to repay all the money.

She pleaded guilty in August to wire fraud for stealing the money from the HB Nitkin Group from February 2014 until December 2015.

She was an assistant to the chairman of the company with responsibilities that included managing accounts payable.

Prosecutors say she created fraudulent invoices made out to fictitious companies for masonry, carpentry, electrical and plumbing work. She then used the victims checks to the fake companies and deposited the money into her personal bank account.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Fraud Connecticut
W.R. Berkley has put under review and is suspending underwriting for its London marine book until it can determine the direction of this business going forward, Insurance Journal can reveal.

W/R/B Underwriting, the companys Lloyds managing agent, is suspending its $30 million marine book, which has underwritten marine hull and cargo, marine liability and marine war.

Going forward, W/R/B Underwriting will continue to underwrite property, specialty casualty, aviation, accident & health, engineering & construction, crisis management and asset protection, market sources confirmed.

Overall capacity for W/R/B Underwriting during 2017 is $280 million.

Poor marine results have been common across the Lloyds market and sources suggest that W/R/B Underwriting is undertaking rigorous cycle management by suspending underwriting for its marine book.

As is common in such business moves, sources indicate that the company will honor all quotes and claims for its marine book. W.R. Berkley would not comment on its plans for the business.

An indication of W/R/B Underwritings ongoing commitment to its Lloyds business is its recent appointment of Miriam Goddard as director of underwriting for specialty casualty. She will join the company from Hiscox, where she has been head of professions since 2013.

In previous years, she was senior liability underwriter at Jubilee Managing Agency Ltd., an errors and omissions underwriter at Brockbank Managing Agency and an underwriter at Lexington Insurance Co., according to her LinkedIn profile.

W/R/B Underwriting was established in 2015 by uniting W.R. Berkley Syndicate 1967 with the UK and Irish branches of W.R. Berkley Insurance (Europe) Ltd., under a single brand, said the companys LinkedIn page.

Topics Excess Surplus Underwriting London Human Resources
Intesa Sanpaolo SpA said its considering a merger with Assicurazioni Generali SpA, a deal that would reshape Italys financial industry by combining its second-biggest bank and largest insurer.

Possible industrial combinations with Assicurazioni Generali are currently being examined by the banks management, Intesa said in a statement late Tuesday. The bank is interested in industrial growth in the areas of asset management, private banking and insurance in synergy with its banking networks, including through possible international partnerships.

Intesa broke its silence after three days of reports in the Italian press said the bank was preparing a deal, possibly a joint breakup of Generali in partnership with Germanys Allianz SE. While Generalis stock surged, Intesas slumped amid skepticism from analysts and investors about the merits of a merger. Generali has a market value of about 24 billion euros ($25.8 billion), more than half of Intesas own capitalization.

Generali and Allianz declined to comment on the reports before Intesa issued its statement.

Though we will keep an open mind, this rumored merger seems inconsistent with the companys previously announced strategic plans, David Herro, the Chicago-based chief investment officer at Harris Associates, said before Intesas statement. He said his company owns about 2.8 percent of the bank.

Regulator Talks

Consob, the Italian stock market regulator, is gathering executives from Intesa and Generali on Wednesday and Thursday, people familiar with the matter said before Intesas statement. Executives from UniCredit SpA, Italys largest bank, were summoned amid reports their firm may be involved, the people said.

Intesa is being advised by UBS Group AG on a possible deal with Generali and may appoint at least one other bank such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc., newspaper il Messaggero reported on Wednesday.

The deal may be a politically driven initiative to create an Italian financial champion to fend off a foreign predator for Generali, according to Fabrizio Spagna, managing director at Axia Financial Research in Padua, Italy. French insurance giant Axa SA has also been mentioned in the Italian press as an interested party.

Its hard to justify such a deal on an industrial perspective, considering it will add complexity and may erode capital, Spagna said by phone.

A spokesman for Generali declined to comment on Intesas statement when reached by Bloomberg.

Shares Move

Intesa shares slid the most in more than a month Tuesday as analysts said a Generali deal would be complex and face antitrust issues. Generali, whose stock jumped 8.2 percent in Milan, had purchased 3 percent of Intesa on Monday. That defensive measure would prevent the bank from accumulating voting rights in the insurer without making a cash bid for control.

Generali has 76,000 employees and operates in more than 60 countries. Like other European insurers, its struggling to boost profitability as investment returns fall and competition increases. Philippe Donnet, who became chief executive officer in March, is cutting costs and focusing on cash generation and the retail business to improve returns.

Since Donnet took over, investment chief Nikhil Srinivasan has left the company and will be replaced by Tim Ryan. Generali may name head of corporate finance Luigi Lubelli as chief financial officer, replacing Alberto Minali, Messaggero reported.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Generali Life Assurance (Thailand) Plc.
Prem Watsas Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. is close to announcing a deal that would see one of Canadas largest pension funds contribute $1 billion in financing toward its acquisition of insurer Allied World Assurance Co., according to people familiar with the matter.

Toronto-based Fairfax could announce the financing arrangement with the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) as early as this week. Watsa is also putting together another group of funds to contribute as much as $1.7 billion in financing to the purchase of Zug, Switzerland-based Allied that will likely be announced at a later date, said the people who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.

Shares in Fairfax were little changed at C$619.79 apiece in Toronto as of 1:47 p.m. [on Jan. 24]. Allieds shares rose 1.3 percent to $53.47 in New York.

Representatives for Fairfax and OMERS didnt return requests for comment.

Fairfax agreed in December to buy Allied in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $4.8 billion, with as much as $4 billion of the cost covered by Fairfax shares. Watsas company said last month that it could limit dilution by bringing in partners for up $2.7 billion of the purchase price, similar to when OMERS helped finance Fairfaxs purchase of insurer Brit Plc in 2015.

Fairfax had 75 days from the deal being announced on Dec. 19 to exercise the option, and is in talks with the group of funds to help finance the remaining $1.7 billion that is expected to be announced by the March 4 deadline, one of the people said.

Without Watsa bringing on the partners, Allieds investors would have gotten a 27 percent stake in his insurance and investing firm. If the full $2.7 billion is contributed in cash, that would be reduced to 10 percent, under the terms of the agreement.

Fairfax has the lowest of 10 investment grade scores by S&P Global ratings, which limits Watsas ability to take on more debt without risking a cut to junk status.

The deal will expand Fairfaxs reach in the commercial insurance market. Also, the purchase will boost Fairfaxs investment portfolio to $39 billion from about $30 billion.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Canada
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.s record risk-transfer agreement with American International Group Inc. is so big that Warren Buffetts company risks posting its first annual underwriting loss since 2002 at its property/casualty business, according to Credit Suisse Group AG.

The AIG transaction is the first deal in Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group large enough to potentially jeopardize an underwriting profit in Berkshires P&C operations, Credit Suisse analysts led by Ryan Tunis said in a note to investors Monday.

Berkshires willingness to accept such volatility at a key unit shows how attractive the deal might be on a long-term basis, they wrote. AIG agreed to pay Buffetts Omaha, Nebraska-based company about $10 billion to take on risks from policies in prior years. Berkshires maximum claims-payment obligation under the agreement is $20 billion. Based on Buffetts investing record and a review of prior reinsurance transactions, Berkshires total projected benefit on the contract is about $8 billion, the analysts wrote.

The payment to Berkshire on the AIG deal compares with about $7 billion from an asbestos-related reinsurance contract with former investors in Lloyds of London. The figure was $3 billion or less in similar deals with companies such as Liberty Mutual Holding Co. and CNA Financial Corp., the analysts wrote. Reinsurers take on obligations for primary insurers.

Diversified Operations

Buffetts company spreads its property/casualty risks over several operations, including the Geico car insurer and providers of reinsurance, workers compensation coverage and medical liability policies. P&C operations have posted underwriting profits every year year since 2003, with the figure exceeding $2.5 billion in both 2013 and 2014. While claims costs exceeded premium revenue in 2001 and 2002, in part because of the Sept. 11 attacks, Buffett has said hes comfortable if underwriting breaks even over the long term because he can make money investing funds that back policies.

AIG announced the deal Friday, saying that claims were higher than expected on some U.S. commercial policies, and that transferring risk to Berkshire would free up capital for fresh initiatives and to return to shareholders.

Peter Hancock, the chief executive officer of New York-based AIG, has been working to simplify the company, and has also struck agreements to sell a U.S. mortgage guarantor, a Japan life insurer and commercial and consumer units in nations including Argentina and Turkey.

The analysts said they are still eager for additional information, including clarity on the timing of the deal and the scope of capital relief for Hancocks company. Buffett didnt immediately respond to a message. AIG has declined to comment beyond the statement.

These questions will likely not be answered until AIG reports earnings on Feb. 14th, and the details are likely to reshape investor perception of how far the company has come in its restructuring, they wrote.

With assistance from Katherine Chiglinsky.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Profit Loss Reinsurance Property Casualty
Zurich North America has announced the name of its new North America Commercial Insurance unit and leadership team. This new unit brings together the former Commercial Markets and the former Global Corporate in North America units, which the company says will simplify the organization to provide a single point of entry for commercial customers.

The new unit is led by Paul Horgan, head of North America Commercial Insurance. Horgan, formerly head of Global Corporate in North America, reports to Mike Foley, CEO of Zurich North America and James Shea, CEO of Commercial Insurance globally for Zurich.

Horgan said the new unit will service and support multinational customers, as well as deliver local services to middle-market customers.

North America Commercial Insurance will be aligned into four business segments: Property, Casualty, Construction and Middle Markets. The North America Commercial Insurance team, effective immediately, reporting to Horgan includes the following members:

Head of Property  Richard Montminy

Head of Casualty  Brandon Fick

Head of Middle Markets  Marcus Cooper

Head of Construction  Scott Rasor

President and Chief Agent, Canada  David Levinson

Chief Risk Engineering Officer  Thomas Fioretti

Head of Property Richard Montminy has worked in the insurance industry for more than 25 years, and joined Zurich in 2015 as the East Regional Manager of Property. He most recently held the position of head of Property for Zurich Global Corporate in North America. Montminy is based in New York.

Head of Casualty Brandon Fick has 20 years of experience in the insurance industry. Prior to this new role, Fick was head of Casualty for Zurich Global Corporate in North America. Fick joined Zurich in 1999 as an underwriting manager, and has held a variety of underwriting and management roles both at Zurich and AIG. Fick is based in Philadelphia.

Head of Middle Markets Marcus Cooper has nearly 20 years of insurance industry experience. He most recently served as the regional leader for the South Region in the Commercial Markets unit of Zurich North America. Prior to joining Zurich in 2007, he held various leadership positions at AIG and Crum & Forster. Cooper is based in Schaumburg, Ill.

Head of Construction Scott Rasor has more than 30 years of insurance industry experience and will continue in his previous role responsible for setting the strategy and direction for the products and services Zurich North America provides to construction customers in the U.S. and Canada. Rasor is based in Schaumburg, Ill.

President and Chief Agent Zurich Canada David Levinson has been with Zurich for over 20 years, holding various senior leadership positions at Zurich North America. He most recently served as regional leader for the West Region in the Commercial Markets unit of Zurich North America. Prior to joining Zurich, he was a senior manager in Audit Practice at KPMG in the greater New York City area. Levinson will be based in Toronto.

Chief Risk Engineering Officer Thomas Fioretti has more than 20 years of insurance industry experience and will continue in his previous role, where he is responsible for the ongoing development and delivery of Risk Engineerings risk management and loss prevention services. Fioretti is based in New York.

Zurich North America previously named Craig Fundum as chief administrative officer. Fundum, formerly head of Commercial Markets, will be responsible for strategic execution, human resources, communications, community investment and employee engagement. Fundum also will chair the companys Risk and Control Committee in North America, coordinating with Audit, Risk, and Compliance. In this new role, Fundum will continue to report to Foley.

Topics Commercial Lines New York Business Insurance Property Leadership Market Canada Construction
Cobbs Allen, a national insurance and risk management firm headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., has hired Tyrenda Williams-Reed as its new Human Resources director.

Reed will be responsible for company-wide human resource services, recruitment and talent development. As a member of the Cobbs Allen leadership team, she will help strategic growth by building the companys brand and adding new talent.

Previous to joining Cobbs Allen, she served as head of Human Resources for Americas Thrift Stores and director of Outreach for the A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club.

Reed received a masters degree in journalism and Latin American and Caribbean studies from New York University. She received her bachelors degree in political science from Birmingham Southern College.

She holds Accredited in Public Relations (APR) and Professional in Human Resources (PHR) professional certifications and is a member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), Alabama and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Birmingham.

In addition to its Birmingham office, the company also has offices in Houston, Kansas City and New Orleans, and offers traditional commercial insurance, surety services, employee benefits services, personal insurance services, and alternative risk financing services.

Topics Alabama Human Resources
A judge has dismissed claims against Snapchat that blamed the social media companys speed filter for a highway crash. The judge said the Communications Decency Act provides the social media company with immunity.

Snapchat attorney Mark Trigg told The Associated Press Monday in an emailed statement that the the judges ruling in this case is precedent setting for the entire mobile app and product industry.

A loss for Snapchat would have been dangerous, opening a floodgate of lawsuits for everyone from cell phone manufacturers to billboard advertisers to makeup brands  virtually anyone that can potentially cause a distraction from driving. Snapchats win instead diverts blame from these companies and requires responsible use of these technologies by the driver, Trigg wrote.

Wentworth and Karen Maynard sued Snapchat and the driver, Christal McGee, in April, saying McGee was trying to reach 100 mph on a highway south of Atlanta when her car hit theirs, sending it across the left lane and into an embankment. The collision in September 2015 left Wentworth Maynard with brain damage.

The dismissal by Spalding County State Court Judge Josh Thacker on Friday leaves pending the claims against McGee, who allegedly hit them while using a Snapchat filter that puts the rate at which a vehicle is traveling over an image.

We disagree with the Judges ruling that the Communications Decency Act provides Snapchat with complete immunity for its negligent actions, Naveen Ramachandrappa, a lawyer for the Maynards, wrote in an email. He added that they are considering an appeal.

The judge found that the claims against Snapchat were barred by the immunity clause of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which says, No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

A key question is whether Snapchat had a legal duty because Wentworths injury was predictable, given that other users are alleged to have had wrecks while using the speed filter, and therefore should have removed or restricted access to the filter once it found out about those crashes, the judge wrote.

That duty would stem from Snapchats status as a publisher, and the law grants immunity on those grounds, the judge wrote.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Legislation Claims Personal Auto Georgia
A tornado that tore a 31-mile path across south Mississippi over the weekend killed four people and damaged or destroyed more than 1,100 homes, state officials said Monday, as the governor assured residents that federal funds were being sought to help them recover from the widespread devastation.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is promising quick consideration of a federal disaster declaration following Saturdays tornado, said Gov. Phil Bryant.

The tornado hit Hattiesburg and Petal and surrounding areas early Saturday morning with peak winds of 145 mph and a path as wide as a half a mile. It killed four people in Hattiesburg and injured 56 people.

Assessments show other storms damaged structures in Franklin, Jones, Lauderdale, Pike and Wilkinson counties.

In Forrest County alone, which includes Hattiesburg and Petal, 411 homes were destroyed or suffered major damage Saturday, while 588 saw minor damage, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. In Lamar County, the twister destroyed or did major damage to 43 homes and minor damage to 52 homes. In Perry County, 10 homes were damaged.

The Lauderdale County damage came from a Saturday night tornado that the National Weather Service determined had winds of at least 111 mph, rating EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ten homes suffered major damage, while nine suffered minor damage. One person was injured.

Bryant said in a Monday news conference in Hattiesburg that new U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly pledged quick action on the states request for federal disaster aid.

He assured me that the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA will be leaning into this storm and leaning into recovery, Bryant said.

The Republican governor says Kelly promised him that FEMA would send surveyors starting Wednesday who would sample the damage determinations made locally. Bryant, though, says FEMA wont have to entirely repeat the survey.

Mississippi wants FEMA to declare the state eligible for aid to governments and individuals. The state has to show $4.2 million in damage to public facilities to win a declaration for government aid. The state has to show 250 homes destroyed or with major damage to win an individual declaration.

Weve met that threshold for individual assistance, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Director Lee Smithson said.

Smithson said individuals could get up to $33,000 in aid apiece under a federal declaration. Smithson warned people to seek other assistance, saying federal aid isnt designed to restore a home to pre-storm conditions.

Bryant said the Mississippi National Guard and the state Department of Public Safety would continue to supplement local police in Hattiesburg and Petal for security and safety.

The University of Southern Mississippi, which was hit by a 2013 tornado, pledged support to heavily damaged William Carey University. That school held no classes on campus Monday.

William Carey spokeswoman Mia Overton said the school was focusing on using online systems to finish in-person classes for the last three weeks of the winter trimester. Overton said William Careys medical school is likely to offer classes in a former nursing building that USM recently vacated. She said the school is trying to find places for other classes that require laboratory work or in-person meetings. Overton said William Carey is likely to use online classes heavily in the upcoming spring trimester as well.

Overton said school officials are trying to find temporary housing for about 150 students from foreign countries or faraway states, and hope to reopen four lightly damaged dorms within 30 days.

K-12 schools were closed in Hattiesburg, Petal and parts of Forrest County, but resumed classes Tuesday.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm Homeowners Mississippi
California-based Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. announced a recall on Jan. 22 of certain 12-ounce bottles of its pale ales, IPAs and other beers after detecting a packaging flaw that could cause a piece of glass to break off into the bottle.

In a statement, it said the recall applies to eight different types of its craft beers, including its popular Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, purchased in 36 states across the Midwest, the South and East Coast of the United States.

The company issued the voluntary recall after quality inspections at its Mills River, N.C., brewery detected a limited number of bottles made with a flaw that may cause a small piece of glass to break off and possibly fall into the bottle, creating a risk of injury, the statement said.

The affected beer has a package date that falls between Dec. 5, 2016, and Jan. 13, 2017, and a brewery code of M  which stands of Mills River  printed directly on bottles and the packaging of cardboard cases.

We have decided to take this precaution to ensure the safety of our customers, Mike Bennett, chief supply chain officer, was quoted as saying. He said Sierra Nevada had not received any consumer reports of injuries, and it believed the concern could impact about 1 in every 10,000  or .01 percent  of its bottles packaged during the five-week time period.

Aside from its Pale Ale, the Sierra Nevada recall includes 12-ounce bottles of its Beer Camp Golden IPA, Sidecar Orange Pale Ale, Torpedo Extra IPA, Tropical Torpedo, Nooner, Hop Hunter and Otra Vez.

The company has stopped distributing all affected beer and is working to have it removed from retails shelves, the statement said. Consumers were urged to check the companys website for details on the recall and not to drink any of the recalled beer, which would be fully refunded.

The recall applies to the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics California
Farmington Hills, Mich.-based H.W. Kaufman Financial Group has acquired Essential Insurance Services Inc., a Colorado-based provider of premium audit services, including general liability, workers compensation and other auditable insurance coverages.

Essential Insurance Services will become part of US-Reports, Kaufmans national provider of premium audits, inspections, and risk management services. The acquisition further extends the presence and capabilities of US-Reports in key growth areas.

The Essential Insurance Services team will relocate to the US-Reports executive office in Fort Collins, Colo.

Source: H.W. Kaufman Financial Group

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions USA
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.
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Dopo Medici senza frontiere, anche Save the Children e Sea Eye sospendono lattivita di soccorso dei migranti davanti alle coste libiche. Salgono cosi a tre le ong che fermano temporaneamente le loro navi in attesa di capire se ci sono le condizioni di sicurezza per riprendere le operazioni. Save the Children, in un comunicato, si dice rammaricata di aver fatto questa scelta, dovuta alle decisioni della Marina Libica di controllare le acque internazionali. Si tratta di una situazione molto preoccupante  afferma la Ong  per il rischio di sicurezza dello staff e per la reale capacita della Vos Hestia di mettere in atto la propria missione di soccorso. Inoltre, in questa nuova situazione, le imbarcazioni dei migranti saranno costrette a tornare in Libia e molti bambini e adolescenti moriranno prima di lasciare la nuova zona sar.

Sea Eye: Da irresponsabili proseguire

Oggi abbiamo deciso a malincuore di sospendere temporaneamente le nostre missioni di salvataggio. Cosi, tramite Twitter, Sea Eye annuncia la sospensione delle attivita di soccorso. Il motivo, spiega, e la mutata situazione di sicurezza nel Mediterraneo occidentale. Proseguire il nostro lavoro di salvataggio  prosegue long tedesca  sarebbe irresponsabile nei confronti dei nostri equipaggi. In una serie di tweet, si legge: Ci troviamo costretti a questa decisione a causa della mutata situazione di sicurezza nel Mediterraneo; Non possiamo piu continuare il nostro lavoro, non possiamo garantire la sicurezza degli equipaggi; lespansione delle acque territoriali libiche e le minacce alle ong non ci lasciano altra scelta.

+++ 13 AGOSTO 2017  LONG #SeaEye ha oggi deciso di sospendere le missioni di soccorso programmate nel Mediterraneo.+++ pic.twitter.com/177iepytZ7  Sea-Eye It (@SeaEye_It) 13 agosto 2017

Il rammarico di Save the Children

Una comunicazione simili e arrivata anche da Save the Children che sta valutando levolversi dellintero scenario dopo la dichiarazione della Marina libica di voler estendere il controllo e il divieto alle navi delle Ong nelle acque internazionali che fanno parte della Sar zone e la nave Vos Hestia resta ferma a Malta in attesa di capire se ci sono le condizioni di sicurezza per riprendere le operazioni. Long si rammarica di dover essere costretta a mettere in pausa le proprie operazioni di ricerca e salvataggio nel Mediterraneo a causa delle decisioni dalla Marina libica di controllare le acque internazionali in cui normalmente opera la nave di Save the Children con lobiettivo di salvare vite umane. Una situazione molto preoccupante, secondo lorganizzazione, per il rischio di sicurezza dello staff e per la reale capacita della Vos Hestia di mettere in atto la propria missione di soccorso. Il nostro team di esperti a bordo della nave e preoccupato che in questa nuova situazione le imbarcazioni dei migranti saranno costrette a tornare in Libia e molti bambini e adolescenti moriranno prima di lasciare la nuova zona Sar libica.

La Sar libica

Secondo quanto afferma Save the Children, le autorita libiche avrebbero spostato la loro zona di competenza Sar dalle 12 miglia nautiche alle 70 miglia dalla costa africana e le imbarcazioni su cui viaggiano i migranti sono di gomma molto leggera, imbarcano facilmente acqua e non possono portare abbastanza carburante. In questo momento non e chiaro se entrando in quella zona, loperazione di ricerca e salvataggio potrebbe essere a rischio, ma cio che e chiaro e che molte vite potrebbero essere messe in pericolo, con la diminuzione della capacita di soccorso e salvataggio in quel tratto di mare. Long, tramite Rob MacGillivray, direttore delle operazioni di Save the Children, si dice comunque pronta a riprendere le proprie operazioni nella zona di salvataggio, ma abbiamo il dovere di garantire la sicurezza del team e lefficacia delle operazioni. Se non dovessero arrivare rassicurazioni sulla sicurezza del personale lassociazione potrebbe seriamente considerare la completa sospensione delle operazioni di salvataggio.

La risposta della marina libica

Intanto la marina libica difende la sua decisione di vietare lingresso alle navi straniere nella sua zona appena istituita di ricerca e salvataggio. Tutti i Paesi hanno le proprie zone di ricerca. La decisione e stata presa in base alle leggi e i regolamenti internazionali  ha detto allagenzia Dpa il portavoce della marina libica, Ayoub Qasim  cio fa parte del lavoro della marina libica. Lo abbiamo notificato alle agenzie delle Nazioni Unite.

Msf: Ue lascia campo libero ai libici

In queste ore torna sulla questione anche Medici senza frontiere. I libici oramai possono fare quello che vogliono con il sostegno dellEuropa e dellItalia  afferma Stefano Argenziano, coordinatore dei progetti di migrazione della ong che per prima ha annunciato la sospensione dei soccorsi in mare -. Noi di Msf non vogliamo essere cooptati in questo meccanismo illegale, perverso e disumano. Secondo Argenziano, il codice di condotta e solo una distrazione, non ha alcuna base legale. Chi rispetta la legalita siamo noi, come abbiamo sempre fatto. Sono illegali, invece, gli accordi con la Libia, che fanno proliferare gli scafisti e le mafie. Le crisi migratorie si risolvono solo con la gestione ragionata dei flussi. Riprenderemo le nostre attivita in mare solo  conclude  se si tornera alla legge e al diritto internazionale.
Are you getting close to full retirement age and worried that you can't afford to retire? You're not alone. Many older adults are working longer and finding other ways to make sure those nest eggs will be enough to last throughout retirement.

Key Takeaways Sixty-eight percent of baby boomers expect to be working during retirement.

Increasingly, employers are adapting work schedules and responsibilities to keep older employees working past full retirement age.

More and more baby boomers are starting to freelance on their own after retiring from full-time work.

Defined Contribution Plans

One reason baby boomers are working longer is that pensions have largely disappeared, which puts the responsibility on individuals to save for their own retirements.

"Many baby boomers were raised to believe in a pension obligation from an employer with whom they spent 25 or more years. So their focus was not on 'maintaining' the wealth they created through working by investing," says Dominique J. Henderson, founder of DJH Capital Management in Desoto, Texas.

Henderson adds:

They were largely dependent on someone subsidizing their retirement through monthly payments until they died. This is rarely the case now with the transition from defined-benefit plans to defined-contribution plans. With bad or no advice, you have a generation of people faced with working longer, as they have lost nearly three decades of overall stock market growth.

Of course, there are other reasons people stay at work longer. Life expectancies are higher and many older adults want to keep working to stay engaged, to name two.

If you're a baby boomer, here are tips to help you boost your nest egg and make your money lastand reasons to stop worrying about retirement.

1. Baby Boomers Set the Trends

As a baby boomer, you've seen plenty of trends come and go, and retirement at age 65 is one that has come and gone. The full retirement age is now 66 for people born in 1954. It rises on a sliding scale of two months per year to reach age 67 for people born in 1960 and later.

Pensions have become rare. Healthcare remains expensive. Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and 401(k) accounts were supposed to be modern alternatives to a pension.

However, according to the 20th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey of Workers, published by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) in May 2020 (the most recent figures as of Nov. 2020), the median baby boomers have set aside for retirement is estimated to be $144,000.

That's a nice chunk of change, to be sure. But as of 2020, a 65-year-old's life expectancy is 17.0 years for a male and 19.8 years for a female.

You may be wondering how this is supposed to help you stop worrying. Here's how: Consider the sheer size of the baby boom generation. If you're a member, you're part of a group that sets the trends, and, out of choice as well as necessity, the trend is about staying active, at work and at play, after full retirement age.

$144,000 The estimated median amount of money baby boomers have saved for retirement.

2. Retirement and Working Are Not Mutually Exclusive

Who retires these days, anyway? In the TCRS survey, 68% of baby boomers said they plan to work after age 65 or don't plan to retire ever.

That's a radical change in thinking from their parents generation, but it should be expected. "[Baby boomers] are overturning long-standing assumptions about working until age 65," wrote TCRS president Catherine Collinson, "calling for dramatic changes in current employment practices and proving that retirement and working are not mutually exclusive.

The survey shows that many actually want to work in retirement because they enjoy what they do. That said, most think they will have to work to maintain an adequate income and decent health benefits.

Fortunately, "you can work and receive full Social Security benefits just as long as you are full retirement age," says Mark Hebner, founder and president of Index Fund Advisors Inc., in Irvine, California. "You also need to be careful if you are receiving Social Security disability or supplemental security income payments," he adds.

3. Adjust Your Work Schedule

As they reach or approach the full retirement age, workers want to continue to use the skills and experience they learned over a lifetime. Still, they may want to shift to fewer hours or more flexible hours, a more rewarding role in a related field, or even a second career, the survey shows.

That sounds appealing, but the biggest barrier could be your current employer. In the TCRS survey, employers paid lip service to the invaluable contributions of their older workers.

However, the older workers weren't always so sure about their boss' real level of commitment. In fact, 69% of baby boomers considered their employers to be "age-friendly." So you may need to take a chance and look elsewhere for alternatives.

4. You Can Start to Freelance

If you're not sure about working longer at your current job, you might want to consider building a freelance career. And you don't have to go whole-hog and quit your day job to get started.

Present your skills on any of the many websites that match freelance professionals with clients and test the waters. Entrepreneur.com has a list that is not comprehensive, but it will give you an idea of the opportunities that are now at your fingertips, thanks to the web.

5. You Can Lower Your Cost of Living

Your lifestyle may well have been established decades ago when you were beginning or anticipating a successful career, a family, and a comfortable home. Take a look around you and consider: Is this where you want to be for what you're now beginning or anticipating in the future?

Your priorities are, after all, quite different. Being in a good school district may not be important anymore. Being near cultural attractions and recreational facilities may be. Your home probably has too much spaceand too much stuff. The stairs may well be a challenge for your knees. And, really, mowing the lawn isn't as easy (or fun) as it used to be.

Find a new way of living that's right for you now. It will probably cost less, taking a little of the pressure off you and yours. This downsizing trend among older Americans has long been predicted, but once again the baby boomers have defied expectations by staying put.

"Research has indicated that most retirees end up needing only 60-80% of their preretirement income in retirement," says Hebner. "Nonetheless, looking to further downsize can eliminate mortgage paymentswhich is one of the biggest expenses for most investorsproperty taxes, and even the stress that comes with owning a large home."

6. Retirement Abroad May Be an Option

According to the Social Security Administration's own figures, it was sending more than 710,000 payments to beneficiaries overseas as of February 2022. For most, the initial motivation for retiring abroad is a need to live more frugally, but it shouldn't be.

Living abroad isn't just about cheaper living; it's about living well. There are many places around the world where Americans can live at a fraction of the cost, with all of the proper amenities.

"Living overseas is becoming a smarter choice for many retirees, especially those living on a tighter fixed income," says financial planner Carlos Dias Jr., founder and managing partner of Dias Wealth LLC in Lake Mary, Florida.

Dias adds:

European countries such as Portugal have lower-cost expenses, such as food, healthcare, and even energy. Even though taxes are a bit higher than in the U.S., sales tax is often included in the price of goods, which is actually lower than here.

The Bottom Line

You may be tired of hearing the mantra about "thinking outside the box." Nevertheless, the thought of retiring when you reach full retirement age may be one of those boxes you don't want to get trapped inside. Consider your many options and go from there.
SANTA MONICA, CA - January 25, 2017 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Gopher Protocol Inc. (OTCQB:GOPH) ("Gopher" and the "Company"), a development-stage company which specializes in the development of real-time, heuristic-based mobile technologies, and its partner, Guardian Patch LLC ("Guardian"), are pleased to remind our followers that Gopher will be featured guest on National Radio and Webcast Business Show today at 1 pm EST.

Dr. Danny Rittman, CTO of Gopher, will be interviewed live today on 1470 am and 95.3 fm South Florida, which will be streamed worldwide on AMP2.TV and www.wwnnradio.com, hosted by longtime broadcaster Mick Bazsuly and will cover the patented global tracking devices. Tom Kozlowski, CEO of R.P. Summit, will also join the show to discuss this market, providing key statistics in this rapidly changing industry -- tracking of pets, property, children, and other valued items and assets. R.P. Summit is an expert in marketing and selection of key targets including product placement and development of an increased customer base through the Internet as well as conventional sales methods.

Gopher and Guardian created a landing page for pre-orders where interested parties will be offered a 15% discount on their Guardian Pet Tracker purchase. To qualify for the discount, interested parties will be asked to express their interest; pre-registering by simply providing an email address -- no credit card or financial information will be required to receive the discount. Pre-registration can be done on-line at http://www.guardianpettracker.com/join. Additionally, these registrants will also receive Gopher's newsletter as well as Gopher's updates.

About Guardian Pet Tracker

The Guardian Pet Tracker (Sphere Internal name - the "Sphere") system is a derivative technology of Gopher's Guardian Patch technology. The Sphere is designed to provide its users with local tracking capability using a re-chargeable/replaceable battery source. The objective of Gopher's current efforts, which it hopes to achieve, is to deliver for testing in a pre-designated area few mobile units of the Guardian pet devices along with a base station, test results and eventual manufacturing capability for both the mobile and the base unit

About Guardian Patch

The Guardian Patch (the "Patch"), potentially arriving in consumer markets in 2017, is a unique location technology that works with or without GPS. The Patch is a "stick-on" device that provides its users with the capability to protect and track objects, a loved-one or even a pet, through a mobile application. Download the Patch app, register your patch, and track anything that you own on your mobile device or on our designated website. Register the Patches of your family members and friends to receive alerts in the event of an emergency. Peel the Patch off and the Patch acts as a beacon, sending out a signal and notifying anyone who has registered the user's Patch.

About Gopher Protocol Inc.

Gopher Protocol Inc. (OTCQB: GOPH) ("Gopher" and the "Company") (http://gopherprotocol.com) is a development-stage company developing a real-time, heuristic-based mobile technology. Upon development, the technology will consist of a smart microchip, mobile application software and supporting software that will run on a server. The system contemplates the creation of a global network. Gopher believes this will be the first system that is developed using a human, heuristic-based analysis engine. Since the core of the system will be its advanced microchip technology that will be capable of being installed in any mobile device worldwide, Gopher expects that this will result in an internal, private network between all mobile devices utilizing the microchip by providing mobile technology for computing power enhancement, advanced mobile database management/sharing and other additional mobile features.

Corporate Site: http://gopherprotocol.com

Press page/ press kit - http://gopherprotocol.com/?page_id=228

Consumer and product website for Guardian Patch: http://www.guardianpatch.com/

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission located at their website (http://www.sec.gov). In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release.

Contact:

Michael D. Murray CEO

Gopher Protocol Inc.

VM Only 888-685-7336

Media: press@gopherprotocol.com

Disclaimer/Disclosure:

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A Boat-full of Potential - Renewed Interest in the Cruise Industry Bolsters Luxury Markets (OTC: MASN) (NYSE: CCL) (NYSE: CUK) (NYSE: RCL) (NYSE: NCLH)

Vancouver, Kelowna, Delta, BC - November 2, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Investorideas.com, a leading investor news resource covering luxury goods and cruise ship stocks releases a special report featuring Maison Luxe, Inc. (OTC: MASN), a company that offers luxury retail consumer items.

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San Diego, CA - November 3, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) GBT Technologies Inc. (OTC PINK: GTCH) received a notice of publication for its financial software patent application.

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Breaking AI Stock News: Intellagents, a FatBrain AI (OTCQB: LZGI) Company, Announces Hiring of Insurtech Industry Veteran as Chief Revenue Officer

NEW YORK, NY - November 2, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc.) (OTCQB: LZGI), the leader in powerful and easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for star enterprises of tomorrow, announces the hiring of Euan King, an experienced and respected Insurtech industry leader as Chief Revenue Officer for insurance technology-focused subsidiary Intellagents.

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CAVE CREEK, Az. - November 2, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Endexx Corporation (OTCBB:EDXC), a provider of innovative, plant-based, and sustainable health and skincare products, today announces it has secured a new $3.8 million USD order for its newly acquired, non-nicotine based vape product, HYLA from customers in Italy.

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On Monday, January 23 The National Council of Resistance of Iran reported that some authorities were interviewed by Ofogh TV, affiliated with the regime. They each acknowledged to the devastating impact of importation.The head of Irans Central Task Force to Combat the Smuggling of Commodities and Currency admitted to an increase in the smuggling of commodities in recent years. The commodities have high figures in foreign trade.

Smuggling has destroyed domestic production in a way that both producers and consumers have been harmed. The Vice President of Iran-China Chamber of Commerce admits that large-scale trafficking, is the result of our opaque economy. As long as there is no transparency and competition in our economy, we will have the issues such as smuggling commodities, embezzlement or other economic corruptions.

Mohammad Hossein Barkhordar was also interviewed. He acknowledged that the agents of the regime are involved in economic corruption, smuggling, and bribery. He stated that there are some rentiers, who live well on income from these illicit investments, and are connected to both sides of left and right. Some of them receive economic medals, as well. They are experts in the leverage of the law.

The Head of the Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education said that Customs in Iran is itself the entry for the contraband.

According to Fars News Agency November 23rd 2016, Zarei, Deputy Head of the Headquarters for Combating Smuggling Commodities and Foreign Exchange, said that 60 percent of docks in the country, including those of the military, the police, the petroleum trade, and fishing, are illegal.

Hassan Rouhani, President of the Iranian regime, on February 13, 2016, had a conflict with the IRGC and implicated them in the corruption and smuggling in Iran, without naming them. He stated to the state-run news agency IRNA, when the production is going to increase, a factor of corruption and smuggling does not allow the process in Iran. It actually impedes the improvement and prosperity in the country. Rouhanis implicit remark to IRGC slammed this organization for corruption in the country.

Commodities are allegedly smuggled into the country in the amount of 25 billion dollars annually. Some authorities of the regime have announced that this figure even reaches to 30 billion dollars in a year. More than 90 percent of cell phones in the country, have been smuggled into the country (i.e. 1,300,000 cell phones).

Most clothing is imported, and 500 million square meters of fabrics are smuggled into the country, as well. More than $2,600,000,000 of health and beauty products are smuggled into the country, and most of them are fake.

This high volume of trafficking implies that smuggling is fully established governmentally, and, at least according to President Rouhani, it is affiliated with IRGC.
The governor of southern Helmand province, Hayatullah Hayat, told VOAs Afghan service that the Islamic Republic wants the Taliban to disable some of the nations dams, so Tehran can have a larger share of water from the Helmand River. The governor cited classified Afghan intelligence reports that were forwarded to the Afghan palace and the National Security Council.

Hayat said, Iran is seeking to undermine the development projects over the Helmand River so that it can continue receiving more water.

He accused elements in Irans Revolutionary Guard forces of providing weapons to the Taliban to be used to attack government installations and infrastructure. He said several unexploded mortar missiles used by the Taliban that were fired at the provincial capital bore an Iranian manufacturers mark.

Irans intelligence representatives recently met with local Taliban leaders in Helmands volatile Garmser district, the governor added.

On Monday, when contacted by VOA, Irans Embassy in Kabul declined to comment.

Tehran has denied the accusations of association with the Taliban, saying instead, that it has close relations with the government of Afghanistan.

In parts of Asia, water scarcity is a major issue, and Iranian authorities have been pushing for a larger share of water supplies from Afghanistan which has been building dams for irrigation and power needs. The two countries signed a water-sharing treaty in 1973, that says Iran will not make claims to water from the Helmand River other than the amounts agreed to in the treaty, even if additional water becomes available in the future.

According to VOA, Iran has voiced concerns over water management projects in progress in western and southern Afghanistan, including Herat provinces newly Indian-funded hydroelectric and irrigation project known as Salma Dam, saying that this may reduce the flow of water into Iran.

The Afghan government said that the projects will not affect the amount of water flowing into Iran. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that Iran continues to receive its share of water from Helmand River, and that the country cannot claim more than what it agreed upon.

Some Afghan experts say that if Iran wants more water, it should make a deal with Afghanistan. We know Iran wants more water than allocated to it in the water-sharing treaty, Wadir Safi, a professor of law and political science at Kabul University told VOA. If Iran wants more water beyond the amount agreed in the treaty, it should consider buying additional water from Afghanistan.

The allegations of Taliban involvement comes as Kabul is increasingly concerned about Irans perceived meddling in Afghan provinces that border Iran. An investigation into Irans reported association with the Taliban was ordered by the Afghan Senate last month.

Afghan regional officials say the Taliban has increased its terror activities in various provinces. The abundance of new weapons and ammunitions in Talibans possession has created many questions and doubts, Asif Nang, the governor of western Farah province told VOA on Monday. Nang added that the Taliban can receive weapons within an hour from Iran, given the proximity of his province to the border.

Nang accused Iran of harboring Taliban families in its territory, last month. Families of a number of high-ranking Taliban leaders reside in Iran, Nang told Radio Liberty last month. They live in cities such as Yazd, Kerman and Mashhad, and come back to Afghanistan for subversive activities.

Killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan last year, the Talibans former leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, was reportedly returning from Tehran after holding meetings in Iran.
One of Irans tactics is to use promotional video clips on its state media outlets to seduce children. One of the most recent jihadist promotional clips is titled, Martyrs who defend the sacred shrine.

The translation of the video clip, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), says:

Let us rise up to save the sacred shrine.

I have joined [Imam] Hosseins army division.

 I have a warrant from the [Imam Ali] to defend the sacred shrine.

On my leader [Ali Khameneis] orders I am ready to give my life.

The goal is not just to free Iraq and Syria;

My path is through the sacred shrine [in Syria], but my goal is to reach Jerusalem.

 I do not regret parting from my country;

In this just path I am wearing my martyrdom shroud.

 From Mashhad [north-east Iran], I will walk on foot to Damascus.

I am like the bird who flocks to the sacred shrine.

The training and teachings inspire hatred in these young children, through rampant anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism, and focus on damaging the national security of the Unites States (the Great Satan) and Israel (the Little Satan).

Rafizadeh writes, At Mashads theme park, City of Games for Revolutionary Children, children are trained to engage in wars against the US and Israel. They fire bullets through US and Israeli flags or at effigies such as that of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to Israel National News: After registering, children don military uniforms and split up into groups of 8-10. They are accompanied by a commander whom they pledge to obey. They then go through 12 activity stations, which include simulations of the Iran-Iraq war, a Revolution chamber, defending various holy shrines, and traversing a minefield with barbed wire. Along the way, they are told about the directives of the Imam (Ayatollah Ruhollah) Khomeini and Supreme Leader Khamenei.

A commander teaches the children Islamist values. The Middle East Research Media Research Institute (MEMRI) quotes Hamid Sadeghi, director of Irans Child and the Future Cultural Center, who run the theme park, One of [our] cultural experts guides the children at the City of Games. First they are brought into the stations of the Ghadir [Shiite holiday honoring Imam Alis succession to the Prophet Muhammad] and of the Lovers of Ahl Al-Bayt [the family of the Prophet Muhammad descended from Ali], and [the guide] explains to them about the Mahdi [the Shiite messiah]. Then they reach the station of the Rule of the Jurisprudent [Velayat-e Faqih], and then the station of the Revolution, where the guide explains about the Islamic Revolution An explanation is also provided about the directives of the Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini and [Supreme] Leader Khamenei.

Training includes religious holy wars teachings. Sadeghi, pointed out, At the City of Games, we are trying to convey to the children messages about fighting, the Holy Defense and current global issues, through games, amusements, and group activities.

Iran is seducing children, and has actually used children in wars, assigning them tasks such as clearing minefields.

Irans actions are a direct violation of international humanitarian law that is defined as a war crime by the International Criminal Court. According to the United Nations, Human rights law declares 18 as the minimum legal age for recruitment and use of children in hostilities. Recruiting and using children under the age of 15 as soldiers is prohibited under international humanitarian law  treaty and custom  and is defined as a war crime by the International Criminal Court. Parties to conflict that recruit and use children are listed by the Secretary-General in the annexes of his annual report on children and armed conflict.

Iranian institutions such as the Office of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Ministry of Intelligence (Etelaat), and the militia group Basij, all play a crucial role in this matter. Institutions who recruit children for war, in violation of the international humanitarian law, are the beneficiaries of the sanctions relief and billions of dollars being poured into the Islamic republic as a result of the nuclear deal.

Rafizadeh summarizes this issue:

 The children, as young as eight years old, are trained to hate the US and Israel and to attack their enemies in the West, as well as to oppose Western values.

 Irans actions are a direct violation of international humanitarian law that is defined as a war crime by the International Criminal Court. According to the United Nations, Human rights law declares 18 as the minimum legal age for recruitment and use of children in hostilities.

 Finally, these institutions that recruit children for war, in violation of the international humanitarian law, are the main beneficiaries of the sanctions relief and billions of dollars being poured into the Islamic republic as a result of the nuclear deal.
While the narrative behind Irans involvement in Syria is often convoluted, or misrepresented by Iranian regime officials as the protection of Shiite shrines from terrorists, the real reason that Iran has spent so much of its national capital on a war that is taking place a thousand miles away is best portrayed by the Iranian regimes Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

If the ill-wishers and seditionists, who are the puppets of the U.S. and Zionism, had not been confronted [in Syria], we should have stood against them in Tehran, Fars, Khorasan and Esfahan, stated Khamenei during a January 5 meeting with the families of Iranian commandos killed in Syria.

Khameneis remarks, which echoed earlier statements made by the Supreme Leader himself and other top regime officials during the five-year-course of the Syrian crisis, reflect Tehrans vested interest in Syria and the incumbent regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The extension of the war has cost both Tehran and Damascus dearly, and has resulted in the death of more than 400,000 civilians and the displacement of millions of others. However, Khamenei and other top officials adamantly continue to insist on supporting Assad. Heres whats behind Irans involvement in Syria.

Syrias strategic value to Iran

Meddling in the affairs of neighboring and regional countries, which the Iranian regime frames as export of revolution, is one of the main pillars of its survival and continued hold on power. Therefore since its establishment after the 1979 revolution, the clerical regime has allocated vast amounts of resources on its foreign and regional incursions, which are often manifested in terrorist activity and the propagation of extremist ideology.

Within this context, Syria falls in line with other countries such as Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, where the Iranian regime is actively involved, both politically and militarily, through proxy groups and militias.

Following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which eventually turned into a quasi-occupation by Iran, Syria became of even greater value to Tehran, because it could provide it with a direct land corridor to the Mediterranean Sea, as well as a supply channel to the Hezbollah, a internationally known Lebanese terrorist group that acts as an Iranian proxy. Iranian officials have on several occasions described Syria as Irans 35th province.

Upon the eruption of popular uprisings in Syria, the Iranian regime moved fast to protect its interests, which resulted in a prolonged war and a crisis that later found regional and global proportions.

Irans troops in Syria

Given Syrias strategic importance to the Iranian regime, prior to the crisis, 2,000 to 3,000 of Irans IRGC officers (Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps) were present in the country, managing supply routes of arms and money to neighbouring Lebanon.

From the onset of the Syrian uprising, the Iranian regime became directly involved in quelling protests, helping Assad with equipment, weapons, technical knowhow and the experience acquired in more than three decades of crushing dissent and opposition in Iran. Iranian and Hezbollah agents also mixed-in with security forces cracking down on protesters.

However, as it became evident that Assad was in dire straits and was hard pressed against the rising tide of protests and the growing opposition movement, Iran became militarily involved in the crisis, using Iranian troops in Syria and dispatching reinforcements to help Assad maintain his hold on power.

Iran put Qassem Soleimani, the shady commander of the IRGC Quds Force (IRGC-QF), renowned and sanctioned for his key role in orchestrating Irans foreign terrorist operations, at the helm of the effort.

By December 2013, Iran was said to have over 10,000 operatives in Syria, including IRGC commanders as well as Basij paramilitary forces, Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and Shiite militias from Iraq.

According to a report published by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), by 2016, Irans forces in Syria had grown to more than 70,000, outnumbering Assads 50,000-man strong military by a large margin. In a frantic effort to prevent the collapse of the Assad regime, Iran ended up adding Afghan and Pakistani militias to its military composition in Syria, as well as a large chunk of the Iraqs Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a militia force Iran had assembled under the guise of fighting the extremist group ISIS. The PMF has been accused of war crimes against Sunnis in Iraq on several occasions.

Russias late 2015 military intervention in Syria in favor of Assad was also initiated at the behest and request of Iran, discussed in a controversial visit by Suleimani to Russia in mid-2015.

Russian warplanes played a complementary role to Irans ground forces in Syria, laying waste to entire cities and towns.

Irans casualties in Syria

The Iranian regimes military incursion in Syria came at a great cost to Tehran. According to reports obtained by the NCRI from within the regimes own ranks, Irans death toll in the Syrian war are estimated to be over 12,000.

IRGC and Iranian soldiers along with Iraqi and Afghan militias account for 3,000 of the casualties. The Lebanese Hezbollah also paid dearly for having rallied to the call of Tehran, losing 2,000 of its fighters in the course of the conflict. Another 7,000 dead go to Syrian forces funded and trained by Iran.

Tehran also lost scores of its officers and generals in Syria, including IRGC Brigadier General Hossein Hamedani, who was killed in late 2015 while leading the Iranian effort in Syria.

Hezbollah lost Mustafa Badreddine, one of its veteran commanders who had played a major role in planning and staging the 1984 bombing of U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut.

Irans expenditures in Syria

The Syrian crisis erupted at a time where Iran was under heavy economic sanctions for its illicit nuclear program. The restrictions nonetheless didnt deter Tehran from pouring money into the conflict in order to preserve its interests.

In 2012, The Economist reported that Iran had spent $9 billion to support the Assad regime. At the same time, Tehran was providing fuel, arms and supplies to the Syrian military. This was happening while Iran was under an arms export embargo by the UN.

In the summer of 2013, Syrian officials said Iran was to provide $3.6 billion in financial aid, on top of a January credit line valued at $1 billion.

In June 2015, a spokeswoman for UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura said to Bloomberg the body estimates Iran to spend an annual minimum of $6 billion in Syria. Nadim Shehadi, the director of the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies at Tufts University, said that his research puts the actual number at $15 billion annually, even at a time where Irans banks were cut off from the global financial system.

During the same period, diplomatic sources in Beirut told the Christian Science Monitor that Iran spends between $1 billion and $2 billion a month in Syria in cash handouts and military support.

As Irans negotiations with world powers came to a conclusion, there were fears that Tehran would spend economic benefits resulting from sanctions relief to notch up its support for the Assad regime, a concern that was echoed by U.S. officials in Washington.

In August 2016, the Iranian resistance exposed secret documents obtained from inside Iran which revealed that the regime in Tehran had spent as much as $100 billion on the war in Syria.

Irans future in Syria

The Iranian resistance has clearly pointed out that the Iranian regime can have no role in the future of Syria, and as the main source of crises in the region and the massacre of the Syrian people, its eviction from Syria, Iraq, and other countries in the region, will be key to the establishment of peace and the uprooting of extremist groups such as ISIS.

Despite statements made by Iranian officials after the military retake of Aleppo from opposition forces, Irans hold on Syria remains shaky and filled with doubt. After half a decade of bloodletting and war crimes, it is improbable that the Iranian regime would be able to carve a future for itself and its ally Assad in Syria.

Dragging Russia into the fray also didnt do the Iranian regime any favor as the strategic goals of the two states do not converge in the region, and theyre likely to be at loggerheads over their conflicts of interest in the future.

As the fog of war settles, it is expectable that Irans apparent gains in Syria will start to unravel.
During Sunday night's episode of, Sheree Whitfield accused Kenya Moore of provoking people, such as her ex-boyfriend, Matt Jordan, who displayed violent behavior this season after the ladies question Porsha Williams' anger management. Kenya shot back, alleging that Sheree has her own experience with abusive relationships in the past, which she denied.Kenya continued to defend her side of the argument and express her disappointment in Sheree on Instagram. "SHAME on you SHEREE! Sheree tried to antagonize me about Matt. 'Matt is breaking your windows.' We all saw Sheree bring up Matt breaking my windows," Kenya wrote. "No woman should be blamed for a man being violent or accused of provoking a man. A woman who had been abused before should know better than to say something that ignorant and ruthless."The RHOA entrepreneur went on to say that she's always been very open about her own experience with domestic violence when she was 16 years old. "DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS NO LAUGHING MATTER," Kenya wrote on Instagram. "I pray for Sheree because it is clear she is so obsessed with me she will say and do anything. Rewind. The truth is in black and white."Kenya also accused Sheree of presenting "#alternativefacts" and called out her behavior on RHOA, such as when she shifted Kim Zolciak-Biermann's wig and pointed her finger in her and NeNe Leakes' face.Sheree didn't have much to say about Sunday night's episode on social media, other than praising Phaedra Parks for the "great job" she did organizing the camp for the children from Flint and laughing at her ex-husband Bob Whitfield's appearance.Source/Photo Credit: Bravo
NeNe Leakes spilled all the tea during her recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. During Sunday night's episode, the former Real Housewives of Atlanta star gave an update on her friendships with her former co-stars.NeNe shared that she has not seen or spoken to Phaedra since last season's Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion. She felt like she received an icy reception from Phaedra and Porsha Williams when she surprised the group during their Jamaica trip as well."I was surprised at their reaction to me. They didn't even talk to me hardly in Jamaica," NeNe told Andy Cohen, adding that she "caught them whispering" about her behind her back. "I'm cool with Phaedra. I feel like I must be the problem for them. When I show up, I'm a problem."The OG of the ATL was also not pleased that Porsha said she's tried to reach out to NeNe and she doesn't call her back. "That's a lie. Let me tell you something, I'm the girl that'll call you right back," she said in her defense. "So this girl ain't call me. How she gonna call me when she bashing me with her radio crew all the time?"On the flip side, things between NeNe and Kandi Burruss seem to be better than ever. "Me and Kandi made a bet that we were gonna try to be cooler with each other, you know, just try to get to know each other a little bit more. We both have kept to that. She'll text me," NeNe shared. "Phaedra hasn't texted me. Porsha hasn't said a word."Then, Andy brought up Marlo Hampton who accused Kenya Moore of being a "NeNe Jr," and NeNe wasn't having it. "I can't believe we talking about Marlo. When all y'all gonna give her a peach? If you were gonna give her one, I know you would've given her one a long time ago, so it look like you ain't gon' get now," NeNe said, throwing shade at Marlo seeming to want to become a Housewife.In fact, NeNe told Andy Cohen that she wanted Marlo to become a Housewife, long before we saw their infamous falling out. "When you're a good friend to these folks, you want to help them out," she said on WWHL. "But they're also very thirsty. I mean, it shows."Source/Photo Credit: Bravo
The Seanad has heard calls for the government to pave the way for driverless cars, in order to help rural pubs.

A Fine Gael senator claims the idea could help to rejuvenate local communities, as there is no risk of drink driving.
It was revealing the results of consumer research which showed that two-thirds of Irish consumers believe it is important to purchase local food.

Bord Bia also revealed that the number of small food and drink businesses with which it works has grown by over 40% (42%) from 400 to 700 in just under four years.

Over 200 small food and drink producers were presented with the research findings at a conference in Enfield, Co Meath.

Minister of State Andrew Doyle told delegates that building solid relationships and having a compelling brand story are key to growing sustainable businesses.

Bord Bia will continue to support Irish client companies in this regard, providing advice on market opportunities and emerging trends, he said.

Mr Doyle added the most immediate impact of Britains decision to leave the EU has been sterling depreciation and volatility.

While demand for premium quality, safe food products is increasing long term, the advice and information provided at the conference can help companies in practical ways to hold on to business, he said.

Mary Morrissey, Bord Bias food and beverage manager, said it is encouraging for small food businesses to hear consumers saying they buy local food products at least once a week and that one-third are purchasing more than they did a year ago.

The fact that Bord Bia has nearly doubled its number of clients is affirmation of the resilience of the small business sector in tackling challenges and in converting ideas and concepts to commercial business, she said.
Dilosk, which acquired ICS Mortgages from Bank of Ireland in 2014, said its new buy-to-let mortgage with a 10-year interest only option was now available nationwide. It will be available to both individuals and companies and Dilosk said there would be 200m in new lending to back it up.

Dilosk chief executive Fergal McGrath told the Irish Examiner it was targeting buy-to-let for now and that it was aiming to be the top lender in this area by 2020.
A woodlands conservation agency Just Forests called for the Irish Army to be drafted in to tackle the problem as the Department of Arts Heritage, Regional Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs revealed 210,000 was expended in 2016, alone.

Rhododendron has become an invasive species in Ireland and has spread across much of the 10,000-hectare park, Irelands first national park and, since 1982, a Unesco biosphere reserve. Last month, the Irish Wildlife Trust lodged a complaint with Unesco over the failure by the National Parks and Wildlife Service to submit periodic reviews.

The trust claimed the authorities managing the Killarney amenity had failed to maintain standards of conservation and protection, and they should be forced to reapply for the coveted Unesco status which the park uses to promote itself.

The Just Forests group, meanwhile, said the rhododendron problem is deep-rooted in the oak woodlands.

Details about the department and wildlife services spend in the rhododendron eradication programme was provided by minister of state Michael Ring to Independent TD Michael Healy-Rae.

The Kerry representative said the national park was being neglected, while the deer population had exploded. Mr Ring said control of rhododendron was difficult, costly, and labour intensive and was the subject of a long-standing and continuing programme in Killarney.

He said year-round student volunteer programmes, summer camps and contract workers were engaged in helping to clear substantial areas. Mr Ring said a new updated strategic management plan for the national park was being prepared after the appointment in 2015, for two years, of a specialist in eradication measures.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has also spoken about the issue and said there is real concern among conservationists over the state of the park and, particularly, the decline of the woodlands due to overgrazing by deer and other animals, as well as the invasive rhododendron.

Mr Ryan warned that the park was at risk of losing its Unesco designation.

There is real concern that we are losing whats really precious, said Mr Ryan, who had worked in a cycling tourism business in Killarney for over a decade. He said rhododendron ponticum was the first priority and was now taking hold of the woodlands, killing the undergrowth and threatening the natural forest.

Meanwhile, Mr Ring said a deer census had been undertaken and being assessed.
What did the UKs highest court decide?

The court ruled, by a majority of eight to three, that British prime minister Theresa May cannot lawfully bypass MPs and House of Lords peers by using the royal prerogative to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to start the two-year process of negotiating the UKs divorce from its EU partners.

Which justices dismissed the British governments appeal, and who allowed it?

Lord Neuberger, Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Kerr, Lord Clarke, Lord Wilson, Lord Sumption and Lord Hodge rejected the governments case, while Lord Reed, Lord Carnwath, and Lord Hughes dissented.

What did UK Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger announce?

He declared: By a majority of eight to three, the Supreme Court rules that the Government cannot trigger Article 50 without an Act of Parliament authorising it to do so.

What is Article 50?

It is the formal mechanism which a nation state must trigger if it wishes to leave the EU.

What does Article 50 say?

A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European Council of its intention. In the light of the guidelines provided by the European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union.

That agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with Article 218(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It shall be concluded on behalf of the Union by the Council, acting by a qualified majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.

The Treaties shall cease to apply to the State in question from the date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after the notification referred to in paragraph 2, unless the European Council, in agreement with the Member State concerned, unanimously decides to extend this period.

Why did the British Supreme Court have to rule on this issue?

Because the British government appealed against a High Court ruling in November which blocked Ms May using the royal prerogative to launch Britains exit from the EU without parliament having a say.

What happens now?

The British parliament will debate and vote on invoking the measure.

Was the result of the June referendum binding on the UK parliament?

No. It was a consultative plebiscite, though few people on either side mentioned that at the time.
Her refusal came as the British courts upheld a ruling yesterday that Westminster must vote on whether Ms May can start the Brexit process.

The ruling that Britains parliament must approve the triggering of Article 50 has raised doubts as to whether the process will start by the end of March.

While the court ruled that devolved powers in the North and elsewhere cannot veto the process, the decision raises the prospect of Westminster and other parliaments being engulfed in the debate. The ruling will anger devolved governments, particularly in the North, where a majority voted to remain in the EU.

Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes said the ruling was a victory for parliamentary democracy that may see politicians in Brussels contributing to the debate.

Neither the European parliament nor the British parliament can be taken for granted throughout this entire process, he said. Both parliaments will have to ultimately agree to a final deal on Brexit. There must now be regular scrutiny by the European Parliament of this entire process.

Ms May had been asked by the Greens, through the ceann comhairle, to speak during her visit to Dublin next week, a request that was passed on by the Department of Taoiseach. The rejection was yesterday viewed by some Dail members as a snub. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said he will seek to meet Ms May privately.

Meanwhile, despite Westminster now having a say on Brexit, Sinn Fein is refusing to take its seats in the London parliament. Donegal TD Pearse Doherty said Sinn Fein will not be taking up their four seats  even as a once-off  to vote on Brexit.

Party leader Gerry Adams described the Governments reaction to Brexit as dismal as he questioned whether the coalition has plans to protect Ireland from an economic crash and a hard border from Derry to Dundalk.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirmed the review after Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin warned that serious airport security defence failures may be putting the entire population at risk.

On Sunday night, gardai arrested two Aer Lingus workers and a third man in connection with an alleged long-running people-smuggling scam at Dublin Airport.

The controversy  which has been linked to international crime syndicates and may have involved up to 100 people a year entering Ireland illegally  was uncovered after a Garda operation.

Mr Martin in the Dail warned that lax security measures mean Ireland could be targeted by terrorists in the same way as last years attack on an airport in Brussels.

Calling for improved airport policing, he said a rigorous review of security at all airports must occur immediately  a plan Mr Kenny confirmed he will act upon.

This is a wake-up call given the ease with which people could enter the country, said Mr Martin.

The arrests and revelations of a very sophisticated scam involving illegal immigration were truly shocking, and exposed a significant lapse in national security at key entry points into the State.

Are we wide open for terrorists? I know that is a different paradigm from smuggling people, but if they can bypass us so easily on that front it seems we need to review our national security to make sure we rid ourselves of any complacency.

Airports across the globe are being targeted by terrorists and different operators. We cannot be complacent.

Mr Kenny said that a nationwide security review at all airports is being planned.

Acknowledging the people-smuggling scandal seems to have been going on for quite some time, Mr Kenny said when more information becomes available, the Government will see to it that an overall security assessment of the airports of Ireland, the regional airports and our main airports, is carried out.

Mr Kenny said an initial report on the security breach is due to be given to Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and Transport Minister Shane Ross today.
Judge John King said there was no doubt that the assault was very nasty and merited a prison sentence.

Tina ODriscoll brought 500 compensation to court for the victim of the attack.

The judge said the victim was more than flexible with the defendant on the night in question, even on the defendants own version of events.

It warrants a prison sentence as it was such a terrible assault. It was a very, very serious matter. Would she be willing to do a community service order instead of going to jail, Judge King asked.

Diarmuid Kelleher, solicitor, said Tina ODriscoll of 9 Ardmore Heights, Knocknaheeny, Cork, was willing to do community service. The judge said she could do 200 hours of community service instead of four months in prison.

The Director of Public Prosecutions directed that the case could only be dealt with at Cork District Court on a plea of guilty and that otherwise it would have been necessary to have it sent forward for trial by judge and jury.

ODriscoll pleaded guilty to the charge of assault causing harm to Kenneth Sheridan at the Old Oak on Oliver Plunkett St, Cork, on February 19, 2016.

Diarmuid Kelleher, solicitor, said that out of very limited resources the defendant had managed to raise 500 compensation for the injured party.
Mr Ross has increased the allocation for this year to just over 36m, up 11.5% on the amount granted to Cork County Council last year.

The news was welcomed by Cllr Declan Hurley, chairman of the councils Roads & Transportation Strategic Policy Committee.
An elevated area in a West Cork gateway village has been designated a flood risk area  despite the hill road overlooking roof tops.

One of the more extreme examples of OPW mapping came from Cllr James ODonovan. He said the OPW had deemed the flood risk to be so high in Innishannon, it had included an area halfway up Church Hill.

If thats the case its going to be Noahs Ark stuff, the Fine Gael councillor said.

Cllr Kevin Murphy said if flood waters were to reach that height it would mean all the roofs of the houses and shops in the villages Main St would be submerged.

He insisted it was highly unlikely this could ever happen and agreed with his party colleague the council should highlight Innishannon and other anomalies before the OPW finalises flood mapping drafts for the county.

Meanwhile, Cllr ODonovan also pointed out the OPW had deemed the village of Ballyfeard, south of Carrigaline, as a total flood plain which the councillor said was inaccurate.

Cllr Gillian Coughlan questioned the methodology behind the flood mapping.

Insurers are looking at another pay day, she said.

Cllr Rachel McCarthy said: The current OPW maps will be used by insurance to make hikes or an excuse by insurance companies not to insure businesses and householders suggested.

Cllr Coughlan, however, said the maps in their current form would also have a huge impact for the councils local area plans especially as the blueprints for future housing development may mistakenly show land zoned for houses was at risk of flooding.

The fallout on insurance premiums was Cllr Murphys main concern. He said some businesses were in big trouble because they had been wrongly listed as being at serious risk of flooding and were either facing increased premiums or being refused insurance.

He said expansion of businesses through extensions would not be permitted and believed householders would also be in the same boat.

He said the second draft of some of the flood risk maps were even worse that the first ones compiled by the OPW. This is going to devalue properties as well.

Cllr Frank OFlynn, meanwhile, raised concerns about the mapping of flood areas in Fermoy.

He pointed out a multimillion-euro OPW flood relief project in the town had been hugely successful, preventing very serious flooding of the River Blackwater in the past two years without damage to properties.

However, despite the success of the flood prevention works, he noted there had been an extension locally in the mapping of likely flood areas.

Cllr OFlynn claimed the OPW mapping process had led to county council planners refusing planning permission in some areas of the town, and insisted in most of the areas designated there was little or no flood.
The victim grabbed the blade of the knife when it was slashed in his direction and he suffered irreparable damage to his dominant hand.

Mr Justice Michael Hanna made a decree for 100,000 at the High Court and said allowance could be made for 20,000 previously paid when the defendant was convicted of the assault at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The judge dismissed as having no huge significance photographs taken by what he described as an amateur sleuth looking for a gotcha photograph of the plaintiff.

John Delaney, aged 65, of Tullagreine House, Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, pleaded guilty two years ago to a charge of assault causing harm to Donal Daly, aged 61, on the N25 at Tullagreinne, Carrigtwohill, on April 11, 2013.

Mr Daly told the court that on the day of the incident, he was driving with four dogs in the back of his car when the defendant drove up behind him and flashed his lights.

He thought it was an unmarked Garda car and pulled in to see what was wrong.

Delaney got out of his car and came over to Mr Daly and gave out to him, claiming that he had been using his mobile phone while driving.

Mr Daly said he had not been using his mobile phone.

I could not calm him down. I thought it was banter and it was all going to calm down. I wanted to get away. I said, John if you want to call the guards call them. I could not calm him down, said Mr Daly.

I could not get through to him. He looked around at the dogs. I got out of the car in case he let the dogs. If they got out there would be carnage on the road. He was still on about the phone.

The next thing I knew he had a knife in his hand, he swiped it at me. I caught it. The way it hit across the fingers of the right hand, I knew there was blood coming down my clothes, Mr Daly told the court.

I called an ambulance. I called the guards, I called my son. There was blood coming out of my hands like it was coming out of a tap. I was on aspirin for my heart.

Blood was flying all over the place. I thought I was going to bleed to death. My son came down with a white bath towel. In a matter of seconds the towel was red.

Mr Dalys senior counsel, Michael Gleeson, said the plaintiff was trying to protect himself and suffered a very severe injury to his right hand.

Mr Gleeson said: The blood loss was frightening. That fear  legitimate and expected  shocked his system profoundly and has had a psychological effect on him that stayed with him and will be with him for the rest of his life.

He is left with a hand that is awfully compromised in every aspect of his life, said counsel.

He has post-traumatic stress. He has shown himself to be quite robust. He lives a very restricted life. He has lost his love for life.

This is a case involving an injury which, if it happened in an industrial accident, would be very serious but he has to live with the psychological distress of how it happened to him. He is not only entitled to date but into the future.
The man burst into the post office in Blarney at around 1.45pm yesterday and demanded cash from a female member of staff.

Gardai believe that he had cased out the post office and before striking may have parked his getaway car close to the entrance to the former Blarney Park Hotel.

A Garda spokesman said that the getaway car was believed to be a 1999 or 2000-registered Toyota Avensis.

It was dark in colour and had some silver [possibly water deflectors] on the windscreen wipers, the spokesman said.

He described the armed robber as around 5ft 7ins tall.

He had a black, woolly hat on and a Liverpool-style jacket with blue Adidas-type jacket, and he also wore pointed winkle-picker type shoes, the spokesman said.

He said that the raider appeared to be armed with a sawn-off shotgun when he threatened the member of staff.

Fortunately, the woman was not injured, but was said to be shocked by the ordeal.

Gardai are looking at CCTV footage in the area in the hope it will shed light on the identity of the raider and what roads he may have taken when he made his escape.

They are also carrying out inquiries in the village.

We are anxious to hear from anybody who may have seen this man in the Toyota Avensis either before or after the robbery.

We are particularly interested in speaking to anybody who saw the car after it left Blarney village, the spokesman said.

Anybody with information is asked to contact Blarney Garda Station on 021 4516290, Gurranabraher Garda Station on 021 4946207, or Anglesea Street Garda Station on 021 4522000.
The head imam of the Islamic Centre Ireland, Shaykh Umar al-Qadri, has been invited to take part in the International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP).

IVLP is the US Department of States premier professional exchange programme; former British prime minister Tony Blair has previously participated in it.

The imam will visit four cities  Washington DC, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and and Denver  as part of a dialogue on how to counter violent extremism.

Every year they invite visitors to engage with American citizens and the programme, which has different themes, is administered by the US Department of State, Shaykh Umar al-Qadri told the Irish Examiner.

They have created a specific programme on countering violent extremism. In total, they have identified 10 people from a range of European countries that are seen as experts on countering violent extremism.

They want to learn how the Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council is working on countering violent extremism.

Some key things which the imam will say as part of the dialogue relate to Muslim communities in the US and how people in general talk about religious radicals.

We will be looking at how Muslim communities in the US are collaborating with the government and independently to counter violent extremism, he said.

Also how we use phrases like radical Islam. I think we should avoid it because we are legitimising these minorities. There is nothing Islamic about their actions. The phrase has a negative impact on society and creates a stereotype.

Furthermore, while we acknowledge that there is extremism we must be clear in identifying this as a minority [of people] where religion is not the motivating factor.

Shaykh Umar al-Qadri said US president Donald Trumps rhetoric was not a reason to decline to meet him, as a dialogue must be kept open.

We, each one of us who wants peace and diversity, must always be open for dialogue with anybody, he said.

If I get an opportunity to sit and meet with President Trump I will accept that, not because hes now the president but because its important that he engages with Muslims. We must be careful not to destroy bridges but instead create them and dialogue too.

Shaykh Umar al-Qadri also pointed out that Mr Trump sat and listened to the Koran being read, with respect, at a prayer service last Saturday.

In order for diverse communities to coexist peacefully together, the imam said that prejudices need to be set aside.

We need to get rid of all of the prejudices and enter into dialogue, there needs to be neutrality without prejudice in order to find a way of going forward, he said.
While approving the settlement, Mr Justice Kevin Cross commended the HSE for its attitude to the case after hearing that senior personnel had sat down with Evans parents, sincerely apologised, and gave an explanation during mediation settlement talks.

Evan Dean, formerly of Ballaghdarereen, Co Roscommon, who now lives in Canada had, through his mother, Tara McGrath, sued the HSE as a result of the circumstances of his birth at Sligo General Hospital in May 2010.

It was claimed that the boy should have been delivered by 5.50pm on May 2, 2010, but was not delivered until 95 mintues later, causing him to suffer 90 additional minutes of asphxia.

It was further claimed there was a failure to have regard for the CTG trace from 5.30pm, when the trace was grossly pathological, and a failure to deliver the baby at the earlierst possible opportunity.

The court heard that liability was not an issue in the case and Evans parents are happy with the settlement.

Michael Cush SC told Mr Justice Cross said senior HSE personnel had sat down with Evans parents, sincerely apologised, and explained what had happened. He said it was a significant part of the settlement mediation talks.

Mr Cush said Evans case was one of the best outcomes in a case of cerebral palsy and the boy attends school in Canada. He said he has a right-sided deficit but is a sociatble and happy child.

Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Kevin Cross said he was delighted at the progress Evan has made and he wished the boy well for the future.

I am sure he will have a great future, he said.

The judge commended the attitude of the HSE in the case where an apology and an explanation of what happened was given to the family as part of the mediation settlement talks The judge said it was  absolutely something to be encouraged, and he said thankfully it was becoming more and more common that explanations are given.

The case will come back to court in five years time when Evans future care needs will be assessed.
According to the Lisdoonvarna matchmaker, there has been a massive surge in American women looking to be matched with Irish men over the past year.

Mr Daly, who has never attempted matchmaking outside of Lisdoonvarna, says the closest he has previously come to a cruise ship is the ferry from Doolin to the Aran Islands.

He will host daily matchmaking sessions on the ship itself as it sails from Miami to Mexico before island hopping around the Caribbean.

During these sessions, he will attempt to find matches on the ship, but he will also have his famous book-of-love with him should any of the participants fancy finding an Irish lover.

Ive found over the past year or so, and particularly last September in Lisdoonvarna, that a lot of Americans have become interested in traditional matchmaking. Its mainly American women who are looking for Irish men but not always, he pointed out.

Maybe its the fact that we are an island people and they [American women] dont see us as being over ambitious or over smart. What they want is a nice, decent person.

These are sometimes very beautiful women and their criteria is that the man is Irish. They dont have to look like Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio, you could almost look like Danny DeVito and be a success.

According to Mr Daly, increased political uncertainty in the world has contributed to a massive increase in American women using his service to find Irish men.

As a nation, we are very lucky that there is huge interest in us, and this interest is only going to grow hugely as a result of all the uncertainty that exists in a lot of the world.

People are starting to see Ireland as a safe place, he said.

This cruise will have a bit of matchmaking between the people in the boat as well as matching them to people from Ireland.

A lot of single men and women would attend cruises like this  maybe people who are a bit lonely, are getting older and are looking for someone.

Ive never been on a cruise before. Ive hardly ever been on a boat before except for going in and out to the Aran Islands with the lads on the ferry.

Mr Daly has been invited by Irish American promoter, Andy Cooney, to take part in the Irish Star Cruises of the Caribbean.
Michael Murphy believes that the sector is over-represented on bodies that award funding and decide what disciplines should be prioritised in higher education research.

However, he also wants to see a greater financial input from employers to third-level education, in the form of ringfenced levies or taxes, and from philanthropy which he believes can be leveraged more to help colleges.

He made his comments in an interview with the Irish Examiner before he hands over the presidency at the end of a 10-year term next week. He will be replaced by UCC graduate Patrick OShea, who has spent most of his academic career as a physicist in the US.

Dr Murphy acknowledges that industry should have a say in university governance to make sure they are sufficiently sensitive to the needs of business.

But we also have to be very careful about the extent to which we permit the business sector to influence the overall agenda. I have a concern at the extent to which the business community has become the dominant voice in the research agenda, he said.

The problem lies at ministerial level, he believes, as the appointment of directors to Science Foundation Ireland and other funding and advisory bodies is a matter for Government ministers.

But his concerns are not limited to science funding, as he believes research in the humanities and even some sciences like maths are being underfunded because of an unjustified emphasis on industry and job creation.

Dr Murphy defended the decision to name a building in UCCs health science complex after Nobel laureate James Watson.

The decision was criticised by UCC Students Union and some academic staff because of Watsons past comments which have been labelled as racist and misogynist.

Dr Murphy expressed regret that there was not enough consultation, saying that naming procedures are being revised to take greater account of views on campus.

After shaking hands with 42,000 graduates in a decade of conferring ceremonies, Dr Murphy said his proudest achievements are that student satisfaction rates remain high despite the effects of funding cuts.

However, he is also proud that UCC maintains a higher position in world university rankings than when he took the helm in 2007 although it has begun to slide in recent years because of lower budgets and fewer staff.

UCC last year received its first increase in funding for staff and running costs from the Government in almost a decade.

Between 2008 and 2015, that funding dropped almost 60%, from 84m to 35m. But student numbers have grown from 17,000 in 2008 to nearly 21,000 last year.
The details of the Dublin airport story are still unclear, but, in the context of our work, people seeking asylum often use smugglers as a matter of a last resort due to the lack of safe and legal pathways to protection, said Nick Henderson, CEO of the Irish Refugee Council.

He was speaking after two Aer Lingus workers and a Chinese national were remanded in custody yesterday, after being charged in connection with the unlawful entry of non-nationals into the State.

Despite the shocking loss of life in the Mediterranean in recent years, the European response has generally been to declare war on smugglers who have adapted their tactics putting people at even greater risk.

Safe and legal pathways, such as family reunification and humanitarian visas, are essential to prevent people risking their lives by taking increasingly perilous routes, they also give countries the opportunity to manage this process, Mr Henderson told the Irish Examiner.

Senior solicitor and legal services manager at the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Catherine Cosgrave, also commented on the issue yesterday.

She said: Its important not to rush to judgement about the situation of third-country individuals.

Their motivations to move are very complex and they can be very vulnerable and at risk of exploitation.

We need to look at what is motivating these moves and respond to the range of circumstances.

Its an incredibly complex and nuanced issue. You need to look behind each individual case.

Ms Cosgrave also made the point that an appropriate response to people, if they find themselves as victims, is needed.

There is a need for vigilance so that immigration procedures are robust but also fair and transparent and respond appropriately to the needs of individuals being moved in a range of circumstances, said Ms Cosgrave.

Furthermore, she said that using the correct terminology was very important when discussing the issue.

Undocumented [as opposed to illegal immigration] is the language used by service providers in this area so as to be more reflective of the reality on the ground and often, not always, people are seeking to regularise their immigration status, Ms Cosgrave said.
Im in the plush lobby of the Westbury Hotel off Dublins Grafton Street, where a grand piano adds a cultivated air to the scene of silver teapots and lunching ladies. How apt that I am here to meet Fionnuala Moynihan, one of the younger generation of exciting Irish piano virtuosos.

Music is at the heart of Moynihans family. The youngest of seven children, all but one work as professional musicians. In fact, they share a platform together on occasional tours as a family ensemble.

Moynihan grew up in Bishopstown in Cork, one of seven siblings, the youngest child of school teachers. All but one work as professional musicians and they share a platform together on occasional tours as a family ensemble.

I had a wonderful childhood, says Moynihan. My first musical experiences were playing trad tunes on tin whistle with my dad. We would play in the car on the drive to Glenville where he was teaching and where we all went to school.

Among the musical Moynihans, there are pipers, flautists and singers of distinction. How did she come to choose the piano? As a small child, I was aware of our piano at home standing on its own and I remember thinking it seemed a bit lonely as nobody played it much.

"So when it came to choosing an instrument after my early music classes at Cork School of Music, I asked to play the piano. There was some concern that I was too small but one of the teachers, Bebhinn ni Mheara encouraged my early interest.

Three decades later and Moynihan is a highly regarded virtuoso with an international profile. A graduate of conservatoires in Cork, Dublin, the UK , Hungary and Paris, she holds a doctorate for her work on 19th century Irish piano star, John Field.

Indeed, Moynihan won the John Field Prize at the 2009 Dublin Piano Competition and has performed his works all over Europe.

Moynihan, who lives in Dublin, is a keen hiker and there is talk of holiday trails in Austria and the Grand Canyon with her new husband Tim but on the day we meet, Moynihan has a new summit in her sights. Later this month on the exact birth date of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (below), she will begin a series of performances of the complete set of his sonatas in her home city of Cork.

What makes the venture even more auspicious is that she will be the first classical virtuoso to road test the newly acquired Steinway at Triskel Arts.

Complete Mozart cycles are a rare event. Moynihan completed her first complete cycle of Mozart solo piano sonatas at the Hugh Lane Gallery in 2010 to critical acclaim. She was the first pianist to attempt the feat in Ireland until British pianist, Christian Blackshaws cycle followed at Kilkenny Arts Festival in 2016. How does she feel about revisiting the experience?

I just cant wait to do it all again. It is like meeting an old friend. The last time I played these sonatas, it was all so new. I had just finished my PhD. There are so many ways to approach these sonatas and this time it wont be the same.

Im excited but in a completely different way. There are echoes of so much of Mozarts other works in the sonatas. You can hear snatches of the string quartets, solo flute lines and even his operatic arias in them.

Moynihan radiates enthusiasm, and her eagerness to reach out and engage with to her audience is infectious. I love to talk to the audience. I think that is down to my traditional roots. Trad musicians wouldnt dream of coming out and sitting down without saying a word or two to their audience.

Asked to namecheck some of her favourite musicians, she adores Matt Molloy and accordion player Dermot Byrne.

During her undergraduate years in Birmingham, she had the opportunity to hear many international pianists. She turned pages for Stephen Hough when he performed with the CBSO and she cites American pianist Murray Perahias interpretation of Bach as making a huge impression on her as a student.

Invitations are going out to local schools and colleges and Moynihan expresses the hope that there will be youngsters in the audience who may get their first experience of live Mozart at the lunchtime events.

She has travelled far in pursuit of excellence since her schooldays as a student of Eleanor Malones at Cork School of Music.

Future plans include a tour of Bach Goldberg Variations and a recording of a selection of the Mozart, Haydn and Clementi sonatas that have been the mainstay of her performing schedule since she launched on the scene.

But for or now she is looking forward to bringing it all back home. I consider myself a fierce proud Cork lady. Cork was such a rich cultural place to grow up. I was so fortunate to be surrounded by all manner of music  trad, classical and jazz and a wonderful ballet company.

Mozart is perfection. To me he is the most romantic, virtuosic and unique composers of all time. To come home and perform the music that I love in a beautiful venue like the Triskel means the world to me.
Are we? Are we? It was day three of my Iceland adventure and we had our tour guide Thor driven mad with our questions. But there was no flapping him. This is the best job ever, he said, Id do it, even if I wasnt paid to.

There arent many jobs you could say that about, but I imagine driving across some of the worlds most spectacular scenery with awe-struck passengers isnt exactly going to challenge your stress levels.

Unless, of course, you dont like driving on glaciers, or sliding backwards on snowy hilltops, or following your colleagues along slippery tracks the Ice Road Truckers would baulk at. But its all in a days work for our Icelandic superhero Thor. There was a big gasp from everyone (except the superhero) as the little black arrow on the satnav  representing our feisty Defender jeep  left land and drove on to the Langjokull glacier  a first for all of us.

Hours earlier we were gazing into the geysers of the Haukadalur valley, waiting for their unscheduled explosions of steam into the air, trying to catch them on camera. Boy, do they make some entrance when they do eventually surface. Before that, it was a stroll through the national park at the site of the worlds first parliament, at Pingvellir.

For fans of the countrys magnificent geothermal landscape, the trip to Pingvellir may in fact be the most memorable of the Golden Circle tourist trail. It was here that Thor explained we were standing in the valley between the Eurasian and American tectonic plates  in a split that runs the length of the country. The gap is growing larger by about an inch every year  meaning, as Thor put it, Iceland is getting bigger all the time.

Another pit-stop was at the magnificent Gullfoss waterfall, the largest-volume falls in Europe. Icelands location, with one half of its landmass on the American plate, and the other on the European, accounts for the huge amount of volcanic and geothermal activity right across the island.

The dramatic landscape we were enjoying, all within a few hours of the capital, changes rapidly from black soil flatlands, to lava fields, to green farms populated with the donkey-sized Icelandic horses, to steamy geyser towns, snow-capped mountains and stunning ice-blue sea. In fact, the word Reykjavik means smoky bay.

It was back to the sea the next day for my trip on one of two Elding whale-watching boats. We didnt see any actual whales, but did we see dolphins. Once we had left the bustle of Reykjavik far behind us, we started to notice little black fins appearing all around our boats, and when the boats were settled far from shore, the playful mammals put on a magnificent display all around us, zipping in and out of each others paths, and surfing in unison past the bow of our boat.

A large poster grabbing your attention as you leave the boat implores guests not to eat whale, as the country sadly recommenced the horrible practice of whaling in 2007.

But with tourism and fishing representing two of the most important chances for the countrys recovery, its no surprise the city has been gaining a great reputation as a food destination, especially for fish fans. In recent years, a number of stylish fish restaurants have sprung up, both in downtown Reykjavik, and near the uber-trendy Hotel Marina.

Its hard to get a seat even on some weekday nights in Icelandic Fish and Chips, a traditional sit-down but very trendy organic eaterie on the quayside, which boasts of its spelt-and-barley batter and handcut chips. Just a short stroll away is the hugely popular and very reasonable Tapashouse bistro, which provided us with the most delicious meal of our trip  mouthwatering fish, vegetable and meat bite-sized thrills, followed by wonderfully indulgent desserts.

A few nights later, after a rejection earlier in the week, we finally secured a table at the ultra cool new eaterie Grillmarkadurinn (The Grill Market).

Striving to source all its ingredients locally, the restaurant is a great advocate for the fishermen and artisan producers of Iceland. From the off, it was a very special meal. The tables rye bread was served on a wooden slab, with a delicious black salt. When I enquired further, I was told this was lava salt, produced exclusively for the restaurant by a local lady. Needless to say, I came home with a little jar of the wonderfully exotic ingredient, which is still thrilling my visitors.

As Reykjavik is about the size of Galway, the entire city can be traversed in minutes, and a short stroll will bring you from the quays back up to the main drag at Laugavegur, a hilly street which is dotted with cafes, bookshops and restaurants. Off a side street, you will find Kaffebarin, Damon Albarns addition to the citys nightlife in the late 90s, which is still a popular drinking spot for students and tourists. But there are plenty more options, even a Dubliner pub, complete with Viking boat counter upstairs.

There is so much to do in this modern, yet culturally grounded country of just 320,000 inhabitants, that a week, or even two, cant really do justice to the myriad unique tours on offer.

However, there is a holy trinity of trips that should be on every visitors to-do list, starting, of course with the aforementioned Golden Circle tour of south island hot-spots.

After that, it would be a shame to come this way and not venture out in search of the Northern Lights. The Aurora Borealis are putting on a stunning display this year, and there are several local tour groups offering trips to catch them on clear nights in all their glory.

En route back to the airport is the best time to take a detour to the Blue Lagoon. This top tourist attraction is today a magnificently developed geothermal spa and skin clinic, located in a lava field on the Reykjanes peninsula.

Here you can lounge for a few hours in your bathing suit, in a large steamy pond with mud-ladel stations which allow you to make your own face mask, hot fountains and poolside saunas to splash or relax in, and even a beer counter in the centre of the lake. On one of my earlier trips here, I observed snow falling and evaporating before hitting the water around me. Is it any wonder Iceland has found itself the chosen location for so many spectacular movies  from Bond thrillers to the current Tom Cruise sci-fi tale Oblivion?

This was my fourth visit to our nearest northern neighbour, and it gets better all the time. What was even better on this occasion, was the value for money, thanks, unfortunately, to the 2008 financial crash which saw its three main banks go bust, and a resultant weak krona.

Although, with flights included, it may not be as cheap as a week in Lanzarote, but whether you find yourself lounging in lava, or skipping between two tectonic plates, this is one cool holiday that will live long in your memory.

Flights

Icelandair flies year round from four UK airports direct to Iceland, with connections to USA and Canada. Return flights from London start from 203. Packages from 299. www.icelandair.co.uk. WOW airs direct route between London Gatwick and Reykjavik costs from just 95 one way, which includes taxes and hand luggage allowance (one bag measuring 56cm x 45cm x 25cm), plus handbag and duty-free shopping bag. www.wowair.co.uk or call +354 590 3000. My tip on arrival in Keflavik airport would be to either take a taxi the 45 mins from the airport to the city, or befriend a local on your flight who will help you negotiate your way onto the bus. I would have found it very stressful without such help, as there was little info on which bus, or where to find it, after our late-night flight.

Accommodation

I stayed at the Hotel Borg in a very smart square beside the parliament building, less than five minutes from the main street. The Borg is one of the worlds finest hotel examples of Art Deco, and has been authentically upgraded recently. While the staff could be a little bit more friendly, they are certainly efficient. The smart Cafe Paris across the street proved a great meeting spot, and we loved their coffees. An overnight stay in a double room at Hotel Borg starts from 140 per room, per night, including breakfast. www.hotelborg.is.

Sights

The Golden Circle Tour is a good way to see the highlights straight off  the national park with the Pingavellir parliament, the geysers and the stunning Gulfoss waterfall. We loved the efficiency, but also the fun attitude, of the superjeep.is guys, and they have a great website where they upload the pics afterwards. There are many options for seeing the Northern Lights, or you could just rent a car and seek them out yourself.

The shopping

The krona has fallen, but tourist items are still pricey, like traditional Nordic jumpers, (think Sarah Lund in The Killing), and trinkets bearing vikings and puffins.

The food

Its fast gaining a reputation for fusion food and with a particular focus on fish, especially around the trendy docks area. We loved the whale-watching company Eldings brand new quayside restaurant Mar, just a short stroll from their boats.
The business community has too much influence on Irelands research agenda, at the expense of non-scientific disciplines, the outgoing president of University College Cork, Michael Murphy, says.

Murphy says business is over-represented on bodies that make important funding decisions, though he wants the sector to continue contributing to higher education, via taxes and philanthropy.

He will hand over the UCC presidency next week to physicist Patrick OShea, a UCC graduate and the chief research officer of the University of Maryland, in the US, since 2011.

Murphy says industry should have a say in the governance of universities, to ensure they are sensitive to the needs of business, but we also have to be very careful about the extent to which we permit the business sector to influence the overall agenda. I have a concern at the extent to which the business community has become the dominant voice in the research agenda, he says.

He says the business community has an excessive influence in the design of research systems, and in the setting of priorities, at the biggest research funding agency, Science Foundation Ireland.

If you examine the board of SFI and look at the balance between representation of business interest and, on the other hand, competence in scientific methods, you will find its quite different from the nature of such boards in other countries, he said.

SFI funds basic and applied science and technology research to develop Irish industry and employment, and make it more competitive.

Eleven of its 12 board members are appointed by the minister for jobs, enterprise, and innovation, and the remaining one by the minister for education, posts previously and currently held by Richard Bruton.

Of 10 directors who are not civil servants, seven are in business, including three with science or technology backgrounds and one working in a university, and three are current or former scientific researchers.

SFI does not fund the humanities, and Murphy says the wider public agenda shows insufficient regard to research in disciplines outside science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM).

And even within science, insufficient regard is given to maths, and other areas where skills are vital to society and where Ireland is performing poorly, he says.

His criticisms are not so much directed at industry, but, rather, at the ministerial nomination of directors of the relevant agencies. This leads to the business influence that concerns him. These views, nonetheless, are unlikely to be popular with employers who have to make additional direct contributions to third-level funding.

Richard Bruton and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe are due to consult with representatives of business and industry, on options that might include an increased employer contribution.

But the Government is planning for additional funding to be raised from business, for higher education, in 2018, possibly to strengthen a case for students to also pay higher college fees.

While those decisions are formally awaiting the outcome of Oireachtas committee deliberations on last years report by Peter Cassells about future third-level funding, Murphy  like most of his university counterparts  supports increased contributions from all quarters.

A mixed funding model makes best sense from a universitys perspective, and students need to pay a little more. But not too much more, because we dont want to go where the UK and US have gone, with huge amounts of student debt, he says.

While student unions and trade unions argue for a fully State-funded system, Murphy says the proportion of higher education funding from the exchequer should never return to previous levels, as the sector has been paying the price for over-reliance on one funding source.

When I started this job, 86c in every euro we received came from the exchequer, but thats now down to 50c in the euro. That includes the 3,000 [undergraduate] students pay, but students need to raise their input, he says.

Even with the study-now, pay later option increasingly likely to be chosen by government, such fees would not bridge the funding gap.

Michael Murphy will hand over the presidency of UCC to physicist Patrick OShea next week. "Given the circumstances of what somebody has described as the worst economic challenge for a century, the fact that we continued to satisfy students, in spite of all that, is the thing Im most proud of," he said.

UCCs State allocation for staffing and running costs fell by 60% between 2008 and 2015, down 49m, from 84m to 35m. The first reversal, last year, was a small, but welcome, 3% increase, or 1m. But after undergraduate student numbers nationally grew by 14% in the same period, to 150,000, UCC, and other universities, have far less to spend on a per-student basis.

New enrolments by non-EU students have jumped by 50% in the last two years at UCC, to 800, not including those on short visits. But even with the income from their fees, a significant shortfall remains.

Efforts are focusing on alumni and industry to encourage them to financially support teaching and learning in Cork. Much of this fundraising is international, but Dr Murphy says the spending on those efforts pays.

His hope is that this work will be expanded by his successor, Patrick OShea, who has been spending time on campus since late last year, since before he leaves his post as University of Marylands vice-president and head of research.

Last October, Murphy told a briefing for staff and students that there is money to be mined out there, although he is under no illusion, either, that increased philanthropy and fundraising will ever fill a major proportion of the universitys funding gap.

That said, staffing losses in the office which manages fundraising are being clawed back. Increased staffing costs jumped 60%, to 500,000 last year, but the return increased pro-rata, from 5.3m to 9m.

With further staffing increases authorised and returns matching the 18 for every 1 spent on fundraising at similar universities in the UK, targets of 30m to 40m do not appear unrealistic.

The constant financial considerations for senior university management, including requirements for staffing rises, may concern those working in labs and lecture halls.

The severe restrictions of the past few years, on academic appointments and promotions, are slowly being lifted, although a number of senior posts have been left for Patrick OShea to fill, as he decides the shape of his management teams.

Among the posts to be filled are 10 professorships, either newly-created or vacant owing to retirements, for the new Cork University Business School (CUBS). It should move, by early 2018, to a new city centre headquarters, bought from Cork City Council late last year for 1.4m.

The focus will be on providing executive courses for local and regional businesses. But rather than being a diversion of staffing, and other resources, Murphy is conscious of its potential to generate revenue, as well as the relationships that may boost future philanthropic campaigns.

Across the world, in universities, certain disciplines, like business and medicine, for which people are prepared to pay a premium, cross-subsidise others which are critical to the health of society, he says.

We need engineers, we need poets, we need the whole spectrum. We have a strong business school, with the strong capacity to provide funding to support other important, but less popular or more expensive, disciplines.

Such sentiments will be appreciated by those in the arts and social sciences. But they might also be perceived as populist, by corners of the UCC campus, after staff criticised last summers naming of a building in honour of controversial scientist, James Watson.

The 1962 Nobel laureate was one of the team who discovered DNA structures, but is also known for statements that have been labelled sexist, misogynist, and racist. Although he stands over the decision to name the Watson Building, in UCCs medical health complex, in Watsons honour, Murphy says he might, in retrospect, have gone about things differently.

Difficulties can arise when individuals are not saints by the standards of the day. If I do have any regret in the matter, its that we had not consulted widely enough.

He attributed to the Watson incident plans to possibly give staff working in a building an input into its naming.

At a personal level, the death on campus of buildings and estates staff member, Frank McGrath, in a 2013 workplace accident, had a deep impact on Murphy.

You always wonder about what if you had done something different, not that you could have done anything personally, but it was the most traumatic.

The two latter topics underline what is usually forgotten about the role of university president. Although it is increasingly focused on finances and resources, it is the job of chief executive to ensure continuation and improvement of service for a student body of 21,000.

Unreliable as they might be, international rankings are increasingly the measure by which the quality of that service and education are benchmarked. It is a measure to which too much attention is paid, as Murphy was left in no doubt last week, when he helped UCC historian, John A Murphy, mark his 90th birthday.

Despite falls in recent years, UCCs retention of a position in the top 300 of the QS World University Rankings, after years of staffing cuts and increased enrolments, is a matter of pride to the outgoing president. From 386 in 2006 to 286 the following year, and into the top 200 in 2022, the university was ranked 283rd last year.

I have shaken 41,952 hands at conferrings, and the parchment we have given them still has a higher standing today compared to where it stood 10 years ago, he says.

But an achievement in which he has equal pride is the value of a UCC education to the students. A 2016 survey of students found that 96% were satisfied or very satisfied with their time there, an increase on two years earlier, which even Michael Murphy had not expected.

Given the circumstances of what somebody has described as the worst economic challenge for a century, the fact that we continued to satisfy students, in spite of all that, is the thing Im most proud of.
Lifestyle Father, Son and Granddaughter Art Exhibition

U Thet Nyunt at his home in Rangoon.

RANGOON  U Thet Nyunt is a veteran painter who still cant put his brush down even at the age of 90. His son, Min Ko Naing, 55, is a prominent student leader of Burmas historic 88 Uprising that tried to topple the countrys dictatorship in 1988. Mwei The San, the painters granddaughter, is studying medicine at Rangoons Institute of Medicine 1. She is 20 years old.

But their age differences and diverse backgrounds no longer matter when they are bound by art. This can be seen beginning on Sunday, when New Treasure Art Gallery in Rangoon opens an art exhibition that will feature the works of the three generations of artists, in part to honor the veteran painters 90th birthday.

With one of Burmas famous impressionists U Lun Gywe being four years junior to him, U Thet Nyunts show could mark him the oldest working artist in the country. More than 170 paintings out of nearly 200 put on display at the Father, Son and A Granddaughter Art Exhibition will attest that he is a prolific artist.

I just want to inspire younger people. I want them to know that is no reason you cant do something because you are old. I paint every day, U Thet Nyunt said, explaining the reason behind the exhibition.

My son and granddaughter also paint. I decided to get them onboard to have a family exhibition rather than a solo show, he added.

Min Ko Naing said he has been longing to have a show with his dad. He will contribute 10 paintings, two of which he drew secretly when he was behind bars for his political activism.

My niece, Mwei The San, also paints; she will be included as well. So, it becomes the works of three generations, said the former student leader, who is also known for his poems, novellas and essays. He also did illustrations for the Burmese translation of The Pizhduks, written by former Czech President Vaclav Havel about the absurdities of communism.

The youngest artist of the trio, Mwei The San, said she is happy to see her paintings at the show for the first time while also scared that her work will be on display alongside paintings by U Thet Nyunt and Min Ko Naing, who both have established their names.

My works are not that good. I feel embarrassed, she said. In fact, the 20-year-old learned how to paint as a child when her family noticed her talent after she won a school drawing competition.

My granddad said he wants to see my work along with his on exhibition before his death. So, I let them go, she said, adding that she will have about 10 landscapes, portraits and still life paintings on display.

For U Thet Nyunt, the exhibition is a source of family pride and joy.

I am really happy to see there is no shortage of artists in our family. They are like father like son as well as granddaughter.
Wednesday, January 25th, 2017 (9:52 am) - Score 2,547

The cost of deploying ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH/P) broadband networks throughout the EU, which currently still includes the United Kingdom, has today been revised by Comsof on behalf of the FTTH Council Europe and the new estimate is 134 billion (156bn).

Apparently the new cost model calculated the complete overlay of the EU28 countries with pure fibre optic broadband in a greenfield scenario (greenfield usually reflects undeveloped land in a city or rural area), which includes an outcome that would expect to see 100% of homes passed (covered) and 50% connected (subscribed / take-up).

The model claims to account for existing fibre coverage and connections (approx. 30% and 10% respectively) and suggests that the outstanding costs of full fibre coverage in the EU is 156 billion. According to the council, the re-use of existing infrastructure and effective implementation of the new Cost Reduction Directive (i.e. cutting red tape) can lead to significant cost savings and could further bring down these costs.

Ronan Kelly, President of the FTTH Council Europe, said: We can also see that Sweden, Spain and Portugal have FTTH coverage for instance that is over 80%  strongly suggesting that high fibre coverage can be realistically achieved. Both the EIB and Analysis Mason put the cost of a full FTTH network at between 220bn and 250bn with that number falling to 154bn with infrastructure reuse. We need to have a realistic assessment of level of costs and their implications. Policy makers should not compromise in seeking the best networks for Europe and networks that can support 5G and next generation digital services.

Deployment costs for pure fibre optic networks have certainly come down in recent years, not least thanks to a combination of regulatory changes (cutting red tape etc.), a stronger investment environment and more efficient / different methods of civil engineering.

However the cost does vary depending on the area and the type of network operator involved, although in UK urban locations we know that it can be as little as 500 per premise passed for some commercial providers and examples of this can be found via MS3 in Hull and Cityfibre / TalkTalk in York.

Sadly FTTH/P is often much more expensive to deliver in rural locations, where more work is required to reach a much smaller number of premises (i.e. very hard to get a viable return on the investment). On the flip side community-built providers like B4RN in Lancashire can usually get around this by asking local people to help build the network in exchange for shares.

Another challenge stems from the fact that it can still take many years to roll-out due to the need for lots of extra civil engineering work (possibly over 10 years if you intended to blanked the United Kingdom), although the longer term benefits may well outweigh this (easier / less maintenance, ultrafast speeds etc.).

In the UK weve seen various estimates for the cost of a near universal deployment, which tend to range from around 20bn to 30bn. As ever the huge variety in differing approaches and policy make it very difficult to peg down a precise figure. On that front it would have been good to see more detail on Comsofs workings but apparently this wont be released until the FTTH Conference in France on 14-16th February 2017.

The FTTH Council Europe have of course timed this to help support the European Commissions post-2015 policy, which proposes a new Gigabit Society target for all European households to get a minimum Internet download speed of 100Mbps+ by 2025, with businesses and the public sector being told to expect 1Gbps+ (here). Knowing how much this will actually cost is of course an important aspect of the debate.

Sadly the UK is still some way behind on the FTTH/P scale and at present only around 2% of premises have access to such a service, although this is set to rise dramatically over the next few years as BT and Virgin Medias combined efforts should put FTTH/P within reach of 4 million premises by 2020.

On top of that alternative network providers, such as Hyperoptic, Gigaclear, B4RN and Cityfibre etc., could potentially add a few million to that total and so we might see coverage of around 25-40% of premises in just a few short years time (estimates vary quite a bit due to the uncertainty of altnet commitments and potential for delays).

All of this is being supported by new regulation from Ofcoms recent Strategic Review (here and here), which among other things will give rival ISPs more access to harness Openreachs (BT) existing cable ducts. On top of that the Government has setup a new 400m Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund (DIIF) that is designed to help support full fibre deployments from alternative network providers (here).

However none of this will be enough to achieve truly universal coverage of FTTH/P connectivity in the United Kingdom and for that wed probably need to see billions more investment being committed from both the public and private side. On the other hand future fears over Brexit and the economy are somewhat dampening the prospect of such an outcome.

Meanwhile cheaper, but still very capable, hybrid-fibre upgrades like G.fast and DOCSIS3.1 should help to meet the short-medium term demand for faster connectivity that exists. But most do seem to agree that the longer-term future is still reflective of a move towards pure fibre optic connectivity, albeit a very slow move.
Before the inauguration last week, there was a call to protesters to join in a DDoS attack against WhiteHouse.gov. I dont know if it happened  I never heard that it did  but I point out this call for a reason. Hacktivists and cybercriminals recognize the power of a DDoS attack and they arent afraid to use it.

Deloitte warned that we should expect a crisis year in DDoS attacks, in part due to the rise of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and the ability to use them as botnets. According to ComputerWeekly.com:

According to the report, 2017 will see an average of one attack a month reaching at least 1Tbps in size, with the number of DDoS attacks for the year expected to reach 10 million.

Deloitte predicts an average attack size of 1.25Gbps to 1.5Gbps, and the report points out that an unmitigated attack in this size range would be sufficient to take many organisations offline.

Researchers at Arbor Networks also suggested that technological innovations will be the catalyst for the rise in DDoS attacks, adding that the chances of your business being hit by a DDoS attack have never been higher. More than half of the respondents in their study admitted to seeing more than 21 attacks per month, with 21 percent saying they see more than 50. The security report also found:

Multiple simultaneous attack vectors are increasingly being used to target different aspects of a victims infrastructure at the same time. These multi-vector attacks are popular because they can be difficult to defend against and are often highly effective, driving home the need for an agile, multi-layer defense. 67 percent of service providers and 40 percent of Enterprise, Government and Education (EGE) reported seeing multi-vector attacks on their networks.

The consequences to this increase in attacks is the loss of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in revenue because the businesss customer base cant reach them.

As long as IoT devices remain vulnerable, we must expect to see the rise in DDoS attacks. I think, too, well see more because they are so effective in getting attention when they do happen to a major organization. (I expect WhiteHouse.gov to be a frequent target as we move deeper into this administration, unfortunately.) On the plus side, organizations are getting better at mitigating a DDoS attack, as the Arbor Networks report found that 77 percent of service provider respondents said they are able to address an attack within 20 minutes, and 55 percent of EGE said they are holding regular DDoS defense drills. That gives me hope that even though we know DDoS attacks are going to get worse, we are at least anticipating them and doing something to decrease the damage.

Sue Marquette Poremba has been writing about network security since 2008. In addition to her coverage of security issues for IT Business Edge, her security articles have been published at various sites such as Forbes, Midsize Insider and Toms Guide. You can reach Sue via Twitter: @sueporemba
According to Steve Betts, senior vice president and CIO at Health Care Service Corp. (HCSC), a health insurance provider in Chicago, despite all the negative headlines associated with the shadow IT phenomenon, it really isnt a problem, as long as the right relationships are in place.

In a recent interview stemming from Bettss participation in Deloittes 2016-2017 Global CIO Survey, I raised the topic of shadow IT, expecting Betts to offer advice to his peers on how to squelch it. So you can imagine my surprise when he seemed to welcome it:

The days of demonizing shadow IT, I think, are well behind us. There is an increasing convergence between solving business problems, and technology. So technology leaders need to be business knowledgeable, but business leaders need to have technology capability also. When you look at the newer generations coming into the work force, theyre highly tech-enabled. And to tell them, Hands off, just give us your requirements and well go code it, I think those days are behind us, and I think its the wrong perspective to try and stop shadow IT. I actually encourage technology capability in our business units and, again, look for that strong partnership.

Betts did, however, add a caveat to all of that:

Now, that said, there are some things that we have to do one way, and there are other areas where we can be much more flexible. So when I think about the customer journey  what our members experience, and all of their interactions with HCSC  we need to be mindful of that in a very holistic way. We cant introduce tangent interactions out of context there. So one of my lines in the sand is, we can build this, but lets understand it in the context of the journey. And then on the other end of the spectrum, we have established a digital enablement layer, which is basically an API layer, that sits on top of our back-end systems. That lets us develop digital solutions at the speed of digital, rather than at the speed of the back-end systems. When were accessing the data, we drive that through the digital enablement layer. So theres a future architecture consistency line, and theres a customer experience line. And then within that, Im very flexible in terms of how the solutions are developed, and I encourage our business areas to explore solutions, and then through those strong relationships, we partner on the delivery.

If I was surprised by Bettss shadow IT response, I was even more surprised when I researched the senior leadership team at HCSC, and learned that the top three executives in the company are female. Those execs are Paula Steiner, president and CEO; Colleen Reitan, EVP and president of plan operations; and Karen Atwood, EVP of service and technology, to whom Betts reports. When I mentioned that, Betts said that he and his colleagues are very proud of HCSCs diversity in general:

The fact that we have a significant number of female leaders is distinctive. To me, it just represents a healthy environment, where were promoting the most capable individual. The most important thing to me is that my leadership  Karen, Paula, Colleen, and others  really understand the value part of the equation for technology. Most of the conversations that we have are around the opportunity before us, and the role that technology needs to play, which is the partnership that you need to have to be successful, and certainly one that I personally was looking for and was a big part of why I came here in the first place. Im personally involved very closely with our diversity program; Im board chair at an organization called Lumity, which is promoting STEM in underserved youth, with a focus on diverse communities. Its a big part of who we are as an organization, and I think its a plus. It comes down to that technology savvy, and awareness of the role of technology, from the business strategy perspective, being the most important thing.

I wrapped up the conversation by raising yet another topic that I found surprising. Referring back to Deloittes Global CIO Survey, I mentioned to Betts that I found it interesting that when asked about their top three business priorities, only 35 percent of the respondents listed innovation as one of their top three priorities, compared to 45 percent in 2015. I asked Betts what he made of that, and he said it surprised him, too:

Certainly Im not in that category  innovation is certainly important to me. For example, we established an incubator here, the HCSC incubation platform, that is within my team, but is a business incubator thats fueled by IT. We have a number of initiatives that are going through that incubator  its a very structured process that we go through. Were looking for volume, [pulling the plug] where necessary, and then incubating and accelerating those that we feel have potential. Were doing that internally, and also working closely with organizations like MATTER here in Chicago, which is a health care incubator that we have a relationship with.

A contributing writer on IT management and career topics with IT Business Edge since 2009, Don Tennant began his technology journalism career in 1990 in Hong Kong, where he served as editor of the Hong Kong edition of Computerworld. After returning to the U.S. in 2000, he became Editor in Chief of the U.S. edition of Computerworld, and later assumed the editorial directorship of Computerworld and InfoWorld. Don was presented with the 2007 Timothy White Award for Editorial Integrity by American Business Media, and he is a recipient of the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for editorial excellence in news coverage. Follow him on Twitter @dontennant.
Earlier this year, Fiat Chrysler announced the resurrection of the Dodge Demon and that it is set to enter the market as the next Hellcat. It was mentioned that updates will be coming on a weekly schedule and this time, reports suggest that the Dodge SRT Demon will arrive in a lighter body than the outgoing Hellcat.

Dodge Challenger SRT Demon: A Body Made Lighter

According to report, the outgoing Dodge Challenger Hellcat weighs 4,500 pounds. The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon however, will make its debut at the 2017 New York Auto Show in a lighter body. It was mentioned that the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon will weigh 200 pounds less than the outgoing model. Given the fact that the automaker promised for it to be even more powerful than the current Hellcat with 707 horsepower, it only makes sense that it would be lighter than its sibling.

Dodge Challenger SRT Demon: The Second Teaser

It was reported that the second teaser video for the upcoming Dodge Challenger SRT Demon was released several days ago. Accordingly, the video suggested that changes in the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon include adjustments in the steering, brakes, suspension wheels and certain portions in its interior. Apparently, these changes played a role in reducing the weight of the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon.

Dodge Challenger SRT Demon: Real Deal For True Enthusiasts

It appears that the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon will specifically be built only for true enthusiasts rather than for the general market like most of the other models. "The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is conceived, designed and engineered for a subculture of enthusiasts who know that a tenth is a car and a half second is your reputation," said Tim Kuniskis, head of passenger car brands for FCA North America in a report. Given this fact, those that consider themselves true fans and enthusiasts of the abovementioned brand may consider themselves lucky for being given such special attention by the automaker.
In Sweden, police raided an apartment and detained three male suspects who were 18, 20 and 24 years old.

Why Were They Arrested?

The three men were arrested under the suspicion of gang-raping a 30-year-old woman which occurred last Sunday (though some reports say it was Saturday night) and took place in Uppsala, about 45 miles of Stockholm. The alleged gang rape was broadcasted live in a Facebook group and also posted pictures of the rape on the Snapchat messaging site.

The alleged rape was quickly reported by several members of the Facebook group to the local authorities. Upon receiving the report, the Uppsala police were able to detain the three men while they were still with the victim.

The Horror That One Of The Witnesses Have Seen

According to Josefine Lundgren (one of the people who alerted the Uppsala police), in the video, she saw the victim being stripped and then sexually assaulted by several armed men (though some reports claim that only one of them was armed) and said that the sexual assault only ended several hours later when the police arrived and switched off the live stream. She also mentioned that the 24-year-old suspect (reported to be a repeat offender and considered to be the main attacker), tore off the victim's clothes before raping her. She then finally added that the attacker had apparently filmed everything and took pictures that were posted at Snapchat.

The Uppsala Police's Request To Social Media Users

As of now, the Uppsala police are appealing to social media users who are in possession of the footage to hand it over for further evidence. On a press conference released last Monday, Uppsala deputy chief prosecutor Magnus Berggen said, "We have some pictures and video material, but we don't have any images showing the attack itself."

About The Facebook Live

The Facebook Live is a feature that allows anyone to broadcast a video. By tapping the Live Stream icon, users can start broadcasting live videos from their smartphone and also write an optional description for the event.


The charitable organization founded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) has acquired the artificial intelligence (AI) startup, Meta. This is the organization's very first acquisition.

The CZI previously said that buying the startup is a step towards reaching the org's ultimate aim. It wants to make the planet a better place to live in by eliminating disease from all over the world.

"We are excited to share that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has agreed to acquire Meta, a company that has developed an AI that helps scientists read, understand and prioritize millions of scientific papers," says Cori Bargmann who is the CZI chief tech officer.

The Toronto-based startup utilizes AI to browse through and read scientific papers and logs, essentially giving researchers the gist of the paper. Sam Molyneux, CEO of Meta, reveals in a Facebook post how he and his sister Amy, together with a team of engineers and scientists, invested about six years figuring out "how to use artificial intelligence to analyze new scientific knowledge as it's published - along with the majority of what has been written, throughout modern history."

The AI goes through millions of papers and finds patterns. Scientists can then find relevant information at light speed. Sam Molyneux says that there are more than 4,000 papers on biomedicine alone that are being published each day. People who are interested in using the tool may reserve a free account.

Sometime in September of last year, Chan and Zuckerberg revealed that they would invest $3 billion of their personal fortune into the initiative. The money is to be spent on organizations and companies that dedicate themselves to medical research over the next ten years. 600 million USD was set aside for a Biohub and Infectious Disease Initiative.
A YouTube Channel that goes by the name of PhoneBuff did a review between the Samsung Galaxy S7 that is packed with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 chipset and the other version that is packed with the Exynos 8890 chipset. Given that he lives in the U.S., he had many interesting things to say about the two devices, especially the U.S. version.

There is no doubt that the Galaxy S7 is one of the best smartphones of 2017. It was even considered to have the best hardware specs. But let's see what the video source had to say.

The Software Performance

The U.S. version carries Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 chipset, while the global version is packed with Exynos 8890 chip - a chip that is personally made by Samsung. Now, how do the two Galaxy S7 smartphones differ from software performance?

The U.S. version is not only slower in initially loading up applications, but is also in keeping those applications ready for the user to use in the background. Essentially, this means that the variant packed with the Snapdragon 820 chip is slower in terms of performance.

Now, you could say that Samsung has to worry about using two different chips. And given that they personally created the Exynos 8890 chip, Samsung will be without a doubt, be more familiar with it and give it more attention. However, that doesn't seem to be the case.

According to the video source, Samsung is the exclusive manufacturing partner for Qualcomm in creating the Snapdragon 820 chip. Samsung was also the company that won the contract that some analyst say was worth a billion dollars to make the SD 820 chip. So basically, they should be familiar with it, given the position that they were in.

The Battery Life

The U.S. version of the Samsung Galaxy S7 also has a weaker battery life compared to the global version. According to reports, the global version (Exynos-based) Galaxy S7 is, on average, had a battery life of over 71 percent more efficient compared to its twin.

Again, you may say that it has to do with the chip. But the video source compared the U.S. version to another Android smartphone that features the same battery capacity (3,000 mAh) and the same chipset in which the Galaxy S7 performed lower compared to the HTC 10. And according to the video source, this is not caused by the processor or battery, but rather the optimization of the U.S. version of the Galaxy S7.

Other Miscellaneous Things

For this part, these may not seem to be a big deal for most people, but these are the small differences that you can't help but notice once you experienced both devices.

First is the packaging box. For the global version, it has this classy magnetic clasp that closes the back elegantly. As for the U.S. version, that classy magnetic clasp is nowhere to be found. Instead, buyers in the U.S. have this little paper tab instead.

Second is the logo. On the back design of the global version, there is no logo stamp of Samsung. But for the U.S. version, it has.

Third, is carrier bloatware. When you open the U.S. version of the Galaxy S7, it shows you a bunch of carrier apps. Yes, you can disable them, but they won't be completely gone inside your phone's memory. They will always be there lurking around and taking up precious storage space.


Microsoft launches the program called "Intune for Education" with the aim to replace Chromebooks in schools by making it easier for educators to install and manage low-cost laptops.

Intune For Education

According to PCWorld, Apple Macs have dominated the classroom for years, then Chromebooks took over. Chromebook apps aren't much more than a bare-bones OS and a web browser built on top of it. Because they are easier to manage, the relative simplicity of the Chromebook platform can be an advantage. But now, Microsoft is trying once again to push for introducing in schools of new, cheap Windows 10 PCs.

According to Engadget, Microsoft has announced on its company blog the program Intune for Education, in an effort to impersonate the academic migration to cheaper and simpler laptops. The program can help educators set up and manage student Windows 10 PCs and apps, being based on Microsoft corporate Intune service.

Details About Microsoft's Program

The software giant revealed as part of the initiative some cheap new laptops with prices starting at $189. They are coming from top laptop manufacturer brands such as Lenovo, HP, Acer. For emerging markets, the cheap new laptops included in Microsoft's Intune for Education program come from a company called JP.IK.

Microsoft has well chosen the timing of the announcement, as Google for Education has also just unveiled two Chromebooks from Acer and Asus. Microsoft is promoting its program, saying that educators can get access to the security, performance, and power of Windows with none of the Chromebooks' compromises, but at the same price as them.

Companies can install devices in classrooms with the program and not touch them again for the rest of the school year, according to Microsoft. The program includes an express setup feature that allows administrators apply over 150 settings to apps, hardware, antivirus programs, browsers and more. The program also includes School Data Sync that allows educators to set up groups based on schools, departments or classes.

Laptops Participant In Microsoft's Program

Among the laptops participants in the program is included the 11.6-inch Acer Travelmate Spin B118 convertible. The device is equipped with a touchscreen and a stylus, for $299. From Lenovo, the ThinkPad 11e coming in a regular or Yoga form factor is also included in Microsoft's program for schools. The laptop provides an impressive 11 hours of battery life and comes with a stylus. A similar Lenovo laptop model, the N24, comes with 360-degree screen rotation.

The company is primarily an educational distributor, JP.IK provides the Turn T201. The device is a 360-degree convertible PC comes with a retractable handle so students are less likely to drop. The laptop also features an active stylus pen.

The Turn T201 is aimed at ages 12-18 and it also comes with a thermal probe and a basic microscope for science experiments. Being described as an "emerging market" product by Microsoft, it is expected that the laptop should be relatively cheap.

The service Intune for Education from Microsoft costs $30 per device. This is exactly the same with what Google charges for its own cloud-based educational services. But schools will have to consider other factors than cost, like what apps are available for students to learn.
New Delhi: The crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the deputy supreme commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed forces Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan received ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan today.

At the Rajghat, he paid tribute to the Mahatma Gandhi memorial. On the 68th Republic Day celebration tomorrow, the crown prince will be the Chief guest. He is in India for three day tour visit.

Also Read: PM Narendra Modi greets Indians on National Voter's Day

He will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in afternoon. It is expected that both the countries will elevate their relationship. The crown prince is the second leader from the persian gulf country to attend the Republic Day celebration.
Gov. Larry Hogan and Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford recently announced that they are putting out a new legislation that would hopefully curb the growing opioid crisis in Maryland. The new law named The Prescriber Limits Act would limit doctors to prescribing patients with opioid painkillers for more than seven days worth during a patients first consultation or visit. Patients who are undergoing cancer treatment and patients who are diagnosed with terminal illnesses are exempted from the new law.

The Distribution of Opioids Resulting in Death Act will be introducing a new felony charge that would carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison for those who are convicted of selling opioids illegally or opioid analogs that result in user death. According to Rutherford, the would carry protections for those who are selling to support their addiction.

The Overdose Prevention Act authorizes the collection and review of non-fatal overdose data. The filling of a prescription for naloxone, a drug that can counteract the effects of opioid overdose, will be made easier for the people. Hogan and Rutherford have directed their focus on the problem of opioid addiction. This was announced at a press conference at Anne Arundel Medical Center.

An executive order will also be signed by the governor for the creation of an Opioid Operations Command Center. This is a virtual task force that is charged with organizing training and funding for anti-addiction teams as well as for the collection of data on use and abuse of opioids. Hogan stated that he did not fully appreciate the severity of the opioid epidemic until he began moving across Maryland in his gubernatorial campaign.

Hogan asked the people about their biggest problem in their communities in different part of the state. The people gave the same answer, that heroin was the biggest problem in their community. This was regardless of whether they were from urban, rural, wealthy or poor communities. Hogan and Rutherford acknowledged that the problem of the opioid epidemic is worsening in the state of Maryland as reported in an article by WBAL.

Hogan announced that $4 million of his budget for 2018 is now being directed to the treatment of heroin and opioid-related illnesses. He also signed an executive order for creating an anti-heroin center. Hogan is also pushing for the Prescriber Limits Act as this would limit the number of opioid painkillers doctors would be able to prescribe, in an effort to prevent addiction which often leads to heroin use as reported by WJLA.
Some decades ago, artificial intelligence was a pipe dream that was only possible in futuristic movies. A few years later, it was becoming a reality in research laps, but the idea of mass use was still a far-flung reality. But as the technology kept getting developed, the packaging became smaller and smaller - now it takes a little more than unlocking a smartphone to experience AI.

As FutureOfLife.Org points out, artificial intelligence comes in different forms and has many different uses. While movies have often illustrated the technology as self-thinking and self-moving robots, the current state of AI corrects this idea. From Siri to Tesla's autonomous cars, the technology can morph and act depending on the needs and wants of the public and developers.

But because current AI technology can only do specific tasks at once, it is currently still called Narrow - or weak - Artificial Intelligence. Naturally, most researchers and developers have the end goal of a General or Strong Artificial Intelligence. Theoretically, there will be technology that can encompass almost all human activities. And with the rate at which this segment of the market is growing, it does not seem as impossible as it once did.

This year alone, Apple is expected to enhance Siri by tenfold. According to C|Net, the iPhone 8 will debut the virtual assistant with more intelligence. The Cupertino-based tech giant has yet to make its plans official, but the technology is nevertheless expected to make waves in the smartphone industry this year. The Huawei Honor Magic, which is currently selling in China, apparently uses AI to activate sensors and settings that will only show notifications when the handheld is being used by the owner.

In this sense and as it stands, artificial intelligence is a great piece of technology to have on a daily basis. It has plenty of uses and can carry out daily tasks that often already seem like nuisances. It allows people to free up their hands for other things - whether that be spending more time getting ready, or with family. And because of its benefits and potential, researchers and scientists spend hours upon hours in developing the same.

But while artificial is stills something to be mastered and still leaves plenty to the imagination, there is the risk of over developing the technology. At this point, AI is limited in terms of its tasks and its capabilities. It can drive a car, send a message, hail a cab and play a song. But if the day comes that technology can think for itself, there is a lot to be fearful of and hopeful for.

Some scientists, for example, have expressed concern that artificial intelligence might one day surpass human intelligence. But if that day does come, developers will aim to align its goals with that of the human race. On the other hand, if the tech does one day leave behind mortal capacities, it might be able to solve issues and crises that have plagued humanity for years, such as poverty, war, and disease.
The DJI Mavic Pro is indeed all kinds of popular. This drone was headlined for its supply-demand dilemma that caused its lengthy shipment and this drone has also been a top topic between drone enthusiasts for its amazing product features. Now, the Mavic Pro, although not exactly the main issue, is once again mentioned in a news story.

Apparently, there was a man in China who has been arrested after he uploaded an alleged Mavic Pro-captured video that clearly showed how he hovered the drone in the flight path of a landing passenger jet. The video was nine seconds long and it was posted on Weibo last January 15. Needless to say, flying a drone in areas that can cause harm to others is extremely restricted.

Drone Used In Restricted Area

The said video footage shows the Capital Airlines plane passing near the drone and as per IB Times' report, there was a DJI Mavic Pro watermark that came up at the end of the footage. Needless to say, the said airline company strongly condemned the user for his actions. Furthermore, the Weibo post of the said footage went viral and within 24 hours, the authorities have verified the validity of the video and were able to arrest the drone owner. The said drone owner was charged for endangering the public's safety.

DJI Drones' Safety Precautions

It's worth noting that DJI drones are usually equipped with the DJI GO app. This app is supposedly the one responsible for disallowing users to take off near any airport. A geofencing system is practically a part of the DJI app and it is meant to take comprehensive measures in preventing such a dangerous scenario. Needless to say, the drone user in question might have found a way to alter the system and was able to fly his Mavic Pro high enough near the airport vicinity.

DJI has recognized the incident and says that they strongly condemn the use of such technology in areas that can affect the safety of manned air traffic. The company also says that they continuously work with regulators to help users understand the safe usage of aerial technology. DJI also shares that it will continue to support governments in creating frameworks that will promote safe flying.
Ford Motor Company has a new Chief Brand Officer and his name is Musa Tariq, the former director for Apple. Apparently, the automaker is looking to make some big changes and Tariq happens to be the right person for the job.

Ford Has A New Chief Brand Officer

According to report, Ford CEO Mark Fields hired Musa Tariq to be the chief brand officer and the former will start on Jan. 30, 2017. The decision is due to the automaker's expansion to the mobility industry. "As we grow our business, we're also expanding our focus on and investment in building and differentiating our iconic Ford brand, which is known, loved and trusted around the world," said Fields in the same report.

Why Is It A Big Deal?

According to Forbes, Musa Tariq has quite the resume. Apparently, Tariq was the former marketing and communication director for retail of Apple Inc. In addition, Tariq is also known for leading some the biggest transformations in some of the most popular brands in the world. Accordingly, Tariq was also the global head of digital marketing and director of social media and community for the world renowned brand Nike. Furthermore, Tariq also served at Burberry as the first-ever director of social media. To sum it all up, Musa Tariq is basically a big shot in the world of marketing.

What This Means For Ford

Needless to say, Musa Tariq certainly has a very impressive resume. Given the fact that he is a very well-known individual and considered one of the best at what he does, it is expected that he will bring Ford Motor Company to greater heights. Transition phases are considered to be one of the most difficult stages that growing companies go through regardless of their size. With Musa Tariq's knowledge and expertise as the automaker's new chief brand officer however, Ford Motor Company is more likely to be more successful with its expansion.
Google+ is forcing its remaining users to say goodbye to the website design and format that many people consider to be the hallmark of the struggling social network. After Google+ was overhauled in late 2015 to focus on communities and collections, you were allowed to opt-out of the redesign and remain in classic mode. That option is no longer available beginning today.

Google+ is still in decline, by most accounts, but the company isnt giving up on its once grandiose social networking project yet. The company is reducing white space, introducing an algorithm to hide spam from comments, and bringing back the ability to create events  a feature it killed in last years redesign, according to a blog post by Danielle Buckley, Google+ product manager. Google is also committed to updates, but its unclear how significant those might be considering how much the service has been whittled down since its June 2011 launch.

Google bids adieu to classic Google+

Just because were bidding adieu to classic Google+ doesnt mean were done working on the new one, Buckley wrote. Our aim is to make Google+ the best place to connect around the things you care about. Google says it has released more than 50 enhancements to the Android, iOS and web versions of Google+ during the past 14 months, but many of the features already existed in Google+ classic and simply had to be rebuilt for the new design.

Jan Dawson, chief analyst and founder of tech research firm Jackdaw, says he is surprised Google continues to invest in a platform that has waned in popularity, but Google has already transitioned Google+ into a collection of standalone features. Much of Google+s original functionality has been stripped out into individual products like Hangouts and Photos, he says.

Google has a lot more to gain by redesigning Google+ than they do by losing some of their current users, says Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. Im sure they appreciate their current user base, but it hasnt amounted to much strategically or financially yet for Google.

Is Google+s future in the enterprise?

The future of Google+ is bleak for consumers, but it looks brighter for businesses, particularly as Google places a higher priority on its G Suite of productivity apps, according to Moorhead. Enterprise tools like G Suite could be just the opportunity theyre looking for, but its still very uncertain, he says.

Google+ is never going to be a major force as a social network, but it provides Google and its users with a social glue that connects profile identities to many of Googles services, according to Dawson. I think those users who have stuck around will likely be fine with the redesign  I dont think its going to be a massive turnoff for long-term users, and at any rate Google probably isnt going for massive volume in user numbers at this point anyway, he says.

While Google+ never materialized into the all-encompassing social medium and connective tissue that Google envisioned for the project in 2011, some of the guts of Google+ could eventually benefit the enterprise.

Google is likely frustrated with the performance of Google+, but it has resisted any calls to shut down the service. Following multiple fits and starts, Moorhead thinks Google might be waiting for an opportunity to transition the app, or its framework, into a more promising arena.

Right now Google+ provides little strategic value to Google and its all about a potential enterprise future, he says. Just look at the headway Slack is making and the moves Microsoft is making with Teams. These tools are chat services on steroids and if Google wants to create something like it, it needs a high performance architecture like Google+ to pull it off.
Administrative procedures stifle business growth

VietNamNet Bridge - The bigger that businesses get, the more administrative procedures they must follow, which often stifles growth and the desire to expand.









The bigger that businesses get, the more administrative procedures they must follow, which often stifles growth and the desire to expand.



All businesses want to develop. If they have one dong today, they want to have two dong tomorrow. They want to become billionaires in Vietnam today and billionaires in the world tomorrow. But in many cases, hiding themselves is a wise choice, said Nguyen Xuan Duong, chair of Hung Yen province, on the sidelines of a recent conference.Dau Anh Tuan, head of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industrys (VCCI) Legal Department, said the surveys conducted by VCCI found that bigger businesses have to receive more inspectors, because law enforcement authorities think that big enterprises make many mistakes.Many businesses don't want to develop, he said.VCCIs PCI (provincial competitiveness index) report pointed out that inspections by state management agencies place a burden on private businesses. Big businesses had to bear most inspections (50 percent), while the proportion was smaller for smaller businesses  43 percent for small businesses and 18 percent for micro businesses.Duong said state management agencies only inspect profitable enterprises, because they cannot expect anything from unprofitable businesses. Therefore, itd be better for businesses to hide themselves, he explained.People tend to think that businesses corrupt state officials by giving bribes to officials, a behavior called lubricating the state apparatus. However, Duong said that businesses have no other choice than giving bribes, if they want their business to go smoothly. When the grass grows, the horse starves, he said.What will you do if one of your import consignments is stopped by a customs agency? There are two options 1) give VND50 million to customs officers and get the imports cleared 2) make complaints to the customs agency, wait for final decision and pay a fine to the partners because of delayed deliveries, he said.Loc of VCCI said that Vietnamese businesses want to grow, but they fear the burden of administrative procedures and tax duties.Loc said the government is following a plan to encourage business households to turn into businesses. In order to do this, tax policies need to be more favorable and the business environment needs to become safe.The government of Vietnam has been making great effort in the last year to improve the business environment. The efforts have been recognized by the World Bank which puts Vietnam among the top five ASEAN countries in the business environment index.

Thanh Mai
Two instances of tweets from U.S. National Park Service accounts that became political hot potatoes in the last few days were the result of bad password management, according to officials.

The first incident took place on inauguration day when the main National Park Service account retweeted images from a CNN reporter that compared unfavorably the crowd size at President Donald Trump's inauguration with that of President Barack Obama's in 2009.

When Trump began to openly dispute the images and smaller crowd sizes, the National Park Service deleted the retweet and apologized.

"We regret the mistaken RTs from our account yesterday and look forward to continuing to share the beauty and history of our parks with you," it said on Saturday.

Then on Tuesday, an account of the Badlands National Park in South Dakota tweeted a series facts about changes to the earth's climate. They were immediately interpreted as a challenge to Trump's assertion that global warming is a hoax "created by the Chinese."

They were quickly deleted too, so on Wednesday White House press secretary Sean Spicer was asked if the new administration had ordered the Park Service to censor itself on Twitter.

He said that wasn't the case.

"An unauthorized user had an old password in the San Francisco office and went in and started retweeting things that were in violation of their policy," he said of Saturday's incident.

White House/IDGNS White House press secretary Sean Spicer speaks to reporters at a news conference on Jan. 25, 2017.

He didn't address Tuesday's Badlands tweets, but the National Park Service told a reporter for Buzzfeed that they too were the result of password misuse by a former employee.

The tweets noted that levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are at an all-time high and the acidity of the planet's oceans is up 30 percent since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

The tweets were retweeted thousands of times and their deletion only served to amplify their message. It also spawned the creation of several parody accounts including an "AltUSNatParkService" one that has attracted more than half a million followers in less than a day.

The National Park Service's national and San Francisco offices did not respond to requests for comment.
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A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge agreed on Monday to seal the financial settlement reached in the WARN Act compensation dispute between defunct Microfibres Inc. and plaintiffs certified for a class-action lawsuit.

The reaching of a settlement was disclosed Jan. 13. The lead plaintiff is former Winston-Salem employee Cedric Williams.

A hearing on the seal agreement has been set for 10:45 a.m. Feb. 8 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Rhode Island.

Microfibres, based in Pawtucket, R.I., filed for Chapter 7 voluntary bankruptcy protection in January 2016 with plans to liquidate its assets  the same day it closed its plants in Winston-Salem and Pawtucket.

The local workforce was at 270 employees in 2004. About 125 employees in Winston-Salem and 60 in Pawtucket were projected to be covered by federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, protections.

The plaintiffs asked for at least $1.5 million in damages and priority administrative claim status for the first $12,745 of each employees claim, meaning they typically would be first in line after secured creditors were paid.

Williams filed the sealed request with Judge Diane Finkle, with no objections from the bankruptcy trustee, Joseph DiOrio, who had asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit.

Williams attorneys said sealing the settlement protects the privacy of the employees by preventing the unnecessary disclosure of the employment information to the public at large. They cited a 2005 federal law  the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act  in their request.

The attorneys said the proposed class notice will provide each member with the projected amount of their pre-tax recovery under the settlement agreement. The attorneys added that the settlement motion contains all the relevant information that a party requires to form an opinion on the settlements relative benefit to the estate.

The WARN act was enacted in 1989 with the intent of preventing situations in which rank-and-file employees show up for work only to discover that their employer has shut down without notice. The act does this by requiring companies that are planning large job cuts  defined as more than 50 employees  to notify their state and local governments, as well as affected workers, at least 60 days in advance.

The act provides certain benefits to laid-off workers, such as 60 days of pay and benefit contributions if the closing is immediate, and access to COBRA insurance benefits for 60 days.

However, the U.S. Labor Department has no authority to enforce WARN regulations, hear employee complaints, investigate potential wrongdoing or file lawsuits representing employees. Employees must file a lawsuit in court to assert WARN rights.

DiOrio, the trustee, claimed the company is not financially liable to the workforce because it was a faltering business when it ceased operations.

He said Microfibres acted in good faith toward its employees, including paying them in full for compensation they were owed.
MOCKSVILLE  Two weeks after he was sworn in to his new post, U.S. Rep. Ted Budd returned home last week for a whirlwind listening tour of the five counties he represents.

The 1990 graduate of Davie County High School joked that he saved the best visit of the tour for last, stopping at the Davie County Public Library to hear the concerns of local people, some of whom, such as County Commissioner John Ferguson, remember him as a young boy.

I was kind of nervous coming back here, Budd said of the library. Im not sure I returned that book my senior year in high school.

Budd, a Republican, is the first Davie County resident to serve in Congress. A small-business owner whose family owns a facilities-service company, Budd easily won the House seat for the newly formed 13th Congressional District in his first political race. The district covers Davie, Davidson, Guilford, Iredell and Rowan counties.

About 30 people attended his one-hour stop in Mocksville, including several local officials and constituents who wanted to learn more about efforts to repeal the federal Affordable Care Act, minimum wage, workforce skills gap and trade issues.

Budd said its important for him to hear from a range of people in the district.

Washington has a problem of being very disconnected from those it is supposed to serve, so with this, we break that pattern, he said.

Budd said the repeal of ACA, also known as Obamacare, and its replacement, is likely to happen by August. He said he favors the approach of Tom Price, President Donald Trumps choice for secretary of health and human services, which allows insurance companies to sell across state lines.

Hes on our team, Budd said of Price. Weve got to get the federal government out of this. It was never meant to be a manager of these things.

Budd heard from a few people in attendance about the effects of former President Barack Obamas health care law, with one woman saying the costs of her health care premium left her deciding whether to pay her mortgage or health insurance.

Budd talked a little about the flip-flop in the political parties position on trade. In the past, Democrats have traditionally backed a more protectionist trade policy, while Republicans favored a global-market approach. Trump has said trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, undercut American workers, and vowed to kill it.

With trade you have to be careful, Budd said. With the proper infrastructure and the right regulatory environment, the United States, North Carolina and Davie County can compete anywhere in the world.

Punitive trade sanctions can create widespread harm against American companies, he said.

David Leonard, the owner of Black Hawk International Security in Mocksville, said he liked what Budd said.

So many politicians have misled us. I want to see some action, Leonard said.

Budd said after the meeting that he is adjusting to his new life, with his office in the Cannon House Office Building doubling as his sleeping quarters.

We hit the gym every morning and get ready for the day, said Budd, who plans to come back to Advance each weekend. Its a bipartisan place and a place to interact with experienced members of both parties.

As for Trumps first 100 days in office, Budd said he has high hopes.

I hope he sets the tone for economic prosperity and having a government that serves its people and not one run by unelected bureaucrats, he said.
Winston-Salem Journal

A local legislator is apologizing for a tweet she sent Monday that questioned the intelligence of the women who participated in Saturdays Womens March on Washington.

State Sen. Joyce Krawiec, a Republican from Kernersville who represents Forsyth and Yadkin counties, took to Twitter on Monday and posted Message to crazies @ Womens March  If brains were lard, you couldnt grease a small skillet. You know who you are.

The tweet was deleted Tuesday morning and in the furor that followed, Krawiec posted several apologies. She also said she was new to Twitter.

Like many other Americans, I was deeply offended by vulgar language and graphic imagery used by some protesters, Krawiec said in statement sent to the Winston-Salem Journal Tuesday afternoon. I have apologized for the words I used to express those frustrations, which were unfair to the many women who advocated for their beliefs in a respectful way.

Despite the apologies, people were still angry. Millions of women attended the march in Washington and other marches held around the world. Several thousand women gathered in Greensboro on Saturday for the Triad march.

Ana Tampanna was one of the women who attended the Washington march.

Tampanna, who lives in Winston-Salem, said Krawiecs tweet was like a punch to her stomach.

What a terrible insult to get from a woman and elected official, she said. Im just floored. So many of us went to the march, not because we wanted to denounce anybody but because we had something positive to say.

Posts bring

rapid responses

Krawiecs tweet came on the heels of several others from lawmakers around the country.

Posts by two Indiana lawmakers deemed offensive led Republican statehouse leaders to offer tutorials on using social media.

A Park Ridge, Ill., school board member resigned after using a derogative term for female anatomy to describe marchers.

On Sunday, North Carolinas newly elected state insurance commissioner, Mike Causey, retweeted a meme that showed a street filled with marchers with the words: In one day, Trump got more fat women out walking than Michelle Obama did in 8 years.

While many people denounced Krawiecs tweet, others defended her.

My reaction to Sen. Krawiecs tweet was that of complete understanding, said Kami Mueller, the chief executive of The Mueller Group, a consulting agency in Raleigh. If women believe holding signs that say pussy power will actually yield equal pay for equal work, perhaps they need a reality check.

Mueller, a former N.C. Republican Party spokesperson, expressed support on her Facebook page Tuesday morning, posting that she is thankful that strong and smart women like (Krawiec) are helping lead this great state in a time when there are few women in the General Assembly.

Its ironic to see women bashing her, especially those who claim to be pro-women, Mueller said. Everyone has a right to their own opinion.

Eric Ellison, the chairman of the Forysth County Democratic Party, said that while the First Amendment guarantees the right to free speech, it also allows for the right to protest.

Ellison said the comments made by Krawiec were appalling, especially in the midst of a peaceful protest for a nonpartisan issue, like womens rights.

To call them crazies with brains of lard, thats a horrifying blanket statement of women in our community and in Forsyth County, Ellison said.

This will go national as yet another example of ridicule brought to our great state, he said.

Ellison said that he was offended as a man and that, beyond insulting women, the term crazies is also disparaging to those with mental illnesses.

This questions her ability to lead, he said of Krawiec, who has served two terms in the N.C. Senate and also was in the N.C. House. Across party lines, women took great pride and effort in various marches across the country and her response is just horrifying.

But Tobaccoville Mayor Mark Baker, the chairman of the Forsyth County Republican Party, said the march was undeniably partisan.

They never felt the need to march under President Obama but did after only 24 hours of President Trump. No rights have been taken away in 24 hours, he said. (Have) any newspapers demanded apologies from Sen. Cory Booker or former Secretary of State John Kerry for attending?

Causey said his posts represented a momentary lapse in judgment on my part for which I am truly sorry, according to WRAL-TV in Raleigh.

Krawiec echoed his thoughts, posting on Twitter: I apologize. I apologize. I was only talking to those who acted inappropriately. Forgive me, please. Twitter lesson learned.
Get used to it. Many, if not most, Cabinet officials in the Trump administration will sound more impressive, saner and more eloquent than their boss.

Sworn in Friday after a 98-to-1 confirmation vote, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis released a message to his department, which read in part:

Its good to be back and Im grateful to serve alongside you as Secretary of Defense.

Together with the Intelligence Community we are the sentinels and guardians of our nation. We need only look to you, the uniformed and civilian members of the Department and your families, to see the fundamental unity of our country. You represent an America committed to the common good; an America that is never complacent about defending its freedoms; and an America that remains a steady beacon of hope for all mankind.

Every action we take will be designed to ensure our military is ready to fight today and in the future. Recognizing that no nation is secure without friends, we will work with the State Department to strengthen our alliances. Further, we are devoted to gaining full value from every taxpayer dollar spent on defense, thereby earning the trust of Congress and the American people.

Mattis packed a lot into a short missive. First, he is one of them, he reminds them. Unlike President Trump, who calls U.S. generals my generals, Mattis knows that the generals, admirals and their subordinates are Americas armed forces.

Second, he linked arms very overtly with the intelligence community the president has repeatedly denigrated. If Mattis is arguably the most respected and admired Cabinet member, he will use his stature to protect intelligence officials under siege.

Third, unlike Trump, Mattis believes in the fundamental goodness of our people. They do not want to take what they can grab but rather want to serve the common good.

Fourth, he rejected the idea that the country should look inward and tell the world it is on its own. He believes in an America that remains a steady beacon of hope for all mankind. Such language and concepts are alien to Trump.

Fifth, Mattis rejects Trumps anti-alliance mentality and threats to undermine NATO. Recognizing that no nation is secure without friends, we will work with the State Department to strengthen our alliances, Mattis said. Does Trump understand we need allies and they benefit us? If so, he should say so now and then.

Finally, Mattis understands that trust is earned, in his case by a commitment not to waste taxpayer money as he is rebuilding the military.

If you find it hard to understand how that man can serve under this president, you are not alone. We would suggest that Mattis serves his troops and the country. Trump was merely the hiring manager. Mattis has served under lots of presidents; they come and go. The troops, the country, our allies and the cause of freedom dwarf a single president. How Mattis will work with a president as deliberately ignorant as Trump remains to be seen. If he can get Trump to think more like Mattis, hell have earned the eternal gratitude of his country  and pulled off a minor miracle.
And the beat goes on. Another day, more stupid Facebook posts and tweets from politicians. Sure, many people do that these days. But we still expect better from our elected officials. And we still have the power of the vote to demand better.

The latest infringement on our sense of civility and decency was part of a nationwide backlash against the Womens March on Washington Saturday, a backlash that jarred, at least temporarily, some politicians nationwide from their sanity, including two Republicans from our area.

Our new insurance commissioner, Mike Causey of Greensboro, was one. Causey shared a photo on his Facebook page Sunday from someone in Jacksonville, Florida, that showed a street filled with marchers with the text overlaid: In one day, Trump got more fat women out walking than Michelle Obama did in 8 years, The Associated Press reported.

WRAL-TV in Raleigh reported Mike Causey said in his apology that the post he shared on Facebook and linked to one of his Twitter accounts represented a momentary lapse in judgment on my part for which I am truly sorry, the AP reported.

The apology was certainly needed. Lets hope Causeys moments away from judgment decrease and he bears down on his job, including keeping our auto-insurance rates as low as his Democratic predecessor did.

State Sen. Joyce Krawiec of Kernersville, to a less offensive degree, also got caught up in the wave. Around 10:30 p.m. Monday, Krawiec apparently posted this message to her Twitter account: Message to crazies @ Womens March  If brains were lard, you couldnt grease a small skillet. You know who you are, the Journal reported.

By Tuesday morning, Krawiec had taken down the tweet and attempted to explain her message. I applaud those women who were there for the cause and were respectful, she wrote at 8:30 a.m., shortly after tweeting BTW I was only speaking of the DC protesters dressed inappropriately and spewing foul language. Distrespecting [sic] women. Not representing women.

She followed up with two separate apologies on Twitter, the Journal reported: In the first, she wrote, I apologize. I apologize. I was only talking to those who acted inappropriately. Forgive me Please. Twitter Lesson learned.

In the second, she wrote, I apologize to those women who marched for right reasons. I was only talking about those I described. They didnt speak for all women.

Sen. Krawiecs responses struck us as more heartfelt than that of Commissioner Causey.

But both should realize that such insults are more than just wrong. Theyre also not practical for politicians dependent upon votes, even in districts such as Krawiecs that favor her party.

We hope she means it when she writes, Twitter Lesson learned.

And we hope that Causey has learned something as well.

Even President Trump seems to be reducing his volume of insulting tweets. If he can do it, anybody can. Heres to dreams of civil cyberspace. If only our politicians could lead us there.
Today

Rain showers in the morning becoming a steady light rain in the afternoon. High 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.

Tonight

Cloudy with periods of rain. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.

Tomorrow

Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
I met Bagpiper Michael Hostler a few months ago when my beau Ron Gills band, The Lowbillies had a gig in Hutchinson Square. Michael has had quite a life. He grew up across from Kent State University. He was at the KSU Commons (N. end) as a teen when he saw and heard the infamous shots rin Read moreInterview with Bagpiper/Musician Michael Hostler
01/24/2017



Architectural rendering of the new student rec center

The Jacksonville State University Board of Trustees has unanimously approved a proposal to build a new recreation center on campus to enhance student life.

The 101,000-square-foot facility will include recreational gymnasiums, a weight and fitness area, a wellness center, an elevated walking track, racquetball courts, a small leisure pool and whirlpool, a 40-foot indoor climbing wall, group exercise studios, and locker rooms. It will also feature a lounge area where students can hang out between classes. The building will be located next to Kennamar Hall, on the southeast corner of campus, next to Pelham Road.

"We're excited about what we think will truly be a game-changing building for our students and our campus, said President John M. Beehler. "It will establish a new gateway experience for campus visitors and make JSU more competitive for student recruitment and retention. Also, a range of new student development programs will be initiated  specifically designed for student employees, intramural participants, sport club members as well as general student patrons - that will improve the general quality of the JSU experience."

The construction budget is approximately $28 million, which will be developed through the first Public-Private Partnership (P3) undertaken by JSU. Under this structure, the university will enter into a ground lease with the JSU Foundation, which will be responsible for financing, constructing, operating and maintaining the project through the term of the ground lease. At the end of the term of the ground lease, the building will fall under the ownership of the university.

"Many of the project benefits will be apparent to even the most casual observer, while some additional and important benefits will result from the way in which the facility and its programs will be delivered and operated," said Dr. Ashok K. Roy, Vice President for Finance & Administration. From my experience working on P3 projects at other universities, this financial structure will allow the Student Recreation Center to be completed much more quickly while benefiting the long-term management of our balance sheet and credit."

JSU partnered with Brailsford & Dunlavey, Inc., a national program management and development advisory firm, to make the project a reality. The firm conducted numerous information-gathering activities on campus last fall  including meetings with the Student Government Association, a campus-wide town hall, focus group interviews, and a web-based survey that generated responses from more than 1,800 students, faculty and staff  in order to develop strategic objectives and refine the project concept for the proposed Student Recreation Center.

The architectural firm Moody Nolan has been selected to design the building. Upon construction, the facility will be managed by CENTERS, L.L.C., a management company that focuses exclusively on campus recreation for colleges and universities.

Construction is expected to be completed in spring 2019, with a mandatory student fee of $190 per semester taking effect in January 2019 to cover facility expenses.
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TeleSur |  

The decision comes as a blow to environmentalists and Indigenous groups opposing the controversial projects.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed executive orders Tuesday to revive the controversial Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines.

Trumps signature has left Indigenous groups and environmentalists fuming but determined to carry on their struggle against the projects, which critics say will destroy local ecosystems and damage Native American sacred sites while locking the United States into a future dominated by fossil fuels.

The move is seen as a stark example of Trumps unequivocal support of the oil industry as he aims to boost the U.S. economy and the job market by restoring dirty industries and backing protectionism for U.S. manufacturing.

Trump said that the we are going to renegotiate some of the terms of the Keystone XL pipeline and that the Dakota Access pipeline would be subject to terms and conditions negotiated by us. The president said that pipelines would create thousands of jobs and will put a lot of steelworkers back to work.

Since April 2016, protesters started occupying camps in opposition to the 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline. In December, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ordered to halt the construction of the project close to the reservation of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Last week, the tribe ruled that demonstrators have until Feb. 19 to leave the occupying camps.

After a lengthy campaign from environmentalists against the Keystone XL, which was set to transport oil from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast, the project was rejected by former-President Barack Obama in 2015.

During a meeting with U.S. auto companies for his plan to boost local production by relaxing regulations and Trump claimed that environmentalism is out of control.

Environmental groups have signaled that Trumps move will be met with renewed resistance.

Trump clearly doesnt know what hes doing, said Bill McKibben from environmental group 350.org. Indigenous peoples, landowners, and climate activists did everything in our power to stop Keystone XL and Dakota Access, and well do it again.

These orders will only reignite the widespread grassroots opposition to these pipelines and other dirty energy projects, he added. Trump is about to meet the fossil fuel resistance head on.

Both the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines will never be completed, no matter what President Trump and his oil-soaked cabinet try to do, said David Turnbull, campaigns director at Oil Change International.

A powerful alliance of Indigenous communities, ranchers, farmers, and climate activists stopped the Keystone and the Dakota Access pipelines the first time around, and the same alliances will come together to stop them again if Trump tries to raise them from the dead, said Greenpeace Executive Director Annie Leonard.

Trumps decision to give the go-ahead for the Dakota Access Pipeline is a slap in the face to Native Americans and a blatant disregard for the rights to their land, said Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLUs Human Rights Program.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has not yet made a statement on the presidents order.

While Trump has boasted that the pipelines will boost jobs, others are skeptical and believe that the numbers of positions will be well below what Trump claimed.

On Tuesday, Trump also signed an action to fast-track environmental reviews and approvals of infrastructure projects. Since being inaugurated as president on Friday and being the catalyst of worldwide women led protests Saturday, Trump has already used executive powers to scrap the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal and to ban U.S.-funded organizations around the world from providing abortion services, and even discussing abortion with clients.

Via TeleSur

-

Related video added by Juan Cole:

TYT Politics: BREAKING: Pres. Trump Signs Executive Order On DAPL
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IMEMC News |  

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has reportedly cancelled her trip to Belgium, according to the PNN, over threats of arrest for war crimes in Gaza.

On 23 June, 2010, a group of victims filed a complaint in Belgium, with the Federal Prosecutor, against a number of Israeli military officials, including Livni, for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip.

In the 2008-2009 war on Gaza, 1,500 Palestinians were killed.

Livni served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2006  2009, under former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and was due to arrive in the Belgian capital on Monday to unofficially attend a conference on anti-Semitism in Europe.

Via IMEMC News
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

Reuters is reporting that on Wednesday, Trump will announce a halt to the issuing of visas to citizens of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. If this report is correct, Trump will represent this step as being about security, but it is not. Of the 750,000 refugees admitted since 2001, hundreds of thousands of them from the Middle East, virtually no refugees have committed an act of terrorism on US soil (typically they are running away from the violent people). He will say that refugees and immigrants from these countries need to be better vetted, but refugees are already subjected to a rigorous 18-month vetting process.

This measure, if it is taken, is just more racial and religious exclusion, policies we have seen before in the long and rich history of American racism. The 3 million Muslim-Americans are in Trumps sights.

By far the majority of terrorist acts and political violence in the United States is committed by white supremacists.

It would be really bad if we got more white supremacists from abroad through immigration, since they are a clear terrorist threat. The head of German intelligence recently warned that far right extremist groups in his country are hooking up with US gangs and planning attacks.

In fact, about a quarter of seats in the European Parliament are now held by far right parties. A far right party founded by ex-Nazis almost took over Austria last year. A far right party has been ruling Hungary. Marine LePen is credible as the next president of France, and she heads a far right party. Maybe Trump should stop visas for Europe until we figure out what is going on.

If the argument is that these seven countries are violent, then what about South Sudan, Ukraine, Colombia, Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic? These countries are among the lowest ranked in the Global Peace Index. Want to know what the difference is? Religion. The seven Trump-designated countries are all Muslim-majority.

Iran isnt even typically ranked all that high for violence. It is ranked as more stable than Thailand. Thailand isnt on Trumps list.

It should be remembered that there are hundreds of thousands of US citizens from the 7 countries being blacklisted, and part of what Trump is saying is that their relatives and friends cannot visit them. If the Reuters report is correct, he is taking a basic right, to see family, away from Americans. And of course it is sometimes difficult for these Americans to travel to the countries listed for political reasons or because of instability.

Take the 300,000 to 400,000 Iranian-Americans. Many are members of religious minorities Jews, Armenian Christians, and Bahais who fled Khomeini. But they often do still have family or friends back home. Large numbers of Shiite Muslims, the Iranian majority, in the United States are militantly secular. With the JCPOA nuclear deal, Iranian-Americans could have been important in establishing new trade and business ties with Iran. Iran has a GDP the size of Polands and a population nearly as large as Germanys. It is a virtually untapped market, from which Trump is cutting American businesses off.

Or take the some 200,000 Iraqi-Americans. How many of them would even be refugees had it not been for the illegal war of aggression launched on them by the United States? Does the US owe Iraq nothing? And note that the government of Iraq is partnering with the US to fight ISIL. How do you think our Iraqi allies feel about being blackballed? How will the US contribute, as it pledged, to the rebuilding of Iraq after all the destruction its rampaging caused, if Iraqi businessmen cannot even come to New York?

The US is, like it or not, in competition with Iran for Iraqs friendship and trade . Trump just helped push Iraq into the arms of Iran, Russia and China. And he enunciated yet another insult to Iraq, after having talked Saturday at the CIA about taking their oil and after having upset Iraqis with talk of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem (the east of which is viewed by Palestinians as their future capital and all of which is subject to final status negotiations).

Trumps visa ban, if he does announce one, makes no logical sense. It does not increase US security. It is intended to begin the creation of a hierarchy, whereby Muslims are the low ethnicity on the totem pole in US law and may be freely discriminated against. (Muslims are not just a religious group, but intermarry enough so that they also form a set of ethnic groups). The political right is all about creating unfair hierarchies, branding some racial groups good and others inferior. In the Europe of the 1930s it was Jews and Blacks who were treated this way. Today it is Muslims (though the turn of Jews and Blacks may yet come, given the attitudes visible in Trump and his circle).

If Trump announces his invidious policy today, it is a day of ethnic hatred. It is a sad day. It is a day on which America harmed itself.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin and Juvenile Law Center [advocate websites] filed a class action lawsuit [complaint, PDF] against four Wisconsin state officials on Tuesday. The complaint alleges [press release] that solitary confinement and inhumane conditions are being unconstitutionally used against incarcerated youths in correctional facilities. The ACLU claims that the staff at the Lincoln HIlls School for Boys and the Copper Lake School for Girls [official websites] use solitary confinement, mechanical restraints, and pepper spray. These facilities house approximately 200 youths 14 years old or older. The complaint asserts these uses violate the childrens rights to substantive due process and their right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment [LII materials]. The ACLU is seeking a court order to force the facilities to end such practices.

The treatment of prisoners and prison reform [JURIST podcast] has been a growing concern in the US for years. In August 2015 the Department of Justice reached a settlement [JURIST report] with Los Angeles prisons on mentally ill inmate care. In May 2015 Human Rights Watch released [JURIST report] a report stating that mentally disabled prisoners experience unnecessary, excessive, and even malicious force at the hands of prison staff across the US. A federal court earlier that year approved [JURIST report] a settlement agreement between the Arizona Department of Corrections and the ACLU in a class action lawsuit over the health care system within Arizona prisons. Also in February 2015 the rights group Equal Justice Under Law filed suit [JURIST report] against the cities of Ferguson and Jennings, Missouri, for their practice of jailing citizens who fail to pay debts owed to the city for minor offenses and traffic tickets. The ACLU and the ACLU of Texas released a report in 2014 exposing [JURIST report] the results of a multi-year investigation into conditions at five Criminal Alien Requirement prisons in Texas.
The Federal Court of Canada on Tuesday refused [judgment, PDF; press release, PDF] to block the Canadian government from selling arms to Saudi Arabia. The challenge was brought before the court by Professor Daniel Turp [professional website, in French] who argued he had a public interest standing to ensure the arms deal was not violating the law [official summary] and did not pose any threat to the citizens of Canada and others. He furthered argued the human rights abuses allegedly committed by Saudi Arabia prevents Canada from selling weapons in the region. The court held that while Turp had standing, the broadness of the Canadian arms law permits the arms deal:

In the impugned decision, the Minister considered the economic impact of the proposed export, Canadas national and international security interests, Saudi Arabias human rights record and the conflict in Yemen before granting the export permits, thereby respecting the values underlying the Conventions. The role of the Court is not to pass moral judgment on the Ministers decision to issue the export permits but only to make sure of the legality of such a decision. Of course, his broad discretion would have allowed him to deny the permits. However, the Court is of the opinion that the Minister considered the relevant factors. In such a case, it is not open to the Court to set aside the decision.

Turp has indicated he may appeal [CBC report] the ruling.

In November Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] called on the US to halt the sale of weapons [JURIST report] to the government of Saudi Arabia. The call came days after the Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] announced a Foreign Military Sale [press release] estimated at $1.29 billion for air-to-ground munitions. The DOD stated that weapons are being exhausted by Saudi forces in counter-terrorism operations and the sale will help the country defend itself against threats from adversaries in the future. However, according to HRW, Saudi airstrikes in Yemen may be violations of laws of war. In March two human rights groups called for the US, the UK and France to stop selling arms [JURIST report] to Saudi Arabia due to accusations and evidence that the weapons are being used in attacks against Yemen.
Authorities in Kuwait executed seven people on Wednesday, including Kuwaiti prince Faisal Abudallah Al Jaber Al Sabah. These are the first executions [BBC report] in the country since 2013. Al Sabah was convicted for premeditated murder in the death of another Kuwaiti prince in 2010. Most of the other prisoners were also convicted of murder [AP report], although one man was convicted of rape, kidnapping and theft. One prisoner, Nusra al-Enezi, was convicted of killing of more than 50 people after setting fire to a wedding tent. Those executed included nationals from Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia and the Philippines.

These executions were the first in the country since 2013, when officials hanged three men for murder charges. Prior to the 2013 executions, Kuwait had gone nearly six years without an execution. The 2013 executions prompted Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] to criticize the Kuwaiti government, saying [JURIST report] that [i]n a region where executions are sadly all too commonplace, Kuwait marked a beacon of hope by declining to execute people for almost six years. That hope has been extinguished today. These deaths also come just days after authorities in Bahrain ordered [JURIST report] its first executions in nearly six years. Last week, AI also called on Bahrain to commute the death sentences [JURIST report] of two other prisoners.
[JURIST] US Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) [official profiles] on Monday introduced the 2017 Patient Freedom Act [text, PDF] as their proposed health care bill amidst the Republican movement to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) [materials]. While acknowledging room for improvement, the senators have presented [bill summary, PDF] their bill as a way to increase access to health care by restoring authority to the states. The bill would promote [Fox News report] price transparency and repeal certain federal mandates deemed too strict while preserving essential elements of the ACA such as certain consumer protections and the ability for young adults to stay on their parents plans until turning 26 years old. States would also have the option of either re-implementing the ACA or designing alternative solutions with or without federal assistance, a feature which the senators hope will help the bill garner votes from Democrats. The bills plan would take about three years to be fully implemented. The bill in its current state must be considered against pending alternatives from other Republicans including Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and Georgia Representative Tom Price [official profiles], the current pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services [official website].

Swiftly after being sworn in on Friday, US President Donald Trump [official website] signed an executive order [JURIST report] aimed at repealing the ACA. The Senate had prepared for the repealing of the ACA earlier this month when it voted 51-48 [JURIST report] to prevent the process from being subject to a filibuster. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was active before the election in opposing Trumps proposed repeal of the ACA. Earlier this month the ACLU filed a motion [JURIST report] to stay a federal court order preventing the federal government from enforcing an ACA regulation that protects transgender people and women from discrimination in health care. On the same day the Secretary of Health and Human Services warned [JURIST report] that a repeal of the ACA without an immediate replace would create a dangerous situation for American healthcare. GOP congressional leaders have recently acknowledged that repealing the ACA too quickly without a sufficient replacement plan may leave an estimated 20 million Americans uninsured.
The US Supreme Court [official website] on Monday denied [order list, PDF] a petition for certiorari from Kody Brown and his four wives, famous for their reality television show Sister Wives [media website]. They were challenging the constitutionality of a little-used Utah statute that says bigamy is a third degree felony. They claimed the statute infringed their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, and sought a permanent injunction against the state of Utah preventing enforcement of the law. The US Supreme Courts decision to deny the appeal means that the case has no other avenue for appeal.

The Browns filed [JURIST report] a petition for certiorari in September. In April [JURIST report] they lost their challenge [opinion, PDF] to Utahs bigamy statute in the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit [official website]. In August 2014 a judge for the US District Court for the District of Utah struck down [JURIST report] portions of the states anti-bigamy statute as unconstitutional. The Browns first legally challenged [JURIST report] the law in 2011, saying that its application had a chilling effect on them, forcing them to leave the state of Utah.
[JURIST] US President Donald Trump [official website] on Tuesday signed presidential memoranda to progress construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline [memoranda]. The memoranda, which have the legal force of executive orders, also require that materials used in their construction be made in the United States. The Trump Administration argues that the pipeline projects will increase job growth and aid the economy. This decision has raised significant controversy [Reuters report], given former President Obamas stances against the pipelines, the fact that Trump owned stock in ETP, the company building the Dakota Access Pipeline, until at least mid-2016 and because its chief executive donated $100,000 to his campaign.

The Dakota Access Pipeline [informational website], is a partially constructed oil pipeline that would transport more than 470,000 barrels of oil per day over its 1,172 mile length through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. Last month the US Army Corps of Engineers announced [JURIST report] that an alternate route will be investigated for the Dakota Access Pipeline. The controversy surrounding the project is connected with its proposed proximity to multiple large bodies of water that could become irreparably contaminated should the pipeline fail. Protesters have made camp at the site since early summer and are led in part by the Indigenous Environmental Network [advocacy website] and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe [official website]. Conflict between protesters and police has been condemned by both the UN and the American Civil Liberties Union. In November the ACLU reported that police at the Standing Rock site in North Dakota used life-threatening weapons to control protesters [JURIST report]. Earlier that month a UN rights group released a statement expressing concerns that the US government is ignoring treaty rights, as well as human rights [JURIST report] of Native Americans and others that are protesting the DAPL.
[JURIST] The UK Supreme Court [official website] ruled [decision, PDF] Tuesday that parliament must vote on leaving the EU. The 8-3 decision is not expected to change the ultimate outcome of Britain leaving the EU, but instead creates uncertainty as to when the process will begin. The court cited [press release, PDF] the UK constitution to support its ruling.

The 2016 referendum is of great political significance. However, its legal significance is determined by what Parliament included in the statute authorising it, and that statute simply provided for the referendum to be held without specifying the consequences. The change in the law required to implement the referendums outcome must be made in the only way permitted by the UK constitution, namely by legislation.

The court also determined that legislatures of the states encompassing the UK do not need to vote on Brexit as well.

A majority of UK voters expressed their desire to leave the EU [JURIST report] in June, leading to the resignation of prime minster David Cameron. The EU has set out a mechanism for leaving in Article 50 [materials] of the Lisbon Treaty, where a member state may decide to withdraw from the union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements, and must notify the European council of its intention. Under Article 50, a member country can only be removed from the EU two years after notification. While Britain might bypass this process through repeal of the European Communities Act of 1972, it is believed that this would make coming to a preferential trade agreement with the EU more difficult.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee [official website] on Thursday expressed [press release] concern for the people of Myanmar who may face reprisal for meeting with her. Lee recently concluded an official visit in the area during which individuals shared accounts of human rights abuses by the government. Some of the statements came from those in a hard labor camp as well as survivors of a village burning. Lee fears these individuals who met with her will face reprisals from those who believe the accounts given are contrary to the government. I am deeply concerned about those with whom I met and spoke, those critical of the Government, those defending and advocating for the rights of others, and those who expressed their thoughts and opinions which did not conform to the narrative of those in the position of power. Lee will submit her report on Myanmar in March.

Reports of human rights violations in Myanmar has prompted international concern. The UN announced [JURIST report] in early January that Lee would travel to the country to assess the human rights situation following concerns over the safety of refugees in Kachin State and reports of increased violence in Rakhine State. The Myanmar militarys campaign of violence against Rohingya people constitutes crimes against humanity [JURIST report], according to an Amnesty International (AI) report in December. In November a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern [JURIST report] about possible crimes against humanity committed against Myanmars Rohingya Muslim minority.
Two UN human rights experts pressed [press release] the Royal Government of Cambodia to release five human rights defenders on Wednesday. The defenders were detained in May over allegations that they assisted a woman accused of making false claims while under pressure from the Anti-Corruption Unit. The charges, which are seen as politically motivated, were ruled arbitrary by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. UN Special Rapporteur Rhona Smith recalled that a group of Human Rights experts sent an urgent appeal to the Cambodian Government when the defenders were detained in May 2016. The experts requested the legal basis for the detention and urged Cambodian authorities to uphold their obligations upheld under international human rights law and release the defenders. Cambodia signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) [text], which prohibits the use of criminal provisions as a pretext to suppress and prevent the legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression and to silence human rights defenders.

The lack of transparency in the Cambodian legislature and contention between political parties have caused international concern. In September a spokesperson from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights[official website] expressed concern [JURIST report] regarding the intimidation of opposition politicians and peaceful protesters in Cambodia. The prime minister of Cambodia filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] in August alleging defamation against an opposition leader and opposition party leader. In June the Cambodian parliament voted [JURIST report] to allow the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to open an investigation into opposition leader Kem Sohka regarding his alleged involvement with a prostitute. In November 2015 the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Rhona Smith, warned [JURIST report] that the increasing polarization of the political parties in Cambodia is reaching a breaking point. Also that November Cambodian opposition leader am Rainsy was removed [JURIST report] as a member of the countrys National Assembly. That month a Cambodian court indicted [JURIST report] three men in the beating of two opposition lawmakers. In October 2015 the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed [JURIST report] concern over the organized attack on opposition politicians in Cambodia.
Dallas, 01/25/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/

More often than not, semi-truck accidents are serious collisions that result in major injuries. Most people think of the size and weight of semis as being the biggest dangers in a crash. However, its also important to pay attention to what the truck is carrying in its trailer.

A recent crash between two semi-trucks in Murfreesboro, Tennessee demonstrates how cargo can be just as dangerous and deadly as the truck itself in an accident.

As reported by ABC News, law enforcement and government officials in Tennessee have ordered people in the area to stay inside after two semi-trucks crashed on a nearby highway. In some neighborhoods, local officials have even evacuated residents.

Chemical Spill and Fire

One truck was carrying chemicals and cleaning supplies used to clean swimming pools. When the trucks collided, the trailer burst open, spewing toxic chemicals across the highway and into the air. The chemicals included chlorine and other corrosives.

Cleanup efforts have been thwarted by the very nature of the chemicals, which can oxidize when exposed to water. This means hazmat crews cant necessarily hose the chemicals off the road for fear of sending clouds of chlorine and other harmful substances into the air.

Although chlorine is not flammable, it throws off fumes that can ignite if exposed to gasoline  something that is obviously a concern in a collision involving two semis. Because one of the semis caught fire during the crash, fire crews had to use extreme caution when putting out the blaze. In some cases, firefighters will use a foam substance to extinguish a chemical fire.

Chemical Fires Can Be Deadly

Another report says the highway where the crash occurred was completely shut down for 18 hours.

The National Institutes of Health warns that inhaling chemical fumes like chlorine, even at a low level, can cause respiratory distress, chest pains, and even death.

Atlanta truck accident lawyer Amy Witherite explains, This is certainly not the first time a semi carrying toxic materials has crashed. There have been other cases involving spillage of dangerous chemicals and other substances. This is why many companies that transport hazardous chemicals have strict standards for the drivers they employ. If someone is going to be driving thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals across the country, passing cities and other cars along the way, they should be an expert truck driver with a spotless driving record. Its a huge responsibility to drive these trucks.

If you or a loved one has been hurt in a semi-truck accident, its important to understand that these are extremely complicated cases that require the help and support of a truck crash lawyer. Call a truck accident attorney today to discuss the next steps in your case.

Media Contact:

Lucy Tiseo

Eberstein & Witherite, LLP

Phone: 800-878-2597

Email: [email protected]

www.atlanta.1800truckwreck.com

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Physicists patent detonation technique to mass-produce graphene



Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017

From left: Kansas State University researchers Justin Wright, doctoral student in physics, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania; Chris Sorensen, Cortelyou-Rust university distinguished professor of physics; and Arjun Nepal, postdoctoral researcher and instructor of physics, hold a container of graphene. Sorensen and Nepal have patented a method to create graphene through a controlled detonation. | Download this photo.





MANHATTAN  Forget catalysts and expensive machinery  a Kansas State University team of physicists has discovered a way to mass-produce graphene with three ingredients: hydrocarbon gas, oxygen and a spark plug.



Their method is simple: Fill a chamber with acetylene or ethylene gas and oxygen. Use a vehicle spark plug to create a contained detonation. Collect the graphene that forms afterward.



Chris Sorensen, Cortelyou-Rust university distinguished professor of physics, is the lead inventor of the recently issued patent, "Process for high-yield production of graphene via detonation of carbon-containing material." Other Kansas State University researchers involved include Arjun Nepal, postdoctoral researcher and instructor of physics, and Gajendra Prasad Singh, former visiting scientist.



"We have discovered a viable process to make graphene," Sorensen said. "Our process has many positive properties, from the economic feasibility, the possibility for large-scale production and the lack of nasty chemicals. What might be the best property of all is that the energy required to make a gram of graphene through our process is much less than other processes because all it takes is a single spark."



Graphene is a single atom-thick sheet of hexagonally coordinated carbon atoms, which makes it the world's thinnest material. Since graphene was isolated in 2004, scientists have found it has valuable physical and electronic properties with many possible applications, such as more efficient rechargeable batteries or better electronics.



For Sorensen's research team, the serendipitous path to creating graphene started when they were developing and patenting carbon soot aerosol gels. They created the gels by filling a 17-liter aluminum chamber with acetylene gas and oxygen. Using a spark plug, they created a detonation in the chamber. The soot from the detonation formed aerosol gels that looked like "black angel food cake," Sorensen said.



But after further analysis, the researchers found that the aerosol gel was more than lookalike dark angel food cake  it was graphene.



"We made graphene by serendipity," Sorensen said. "We didn't plan on making graphene. We planned on making the aerosol gel and we got lucky."



But unlike other methods of creating graphene, Sorensen's method is simple, efficient, low-cost and scalable for industry.



Other methods of creating graphene involve "cooking" the mineral graphite with chemicals  such as sulfuric acid, sodium nitrate, potassium permanganate or hydrazine  for a long time at precisely prescribed temperatures. Additional methods involve heating hydrocarbons to 1,000 degrees Celsius in the presence of catalysts.



Such methods are energy intensive  and even dangerous  and have low yield, while Sorensen and his team's method makes larger quantities with minimal energy and no dangerous chemicals.



"The real charm of our experiment is that we can produce graphene in the quantity of grams rather than milligrams," Nepal said.



Now the research team  including Justin Wright, doctoral student in physics, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania  is working to improve the quality of the graphene and scale the laboratory process to an industrial level. They are upgrading some of the equipment to make it easier to get graphene from the chamber seconds  rather than minutes  after the detonation. Accessing the graphene more quickly could improve the quality of the material, Sorensen said.



The patent was issued to the Kansas State University Research Foundation, a nonprofit corporation responsible for managing technology transfer activities at the university.

Arjun Nepal, Kansas State University postdoctoral researcher and instructor of physics, describes a special process of mass-producing graphene.
Decisions at the EU level are often taken on the basis of national interests, which recent crises have proved to be inadequate and against the overall interest of European citizens.

Contemporary challenges are increasingly global, and it is increasingly obvious that many issues  ranging from climate change to tax evasion or terrorism, cannot be dealt with effectively by any single country alone. Nonetheless, defenders of national interest are more vocal than ever. Why is it so?

In the absence of a global political sphere, legitimacy to deal with any global challenge lies at the national level and the approaches defined to tackle them are framed on the basis of interests perceived as opposing each other: local vs. national vs. global.

In Europe, thanks to the European Union, political participation does not happen only at the local, regional and national levels but also at the macro-regional, European level. This additional level allows citizens of small and medium-sized countries to have an impact on issues that they would normally not be able to influence. This is usually the case when the European Commission has the competence to act, but not necessarily when the power remains in the hands of the member states in the European Council.

The vacuum of governance and government

The Council works in an intergovernmental manner and its decisions are informed by the interests that each national government represents. In such a framework, even when the general European interest and the various national interests are aligned in the long run (e.g. solving migration or boosting economic growth), they may collide in the short run due to the electoral cost of sharing burden with other member states and of competence sharing with the EU.

Since the national interest is represented by elected leaders with a mandate to defend it when the latter clashes with the general European interest, the former often prevails (national interest bias). Typically, this results in the EUs punching below its weight and delivering ineffective solutions (the now familiar, too-little-too-late syndrome), as well as in member states incapacity to have a meaningful impact at the systemic level.

This delays the resolution of the various crises, increases their costs and negatively affects the publics trust in the EU and in mainstream political parties seen as unable to solve the crises. Overall, decision-making on European and global issues according to national interests jeopardises the ability to protect the key principles at the heart of the European project, such as solidarity, quality of life, unity (see Brexit) and equality among Europeans (large countries disproportionately influence the EU agenda).

Breaking the deadlock

Europe needs a strong and vocal constituency made up of European citizens aware of their shared interests and therefore able to act politically to defend them at continental level.

A fundamental change in the way citizens interests are articulated at European level is needed in order to build the necessary backing for broadly beneficial solutions. Europe needs a strong and vocal constituency made up of European citizens aware of their shared interests and therefore able to act politically to defend them at continental level. Only then will European political leaders grow in stature and be able to prevail over narrowly-thinking national politicians.

In some respect, we should help in creating a process comparable to the one that led to the development of the so-called class consciousness at the beginning of the 20th century and that triggered the creation of political movements defending workers rights.

Elections to the European Parliament should have generated such a European constituency but failed up to now. This is because political parties, which historically have the role of articulating citizens interests, act at European level as bureaucratic agglomerates of heterogeneous national parties coming together ahead of European elections to find a minimum common policy denominator in order to promote their respective national candidates. Most importantly, they have done so without involving their grass-root membership base, often unaware of their partys membership in a pan-European party.

If traditional European parties are failing to articulate the European citizens interests at European level, some pan-European political movements attempt to do so. One such movement is the European Federalist Party (EFP), which in 2014 joined forces with Stand Up for Europe and took part in that years European elections in six countries with candidates defending the same programme drafted and voted on by EFP members from across Europe.

Towards the Europeanisation of European elections

The Spitzenkandidaten process, leading to the indirect election of the European Commission President through the European Elections, is probably the most important evolution towards the Europeanisation of European politics in recent years.

It contributed to a more direct identification of European parties with their affiliated entities at national level. However, this is yet insufficient for building a sense of belonging to the same European constituency and the emergence of European leaders proper. A pan-European electoral list, which citizens from across the continent would be allowed to vote on, could address this issue during the next European elections.

We should ensure that each European crisis generates a European debate that gives shape to a European solution.

Looking forward, we should ensure that each European crisis generates a European debate that gives shape to a European solution. Todays national debates are waterproof to one another, which tends to exacerbate the misunderstandings among Europeans and losing common ground. An pan-continental awareness of the shared implications of each crisis is a necessary condition for creating empathy and solidarity among the peoples of Europe.

National interests vs. citizens interests

Considering that European and national interest do not necessary coincide, and that often national interest clashes with the citizens interests, the EU should be reformed to reduce the weight of institutions representing primarily national interests (i.e. Member States, European Council) and reinforce those representing the citizens (European Parliament).

Redistributing sovereignty and resources on the basis of citizens interests to the most appropriate level would ultimately lead to more sovereignty for the citizens.

Redistributing sovereignty and resources on the basis of citizens interests to the most appropriate level would ultimately lead to more sovereignty for the citizens  and not less, as nationalists argue  as peoples interests would be translated into viable policy decisions, which would be able to deliver better results than individual national initiatives. Issues considered of national interest (e.g. sovereignty, budget, welfare, security) should be embedded within a European system of checks and balances ensuring interpersonal, interregional and intergenerational justice.

Back to the European people and towards a new European social contract

Finally, citizens should develop a new vision for Europe. At a time when the search for identity is so pressing, it is crucial to go back to the people as the source of political legitimacy, rediscover the principles at the heart of our democracies, determine our long-term shared interest and objectives as Europeans, if not as global citizens, and define the best institutional tools to achieve them.

Such a European debate should be carried out in every city and village through a pan-European participatory process, leading to the definition of a new social contract for the 21st century Europe.
#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 ...
KEARNEY  On two 4-0 votes, with Mayor Stan Clouse abstaining, the Kearney City Council opened the door Tuesday for green energy in Kearney.

When this project is done, and if you believe in green energy, heres your chance to buy it to power your home, Councilman Bruce Lear said about a Chicago companys intent to build an $11 million solar energy array in northeast Kearney. The SoCore Energy project will be on 53 acres in the citys Tech oNE Crossing technology park at 56th Street and Antelope Avenue. Construction could begin in the summer.

Council members and City Manager Mike Morgan believe the 5.8 megawatts of electricity the solar installation will generate will be an attraction for technology companies to set up shop in Kearney.

The community has a significant investment in the tech park, Morgan said. This is a good payoff for the future.

The first of the two agreements the City Council approved Tuesday calls for the city to lease the 53 acres to SoCore for $300 per acre per year, with annual increases of 1.5 percent. In its first year, the lease will pay the city $15,900.

SoCore will sell electricity from the Kearney array to Nebraska Public Power District, which will market it to residential and commercial consumers in the Kearney area and reserve some of the capacity for future Tech oNE firms. The city might purchase some of the solar energy.

The second agreement the council approved calls for the city to pay NPPD the difference between the base electrical rate and the rate for solar electricity, which is a bit more expensive. Its estimated the city will owe NPPD a rate differential of $50,000-$60,000 annually, but the rental payments will reduce that amount.

City leaders also believe NPPDs base rate will increase over time, but the solar rate is fixed during the 25 years of the agreement. Its believed the base rate increases will eventually surpass the solar rate, erasing the citys differential payments to NPPD.

Morgan said the differential payments will be made from the citys general fund, which totals $21 million in the fiscal 2016-2017 budget and is supported by a broad variety of revenues.

Among the largest revenue sources for the general fund are sales tax, $6.4 million; transfers from water, sewer and electric funds, $5.6 million; property taxes, $2.8 million; and occupation taxes, $2 million. Among occupation taxes are fees paid to the city for cable TV, natural gas, telecommunications, beer and liquor, and miscellaneous.

Several council members said the availability of green energy from the SoCore project will boost Kearneys profile among technology companies and others looking for sites with renewable energy.

Kearneys failed bid for the $1 billion Facebook data center four years ago included significantly reduced electrical rates, but Facebook chose a site near Des Moines, Iowa, because wind energy was available.

Green energy is what they were interested in, Councilman Bob Lammers said.

Its going to go a long way to reel in the fish weve been looking for, Councilman Randy Buschkoetter said.

Clouse abstained from the discussion and votes because his employment as an account manager for NPPD constituted a conflict of interest.

A ceremony in which NPPD, SoCore and city officials will formally sign agreements for the solar array is planned at 11 a.m. Feb. 2 in city hall.

In other business, the council:

n Awarded a $298,793 bid to Blessing Construction for the final link of the hike-bike trail between The Archway and Fort Kearny State Recreation Area. When that stretch is complete, the trail will run from Fort Kearny east of Kearney to Cottonmill Park west of Kearney.

n Awarded a $1,009,973 bid to Blessing Construction to install a permanent traffic light and pave streets near the southeast corner of CHI Health Good Samaritan, including 31st Street from Avenue A to Avenue D.
MADISON  A Norfolk man was sentenced Friday morning in Madison County District Court here to a prison term nearly equal to his age for sexually assaulting a child over a period of eight years.

Steve A. Munderloh, 39, was charged with first-degree sexual assault of a child, a Class 1B felony for assaults that took place from 2006 all the way to 2014.

Because the victim was under the age of 13 when the assaults began  she was preschool-aged  the crime is considered aggravated and there was a mandatory minimum sentence of at least 15 years incarceration required.

Munderloh, who pleaded no contest to the charge last November, faced a sentence of up to life in prison.

In court Friday, Judge James Kube noted that this was not the first time Munderloh had been convicted of sexual assault involving a minor victim.

Munderloh previously served a year in prison  after an 18-month probationary sentence was revoked  for a sexual assault charge when he was 20 years old and his victim was about 16 years old.

Regarding the current charge, Kube said it was his opinion Munderloh received a very favorable plea deal in this case since you were only charged with one count.

Madison County Attorney Joe Smith did not make any sentencing recommendations, pursuant to a plea agreement, but he did ask the court to take notice of the information contained in the pre-sentence investigation. Smith also pointed out that the assaults on the victim began at a very early age.

Munderlohs attorney, Chad Wythers, said that while the facts of this case are troubling and horrible, the impact of long-term imprisonment on Munderlohs children could not be understated.

Wythers asked the court to sentence his client to the mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison so that Munderloh could be rehabilitated and try to re-establish a relationship with his family.

This act is deplorable, everybody agrees. That doesnt mean everything about the defendant is deplorable. ... If you believe that our judicial system should be more focused on rehabilitation than simply only warehousing defendants for punitive reasons, then following the 15-year mandatory minimum fits with those punishments, Wythers said.

Munderloh was given the opportunity to address the court before he was sentenced. He cried throughout his comments.

I wanted to apologize to my family for lying. I put them through a lot of shame, and Im sorry for that, he said.

Kube said that any case involving the sexual assault of a child is very disturbing and hard for anyone to understand.

I dont think a decent human being does this to a child, multiple times over the course of years. ... I would venture to say this victim ... has been given a life sentence. She will be affected for the rest of her life, Kube said.

He then sentenced Munderloh to 35-45 years in prison with credit for 263 days previously served.

Assuming Munderloh loses none of his good time, after his mandatory 15-year minimum sentence, he must serve at least 25 years before he is eligible for parole and at least 35 years before his mandatory release.

Munderloh must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, and he is subject to lifetime parole supervision. He will also have to be evaluated by a mental health professional before his release from prison to determine if he is a dangerous offender.
Recently, it was my pleasure to welcome Nebraskans to Washington, D.C. to celebrate the 58th inauguration of the President of the United States. My husband Bruce and I held a reception for visiting Nebraska families at my offices in the Russell Senate Building, complete with coffee, hot chocolate and cookies. From the longhorns in the conference room, to the painting of the Sandhills, to the piece of the court from the Nebraska national volleyball champions in the reception area, my office has plenty of reminders of Nebraska to make it feel more like home.

None can compare to the warmth of the Nebraska families I met last week.

They came from all across our state, from Grand Island to Omaha, from Lincoln to Scottsbluff. Some were old friends, like our neighbors from Cherry County. Others we were thrilled to meet for the first time. My office had 400 tickets to distribute to Nebraskans wishing to attend the swearing-in ceremony; my staff received more than 800 requests.

I was delighted to see so many Nebraskans walking the halls of the Senate, chatting with one another after their long journey. Nearly 1,400 miles separate Nebraska from our nations capital. Despite the travel, they talked excitedly about the reason for their visit: the inauguration of our new president, Donald J. Trump.

Every four years, no matter the party and whatever the weather, we gather to observe this event that is, for us, fairly ordinary.

For the world, it is extraordinary.

A different party came into power, but no tanks rolled down our streets. A new president entered the Oval Office, but no refugees fled overseas. Americans are accustomed to the peaceful transfer of power. Weve had them since John Adams handed the reins to Thomas Jefferson, his rival and the leader of the opposing political party, in 1801.

This is rare in much of the rest of the world.

Consider: Recently, the African country of Senegal sent soldiers into neighboring Gambia to force its president to hand over control to the winner of the national election. Such turmoil is tragic. Sadly, it has been common throughout human history.

Americas orderly, peaceful transition of power from one president to another is a profound blessing. We expect it, but we must also be grateful for it. Everything about January 20, 2017, is a part of that blessing of liberty.

The inauguration event reminds us that our country is, at its core, profoundly different from the rest of the world. We were founded upon the idea that free people are capable of self-government, that they can, by their own industry and courage, achieve the environment in which the human person can flourish, as much as one can, this side of heaven.

You could say Americans have high standards in this regard. Let us hope we never lose them. Our American idea has endured some tough times these past 241 years: wars, political crises, catastrophes, and the storms of competing philosophies, some fair, some foul. Yet that American idea is still standing, a beacon of hope for us and for generations to come, here and abroad.

It needs our help to remain standing. Americans across our country did their part by participating in our celebrated, peaceful transition of power. We must continue to do this in the time to come.

Thank you for your participation in our democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.

U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer is Nebraskas senior representative in the U.S. Senate.
with Alingon Mitra  Chemda is sick; enduring racism; Alingons Harvard degrees; Trumps inauguration numbers and his response to accurate reporting; does Donald Trump like having haters?; Maine governor's constant racism; The Million Women March; punching Nazis

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A man walks along the seaside pedestrian walkway with the pier of a container terminal silhouetted against the sun in the background in Tokyo, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. Japan posted a trade surplus in 2016, its first in six years, as lower oil prices pulled imports lower, the government reported Wednesday. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Melissa Benoit, left who has cystic fibrosis and her mother Sue Dupuis pose for a photograph at her home in Burlington, Ont., on Friday, January 20, 2017. Benoit was dying from a severe lung infection that had spread into her blood and put her into organ failure.To save her life, and in what they believe is a world first, Toronto General Hospital doctors removed her lungs, then put her on heart and lung machines for six days in the ICU until donor lungs became available, at which point she had a double-lung transplant. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2017, file photo, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel answers questions during a news conference in Chicago after the the U.S. Justice Department issued a report on civil rights abuses by the Chicago Police Department. In a tweet Tuesday night, Jan. 24, 2017, President Donald Trump said he's ready to "send in the Feds" if Chicago can't reduce its homicide figures. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford, File)
FILE - In this June 23, 2016 file photo, Pope Francis delivers his blessing during his meeting with Grand Master of the Knights of Malta Matthew Festing, left, at the Vatican. On Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2016 the Vatican said Pope Francis will name a pontifical delegate to run the embattled Knights of Malta, effectively taking over the sovereign lay Catholic order after its leader Festing resigned in a bitter dispute with the pontiff over condoms. ( Gabriel Bouys/ Pool Photo via AP, files)
An ECOWAS Senegalese soldier guards the State House entrance in Banjul, Gambia, Wednesday Jan. 25, 2017. Gambia's new President Adama Barrow will arrive in the country on Thursday, a week after he was sworn into office in neighboring Senegal, officials with the new government confirmed Wednesday. (AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui)
The DSS last night in Ekiti state attempted to arrest Apostle Suleiman after he asked his security to kill any Fulani herdsman they see around him or his church premises.

Governor Fayose foiled the arrest and Apostle Suleiman has addressed the attempted arrest saying:

If I spend a day in DSS custody, my followers will cause damages that will take one year to fix.

In Nigeria, people are killed and notin hapens.but wen pple speak dey

are arrested. xtians shld not go afta dem but dey shldnt come after us

Go back to the tape.i said any herdsman seen around me or d church.not herdsmen

walking on der own..tnks for d luv nd msgs all ova.am fine.

The Nigerian president has ordered my arrest becos I warned against

their killing innocent Christians..2trucks of armed men came for me

But God said they are too small..Isaiah 54v17 will speak..there will be

consequences..am from above and untouchable.ofm worldwide will react
The importance of voting cannot be understated On Tuesday, Nov. 8, voters will head to the polls to choose who will serve as governor, lieutenant governor, state comptroller, attorney general, state Assembly...

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Women gathers in colorful mermaid costumes here!



About 300 people from 12 countries including the United States and as far away as Switzerland gathered in Greensboro, North Carolina for the annual MerMania convention. A growing community of people identify as half-human, half-fish and usually socialize online in forums. Merfolk have to be greased up to get into their silicone and fabric tails, usually with coconut oil. The tails are colorful and ornate with the most elaborate costing up to $6,000 and weighing up to 50lbs . One, who was among the first to become a professional mermaid, swam with sharks in her fin when she was eight months pregnant and put her daughter in a tail when she was five days old.



In the eighth month of her pregnancy, Bonnie Lavender did what most pregnant women would never dream of doing: she swam with sharks while wearing a fishtail that is a third of her 125lb body weight. Read More...


HANOI, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official market and indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi at 0130 GMT.

Jan 25 Jan 24 USD/VND mid-point 22,202 22,187

USD/VND interbank 22,550/22,585 22,520/22,600 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.51/36.93 36.54/36.96

NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank quotes are indicative bid/ask prices.

One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co, the gold manufacturer.

Interbank offered rates are indicative, quoted from market sources.

For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom)
HANOI, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official and unofficial markets, indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi and interbank offered rates at 0406 GMT.

Jan 25 Jan 24 USD/VND mid-point 22,202 22,187 USD/VND interbank 22,570/22,575 22,520/22,600 USD/VND unofficial 22,850/22,950 22,720/22,750 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.55/37.02 36.54/36.96

Interbank offered rates Overnight 4.8-5.8 5.0-5.8

1 week 4.8-5.5 5.0-5.5

1 month 5.0-5.5 5.0-5.5

3 months 5.1-5.5 5.1-5.5

NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank offered rates are the latest indicative bid/ask prices, quoted from market sources.

One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co.

For more interbank rate fixings released at 0400 GMT, click on .

For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom)
* Union calls for strike, warns of extended conflict

* BHP says willing to continue talks with union

* Bonus offer cut to $12,000, from $49,000 four years ago

* BHP maintains Escondida output forecast for FY2017

(Adds BHP comment, Escondida operations details)

SANTIAGO, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Unionized workers at BHP Billiton-run Escondida, the world's biggest copper mine, said on Tuesday they rejected the company's latest wage offer and asked workers to vote for a strike and prepare for an extended conflict.

The Escondida workers' union, which represents about 2,500 laborers at the Chilean mine, has been in collective wage talks with the company since December to replace the current contract which expires at the end of January.

The tough bargaining at Escondida, seen as a benchmark for the copper industry, follows a more than 25 percent drop in copper prices since the last wage deal was reached four years ago. At the same time costs have risen as more rock has to be dug up to maintain copper yields, with the grade declining.

Talks four years ago ended with Escondida offering each worker a bonus worth some $49,000, the highest offered in Chile's mining industry. The company is now offering much lower bonuses of around $12,000 per worker.

The union has warned that if talks with the company are unsuccessful they could go on strike. "The company has presented its last offer today, which eliminates or modifies a series of benefits our union has fought for and won over the years," the union said in a statement.

"Considering this, the union's board has asked all of its members to vote en masse for a legal strike and to prepare themselves for an extended conflict," it said.

"The offer is absurd," union president Patricio Tapia told Reuters.

Workers will have between Jan. 27 and Jan. 31 to vote on the company's wage and benefits proposal.

"We reiterate the company's willingness to undertake a process that places emphasis on understanding and consensus, as the mission of both parties is to ensure that we maintain instances in which respect, calm and good faith prevail at all times," BHP said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

Under Chilean labor law, if direct talks between the company and workers fail, both sides can then request government mediation.

Escondida is controlled by BHP Billiton with a 57.5 percent stake, while Rio Tinto owns 30 percent. The rest is owned by Japan's JECO .

The mine's output for the half year ending Dec. 31 stood at 452,0000 tonnes, unchanged from the same period a year earlier, BHP said in its latest operational review. It still expects Escondida to produce 1.07 million tonnes for the year to June.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; and Anthony Esposito. Additional reporting by James Regan in SYDNEY; Editing by Sandra Maler and Sonali Paul)
* Barnier says "priority" for EEA after Brexit

* Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein in EEA with EU

OSLO, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The European Union's Brexit negotiator sought on Wednesday to reassure the bloc's partners Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein that their interests would be a "priority" when the EU breaks up with Britain.

The three non-EU members have the benefit of free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the EU market of 500 million people with Brussels setting the rules that govern all aspects of the joint European Economic Area (EEA).

"The best relationship with the EU must remain membership and after that it must be EEA membership," Michel Barnier, a former French foreign minister, told reporters after talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

"It will be our priority to safeguard also the EEA agreement," Barnier said during a trip around Europe to explain the EU's plans for Brexit, triggered by Britain's vote in a referendum last June to quit the bloc.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said last week that Britain would leave the single market when it pulls out of the EU in a clean break with the other 27 EU members, rejecting the option of a Norway-style relationship. "We will take into account the interests of third countries closely associated with the EU, such as Norway and other EEA countries, Iceland and Liechtenstein," Barnier said.

Norway, for instance, has often felt itself most aligned with Britain. Both are offshore oil and gas producers and Norway's voters twice voted "No" to membership in referendums.

Barnier said that time was short to negotiate an agreement by October 2018, a date he laid out last month which assumes London goes ahead and triggers exit talks by the end of March. On Tuesday, the UK Supreme Court ruled that May must give parliament a vote before she can formally start Brexit negotiations, giving lawmakers a shot at amending her plans. Barnier declined to comment on May's planned visit to the United States this week to speak with President Donald Trump, who has said he wants to work out a swift bilateral trade deal with Britain. "What can stop countries from talking?" he asked, noting that Britain was still an important part of EU trade policy.

Last year, former U.S. president Barack Obama said that Britain would go to the back of the queue in negotiating a transatlantic trade deal if it were to quit the EU.

(Reporting by Alister Doyle; Editing by Louise Ireland)
(Kitco News) - Fresnillo Plc. (LON, BMV: FRES), the worlds largest primary silver producer, posted record production of the metal in 2016 and expects output to be even higher in 2017.

The company Wednesday listed 2016 record annual silver output of 50.3 million ounces, including Silverstream, up 7.1% from 2015 and in line with guidance. Fresnillo has six operating mines in Mexico.

The successful ramp-up of San Julian Phase I was the principal reason for the 7% increase in annual silver production, although higher silver grades at both Cienega and Fresnillo also contributed to the rise in production, said Octavio Alvidrez, chief executive officer.

Fourth-quarter output of 13.3 million ounces was up 9.5% year-on-year, mainly due to the start-up of San Julian Phase I, the company said. Also, the company cited a higher ore grade at Cienega and an increased contribution from Silverstream.

At the Fresnillo mine, despite reporting a slight improvement in silver production, we continued to experience some issues during the year that impacted the delivery of our turnaround plan, Alvidrez said. We have, however, implemented a number of measures and remain focused on addressing these issues and are targeting a year-on-year increase in silver production in the range of 7-10% at the mine in 2017.

Meanwhile, the company listed record annual gold production of 935,513 ounces, up 22.8% from the prior year and ahead of guidance, mainly due to reduced gold inventories at Herradura, the San Julian Phase I start-up and an improved overall average speed of recovery at Noche Buena. Quarterly gold production increased 24.2% year-on-year to 268,104 ounces.

For 2017, silver production is expected to be in the range of 58 million to 61 million ounces, including 4 million from Silverstream. Gold production is expected to be in the range of 870,000 to 900,000 ounces, which would be lower, mainly to the stabilization of production at Herradura following the reduction in inventories, Fresnillo said.

We continued to make good progress with our development projects in 2016, Alvidrez said. Construction of San Julian Phase II continued to advance and is on track to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2017, with both phases of San Julian producing a combined annual average of 10.3 million ounces of silver and 44,000 ounces of gold. Further progress was made at the Pyrites Plant project, which is set to deliver 3.5 million ounces silver and 13,000 (gold) ounces a year once commissioned in 1H18, while the construction of the second line of the dynamic leaching plant at Herradura remained on track.

Analysts at Citi Research gave an upbeat assessment of the Fresnillo production results, suggesting the consensus estimate of earnings per share may be upgraded in large part due to higher gold output.

We believe the market should react positively on the share price on better 2016 gold volumes and higher 2017 gold guidance, Citi said.

By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com

Follow @KitcoNewsNOW
HSBC sees potential for the gold/platinum discount to narrow, meaning platinum outgains gold for a while. Platinum group metals rose on Tuesday while gold fell, with spot platinum briefly topping the $1,000-an-ounce level. HSBC analysts say they saw no smoking gun for the Tuesday PGM rally although they note President Donald Trump met with the top executives of the three major U.S. automakers, encouraging them to build more cars in the country. We think the call for more U.S. auto production  even if successful  will ultimately make no difference to global PGM consumption, as increased vehicle production in the U.S. would likely only mean fewer vehicles produced in another country, HSBC says. But the headlines may have kicked off some increased interest in the PGMs. We may also have seen some positive spread trading between gold and platinum. We think platinum can gain on gold. In any regard, we believe the PGMs have fundamentals that merit higher prices. After such a steep rally we may see a little pullback, but we remain bullish.

By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com

Citi: Declining Diesel Penetration Friend Or Foe For Platinum?

Declining diesel penetration in western Europe may hurt platinum in the near term, but the metal could eventually draw support if gasoline-powered cars switch to platinum. Currently, platinum is used mainly for diesel-powered motor vehicles, while gasoline cars use less-expensive palladium. The bank says there has been a decrease in diesel penetration in the western European Union. We expect diesel penetration to fall further to 48% by 2020, the bank says. Near term, this could be negative for platinum and positive for palladium. By default, a shrinking Pt-Pd (platinum/palladium) spread could again be positive for platinum in the medium to longer term as gasoline engines may again switch to platinum catalysts.

By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com

Commerzbank: Indian Gold Buyers Eye Upcoming Budget

Potential gold buyers in the key gold-consuming nation of India appear to be holding back on purchases of the precious metal in anticipation of the new budget that is to be presented on Feb. 1, says Commerzbank. At the end of December, the Indian Ministry of Commerce had allegedly proposed reducing the import duty on gold from 10% to 6%, Commerzbank says. The duty has been at this level since 2013 and has contributed to increased gold smuggling.

By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com
Jan 25 Indonesia's Papua province, home of the giant Grasberg copper mine operated by the local unit of Freeport McMoRan Inc, said it has won a court battle in a claim against the company for 2.51 trillion rupiah ($188 million) in outstanding surface water taxes.

According to Papua's local government Indonesia's Tax Court has rejected a lawsuit lodged by PT Freeport Indonesia over the claim for taxes on water the company used from the Aghawagon and Otomona rivers between 2011 and mid-2015.

Freeport, which used the water to suspend its tailings in the Ajkwa River, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) away, had argued that a substantially lower tax rate should be applied, as set out in its contract of work signed in 1991, the administration said.

"The Papua governor's decree on the refusal of Freeport Indonesia's objections and a letter on tax assessment for surface water tax were declared valid and enforceable," it said, referring to a verdict from Indonesia's Tax Court on January 18. [bit.ly/2kslGaU ]

"This ruling was welcomed by the Papuan government's team of attorneys after a long struggle," it said.

A spokesman for Freeport Indonesia declined to comment on the matter.

Freeport Indonesia is currently in talks with the Indonesian government about changing the terms of its mining rights, under which Indonesia expects it to pay more taxes than under its existing contract.

Freeport is one of Indonesia's biggest taxpayers, with direct contributions of more than $16 billion to Southeast Asia's biggest economy in taxes, royalties, dividends and other payments between 1992 and 2015 according to company data.

Indonesia's Tax Court could not be reached for comment. ($1=13,356 rupiah) (Reporting by Fergus Jensen and Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
PORT LOUIS, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The weighted average yield on Mauritius' 3-year Treasury bond fell to 3.15 percent at auction on Wednesday from 3.22 percent at the last sale, the central bank said.

The Bank of Mauritius sold all the 1.8 billion rupees ($51 million) of debt that it had offered.

Bids totalled 5.950 billion rupees, with yields ranging from 3.00 percent to 3.74 percent. The bond has a coupon rate of 3.15 percent and is due on October 28, 2019.

The bank also said it would put on sale a 4-year Bank of Mauritius notes worth 2 billion rupees on January 30.

The coupon rate for the paper will be set equal to or higher than the accepted yield at auction. ($1 = 35.5300 Mauritius rupees)

(Reporting by Jean Paul Arouff; editing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Toby Chopra)
(Repeats with no changes)

* Safran seeks market support for $9 bln Zodiac cash bid

* Core shareholders to sit out cash bid and merge later

* Rare structure preserves controlling family tax breaks

* Safran must still win 50 percent through cash offer

By Tim Hepher

PARIS, Jan 24 (Reuters) - France's Safran has crafted a deal to persuade family investors in Zodiac Aerospace to give up control in a merger that would create the world's third largest aerospace supplier.

But in a rare two-stage deal Safran must first convince ordinary investors, who hold 68 percent of the company, to sell their shares in the company for cash.

If more than half of those investors accept, the deal will proceed to the second phase. This would offer the handful of families with historic ties a chance to keep shareholdings and industrial links while maintaining longstanding tax breaks - key to getting the families on board.

The families lead a group that hold 32 percent of Zodiac voting rights and spurned Safran's first approach six years ago.

The dual deal structure reflects how Safran is caught between the need to make the deal attractive to markets and keep long-term investors on board. Safran, which is 14 percent owned by the French state, wants to create a new aerospace champion and the tax umbrella reflects the policy of successive governments to smooth the path for such deals.

Without that structure, the Safran deal with Zodiac would collapse, legal experts and people involved in the deal said.

"It has to be done this way or there is no deal," a person directly involved in the negotiations told Reuters.

A Zodiac spokesman and Safran spokeswoman both declined to comment on the discussions.

But the unusual split structure has puzzled some ordinary Zodiac investors, who could collectively block the deal, according to people briefed on the discussions.

Under the deal, Safran is first offering cash worth $9 billion or $29.47 a share for Zodiac, aimed at most investors.

It does not allow shareholders outside the core group to exchange their own Zodiac shares for stock in the new Safran.

"Some shareholders are saying 'Why should we have to take cash? If the story is so good, why shouldn't we be able to take up shares? Why exclude us from the club?'," said a European analyst, asking not to be named because of company policy.

The analyst said he had been told this by his clients who are investors in Zodiac.

WEALTH TAX

Safran's backers say that is offset by a hefty 26 percent premium compared to Zodiac shares prices before the offer.

Changing part two of the deal to a classic share offer would expose descendants of Zodiac's founders to French wealth taxes and other penalties that one analyst estimated could reach hundreds of millions of euros.

"The problem ... is the wealth tax. If you don't find a way to make the deal interesting for the families, it can't happen...That is why a merger was chosen rather than a simple share swap," said a person close to the group of families.

While France's tax system pounces on gains from selling shares for either cash or stock, shareholders tied together by a special pact don't face the same exposure when companies merge.

That is not the reason bringing the two firms together, but is one factor Safran hopes will prevent the deal falling apart.

After five weeks of intensive and secretive talks, held in rented rooms and protected by code names, the two companies last week unveiled a deal designed to satisfy two very different shareholder bases. Their offer aimed to reconcile two red lines: Zodiac's families wanted to be able to maintain their fiscally neutral shareholder pact and preserve their role as stable partners.

And Safran wanted to avoid just taking majority control of Zodiac with a large minority block in place that might make it harder to get synergies needed to justify its tie-up with a company only just emerging from industrial problems. Full mergers typically lead to bigger cost cuts such as closing one company's headquarters.

LOOKING FOR A SWEETENER

Tax is not the only issue, people involved in the talks said. Zodiac's core shareholders were also unwilling to fritter away double voting rights accumulated over many years, and negotiated the right to keep them in the enlarged group, those people said.

Finally, Zodiac Chairman Didier Domange stressed the families wanted to stay involved industrially with Safran.

The families also made concessions. They will be locked in for two years, limiting options at a volatile time, and the deal is structured to give them a slight discount.

On Tuesday the merger ratio, 0.485 Safran shares for each Zodiac one, implied a 2.6 percent discount to the cash offer after stripping out a special Safran dividend adjusted for tax.

Even so, success is only assured if Safran wins three quarters of Zodiac's freely traded stock in the cash bid. Sensing Safran's potential difficulty, some investors see a chance to put pressure on it to raise its bid.

"We consider this group of shareholders could push for a sweetener in order to take the cash offer," Barclays said.

Safran betrays no sign of being prepared to raise the offer and analysts say it could walk away with less egg on its face than Zodiac's ordinary shareholders if the deal fails.

"Zodiac is nice to have, but not a must-have for Safran," a person familiar with the company's strategy said.

While embracing Zodiac as an industrial partner, Safran appears to be gambling that the risk of Zodiac shares dropping sharply if the deal fails, with no new partner for the industrially stretched company in sight, will bring in votes.

Under the merger, the French state plans to join a pact with the current core shareholders in Zodiac, which employs 7,000 workers in France. Some analysts view the state with suspicion.

Two days before the deal became public, its four main architects - the CEOs and chairman of both firms - visited the Elysee palace to talk to President Francois Hollande.

But while Hollande later welcomed the creation of a French aerospace giant, securing jobs ahead of elections in April, insiders said the government only joined talks in the final stages and did not try to steer the deal one way or the other.

"There was never any state interference," one said.

(Additional reporting by Gilles Guillaume, Cyril Altmeyer, Matthieu Protard; editing by Anna Willard)
(Adds background, detail)

LUANDA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Angola's public debt is projected to narrow to 62.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2017, from 71.6 percent last year, the International Monetary Fund said late on Tuesday.

Weaker oil prices in the last three years has constrained growth and put state finances under pressure in Africa's second- biggest crude producer.

"...continued fiscal adjustment will be needed going forward to put public debt on a clear downward path while supporting economic growth over the medium term," the IMF said in a statement after the IMF team met government officials.

The fund urged Angola, where banks grapple with liquidity and foreign currency shortages, to phase out exchange restrictions and multiple currency practices. It also said the southern African nation should more forcefully address its dependence on oil and diversify the economy.

(Writing by TJ Strydom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
(adds quotes on IMF, timing for deal)

BRUSSELS, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Euro zone creditors could approve the completion of the second set of Greek bailout reforms at the next meeting of finance ministers in February, an euro zone official said on Wednesday.

The approval of the outstanding reforms, mainly concerning Greek fiscal targets, the labour market and liberalisation of the energy sector, would pave the way for further euro zone loans to Athens, which faces large repayments in the third quarter.

Finance ministers of the 19 countries of the euro zone will meet on Thursday in Brussels but there hasn't been sufficient progress in Greek reforms yet for them to sign off on a deal now, the senior official said, confirming what the EU economics commissioner Pierre Moscovici said on Tuesday .

Still, the ministers are likely to produce an agreement to continue talks with a view to concluding them at the next Eurogroup meeting on Feb. 20, according to the official.

"There is a good chance" that an agreement will be reached on Thursday to send euro zone negotiators back to Athens so that a deal can be reached in February, the official said.

"February is the last month in which there is no politically significant election in relevant member states," the official said, and this meant "February is not formally but realistically the time when we need to reach a political agreement".

The Netherlands go to the polls in March, and the French will vote in presidential elections in April and likely also in May. Germany, the biggest economy in the euro zone, will hold a general election in September.

A comprehensive deal for Greece will also have to involve the International Monetary Fund, the official said.

There was no formal timeline for the IMF to make a decision about its participation to the bailout programme, the official said but added that the decision could not be prolonged indefinitely. The bailout programme, now carried only by the euro zone, ends in mid-2018.

($1 = 0.9308 euros)

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and; Jan Strupczewski; editing by Mark Heinrich)
LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - * U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 2.8 million barrels in the week to Jan. 20, in line with expectations, but gasoline stocks surged by 6.8 million barrels. The inventory gains could weigh on refining margins in the U.S. east coast, a key outlet for Nigerian crude. * Global oil demand will keep growing into the 2040s due to higher consumption of plastic goods even as the electric vehicle fleet expands rapidly and technology revolutionises transport, BP said in its annual Energy Outlook on Wednesday. * Africa's No. 3 oil producer Equatorial Guinea has held "fruitful" discussions and expects a decision soon on an offer to join the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the country's energy minister told Reuters on Wednesday. ANGOLA

* The bulk of the March trading programme had sold out less than 10 days after its release, buoyed by demand for sour crude in Asia.

* Robust demand from China had helped clear it out, as the country booked cargoes before lunar new year holidays.

* Nemba cargoes were lagging, with offers at around dated Brent minus 30 cents a barrel from Chevron and Eni.

* Cargoes of Pazflor, Plutonio and Saturno were also still available.

NIGERIA

* Premiums for Qua Iboe, Nigeria's largest export stream, found some support as disruptions limited other exports from the nation.

* Bids had climbed to premiums of at least 40 cents to dated Brent, and offers were as high as 90 cent premiums. The loading programme was still subject to delays, traders said.

* Indian tenders had helped clear the February loading programme, with BPCL taking two February-loading cargoes, leaving less than five remaining to trade.

* The March export programme had barely started trading, casting doubt on the sustainability of exports, particularly amid a glut of light sweet crude in the Atlantic Basin. TENDERS

* India's BPCL awarded its tender to buy crude to Totsa with one cargo of Agbami and another of Qua Iboe. Both were for February loading.

* Vitol is expected to tap floating storage to supply the VLCC of Qua Iboe it won as part of a tender from India's IOC won earlier this week, traders said.

* The results of a tender from Taiwan's CPC's were not immeditately available.

(Reporting By Libby George; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Grist reports:

Coal-loving Wyoming legislators are pushing a bill to outlaw wind and solar.

On the first day of the states legislative session, nine Republican lawmakers filed legislation that would bar utilities from using electricity produced by large-scale renewable energy projects. The bill, whose sponsors are primarily from the states top coal-producing counties, would require utilities to use only approved energy sources like coal, natural gas, nuclear power, hydroelectric, and oil. While individual homeowners and small businesses could still use rooftop solar or backyard wind, utilities would face steep fines if they served up clean energy.

Banning wind and solar power is just as nutty as banning coal. Politicians should not dictate what power source is used by utilities.

Where a power source has external costs (such as CO2 emissions from coal), then the correct response is to recognise the external costs through an appropriate mechanism (tax or ETS). But politicians should not dictate what sources of power are acceptable. The Wyoming legislators are just as wrong as Green legislators who try to ban coal.

Hat Tip: No Right Turn

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John Tierney writes at City Journal:

My liberal friends sometimes ask me why I dont devote more of my science journalism to the sins of the Right. Its fine to expose pseudoscience on the left, they say, but why arent you an equal-opportunity debunker? Why not write about conservatives threat to science? My friends dont like my answer: because there isnt much to write about. Conservatives just dont have that much impact on science. I know that sounds strange to Democrats who decry Republican creationists and call themselves the party of science. But Ive done my homework. Ive read the Lefts indictments, including Chris Mooneys bestseller, The Republican War on Science. I finished it with the same question about this war that I had at the outset: Where are the casualties? Where are the scientists who lost their jobs or their funding? What vital research has been corrupted or suppressed? What scientific debate has been silenced? Yes, the book reveals that Republican creationists exist, but they dont affect the biologists or anthropologists studying evolution. Yes, George W. Bush refused federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, but that hardly put a stop to it (and not much changed after Barack Obama reversed the policy). Mooney rails at scientists and politicians who oppose government policies favored by progressives like himself, but if youre looking for serious damage to the enterprise of science, he offers only three examples. All three are in his first chapter, during Mooneys brief acknowledgment that leftists here and there have been guilty of science abuse. First, theres the Lefts opposition to genetically modified foods, which stifled research into what could have been a second Green Revolution to feed Africa. Second, theres the campaign by animal-rights activists against medical researchers, whose work has already been hampered and would be devastated if the activists succeeded in banning animal experimentation. Third, theres the resistance in academia to studying the genetic underpinnings of human behavior, which has cut off many social scientists from the recent revolutions in genetics and neuroscience. Each of these abuses is far more significant than anything done by conservatives, and there are plenty of others. The only successful war on science is the one waged by the Left.

I strongly recommend reading the full article. It is lengthy but worth it.

But two huge threats to science are peculiar to the Leftand theyre getting worse. The first threat is confirmation bias, the well-documented tendency of people to seek out and accept information that confirms their beliefs and prejudices. In a classic study of peer review, 75 psychologists were asked to referee a paper about the mental health of left-wing student activists. Some referees saw a version of the paper showing that the student activists mental health was above normal; others saw different data, showing it to be below normal. Sure enough, the more liberal referees were more likely to recommend publishing the paper favorable to the left-wing activists. When the conclusion went the other way, they quickly found problems with its methodology. Scientists try to avoid confirmation bias by exposing their work to peer review by critics with different views, but its increasingly difficult for liberals to find such critics. Academics have traditionally leaned left politically, and many fields have essentially become monocultures, especially in the social sciences, where Democrats now outnumber Republicans by at least 8 to 1. (In sociology, where the ratio is 44 to 1, a student is much likelier to be taught by a Marxist than by a Republican.)

Peer review means a lot less today than it once did.

And that brings us to the second great threat from the Left: its long tradition of mixing science and politics. To conservatives, the fundamental problem with the Left is what Friedrich Hayek called the fatal conceit: the delusion that experts are wise enough to redesign society. Conservatives distrust central planners, preferring to rely on traditional institutions that protect individuals natural rights against the power of the state. Leftists have much more confidence in experts and the state. Engels argued for scientific socialism, a redesign of society supposedly based on the scientific method. Communist intellectuals planned to mold the New Soviet Man. Progressives yearned for a society guided by impartial agencies unconstrained by old-fashioned politics and religion. Herbert Croly, founder of the New Republic and a leading light of progressivism, predicted that a better future would derive from the beneficent activities of expert social engineers who would bring to the service of social ideals all the technical resources which research could discover. This was all very flattering to scientists, one reason that so many of them leaned left. The Right cited scientific work when useful, but it didnt enlist science to remake societyit still preferred guidance from traditional moralists and clerics. The Left saw scientists as the new high priests, offering them prestige, money, and power. The power too often corrupted. Over and over, scientists yielded to the temptation to exaggerate their expertise and moral authority, sometimes for horrendous purposes. Drawing on research into genetics and animal breeding from scientists at Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, and other leading universities, the eugenics movement of the 1920s made plans for improving the human population. Professors taught eugenics to their students and worked with Croly and other progressives eager to breed a smarter society, including Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Margaret Sanger. Eventually, other scientistsnotably, in Englandexposed the shoddy research and assumptions of the eugenicists, but not before the involuntary sterilization or castration of more than 35,000 Americans. Even after Hitler used eugenics to justify killing millions, the Left didnt lose its interest in controlling human breeding. Eugenicist thinking was revived by scientists convinced that the human species had exceeded the carrying capacity of its ecosystem. The most prominent was Paul Ehrlich, whose scientific specialty was the study of butterflies. Undeterred by his ignorance of agriculture and economics, he published confident predictions of imminent global famine in The Population Bomb (1968). Agricultural economists dismissed his ideas, but the press reverently quoted Ehrlich and other academics who claimed to have scientifically determined that the Earth was overpopulated. In the journal Science, ecologist Garrett Hardin argued that freedom to breed will bring ruin to all. Ehrlich, who, at one point, advocated supplying American helicopters and doctors to a proposed program of compulsory sterilization in India, joined with physicist John Holdren in arguing that the U.S. Constitution would permit population control, including limits on family size and forced abortions. Ehrlich and Holdren calmly analyzed the merits of various technologies, such as adding sterilants to public drinking water, and called for a planetary regime to control population and natural resources around the world. Their ideas went nowhere in the United States, but they inspired one of the worst human rights violations of the twentieth century, in China: the one-child policy, resulting in coerced abortion and female infanticide. China struggles today with a dangerously small number of workers to support its aging population. The intellectual godfathers of this atrocity, had they been conservatives, surely would have been ostracized. But even after his predictions turned out to be wildly wrong, Ehrlich went on collecting honors.

And Ehrlich still insists he was right on pretty much everything, when in fact he has been proven wrong on almost everything. He predicted the death of sea life by 1980, the UK would face starvation by 2000, India could not support more than 200 million people, a billion death toll from starvation etc etc. For being wrong on pretty much everything he has been given no less than 17 honours and awards.

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Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Rain and snow tapering off in the morning. Clearing in the afternoon. High near 55F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

A few clouds overnight. Low 39F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.
Knoxville couple wins $20,000 by switching to paperless statements

JANUARY 24, 2017 at 3:24 p.m.





Pictured L-R: Jake Bull, Rusty Wallace Kia of Knoxville General Manager; Ray Huffaker, owner of Rusty Wallace Kia of Knoxville; Shannon and Josh Williams, winners of the Dealer Services 2016 Fall eStatement Sweepstakes, with their daughter, Taylor Williams; Lisa Gibson, Dealer Services Business Development Representative; and Kevin Boyer, Regional Business Center manager for Wells Fargo Dealer Services Nashville office. Image by Rusty Wallace Kia.



KNOXVILLE  Wells Fargo Dealer Services has announced that Josh and Shannon Williams of Knoxville, Tennessee are the $20,000 grand prize winners of the 2016 Wells Fargo Dealer Services Fall eStatements Sweepstakes.



The Williamses, who have two children and work for the same company, plan to use the money to pay off bills and be debt-free. The couple signed up for eStatements, Wells Fargos paperless statement program, after purchasing their vehicle at Rusty Wallace Kia of Knoxville.



Shortly before finding out we won the money, I had started praying about getting out of debt and decided that it would be my first priority to get us there, said Mrs. Williams. Winning this prize means that we will be debt-free and I will sleep much easier at night.



This is the sixth eStatements Sweepstakes Wells Fargo has offered to Dealer Services auto loan customers. Eligible customers were automatically entered when they switched from paper to electronic account statements during the sweepstakes period. Customers could also enter by mail. Since the first sweepstakes in 2013, more than a million customers have switched to eStatements as part of the sweepstake promotions. As a result, more than 42,000 pounds of solid waste have been avoided by sending electronic instead of paper statements to auto loan customers.



Wells Fargo is committed to helping the environment and we are proud to have a winner from our community, said Kevin Boyer, Regional Business Center manager for Wells Fargo Dealer Services Nashville office. We are thrilled the Williamses were able to celebrate the New Year by choosing to responsibly manage their winnings.



Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,600 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 27 on Fortunes 2016 rankings of Americas largest corporations. Wells Fargos vision is to satisfy our customers financial needs and help them succeed financially. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories stories.wf.com/?cid=vty. Published January 24, 2017
Library and Archives provides copies of vital records to Gatlinburg wildfire victims

JANUARY 24, 2017 at 3:07 p.m.









When Sarah Jo Myrick and her husband Robert evacuated their Gatlinburg home ahead of the fast-approaching wildfire in late November, they were rightly more concerned about their safety than their possessions. "We didn't take anything with us," Sarah Jo Myrick said. "We just got out of the house."



When they returned to their home of almost 47 years, almost nothing was salvageable.



The couple had kept their important documents stored in a fireproof cabinet, but the cabinet was broken when it fell from an upper floor to a lower one as fire spread through the house. The Myricks are in the process of rebuilding and replacing what they lost in the fire, with some assistance from the Tennessee State Library and Archives and other agencies that keep copies of records.



The Myricks were one of several families victimized by the Gatlinburg fire who asked the Library and Archives to help them find copies of their marriage certificates.



"We're very thankful to the Library and Archives for providing copies of those records for us," Sarah Jo Myrick said.



While the Gatlinburg fire was an unusual and tragic situation, the Library and Archives provides replacements for vital records to citizens on an almost daily basis.



"Most Tennesseans don't realize that the Library and Archives can provide them with copies of older birth certificates, marriage certificates and, in the case of deceased loved ones, death certificates," Secretary of State Tre Hargett said. "These records are kept by other agencies until they are at least 50 years old, then the records are transferred to us. When fire or other tragedies strike, people often need copies of those types of records in order to get on with their lives. Providing those records is a service we offer that people don't know they need until they really need it."



The Library and Archives stores preservation copies of records for the local courthouses in Tennessee's 95 counties. If records in the county archives are damaged or destroyed, they can be replaced with those copies. The Library and Archives was able to provide invaluable help, for example, after the Van Buren County Archives burned two years ago this month, destroying the property deed records for the entire county.



"Sometimes people think of the Library and Archives primarily as a place to go if you're conducting historical research of some sort," State Librarian and Archivist Chuck Sherrill said. "And that is certainly an important role that the Library and Archives plays. However, we also provide these vital records that people need in their everyday lives. That's what we really want people to understand  that we're here to serve all Tennesseans, not just those with specialized interests." Published January 24, 2017


Multilateral EU organization chief stands against Trump's protectionism, Brexit



By Park Hyong-ki

The European Business Organization Worldwide Network (EBO) face many geopolitical and economic challenges this year.



The Brussels-based EBO represents more than 30 European business chambers and 10,000 companies worldwide with the aim of promoting sustainability through partnerships between the private and public sectors, as well as European businesses and their partners.



From the rise of U.S. trade protectionism to the British exit from the European Union, a number of issues like these that promote isolationism could negatively affect and undermine the values of the EU and what the continent has long stood for  democracy via alliances, openness and connection.



The EU even received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 as the world's first continental recipient for its efforts and commitment "to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe."



Its values and honor as the Noble Laureate, which have been looked upon as an ideal model for political and economic integration especially from Asia, are now being threatened as global economies wage trade wars for their own self-interest and benefits.



To turn this turbulent tide, EBO Chairman Renato Pacheco Neto said the organization needs to restore confidence in global partnerships and market openness by clarifying that they bring more benefits to the world in the long run than keeping their borders locked up and off limits.



It is, therefore, against U.S. President Donald Trump's protectionism policy, or any political and economic ideas that forbid sharing, connecting and prospering together.



"The U.S. and the Brexit  these are examples from which we need to be present and clarify that the right way to improve sustainability for the global economy is not closing doors and building up walls, but create bridges, allowing diverse people come from different continents and backgrounds to work together, interact, experience, and let each other know that they are not better than or inferior to others," Neto said in an interview with The Korea Times.



"Together, we can be better. Look at how much we have developed and evolved since the Second World War. How many lives we have saved and improved as alliances. A lot more can be done when we are working together."



For instance, companies like in Korea, Brazil and Germany, he noted that the world cannot say that these companies became successful by themselves. Korea developed and prospered as it joined forces and partnered via free trade with countries such as Chile and the EU.



"In this global age, we not only export products, but also export investments, human resources, services and education. This is what we need to continuously strive for."

Established in 2001 after the EU introduced the euro in the global financial markets in 1999, the multilateral business organization, in collaboration with the European Commission, has worked to facilitate market entry, business networking and development cooperation.



"As a middle organization between politics and the corporate sector, we try to rebalance and help them to be more effective together and access more markets,"the EBO chairman said.



"It is a two-way street. When we try to help European industries, it is based on reciprocity. We also expect Korean companies to access European and other markets with them."



Facing tough road ahead, he added that the EBO's top priority includes improving and expanding its role as the "bridge layer" with the underlying goal of increasing jobs, access to education and promoting human rights in markets where EU companies and their partners are present.



"Everybody wants a job, access to education and to live in a sustainable environment. We will seek to foster these connections. The world is no longer isolated," Neto said.

"Today, I dare to say that the only borders are in your head. Even languages are not considered a barrier because the technology has allowed exchanges and flows of communication and data."





Three main tasks



The EBO has three main tasks this year, in addition to promoting "alliances and teamwork in the global economy where competition is the key and no country can succeed by itself."



Its first mission is to build and expand its presence in developing and underdeveloped countries in Africa.



"We need to pour more energy into building relationship with local African partners," Neto said.



This relates to its second objective, which is to promote EU values in new markets, and let local people there understand what it stands for and what those values mean.

"It is not only about making money in new markets, but about creating a better and sustainable environment through the values," he said.



Those values include promoting gender equality, labor safety, education and clean energy in places where EU companies are operating and investing.



These, in turn, would boost its third mission  sustainable growth, which is the core value of democracy where people can exercise rights and become active players in markets with free press through openness and connection.



"Public and private cooperation is two sides of a same coin. Sustainability comes with economic, education and demographic stability," Neto said.





Who is Neto



Neto has been a board member of the EBO in Brussels since 2010 and was elected in 2015 as the chairman of this organization. He was reelected as the EBO chairman last year.



He has served many years on the board of many bilateral and multilateral institutions such as the CAE-Eurocamaras, Swedcham, Finland Business Council and Danish Trade Council.



In addition, Neto was appointed in 2012 by King Carl XVI Gustaf Swedish Consul General in Brazil.



A graduate from the USP Law School, he further took post-graduate courses and degrees in business administration, from countries, including in Finland (Helsinki School of Economics), France (Pantheon-Sorbonne University), Germany (Universities of Bielefeld and Freiburg), Netherlands (University of Leiden), Sweden (Stockholm School of Economics) and the U.S. (Harvard Law School, executive education).



With the support of the European Commission Directorate General Enterprise and Industry, the EBO was created in 2001.
Woori Bank CEO Lee Kwang-goo smiles during a press conference at the bank's headquarters in Seoul, Wednesday. Lee will serve a second term at the lender if he is approved at a March 24 shareholders' meeting.

/ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Nam Hyun-woo

Woori Bank CEO Lee Kwang-goo was nominated as the final candidate to become the bank's next CEO, the first chief to lead it as a private bank.

The bank's executive recommendation committee held interviews with three candidates  CEO Lee, former Executive Vice President Kim Seung-gyu and incumbent Head of the Business Support Group Lee Dong-gun  and recommended current CEO Lee as the final candidate. Hours later, its board members held a meeting and confirmed the 60-year-old as the candidate.

If he gets approval at the March 24 general shareholders' meeting, he will be officially sworn in as the 50th CEO of the bank and serve two more years.

"This year will be the first year of the privatized Woori Bank and will be a test for the bank," Lee said after his nomination. "I deeply appreciate the nomination and at the same time feel the heavy responsibility for it."

Lee's consecutive term is attributable to his role in leading the bank to go private 16 years after it gave its management control to the government. Following the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, the government brought together some insolvent banks and formed Woori Bank.

Last year, the government annulled a memorandum of understanding with the bank after selling its 29.7 percent stake in the bank, freeing it from government control.

Also under Lee's leadership, the bank's chronic problems in terms of prudence and profitability have significantly improved. After he took the helm of the bank, the ratio of non-performing loans fell to 1.07 percent in the third quarter last year from 2.12 percent at the end of 2014.

In terms of profitability, the bank posted 1.1 trillion won ($939.2 million) net profit in the first three quarters of last year, which surpasses the net profit for the entire 2015.

Talking about his future tasks, Lee stressed that he will focus on raising the capital ratio of the bank. "Currently, the bank's capital ratio stands at 10.5 percent, which meets a global standard. We expect a 1.5 trillion won net profit this year and to raise the ratio by 0.5 percent," he said.

He also pledged that the bank will push forward a transformation into a holding firm. "During the interviews, I said transformation into a holding company will improve our capital ratio as well as lowering costs for potential merger and acquisitions," Lee said. "After consulting with board members, I will look into the matter in a positive manner."

He pointed out that Woori Bank affiliates are showing low profitability compared to that of other banks' affiliates. He said he will be deeply involved in raising the efficiency of the affiliates and will "actively consider M&As should there be a good opportunity."

One urgent task lying before him is how to soothe the conflict between the bank's two factions. Woori Bank was established from a merger between Commercial Bank of Korea and Hanil Bank. Despite 18 years, there is still conflict within the bank between the two factions.

In the process of nomination, some voiced their opinions that this time Lee Dong-gun, who is from Hanil Bank, should become the head, since both the CEO Lee and his predecessor Lee Soon-woo are from Commercial Bank of Korea.

With observers saying a workforce shakeup after his inauguration will be the first test for him, Lee said he will "stick to the current system of having the same number of executives for the moment, but will scrap the down the road so that employee assessment can be done more objectively."

His other task is to coordinate different interests among its majority shareholders. Since its ownership structure is comprised of various financial and strategic investors, there could be a conflict between shareholders. The majority shareholders are: Mirae Asset Global investments, IMM Private Equity, Tong Yang Life Insurance, Eugene Asset Management, Kiwoom Securities, Korea Investment & Securities and Hanwha Life Insurance.

"The ownership structure should be strength for the bank," said Lee. "We have already signed an agreement with Hanwha Life over the insurer's entrance into Southeast Asia.  I will closely cooperate with outside directors over running the bank."
North Korea is aggressively seeking cooperation with Russia's maritime province, proposing cooperation between the two countries' ruling parties, a U.S. broadcaster reported, citing a local media.

According to PrimaMedia in the maritime province, Rim Chong-il, North Korean consul-general in Vladivostok, paid a call to Valentine Shumatov, a regional chairman of the Russian ruling party United Russia, on Jan. 11, Radio Free Asia said.

During the meeting, made at the request of the North, the two sides agreed on cooperation between the parties in the fields of culture, tourism, science medicine and education, the broadcaster said.

It's unusual that the North is targeting the Russian ruling party's regional chapter to advance its interests, although it has been endeavoring to send more laborers to Russia, the broadcaster said.

The move is analyzed as an intention to advance into the maritime province, one of Russia's economic hubs, it said. (Yonhap)
By Yi Whan-woo

U.S. President Donald Trump's protectionist trade policy may push Korea closer to China economically, analysts said Wednesday.

These concerns were raised after Trump decided to pull the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He has also called for the renegotiation of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS-FTA).

Analysts say that Seoul inevitably will need to bolster its exports to Beijing to make up for its reduced trade with Washington, if the renegotiation of the KORUS-FTA fails and their economic relations become weaker.

Such a possible failure is expected to hamper the government's bid to overhaul its export-dependent economy amid China's latest retaliation for the planned deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery in Korea this year.

The retaliatory measures have expanded from the cultural sector to tourism and business, triggering a call to develop a plan to prevent China from exploiting their trade ties and bullying Korea over diplomatic conflicts.

Some skeptics view that the envisioned Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will also add to Korea's woes over being trapped by its economic dependence on China.



The RCEP, the China-led mega-trade bloc involving 16 countries, including Korea, has emerged as a replacement for the TPP after Trump signed an executive order for the U.S. withdrawal, Monday.

Korea, China, Japan, India, Australia, New Zealand and the 10 ASEAN-member states have been discussing the promotion of the RCEP since 2012.












Students majoring in molecular biotechnology at Ghent University Global Campus conduct an experiment in the school's laboratory on its campus in Songdo, Incheon. / Courtesy of Ghent University Global Campus



GUGC in Songdo focuses on biomedical programs





By Chung Hyun-chae



Ghent University Global Campus (GUGC) will make greater efforts to nurture biotechnologists who will lead the country's future, said Dilruk De Silva, vice president of the school.



"GUGC is dedicated to teach and develop the next generation of scientists, engineers and industry professionals with a global mindset," Silva said in a recent interview with The Korea Times at his office on the university's campus in Songdo, Incheon.



With this aim, GUGC runs three major programs  molecular biotechnology, environmental technology and food technology  which differentiate it from other foreign schools on the Incheon Global Campus (IGC) in Songdo.



Ghent University, a public research university in Ghent, a city in eastern Belgium, set up its Korean campus, which they call an extended campus of instead of a branch, on IGC in 2013.



IGC hosts three other foreign universities  George Mason Korea, the University of Utah and the State University of New York (SUNY Korea)  and a research institute.



The vice president was sure that the biggest strength of GUGC lies in the three majors, citing a report "The World in 2025," published by the European Union (EU).



"According to the report, some of the key issues and potential jobs lie in sectors in biotechnology, resources, and climate change," Silva said.



"These topics are highly correlated to the majors that are offered at GUGC, and upon graduation, students will be equipped to tackle these future issues."



He also noted that the university is located in the biological cluster in Songdo where many biotechnology companies have their headquarters and labs including Samsung BioLogics.



"We strongly believe GUGC caters to promising industries in Korea that need to nurture scientists in those fields," he said.



STEM education



The GUGC focuses on cultivating students' specialties from the moment they step on campus in September.



"The students are, from the first semester, spending the majority of their class time not only learning theoretical backgrounds, but also have the opportunity to get hands-on experience through laboratory research and experiments," Silva said.



Laboratories span seven floors in the university's 10-story building while lecture rooms are only on the second floor.



"Our freshmen are also able to conduct experiments related to their majors in those labs," said Stephen Yoo, senior manager of public relations at the GUGC.



"GUGC thrives to educate life scientists, engineers who can move the boundaries of knowledge and of engineering for the benefit of mankind," Silva added.



Another noticeable feature is that all the three programs are taught in English.



"For those who want access to education provided by Ghent University in English, GUGC is the ultimate choice," Yoo said.





Ghent University Global Campus building / Courtesy of Ghent University Global Campus=



Quality education



For those considering whether to choose GUGC, the main concern might be "if the school can provide good quality education equivalent to the main campus in Belgium."



Tamping down such anxiety, the main campus in Belgium appoints all faculty members at GUGC.



"Being an extended campus of Ghent University, Belgium, GUGC relishes the strong ties and support it receives from the main campus," the vice president said.



Ghent University ranked 62nd in the 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities, also known as Shanghai Ranking, an annual publication of university ranking by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, for its academic and research excellence.



"The university aims to impart the same standards of teaching and academic excellence on its campus in Korea," Silva said.



As the only European university nested on IGC, GUGC sends its students to Ghent University in Belgium for one semester during their senior year.



"At the main campus, they will have the opportunity to reinforce the knowledge they acquired in the first three years at GUGC and study in-depth with highly qualified professors," Silva said.



Ghent University in Belgium has produced Nobel Prize laureates including Coreille Heymans and world food prize winner Prof. Marc Van Montagu.



"The semester transfer will enhance the overall student experience at the main campus in Belgium and they can acquire new skills and learn about European culture," Silva said.



"They will have access to top notch research and educational facilities at the main campus. In their spare time, they can also enjoy European culture and the ambience in one of the most beautiful cities in Belgium."



Future



The Korea campus of Ghent University plans to open its graduate school as early as 2018.



Pending approval from the country's education ministry, the school is prepared to offer a master's degree program in biotechnology.



The vice president called GUGC the main hub in Asia.



"The reason that we established our campus in Korea is that it is close to most key markets including China, Vietnam, Japan and Hong Kong," Silva said, vowing to attract more foreign students from those countries.



"Our university is developing research collaborations between Europe and Korea and acts as a research and education hub for industry leaders and institutions alike," Silva said.



"We are currently having more ongoing negotiations with various universities outside Korea as well as partner networks in Asia," he added.
By Kwon Young-min



"I am not an animal; my father and I are human beings. As human beings, we have human rights, but our rights have been violently trampled upon."



These are the words of Hwang In-cheol, 49, whose father was abducted by North Korea approximately 47 years ago.



On Dec. 11, 1969, a North Korean agent hijacked a domestic flight Korean Air YS-11 just 10 minutes after take-off.



All 50 people on board (46 passengers and four crew members) were abducted. The North Korean government eventually released 39 people, but held on to the other 11, including Hwang's father. Their fate remains unknown.



For 15 years, Hwang has campaigned to keep his father's story alive, in the hopes that South Korean society will sympathize with his cause and help bring his father home.



What awaited him instead were years of despair, partly because the public support he needed failed to emerge. Some people went so far as to accuse him of being stuck in the past. Focus on the present, they said, seemingly oblivious the man was trying to save his father's life.



I met Hwang in June 2016 at a meeting organized by the Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR) Global Education Center, an NGO that provides free English learning opportunities to North Korean refugees. TNKR had invited Hwang to recruit volunteers to support him on a more consistent basis.



After hearing Hwang's story firsthand, I agreed to join Team Hwang. As a member and later a project manager, I participated in rallies, human rights conferences and on-line actions, all intended to bring greater attention to the 1969 Korean Air hijacking.



It has been seven months since I joined Team Hwang, and I fully expect to be here for another seven months, if not longer. I choose to do so for two reasons.



First, I firmly believe that Hwang has suffered a grave injustice, one that demands an immediate remedy. On this note, I categorically reject the argument that Hwang is stuck in the past.



As a victim of a state-sponsored kidnapping, Hwang's father's suffering is not limited to the past.



As long as he remains in captivity, he is a present-day victim, as are his son and the rest of his family members.



Until the perpetrators are brought to justice and the victims are reunited with their loved ones, there can be no real closure.



Second, this is one cause that is truly running out of time. At the time of the hijacking, Hwang's father was a young man of 32 years old. Now, 47 years later, he would be an old man nearing 80, possibly in a frail state of health.



My point is that we can no longer afford to wait.



For Hwang's father to be reunited with his son within his lifetime, he needs to be repatriated now.



Governments and the international community must urgently raise their voices, and for that, Hwang will need all the support he can get to keep his advocacy moving forward.



If that has not convinced you to join, hear this: For years, Hwang has fought all by himself on the streets, desperately pleading for someone to hear his voice.



Since June 2016, however, he has not been alone. We refused to let him fight alone, and we are constantly amazed by how even our smallest gesture of solidarity lifts his spirit and renews his hope of seeing his father again.



Please check out the hashtag #BringMyFatherHome to learn more about our efforts. We hope you will join us, and that, with your support, Hwang will be able to achieve his life-long dream of reuniting with his father.



The writer is the assistant academic adviser for the Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR) Global Education Center, and a third-year student at Georgetown University Law Center.
By Jun Ji-hye



South Korea will begin military talks with the Donald Trump administration next month to discuss North Korea's missile threats and other challenging bilateral issues, according to the Ministry of National Defense, Wednesday.



The ministry said the two nations are arranging talks between Defense Minister Han Min-koo and U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis in Seoul early next month, which will be their first defense chiefs' meeting since Trump's inauguration last week.



"Consultation is currently underway to arrange the talks," a ministry official said on condition of anonymity. "We are fine-tuning the detailed schedule."



Citing U.S. government officials, Japan's Kyodo News and NHK also reported that Mattis is planning to visit Japan and South Korea on his first overseas trip after he was named to head the Pentagon.



Officials here said it is quite rare for the defense chiefs' talks to be held before a foreign ministers' meeting takes place, noting that it reflects the two sides are putting considerable significance on defense issues.



During the envisioned talks, Han and Mattis are expected to mainly discuss ways to better deter Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said in his New Year address that the North has entered the final stages of preparations to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of about 10,000 kilometers, capable of hitting targets on the U.S. mainland.



On his inauguration day, President Trump also made it clear that the United States will develop a state-of-the-art missile defense system to protect against missile-based attacks from countries such as North Korea and Iran.



In this regard, the top defense officials are highly likely to reaffirm the allies' decision made in July last year to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here this year despite China's ongoing protests and various actions in retaliation.



China believes that the X-band radar of the THAAD system could be used to spy on the country's missile capabilities despite Seoul and Washington's assurance that the system is only designed to defend against the North's missiles.



The cost-sharing for the upkeep of the U.S. Forces Korea could also be on the agenda amid growing expectations that the newly inaugurated U.S. administration may demand Seoul to raise its contribution.



During the presidential campaign, Trump argued that it made no sense for the U.S. to pay to defend wealthy allies like Japan and South Korea, and should consider pulling out of these countries unless they pay more.



In a recent message sent to the Department of Defense right after assuming the post, Mattis said, "Recognizing that no nation is secure without friends, we will work with the State Department to strengthen our alliances."



For his part, ROK Marine Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Lee Sang-hoon will visit the United States from Feb. 9 to 15 to meet with military leaders there, including Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).



Lee will also meet with Gen. Robert B. Neller, the commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, and Lt. Gen. David H. Berger, the commanding general of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific.



"Lee will discuss measures to expand the role of the Marine Corps of the two nations to strengthen the Seoul-Washington alliance," a Marine Corps official said, adding that Lee is set to act as a bridge between the two countries as Defense Secretary Mattis was a former Marine Corps general, while JCS Chairman Dunford is an incumbent one.



Meanwhile, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Jeong Kyeong-doo is also planning to visit the U.S. next month to support the Korea Aerospace Industries' (KAI) T-X competition there, in which the company teamed up with Lockheed Martin to offer T-50As for the U.S. Air Force's T-X contract to build 350 trainer jets.




Arthur Patterson / Korea Times file

By Jung Min-ho

The Supreme Court has upheld a 20-year prison sentence for Arthur Patterson, who killed a 22-year-old Korean at a Burger King outlet in Itaewon 20 years ago.

The verdict delivered Wednesday has put an end to the mysterious "Itaewon murder" case, in which two suspects were investigated for the death of Cho Joong-pil in a Burger King bathroom.

The top court upheld the Seoul High Court's ruling on a lower court that sentenced the son of a U.S. military contractor to 20 years in prison for stabbing the college student to death in 1997 with no clear motive.

A panel of judges presided over by Kim Jae-hyung said in a statement there was no doubt that Patterson was the murderer and he deserved the punishment.

Lee Bok-soo, the victim's mother, appreciated Hong Ki-seon, the director of the 2009 movie "The Case of the Itaewon Homicide" which depicted the case, and the media for their attention that led to the long-awaited verdict.

"My son was a good man," she told reporters after the verdict. "Justice was served thanks to the great public attention to the case."

A 20-year prison sentence is the maximum term for suspects aged 18 or younger at the time of the murder. Patterson was 17 years old when he stabbed the Korean man's neck and torso nine times. Prosecutors concluded that he did so only to "show off" to his friend.

Patterson was able to avoid punishment for so long because prosecutors failed to identify the right suspect in their initial investigation. They wrongly pressed murder charges against Edward Lee, another U.S. dependent who was present at the crime scene.

It was a difficult case for prosecutors because neither Patterson nor Lee had any reason to kill Cho, who had never met them before that night.

Initially, prosecutors indicted Patterson only for possessing an illegal weapon and destroying evidence, and he was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 1997.

When Lee was acquitted due to lack of evidence in 1999, prosecutors came under criticism for the "murder case without a murderer."

Prosecutors belatedly reopened the case to indict Patterson as a prime murder suspect. But by then, he had returned to California after serving his prison term. He was able to leave Korea because the prosecution forgot to renew a travel ban on him.

In 2006, a Seoul court ordered the government to pay 34 million won in compensation to the victim's family because prosecutors failed to do their job properly.

This could have been the end of the story. But for the film that was released in 2009 to pressure the prosecution to reopen their investigation.
Choi Soon-sil, President Park Geun-hye's confidant at the center of an unprecedented influence-peddling scandal, shouts at reporters as she arrives at the special counsel team's office in southern Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap



By Kim Se-jeong

Choi Soon-sil, the central figure in the influence-peddling scandal involving impeached President Park Geun-hye, lashed out at special investigators Wednesday, claiming that they were forcing her to make false confessions.

"They have been forcing me to confess that I colluded with President Park," Choi yelled to reporters, as she was arriving at the independent counsel team's office in Seoul.

She also slammed the way she was being investigated, calling the prosecution "undemocratic."

"I'm being treated unfairly. It's so unfair," she shouted.

The counsel team led by Park Young-soo dismissed her claims as groundless.

"We're undeterred by her groundless claims and this will change nothing in the way we investigate the case," Lee Kyu-chul, the counsel's spokesman said.

Her comments, which were captured on live television, caught many by surprise. In custody since late last year, Choi has kept silent in her public appearances for the most part. She is on trial on multiple corruption charges.

Choi said she was being forced by investigators to admit that she and President Park conspired in the scandal.












The painting titled "Dirty Sleep" was featured in the art exhibition "Soon, Bye" held at the National Assembly from Jan. 20 to 24. The picture depicts President Park Geun-hye lying naked on a bed in a parody of Edouard Manet's "Olympia."

/ Yonhap



By Chung Hyun-chae



A conservative civic group supporting President Park Geun-hye, called "Park Sa Mo," filed a complaint with the prosecution against Rep. Pyo Chang-won of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and artist Lee Ku-young for defaming the President.



Park Sa Mo, literally meaning "people who love Park," has expressed anger over a controversial painting portraying President Park in the nude.



The group said Wednesday that 1,011 people co-signed the complaint submitted to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office.



"We are showing our anger towards those responsible for the insulting painting and the exhibition," the leader of Park Sa Mo wrote on the group's official website Tuesday.



Some of them also visited the National Assembly the same day to ask Pyo to step down and National Assembly Speaker Chung Se-kyun to apologize to the people over the incident.



Ihn Ji-yeon, a lawyer and a North Korean human rights activist, who represents the group, wrote on her Facebook, Wednesday, "Join us. We can add more to the list of accusers."



The painting in question is titled "Dirty Sleep" where Park is lying naked on a bed in a parody of Edouard Manet's "Olympia."



The picture satirized the allegations that the President was sleeping after receiving a sleep-inducing injection so she could undergo cosmetic treatment on the day of the Sewol ferry sinking on April 16, 2014.



The exhibition that featured the painting was organized by about 20 artists who were allegedly on a government blacklist of cultural figures critical of the Park administration.



While Pyo insisted that the painting was within the boundaries of the freedom of the arts, DPK leaders asked the party's ethics committee to review disciplinary action against him today.



DPK floor leader Rep. Woo Sang-ho said that any punishment would be for the improper exhibition organized by Pyo, and that the party has no intention of limiting artistic freedom.
By Kim Bo-eun



The Gyeonggido Assembly confirmed Wednesday that it will hand over fundraising for a controversial Dokdo comfort woman statue to private organizations.



Min Kyoung-sun, a member of the Gyeonggi Province Council heading a sub-committee on Dokdo, said a legal review is taking place about the transfer.



"We found out that the law stipulates public officials cannot receive donations. This is why we are handing over the fundraising to private organizations," Min said. "It is not because of (negative) public opinion."



The provincial council caused a stir after its Jan. 5 proposal to erect a statue symbolizing wartime sex slaves for the Japanese army on Dokdo.



There have been opinions, including those of the victims, that the territorial issue of Dokdo and the issue of Japan's wartime atrocities should not be combined.



Min said, "As we have time, we will try to reach a consensus on the issue before carrying out the plan."



The council aimed to have the statue set up on Dec. 14 this year, the sixth anniversary of the installation of a statue in Seoul. Dokdo is the latest addition to the list of locations that have or will have a comfort woman statue. Around 60 local governments have either established or plan to set up a statue, a move to protest a deal reached on the sex slave issue between Korea and Japan in December 2015. Japan did not acknowledge its legal responsibility in drafting sex slaves for its military in the deal.



Meanwhile, North Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Kwan-yong, who earlier expressed disapproval over the Dokdo statue plan, visited the islets Wednesday, in an apparent bid to make a statement against Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida's remark that the islets belong to Japan. Korea's easternmost islets are administered by North Gyeongsang Province.



Japan's remarks came after the Gyeonggi Province Council started fundraising for the comfort woman statue last week.



Arriving on Dokdo, Governor Kim sang the national anthem.



"Protecting Dokdo equates to protecting our self-existence," Kim said. "There cannot be a divide in ideology, generations or class when it comes to protecting our sovereignty and nation."



Kim was accompanied by two citizens, who were selected by the province as representatives for activities protecting Dokdo.



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the meantime, has maintained a low-key stance, saying last week it was inappropriate to link the issues of Dokdo and sex slaves.



The comfort woman statue has become a source of conflict between Seoul and Tokyo. As part of the December 2015 deal, Japan requested the statue in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul be removed. It has remained there in protest of the deal, and another statue placed in front of the consul general in Busan caused Japan to recall its ambassador to Seoul earlier this month.




Presidential hopeful Moon Jae-in, left, and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte



By Kim Rahn

Moon Jae-in, the leading presidential hopeful from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), has criticized the Philippine president for not taking responsible action against the abduction and murder of a Korean businessman there by local policemen.

He called the inaction "diplomatic disrespect."

Moon's condemnation came after President Rodrigo Duterte continued his support for the country's police chief despite the case where the Korean man was killed in a fake anti-drug operation by Philippine police officers who have been given the right to extrajudicial killing in Duterte's controversial drug crackdown.

"An innocent Korean was killed in the Philippines again. It's quite a shock that this time incumbent police officers were involved and the murder was committed within the police headquarters," Moon said on Facebook, Tuesday.

"What's more shocking is that President Duterte did not hold the police chief, who faces growing calls to resign from the Philippine people, responsible but rather participated in his birthday party."

Calling such an attitude diplomatic rudeness, Moon said, "I sternly request the Philippine government  as a friend  to take responsible measures based on constitutionalism."

The presidential contender also called for the Korean government to deal with the issue more actively, saying, "With such a serious issue happening, acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are not bringing it up. They are giving up the state's duty which should prioritize protecting its people."

It was revealed last week that seven suspects, involving former and incumbent police officers, seized the Korean businessman, Jee Ick-joo, 53, at his home in Angeles City in October in a fake drug raid, took him to the police headquarters and strangled him to death. They later cremated the body and extorted a ransom from Jee's family by pretending he was still alive.

On Tuesday, the Philippine government issued an apology over the case.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella offered condolences to Jee's family. "We apologize to the South Korean government and people for this irreparable loss," he said in a statement. "We commit the full force of the law to ensure that justice is served and not delayed. To the Korean people, please accept our sincerest and deepest regrets."

Regarding the case, people in the Philippines have called for the resignation of police chief Ronald dela Rosa, and dela Rosa himself tendered his resignation. But Duterte has expressed his continuous support for the chief, who is one of his close aides. The president participated in dela Rosa's birthday party Sunday, and said he should not be blamed for the case.

"There are two ways of committing a crime under the revised penal code. What are they? Felony, malice or negligence. From the looks of it, I do not see any criminal intent, really on the part of dela Rosa and the rest of the group," he was quoted as saying at the party by the Philippine Star.

In the meantime, Korean National Police Agency Commissioner General Lee Chul-sung sent a letter to dela Rosa, Wednesday, to request a swift and fair investigation into the case, stern punishment of the people involved, and continued efforts to prevent crimes targeting Koreans there.
Rep. Yang Seung-jo, third from left, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's committee managing party regulations and policies, announces the rules for the party's primary to select its presidential candidate during a press briefing at the National Assembly, Tuesday. / Yonhap



By Kim Hyo-jin

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) decided Wednesday to hold a runoff election in its primary to select a candidate for the presidential election, possibly slated for early this year.

The move comes after the party confirmed rules for its primary, gearing up for a potential election, which could be held 60 days after a Constitutional Court ruling against impeached President Park Geun-hye.

The party will hold a runoff election if none of presidential contenders wins a majority of the votes in the first-round. The primary will be open to party members and ordinary citizens, officials said.

Competition to secure second place is expected to get fiercer among DPK presidential contenders in order to compete against former party leader Moon Jae-in, who is the current favorite.

However, many observers believe that it will hardly shake up the status quo where Moon leads in opinion polls.

The rules are mostly based on those of the 2012 primary, where Moon won an overwhelming victory in the first-round.

The number of regional primaries was reduced to four from 12, which is seen as a disadvantage for underdogs who seek as many chances as possible to appeal to voters on the campaign trail.

Rep. Yang Seung-jo, head of the committee managing party regulations and policies, said the reduction was inevitable considering the presidential election has to be held in 60 days if the court rules in favor of President Park's Impeachment.

"The short primary will probably ensure a victory of the leading contender Moon. He could possibly gain a majority of votes in the first round again," a DPK official said.

Yang noted the party accepted many requests from the underdogs, however.

The party put more weight on votes from party members in the previous national convention to elect the party leadership, but decided to stick to the "one man, one vote principle" in the primary, treating votes of party members and ordinary citizens equally.

Officials view that Moon followers are in the majority of those who joined the party last year when it recruited members through online registration as part of efforts to expand its base.

The party also decided to set up a ballot box at Gwanghwamun Square where protesters against the Park administration gather every Saturday for candlelit rallies, following a request from Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon.

"Considering the passion of the public toward a change of the government, it is expected that 1.5 to 2 million ordinary citizens will register for voting," Yang said.

The party will allow registered voters to choose either spot polls or voting through mobile phones. Voters overseas will be able to cast their votes through email.

Considering the controversy surrounding the fairness of the mobile voting in the 2012 primary, the party will run a team to monitor the process, Yang said. The team will consist of members recommended by each camp of the presidential candidates.

The party will open applications for presidential hopefuls today. The shortlist for the primary will be limited to six candidates.

Moon, South Chungcheong Governor An Hee-jung and Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung immediately agreed to follow the party's rules for the primary. But Seoul Mayor Park and Rep. Kim Boo-kyum, who have insisted on a united primary including other opposition parties, criticized the party for hastily confirming the rules. Their aides, however, say Park and Kim do not intend to break away from participating in the primary despite their complaints.
Two U.S. Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a bill prohibiting President Donald Trump from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress.



Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) introduced the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017, saying the issue of nuclear "first use" is more urgent than ever now that "Trump has the power to launch a nuclear war at a moment's notice."



"Nuclear war poses the gravest risk to human survival," said Markey. "Yet, President Trump has suggested that he would consider launching nuclear attacks against terrorists. Unfortunately, by maintaining the option of using nuclear weapons first in a conflict, U.S. policy provides him with that power. In a crisis with another nuclear-armed country, this policy drastically increases the risk of unintended nuclear escalation."



Markey said neither Trump nor any other president should be allowed to use nuclear weapons except in response to a nuclear attack.



Lieu also said that it is a frightening reality that the U.S. now has "a commander-in-chief who has demonstrated ignorance of the nuclear triad, stated his desire to be 'unpredictable' with nuclear weapons."



"Our Founders created a system of checks and balances, and it is essential for that standard to be applied to the potentially civilization-ending threat of nuclear war," he said.



Concerns have flared about a fresh nuclear arms race between the U.S. and Russia after Trump said last month that the U.S. "must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes."



The remark came after Russian President Vladimir Putin also called earlier in the day for bolstering "strategic nuclear forces," especially those capable of penetrating "existing and future missile defense systems."



Trump did not back down, saying a day later: "Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all." (Yonhap)




Lee Young-ae featured in a promotional poster for "Saimdang"



By Park Jin-hai

Lee Young-ae, star of the 2003 period drama "Dae Jang Geum" that started the K-drama hype, has returned in SBS's latest TV series "Saimdang, Memoir of Colors."

This is the 45-year-old actress's first return to the small screen in 14 years.

Co-starring actor Song Seung-heon, the time-slip fantasy drama will tell the story of Shin Saimdang, a Joseon-era artist and writer who is widely known to the Korean people as a model of Confucian ideals.

Instead of the "mother of wisdom" image during the ancient patriarchal society, Lee will portray the often overlooked side of Shin Saimdang (1504-1551), revisiting her passionate life as a gifted artist.

Lee is cast for the double role of modern-day art history instructor So Ji-yoon, who happens to find what is believed to be Saimdang's diary, and the Joseon-era artist Saimdang herself.

The plot of the drama triggered so much curiosity and fun, the actress said.

"I thought Saimdang would probably not like her fixed image as imprinted on the 50,000 won banknote today," Lee said at a media event at Lotte Hotel in central Seoul, Tuesday. "Breathing new life into the historical figure and exploring her from the perspective of a woman has been an exciting challenge."

Mindful of her previous role in "Dae Jang Geum," which brought her pan-Asian fandom but also set a high bar, Lee said, "The character tones of Dae Jang Geum and Saimdang may be seen overlapping. But I think the way I feature the character would differ from then and now. Now that I have become a mother in real life, my performance would have become deeper and wider."





Song Seung-heon, left, and Lee Young-ae pose at a press conference for "Saimdang, Memoir of Colors" in Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap

Lee added that she took time to study traditional Korean painting and study ancient customs for the latest drama, as much as she did years ago with royal cuisine while shooting "Dae Jang Geum."

Actor Song will feature as Saimdang's admirer Lee Gyeom.

He said he was nervous to co-star with Lee in the drama. "I kept on making mistakes in delivering my lines in my first shoot with Lee," he said. "I worked really hard, in particular, for the scenes where Lee Gyeom meets Saimdang. I'm confident it will live up to viewers' expectations."

Although the show had garnered great attention from many Asian fans, after it finished production in the first half of 2016, it suffered from a political row between Korea and China surrounding Seoul's plan to deploy a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

The drama was initially set to air last fall with simultaneous broadcast on China's Hunan TV. But while it was waiting to receive approval from Beijing for the show's Chinese broadcast, its local broadcasting schedule has been postponed twice, to the latter half of last year then to January.

"I've been very anxious, waiting for its broadcast for so long. But if there are good movies and dramas in the future that can deliver meaningful messages, I would be happy to join, regardless of their genres," Lee said.

"Saimdang, Memoir of Colors" will premiere Thursday.
POSCO Chairman and CEO Kwon Oh-joon speaks at an opening ceremony for the steelmaker's India plant in this January 2015 file photo. / Korea Times file



By Park Jae-hyuk

POSCO Chairman and CEO Kwon Oh-joon will serve another three-year term in spite of his alleged involvement in the Choi Soon-sil scandal that led to Park Geun-hye's impeachment, the steelmaker announced Wednesday.

POSCO's board of directors has unanimously approved to recommend the incumbent CEO as an exclusive nominee for the next CEO term set to begin this March, saying the 67-year-old has led positive performances over the past three years.

During Kwon's first three-year term, the company's operating profit rose 19 percent, up from 2.2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) to 2.6 trillion won, and its operating income ratio increased from 7.3 percent to 10.8 percent.

The board members positively considered the company's lowest-ever debt ratio, powerful implementation of restructuring processes and the increasing stock price as well, according to POSCO.

Also, the board members concluded that suspicions on Kwon's involvement in the Choi scandal are groundless and cannot be reasons for his disqualification, mentioning they got legal advice from outside the company.

Kwon has been suspected of nominating confidants of Choi to take charge of POSCO's affiliates, including the small ad agency Poreka, and has been embroiled in allegations of an unfair interview process for his first term.

"The qualification process was independently and fairly conducted without any internal or external interference," chairman of the board Lee Myung-woo said. "We hope Kwon and POSCO will be free of various suspicions."

POSCO said Kwon vowed to reform the company's non-steel businesses and train his successor during his next three-year term.

On the same day, POSCO announced it posted 53.8 trillion won in sales and 2.8 trillion won in operating profit last year, down 8.8 percent and up 18 percent year-on-year, respectively. Its net profit was 1.4 trillion won.

Although sales decreased due to restructuring of the group and slumps in domestic and international market conditions, operating profit increased due to good performances of its foreign subsidiaries in China and India.

POSCO aims to post 54.8 trillion won in sales this year and invest 3.5 trillion won for future competitiveness amid the saturation of steelmakers in the market.

POSCO is the nation's largest and the world's fourth-largest steelmaker.
By Sun Xi

Nalanda was commonly believed to have been ransacked and destroyed by an army of the Muslim Mamluk Dynasty in the 13th century, and eventually abandoned and forgotten until the 19th century. It is time to revive the past glory of Nalanda University, but its revival journey in the 21st century has been largely uneven.

The idea of reviving Nalanda was initiated during the 2nd East Asia Summit (EAS) on 15 January 2007 in the city of Cebu, the Republic of Philippines, and subsequently supported by the leaders of the 4th EAS on 25, October, 2009, in Hua Hin, Thailand. On 25, November, 2010, the new Nalanda University came into existence under the special Nalanda University Act of the Indian Parliament.

Exactly the same day six years later, on 25, November, 2016, Mr. George Yeo, a former foreign minister of Singapore, submitted his resignation letter as the second chancellor of the university to Indian President Pranab Mukherjee accusing the government of failing to maintain the varsity's autonomy.

Earlier on 19, February, 2015, Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen expressed regret in an open letter to the governing board of the university that he had to leave as the first chancellor by June 2015 due to the Indian Central Government's deliberate inaction over his term renewal decision. Sen has long been a critic of Narendra Modi, the current prime minister of India.

The apparently involuntary leave of two eminent founding chancellors, who had made great contributions to the University's formation and development from the beginning, has inevitably affected the university's stability, prestige and credibility.

Too much domestic political interference in the university's academic matters has been an open secret. Following Mr. Yeo's resignation, the Chief Minister of Bihar Mr. Nitish Kumar, who played a vital role in the establishment of the university, wrote a strongly worded letter to the center, urging the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government not to tamper with the essence behind the "idea of Nalanda".

Unfortunately, the University has been increasingly not only politicized but also Indianized. Since the announcement of the new governing board on 21, November, 2016 by the University's Visitor President Pranab Mukherjee and Mr. Yeo's exit, almost all important posts in the university's top leadership have been or will probably be occupied by Indian scholars and bureaucrats.

Allegedly, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) linked Indian scholar has been emerging as the frontrunner for the post of chancellor of the university, and the most promising candidates for the post of vice-chancellor are also Indian.

Of course, there are still four pending board seats exclusively reserved for representatives of foreign member states, namely China, Australia, Laos PDR and Thailand, which provided maximum financial assistance during a period of three years. However, that is merely to meet the requirements of the Nalanda University Act.

Although the university is located in the State of Bihar of India, it should not be simply treated as an Indian institution. There have been many regional and international contributions behind the establishment and development of the University.

The new Nalanda University was originally designed to be an international institution for the pursuit of intellectual, philosophical, historical and spiritual studies and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Therefore, its operation should be largely immune from Indian's domestic politics.

After the frequent leadership turmoil in recent years, it will likely be difficult for the university to get further support from the international community, because the Indian government's credibility, commitment and professionalism towards the university are now in question.

Although having to leave the university with sadness, disappointment and regret, Mr. Yeo still optimistically believes that "It's just an interruption. All great universities go through twists and turns in their development." Yes, great things never come easy.

It took more than six centuries for the old Nalanda to be reborn from the ruins, so no temporary frustration can really stop its revival journey, because it is essentially for the great renaissance of the ever glorious civilization in Asia.
A stir created by the display of a nude painting of President Park Geun-hye is intensifying. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) moved swiftly to dampen the scandal amid criticism that the painting crossed the line of satire and was apparently misogynystic. But people's antipathy is spreading quickly.



The painting, entitled ''Dirty Sleep,'' is part of an exhibition at the National Assembly featuring works by about 20 artists alleged to be on a blacklist drawn up by the Park administration. It is a parody of ''Olympia'' by the 19th-century French painter Edouard Manet. The artwork shows a naked woman with Park's face lying on the bed while her confidant Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of the corruption scandal that led to Park's impeachment, is offering a bouquet of syringes. On Tuesday, Park's supporters tore the work off the wall at the exhibition organized by Pyo Chang-won, a DPK lawmaker, and destroyed it.



The largest opposition party referred the first-term legislator to its ethics panel. Moon Jae-in, the party's leading presidential runner, also expressed regret over the incident. But Pyo refused to apologize, saying the painting was within the boundaries of freedom of expression.



Public figures like the President and celebrities can be the object of satire as far as art is concerned. But deriding a female president in this way is nothing more than sexism and goes beyond the bounds. There is no question that the freedom of expression guaranteed by our Constitution is never unlimited, barring us from defaming others.



One of Moon's recruits in last year's parliamentary elections, Pyo has often caused trouble. In the run-up to the impeachment vote against Park in December, he revealed online the list of lawmakers who he speculated would oppose the impeachment. Last week, he stirred a dispute by claiming that the retirement age for public officials must be set at 65.



Unsurprisingly, there are accusations that the arrogance of the DPK and its lawmakers, especially Moon supporters, has reached a perilous level amid the political unrest. Our political history teaches us how arrogant parties and politicians have paid the price.



Pyo must apologize immediately for insulting the people and the National Assembly. The DPK also should reprimand him harshly.




By Lee Min-hyung



The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has praised Samsung Electronics' latest announcement over the exact causes behind the exploding Galaxy Note 7 devices, calling it an important step forward.



This came a day after Samsung Electronics on Monday blamed flaws in battery cells as the reason for the global recall of the flagship smartphone.



"Samsung's announcement of the findings of their investigation into the root cause of both Note 7 batteries that were recalled is an important step forward," CPSC Chairman Elliot F. Kaye said in a statement.



The U.S.-based consumer products safety watchdog chief also called on remaining Note 7 users to immediately return their devices and follow the guidelines set by the CPSC and the Seoul-based tech titan.



"Samsung and the wireless carriers fully delivered on an agreement to carry out a comprehensive recall program and the result is a good one  a 97 percent consumer response rate," he added.



"The overheating and fire risk with defective batteries is a serious one, so I urge the remaining Note 7 owners who are holding (their phones) to do the right thing and get a full refund or a new phone."



The months-long controversy over continuing reports of the Note 7 devices erupted in late August, about two weeks after the firm launched the much-hyped 5.6-inch flagship smartphone on the global market.



With growing numbers of Note 7 users complaining about the device catching fire while charging, Samsung Electronics started exchanging the device with new ones equipped with what it called "safe batteries." In early September, Samsung Electronics' mobile chief Koh Dong-jin had to apologize over the setback and pledged to do its best to offer a series of compensation options for its users.



However, the efforts did not work with new devices also catching fire for no confirmed reasons. Amid the escalating controversy, the firm on October recalled some 3 million Note 7 devices sold in the 10 global markets including the U.S. and Korea.



Samsung Electronics has since joined hands with the CPSC and a Seoul-based consumer goods regulator, the Korea Agency for Technology and Standards, to find out what exactly caused the reported handset fires.



With the investigation taking more time than expected, the company had to postpone its earlier plan to unveil the upcoming Galaxy S8 flagship smartphone at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in February.



"What we can confirm at the moment is that we are not going to launch the device at the MWC 2017 next month," Koh said in a press conference, Monday.



This is because the company has to tighten its quality test measures to prevent the recurrence of the latest fiasco, thereby regaining customers' trust and minimizing potential safety risks, according to him.




BTOB member and actor Yook Sungjae is ready to reveal to fans and viewers his "fish whisperer" skills in a new SBS show. He already became the first idol to guest on the Fishing Channel's "Sports Fishing Decode," where he got to go bass boating and even became a reporter.

Now, Soompi reports that the new SBS show "Clench Your Fist and Blow the Boat Horn," will again show his fishing skills. According to PD Lee Young Jun, Yook Sungjae had no qualms about agreeing to do the show once he found out that they were going to the sea to catch fish. Despite his busy schedule of being both an actor and part of an idol group, it seems that nothing can stop Sungjae from doing the thing he loves.

In the show's pilot, viewers will bet to see Sungjae catch skate for in a 12-hour challenge. When previously asked about his love for fishing, it seems to be something that runs in the family as he related how his maternal grandfather was actually the first person to breed carp in South Korea. He even hilariously states that due to his closeness with fish, he can talk to them through ultrasound.

2016 has been a busy year for Sungjae and it looks like it will be the same for 2017. He was one of the cast members of the smash hit series "Goblin," which has earned not only rave reviews but record-breaking viewership ratings as well. He seems to have formed a good relationship with his co-stars in "Goblin" as Allkpop reports that Gong Yoo, Kim Go Eun, and Lee Dong Wook all went to support Sungjae at BTOB's concert.

Yook Sungjae was also recently seen in "Celebrity Bromance" along with friends Youngmin and Kwangmin of Boyfriends. He will also be part of the cast of "Law of the Jungle in Sumatra," which will begin shooting during the Lunar New Year.
T.O.P's enlistment date has finally been confirmed and fans of the internationally renowned k-pop group, BIGBANG, definitely have something to be sad about as it is revealed that the rapper's enlistment date would be two weeks from now. With this, you can say that time does fly!

Now, if you are a k-pop fan, then you must definitely know that in South Korea, every male aged 18 to 35 is required to render military service for about two years as it is one of their most important laws. Failure to abide by this law can have severe legal repercussions and even celebrities aren't exempted from this. Most males typically enlist at the age of 18 up till their early twenties but for celebrities, they usually enlist before they turn 30 and with T.O.P being the oldest member of BIGBANG at 29, his time has definitely come.

According to Koreaboo, T.O.P's enlistment date would be on February 9 as it is the date when he will start his training at the Nonsan Bootcamp Army Base for six weeks. After that, he would be headed towards the National Police Agency for his military service. Allkpop reports that BIGBANG had just recently wrapped up their 10th anniversary tour in Hong Kong thus putting a halt to their group activities.

After a decade of being in the k-pop industry, this will be the first time that BIGBANG will lose one of its members albeit temporarily. However, T.O.P's enlistment has caused much concern especially to the fans that fear what BIGBANG's future holds once the rest of their members render each of their own military services, which may in fact happen in the near future since the members aren't really that far in age.

T.O.P had already made his farewells in Hong Kong wherein he also posted a video on Instagram thanking his fans for all the love and support.
A man from Mount Vernon is accused of sexually assaulting a woman at an assisted living facility in Nixa. Officers have been looking for Marvin Periman, 63, since he was charged on Jan. 20 but they havent found him.

Periman is charged with first-degree rape, three counts of sodomy, and two counts of sexual abuse. They say the crimes occurred at facilities of Life Enhancement Village of the Ozarks.

That company used to have a facility on Care Avenue in Nixa, which is where police think the rape occurred in the summer of 2015. Other crimes occurred last summer, police say, after the victim moved to the companys new facility on South Gregg Road. The facility on Care Avenue is closed. Police say the victim is a roommate of a relative of Periman whom he visited at the nursing home.

The probable cause statement against Periman says police started investigating after two residents of the home accused Periman of touching them inappropriately while he was visiting them in August. While talking to the women, one of them accused Periman of raping her a year earlier. The detectives statement says both women are determined to be incapacitated by a judge.

Detectives interviewed Periman in September but he denied having sex with the woman who accused him of rape.

Life Enhancement Village has had 13 formal complaints since January 2013 that resulted in investigations by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. In one case, the state found the facility had a serious health violation because a person living there had seven documented falls, lost almost 50 pounds, and had a severe sore that became infected. In another case in 2014, the state found staff members didnt catch the serious deterioration of a residents health, and the person died the next day. In 2016, the state found workers at Life Enhancement Village of the Ozarks used a residents money to pay for things other than care during the previous year.

Online records at the Missouri Secretary of States Office list Glenda Stein of Nixa as the president of Life Enhancement Village of the Ozarks since 1988. A reporter visited the facility on Gregg Road on Tuesday to try to talk to a manager or owner. No one met the reporter at the door. She walked around the facility for a while until an employee asked her to leave and said no one was available to talk to her.

In April 2015, John Carrier, 25, who worked at the Live Enhancement Village, was charged with raping a patient at the assisted living center. Carrier is now serving a 12-year prison sentence after pleading guilty last March.
Mr Pring married Ms Ziuzina, a former stripper who was almost 20 years his junior, in 2007 but his family and friends said they did not believe she loved him and that she treated him coldly.

His best friend, Peter Clifford, was best man at the couples Kiev wedding and, giving evidence at the inquest at Devon County Hall on Tuesday, said Mr Pring was totally under her influence.

He said: There is no reasonable doubt in my mind that Barry was murdered, nor is there any reasonable doubt in my mind that Ganna Ziuzina either arranged for, or was complicit in, his murder.

Coroner, Dr Elizabeth Earland said that strenuous  but ultimately unsuccessful  attempts had been made to try to get Ms Ziuzina to attend the hearing.

She read out a statement given by Ms Ziuzina who said she had given three separate statements to police in Ukraine and did not believe I can add anything further.

Mr Prings brother, Shaughan, said he believed Ms Ziuzina was only interested in Barry for his money and saw their relationship as an opportunity to better her position financially.

He added that his brother was besotted by the woman, who he knew as Anna, but that she became very demanding, asking for money.

The inquest heard Mr Pring, originally from East Devon, set up his own consultancy business aged 30 after moving to the London area and that his career required him to travel extensively.

His mother, Irene, said in a statement that her son started seeing Ms Ziuzina, who he said was a teacher, when he was 46.

Mrs Pring said her son frequently flew to Kiev and started supporting Ms Ziuzina financially after she stopped working as a stripper.

In early January 2007 Mr Pring told his parents to expect an announcement and then phoned on January 23 to say he would be marrying four days later.

No one from our family was invited, said Mrs Pring. Barry returned to live in London. Anna stayed in Kiev, moving to the apartment that Barry had bought  we all expected her to get her visa straight away.

Mrs Pring said of the visit: I was quite surprised to see how cold she was towards Barry.

She was not loving or caring towards him at all. She never lifted a finger [or did] anything. She was a lazy thing  she was not providing a home for my son.

The court heard Mr Pring, who owned a total of five properties including three in the London area, bought another apartment in Kiev and sent Ms Ziuzina 40,000 to finish it.

She spent that Christmas with Mr Pring in Devon before flying back to Ukraine again, his mother said.

Mrs Pring heard about her sons death when his brother, Shaughan, came to tell her that Ms Ziuzina had phoned to report that he had been killed.

She said the family became suspicious and hired a private investigator in Ukraine, spending 100,000 in an attempt to find the truth.

We are sure that Anna had some involvement in Barrys death in order to inherit money or property, she added.

Our family has lost a treasured son, brother and uncle which will have an affect on us all for the rest of our lives.

The inquest heard how after Mr Prings death, Ms Ziuzina travelled to London, sold her husbands Range Rover and the contents of his apartment and removed money from his British bank account.

Dr Gyan Fernando, then a Home Office pathologist, examined Mr Prings body after it was returned to the UK from Ukraine.

The inquest heard that blood tests revealed alcohol in Mr Prings blood at the time of his death, which indicated that he was likely to have been intoxicated to some degree.

The case was investigated as an unexplained road traffic accident but police in the Ukraine upgraded their inquiry to a murder hunt in 2011.

The hearing continues.

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One of the art works included in the upcoming La Jolla Historical Society exhibit, Weather on Steroids, on display Feb. 11-May 21 at Wisteria Cottage, 780 Prospect St., is a sculpted marble globe representing the Planet.

Titled Tipping Point Climate Change, the sculpture by Lilleane Pebbles has the continents appearing lower than the oceans to reflect sea level rise. According to a description in the shows catalog, A wire figure on the base pushing the globe represents a mans greed and mistreatment of our planet.

The sculpture is one of more than 10 pieces that artists from California developed for the exhibit after dialogues with Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO) scientists who research climate change or related matters. In this case, the artist worked closely with scientists Art Miller and Alexander Gershunov, who acted as a consultant for the exhibit.

To me, that piece looks like the planet is going to start rolling down a hill, Gershunov said. But to someone else, it might mean that humanity is holding the Earth, saving it from rolling down the hill.

We are on a tipping point of this geological age when humanity settled down and develop agriculture, complex society, history, science and everything that we enjoy about culture, he continued. And this climate period is coming to an end, because now humanity is becoming a major force in shaping the Earths environment, including climate.

Gershunov added that when humanity realizes what is happening, it will acquire the power to change this tendency. And thats why this collaboration is so important, he concluded.

Gershunov worked alongside curator Tatiana Sizonenko and La Jolla Historical Society executive director Heath Fox to create the Weather on Steroids show. The friendship between Sizonenko and Gershunov, both of Russian background, was the source of the idea for this exhibition. Also, Sizonenko said, in the 13 years that Ive lived in California, Ive experienced the changes in the climate myself.

Cosmic Collaboration

Sizonenko previously worked with Fox when he was Assistant Dean of Arts & Humanities at UC San Diego, and since the university is busy celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Visual Arts Department, the nearby La Jolla Historical Society became the perfect venue for the show. La Jolla has many connections with SIO in different ways, she added.

For Fox, hosting the exhibit was a natural step in the evolution of the Historical Societys art space. History is not just about the past, it is also about understanding the past, informing the present and shaping the future. Our mission is to make the diverse past of La Jolla relevant for contemporary society, so La Jollans are informed when they make decisions today that are going to affect the future.

Science comes out of the laboratory and art work comes out of the studio, so this exhibit is an opportunity to provide a junction for those things so they can be communicated to the public, he explained. The exhibit will feature the work of both scientists and artists, with panels about the science alongside the artwork.

Scientists usually work by consulting with other scientists, Sizonenko said, suggesting that scientific knowledge is sometimes not easily available to the public. Gershunov added, Some of these art works are more abstract than others. In some cases, its clear what the artist is trying to convey in a visual way; you can actually sort of feel it. So thats the beauty of this collaboration, because art is accessible to everybody.

The organizers agreed that there is a timeliness to the show. The issues of climate change seem to be debated with more frequency and vigor in the public domain as time goes on, Fox said.

Sizonenko added, Im extremely happy because the conversation about climate change needs to go even further in our current political situation.

The name of the exhibit, Gershunov explained, is an analogy comparing the changes of climate caused by the greenhouse effect to how steroids modify an athletes performance. Theres a great athlete who just won a competition, and you ask, Did she win because she took steroids? Its very difficult to answer that question, but if you look at her performance over the time she started taking them, you can see the effect of steroids.

Whos Who

The participating artists, most of them from San Diego, include Tiersa Cosaert, Judit Hersko, Cheryl E. Leonard, Dana Montlack, Lilleane Peebles, Oscar Romo, Marcela Paz Luna Rossel, Eva Struble, Paul Turounet, Ruth Wallen and Allison Wiese.

The SIO scientists involved include Michel Boudrias, Michael Dettinger, Alexander Gershunov, Kristen Guiguis, Ralph Keeling, Manfredi Manizza, Art Miller, Walter Munk, David Pierce, Richard Somerville and Shang-Ping Xie.

After its La Jolla Historical Society run, the exhibit will move to the San Diego Central Library Gallery, downtown, June 10-Sept. 3.

IF YOU GO: Weather on Steroids will be on exhibit Saturday, Feb. 11 through Sunday, May 21 at Wisteria Cottage, 780 Prospect St. Public hours are noon-4 p.m. Thursday-Sunday. Admission is free. A reception for Historical Society members will be hosted Friday, Feb. 10. (858) 459-5335. lajollahistory.org
Lake Geneva police found items commonly used to cook methamphetamine in a hotel room on Jan. 18 at 1:21 p.m., according to a press release.

At 1:21 p.m., police were dispatched to The Wesley Inn, 625 Wells St., for a possible drug overdose. At the scene, police found the items commonly used in methamphetamine production.

Erica Lenard, 30, and Cody Lenard, 23, both of Lake Geneva were arrested and booked into the Walworth County Jail on drug charges.

Lake Geneva Police Chief Michael S. Rasmussen reports: On Wednesday, Jan. 18 at approximately 1:21 p.m., officers were dispatched to a room at 625 Wells St. (The Wesley Inn) for a reported drug overdose.

The press release states that the investigation is ongoing and no further details will be released at this time.

Earlier this month, police responded to The Cove, 111 Center St., for a fire that began in a hotel room. The fire was reportedly the result of methamphetamine being cooked in the room.
The Lake Geneva Joint 1 School Board is looking for a new member.

After 16 years on Lake Genevas elementary school board, Bea Dale is stepping down.

Contacted at her home, Dale, 84, said she resigned from the board after the Jan. 10 meeting because of failing eyesight.

Dales term ends in April 2018.

She said its getting difficult for her to read all of the papers and budget figures to keep abreast of everything that school board members need to know. She said she also has a problem getting around. No longer able to drive, she has to rely on rides to meetings and events.

Dale is a Lake Geneva original. Her great-grandfather was Alex H. Button, one of Lake Genevas early settlers and one of Lake Genevas first constables.

In a March 2016 interview, Dale said she is fighting macular degeneration, a sight-stealing disease that can be countered, but not cured.

She sees a specialist and is getting medication to preserve her sight in one eye.

Her peripheral vision is still good, but the disease is attacking her central focus of vision.

I have great peripheral vision, Dale said in that earlier interview. Unfortunately, you cant really see anything with peripheral vision.

At the time, she said she hoped to finish out this term on the school board and then decide what to do next.

There is one year left on Dales term.

James Gottinger, superintendent of Lake Geneva schools, said he was saddened by Dales decision to leave.

Shes a stalwart, he said of Dale. He said Dales years of experience helped bring stability and consistency to the district.

However, Dale is not going to drop everything that has to do with the district.

She said she plans to remain on the districts strategic planning committee. And there may be other school-related activities in which shell participate.

I dont sit around and do nothing very well, said Dale.

Not doing nothing very well sums up Dales career.

She was a former chairwoman of the Walworth County Republican Party, a former member of the Lake Geneva City Council and Lake Genevas first woman mayor.

In 2002, she ran as a write-in candidate for school board. Although she didnt win the election, when a board member resigned, Dale was appointed to the board. And shes won re-election ever since.

This would have been her fifth term on the board.

The school board is now seeking applicants for appointment to the board for the remainder of Dales term.

According to a school district press release, to be considered, an applicant must live within the Lake Geneva Joint #1 School District and be a qualified elector of the district.

Those wishing to be considered must submit a letter of application and resume. The letter and resume must be received by the school board by 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017.

Application letters must be sent to Marcie Hollmann, school board president, at:

Lake Geneva Joint #1 School District

208 South St.

Lake Geneva, WI 53147

For additional information, call the district administration at (262) 348-1000.
Christy is 16 and blind.

Sixteen is old for a Siberian husky. Yet, despite her age and disability, shes still active and loves to take car rides.

With any luck, she may be able to take another car ride in the near future.

On Jan. 18, Christys best friend, Jon Sharkus, was on his way to Walmart to buy sushi. Christy wanted to go along, and she settled in her usual nook in front of the right back seat and right behind the right front seat.

Sharkus said he parked his van in the southeast lot at Walmart and went into the store.

He said he wasnt inside for more than five minutes.

But when he came out, his van and the car next to it were in flames.

With Christy now safely curled up next to him on a sofa, Sharkus told a visitor to his Lake Geneva home that he was in shock with what he saw.

The car next to his van was fully engulfed in fire, his van was surrounded by flames and black smoke was pouring out of the windows of both vehicles.

When he tried to approach his van, which he had owned for just five months, a Lake Geneva police officer stopped him, saying it was too dangerous for him to go much closer.

Sharkus said he finally lost his cool and his sushi. He shouted that his dog was trapped in his burning van. Looking at the burning cars, the officer turned back to Sharkus.

He said, Jon, you better prepare for the worst on this one.

When the fire truck arrived, Sharkus said, he screamed to one of the firefighters, Theres a dog in the blue-gray vehicle.

Two vehicles destroyed

According to the Lake Geneva police, the call about a car fire was received at 12:56 p.m. The first officer was on the scene at 12:59 p.m. and the first fire engine arrived at 1:02 p.m. Two vehicles were destroyed in the blaze and three others were damaged.

Police Lt. Ed Gritzner said 911 calls about the fire were made from Walmart and from two other individuals.

Gritzner said it was determined that the fire started in the car next to Sharkus van. The cause appears to have been a smoldering cigarette, but the official cause of the fire has not yet been determined, he said.

Hearing about the trapped animal, the firefighters fought their way through the flames and pulled the dog out of the burning vehicle.

At first it appeared Christy was toast. Her thick fur was singed and covered in melted plastic. She sagged in the rescuing firefighters arms.

And she wasnt breathing.

Sharkus said he was in shock.

I couldnt really watch it, he said.

He believed he lost his beloved dog and his van in one fell swoop. Stunned, he walked away from the scene of the fire back to Walmart. Where he lit a cigarette.

He said he later considered it odd that he had to have a cigarette after seeing what he thought was his dead dog pulled from his burned-out van.

Unknown to Sharkus, a firefighter performed some basic CPR on Christy and noticed that she gasped for breath and moved one of her legs.

Firefighters loaded the dog into an ambulance and called the Lake Geneva Animal Hospital, which is right up Edwards Boulevard from Walmart.

Veterinarian Mona Hodkiewicz owns and operates the animal hospital with her husband.

Mona Hodkiewicz said she was doing clinical work there when she and her staff got a call that the fire department was delivering an injured dog.

When Christy arrived at the animal hospital, she was breathing but unconscious.

Grim outlook

She had a grim outlook, Mona Hodkiewicz said in a recent interview. We rushed her into the clinic and put her on oxygen.

But instead of succumbing to her horrible experience in the burning van, Christy responded instead to the care that was being expended on her behalf.

About an hour after being put on oxygen, Christy began to react to her helpers ministrations. Within two hours, she was conscious.

A typical husky, Christy has a really thick coat, said Mona Hodkiewicz. Some of the fur was burned and the clinicians had to cut the fur stuck in the melted plastic.

But there were no deep burns, Hodkiewicz said.

By the second day, Christy regained her appetite and had something to eat.

It was not the expected outcome, Hodkiewicz of Christys recovery.

Hodkiewicz credited the firefighters who started resuscitation efforts on the dog immediately.

Our small town is fortunate to have emergency responders who value all life, Hodkiewicz said.

And, she also praised her staff for focusing their efforts on Christy.

My staff is amazing, Hodkiewicz said. They were working overtime to make sure she (Christy) responded.

They did a fabulous job.

Sharkus wasnt about to argue with that.

Lucky dog

You are one lucky dog, he said gently to Christy as she wandered around the familys small living room.

Sharkus said he didnt learn of Christys fate until he walked back to where his van was still smoldering and he saw that Christy was gone.

Sharkus said a police officer then told him the incredible news that his dog had gasped for breath and moved a leg, and that firefighters transported her to the Lake Geneva Animal Hospital.

He said he and his daughters, Mercedes and Samantha, went to see their dog as soon as they could get a ride.

The dog was doing well, but she seemed miffed at first that her family hadnt been around when all the bad stuff was happening, Sharkus said.

Whatever pique Christy might have felt at the clinic was long gone when she was encountered in the Sharkus living room, however. Finding her way around with just her nose, Sharkus made room for her next to him on the couch. There she snuggled, snapping up pieces of a hamburger Sharkus shared with her.

While happy about the dog, the Sharkuses were still without wheels. The blue-gray van was a total loss. And there were veterinarian bills to pay.

Jon Sharkus is disabled and unable to work. Money is hard to come by for the family.

Mercedes Sharkus put her familys plight up on the website Youcaring.com.

According to information from the website, as of Jan. 23, the dogs medical bills were paid by Sal Dimicelis The Time is Now to Help charitable organization. Meanwhile, the sites goal was to raise $2,000 for a new vehicle. The site recorded that 50 donors have donated a total of $2,472.
In a brief ceremony on Monday the Lake Geneva Lions Club handed over an oversized check for $9,498 to the Lake Genevas police and fire departments, representing the clubs donation of a drone.

Bryan Smith, president of the Lake Geneva Lions said that the Lions concentrate their donations toward eye and vision related issues.

This will be Lake Genevas eye in the sky, Smith said.

The Lake Geneva City Council then voted 6-1 with one absent to approve the donation.

Alderwoman Elizabeth Chappell cast the only vote against the donation.

After the meeting, Chappell said the drone is a surveillance thing.

Its a surveillance tool, Chappell said. Im not big on that.

During discussion, Alderwoman Cindy Flower asked what the drone would be used for.

Police Chief Michael Rasmussen said that the drone will be used by the police and fire departments primarily for search and rescue missions.

The police and fire departments have strict policies that govern drone use.

He said those policies will be reviewed by the Lake Geneva Police and Fire Commission to ensure that they meet local standards for drone use.

Three police officers and three firefighters will be trained in the use of the drone, and each will receive an FAA license to fly the device. An FAA license is required to fly the drone, Rasmussen said.

Alderman Chris Gelting asked whether the city can put more restrictions on drone use than those restrictions imposed by the FAA.

City Attorney Dan Draper said he plans to check with other cities and city attorneys to see what theyve done to manage drone use in their communities.

According to the Lake Geneva police and fire departments, the drone is called an Inspire 1 unmanned aerial system.

The new drone carries a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera and a conventional camera for viewing and recording, Gritzner said.

In an earlier interview, Fire Chief John Peters said the fire department will use the drone for fire reconnaissance and in the case of ice and water rescues. The device can also be used for police and fire department searches for lost persons.

Peters said the flying machine can cover large areas in a short time.

Police Lt. Ed Gritzner has said the drone, which is about 2 feet by 2 feet square, has four rotors to hold it aloft.

Gritzner said the police department will use it for aerial photography, especially in accident investigations.

He said the department is acutely aware of privacy issues. He said the department has a policy for operating the machine.

If the police want to use the drone in areas that would otherwise require a search warrant to enter, then a search warrant is required, he said.

The Inspire 1 is manufactured by a Chinese technology company that builds unmanned aerial vehicles for photography, videography, along with drone-borne cameras, stabilizers, propulsion systems and drone flight controllers.

According to company statistics, the machines take-off weight is about 7.5 pounds. Its maximum speed is given as 22 meters per second (about 50 miles per hour) and a maximum altitude of 4,500 meters, or about 14,700 feet.

Its battery time is about 20 minutes.
ELKHORN  A Lake Geneva man who is accused of starting a fire in a hotel room at The Cove during a meth cook has been released from custody on a cash bond.

Patrick M. McBean, 50, was originally in custody on a $10,000 cash bond for the charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of waste from methamphetamine manufacturing. He also faces one count of misdemeanor bail jumping.

If he is convicted, McBean faces up to 12 years and nine months imprisonment and $30,000 in fines.

At his motion hearing on Jan. 18, McBeans attorney, Stephen Kramer told Judge Phillip Koss that during McBeans initial appearance, Judge Kristine Drettwan had said she would consider reducing the bond if certain conditions were met.

Drettwans requests, according to Kramer, were for McBean to have a cosigner and to have a safe place to live.

Phillip Stein, McBeans stepfather, has agreed to be the cosigner and McBeans mother has agreed to let him live with her until he finds a rehabilitation facility, Kramer said.

Assistant District Attorney Diane Donohoo objected to the request.

She said that McBeans past convictions of felony bail jumping, disorderly conduct and misdemeanor battery all suggest he would not be a good candidate for release.

Koss spoke with Stein, who was present in the courtroom, about the responsibility of cosigning for McBean and then changed McBeans bond to a $10,000 signature bond with a cash component of $1,000.

More meth charges

On Jan. 5, police conducted a search warrant for a house in Lake Geneva whose occupants were suspected of cooking methamphetamine.

Along with McBean, three other individuals, Daniel W. Wobig, 28, Krista L. Stoll Wobig, 31, and Joseph Aull, 47, were also residents in the house.

Police found Stoll Wobig in a bedroom with a glass pipe at the foot of the bed and Aull in the bathroom.

They were the only residents in the house at the time.

Items commonly used to make meth as well as vials of meth were all found in Stoll Wobigs bedroom, which she said she shared with her husband, Daniel Wobig.

When questioned, Stoll Wobig denied making or using meth. She said that she bought a lot of pseudoephedrine, an allergy medication often used to make meth, because she had allergies and that a friend must have dropped the pipe at the foot of her bed.

Police also found a pipe in Aulls room although he too denied knowing how it got there.

Wobig told police that he tried to cook meth once but gave up after the batch didnt turn out. He also said that he knew McBean often used meth but didnt think McBean knew how to cook it.

Wobig also denied knowing anything about the meth related items found in the room he and his wife shared. He said there had been meth precursors in the house before they moved in a month ago.

Aull, Wobig and Stoll Wobig all admitted to being former heroin addicts.

Wobig has been charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of materials for manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of waste from methamphetamine manufacturing, felony bail jumping and possession of methamphetamine.

If he is convicted, he faces up to 30 years imprisonment and $50,000 in fines.

Stoll Wobigs charges are almost identical to her husbands except she does not have a charge for felony bail jumping. If she is convicted, she faces up to 24 years imprisonment and $40,000 in fines.

Aull was charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
ELKHORN  A Janesville woman is facing felony charges after she crashed into two different cars on the same day  severely injuring the passengers in the second car.

Linsday D. Zuelke, 30, has been charged with two counts of first-degree reckless injury, two counts of reckless driving causing great bodily harm and one count of a hit and run.

If she is convicted, she faces up to 57 years and six months imprisonment and $221,000 in fines.

Police responded to a car crash on Jan. 12 on County Highway A west of County Highway O in the town of Sugar Creek.

The woman at the scene told police that Zuelke, who was driving a gray Honda Civic, had been trying to pass her and hit the back left end of her car. After parking and assessing the damage, the woman told Zuelke that she wanted to report the accident to the police.

In response, Zuelke got back in her car and drove away without leaving any contact information.

Later that same day, police responded to an accident on County Highway O near Pierce road in the town of Sugar Creek.

At the scene, two cars, including the gray Honda Civic, were found in the ditch. Both had heavy front end damage.

The two occupants of the other car were both eventually taken to Froedtert Hospital for severe injuries.

A witness told police that he saw Zuelke driving roughly 100 mph before he came upon the accident a few minutes later.

Another witness said that both cars were attempting to negotiate a turn but that Zuelkes car was moving too fast to make the turn, causing her to crash into the car.
PRESS RELEASE

Astana Talks on Syria End with Joint Russian-Turkish-Iranian Declaration

Jan. 24, 2017 (EIRNS)The intra-Syrian talks sponsored by Russia, Iran, and Turkey and hosted by Kazakhstan, ended today with a joint statement issued by Russia, Iran, and Turkey. The three governments, acting as guarantors of the process,

"Reaffirm their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, non-sectarian and democratic State, as confirmed by the UN Security Council."

They also will seek the consolidation of the ceasefire initially agreed to by the three powers on Dec. 29, 2016, which was subsequently endorsed by the UN Security Council in Resolution 2336. They also agreed

"to establish a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire, prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the ceasefire,"

and they "Reiterate their determination to fight jointly against ISIL/DAESH and Al-Nusra and to separate from them armed opposition groups."

Alexander Lavrentiev, the chief of the Russian delegation in Astana, reported, after the meeting closed, that the negotiations with the armed opposition groups recognized the importance of the launch of the political process in Syria and the need to start elaborating on a new constitution, which must be adopted through the will of the Syrian people.

"Well hope that the armed Syrian opposition will be more active in this direction," Lavrentiev said, reports TASS. "Well be trying to help it in that."

He reported, in fact, that the Russian government has transferred to the opposition groups a draft constitution intended as a means to jump-start the political process.

"We have done this solely because we want to expedite this process and give it an additional and stimulating impetus, without interfering in the very process of the examination and the adoption of the countrys fundamental law,"

Lavrentiev said. "We believe that this process should be led by the Syrian people itself," he said.

As for the trilateral mechanism for monitoring the ceasefire, Lavrentiev reported that military exerpts from all three countries have agreed to set up the trilateral group in Astana, which will begin functioning in early February.

Statements made by the two Syrian sides after the meeting concluded, indicate that, while progress was definitely made, there is still much work ahead before a political settlement in Syria is achieved. Bashr al Jaafari, Syrias UN representative and the leader of the government delegation in Astana, said that the meeting succeeded in achieving the goal of consolidating the cessation of hostilities for a specific period of time, which would pave the way for dialogue among the Syrians, reports SANA. He said that at the same time, "it was distressful" to sit in the same room

"with other Syrians that are linked to foreign agendas and are working for foreign authorities, and some of them are committed to terrorist groups."

However, he went on, "no matter the cost, we would do that to save our state and our people." Jaafari also charged that the Turkish role in the talks was a negative one. "Turkey says one thing and does another," Jaafarai said, according to Sputnik.

Mohammad Alloush, the head of the opposition delegation, in turn, reports Reuters, said he had reservations about the text which he claimed legitimized Irans "bloodletting" in Syria and did not address the role of Shiite militias fighting rebels.
PRESS RELEASE

Ret. General Kujat Criticizes German Media, Politicians for Missing Trumps Reagan Potential

WIESBADEN, Jan. 24, 2017 (EIRNS)Former NATO Military Committee Chairman (2002-05) and Bundeswehr Chief of Staff (2000-02) Gen. Harald Kujat (ret.) had to repeatedly admonish the German media and politicians not to "speak down to President Trump" "with contempt" and misrepresent what he says in order to satisfy their own prejudices. Speaking on a Phoenix TV talk show, he told them to wait, "judge the team." His inaugural speech might have seemed strange in our ears, he said, but 62 million Americans voted for him. Washington and New York might not have liked it, "but the farmer in Nebraska, the peanut farmer in Ohio" felt it expressed their concerns, "and they are not all right-wing radicals," sexists, racists "as implied in the German media" with comparisons of Trump to the Alternatives for Germany party.

Although defending NATO and saying that Trumps comments were misreported and misunderstood, General Kujat defended several in Trumps cabinet, calling Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis "brilliant," and saying, "I have known him since 1998." Hr said that Homeland Secretary Gen. John Kelly is thoroughly "honorable."

On the question of U.S.-Russia relations, he said, we have two problems, "the crises on the periphery of Europe," Syria and Ukraine, "and both conflicts can only be solved by both great powers, Russia and the United States." "If Trump is ready to talk with Putin directly about a solution, that can only also be in our interest."

Phoenixs other TV guest, SPD Bundestag Foreign Affairs spokesman Niels Annen, was critical of Trump in the way Kujat mentioned. He praised the role of German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in preventing an open conflict in Ukraine and the search for a political solution, but raised the alleged danger that President Trump might cut a deal with Putin at the expense of others, and on "Putins terms." In that context Annen went after National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn, where General Kujat interceded to "put on the brakes"; admitting he doesnt always agree with what Flynn says, still, other things are very good.

The moderator raised that General Kujat is on the advisory board of Vladimir Yakunins Dialogue of Civilizations, a Berlin-based think tank. Kujat used the opportunity to say cooperation of the U.S. with Russia

"is not only in Russias interest, it is in our own interest. If I have been pleading for anybody tonight, then it is for us, for Germanys security interests. We are dependent on American protection, and we are thus dependent that between the two powers it doesnt come to a major conflict,"

not necessarily by intention but by miscalculation. "That is in our interest." He then launched into a major counterattack on those who criticize his participation in the Russian Dialogue of Civilizations, especially a "campaign of lies by a major German newspaper," referring to Bild Zeitung, which was carried with vehemence into the social media on a scale "that is a hate campaign."

General Kujat concluded by saying that Reagan was also treated as Trump is now, and hopefully matters will develop similarly. Reagans domestic policy wasnt necessarily successful, but his foreign policy was, he said.
PRESS RELEASE

U.S.-Russian Military Coordination In Syria?

Jan. 24, 2017 (EIRNS)The Trump Administration, yesterday, indicated openness to cooperating with Russia "or anyone else" to fight ISIS in Syria, reports Associated Press. "I think if theres a way that we can combat ISIS with any country, whether its Russia or anyone else, and we have a shared national interest in that, sure, well take it," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said. He was not ready to go so far as to suggest such cooperation with Assad, however.

Spicer also suggested that Trump already has told Defense Secretary James Mattis to change the U.S. approach to fighting the Islamic State. "I think he has ordered it," Spicer said, adding that Trump would discuss the matter with Mattis during a visit to the Pentagon on Friday. "At that time, he will continue to have conversations about what he wants from them and the joint chiefs."

In an air strike announcement, yesterday, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that such cooperation is already underway. Tass reports that according to the statement, on Jan. 22, 2017, the command of the Russian Hmeymim, Syria-based aerospace group received from the U.S.-led military command information on the location of ISIS targets in Al Bab.

"Following a reconnaissance check with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and space reconnaissance tools, two Russian warplanes and two planes of the international coalition delivered strikes against terrorist targets,"

the ministry said.

"As a result of the joint operation, several munitions and fuels depots and concentrations of militants with heavy weapons were destroyed."

This supposed operation followed by a day another joint operation between the Russian and Turkish air forces against ISIS in Al Bab.

The Pentagon wasted no time denying the Russian assertion. "The Department of Defense is not coordinating airstrikes with the Russian military in Syria," Eric Pahon, a spokesman at the Pentagon, told Defense News.

"DoD maintains a channel of communication with the Russian military focused solely on ensuring the safety of aircrews and de-confliction of coalition and Russian operations in Syria."

Other officials reportedly called the Russian claim propaganda and even "rubbish."

Igor Korotchenko, a prominent defense analyst in Moscow, said there are probably a couple of reasons behind the Pentagon denials. "We consider information released by the Russian Defense Ministry to be highly accurate," he told told RIA Novosti.

"This means that the cooperation has begun, which is a good thing since terrorism is a common enemy. There is a real chance to alter previous approaches to cooperation under President Trump. The Obama administration has not been particularly helpful"

in this respect, Korotchenko noted.

"Perhaps, the Pentagon did not want to make this information public because [many positions in] the new U.S. administration have not been finalized. Once the Trump team is put together, those who have an adverse informational effect on the cooperation [between the U.S. and Russia in Syria] will be let go,"

Korotchenko asserted.
Three of Californias largest utilities, including Southern California Edison, have put together proposals totaling more than $1 billion to try to electrify the states transportation sector.

The costs of the requests by Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and SDG&E will be passed on to ratepayers and still need to be approved by the California Public Utilities Commission. The utilities say the projects will go a long way to reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Southern California Edisons proposal is expected to cost $570 million, which will pay for electric vehicle incentives, rebates for residential charging stations and electrification projects for medium and heavy-duty vehicles.

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Pacific Gas & Electric has requested $253 million, the bulk going to electric infrastructure aimed at larger vehicles such as buses that currently use diesel fuel. The PG&E proposal also wants to offer a significant rebate program for fast-chargers that can power electric vehicles in 20 or 30 minutes.

SDG&E wants to spend $244.1 million to install tens of thousands of charging stations in its service area to boost the transition to zero-emission vehicles, trucks, shuttles and delivery fleets.

Southern California Edison said the average residential customer could see a monthly bill increase of 53 cents a month  but about 29 cents for customers who meet income qualifications. PG&E customers would see a monthly bill increase of less than 28 cents. Typical residential SDG&E customers would see an increase of about 71 cents a month to their bills in 2020.

Officials at the Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group that monitors the states utilities and the PUC, said the proposals represent laudable goals but the group doesnt like the prospect of customers getting billed for projects that may not necessarily lead to clear and direct benefits to all ratepayers, especially in low-income communities.

Under provisions of SB350, utilities are required to detail how they plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ramp up deployment of clean energy resources. Utilities are also authorized to undertake transportation electrification activities.

The benefits of electric vehicles are growing, said Ron Nichols, president of SCE, but barriers to their adoption still exist  and utilities and other market participants have a clear role to play in overcoming those barriers.

There are more than 265,000 vehicles classified by California government agencies as zero-emissions vehicles, by far the most of any state in the nation.

But sales for EVs and hybrids have remained flat across the state, largely because of the low price of oil, which has resulted in average gasoline prices in California dropping from more than $4 a gallon as late as July 2014 to $2.78 this week for a gallon of regular.

SIGN UP for the free California Inc. business newsletter 

You cant just slap a green label on something and thereby make it effective, said Utility Reform Network spokeswoman Mindy Spatt. What we want to see are effective programs that do provide benefits to customers, both environmental and financial. We cant just throw money at the problem, especially when its customers money.

Each of the utilities proposals will get vetted through the PUCs regulatory process. The first round of decisions, focusing on the smaller aspects of the proposals, are not expected until later this year.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com

MORE BUSINESS NEWS

Southern California Gas taps Aliso Canyon amid conservation warnings

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President Trump told leaders of the countrys largest automakers Tuesday that he will curtail unnecessary environmental regulations and make it easier to build plants in the U.S., changes that he expects will shore up the manufacturing jobs he repeatedly promised to voters on the campaign trail.

After weeks of taunting the automotive industry over Twitter, Trump made a point to meet with the chief executives of General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles just days into his term. He has pressured the companies to build more vehicles in the U.S. and hire more Americans into manufacturing jobs.

We have a very big push on to have auto plants and other plants, many other plants, youre not being singled out ... to have a lot of plants from a lot of different items built in the United States, Trump told executives Tuesday.

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But Trumps efforts to increase U.S. auto manufacturing may require more than changes to environmental regulations or permits, said Kristin Dziczek, director of the industry, labor and economics group at the Center for Automotive Research.

Economics still favor building plants and hiring workers in Mexico, where labor is less expensive and there are fewer trade barriers. Dziczek also said the big automakers make investments knowing they will outlive any single president, regardless of what policies or regulations are put in place.

This industry has been around for 100 years, and plants last for 40 or 50 years or more, Dziczek said. They cant be swerving left and right every time there is a political change.

Chief executives Mary Barra of General Motors, Mark Fields of Ford and Sergio Marchionne of Fiat Chrysler attended the meeting, along with other top executives from their companies.

Trump told them that environmental regulations are out of control and that his administration will focus on real regulations that mean something while eliminating those he finds inhospitable to business.

I am, to a large extent, an environmentalist. I believe in it, but its out of control, Trump said.

Executives declined to answer questions after the meeting, including whether the president cited any specific regulations he would cut. Only part of Tuesdays gathering was open to the news media.

The auto industry contends that complying with increasingly stringent fuel economy standards increases the cost of making cars, which must then be passed along to buyers or compensated for with job cuts. Those regulations were introduced after the Obama administration rescued GM and Chrysler during the financial downturn and were upheld by the Environmental Protection Agency two weeks ago.

Analysts have speculated Trump could ease those regulations or others that affect the industry as a reward for companies creating more jobs in the U.S. Trump has also pledged to reduce corporate taxes, a move that would surely please executives.

There is a huge opportunity working together as an industry with government that we can improve the environment, improve safety, and improve jobs creation and the competitiveness of manufacturing, Barra told reporters after the meeting.

Fields told reporters that Trumps decision Monday to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership  a largely symbolic move, since the deal was unlikely to pass Congress  was a sign of his desire to implement policies that improve competitiveness and create a renaissance in American manufacturing.

We have been very vocal both as an industry and as a company, and we have repeatedly said that the mother of all trade barriers is currency manipulation, Fields said. TPP failed in meaningfully dealing with that, and we appreciate the presidents courage to walk away from a bad trade deal.

Vice President Pence, Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and senior advisor Jared Kushner also attended Tuesdays meeting.

Although Trump spoke often on the campaign trail about the need to revive manufacturing across the economy, he narrowed in on the automotive industry in particular in the weeks after his election. He separately criticized Ford, GM and Toyota for plans to build certain cars in Mexico and then sell them in the U.S.

Trump threatened automotive companies that build abroad with a 35% tariff on goods imported to the U.S. for sale. Whether Trump has the power to impose such a tax on select companies has been called into question.

Conversely, Trump has praised automakers who pledged to invest in the U.S. and add jobs here  often taking credit for those decisions even when companies said they had been in the works for months or years. This month alone, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, GM, Toyota and Hyundai pledged to spend billions of dollars in the U.S. over the next several years on new factories, expanded production and hiring.

Trump met Monday with business leaders from a smattering of industries, including Fields and Tesla Motors Inc. CEO Elon Musk. The president reportedly told executives that he intends to eliminate a majority of regulations and massively cut corporate taxes, but that in return those companies must keep production in the U.S. and preserve American jobs.

The executives were told to devise a series of actions that will boost U.S. manufacturing and submit those plans to Trump within the next 30 days.

Overly writes for the Washington Post.

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One of Californias massive public pension funds and an L.A. investment firm are pushing for a board shakeup and possible sale of embattled Banc of California following the resignation of its chief executive and chairman this week.

In a Jan. 24 regulatory filing, the California State Teachers Retirement System and Legion Partners said the board of the Irvine bank has done a poor job of overseeing the fast-growing institution, signing off on deals that benefited bank insiders and the family members of now-former CEO Steven Sugarman.

Those deals raise questions about whether the board has been making decisions for the benefit of insiders rather than for the benefit of all stockholders, CalSTRS and Legion wrote in the Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

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Bradley Vizi, a managing director at Legion, said the bank appears to be a healthy institution, but that a lack of adult supervision has depressed the banks share price and harmed shareholders.

Its the fastest growing bank in the country, but it trades at half the valuation of its peers, Vizi said. Its no wonder why. The bank demonstrates some of the worst corporate governance Ive ever invested in. The folks that have been at the helm have been asleep at the wheel.

The filing indicates that the hedge fund and CalSTRS plan to actively lobby the company to add more independent directors to its board, pursue a possible sale and make it easier for shareholders to change the companys bylaws.

Specifically, they want to be able to amend the bylaws with a majority vote of shareholders. Now, amendments require support from 80% of shareholders, which Legion and CalSTRS say gives shareholders only a facade of control over the company.

They say they tried to work with the company before this weeks filing but that the bank has not responded to them. Its been total radio silence, Vizi said.

In an emailed statement, Banc of California spokesman Ian Campbell said Wednesday that the board will carefully consider shareholders input and is willing to meet with Legion to discuss the firms concerns.

Campbell also said the bank is conducting a comprehensive review of bank governance, including policies to restrict related-party transactions in the future.

Sugarman declined to comment through a spokesman.

The investors demands come at a tumultuous time for Banc of California, which has grown rapidly over the last few years and recently sought to raise its profile with a $100-million stadium naming-rights deal with the Los Angeles Football Club, an MLS expansion team.

However, the deal prompted questions about the banks penchant for insider transactions because the team is part owned by Sugarmans brother, Jason. he bank has also faced scrutiny over *apparent* ties between insiders and Jason Galanis, a local financier who pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges last summer.

On Monday, the bank reported that it is being investigated by the SEC over its public response to allegations that Galanis may have secretly controlled the bank.

The bank in October issued a news release stating that members of the board of directors were leading an internal investigation into the Galanis matter when in fact company management was in charge of the inquiry. The company also did not disclose in its October statement that the law firm hired to investigate the allegations had previously represented the bank as well as Sugarman himself.

The bank announced Sugarmans resignation Monday, the same day it reported the SEC investigation and acknowledged inaccuracies in the news release.

The bank said that another investigation, this one handled by an outside law firm, was almost complete and had found no evidence that the bank broke any laws or that Galanis had any control over the bank.

Legion and CalSTRS dont mention Galanis in their filing, instead focusing on insider transactions that they say have gone unchecked by the board.

In an interview, Vizi and Legion analyst Justin Albert listed a handful of deals  all of them gleaned from Banc of Californias regulatory filings  that Vizi said straddle the line between unethical and simply not looking good.

For instance, the bank in September 2013 acquired asset management firm Palisades Group. Jason Sugarman, the former bank CEOs brother, was an advisor to Palisades and was paid more than $1.3 million by the firm between 2013 and 2015, according to the banks SEC filings.

A month after acquiring Palisades, the bank acquired mortgage lending firm CS Financial, a firm controlled by former bank board member Jeffrey Seabold and partly owned by Sugarmans father, brother and sister in-law.

The related-party transactions and the lack of sound judgement seems pervasive, Vizi said.

In its filing, Legion reported that it owns 6.3% of Banc of Californias shares, making it the banks second-largest active shareholder behind PL Capital Advisors, an investment firm that has also complained about the banks corporate governance. CalSTRS, the nations second-largest public pension fund, is one of Legions investors and also directly owns about 100,000 Banc of California shares.

Legion and the pension fund have worked together on shareholder campaigns before, jointly pushing for changes at clothing company Perry Ellis.

Banc of Californias stock price topped $23 in August before a Bloomberg News report about its history of insider transactions. It then fell to less than $12 in October after a short-seller accused the bank of being controlled by Galanis.

Like other bank stocks, Banc of California shares rallied in the wake of President Trumps election. But they fell sharply Monday when the company announced Sugarmans resignation.

The banks shares closed at $14.95 on Wednesday, down about 5%.

james.koren@latimes.com

Follow me: @jrkoren

UPDATES:

4:35 p.m.: This article was updated with details throughout and a comment from Banc of California.

This article was originally published 1:05 p.m.
Southern California Gas Co. tapped the troubled Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field Tuesday after issuing an alert about potential supply shortages because of increased consumer demand.

Hours after withdrawing gas from Aliso Canyon  a facility that has been shut down since it experienced the worst methane leak in U.S. history in fall 2015  the utility stopped using the facility because demand declined, although warnings about shortages of natural gas remained in effect.

Cold weather is expected in the greater Los Angeles region tonight and into tomorrow, which could impact demand for natural gas, the company said in a statement. Additionally, low temperatures forecasted east of California for this week could impact the availability of natural gas supply to the Southern California region.

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But some questioned the safety of pulling gas from the storage field, the first such withdrawal since January 2016, and accused Southern California Gas of manipulating the natural gas supply to make the case for reopening the storage field ahead of hearings on the matter next week.

Reopening Aliso, even on a limited basis, is inadvisable given the fact that we cannot determine that the facility is safe without first knowing what caused the biggest methane gas blowout in U.S. history, advocacy groups Food & Water Watch and Consumer Watchdog stated in a letter Tuesday to state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra.

The groups called on Becerra to investigate possible manipulation of the gas supply by Southern California Gas, a subsidiary of San Diego-based Sempra Energy.

San Diego engineer Bill Powers, who testifies as an expert before state regulators, said utility data show that Southern California Gas had decreased the amount of natural gas it was buying even as cooler temperatures settled in on the Los Angeles area. Then, Powers noted, the utility began withdrawing gas from Aliso Canyon.

Ive been projecting for two weeks that theyve been looking for a chance to withdraw gas from Aliso Canyon, said Powers, who was among those who signed the letter to Becerra.

Rodger Schwecke, Southern California Gas vice president of gas transmission and storage, said utility managers decided to withdraw gas from Aliso Canyon and other storage fields because of a pipeline constraint.

In this case, [natural gas supplier] Kinder Morgan reduced delivery, Schwecke said.

But when questioned by the Los Angeles Times, Kinder Morgan said it was delivering natural gas as scheduled.

There are currently no delivery issues from Kern into the Mojave pipeline system, which delivers natural gas to SoCal, said Sara Hughes, a spokeswoman for Kinder Morgan.

In response to Kinder Morgans assertion that deliveries were made as scheduled to Southern California Gas, the utility reiterated that deliveries were reduced Tuesday compared with Monday deliveries.

Tuesdays allegations about natural gas manipulation arent the first such claims lodged against the utility. Sempra agreed to pay $375 million as part of a settlement over allegations that it conspired to restrict natural gas supplies and raise prices during the states energy crisis of 2000-01. Sempra agreed to the payment but admitted no wrongdoing.

Gov. Jerry Brown ordered an moratorium on injections of gas into the Aliso Canyon storage field after the leak that began in October 2015 forced the utility to release much of the facilitys supply. Withdrawals of natural gas are allowed from the underground sandstone and shale formations.

The wells blowout caused 8,000 residents, largely in the nearby Porter Ranch community, to flee their homes. The residents complained of headaches, nosebleeds and nausea. The gas leak kept some out of their homes for months.

Inspectors have been examining the storage fields wells for safety, but the majority of residents have been pressing to keep the storage field closed for good. Investigators hired by the state have yet to determine what caused the pressurized well to rupture.

State regulators last week announced that Aliso Canyon is safe to reopen at a third of its original size. Public hearings on reopening the facility are scheduled for Feb. 1 and 2 in Woodland Hills. A state Senate committee will hold a hearing on energy matters Tuesday, and Aliso Canyon is expected to be discussed.

Last summer, state regulators and the utility stated in reports that without Aliso Canyon  the states largest natural gas storage field and the fourth-largest in the nation  Southern California Gas might lack the ability to meet energy demand.

The ominous reports said that without Aliso Canyon, Southern California could face as many as 14 days of blackouts during the summer and pilot lights at residential homes could go dark in the winter. Questions immediately surfaced about the reports methodology, and some critics accused the utility of using scare tactics to hold on to Aliso Canyon.

Regulators, utilities and energy providers have been working on alternatives such as battery storage to supplement the loss of Aliso Canyon.

Still, Southern California Gas argues that it cannot meet natural gas demand without the storage field. In addition to providing backup supply, the field enables the company to buy gas when prices are lower and use the storage field for supply when market prices run high.

But this week, natural gas prices were down more than 3%, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, when Southern California Gas reduced the amount of gas from suppliers and increased the amount used from storage.

On Sunday, the utility began issuing warnings to customers to conserve energy as cooler temperatures could strain natural gas supplies. The utility has issued similar warnings over the course of the winter.

But the summer blackouts never occurred and so far, pilot lights have remained on, even as a warming trend is expected in the coming days.

ivan.penn@latimes.com

For more energy news, follow Ivan Penn on Twitter: @ivanlpenn

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More on the doings of Donald Trump and the National Endowment for the Arts. Shia LaBeoufs protest art. And the resignation of South Koreas culture minister. Plus, a Cuban dissident artist is freed, artists who say no and the wonder that is scream painting. These are your Necessary Links:

 Last week, the political publication the Hill reported that the Trump administration might want to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Culture writer Claire Fallon offers a list of concrete steps you can take to prevent this from happening. Huffington Post

 From Alaska to Georgia, a scrolling list of projects funded by the NEA. Neafunded.us

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 Plus, urbanism writer Natalie Delgadillo offers a clear, thorough look at how the Trump administration may or may not be able to act punitively against sanctuary cities. Citylab

 Actor and performance artist Shia LaBeouf has installed an anti-Trump work of video art outside of the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City, where participants are invited to state, He will not divide us. LaBeouf shouted down an alleged white supremacist who arrived to troll the piece at the site earlier this week. Los Angeles Times, Mashable

 In classic comic books, there is a long history of punching Nazis. Fantagraphics

 Cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz on satire in the age of Trump. PRIs The World

 The reader reviews of Why Trump Deserves Trust, Respect and Admiration, by David King, are pure poetry. Amazon

 Where did German Chancellor Angela Merkel go during Trumps inauguration? A museum. The Week

 South Korean Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun has resigned after it was discovered that she had kept a blacklist of artists to deny them government resources. Note to L.A. curators: A show of the blacklisted artists is something Id want to see. Artnet

Former South Korean Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun appears before the office of the independent counsel in Seoul. (Yonhap / EPA)

 Cuban artist Danilo Maldonado Machado, the graffiti artist known as El Sexto, has been released from a prison outside Havana, after being arrested for celebrating the death of Fidel Castro. Artforum

 Josh Begley created a stunning animation of the U.S.-Mexico border using satellite imagery. The Intercept

 When the Museum of Modern Art throws out your sculpture  and neglects to tell you. New York Times

 Male villains, for example, can be any shape or size. But female villains are usually in their menopausal or postmenopausal phases. Theyre older, theyre single, theyre angry. A look at how the animation school at the California Institute of the Arts  where its now a female majority  could change the type of animation we see in the future. New York Times

 A look at artists who said no to the trappings of fame and the commercial ways of the art industrial complex. Greg.org

 And last but not least: Scream painting. I think this captures the national mood. YouTube

Sign up for our weekly Essential Arts & Culture newsletter 

carolina.miranda@latimes.com

@cmonstah
If youre both an avid reader and a committed movie buff, you can pass the time before the 89th Academy Awards ceremony on Feb. 26 by dipping into the sources of the adapted screenplay nominees. But you wont be reading any novels.

Two nonfiction books, two plays and one short story inspired the Oscar nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay: Arrival, Fences, Hidden Figures, Lion and Moonlight.

For the first time since 2013, none of the nominated screenplays this year is based on a novel. Heres more about each of the nominees.

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Arrival

Its not often that a screenplay based on a short story (Arrival) makes the cut  the last was in 2008, when The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, based on a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was nominated.

Arrival, written by Eric Heisserer, is an adaptation of Ted Chiangs Story of Your Life, the Nebula Award-winning tale of a linguist recruited by the government to communicate with aliens.

In an article for The Times, Heisserer called Chiangs story his favorite science fiction piece, and said the writing process was difficult because of the storys advanced subject matter, much of which deals with linguistics and physics.

The script itself was a challenge like no other, Heisserer wrote. I was writing for characters much smarter than myself, facing their own greatest challenges. Teds story offered me some groundwork, but I had to find drama and conflict within the linguistic theory to sustain something for a feature film.

Chiang told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. that he was pleased with the adaptation. I dont think any number of novels featuring linguist protagonists will have the same impact as a major motion picture with a protagonist as a linguist, he said. The fact that the movie turned out as well as it did, I think, is almost literally a miracle.

Fences

The screenplay for Fences was written by the author of the play its based on, August Wilson, who died in 2005. The film version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play has been in the works for a long time, and Wilson was adamant that the movie be directed by an African American. (Denzel Washington both directed and stars in the film).

In a 1990 interview in Los Angeles, Wilson criticized movies about African Americans directed by whites, saying, White people have set themselves up as custodians of our experience. He added, Ive asked Paramount to hire a black director for this film. Until the industry is ready to hire a black to direct DeNiro or Redford, blacks should at least be able to direct their own experience.

Hidden Figures

The film Hidden Figures takes its inspiration from Margot Lee Shetterlys 2016 history, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. Theodore Melfi and Allison Schroeder wrote the screenplay.

Schroeders grandparents worked for NASA, and she interned at the agency as a high schooler. Author Shetterly, whose father spent his career at NASA, praised Schroeder, with whom she shared her research. She was very, very interested in getting this right and really putting the spirit of the real people onto the screen, Shetterly said. A lot of what I learned working with Allison was what it takes to adapt a literary work for film. Everyone thinks they know how to write a screenplay, but its a real craft. Its not easy.

Lion

Australian writer Luke Davies wrote the screenplay for Lion, based on the 2014 memoir A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley and Larry Buttrose. The book and movie tell the true story of an Indian boy, Brierley, who was adopted by an Australian family when he was 5 after being separated from his mother and brother and living on the streets. About 25 years later, Brierley  played by Dev Patel in the film  used Google Earth to try to find the town where he was born. The book A Long Way Home was an international bestseller.

Moonlight

One of the most critically acclaimed films of the year is the coming-of-age drama Moonlight, written and directed by Barry Jenkins, and based on Tarell Alvin McCraneys In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. McCraney, a recipient of a MacArthur Genius Fellowship, worked on the project while at Yale Drama School but thought it would be unproducible on stage.

McCraney praised Jenkins adaptation and said he was shocked at the films success. I always knew that it would be better served as a film than a play, but I always thought that it would be something kind of small and independent, he told NBC.Lets just say I could not have expected this to happen.

Jenkins told The Times he was also taken aback by the ecstatic reaction to his movie. Its all sort of a blur, he said. Having grown people cry in my arms at screenings is a surreal experience. Im still processing whatever the hell it is thats happening with the film right now.
Whats next for Oscar-nominated actor Dev Patel? A good cry in the shower

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Dev Patel, who was nominated for an Academy Award for actor in a supporting role for his part in Lion, has big plans for celebrating his nomination news: a shower.

Are you freaking out?

That is the understatement of the century. It kind of hasnt fully permeated my brain. Im just so overwhelmingly grateful to the universe and the master of that universe, Garth Davis [director of Lion].

I am seeing on Twitter that youre the third Indian actor to be nominated for an acting award.

Wow. Who are the other two? I need to find out. But this is just such a beautiful moment. I think its a time of celebration.

So youre in India filming a new movie?

Yes, Hotel Mumbai. Its 7:30 p.m. Ive been out here for two weeks. Were just finishing off the shoots, so were nearly done, and Ill be back in Los Angeles in two days.

You had quite a first Oscar experience with Slumdog Millionaire. What do you remember?

I remember walking down the red carpet and rubbing the bottoms of the Oscar statues as a good luck ritual. I remember going on the stage carrying Rubina, the young actress, and it was just like seeing all of those young faces in absolute ecstasy.

And this time around, little Sunny might be with you.

Yes! Hes so incredible in this film, and I share this nomination with him in a big way.

So this time at the Oscars, more of the focus will be on you.

I think the first time we were there, it was all such a blur, and it was hard to really kind of make heads or tails of it all. Now that Ive been there a couple of times  last year to present documentary  I know its amazing to just watch people in those moments of joy. People in the dark who have been in editing rooms for months. To go there again, alone in a way, with this nomination, its really special.

OK, so your work day is over. What will you do to celebrate?

I literally just got the news, and Im talking to you within 20 minutes of hearing. Im sitting in this hotel in the best reception spot I have. I called my mother and she was at work in the care home, and she just started screaming and crying and everyone was looking through the glass wondering why shes making a big scene.

Will you take her to the show if you can?

100 percent. Thats her moment. Im her guest.

Youve spoken a lot over the past few months about how hard it was to get a role like this as a guy who looks like you. Does this feel like vindication?

Completely. I think every actor faces their own unique struggles in this industry, and every one of those journeys Ive been on has been a unique learning experience. Lion came to me three years ago. I wouldnt have been able to do what Ive done in this film without that struggle. The life experience to embody that character -- it feels like it has accumulated to this moment. I put everything I had into that film. Every part of my soul went into this journey and getting it right. A script like that, for myself, is such a rarity. I wanted to do it justice.

It also gave you your new long hair look.

The Lion mane! Clearly, thats Garths vision to cover my big ears. Im sticking with it because Im playing a character in this film who is a Sikh and wears a turban, and underneath that, hes got a big bun.

So man bun up next?

Maybe.

Where are you off to next?

Im gonna get in the car, and then Im gonna go get in the shower and probably break down. Ive been holding it in. I need a good cry in the shower.
Watch a nightclub shooting in virtual reality? For Rose Troche, painful subjects make for powerful art

Filmmaker Rose Troche wants her virtual reality work to be considered something other than cinema. She premiered a VR piece at Sundance, If Not Love. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Rose Troche says she came out three times in her life: first as a Puerto Rican, next as an artist and finally as a gay person.

By the time I came out as gay, it was like, Oh, this old thing? jokes Troche, the child of immigrant parents who grew up hiding her minority identity on multiple levels in a tough Chicago neighborhood during the 1960s and 70s.

Relaxing on a couch in a Hollywood Hills chalet, she explains how shes in the midst of a fourth coming-out of sorts. As a writer and director on the vanguard of virtual reality, shes trying to articulate that her latest form of art isnt filmmaking.

Its a tricky but important sticking point for the celebrated indie filmmaker, whose virtual reality project If Not Love premiered this week at the Sundance Film Festivals experimental New Frontier arts and media exhibition.

Since 2012, New Frontier has showcased the film worlds bold and exciting steps into the VR space. Troche, who has exhibited three pieces at New Frontier since 2014, is searching for fresh language to describe that entrance.

Im advocating for a whole new set of words so that we stop calling it cinema, she says. This needs to exist as what it is and not be put into a funnel of what is a beautiful and amazing medium, but its not the same thing.

Troche would know. She carved out a career for herself in film after her 1994 feature debut, the lesbian romantic comedy Go Fish, became a cult hit. Made for $15,000, the film grossed more than $2.4 million at the box office thanks to a string of awards and a nomination for a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

I do pieces that take you to places that you dont want to go, and I dont want to take you to those places on a whim or in a cavalier way.  Rose Troche

Film gave way to a decade spent building commercial success in television, most notably as the co-executive producer of the lesbian drama The L Word. But a history of social activism and a desire for a new artistic challenge drove Troche to create VR work.

Three out of four of her pieces have dealt with difficult subjects. Perspective Chapter 1: The Party was a first-person exploration of date rape from the point of view of both the survivor and the assailant. Perspective Chapter 2: The Misdemeanor told the story of a police shooting from the perspective of a policeman and a young black man being shot.

The new work, If Not Love, is a short piece that takes the viewer on a painful, 360-degree journey through a mass shooting at a gay nightclub. If Not Love isnt intended to re-create last years Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Fla., but the project was inspired by that incident as well as by the tragedy in Nice, France, when a truck plowed through a crowd at a Bastille Day celebration.

In both cases, Troche wondered if anything could have been done to stop the violence.

If Not Love explores that thought by following the story of a closeted gay man who, after an anonymous hookup, decides to carry out a shooting at a nightclub. The piece presents an alternate scenario where, instead of letting him leave after sex, the mans partner asks him to stay. The two men kiss and hold each other, while back at the nightclub the bodies on the ground suddenly rise up in reverse of the falls they took in the shooting.

The idea, which Troche admits is perhaps naively simplistic, is that a single act of love just might save someone from himself. She felt VR would be the most effective medium to get her idea across because of its immediacy.

This form allows you a shortness of story, but in a more immersive way, Troche says. I do pieces that take you to places that you dont want to go, and I dont want to take you to those places on a whim or in a cavalier way. I wouldnt want you to be immersed in this for more than seven minutes.

If this isnt film, what is it? You watch it like film, only through a special headset. And the watching is active, instead of inactive. VR encourages you to move around  to look up, down, right and left. If you turn completely around during the scene in If Not Love, when the shooter is leaving after his secret tryst, for example, you will see a childs car seat.

With VR, Troche says, we are relearning how to watch. Its teaching us how to view things differently, and to be more intuitive viewers.

New Frontier curator Shari Frilot says she has invited Troche to exhibit year after year because of her ability to emotionally penetrate the limits of the intellect  in ways that are powerful, familiar and accessible.

She continues to stand out as a storyteller in this field who is doing something unique around combining classic aspects of filmmaking  character, performance, story structure  with the embodied power of this immersive medium in ways that continue to push this field forward, says Frilot, who has seen New Frontier grow exponentially since its inception in 2007 as a fledgling space at the intersection of art, filmmaking and technology.

Troche believes that VR will claim its rightful place in the pantheon of future media arts when its makers learn to create strong narratives with powerhouse performances. Three years ago, she says, it was popular to say narrative couldnt be done in VR. This has been proven false, but to date she doesnt feel the accomplishment has been properly achieved.

Its really important to me to test the parameters of how to create sustainable narratives in VR, Troche says, adding that the sooner a cohesive language to describe it emerges, including critics who understand and employ that language, the sooner that feat will be accomplished.

Actors, too, will need to relearn their craft if VR is to flourish. Actors are never off camera in a 360-degree film, unless they physically leave the room. Its almost like being in a play, only, unlike with theater, actors in VR need to understate everything. The more they project in VR, the more false they look.

Troches next step into the narrative realm is a 30-minute VR comedy series called LGBTQIA, which she describes as The Bad News Bears of gay comedy.

Im trying to find the strengths of VR and what it has to offer, she says.

I watched the film Blue alone in a movie theater, and I remember being in the space and bubble and world of it. I think VR has the potential to put viewers back in that space in a whole new way.
To this day, Carl King cant quite explain why he did it. Why he sacrificed 20 years of his life. His marriage. His financial security. All in a long shot bid to get his friend Colin Warner out of prison.

Maybe it was that I grew up in a family, in Trinidad, where my older siblings were always involved in student activities, King said. Or maybe it just felt like a purpose. Its your brother, and youre not going to give up until you can help him.



For the record: Edited for clarity and accuracy.

In 1980, Warner was 18, living in the Caribbean section of the Brooklyn, N.Y., neighborhood of Crown Heights. One day, the cops showed up and arrested him. He was charged with killing Mario Hamilton, a young Jamaican man in nearby Flatbush. Warner had never met Hamilton. He had never even heard of him.

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In most situations, Warner would have been released quickly and the charges dropped. There was no physical evidence to implicate him and no credible witnesses either.

But the events, as told in Matt Ruskins new distribution-seeking Sundance movie Crown Heights, unfolded more tragically. With Lakeith Stanfield as Warner and Nnamdi Asomugha as King, the film offers a new twist on the buddy movie  one far more serious than slapstick. Crown Heights is a pointed reminder of the gaping flaws in the criminal justice system and the power of perseverance and loyalty to overcome them.

Actor Nnamdi Asomugha, from left, Lakeith Stanfield, Natalie Paul and writer/director Matt Ruskin from the film, Crown Heights, at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 23, 2017, in Park City, Utah. (Taylor Jewell / Invision/AP)

As the film suggests, a mix of ineptitude and institutional racism had Warner sitting in jail for six months. Thats when the cops picked up Norman Simmonds, an acquaintance of Hamiltons who also had no idea who Warner was. All signs pointed to Simmonds as the killer. Yet somehow, he and Warner were both charged with collaborating to kill Hamilton. They went on trial together. When, after a hung jury, Simmonds declined a plea deal that would have freed Warner, the men went on trial a second time.

And when another jury  during a time of heightened racial tension in New York  found Warner guilty despite a paucity of evidence, the teenager was doomed. A judge was required to sentence him to a minimum of 15 years to life in prison. Warner maintained his innocence.

Enter King, also Trinidadian. Several years younger than Warner, King had developed a bond with his fellow immigrant in their Brooklyn neighborhood after knowing him only casually as a young child in their home country.

King began to visit his pal in jail, committing to him that he would do whatever it takes to get him out.

I remember going in and always thinking about his feelings. Even if I was down in my personal situation I knew couldnt tell him about it because I didnt want him to be down too, King said in his rich island accent. Wed end and Id be walking out one way and hed be going the opposite way, back to his cell. And I always thought, We need to be going the same way. 

King, 53, still lives in Crown Heights, in a home he bought a few blocks from where he grew up. Sitting in his spartan living room on a recent afternoon, wearing a nondescript fleece hat instead of his old dreads and slightly portlier than he is in archival photos, he does not cut the image of a tireless firebrand. But he was  and in many ways remains  precisely that.

As Warner languished in jail, King began collecting money  hiring lawyers, researching options. He would consult experts, share tidbits with Warner, then consult some more. Motions were filed, the case wending its way through court.

But appeals  made, as they often are, on legal grounds  were denied. There simply were not enough provable attorney or police mistakes to earn an overturn, not in the inhospitable confines of the then-New York City Mayor Ed Koch era in the case of a black man accused of killing another black man, anyway.

Nor was every activist a friend. At one point, celebrity civil-rights attorney William Kunstler joined the case. The move only highlighted the systems deficiencies.

I thought from the name he was a big bad wolf. But he didnt prepare at all. He was asking me questions about the case, King recalled of the now-deceased attorney. He and the prosecutor were joking around; he and the judge were telling stories. Im wondering, Whats going on here? It seemed like a checkers game  whoever makes the best move wins. And Im thinking, This is somebodys life. I became less naive after that.

King pressed on. Months turned to years, then more years. The 1980s were now the 1990s. Warner was no closer to being released. His steadfast belief in his innocence may have been a hindrance to his release: a parole board turned down his request after he declined to confess and show contrition for the crime.

Meanwhile, Kings wife was losing patience with how much time he spent away from his family, chasing down leads about the case. As he cycled through lawyers, bank accounts were drained too. The marriage ended. Money became even tougher to come by.

But King decided to double down. He took a job as a court process server because it would help him meet lawyers. He sought any scrap of advice on fighting the system that he could. At one point, he even enlisted his real estate lawyer.

I dont think you can understand. Carl was my angel.  Colin Warner

And then, fortunes began to turn. King met William Robedee, a small-time lawyer who, unlike other attorneys, began looking at the facts of the case instead of trying to win on judicial grounds. Soon, King and Robedee were plotting a new strategy: revisiting the murder itself instead of just the legal technicalities. It was, they thought, their only remaining avenue.

And sure enough, the pair soon had a breakthrough: They succeeded in tracking down Simmonds, who had served nearly a decade in prison, and convinced him to testify. Then a new witness, whom King found by pounding the pavement in the Bronx. Then another witness. It all led them to Mario Hamiltons brother, Martell, who agreed to testify that he didnt think Warner had committed the crime.

In 2001, after Warner spent 21 years in jail for a crime he didnt commit, a judge exonerated him.

I still remember that day. We couldnt believe it: Robedee, Antoinette [Warners girlfriend-turned-wife] and me, King said. So much time, and all of a sudden, he was free. Then he turned wistful. It seems like a long time ago, but like it just happened.

Warner said the ordeal remains a surreal, decades-long nightmare, with his friend the only ray of light.

I dont think you can understand. Carl was my angel, Warner said in a phone interview from Georgia, where he lives with his wife and daughter. But he was in prison too because he lost so much.

Ruskin said Kings level of devotion took on an almost existential component.

What struck me is how Carl couldnt go back to being business as usual, said the director, an indie filmmaker who wooed the principals after they had previously sold options to Warner Bros. and DreamWorks. (The project came to Hollywoods attention with an extended This American Life story 12 years ago.)

It was about Colin, but it was also bigger than that for Carl. It seemed like a big piece of his identity was defined by not being OK with letting this go.

Throughout years of film development, Ruskin recalled, King and Warner would take radically different attitudes, the former being persistent with weekly check-in calls and the latter taking an if-it-happens-it-happens approach.

Each of their reactions was like a window into how they approached life, Ruskin said. Colin was just waiting and being Zen. Carl kept persevering and not taking no for an answer.

King is working on other cases, a kind of self-taught legal investigator, filling in the holes that a system continues to leave open. Fifteen years after freeing Warner, hes working the backrooms of Brooklyn politics, the twisty corridors of the legal system and the wilds of the streets to ensure other Colin Warners taste freedom.

I sometimes think I just like to make quiet noise. And I keep making it until someone listens.  Carl King

Hes currently pursuing a case of a retail-store employee accused of killing a co-worker (he asked that the specific case not be identified). What was the gesture of a friend has become a lifetime crusade. King takes no money for his efforts.

He pulls out photos of the new case, showing them alongside old snapshots and news clippings of him and Warner. Why he was so devoted to Warner  after so many years and so many of the prisoners own friends and family giving up  still eludes explanation.

I tried to question Carl many times. I dont think he knows the answer, Warner said.

In his apartment, King tried to reflect on his own motives.

I come from a community that has a kind of African, it-takes-a-village mentality, King said. Then, realizing that may not be a sufficient explanation, he doubled back. I sometimes think I just like to make quiet noise. And I keep making it until someone listens.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

steve.zeitchik@latimes.com

Twitter: @ZeitchikLAT

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The Oscars invited a wide ranging class of 2017 animation film nominees to the party Tuesday, from acclaimed studio hits Moana, Zootopia and Kubo and the Two Strings, to Swiss stop-motion drama My Life as a Zucchini and the dialogue-free Studio Ghibli offering The Red Turtle.

But Pixar, whose Inside Out took home the animated feature Oscar last year, found its Finding Dory left swimming on the sidelines  drawn out of the race in a rare shutout for the CGI juggernaut.

Thats good news for the five contenders, which represent a diverse breadth of style, story and size, making the animation category one of the hardest races to predict come Feb. 26.

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Live coverage: Analysis, reactions, snubs, surprises and more on the 2017 Oscar nominations 

Disney Animation made a strong showing with two critical and commercial hits now vying for the animation prize. Pacific Islander girl-power tale Moana, directed by John Musker, Ron Clement and Osnat Shurer, also earned a song nomination for the soaring anthem How Far Ill Go, penned by EGOT-chasing Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Disneys Zootopia, about a female rabbit who defies her haters, doubters and a class-divided society to become a police officer, heads into the Academy Awards with a Golden Globe win under its hat and a sense of timely urgency that continues to grow in stature. Will it be the first woke movie for kids to take home an Oscar?

The film, from co-directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore, explores the kinds of social inequities  gender, racial and class bias  they saw unfolding during production in the national conversation as police killings of African American men sparked the Black Lives Matter movement.

I remember saying, This is exactly what were talking about with this movie, Howard told The Times Tuesday morning. It was emboldening. We felt like we really needed to do this topic justice, because it wasnt just a theoretical that we were playing out onscreen.

 The trailer for Kubo and the Two Strings.

Focus Features handsome 3-D stop-motion picture Kubo and the Two Strings is another strong contender. Hailing from Oregon-based Laika Studios (Coraline, ParaNorman), it is just the second animated feature to additionally earn a nomination for visual effects since Tim Burtons The Nightmare Before Christmas in 1994.

Kubos Asian-influenced visual aesthetic and story have been met with critical praise. But the casting of primarily white stars  including lead actor Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes and Rooney Mara  to voice its Japanese characters has drawn robust fire from the Asian American community.

A year after #OscarsSoWhite, in spite of increased accolades for black filmmakers and performers, issues of representation and inclusion will continue to be hotly debated until and beyond Oscars Sunday. And director Travis Knight, who has attempted to deflect those accusations of whitewashing, has yet to win over his toughest critics.

[I] think that things can get easily simplified when youre talking about diversity in a binary way, he told the Wrap in August. A lot of nuance gets lost when you reduce this complex matter to a hashtag.

1 / 2 NOMINATED: Actress in a leading role - Isabelle Huppert (Guy Ferrandis / Sony Pictures Classics via AP) 2 / 2 NOMINATED: Original score - The Empty Chair (Manu Brabo / AP)

Seamless cross-cultural blending is on display in the quiet and exquisitely drawn fable The Red Turtle, a dialogue-free, hand-animated fantasy from Dutch-British animator Michael Dudok de Wit. The French-Belgian-Japanese co-production between Frances Wild Bunch and Hayao Miyazakis Studio Ghibli tells the story of a shipwrecked man who creates an unexpected new life for himself on an island deserted of everything but wildlife.

The category is rounded out by another European entry with art-house appeal: My Life as a Zucchini (Ma vie de Courgette), a colorful stop-motion nominee with playful visuals hailing from France and Switzerland.

Director Claude Barras spent three years just prepping his film about a young boy who loses his parents and goes to live in an orphanage. It took six years to complete the film  a lonely six years, he joked via telephone from Switzerland. Hopefully the next one comes together more quickly, he continued. And is less lonely.

jen.yamato@latimes.com

@jenyamato
Actress Mary Tyler Moore died Jan. 25, 2017. She was 80. In 2002, Moore and Dick Van Dyke, her costar in the acclaimed sitcom that carried his name, reunited for a television adaptation of The Gin Game. The two met with The Times Susan King to discuss their new project as well as the legacy of their most famous collaboration.

Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore could have played it safe. But they didnt.

Thirty-six years after they did their last scenes together as the irrepressible Rob and Laura Petrie on the classic 1961-66 sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, the two award-winning performers have reunited. But instead of picking a nostalgic, charming project that would have their legions of fans letting out a collective sign of joy, Van Dyke and Moore decided to go dramatic as two unsympathetic residents of a nursing home in The Gin Game.

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It was just a labor of love, says Van Dyke with a twinkle of his blue eyes. We wanted to do it together.

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1977 play by D.L. Coburn, which he adapted for this TV presentation, The Gin Game focuses on the bittersweet relationship that develops between two lonely people at a rather ragtag old age home through a series of gin rummy games.

Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke reunited on Oct. 7, 2000, in Century City, Calif., during the 45th annual anniversary gala for the Thalians, a charitable group that aids mental health programs through CedarsSinai Medical Center. (Richard Harbaugh / AP)

Van Dykes Weller Martin, who swears like a stevedore, is the more accomplished gin player. But he quickly learns that the Bible-quoting Fonsia Dorsey (Moore) is the more adept player. During the course of several games, their relationship turns sour as they reveal their angers, fears and frustrations.

The Gin Game originally ran on Broadway for 500 performances. Directed by Mike Nichols and starring the venerable husband-and-wife team of Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn, the play was nominated for four Tonys, with Tandy winning for best actress. That production was done for PBS American Playhouse series in 1981. In 1997, Julie Harris and Charles Durning appeared on Broadway and toured the country in an acclaimed revival.

The Van Dyke-Moore version will air early next year on the public television series PBS Hollywood Presents. It was shot on high-definition video over a hectic 12-day period earlier this month at KCET Studios in Hollywood.

I am living a blessed life, says Mary Mazur, senior vice president of programming and production for KCET, about her good fortune in getting the two stars. It is not a sentimental play, and I think if someone was given the task of writing a piece for a reunion of Mary and Dick, or Rob and Laura, it would be perhaps quite sentimental. This is a rough piece and goes into some tough issues about life and how you have chosen to live it.

Though the play is tough, the set was relaxed and fun.

1 / 14 Mary Tyler Moore cemented her status as one of the great television actresses of all time with two timeless hits: The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.



Moore was born in 1936 in Brooklyn Heights, but her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 8 years old. As a teenager, she aspired to be a dancer and appeared in several commercials at the beginning of her career. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 14 Mary Tyler Moore arrives at the Emmy Awards in 2001. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 14 Mary Tyler Moore accepts her Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award during the 18th SAG Awards show at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in 2012. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 14 Mary Tyler Moore attends the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in 2008. (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press) 5 / 14 Academy Award-nominated film and Emmy Award-winning television actress Mary Tyler Moore poses during a 1979 photo portrait session in Los Angeles. (George Rose / Getty Images) 6 / 14 Mary Tyler Moore appears with her then-husband, Grant Tinker, at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in 1966. (David Smith / Associated Press) 7 / 14 Moore auditioned to play Danny Thomas  daughter on The Danny Thomas Show but didnt land the part. However, Thomas later remembered her and recommended her for a role on another sitcom he was producing,  The Dick Van Dyke Show , based on creator Carl Reiner s time as a comedy writer for Your Show of Shows. When Moore joined the series, playing Laura Petrie, the wife of Dick Van Dyke s Rob Petrie, she was just 23 years old -- 11 years younger than Van Dyke. The role made Moore a star and earned her two Emmy Awards. (CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images) 8 / 14 Mary Tyler Moore and then-husband Grant Tinker appear at a Hollywood event in 1966. (Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images) 9 / 14 Moore got her second sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in 1970. Moore played Mary Richards, a single TV news producer in Minneapolis, in this popular and critically acclaimed sitcom that ran for seven seasons. The series made stars of many people in its supporting cast, including Betty White , Ed Asner , Valerie Harper and Cloris Leachman . The final episode, which aired in 1977, featured the entire cast gathering for a hug and then slowly shuffling off camera together, still in hug formation. (CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images) 10 / 14 In 1969, Moore founded her own production company, which produced The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-offs, Rhoda, shown, and Phyllis, as well as many other TV series in the 1970s and 80s, including The Bob Newhart Show, WKRP in Cincinnati and Hill Street Blues. She also owned a record label, MTM Records, which specialized in country music. (CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images) 11 / 14 Former President Clinton leans in to chat with Mary Tyler Moore, the Rev. Billy Graham and Lauren Bacall at the 75th anniversary gala for Time magazine at New Yorks Radio City Music Hall on March 3, 1998. (Sonia Moskowitz / Associated Press) 12 / 14 Moore has written two memoirs about her life. In the first, published in 1995, she revealed that she was a recovering alcoholic. In the second, published in 2009, she talked about living with Type 1 diabetes . She also served as the international chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. (Evan Agostini / Getty Images) 13 / 14 In 2000, Moore testified before Congress, along with actor Michael J. Fox , on behalf of stem cell research. In addition to her diabetes and stem cell work, she co-founded Broadway Barks, a New York City animal adoption event, and founded a center for Civil War studies in a house in West Virginia once owned by her great-grandfather and Maj. Gen. Thomas Stonewall Jackson. (Kamenko Pajic / Associated Press) 14 / 14 Mary Tyler Moore accepts her Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award from Dick Van Dyke at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Jan. 29, 2012. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

This will be my shining hour, Moore and Van Dyke sang in unison between scenes on a recent morning. During a reporters two-hour visit, Van Dyke was usually telling jokes or breaking out in song. Sometimes he and Moore simply sat quietly next to each other as the crew set up for the next shot.

He is just crazy about her, says executive producer Ellen M. Krass, who also was one of the executive producers of the American Playhouse adaptation. And shes crazy about him. I wouldnt say shes smitten but its like hes an older brother. Its a great set, and everybody has been great.

And both actors look great. Van Dyke, 76, actually is more handsome now with his white hair and mustache than he was 40 years ago on his series. Moore, playing about 10 years older than her 65 years, is whippet slim and beautiful even wearing an old lady wig of white hair and a modicum of makeup. And though they havent worked together in more than three decades--the two have appeared on reunion shows, talk shows and in the 1968 CBS special Dick Van Dyke and the Other Woman"--their timing is impeccable as they shoot a confrontational scene.

Action, shouts director Arvin Brown.

 Transferred. How many Rs are there in the word transferred? Moore says sarcastically as she puts down a card.

Two, Van Dyke responds testily.

Two? Ha, says Moore.

Three! What the hell! he retorts angrily.

As they repeat the scene several times, each take has a different vitality and venom.

When Van Dyke saw the original Broadway production, he knew it would make a perfect vehicle for the two of them. I said to Mary, Well do it when we are old enough. 

The play piqued his interest on many levels. Its kind of a comedy and then almost immediately they start to bicker like a married couple. But on the darker side of it I see them as hanging on to this gin game to keep their cognizance going and not falling into dementia like everyone else inside they keep talking about. This is the one thing they are clinging to.

Moore acknowledges their fans may be surprised at the play. There is such a tremendous fondness for both of us, she says. I think that adds so much to this play. I hope that the audience is prepared for it. Its not a light comedy, because toward the end you see these people reveal more and more of themselves and how twisted they are.

Though Brown hasnt previously directed Gin Game, he was very familiar with it, having been artistic director of the Long Wharf Theater in Connecticut when Nichols directed the pre-Broadway production.

The exciting thing about doing this material is that, in the hands of every fine actor, it transposes itself into something absolutely different, Brown says. In this case, the two characters Dick and Mary are evolving are so rich and so totally different than what Hume and Jessie did. The play is almost like a different play. I feel because they havent been married all of those years like Hume and Jessie, there is a very subtle, dynamic sexuality, a tension that is under the surface. In a couple of scenes we have already shot there is a really tremendous sense of romantic possibility between the two that I think will make it doubly heartbreaking at the end because each of their baggage gets in the way.

Neither Van Dyke and Moore can explain their chemistry. I have no idea how to categorize it, Moore says with a smile. We are just Dick and Mary.

Van Dyke recalls the first time he saw Moore arrive on the set of his series back in 1961. I said, Shes so beautiful,  he recalls warmly.  And shes young. But, boy, I tell you, within a couple of weeks we found out what a comedian we had. She didnt know it. She had never done any comedy and she just had the timing. We just lucked out with everybody on that show. What a romp.

The two return to the set to start rehearsing a scene in which Weller and Fonsia get into a heated, almost violent argument. The scene concludes with Weller shouting a cruel expletive at Fonsia and storming off the porch.

Moore quickly breaks the tension of the scene: Youve been wanting to call me that for 40 years, she says to Van Dyke. The entire crew breaks into laughter.

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L Catterton and a handful of celebrities, including Karlie Kloss, have teamed up to invest in coconut oil brand Kopari Beauty. The San Diego-based brainchild of cofounders Bryce and Gigi Goldman, Kiana Cabell and James Brennan, Kopari launched online only in 2015, followed by a sephora.com launch last October and recent QVC debut. The companys products include Coconut Sheer Oil, $44; Coconut Body Glow, $42; Organic Coconut Melt, $38; Coconut Balm, $32; Coconut Crush Scrub, $28; Coconut Misting Body Oil, $34; Coconut Body Milk, $30; Coconut Cleansing Oil, $32; Coconut Rose Toner, $24; Coconut Face Cream, $38, and Coconut Lip Love, $10.

The capital really will drive more of the awareness building, said Michael Farello, managing partner at L Catterton, which has invested in beautycompanies CoverFX, Bliss, Clio Professional, Dr. Wu, Ideal Image, Intercos Group and StriVectin.

The L Catterton and celebrity money (Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Hilary Duff and Shay Mitchell are also investing) should also help Kopari expand in terms of geographies and products  right now, the vast majority of Koparis sales come from its own e-commerce operations. Kopari and L Catterton were both mum on the details of the minority investment and sales figures, but industry sources estimated the brand had about $5 million in sales for 2016.

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Were looking to increase sales over [the year] by at least three or four times, and not only the capital they brought to the table, but the other resources and support that they bring is going to help us get there, said Bryce Goldman, Koparis chief executive officer. The celebrities mainly came into play through Brennan, a restaurateur who also founded Suja Juice, which counts Leonardo DiCaprio as an investor, he said. Having them as investors and actually writing checks into the company really sets the stage forsome way to work together down the line in a very authentic fashion, Brennan said.

Immediately down the line is Koparis launch in 340 Sephora U.S. doors, where the brands Organic Coconut Melt and Coconut Body Glow are set to launch as part of the Scouted by Sephora program, which features niche beauty brands. Coconut Melt is the companys bestseller, while Body Glow and Sheer Oil are tied for second place, according to the brand.

Theyve got an increased focus on indie brands, and they realize a lot of their customers and people, in general, are interested in these up-and-coming brands and discovering those brands, with a focus on natural, so we fit both of those boxes, said Gigi Goldman. Kopari exceeded initial expectations on sephora.com, she added, noting that it also did well during its four airings on QVC. International shipping direct from the Kopari site launched about six weeks ago, and the business works with Sephora Canada and is in discussions with Sephora Europe.

Koparis niche positioning  the brand makes natural products with coconut oil sourced from the Philippines, without sulfates, silicones, parabens, GMOs or toxins  is one of the things that drew in L Catterton.

Kopari came up on our list early as one of the dozen or so brands that were tracking and watching, said Farello. Its natural and efficacious and we look for that combination and see both of those trends as ones that will continue to endure for the next five-plus years.

On the product side, Koparis focus right now is on driving sales of the skin-care range that launched in January  the cleansing oil, toner, cream and lip balm  but the ingredient stories of future products may veer beyond just the coconut, the founders said.

We are looking at other components and ingredients as well, said Brennan. Things that enhance the benefits of coconut oil are very important to us as well, Cabell added.

Kopari is the latest digitally native beauty business to attract investor capital. Recently, skin-care and makeup brand Glossier raised a $24 million Series B venture capital round from IVP and Index Ventures. Other Internet-savvy brands like Too Faced, Becca Cosmetics and NYX have attracted Estee Lauder and LOreal as buyers. For the big beauty players, betting on digitally fluent brands brings know-how and growth in house; for private equity firms that watch the size and multiples on big beauty exits, investments provide the chance to reap those returns.

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University of California President Janet Napolitano urged regents Wednesday to approve a tuition increase to help the nations premier public research university system maintain its quality amid surging enrollment and reduced levels of state support.

More investment is needed to make sure that this generation, and future generations, of UC students receive the same quality of education as past generations, Napolitano told regents in opening remarks at the two-day meeting in San Francisco.

The regents will consider a proposal to raise tuition to $11,502 for the 2017-18 school year  a 2.5%, or $282, increase. The student services fee would increase by $54 to $1,128. If approved, it would be the first tuition increase since the 2010-2011 school year.

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Financial aid would cover the increases for two-thirds of the universitys roughly 175,500 California resident undergraduates, UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein said.

Nonresident undergraduates would face a total increase of $1,668. They would pay the same higher base tuition and student fees as well as 5% more in supplemental tuition, which would rise $1,332, from $26,682 to $28,014 next year.

Napolitano told regents that the 10-campus system responded to deep state funding cuts during the Great Recession by saving more than $320 million through more efficient energy use, reforms in procurement practices and other changes. Despite such efforts, she said, campuses are struggling with higher student-faculty ratios, fewer courses, fewer teaching assistants and overtaxed student services.

We have done more with less, but at a cost, she said.

The regents will vote on the proposal Thursday.

Students fighting the proposed increases briefly shut down the last regents meeting in November.

The hikes would bring in $88 million, according to UC officials  one-third of which would go directly to financial aid. The rest would be used to support enrollment growth as well as address other pressing needs, including adding faculty, counselors and tutors and expanding mental health services.

UC has enrolled about 7,400 more California undergraduates since 2015-16  the largest increase in 70 years  and plans to add 2,500 more this fall. One consequence of the swelling enrollment has been a rise in the student-to-faculty ratio from the historical level of about 18 to 1 to the current 21 to 1, UC officials said.

Leaders of several campuses have individually said they would use additional tuition revenue to hire 25 to 50 faculty members.

Napolitanos office, in a memo to regents, presented data showing that state support for instructional costs per student dropped by more than half, from $16,980 in 2000-01 to an estimated $7,160 this year. Over the same time, the UCs share  from tuition and fees and general funds  rose from $5,860 to $9,450.

The state cut about one-third of UCs budget during the Great Recession but has been slowly restoring it since then under a multiyear budget agreement between Napolitano and Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brown has said that it would be reasonable to raise tuition after the six-year freeze. But in his budget message this month, he reiterated that UC needs to find ways to cut costs.

Tuition increases without these improvements would only burden families with the cost of an inefficient system, Brown wrote.

Brown also may add to those burdens for some families with his proposal to phase out the Middle-Class Scholarship program, beginning with new students this fall. UC officials estimate that a phase-out of the program in the next school year would deprive about 2,300 incoming students of $6.9 million in scholarship awards.

Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter 

UC student body leaders have spoken out against the tuition increases. Some have said that even if financial aid covers tuition, they already have trouble paying for housing, food, textbooks and other costs.

In other business at the meeting, UC officials plan to update regents on plans to protect students in the country without legal permission from any potential changes in federal immigration policy under President Trump.

The day after Trumps election, Napolitano formed a working group to examine the issue. Later that month, UC officials announced they would refuse to assist federal immigration agents, turn over confidential student records without court orders or supply information for any national registry based on race, national origin or religion.

teresa.watanabe@latimes.com

Twitter: @teresawatanabe

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UPDATES:

11:55 a.m.: This article was updated with remarks by UC President Janet Napolitano.

This article was originally published at 4 a.m.
Two Glendale attorneys could face disciplinary action after the State Bar of California alleged they embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from a multimillion-dollar settlement relating to the Armenian genocide.

The state bar filed several disciplinary charges last year against Vartkes Yeghiayan and Rita Mahdessian, including misappropriation of funds and moral turpitude. They claimed the couple, who are married, had siphoned more than $300,000 of settlement money stemming from a class-action lawsuit over survivor benefits from the Armenian genocide.

The two have denied the charges.

According to bar documents, the couple misrepresented two nonprofit groups they created to appropriate the funds.

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In 2005, a class-action lawsuit was brought against French insurance company AXA S.A. over survivor benefits from descendants of Armenian genocide victims. Yeghiayan and Mahdessian were co-counsels on the case.

The resulting settlement was $20 million, with the insurance company being required to pay $17.5 million. From that settlement, a $3 million Unclaimed Benefits Fund was set up, naming nine specific beneficiaries, according to documents from the state bar.

As part of the fund, any money left after paying the main settlement and administrative costs could be distributed to charitable organizations recommended by the suits lawyers  namely Yeghiayan and Mahdessian.

The state bar said one of the nonprofits, the Center for Armenian Remembrance, was created three months after the settlement was approved and based out of the couples Brand Boulevard law firm.

The second nonprofit, the Conservatoire de la Memoire Armenienne, also was said to be based out of the attorneys office.

According to the state bar, the two then requested more than $300,000 be given to the organizations because they qualified as charitable. However, Yeghiayan and Mahdessian failed to produce any record of charitable activity or disclose their ties to the nonprofits, according to court documents.

The two are accused of using some of the funds on their own law firm and to pay college tuition for their two children.

Nguyen writes for Times Community News.

andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_Truc
President Trumps vow to crack down on sanctuary cities that protect immigrants in the U.S. illegally has met with resolve, at least so far, in some California communities.

Details about Trumps crackdown remain unclear. Trump on Wednesday signed two executive orders designed to begin building a border wall with Mexico, add lockups for detaining immigrants who cross the border illegally, enhance enforcement powers for border agents and strip federal funding to cities that refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement.

According to a draft document reviewed by The Times, under the new order, the federal government would threaten to withhold funds from cities that limit cooperation with immigration officials.

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More than 400 jurisdictions across the country have some sort of sanctuary policy, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and about 40 others in California.

Several smaller towns in Los Angeles County have declared themselves sanctuary cities, and now leaders of those municipalities are wondering how Trumps orders will affect them.

More than a year ago, Cudahy, a small working-class town southeast of downtown Los Angeles, declared itself a sanctuary city to encourage immigrants without legal status to cooperate with police.

It was a symbolic gesture to say: Youre here already. Youre free to live your lives, and you can call police, said City Councilman Cristian Markovich.

Markovich said the policy has no legal teeth because it doesnt supersede federal law. He said there might be some cooperation with federal authorities, such as police turning over immigrants in the country illegally who commit serious violent crimes.

Markovich said he would oppose any Trump plans to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities.

We pay our fair share, and that funding should go to the city regardless of whether the city is a sanctuary city or not, Markovich said.

He said one way the city could be affected would be the withholding of funds from the Community Development Block Grant program, which is used for parks and public housing.

Im going to stick to my guns and say this is a good piece of policy for our city, Markovich said.

In 2006, the 1-square-mile town of Maywood declared itself a sanctuary city.

It became second nature, Mayor Pro Tem Eduardo De La Riva said. It wasnt a topic of discussion because California became so progressive over the years, it was sort of the norm.

But ever since Trump entered the national stage and because of his rhetoric, more cities became sanctuary cities and it once again came to the spotlight, and now were having to ask, What does it mean to be a sanctuary city?  he said.

De La Riva, who was not on the City Council when Maywood declared itself a sanctuary city, said the city doesnt plan to abandon the policy.

California is going to fight Trump all the way and thats great to have the support from state leadership.  Maywood Mayor Pro Tem Eduardo De La Riva

Were going to wait and see what the executive order states, and then were going to have a discussion on what that means for Maywood moving forward, he said. California is going to fight Trump all the way, and thats great to have the support from state leadership. I think were sending a clear message when you have several of the largest cities also saying were going to take a stance.

Sanctuary policies have become good politics in cities with large Latino populations. But the protections cities afford vary widely.

There is no neat definition of sanctuary city, but in general, cities that adopt the designation seek to offer political support or practical protections to people who are in the country illegally.

For some cities, the sanctuary movement consists simply of encouraging people without legal status to get more involved in government. For instance, Huntington Park has never declared itself a sanctuary city but appointed two people without legal status to a city commission, a move that generated national attention.

Other places, such as San Francisco, adopt far-reaching policies, such as taking steps to cut ties with federal immigration officials and refusing to fully cooperate with them. San Francisco declared itself a sanctuary city in 1989, and city officials strengthened the stance in 2013 with its Due Process for All ordinance. The law declared that local authorities could not keep immigrants in custody to be handed over to federal immigration officials if they had no violent felonies on their records and did not currently face charges.

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank that advocates for restrictions on immigration, said cutting off funding to sanctuary cities was a long time coming.

Money talks, she said. But there probably will be some die-hards who will continue to play chicken on this, and they may face other consequences, such as litigation.

She said it would behoove Trump to expand the types of funding that could be cut off, possibly to include Department of Homeland Security funding.

Inside Express Coin Laundry in Maywood, clothes whirled inside washers and dryers, while President Trump spun in the minds of some customers at the laundromat.

Among them was Hector Cruz, 25, a Mexican national whose newborn son slept in an infant car seat.

Im afraid of immigration raids, Cruz said, peeking over at his son. Im worried of being separated from family.

ALSO

Read a draft copy of President Trumps executive order on immigration and refugees

Federal agents are reinvestigating Syrian refugees in U.S. who may have slipped through vetting lapse

Trumps crackdown on illegal immigration leaves a lot unanswered for sanctuary cities like L.A.

UPDATES:

2:51 p.m.: This article was updated with more reaction from Maywood.

12:15 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from the Center for Immigration Studies.

This article was originally published at 12:05 p.m.
Bakersfield police shot and killed a man Tuesday night who authorities said pointed a gun at officers as they ran after him.

The shooting occurred about 7:05 p.m. after police tried to stop a motorist who they thought was an attempted murder suspect, according to Sgt. Gary Carruesco, a spokesman for the Bakersfield Police Department. The motorist didnt stop and drove away, he said.

At least one patrol cruiser chased the vehicle until it crashed near the intersection of Alta Vista and Niles streets. The man got out of the wrecked vehicle and ran away, Carruesco said. Two officers ran after him.

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During the foot pursuit, one officer believed the suspect pointed a gun at him, but does not know if the suspect fired, he said.

Thats when the other officer shot at the suspect several times, striking him, according to Carruesco. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

On Wednesday, police identified the man as Antonio Garcia, 27, of Bakersfield.

Authorities said he was the same person they were looking for in the attempted murder case.

In that Dec. 23 incident, the victim was shot once at a hotel in the 1600 block of Union Avenue and survived.

Garcia was also wanted in connection with a domestic battery incident that occurred on Dec. 31 at the hotel, police said.

Police found a gun at the scene, but they dont know if it belonged to Garcia, he said.

Police plan to examine the gun found in Tuesdays shooting to determine if it was fired at officers, he said.

The officer who shot Garcia has been placed on leave, which is routine procedure for the department. The officer will remain on leave pending a review the departments critical incident review board.

Tuesdays police shooting comes just weeks after a Bakersfield police officer shot and killed 73-year-old Francisco Serna, a grandfather suffering from the stages of early dementia.

That Dec. 12 shooting sparked public outrage and calls from Sernas family for a federal investigation.

Police had been called to Sernas quiet Bakersfield neighborhood after a resident erroneously reported that a man had menaced two women with a gun. Serna exited his home when police arrived.

After one of the women identified Serna as the threatening man, officers ordered him to take his hands out of his pockets, but he refused, police said.

The officer, identified as Reagan Selman, fired seven rounds, striking Serna five times.

When police searched Sernas body, they didnt find a gun. Instead, police said they found a crucifix.

Selman and the six other officers involved in the incident were placed on administrative leave.

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter.

ALSO

Man found dead under snowbank outside his home near Lake Tahoe

California sanctuary cities vow to stand firm despite Trump threats of funding cutoff

Glendale lawyers are accused of embezzling Armenian genocide survivor benefits

UPDATES:

5:05 p.m.: This article was updated with the suspect identified as Antonio Garcia.

This article was originally published at 2:40 p.m.
The city of Glendora will provide funds for the trapping and euthanization of three coyotes that attacked a leashed dog in a housing development tract this week, city officials said in a statement.

Officials said a Glendora resident was walking her mastiff on a leash near Snapdragon Lane and Elderberry Drive at around 8:15 a.m. Tuesday. The former Monrovia Nursery location is now the construction site for La Colina Estates, a development consisting of 121 single-family homes.

As the dog and its owner were walking, a coyote attacked the dog seemingly without reason, according to a city statement, and two other coyotes joined in.

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The coyotes were fended off by the resident, who threw rocks at the three coyotes, and a witness who assisted by clapping her hands and yelling at the coyotes, the statement said.

The dog suffered minor puncture wounds to his neck and will be examined by a veterinarian and quarantined pending the results of blood tests, city officials said. The dog is expected to make a full recovery.

The coyote encounter was investigated by the Glendora Police Department along with the Inland Valley Humane Society, and the California Department of Fish & Wildlife has been notified, according to the city.

As a result of this incident occurring in broad daylight, with a large pet and a human in close proximity, the City of Glendora has decided it is necessary to take reactive action, officials said.

The city has contracted with a professional trapping company that will trap and euthanize the animals. The traps, which are designed so that they will not harm unintended wildlife, will be deployed Wednesday near the site of the attack and in other locations determined by the trapping company, officials said.

The city has asked residents to report coyote sightings to the Glendora Police Department at 626-914-8250.

hailey.branson@latimes.com

Twitter: @haileybranson

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A knife-wielding man was arrested Tuesday after setting his familys home on fire following a violent dispute with relatives over a cigarette, police said.

Richard Garcia, 58, was taken into custody on suspicion of arson and assault with a deadly weapon, according to Lt. Joe Gomez, a spokesman for the Fresno Police Department.

When police were initially called to the home at 11:45 a.m., officers thought they were dealing with a family disturbance, he said. But as officers drove to the home in the 1100 block of West Lansing Way, they learned the home was on fire.

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Officers arrived to find Garcia sitting on the porch of the home with a knife in his hands as flames spread through the residence behind him, Gomez said. Garcia had cuts on his legs and hands because he had been slicing himself with the knife, police said.

During this period, Garcia claimed he started the fire to kill those people, but he would not say who he was talking about in the residence, the lieutenant said.

Soon after, firefighters arrived and put out the blaze.

As officers investigated the fire, they discovered Garcia had attacked his family earlier that day over a cigarette his brother-in-law had given him, Gomez said. The family lives together at the Fresno home.

Garcia was upset because he felt the cigarette was inadequate, he said.

Police said he struck his brother-in-law in the head and hit his sister with a crowbar. According to the lieutenant, Garcia then grabbed a hammer and hit them.

After hitting them with the crowbar and hammer, Gomez said, Garcia picked up a kitchen knife and chased them around the home.

The couple ran into separate rooms when Garcia started the fire, he said.

Unbeknownst to Garcia, both victims escaped the residence before Garcia started the fire, Gomez said. The male victim climbed out a bedroom window and the female victim ran out the front door of the house as Garcia ran into the kitchen.

Authorities said they dont know how Garcia started the fire.

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter.

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The artist responsible for the Hollyweed sign prank now has his sights set on President Trump.

On Saturday, Zachary Cole Fernandez hung a large sign with the word IMPEACH scrawled in blue and red paint over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Under the bulky letters, YOURE FIRED! was written in smaller print.

I think the message there is pretty clear, the Pomona artist told The Times.

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Fernandezs public displays have gained him attention around the globe. Calling himself Jesus Hands, he has claimed responsibility for altering the Hollywood sign to read Hollyweed on New Years Day. A week later, he was arrested by Los Angeles Police Department on suspicion of trespassing. The sign was not damaged.

The prank, according to Fernandez, was intended to pay homage to Daniel Finegood, a Cal State Northridge student who pulled off the same act on New Years Day in 1976.

Fernandez said the latest stunt was created to bring about some emotion and conversation about Trumps presidency and to get people to start thinking about impeachment.

I dont know if very many people know that is possible, he said.

Days before the stunt, Fernandez said he and artist Joey Colombo worked on creating the sign and planning out their mission. In an act of solidarity, Fernandez said he wanted the signs hanging to coincide with the womens march.

As the San Francisco streets filled with thousands of people gathered for the march, Fernandez strapped himself into climbing gear, scaled the Golden Gate Bridge and hung over the side of the massive structure.

Within minutes, Fernandez had fastened a large vertical piece of white cloth onto the center steel beams. He quickly pulled his weight back onto the bridge, glancing down a few times, he said.

It was definitely an adrenaline rush, he said.

Fernandez said he didnt stick around much longer because he headed back home to see his children.

The artist says the latest stunt is one of many he has planned this year in California and across the U.S.

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter.

ALSO

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No charges against LAPD officers who shot and killed Ezell Ford, D.A. says

L.A. lawmakers approve 16-story apartment tower near Beverly Center after three-month City Hall drama
Authorities are investigating the death of a man whose body was discovered under a snowbank outside his home near Lake Tahoe, officials said.

The body of Todd Michael Borchardt, 49, was found buried under a pile of snow in his driveway Tuesday morning after Placer County sheriffs deputies found his car in a market parking lot more than a mile away.

The car had been reported abandoned earlier Tuesday and was covered in snow and had no tracks or footprints around it, authorities said. After determining the car was registered to Borchardt, deputies went to his home to investigate.

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His dogs were inside barking and deputies found his cellphone and wallet, officials said. Neighbors told the deputies that they hadnt seen him for a few days and were concerned.

Finding no other signs of Borchardt, deputies called in North Tahoe firefighters to help with the search around the property.

Soon after, Borchardts body was found under a pile of snow near his driveway. No foul play is suspected and the cause of death has yet to be determined, sheriffs officials said.

Homewood, a community on the west side of Lake Tahoe, has been slammed by blustery winter storms over the last three weeks, along with the entire Sierra Nevada. National Weather Service data shows temperatures there havent climbed above 30 degrees since Jan. 18.

The storms have triggered a host of fatal car crashes and at least two deaths from falling trees, along with uncounted power outages, road closures, floods and white-outs.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.
The Los Angeles City Council took the final step Tuesday toward putting what has become an increasingly controversial measure on the May ballot that, if passed by voters, could give civilians a greater role in disciplining the citys police officers.

The councils unanimous approval of the ballot measures language came shortly after lawmakers agreed to conduct a deeper analysis of the LAPDs complicated, often-criticized disciplinary system and to hold public meetings on the issue.

City Council President Herb Wesson, who introduced both the ballot measure and the proposal for a broader review of discipline, said he hoped Tuesday would mark the start of a very serious conversation about not only the disciplinary system but the relationship between police and the public.

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That relationship needs to get better, he told reporters after the vote. I hope that this is the beginning of something really big.

Voters will now be asked in May whether the City Charter should be amended so LAPD officers facing serious discipline could have their cases heard by an all-civilian panel. Under the current system, the disciplinary hearings  known formally as Board of Rights panels  are made up of two high-ranking officers and only one civilian.

Offering all-civilian boards would mark perhaps the most significant change to the LAPDs disciplinary system in decades  one that has long been sought by the union representing some 9,800 rank-and-file officers.

But talk of the ballot measure, which was supported by Mayor Eric Garcetti, drew criticism from several community groups and LAPD observers. Although they welcomed a top-to-bottom examination  and larger overhaul  of the disciplinary system, many consider simply adding more civilians to the panels the wrong approach.

Four groups  the Community Coalition, the American Civil Liberties Union, Los Angeles Community Action Network and the L.A. branch of the Black Lives Matter movement  have led the opposition and voiced concerns again just minutes before Tuesdays vote.

The coalition argued that the qualification requirements for the civilians who sit on the disciplinary boards unfairly exclude the vast majority of Angelenos. To be eligible to sit on a panel, a civilian must have spent seven years as a professional mediator or arbitrator, or have similar experience in another job, such as human relations.

Some opponents of the ballot measure accused the union of looking for softer punishments for officers, pointing to a city analysis that showed that civilian members were consistently more lenient than their sworn counterparts and frequently voted to acquit officers or dole out lesser punishments.

They urged council members to hold off on the ballot measure until the public could be consulted about broader changes to the disciplinary process. Representatives from Black Lives Matter and the Community Action Network said their groups warned lawmakers that they would not support the measure.

Take your time. Listen to us. Dont do this now, said Greg Akili, a longtime activist and member of Black Lives Matter.

Karren Lane, vice president of policy for the Community Coalition, said after Tuesdays vote that she believed the planned public discussions about the disciplinary process would lead to a more fruitful outcome that truly achieves justice and transparency. She said in a statement that she hoped the council has the political will to implement reforms suggested by the public.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck has also expressed reservations about removing sworn officers from the disciplinary panels. In a statement issued Tuesday, a department spokesman said Beck fully supports the councils community-based efforts to reform an antiquated disciplinary system.

The current system has taken disciplinary decisions out of the hands of the chief of police for many years, and improvements to ensure fairness, consistency, transparency and appropriate checks and balances are long overdue, spokesman Josh Rubenstein said.

Under the current system, Beck must send any officer he wants to fire to a Board of Rights hearing. If the panel determines the officer is guilty of the accusations, it then recommends whether to fire the officer or assign a lesser penalty, such as a suspension. The chief can accept or reduce the punishment but not increase its severity.

Officials with the police union contend that the boards can be unfairly swayed by favoritism within the department  or by the chiefs influence over the two officers who sit on each panel. Civilians can look at the cases more objectively, they argue, without pressure from the police chief.

Those that are attacking this ballot measure are actually attacking additional participation by the residents of Los Angeles in how their police department is run, and thats unfortunate, said the unions president, Craig Lally, in a statement after Tuesdays vote.

The community meetings, Lally added, will allow the public to see just how extensive and robust the current civilian oversight of the department is and how this ballot measure will expand that civilian oversight.

Wesson acknowledged the concerns during his remarks on the council floor but reaffirmed his support of what he described as citizen participation in policing. If leniency from civilians on the disciplinary panels is a concern, he said, then its time to reevaluate how those civilians are selected. But the ballot measure, he said, offers the first step toward change.

I believe that once we open this door, it will be easier for us to open it again and again if we want to make additional changes, he said. Is this perfect? No. Is it flawed? Yes. But I do believe that its a step in the right direction.

Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.

kate.mather@latimes.com

@katemather
A 28-year-old who went missing over the weekend in Los Angeles has been found safe, police said Wednesday.

Laura Lynne Stacy went missing Sunday and had last been seen in the 3600 block of Barham Boulevard in the Hollywood Hills, according to the LAPD.

Her car was found Tuesday night on a remote Lancaster street by a tow truck driver and several pieces of clothing were found inside, according to KCBS-TV.

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Her phone was found about 30 miles away in a puddle of water at Golden Valley Park in Santa Clarita, her family told KTLA-TV.

Stacy moved to L.A. from Denver a few months ago to pursue her interests in real estate and photography, family members told KTLA. They said she is typically in contact with them.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno

hailey.branson@latimes.com

Twitter: @haileybranson

ALSO

Aspiring actor dies in suicide streamed on Facebook, days after he was arrested in alleged sex crime

No charges against LAPD officers who shot and killed Ezell Ford, D.A. says

How Scientologys neighborhood in L.A. voted for Trump

Artist responsible for Hollyweed prank strikes again. This time against Trump

UPDATES:

3:15 p.m.: This article was updated with police reports that Stacy was found safe.

Jan. 25, 7:50 a.m.: This article was updated with police reporting that Stacys vehicle has been found.

This article was originally published on Jan. 24 at 11:05 p.m.
A series of messages from Death Valley National Parks official Twitter feed set off a flurry of social media activity Wednesday when users assumed the posts were meant to be taken as commentary on President Trump.

The three posts Wednesday morning addressed internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and appeared hours after news broke that Trump was mulling a ban on the admission of Syrian refugees and restrictions on travel from several majority-Muslim nations.

During WWII Death Valley hosted 65 endangered internees after the #Manzanar Riot. #JapaneseAmericanInternment the first Death Valley NP tweet read.

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During WWII Death Valley hosted 65 endangered internees after the #Manzanar Riot. #JapaneseAmericanInternment  Death Valley NP (@DeathValleyNPS) January 25, 2017

Next, the park tweeted: We want the opportunity they have to prove their loyalty. We are asked to accept a denial of that privilege in the name of patriotism. The post also included a clearly vintage black-and-white photo of a man.

"We want the opportunity they have to prove their loyalty. We are asked to accept a denial of that privilege in the name of patriotism." pic.twitter.com/4JedTyfX57  Death Valley NP (@DeathValleyNPS) January 25, 2017

A third tweet a few minutes later revealed the name of the man in the photo.

Togo Tanaka: interned at Manzanar and Cow Creek (Death Valley) during WWII #JapaneseAmericanInternment, the tweet read.

The posts were retweeted and liked thousands of times in just a few hours. People replied to the tweets with comments like resist, and truth to power.

But park officials Tuesday insisted that the tweets were not politically motivated.

In an email to The Times, Death Valley National Park spokeswoman Abby Wines explained what was going on behind the scenes.

I just spoke with the park employee that made those posts. She has been doing ranger talks here in the park about the Manzanar internees that were relocated to Death Valley since 2012. She said shes done tweets about this topic on and off over the last few years. This is part of the parks history, and there is no further motivation than that, Wines said.

She also addressed the huge response on social media.

There have been an unusually large number of comments and shares of these tweets. This appears to be because people believe that the NPS is not allowed to tweet anymore. That is not the case. There was a temporary ban. That has been lifted, and parks have been reminded to focus on park information and public safety messages. These tweets are consistent with that.

The posts came a day after Badlands National Park in South Dakota tweeted climate change facts then deleted them.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.

ALSO

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Heavy storms that hammered California over the weekend have been linked to at least five deaths, including that of a couple who vanished in turbulent waters off the Central Coast and a motorist who plunged into a creek in Northern California.

On Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard in San Francisco was dispatched to Pebble Beach, where a frantic search was underway for a man and woman who vanished about 75 feet from the coastline about 10 a.m., authorities said.

Crews were able to rescue a third person  a 26-year-old man  whom they found on some rocks nearby. But they were unable to locate the missing pair amid steadily worsening weather conditions, the Coast Guard said.

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Rough seas battered much of the California coast throughout the weekend with waves as high as 30 feet in some areas. At the same time, a fierce Pacific storm dumped snow and rain across the state.

The search was called off Saturday night. The missing people were described only as Chinese nationals who were in their 50s.

As Coast Guard crews were searching for the missing couple, authorities in Alameda County began searching for the driver of a car that reportedly plunged into Alameda Creek.

According to the California Highway Patrol, a driver crashed into another vehicle about 10:45 a.m. while driving on California 84 near Niles Canyon Road. After crashing, the womans vehicle became submerged in the raging and abnormally high creek.

The CHP did not publicly identify the woman, but said she was an 18-year-old from Tracy.

First responders located a vehicle in the creek 100 to 200 feet from the crash site. By late afternoon Tuesday, they were still struggling to remove the vehicle but determined that the driver was no longer inside. They found an unfastened drivers side seat belt and smashed windows.

State water officials plan to slow the creeks flow for the afternoon in hopes of helping the operation, Alameda County sheriffs officials said, but the water will be released by nightfall.

In Bakersfield, authorities Tuesday found a body inside a white SUV submerged in the Arvin-Edison Canal. Police and fire officials are working to determine if the remains are those of a woman who went missing Monday morning after her car was seen going into the canal during heavy rain.

In a fifth death, possibly related to the storm, a submerged body was pulled from heavy vegetation Monday at Machado Lake at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park in Los Angeles.

A family at the lake told officers that a man who was with them was swept away by powerful currents and didnt make it out Sunday, said Officer Mike Lopez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department. The family identified him as Luis Jose Garcia, 51, of Los Angeles, he said.

A helicopter search Sunday failed to locate the missing man. But as lake waters receded Monday, the remains of a person were spotted submerged in heavy vegetation.

The body has since been recovered, but authorities have not said whether it is the missing man.

The fatalities are just the latest in what has become a very stormy and deadly winter in the Golden State. At least three motorists died after losing control of their cars amid stormy conditions in previous storms, and one woman was killed by a tree that fell on her amid high winds.

Additional storms are forecast next month and a frost advisory was issued for Los Angeles from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ALSO

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UPDATES:

6:30 p.m.: This article has been updated with information about a fifth storm-related death.

This article was originally published at 3:35 p.m.
California is regaining responsibility for providing medical care at San Quentin State Prison because of improving conditions there.

The receiver appointed by a federal court, J. Clark Kelso, announced Wednesday that he has returned those operations at the states oldest prison to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Its the 10th of Californias 34 prisons to be released from federal control as the state slowly makes progress toward improving conditions for inmates.

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A federal judge says the state must successfully operate all the prisons for a year before he considers ending a long-running class-action lawsuit concerning inmate healthcare.

San Quentin was built in 1852 by inmates who slept on a prison ship anchored in San Francisco Bay. It now has more than 3,800 inmates, including Californias death row.
Charlie Liteky, an Army chaplain in Vietnam who was awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing more than 20 wounded men but later gave it back in protest and became a peace activist, has died.

Liteky died Friday at the Veterans Administration Hospital in San Francisco, said longtime friend Richard Olive. He was 85.

Liteky was awarded the nations highest military decoration for his actions on Dec. 6, 1967, when his company came under intense fire from an enemy battalion in Bien Hoa province. Despite painful wounds in the neck and foot, Liteky carried more than 20 men to the landing zone to be evacuated during the fierce firefight.

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Noticing another trapped and seriously wounded man, Chaplain Liteky crawled to his aid, the Armys official citation reads. Realizing that the wounded man was too heavy to carry, he rolled on his back, placed the man on his chest and through sheer determination and fortitude crawled back to the landing zone using his elbows and heels to push himself along.

Liteky left the priesthood and in 1983 married former Catholic nun and peace activist Judy Balch in San Francisco. His wife introduced him to refugees from El Salvador, teenagers, whose fathers had been killed and tortured. I didnt believe it, but I kept going to more and more of these meetings and it became clear these people werent blowing in the wind, Liteky told the San Francisco Chronicle in a March 2000 interview.

Nearly 20 years after his heroic actions in Vietnam, Liteky left the Medal of Honor  awarded under the name of Angelo J. Liteky  and a letter to President Reagan at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington in protest of the countrys foreign policy in Central America, where U.S.-backed dictators were fighting bloody wars against left-leaning rebels.

After that, Liteky spent years protesting against the U.S. Army School of the Americas, an academy at Fort Benning, Ga., where the U.S. Army trained soldiers from Central and South America and the Caribbean. He was sentenced to one year in federal prison in 2000 for entering the school without permission and splashing its rotunda with blood.

In 2003, he traveled to Baghdad with other peace protesters to bear witness to the war and work with children in an orphanage and at hospitals.

Olive said Saturday that he remembers Liteky for his humility. It was three years after I met Charlie and bonded a fast friendship that I learned he was a Medal of Honor recipient when Liteky told him about his plans to renounce the medal, Olive said.
Comfortably single and unafraid to stand up to her gruff newsroom boss, Mary Richards splashed onto television screens at a time when feminism was still putting down roots in America, a woman who charged through the working day with equal parts humor and raw independence.

Mary Tyler Moores character charmed TV watchers, earned the actress Emmy nominations and became a potent symbol of womanhood in the 1970s. The actress and her television character became so entwined that Moore became a role model for women who sought to challenge the conventions of marriage and family.

She wasnt married. She wasnt looking to get married. At no point did the series end in a happy ending with her finding a husband  which seemed to be the course you had to take as a woman, former First Lady Michelle Obama said in an interview in August. As a young girl, Obama said, she drew inspiration from the character.

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Moore died Wednesday in Greenwich, Conn. from cardiopulmonary arrest after being hospitalized with pneumonia. She was 80.

In a career that began as Happy Hotpoint, the dancing and singing 3-inch pixie in Hotpoint appliance commercials on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet in 1955 when she was 18, Moore went on to star in television and films and on Broadway.

In 1981, she received an Academy Award nomination for best actress for her portrayal of the emotionally cold mother in Ordinary People, the Robert Redford-directed drama about an upper-middle-class family dealing with the death of a teen-age son in a boating accident and the attempted suicide of their surviving son.

In a statement Wednesday, Redford said he admired Moore for taking such a role.

The courage she displayed in taking on a role darker than anything she had ever done was brave and enormously powerful, he said.

The unsympathetic, nearly-bloodless role was a departure for Moore, who remains best-known for her light and sunny touch in two classic situation comedies that together earned her six Emmy Awards.

Moore was still largely unknown when she was cast as Laura Petrie, the suburban housewife and mother of a young son opposite Dick Van Dykes TV comedy writer husband Rob on The Dick Van Dyke Show.

1 / 14 Mary Tyler Moore cemented her status as one of the great television actresses of all time with two timeless hits: The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.



Moore was born in 1936 in Brooklyn Heights, but her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 8 years old. As a teenager, she aspired to be a dancer and appeared in several commercials at the beginning of her career. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 14 Mary Tyler Moore arrives at the Emmy Awards in 2001. (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 14 Mary Tyler Moore accepts her Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award during the 18th SAG Awards show at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in 2012. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 14 Mary Tyler Moore attends the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in 2008. (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press) 5 / 14 Academy Award-nominated film and Emmy Award-winning television actress Mary Tyler Moore poses during a 1979 photo portrait session in Los Angeles. (George Rose / Getty Images) 6 / 14 Mary Tyler Moore appears with her then-husband, Grant Tinker, at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in 1966. (David Smith / Associated Press) 7 / 14 Moore auditioned to play Danny Thomas  daughter on The Danny Thomas Show but didnt land the part. However, Thomas later remembered her and recommended her for a role on another sitcom he was producing,  The Dick Van Dyke Show , based on creator Carl Reiner s time as a comedy writer for Your Show of Shows. When Moore joined the series, playing Laura Petrie, the wife of Dick Van Dyke s Rob Petrie, she was just 23 years old -- 11 years younger than Van Dyke. The role made Moore a star and earned her two Emmy Awards. (CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images) 8 / 14 Mary Tyler Moore and then-husband Grant Tinker appear at a Hollywood event in 1966. (Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images) 9 / 14 Moore got her second sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in 1970. Moore played Mary Richards, a single TV news producer in Minneapolis, in this popular and critically acclaimed sitcom that ran for seven seasons. The series made stars of many people in its supporting cast, including Betty White , Ed Asner , Valerie Harper and Cloris Leachman . The final episode, which aired in 1977, featured the entire cast gathering for a hug and then slowly shuffling off camera together, still in hug formation. (CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images) 10 / 14 In 1969, Moore founded her own production company, which produced The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-offs, Rhoda, shown, and Phyllis, as well as many other TV series in the 1970s and 80s, including The Bob Newhart Show, WKRP in Cincinnati and Hill Street Blues. She also owned a record label, MTM Records, which specialized in country music. (CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images) 11 / 14 Former President Clinton leans in to chat with Mary Tyler Moore, the Rev. Billy Graham and Lauren Bacall at the 75th anniversary gala for Time magazine at New Yorks Radio City Music Hall on March 3, 1998. (Sonia Moskowitz / Associated Press) 12 / 14 Moore has written two memoirs about her life. In the first, published in 1995, she revealed that she was a recovering alcoholic. In the second, published in 2009, she talked about living with Type 1 diabetes . She also served as the international chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. (Evan Agostini / Getty Images) 13 / 14 In 2000, Moore testified before Congress, along with actor Michael J. Fox , on behalf of stem cell research. In addition to her diabetes and stem cell work, she co-founded Broadway Barks, a New York City animal adoption event, and founded a center for Civil War studies in a house in West Virginia once owned by her great-grandfather and Maj. Gen. Thomas Stonewall Jackson. (Kamenko Pajic / Associated Press) 14 / 14 Mary Tyler Moore accepts her Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award from Dick Van Dyke at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Jan. 29, 2012. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The acclaimed sitcom, which aired on CBS from 1961 to 1966, earned Moore her first two Emmys and made her a star.

Her Capri-pants-wearing Laura brought something new to the traditional sitcom role of wife and mother: youthful sex appeal.

As Carl Reiner, the series creator, said of Rob and Laura in a 2004 TV Guide interview: These were two people who really liked each other.

Moore agreed, saying: We brought romance to comedy, and, yes, Rob and Laura had sex!

Van Dyke often praised Moores abilities as a comedic actress  one who has been credited with turning crying into a comedic art form and memorably got her toe stuck in a hotel room bathtub faucet in one episode.

She was one of the few who could maintain her femininity and be funny at the same time, Van Dyke said in a 1998 interview with the Archive of American Television. You have to go as far back as Carole Lombard or Myrna Loy to find someone who could play it that well and still be tremendously appealing as a woman.

After the Van Dyke show ended in 1966, Moore starred as Holly Golightly in a problem-plagued Broadway musical version of Breakfast at Tiffanys that producer David Merrick closed after four previews in New York.

Moore also played Julie Andrews roommate in the hit flapper-era comedy-musical movie Thoroughly Modern Millie in 1967. But her budding film career, which included playing a nun opposite Elvis Presleys ghetto doctor in Change of Habit, was less than stellar.

She was reunited with Van Dyke in a 1969 musical-variety TV special, a critical and ratings success that spurred CBS to offer her a commitment to do her own half-hour comedy series.

Moore and her second husband, TV executive Grant Tinker, created MTM Enterprises, their own independent TV production company, whose logo  in a takeoff on MGMs roaring lion  was a meowing orange kitten.

Tinker hired writers James L. Brooks and Allan Burns to create and produce The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which debuted on CBS in 1970 and made TV history.

The series, featuring Moore as Mary Richards, a single woman in her 30s who lands a job as an associate producer in a Minneapolis TV newsroom, won 29 Emmys during its seven-year run.

Four of those Emmys went to Moore, whose character became a symbol of the independent 1970s career woman.

As Ed Asners lovably gruff and rumpled Lou Grant tells her when she applies for a job in the newsroom at WJM-TV: You know what? Youve got spunk. I hate spunk.

Ellen DeGeneres, who later invited Moore to play herself in several episodes of the sitcom Ellen, said she was an admirer of both Moore and her alter ego. Mary Tyler Moore changed the world for all women, she tweeted after Moores death became public.

In the wake of the success of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the MTM empire grew to include series such as The Bob Newhart Show, Rhoda, Lou Grant, Remington Steele, WKRP in Cincinnati, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere.

After The Mary Tyler Moore Show left the air in 1977, Moore failed with two TV comedy variety shows within the next two years.

But she scored on Broadway, winning a special Tony Award in 1980 for her performance as the quadriplegic lead character in the Broadway revival of Whose Life Is It Anyway?  a part originally written for a man.

In 1993, Moore won her seventh Emmy, for her supporting role as the ruthless owner of a 1940s Tennessee adoption agency in the Lifetime cable drama Stolen Babies.

Her two returns to the sitcom format in the mid- and late 80s  Mary and Annie McGuire  were short-lived, as was the 1995 newspaper drama New York News, on which she played the autocratic editor of a tabloid newspaper.

In the years after The Mary Tyler Moore Show, she dealt with a series of personal problems and tragedies.

In 1978, her younger sister, Elizabeth, died of a drug overdose. In 1980, Richie, her 24-year-old son from her first marriage, fatally shot himself in what was ruled an accident. And in 1992, Moores brother John, a recovering alcoholic, died after a long battle with kidney cancer.

In the mid-80s, Moore checked into the Betty Ford Center to seek treatment for alcoholism.

In a 1986 interview with Macleans magazine, Moore said: I am glad I was able to be a kind of role model for other women who identified with my ladylike qualities, who were then able to say, Well, if Mary can admit she had a problem with alcohol, then maybe I can too. 

Asner said he treasured the years he worked alongside Moore.

I will never be able to repay her for the blessings that she gave me, he said in a tweet.

Moore was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn on Dec. 29, 1936. Her father was a clerk for Consolidated Edison who worked at the Southern California Gas Co. after the family moved to Los Angeles in 1945.

Moore began taking dance classes while in grade school and appeared in recitals. She continued to take dance lessons and perform through her years at Immaculate Heart High School, where she dreamed of dancing her way to stardom.

In her autobiography, Moore described her strict Catholic father as undemonstrative and her more fun-loving mother as an alcoholic. As a result, Moore spent half the time living with her parents and the other half living with her aunt and grandmother.

It was not an ideal home life, she said in a 1999 interview with the Ottawa Citizen, noting that, even if her mom and dad werent the best of parents, they had the best sense of humor.

Thank God, I was not abused in any way, but I was seeking approval of some sort, in many different ways, she said. For me, it turned out to be a pat on the back for entertaining people.

She was 18 and five months from graduating from high school in 1955 when she met 27-year-old Dick Meeker, an Ocean Spray cranberry products salesman, who had moved into a small apartment in the house next door to her parents home.

They were married two months after she graduated, and their son Richie was born the following year.

As a working mother, Moore found jobs dancing in the chorus of The Eddie Fisher Show and other TV variety shows, and appeared in commercials.

Her first regular acting role came in 1959 when she played Sam, the sultry-voiced telephone operator on the David Janssen TV series Richard Diamond, Private Detective  an uncredited role in which no more than her legs or an extreme close-up of her mouth were seen on screen.

Publicity for the show played up the mysterious Sam. But, Moore wrote in her book, when she asked for more money, she was replaced by another anonymous actress after 13 episodes.

After her stint as Sam, Moore played small parts in TV series such as 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Bourbon Street Beat and Riverboat.

She auditioned to replace Sherry Jackson as Danny Thomas grown-up daughter on his popular sitcom, but missed landing the part by a nose: her own.

Heres the reason you didnt get the part, she later recalled the famously large-nosed Thomas telling her: With a nose like yours, no one would believe youre my daughter.

Two years later, when Thomas, executive producer Sheldon Leonard and Reiner were looking for someone to play the wife in Van Dykes new TV series, Thomas said: Who was the kid we liked so much last year, the one with the three names and the funny nose?

Moore, whose first marriage ended in divorce in 1961, married Tinker in 1962. They were divorced in 1981. In 1983, she married Dr. Robert Levine, a Manhattan cardiologist.

She was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1969 and later served as the international chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

In 2012, she received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.

McLellan is a former Times staff writer.

news.obits@latimes.com

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UPDATES:

3:45 p.m.: This article was updated with reaction to Moores death.

12:50 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with additional details and background.

This article was originally published at 11:40 a.m.
The U.S. abortion rate has hit its lowest point since the landmark Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court ruling made the procedure legal nationwide in 1973, according to a new study.

Researchers at the Guttmacher Institute, a New York-based think tank that supports legalized abortion, estimated that there were 926,200 abortions in 2014, or 14.6 for every 1,000 women of reproductive age. That was down from a peak of just over 29 out of every 1,000 women in 1980 and 1981.

The institute is considered an authority on the abortion rate, having tracked it since 1973 by conducting a census every few years of all known abortion providers. Its counts do not include abortions done outside medical settings.

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Activists on both sides of the contentious abortion policy debate welcomed the findings but did not agree on what is causing the decline.

Since 1982, abortion rates have dropped steadily, even as public opinion about the procedure has remained relatively consistent. In 2016, 57% of those surveyed by the Pew Research Foundation said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

What do abortion defenders say?

Reproductive rights advocates say the study shows that increased access to family planning services and contraception is paying off, reducing the number of unintended and teen pregnancies.

We dont think its because people are having less sex, said Dr. Diane Horvath-Cosper, an obstetrician with the New York-based group Physicians for Reproductive Health. Its because people are protecting from pregnancy better than they used to.

Research has shown a large increase in the use of intrauterine devices and implants that release hormones  highly effective, long-acting methods that in recent years have become more affordable and been deemed safe for use in adolescent women.

Under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which President Trump and the Republican leadership in Congress have vowed to eliminate and replace, insurers are required to cover a wide variety of contraception methods without charging a copayment or coinsurance. Doctors say that requirement has helped their patients access new methods of contraception or stay on birth control without missing doses.

Women and families are healthier, and people are better able to plan their lives, their families, and their futures, said Amy Rosenfeld, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, in a statement. This report underscores that we need more access to birth control and preventive care, not less.

What do abortion foes say?

Some abortion opponents express reservations about the reports findings because they are based on information provided by physicians who offer abortions.

There is no national abortion reporting law, making it impossible to know the true number of abortions, said Kristi Hamrick, a spokeswoman for Americans United for Life.

The group hopes that there has indeed been a decline in the number of abortions in the U.S. but disputes the reasons offered by abortion rights activists.

The abortion industry wants to claim that the abortion rate may be lower because of another product that they sell  birth control. But birth control is widely available and has been around since the 1950s, Hamrick said in an email.

She pointed instead to a wave of state laws passed over the last five years that imposed increasingly stringent regulations on abortion providers and their patients, including a requirement that women have an ultrasound before undergoing the procedure.

Such pictures are worth more than a thousand words when it comes to helping people understand whose lives are on the line, said the groups acting president, Clarke Forsythe, in a statement.

What do the studys authors say?

The study did not investigate the causes of the decline, but researchers said both greater use of contraception and increased restrictions on abortions may have played a role.

From 2011 through 2015, Guttmacher recorded 288 laws passed in 31 states that limited abortion access for minors, required counseling or a waiting period, imposed regulations on providers or targeted funding for family-planning services, among other restrictive measures.

Abortion restrictions and clinic closures mean that patients may need to travel greater distances to access services, said Rachel Jones, lead author of the study. The majority of abortion patients  75%  are poor or low-income, and nearly two-thirds are already parents. It can be very difficult for them to arrange for time off from work, transportation and child care.

Dr. Daniel Grossman, an obstetrician at UC San Francisco who has studied the effect of abortion laws in Texas, doubts that the decline in abortions in that state has much to do with changes in contraception use.

In 2013, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 2, which made it harder for patients to receive abortion-inducing medications, required abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a local hospital, banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and required all abortions to take place in hospital-like settings known as ambulatory surgical centers. Almost overnight, more than half of the states 41 clinics closed.

Grossman and his colleagues at the Texas Policy Evaluation Project found that, while the total number of abortions in the state dropped after the law took effect, the number performed during the second trimester rose. That suggested to the researchers that women were struggling to find abortion providers, resulting in delays and procedures that are riskier and more expensive.

A colleague of Grossman at UCSF, Diana Greene Foster, says there is zero evidence that laws aimed at changing womens minds  those requiring ultrasounds, waiting periods or counseling, for example  are affecting abortion rates. But clinic closures and gestational limits  those certainly have an effect on women with limited resources, she said.

By 2014, 90% of all U.S. counties  accounting for 39% of women of reproductive age  had no clinic that provided abortions, the study found.

But the majority of the decline in abortions occurred in states that did not have major new restrictions in place. Six states saw increases in the abortion rates: Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina and Vermont.

Foster and other experts credited the Affordable Care Act with making contraception more affordable and convenient. They worry that the abortion rate could rise if Congress, in its effort to repeal the law, does not preserve mandated insurance coverage for birth control.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

Times staff writer Alexandra Zavis contributed to this report.

nina.agrawal@latimes.com

Twitter: @AgrawalNina

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Did you tell Tim Wilson that you, quote, kill a lot? the lawyer asked.

Did I tell Tim Wilson what? Robert Durst replied.

The lawyer repeated the question.

I kill a lot? Durst said. Then he chuckled, repeating: I kill a lot.

It was January 2016, nearly a year after Durst was arrested in New Orleans on weapons charges and a Los Angeles County warrant for the murder of his friend in 2000.

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The eccentric real estate heir and subject of the HBO documentary The Jinx was still being held in a Louisiana prison. Lawyers had come to take his deposition in a civil dispute with Wilson, a private investigator who had worked on his defense team in a different murder case.

Durst, 73, had wanted the three-hour video of the deposition to remain confidential. But last month, a judge ruled that it was not.

This week, Geoffrey Berg, the lawyer who questioned Durst, allowed a reporter for The Times to watch it in his Houston office.

RELATED: Letter to a Times reporter from Robert Durst

Durst wore an orange jumpsuit that hung on his narrow frame, and his eyes darted to attorneys who flanked him at Nelson Coleman Correctional Center in Killona, La., about 35 miles west of New Orleans. He appeared alternately annoyed, amused and bored. He burped and yawned. His voice sounded raspy, even as he sipped and swished water from a Styrofoam cup.

One of his lawyers, Dick DeGuerin, noted that Durst suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, so he is short of breath frequently; he tires easily.

Im deaf in my left ear, so you kind of have to shout a little bit, Durst told his questioner.

He frequently invoked his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination, repeating, I respectfully decline to answer your question.

At times, he appeared disoriented. Where am I at? he asked his attorney. What am I doing?

After Durst told the lawyers, I kill a lot, his questioner pressed him.

Did you say to Tim Wilson, I kill a lot and Im good at it?

When you said to Tim Wilson I kill a lot and Im good at it, you were referring to Susan Berman?

When you said that you, quote, kill a lot to Tim Wilson, did you mean that you had killed Kathy Durst?

After each question, Durst pleaded the 5th.

In a note Durst added to the deposition, he explained that when he said I kill a lot, he was repeating what I believed the attorneys question to me to be in question form, to confirm that I heard it correctly and understood it.

RELATED: New letter from Robert Durst talks of football, opera, but not murder

DeGuerin said in an interview Tuesday that it was a ridiculous question and he was astonished by it.

Dursts statement echoed the pivotal scene in The Jinx, the 2015 six-part series that explored the mysterious disappearance of Dursts first wife in 1982, the killing of his neighbor in Galveston, Texas, and the slaying of his friend, Susan Berman, who was shot to death in her Benedict Canyon home.

What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course, Durst muttered in the final episode while he was off-camera but still wearing a microphone.

The documentary maker, Andrew Jarecki, had been in contact with Los Angeles police and prosecutors, who moved against Durst while the series was still airing.

In March of 2015, the day before the final episode, Durst was arrested at a hotel in New Orleans. After pleading guilty to the federal weapons charges, he was moved to Los Angeles to stand trial in the killing of Berman.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 14 in Los Angeles Superior Court, where lawyers are expected to question two witnesses for the prosecution.

It is the second time Durst has faced murder charges. He was tried in the death of his Galveston neighbor, Morris Black, and acquitted in 2003 despite admitting that he had cut up Blacks body and dumped the parts into Galveston Bay.

Dursts health has often been an issue in his court proceedings. He recently appeared in court in a wheelchair, wearing a neck brace. In New Orleans, prosecutors argued that he suffered from an acute mental health condition that required him to be housed in a special unit in prison. Dursts attorneys described him in court papers as frail but disputed claims of any serious mental condition.

In a jailhouse interview after his most recent arrest, Durst told prosecutors that he was high on methamphetamines during filming of The Jinx, according to court papers released last month.

The newly available deposition did little to clarify why Durst had agreed to participate in the documentary.

Was it important to you that your side of the story be told? his questioner asked.

Durst pleaded the 5th.

Do you know who Andrew Jarecki is?

Yes, I do, Durst said, looking stern. I wish I didnt.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

Twitter: @mollyhf

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It took President Obama most of two terms to decide to reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline. His administration wrestled openly for months before concluding that it would look for alternative routes for the Dakota Access pipeline.

President Trump needed just five days in office to begin trying to reverse both decisions.

When Obama announced in November 2015 that he was rejecting Keystone XL, which would have transported oil from Canadas tar sands to an existing pipeline in the United States, international meetings that would lead to the historic Paris climate accord were just weeks away. The former president made clear that he was concerned about his environmental legacy and the worlds future.

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America is now a global leader when it comes to taking serious action to fight climate change, Obama said at the time. And, frankly, approving this project would have undercut that global leadership.

When Trump announced his executive actions on Tuesday to try to revive the Keystone XL pipeline, which would extend from northern Alberta to Nebraska, as well as the Dakota Access pipeline, which would run through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois, there was no talk of climate change or global environmental leadership.

Among his motives, he told reporters: a lot of jobs.

How momentous either presidents decision was is open to debate. Both the economic and environmental impacts have been greatly overstated at times. Experts note that individual pipeline projects rarely create many long-term jobs. Nor, as standalone projects, do they significantly increase or limit climate change.

Yet both men understand the power of symbolism, and Trumps moves Tuesday made it clear that the days are over when administration officials weighed whether a domestic energy project serves the greater global environmental good. Trumps orders said loudly: America first.

I believe that construction and operation of lawfully permitted pipeline infrastructure serve the national interest, Trump wrote in a memorandum directing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to consider granting the final permit for completion of the $3.8-billion, 1,170-mile Dakota Access pipeline.

Among the problems with Trump casting Keystone XL as a project in service of Americas interests is the fact that it has been proposed by a Canadian company, TransCanada. It would transport Canadian oil into and through the United States, some of it to be exported overseas.

Trump nodded to this by directing the secretary of Commerce to make sure that all major new pipeline projects use materials and equipment produced in the United States, to the maximum extent possible and to the extent permitted by law.

The use of American steel had come up on Monday, when Trump met with several manufacturing and trade union leaders. On Tuesday, some of those groups praised Trumps orders on the pipelines though they said they were unsure what would happen next. They, too, described the moves in terms of American jobs, not Canadian oil or global climate change.

To us, this is a clear symbol that America is open for business, said Ross Eisenberg, vice president of energy and resources policy for the National Assn. of Manufacturers. It is the sign that the manufacturers have been looking for on energy and on everything else.

Native American protesters who have led opposition to the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota vowed Tuesday to continue to fight its construction. And while the Canadian government and TransCanada both praised the decision regarding Keystone XL, the pipeline still faces challenges at the state level should TransCanada apply again to build it.

As soon as they try to, well file the same lawsuit, said Jane Kleeb, president of Bold Alliance, an environmental group based in Nebraska, where property owners sued to stop the taking of property for the pipeline by eminent domain.

It is easy to forget that both projects once appeared headed for approval at different points under the Obama administration  and that Obama once boasted of the rate at which his administration had approved pipelines.

But that was before they became an international symbol of fossil fuel extraction and climate change.

Brigham McCown, who led the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration under President George W. Bush, told reporters Tuesday that, although the nation has 2.6 million miles of oil and gas pipelines, more are needed.

Perhaps we havent done the best job of explaining why pipelines and other energy infrastructure is necessary, McCown said in a conference call organized by supporters of the Dakota Access pipeline.

Many consumers of gas and electricity still do not understand how its delivered, McCown said. I think we have to make folks understand that they cant take this system for granted.

william.yardley@latimes.com

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An outspoken Nebraska state legislator who was fined for having cybersex using a state computer resigned Wednesday after causing further outrage by sending a tweet that implied participants at the Womens March were too unattractive to be victims of sexual assault.

Republican Sen. Bill Kintner announced at a news conference in the state Capitol that he would step down from the seat he has held since 2012. He made the announcement less than an hour before Nebraska lawmakers were scheduled to debate whether to expel him  the first time the Legislature would have taken such an action in recent history.

Kintner, of Papillion, retweeted a comment Sunday by conservative radio personality Larry Elder that mocked three women at the Womens March in Washington who were pictured with signs protesting President Trumps comments about touching women inappropriately. Above the photo, Elder wrote: Ladies, I think youre safe.

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Kintners office later released a statement saying: By retweeting a message, I was not implying support for putting women in fear of their personal safety. I took down the retweet as soon as I became aware that it was being misconstrued.

But even before Kintners Twitter blunder, he was already under scrutiny for his behavior.

The blunt-spoken lawmaker paid a $1,000 fine last year for misuse of state property, after he admitted to engaging in mutual masturbation in July 2015 with a woman using Skype, an online video-chatting service. Kintner reported the transgression to the Nebraska State Patrol after the woman threatened to expose the encounter unless he paid her $4,500.

That scandal drew calls for him to resign from top state officials, including Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, but Kintner refused to bow to the pressure. He even faced threats of impeachment from fellow senators.

Lawmakers said theyve been bombarded with calls, emails and letters this week from constituents outraged by Kintners most recent indiscretion.

Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, Kintners longtime adversary, has called his behavior disgusting and embarrassing for his wife, who works for the governor. He said Kintner must resign.

Kintners history of offensive statements has made even some of his conservative allies cringe.

In 2015, the Nebraska Latino American Commission condemned Kintner for repeatedly using an ethnic slur during a debate concerning allowing drivers licenses for certain youths brought to the country illegally.

Some were bemused and others offended by his 2013 comment to a newspaper, which asked him what he considered the biggest mystery. Kintner responded, Women. No one understands them. They dont even understand themselves.

Kintner, 56, was elected in 2012 to represent a largely rural and suburban district south of Omaha. He was up for reelection in 2018.

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Neil Gorsuch could fall somewhere between his hero, Justice Scalia, and former boss, centrist Justice Kennedy By David Savage Judge Neil M. Gorsuch was resting midway down a Colorado ski slope last year when his cellphone rang with the news that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had died. I immediately lost what breath I had left, Gorsuch recalled in an April speech, and I am not embarrassed to admit that I couldnt see the rest of the way down the mountain for the tears. Now, as President Trumps pick to replace Scalia on the high court, Gorsuch is seen by many on the right as a fitting replacement for the iconic jurist that Gorsuch considered a lion of the law. Like Scalia, Gorsuch, 49, who serves on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, is a well-respected conservative who believes judges should decide cases based on the law as it was understood when passed, not on how they think it should be. Hes a clear, impassioned writer, albeit without Scalias flare for biting sarcasm. But Gorsuch also evokes the qualities of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, for whom Gorsuch worked as a law clerk. (If confirmed, Gorsuch would join three justices who previously clerked on the high court, but he would be the first ever to serve alongside the justice he or she worked for.) Like Kennedy, 80, Gorsuch is a Westerner with a polite, congenial manner who at times has won praise from liberals. He may be more conservative than Kennedy when it comes to expanding individual rights, but he seems to lack Scalias fervor for overturning liberal precedents from decades past. Which way Gorsuch skews could be pivotal for the future of the court. Conservatives clearly hope hell be more like Scalia than Kennedy, a centrist swing vote who has often joined liberals on issues such as gay marriage and abortion. Some conservatives have even expressed hope that Gorsuchs personal history with Kennedy might enable him to draw the Reagan-appointee back toward the right. Read More Facebook

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Trump chooses Neil Gorsuch, a conservative seen as likely to be confirmed, for Supreme Court By Michael A. Memoli President Trump nominated federal Judge Neil M. Gorsuch on Tuesday to the Supreme Court to fill the seat of the late Antonin Scalia, choosing from his short list an appeals court judge from Denver seen as most likely to win Senate confirmation. Because Scalia was a stalwart conservative, Trumps choice is not likely to change the balance of the court. But it does set the stage for a bruising partisan fight over a man who could help determine law on gun rights, immigration, police use of force and transgender rights. Read More Facebook

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Trump administration is radicalizing Democratic voters, creating a challenge for the party, Rep. Adam Schiff says By Sarah D. Wire (Mark Wilson / Getty Images) As protests spread over policy announcements from the Trump administration, Democrats must work to encourage participation in politics, but face a danger of the party becoming too radicalized, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) said Tuesday. The radical nature of this government is radicalizing Democrats, and thats going to pose a real challenge to the Democratic Party, which is to draw on the energy and the activism and the passion that is out there, but not let it turn us into what we despised about the tea party, Schiff said. During a meeting with reporters and editors in the Los Angeles Times Washington bureau, Schiff also discussed his role as the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Select Intelligence Committee under a Trump administration and how Democrats will manage in the minority. Ever since the election, party leaders have been debating: Did we lose because we were too far to the left and we had too small a tent, or did we lose because we are too mainstream and didnt energize the base? Schiff asked. We are obviously having that debate, but theres a whole new element, which is the reaction to the Trump administration that makes this different in kind, certainly different in intensity, than I think weve ever seen after an election, he said. The more radical the administration is, the more radicalized our base becomes, which just feeds the Breitbart crowd, and who knows where that ends. Democratic leaders have to channel public reaction to Trumps actions into progress, rather than deadlock, Schiff said. Reaction to Democrats seen as working with the Trump administration has been strong. Monday night, for example, protesters marched on Sen. Dianne Feinsteins home and office voicing fears she would back Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general. The senator from California announced Tuesday that she would oppose Sessions. Several groups calling themselves indivisible have popped up in cities across the country as focal points for efforts to organize. We have two of the most capable strategists as the head of our House and Senate Democrats, Schiff added, referring to House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and Senate Democratic leader Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York. If anybody can grapple with this, they can, but its going to be a challenging and moving target day to day. I just hope that we can channel that energy in a way where we can provide a check on this administration because Ive never been more worried about the countrys future than I am right now, he said. Schiff said part of his role as the ranking Democrat on the House Select Intelligence Committee will be pushing back when the Trump administration puts out inaccurate information about the intelligence community and its findings. Trump has repeatedly dismissed or sought to minimize the intelligence communitys findings that Russia sought to intervene in the 2016 election to benefit him. Schiff said hes concerned about what else the administration might be willing to dismiss. I think that will be kind of a new frontier, he said. How do we contradict a president making representations about what the intelligence community has to say when the information is classified? Facebook

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Trump administration signals that some temporary bans on entry into the U.S. could become permanent By Brian Bennett  Trumps orders put a greater emphasis on deporting those convicted of crimes and those in the country illegally who were charged with crimes not yet adjudicated The Trump administration doubled down Tuesday on its commitment to transforming the nations border law enforcement, signaling that some of the temporary bans on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries are likely to be made permanent and elevating a deportations official to run the top immigration enforcement agency. Administration officials, led by newly sworn-in Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, moved to allay the havoc that marked the roll-out of the ban and another on refugees. They briefed reporters and planned to head to Capitol Hill later today in an apparent effort to smooth relations after reports that lawmakers and other stakeholders were left out of the crafting of the executive order on toughened vetting at border entry points. In a news conference, Kelly and other top Homeland Security officials conceded some problems, including poor communication. But they insisted that all court orders were followed over the weekend, rebutted reports that some legal residents were denied access to attorneys at airports and said they everyone detained by border agents was treated with dignity and respect. The vast majority of the 1.7 billion Muslims that live on this planet, the vast majority of them have, all other things being equal, have access to the United States, Kelly told reporters. And a relatively small number right now are being held up for a period of time until we can take a look at what their procedures are, he said, seeming to acknowledge that mostly Muslims have been affected by the ban. The moves signaled that the White House remained committed to remaking border law enforcement even in the face of widespread confusion and condemnation of President Trumps order. Kelly said for the first time that the some of the restrictions that caused confusion and sparked protests over the weekend could be extended well into the future. Some of those countries that are currently on the list may not be taken off the list anytime soon, he said. Trump also named a longtime deportation officer, Thomas D. Homan, as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homan, who will oversee the execution of Trumps immigration enforcement order, was most recently in charge of the agencys 5,000 deportation officers, a force Trump said he would triple to 15,000. Trumps orders put a greater emphasis on deporting not only those convicted of crimes, but also people in the country illegally who were charged with crimes not yet adjudicated, those who receive an improper welfare benefit and even those who have not been charged but are believed to have committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense. Facebook

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White House tries to ban the word ban, hours after president uses it himself By Noah Bierman This is not a ban, spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters in a fiery news briefing. (Alex Wong / Getty Images) President Trump used the word ban in a tweet as recently as Monday to describe his new executive order suspending travel from seven Muslim-majority countries and halting the refugee program for several months. But facing backlash from many directions, the White House adamantly insisted Tuesday that the word is verboten. This is not a ban, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters in a fiery news briefing. When we use words like travel ban, he said later, that misrepresents what it is. Its seven countries previously identified by the Obama administration, where, frankly, we dont get the information that we need for people coming into this country. In fact, people from the seven banned countries  Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Libya  cannot enter the United States under the order. Spicer appeared to be making a renewed effort to distinguish the order from the all-out ban on Muslims entering the country that Trump proposed during the campaign. Many around the world see the newest policy as an outgrowth of that proposal. Trump himself conceded a religious connection when he said in an interview on Friday that he wanted to make it easier for Syrian Christians to enter the country. And former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani told Fox News that the order sprang from a group he formed at Trumps request to create a legal framework that would accomplish the campaign goal of a Muslim ban. But amid confusion and worldwide criticism in recent days, the Trump administration has tried to temper some of the more incendiary rhetoric around the proposal. Even the words extreme vetting, a favorite Trump slogan, were called into question by Spicer on Tuesday. Calling for tougher vetting [of] individual travelers from seven nations is not extreme, he said. It is reasonable and necessary to protect our country. But changing the ban branding around the program at this point will be difficult. Heres Trumps tweet from Monday: If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the "bad" would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad "dudes" out there!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017 And Spicer himself used the term ban as recently as Sunday: Sean Spiceer today: This is not a Muslim ban. It is not a travel ban.



Sean Spicer in White House press release, Jan. 29: pic.twitter.com/axTM1m66nM  Dominic Holden (@dominicholden) January 31, 2017 Facebook

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Senate confirms Elaine Chao as secretary of Transportation By Associated Press Elaine Chao testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Jan. 11, 2017. (Zach Gibson / AP) The Senate has confirmed Elaine Chao to serve as Transportation secretary in the Trump administration. The vote was 93 to 6 on Tuesday. Chao is an experienced Washington hand. She was Labor secretary under President George W. Bush and is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Chao would be a lead actor in pursuing Trumps promise to invest $1 trillion to improve highways, rail service and other infrastructure projects. Facebook

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Speaker Paul Ryan defends Trumps immigrant and refugee ban, as Congress grumbles about being left out By Lisa Mascaro "What is happening is something we support... we need to make sure that the vetting standards are up to snuff," Paul Ryan says of travel ban pic.twitter.com/iX6YkOLkLl  CBS News (@CBSNews) January 31, 2017 House Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday stood by President Trumps temporary ban on refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations and indicated that he was confident the administration could fix the confusing rollout without action from Congress. What is happening is something we support, said Ryan, whose office was the target of a sit-in by protesters opposed to Trumps order. We need to pause and we need to make sure that the vetting standards are up to snuff so we can guarantee the safety and security of our country. Congress was blindsided by Trumps executive action -- Ryan learned about it as the public did when the White House announced it Friday afternoon. Many GOP lawmakers have raised concerns. During a private meeting in the Capitol basement Tuesday, Republican lawmakers were counseled on how to handle protesters and office sit-ins happening across the country. Its regrettable that there was some confusion on the rollout of this, Ryan said. No one wanted to see people with green cards or special immigrant visas, like translators, get caught up in all of this. Ryan also said he was concerned the ban could be used as propaganda by terrorist groups. The rhetoric surrounding this could be used as a recruiting tool, and I think thats dangerous, he said. Still, Republicans leaders as well as rank-and-file GOP lawmakers largely agreed with the presidents move to halt refugee admissions for 120 days, and to temporarily ban citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, unless they are Christians or other religious minorities. The president was well within his right to issue an executive order, said Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), chairman of the House Rules Committee. Do I feel let out? I feel like everybody was left out, he said. I wish they communicated it. I wish they had gotten more information to people. I wish they had measured three times and sawed once. Lawmakers have shown little appetite for Congress to get involved, and suggested the chaos that erupted at airports over the weekend was just part of a learning curve at the White House. I support the thrust of the executive order, said Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.), who nevertheless said the administration should have been better prepared and will need to get your act together. Last year, Ryan had strongly condemned Trumps campaign-trail call for a Muslim ban. In recent days, Ryan, like other congressional leaders, was forced to dial up the administration with his questions and concerns about the order, conferring Monday with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. I am very pleased and confident that he is, on a going-forward basis, going to make sure that things are done correctly, Ryan said. Pressed on whether Congress would have a role, Ryan did not indicate any immediate legislative action. Facebook

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Democrats boycott Senate committee votes on Price, Mnuchin By Jim Puzzanghera Senate Democrats speak with reporters after boycotting Finance Committee confirmation votes. (JIM WATSON / AFP/Getty Images) Senate Democrats on Tuesday boycotted a committee vote on two of President Trumps top Cabinet nominees -- Tom Price to lead Health and Human Services and Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury secretary. Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) blasted the Democratic move as he sat in a hearing room with only Republicans on the dais. They ought to be embarrassed. Its the most pathetic treatment Ive seen in my 40 years in the United States Senate, Hatch said. I think they should stop posturing and acting like idiots, he said. At least one Democrat needs to be present for the committee to vote on the nominations, Hatch said. He recessed the hearing until further notice, saying he hoped a vote could take place later Tuesday. But asked mid-afternoon if he thought the committee would be able to meet Tuesday, Hatch said it doesnt look like it. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the committees top Democrat, said Price and Mnuchin have misled the public and held back important information about their backgrounds. Until questions are answered, Democrats believe the committee should not move forward with either nomination, Wyden said. This is about getting answers to questions, plain and simple, he said. Ethics laws are not optional, and nominees do not have a right to treat disclosure like a shell game. Today @SenateFinance Democrats refused to move forward with nominations of Mnuchin & Price.  Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 31, 2017 The litany of ethics revelations regarding @RepTomPrice are strong evidence that he cannot be allowed to have control of #Medicare.  Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 31, 2017 Mr. Mnuchin continued to fail to come clean on shady foreclosure practices that hurt Americans.  Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 31, 2017 Liberal groups cheered the boycott while Senate Republican leaders decried it as Democratic obstructionism. They are manufacturing issues on a daily basis to drag this process out, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kent.) said of the confirmations of Trumps nominees. I dont see how they can explain to the American people how it is appropriate to prevent the administration from getting up and getting started, he said. Democrats have said Mnuchin, a wealthy Wall Street executive, misled the committee in his response to a written question about foreclosures at Pasadenas OneWest Bank while he ran it from 2009-15. Democrats pointed to a report Sunday by the Columbus Dispatch that Mnuchin denied that OneWest engaged in so-called robo-signing of mortgage documents. The paper said its analysis of nearly four dozen foreclosure cases in Ohios Franklin County in 2010 showed that the bank frequently used robo-signers. The Columbus Dispatch cited a foreclosure involving a mortgage signed by Erica Johnson-Seck, a OneWest vice president who said in a deposition in a 2009 Florida case that she signed an average of 750 documents a week. Barney Keller, a spokesman for Mnuchin, said Monday that several courts had dismissed cases involving allegations of robo-signing by Johnson-Seck. The media is picking on a hardworking bank employee whose reputation has been maligned but whose work has been upheld by numerous courts all around the country in the face of scurrilous and false allegations, Keller said. Democrats also have problems with Price, a six-term congressman and former orthopedic surgeon who has distinguished himself in conservative circles for his staunch opposition to the Affordable Care Act and his plans to slash federal healthcare spending. His nomination has become among Trumps most controversial, in part because of his hostility to government safety net programs, including Medicaid and Medicare. Democrats have also been increasingly critical of Prices extensive trading in healthcare stocks while he has been in Congress, and in some cases while he has pushed legislation that would benefit his portfolio. Price has denied any wrongdoing. Also drawing criticism is Prices purchase of discounted shares in an Australian biotech firm, Innate Immunotherapeutics, which he was offered through a private deal not available to general shareholders. Price also denied that this was improper, and Senate Republicans have rallied to his side, saying he did not violate any ethics rules. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said he and the other Democrats on the committee want Mnuchin and Price to explain their lies either in person before the committee or in new written answers. I want them to disclose this information that they seem not to want to disclose, Brown said. 12:10 p.m.: This post was updated with additional comments from Hatch as well as from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Sherrod Brown. 8:00 a.m.: This post has been updated with additional information and background. 8:07 a.m.: This post has been updated with additional information. Facebook

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White House aides who wrote Trumps travel ban see it as just the start By Brian Bennett (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) Even as confusion, internal dissent and widespread condemnation greeted President Trumps travel ban and crackdown on refugees this weekend, senior White House aides say they are only getting started. Trump and his aides justified Fridays executive order, which blocked travel from seven majority-Muslim countries for 90 days and halted refugees from around the world for 120, on security grounds  an issue that they say they take seriously. But their ultimate goal is far broader. Trumps top advisors on immigration, including chief strategist Steve Bannon and senior advisor Stephen Miller, see themselves as launching a radical experiment to fundamentally transform how the U.S. decides who is allowed into the country and to block a generation of people who, in their view, wont assimilate into American society. That project may live or die in the next three months, as the Trump administration reviews whether and how to expand the visa ban and alter vetting procedures. White House aides are considering new, onerous security checks that could effectively limit travel into the U.S. by people from majority-Muslim countries to a trickle. Read More Facebook

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Why corporations cant risk keeping silent about Trumps immigration ban By David Pierson Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz said the Seattle coffee company is developing plans to hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years. (Richard Drew / Associated Press) Corporate America generally prefers to stay quiet about partisan politics. Pick one side of a hot-button issue, the thinking goes, and youll risk losing customers on the other side. But like so many norms before it, President Trump has turned this one on its head. A growing number of companies are deciding its a bigger risk to their investors and bottom line to stay quiet than it is to protest Trumps ban on refugees and travel from seven Muslim-majority nations, betting vocal opposition to the executive order scores them a moral and fiscal victory. While it was possible for companies to take a wait-and-see approach leading up to Trumps inauguration, many firms can no longer ignore the White Houses policy given the effect the order is already having on employees either stranded or fearful of traveling. Only a week ago it seemed foolish to speak out against a president who has admonished individual companies on social media such as Carrier, Boeing and General Motors. Now the pendulum has swung the other way. Companies, mostly in technology but increasingly in other sectors, have decided that its not enough just to speak out against the immigration order. They believe that they must also take headline-grabbing action. Read More Facebook

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Op-Ed: Trump is taking the Bannon Way, and it will end in disaster By Jonah Goldberg Bannon has said hes a Leninist' but hes really more of a Trotskyist because he fancies himself the leader of an international populist-nationalist right wing movement, exporting anti-'globalist' revolution. In that role, his status as an enabler of Trumps instinct to shoot  or tweet  from the hip seems especially ominous. The Bannon way might work on the campaign trail, but it doesnt translate into good governance. Its possible  and one must hope  that Trump can learn this fact on the job. But what if he doesnt? He could put the country in serious peril.  Jonah Goldberg Read More Facebook

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Trump will leave LGBTQ protections in place By Associated Press (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) The White House says President Trump will leave intact a 2014 executive order that protects federal workers from anti-LGBTQ discrimination. In a statement released early Tuesday, the White House said Trump is determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community and that he continues to be respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights, just as he was throughout the election. The Trump administration has vowed to roll back much of President Obamas work from the last eight years and had been scrutinizing the 2014 order. The directive protects people from LGBTQ discrimination while working for federal contractors. The recent statement says the protections will remain intact at the direction of Trump. Here is the text of Obamas executive order, signed on July 21, 2014: By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including 40 U.S.C. 121, and in order to provide for a uniform policy for the Federal Government to prohibit discrimination and take further steps to promote economy and efficiency in Federal Government procurement by prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Amending Executive Order 11478 . The first sentence of section 1 of Executive Order 11478 of August 8, 1969, as amended, is revised by substituting sexual orientation, gender identity for sexual orientation. Sec. 2. Amending Executive Order 11246 . Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965, as amended, is hereby further amended as follows: (a) The first sentence of numbered paragraph (1) of section 202 is revised by substituting sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin for sex, or national origin. (b) The second sentence of numbered paragraph (1) of section 202 is revised by substituting sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin for sex or national origin. (c) Numbered paragraph (2) of section 202 is revised by substituting sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin for sex or national origin. (d) Paragraph (d) of section 203 is revised by substituting sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin for sex or national origin. Sec. 3. Regulations . Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Labor shall prepare regulations to implement the requirements of section 2 of this order. Sec. 4. General Provisions . (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an agency or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. Sec. 5. Effective Date . This order shall become effective immediately, and section 2 of this order shall apply to contracts entered into on or after the effective date of the rules promulgated by the Department of Labor under section 3 of this order. Update 6:45 a.m.: This article was updated with the text of the 2014 executive order. Facebook

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Trump fires Justice Departments top official after she refuses to defend his refugee ban By David Lauter Sally Yates. (J. David Ake / Associated Press) President Trump fired acting Atty. Gen. Sally Yates on Monday, just hours after she announced that the department would not defend his controversial executive order banning refugees and travelers from certain countries. Yates has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States, the White House said in a statement. It is time to get serious about protecting our country. The move came after Yates sent a letter to Justice Department lawyers saying that she questioned the lawfulness of Trumps executive order. My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts, Yates wrote. At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities, nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful, she wrote. Consequently, for as long as I am the acting attorney general, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the executive order unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so. Yates was a holdover from the Obama administration. But because Trumps nominee for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions, has not been confirmed and no other senior Justice Department officials have been appointed, firing her was expected to cause significant problems within the department. Among other issues, Yates is the only person in the department currently authorized to sign warrants for wiretapping in foreign espionage cases involving the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Trump replaced Yates with Dana J. Boente, a three-decade veteran of the Justice Department who was appointed in 2015 by former President Obama as U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Virginia. 6:37 p.m.: The story was updated with Trumps decision to fire Yates. Read More Facebook

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U.S. service member killed in Yemen identified as Navy SEAL from Illinois By Jeanette Steele The Pentagon on Sunday confirmed the death of a U.S. servicemember in a raid in Yemen targeting al-Qaeda, marking the first American combat death under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. A Navy SEAL from the Virginia-based elite unit known as SEAL Team 6 was killed Sunday during an unusual nighttime raid that put U.S. troops on the ground against Al Qaeda leaders in the middle of war-torn Yemen. The fallen sailor was identified Monday as Chief Special Warfare Operator William Ryan Owens, 36, of Peoria, Ill.. Three other Americans were wounded in the raid and an MV-22 Osprey had to be destroyed after the aircraft suffered a hard landing and couldnt fly. Another U.S. service member was injured in that crash. The raid marked the first known counter-terrorism operation and first confirmed combat fatality under President Trump. Steele writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Facebook

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Protests against Trumps ban on certain immigrants continue across the country By Ann M. Simmons Protesters rally at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 29, demonstrating against the immigration ban imposed by President Trump. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) After a weekend of turmoil at many of the nations airports following President Trumps executive order to suspend the U.S. refugee program and temporarily prohibit entry to citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations, federal officials said all people being detained on arrival to the U.S. had been released. But that hasnt put a stop to demands to lift the travel ban. Protests continued to be held and organized throughout the country  incluidng in New York, New Orleans, Colorado and Connecticut. According to Ground Game, an online platform for organizing, at least a dozen demonstrations were planned for this week in what the group described as a fight against Islamophobia and Fascism. Calls to rally, demonstrate and protest swept social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook. In Louisville, Ky., a rally was planned for Monday evening at the Muhammad Ali Center, in what organizers said would be a gathering for American values and to voice support for our nation and our city, which was founded and is strengthened by immigrants. In Hattiesburg, Miss., there was call to join a peaceful vigil in solidarity with refugees, immigrants, and Muslims on the University of Southern Mississippi campus on Monday evening. Declaring that Jersey City stands with our Muslim and immigrant community, organizers in that New Jersey city called on people to come to a pedestrian mall on Monday to stand in solidarity and peace as we show our strength in diversity as one of the most diverse cities in the nation. Other demonstrations were planned for later in the week in cities nationwide, including Tuesday in Tuscon, where organizers encouraged people to stand in solidarity with Senator (John) McCains strong public statement opposing the executive order banning refugees and Legal Permanent Residents from Muslim countries! Similar actions were planned on Tuesday at the South Carolina State House in Columbia and at the Worchester City Hall and Common in Massachusetts, while organizers in San Francisco, under the banner #NoBanNoWallSF, urged residents to join the resistance against Donald Trumps racist and exclusionary Executive Orders on Saturday. We will not allow our country to be divided by hate and religious persecution, read a statement from #NoBanNoWallSF posted on Facebook. Facebook

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Obama carefully weighs in on refugee ban, says he is heartened by public response By Michael A. Memoli (Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images) Former President Obama has offered his first public comment on the conduct of his successor, saying through a spokesman that he is heartened by public demonstrations against the Trump administrations controversial move to temporarily ban refugees and block all admissions from seven countries. President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country, Kevin Lewis, a spokesperson for the former president, said in a statement emailed to reporters Monday. In his final official speech as President, he spoke about the important role of citizen and how all Americans have a responsibility to be the guardians of our democracy--not just during an election but every day. Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake. Lewis also said in the statement that Obama fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion. Trump aides deny that his executive order, released Friday, involves religious discrimination. The order temporarily blocked travel to the U.S. by residents of seven predominantly Muslim nations, but left many of the Islamic worlds largest population centers unaffected, they note. The order also included an exception for believers of minority religions in those countries, a provision that Trump explicitly said would help Christians. Obamas statement is notable less for its content than for the fact that it was issued at all. It reflected the delicate balance he feels he must strike between showing a degree of deference to the new president and speaking out on issues he sees as critically important. The statement tiptoed around the content of the order, focusing more on the former presidents interest in citizen engagement. Obama said before leaving office that he expected to choose carefully when to comment on the actions of his successor and would focus less on normal functioning of politics and more on certain issues or certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake, as he put it in his final news conference. Mondays statement did point, though, to comments Obama made at a news conference in November 2015, when he called the idea of a religious test for immigration policy shameful and not American. We dont have religious tests to our compassion, he said at the time. Facebook

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GOP-led Congress worries about its role in the Trump era By Lisa Mascaro Its what congressional Republicans had long dreamed about: a majority in both chambers to advance conservative policies and a president from the same party to sign them into law. But the Trump White House isnt turning out exactly the way they envisioned. The GOP establishment is experiencing whiplash after a week of President Trump bulldozing through the norms of policy and protocol  dashing off executive orders without warning, escalating a diplomatic crisis with the countrys closest southern neighbor, triggering global confusion with a new refugee policy and generally hijacking party leaders agenda and replacing it with his own. Rather than the hoped-for collaborative new relationship between the White House and Congress, GOP officials complain that Trump is brushing aside their advice, failing to fully engage on drafting tough legislative packages like tax reform and Obamacare, and bypassing Congress by relying on executive actions, something they frequently complained about under President Obama. At the same time, Trumps unilateral moves continue to blindside Republicans and direct the national focus toward topics many in the party would rather avoid, whether thats how to pay for building the border wall with Mexico, warming ties with Russia, investigating false claims about voter fraud or, most recently, implementing sweeping new policies on refugees and visas. In the name of party unity, many Republicans so far have refrained from publicly attacking the new president. But for some, the new refugee policy crossed the line, signaling the first major rift in their already fraught partnership. Read More Facebook

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Washington state sues Trump over immigration order By Mark Z. Barabak President Trump signed an executive order Friday that suspends all immigration for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) Opening a new legal front, lawyers for the state of Washington filed suit Monday seeking to block President Trumps executive order temporarily banning foreign refugees from entering the United States. No one is above the law, not even the president, Atty. Gen. Bob Ferguson said in announcing the federal lawsuit. And in the courtroom, it is not the loudest voice that prevails. Its the Constitution. Over the weekend, a federal judge in Brooklyn issued an order curtailing portions of Trumps executive order, issued Friday, which temporary halts migration from seven predominantly Muslim countries for at least 90 days and also closed the nation to refugees for at least the next four months. Other challenges are pending. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Seattle was the first taken by a state attorney general, and its provenance was no surprise. Washington state and others along the West Coast voted overwhelmingly for Democrat Hillary Clinton in November and have emerged as a hotbed of anti-Trump sentiment. We will not yield, said Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who joined Ferguson at a Seattle news conference. We will not be leveraged. We will not be threatened. We will not be intimidated. We will not be bullied by this. Trumps order, which has sparked demonstrations across the country, brought an outpouring of objection from Insleys Democratic colleagues around the country. President Trumps recent executive orders that divide and discriminate do not reflect the values enshrined in the U.S. Constitution or the principles we stand for as Oregonians, said Gov. Kate Brown. A single executive order does not define who we are as a country, said Connecticut Gov. Daniel P. Malloy. We are a nation of immigrants and must continue to fight for the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses yearning to breath free. In Massachusetts, another state that voted overwhelmingly for Clinton, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker joined the chorus of Democratic criticism, saying the travel ban would undermine the international relations forged by the states business, academic and healthcare communities. The confusion for families is real. The unexpected disruption for law-abiding people is real, Baker said. Thankfully, the federal courts will have an opportunity to straighten this out and it is my hope they do so, and do so quickly. Facebook

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How a top conservative radio host took on Trump, lost his audience and faith, but gained a new perspective By Mark Z. Barabak Charlie Sykes, right, interviews Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) before Wisconsins 2016 primary (Morry Gash/Associated Press) For nearly 25 years, Charlie Sykes was one of the most powerful and influential voices in Wisconsin. He cheer-led policies that turned this historically progressive state into a model of conservative governance. He made and destroyed political careers, using his perch on Milwaukee talk radio to help vault figures such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and Gov. Scott Walker to national prominence. But for the moment Sykes was speechless. He sank into the brown leather banquette of a suburban steakhouse. He stammered. He sighed. When youve devoted your whole life to certain beliefs and you think now they have been undermined and that you might have been deluded about things, he began. So. So. Um... In 2016 Sykes emerged as one of Donald Trumps most prominent critics, a stance that outraged listeners, strained longstanding friendships and left him questioning much of what he once held true. Read More Facebook

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Pentagon compiling a list of Iraqis who aided the U.S. military and wants them shielded from Trumps travel ban By W.J. Hennigan The Pentagon is compiling a list of Iraqi citizens who have worked with the U.S. military and is recommending that they be exempt from President Trumps temporary ban on entry to the U.S. by people from Iraq and six other predominantly Muslim countries, according to the U.S. military. The move could potentially shield tens of thousands of Iraqi interpreters, advisors, and others who have assisted the American military from the presidents controversial executive action that blocked visitors from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen. Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters Monday that the list will include names of individuals who have demonstrated their commitment to helping the United States. Even people that are doing seemingly benign things in support of us  whether as a linguist, a driver, anything else  they often do that at great personal risk, he said. So people who take these risks are really making a tangible signal of support to the United States, and thats something that will, and should be, recognized. The list would not require any changes to the presidents order, but rather serve as guidance to the Department of Homeland Security and the White House in implementing the new policy. White House spokesman Sean Spicer later pushed back against blanket exemptions. We recognize that people have served this country, we should make sure that in those cases theyre helped out, he said. But that doesnt mean that we just give them a pass. Trump, who signed the order at the Pentagon on Friday, did not consult Defense Secretary James N. Mattis or Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the temporary suspensions of entry to visitors from the seven nations, according to U.S. officials. The executive action put the U.S. military in a difficult position because it works closely with the Iraqi government on a range of issues, including the fight against Islamic State, which necessitates travel between the two countries. For instance, Iraqi military pilots train to fly F-16 fighter jets at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. Its not clear those pilots, who are active in the fight against Islamic State, could arrive in the U.S. for the training. 1:10 p.m.: This post was updated with White House response. Facebook

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Trump signs order on rulemaking: For every regulation added, agencies have to cut 2 others By Noah Bierman (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump signed an executive order Monday designed to fulfill his campaign pledge reduce red tape for businesses. The two-page order requires that when a federal agency proposes new regulations, it shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed. We want to make the life easier for small businesses and big business, Trump said Monday from the Roosevelt Room of the White House, where he met with nine representatives of the small-business sector. Trump said he hoped to see up to 75% of federal regulations eliminated during his presidency. Regulation has been horrible for big business, but its been worse for small business, Trump said. He also reiterated his promise to gut the Dodd-Frank Act, the financial regulatory overhaul that was passed after the financial crisis. Dodd-Frank is a disaster, he said. Were going to be doing a big number on Dodd-Frank. Consumer advocates who backed the law say that eliminating it would help Wall Street and other players in the financial sector at the expense of consumers. Facebook

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U.S. diplomats to protest Trumps travel ban order By Tracy Wilkinson Protesters of President Trumps immigration order block traffic at LAX. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) A number of U.S. diplomats are condemning President Trumps ban on some Muslim immigrants and visitors, saying the abrupt order does not make the U.S. safer and will only stoke anti-American fervor overseas. The complaint, being made through the State Departments so-called dissent channel, echoes criticism coming from human rights attorneys, legal experts and lawmakers from both political parties, as well as world leaders. It is significant because it represents the viewpoint of the men and women who must carry out Trumps unconventional and often provocative foreign policy. A policy which closes our doors to over 200-million legitimate travelers in the hopes of preventing a small number of travelers who intend to harm Americans ... will not achieve its aim of making our country safer, said a draft version of the memo that was circulating Monday and was reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. It was first reported by ABC News. Moreover, such a policy runs counter to core American values of non-discrimination, fair play and extending a warm welcome to foreign visitors and immigrants. The White House was quickly dismissive of the dissent and seemed to suggest the diplomats should quit if they disagree with a policy. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said the diplomats raising of opposition does call into question whether or not they should continue to work in the State Department. It was not clear how many officials would sign the memo. Dissent channel memos are in theory not made public. The mechanism is designed to allow diplomats to offer an alternative policy without fear of retaliation. Acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed the existence of the memo but declined to comment on its contents. The dissent channel is a longstanding official vehicle for State Department employees to convey alternative views and perspectives on policy issues, he said. "... It allows State employees to express divergent policy views candidly and privately to senior leadership. The agency is still waiting for a boss. Trumps pick for secretary of State, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate this week. The last time a dissent-channel memo was reported publicly was last year, when about 50 diplomats protested Obama administration policy in Syria, which they described as inaction. 12:20 p.m.: This story was updated with White House comment. 8:40 a.m.: This story was updated with comment from a State Department spokesman. Facebook

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Trump to announce his Supreme Court choice Tuesday -- in prime time By Michael A. Memoli (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump will announce his first Supreme Court nomination in prime time on Tuesday, he tweeted this morning. I have made my decision on who I will nominate for The United States Supreme Court. It will be announced live on Tuesday at 8:00 P.M. (W.H.)  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017 The announcement was moved up two days amid the continued fallout from the executive action Trump signed temporarily banning refugee admissions from some countries. Trump had tweeted last week that he would announce his high-court decision Thursday. In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network on Friday, Trump said his administration was doing some final vetting of his choice to replace the late Antonin Scalia, and that the pick would be from among the list of 20 names he issued during the election campaign. I think the person I pick will be big, big, he said. I think people are going to love it. I think evangelicals, Christians will love my pick. And will be represented very fairly. Times Supreme Court reporter David Savage profiled each of the leading contenders: Judge Thomas Hardiman of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Judge William H. Pryor Jr. from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The move could prompt a major clash with Senate Democrats, who have warned the president against a choice outside what they consider the mainstream. Some are threatening to block any choice in retaliation for Senate Republicans refusal to even hold hearings on President Obamas choice to replace Scalia, Merrick Garland. Democrats 2013 change to Senate rules that allowed most nominations to advance with a simple majority vote exempted Supreme Court nominations, meaning that Democrats could potentially filibuster the choice. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appeared to rule out any further rule change in an interview last week, though Trump urged him to consider doing so. Facebook

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As Hollywood gathered at the SAG Awards, some entertainers joined LAX protest Facebook

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This New York doctor went to visit family in Sudan, and now hes stuck By Molly Hennessy-Fiske Dr. Kamal Fadlalla (Dr. Kamal Fadlalla / For The Times) Dr. Kamal Fadlalla, a hospital resident who has been working in New York for the last 20 months, was stuck in Sudan on Sunday, having gone there to see his family earlier this month. He had left Jan. 13, was due to return Feb. 4 but tried to return on Friday after hearing about President Trumps executive order on immigration, which suspended entry for people from seven countries, including Sudan. He made it past passport control, all the way to the gate at the airport in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. One hour before departure they called my name, he said, and summoned him to the ticket counter, along with other New York-bound Sudanese passengers. When I got to the counter, they said there was a notice from Customs and Border Protection that ... they had to offload us from the flight. I was shocked. Fadlalla, 33, hoped for a reprieve as other passengers gathered, all stuck. One family, they came back from Dubai, she was a mother of three or four kids. She was waiting overnight at the Dubai airport. There were also two passengers turned back from New York, he said. It was a very tough night on me, He stayed for several hours, then returned to his mothers home in Madani, two hours south. Fadlalla is a second-year resident in internal medicine at Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn. He is hoping to specialize in hematology and oncology. The Committee for Interns and Residents found an attorney to represent him, he said, but he had not received any news about how a New York federal judges ruling late Saturday, which halted the deportations of people who had arrived in the U.S. with valid visas, could affect him. I dont know what Im going to do. My vacation is going to end and I have to join the hospital next week. Its going to be tough on me, Fadlalla said. I dont know for how long Im going to stay here. I dont know what Im going to do. My visa is valid for three months. Im really stuck. I have my house there, my utilities, my work, my patients, my colleagues. It was my life for the past 20 months. And Im stuck here. Fadlalla is from northern Sudan, and describes himself as a moderate Muslim. He said the executive order wont make the U.S. safer by barring valid visa holders like him because, Ive been through the whole process of visa interviews. He had planned to take board exams next year, and if he misses them, his schooling will be delayed. He had wanted to stay and work in New York, too. All my life is there. Now Im stuck here. I dont know what to do, he said. Its going to really affect my life, my patients, my colleagues and their work schedule. He said the executive order has shocked others in Sudan, too. Theyre talking about human rights. Everybody knows the United States is about freedom, he said. Everybody knows America is a free country, a country of chances for everybody. Still, people have hope in those protesting at airports all over the United States and attorneys who have volunteered to help immigrants and refugees, he said. He said the order is especially worrying for aspiring Sudanese medical residents who have been preparing to match with a hospital in March to study in the United States. A lot of my colleagues who are preparing for exams are really, really worried about this, Fadlalla said. Im really worried about the future of these young people. They study a lot and spend a lot of money, a lot of effort to enter the United States. Im concerned about my future and my colleagues future. Facebook

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Californias congressional Republicans hold their fire on Trumps refugee order By Sarah D. Wire Only a few of the states 14 Republican representatives have publicly commented on an executive order signed by President Trump on Friday that barred refugees and green card holders from seven countries from entering the country. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) released a statement Sunday night saying that some tweaks are needed, but that his background as chairman of the House Select Intelligence Committee leads him to support the executive order. In light of attempts by jihadist groups to infiltrate fighters into refugee flows to the West, along with Europes tragic experience coping with this problem, the Trump administrations executive order on refugees is a common-sense security measure to prevent terror attacks on the homeland, Nunes said. While accommodations should be made for green card holders and those whove assisted the U.S. armed forces, this is a useful temporary measure on seven nations of concern until we can verify who is entering the United States. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) told the Washington Post that the executive order is the right call to keep America safe, but he hopes the cases of people traveling on visas who were prevented from reentering the country are resolved quickly. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) said Sunday on Twitter that the rollout has created confusion, and that executive orders arent the way to fix the countrys long-term problems. View Twitter post View Twitter post Several of Californias 38 Democratic congressional representatives and the states two senators were out in force over the weekend demanding the release of refugees and green card holders as well as an end to the executive order. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced she would file two pieces of legislation in response. One would immediately rescind the presidents order. The second would limit executive authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to prevent a president from unilaterally banning groups of immigrants. Its clear that the president gave little consideration to the chaos and heartbreak that would result from this order, she said in a statement. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) joined protesters outside the White House on Sunday afternoon. We will fight against racism. We will fight against anti-Muslim rhetoric. We will fight against those who will marginalize who we are. pic.twitter.com/R54f3MDhvo  Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 29, 2017 In Los Angeles, Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) joined protesters at Los Angeles International Airport. On Saturday, Reps. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro) and Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) joined the initial protests at the airport, and worked to get some of those being held released. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) accompanied protesters at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday. Congresswoman @MaxineWaters is here at LAX protest leading the crowd in the chant "no ban, no wall, you build it up we'll tear it down" pic.twitter.com/iNEmkVVkmW  Javier Panzar  (@jpanzar) January 29, 2017 Facebook

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Legal moves come too late for Iranian man who arrived at LAX after Trumps order By Matt Hamilton Ali Vayeghan arrived at 7:15 p.m. Friday from Tehran. He was going to stay with relatives, then go to Indiana, to join his wife, who arrived in the U.S. four months ahead of him, and his son. But he never emerged from customs. His niece said he was put on a plane to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at 3:15 p.m. Saturday. The ACLU was trying to prevent his deportation but arrived with paperwork 45 minutes too late. The family spoke to him by phone after he landed in Dubai, where he was waiting to be put on a flight to Tehran. Hes literally crying in the airport in Dubai, Ali Vayeghans niece, Marjan Vayghan, said. On Sunday afternoon, a federal judge in Los Angeles ordered authorities to transport Vayeghan back to the U.S. and admit him under the terms of his visa, which is set to expire Feb. 14. U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee said in her order that Vayeghan had demonstrated a strong likelihood of success in establishing that removal violates the Establishment Clause, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and his rights to Equal Protection guaranteed by the United States Constitution. But by the time the order came down, Vayeghan was on a plane bound for Tehran. Federal judge in LA has issued order allowing Iranian man deported from LAX yesterday to be admitted to US pic.twitter.com/yPth0xEQpv  Matt Hamilton (@MattHjourno) January 29, 2017 Facebook

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The political climate is a hot topic at the Screen Actors Guild awards The Actor statue watches over the red carpet at the Shrine Auditorium. (Matt Sayles / Invision / Associated Press) Stars on the red carpet and at the winners podium tonight in Los Angeles are not keeping their mouths shut on current affairs. The 23rd Screen Actors Guild awards are being held at the Shrine Auditorium. Heres what they have had to say so far: I want you all to know that I am the daughter of an immigrant. My father fled religious persecution in Nazi-occupied France, and Im an American patriot, and I love this country, and because I love this country, I am horrified by its blemishes and this immigrant ban is a blemish and it is un-American.  Julia Louis-Dreyfus, accepting her award for her role in Veep We need to vote. Had we all voted, we wouldnt be here. You dont like it, you dont have nothing to say if you didnt vote. Get a clipboard, get organized and get in it. Dont sit back on the sidelines. Get in it. This is a fight for the country right now. Its worth fighting for.  Courtney B. Vance, nominated for his performance in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story For the first time ever in my lifetime, Ive been concerned about where its going to go. It doesnt seem to be that its going to go in a very positive direction.  Claire Foy, nominated for her role as Queen Elizabeth in the Netflix series The Crown Read More Facebook

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Green card holders will not be blocked by Trumps order, Homeland Security says By David Lauter (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) The Trump administration backed away from one of the most controversial parts of its new executive order on immigration Sunday evening, saying that permanent U.S. residents in most cases will not be affected by the new rules. Since the president issued the order Friday, confusion has been rampant over the effects on permanent residents, noncitizens who hold so-called green cards that allow them to live and work legally in the U.S. Many were stopped and detained at airports for many hours on Friday and Saturday and, in some cases, reported that they had been threatened with being returned to their home countries. An undetermined number of other green card holders were stopped from boarding U.S.-bound planes. Late Sunday, however, the secretary of Homeland Security, retired Gen. John Kelly, issued a statement changing the policy. Statement By Secretary John Kelly On The Entry Of Lawful Permanent Residents Into The United States  https://t.co/Es1qivoR3J pic.twitter.com/hffMK2MOQC  Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 29, 2017 I hereby deem the entry of lawful permanent residents to be in the national interest, Kelly wrote. Green card holders from one of the seven countries covered by the 90-day ban will still need to request a waiver to gain reentry to the U.S. if they have traveled abroad. But unless officials have significant derogatory information about a green card holder that indicates a serious threat to public safety and welfare, lawful permanent resident status will be a dispositive factor in deciding the case, Kellys statement said. A White House official, briefing reporters about the change in policy, said that about 170 people have applied for a waiver to the ban so far, and all 170 have received a waiver and have been allowed to enter the U.S. The seven countries affected by the ban are Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Facebook

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Uber fights immigration order -- and #DeleteUber hashtag -- with $3-million legal fund for drivers By Tracey Lien Hours after Lyfts co-founders announced a $1-million donation to the American Civil Liberties Union to defend the

Constitution, Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick pulled out his pocket book as well. Kalanick promised in a Facebook post that the company would create a $3-million legal defense fund to help drivers affected by the Trump administrations move to restrict immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries. The fund will help drivers with immigration and translation services. Kalanick also said the San Francisco ride-hailing company will provide 24/7 legal support to drivers stuck outside the country and compensate them for lost earnings. Drivers eligible for assistance were directed to contact the company via an online form. Although the announcement was greeted with some support on Facebook and Twitter, many saw it as too little too late. The company had come under fire a day earlier for advertising on Twitter that it was operating at New Yorks Kennedy International Airport during a taxi strike protesting the executive order. That gaffe, coupled with Kalanicks involvement in a panel advising President Trump on economic issues, helped spawn the Twitter hashtag #DeleteUber, which encouraged customers to delete the app from their phones in protest. You are 20 hours too late, one person wrote in response to Kalanicks Facebook post. Still deleted my account today, wrote another. Though Kalanick issued a statement on Saturday opposing the executive order, it didnt stop thousands of Twitter users from adopting the trending the #DeleteUber hashtag to decry Ubers actions. They accused the company of attempting to profit from the strike and prioritizing business interests over a moral imperative. Celebrities also jumped on the bandwagon, with actor and activist George Takei on Sunday tweeting to his 2.9 million followers: Lyft donates $1mil to ACLU while Uber doubles down on its support for Trump. #DeleteUber. Facebook

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75-year-old grandmother from Iran tells the story of her detention at LAX By Alene Tchekmedyian Siavosh Naji-Talakar of Phoenix hugs his grandmother Marzieh Moosavizadeh after she was released from detention at LAX early Sunday morning. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Marzieh Moosavizadeh and her grandson follow a routine when she visits almost every year from Iran. The 75-year-old, who travels in a wheelchair and speaks little English, struggles to find direct flights to Phoenix, where he and his family live. So they meet in Los Angeles and he escorts her on the last leg of her trip. This time was different. Moosavizadeh landed at Los Angeles International Airport a day after President Trump signed an executive order banning citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran, from entering the United States. Read More Facebook

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GOP senators call executive order a self-inflicted wound. Trump calls them wrong and weak By Matt Ballinger McCain and Graham in 2013. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona released a statement Sunday saying that confusion at U.S. airports shows that President Trumps executive order on immigration was not properly vetted. Such a hasty process risks harmful results, the Republicans statement read. We should not stop green-card holders from returning to the country they call home. We should not stop those who have served as interpreters for our military and diplomats from seeking refuge in the country they risked their lives to help. And we should not turn our backs on those refugees who have been shown through extensive vetting to pose no demonstrable threat to our nation. It went on: Ultimately, we fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism. The president responded on Twitter: The joint statement of former presidential candidates John McCain & Lindsey Graham is wrong - they are sadly weak on immigration. The two...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017 ...Senators should focus their energies on ISIS, illegal immigration and border security instead of always looking to start World War III.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017 Facebook

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At least 600 people wait to greet Syrians arriving in Phoenix By Nigel Duara Elijah Chavez and Brandi Hernandez protest in Phoenix (Nigel Duara/Los Angeles Times) A Phoenix-bound British Airways flight was scheduled to arrive from London at Sunday evening carrying several Syrians. A protest of about 600 people was waiting at a Phoenix international airport terminal for the flight to arrive. The outcome when these people arrive is uncertain at best, said Tanveer Shah, an Arizona attorney in private practice who volunteers with the ACLU. Shah said Syrians on board the flight would, in the best case, walk off the plane without a problem. But given the outcomes in other cities on Saturday and Sunday, Shah said it was incumbent on civil liberties attorneys to be there when the plane arrives. We have staff attorneys here ... who are prepared to file emergency pleadings, Shah said. Facebook

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When Muslims got blocked at American airports, U.S. veterans rushed to help By Matt Pearce (G. Morty Ortega / Getty Images) Jeffrey Buchalter was reflooring his foyer in Chesapeake Beach, Md., and listening to MSNBC over the weekend when he heard the news: An Iraqi who had worked with American forces as an interpreter had been stopped from entering the U.S. under a new executive order on immigration from President Trump. The story stopped him cold. Buchalter, an Army veteran who works as a law-enforcement instructor at the Department of Homeland Security, had served multiple tours of duty as a military policeman in Iraq, service that cost him dearly. He was decorated for injuries sustained from gunfire and improvised explosive devices. Exams revealed hed suffered herniated discs, traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, and he spent 2  years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center trying to get right. But he was still alive, and now the married father of two children. And he believes thats thanks in part to the work of Iraqi interpreters who acted as guides during his work in their country. So he told his younger daughter and son they were going to take a trip: a two-hour drive to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., where, for the first time in his life, Buchalter would join a protest. Read More Facebook

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Demonstrators against Trumps immigration limits  and a few who like them  surge through LAX By Javier Panzar The crowd at LAX is getting bigger and bigger. pic.twitter.com/dJ281TETXj  Javier Panzar  (@jpanzar) January 29, 2017 Thousands of people filled the international terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday afternoon to call for the release of an unknown number of people being detained by immigration authorities. Filling the arrivals section of the terminal and spilling into the street outside, the throng chanted, Let them in, and Love, not hate, makes America great. Jacob Kemper, a 35-year-old Army veteran who fought two tours in Iraq, said he was infuriated to think soldiers he fought alongside might be denied entry to the country. I really dont care about religion, but I really hate oppression, he said, holding a sign that read, I Fought Next To Muslims. Shay Soltani, a network engineer, fled the Iranian revolution 40 years ago and still has family members in Iran. She doesnt know if she will be able to see them again. As she and hundreds of others marched through the airport, she said she was horrified by Trumps order. I am so hurt by this, she said. He is against freedom of speech and the constitution and everything I believe in as an American. Meanwhile, about a dozen counter-protesters popped up on the other side of the street, holding signs that said X-treme vetting and Keep Refugees Out. They said they were tired of immigrants entering the U.S. illegally, which they said jeopardizes the safety of American citizens. Chanell Temple, 63, of Los Angeles said she was sick of watching immigrants here illegally steal benefits and services from American citizens, specifically veterans and homeless people who need aid. I worked out here for 40 years and they are coming here and taking everything away, said Temple, a former bookkeeper who said she lost her job and healthcare after she was fired for an inability to speak Spanish. Raul Rodriguez Jr., coordinator of a group called America First Latinos, said he was concerned about what he considers a surge in crimes committed against Americans by those who are in the country illegally. They are lawbreakers. They have violated federal law and they need to be deported, he said. Facebook

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Silicon Valley execs speak out against immigration ban By Tracey Lien Technology executives are speaking out against President Trumps executive order on immigration, highlighting how the ban hurts their businesses. Leaders of companies that include Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Dropbox and Twitter denounced it over the weekend. Apple would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do, said Apple chief executive Tim Cook in a memo to employees. In my conversations with officials here in Washington this week, Ive made it clear that Apple believes deeply in the importance of immigration  both to our company and to our nations future. General Electric Co. chief executive Jeff Immelt said Sunday that businesses with global operations must balance working with the new administration while also supporting their workers and partners. We have many employees from the named countries and we do business all over the region, Immelt said in a statement. These employees and customers are critical to our success and they are our friends and partners. We stand with them and will work with the U.S. administration to strive to find the balance between the need for security and the movement of law abiding people. Facebook

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LAX protest grows as families wait Meg Heatherly, 27, of Los Angeles holds a Shame sign during a protest at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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L.A. city attorney barred from seeing detainees at LAX By James Queally Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer said he was repeatedly denied access to federal detainees or an attorney who could discuss the situation with him at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Federal officials have declined to discuss the LAX detentions or respond to Feuers criticisms. While he was at the airport, Feuer said he was approached by a woman who claimed her father, suffering from Parkinsons disease, was among the detainees. It is those kind of real stories that are at stake because of this outrageous action by the feds. It is time not only for officials in my position, but all Americans, should find this a breathtaking violation of rights.  Mike Feuer Read More Facebook

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Democratic attorneys general from 15 states condemn Trump immigration order By Ann M. Simmons California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) More than a dozen Democratic attorneys general from states across the country have condemned the Trump administrations executive order suspending acceptance of refugees and have vowed to oppose it to ensure that as few people as possible suffer from the chaotic situation that it has created. In a communique Sunday, the group said: As the chief legal officers for over 130 million Americans and foreign residents of our states, we condemn President Trumps unconstitutional, un-American and unlawful Executive Order and will work together to ensure the federal government obeys the Constitution, respects our history as a nation of immigrants, and does not unlawfully target anyone because of their national origin or faith. The executive order places an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria and prohibits citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering as refugees for four months. It also places a suspension on admissions of other citizens of those countries. The legal officials represent 15 states. They include California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and his contemporaries in Washington, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia. Religious liberty has been, and always will be, a bedrock principle of our country, and no president can change that truth, the attorneys general said in the statement. They praised the decision of multiple federal courts to order a stay on some aspects of the order. We are confident that the Executive Order will ultimately be struck down by the courts, the statement said. Facebook

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13 people who had been detained at LAX have been released, source says By James Queally Protesters at LAX on Sunday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Thirteen people who were detained Saturday night at Los Angeles International Airports Terminal 2 were eventually released, a law enforcement source told The Times. Each of them held green cards, which grant permanent residency in the U.S. The source, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation at the airport, could not provide detention figures for the Tom Bradley International Terminal, which has been the center of protest activity. Thats where protesters were gathering Sunday. Nurse Jamie Shoemaker, 51, of Los Angeles held an American flag in one hand and carried a sign that read, Muslims are welcome here, racists and fascists are not. She called Trumps order un-American. This is not the country I want, she said. This is not the country I grew up in. Read More Facebook

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Democrats in Congress drafting legislation to repeal Trumps refugee ban, pressuring GOP for support By Lisa Mascaro Sen. Chuck Schumer becomes emotional speaking against Pres. Trump's immigration order, calling it "mean-spirited and un-American." pic.twitter.com/NkhUdpaNyV  ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 29, 2017 Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Democrats will introduce legislation as soon as Monday to stop President Trumps actions temporarily banning refugees and arrivals from certain Muslim countries. House Democrats are taking similar legislative action, and lawmakers from both chambers will rally Monday evening at the Supreme Court to protest Trumps orders. This executive order was mean-spirited and un-American, said Schumer, the New York Democrat, choking up as he stood with immigrants and refugees at a press conference Sunday. It must be reversed immediately. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said House Democrats are exploring legal options, including an amicus brief in support of the ACLU lawsuit against the actions. The chances of passing a bill through the Republican-controlled Congress are slim, as most GOP leaders and lawmakers have not objected to Trumps ban. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday that while he was personally opposed to a religious test on admissions, it was best left to the courts to resolve the issue. Its hopefully going to be decided in the courts as to whether or not this has gone too far, McConnell said on ABCs This Week. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) expressed his support Friday for Trumps action. A handful of Republicans, though, are uneasy with Trumps orders, and have spoken against them. Schumer noted that just few more Republicans would be needed to reach the 60-vote threshold for advancing Senate legislation. Maybe we can pass something in Congress, Schumer said. Its up to Republicans. Facebook

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Emotional reunion at JFK airport after release of elderly Sudanese man from immigration detention By Barbara Demick Tears and hugs at JFK's international arrivals as a detainee is released, reuniting father with son. More families wait, cheering. pic.twitter.com/WrVpoocWjY  Jack Smith IV (@JackSmithIV) January 29, 2017 For those immigrants temporarily detained under a new Trump administration executive order at New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport, attorneys have put a priority on getting some of the older detainees released to their families. One small victory for the lawyers was the case of Yassin Abdelrhman, a 76-year-old green card holder from Sudan who had been detained after a trip home to visit family. He was released about noon on Sunday after being detained for 30 hours. Soon, he was reunited with his sons. He is a strong individual, but he has some health challenges, said U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who had been working on their case. Facebook

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Iranian director Asghar Farhadi will not attend Oscars Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi after winning an Oscar in 2012. ((Allen J. Schaben/ Los Angeles Times) ) In a statement to the New York Times today, Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi said he no longer planned to attend this years ceremony. Farhadis film The Salesman is nominated in the foreign language film category. Farhadi had initially hoped to attend despite the prohibition on visitors from Iran. But he said he had decided the possibility of this presence is being accompanied by ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me even if exceptions were to be made for my trip. Read More Facebook

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How an Iranian Fulbright scholar got into the U.S.: We found a lawyer who found a lawyer who found a lawyer By Barbara Demick Iranian students in front of a makeshift law office in JFKs Terminal 4. (Barbara Demick / Los Angeles Times) Perhaps nothing encapsulates the chaos emanating from President Trumps executive order better than what happened with Ukrainian Airlines Flight 232. The regularly scheduled flight to Kiev had to turn around on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy Airport early Sunday after a federal judge issued a stay of a deportation order of dozens of foreigners, including a 32-year-old Iranian linguist who is a doctoral candidate and former Fulbright scholar. With just minutes to spare, Vahideh Rasekhi -- helped by volunteer lawyers and her smart phone  managed to prevent the flight from taking off. She had arrived Saturday afternoon, but was blocked from entering the United States by the executive order barring arrivals of citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia and Libya. Around midnight, she was put on the Ukrainian Air flight to return to Tehran, via Kiev. We found a lawyer who found a lawyer who found a lawyer, said Mehdi Namazi, 29, a friend who has been waiting for her at the airport. The lawyers were showing officials a copy of the order issued a few hours earlier by U.S. District Court Judge Ann Donnelly in Brooklyn. It was all very confusing. They were arguing as the plane was taxiing, Namazi said. According to one lawyer, Melissa Trent, Rasekhi herself was walking up and down the aisles arguing for the plane not to take off. She knew that if the plane left she would never get back to the United States again, Trent said. Rasekhi spent most of Sunday in detention with other Iranians, but was released into the United States at around 3 p.m.. A dozen Iranian friends had been waiting inside the airports Terminal 4 amid a clutter of discarded coffee cups and half-eaten donuts in front of a diner that had been turned into a makeshift law office. Another Iranian student was waiting for her parents, who were taken into detention after arriving on another flight I havent seen them in 3-1/2 years. They dont speak English. But Im hopeful, said the student, who gave her name as Sahar. The students were both furious at the way their country had been targeted by Trumps order and touched by the outpouring of support from the volunteer lawyers. We see two different Americas here. There is this order banning us, and than there are all these people here who came to the airport. If it werent for these volunteers, she would have been deported, said Namazi. Im very depressed. We feel betrayed by this country that we invested so much energy and hope into. We are all graduate students, professors, PhDs, engineers. To say this is for national security, it doesnt add up, said Tahmineh Tabrizian, 33, another friend of Rasekhis. She said her own parents had planned to come to the United States and had spent $14,000 on tickets and visas and would now have to cancel their trip. Rasekhi, who has lived in the United States for a decade, was a Fulbright scholar at UC Santa Barbara and received a masters degree at Fresno State University, according to a resume supplied by one of her friends. She had been studying for a PhD at Stony Brook University on Long Island. She had gone to Tehran over the Christmas break to visit her parents and was on her way back to resume her studies when she was detained. Facebook

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Protests begin again at LAX on Sunday morning By Genaro Molina Facebook

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Protesters in Tel Aviv compare Trump immigration order to Israeli refugee policies By Joshua Mitnick Demonstrators in Tel Aviv protest U.S. President Trumps new immigration order. (Joshua Mitnick / Los Angeles Times) Holding signs reading Refugees Welcome and chanting No Ban, No Wall, Sanctuary for All, several dozen demonstrators gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv on Sunday to join protests in the U.S. against President Trumps new immigration policy. Mia Zur Szpiro, a 36-year-old filmmaker, said she felt compelled to demonstrate because her parents survived the Holocaust. We are a country of immigrants, and to me it was astounding that this [order] was passed on Holocaust Memorial Day, she said. Its wrong to stereotype, and its wrong to send people who are in need back into the face of danger and the risk of death. Elliot Vaisbrub Glassenberg, a protest organizer and migrant rights activist, compared the new U.S. policy to Israeli policies toward tens of thousands of Eritrean and Sudanese migrants who crossed into the country illegally from Egypts Sinai desert. The policies that Trump has enacted are no worse than the policies that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has enacted for years here  such as not allowing any non-Jews to be given refugee status in Israel, except for a select few. Togod Omar, a native of Sudan who was at the protest, said he applied for political asylum in Israel three years ago, and is still waiting. He said Sudanese friends hoping to be resettled in the U.S. were upset by the new executive order. Trump doesnt understand whats going on in Sudan, Omar said. You cant punish the Sudanese people for what the Islamic government is doing. You cant banish someone because of their religion. Facebook

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President Trump hits majority disapproval in record time, Gallup finds By David Lauter Days until achieving MAJORITY disapproval from @Gallup



Reagan: 727

Bush I: 1336

Clinton: 573

Bush II: 1205

Obama: 936



Trump: 8. days. pic.twitter.com/kv2fy0Qsbp  Will Jordan (@williamjordann) January 29, 2017 President Trumps actions during his first week in office have appeared to be aimed at the voters who already supported him, not at reaching out to the rest, and thats taken a rapid toll on his support, which was already historically low. Gallup, which has measured job approval for presidents for decades, shows Trumps approval so far at 45%, with 48% disapproving. Thats an average of several days polling. The daily trend lines are not kind to the new administration. As of Saturday, 51% of Americans disapproved of Trumps performance. Thats a record for the speed of getting to majority disapproval. By comparison, President George W. Bush hit majority disapproval six months into his second term, in June 2005, and remained in negative territory for the rest of his tenure. President Obama did not hit 51% disapproval until August of 2011, during the crisis over the federal debt ceiling that summer. His approval rebounded later that year, but he had a second period of majority disapproval during late 2013 and much of 2014. He ended his term with widespread approval and 37% of Americans disapproving. Trump Job Approval: Approve 45% (-1); Disapprove 48% (+3). Get the full trend https://t.co/BjTUhf0NAM.  GallupNews (@GallupNews) January 27, 2017 Facebook

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Hundreds of travelers were caught in limbo over rushed visa ban By Brian Bennett (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Hundreds of travelers were blocked from entering the U.S. or prevented from boarding flights in the hours after President Trump signed his order banning arrivals from seven predominantly Muslim countries, according to the Department of Homeland Security. In the order, Trump temporarily suspended refugee admissions and banned travelers from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Scores of people from those countries were aboard airplanes flying toward the U.S. when Trump signed his executive order on Friday afternoon, setting off waves of confusion among border officials and the traveling public. Upon landing at U.S. airports, 109 people from the listed countries were detained by immigration officials and prevented from entering the U.S., officials said. The department had approved 81 waivers to the new travel ban by Saturday afternoon, the official said, but at least some of the people detained on arrival were sent back to their countries of origin. Court orders issued Saturday evening required U.S. border officials to stop returning people who had already arrived with valid visas. It is unclear how many people were deported before the orders were issued. It is also unclear if the Trump administration has fully complied with those orders. In addition to the people who arrived in the U.S. and were detained, as of 3 p.m. on Saturday, an additional 173 travelers from the listed countries had been stopped from boarding flights to the U.S., a Homeland Security official said in a statement. The department did not make an official available to describe the actions and the agencys response. As many as 3,250 travelers may have been inconvenienced by the new visa restrictions, officials for the department said in a statement Sunday. Yesterday, less than 1% of the more than 325,000 international air travelers who arrive every day were inconvenienced while enhanced security measures were implemented, the statement read. The department will comply with court orders, the statement said. But no evidence was given to confirm this. Lawyers seeking to meet with detainees at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington and at San Francisco have said that they were blocked by officials on Sunday. The Department of Homeland Security will comply with judicial orders, faithfully enforce our immigration laws, and implement President Trumps executive orders to ensure that those entering the United States do not pose a threat to our country or the American people, according to the departments statement. All of the visa holders and travelers from the listed countries blocked from entering the U.S. since Friday already had gone through multiple steps of security screening that checked their biographical information and travel history against U.S. terrorism databases. Facebook

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White House seems to back down on part of new vetting policy By Christi Parsons The White House on Sunday appeared to back down on a key part of President Trumps tough new immigration order, signaling that travelers trying to enter the country from seven banned countries will be allowed in if they hold green cards. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said that these legal permanent residents are exempt from the travel ban moving forward, even though over the weekend other administration officials said the rule did apply to them. The apparent reversal came amid a national controversy over the new Trump order that temporarily halts the entry of all refugees to the U.S. and any traveler from seven majority Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Federal judges across the country have blocked parts of the presidents executive actions since they came down on Friday, mostly preventing the deportation of some travelers who ran into the first wave of implementation over the weekend. The back-and-forth over the green-card holders reflected a generalized confusion about the new order, which also bars Syrian refugees from entering the United States indefinitely. Lawyers for some of the affected immigrants said border agents seemed uncertain about the new rules and were disagreeing with one another about which travelers were affected and which were not. Further complicating the picture was a statement from the Department of Homeland Security asserting that its agents would enforce all of Trumps orders while also complying with judicial orders. As some of the orders block deportation, that left individual officers to try to figure out which priorities to honor. Facebook

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Op-Ed: Trumps cruel, illegal refugee executive order By Erwin Chemerinsky Protesters demonstrate at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on Saturday. (Stephanie Keith / Getty Images) Barring individuals fleeing persecution from entering the United States is simply inhumane. Adding irony to injury, Trumps executive order was issued on Holocaust Remembrance Day, which should have been an occasion to atone for turning away refugees during the 1930ssome of whom then died in concentration camps. For example, in 1939, the United States turned away the St. Louis, a boat filled with refugees, many of them German Jews. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 254 passengers from the St. Louis died in the Holocaust.  Erwin Chemerinsky Read More Facebook

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Lyft pledges to donate $1 million to ACLU following Trumps immigration order By Tracey Lien (Richard Vogel / Associated Press) Tech executives had been mostly quiet for the first week of Donald Trumps presidency  but that changed after his controversial executive order restricting refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries. Executive after executive spent Saturday tweeting and posting messages to Facebook decrying the administrations actions. Lyft co-founders John Zimmer and Logan Green went a step further: On Sunday, they announced they would donate $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union over the next four years. Banning people of a particular faith or creed, race or identity, sexuality or ethnicity, from entering the U.S. is antithetical to both Lyft and our nations core values, the co-founders wrote in an email to Lyft customers. We stand firmly against the actions, and will no
Im Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I dont want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

Trump Lays the Walls Cornerstone

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Donald Trump talked about it all campaign long: a big, beautiful wall along the Mexican border. Today, he plans to take the first step toward making it a reality. As for the fate of roughly 750,000 immigrants who have already come to the U.S. illegally as children? For now, its still unclear  a situation that worries some immigration hawks but gives the young people affected a ray of hope.

Pipeline Dreams

With the stroke of a pen, President Trump has revived the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects, though it still doesnt guarantee a drop of crude will ever flow through either one. What matters more is the message: Big Oil is back in favor. And thats sure to energize both Trumps base of supporters and the environmental opposition.

More Politics

-- A conservative Colorado judge has emerged as a top contender to fill the Supreme Court vacancy.

-- Steve Lopez talks with three members of Californias Democratic delegation as they strategize.

-- Badlands National Park tweeted, then deleted, climate facts hours after news broke of a gag order on the EPA.

The Familiar Yet Changing Face of Oscar

In some ways, this years Oscar nominations are the same they ever were: La La Land, a musical love letter to L.A. and the movies, took a record-tying 14 nominations; Meryl Streep earned her 20th; and even onetime Hollywood pariah Mel Gibson was back in the picture. But there were significant changes too: Seven actors and actresses of color got the nod, and the digital ages blurring boundaries were reflected in the recognition of Amazon Studios Manchester by the Sea and the documentary O.J.: Made in America, which was shown on ESPN.

More About the Oscar Nominations

-- Amy Adams, Finding Dory and Streep: the big snubs and surprises.

-- The complete list of nominees.

-- This graphic looks at diversity among this years nominees.

Gov. Brown Leads the Resistance

Immigration. Healthcare. Climate change. Gov. Jerry Brown emphasized those three issues in his State of the State address, saying that California is not turning back. Not now, not ever. Though Brown never mentioned Trump by name (shades of Meryl Streep?), it was obvious whose policies he was pushing against. More from Browns unusually fiery speech.

After Much Protest, No Charges in an LAPD Shooting

In 2014, the death of Ezell Ford in South L.A. thrust the LAPD into the national debate about police shootings and African Americans. Since then, the incident has been revisited by the department, the Police Commission, the officers union, the district attorneys office and protesters. Heres why L.A. County prosecutors wont bring criminal charges against the two officers who shot and killed Ford.

CALIFORNIA

-- University of California regents today will start debating the first tuition increase in six years.

-- Californias stormy winter has set a snowfall record for Mammoth resorts: more than 20 feet in one month.

-- The artist responsible for the HOLLYWeeD prank has struck again, this time hanging a sign against Trump on the Golden Gate Bridge.

-- Robin Abcarian on those pink hats and that vulgar word that are now a rallying cry against President Trump.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Meet Allison Schroeder, the NASA-loving writer of Hidden Figures who was nominated for an Oscar.

-- A movie about mans best friend discovering the meaning of life would seem like a no-brainer for a studio looking to appeal to pet lovers. So what could go wrong? A lot.

-- The R&B group New Editions rise and offstage drama are the focus of a three-part BET biopic.

-- Lee ODenat, known as Q, the founder of the influential website WorldStarHipHop.com, has died at age 43.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Jeff Bridges earned his seventh Oscar nomination for Hell or High Water on Tuesday. His first? Forty-five years ago for The Last Picture Show. Heres why this Dude abides.

NATION-WORLD

-- Despite having come under fire, FBI Director James B. Comey is staying in his job.

-- The mortality rate due to cancer is falling across the U.S., but worrisome pockets of deadly malignancy persist.

-- A study says the U.S. abortion rate has dropped to a new low, but theres a fight over why.

-- In Asia, China looks like the winner after Trump scuttled the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

-- South Korea is coping with a terrible outbreak of avian flu, and U.S. egg farmers are benefiting.

BUSINESS

-- A petition filed by Consumers Union says scores of California hospitals with high rates of patient infections have not been inspected within the last five years.

-- One key to American Apparels demise: when it rapidly grew its retail footprint.

SPORTS

-- Bill Plaschke: Heres betting that when the time comes for the Lakers to shake things up, Jeanie Buss will be up for it.

-- Bill Shaikin on the calculus of why the Dodgers traded away pitcher Jose De Leon.

OPINION

-- The death of facts has been greatly exaggerated.

-- The Patt Morrison podcast: the tweets that Trump and other politicians dont want you to read.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Some very wealthy people are preparing for doomsday scenarios. (The New Yorker)

-- The makeover myth and its dangers. (Aeon)

-- Why cornbread was once mistakenly blamed as the cause of a killer disease. (Atlas Obscura)

ONLY IN L.A.

Mexican-born actor Anthony Quinn grew up in East L.A., but for more than three decades hes been associated with the mural in downtown known as the Pope of Broadway, not far from the Million Dollar Theatre where he once performed. Over the years, the painting of the two-time Oscar winner chipped and faded. Now, the murals creator has brought it back to life. Time for a Zorba-like dance?

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.

If you like this newsletter, please share it with friends.
Global temperatures were the highest on record in 2016 for the third straight year, scientists at NASA and elsewhere reported last week. This is just the latest proof of rapid climate change that has experts and governments around the world deeply alarmed. And yet President Trump and many other Republicans have so far paid no political price for questioning or downplaying the scientific evidence on climate change and undermining environmental policies that reduce risk.

One reason for their apparent immunity is that climate denialists exaggerate the economic costs of laws that aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, advocates of effective climate policies have lacked hard numbers on the current and future economic toll of global warming.

But this is starting to change. Over the past several years, a number of peer-reviewed studies have established that climate change is already costing American taxpayers and consumers tens of billions of dollars. As these costs to businesses, states and the federal budget mount, Trump and Congress may finally face pressure to act.

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Peer-reviewed studies have established that climate change is already costing American taxpayers and consumers tens of billions of dollars.

Last year, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences issued a report stating that, in many instances across the country, climate change is increasing the likelihood and scope of extreme weather events. One example is the storm that produced record floods in Louisiana in August. In a study released the following month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that climate change had made these August floods  which destroyed or damaged more than 100,000 homes and cost taxpayers $15 billion  at least 40% more likely. The storm was so expensive that the federal government had to cover 90% of the emergency costs, rather than the usual 75%, because Louisiana simply didnt have the money.

A similar burden has been placed on taxpayers by ever more severe wildfires, the costs of which now consume more than half of the entire Forest Service budget, up from 15% in 1990. A recent study by the University of Idaho and Columbia University concluded that climate change is a main reason why yearly wildfires today burn twice the amount of forest they did in 1984, devastating an additional acreage that is larger than Massachusetts and Connecticut combined.

This trend shows no signs of slowing. The frequency of wildfires on public land in the West has increased 500% in the last 40 years, according to LeRoy Westerling, an expert on climate and wildfires at UC Merced. And because average forest temperatures in the West have increased by 2.5 degrees since 1970, other researchers say that the size of wildfires will continue to grow exponentially in the coming years.

California is among the many states facing hefty new costs due to global warming. A 2015 paper by the National Academy of Sciences found the states drought was worsened significantly by high temperatures caused by climate change. Higher temperatures also mean more precipitation in the Sierra arrives as rain instead of snow, threatening industries and cities that depend on snowpack for water, according to an analysis released last year by Climate Central.

Another study, by the Risky Business Coalition, has determined that climate change will threaten Californias coastal infrastructure, the Central Valleys agricultural bounty and even the states overall labor productivity, as extreme heat makes outdoor labor increasingly hazardous.

Critically, these and other analyses have found that adopting better climate policies now would lower future costs. Indeed, effective climate policies helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 10% in the U.S. during the Obama years, while the economy as a whole grew by more than 15%.

Climate change does not make all severe weather events larger or more frequent. Researchers have not established a connection between warming and the recent droughts in Brazil or the floods in Chennai, India. But scientists are finding strong correlations between rising temperatures and heat waves, increased intensity of tropical storms and precipitation, larger wildfires and coastal storm surge. Most climate scientists believe that Octobers Hurricane Matthew, for instance, which cost the U.S. more than $10 billion, was made substantially stronger because of warming Caribbean waters.

The damage left by severe weather is growing our federal debt. A report released last month by the Office of Management and Budget warns of billions in additional costs related to climate change. The total fiscal impact quantified to date could be equivalent to as much as 15 percent of total federal discretionary spending by late century, it said.

As president, Trump is responsible for responding to  and protecting the American people from  damage caused by extreme weather. Instead of rolling back programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Trump, his nominees and the new Congress should recognize that the safety and economic well-being of the American people are at profound risk. They have a moral and economic obligation to act.

Paul Bledsoe is a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute and an energy and climate consultant. He served on the staff of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and White House Climate Change Task Force under President Clinton.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook
Its Week One of the Trump presidency and the White House is already at war with the media, touching off panic about the end of the republic and the death of facts.

The worries are exaggerated  or, at least, premature.

Theres nothing new about politicians hating the press; presidents and their aides have been at odds with the media for at least half a century.

Richard Nixon put journalists on his enemies list and ordered the Internal Revenue Service to audit them. Ronald Reagans press secretary blacklisted critical reporters. Bill Clintons aides lied about matters of state, even as Clinton lied about matters of the flesh. Barack Obamas White House threatened to prosecute reporters over leaks.

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Administrations and the press are destined to be at cross purposes. Thats not merely normal; thats healthy. The medias highest purpose is to act as a watchdog, not a cheerleader.

Paid circulation at major newspapers (including this one) is growing, and contributions to journalism nonprofits like ProPublica have spiked.

And its not as if President Trump is cutting off media access entirely. He still wants to use the media for his own purposes  as he did, to great effect, during the campaign.

So his press secretary is holding regular briefings in the White House. The president granted a long, exclusive interview this week to ABC News, a pillar of the mainstream. Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway said he may even hold cozy dinners with selected reporters when Melania is in New York.

Relationships between politicians and reporters are almost entirely transactional, and always have been  even in the bad old days when reporters and politicians went out drinking after hours.

Presidents and their aides dont talk to reporters because they yearn to be held accountable (they dont). They do it to promote their political agendas.

Whats different this time is the presidents in-your-face style.

Reporters are among the most dishonest people on Earth, he said (again) last week.

Other presidents tried, most of the time, to keep their irritation about press coverage private; Trump flaunts his in public.

And this president, more than any in memory, feels unconstrained by the distinction between truth and falsehood. He utters self-aggrandizing fictions and gets angry when fact-checkers show them to be nonsense.

He was at it again this week, raging about the record crowd at his inauguration (it wasnt) and insisting he would have won the popular vote but for millions of illegal voters (theres no evidence to support that claim).

At times, Trump and his aides appear bent on delegitimizing not merely the media, but the concept of verifiable facts.

Theres no way to quantify crowd numbers, Conway said Sunday, incorrectly. The White House, she said, had simply provided alternative facts.

But Trumps style is precisely why theres no need  at this point  to worry about the end of civilization: Its not helping him crush the 1st Amendment, its just getting in his way.

The new president actually made a pretty good start this week. His Cabinet nominees appear to be sailing to confirmation, even the most controversial ones. He signed executive orders to begin dismantling Obamacare and withdraw from a Pacific Rim trade pact. He jawboned automobile executives to stop moving jobs overseas, always a crowd-pleasing move.

And what was the dominant story? The presidents apparent obsession with secondary issues like crowd counts and voting tallies.

More important, hes impeached his own credibility (already low) and that of his new press secretary, Sean Spicer (who arrived with a reputation for honesty). Thats a handicap that cant be erased.

Lyndon B. Johnson took two years to earn a reputation for a credibility gap. Trump did it in a weekend.

On Tuesday, the New York Times used the word lie to describe his claim about illegal voters. Thats not a win for any president.

These early battles arent pretty, but they have had a healthy, bracing effect on the media, not a numbing one.

Instead of devaluing fact-checking, the new Trump administration has just made it more central to what the media do, and more necessary to the public.

True believers in Trump may rally to alternative facts, but most Americans will believe their own eyes.

Already, as media economist Ken Doctor has reported, paid circulation at major newspapers (including this one) is growing, and contributions to journalism nonprofits like ProPublica have spiked.

Equally important, these collisions have made it clearer than ever that access journalism is rarely as valuable as investigative journalism.

White House reporters should ignore proposals that they boycott briefings or refuse to interview presidential aides. Thats silly. But theyve been put on notice that those briefings and interviews are unlikely to be as useful as talking to midlevel bureaucrats who are already yearning to leak.

The answer, Martin Baron, editor of the Washington Post, said recently, is pretty simple. Just do our job. Do it as its supposed to be done.

The public expects that of us. If we fail to pursue the truth and to tell it unflinchingly  the public will not forgive us.

Serious, solid journalism is coming back into fashion. As long as we remember to practice it.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com

Twitter: @doylemcmanus

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Trumps infrastructure ambitions are no excuse for reviving the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines

The tweets that Donald Trump and other politicians dont want you to read

Let the emoluments case against Trump go forward
A legal team made up of constitutional scholars has filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York alleging that President Trump is violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which prohibits the president from receiving payments and gifts from foreign countries. The plaintiff, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington  CREW  is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works on behalf of the public to foster ethics in government and reduce the influence of money in politics. This lawsuit is the first legal challenge to Trumps decision to be both president and de facto CEO of a billion-dollar empire whose numerous companies do business with many nations. It is vitally important that this lawsuit be allowed to go forward.

Before the court in New York can address whether the president is violating the Constitution, however, it has to determine whether Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics has legal standing to bring this complaint. Every plaintiff in federal court must be able to show a personal injury caused by the defendant that can be redressed by a court. These requirements for standing, the Supreme Court has said, are required by Article III of the Constitution and cannot be waived by the defendant or by the court.

Exactly what defines a proper plaintiff isnt crystal clear, and soft or intangible factors often affect standing decisions, especially in highly politicized cases. Eric Posner, a leading constitutional scholar at the University of Chicago, recently characterized standing as the worlds spongiest legal doctrine. He is correct.

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Never before have the people of the United States elected a President with business interests as vast, complicated, and secret as those of Donald J. Trump.

CREW claims that its legal injury is that it has been forced to divert essential and limited resources  including time and money  from other important matters  to the Foreign Emoluments Clause issues involving Defendant, which have consumed the attention of the public and the media, and that it will need to continue to do so until a court remedies the presidents alleged constitutional violations.

The lawsuit relies on the 1982 Supreme Court case Havens Realty Corp. vs. Coleman, which granted standing in similar circumstances to a public-interest group devoted to fair housing issues. Numerous scholars are arguing, however, that the two cases are significantly different and, in any event, Havens Reality is old, discredited law.

That technical legal debate, however, is unlikely to be the deciding factor in whether this core challenge to Trumps authority is allowed to go forward. There are many examples of plaintiffs in high-profile and important cases having their cases heard despite injuries just as or even more abstract and tenuous than the ones put forward by CREW.

Abigail Fisher, a white student denied entrance to the University of Texas, was allowed to challenge the affirmative action policies of the university even after she had graduated from another college and admitted she would never again apply to UT. Massachusetts was allowed to sue the Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to issue certain regulations based on the highly speculative claim that the coastline of that state might in the future be damaged by global warming. Environmental groups were allowed to challenge federal limitations on nuclear-power-company liability even though no accident had occurred and the plant in question hadnt been built yet.

In all three of these cases, the plaintiffs claims of injury were flimsy at best but the Supreme Court decided that the public interest required that the cases be heard.

CREWs complaint alleges that never before have the people of the United States elected a President with business interests as vast, complicated, and secret as those of Donald J. Trump. Now that he has been sworn into office as the 45th President of the United States, those business interests are creating countless conflicts of interest, as well as unprecedented influence by foreign governments, and have resulted and will further result in numerous violations of Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 [ the emoluments clause] of the United States Constitution.

This lawsuit presents important, fundamental and time-sensitive issues of national public policy that should be resolved by the courts of the United States. A judge, or judges, willing to do so can easily find the law necessary to justify hearing this case, and the national interest requires exactly that result.

Eric J. Segall, a law professor at Georgia State University, is the author of Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court Is Not a Court and Its Justices Are Not Judges.

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Not all tweets are deleted equally. Politicians trashed tweets can have a second life. Derek Willis runs Politwoops for the nonprofit investigative journalism operation ProPublica, and he retrieves politicians and candidates scrubbed tweets to give us a better glimpse into their online selves. President Donald Trump is one of the worlds best-known tweeters, and hes been known to delete his now and again. Some elected officials deletions are typos; others can be more substantive, and Willis makes the case that those 140-character bits the political tweeters decided they didnt want us to see can be as revealing as the ones they did.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS INTERVIEW ON THE PATT MORRISON ASKS PODCAST 

What is Politwoops?

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Its an archive of deleted tweets made by politicians and public officials. Originally it was created in the Netherlands. It was a Dutch project to track deleted tweets from politicians there, and the idea was such a good one that versions of it have popped up in other countries around the world.

The U.S. version was started by the folks at the Sunlight Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., dedicated to transparency. A couple of months ago, they asked us if we would like to take the project over. The folks at ProPublica said sure, because it is a transparency project and we like transparency. Moving forward, we want to be able to show people and tell people what their politicians are doing on Twitter, especially when they delete tweets that they maybe regret.

Whats the value of deleted tweets?

Its a good question, because many of these deletions are typos. They are things where, like, Oops, I spelled someones name wrong, or, I got the verb tense wrong. I personally have done that many times on Twitter. So part of the value of that is that politicians are just like you and me when they use Twitter, in the sense that they make mistakes. But theres another level that I think does actually provides a little bit more value, and thats that Twitter, like many other social media platforms, is a place where people will say things sometimes without really thinking them through, or a rush of emotion, and then later reconsider. Tweets that get deleted provide a little bit of a window into this thinking, or the state of mind of somebody who posted it.

When a politician does delete a tweet  and its a permanent deletion, not a correction  I think sometimes there might be an interesting insight or a story there.

One example is politicians who deleted their tweets who were in favor of the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan after there were concerns about his past actions.

Thats a great example. In fact, that even occurred off of Twitter; people deleted press releases! You figure, Oh, this is what I feel, or, my position on this particular matter is  then later on, you might have some more information and you might figure, Well thats not the greatest thing to have sitting out there, and you go back and remove it. I think that does tell you something about how a lawmaker views his or her job and how they perform it.

Twitter took down Politwoops a while back, saying it violated the terms of service by retrieving these deleted tweets. What happened to bring it back?

It is a violation of the terms of service  at the time it was. When people complained, I think they did start to pay attention to services like this that have cropped up around the world, and then said, Its against our terms of service. So the folks at Sunlight went back to Twitter after a little interval and said, Look, we understand the terms of service, but we think theres a unique case here  and in particular when it comes to candidates for political office or for elected officials  that the public actually has an interest in seeing their statements and how they use a social media platform like this.

They made the case effectively, and Twitter has allowed this bit of carve-out. So we can track people and store their tweets as long as they are a candidate or an elected official or appointed official for some posts, and then once they cease to be that, we have to stop tracking them and storing their deleted tweets.

I read that 79% of Americans are not on Twitter, so maybe it isnt exactly vox pop.

Oh, its definitely not. I think as much as members of media  and I plead guilty to this myself  as much as we like to think Twitter is a window into our society, its a window into a certain small portion of the society. However, I would say that more and more politicians use these services, and use Twitter in particular now. I think the president is a great example of that.

For those people who do use it, its the national id. What do you see as Twitters role?

I think in some respects it can be a window onto our national psyche, but thats probably a little too simplistic a reading. To me, the value of Twitter is very often in its ability to connect you to other people who share a very specific interest. I think of Twitter as a bunch of niche audiences that are all hanging around together. I have found many folks who are experts in fields that I probably would not have encountered otherwise had I not been looking for them and had I not been on Twitter.

Donald Trump seems to be the poster boy for Twitter. What do you see as the nature of his Twitter behavior?

A lot of politicians talk about using social media to bypass the traditional media, as they might call it. I think Donald Trump probably does that as well or better than anybody else.

Many of the folks who use social media in politics do so with sort of a veneer of, This is my official account and youre going to hear about the things would expect an officeholder or member of Congress to post to Twitter about. A lot of people might think that probably doesnt reflect the personality of that person very much.

But Trump is a tremendous exception to that. I think people gravitate to his Twitter feed because they think it is a pretty accurate extension of his personality.

What tweets has he deleted? Surely you have an archive of those.

We do, and like most, this is the one place where hes much like a lot of other politicians, particularly in the last year, where he will quickly clean up the typos, and there are many typos; when you tweet a lot, you also increase the chances of you tweeting out the wrong name.

What he has been deleting and not replacing or fixing are, for example, when he retweets other users, which he does occasionally. He also occasionally deletes tweets that I really cant explain. After the election he or someone on his staff went back and deleted a tweet about Duck Dynasty or Duck Dynasty stars that was complimentary of him, made in September or October, and Im not sure why.

I will say that for someone who uses Twitter as often as he does and in the manner that he does, frankly, you might have expected more deletions, because there are things he put on Twitter back before he was a presidential candidate that many politicians probably would be uncomfortable having.

Im sure there are many people tracking Donald Trumps tweets, but there are hundreds of members of Congress and thousands of politicians and candidates across the country. How do they get tracked by Politwoops? Do you have a crowdsourcing network out there?

We do, in the sense that we regularly have folks email us and suggest, Hey, you should be tracking this person or that person.

We went through and made a list of all the new members of Congress and went out to try to try to find their Twitter accounts, their official accounts and their campaign accounts. Then we simply load them into our database and the checking goes on automatically. We dont have everybody from the moment at which they become a public official, so its not fully automated, but we do try to get them into our system as fast as possible so we can start seeing what theyre tweeting about.

Have you seen the proliferation of fake tweets, which are, as Ive seen them, screen shots of what appear to be tweets but in fact are fabricated?

As long as you can post images to Twitter, this is going to be a problem. As long as theres been an Internet, theres been an issue that you can fake a lot of things on the Internet.

I dont think Twitter is immune from that. There are some solutions, but theyre fairly draconian. The easiest way to prevent fake images is to prevent all images, but I doubt Twitter is really going to shut that off any time soon.

Is Twitter here to stay, or do you think its going to lose its cachet, be superseded by something else?

I wish I knew. I suspect that something like Twitter is probably here to stay. Twitter is certainly not a perfect service. There are things that go on on twitter that are pretty horrendous and horrific in terms of abuse, and I could envision a time where there would be a tipping point where people say, We cant do this, this is unacceptable.

To the extent it stays around, it will probably always be somewhat niche, in the sense that you said before  most people arent on Twitter. I think it has an appeal for certain folks, and for other folks theres literally no appeal whatsoever.

The great Twitter debate of this election season is whether Donald Trump should stop tweeting. I think I know where you might be going on this.

If hes going to make policy pronouncements on Twitter, as a journalist Ill take those. I think anything that gives us a little insight into how the presidency works and how he thinks is valuable information, when it comes down to it. There are some tweets in there that I probably wouldnt put in front of children, or would have a hard time explaining to some of them, but on balance I think I would rather have them than not.

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The fledgling Trump administration has effectively declared war on environmental protection.

On Tuesday, President Trump signed executive orders that took the first steps toward reversing two Obama administration rulings against oil pipeline projects. One of those rulings, by the State Department, rejected the application for the Keystone XL pipeline that would carry oil from the tar sands of Alberta to refineries and shipping points in the United States. The other ruling, from the Army Corps of Engineers, told owners of the Dakota Access pipeline to come up with alternative routes that would not endanger the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota.

Trumps orders, in themselves, did not completely undo the Obama administrations pipeline decisions, but they are clear indicators that such an outcome is in the works. TransCanada, the Keystone projects owner, is being asked to resubmit the project application (with the caveat that Trump wants the pipeline built with 100% American steel). Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers is being ordered to review and approve in an expedited manner the North Dakota pipeline plan of Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners.

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As those two actions made headlines, more reports surfaced about the administrations Putin-like attempts to muzzle anyone in any government agency who has views on the environment that are out of step with the new regime.

Even with best-friend-of-the-oil-industry Scott Pruitt not yet confirmed by the Senate as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA employees are feeling the cold hand of the Trump White House covering their mouths. Grants and contracts worth $4 billion that support environmental programs for states, tribes and other entities have been put on hold. EPA employees, as well as scientists, researchers and government workers in other departments who deal with environmental issues  particularly climate change  have been told to make no public statements, put no new content on websites, stay away from social media and submit for review any speaking engagements or contacts with the news media.

When an unidentified person at the Badlands National Park was found to be defiantly tweeting facts about climate change, the posts were quickly removed by enforcers of the ban.

Since Trumps election, scientists have been scrambling to copy vital climate research onto private servers before the climate change deniers who dominate policy in the new administration can do anything to harm the data. Something that seemed a little paranoid to me before all of a sudden seems potentially realistic, or at least something youd want to hedge against, UC Davis environmental researcher Nick Santos told the Washington Post. Doing this can only be a good thing. Hopefully they leave everything in place. But if not, were planning for that.

1 / 51 la-1491523602-y7ephyarj1-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 51 la-1491368625-0bgh58ihw8-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los angeles Times) 6 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 51 Trump inspires millions to take to the streets -- to oppose him. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 51 Cartoon caption contest winner at the DENT conference in Sun Valley, Idaho: Jon Duval, executive director of the Ketchum Community Development Corporation. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 51 Old radicals and big media descend on Selma (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 51 Horsey imagined the creation of the Ann Coulter phenomenon in this cartoon from 2007. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 51 This David Horsey drawing is a reconfiguration of a cartoon he first published in 2006. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 51 Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers, should give Cliven Bundy a call. After Sterling loses his NBA franchise and the deadbeat Nevada rancher loses his cattle, the two old racists will both need a buddy. Maybe they can team up together and open an all-white rodeo. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 51 Besides sending a chill up the spine of the international community, Vladimir Putin has accomplished one other thing by seizing Crimea and threatening the rest of Ukraine: Putin has brought back the bear. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 51 The right-wing insurrection at the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville, Nev., has taken another weird turn with new revelations about the family history of Cliven Bundy. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 51 David Horsey / Los Angeles Times (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)

Trump has been in office less than a week and he is already confirming the worst fears of environmentalists. An overwhelming number of scientific studies indicate that man-made climate change will be an existential threat to humanity if no action is taken to sharply reduce reliance on fossil fuels. President Obama believed the science; Donald Trump and the people he has put in charge of energy and environmental policies do not. It appears obvious that the Trump administration will consistently favor oil, gas and coal interests over citizens who just want clean air and water and a landscape that is not carpeted with drilling rigs and fracking equipment.

Last weekends huge womens marches in cities across the country pulled together people with a variety of concerns, but environmental issues got slight attention. That needs to change because the environment is the one thing we all have in common.

The first place where the environmental battle lines are drawn will very likely be the Standing Rock reservation. Through the summer, fall and into the snow and freezing temperatures of winter, the tribe led anti-pipeline protests that grew dramatically in size and drew international attention to what had been an obscure project. Protesters thought they had won, but now, with a stroke of Trumps pen, victory has been snatched away. The tribe will take the fight to the courts, but it seems inevitable that there will be another physical confrontation as well. Thousands of people will gather to resist, this time with the weather on their side, the federal government against them and the future in their hands.

The war is on.

David.Horsey@latimes.com

Follow me at @davidhorsey on Twitter

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In the 2018 governors race, Gavin Newsom leads the pack in fundraising Gavin Newsom, the first major candidate to jump into CA's 2018 governor's race, narrowly lead the pack in 2016 fundraising w/ $4.27 million  Phil Willon (@philwillon) February 1, 2017 Facebook

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Schwarzenegger: Were going through some difficult moments ... but I guarantee we will work our way out of this By Seema Mehta (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that the United States had faced trying times and political crises before, and has always persevered. Yes, were going through some difficult moments right now, as we have in the past, but I guarantee we will work our way out of this, Schwarzenegger said, speaking at an electoral reform event at the University of Southern California. He recalled immigrating to the United States and seeing the violent protests at the Democratic National Convention in 1968, Watergate and the economic troubles during President Jimmy Carters tenure. One thing you can count on in America is even though it falls every so often  as we all do  it dusts itself off, gets up and gets going again, Schwarzenegger said. That is why  its the number one country in the world. Although Schwarzenegger did not mention President Donald Trump by name during his remarks, the comments appeared to be a reference to the turbulence since Trump took office less than two weeks ago. Tensions between Schwarzenegger, who replaced Trump as the host of Celebrity Apprentice, and the new president and fellow Republican have been escalating. On Monday, Schwarzenegger called the implementation of Trumps temporary ban on immigration from several Muslim-majority countries crazy. The previous week, Schwarzenegger slammed Trumps pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Scott Pruitt, as a hypocrite. Earlier in January, Trump mocked Schwarzenegger for the first ratings of Celebrity Apprentice after the former governor took over as the host. During the presidential campaign, Schwarzenegger repeatedly made clear his disdain for Trump, pointedly casting his ballot in the California primary for Ohio Gov. John Kasich after he had dropped out. On Tuesday, Schwarzenegger was headlining an event about redistricting reform at his namesake institute at USC. He did not respond to reporters questions after the event. While governor, Schwarzenegger championed electoral reform, including an ultimately successful effort to take the redrawing of congressional and legislative districts away from politicians and give them instead to an independent commission. Both political parties have long tried to use gerrymandering to create districts that favor their politicians. But David Daley, author of The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal Americas Democracy, argued that Republicans were able to make unprecedented changes in the 2010 redistricting that will have long-lasting effects on this nations politics because of a confluence of factors, including unprecedented technology such as mapping software, and a flood of anonymous money due to the Citizens United ruling. In 2010, gerrymandering enters its steroid era, Daley said. The end result, he said, was that while the nation remained relatively closely divided between the two parties, the GOP was able to exponentially expand its hold of statehouses, governors mansions and congressional seats. Speakers urged Californians to take the lessons they had learned through the states redistricting reform and try to help voters apply them in other states, through the initiative, or legislative or legal systems. We are the model for the rest of the nation and that is why we in California have to do everything we can to pull together all the things that happen successfully in California and nationwide, Schwarzenegger said. Because the rest of the states are waiting for us. Facebook

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Top Democratic donor Tom Steyer is planning a larger role opposing President Trump By Chris Megerian On Sunday, Tom Steyer was holding a cardboard sign saying not on my watch at San Franciscos airport, one of thousands protesting President Trumps order preventing visitors from several predominantly Muslim countries. I went out there to participate, but also to listen, he said. Like other liberal leaders, hes been hunting for the right approach to counter Trump. Now the deep-pocketed Democratic donor is launching a new effort that could expand the scope of NextGen Climate, the San Francisco-based organization he created and funded. Although Steyer expects to stay active on environmental issues  the onetime hedge fund manager is best known for advocating stronger steps to fight climate change and support clean energy  hes looking to play a more expansive role in opposing Trump. The number of issues that have to be addressed are broader, he said in an interview, pointing to Trumps statements on issues such as voting that he considers to be a broader attack on fundamental American rights. In a video posted on Tuesday night, Steyer says, I promise to do everything in my power to stand up to Trump and asks for the publics thoughts on what next steps should be taken. Steyer spent $74 million in the 2014 midterm election, and then millions more last year to support Hillary Clinton and other Democrats. Although results have been mixed  Republicans gained ground in both years  Steyer said the experiences have positioned NextGen to educate and mobilize voters across the country. There are very few people who are set up organizationally to do what were trying to do, he said. Steyer has already played a role in opposing Trumps nominees, running advertisements criticizing his choice for secretary of State, former Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson. Besides simply fighting Trump, Steyer also hopes to project an alternative view of the country  one that comes with a dose of California sunshine. America can pursue a much more optimistic, a much more prosperous, a much more equitable and a much healthier future, he said. Facebook

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Former aide is preparing to run for Rep. Grace Napolitanos seat if she retires By Javier Panzar Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk), who turned 80 last year, has not made plans to retire. But one San Gabriel Valley politician is raising funds to run in case Napolitano does decide to bow out after 10 terms in Congress. Mary Ann Lutz, the former mayor of Monrovia and a former aide to Napolitano, reported having $101,000 in the bank to run for Napolitanos 32nd Congressional District seat, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission. But Lutz says she will run only if Napolitano retires. I have enormous respect for my former boss, Congresswoman Grace Napolitano, and would never run against her for any office, Lutz said in a statement. In the event that the 32nd Congressional District seat eventually opens up, I plan to run, and run aggressively. Napolitano suffered a minor stroke last February that affected her ability to write and slightly slowed her walk. She continued her reelection campaign and beat state Assemblyman Roger Hernandez (D-West Covina), who effectively ended his campaign in August after a judge granted his ex-wifes request for a domestic violence restraining order against him. During an interview with The Times a day before the November election, Napolitano said the health of her 90-year-old husband would be a key factor in her decision on whether to run for an 11th term in 2018. I would love to stay but it depends, she said. I will be ready to hang it up when I am ready. Lutz was elected in 2003 to the City Council in Monrovia, a city of 36,000 in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, and was elected mayor in 2009. She lost her reelection bid in 2015 and went on to work for Napolitano as an advisor on water issues. Lutz raised $26,000 and loaned her campaign committee an additional $75,000. Napolitano has $144,692 in the bank if she wants to run again. Facebook

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State Senate committee votes in favor of funding legal aid for immigrants in California facing deportation By Jazmine Ulloa (John Moore / Getty Images) A state legislative bill seeking to expand legal services for immigrants in the U.S. illegally moved out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday on a 5-2 vote. The bill, introduced by state Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego), would create a legal defense program funded with state money that would provide lawyers for immigrants caught in deportation or removal proceedings. It comes roughly three years after the Unaccompanied Undocumented Minors program began providing state-funded legal services for young refugees fleeing gang violence in Central America. Hueso said the measure faced new urgency given President Trumps executive orders last week on immigration. This is a bill protecting Californians, protecting their families, but also protecting Californias economic prominence, Hueso said. I hope we can all stand united on this and say, Yes, we stand by our immigrant community in California. Members of the committee raised concerns about whether it whittled away at defense services available for detainees convicted of certain crimes  and over how the state would be able to afford it amid a looming deficit and budget cuts from the federal government. It is well-meaning, but it is a whole different agency that we are setting up in an expedited way, Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) said. Read More Facebook

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California assemblyman wants state to make cleaner purchases By Chris Megerian (Alexis Cuarezma / For The Times) A California lawmaker wants state officials to consider greenhouse gas emissions when making new purchases, a proposal that would add a new wrinkle to the bidding process for government contracts. Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) said the legislation (AB 262) would harness the states enormous buying power to support clean manufacturing. The measure, which includes state agencies and university systems, would affect the purchase of materials such as asphalt, cement, steel and glass for projects such as hospitals, dormitories and roads. Companies bidding on state contracts would be required to report greenhouse gas emissions generated by the manufacturing and transportation of supplies. Officials would then factor that information into their decision. Given Californias goal of slashing emissions, Bonta said he hopes that the legislation puts the states money where its values are. He doesnt expect the requirement to report more information would be a significant burden on companies seeking contracts. This will just be one more piece of information that will need to be added, he said. Facebook

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First of several immigrant protection bills clears state Senate Public Safety Committee By Jazmine Ulloa (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) As national debate and protests have taken place over President Donald Trumps executive actions on immigration and refugees, the state Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday passed the first of several bills aimed at protecting immigrants in California. Senate Bill 54, introduced by Senate President pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), would prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate, detain, report or arrest persons for the purposes of immigration enforcement. The proposal, dubbed the California Values Act, also aims to protect immigrants personal data, requiring state agencies to review their confidentiality policies and to ensure that they are only collecting information necessary to their departments. It moved out of committee with a 5-2 vote. Long line of advocates, lawyers in support SB 54, prohibiting law enforcement agencies from using resources for immigrants enforcement. pic.twitter.com/G0IV9ihRjE  Jazmine Ulloa (@jazmineulloa) January 31, 2017 The bill seeks to strengthen immigrant protections threatened under Trumps executive actions. In orders signed last week, the president pledged to cut federal dollars from so-called sanctuary cities, which have policies limiting the cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. At a committee hearing Tuesday, De Leon said the proposal builds on the California Trust Act, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed in October 2013. The state law prevents law enforcement agencies from detaining immigrants longer than necessary for minor crimes so that federal immigration authorities can take them into custody. A long line of immigrant advocates, lawyers and lobbyists rose in support of the bill, saying it would continue to help law enforcement officials build trust within immigrant communities and allow more victims and witnesses to report crime. Democratic members in the committee urged their Republican colleagues to vote for the legislation and move away from Trumps rhetoric, which they said stereotyped immigrants as criminals. They pointed to low crime rates in immigrant communities and stressed that many police chiefs do not want to enforce immigration laws. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), chair of the committee, said people across California were under economic stress that could be manipulated into fear. All of us want hardened criminals prosecuted under the law, she said. All of us. But what we are watching now is a pitting of people against each other, a targeting of immigrants. Opponents were not swayed. They said the bills language was too broad and could prevent communication among police agencies at different levels of government, allowing dangerous criminals to escape prosecution. Im concerned that you are basically making the state of California a de facto sanctuary state, Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Murrieta) told De Leon. Facebook

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California lawmakers seek stricter enforcement, more transparency at state toxics control agency By Melanie Mason Jose Gomez, at his home on South Hicks Avenue in East Los Angeles, is among thousands whose yards have been tested for contamination from the former Exide plant. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Assembly Democrats unveiled a package of five bills Tuesday aimed at reforming the state agency tasked with regulating toxic substances. The Department of Toxic Substances Control has been roundly criticized for its flat-footed response in regulating and cleaning up pollution from the now-closed Exide battery recycling plant in Vernon. A Los Angeles Times review in 2015 found the department knew for years that the plant was violating environmental regulations but was slow to act on it. Too many communities, including communities I represent, have been harmed by toxic emissions that were released into their neighborhoods  emissions that could and should have been stopped, Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) said in a statement. The goal of this legislative package is a more transparent, accountable, and responsive Department of Toxic Substances Control  and safer and healthier communities throughout California. The proposed legislation includes: AB 245 by Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), which would require hazardous waste facilities to comply with higher financial assurance requirements to make sure there are adequate funds for contamination cleanup.

AB 249 (Gomez), which would increase maximum penalties the department can assess to match what the federal government can assess in similar situations.

AB 248 by Assemblywoman Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-San Bernardino), which would require hazardous waste facilities to submit permit renewals two years prior to the current permits expiration to avoid lapses.

AB 246 by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), which would promote the use of fence line monitoring by facilities to better detect leaks.

AB 247 by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), which would create a statewide task force focused on reducing lead poisoning in the state. Facebook

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein says she will vote no on Jeff Sessions nomination for U.S. attorney general By Sarah D. Wire California Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced this morning that she will vote no on the nomination of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for U.S. attorney general. The statement comes after protestors visited Feinsteins home and office out of concern that she may vote in favor of the nomination. Protesters marched on her home and California offices last night. #CASen https://t.co/U0HhsJxwTB  Sarah D. Wire (@sarahdwire) January 31, 2017 JUST NOW: On Sessions attorney general nomination: I must vote no. pic.twitter.com/lfQnX5Khug  Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) January 31, 2017 It is very difficult to reconcile for me the independence and objectivity necessary for the position of attorney general with the partisanship this nominee has demonstrated, Feinstein said Tuesday. We are being asked to determine whether this nominees record demonstrates that he will have the objectivity to enforce the law for all Americans and be an independent attorney general and not an arm of the White House. Feinstein is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which votes today on the confirmation of Sessions to be President Trumps attorney general. Feinstein pointed to former acting U.S. Atty. Gen. Sally Yates as an example of what she is looking for. Yates was fired Monday, just hours after she announced that the Justice Department would not defend Trumps controversial executive order banning refugees and travelers from certain countries. Yesterday, early in the evening, we clearly saw what a truly independent attorney general doesI have no confidence that Senator Sessions will do that, Feinstein said. Instead, he has been the fiercest, most dedicated, and most loyal promoter in Congress of the Trump agenda, and has played a critical role as the clearinghouse for policy and philosophy to undergird the implementation of that agenda. Facebook

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Where do Californias members of Congress stand on President Trumps refugee order? By Sarah D. Wire Noor Hindi, left, and Shah Najjar, middle, join the protest at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) President Trumps executive order Friday, which blocked U.S. entry to refugees and nationals of seven Muslim-majority nations, brought thousands of Americans to the nations airports in protest over the weekend. Several Democrats from Californias 54-member congressional delegation joined constituents at airports, and lobbied customs and Border Patrol officials to release the detained visa holders. Many of the states 14 Republican representatives were initially silent on the executive order. Several have since voiced their support, while others were critical of the orders rollout. Heres a look at what each member of the California congressional delegation has said about the executive order: Read More Facebook

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California state Senate passes resolution condemning President Trumps refugee ban By Jazmine Ulloa Protesters are held back by airport police on Sunday at LAX. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) After nearly two hours of debate, the state Senate on Monday passed a resolution that condemned President Trumps executive order banning immigrants and refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries, calling it discriminatory overreach. Democrats introduced the resolution after the presidents order Friday spurred a weekend of protests and chaos at airports across the country. The resolution denounces Trumps actions and urges the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to comply with federal court orders permitting detainees to have timely access to counsel. It cleared the Senate floor with a 26-11 vote largely along party lines, reflecting the national rift over Trumps immigration order. Two Republican members abstained. On the Senate floor, Democrats called the executive order an affront on religious freedom that panders to fear and foments discrimination, and said it would not further public safety. Reaching to members across the aisle, they said the resolution was not about partisanship or opposing Trump, but about protecting American institutions. In a fiery speech, state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) said the order is unconstitutional and violates fundamental rights. You see this is how we end up with fascism and totalitarianism, she said. Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) said she did not want four more years of executive orders crafted in the cover of darkness. But Republican members said that President Obama had taken similar actions and that they had a duty to their constituents, who were worried about national security and a vetting process they said did not stop terrorists from entering the nations borders. Obama has rejected comparisons of his policy to Trumps. We do not welcome those who have come here to harm us, Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber) said, urging a no vote. We cannot ignore contemporary reality. Our enemies do not reside beyond our shores. They are within. The resolution states that 134 million people are temporarily barred from entering or reentering the United States, including nationals with dual citizenship. Hundreds of thousands with visas are also blocked, it says. The resolution also denounces the manner in which the executive order was executed, saying it was not fully vetted by the departments tasked with protecting the nations national security interests. Facebook

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State attorneys general met in Florida to strategize on how to counter Trump, Becerra says By Patrick McGreevy California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra. ((Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) ) A joint statement by 15 attorneys general over the weekend condemning President Trumps refugee order grew out of a meeting in Florida between California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and some of his concerned counterparts, Becerra said Monday. Becerra gathered Thursday in Fort Lauderdale with other attorneys general, including Washington Atty. Gen. Bob Ferguson, to strategize about responding to the Trump administration on various issues. The meeting took place at the annual winter conference of the Democratic Attorneys General Assn. Several of the AGs have been in communication, Becerra said in an interview with The Times. We made it very clear in our joint statement that we are going to do everything we can to make sure that the unlawful, unconstitutional executive orders by the Trump administration dont see the light of day. Officials who signed the joint statement included legal representatives from Washington, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Virginia. On Monday, Ferguson announced he was suing Trump over the executive order that suspended refugee entries for 120 days and barred entry to the U.S. for 90 days for those traveling from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Becerra said that he had been in contact with Ferguson and that the option to pursue legal action is under consideration for California. Thats one of many avenues of how we are looking to approach this, Becerra said. As a result of the Florida meeting, Becerra said, the top lawyers from the 15 states are collaborating on how to address various Trump directives. Everyone is doing a little bit of something, he said. Everyones trying to figure out how best to address this. Florida Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, a Republican, did not attend the meeting, Becerra said. Facebook

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California warily watches President Trump while pushing forward on climate change By Chris Megerian (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Its been a decade since California set its first target for slashing greenhouse gas emissions, one of several policies that has made the state an international leader in the fight against global warming. So while President Trump suggests hes going to roll back the countrys environmental regulations, state leaders insist they wont be knocked off track here. This is when you do your best work, said John Laird, secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. We cant worry about pulling back just to sink with everyone else who isnt moving at all. Read More Facebook

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Rep. Duncan Hunter urges Trump to make an executive order exemption for Iraqis who aided U.S. military By Sarah D. Wire Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) are asking President Trump to approve waivers to his executive order for Iraqis who helped the American military. Hunter and Kinzinger, who both served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said in the letter to Trump that they supported a request from Defense Secretary James N. Mattis that visa reviews for some Iraqis be fast-tracked. For the safety of these courageous individuals and their families, and in the interest of our national security, its critical that we make this exception and do so swiftly, the congressmen said in a statement. The executive order Trump signed Friday bars all refugee entries for 120 days, blocks Syrian refugees indefinitely and bars for 90 days the entry of citizens from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia. Some of the earliest stories of people caught up in the ban included military interpreters from Iraq who had visas. We respectfully ask that you take this action to ensure these individuals are not put in any further danger. Doing so would send a strong signal to those who show such immense courage to advance U.S. security interests at a risk to their own safety, as well as the many veterans and warfighters whove relied on the service of these individuals for their own protection and to accomplish their objectives, their letter states. Facebook

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Democrats in the California Legislature move to condemn President Trumps immigration orders Facebook

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Assembly Republican leader Chad Mayes voices his misgivings about refugee order By Patrick McGreevy Assembly Minority Leader Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley) speaks in the Capitol on Jan. 11. (Rich Pedroncelli / AP) Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley on Monday joined a number of GOP politicians who are voicing misgivings about President Trumps order temporarily barring refugees from some majority-Muslim countries from entering the country. Religious liberty is a core value of our nation. My ancestors immigrated to America to flee religious persecution, Mayes said in a statement. While bolstering our national security is important, when forced to decide between security and liberty, I will always side with liberty. He is concerned about them [the orders], said Matt Mahon, a spokesman for the assemblyman. Trumps directives suspended refugee entries for 120 days and barred entry to the U.S. for 90 days for those traveling from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Facebook

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Rep. Zoe Lofgren and other ranking Democrats demand emergency meeting on refugee ban By Sarah D. Wire After two days of protests across the country over President Trumps order Friday banning refugees from seven countries, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) and the ranking Democrats of three committees that oversee immigration issues are demanding a meeting with President Trumps new Homeland Security secretary, John F. Kelly. The move by Trump prevented green card and visa holders from reentering the country, and led to the detention of more than a hundred people landing at U.S. airports with valid entry documents. Late Saturday, a federal judge in New York issued a temporary stay against the deportation of anyone who had arrived with a valid visa. The letter demanding the meeting, signed by Lofgren, Judiciary Committee ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich.), Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Elliot Engel (D-N.Y.), calls for it be scheduled by the close of business Wednesday. The Democrats also ask for more information about how the order is being implemented, whether the stays placed by federal judges over the weekend are being followed and whether green card holders are affected. Only two days after the order was signed it is clear that it has already led to panic and disorder, not to mention protests, the letter states. This is apparently due in part to the lack of internal administration review prior to its issuance as well as a lack of clarity and guidance provided thereafter. Lofgren, a former immigration attorney and the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committees Immigration Subcommittee, also plans to file legislation today to rescind the executive order. Getting such legislation through the House could be difficult with Speaker Paul Ryan supporting the executive order. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is proposing similar legislation in the Senate. House and Senate Democrats plan to hold a rally against the order outside the Supreme Court Monday evening. Facebook

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As California Democrats blast Trumps refugee order, Republicans in the congressional delegation hold their fire By Sarah D. Wire Only a few of the states 14 Republican representatives have publicly commented on an executive order signed by President Trump on Friday that barred refugees and green card holders from seven countries from entering the U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) released a statement Sunday night saying some tweaks are needed, but his background as chairman of the House Select Intelligence Committee leads him to support the executive order. In light of attempts by jihadist groups to infiltrate fighters into refugee flows to the West, along with Europes tragic experience coping with this problem, the Trump administrations executive order on refugees is a common-sense security measure to prevent terror attacks on the homeland. While accommodations should be made for green card holders and those whove assisted the U.S. armed forces, this is a useful temporary measure on seven nations of concern until we can verify who is entering the United States, he said. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) told the Washington Post that pausing the intake of refugees from terror hotspots is the right call to keep America safe, but he hopes the cases of people traveling on visas who were prevented from reentering the country are resolved quickly. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) said on Twitter on Sunday that the rollout has created confusion, and that executive orders arent the way to fix the countrys long-term problems. View Twitter post View Twitter post Several of Californias 38 Democratic congressional representatives and the states two senators were out in force over the weekend demanding the release of refugees and green card holders, and an end to the executive order. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced two pieces of legislation shell file in response. One would immediately rescind the presidents order. The second would limit executive authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to prevent a president from unilaterally banning groups of immigrants. Its clear that the president gave little consideration to the chaos and heartbreak that would result from this order, she said in a statement. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) joined protesters outside the White House Sunday afternoon. We will fight against racism. We will fight against anti-Muslim rhetoric. We will fight against those who will marginalize who we are. pic.twitter.com/R54f3MDhvo  Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 29, 2017 In Los Angeles, Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) joined protesters at Los Angeles International Airport. On Saturday, Reps. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro) and Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) joined the initial protests at the airport, and worked to get some of those being held released. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) accompanied protesters at San Francisco International Airport Sunday. Congresswoman @MaxineWaters is here at LAX protest leading the crowd in the chant "no ban, no wall, you build it up we'll tear it down" pic.twitter.com/iNEmkVVkmW  Javier Panzar  (@jpanzar) January 29, 2017 2:31 p.m. Jan. 30: This post was updated to clarify Rep. Ed Royces statement about the executive order. It was originally published Jan. 29. Facebook

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State Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra condemns Trumps refugee order and explores challenge By Patrick McGreevy Assyrian Christians, who fled unrest in Syria and Iraq, attend Mass at St. Georges Assyrian Church in Jdeideh, Lebanon. Trumps directive provides an exception for religious minorities. ( (AFP/Getty Images)) California state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra on Saturday condemned an executive order by President Donald Trump barring people from some Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. and said he is consulting with legal advisors over a way to challenge the directive. Trump has suspended all refugee entries for 120 days and barred entry to the U.S. for 90 days for those traveling from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Justice in America doesnt live or die on the stroke of one mans pen regardless of how high his office, Becerra said in a statement late Saturday, less than a week after taking office. The Trump Administrations anti-religion, anti-refugee executive order is in so many ways unjust and anti-American He said the order discriminates against people based on their faith and denies entry to those with fears of death and persecution. I have conferred with my team, and we are reaching out to others as well, to find every avenue possible to defend our family members and those who live permanently in our communities who may be barred from re-entry into America, Becerra said. The Trump executive order should not stand and must be confronted as a constitutional overreach, he added. Facebook

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California Politics Podcast: Reactions to President Trumps first week By John Myers Even before the weekend controversy and protests, Californias top elected officials spent much of the last week reacting to the first moves by President Donald Trump. On this weeks California Politics Podcast, we take a closer look at the sharp words offered by Gov. Jerry Brown in his State of the State speech when it comes to the new politics of Washington. We also focus much of this weeks discussion around three big topics that caught the attention of a number of California lawmakers: immigration moves by Trump; the rough week that was for the nations environmental protection enforcers; and rekindled but unproven allegations of widespread voter fraud. Im joined by Marisa Lagos of KQED News and Anthony York of the Grizzly Bear Project. Facebook

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Gov. Jerry Brown will undergo new round of treatment for prostate cancer, but wont miss any work By John Myers Gov. Jerry Brown, who first was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012, will begin a new round of treatment for the disease, his office reported on Saturday. Brown, 78, will maintain his duties as governor during the treatment, according to his staff. No additional details were provided about how long the treatment will take, or what prompted its timing. Fortunately this is not extensive disease, can be readily treated with a short course of radiotherapy, and there are not expected to be any significant side effects, said Dr. Eric Small, a UC San Francisco oncologist, in an emailed statement provided to reporters. The prognosis for Gov. Brown is excellent. Brown initially learned he had prostate cancer in late 2012 and underwent similar treatment for several weeks. The governor has also been treated for basal cell carcinoma  a type of skin cancer  twice in the past nine years, with reconstructive surgery on the right side of his nose in 2011. With almost two years remaining on his final term in office, Brown is already the oldest governor in California history. He often made a point of pointing out his physical fitness in his return to the job in 2011, including a 2012 challenge to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie of a 3-mile race, a push-up contest and a chin-up contest. Though hes been treated in San Francisco, the governor and First Lady Anne Gust Brown now live full-time in the historic governors mansion in Sacramento after moving out of Oakland last year. Facebook

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Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra takes a jab at the Trump administration when asked about the battles to come Facebook

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Proposed law would make penalties for using fake immigration papers the same as those for using fake drivers license By Jazmine Ulloa A proposed California law seeks to ensure that a person who uses false documents to conceal their citizenship status faces the same punishment as a person who uses a fake drivers license. The legislation by Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima) would amend the penal code to make both crimes wobblers,

meaning prosecutors would have the discretion to charge suspects in such cases with either felony offenses or lower-level misdemeanors. Under the proposal, the repercussions for defendants would be the same: If convicted of a misdemeanor, offenders would have to serve up to one year in county jail, while a felony conviction would mean up to 16 months in county jail, or two or three years in prison. A spokesman for Bocangera said the measure was introduced as a proactive response to President Trumps hard-line stance on immigration and would reverse part of Proposition 187, a controversial ballot measure to deny public services, such as education and healthcare, to immigrants in the country illegally. The proposition, approved by voters in 1994, requires any person who uses false immigration records to face felony charges. Bocangeras bill amending those provisions would need a two-thirds vote in the Assembly and the state Senate to pass. Today, if an underage college student uses a fake ID to purchase a six-pack of beer, he or she can be charged with a misdemeanor, Bocanegra said in a statement. However, if an immigrant is caught using that same fake ID, he or she is automatically charged with a felony and is subject to five years in prison. This is fundamentally unfair. Facebook

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Fearing catastrophe, Californias Gov. Jerry Brown wants the worlds leaders to stop goofing off By Chris Megerian Gov. Jerry Brown pointedly criticized world leaders for goofing off instead of addressing looming problems with climate change and nuclear weapons during a radio interview on Friday. Theyre really averting their gaze, he said. And that is dangerous, very dangerous. Brown has become increasingly outspoken about issues he describes as existential threats to humanity, and the election of Donald Trump has only made him more concerned. During the interview, he spoke in sweeping terms about the need to support scientific research in the face of political denial. Darkness cannot totally extinguish the light, Brown said while criticizing Republicans for refusing to accept the scientific consensus around climate change and the need for dramatic changes to confront global warming. @JerryBrownGov in our studio (in fact, in my chair!) as he chats w/ Ira Flatow on @scifri pic.twitter.com/kIyGBFQW9X  Beth Ruyak (@CapRadioRuyak) January 27, 2017 At another point, Brown mused that humans have accumulated vast power without a corresponding increase in wisdom. That creates a gap between the power to destroy and the wisdom to control those destructive forces. Brown reiterated his plan to push forward Californias policies on climate change even if Trump follows through on the federal governments plans. Were going to do everything we can to stay on track, he said. Facebook

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Some California lawmakers say its time to expand how the state defines violent crime By Jazmine Ulloa As California undergoes the largest overhaul of prison parole in a generation, some lawmakers and law enforcement officials say its time to revisit how the state legally defines a violent crime. Gov. Jerry Browns Proposition 57, which voters overwhelmingly approved in November, continues a statewide effort to increase rehabilitation services and decrease the prison population. Among its provisions, the initiative gives the state parole board greater latitude to consider the early release of prisoners who have served their primary sentences, and whose crimes are not designated as violent under the California penal code. But since the early days of the ballot measure campaign, debate has brewed over just who the law will benefit, with prosecutors saying that short and porous list excludes certain rape crimes and other dangerous offenses. This legislative session, the discussion moves to the Capitol. Read More Facebook

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Fearing deletion, Tom Steyer copies Environmental Protection Agency website on climate change By Chris Megerian (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) With President Trump in the White House, information about climate change has been disappearing from government websites. Some fear the same thing could happen with the Environmental Protection Agency. Now the advocacy organization run by environmentalist and political donor Tom Steyer is taking steps to preserve the information. We will not allow Trump and the oil corporations to push us towards an Orwellian world full of official lies and misinformation.  Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) January 27, 2017 NextGen Climate copied the website and made it available at SaveOurEPA.com. As Americans, we will not allow Donald Trump to erase the truth or rewrite history, Steyer said in a statement. This information belongs to the people, and the public has a right to know the truth. Trump has taken other steps that have alarmed environmentalists. For example, he greenlighted two oil pipelines that had been stopped by former President Obama. Facebook

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For California, a return to center stage in the 2020 presidential contest By Mark Z. Barabak (Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press) Kamala Harris hadnt even arrived in Washington to take up her job as Californias spanking-new U.S. senator when the chatter began: Kamala for president! Never mind her disavowals  Seriously?  or the fact that the first balloting of the 2020 race is, at a minimum, 1,000-plus days away. The soul-sapping election of Donald Trump has Democrats desperately looking far, far down the road. Usually the candidates start sending signals, said Jim Demers, a longtime party strategist in New Hampshire, the state that traditionally holds the first presidential primary. This time Im hearing activists begging for the race to begin. With a wide-open contest (read: not a Clinton or Obama in sight), the list of would-be contenders, real and imagined, is lengthy, even by the prodigious standards of this early stage. Whats different in 2020 is that California  huge in population, mighty in economic power, desperate to matter in presidential politics  figures to be at the center of speculation in a way it hasnt for a generation. Read More Facebook

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Theres a major fight on the way over Trumps plans for sanctuary cities By Liam Dillon Immigrant workers marching in Los Angeles in 2014. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times) Cities in California are gearing up for a legal fight against President Trumps plans to take away federal dollars from so-called sanctuary cities. These cities typically are defined as those that dont cooperate with federal immigration officials for deportation purposes, and the new president wants to strip them of funding unless they start doing so. But the language in Trumps executive order on the issue is vague, and San Francisco officials believe their city is already exempt from the mandate. Read More Facebook

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Fighting Trumps border wall on environmental grounds probably wont win in court By Liam Dillon A pair of fences separates Mexico, left, and the U.S. south of San Diego. (Bill Wechter / AFP) California political leaders are seeking all sorts of strategies to fight President Trumps plans to build a wall along the border with Mexico. One strategy thats likely to fail is a lawsuit based on state and federal environmental laws, legal experts said. Congress already has given the federal government broad authority to waive environmental laws to build a border fence and the courts have upheld that power. Read More Facebook

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Calexit organizers can now start collecting signatures to get California secession on the ballot By Christine Mai-Duc Supporters of the campaign for California to secede from the United States can now begin collecting the hundreds of thousands of signatures they need to get a proposed Calexit initiative on the ballot. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla cleared the proposed initiative to begin collecting signatures on Thursday. If the measure gets on the ballot and gains approval by a majority of voters, it would repeal clauses in the California Constitution stating that the state is an inseparable part of the United States and that the U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land, according to the title and summary prepared by the state attorney generals office. The measure would place another question on the ballot in 2019, asking whether California should become a separate country. If at least half of registered voters participate in that vote, with at least 55% of those voting to approve, the results would be treated as Californias declaration of independence. The current measures fiscal effect is dependent on various factors, writes the states nonpartisan legislative analyst, and if it succeeds would result in major, but unknown budgetary impacts. The proposals backers, known as Yes California, have argued that the state is culturally out of step with the rest of the U.S. and that California pays more money to the federal government than it receives in spending. The election of President Trump has only strengthened their argument, they say. California loses [by] being a part of America culturally and financially, said Marcus Ruiz Evans, one of the groups founders. It could be a nation all its own, everybody knows that. The only question is if they want to break off. Its unclear how the group will collect the required 585,407 valid signatures from registered voters over the next 180 days to qualify for the ballot. A campaign committee, Yes California Independence Committee, has raised no funds so far, according to records from the secretary of state. But Evans says that his group has more than 7,000 volunteers (significantly down from a 13,000 estimate in December) ready to gather signatures and that voters can expect to see signature gatherers on the streets in the next couple of days. Yes California says that even if the proposed initiative does land on the ballot and voters approve it, such an unprecedented move to secede would need to receive approval of at least a majority of the states in the union, among other legal hurdles. Evans says hes not fazed. America already hates California, and America votes on emotions, he said. I think wed have the votes today if we held it. UPDATE 7:01 p.m.: This post has been updated to clarify that the proposed initiative would place a future vote on Californias secession on the ballot in 2019. Facebook

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Rep. Ted Lieu is trolling Donald Trump, and he hopes youre watching By Sarah D. Wire Rep. Ted Lieu is now placing an asterisk next to President Trumps name in news releases. Its the Torrance Democrats way of drawing attention to his concerns about the new administration, he said. Sometimes the best way to respond to crazy is with satire, Lieu said. Never before have I had this feeling where our leader is potentially unhinged and has a problem with the truth, and that is highly disturbing for the leader of the free world. So Ive decided Im just going to point that out as much as I can. The asterisk leads readers to the bottom of the email, where a postscript says:  ***In addition to losing the popular vote, Trump  as of January 20, 2017  is in violation of the Emoluments Clause set forth in Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution due to massive conflicts of interests and his refusal to put his global business holdings in blind trusts. Trump also benefitted from Vladimir Putin ordering a multifaceted and brazen Russian influence and cyber hacking campaign with the goals of undermining faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrating Secretary Clintons electability, and helping Trumps election chances. Trump and his press secretary also routinely make stuff up. The sophomore congressman said he initially planned to give Trump the benefit of the doubt, hoping his rhetoric was a campaign tactic and that he would pivot to uniting the country following the election. Then Lieu listened to the presidents inaugural speech. I was hoping he would govern different than how he campaigned, he said. I came to the conclusion that it would be worse for America to normalize him. Lieu followed the addition to his news releases with a Cloud of Illegitimacy Clock that counts the time since Trumps swearing-in, which is how long Lieu says Trump has been in violation of the Constitution by not divesting from his businesses or putting them in a blind trust. The Constitution bans government officials from receiving gifts or payments from foreign governments. Next he posted a series of tweets mocking White House spokesman Sean Spicer for giving incorrect figures on how many people attended the inauguration, and top Trump aide Kellyanne Conway for using the term alternative facts. Was charged $2.99 for coffee listed at $2.59. That's why I have trust issues. Oh, and the fact that @seanspicer at #WhiteHouse makes shit up  Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 23, 2017 Ive decided that the administration using alternative facts is more profane than anything that I could say, he said. When the administration lies, they just need to be called out on that. If they are going to lie about stupid little things, like crowd size, imagine what theyre going to say when they roll out their healthcare plan, whenever that might be. Lieu has needled Trump in responses to several executive orders this week, including by saying he would bet a nice bottle of California wine that the Administration will be unable to find a credible witness to testify under oath to the allegation that 3-5 million people illegally cast votes in 2016, and by mentioning the inauguration crowd while talking about Trumps proposed border wall. Lieu said hes absolutely hoping Trump will respond. I think satire is an effective way to highlight issues, and I want the American people to see who this president really is, because in 22 months they get to vote again on every member of Congress, and that will be a referendum on Donald Trump, Lieu said. Facebook

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California Democrats propose adding third, nonbinary gender option for drivers licenses and other official documents By Melanie Mason View Twitter post California drivers licenses and birth certificates could have a third option for gender in addition to male or female under legislation unveiled Thursday by Democratic lawmakers. The bill by state Sens. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) would establish a new nonbinary gender marker for official state documents. Lawmakers framed the measure as an expansion of rights for transgender, intersex and other people who do not identify as male or female. It will keep California at the forefront of LGBTQ civil rights, Atkins said at a Capitol news conference. The bill, SB 179, also would streamline the process for people to change their gender on such documents. It would remove the requirement that an individual obtain a sworn statement from a physician certifying medical treatment for gender transition. It also would create a process for people younger than 18 to apply for a change of gender on their birth certificate. Jo Michael, of Equality California, a gay rights advocacy group, said the bill had personal resonance. Michael identifies as transgender and nonbinary. For the first time, Californians like me could have accurate gender markers that truly reflect who we are, Michael said. Wiener said the proposal places California in stark relief to other states in the country, including North Carolina, where a high-profile law regulating transgender peoples use of public bathrooms roiled the state. As the LGBT community  but especially the trans community  is under assault in this country, California needs to go in the opposite direction and embrace the trans community and support the trans community and modernize these laws, he said. The legislation does not specify what the alternate gender marker would be, but other countries that have implemented such a policy, such as Australia and New Zealand, have used the letter X alongside M for male and F for female, according to Sasha Buchert of the Transgender Law Center. Atkins, who is a lesbian and a member of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus, said this proposal marks an evolution for her in better understanding the concerns of the transgender and intersex community. She authored a law in 2014 that ensures death certificates reflect a persons gender identity, an experience she said made her more aware of the bureaucratic hurdles that transgender people often face. This years bill, she said, is moving us forward into a new world, where acceptance is ... letting people be who they tell you they are. Facebook

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Former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder will visit Sacramento to meet with Democratic legislators next month By Melanie Mason (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press) California lawmakers will have a chance to meet the Legislatures new outside counsel on Feb. 7, when former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. travels to the state to address Senate and Assembly Democrats. Holder, leading a team of attorneys from the firm Covington & Burling, has been hired by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) to serve as outside counsel as the state prepares a legal strategy to deal with the administration of President Trump. But Senate and Assembly staff officials said his invitation to meet with lawmakers was extended prior to the contract, which begins in February, and that Holder is making the trip on his own personal time. His travel and accommodations expenses will not be paid with state funds, and his appearances will not be part of his billable hours, they said. Holder will address Senate Democrats at their annual policy retreat, and will speak to the Assembly Democratic caucus. His visit comes soon after state Democratic leaders this week denounced Trumps executive orders on immigration and pledged to take his administration to court should other legislative means of resistance fail. Facebook

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A guide to the guessing game that is the 2018 California governors race By Phil Willon While the race to succeed Gov. Jerry Brown already has attracted a small cadre of well-known Democrats, the behind-the-scenes strategizing, cajoling and guessing games surrounding a handful of other potential contenders could create havoc in whats expected to be Californias biggest political showdown since 2010. Among those watching closely are the candidates already definitely in the running, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Treasurer John Chiang. Delaine Eastin, who spent eight years as Californias top education official, announced she was running in November and officially launched her campaign  and fundraising operation  on Thursday. Read More Facebook

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This is not a monarchy: California Senate leader Kevin de Leon bashes Trumps immigration orders By Jazmine Ulloa (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) California Senate leader Kevin de Leon took another shot at President Trump and his executive orders on immigration Wednesday night, calling his threat to withhold federal dollars from so-called sanctuary cities political blackmail and political vengeance. In an interview on the MSNBC show The Last Word with Lawrence ODonnell, De Leon said California was working with former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. to study all of its legal options to oppose the directives. Under the 10th Amendment, the state Senate leader said, the federal government cannot commandeer and force local municipalities and police agencies from carrying out their work. The appearance came hours after Trump signed orders to temporarily halt the U.S. refugee program, cut funding for cities that offer immigrants protections and order federal officials to construct a U.S.-Mexico border wall. California will not become a cog in the Trump deportation machine, De Leon said. This is not a monarchy, and I know he fancies himself as a king, but this is a republic. Read More Facebook

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President Trumps voter fraud allegation is a lie, says Californias top elections officer By John Myers Secretary of State Alex Padilla. (Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press) With President Donald Trump rehashing last years accusation of widespread voter fraud in California and elsewhere, the states top elections official is also restating his take: Its not true. When the president says millions of illegal ballots are cast, thats simply not the case, said Secretary of State Alex Padilla in an interview on CNN Wednesday. Its a lie. As was the case when Trump made the accusation in November, theres no evidence of such a broad attempt to sway the outcome in California. The president lost the Golden State to Democrat Hillary Clinton by almost 4.3 million votes. Trumps announcement on Wednesday of a major investigation into voter fraud reignited the issue, even though there was also Republican skepticism in the wake of the new round of accusations. Is it a question of millions of people? Thats a pretty steep hill to climb, said Assemblyman Matthew Harper (R-Huntington Beach), the vice chairman of the Assemblys elections committee. Youd have to have a very strong coordinated effort across California to pull that off. Harper said he believes the better discussion is whether new, independent audit capabilities need to be in place to examine election results. Others, though, were sharply critical of the presidents motives. Allegations of widespread voter fraud are not just alternative facts, they are a calculated and sinister attempt at voter suppression that takes a page from this nations bleak history of segregation, said Laphonza Butler, president of the state council of the Service Employees International Union. In the CNN interview, Padilla said he worried the president was sowing doubt in an effort to legitimize efforts such as a purging of voter rolls. I hope that its not a sign of things to come, he said. Facebook

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Intelligence committee led by Californians investigating Russian influence in 2016 election By Sarah D. Wire The House Select Intelligence Committee is examining allegations that the Russian government tried to influence the 2016 election, Republican Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes and ranking Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff said in a statement Wednesday. The two Californians said the committee is looking at Russian cyber activity and other active measures directed against the U.S. It also will examine links between Russia and people working for political campaigns as well as the federal response to Russia, including leaks of classified assessments from the intelligence community. The statement does not specifically mention President Trump, the assessment of the U.S. intelligence community that Russia attempted to intervene in the presidential election to ensure he would win or news that Trumps national security advisor was in frequent contact with the Russian ambassador as President Obama was considering sanctions against Russia. This issue is not about party, but about country. The Committee will continue to follow the facts wherever they may lead, the statement said. The Senate Intelligence Committee, on which Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) serves, also is investigating Russian interference in the election, and the U.S. response. Two Republican senators have joined a number of House and Senate Democrats, including House Select Intelligence Committee member Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) in pushing for a nonpartisan independent commission to examine the issue. Nunes, who served on Trumps transition committee, has previously said he doesnt think an independent commission is necessary. The statement also asked the new, Trump-appointed heads of intelligence agencies to bring documents requested by the committee directly to committee members. It will not be adequate to review these documents, expected to be in the thousands of pages, at the agencies. They should be delivered to the House Intelligence Committee to provide members adequate time to examine their content, it states. Facebook

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No stamp, no problem: Lawmaker says postage-paid ballots should be available to all Californians By John Myers (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) California voters would no longer have to scrounge around in search of a stamp to mail in their ballot under new legislation introduced this week at the state Capitol. We want to make sure voters dont have any barriers, said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego), the bills author. Ballot envelopes sent by elections officials would be marked as prepaid postage and the postage costs would be paid for by individual counties. A key question will be the cost for mailing in as many as 10 million ballots statewide. Not all ballots will weigh the same, given the numerous city and county measures that also are considered in regularly scheduled elections. The initial language of Assembly Bill 216 doesnt offer specifics on reimbursing counties, though Gonzalez Fletcher said she expects the proposals ultimate cost could be under $2 million, if the law also makes clear that voters can still place a stamp on their ballot. Regardless, postage fees are likely to be deemed a mandated cost that state government must cover. Gonzalez Fletcher said the advent of email and online bill-paying services have meant that fewer voters have stamps readily available, with busy working Californians scrambling just to find the time to exercise their right to vote. It starts to feel like a very small poll tax, she said. The proposal is another example of the steady evolution of elections conducted less by the ballot box than the mailbox in California, as more than half of all registered voters now permanently receive absentee ballots. A number of the states most populous counties are expected to soon embrace a sweeping new law shifting elections away from neighborhood polling places and toward a substantial number of votes being cast by mail. This is welcome legislation, said Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation. Requiring voters to pay for ballot postage sends a message that the government is putting up obstacles to make it more difficult to vote. In many cases, ballots placed in the mail without proper postage are already being delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. Some counties in California have offered prepaid postage in the past, but the vast majority have not. Facebook

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California improves grades from anti-smoking group with barrage of anti-tobacco laws By Patrick McGreevy California led other states in adopting a flurry of new laws restricting tobacco products last year, resulting in a big improvement in the states grades from the American Lung Assn. In a report released Wednesday, the health group boosted the states grade for the level of tobacco taxes from an F last year to a B, in recognition that California voters in November approved a $2-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax. The Legislature last year also adopted a half-dozen new laws, including an increase in the minimum age for smoking from 18 to 21 and an expansion of a smoking ban in public places, including restaurants and theaters, to also include use of electronic cigarettes. The states grade for smoke-free air policies rose from a B to an A, while California received a B for restricting tobacco to young people. The group gave the state an incomplete for funding of tobacco prevention programs because officials have not yet started collecting money from the tobacco tax increase in Proposition 56. In 2016, Californians fought back against Big Tobaccos grip on our state, said David Pogue, chairman of the American Lung Assn. in Californias governing board. Tobacco-related illnesses remain the single most preventable cause of disease and death in California, and were proud to reaffirm ourselves as a national leader in the effort to reduce smoking rates and exposure to secondhand smoke and to protect our children from a lifetime of addiction. The group cited the lack of significant new tobacco laws passed in Los Angeles for its decision to leave the citys C grade unchanged. El Monte and West Hollywood passed some new tobacco policies and raised their grades. Santa Ana earned a C, but was at top of the list in Orange County, where almost all the other cities received Fs, officials said. Facebook

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Sen. Kamala Harris pushes Trumps budget director pick on timely disaster relief By Sarah D. Wire Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) pushed President Trumps budget chief pick Tuesday on whether hed advise the new Republican leader to offer timely disaster relief, especially to states like California that face earthquakes, fires, floods and other natural disasters. Can you assure me that when natural disasters hit various parts of the country like California, that you will be willing to put the immediate interests of people in need as the first priority for you, or will you insist that the budget cuts be made before agreeing to provide critical assistance to those victims? Harris asked Rep. Mick Mulvaney during a confirmation hearing Tuesday. The South Carolina Republican asked for spending cuts to offset billions in relief funding after Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast. There is a proper federal role in dealing with natural disaster relief, Mulvaney said in response to Harris questioning. Sandy is a tremendous example of something so large, its simply too large for one state or local government to deal with, it is an appropriate function of the federal government. Harris pushed a second time, So can you assure me that if a natural disaster hits other states, like California for example, that you will not hold up relief for the state, waiting to determine whether there are going to be budget cuts or cuts in order to provide that relief? Or are you going to sit back and crunch the numbers while people are waiting for help? Mulvaney replied, No, I see my role in that particular circumstance as advising the president. Mr. President, heres what weve done it in the past, heres how it worked out, heres how I think we should proceed in this circumstance and heres why. And then whatever the president says to do, I will enforce. Harris is still weighing how to vote on Mulvaneys confirmation, her staff said. Facebook

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Trump is a hot topic in Californias race for governor, but not in a good way By Phil Willon Donald Trump at the California Republican Party convention in Burlingame in April. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) One of the most talked about politicians in Californias 2018 governors campaign isnt even running. Rarely does a day go by when Republican President Donald Trump isnt used as a political pinata by one of the top Democrats in the race. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom took some jabs Tuesday when he addressed the California Legislature before Gov. Jerry Browns annual State of the State speech. Newsom mocked the Trump administration for its reliance on alternative facts  a phrase used by a Trump senior advisor when defending inflated inauguration crowd figures  and took a subtle shot at the presidents comment about American carnage in the nations cities. The insecurity of this man is near incomprehensible. These lies damage our democracy & country's reputation-Shameful https://t.co/ib7i6DqfH8  Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 24, 2017 On Monday, state Treasurer John Chiang criticized Trump for doubting the scientific evidence of climate change. President Trump may believe global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing noncompetitive, Chiang said. We Californians stand with the scientific community and the 195 nations that have declared climate change is an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet. When Antonio Villaraigosa announced his bid for governor right after the general election, the former Los Angeles mayor was sure to include a dig at Trump. Im running because I think the answer to the divisiveness we see in the country right now is unity, and the answer to fear is hope, he said. Last May, Villaraigosa compared Trump to segregationist George Wallace. Californias former superintendent of public instruction, Delaine Eastin, last week ripped Trump for nominating Betsy DeVos for Education secretary. Eastin said DeVos, a charter school advocate and Republican fundraiser from Michigan, was a threat to public education in the country. In speeches, in fundraising emails, in tweets and Facebook posts, the Democrats have liberally excoriated Trump while largely avoiding lobbing any criticism at one another. Its a safe and easy tactic that appeals to a sizeable majority of voters in left-leaning California. In the November election, Trump was trounced by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in California  losing to her by more than 4.2 million votes. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, a Republican being urged to run by fellow party members, has also rebuked Trump in the past. In May, Faulconer said he rejected Trumps divisive rhetoric about women and immigrants. Faulconer was absent at Trumps inauguration and skipped a Trump campaign rally in San Diego last spring. For any Republican to have a legitimate shot in the governors race, or any statewide election, the more distance they put between themselves and Trump the better, said GOP political consultant Rob Stutzman. Its important that youre not on the record gushing about Trump, Stutzman said. 3:30 p.m.: This story was updated to correct the title of Delaine Eastin. She is a former state superintendent of public instruction. Facebook

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Californias House members vote along party lines on permanently banning federal funds for abortion By Sarah D. Wire Californias House delegation split along party lines Tuesday on a bill to permanently prohibit the use of certain federal funds for abortions. President Trump promised the anti-abortion community during the campaign that he would make the funding ban  commonly called the Hyde Amendment  permanent. It passed the House 238-183 and goes next to the Senate. The 52 members who represent California in the House split along party lines, with 36 Democrats against for it, and 14 Republicans voting for it. Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) and Jim Costa (D-Lieu) did not vote. Their staffs each said the member would have joined Democrats in voting against the measure. If passed by the Senate, it would permanently prohibit federal funding from being used to cover abortion costs except in cases of rape, incest or if the mothers life is in danger. It effects government employees health plans, Medicaid and health insurance plans offered under the Affordable Care Act. The amendment has been added to the annual appropriations bill for the past 40 years and the bill approved by the House Tuesday would make it permanent. During debate on the House floor Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) called the bill a womens health catastrophe that will keep poor women on Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act from having access to insurance. In effect it makes abortion only an option for the wealthy, she said. Previous versions of the bill twice passed the House but were not considered by the Senate while President Obama was in office. 11:09 a.m. Jan. 25: An earlier version of this article reported that Democrats voted for the bill and Republicans voted against the bill. It was the opposite. Facebook

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California lawmakers to weigh whether younger children should be allowed to testify in custody cases By Jazmine Ulloa California lawmakers will weigh whether family courts should allow children as young as 10 to testify before judges regarding parent custody or visitation rights. A bill filed by state Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) would lower the current threshold from age 14 to enable more children to express their wishes in court, some of whom she said could find themselves in life-threatening situations. The legislation was co-sponsored by the California Protective Parents Assn. and the Center for Judicial Excellence. Neither current law nor the bill would require children to testify in family cases unless they choose to. In a statement, Levya called the proposal an important child safety measure. As a family court makes critical life decisions for children, it makes sense for them to be granted a greater voice in court proceedings since they can contribute essential information before final decisions are made, she said. Facebook

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Support for California secession is up, one poll says By Phil Willon Students from several high schools rally at City Hall in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 14 after walking out of class to protest the election of Donald Trump. (Reed Saxon / Associated Press) Californians support for a breakaway California republic has increased, one poll has found. One-third of state residents support peacefully seceding from the United States, up from 20% since Californians were last asked the same question in 2014, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll. The polls margin of error for the California answers was plus or minus 5 percentage points. Still, half of Californians opposed the idea of succession, though Democrats were more inclined to support it than Republicans. The survey found that 60% of Republicans gave the idea of peacefully seceding a thumbs down compared with 48% of Democrats and 50% of independents. Nationally, 22% of those polled supported having their state break away from the U.S., according to the survey. A Calexit campaign already is underway to make California an independent nation. The effort faces extremely long odds. The poll surveyed 14,000 adults nationwide, and 500 in California, from Dec. 6 to Jan. 19. Facebook

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Gov. Jerry Brown defiantly tells lawmakers California is not turning back in face of Trump and GOP proposals By John Myers Gov. Jerry Brown used his State of the State speech on Tuesday to promise a forceful defense of Californias efforts on climate change, healthcare and assistance to those in the country illegally against new proposals by President Donald Trump and national Republican leadership. California is not turning back, Brown said to applause. Not now, not ever. The governors remarks, delivered in front of lawmakers and state elected officials in the Assembly chambers, came just four days after President Trumps forceful inaugural address that signaled a dramatic new course for the federal government. While he never mentioned the president by name during the 16-minute speech, Brown said there are disturbing signs as to whats on the horizon. We have seen the bald assertion of alternative facts, whatever those are, he said, a reference to top Trump advisor Kellyanne Conways weekend comments on NBCs Meet the Press. We have heard the blatant attacks on science. Familiar signposts of our democracy  truth, civility, working together  have been obscured or swept aside. The annual event in the chamber of the state Assembly was unusual from the outset. Just minutes before beginning his speech, Brown gave the oath of office to Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, the former Los Angeles congressman confirmed to the post on Monday afternoon by the state Senate. Legislators have had a decidedly unusual start to their new two-year session. After a raucous opening day in December that laid bare wounds from the presidential race, lawmakers were presented two weeks ago with Browns projection of a $1.6-billion budget deficit looming on the states fiscal horizon. But the sea change in national politics has been a persistent buzz in the state Capitol, and Brown promised a strong defense of Californias unique view on major policy issues. The governor made a special mention of the issue of illegal immigration, offering perhaps his strongest words to date. Let me be clear, the governor said, his voice rising. We will defend everybody  every man, woman and child who has come here for a better life and has contributed to the well-being of our state. Even with those critiques, the governor veered from his prepared remarks to praise Trumps call for a new focus on infrastructure projects. I say, Amen to that, man!  he said. And Brown urged members of the Legislature to reject the bitter partisan divisions of this moment in the nations history. Democrats are in the majority, but Republicans represent real Californians, too, he said to bipartisan applause. We have generally been civil to one another and avoided the rancor of Washington. I urge you to go even further and look for new ways to work beyond party and act as Californians first. Facebook

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Xavier Becerra takes oath of office, is first Latino to become California attorney general By Patrick McGreevy Xavier Becerra ((Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) ) Minutes after resigning his seat in Congress on Tuesday, Xavier Becerra took the oath of office as Californias new attorney general, and he immediately made plans for a sit-down with sheriffs from throughout the state to talk about law enforcement issues. Becerra, 58, was given the oath of office at the Capitol by Gov. Jerry Brown, who predicted earlier that Xavier will be a champion for all Californians. The ceremony was held before Brown was scheduled to deliver his annual State of the State address, and a day after Becerra received final confirmation by the state Senate. I will do my utmost to uphold your faith in me to serve as our great states next chief law enforcement officer and legal advocate, Becerra said in a letter to Brown on Tuesday, letting him know he had resigned from Congress. And while I leave Congress with mixed emotions, I am ready to begin my work as Attorney General. Californias hard-working families are counting on us, and we wont let them down, Becerra said. Becerra was accompanied at the ceremony by his wife, physician Carolina Reyes, two of his three daughters, and his parents, both immigrants from Mexico. Brown appointed Becerra to fill a vacancy after former Atty. Gen.l Kamala Harris won election to a seat in the U.S. Senate. Becerra has pledged to challenge any attempts by the new administration of President Trump to roll back state policies on immigration, civil rights and the environment. Brown noted his appointees background during his speech. Like so many others, he is the son of immigrants who saw California as a place where, through grit and determination, they could realize their dreams, Brown said. And they are not alone, millions of Californians have come here from Mexico and a hundred other countries, making our state what it is today: vibrant, even turbulent, and a beacon of hope to the rest of the world. The first Latino to become state attorney general in California spent the last two weeks meeting with dozens of legislators as he went through confirmation hearings in both houses. Governor Brown and state legislators have already shared valuable ideas on our path forward, Becerra said in a statement after his confirmation. And next week I hope to sit down with sheriffs from across our state to begin our work together keeping our families safe and enforcing our laws fairly. The first focus on local law enforcement was welcomed by Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood, president of the California State Sheriffs Assn. He wants to start with law enforcement in the San Joaquin Valley, and I think thats a really positive step, Youngblood said. Im impressed with his credentials. Im impressed with his background, and I think hes going to be a good attorney general. Facebook

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Watch: Gov. Jerry Brown delivers his State of the State address Gov. Jerry Brown will deliver his State of the State address at 10 a.m. PST. Watch live here: Facebook

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Xavier Becerras resignation from Congress took effect at 9:15 a.m.; he calls serving a distinct honor Xavier Becerra has submitted letter of resignation from Congress ahead of swearing in for California attorney general today  Patrick McGreevy (@mcgreevy99) January 24, 2017 Facebook

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Californias senators split on CIA director confirmation By Sarah D. Wire Californias senators split Monday night on the confirmation of Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), President Trumps pick to lead the CIA. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who serves on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee and backed Pompeo, said in a statement that Pompeo gave straightforward answers to her questions, and that House colleagues called him smart, hardworking and devoted to protecting our country. Congressman Pompeo has committed to following the law regarding torture, promised to provide objective analysis of Irans compliance with the nuclear agreement and insisted that he would continue to keep the Senate Intelligence Committee fully informed of CIA activities, Feinstein said. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said in a statement that she appreciated that Pompeo was responsive, engaging, and has made a number of positive commitments during the confirmation process, but said she couldnt vote for him after looking at his entire record on issues such as torture, surveillance, and the collection and use of metadata. Pompeo was confirmed 66 to 32 Monday evening. Thirteen Democrats joined Feinstein in voting for him. While House members dont get to vote for confirmation, the leaders of the House Select Intelligence Committee, Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) and ranking Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) joined Feinstein in congratulating Pompeo for his confirmation. Facebook

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Sen. Kamala Harris moves into some familiar digs on Capitol Hill By Sarah D. Wire (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and her staff can begin moving today into her official Senate office, the same space she interned in as a college student. Few offices can hold a staff as large as the ones allocated to the California members and as expected, Harris was assigned an office in the Hart Senate Office Building, the same space occupied by former Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). Harris can start moving in this morning, her staff said. Back home, Harris plans to have state offices in Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco, her staff said. It is a bit of a change from Boxer, who had additional offices in Oakland and Riverside, but did not have an office in San Francisco. The space in Washington should feel familiar. It was occupied by Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) when Harris interned for him as a mailroom clerk for a summer when she was a Howard University student in the 1980s. Two floors up in the same building is Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Except for states where staff size is a consideration, Senate offices are assigned based on seniority and sitting senators have months to decide if they want to move offices. That means some new senators could spend months working out of temporary space. Facebook

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Assembly speaker taps former Obama spokesman for communications strategy By Melanie Mason Bill Burton (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) With Californias face-off against Washington, D.C., getting widespread attention, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon has turned to a veteran of national politics to help shape his public image: White House veteran Bill Burton. Burton, who once worked as deputy press secretary in the Obama administration, was hired this month by Rendon, a Democrat from Paramount, for communications strategy. Now a managing partner in the Los Angeles office for SKDKnickerbocker, a prominent liberal public affairs firm, Burton said he relished being involved in California politics, which he said sets a model for liberals nationwide. With President Trump and congressional Republicans controlling the national agenda, Speaker Rendon and his incredible staff are at the center of some of the most important progressive fights in the country and we couldnt be more excited to be helping any way we can, he said. Burton said his services, paid for out of Rendons campaign account, are meant to offer a more intentional approach to how hes been dealing with media  a recognition, he said, of Rendons and Californias elevated role in national politics. Rendon is not the only legislative Democrat to be represented by SKDKnickerbocker. Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia of Bell Gardens also is a client. The firm also worked with Democratic Reps. Grace Napolitano and Linda Sanchez in their reelection bids, as well as freshman Rep. Nanette Barragan in her heated congressional race against fellow Democrat, former state Sen. Isadore Hall. Facebook

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State Senate votes for final confirmation of Xavier Becerra as state attorney general By Patrick McGreevy Gov. Jerry Brown, left, appointed Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) as state attorney general. ( (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)) The state Senate on Monday voted 26-9 in favor of final confirmation of Rep. Xavier Becerra as Californias attorney general, putting on watch a veteran politician who has promised to block efforts by President Trump to roll back state policies on immigration, civil rights and the environment. Becerra, a Los Angeles Democrat and 12-term congressman, is set to take the oath of office on Tuesday before Gov. Jerry Browns State of the State address. As Attorney General, Xavier will be a champion for all Californians, Brown said in a statement after the party-line vote. Brown appointed Becerra as the states first Latino attorney general to fill the vacancy left when former state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon said Becerra will be an effective counter force to Trump, who has threatened mass deportations and the repeal of some environmental laws. Many of us know him personally and can attest to his character, to his integrity and to his qualifications, De Leon said of Becerra. He will be a strong partner for our state to help us work with the federal government when we can and to resist when we must. State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) said Becerra understands the challenges ahead. He will indeed vigorously defend the values of our state by taking the fight to the federal government when necessary, said Jackson, who chairs the state Senate Judiciary Committee. Becerra, 58, said during two weeks of confirmation hearings that he would also fight any attempt to weaken environmental protections or adopt stop-and-frisk police policies that allow officers to search anyone on the street. All Republican senators voted against Becerra or withheld their vote. I think when you are the top cop you have to enforce the law to the fullest extent, said state Sen. Joel Anderson (R-San Diego) before he voted against Becerra. Opponents cited Becerras support for sanctuary cities that refuse to have their officers help enforce immigration laws. San Francisco prohibits local authorities from holding immigrants for immigration officials if they have no violent felonies on their records and do not currently face charges. Trump has threatened to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities. Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) also opposed Becerra, saying he is worried that the antagonistic tone being set by Democratic lawmakers with Becerra could put at risk the $86 billion the state and its cities gets annually from the federal government. I dont want to jeopardize those funds, Moorlach said. Becerra said he was humbled by the vote and ready to get working.He plans to meet soon with county sheriffs to discuss local law enforcement issues. As I embark on this new journey, my compass will be the experiences of hard-working families like the one I grew up in, Becerra said. As the son of immigrants, I know how important it is to protect the rights and dreams of every aspiring American. I will make sure no headwinds from outside our state can knock us down. Facebook

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Attorney general nominee Becerra questioned on guns, death penalty and pot during confirmation hearings By Patrick McGreevy Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), shown at a gun violence event in June, was selected by Gov. Jerry Brown to be Californias next attorney general. ((Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) ) In two weeks of confirmation hearings, state attorney general nominee Xavier Becerra has been asked for his position on many issues, including new gun control laws, the states death penalty policy and the recent voter approval of an initiative that legalized recreational marijuana use. The 12-term congressman is up for a possible final confirmation vote Monday in the state Senate. Read More Facebook

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California attorney general nominee Xavier Becerra is warned against suing Trump early and often By Patrick McGreevy Rep. Xavier Becerra (Rich Pedroncelli / AP) With Xavier Becerra facing a final confirmation vote Monday for state attorney general, two former high-level officials in the office are warning against drowning President Trump in lawsuits. The pressure to sue Trump early and often is a trap, according to Michael Troncos, former chief counsel in the California attorney generals office, and Debbie Mesloh, a former senior advisor to the California attorney general, writing in an op-ed piece published by the Los Angeles Times. In this right-wing political moment, a major legal case on our climate change laws or our policies benefiting (young immigrant) Dreamers may well lead to a Trump White House victory, establishing precedents that far outlast this presidency, the two write. In fact, the cases Becerra chooses not to bring may be among his most important achievements. Courts cant rule on whats not before them. Troncos and Mesloh said California will be up against a U.S. Supreme Court remade in Trumps image, and that [a]sking a federal court to overturn federal immigration policies could be a fools errand. Read More Facebook

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California cities would have to make it easier to build houses under new legislation By Liam Dillon California cities that are falling behind on housing production goals set by the state would be forced to remove some of their development restrictions under legislation from a Bay Area state senator. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) released new details in his bill, SB 35, Monday morning that would require cities to approve new housing in areas already zoned for high-density development provided developers set aside some units for low-income residents. The bills provisions would only apply in cities where growth isnt keeping pace with housing production targets developed by the state every eight years that are designed to ensure California has enough homes for its growing population to live affordably. Right now, thats not happening. The states median home price of $485,800 is more than 2 1/2 times the national average, with the states poorest residents the hardest hit. And in the most recent eight-year housing cycle ending in 2014, production was less than half of the state target. Wiener, a former San Francisco supervisor, said Californias affordability crisis requires the state to involve its
Immigration hawks are pressuring President Trump to stick by his pledge to end legal protections for some 750,000 immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children, while the immigrants themselves are cautiously relieved that he appears to be backing off.

Trump promised on the campaign trail to terminate immediately a program started by President Obama to temporarily protect these young people from deportation and offer them two-year renewable work permits. Obamas action lacked congressional approval and Trump, in an immigration speech last year in Phoenix, called it an executive amnesty that defied federal law and the Constitution.

But in his first days in office, Trump has tried to emphasize more popular aspects of his immigration enforcement agenda  tightening the border and deporting those with criminal records, as Obama did  while avoiding the debate over young people, which plays to his opponents.

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His priority is first and foremost focused on people who pose a threat to people in our country, to criminals, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday. He said Trump wants his Cabinet to organize and create a plan to address Obamas work visa program.

Spicer made similar comments Monday and allowed that Trump would consider legislation that might provide a longer-term solution.

As of Tuesday, officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that issues the work permits, were still accepting and processing applications under the program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, agency spokesman Steve Blando said in an email. Blando said that some permits have been granted since Trump was inaugurated on Friday.

Its unclear how long the sense of limbo will last. Trump may be using the issue as leverage for a bigger immigration deal.

The issue has long vexed even the most ardent advocates for strict immigration enforcement: what to do with children who had no control over the manner in which they came to the U.S. and, in many cases, have grown up like their peers who were born here.

One administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Trump believes that children brought by their parents did not break immigration laws willfully and should be treated differently than adults who came illegally.

We dont want to hurt those kids, Trump said during a private congressional luncheon Friday, according to Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat.

The administration official laid out Trumps immigration priorities, and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, was not among them. Beefing up deportations of criminals and beginning work on a border wall are his primary priorities, followed by implementing a stronger system of electronic verification of legal status in workplaces and cracking down on so-called sanctuary cities whose police departments refuse to cooperate with federal deportation efforts.

But Trump is already facing pressure to act more aggressively on one of his top campaign issues. Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, which favors strict enforcement and limits on legal immigration, called the uncertainty around the program troubling.

Beck hopes Trump has a longer-term plan and is not softening on his hard-line promises.

It is possible that there is a strategic reason that we would applaud for this initial delay, Beck, who has close ties to Trumps immigration policy team, wrote in a blog post. It is also possible factions within the new administration are already disagreeing about immigration policy.

Mark Krikorian, who heads a research group that favors strict enforcement, said he sees a divide in the West Wing between those led by Reince Priebus, Trumps chief of staff, and Stephen K. Bannon, Trumps chief strategist who has advocated for a nationalist agenda. Krikorian, who leads the Center for Immigration Studies, said that its not necessarily time to go nuclear but that the administration needs to feel pressure to strengthen the bargaining position for immigration hawks inside the White House.

Krikorian said he could see compromising on the issue as part of a broader immigration deal that would include mandatory electronic verification at workplaces and ending certain legal immigration programs, but believes the administration is wasting its leverage if it does not halt Obamas program quickly.

Those affected by DACA are hardly celebrating, even if the most urgent threat has eased. Antonio Alarcon, a 22-year-old who immigrated with his family when he was 10 years old, said he is awaiting approval for his second renewal under the program, after applying in October. He works for an advocacy organization in New York.

Obviously, Im still nervous about it, he said. It was a temporary relief and we knew this could happen. We need to find other ways to keep working in the United States.

Alarcon and other advocates on his side say that even if Trump grants permanent protection for those brought here as children, they continue to have broader concerns about his agenda, including its effect on family members who do not qualify for protections from deportation.

They note that Trump has yet to define what categories of criminal violations would constitute grounds for swift deportation. Many immigrants here illegally live in states that do not allow them to get a drivers license, for example, exposing them to charges of driving without a license.

Angela Kelley, executive director of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the lobbying arm of the liberal think tank, said Trump may also choose to end DACA more quietly, by phasing out visa renewals, without a big cancellation announcement. She said those in the program also risk getting caught up in raids and facing deportations for lower-level criminal violations as Trump begins his broader crackdown.

She called the current delay a head-scratcher, given that Trump could have ended the program with a simple memo.

It is sort of like a day-by-day feeling of a reprieve, she said. Nobody feels like theyre exonerated and protected for good.

noah.bierman@latimes.com

Twitter: @noahbierman

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The hotly contested Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects that President Trump brought back to life with the stroke of a pen Tuesday may still never get built  but for Trump, that isnt necessarily the point.

The projects have become among the countrys most potent symbols of the clash between an oil and gas industry seeking to maintain the old order of energy production and the climate change movement pushing for a different direction.

Trump used the two proposed pipelines to send an unmistakable message during his first week in office: energy firms and their projects are back in favor.

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When the Obama administration rejected Keystone in 2015 after years of protests and tens of millions of dollars spent by all sides, green-energy champions celebrated a seminal victory. The decision against the project came right before Obama signed a landmark global warming accord with dozens of other heads of state at a summit in Paris.

The Dakota Access project more recently became a national rallying point not only for environmental groups but for Native American tribes who said it threatened grounds they hold sacred. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has set up a camp to protest the pipeline, and the battle over it has become violent at times, with protesters clashing with police.

As the fight drew increasing national attention last year, the Obama administration dealt the project a potentially devastating blow that once again sent a strong message of opposition to fossil fuel projects. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied the pipeline a crucial easement and announced it would look for alternatives to its planned route under a dammed section of the Missouri River called Lake Oahe.

Days before Obamas term ended, the Corps of Engineers announced it would start an extensive environmental review that could add months  potentially years  to the permitting process and open the project to more public comment, creating new opportunities for opponents to block it.

Trumps decision to revive the prospects for both projects comes as his administration jettisons much of Obamas climate policy  including U.S. participation in the Paris accord  and promises to work aggressively to curb regulations that inhibit drilling and mining.

As the Trump administration moves swiftly to change direction, it also issued a gag order to the staff at the Environmental Protection Agency, which took a lead in Obamas climate fight. Officials at the agency have been instructed not to interact at all with the news media and to freeze all contracts and grants.

Trumps directives on the pipelines may pay political dividends. The angry opposition to the announcements comes mostly from places and groups that have never supported Trump. By contrast, the moves are likely to be well received by workers in Rust Belt communities who backed Trump in the election and now see him delivering on his promise to work for more jobs in middle America.

The decision on the Dakota Access pipeline instructed the Corps of Engineers to consider whether it can grant final approval for the project. It does not immediately clear the way for construction to resume, but strongly tilts in that direction, telling the Corps to consider skipping any additional environmental review.

Jan Hasselman, a lawyer for the advocacy group Earthjustice, called that directive illegal, saying it was an insult to Standing Rock, and it continues a historic pattern of trampling on the rights of native people.

Environmental groups call the $3.8-billion, 1,170-mile project  nearly all of which has already been built  a threat to clean air and water, as well as to farming communities.

On Keystone, the president emphasized the jobs aspect of the project by insisting that the pipeline be built exclusively with U.S. steel, which he said would generate still more jobs.

That demand may or may not be feasible. If it raises the pipelines cost, it could prove the death knell for a project that may no longer pencil out financially. The price of oil has plunged over the last couple of years to levels far below what Keystones designers had envisioned.

The order Trump signed on Tuesday invited TransCanada, the firm that developed Keystone, to submit a new application for a permit for the pipeline. It directed administration agencies to swiftly review that application and issue a new decision within 60 days. That would be in sharp contrast with the nearly eight years during which the project languished before Obama finally rejected it.

During the long delay, fighting Keystone became a rallying point for the environmental movement. While studies showed the effects of the single pipeline on the climate would be negligible  as would be its impact on boosting global oil production  resistance focused on the environmental movement drawing a line in the sand, demanding that public officials stop backing big, invasive infrastructure projects that feed the worlds oil habit and undermine the push for more green energy.

TransCanada immediately declared it would seize the new opening for its project, which is designed to ship 800,000 barrels of oil a day from the Canadian tar sands to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

In a statement, TransCanada vowed the pipeline would create thousands of jobs and boost the American economy, saying it represents the safest, most environmentally sound way to connect the American economy to an abundant energy resource.

Trump echoed the projects supporters, saying the pipeline could generate 28,000 construction jobs. Opponents dispute that number, saying the new jobs would be less abundant than Trump claims and noting that in any case they would be temporary. They also say the project would undermine the potential creation of many more jobs in solar, wind and geothermal energy.

Trumps directive provoked predictable outrage from environmental groups, which are vowing to mobilize just as they did before to block construction with mass protest and relentless legal challenges.

For all the heavy symbolism, however, the projects impact on the worlds energy sector will ultimately be limited.

In the end, this is all a tempest in a teapot, said Andrew Hoffman, a professor of sustainable enterprise at the University of Michigan. The project, he said, ultimately would not lower prices at the pump or add significantly more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

It is just one more battlefield between the left and the right about free commerce, the role of government and the influence of activists, he said.

Halper reported from Washington and Yardley from Denver.

evan.halper@latimes.com

Follow me: @evanhalper

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Federal agents are reinvestigating the backgrounds of dozens of Syrian refugees already in the United States after discovering a lapse in vetting that allowed some who had potentially negative information in their files to enter the country, two U.S. law enforcement officials said.

Agents have not concluded that any of the refugees should have been rejected for entry, but the apparent glitch  which was discovered in late 2015 and corrected last year  prevented U.S. officials who conducted background checks on the refugees from learning about possible derogatory information about them, the two officials said. At a minimum, the intelligence would have triggered further investigation that could have led some asylum applications to be rejected.

The refugees whose cases are under review include one who failed a polygraph test when he applied to work at a U.S. military installation overseas and another who may have been in communication with an Islamic State leader, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

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The officials cautioned that the investigations, which began last year under the Obama administration, were preliminary, and often the initial red flags turn out to be mistakes or benign. For example, someone could speak to an Islamic State militant without knowing about that affiliation, they said.

But the vetting gap raises questions about the Syrian refugee screening process, which the Obama administration had often described as exhaustive and rigorous, but which President Trump has criticized as a national security risk.

President Obama ramped up the acceptance of Syrians last year to address the humanitarian crisis in that country, admitting 15,479 Syrian refugees, a 606% increase over the 2,192 admitted in 2015. Since the civil war started, the U.S. has accepted more than 18,000 Syrians seeking asylum, according to the State Department.

The vast majority pose no threat, officials say. Nearly half of the Syrians admitted since 2011 were under the age of 14, and more than half are female. At least 4 million people have fled war-torn Syria since the civil war erupted in 2011.

But during the fall campaign, Trump argued that terrorists might seek to hide among refugees like a great Trojan horse. He called for extreme vetting and pledged to block Muslims from entering the country. He later backed off the ban on Muslims and said he would suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism. Since taking office, Trump has been considering a temporary shutdown in the Syrian refugee program.

The 21-step screening process for Syrian refugees is among the most rigorous for anyone seeking to enter the United States. Typically, the refugees are first screened by the United Nations and then referred to the State Department and other countries for potential resettlement. As they review the applications, U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials check the names and identities against databases. The process includes the CIA, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center, the State Department and the Department of Defense.

The results of those checks are passed along to Citizenship and Immigration Services, which sends officers to foreign countries to interview the refugees to assess their credibility.

The vetting gap stemmed from a technological issue that for a period of time limited how agents searched CIA databases during the background check process, the officials said. As U.S. intelligence agents cross-checked refugees names and biographical information against CIA databases, the computer systems were not initially set up to automatically inspect data contained in attachments to the records, the officials said.

Such attachments can include cellphone numbers, address books, social media postings, arrest reports and intelligence assessments, one of the law enforcement officials said.

The second law enforcement official likened the problem to searching for a name in the body of an email but failing to also search for the name in attachments to the email.

The increased numbers of Syrians being cleared to enter the U.S. at first taxed the intelligence agencies responsible for checking applicants against the vast holdings of the intelligence community. But the CIA managed to expand the database capabilities early last year to allow authorities to search the attachments, the officials said.

As investigators reexamined the cases for red flags, they discovered at least several dozen that now require further investigation by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, the officials said.

If investigators determine that a refugee is a threat or has ties that would have blocked his or her entry into the United States, the Justice Department must petition an immigration judge to remove that person from the country. No such process is underway, officials said. The Times first learned about the issue from law enforcement officials before Trumps inauguration.

Leon Rodriguez, who served until last week as the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, defended the integrity of the vetting process his former agency spearheaded.

I still have a lot confidence in what we were doing, especially in the fact that the people we admitted were thoroughly vetted, he said. Rodriguez declined to address any potential vetting gap.

Officials at the Department of Homeland Security referred calls to Citizenship and Immigration Services. In a statement, the immigration agency declined to discuss specifics about the vetting process, but said improvements were continually being made.

The immigration agency continues to work with the law enforcement and intelligence communities to look for ongoing opportunities for improvements for screening all categories of applicants, including the security checks for refugee applicants, the statement said.

The CIA declined to comment. A U.S. intelligence official, who requested anonymity to discuss the closely held vetting process, said refugees go through the highest level of security checks of any type of traveler coming to the U.S.

No immigration program is completely without risk, the official said. We continuously examine options for further enhancements for screening refugees.

Testifying before Congress in September, Rodriguez said the U.S. government had rejected about 7% of applicants and placed another 14% on hold for further investigation. He noted that since the 2001 terror attacks, not a single act of terrorist violence has been committed by a refugee who has undergone our screening procedures.

Refugee applications have been rescreened before. In 2011, the files of more than 58,000 Iraqi refugees already living in the U.S. were vetted after the FBI learned that an Iraqi man living in Kentucky had participated in roadside bomb attacks in Iraq before he was granted asylum. He and another Iraqi refugee were arrested by the FBI and pleaded guilty in 2013 to trying to send explosives and missiles to the group known as Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Follow @delwilber on Twitter

del.wilber@latimes.com

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Sworn in Tuesday as Californias attorney general, Xavier Becerra said he will team up with his counterparts in other states to form a united front to defend state policies against any challenge from the administration of President Trump.

The Los Angeles Democrat, who resigned Tuesday from Congress to become Californias top lawyer, was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown to counter Trump proposals that are expected to include mass deportations, a roll-back of environmental laws and the dismantling of the national healthcare system that Californians have come to rely on.

I dont think California is looking to pick a fight, but we are ready for one, Becerra told reporters Tuesday at his first news conference as attorney general.

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One of Becerras first actions will be to arrange meetings with like-minded attorneys general in other states to start charting a path together as a team on how we deal with representing our people.

Becerra is supported by Democratic lawmakers as the tip of the spear for California in a coming legal battle with the federal government. Some observers see the state becoming the leading antagonist of the Trump administration in much the same way Republican elected officials in Texas were a leading counterforce to the administration of former President Obama.

At the same time, Becerra has been counseled by former top officials of the state attorney generals office to avoid suing the federal government early and often because it could result in legal precedents that they say might hurt California for decades.

Becerra will need to box, not brawl, former state attorney generals office advisors Michael Troncoso and Debbie Mesloh wrote in a recent op-ed piece published by The Times.

Becerra, 58, is the states first Latino attorney general and supports California policies that provide immigrants in the country illegally with drivers licenses, college financial aid and legal services to appeal deportations.

He weighed in quickly Tuesday with concerns about a Trump administration proposal to deport criminals in the country illegally who could pose a threat to the community. While committed to removing dangerous people from California streets, Becerra worried that any eventual deportation orders may be too broad, unfairly catching in the net those with minor offenses who are otherwise productive members of society.

Is someone who has a broken tail light a criminal? he asked. I hope thats not the definition that the administration in Washington, D.C., will use.

Becerra was given the oath of office at the Capitol by Brown, who said that he will be a champion for all Californians. The ceremony was held before Brown delivered his annual State of the State address, and a day after Becerra received final confirmation by the state Senate.

Becerra was accompanied at the ceremony by his wife, physician Carolina Reyes, two of his three daughters, and his parents, both immigrants from Mexico.

Brown noted his appointees background during his speech.

Like so many others, he is the son of immigrants who saw California as a place where, through grit and determination, they could realize their dreams, Brown said.

Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, congratulated Becerra for making history as the first Latino in the post, and predicted he will set the gold standard for defending the values of the Golden State and fighting for the rights of Latinos and all Californians.

Asked what it means to have a Latino become attorney general, Becerra said Its about time.

Updates from Sacramento 

Brown appointed Becerra to fill a vacancy created when former state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris won election to a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Becerra, who did not attend the Trump inauguration, said he would take direction from Browns speech Tuesday.

You heard the governor, Becerra said later to reporters. He laid out a game plan thats forward leaning. Its clear that were going to move forward and were not stopping.

The new attorney general said he planned to meet with staff at the state Department of Justice on Tuesday. He said he also looks forward to working together with former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder, whose law firm was hired by the California Legislature to provide advice in dealing with potential threats from the federal government over conflicting policies.

The more we prove that we are ready to take on any battle, the better off we will be, Becerra said.

Becerra met with some county sheriffs on Monday, but plans to meet with more of them next week to talk about law enforcement issues facing the state. His first meetings with residents, civic leaders and others in coming weeks will be in the states Central Valley, he said.

Some people think that California revolves around Los Angeles, San Francisco, sometimes Sacramento. There are a whole bunch of phenomenal Californians who often feel neglected, Becerra said of people who live in the central part of the state.

The initial focus on local law enforcement in the Central Valley was welcomed by Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood, president of the California State Sheriffs Assn.

He wants to start with law enforcement in the San Joaquin Valley, and I think thats a really positive step, Youngblood said. Im impressed with his credentials. Im impressed with his background, and I think hes going to be a good attorney general.

Becerra will fill out the last two years of Harris term before the next election. He said he plans to run to keep the post in the 2018 election.

I will officially open an account and do everything it takes to be a candidate for this office, he said. I hope that I can prove to the people of this state that I will be able to earn their support to be reelected.

After 12 terms in Congress, Becerras appointment represents a homecoming, he told reporters.

Its nice to be here in Sacramento, where I grew up, he said. Its nice to be in California. Its nice not to have to do red-eye flights. Its great to be home.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

Twitter: @mcgreevy99

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The newly discovered mighty traveler of Egg Mountain is an ancient lizard that lived 75 million years ago.

Thats 10 million years before dinosaurs went extinct.

Paleontologists discovered the fossilized remains of two almost-complete skeletons of this extinct critter in a dinosaur nesting site in northwestern Montana.

The animal has been officially dubbed Magnuviator ovimonsensis, which translates roughly to mighty traveler of Egg Mountain, and experts say it is an extremely unusual find.

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Most of the fossil lizards we find from the entire Mesozoic are just isolated jaws and vertebrates, said David DeMar Jr., a post-doctorate fellow at the University of Washington who analyzed the new fossil. To have multiple specimens this complete is very rare.

The lizard was described this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The name is significant for a few reasons. The mighty part is a reference to the lizards size  about 8 inches from snout to rear, with a tail that may have added about 7 more inches to its overall length.

Although that makes Magnuviator much smaller than its dinosaur neighbors, it is still bigger than 80% of lizards alive today, DeMar said.

The traveler piece of the lizards name comes from the discovery of a nearly identical lizard skeleton in deposits in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia from roughly the same period.

They almost look like the could be the same thing, but there are minor differences, DeMar said.

He said the similarity between the lizard skeletons from Asia and North America suggest that Magnuviators ancestors likely migrated between the two continents by crossing over Beringia, a land bridge that once connected Alaska and Asia.

If you look at Tyrannosaurs, Duck Billed Hadrosaurs and Triceratops, you can see close relationship between those in Asia and those in North America, DeMar said. It appears it was pretty common to have animals moving back and forth between these two continents.

The Egg Mountain piece of Magnuviator ovimonsensis refers to the site in central Montana where two nearly complete skeletons of the animal were found.

DeMar said the site is different from most places where ancient fossils are preserved because it is neither a lake nor a flood plain.

Instead, he said these lizards lived in an arid environment that served as a nesting site for small bird-like, meat-eating Troodon dinosaurs and larger plant-eating Orodromeus. The fossilized remains of mammals also have been found at the site. Researchers also found wasp egg cases, which suggests wasps may have been a food source for the lizards.

The fact that we found so many complete skeletons all together gives us a snapshot in time, DeMar said.

deborah.netburn@latimes.com

Do you love science? I do! Follow me @DeborahNetburn and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook.

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A high school show choir director is on paid administrative leave following a complaint filed by a man who had obtained some of his text messages during a copyright lawsuit, the Burbank Unified School District confirmed this week.

Brett Carroll, who directs the Burbank High School Vocal Music Assn., was placed on leave earlier this month, Burbank Unified spokeswoman Kimberly Clark said.

Citing personnel matters, Clark could not provide specifics about why Carroll was placed on leave or the exact date.

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However, the president of a music-licensing firm filed a Jan. 5 complaint with Burbank Unified against Carroll. The complaint asked school officials to review text messages Carroll exchanged with a music arranger he worked with in past Burbank High show choir productions.

Mark Greenburg, president of the Arizona-based Tresona Multimedia, asserted in his complaint to BUSD that the messages Carroll exchanged with arranger Josh Greene disqualify [Carroll] from teaching high school students.

Greenburg filed his complaint, which was reviewed by the Leader, after a U.S. District Court in Arizona ruled against his music-licensing firm late last month as part of a lawsuit Greenburg filed against Carroll and other parties in June.

The lawsuit accused Carroll of copyright infringement, but the court ruled that Tresona lacked standing for three of four songs at the center of the lawsuit because those songs had multiple songwriters who collectively owned the copyright, which was not 100% exclusive to Tresona.

A decision on the fourth song  Magic, originally performed by Olivia Newton-John  is expected to be deliberated in court next month, Greenburg said.

The court also ruled last month that Carroll, as a public employee, was immune from the lawsuit and that his actions were reasonable.

The private text messages involved in Greenburgs complaint against Carroll were acquired through Carrolls attorney as legal discovery in the copyright case, Greenburg said.

Greenburg found the language in which the two men discussed performers appearances when assessing their appropriateness for certain roles as one example of what he deemed a series of inappropriate communications.

Separate from the lawsuit, Greenburg said he felt compelled to alert school officials about the texts.

I submitted Mr. Carrolls text messages to the district because when I read them, I was shocked, and I thought the authorities needed to know what was going on, Greenburg said in an email. The copyright issues in this case are important, and theyll be worked out by the courts in due course.

But the complaint I filed is about protecting students, which is so much more important. Anyone reviewing his texts will realize that his stewardship of the program represents a danger to the students.

In addition to filing a complaint against Carroll with Burbank Unified, Greenburg also filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Educations Office of Civil Rights.

Carroll did not respond to a request for comment.

--

Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
Laguna Beach High School officials say they have taken disciplinary steps toward five students who they believe were involved in throwing a watermelon outside the home of a black student  an incident the victims parents have labeled a hate crime.

Please be assured that school and [Laguna Beach Unified School District] officials responded immediately to the incident that occurred over winter break and we addressed this matter with significant and appropriate consequences for the students involved, Principal Chris Herzfeld wrote in an email sent to parents last week.

He declined to provide details, saying he cannot discuss disciplinary matters.

Laguna Beach police are investigating the incident and could forward the case to the Orange County district attorneys office, Sgt. Tim Kleiser wrote in an email.

Weve got a lot of support from people with letters, emails, stopping us on the street, Maurice Possley, the victims father, said Monday. At this point, were looking to see how things play out.

Possley and his wife, Cathleen Falsani, who are both white, said the family was preparing to eat dinner shortly before 9 p.m. Dec. 27 when Possley heard people yelling the name of their adopted son, Vasco.

Possley said he heard a thud as he neared the door and found shattered pieces of a watermelon outside. The parents traced the brand to a store in Laguna, where an employee said he remembered the juveniles who bought the fruit. Meanwhile, a neighbors security camera captured footage of the truck believed to be the youths vehicle.

Falsani wrote about the encounter, and the moments immediately following, on her website.

When [the police officer] left, my husband cleaned up the mess outside, while Vasco retreated to his room to write in his journal, Falsani said in the post. He said he wanted to be left alone, which was unusual. He was angry in his quiet way, but he wasnt scared. If that had been the perpetrators goal, they failed.

More than anything, right after the incident, my sons heart was troubled. I dont understand why anyone would hate me like that, he said.

There were no words of explanation I could offer. I told him that I was sorry, that he was safe, and that I loved him. I wanted to scream and throw up, quaking with rage.

This was not the first time Vasco was targeted, wrote Falsani, who said she moved with her husband and son from the Chicago area to this idyllic place in 2009.

The first happened last spring in a classroom at the high school where three students made remarks to our son that were, he and we felt, racist, her post reads. Words were exchanged. Video clips from Django Unchained and Captain Phillips were thrust in his face in a classroom where a substitute teacher had lost control. When that happened, we were outraged. The school handled it swiftly. Parents were notified and punishment was doled out internally.

In a follow-up phone call, Falsani said Vasco reported the encounter to a faculty member.

Laguna Beach High is planning several strategies to build a positive student culture at the school in which students treat other with respect, dignity and kindness, Herzfelds email said.

Staff from the nonprofit OC Human Relations met with small groups of students in the school library at lunch last week to discuss developing an inclusive and respectful climate on the campus and in the community.

Herzfeld met with staff members, and separately with representatives of student groups including the Associated Student Body, to hear concerns and field questions, according to the email.

Herzfeld urged parents to contact the school if they feel their child has been bullied or harassed.

Residents also can report possible hate crimes to OC Human Relations at (714) 480-6570 or ochumanrelations.org.

You probably would like to know, as so many people of good will and faith have asked in recent days, how Vasco has handled all of this, Falsani wrote. Remarkably well. In fact, Id like to be more like my son when I grow up.

Vasco has deep reserves of peace and calmness that are rare in any human, no matter age or life experience. Hes not perfect. Hes a kid. But he has navigated these fraught waters with characteristic grace and thoughtfulness.

bryce.alderton@latimes.com

Twitter: @AldertonBryce
Coast Community College District officials have cut back on their expansion plans for Orange Coast College, scrapping a proposal for an on-site hotel and reducing the amount of on-campus student housing by more than half.

According to a revised draft environmental impact report released earlier this month, OCC has also altered its plan for a 2,000-space parking structure within the Orange County Fairgrounds property near Fairview Road and Arlington Drive.

Instead, theyre proposing to build the structure on their own turf  a 4-acre space within the parking lot off Adams Avenue. It would give the campus a net gain of 1,500 spaces.

Officials had envisioned a 145-room hotel, near the corner of Fairview Road and Merrimac Way, as a tool for real-world hospitality education experience but the idea has been removed from the plan.

On-campus student housing was reduced from 1,900 beds to 818. The report notes this as a clarification.

The hotel, housing and parking were among the most contested aspects of OCCs Vision 2020, a development blueprint.

For the last several months, the plan was met with debate and frustration from Costa Mesa residents and some elected officials, who expressed concern about traffic as OCC enrolls more students and builds more facilities that attract visitors.

They also questioned if commercial ventures, like the hotel, were straying too far from OCCs core mission as an educational facility.

Many residents in College Park, a residential neighborhood south of OCC, were particularly upset about the parking structure, calling it a four-story eyesore close to an area of one-story homes.

Officials had hoped to break ground on the structure  an idea discussed for more than five years  after this summers fair and have it ready in time for the 2016 fair.

Coast Community College District officials are hosting a community meeting to discuss the changes at 6 p.m. Sept 9 in OCCs library, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.
Ive just finished reading Bret Baiers fine new book on President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Three Days in January.

Ive read several books on Ike and found this one particularly riveting.

The book captures the drama of the transition period between the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations.

One of the historical characters mentioned frequently in the book is James C. Hagerty, White House press secretary under Eisenhower from 1953-61. Hagerty was reputed to be the presidents closest day-to-day advisor.

The former New York Times reporter served as press secretary for New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey before joining Ike. A straight shooter, he was respected by members of the media. For his insistence on honesty and decorum, some called him Iron Man Hagerty.

I met him in July 1964, when he was 55 years old.

Actually (caution: caveat ahead!), I didnt exactly meet him. Not personally.

Hagerty was known for his competence and candor. He was also said to have a low boiling point and didnt suffer fools lightly. For the most part, however, he was relaxed, friendly and unrelentingly professional.

Hagerty played a significant role in the Eisenhower administrations decision-making process. Not simply a mouthpiece, he was a true advisor.

In his first meeting with reporters in D.C., he set parameters for the White House Press Corps.

I am not going to play any favorites, and Im not going to give out any exclusive stories about the president or the White House, he told them.

When I say to you, I dont know, I mean I dont know  aside from that, Im here to help you get the news.

He was a facilitator, and did an outstanding job.

After leaving the White House in 1961, he became ABCs executive vice president for corporate relations.

In the spring and summer of 1964, I was a 19-year-old U.S. Army private stationed at Fort Slocum, N.Y. I attended the U.S. Army Information School, and was in training to become an Army information specialist  a dispenser of Army information to the news media.

At the end of the eight-week course of study, Hagerty was the featured speaker at our graduation ceremony.

It was a hot and sticky Friday morning  we were already sweat-soaked in our khakis!  and 100 of us, along with guests, were seated for the ceremony in an un-air-conditioned post theater. Wed finished our final exams Thursday, and spent Thursday night in the NCO Club celebrating our accomplishment.

A good percentage of the graduating class sported throbbing headaches Friday morning. Because of the heat and early hour, several dozed off during the ceremony. Invigilators, with long poles, were assigned to awaken them with bonks to the head, prompting many stifled giggles.

Though I dont recall much of what Hagerty said that morning, I remember he was impressive. Beginning that afternoon, 100 graduates would be taking off for military installations around the globe.

I was sent to Fort Benning, Ga. to serve in the public information office. The following year, I went to Korea and worked in the Eighth Army Support Commands press office, and was an editor of an Army newspaper. I later ran a news bureau.

Following my discharge, I returned to college and earned a B.A. in communications, then worked for 37 years as Orange Coast Colleges public information/media relations/community relations director.

This impressionable 19-year-old never forgot Hagerty, or that sultry New York morning. He commanded attention. Hagerty was no shrinking violet, and he gave us the straight scoop.

During his Army Information School speech he told a number of Eisenhower Administration stories. I was taken by the fact that he was unabashedly loyal to his former boss, Supreme Allied Commander and President, Dwight David Eisenhower.

I never forgot that.

I remember that he emphasized that P.R. professionals were obliged never to obfuscate the truth or lie to the media. Never! I didnt forget that, either.

Also, never once in my 37-year career did I ever say to a member of the media, No comment. Never once. Never.

Jim Hagerty was the best of teachers.

JIM CARNETT, who lives in Costa Mesa, worked for Orange Coast College for 37 years.
On Saturday, the streets of America swarmed with parades of women in pink hats, chanting in protest of President Donald Trumps inauguration.

People of both genders rallied together in their local marches, as part of the international Womens March on Washington movement.

Several passionate Corona del Mar students participated in the local Laguna Beach and Santa Ana marches to promote acceptance and equality across the nation and in their own community.

CdM senior Henry Bagdasar marched alongside his classmates in Laguna Beach to demonstrate his support for his mother and sister. Bagdasar, a self-identifying feminist, hopes that the collective efforts of the Womens March on Washington will urge more men to speak out against gender discrimination.

Its important for men to be feminists because it shows that just because its for womens equality, it doesnt mean that men cant be involved, Bagdasar said. Its about time we even out the playing field.

The march was an opportunity for students to participate in true political activism. Freshman Maya Galante attended the Santa Ana Womens March to stand with millions of American women, men and children as they made their voices heard.

I felt like I was really putting myself and my opinions out there for the world to see and take in, Galante said. The experience was breathtaking because, as a person on the opposing side of a community where the majority supports the new administration, it was amazing to see everyone that was on my side, believing what I believed in too.

The Womens March on Washington united people from all walks of life, in support of the feminist movement, leading junior Sydney Custer to ponder her personal definition of feminism.

I like to think of feminism as a synonym for humanism, Custer said. "... We are all feminists because we speak for our rights and voice our opinions. Every feminist is unique, but every feminist supports others uniqueness.

Senior Julia David, who marched in Laguna, said, It was in my sociology class that I started learning about the way our society and others really work. I realized that the world needs feminism so that opportunities are given solely on the basis of character and merit and so every person is treated with the same respect.

After reading the platform for the march on Washington, David spread the word about the event and gathered a group of students to march together. It was important to her as a young woman to define her own role in modern American society as an advocate for social change and pave the way for other women to decide their own futures.

I think a womans role in American society today should be whatever feels right for her, David said. Being a woman can mean many different things, and I think that is a part of what feminism stands for. There isnt one certain way a woman should be or can be.

Through the marches, women across the country took it upon themselves to fight for equality for not only themselves, but all groups who are threatened by the election of Trump.

I went to the Womens March because I liked how their values and principles included all different groups of people and issues, not just equality for women, David said. I think its really important for people to advocate for groups they may not appear to represent, so we can all support each other, which is something Id really like to see happen more at our school.

CdM is a politically educated campus in a conservative pocket of California, and oftentimes, party affiliation pins classmates against one another. Throughout the election season, words turned to weapons and free speech became a tool used to shame others into silencing their political beliefs.

The student body remains riddled with open wounds, but in the aftermath of the Womens March on Washington, some open-minded students are ready to reverse the culture of political intolerance.

I think the best thing we can do is to remove the stigma that comes with opposing beliefs at CdM, Bagdasar said. Too many people are afraid to say what they think on both sides of every argument, and I think that the only way to make CdM better would be to provide a voice for everyone, regardless of the repercussions.

Senior Nathan Fallahi, who accompanied Bagdasar to Laguna, believes empathy and compassion are crucial to bridging the social divide that was sparked by the election.

While movements like the one represented at the rally I attended are powerful, I find genuine supportive interactions between people to be the most impactful, Fallahi said. Students on our campus should collectively strive to be better people and be supportive of everyone, especially minorities and those who are disadvantaged. It is only with the willingness to listen and support one another without judgment that change can be possible.

---

HANNAH SCHOENBAUM is editor of the Trident, the student magazine at Corona del Mar High School.
For those of us fortunate enough to attend President Donald Trumps inauguration, it was all good, except for the bad parts.

First, the good.

Most importantly, we had a (mostly) peaceful transition of power, from Barack Obama to Trump. At the inauguration ceremony, our three separate branches of government came together.

With past presidents attending, we witnessed Chief Justice John Roberts administer the oath of office to the 45th president on the steps of the Capitol. It was thrilling to be there in person for this historic event.

In his opening remarks, the chairman of the inaugural committee, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), reminded us of famous lines from inaugural addresses from past presidents. Quoting Ronald Reagan, Blunt said, In the eyes of many in the world, this every-four-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.

The weather was relatively good. Temperatures were warmer than average, in the high 40s and low 50s, with only a light occasional drizzle. It could have been much worse, like it was for Reagans second inauguration, where the high temperature that day was just 7 degrees with a wind chill factor of minus 25.

Thankfully, there were no terrorist attacks, foreign or domestic. This was a huge relief for the entire nation, but especially for those of us in attendance. As you can imagine, the security was extraordinarily tight, with a well-coordinated effort from the local and Capitol police, Secret Service, Homeland Security and Virginia and Maryland state troopers.

We were met with some of the Bikers For Trump, who offered their services along the parade route, but that extra layer of security was politely declined.

The streets were not just closed with the usual barricades, but physically blocked off with sand-filled dump trucks and police cruisers, parked end-to-end, or other extreme measures, for three to four blocks around the entire area, from the Capitol to the White House. At least we felt safe.

On the day before the inauguration, at Arlington National Cemetery, we saw Trump and soon-to-be Vice President Mike Pence wave to the crowd as they arrived in their mile-long motorcade for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

After their visit to Arlington, Trump and Pence crossed back over the Potomac to attend the Inaugural Concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial. There were several acts, including a stirring rendition of America the Beautiful by Sam Moore, the ever-popular God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood and a country-music set by the legendary Toby Keith, followed by a spectacular fireworks show.

After the inauguration, of course, came the inaugural balls  three official (meaning Trump attended) and several more unofficial balls. We chose to attend one of the unofficial balls, hosted by our own congressman, Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa), held at the gorgeous Great Hall of the Library of Congress. We saw some of our friends from Newport Beach at the ball, including Tim and Valerie Fernandez, Bob McCaffery, Paul and Pamela Jenson, and David Stone and Aileen Karstofsky.

This ball turned out to be much better than one of the official balls. We had a grand venue, gourmet sit-down dinner with delicious wines and an open bar, a fabulous 12-piece orchestra and a spacious dance floor  truly an elegant night.

Now for the bad parts.

In contrast to our ball, the official balls, we were told, were quite disappointing. They had long lines and delays to get through security, with offensive protestors shouting profanities. And then once inside the unglamorous convention center, there was no place to sit, nothing to eat, and it was so over-crowded it was uncomfortable.

Im not complaining, but lets just say if you dont like huge crowds and long lines, you are much better off watching the inauguration, the parade and the ball at home on TV.

Umbrellas were among the many forbidden items at the inauguration, so everyone had to stand on soggy grass for hours, in a light drizzle, wearing just a rain coat or a poncho. We left our hotel at 7 a.m. for the ceremony, which started at 11:30. Others who arrived for the ceremony any time after 10 a.m. were unable to get through security, even with an admission ticket, because it was just too crowded.

The protestors were everywhere. At first they were well-behaved and a bit of a curiosity. But that changed later in the day when several of them rioted, threw rocks at the police, smashed windows, vandalized a bank building and lit a limousine on fire.

But the highlight of our week in D.C. was our visit to the U.S. Supreme Court, where we had a private, 15-minute meeting with Chief Justice John Roberts in his chambers. After our visit, we were escorted to his private box seats, on the right side of the courtroom next to the bench, for oral arguments on two cases. We then had lunch in the Supreme Court cafeteria and an hour-long private tour of the courthouse. No photos are allowed, but I did get his autograph. The chief justice graciously signed my book, The Nine (about the Supreme Court), To Michael and Barbara, with every good wish, John G. Roberts, Jr.

Roberts was warm and charming. The meeting came about because I wrote to him two weeks earlier to say we would be in D.C. for the inauguration and were hoping to meet him. In my letter I said, Thirty-six years ago we both interviewed with Justice Rehnquist to be his law clerk. You got the job, and I came in second place (I was told.) I was, at the time, the finance director for Reagans inaugural ball committee. I then worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Solicitor Generals Office before moving back to California to start my own law practice. In 2007, I took three years off from my practice and circumnavigated on my own 47-foot sailboat, visiting 61 countries around the world.

I was hoping to catch his attention, and I did.

During our meeting, I wondered aloud to the chief, what if he were sick that day and had to miss the interview with Rehnquist, and what if I got that clerkship instead of him, and what might that have led to for each of us? He replied, with a smile, You mean you might have had this job, and I could have sailed around the world?

At the inauguration ceremony, there were many street vendors selling T-shirts and hats. I bought a forward-thinking campaign button that said, Re-elect Trump in 2020.

We had so much fun in DC for the Inaugural that we are already planning for that trip.

---

Attorney MICHAEL LAWLER lives in Newport Beach.
Two Glendale attorneys could face disciplinary action after the State Bar of California alleged the pair embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from a multimillion-dollar settlement relating to the Armenian Genocide.

The state bar filed several disciplinary charges last year against Vartkes Yeghiayan and Rita Mahdessian, who are husband and wife, ranging from misappropriation of funds to moral turpitude. They alleged the couple had siphoned more than $300,000 of settlement money stemming from a class-action lawsuit over survivor benefits from the Armenian Genocide.

The two have since denied the charges. Kevin Gerry, an attorney representing the two, said he expects to vigorously defend the couple in court.

We dispute the allegations set forth in the state bar disciplinary charges and we deny being involved in or being aware of any improprieties whatsoever regarding the handling of any of the matters in the state bar claims, he said.

According to bar documents, the couple allegedly misrepresented two nonprofit groups they created to appropriate the funds.

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In 2005, a class-action lawsuit was brought against French insurance company AXA S.A. over survivor benefits from descendants of Armenian Genocide victims. Yeghiayan and Mahdessian were co-counsels on the case.

The resulting settlement from the case was $20 million, with the insurance company being required to pay $17.5 million. From that settlement, a $3 million Unclaimed Benefits Fund was set up, naming nine specific beneficiaries, according to documents from the state bar.

As part of the fund, any money left over used to pay the main settlement and administrative costs could then be distributed to charitable organizations recommended by the suits lawyers  namely Yeghiayan and Mahdessian.

The state bar said one of the nonprofits, the Center for Armenian Remembrance, was created only three months after the settlement was approved and based out of the couples Brand Boulevard law firm.

The second nonprofit, the Conservatoire de la Memoire Armenienne, was also said to be based out of their office.

According to the state bar, the two then requested more than $300,000 be given to the organizations because they qualified as charitable. However, the two failed to produce any record of charitable activity or disclose their ties to the nonprofit, according to court documents.

The two allegedly used some of the funds on their own law firm and to pay college tuition for their two children.

This isnt the first time Yeghiayan and Mahdessian have been accused of embezzling funds.

In 2011, the lead attorneys from the class-action suit, Mark Geragos and Brian Kabateck, accused the two of setting up fake charities to siphon more than $1 million.

The two also denied those allegations.

Both Yeghiayan and Mahdessian are still active to practice law, according to the state bars website.

--

Andy Nguyen, andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_Truc

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A Glendale community outreach program designed to educate residents and city officials about local public services is in the running to receive an award and $100,000 in prize money.

The program, known as Work Boot Tuesday, began in 2015 as a way to highlight the inner workings of public services with sessions held on-site at key city facilities. For example, the Beeline bus fleet, police and fire departments as well as the Grayson Power Plant have all hosted an event.

Work Boot Tuesday is now one of 100 semifinalist government programs nominated for the Innovations in American Government Awards. The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, grants the honor to programs it considers original, effective and impactful.

Then Mayor [Zareh] Sinanyan really wanted council members to connect with the community outside of City Hall, said Christine Powers, program supervisor. He wanted council members to go out and see these things. He kept saying he wanted boots on the ground.

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Workboot meeting participants board a Beeline bus at Broadway and Glendale Ave. on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Roger Wilson / Staff Photographer)

The honor would be the second recognition for the program, as it won the Winston Crouch Award for Innovation in Government last year from the Southern California chapter of the American Society of Public Administration.

Were trying to tackle different sections, different departments as things come up, Powers said. We try to coordinate Work Boot events with what is happening with the city and the community.

If Work Boot Tuesday takes home the $100,000 grand prize, Powers said city staff would likely use the money to enhance the program to accommodate transportation at on-site visits and education efforts.

Some upcoming Work Boot meetings, which are usually held on the first Tuesday of the month, include fire prevention training in the spring, a discussion about permits at the community development department and another at the Glendale Central Library once it reopens later this year.

The Ash Center will name and invite 10 finalists to give a presentation about their respective programs to the Innovation Award programs national selection committee in March. The grand prize winner will be announced in June.

These programs demonstrate that there are no prerequisites for doing the good work of governing said Stephen Goldsmith, director of the Innovations in American Government Program at the Ash Center in a statement.

--

Jeff Landa, jeff.landa@latimes.com

Twitter: @JeffLanda
Ten Years Ago

The La Canada Flintridge Planning Commission approved a parking variance to allow Big Mamas and Papas Pizzeria Cafe to open in the shopping center anchored by a Big Lots store. The decision allowed the eatery to operate with six parking spots fewer than the 13 required by code.

Twenty Years Ago

A symbolic ground-breaking ceremony was held at La Canada Elementary School to mark the beginning of districtwide modernization projects at all La Canada Unified School District campuses, made possible by a $15-million school bond passed by voters in June 1995. The results will insure the safety of the schools and their modernization for the next 30 years, said then-Supt. Jim Davis.

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Thirty Years Ago

Two hundred people gathered for the kickoff dinner launching the Crescenta-Canada Family YMCAs 35th annual fundraising campaign.

Forty Years Ago

Clark L. Smithson, who was then serving as city manager of the Bay Area city of Brisbane, was hired for the same position in the new city of La Canada Flintridge, then less than two months old. Smithson, whose annual salary was set at $30,000, plus car allowance, was expected to start his job here on Feb. 14, 1977.

Fifty Years Ago

In memory of her late husband, T. Fenton Knight, La Canada resident Julia Knight donated 50 flowering trees to replace several magnolias that had been removed to make way for a widening project on Oakwood Avenue. The announcement of the $2,000 gift was made by Steve Sander, then chairman of La Canada Valley Beautiful.

Sixty Years Ago

More than 350 La Canada women signed up to visit local homes on the evening of Jan. 31, 1957, to solicit funds on behalf of the March of Dimes fight against polio. The goal was that every house in La Canada and Flintridge would be visited between 7 and 8 p.m. that date, not only for the purpose of seeking donations, but to provide a fact sheet to local parents advising of the need for their families to be vaccinated against the disease.

Compiled from the Valley Sun archives by Carol Cormaci.
Jack Fusco was a little worried. The weather on Hawaii Island wasnt cooperating  it was rainy and cloudy  and he needed to bring back some great photos.

It wasnt that he was worried that people would mock him for puny pictures on Instagram or Facebook. Fusco is a professional photographer whose time-lapse videos of the night sky have shown off the night skies in Alberta, Canada, the New Jersey shore and Southern California.

Although there is pleasure in capturing great photos, this trip wasnt just for the fun of it; it was part of a project in conjunction with Macphun (photo editing software) and Sigma (cameras and gear).

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He and Mark Jacobs had three days to complete the shoot. The clock was ticking.

On Day 1, rain.

On Day 2, more rain

On Day 3, a break in the weather.

Hawaii saved the best for last.

In all, Fusco made more than 9,000 photos; about 6,000 made it into his time lapse called 61g Ocean Entry. 61g is the name of this flow, which the U.S. Geological Surveys Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said is still active and entering the ocean at Kamokuna as of Tuesday.

The volcano made news on New Years Eve when a lava delta lava collapsed, sending 26 new acres tumbling into the ocean.

The eruption isnt new. The current ongoing eruption cycle began on Jan. 3, 1983, along the middle of the east rift zone, Mary Bagley reported in Live Science.

But it does always seem to have new tricks up its volcanic sleeve. Not always good ones.

Nonetheless, Fusco could just imagine capturing the lava flowing into the ocean against a backdrop of stars. Pure photographic magic.

Unless, of course, you cant see the stars.

But Fusco persevered, and the result can be seen in the video above. (The opening moments show Rainbow Falls, and if you look closely you can see how hard its raining.)

Here are some of the stills that make up the video. (You can also read Jacobs behind-the-scenes making of the video.)

Just as the sun is setting

Light is always a key to great photos. In this photo at dusk, the plume looks almost benign and fluffy.

Take Fuscos word for it: It wasnt always.

But, he added, it was cool to see how many people came out to see the lava hit the water.

What was not cool: people who went beyond the ropes set up by Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Fusco said. He worried about them, particularly because the terrain can be difficult.

If it was just for a better Instagram or Facebook photo, the risk wasnt worth it, he said.

(In various places in the video, you can see people, off to the right, standing places where they should not have been.)

One star is not like the others

If you look closely at the photo above, just above the plume and to the right, there appears to be a bright star. Its actually the planet Venus, Fusco said.

The wind began to shift, so did the plume, which contains high concentrations of sulfur dioxide, which is irritating to eyes, skin and respiratory systems, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

At Kilauea volcano in Hawaii, high concentrations of sulfur dioxide produce volcanic smog (VOG), causing persistent health problems for downwind populations.

A closeup view

Look at the dark areas in the photo immediately above; there are little wisps, a bit to the right and up in the photo.

Thats dirt and debris, Fusco said. It was mesmerizing.

And another reason not to get too close.

Watching lava in the crater

The last night and finally, stars, which you can see to the right of the molten, spewing lava in the photo above.

Fusco left the entry area where the previous two photos were shot and headed for Halemaumau crater.

Youd occasionally see lava spurt over the rim, he said. The lava hitting the water was fascinating, but this was equally mesmerizing, he said.

Painted with moonlight

In the photo above, the moon is just out of the frame, Fusco said.

Its starting to light the top of the plume. The almost bluish light gave a cool counterbalance to the orange glow of the lava.

And, again, you can see stars.

A new vantage point

The plume shifted, so Fusco and Jacobs packed up equipment and headed for safer ground, erring on the side of safety.

This wasnt one location we had planned on shooting, but when we arrived, we liked the different, unique perspective, Fusco said.

The wide field of stars all around that plume  it was just incredible.

We were lucky we were able to witness it and capture it.

He hopes others are inspired to go out and see something like this  enjoy the outside under the stars.

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The first alarm about a potential avian flu infestation at the poultry farm came from suspicious workers at a nearby taxi company in late December.

Health workers showed up almost immediately. Confirming the worst, they ordered Yang Byeong-hak, a farmer in a southwestern province, to cull roughly 12,000 ducks within a day.

They were his entire stock.

Yang dug a massive hole, lined it with vinyl and chemicals and buried the dead birds. Then all the other poultry farmers in a 3-kilometer radius  his neighbors and colleagues in the industry  were forced to do the same, he said.

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People have looked at me disapprovingly, and at first I was sorry, but also angry and resentful, said Yang, a poultry farmer for more than a decade in South Jeolla province. I have wanted to blame someone.

Yang has for now focused his disappointment toward the South Korean government, which is reacting aggressively to a highly pathogenic avian influenza strain that has devastated the poultry industry here.

The nation itself is in crisis right now, so we dont expect much from the government.  farmer Kang Eun-ju

Recognizing the crisis and its potential impact on consumers, South Korea has agreed to allow eggs to be imported from the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Other countries might soon be invited to help too. The government has reduced tariffs and agreed to subsidize part of the cost of shipment.

Last week, about 200 tons  millions of eggs  arrived from the United States in carefully packed boxes on commercial airlines, just in time for Lunar New Year, when South Korean families come together to celebrate with home-cooked meals.

The imported eggs are expected to be the first of many from the United States under a temporary agreement between the countries, which already have a trade deal that includes eggs known as the U.S. Korea Free Trade Agreement, or KORUS. President Trump has criticized it as a job-killing deal.

In this case, the Korean government has waived KORUS tariffs on eggs and agreed to subsidize part of the freight costs, making the prices profitable for importers and cheap enough for consumers.

South Korea is no stranger to avian influenza, but this years outbreak has been its worst, thanks in part to a new strain.

And the nations egg consumers have noticed. Bakeries in some cases have fewer eggs than needed, and large supermarkets have been limiting customers purchases. The shortage has driven up prices by as much as 50% on average since December, according to a study by local analysts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

By late December, at least 20 million birds  perhaps more than 10% of the countrys poultry stock of chickens and ducks  have been culled because of the flu. The figures continue to grow.

Health officials carry a sack containing dead chickens on Dec. 26, 2016, after the birds were slaughtered at a chicken farm where a suspected case of bird flu was reported in Incheon, South Korea. (Yun Tae-hyun / Associated Press)

The viruses before were not this severe, said Kim Jae-hong with the Korean Poultry Assn. The poultry farms were thoroughly disinfected but could not withstand the virus and are continuing to experience losses.

The government has declared the situation serious  the highest alert on the countrys health scale, according to American agriculture officials, who are monitoring the situation closely.

In some cases, the South Korean government has stopped transportation of birds and poultry products to avoid spreading the virus, and its health workers have been granted the authority to direct disinfection at dozens of farms like Yangs  even preemptively at locations near those with infections. The virus can be spread by infected poultry, but it can also be carried by clothing or equipment that has been near the birds.

Amid the reaction, the imported eggs, while welcomed by some consumers, are coming with a small catch. The American eggs being imported now have white shells. Since the 1970s, South Koreans have become accustomed to brown shells, which have been marketed as native. It remains to be seen whether consumers will trust the white-shelled variety.

South Korean farmers and their trade representatives arent enthusiastic about the program. They fear it undermines the local industry without reducing prices enough to justify the policy change.

According to the American agriculture report, a dozen imported eggs should cost about the same as average-grade South Korean ones did before the crisis  just under $2. The study found that a dozen local eggs cost about $1.87 in early December. A month later, the price had risen to $2.99.

Consumers have noticed the relatively bare shelves at major supermarkets  and, of course, the higher prices.

The eggs became more expensive but its bearable, said Kim Ok-nam, who lives in central Seoul and supports the American import plan. Eggs probably wont get much cheaper but Ill be satisfied if the price stays the same.

Another shopper, Kim Kyeong-sook, has also noticed the price changes, which vary somewhat by market. She said she prefers the prices at Costco, the American discount retailer, but the stores have restricted consumers to 30 eggs.

Koreans have dramatically increased their consumption of animal protein since the countrys economy was transformed in the latter half of the 20th century. Eggs are a key part of that. Annual per capita consumption last year was about 28 pounds, government data show  up 2 pounds per person since 2009.

Kim Kyeong-sook said she has no choice but to agree with the import plan  and pay a bit more.

There are eggs in everything, like bread, so we just have to accept it, she said. The price probably wont go down that much. The prices rose, but other than that, I dont feel uncomfortable. I havent been affected too much.

While consumers deal with higher prices, the poultry industry here is struggling with how to cope with the outbreak. Its believed that the virus began in the southern part of the country, brought on by migratory birds. It spread quickly to some northern locations in a country that has an advanced transportation infrastructure.

The farmers are upset about the level of disaster compensation from government officials  and the idea of importing eggs to shore up the consumer markets has added to their frustration, in some cases, even for those who havent experienced losses.

Its a sensitive issue, said Kang Eun-ju, a farm owner in Gyeongsang province.

Fortunately for her, Kangs farm has been spared. But shes still angered by media reports suggesting that unsterile or inhumane farm conditions helped spread the disease. And the festering controversy surrounding the South Korean president, recently impeached in an influence-peddling scandal, hasnt given her confidence that the government is prepared to respond in the farmers favor.

The nation itself is in crisis right now, so we dont expect much from the government, she said. Well have to see how policy changes once we go through regime change.

The politics in his country dont concern Yang, the duck farmer in the southwest, as much as the process for getting his farm operational again. Hes received less government compensation than he feels he deserves  but he also faces the prospect of months of disinfecting without being able to rebuild his stock.

Hundreds of other poultry farmers across his province and the country now face the same fate, and perhaps the same concern.

Its very difficult for us right now, he said, later asking, Should I keep doing this work?

Stiles is a special correspondent.

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When British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with President Trump at the White House Friday, her goals will include providing definitive proof at home that her government can succeed after breaking away from the European Union.

Discussion of trade with the United States is expected to be high on Mays agenda, along with the global fight against terrorism and the future of NATO. British voters in June favored breaking away from the 28-nation EU and the nation is faced with negotiating its existence post-Brexit.

The planned meeting also will be monitored by many in Britain because of concerns about Trumps derogatory behavior toward women, perhaps best remembered by a 2005 video in which he talked about groping them without concern for retribution because of his celebrity status.

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In Britain, as elsewhere, those statements have been met with bafflement and anger.

Hundreds of thousands of women participated in rallies in Washington and around the world  including London  on Saturday, the day after Trumps inauguration, to show unity regarding womens rights and other issues such as healthcare, environmental concerns and racial justice.

May, leader of the Conservative Party, was reluctant to delve too far into the matter during an interview Sunday with BBC TV, though she has championed womens rights during much of her political career.

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 of the United Kingdom directly talking to him about the interests that we share, May said.

Whenever there is something that I find unacceptable I will not be afraid to say that to Donald Trump, she said.

Organizers of the London womens march have asked their supporters to bombard May with letters, postcards and emails imploring her to categorically reaffirm the U.K.s commitment to human rights when she meets Trump.

They describe it as the first act in a global grassroots movement to address the economic divisions and inequalities that enabled Trump to win the November election and in their own way also swayed a majority of British voters to vote to leave the EU.

British prime ministers have long sought to forge a close working relationship with their U.S. counterparts and this meeting comes at a particularly crucial moment in Britain as May seeks to sever the countrys decades-old ties to the European Union and seek out new prosperous trade alliances elsewhere in the world.

With that vision in mind, Trumps comments in his inauguration speech about putting America First seem at odds with her desire to build a Global Britain. Mays policy chief, George Freeman, described the inauguration speech as unusually and deliberately divisive and controversial.

May has sought to downplay any divisions, saying pragmatically that the speech merely had a very clear message to it and every leader seeks to put the interest of their people first.

We share the challenges, we see the threats and we have worked together in the past, she said. And we will in the future.

The meeting has been weeks in the planning  May sent two of her joint chiefs of staff to New York and Washington in December to meet the then president-elects team.

U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, who spearheaded the campaign for Britain to leave the EU and who described the June 23 referendum as Britains independence Day, has already met with Trump.

Trumps praise of Britains vote to leave the bloc may make Mays negotiating task easier, especially given that former President Obama had said Britain would be at the back of the queue for trade talks if it voted to leave.

But this meeting will also have to deal with issues like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance Trump has described as obsolete, but which Britain considers pivotal to Western defense.

I will be talking to Donald Trump about the issues that we share, about how we can build on the special relationship, May said. Its the special relationship that also enables us to say when we do find things unacceptable.

Boyle is a special correspondent.

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Pope Francis on Wednesday seized control of the Knights of Malta, an action that amounts to one sovereign country annexing another, if on a very small scale.

Heres what led to the takeover and what it means for the Knights, the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church.

Who are they?

The Knights of Malta is an ancient lay Catholic religious order that runs hospitals and clinics around the world. It counts 3,500 members and 100,000 staff and volunteers who lend first aid in war zones, natural disasters and conflict areas; members also make regular pilgrimages bringing the sick to Catholic shrines.

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The Knights trace their history to the 11th century Crusades and are known for the aristocratic lineage of their members, their fancy, fringed uniforms, and the big Maltese cross that adorns their liturgical robes. Despite their name, they are based in Rome, where their headquarters has the same status as a foreign embassy.

Whats behind the dispute?

The headline-grabbing issue that prompted the takeover involves condoms: Several years ago, the order learned that its charity branch Malteser International was involved in aid programs that were distributing thousands of condoms in Myanmar. Church teaching forbids artificial contraception.

The orders health minister at the time, Albrecht von Boeselager, stopped two of the three programs immediately and the third after the Vatican intervened. Boeselager went on to be elected grand chancellor  essentially the orders interior and foreign minister.

This was raised when the Knights leader, Matthew Festing, asked Boeselager to resign Dec. 6. After Boeslager refused, Festing opened a disciplinary process against him and suspended him. The two were known to not get along, and factions within the order, like in many private clubs, coalesced behind one or the other along national and ideological lines.

Festings camp says Boeslagers refusal to obey the resignation order was disgraceful given that Festing is the religious superior. Boeselager says Festing offered no valid reason for him to resign, and that he was therefore under no obligation to obey.

Enter the pope

The Vatican announced Dec. 22 that Francis had named a five-member commission to investigate Boeselagers ouster. The Knights refused to cooperate, citing their sovereignty and insisting that the pope had no business interfering since the removal of Boeselager was an act of internal governance. The Vatican doubled down and demanded cooperation.

On Monday the pope heard the commissions report; on Tuesday the pope met with Festing; on Wednesday, the Vatican announced that Festing had resigned, that the pope had accepted the resignation, and that a papal delegate would be named to run the order.

Why is the Vaticans intervention problematic?

Canon lawyers have said from the start that even the popes investigation was troublesome given the Knights sovereign status. Now that the pope has taken over the order, the legal questions mount.

Take, for example, the Vatican statement announcing the developments: It said the pope had accepted Festings resignation, although under the orders own legal code the pope has no role whatsoever in accepting or rejecting resignations of grand masters. Its not for the Holy Father to accept the resignation of the Grand Master, its for the sovereign council to accept it, noted Kurt Martens, a professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America.

As if to drive home that point, the Knights issued a statement Wednesday saying the sovereign council would meet Jan. 28 to formally accept the resignation. In theory, the sovereign council could also reject it.

The bigger picture

The showdown has unfolded against the backdrop of Francis increasing clashes with more conservative elements in the church, especially those for whom sexual ethics and doctrinal orthodoxy are paramount.

It once again pitted Francis against Cardinal Raymond Burke, a leading conservative and critic of Francis who also happens to be the popes envoy to the order. Burke was in the meeting when Festing asked Boeselager to resign. Burke is also one of four cardinals who have publicly called for the pope to clarify his position on the divisive moral issue of whether civilly remarried Catholics can receive Communion.

On a more personal level, Francis is known to have had poor relations with the Knights in his native Argentina, and while he certainly appreciates the Knights charitable works, he has made clear he loathes the aristocratic pomp that the Knights relish.

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During the first official visit of President Obama to Argentina two years ago, the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Noah Mamet and Argentina's Minister of Foreign Affairs Susana Malcorra signed a bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).

The signing of the agreement was negotiated by the officials of the Office of the United States Trade Representative and Argentina's Argentina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the agreement will demonstrate the interest of both governments for the advancement of the bilateral trade and investment ties.

Furthermore, both countries are working together in the spirit of friendship and cooperation. The TIFA have even created a forum for both countries to engage on a board range of bilateral economic issues like intellectual property rights protection, market access as well as cooperation on shared objectives in the World Trade Organization.

Now, with the new administration, Argentina's Agriculture Minister said that Buenos Aires was confident that the new United States president would respect the bilateral trade agreements which were signed in 2016.

Agriculture Minister, Ricardo Buryaile was hoping that Donald Trump would not try to abandon the trade deals which particularly cover the exports of beef and lemons. According to Latin American Herald Tribune, Argentine President Mauricio Macri and former US President Barack Obama signed the trade agreements last March 2016.

The Argentine President is hoping that the present president of the United States would support the signed agreements especially the exports of lemons to the United States after its 15-year ban. The South American country is known as the world's largest growers and exporters of lemons. For the year, they have been trying to regain their entry to the US market since 2008.

"I don't see anything like that happening because all the health and political steps have been followed, there was a right to oppose it in Congress, and that was overcome. We're waiting, but every country is sovereign when it comes to its decisions," the agriculture minister said.




London air pollution has been tagged as "very high" and just as this week, the pollution in the country passed levels in Beijing. The Mayor already issued a separate very high alert about filthy air and Defra stated that it was due to light winds, high pressure, and the most popular - the wood burning stove; these are the components that further exacerbating the problem.

As per the report in Evening Standard, the fifty school in London that are most polluted are now getting toxic air audit to help the school cut its pupils' exposure to filthy airs. The Mayor tagged the air quality in the schools as "shameful," he also warned that there are 360 schools in the capital that are currently in pollution hotspots.

Khan declared the first ever "black alert" for the very high pollution since he officially became the mayor. On Monday at exactly 3 PM the readings clearly showed that the air at the capital was already worse than the notoriously smoggy Beijing, hitting The Air Quality Index for over 197 micrograms per cubic meter for particulate matter. While China only got 190 micrograms of unhealthy fumes.

By the reports, experts stated that those who have a lung problem, heart problem and other disease should take extra careful and for those people that are fit may unlikely to encounter serious short term problem and strenuous physical exertion due to the filthy air that hound the city. Anyone who has been experiencing any discomfort such as sore throat, sore eye, cough, or any other of that should limit the hours spent outside.

The Telegraph reported that this unfortunate event of unhealthy pollution is far worse than happened back in April 2011 in the capital. Combining the big factor like: cold, traffic pollution, calm and settled conditions and air pollution from wood burning are mainly the cause of this terrific unhealthy air. A spokesperson from King's College London stated that this was the largest contribution from the wood burning during the winter so far, as there were already more than a million homes who already acquired the wood burning stove.

The Air pollution itself already caused the early deaths around 40,000 people in the United Kingdom every year.
'Divergent' series actress Shailene Woodley is going to face the biggest challenge of all; an executive order from none other than President-elect Donald Trump to advance the North Dakota Access pipeline project. Woodley, along with hundreds of indigenous people, have come to Standing Rock to protest the controversial project since September 2016. Upon hearing the sad news, Shailene simply told MSNBC: "We mobilize."

Shailene Woodley has been in Standing Rock for months and has pledged to continue her fight, says People. She was even arrested in October for starting a protest; she was arrested together with a hundred more people from indigenous tribes living in the area. Shailene has been protesting against the North Dakota Access pipeline project due to its irreparable impact to the environment.

The time she was arrested, she said that police who took the protesters down used severe force. They were blasted with cold water and shot with rubber bullets despite the freezing temperatures they faced. Woodley cited protecting "indigenous sovereignty and indigenous rights."

The 'Fault In Our Stars' actress even took the protest to Sundance as she held a Standing Rock event on Monday at the Zoom Restaurant in Park City, Utah. She called on Robert Redford to cut his ties with Sundance supporter Chase Bank who is one of the large corporations funding the project, Just Jared reported. "There is a hypocrisy in talking about indigenous cultures but not doing anything as a non-native ally, to stand with them," she said.

Shailene was in an interview after Trump ordered the project to move forward. She said that as a population and as a society, everyone should hold corporations accountable because there are banks and companies invested in the pipeline. She mentioned that regardless of any executive order, if there is no money invested in the project, it cannot be built.

The North Dakota Access pipeline will be constructed underneath the Missouri River. Woodley explains that once these pipes leak, it would affect drinking water of tens of millions of water in North and South Dakota up to millions located down the river. And regarding claims that the pipeline project will usher in more jobs, she said that the oil from this project will be exported. "There's a lot of false narratives and a lot of lies, and if we're talking about creating jobs, renewable energy is the way to go," she said. "It's untapped territory and it would create millions of jobs."
A memo by police inspector general Kakoma Kanganja is circulating on social media, stating that police in Zambia have been banned from marrying foreigners.

The memo, dated 11 January, said that the police who were already married to foreigners should declare this within a week. Not doing this would attract disciplinary action.

Police spokeswoman Esther Katongo declared that issues of security are delicate. If not careful, foreign spouses can be spies and they can sell the security of Zambia.

This is not a new ban

Ms. Katongo told the BBC that an order had been issued, notifying police officers of the measure, but the ban itself was not new.

She said officers had obeyed the ban in the past but the new order had been thought necessary because some police had begun ignoring the ban.

Ms. Katongo said that some officers had married foreign women and that they are ignoring the previous requirement and this is why another standing order has been passed to remind police officers what they are supposed to do and not supposed to do.

She added that it was likely that police officers who had married foreigners would now be given some rules that they should follow.

There are bigger dangers than foreign spouses

Ms. Katongo also declared: "When you get married, they say that you become one. You know what marriage is, you share secrets. And you can tell police officers 'do not disclose' but you do not have control. You won't be in their homes to always check them.

However, Reginald Ntomba, on a Facebook post declared "Police officers who shoot and harm innocent citizens are a bigger danger to national security than the nationality of their spouses."

Reginald added that the 'High Command' is more concerned about its officers' spouses than the appallingly low levels of professionalism in its ranks reflects a frightening misallocation of priorities.
The United States Internal Trade Commission will examine the patent lawsuit filed by Nokia against Apple. The lawsuit was filed on Dec. 22 last year accusing Apple to infringe Nokias patents.

According to Reuters, the U.S. International Trade Commission decided to investigate the lawsuit filed by Nokia Technologies. The Finland-based company alleged Apple Inc. to infringe its patents in imported tablet computers, smartphones and other electronic products.

Nevertheless, the commission stated that it had not inclined to make decisions in favor of the plaintiff. Nokia sought a cease and desist order to the case, and limited exclusion as well. ITC is reported to look into the Nokia's accusation of Apple in twelve infringements related to technology patents exclusively owned by Nokia.

Nokia filed a complaint on Dec. 22 according to Law 360. The company said Apple infringed 40 of its patent in iPhone, iPad and other products.

The lawsuits were filed in multiple courts in the United States and Germany. In America, the company filed the complaint in U.S. Federal District Court in Eastern Texas. While in Germany the lawsuits were filed in separate courts in three cities, Munich, Dusseldorf and Mannheim.

Both Nokia and Apple has engaged in legal war for years since 2009. Nokia filed first complaint on Oct. 22 in the U.S. District Court of Delaware.

Nokia had accused Apple of patent infringement on 10 patents that covers the GSM, UMTS and WLAN standards. The Finnish company said that they have invested billion of dollars to the research and development of those standards before Apple implemented the technologies in iPhone without accredited royalties.

In 2011 Apple agreed to license the patented inventions. However, when the patents are expiring, Apple refused to extend the agreement. As a result, Nokia filed simultaneous lawsuits against Apple in U.S. and Germany in December 2016.

Watch the report from Reuters regarding the patent battle between Nokia and Apple below:


Daniel Amartey played 90 minutes against Egypt on Wednesday as Ghana set up an Africa Cup of Nations Quarter-Final tie with DR Congo.

- Daniel Amartey featured in Ghanas 1-0 Africa Cup of Nations defeat to Egypt on Wednesday

- The Black Stars will take on DR Congo in the quarter-finals of the competition on Sunday

- Amartey has started every Group D game for his nation in Gabon

played 90 minutes against Egypt on Wednesday as Ghana set up an Africa Cup of Nations Quarter-Final tie with DR Congo.

With qualification for the last-eight already secured, the Black Stars needed just a point against Egypt to finish top of Group D, but former Chelsea winger Mohamed Salah struck in the 11th minute to help the seven-time AFCON winners beat Amarteys nation 1-0.

The result means Ghana will now take on a DR Congo side that finished as Group C winners, dropping points only against pre-tournament favourites Ivory Coast, who did not advance to the knockout stages.

The clash will take place on Sunday 29 January (4pm kick-off GMT) at the 20,000-seater Stade dOyem in Gabon. Should Ghana win, they will face either Senegal or Cameroon in the semi-finals.

Amartey has so far featured in every group game for Ghana, who are looking to win the Africa Cup of Nations for the fifth time  their last title coming in 1982.

To keep up-to-date with Amarteys progress out in Gabon, be sure to check back into LCFC.com over the coming days.
Jurors in the trial of an Easton man accused of squirting his semen on a woman will hear about related incidents linked to the suspect.

Michael Kevin Morris

Often jurors are barred from learning about prior crimes at a trial because that information could unfairly prejudice them against the defendant, but in this case the crimes show a pattern of behavior on the part of Michael Kevin Morris, according to Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano.

Morris is accused of squirting semen out of a bottle on a woman at the Valley Farm Market in Bethlehem on Feb. 22, 2016. Assistant District Attorney Anthony Casola said eight women have accused Morris of similar behavior over the last 20 years.

He plans to make jurors aware of three other incidents.

He said Morris was accused of squirting semen on the same victim Feb. 8 but prosecutors couldn't prove the substance was semen because the victim washed her clothes. Morris took a plea bargain in that case, but the woman tested the sample from Feb. 22, which tested positive for Morris' DNA.

The second incident was on a LANTA bus in 2014 in Lehigh County. Charges are pending in that incident. The third was a 2014 incident at a Dollar Tree store in the same Stefko Boulevard strip mall as the Valley Farm Market incident.

Other accusations, including one at the Lehigh Valley Mall, won't be part of the case, according to Casola, because they are either too old or are too dissimilar to the recent case.

"He sort of learned along the way and changed his method a bit," Casola said.

The case is slated for trial on Monday but Casola plans to ask the judge for a postponement so he can schedule and prepare the victims to testify.

Morris received a psychological evaluation last year. Defense attorney Philip Viglione said he won't pursue an insanity defense but thought the evaluation would be helpful to prepare Morris' defense.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
Hoping to remove itself from a legal battle, the Saucon Valley School Board on Tuesday approved a five-year charter extension for Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School.

The Saucon Valley School Board approved a new charter school agreement Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. (Lehighvalleylive.com file photo)

In December, the charter school sued Saucon Valley and the Bethlehem Area school districts after the Bethlehem school board in November passed a charter renewal that includes enrollment cap for its students.

The charter school argues the enrollment cap would force it to violate its charter's provision that its enrollment lottery give preference to the siblings of current students.

Lehigh Valley Academy has filed suit in the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas as well as an appeal with the state Charter Appeal Board. Both remained pending Tuesday.

As a regional charter school, its charter must be approved by both Saucon Valley and Bethlehem Area and students from those districts get enrollment preference.

Bethlehem has taken the lead in the renewal process, putting the charter school through several hearings and pushing for an enrollment cap that it says would save $1 million in tuition annually.

Tuesday night the Saucon Valley School Board voted 6-1-1 to approve Lehigh Valley Academy's charter renewal.

Board President Mike Karabin abstained from voting because he is a founder of the charter school and his wife works at the school.

School Director Sandra Miller was the lone dissenting vote. She argued that Saucon should wait to vote until Bethlehem's dispute over the enrollment cap is resolved.

School Director Ed Inghrim was absent.

Saucon Valley solicitor Mark Fitzgerald said the district hopes this is a way to resolve its own involvement in the legal dispute.

Saucon had sought a cap of 35 students, but chose to drop it, he said.

Currently, about 30 Saucon students attend the charter school and enrollment has never gone above 35. About 1,013 of the school's 1,689 students are Bethlehem Area kids.

Bethlehem argues that it is within the charter school's power to agree to enrollment caps. Fitzgerald agrees that the state's charter school law does address enrollment caps.

"It would appear there needs to be agreement between the parties about the cap," he said. "The charter school has made it clear to us they aren't negotiating a cap."

Lehigh Valley Academy agreed to an overall enrollment cap of 1,950 students, but felt that a district-specific cap left them open to legal challenges, charter school CEO Susan Mauser has said.

The new charter includes a number of transparency and residency verification provisions that Bethlehem also sought. Fitzgerald said that Lehigh Valley Academy agreed to all of the terms in the charter renewal agreement the Saucon Valley School Board passed.

Bethlehem wanted to set a 60 percent enrollment cap for its own students starting with the kindergarten class of 2017-18. It would not result in existing students being removed from the school's rolls. But if an existing grade had more than 90 Bethlehem students and a district student left, the spot would have to be filled by a student from another district.

Charter schools are independent public schools funded by taxpayer dollars funneled from an enrolled student's home district. The K-12 charter school is located in leased office space off of Valley Center Parkway in Hanover Township, Northampton County.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Traffic, employing local labor and making sure Easton doesn't break the bank emerged Tuesday night as concerns in the plan to create the Da Vinci Science City in the city's Downtown.

Easton officials and Lin Erickson, executive director of the Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown, updated residents on the estimated $130 million project. It's in what Mayor Sal Panto Jr. called the "embryo stage" amid a year-long feasibility planning period opened last November.

"We can't afford to raise the money to build a project of this type, get it up and the business operating plan doesn't work," Erickson told about 60 residents plus city officials gathered in city council chambers for the update. "We cannot afford to do that, so we've got to really do our homework carefully."

The meeting was described as the first of several updates to be held over the next 18 months. The goal is to open Science City in June 2021.

Easton committed $30 million to the project just to be considered, along with Bethlehem and Allentown, to host the attraction. Of that, $5.9 million is due by year's end to purchase the lot for Da Vinci, where the Days Inn now stands at South Third and Washington streets.

Annual visitors are projected at as many as 600,000 a year, but a more conservative projection of 450,000 would give the city more than enough annual revenue to pay off the purchase price and an additional investment of $24 million, Panto said. He'd like to put additional income realized from the project toward the city's general fund operating budget, tourist attractions and social services.

"Just getting selected is a big win for Easton," Panto said. "Now we've got to turn it into the win-win that it can be."

Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. leads an update Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, on the Da Vinci Science City proposed at South Third and Washington streets Downtown. It is being studied for a June 2021 opening. (Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleyliuve.com)

The centerpiece of the Da Vinci Science City would be a 500,000-gallon saltwater aquarium, in addition to a smaller freshwater tank for local species found in the Lehigh and Delaware rivers. Exhibit space would total 45,000 square feet, with 35,000 devoted to interactive science exhibits focusing on industry, medicine and nature. Another 10,000 square feet would house traveling exhibits such as Harry Potter, Body Worlds, Art of the Brick and Pixar, Panto said.

The facility will be mostly tax-free, except for the gift shop, restaurant and catering venue with seating for 500, Panto said. Plans also call for a domed theater that will offer something to do at night and possibly lead to more overnight stays for visitors to Da Vinci or the 425,000 people who come to the Crayola Experience each year, Panto said.

Toward that end, the city is in talks with two hotel operators interested in Easton -- one Downtown and another looking nearby within the city, the mayor said.

College Hill resident Steve Ahrweiler engaged Panto and city council in a lengthy conversation about taxes, and asked for a commitment that property taxes would remain flat despite the city's investment. Councilman Roger Ruggles countered that the project is an opportunity for new revenue.

Ryan Carr, of South Side, asked how the estimated 90,000 cars a year bringing visitors to the center -- or about 250 a day -- would work out for Easton. Traffic is one of the areas the city is studying during the year-long look at feasibility, said Panto, who pointed to improved traffic signal timing as one way of handling traffic. The city is looking to build a third parking garage Downtown, as well, to handle visitors.

Laini Abraham spoke up for pedestrian safety, saying crossing South Third and Washington streets was bad enough with her dog, let alone with her infant son. Panto said pedestrian safety improvements Downtown include work later this year at Bank Street in the 300 block of Northampton Street, in a bid to link the Easton Public Market to attractions such as the Crayola Experience and eventually Da Vinci.

The Rev. Phil Davis, of Greater Shiloh Chuch on South Side, asked about Da Vinci's commitment to using local labor on the project. Erickson, the Da Vinci center director, said design and maintenance of the aquarium, in particular, is a specialized area of expertise, but she spoke of a career ladder open to local residents young and old at the facility.

Easton residents gather for an update Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, on the Da Vinci Science City proposed at South Third and Washington streets Downtown. It is being studied for a June 2021 opening. (Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleyliuve.com)

Panto and Erickson both touted tie-ins from the Da Vinci Science City to Easton's arts community, celebrating the body of work of the original Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci. The beauty of the project site is it'll be wide open to accommodate a truly innovative design.

"We have an opportunity to have a 21st century science center," Erickson said. "Our staff is really working hard and bringing in outside consultants to see what that means to integrate science with the arts."

"This is a community project," she also said. "This isn't about the Da Vinci Science Center."

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Palmer Township officials signed off Tuesday on a new, three-year contract with the police union almost a full year before the contract takes effect.

Township supervisors agreed to a deal that extends from Jan. 1, 2018, to Dec. 31, 2020. The union has also agreed to the deal, which picks up after the current contract expires at the end of 2017.

Officers will receive 3 percent wage increases each year of the new contract. All other aspects of the current agreement will be maintained.

Negotiations for the new agreement progressed more rapidly than the current deal, which took more than a year and a half to finalize and had police working without a contract for most of 2015.

Township solicitor Charles Bruno, who was not involved in negotiations, commended township Manager Christopher Christman and the union for making a deal with little fuss by either side.

"I think it's the smoothest contract I've seen done in a while," Bruno said.

Supervisors' Chairman David Colver also had high praise for the negotiators and said the agreement makes financial sense for all parties.

"No six meetings? No arbitration? No nothing?" Colver asked jokingly about the ease of the process.

Palmer has 34 full-time police officers and one part-time officer. Police Chief Larry Palmer said he would like to add one or two more part-time officers this year.

Supervisors passed the collective bargaining agreement 3-0. Councilmen Robert Smith and Jeffrey Young were absent.

John Best is a freelance writer. Find
A drunken driver who was four times the legal limit collided with another vehicle and then pulled out a knife and threatened anyone who tried to help, Upper Nazareth police said.

Keith Allen Nemeth (Courtesy photo)

Charged is Keith Allen Nemeth, 50, of the 900 block of South 25th Street in Easton.

Nemeth at 8:48 p.m. Aug. 23 allegedly rear-ended another car in the vicinity of Bath Pike and Mayfair Place. No one was reported injured in the accident.

Several witnesses reported Nemeth appeared highly intoxicated and was swinging a knife at residents trying to keep him from fleeing the crash scene.

An officer found Nemeth on the front lawn of a home allegedly fighting residents and swinging his arms. Someone had taken the knife from him, according to police.

Police said Nemeth resisted arrest and refused to cooperate. Other officers had to be dispatched to help place Nemeth into handcuffs.

In the patrol vehicle, Nemeth told police he was coming from a Bath tavern. Police said the odor of an alcoholic beverage was present, Nemeth had slurred speech and his eyes were red and glassy.

Police said Nemeth eventually passed out and EMS were called. When he came to, Nemeth began fighting with emergency workers and once he was taken to St. Luke's Hospital-Anderson in Bethlehem Township, he tried to remove restraints and began spitting on hospital staff, police said.

Police on Sept. 23 obtained a search warrant and seized medical records of a blood test performed on Nemeth. Records showed Nemeth had a blood-alcohol level of 0.325 at the hospital; penalties for most drivers begin at 0.08.

Nemeth is charged with drunken driving, attempted simple assault, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, having an accident involving injury, driving with a suspended license and failure to render aid.

He was arraigned Wednesday before District Judge John Capobianco, who set bail at $7,500. In lieu of bail, Nemeth was taken to Northampton County Prison.

The judge ordered Nemeth enroll in Pretrial Services and allowed 10 percent of $7,500 bail if Pretrial Services approved it.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Pennsylvania prison closure announcement set this week

Cells are seen Jan. 13, 2017, inside the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, which is set to house inmates from other prisons that could close. (AP Photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

UPDATE: Pittsburgh State Prison closing to save Pa. $80M annually

Pennsylvania corrections officials are set to announce their decision Thursday on closing two state prisons out of the five that are under consideration.

State Corrections Secretary John Wetzel announced Jan. 6 the closures are necessary to help cut a state budget deficit, and are possible due to a decreasing prison population.

"We have implemented a variety of cost savings initiatives over the past several years yet we are again in the position where the Department of Corrections must make significant reductions because of the dire budget forecast," Wetzel said in a statement. "The most significant reduction we can make as an agency is a prison closure."

Gov. Tom Wolf supports the closures, saying he prefers to invest in schools instead of prisons.

"DOC believes we are able to close prisons without security risk because of the historic reduction in the inmate population and crime is down," Wolf said in a statement. "By investing in the things that make Pennsylvania a better place -- like reducing recidivism and improving our schools -- we can ensure the long-term prosperity and safety of our commonwealth."

The proposal would affect more than 800 staff members and several thousand inmates, according to the Department of Corrections. The plan does not mean layoffs, as affected employees would be offered a position elsewhere within the department, Wetzel said.

Five prisons -- each known as a state correctional institution, or SCI -- are under consideration for closure: SCI Mercer in Mercer County, SCI Retreat in Luzerne County, SCI Frackville in Schuylkill County, SCI Waymart in Wayne County and SCI Pittsburgh in Allegheny County. Corrections officers affected by the proposal packed a hearing Monday before the state Senate Judiciary Committee, The Times-Tribune reported.

State Sen. Lisa Baker, a Republican whose 20th District includes parts of Luzerne and Wayne counties, said many think the administration is using the prison closings as leverage to force a hike in the state personal income tax, according to the report.

Lehigh Valley Sen. Lisa Boscola said in an interview after the hearing there are alternatives to closing two prisons.

"What we're finding out is our prison population is down here in the commonwealth. Our recidivism rate is down," Boscola, a Democrat whose 18th District covers communities in Lehigh and Northampton counties, said in the interview posted to her Twitter account. "So when you're looking at costs, do you cut across the board ... or do you shut down one or two facilities that are losing money?"

Recapping today's #PaSen joint Policy/Judiciary hearing on state prison closures- an important oppty. to gather facts & hear from all sides. pic.twitter.com/zj7t6kCcnY  Senator Lisa Boscola (@SenLisaBoscola) January 23, 2017

Boscola said she commends the Wolf administration for looking to cut costs rather than increase taxes.

"And so we're trying to get a fact-based decision here on what's the right thing to do when you have a decline of prison population," she said. "The secretary of corrections, Mr. Wetzel, said that he believes that our prison population will continue to decrease because of not these mandatory minimums that we're doing with drug offenses anymore."

Wetzel said closing two prisons is better than the alternative option of a 10 percent across-the-board department cut, The Times-Tribune reported.

The target date for closing both facilities is June 30.

Corrections officials set up a website dedicated to the closure plan and announced a phone number, 888-316-8950, and email address, ra-CRDOCClose@pa.gov, for the public to provide questions, comments and concerns.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Cllr Willie Aird was a close friend and political ally of Kathleen O'Brien over many years.

The two soldiered for Fine Gael on councils and town commissions in Portlaoise and Laois. But the political memories are not what stand out for Cllr Aird.

She was a great personal friend of mine, a lovely girl. She was involved in anything that was good for the town, her heart was in the town. Nobody could have a bad word for her. She was a community activist to the core, but did it discreetly, he said.

Among the tasks Kathleen quietly did, were supporting other women who were coping with cancer.

When she first got cancer and had a mastectomy, she volunteered to counsel other people, she went all over Leinster to do it. She was involved in helping Laois Domestic Abuse as well, said Cllr Aird.

Kathleen was chairperson of Portlaoise Hospital Action Group, and campaigned for it right up to the end of her life.

Last November she protested for over two hours with Cllr Aird outside the Dail, holding placards to plead for a secure future for Portlaoise hospital.

It was her last public engagement. Her family has that sign now. She was in the Oncology Unit in Tullamore when Minister for Health, Simon Harris came to Portlaoise in January. Her daughter told me that she said to the staff if Simon Harris comes here, make sure he comes up to me, Ive a few things to say to him, Cllr Aird said.

The late Kathleen O'Brien, who was Chairperson of the War Memorial Committee, among her many community roles, at the Remembrance Day Ceremony at Portlaoise War Memorial in November 2016, with Rev Brian O'Rourke and Fr Paddy Byrne CC.
Cannabis has been seized by gardai after a number of planned drug searches in the areas of Abbeyleix and Ballinakill.

The searches were carried out as part of Operation Thor, an ongoing garda operation.

On January 19, approximately 400 of cannabis herb along with assorted paraphernalia was found in a house in the Thornberry estate of Abbeyleix.

A local man in his 30s was arrested and will appear before the district court on February 9, charged with drug possession and having drugs for sale or supply.

On the same date, January 19, a small quantity of cannabis herb was found at a house in Balladine Heights in Abbeyleix. A local man is his 40s is assisting the gardai.

On January 20, a small quantity of cannabis herb was found in a house in Ballinakill. A male in his mid-20s, not from the area, is assisting the gardai with their inquiries.

And in a separate matter on the same date, a small quantity of cannabis herb was found at another house in Ballinakill. A local man in his mid-30s is assisting gardai with this matter.
Lauren Dempsey from Athy captured the hearts of the nation last Thursday night when her first date was shown on television.

Lauren (19) who has cystic fibrosis, went on her first ever date, which was filmed for the popular RTE television show First Dates.

She was paired with Paddy from Meath, who was also on his first ever date and they hit it off nicely  even making it to a second date at the Zoo.

I was very nervous, said Lauren, from Whitecastle Lawns, whose parents Joe and Elaine accompanied her up to Dublin and waited for her nearby.

It was my first ever date but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet. It was filmed last August so a few of my friends came over to our house in Athy last night (Thursday) to watch it. I was so happy with how it was filmed.

The filming took place at 2pm so the pair did not get to go on out afterwards.

Our filming time was 2pm in the day but everyone is different. My parents were waiting for me so we didn't head out after the show.

While sparks flew on the date and a second meeting ensued the pair have decided not to pursue a romance.

We are staying friends and we text all the time, she added.

I'm in Carlow IT and I live in Athy and he is up in Dublin at DIT but we are still having great craic. After we agreed to go on our second date I ended up in hospital, so when we finally got around to it, some time had passed since the show. But Paddy is so easy going and we just get on so well.

Lauren who is studying Media and PR in Carlow I,T would advise all singletons out there to apply for the show. I can't recommend it highly enough. Even if you're on your first date or your 100th it is just such a cool experience and unlike any other. Bite the bullet and go for it.
A Naas judge has given permission to a Monasterevin stud farm owner to raise his concerns about the way foal levies are determined with the Supreme Court.

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) appealed the case it lost in the Small Claims Court in May to Naas Circuit Court today.

Judge Desmond Zaidan had ruled in favour of stud farm owner, Gerry Callanan in May and ordered the return of 154 - part of the foal levy Mr Callanan had paid.

This morning, Judge James O'Donohoe allowed the appeal, but said Mr Callanan could keep the money. He concluded HRI had acted correctly in relation to the determination of the fees, and were hamstrung by the legislation.

He said he had no power to strike out the statutory instrument - the rules set out for assessing how horses are rated and valued. However, he said he could give his interpretation.

Given the issues highlighted by Mr Callanan of Nanallac Stud, Lughill, Monasterevin, and the implications for other breeders in the horse racing industry, the judge gave him permission to take a case stated to the Supreme Court, either by agreement with HRI, or on his own.

HRI said it was satisfied with the judge's interpretation and did not want to take the matter further.

Earlier, the judge had been informed of the particulars of the case.

When a breeder has a new foal, they must be registered with HRI, the thoroughbred racing authority, and pay an appropriate fee.

That levy is calculated based on the advertised stallion fee. In the case of Carried, a foal bred in 2010 by Mr Callanan, the full advertised price for a service by its sire, Coolmore-based stallion Footstepsinthesand, was 12,500. However in a deal struck with Coolmore, Mr Callanan only paid 7,500.

His argument was that the levy should be based on the stud fee that is actually paid rather than the advertised price. In terms of the levy, that was the difference between a fee of 385 versus 231.

The court heard Mr Callanan was essentially taking an action against HRI for the return of 154 on a matter of principal.

Judge O'Donohoe reserved the question of costs pending the outcome of any Supreme Court decision.

He was informed Mr Callaghan's legal team had built up costs of 13,500 so far because of the complicated nature of the case. Padraic ONeill BL, argued it was a case which had implications for the horse racing industry and his client should not have to bear the cost.

He said many other breeders had taken a huge interest in the outcome.

Judge O'Donohoe said the case was taken as a small claims case and, therefore the legal costs should be on a par with District Court costs.

He said the idea of the Small Claims Court was to allow those with limited economic means to take court cases.

Speaking previously, Mr Callanan said the rules determining the fees and bands should be looked at

It should seriously be redrafted in simple English, he said, It is vague and can lend itself to misunderstanding and confusion.
Co Leitrim could lose another rural post office with the service in Aughavas facing possible closure.

The existing postmistress has indicated that she wishes to retire from the position.

A spokesperson for An Post said that this has triggered a public consultation with the local community on the provision of post office services.

"It is likely that the process will begin at weeks ends and last for a period of three weeks. This public consultation will help An Post in arriving at a decision on the future of services in Aughavas, one of the options to be considered could be the closure of the office," he said.

This comes five years after the loss of the post office service in the nearby village of Cloone. If Aughavas closes local residents will have to use post offices in either Carrigallen, Mohill or Ballinamore.
The Holiday World Show Dublin, taking place at the RDS Simmonscourt from 27th to 29th January 2017, is the only show where you can meet over 1,000 travel professionals from around the world to plan your dream holiday and take advantage of show-only specials and deals.

Leitrim Tourism will be exhibiting at this years Holiday World Show and targeting the 30,000 expected attendees.

For three days the Holiday World Show will transform the RDS Simmonscourt into a hub of exotic, vibrant, multi-cultural activity; from the Americas to Asia, Africa to Europe and not forgetting Ireland, visitors can literally experience the locations on offer in a way that is not possible on the internet. Whether you're seeking that once-in-alifetime trip, planning a well deserved family holiday or making plans for a romantic getaway, the Holiday World Show is the must-attend event of the year.

This years Home Holiday Pavilion is the biggest one yet with exhibitors coming from all across our beautiful island. Failte Ireland will also be joining the Home Holiday Pavilion to showcase their Virtual Reality (VR) headset and allow visitors to experience 360 views of the Wild Atlantic Way live from the show.
The Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys TD, met with Leitrim Chief Executive, Frank Curran to discuss the roll out of Creative Ireland Programme / Clar Eire Ildanach in Leitrim.

Creative Ireland is the Governments Legacy Programme for Ireland 2016 Centenary. It is a five-year all-of-government initiative, from 2017 to 2022, which at its core is a wellbeing strategy which aims to improve access to cultural and creative activity in every county across the country. In preparation, Minister Humphreys met with all local authority CEOs last week.

Creative Ireland will prioritise childrens access to art, music, drama and coding; enhance the provision of culture and creativity in every community; further develop Ireland as a global hub for film and TV production; empower and support our artists and drive investment in our cultural institutions; further enhance our global reputation abroad. From 2018, an annual County of Culture will also be held each year.

A major pillar of the Creative Ireland programme is called Enabling Creativity in Every Community. Local Authorities are the primary instrument for delivery of the programme objectives throughout the country over the next five years, and they are central to the success of Creative Ireland.

As part of Creative Ireland, a culture team will be established in every county, which will be tasked with developing a culture plan for that county. Each Local Authority will appoint a co-ordinator for the programme, and a public workshop will be held to share the Creative Ireland plans and invite input from the public.

Speaking after the meeting Minister Humphreys said, "I have asked Frank Curran to establish a Culture Team bringing together relevant personnel to develop a Culture & Creativity Plan for Leitrim to drive public participation in creative cultural activity in Leitrim."
Mohill comedian Katherine Lynch has cha cha'ed her way through the first elimination round of Dancing with the Stars.

First to take to the floor on Sunday night Katherine and her partner Kai Widdrington stunned the audience as she stepped up a gear with a little Cuban charm, as they Cha Chad to Express Yourself by Madonna. Katherine and Kai put on a punchy sassy and fun performance Lorraine was full of praise Tonight you were the cha cha queen.

You were the Madonna of the dancefloor tonight, fun, flirty and sexy said Julian. Brian said Katherine has made a huge development since last week. They scored a respectable 18 from the judges.

Sunday was D-Day at Dancing with the Stars as the first celebratory was voted off the show tonight. Tension was at an all-time high backstage as the public and judges votes were totted up and it was revealed who would be leaving the show. After two weeks of lighting up the dance floor. Amanda declared that Hughie Maughan was going home.

Dancing with the Stars is available to watch live and on demand on RTE Player, alongside Dancing with the Stars Extras, which features clips of each dance routine and RTE One Facebook Behind the Scenes clips.

http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/.www.facebook.com/rteone
ONE million euro in funding is being sought for a new Air Ambulance Service for Munster which will be officially launched later this year.

Irish Community Air Ambulance is due to unveil its Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) at an event at the University of Limerick this Wednesday morning.

Operating out of Cork Airport, the distinct red-coloured helicopter is a mobile intensive care unit which is staffed by a team of highly qualified and specially trained trauma doctors who can be on site in the fastest time possible.

Irish Community Air Ambulance (ICAA), which hopes to raise 1m in funding over the coming months, says the service will complement the existing emergency services including the Emergency Aeromedical Service which is operated by the National Ambulance Service in partnership with the Irish Air Corps.

People are dying unnecessarily due to the time it takes to receive critical care. This new service will be built on the already successful model of Irish Community Rapid Response (ICRR) which has been in existence since 2009 and uses volunteer doctors for pre-hospital emergencies, said John Kearney, co-founder of ICAA who says the helicopter will be able to reach most parts of Munster within 30 minutes.

The launch of a community air ambulance service is the next step bringing better response times with permanent on-duty doctors who will have the ability to bring advanced skills to acutely ill and injured people throughout its catchment area, he added.

According to Mr Kearny, 1m needs to be raised to launch the service which will require a further 2m annually.

It will offer a mobile intensive care unit by air which will allow us to safely transport patients faster to a major hospital, saving time and lives. This is a service for the Munster and south Leinster, and we need the support of the people to donate, fundraise or volunteer for us, he said.

For more information about the air ambulance service, log onto communityairambulance.ie/.

To donate 4 text the word FLIGHT to 50300.
A DIRECT Provision centre in Limerick with more than 60 asylum seekers and 12 staff has shut its doors this Wednesday morning, after a vulture fund acquired the facilitys loans through Nama.

Residents and staff at Westbourne Accomodation Centre on the Dock Road were issued a closure notice between last Wednesday and Thursday, stating that due to contractual reasons the centre would close on Wednesday, January 25.

The Reception and Interception Agency (Ria), a Government department responsible for Direct Provision services in Ireland, said that, since last autumn, it had been requesting Westbourne Holiday Hostel Ltd to carry out repair works for health and safety, but that this was not forthcoming.

Ria then terminated the contract as a result.

In a statement to the Limerick Leader, Ria said: [We] can confirm that it has invoked the termination clause of the contract with Westbourne Holiday Hostel Ltd at Westbourne Accommodation Centre, Dock Road, Limerick.

Despite repeated requests to the contractor from last autumn, a schedule of works to address essential maintenance and to ensure the health and safety of those resident in the centre has not been forthcoming. In these circumstances, the department has no option but to terminate the contract with Westbourne Holiday Hostel Ltd. The contract will terminate on 27 January 2017.

There are approximately 64 male adults living in the facility, and while a number of them will be moving to local facilities, including Knockalisheen and Hanrattys in the city centre, others will be sent elsewhere in the country this Wednesday.

Westbourne Holiday Hostel Limiteds borrowings were acquired by the National Asset Management Agency in December 2010.

The Limerick Leader has learned that OCM EmRu Debtco DAC (OCM)  which was incorporated in June 2016 and is a subsidiary of Oaktree Capital Management  acquired the loans from a Nama subsidiary in 2016.

A C17 form  changes to the particulars of the charge holder  was signed by OCM directors on December 16, 2016.

OCM is the same firm involved in the Strand Apartments saga, which saw dozens of residents served with eviction notices this year.

It is understood that the Fire Officer inspected the Westbourne facility on December 20, 2016, after a complaint was made to the department on December 15. Contact was then made with the owners of the property in order to address fire safety issues.

At the close of business on Tuesday, it was understood that staff were still uncertain about their employment status. There are eight full-time and four part-time staff members at Westbourne Accommodation Centre.

According to a source, the facility is up there as one of the best Direct Provision centres in the country.

Anti-Austerity Alliance councillor Cian Prendiville said: Questions must be asked as to why Westbourne Holiday Hostel has apparently not been in a position to carry out the repairs requested by the Reception and Integration Agency since Nama effectively handed over financial control of the centre to one of the worlds richest investment funds.

As a result of this failure, 12 workers face losing their jobs and 64 asylum seekers face even more upheaval in their lives as they are forced out of their homes yet again. This adds insult to injury for residents many of whom have been waiting in direct provision for years, and have been shoved from pillar to post by the state already, he said.

Cllr Prendiville said that there was potential that the facility could be turned into lucrative student accommodation.
LIMERICKS first Oscar nominee since Richard Harris 25 years ago has said she is truly humbled by her nomination.

Irish-Ethiopian Ruth Negga was this week announced as one of five nominees for a best actress award at the Oscars.

Her fellow nominees are Natalie Portman (Jackie), Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins), Emma Stone (La La Land), and Isabelle Huppert (Elle).

I am truly humbled by the news, and I thank the Academy for this recognition, which I share with my co-collaborators Jeff Nichols and Joel Edgerton, she said in a statement.

The former Love/Hate star, 35, is nominated for her role in Loving, which tells the true story of an illegal inter-racial marriage in 1950s Virginia.

The couple battled before the Supreme Court in 1967 for their right to live together as husband and wife.

It has been such an honour to have been given the opportunity to tell the incredible story of Richard and Mildred Loving, who serve as an inspiration that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

The Lovings fought quietly yet tirelessly, and changed the course of American legal history.

To be among such extraordinary women - my fellow nominees, my peers with films this year, and the legendary performers whose work of years past has long inspired me. This means a really great deal to me, she said.

Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Kieran O'Hanlon, said he will be writing to her on behalf of the citizens of Limerick to send his congratulations and every best wish for the upcoming ceremony itself.

I was absolutely delighted to hear the news at lunchtime, and all of Limerick is certainly rooting for her. It's great for Limerick - we're on the map now in the film industry, with Troy Studios to set to open in Castletroy, and now we have a second Oscar nominee, he told the Limerick Leader.

Win or lose, I would love to invite her and her family to a mayoral reception in City Hall, when her schedule allows for it, said the Fianna Fail mayor.

There were celebrations in Dooradoyle in honour of the star, who counts a wide extended family in the citys suburbs.

Ger Malone, one of Neggas four uncles in Limerick, where she grew up in her early years, told the Leader that the news was fantastic.

It's great news for Limerick and it's great news for the family, he said.

He said he doubts he'll be attending the Oscars himself on Sunday, February 26 next, but theyll be eagerly watching from home, while she enjoys herself with a family representative.

Mr Malone said all the family have been delighted to witness her success.

Absolutely, were all very proud of her. Shes a hard worker, very committed and deserves every success. She was always a great little actress growing up.

Among her cousins in Limerick is Peter Malone, another son of Ger, who has played rugby with Bruff, St Munchin's, Garryowen, Munster, and who is now Munster Rugby's elite player development manager.

Her cousin Dave Malone has frequently been her companion of choice as she stepped out on successive red carpets at the Golden Globes, and previously in New York and Cannes.

Ruths mother Nora now lives in London, after moving from Limerick, and there are four other aunts and uncles from the Dooradoyle Road, and even more cousins.

Negga, an only child, was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she lived until she was four. Her mother Nora was working in Ethiopia as a nurse when she met Negga's father.

Ruths father was due to move to Limerick after them but died in a car accident, when she was just seven.

She went to national school in Roxborough, and later spent part of her secondary school at the all-girls Scoil Carmel on OConnell Avenue, which has now closed its door. She moved to London and completing her drama studies at Trinity College Dublin.
LIMERICK based development charity Bothar hit a milestone this week as it dispatched its 1,000th cow to Rwanda.

Just three months after sending its largest ever airlift of animals in the world to the small nation in south-central Africa, the agency has launched its 2017 airlift programme with 25 in-calf Friesian heifers begining a 7,000km journey to their new home.

The 25 cows were brought to Roscrea Mart from farms around the country and, following the finalisation of paper-work, were shipped to Amsterdam and loaded later at Schipol Airport for their overnight cargo flight.

Many of the donor farmers themselves turned up at Roscrea to see off their animals and were welcomed to Roscrea on behalf of Bothar by Tipperarys All-Ireland winning senior hurling manager Michael Ryan.

The in-calf heifers can expect royal treatment on arrival in Rwanda, a country where agriculture is the leading industry and the cow celebrated in song and dance.

Last October when we arrived there the Rwandan Minister for Agriculture Gerardine Mukeshimana was present to welcome us, as well as a troupe of traditional dancers. It was great to see just how much Rwandans appreciate this gift from Irish people, said Bothar CEO Dave Moloney.

Of the 2017 programme, he added: We were only able to do this thanks to the generosity of donors, farmers and members of the general public, not least across our Christmas campaign. It was our best Christmas in probably ten years and that means we will be able to send out more animals this year again. Thats going to mean more families having their lives transformed.

We also transport our 1,000th cow from Ireland to Rwanda today and given that we go back out each year with AI straws to put the heifers back in calf, in reality there are now thousands of Irish animals in Rwanda, raising the breeding standard dramatically and changing peoples lives beyond belief. Our donors can be very proud of this and this, of course, could never have happened without them.
THE owner of a bridal store in Annacotty which was at centre of a major controversy two years ago has pleaded guilty to multiple theft offences.

When arraigned at Limerick Circuit Court this Tuesday, Shirley Flanagan, aged 36, who has an address at Rathurd, Donoughmore, pleaded guilty to four separate charges.

She was remanded on continuing bail pending a sentencing hearing in April.

Ms Flanagan has admitted four separate charges under the provisions of the Theft and Fraud Offences Act, relating to offences which happened at Robelle Bridal on four separate dates between January 4, 2015 and May 7, 2015.

The court heard the value of the stolen property, which totals 3,650, ranges from 400 to 1,800.

Previously Limerick District Court was told a file had been forwarded by gardai to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who consented to the matter being dealt with in the district court  on condition Ms Flanagan pleaded guilty.

However, a book of evidence was prepared and the matter sent forward to the circuit court after Ms Flanagan intended contesting the allegations.

The matter was listed for trial before Judge Tom ODonnell yesterday but when the case was called, Cathal McGreal BL, said his client wished to plead guilty.

Each of the four charges were then put to her by the court registrar and the matter adjourned to April 7, next.

Judge ODonnell, who will hear evidence relating to each of the offences on that date, directed that a medical report be prepared ahead of the sentencing hearing.

A garda investigation was launched in May 2015 after a number of brides-to-be stormed Robelle Bridal store claiming they had failed to receive the dresses they had ordered for their weddings.

Ms Flanagan, who has a number of previous convictions, faces a maximum sentence of ten years imprisonment.

However, this is unlikely given her guilty plea and the value of the stolen property.

The defendant was remanded on continuing bail pending the sentencing hearing.
WRITER Julian Gough has received the 20,000 bursary to be the new writer-in-residence at the University of Limerick, where he will succeed fellow award-winning author Donal Ryan.

The year-long post, funded by UL and the Arts Council, involves teaching students in its Master of Arts creative writing course, and potentially teaching at the UL Creative Writing Summer School in New York, in its expanding programme.

Following his two-year post as writer-in-residence at UL, Ryan confirmed that he is set to return to his former day job in the civil service, while his fifth work is due to be published in the spring of next year.

His service to the universitys programme has been praised by Star of the Sea author, Professor Joseph O'Connor, who holds the Frank McCourt chair in creative writing at UL.

We have been extremely fortunate with our previous fellows, Donal Ryan and poet Mary OMalley, and are overjoyed to welcome a writer of Julians skill and experience here to UL, said Prof OConnor.

I know he will make an immense contribution. The students and my colleagues and I are greatly looking forward to working with him.

Prof OConnor added that Donal Ryans contribution to the growth of creative writing at UL has been extraordinarily valuable.

He is a brilliant teacher as well as a deservedly award-winning writer, and we know how amazingly lucky we are to have him here, he said.

Professor Tom Lodge, dean of the faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at UL, said they are hoping to expand the course next year, accepting a second stream of writers, as the course is currently capped at 12 applicants.

I think the creative writing programme has been one of the best things to happen to the university. We have many more people applying for places than we can currently accept. There are a lot of very talented writers around at the moment.

Donal has been absolutely inspirational. Its one thing to be a brilliant writer, but he has been extraordinary in his ability to draw other peoples talent out and foster it, said Prof Lodge.

After winning the BBC National Short Story Award in 2007, Gough was shortlisted twice for the Everyman Bollinger Wodehouse Prize for comic ction.

He represented Ireland in Best European Fiction; won a Pushcart Prize in the US; and represented Britain in Best British Short Stories.

The author of three novels, two radio plays, and a poetry collection, his childrens book Rabbits Bad Habits was nominated for a Bord Gais Energy book of the year award in November last.

- Tickets for A Literary Evening with Julian Gough, Donal Ryan and author Michael Durack, who taught them both in Nenagh CBS, on January 26 in the Belltable, O'Connell Street, in association with the Limerick Writers Centre, are on sale now, priced at 12/10
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Alan Hollinghurst on writing queer subjects Booker winner Alan Hollighurst recommends the novels of Ronald Firbank and Edmund White, and thinks out loud about the likely intersectionality of minority causes in Donald Trump's America /news/talking-point/alan-hollinghurst-on-writing-queer-subjects-111646908579260.html 111646908579260 story

Jaipur: From among all the big-ticket names at the crowd-choked, slightly underwhelming Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) this year, Alan Hollinghurst was easily the most underrated.

The 62-year-old English poet, novelist and 2004 Booker prize winner was on a handful of panels, but in most situations was easily overshadowed by louder (Hollighurst is soft-spoken, despite his deep voice), more outwardly entertaining speakers like playwright David Hare who is filled with wit and sharp, quotable one-liners. Hollinghurst though, who otherwise comes off as rather reserved, has the constant glint of a tiny smile lurking behind his eyes like as if hes just heard the trees at JLF whisper a joke that you missed while trying to jostle your way through the teeming crowd.

He is the author of five books, four of which make for a sort of exploration into gay life in the United Kingdom. The last of these, The Line of Beauty, published in 2004, had won the Booker Prize that year, and the following novel, The Strangers Child made the Man Booker Prize Longlist in 2011, also the year of its publication.

At the JLF, he hinted that hed just two weeks ago", finished writing his sixth novel, The Sparsholt Affair. The book is due this year, according to his publishers.

In this interview, he spoke about writing on queer subjects since as early as the mid-1970s, his varied stylistic influences, from F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby to lesser known, but must-read gay authors, and on the pulling down of certain pages specific to civil and LGBT rights from the White House website since Donald Trumps inauguration.

Edited excerpts.

There have been a few standout books that are gender-aware, as it were, in literary history, though we dont seem to really know too many. Theres Virginia Woolfs Orlando that schools or universities wouldve taught at some point. And in contemporary times, names like Shyam Selvadurais Funny Boy come to mind. Who has influenced your writing of queer subjects?

I read Orlando when I was a school boy. It was a sort of charade that she (Woolf) was playing with her own lesbianism. I was also very interested in the writing of (Arthur Annesley) Ronald Firbank, an experimental modernist novelist, who wrote between 1915 and his death in 1926. Very short, highly original novels, where he writes about all kinds of sexual ambivalence, which is both expressed and disguised by the various fragmented modernist styles. His device generally was to write about lesbians. He mustve written more about women and womens lives and their clothes than any other male novelist. He was totally fascinated by womens dress. His later books after the war he didnt really live in England at all, he had rather frail health, he lived in North Africa and the Caribbean and Italy, places where a gay man could feel less threatened in the peculiar atmosphere that reigned for a long time in Britain then are much more openly and evidently gay. And theyve remained a great delight and sources of inspiration to me. Ive written quite a lot about them, always sort of trying to do something for him to promote him. Never quite catches on!

He was a very influential figure too, for his technical experimentations, on the following generation of writers. He showed fascinating sort of textual possibilities of writing about taboo subjects.

Edmund Whites first big success A Boys Own Story (1982) made a tremendous impression (on me). I couldnt quite handle it when it first came out. I remember that I wrote a rather snooty review of it for the Times Literary Supplement that Im now deeply ashamed of. But I made good last year by writing a long introduction to a new edition of it. But it was the first book Ive read certainly that wrote about adolescence of a young, gay man from the Mid West. It was a story thatd never been told before, or told with great sort of poetic beauty as well as some startling candour. It ends in his betrayal of an older loververy shocking, because it has the force of truth. I think it was very remarkable because it wasnt seeking to sort of trying to woo or persuade the reader of anything. He then went on to write two more it was a trilogy of autobiographical novels which I think was one of the most importantin English language gay writing. The first one came out just before the AIDS crisis, so he had no idea how the whole world he was writing about was going to be altered.

I (found it) quite fascinating when I was young and in university to study how gay writers, (who) hadnt been able to write openly about their sexuality, and the ways in which nonetheless they did, sort of convey it  the little sort of hints and glimpses. Ive forgotten the atmosphere of that time, but it was very unlike now. I suppose (it was) really only after the decriminalising of homosexuality in England in 1967 thatwell it took a long time for the effects of this to be felt culturally. So when I started writing my thesis in 1975-76, eight years later, no one really looked into this question.

Writing about people like E.M. Foster, now the first thing to think about is that he is gay but, then no one had said this. Its fascinating changeover these years.

In the Line of Beauty, it seems that parties drive the plot. In this sense it is similar to the likes of Stendhals Red and Black or F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby. Were you conscious that you were following this trope?

I was very conscious of it, very conscious of the precedent, yes. Certainly Gatsby and (Marcel) Proust. Proust being a first person narrator, he needs to bring together people all the time, so that he could have them within his view. And there are about 800 pages  which just come in three great parties and 70 page digressions. Yeah, I was certainly conscious of this (trope), it is just naturally a very useful mechanism, device for the novelist.

I love writing set pieces anyway. I very much enjoy a sort of guest list, like oh we havent heard from him (a particular character in the novel) in a while.

As we meet here after Donald Trumps inauguration in the United States, there is news of the White House official website dropping mentions of climate change and all reference to civil rights and LGBT rights. There is a feeling that with a rise of right-wing sentiment world over, there will be a clampdown on minority rights, especially that of the LGBTQA. But surely, there are also right-leaning LGBTQA people?

Of course, there are right wing gay people. But I mean, Trump himself didnt make a particular thing about LGBT questions in his campaign. Though the pulling down of those pages from the website is appalling. I dont think anybody disputes that.

But it seems potentially alarming that hard won rights might be rescinded. Its very hard to gauge the strength of the anti-gay feeling isnt it? Sometimes when its put to the test, as it was with France and the question of gay marriage a couple of years ago, there was a massive reaction against it. There, it is supposedly a very catholic country, although otherwise, French people are famously sort of sophisticated in questions of their sexuality. So one never quite knows whats lurking at the hands of the right sort of demagogic personWho knows whats going to happen.

Itll depend on how much this (queer politics and voice) will come under attack, and itll need to re-assert itself wouldnt it? But I imagine that there would be a sort of stronger alliance of women causes and sexual minority causes, and minority causes of all kinds actually. It seems to be inevitable.
Shakeel Ahmed Khatri: The Batik man from Mundra in Kutch Shakeel Khatri's modernistic Batik cracks and why he wants to experiment with vegetable dyes as a village artisan /news/talking-point/shakeel-ahmed-khatri-the-batik-man-from-mundra-in-kutch-111646908483976.html 111646908483976 story

Mundra: On 26 January 2001, exactly 16 years back, 19-year-old Shakeel Ahmed Khatri saw the walls in and around his house splitting open. What would later be called the Bhuj Earthquake, measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale had thrown the earth everywhere in Kutch and parts of Gujarat into an angry tumult.

Shakeel, 35, lived then as a part of a 66-member joint family. All in one kitchen," he says as he works away in his Mundra workshop when we visit him a fortnight ago. He had walked down to receive us at a mutually agreed central location in the village as the fortified area of old Mundra is not conducive for cabs. Old Mundra is a neglected, filthy village. Stray cattle, chicken on the loose, frail and fatigued stray dogs of all ages, cycles parked around, small village shops selling sundry everyday items, houses with old unpainted facades dot the place. A narrow lane that walks alongside a huge garbage dump leads to Shakeels workshop.

Everything inside is messy too because of stains of colour dyes all over. It is all chemical (but industrially safe) dyes, clarifies Shakeel, adding that he must separately show us his experimental work with natural dyes like Indigo, pomegranate bark, onion peel skin, turmeric and some local plants among other herb varieties.

Shakeels reference had come up strong and clear in a couple of conversations on local crafts of textiles of Kutch as we travelled in the regions villages to report on a crafts travelogue, 16 years after the devastating earthquake.

He was apparently that one go-to Batik artist in the region, even though quite a few groups of artisans in old, fortified Mundra (attached to the port town) as well as in neighbouring Mandvi, practice the living tradition of Batik.

Kutch has long been an established centre for Batik, a wax resist dyeing and block printing craft also practiced in Indonesia among some other cultures. A majority of Batik artisans in Kutch  if not almost every single one  are Khatris; Kutchi-speaking Muslims. This particular Khatri family that Shakeel belonged to, for instance, a family of 66 at the time of the Bhuj earthquake had the entire clan working on Batik with the tasks divided among family members.

Today Shakeel has his own unit as the family decided to break up the business in six equal parts of 10 members each in 2005. We separated happily, there was no rancour," he tells us. Mentored by his uncle (also his father-in-law) who is 60 years plus and has worked as a dyeing expert for forty odd years, Shakeel says he was fortunate to have been guided in dyeing and printing by the old man and in the strategies of trade by his father. It was, however, design and entrepreneurial education at Kala Raksha Vidyalaya under the tutelage of Judy Frater, a crafts visionary and teacher, an American who made Kutch her home and karmabhoomi that Shakeels talent flowered.

I knew everything that was to know about technique for Batik printing, what I didnt know was how to think creatively, imaginatively beyond the bunch of patterns we used since childhood," he says.

At Kala Raksha near Bhuj students would be encouraged to sit outdoors and sketch whatever they saw around in whichever way they interpreted it. Shakeel shows us a colour gradation chart saying that when his father and uncle worked, they would just juxtapose or contrast and combine colours without any rhyme or reason, based purely on what they liked or what they had seen passed down to them. But at the school, I learnt to differentiate between cool and warm shades, and gradations, how different hues of the same colour can be used on different parts of a fabric."

Shakeel began to improvise, using deep mustards with earth colours, pale lilacs with leaf greens, working on gradations of black and red, to unearth a repertoire that would soon start reflecting in his fabrics. He lost his bashfulness even in patterns, challenging traditional dots, geometry and floral patterns to create newer shapes and patterns through blocks. Besides cotton textiles as the base and sometimes a handwoven textile, he has begun using chamois satin and chanderi, even tussar silk for Batik printing. He remains essentially a wholesale supplier to stores and clothing units in Ahmedabad but talks of his aspiration as a Batik painter showing us some experimental works where he has used his now sensitised response to colour and pattern to create moments instead of prints".

One of the most intriguing aspects of Batik printing is rendering cracks into the design. For this, fabric is folded in specific ways before dyeing and when re-opened post dyeing, it renders mania-like" cracks in the colour specified by the designer or the dyer. Shakeel showed us a Batik design booklet developed by students of National Institute of Fashion Technology in Delhi called Mania. There can be no better word for it. I personally find this aspect of Batik fascinating. If done imaginatively and non-traditional ways, cracks give us a contemporary, unstructured web or splash of one colour on other creating a style statement.

For all his run down workshop space and cluttered work area, Shakeel, who speaks fluently in Hindi and understands snatches of English is quite progressive in his thoughts. Social media inspires him. Besides Batik painting, he says he is trying to convert a bulk of his work into new untried designs and to natural dyes. In the next five to seven years, every customer from India or abroad will want natural dyes. I have my eye on that," he says.

His 70-year-old uncle however, (who cant remember his exact birth date but is convinced he has been on this earth for at least seven decades) is stunned with social media and digital technology. As my colleagues, both female, shoot videos, take photographs with professional cameras, and I Tweet constantly and Instagram their photos, he looks up at the sky in a fatalist manner and then at us.
Over three missions and five launches, NASA will launch rockets into the Earth's upper atmosphere to study auroras.

NASA is known for its awe-inspiring missions to explore the far reaches of the cosmos, but this month, the space agency is preparing for very different kinds of rocket launches: ones to explore the mysteries of Earth's auroras.

Over three missions and five launches, NASA will launch rockets into the Earth's upper atmosphere to help scientists better understand the planet's magnetic environment. From auroras to solar winds, the rockets will examine what's known as near-Earth space, NASA researchers said. The missions will not only reveal more about humanity's home planet, but could also help researchers broaden their understanding of the low-Earth orbit environment in which astronauts and spacecraft must travel, NASA said.

The first mission will focus on nitric oxide, NASA said. The launch window of this Polar Night Nitric Oxide or PolarNOx mission extends from Jan. 19 to Jan. 31. The rockets from this launch will study Earth's atmosphere in the polar region, measuring the nitric oxide that forms during displays of the northern lights. [Aurora Photos: See Breathtaking Views of the Northern Lights]

"The aurora creates nitric oxide, but in the polar night, there is no significant process for destroying the nitric oxide," Scott Bailey, the mission's principal investigator and an electrical and computer engineering professor at Virginia Tech, said in a statement. "We believe it builds up to large concentrations. The purpose of our rocket is to measure the abundance and altitude of peak abundance for the nitric oxide."

The PolarNOx payload awaits final preparation before heading to the launch pad at the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska. (Image credit: Jamie Adkins/NASA)

This mission will actually avoid aurora activity, as the rocket's primary instrument is an ultraviolet spectrograph pointed at a star on the horizon, Bailey said. Nitric oxide reduces starlight, and therefore the light measurements are used to build a profile of the nitric oxide levels, he said.

The rest of the missions will target auroras, with a focus on studying the interactions among the solar wind, the magnetosphere, Earth's upper atmosphere and the resulting aurora.

Auroras occur when the energy from solar wind, stored in the magnetosphere, is released, NASA scientists said. The charged particles of solar wind charge the upper atmosphere's gases. As the gases release this gained energy, they also emit photons (light particles) of specific wavelengths, creating the different colors seen in auroras.

For the project's second mission, dubbed "Neutral Jets in Auroral Arcs," two rockets will launch nearly simultaneously at different altitudes to measure the aurora's profile. The experiment will investigate how the ionosphere's electrical fields drive the aurora's structure, said Rob Pfaff, principal investigator for the mission and a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The final mission will also require two rockets, launching into two different types of auroras.

"The visible light produced in the atmosphere as aurora is the last step of a chain of processes connecting the solar wind to the atmosphere," said Kristina Lynch, principal investigator of this mission and an experimental physicist at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. "We are seeking to understand what structure in these visible signatures can tell us about the electrodynamics of processes higher up."

The launch window for the second and third missions extends from Feb. 13 to March 3, with rockets for all three missions launching from the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska.

Original article on Live Science.
Who's ready to break out the 6-mile-long measuring tape?

Scientists in India are prepping for an expedition to measure the height of Mount Everest, to determine whether a massive 2015 earthquake in Nepal really shrank the world's tallest peak.

India's surveyor general, Swarna Subba Rao, plans to embark on a new effort to measure the peak, which is officially 29,029 feet (8,848 meters) tall, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. The trip, which will begin in two months, is scheduled to take a month to complete, with an additional two weeks for data analysis, according to the PTI. [Photos: The World's Tallest Mountains]

Shaky ground

After a magnitude-7.8 quake struck Nepal in April 2015, the capital city of Kathmandu rose vertically by about 3 feet (1 m), while satellite imagery suggested Mount Everest became about 1 inch (2.54 centimeters) shorter.

That finding was controversial because conventional wisdom held that such quakes  which shove earth to the surface when two tectonic plates collide  should be building mountains, said John Elliott, a geophysicist at the University of Leeds in England.

To see if other mountains in the region also lost some height, Elliott and his colleagues used satellite imagery to measure displacements in the mountains closer to Kathmandu, which is about 100 miles (160 km) from Mount Everest. There, the earthquake's impact was clear.

"What we've shown and others have corroborated is, it shrunk the highest mountains," Elliott told Live Science. "But the lower mountains it built up a bit."

If Everest had been closer to the quake's epicenter, the shrinking effect would have been more pronounced, Elliott said..

However, "because Everest is far away, we can't conclusively say it went down; it's within the error of our measurement," Elliott said.

Questions answered?

Now, the surveyors plan to use two techniques to measure Mount Everest: First, the team plans to put a GPS device at the summit and record a distance between the summit and sea level. Second, the team will use triangulation  essentially drawing baselines between two points on the Earth's surface at the base of the mountain, and then using the angles between those lines and the peak to determine the height. "If you have two angles, you know the third, because the sum of the angles is 180 [degrees]," Peter Molnar, a geologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told Live Science last year.

"We are doing at the same time by both methods for better confirmation," Rao told the Press Trust of India.

However, answering the question on Mount Everest is going to be tricky, Elliott said.

"The amount it's likely to have moved from the earthquake is really quite small," Elliott said.

Meanwhile, myriad other forces are also at work, shaping the mountains. The Himalayas are growing thanks to the slow-motion collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates. Scientists now believe that during the quiet times between earthquakes, buildup of stress on the faults between those plates fuels that growth.

If it's been many years since Indian scientists last surveyed Everest, then their current measurement will be a result not only of the height change wrought by the earthquake, but also changes due to that constant uplift, Elliott said. If the area around Kathmandu is any indication, the mountains may grow about 0.25 inches (0.63 cm) a year. China conducted a survey in 2005, while India's measurement (which remains the basis for the peak's official height) was conducted in 1955 and confirmed by the Chinese in 1975, The Guardian reported. Nepal is planning its own survey, the BBC reported.

So it's possible the new survey may find the mountain has grown since the last measurement, and any shrinkage due to the quake would be drowned out, he added. [Infographic: Plate Tectonics & Continental Drift]

What's more, though uplift is assumed to occur at a constant rate between quakes, scientists don't know exactly how much the fault ruptures undo that uplift in the immediate aftermath of a temblor.

"We don't know how much of that 'up' eventually must come back down in these earthquakes," Elliott said.

Given the limits of the measurement accuracy and all the possible unknowns, a new survey may not answer the question of whether Mount Everest shrank, Elliott said.

"It's going to be a challenge, but maybe not impossible," Elliott said.

Originally published on Live Science.
More than 460 million years ago, a massive solar-system collision generated many of the meteorites still falling to Earth. Now, researchers are probing the meteors that came before that event.

Many meteorites found on Earth are remnants of one titanic solar-system collision that took place more than 460 million years ago. But for the first time, researchers have specifically targeted meteorites that fell to Earth just before that asteroid collision and found that the composition of those earlier space rocks is quite different than those today.

By sifting through the minuscule remnants of those ancient solar-system crashes, called micrometeorites, the researchers found that the most common types of meteorites today used to be quite rare  and the rarest ones used to be common. Understanding the makeup of asteroids provides insight into the history of solar-system collisions and the evolution of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, scientists say.

"We spend lots of time studying the debris from the big asteroid destruction event 466 million years ago, but recently, we went a little bit further back in time," said Philipp Heck, a researcher at The Field Museum in Chicago and lead author of the new research paper. "We found it very different from what comes down today  that was our big surprise," Heck told Space.com. [The Strangest Asteriods in the Solar System]

Meteorites come from flying debris after a collision of two bodies in the solar system, and their makeup reflects the asteroid, comet, moon or planet that suffered through the crash. The rarest meteorites found on Earth today come from differentiated or partially differentiated bodies  big clusters of dust and debris that got hot enough to form (or partially form) a core, mantle and crust, as on Earth, Mars or the asteroid Vesta. It's much more common for meteorites today to come from undifferentiated bodies, which remained mixtures of rock, dust and metal.

But according to the new research, that type of meteorite, called an ordinary chondrite, used to be much less common than ones from differentiated bodies were. By avoiding the most recent meteorites, researchers can get a glimpse of more collisions in the solar system's past.

"This is not an event, what we're looking at  this is basically the background," Heck said. "You can say these are tails of different events; the results of different [collision] events in the solar system, in the asteroid belt, that generated fragments  and those fragments arrived to Earth."

A few events and asteroid populations seem to dominate that background, he added: 34 percent of the micrometeorites came from partially differentiated bodies, which had partially melted and begun to separate out, whereas only 0.45 percent of meteorites today are that type. This indicates that many more of those bodies were experiencing collisions in the past, Heck said. The researchers also found micrometeorites that originated from a collision at Vesta, the brightest asteroid visible from Earth, billions of years ago, as well as meteorites that the researchers think came from the formation of the Flora asteroid family, also about a billion years ago. Both reside in the asteroid belt.

Notably, there were very few ordinary chondrites  most were generated later, by the 466-million-year-old collision or by an even later event, which generated another type of ordinary chondrite, Heck said.

A false-color image taken by an electron microscope of a polished cross-section of chrome spinel. The mineral was taken from a fossil micrometeorite that likely came from the asteroid 4 Vesta. (Image credit: Philipp Heck/The Field Museum)

"Using relict minerals in the rock record to determine the previous asteroid flux is incredibly inventive," Tasha Dunn, a planetary geologist at Colby College who was not involved in the research, told Space.com by email. "I was quite surprised by the results."

Dunn noted that the proportions of meteorite types that rain down today don't match the populations of asteroids found in the belt  a disparity that has puzzled meteorite researchers. "Trying to understand why the proportion of asteroids in the asteroid belt doesn't match what we see in the meteorite collection has been one of the biggest questions in meteorics for some time," she said.

Dunn said she was particularly interested in seeing the large proportion of meteorites from the Flora family back then, because researchers have wondered why there weren't many of them coming down despite the Floras' good position. Maybe, she said, much of the material was expelled during the initial breakup of the family. [The Asteroid Belt Explained (Infographic)]

"Needle in a haystack"

Understandably, meteorites that fell more than 466 million years ago are difficult to find. Heck's Russian and Swedish colleagues turned to micrometeorites less than 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) across. By sifting through samples of rock from a river valley in Russia that used to be seafloor, they managed to separate some. They chose a location that would have had a slow buildup of sediment, leading to a greater proportion of the desired micrometeorites.

The researchers took advantage of a lucky fact: chromites and chrome spinels, the key grains necessary to determine the age and makeup of a micrometeorite, are resistant to acid. So to find the meteorite compounds, they treated the material with hydrochloric or hydrofluoric acid to eat away the Earthly sediments, leaving the meteorite markers behind.

"The approach is essentially a needle-in-a-haystack problem, and we use the crude method of burning down the haystack to find the needle," Heck said.

Heck's group analyzed samples dating back from the target era, zeroing in on the chromites and chrome spinels whose makeup can help scientists classify the type of object they came from.

"Even almost 500 million years in the sediment didn't change them," Heck said. "They still preserve the original composition, which makes it a really, really good and robust mineral to study meteorites that arrived in the past."

They also measured the oxygen isotopes  that is, oxygen with different numbers of neutrons  whose proportions likely represent how far from the sun the body formed, Heck said.

Going forward, Heck said, researchers should look at different time windows to try to understand those earlier solar system collisions, like the one that blasted fragments off of Vesta.

"We can do that for the different types of fragments from different parent bodies, parent asteroids, and get a better picture of what collisions happened and what were the effects on planets in the inner solar system," he said. One could also track meteorite fragments on places like the moon and Mars for a more complete view. All results can be fitted into models of the events, increasing their accuracy and our understanding of the solar system's evolution  and, potentially, those titanic crashes' impact on Earth's life and climate.

"It's really a multidisciplinary collaboration with different fields  geology, cosmochemistry, planetary science, chemistry  all working together to try to tackle that problem," Heck said.

The new research was detailed today (opens in new tab) (Jan. 23) in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Protesters walk along Pennsylvania Avenue during the Women's March on Washington, with the U.S. Capitol in the background, on Jan. 21.

This story was updated Feb. 2 at 11:01 a.m. EST.

What began as a political conversation on Reddit is turning into a national movement: Scientists are planning to march on Washington to express their support for rigorous scientific research.

The idea for this activism began after President Donald Trump's administration reportedly started to restrict scientific communication and freeze grants at certain governmental agencies.

"Slashing funding and restricting scientists from communicating their findings (from tax-funded research!) with the public is absurd and cannot be allowed to stand as policy," Scientists March on Washington, the group organizing the march, wrote on their website. "This is a non-partisan issue that reaches far beyond people in the STEM fields and should concern anyone who values empirical research and science," they wrote, referring to the science, technology, engineering and math fields of study. [10 Historically Significant Political Protests]

The march will be held in April, according to a tweet that says, "The March for Science will take place on April 22, 2017. We hope to see you in D.C. and around the world! #ScienceMarch"

See more

The scientists' march was inspired by the Women's March on Washington, which drew at least 3.3 million people around the country on Saturday (Jan. 21), the day after Trump's inauguration.

A day later (Jan. 22), a Reddit conversation discussing the future of science in the United States came to the conclusion that another march, this time for scientists, could help convey the country's support and respect for research, The Washington Post reported.

"There needs to be a Scientists' March on Washington," one commenter said. Other Reddit commenters jumped on board, with both scientists and science supporters saying they would "go in a heartbeat."

Just four days later after the Twitter account was launched, @ScienceMarchDC had about 26,600 followers and more than 204,000 members on Facebook. As of Feb. 2, the Twitter page had reached 307,000 followers, while 814,516 members had joined their Facebook page.

The group tweeted that all people, regardless of whether they are scientists, are welcome. They also encouraged supporters to set up sister marches in other cities.

That's because, as they tweeted, "Public pressure can be an effective tool against censorship!"  largely in response to a news story that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had rescinded a gag order barring researchers from talking with the public after a large public outcry against it.

See more

The Department of Agriculture wasn't the only governmental agency that reportedly received a communication ban. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Transportation and National Park Service were also told to stop communicating with the public, BuzzFeed reported. (Some National Park Service Twitter accounts tweeted about climate change after the ban, including @GoldenGateNPS and @BadlandsNPS, but some of those tweets were later deleted.)

In addition, the Trump administration scrubbed the White House's climate change web page on Friday (Jan. 20), and froze EPA grants for research, news sources report.

"Demands to shut down informational websites and prevent the release of scientific findings are straight out of Orwell," Ken Kimmell, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a science advocacy group, said in a statement. "We don't live in a world of 'alternative facts'  you cant delete climate change and you can't overrule the laws of physics by preventing scientists from talking about them." [The Reality of Climate Change: 10 Myths Busted]

Running for office

Meanwhile, another group, called 314 Action, is encouraging scientists to run for public office, according to The Atlantic. The group, named for the Pi ratio, is similar to Emily's List, which backs pro-choice female candidates, and VoteVets, which supports candidates who are U.S. veterans, The Atlantic said.

"A lot of scientists traditionally feel that science is above politics, but we're seeing that politics is not above getting involved in science," founder Shaughnessy Naughton told The Atlantic. "We're losing, and the only way to stop that is to get more people with scientific backgrounds at the table."

As of Jan. 25, there was at least one scientist running for public office: Michael Eisen, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and professor of genetics, genomics and development at the University of California, Berkeley, according to his Twitter account.

Eisen plans to run in 2018 for Sen. Dianne Feinstein's seat (it's unclear whether she's seeking reelection), he told Live Science.

"It's time for scientists and people who care about science  and about the environment and human rights  to step forward," Eisen told Live Science in an email. "And so I am."

Editor's Note: This story was updated to include the date of the march.

Original article on Live Science.
Knitting and weaving artificial muscles could help create soft exoskeletons that people with disabilities could wear under their clothes to help them walk, according to new research.

Textile processing is one of humanity's oldest technologies, but in recent years there has been renewed interest in using it to create "smart" textiles that can do everything from harvest power from the environment to monitor our health.

Now, Swedish researchers have created actuators  devices that convert energy into motion  from cellulose yarn coated with a polymer that reacts to electricity. These fibers were then woven and knitted using standard industrial machines to create textile actuators, dubbed "textuators" by the researchers. [Top 10 Inventions that Changed the World]

Exoskeletons can be used to boost humans' weight-lifting abilities or help the disabled walk, but they rely on electric motors or pneumatic systems that are bulky, noisy and stiff. The researchers say their approach could one day help mass-produce soft and silent exoskeletons using textile-processing technology, as well as actuators for soft robotics.

"Our dream is suits you can wear under your clothing  hidden exoskeletons to help the elderly, help those recovering from injury, maybe one day make disabled people walk again," said Edwin Jager, an associate professor in applied physics at Linkoping University in Sweden, who led the research.

The team started with cellulose yarn, which is biocompatible and renewable, and knitted and weaved it into a variety of textiles. These textiles were then coated with a conducting polymer called polypyrrole (PPy) using a process similar to how commercial fabrics are dyed.

PPy has been widely used to create soft actuators because it changes its size when a low voltage is applied to it, thanks to ions and solvents moving in and out of the polymer matrix. As this material coats the fiber, it contracts when a positive voltage is applied and expands when a negative voltage is applied.

In a new study published online today (Jan. 25) in the journal Science Advances, the researchers found that weaving the fabric resulted in a textuator that produced high force, while knitting resulted in less force but an extremely stretchy material.

By varying the processing method and the weaving or knitting pattern, Jager told Live Science it should be possible to tailor the force and strain characteristics of a textuator to the specific application at hand. To demonstrate the capabilities of the approach, the scientists integrated a knitted fabric into a Lego lever arm and it was able to lift 0.07 ounces (2 grams) of weight.

Xing Fan, an associate professor of chemical engineering at Chongqing University in China, who also works on smart textiles, told Live Science the research was an interesting step toward commercially viable smart textile actuators, but added that there are still some issues to be overcome.

At present, the material still needs to be submerged in a liquid electrolyte, which serves as a source of ions for the PPy. The material also responds much more slowly than mammalian muscle, taking minutes to fully expand or contract.

"Nevertheless, I believe that after years of improvement, the day that a feasible smart textile actuator appears on the desk of a commercial investor is not far away," Fan told Live Science.

Jager said his group is already designing a second generation of textuators that will address these issues. Decreasing response time is simply a matter of reducing the diameter of the yarn to a few micrometers he said, which commercially available textile-processing machines are capable of doing. The researchers are also working on ways to embed the electrolyte in the fabric so that it can operate in air.

The group chose to work with PPy because it was a material they were familiar with, but a limitation is that achieving high force requires thick yarns, which slows response times. Jager said a key innovation was demonstrating that organizing multiple yarns in parallel  just like muscle fibers  was able to increase force without increasing response times.

"We don't see ourselves locked to this material, though; it's more a way of showing that we can use textiles with smart materials to create textuators," he said. "I'm not sure if ours is the best material, but hopefully, people who find better materials will be inspired and use this technique of ours as a starting point and improve from it."

Original article on Live Science.
This photo shows, from left to right, a rat-mouse chimera, a rat and a mouse. The rat-mouse chimera was made by injecting mouse pluripotent stem cells into a rat embryo.

In a recent experiment to help out mice that were missing their pancreases, scientists grew new pancreases from mouse stem cells in the bodies of rats, and then transplanted those pancreases into the mice.

The researchers found that this technique could reverse diabetes in the mice, according to a new study. Moreover, this strategy of growing the organs of one species inside the body of another could one day help to produce transplantable human organs grown in large animals, such as pigs or sheep, the researchers said.

The work holds promise for alleviating the severe shortage of donated human organs, they said. "However, there is a much greater evolutionary distance between humans and pigs or sheep than there is between mice and rats, and this could create challenges," said the study's senior author, Hiromitsu Nakauchi, a stem cell biologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California. "So much more research needs to be done to ensure that this approach is both safe and effective."

Currently, there are more than 76,000 patients in the United States awaiting organ transplants, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [10 Technologies That Will Transform Your Life]

In the new study, scientists explored interspecies organ growth with rats and mice, which are closely related.

The scientists used pluripotent stem cells, which, in principle, can become any type of cell in the body.

In 2010, Nakauchi and his colleagues used such cells to grow a rat pancreas in a mouse. However, the organ grew to only the size of a normal mouse pancreas, and was therefore not big enough to be transplanted into the much larger rat and tested to see if it worked. In the new study, the scientists attempted the opposite experiment: growing a mouse pancreas in a rat. [Top 3 Techniques for Creating Organs in the Lab]

The researchers injected mouse pluripotent stem cells into embryonic rats that had been conceived just a few days earlier and were genetically modified to lack the ability to grow their own pancreas. The pancreas produces insulin, the hormone that helps the body control blood sugar levels. Type 1 diabetes results when the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin. Currently, about 1.25 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association.

These implanted mouse cells developed into pancreases that were the appropriate size for rats and had the key, insulin-secreting "islet cells."

The scientists noted that some of the rats' immune systems rejected the mouse pancreases, but they also said that this was uncommon. It's likely that the mouse cells were injected into the rat embryos before the rats' immune systems had developed enough to recognize the mouse cells as foreign, the researchers said.

When the scientists isolated the mouse islet cells from the rats and transplanted them into diabetic mice, the transplanted mouse tissues carried along a few stray rat cells, the researchers said. They treated each recipient mouse with immunosuppressive drugs after the transplant to prevent rejection of the transplanted tissues. However, "the recipient animals only needed treatment with immunosuppressive drugs for five days after transplantation," rather than lifelong treatment, Nakauchisaid in a statement. In humans, such drugs have serious side effects.

The transplants successfully returned the blood sugar levels of the mice to normal for more than a year. The scientists detailed their findings (opens in new tab) in the Jan. 26 issue of the journal Nature.

After about 10 months, the researchers removed the islets from some of the mice for inspection. "We examined them closely for the presence of any rat cells, but we found that the mouse's immune system had eliminated them," Nakauchi said in a statement. "This is very promising for our hope to transplant human organs grown in animals, because it suggests that any contaminating animal cells could be eliminated by the patient's immune system after transplant."

Moreover, the scientists did not see any signs of tumor formation or other abnormalities caused by the implanted pluripotent mouse stem cells. Tumor formation is often a concern when pluripotent stem cells are used in animals because of their ability to become any cell in the body.

The researchers cautioned that many ethical and legal challenges remain when it comes to using human stem cells in animal embryos.

"Many researchers and ethicists are concerned that injecting human pluripotent cells into an animal embryo could result in an animal with a larger proportion of human cells throughout their body than was anticipated, including perhaps in the brain or the germ cells that give rise to the sperm and egg," Nakauchi told Live Science. "Researchers take these concerns seriously, and are working to come up with ways to avoid this outcome without compromising the field's promise."

Nakauchi acknowledged that people may feel that researchers pursuing this type of study are creating unnatural, monster-like creatures. However, "these animals simply consist of two genetically different types of cells," he said in an email. "They are not new species, and they cannot reproduce themselves through mating."

The researchers said they are now working on similar experiments to generate kidneys, livers and lungs.

Qiao Zhou, an associate professor of stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University, who did not participate in this work, said interspecies organ growth may face many technical challenges. For example, in a commentary published online Jan. 25 in the journal Nature, Zhou noted that although mouse immune systems could efficiently get rid of rat cells in this work, when it comes to larger organs, deeply embedded contaminating cells may not be so easy to remove, potentially leading to strong immune responses that could cause substantial organ damage.

Originally published on Live Science.
Heralded as one of William Shakespeares longest plays, an acclaimed classic will receive a condensed treatment as Breakneck Hamlet makes its debut at Laredo Community College on Monday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Fine Arts Center theater, at the Fort McIntosh Campus.

Chicago-based actor Timothy Mooney will bring the traditionally four-hour-long play of Shakespeares Hamlet to the stage in an abbreviated hour-long rendition.

General admission tickets are $5 with proceeds benefiting student scholarships and future productions.

Lauded for its fantastic interpretation of the plays protagonist, Mooneys performance promises to captivate audiences with an intellectual and hilarious rendition of the conventionally portrayed melancholy Hamlet. By reducing the amount of actors on stage, Mooney hopes to bring out the internal and external struggles faced by Hamlet throughout the production.

Through his breathtaking, fast-paced adaptations, Mooney strives to make his one-hour productions accessible and enjoyable to audiences everywhere.

Over the past 15 years, Mooney has performed well-known monologues in his scripted adaptation, Moliere than Thou, more than 500 times to audiences and students across the country.

In addition to his stage work, Mooney is the author of Acting at the Speed of Life and The Big Book of Moliere Monologues, which serves as resources for actors and thespians alike.

Prior to his one-man productions, Mooney served as the Artistic Director of the Chicago Stage Two Theater where he produced nearly 50 plays in five years.

For more information on tickets and the play production, contact the LCC Fine Arts Department at 721-5334.
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Following the indictment of local Judge Jesus Chuy Garza, state Sen. Judith Zaffirini called his court the absolute worst in the state and a textbook on cronyism

Frankly, it was a category of its own, Zaffirini wrote in an email to the Webb County Commissioners Court.

Zaffirini, D-Laredo, is requesting the Commissioners Court appoint a successor to Garza, Webb County Court at Law II judge. Garza was suspended without pay Jan. 13 by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, three days after a grand jury indicted him in the 111th District Court on a misdemeanor influence-peddling charge.

In an email Zaffirini sent Jan. 13 to Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina and county commissioners, she calls for a successor who has the ability, interest, energy, time and commitment to clean up this dire situation regarding guardianship in that court and who will commit to accountability and transparency in doing so.

She suggests this successor should preclude anyone who has ties to Garza and who might become involved in a coverup.

Jesus M. Dominguez, one of Garzas attorneys, declined to comment on Zaffirinis email.

Reports indicate Garza appointed four local attorneys to the resounding majority of cases, paying them an overwhelming percentage and the highest average of fees paid in his court, according to Zaffirini.

I hope you will take steps to ensure that governmental records in (Garzas) court are not destroyed, Zaffirini says in her email.

Zaffirini further alleges Garzas court is what motivated her to pass laws requiring the rotation system for making appointments and monthly reports regarding appointments made and fees paid.

Senate Bill 1876  authored by Zaffirini and passed in 2015  directed state courts to use a rotation system for most appointments of attorneys and guardians ad litem, guardians and mediators, while preserving judicial discretion. Ad litem refers to the appointment by a court of an attorney to act in a lawsuit on behalf of another party, such as a child or an incapacitated adult.

All appointments and related payments for attorney ad litem, guardian ad litem, guardian, mediator and competency evaluator are now reported to the Office of Court Administration.

As your state senator I am keenly interested in helping you address this important and timely issue, the email states.

In response to her correspondence to commissioners, Tijerina requested Webb County Attorney Marco A. Montemayor take immediate action in addressing Garzas suspension.

I strongly feel that removal of office should be considered and would be essential in restoring the trust and integrity in the County Court at Law 2, said Tijerina in an email obtained by LMT.

Garza, who has served as Webb County Court at Law 2 judge since 1993, was arrested and charged Jan. 12 with one count of gift to a public servant by a person subject to his jurisdiction, a Class A misdemeanor.

The indictment alleges that in January 2015, Garza asked local attorney Shirley Mathis for a $3,000 loan in exchange for appointing her to represent the wealthy Carlos Y. Benavides Jr. estate in a civil dispute. The loan was intended for Christopher Casarez, one of Garzas court coordinators, the indictment states. Casarez died by suicide Dec. 11 in his home in the Lakeside Subdivision, according to Laredo police.

Zaffirinis husband, Carlos M. Zaffirini Sr., represents Leticia Benavides, wife of Carlos Y. Benavides Jr., in multiple civil cases involving Carlos Y. Benavides Jr.s estate, according to court records.

Oscar O. Pena, an attorney for Garza, said in a statement following his arrest that his client maintains his innocence.

He intends to investigate the states claim and he looks forward to defending himself and putting this matter behind him, the statement reads. This is a difficult time for the judge, his family and his friends, but he has faced many challenges in his life and he intends to face this one too.

Guardianship reports

Zaffirini said in her email that as a member of the Texas Judicial Council and Senate State Affairs Committee, she received reports and heard extensive testimony that 90 percent  of the guardianship cases in Chuys court were not in compliance with state law.

She wrote that deficiencies include waived bonds for guardians (though there is no legal authority for waivers), no initial inventory, no annual report and missing assets (including an airplane).

A 2016 report from the Texas Office of Court Administration indicates Webb County has the highest reporting deficiencies in guardianship cases when compared to the counties of Anderson, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Hays, Lubbock, Montgomery, Orange, Tom Green and Tyler.

Reporting deficiencies included 79 percent of cases missing annual reports of person, 77 percent of cases missing annual accounting reports and 80 percent missing initial inventory reports in Webb County courts at law I and II.

Of those statistics, 97 cases in County Court at Law II were reported as missing annual reports, 88 were missing initial inventories and 79 were missing annual accounting reports.

A supplemental report shows County Court at Law II had 69 open cases where the ward was deceased, eight cases with deceased wards who had assets over $10,000, 84 cases where minors had reached the age of majority and 31 cases where the docket showed expired temporary orders or other miscellaneous deficiencies.

The Office of Court Administration additionally recommended the dismissal of 41 cases in Garzas court due to guardianship not being established.

Visiting judges

State law indicates that a judge may appoint an acting Webb County Court at Law II judge amid Garzas suspension.

Judges are being brought in on a day-to-day or week-by-week basis to sit on the Webb County Court at Law II bench, said David Peeples, presiding judge of the 4th Administrative Judicial Region.

The judges being brought in are retired and usually from out of town, Peeples said.

Peeples has not yet appointed a judge to fill Garzas position on a full-time basis.

Webb Countys budget officers will be checking with the state and the treasurers office to seek approval to use Garzas salary to pay the visiting judges, said Lalo Uribe, chief executive administrator and budget officer for Webb County.

The county pays 40 percent of the judges approximately $154,000 salary while the state contributes the other 60 percent. Additional funds to pay visiting judges are needed as only $1,000 is allocated for County Court at Law IIs 2017 visiting judges fund.

Last year, Garza used $14,724.06 of the $15,000 allocated for visiting judges in his court.

An initial hearing in Garzas case is scheduled for Feb. 13 before 111th District Court Judge Monica Z. Notzon.

Taryn Walters may be reached at 956-728-2528 or twalters@lmtonline.com.
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Three young entrepreneurs, Louise Brennan, Brian ORourke and Rachel Masterson, will be striving to take a giant step towards becoming Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) on Thursday, January 26.

The impressive Longford trio are going head-to-head with entrepreneurs from Leitrim, Sligo and Donegal at the Regional Final of the IBYE competition at the Radisson Hotel in Sligo.

Louise Brennan (31), of Fabiani based in Longford town, will be the countys representative in the Best Established Business Category.

Brian ORourke (26), of CitySwifter based in Kenagh, is in the Best Start-Up Business Category, while Rachel Masterson (27), of Mast Media based in Longford town, is in the Best Business Idea Category.

Michael Nevin, Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Longford, wished the local category winners the best of luck at the Regional Final.

He remarked, We see the IBYE initiative as an important springboard for our young entrepreneurs who want to start or expand a business. The 180 entrepreneurs across every county in Ireland who share 1.5 million in investment funding, which include our County Winners and Runners-up, can now make their business ideas and expansion plans a reality in 2017. Its also about nurturing entrepreneurs through bootcamps, training, networking and mentoring, with job creation benefits throughout the region.

At the Regional Final in Sligo, one entrepreneur from each competition category will be selected by the judging panel to compete at the IBYE National Final in March.

Last year, Niall Mimnagh of Mimergy in Longford, progressed from the Regional Final in the Best Start-Up Business category.

So far, 180 talented entrepreneurs across every county in Ireland, aged between 18 and 35, have been awarded a total of 1.5 million in investment funding through the Local Enterprise Offices, after winning or becoming runners-up in IBYE County Finals.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Ms Mary Mitchell OConnor TD, said: This competition highlights that Irelands entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well. Our young entrepreneurs are the employers of the future, and are the backbone of the Irish economy. I look forward to meeting more of our incredible entrepreneurial talent from around the country at the next stage of the competition.
Music, Movies & Entertainment, Local News, Press Releases, Seasonal & Current Events

By Long Island News & PR Published: January 25 2017

Come in from the cold and bask in the comfort and warmth of fine classical music on Sunday afternoons.

Great River, NY - January 19, 2017 - The New York Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation invites you to come in from the cold this winter and bask in the comfort and warmth of fine classical music on Sunday afternoons at the Upper Carriage House at Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Great River, New York.



The 2017 Winter Concert Series schedule is as follows:



February 5........................ Gemini Journey.........Violin & Cello

February 12 ......................Kaplan Duo..............Piano Duo

February 19......................Serenade Duo.............Flute & Guitar

February 26........................Trio Portinari............Piano, Violin & Cello

March 5........................... Canta Libre...............Flute, Harp & Strings

March 12..........................Cross Island............. Piano, Violin & Cello

March 19.......................... Bradley Burgess........Piano



All concerts begin promptly at 2:00PM. Seating is on first come, first serve basis and tickets will be distributed beginning at 12:30PM. The concerts, free to the public, are sponsored by the Islip Arts Council with funding provided by Bayard Cutting Arboretum, Natural Heritage Trust, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, New York State Council of the Arts, and Suffolk County under the auspices of the Office of Cultural Affairs.



For more information, please call the Islip Arts Council at (631) 224-5420. For information on the day of the concert, please call Bayard Cutting Arboretum at (631) 581-1002.



The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversee 180 state parks and 35 historic sites, which are visited by 65 million people annually. A recent study found that New York State Parks generates $1.9 billion in economic activity annually and supports 20,000 jobs. For more information on any of these recreation areas, visit www.nysparks.com.
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By Long Island News & PR Published: January 25 2017

LIPA voted today to formally approve the development of New Yorks first ever, and the nations largest, offshore wind farm, located off the east end of Long Island.

Uniondale, NY - January 25, 2017 - The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) voted today to formally approve the development of New Yorks first ever, and the nations largest, offshore wind farm, located off the east end of Long Island. The approved 90-megawatt, 15-turbine offshore wind farm will produce enough energy to power over 50,000 homes. LIPA cited that offshore wind was the most cost effective proposal to meet Long Islands South Fork energy needs.



Last week, in his bold State of the State announcement, Governor Cuomo committed to building 2,400 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind power by 2030  enough to power 1.25 million homes. The Administration will also release a master plan by the end of the year, mapping out the states intention to build offshore wind to scale, which is essential in ensuring the Governor meets his goal to power 50 percent of New Yorks energy from renewables by 2030. The Governor also pledged his support for New Yorks first, and the nations largest, offshore wind project off the east end of Long Island.



Local, state and national organizations hailed this project as an essential first step towards a bold, long-term, large scale offshore wind program for New York. Building off of LIPAs historic vote today, groups also urged the LIPA Board of Directors to commit to an additional investment of at least 210 more megawatts of offshore wind in the upcoming Island Wide procurement. The decision, which is expected to happen in March of 2017, will help ensure Long Island becomes a regional hub for a new, clean energy industry, spurring thousands of jobs and economic development opportunities throughout the state.



In response to the announcement, New York elected officials and environmental, labor and business organizations provided the following comments:



A comprehensive offshore wind program is vital to growing a clean-energy economy and combating climate change, said New York Senator Todd Kaminsky. With this offshore wind farm, New York will take its rightful place as the national leader in advancing renewable energy. I will continue to advocate for investments in renewable energy that lower carbon emissions and grow our clean-energy economy.



The Long Island Power Authoritys decision today once again puts New York in the leadership position on clean energy, said New York Senator Phil Boyle. I applaud LIPA for their landmark resolution and look forward to continue fighting for a healthier environment and protecting our citizens from the dangers of climate change.



Clean, renewable energy is the future of New York, said New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. Green energy sources, like offshore wind, not only will help satisfy the increased energy demand on the South Fork of Long Island, but it will also help grow our economy, create jobs, and safeguard the health and safety of all New Yorkers.



Offshore wind is an important piece of the puzzle as we transition to greener energy and a robust clean energy sector of our economy, said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. This project will address the critical energy needs of the South Fork in the most economical way and at the same time, create new jobs and a new source of renewable energy in our region.



"The east end of Long Island has a proud tradition of harnessing the power of wind, said Jay Schneiderman, Supervisor, Town of Southampton. Our landscape is graced by historic windmills used by early settlers to grind grain into flour. With this project, wind power will be as much a part of our future as it is of our past."



The Deepwater wind project is a giant step ahead in meeting the goal of the Town of East Hampton to become 100 percent renewable for its electricity needs by 2020, said Larry Cantwell, Supervisor of the Town of East Hampton.



"Constructing the nations largest offshore wind energy project is momentous and puts New York right where it should beat the front of the pack, said Heather Leibowitz, Director of Environment New York. Accelerating our transition to pollution-free energy sources means cleaner air for families, less global warming pollution, more stable electricity bills and a stronger economy.



We applaud the Long Island Power Authority and Governor Cuomo for their visionary leadership today, said Lisa Dix, Senior New York Representative for the Sierra Club. Building New Yorks first, and the nations largest, offshore wind project is an historic step forward. Offshore will provide cost-effective, reliable and pollution-free electricity for Long Islanders, create jobs and new economic development opportunities for New Yorkers, and position the Empire State as a national climate and clean energy leader.



This is a big step for LIPA, a bold step for renewable energy on Long Island, and the beginning of an offshore wind industry in the State of New York and the country, said Gordian Raacke, Executive Director of Renewable Energy Long Island. We commend Governor Cuomo and LIPA for showing visionary leadership in the transition to renewable energy and thank all who have advocated for offshore wind energy over the last couple of decades.



We are definitely celebrating! Over 10 years of hard work and effort and we finally have New Yorks first offshore wind farm, Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director, Citizens Campaign for the Environment said. This vote is the proverbial fork in the road. One energy option was an additional fossil fuel power plant, the other choice, clean renewable wind energy. LIPA made the right choice. This historic vote for offshore wind opens the door for large scale renewable wind farms for Long Island and New York. It paves the path forward for a renewable future that brings us a resurgence of hope that our nation can be a leader in the fight against climate change.



In just a few years, we will look back on this vote by the Long Island Power Authority as one of the pivotal decisions that launched American offshore wind power, a new wildlife-friendly, clean energy industry that will create tens of thousands of jobs and supply pollution-free electricity right where we need it, said Catherine Bowes, Senior Manager for Climate and Energy at National Wildlife Federation. We applaud Governor Cuomo and LIPA for this bold leadership in seizing the golden opportunity far off our shores to protect our communities and wildlife from climate change.



LIPAs approval of the offshore wind farm proposed by Deepwater Wind is exciting news for the region as Long Island continues to be a national leader in building a clean energy economy, said Kevin Law, President & Chief Executive Officer, Long Island Association.



LIPAs approval of the offshore wind contract with Deepwater Wind is a landmark decision in support of New Yorks commitment to clean energy and good jobs. Our workforce is ready to provide the skilled labor needed for this emerging offshore wind industry, said John R. Durso, President, Long Island Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.



We applaud LIPA for approving this first step toward making New York the leader in renewable energy and Governor Cuomo for his leadership and vision for renewable energy going forward, said John Cush, Vice President/Business Agent Ironworkers Local 361. Not only does this project create good paying jobs immediately, but it is also the first step toward leaving the Earth a better place for generations to come. With Deepwater Winds commitment to build this wind farm using local labor, this project is a win-win for everybody.



Wind energy is a long time coming, said Richard OKane, President, Nassau and Suffolk Building and Construction Trades. I am delighted that the Nassau and Suffolk Building and Construction Trades will get to help build this industry and put our 59,000 strong members to work.



Its time Long Island gets back on the map as being a home to innovation and forward progress, said Tim McCarthy, Business Representative, IBEW 25. Long Island needs a strong, long-term industry that provides good paying jobs. Wind checks those boxes and many more. From turbine construction and maintenance jobs to supply chain jobs, employment opportunities will be in the thousands. Its the right industry at the right time.



"We applaud the coalition of New Yorkers who fought for this victory for years, Governor Cuomo, and LIPA's leadership in taking this step to bring offshore wind to New York, said Bill Lipton, New York State Director, Working Families Party. Offshore wind power offers the possibility of thousands of good jobs around the state and will help us ensure healthy communities and meet our state's climate commitments. This is a big first step toward building a thriving economy powered by 100 percent clean and renewable energy that works for all New Yorkers."



"Long Island is energy thirsty and transmission constrained, but is rich in ocean winds, said Megan Ahearn, Program Director for NYPIRG. We applaud LIPA and Governor Cuomo for providing a critical opportunity to get New York offshore wind off the ground. This is a landmark step for the region, the state and ultimately a critical move towards a society powered by renewable energy.



"Today's historic vote is the culmination of so many years hard work from so many advocates, said George Povall, Director of All Our Energy. We are excited to honor their hard work and thank Governor Cuomo and the LIPA trustees for their forward thinking that moves Long Island into a future of climate protection with new economic opportunities for New Yorkers."



New York State is making history today by approving plans to power Long Islands South Fork with the nations largest offshore wind project. By taking this first step and committing New York to move forward with enough offshore wind power to light 1.25 million homes by 2030, Governor Cuomo has positioned New York State to be the leader in realizing the infrastructure, jobs and economic development benefits of the emerging U.S. offshore wind industry, said Kit Kennedy, Director of NRDCs Energy & Transportation Program. The Long Island Power Authoritys vote today to move forward with the South Fork offshore wind project is positive proof that New York State means business when it comes to clean energy and climate action. New York States leadership couldnt come at a better time.



"Offshore wind holds a great deal of potential for local, clean energy generation in places like Long Island, which suffers from both high energy prices and heavy reliance on long distance transmission for its energy needs. This important step by LIPA is a signal that New York is serious about its goal of generating 2.4 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030 and having 50 percent of all of our energy come from renewables that same year," said Marcia Bystryn, President of the New York League of Conservation Voters. "We applaud LIPA and the Cuomo Administration for their leadership in moving this project forward."



"We applaud this huge step forward toward powering New York with clean energy and good local jobs, said Maritza Silva-Farrell, Executive Director of ALIGN. The growing renewables sector can and must benefit communities and workers."



LIPA has demonstrated national leadership with todays commitment to Americas largest offshore wind farm, said Liz Gordon, Director of the New York Offshore Wind Alliance. The 90 MW of clean, cost-effective electricity that will power Long Islands South Fork is an essential first step toward achieving Governor Cuomos bold plan for 2,400 MW of offshore wind for New York by 2030.



"In a stroke, LIPA has brought New York to the forefront of American progress on climate change, Patrick Robbins and Kim Fraczek, Co-Directors, Sane Energy Project said. The decision to adopt offshore wind power for Long Island will jumpstart domestic jobs, lower our greenhouse gas emissions and help address longstanding injustices in our energy system. We should all be proud to be New Yorkers today!"



"First we defeated the dangerous Port Ambrose floating LNG terminal, now history will show that the nation's biggest offshore wind farm was another big step in the right direction for shorefront communities," said Alexis Smallwood, Community Organizer, Rockaway Wildfire.



The future of New York State as Americas offshore wind leader is no longer in doubt. By moving ahead on what will be the largest offshore wind farm in the nation, New York has the momentum to propel us towards achieving Governor Cuomos climate and clean energy promises, said Conor Bambrick, air and energy director for Environmental Advocates of New York. The fight against climate change must be comprehensive, and economy wide, and projects like this will have a ripple effect that benefits our health, our air, our environment, and consumers across-the-board.



"Today marks a dramatic change in the way New Yorkers think about energy. Long Island organizations, grassroots activists, and devoted community members have fought tirelessly over the years to make offshore wind a reality for Long Island and now their day has come, said Lisa Tyson, Director, Long Island Progressive Coalition. This decision is a tremendous win for renewable energy, the climate, and the people."



This is an important step in making the transition from dangerous energy to clean power, said Eric Weltman, a Brooklyn-based Senior Organizer for a Food & Water Watch. With the Trump administrations anti-environmental agenda, Governor Cuomos leadership in eliminating our reliance on dirty fossil fuels is all the more urgent.



"This decision was necessary in the efforts to transition to a renewable energy economy and we want to thank LIPA for accepting this proposal from Deepwater Wind, said Shameika Hanson, Community Organizer, Mothers Out Front. This is a step forward toward a just transition off of fossil fuel energy in the attempt to protect the future of our children."



"We are thrilled to be here for this historic moment and commend LIPA and Governor Cuomo for ushering in a new energy era in New York, said Elizabeth Broad, Outreach Director, New Yorkers for Clean Power. By becoming the national leader in offshore wind we will succeed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and create thousands of good, green jobs."



Building an offshore wind farm is a necessary step in building large-scale, renewable energy throughout the state, said Ling Tsou, co-founder, United for Action. Thank you Governor Cuomo and the LIPA board for leading the way to build a carbon-free and methane-free energy source for New York.



"The robust and timely development of offshore wind is critical to our state's and nation's ability to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, said Mark Dunlea, chair of the Green Education and Legal Fund. Besides providing clean, renewable energy at reasonable prices, it is an opportunity for job creation, local economic development and a healthier future. We applaud this important step by LIPA and the Cuomo administration in moving us closer to a clean energy future.



It is gratifying to see years of advocacy for clean energy development bearing fruit in such a spectacular fashion," said Karl R. Rabago, with the Pace Energy and Climate Center. And it is inspiring to have the leadership in New York that made it happen.

Environment New York is a statewide, citizen-funded environmental advocacy group, working to protect the places we love, advance the environmental values we share, and win real results for the environment.
Al Qaedas branch in East Africa, Shabaab, continues to prove its ability to penetrate and attack high-security areas in central Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. The jihadist group killed at least 28 people in a suicide assault earlier today at a popular hotel near Somalias parliament building.

Shabaabs Shahada News Agency said in a statement on Telegram that two powerful explosions targeted the Dayah Hotel in central Mogadishu. The statement continued that violent clashes then occurred after Shabaab commandos breached the hotels perimeter. In a separate statement, Shabaab claimed its forces killed and wounded more than 100 people, but that number seems to exaggerate reports from independent sources.

The first suicide car bomb detonated this morning after it rammed into the hotels main gate, which made it possible for Shabaabs fighters to enter the hotel and engage security guards. A second car bomb exploded as security and medical personnel, as well as reporters, gathered at the scene. The AFP reported that one of its photojournalists, a reporter from AP, and another from Al Jazeera were wounded in the second blast.

The suicide raid, or coordinated attack using one or more suicide bombers and sometimes a follow-up assault team, is a tactic frequently used by al Qaeda and its branches, as well as allied groups such as the Afghan Taliban, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The Islamic State also often employs this maneuver.

The strategy is a common one used by Shabaab in its regular invasions on hotels and areas frequented by Somali dignitaries and Westerners. Last January, Shabaab launched an attack on the Beach View Hotel on Lido Beach, killing over 20 people. A month later, Shabaab targeted the Somali Youth League (SYL) Hotel in Mogadishu, killing nine. The same hotel was targeted in 2015 when Shabaab claimed credit for a bombing at the hotel that killed three people. The offensive took place as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a delegation were at the hotel.

Last June, Shabaab killed 13 in an assault on the Ambassadors Hotel, including two Somali members of parliament. In Nov. 2015, Shabaab raided the Al Sahafi hotel. The attack, which began with two vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs, or car bombs) before an assault team entered the breached perimeter, left at least 15 dead. In July 2015, Shabaab killed more than 10 people after storming the Jazeera Hotel.

This was not the first time the Jazeera Hotel was targeted by the jihadist group. Shabaab also hit the hotel in January 2014 and September 2012; Somalias president and Kenyas foreign minister were present during the 2012 strike, but they were not injured.

In March 2015, the jihadist group stormed another hotel and briefly seized control of it before the attackers were killed by security forces. One month earlier, a suicide assault team hit the Central Hotel, a gathering place for Somali parliamentarians and other members of government, killing several senior Somali politicians.

Attacks like these are designed to demonstrate that the jihadist group, despite a large presence of African Union forces, retains the ability to strike in these high-security areas. Since 2014, Shabaab has attacked the parliament, the presidents compound, and a high security intelligence headquarters. In June 2013, a Shabaab team struck at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) compound in Mogadishu; several UNDP employees were killed and the jihadist group briefly took over the compound. And in 2010, Shabaab was even able to launch a suicide assault on an African Union medical clinic in the Mogadishu airport.

Caleb Weiss is a research analyst at FDD's Long War Journal and a senior analyst at the Bridgeway Foundation, where he focuses on the spread of the Islamic State in Central Africa.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
A blog about kids with disabilities who kick butt
Hong Kong customs officials announced on Tuesday that nine Singaporean armed vehicles seized two months ago will be returned after the completion of an investigation.

The Singaporean vehicles were impounded by customs on Nov 23 "because there was a suspected breach of Hong Kong law", said Roy Tang, commissioner of customs and excise of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The armed vehicles were inside a cargo ship from Taiwan that was passing through Hong Kong. They were on their way back to Singapore following a military drill in Taiwan.

Tang said that customs has finished its investigation. The case may lead to criminal prosecution, according to a news release from the Hong Kong government.

"Import, export and transshipment/transit of strategic commodities in breach of licensing requirements are criminal offenses punishable under the Hong Kong law," he said, adding that the military vehicles and the associated equipment will be returned to Singapore.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had thanked Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying for resolving the matter.

"This is a positive outcome," the Singaporean ministry said.

On Jan 17 in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying urged the Singaporean government to stick to the one-China principle when she was asked about the seizure of the vehicles.

China attaches great importance to its relationship with Singapore, and at the same time, China's stance on the one-China principle is firm and unchanged, she said.

Jia Duqiang, a senior researcher in Southeast Asia studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that by seizing the vehicles, China sent a signal to Singapore that the city-state should stick to the one-China principle, especially as Taiwan authorities led by Tsai Ing-wen are challenging Beijing on sovereignty.

Returning the vehicles is a positive sign for the China-Singapore relationship, he said, adding that bilateral ties have been frustrated in recent months as a result of what he called Singapore's "improper remarks" on China's stance on the South China Sea issue.

In July, Singapore asked "all parties to fully respect" the ruling of an arbitration case on South China Sea territorial disputes. China insisted that the ruling is "null and void", and has no binding force.
If the Republicans get a majority in the US House of Representatives, as is expected, theyll focus on lawsuit investment transparency and Chinas IP practices
Through Nov. 5, 7:30-9 p.m. and Sun., Nov. 6, 2-3:30 p.m.

Illinois College Sibert Theatre McGaw Fine Arts Center, Jacksonville Jacksonville

Theater & Comedy

Sarah Ruhls contemporary take on the myth of Orpheus focuses on the heros beloved Eurydice, who, after dying on her wedding day, finds herself in a strange new land. Reunited with her father in the Underworld, Eurydice must find the balance between remembering her life before and living with her new circumstances. The New York Times hailed Eurydice as Rhapsodically beautiful. A weird and wonderful new play - an inexpressibly moving theatrical fable about love, loss and the pleasures and pains of memory." 217-245-3471
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on last day urged the central government to advise Kerala to stop construction across River Bhavani.

In a text which was released to media in Chennai, Panneerselvam wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the Kerala government may be advised not to take up any works without obtaining the consent of Tamil Nadu.

In his letter the TN Chief Minister also cited that Kerala plan to construct six check dams across River Bhavani which is a great concern and anxiety among the people.
Washington: US President Donald Trump spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday night over phone after four days he was sworn-in as the 45th President of America. "The President speaks with Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi," the White House said.

Trump invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to America later this year to discuss issues such as trade, defence and terrorism. "During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in readout of the call. Both the leaders also decided to stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism.

After Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the November 8 general elections, Modi was among the first five world leaders to have congratulated Trump.

Earlier Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican Premier Pena Nieto. On Sunday, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and had a telephonic conversation with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Police State Tactics Target Independent Journalists Covering Anti-Trump Protests

First Amendment rights are too precious to lose. Without them, all others are at risk.



On January 20, six independent journalists were arrested in Washington for doing their jobs - covering protests during Trumps inauguration.



They committed no crimes, yet face possible prosecution and imprisonment. The affected journalists include documentary producer Jack Keller, independent photojournalist Shay Horse, independent journalist Matt Hopard, free lance reporter Aaron Cantu, Vocativ journalist Evan Enger, and RT Americas Alexander Rubinstein.

RT International reported the story, explaining Rubenstein was wrongfully charged with inciting a riot. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years imprisonment and can be fined as much as $25,000. RTs press office blasted what happened, issuing a statement, saying:



The arrest and subsequent felony rioting charge against our reporter, Alexander Rubinstein, simply for doing his job - covering inauguration protests in Washington DC - is an absolute outrage.



Such acts represent an egregious violation of journalistic freedom, and are particularly disheartening to witness in the country that positions itself as the global champion of free press.



RT will apply the full weight of its legal team in support of our journalist and we are confident that a thorough review by the US Attorneys office will confirm that Alexander, who wore his press credentials at all times, was wrongfully arrested.



Brutalizing protesters is commonplace in US cities, notably against global justice, anti-war, and Occupy Wall Street activists in recent years - flagrantly violating constitutional and international law.



On inauguration day, police made over 200 arrests. A DC National Lawyers Guild statement on its web site said police indiscriminately targeted people for arrest en masse based on location alone.



These illegal acts are clearly designed to chill the speech of protesters engaging in First Amendment activity. They reflect how police states operate.

By Stephen Lendman

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com

His new book as editor and contributor is titled Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

He lives in Chicago and can be reached in Chicago at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.



Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday through Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national topics. All programs are archived for easy listening.

 2016 Copyright Stephen Lendman - 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.




Disturbing US Anti-China Saber Rattling

Saber rattling by Trump administration officials on China give pause for concern, continuing Obamas hostile approach, risking direct confrontation if not curbed.



At his Senate confirmation hearing, Secretary of State designee Rex Tillerson recklessly said (w)e are going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.

He belligerently accused China of declaring control of territoriesnot rightfully its own. Secretary of Defense James (mad dog) Mattis defiantly said Beijings activities in the South China Sea threaten the global orderunder the biggest attack since world war two



On Wednesday, Chinas Global Times published a Xinhua commentary urg(ing) (the) US to watch how it talks about the South China Sea issue, its islands and territorial waters.



Beijing was angered by White House press secretary Sean Spicer, saying it's a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China property, then yeah, we're going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country.



Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said Beijing is committed to defend its islands, adjacent waters, maritime rights and sovereignty while pursuing regional peace and stability.



On Monday, acting South Korea President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo Ahn confirmed US plans to install provocative Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile systems on its territory - aimed at China and Russia, a nonexistent North Korea threat cited as pretext.



Beijing responded to US provocations initiated by Obama, continuing under Trump, by deploying advanced DF-41 ICBMs in Heilongjiang province bordering Russia - able to strike America with multiple thermonuclear warheads, perhaps additional deployments to follow elsewhere in the country.



Chinas Global Times suggested the deployment coincided with Trumps inauguration, respond(ing) to (his) provocative remarks on trade, its currency and offshored US jobs.



Beijing will ready itself for pressures imposed by the new US government, said GT. China bears the heavy task of safeguarding (its) national security.



(H)ow can China be content with its current nuclear strength when it is viewed by the US as its biggest potential opponent?



Chinas nuclear capability should be so strong that no country would dare launch a military showdown with China under any circumstance, and such that China can strike back against those militarily provoking it. A military clash with the US is the last thing China wants, but Chinas nuclear arsenal must be able to deter the US.



Responding to Beijings deployment, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said (w)e do not regard Chinas efforts to develop its armed forces as a threat, and even ifinformation (about deploying ICBMs near Russias border) is true, we see no risks for our country.



China is our strategic ally and our partner in political, trading and economic term. We appreciate our relations, Peskov stressed.



Trump has been in office less than a week. His policy agenda toward China hasnt been revealed so far by specific actions.



If hostile rhetoric by him and key administration officials is indicative of things to come, it will adversely affect US relations with China, Russia and perhaps other countries.



World peace remains threatened as long as US geopolitics remains confrontational. Brinksmanship between thermonuclear powers is a potential doomsday scenario if pursued.

By Stephen Lendman

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com

His new book as editor and contributor is titled Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

He lives in Chicago and can be reached in Chicago at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.



Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday through Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national topics. All programs are archived for easy listening.

 2017 Copyright Stephen Lendman - 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.




MARTINSVILLE  For the past several years, Henry County Parks and Recreation has collected Valentine cards for those who put their lives on the line for their country. In time for the holiday celebrating love and appreciation, David Hann with Bassett High Schools JROTC passes out cards to servicemen and servicewomen at Kings Grant, Blue Ridge Health and Rehabilitation Center, Stanleytown Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center and the United States Veterans Hospital in Salem, Virginia.

Garnering between 2,500 and 3,000 cards in 2016, Parks and Rec hopes for even more cards this year. Last years collection proved to be the most the program ever received.

It was a ton, Daniel Reynolds, HCPR recreation programmer, said.

With the help of students, local church groups and individuals, HCPR hopes veterans will have a great Valentines Day this year as well.

The local organization sends letters to schools in the area explaining the Valentine idea and generally receives a positive response from art classes. Over the years, Reynolds has seen thousands of creative Valentine cards. It was impossible to pick a favorite.

Ive looked at so many, Reynolds said. People go all out.

The card drive isnt only an excuse for people to break out their artistic talents; its also a way to honor those who have sacrificed a great deal for others.

Its a lot of veterans in the area that the older they get, there arent as many visitors, Reynolds said. This is a way that we can say we havent forgotten and we still care.

Whether the card is handmade or store bought doesnt matter.

Well take whatever we can get, Reynolds said.

When the final tally arrives  either by folks dropping off cards in a box in the lobby of the Henry County Administration Building or by the school currier  parks and rec employees start compiling the cards.

Before Valentines Day, the organization distributes the cards to veterans.

When they receive a Valentine, Reynolds said many veterans are pretty surprised.

Last year, Reynolds went along and helped pass out the cards.

At Kings Grant it starts a lot of story time, Reynolds said.

For those interested in brightening a veterans day around the holiday, HCPR will accept Valentine cards until Friday, Feb. 3 at 5 p.m.

Its open to anybody, children and adults, Reynolds said.

The drop off spots located at the Henry County Administration Building, 3300 Kings Mountain Road in Collinsville. Reynolds encourages community participation.

Its just a way to honor people whove sacrificed so we can enjoy our freedoms we have today, Reynolds said.
MARTINSVILLEA city judge dropped all charges Tuesday against an alleged gang member, granting a defense motion to not allow the prosecution the option to bring them up again.

The legal term for that is dismiss with prejudice.

Martinsville resident Tushon Lamar Hairston was charged with breaking and entering, pointing or brandishing a firearm, possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm by a felon in connection with an incident March 25, 2016.

At a bond hearing in September 2016 at which Judge G. Carter Greer denied bail for Hairston, Hairston testified that he had been a gang member in North Carolina when he was younger but has not been a gang member in recent years.

On Tuesday, Martinsville Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Alberto Herrero said the prosecution was not ready and he made a motion requesting Judge Greer to nolle prosse all charges against Hairston. Nolle prosse means to drop a charge but the prosecution has the option to bring the charge again.

Herrero said he made that motion because two commonwealths witnesses had not been located despite repeated efforts to find them. Since they could not be located, they had not been served with subpoenas to appear at Tuesdays court hearing, Herrero said.

Hairstons lawyer, Robert Williams, opposed Herreros motion. Williams said the defense was ready to proceed with trial and his that his client has been in jail since March 2016. According to court records and Williams, Hairston has denied the gun was his and has denied possession of the gun and ammunition during the incident in question.

Judge Greer denied Herreros motion, and then several witnesses were sworn. However, when given the opportunity to present the prosecutions case, Herrero did not call any witnesses or present any evidence.

Williams then made a motion requesting Judge Greer to dismiss the charges with prejudice, which was granted.

According to a criminal complaint, on March 25 a police officer responded to Armstead Avenue in reference to a fight in progress. En route, police were advised that someone had a firearm. Upon arrival, the officer spoke with a renter there and her boyfriend, and both advised that a male, later identified as Tushon Hairston, came into the home uninvited and brandishing a firearm.

According to the criminal complaint, the renter and her boyfriend said a fight ensued before police arrived on scene. A loaded Hi-Point Arms .40-caliber handgun was located inside the home that was identified as the firearm Hairston allegedly possessed upon entry into the house. Hairston is a convicted felon.

At the bond hearing in September, Williams argued, among other things, that more than 20 people were at the party and that the defense had some witnesses who said Hairston did not have a gun on that occasion.

Herrero said at that bond hearing that, according to information from the Virginia Criminal Information Network, Hairston allegedly is as an active member of the Southside Locos, a subset of a violent gang.

Hairston testified at that bond hearing that he was a member of a gang when he was 15 or 16 years old and living in North Carolina. He indicated he has not been a gang member since he has lived in Virginia for the last several years.

Herrero argued at that bond hearing that the prosecution had witnesses who said, on this occasion, that Hairston crashed a party and wielded a gun. Herrero also argued that Hairston at the time of the bond hearing had tattoos linking him to the Southside Locos.

Williams argued at that bond hearing that many young people have tattoos. He also said Hairston was forthright about admitting past gang membership when he was younger but that he said he hasnt been a gang member for the last several years. Williams called it absurd for the prosecution to suggest as corroborating evidence a government report alleging that Hairston is an active gang member.

At that bond hearing, Judge Greer found that evidence at the time indicated Hairston was a member of a subset of an extremely violent gang; and that Hairston had tattoos of horns above his eyes and South above one eye and Side above the other eye.

When asked Tuesday about analysis of the firearm and ammunition, Herrero stated the firearm was a Hi-Point Arms .40 caliber handgun and it was loaded with 10 rounds. The firearm and the rounds were sent to the Department of Forensic Science Lab in Roanoke, along with a set of Mr. Hairstons prints. The lab result examination processed the gun and the rounds and found that no latent prints were observed or developed. So no comparison could be effectively made with Mr. Hairstons prints (or anybodys for that matter).
RICHMOND  Virginia could become the Napa Valley of craft beer if state Sen. Bill Stanley has his way.

Stanley, R-Franklin, imagines beer lovers sipping on Virginia craft beers while touring the Virginia wheat fields and smelling the local hops used to create those same brews.

A bill Stanley proposed to grow the relationship between Virginia farmers and Virginia brewers advanced out of committee Tuesday. Senate Bill 798 would make tax-exempt the barley, hops, wheat and malt purchased by Virginia craft brewers from Virginia farmers.

The bill passed out of the Senate Finance Committee unopposed and will advance to the Senate floor. Stanley carried the same bill last year, but it didnt make it as far.

In the past year, West Coast brewers Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits and Deschutes Brewery announced their companies would expand to the Roanoke Valley and, combined, will create about 300 new jobs. Meanwhile, the number of local, craft breweries has exploded across the state  both factors Stanley attributed to his bill surviving committee this year.

What all of us have seen is an explosion of this industry of the likes that we did not anticipate, Stanley said. And if were going to have this industry to continue to grow we need to have other things that will support it and agriculture is the natural progression in that direction.

The bill would hopefully encourage local farmers to grow more crops essential to the beer-making process, Stanley said.

As Virginias brewery industry booms, the hops industry is slow to catch up. Most hop-growing operations amount to less than 1 acre, according to a 2014 survey by the Virginia Cooperative Extension.

Virginia isnt close to competing with Washington, which leads the nation in hop growth and produces 56 million pounds of the flavorful ingredient a year.

The Virginia Beer Wholesalers Association supports the bill because there arent enough local beer-making crops being grown in the commonwealth, said Philip Boykin, the associations president and CEO.

Anything that helps increase commodities, barley, wheat and hops, anything that increases these commodities, we support, he said.

The association represents all of the Virginia beer distributors, which distribute thousands of local beers, Boykin said. Altogether, the association has donated more than $10,000 to Stanleys election campaigns.

Stanley also has received campaign contributions of $5,000 or more from the Virginia Beverage Association, Anheuser-Busch and the Virginia Wine Wholesalers Association, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

In 2012, Stanley served as a co-patron to the bill that is largely credited for tapping the states craft beer boom. The bill allowed breweries to have tasting rooms and to sell beer on-premises.

Its Virginia grown, Virginia produced, Virginia processed and a Virginia beer just like Virginia wants, he said.

Carmen Forman reports for the Roanoke Times
As everyone knows by now, I talk about everything, not just religion and politics. With that said, the recent snowstorm we endured came and went fast. My question would be why is it when that four lettered word snow is mentioned, people seem to go crazy? Think about it folks. People get so excited to see it come and when it gets here, they can't wait until it's gone. In most cases, two things come to their mind instantly, that being milk and bread. It also seems the highways get crowded two days before the storm hits. I was in the grocery store before the snow started falling and it seemed as if every shopping cart and every parking space was nowhere to be found. The carts were filled to capacity, as if some folks thought they would be shut in for weeks. Not only bread and milk disappeared off the shelves, but it looked as if they were grabbing everything in sight, probably even things they had never bought before. I was thinking a lot of them would have to make two trips to collect everything they bought. For some, I even wondered if their automobile would hold everything. After the snow started melting, I went back to the store and it looked like a repeat of three days before. I'm thinking surely to goodness that much food wasn't consumed in 72 hours. Which would be worse, a major snowstorm or eating yourself to death? As another snowstorm brews possibly on the horizon, let us pause and reflect, knowing that havoc awaits us once again with the same ole thing.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy

From left, Ted Allen, Jai Rodriguez, Carson Kressley, Thom Filicia, and Kyan Douglas of the 2003-2007 TV series "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."

(Bravo photo)

Netflix continues to mine yesterday's favorites for new programming with a planned reboot of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."

"In a time when America stands divided and the future seems uncertain, a team of five brave men will try to bring us closer together with laughter, heart, and just the right amount of moisturizer," according to a statement from Netflix.

The Emmy Award winning makeover reality TV series aired on Bravo between 2003 and 2007. It starred Ted Allen (now a Food Network host), Kyan Douglas, Thom Filicia, Jai Rodriguez and Carson Kressley, who is a contestant this season of "The New Celebrity Apprentice."

The "Fab 5" would attempt a fashion, appearance, home decor, culture and culinary makeover on a straight New York male.

Production on the eight-episode reboot is expected to begin production this spring with a new cast and new setting.

"With a new Fab 5 and the show's toughest missions to date, 'Queer Eye' moves from the Big Apple to turn the Red States pink -- one makeover at a time," Netflix stated.

In an interview with CNN last year, Kressley said he was unsure if a reboot would have the same impact as the original series.

"I think one of the key ingredients was that the straight guys were a little freaked out by us ... and now hopefully there's not that tension," he said. "But maybe we can film it in Russia. Who knows?"


AGAWAM David R. Cecchi, chairman of the Agawam Historical Commission, laments that oftentimes the past is lost to development and indifference.

"I love my hometown, and I don't want the things that helped shape this town, for better or worse, lost to the ages. History needs to be shared," he said.

A graphic designer, he has been involved with the historical commission since 1994, working on projects including creation of the Agawam Demolition Delay Ordinance, state highway improvements to Main Street in Agawam, creation of the Agawam Center National Register Historic District and placement of School Street Barn on the National Register of Historic Places.

Cecchi is recently honored by Preservation Massachusetts with its Julie McCarthy Community Spirit Award, recognized for his work and commitment to historic preservation in his community.

Preservation Massachusetts is the state's historic preservation advocacy organization.

Cecchi, who was a recipient of the Citizenship Award given by the Agawam St. Patrick's Committee, also has received the Paul Harris Award from Agawam Rotary Club and the Friend of the Big E award and was made and an honorary member of the Agawam High School Marching Band.

Commenting on receiving a K. Julie McCarthy Community Spirit Award, he said, "I respect the important work that Preservation Massachusetts does, so this award means a lot. This award is appropriately named the 'community spirit' award, and I accept it on behalf of my fellow members of the Agawam Historical Commission and the boards of the Agawam Historical Association and the Captain Charles Leonard House."

He is part of a community that works together to preserve Agawam's rich history. "Promoting historic preservation often feels like pushing a rock up a hill, so receiving this award is validation that what we are trying to accomplish is important," he said.

"Mr. Cecchi was selected because of his many years of dedicated preservation and restoration work on behalf of his community of Agawam. His selfless commitment to the history, character and heritage of his hometown shows through in his work on the Agawam Historical Commission, Historical Association and other groups," said Erin D.A. Kelly, assistant director of Preservation Massachusetts. "He leads by example and he rolls up his sleeves and works collaboratively to get the job done. He was nominated for this honor and he is a great role model for other local preservation advocates to emulate."

This award, created in 2010, recognizes individuals and groups who are committed to their communities and are active in efforts to preserve buildings, historic character or educate about the importance of historic preservation. It was recently renamed in honor of K. Julie McCarthy, founder and president of the Friends of the North Brookfield Town House, a group dedicated to preserving that town's iconic landmark building.

"History helps connect residents to their town and provides a link to understanding the present," Cecchi said. "Agawam has an incredibly rich and interesting history that many of its residents are unaware of. It is important to preserve Agawam's historical resources for future generations."

The first house in Western Massachusetts was built in the Agawam meadows in 1635, but Agawam has been an independent town only since 1855; it was part of Springfield until 1774 then a part of West Springfield until 1855. Its historical association was formed in 1962, and an historical museum was opened in 2002.

Cecchi's wife, Laurie, nominated him for the K. Julie McCarthy Community Spirit Award.

"David is passionate about history, especially the history of his hometown, the site of first house built in western Massachusetts," she said. "In the past, there has not been a lot of emphasis on Agawam's history, and David works hard to change that. He does not just give lip service. He rolls up his sleeves and does whatever work needs to be done, from research, writing articles, giving presentations, donating time, talent, and treasure, fighting for the protection of the town's history, painting, installing signage, helping create exhibits, and whatever else needs to be done to raise awareness of Agawam's rich history."

Among his other activities, Cecchi, who has authored four local history books, is organizer of an annual tractor show to benefit Agawam Historical Association and is a trustee for the Capt. Charles Leonard House.

Founded in 1985, Preservation Massachusetts is the statewide non-profit organization that actively promotes the preservation of historic buildings and landscapes as a positive force for economic development and the retention of community character.

"Historic Preservation is important because it allows us direct connection to our past through the built environment but it is also a tool for the future. Massachusetts is graced with so many historic communities with many historic resources and ensuring they remain as part of our community, part of its character, is important," Kelly said. "Historic preservation shows us where we have come and can help us plan for the future."

For more information on the K. Julie McCarthy Community Spirit Awards, visit preservationmass.org.

"We are honored to be acknowledging David Cecchi for his work," Kelly said. "As a statewide advocacy organization, we cannot do our work without the dedication and commitment of people like David working in their own hometowns to be sure their history is intact and remembered."
berkshire superior court.jpg

The Berkshire Superior Court in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

(Mary Serreze photo)

PITTSFIELD -- Not everybody is board with an eminent domain agreement that would give Tennessee Gas Pipeline a two-mile easement through the Otis State Forest in exchange for $640,000.

The Berkshire Environmental Action Team and Pipe Line Awareness Network of the Northeast on Monday bitterly criticized the proposed consent decree, negotiated between state officials and the pipeline company, saying they have "grave concerns" about the level of compensation that the state would receive for conveying its land.

After failing on Monday in an attempt to deliver a letter to Berkshire Superior Court judge John Agostini, the two emailed their message to Attorney General Maura Healey and Energy and Environment secretary Matthew Beaton instead.

They listed a number of potential issues with implementation, and said the deal was brokered without public involvement. They charged that the Department of Conservation and Recreation has a "conflict of interest" because the agency will benefit from timber profits when trees are cut for the pipeline. And despite a court ruling to the contrary, they continue to assert that the land-taking would violate the state's constitution.

Kinder Morgan sued the state in March after members of the state legislature buried a bill that would have voluntarily conveyed the natural gas pipeline easement in exchange for negotiated compensation.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew Ireland argued in April before Agostini that Article 97 of the Massachusetts Constitution, which requires legislative approval for the conveyance of conservation land, trumps the U.S. Natural Gas Act, and that the state didn't have to convey the land.

Agostini ruled for Kinder Morgan in May, saying the federal statute preempts the state Constitution and gives the pipeline company power to take the land.

The consent decree, announced in December, was heralded as a mutually-beneficial means to cap the fractious legal battle. Healey at the time said the agreement "sets a very high bar" for the value of conservation land takings in Massachusetts.

Beaton said the deal "represents the tireless work of the state" and will allow for the purchase of conservation land "that will truly benefit generations of people within the Berkshire County region and beyond."

Under the agreement, $300,000 would let the state's Department of Conservation and Recreation acquire additional conservation land of an "equal value" so as to ensure "no net loss." Another $300,000 would go toward environmental mitigation and facilities improvements at Otis State Forest. The remaining $40,000 represents the fair market value of pipeline easements.

The deal must still be approved by Agostini, and a Feb. 6 court hearing is scheduled in Pittsfield.

Activists, after trying to reach judge, send letter to Healey and Beaton

Berkshire Environmental Action Team leader Jane Winn tried to deliver a letter to Agostini asking him to reject the deal, but was told by officials at Berkshire Superior Court she could not do so because BEAT was not a party to the eminent domain lawsuit, according to Pipe Line Awareness Network president Kathryn Eiseman.

Winn and Eiseman then emailed their letter to Healey, Beaton, DCR chief Leo Roy, and to Ireland, Eiseman said.

Besides its central objection, the letter asks for more involvement from the state's Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, asserts that the Narragansett Indian Tribe has an interest in protecting ceremonial stone landscapes, and asks that an environmental monitor be selected to oversee construction.

Eiseman and Winn are among those who say the Otis State Forest is ecologically significant, and can not be replaced. They note that Tennessee plans to withdraw one million gallons from the pristine Spectacle Pond to test the pipeline, and say the environmental damage will be profound.

A large portion of the 3,800-acre forest, with its 400-year-old hemlocks and 62-acre pond, was preserved in 2007 in a collaboration between the state and Mass Audubon at a cost of $5.2 million, one of the biggest conservation land deals in Massachusetts history.

Kinder Morgan points out that there is an existing pipeline easement through the land, and that the new pipeline would widen an already-cleared corridor and parallel existing infrastructure.

"For more than 30 years, Tennessee Gas has safely and responsibly operated two underground natural gas pipelines that traverse a section of the Tolland/Otis State Forest," wrote Richard Wheatley, Kinder Morgan's public affairs director, in an email.

Wheatley said part of the money will refurbish a boat ramp at the state-owned Lower Spectacle Pond, and make other recreational improvements at the Tolland and Otis State Forests.

If approved, the agreement would pave the way for the Connecticut Expansion, with its 14 miles in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York, including the portion through the state forest. The pipeline project is designed to serve three natural gas utilities in Connecticut.

The project gained major state and federal approvals in 2016, including a certificate from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
HOLYOKE -- Families of three people killed and 49 tenants who lost their homes in a New Year's Day fire at 106 North East St. should begin receiving shares of money collected in a relief fund in about three weeks, Mayor Alex B. Morse said today.

"We are going to get this money out to the families as soon as we can. I am proud of what we as a city have accomplished through this relief fund, and I am blessed to be able to serve such a loving and compassionate community," Morse said in a press release.

In a text message, he added regarding the schedule for distribution of the money, "We hope within the next two to three weeks at most."

The Holyoke Mayor's Fire Relief Fund has collected $103,908, he said.

The Greater Holyoke Chamber Centennial Foundation Inc. will manage the disbursement of money collected to help victims at no cost to the city, he said. Announcement that Morse had chosen the chamber foundation to handle the disbursement was made Tuesday to the City Council Ordinance Committee at City Hall.

Three people were killed in the fire to which firefighters were called just before 9 a.m. on Jan. 1: Maria Cartagena, 48, and Jorge Munoz, 55, both of Holyoke, and Trevor R. Wadleigh, 34, of Easthampton.

State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey said on Jan. 4 that investigators had determined the cause of the fire was an electrical problem in a wall outlet in the living room of a third-floor apartment.

The property that included the five-story building, now demolished, is owned by

Irshad Sideeka of Naviah Investments of Brookline, Massachusetts.

Morse said $65,810 of the relief fund was collected in an online effort he established the day of the fire on gofundme.com and $38,098 through in-person donations and the mail.

"Over 1,100 individuals, businesses, and organizations have made contributions to the Mayor's Fire Relief Fund," he said.

A fundraiser Jan. 12 in which five Friendly's restaurants in the region, including here at 1745 Northampton St., devoted 20 percent of the day's profits resulted in a donation of $2,595, he said.

Four days later, the Chipotle restaurant at 235 Whiting Farms Road held a fundraiser and donated 100 percent of proceeds to the fund for a total of $3,671, he said.

This account will continue to operate after assisting the North East Street families in order to help those affected by future events. Checks can still be made out to the Mayor's Fire Relief Fund and sent to the Mayor's Office at 536 Dwight St., Hoyoke, Mass. 01040, he said.
HAMPDEN -- As Thornton W. Burgess Middle School continues to deal with declining enrollment and test scores, the Hampden school may take another hit if the School Committee approves roughly four dozen student transfer applications, further reducing enrollment at the 222-student school.

The school district's recent decision to move TWB fifth-graders to Green Meadows Elementary School, a prekindergarten through fourth-grade school in Hampden, will leave TWB with about 157 students at the start of the fall 2017 school year.

All 47 transfer requests were made by parents or guardians of TWB students seeking to educate their children at Wilbraham Middle School, a better-performing school of 534 students on Stony Hill Road.

The transfers, which are being considered on a case-by-case basis by the School Committee during executive sessions, are permitted under the regional agreement that created the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District over two decades ago.

The regionalization agreement requires district students in kindergarten through eighth grade to attend schools in their hometowns, with infrequent exceptions granted for family hardship reasons and students requiring special education programs. A transfer to another school is possible if the School Committee deems such a move to be prudent and in "the best interest of the student."

The transfer requests follow Hampden voters' formal rejection of a plan to temporarily consolidate the district's two middle schools under one roof. Wilbraham voters supported the merger plan, which had to be approved by both towns in order to take effect.

During the proposed five-year merger period, district officials would have monitored enrollment at the middle schools and worked with the Massachusetts School Building Authority on a long-range solution, including the possibility of constructing a new school or renovating existing buildings.

However, Superintendent of Schools Al Ganem announced last month that the MSBA had rejected the district's plan to either renovate existing buildings or build a new middle school. The MSBA turned down the district "because we don't have a unified middle school," School Committee member William Bontempi said at the board's Jan. 10 meeting.

The administration and School Committee have consistently supported unifying the middle schools on a single campus, which, they say, will create a more robust educational experience for Hampden and Wilbraham students.

Of the 47 TWB transfer applications, 19 were from sixth-grade students, 14 were from seventh-graders, and 14 were from eighth-graders. TWB currently has 222 students, but once next year's fifth grade is moved to Green Meadows, the school will only have around 157 students.

If all 47 transfer requests are approved, the middle school's population could plummet to 110 students, leaving TWB in a precarious financial and educational position. Declining middle school enrollment is a major reason district officials have been eyeing consolidation.

Some Hampden residents who voted in October against the temporary closure of TWB believe the administration wants to permanently shut the nearly 50-year-old school. They point to the decision to advertise the transfer process on the school district's homepage, and the decision to move TWB fifth-graders back to elementary school.

Transfer requests have always been an option, according to Mark Casey, a former member of the Hampden Board of Selectmen, but "those requests have never been promoted until recently," he told the School Committee earlier this month.

"So it appears to most voters that even though Hampden voted overwhelmingly to keep TWB open, the School Committee and administration is intent on implementing closure of TWB," Casey said. "I hope this is not the case."

After Hampden voters rejected the merger proposal in October, Peter Salerno, a former School Committee chairman, offered a somewhat ominous assessment of the situation. "Our children will suffer from your hollow victory tonight," he said. "What needs to be done with TWB still needs to be done. It is not over yet."

Even before the consolidation vote was held, Ganem warned of possible cuts at TWB, including reducing some full-time teachers to part-time status and closing off sections of the building that wouldn't be used due to low enrollment.

Ganem also stated prior to the vote that he planned to move fifth-graders to Green Meadows.
steve.jpg

LEEDS - Former Springfield Police detective Steven Vigneault is shown here outside a Leeds medical center in October of 2016.

(Greg Saulmon/The Republican)

SPRINGFIELD -- A whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former Springfield police detective includes allegations of tarnished Officer Gregg Bigda being intoxicated almost daily while carrying out drug raids.

Steven Vigneault argues he resigned under pressure months after an ugly confrontation among Bigda, himself and Bigda's ex-girlfriend -- Officer Gail Gethins -- after Vigneault began dating Gethins last year.

In a complaint filed Tuesday afternoon in Hampden Superior Court, Vigneault argues higher-ups protected Bigda despite his alleged volatility.

"Plaintiff was often told 'you didn't see anything; that never happened. Keep your f---ing mouth shut," by commanding officers regarding Bigda's on-the-job behavior, according to the lawsuit. "At times, plaintiff feared for his own job and safety due to the camaraderie in 'Bigda's' tight-knit group."

Vigneault names the city, Police Commissioner John Barbieri, Bigda, Patrolman's Union President Joseph Gentile, union lawyer Kevin Coyle and the police union in the complaint. It alleges breach of contract and seeks the protection of a whistleblower lawsuit.

Vigneault, 46, was hired in 2013 after an early career at the county jail and while he was a U.S. Army Reservist who served in combat overseas. After returning from a stint in Afghanistan in 2015, Vigneault earned a coveted spot in the department's narcotics unit. But less than a year in, Vigneault became embroiled in a messy arrest of four juveniles in Palmer.

The boys allegedly stole Vigneault's undercover vehicle left idling outside Primos' Pizza on Feb. 26, according to police reports and court records. Vigneault filed a report and later police received news that a pursuit was underway in Wilbraham that eventually spilled into Palmer, where the boys were arrested.

After the arrest, a Wilbraham patrolman made an allegation of excessive force. He alleged a Springfield detective he was unable to identify kicked a boy in the face while he was already in handcuffs and on the ground. Vigneault became the prime suspect, according to police officials. However, he denied the accusation during interviews with The Republican in October.

On a parallel track, surveillance video from Palmer police holding cells showed Bigda threatening two of the boys. The jarring footage included Bigda threatening violence against both boys, threatening to plant drug evidence on one and boasting about his power to spin police reports to his liking.

The footage was made public in the midst of drug prosecutions in the fall, and did little to help Bigda's career. He was suspended for 60 days, and prosecutors have declined to call him as a witness in dozens of drug cases -- which has been a boon to the defense bar and their clients.

Of the night of the Palmer arrest, Vigneault's lawyer, Shawn Allyn, wrote in the complaint:

"Defendant Bigda was actively drinking straight Rum at his desk and appeared to be getting visibly intoxicated," according to the complaint, which noted earlier that Bigda switched from drinking beer on the job to hard liquor to cut calories.

Vigneault also contends Bigda spat on one of the teens at the scene and yelled: "Welcome to the white man's world!"

Bigda's lawyer, Thomas Rooke, declined comment for this story. Other parties named in the lawsuit also declined comment or did not respond to requests.

Vigneault granted The Republican a previous interview while he was receiving treatment for combat-related PTSD at a veterans' treatment center in Leeds.

He argued in the complaint that he went to get food at Primo's to "sober Bigda up" in the event they had to go out into the field. The lawsuit adds that Bigda continued to sip from a rum bottle until they received a call about the stolen car at 2:40 a.m. on Feb. 27.

The complaint continues that Vigneault received a verbal warning for leaving the car running outside the pizza shop and later got a "cold shoulder." He contends commanding officers encouraged all to maintain a "code of silence as to the events of Feb 26 and Feb. 27 and the investigation thereafter to protect Defendant Bigda."

"Plaintiff felt uncomfortable and feared for his own job due to the implicit pressure from Defendant Barbieri's office downward as to the Bigda matter," it adds.

The breaking point for Vigneault's career, he argues, was when Bigda discovered Vigneault was dating an old flame. Bigda "ambushed" Vigneault and fellow Officer Gail Gethins at her home on March 11, armed and intoxicated, the complaint states.

Bigda charged into the house similarly later that night, behaving "aggressively," shouting profanities and threatening to kill them both, according to records. Vigneault states in his complaint Bigda threatened him and Gethins.

Rooke has previously denied Bigda was armed.

Both reported the incident to their own department and East Longmeadow police the next day. Gethins sought and received a restraining order she later dropped. The criminal charges also were dropped when she agreed not to testify if Bigda sought treatment, Vigneault said in previous interviews.

Vigneault argues in his complaint that when he reported the dispute to narcotics Lt. Alberto Ayala, the supervisor "dismissed the seriousness of the allegations" and bought Bigda's version -- that he was carrying a cell phone and not a weapon when he entered Gethins' home uninvited.

In texts and voicemail messages, Bigda disparaged the two and threatened to end Vigneault's career, the complaint states. The Republican previously received copies of the texts and one voicemail message. The audio recording features a heavily slurring Bigda telling Gethins:

"Hey, whore! Nice to meet ya! I'll take care of all of you people ... in the future."

Bigda also threatened to "ruin Vigneault's career" in another message.

The complaint states the two received little to no support within the police department. Vigneault said Ayala ordered him to transfer out of his unit while Bigda was allowed to keep a desk job. It also says Deputy Police Chief Mark Anthony told Vigneault he had "pissed a lot of people off" and instructed Vigneault to take a week off after presenting him with a transfer order.

Vigneault was redeployed to Barnes Air Force Base and began receiving overtures from police union President Joseph Gentile over Barbieri's attempts to schedule a "termination hearing" for Vigneault.

Vigneault contends Gentile held Bigda's interests over the "victims." The plaintiff also asserted Gentile is "close friends" with Bigda and the two attended the police academy together.

According to the lawsuit, Gentile told Barbieri the Wilbraham patrolman was ready to identify Vigneault as the detective who kicked the child in the face in Palmer.

"The plaintiff informed defendant Gentile that this cannot be true. Defendant Gentile said it was true and that Barbieri told Gentile to inform the plaintiff 'resign or be fired,'" the complaint reads.

Vigneault was further threatened with criminal prosecution and loss of his pension if he did not resign, the lawsuit states.

Coyle, the union lawyer, reiterated the message, according to the court filing.

Coyle and Gentile both said Barbieri had vowed to "personally meet" with Wilbraham Patrolman Christopher Rogers to talk about the identification of the detective the day of a scheduled Civilian Police Review Board hearing on Aug. 11.

Wilbraham Police Chief Roger Tucker told The Republican during a previous interview that his patrolman was unable to identify the alleged kicker to this day.

Also, according to the complaint, Coyle remarked to Vigneault: "You must have pissed someone off."

Vigneault argues he was coerced into resigning, caving under the pressure of the union and police supervisors.

The complaint states he has been unable to access certain information because of an ongoing U.S. Justice Dept. investigation into this and other Springfield Police Department matters.

He also claims criminal charges in Palmer District Court have "disappeared," and that he has been stymied by other obstacles. He argues the city and other defendants named in the lawsuit "engaged in retaliatory actions only to protect defendant Bigda and the Springfield Police Department's polices of allowing defendant Bigda to drown himself in alcohol within the station and then go out into the field."

The complaint argues city officials have turned a blind eye to the police department's alleged problems and all the parties have engaged in a "civil conspiracy" to violate Vigneault's rights.

Hampden Superior Court Judge Michael Callan has granted an expedited hearing on the matter scheduled for Feb. 3, according to court records.
HOLYOKE -- The new sheriff and a new college president will be main speakers today from 5 to 7 p.m. at a reception held by the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce at Gary Rome Hyundai, 150 Whiting Farms Road.

Nick Cocchi was elected Hampden County Sheriff on Nov. 8 and sworn into office Jan. 4.

Christina Royal became the new president of Holyoke Community College (HCC) in November after HCC's Board of Trustees recommended her to the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education.

The annual Candidates and Elected Officials Reception, formerly called the "Winner Circle Reception," honors newly elected officials and introduces them to the business community.

Robert W. Gilbert, Jr., Dowd Insurance's chairman of the coard and the Chamber's Governmental Affairs Committee co-chairman, will preside over the event with Margaret Mantoni, chief financial officer at Loomis Communities and chamber of commerce chairwoman, a press release said.



The event is presented by Dowd Insurance Agency and Holyoke Community College and sponsored by Ferriter Law and People's United Bank, the press release said.
STCC Spring Ovations Series lineup.jpg

Springfield Technical Community College has announced its lineup for the Spring 2017 Ovations Speaker Series events which will feature Executive Editor of The Republican Wayne Phaneuf, Poet Lenelle Moise, the Dorothy Jordan Pryor Award luncheon, and the STCC Storytelling Contest.

(Courtesy of STCC)

As the spring semester gets under way at Springfield Technical Community College, the school has announced its lineup for the Spring 2017 Ovations Speaker Series.

The speaker series brings authors, artist, political figures, and experts in health and science to STCC's campus to present culturally educational events for students and non-students free of charge.

This semester's lineup consists of Executive Editor of The Republican Wayne Phaneuf, Poet Lenelle Moise, as well as the annual Dorothy Jordan Pryor Award Luncheon, and the STCC Storytelling Contest.

All performances, besides the Dorothy Jordan Pryor Award luncheon, will be hosted in the Scibelli Hall theater on campus.

On Feb. 7, at 9:30 a.m. Phaneuf will kick off the speaker series and Black History Month as he discusses the role that Western Massachusetts had in the fight for racial equality, which is chronicled in the book "The Struggle for Freedom, the History of African Americans in Western Massachusetts," which he co-authored.

"The Struggle for Freedom is the first comprehensive history of African American from Western Mass," said Phaneuf, who will be presenting with co-author Joseph Carvalho III. "It chronicles the struggle from early slavery in the 1600s to the last chapter in the book which highlights President Obama's inauguration and also the church burning in Springfield on the night of his election. One of our co-authors was Dr. Todd Robinson, son of Bishop Bryant Robinson, the pastor of the church that was burned on the eve of President Barack Obama's election. We are all proud of this book which was a combination of success and failure in the black community over the years has it wrestled with prejudice poverty. Great progress has been made but the struggle continues."

Moise, who has performed on college campuses across the nation, will be featured twice on March 22, first at 10:10 a.m. and then at 11:15 a.m. where she will perform spoken word pieces that earned her recognition as "a modern Renaissance woman" by The Commons, a newspaper.

On April 5 at noon, the Ovation Series will host the Dorothy Jordan Pryor Award Luncheon on the 7th floor of Scibeli Hall. The event will honor retired English professor Marcia Sias by recognizing her work with the STCC Civitan Club which has conducted several community service projects throughout the year that have the STCC community and the surrounding area.

The Ovation Series will wrap up on April 18 at 9:30 a.m. with the school's storytelling contest's finals in the Scibeli Theater.

Over the next few months, STCC students will also be able to participate in an open storytelling events where six finalists will be chosen to present in the Ovation Series.
The owner of a stolen Jeep Cherokee that careened into a tree in Springfield on Jan. 17, killing four of five young adults inside, recorded the theft of the vehicle days earlier from her driveway in Milford, Connecticut. The theft was captured by a home security camera.

There is still no known connection between the five people involved in the Springfield crash and the individuals who stole the vehicle on Jan. 14 in Milford. The police investigation is ongoing, and the fifth victim involved in the accident, who has yet to be identified, remains in critical condition.

Speaking to MassLive on Tuesday on the condition of anonymity, the Jeep's owner said she and her family have been left "devastated and speechless" by the loss of life.

Surprised by the initial theft, which was captured by security camera footage around 1:40 a.m. on Jan. 14, she said the shocking accident that followed -- which occurred around 8:15 p.m. on Union Street in Springfield on Tuesday, Jan. 17 -- was the stuff of nightmares.

"There's been tears in the house for the past week," the owner said. "I have kids of my own. I cannot even imagine."

She added, "In light of everything that happened, I don't care about the car. They could keep the car forever if it would bring those lives back."

The Jan. 17 crash on Union Street took the lives of 20-year-old Andrew Savage, of Springfield, and three Central High School seniors -- Katrina Maisonet Jones, Adrianna Hernandez and Cassidy Spence.

The security camera footage obtained by MassLive was from a camera trained on the driveway of the Jeep owner's Welles Drive home.



It captured two individuals rummaging through two vehicles framed in the shot -- the Jeep and a second truck. In the surveillance video a car can be seen in the background parked on the street.

Within minutes of initially entering the Jeep, one of the individuals returns to the driveway, gets in, flicks on the headlights and drives off.

Several hours later, upon waking, the vehicle's owner noticed the car missing and immediately reported the theft to Milford police. She consulted the security camera, where her fears were confirmed.

Milford police came and took the vehicle's information, entering it into a database of stolen vehicles, assuring that most stolen cars turn up eventually.

The video was posted to a Facebook group just before 6 p.m. on the 14th, requesting, "Any and all information regarding the whereabouts of the Jeep and/or the men who stole it."

The owner said she has insurance.

Referencing offers from various MassLive commenters to start a Gofundme page to help her defray the cost of the stolen Jeep, the owner said she would "rather the money go to the families of the kids."

The owner also responded to rumors that the thieves or one of the youths killed in the crash knew or were a relative of hers, saying neither the thieves nor anyone involved in the crash were "a family member or anyone I know."

In an interview Wednesday, Milford Police Spokesman Mike DeVito told MassLive the city experiences a "moderate" level of car thefts from residences.

"We don't have an issue with carjacking," DeVito added. "We have an issue with unoccupied thefts."

Thieves rely not on an ability to hotwire but on entering a large number of unlocked cars in search of keys, DeVito said.

The Cherokee theft was such a case, according to DeVito. The thieves found the car unlocked in the middle of the night and, locating a key inside, drove it off, he said.

When the car crashed in Springfield several days later, police said the vehicle may have been traveling as fast as 60 miles per hour -- twice the posted speed limit.

The owner told MassLive that Milford police called around midnight Wednesday to say her Jeep had been located and was involved in an accident in Massachusetts. She read about the accident the following morning on social media and various news websites.

Welles Drive is located in northern Milford. The New Haven County coastal city is about 1 hour and 15 minutes drive from Springfield and is home to a population of roughly 52,000.
20385355-mmmain.jpg

UMass students hoping Indigenous People's Day could replace Columbus Day.

( Washington Post)

AMHERST -- University of Massachusetts students are asking the Student Government Association Senate to support a campaign to rename and recognize Columbus Day -- the first step toward recognizing the fall holiday as Indigenous Peoples' Day on campus.

The student Senate will consider a resolution supporting the proposal at its meeting Monday night. If the resolution passes, the Senate will bring the proposal to university adminstrators to see what, if anything, can be done.

Gaelle Rigaud, a member of the Student Government Association's Social Justice and Empowerment Committee, said the university's status as a land grant school means it follows federal laws, including laws on holidays.

Amherst Town Meeting last year voted to rename Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples' Day, becoming the first community in the state to do so.

Rigaud said the student government has been working on bringing the resolution forward since last semester.

According the to the resolution, the Student Government Association's responsibility is "to promote the general welfare of all university undergraduate students."

The resolution says the Social Justice and Empowerment Committee "has a responsibility to oppose the systematic racism towards Indigenous people at UMass Amherst, which perpetuates high rates of poverty and income inequality, exacerbating disproportionate health, education, and social crises."

The resolution asks the university -- "unless and until it expresses a contrary position" -- to stop recognizing the second Monday in October as "Columbus Day."

The resolution also asks the administration to "recommit, to addressing the needs and concerns of current and potential Indigenous students at UMass."

The resultion outlines how those needs should be addressed.

Indigenous Peoples Campaign and Resolution - Google Docs by ledermand on Scribd
In the "Smart Age" now evolving, ego has no place.

Instead, the focus will need to be on the quality of ideas, accuracy, emotional intelligence and mindfulness.

Technology in the so-called Smart Machine Age, which includes AI, virtual reality and robotics, will bring huge changes not just in headcount, but also in how people innovate and collaborate. That will require new approaches to how people think, listen and relate, says Edward D. Hess, a professor of business administration at the University of Virginia.

Hess writes about these issues in the just-released book he co-authored with Katherine Ludwig, titled Humility is the New Smart: Rethinking Human Excellence in the Smart Machine Age. Hess discussed his ideas on the [email protected] show on Wharton Business Radio, SiriusXM channel 111.

Podcast and Transcript: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/why-smart-machines-will-boost-emotional-intelligence/
Our range includes a flat range from 10-100 yards as well as a 20 target walking course for more realistic simulation of hunting scenarios.
The High Level Sports Unit (HLSU) met on the 22 January 2019 to review the list of beneficiaries for months of January to March 2019.

The list of beneficiaries have approved by the Ministry according to our information.

Performances of Mauritian athletes in Major International Events June 2017 -2018

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An Old Fort man charged with possessing numerous narcotics  including heroin  in December was sentenced to at least five months in prison.

Damien Blake Roth, 22, of Parker Padgett Road, Old Fort, was found guilty of possession with intent to manufacture, sell or distribute methamphetamine, possession of heroin, possession of marijuana up to  ounce, two counts of simple possession of a schedule II controlled substance, possession of a schedule IV controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and maintaining a vehicle or dwelling place for a controlled substance. He was sentenced to five months minimum, 15 months maximum in prison. He was given credit for 42 days time served.

At approximately 4:34 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 7, officers received a call regarding a suspicious person at Murphys Express on Sugar Hill Road in Marion. When police arrived later that night, they found Roth in a black Mitsubishi Eclipse and began their investigation.

Among the items found in the search include: .33 grams of methamphetamine; .50 grams of heroin; 4.22 grams of marijuana; 17 dosage units of oxycodone; 18 dosage units of alprazolam; one dosage unit of oxycodone/ acetaminophen; two broken glass pipes with residue; a black case containing spoons and residue; a digital scale and 117 unused hypodermic needles.
Last October, hundreds of people representing different races and cultures came together with local law enforcement and government leaders at the First Baptist Church of Marion where they worshipped God together in a celebration of unity.

Now, the organizers of the special Unity service want to continue the goodwill that was demonstrated that day and use it to make an impact on the local community.

Ever since the wonderful service in October, weve talked about coming back together, said the Rev. Scott Hagaman of First Baptist. It said to me it was something the community needed.

On Tuesday, a special meeting was held to discuss how best to follow up on the Unity service that was held Sunday, Oct. 3. The meeting included Hagaman, organizer and First Baptist member Jan Ramsey, the Rev. Walter Pegues of Addies Chapel United Methodist Church, organizer and First Baptist member Jim Burgin, the Rev. Warren Owens of First United Methodist Church, McDowell NAACP President Ray McKesson, Sheriff Dudley Greene, Mayor Steve Little and the Rev. Terry Roach of Clinchfield Baptist Church.

The discussion centered first on whether another service should be held.

Everything I heard was very positive, said McKesson. I heard from folks for weeks and weeks afterward and it was all very positive.

Roach said he would like for the Unity service to become an annual event in Marion.

I think its something that would help unite the community if it is held on a regular basis, he added.

The service could be expanded to reach all of McDowell County and not just Marion.

I do like the idea of expanding it countywide and not just the folks in the city, said Little.

Then, the discussion centered on a location for the next service. On Sunday, Oct. 3, First Baptist Church of Marion was filled to capacity for the Unity service and it is one of the largest churches in McDowell County.

By expanding it to include the entire county, the next event could require a place even bigger than First Baptist, First United Methodist or Clinchfield Baptist. On Tuesday, organizers talked about the possibility of using the gym at McDowell High for the next service.

The organizers agreed to hold another Unity service in September but a specific date has not been set. They also decided to take up an offering at the next service that would be donated to a local cause. It would be a cause or need that the all of local community could support.

County officials, Emergency Management Director William Kehler and Social Services Director Lisa Sprouse will be invited to participate in the planning for the next Unity service.

This special event held last year at First Baptist was designed to be an afternoon of prayer and worship celebrating the opportunity and calling we share to be united together as brothers and sisters in Christ. Leaders from the city of Marion, local ministers, law enforcement and the school system and numerous other local residents took part in this event, which drew a standing room only crowd to the large and historic church building.

The planners of this special service said it came out of conversations here in McDowell by local leaders about what was going on across the nation. They learned about the horrific massacre of nine African-American people during the Charleston church shooting last year and the shooting of white police officers in Dallas, Texas in July. They also heard about the shooting of police officers in Baton Rouge, La. which came about after the killing of a black man by white officers. And then there were the events in Charlotte and the protests in the streets of North Carolinas largest city.

All of these tragic incidents have illustrated the amount of division that exists between the races in other communities and the mistrust and suspicion that many African-Americans and Hispanics have regarding their law enforcement. But instead of waiting for something to happen and then react to it, the planners of the Unity service thought something proactive should be done now here in Marion.
If you are a veteran who was stationed at Camp Lejeune from 1953 to 1987, you might be entitled to compensation from the federal government due to the contaminated drinking water that was located there.

And Doug Gouge, the veteran service officer for McDowell County, hopes that local Marine Corps and Navy veterans who are eligible for this compensation will come forward soon to avoid the backlog that inevitably happens now that the new rule has gone into effect. In addition, the surviving spouse of an eligible deceased veteran can also apply.

I want to be able to help them as soon as possible, said Gouge.

The Department of Veterans Affairs recently announced new rules to establish presumptions for the service connection of eight diseases associated with exposure to contaminants in the water supply at the Marine Corps base of Camp Lejeune. This applies to all active duty and reserve Marines and Navy veterans and National Guard members who were stationed at Camp Lejeune for a minimum of 30 cumulative days sometime between Aug. 1, 1953 and Dec. 31, 1987 and are diagnosed with any of the following conditions:

Adult leukemia

Aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes

Bladder cancer

Kidney cancer

Liver cancer

Multiple myeloma

Non-Hodgkins lymphoma

Parkinsons disease

Beginning in March, the cash payouts from the Department of Veterans Affairs may supplement VA health care already being provided to eligible veterans. They will have to submit evidence of their diagnoses and service information.

We have a responsibility to take care of those who have served our nation and have been exposed to harm as a result of that service, said outgoing Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald in a recent news release. Establishing a presumption for service at Camp Lejeune will make it easier for those veterans to receive the care and benefits they earned.

In the early 1980s, contaminants were discovered in two on-base water supply systems at Camp Lejeune. The contaminated wells supplying the water systems were shut down in February 1985.

Gouge assists local veterans in applying for their benefits and his office is located at the McDowell Senior Center. He said in the past a veteran had to show that he or she lived in a specific area at Camp Lejeune in order to get assistance from the VA. The same applied to surviving families.

Now that requirement is gone. The area now covers all of Camp Lejeune and the Marine Corps Air Station New River as well as satellite camps and housing areas. The military training base in Jacksonville, N.C. covers 246 square miles.

Anyone who lived or worked at the Marine base and those surrounding areas for a minimum of 30 cumulative days from 1953 to 1987 are eligible. Likewise, the surviving spouse is eligible as well, provided their late husband or wife met the previous criteria and died or suffered from the eight listed conditions, said Gouge.

He added this new rule should make it easier for those eligible to receive the compensation they deserve.

But it could also result in a backlog with the VA. An estimated 900,000 people nationwide are eligible for this compensation.

Gouge said he doesnt know how many veterans or survivors in McDowell County are eligible for this. McDowell has approximately 3,600 veterans and there is not a breakdown regarding branches of service.

When I took this job three and a half years ago, the claims were running 12 to 18 months, he said, adding this was the time for application, processing and approval by the VA.

Now, the most recent information available to Gouge tells him it will take an average of 125 days.

But with approximately 900,000 people nationwide now eligible for this compensation, Gouge is fearful of a backlog developing.

In one week, I have already had three claims, he said on Tuesday.

On Monday, President Trump announced a federal government hiring freeze.

You are going to have a pickup in the number of claims without additional help (to process them), said Gouge.

The estimated taxpayer cost is $2.2 billion over a five-year period.

Documents uncovered by veterans groups over the years suggest Marine leaders were slow to respond when tests first found evidence of contaminated ground water at Camp Lejeune in the early 1980s. Some drinking water wells were closed in 1984 and 1985, after further testing confirmed contamination from leaking fuel tanks and an off-base dry cleaner. The Marine Corps has said the contamination was unintentional, occurring when federal law didnt limit toxins in drinking water, according to the AP article.

This is good news, said retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger, whose daughter Janey was born in 1976 while he was stationed at Lejeune. Janey died from leukemia at age 9. Ensminger now heads a veterans group, The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten, which advocates for those seeking disability compensation.

This has been a hard, long slog, said Ensminger, who argues the government must go further in covering additional diseases. This is not the end of the issue.

Spurred by Ensmingers case, the U.S. Congress in 2012 passed a bill signed into law by President Obama extending free VA medical care to affected veterans and their families. But veterans were not automatically provided disability aid or survivor benefits. The issue has prompted lawsuits by veterans organizations, which note that military personnel in Camp Lejeune housing drank, cooked and bathed in contaminated water for years, according to the AP article.

To contact McDowell Veterans Services Officer Doug Gouge, call 659-0833 or email doug.gouge@mcdowellcountyncdss.org. You can also visit the Senior Centers Website www.mcdowellseniorcenter.org. The McDowell Senior Center is located at 100 Spaulding Road in Marion.
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BOE reminder of early voting hours and polling location change Audio Article Remaining early voting hours at the Morgan County Board of Elections are as follows: from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov, 2 through Friday, Nov. 4; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5; from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6; and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m....

Lions Club announces annual Wreaths Across America Audio Article On Saturday, Dec. 17, the Chesterhill Lions Club will be joining with National Wreaths Across America in the laying of wreaths at each of the seven cemeteries located in Marion Township. The mission is to honor the local veterans who have served our nation so their families can rest assured...

Governor DeWine awards $6.7 million for domestic violence survivor programs Audio Article Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has announced that he is awarding $6.7 million to support the work of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network (ODVN) to offer mobile and health advocacy services and temporary residential services for domestic violence survivors across the state. The announcement comes during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month....

CDC committee vote wont change Ohio school vaccine requirement Audio Article Ohio Department of Health Director Bruce Vanderhoff, MD, MBA has released the following statement: The CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendation for the COVID-19 vaccine to be added to the formulary or schedule of vaccines for children does not mandate this vaccine for school children. Ohio law determines...
Bloomberg, Tuesday, January 24, 2017 4:34 AM

Microsoft will try to fight for customer rights in its battle with the FBI over email privacy. The company went to court on Monday in its challenge against the FBI and told the judge that allowing the FBI to read customer emails without their knowledge would violate its customers constitutional rights. The judge said he will issue a written ruling later.

Read the whole story at Bloomberg 
by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, January 24, 2017

Searchmetrics released its third-annual Winners and Losers report this week. This year's report reveals that publishers with specific editorial direction and household-name Web sites like Wikipedia and Facebook had the greatest gains, while other informational sites showed declines in desktop search.

This analysis -- conducted over the course of a year -- is based on the SEO Visibility of individual Web sites, a metric that Searchmetrics developed as an indicator for measuring a Web pages performance in organic search. The company looked for those domains that displayed the largest change in SEO Visibility.

The lists of winners and losers is sorted by "absolute change" and the percentage of change. Searchmetrics removed adult and unofficial streaming Web sites, along with migrated domains, from both lists.

Topics that attracted the most visits to publisher sites range from terrorism and immigration to elections. A "strong economic" recovery gave strength to shopping sites.

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Wikipedia.org took a beating for the greatest loss in total visibility, but the lowest visibility in percentage of loss. Hollywoodlife.com took the highest percentage loss in visibility. (See the list here.)

Google.com took the top spot with in visibility, but when it came to the site reaping rewards for the most improved as well as visibility gains, Pinterest took the honor.

Pinterest, with its 150 million global users, recently announced the use of deep-learning technology, a precursor to artificial intelligence, to generate more relevant results that evolve based on user behavior. This can help a company understand the "ultimate" intent of a user to generate more loyalty.

Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook also had top visibility gains, but the percentage gains from 2015 lagged at 22%, 6%, 28%, and 5%, respectively.

Google took the No. 1 spot in the category of search and portals in terms of total visibility gain, followed by medlineplus.gov at No. 2, Hotmail at No. 3, and AOL at No. 4 out of 100 sites.

In the category of shopping in terms of total visibility gain, Apple ranked No. 1, eBay ranked No. 2, Retailmenot, ranked No. 3, Target ranked No. 4, Walmart ranked No. 5, theblackfriday ranked No. 6, babycenter ranked No. 7, nerdwallet ranked No. 8, blackfriday ranked No. 9, and npmjs ranked No. 10 out of 100 sites.

The winning categories on google.com began with media and events at 38%, followed by shopping at 19%, social media at 10%, encyclopedia at 6%, search and portals at 4%, travel at 2%, and other at 21%.
by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, January 24, 2017

For all the attention they have garnered over the last few years, distribution partnerships with big tech platforms like Facebook and Google still contribute a relatively small proportion of total revenues for a number of big publishers, per a Digital Content Next report, first publicized by Business Insider.

The report from DCN, the publishing industry trade organization previously known as the Online Publishers Association, found platform partnerships accounted for just 14% of total publisher revenues, based on a survey of 19 of its members, including big names like ESPN, The New York Times and Bloomberg.

On average the publishers reported $7.7 million in revenue from platform partnerships in the first half of 2016, including $773,567 from YouTube, $560,144 on Facebook, $482,788 for Twitter, and $192,819 for Snapchat.

By revenue category, advertising sold directly by the publishers themselves contributed the lions share of revenue from their platform partnerships, with an average of $6,845,308 or around 89% of the total. By contrast, advertising revenue sharing for ads sold by the platforms contributed just $716,553, or 9% of the total.

The remaining 2% came from licensing fees, production fees and subscription or transaction revenue sharing.

On a positive note, advertising CPMs for platform distribution were significantly higher than publishers own Web sites and apps, but as DCN points out, this is largely due to the higher proportion of video advertising in the mix for platform partnerships. That may help explain YouTubes lead in total revenues generated, as well.

Platform partnerships have generally been a rough ride for publishers. After wooing publishers with promises of enormous reach and faster distribution, last year Facebook and Snapchat both moved to lower the profile of publisher content in favor of content from personal connections.

Then, to keep publishers interested, they began offering new features that could help win back some audience share.

For example, last month, Facebook began testing a new feature allowing users to browse curated selections of content from publishers drawn from their individual news feeds, called Collections, not long after Snapchat began tweaking a similar feature on its own platform.
by Thom Forbes @tforbes, January 25, 2017

President Donald Trump pressed his bring-jobs-home agenda yesterday in an hour-long breakfast summit at the White House with the CEOs of the Big Three and other auto industry executives while he also [looked] to mend fences, as the Wall Street Journal headline puts it.

Trump pledged to speed up regulatory reviews for business permits and create a friendlier climate for companies that want to invest in the U.S., stepping up his push to curb the flow of jobs overseas, write the WSJs Christina Rogers, Peter Nicholas and Mike Colias

Were going to make the process much more simple for the oil companies and everybody else that wants to do business in the United States, Trump told them. But he also reiterated that companies would pay a steep price should they not comply with his America First credo, echoing his Twitter messages in recent months threatening to slap a border tax on companies moving factory work abroad.

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The meeting, which included General Motors Mary Barra, Fords Mark Fields and Fiat Chrysler's Sergio Marchionne, was the latest sign of Trump's uncommon degree of intervention for a U.S. president into corporate affairs as he has repeatedly pressured automakers and other manufacturers to buy American and hire American, Reuters David Shepardson and Roberta Rampton write.

We have a very big push on to have auto plants and other plants  many other plants, he told the press as the meeting got underway, It's happening. Its happening big league.

Under a lede that suggests the president was attempting to reset relationships with the automakers, the Detroit News Keith Laing and Ian Thibodeau write that being summoned to the White House in the first days of the new administration puts automakers in the delicate position of having to satisfy a president who made campaign promises of bringing production home to the U.S.  and still meet the financial demands of stockholders. Some economists say the presidents promise to renegotiate North American Free Trade Agreement could have the unintended consequence of making Detroit automakers less competitive.

Forbes contributor David Kileys take was more direct. Trump To Automakers: Welcome To The Dictatorship, the hed reads. Kiley points out that the president has never had to build consensus or follow a process he himself did not create, and concludes: Its going to be a bumpy ride. Especially for auto companies trying to make a plan and succeed in growing and becoming more profitable.

Trump assured the executives that he intended to curtail unnecessary environmental regulations and make it easier to build plants in the United States, Steve Overly reports for the Washington Post. But thats easier promised than done, Kristin Dziczek, director of the industry, labor and economics group at the Center for Automotive Research, indicated to Overly.

Economics still favor building plants and hiring workers in Mexico, where labor is less expensive and there are fewer trade barriers. Whats more, Dziczek said the big automakers make investments knowing they will outlive any single president, regardless of what policies or regulations are put in place, Overly writes.

The auto executives put a positive spin on the get-together.

I think as an industry, were excited about working together with the president and his administration on tax policies, on regulation and on trade to really create a renaissance in American manufacturing, Ford CEO Fields said afterwards, Fox Business Matthew Rocco reports. GMs Barra echoed those sentiments, Rocco writes, and Fiat Chryslers Marchionne said his company shares President Trumps desire to build a strong manufacturing base in the U.S.

Thats the public face.

Automakers used to complain their economic and technological importance were underappreciated, but at the rate the Trump Administration has begun, the industry is already praying for a return to anonymity, Mark Phelan, the Detroit Free Press auto critic writes in an analysis published Saturday that separates claims made by the administration in recent months from the reality of what the automakers are actually doing and why theyre doing it.

Only the most venal executive can support the race to the bottom of the wage scale some industries engaged in as they moved manufacturing to low-pay countries, but theres more to automaking than that, and theres much more to automakers recent announcements about investment and production than a direct response to Trumps kvetching, Phelan writes.

That said, kvetching tends to garner much more votes than dense economic analyses.

If you're wondering why President Donald Trump has taken such a strong interest in auto industry jobs, you could start looking at the electoral map of the states that put him in office, points out CNBCs John W. Schoen. Of the 10 states that are the largest auto industry employers, eight of them went for Trump in the November election.
by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, January 25, 2017

With the inauguration of Donald Trump, the United States finds itself in a virtually unprecedented situation, pitting the president against large swathes of the federal civil service he is supposed to lead.

And social media has become a key battlefield in the ensuing war of words.

In a move to preempt critical or embarrassing content from appearing on social media, the Trump administration temporarily ordered the Department of the Interior be suspended,following two unfavorable tweets from an account operated by the National Park Service.

He followed up this week with similar social media bans at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Transportation, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health and Environmental Protection Agency.

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Some of the suspensions have been lifted or moderated somewhat, but as of Wednesday, the EPA  long disliked by conservatives and a frequent target for Trumps criticism  apparently remains under a total media blackout, forbidden to communicate with the media or public, including via social media.

The last tweet from the EPAs official Twitter account, @EPA, was sent on January 19, the day before Trumps inauguration.

However, there appear to be some signs of resistance to the blackout, at least unofficially. On Tuesday an ex-NPS employee of Badlands National Park in South Dakota reportedly hijacked the NPS' Twitter account in order to post statements about climate change in a series of tweets. Trump has dismissed climate change as a hoax.

The first tweet on the Badlands National Park Twitter feed stated: The pre-industrial concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 280 parts per million (ppm). As of December 2016, 404.93 ppm.

The second tweet stated: Today, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in the last 650,000 years. #climate

The third tweet stated: Flipside of the atmosphere; ocean acidity has increased 30% since the Industrial Revolution. Ocean Acidification" #climate #carboncycle

The tweets were deleted after Badlands administrators determined an ex-employee had hacked the Twitter account.
by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, January 25, 2017

If there were any doubts about whether Donald Trumps rhetoric during the campaign would translate into policy, the first three working days of his term have quashed them all.

Trumps signature policy, a wall on the Southern border, will begin its journey into reality today. Trump plans to sign an Executive Order funding the wall. In the same vein, he is expected to sign orders restricting immigration from Syria and other countries in the Mideast, in addition to temporarily banning refugee relocation.

We had the same president for the past eight years, and we became accustomed to a normal sequence of events -- bolstered by the thoughtful demeanor of President Obama.

Many may not realize how quickly the new Trump administration and Republican Congress are changing the spirit of our country.

Trumps tweets now hold significantly more weight.

On Tuesday, he tweeted: If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!

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Sending in the Feds can mean many things, but deciphering that turn of phrase suggests the ominous realization that Donald Trump intends to use the full force of the executive at whim.

Instead of calling for a convening of Illinois legislators and law enforcement officials, he goes straight to the nuclear option. It is not hard to imagine the outcome: curfews, tanks in the streets, riot police on every corner.

As an aside, the Trump administration has restricted the media access to certain federal agencies, in some cases imposing a total media blackout -- unprecedented in the modern age. All the while, his tweets are unending. (Per a Politico poll, 61% of voters overall say Trump uses Twitter too much.)

Adding to the rise in authoritarian moves by the Trump government, at least six journalists have been hit with felony charges after finding themselves in the mix of Inauguration Day protests. They could each face up to 10 years in prison.

The chill from the Trump administration is encroaching on American freedoms, given the incessant lies emanating from the White House. For instance, the idea that millions of illegal immigrants voted has long been debunked, despite the White Houses continued claims. (Trump cannot accept that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote.)

In response, many Americans are determined to protect key American values. In the past 24 hours, a New York event organizing an Emergency Rally for Muslim and Immigrant Rights has appeared on Facebook.
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Telomeres, the stretches of DNA that protect our chromosomes, have previously been associated with aging and disease. Now, a new study investigates the link between infantile infections and telomere length in adulthood. Share on Pinterest New research has linked the length of telomeres (shown here as white points at the end of chromosomes) to infantile infection.

Image credit: Hesed Padilla-Nash and Thomas Ried, National Cancer Institute.

Telomeres are repetitive strands of DNA found at the end of human chromosomes, and they protect the ends of chromosomes from deteriorating. With age, every time a cell divides, telomeres lose a part of their DNA and become shorter. Eventually, when telomeres become too short, cells will begin to stop replicating and die. Decreasing telomere length has been associated with aging-related diseases such as osteoporosis, heart disease, diabetes, and some forms of cancer. However, few studies have explored whether early life events might also affect telomere length. Researchers from the University of Washington, led by Dan Eisenberg, assistant professor of anthropology at the university, set out to examine the link between blood telomere length (BTL) and infectious diseases. The study was published in the American Journal of Human Biology.

Correlating early-life infection with telomere length Early-life infections, which are otherwise very common, activate an immune response that involves clonal expansion (the production of daughter cells from a single cell) and oxidative stress (physiological stress on the human body caused by the accumulation of free radicals). Given this biological mechanism, the researchers hypothesis was that a high infectious disease burden would shorten BTL and speed up the rate of immunosenescence  the gradual deterioration of the immune system that occurs naturally, with age. To test their hypothesis, the scientists examined data from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey, which is a study that followed 3,000 babies born in the Philippines between 1983 and 1984. Every 2 months up to the age of 2 years old, Cebu scientists gathered information from the mother on the health of their babies, including eating habits, breastfeeding, and diarrhea prevalence  which is a common sign of infection. Especially at the time of the Cebu Study and given public health conditions in Cebu City, diarrhea was most likely to be brought about by infection, says the lead author of the present study. As part of the Cebu Study, the infants were also tracked as they grew up, over the following 20 years. In 2005  when the infants had grown to be in their early 20s  scientists collected blood samples. Eisenberg and team collected detailed early-life data on the infectious burden from 1,759 babies included in the Cebu Study. They also used their blood samples to measure BTL, and then correlated telomere length with early-life infections.
A study just published in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics suggests that an alternative vaccine might bring clinical benefits and cost savings if used on a large scale when compared to the one currently in widest use.

Influenza is one of the biggest public health concerns, accounting for up to 5 million severe cases and half a million deaths every year worldwide. Therefore, vaccination against influenza has been a part of immunization programs throughout the world. While the most widely used vaccine is the trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV), the World Health Organization has been recommending the quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV) as of 2013.

There are four influenza strains in circulation that cause the majority of cases: two of type A and two of type B. TIV contains both type A strains and one type B, which are determined prior to the influenza season every year. QIV, which includes all four strains, was developed with the aim to provide broader protection with lower variability from season to season.

Researchers modelled the impact that QIV would have had if it had been used instead of TIV in recent years in three Latin American countries. They estimated the numbers of influenza cases, doctor visits and associated work absenteeism, hospitalizations and deaths due to influenza, as well as associated costs.

"Our study provides the first quantitative estimates of the potential benefits of QIV should it replace TIV in the national immunization programs in Brazil, Colombia and Panama. We found that QIV would provide health benefits in the three countries when considering influenza circulation from the last seasons. For instance, an annual average of 120,000 influenza cases would be avoided with QIV in the targeted population in Brazil, avoiding in turn about 2,350 hospitalizations and 275 deaths," says the lead author Aurelien Jamotte of Creativ-Ceutical.

The total societal cost savings were estimated between $1,000 and $34,000 per 100,000 person-years.

"We hope our study will be particularly useful for policy makers since its scope has been based on the current national recommendations of Brazil, Colombia and Panama." according to Aurelien Jamotte.

These results are in agreement with similar modelling studies from Europe and Australia.

"QIV is expected to provide benefits in most parts of the world since B strains represent on average 20-30% of circulating strains around the world. These proportions can be as high as 87% during some seasons in some countries. Whatever the country considered, QIV is expected to further reduce the public health and economic burden of influenza compared with TIV." concludes Aurelien Jamotte.
OKLAHOMA CITY

Jan. 25, 2017

January 25

Ryan Dennis

Rob Dawson

Liz Dowling

/PRNewswire/ -- Linear Health Sciences, developer of the Orchid Safety Release Valve, joins the Infusion Nurses Society (INS) in celebrating IV Nurse Day, which honors nurses around the world who provide IV therapy.IV Nurse Day, held onannually, was established by INS in 1981. The day honors those "who have dedicated their lives to providing patients with the best infusion care.""I know from my ongoing experience in hospital settings that infusion nurses are drivers of both innovation and best practices," said, M.D., CEO and co-founder of Linear Health Sciences. "As a company devoted to improving vascular access care through better technology, we see the crucial services provided by these dedicated nurses every day."Linear Health Sciences is developing safety release valve technology for a variety of medical lines and tubing. The company's first product, the Orchid Safety Release Valve (SRV), is designed to safely prevent the unwanted dislodgement of IVs. The device could provide advantages for patients, vascular access specialists, and hospitals. Those potential advantages include:Fewer IV restarts including painful needlesticks* Reduced potential for more invasive treatment such as central lines due to loss of peripheral IV integrity* Greater efficiency through avoiding dislodgements and unscheduled IV restartsLess exposure to sharps injuries and potentially infected blood* Reduced potential for infiltrations, phlebitis and healthcare-acquired infections* Cost savings due to more efficient use of nursing time and less need to replace entire IV setups because of accidental dislodgements* Greater patient satisfaction."IV dislodgements are a major problem in hospitals, so a device that could increase the efficiency and effectiveness of vascular access would have a real beneficial impact on patient care," said, DNP, MSA, APRN, ACNP-BC, VA-BC. "Unwarranted restarts can take up to 45 minutes extra of a nurse's time and are a source of anxiety and discomfort for patients. They also increase costs for hospitals. IV nurses are always on the lookout for this kind of technology so they can provide a better and less painful patient experience."Dawson is a nurse practitioner hospitalist, IV team nurse and CEO of Vascular Access Consultants, LLC. A nationally known thought leader, he is a clinician and researcher with more than 20 years experience in IV nursing.Founded by a physician and two engineers, Linear Health Sciences is the developer of the Orchid Safety Release Valve and other safety technology solutions for medical lines and tubing. Those solutions are designed to improve the healthcare experience for patients, caregivers, and healthcare institutions. Linear Health is currently pursuing FDA clearance for the Orchid Safety Release Valve. For more information, access www.linearsciences.com.Contact:, (415) 388-2794Dowling & Dennis Public RelationsE-mail: Liz@DowlingDennis.net

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/linear-health-sciences-honors-infusion-therapy-experts-on-iv-nurse-day-300396303.html



SOURCE Linear Health Sciences




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Differences in Neural Activity

Analyzing Resting State Activity

Analyzing Brain Response to Infant and Non-infant Cues

Conclusion

Jodi Pawluski et al. The Neurobiology of Postpartum Anxiety and Depression. Trends in Neurosciences ; (2017) doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2016.11.009 Depression Among Women - (https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/depression/)

In developed countries, at least 10%-15% of women are faced with PPD. In developing countries, the rates of postpartum anxiety appear to be at least as high as those in developed nations and PPD can be two to three times higher than in industrialized countries.New mothers struggling with PPD are often detached or withdrawn from family and friends, lose their appetite, feel sad, angry and irritable much of the time.It is different fromwhich most new mothers experience. "Baby blues" are characterized by symptoms of worry, sadness, and tiredness. It usually resolves on its own.Postpartum depression is more intense and lasts longer than those of "baby blues."Postpartum mood disorders not only affect mothers but also their infants because new and depressed mothers are often irritated by their infants, ignore their needs, breastfeed less, lack in maternal emotions and may have trouble forming a bond.These early interactions with the newborns are important and can lead to long-term behavioral problems for the children when they are older.Medical claims by children of depressed mothers are higher compared to children of healthy women because they bear a higher burden of illness, use health care services more frequently, and have more medical office and emergency department visits than do children of non-depressed mothers.The annual cost of not treating a mother with depression, is estimated to be $7,200.Despite the increased prevalence of both PPD and postpartum anxiety and pervasive costs for the mother and developing child, very few clinical studies offer an understanding of the neural bases of postpartum emotional and mood disorders.Postpartum depression does not have any diagnostic criteria and its symptoms often resemble other forms of depression or mood disorders.It is difficult to assess the precise rates of postpartum anxiety and depressive disorders due to the heterogeneity of the disorders, differences among studies in their research populations, and an overall lack of screening for psychiatric symptoms in postpartum women.In the research, psychologists explore the neurobiology of postpartum depression and anxiety."Motherhood really can change the mother, which is something we often overlook. And we forget about examining the neurobiology of maternal mental health and maternal mental illness, particularly anxiety," says behavioral neuroscientist Jodi Pawluski of University of Rennes 1 in France, who co-authored the paper with Joseph Lonstein of Michigan State University and Alison Fleming of the University of Toronto at Mississauga.To study the brain systems involved in affective disorders in women during late pregnancy through to 18 months postpartum, two general research strategies involving the safe and non-invasive functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) approach have been used.Theinvolves analysis of women's brain resting state, or the brain activity that occurs in the absence of any specific external stimulation.These analysis focus on brain systems that characterize depression, including those involved in self-awareness, emotional regulation, and cognitive functioning in the absence of cues.It was noted that at rest, women who had both PPD and postpartum anxiety had decreased neural connectivity.These women with PPD showed significantly weaker connectivity between the amygdala (AMG), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and the hippocampus compared with non-depressed postpartum women.Theinvolves using fMRI to investigate differences in mothers' brain in response to infant and non-infant cues.The goal was to understand both the neurobiology of PPD and postpartum anxiety and how they alter neurobiological correlates of maternal response to infants.The analysis revealed that neural activation between depressed and non-depressed mothers also differs in response to infant and non-infant related cues.The activity in a specific brain region will increase in response to a non-infant emotional cue, but decrease in response to an infant-related emotional cue.For instance, the amygdala is usually hyperactive in anxious and depressed people, but for the women with PPD, the amygdala can actually be less activated.These results collectively suggest that mood disorders during the postpartum period are neurobiologically distinct from these disorders at other times in one's life.PPD is now listed as, a subset of major depression in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). DSM-5 is the text which sets industry standards for diagnosing mental conditions.But postpartum anxiety, though as prevalent as PPD is not included at all in the DSM-5. Despite affecting 1 in 7 new mothers postpartum anxiety receives far less attention in the literature."When we talk about the neurobiology of postpartum depression and anxiety, our information from the studies done on humans is only comprised of about 20 papers," says Pawluski."If you think that 10%-20% of women during pregnancy and the postpartum period will suffer from depression and/or anxiety, and then you realize there are only 20 publications looking at the neurobiology of these illnesses, it's quite shocking." Pawluski added.Pawluski described new parenthood as, "It's a life changer. It's fantastic, terrifying, amazing, frustrating, exhausting, thrilling, and everything in between. It is not always a happy time, and we need to understand that, talk about it, and figure why it can trigger mental illnesses in so many women. If we can improve the health and well-being of the mother, we will improve the health and well-being of the child and family."Though PPD and postpartum anxiety affect nearly 1 in 10 women, they are often treated as extensions of major depression and generalized anxiety disorder, respectively.The condition can be further complicated by thewhere women are expected to enthusiastically embrace their new motherhood, but they are unable to.Another major problem is that sometimes theassociated with mental disorders prevent many women with postpartum mood disorders from discussing their issues openly with health care providers and hence their condition remains largely under-addressed.Though information on changes in activation in brain regions can be studied using fMRI, which helps in detecting changes in blood flow, continued research is needed for postpartum anxiety and depression to determine the mechanisms behind the neurobiological patterns.The understanding of neurobiological pattern of maternal mood disorders will help in developing effective and safe treatment approaches, thus improving the health and well-being of the mother and child.The review is published inSource: Medindia
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One military service used this program and other two services instituted other programs that encouraged reduced rates of harm in childbirth but offered no specific programmatic recommendations for reduction. This study evaluated the effectiveness of SAFE PASSAGES training on the incidence of perineal trauma in the Department of Defense.Of the three programs reviewed, SAFE PASSAGES showed the greatest reduction in the rate of harm (63.6%) at the same time having a decrease in cesarean delivery rates. At hospitals where the SAFE PASSAGES program was implemented with on-site didactic and simulation training, the rate of severe perineal lacerations was reduced by over 300%."I believe that the principles taught and propagated in the SAFE PASSAGES program could go a long way toward keeping the cesarean rate down, even improving the rate, while reducing the overall risk of trauma in child birth" stated Merlin B. Fausett, M.D., maternal-fetal medicine specialist with the Community Medical Center and the presenter of the research at the SMFM annual meeting. Dr. Fausett continued, "If one considers a cesarean as trauma, these principles can really help reduce the risk of trauma to mother either through avoiding unnecessary cesareans or reducing trauma in vaginal birth while even potentially reducing the risk of trauma to babies as well.The program includes training in support of forceps and vacuum deliveries and quality repair of tears when they do occur. This study definitively shows that applying the techniques taught in the SAFE PASSAGES program can really help to reduce the risk of harm to mother and baby during childbirth."Source: Eurekalert
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The organization has developed a series of maternal safety toolkits aimed at responding to the leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality including reducing complications from obstetric hemorrhage, severe hypertension and early elective delivery.The California Partnership for Maternal Safety project focused on scaling up safety initiatives to engage 126 California hospitals (with over 250,000 annual births) to improve outcomes from obstetric hemorrhage. While small studies have demonstrated the value of safety toolkits and quality improvement projects to reduce complications, this is the first project to scale to a population level showing the generalizability of this approach.In this project, researchers focused on 99 hospitals that participated in the California Maternal Data Center, using rapid-cycle data that enabled access to immediate results. These hospitals had a reduction of severe hemorrhage by 21% after the first year of participation. 25 hospitals that participated in an earlier quality collaborative and were in their second year did even better with a 28% reduction, illustrating that quality improvement is a continuous process.Elliott Main, who is the medical director of the CMQCC and the presenter of the study at the SMFM annual meeting, explained, "The keys for success were (1) multi-partner engagement, (2) rapid cycle data and (3) use of a novel quality improvement model involving pairing physician and nurse mentors working with five to eight hospitals at a time, all within the construct of a large statewide project."Improvement was seen in all sizes and types of hospitals. Small hospitals showed the greatest improvement underscoring the quality improvement opportunities represented by their more limited resources.State perinatal quality collaboratives are now being established in most states with the support of state departments of health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Maternal Child Health Bureau. California had a head start with the Perinatal/Neonatal Collaborative established in 1996 and the related Maternal Collaborative in 2006.Main added, "The rapid-cycle California Maternal Data Center can serve as a model for using current state collected data such as birth certificates to help drive quality improvement projects and minimize data collection burden on the hospitals."Source: Eurekalert
26-year-old British Indian actor, and 'Slumdog Millionaire' star, Dev Patel became the third actor EVER to receive an Oscar nod, for his work in the movie, 'Lion'. What's interesting is that with his 'Supporting Actor' nomination, Patel is the first Indian acting nominee in over 13 years (Sir Ben Kingsley was nominated in 2004 for 'House of Sand and Fog')!

Source: See-Saw Films

"I'm sitting here with my mouth wide open figuring out how this happened. I'm feeling overwhelmingly grateful right now," Patel told BBC. Patel is currently in India shooting for his upcoming movie, 'Hello Mumbai'.
Alternate Foreign Minister G. Katrougalos participated in the informal meeting of the EU General Affairs Council, in Valletta, during which there was a discussion on the programme of Malta's Presidency of the Council of the EU and on the future of Europe.



In his intervention, Mr. Katrougalos welcomed the goals set for the first half of the year by Malta, a neighbouring country with which we share common priorities, particularly in the sectors of migration, the Single Market, shipping and the EU's relations with third countries in the region.



Furthermore, he underscored that Europe is facing an existential moment, needing to face its responsibilities for mistaken policies that have led to the present ongoing crisis. The Alternate Foreign Minister highlighted that reactionary and anti-European forces are growing in strength precisely because the European structure could not address the economic crisis, the fear and the sense of insecurity of citizens regarding the future. In fact, to date, we are seeing the implementation of austerity policies that are degrading the social state, shrinking the middle class and increasing inequalities. To overcome this situation, a balance needs to be achieved in order to address the chronic asymmetry between the social and economic dimensions of European integration, through immediate measures that will enhance the social and democratic nature of the Union's economic governance.



Mr. Katrougalos welcomed the holding of the Social Summit in Sweden this coming November, while he stressed that there is a need to strengthen the unifying nature and accountability of the economic tools of economic governance. In this direction, there needs to be a strengthening of the role of the European Parliament and of the National Parliaments during the European Semester, while regulations should be promoted for enhancing the social agenda, with the acceptance of proposals from the European syndicates, including the establishment of a minimum wage commensurate with the average wage of each country, a European system of insurance against unemployment, the drawing up of a new social rights protocol, reform of the Stability Agreement based on substantial development indicators, etc. Regarding the EU budget, there should be new planning with broader elements of redistribution that will address the increasing divergences between central and peripheral states.



Finally, the Alternate Foreign Minister referred to the refugee problem as an issue of immediate priority, the handling of which requires that the decisions already taken be implemented, and that the binding rules of solidarity be in ongoing effect. The European states need to implement the decisions of the Council on relocation and the provisions of the EU-Turkey agreement, and shape a common European Asylum System that does not unduly burden countries of first reception. The dialogue on the Future of Europe will continue at the Valletta Summit Meeting on 3 February and will culminate in the Rome Summit Meeting on 25 March, the anniversary of the conclusion of the Treaty of Rome.
Since mid-2014, energy markets have witnessed plunging oil prices amid plentiful supply of the commodity and lackluster global demand. Over time, the commodity has slipped more than half the price it was trading two and half years back. Most of the investors were confused with a million-dollar question that how low could oil go down.

In the midst of such a scenario, oil majors lowered their exploration budgets significantly as the business was not in their favor. Consequently, with lower upstream activities and negligible thirst for new oil, crude discoveries dropped to 70-year low level last year.

So, whats the reason for last years record oil finds?

Lower Capital Spending

The energy market, which has been oversupplied since mid-2014, saw oil prices plunge to all-time lows. Last February, commodity prices nosedived to $26 per barrel. The downturn prompted several analysts to make projections about a potential bottom. While some suggested that prices might drop to $20 per barrel, others came up with estimates of as low as $10 per barrel.

The primary reason for the oil price plunge was the race among major crude producers like OPEC, Russia and U.S. shale producers. In a bid to outpace high-cost producers like the U.S. shale players, OPEC continued to increase production despite the supply glut.

This spelt dooms for exploration and production (E&P) firms as they were unable to sell the commodity at profitable prices. As expected, this led to lesser activities to discover new resources and significant cost cuts. Among major oil companies, Chevron Corporation CVX lowered its 2016 exploratory budget by almost 24% to $26.6 billion. Also, ConocoPhillips COP slashed its worldwide exploration budget by 22%.

Growing Number of Dry Hole

Originally, the term Dry Hole was used to specify oil wells that did not contain considerable oil reserves. However, the expression has now come to imply business initiatives that are proven to be fruitless owing to non-commercial oil and gas findings. Last year, several initiatives for exploration were proved futile.

Story continues

In this regard, a joint initiative between ConocoPhillips, Suncor Energy SU, and Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A made last year deserves mention. The initiative, which was developed to get crude from the Shelburne Basin located off the coast of Atlantic, turned out to be unproductive.

The Result: Record Low Discovery

The huge slump in capital budget allocation toward upstream activities along with several fruitless commercial initiatives led to minimal oil discoveries.

Energy research firm Rystad Energy reported that the discovery of oil and gas across the world  outside of shale plays of North America  slipped to little above 6 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) last year. This is the lowest mark since 1940.

Lets take a look at last years oil findings though discoveries were few and far. In June 2016, Irving, TX-based ExxonMobil Corporation XOM  the worlds largest publicly traded oil company  confirmed the finding of world-class oil from a well located off the coast of Guyana. Notably, the offshore well consists of recoverable resources in the range of 800 million BOE to 1.4 billion BOE. The energy major also declared discovery of crude from off the coast of Nigeria, which have resources in the range of 500 million BOE to 1 billion BOE.

Meanwhile, another leading energy firm Royal Dutch Shell plc RDS.A found oil at Fort Sumter prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, where it discovered more than 125 million BOE of crude. Integrated energy player Statoil ASA STO also announced two discoveries after it completed the Canadian Atlantic exploration operations during 2016.

Low Discovery Not a Concern

Lets have a look on global demand side for the time being to get to the apparent concern in details. As per International Energy Agency, the global demand for crude will get to the peak during 2040 which means that worldwide oil demand will go on increasing for few decades.

Hence, if the trend of low oil discoveries follows then it could not fulfill the growing commodity demand. In other words, the ever rising crude demand will likely force the E&P players to explore for new oil.

Which Energy Stocks to Buy?

Overall, the article clearly shows that investors should not turn away from investing on energy stocks. In fact, with prospects for E&P companies looking good both in the near term  following the OPEC and non-OPEC producers deal  and in the long term, wise investors might do well to add a few such stocks to their portfolio. With improving oil demand, the commodity price might improve further in the long term that could help the E&P firms to sell oil at lucrative prices.

Also, increase in E&P activities will result in higher demand for transporting and storage for additional crude output. This bodes well for midstream energy players in the long run.

However, picking the best energy stock is a daunting task. Here we have used the Zacks Stock Screener to zero in on five promising stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) and VGM score of B or better.

VGM score, where V stands for Value, G for Growth and M for Momentum, is a comprehensive tool that allows investors to filter through the standard scoring system and pick winning stocks. Overall, our extensive research says that the combination of a favorable Zacks Rank and favorable VGM score indicates that a stock is capable of outperforming the market.

Our Choices

Incorporated in 1959, Houston, TX-based McDermott International Inc. MDR is an engineering and construction company, which is solely focused on the offshore oil and gas business.

Currently, the company has a Zacks Rank #1 and VGM score of B. McDermott also outperformed the Zacks categorized Oil Field Mechanical & Equipment industry over the prior three months. During the aforesaid period the company gained more than 45% as against only 4% improvement for the broader industry. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Diamondback Energy Inc. FANG  headquartered in Midland, TX  is an E&P company that carries out its operations on oil resources in the Permian Basin in West Texas.

The company has a VGM score of B and a Zacks Rank #2. Diamondback Energy beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters with an average earnings beat of 74.13%.

Based in Dallas, TX, Matador Resources Company MTDR is also an E&P player that operates in the U.S. oil and gas plays.

Matador Resources presently has a Zacks Rank #2 and VGM score of B. The company also surpassed the Zacks categorized Oil & Gas-U.S Exploration & Production industry in the last three months. During this time frame, shares of Matador Resource gained almost 8% compared with nearly 7% increase registered by for the industry.

W&T Offshore Inc. WTI  headquartered in Houston, TX  is involved in E&P operations on patches in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company has Zacks Rank #2 and VGM score of A. Over the last three month period, W&T Offshore beat the Zacks categorized Oil & Gas-U.S Exploration & Production industry. During the period, the companys shares gained as much as 99%.

Plains All American Pipeline LP PAA  headquartered in Houston, TX  is a publicly traded master limited partnership (MLP). It is primarily involved in transportation and storage businesses of oil.

The partnership has a VGM score of A and Zacks Rank #2. Over a period of 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2016 has been upgraded to earnings of 98 cents from 78 cents.

Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017

In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest tickers for the entirety of 2017?

Who wouldn't? These 10 are painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. They are our primary picks to buy and hold. Be among the very first to see them>>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (PAA): Free Stock Analysis Report



McDermott International, Inc. (MDR): Free Stock Analysis Report



Suncor Energy Inc. (SU): Free Stock Analysis Report



Chevron Corporation (CVX): Free Stock Analysis Report



Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A): Free Stock Analysis Report



Statoil ASA (STO): Free Stock Analysis Report



Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM): Free Stock Analysis Report



W&T Offshore, Inc. (WTI): Free Stock Analysis Report



ConocoPhillips (COP): Free Stock Analysis Report



Matador Resources Company (MTDR): Free Stock Analysis Report



Diamondback Energy, Inc. (FANG): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
BAD AXE  Huron Countys wind energy debate may have some new competition  in solar power.

Cypress Creek Renewables of Arizona is offering local landowners up to $800 an acre to house solar farms on 30-acre parcels of farmland for 20 years, and some have signed.

They cant make that farming, John Nugent, Huron County Commissioner, told the Tribune. Theyre lucky if they make $500 an acre.

County Building and Zoning Director Jeff Smith informed the Huron County Board of Commissioners that local landowners have signed contracts with Cypress.

The company has requested that the county devise a large-scale commercial solar ordinance, Smith said.

Several landowners and their attorneys have reached out to Smith.

Officials were not sure if the farms would be considered a means of agricultural land preservation, as wind farms are.

Some felt that the solar farms would eat up agricultural land in the county, and reduce agricultural production.

Officials will consult Rich Harlow, Farmland Preservation Program manager for the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development, to see if solar farms can be considered for farmland preservation under Michigans Public Act 116.

Smith referred to 2005 when landowners signed wind leasing agreements and  his voice trailed, but Commissioner Ron Wruble finished his sentence with asked questions later.

Landowners along the Thumb loop of the states electrical grid have been approached about solar farm contracts. This includes farmers in Lincoln, Sherman, Brookfield and Grant townships, Smith said.

He added that at least 30 acres are necessary to build a solar farm.

The county recently imposed a year-long moratorium on wind development. This has quieted the renewable energy debate among officials and residents.

Solar, Smith said, sounds like the next hot topic.

Nugent noted that farms with wind turbines would not be eligible for solar contracts, while pointing out that solar farms are more lucrative.

During the meeting, Nugent asked Smith what the downside of solar energy is.

Smith replied that there is glare comparable to a lake or river bed, and that electromagnetic fields are an issue.
The U.S. Army's top commander in the Pacific region said Wednesday his biggest worry is the missile threat from North Korea but sees his growing relationship with the Chinese military and other countries as a sign that stability is slowly spreading across the region.

"The thing I worry the most about is North Korea, the most likely threat to all of us," Gen. Robert Brown, commander of U.S. Army Pacific Command, told an audience at Asia Forecast 2017, hosted by the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

Brown said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un continues to display a "belligerent aggressiveness" with his efforts to arm long-range missiles with nuclear weapons.

"You have a belligerent North Korea; he's pushing the envelope. I mean, look at 34-plus launches in four years  it could be upward of 40, depending on what you count versus his father, [who did] 12 launches in 17 years," he said. "There is something going on there."

Brown's comments come amid recent reports that North Korea is preparing to test launch an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Assessments from South Korea say North Korea may be preparing for a missile test launch of an ICBM, possibly in the next few days, according to an article by the Union of Concerned Scientists' Global Security Program.

While little proof exists, accounts say that the South Korean military has reported seeing two missiles on mobile launchers.

If North Korea were to use this in an attack, Brown said, "Every soldier that I lead, every individual that I am in charge of, would be involved -- some within hours, some are already there on the peninsula.

"I have significant responsibilities -- things like non-combatant evacuations on the peninsula, getting half a million people out of there."

Brown returned from a trip last fall that involved a visit to China as Army units took part in a disaster management exchange exercise there. He said he met with many leaders during that trip.

"We concentrated on what we had in common," he said. "I talked out the Flying Tigers in World War II, where we actually had U.S. pilots flying in the Chinese air force. We talked about Ebola and many [humanitarian assistance, disaster relief] and peacekeeping operations -- other things we had in common."

Tension between the U.S. and China has been increasing in the region since the Chinese government built seven bases in the South China Sea on manmade islands.

"We have to find what we have in common ... so you can talk about the differences. If you just talk differences, you are never going to get past that," Brown said, adding that he has a "great relationship" with leaders in the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

"In my 30-plus years in the Pacific, and 36 years in the military, I have never seen stronger ties throughout the region  for me, that is extremely encouraging."

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.
Camp Lejeune Town Halls Aim to Help Those Exposed to Toxic Water. Heres How You Can Go.

Retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger made it his mission to tell the world that if they lived or served on Camp Lejeune...
The Marine Corps is putting its next generation of protective gear through a kind of boot camp designed to stress problem areas and reveal weaknesses.

The items to be tested are the Generation III plate carrier vest and reinforced pack frame -- both prototypes that have yet to make it to the fleet. They'll be subjected to freezing temperatures, saltwater, sand abrasion, and possibly oil and petroleum contamination as the service works to troubleshoot problems well before the gear has a chance to fail downrange.

Potential focus areas for the tests include zippers and Velcro on the plate carrier, which tend to get fouled and jammed in sandy environments, Nick Pierce, team lead for body armor and load-bearing equipment at Marine Corps Systems Command, told Military.com. The new plate carrier prototype used updated versions of both these elements, he said.

"It's something that's a constant issue for all our gear that has those components," he said. "So that's why we're testing it so early, even before we get close to fielding a new system."

For the reinforced pack frame, used to support rucksacks, the top concern is ensuring the components don't break when exposed to prolonged cold temperatures, a noted problem with the current frame. The reinforced design is in large part a response to issues with the current frame. Marines at School of Infantry-West in California reported in 2013 that the frames broke during normal use. And in 2015 and 2016, Marines participating in cold weather exercises in Norway and California complained about similar issues.

To test the frames in the cold, Marine Corps Systems Command sent 40 of the frame prototypes to Norway with a new 300-man rotation that deployed earlier this month. For the next six months, Marines assigned to the force will use the packs during routine training, including cold weather exercises above the Arctic circle. Then, the packs will be sent back to SYSCOM so that experts can study wear points and breakages, said Flora Jordan, engineer for body armor and load-bearing equipment.

"Some of the most important things about our equipment is how it fits and feels on Marines," Pierce said.

The frames will also be subjected to temperatures as low as -30 degrees Fahrenheit in a lab environment over a 24-hour period for maximum stress.

When it comes to testing salt and sand exposure, the process is scientific. According to an environmental test plan published in a Marine Corps solicitation this month, the Generation III plate carrier prototype will be immersed in a saltwater bath for 24 hours, then have Velcro, zipper, and quick-release systems tested multiple times for failures and weaknesses. The vest will also endure a wet/dry cycle test in which it is soaked in saltwater and allowed to dry 10 times in a row to test its durability. In another long-term exposure test, the vest will sit for two weeks in a "salt fog" to assess how the corrosive environment might degrade it. After all that, the same plate carrier will endure a four-hour sandblast, with all material failures carefully documented.

All testing is expected to take place this year, officials said. The gear itself, however, may be a ways from fielding. The Marine Corps is still designing specifications for both items, and the plate carrier has not yet been budgeted. But Pierce said the hope is that by conducting environmental testing early, SYSCOM can spare frustrating discoveries after gear is fielded.

"For the individual Marine, when we go out and talk to Marines, we hear frustrations about when gear breaks while they're out in the field," he said. "If a zipper breaks or something like that when they're out on deployment or on field operations, it can be hard for them to deal with.

By testing it this much this early, it prevents those frustrations and impact to what they do out in the field. So they're not thinking about their gear so much; they can focus on their mission."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.

Related Video:
A pair of Russian Tu-95 Bear nuclear-capable bombers flew around Japan on Tuesday, prompting the Japanese military to scramble fighter jets as the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) increased its threat posture, two U.S. defense officials revealed to Fox News.

The Russian bombers stayed in international airspace, the officials said. News of this latest Russian provocation came shortly after the Pentagon announced that new Defense Secretary James Mattis would make his first visit overseas to Japan and South Korea early next month.

A third Russian Tu-95 bomber took off from a base in eastern Russia near the Pacific Ocean but it did not fly around Japan. Instead, it acted as a "communications relay" to pass radio traffic between the bombers flying around Japan, the officials said.

All three Russian strategic bombers took off outside the Pacific coastal city of Anadyr in eastern Russia. They returned to the eastern Russian airbase Ukrainka, roughly 1,000 miles from Japan.

Three Russian refueling tankers (IL-78) were also part of the flight. Two airborne radar and communications planes known as Beriev A-50 AWACs were also part of the Russian flying armada.

Only two Russian bombers made the flight around Japan's major islands, according to officials.

The increase in threat posture from 5 to 4 meant the U.S. Air Force would place an extra tanker crew on standby ready to refuel the Japanese jets if necessary, according to officials.

It was the first time Russian bombers had circumnavigated Japan's major islands in a year, the officials said.

Lucas Tomlinson is the Pentagon and State Department producer for Fox News Channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @LucasFoxNews

Related Video:
President Donald Trump's hiring freeze at the Department of Veterans Affairs appeared to put him at odds with his own nominee to head the VA, Dr. David Shulkin.

Shulkin, currently chief executive of the Veterans Health Administration, has repeatedly cited the need to hire more caregivers at the VA to cut wait times. In addition, the acting head of the VA, Robert Snyder, said Tuesday that he was looking for ways around the Trump freeze.

"The Department of Veterans Affairs intends to exempt anyone it deems necessary for public safety, including front-line caregivers" from the freeze, Snyder said in a statement Tuesday. He was chief of staff before VA Secretary Bob McDonald stepped down.

The White House appeared ready Wednesday to agree with Snyder on the need for public safety exemptions to the freeze at the VA, but the practical effects were unclear. A White House spokesman said "public safety" can be construed to include "public health," The Washington Post reported.

Shulkin, who has headed the department's largest division for the past two years, has argued for hiring more doctors and nurses at the VA in response to the 2014 scandals over lengthy patient waits for appointments that led to the resignation of former VA secretary and retired Army chief of staff, Eric Shinseki.

In an interview with NPR last fall, Shulkin said there were "too many" job openings at the department, and he stressed the need to bring more caregivers into the system. "I need to fill every one of those openings in order to make sure that we're doing the very best for our veterans." Currently, the VA is seeking to hire more than 2,000 personnel.

In announcing earlier this month that Shulkin was his choice to head the VA, Trump said: "I'll tell you about David -- he's fantastic, he's fantastic. He will do a truly great job. One of the commitments I made is that we're going to straighten out the whole situation for our veterans."

No date has been set yet for Shulkin's Senate confirmation hearing. If confirmed, he would preside over a sprawling $180 billion department that includes the nation's largest health care system with 1,700 sites serving nearly nine million vets annually with a workforce of 300,000.

Several veterans service organizations said they were encouraged by acting VA Secretary Snyder's intention to seek "public safety" exemptions to the hiring freeze, but the groups also pointed to general confusion at federal agencies over how the freeze will be implemented.

In signing the freeze memorandum Monday, Trump said it would apply across the board for all federal agencies "except for the military, except for the military." However, there was uncertainty at the Defense Department on whether there would be a public safety exemption on hiring for the Pentagon's civilian workforce of about 740,000.

The Trump memorandum stated, "As part of this freeze, no vacant positions existing at noon on January 22, 2017, may be filled and no new positions may be created, except in limited circumstances.

"This order does not include or apply to military personnel," the memo said, and "the head of any executive department or agency may exempt from the hiring freeze any positions that it deems necessary to meet national security or public safety responsibilities.

"In addition, the director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) may grant exemptions from this freeze where those exemptions are otherwise necessary," the memo said.

At a White House briefing Tuesday, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the freeze applied to the VA, which prompted Snyder to issue the statement on seeking public safety exemptions from OPM. "I think the VA in particular, if you look at the problems that have plagued people, hiring more people isn't the answer," Spicer said.

The American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, and American Veterans (AMVETS) all favored public safety exemptions at the VA for hiring caregivers and also personnel working to clear up claims backlogs.

"We're giving Mr. Snyder credit" on the exemptions, said Louis Celli, director of national veterans affairs for the 2.4 million member American Legion. "We're taking his word that this is a done deal. We want to be sure that the VHA did not fall under the hiring freeze."

Garry Augustine, executive director of the Disabled American Veterans, said of department officials, "They have vacancies they've got to fill. We hope the president will be considerate of the access issues at the VA."

He added, "There wasn't a lot of clarification" in the Trump hiring freeze memo. "We don't know how this is going to play out, frankly. We're all scratching our heads."

Similar concerns were expressed by John Hoellwarth, national communications director for AMVETS. "The idea of having this freeze -- it's concerning to us," he said. Dramatic improvements were already underway at the VA, and "it's hard to imagine they'll be able to do that with fewer people."

In Congress, two House Democrats have already introduced legislation to lift the hiring freeze at the VA.

Reps. Kurt Schrader of Oregon and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts cited reports showing that "there are thousands of vacancies at the VA nationwide including hundreds of Primary Care Providers (PCP) and nurse practitioner vacancies."

"Placing this hiring freeze on the VA is an absolutely unacceptable way to treat the men and women who have risked life and limb in the service of our country," Schrader said.

"All of the progress the VA has made on reducing wait times will come to a screeching halt," said Moulton, who served four tours as a Marine officer in Iraq.

In a separate statement, Rep. Julia Brownley, a California Democrat, urged Trump to "reconsider his ill-conceived hiring freeze, which will harm our nation's veterans." She said "many of the individuals in the pipeline for jobs are veterans, as 33% of VA employees are themselves veterans. The hiring freeze will deny needed jobs for these qualified heroes."

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
President Donald Trump's choice for the next Air Force secretary could be a signal to troops that neither he nor Defense Secretary James Mattis intend to impose a ban on women in combat.

Heather Wilson, a former congresswoman and Air Force Academy graduate, hasn't directly advocated for women on the front lines -- indeed, she once raised doubts about lifting the ban on female troops serving in direct combat arms positions. But she has aggressively backed the need for women in combat support roles, according to congressional testimony from 2005.

Wilson was elected in 1998 to represent New Mexico's 1st Congressional District and at the time was the first and only female veteran serving in Congress.

During a spirited debate more than a decade ago over whether the U.S. should move to ban military women from serving and supporting their male counterparts on the front lines, Wilson had no intention of letting the subject whittle away just because male members in Congress believed "good men protect women" -- and not the other way around.

"Good women want freedom, too, and will fight for it," the former Air Force captain said, according to a New York Daily News story from May 19, 2005.

Committee members were concerned over the rising casualty rates for women serving in the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

At that time, nearly 40 women had been killed and 250 wounded during Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Prior to the hearing, the House had last debated the issue of women in combat in 1979, according to the Center for Military Readiness.

While Wilson was skeptical of lifting the ban on women serving directly in combat, such as infantry and artillery roles, she said it was "silly" and "offensive" to limit the women already serving as medics, drivers, military police, engineers and even other roles such as Female Engagement Teams -- which were vital in advising and collecting information from local families in the Middle East without breaking cultural norms.

The idea "just doesn't make sense," she said at the time. "We can't meet our recruiting needs now."

Lawmakers "ultimately abandoned" the provision, according to Congressional Quarterly's issue tracker on women in the military.

"This was unnecessary and unhelpful," Wilson said of the back-and-forth negotiations. "There will be no restrictions in statute for how the Army can assign women in the military."

The congresswoman later ran in 2008 for a Senate seat, but lost during the primary election.

This month, during his Senate confirmation hearing, Defense Secretary James Mattis said he would support the current policy on women in combat roles. "I have no plan to oppose women in any aspect of our military," he said.

Mattis said that he would be guided by strict adherence to standards. "The standards are the standards and, when people meet the standards, that's the end of the discussion on that," he said.

"Today, over 15 percent of today's active-duty force is female. Our military could not accomplish its missions without these women. As we ask more from our female enlisted members and officers, we owe them more as well," Mattis said. He noted that as a commander he had not hesitated in putting women on the front lines with men.

Wilson graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1982, part of the third class to include women, according to a White House statement.

If confirmed, she would be the third woman to serve in the role after Deborah Lee James, who served under President Barack Obama, and Sheila E. Widnall, who served under President Bill Clinton's administration.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect Wilson is a former captain in the U.S. Air Force.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at richard.sisk@military.com.

Related Video:
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Two armed robberies and a car following a woman after the driver pointed a gun at her were reported in the early morning hours of Jan. 25, 2017 near the University of Michigan.

(Courtesy)

ANN ARBOR, MI - Police are investigating several incidents, including an armed robbery, reported near the University of Michigan campus in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Jan. 25.

Ann Arbor police were called about 12:13 a.m. Wednesday for an armed robbery reported in the area of Arch Street and Oakland Street, according to a release from the Ann Arbor Police Department.

A 21-year-old man told police he was walking in the area when he was approached by two black men who had exited a dark-colored sedan wearing black-colored hooded sweatshirts and bandanas, police said.

The men pointed a black semi-automatic handgun at the 21-year-old and said "Give me what you got," police said. He then handed over his cellphone, keys and wallet. The suspects then fled toward the sedan.

Then, about 12:17 a.m. police were called to an armed robbery on South Forest Avenue and Oakland Street. That location is south of UM's central campus.

A 19-year-old woman told police she was walking on the sidewalk when she noticed a person walking behind her.

The individual, described as a white man with a semi-automatic handgun wearing a black-colored zip hoodie and a red-colored "Halloween" mask, approached her and said "Give me what you have," according to police. The woman threw her cellphone at the man and ran away.

A dark-colored four-door sedan was seen in the area during the incident.

Sometime later, at about 3:41 a.m., police were called to the 700 block of South Forest Avenue.

A 19-year-old woman told police the driver of a dark-colored vehicle made a U-turn in the road, stopped near her and pointed a handgun at her as she walked by. She immediately returned to her own vehicle and drove away, but was followed by the suspect vehicle for several city blocks, police said.

Nothing was said and nothing was taken during this incident, police said. The suspect vehicle was described as a dark-colored, older model four-door sedan.

A crime alert issued by the University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security stated Ann Arbor police also received a report of possible shots fired near Hill Street overnight, but officers determined no shots had been fired.

Police are actively investigating the three incidents involving handguns, according to the Ann Arbor Police Department.

"We are evaluating uniform officer staffing deployments in the central campus area to increase patrol presence," police said in a release.



A $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the identification, arrest and prosecution on those responsible for the incidents.



Anyone with information is encourage to contact Ann Arbor police on the tip line at 734-794-6939 or tips@a2gov.org.
UPDATE: Reward offered after two armed robberies, car with armed driver following woman reported near University of Michigan

ANN ARBOR, MI - Police are investigating several incidents, including armed robberies, reported near the University of Michigan campus in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Jan. 25.

Ann Arbor police were called about 12:20 a.m. to Arch Street near Packard Street and to Hill Street and South Forest Avenue for the incidents, according to a crime alert sent about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday by the university. The locations are south of central campus.

"As told to the Ann Arbor Police, in two locations at about the same time, a pedestrian reported being robbed at gunpoint by a subject who then fled in a dark-colored vehicle," the crime alert said. "Additionally the Ann Arbor Police received calls about possible shots fired near Hill Street, but the officers in the area determined no shots had been fired."

The Ann Arbor Police Department is expected to release more information on the incidents Wednesday morning.

Those with information on the incidents are asked to call the University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security at 734-763-1131 or contact Ann Arbor police at 734-794-6939 or tips@a2gov.org.
Donald Trump

President Donald Trump signs an executive order regarding border security and immigration enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017, at the Homeland Security Department in Washington.

(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

ANN ARBOR, MI - Without ever officially declaring itself as such, Ann Arbor has earned a reputation as being a so-called "sanctuary city."

That's a label given to cities across the United States that are viewed as safe havens for undocumented immigrants because of local policies limiting police involvement in federal immigration matters.

President Donald Trump signed executive orders on Wednesday, Jan. 25, seeking to follow through on threats to cut off federal funding for such cities.

So far, it's unclear what the impact might be or what Ann Arbor potentially stands to lose, but its ability to secure federal grants could be jeopardized if federal officials determine the city isn't following federal law.

"I haven't heard any details and, in the conversations I've had with immigration advocates, we don't know yet," City Council Member Chuck Warpehoski, D-5th Ward, said early Wednesday afternoon before details of the executive orders were fully known, though he maintains Ann Arbor isn't doing anything to prevent federal authorities from enforcing federal law.

Detroit also has been called a sanctuary city.

Trump's executive orders also call for the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, among other efforts to reform immigration enforcement.

A copy of Trump's order regarding sanctuary cities is now available online. It states sanctuary jurisdictions across the U.S. are willfully violating federal law in an attempt to shield undocumented immigrants from removal from the country.

"These jurisdictions have caused immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our Republic," it states.

The order indicates jurisdictions that don't comply with applicable federal law will not receive federal funds, except as mandated by law. And it directs the head of the Office of Management and Budget to obtain and provide information on all federal grant money currently received by any sanctuary jurisdiction.

It also directs the U.S. attorney general and the secretary of Homeland Security to ensure that sanctuary jurisdictions are not eligible to receive federal grants, except as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes.

The order further gives the secretary of Homeland Security the authority and discretion to designate a jurisdiction as a sanctuary jurisdiction.

"The attorney general shall take appropriate enforcement action against any entity that violates 8 U.S.C. 1373, or which has in effect a statute, policy, or practice that prevents or hinders the enforcement of federal law," it states.

Ann Arbor City Administrator Howard Lazarus said the city received $1.4 million in federal funding in fiscal year 2015-16, which ended last June.

That included money that went toward housing and domestic violence programs, transportation-related projects, safe drinking water projects, the fire department, local law enforcement and more.

Lazarus said there are other federal funds that benefit Ann Arbor that flow through the county and the state that never end up on the city's books, such as housing dollars that go through the county and contracts for road projects using federal funds that are executed by the Michigan Department of Transportation.

"Federal money flows in so many ways that it's hard to understand what the federal government would do if they followed up on the rhetoric of not funding sanctuary cities," he said.

If federal officials are serious about cutting off funding for sanctuary cities, Lazarus said, it would be difficult to define which funds are going to be withheld and what officially constitutes a sanctuary city.

"I'm not sure we would be one of the leading candidates to be looked at either," he said, suggesting bigger cities might be targeted before Ann Arbor.

Warpehoski said he personally dislikes the term "sanctuary city." He thinks it falsely implies Ann Arbor is in some way harboring undocumented immigrants and impeding action by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"It promises more than our policy delivers," said Warpehoski, who also is the director of the local Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice.

The city's policy came in the form of an anti-profiling resolution approved by the City Council in 2003 to protest the U.S. Patriot Act.

Council members argued the federal law posed a threat to the civil rights and liberties of all Ann Arborites, but particularly those who are Muslim, those of Arab or South Asian descent, and other immigrant populations.

The resolution stated the City Council strongly supports the rights of immigrants and opposes measures that single out individuals for legal scrutiny or enforcement activity based solely on their country of origin or religion.

It also reaffirmed the Ann Arbor Police Department's commitment to non-discriminatory policing, saying race, religion, ethnicity or national origin are to be used as factors only when investigating or seeking to apprehend a specific criminal suspect if those characteristics are part of the suspect description.

Otherwise, police are to refrain from relying on such criteria in all policing functions, the council resolution stated.

And as a matter of public policy, the resolution directed the Ann Arbor police chief, to the extent permitted by law, to continue to limit local enforcement actions with respect to immigration matters to penal violations of federal immigration law, as opposed to administrative violations, except in cases when the police chief determines there is a legitimate public safety concern.

"The city of Ann Arbor is proud of its long and distinguished tradition of protecting the civil rights and liberties of its residents and knows that these rights and liberties are essential to the well-being of a democratic society," the resolution stated. "The city of Ann Arbor has a diverse population, including recent immigrants and students from other nations, whose contributions to the community are vital to its economy, culture and civic character."

The city's policy is intended to foster cooperative relationships between local police and immigrants, who otherwise might be reluctant to report crimes if they had to fear their own legal status might be questioned.

From a public safety perspective, Warpehoski said, it's important that anybody who is a victim of a crime or witnesses a crime feels comfortable talking to local law enforcement, regardless of their immigration status.

He said the city's policy is important not just for undocumented immigrants, but all residents of Ann Arbor. If an undocumented immigrant witnesses somebody breaking into a house, Warpehoski said, it's to the benefit of everyone that the undocumented immigrant feels safe contacting local police without fear of being turned over to the federal government for deportation.

The city's policy still allows police to get involved in administrative violations of federal immigration law if there's a legitimate public safety concern.

"If there's a reason for us to get involved, if we have information this person might be a risk to the community, we're not saying we won't get involved," Warpehoski said. But as a standard practice, the policy is to not get involved in routine enforcement of federal immigration law.

Warpehoski said there's also the question of whether local law enforcement, at the request of federal officials, should detain an undocumented immigrant who isn't guilty of any crime and otherwise is due for release under state law. He said prolonging someone's detention just so they can be taken into custody by ICE and deported has been found unconstitutional or illegal by federal courts.

"In some ways, it feels like this is a bad superhero movie," Warpehoski said of Trump's threat of a crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities. He compared Trump to a villain asking the question, "Which people do you save?"

For instance, if the city sticks to its policy and loses federal funding, he said, that potentially could mean a loss of funding for low-income housing.

"It's a bad position to put local government in," he said.
FLINT, MI -- About 30 people stood outside of the Flint Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse to protest the city's water crisis and a recent move from President Donald Trump preventing the Environmental Protection Agency from releasing information to the public.

"He's trying to put a gag order on the EPA, and for Flint people here that's a huge no. How does that affect us? It scares people here," said Ryan Loree of The Peoples Army, the organization behind the Wednesday, Jan. 25 protest. "People don't know what to think. The EPA is there to protect and let us know what's going on."

The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Trump had issued a directive to halt all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grants and agreements, and Michigan's two Democratic U.S. senators and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Twp., asked in a letter whether the decision applies to the Flint funding.

Federal lawmakers have approved $100 million in funding for the city in response to the water crisis. The EPA has told the city and state that it will make federal funds available by using an existing framework for funding Drinking Water State Revolving Fund applications.

Protestors started outside of the Federal Building at 600 Church Street around noon carrying signs up and down the street against Trump and attempted to bring attention to the city's water crisis.

Some protesters said the city has struggled with the crisis for long enough.

"Higher authorities just let our children drink water that was poisoned. Would they want their grandchildren drinking that water? Would they want their mother or their father or their brother drinking that water? No," said Flint resident, Gary Wright.

Wright stood with the group of protesters while holding a Flint Lives Matter sign.

"I feel like we're somewhat punished because Flint has a bad name. That's not fair. That's not right," Wright said. "What we want is for our kids and our community to have clean drinking water."

In 2015, it was discovered that children on the Flint water system had elevated blood lead levels since the city switched from using Detroit to get its water supply to the Flint River under the management of the state.



Residents have since been advised not to drink from the city's water system unless it had been properly filtered.

Officials have pushed for funding to replace water lines in the city from both state and federal agencies.

As of Jan. 24, Michigan officials had not received direction from the EPA regarding grant funding. Gov. Rick Snyder's office is reviewing statutory language in relation to Flint water aid but hasn't received any guidance from the federal government.

U.S. Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Twp., sent a joint letter to Trump Tuesday, Jan. 24, after what Trump's administration called a temporary media blackout at EPA.

"We write to request clarity on a reported freeze imposed on all new (EPA) grants and contracts, and in particular, to inquire as to whether this decision applies to the funding Congress approved with strong bipartisan support to help address Flint's drinking water crisis," the letter says.

"We are concerned that your directive ... may jeopardize much-needed federal funding, already passed by Congress, from quickly and directly reaching Flint families recovering from this crisis."

It's not clear whether the White House directive impacts existing contracts, or just future ones. Reuters quoted an anonymous EPA staffer as saying the order means "basically no money moving anywhere until they can take a look."

MLive Staff Reporters Ron Fonger and Garret Ellison contributed to this report.
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Brent David VanderHaar, a retired City of Saginaw Police Detective who was arrested Nov. 17 on eight felony counts related to child pornography, reacts during his video arraignment on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, at the Flint District Court in Flint, Mich. Danny Miller | MLive.com

FLINT, MI -- A retired Saginaw police detective has pleaded guilty to child pornography charges tied to thousands of images of two children captured inside a Genesee County home.

Brent VanderHaar, 52, pleaded guilty Tuesday, Jan. 24, to possession of child sexually abusive material and using a computer to do crime during a scheduled pretrial hearing in Genesee Circuit Judge Joseph J. Farah's courtroom.

Genesee County assistant prosecuting attorney Gladys Christopherson said the amended charges carry a maximum sentence of up to seven years in prison if running concurrently, but the court does hold the option of making it consecutive.

Initially, VanderHaar faced a charge of child sexual abusive activity, which carried a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison. Six additional charges previously filed against VanderHaar, including multiple counts of using a computer to commit a crime, were dropped at the hearing.

VanderHaar was arrested Nov. 17, 2015, after three digital media cards with explicit images were found around two weeks earlier outside a Kawkawlin Township convenience store connected to a McDonald's restaurant.

The store manager viewed images on the card that appeared to be of a minor and contacted police, which led to an investigation by Michigan State Police.



VanderHaar's face also appeared in some images on the device.

He admitted in court to setting up a camera inside a bathroom, capturing photos of two minors, cropping the images on a computer, and placing them on the media cards over a 16-month period from January 2014 through April 2015.

Christopherson noted the victims' family did not wish to move forward with a trial.

VanderHaar faces a March 6 sentencing date.
FLINT, MI -- The Michigan Civil Rights Commission did not release their findings from a Flint water crisis investigation to the public during a Jan. 23 meeting in Lansing.

Officials say those documents are set to be released at a Flint meeting in February. So far, details of the meeting, including date and location, have not been released.

The commission held an investigation regarding Flint's water crisis.

The eight-member, governor-appointed board met and reviewed a draft of the report at its Jan. 23 meeting, but the findings were not made public.

Officials say the report is expected to be a 70-to 80-page document and was slated to be complete and submitted to the Commission by late December or early January.



So far, the commission has held three public hearings in Flint regarding the city's water crisis.
GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Pedestrians may soon be able to travel from Flint Township to Bluebell Beach using the Genesee County trail system.

County parks officials are looking to get a piece of abandoned railroad land between the Genesee Valley Trail and the Flint River/Iron Belle Trail. Kettering University negotiated the property from Canadian National/Grand Trunk Western Railroad in October with the intention of donating it to the county.

The property stretches from Chevrolet Avenue in Flint through the Chevy Commons, across Grand Traverse Street, and ends at the Flint River near the corner of Water and Lyon streets in Carriage Town.

The Genesee County Board of Commissioners tentatively approved the parks department to buy the property from Kettering for $1 to connect the trails as part of the Flint Riverfront Restoration Project.

The department has also gotten initial approval for a $300,000 development grant from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund to complete the project.

If completed, the project would connect the Genesee Valley Trail, which connects Flint Township to the Chevy Commons, to the Flint River Trail, which starts downtown and follows the river to Bluebell Beach in Genesee Township.

The 1.5-mile Genesee Valley Trail connection was built in 2015 as the Chevy Commons project was underway. It follows Corunna Road to the west boundary of Flint to Chevrolet avenue across from Chevy Commons. It goes along Linden Road in Flint Township and veers northeast to Corunna Road.

The Flint River Trail is part of the state Iron Belle Trail that will, once complete, connect Belle Isle Park in Detroit to Ironwood on the Upper Peninsula's west side. It's about 69 percent complete, according to the Michigan DNR website.

The Genesee County Board of Commissioners will likely vote on whether to purchase the property from Kettering at its next meeting on Monday, Jan. 30.

Once that happens, parks officials can secure grant funding needed in order to begin collecting contractor bids on the project.
DAVISON, MI -- Davison Community Schools has issued a statement after police questioned a 17-year-old high school student alleged to have shared more than 100 inappropriate photos of his fellow classmates.

A statement from the district to parents notes school officials were contacted by Michigan State Police Monday, Jan. 23, of allegations of a website containing "inappropriate pictures of high school age girls."

High school administration started an investigation and "when it was determined the allegations were accurate," Davison Township police were contacted that turned the case over to Michigan State Police, according to the district's statement.

The Michigan State Police Computer Crimes Unit was able to track down the photos on Dropbox, an online file-sharing website, data and IP address of the suspect. Some of the shots posted included students' names.

Some of the photos including nudity, according to police.

Police have been able to identify 35 students with assistance from Davison Community Schools, which has notified the parents of the students involved in the incident.

"Parents should know that the site has been taken down and that those students involved and their families have been contacted and informed of the situation," according to the district's statement.

Michigan State Police Lt. David Kaiser said the suspect has been interviewed and is cooperating with police.

No charges have been filed against the student at this point, but the teen may face criminal child pornography charges and be charged as an adult.

Parents were encouraged by the school district to speak with their children about "proper and appropriate use of social media."

A presentation may be set up at the high school with the MSP Computer Crimes Unit and community service troopers to provide information to students and their families "to prevent a future incident like this," Kaiser said.
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U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow, left, and Gary Peters speak after a news conference highlighting a congressional agreement that provided $100 million targeted directly for the city of Flint.

(Flint Journal file photo)

FLINT, MI -- Flint's congressional delegation is asking President Donald Trump for clarification about whether a directive halting all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grants will affect funds appropriated for Flint's water crisis.

U.S. Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Twp., sent a joint letter to Trump Tuesday, Jan. 24, after his new administration instituted what it called a temporary media blackout at EPA and an order barring staff from awarding any new contracts or grants.

"We write to request clarity on a reported freeze imposed on all new (EPA) grants and contracts, and in particular, to inquire as to whether this decision applies to the funding Congress approved with strong bipartisan support to help address Flint's drinking water crisis," the letter says.

"We are concerned that your directive ... may jeopardize much-needed federal funding, already passed by Congress, from quickly and directly reaching Flint families recovering from this crisis."

The letter asks Trump whether the spending freeze is designed to prevent congressional-directed funding from being obligated to help Flint, whether the freeze applies to resources the EPA needs to oversee and enforce an administrative order it issued last year to the city and state of Michigan and whether the freeze applies to funding that is needed by EPA or its contractors for ongoing testing of and technical assistance to Flint for its water system.

The federal legislators on Tuesday were in the same boat as state government officials, who said they were also looking for clear answers.

Anna Heaton, press secretary for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, said in an email that the "statutory language is being reviewed to see if the (Drinking Water Revolving Fund) grants (targeting Flint) would be affected."

"We haven't received any guidance from the federal government," Heaton's statement says.

MLive-The Flint Journal could not reach EPA officials for comment or clarification Tuesday.

Congress approved funding for Flint's water crisis in December with $100 million specifically approved for the city and tens of millions more available through grant programs.
ALGOMA TOWNSHIP, MI -- A man was shot and killed after he struggled with deputies at a home north of Rockford, police say.

Kent County Sheriff Larry Stelma said the deputy was not seriously hurt.

Two Kent County sheriff's deputies were at the home, in the 4000 block of Summit Court, just after 7 p.m. on a domestic dispute between two adult brothers.

The deputies separated the two brothers. But then a struggle began between one of the brothers and the two deputies.

Stelma said one of the deputies was injured and, moments later, shots were fired. The brother involved in the struggle was killed.

Police said the other brother was not injured.

Stelma said the injured deputy had cuts and bruises.

Wyoming police have been called to perform an investigation on the shooting.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A 25-year-old Bosnian immigrant has been sentenced to two to 20 years in prison for embezzling several hundred thousand dollars from a Kentwood trucking company.

Ilderina Kajtezovic was sentenced Tuesday, Jan. 24 in Kent County District Court,

Police said Kajtezovic and her father, 46-year-old Sakib Kajtezovic, both previously worked for AA Transportation and signed for about $100,000 in loans under the company name.

They also made fraudulent purchases using the corporate credit card, police said in March when both were charged with embezzlement of more than $100,000.

In March, police indicated the company's loss might total as much as $850,000.

Ilderina Kajtezovic earlier pleaded guilty to embezzlement of more than $100,000 and using a computer to commit a crime.

Her father has pleaded no contest to the same charges and will be sentenced Feb. 14.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - A Battle Creek couple is accused of taking sexually explicit photos of a 10-year-old girl and posting them on the internet.

Matthew John Andaluz and Elizabeth Ann Evans have been indicted on a charge of sexual exploitation of a child, punishable by at least 15 years, and up to 30 years, in prison.

Andaluz is also charged with possession of child pornography.

He was arraigned Tuesday, Jan. 24, in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. He pleaded not guilty.

He is jailed pending trial.

Evans pleaded not guilty at her arraignment and was released on bond. U.S. Magistrate Judge Ray Kent ordered her to remove all computers, cellphones and any internet-capable devices from her home.

The alleged crimes occurred between Dec. 7, 2010, and Jan. 17, 2011, in Calhoun County, record said.

The defendants created images of the girl "that depict the lascivious exhibition of the genitals and pubic area of the child, and depict the child engaging in other sexually explicit conduct," Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Lewis wrote in the indictment.

The images were transmitted on the internet and found in Vermont, Washington and other places, the indictment said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigated the case and earlier named Andaluz, 44, in a criminal complaint for allegedly sexually exploiting a child.

Homeland Security Investigations had received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that federal agents had submitted a series of child-pornography images, seized from a registered sex offender in Tacoma, Wash., to check against a child-recognition system.

The 12-photo series, "Cord Over Brown," had been identified in 12 other states and federal investigations. Investigators determined the photos were taken with a particular Nikon D3000 camera seized from Andaluz and Evans, records showed.

Police believe the photos were taken in Springfield, near Battle Creek. Andaluz's former landlord in Springfield said he is a "strange guy and is very knowledgeable about computers," special agent Mike George wrote in court records.

The victim said she was molested from ages 10 to 13, court records showed. She recognized her photos that were put on the internet, records said.

Investigators used a search warrant to seize the Nikon camera, a computer and thumb drive.

If the cases go to trial, Lewis wrote that the government "will introduce evidence of the defendants' other acts of grooming, sexual assaults, & sexual activity with children; production and attempted production of child pornography; receipt, distribution, and possession of child pornography."
CEO Hunter Harrison of CP answers shareholders questions during the company's annual general meeting in Calgary, Alberta, May 14, 2015. REUTERS/Todd Korol

By Michael Flaherty and Allison Lampert

NEW YORK/MONTREAL (Reuters) - A portfolio manager from an influential shareholder has thrown her support behind a plan to put railroad industry veteran Hunter Harrison into CSX Corp's (CSX.O) CEO chair with the help of an activist investor.

Harrison, 72, the outgoing chief executive of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (CP.TO), is partnering with activist investor Paul Hilal's new fund, Mantle Ridge LP. The fund is acquiring a large stake in CSX with the hope of installing Harrison to improve the U.S. railroads performance, people familiar with the matter have said.

"I think it's a win-win. He's demonstrated, time and again, a unique gift to run a railroad," said Sandy Pomeroy, a portfolio manager at Neuberger Berman LLC, which owned 1.2 percent of CSX shares as of Sept. 30 and is the company's tenth-largest shareholder.

"It's hard to imagine he can't go into CSX and improve operations faster," said Pomeroy, one of several Neuberger portfolio managers who own CSX shares.

While Pomeroy's backing provides a key boost for their plan, the move could still face stiff resistance from CSX, which successfully fended off an activist attempt from TCI Management and 3G Capital Partners in 2008.

Harrison's track record of cutting operating costs and driving up profitability at the helm of CP and at Canadian National Railway Co (CNR.TO) has boosted CSX shares 30 percent since news of the Mantle Ridge plan surfaced last week.

Investors are betting that Harrison can engineer similar improvements at the third-largest U.S. railroad and hope his quest to consolidate the industry could result in a deal for CSX. Harrison led an unsuccessful $28 billion bid last year by CP for U.S. railroad Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC.N).

GREATER INVESTOR SCRUTINY

Harrison's efforts have inspired investors to put the performance of the two East Coast U.S. railroads under greater scrutiny. However, CSX presents a different set of challenges than the Canadian railroads.

Story continues

Norfolk Southern and CSXs networks have been described by analysts as a bowl of spaghetti, which would make it more difficult to run trains at higher speeds to save money. Declining coal volumes have weighed on CSX's revenue in recent years.

CSX "welcomes the views of all of our shareholders, a company spokesman said by email on Wednesday. Likewise, its board and management team remain supportive of the companys strategic growth strategy, which has started to deliver sustainable value for shareholders."

CSX said its operating ratio, a key metric, was 69.4 in 2016 and has plans to improve it to the mid-60s. The lower the ratio, which measures operating costs as a percentage of revenue, the more efficient the railroad. Norfolk Southern on Wednesday reported an operating ratio of 68.9.

Norfolk Southern aims to improve its OR below 65 by 2020, the end of a company five-year improvement plan, Chief Executive Jim Squires said in an interview.

CP has said its 2016 operating ratio was 58.6, while CN reported an operating ratio of 55.9 for the year.

Harrison is also expected to face pushback from organized labor at CSX after clashing with unionized workers at CP. During Harrisons tenure at CP, open grievances have skyrocketed among workers in western Canada, rising to more than 7,000 now from 400 when he arrived in 2012, according to the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference.

"I can't imagine that we'd be anything but opposed," said John Risch, legislative director of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) union, which represents CSX conductors, engineers, trainmen and yardmasters. "The Hunter Harrison approach is short-term profit."

Any push to quickly replace CSX's existing CEO, Michael Ward, who plans to retire in 2019, would need to occur before the company's Feb. 10 director nomination deadline. If the two sides fail to strike a deal, Hilal may be forced to nominate a slate of directors who can put Harrison in the CEO seat.

Hilal, a former partner at Pershing Square, and Harrison, who will be officially replaced as CP's CEO on Jan. 31, have not yet announced a formal plan and were not available for comment on Wednesday.

Mantle Ridge has raised more than $1 billion for its CSX stake, according to people familiar with the matter. Harrison, who last week resigned earlier than expected from Canadian Pacific, has confirmed that he is working with Hilal.

(Reporting by Michael Flaherty in New York and Allison Lampert in Montreal, additional reporting by Nick Carey in New Orleans; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Matthew Lewis)
Michigan State Police.jpg

(MLive file photo)

NORTHERN MICHIGAN - A Presque Isle man has been arrested and charged after he was found allegedly impersonating a federal agent.

On Friday, Jan. 20, troopers from the Michigan State Police Alpena Post contacted the driver of a car after observing a series of traffic violations.

Stephen Daniel, 42, of Presque Isle.

The driver was identified as Stephen Daniel, 42, of Presque Isle. Daniel identified himself as a federal agent and a retired court officer.

Immediate suspicion led troopers to investigate the situation further, and the badges and identification Daniel used proved to be false, police said. Troopers verified that the suspect is not affiliated with any law enforcement agency.

MSP troopers and officers from the Presque Isle County Sheriff Department executed a search warrant on Daniel's residence and found items that identified him as a law enforcement official.

Daniel was arraigned in court in Rogers City for impersonating a public officer.

MSP continues to investigate Daniel and the incident.

Anyone with any information about Daniel are asked to contact the MSP Alpena Post at (989) 354-4101.
By Marc Frank

HAVANA (Reuters) - A Cuban trade delegation arrived in the United States this week to visit four states and six ports, even as the Trump administration pondered what to do with a fragile detente initiated by its predecessor.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to scrap the move to normalize relations between Washington and Havana, one of former President Barack Obama's signature foreign policy initiatives, if he doesn't get a better deal.

Port authorities along the U.S. Southern coast are strong proponents of increased trade and travel with Cuba, and some have expressed interest in using Mariel, located on the northwest coast of the Caribbean island, as a transshipment hub.

"We're hopeful that when the Trump Administration conducts a thorough review of U.S.-Cuba policy, they will see how enhanced cooperation between our port terminals and the Port of Mariel, would be very beneficial to U.S. export industries, U.S. ports with access to Mariel's shipping lanes and could create jobs across the country," said James Williams, president of the Engage Cuba coalition that helped facilitate the trip.

Delegations from the ports of Houston, New Orleans, Norfolk, Virginia, and Port Everglades, Palm Beach and Tampa in Florida, have already visited Mariel, often with top local and state executives.

"For states with port facilities, there is substantial political and commercial interest," said John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, which has followed business ties between the two countries for two decades.

"Ports are under the authorities of states, counties and cities, which means governors and mayors seeking value for their respective constituencies and seeking votes," Kavulich said.

Seeking to reverse more than 50 years of U.S. efforts to force Communist-run Cuba to change by isolating it, Obama agreed with Cuban President Raul Castro in December 2014 to work to normalize relations. Since then the two countries have restored diplomatic ties and signed various cooperation agreements.

Story continues

Obama, a Democrat, used executive orders to circumvent the longstanding U.S. trade embargo on Cuba and ease some restrictions on travel and business. The embargo can only be lifted by the U.S. Congress, which is controlled by Republicans.

Trump, who can reverse Obama's executive orders, has threatened to end the detente if Cuba does not make further political and other concessions, although the Republican businessman-turned-politician has not specified what these should be.

WAITING FOR TRUMP

The Cuban delegation, which includes top executives from the new container terminal and special development zone at Mariel and officials involved with cruise ships and investment and trade, is expected to sign non-binding cooperation agreements with some of the ports, meet with local businesses and visit Washington on Jan. 31.

The Cubans are in New Orleans on Wednesday, after visiting Texas earlier in the week, and will travel next to Port Everglades for a meeting with cruise line executives.

Cuba has avoided criticizing Trump since he took office on Friday and state-run media downplayed Saturdays protests against him in Washington and around the world.

Havana hotels and restaurants are full of U.S. travelers and cruise ships now crisscross Havana Bay almost daily.

"We are all waiting. We don't know what to expect from Trump. A hit on the head or a shake of the hand," said tour guide Paulo Perez, waiting for a group of Americans at the famed Hotel Nacional in Havana.

(Reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Paul Simao)
Close

Game of Thrones Season 7 has reportedly began production in Iceland. Several photos were taken of the set while the cast and crew were at the Svinafellsjokull glacier. Icelands white landscape looked perfect as the lands beyond the Wall in the second and third seasons. That said, fans are expecting it to look just as beautiful for Season 7.

As confirmed by winteriscoming.net, Kit Harington recently arrived in Iceland. Reports about the actors arrival in Iceland sent Game of Thrones Season 7 fans into a frenzy. However, the news was followed with reports that Jon Snow turned up in London - leading fans to believe that his time in Iceland is over.

It was only when another fan posted a new photo of herself with the actor that confirmed he was back in Iceland. The other shots that were shared to the Internet were wide shots, which made identifying the other actors a bit difficult.

Fortunately, it was revealed that Game of Thrones Season 7 actor Kit Harington was joined by other key members of the cast, namely Sir Davos, Gendry, Tormund, and The Hound. According to the source, this group of men banded together to hunt for a wight north of the Wall.

With that particular story arc, it would appear that the scene they are shooting is a layover on their journey. It is quite possible that the characters portrayed by Harington, Kristofer Hivju, Rory McCann, Liam Cunningham, and Joe Dempsie are stopping over at Eastwatch-By-The-Sea - which is a seaside castle that is operated by the Nights Watch.

There were also some photos of rowboats, which looked very much similar to the ones that were used for filming in Zumaia, Spain. That said, it is also possible that Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke, will soon be setting up shop in Iceland as well.

 Copyright 2020 Mobile & Apps, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development says it is ready to invest in northern Cyprus, potentially for years, if a deal to unify the divided island can be reached. International mediators are cautiously optimistic of a deal this year with two moderates at the helm of its respective ethnic Greek and Turkish sides attempting to negotiate the reunification as a two-zone federation. Tough issues are outstanding, such as effective co-governance, redrawing territorial boundaries and how security concerns of each side can be safeguarded. But if it comes off and gets public backing it would pave the way for support. "Should the referendum (on a Cyprus deal) be positive then we will certainly aim to increase our investment, particularly in the north," EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti told Reuters. That would open up the debate of whether the development bank would continue to invest in Cyprus beyond 2020, the deadline set when it became a 'temporary' recipient of EBRD support in 2014. "It's undoubtedly true that the north is very much under developed compared with the south and will require years of investment to catch up," Chakrabarti said. "So we'll have to see if Cyprus makes the case for an extension of mandate and how the shareholders will react." The EBRD holds it annual meeting in Cyprus in May so the situation is likely to be one of the main topics of discussion among the national finance ministers and central bankers that double as its decision-makers. It has spent just under 220 million euros ($236.59 million)there since it became the first euro zone crisis country to become an EBRD country of operation. "We could expand our support for SMEs (small and medium sized firms), for the banking sector and the infrastructure and energy sectors," the bank's top official in Cyprus, Libor Krkoska, said. He said there was a "very good pipeline" of Cyprus investments lined up this year, although he would not disclose specifics as they were deemed market sensitive. (Editing by Janet Lawrence)
you are here:
business Indian stocks to do well in 2017; no global trade war: AMP Cap Indian stocks will do better this year after a year of underperformance. Narendra Modi's policies too are on the right path and demonetisation over the longer-term will yield positive results
business Biocon well-poised to be a frontrunner in biosimilars: MD Attributing the strong show in Q3FY17 to robust performance in biologics, Biocon Chairperson and MD Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw told CNBC-TV18 that Biocon is well poised to be front-runner in biosimilars. The acceptance of biosimilar Trastuzumab by the USFDA is a huge milestone for Mylan and Biocon, she said.
Education

Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu.

Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu.

Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events:

International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu.

EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu.

Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale  an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s  will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets  June Homecoming: Participant  $18 per person; Sustainer  $25 per person; Benefactor  $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler  Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events:

SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available  for information call 610-275-1960

Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above)

SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m.

Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.

Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.  4 p.m.  computers are available during those hours.

Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863.

Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376.

Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com.

The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes:

Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at

other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020.

CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313.

The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events:

Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m.

Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m.

Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30.

Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301.

For Kids & Families

The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443.

Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950.

Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required.

The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950.

Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus.

Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage.

Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun.

Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train.

Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world!

Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class.

Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org.

Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583.

Community Events at the Ambler Y:

-YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register.

Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org.

Health

Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot.

The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information.

Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245.

Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net.

Spring Aquatic Programs  UDHS Pool:

-Summer is just around the corner  Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required.

 Shallow Water Aerobics  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR.

 Adult Swim Instructions  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR

-Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21.

-Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday  Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m.

-Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons.

-Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates.

Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994.

SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com.

Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org.

Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs:

FITNESS CLASSES

Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month.

Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30  9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly.

SUPPORT GROUPS

Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000.

Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30  7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047.

New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m.  12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30  4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931.

Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325.

Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes.

Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com.

Librarytalk

Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744

www.upperdublinlibrary.org

APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS:

Storytimes: Please register in the library.

o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m.

o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m.

o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m.

o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6.

APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS:

North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee

APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS:

NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org.

One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register  contact info above.

Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744.

o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register.

Meetings:

Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m.

Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m.

Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org.

For children and teens at Blue Bell:

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m.

* May 14  Despicable Me

* June 11  Alpha and Omega

* Special Events

* April  watch for date of spring/Easter events

* April 14 at 4:30 p.m.  Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children.

* April 14 at 7 p.m.  Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided.

* April 16 at 1 p.m.  Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King.

* April 16 at 1:30 p.m.  Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes?

* April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button.

* April 30 through May 3  Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults.

* May  sign up for Science in the Summer

* June  sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children

* June  sign up for Summer Reading, all ages

For adults at Blue Bell:

* Daytime Book Discussion Group  fourth Tuesday, Jan  April at 1:30 p.m.

* April 26  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Night-time Book Discussion Group  third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.

o April 19  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges

o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked?

*Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs

* Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class.

* Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class.

* Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m.

* Giant Book Sale, April 29  May 3

o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults!

o Held during library hours.

o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m.

o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join.

* Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series

o May 11 at 1 p.m.  Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society

* Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room.

* Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read.

* Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome.

* Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome.

*Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older.

* Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours

* Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours

* Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday!

Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library.

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* For adults:

* Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn.

* Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net

* Special Events:

* April 14 at 1:30 p.m.  Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian.

* April 19 at 7 p.m.  Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m.

* April 21 at 7 p.m.  Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades.

*May 2 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

*May 10  Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*May 12 at 1:30p.m.  Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman.

*May 17  Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*June 13 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

Meetings and Lectures

The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833.

The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200.

The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/.

LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings.

Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org.

Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org)

-Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them.

The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter.

For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps.

Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin.

Special Events

The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County.

The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065.

Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members.

Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex.

The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com.

The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348.

The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org.

Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163.

The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu.

The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com.

The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net.

Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages.

13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries.

Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family.

The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler.

JPRN  Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them  Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike.

Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies.

Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately.

Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways.

Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table.

Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp  Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall:

-Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store.

Music and Theater

The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220.

Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html.

Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free.

The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org

Religious News

The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276.

Reunions

St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net.

Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572.

Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779.

Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net

Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net

The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411.

Support

New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149.

PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931.

The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296.

Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656.

Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group  every other Wednesday, 7  8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support  second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner  Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers  Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information.

CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7  8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich,
Friends In Pink is still on the radar and growing every year
Rabbis installation at Keneseth Israel will get a boost of student creativity
President Donald Trump 's move to exit the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership opens the door for China to "step into the void" left by the United States in Asia, said Bill Daley , who was as Commerce secretary in Bill Clinton 's administration.

Daley, also former White House chief of staff for Barack Obama , told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday that Trump needs to "follow up getting out of the TPP with an aggressiveness in Asia."



"That's the future growth of the world right now," Daley added. "We can't give the impression to our allies or friends in Asia that because the president is against TPP ... that therefore economically we're going to pull away from Asia."



"That's a terrible message," argued Daley, currently head of U.S. operations at Swiss hedge fund Argentiere Capital.



China was never part of TPP. In addition to the United States, the signatories were Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru.

The agreement, sealed by the Obama administration but never ratified by Congress, had aimed to open up key markets, including those in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to a statement from the White House after Monday's executive order , "The Trump administration will pursue bilateral free trade opportunities with allies around the world, wherever possible."

On Sunday, the president said he intends to renegotiate with Mexico and Canada the North American Free Trade Agreement, passed during the Clinton administration 23 years ago.

Daley, who helped Clinton with NAFTA, told CNBC on Wednesday the agreement could surely be updated, but should not be thrown out all together.

Later Wednesday on "Squawk Box," Peter Navarro, tapped by Trump to lead the newly created National Trade Council, said the president wants to pursue what he considers more nimble bilateral trade agreements.

Story continues

"Bilaterals can occur much more quickly, because basically, it's just a few people in a room talking about what needs to be done," Navarro argued.









More From CNBC


Burke County is getting a big financial boost from the state to help get water to residents who live along N.C. 18 South.

The North Carolina State Water Infrastructure Authority awarded a $2 million N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Community Development Block Grant during its Jan. 18 meeting.

The county got the official word on Tuesday that it was awarded the grant, which will be used to connect a 4-mile section of waterline from River Road to Shouppe Way. The grant also will extend the waterline 3.5 miles from Rhoney Road to South Mountains Volunteer Fire Department on Old N.C. 18, according to information from Burke County.

Chris Hollifield, director of general services for the county, said the grant doesnt require a local match. The grant is awarded for projects in low- to moderate-income communities, Hollifield said.

The project to extend the waterlines will serve around 12 existing homes and businesses and will allow Burke County to connect several sections of its water system.

Hollifield said it will connect the Music Mountain section, which is small, to the larger Mineral Springs Mountain section.

Hollifield said Music Mountain is a section thats isolated and has to be flushed to keep the water fresh. By tying it into the larger Mineral Springs Mountain section, the customer demand will pull water through the Music Mountain section without flushing it, he said.

Connecting the two also will minimize service interruptions to customers when maintenance needs to be done or an emergency situation occurs, Hollifield said.

From a water engineering side, thats important, Hollifield said.

The addition of the waterlines will serve about 12 residents and business, as well as South Mountains Volunteer Fire Department, Hollifield said.

Jeff Brittain, chairman of the Burke County Board of Commissioners, said hes pleased the county is getting the grant. He said it will allow the county to address an area that has had water problems for a while.

This is the second time the county applied for the grant. It tried for the grant in 2015 but didnt receive the grant, Hollifield said.

A benefit that came out of the process of applying for the grant in 2016 was the county being required to conduct an asset management plan for its water system. The county didnt have one so between June and September, when the proposal was due, Hollifield created an asset management plan. The plan is an inventory of all the waterlines, pump stations, hydrants, valves, tanks and interconnections in the system, where theyre located and the condition of each one, he said.

Burke County expects the grant money to be released and available later this year. Design and permitting for the project will happen this year and construction will likely take place next year, say county officials.

In addition to the county grant award, the town of Valdese was awarded a $156,828 state revolving loan for St. Germain Avenue waterline improvements, according to project funding list the State Water Infrastructure Authority approved on Jan. 18. And the town of Drexel was awarded a $150,000 grant for a wastewater asset inventory and assessment, according to the award list.

Sharon McBrayer is a staff writer and can be reached at smcbrayer@morganton.com or at 828-432-8946.
Jeffrey Vonk: After paying 45 years in a row dividend Cobham (COB) decided lately to stop paying dividend, which is maybe shocking announcement if you have done dividend payment for such a long time. But in our view, it's not totally a surprise, that they have to stop paying a dividend.

Cobham, which is quite famous for mainly two things, they do air-to-air refueling and thats really a fascinating business where you in the air fuel the aircraft by mileage of maybe 500 kilometers per hour. So, thats really fascinating stuff and very difficult and also safety is an important angle to that. Cobham is controlling that market they have roughly 90% of that market. So, its very interesting business.

And another business which is also very interesting for them is that on all aircrafts of one of the manufacturers Airbus, they control the communication systems. So, all the communication within the plane and also to the outside world is done by the box of Cobham. Those two businesses I was just talking about are very great businesses.

Unfortunately, the company has diluted this great assets by doing string of acquisitions in less moaty businesses. As a result of that the profitability has plummeted and also debt levels have increased quite high. As a result of that the company has done to (right) issues where they raise money and of course its a little bit strange in a way that in the times that you are raising money. You are also giving back money to the shareholders by dividend. So, its not an absolutely surprise that with new management coming in. That they maybe stop the habits of previous managements and stop paying the dividend.
Jonathan Miller: Welcome to the Morningstar manager check-up, where we update you on the latest ratings from our fund research team. First up is the Dodge & Cox Worldwide Global Stock fund which maintains its Morningstar analyst rating of Gold.

Theres something of a rarity here in that across our five qualitative research pillars of price, process, people, parent and performance, theres a positive for each one. From a parent company thats rolled out just five funds since 1931, to managers investing heavily in the funds and low fees compared with peers, we believe investors interests are firmly aligned.

The eight-person team who run the fund have been at the firm for an average of over 20 years and with their value tilt theyre not afraid to invest in out-of-favour stocks. This can hold them back in the short term, but we believe that the number of compelling factors for repeatability in future outperformance, really stand out.

Next, is the Invesco Perpetual Asian fund which has a Bronze Rating from Morningstar analysts.

The fund benefits from one of the most experienced managers covering the region in Stuart Parks, whos specialised in Asian markets since 1990. Since April 2015, hes been supported by comanager William Lam. The process relies on Parkss top down views which set the scene for where the team focuses at a country and sector level, with Lam responsible for stock selection. Although theres no particular style bias, theres been a tendency to favour steady large-cap franchises which are market leaders in their field. What weve generally seen over time in terms of country exposure is an overweight to Hong Kong, while theres also been a long-standing underweighting to Australia because of lower growth prospects.

Finally, we turn to an investment trust, Edinburgh Worldwide which maintains its analyst rating of Bronze. This is managed by a team of six at Baillie Gifford who are looking for up and comping global companies, industry disruptors and new participants likely to impact large players. This is therefore a global small and mid-cap offering. And so you get a further insight into where theyre investing, some 30% of the portfolio's exposure is in companies that arent yet making a profit.

Theres also 20% in biotech. The focus on nascent companies in volatile sectors, means theres a need to stomach a rough ride from time to time. But overall this is a pretty unique approach, backed by a patient bottom-up team, whose idea generation has also been leveraged to positive effect in other Baillie Gifford funds.
By Mitra Taj and Teresa Cespedes

LIMA (Reuters) - A top Latin America executive of Brazil's Odebrecht SA [ODBES.UL] pushed back against calls to bar the company from countries where it has admitted to bribery across the region, warning "radical" reactions would jeopardize its ability to pay penalties.

Odebrecht is "struggling to survive" in the wake of a growing graft scandal in Latin America and wants to set an example by helping authorities and paying fines, Mauricio Cruz, the new president of Odebrecht's investment arm in Latin America, Odebrecht Latinvest, said in an interview on Tuesday.

"The company is trying to cure itself of this sickness that affects many companies," Cruz said. "Making a company that's collaborating with authorities disappear is going to dissuade others, and in the end everything would go on as before."

Since acknowledging that it doled out hundreds of millions in bribes to win public work contracts in Latin America, countries from Panama to Peru have canceled key projects and barred the company from bidding on public works in the future.

Cruz said that Peru, where Odebrecht Latinvest is headquartered, has still not approved its November deal to sell its Olmos irrigation business to Brookfield Asset Management Inc <BAMa.TO>. The lack of a government permit for land use has also frozen its Chavimochic III irrigation project in northern Peru, which was 80 percent finished when work stopped in December, Cruz added.

"Our priority is that public work projects don't suffer," said Cruz. "Here in Peru there's a lot of pressure ... and people start to take on radical attitudes."

Some in Peru have called for authorities to seize Odebrecht's assets and arrest employees, as was done in neighboring Brazil.

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said earlier on Tuesday that Odebrecht, which lost its $5 billion natural gas pipeline in Peru this week after missing a financing deadline, must sell off its remaining projects and leave the country - his toughest remarks for the company since the scandal broke.

Story continues

It was unclear what Kuczynski's government might do to force the company to leave.

Odebrecht has received more than five offers to buy its Chaglla hydroelectric project in northern Peru since putting it up for sale months ago, but the company wants to keep its other projects in the Andean country, Cruz said.

Odebrecht has said it is trying to sell 12 billion reais ($3.3 billion) in assets globally.

The family-run company was once one of the region's biggest builders, but has since come to symbolize the kind of white collar corruption that many Latin Americans say is met with impunity.

Cruz said that fewer than 100 Odebrecht employees were involved in corruption out of 200,000 workers across the world last year. The company now has just 100,000 workers, Cruz said.

"There are a couple bad apples, but the rest are good, and that needs to be preserved," Cruz said.

Cruz stressed that the leniency deal that Odebrecht struck with Brazil, the United States and Switzerland in December was designed to allow the company to continue its operations so that it can pay off the record $3.5 billion fine.

"No project in Brazil or the U.S. was halted ... no business was forced to be sold. The company kept its right to survive, to exist, to keep working to pay its obligations," Cruz said.

But that agreement did not include reparations for nine Latin American countries outside of Brazil where bribes were distributed, or details of who was part of its kickback schemes - stoking fears that little money will be left to pay fines across the region.

Cruz said he expected a final plea deal with Peruvian prosecutors to take between two to four weeks, and asked Peruvians to be patient in the meantime.

"We ask for forgiveness," Cruz said.

(Reporting by Mitra Taj and Teresa Cespedes; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Lisa Shumaker and Bill Rigby)
The largest privately owned home builder in Canada and the United States has just announced the latest addition to its array of high-powered executives.



In a January 23 CNW press release, Mattamy Homes presented Subhi Alsayed as its newest Vice President for Sustainable Development.



In this newly created role, Subhi will be responsible for working with Mattamys leadership team and others to investigate and implement strategies that will make the company a leader in this area, according to the companys news release.



Subhi, who holds over two decades of industry experience in Canada and abroad, is a Professional Engineer, LEED Accredited Professional, and a Certified Energy Manager. He specializes in technology adoption, marketing strategy and finance models, and is acknowledged as an industry expert in sustainable, Net Zero, resilient buildings.



Throughout his career, Subhi has focused on building strong business cases for change, and finding innovative ways of introducing and de-risking new methods and technologies, Mattamy Homes founder and CEO Peter Gilgan stated. His extensive technical and business skills and varied background will serve Mattamy well as we embark on an exciting journey to position ourselves as an innovator and industry leader in sustainable development.



I am excited to join Mattamy Homes, the North American leader in developing quality homes and communities, Subhi said. What's unique about this opportunity is it allows me to work under supportive, dedicated leadership with the vision and determination to transform the industry while keeping customers best interests at heart.


Mount Pleasant, SC (29464)

Today

Some sun in the morning with increasing clouds during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High around 80F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Considerable clouds early. Some decrease in clouds late. Low 68F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Several Democratic state attorneys general are stepping up to defend the controversial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.Congressional Democrats had already demanded in a letter that President Donald Trump leave the CFPB alone. Now the attorneys general of 16 states and the District of Columbia are seeking to intervene in the case between the CFPB and PHH over the agencys constitutionality, according to a HousingWire report.Last year, the CFPBs leadership structure was deemed unconstitutional by a three-judge panel of the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The panel ruled that the CFPBs structure, under which the director can only be removed for cause, meant Director Richard Cordray lacked necessary accountability.But the CFPB is demanding that the full Court of Appeals hear the case. Now the 17 attorneys general are asking to intervene in the lawsuit, saying that Trumps election forced their hand.When PHH filed the original petition for review in June, 2015, there was little reason for the State Attorneys General to intervene, the AGs wrote in a motion to the court. At that time, the CFPB still had an independent Director and was fully committed to seeking rehearing to challenge the panel's ruling and defend the constitutionality of the bureau's independent structure. But as a result of the presidential election, the situation has changed.The AGs said that Trump had expressed strong opposition to Dodd-Frank and Wall Street reform in general, according to HousingWire. They also said that the Trump administration is rumored to be planning to fire Cordray.The panel's decision effectively rewrites the statute, permitting the immediate termination of the Director at will, the motion said. This will not only compromise the independence of the agency, it will likely derail pending policy initiatives and enforcement actions and possibly call into question the validity of past initiatives. As a result, the State Attorneys General and their States' citizens will be directly prejudiced.
Midland County Sheriffs Office

An Abilene man was arrested Sunday after he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman, according to court documents.

Jarrett Eugene Schulle, 28, was being held Tuesday on a $100,000 bond for a second-degree felony charge of sexual assault.
A search firm couldnt be blamed for having expectations that Midland ISD wouldnt have done its proverbial homework leading up to this superintendent search.

By most academic metrics, this district has struggled mightily. Coming in, it was going to be interesting to hear the firms opinions. Sure, even the five community members in attendance Monday knew search firm officials were making a pitch, but even the most hardened critic had to be taken back by the unanimous praise delivered for a district working its way out of one of the states deepest holes.

Midland ISD leaders -- board and staff -- worked the previous 10 days putting the final touches on a governance plan with goals, goal progress measures, superintendent and board constraints and theories of action for the district and its campuses. The plan for the next three to five years is on paper. Theories of action for the next decade also have been completed and await the next superintendent ready to be challenged.

MISD is in a unique situation because of proactive work that has taken place, said one of the officials with McPherson & Jacobson, an Omaha, Nebraska, firm. You have outlined things you expect of the next superintendent. It will facilitate a very positive relationship with the board and superintendent. ... You have done the legwork most new superintendents would be expected to do. The superintendent you will hire will be able to hit the ground running knowing what you expect of them.

A presenter with Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates said, It is unusual to see a board this focused, particularly the specificity of what you have done.

The hours of training sessions and workshops appear to be paying off for district leaders. The draft of the work has been seen by the search firms. The community is expected to get its turn to comment in the coming weeks. Midland ISD is planning a roll-out of this action plan in the coming weeks, probably as early as February. Teachers, parents and others interested in the academic rebirth of a community with nowhere to look but up will be able to provide input and ask questions.

The hope is people will turn out. Up to this point, board members and executive staff have been the main voices in the conversation. During the weekend workshop earlier this month, only one or two teachers/campus staff and fewer than 10 community members were on hand.

Teachers, in our view, have been missing in action during the last year, one of the more critical years for our school district in the last two or three decades. Whether one is talking about the budget workshop, the tax ratification election (TRE) campaign and vote or the workshop, it appears teachers have struggled to connect with its district.

Maybe its because of a perceived lack of leadership from the superintendents office or the disconnect they had from the board. Maybe they feel like the community has turned its back on them. Whatever the reason, teachers didnt show for Octobers TRE, thereby handing a no-confidence vote for leadership.

Well, Midland ISD leaders want to give them a chance to make a pitch about the future, and in short time we will learn whether teachers are going to be partners in this reform effort.






Sean Spicer

A Fox News reporter confronted the White House press secretary on Wednesday over President Donald Trump's announcement that there would be a "major investigation" based on his unsubstantiated claim that millions of ballots were cast illegally in the 2016 election.

The reporter, John Roberts, noted that Trump's attorneys wrote late last year in court filings submitted to squash recount efforts by Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein in Michigan and Pennsylvania that no evidence pointed to voter fraud existing in the election.

"On what basis does Stein seek to disenfranchise Michigan citizens?" the attorneys wrote on behalf of Trump's campaign in the Michigan filing. "None really, save for speculation. All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake."

Roberts asked how those statements could square with an investigation.

"Attorneys who were representing the president-elect during the recounts in several states emphatically stated 'all available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake,' so how do you square those two things?" he asked.

Spicer suggested the lawyers' statement wasn't referring to "states we didn't compete in."

"Well, I think there were a lot of states we didn't compete in where that is not necessarily the case," he said. "You look at California and New York, I'm not sure that those statements were  we didn't look at those two states in particular."

Spicer said the investigation would look into "bigger states," adding that details would be released later this week.

"I think in terms of registration ... you've got folks on rolls that have been deceased or have moved or are registered in two counties," he said. "This isn't just about the 2016 election  this is about the integrity of our voting system."

Trump secured the presidency in the November 8 election with more than 300 electoral votes. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, however, won the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes.

Story continues

In late November, Trump first made the baseless claim that "millions" had voted illegally in the election and had swung the popular vote in Clinton's favor. He also claimed without evidence that "serious voter fraud" occurred in Virginia, New Hampshire, and California  all states that he lost. The secretaries of state in each of those three states strongly rebuked Trump's assertion and said no such fraud took place.

Trump's false assertions were brought back to the forefront this week when he made a similar claim during a meeting on Monday evening with congressional leaders, much to the dismay of several Republicans. Trump's claims that voter fraud affected the election have repeatedly been shot down by fact-checkers and voting officials.

Reporters had also grilled Spicer on Tuesday about Trump's claims, and Spicer said the voter-fraud claim was "a longstanding belief [Trump has] maintained." Spicer added that the "belief" was based on studies and evidence Trump had been presented. Spicer said the president believed that as many as 3 million to 5 million people voted illegally in November's election.

A study cited by Spicer and another cited by Trump during the campaign did not prove Trump's assertions. Authors of both studies have said they did not prove Trump's assertions.

Spicer did not answer on Tuesday whether he personally believed millions voted illegally.

On Wednesday morning, Trump announced his intention to start an investigation.

"I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and," he said in a tweet, adding in a subsequent one, "even those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

Watch the exchange:

Spicer says there could be potential voter fraud examined in a lot of states that we didnt compete in bigger states  mentions CA and NY pic.twitter.com/GFGjRKKmjQ  Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) January 25, 2017

NOW WATCH: Watch President Obama surprise a tearful Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom





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New members inducted into Institute of ...
BERLIN, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The leader of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) has called for the right to asylum that is enshrined in the country's constitution to be replaced by a non-binding right granted by grace.

More than a million migrants, many of them Muslims from the Middle East, have arrived in Germany since the start of 2015, and ensuing fears about security and difficulties in integrating the newcomers have swelled the popularity of the right-wing AfD. Germany will hold its next general election in September.

"We are in favour of the asylum law laid out in Article 16a being changed and think it must be transformed into a grace privilege granted by the state," Frauke Petry, co-leader of the AfD, said in an interview with the weekly newspaper Die Zeit due to be published on Thursday.

While war refugees must be helped, many who claim to be refugees are not, said Petry, who caused outrage last year by suggesting police be given powers to use firearms against illegal immigrants.

She said those who authored the constitution had been talking about "a very small number of people who post-war Germany should take in out of a sense of responsibility for the atrocities of World War Two".

She added: "There is definitely no obligation for Germany to ultimately shelter twice as many asylum seekers as all of the other European Union countries put together."

The right to political asylum in Article 16a of Germany's Basic Law (constitution) is considered fundamental and such rights cannot be abolished. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the fundamental right to asylum for those who are being persecuted for political reasons cannot be restricted.

Earlier this month her conservatives and their right-wing Bavarian allies floated the idea of a flexible target for how many asylum seekers Germany should accept each year as a compromise to end a dispute between them over immigration.

A poll by Forsa for German magazine Stern published on Wednesday put the AfD on 12 percent, up one point from last week, despite a scandal stirred by senior party member Bjoern Hoecke's reference to Berlin's Holocaust Memorial as a "monument of shame".

Story continues

Manfred Guellner, head of Forsa, said the survey was another sign that a large majority of AfD supporters share radical right-wing views like those expressed by Hoecke.

The AfD is expected to clear the 5 percent threshold to enter the national parliament in a federal election on Sept. 24.

(Reporting by Matthias Sobolewski; writing by Michelle Martin; editing by Mark Heinrich)
BERLIN, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The leader of Germany's centre-left Social Democrats on Tuesday criticized the austerity policies of Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, saying they had contributed to the rise of populist parties on the continent.

Sigmar Gabriel, who is vice chancellor, unleashed his criticism in a statement in which he also confirmed that he would not run against Merkel in a federal election in September and cautioned his party against a right-left grand coalition.

"The policies of Angela Merkel and Wolfgang Schaeuble have no doubt contributed to the deep crises in the European Union since 2008, to the isolation of a dominant German government and, through a relentless insistence on austerity, to high unemployment outside Germany," Gabriel said in a statement.

He added: "One consequence has been the strengthening of anti-European populist parties and the damaging of not only democracy but also a good investment climate."

He said the Social Democrats, who are in a coalition with Merkel's conservatives, had failed to get Merkel to change course.

"The continuation of the current policies comes at the cost of sustainable growth," Gabriel said. "This is also dangerous for Germany." (Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Madeline Chambers)
By Francesco Canepa FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's finance minister on Wednesday warned Britain against trying to turn itself into a tax haven to woo companies after it leaves the European Union, saying any such attempt would go "awry". Britain's finance minister said last week the government could cut taxes to stay competitive as international banks weigh moving some of their London operations to the continent out of fear Britain would lose access to the European Union's single market as a result of Brexit. But Schaeuble said that any attempt to retain or attract companies with low taxes would not be tolerated. "You cant compare Great Britain with the Cayman Islands," Schaeuble said at an event in Wiesbaden, Germany. "If a big country thinks it could have the benefits of a small country...this will go awry. "This will not be tolerated by the rest of the world," he said. "That's why we have cooperation." The Dutch head of the council of euro zone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem had also said earlier this week Britain would be taking a "crazy step backwards" if it opted to turn itself into a tax haven. (Additional reporting by Frank Siebelt; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Calaveras County Board of Supervisors View Photos

San Andreas, CA  The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to call for a special election over whether to ban commercial marijuana cultivation.

Its been a contentious issue over recent months, and there was a packed house at yesterdays board meeting. The Supervisors earlier received an initiative signed by an estimated 5,000 residents requesting a cultivation ban. Board member Dennis Mills motioned to ban cultivation immediately, but it failed to receive a second from the other supervisors.

Supervisor Jack Garamendi then made a motion that was approved 5-0. He said The motion is to send this initiative to the voters for a special election, and in addition, ask the auditor for a report on the fiscal impacts this will have on the county.

The fiscal report is expected to be completed by mid-February and the vote-by-mail election will be May 2nd.
Katharine the great white shark is wintering near Melbourne again.

The 14-foot, 2,300-pound great white shark  who has her own Twitter account  was fitted with a GPS device by a team from the University of North Florida as part of a project called OCEARCH to learn about the migration habits of sharks.

Katharine returns to the east coast of Florida annually. In the past month, she's traveled from the shallow waters off the Bahamas to near West Palm Beach, north to the waters off Palm Bay and finally near Melbourne.

According to OCEARCH data, she was at her farthest point from Florida in February 2016, far out in the North Atlantic Ocean west of Nova Scotia. By March, she had traveled south to near the island of Bermuda. In July, she had made it off the coast of North Carolina.

The GPS device with which Katharine is fitted registers a "ping," identifying her location, when the shark's dorsal fin breaks the surface of the water and transmits a signal to a satellite.
WASHINGTON  On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation sponsored by newly-elected U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Lubbock) that would protect taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortions through government programs like Medicaid.

The legislation does so by making the Hyde Amendment permanent and government-wide. In support of the legislation, Arrington gave a heartfelt speech on the House Floor.
Plainview Police Chief Ken Coughlin and a large contingent from his department a standing ovation during Tuesdays City Council meeting in recognition of being among the states best.

That recognition followed a presentation by Abernathy Police Chief Cameron Bowman, representing the Texas Police Chiefs Association, honoring the Plainview Police Department as a Recognized Law Enforcement Agency.

The certification is through the TPCA Law Enforcement Recognition Program noting the departments compliance with its 168 Texas law enforcements best business practices.

This is a voluntary program carefully developed by Texas Law Enforcement professionals to assist agencies in the efficient and effective delivery of service and the protection of individuals rights, Bowman explained. These Best Practices cover all aspects of law enforcement operations including use of force, protection of citizen rights, vehicle pursuits, property and evidence management, and patrol and investigative operations.

Although similar to national police agency certification, the Texas Best Recognized Agency has been designed specifically for Texas.

Of the 2,649 state and local law enforcement agencies across the state, Plainview is only the 134th agency to be recognized. That places the department among the top 6 percent.

Im particularly proud that Plainview is now the fifth department across the Panhandle-South Plains to achieve this recognition, Bowman said. They now join the Canyon Police Department, Muleshoe PD, Idalou PD and Abernathy PD. This also means that Hale County has the distinction of being home to two departments which have been recognized as among the states best.

The Texas Best Practices accreditation is for four years, through the end of 2020.

We are all very proud of this significant achievement, Coughlin responded. Our staff put in a lot of time and hard work to go through this process over the last two years. In particular, I want to thank Sgt. Bill Bridgwater for taking the lead on this project. This certainly doesnt mean we are finished. We will continue the hard work for Plainview to maintain these high standards for the department now and in the future.

The certification process provided for an independent review of the departments operations, Coughlin noted, and should assure the citizens of Plainview that its police department is conforming to the current state of the art in law enforcement.

The on-site inspector, who has been doing reviews since the beginning in 2006, said we had the best inspection of any department. In fact, there was only one minor deficiency over an organizational chart that was in our manual but not posted. We corrected that in about a minute and a half, by putting the chart up on the wall.

The police department will be recognized for its achievement at the Texas Police Chiefs Association annual conference in April, and officers have a special lapel pin for civilian wear as well as a unique service bar their uniform and an added line on their nametag.

In addition to the police officers, the council meeting included six special guests  students from an economics class at Plainview High School.

Action items included:

--Approval of the citys quarterly financial report for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2016.

--Second reading and final approval for the adoption of the 2015 Edition of the International Building Code and International Residential Code, with local revisions.

--Adoption of a resolution acknowledging that the council completed its annual review and approval of the city investment policy.

--Adopted a resolution supporting the extension of Interstate 27 along the Ports-to-Plains Corridor.

--Authorized the submission of a SPAG Community Development Block Grant application. The request seeks $275,000, with $55,000 in local matching funds, to use a fiberglass insert to re-line 32 brick manholes and replace two 6-inch water lines in the Barrio neighborhood.

--Awarded a bid of $682,617.50 to Allen Doggett Construction of Lubbock to construct a new Milwee Lift Station. That project will replace two existing sewage lift stations, on Juniper and Milwee streets, that have been in operation since the 1960s.

--Awarded a bid of $886,854.72 to Deerwood Construction of Lubbock for installation of a replacement 18-inch gravity-flow sewer line in connection with the new lift station.

--Authorized the purchase of a 2017 John Deere 770G motor grader at a net cost of $193,500 after a trade-in allowance of $71,000 for a 2006 John Deere 770D motor grader.

The council went into executive session to review board appointments to city boards and commissions. No formal action was scheduled following the close-door meeting.

Two councilmembers were absent Tuesday, Teressa King and John Gatica.
BERLIN  The cause of the fire that destroyed the old Berlin train station remains unknown as the town waits on the state to begin final demolition.



Everything is on hold right now, said Berlin Fire Marshal Steve Waznia last week.



The building was deemed a total loss after a fire broke out during the early morning hours of Dec. 21. Two weeks ago, Amtrak halted the planned demolition of the station.



Amtrak owns the station and leases it to the Connecticut Department of Transportation.



The state agency was working to renovate the century old station while building a new station next door. Waznia said the plan was to enter the basement of the station and resume the investigation safely once the building is demolished.



Waznia said Wednesday there is currently no timeline in place for demolition.






MERIDEN  A 160-year-old house targeted for demolition is not eligible for protection, according to a state official, and may be razed under the Meriden Housing Authoritys plan for redevelopment on West Main Street.



The home at 127 W. Main St., across from Cook Avenue, is part of a housing authority proposal for a mixed-use development at 143 W. Main St. But before the plan could move forward, the housing authority needed to research whether 127 W. Main St. had historical significance.



It is not eligible for protection, Todd Levine, environmental review coordinator for the State Historic Preservation Office, said this week. There is no objection to demolition from this office.



In 2015, the housing authority purchased the two-story Italianate house, built in 1855, for $131,000. It was listed in a 2013 survey of historic city properties conducted by the State Historic Preservation Office.



Levine toured the property in 2015 and asked the MHA to hire a consultant to determine if it had any historic value that would warrant preservation. He previously said research submitted by the housing authoritys consultant would be fact-checked by his office.



The housing authority completed an application for 9 percent low-income tax credits for a mixed-used residential and commercial project that includes a black box theater at 143 W. Main St and is working with a lender to help cover pre-development costs. It expects to hear from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority on the West Main Street project in March or April.



MHA Executive Director Robert Cappelletti told the housing board on Monday that if low-income tax credits arent awarded for the project, the housing authority can find alternative funding sources.



In other action this week, the board of Maynard Road Corporation, the development arm of the MHA, voted Monday to accept $1.67 million in state Department of Housing funds to build nine apartment units for veterans on Hanover Street.



The funding is on top of a previous CHFA contribution of $454,000 and an Ion Bank loan of $585,0000 to complete the estimated $3 million project. Carabetta Builders is the general contractor. The authority is also working with Ion Bank to secure a construction loan and permanent gap funding.



This $3 million line of credit will fund the various states of development activities, Cappelletti said.



The plan calls for nine housing units to be constructed on the half-acre parcel at 249 Hanover St. where the Hanover House bar once stood. The 24,371-square-foot building will be two-and-a-half-stories tall with parking in the rear. The closing is expected in February.



mgodin@record-journal.com (203) 317-2255 Twitter: @Cconnbiz










SOUTHINGTON  New financial software, a safe and video surveillance have been added to Southington High School since thefts reported from June to September last year, according to education officials.



In a memo to Board of Education members, School Superintendent Tim Connellan outlined the new measures, including refresher training for school employees on cash handling procedures.



The district remains confident in the procedures that are in place, Connellan wrote. However, in light of the recent events at Southington High School, the added checks and balances will build and improve upon these procedures going forward.



More than $9,000 in cash was reported missing from the high school in September and hasnt been recovered.



Another $50,000 in checks were found in the safe, some of which were months old. Both the cash and the checks were destined for the student activities account.



In April, $800 was reported missing. Principal Brian Stranieri told police the money still has not been located.



Connellans memo from December said the district bought new software to better monitor the student activities account and also purchased a safe for cash received from students and families.



The safe has a drop box feature similar to those used at banks. Advisors of student organizations who handle funds will have the ability to deposit those funds directly into the locked safe, Connellan wrote.



He is also considering online payments, which would reduce the amount of cash and checks handled by the school.



School board Chairman Brian Goralski said Connellan reviewed policies and procedures shortly after the police investigation into the missing $9,000 concluded without any arrests. Goralski said he still has faith in those policies, although they may not have been followed at the high school.



The policies we have in place were very good, he said. Obviously there were some flaws because what happened, happened.



During the council meeting Monday, town Finance Director Emilia Portelinha described cash handling policies.



We deposit funds promptly. We request all deposits are made on a daily basis, she said.



Despite having good policies, theyre not effective unless followed and reinforced.



We find that by reviewing and reinforcing, it keeps this process in mind for the departments so you dont get lax in it, Portelinha said. When you dont remind people and dont stay on top of it, I find these things tend to fall by the wayside.



The town has no authority over school district policies, according to both Portelinha and Goralski.



Town Council Chairman Michael Riccio said he spoke with Goralski about the incident.



They are diligently working on their cash handling procedures, Riccio said. He assured me its all being taken care of.



Goralski said he forwarded Connellans email to council officials last month so that they would know the steps taken by the school district. He said hes open to taking questions from other departments about cash handling procedures.



I would have attended their meeting if they asked me, Goralski said.



jbuchanan@recordjournal.com 203-317-2230 Twitter: @JBuchananRJ






If you're wondering why President Donald Trump has taken such a strong interest in auto industry jobs, you could start looking at the electoral map of the states that put him in office.

Of the 10 states that are the largest auto industry employers, eight of them went for Trump in the November election.





Trump met Tuesday with GM CEO Mary Barra , Ford CEO Mark Fields and Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne to help convince them to open new auto plants built in the United States.



"We have a very big push on to have auto plants and other plants  many other plants," he told reporters at the start of the meeting with auto executives. "It's happening."



Trump has vowed to cut regulations and taxes to make it more attractive for businesses to operate in the United States. But he also has criticized automakers for building cars in Mexico for shipment into the U.S. and has threatened to impose 35 percent tariffs on imported vehicles.

Trump got a polite reception from the auto executives Tuesday, though few details were provided on how he plans to follow through on his pledge. GM (GM), Ford (NYSE:F) and Fiat Chrysler (Milan Stock Exchange: FCA-IT) have all announced recent new jobs and investments in the United States, but are also continuing to build cars in Mexico.

Fields said automakers wanted to work with Trump to create a "renaissance in American manufacturing."

"We're very encouraged by the president and the economic policies that he's forwarding," Fields told reporters, praising Trump's decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement , which Fields said did not address intervention in currency valuations by trading partners. "As an industry we're excited about working together with the president," he said.

For more than a century the U.S. auto industry has been concentrated in the American Midwest, in part for historical reasons. Long before sophisticated global supply chains provided overnight delivery of parts and raw materials, American carmakers set up shop where their most important raw materials, steel and rubber were manufactured.

Story continues

Over the years, the assembly lines operated by major manufacturers spawned a network of smaller suppliers throughout the region, where many parts makers are still based.

That interdependence was brought in sharp focus when the Great Recession hit, sparking waves of layoffs that rippled through the region and the auto industry supply chain.



Since then, the job markets in most states have recovered many of those jobs. But auto industry employment levels has still not rebounded to pre-recession levels.

Trump has promised to restore those lost jobs, in part with his highly visible criticism of U.S. car companies expanding production in Mexico.

American car production also has recovered from the depths of the Great Recession, but since then a larger share of U.S. inventories is coming from factories in Canada and Mexico, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. About two-thirds of U.S. inventory this year was made within the nation's borders, with the remainder about evenly split between Candida and Mexico.

Trump also has gone after foreign carmakers who have set up shop in Mexico to service that local market and export their cars and light trucks to the U.S. Most of those Mexican factories are owned by foreign carmakers.

Expanding auto production the U.S. will ultimately depend on increasing demand for American-made cars. With flattening U.S. auto sales and some excess capacity, automakers have been reluctant to open new U.S. factories, though they have expanded output at some existing facilities.

GM and Ford last built new U.S. assembly plants in 2004, while Fiat Chrysler opened a new transmission plant in Indiana in 2014.

GM said in 2014 that it would invest $5 billion in Mexico through 2018, a move that would allow it to double its production capacity, and Barra has said the automaker is not reconsidering the plan, according to Reuters.

Earlier this month, Ford scrapped plans to build a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico and said it would instead invest $700 million in a factory in Michigan. Ford will still move production of Focus small cars to Mexico from Michigan, but will cut total production of the cars by consolidating their assembly at an existing Mexican plant.

 Reuters contributed to this story.





More From CNBC


Tulsi Gabbard Congresswoman

A high-profile Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii said she met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a secret "fact-finding" trip she took to the country recently.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, of Hawaii, told CNN on Wednesday that when she went to the country earlier this month she initially hadn't planned on meeting with Assad. But when CNN's Jake Tapper asked Gabbard if she met with the authoritarian ruler, she answered, "I did."

"My reason for going to visit Syria was really because of the suffering of the Syrian people that has been weighing heavily on my heart," she said. "I wanted to see if there was in some small way that I could express the love and the 'aloha' and the care that the American people have for the people of Syria and to see firsthand what was happening there."

Gabbard released a statement shortly after the CNN interview aired.

"My visit to Syria has made it abundantly clear: Our counterproductive regime change war does not serve America's interest, and it certainly isn't in the interest of the Syrian people," she said in the statement.

Gabbard was in Syria for four days. The nonprofit Arab American Community Center for Economic and Social Services (AACCESS)Ohio sponsored the trip, according to Gabbard's statement.

Obama administration officials have repeatedly insisted that Assad, who has been accused of massacring his own people, must step down. But the US hasn't directly intervened to bring an end to his brutal rule.

Gabbard said in her statement that she returned to the US "with even greater resolve to end our illegal war to overthrow the Syrian government."

Gabbard has been a vocal opponent of the Obama administration's calls for Assad to relinquish power. On December 8, she introduced to Congress the Stop Arming Terrorists Act, which would prohibit the US government from funding or arming extremist groups like Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, Al Qaeda, and ISIS.

"When the opportunity arose to meet with [Assad], I did so because I felt it's important that if we profess to truly care about the Syrian people, about their suffering, then we've got to be able to meet with anyone that we need to if there's a possibility that we could achieve peace," Gabbard said. "And that's exactly what we've talked about."

Story continues

When Tapper noted the crimes Assad has been accused of, Gabbard defended her choice to meet with him.

"Whatever you think about President Assad, the fact is that he is the president of Syria," she said. "In order for any peace agreement, in order for any possibility of a viable peace agreement to occur, there has to be a conversation with him. The Syrian people will determine his outcome and what happens with their government and their future."

Gabbard also repeated a line that the Assad regime has long pushed  that there are no moderate rebels left in Syria.

"Every place that I went, every person that I spoke to, I asked this question to them [about arming moderate rebels], and without hesitation they said, 'There are no moderate rebels,' 'Who are these moderate rebels that people keep speaking of?'" Gabbard said. "Regardless of the name of these groups, the strongest fighting force on the ground in Syria is al-Nusra or Al Qaeda and ISIS. That is a fact."

Assad often argues that his opposition is composed entirely of extremists. This is a convenient argument for his regime  Western governments won't support terrorists, so if Assad frames the Syrian civil war as a conflict between his government and terrorists who oppose him, he looks like the better option.

Gabbard ended her statement with a plea.

"The US must stop supporting terrorists who are destroying Syria and her people," she said. "The US and other countries fueling this war must stop immediately. We must allow the Syrian people to try to recover from this terrible war."

Syria, which has been thoroughly ravaged by a civil war that is nearing its sixth year, is generally inaccessible to Americans. Journalists who have reported from Syria in recent years have coordinated their trips with the Assad government and have had their travels carefully monitored and controlled.

Gabbard visited Damascus, Syria's capital, while she was inside the country. She also visited Aleppo, a major city that has been the scene of intense fighting between the regime and rebels in recent months.

Gabbard is a member of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees. She met with President-elect Donald Trump in late November to discuss how to avoid "the drumbeats of war" that may lead to US intervention in Syria, among other national-security concerns.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard met with Assad in Syria, she explains to @jaketapper https://t.co/5icnGfi3Tf https://t.co/gjVYuS4pas  The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) January 25, 2017

Gabbard's full statement is below:

"My visit to Syria has made it abundantly clear: Our counterproductive regime change war does not serve America's interest, and it certainly isn't in the interest of the Syrian people."

"As I visited with people from across the country, and heard heartbreaking stories of how this war has devastated their lives, I was asked, 'Why is the United States and its allies helping al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups try to take over Syria? Syria did not attack the United States. Al-Qaeda did.' I had no answer."

"I return to Washington, DC with even greater resolve to end our illegal war to overthrow the Syrian government. I call upon Congress and the new Administration to answer the pleas of the Syrian people immediately and support the Stop Arming Terrorists Act. We must stop directly and indirectly supporting terrorists  directly by providing weapons, training and logistical support to rebel groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and ISIS; and indirectly through Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, and Turkey, who, in turn, support these terrorist groups. We must end our war to overthrow the Syrian government and focus our attention on defeating al-Qaeda and ISIS."

"From Iraq to Libya and now in Syria, the US has waged wars of regime change, each resulting in unimaginable suffering, devastating loss of life, and the strengthening of groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS."

"Originally, I had no intention of meeting with Assad, but when given the opportunity, I felt it was important to take it. I think we should be ready to meet with anyone if there's a chance it can help bring about an end to this war, which is causing the Syrian people so much suffering."

"The US must stop supporting terrorists who are destroying Syria and her people. The US and other countries fueling this war must stop immediately. We must allow the Syrian people to try to recover from this terrible war."

Natasha Bertrand contributed to this report.

NOW WATCH: Watch President Obama surprise a tearful Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom





More From Business Insider


The Trump administration ordered several federal agencies to cease communication with the public, and in some cases halt new activity, in a move that raised fears about government work being done behind closed doors and about possible disruptions to programs.

The Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Interior are among the agencies reportedly facing at least temporary gag orders, as the new administration takes over and begins what is expected to be a dramatic remaking of policy and an easing of environmental regulations.

In addition, the EPA was directed to freeze all new contracts and grants for outside organizations. The agency spends billions of dollars on fighting pollution, cleaning hazardous waste sites and conducting research on such topics as climate change. California gets about $180 million annually just to implement the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.

While top federal offices commonly see restrictions when department leadership changes hands  allowing time to re-evaluate the mission and set new priorities  the limits enacted since President Trump took office Friday appear to go beyond the norm.

Theres necessarily going to be some sort of pause, but I havent heard of a communications chill of this nature before, said David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit group in San Rafael that advocates for open government. If agencies are being ordered not to talk to the public about what theyre doing, how is the public to know what is going on and how can the public hold these agencies and individuals accountable?

Much of the work facing censure appears to be related to the environment. Trump, who has called climate change a hoax and is a critic of water and air regulations, inherited an executive branch that sought to aggressively address global warming under President Barack Obama. Trump has pledged to do away with Obamas climate policies.

EPA employees were told shortly after the inauguration, in an email first reported by online news site ProPublica, that all contract and grant awards were to be immediately suspended. It was not clear whether the directive applied only to new business or to existing work as well.

Jared Blumenfeld, who retired last year as the EPAs Pacific Southwest regional administrator, called the freeze on contracts unprecedented and chilling for the agency and for communities that receive millions of dollars annually from the federal government.

Depending on how long it lasts, he said, the freeze could cut off as much as $5 million a year provided by the EPA to environmental nonprofits and other contractors doing everything from trash and pollution cleanup projects in San Francisco Bay to wetlands restoration along the shoreline. A total freeze in contracts would mean cleanups at toxic Superfund sites  including 23 in Santa Clara County polluted by the semiconductor industry  would have to shut down.

Many Superfund sites, like the Iron Mountain Mine, a shaft near Redding that spews acid-laced water, get more dangerous when it rains, Blumenfeld said.

The two things that would keep me up at night when I was administrator was making sure the funding continued and high-rain events, he said. This is really a perfect storm of funding being cut and high-rain events, so its very worrying.

David Lewis, executive director of Save the Bay, which has often contracted with the EPA to fund projects in San Francisco Bay, said he is baffled by the order.

Of course, given other things this president has said and done, I think that there is legitimate concern that it could be politically motivated, not financially motivated, Lewis said. The EPAs work is to protect our safety on a daily basis, so of course its concerning.

Myron Ebell, who oversaw the EPA transition for Trump, told ProPublica that freezing regulations going forward, contracts, grants, hires enables the agency to ensure that policies will be consistent with the new administrations direction.

Trump has nominated Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA. Pruitt, who enjoys strong backing from fossil fuel companies and fought Obamas Clean Power Plan in his home state, has criticized the agency for its heavy hand. His conservative allies expect him to ease regulation.

The EPAs press office declined to comment on policy changes, offering only an emailed statement.

The EPA fully intends to continue to provide information to the public, the statement said. A fresh look at public affairs and communications processes is common practice for any new Administration, and a short pause in activities allows for this assessment.

An internal EPA memo recently leaked to the public, however, directed the agencys communications staff to cease with press releases as well as social media and blog posts.

The offices Twitter account, usually active, hasnt released a post since before the inauguration, and its leadership blog was last updated by agency Administrator Gina McCarthy the day before Trump took office. In her post, she defended the offices successful litigation of polluters.

EPA under President Obamas leadership has a remarkable success story to tell, she wrote. My hope is that our record will remind people that government can and does work for them.

The Department of Agriculture has also instituted a communications lockdown on its science arm, the Agricultural Research Service, according to an internal memo first obtained by online news site BuzzFeed.

Michael Young, the USDAs deputy administrator, wrote Tuesday that the gag order applies only to policy-related statements in press releases and interviews. He told the Washington Post that food safety announcements and peer-reviewed research papers are allowed.

The gag orders followed the weekend retweet by the National Park Service of pictures comparing President Trumps inauguration unfavorably to President Barack Obamas in 2009. The tweets were removed followed by a Park Service apology.

Then, on Tuesday, a series of tweets from the Badlands National Park account, @BadlandsNPS, highlighted studies showing record amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, ocean acidification and other signs of climate change. The tweets, which were soon removed, were celebrated online for their apparent defiance, receiving the hashtag #Badasslands and prompting fans to dub the park Breaking Badlands after the TV show Breaking Bad.

White House p ress s ecretary Sean Spicer said at his daily briefing Tuesday that he did not know about any restrictions on communications at the agencies, and would look into the matter.

Kurtis Alexander and Peter Fimrite are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kalaexander@sfchronicle.com, pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander @pfimrite
After a long night of looking and scores of nautical miles scoured, the U.S. Coast Guard called off its search Wednesday afternoon for the missing 32-year-old man whose kayak capsized in the San Francisco Bay near the Dunbarton Bridge.

Rescue crews Tuesday found his life vest, but no signs of the man, Kenneth Maldonado of San Jose, who went missing Tuesday afternoon while boating with a friend in the bay.

The Coast Guard launched an 87-foot patrol boat and other vessels that searched through the night, joining other agencies that deployed their own search boats and helicopters, with additional resources deployed as the sun rose Wednesday, said Coast Guard Ensign Courtney Hanson.

But the would-be rescuers, aided by drones deployed by local agencies and heat-seeking technology, couldnt find Maldonado. The Coast Guard suspended its search at 12:10 p.m. Wednesday, said Aaron Coffin, a search-and-rescue coordinator with the agency.

Menlo Park Fire Protection District / / Menlo Park Fire Protection District /

Its not an easy decision that the Coast Guard makes, and we understand that there are grieving family members out there, Coffin said.

It takes a thorough and careful analysis to decide if, and when, to call off a search, Coffin said, adding that officials take into account the bodys ability to survive in the cold waters, along with the most crucial factor: time.

A man in a raft, who was boating with Maldonado, called 911 about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday from the water after noticing his friends kayak had turned upside down and the flotation vest was stuck inside, Hanson said.

The man was rescued about 30 minutes after making the 911 call.

Sarah Ravani and Michael Bodley are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com and @mbodley@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @SarRavani and @michael_bodley
Investigators were still trying to figure out on Tuesday why a 70-foot-tall oak tree toppled on a quiet street in east Ukiah, smashing through the roof of a single-story home and crushing to death a 35-year old woman who was lying asleep in bed.

Erika Tyler was killed in the predawn hours on Saturday when the enormous tree, about 7 feet in diameter, plunged to earth.

Tylers mother, Connie Tyler, told reporters that her daughter and her daughters boyfriend, Kyle Jones, feared the tree would fall and had asked their landlord to remove it.

They were scared of that tree all the time, Connie Tyler told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

Jones, who had been sleeping in the same bed beside Tyler, escaped unharmed.

It missed him by inches, said Ukiah Fire Chief Kirk Thomsen. He was very lucky.

Thomsen said he suspected the tree and its roots had been weakened by heavy rain but that firefighters dont know why it fell.

We are characterizing it as a freak accident, Thomsen said. Im not an arborist and I cannot tell you if it was preventable or not.

Thomsen said he believed that a branch of the tree had fallen off some years ago, and he reported that neighbors were complaining that the tree was unsafe and part of it may have been supported by a cable found in the debris. But his department had no record of inspections, complaints or corrective actions at the site, the chief said.

Firefighters initially tried to administer first aid before determining that Tyler, a former legal secretary, was dead, Thomsen said. Tree surgeons were summoned to begin removing pieces of the tree with chainsaws and a crane.

Thomsen said the house was so damaged he could not tell whether it had been a two-bedroom or a three-bedroom home. He said the mattress, box spring and floor joists had been crushed.

The roof is gone, the bedrooms are crushed and the tree still resides in the house, the chief said.

One of Tylers sons, age 17, escaped unharmed and another son, age 11, had been spending the night at a friends house.

Connie Tyler said she planned to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the owners of the house, which her daughter was renting, according to the Press Democrat.

Friends of Erika Tyler set up an online GoFundMe donation page to benefit her family that in two days had raised nearly $6,000 from more than 100 donors.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF
These wacky Trump days

A Texas radio station bans Madonna. George Orwells 1984 briefly tops Amazons bestseller list. A resistance team from the National Park Service comes out with its own Twitter feed. And half an onion in a plastic bag has passed 500,000 Twitter followers as it continues to tweak President Trump. Yes, Trumps first few days in office have been particularly active on social media. The radio station went after Madonna for her lack of patriotism; Orwells book features a Ministry of Truth that offers up, uh, alternative facts; and the unofficial Park Service feed came because of a crackdown on some official ones. As for Half an Onion, it tweets things like, For the record, Im not gonna show you my tax returns either because, well ... Im a half-used piece of produce in a bag. Not the president.

Live ad will draw lots of Snickers

A Snickers commercial will have a twist during the Super Bowl: It will air live. Ad Age reported that the ad, featuring actor Adam Driver, will be broadcast during the first commercial break in the third quarter of Feb. 5s game between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons.

Pipeline battles

Foes of the Dakota Access Pipeline are taking to social media to go after the banks they say are helping to fund it, including virtually all of the biggest names. We are coming for you, tweeted Shaun King, a New York Daily News writer and leader of Black Lives Matter, who included a chart of the banks involved. You will regret this. Pull out now.

Daily Briefing is compiled from San Francisco Chronicle staff and news services. See more items and links at www.sfgate.com. Twitter: @techbriefing


The wall is rising.

Invest in cement.

Less than a week into his presidency, Donald Trump has fulfilled a key campaign pledge by signing paperwork that will allow construction of a new wall on the Mexican border to begin. Congress would still need to appropriate the majority of funds for the projectwhich could cost as much as $25 billionbut theres apparently enough money in existing federal accounts to break ground.

Mexicos president, Enrique Pena Nieto, says the wall is an affront to his country. But there could be a consolation prize: fresh new business for Mexican contractors, especially cement companies.

Trumps wall would require around 7 million cubic meters of concrete and 2.4 million tons of cement, according to investing firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. And guess who produces just those materials, in the vicinity of the Rio Grande? Most of the cement producers in North America are Mexican, says Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at forecasting firm IHS. As an infrastructure program, [the wall] could boost the Mexican economy. It could benefit Mexican companies.

Of the 20 biggest cement producers in the world, Mexicos Cemex is No. 7, according to trade magazine Global Cement. There are no American companies among the top 20. Trump, of course, could decree that all cement poured into The Wall must be American. But guess what: Cemex has extensive US operations, with dozens of plants in the United States and more than 10,000 US employees.

Trump might find a way to exclude Cemex and other suppliers headquartered outside the United States from contracting on The Wall, but that would be depriving such firms American employees of work. Or, not. If all the sourcing for The Wall went to firms with an American HQ, then those companies might be unable to fill orders for other clients  leaving companies like Cemex to fill the gap. If global demand for anything goes up, it usually benefits most sellers, because firms are loath to add costly capacity when a bump in demand is temporary. Instead, they ramp up production as much as possible at facilities already online, even if it allows competitors to grab part of the pie.

Story continues

The Bernstein analysis estimates Trumps enhancements to border security (a wall already exists on portions of the 1,989-mile border with Mexico) could cost as much as $25 billion. Concrete, made of cement, would be the cheapest likely material. The huge project could boost cement demand, currently growing around 4% per year, by a full percentage point once construction gets underway. Thats a big jump for a mature industry in a slow-growing global economy. And since cement is costly to ship, it would make sense to source it as close to the border as possible.

Cemex (CX) has many facilities in the region that fit the profileon both sides of the border. So does another Mexican company, Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC.MX), whose CEO told Reuters last November that hed be happy to supply cement for Trumps wall. Cemexs stock price plunged after the election, but it has since rebounded and is slightly above levels of Nov. 8. GCCs stock is up 46% since then.

Other cement producers in the region include CalPortland, which is owned by a Japanese company, and Alamo Cement Company, which has an Italian parent. Both subsidiaries do have large US operations, and could benefit from the wall as well. As ludicrous as the Trump Wall project sounds (at least to us), Bernstein wrote in its July report, it represents a huge opportunity for those companies.

Trump continues to insist Mexico will somehow pay for his wall, assuming the project moves past the paperwork stage. Mexico says no way, so that fight seems likely to fester. Whoever makes money off the wall probably shouldnt spend it right away.

Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.
One of the companies of late trucking tycoon Bill Hall Jr. has filed for bankruptcy again.

San Antonios Bill Hall Jr. Trucking GP LLC filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on Wednesday, nearly three weeks after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Craig Gargotta dismissed the companys previous bankruptcy case after it missed a November deadline to file a reorganization plan and proof of property insurance.
Hotel developers in Boerne want to stop visitors to the Hill Country community from giving their business to San Antonio hotels by bringing an upscale hotel project to the suburb.

Phoenix Hospitality Group, a Boerne-based hotel developer and operator, is teaming up with Ross Partlow, owner of Boerne-based Partlow Properties and Investments, and partner Tim Lange on a 130-room full-service hotel that will feature outdoor event spaces, a 7,500-square-foot conference center and a resort-style pool, according to a news release. A restaurant, bar and market featuring regional Texas cuisine and products will also be part of the $20 million project.
Six Flags Fiesta Texas plans to kick off a round of hiring for its 2017 season with a job fair Saturday.

Fiesta Texas is hiring for more than 500 available positions in admissions, food service, ride operation, security, maintenance, games, retail and park services among other areas, the San Antonio theme park said in a news release Wednesday.
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The Trump administration on Tuesday revived plans for the Keystone XL pipeline, a link that would send more tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, to Southeast Texas terminals and to local refineries that consume more than a million barrels a day.

The additional oil could be exported from Southeast Texas ports, rated the largest in the country for crude oil and refined products.

The administration's executive order, which gives the go-ahead for the Dakota Access pipeline, reverses the Obama administration's position that the pipelines posed a potential hazard to the major underground aquifer that serves eight states, from Wyoming and Nebraska to Texas and New Mexico.

"Keystone XL is integral to enhancing economic opportunity in Southeast Texas," said Bart Owens, business development manager and projects coordinator for GT Logistics, a multipurpose terminal in Port Arthur, which is in sight of Motiva Port Arthur's and Valero Energy Corp.'s refineries.

"It's an opportunity for all the terminals here," Owens said. "As the (crude) price comes back up, we'll be busier. A lot of projects are on the verge of happening because companies were waiting for the election to be over."

Because the Keystone XL route crosses from Canada into the United States, builder TransCanada needed State Department approval to proceed.

The lower link in the Keystone connection was completed three years ago, when crude began to pour in from the Midwest oil hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, to the Sunoco Logistics terminal in Nederland.

Sunoco has about 24 million barrels of storage and is building more but declined comment on the potential XL impact.

The pipeline's capacity has been estimated at 700,000 barrels per day. Keystone XL could bring another 140,000 barrels, TransCanada have said.

Since the XL portion was stalled, other terminals sprang up, like GT Logistics and Jefferson Energy Companies, to bring in crude by train from producing fields that lacked adequate pipeline access.

Jefferson leases property on the Port of Beaumont's Orange County bank to offload oil from 120-car tanker trains to high-capacity tanks, from which it is pumped aboard barges for delivery to customers locally or via the Intracoastal Waterway.

A spokesman for Jefferson had no comment Tuesday.

Barges filled with oil are a worry for people who want to ensure protection for sensitive places like Bessie Heights Marsh.

Members of Clean Air and Water Inc., an environmental advocacy group in Beaumont, gathered Monday to discuss Bessie Heights, said its president, Richard Harrel.

"Everything we've been fighting is going forward," he said. "We're in trouble when you want to do away with regulations that have cleaned up the environment in the early days."

Harrel, a retired biology professor from Lamar University, led the research 50 years ago into what then was the heavily polluted Neches River.

On Tuesday, Texas senators applauded the executive order.

"These projects will boost the economy, strengthen national security, and help Texans, and all Americans, have more access to affordable energy. Today's news is a breath of fresh air, and proof that President Trump won't let radical special-interest groups stand in the way of doing what's best for American workers," said Sen. John Cornyn.

Sen. Ted Cruz said the country is "at the edge of an energy revolution" that will help the nation tap into natural resources crucial to restoring jobs and growth.

DWallach@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/dwallach
President Donald Trumps hotel management company wants to expand its namesake luxury hotels across the U.S., its chief executive officer said.

There are 26 major metropolitan areas in the U.S., and were in five, Trump Hotels CEO Eric Danziger said after a panel discussion this week at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles. I dont see any reason that we couldnt be in all of them eventually.
Avanti Senior Living will mark a milestone at its upcoming Avanti Senior Living at Augusta Pines community in Spring.

The company will celebrate the pouring of the foundation for the 77,000-square-foot assisted living and memory care community on January 26 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tim Hekker, CEO, and Lori Alford, chief operating officer, will be in attendance, along with Bruce Hillegeist, president of the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce, and Gil Staley, CEO of The Woodlands Area Economic Development Partnership. The event is open to the public.

RELATED: Avanti Senior Living adding communities in Texas

The $17 million facility is expected to open at 24520 Community Center Drive off Kuykendahl Road and West Rayford Road in late 2017. Designed for more than 98 seniors with a mix of one- and two-bedroom residences, the complex will have a wellness center, an art studio, a theater area, a full-service salon and spa.

The company's other local facilities are Avanti Senior Living at Vision Park in Shenandoah and Avanti Senior Living at Towne Lake in Cypress.
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Federal charges against several defendants arrested in a series of Tenderloin drug stings were dismissed by prosecutors Tuesday, six months after a judge found substantial evidence that San Francisco police officers engaged in biased policing by targeting only black people in a joint operation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The U.S. Attorneys Office declined to comment on its decision to dismiss indictments against 12 defendants. But the stings, known as Operation Safe Schools, have been under scrutiny since April 2015, when the federal public defenders office pointed out that all 37 people indicted on drug-dealing charges were black.

In court documents, defense attorneys presented evidence that officers were aware of nonblack drug dealers in the same area but did not arrest them. The defense said one officer was overheard making derogatory references to BMs, or black males, while another referred to black women as bitches.

A videotaped incident showed an officer apparently turning down an Asian American womans offer of a drug sale before the officer arrested a nearby black woman. The officer, according to court documents, later told agents he had avoided the Asian chick by telling her he wanted the good s.

A San Francisco police official said the department was disappointed to find out the charges had been dismissed.

The department was not given a chance in court to respond to the allegations of selective enforcement, which we believe would have been proven false said department spokesman David Stevenson said.

Deputy City Attorney Sean Connolly, who represented the Police Department in the case, said the city was preparing a response to the allegations when the government dismissed the cases. ... San Francisco was prepared to rebut the allegations and establish that the department and its officers acted properly.

In June, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ruled in the cases of the 12 defendants represented by the federal public defenders office that there was substantial evidence of racially selective enforcement by the San Francisco Police Department and that the defendants were entitled to seek evidence from police about their racial practices.

Selective law enforcement, such as singling out blacks for arrest, is a civil rights violation that if proved would require dismissal of the charges, Chen said at the time.

The cases of 25 other defendants arrested in the sting were resolved earlier, either dismissed or handled through a pretrial diversion program, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

The federal public defenders office did not return requests for comment. But San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi said he believed Tuesdays dismissals stemmed from the allegations of biased policing.

These cases are very hard to prove because you have to show discriminatory intent by the police officers, Adachi said. Here, they had that. It was one of those rare cases where you actually have hard evidence of this.

Adachi said police clearly chose to enforce a very serious charge and arrest against African Americans over non-African Americans, and it was an indefensible position for the prosecution to take. The tragedy is they should have looked at this case in the very beginning and not filed it.

Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo
A couple found dead with their two cats inside a Berkeley apartment were identified Tuesday by police, but it remained a mystery how they died.

Roger Morash, 35, and Valerie Morash, 32, both graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were found dead by a friend paying the couple a visit around 1 p.m. Monday, said Officer Byron White, a spokesman for the Berkeley Police Department.

Its totally strange, said White, explaining that detectives are stumped by the deaths.

The dead cats were also discovered by police inside the home, leading officers to call in the Berkeley Fire Department, which sent a hazardous materials team, as well as Pacific Gas and Electric Co. crews, White said.

A day later, investigators were no closer to figuring out what killed the couple, White said. All the obvious dangers, including carbon monoxide poisoning, had been ruled out, he said.

Ron Chapple/Getty Image

The couple, and their cats, showed no obvious signs of trauma and detectives found no sign of foul play at the residence, said White, who described the Morashes as highly educated.

Valerie Morash worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco. Roger Morash started his own gaming company known as Glug Glug, and was a year away from completing an independent game project, said his colleague, Anita Tung.

He was just such a pleasure to work with and to know. He was just one of the most knowledgeable, passionate people, Tung said Hes touched a lot of lives. Both in person and through the work hes done.

Residents of the apartment complex on the 3000 block of Deakin Street were evacuated Monday after the bodies were discovered and have since been allowed to return to their homes. Marie Nadeau entered her home Tuesday morning for the first time since the investigation began.

They were the sweetest people, Nadeau said of the couple, who she said had lived in their apartment about five years. Everyone in the small apartment complex bonded over their support for Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign for president, she said.

An autopsy was under way on one of the two Tuesday, with the second slated for later in the week, White said, adding that the coroners office took the cats, as well  an unusual step  to try to determine what befell all four of them.

This is one of those cases where were not going to be able to know what happened until we get that coroners report, White said.

The apartment where the Morashes lived was on a quiet street mixed with longtime single-family houses and homes shared by college students.

Its just very disturbing, said Peggy David, a neighbor several houses down from the complex. It was kind of a quiet apartment complex.

Lindsay Mugglestone, who says she has lived in the neighborhood since 1972, called the block a pretty established neighborhood without any major police activity.

Were all equally mystified as to what happened, Mugglestone said. Weve all lived here forever.

Michael Bodley and Jenna Lyons are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com, jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michael_bodley, @JennaJourno
NEW YORK  Now that Joaquin Guzman, the crime lord known as El Chapo, has been extradited from Mexico and has pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn to charges of running the planets biggest drug empire, his prosecution will enter a crucial phase  provided, of course, he does not manage to tunnel free from the high-security jail in Manhattan where he is being held.

Two chief questions will define what comes next: Will Guzman decide to go to trial? And if he does, what sort of defense will he mount to counter what appears to be a Matterhorn of evidence against him?

When Robert Capers, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, outlined the governments case against Guzman at a news conference Friday, he seemed unable to disguise a sly smile of satisfaction. After all, that morning, Capers office had filed a memorandum that set forth in exhaustive detail the cinematic story of Guzmans rise from a teenage marijuana farmer to an international kingpin who armed himself with a diamond encrusted pistol.

It further noted that dozens of witnesses were lined up to testify and corroborate what prosecutors described as extensive secret recordings in which Guzman discussed drug transactions.

Several lawyers who have represented drug lords in the past said that the aggressive tenor of the memo suggested that, at least for now, federal prosecutors were serious about trying Guzman and were unlikely to offer him a deal to plead guilty to lesser charges. Guzman, moreover, is facing life in prison on a sweeping count of running a continuing criminal enterprise. So there was no real downside, the lawyers said, for him to fight the governments case.

The government has made it clear that theyre going full bore with this, said David Markus, who negotiated the 2006 guilty pleas for Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, Colombian brothers who helped found the Cali cartel. For El Chapo, if theres no offer on the table and its life if you go to trial and life or near it if you plead guilty, its pretty easy  hell go to trial.

Before Guzman has to make that decision, however, a number of complicated issues are certain to arise. Given that he has been indicted not only in Brooklyn, but also in six other federal districts, his legal team is likely to question whether he is being prosecuted in the appropriate jurisdiction. They could also attack the manner in which he was sent to New York, some lawyers said, casting doubt on whether he was properly extradited.

Then there is the question of his hiring a private lawyer. For the moment, Guzman is being represented by two seasoned public defenders, Michael Schneider and Michelle Gelernt.

Alan Feuer is a New York Times writer.
By Nidhi Verma NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday that allows the Gulf OPEC country to fill half of an underground crude oil storage facility at Mangalore that is part of New Delhi's strategic reserve system. New Delhi announced a series of pacts with the UAE ranging from defence, trade, maritime cooperation to energy after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Co will store about 6 million barrels of oil at Mangalore, taking up about half of the site's capacity, said Sunjay Sudhir, joint secretary for international cooperation at the Indian oil ministry. India, hedging against energy security risks as it imports most of its oil needs, is building emergency storage in underground caverns to hold 36.87 million barrels of crude, or about 10 days of its average daily oil demand in 2016. "This will ... help to ensure India's energy security and enable us to meet the nation's growing demand for energy," said Indian oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan. As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India needs massive investments in some key sectors, particularly infrastructure. ADNOC said the Mangalore oil storage facility is the third that it has access to in Asia after Japan and South Korea, enabling the company to become more competitive in meeting market demand across south east Asia. "India is an important energy market and this storage agreement reinforces ADNOC's role as one of the world's most trusted and reliable suppliers of oil," Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO said in a statement. "We will utilise the Mangalore facility to not only build on our existing business relationships across India but also to explore new downstream opportunities for ADNOC's expanding range of refined and petrochemical products." During Modi's visit to the UAE in 2015, the two countries announced a $75 billion joint infrastructure fund that would invest in India's infrastructure development. UAE is India's fifth biggest oil supplier. The crude supplies will begin in the last quarter of this year, Sudhir told Reuters. "We are talking to them (ADNOC) for two-three grades and most likely it will Murban." The two sides had discussed ways to advance their energy ties through specific projects, including long-term supply contracts and joint ventures in energy, Modi said in a speech after his meeting with the crown prince. India in 2014 began talks to lease part of its strategic storage to ADNOC. Under those discussions, India was to have first rights to the stored crude in case of an emergency, while ADNOC would be able to move cargoes to meet any shift in demand. India has already filled the other half of the Mangalore storage in Karnataka state with 6 million barrels of Iranian oil. India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, has also filled a Vizag storage site in southern Andhra Pradesh with 7.55 million barrels of Iraqi oil and has invited bids from suppliers to fill an 18.3 million-barrel facility at Padur in Karnataka. The crown prince of Abu Dhabi will be the guest of honour at India's Republic Day parade on Thursday. (Additional reporting by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Tom Hogue and David Evans)
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Fans probably didn't immediately recognize the name of Lee O'Denat. They knew the hip hop aggregator better as "Q."

O'Denat, a Queens, N.Y. native and hip hop fan, started aggregating the tunes he loved and put together WorldStarHipHop. The online platform distributed music, soft core porn and even breaking news from the hip hop universe.

O'Denat died Monday night, according to TMZ. He was 43.

HOUSTON CONCERTS: 'Hamilton,' Gloria Estefan, Jimmy Buffet headed for Bayou City

While known in the hip hop world, the larger spectrum of music fans may have known his work, if not necessarily of him.

P.Diddy shot a promotional video for Ciroc vodka, which appeared on O'Denat's site. By 2012, BET voted World Star Hip Hop as the "top hip hop and urban culture website" for three years in a row.

There was even talk of a film based on the site with Russell Simmons as the producer.

But, O'Denat's site was also infamous for posting videos of violent fights, public sexual acts, public shaming, child shaming, and child abuse.

SUPER BOWL: Hip hop stars, celebrities expected in Houston for Super Bowl LI

None of the critiques bothered O'Denat.

People may be offended by some of the content, but, hey, the Internet is not a censorship boat," he told The New York Times for a 2015 profile. "Were the Carnival cruise, man. You dont have to log on.

O'Denat definitely logged on for the ride and took it to the fullest.

>>>Click through the gallery above to see who Forbes named hip hop's wealthiest artists.
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San Antonio writers Billy Taylor and Ron Franscell are finalists for the Edgar Award, honoring the best in mystery books and named for Edgar Allan Poe.

Taylor got the nod in the young adult fiction category for "Thieving Weasels," his debut YA novel. It is about a Princeton college student trying to escape his crime family who is drawn back in for one last con.

Franscell is the co-author with Dr. Vincent Di Maio, Bexar County's longtime medical examiner, of "Morgue: A Life in Death," a trek famous cases in which he has been involved, including the racially charged shooting of Florida teen Trayvon Martin and the unmasking of a serial baby-killer.

"Most of my favorite authors, including Stephen King, Elmore Leonard and James Lee Burke, have won Edgar Awards, and just the thought of being included in a group like that is totally unbelievable to me," Taylor said. "Frankly, I'd be thrilled to bus tables at the awards dinner."

He added that he thought his novel has met with success because "I tried very hard to make the characters and situations in the book as real as possible. Luckily, I grew up surrounded by criminals, so I had a lot to draw from."

Franscell called Di Maio "a unique man with unique stories."

"His life has been a series of genuine mysteries  more than 25,000 death investigations, for Pete's sake  that aren't neatly plotted to be summed up nicely on Page 300," he said. "Many were high-profile cases, but every single one was consequential to somebody. Real stuff.

"We took readers behind the morgue doors, a place they wouldn't normally go, and told some rather vivid tales that nobody else can tell. But we also held up a mirror to our current media-infused culture and our own human tendencies to want answers before science can deliver facts that might change our views."

Franscell said he was honored to be an Edgar finalist.

"If the Edgars are crime-writing's Pulitzer, then an Edgar nomination is an acknowledgement that 'Morgue' is a story worth telling and is told well," he said. "Writers often worry that they have pleased themselves, but maybe nobody else, so these prizes often reassure us that somebody is reading and a story is worthy."
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Only a television sweetheart the caliber of Mary Tyler Moore could blow off a roomful of TV critics with an obscene message and still make us bend over in laughter.

She did just that last summer, when her longtime TV sidekick and friend Valerie Harper showed up at the annual Television Critics Association Awards to read a letter from Moore.

The priceless moment came rushing back when I heard the sad news that Moore, one of television's golden greats, died today at the age of 80.

I had met her a couple of times during Hollywood trips  and she always was gracious  but it was a bawdy moment in August of 2016 that made me smile through my tears.

She was being honored with the TCA's Heritage Award, but couldn't make it to the event. So, Harper appeared in her place with a letter from Moore.

"Does heritage mean we're all getting old?" was how it began.

She followed it up with a punchline hilariously uncharacteristic of girl-next-door Mary Richards of TV's classic "Mary Tyler Moore Show."

"If so," her letter continued, "all of you critics can, well, you know, fk off!"

Yes, Moore, who lit up the small screen for so many years with her smile, could pull off just about anything, her talent was that rich.

Not only did she make us laugh through the '60s and '70s as tremulous-voiced Laura Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and as the TV news producer with a heart of gold on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," but she also tackled one of the big-screen's most reviled characters, the cold mom in "Ordinary People" -- and won an Oscar nomination.

On a personal note, she, as Mary Richards, was my role model growing up -- a thoroughly modern woman minus the hard edges, a careerist who always dressed stylishly and a friend who tried her best to be there when needed.

Why, she even practiced safe sex (remember the episode that discreetly mentioned the pill?).

Just last November, my husband and I binged on reruns while waiting for the Thanksgiving turkey to cook and found that they still possessed the power to charm and make us smile.

That's how we'll spend tonight as well  drag out the DVDs and laugh along with Mary, Rhoda, Lou and the gang as no doubt she'd want us to do.

jjakle@express-news.net
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Albany

The Rensselaer City School District is one of 59 districts across the state in some form of fiscal stress, according to a review by the state Comptroller's office.

That's down from 82 districts last year and 90 the year before  a likely sign of the continued economic recovery across the state and nation.

This is the fourth year that Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has assessed and scored New York's school districts on financial health. Under his "fiscal stress monitoring system," districts are assigned a score and designation (susceptible, moderate or significant fiscal stress) based on the state of their year-end fund balance, operating deficits and short-term borrowing patterns, among other things.

"Fiscal stress in many school districts has declined, especially for those in the most severe condition," DiNapoli said. "School officials should be commended for working to keep their districts out of financial harm, but should be careful not to amass excessive levels of fund balance in order to do so."

Rensselaer City School District's operating deficits, rainy day fund balance and potentially poor ability to pay an important bill earned it a score of 25 percent on the fiscal stress scale. Under the comptroller's system, districts earning between 25 and 45 percent are considered susceptible to fiscal stress (45-65 percent signifies moderate stress, while 65-100 indicates significant stress).

Overall, though, the district's finances were vastly improved over last year, when its fiscal stress score was 60 percent.

That stress was undoubtedly related to a four-year period of unrealistic budgets, inappropriate transfers, lax oversight and a lack of long-term financial planning uncovered by a state audit last year. The district ordered the financial review to figure out where its books stood after it fired Bill Burke, the district business official, in November 2015.

Two local districts earned praise for stabilizing their finances over the past year.

Watervliet City School District saw its fiscal stress score drop for a second year in a row, from 80 percent in 2015 (significant stress), to 55 percent in 2016 (moderate stress) and 15 percent in 2017 (no stress).

Corinth Central School also saw vast improvement; its score fell from 73.3 percent (significant stress) to 20 percent (no stress) in just one year.

Regions with the most fiscal stress include the Mohawk Valley, Long Island and Central New York. On the Capital Region's outskirts, five districts were all in some state of fiscal stress last year: Broadalbin-Perth (Fulton County), Gloversville (Fulton County), Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville (Montgomery County), Hudson Falls (Washington County) and Greenwich (Washington County).

See the full report or find the link to look up your district's fiscal stress score on the Times Union's Capitol Confidential blog.

Look up your district's fiscal stress score right here

bbump@timesunion.com  518-454-5387  @bethanybump
GREENWICH  Chris von Keyserling ran a gauntlet of noisy protesters before entering plea of not guilty in Superior Court in Stamford on a charge of misdemeanor sexual assault.

The arraignment before Judge Gary White was over in minutes and conducted in a quiet exchange. But the scene outside the court was loud and raucous as some 30 demonstrators, in separate intervals, yelled and criticized von Keyserling for what they called hostile and predatory behavior.
Ella Grace Hurlbut may have been in the world only 50 days, but her family is working to create a lasting legacy for her.

Through fundraising efforts to construct a Butterfly Bereavement Room in the Texas Children's Pavilion for Women, Katie and Phillip Hurlbut hope to help provide comfort to families for years to come.

Katie and Phillip live in Eagle Springs in Atascocita with their 3-year-old son, Luke, and daughter, Anna, who is nearly 18 months old.

Katie was 27 weeks into her pregnancy with Anna and Ella when doctors determined the twins would need to be delivered early due to complications.

Anna and Ella were born July 19, 2015, at 27 weeks, each weighing approximately one pound, 15 ounces.

At first, both Anna and Ella were receiving care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Texas Children's Pavilion for Women; however, when Ella developed a bacterial infection, she was transferred to the NICU in the Texas Children's Hospital's West Tower for more specialized care.

After two weeks of traversing the walkway bridging the pavilion and west tower to visit their two newborns, the couple was told Ella's health was declining. Katie and Phillip went to the west tower to say goodbye to Ella. However, the NICU lacked the privacy they felt parents should have with their babies during these final moments.

"The night that we knew she wasn't doing well, they called us to come up to the hospital and we knew it was close to the end, so we asked if there was anywhere she can be transferred just so that we have more privacy to say goodbye to her," Katie said. "They were able to put us in an isolation room, which we're incredibly thankful for. But, even so, it was still a cold, sterile hospital room. When we said goodbye to her, she was still hooked up to all sorts of machines, cords and wires with the monitors beeping."

Ella passed away Sept. 7, 2015.

"It's so hard," Katie said. "You imagine getting to do all of these things for your baby, but when they're gone, you realize, 'I'm never going to get to bathe them,' 'I'm never going to get to change their diaper,' 'I'm never going to get to do all these things that I imagined doing with them.' That was one of the hardest things when Ella passed. How was I supposed to condense everything I wanted to say to her over her lifetime into a matter of minutes?"

Katie and Phillip expressed their appreciation for the compassionate nurses who helped them through their final moments with Ella. However, they felt there needed to be an environment that could provide the level of privacy and peace that such an emotional and intimate experience deserves.

Aimee Renaudin was one of Ella's nurses during her two weeks in the West Tower NICU. Having witnessed several families go through experiences similar to what the Hurlbut's had endured, she launched an initiative to open a Butterfly Bereavement Room for the West Tower NICU.

The Butterfly Bereavement Room was completed in May 2016 for patients in the West Tower. Designed as a nursery with a crib, bed, chairs, armoire full of baby clothes, bathroom and shower, the Butterfly Bereavement Room provides parents with a private, comforting environment in which to spend the last moments with their baby.

The Hurlbuts saw the West Tower's Butterfly Bereavement Room for the first time on the one-year anniversary of Ella's passing.

"Ever since Ella passed away, to celebrate her life we became more involved in the hospital just by donating items to the hospital and things like that," Katie said. "One of the times we were up at the hospital and one of the ladies said, 'Have you seen this (Butterfly Bereavement) room?' She showed it to us, and I was just brought to tears because I wish that something like this was available when we lost Ella."

When they heard about an initiative to possibly open another Bereavement Room in the Pavilion for Women, Katie and Phillip asked how they could help.

Katie and Phillip launched a fundraising page through the Give to Texas Children's website at http://waystogive.texaschildrens.org/butterfly in December 2016 in hopes of raising money to fund a Butterfly Bereavement Room at Texas Children's Pavilion for Women in Ella's memory.

They are now asking for the community's help in raising $50,000 to cover construction costs, furniture, initial supplies and future supplies. As of Jan. 17, the project has raised $11,140.

Katie, who grew up in the Kingwood area, is a nurse practitioner at Humble Pediatrics and works primarily at the Texas Children's Pediatrics Humble Fall Creek location. With a medical background and the perspective of a parent who has gone through the loss of a child, Katie feels she and Phillip were meant to take-on this fundraising project.

"Right now, there's nothing like this available for families in the Pavilion," Katie said. "It's never easy to lose a child, but we just don't want anyone else to go through it in the circumstances we went through. So, if there's an opportunity for us to make that a little easier for other families when they're going through that type of loss, that's what we hope to accomplish."

Lisa Davenport, clinical specialist at Texas Children's NICU, took care of Ella as a bedside nurse. According to Davenport, the West Tower bereavement room is not close enough for families with babies in the pavilion to use. Having the Butterfly Bereavement Room for the Pavilion would serve those families.

"A majority of the families have never been home with their baby," Davenport said. "So, to be able to have a private room in the pavilion would mean getting to put their baby in a crib, with nice clothes and to be able to have that private time with their babies. Although we do have private rooms, they have glass doors. A bereavement room allows families to grief in private, which is so important. I think the Hurlbut family is a true blessing to our facility. To take grief and turn it into something that will affect families for years to come is a blessing."

In addition to the Butterfly Bereavement Room project, Katie learned of an initiative launched by the Skye High Foundation in which purple butterfly stickers or cut-outs are placed on the door or isolette of a baby, indicating the baby has a sibling who has passed away.

Katie's mother, Linda Harshbarger, is a member of the Mission Sewing Circle through her church, the First Presbyterian Church of Conroe. The sewing group created 30 purple butterfly blankets, which were donated along with purple butterfly stickers to Texas Children's Hospital on Tuesday, Nov. 22.

"The blankets are meant to give the family something tangible to remember the baby that passed away," Katie said. "We have one for Anna. She sleeps with it every night. It's another way to keep Ella with us. We're planning on continuing that project in the long-run as well. When Ella passed away, some staff didn't know, so we had to explain what happened a lot. It was hard. The purple butterfly is a way the staff can immediately recognize that a baby is a survivor of a multiple pregnancy in which one or more of their siblings passed away. It removes the burden of the family having to tell their story repeatedly."

For Katie and Phillip, the symbol of a butterfly represents hope, a message that they intend to continue promoting through the Butterfly Bereavement Room project and other initiatives to help families through the hardship of losing a child.

"When Ella passed away, our main prayer was that her life would have meaning and that it would have a positive impact on people," Katie said. "I think this has been kind of a healing process for us too. We feel like this Butterfly Bereavement Room is a legacy we can leave behind for her and hopefully something that will continue to be here long after we're gone."

To learn more about the Texas Children's Pavilion for Women Butterfly Bereavement Room project or to make a donation, visit http://waystogive.texaschildrens.org/butterfly.
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Community members and dignitaries poured into the event room at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Houston for the annual FamilyTime Crisis and Counseling Center Hearts of Gold Gala, honoring the 2016 Women of Achievement on Saturday, Jan. 21.

"The gala honoring Women of Achievement began as a luncheon in 1990," said Judy Cox, executive director of FamilyTime. "We continue to be blessed by the generous support of so many, and tonight I count each of you as a blessing and thank you for your support."

FamilyTime Crisis and Counseling Center is a nonprofit organization based in the Humble area offering services, resources and shelter to women, men and children in crisis. In addition to honoring extraordinary women in the community, the annual gala serves as a benefit event to support FamilyTime in its mission.

"In 2016, our shelter for victims of domestic violence was, every day, either at or near capacity," said Susan Meinholz, president of the FamilyTime board of directors. "Our counselors and our caseworkers at our counseling center in both Humble and Dayton keep busy helping those in need. We have offered services and shelter to an increasing number of victims of human trafficking. The support FamilyTime receives from its generous communities is overwhelming and much appreciated."

According to Cox, in 2016 FamilyTime sheltered more than 700 victims, but also had to turn away more than 1,000 people due to a lack of space.

"Because of this number, our board of directors has formed a task force to build a larger facility," Cox said. "We hope that this larger facility will enable us to take more victims and turn away less."

During the event, State Rep. Dan Huberty led a paddle call, asking those in attendance to donate to build a new shelter, which he stated will be a $3 million to $5 million endeavor.

During last year's gala, the paddle call raised approximately $41,000. This year's paddle call exceeded last year's amount, with approximately $60,000 raised.

Erik Barajas, KTRK ABC-13 news anchor, served as the event's emcee, announcing the 13 2016 FamilyTime Women of Achievement for their contributions to different aspects of the community.

Lanelle Johnston was the 2016 Woman of Achievement in the category of Business. Johnston is an associate of CruiseOne of Kingwood and a CLIA Master Cruise Counselor. She is also an award-winning representative of the Kingwood Area Republican Women and charter member of the Deerwood Toastmasters.

Mari Omori was the 2016 Woman of Achievement in the category of Arts. Omori is a professor of art at Lone Star College-Kingwood and her work has been in exhibitions worldwide.

Barbara Hemphill was the 2016 Woman of Achievement in the category of Human Services. Hemphill has provided support resources for caregivers of people with dementia. She is a co-founder of the Kingwood Memory Cafe and works annually with the Kingwood Caregiver Conference and an Alzheimer's Association photography and poetry project.

Nancy Cozad was the 2016 Woman of Achievement in the category of Volunteer. Among the 26 years' worth of volunteerism performed by Cozad are her efforts with Humble ISD, the Humble ISD Education Foundation, Humble Area First Baptist Church, Kingwood Women's Club and Kingwood Pops Orchestra.

Lana Walker was the 2016 Woman of Achievement in the category of Visionary. Walker launched the Handbags of Hope initiative in which gently used purses are filled with useful items for women and donated to FamilyTime. Several organizations now have contributed to the Handbags of Hope efforts.

Megan Marietta was the 2016 Woman of Achievement in the category of Medical. Marietta oversaw several additions and improvements to the Kingwood Medical Center during her time as Chief Operating Officer, including the addition of the Women's and Children's Center, an emergency care center, a neuro endovascular lab, expansion of the Breast Center and much more. She also is on the Greater East Montgomery County Board of Directors, the Lake Houston YMCA Board and the Montgomery County United Way Board.

Mia Hoyt was the 2016 Woman of Achievement in the category of Homemaker. Hoyt is the wife of a firefighter and paramedic and the mother of 7-year-old twins. She played an important role in the creation of Humble ISD's Parent group and is a part of the Kingwood Area Mothers of Multiples. She and her husband fostered eight children, including children who had suffered abuse, who she helped overcome severe obstacles.

Alexandria Houston was the 2016 Woman of Achievement in the category of Women's Advocate. Houston started the organization Becoming Educated and Aware Together about Domestic Violence (BEAT DV) to educate people about domestic abuse and empower women. Domestic violence is her platform as reigning Ms. Texas American Elegance.

Jennifer Vandenbrook was the 2016 Woman of Achievement in the category of Education. Vanderbrook has been in Humble ISD for 22 years and is a Pine Forest Elementary School counselor. The many programs she has launched encourage mentoring, parent involvement, student leadership and anti-bullying initiatives. She has received several accolades for the work she has done, including the Counselors Reinforcing Excellence for Students in Texas Award.

Though unable to attend, Susie Kumbarcja was the 2016 Woman of Achievement in the category of Entrepreneur. As the owner of Italiano's, Kumbarcja works to ensure business runs smoothly. Italiano's won The Houston Press Menu of Menus Grand Prize in 2010.

Patricia Morlen was the 2016 Woman of Achievement in the category of Community Activist. Morlen served as the Readiness Group Leader during deployment for soldiers and their families. She is first vice chair of the KARW, Harris County Precinct Chairperson, election judge, a member of the Harris County GOP Ballot Security Committee and has served in several offices in the city of Houston, Harris County and MUD.

Judge Laryssa Korduba was the 2016 Woman of Achievement in the category of Special Recognition. Korduba is the first female Justice of the Peace for Harris County Precinct 4. She owns a law firm and is the mother of four children who are deaf. She helps support the Center for Hearing and Speech.

Lori Scherr was the 2016 Woman of Achievement in the category of Spirit of FamilyTime. Scherr has served as the co-chair for the FamilyTime Mothers are Jewels Luncheon and is involved with other FamilyTime events. She is a Girl Scout leader, international children's sponsor and Arts and Environment minister. She is the co-founder St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church's Home Again Ministry, which helps struggling families obtain furniture and household supplies.

Cox presented the 2016 FamilyTime Lifetime Achievement Award to Mike Price for his work as the FamilyTime CPA, board treasurer. Price is the first male recipient of this award.

Although FamilyTime has not yet calculated the total dollar amount raised at the 2016 Hearts of Gold Gala, Cox estimates that it exceeds $100,000 and the amount raised at last year's gala.

"The most important thing we're doing here tonight is we're helping people who cannot help themselves," Huberty said. "You all opened your hearts and your wallets tonight and that's the most important thing we can ask for. We can ask for your love and support of this wonderful cause. The work that Judy and her staff does is amazing."

For more information about FamilyTime Crisis and Counseling, visit www.familytimeccc.org.
Freelancers and contractor writers operate as independent entrepreneurs, but that arrangement doesn't have to mean creating entirely in a vacuum. Gathering with other freelancers in a coworking environment can benefit professionals as well as their products. Coworking provides opportunities to observe and learn from colleagues who value their autonomy and often share other values, too.

From this perspective, it's natural that freelancers would appreciate the synergy of a place where numerous, talented people converge in a similar space. The technology age has made it easier than ever for contractors to bring their tools with them. This enables them to work with other like-minded individuals from virtually anywhere.

If you're thinking about moving your one-person shop to a coworking atmosphere, consider how these perks could infuse you with new ideas and elevate your current projects.

1. Networking and collaborating.

Coworking allows you the opportunity to network and collaborate with a wide range of bright minds. You might even make new friends in the process. Proximity gives you the chance to "pick the brains" of professionals in your own line of work as well as those in related fields. Freelance writers might choose to office with graphic designers, website designers, programmers and other writers whose work and insights help shape new perspectives.

Related: The Top 10 Behaviors to Avoid When Networking

2. Using tools on the go.

Many phone and web apps, software programs and other tools were designed to be especially beneficial outside of the office. Pare down to the absolute necessities while you're on the go. Meebo can handle your chatting needs, Line2 is a helpful alternative for a land-line phone system and DropBox assures you'll always have the files you need at your fingertips. The right tools can make all the difference in your ability to cowork successfully.

Related: 5 Common Writing Problems and How to Fix Them

If the need arises to organize tasks among coworkers on a big project, freelance writer Christopher Jan Benitez recommends Asana or Trello. These online project-management apps enable remote team members to delegate and assign deadlines. Here are a few others to consider.

Cyfe. The business-management dashboard connects multiple apps to monitor stats and updates from a single dashboard. You can iframe Google spreadsheets, connect to email and integrate your social-media statistics.

The business-management dashboard connects multiple apps to monitor stats and updates from a single dashboard. You can iframe Google spreadsheets, connect to email and integrate your social-media statistics. Zoom.Us. This phone and web conference app allows you to chat with anyone and host group meetings for up to 25 people via your smartphone.

This phone and web conference app allows you to chat with anyone and host group meetings for up to 25 people via your smartphone. Evernote. Bloggers love this versatile tool in part for its "snip" feature. Save videos, web pages, social-media posts, articles and images -- and then write your entire blog post within the app itself.

Bloggers love this versatile tool in part for its "snip" feature. Save videos, web pages, social-media posts, articles and images -- and then write your entire blog post within the app itself. MyBlogU. I founded this collaboration platform to connect writers and editors so they could create better content for business websites.

I founded this collaboration platform to connect writers and editors so they could create better content for business websites. Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms. This free product suite supports collaboration by allowing multiple users to create, revise and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations and fillable forms online. Coworkers can track versions and collect feedback.

This free product suite supports collaboration by allowing multiple users to create, revise and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations and fillable forms online. Coworkers can track versions and collect feedback. Iflexion. This enhanced document-management platform is built for those who coordinate larger teams or manage several remote offices. The solution offers custom enterprise content-management solutions.

3. Breaking out of your comfort zone.

Working across the desk from someone with a completely different skill set can help you discover a new source of ideas. You might find your brain is starting to work in different ways, too. As online-marketing consultant Joyce Anderson puts it, taking the risk to invite others to work alongside you breathes new life into the creation process and shows in the finished product, as well.

Experienced writers who reread some of their early compositions are likely to notice mistakes or passages they would have rephrased. If that's ever happened to you, imagine how polished and clear your work could have been if only you'd had access to your current knowledge, finesse and expertise when you first started. When you break out of your comfort zone, you're giving yourself a chance to devise fresh solutions to existing problems. Interacting with coworkers facilities this kind of breakthrough.

Related: The Science of Innovation: How to Imagine the Unimaginable

Many writers are natural introverts. If you're nervous about joining a coworking group, challenge yourself to step into the unknown. Much of what you fear is fear itself. You needn't commit to attend every meet-up. Start small, with a gathering like Shut Up and Write. This coworking group's main focus is providing a forum to write. Participants spend two hours together, typing blog posts or working on novel chapters. At the start of the time block and again toward its end, writers have a brief while to socialize -- not more than 10 or 15 minutes, total. It's the ideal opportunity for attendees to exercise their small-talk and networking skills.

4. Working at your own pace.

Coworking makes it possible for you to create some space between you and your clients -- just enough to redirect energy to your own projects and move at your own pace. Stop devoting hours to the same interruptions and distractions that normally plague your days. Why not work in a new environment, surrounded by new people and new stimuli? Coworking can be a respite from day-to-day workplace worries about strict deadlines or clients trying to reach you at your primary location.

5. Making full use of your coworking space.

This is an ideal time to be a freelancer or solopreneur. Coworking spaces allow a startup to maintain an address for receiving packages and mail. You can rent small suites to meet with clients or find a calm room to call clients from a no-kid zone.

Sara Duggan, who coworks at HackerLab, notes her maker space supports startups by hosting an annual competition. Candidates pitch their business ideas in hopes of being selected to attend and eight-week entrepreneur boot camp.

The Sacramento Bloggers group brings in speakers to help members become at what they do. Recent topics include secrets to help separate personal and business Facebook accounts. Those who take part often get the opportunity to work with local businesses.

Related: What's Your Coworking Style? Find a Space That Matches Your Style.

6. Avoiding loneliness.

Working at home can have an isolating effect after a period of time. Coworking is an easy fix. Working amidst others can lend a sense of camaraderie, even when you're creating alongside complete strangers.

Related: This Cure for Entrepreneur Loneliness Also Solves Procrastination

Related:

6 Benefits of Coworking With Strangers

Know About #40 Coolest Co-Working Spaces In India

What Driving for Lyft Taught Me About Community and the Sharing Economy



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
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Three years after District Attorney Brett Ligon urged Montgomery County Commissioners Court to create and adopt an ethics policy, commissioners finalized a comprehensive 18-page policy Tuesday.

The almost hourlong discussion during the court's meeting ended with commissioners approving the policy as submitted by the County Attorney's Office with one small change. Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack suggested the ethics committee established by the new policy be unanimous in its findings to avoid frivolous claims.

According to the policy, a committee comprised of five community members will review any ethics complaints and determine whether there is a violation. Commissioners will appoint two members, while the county auditor, purchasing director and human resources director will recommend three people apiece, with commissioners choosing one of the recommendations from each department to get the five-person committee.

County Attorney J D Lambright said the process will allow a person to seek an appeal in front of an independent arbitrator. The policy goes into effect Feb. 1 and gives the county 45 days to organize the ethics committee.

Ethics saga

While Ligon and Lambright have been in favor of a policy, the issue resurfaced earlier this month when Ligon spoke to commissioners regarding the Texas Department of Transportation's new guidelines for grant funds that require a county have, and show proof of, an ethics policy with specific requirements.

A set of ethical guidelines adopted by the court in April fell short of TxDOT requirements, delaying grant applications by the DA's Office, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and Precinct 4 Constable's Office.

During the court's Jan. 10 meeting, Ligon told the court to "reach for the stars" with the policy. Lambright agreed and said the new policy does just that.

"The county's current ethics policy is one page and 13 sentences long," Lambright told the court noting he wanted to make sure the plan was far-reaching and not just something to satisfy the state grant requirements. "The (new policy) is about 17 or 18 pages long and goes into an awful lot of detail. We wanted to put something in place not just for today but for down the road."

Ligon told the court to "dis-involve" themselves with outside business interests. He added the elected officials, including himself, make "good, livable" salaries.

"This is an opportunity to divest ourselves of outside business relationships and not let our pride get in the way," he said. "We have an opportunity for greatness. I wish success on every single one of you.

"Whether it is legal is not the same thing as what it looks like. Merely the appearance of impropriety is often what gets people investigated  ."

Assistant County Attorney B.D. Griffin said the new policy provides transparency.

"It will bring, in the long run, clarity," he said.

Policy highlights

The policy includes all county employees, except court-at-law judges and justices of the peace, who have guidelines already set and enforced by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. The District Attorney's Office and district judges also are considered state employees and would not fall under the policy, except when handling county business.

Lambright said the new policy will require disclosure of business relationships; but, for Commissioners Court members, it will not require an abstention from discussions or action.

Another hot-button issue addressed in the new policy is nepotism.

The approved policy states "county elected officials and department heads will not advocate the employment, appointment, promotion, transfer or advancement to a paid county position of a family member and will not supervise or manage a family member unless the employee was employed prior to the election or appointment of the county elected official or department head."

Lambright said the policy is not retroactive.

Violations of the policy, as determined by the committee, will result in a reprimand.
A 42-year-old member of Squaw Valleys ski patrol died from the blast of an explosive charge on Tuesday while doing avalanche control on a ridge over the ski area, officials said.

Joe Zuiches, a Truckee resident and father of an infant son, died at 8:35 a.m. along Gold Coast Ridge, officials said.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):

10 p.m.

President Donald Trump is offering to "send in the Feds" if Chicago can't reduce its homicide figures.

Trump tweeted Tuesday night, "If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible 'carnage' going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!"

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson responded late Tuesday, saying: "The Chicago Police Department is more than willing to work with the federal government to build on our partnerships with DOJ (Department of Justice), FBI, DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) and ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) and boost federal prosecution rates for gun crimes in Chicago."

Mayor Rahm Emanuel criticized Trump on Monday for worrying about the size of the crowd at his inauguration. Emanuel, a longtime political ally of former President Barack Obama, also acknowledged his own frustration with Chicago's crime rate.

Trump isn't offering specifics about how the federal government could help. The White House website says, "Our country needs more law enforcement, more community engagement and more effective policing."

___

8 p.m.

President Donald Trump will begin rolling out executive actions on immigration Wednesday, beginning with plans for building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and other enforcement measures, according to two administration officials.

Trump is also expected to roll out plans for restricting refugee flows to the U.S. later in the week.

Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten U.S. immigration policies, including beefing up border security and stemming the flow of refugees. He also called for halting entry to the U.S. from Muslim countries, but later shifted to focus on "extreme vetting" of those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

The officials insisted on anonymity in order to confirm the plans ahead of Trump's official announcement. The president is expected to sign the actions Wednesday during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security.

Story continues

___

6:20 p.m.

Three climate-related tweets sent out by Badlands National Park have been deleted after they went viral on Twitter, sparking debate over whether the park was defying the Trump administration.

The South Dakota park posted tweets Tuesday that accurately quoted climate science data, including the current record-setting high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. President Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax.

The tweets were shared thousands of times, and the Democratic National Committee circulated the message by email with the subject line "Resist."

The tweets came just three days after the Interior Department briefly suspended its Twitter accounts after the park service retweeted photos about turnout at Trump's inauguration. The accounts were reactivated the next day.

The park service could not be reached for comment.

___

6:15 p.m.

The retired head of the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. is joining President Donald Trump's administration as an adviser on veterans issues.

The Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed Tuesday that Jake Leinenkugel had accepted a position as a senior White House adviser at the VA.

Leinenkugel served as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps and is the father of two veterans. His brother, Dick, says the job will allow Jake Leinenkugel to make an impact on those who served their country.

Jake Leinenkugel ran the Wisconsin-based beer company for 25 years before retiring two years ago.

___

6 p.m.

The Trump administration is moving to delay implementation of at least 30 environmental rules finalized in the closing months of President Barack Obama's term. That could be a potential first step in seeking to kill the regulations.

A summary of actions published Tuesday in the Federal Register includes rulings that updated air pollution standards for several states, renewable fuel standards and limits on the amount of formaldehyde that can leach from wood products.

President Donald Trump signed a directive shortly after his inauguration Friday ordering a "regulatory freeze pending review" for all federal agency rules that had been finalized but have not yet taken effect.

The action sets the new effective date for all 30 regulations as March 21.

___

5:55 p.m.

President Donald Trump says India is a "true friend" of the United States in addressing global challenges and has invited its prime minister to visit later in the year.

The White House says Trump spoke Tuesday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A statement says the two leaders discussed opportunities for cooperation in economy and defense, and security in South and Central Asia. They resolved that their nations "stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism."

The U.S. and India are the world's two largest democracies. They share concerns about militancy emanating from Pakistan and about the rise of China.

___

5:50 p.m.

The acting deputy secretary of the Agriculture Department says he will ask officials at the Agricultural Research Service to rescind a memo that ordered employees not to release documents to the public.

Michael Young said on a call with reporters Tuesday evening that the memo did not reflect guidance asking agencies to route communications decisions and other matters through his office  standard procedure for new administrations.

Young says, "Frankly I don't understand what the basis for the ARS email was."

He says he will ask the agency to rescind the notice that banned news releases, photos, fact sheets and social media content.

President Donald Trump has nominated former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as agriculture secretary. Young, a career official at USDA for three decades, is temporarily in charge.

___

5:20 p.m.

President Donald Trump's pick to be top U.S. diplomat is paying a visit to the State Department ahead of his expected confirmation.

The State Department says Rex Tillerson was in the building Tuesday for briefings. The former Exxon Mobil CEO is Trump's nominee for secretary of state.

No additional details were released about Tillerson's visit.

Tillerson won narrow approval Monday from the Republican-led Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That vote all but assures the full Senate will confirm Trump's pick for the key Cabinet post.

A career U.S. diplomat is serving as acting secretary until the Trump pick is confirmed.

___

2 p.m.

A spokesman says President Donald Trump's belief that there were millions of illegal votes cast in the November election is based on "studies and evidence."

But spokesman Sean Spicer did not provide examples of that evidence.

Trump first made the false claim during the transition. He reiterated the statement in a meeting Monday night with lawmakers, blaming illegal ballots for his loss of the popular vote.

Spicer says Trump "continues to maintain that belief." There has been no evidence to support the claims that there was widespread voter fraud in the election.

Spicer's only attempt to support Trump's assertion was to point a 2008 Pew Research survey that showed a need to update voter registration systems.

__

1:55 p.m.

An Agriculture Department research agency has banned the release of news releases, photos and other material to the public.

In a memo to employees at USDA's Agricultural Research Service, chief of staff Sharon Drumm said the agency would immediately cease releasing any "public-facing" documents.

"This includes, but is not limited to, news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content," read the email memo obtained by The Associated Press.

A statement released by ARS spokesman Christopher Bentley said the agency "values and is committed to maintaining the free flow of information between our scientists and the American public as we strive to find solutions to agricultural problems affecting America."

The statement said some material would still be available on the agency's website.

Buzzfeed News first reported the memo.

__

1:50 p.m.

The White House says President Donald Trump has accepted House Speaker Paul Ryan's invitation to address a joint session of Congress on Feb. 28.

Ryan announced the invitation on Tuesday and informed reporters after a meeting with House Republicans. Ryan had met with Trump Monday night at the White House. Trump also met with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders on Monday.

Trump was meeting Tuesday at the White House with top Senate leaders.

The speech will be Trump's first to Congress. He was sworn in to office on Friday.

__

12:45 p.m.

The Trump administration has instituted a media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency and barred staff from awarding any new contracts or grants.

Emails sent to EPA staff since President Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday and reviewed by The Associated Press detailed the specific prohibitions banning press releases, blog updates or posts to the agency's social media accounts.

The Trump administration has also ordered a "temporary suspension" of all new business activities at the department, including issuing task orders or work assignments to EPA contractors. The orders are expected to have a significant and immediate impact on EPA activities nationwide.

The EPA did not respond to phone calls and emails requesting comment Monday or Tuesday.

___

12:25 p.m.

President Donald Trump is hanging up some new art in the White House press area  and it's none too subtle.

The panoramic photo shows the crowds gathered near the U.S. Capitol for Trump's inauguration on Friday. It's a nod to the ongoing interest the president has in making it clear that his event was well-attended.

Trump tweeted: "A photo delivered yesterday that will be displayed in the upper/lower press hall. Thank you Abbas!" For emphasis, the official Twitter account of the president retweeted the @realDonaldTrump message. The photo was taken by Washington-area photographer Abbas Shirmohammadi, and it notes the wrong date  Jan. 21, although it does appear to depict the correct event.

Trump and press secretary Sean Spicer have taken pains to play up the crowd size, sometimes exaggerating the number in attendance. They've excoriated the media for what they said is an effort to downplay enthusiasm for Trump's inauguration.

__

11:50 a.m.

President Donald Trump has taken steps to streamline the permitting process for manufacturing.

He also wants pipelines to be made in the U.S., and an expedited process for environmental reviews and approvals.

The steps came as Trump signed executive actions to advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines. Former President Barack Obama blocked construction in late 2015 of the Keystone line from Canada to the U.S. Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers is studying alternative routes for the Dakota Access pipeline.

Trump describes the regulatory process as a "tangled up mess." He says if the answer is no, it should be a quick no. If the answer is yes, Trump says "let's start building."

___

11:35 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he will announce his pick to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat sometime next week.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday that he'll be "making my decision this week" and "we'll be announcing it next week."

"We have some outstanding candidates," the president said. "And we'll pick a truly great Supreme Court justice."

The Supreme Court has only had eight justices since Justice Antonin Scalia died last year. President Barack Obama nominated a replacement but Republicans in the Senate refused to bring the choice up for a vote.

During his campaign, Trump publicly identified nearly two dozen candidates for the vacancy.

__

11:25 a.m.

President Donald Trump has signed executive actions to advance the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines.

Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office that the moves on the pipelines will be subject to the terms and conditions being renegotiated by the U.S.

President Barack Obama killed the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in late 2015, saying it would hurt American efforts to reach a global climate change deal.

The pipeline would run from Canada to U.S. refineries in the Gulf Coast. The U.S. government needs to approve the pipeline because it crossed the border.

The Army decided last year to explore alternate routes for the Dakota pipeline after the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters said the pipeline threatened1 drinking water and Native American cultural sites.

__

10:50 a.m.

FBI Director James Comey is staying in his job. A Justice Department memo lists him among officials remaining in their positions.

FBI directors are appointed to 10-year terms intended to carry across presidential administrations, even when a new party takes over the White House.

President Donald Trump criticized the FBI during the campaign for its decision not to recommend charges against his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. But he also appeared to warmly greet Comey at a law enforcement gathering over the weekend.

Comey is in his fourth year in the job.

The New York Times first reported that Comey would stay on.

The director's job has been a 10-year term since 1976. Since then, only one has been removed prematurely  Reagan appointee William Sessions by Bill Clinton in 1993.

__

9:48 a.m.

President Donald Trump is expected to take executive action Tuesday to advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines.

That's according to a person with knowledge of the action. The president is scheduled to sign orders at the White House late Tuesday morning.

Former President Barack Obama killed the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in late 2015, declaring it would have undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal that was a centerpiece of his environmental legacy. The pipeline would run from Canada to U.S. refineries in the Gulf Coast. The U.S. government needed to approve the pipeline because it crossed the border.

The Army decided last year to explore alternate routes for the Dakota pipeline after the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters said the pipeline threatened drinking water and Native American cultural sites.

The person with knowledge of the decisions insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to confirm the moves ahead of a formal announcement.

-By Julie Pace

___

9:45 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he's an environmentalist.

The president made the comments Tuesday at a breakfast with auto industry executives.

He didn't elaborate on why he sees himself as an environmentalist, but the comments came after urging companies from the auto industry and beyond to bring jobs back to the U.S.

On Monday, he made similar comments at a business breakfast, stating, again without elaborating, "I'm a very big person when it comes to the environment. I have received awards on the environment."

___

9:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump is spending the morning meeting with auto executives as part of his push to bring jobs back to the U.S.

Trump told his guests Tuesday at the White House that he's looking to ease regulations to help auto companies and any other businesses wishing to do business in the U.S.

Among the attendees of the breakfast are Ford Motor Co. chief executive Mark Fields, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne and General Motors chief executive Mary Barra.

___

3:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump's efforts to build bridges and push through his agenda have been overshadowed once again with his continued fixation on the election and more false claims.

During a bipartisan reception with lawmakers at the White House late Monday, Trump claimed the reason he'd lost the popular vote to his Democratic rival was that 3 million to 5 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally had voted.

That's according to a Democratic aide familiar with the exchange who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting. There is no evidence to support Trump's claim.

Trump on Tuesday will continue his outreach efforts as he meets with executives from the auto industry and speaks by phone with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Switzerland-based computer peripherals company, Logitech International SA LOGI continued its impressive streak of huge earnings beats for the fifth consecutive quarter, as its third-quarter fiscal 2017 adjusted earnings (including stock-based compensation expense adjustments) of 59 cents per share dwarfed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 36 cents by nearly 64%.

The companys shares jumped 14.4% at one time in pre-market trading as investors cheered the remarkable results.

Also, on a non-GAAP basis, the companys earnings per share came in at 56 cents, up 36.6% on a year-over-year basis. The bottom lines remarkable year-over-year growth was driven by robust performance across the companys improving product categories.

Inside the Headlines

Net sales for the quarter rose an impressive 7.3%, year over year, to $666.7 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $638 million. The entire growth was attributable to the companys Retail segment, which grew a remarkable 13%, year over year, in constant currency. This was the highest quarterly growth achieved by the segment ever. This was somewhat mitigated by revenues lost subsequent to the companys exit from OEM operations, which affected the year-over-year comparison.

The Retail category recorded sturdy, broad-based growth across most of its businesses, with four of them charting double-digit growth over third-quarter fiscal 2016. Gaming and Video Collaboration stood out as the strongest, followed by Mobile Speakers category.

Gaming surged 38% year over year to $107.2 million, driven by strength in PC gaming, fresh product launches and marketing initiatives. On the other hand, Video Collaboration grew 37% to $35.8 million on the back of double-digit growth from all three regions. Logitech is optimistic about its leadership position in webcam and audio technology as well as its channel expansion initiatives.

The Mobile Speakers unit continued charting its robust growth trajectory on the back of greater channel penetration and solid growth across EMEA region, growing 25% year over year to $106.6 million.

Story continues

Audio-PC & Wearables also demonstrated remarkable growth, with a robust 17% increase in revenues, to $67.2 million on a year-over-year basis. Its numbers benefited from addition of the Jaybird family of wireless earbuds to its portfolio, although supply constraints restrained further upside which the company had projected.

Keyboards & Combos grew 8% year over year, while Pointing Devices and PC Webcams showed modest growth of 2% and 3%, respectively. This was the eleventh consecutive quarter of growth for Keyboards & Combos, while growth in PC Webcams wassupplemented by strong contribution from C922 Pro Stream webcam.

In addition, sales under the Home Control category increased 5% to $26.9 million, driven by the recent integration of Alexa into Logitechs Harmony Hub.

Tablet & Other Accessories space was the only segment which contracted, with its revenues plunging 31%, year over year, to $24.9 million, hurt by persistent sluggish product demand.

Logitech generated its highest non-GAAP gross margin in its history, of 37.4% (up 380 basis points year over year), bolstered by improved cost efficiency and increased scale.

Non-GAAP operating margin for the company expanded a remarkable 300 bps, year over year, to 14.9%, as non-GAAP operating income jumped 33.6% year over year to $99.1 million on top-line strength. The growth in operating profits reflects focused cost-control initiatives and disciplined operational spending as well.

Liquidity

As on Dec 31, 2016, Logitechs cash and cash equivalents were $513.6 million compared with $509 million as of Dec 31, 2015.

Guidance Raised

In light of such exceptional quarterly results, Logitech raised its guidance for fiscal 2017. It now expects to post non-GAAP operating income in the range of $225$230 million (up from earlier guidance of $195$205 million). Further, the company now projects its Retail sales to grow 1213% in constant currency terms, up from prior projections of 810% growth.

Logitech International S.A. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Logitech International S.A. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Logitech International S.A. Quote

Looking Ahead

Logitechs earnings results highlight the companys impressive traction across its markets. It is confident of sustaining the momentum in the quarters ahead. Logitech has been benefiting from its sturdy business model that emphasizes on maximizing profit in PC peripherals and expanding into new business categories. Despite declining PC sales and macroeconomic uncertainty, the company seems to be on a sustainable growth curve.

The company anticipates the momentum in its Gaming category to continue in the quarters ahead on the back of a strong product portfolio. Apart from this, Logitech is streamlining its videoconferencing hardware business to focus on the new cloud-based offerings, which will position it well to leverage on the huge addressable market (estimated to be worth $20$40 billion) in the near future.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Logitech currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader sector include Exa Corp. EXA, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. CHKP and Progress Software Corporation PRGS. While Exa and Check Point Software sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Progress Software holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Exa Corporation develops, markets, sells, and supports software products, and provides professional services for simulation-driven design. The company has an excellent earnings surprise history, with an average beat of 68.1% for the trailing four quarters, beating estimates strongly all through.

Check Point Software offers software and combined hardware products and services for IT security worldwide. This company also has posted earning beats thrice in the trailing four quarters. It boasts an average beat of 6%.

Progress Software provides software solutions for various industries worldwide and has an average surprise of 4.3% for the last four quarters, having strongly beaten estimates twice.

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Logitech International S.A. (LOGI): Free Stock Analysis Report



Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP): Free Stock Analysis Report



Progress Software Corporation (PRGS): Free Stock Analysis Report



Exa Corporation (EXA): Free Stock Analysis Report



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Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg on Wednesday added two veteran Houston lawyers to her administration as top lieutenants.

Defense attorney and longtime federal public defender Tom Berg will be First Assistant, a position considered to be the second-in-command.

Ruben Perez, a career prosecutor for more than 36 years, will oversee prosecutors in the special crimes bureau, which prosecutes offenses such as organized crime, major fraud, major narcotics and money laundering.

"Both have a long history of standing up for what they believe in," Ogg said in a news release. "We promised experience, diversity and integrity. With these men, the public can be assured of all three."

Berg, who retired as a colonel in the Army Reserve, distinguished himself as a military lawyer while challenging the U.S. government's use of torture at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"I have never engaged in legal decision-making on the basis of popularity," Berg said. "The law leads you to the right answers."

Berg spent 27 years at the Federal Public Defender's Office in Houston, including 19 as the First Assistant.

Berg, who speaks fluent Spanish, is a former trustee and director for the League of Women Voters of the Houston Area and is vice president of Latino Giving Houston, a group that encourages philanthropy.

Perez, who also speaks fluent Spanish, started out in 1980 prosecuting misdemeanors in Houston's municipal court system.

After 11 years, he was hired by the Department of Justice, where he has been an assistant U.S. attorney since 1992.

"He has prosecuted hate crimes, protected civil rights and gone after major drug and human trafficking organizations," Ogg said. "He will provide experienced leadership for the Special Crimes Bureau."

As a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Southern District of Texas, Perez has worked as chief of the Human Trafficking and Civil Rights Unit and as a member of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.

Perez is a three-time winner of the Director's Award from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice.

He was also recognized by the director of the FBI for prosecuting five people who burned a cross at the home of an African American family in Katy.

brian.rogers@chron.com

twitter.com/brianjrogers
After months of talk during the presidential campaign and in the lead up to his inauguration, Donald Trump appears set to take action on his promises to build a wall on the US-Mexico border and to expel immigrants in the US illegally.

Sources told Reuters that Trump would begin issuing orders on Wednesday, likely directing the construction of the border wall and other actions to track down and deport undocumented immigrants.

As a part of the immigration and border measures, Trump is expected to propose the hiring of 5,000 more US border agents and call for local law enforcement agencies to work with federal immigration authorities.

The latter step could mean raids on workplaces and homes and dividing families already in the US.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

The reports of imminent action on Trump's border and immigration plans have spurred backlash in Mexico  not only at Trump and not only for his continued insistence that Mexico will pay for the wall.

Mexico's economy minister and newly appointed foreign minister are slated to meet with members of Trump's team  including advisers Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner and National Security Adviser Michael Flynn  in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday, and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is to visit the US on January 31 to meet with Trump.

Accordingly, Mexicans have called on their government to cancel these meetings and send a message to the Trump administration that it will not kowtow to what is seen as bullying.

trump mexico wall supporter

Pena Nieto and Luis Videgaray  the foreign minister who, as finance minister, arranged Trump's controversial meeting with the Mexican president in late August  have also been singled out for derision and exhortations.

"I don't think there are conditions for the visit of president [Pena Nieto] to Washington," tweeted Jesus Silva-Herzog Marquez, a professor of government and public policy in Monterrey.

Story continues

"Pena will arrive in Washington with things decided against him. For one thing, the wall. He should not go," Hector Aguilar Camin, a writer and director of Nexos magazine, said on Twitter.

Jorge Castaneda, Mexico's foreign minister from 2000 to 2003, said the leak of plans for executive orders on border and immigration policies on the eve of the Mexican government's meetings in Washington was "outrageous."

"The president of USA has been very erratic and the leaks are undeniably his; it is a game of bad faith that could put [Pena Nieto] in a situation of vulnerability because he has nothing to gain," Castaneda said in an interview with Imagen Radio.

Enrique Pena Nieto Luis Videgaray Mexico Trump foreign minister

"THE WALL IS COMING. And our 'president' still seeks audience [with] the boss," Trump, tweeted John Ackerman, a law professor and writer who lives and works in Mexico. Pena Nieto "should cancel immediately his meeting [at the] White House ..."

"And Videgaray is going to be in Washington while that happens," Mexican security analyst Alejandro Hope said in response to Trump's Tuesday-night tweet announcing a "big day" on national security on Wednesday.

"That man has an admirable knack for humiliation," Hope added, referring to Videgaray.

"Will [Pena Nieto] dare to say in public and in the White House: 'We will not pay for the wall' and 'Mexico first'?" Univision and Fusion journalist Jorge Ramos said on Twitter.

"Mexico should oppose the construction of the Trump Wall. Don't discuss who will pay for it," said Rogelio Audiffred, a former federal deputy from Mexico's center-right Institutional Revolutionary Party, of which Pena Nieto is the leader.

"Accepting the first," Audiffred added, "implies the second."

Mexico Donald Trump protest Ciudad Juarez

"What needs to be done is cancel the Southern Border Plan as soon as the executive order to finance the wall is signed," Mexican author Alvaro Enrigue tweeted on Tuesday night, referring to the plan implemented by Pena Nieto's government, with US backing, to crack down on the flow of migrants over Mexico's southern border.

"What Mexico's foreign minister Luis Videgaray needs to do is skip DC and get on a plane to China. Now," said Lucrecia Santibanez, a professor at Claremont Graduate University.

Calls for the Mexican government to expand its partnerships with other countries have increased in recent months, as Trump rose in the polls and then won the US presidential election.

"Mexico is waking up to realize that we cannot keep being economically dependent on the USA. This is the lesson: diversify," Viridiana Rios, a global fellow at the Washington, DC-based Wilson Center and a former adviser to the Mexican finance ministry, told Business Insider after the election. "And we will. It will take some time, and will be painful in the short term, but will happen."

During a speech this week, Pena Nieto also said that the Mexican government would start talks about new bilateral commercial agreements with other countries in the Trans Pacific Partnership, a trade pact thrown into doubt by Trump's withdrawal of the US from negotiations. (Though Pena Nieto also cancelled his participation in a regional summit this week due to his "internal agenda" throwing into doubt his commitment to partners other than the US).

A worker hangs a pinata depicting U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a workshop in Reynosa, Mexico, June 23, 2015. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril



Trump has railed against the NAFTA trade deal binding the countries of North America, saying that the US would abandon the pact if he couldn't renegotiate "a fair deal." Mexico has said it's willing to "modernize" NAFTA, particularly on the matter of rules of origin for imports and exports, but some details couldn't be altered.

"There are very clear red lines that must be drawn from the state," Ildefonso Guajardo, the economy minister, said before leaving for Washington. "If we're going for something that is less than what we have now, it doesn't make sense to stay in."

"What we want is to maintain free access for Mexican products, without restrictions, without tariffs and quotas," Videgaray said on Monday.

Donald Trump and Pena Nieto

The Mexican government may be trying to deter Trump from making any drastic changes to NAFTA, the end of which would hurt the US but wreak havoc on the Mexican economy.

To this end, Pena Nieto has hinted Mexico could halt cooperation on issues like border security and immigration should Trump scrap NAFTA.

While Trump has been and continues to be an object of scorn for many Mexicans, the US president's antagonism has thrown into relief the many of the frustrations they have with their own government, on issues ranging from security to corruption to poor economic progress.

Whatever Pena Nieto's strategy for dealing with Trump is going forward, those frustrations are unlikely to ease.

"We don't fear the #Wall of [Donald Trump]," said priest and human-rights activist Alejandro Solalinde. "We fear the wall of corruption built" by the PRI and Pena Nieto.

NOW WATCH: Trump said he prevented a Ford factory from leaving the US  but the company says the move was never planned





More From Business Insider
AUSTIN - Texas top lawyer praised Gov. Greg Abbott as a smart guy Wednesday after the governor advocated removing local officials who promote sanctuary city policies.

I would agree with the governor, especially if they pass legislation that relates to this issue. Yeah, absolutely, Attorney General Ken Paxton told reporters when asked about the issue at a barbecue at the Governors Mansion to honor Australia Day.

Abbott said on Fox & Friends that Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez was taking outrageous action to create a sanctuary city because she said she wouldnt detain immigrants solely to allow federal authorities to deport them.

Besides cutting off grants funneled through the governors office to any sanctuary city, Abbott said that we are working on laws in this legislative session to ban sanctuary cities, impose criminal and financial penalties and remove from office any officer holder who promotes sanctuary cities.

Paxton said that the main thing lawmakers can control is funding.

Asked whether he is comfortable with the idea of the state removing a locally elected official, Paxton said the debate is worth having if lawmakers choose to do so.

Asked again whether he agrees with Abbott, Paxton said, Honestly, I havent looked at it myself. Governor Abbott is a smart guy, obviously a former Supreme Court judge, former attorney general, typically has pretty good ideas.

pfikac@express-news.net

Twitter: @pfikac
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San Antonio police are asking the public's assistance in locating the suspect in a bank robbery in the city's Southwest Side.

Police responded to the bank robbery around 12:15 p.m. on Thursday at a BBVA Compass Bank located in the 1000 block of Goliad Road.
SAN ANTONIO  A 58-year-old man is in critical condition after his son allegedly stabbed him 15 times late Tuesday on the city's Southeast Side.

Police responded to a stabbing call around 11:30 p.m. in the 3200 block of Cato Boulevard, and found Cirilo Lemus with 15 wounds in his torso area.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Jacob Beltran Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Jacob Beltran Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Jacob Beltran Show More Show Less 5 of 5









SAN ANTONIO  A man is in critical condition at San Antonio Military Medical Center after he was shot in the neck at an East Side gas station.

San Antonio Police Department Sgt. Roy Bernal said the man, in his 20s, was talking to another man and woman at about 7 p.m. outside the Smart Stop gas station at 222 N. New Braunfels Ave.
Police in West Texas arrested 11 people during a prostitution and narcotics sting this month at motels in the Odessa area, a news release said.

Of the people arrested, five were for prostitution, three were for felony drug possession, two were for marijuana possession and one was for illegal dumping. The following people were arrested between Jan. 11 and Jan. 20:
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

SAN ANTONIO  The Bexar County Sheriff's Office is investigating a one-vehicle crash in far Northwest Bexar County Wednesday that involved a utility pole.

Deputies responded to the wreck around 11 a.m. in the 26000 block of Toutant Beauregard Road.

RELATED: Police find bloody body of 25-year-old woman on East Side street

The driver who crashed into the pole was reportedly driving a company vehicle at the time of the crash.

He was transported to University Hospital with unknown injuries, according to the Bexar County Sheriff's Office.

RELATED: 11 arrested in prostitution, narcotics sting in West Texas

Deputies are currently investigating the cause of the crash.

The public is asked to avoid the area, as the road will remained close until at least 2 p.m.

Text "Breaking" to 48421 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

cdowns@mysa.com

Twitter: @calebjdowns
President Donald Trump is gearing up to tackle one of his marquee campaign promises: His pledge to target so-called sanctuary cities.

He reportedly plans to sign an executive order Wednesday to target the (mostly liberal) cities and counties that refuse to agree to hand over illegal immigrants to the federal government for deportation, especially if they don't agree on why Trump's administration wants to deport them. (Most, if not all, leaders in these cities have said they will hand over immigrants charged with serious crimes like murder.)

Sanctuary cities are one of the most high-profile acts of defiance for a Trump presidency, and he has indicated he has a zero-tolerance policy for these cities and every intention of ending their deportation protections. Except, that might be easier said than done. Immigration experts say Trump could run up against constitutional, geographic and even legal challenges in trying to force these cities to stop openly flouting him.

First, the geographic challenge. Trump could leave closing down these cities up to the states. Republicans control both the state legislative chamber and governors' mansion in 25 states. Texas state GOP lawmakers introduced a bill in December to cut off state funding to sanctuary cities, hoping to follow in the footsteps of North Carolina, which in 2015 became the first (and so far only) state to effectively ban them.

This month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R, is in a high-profile show down with the new sheriff of Travis County, threatening to cut off some $1.8 million in state grant money for her department unless she agrees to cooperate with all deportation requests.

Abbott tweeted: Yes. I'm going to sign a law that bans sanctuary cities. Also I've already issued an order cutting funding to sanctuary cities. #txlege https://t.co/uYXa2QFrvE

But apart from North Carolina and Texas, immigration experts have a hard time seeing where else a ban might gain momentum. Most cities that let local law enforcement decide whether to hand immigrants over to federal authorities for deportation are in Democratic-controlled states.

"A lot of the other Republican states don't have large cities or large number of immigrants, so it's just not an issue in a lot of these GOP-controlled states," said Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration policy analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute. (A bill in Texas failed in the past few years in part because there were no sanctuary cities to ban.)

Trump could just ask Congress to pass a law cutting off funding for sanctuary cities. Except sanctuary cities have never really been a priority for Republican congressional leadership, which seems much more focused on repealing Obamacare and tax reform (and, when it comes to immigration, securing the border -- a whole other headache for Republicans).

Plus, Senate Democrats successfully blocked two sanctuary city bills in Congress in the past two years (including one immediately after 32-year-old Kate Steinle was shot and killed in San Francisco by an illegal immigrant deported five times prior).

At the time, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., derided a sanctuary city ban as "dog-whistle politics," pointing out crimes committed by illegal immigrants aren't any higher than crimes committed by any one else living in America. Senate Democrats gained two seats in November's election, so they should have the numbers to block a ban bill again.

If legislation isn't an option for Trump, some experts think taking the cities to court might be. Jessica Vaughan, the director of policy studies at the conservative-leaning Center for Immigration Studies, says the Trump administration could ask a federal judge for an injunction demanding these sanctuary cities hand over any immigrants the federal government wants to deport. They could argue it's technically against the law to shield immigrants from deportation.

But this, too, comes with risk. Challenging the legality of sanctuary cities has never been tried before, so it's a 50/50 shot on how the courts would read the intersecting and sometimes contradictory laws about state rights and immigration.

Some constitutional scholars argue it could be a 30/70 shot, given a recent Supreme Court Obamacare ruling makes it unconstitutional for the federal government to be a "gun to the head" of state and local governments.

The likeliest route available to Trump to close down sanctuary cities is probably the least effective. The Justice Department, under the leadership of anti-immigration Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., could limit law enforcement grants to non-sanctuary cities. Essentially, they'd be making it more expensive to be a sanctuary city, one grant at a time.

Of course, sanctuary cities could just decide sticking it to Trump is worth the cost. (Many cities have announced their intention to be sanctuary cities after Trump's threat to cut off funding to them. "I like to compare this to conscientious objector status," Mayor Libby Schaaf of Oakland, Calif., told the New York Times.)

And you can't cut off funding for sanctuary cities willy-nilly, argues George Mason Law Professor Ilya Somin, because the Supreme Court has ruled you can't slap conditions on federal grants without explicitly telling states about the conditions.

Finally, all these options share something that's anathema to conservatives: They're big-government solutions. Getting rid of sanctuary cities requires a state, or Congress, or even the president to take a top-down approach and dictate municipal laws. And that can be an awkward thing for Republicans to gun for.

"The spectacle of the federal government trying to deport large numbers of people in the face of local resistance is unlikely to make good PR for the Trump administration," wrote Somin in a Washington Post blog.

Trump has options to try to tamp down on sanctuary cities, but all of them -- legislation, the courts, financial pressure -- are not guaranteed to work. That means some of our biggest cities could openly flout one of Trump's most high-profile campaign promises, and there's not a lot he may be able to do about it.
* Nigeria bond issue to help plug budget shortfalls

* Low debt levels a positive despite economic slowdown

* Investors hoping for yield above 7 percent

By Alexis Akwagyiram and Karin Strohecker

LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Investors are lining up to buy dollar bonds Nigeria is expected to issue soon despite the country's first recession in a quarter of a century, a currency crisis and budget shortfalls driven by low oil prices.

On the face of it, the $1 billion of bonds Nigeria hopes to sell by the end of March might seem unattractive, especially at a time sentiment towards African debt has soured after Mozambique missed a coupon payment.

But investors hungry for higher returns in a low interest rate environment reckon Nigeria's benign debt levels, recovering foreign exchange reserves and a potential yield above 7 percent are reasons enough to look beyond the country's economic woes.

"Nigeria's starting position is one of low debt so if they price it attractively they will be able to get it done," said Claudia Calich, who manages an emerging market bond fund at M&G Investments.

Nigeria's Eurobond has been a long time coming. A year ago, Nigeria appeared to have shelved the idea in favour of a loan from China, but it embarked on an investor roadshow for the bond late last year in the United States and Britain.

Nigeria is Africa's biggest economy, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and vies with Angola for the position of top oil producer, but that also means it is very exposed to fluctuations in the oil market.

The last time Nigeria issued dollar-denominated bonds in July 2013, oil was comfortably above $100 a barrel but the slump in prices from $115 in June 2014 to just $28 a barrel by January 2016 has hurt the West African country's economy.

Crude oil sales account for two-thirds of government revenue and about 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings so the price slide, coupled with a resurgence in militant attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta, have had a severe impact.

Story continues

UNDETERRED

According to the World Bank, Nigeria's economy probably shrank 1.7 percent in 2016, underperforming an average growth rate of 1.5 percent across sub-Saharan Africa and way behind high-flying economies such as Ivory Coast.

Foreign investment has almost ground to a halt, hobbled by a slide in the naira currency - which trades on the black market at about 40 percent below the official rate of 300 per dollar - and expectations the currency may have to be devalued again.

World Bank data shows net foreign direct investment tumbled to just over $3 billion in 2015 from nearly $9 billion in 2011 and the government needs to borrow $3.5 billion internationally this year to balance a record 2017 budget.

International lenders such as the World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB) are also holding back on loans until Nigeria comes up with a plan to make its economy more resilient.

Yet, bond investors seem undeterred.

They argue that a Eurobond issued in dollars will shield them from currency risk and, compared to its African peers, Nigeria has a low ratio of public debt to annual economic output, implying that default is not a worry.

The ratio of Nigeria's total public debt to gross domestic product is 22 percent compared with 46 percent in Gabon, 62 percent in Ghana or 73 percent in Angola, according to estimates by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

While businesses in Nigeria are having trouble getting hold of dollars, the countries foreign exchange reserves are on the rise again. They hit an eight-month high of $26.6 billion at the start of 2017 and have since climbed to $28.9 billion.

"The government has access to hard currency even if they are restricting the access of other agents in the economy," said Kieran Curtis, investment director at Standard Life Investments, who also plans to look at Nigeria's upcoming bond issue.

REALITY CHECK

Curtis reckons that Nigeria's low debt ratios will allow it to borrow more cheaply than Ghana. Nigeria's existing 2023 dollar bond yields about 6.7 percent, or 170 basis points lower than Ghana's 2023 bond.

Egypt, which has a credit rating of B-minus/B3/B from the main agencies, was marketing $4 billion of Eurobonds in three tranches on Tuesday, offering a 10-year bond at 7.5 percent. Nigeria is rated one to two notches higher at B/B1/B plus.

Nigeria's last 10-year bond sold in July 2013 had a 6.375 percent coupon but Exotix Partners head of fixed income research Stuart Culverhouse said a new issue would have to offer a yield of 7.0 percent to 7.5 percent.

"(Nigeria) might have to accept that people are charging more for them because of the situation. It could be a reality check," he said.

If the country were to press ahead with reforms to alleviate pressure on the naira before issuing a bond, it could help lower the cost of borrowing, M&G's Calich said.

"Then they could bring a new deal at tighter spreads. The big question is the currency regime."

Although oil prices are now expected to stabilise above $50 following OPEC's decision to curb output, there are few more clouds on the horizon.

The budget deficit for 2017 risks ballooning further as the government tries to boost the economy with record spending on roads and power..

Many also see the budget's oil output projection of 2.2 million barrels per day as optimistic. Oil production, curbed by persistent attacks in the Niger Delta, was just 1.63 million barrels a day in the third quarter and was still below 1.8 million barrels per day in December.

Second, while emerging economies have been tapping the market in near-record numbers this month, sub-Saharan African borrowers have been absent and Mozambique's coupon miss has not helped. But Calich said there were no such fears for Nigeria.

"It will take a big shock to get into that kind of distress ... we are far from that at this point." (Additional reporting by Sujata Rao; editing by David Clarke)
HERIKA MARTINEZ/Stringer

Mexican authorities in Juarez made a grim discovery Monday when they found two severed heads in ice coolers and several limbs strewn along roads nearby, according to local media.

Norte Digital, a Juarez-based publication, reported the body parts were found in the afternoon. Next to the coolers was a piece of cardboard with a warning to drug dealers.
We've been instructed not to take our new president literally but instead seriously (in the felicitous phrasing of Salena Zito). As I write, there are hints that the inaugural address will focus on the theme of "America First." President-elect Trump may or may not be familiar with the historical taint of that phrase, but in any case the meaning he attaches to it has been clear enough.

Throughout his career, Donald Trump has been consistent on two issues: trade and admiration for strong men. He departs from the consensus about American leadership in the post-World War II era. Rather than seeing the United States' security guarantees and promotion of trade as providing the means through which the world (and the U.S.) has seen unprecedented growth, peace and prosperity, he thinks we've been chumps.

"America First" is a declaration of "No More Mr. Nice Guy." This is the link between his views on NATO and trade. In the former case, he appears to think that the NATO alliance is a favor we do for an ungrateful Europe. While it would be a very positive development if every NATO member were to spend the agreed-upon 2 percent of GDP on defense, there is reason to doubt that Trump's comments are simply veiled threats made in order to achieve that. Is it pure coincidence that while denigrating NATO, Trump has shown excessive friendliness to Putin, whose chief goal (just ask Gen. James Mattis) is to undermine the alliance?

Trump has offered differing explanations for his tweets about NATO being "obsolete." He has mentioned defense spending. He has also cited failure to cooperate on terror. But Article V has only ever been invoked for Europe to help America. Many NATO countries contributed troops and other support to the war in Afghanistan, including the U.K., Germany, Italy, Turkey, Norway, and the Netherlands, among others.

Unlike his views on immigration, abortion, single-payer health care, ISIS and countless other topics, Trump's views on trade have been consistent since the 1980s. In 1987, he bought a full-page ad in The New York Times denouncing trade with Japan. He seems genuinely to believe that trade impoverishes us, which is odd for a businessman, because "trade" is really just another word for business.

It is true that our economy has seen very limited growth over the course of the past decade or so, but to finger the North American Free Trade Agreement and other trade deals as the culprit, instead of, say, overregulation or high taxes, is perverse. Trump cites the trade-deficit figures with China and others to prove that we are "losing" in a zero-sum competition and that jobs are being "outsourced" due to stupid leadership by politicians. These are Democratic talking points. Or were.

Manufacturing jobs are being lost to automation above all. Also, commerce (another word for trade), unlike war, has winners on both sides of the transaction, not winners and losers. The U.S. economy boomed during the 1980s and 1990s despite large trade deficits. Those who claim that the U.S. is running a trade deficit in goods due to unfair trade practices of trading partners never seem to make the case that our trade surplus in services (large and growing) is due to our own unfair practices.

Trump has made a number of fine cabinet appointments, but the "trade triumvirate" of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and the head of a new entity called the National Trade Council, Peter Navarro, are quite worrying advocates of so-called "nationalist" economics. Like Trump, they see trade as a form of warfare. It isn't. But trade wars can lead to real wars, thus the saying, "If goods don't cross borders, armies do."

The possible ironies here are voluminous. 1) The people who will suffer from trade protectionism are the poor and working classes who will pay higher prices for goods, and see their jobs lost due to higher prices of imports (half of imports are used in American manufacturing, some of which go to exports). 2) China is benefitting even now from other nations' fear of U.S. retrenchment on trade. Instead of American-led free-trade agreements, China is lining up Pacific nations for a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, in which Beijing calls the tune. 3) The U.S. is the world's largest trading nation. Protectionism is a punch in our own eye. To "punish" China or anyone else for selling us too many products, Trump can impose higher prices only on Americans.

The president has a great deal of independent power on trade matters. Here is something for Republicans in Congress to mull: If President Trump, the great businessman, ignites a trade war and tanks the economy, voters will draw the lesson that "those free-market Republicans have done it again. Capitalism equals depression."

Mona Charen is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
Doesnt the audacity of our schools superintendent and Board of Education to suggest a 10.1 percent, $17.7 million, increase in the schools budget for the 2017-18 school year take your breath away?

Norwalks motto is The Sound of Connecticut. Thats the sound of anguish that taxpayers make over the city of Norwalks yearly tax increases.

While I realize that it is the American Way to overwhelm a problem by throwing truckloads of money at it, Norwalks budgets are slowly bankrupting middle class taxpayers, especially those on fixed incomes.

It would be better to postpone the drastic increases in the BOEs budget until the schools Education Cost Sharing funding lawsuit in Hartford is settled.

To fund this out-of-control budget, the city will need to postpone projects that the rest of us feel are needed like street paving, etc. Budgets of other departments will be reduced again. City fees will go up, and layoffs and/or outsourcing in many departments will probably take place.

Raiding Norwalks rainy day fund must not be an option.

To date, the BOE hasnt told taxpayers how many non-resident children who are illegally receiving an education in Norwalk have been found and removed, and what the savings were. I suspect they are not serious about this issue and that none have been removed. A BOE member mentioned that there could be at least 100 non-resident children in our school system. This year, Norwalks per pupil cost was $17,094. Over $17 million could have already been saved. This savings is very near the $17.7 million increase in the new budget. Further inaction will only escalate the cost to taxpayers.

The BOE estimates that approximately 750 more students will attend our schools in the near future. To help make room for them, we should dis-enroll approximately 300 interdistrict magnet school students from other towns along with the estimated 100 non-resident children.

Why are we continuing to import children from other towns when we will have a 750-seat deficit in Norwalk schools?

Why is the BOE marching towards regionalization of our schools when the mayor and common council are lukewarm at best to the regionalization of city and town governments?

To control the BOE and to make it less autonomous, Norwalks mayor and common council should install a watchdog committee to oversee it and to protect taxpayers.

To help our senior citizens with expected high taxes in the future, and to keep them in Norwalk, the common council should freeze their taxes to what they are currently paying, permanently.

In addition, to worsen the problem of expected higher taxes, Norwalk taxpayers should not forget that real estate re-evaluation is almost upon us.

Taxpayers dont want to hear a plea for shared sacrifice. That phrase has long been worn out.

In closing, Norwalks leaders have a fiduciary responsibility to ALL taxpayers and should practice fiscal restraint.

Dennis Horvath

Norwalk
With the election of Donald Trump, many people are frightened for the future. Some even wanted to impeach him before he took office, an idea more ridiculous than many of Trumps speeches. Others say, Give him a chance, which he will get, of course. But the people saying this sound like Trump supporters who have begun to wonder what sort of creature they hired to be president.

Though pessimistic by nature, I tend to believe that no matter who runs it, the country will muddle along as it always has. Now, however, I find the cozying up to Russias Vladimir Putin disturbing. Think of what this man has done. He grabbed parts of the Ukraine and the Republic of Georgia on the pretext that many Russian nationals lived in those places. Hitler used the same sort of excuse to conquer Czechoslovakia, where many German speakers lived at the time.
After every major Trump speech or event, the person I was before it seems desperately naive. I have been a consistent Trump critic, but my expectations are never quite low enough.

Some of us approach Inauguration Day with a kind of democratic reverence. Its customs encourage the love of country. The best inaugural addresses offer historical context, emphasize shared values, encourage engaged citizenship, express goals worthy of a great nation, and at least attempt to wrap it all up in a neat package of rhetorical ambition.

For Donald Trump, who lives in an eternal now, Inaugural Day was Friday, offering another opportunity to deliver his stump speech  a chance to slam the establishment and make Peronist promises to reverse globalization. Apart from a few nice phrases undoubtedly borrowed from other, superior drafts, the American Carnage speech was blunt, flat and devoid of craft. Also devoid of generosity, humility and grace. Making it perfectly credible as the work of Trumps own hand.

Trumps inaugural was instructive in this way: America has chosen a man for whom traditions and norms mean nothing. He used the center stage of American public life to belittle nearly everyone seated around him. They have reaped the rewards of government, prospered at the expense of the people, celebrated while families struggled, and are all talk and no action.

These, of course, are the only people who can take action  legislative action  after the Obama-era executive orders get rescinded. Trump certainly did not appeal to Congress for help. So he must be counting on the people to intimidate their representatives.

Though I doubt the inspiration is conscious, Trumps inaugural address owes a great deal to philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau wrote of leaders who incarnate the general will. Trump argues that the American people have been betrayed by the venal people they elect and re-elect. Since the normal processes of democracy have been corrupted, bringing America to the brink of ruin, a strong hand is required.

In Trumps speech, there are just two uncorrupted actors: the people and the president. The only thing Trump asks of citizens is to support him. So this really leaves only one actor who actually acts  a leader who claims to embody the general will. When Trump asserts, We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth, who is the we? It is the forgotten men and women and the single leader who has not forgotten them.

In this light, Trumps announcement of the hour of action has an ominous ring. He demonstrates no respect for norms of presidential magnanimity and self-restraint. He has declared that his oath of allegiance was taken to all Americans rather than to the Constitution. He is impatient with a corrupt legislature. And he has claimed a general mandate to pursue his vision of the peoples interests. In the past, we have  I have  been mistaken to discount the plain meaning of Trumps words. The oath of office has turned a laughable Putin imitation into a very real concern.

This view of involves an almost unlimited faith in government. Never shying from contradiction, the American Carnage speech starts out, We are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people.

But by Trumps argument, only the president truly acts on their behalf. And so it is the state that will bring back jobs, borders and wealth. It is the state that will build new roads and railways. It is the state that will get people off of welfare. It is the state that will bring back our dreams.

Trumps inaugural speech is a funeral oration at the death of Reaganism, and of conservatism more broadly. In his first inaugural, Ronald Reagan declared government to be the problem. When Trump says that government is the problem, he means all government but himself.

The rest of the American government  both Congress and the courts  has been given fair warning.

michaelgerson@washpost.com
It matters that the crowd for the Womens March on Washington was far bigger than that for President Donald Trumps inauguration. The new president often boasts of having started a great movement. Let it be the one that was born with Saturdays massive protests.

If size is important, and apparently to Trump it is, there was no contest. The Metro transit system recorded 1,001,613 trips on the day of the protest, the second-heaviest ridership in history  surpassed only by former president Obamas inauguration in 2009. By contrast, just 570,557 trips were taken Friday, when Trump took the oath of office.

Those are the true facts, not the alternative ones the administration wants you to believe.

Among all the news of the past few days, I begin with crowd size because Saturdays rallies and marches, in cities across the nation, were simply unprecedented. Perhaps half a million demonstrators, many wearing pink hats, filled the streets of Washington. Protests in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles also drew crowds measured in the hundreds of thousands, and there were big anti-Trump gatherings in Denver, Boston, Atlanta, Austin, San Antonio and other cities in the U.S. and around the world.

The White House predictably tried to blame the messenger. But, if Trump believes journalists can be so easily cowed, hes in for a long four years.

The president is skilled at diversionary tactics. He has been known to pitch a fit in order to draw attention away from news he finds inconvenient or embarrassing. Indeed, while his spokespeople have been spewing nonsense about television ratings and such, the administration has taken significant steps. Trump signed an executive order beginning the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act; withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact; imposed hiring and pay freezes for federal workers; and reimposed a ban (lifted by the Obama administration) on U.S. aid to family planning groups that provide or promote abortions overseas.

But whether Trumps ostentatious pique about the not-so-historic size of his inauguration crowd is real or feigned, the fact that so many more people came to town to protest Trumps presidency than to celebrate it is important.

Remember that the tea party movement looked at first like nothing more than a rowdy, incoherent bunch of sore losers  until it swept Democrats out of power in the House in the 2010 midterm election.

I covered some of those early tea party rallies, and I saw similar levels of energy and engagement  and, yes, anger  at the womens march. The millions who participated nationwide now constitute the kind of broad-based network that can be harnessed into effective political action. The Trump administration can haughtily dismiss the dissenters by saying, as the Obama administration once did, that elections have consequences. But the next election is right around the corner.

If progressives are going to recreate the tea partys success, Saturdays multitudes will have to begin organizing at the local level. They will have to field candidates not just for Congress, but for governorships and state legislatures. They will have to develop policy positions that go beyond stop Trump  and that also go beyond traditional Democratic Party dogma.

The movement will look to lions such as Vermonts independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., for guidance, but ultimately must find younger leadership with fresh ideas. The Democratic establishment now faces the same existential dilemma that the Republican establishment had to confront: adapt or step aside.

The administration will argue that, after a bitterly divisive campaign, it is time for the nation to come together behind the new president. No, it is not. We are in the midst of a political realignment that is nowhere near complete, and it is more important than ever that progressive voices make themselves heard.

And always remember: If Donald Trump can become president, nothing is impossible.

eugenerobinson@washpost.com
The tables seem to be turning for the$2.6 trillion global ETF industry, which is dominated by passively managed or index-tracking funds. However, their low cost and transparent structure made them highly coveted.

One of the major drawbacks of actively managed ETFs is the obligation of disclosure of daily portfolio holdings, which run the risk of enabling front-running of portfolio trades. This means that the revelation of stock holdings will give the issuers competitors or other investors the chance of cashing on advance information.

Investopedia goes on to explain that apart from front-running, real-time information on holdings changes in an actively traded ETF and are likely to face logistics issues as ETFs trade throughout a trading session and managers are likely to alter holdings several times in an hour as per their requirement.

Under these circumstances, numerous big asset managers including JPMorgan are pitching for the necessity of active ETFs with nontransparent characteristics, meaning an active ETF not revealing holdings on a daily basis. Not only JP Morgan, BlackRock Inc., American Funds owner Capital Group Cos., and Legg Mason Inc.  all have appealed for the rollout of such of funds.

Inside Nontransparent Active ETFs

The concept was first formulated by Precidian and known as ActiveShares and is seeking approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Recently, JPMorgan signed a letter of intent to license for ActiveShares model.

As per Wall Street Journal, the approval to the Precidian approach would enable firms like J.P. Morgan, Invesco Ltd. and BlackRock to alter the structure of their mutual funds without divulging their portfolio composition to the likely followers.

The SEC has been reluctant to permit nontransparent products because it would be tough to evaluate the real-time value of an ETF's stockholdings if these are not reported on a timely manner, per the source.

Story continues

However, Precidian would apparently post the real-time value of its holdings on exchanges. Custodians will know about new share creations and redemptions but keep the details of the trades secret (read: ETMF: A Mutual Fund in an ETF Wrapper?).

Why Such Urgent Need?

Investors should note that active ETFs with their high-cost structure are falling behind. The expense ratio for active ETFs range from 0.08% to 3.29% while charges are pretty low for passive ETFs. This also happened because issuers recently engaged themselves in a price war to gain market share. Blackrock recently cut the expense ratio of active ETF iShares Ultra Short-Term Bond ETF ICSH from 0.18% to 0.08% (read: BlackRock Slashes Fees, ETF Price War Intensifies).

ETF behemoths like Charles Schwab, Vanguard and BlackRock are presently enjoying first-mover advantages, making it harder for newcomers to make a place for themselves, as per the source.

So, gradually, issuers are turning more innovative and intend to come up with products that are more dynamic and suit the current improving-but-volatile market conditions. We believe that if Precidians strategy gets a nod from the SEC, things may become a little easier for newcomers filing for niche or active ETFs. At the current level, market watchers are of the belief that Precidian's approval could give the U.S. ETF industry access to a lot of investor capital.

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A newborn abandoned by his mother outside an apartment complex on the citys Northeast Side last week was fortunate to have been found by some children playing nearby.

The infant, whose umbilical cord was still attached, was taken to Baptist Regional Childrens Center after the mother of the children who found him called police.

The San Antonio Police Department found the babys mother, a minor, and determined the baby had not been abandoned and no charges were filed, according to the SAPD public information office. But the incident still demonstrates the need to publicize a law that saves lives.

There are no state statistics kept on the number of newborn babies abandoned each year, but the fact that this happens with some regularity prompted the Texas Legislature to pass the Baby Moses Law in 1999.

It allows parents to leave their children, 60 days and younger, at designated locations without criminal implications. There will be no police investigation or charges of abandonment or neglect.

Texas safe havens for babies are hospitals, fire stations or designated emergency care providers. The child has to be left with someone. Leaving the child unattended does not comply with the law.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services will take custody and place the baby for adoption.

Giving up custody of a baby is not an easy decision and unfathomable for many parents. But desperate situations make for difficult decisions.

The Baby Moses Law never received any advertising funding and it usually only gets mentioned when there is a baby found.

There needs to be continued public awareness of this law. It has saved precious young lives.
Even before President Donald Trumps executive order ending a U.S. role in the Trans-Pacific Partnership on Monday, the trade pact was all but dead. Its high profile in the election  slammed by Democratic and Republican candidates alike  meant congressional support had evaporated.

Still, the country  and, particularly, high-exporting states such as Texas  should mourn its death because it could have opened up new markets and been a vital check on the growing economic clout of China. But that executive order was accompanied by talk of another trade matter still on the table: a border tax.
Re: Bathroom bill isnt necessary, could hurt, Roy Bragg, Sports, Jan. 13:

This is the best column I have read about Senate Bill 6, and I have read everything in this paper about it.

What I find most distressing is the lack of compassion among our legislators.

I am a 78-year-old woman with two sisters, three daughters and one husband of 57 years, all of whom were brought up to face choices in life and do the right thing. Causing humiliation and embarrassment, is so sad.

I am ashamed of my legislators for trying to enact legislation that will cause stress, anxiety and humiliation for everyone engaging in the basic human function of using a public restroom. In all my years of using ladies rooms, I have never paid attention to anyone dressed as a female. On rare occasions when someone who appeared to be male attempted to enter, I simply said this is the ladies room, and though each of us was embarrassed, this solved the problem. Under SB 6, we will all be embarrassed.

I expect more compassion and foresight from my legislators. This bill must be defeated both for the financial loss, which is real, but also the emotional turmoil for all of us.

Cookie Belinsky

Lost patriotism

I am disgusted that my grandkids had to see Americans refuse to attend the inauguration of our president.

They are a blight on our country with their disgusting behavior.

Where did their patriotism go?

Cecil Patterson, Spring Branch

Still leaving?

What happened to the Hollywood liberals who promised to move to Canada.

By moving to Canada, we would automatically see great improvements in our country.

Ken Senkow

All talk

After all the rhetoric, finger-pointing, hacking, Wiki leaking, etc., I recently learned today why the Dems lost. I was listening to a Republican talking head who had a former Clinton campaign manager as her guest. She asked her guest What can we do to get together and try to solve the poverty problem? He immediately started about how Trump called Mexicans rapists, denigrated women, etc. She cut him off and tactfully said, Yes, I understand that, but what can we do to get together and try to solve the poverty problem? He then talked about how Trump has lowered the morale of the intelligence community, and was cowering to Russia.

She asked him a third time. He started talking about how members of the Trump team met with the Russians. She then just thanked him for coming and went to a break. Not once did this guy take the opportunity to offer something constructive regarding poverty. He ducked the question in favor of anti-Trump talking points. At that point, it became evident to me that the Dems lost because, despite their rhetoric for the poor, the elite have nothing to offer and really do not care!

Fred Martin, Fair Oaks Ranch
Texas Republicans are glum about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to review a lower court ruling that struck down the state's voter identification law as discriminatory. But this is a self-inflicted wound that could have been avoided.

The most glaring flaw in the law was that it allowed some forms of ID that are believed to be held by more Republican voters (like concealed handgun licenses) but not others (like a college ID, even one from a state-supported institution).

That's just wrong. Some institutions like Lamar University are sanctioned by the state of Texas; their ID cards should be acceptable anywhere in Texas. Even ID cards from private colleges like Baylor or Rice should have been acceptable as long as state officials could verify the issuing process. The original law even ignored the fact that a Red State like Texas has many college students who regularly vote Republican.

But of course with Republicans in solid control of the Texas House and Senate, along with every post elected by statewide voters, the mood in Austin when the law was passed was that moderation was for sissies. They were going to ram through the toughest voter ID law they could devise and dare someone to stop them.

The U.S. Supreme Court did.

The current law could be reviewed by the top court at a later date, though at this point it is not in effect. Instead of hoping for a longshot review by the Supreme Court, the Legislature should craft a voter ID law that is fair and logical. The goal should be ensuring that all ballots are cast by legally registered voters, not freezing out groups of people who might vote for Democrats.

Voter fraud is rare but it does occur, at least occasionally. It would be outrageous if a contest was ever decided by illegal votes, and a good ID law can prevent that.

Lawmakers should fix this easy problem and then move on to the more difficult challenges that await in this session.
Roughly 466 million years ago, something huge exploded in space and sent shrapnel raining down on Earth.

It was the biggest such cataclysm to happen in our celestial neighborhood in some 3 billion years. An asteroid belt body, roughly as large as Connecticut and made of some of the most ancient material in the solar system, collided with another object and splintered into pieces. Those pieces in turn slammed into one another, creating more debris. One by one, the fragments fell toward ancient Earth, where the continents were clumped into a single, gigantic mass called Gondwana and the very first terrestrial plants were just beginning to creep onto land. At the time, those meteorites, called L chondrites, made up 99 percent of all space rocks that landed on our planet.

Millennia passed, the continents broke apart and bunched back together, mountains ranges rose up and eroded away, countless creatures - trilobites, dinosaurs, woolly mammoths - evolved and went extinct. But the debris from that 466 million-year-old breakup continued to fall. And fall. And fall. Even now, they make up the largest group of meteorites that land on Earth.

"That collision cascade" - the series of smaller smashes and crashes that followed the initial breakup - "had consequences that are still felt today," said Philipp Heck, a cosmochemist at the University of Chicago and curator of meteorites for the Field Museum.

The L chondrite meteorites that we find all over Earth aren't representative of the asteroid belt from which they came. For the past several years, Heck has been working to understand the implications of the "L chondrite parent body breakup" (astronomers clearly weren't feeling very creative when they named that one) - and it's become clear to him that the event masks the true diversity of space rocks that bombard our world. Looking at Earth today and assuming that "L chondrites" are common is like looking out the window after a big blizzard and assuming that snow is the most common type of weather.

"What has arrived on Earth is definitely not representative of what's out there," Heck said. "If we want to understand nature better, especially the asteroid belt, we have to look at other time windows."

In a new study published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy, Heck and his colleagues take their first look out a new time window, at the period just before the L chondrite parent body breakup. They report that the meteorite "weather" during that time was dramatically different from what we now see.

Back then, in the early part of the geologic period known as the Ordovician, now-rare meteorites like achondrites (stony meteorites that come from planets and the largest asteroids) were common. Among these were space rocks thought to come from Vesta, a bright protoplanet that is the second-largest object in the asteroid belt. There were also far more "ungrouped" meteorites - the designation given to rocks too weird to fit into any of the established categories.

By comparison, L-chondrites (many, but not all, of which come from the 466 million-year-old breakup) represented a just a small proportion of Earth's meteorite flux (the quantity and type of meteorites that rained down).

"Our main finding was that these primitive achondrites and the ungrouped meteorites ... were almost 100 times more abundant than they are today," Heck said. "That was a big surprise that no one expected."

Uncovering this fact was no easy task. Meteorites are hard to spot under any circumstances. Finding ones that have survived for half a billion years, without being eroded into dust or subsumed into the Earth by weather and plate tectonics, is even harder.

Instead of looking for whole meteorites, Heck and his colleagues sought out chrome spinels, hardy black minerals found in space rocks, in rock formations from China, Sweden and Russia. Though the sediments are now on land, they once formed the bottom of ancient seas, where the minerals were most likely to survive. The team dug up nearly 600 pounds of rock in search of mineral grains that can barely be seen without a microscope.

"It's a needle in the haystack problem," Heck acknowledged. "So we have to take a brute force approach: we burn away the haystack to find the needles."

The scientists didn't actually light the rock on fire. Instead, they used acid to dissolve the sedimentary rock. This left them with 41 extraterrestrial chrome spinels, most of them the diameter of a human hair. By analyzing the chemical composition of the minerals - particularly the varying ratios of oxygen isotopes - they were able to develop a chemical "fingerprint" for each one, giving at least a rough understanding of what kind of meteorite it came from.

Those fingerprints can also be compared to spectroscopic analysis of bodies out in the solar system, offering important clues about bodies scientists will never get to see up close. "We can do essentially space exploration by finding rock fragments on Earth," Heck said.

Heck said his latest findings - along with future looks through other "time windows" on the meteorite record - will help astronomers understand the collision history of the asteroid belt (which circles the sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter) and its influence on our own planet. He pointed out that scientists are just beginning to understand the behavior of near-Earth objects - asteroids and other bodies in space that could one day strike Earth. Understanding what meteorites fell in the past could answer questions like, "how long does it take [after a collision] until the fragments arrive on Earth, and when are they all used up?" he said. "How important is the collision cascade in generating fragments?"

"People always ask me, 'Why is it important to know about the past?' " Heck said. "I answer, 'because it's interesting.' But also because we need to learn about how nature works if we want to know what's going to happen in the future."
PURCHASE, N.Y.  PepsiCos new LIFEWTR premium bottled water will get a boost during the Super Bowl with a 30-second spot, the Wall Street Journal reports. Last year, bottled water sales passed soft drink sales for the first time in the United States, and sales of bottled water have skyrocketed more than 50% during the past 10 years, while U.S. soda volumes have plummeted during the same time period.

Both Pepsi and Coca-Cola have responded with an increased emphasis on their water portfolio. With the national distribution of LIFEWTR, Pepsi is hoping to grab more of the premium bottled water market. Pepsi already sells Aquafina, a lower-priced bottled water and the No. 2 by retail sales in the U.S. bottled water category.

Pepsi has also advertised its commitment to health with the appointment of Liz Mann as the head of its global nutrition division, which has a focus on the long-term plans for the companys healthier brands, such as Tropicana, Naked and Quaker.

Currently, Nestle leads the United States in bottled water with the No. 3 and No. 4 brands Nestle Pure Life and Poland Spring; the company also sells S. Pellegrino and Perrier. Antonio Sciuto, chief marketing officer for Nestle Waters North America, sees growth opportunities in the U.S. premium water brand, such as Nestles Acqua Panna. Water is the most exciting category to work in right now, he said.
HOUSTON  Walmart will start selling cars April 1 via partnerships with dealers, including AutoNation, Automotive News reports. CarSaver, an online retail platform for vehicle sales, will introduce the program in around 25 Walmart Supercenters in Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City and Phoenix.

CarSaver Centers will have employees in stores to explain the program to shoppers. The digital platform will walk car buyers through the selection process, including financing and insurance, via a touchscreen kiosk. For sale will be new, used or certified pre-owned cars available at local dealers. CarSaver connects shoppers with the dealer and schedules appointments to view the dealership to finalize the purchase. CarSaver only receives a success fee from the dealership if the sale is complete.

The AutoNation dealerships participating in the launch are all within 15 miles of the Walmart Supercenter. The right location is very valuable. You want to make sure it's convenient for your customers, said Marc Cannon, chief marketing officer for AutoNation. It's not just the sale. We want to keep them as a customer and continue to develop the service part of our business.

Walmart, CarSaver and approximately 20 dealers participated in a pilot program last April in Stuart, Fla. Close to 80% of customers using CarSaver at a Walmart to make an appointment at a dealer ended their session with a sale, with customers saving, on average, more than $3,000 off the sticker price.
Yves here. Weve mentioned off and on of all natural resources, potable water will come under pressure first, with the situation become acute by 2050. That is before you get into the infrastructure-related issues that the post below highlights. And please do not tout desalination as a solution: that requires energy, another resource coming into stress. And desalination wont solve the problem of decrepit municipal systems either. Food, water, and energy needs increasingly need to be addressed as connected problem, yet no one seems to be doing that.

By Farron Cousins, executive editor of The Trial Lawyer magazine and a contributing writer at DeSmogBlog.com. He also hosts the weekly DeSmogCAST and serves as co-host for Ring of Fire on Free Speech TV. His writings have appeared on Alternet, Truthout, and The Huffington Post. Follow him on Twitter @farronbalanced. Originally published at DeSmogBlog

On January 16, 2016, President Obama declared a federal emergency for the city of Flint, Michigan, over the contamination of the citys drinking water.

One year later, not only is the city still struggling to provide clean sources of water to the Michigan citys population, but the plight of residents in Flint has opened up the conversation about a water crisis in the United States that very few people even knew existed.

The sad story of Flint, Michigan, gained national attention because it was a crisis that was entirely avoidable, at least for the time being. Republican Michigan Governor Rick Snyder was looking for ways to cut costs, so he hired an outside manager to come up with ideas on how to do that. Unfortunately, one of the ideas that was put into action was to change the source of Flints drinking water from the Detroit water system to the Flint River, which was known to be heavily polluted. When that contaminated water hit the citys aging water delivery infrastructure, the chemicals interacted with the lead pipes, causing dangerous levels of lead contamination for residents who did not have water filters.

The problem with Flint, and the problem with many water delivery systems throughout the United States, is that lead pipes are time bombs.

Like most metals, lead will break down over time, especially when it is exposed to corrosive water throughout its existence. When you have close to 1.2 million miles of lead pipes for water delivery in America  pipes that only have a lifespan of about 75 years and many are reaching that age  you have a recipe for disaster that experts warn will cost close to $1 trillion to fix.

The only reason that the crisis in Flint, Michigan, was brought to the publics attention was because of one woman, a pediatrician named Mona Hanna-Attisha, who began noticing the symptoms of lead poisoning in an extremely large number of children from Flint. Dr. Hanna-Attisha went public with this information, which prompted investigations from civil engineers, leading to the unveiling of the problem. At the time of Dr. Hanna-Attishas discovery, the contaminated water had been flowing through taps in Flint for two years.

Sadly, Flint is just a tiny piece in a much larger story. Likely the reason the crisis in Flint made national headlines is because of the level of political incompetence that went along with it. But the story did wake people up to the idea that dangerous water could be anywhere, and that led to investigations by reporters who uncovered one of the potentially most overlooked stories of 2016.

On December 19, 2016, Reuters released a startling report about Americas drinking water. Reuters investigation concluded that there were nearly 3,000 other locales in the United States where the lead contamination in drinking water was at least double the rates found in Flints drinking water. These were not areas where the contamination was the same, or even slightly elevated. No, these 3,000 areas have contamination levels that came in at least twice as high as Flint.

From the Reuters report:

The poisoned places on this map stretch from Warren, Pennsylvania, a town on the Allegheny River where 36 percent of children tested had high lead levels, to a zip code on Goat Island, Texas, where a quarter of tests showed poisoning. In some pockets of Baltimore, Cleveland and Philadelphia, where lead poisoning has spanned generations, the rate of elevated tests over the last decade was 40 to 50 percent.

Like Flint, many of these localities are plagued by legacy lead: crumbling paint, plumbing, or industrial waste left behind. Unlike Flint, many have received little attention or funding to combat poisoning.

To identify these locations, Reuters examined neighborhood-level blood testing results, most of which have not been previously disclosed. The data, obtained from state health departments and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tracks poisoning rates among children tested in each location.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, at least 2.5 percent of children in the United States have elevated levels of lead in their blood, a direct result of drinking contaminated water.

The World Health Organization, as reported by the Huffington Post, says that infants and small children may exhibit no signs of lead poisoning in their early years, but that the effects of lead on brain development become evident in adolescence. According to the Huffington Post:

Once kids reach school age, cognition problems, including lower IQ and ADHD-like symptoms start to show up. Lead exposure has been linked to physical problems, such as anemia, kidney dysfunction and high blood pressure, as well as behavioral problems, including aggressive behavior and problems with the criminal justice system.

We should also note that in these studies of contamination, researchers focused only on lead contamination. The levels of other toxins such as mercury, arsenic, and commercial and household chemical contamination could potentially make the water in these areas and others far more toxic than this set of data indicates.

Complicating matters further is the fact that testing children for lead contamination typically falls on states and municipalities, and that funding is drying up quickly. In short, states not only lack the funds to repair their aging water infrastructure, but they also lack the necessary funds to study the negative effects of that aging water delivery system on the public.

While the widespread contamination should raise alarm bells for every American, what might be even more terrifying is the fact that analysts are predicting that in a few decades, well be lucky if we can even afford to drink contaminated water.

According to a new report from Michigan State University (MSU), a variety of compounding factors in the United States could easily push large portions of the population out of the financial range to even afford water in the future.

From the MSU report:

A variety of pressures ranging from climate change, to sanitation and water quality, to infrastructure upgrades, are placing increasing strain on water prices. Estimates of the cost to replace aging infrastructure in the United States alone project over $1 trillion dollars are needed in the next 25 years to replace systems built circa World War II, which could triple the cost of household water bills

Over the next few decades, water prices are anticipated to increase to four times current levels. Prices could go higher if cities look to private providers for water services, who have a tendency to charge higher rates than public providers. These pressures on water systems, combined with the fact that water is a vital necessity to sustain life, place this issue at the forefront of 21st century infrastructure challenges. While studies have found that Americans are willing to pay more to maintain and ensure access to water resources, this willingness to pay may conflict with their fundamental ability to pay for water.

The report notes that water prices across the country have risen by about 41 percent since 2010, and if this particular trend continues, 35.6 percent of American households will not be able to afford water services within the next five years.

In short, the water affordability crisis is not something that is a few decades off, or even a single decade off: More than 40 million American citizens could find themselves unable to afford water in the next five years if both stagnating incomes and increasing water prices stay on their current trajectories.

These problems are very real, and they are problems that are generally not gaining very much attention. While the water contamination crisis will occasionally steal a headline or two, virtually no attention has been paid to the fact that were pricing a third of United States citizens out of the water market.

Resource scarcity breeds conflict. Thats been true throughout human history. And when were talking about something like water  the single most important thing to sustain life  the looming scarcity should be a top concern for every American citizen.
Geir Oeivind Nygaard, chief investment officer for asset strategies at the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, poses for a picture at the fund?s headquarters in Oslo, Norway January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Gwladys Fouche

By Gwladys Fouche

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's $890-billion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, is concerned about the dearth of market liquidity, making it more costly to conduct trades, a senior official told Reuters on Wednesday.

The fund is one of the world's largest investors with stakes in around 9,000 firms globally and some $310 billion placed in fixed income at the end of the third quarter of 2016.

This means that when liquidity is thin, its transactions can move prices - at a cost to the fund - while they are being undertaken.

"It is a continuous challenge to source the liquidity both on the fixed income side and on the equities side," Geir Oeivind Nygaard, chief investment officer for asset strategies at the fund, said in an interview.

"Also on the cash management side, the repo market is getting more challenging liquidity-wise as well. So being able to execute efficiently is my main concern ... We see there is less liquidity out there. It is more costly to do the trades."

The fund is keen to be able to conduct large trades without them being too noticeable on the market and being able to find counterparts who have the ability to make large trades.

One way the fund has coped with the development has been to back the formation of some dark pools - exchanges whose transactions are only revealed once they are completed to avoid unduly moving prices.

Dark pools have come under scrutiny from regulators who want more transparency in trading.

"Given the size that we are, liquidity will be a challenge. Compared with a few years ago - go back 6-7 years on the fixed-income side - it was completely different, there was a lot of liquidity, now we are struggling a lot more to find the same (liquidity)," said the official.

"You see the same on the equities side, it is more challenging to be able to trade in size," he said, citing the fact that there are fewer market participants now than before.

"The market is getting more consolidated, with the BlackRocks and the Vanguards. The market as a whole has become more homogenous," said Nygaard.

Story continues

In Europe the fund is one of the backers of the Plato Partnership, which includes Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, AXA Investment Managers and Franklin Templeton, which signed a cooperation agreement with the London Stock Exchange unit Turquoise in September.

In the United States, the fund has done trading on the IEX dark pool, made famous by the book Flash Boys by Michael Lewis, whose purpose is to shield investors from predatory high-frequency traders.

"We encourage platforms where we can have "large-in-scale trades" so we can find ... the other side ... where those who trade in scale meet," said Nygaard.

And of course you have the dark pools where you are trying to find the natural other side of the trade."

(Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
So how much did Blackstone promise to give to the Obama library for this huge grift, um, parting gift?

As regular readers may recall, private equity firms piled into buying foreclosed single family homes on the belief that if the government (in this case, Fannie and Freddie) was selling, they wanted to be buying. And they also convinced themselves that technology would somehow allow them to manage geographically dispersed single family homes, which is inherently a hand-on business, more efficiently than mom-and-pop or small scale operators, many of whom had a cost advantage by having some of the principals provide services (as in doing their own plumbing and electrical, so effectively buying those services at wholesale prices).

The most disciplined operators did well by getting in early and buying only very discounted properties, so that they had a good cash on cash return on the rentals. It would be attractive for them to hold long term, which would also give them lots of latitude regarding an exit. The lack of time pressure would mean they could sell the homes individually, even through rent to own deals with the higher credit quality tenants.

But many of the early entrants kept on buying long after prices were bargain basement, and it was clear due to the press reports of widespread mis-management and tenant abuses that they were cutting corners on maintenance due to having underestimated costs and complexity. Any real estate manager will tell you that running down the asset is foolhardly.

The logical time to start to exit was 2014, but the private equity property owners were whacked by the Bernanke taper tantrum. The most straightforward exit was to turn the properties and the management compan into a REIT, but only a couple of deals got done before that window closed. The next strategy was rental securitization, which we regarded as a terrible idea given the awful track record of mortgage servicing, and that a rental securitization involved much more in the way of moving parts that mortgage servicing. Again, a few transactions got out the door, but the market foundered after a Blackstone securitization saw a big drop in rental income in the quarter immediately following the public offering.

So in its waning hours, the Obama Administration gave a completely unjustified bailout to private equity landlords, that Fannie Mae is guaranteeing the income of all but the bottom tranches of Blackstones latest rental securitization.

Let us stress that there is absolutely no policy justification for this. The mission of the government sponsored agencies is to promote home ownership, not to give real estate speculators a get out of losses or underwhelming returns for free card. Even worse, rather than forcing the private equity industry to take some well-deserved lumps for miscalculation, it will encourage them to continue to compete with lower-income prospective homeowners for purchasing properties. That means it will be even more difficult for young people to buy homes. Lambert has pointed out repeatedly in his stats wrap in Water Cooler that real estate markets are suffering from a shortage of homes. Having private equity continue to be on the prowl for lower priced properties that they know they can unload from an economic perspective means that the pauperization of the middle class is now official policy.

Even though this guarantee clearly had to have been worked out during the Obama Administration, Blackstone did not make it public until it updated its filing with the SEC this week. It looks an awful lot like the timing was designed to make sure that the disclosure came after the new Trump team was in charge, meaning Obama would be unlikely to face the criticism he deserves, and the Trump Administration would be certain to let the deal stand.

By Wolf Richter, a San Francisco based executive, entrepreneur, start up specialist, and author, with extensive international work experience. Originally published at Wolf Street

Invitation Homes, the 2012 buy-to-rent creature of private-equity firm Blackstone, and now owner of 48,431 single-family homes, thus the largest landlord of single-family homes in the US, accomplished another feat: it obtained government guarantees for $1 billion in rental-home mortgage backed securities.

The disclosure came in an amended S-11 filing with the SEC on Monday in preparation for Invitation Homes IPO. Invitation Homes bought these properties out of foreclosure and turned them into rental properties, concentrated in 12 urban areas. The IPO filing lists $9.7 billion in single-family properties and $7.7 billion in debt.

Some of this debt will be refinanced with the proceeds from the sale of the $1 billion of government-guaranteed rental-home mortgage backed securities.

The government agency that has agreed to guarantee the timely payment of principal and interest of these Guaranteed Certificates, as theyre called, is Fannie Mae, one of the government-sponsored entities (GSE) that has been bailed out and taken over by the government during the Financial Crisis.

This is the first time ever that a government-sponsored enterprise has guaranteed single-family rental-home mortgage-backed securities, issued by a huge corporate landlord. Its an essential step forward in financializing rents: taxpayer backing for funding the biggest landlords.

Government guarantees allow the mega-landlord to sell these securities at a lower yield and thus offer landlords like Blackstones entity even cheaper financing for future home purchases, and thus lower costs and greater profit potential.

During the next severe economic downturn, Fannie Mae and its sister Freddie Mac would need between $49 billion and $126 billion in taxpayer bailout money, according to the stress test conducted by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The results were released in August last year. So why fret about one more billion?

Blackstone is the trailblazer in financializing rents. It pioneered the post-Financial Crisis buy-to-rent scheme, explicitly encouraged at the time by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the Department of the Treasury, as they were trying to bail out the banks by finding willing and able buyers for foreclosed homes  big institutional buyers that could feed at the nearly-free money-trough the Fed had put out there.

And Blackstone was a trailblazer in the next logical step: issuing the first rent-backed structured securities in November 2013. The deal was collateralized by rental income from 3,207 homes. Moodys, Kroll, and Morningstar  all paid by Blackstone  rated nearly 60% of the securities AAA. The remaining tranches carried lower ratings. The deal flew off the shelf. Now all larger buy-to-rent companies are using rent-backed structured securities for funding.

This too is going to happen with government guarantees on rental-home mortgage-backed securities. Its a sweet deal for the issuer: low-cost funding, made possible by government guarantees, is always welcome. Other corporate landlords will follow in Blackstones footsteps.

Not all of it will be guaranteed by the government: To satisfy credit risk retention requirements, Invitation Homes would purchase and retain the Subordinate Non-Guaranteed Certificates, amounting to 5%, or $50 million, of the $1 billion in securities. Thats all the cushion the taxpayer has before losses begin to hit home, so to speak.

The GSEs were founded to promote homeownership by subsidizing it with at first implicit, and since the Financial Crisis explicit, government guaranteed mortgages. But this deal represents a big shift: now, in a delicious Wall-Street irony, the government subsidizes the largest landlords and enhances their profits from renting out single-family homes that individual homeowners had lost during the housing collapse and foreclosure crisis.

There is a darker side to corporate ownership of single-family rental homes and the financialization of rents: soaring evictions, according to the Atlanta Fed, which explicitly blames the Fed and Bernanke. Read Evictions by Wall-Street Mega-Landlords Soar, Financialization of Rents Cause Housing Instability: Atlanta Fed
Physicists patent detonation technique to mass-produce graphene (Nanowerk News) Forget chemicals, catalysts and expensive machinery  a Kansas State University team of physicists has discovered a way to mass-produce graphene with three ingredients: hydrocarbon gas, oxygen and a spark plug.

Their method is simple: Fill a chamber with acetylene or ethylene gas and oxygen. Use a vehicle spark plug to create a contained detonation. Collect the graphene that forms afterward.

Chris Sorensen, Cortelyou-Rust university distinguished professor of physics, is the lead inventor of the recently issued patent, "Process for high-yield production of graphene via detonation of carbon-containing material". Other Kansas State University researchers involved include Arjun Nepal, postdoctoral researcher and instructor of physics, and Gajendra Prasad Singh, former visiting scientist.

Chris Sorensen, Kansas State University Cortelyou-Rust university distinguished professor of physics, holds a container of graphene that was created in a recently patented method that involves three ingredients: hydrocarbon gas, oxygen and a spark plug.

"We have discovered a viable process to make graphene," Sorensen said. "Our process has many positive properties, from the economic feasibility, the possibility for large-scale production and the lack of nasty chemicals. What might be the best property of all is that the energy required to make a gram of graphene through our process is much less than other processes because all it takes is a single spark."

Graphene is a single atom-thick sheet of hexagonally coordinated carbon atoms, which makes it the world's thinnest material. Since graphene was isolated in 2004, scientists have found it has valuable physical and electronic properties with many possible applications, such as more efficient rechargeable batteries or better electronics.

For Sorensen's research team, the serendipitous path to creating graphene started when they were developing and patenting carbon soot aerosol gels. They created the gels by filling a 17-liter aluminum chamber with acetylene gas and oxygen. Using a spark plug, they created a detonation in the chamber. The soot from the detonation formed aerosol gels that looked like "black angel food cake," Sorensen said.

But after further analysis, the researchers found that the aerosol gel was more than lookalike dark angel food cake  it was graphene.

"We made graphene by serendipity," Sorensen said. "We didn't plan on making graphene. We planned on making the aerosol gel and we got lucky."

But unlike other methods of creating graphene, Sorensen's method is simple, efficient, low-cost and scalable for industry.

Arjun Nepal, Postdoctoral Research Associate & Instructor for the Department of Physics at Kansas State University, walks through a special process of mass producing graphene in the K-State Detonation Physics Laboratory.

Other methods of creating graphene involve "cooking" the mineral graphite with chemicals  such as sulfuric acid, sodium nitrate, potassium permanganate or hydrazine  for a long time at precisely prescribed temperatures. Additional methods involve heating hydrocarbons to 1,000 degrees Celsius in the presence of catalysts.

Such methods are energy intensive  and even dangerous  and have low yield, while Sorensen and his team's method makes larger quantities with minimal energy and no dangerous chemicals.

"The real charm of our experiment is that we can produce graphene in the quantity of grams rather than milligrams," Nepal said.
Find the newest releases to watch from National Geographic on Disney+, including favourite documentary series and films Free Solo, The Rescue, Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth and The World According to Jeff Goldblum.
Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), listens during a Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) meeting at the U.S. Treasury in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, May 7, 2014. The FSOC today unanimously approved its 2014 annual report, which was developed collaboratively by the members of the Council and their agencies and staffs. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Richard Cordray Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray sent his strongest signal to date on Tuesday that he has no intention of resigning ahead of his term expiring next year even if asked to by President Donald J. Trump.

While Cordray specifically refused to comment on how he would respond if Trump sought to force him to resign, he staked out a position that suggested he was ready to fight.

"I was nominated and then confirmed by the Senate to serve a term," Cordray said in a half-hour public interview with editors at The Wall Street Journal. "All of the independent federal regulatory agencies have terms that overlap one administration to another. That's meant to preserve their independence. That's important because without the independence you end up mired in partisan politics. The big money special interests will try to dictate results and they shouldn't be able to dictate results. So the independence is an important principle worth fighting for and preserving."

Cordray, whose term does not expire until July 2018, emphasized that the agency has "an independent mandate to do what we do and we will continue working to protect consumers."

It remains unclear if the Trump administration will seek Cordray's removal. On Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that the administration had made "no decision" on the issue. Cordray on Tuesday declined to say specifically what he would do if he were asked to resign.

"I don't really want get into hypotheticals," he said. "By definition, any question that starts with an 'if,' I probably should stay away from."

Cordray also declined to give his opinion on whether the Trump administration, under current law, has the authority to remove him. A recent court case, PHH Corp. vs. CFPB, suggests that a sitting president may have a legal basis for removing the CFPB director. That case is being appealed.

"If you're asking now for my legal opinion, I think I should be reluctant to give it because it's the court that now has that in front of it and they are the proper party that will render the final legal opinion here," he said. "And whatever they say I'm sure we will all abide by. That's how it works."

It was a point he returned to often during his talk.

"Ultimately when the matter is finalized and the court's final decision is rendered, we will accept and embrace and implement that decision," he said.

The CFPB is also still digesting the Trump administration's executive order issued Friday that called for all departments and agencies to freeze regulations to allow agency heads selected by the president to review pending rules.

But Cordray said that the CFPB's agenda was unlikely to change under a Trump administration.

"In the grand scheme of things, it really shouldn't change the job at all," Cordray said. "Congress created us as an independent financial agency; that's been the nature of all the agencies at the federal level, overseeing all elements of the economy."

Congress "set us up with a term as they did with [Federal Reserve Chair] Janet Yellen and [Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.] Chair [Martin] Gruenberg that extends beyond one administration to the next, so we are expected to work with different administrations that have different points of view," Cordray said. "We do a lot of collaboration with different parts of the government."

Cordray also excoriated financial companies that had been hit with enforcement actions for engaging in deceptive practices.

"Keep in mind that we are a law enforcement agency," he said. "And it is not a comfortable thing for large financial companies to have somebody looking over their shoulder, making sure that they are complying with the law and holding them to account when they don't."

He cited the Wells Fargo phony accounts scandal as an example of abuse that needs to be corrected.

"With Wells Fargo, where frankly and I don't think anybody would deny this, there was abuse and exploitation of customers, opening accounts without their consent, without their knowledge so that people could make their own sales targets and performance bonuses," he said. "You know, that's wrong. That's wrong by anybody's measure."

The CFPB has been sharply criticized for engaging in what is known as rulemaking by enforcement, in which the bureau hopes to change industry behavior by engaging in a high-profile enforcement action rather than specifically issuing new rules.

House Republicans released a report last week charging that Cordray may have violated federal law when the agency cracked down on indirect auto lenders starting in 2013.

"On any hard issue that comes to me, there typically are lawyers advising on both sides of the issue," he said. "But in terms of law enforcement, I don't understand the criticism that we've been too aggressive in enforcing the law. If we're not going to enforce the laws aggressively, then what are we saying, that institutions can do anything they want, anything they like? That's not the right answer. Law and order is a pretty conservative issue. It's important to have the rules and make the rules stick."

Lawmakers have also weighed in on the fight in hopes of tipping the scales in Cordray's favor. Senate Democrats Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, told reporters last week that they would oppose any move to remove Cordray and would expect him to take legal action if the Trump administration attempted to remove him.

On Tuesday, the Congressional Black Caucus, led by the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., also wrote in a letter to Trump that "we would strongly oppose any attempt by your administration to remove Director Cordray before the expiration of his term on July 15, 2018 and would view such an action as an illegitimate abuse of power."

If the courts decide in the PHH Corp. case that the president doesn't have the legal means to remove the CFPB director, there is a belief that the Trump administration may try and fire Cordray "for cause" which would set a much higher bar for removal.

Some have speculated that the administration may try and point to articles in National Mortgage News that uncovered evidence black minorities were less likely to receive the same pay as white employees. Cordray acknowledged errors with the pay performance system before scrapping it entirely. The agency also gave affected employees $5 million in remediation.

"We write to underscore to you that we are aware of no facts that would support Director Cordray's removal, even under any of the steepest legal standards," the Black Caucus wrote. "We are especially troubled by suggestions that your administration is seeking to twist Director Cordray's attempts to address discrimination allegations within the CFPB as cause for removal."

 Ian McKendry contributed to this article
A pair of Long Island, N.Y., residents admitted to defrauding a Rochester, N.Y.-based mortgage company of $1.2 million in a straw borrower scam.

Angelo Loissaint and Jennifer Johnson, both of West Babylon, N.Y., pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud before Judge Elizabeth Wolford of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.

Besides the $1.2 million in loan proceeds the defendants did receive from Flaherty Funding, there was an additional $900,000 in loans that did not close, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's office.

The original indictment against Loissaint and Johnson, along with a third person, Sean Ola-Ojo, was handed down in 2012; the case was a follow-up to a 2010 indictment that resulted in four convictions.

Ola-Ojo pleaded guilty to the charges against him in 2014. All three were accused of recruiting straw buyers to purchase five properties in the New York City area at substantially inflated prices. All the documents used to support the applications were forged or altered, according to the press release issued after Ola-Ojo's conviction.

Loissaint and Johnson were originally charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, and five counts of wire fraud. Loussaint was also indicted on two counts of money laundering.

The pair are scheduled to be sentenced on July 12.
New York Community Bancorp's top executives engaged in a game of 20 questions with analysts who were eager to know why the Westbury company's merger with Astoria Financial fell through.

Analysts on Wednesday also pressed Joseph Ficalora, the $49 billion-asset company's president and CEO, to discuss how he was preparing to cross a looming regulatory threshold since agreeing last month to terminate plans to buy Astoria.

Ficalora on several occasions gave answers that only raised more questions.

"I don't think it was anything with regard to the Astoria deal, it's just a matter of the environment in and of itself," Ficalora said when JPMorgan Securities analyst Steven Alexopoulos asked about the nixed deal.

"We're not the only bank that has gone through an elongated process with regard to getting a transaction approved," Ficalora added. "So I suggest that the environment is what it is, and to some degree we do not control the environment."

"With that said, Joe, I mean we don't exactly know why the deal was terminated," Alexopoulos pressed. "What color could you give us on this, given what you just said?"

Ficalora doubled down, pointing to the environment.

"The passage of time in getting deals from announcement to close has greatly elongatedfor the industry as a whole," Ficalora said. "That process has evolved differently than it might have been two years ago, five years ago, 10 years ago."

Such answers  combined with a sparse release issued when the deal was called off  have only left room for speculation.

It is possible that the deal fell apart because New York Community was unable to provide clarity on when the transaction would close, said Bob Ramsey, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets. The deal, announced in October 2015, was expected to close by the end of 2016, providing a substantial amount of time to secure approval.

Sentiment toward the deal, at least on the part of one big Astoria investor, had also changed.

Basswood Capital Management, which had once urged Astoria to consider selling itself, sent a letter to management in early December suggesting that it reconsider due to improved market conditions and optimism for regulatory relief. Basswood owned about 5.9% of Astoria's stock at the time it sent the letter.

New York Community's management also gave strong indications that Astoria wanted out.

Thomas Cangemi, New York Community's chief financial officer, expressed confidence that "the deal would have closed," adding that the decision to kill the deal reflected a failure to get the boards of both companies to agree to an extension.

"Time is not a good thing to a seller," Ficalora added. "There are consequences to a selling institution that are detrimentalSubjecting your staff, your employees to an elongated uncertain period is a very difficult thing, and a lot of consequence occurred in 14 months."

Though Ficalora didn't mention it, Hudson City Bancorp had to wait more than three years before completing its sale to M&T Bank, suffering a flight of assets and a shrinking margin shrank as M&T dealt with a regulatory order.

Ficalora likely chose his words carefully because he didn't want to speak for Astoria, Ramsey said. "At the end of the day, I think it was more Astoria's decision than New York Community's," he added.

Astoria, which is expected to hold its quarterly earnings call on Thursday, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ficalora did make it clear that his company's heavy reliance on commercial real estate lending, an area that regulators are watching carefully, wasn't to blame. New York Community's ratio of CRE to total risk-based capital exceeds 800%; regulators tend to pay more attention when the number tops 300%.

Management said it is doing more to diversify, though they said it has nothing to do with regulatory feedback. CRE made up roughly three-fourths of total loans at Dec. 31; about 18% of the total portfolio consists of commercial-and-industrial loans.

Cangemi said the company had begun working to make more C&I loans several years ago, pointing to a 7% year-over-year increase in the size of its specialty finance portfolio as evidence of momentum.

Total loans increased by 4.5% last year, to $37.4 billion at Dec. 31, but fourth-quarter originations were nearly halved from a year earlier, to $2 billion, as CRE production fell.

That's notable since management plans to hold off crossing $50 billion in assets, where it would become a systemically important financial institution, as it looks for another acquisition to achieve what it hoped to accomplish by buying Astoria. The company, however, will need to spend more money this year in areas like compensation to become SIFI compliant.

Landing another significant acquisition could prove difficult. Sellers might be concerned about potential regulatory challenges, given the communication surrounding the delay  and eventual termination  of the Astoria deal.

"Do you have any sense yet of potential sellers, how they think about the difficulty in getting timely approval on the Astoria deal, if that influences the way they think about partnering with New York Community?" Ramsey asked during the conference call.

"I don't know if it's New York Community, specifically," Ficalora responded.

"The reality is that the marketplace is what it is, and everybody is aware," Ficalora said, repeated a phrase he used frequently during the call. "It's not as if this is top-secret information. Everybody's aware as to how these deals evolve, so I think people will go into their next decisionwith the full knowledge of what to expect."

Ken Zerbe, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, also drew attention to New York Community's stock price, which has failed to appreciate as much as most banks since the presidential election. New York Community's stock is up less than 3% since the election, while the KBW Bank stock index has climbed more than 17%.

"How do you feel about your ability to find attractive opportunities, given your relative stock price versus everyone else?" Zerbe asked.

"The good news is that the fundamental reasons why we've been a very successful buyeris that we have a very strong business model that has the ability to create value for shareholders," Ficalora said. "The momentary consequences of some of the things that are happening either externallydo impact timing and maybe even momentary performance. But the fundamentals of this company are solid and have been very consistent in our ability to do highly accretive deals."

New York Community also seems to be holding out hope that the Donald Trump's election could spur an effort to raise the SIFI asset threshold. But it is unclear if, and when, that could happen, and playing a waiting game could prove problematic, Ramsey said.

"I feel like they need a plan B," Ramsey said. "Regulatory relief makes sensebut there's really no way to know when that change could be made. Doing another deal is the best answer on paper, but the fact is they just went 14 months in an attempt to do that and it wasn't successful."

For his part, Ficalora said his team is constantly reevaluating its options and would consider changing course if necessary.

New York Community and Astoria will "recover from the consequences of" the lengthy delay and cancellation, Ficalora said. "But it will take us a little time."
CoreLogic has released a new mobile application that provides access to property data and analytics.

The new RealQuest App features information from nearly all property records in the U.S. The app is an extension of the new RealQuest desktop application, which features all of the same information available on the mobile app as well as building permit and homeowners association reports.

To use the app, real estate professionals must have a RealQuest subscription. Currently, the app is only available for Apple devices.

"Given the growth of millennial household formation and their technology preferences, it's critical for mortgage professionals, real estate agents, appraisers and investors to have cutting-edge, on-the-go technology that gives them a competitive edge," Shaleen Khatod, senior vice president of data solutions at CoreLogic, said in a news release.

The RealQuest app provides information on foreclosure status, property value, property ownership, transaction history and nearby sales. Users can search for information by address or owner name or by using a map.
Lieutenant General Steven Shepro, Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee attended the Opening Ceremony for the Slovakian NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) on 24 Jan 17 in Bratislava, Slovakia. General Shepro provided an opening statement alongside the Slovak Minister of Defence, Peter Gajdos, Ambassador Tacan Ildem, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy and Commander of NATOs Joint Force Command Brunssum, General Salvatore Farina.

Speaking at the Opening Ceremony, General Steven Shepro, Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, highlighted the significant part the NFIUs play in NATOs defence and deterrence posture, these units attest to how our Alliance remains ready, relevant and adaptive to respond to crisis in todays complex and uncertain world.

During his address, General Shepro also took the opportunity to thank the Slovak military authorities for the proud Slovak tradition of support to the Alliance, from extensive conventional and Special Ops in Afghanistan, to the Multinational Aviation Centre, to the EOD Centre of Excellence. You are a vital link to the Alliances success.

Concluding his statement, General Shepro highlighted the important role NATO plays as a major security provider, NATO has for almost 70 years, deterred conflict and assured peace in Europe from a position of strength. Today, the NFIU Slovakia becomes an important component of that strength.

During the 2014 Wales Summit, NATO Heads of State and Government agreed to implement the biggest reinforcement of NATOs collective defence. Allies welcomed the implementation of the Readiness Action Plan (RAP) and agreed to further strengthen the Alliances deterrence and defence posture with an enhanced forward presence in the eastern and southeast part of Alliance territory and a framework for NATOs adaptation in response to growing challenges and threats emanating from the south.

To reinforce the readiness and the rapid deployment of these forces, NATO Allies decided to set up eight small headquarters or NFIUs in the eastern part of the Alliance to support collective defence planning, facilitate coordinating training and exercises as well as warehouse equipment and supplies.

The first seven NFIUs were established in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Hungary. The opening of the final NFIU in Slovakia demonstrates that the implementation of the RAP is on track and on time.
International Congress of Voice Teachers

The ICVT grew out of an interest in developing opportunities to share professional and artistic information on an international scale. NATS and dozens of other voice teacher associations entered into a Joint Venture Agreement to facilitate (by providing marketing services and managing funds) a world-wide gathering of voice teachers for master classes and sessions, very similar to the NATS national conferences, but international in scope. Every four years ICVT is held in one of the member countries, and since its inception the congresses have met as follows:

2022 Vienna, Austria 2017 Stockholm 2013 Brisbane 2009 Paris 2005 Vancouver 2001 Helsinki 1997 London 1994 Auckland 1991 Philadelphia 1987 Strasbourg

ICVT 2021 - For the Sake of Music (Postponed to 2022)

August 3-6, 2022

HOST: European Voice Teachers Association (EVTA)AUSTRIA Chairman: Professor Dr. Martin Vacha

Email: office [AT] evta.at

Download Event Flyer
Van L. Lawrence Fellowship

The Van L. Lawrence Fellowship was created to honor Van L. Lawrence, M.D. for his outstanding contribution to voice, and particularly to recognize the importance of the interdisciplinary education he fostered among laryngologists and singing teachers. It is awarded jointly by The Voice Foundation and the Foundation Heritage Fund of the NATS Endowment. The Fellowship winner will be provided with the opportunity to attend the annual Symposium on Care of the Professional Voice and visit laryngologists, speech pathologists, voice scientists, and research centers associated with The Voice Foundation during the fellowship year, with resulting research to be considered for expedited publication in the Journal of Voice or Journal of Singing.

VAN L. LAWRENCE FELLOWSHIP for 2023

Deadline: November 15, 2022

The 2023 fellowship will be awarded at the next Annual Symposium - Care of the Professional Voice, May 31-June 4, 2023, in Philadelphia.

Application instructions are listed below, and on The Voice Foundation website.

Eligibility Requirements

Candidates for the Van L. Lawrence Fellowship must be members of National Association of Teachers of Singing and actively engaged in teaching. The Fellowship will be awarded to candidates who have demonstrated excellence in their professions as singing teachers, and who have shown interest in, and knowledge of, voice science. The Fellowship is intended to provide opportunities for the Fellow to become more thoroughly acquainted with practices, techniques, technology, and people involved in laryngology and voice science. It is hoped that the opportunities and contacts provided through the Fellowship experience will enhance the teacher's ability to do meaningful interdisciplinary research, and will encourage the teacher to apply appropriate voice science advances in the studio.

Award Amount

The amount of the Van L. Lawrence Fellowship award is determined annually by The Voice Foundation and the Foundation Heritage Fund of the NATS Endowment. In recent years it has been $2,000. The funds are to be used to defray expenses for the Fellowship winner to attend the annual Symposium on Care of the Professional Voice (tuition shall be waived). Following the Symposium, the Fellow will be provided with the opportunity to visit laryngologists, speech pathologists, voice scientists, and research centers associated with The Voice Foundation during the fellowship year. Specific locations and durations of stay will be arranged in accordance with the Fellow's interests and needs and the availability of the centers to be visited.



Following completion of the Fellowship experience, it is anticipated that the Fellow will have opportunities to consult with the scientists he or she has visited, and to apply his or her newly acquired knowledge in designing and executing a research project to help advance the field of voice teaching. The Voice Foundation will help provide review of the resulting paper and counseling regarding its improvement. When appropriate, the paper will be considered for expedited publication in the Journal of Voice or Journal of Singing.

Selection Process

The Van L. Lawrence Fellowship shall be awarded by the Board of Directors of The Voice Foundation and National Association of Teachers of Singing. The Fellowship Committee shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Board of The Voice Foundation and the President of National Association of Teachers of Singing and shall include at least one representative from the Board of Directors of The Voice Foundation and one representative from National Association of Teachers of Singing. Additional members shall be appointed at the discretion of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Voice Foundation and the President of National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Application Requirements

Fellowship applicants should write The Voice Foundation stating their desire to apply for a Van L. Lawrence Fellowship. The application letter should cover the following topics (as well as others which the applicant believes will strengthen his/her application, but please be as succinct as possible):

Current application of scientific knowledge in the studio;

The area of intended study and/or research project;

How the Fellowship and research project will benefit your teaching;

NATS chapter to which you belong;

Also attach a detailed curriculum vitae.

Members of NATS wishing to apply for the fellowship should write an electronic letter of intent to The Voice Foundation along with your CV  combined into one PDF document. Include the area and methods of your proposed study.

E-mail: office [AT] voicefoundation.org



The fellowship will be awarded at 52nd Annual Symposium - Care of the Professional Voice, May 31-June 4, 2023, in Philadelphia.



If you have any questions, please contact The Voice Foundation office.

Past Van L. Lawrence Fellowship Recipients
(Natural News) On the official Day 2 of the new administration, President Donald J. Trump continues to dismantle the legacy of his predecessor using all executive means at his disposal, fulfilling his promise to Make America Great Again.

This morning, the president signed documents that will advance the eventual approval and construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects, both of which were stalled by President Barack Obama over the false notion of climate change/global warming. More on that in a moment.

As reported by Bloomberg, We are going to renegotiate some of the terms, and if they like, well see if we can get that pipeline built, Trump said, who then added: If were going to build pipelines in the United States, the pipes should be made in the United States.

As further noted by Zero Hedge, Trump said his order streamlines the very cumbersome manufacturing regulations. He then called the regulatory process a tangled up mess. (RELATED: Watch Trump dismantle the Administrative State by checking in at BigGovernment.news)

To reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said the terms and conditions regarding the pipelines will be renegotiated by the United States, which has reserved the right to do so.

The move is making a number of factions in the U.S. happy, including labor unions, which will have a role in building prospective pipelines, and Americans who are tired of sending their sons and daughters to fight in the volatile Middle East, where the U.S. currently gets the lions share of its oil.

As Bloomberg noted further:

The moves, taken on Trumps fourth full day in office, are a major departure from the Obama administration, which rejected the Keystone proposal in 2015 and has kept Dakota Access blocked since September. Environmentalists, concerned about climate change and damage to waters, land and Native-American cultural sites, now face an executive branch thats less sympathetic to their efforts. For the oil industry, it heralds more freedom to expand infrastructure and ease transportation bottlenecks.

Natural News founder and editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, understands there are still legitimate concerns about the safety of the environment, especially land and resources belonging to Native American tribes whose resources could be adversely affected by any subsequent pipeline leak or spill.

I support energy independence but Im also a huge supporter of environmental protection, Adams said. Thats why I have announced a donation of water quality lab testing to all Native American communities that may be affected by these two pipeline projects. (See related articles on NaturalNews.com for details of his announcement.)

For his part, Trump has also not abandoned environmental concerns. In announcing plans earlier this week to cut more than three-quarters of existing federal regulations, the president said he and his administration would focus on the redundant, economy-killing portions of federal regulations but would ensure that protections for land, water, and air remained firm and in place. (RELATED: Whats the latest in global warming science? Find out at ClimateScience.news)

The executive actions Trump signed Tuesday include a directive the president noted would speed up environmental reviews and approvals for high-priority infrastructure projects.

We intend to fix our country, our bridges, our roadways, he said. We cant be in an environmental process for 15 years if a bridge is going to be falling down or if a highway is crumbling.

As for the Obama administrations objections, the former president couched the bulk of his rejection of both projects in an environmental cloak, but that was never true.

The American Thinker notes that Obamas decision to kill the Keystone XL pipeline was because he ostensibly agreed with his State Department that the project would not serve the national interests of the United States. How improving domestic oil production versus sending American troops overseas to fight in countries rich in oil is not in our best interests makes sense when you understand Obamas true motivations: Billionaire Warren Buffett, whom Obama has bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and famous Democratic donor, owns most of the oil-carrying trains.

Investors Business Daily noted in 2011:

As oil production ramps up in the Bakken fields of North Dakota, plans to use the pipeline to transport it have been dashed.

As a result, North Dakotas booming oil producers will have to rely even more on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad, which Buffett just bought, to ship it to refineries.

Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe in a deal valuing the railroad at $34 billion. Berkshire Hathaway already owns about 22% of Burlington Northern, and will pay $100 a share in cash and stock for the rest of the company.

Unlike Trump and Adams, whose environmental concerns are real, Obamas concerns are more aligned with greenwashing by Corporate America and his corporatist pals.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for Natural News and News Target, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

ZeroHedge.com

Bloomberg.com

Investors.com
(Natural News) George Soros, who fancies himself a god and intends to remake the world, is the Lord of Chaos and pursues a world order that is demonic, not divine.

(Article by William F. Jasper from TheNewAmerican.com)

I admit that I have always harbored an exaggerated view of self-importance  to put it bluntly, I fancied myself as some kind of god. So confessed George Soros (shown) in his 1987 book The Alchemy of Finance.

George Soros use of past-tense verbs in the admission above might lead some readers to assume his psychological deity complex was a passing narcissism that the maturing billionaire has conquered in the three decades since it was written. That would be a false assumption; if anything, the 86-year-old currency speculator has grown more megalomaniacal with each passing year.

It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out, Soros told the British newspaper The Independent in 1993.

Yes, the hedge-fund mogul has been living out his delusional fantasies, sometimes elevating himself from merely a god, to actually being God. Naturally, claiming such supernatural attributes entails more than a bit of madness, something Soros has also publicly discussed on more than one occasion.

Next to my fantasies about being God, I also have very strong fantasies of being mad, Soros once explained in a British television interview. In fact, my grandfather was actually paranoid. I have a lot of madness in my family. So far I have escaped it.

Has the delusional billionaire really escaped the madness? He told his biographer, Michael T. Kaufman, that he views himself as the conscience of the world. And he is spending billions of dollars to remake the world to fit his fantasies. If a homeless derelict were to declare himself God and the conscience of the world, he would be ignored, shunned, or locked up; madmen with wealth and power are praised and sycophantically courted.

The Roman emperors Nero and Caligula are notorious for their murderous megalomania. They assigned themselves god status, but ruled as demented demons. Soros may not possess their dictatorial powers, but then, they didnt possess his wealth and global influence. We intend in this article to examine some of the vast activist networks and political campaigns that George Soros funds.

Certainly, the super-rich should have as much right as any other citizens to participate in the political system that governs us all. But Soros appears to be perfectly comfortable operating both within and outside the law to destroy (he would say reform) our political-economic system. In his book Soros on Soros, the would-be god says: I do not accept the rules imposed by others. After years of operating with impunity, he has become so brazen that he appears not to worry about doing the illegal, as well as the immoral. It is our contention that the prima facie evidence of criminal activity by George Soros and those he funds is sufficient to demand official investigations  by Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice, and state attorneys general. Utilizing the subpoena and other investigatory powers not available to the private citizen, these officials have the duty to take on powerful interests that are corrupting and undermining the rule of law in America  and endangering the freedoms we hold dear. At the very least, the Internal Revenue Service  which recently denied Tea Party groups non-profit status  could take away the tax-exempt status of Soros huge foundations, or force them to cease funding radical groups. And if federal authorities exercise even a fraction of the zeal they expended on prosecuting and persecuting conservative commentator Dinesh DSouza, Soros the god-man could end up in jail.

Organizing Chaos

Over the past several years, American cities have been plunged into racial and civil turmoil at a level we have not experienced since the 1960s and 1970s. The anti-police riots in Ferguson, Baltimore, Milwaukee, and elsewhere have morphed into anti-Trump riots across the country, with many of the same organizations and individuals serving as instigators: Black Lives Matter, MoveOn.org, International Action Center, ANSWER Coalition, and other far-left, fake grassroots groups. They reliably perform on cue because they are lavishly funded by the Soros Open Society Foundations (OSF), the other big tax-exempt foundations (Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie, et al.), and activist pass through organizations, such as the Tides Foundation, that bundle and launder hundreds of millions of dollars in dark money to the street revolutionaries.

Black Lives Matter (BLM), which has become one of the most efficient riot-making operations, has been especially blessed with largess from the billionaire elites. As The New American noted in a 2014 article (Rioting for a Reason), BLM was founded by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, three black lesbian Marxists who idolize communist terrorist revolutionaries Assata Shakur and Angela Davis, as well as the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Movement. Naturally, for Soros, that qualifies BLM for oodles of cash. An investigation of Soros/OSF financials by the Washington Times in 2015 found that Soros had showered BLM and its related network of activist organizations with more than $33 million. Not bad, but that was only seed money. The Ford Foundation, which has been funding revolution for decades, announced a few months ago it intends to raise $100 million in pooled donor funds for a newly formed Black-Led Movement Fund, of which the BLM (and its rioters) will be major beneficiaries.

Following the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida in 2012, Black Lives Matter grew from a hashtag slogan to a nationwide phenomenon, thanks largely to funding from Soros and a huge boost from the major media. However, BLMs big break came with the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, and the organized unrest that followed. Two of the BLM groups that played a central role in the Ferguson unrest (that included riots, arson, shooting, and looting) are the Organization for Black Struggle (OBS) and Missourians for Reform and Empowerment (MORE), both of which are hardcore Marxist-Leninist organizations run by veteran communists who have been leading riotous protests for decades. A top founder/leader at OBS is Jamala Rogers, a professional community organizer since the 1970s and veteran member of the Revolutionary Communist League, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the radical Black Power movement.

MORE is simply the rebranded Missouri chapter of ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), the former national organization of paid activists inspired by Marxist strategist Saul Alinsky and founded by 1960s SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) radical Wade Rathke. Like ACORN, the white social justice leaders at MORE pay protesters (mostly black or people of color) to create street theater that can be exploited to advance their causes. Some of MOREs rent-a-mob activities in Ferguson were exposed in 2015 when black protesters occupied MOREs offices and threatened the white radicals because they hadnt been paid as promised. To placate the angry protesters, MORE provided them with documents showing that they had dispersed the funds appropriately. Where did the money go? The accounting documents list, among other things, payments for cellphones, walkie-talkies, banners, T-shirts, art supplies, van rentals, gasoline, catering, training sessions, organizer salaries, etc. In other words, virtually everything needed to give a purely AstroTurf production the appearance of a grassroots protest. Where did the funding come from? The Washington Times investigation found that one line of Soros funding for police reform in 2014 amounted to $5.4 million, with about half of those funds earmarked to Ferguson, with the money primarily going to OBS and MORE.

Another significant recipient of Soros cash is Colorlines, an online news site that helped parlay Ferguson into a national road show. More than 500 of us have traveled from Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Nashville, Portland, Tucson, Washington, D.C., Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and other cities to support the people of Ferguson and help turn a local moment into a national movement, wrote Akiba Solomon, a writer at Colorlines.

Readying the Rioting

The anti-Trump demonstrations and riots  both before and after the election  follow a pattern that we have seen over and over again, from the protests of Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter to Dream Act/Open Borders. Not only are the tactics the same, but many of the same groups and individuals keep reappearing in all of these seemingly spontaneous outbreaks of organized chaos.

Were the Not My President rioters that illegally blocked streets and freeways, set fires, threw Molotov cocktails, injured police officers, destroyed property, and defaced public buildings with graffiti day after day following the November 8 election merely Soros rent-a-mobs? There is good reason to believe so.

Not only were well-known Soros-funded organizations such as Black Lives Matter and MoveOn.org prominently involved, but Soros-funded groups such as Washington Community Action Network (Washington CAN) ran advertisements on Craigslist and in newspapers for full-time organizers to Fight the Trump Agenda! at $15/hour, plus paid vacation and benefits.

Many of the anti-Trump rioters traveled across state lines, which means they not only violated state laws against rioting and inciting to riot, but also federal law against the same crimes. Specifically, the rioters could be (and should be) charged under Title 18 U.S. Code  2101, which provides that whoever travels in interstate or foreign commerce  to incite a riot; or to organize, promote, encourage, participate in, or carry on a riot; or  to aid or abet any person in inciting or participating in or carrying on a riot or committing any act of violence in furtherance of a riot  shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

As to be expected, Soros PR minions deny that their boss has anything to do with the mayhem caused by those he funds. George Soros is not funding these (anti Trump) protests, Soros spokesperson Michael Vachon said in an interview with Value Walk. Of course, Soros also denied funding the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement. But financial records showed that he had provided millions of dollars to the Tides Foundation, which then passed through funding to the OWS activists.

This is why official congressional and prosecutorial investigations are necessary. Soros and the other funders of the riots, subversion, and anarchy will continue to deny the obvious, as they have been doing for decades. The undercover videos of James OKeefes Veritas Project have exposed top Democratic Party operatives boasting of their illegal activities, such as voter fraud, busing in demonstrators, fomenting riots, initiating fights, illegal funding, etc. This is happening on a massive scale and can only be stopped by utilizing the same legal bulwarks that are used against organized crime. The financial records of the funders and organizations involved must be subpoenaed, and individuals placed under oath, where they will face the full penalty of perjury. As the saying goes, follow the money, and prosecute those who are financing the ongoing demolition of America.

Investigation and prosecution of the rioters  and especially those who fund and direct them  is important not only for redress of the crimes already committed and social harm already done, but also to deter plans for similar future havoc.

Dark Money Campaign Cash

According to a survey of official records by the Center for Responsive Politics, George Soros gave $19.5 million in political contributions during the most recent election cycle. That does not include funds he gave to nonprofits and activist groups that are not officially backing a particular candidate or ballot measure, but are nonetheless actively involved those campaigns.

The Soros hypocrisy meter hits the highest levels when it comes to dark money, which the liberal-left media invariably associate with those labeled conservative. For the past two decades, Soros has led and funded the campaign finance reform movement. However, at the same time that he was decrying the corrupting influence of money on politics, he was pioneering the funding of 527 Groups (so-called due to their status under Section 527 of the IRS Code) which can raise unlimited funds for political campaigns. He has organized Democracy Alliance, bringing together dozens of billionaires and millionaires to provide rivers of cash to his favored candidates and causes.

Voter Fraud

It is impossible to sustain our system of representative government if the election process is corrupted. Groups that encourage non-citizens to vote and that work to make it difficult-to-impossible to enforce election security and verify voter identity are undermining our Republic. The Soros network has generously funded many of these open border and open voting groups, such as the American Council of La Raza, America Votes, ACLU, Americas Voice, American Bridge 21st Century, and Project Vote. Although charges of widespread vote fraud, particularly involving illegal aliens, have been dismissed by the establishment media, there is ample reason to believe this fraud is significant and should be officially and aggressively investigated.

Coopting the U.S. Government

In a 2005 interview, National Public Radios Steve Inskeep noted that Soros has been described as the only private citizen with his own foreign policy. Inskeep remarked to Soros: Uzbekistan, the Open Society Institute was actually receiving grants from the US State Department and spending millions of dollars of US government money on various programs. That was under President George W. Bush; it was not an isolated incident, and got much worse under President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Its easy to be a philanthropist when youre spending other peoples money  in this case (and others), American taxpayers money.

Soros has similarly hijacked U.S. government policy (not by force, but by collusion) in Ukraine, Egypt, Albania, the European Union, and elsewhere  invariably with disastrous results. He has also been exposed as one of the major forces behind the calamitous refugee crisis that is swamping Europe with a tsunami of Muslim migrants  and that is threatening to do the same here, thanks to Soros-Obama-Clinton-Kerry collusion. A May 2016 internal report of the International Migration Institute (IMI), an official project of Soros Open Society Foundations, boasted of providing the funding for the Sutherland Report, the blueprint for Europes migration catastrophe authored by Goldman Sachs billionaire Sir Peter Sutherland, now the UN secretary-generals special representative on international migration. The same report by top IMI staffers Anna Crowley and Kate Rosin, entitled Migration Governance and Enforcement Portfolio Review, calls for accepting the current crisis as the new normal. Soros also provides funding for the Columbia Global Policy Initiative (CGPI) at Columbia University, which hosts the secretariat for Peter Sutherlands UN migration office.

The Media Echo Chamber

How does George Soros manage to keep getting away with it? Obviously, his billions have bought a lot of influence. One of the major keys to his success is the Teflon shield he has been provided by the establishment corporatist media, which also act as his echo chamber. Thats by design. A September 27, 2007 e-mail from John Podesta to Soros, Peter Lewis, Steve Bing, and other left-wing billionaires outlined his plans for parlaying the vast network they had financed into a media echo chamber that would control the political discourse. At the time, Podesta was president of the Soros-funded Center for American Progress. He went from that post to be Hillary Clintons campaign chairman.

Now that this enhanced infrastructure is in place  grassroots organizing; multi-issue advocacy groups; think tanks; youth outreach; faith communities; micro-targeting outfits; the netroots and blogosphere  we need to better utilize these networks to drive the content of politics through a strong echo chamber and message delivery system, Podesta wrote.

Non-partisan voter registration can be highly effective in delivering progressive voters to the polls, Podesta states in the memo. The Sandler family and [Open Society Institute] are already deeply involved in funding organizations to do this work in communities of color and with respect to unmarried women. This further underscores our point above regarding the ostensibly non-partisan nature of the Soros focus on voter registration.

Several thousand hacked e-mails released by WikiLeaks and DCLeaks have provided plenty of damning evidence to justify initiating a whole series of investigations into the Lord of Chaos. Not surprisingly, the controlled establishment media has almost completely ignored this bonanza, prompting an editorial from Investors Business Daily this past September 19 entitled The Bizarre Media Blackout of Hacked George Soros Documents.

Bizarre indeed. However, it would be worse than bizarre  it would be serious nonfeasance of office  for our elected and appointed officials to evade their responsibilities to investigate and prosecute the malefactors of great wealth who undermine our society while posing as its saviors.

Read more at: TheNewAmerican.com

Stay informed on the evils of George Soros at the upcoming web site Soros.news.
(Natural News) The gene editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 has been a subject of controversy ever since it was developed. CRISPR -Cas9 gives scientists the ability to conduct genome editing with a quickness and ease never seen before. Regardless of the inherent concerns that come along with gene editing, this technology has undoubtedly changed the world of basic and applied biology indefinitely.

Perhaps one of the most concerning aspects about CRISPR-Cas9 was the inability for scientists to turn off the gene altering sequence. The potential for wrong genes to be snipped away and the consequential introduction of rogue genetic changes in human or animal DNA into the gene pool was (and still is) rather terrifying. Now, however, scientists claim that they have found a way to hopefully mitigate this tremendous risk. In a new study, researchers say that they have found a tiny protein that can actually turn off Cas9 and prevent it from creating unwanted gene alterations. They say that the protein works on human cells  at least if they are in a petri dish. (RELATED: Read more news about modern science at Scientific.news.)

Understanding CRISPR-Cas9 Technology

CRISPR-Cas9 technology is actually comprised of two parts. CRISPR stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. You see, DNA is made up of short blocks of repeating base pairs that are set apart by spacer DNA. Through the action of bacteria copying and inserting the viral DNA sequence into the CRISPR region, two strands of RNA can be produced.

After that, the RNA then associates with an enzyme known as Cas9, which is described as acting like a pair of guided scissors. Cas9 hones in on the targeted viral DNA and cuts it away. Then, the DNA is repaired by the cell and the deleted piece of DNA is replaced with a substitute portion of DNA, which is supplied by the scientists.

The CRISPR/Cas9 technology is often explained as a find and replace function for genetics. Essentially, CRISPR finds the targeted piece of DNA, and Cas9 snips it out of the DNA sequence. (RELATED: Also see more news about genetically modified organisms at GMO.news)

The off switch

The concerns about unintended DNA alterations primarily lie at the feet of the Cas9 portion of the technology. Sometimes, it cuts the wrong portion of the DNA. It also has a tendency to remain present and active for too long, resulting in the potential for it to make more, unintended cuts to the DNA. It takes just about 24 hours for just half of the Cas9 enzyme to be degraded by cell, which means it has plenty of time to make off-target alterations.

Study author Joseph Bondy-Denomy, a microbiologist from the University of California at San Francisco, claims that an off switch would make the Cas9 tech quite a bit safer.

Based on the logic that in order to replicate, viruses often insert their own DNA into the bacterias genome, commandeering the cells genetic equipment to copy viral DNA, it would seem that viruses must also possess a way to reverse the process and deactivate CRISPR/Cas9. Otherwise, it is possible that the bacteria might identify the viral DNA in its own genome, which would invariably lead to self-destruction.

Bondy-Denomy told Live Science, Cas9 should make an RNA that will then cleave the virus that happens to be in its own genome  its not smart enough to know its in its own genome.  The research group posited that if the bacterial cell is stable and its not self-destructing, then perhaps this virus is making an inhibitor protein.

Although the team was able to identify four potential anti-CRISPR proteins, only two seem to have worked in initial petri dish testing. And while these proteins seem to deactivate the CRISPR-Cas9 process, the scientists have not yet actually proved that this new find will prevent off-target gene editing.

The research team has no idea if the proteins will actually prevent unintended DNA snipping and editing, nor do they know how long the proteins will linger in the cells or what kind of effects they may also produce.

Sources:

LiveScience.com

BerkeleyScienceReview.com
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 24, 2017 / Oyster Oil and Gas Ltd. ("Oyster" or the "Company") (OY.V) is pleased to report that it has closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") for gross proceeds of $400,000 (the "Financing). Proceeds from the Financing are expected to be used for ongoing working capital requirements.

Completion of the Financing is subject to Exchange acceptance, and all securities issued pursuant to the Financing will be subject to a hold period as required under applicable securities legislation.

About Oyster Oil and Gas Ltd.

Oyster is an upstream oil and gas company with a focus on Eastern Africa. Oyster holds production sharing contracts interests with the Government of Djibouti and the Government of Madagascar. Oyster holds four blocks comprising approximately 3.5 million acres onshore and offshore in Djibouti; and holds a working interest in an onshore block in Madagascar covering approximately 2.8 million acres.

For further information please contact:

Emily Davis, Corporate Secretary

Tel: (604) 628-5616

Fax: (604) 662-7950

This news release contains statements about the Company's expectations regarding the completion of the Financing that are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements and there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include failure to complete the Financing for any reason whatsoever, including failure to obtain Exchange acceptance. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Story continues

This news release does not constitute and the subject matter hereof is not, an offer for sale or a solicitation of an offer to buy, in the United States or to any "U.S Person" (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act")) of any equity or other securities of the Corporation. The securities of the Corporation have not been registered under the 1933 Act and may not be offered or sold in the United States (or to a U.S. Person) absent registration under the 1933 Act or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the 1933 Act.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

SOURCE: Oyster Oil and Gas Ltd.
Experiments in Democracy: Human Embryo Research and the Politics of Bioethics J. Benjamin Hurlbut Columbia University Press: 2017. 9780231179546 | ISBN: 978-0-2311-7954-6

One of the most celebrated paintings in Ohio's Cleveland Museum of Art is Twilight in the Wilderness. Frederic Edwin Church's panorama depicts a blazing sunset over shadowy mountains and a crimson lake. It signals a reverence for nature, but the blood reds hint at something darker. Church completed his landscape in 1860, on the eve of the American Civil War, and many believe that the fiery sky symbolizes the nation's expected conflagration.

Experiments in Democracy reminds me of this painting, in both its ambitious scope and its sense of unease. Science historian Benjamin Hurlbut offers a wide-angle history of US attempts at democratic deliberation on the ethics of human-embryo research. Painstakingly researched and spanning more than four decades  from the advent of in vitro fertilization in the 1970s to contemporary developments such as germline editing  the book draws attention to an intricate interplay between science and democracy. More than 40 years of controversy surrounds research on human-embryo cells such as these. Credit: Yorgos Nikas/Biol. Reprod./SPL

Mediating this interplay are government-sponsored bioethics bodies such as the Ethics Advisory Board of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in the 1970s and the National Institutes of Health Human Embryo Research Panel in the 1990s. These serve as experiments in democracy wherein social imaginings of science, democracy, and the correct relationship between them are 'co-produced'. Building on the terminology and work of other scholars at the nexus of science, technology and society, notably Sheila Jasanoff, Hurlbut laments that ethical deliberation around embryo research has always been too focused on the moral status of the embryo, with science supplying 'facts' and bioethics bodies providing 'correct' reasoning.

Standing in for the public, these bioethics bodies uncritically accepted science as an extra-political authority and used it to delimit the range of appropriate public reasons. That crowded out other legitimate perspectives, such as social-justice considerations. Although these institutions helped to pave the way for human embryonic stem-cell research and widespread acceptance of in vitro fertilization, Hurlbut argues that they also narrowed the repertoire of democratic imagination necessary to guide our march towards a shared technological future.

Regret and lost opportunities are a leitmotif in the book. Yet, like Church's hidden brushstrokes  which lessen the painter's presence in his luminist landscape  Hurlbut's repeated use of the passive voice at key moments makes it difficult to discern who the agents were for these historical developments. In writing about scientific knowledge, for example, Hurlbut says that scientists' claims are privileged because they are treated as de facto reasonable. But, he notes, those views that are marked as depending upon moral pictures of the world that are not accessible to others are de facto excluded as nonpublic reasons  that is, as too doctrinaire and subjective to ground public policy. But who is doing this treating, marking, excluding and privileging? Is it the secular members of bioethics bodies? Is it the government sponsors who draft committee agendas and statements of task? Hurlbut obscures responsibility for these outcomes and offers no clear alternative account of how the social imaginings of science and democracy should have been co-produced.

Without any alternative positive account, one may wonder at the end of Experiments in Democracy what the prospects are for future deliberations on human-embryo research. With fortuitous timing, the book arrives just as the administration of Donald Trump enters Washington DC, with two ideological opponents of embryonic stem-cell research in tow: vice-president Mike Pence and Tom Price, nominee for health secretary. Many fear a revival of the 'embryo wars' of President George W. Bush's tenure, and the restrictive federal research policies introduced in 2001 (or worse). Both stunted progress in US stem-cell research, introduced great uncertainty among early-career scientists and biotechnology investors, and upended state funding priorities. How might we apply Hurlbut's insights to the battles to come?

To be fair, it is not Hurlbut's intent to issue ethical prescriptions for the future. His only normative commitment in this book is to the question of how we should understand democratic science, not what we should do politically. He wants us to interrogate the idea of right public reason and widen the field of potential participants. In my view, however, our greatest collective challenge is not constructing a more inclusive ideal of public reasoning. Rather, it lies in finding cause to believe that, given human nature, divisive social inequities and the current political climate, US citizens are capable of realizing such an ideal. Sadly, social media and the Internet, once embraced as tools for broadening democratic discourse, are now serving mainly to narrow and harden people's views.
A seven-foot albino alligator with bright white skin and pink eyes is currently stealing the hearts of the Internet. Pearl has been a resident of Gatorland in Orlando, a theme park that rescues alligators, for seven years.

"Pearl is ten years old," a spokesman for the park told Daily Mail. "She arrived at Gatorland when she was three years old. Pearl is an albino alligator, due to the complete absence of pigmentation, which gives her white skin and pink eyes. Visitors to the park like to come and see a rare albino alligator like Pearl."

National Geographic explains the eyes appear pink due to its highly visible blood vessels. Gatorland is a 110-acre theme park and wildlife preserve. They have been operating for 60 years and have been saving alligators that might be slaughtered for fashion purposes. Gatorland is the only place worldwide where alligators have been successfully artificially inseminated.



Gatorland keeps a total of four leucistic alligators. Leucistic animals have rare genetic condition that reduces the color pigmentation in their skin.

"They are just like alligators and they eat the same food," explains Mark McHugh, President & CEO of Gatorland to Telegraph.

They are very sensitive to direct sunlight, so they have a separate cage which only has a bit of sunlight. Gatorland feeds them with chicken, fish, red meat as source of Vitamin D. Their survival rate in the wild is not high because they are obvious targets for predators. As such, most of them do not even reach the adulthood phase.

"The biggest concern is that they never would have survived in the wild. They are like little beacons out shining "come eat me.," said McHugh. "They are each ten to eleven plus feet in length and vulnerable to many predators because their lack of skin pigmentation deprives them of natural camouflage."
In an effort to control one of the biggest invasive reptile problems that has ever existed in the planet, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission employed the help of two tribesmen from Southern India to track Burmese pythons lurking in Florida's Everglades.

According to the report from Miami Herald, the two men were members of the known snake-hunters, Irula tribe. Masi Sadaiyan and Vadivel Gopal, both in their 50s, arrived early January and have been going into the Everglades almost daily since then.

"The Irula tribesmen, located in southern India, are world renowned for their ability to catch snakes," said Frank Mazzotti, a professor of wildlife ecology at University of Florida in a press release. "I heard about them through an acquaintance, Rom Whitaker, who lives in India and works with the tribesmen. He recommended that I work with the Irula to find the Burmese python in the Everglades, and five years later we finally made it happen."

So far, the pair has caught 14 pythons in just two weeks of their stay. Their catch includes an astonishing 16-foot female python that was holed up in the old Nike missile base ruins on Key Largo and four more from the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

The high prevalence of Burmese pythons in Florida's Everglades has become a major problem ever since they became established in the area nearly two decades ago. Researchers believe that these pythons are responsible for the decline in the population of native mammals living in the Everglades.

This is not the first time that the federal officials seek outside help for the eradication of the python population in their region. Last year, the state of Florida launched the "Python Challenge" that lured in over 1,000 hunters, mostly amateurs. In just a month, the hunters caught 106 of the snakes. Approximately 200 pythons are being caught in Florida annually.


More than 90 Yorkshire terriers and Yorkshire terrier mix breed dogs are receiving medical attention after they were rescued from a North County hoarder home last week.

The San Diego Humane Society helped rescue the 92 dogs on Friday from unsanitary conditions in a North County home. Officials said the owner sought out help for the animals.

The owners of these dogs are an elderly couple who reached out to us for help, said Stephen MacKinnon, Chief of Humane Law Enforcement for San Diego Humane Society, in a statement. We see this type of situation all too often when well-intentioned people get in over their heads.

The dogs were taken to the San Diego Humane Society's San Diego campus.

Over the weekend, veterinarians and animal care teams examined the rescued pups. Some dogs had to had their coats shaved to remove heavy tangles. Others needed medication for wounds and other ailments.

We always dread seeing a situation like this. It's tragic for the animals and often for the people involved. But when this happens, our first response is always for the animals," said Dr. Gary Weitzman, president and CEO for San Diego Humane Society, in a statement.

"We want to get them away from a dangerous situation as quickly and compassionately as possible-both for the animals and the people involved," said Weitzman in a statement.

Veterinarians with the Humane Society estimate the dogs will need a few weeks before they are ready for adoption. The Humane Society estimates the dogs will become available for adoption mid to late February.

At this time, the Humane Society is not keeping a waiting list. Dogs will become available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Bay Area opponents and supporters of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines that were advanced Tuesday by President Donald Trump spoke out about the projects.

In signing the executive order, Trump is chipping away at the environmental legacy of the Obama administration while promising jobs. The president said he wants the projects to make use of American steel, and he wants the pipeline deals renegotiated.

One of the projects' biggest opponents, billionaire and environmental activist Tom Steyer, blasted Trump's decision, saying that building new fossil fuel infastructure today is one of the all time dumb investment ideas.

"Any time you decide to make stupid investment decisions, its a mistake," said Steyer, the founder of NextGen Climate. "And this is a classic example."

Steyers goal is to bring climate change to the forefront of American politics. He said its good business.

"When we talk about renewables, when we talk about technology and research driven businesses, were talking about renewable energy and new energy innovation," he said. "Theyre talking about burning rocks."

An oil industry executive said Steyers criticism is misplaced.

"The pipelines themselves safely carry their products, whether its oil or gas, more than 99 percent of the time," said Marty Durbin, executive vice president with the American Petroleum Institute. "So its one of the safest ways to move these products that continue to be critical to our economy moving forward."

Its likely the new executive order will ramp up protests over the pipelines. In Oaklands Eastmont neighborhood, home school teacher Tiny Gray-Garcia was explaining the executive orders to her class. Gray-Garcia spent New Year's weekend at the protest over the Dakota Access pipeline and thought it had been stopped - until now.

"Im in grief," she said. "When that happened, I literally fell apart in the classroom with the young people. I was unable to stand."

Steyer and other activists are promising a fight. A protest gathering has been planned for 6 p.m. Thursday at San Franciscos federal building.
An 18-year-old Tracy woman who crashed into the Alameda Creek near Fremont over the weekend remains missing as of Wednesday morning.

Although Jayda Jenkins is still unaccounted for, sheriff's deputies on Wednesday found clothing matching the description of what the teenager was wearing at the time of the crash, according to the Alameda County Sheriff's Department.

Recovery crews on Tuesday removed Jenkins' silver Honda Accord from the rushing water, but no body was found, according to Alameda County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Ray Kelly. A limited law enforcement-piloted search, which included air support and a rescue boat, took place on Wednesday in hopes of locating Jenkins.

Jenkins' family continued with their search, aided by community volunteers, and will join a more extensive search Saturday that will include the sheriff's volunteer search and rescue teams.

Jenkins first went missing last Saturday when she crossed the center divide on Niles Canyon Road, collided with a white Honda Accord and crashed into the creek, according to police. Jenkins likely did not survive the crash, police said.

Recovery crews on Tuesday removed a vehicle from the Alameda Creek near Fremont that belongs to an 18-year-old woman who plunged into the rushing body of water over the weekend, but no body was found. Robert Handa reports.

The vehicle, which was initially discovered upside down on Monday by one of Jenkins' family members, was pulled to the shore using wenches and cables, according to Kelly.

Jenkins' seat belt was found to be unfastened, and the car's windows were smashed out, Kelly said.

The Jenkins family, who contines to poke and prod the dense landscape up and down the creek, has not given up hope of finding the teenager alive.

"We are still dealing with the fact that we do not have our daughter ... and our sister ... and our child home," Denielle Jenkins, Jayda's mother, said Tuesday. "But we're not stopping here. We are going to search for her.

CHP officers say they found something of interest in search for Tracy Woman who crashed car into water near Sunol. pic.twitter.com/scwckrYAZx  Marianne Favro (@mariannefavro) January 23, 2017

Search for a woman who apparently crashed her car into Alameda creek on hold due to dangerous conditions. pic.twitter.com/z3JPg8e6rd  Marianne Favro (@mariannefavro) January 23, 2017

First responders have identified an area of "extreme interest" in #Alameda Creek. Determining if it 18 yo woman car. @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/s4kDf7RBJV  Bob Redell (@BobNBC) January 23, 2017

"My daughters are my life, and so I have hope that we may find her," Denielle Jenkins continued. "Maybe she's in a hospital, I'm not sure. But I'm holding out hope that we may find her."

Recovery crews on Tuesday are removing a vehicle from the Alameda Creek near Fremont belonging to an 18-year-old woman who plunged into the rushing body of water over the weekend. Bob Redell reports.

Crews were unable to commence a thorough rescue and recovery attempt until Tuesday morning because of unsafe water conditions caused by recent rain.

Local reservoirs were dammed during the search effort to help reduce the creek's water level.

While searchers waited for the high water levels to subside, drones and people walking along the creek's banks were utilized to scour the water for any signs of the vehicle and Jenkins.

"It was literally like trying to find a needle in a haystack," Kelly said Tuesday.

Rescue teams on Monday continue to search for a missing 18-year-old who crashed into the Alameda Creek near Fremont. Bob Redell reports.

During a Monday walkabout, an unusual sight in the water spotted by one of Jenkins' family members prompted authorities to launch a drone in order to get a closer view. Drone footage revealed two tires sticking out of the rushing water.

Kelly commended the family for its unrelenting search efforts.

"The family was instrumental (on Monday) in locating the anomaly in the water that turned out to be a tire," Kelly said Tuesday. "That allowed us to focus our energy on that spot. That just shows you the vigilance of the family to find their loved one."

Rescue crews on Monday believe they found the car belonging to an 18-year-old Tracy woman who went missing over the weekend after her car veered from the roadway and crashed into the Alameda Creek near Fremont. Marianne Favro reports.

Jenkins was traveling from Tracy to Menlo Park when her mother notified police that she was missing. The 18-year-old just graduated from high school and was studying psychology at William Jessup University, hoping to become a social worker.

NBC Bay Area's Robert Handa contributed to this report.
A Berkeley couple found dead inside their apartment have been identified as Roger and Valerie Morash, police said Tuesday.

The deaths are being investigated by police as a suspicious circumstance and investigators said it is still unclear how the married couple died.

Vaerie Morash, 32, on her website is described as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco.

Roger Morash, 35, ran a gaming company.

"They were just quiet," neighbor Jessica Hawley said. "They were just a young happy couple. They were always smiling."

Police on Monday responded to the Morash's residence on the 3000 block of Deakin Street and found the two bodies. The cause of the deaths was not immediately apparent, police said, and the building was evacuated out of an abundance of caution.

Police were alerted to the apartment home when a friend of one of the victims went to check on that person and found them dead. When officers searched the apartment, they found the second body, as well as two dead cats.

Officials ruled out carbon monoxide or radiation poisoning after tests came back negative for those elements.

The Berkeley Fire Department and PG&E crews also responded to the scene to make sure there were no hazardous conditions.

A neighbor said she smelled burning rubber coming from their apartment for months and even complained, but said nothing was ever done.

Autopsies will be performed on the victims, and officials said those may provide clues as to what happened. The results would take at least a day or two, police said.
The San Francisco school board voted unanimously Tuesday night to remove a century-old policy requiring that Asian-American students attend an "oriental" school and members rescinded policies that excluded this minority group from the citys public schools.

The decision was intended to officially strike from the books a rule passed in 1906 mandating that children of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese descent attend an "Oriental School" in San Francisco's Chinatown. The Gordon J. Lau Elementary School in San Francisco's Chinatown at 950 Clay Street was known as the "Oriental School" before 1924.

Whereas, while the San Francisco Unified School District honors the Lunar New Year annually as a very important celebration among Asian cultures, SFUSD must also recognize the history, struggles, and contributions of Asian Americans in addition to holidays, the resolution read. The document notes the early history of the school district was marred by racist actions starting as early as 1871 when then-Supt. James Denman closed the only school district night class offered to Chinese students since 1859 because he questioned the "legality and propriety of expending the public funds to educate these young [Chinese] men. The resolution documents even more discriminatory acts against Asians in San Francisco, and then shows that according to Census data, Asian-American students now comprise the largest ethnic group in the school district, accounting for over 40 percent of the 55,320 public school students in San Francisco. The current interim superintendent, Myong Leigh, is a Korean American, and the citys mayor, Ed Lee, is a Chinese American.

The board's resolution goes even further and includes a proposal to create a mural at a historic school to capture the district's "progression from its early anti-Asian history," and a challenge to schools to increase their instructional materials and books on Asian Americans, NBC News reported.

"We don't want this to just be a symbolic action," Commissioner Emily M. Murase, one of the resolution's co-authors and who is running as a delegate to the California Democratic Party, told NBC News. "We want to put some substance to it, which includes knowing about this history, knowing about Asian-American history."
A new San Jose city councilman held a Captain America shield as he was sworn in on Tuesday night, telling NBC Bay Area that the Marvel Comics character "embodies the ideals of America."aid

Lan Diep, a Republican legal aid attorney, received cheers after he said "I do solemnly swear" when the clerk asked if he would defend his oath of office. His final vote of his first meeting? Joining the council in unanimously banning the communist Vietnamese flag from flying in San Jose.

In an interview after the meeting, the proud comic book geek and Houston-born son of Vietnamese refugees said that Captain America stands for the "kinds of things I strive for: equal justice, fair play and democracy."

Diep won a council seat on his second try, after losing in 2015, though the 2016 vote is still being contested. He's been recognized by presidents Barack Obama and George H. W. Bush, after moving to Mississippi to help people affected by the BP oil spill.

Bay Area Unites for Women's March

Diep came to San Jose in 1999 and graduated from Independence High School, the University of California, San Diego and the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law, according to his campaign website.

Along with his legal work with the Mississippi Center for Justice, Diep has worked as an international broadcaster for Radio Free Asia and the Legal Aid Society in San Jose.

Diep said he brought the iconic Captain America shield to his swearing-in because "I think it's a symbol of what's positive," he said, "in this darkened political landscape."

He did not, however, bring the shield to specifically combat the new president, Donald Trump even though he said in his mind, "Trump is not a real Republican, and some might say that about me."

The biggest event in the tech world is actually happening outside of the Bay Area -- at least for a few days. That may be why so many of your neighbors have gone to Vegas. Scott Budman reports live from the Consumer Electronics Show.

"I wasn't trying to protest the president, but it's a reminder of what America aspires to be. In this administration, local government will have more of a role to play in taking care of its citizens," Diep said. "In that way, realizing that this is the landscape I'm stepping into, I wanted to shine a ray of optimism and levity."

Diep said he wants to wait and see if Trump will actually hold true on many of his campaign promises, like banning Muslims from the U.S. and building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, before he passes judgment.

In fact, Diep was out at San Jose's women's march on Saturday. He also attended Obama's farewell address in Chicago this month.

Two things, among many, have been consistent for the Patriots the past decade: Tom Brady at quarterback and New England in the AFC championship game.

Others have also found the symbolism of Captain America especially poignant as Trump became a force in American politics.

Vishavijit Singh, a Washington-born Sikh software engineer-turned-cartoonist, has been dressing as the cartoon character  complete with blue turban  for the last three or so years to fight racial stereotypes.

Singh, a Democrat, went to Cleveland during the Republican National Convention, dressed in full costume, to continue battling the bigotry that many minority groups have felt with Trump's rise. And Singh was also behind the #SendSikhNotetoTrump during the campaign, NBC News reported.

Fiona Aboud (@fionaaboud

Most recently, Singh attended the Women's March in D.C., and told NBC Bay Area that he got "tons of love and support from women" and many asked him if he, a Sikh man, was safe.

For him, the cartoon outfit has taken on "new urgency." He said he wants to build a bridge with those who supported Trump, because "it shows me the imperative that I have to step out even more," he said in a phone interview on Wednesday.

As for what Diep is doing across the country in San Jose, Singh said it's OK that the councilman is a Republican and wasn't motivated necessarily to fight racism, perse. Diep and Singh had never heard of each other before Wednesday, and were motivated by their own individual pursuits.

Still, Singh mused, the Marvel character is a unifying force of good: "Captain America cuts across the spectrum of all divides."

NBC Bay Area's Ian Cull contributed to this report.
San Francisco is testing out a new program that could change the way health inspectors grade restaurants throughout the city. The pilot program allows poorly-rated restaurants to purchase an inspection do-over in hopes of earning a better health score.

Supporters believe the new scoring system will help regulators better educate restaurant owners about food safety; however, critics argue the pilot program allows dirty restaurants to hide their failing grades from consumers.

The Department of Environmental Health in San Francisco, which oversees restaurant inspections, currently scores about 7,400 restaurants and caterers on a scale of 1 to 100 during random, unannounced inspections. If health inspectors discover violations, the restaurant must take immediate action to correct them. Regardless of those fixes, the restaurant is still stuck with that same health score, for up to a year, until their next surprise inspection.

San Franciscos little-known pilot program, however, allows businesses to order up an inspection do-over. Low-scoring restaurants can pay $191 to receive a new inspection within 30 days, which can provide the business with a brand-new score.

If businesses can whitewash their reputations by paying for new scores then the whole process breaks down, said Vincent Sollitto, senior vice president at Yelp. Businesses are trying to avoid the ramifications of a bad score on a pop inspection by paying for a new one.

Sollitto believes the new program helps restaurants hide critical information from consumers.

When [a restaurant] didn't think anyone was paying attention, they weren't following the proper hygiene, and that's what consumers really want to know. Wouldnt you want to know what happens when no one's looking?" Sollitto said.

San Francisco is one of 17 regions across the country where Yelp posts restaurant health scores and ratings directly on its own website for easy consumer access. Yelp provides health inspection information by collecting real-time data from government databases, including San Franciscos restaurant safety score website. Yelp believes San Franciscos new pilot program threatens the accuracy of that data, so Sollitto said Yelp urged San Francisco months ago to cancel the re-scoring option, since it allows some of the citys worst-rated restaurants to pay for a brand-new inspection, which could lead to a new score.

It is not as simple as they will pay a fee to try to get a higher score. This is about changing bad behavior patterns within a food facility, said Lisa OMalley, one of three supervisors in charge of San Franciscos restaurant inspection program.

She says websites like Yelp make it easy for consumers to find a restaurants bad health score, which is why, she said, restaurant owners pushed San Francisco to offer a re-scoring option.

They have earned that score, and we do not tell them when we are coming, OMalley said. We did not call and say we will be there at 2 oclock on Friday. We dont do that. So it is a surprise inspection.

OMalley maintains that while restaurants in the program know that an inspector will stop by within 30 days of paying the required re-scoring fee, inspections are still considered unscheduled. Outside of the pilot program, however, restaurant owners have historically been given a much wider time frame as to when to expect a health inspection: anywhere between every 6 months to a year.

According to OMalley, only four restaurants have taken part in the citys re-scoring program. All earned higher health scores after paying for their re-inspections; that includes the Chinese food restaurant M.Y. China near Union Square, which jumped 30 points from a 63 to a 93.

[[411713365, C]]

The soul food restaurant Farmerbrown also saw a significant increase, rising from 79 to 90. The restaurant earned its original score after inspectors found rodent droppings throughout the restaurant. There was no sign of that during their re-inspection. The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit reached out to both restaurants for comment, but has yet to hear back.

OMalley says San Francisco will likely re-score 10 to 20 more restaurants and review the results before fully implementing its pilot program. She disputes Yelps criticism and is encouraged by the programs results.

Here in San Francisco, we build bridges with people; we want to protect public health, OMalley said. We are doing our job, and we are doing that through enforcement, and we are doing that through education.

NBC Bay Area

Yelp is now using its own platform to wage a food fight against San Francisco. While the company already posts alerts on the lowest-scoring restaurants, Yelp will now keep those alerts active for six months, even if a restaurant pays to get a new score. Yelp is also revising the text of its alert to criticize San Francisco and its new pilot program.

The revised Yelp alert, in part, will read: We understand the city recently caved and now allows restaurants to essentially buy new scores.

Yelp

Yelps new alert system officially goes live Wednesday and will impact roughly 60 of the worst-rated restaurants in San Francisco.

We think the city should be siding with consumers and not allowing businesses a do-over, Sollitto said. When I was in school, if I failed a pop quiz I didnt get a second-chance the next day. That was my grade.

______________________________________

Watch the entire series in this NBC Bay Area investigation:
Im here to speak for all women elected officials, said Muriel Bowser, DCs mayor, speaking from the Womens March stage. Women in government are more harshly and wrongly criticized in all levels, she said. We need every woman and every man to speak up for us.

Millions of people showed up to protest the new Republican president in one of the largest demonstrations in history and the Democratic Party was barely in sight, NBC News reported.

This weekend's enormous women's marches in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere are the latest signs that the official Democratic Party apparatus, hobbled by a post-election lull that saw it lay off staff and freeze some operations, has so far missed out on opportunities to head the resistance to Donald Trump.

Only one of the seven candidates vying for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, attended a march, while the others participated in a forum held as part of a conference of Democratic mega-donors in Miami.

"Millions of people are coming out to march and protest, and it's not because of the leaders of the Democratic Party," said Dan Cantor, the national director of the progressive Working Families Party, which both endorses Democratic candidates and runs its own candidates on its ticket. "This movement and energy can't ever be run by the leaders of the Democratic Party, as it will also need to be able to hold Democratic elected officials accountable to standing up to Trump."
Dissent is on the rise in North Korea and leader Kim Jong Un's "days are numbered," according to the country's highest profile defector to South Korea since 1997, NBC News reported.

Thae Yong Ho, Pyongyangs former deputy ambassador to the U.K., said information has been seeping into the country, loosening the strict control the government has over residents.

Wednesday was the first time Thae spoke with overseas media outlets, but he has been making media appearances since his defection. He has been giving insight about the poor, authoritarian and nuclear-armed country.

"When Kim Jong Un first came to power I was hopeful that he would make reasonable and rational decisions to save North Korea from poverty," he said. "But I soon fell into despair watching him purging officials for no proper reason."

He said concern about his university-aged children's future was the trigger for his defection.
Several National Park Service' social media accounts have tweeted out messages decidedly at odds with President Donald Trump's agenda, posting quotes, data and commentary that could be seen as trying to bait their new boss into a confrontation.

A day after four climate-related tweets were posted and then deleted on the Badlands National Park's twitter account, other park accounts have sent out tweets that appear to defy Trump. One, by Redwoods National Park in California, notes that redwood groves are nature's No. 1 carbon sink, which capture greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

"More redwoods would mean less #climatechange," the park said in a tweet.

The tweets went beyond climate change. Death Valley National Park tweeted photos of Japanese Americans interned there during World War II, a message that some saw as objecting to Trump's pledge to ban Muslims from entering the country and a proposal to restrict the flow of refugees to the United States.

A park service spokesman declined to comment Wednesday.

In a series of tweets Tuesday, Badlands National Park's Twitter account accurately quoted climate science data, including the current record-setting high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Trump has called climate change a hoax.

The tweets were shared thousands of times, and the Democratic National Committee circulated the message by email with the subject line "Resist."

The South Dakota park's posts were deleted after they went viral on Twitter, sparking debate over whether the park was defying the Trump administration.

According to a National Park Service spokesman, the tweets were posted by a former employee who is not authorized to use the park's account. Tom Crosson, NPS's chief of public affairs, told NBC the park was not told to remove the tweets but "chose to do so when they realized that their account had been compromised."

"At this time, National Park Service social media managers are encouraged to continue the use of Twitter to post information relating to public safety and park information, with the exception of content related to national policy issues," Crosson added.

The tweets came just three days after the Interior Department briefly suspended its Twitter accounts after the park service retweeted photos about turnout at Trump's inauguration, which the president has claimed without evidence was larger than reported by news media. The accounts were reactivated the next day.

The White House says certain government agencies are taking action to address the "inappropriate" use of social media.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer addressed an incident at the Defense Department in which tweets were sent from the department's official account that suggested underhanded criticism of President Donald Trump's policies.

Spicer said an "unauthorized user" had an old password and logged into the Twitter account from the San Francisco office, then tweeted "inappropriate things that were in violation of their policy."

He also cited an incident last year at the Environmental Protection Agency, saying both agencies are going to take action.

E-mails sent to EPA staff and reviewed by The Associated Press detailed specific prohibitions banning press releases, blog updates or posts to the agency's social media accounts as part of a push by the Trump administration to institute a media blackout.

In a statement, an EPA spokesperson said: "The EPA fully intends to continue to provide information to the public. A fresh look at public affairs and communications processes is common practice for any new Administration, and a short pause in activities allows for this assessment."

Similar orders barring external communications have been issued by the Trump administration at other federal agencies in recent days, including the Agriculture and Interior departments.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture told NBC News it is "not a new policy" to "tap the breaks" on "informational products like news releases and social media content" during the beginning of a new administration. Agricultural Research Service Officer Chris Bentley asserted the agency "did something similar in the public affairs world between the Bush and Obama administrations," and said the suspension of public information should end "in a matter of weeks."
One day after President Donald Trump vowed in a tweet to send the feds to Chicago if the city does not address its longstanding plague of violence, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he would welcome the move.

"Chicago, like other cities right now that are dealing with gun violence, wants the partnership with federal law enforcement entities in a more significant way than were having today," Emanuel said.

He noted, however, that the move must come in partnership with local agencies, and not simply by replacing them.

Trump isn't the first to broach the idea that the U.S. government could do more to help stem predominantly gang-related violence on Chicago's South and West sides. But now, as on earlier occasions, what more the federal government can do isn't at all clear.

The most direct  and most extreme  intervention would be sending National Guard troops into Chicago to try and tamp the violence. Both the U.S. president and the Illinois governor have the authority to mobilize the Illinois National Guard. But a federal statute, known as the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, prohibits the deployment of federal troops in civil law enforcement.

When someone asked Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner about the possibility in August, he ruled it out.

"The National Guard has nothing to do with public safety," Emanuel said. "Those entities are set up to partner with local law enforcement."

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Wednesday that President Trump met with Emanuel previously and offered up federal resources, if asked for.

"That return call for help has not occurred," Spicer said during his daily press briefing.

He noted that if Gov. Bruce Rauner asks for it, other aid can be extended as well.

I think what the president is upset about is turning on the television and seeing Americans killed by shootings," Spicer said, adding that no American should feel unsafe or fear for their lives while walking down the street, but "too often that's happening in Chicago."

If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

Trump tweeted Tuesday that "If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible 'carnage' going on" he will "send in the Feds."

A statement from the Chicago Police Department on Tuesday night said the city's law enforcement would welcome an interagency effort.

January could go down as a record-setting month for shootings and homicides in the city.

Anthony Guglielmi, a department spokesperson, said January has seen 39 homicides as of Tuesday night.

Data made available by the department show 2016 was one of the most violent years in the city since the mid '90s, with more than 750 murders reported. To combat the rise in violence, police aim to tailor response to different neighborhoods and crack down on repeat violent offenders.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson responded to the president's tweet with one of his own, saying: "We need a plan, not a threat."

We need a plan, not a threat. We need jobs, not jails. #Chicago  Rev Jesse Jackson Sr (@RevJJackson) January 25, 2017

Emanuel said the answer to the city's unyielding violence can be found in police training, supervision and pro-active policing. Emanuel has repeatedly spoken against the controversial stop-and-frisk tactics promoted by Trump during his campaign.

"We need our police to have high professional standards, the training to support them in those high professional standards and the certainty to be proactively involved," Emanuel said. If you look at the last year across the country and then say, The only answer is to go to stop-and-frisk. Thats it, thats not where the world is today.

Emanuel and other area leaders, including Supt. Johnson and Sen. Dick Durbin, has argued that stopping illegal guns from getting into the wrong hands is crucial to stemming area violence.

Rev. Michael Pfleger, a renowned Chicago activist, posted a heated statement on Facebook shortly after Trump's tweet.

"If it's federal resources, dont wait SEND THEM NOW! Pfleger wrote. If hes talking about federal troops, stop-and-frisk and militarized police, which I believe he is ABSOLUTELY NOT!

He added that all Chicago officials, police, business leaders, churches and communities need to stop this or expect soldiers on our streets.

A spokesperson for Rauner declined to comment on the presidents tweet.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the city will "stay a sanctuary city" after President Donald Trump signed an executive action to block federal grants from such cities.

"You are welcome in Chicago as you pursue the American dream," Emanuel said Wednesday, noting that he had not yet seen details on the executive action.

Trump moved aggressively to tighten the nation's immigration policies Wednesday, signing executive actions to jumpstart construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall and block federal grants from immigrant-protecting "sanctuary cities."

"We've been talking about this right from the beginning," Trump said during a brief signing ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security.

Later in the week, Trump is expected to sign orders restricting the flow of refugees into the United States.

The Chicago City Council approved a symbolic resolution Wednesday that looks to protect and honor all city residents regardless of race, ethnicity, immigration status, criminal record, sexual orientation and gender identity.

The non-binding resolution was drafted as a response to a national political climate that has produced fear and anxiety among many City of Chicago residents, particularly among people of color, immigrants, Muslims, Jews, and members of the LGBT community."

Ald. Ameya Pawar, a co-sponsor on the bill, claimed he was worried about Trumps expected executive order that would temporarily ban certain Muslim refugees from entering the U.S. Pawar, the first Democrat to declare his candidacy in the 2018 gubernatorial race, also voiced concerns about Trumps proposed Mexican border wall.

The alderman claimed this was a scary time, noting that Trump has behaved like a child and a despot.

A handful of aldermen spoke out Wednesday against the president, who vowed Tuesday to send the Feds to Chicago if the city fails to address its violent crime crisis.

If Chicago doesnt fix the horrible carnage' going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds, Trump tweeted.

During Wednesdays meeting, Ald. Emma Mitts pledged her support for the resolution, but pointed to continued discrimination in the African American community.

In a report released earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice outlined a pattern of civil rights violations by the Chicago Police Department. The report found the CPD violated constitutional rights by engaging in a pattern or practice of use of excessive force."

We can talk about all other issues, but dont miss that issue of how black folks have been treated in this country, Mitts said.

Following Wednesdays City Council meeting, Emanuel said Chicago wants to harness a close relationship with federal law enforcement agencies.

I would welcome, always have welcomed, federal participation in working with local law enforcement to dealing with guns and gangs, Emanuel told reporters.

The mayor also pushed for additional federal resources for police, technology, summer jobs and after-school programs.
Cards Against Humanity is looking to hire a new CEO  but only one person in the world fits the bill.

The Chicago-based company behind the popular card game took out a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune and even listed the position on Craigslist in hopes of finding a new executive. [[411702295, C]]

There's just one catch. Based on the job requirements, you basically have to be Barack Obama.

"Let's face it: we have no idea what we're doing," the job posting begins. "This year, we wasted an enormous amount of time and energy trying to get Hillary Clinton elected President, and on Black Friday we dug a huge hole in the ground because we wanted to find out if it would be funny."

(They really did - and raised more than $100,000 in the process.)

"It's been a great run, but now it's time for real adult leadership," the ad continues.

The requirements start generic enough, with "strong public speaking skills" and "steady disposition, remains cool under pressure" listed first. Then they start to get slightly more specific:

- Willing to inherit the consequences of eight years of irresponsible spending

- Excellent negotiator able to deal with stubborn opposition

- Experience hunting terrorist masterminds

- Minimum eight years experience President of the United States of America or equivalent nation

- Strongly prefer the first black editor of Harvard Law Review

- Must currently hold a national approval rating of 57.2% or higher

- Passed comprehensive healthcare reform

- Natural born citizen of the United States

- Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

"The ideal candidate will be excited to travel for work and be a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize," the ad reads.

So what's in it for the former commander in chief? The new CEO will get 51% of the company and the opportunity to set their own salary, as well as access to the office pantry "with unlimited almonds."

Though the former president has already announced plans to stay in Washington for another year, the company is offering paid relocation to Chicago anyway to sweeten the deal.

"Also, you can be our new Dad if you want (optional but strongly preferred)," the posting adds. [[381009371, C]]

Cards Against Humanity is known nearly as well for their hijinks as their "party game for horrible people," having cornered the market on absurd Black Friday antics.

Aside from digging their aforementioned "holiday hole," the company also sold boxes of actual bull feces to more than 30,000 customers in 2014, with proceeds going to nonprofit organization Heifer International.

The following year, in lieu of a promotional deal, the company offered up the "Give Cards Against Humanity $5 Sale," raking in more than $71,000 by selling literally "nothing" for $5.

The haul was distributed among employees who spent it on a variety of hilarious purchases that included a suit of armor, several trips and thousands of dollars in charitable donations. [[410855135, C]]

Obama may be out of a job as of Friday, but it seems unlikely he will take the bait, seeing as music streaming service Spotify tried a similar approach to no avail.

Even if he doesn't take Cards Against Humanity up on their offer, the former president and first lady plan to stay active in their hometown of Chicago, as the Obama Presidential Center will be located in the city's Jackson Park.
A Markham man was ordered held in lieu of $500,000 bail Tuesday for allegedly stabbing to death the cousin of his ex-girlfriends current boyfriend, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Dalashawn Brown was outside the building of his ex-girlfriends apartment on the Far South Side early Sunday morning, as were the victim, Reginald Boston, and his cousin, Assistant Cook County States Attorney Jamie Santini said.

Boston, 26, and his cousin, who is currently dating Browns ex-girlfriend, heard footsteps in the gangway in the 3200 block of East 91st. When they saw someone walking in the gangway toward them, they saw Brown, Santini said.

Someone else asked who it was, and Brown responded its Dayla, referring to his nickname, Santini said.

As he approached, Brown, 30, who was wearing a puffy green coat, pulled his hands out of his coat pocket to show that he had nothing on him, Santini said. He then went on to say he was in the area for his kids, Santini said.

When Browns ex-girlfriend opened the door, her current boyfriend looked in her direction before looking toward Brown, Santini said. At that moment, he saw Brown pull back his arm from Bostons abdominal area, Santini said.

Brown then ran away, Santini said. Boston went on to tell his cousin that Brown stabbed him and the two went after Brown, Santini said.

Soon, Boston had a hard time breathing. He later died at Advocate Trinity Hospital.

Bostons cousin later identified Brown as the man who stabbed Boston, Santini said.

Brown was arrested at work in Crestwood the same day.

Brown, a father of four, was employed at an oil change facility, an assistant public defender said.
Gov. Bruce Rauner delivered his third State of the State address in Springfield Wednesday, bemoaning Illinois ongoing budget stalemate and highlighting the states recent accomplishments.

We know that much in our state has been broken for many, many years; but we know that there is a way forward  there is a path to a better future for all Illinois families, Rauner said.

During his speech, Rauner remained optimistic about a bipartisan budget deal being presented by Senate leaders.

The plan, devised by Senate President John Cullerton and Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, is comprised of a series of interdependent bills that outline tax hikes, a statewide minimum wage increase, reforms to the states workers compensation system, and a two-year property tax freeze, among other measures.

Its heartening to see the Senate coming together on a bipartisan basis to acknowledge these changes are needed, Rauner said. Lets build on that cooperation to achieve a truly balanced budget and changes that really move the needle on job creation and property tax relief."

All 13 or so proposed bills must be passed for any of the bills to take effect. The Senate Executive Committee discussed a variety of those measures during Tuesday's meeting, but didn't take action on elements of the package, which seeks to end the states nearly two-yearlong stalemate. The impasse has led to deep cuts to social services and higher education, as well as a massive backlog of billions of dollars in unpaid bills.

Nevertheless, Rauner lobbied for improvements to the states schools and touched on Chicagos violent crime crisis.

"Addressing the roots of this plague will take much more: to restore hope where hope has been lost, to build a long-term future of quality education and good jobs for communities that need it most, Rauner said.

"Tearing down the barriers to good jobs and economic opportunity, he added. "Getting rid of blight and incentivizing redevelopment. Making sure both the state and Chicago Public Schools treat low-income kids the same as high-income kids. Giving parents more choices and support to give their kids a world class education. Putting vocational training back into our high schools so young people can see a clear path to a career rather than falling victim to the gang recruiters."

Rauner pointed to certain accomplishments, like a $700 million increase in funding for K-12 education from two years ago, as well as ethics reform measures like tightening restrictions on lobbying and posting state contracts online for the public.

The governor also once again urged lawmakers to pass elements of his turnaround agenda, like redistricting reform and term limits.

"Our states economy could take off like a rocket ship if we could just come together on major pro-jobs changes that need legislation to take effect, Rauner said. Lawmakers from both parties deserve credit for working for many months to find ways to reduce regulatory costs and property tax burdens that make businesses in Illinois less competitive than our neighbors. Hopefully we can build upon these initial proposals to ensure they drive big results on job creation.

"And hopefully we can work together to cut the red tape even more  reducing filing fees and costly licensing barriers that prevent hard-working Illinoisans from qualifying for good, high-paying jobs, Rauner continued.

Rauner ultimately preached bipartisanship and unity Wednesday, claiming Illinois is home.

All of us love it here, Rauner said. Ultimately, we all want the same things for our home  good jobs, strong schools and safe communities  its just a question of respecting each others views on how we get there.

If we negotiate in good faith, we can move Illinois forward as a state which is both competitive and passionate, the governor added.
President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday night in a tweet to "send in the feds to Chicago if the city does not address its longstanding plague of violence.

If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

The city's crime statistics and use of the word carnage (which the tweet includes in quotes) were used on "The OReilly Factor" on Fox News and appeared on the presidential Twitter feed moments later.

Anthony Guglielmi, a Chicago police spokesman, said January has seen 39 homicides as of Tuesday night.

A separate statement from the Chicago Police Department on Tuesday night said the city's law enforcement would welcome an interagency effort.

"As the mayor said just a few hours ago, the Chicago Police Department is more than willing to work with the federal government to build on our partnerships with DOJ, FBI, DEA and ATF and boost federal prosecution rates for gun crimes in Chicago," said Chicago police Supt. Eddie Johnson in a statement.

Johnson was referring to comments made by Mayor Rahm Emanuel on WTTW-Ch. 11 earlier in the evening about federal agencies assisting the city.

Emanuel had some pointed words for Trump Monday for debating the crowd size at Fridays inauguration, saying he should instead focus on jobs and education.

Emanuel was also troubled by the Trump administrations decision to highlight Chicagos violent crime statistics on the White House website.

"There were thousands of shootings in Chicago last year alone," the website reads. "Our country needs more law enforcement, more community engagement and more effective policing."

The mayor said the answer to the city's unyielding violence can be found in police training, supervision and pro-active policing. Emanuel spoke against the controversial stop-and-frisk tactics promoted by Trump.

"We need our police to have high professional standards, the training to support them in those high professional standards and the certainty to be proactively involved," Emanuel said. If you look at the last year across the country and then say, The only answer is to go to stop-and-frisk. Thats it, thats not where the world is today.

Rev. Michael Pfleger, a renowned Chicago activist, posted a heated statement on Facebook shortly after Trump's tweet.

"If it's federal resources, dont wait SEND THEM NOW! Pfleger wrote. If hes talking about federal troops, stop-and-frisk and militarized police, which I believe he is ABSOLUTELY NOT!

He added that all Chicago officials, police, business leaders, churches and communities need to stop this or expect soldiers on our streets.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson responded to the president's tweet with one of his own, saying: "We need a plan, not a threat."

We need a plan, not a threat. We need jobs, not jails. #Chicago  Rev Jesse Jackson Sr (@RevJJackson) January 25, 2017

January could go down as a record-setting month for shootings and homicides in the city.

Johnson repeated Tuesday his regular rallying cry that tougher gun laws are required. Policy makers need to stop waiting so long to do something, he says.

"The people who can most effect this other than policeI don't know what they're waiting forI really don't," he said. "Last year we finished 2016 with more than 700 shootingsif that does not get your attention, then I don't know what will."

Following last year's "unacceptable rise in violence," the Chicago Police Department announced plans New Year's Day to quell city violence headed into 2017.

Data made available by the department show 2016 was one of the most violent years in the city since the mid '90s, with more than 750 murders reported. To combat the rise in violence, police aim to tailor response to different neighborhoods and crack down on repeat violent offenders.

A spokesperson for Gov. Bruce Rauner declined to comment on the presidents tweet.
A red panda has gone missing from her enclosure at the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk, the zoo announced Tuesday.

Sunny, a 19-month-old red panda, was last seen in her habitat on Monday evening, but she was nowhere to be found when zoo employees checked for her Tuesday morning.

A thorough search of the zoo on Tuesday turned up no results.

Zoo employees are hopeful Sunny is still on the zoo grounds, but urge people in the Norfolk area to call the zoo hotline if she is spotted outside.

They note red pandas are typically not aggressive, but any wild animal's behavior can be erratic.

In 2013, another red panda went missing from the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

Rusty, the red panda, was missing for about a week before a resident tweeted an image of him scampering up an incline next to a home in Washington.
New Haven's mayor is questioning the legality of President Donald Trump's executive order to slash millions of dollars of funding for sanctuary cities.

Trump has kept his campaign promise to crack down on people living in the United States illegally and plans to strip funding to cities, like New Haven, that don't arrest or detain undocumented immigrants.

New Haven currently receives between $15 million to $20 million in federal funding annually, Mayor Toni Harp said.

"The real question becomes whether or not they can stop that after the grant has been awarded," Harp said.

Federal grants support education, community redevelopment and transportation projects in New Haven, according to the mayor.

On Wednesday, in addition to the sanctuary cities executive order, Trump signed an executive action to start building the border wall he touted throughout his campaign.

"The day is over they can stay in our country and wreak havoc," Trump said. "We are going to get them out - get them out fast."

Both of Connecticut's Democratic senators said they'll keep fighting for comprehensive immigration reform.

"President Trump's divisive policies that build walls and take money away from local police do nothing to make us safer. Americas greatness is rooted in our immigrant history," U.S. Senator Chris Murphy said in a statement.

Harp said she is committed to keeping New Haven a sanctuary city.

"We are going to take a look at whether an executive order has the authority to actually stop funding to our city and were going to fight this if we have to all the way to the supreme court," Harp said.

A rally is planned for city hall at 5 p.m.
West Hartford police assisted with a stolen car case out of New Britain and said a juvenile has been turned over to New Britain police while other people in the car got away.

New Britain Police reached out to other departments Tuesday to be on the lookout for a stolen car, then Hartford police asked law enforcement agencies to look out for the same vehicle in connection with an armed robbery in Hartford, according to West Hartford Police.

Around 6:30 p.m., West Hartford police saw the same vehicle and followed it to Ella Grasso Boulevard, at which point more units from West Hartford, New Britain, Newington and state police converged on the area. police said.

West Hartford officers used stop sticks to disable the vehicle and the driver crashed near the campus of Central Connecticut State University, according to police. West Hartford officers captured one juvenile who ran from the car while several other people were able to get away, according to West Hartford Police.
Congressman John Larson, D-First District, was in Hartford on Wednesday night to discuss his plan to tunnel city traffic from Interstate 84 and Interstate 91. The price tag is a guesstimated $10 billion, he said, but believes it could be worth every penny.

If we are going to spend the money, lets spend the money to solve a problem, Larson said. In this case, we believe we are able to solve three.

Larson said taking some of the traffic 70 feet below the surface will help bring together the northside and southside of Hartford.

He said it would also repair a levy system he believes is in desperate need of a fix and repurpose the Charter Oak Bridge, the Bulkeley Bridge and Founders Bridge.

Those three bridges would serve as local boulevards and help carry economic development directly into Hartford, according to Larson, who insists it will also help the area gain green space and reclaim the river.

I see this as both short- and long-term jobs, economic development for the state and most importantly quality of life, Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty, D-Fifth District, said.

The cost associated with that quality is raising concerns.

Larson said the state, which is dealing with budget issues, would likely be required to pick up 20 percent of the bill.

Sen. John Fonfara said tolls could be the answer, taking some of the burden off Connecticut residents and sharing it with those who use the state without ever spending money in it.

You think about the number of people that drive through our state with no intention of ever stopping in it, Fonfara said.

Many people who attended the meeting Wednesday at the Hartford Public Library said a bold vision might be the best vision.

I have a couple of questions, but number one, I love the concept, one resident said.

Others argued about how feasible a project of this size really is.

Larson acknowledged there is much more research to be done and said he is not an engineer, but is excited that the concept will be a part of the current I-84, I-91 interchange study.

Larson also said the Trump administration could play a positive role in such a project.

If there is an area we feel we can work together it clearly is in the area of infrastructure, Larson said.
A Plainville officer was put on paid leave last year after being accused of taking hundreds of prescription pills while on the scene of a suicide.

Plainville Police Chief Matthew Catania recommends terminating Sgt. Michael Bisnov from the police force, based on the final report of the internal affairs investigation, obtained by NBC Connecticut.

Bisnov was one of the officers who responded to a suspected suicide on January 18, 2016, after a family friend of 54-year-old Frank Iris called 911 for a well being check.

The report said he was the scene supervisor.

The responding officers found Iris body inside his apartment. Scattered nearby were 21 bottles of prescription pills, including painkillers.

In video obtained by the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters, Bisnov is seen carrying a yellow bag into the police station after responding to the scene. The final investigation report stated the bag contained prescription pills found at Iris residence.

(Bisnov) is then observed dumping the contents of the bag into the prescription drop box, without properly logging the medications as evidence, according to the author of that report Lt. Nick Mullins.

The report also states Bisnov took a stop in between to the mens locker room

Bisnov opened sealed prescription bottles and at some point in time, an oxycodone 5 mg pill inside one of the bottles fell on the floor without his knowledge. The best evidence is that during this time, Sgt. Bisnov took a substantial amount of Frank Iris' medication (pills) and mixed together some of the remaining medications prior to disposing the rest in the prescription drop box," Mullins wrote.

The officer was put on paid leave eight days after the suicide of Frank Iris. Bisnov denied taking any of the 230 pills that went missing for his personal use. When specifically asked if he stole the medication, the former officers response was, No, I didnt, according to documents contained within the report.

Bisnov told investigators he disposed of the pills at the request of Iris family, however, the victims mother, Carolyn, said the officer offered to get rid of the pills himself.

(Bisnov) said he was going to put the medications in a safe place Carolyn told NBC Connecticut.

When investigators pulled Bisnovs prescription history from the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, they found medications that matched pills gathered at the suicide scene.

The internal affairs report concluded Bisnov violated nine sections of the department's code of conduct, violating rules and regulations, including truthfulness, conduct unbecoming an officer and falsifying records. No criminal charges have been filed against Bisnov, of Meriden.

The town council will meet next month to consider Bisnovs future with the department.

In the meantime, Bisnov is still earning his $83,000 annual salary from the sidelines.

The NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters requested and obtained the most recent direct deposit slips from Town Manager, Robert E. Lee.

Lee told NBC Connecticut, This kind of issue takes time to resolve and we are cognizant of not wasting taxpayer money. It was important for us to be as thorough as possible because these types of issues dont necessarily end, even if a decision is made to let Sgt. Bisnov go.

NBC Connecticut reached out to both Sgt. Bisnov and the police union multiple times but have not heard back.

State police are also investigating this case.
A South Windsor man has waited months to turn in his 2014 Volkswagen Jetta TDI but reached out to NBC Connecticut Responds when the claims process became frustrating.

Norman Cofalka leased the Jetta in February 2014 with the intent of buying it when the lease was up.

"I work in aerospace. We're looking at clean emissions, quieter engines. And this was an engineering marvel, that it was portrayed to be," he said.

However, Cofalka was disappointed to learn that was not actually the case in 2016 when Volkswagen admitted that about 475,000 vehicles with 2-liter four-cylinder diesel engines were equipped with software to cheat emissions tests.

In October last year, a federal judge approved a nearly $15 billion settlement, giving VW owners the option of selling their diesel vehicles back to the automaker or having them repaired.

Cofalka chose to terminate his lease early.

He stopped driving the Jetta in October and bought a new vehicle, believing the claims process would be fairly quick. He continued to make his monthly lease payments on the Volkswagen, as required under the terms of the settlement.

Cofalka received a formal settlement offer letter at the end of November. He had it notarized and faxed it back to Volkswagen the next day but received no further updates.

Cofalka called Volkswagen in January for an update and learned his paperwork never made it into the system.

Once he resubmitted it, an agent directed him to go to the online claims portal to make an appointment to turn his vehicle over to Volkswagen. The earliest available date was Feb. 23, 2017, right when Cofalkas lease is set to end.

"I was told that I the lease could be terminated early. And in essence, even though they've said that, they're stretching it out so I'm paying the full lease amount," he said.

NBC Connecticut Responds reached out to VW on Cofalkas behalf. The company did not directly address his situation, but provided the following statement:

Overall, we are encouraged by the customer response to the 2.0L TDI settlement program and the exceptional participation rate so far. As of January 14th, Volkswagen had extended more than 266,000 offers to affected customers and by the end of January, we expect to have processed approximately 96,000 buybacks and lease terminations. This program is unprecedented in terms of its size and scope and we have hired, approximately 900, contract employees to help accommodate demand. We know that there have been some issues along the way and our teams have been working tirelessly to make necessary adjustments and continually improve the process.

A member of Volkswagens customer care team reached out to Cofalka directly to address his concerns.

Unfortunately, Cofalka will not be able to hand over the vehicle before February 23.

"All my possessions have been removed from the vehicle. I have the keys ready. I'm ready to drop this off today. That's all I want to do," he said.
(Updates with quote, background)

LISBON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Portugal's parliament rejected on Wednesday a government proposal to cut the social security tax companies pay on the minimum wage, in the first such defeat for the administration after two far-left allies opposed the move.

The minority Socialist government came to power at the end of 2015 with the backing of the Communists and Left Bloc with a promise of reversing austerity and returning more income to workers after a 2011-14 international bailout.

Parliament speaker Ferro Rodrigues said the Communists, Left Bloc and opposition centre-right Social Democrats voted against the measure. The Communists and Left Bloc have long objected to compensating companies for minimum wage rises and say the tax cut would only serve to encourage employers to pay lower wages.

The 1.25-percentage-point tax cut to 21.5 percent was designed to compensate for a rise in the minimum wage this year to 557 euros a month from 535. It had been agreed with employers and unions and was approved by the president last week.

"The government will now analyse the situation and naturally talk to its social partners and we will then see what results from that," Labour Minister Jose Vieira da Silva said after the vote.

While both leftist parties opposed the bill, the leader of the Left Bloc said on Tuesday she still backed the government and expected their political alliance to endure. Analysts have said the two parties' vote could be linked to positioning ahead of local elections this year.

The government had hoped the opposition centre-right Social Democrats would support the measure, but it withdrew backing in a bid to highlight government disunity.

(Editing by Louise Ireland)
Yale-New Haven Hospital has requested a meeting with city officials to discuss intersection safety after an employee was struck and killed by a car while she was outside on the sidewalk during a break.

Candles, flowers and the words Rest in Peace Melissa still sit just across the street from the hospital at the intersection of South Frontage Road and York Street. NBC Connecticut obtained surveillance video from the deadly accident, which shows the final moments before 42-year-old Melissa Tancredi was hit by a car.

The hospital technician was taking her break on Jan 17. and can be seen in the video standing at the corner of the busy intersection. The video then shows a car fly up onto the sidewalk and hit her. Despite witnesses rushing to help her, she died of her injuries.

Yale-New Haven Hospital requested a meeting with city officials to discuss the incident and look at possible safety improvements to the intersection. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday.
Ramiro Luna has called Oak Cliff home for two decades. He works there, shops there and has laid his family roots there.

He's an outspoken advocate for the Latino community in Dallas, who works with community organizations and local political campaigns in hopes of improving the lives of his family and neighbors.

He's also an undocumented immigrant, brought to Texas when he was a young child.

So as he watches President Donald Trump's immigration and border security policies begin to take shape, he says he's left feeling uncertain about what was once a bright future.

"It's difficult," said Luna. "I try not to think about it too much. I think it's something you just try to swallow and keep on going day by day. Honestly, I never thought I'd be having this conversation. I never thought that this would be the outcome -- that [Trump] would be elected in the first place."

Luna's ability to stay in the United States is due in large part to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, initiative -- an Obama administration policy that protects certain undocumented immigrants from being deported.

So far, the Trump administration has not specifically addressed what it plans to do with DACA -- and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security continues to accept DACA requests and renewals.

But with Trump already taking action on a border wall and funding for sanctuary cities, Luna worries it's only a matter of time before he no longer has that option.

"A week from now or a couple of days from now, that can be taken away from me," said Luna. "And I can be at risk of deportation, split away from my family. That's something that does have an effect on you."

But until that happens, Luna says he plans to speak up for others like him.

He's part of a group called the Texas Organizing Project, which promotes social and economic equality for all, and works very closely with the Latino community.

TOP says it will do what it can at the local level, helping undocumented immigrants understand their rights and options, and continue to raise awareness on their behalf.

"We're a lot of Davids going against a big Goliath," said Luna. "But to give in is not an option. I'm not going to allow the opinion of one man, regardless of his position, to define us. We define ourselves. We understand just how much beauty we bring to this country."
People in one Dallas neighborhood are pleased with the school improvement plan they've negotiated, while others continue seeking their share of a $1.6 billion fund approved by voters in 2015.

The new plan for Edna Rowe Elementary School was shared with the community at a public meeting Tuesday evening.

The Dallas Independent School District campus in the Buckner Terrace neighborhood near Interstate 30 and Jim Miller Road is 50 years old.

Daniel Wood, vice president of the Buckner Terrace Homeowners Association, said neighbors were disappointed with the first version of the plan last year.

"We worked together, and we had to give some, take some," Wood said. "They gave more, we pulled some out, and we've really come out with a product I believe the neighborhood is going to be exceedingly proud of."

Instead of the original $11 million in repairs to the school, Wood said the new project is a total renovation of around $20 million, moving from the fourth phase of bond projects to the first.

The current appearance of the old school at 4918 Hovenkamp Drive keeps some families from choosing to live in Buckner Terrace, according to parent Daniel Olivas.

"Unfortunately, people would just drive by. They wouldn't even give it a fair shot. The teachers may be excellent, but just because of the presentation of the school, a lot of the parents may not want to even bother," he said.

Olivas recently moved to the neighborhood with his wife and kindergarten-age son. He said the school improvements will make Buckner Terrace more desirable for other families.

"It just helps out with the morale as well," he said. "You want to see a beautiful school. So it's going to help everybody at the end of the day  teachers, the students, parents  we're all going to be very happy."

Many other schools included in the 2015 improvement referendum are still negotiating their projects.

Dallas ISD officials have discussed management changes that could squeeze out more money to get more work done, but possibly delay improvements that have been promised. Some school board members reportedly liked saving money while others dislike delays.

As other schools continue finalizing plans, Buckner Terrace leader Daniel Wood wants the Rowe Elementary money to move forward as soon possible.

"Not everybody is going to get it, but not everybody has got people fighting for it. That's really the important message behind this is  neighborhood advocacy, advocacy for our schools. That's what's going to make them better, fighting for the schools," Wood said.

Construction at Rowe Elementary could start this summer.
Authorities said they arrested a man who crashed a truck and trailer after leading officers on a chase in Dallas County Tuesday night.

Dallas County Sheriff's deputies tried to stop the man driving a white truck pulling a haul trailer, but the driver fled.

After driving through Dallas, Balch Springs, Kaufman County and back into Dallas, the man crashed and rolled at Elam Road near the entrance ramp to northbound Interstate 635.

Authorities said they took the man into custody at about 9:40 p.m.

No injuries were reported.
Former President George H.W. Bush is increasing his activity as he recovers from pneumonia at a Houston hospital.

Bush spokesman Jim McGrath said Tuesday that the 92-year-old Bush is sitting up, talking with physicians, staff and visitors, and returning phone calls. The nation's 41st president also is working with physical therapists to help him regain strength.

Bush was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital on Jan. 14 for breathing difficulties blamed on pneumonia. He later was moved to intensive care when doctors inserted a breathing tube. He was moved from the ICU on Monday afternoon.

Former first lady Barbara Bush was discharged from the same hospital Monday after five days for treatment of bronchitis. McGrath says she returned as a visitor Tuesday to be with her husband of 72 years.
Students in the Mesquite Independent School District are getting a tough lesson in trust after administrators at Wilkinson Middle School say a beloved teacher's aide was caught in a lie.

Last week the school presented first-year teacher's aide Kevin MaBone with a car and more than $12,000 in donations, which were collected after MaBone told administrators he had cancer and needed a few days off for surgery.

"I loved him from the moment I interviewed him," said assistant principal Molly Purl, "because he is so warm and so personable. And I don't think you can fake loving kids, and he loved our kids."

Students themselves contributed $1,200 in cash to help MaBone.

But MaBone didn't have cancer, and didn't need surgery.

"I just feel heartbroken," said assistant principal Jessica Eaton. "I feel like in disbelief, shock."

"This is a prime example and an opportunity for us to be able to show our kids that even though we got taken in this situation, it's never wrong to help a human being," Purl said.

MaBone, a former government worker, instead needed the time off for a federal court appearance in West Virginia, where he was scheduled Tuesday to be sentenced for using government credit cars to buy gas for his personal vehicle.

"Many people donated their hard working money to help out," said0 Gwendolyn Jones, who has two daughters at the school. "So I think it was very, very, very wrong."

"He was a really nice guy," said Mesha Moore, who has a daughter at the school. "I just didn't see it coming. I really didn't, honestly, I didn't. I feel bad for the whole situation."

School administrators caught on Monday, when MaBone told them over the phone the cancer was gone, then later fessed up after administrators found out about his court case online.

"The sadness, and the hurt, and trying to wrap your mind around how someone could do this to you," Purl said. "How someone could come in and work with our kids, and love our kids, and build our kids up and then this situation happens."

School administrators say MaBone promised to return the car and wants all the money returned, too.

Mesquite police are now investigating, and so is the U.S. attorney's office in West Virginia.

MaBone's sentencing was postponed until next month to give them time to get to the bottom of what happened at the middle school, where he has been let go from his teacher's aide position Tuesday.

Letter to Wilkinson Middle School students:
Three people found inside Skyline High School in Dallas are in custody after a reported robbery in a nearby neighborhood.

A robbery was reported at a home in a neighborhood adjacent to the magnet school, along the 7100 block of Grey Dawn Lane, at about 1:45 p.m.

A witness reported seeing the suspected robbers, described as juveniles, running toward the high school.

The Dallas Independent School District Police Department was notified and they locked down the campus.

At about 3:45 p.m., Dallas police said following a room-to-room search of the campus three people were taken into custody; two were found inside the main building while the third was in a portable building.

Police have not said if the three in custody were students at the school and no further information has been released.

When Chopper 5 flew overhead, Nearby Guzick Elementary School, which is next to the high school, did not appear to be under lockdown.
For the past 12 months volunteers with Texas Baptist Men have helped with disaster relief efforts every day, except for the month of December.

"We go all over the country, and really all over the world," said Terry Henderson, who has been volunteering with the Disaster Relief Ministry since the early 90's.

"I was a retired fire fighter in Miami, and I started volunteering there. It just stuck. I came down here to Texas, and been here ever since," he said.

Texas Baptist Men has about 10,000 volunteers, both men and women. Nationally, they are the third largest voluntary disaster relief organization after the American Red Cross and Salvation Army.

Currently, there are about 100 volunteers serving in the Texas panhandle after a recent severe ice storm. Volunteers are also helping to rebuild homes in Houston after high water consumed several neighbors.

"We have people helping in other cities, but we also have leaders here in Dallas and Denton from around the country," said Henderson. "We are training and preparing. We always have to be ready."

This week marks the 50th anniversary for Texas Baptist Men. Leaders from each state have flown into Texas for training sessions.

"We never know when we're going to get that call," said Henderson.

To find out more information about Texas Baptist Men, click here.
President Donald Trump declared Wednesday he believes torture works as his administration readied a sweeping review of how America conducts the war on terror. It includes possible resumption of banned interrogation methods and reopening CIA-run "black site" prisons outside the United States.

In an interview with ABC News, Trump said he would wage war against Islamic State militants with the singular goal of keeping the U.S. safe. Asked specifically about the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, Trump cited the extremist group's atrocities against Christians and others and said: "We have to fight fire with fire."

Trump said he would consult with new Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo before authorizing any new policy. But he said he had asked top intelligence officials in the past day: "Does torture work?"

"And the answer was yes, absolutely," Trump said.

He added that he wants to do "everything within the bounds of what you're allowed to do legally."

A clip of Trump's interview was released after The Associated Press and other news outlets obtained copies of a draft executive order being circulated within his administration.

Beyond reviewing interrogation techniques and facilities, the draft order would instruct the Pentagon to send newly captured "enemy combatants" to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, instead of closing the detention facility as President Barack Obama had wanted. Altogether, the possible changes could mark a dramatic return to how the Bush administration waged its campaign against al-Qaida and other extremist groups.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer, questioned about the draft order, said it was "not a White House document" but would not comment further.

The draft says U.S. laws should be obeyed at all times and explicitly rejects "torture." But its reconsideration of the harsh techniques banned by Obama and Congress raises questions about the definition of the word and is sure to inflame passions in the U.S. and abroad.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, President George W. Bush authorized a covert program that led to dozens of detainees being held in secret locations overseas and to interrogation tactics that included sleep deprivation, slapping and slamming against walls, confinement in small boxes, prolonged isolation and even death threats. Three detainees faced waterboarding. Many developed psychological problems.

While some former government leaders insist the program was effective in obtaining critical intelligence, many others say the abuses weakened America's moral standing in the world, hurt morale among intelligence officers and proved ineffective before Obama shut it down.

The AP obtained the draft order from a U.S. official, who said it had been distributed by the White House for consultations before Trump signs it. The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.

The Pentagon didn't immediately comment and Spicer, Trump's press secretary, said: "I have no idea where it came from." But reports of the upcoming order quickly sparked alarm among Republicans and Democrats.

"The president can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law," said Republican Sen. John McCain, tortured himself as a prisoner during the Vietnam War. "We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America."

On the campaign trail, Trump spoke emphatically about toughening the U.S. approach to fighting the Islamic State group. He said he would authorize waterboarding and a "hell of a lot worse." After winning the election, however, he appeared to backtrack, pointedly citing Mattis' advice that torture is ineffective.

Pompeo, Trump's CIA director, said in his confirmation hearing that he would abide by all laws. But he also said he'd consult with CIA and other government experts on whether current restrictions were an "impediment to gathering vital intelligence to protect the country or whether any rewrite of the Army Field Manual is needed."

Specifically, Trump's draft order calls for reinstating an executive order  "to the extent permitted" by current law  that President Bush signed in 2007 and Obama later revoked.

Trump's draft would reverse two other executive orders of Obama's. One called for closing Guantanamo Bay. The other ordered the CIA to shut any detention facility it operated and prohibited the U.S. from using any interrogation technique not listed in the Army Field Manual, demanding treatment in compliance with the Geneva Conventions, including timely access for the International Red Cross to all detainees.

Among the interrogation techniques banned by the manual were forced nakedness, hooding, beatings, sexual humiliation, threatening with dogs, mock executions, electric shocks, burning and waterboarding.

Any changes would face steep legal and legislative hurdles.

McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee's chairman, may be the most formidable opponent in Congress, but he is not the only one.

"It is wrong and I hope he will rethink it," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said.

On Guantanamo, the draft order says detention facilities "are a critical tool in the fight against international jihadist terrorist groups who are engaged in armed conflict with the United States, its allies and its coalition partners." About 40 detainees remain in Guantanamo.

The document says "over 30 percent of detainees" who've been released have returned to armed conflict, with at least a dozen conducting attacks "against U.S. personnel or allied forces in Afghanistan." Six Americans, including a civilian aid worker, died as a result of those attacks.

U.S. intelligence agencies say 17.6 percent of detainees released from Guantanamo are confirmed to have re-engaged in conflict. An additional 12.4 percent are "suspected" of re-engaging.

Trump pledged on the campaign trail to "load it up with some bad dudes."

But it's unclear who the new detainees would be. As American ground troops have stepped back this decade from the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan, captures of high-level detainees have become much rarer, and Obama tried to direct them through the U.S. justice system.
Its been a rough week for environmental activists.

Since taking over on Jan. 20, some of President Donald Trump's earliest moves have targeted environmental issues.

Mirroring his transition site, which did not include information about the incoming administration's environmental policy, the White House homepage has now removed any mention of climate change.

Along with a federal hiring freeze that excluded only national security, public safety and military positions, on Monday Trump issued a directive requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to freeze all contracts and grants. On Tuesday, he signed memorandums urging officials to green light construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, reversing President Obamas decisions.

"He has confirmed our worst fears that he is going to be a president who equates corporate profits with public interests," said Lena Moffitt, director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Dirty Fuels. "And at the same time, he is doubling down on these dirty energy technologies of the past that are going to take our country in exactly the wrong direction."

Trump ran on a pro-pipeline platform, and Tuesday's executive actions didn't come as a surprise. But they were a significant blow to protesters who won an unprecedented victory when Obama pulled his support from the Dakota Access Pipeline in December.

Environmental and indigenous activists made headlines last year when they braved the North Dakota cold to impede the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and to preserve tribal lands and clean local water. When Obama had the Army Corps of Engineers conduct a more in-depth analysis of the pipeline plans, many people assumed the process would take up to a year.

Now that Trump has asked the Army Corps to hurry its investigation, Jan Hasselman, lawyer for the Standing Rock Sioux government, worries that they will issue an easement. He called Trumps action "an arbitrary and unlawful reversal of the former administration's approach."

"I don't think that this memorandum actually changes the legal playing field until the army makes a new decision. So when and if they issue an easement, that's when any litigation would proceed," he added.

Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux, told NBC News that "the Trump administration's politically motivated decision violates the law and the Tribe will take legal action to fight it."

"We are not opposed to energy independence," Archambault said. "We are opposed to reckless and politically motivated development projects, like DAPL, that ignore our treaty rights and risk our water. Creating a second Flint does not make America great again."

Obama also rejected TransCanada's Keystone XL Pipeline in 2015, saying that the U.S. role as a vanguard in environmental conservation would be in peril.

In a statement on Tuesday, TransCanada wrote, "We appreciate the President of the United States inviting us to re-apply for KXL. We are currently preparing the application and intend to do so."

Trump hailed the Keystone project during a late October campaign swing through Florida, the Associated Press reported, saying, "We're going to approve energy infrastructure projects like the Keystone pipeline and many more." He said it could provide "a lot of jobs, a lot of good things."

Trump signalled the direction he would take on environmental policy soon after his election. In November, he chose Myron Ebell to lead the EPA transition team, and environmental activists anticipated an uphill battle. Ebell's libertarian advocacy group Competitive Enterprise Institute has filed a lawsuit against the EPA over the Clean Power Plan. Trump then nominated Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt as head of the EPA, a known climate change skeptic. During his confirmation, Pruitt acknowledged that weather patterns are in flux but questioned how much human action contributes to the problem.

When the Trump administration took down President Barack Obama's environmental policy page on the White House website hours after his inauguration, people around the world noticed, including actress Jennifer Lawrence from a movie set in Budapest.

"Do not give this administration a 'chance' to do the terrible things it wants to do," Lawrence wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday. "LGBT and environmental information has already been removed from the White House website."

Abigail Dillen, Earthjustice's vice president of litigation for climate & energy, called the online move symbolic. She said that "taking down useful and important information on climate change is a huge disgrace," and "it's obviously not a good sign to be trying to erase the presence of climate change on our federal websites."

By targeting the EPA, which has been key to America's clean air and water, Dillen said, "the president is putting all of our lives in danger." She criticized the gag order that Trump has imposed on national offices, including the EPA.

Dillen holds hope that millions of Americans who believe in environmental justice will speak out against Trump's reforms. "I think these attacks on clean air, and clean water, and climate protection are going to prove very unpopular because people can fight back, and they will fight back, and we'll be right there with them in the courts," she said.

She added that "one thing that is central to our democracy is that no one is above the law, including the president."

Moffitt echoed the optimism, citing last weekend's women's marches around the globe as the beginning of a mass resistance to Trump's policies.

"Just looking at what happened on Saturday, with millions of Americans turning out to say no to the Trump agenda," she said, "I think what Trump has done today with this announcement (of support for the pipelines) is really foment a movement thats going to resist his agenda."

Moffitt said that Sierra Club chapters around the country will work with locals to protest violations of environmental justice and collaborate with regional officials to inhibit destructive changes to environmental policy.

"We need people to be engaged and to participate in the process, because we cant afford to let Trump succeed with his agenda," she said.
Two Texas rail projects could get a boost from President Donald Trump: the Dallas to Houston high-speed train and Dallas Area Rapid Transit's Cotton Belt Line.

In documents obtained by The Kansas City Star, both projects appear on a list of about 50 infrastructure projects that could be among the new administration's priorities. Trump repeatedly vowed during the campaign that improving the nation's infrastructure would be one of his top goals.

The Japanese-built bullet train would link the two largest cities in Texas. The 230-mile trip would take about 90 minutes with one stop in Grimes County. Supporters say the project would transform travel in the Lone Star State and spur economic development. Opponents fear taxpayers might ultimately be left with the bill for the project, and property owners might be forced to give up their land.

Texas Central, the Dallas-based company behind the project, said Tuesday, "We look forward to working with the new administration, moving ahead with the project's free-market approach."

But Texans Against High-Speed Rail believes that when the president learns more about the train, it will not make the cut, saying in a statement: "We are certain that upon a closer look at this project, President Trump will not want to make Japan great again by investing in a Japanese-backed project."

And late Tuesday the group added that it believes the documents containing the list are fake, citing a former member of the Trump transition team.

It is not clear if the Trump administration has finalized its list of infrastructure projects. It's also not clear how Trump might be able to help the Texas high-speed rail project. Many of the questions standing in the way of construction must be resolved at the state level.

As for the Cotton Belt Line, DART is already planning to move forward with the project, which would link Plano with Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Funding, however, has been a challenge. Increased support from Washington could speed completion of the $1.1 billion project.



Neighbors who live along the Cotton Belt corridor say they're concerned about their safety once the train is up and running.



"I think transportation is a wonderful thing, but I'm concerned about what it's going to do to the people who live in the area, to their family relationships, we've had several people already sell their homes because they don't want to raise their children with the train coming through their backyards," said Cookie Peadon, with the Cotton Belt Concerned Citizens Coalition.



A DART spokesperson said Tuesday they are aware of the list but have not been contacted by anyone with the Trump administration.



In 2016, the timeline for completion of the Cotton Belt Line was moved up by more than 10 years. DART now expects it to be up and running by 2022.
Massive waves cleared a 25-foot retaining wall and crashed into a Pacifica restaurant early Saturday morning, bursting through the beachside windows and rushing over tables and chairs.

Moonraker manager Emily Yeafoli shared the restaurant's surveillance video with NBC Bay Area on Tuesday, adding that the water spilled all over the banquet room of the restaurant located inside the Best Western Lighthouse Hotel at 105 Rockaway Beach Ave.

No one was inside the restaurant at the time, but a man was in the lobby of the Best Western that shares a wall with the restaurant when the wave hit.

"I heard the crash, and they had everyone right away relocate to a different area," said Tony Mercado.

Another witness had been watching the high waves.

"You could see the waves splashing way up onto the sidewalk," said Sue Phelps. "I wasnt surprised to hear the window broke. Just never turn your back on it."

City crews were on hand to clear debris and clean up the sidewalk. And inside the Moonraker, electric fans were set up to dry out the floor, Yeafoli said.

Storms over the weekend were brutal, causing waves throughout the region to swell to record heights. In Monterey Bay for example, 34-foot waves crashed into the historic SS Palo Alto, ripping off its stern.

Despite the boarded-up windows, Yeafoli said Moonraker is open for business. She's not yet sure how much the damage cost, adding that insurance will pay for it. "We have an event scheduled in the room on Friday," she said. "So fingers crossed it's fixed by then."

This isn't the first time the ocean waves knocked out window panes at Moonraker. Yeafoli said that "years and years ago," sometime in the 1990s, the windows blew out on the second floor of the restaurant during similarly stormy weather.

Meanwhile, at Sharp Park Beach, a handful of photographers were on hand snapping shots of a rare goose sighting. Birdwatcher Dawn Jefferson said someone spotted an Native Alaskan Goose and sent out an alert to the birdwatching community. She descibed it as a "lifetime spotting."

"This is the first time Ive ever seen an emperor goose in my life," Jefferson said. "It could be the weather that brought his goose down, its hard to say."

Elsewhere in Pacifica public works crews began repairs on a giant sinkhole that opened up on a popular path to the beach last month. The sunny weather Tuesday gave workers the opportunity to fill the hole with concrete.

There was no estimate on when the path would reopen, but crews said they are making progress.
The Twitter account for the Badlands National Park in South Dakota published a series of tweets Tuesday on climate change. A few hours later, the tweets were deleted.

The first tweet, posted an hour after President Donald Trump signed executive orders advancing the construction of the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, said: The pre-industrial concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 280 parts per million (ppm). As of December 2016, 404.93 ppm.

Just moments later, the account posted another tweet: Today, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in the last 650,000 years  with the hashtag #climate added for good measure.

https://twitter.com/palafo/status/823999538197385216

The next tweet said: Flipside of the atmosphere; ocean acidity has increased 30% since the Industrial Revolution. Ocean Acidification #climate #carboncycle

The last tweet said: "Burning one gallon of gasoline puts nearly 20lbs of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere."

According to a National Park Service spokesman, the tweets were posted by a former employee who is not authorized to use the park's account. Tom Crosson, NPS's chief of public affairs, told NBC the park was not told to remove the tweets but "chose to do so when they realized that their account had been compromised."

"At this time, National Park Service social media managers are encouraged to continue the use of Twitter to post information relating to public safety and park information, with the exception of content related to national policy issues," Crosson added.

Tweeting about climate change isn't out of character for Badlands. The park's Twitter account feed addresses the national security implications of climate change, rising water temperatures and the decline of species driven by global warming. But it does contradict President Trump's stance on the issue. He has repeatedly claimed climate change is a hoax.

In response to the tweets being deleted, DNC national press secretary Adrienne Watson released the following statement: Vladimir Putin would be proud.

Tuesday's tweets followed a brief suspension Friday of the National Park Services Twitter account, as well as those of all its bureaus, over retweets the Department of the Interior deemed "inconsistent with the agencys mission."

The prohibition came after the National Park Services official Twitter account, a bureau of the department, retweeted a pair of posts to its 315,000 followers. One of the tweets was a photo that compared the crowd gathered on the National Mall for Trump to the much-larger gathering that stood in the same spot eight years earlier for President Barack Obama's first swearing-in. The tweets were later removed from the feed, and the National Park Service apologized for sharing them.

A day later, Crosson said the agencies could resume tweeting Now that social media guidance has been clarified. It was not immediately clear what information was in the guidance.
Authorities confirmed the vehicle discovered Tuesday night in Lancaster is the car of a 28-year-old woman who went missing near Toluca Lake over the weekend.

Laura Lynne Stacy moved from Colorado to California and was last seen Saturday near her apartment in the 3600 block of Barham Boulevard, two blocks south of Forest Lawn Drive, the Los Angeles Police Department reported.

Stacy's car, a 2005 black Acura TL, with a Colorado license plate number of 597WFD, was found in a remote area in Lancaster on Tuesday night, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies appeared to have found missing #TolucaLake woman's car near #Lancaster. Zoomed in and plates match. No sign of #LauraStacy. @NBCLA pic.twitter.com/xXwqi9pPDF  Adrian Arambulo (@AdrianNBCLA) January 25, 2017

Her phone was found in a puddle Monday at a Santa Clarita park, nearly 30 miles from Stacy's apartment. The person who found the phone texted Stacy's parents around 5 a.m.

Authorities said Tuesday that there were reported sightings of Stacy Sunday and Monday, including near the site where the phone was found. Family members said she last spoke with a family member, a sister, Sunday at noon

"It doesn't feel real, like a horrible nightmare I want to wake up from," said Marcie Stacy, her mother, who flew up with her husband, Steve, from Colorado to try to help in the search.

Stacy had been studying to be a realtor and recently got into the arts and photography. Her parents believe she may have been meeting people about a job.

Stacy was described as a 5-foot, 8-inch tall white woman with blond hair and blue eyes weighing approximately 130 pounds.

"She's sweet, kind, and hopefully she's out there and sees this and calls us," Marcie Stacy said. "We really want to find her and find her safe. A lot of prayers for her."

The LAPD's Missing Person's Unit asked anyone with any information regarding Stacy's whereabouts to call them at 213-996-1800.
If you had to name a few quintessential California sights, you might pick the dramatic cliffs of Big Sur, and a roller coaster on an ocean pier, and a tall tree, and a Walk of Fame star, and a glass mug of Irish Coffee.

True, the steam-sweet cocktail got its kicky, whiskey-wowza start in Ireland, as its name accurately implies. But the caffeinated, spirited sip became a hit in the Golden State back in the 1950s, both at The Buena Vista in San Francisco and Tom Bergin's in Los Angeles. (The rivalry between these two Irish Coffee titans has lingered on the charming side of friendly quibbles, all told.)

Which all means this: When the 25th day of the first month of the year rolls around, those Californians who count the hot libation as a favorite should seek it out, at their favorite tavern, and raise a stirring toast in its honor.

For it is National Irish Coffee Day, and the timing in 2017 couldn't be more splendid. Southern California is having a cold snap  make that a very cold snap  and while imbibing the drink on a 90-degree day is not forbidden, doing so when it is frosty outside feels more suitable.

Ready to pull up a chair, gab with a friend, and savory a glass of something whiskey and wintry? Saunter over to Westbound, in the Arts District, which "three distinct takes on the traditional beverage" for the flavorful occasion.

One Irish Coffee is stirred, and shares some characteristics with an Old Fashioned. One is a slushy, which removes the Irish Coffee's most notable and unusual trait, its heat. (Unusual for a cocktail, of course.)

And will Nicholas Morris, the bar manager at Westbound, mix a customary Irish Coffee, one that pays tribute to the tastes that first arrived in California in the middle of the last century?

He will. The venue's version includes 1 1/2 ounces of Jameson Whiskey, a half ounce simple syrup, an ounce of espresso, two ounces hot H2O, Angostura Bitters (a trio of dashes), and the all-important dollop of cream (Irish, natch).

Wherever you find your warm-to-the-hands, whiskeyfied beverage on Jan. 25, be sure to toast the land across the sea as well as the two California bars, north and south, that have made it a sippable staple in our state.
A march and rally against the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines took place Tuesday evening outside the Wilshire Federal Building in Westwood.

Participating groups include the American Indian Movement SoCal, Idle No More, International Action Center and Union del Barrio.

Dozens could be heard chanting: "When our water supply is under attack, what do we do? Stand up. Fight back!"

The response comes the same day that President Donald Trump moved swiftly to advance the oil pipelines, signing executive actions to aggressively overhaul America's energy policy and deal a sharp blow to Barack Obama's legacy on climate change.

Obama had personally halted the Keystone XL project, which was to bring oil from Canada to the U.S., and major protest demonstrations have frozen work on the Dakota pipeline.

"From now on we are going to start making pipelines in the United States," Trump said from the Oval Office, where he also vowed to require the actual pipe for Keystone to be manufactured in America.

The 1,179-mile Keystone XL pipeline would run from Canada to Nebraska, where it would join other lines already leading to refineries along the Gulf Coast.

The 1,200-mile Dakota Access pipeline would carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to an existing pipeline in Illinois. The proposed route skirts the Standing Rock Sioux tribe's reservation and crosses under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota that serves as the tribe's drinking water source.

Trump directed the State Department and other agencies to make a decision within 60 days of a final application and declared that a 2014 State Department environmental study satisfies required reviews under environmental and endangered species laws. Environmental groups promised a legal challenge, arguing a new application requires a new review.

State Department approval is needed because the pipeline would cross the northern U.S border.

The Facebook event description for the West LA march and rally says that Trump's actions "will risk fresh water for millions of people and a breakdown in the separation of his business and domestic policy."

An organizer for the event stated that the event will be a "peaceful demonstration."

Environmental groups and Native American organizations were also planning to rally outside the Federal Building in downtown San Diego.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
One woman said she heard a blast and saw a flash.

"It's constant," she said. "Sometimes it sounds like a shotgun."

Another caller said he had phoned Alhambra dispatch 15 times saying he has been hearing a loud boom every night, sometimes more than once a day. He speculated that it was drug dealers letting their colleagues know drugs are ready.

"They've got to figure out what this is," he said. "This has got to be escalated at this point."

A third caller said he thought people were driving around the city and dropping explosives.

"It's obviously an explosive projected from an automobile," the man told a dispatcher. "It was shaking the walls and then ka-boom!"

Residents Report Mysterious Booms

NBC4 obtained more than 100 calls from residents reporting hearing explosions in the city of Alhambra last year.

The reports are just some of the calls obtained by NBC4 from more than 100 people who reported the mysterious booms, bangs, gunshots, explosions, firecrackers, and M-80s to the city of Alhambra from January through the end of August last year, before the calls stopped.

Most of the calls were to the Alhambra Police Department, while a few were to 911.

The city reached out to officials with the Los Angeles County Public Works Department, Caltech, Union Pacific, the Southern Gas Co., and Southern California Edison last spring, but no one could figure out the source of the booms.

A Caltech scientist checked seismic activity which didn't offer an explanation, said Chris Paulson, the city's administrative services director.

Some speculate that the sounds that shake houses and trigger car alarms are the work of aliens and a job for "The X-Files'" Mulder and Scully.

"We have got to figure out what the hell this is," a caller told a dispatcher last June after saying he had reported the booms 15 times. "In Brazil, that's what they do to send the message that drugs are ready."

Another caller insisted the sounds were coming from someone in a car.

"These guys are obviously driving around town in a vehicle and tossing the explosive out of the vehicle," a caller told a dispatcher in May. "Obviously these people are operating from a vehicle because I know these explosions have been going all over town, ya know?"

A call hotline heated up during a two-minute period in March when dozens of callers reported the sounds.

One caller asked a dispatcher, "Do you guys have any idea what the heck that is?"

Dispatcher: "It could be a transformer."

Caller: "Right. But transformers don't ... I understand what you're saying. But this shook up the house."

Dispatcher: "Right. The transformer, when they do, you know, explode, it is very loud and it could even have a very bright flash of light."

Caller: "Right. Well I'm sitting here in my bedroom and I've got the windows open and I didn't see a light this time. Anyway, I just thought you guys might know what it is."

Following the January-through-August reports, the city hasn't received any further calls about the sounds, suggesting the source might remain a mystery.

"We did not discover any relevant information then, and since there has not been any damage to property or persons as a result of the noise, or any other evidence such as flashes or smoke, and given that it has not been reported in the past few months, we have not pursued this topic further," Paulson said. "Considering that we don't know the cause or source, I don't think we can definitively say it's over."
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 24, 2017 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Yahoo Inc. ("Yahoo" or the "Company") (YHOO) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Northern District of California, and docketed under 17-cv-00373, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Yahoo securities between November 12, 2013 and December 14, 2016, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants' violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

If you are a shareholder who purchased Yahoo securities during the Class Period, you have until March 27, 2017 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.

[Click here to join this class action]

Yahoo, together with its subsidiaries, is a multinational technology company that provides a variety of internet services, including, inter alia, a web portal, search engine, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, advertising, and fantasy sports. As of February 2016, Yahoo had an estimated 1 billion monthly active users, roughly 280 million Yahoo! Mail users, and 205 million monthly unique visitors to its sites and services.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Yahoo failed to encrypt its users' personal information and/or failed to encrypt its users' personal data with an up-to-date and secure encryption scheme; (ii) consequently, sensitive personal account information from more than 1 billion users was vulnerable to theft; (iii) a data breach resulting in the theft of personal user data would foreseeably cause a significant drop in user engagement with Yahoo's websites and services; and (iv) as a result, Yahoo's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

Story continues

On September 22, 2016, Yahoo disclosed that hackers had stolen information in late 2014 on more than 500 million accounts. Following the breach, Yahoo executives advised investors that the breach was not material, in part because the Company had not required to reset their passwords. On this news, Yahoo's share price fell $1.35, or 3.06%, to close at $42.80 on September 23, 2016.

On December 14, 2016, post-market, Yahoo announced that it had uncovered a data breach, stating that data from more than 1 billion user accounts was compromised in August 2013. Following Yahoo's announcement, several news sources reported that Verizon was considering ways to amend the terms of its deal with Yahoo to reflect the impact of the data breach and would likely seek "major concessions" from Yahoo. On this news, Yahoo's share price fell $2.50, or 6.11%, to close at $38.41 on December 15, 2016.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

Robert Willoughby

Investor Relations Manager

Pomerantz LLP

600 Third Avenue, 20th Floor

New York, NY 10016

Tel. 212.661.1100, ext.. 9980

Fax 646-355-0083

www.pomlaw.com

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP
The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office announced Tuesday the charges against a teen boy accused of raping two women.

Kamai Clerveaux, 15, was charged as an adult for allegedly kidnapping and raping two women at gunpoint in Miami-Dade County.

Miami-Dade Police arrested Clerveaux Jan. 1 after they say DNA evidence connected him to the most recent attack.

He appeared in bond court Tuesday where he was ordered held without bond. His public defender disagreed with the order. "I don't seen anything about either an ID witness or any DNA linking him to that incident," the public defender said.

Miami-Dade Police Dept.

According to a police report, the most recent attack happened on Dec. 28 near the 24-year-old victim's home. Clerveaux, who was 14-years-old at the time, was armed with a gun when he approached the woman as she exited her car in her driveway, police said.

Clerveaux allegedly threatened the victim with the gun and forced her to get back into the vehicle. The teen suspect then drove to an unknown location where he sexually attacked the woman at gunpoint.

Clerveaux allegedly asked the victim if she "wanted to live or die", according to a police report. After the attack, the 15-year-old stole the victim's cellphone and fled the scene.

Detectives say Clerveaux is responsible for a second rape that happened May 28, 2016. The teen allegedly targeted the woman as she entered her car to go to work.

He threatened her with a gun, telling the victim, "I should kill you, I should kidnap you", according to a police report. Officials said Clerveaux drove the victim to an abandoned residence and raped her at gunpoint.

Police say the teen also stole the woman's driver's license and cellphone before getting away on foot.

NBC 6 knocked on the door where Clerveaux lives. A person answered the door and laughed at NBC 6 reporter Laura Rodriguez when asked about the charges he teen faced.

Clerveaux is charged with two counts of armed sexual battery, kidnapping, armed carjacking, armed burglary and felony possession of a weapon.

The teen suspect denied the allegations. He was scheduled to appear in court again on Wednesday.
A 40-year-old Bahamian man who was missing in South Florida has been found safe, the Broward Sheriffs Office said Monday.

Elvis Rolle, 40, came here for a conference and had been last seen at about 5:30 p.m. on June 3 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. He missed his flight home to the Bahamas then, but he called his brother Monday to let him know he was fine, the BSO said.

Rolle said hed been dealing with personal issues and spent the past two weeks on the streets of Broward, according to the BSO.

BSO missing persons detectives released Rolles photo as they asked for the publics help in finding him on Friday.

He said he had no idea anyone was looking for him, the BSO added.

Read about an 87-year-old man reported missing here.

More Local News
A Southwest Florida man is facing robbery and kidnapping charges after authorities say he mistook a teen's bicycle for his son's.

The Fort Myers News-Press reports 43-year-old Christian Javier was arrested Tuesday, a day after the boy's mother told authorities she wanted them to prosecute.

Lee County sheriff's deputies say Javier stopped a 15-year-old boy in Lehigh Acres Monday and accused the teen of riding his son's bike. Officials say Javier tossed the bike in his truck and forced the teen to come with him.

When they arrived at Javier's home, his son reportedly said the bike wasn't his. Authorities say Javier drove the teen to another spot, where he threw the bike onto the road and left the teen.

Jail records didn't list an attorney for Javier.
Miami-Dade firefighters worked tirelessly Tuesday to put out stubborn flames that engulfed a van.

Officials later discovered that containers of gas was being sold illegally from the 2004 white cargo van. A gas bladder was found inside the vehicle. Police are now searching for the owner or user of the van.

Around noontime, Fire Rescue arrived to the scene on Southwest 73rd Terrace Circle and 153rd Avenue.

Fierce flames and heavy smoke spread through the vehicle. The fire progressed and crews used foam to try to put it out the stubborn flames.

Aerial footage showed firefighters attempting to douse the blaze. At one point, there appeared to be a small explosion in the rear of the van.

Fifteen units were on the scene and DERM was also notified.

No one was injured in the inferno.

The identity of the owner of the van has not been released. The investigation is on-going.
Persistent poverty robs school kids of opportunity. The Miami-Dade School District knows this, and one of its solutions to this widespread problem is providing technology (in the form of computer laptops) to families who cant afford it on their own.

Not everybody has laptops in their homes, their computers, or free Wi-Fi so its really good and they get to learn at school and at home, said Juan Garcia, a mother of three small children, saying its a big step forward for her family.

Its called, Connect@Home, the MDCPS initiative to provide needy families with free laptops, Wi-Fi hotspots, and educational software. So far, more than 300 households have received the tablets, including 39 today at Orchard Villa Elementary School in Liberty City.

Miderge Lafleur said her daughter, Christianna, who is in pre-K, cant wait to use her new laptop.

Shes already engaged in the classroom, I can tell, she talks about things she learned in class, but now I think she can take it a step further, Lafleur said.

Taxpayers funded the Connect@Home program, and without it, some kids would simply never have their own computer.

We need to recognize in schools like orchard villa, where a hundred percent of the kids live below the poverty level, that many parents do not have access to internet at home or the computers themselves, therefore their kids stop learning at the last bell, said Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.

Parents at this mornings giveaway and training event told us they feel like their kids now have an opportunity most kids take for granted.

Yes, yes, because now shes equal, said Katherine Santiago about her daughter.

Its not just a giveaway. The district staff is teaching parents how use the equipment, and in the process, showing them how to be better teachers of their own children.

And the parents, and the fathers, they are here to let the world know they care about their children, so thats what makes it great, its a collaboration, its a partnership, said School Board member Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall.

Think of it as leveling the academic playing field.

The idea here is to create an echo of learning that goes from the school to the home and that takes the parent, it takes the teacher, it takes kids, and it takes technology, Carvalho said.

It starts with the pre-K years, and the superintendent says it wont finish until every kid has computer access at home.
Two men arrested in the death of a former Army Ranger on Christmas Night at a South Florida casino are free Wednesday after prosecutors dropped all charges.

Kenin Bailey and Mikey Lenard claimed self-defense in the shooting death of Fernando Duarte outside the Miccosukee Resort and Casino in Southwest Miami-Dade. Prosecutors say charges were dropped after witnesses and surveillance video showed the two men were defending themselves.

"In essence, the use of force in this case was justifiable based on the circumstances that occurred," said Bailey's attorney Peter Heller.

The video provided by Miccosukee Police showed Duarte cutting the men off in the parking lot and charging at them while appearing to reach for something. Bailey and Lenard said they thought he had a weapon at the time.

The three men had gotten into a confrontation inside the casino at a poker table when Duarte was kicked out. Initially, tribal police  which have jurisdiction over the area and have battled with officials before when it comes to cases on their land  said the two other men were the aggressors.

A report from the Miami-Dade State Attorney's office reveals that Duarte used the word n***** and other profanity during the dispute with Bailey and Lenard.

The men encountered each other in the parking lot where Duarte accosted the two men, according to the report. Surveillance video showed Duarte making a hand gesture with his fingers simulating a gun.

Minutes later, Duarte uses his car to block Lenard's car. Bailey was in the passenger seat. Lenard reversed the car and surveillance video showed Duarte getting out of his car and running toward Lenard's car. Duarte's friend Kenneth Estevez also got out of his car. That's when Bailey opened fire. He fired 13 shots at both Duarte and Estevez.

Both Bailey and Lenard, who work as security officers, turned themselves into a security guard and the casino and claimed self-defense. Bailey's gun was purchased legally.

A preliminary toxicology found alcohol and cocaine in Duarte's blood.

The case was the first homicide arrest for the Miccosukee Police Department.
Our Responds team has had little luck getting peoples money back when they fall for scams like believing they won a foreign lottery, buying a bogus product online, or sending money to someone who claims to be a relative that needs to bail out of jail.

But all might not be lost.

Scam victims could recover some of their losses, thanks to a half-billion dollar announcement that was largely overshadowed by the inauguration last week. Its a genuine game changer thats worth digging into now.

Western Union is paying a hefty settlement because the government says the company ignored warning signs and allowed some schemes to happen.

The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice accused Western Union of turning a blind eye to rampant fraud. Last week, the company settled the case and agreed to forfeit $586 million.

 Read the government allegations

Specifically, the government said Western Union logged more than 260,000 fraud complaints since 2004 in which people lost almost $350 million, yet the company did little to connect the dots to shut down repeat scammers who used its service.

The government accused Western Union of letting the money flow so it could collect its money transfer fees.

In a statement, Western Union said it worked with the FTC to settle the case. The company noted that it has already increased overall compliance funding by more than 200 percent and now spends approximately $200 million per year on compliance.

Western Union has pledged to continue beefing up its fraud monitoring  to stop wire transfers that fund scams.

The FTC says the $586 million Western Union is forfeiting will be available to compensate the many victims of these frauds. Victims are encouraged to apply on the justice department's victim website or call the justice department directly.

 Apply online: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-afmls/remission

 Call for compensation: 202-514-1263

Just about everyone we have met who has fallen for these scams feels embarrassed about being gullible or naive. Dont be ashamed. Speak up and apply for compensation. Theres no sense in letting your pride stand in the way of recovering the money a scammer stole.
The Senate confirmed President Donald Trump's pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations by a decisive margin Tuesday as Republican-led committees paved the way for three more of his Cabinet nominees to be approved just days into the new administration.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley won strong support for the U.N. post despite her lack of foreign policy experience. Senators voted 96-4 on Haley's nomination.

Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Haley is a proven leader who will be a "fierce advocate" at the U.N. for American interests.

But not everyone was sold. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Haley didn't convince him that she'll serve effectively. The U.S. ambassador to the international body should be an expert on international affairs, Coons said, "not someone who will be learning on the job."

A Senate vote is expected soon on Trump's choice for secretary of state, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson. The Foreign Relations Committee narrowly approved his nomination Monday, 11-10. No Democrats on the panel voted for Tillerson.

Tillerson's bid got a key boost when Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced his support Tuesday. Manchin, who faces re-election in 2018 in a state that backed Trump heavily in the presidential election, said Tillerson's extensive business career "will bring a unique perspective to the State Department."

The vote on Haley capped a day when the GOP-led panels endorsed Trump's choices to lead the Transportation, Housing, and Commerce departments. Yet congressional Republicans criticized Democrats for not moving quickly enough on all of the president's selections.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, forced a one-week delay  until Jan. 31  of the committee's vote on Trump's attorney general nominee, Sen. Jeff Sessions.

Feinstein said senators "owe it" to the more than 1 million women who marched in Washington and other locations on Saturday to be careful in considering Sessions' nomination and his willingness to protect equal rights. She also said the committee received 188 pages of new material that needs to be reviewed. Committee rules allow any member of the panel to delay a vote.

Deliberations over two of Trump's picks turned testy as both nominees faced questions from Democrats over their personal finances. Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., the president's choice for health secretary, defended his decision to invest in health care companies as he testified before the Senate Finance Committee.

Panel staffers found Price undervalued around 400,000 shares of stock in Australian drug company Innate Immunotherapeutics that he purchased last August. He reported the shares were valued at $50,000 to $100,000, but those shares were worth up to $250,000. Price blamed a "clerical error" and answered "no" when Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked if he'd used poor judgment.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said Trump's nominee for budget director, South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney, should be disqualified because he failed to pay more than $15,000 in payroll taxes for a babysitter more than a decade ago. Mulvaney said he discovered the unpaid taxes while preparing for the nominating process. He has since paid the taxes.

Trump's choice for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, is also being scrutinized by Democrats about her qualifications, political donations and longtime work advocating for charter schools and school choice in her home state of Michigan.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., delivered a withering critique of DeVos on Tuesday, saying he has no confidence she will fully support traditional public schools and students.

The Senate Commerce Committee approved by voice votes Trump's choices of conservative billionaire investor Wilbur Ross to run the Commerce Department and Elaine Chao to lead the Transportation Department.

Ross has specialized in buying distressed companies that still have a potential for delivering profits. He has known Trump for more than 20 years, was an early supporter of his presidential campaign and served as an economic policy adviser to Trump's team.

Chao, an experienced Washington hand, was labor secretary in President George W. Bush's administration and deputy transportation secretary under President George H.W. Bush. She is also the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Chao is expected to play a major role in Trump's effort to fulfill his campaign promise to generate $1 trillion in infrastructure investment.

Ben Carson, nominated to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, won unanimous approval from the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. The former Republican presidential candidate and celebrated neurosurgeon would lead a sprawling agency with 8,300 employees and a budget of about $47 billion.

Sen. Michael Crapo of Idaho, the committee's Republican chairman, praised Carson and said the department "will benefit from having a secretary with a different perspective and a diverse background." Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the panel's top Democrat, said he had reservations but welcomed Carson's promises to address lead hazards in public housing.
The pipeline projects that President Donald Trump moved forward with executive actions on Tuesday will create thousands of construction jobs for a year or two. Fewer than 100 permanent jobs will be created, according to U.S. government figures.

The Dakota Access pipeline would create 8,200 to 12,000 temporary jobs, but only 40 permanent ones, according to Dakota Access LLC, the company behind the pipeline, the Brookings Institution reported last year. The pipeline, which prompted a standoff by members of the Standing Rock Sioux over what they say would damage cultural sites, would run from North Dakotas Bakken formation to Illinois.

[NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More

A State Department analysis of the Keystone XL pipeline found that 3,900 construction jobs would be created while it was being built or 1,950 a year if it took two years to finish.

The analysis, done in 2014, also found that an additional 42,100 jobs could be created for companies supplying concrete, earth-moving equipment and other goods and by services provided to the workers, such as food and construction camps.

[[411666595, C]]

TransCanada Corp., the company building the pipeline, disagreed with the construction numbers, putting the figure at 9,000, according to a primer prepared by FactCheck.org in 2014. The corporation agreed with the 42,100 figure for total employment, FactCheck.org noted.

Fifty workers would be required to operate the pipeline.

The Keystone XL pipeline would run 1,179 miles from the Canadian province of Alberta to Nebraska, where it would connect existing pipelines to refineries on the Gulf Coast.

In a statement, TransCanada said it was preparing a new application for the pipeline.

"KXL creates thousands of well-paying construction jobs and would generate tens of millions of dollars in annual property taxes to counties along the route as well as more than $3 billion to the U.S. GDP," it said.

The Obama administration denied a permit for the Dakota Access pipeline late last year and rejected the Keystone XL pipeline in November 2015. Then Army Corps of Engineers under former President Barack Obama said it would look for alternative routes after protests by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Obama said that approving the Keystone XL pipeline would undercut American leadership in fighting climate change.

Trump said he would seek to renegotiate the terms of the construction of both pipelines.

"From now we are going to start making pipelines in the United States," Trump said from the Oval Office on Tuesday.

[[411666475, C]]
President Donald Trump tweeted early Wednesday that he is ordering a "major investigation" into voter fraud, revisiting unsubstantiated claims he's made repeatedly about a rigged voting system.

The investigation, he said, will look at those registered to vote in more than one state, "those who are illegal and ... even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time)."

Depending on results, Trump tweeted, "we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

Trump has been fixated on his loss of the popular vote in the election and a concern that the legitimacy of his presidency is being challenged by Democrats and the media, aides and associates say.

Trump's own attorneys dismissed claims of voter fraud in a legal filing responding to Green Party candidate Jill Stein's demand for a recount in Michigan late last year.

"On what basis does Stein seek to disenfranchise Michigan citizens? None really, save for speculation," the attorneys wrote. "All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake."

Secretaries of state across the country have dismissed Trump's voter fraud claims as baseless. After the president's morning tweets, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted wrote on Twitter, "We conducted a review 4 years ago in Ohio & already have a statewide review of 2016 election underway. Easy to vote, hard to cheat."

Trump's exaggerations about inauguration crowds and assertions about illegal balloting have been distractions as advisers' have tried to launch his presidency with a flurry of actions on the economy.

His spokesman, Sean Spicer, has twice stepped into the fray himself, including on Tuesday, when he doubled down on Trump's false claim that he lost the popular vote because 3 million to 5 million people living in the U.S. illegally cast ballots.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have finalized their election results with no reports of the kind of widespread fraud that Trump is alleging.

"He believes what he believes based on the information he was provided," said Spicer, who provided no evidence to back up the president's statements.

If the president's claim were true it would mark the most significant election fraud in U.S. history  and ironically, would raise the same questions about Trump's legitimacy that he's trying to avoid.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Wednesday his panel has already sent letters to the attorneys general in all 50 states asking for reports of any election irregularities.

"The president can join me and my staff," Cummings said on MSNBC. He also said he wants Congress to restore voting protections, citing a Supreme Court ruling that "gutted" key sections of the Voting Rights Act, particularly the provision requiring southern states to get clearance in advance from the Justice Department before legislating changes in voting laws and procedures.

Some Trump allies say he is justified in using his platform to defend his standing. They point to Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis' pre-inauguration statement that he did not see Trump as a legitimate president, as well as U.S. intelligence agencies' assessment that Russia meddled in the election in order to help Trump win.

"Segments of his own government keep driving this narrative," said Roger Stone, a longtime confidant. "I don't think it hurts to point it out."

Key advisers in Trump's inner circle concede the focus on crowd claims and alleged voter fraud have been a distraction.

After Friday's inaugural festivities, the new president grew increasingly upset the next day by what he felt was "biased" media coverage of women's marches across the globe protesting his election, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Trump was particularly enraged with CNN, which he thought was "gloating" by continually running photos of the women's march alongside the smaller crowds that attended his inauguration the day before, according to this person, one of several White House aides and associates who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.

Tuesday night on Twitter, Trump slammed CNN again, referring to the network as "FAKE NEWS @CNN" while praising rival Fox News Channel.

Trump has had a tumultuous relationship with the press, frequently calling the media dishonest and insulting individual reporters by name at his rallies and on Twitter. Still, two people close to Trump said he expected his coverage to turn more favorable once he took office. Instead, he's told people he believes it's gotten worse.

Those around Trump are trying to get the cable news consumer-in-chief to be near a television less often, according to one person who has spoken with him. The bad press over the weekend has not allowed Trump to "enjoy" the White House as he feels he deserves, according to one person who has spoken with him.

The result has been a full display of Trump's propensity for exaggeration and more. During an appearance at the CIA Saturday, he wrongly said the inaugural crowds gathered on the National Mall stretched to the Washington Monument, despite clear photo evidence to the contrary. And during a reception with lawmakers from both parties Monday night, he repeated his false assertion that millions of illegal immigrants provided Hillary Clinton's margin in the popular vote.
SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - Jan 25, 2017) - Solar Integrated Roofing Corporation (OTC PINK: SIRC) announced they have signed a Letter-of-Intent to acquire a unique specialty subcontracting firm, headquartered in Agoura Hills, California.

The company has developed a stellar reputation for quality work in Los Angeles' most exclusive neighborhoods on the west side, such as Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Hollywood Hills, Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Santa Monica. Specializing in the exterior work on new custom homes and estates, the firm has performed work for many "A-List" luminaries and celebrities, such as Magic Johnson, Cher, Ben Stiller, Dwight Yoakum and Kelsey Grammer. The company's range of services include all manner of waterproofing, custom sheet metal, all types of siding, roofing and exterior carpentry.

2016 revenues came in at just under $2 million.

Solar Integrated Roofing Corporation CEO Dave Massey said, "We're excited to move forward with this acquisition and propel our continued growth curve with this expansion into the affluent Los Angeles basin. We firmly believe we can double their revenues in 2017 to $4 million, by adding our solar expertise and marketing, as well as increasing the company's custom homebuilder client base."

For more information, please visit: www.solarintegratedroofingcorp.com

About Solar Integrated Roofing Corp.

Solar Integrated Roofing Corporation (SIRC) is an integrated solar and roofing installation company specializing in commercial and residential properties with a focus on acquisitions of like companies to build a footprint nationally.

Forward-Looking Statement: Any statements made in this press release which are not historical facts contain certain forward-looking statements; as such term is defined in the Private Security Litigation Reform Act of 1995, concerning potential developments affecting the business, prospects, financial condition and other aspects of the company to which this release pertains. The actual results of the specific items described in this release, and the company's operations generally, may differ materially from what is projected in such forward-looking statements. Although such statements are based upon the best judgments of management of the company as of the date of this release, significant deviations in magnitude, timing and other factors may result from business risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, the company's dependence on third parties, general market and economic conditions, technical factors, the availability of outside capital, receipt of revenues and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the company. The company disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward-looking statement. This press release shall not be deemed a general solicitation.
The White House on Tuesday stuck firmly to President Donald Trump's claim that millions of people voted illegally in the November election, but provided no evidence to back up his assertion.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said the president "does believe" that he lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton only because of widespread illegal ballots.

Spicer said Trump's belief is based on "studies and evidence."

"He believes what he believes, based on the information he was provided," Spicer said. But he would not detail what information he was referring to, citing only a 2008 Pew study that he said showed 14 percent of people who voted were not citizens.

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, and one of the authors of the Pew report cited by Spicer, rebutted the claim in a tweet Tuesday, saying that "voting integrity better in this election than ever before. Zero evidence of fraud."

As NBC News reports, Becker also tweeted in November in response to a similar unsubstantiated claim from Trump.

"We found millions of out of date registration records due to people moving or dying, but found no evidence that voter fraud resulted," Becker wrote.

Spicer, who spent several years at the Republican National Committee before joining the White House, would not say whether he shared the president's belief. He also sidestepped questions about whether the White House would investigate the voter fraud allegations, saying only, "Anything is possible."

Trump first raised the prospect of illegal voting during the transition. Then, during a reception with lawmakers at the White House Monday evening, he again claimed that he'd lost the popular vote because 3 million to 5 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally had voted. That's according to a Democratic aide familiar with the exchange who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

Critics from both sides of the aisle have called on the president to put this issue to rest. As NBC News reports, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., pleaded with Trump Tuesday to stop repeating the widely debunked claim.

"To continue to suggest that the 2016 election was conducted in a fashion that millions of people voted illegally undermines faith in our democracy," Graham told reporters. "It's not coming from a candidate for the office, it's coming from a man who holds the office. So I am begging the president, share with us the information you have about this or please stop saying it."

Democratic lawmakers denounced the inaccuracy of the president's statement as well, with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, calling the claims "nonsensical" and "delusional."

"When Trump talks about 3 to 5 million people voting illegally he is sending a message to every Republican governor in this country to go forward with voter suppression," Sanders said.

Some Republicans, however, are supporting Trump's claim. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, would not say whether he agreed with the president, though he told NBC News that "the notion that election fraud is a fiction is not true."

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said Tuesday "there is data out there" to back up the president's claim, though he believes the number of illegal votes may be slightly lower, closer to 2.4 million. He told NBC News that he reached that figure by extrapolating on "how many illegals could have or could be voting in the United States."

Trump's assertion appears to be part of a continuing pattern for him and his new administration in which unverified or unverifiable claims overshadow his outreach efforts. Both Trump and Spicer made unsubstantiated comments over the weekend about the crowds who gathered for the inauguration.

Aides and associates of the president say that he is dogged by insecurity over his loss of the popular vote and believes Democrats and the media are questioning the legitimacy of his presidency. On Tuesday, the president tweeted a photograph from the inauguration taken from an angle that accentuated the crowd and said he planned to hang the image in the press area of the White House.
Days after millions of people marched nationwide to bring attention to womens issues, the Trump administration and Congress have responded with actions against women's reproductive rights.

On Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. House passed H.R. 7, anti-abortion legislation, voting 238-183. The bill proposes to permanently ban women from receiving federal financial assistance for abortions. While the bill does not ban abortions outright, it bans all government subsidies of abortions. This ban reaches beyond Medicaid to include private insurers that cover abortions through plans bought on exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act. The bill was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey.

Pro-life Americans struggle for the day when abortion violence will be replaced by compassion and empathy for women and respect for weak and vulnerable children in the womb, the Republican congressman said on the House floor. They believe, as do my pro-life colleagues and I, that we ought to love them both--mother and child--and not fund the destruction of children through abortion.

The bill extends the provisions the Hyde Amendment, which excludes abortions from federally funded health care provided to low-income people, primarily through Medicaid. The only exceptions in the Hyde Amendment to permit abortions are rape, incest, or if the life of the mother is endangered.

Most states have followed this provision, but 17 states still fund abortions for low-income women.

If H.R. 7 is signed into law, no state would be permitted to subsidize them. Furthermore, the law will indirectly stop insurance plans from offering abortion coverage by refusing government subsidies to women to choose plans that include abortion coverage under ACA.

There is no chance this bill will pass the Senate, said Matt House, senior aide to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. "It won't gain enough Democratic support."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office said it had no announcement to make about the legislation or when it might be taken up.

Identical versions of H.R. 7 were passed in 2014 and 2015, but never made it through the Senate and would have likely been vetoed by then-President Obama. However, if the bill passes in the Senate, President Trump could be expected to sign the bill into law, having voiced a strong anti-abortion stance on the campaign trail and through the revival of "The Mexico City Policy."

On Monday, President Trump reinstated the policy, which is an executive order blocking foreign aid or federal funding to any international nongovernmental organization that provides abortions. The gag order began with President Ronald Reagan in 1984. Since then, incoming Democratic presidents have rescinded the order and incoming Republican presidents have reinstated the order upon taking office.

H.R. 7 comes on the heels of the Womens March on Washington, which took place on Jan. 21 and expanded to sister marches in major cities across the country and around the world. A common theme in speeches and seen on signs at the marches was the phrase my body, my choice, referencing womens reproductive health choices. One women's group, New Wave Feminists, was removed from the official sponsorship of the event after voicing anti-abortion views.

Decisions about a womans health care should be made in her doctors office, not on the House floor, Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, said in a statement about H.R. 7. The bill passed by the House is a sweeping assault on womens health that aims to eliminate abortion coverage for millions, make Hyde and other abortion bans permanent and undermine a womans ability to make personal decisions about her own health care.

Richards also said that the passage of H.R. 7 would disproportionately affect low-income women and women of color. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 75 percent of abortion patients are poor or low-income women and 59 percent are women of color.

The House of Representatives vote today on H.R. 7 was a vote to punish women who seek abortions on the basis of how much money they earn, where they live, and how they are insured, Dr. Willie Parker, board chair of Physicians for Reproductive Health, said in a statement. No woman should be denied the ability to make this personal health decision because she is poor.
What to Know Policies related to refugees, sanctuary cities and the U.S.-Mexico border wall are on President Trump's agenda today

The Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines are back in the news after President Trump signed executive orders advancing their construction

The MTA votes on a MetroCard fare hike; base fare could rise from $2.75 to $3

Get the top headlines of the day in your morning briefing from NBC 4 New York, Monday through Friday. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Border Wall on Trump Agenda

President Trump will begin rolling out executive actions on immigration Wednesday, beginning with steps to build his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to two anonymous administration officials. He's also expected to target so-called sanctuary cities like New York City and is reviewing proposals that would restrict the flow of refugees to the United States. The president is expected to sign the first actions  including the measure to jumpstart construction of the wall  Wednesday during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, Trump tweeted he will send in the feds if Chicago doesnt fix violence plaguing the city.

Controversial Pipelines Back in Spotlight

President Trump signed a series of executive orders advancing the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines Tuesday morning, despite the U.S. Army Corps of Engineerings turning down DAPL project permits last December. The $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline to carry North Dakota oil to a shipping point in Illinois is nearly complete other than a stretch underneath Lake Oahe; the Standing Rock Sioux tribe gained national attention for its protests of the Dakota Access. The $8 billion Keystone XL project would bring oil from Canada's oil sands to Nebraska, where it would join lines leading to the Gulf Coast; former President Obama halted it in late 2015. Here's what to expect in the coming months.

Trump Narrows SCOTUS Nominees

President Donald Trump has narrowed his choice to fill the Supreme Court vacancy to three judges and said he expects to make his decision in the coming days. The leading contenders  who all have met with Trump  are William Pryor, Neil Gorsuch and Thomas Hardiman, a person familiar with the selection process said, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly about internal decisions. Trump has promised to seek someone in the mold of conservative icon Antonin Scalia, who died nearly a year ago.

MTA to Vote on Fare Hike

The MTA is expected to vote to raise the base MetroCard fare from $2.75 to $3 at a board meeting Wednesday. The fare hike would take effect in March. The MTA says the hike would make sure that subways, rail lines and buses stay safe. It would be the agency's fifth round of fare hikes since 2009. The last round of hikes took effect in March 2015. Last fall, MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast said "our belt tightening days are far from over. Heres how much riders would pay under a new hike.

Conjoined Girls Separated in NY

Two brave conjoined baby girls have come out of surgery fighting after enduring a grueling 21-hour separation procedure. Twin 11-month-old girls Ballenie and Bellanie were born attached at the lower back, doctors said. But through a rare and complex surgery, the baby girls were successfully separated last week at Maria Fareri Childrens Hospital at the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, New York.

NJ May Be 1st State to Ban Cat Declawing

Legislation to prohibit cat declawing in New Jersey has been approved by the Assembly. The measure sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman Troy Singleton was passed Monday by a 43-10 vote, with 12 abstentions. It now heads to the state Senate's Economic Growth committee, which hasn't yet scheduled a hearing. New Jersey could be the first state to ban declawing if the bill eventually becomes law.

NYC Restaurant Week 2017

The first thing you should know about New York Restaurant Week is that it is not actually a week. The semiannual celebration of New York's food scene started Monday, Jan. 23 and runs through Feb. 10. Here are a few other things you should know.
A 20-year-old Long Island woman has been arrested, accused of trying to snatch a 6-year-old girl from inside a tax preparer's office Monday, police say.

Lela Witts, 20, of Roosevelt, was inside Liberty Tax Services on Merrick Road at about 8:30 p.m. when she grabbed the girl and pulled her outside to the sidewalk, Nassau police said.

Business owner Michael Thompson recalled the mother and daughter walking into his office, and "a lady came in behind her, tried to snatch her daughter.

The girl's horrified mother ran after them, and struggled with Witts.

"I thought it was crazy, I didn't know what the hell was going on," said a neighboring store owner.

Court documents say Witts kept telling the mother, "I want your daughter."

One witness said he watched the mom fight to free the girl: "One of them was punching the other."

Finally, the mother was able to free her daughter and bring her back into the office, where she notified police. One of Thompson's employees followed Witts across the street into a diner and pointed her out to responding officers, police said.

No one was hurt.

Witts was arraigned on charges of second-degree attempted kidnapping and second-degree unlawful imprisonment in First District Court in Hempstead Tuesday.

Attorney information for the woman wasn't immediately clear.

"I don't know what possess her to take the child," said the neighboring store owner.
What to Know The founder of WorldStarHipHop.com, "the largest hip-hop website in the world," died at 43 this week

Lee O'Denat was born in Queens and founded WorldStarHipHop.com in 2005; officials said he died of heart disease in San Diego

WorldStarHipHop.com is know for its raw material and has been incredibly popular with young fans of hip-hop

Queens native Lee O'Denat, who founded the popular website WorldStarHipHop.com, has died in San Diego. He was 43.

O'Denat was at a local business on Monday when he became unresponsive, according to the San Diego County medical examiner's office. Paramedics couldn't save him and he died at the scene.

The business was a massage parlor, police told the Los Angeles Times.

The cause of death was heart disease  specifically, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease  with obesity a contributing factor, according to the medical examiner.

We ask that you remember Q in your prayers and raise a toast to the sky in his name. RIP  pic.twitter.com/ixsULQil32  WORLDSTARHIPHOP (@WORLDSTAR) January 24, 2017

O'Denat, a father of three known to fans and friends as "Q," "was a brilliant businessman who championed urban culture, ultimately creating the largest hip-hop website in the world," said a post on the site's Facebook page announcing his death.

He also was "one of the nicest, most generous persons to ever grace this planet," the post said. "We will miss his hearty laugh and warm spirit. WorldStarHipHop will continue in its various endeavors. We ask that you remember Q in your prayers and raise a toast to the sky in his name."

Born in Queens, O'Denat founded WorldStarHipHop.com in 2005. The video content aggregator offers hip-hop and viral videos, often of outrageous, tabloid-baiting events. One clip available as of Tuesday was titled: "Kid Punches A Racist Homeless Man A Few Times For Calling Him The N-Word!"

The site has taken heat for sexual and violent content, but it has been immensely popular with some teenagers and young adults. It was the 314th most popular site in America on Wednesday, according to Amazon's web traffic-tracking site Alexa.com.

[NATLu002du002dDO NOT USE] In Memoriam: Influential People We've Lost This Year

A television series based on the site was scheduled to debut next month on MTV2.

The site inspired the shout "World Star!," yelled when something, often a fight, is worthy of being recorded and submitted to the site.

O'Denat was unapologetic about the raw material.

"Hip-hop is for the sex, the drugs, the violence, the beefs, the culture," O'Denat told the New York Times in 2015. "That's the competitiveness of hip-hop, so I felt like the site needed to be R-rated."

[NATL] Top Entertainment Photos: Best of the American Music Awards, and More

"People may be offended by some of the content, but, hey, the Internet is not a censorship boat," he said. "We're the Carnival cruise, man. You don't have to log on."

The site also occasionally has gotten into trouble for using copyrighted material without credit. Rapper 50 Cent won a 2009 lawsuit against O'Denat for using his image without permission.
By Joyce Lee and Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - The woman at the centre of a corruption scandal gripping South Korea angrily protested her innocence on Wednesday, shouting that she had been made to confess as she was forcibly summoned for questioning. Choi Soon-sil, who has been indicted for meddling in state affairs through her friendship with impeached President Park Geun-hye, made the protest at the special prosecutor's office, before being pushed into an elevator by correctional officers. The dramatic scenes came as the outgoing chief judge of the Constitutional Court urged the bench to wrap up Park's impeachment trial by March 13, when the retirement of another judge will reduce the nine-judge court to seven and could raise questions about the verdict. His comments were the clearest indication of the timing of a decision on Park, either to remove her from office with an election to be called 60 days later, or for her to be reinstated. Park was impeached amid the influence-peddling scandal that has engulfed her administration over recent months. If the impeachment is upheld, she will become the first democratically elected leader to be removed from office. Choi was brought into the special prosecutor's office on an arrest warrant after refusing to answer several summons. "I am being forced to confess committing crimes jointly with the president," she shouted to reporters. "I don't deserve to be treated like this. And my baby and my grandson," she said as guards pushed her into the elevator. The special prosecutor's office dismissed her protests. "Regardless of such groundless claims of hers, the special prosecutor will thoroughly carry out the investigation by law and principle," office spokesman Lee Kyu-chul told a regular briefing, adding that Choi was trying to discredit the investigation. As part of their investigation, prosecutors are looking into Samsung Group's [SAGR.UL] sponsorship of the equestrian riding career of Choi's daughter, Chung Yoo-ra, 20, who was arrested in Denmark after being sought by South Korean authorities. Chung has been accused of criminal interference related to her academic record and other unspecified charges. Park was impeached by parliament in December after accusations that she colluded with Choi to pressure big businesses, including Samsung, to donate to two foundations set up to back the presidents policy initiatives. Park, 64, remains in office but has been stripped of her powers while she awaits her fate. Park, Choi and Samsung have all denied wrongdoing. Prosecutors said on Wednesday they had summoned Samsung Group President Kim Jong-joong and Samsung C&T Corp <028260.KS> President Kim Shin for questioning as witnesses. The prosecution has now summoned seven different executives at Samsung Group or an affiliate of the countrys top conglomerate and have so far identified two of them  leader Jay Y. Lee and Samsung Group Vice Chairman Choi Gee-sung  as suspects in the widening graft scandal. Chief Judge Park Han-chul, who retires on Jan. 31, urged the Constitutional Court to wrap up the impeachment trial by March 13, when the retirement of another judge will reduce the nine-judge bench to seven. Speaking on the ninth day of the hearing, the chief judge said the retirement of two judges may distort the impartiality of the court. "If another judge's seat is vacated, that is not just a matter of one vacated seat but could distort the outcome of the decision," he told a public hearing. The court has previously stressed the need to balance a speedy resolution of the crisis with proper deliberation, but this was the first time the court has mentioned a specific timeline. Seven sitting judges are the minimum required by law to rule on an impeachment, with six needed to vote to uphold the motion for Park to be removed. Sources with intimate knowledge of the court's inner workings told Reuters that seven judges, for a landmark ruling such as this, were too few and could invite questions of the ruling's legitimacy, especially if it is not unanimous. The sources declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. (Additional reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Nick Macfie)
A longtime Pennsylvania congressman convicted of racketeering has reported to a federal prison to begin his 10-year sentence.

Officials said former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah was logged in just after 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Federal Correctional Institution-McKean in Lewis Run, in western Pennsylvania, near the New York border. He will be in the minimum-security camp adjacent to the medium-security prison.

The 60-year-old Democrat spent 20 years in Congress representing Philadelphia and Montgomery counties before his June conviction of taking an illegal $1 million campaign loan, then using government and nonprofit funds to repay it. Four co-defendants were also convicted.

Fattah lost his bid to stay out of prison while he appeals.

His son, Chaka "Chip" Fattah Jr., is serving five years in an overlapping bank fraud case at a prison in Michigan. [[238427591, C]]
Philadelphia Police tracked down a suspect accused of breaking into a Chestnut Hill home over the weekend and sexually assaulting a woman in front of her husband, police said.

James Bradley, 20 of Quincy Street was charged Tuesday with sexual assault, robbery, burglary and related charges stemming from Saturday morning's attack in the bedroom of a house on East Chestnut Hill Avenue, said police.

Following the attack, investigators said an armed attacker entered the couple's room and forced the woman out of the bed.

He ordered the woman's husband, who was sleeping in the bed, not to move while he sexually assaulted his wife, police said. At some point, the attacker put down the gun and the woman grabbed it, according to investigators. She tried to shoot it, but it didn't fire. Officials said it was actually a fake gun.

The woman's husband then called police to report a rape in progress. That's when the attacker fled the house. He took the couple's new car as well as wallets and a cellphone, police said.

Police didn't reveal what led them to Bradley. A judge arraigned the 20-year-old Wednesday and sent him to jail on $1 million bail. No attorney is listed for him.
A Drexel academic is getting a $12 million grant to study the effects of urban life on the health of people in Latin American countries.

Ana Diez Roux, who is dean of the Dornsife School of Public Health, will head a collaborative undertaking the expansive study. The grant was announced by the British foundation Wellcome Trust as part of its Our Planet, Our Health initiative.

Diez Roux's team "will study how the governance, design, organization and environment of Latin American cities affect population health, as well as health inequities within cities," according to a report on Drexel's website.

That team spans 11 Latin American and three U.S. institutions.

Diez Roux's study is one of four that Wellcome is funding to look at global health in a future where population concentrations are changing, according to one of the foundation's medical officials.

"There are so many factors that need to be addressed if we are to create a healthy and sustainable future. These major research programs bring together collaborators from all over the world to explore how we can create health, not just prevent disease, while being responsible custodians of the planet," Dr. Sarah Molton of Wellcome said.

The environmental sustainability of cities will be key to Roux's research, considering a trend in the last decade of city population growth after decades of retrenchment.

"This is critical because health and environmental sustainability are closely entwined, Diez Roux said. This is because the environment affects health  for example, levels of air pollution and heat have especially strong health impacts in cities but many of the things we can do to make people healthier, like promoting active travel and consumption of fruits and vegetables, also have favorable implications for the environment. We need to think of these things as synergistic, and that is a key goal of the project."

She also said that studying many Latin American cities will likely find differences in health outcomes and that those differences could point to ways for improving overall urban health.

"I suspect we will find that cities vary quite a bit in health and health equity and that there are real things cities can do to improve the health of residents," Diez Roux said. "I also suspect that many of the most promising interventions and policies we find will focus on upstream determinants and factors outside the traditional health sector  like social policy or urban planning."

Proponents and researchers of urban life believe younger generations are more likely to find aspects of cities more appealing than older generations. Americans, for example, migrated from cities to suburbs as the middle class expanded during prosperous periods following World War II and in the 1980s and 1990s.
Atlantic County Freeholder John Carman is facing backlash for a photo he posted on Facebook that addressed the historic Womens March on Washington over the weekend.

The meme, which has since been removed from Carmans Facebook page, stated, Will the womans protest be over in time for them to cook dinner?

Carmans post drew criticism from state politicians and local women, many of whom attended the Freeholder meeting Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the Stillwater Building in Northfield, New Jersey to voice their concerns.

As a taxpaying resident I expect representation that would be not so misogynistic and to focus on the rights of all of his constituents, said Kristin Lis of Atlantic County. And he can make his own dinner.

Carman spoke to the women during the meeting.

Why did you post that? one woman asked.

Did you read it? Carman replied.

I did read it, she said.

Why were you offended by it? Carman asked.

Carman insisted he respects women, is not a misogynist and was merely joking around.

I really hope they come to realize it is what it was, Carman told NBC10. It was a joke. Bad taste? Absolutely. But thats all it was. Nothing more.

Carman also said the community had other important issues that deserved equal passion. Some of the women who attended the meeting were not satisfied with his explanation however and ultimately walked out.
A Philadelphia college student left a voice message for her friend as masked men tried to abduct her at the edge of St. Josephs University Tuesday.

The woman had just gotten off a SEPTA train and was walking along Overbrook Avenue near N 58th Street in Overbrook shortly before 9 p.m. when two men  one armed  in ski masks approached her, the victim told Philadelphia Police. The men pushed her behind a nearby church.

The student, who wished not to be identified, told NBC10 that she was too upset to talk about the incident on camera but she did talk to Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit investigators overnight.

Her friend, Sharif Sawyer, said he heard part of the struggle over his voicemail -- he said he was trying to get a hold of her at the time. He could hear her pleading with someone not to do this.

"She started to fight and scream," said Sawyer. "She tried to get away from one guy, the other guy grabbed her, pulled a gun on her, put it to her head and told her that if she didnt shut up he was going to shoot her. He loaded the weapon."

Something  possibly people coming up the street  spooked off the attackers, said police. They made off with nothing, said the university. The woman didn't appear to hurt.

The incident played out on the edge of St. Joes campus  not far from a public safety emergency call box.

In a public safety advisory sent out to students and posted on the university's internal portal, St. Joe's described the attackers -- one standing around 6-foot, 3-inches tall in dark clothing and the other wearing bright red sneakers.

"As always, the Universitys top priority is the safety of all students, faculty, staff and visitors," said the public safety advisory. "All are advised to be aware of their surroundings, on-campus or off, walk in groups and park in well-lit areas.

"To report crimes in progress or other emergencies, contact police fist by dialing 9-1-1. Then notify SJU Public Safety via an Emergency Blue Light Phone or by dialing 610-660-1111."

Crime is rare on St. Joe's campus with only one aggravated assault reported in each 2014 and 2015 and only three robberies over that time, according to campus crime stats.

The universitys Public Safety office offers escorts, says the SJU.edu website.[[238427591, C]]
Suspects went through the pockets of a man who lay dying after he was gunned down on the 500 block of West Luray Street in Hunting Park Tuesday night, police said.



The 33-year-old victim was from the Philadelphia suburb of Horsham in Montgomery County, police said. He died a short time later at Temple University Hospital. His name was not immediately released.



The man was shot once in the left side of the chest and once in the left arm before at least two people were seen going through his pockets as he lay in the street around 8:30 p.m., police said. Investigators haven't confirmed that those people were also the shooters.

Witnesses told police they saw "two males reaching over [the victim], reaching into his pockets. This is clearly a robbery," said Chief Inspector Scott Small.

Those two men were seen leaving the scene in a white car, Small said. Police do not know what, if anything, was taken from the victim.

Small added that much of the incident was caught on cameras registered to the police department. Businesses with these cameras installed frequently turn over footage to police during investigations, he said.

Investigators found identification dropped by someone at the scene, and said it doesn't belong to the victim. The ID belongs to someone from West Philadelphia, prompting police to look for suspects in that area. No arrests were announced.

Homicides in Philadelphia are up 35 percent from this time last year, according to the Philadelphia Police Department's crime map. Less than one month into the New Year, there have already been 26 deaths by homicide compared to 17 in 2016.

Across the city in West Philadelphia, a 24-year-old male was shot while walking with a friend near 46th Street and Girard Avenue just before midnight Tuesday night, police said.

The victim was shot in the lower back after getting into an argument with an unnamed suspect on the sidewalk. He ran one block west to a BP gas station to get help. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition.

Investigators found a shell casing near the shooting. Police said the suspect is in his 20s and wore a dark jacket.
The Trump administration is scrutinizing studies or data published by scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency, and new work is under a "temporary hold" before it can be released.

The communications director for President Donald Trump's transition team at EPA says the review extends to all existing content on the federal agency's website, including details of scientific evidence showing that the Earth's climate is warming and man-made carbon emissions are to blame.

Doug Ericksen clarified his earlier statements to The Associated Press, which reported that the Trump administration was mandating that any studies or data from EPA scientists undergo review by political appointees before they can be released to the public. He says he was speaking about existing scientific information on the EPA website that is under review by members of the Trump administration's transition team.

He says new work by the agency's scientists is subject to the same "temporary hold" as other kinds of public releases, which he said would likely be lifted by Friday. He says there is no mandate to subject studies or data to political review.
A man wanted in a series of armed bank robberies around San Diego was captured Wednesday in Mission Valley following a short pursuit and chase.

The so-called Bag Trick Bandit was arrested in the parking lot of the Mission Valley YMCA before 9 a.m., San Diego police said.

An officer spotted a U-haul truck and attempted to pull over the driver. The truck drove off, leading police on a pursuit.

He hit a parked car. He hit the fence. He got out. He attempted to make it to the river bed, said SDPD Robbery Division Lt. Todd Griffin.

Griffin said a K-9 took the suspect down and held him until officers could put handcuffs on him. The suspect will be treated for a dog bite, Griffin said.

The suspect was dubbed "Bag Trick Bandit" for hiding his hand inside a bag during two of the robberies, as if he was concealing a weapon.

Officials believe the same bandit was responsible for the following robberies:

December 21  Bank of America, 2341 Ulric Street, San Diego, CA

December 21  US Bank,4195 Genesee Avenue, San Diego, CA

January 5  Wells Fargo Bank  7525 Clairemont Drive, San Diego, CA

January 8  US Bank, 3645 Midway Drive, San Diego, CA

January 22  US Bank, 2645 Midway Drive, San Diego, CA

[G] San Diego Bank Bandits
The nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization said an executive order restricting immigration from a number of Middle Eastern and African countries has nothing to do with national security and is strictly an Islamophobic proposal.

The Council on American-Islamic-Relations (CAIR) joined leaders of other civil rights and faith-based groups to condemn President Donald Trump's proposals to stem the flow of immigrants from several Muslim-majority countries, block federal funds from sanctuary cities and start construction of a wall on the southern border.

"Make no mistake  whatever language is used in President Trump's executive orders on refugees, immigration and visa programs  Muslims are the sole targets of these orders," CAIR said. "These orders are a disturbing confirmation of Islamophobic and un-American policy proposals made during the presidential election campaign.

CAIR leaders said the suspension of refugee programs will send a dangerous message and will not do much to enhance national security or public safety.

Nihad Awad, CAIR's national executive director, noted refugees often go through multiple levels of security screening by several federal agencies. The vetting process currently takes almost two years, he said.

What do we need more? I believe it has nothing with national security. It has a lot to do with prejudice and with campaign slogans that are now becoming policies, he said.

Awad also called the proposed border wall with Mexico a multi-billion dollar monument to racism.

As Americans we do not ban, register or deport people based on how they pray or the color of their skin, Rabiah Ahmed, spokesperson for the Muslim Public Affairs Council said. She believes fear-mongering policies weaken U.S. leadership.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump spoke to employees at the Department of Homeland Security after signing two executive orders in keeping with campaign promises to boost border security and crack down on immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

"We are going to restore the rule of law in the United States," Trump said.

On Thursday, the president is expected to suspend the issuance of U.S. visas in countries where adequate screening cannot occur and suspend immigrant and non-immigrant entry for citizens of countries of particular concern for 30 days.

That could include Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Federal law gives Trump broad authority to suspend immigration for groups of people whose entry is deemed "detrimental to U.S. interests." He is expected to specifically suspend any immigration, including for refugees, from Syria.

CAIR asked for members of other faiths to stand with Muslim community groups to protest the proposed action.

Never before in our countrys history have we purposely, as a matter of policy, imposed a ban on immigrants or refugees on the basis of religion or imposed a religious litmus test on those coming to this nation, Awad said.

We cannot allow religious bigotry to affect our willingness and ability to welcome those fleeing violence and persecution, he said.

The president proposes to reduce the maximum number of refugees by more than half, to 50,000, for the budget year ending in September. Trump has the authority to set the limit of how many refugees can be admitted annually. He can also suspend refugee processing, as was done by former President George W. Bush in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks

Steve Martin of the National Council of Churches said a state-sanctioned policy of banning refugees based on faith is an unbelievable development.

We explicitly condemn any attempts to place a religious test upon refugees attempting to build their new lives in the United States, Martin said.

CAIR said any restrictions would not only impact U.S. citizens whose families may be visiting or seeking medical care but will also create an uncaring image of the U.S. with other nations.

Reported hate crimes against Muslims in the U.S. rose in 2015 to their highest levels since those seen in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, according to FBI statistics released in November.

In 2015, there were 257 incidents of anti-Muslim bias compared to 154 incidents the prior year, an increase of 67 percent.

San Diego has been the launching point for the resettlement of 78,000 refugees, according to the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Between 2000 and 2010, the number of Muslims living in San Diego jumped 179 percent according to the Association of Religion Data Archives.
U.S. representatives  including local Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA)  united in Washington, D.C., Tuesday in the fight for womens reproductive rights, calling out President Donald Trumps stance on the hot-button topic.

Family-planning decisions are the most personal decisions that we can face and they should never be made by the government, Peters, representing the 52nd District of California, said in a news conference.

Peters gathered alongside Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO), Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA), Congresswoman Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA) to discuss the Trump Administrations fast-moving plans for womens reproductive health care rights, including the executive order signed by President Donald Trump to reinstate the Global Gag Rule, which prohibits federal funding of any overseas organization that counsels women about abortion.

The representatives also discussed H.R. 7, the bill that prohibits taxpayer funding for abortion. The passing of the legislation could make the Hyde Amendment permanent, which serves to deny taxpayer-funded health care coverage of abortions, except to save the life of the woman or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape.

Without that federal funding, other family planning services stand to be impacted, including services offered by clinics like Planned Parenthood.

The damage of the bill under consideration in the House today, combined with the threat of revoked Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood, will be that hard-working families will be deprived of affordable health care that lets them start a family on their own  on their own schedule, in their own way, Peters added.

DeGette, speaking of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, said this about the Hyde Amendment: We think it discriminates against poor women  the women who most need a full range of health care services.

This bill denies access to low-income women to exercise their Constitutional rights. It is discriminatory, said Lee, congresswoman of the 13th District of California. And they wont be satisfied until they turn back the clock to when women had no reproductive options at all.

Instead of trusting women to make their own health care decisions, it invites politicians into their private decisions, she added.

San Francisco Congresswoman Jackie Speier criticized Trumps stance on womens reproductive health issues and said this: He is destroying lives around the country. What is happening here is a reverse Genesis; what is happening here is an effort to destroy this planet and hes doing it systematically, each and every day.

Ultimately, the House passed H.R.7 Wednesday which could make the Hyde Amendment permanent. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) released this statement upon the bills passage:

We are a pro-life Congress. Today we renewed our commitment to the Hyde Amendment with the passage of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. I want to thank Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) for his tireless commitment to this cause. This legislation protects the conscience of American taxpayers by ensuring that not a single dollar of their hard-earned money goes to fund abortions. As hundreds of thousands of Americans flock to Washington for the March for Life, we must never forget that defending all of our peopleespecially the defenselessmust be our top priority if we want to be a good and moral nation.

The bill still has to pass the Senate, where it faces opposition from Democrats.

NBC 7 spoke to locals Wednesday on both sides of the Hyde Amendment.

Chris Clark, Pastor at East Clairemont Baptist Church, said he applauds the Trump Administration for acting quickly on this issue.

He said he does not think the U.S. should subsidize abortions with taxpayer money, especially if abortions go against a taxpayers faith and core beliefs.

Clark said he would rather see taxpayer money used for saving lives, "through federally-funded programs that would provide for economic aid and relief for some of these more impoverished countries."

Tracy Skaddan, General Counsel with Planned Parenthood for the Pacific Southwest, said Trumps decision to reinstate the Global Gag Rule will have dire consequences.

Its a very sad Executive Order because the federal dollars to international organizations that provide more than family planning  that provide HIV prevention and treatment, that provide Zika response efforts, that provide maternal and child health care  are all going to be affected by this.

She said the impact will be similar to what the world saw under the Reagan and Bush administrations.

What we know will happen is that health care organizations across the world will have to close or their services will be limited. And, as a result of that, we know that contraception will be extremely limited and when that happens, unintended pregnancy rates increase and then were going to see unsafe abortion practices, Skaddan said. With unsafe abortions, women and girls will die.

With Wednesdays developments, Skaddan said the funding threats to Planned Parenthood are now very real. She said that in San Diego, Imperial and Riverside counties, Planned Parenthood helps more than 270,000 patients each year with family planning services.

Planned Parenthood does not promote an option [to choose] to a woman. Planned Parenthood provides high quality care and we provide accurate medical information to a woman, and her family, and her faith and her physician, to make a choice as to what is needed for herself and her family, Skaddan explained. Those services are very, very important to our community.

Skaddan said the organization will continue to do everything in its power to make sure locals have access to those services.

And politicians in Washington, D.C., will have to take notice that many women dont agree with the Trump Administrations decision on H.R.7, especially after Saturday's Women's March on Washington and other demonstrations across the globe, including San Diego.

Every single step that they took and every single block that they walked this last weekend is going to send a message to Washington that this is absolutely unacceptable, Skaddan said. Were not talking about politics here  were talking about basic health care.

The U.S. has always been a leader in human rights internationally and I think the Executive Order that was signed this week really is against our core values as a country, she added.
Rain, hail, snow and high winds walloped San Diego County over the weekend leaving behind downed trees and other damaged infrastructure.

In Chula Vista, Mayor Mary Salas and the Public Works Director Rick Hopkins said the cleanup following the winter storm could take weeks, and estimate the cost reaching into the millions.

Salas says that hundreds of trees were blown over throughout the city by winds that exceeded 60 mph. At Rohr Park alone, crews have counted 58 fallen trees, some decades old, and city officials expect that total to grow.

https://twitter.com/WendyFry_/status/824014374457065473

Some parks in the city have been closed to the public completely as Public Works crews are working around the clock to clean up the carnage, a decision that Mayor Salas said was absolutely necessary.

We got hit really hard Friday night, Hopkins said. I think we were one of the worst areas hit within the whole county.

On Monday, Governor Jerry Brown declared a State of Emergency for San Diego County and others throughout the state, opening up an avenue to secure funding for post-storm recovery.

Holly Crawford, director of San Diego County Office of Emergency Services said that cities can proclaim a local State of Emergency, and could receive funding from Governors California Disaster Assistance Act to offset the cost of damage to public infrastructure.

Crawford says that for "qualifying road damage" cities can receive money via Cal Trans through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) program.

Relief funding administered by the FHWA is available for the repair federal-aid highways or roads on federal lands that have been seriously damaged by natural disasters over a wide area. In some cases, funds for debris removal are only available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Funding to cover non-Federal-aid highways is available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Stafford Act.
Dozens of people gathered in Downtown San Diego Tuesday to protests against President Donald Trumps cabinet nominees.

A crowd congregated in front of Sen. Diane Feinsteins office on Front Street, holding signs that read #SwampCabinet and voicing their concerns over the individuals President Trump has selected.

There are too many people that are not qualified that are being nominated for these cabinet positions and we need the country to know how unqualified they are and that we are against them, said Donna Budzynski, with Together We Will San Diego.

Budzynski told NBC 7, Tuesdays rally was to encourage leaders to speak out against nominees.

She added that this was the first of many efforts to fight against President Trumps nominees.

This is the beginning of an activist revolution and were going to continue to show our representatives that we want to be heard and that we are in the majority, she said.

On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Ben Carson, Elaine Chao, and Wilbur Ross were confirmed for their positions as well.
A Ramona woman said she signed up for a special deal to make calls out of the U.S. but when she returned home from a trip to Mexico, her bill was hundreds of dollars more than she agreed to.

For Rosemary Fitzpatrick and her husband, making calls from their Ramona home is not a problem. But, when she recently made calls from Mexico, Rosemary said she was shocked by the results.

So I get home, I get my bill the first of November and I about fainted, Rosemary said.

Rosemary said it was a shock because before she left to visit her Baja beach home, she said she visited her local Verizon store.

I told them I was going on a trip and I would like a plan so I can make calls to the U.S. and get calls back, Rosemary said.

Rosemary said the clerk told her that would be easy.

She said no problem, we have a plan and its about $10 a month, Rosemary said.

While at her home in Mexico, Rosemary said she relaxed and made calls to friends and family, thinking everything would be fine.

When Rosemary arrived home, she found the bill waiting for her.

I was in shock, I couldnt believe it, Rosemary said.

The phone bill included over $300-worth of roaming charges. Rosemary said she went back to the Verizon store and talked to a different clerk who said she had signed up for the wrong plan and that she would have to speak with the stores manager.

And then she was sick, so I couldnt talk to her, and then the next time I went she was on vacation and the next time she was on maternity leave, Rosemary said.

Rosemary said she called Verizons customer service department and they agreed to remove some of the charges from her bill but the rest would need to be removed by the store itself.

In the meantime, they turned my phone off, Rosemary said.

Rosemary paid the bill and a $60 reconnection fee to get her phone turned back on, but, Rosemary she said she doesnt think thats fair and she wants her money back.

My husband is the one who said you better call Consumer Bob, Rosemary said.

NBC 7 Responds contacted Verizon and filled them in on Rosemarys situation. Verizon officials agreed to investigate even further and the investigation went fast.

And within an hour, I swear, I had a call from Verizon headquarters saying they got a call from NBC, Rosemary said.

Rosemary said she received all of her money back including the phone charges and the reconnection fee she had to pay.

In an email, a spokesperson for Verizon said, "We strive to provide the world-class experience every Verizon customer expects and deserves. We are grateful for the opportunity to resolve this issue and will do our best to continue earning Ms. Manion's loyalty."
One suspect is still outstanding in an officer-involved shooting near a child care center in San Diego's Linda Vista neighborhood.

The shooting happened at approximately 2:15 p.m. Tuesday on the 2100 block of Ulric Street, according to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD).

The location is right off the busy Linda Vista Road, near a library and the Vine Childcare Center. The Linda Vista Presbyterian Church and a U.S. Post Office are also nearby.

Two witnesses told NBC 7 they saw some sort of confrontation between an older man and two younger people.

SDPD Capt. Brain Ahearn said a witness also reported seeing a fight between three men outside a taco shop on Ulric Street and then heard a gunshot.

An officer responding to the incident pursued the two suspects on foot after the suspect description given by the witness matched.

Both men initially complied with the officer's command but at one point, one man produced a handgun and threatened the officer, Ahearn said.

The suspect then fled towards the day care center, attempting to climb over the fence. Another officer joined the pursuit.

As the suspect was attempting to climb the fence, armed with a handgun, he posed a significant threat to the children, and the staff," Ahearn said.

In an attempt to stop him, the officers shot the suspect, hitting him on the finger, according to Ahearn. The suspect then threw the handgun across fence, where it was later recovered by police.

The officers literally had no time to provide any kind of warning to the staff members to bring the children into a place of safety," Ahearn added.

Both officers were not hurt. They had body-worn cameras which were turned on during the shooting, Ahearn said.

The suspect has been identified as 48-year old Ferdinand Gangano Alarcio. He was booked into San Diego County Jail on multiple charges.

The other suspect has not been arrested yet.

Oscar Marin, the owner of the day care center, said his two adult sons were inside of the day care when he received a call from his son. His son told Marin a suspect jumped the day care fence.

Im concerned that theres shooting coming toward our day care. Theres 100 students in there. That was our concern, he said.

He said at the time of the incident, children and teachers were inside; the children were asleep. All children and teachers are okay.

Im upset this took place at a daycare where there are children," Marin said.

Ahearn said the officers did not have time to warn staff members to bring children to safety.

The business, which has been in Linda Vista since 2007, has surveillance cameras.

At the time of the incident, there were about 100 children and 15 teachers inside. Parents were asked to pick up their children at a secondary location on the other side of the school, off Ulric Street.

Because of the police activity, MTS bus route 120 will detour in both directions. The stops on Comstock and Linda Vista Plaza are temporarily closed.

The incident is under investigation.
One local campaign aims to help military members dress for success as they transition to the civilian workforce.

Organizers for the Farmer's Insurance Open partnered with PGA players Tuesday to help local veterans suit up with their campaign 'Suits for Soldiers'.

At a ceremony in Torrey Pines, suits and business attire were donated to 12 military veterans.

The CEO for Farmers said the total amount of clothing collected during 2016 will help thousands for veterans.

"The Farmers agents, district managers and employees, over that relatively short period of time, have collected more than 70,000 suits and business attires for distribution for our veterans," Jeff Dailey, CEO of Farmer's Group, Inc., said at the ceremony.

Suits for men and women were donated by apparel sponsors, including Ralph Laura, Puma and Peter Millar.
President Donald Trump moved aggressively to tighten the nation's immigration controls Wednesday, signing executive actions to jumpstart construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall and block federal grants from immigrant-protecting "sanctuary cities."

"Beginning today the United States of America gets back control of its borders," Trump declared during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security. "We are going to save lives on both sides of the border."

Trump cast his actions as fulfillment of a campaign pledge to enact hard-line immigration measures, including construction of a wall paid for by Mexico. With the families of Americans killed by people living in the U.S. illegally sitting in the audience, Trump said, "When it comes to public safety, there is no place for politics."

Funding for the border wall project is murky. While Trump has repeatedly promised that Mexico will pay for it, U.S. taxpayers are expected to foot the bill and the new administration has said nothing about how it will compel Mexico to reimburse the money. One of the executive actions Trump signed Wednesday appears to signal that he could restrict aid to Mexico.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who reiterated Wednesday evening that Mexico will not pay for it, is expected to meet with Trump at the White House next week, despite calls from some lawmakers for him to cancel his visit.

Congressional aides say there is about $100 million of unspent appropriations in the Department of Homeland Security account for border security, fencing and infrastructure. That would allow planning efforts to get started, but far more money would have to be appropriated for when construction got underway.

In an interview with MSNBC's Greta Van Susteren Wednesday, House Speaker Paul Ryan said there are many different ways to get Mexico to contribute to paying for the wall and "there are different ways of defining how, exactly they pay for it." Ryan also confirmed that price tag estimates of $8 billion to $14 billion are "about right."

Trump has insisted many times the border structure will be a wall. The order he signed referred to "a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous and impassable physical barrier."

Citing a "crisis" at the southern border, the president's orders also call for hiring 5,000 additional border patrol agents, though the increase is subject to congressional approval. He also moved to end what Republicans have labeled a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are released and given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

But Trump's attempt to fix America's broken immigration system with a border wall appears to be misguided. According to the Pew Research Center, net migration flows from Mexico have been negative since 2008. In other words, more Mexicans are leaving the country than entering. In 2014, there were 5.8 million Mexican undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., down from 6.4 million in 2009 and lower that the peak in 2007 of 6.9 million.

Meanwhile, the number of undocumented immigrants from countries other than Mexico grew by 325,000 since 2009, to an estimated 5.3 million in 2014, according to Pew. Populations went up most for origin countries in Asia and Central America, but the number also ticked up for those from sub-Saharan Africa.

Later in the week, Trump is expected to sign orders restricting the flow of refugees into the United States. His current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as a temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim-majority countries, according to a source from a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues. The person was briefed on the details of that proposed action by a government official and outlined the plan to The Associated Press.

The public policy organization source insisted on anonymity in order to outline the plans ahead of the president's official announcements.

Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten U.S. immigration policies, including strengthening border security and stemming the flow of refugees. His call for a border wall was among his most popular proposals with supporters, who often broke out in chants of "build that wall" during rallies.

In response to terrorism concerns, Trump controversially called for halting entry to the U.S. from Muslim countries. He later turned to a focus on "extreme vetting" for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

To build the wall, the president is relying on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-President George W. Bush, and the majority of that fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office. The last remnants were completed after President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

The Trump administration also must adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built. The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the U.S.-Mexico border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint U.S.-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.

Trump's order to crack down on sanctuary cities  locales that don't cooperate with immigration authorities  could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars. But the administration may face legal challenges, given that some federal courts have found that local jurisdictions cannot hold immigrants beyond their jail term or deny them bond based only a request from immigration authorities.

It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still being finalized. The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the U.S. for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though the person cautioned the details could still change.

There is also likely to be an exception for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.

As president, Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing. Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.

AP writer Alicia A. Caldwell in Washington contributed to this report.
Gov. Jerry Brown delivered an aggressive defense on Tuesday of California's liberal policies on immigration, health care and climate change during his State of the State address, vowing to fight the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress if they threaten to roll back state policies.

"California is not turning back. Not now, not ever," Brown said.

The Democratic governor, who has made fighting climate change a legacy issue, also noted the state's successes in cutting unemployment, closing a multibillion-dollar deficit, boosting school funding and expanding rights for immigrants who are in the country illegally.

While no one knows what President Donald Trump's administration will bring, the governor said, "there are signs that are disturbing."

"We have seen the bold assertion of 'alternative facts.' We have heard the blatant attacks on science," Brown told a joint session of the Democratic-controlled Legislature. "Familiar signposts of our democracy  truth, civility, working together  have been obscured or swept aside."

With backing from the Obama administration, the state of 39 million people has adopted the most aggressive program in the U.S. to fight climate change, a campaign to roll back carbon emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

The measures include escalating fees charged to polluters for emissions under the state's cap-and-trade system, incentives for electric cars, and regulation of greenhouse gas releases from dairy cows and landfills.

The state also embraced the federal health care law and committed billions of dollars to expanding Medi-Cal, the state's health insurance program for the poor. While over 5 million more people now have access to health care, the expansion relies on billions in federal funding that now could be at risk.

Brown also noted several laws passed by the Legislature to expand protections for people living in the country illegally and to give them access to driver's licenses, work permits and a college education.

"We may be called upon to defend those laws, and defend them we will," he said. "We will defend everybody  every man, woman and child  who has come here for a better life and has contributed to the well-being of our state."

He received a standing ovation from lawmakers.

He also urged the Democrats, who have a supermajority in both houses, to reject the divisiveness of last year's presidential election and embrace bipartisanship.

Assemblyman Tom Lackey, a Republican from Palmdale, said he hopes it was "a genuine invitation for collaboration."

"His address did not give me confidence that we will be moving forward on issues that matter most to Californians," Lackey said in a statement. "Skyrocketing housing costs, declining middle-class job prospects and rising violent crime rates were not even mentioned."

Brown is projecting a $1.6 billion budget deficit and proposing $3 billion in spending cuts, largely to social programs that his fellow Democrats support. In his address, he did not propose any new policies.

He did find himself in agreement with the Trump administration on the need for infrastructure improvements, saying California has "roads and tunnels and railroads and even a dam that the president could help us with."

Republicans in the Legislature agree with Democrats on the need for billions in infrastructure projects, but not on how to pay for them.

Assemblyman Phil Ting, a San Francisco Democrat, said the speech offered hope for Californians who fear they might be singled out under the new administration in Washington: "I think it's a message to them that we're going to continue to protect you."

Brown is coming off a blockbuster year of liberal victories. In addition to securing an extension of California's landmark climate change legislation, he increased the state minimum wage, expanded family leave laws, toughened gun laws and persuaded voters to soften sentencing laws and reject a ballot measure that threatened two of his legacy projects on high-speed rail and water supply.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump dealt a blow to President Barack Obama's legacy on climate change, signing executive actions to advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, a move cheered by congressional Republicans and decried by environmentalists.

___

AP writer Sophia Bollag also contributed to this report.
A Northeast Regional Amtrak train with 95 passengers on board struck a tanker truck Wednesday morning two miles north of Quantico, Virginia. No injuries were reported.

The train was en route from Norfolk, Virginia, to New York City when it hit the tanker about 9:55 a.m., Amtrak said. The train struck the tanker at a crossing on Cherry Hill Road, said Prince William County Police spokesman Jonathan Perok.

Service was temporarily suspended while authorities investigated the crash, but resumed at 11:35 a.m., an Amtrak spokeswoman said.

Prince William County Police and Fire & Rescue were called to the scene.
What to Know Maryland State Police motorcycles blocked traffic at I-70 and the I-270 ramp to assist a congressional motorcade, state police said.

Two dump trucks and the SUV had stopped when another dump truck rear-ended the SUV, triggering a fatal chain reaction crash.

Senate Democrats are holding a retreat in Shepherdstown, about 70 miles from Washington, a spokesman for Senator Bernie Sanders said.

The driver of an SUV who stopped to allow a congressional motorcade to pass died in a fiery crash involving three dump trucks Wednesday morning, Maryland State Police said.

State police motorcycles blocked traffic at Interstate 70 and the Interstate 270 ramp in Frederick to assist a U.S. Capitol Police motorcade, state police spokesperson Elena Russo said.

Two dump trucks and the SUV traveling westbound on I-70 stopped for the motorcade when when another dump truck rear-ended the SUV after 9 a.m., triggering a chain reaction crash with the other dump trucks ahead of it.

The crash caused an explosion for unknown reasons, and two dump trucks and the SUV became engulfed in flames.

The only person in the SUV, 46-year-old Jacob Jackson of Gaithersburg, Maryland, died. The victim's identity remains unconfirmed.

Fire and EMS took the drivers of two of the dump trucks to Frederick Memorial Hospital. The third refused medical treatment.

The motorcade was traveling from Washington to Shepherdstown, West Virginia, said Eva Malecki, of U.S. Capitol Police. No motorcade vehicles were involved in the crash, she said.

Senate Democrats are holding a retreat in Shepherdstown, about 70 miles from Washington, a spokesman for Sen. Bernie Sanders said.

Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, both Democrats from Maryland offered condolences to the victim's family in a joint statement. They traveled to the retreat in their own vehicles and were not part of the motorcade.

The crash disabled all four vehicles, state police said.

The crash closed westbound I-70 and northbound off-ramp lanes of I-270, the Maryland State Highway Administration said on its website. All lanes reopened, and the investigation continues.
President Donald Trump has called for a "major investigation" into voter fraud after repeating unsubstantiated claims that millions of people voted illegally in November.

But D.C. and all 50 states have finalized their presidential election results with no reports of the type of widespread fraud Trump is alleging.

Election officials in D.C., Maryland and Virginia repeated on Wednesday that claims of voter fraud are unfounded and multiple systems are in place to detect irregularities.

Trump said in a private meeting with congressional leaders Monday night that he would have won the popular vote if 3 to 5 million people had not voted illegally.

In Maryland, a state election official said that in her 13-year career she had seen a total of two ballots cast illegally.

In Arlington County, Virginia, an official said that in 22 years she also had seen just two cases.

In Virginia, officials showed how they verify that people are able to vote.

The Virginia Department of Elections provided a chart showing the web of lists against which the list of state voters is cross-checked to confirm that each person is indeed eligible. State officials check data from the Social Security Administration, Department of Motor Vehicles and Virginia state police, among several other sources.

Virginia Department of Elections

Go here to see a larger version of this chart.

Here's what the officials who oversee the voting systems in our region said:

District of Columbia

The D.C. Board of Elections has not received any reports of voter fraud connected to the 2016 presidential election, voter outreach specialist Tamara Robinson said.

"As far as malicious intent for voter fraud, we have not experienced that," she said.

Like other jurisdictions, D.C. compares data from multiple sources to confirm that voters are eligible.

Any snags that do occur are related to innocent errors, Robinson said. For example, a man was marked as having voted twice after an election official erroneously recorded him and his son, who had the same name, as one person.

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times EST): 5:30 p.m. President Donald Trump says Air Force One is beautiful and is a great plane. Trumps first flight on the modified Boeing 747 was a roundtrip to Philadelphia to address GOP House and Senate members at their annual retreat. Journalists traveling with Trump were brought to the...

Maryland

An election official in Maryland also said no major fraud or attempted fraud had been detected or reported.

"In Maryland we have had no coordinated effort to impact the outcome of the election," Maryland State Board of Elections deputy administrator Nikki Charlson said.

Officials work to detect irregularities before and after people cast ballots.

Charlson said she knew of two cases of fraud in her 13 years at the board. In one case, a woman cast her mother's absentee ballot after her mother had died. In the other case, a woman cast a ballot in her mother's name after her mother died and the woman knew she would not have time to cast a ballot in her home state.

Both cases were prosecuted, Charlson said.

Virginia

Virginia Department of Elections Commissioner Edgardo Cortes also said he knew of no evidence in his state of coordinated voter fraud.

"We constantly hear these claims that there's all this stuff going on, but no one's been able to show us anything concrete," he said.

Virginia has one of the best systems in the country for maintaining and cross-checking its list of registered voters, Cortes said. Election officials check data from across the country to make sure voters are not registered in multiple states, and are able to confirm that provided addresses exist and are not, for example, commercial addresses.

Election officials in Arlington and Fairfax counties were adamant that there was no evidence of large-scale voter fraud.

"If there is evidence, I certainly welcome it if the administration wants to bring it to us," Arlington County director of elections Linda Lindberg said.

Im not saying voter fraud doesnt exist -- it does exist," she continued. "But on a very small scale. On a scale that would influence a major election, like a presidential election? Obviously the answer is no.

Lindberg said that in her 22 years on the job, she saw just two cases of voting fraud, in 1997 and 2012. The cases were forwarded to prosecutors.

In Fairfax County, general registrar Cameron Sasnett said it's hard not to take Trump's comments as a personal insult.

"I do take it very personally, and I think every election administrator probably feels the same way," he said.

He said he has not seen a single case of voter fraud since he took his position in 2015.

Cortes, the state election commissioner, said he was aware of two recent cases, in Alexandria and Harrisonburg, in which people filed voter registration forms with false information.

"We catch those folks and we remove them pretty quick," Cortes said.

The commissioner assured Virginians that the voting system is secure.

"We have dedicated people working every day to make sure the election process is working for voters," he said.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.
A woman spent years trying to get a refund when the company from which she ordered a stairlift for her father wasnt able to deliver one before his death.

Three years ago, U.S. Army First Sgt. Willy Pandy's health was deteriorating, and getting up and down his stairs was difficult.

He, being such a proud man, wanted to be as independent as possible, and so it was our job to make sure that happened, his daughter Lajune Pandy said.

In October 2013, she hired Access Mobility Equipment of Virginia to install a used stairlift, initially giving the company $450, then another $500 in November.

In February 2014, she reached out to the company to see if it had any luck finding a stairlift for her father, but it had not.

Then in June 2014, her father died.

Dad was gone, and if someone says they're going to do something, Im one who takes someone at their word, Pandy said.

She asked the owner of the company for a full refund.

He said he understood and he was going to refund us the money, she said.

But for the next year, she said, she tried unsuccessfully to get the refund. She filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and took the owner to court.

He was a no show, she said.

After NBC4 Responds emailed the owner of the company, Pandy immediately heard back.

It was miraculous, she said. It was a week-and-a-half after your producer contacted him that I received my refund.

In a statement, the owner of the company said the family was told upfront that a used stairlift would be difficult to obtain and there were other solutions, but they declined, and, according to him, never finished paying for the stairlift that became available. He acknowledged the need no longer existed since Mr. Parady died and, as a "courtesy," he offered a refund.

I felt finally it is really over, and it was almost like we could really put Dad to rest, Lajune Pandy said.
President Donald Trump moved to advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines Tuesday, a pair of projects that were blocked by the Obama administration due in part to environmental concerns. Both orders are subject to renegotiations of the agreements.

Trump also signed a notice requiring the materials for the pipelines to be constructed in the United States, though it was unclear how he planned to enforce the measure.

"From now we are going to start making pipelines in the United States," Trump said from the Oval Office on a busy day in Washington, with many hearings scheduled on Capitol Hill.

[[411666475, C]]

Looking ahead, Trump announced that he planned to nominate a justice for the Supreme Court next week, moving swiftly to try to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The president summoned top senators to the White House later Tuesday to discuss his short list of nominees, which reportedly has been narrowed to three names.

Trump has sought to focus his first full week in office on jobs and the economy. Republicans, as well as some unions, have cited the pipeline projects as prime opportunities for job growth.

Former President Barack Obama stopped the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in late 2015, declaring it would have undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal that was a centerpiece of his environmental legacy. The pipeline would run from Canada to Nebraska where it would connect to existing lines running to U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast. The U.S. government needs to approve the pipeline because it would cross the nation's northern border.

Separately, late last year, the Army Corps of Engineers declined to allow construction of the Dakota Access pipeline under Lake Oahe, saying alternative routes needed to be considered. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters say the project threatens drinking water and Native American sites, though Energy Transfer Partners, the company that wants to build the pipeline, disputes that and says the pipeline will be safe.

The pipeline is to carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois.

[[411666595, C]]

Trump said Tuesday at a meeting with the heads of the big three American automakers, General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler, that he is, "to a large extent, an environmentalist," though he didn't elaborate.

But the president has signaled a different approach to the oil and gas industry from Obama's, nominating former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Pruitt, a frequent critic of the EPA, supported Keystone XL.

[NATL] The Fight Over Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock

Trump also met with Indian Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi. A statement says the two leaders discussed opportunities for cooperation in economy and defense, and security in South and Central Asia. They resolved that their nations "stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism." Trump says India is a "true friend" of the U.S. in addressing global challenges, and he has invited Modi to visit later in the year.

The president was also set to meet new CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Senate leadership Tuesday.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday he has invited Trump to address a Joint Session of Congress on Feb. 28. It would be his first speech to Congress.

Even as Trump moves to implement his agenda, he is still making false claims.

During a reception with lawmakers at the White House Monday evening, Trump claimed the reason he'd lost the popular vote to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton was that 3 million to 5 million voted illegally, including immigrants living in the U.S. without documentation. That's according to two NBC News sources familiar with the private exchange.

There is no evidence to support Trump's claim. He made a similar statement on Twitter in late November that he had won the Electoral College in a "landslide" and "won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally." Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes but lost the electoral contest.

Trump's assertion appears to be part of a continuing pattern for him and his new administration in which falsehoods overshadow his outreach efforts.

Also Tuesday, Senate committes approved Ben Carson for housing secretary, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for United Nations Ambassador and Wilbur Ross to lead the Commerce Department. A hearing for attorney general pick Sen. Jeff Sessions was delayed one week.

All committee votes must be approved by the Senate.

Rep. Tom Price (health and human services secretary), Elaine Chao (labor secretary), Linda McMahon (small business administrator) and Rep. Mick Mulvaney (Office of Management and Budget director) also had committee hearings Tuesday.

NBC's Asher Klein contributed to this report.
The "badly decomposed body" of a man was found Wednesday morning behind a Dunkin' Donuts off Route 1 in Thomaston, Maine, state police say.

A worker found the remains in a wooded area past the parking lot. Police say they have a "promising lead" on the person's identity.

The body is believed to have been in the woods for months.

State police are assisting Thomaston police in the investigation. The body isbeing examined by the Maine Medical Examiner's Office in Augusta.

Authorities have not said whether the death was suspicious, but it remains under investigation.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh spoke out emphatically against President Trump's executive orders on immigration at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Standing in front of rows of immigrant city workers and officials, the mayor said he was disturbed by the president's moves.

"I want everyone to just get a good picture of behind me today. This is America, who's behind me," the mayor said. "Many immigrants who work for the City of Boston, and many first-generation Americans who work for the City of Boston, who are proud of their heritage and where they come from."

Trump's White House is "advancing the most destructive and un-American threats made to America during the campaign," Walsh proclaimed.

The executive actions Trump signed block federal funding for sanctuary cities that protect immigrants, as well as jumpstarting construction of a wall on the Mexican border.

"I want to say directly to anyone who feels threatened today, or vulnerable: You are safe in Boston," Walsh said. "We will do everything lawful in our power to protect you. If necessary, we will use City Hall itself to shelter and protect anyone who's targeted unjustly."

A lack of funding from Washington, the mayor said, will not deter Boston from protecting its residents.

"We will not be intimidated by the threat to federal funding. We have each other's backs, and we have the Constitution of the United States of America on our side," Walsh said. "A president's job is to bring us together and elevate us, not to divide each of us and tear us down."

Walsh promised to let immigrants who feel threatened by Trump's actions take shelter in City Hall if necessary.

"That means if people want to live here they can live here. They can use my office, they can use any office in this building," Walsh said.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey reacted saying the president's actions were irresponsible.

"Strong, independently-governed communities are part of what makes Massachusetts great. The Presidents executive order is an irresponsible attempt to coerce our communities into conducting his mass deportations, and would impact all residents by stripping federal funding for roads, schools, police, health care, the elderly, and assistance for those in need. My office will be watching closely and I will be ready to stand with our cities and towns in the coming days," Healey said in a statement.

The ACLU of Massachusetts issued a statement supporting Walsh's hard stance.

"The ACLU stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Mayor Walsh and other public officials who are willing to stand up to the Trump administration's unpatriotic, wrongheaded, and unconstitutional executive order," Executive Director Carol Rose said in a statement. "We stand with those who seek to unify the country behind protecting fundamental rights and liberties. And to the Trump administration officials who seek to do otherwise: we'll see you in court."
An 86-year-old Canton woman is dead after the car she was a passenger in crashed into the Crown & Hammer Pub in Collinsville on Monday, according to police.

Emergency crews responded to the restaurant just after 12:30 p.m. Monday and found a car lodged about three feet into the kitchen at 3 Depot St. with one person was trapped inside the vehicle.

Police said a 51-year-old Canton man was driving and 86-year-old Margaret Stoppani was the passenger.

Crews also found water leaking out of the building and the odor of gas, so firefighters shut off the utilities and paramedics and EMTs evaluated the driver and Stoppani.

The driver suffered minor injuries and Stoppani died from injuries she sustained, according to police. The office of the chief medical examiner will determine what she died of.

The restaurant is closed on Mondays, so no customers were inside when the crash happened the owner was able to escape without being injured, according to the Canton volunteer fire and EMS department.

The building inspector in Canton will check the building to determine whether the restaurant can reopen. A post on the Crown and Hammer Facebook page says they will be closed until they can repair the damage.

Police ask witnesses to call 860-693-0221.
DailyFX.com -

Talking Points

Taiwans growth expanded at its fastest pace for nearly two years in the last quarter of 2016

However, it still managed to miss forecasts

Currency markets chose to accentuate the positives, with gains for the Taiwanese Dollar

China proxy Taiwans economy scored its strongest rate of growth since early 2015 in the final quarter of last year but managed to miss forecasts in the process on Wednesday.

All the same, the Taiwanese Dollar seemed to enjoy the release and crept higher against its US cousin after it.

Gross Domestic Product grew 2.58% in the last three months of 2016 compared to the same period a year earlier according to preliminary official figures. That would be the strongest annual pace since the first quarter of 2015, when the economy grew by 4.01%, but still below the 3% level which markets had been expecting.

The economy expanded by 1.4% for the full year of 2016, which was below the 1.5% that markets had been looking for. Taiwan has been wrestling for some time with comparatively sluggish growth and stagnant wages, along with a protracted exodus of local companies to mainland China. Hopes of a regional financial sector to rival Singapore have also foundered.

But it seems that relative export strength endures. Of course, the ascendency of Donald Trump has raised the spectre of a more protectionist world, a trend which China and all Asias major exporters will want to fight as hard as they can.

Still, investors took a reasonably optimistic view of Wednesdays data. The Taiwanese Dollar gained on the greenback in the wake of the numbers. USD/TWD slipped to 31.30 after their release, from 31.39 just before hand.

Creeping higher: TWD

Taiwanese Dollar Ticks Up On Stronger GDP Print

Chart compiled using TradingView

How are DailyFX analysts forecasts holding up? Take a look here.

--- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research

Contact and follow David on Twitter: @DavidCottleFX



original source

DailyFX provides forex news and technical analysis on the trends that influence the global currency markets.

Learn forex trading with a free practice account and trading charts from IG.
Police said a man in Maine went to great heights to steal electricity from a power pole outside of his home.

Nicholas Gagne, 36, of Wales, has been charged with theft of services. Police said he scaled a power pole, connected jumper cables to the transformer at the top, and ran cables down into his house.

According to Central Maine Power spokesperson Gail Rice, a power crew noticed something wrong with the pole, located along Oak Hill Road in Wales. It was the third time CMP had an issue with this customer, so they called Maine State Police for help.

The investigation revealed that Gagne was climbing up the power pole outside of his house, a Maine State Police spokesman said, estimating that Gagne stole about $3,000 in electricity. The CMP official was impressed with the ingenuity, [and] told [police] that it was wildly dangerous.

Rice said the cable was hot to the touch, which meant it was overloaded. She added that the jerry-rigged power pole created a fire hazard and could have shocked someone who came into contact with the cable.

A fraction of an amp can stop an individuals heart, said Rice. He created an extremely dangerous situation for himself, for our employees, and for people who happened to be in the area.

Gagne declined to be interviewed on camera, but told NECN he is involved in a billing dispute with CMP. When the power company shut off his power, he said, he took matters into his own hands and climbed the pole.

Its not hard, he said.

When asked if he thought his actions were dangerous, Gagne said the situation has been blown out of proportion. He disputes the thousands of dollars in power he is accused of stealing.

According to the Androscoggin County court, Gagne is scheduled to be arraigned in March. He may also face additional charges including Aggravated Criminal Mischief. Gagne said he does not yet have an attorney.
A Boston man is back home after spending three weeks in a hospital after being injured in a hit-and-run crash in Miami Beach, Florida.

Abhishek Tulsyan, 24, was nearly killed Christmas Eve when a car plowed into him while he was heading back to his hotel.

I had no clue, I didnt see that car, it just hit me, Tulsyan explained to NBC Boston.

The Babson College graduate student was on winter break when the crash happened.

I went up in the air when the car hit me, I hit a palm tree, and then I fell down, Tulsyan said.

After hitting the palm tree, he landed in some bushes.

I tried to get up from there, and then I fell down and after that I was not able to feel my body, I was conscious, but I wasnt able to feel anything, he said.

Strangers surrounded Tulsyan and called 911.

Tulsyan spent the next three weeks in a hospital. He suffered 8 or 9 broken bones in his pelvis and foot but did not suffer a head injury nor did he need surgery.

Ive been going through a lot of physical struggles as well as psychological struggles, he said.

Tulsyan has watched the video of the crash several times and calls it a miracle that he survived.

Tulsyan was in Miami Beach with two friends of his from Babson. It was the first leg of a trip of a lifetime. They were scheduled to go to several countries in South America after Florida.

Now that he's back home, Tulsyans parents are in Boston from India to help with his recovery. He is still using a wheelchair and a walker, and continues to go through physical therapy.

Miami Beach Police have still not found the driver but Tulsyan hopes he or she will come forward.

It was me who was injured in this accident. Next time it could be their family member, and they should take a bold step so that this doesnt happen in the future and theres no one like me who gets to suffer without any reason, Tulsyan said.
A Noreaster that brought damaging wind, heavy rain, ice and snow to New England yesterday is finally pulling away from the region and moving into the Canadian Maritimes.

Gusty winds will still be around today, but not nearly as powerful as they were yesterday. Cloudy skies will give way to some sunshine this afternoon. Highs today will reach into the 40s.

Gusty winds will finally slacken tonight as clouds move back in across the region as a brief weather system passes overhead. Expecting a few rain showers.

Lows will bottom-out in the low 30s south to mid 20s north. Unseasonable warmth is in store for tomorrow with highs reaching into the lower 50s south and 40s elsewhere.

A cold front moves through New England during the day, bringing some rain showers with it.

A series of waves of low pressure from Canada will pivot across our area into the weekend, bringing the chance of snow showers across the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire.

Friday features mostly sunny skies with highs in the 40s behind cold frontal passage. Continued mostly sunny skies for Saturday with highs cresting into the upper 30s south to upper 20s north.

Sunday will bring more sun and clouds, extending into the start of the work week.
A University of Massachusetts Amherst student is accused of threatening violence against the school, prosecutors say.

Geoffrey Small, a 22-year-old Newbury native, appeared in Eastern Hampshire District Court Tuesday. He allegedly threatened to commit a shooting, which the Northwestern District Attorney's Office says was connected to a verbal threat he's accused of making toward the school.

Small was released on personal recognizance, but he was ordered to stay out of Hampshire County and away from the school. He will also be required to submit to random drug testing and be evaluated for anger issues.

The suspect is due back in court Feb. 28.
Residents in one of two Connecticut communities chosen as finalists for the state's third casino, crowded a school auditorium Tuesday night, to hear about those plans.

More than 300 people packed the East Windsor Middle School for a meeting with the chairmen of the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes.

For the first hour, the men laid out their argument for why Connecticut needs a third casino. They said MGM's brand new casino project going up 15 miles north in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts poses as a threat to the state's economy. They warned that Connecticut could lose 9,400 jobs and $702 million in revenue when the competing casino opens. However, they said a third casino could add to the economy, by adding jobs and upwards of $6 million to the community they chose.

People lined up at the microphone to have their voice heard and get their questions answered. While some said they came to the meeting undecided about the project, many already had their minds made up before the meeting even began.

Theres a lot of people that need jobs. It would help East Windsor a lot," said Donald Arsenault of East Windsor.

Casinos have an element that, like it or not, isnt advantageous," argued Michelle Vannelli of Windsor, a community stuck right in between the two casino finalists, East Windsor and Windsor Locks.

East Windors long-abandoned Showcase Cinemas, right off the interstate, is one of two finalists for the $300 million casino project. Among the concerns brought up Tuesday night was congestion on I-91.

I feel the traffic will be so bad I wont want to come here anymore," said Bonnue Karkowski, also of Windsor.

There's also the potential burden on emergency services.

Me living right there, Im concerned about crime," said East Windsor resident David Bania.

Another issue said some residents, the toll the casino may take on the towns infrastructure, from water and sewer, to roads. Tribal leaders wouldnt say how much theyre willing to give the town to cover those costs.

We stay very cognoscente of the demands that we place on the public services of the community and we come to arrangements that are mutually beneficial," explained Mohegan Tribe Chairman Kevin Brown.

Earlier Tuesday, the Coalition Against Casino Expansion said they do not want a third casino, focusing on the negative economic and social impact of gambling, bringing out victims of gambling addiction to state their case.

"I took it from playing bingo all the way to sleeping in a prison," said Joanie Masot of Advocacy Unlimited.

"Before 2008, all I did was gambling. And literally in 2008, I hit the bottom rock. I lost my businesses. I lost my job. I lost everything," said Adam Osmond of Farmington.

Several bills dealing with the casino issue are also being considered in the state legislature, including one that would require a competitive bidding process. That would open up the project to other developers besides the two tribes. Another would require town referendum before moving forward with a new casino.

Time is not our friend. MGM has steel going up. Any delay in this process, whether its at the town level, the state level, isnt going to be helpful," said Rodney Butler, Mashantucket Pequot Tribe Chairman, adding that at the end of the day they want to work with townspeople and lawmakers to be welcome members of the community they want to build in.

Richard Ellis a gambler himself, said he's all in.

Id rather gamble in my own town than go way down to Norwich," Ellis explained.

MGM says they expect to have their new casino opened in Springfield in Fall of 2018. Connecticut's tribal leaders say they hope to have theirs up and running in 12 to 18 months.

They plan to hold a meeting Thursday at 7:30 at the Windsor Locks High School.
A customer was recently caught on a cell phone camera berating two employees at a Dunkin Donuts in Malden, Massachusetts.

Customer Danielle Brayak, who had just come back from the Women's Rally in Boston on Saturday, said the customer was yelling expletives and said to the workers, "Trump is here go back home!"

Brayak quickly stood up for the Dunkin Donuts employees.

"I had to speak up. My husband is Moroccan. He immigrated here," Brayak said.

She told NBC Boston that she fired right back at the screaming woman saying, "You just said, 'Trump is here, go back home.' You go (expletive) home. I live here. So the (expletive) do I and so do they."

Brayak believes the employees at the Malden Center location were disrespected by the unidentified woman because they were immigrants. She said that by sticking up for them, hopefully she put the woman in her place.

"Hopefully this will stop her from doing it again in the future," Brayak said. "I think it's important as a Caucasian that we stand up in instances like that because the entire store was filled with non-Caucasian people and if they had said something to her, it probably wouldnt have resonated with her."

The yelling customer eventually left. Brayak said she admires how the two employees handled the situation.

"They were trying to accommodate her and be nice to her. They shouldnt have to take that abuse," she said.
Immigration issues have returned to the spotlight nationally, and on the local level in Vermont, after a series of announcements Wednesday by President Donald Trump.

Trump, speaking at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, announced policy changes he said are aimed at keeping the nation safe, NBC News reported.

The announcements included a step toward building a wall on the nation's southern border with Mexico, hiring thousands of new border patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and stopping the flow of federal funds to what are known as "sanctuary cities" that protect undocumented immigrants from deportationunless those funds are related to law enforcement.

"We are going to save lives on both sides of the border," Trump predicted.

Immigration, while a mostly federal concern, is deeply personal to many in Vermont.

Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan, a Democrat, announced Wednesday the formation of a new task force to advise his office on its legal authority on immigration matters. Donovan noted his announcement comes amid great uncertainty about the Trump administration's policies, including those pertaining to refugees.

The task force includes bipartisan members of the Vermont Legislature, experts in immigration law, an ACLU lawyer, a member of the Vermont State Police, and the executive director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission.

"Many Vermonters have raised questions to me about what may happen at the federal level regarding immigration," Donovan said. "The short answer is we don't know. I think what is driving some of the fear and anxiety is the unknown."

NBC News reported that other White House actions, which could come as early as this week, may include temporarily limiting immigration of refugees and blocking visas for citizens of Middle Eastern and African countries deemed by the Trump administration to be particularly prone to terrorism. Those nations include Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Right now, the city of Rutland is in the process of greeting up to 100 refugees from Syria and Iraq, who Mayor Christopher Louras has said are expected to gradually arrive through September.

Immigration task force member Kesha Ram said she hopes Vermont will remain a welcoming place for refugees, even amid that murky future for refugee policy out of D.C.

"It makes me sad and shocked to think that people who finally made it out of a living hell like what's going on in Syria will now lose hope again and not be able to get here," Ram told necn Wednesday. "But that's on a personal level. And as a member of this task force, we're going to be moving cautiously and getting answers for Vermonters."

Advocates for Vermont's migrant farm worker community have been critical of President Trump.

It's widely believed there are roughly 1,500-2,000 undocumented farm workers in Vermont. They are often invisible, but are critical to the state's famous dairy industry.

Enrique Balcazar came to Vermont from Mexico for a farm job and now speaks up for that community with the activist group Migrant Justice.

Balcazar told necn he is deeply disappointed at rhetoric from the Trump administration. Balcazar said he feels candidate and now President Trump has painted many migrants as negative drains on the United States, instead of acknowledging their positive contributionslike providing important labor to farms.

"The community is really more united than ever, because it's clear President Trump is seeking to go against human rights, and as we say, you can't trump human rights," Balcazar said Wednesday through an interpreter.

Several Vermont communities are also considering becoming so-called sanctuary cities, which would see them adopt formal policies to protect undocumented residents from deportation.

The Associated Press reported Attorney General Donovan has concerns about that designation, because sanctuary cities don't have legal status.

According to NBC News, Trump, after announcing he would clamp down on sanctuary cities, stressed the policy changes are aimed at keeping the nation safe and ending "one injustice after another" for the families of those killed by undocumented immigrants.

"We hear you, we see you, and you will never ever be ignored again," Trump told his audience.
Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage is arguing the state shouldn't help "illegal immigrants" by funding cash benefits for legal immigrants seeking political asylum.

LePage has long railed against the General Assistance program and his two-year budget proposal calls for $12 million in cuts to the program, which targets the poor and those in financial distress.

LePage told WVOM-FM on Tuesday that Portland is "the leader" of breaking laws about giving "illegal immigrants" General Assistance.

He said communities, not the state, should fund "illegal immigrants."

The Portland Press Herald reported the city's moved to only use local funding for benefits to immigrants who haven't applied for asylum yet.

General Assistance recipients must work if they're physically able and face a two-year cap on cash benefits for basics like food and rent.
The 1st Fighter Wings air crews and support personnel out of Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, arrived at Nellis AFB, Nevada, Jan.17 and 18, to participate in Red Flag 17-1, as the exercises core unit.

Red Flag, a three-week combat training exercise involving U.S. and allied forces air, space and cyber domains, kicked off January 22 on a simulated battlefield over the skies of the Nevada Test and Training Range north of Las Vegas. Throughout the training exercise, Airmen support their units in defeating aggressors including realistic threat systems and opposing enemy forces, providing all domains the ability to train collectively for contingencies in a safe environment to increase the combat capabilities for any future combat situation.

This year we are the core unit, meaning we are the heartbeat for Red Flag, said Capt. Matthew Siverio, Red Flag 17-1 core unit project officer. "Each member that is attached to the core unit will utilize their expertise to match the expectations of the Red Flag Air Expeditionary Wing commander to ultimately make this the most successful Red Flag we can."

According to Master Sgt. Erick Matos, Red Flag 17-1 superintendent, as the exercises core unit, the 1st FW has the added challenge of not only conducting its own air-to-air and cyber mission taskings, but also supporting Red Flags U.S. and allied forces.

We are ensuring over 30 different units and over 3,000 individuals form not only the U.S., but partner nations like the United Kingdom and Australia as well as our sister services have all the resources they need and require to learn and execute the best way of employing a combined large force package in a live-fly environment, Matos explained.

Siverio anticipates that facilitating successful countering of air, space and cyber threats by all participating units will take a team effort lead by Americas first team, the 1st FW.

We're here as a core unit to help all other participating units by lending our expertise and ensuring they have all the necessary resources they need to meet the objectives set out by Red Flag staff and their respective units, said Siverio adding that such groundwork can range from augmenting core members to fill duty gaps and tasking other to units to achieve exercise needs.

For Matos, succeeding as the core unit is simple; ensure all duty requirements are met and support wherever help is needed.

We will overcome challenges merely by having the correct and experienced core personnel assigned to each Air Force Specialty Code required, said Matos. This will ensure that all personnel have all necessary assets and support, in order to achieve the commanders mission intent.

With three weeks of intensive training left to go, Red Flag veterans and first timers, will have the 1st FW to rely on and keep the heart of Red Flag special tactical operations moving forward faster.
St Peter Mancroft Church Norwich Presents The Leaves of the Trees an installation by sculptor Peter Walker which provides a memorial for those who died of Covid-19

St Peter Mancroft Church Norwich Presents The Leaves of the Trees an installation by sculptor Peter Walker which provides a memorial for those who died of Covid-19

Community Chaplaincy Norfolk begins a new chapter Community Chaplaincy Norfolk (CCN) celebrated the beginning of a new chapter this week, as the new chair of trustees Chris Tomlinson led his first annual meeting. Read more

Lowestoft Christians launch on-line bible helps app The Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth branch of Good News for Everyone (GNFE), formerly the Gideons, have introduced a new mobile phone app called On-line Bible Helps. Read more

Addicts' rehabilitation centre plan for Drayton Hall Christian addiction charity Teen Challenge London is planning to turn Drayton Hall near Norwich into its headquarters and a rehabilitation centre for men, after it was gifted the freehold of the hall by its owner, the Lind Trust. Read more

The power of positive protest Philip Young encourages us to take a stand for what we believe, and has just written to Therese Coffey regarding climate change and the forthcoming COP 27. He explains why we should be prepared to protest. Read more

Norwich church celebrates with cribs and trees Rosebery Road Methodist Church in Norwich will be holding its annual Cribs and Trees Festival in December. Read more

Transforming Norwich lunch offers ministry tips Ex-Brighton vicar, Rev Phil Moon, will offer tips on how to keep going in ministry to the Transforming Norwich leaders lunch on Wednesday November 16. Read more

Quiet Waters in Bungay offers healing retreat Quiet Waters Christian Retreat in Bungay is holding a gentle day retreat exploring healing in the Kingdom of God. Read more

Latest Norfolk Christian community events Events of interest to the Norwich and Norfolk Christian community happening over the next few weeks are listed. Read more

Norfolk ministry coaching duo are guest speakers Former church leaders and now freelance ministry coaches, Jonathan and Paige Squirrell, are the guest speakers at the next dinner of Norwich FGB on Monday, November 21. Read more

Bringing light to Halloween Anna Price encourages Christians to engage positively with Halloween rather than hide away, on what many see as the darkest night of the year. Read more

First service takes place at Norwich church site SOUL Church hosted around 400 people for a special service on the site of their new building on Heartsease Lane. Read more

Dereham draws up list of warm places for winter As rising energy prices make it harder to heat homes, churches in Dereham are leading the way in creating warm spaces where people can go. Read more

South Norfolk church scoops national award A medieval Anglican church in a tiny hamlet in South Norfolk has won a national award and a 10,000 boost. Read more

Dereham churches help people to help themselves A group of churches in Dereham have launched an ambitious project which aims to meet needs in the town, including the provision of food and skills training. Read more

Halloween light in Gorleston church On Halloween this year, St Mary Magdalene Church in Gorleston will be preparing to welcome around 200 families to experience their Light on a Dark Night event. Read more

An opportunity for Norwich to pray for the nation Rev Nigel Fox, who has served as a Methodist Minister for 15 years in Norwich, shares an open invitation to pray for the nation at a crucial moment. Read more

Norwich church seeks musicians Kingdom Ambassadors International Church is appealing for instrumentlists, keyboardists and guitarists to be part of their worship experience. Read more


Norwich talk on Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles? Norwich talk on Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles?

Revd Dr Rodney Holder from the Faraday Institute, Cambridge talked about how a scientist can still believe in miracles at an Science and Faith in Norfolk event on March 6, attended by 80 people of various views.

Dr Holder first noted that there have been many scientists who do believe in miracles. An astrophysicist himself, he noted that James Clerk Maxwell, often considered one of the greatest physicists of all time after Newton and Einstein, was one such believer. So, scientists can believe in miracles, but can they do so rationally?The 18th Century Scottish enlightenment philosopher David Hume described a miracle as a violation of the laws of nature. He argued that as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined.In contrast to Humes idea, St Augustine argued that God has established and sustains the lawful order of nature and remains supreme over it. Miraculous events are not against nature from Gods perspective, for nature depends totally on God.Hume was writing against the background of a deterministic clockwork view of nature. For example, Pierre Simon-Laplace famously thought that Newtonian laws in principle allowed the calculation of any and every position of every being in the universe. But, given quantum uncertainty and chaotic systems, this is not the current view. In the words of physicist theologian John Polkinghorne, There is an emergent property of flexible process, which encourages us to see Newtons rigidly deterministic account as no more than an approximation to a more supple reality. The view of laws of nature as forcing rigid certainties is now outdated.Furthermore, as CS Lewis argued, Humes claim that experience against miracles is firm and unalterable assumes that all reports and experiences of miracles are false, and so assumes exactly what he needs to prove. In fact, Humes views on probability were shown to be deficient when Bayes theorem was published in 1763. Ordinary testimony and evidence of miracles from many different sources can in principle accumulate to overcome the initial improbability. Our current understanding of science and probability does not allow us to dismiss all reports of miracles either as violations of the laws of nature or as obviously unbelievable. The talk prompted lively group discussions and questions about, amongst many other things, the symbolic nature of biblical miracle stories, and how reports of the resurrection of Jesus compare to miracle stories in other religions.The meeting was organised bya Norwich-based group affiliated to Christians in Science.For further information contact Professor Nick Brewin (07901 884114);
A top-notch cybercrime investigator, who heads up the Kaspersky Lab team that investigates hacks, has been arrested by Russian law enforcement for possible treason.

An unnamed source close to Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) told the newspaper Kommersant that Ruslan Stoyanov may be linked to an investigation into Sergei Mikhailov, a deputy chief of the FSBs Center for Information Security. Both men were arrested in December.

Kaspersky Lab confirmed the report of Stoyanovs arrest in Kommersant, then tweeted the following statement: The case against this employee does not involve Kaspersky Lab. The employee, who is Head of the Computer Incidents Teams, is under investigation for a period predating his employment at Kaspersky Lab. We do not possess details of the investigation.

FSBs Internal Security directorate is reportedly carrying out the investigation into treason. Kommersant cited unidentified top managers and co-owners of three IT companies as sources. The Russian Legal Information Agency claimed the FSB is investigating an alleged financial transaction between a foreign organization and Mikhailov, which was possibly mediated by Stoyanov.

Forbes, however, reported it the other way around, with the investigation exploring the receipt of money from foreign companies by Stoyanov and his links to Mikhailov. A Russian source told Forbes that the way the case was filed likely means the details will not be made public and will result in a secret military tribunal.

Article 275 of the Russian criminal code allows the government to prosecute when an individual provides assistance to a foreign state or organization regarding hostile activities to the detriment of the external security of the Russian Federation. Forbes source added that this can be applied broadly. For instance, furnishing the FBI with information on a botnet may amount to treason.

If the investigation predates Stoyanovs employment at Kaspersky, which began in 2012, then a look at his LinkedIn profile shows he held several other high-ranking positions; he even worked on the Moscow Cyber Crime Unit at the Russian Interior Ministry for six years.

A quick search for Stoyanov brought up his involvement in an investigation that resulted in 50 people being arrested for booby-trapping websites with Lurk malware and then stealing more than $25 million. The Russian hacker gang bust was described as the largest ever arrest of hackers in Russia. In July 2016, Stoyanov said, Lurk started attacking banks one-and-a-half years ago; before then its malicious program targeted various enterprise and consumer systems.

Although it was not the first time that Stoyanov deep-dived into how Russian financial cybercrime works, he did write about how Kaspersky hunted for Lurk and helped to catch one of the most dangerous gangs of financial cybercriminals. He touched on how Kaspersky cooperated with law enforcement, helping the police understand how Lurk worked, receiving more enriched data back from police in a process that was repeated many times until the cyber thugs were caught.

Andrei Soldatov, who has spent over a decade studying Russian security services and the internet, told the Associated Press that the arrest of the Kaspersky manager is unprecedented. He added, It destroys a system that has been 20 years in the making, the system of relations between intelligence agencies and companies like Kaspersky. Intelligence agencies used to ask for Kaspersky's advice, and this is how informal ties were built. This romance is clearly over.
Software companies are the medium through which investors give money to PR and advertising companies, said Marv Goldschmidt, vice president of marketing at Lotus Development, a long time ago.

His advice holds true today. The biggest problem mobile software developers have is getting their apps found, downloaded and installed. It isnt creating great apps.

Marketing campaigns boosting new-user download of an app are very expensiveso expensive that the leadership team at bookmarking app maker Pocket spent a week sequestered with designer impresario Jake Knapp focusing on the user experience to decrease early uninstalls, thus retaining more users per install without increasing marketing spend.

Developers adapting their apps to meet the Instant App specification could benefit with two bites at the SEO apple. Knowing how Instant Apps work will help explain the SEO angle.

Companies choose to build mobile apps instead of less costly mobile website because the user experience is better. They trade off the mobile websites search advantages for better user experience. App content can be made searchable, but this is still new and whether this will produce the same search ranking as a mobile website is still an open question because Instant Apps are new.

How Android Instant Apps work

Instant Apps are Android apps that run virtually in Googles data centers. Developers have to redesign their apps to run virtually. The two biggest changes are breaking the app into 4MB modules and changing the way the app navigates between modules to use app links. Instant Apps work only with Android 6.0 and above, but that is a small issue because Google Search can identify devices running earlier versions and not include Instant Apps in the search results.

Instant Apps can run on users' phones without installing the app, a big cost savings because each download costs between $2 and $7 in marketing spend. This leverages the companys existing SEO activities, skills and budgets. And because the Instant App has a superior user experience compared to the mobile web, the conversion rate should be greater.

For example, a user searching for somethingperhaps a flightwill see a link in the search results from a travel companys Instant App. When the link is selected, he or she engages in an app user experience without having the app installed on the phone. If the user is authenticated with the travel companys website or mobile website, they can be authenticated into the Instant App and complete the transaction.

The app developer has two bites at the SEO apple. Marketing spend drives app downloads and engagement as usual. And search intent exposes Instant Apps in search results, leveraging the SEO web marketing campaign. There could even be a third bite because the Instant App dialog can ask the user to download the app from Google Play.

Instant Apps, announced last May at Google I/O, has reached early first release with a handful of companies, including BuzzFeed, Periscope, Viki and Wish, according to the Verge. Presumably, the live testing is limited so that Googles Android engineers can work closely with a few companies development teams and use cases to test the Instant App features against customer requirements and iterate with improvements and fixes prior to general release later this year.
More than eight in 10 U.S. IT workers support the nation's net neutrality regulations, and many are worried that President Donald Trump administration's likely repeal of the rules will hurt their industry.

Eighty-two percent of 411 IT workers responding to an online survey by Spiceworks support the net neutrality rules, while just 11 percent oppose them, the company said Wednesday. If the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules are repealed, 59 percent of respondents said they believe their companies' internet costs will rise, and 47 percent said they believe their companies' access to important internet services will be degraded.

If the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules are repealed, 59 percent of respondents said they believe their companies' internet costs will rise, and 47 percent said they believe their companies' access to important internet services will be degraded.

IT workers debating net neutrality on the Spiceworks website "care deeply about the subject, with one side arguing government regulation of the internet is unnecessary and counterproductive, while others fear potential deregulation of net neutrality could put companies at the mercy of ISPs," Peter Tsai, an IT analyst at Spiceworks, wrote in a blog post.

Forty-five percent of respondents say they expect upload or download speeds to get slower if the rules are scrapped.

"A website belonging to a small business might be given less priority than a website belonging to a more established company with deeper pockets," Tsai wrote.

More than eight in 10 respondents said they were concerned that a repeal of the net neutrality rules would allow broadband providers to slow certain types of content and to block access to some content. Eighty-three percent said that without the rules, governments or corporations could take actions to limit free speech.

"ISPs might choose to charge more for high-speed access to common data-intensive services like Netflix and throttle speeds for those who dont pay the high-speed access fee," Tsai wrote. "Or ISPs might pick favorites among companies they have partnerships with, while throttling their competitors services."

During last year's presidential campaign, Trump criticized the net neutrality rules, saying it was a "top-down power grab" that would apparently require broadband providers to give equal time to liberal and conservative media.

On Monday, Trump appointed FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, a fierce critic of the net neutrality rules, as the agency's chairman.

Just 19 percent of the IT workers surveyed said they expect no negative impact on their companies if the net neutrality regulations are repealed.

Respondents to the survey represented a variety of company sizes and came from industries including manufacturing, healthcare, nonprofits, education, government, and finance, said Spiceworks, a provider of help desk and network management software. The survey was done this month.
With the 45th President of the United States vowing to bring back jobs to the country, teach China a lesson and institute large-scale tax reform, there has been a great deal of uncertainty surrounding technology stocks. To make matters worse, President Trump has an axe to grind with Amazon AMZN and Apple AAPL while most Alphabet GOOGL executives have openly supported the democrats going into the elections.

So companies are now making nice with the President like Teslas Elon Musk, who has changed tunes and is now tweeting his support. Its been reported that Googles Schmidt has also found reasons to visit the President. Executives that have supported Trump from the start are better off: some speculate that Zuckerberg is considering politics while ex-Microsoft MSFT and GM employee Chris Liddell is moving to the White House as assistant to the President and director of strategic initiatives. Oracle CEO Safra Catz joined the executive committee of Trump's presidential transition team in December.

Then theres Cramer, promising us that the post inauguration sell-off wont last and that its actually an opportunity to buy stocks.

Amidst all the excitement surrounding the swearing in, the FTC sued Qualcomm QCOM for anti-competitive practices while Mark Zuckerberg took the stand to defend Facebooks FB purchase of Oculus. So lets dig in.

Apple Forced to Use Qualcomm Chips

Following similar lawsuits, huge fines ($1 billion in China and $890 million in Korea) and anticompetitive investigations in Taiwan and the EU, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued Qualcomm for de facto exclusive deals that were as effective as express purchase requirements and that effectively foreclosed Qualcomms competitors from gaining processor business at Apple.

The FTC alleges that Qualcomm allowed Apple billions in discounts for exclusively using its chips and not using the competing 4G Wi-Max standard that Intel was pushing. This agreement, running from 2011 to 2016, ultimately killed WiMax. Apple wasted no time in sourcing from Intel after the expiry of the agreement in Sep 2016.

Story continues

Another point in contention is Qualcomms practice of limiting access to its cellular chips and then hiking royalty payments, amounting to a tax on the manufacturers use of baseband processors manufactured by Qualcomms competitors. The FTC filed the lawsuit after a 2-1 vote. Qualcomm has of course denied the charges while Apple chose not to comment.

Following the FTC lawsuit, Apple filed one of its own against Qualcomm for a billion dollars. The amount is what Apple alleges that Qualcomm is witholding for rebates. Like the FTC says, the deal was to keep Qualcomm chips in Apple products and is a fair indication that Qualcomm finally has some real competition.

Mark Zuckerberg Testifies

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand last week to deny charges that Facebook was aware of the violation of any employee agreement between Occulus head John Carmack and its former employer id Software, a unit of ZeniMax, the plaintiff in this case. He also denied that the technology developed by the startup Occulus and its founder Palmer Luckey was based on copyrighted technology belonging to ZeniMax.

Carmack previously testified that he copied files from ZeniMax before moving to Occulus but did not use the information in Occulus and the terms of his employment allowed him to get involved with Occulus even while in ZeniMax employ. But the thing that could cost Facebook at this point is ZeniMax lawyer Toni Sammis question: "So your plan for a $2-point-something billion deal was to begin legal diligence on Friday, and sign the deal on Monday, over a weekend, right? to which Zuckerberg said, Yeah.

Company Last Week Last 6 Months AAPL +2.09% +21.62% FB +0.33% +6.42% YHOO -0.14% +10.80% GOOGL -0.16% +9.94% MSFT +0.21% +16.26% INTC +0.63% +5.38% CSCO +0.20% +0.64% AMZN -0.65% +9.82%

Other stories you might have missed-

Corporate

India Considering Apple Case: Its hard to tell just how badly India wants Apple to manufacture in the country. But if government officials agree to Apples demands, it would indicate that they want it bad. Because Apple has asked for just about every concession possible, ranging from reduction in import duties on smartphones, customs duty exemption on manufacturing equipment and raw materials, a "less-intrusive" customs procedure to be completed in 30 minutes, the right to import and refurbish iPhones that are more than 3 years old so they can be exported, and so forth.

Apple is trying to convince government officials that Indian made iPhones wont be competitive unless they give in to these demands even as its manufacturing costs in China are on the rise. But Asian phone makers are already manufacturing in the country with no such concessions, so the regulations themselves may need to be altered and relaxed to accommodate not just Apple but also other manufacturers. This could take time.

On a positive note, Reuters reports that Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has mentioned the setting up of a government panel headed by the cabinet secretary that would now clear investment proposals in the electronics sector above $1 billion, instead of them going through multiple government departments.

Microsoft Executive Joins Baidu: Baidu has appointed Qi Lu as its Chief Operating Officer and Group Head as it turns focus to artificial intelligence as the next growth driver. The company was mixed up in a scandal involving medical ads that led to stricter government regulations and consequently hit its revenues.

Lu left Microsoft last year on health concerns but was in charge of its search business and also part of the team involved in architecting its artificial intelligence and bots technology. He holds more than 40 U.S. patents.

Google Ad Auctions Are Suspect: The Wall Street Journal has independently confirmed that ads for Google products and the products of its sister companies usually find the top spot on the search engine results page. On checking 25K search results, it found that Google products occupied the top spot 91% of the time and the top two spots 43% of the time.

Google has said that this is because it is also a buyer of ads, so its position comes from paying a higher price. It also says that this doesnt raise prices because when others bid for the price, its as if Google isnt bidding. Bottom line: other advertisers lose the top spot no matter what they bid for it. Google reportedly removed its ads in a number of cases when confronted with the data last December.

Amazon, Apple End Audiobook Exclusivity Deal: Apple and Amazon have decided to end the deal initiated back in 2008, according to which Amazon subsidiary Audible became the exclusive supplier of audiobooks to Apple and was barred from selling to any other party. The agreement was actually serving no one because the market for audiobooks has advanced since then and its now in the interest of both parties to be able to source from others and in Audibles case, to also be able to sell on other platforms. Nonetheless, it was preceded by regulatory scrutiny of the deal by German and EU competition authorities that felt it was inflating prices.

Pandora Shares Gain: Pandora preannounced fourth-quarter results that it said exceeded its revenue and EBITDA targets. This came as a relief because it has been lowering expectations the last two quarters indicating continuing bad news. Moreover, Pandora also said that the $5-a-month Pandora Plus garnered 365K new subscribers in the quarter and the Pandora Premium service remained on track to launch later this quarter. It also expects to lay off around 7% of the U.S. workforce, which will further boost margins.

Legal/Regulatory

Cisco-Arista Developments: The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agency has expressed concern that its earlier decision to lift the ban on Arista switches may have been incorrect. Following conversations with Cisco CSCO, the CBP therefore intends to reinstate the ban. Arista has said that it will respond to Cisco points and re-engage with the CBP.

In the meantime, U.S.-manufactured switches will have to make do, which can result in supply glitches and pressure on its gross margin. On Dec 2, the ITC judge ruled that Arista patents infringe on Ciscos and Arista has subsequently produced workaround while denying the charges. A full commission review of the judges decision will be completed by Apr 9.

New Technology/Products

Google to Launch Android One Phones In U.S.: Googles high-end Pixel phones are mostly unavailable, but its already gearing up to launch the low-end ($200-$300) Android One devices in the country by the middle of the year. The goal seems to be to build brand value and familiarize people with the Android ecosystem.

Android One was first launched in India and later in other countries including Japan and then Europe. It is a system under which Google agrees beforehand with handset manufacturers to push out Android updates as soon as they are available so the experience is true to the latest iteration of the software.

M&A and Collaborations

HPE Buying Simplivity: Hewlett Packard Enterprise is dishing out $650 million to buy SimpliVity, the second largest provider of hyperconvergence software (after Nutanix which has over 50% market share). The company describes a hyperconverged system as one that integrates compute, storage and networking into a pre-configured system, managed by a user-friendly software platform that doesnt require extensive IT staff for set up and management.

Within a couple of months after the deal closes, HPE will offer a range of integrated HPE SimpliVity hyperconverged systems based on HPE ProLiant Servers. The acquisition significantly strengthens its position in the space where competitors like Cisco and Dell/EMC base their hyperconvergence solutions on market leader Nutanix or Simplivity software. HPE will initially support current SimpliVity customers.

Cisco, Ericsson Join Forces in Australia: The collaboration between Ericsson and Cisco on telecom cloud infrastructure has yielded a major customer in Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA). The companies will virtualize Vodafones infrastructure, enabling it to improve customer service and user experience while increasing network agility, reducing opex and capex, and speeding up the deployment of services. The partnership has reportedly generated 60 new deals and is expected to generate revenue of a billion dollars to each partner by 2018.

Microsoft Acquires Simplygon: Microsoft has acquired 3D data optimization specialist Simplygon of Sweden for an undisclosed sum. This is intended to play an important role in developing its 3D For Everyone strategy, which is part of the Windows 10 Creators Update. 3D optimization is used by game developers and others to facilitate 3D content creation.

Simplygon also does more than this: it has already started optimizing content for AR and VR technology, including for Microsofts Hololens. Microsoft believes that by making the technology a part of its creators update, users will be empowered to capture, create and share 3D content thus augmenting their productivity, collaboration and creativity.

Google Buys Twitter Developers Platform: Google has acquired Fabric, which is based on Crashlytics technology (crash analytics, app feedback and real-time analytics) that Twitter acquired back in 2013. Google hasnt said how much its paying for Fabric, but has said that it will be a part of its cloud based mobile software effort called Firebase that was itself acquired in 2014. Firebase offers mobile app developers tools to build and monitor their apps, so any attempt to build its capabilities should help the company attract developers.

Alibaba Has Long-term Digital Deal: Alibaba and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) signed a deal, according to which Alibaba will be responsible for the IOCs digital presence through its cloud platform. The deal makes Alibaba the digital sponsor of the Olympics in cloud services, e-commerce and television for a period running through 2028. While immediate returns may not there, this lends credibility to the service and should help Alibaba win big customer accounts.

WDC Considering Toshiba Stake: Nikkei Asian Review has reported that Toshiba is looking to spin off or sell off a 20% stake in its chip business in which case Western Digital might be the one picking it up. Toshiba is in trouble right now as it has to deal with an unprofitable nuclear business and accounting scandal that requires it to cough up some cash. Selling off a share to its longtime partner Western Digital (the two operate a flash memory fab in Japan) might be just the answer it needs.

Some Numbers

UK App Store Prices Up: As a result of the pounds continued declines, Apple has been compelled to raise App store prices by as much as 25%.

Intel Invests in Retail Tech: At the National Retail Federations annual conference in New York, Intel said that it intended to invest $100 million in retail technology over the next five years. It also announced the Intel Responsive Retail Platform, which uses a combination of sensors, software kits and other hardware solutions to provide in-the-moment information about what customers are buying, what they want and how to manage inventory so it arrives just in time for customers to take it home.

Companies That Reported Results Last Week: CHKP, NFLX, PLXS, IBM, SWKS

Some Companies Reporting This Week: CA, XLNX, FFIV, DST, AVT, YHOO, TXN, BABA, EBAY, LRCX, TER, GOOGL, KLAC, PYPL, IBM, SWKS, SIMO, GLW, STX, WDC, INTC, MSFT, JNPR, AMCC, VMW, SYNA

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Money-making ideas investigated by local authority

WEST Berkshire Council has committed itself to carrying out an in-depth review into how it can raise more money.

The councils resources select committee met on Tuesday to discuss setting up a task group to look at how best to generate extra income.

In a report circulated to councillors it says: The purpose of this scrutiny report is to understand what other local authorities are doing currently to generate income and whether these examples could be implemented in West Berkshire.

It adds: Finding new ways to generate income are necessary to address the shortfall in all council budgets across the country.

Lessons can be learnt from other authorities that have already successfully implemented income-generating proposals.

Aylesbury Vale District Council has generated extra income in a variety of different ways, including via an online community lottery.

Elsewhere, Camden Council is making money by providing a wi-fi network in areas of high footfall.

And Manchester City Council has boosted its funds through a major roadside advertising contract.

In a report compiled by Localis  an independent think-tank dedicated to issues related to local government and localism  it says councils need to change the way they think about raising money.

The report, entitled Commercial Councils: The rise of entrepreneurialism in local government, which was circulated to councillors, says: Local government is facing a perfect storm.

The combination of austerity  in the form of falling central government grants  and rising demand, in particular from ageing local populations, is bringing to the fore questions about the long-term viability of the services councils provide.

The future funding of local authorities seems to be at best unpredictable, but what is certain is that new thinking is needed to revolutionise the way local authorities operate both to protect and improve services for their communities.

Many councils are already doing an excellent job in exploring these commercial spheres to mitigate against the pressures, but this report recognises that more needs to be done.

One of the key ways of doing this is allowing councils to earn their own way by acting more commercially where they can.

Lee Dillon (Lib Dem, Thatcham North) requested the scrutiny review last year.
Tory MP's 'taking back control' missive

THE MP for North West Hampshire has revealed he believes the most powerful reason for leaving the EU is the country gaining back overall control of its legal system.

Kit Malthouse issued a statement today (Wednesday) and fast on the heels of the Government's defeat at the Supreme Court of Justice ruling yesterday (Tuesday), that Parliament must decide on whether the UK can start the process of leaving the EU.

Entitled: Taking Back Control for a Global Britain: Mr Malthouse advocated an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

Mr Malthouse said: "Whenever a speech is anticipated as much as Theresa Mays on Brexit the risk of disappoint looms.

"We neednt have worried. It is now clear that a naturally cautious Prime Minister understands that leaving the EU requires us to be bold, calling an end to the era of Brussels directives, becoming a dynamic globe-trotting country more responsive to will of its citizens.

"That means pursuing reforms making the UK the best place in the world to build a business and put accountability in the hands of Parliament.

"To that end she set out a twelve point plan so people here and in governments across the continent know exactly how Britain will proceed in the negotiation to leave the EU.

"Taking back control lies at the heart of the plan.

"An end to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice means that our laws will be made in Westminster, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, not Brussels, and those laws will be interpreted by judges in this country, not Luxembourg.

"For me, this is the most powerful reason for leaving: the question of who governs Britain.

Democracy on our island is old and strong, won by generations of Britons demanding their rights and freedoms.

"All that was at risk in the EU.

"That federal project has never had a viable system of democratic accountability. It even lacks consent for the major economic reforms needed to save it and so it trundles inexorably towards economic stagnation.

"If we hadnt decided to get out now we may have been too demoralised to do so later.

"The EU project is doomed and inside, a slow motion disaster beckoned for the UK.

"Bringing powers back from one distant capital however does not mean hoarding them in another.

"We can strengthen our union by making sure that Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Englands city and local governments also see the return of powers and that decisions are made closer to the people they affect.

"This then is the major prize that awaits us; a reconnection with democracy and the nation state.

"On trade, for the first time in four decades, we will be able to strike our own deals.

"The EU certainly makes up a significant, but declining share of our trade and its the interests of both sides that we make a deal and we will.

"The important thing however is our ability to gain better access than ever to the worlds largest and fastest growing economies.

"Having taken back control a British government can build on our unique economic advantages of language, law, time zone and scientific prowess to drive us to success in trade, all of which exist independently of our EU membership.

"Its no coincidence that were first in line for a deal with the United States, that our Commonwealth allies are keen to begin talks, and that China, India and Japan beckon.

"The world hungers for the skills, advice, ingenuity and knowledge of these islands and its time that spread our wings again.

"Heres to a Global Britain."
Toyota Motor Corporations TM announced plans to invest $600 million in its plant in Princeton, IN. The funds will help the company modernize the plant and meet the rising demand for the Highlander midsize SUV. This investment plan will also create 400 new jobs at the plant.



Toyota will utilize the outlay mainly for retooling and purchasing new equipment and advanced technologies in order to update the plant. The automaker expects the plant to be operational from 2019 and produce 40,000 Highlanders annually. This expansion drive is part of the companys initiative to localize vehicle manufacturing in regions where they are sold.



The Princeton plant produced over 400,000 vehicles last year, the highest level in its 20-year history. The third-generation Highlander was launched at the Indiana plant in 2013.



Recently, Toyota announced plans to invest $10 billion in the U.S. over the next five years. The automaker will utilize the funds to meet the rise in demand for fuel efficient vehicles and also to upgrade facilities.



The investments will also be used to fund the construction of the companys new North American headquarters in Texas and to upgrade a few facilities.

Toyota Motor Corp Ltd Ord Price

Toyota Motor Corp Ltd Ord Price | Toyota Motor Corp Ltd Ord Quote

Price Performance



Toyota underperformed the Zacks categorized Auto Manufacturers-Foreign industry over the last one year. Share price of the company increased 2.88% while the industry saw a 9.24% increase. This was largely due to the slashed guidance for earnings, operating income and revenues for fiscal 2017. Settlement of a U.S. truck lawsuit, string of product recalls and declining sales outside Japan also hurt the share price.







Zacks Rank & Key Picks



Toyota currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).



Better-ranked companies in the auto space include Oshkosh Corporation OSK, Fox Factory Holding Corp FOXF and GKN plc GKNLY. All the stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



Fox Factory has an expected earnings growth rate of around 16.6% for the current year.



Oshkosh Corporation has an expected long-term growth rate of 8.4% while the same for GKN is pegged at 6.3%.



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WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump moved swiftly Tuesday to advance the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, signing executive actions to aggressively overhaul America's energy policy and deal a sharp blow to Barack Obama's legacy on climate change.

Obama had personally halted the Keystone XL project, which was to bring oil from Canada to the U.S., and major protest demonstrations have frozen work on the Dakota pipeline.

Trump, in his continuing effort to undo the past eight years of a Democratic president, invited the Keystone builder, TransCanada, to resubmit its application to the State Department for a presidential permit to construct and operate the pipeline. The company said it would reapply.

Obama halted the proposed pipeline in late 2015, declaring it would undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal that was a centerpiece of his environmental agenda.

Trump also ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to quickly review and approve construction and easement requests for the Dakota Access pipeline, a project that has led to major protests by American Indian groups and their supporters.

"From now on we are going to start making pipelines in the United States," Trump said from the Oval Office, where he also vowed to require the actual pipe for Keystone to be manufactured in America.

Trump's actions four days after he took office came on the heels of his decision to withdraw from a major trade agreement as he upends Obama's policies, winning praise from congressional Republicans. Democrats in energy-producing state also hailed Trump's actions on the pipelines as long-awaited steps to boost jobs and move the country toward energy independence.

But environmental groups and Native American tribes who have fought both projects for years pledged to defy Trump.

"President Trump will live to regret his actions today," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. "Unwittingly he is beginning to build a wall  a wall of resistance. This fight is far from over."

Story continues

The 1,179-mile Keystone XL pipeline would run from Canada to Nebraska, where it would join other lines already leading to refineries along the Gulf Coast.

Trump directed the State Department and other agencies to make a decision within 60 days of a final application and declared that a 2014 State Department environmental study satisfies required reviews under environmental and endangered species laws. Environmental groups promised a legal challenge, arguing a new application requires a new review.

State Department approval is needed because the pipeline would cross the northern U.S border.

As a practical matter, the Dakota Access project is likely to be completed first. The company building it says it is complete except for a section that would pass under the Missouri River near a camp in North Dakota where pipeline opponents are demonstrating.

The 1,200-mile pipeline would carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to an existing pipeline in Illinois. The proposed route skirts the Standing Rock Sioux tribe's reservation and crosses under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota that serves as the tribe's drinking water source.

The tribe's chairman accused Trump of breaking the law, citing treaty rights with the United States, and promised to fight the action in court.

"Americans know this pipeline was unfairly rerouted toward our nation and without our consent," Dave Archambault said.

The Army decided last year to explore alternate routes for the Dakota pipeline after the tribe and its supporters said it threatened drinking water and Native American cultural sites. The company developing the pipeline, Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, says it will be safe.

"Today's news is a breath of fresh air, and proof that President Trump won't let radical special-interest groups stand in the way of doing what's best for American workers," said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate.

In July, the Army Corps of Engineers granted the company needed permits, but in September the agency said further analysis was needed. On Dec. 4, the assistant Army secretary for civil works, Jo-Ellen Darcy, said alternate routes needed to be considered.

About 600 pipeline opponents have been arrested in North Dakota since last year. An encampment on Corps land along the pipeline route that once hosted thousands of protesters has dwindled to fewer than 300 after the Tribal Council recently urged people to leave due to harsh winter weather. Much of the camp is buried in two feet of snow and many of the teepee tarps have been taken down, leaving only the frames. Law enforcement continues a presence on nearby bluffs.

Trump's action could re-ignite large-scale protests, said Dallas Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network, one of the main camp organizers.

"Standing Rock has ignited a fire in all of us," Goldtooth said. "We hope to see those fires continue to burn."

Trump hailed the Keystone project during a late October campaign swing through Florida, saying, "We're going to approve energy infrastructure projects like the Keystone pipeline and many more." He said it could provide "a lot of jobs, a lot of good things."

Until last year, Trump owned a small amount of stock in Energy Transfer Partners and at least $100,000 in Phillips 66, an energy company that owns one-quarter of the Dakota pipeline. Trump sold the shares last year as part of a wide-ranging stock divestment, a spokesman said.

Environmental groups blasted Tuesday's order as a bid by Trump to serve the oil industry. Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, is a former Exxon Mobil CEO, and his pick for energy secretary, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, owns stock in Energy Transfers and served on its board until his nomination for the energy post.

"Donald Trump is a con man and this is a con on a massive scale," said Bill McKibben, co-founder of the environmental group 350.org.

___

Associated Press writer James MacPherson in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, contributed to this story.
By Reuters

NEW DSELHI: India signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday that allows the Gulf nation to fill half of an underground crude oil storage facility at Mangalore that is part of New Delhi's strategic reserve system.

New Delhi announced a series of pacts with the UAE ranging from defence, trade, maritime cooperation to energy after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Co will store about 6 million barrels of oil at Mangalore, taking up about half of the site's capacity, said Sunjay Sudhir, joint secretary for international cooperation at the Indian oil ministry.

India, hedging against energy security risks as it imports most of its oil needs, is building emergency storage in underground caverns to hold 36.87 million barrels of crude, or about 10 days of its average daily oil demand in 2016.

"This will help to ensure India's energy security and enable us to meet the nation's growing demand for energy," said Indian oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India needs massive investments in some key sectors, particularly infrastructure.

During Modi's visit to the UAE in 2015, the two countries announced a $75 billion joint infrastructure fund that would invest in India's infrastructure development. UAE is India's fifth biggest oil supplier.

The crude supplies will begin in the last quarter of this year, Sudhir told Reuters. "We are talking to them (ADNOC) for two-three grades and most likely it will Murban."

The two sides had discussed ways to advance their energy ties through specific projects, including long-term supply contracts and joint ventures in energy, Modi said in a speech after his meeting with the crown prince.

India in 2014 began talks to lease part of its strategic storage to ADNOC. Under those discussions, India was to have first rights to the stored crude in case of an emergency, while ADNOC would be able to move cargoes to meet any shift in demand.

India has already filled the other half of the Mangalore storage in Karnataka state with 6 million barrels of Iranian oil.

India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, has also filled a Vizag storage site in southern Andhra Pradesh with 7.55 million barrels of Iraqi oil and has invited bids from suppliers to fill an 18.3 million-barrel facility at Padur in Karnataka.

The crown prince will be the guest of honour at India's Republic Day parade on Thursday.

NEW DSELHI: India signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday that allows the Gulf nation to fill half of an underground crude oil storage facility at Mangalore that is part of New Delhi's strategic reserve system. New Delhi announced a series of pacts with the UAE ranging from defence, trade, maritime cooperation to energy after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Co will store about 6 million barrels of oil at Mangalore, taking up about half of the site's capacity, said Sunjay Sudhir, joint secretary for international cooperation at the Indian oil ministry. India, hedging against energy security risks as it imports most of its oil needs, is building emergency storage in underground caverns to hold 36.87 million barrels of crude, or about 10 days of its average daily oil demand in 2016. "This will help to ensure India's energy security and enable us to meet the nation's growing demand for energy," said Indian oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan. As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India needs massive investments in some key sectors, particularly infrastructure. During Modi's visit to the UAE in 2015, the two countries announced a $75 billion joint infrastructure fund that would invest in India's infrastructure development. UAE is India's fifth biggest oil supplier. The crude supplies will begin in the last quarter of this year, Sudhir told Reuters. "We are talking to them (ADNOC) for two-three grades and most likely it will Murban." The two sides had discussed ways to advance their energy ties through specific projects, including long-term supply contracts and joint ventures in energy, Modi said in a speech after his meeting with the crown prince. India in 2014 began talks to lease part of its strategic storage to ADNOC. Under those discussions, India was to have first rights to the stored crude in case of an emergency, while ADNOC would be able to move cargoes to meet any shift in demand. India has already filled the other half of the Mangalore storage in Karnataka state with 6 million barrels of Iranian oil. India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, has also filled a Vizag storage site in southern Andhra Pradesh with 7.55 million barrels of Iraqi oil and has invited bids from suppliers to fill an 18.3 million-barrel facility at Padur in Karnataka. The crown prince will be the guest of honour at India's Republic Day parade on Thursday.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU : Boeing, which is looking to scale up its presence in India, announced the launch of Boeing India Engineering & Technology Center (BIETC) at Bagamane Tech Park here on Tuesday.

The centre will focus on technology-driven work to support diverse projects spreading across Information Technology and Data Analytics, Engineering, Research & Technology, and Test.

For instance, some of the areas of work would include data analytics for next generation airplane health management tools, software tools for airlines and airports to improve their operations and reduce costs, automation for more efficient next-generation manufacturing, systems, infrastructure and analytics, said an official release.

Boeing already has an engineering facility in the city on Old Madras Road. Representatives from Boeing told Express that it had started scaling up its engineering presence over the past 18 months in India and, as a result, capacity in the old centre was unable to support the growth.

We have taken a floor in the building and it is 42,000 sq ft. This is to support the scaling up plans. In the same building, well take up another 42,000 sq ft by this year, said a Boeing representative.

Currently, the centre has 300-350 engineers and Boeing is looking at increasing this number to 800 by the end of the year. The old facility would also be retained. The team working here will be working as part of the global team, the representative added.

Speaking after the launch, Pratyush Kumar, president, Boeing India, said, In India, we see a true path towards a mutual partnership for success, and the launch of BIETC is a major step in that direction. When we look for regions of competitiveness for the company around the world, we look at building cost, capability and market access advantages.

Boeing IT has been working in India with Tier-1 suppliers for many years and the new centre was instrumental in promoting the digital transformation of Boeing by utilising Indias talent seamlessly with Boeings US teams, added Ted Colbert, Boeing chief information officer and senior vice-president, information & analytics,

Boeing has been active in the country for the past 75 years primarily with commercial plane. Its military aircraft and services business are also playing an important role in the defence forces.

BENGALURU : Boeing, which is looking to scale up its presence in India, announced the launch of Boeing India Engineering & Technology Center (BIETC) at Bagamane Tech Park here on Tuesday. The centre will focus on technology-driven work to support diverse projects spreading across Information Technology and Data Analytics, Engineering, Research & Technology, and Test. For instance, some of the areas of work would include data analytics for next generation airplane health management tools, software tools for airlines and airports to improve their operations and reduce costs, automation for more efficient next-generation manufacturing, systems, infrastructure and analytics, said an official release. Boeing already has an engineering facility in the city on Old Madras Road. Representatives from Boeing told Express that it had started scaling up its engineering presence over the past 18 months in India and, as a result, capacity in the old centre was unable to support the growth. We have taken a floor in the building and it is 42,000 sq ft. This is to support the scaling up plans. In the same building, well take up another 42,000 sq ft by this year, said a Boeing representative. Currently, the centre has 300-350 engineers and Boeing is looking at increasing this number to 800 by the end of the year. The old facility would also be retained. The team working here will be working as part of the global team, the representative added. Speaking after the launch, Pratyush Kumar, president, Boeing India, said, In India, we see a true path towards a mutual partnership for success, and the launch of BIETC is a major step in that direction. When we look for regions of competitiveness for the company around the world, we look at building cost, capability and market access advantages. Boeing IT has been working in India with Tier-1 suppliers for many years and the new centre was instrumental in promoting the digital transformation of Boeing by utilising Indias talent seamlessly with Boeings US teams, added Ted Colbert, Boeing chief information officer and senior vice-president, information & analytics, Boeing has been active in the country for the past 75 years primarily with commercial plane. Its military aircraft and services business are also playing an important role in the defence forces.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Tanveer Sait on Tuesday said there was no question of forcing re-vaccination on children without the consent of parents.

Addressing a joint press conference with Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ramesh Kumar, Sait said he would like all parents to get their children vaccinated again with the single shot of Measles-Rubella(MR) vaccine, but they cannot be forced.

We will hold at least two rounds of discussions with schools and parents. We will try to convince parents in this regard, he said.

Several parents of children who have already got the double shot of Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine have refused to give their consent, raising concerns over repeated vaccinations and over giving injections in their absence.

Sait said that children aged from 0 to 6 years have to be accompanied by parents during vaccination.

Officials are having a tough time convincing parents, especially of children aged between two and six years. The three week-drive, beginning February 7, is aimed at re-vaccinating children by setting up camps at schools. Children aged between nine months and fifteen years are to be vaccinated regardless of whether they have been vaccinated earlier or not.

Some schools have meanwhile made it clear that parents consent was a must for vaccination.

Minister Ramesh Kumar urged parents to support the vaccination drive which is in line with global goals of eradicating measles by 2020. According to the Education Department, the vaccination drive is expected to cover 1.65 crore children in the state.

Sait said the department was mulling linking vaccination cards to the student tracking system, which stores individual details like Aadhaar number as well.

Officials intend to have a camp in each school and Anganwadi, but there is no clarity on the composition of medical staff. The minister said there will be medical help like ambulance and linking to the local hospitals in case of any child suffering from the adverse effects of the vaccine.

BENGALURU: Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Tanveer Sait on Tuesday said there was no question of forcing re-vaccination on children without the consent of parents. Addressing a joint press conference with Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ramesh Kumar, Sait said he would like all parents to get their children vaccinated again with the single shot of Measles-Rubella(MR) vaccine, but they cannot be forced. We will hold at least two rounds of discussions with schools and parents. We will try to convince parents in this regard, he said. Several parents of children who have already got the double shot of Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine have refused to give their consent, raising concerns over repeated vaccinations and over giving injections in their absence. Sait said that children aged from 0 to 6 years have to be accompanied by parents during vaccination. Officials are having a tough time convincing parents, especially of children aged between two and six years. The three week-drive, beginning February 7, is aimed at re-vaccinating children by setting up camps at schools. Children aged between nine months and fifteen years are to be vaccinated regardless of whether they have been vaccinated earlier or not. Some schools have meanwhile made it clear that parents consent was a must for vaccination. Minister Ramesh Kumar urged parents to support the vaccination drive which is in line with global goals of eradicating measles by 2020. According to the Education Department, the vaccination drive is expected to cover 1.65 crore children in the state. Sait said the department was mulling linking vaccination cards to the student tracking system, which stores individual details like Aadhaar number as well. Officials intend to have a camp in each school and Anganwadi, but there is no clarity on the composition of medical staff. The minister said there will be medical help like ambulance and linking to the local hospitals in case of any child suffering from the adverse effects of the vaccine.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Actor Kamal Hassan and film director Bharathi Raja on called on Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan on Tuesday and thanked him for the efforts made by him for resuming Jallikattu. Jallikattu activists including Rajasekaran also met the Union Minister.

Earlier in the day, Radhakrishnan met Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and thanked him for giving his nod for the State government Bill on Jallikattu. The meeting lasted for about 50 minutes.

CHENNAI: Actor Kamal Hassan and film director Bharathi Raja on called on Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan on Tuesday and thanked him for the efforts made by him for resuming Jallikattu. Jallikattu activists including Rajasekaran also met the Union Minister. Earlier in the day, Radhakrishnan met Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and thanked him for giving his nod for the State government Bill on Jallikattu. The meeting lasted for about 50 minutes.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: When a handful of protesters first sat at the Marina promenade demanding revocation of the ban against jallikattu, few would have foreseen what the demonstration would grow into in a span of a few hours. Rigorous social media campaigns that were credited with the unprecedented turnout at the Marina could also have led to the gory turn of events on Monday, it is felt.



A photo of a young girl lying unconscious on the railway track was doing the rounds on Facebook on Wednesday with a message that the girl, who had been raising slogans at the Marina against two political leaders, was brutally murdered.



The truth was that the 20-year-old who was indeed on her way to the Marina had died after falling from the train she was travelling in, between Avadi, where she lived, and Annanur.



Anyone who had visited the beach during the protests would know that if one were to be murdered for raising slogans against some leaders, the scene would have turned into a bloodbath.



Several messages that did the rounds on Whatsapp and Facebook went on to incite hatred towards the establishment and individuals, adding fuel to the fire. Messages of the ordinance being a temporary law were also widely circulated, swaying the discourse in a different direction, when in fact, it held the same status of a permanent law.



Shiva K, an engineer, who was part of the protests, said, Much of what I know about an ordinance stems from social media messages since I was hearing about it for the first time. I believed that it was a desperate attempt by the government to appease the crowd.



After the bill was passed unanimously in the Assembly, mediators like former Madras High Court Judge D Hariparanthaman put rumours to rest, explaining to protestors the lawmaking process through an ordinance.



The social media also served as a platform to recklessly troll celebrities who expressed or allegedly expressed support for PETA, an animal rights organisation, that backed the ban on jallikattu. After a popular musician distanced himself from the protests, his messages of having been threatened by the police and accepting bribes from organisations supporting the ban also began doing the rounds.



Menaka Gandhis PFA (People for Animals) also came under fire after it was accused of challenging Tamil Nadus ordinance. The organisation later denied the reports. Along with PETA, we were led to believe that the PFA and even the Animal Welfare Board of India were against jallikattu and so many were campaigning for banning them too, said Gowri Shankar, a PhD student.



There were also messages that said that prohibitory orders and even Presidents rule would be declared, throughout the protests. What many thought would go down in history as one of the largest organised protests in the State went south after several incidents of violence broke out on Monday.

CHENNAI: When a handful of protesters first sat at the Marina promenade demanding revocation of the ban against jallikattu, few would have foreseen what the demonstration would grow into in a span of a few hours. Rigorous social media campaigns that were credited with the unprecedented turnout at the Marina could also have led to the gory turn of events on Monday, it is felt. A photo of a young girl lying unconscious on the railway track was doing the rounds on Facebook on Wednesday with a message that the girl, who had been raising slogans at the Marina against two political leaders, was brutally murdered. The truth was that the 20-year-old who was indeed on her way to the Marina had died after falling from the train she was travelling in, between Avadi, where she lived, and Annanur. Anyone who had visited the beach during the protests would know that if one were to be murdered for raising slogans against some leaders, the scene would have turned into a bloodbath. Several messages that did the rounds on Whatsapp and Facebook went on to incite hatred towards the establishment and individuals, adding fuel to the fire. Messages of the ordinance being a temporary law were also widely circulated, swaying the discourse in a different direction, when in fact, it held the same status of a permanent law. Shiva K, an engineer, who was part of the protests, said, Much of what I know about an ordinance stems from social media messages since I was hearing about it for the first time. I believed that it was a desperate attempt by the government to appease the crowd. After the bill was passed unanimously in the Assembly, mediators like former Madras High Court Judge D Hariparanthaman put rumours to rest, explaining to protestors the lawmaking process through an ordinance. The social media also served as a platform to recklessly troll celebrities who expressed or allegedly expressed support for PETA, an animal rights organisation, that backed the ban on jallikattu. After a popular musician distanced himself from the protests, his messages of having been threatened by the police and accepting bribes from organisations supporting the ban also began doing the rounds. Menaka Gandhis PFA (People for Animals) also came under fire after it was accused of challenging Tamil Nadus ordinance. The organisation later denied the reports. Along with PETA, we were led to believe that the PFA and even the Animal Welfare Board of India were against jallikattu and so many were campaigning for banning them too, said Gowri Shankar, a PhD student. There were also messages that said that prohibitory orders and even Presidents rule would be declared, throughout the protests. What many thought would go down in history as one of the largest organised protests in the State went south after several incidents of violence broke out on Monday.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Unable to complete the syllabus due to continuous holidays, several higher education institutes in the city will have weekend classes to compensate the loss.

Colleges were shut for nearly 10 days after the demise of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and Cyclone Vardah. When the institutions were planning to gear up for a tight schedule after Pongal holidays, protests over Jallikattu ban had begun forcing most of them to close down their shutters.

According to All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) norms, every semester should have 65 to 90 working days including examinations. As colleges reopened on Monday, many have announced that

special classes would be conducted every Saturday this semester as compensation.

"We have lost around 15 working days and all four university departments, affiliated and constituent colleges will have classes on all Saturdays until this semester ends (May)", said the director of academic courses, Anna University, T V Geetha.

S Chandramohan, Professor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Anna University, said second-semester classes for first-year students began only on January 2 and Saturday classes would continue depending on the requirement. "Professors will get compensation offs for working on Saturdays," he added.

Not just technical institutions, several arts and science colleges including Pachaiyappa's and Loyola would also be taking a similar route.

S Vincent, Dean of Research, Loyola College, said they needed more time to cover all five units in every subject apart from seminars and projects. "We have roughly covered half the portions and these classes will help us in completing portions for the continuous assessment tests scheduled to begin later this month before the semester exams," he added.

CHENNAI: Unable to complete the syllabus due to continuous holidays, several higher education institutes in the city will have weekend classes to compensate the loss. Colleges were shut for nearly 10 days after the demise of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and Cyclone Vardah. When the institutions were planning to gear up for a tight schedule after Pongal holidays, protests over Jallikattu ban had begun forcing most of them to close down their shutters. According to All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) norms, every semester should have 65 to 90 working days including examinations. As colleges reopened on Monday, many have announced that special classes would be conducted every Saturday this semester as compensation. "We have lost around 15 working days and all four university departments, affiliated and constituent colleges will have classes on all Saturdays until this semester ends (May)", said the director of academic courses, Anna University, T V Geetha. S Chandramohan, Professor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Anna University, said second-semester classes for first-year students began only on January 2 and Saturday classes would continue depending on the requirement. "Professors will get compensation offs for working on Saturdays," he added. Not just technical institutions, several arts and science colleges including Pachaiyappa's and Loyola would also be taking a similar route. S Vincent, Dean of Research, Loyola College, said they needed more time to cover all five units in every subject apart from seminars and projects. "We have roughly covered half the portions and these classes will help us in completing portions for the continuous assessment tests scheduled to begin later this month before the semester exams," he added.
By AFP

PARIS: In early 2014, the Islamic State group entered the northern Syrian city of Raqa, declaring it their capital and beginning a reign of terror marked by grisly public executions.

Armed sharia police patrolled the streets as "enemies" of the regime were crucified or decapitated, their severed heads impaled on spikes in the city square.

Student Abdalaziz Alhamza and his friends decided to form Raqa is Being Silently Slaughtered (RBSS), a band of courageous citizen journalists who risk their lives to document IS atrocities.

Their work is chronicled in "City of Ghosts," by Oscar-nominated director Matthew Heineman, one of a raft of films on conflict and jihadist terror in the Middle East that premiered this week at the annual Sundance Film Festival.

"So often in documentaries, subjects become caricatures of whatever they're doing in life. For me, that's not very interesting," Heineman, 33, told AFP.

"I very much wanted to spend as much time as possible to understand who these guys are, what makes them tick, what are their emotions, feelings and thoughts.

"Until I get to that level of intimacy, I don't feel like I have a film."

No journalist has been able to enter the region, allowing IS -- also referred to as ISIS -- to control the message about what is happening in Raqa via increasingly slick videos.

While IS paints a picture of a fully-functioning, prosperous city, RBSS has been able to capture the shocking brutality and dysfunction of everyday life in the city of one million.

Following a lightning offensive in which IS was accused of numerous atrocities, the group declared its caliphate stretching from northern Syria to parts of eastern Iraq in June 2014.

- 'Amazing footage' -

Alhamza, 25, first encountered the group when a masked man with a Saudi accent burst into his university and recruited one of his friends, who later turned up dead.

RBSS documents the atrocities committed daily by the extremists on camera phones, smuggling encrypted footage via the internet to Alhamza and his fellow exiles, who disseminate it via social media.

Last year, they reported to the outside world on a 20-year-old jihadi who had shot his mother in the head with an assault rifle in front of a crowd, after she was accused of apostasy.

Heineman was touring America with his Oscar-nominated 2015 Mexican drug trade documentary "Cartel Land" as the plight of Syrians was becoming a near-daily part of the news cycle.

He began researching the conflict extensively and came across RBSS in the fall of 2015, and was struck by the sacrifices that its members had made.

He decided early on that he wanted the core of the story to be deeply personal "verite" footage, captured as the activists escaped Syria after the assassination of several members by IS fighters.

Heineman followed them in Turkey and then eventually to Germany as the IS group continued to threaten them.

"I knew I wanted to juxtapose this journey with the amazing footage that they had from inside Raqa to show life under the caliphate, the formation of the capital of ISIS," Heineman said.

- Reluctant heroes -

Heineman's story starts in Raqa but evolves into a rare human take on Europe's migrant crisis, as well as a moving chronicle of brotherhood and coping with trauma.

Elsewhere at Sundance, "Last Men in Aleppo," a documentary on the Syrian city's "White Helmet" first responders, also got its premiere.

A collaboration between Syrian filmmaker Firas Fayyad, Danish filmmaker Steen Johannessen, and the Aleppo Media Center, it follows three reluctant heroes who rush toward bomb sites while others run away.

"Cries from Syria," a third film on the crisis making its debut, tells how the country's people, inspired by events in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, rose up against the dictatorial rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

The Islamic State's influence has spread far beyond the Middle East, and last week the festival screened a startling film about the kidnapping of 276 girls from the Nigerian town of Chibok by IS-affiliated militants Boko Haram.

Documentary short "Waiting for Hassana," by first-time director Funa Maduka, tells the story of the abductions from the perspective of one of 57 girls who managed to escape.

"We know the global story, now we hear the personal one," said Maduka, who also worked on 2013 Nigerian civil war picture "Half of a Yellow Sun."

"As the director, my aim was to visually and sonically plunge audiences into the psychological and emotional landscape of our subject."

PARIS: In early 2014, the Islamic State group entered the northern Syrian city of Raqa, declaring it their capital and beginning a reign of terror marked by grisly public executions. Armed sharia police patrolled the streets as "enemies" of the regime were crucified or decapitated, their severed heads impaled on spikes in the city square. Student Abdalaziz Alhamza and his friends decided to form Raqa is Being Silently Slaughtered (RBSS), a band of courageous citizen journalists who risk their lives to document IS atrocities. Their work is chronicled in "City of Ghosts," by Oscar-nominated director Matthew Heineman, one of a raft of films on conflict and jihadist terror in the Middle East that premiered this week at the annual Sundance Film Festival. "So often in documentaries, subjects become caricatures of whatever they're doing in life. For me, that's not very interesting," Heineman, 33, told AFP. "I very much wanted to spend as much time as possible to understand who these guys are, what makes them tick, what are their emotions, feelings and thoughts. "Until I get to that level of intimacy, I don't feel like I have a film." No journalist has been able to enter the region, allowing IS -- also referred to as ISIS -- to control the message about what is happening in Raqa via increasingly slick videos. While IS paints a picture of a fully-functioning, prosperous city, RBSS has been able to capture the shocking brutality and dysfunction of everyday life in the city of one million. Following a lightning offensive in which IS was accused of numerous atrocities, the group declared its caliphate stretching from northern Syria to parts of eastern Iraq in June 2014. - 'Amazing footage' - Alhamza, 25, first encountered the group when a masked man with a Saudi accent burst into his university and recruited one of his friends, who later turned up dead. RBSS documents the atrocities committed daily by the extremists on camera phones, smuggling encrypted footage via the internet to Alhamza and his fellow exiles, who disseminate it via social media. Last year, they reported to the outside world on a 20-year-old jihadi who had shot his mother in the head with an assault rifle in front of a crowd, after she was accused of apostasy. Heineman was touring America with his Oscar-nominated 2015 Mexican drug trade documentary "Cartel Land" as the plight of Syrians was becoming a near-daily part of the news cycle. He began researching the conflict extensively and came across RBSS in the fall of 2015, and was struck by the sacrifices that its members had made. He decided early on that he wanted the core of the story to be deeply personal "verite" footage, captured as the activists escaped Syria after the assassination of several members by IS fighters. Heineman followed them in Turkey and then eventually to Germany as the IS group continued to threaten them. "I knew I wanted to juxtapose this journey with the amazing footage that they had from inside Raqa to show life under the caliphate, the formation of the capital of ISIS," Heineman said. - Reluctant heroes - Heineman's story starts in Raqa but evolves into a rare human take on Europe's migrant crisis, as well as a moving chronicle of brotherhood and coping with trauma. Elsewhere at Sundance, "Last Men in Aleppo," a documentary on the Syrian city's "White Helmet" first responders, also got its premiere. A collaboration between Syrian filmmaker Firas Fayyad, Danish filmmaker Steen Johannessen, and the Aleppo Media Center, it follows three reluctant heroes who rush toward bomb sites while others run away. "Cries from Syria," a third film on the crisis making its debut, tells how the country's people, inspired by events in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, rose up against the dictatorial rule of President Bashar al-Assad. The Islamic State's influence has spread far beyond the Middle East, and last week the festival screened a startling film about the kidnapping of 276 girls from the Nigerian town of Chibok by IS-affiliated militants Boko Haram. Documentary short "Waiting for Hassana," by first-time director Funa Maduka, tells the story of the abductions from the perspective of one of 57 girls who managed to escape. "We know the global story, now we hear the personal one," said Maduka, who also worked on 2013 Nigerian civil war picture "Half of a Yellow Sun." "As the director, my aim was to visually and sonically plunge audiences into the psychological and emotional landscape of our subject."
By IANS

NEW DELHI: Suffocation due to crowd led to the death of a social activist who collapsed during Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's train stopover at Vadodara railway station, confirmed the deceased's family members, who also said they have "nothing against" the actor.

Farid Khan Pathan, a resident of Hatikhana area of Vadodara, was at the railway station with his wife and daughter, when Shah Rukh was present there for the promotional tour for his film "Raees".

Pathan fell unconscious and upon being rushed to a hospital, was declared dead.

Journalist Samina Shaikh, niece of the deceased, was travelling with the "Raees" team at the time.

In a statement issued on behalf of the film's team, Samina said: "It's unfortunate that my uncle lost his life due to suffocation in the crowd as he was a heart patient."

"However, Shah Rukh Khan and his team made sure that my mother and I reach safely to my uncle's funeral. We got down at Ratlam and Shah Rukh's team arranged a car for us to Vadodara to attend my uncle's burial."

The scribe also said Shah Rukh also ensured arrangements were made for their other relatives to fly in from Mumbai to Vadodara to attend her uncle's last rites.

While Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya and Manoj Tiwari slammed Shah Rukh for the incident and urged him to compensate the family, the deceased's mother said in the statement: "We have nothing against Shah Rukh Khan as he is not at fault."

"He is also like my son... The incident has nothing to do with the 'Raees' promotional event. My son fell prey to the crowd and succumbed to death due to suffocation. All we want is prayers from everyone for my son."

A huge crowd had thronged Vadodara railway station to see Shah Rukh on Monday night as he was travelling to Delhi on August Kranti Rajdhani Express from Mumbai to promote his film.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Tuesday ordered a probe into Pathan's death.



NEW DELHI: Suffocation due to crowd led to the death of a social activist who collapsed during Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's train stopover at Vadodara railway station, confirmed the deceased's family members, who also said they have "nothing against" the actor. Farid Khan Pathan, a resident of Hatikhana area of Vadodara, was at the railway station with his wife and daughter, when Shah Rukh was present there for the promotional tour for his film "Raees". Pathan fell unconscious and upon being rushed to a hospital, was declared dead. Journalist Samina Shaikh, niece of the deceased, was travelling with the "Raees" team at the time. In a statement issued on behalf of the film's team, Samina said: "It's unfortunate that my uncle lost his life due to suffocation in the crowd as he was a heart patient." "However, Shah Rukh Khan and his team made sure that my mother and I reach safely to my uncle's funeral. We got down at Ratlam and Shah Rukh's team arranged a car for us to Vadodara to attend my uncle's burial." The scribe also said Shah Rukh also ensured arrangements were made for their other relatives to fly in from Mumbai to Vadodara to attend her uncle's last rites. While Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya and Manoj Tiwari slammed Shah Rukh for the incident and urged him to compensate the family, the deceased's mother said in the statement: "We have nothing against Shah Rukh Khan as he is not at fault." "He is also like my son... The incident has nothing to do with the 'Raees' promotional event. My son fell prey to the crowd and succumbed to death due to suffocation. All we want is prayers from everyone for my son." A huge crowd had thronged Vadodara railway station to see Shah Rukh on Monday night as he was travelling to Delhi on August Kranti Rajdhani Express from Mumbai to promote his film. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Tuesday ordered a probe into Pathan's death.
Naila Inayat By

Hamids mother submitted a mercy plea to Pak PM Nawaz Sharif requesting him to pardon her son for travelling to that country without valid papers. Till date, Hamid hasnt been given consular access nor allowed to talk with his family.

When Pakistan released 447 Indian prisoners on Christmas last year, a distraught mother had lined up at the Wagah-Attari border hoping to see her son return. But that did not happen. Fauzia Ansaris son Hamid Nehal Ansari continues to languish in a Pakistani jail for the last four years. Like hundreds of others who are behind the bars in the neighbouring country, theres no word on Hamid too. The ordeal started four years ago. Hamid, a 32-year-old engineer from Mumbai, was always keen to promote education in Afghanistan and Pakistan with his Rotary friends. He arrived in Kabul on a visit visa for a job interview on November 4, 2012. Eight days later on November 12, he crossed over to Pakistan from Afghanistan through the Torkham

Pass allegedly without a visa. On November 14, he was picked up from a hotel in Kohat. (Kohat is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is the capital of the Kohat district. The town centres on a British-era fort, various bazaars and a military cantonment).

But questions are being raised why would a person who has been to Pakistan before and who knows what it means to be an Indian on Pakistani soil take such a risk?

The reason: Hamid was in love with a girl in Kohat who was given away in marriage under a jirga ruling to settle a tribal feud called vani. He decided to help her and chalked a rescue plan with his Pakistani online contacts. The girl sought Hamids help. My son wanted to rescue her by taking the help of his friends in Pakistan, Fauzia says.

The names of Hamids Pakistani online friends are known and conversations with them are on record along with the statements of the police officers who picked him up from the hotel. Attempts to register an FIR of his arrest and detention failed till the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CIED) ordered the registration of one in 2014. At the same time, a habeas corpus petition was moved in the Peshawar High Court.

At the time of his arrest, the only charge against him was that he had illegally entered Pakistan. The maximum punishment for that is six months. But Hamids detention has already exceeded four years. If the police had found a missile or a couple of IEDs in his travel bag, he might have been booked for espionage, sabotage and terrorism. But there is no evidence of Hamid being accused of any such offence, or any offence at all, says IA Rehman, secretary general, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).

The authorities denied of having any knowledge of him for a long time. Finally, they disclosed that he was tried by a military court and sentenced to three years imprisonment, Rehman adds.

Hamids mother even submitted a mercy plea to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif requesting him to pardon him for travelling to Pakistan without proper documents. Till date, Hamid hasnt been given consular access nor allowed to talk with his family in Mumbai. There have been concerns about threats to his life in prison after he was attacked thrice by fellow inmates. The government must ensure his safety and it will be proper to start preparing for his repatriation to India, Rehman says.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs in a press statement has asked Pakistan to grant consular access to Hamid and Kulbhushan Yadav. Pakistan had arrested Yadav from Balochistan in March 2016 and accused him of being an Indian Navy officer who was deputed to the intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

Yadav has been accused by Pakistan of planning subversive activities in the country as a RAW agent. India has acknowledged that Yadav had served in the Navy but denied that he has any connection with the government now. Pakistan has so far turned down Indias request for consular access to Yadav.

In accordance with the provisions of the Agreement on Consular Access 2008, both India and Pakistan are required to exchange lists of prisoners in each others custody on January 1 and July 1 every year.

According to the exchanged list of prisoners by Pakistan on January 1, there are about 43 Indian prisoners in Pakistan and 25 Pakistani prisoners in India. The earlier list (July 2016) showed 518 Indian prisoners, including 463 fishermen, in Pakistans jails.

The figures received by the Pakistan Interior Ministry since 2016 through the Foreign Office from Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi reveal that Pakistani prisoners are languishing in eight Indian jails out of 1,387 across the country. It is unclear if other jails have Pakistani prisoners or not.

One such prisoner is Rubina Akhtar, a young Pakistani woman detained in a Jammu jail since 2012 along with her four-year-old daughter. According to reports in Pakistan media, she had apparently been arrested after she was abandoned in New Delhi by her husband while she was travelling for medical treatment, and left without any money or documents. Though her jail term ended in 2013, it has not been possible for her to return home because the Pakistan Interior Ministry has not confirmed her nationality.

But according to her interrogation report, Rubina has been in jail since November 6, 2012, along with her minor daughter. She was arrested at Kanachak in Jammu after she crossed the border inadvertently and did not know the way home. The Jammu and Kashmir High Court in a verdict has asked the state and Central governments to expedite the confirmation of residential address of Rubina.

Fishermen are often freed on special days only to be caught again. Pakistan released 447 of them on December 25, 2016, and caught another 65 on December 28. The problem is with other prisoners who are not released even after they have served their sentence.

Linked to Hamids case is another story of tragic disappearance. On August 19, 2015, Zeenat Shahzadi, a 24-year-old journalist, was on her way to work in Lahore in an autorickshaw when she was abducted by armed men. HRCP believes she was taken away by security forces.

In August 2013, Zeenat had secured the special power of attorney from Fauzia and pursued his case in the Peshawar High Court and at CIED. She was to appear before the commission on August 24, 2015, but was picked up from a bus stand near her house in Lahore on August 19. Earlier in the same month, she was held by the police for a short while after she met the Indian high commissioner at a public event.

Zeenat was the first woman journalist suspected to have been subjected to enforced disappearance in Pakistan. Her case highlights how this cruel practice is being used against people, even as hundreds of cases of disappearances remain unresolved, says Champa Patel, Amnesty Internationals South Asia Director.

According to CIEDwhich is investigating Zeenats case1,401 of 3,000 cases are still pending. The number of disappearances is increasing every year with the commission saying 728 people were added to the list last year, the highest in any year since its inception. Most of them were taken away from Balochistan. In 2015, there were 649 cases.

In Pakistan, journalists face serious threats to their freedom of expression and physical safety from armed groups and security forces. The governments duty is to protect journalists and punish those responsible for violating their rights, Patel said.

Zeenats disappearance has taken a toll on her family. In March 2016, her teenage brother Saddam committed suicide as he was unable to cope with the loss

of his sister.

Pakistan should sign and ratify without reservations the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. If the country wishes to be seen as a modern, rights-respecting nation, then it should break with its ugly history of enforced disappearances and make the safe recovery of thousands of people still unaccounted for, Patel adds.

Hamid Nehal Ansari

Engineer from Mumbai

Has been languising in a Pakistani jail for the last four years

Keen to promote education in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Hamid arrived in Kabul

on a visit visa for a job interview on November 4, 2012. Eight days later, he crossed over to Pakistan from Afghanistan allagedly without valid documents. On November 14, he was picked up from his hotel in Kohat.

Kulbhushan Yadav

Indian citizen arrested in Balochistan

Pakistan says hes an Research and Analysis Wing agent

Although India recognises Yadav as a former naval officer, it however denies his links with the government now, and maintains that he took early retirement and was possibly abducted from Iran

according to pakistans commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, 1,401 of 3,000 cases are pending. The numbers of disappearances are increasing with the commission saying 728 people were added to the list last year, highest in any year since its inception

Pass allegedly without a visa. On November 14, he was picked up from a hotel in Kohat. (Kohat is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is the capital of the Kohat district. The town centres on a British-era fort, various bazaars and a military cantonment).

But questions are being raised why would a person who has been to Pakistan before and who knows what it means to be an Indian on Pakistani soil take such a risk?

The reason: Hamid was in love with a girl in Kohat who was given away in marriage under a jirga ruling to settle a tribal feud called vani. He decided to help her and chalked a rescue plan with his Pakistani online contacts. The girl sought Hamids help. My son wanted to rescue her by taking the help of his friends in Pakistan, Fauzia says.

The names of Hamids Pakistani online friends are known and conversations with them are on record along with the statements of the police officers who picked him up from the hotel. Attempts to register an FIR of his arrest and detention failed till the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CIED) ordered the registration of one in 2014. At the same time, a habeas corpus petition was moved in the Peshawar High Court.

At the time of his arrest, the only charge against him was that he had illegally entered Pakistan. The maximum punishment for that is six months. But Hamids detention has already exceeded four years. If the police had found a missile or a couple of IEDs in his travel bag, he might have been booked for espionage, sabotage and terrorism. But there is no evidence of Hamid being accused of any such offence, or any offence at all, says IA Rehman, secretary general, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).

The authorities denied of having any knowledge of him for a long time. Finally, they disclosed that he was tried by a military court and sentenced to three years imprisonment, Rehman adds.

Hamids mother even submitted a mercy plea to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif requesting him to pardon him for travelling to Pakistan without proper documents. Till date, Hamid hasnt been given consular access nor allowed to talk with his family in Mumbai. There have been concerns about threats to his life in prison after he was attacked thrice by fellow inmates.

The government must ensure his safety and it will be proper to start preparing for his repatriation to India, Rehman says.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs in a press statement has asked Pakistan to grant consular access to Hamid and Kulbhushan Yadav. Pakistan had arrested Yadav from Balochistan in March 2016 and accused him of being an Indian Navy officer who was deputed to the intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

Yadav has been accused by Pakistan of planning subversive activities in the country as a RAW agent. India has acknowledged that Yadav had served in the Navy but denied that he has any connection with the government now. Pakistan has so far turned down Indias request for consular access to Yadav.

In accordance with the provisions of the Agreement on Consular Access 2008, both India and Pakistan are required to exchange lists of prisoners in each others custody on January 1 and July 1 every year.

According to the exchanged list of prisoners by Pakistan on January 1, there are about 43 Indian prisoners in Pakistan and 25 Pakistani prisoners in India. The earlier list (July 2016) showed 518 Indian prisoners, including 463 fishermen, in Pakistans jails.

The figures received by the Pakistan Interior Ministry since 2016 through the Foreign Office from Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi reveal that Pakistani prisoners are languishing in eight Indian jails out of 1,387 across the country. It is unclear if other jails have Pakistani prisoners or not.

One such prisoner is Rubina Akhtar, a young Pakistani woman detained in a Jammu jail since 2012 along with her four-year-old daughter. According to reports in Pakistan media, she had apparently been arrested after she was abandoned in New Delhi by her husband while she was travelling for medical treatment, and left without any money or documents. Though her jail term ended in 2013, it has not been possible for her to return home because the Pakistan Interior Ministry has not confirmed her nationality.

But according to her interrogation report, Rubina has been in jail since November 6, 2012, along with her minor daughter. She was arrested at Kanachak in Jammu after she crossed the border inadvertently and did not know the way home. The Jammu and Kashmir High Court in a verdict has asked the state and Central governments to expedite the confirmation of residential address of Rubina.

Fishermen are often freed on special days only to be caught again.

Pakistan released 447 of them on December 25, 2016, and caught another 65 on December 28. The problem is with other prisoners who are not released even after they have served their sentence.

Linked to Hamids case is another story of tragic disappearance. On August 19, 2015, Zeenat Shahzadi, a 24-year-old journalist, was on her way to work in Lahore in an autorickshaw when she was abducted by armed men. HRCP believes she was taken away by security forces.

In August 2013, Zeenat had secured the special power of attorney from Fauzia and pursued his case in the Peshawar High Court and at CIED. She was to appear before the commission on August 24, 2015, but was picked up from a bus stand near her house in Lahore on August 19. Earlier in the same month, she was held by the police for a short while after she met the Indian high commissioner at a public event.

Zeenat was the first woman journalist suspected to have been subjected to enforced disappearance in Pakistan. Her case highlights how this cruel practice is being used against people, even as hundreds of cases of disappearances remain unresolved, says Champa Patel, Amnesty Internationals South Asia Director.

According to CIEDwhich is investigating Zeenats case1,401 of 3,000 cases are still pending. The number of disappearances is increasing every year with the commission saying 728 people were added to the list last year, the highest in any year since its inception. Most of them were taken away from Balochistan. In 2015, there were 649 cases.

In Pakistan, journalists face serious threats to their freedom of expression and physical safety from armed groups and security forces. The governments duty is to protect journalists and punish those responsible for violating their rights, Patel said.

Zeenats disappearance has taken a toll on her family. In March 2016, her teenage brother Saddam committed suicide as he was unable to cope with the loss

of his sister.

Pakistan should sign and ratify without reservations the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. If the country wishes to be seen as a modern, rights-respecting nation, then it should break with its ugly history of enforced disappearances and make the safe recovery of thousands of people still unaccounted for, Patel adds.

Zeenat Shahzadi

Journalist

Had taken up Hamid Ansaris case before being picked up by gunmen

On August 19, 2015, Zeenat Shahzadi, 24, was on her way to work in Lahore in an autorickshaw when she was abducted by armed men. Pakistans HRCP believes

she was taken away by security forces.

Rubina Akhtar

Pakistan citizen and mother of 4-year-old girl

She could not be sent home since Pakistan has not confirmed her nationality

Rubina has been in a Jammu jail since November 6, 2012 along with her daughter. She was arrested at Kanachak after she crossed the border inadvertently

Hamids mother submitted a mercy plea to Pak PM Nawaz Sharif requesting him to pardon her son for travelling to that country without valid papers. Till date, Hamid hasnt been given consular access nor allowed to talk with his family. When Pakistan released 447 Indian prisoners on Christmas last year, a distraught mother had lined up at the Wagah-Attari border hoping to see her son return. But that did not happen. Fauzia Ansaris son Hamid Nehal Ansari continues to languish in a Pakistani jail for the last four years. Like hundreds of others who are behind the bars in the neighbouring country, theres no word on Hamid too. The ordeal started four years ago. Hamid, a 32-year-old engineer from Mumbai, was always keen to promote education in Afghanistan and Pakistan with his Rotary friends. He arrived in Kabul on a visit visa for a job interview on November 4, 2012. Eight days later on November 12, he crossed over to Pakistan from Afghanistan through the Torkham Pass allegedly without a visa. On November 14, he was picked up from a hotel in Kohat. (Kohat is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is the capital of the Kohat district. The town centres on a British-era fort, various bazaars and a military cantonment). But questions are being raised why would a person who has been to Pakistan before and who knows what it means to be an Indian on Pakistani soil take such a risk? The reason: Hamid was in love with a girl in Kohat who was given away in marriage under a jirga ruling to settle a tribal feud called vani. He decided to help her and chalked a rescue plan with his Pakistani online contacts. The girl sought Hamids help. My son wanted to rescue her by taking the help of his friends in Pakistan, Fauzia says. The names of Hamids Pakistani online friends are known and conversations with them are on record along with the statements of the police officers who picked him up from the hotel. Attempts to register an FIR of his arrest and detention failed till the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CIED) ordered the registration of one in 2014. At the same time, a habeas corpus petition was moved in the Peshawar High Court. At the time of his arrest, the only charge against him was that he had illegally entered Pakistan. The maximum punishment for that is six months. But Hamids detention has already exceeded four years. If the police had found a missile or a couple of IEDs in his travel bag, he might have been booked for espionage, sabotage and terrorism. But there is no evidence of Hamid being accused of any such offence, or any offence at all, says IA Rehman, secretary general, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). The authorities denied of having any knowledge of him for a long time. Finally, they disclosed that he was tried by a military court and sentenced to three years imprisonment, Rehman adds. Hamids mother even submitted a mercy plea to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif requesting him to pardon him for travelling to Pakistan without proper documents. Till date, Hamid hasnt been given consular access nor allowed to talk with his family in Mumbai. There have been concerns about threats to his life in prison after he was attacked thrice by fellow inmates. The government must ensure his safety and it will be proper to start preparing for his repatriation to India, Rehman says. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs in a press statement has asked Pakistan to grant consular access to Hamid and Kulbhushan Yadav. Pakistan had arrested Yadav from Balochistan in March 2016 and accused him of being an Indian Navy officer who was deputed to the intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Yadav has been accused by Pakistan of planning subversive activities in the country as a RAW agent. India has acknowledged that Yadav had served in the Navy but denied that he has any connection with the government now. Pakistan has so far turned down Indias request for consular access to Yadav. In accordance with the provisions of the Agreement on Consular Access 2008, both India and Pakistan are required to exchange lists of prisoners in each others custody on January 1 and July 1 every year. According to the exchanged list of prisoners by Pakistan on January 1, there are about 43 Indian prisoners in Pakistan and 25 Pakistani prisoners in India. The earlier list (July 2016) showed 518 Indian prisoners, including 463 fishermen, in Pakistans jails. The figures received by the Pakistan Interior Ministry since 2016 through the Foreign Office from Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi reveal that Pakistani prisoners are languishing in eight Indian jails out of 1,387 across the country. It is unclear if other jails have Pakistani prisoners or not. One such prisoner is Rubina Akhtar, a young Pakistani woman detained in a Jammu jail since 2012 along with her four-year-old daughter. According to reports in Pakistan media, she had apparently been arrested after she was abandoned in New Delhi by her husband while she was travelling for medical treatment, and left without any money or documents. Though her jail term ended in 2013, it has not been possible for her to return home because the Pakistan Interior Ministry has not confirmed her nationality. But according to her interrogation report, Rubina has been in jail since November 6, 2012, along with her minor daughter. She was arrested at Kanachak in Jammu after she crossed the border inadvertently and did not know the way home. The Jammu and Kashmir High Court in a verdict has asked the state and Central governments to expedite the confirmation of residential address of Rubina. Fishermen are often freed on special days only to be caught again. Pakistan released 447 of them on December 25, 2016, and caught another 65 on December 28. The problem is with other prisoners who are not released even after they have served their sentence. Linked to Hamids case is another story of tragic disappearance. On August 19, 2015, Zeenat Shahzadi, a 24-year-old journalist, was on her way to work in Lahore in an autorickshaw when she was abducted by armed men. HRCP believes she was taken away by security forces. In August 2013, Zeenat had secured the special power of attorney from Fauzia and pursued his case in the Peshawar High Court and at CIED. She was to appear before the commission on August 24, 2015, but was picked up from a bus stand near her house in Lahore on August 19. Earlier in the same month, she was held by the police for a short while after she met the Indian high commissioner at a public event. Zeenat was the first woman journalist suspected to have been subjected to enforced disappearance in Pakistan. Her case highlights how this cruel practice is being used against people, even as hundreds of cases of disappearances remain unresolved, says Champa Patel, Amnesty Internationals South Asia Director. According to CIEDwhich is investigating Zeenats case1,401 of 3,000 cases are still pending. The number of disappearances is increasing every year with the commission saying 728 people were added to the list last year, the highest in any year since its inception. Most of them were taken away from Balochistan. In 2015, there were 649 cases. In Pakistan, journalists face serious threats to their freedom of expression and physical safety from armed groups and security forces. The governments duty is to protect journalists and punish those responsible for violating their rights, Patel said. Zeenats disappearance has taken a toll on her family. In March 2016, her teenage brother Saddam committed suicide as he was unable to cope with the loss of his sister. Pakistan should sign and ratify without reservations the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. If the country wishes to be seen as a modern, rights-respecting nation, then it should break with its ugly history of enforced disappearances and make the safe recovery of thousands of people still unaccounted for, Patel adds. Hamid Nehal Ansari Engineer from Mumbai Has been languising in a Pakistani jail for the last four years Keen to promote education in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Hamid arrived in Kabul on a visit visa for a job interview on November 4, 2012. Eight days later, he crossed over to Pakistan from Afghanistan allagedly without valid documents. On November 14, he was picked up from his hotel in Kohat. Kulbhushan Yadav Indian citizen arrested in Balochistan Pakistan says hes an Research and Analysis Wing agent Although India recognises Yadav as a former naval officer, it however denies his links with the government now, and maintains that he took early retirement and was possibly abducted from Iran according to pakistans commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, 1,401 of 3,000 cases are pending. The numbers of disappearances are increasing with the commission saying 728 people were added to the list last year, highest in any year since its inception Pass allegedly without a visa. On November 14, he was picked up from a hotel in Kohat. (Kohat is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is the capital of the Kohat district. The town centres on a British-era fort, various bazaars and a military cantonment). But questions are being raised why would a person who has been to Pakistan before and who knows what it means to be an Indian on Pakistani soil take such a risk? The reason: Hamid was in love with a girl in Kohat who was given away in marriage under a jirga ruling to settle a tribal feud called vani. He decided to help her and chalked a rescue plan with his Pakistani online contacts. The girl sought Hamids help. My son wanted to rescue her by taking the help of his friends in Pakistan, Fauzia says. The names of Hamids Pakistani online friends are known and conversations with them are on record along with the statements of the police officers who picked him up from the hotel. Attempts to register an FIR of his arrest and detention failed till the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CIED) ordered the registration of one in 2014. At the same time, a habeas corpus petition was moved in the Peshawar High Court. At the time of his arrest, the only charge against him was that he had illegally entered Pakistan. The maximum punishment for that is six months. But Hamids detention has already exceeded four years. If the police had found a missile or a couple of IEDs in his travel bag, he might have been booked for espionage, sabotage and terrorism. But there is no evidence of Hamid being accused of any such offence, or any offence at all, says IA Rehman, secretary general, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). The authorities denied of having any knowledge of him for a long time. Finally, they disclosed that he was tried by a military court and sentenced to three years imprisonment, Rehman adds. Hamids mother even submitted a mercy plea to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif requesting him to pardon him for travelling to Pakistan without proper documents. Till date, Hamid hasnt been given consular access nor allowed to talk with his family in Mumbai. There have been concerns about threats to his life in prison after he was attacked thrice by fellow inmates. The government must ensure his safety and it will be proper to start preparing for his repatriation to India, Rehman says. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs in a press statement has asked Pakistan to grant consular access to Hamid and Kulbhushan Yadav. Pakistan had arrested Yadav from Balochistan in March 2016 and accused him of being an Indian Navy officer who was deputed to the intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Yadav has been accused by Pakistan of planning subversive activities in the country as a RAW agent. India has acknowledged that Yadav had served in the Navy but denied that he has any connection with the government now. Pakistan has so far turned down Indias request for consular access to Yadav. In accordance with the provisions of the Agreement on Consular Access 2008, both India and Pakistan are required to exchange lists of prisoners in each others custody on January 1 and July 1 every year. According to the exchanged list of prisoners by Pakistan on January 1, there are about 43 Indian prisoners in Pakistan and 25 Pakistani prisoners in India. The earlier list (July 2016) showed 518 Indian prisoners, including 463 fishermen, in Pakistans jails. The figures received by the Pakistan Interior Ministry since 2016 through the Foreign Office from Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi reveal that Pakistani prisoners are languishing in eight Indian jails out of 1,387 across the country. It is unclear if other jails have Pakistani prisoners or not. One such prisoner is Rubina Akhtar, a young Pakistani woman detained in a Jammu jail since 2012 along with her four-year-old daughter. According to reports in Pakistan media, she had apparently been arrested after she was abandoned in New Delhi by her husband while she was travelling for medical treatment, and left without any money or documents. Though her jail term ended in 2013, it has not been possible for her to return home because the Pakistan Interior Ministry has not confirmed her nationality. But according to her interrogation report, Rubina has been in jail since November 6, 2012, along with her minor daughter. She was arrested at Kanachak in Jammu after she crossed the border inadvertently and did not know the way home. The Jammu and Kashmir High Court in a verdict has asked the state and Central governments to expedite the confirmation of residential address of Rubina. Fishermen are often freed on special days only to be caught again. Pakistan released 447 of them on December 25, 2016, and caught another 65 on December 28. The problem is with other prisoners who are not released even after they have served their sentence. Linked to Hamids case is another story of tragic disappearance. On August 19, 2015, Zeenat Shahzadi, a 24-year-old journalist, was on her way to work in Lahore in an autorickshaw when she was abducted by armed men. HRCP believes she was taken away by security forces. In August 2013, Zeenat had secured the special power of attorney from Fauzia and pursued his case in the Peshawar High Court and at CIED. She was to appear before the commission on August 24, 2015, but was picked up from a bus stand near her house in Lahore on August 19. Earlier in the same month, she was held by the police for a short while after she met the Indian high commissioner at a public event. Zeenat was the first woman journalist suspected to have been subjected to enforced disappearance in Pakistan. Her case highlights how this cruel practice is being used against people, even as hundreds of cases of disappearances remain unresolved, says Champa Patel, Amnesty Internationals South Asia Director. According to CIEDwhich is investigating Zeenats case1,401 of 3,000 cases are still pending. The number of disappearances is increasing every year with the commission saying 728 people were added to the list last year, the highest in any year since its inception. Most of them were taken away from Balochistan. In 2015, there were 649 cases. In Pakistan, journalists face serious threats to their freedom of expression and physical safety from armed groups and security forces. The governments duty is to protect journalists and punish those responsible for violating their rights, Patel said. Zeenats disappearance has taken a toll on her family. In March 2016, her teenage brother Saddam committed suicide as he was unable to cope with the loss of his sister. Pakistan should sign and ratify without reservations the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. If the country wishes to be seen as a modern, rights-respecting nation, then it should break with its ugly history of enforced disappearances and make the safe recovery of thousands of people still unaccounted for, Patel adds. Zeenat Shahzadi Journalist Had taken up Hamid Ansaris case before being picked up by gunmen On August 19, 2015, Zeenat Shahzadi, 24, was on her way to work in Lahore in an autorickshaw when she was abducted by armed men. Pakistans HRCP believes she was taken away by security forces. Rubina Akhtar Pakistan citizen and mother of 4-year-old girl She could not be sent home since Pakistan has not confirmed her nationality Rubina has been in a Jammu jail since November 6, 2012 along with her daughter. She was arrested at Kanachak after she crossed the border inadvertently
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: with the Kashmir Valley witnessing heavy snowfall, avalanches hit an Army camp and a residential house on Wednesday causing the death of five, including an Army Major and four members of a family. Meanwhile, a civilian was killed after the rooftop of his house collapsed in the district of Kupwara.

Defence spokesperson in Srinagar Colonel Rajesh Kalia told Express that the avalanche hit the Army barracks at Sonamarg in Ganderbal district early in the morning. Some armymen were trapped under tonnes of ice. A rescue operation was launched and the trapped soldiers were rescued. However, an officer lost his life in the incident, said the spokesperson.

Sources identified the deceased officer as Major Amit Sagar. At least eight soldiers were trapped after the avalanche hit their barracks in the territorial Army camp of 115 Bn in Sonamarg around 5.45 pm. Major Amit was killed in the avalanche while other trapped soldiers were rescued, said a source.

During the wee hours, an avalanche hit a residential house at Badugam in Tulail area of Gurez sector along the Line of

Control (LoC) in Bandipora district. The house was buried in ice after being struck by the avalanche. Four inmates, including the house owner Habibullah, 50, his wife Azizi Begum, 48, daughter Gulshan Bano (19) and son Irfan Ahmad, 17, were killed. However, one of the sons of the house owner, identified as Riyaz Ahmad, 18, was rescued and shifted to a nearby hospital, an official said.

Meanwhile, a man was killed after he fell while clearing snow from the rooftop of his house in Kupwara. A police officer said Abdul Gani Ganaie fell from the rooftop after it collapsed due to heavy snowfall. He died on the spot while the house owner sustained injuries and has been hospitalised, he said.

In a related development, two families had a narrow escape after their house collapsed due to snowfall in Panthachowk area on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway in Srinagar.

The upper reaches of Kashmir, including Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonamarg, Yousmarg, Karnah, Keran, Gurez, Machil and Uri, are experiencing moderate to heavy snowfall, while the plains including Srinagar arewitnessing intermittent snowfall.

Due to the snowfall, surface and air connectivity between Srinagar and the rest of the country has been disrupted. The Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the only link connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country, has been closed for traffic due to snowfall. Air traffic also remained suspended for the second day on Wednesday as no flights could take

off or land at the Srinagar airport.

A weather department official said, More snowfall is expected in the next 24 hours. It will be moderate to heavy in upper reaches.

A government official said people in the upper reaches of the Valley have been advised to remain vigilant and stay indoors.

A police officer said in view of the heavy snowfall and apprehension of avalanches in Khadiyall and Ismarg areas of Gurez in Bandipora district, police launched an operation and rescued 10 families in Khaidyal and shifted them to safer places. In Ismarg, 15 families were rescued and shifted to a safer place in Kanzalwal, he added.

SRINAGAR: with the Kashmir Valley witnessing heavy snowfall, avalanches hit an Army camp and a residential house on Wednesday causing the death of five, including an Army Major and four members of a family. Meanwhile, a civilian was killed after the rooftop of his house collapsed in the district of Kupwara. Defence spokesperson in Srinagar Colonel Rajesh Kalia told Express that the avalanche hit the Army barracks at Sonamarg in Ganderbal district early in the morning. Some armymen were trapped under tonnes of ice. A rescue operation was launched and the trapped soldiers were rescued. However, an officer lost his life in the incident, said the spokesperson. Sources identified the deceased officer as Major Amit Sagar. At least eight soldiers were trapped after the avalanche hit their barracks in the territorial Army camp of 115 Bn in Sonamarg around 5.45 pm. Major Amit was killed in the avalanche while other trapped soldiers were rescued, said a source. During the wee hours, an avalanche hit a residential house at Badugam in Tulail area of Gurez sector along the Line of Control (LoC) in Bandipora district. The house was buried in ice after being struck by the avalanche. Four inmates, including the house owner Habibullah, 50, his wife Azizi Begum, 48, daughter Gulshan Bano (19) and son Irfan Ahmad, 17, were killed. However, one of the sons of the house owner, identified as Riyaz Ahmad, 18, was rescued and shifted to a nearby hospital, an official said. Meanwhile, a man was killed after he fell while clearing snow from the rooftop of his house in Kupwara. A police officer said Abdul Gani Ganaie fell from the rooftop after it collapsed due to heavy snowfall. He died on the spot while the house owner sustained injuries and has been hospitalised, he said. In a related development, two families had a narrow escape after their house collapsed due to snowfall in Panthachowk area on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway in Srinagar. The upper reaches of Kashmir, including Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonamarg, Yousmarg, Karnah, Keran, Gurez, Machil and Uri, are experiencing moderate to heavy snowfall, while the plains including Srinagar arewitnessing intermittent snowfall. Due to the snowfall, surface and air connectivity between Srinagar and the rest of the country has been disrupted. The Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the only link connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country, has been closed for traffic due to snowfall. Air traffic also remained suspended for the second day on Wednesday as no flights could take off or land at the Srinagar airport. A weather department official said, More snowfall is expected in the next 24 hours. It will be moderate to heavy in upper reaches. A government official said people in the upper reaches of the Valley have been advised to remain vigilant and stay indoors. A police officer said in view of the heavy snowfall and apprehension of avalanches in Khadiyall and Ismarg areas of Gurez in Bandipora district, police launched an operation and rescued 10 families in Khaidyal and shifted them to safer places. In Ismarg, 15 families were rescued and shifted to a safer place in Kanzalwal, he added.
By Express News Service

RAIPUR: Citing brazen intimidation of activist Bela Bhatia by unidentified men, the Amnesty International India said that the Chhattisgarh government needs to do much more to end the threats and violence faced by human rights defenders in Bastar.

In the statement issued on Wednesday the human rights advocacy group stated that in recent months, several human right defenders in Chhattisgarh have been threatened, intimidated or arrested under trumped-up charges.

It is chilling to see the continuous intimidation of activists in Chhattisgarh taking place under the noses of the state police. The Chhattisgarh government should be embarrassed about failing to uphold the rule of law, said Aakar Patel, Executive Director of Amnesty International India.

On 19 and 20 January, Bhatia had accompanied a team from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to record the statements of tribal women who had registered complaints of rape, sexual assault and looting by security forces in 2015.

Earlier on January 7, the NHRC in its press release had said it had found prima facie evidence of rape, sexual and physical assault by state police personnel in three separate incidents, including one in which Bela Bhatia had helped tribal women to register a complaint.

The civil rights activist Bhatia said that the Monday incident was the third such attack in the last one year. I was also targeted in March previous year for my work among the tribals and was asked to pack-up and leave, she said.

RAIPUR: Citing brazen intimidation of activist Bela Bhatia by unidentified men, the Amnesty International India said that the Chhattisgarh government needs to do much more to end the threats and violence faced by human rights defenders in Bastar. In the statement issued on Wednesday the human rights advocacy group stated that in recent months, several human right defenders in Chhattisgarh have been threatened, intimidated or arrested under trumped-up charges. It is chilling to see the continuous intimidation of activists in Chhattisgarh taking place under the noses of the state police. The Chhattisgarh government should be embarrassed about failing to uphold the rule of law, said Aakar Patel, Executive Director of Amnesty International India. On 19 and 20 January, Bhatia had accompanied a team from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to record the statements of tribal women who had registered complaints of rape, sexual assault and looting by security forces in 2015. Earlier on January 7, the NHRC in its press release had said it had found prima facie evidence of rape, sexual and physical assault by state police personnel in three separate incidents, including one in which Bela Bhatia had helped tribal women to register a complaint. The civil rights activist Bhatia said that the Monday incident was the third such attack in the last one year. I was also targeted in March previous year for my work among the tribals and was asked to pack-up and leave, she said.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) may come together to form an alliance to face the local body polls in the state even as the talks on the BJP- Shiv Sena alliance have not yet materialised.



"We have decided to form an alliance with like-minded parties," state NCP president Sunil Tatkare said here on Wednesday after a meeting to discuss emerging political scenario in the state.



"We are very close to finalisation of talks with the Congress in many districts and talks regarding 4-5 Municipal Corporations too are in an advanced stage," he told express.



Meanwhile, there was complete silence on the BJP- Shiv Sena front on Wednesday. Both parties had several meetings on various levels as the deadline for concluding the talks is fast approaching.



Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had earlier said that he would give his final verdict on the alliance on January 26th at the party cadre's meeting.

MUMBAI: The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) may come together to form an alliance to face the local body polls in the state even as the talks on the BJP- Shiv Sena alliance have not yet materialised. "We have decided to form an alliance with like-minded parties," state NCP president Sunil Tatkare said here on Wednesday after a meeting to discuss emerging political scenario in the state. "We are very close to finalisation of talks with the Congress in many districts and talks regarding 4-5 Municipal Corporations too are in an advanced stage," he told express. Meanwhile, there was complete silence on the BJP- Shiv Sena front on Wednesday. Both parties had several meetings on various levels as the deadline for concluding the talks is fast approaching. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had earlier said that he would give his final verdict on the alliance on January 26th at the party cadre's meeting.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: There is good news for those contesting the poll battle in five states as the Election Commission on Wednesday requested the Reserve Bank of India to enhance the weekly cash withdrawal limit of candidates to Rs 2 lakh from the Rs 24,000.

It was felt that the limit of Rs 24, 000 fixed after demonetisation was not enough to meet the campaign expenditure.

The EC told RBI Governor Urjit Patel that it has been apprised of the problems candidates are facing due to withdrawal limits imposed after note ban. It said the returning officer of the constituency will issue certificate that the person is a candidate and he or she be allowed to withdraw Rs 2 lakh cash per week from the bank account opened specially to meet the expenses during campaign.

The EC has also said the facility be extended till March 11, the day of counting.

EC has already instructed that candidates are bound to open an election account for meeting poll-related expenditure which is monitored by the teams appointed by the poll panel.

The EC said with a weekly withdrawal limit of Rs 24,000, a candidate would be able to withdraw Rs 96,000 in cash during the election process which lasts 3 to 4 week. It reminded the Central bank that as per law, candidates contesting assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab can spend Rs 28 lakh for electioneering. The limit in Goa and Manipur is Rs 20 lakh.

The poll panel said that despite paying amounts through cheques, candidates still need hard cash for petty expenses. Also the "issue is further adversely effected" in rural areas where banking facilities are "negligible".

NEW DELHI: There is good news for those contesting the poll battle in five states as the Election Commission on Wednesday requested the Reserve Bank of India to enhance the weekly cash withdrawal limit of candidates to Rs 2 lakh from the Rs 24,000. It was felt that the limit of Rs 24, 000 fixed after demonetisation was not enough to meet the campaign expenditure. The EC told RBI Governor Urjit Patel that it has been apprised of the problems candidates are facing due to withdrawal limits imposed after note ban. It said the returning officer of the constituency will issue certificate that the person is a candidate and he or she be allowed to withdraw Rs 2 lakh cash per week from the bank account opened specially to meet the expenses during campaign. The EC has also said the facility be extended till March 11, the day of counting. EC has already instructed that candidates are bound to open an election account for meeting poll-related expenditure which is monitored by the teams appointed by the poll panel. The EC said with a weekly withdrawal limit of Rs 24,000, a candidate would be able to withdraw Rs 96,000 in cash during the election process which lasts 3 to 4 week. It reminded the Central bank that as per law, candidates contesting assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab can spend Rs 28 lakh for electioneering. The limit in Goa and Manipur is Rs 20 lakh. The poll panel said that despite paying amounts through cheques, candidates still need hard cash for petty expenses. Also the "issue is further adversely effected" in rural areas where banking facilities are "negligible".
By Express News Service

PANAJI: A day after BJP chief Amit Shah said the next Goa government will be functioning under the leadership of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, the Congress on Tuesday rebutted Shah, arguing that Goa is not a union territory to be governed by Delhi.

It is for the people of Goa to think on what Shah said. We are not a Union territory to be ruled from Delhi, Goas leader of opposition Pratapsinh Rane said.

When asked whether such a trend favours the state, Rane said, It is not good for the entire country where Defence Minister is seen more interested in Goa than what is happening at the border.

Parrikar is already ruling the state through remote control. Every weekend he spends here since he became the Defence Minister, Rane quipped.

Meanwhile, BJPs state chief Vinay Tendulkar claimed that people want the Defence Minister to be brought back to Goa and also asserted the RSS is with the BJP for the polls. However, he refused to divulge on the partys strategy.

Tendulkar said, Shah must have said it depending on the demands. At present, Parrikar and Shripad Naik and Nitin Gadkari are leading the campaign in Goa.

PANAJI: A day after BJP chief Amit Shah said the next Goa government will be functioning under the leadership of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, the Congress on Tuesday rebutted Shah, arguing that Goa is not a union territory to be governed by Delhi. It is for the people of Goa to think on what Shah said. We are not a Union territory to be ruled from Delhi, Goas leader of opposition Pratapsinh Rane said. When asked whether such a trend favours the state, Rane said, It is not good for the entire country where Defence Minister is seen more interested in Goa than what is happening at the border. Parrikar is already ruling the state through remote control. Every weekend he spends here since he became the Defence Minister, Rane quipped. Meanwhile, BJPs state chief Vinay Tendulkar claimed that people want the Defence Minister to be brought back to Goa and also asserted the RSS is with the BJP for the polls. However, he refused to divulge on the partys strategy. Tendulkar said, Shah must have said it depending on the demands. At present, Parrikar and Shripad Naik and Nitin Gadkari are leading the campaign in Goa.
By PTI

RAIPUR: A Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) official was allegedly shot dead by a subordinate at their camp in Chhattigsarh's Kanker district, police said today.

The incident occurred last night at the camp of a company of CAF's 14th battalion at Hurrapinjodi village under Amabeda Police Station, Additional Superintendent of Police, Kanker, Jai Prakash Badhai told PTI.

The deceased has been identified as Vishwanath (57), a platoon commander with the same CAF company, he added.

As per preliminary information, while Vishwanath was giving some instructions to jawans, a constable, identified as Samar Shekhar (29), shot him with his service rifle, leaving the officer critically injured, he said.

"The platoon commander was immediately rushed to Antagarh hospital where he was declared brought dead. The reason behind the murder has not been ascertained yet as the accused's statement is yet to be recorded," Badhai said.

The body has been sent for postmortem and the accused has been arrested, the ASP said, adding that a case has been lodged in this connection and further probe was on.

RAIPUR: A Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) official was allegedly shot dead by a subordinate at their camp in Chhattigsarh's Kanker district, police said today. The incident occurred last night at the camp of a company of CAF's 14th battalion at Hurrapinjodi village under Amabeda Police Station, Additional Superintendent of Police, Kanker, Jai Prakash Badhai told PTI. The deceased has been identified as Vishwanath (57), a platoon commander with the same CAF company, he added. As per preliminary information, while Vishwanath was giving some instructions to jawans, a constable, identified as Samar Shekhar (29), shot him with his service rifle, leaving the officer critically injured, he said. "The platoon commander was immediately rushed to Antagarh hospital where he was declared brought dead. The reason behind the murder has not been ascertained yet as the accused's statement is yet to be recorded," Badhai said. The body has been sent for postmortem and the accused has been arrested, the ASP said, adding that a case has been lodged in this connection and further probe was on.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: In a first, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) officers posted in the headquarters here or at Sector and Frontier headquarters will travel to far-flung areas of Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan border to celebrate the Republic Day on Thursday.



The initiative has been taken by SSB DG Archana Ramasundaram and officers of the rank of the deputy commandant and above will celebrate the 68th Republic Day along the border in Nepal and Bhutan besides Jammu and Kashmir and Naxal-affected States.



On this occasion, the officers will also convey the message of DG, SSB to the force personnel and public present at the functions.



The DG also said that this occasion will help in establishing a healthy relationship with the border population. This national festival shall be celebrated in a manner that better relationship could be ensured between border population and SSB to strengthen integrity and unity of the country, said a statement released by the SSB.



The idea behind this initiative is also to establish direct communication between the officers of headquarters and the jawans posted at remote locations on the borders. This endeavour will also ensure that senior officers appreciate the problems of jawans and instil confidence in them that the DG and the forces headquarter is sensitive towards their problems and making all out efforts to provide them better facilities, the statement added.



Ramasundarma also called upon the force personnel to follow the motto of SSB Service, Security & Brotherhood and strive for the security of the border population and keep the national flag flying high and achieve new heights.

NEW DELHI: In a first, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) officers posted in the headquarters here or at Sector and Frontier headquarters will travel to far-flung areas of Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan border to celebrate the Republic Day on Thursday. The initiative has been taken by SSB DG Archana Ramasundaram and officers of the rank of the deputy commandant and above will celebrate the 68th Republic Day along the border in Nepal and Bhutan besides Jammu and Kashmir and Naxal-affected States. On this occasion, the officers will also convey the message of DG, SSB to the force personnel and public present at the functions. The DG also said that this occasion will help in establishing a healthy relationship with the border population. This national festival shall be celebrated in a manner that better relationship could be ensured between border population and SSB to strengthen integrity and unity of the country, said a statement released by the SSB. The idea behind this initiative is also to establish direct communication between the officers of headquarters and the jawans posted at remote locations on the borders. This endeavour will also ensure that senior officers appreciate the problems of jawans and instil confidence in them that the DG and the forces headquarter is sensitive towards their problems and making all out efforts to provide them better facilities, the statement added. Ramasundarma also called upon the force personnel to follow the motto of SSB Service, Security & Brotherhood and strive for the security of the border population and keep the national flag flying high and achieve new heights.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Sweden terminated investigation into Bofors arms scandal in an attempt to shield the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi from embarrassment as it felt further probe may throw up more revelations of bribes to Indian officials in the deal, a declassified CIA report said.

It said details of the bribery payments were kept secret under a "scheme" as Sweden wanted to "save" Gandhi from troubles caused due to a Swedish leak while the Nobel Industries, the main company, wanted to avoid an indictment.

"Stockholm wanted to save Gandhi the troubles caused to him by the Swedish leak, and Nobel Industries wanted to avoid a bribery indictment. "The two sides cooperated, therefore, on a scheme to keep the details of the payments secret. Stockholm eventually called off the entire bribery investigation," the secret CIA report on Bofors arms scandal said.

The report dated march 4, 1988 by the American spy agency said a separate police investigation into the scam was terminated in late January 1988 following a trip by the Indian Prime Minister Gandhi to Stockholm.

"Sweden claimed inability to track the payments through Swiss bank accounts after making a half-hearted request for Swiss assistance," it said. Nobel Industries AB was created in 1984 after the merger of the Swedish chemical firm KemaNobel with the Swedish weapons maker Bofors.

The report said numerous investigations were initiated to examine the "complex web" of bribery and arms diversions but despite an admission from a key industry executive, only two individuals were charged with violating Swedish law.

"Stockholm has since called off the investigation of Bofors' bribery, probably in an effort to prevent future revelations of bribes to Indian officials that could embarrass Prime Minister Gandhi," it said.

The report also referred as sidelights to the "affair" the "mysterious death of a customs official, a possible Iranian connection to the murder of Olof Palme." The CIA report also mentioned about an inquiry into the bribery in India and Singapore which was a key "transhipment point in the Bofors saga".

It also mentioned about Bofors "deliberately" violating or "circumventing" arms selling norms while supplying missile systems to Bahrain, anti-aircraft guns to Thailand, ammunition to Oman and explosives to East Germany.

The report is part of nearly 12 million secret documents CIA declassified last week. The Bofors scandal is blamed for Rajiv Gandhi losing the Lok Sabha poll in 1989.

NEW DELHI: Sweden terminated investigation into Bofors arms scandal in an attempt to shield the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi from embarrassment as it felt further probe may throw up more revelations of bribes to Indian officials in the deal, a declassified CIA report said. It said details of the bribery payments were kept secret under a "scheme" as Sweden wanted to "save" Gandhi from troubles caused due to a Swedish leak while the Nobel Industries, the main company, wanted to avoid an indictment. "Stockholm wanted to save Gandhi the troubles caused to him by the Swedish leak, and Nobel Industries wanted to avoid a bribery indictment. "The two sides cooperated, therefore, on a scheme to keep the details of the payments secret. Stockholm eventually called off the entire bribery investigation," the secret CIA report on Bofors arms scandal said. The report dated march 4, 1988 by the American spy agency said a separate police investigation into the scam was terminated in late January 1988 following a trip by the Indian Prime Minister Gandhi to Stockholm. "Sweden claimed inability to track the payments through Swiss bank accounts after making a half-hearted request for Swiss assistance," it said. Nobel Industries AB was created in 1984 after the merger of the Swedish chemical firm KemaNobel with the Swedish weapons maker Bofors. The report said numerous investigations were initiated to examine the "complex web" of bribery and arms diversions but despite an admission from a key industry executive, only two individuals were charged with violating Swedish law. "Stockholm has since called off the investigation of Bofors' bribery, probably in an effort to prevent future revelations of bribes to Indian officials that could embarrass Prime Minister Gandhi," it said. The report also referred as sidelights to the "affair" the "mysterious death of a customs official, a possible Iranian connection to the murder of Olof Palme." The CIA report also mentioned about an inquiry into the bribery in India and Singapore which was a key "transhipment point in the Bofors saga". It also mentioned about Bofors "deliberately" violating or "circumventing" arms selling norms while supplying missile systems to Bahrain, anti-aircraft guns to Thailand, ammunition to Oman and explosives to East Germany. The report is part of nearly 12 million secret documents CIA declassified last week. The Bofors scandal is blamed for Rajiv Gandhi losing the Lok Sabha poll in 1989.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

PATIALA: With Punjab set to witness an intriguing electoral battle between the SAD-BJP alliance, AAP and Congress-- the parties have fielded key leaders in the major constituencies across the State. Former Punjab CM and Congress president Amarinder Singh has been fielded against former Army chief General JJ Singh (retd) from Patiala and CM Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi.

While Badal senior had won four consecutive terms from Lambi, currently the constituency reveals an undercurrent of dissent against the incumbent. It was the AAP which first upped the ante on the Lambi seat by fielding Delhi lawmaker Jarnail Singh, who hogged the limelight for throwing a shoe at the then Union home minister P Chidambaram in Delhi in 2009, to take on Badal senior. He is banking heavily on anti-incumbency against Badals, as he is contesting against two heavy weights.

I am contesting from Lambi as I want to teach a lesson to those who have looted and ruined Punjab. I will make a man out of him (Badal)," said Amarinder Singh, who turns 75 in March and has announced that this is the last election of his political career.

Lambi falls in the Malout subdivision of Muktsar district. It is part of the Bathinda parliamentary constituency which is represented in the Lok Sabha by Union minister Harsimrat Badal who is also the daughter-in-law of the CM. Badal village, where the chief minister hails from, is part of this constituency.

AAP convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal left no stones unturned as he held five rallies in the constituency on Friday last week. He will do five more, said Jarnail Singh, brushing aside SAD and Congress attack on him for being an outsider. Jarnail Singh adds that he is a Lahori and his grandparents had also moved from Lahore at the time of partition. However, they chose to settle down in Delhi, that is the only difference and it does not make him an outsider, he said.

Meanwhile, AAP has been openly accusing Congress of connivance with Badals to ensure the latters victory in Lambi.

Besides JJ Singh, Amarinder has another serious opponent in Dr Balbir Singh from the Aam Aadmi Party in Patiala. With splits in AAP, MP Dr Dharamvir Gandhi who was suspended by the party, has fielded his own candidates. During the last three elections, Capt Amarinder Singh has consistently improved upon his victory margin. In 2012 elections, his victory margin was about 40, 000. This was despite the fact that he visited the city only twice-- first on the day of filing the nomination papers and the second was a public meeting.

Despite the number of contenders or how serious and challenging they may tend to be, Amarinder remains on a sound footing in Patiala, his family borough.

After the ruling Badals and the Capt Amarinder Singh, the battle is between finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa of SAD who is pitted against a former chief minister and veteran congress leader and five time sitting MLA Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, from Lehragaga.

During her campaigning, Bhattal makes sure to tell the people that Parminder is an outsider. Parminder Dhindsa betrayed and ran away from Sunam. He needs to explain that what made him to run away from there and betray the people of the Assembly segment represented by him. Her lists of promises include turning Lehragagga into a new district which would open new vistas of development for region.

Taking Bhattal head-on, Dhindsa terms her as an outsider who did nothing for the constituency she had been representing for last twenty five years.

Parminder is son of former Union minister and Akali stalwart Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, who is also Rajya Sabha member.

PATIALA: With Punjab set to witness an intriguing electoral battle between the SAD-BJP alliance, AAP and Congress-- the parties have fielded key leaders in the major constituencies across the State. Former Punjab CM and Congress president Amarinder Singh has been fielded against former Army chief General JJ Singh (retd) from Patiala and CM Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi. While Badal senior had won four consecutive terms from Lambi, currently the constituency reveals an undercurrent of dissent against the incumbent. It was the AAP which first upped the ante on the Lambi seat by fielding Delhi lawmaker Jarnail Singh, who hogged the limelight for throwing a shoe at the then Union home minister P Chidambaram in Delhi in 2009, to take on Badal senior. He is banking heavily on anti-incumbency against Badals, as he is contesting against two heavy weights. I am contesting from Lambi as I want to teach a lesson to those who have looted and ruined Punjab. I will make a man out of him (Badal)," said Amarinder Singh, who turns 75 in March and has announced that this is the last election of his political career. Lambi falls in the Malout subdivision of Muktsar district. It is part of the Bathinda parliamentary constituency which is represented in the Lok Sabha by Union minister Harsimrat Badal who is also the daughter-in-law of the CM. Badal village, where the chief minister hails from, is part of this constituency. AAP convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal left no stones unturned as he held five rallies in the constituency on Friday last week. He will do five more, said Jarnail Singh, brushing aside SAD and Congress attack on him for being an outsider. Jarnail Singh adds that he is a Lahori and his grandparents had also moved from Lahore at the time of partition. However, they chose to settle down in Delhi, that is the only difference and it does not make him an outsider, he said. Meanwhile, AAP has been openly accusing Congress of connivance with Badals to ensure the latters victory in Lambi. Besides JJ Singh, Amarinder has another serious opponent in Dr Balbir Singh from the Aam Aadmi Party in Patiala. With splits in AAP, MP Dr Dharamvir Gandhi who was suspended by the party, has fielded his own candidates. During the last three elections, Capt Amarinder Singh has consistently improved upon his victory margin. In 2012 elections, his victory margin was about 40, 000. This was despite the fact that he visited the city only twice-- first on the day of filing the nomination papers and the second was a public meeting. Despite the number of contenders or how serious and challenging they may tend to be, Amarinder remains on a sound footing in Patiala, his family borough. After the ruling Badals and the Capt Amarinder Singh, the battle is between finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa of SAD who is pitted against a former chief minister and veteran congress leader and five time sitting MLA Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, from Lehragaga. During her campaigning, Bhattal makes sure to tell the people that Parminder is an outsider. Parminder Dhindsa betrayed and ran away from Sunam. He needs to explain that what made him to run away from there and betray the people of the Assembly segment represented by him. Her lists of promises include turning Lehragagga into a new district which would open new vistas of development for region. Taking Bhattal head-on, Dhindsa terms her as an outsider who did nothing for the constituency she had been representing for last twenty five years. Parminder is son of former Union minister and Akali stalwart Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, who is also Rajya Sabha member.
Ejaz Kaiser By

Agencies

RAIPUR: A sniffer dog of the premier central paramilitary force CRPF was killed after it unexpectedly hit the pressure IED (improvised explosive device) planted by the outlawed CPI (Maoist) in restive Bijapur district, south Chhattisgarh.



Following the incident the dog named Pluto was cited as a martyr (Shaheed) on the CRPFs twitter handle. He was the second Osama Hunter to have been slain during operations in athe span of a week.



The first canine 'Aminika' was killed on January 18 in Jharkhand's Latehar. Both dogs were two of the top class battle-hardened 'Belgian Malinois' infantry patrol canines of the country's largest paramilitary force. Both the slain dogs were course toppers at their training academy at Taralu near Bengaluru.



The IED blast occurred at Murdanda village in Basaguda about 350 km south of Raipur when the "trained" dog, part of a patrolling team of CRPFs 229 battalion was out on a search operation in Bijapur.



According to available information, the dog succeeded in sniffing out the IED but it abruptly exploded when it accidentally pressed the planted explosive. The dog handler however was not injured in the blast. According to the CRPF officials, it is rare for a sniffer dog to get killed this way.



No specific reason was officially given regarding the incident but experts believe that either the dog might not have been fully trained for the security purpose or perhaps the dog handler who maintained it was not alert or good enough.



The dog named Pluto was cited as a martyr

on the CRPFs twitter handle. (Photo: Twitter

via @crpfindia

The trained sniffer dogs almost always use its (sic) sense of smell to detect substances like explosives (ammonium nitrate) or drugs. This incident came as a surprise since the well-trained sniffer dogs (sic) can easily get to know about the hidden explosives, a dog expert trainer of the dog squad, said on a condition of anonymity.



After losing two of its highly-trained and ferocious canines, popularly known as 'Osama hunters', to Naxal triggered IED blasts in a week's time, an alarmed CRPF has asked field units to "study" reasons that led to these losses and undertake new tactical steps to thwart Maoist attempts to target the four-legged soldiers.



CRPF officials, while talking about the two recent setbacks, said these dogs are put under rigorous training for 24-weeks in sniffing, tracking and attack tactics and it is "near to impossible" that they will miss a hidden IED or bomb beneath the muddy earth.





"It is a loss for the force as these four-legged soldiers have saved numerous troops' lives in the battle zone especially in Naxal areas and were very dear to us. We are looking at what exactly caused these incidents and I have

asked my field units to study the blasts. If it requires adopting certain different tactical steps to be undertaken, we will do that," CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad said.



The breed known as 'Belgian Malinois' were inducted in the Indian security forces a few years ago based on their excellent track record of sniffing out hidden bombs and danger in enemy territory.



These dogs first shot to international fame after they assisted the elite US Navy SEALs in sniffing out Osama bin Laden from his safe haven in Pakistan in 2011 and have since been famously called 'Osama hunters'.



The importance of these 'Belgian Malinois' dogs can be ascertained from the fact that forces like CRPF, ITBP and BSF now have over 200 such canines and every battalion operating in Naxal areas has one dog and patrols have been instructed to let the dog lead, in order to save them from threats.



A dog instructor said that once these dogs started saving troops lives and giving them an edge in Naxal operations, they were labelled as 'paltan hi shaan, hamara shvaan' (A dog is the units' honour) and the best of the facilities were accorded to them including their handlers.



A number of siblings of 'Aminika' and 'Pluto' in various forces have been decorated with the DGs commendation discs for good work in the past even as CRPF accords them the badge of putting 'Shaheed' before their names, on par with a similar honour for troops who lay down their lives in the line of

duty.

Both the CRPF canines were cremated with full force honours and plans are afoot to erect memorials at their respective battalion headquarters.



RAIPUR: A sniffer dog of the premier central paramilitary force CRPF was killed after it unexpectedly hit the pressure IED (improvised explosive device) planted by the outlawed CPI (Maoist) in restive Bijapur district, south Chhattisgarh. Following the incident the dog named Pluto was cited as a martyr (Shaheed) on the CRPFs twitter handle. He was the second Osama Hunter to have been slain during operations in athe span of a week. The first canine 'Aminika' was killed on January 18 in Jharkhand's Latehar. Both dogs were two of the top class battle-hardened 'Belgian Malinois' infantry patrol canines of the country's largest paramilitary force. Both the slain dogs were course toppers at their training academy at Taralu near Bengaluru. The IED blast occurred at Murdanda village in Basaguda about 350 km south of Raipur when the "trained" dog, part of a patrolling team of CRPFs 229 battalion was out on a search operation in Bijapur. According to available information, the dog succeeded in sniffing out the IED but it abruptly exploded when it accidentally pressed the planted explosive. The dog handler however was not injured in the blast. According to the CRPF officials, it is rare for a sniffer dog to get killed this way. No specific reason was officially given regarding the incident but experts believe that either the dog might not have been fully trained for the security purpose or perhaps the dog handler who maintained it was not alert or good enough. The dog named Pluto was cited as a martyr on the CRPFs twitter handle. (Photo: Twitter via @crpfindiaThe trained sniffer dogs almost always use its (sic) sense of smell to detect substances like explosives (ammonium nitrate) or drugs. This incident came as a surprise since the well-trained sniffer dogs (sic) can easily get to know about the hidden explosives, a dog expert trainer of the dog squad, said on a condition of anonymity. After losing two of its highly-trained and ferocious canines, popularly known as 'Osama hunters', to Naxal triggered IED blasts in a week's time, an alarmed CRPF has asked field units to "study" reasons that led to these losses and undertake new tactical steps to thwart Maoist attempts to target the four-legged soldiers. CRPF officials, while talking about the two recent setbacks, said these dogs are put under rigorous training for 24-weeks in sniffing, tracking and attack tactics and it is "near to impossible" that they will miss a hidden IED or bomb beneath the muddy earth. "It is a loss for the force as these four-legged soldiers have saved numerous troops' lives in the battle zone especially in Naxal areas and were very dear to us. We are looking at what exactly caused these incidents and I have asked my field units to study the blasts. If it requires adopting certain different tactical steps to be undertaken, we will do that," CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad said. The breed known as 'Belgian Malinois' were inducted in the Indian security forces a few years ago based on their excellent track record of sniffing out hidden bombs and danger in enemy territory. These dogs first shot to international fame after they assisted the elite US Navy SEALs in sniffing out Osama bin Laden from his safe haven in Pakistan in 2011 and have since been famously called 'Osama hunters'. The importance of these 'Belgian Malinois' dogs can be ascertained from the fact that forces like CRPF, ITBP and BSF now have over 200 such canines and every battalion operating in Naxal areas has one dog and patrols have been instructed to let the dog lead, in order to save them from threats. A dog instructor said that once these dogs started saving troops lives and giving them an edge in Naxal operations, they were labelled as 'paltan hi shaan, hamara shvaan' (A dog is the units' honour) and the best of the facilities were accorded to them including their handlers. A number of siblings of 'Aminika' and 'Pluto' in various forces have been decorated with the DGs commendation discs for good work in the past even as CRPF accords them the badge of putting 'Shaheed' before their names, on par with a similar honour for troops who lay down their lives in the line of duty. Both the CRPF canines were cremated with full force honours and plans are afoot to erect memorials at their respective battalion headquarters.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump tweeted early Wednesday that he is ordering a "major investigation" into voter fraud, revisiting unsubstantiated claims he's made repeatedly about a rigged voting system.

The investigation, he said, will look at those registered to vote in more than one state, "those who are illegal and ... even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time)."

Depending on results, Trump tweeted, "we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

Trump has been fixated on his loss of the popular vote in the election and a concern that the legitimacy of his presidency is being challenged by Democrats and the media, aides and associates say.

Trump's own attorneys dismissed claims of voter fraud in a legal filing responding to Green Party candidate Jill Stein's demand for a recount in Michigan late last year.

"On what basis does Stein seek to disenfranchise Michigan citizens? None really, save for speculation," the attorneys wrote. "All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake."

Secretaries of state across the country have dismissed Trump's voter fraud claims as baseless. After the president's morning tweets, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted wrote on Twitter, "We conducted a review 4 years ago in Ohio & already have a statewide review of 2016 election underway. Easy to vote, hard to cheat."

Trump's exaggerations about inauguration crowds and assertions about illegal balloting have been distractions as advisers' have tried to launch his presidency with a flurry of actions on the economy.

His spokesman, Sean Spicer, has twice stepped into the fray himself, including on Tuesday, when he doubled down on Trump's false claim that he lost the popular vote because 3 million to 5 million people living in the U.S. illegally cast ballots.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have finalized their election results with no reports of the kind of widespread fraud that Trump is alleging.

Story continues

"He believes what he believes based on the information he was provided," said Spicer, who provided no evidence to back up the president's statements.

If the president's claim were true it would mark the most significant election fraud in U.S. history  and ironically, would raise the same questions about Trump's legitimacy that he's trying to avoid. No details have been released about the possible probe.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Wednesday his panel has already sent letters to the attorneys general in all 50 states asking for reports of any election irregularities.

"The president can join me and my staff," Cummings said on MSNBC. He also said he wants Congress to restore voting protections, citing a Supreme Court ruling that "gutted" key sections of the Voting Rights Act, particularly the provision requiring southern states to get clearance in advance from the Justice Department before legislating changes in voting laws and procedures.

Some Trump allies say he is justified in using his platform to defend his standing. They point to Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis' pre-inauguration statement that he did not see Trump as a legitimate president, as well as U.S. intelligence agencies' assessment that Russia meddled in the election in order to help Trump win.

"Segments of his own government keep driving this narrative," said Roger Stone, a longtime confidant. "I don't think it hurts to point it out."

Key advisers in Trump's inner circle concede the focus on crowd claims and alleged voter fraud have been a distraction.

After Friday's inaugural festivities, the new president grew increasingly upset the next day by what he felt was "biased" media coverage of women's marches across the globe protesting his election, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Trump was particularly enraged with CNN, which he thought was "gloating" by continually running photos of the women's march alongside the smaller crowds that attended his inauguration the day before, according to this person, one of several White House aides and associates who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.

Tuesday night on Twitter, Trump slammed CNN again, referring to the network as "FAKE NEWS @CNN" while praising rival Fox News Channel.

Trump has had a tumultuous relationship with the press, frequently calling the media dishonest and insulting individual reporters by name at his rallies and on Twitter. Still, two people close to Trump said he expected his coverage to turn more favorable once he took office. Instead, he's told people he believes it's gotten worse.

Those around Trump are trying to get the cable news consumer-in-chief to be near a television less often, according to one person who has spoken with him. The bad press over the weekend has not allowed Trump to "enjoy" the White House as he feels he deserves, according to one person who has spoken with him.

The result has been a full display of Trump's propensity for exaggeration and more. During an appearance at the CIA Saturday, he wrongly said the inaugural crowds gathered on the National Mall stretched to the Washington Monument, despite clear photo evidence to the contrary. And during a reception with lawmakers from both parties Monday night, he repeated his false assertion that millions of illegal immigrants provided Hillary Clinton's margin in the popular vote.

___

AP writers Stephen Ohlemacher and Vivian Salama contributed to this report.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Jonathan Lemire at http://twitter.com/jonlemire
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: The self-styled commander-in-chief of insurgent group United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), Paresh Baruah, has slammed Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, calling him an agent of India after the spiritual leader had purportedly said the insurgent leader was not coming forward for peace talks owing to pressure from China.

During my interactions with him (last year), I told him that China can give him arms and ammunition but it cannot assure him an honourable deathI feel he is under great pressure from China. Something is preventing him from coming forward for the talks, Ravi Shankar had told a group of visiting journalists in Bengaluru on Monday.

Baruah took strong exceptions to the assertions and called the spiritual leader an agent of India.

He (Ravi Shankar) is frustrated as he could not trap us in his web of peace talks. There is no question of responding to his offer to sit for peace talks. We want to make it amply clear that nobody can dictate terms to ULFA. ULFA is an independent liberation front, which functions on its own conscience, Baruah told an Assamese news channel.

In April last year, we had made our position very clear to him. We had told him that we wont come forward for talks if the agenda is not the core issue (which is Assams sovereignty)Our movement is not about peace; it is for the liberation of our people, the ULFA C-in-C said.

He said he had also told the spiritual leader that, Ours is a political issue and hence, should be resolved politically. He often talks about world peace but where in India could he usher in peace? Baruah asked.

Ravi Shankar had telephonic conversations with Baruah on a couple of occasions last year through a mediator. The insurgent leader had categorically told the spiritual guru that the outfit should not be expected to sit across the table if the sovereignty of Assam was not on the agenda.

Baruah is believed to be holed up somewhere along Myanmar-China border where the ULFA and several other insurgent groups of the Northeast have their bases.

GUWAHATI: The self-styled commander-in-chief of insurgent group United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), Paresh Baruah, has slammed Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, calling him an agent of India after the spiritual leader had purportedly said the insurgent leader was not coming forward for peace talks owing to pressure from China. During my interactions with him (last year), I told him that China can give him arms and ammunition but it cannot assure him an honourable deathI feel he is under great pressure from China. Something is preventing him from coming forward for the talks, Ravi Shankar had told a group of visiting journalists in Bengaluru on Monday. Baruah took strong exceptions to the assertions and called the spiritual leader an agent of India. He (Ravi Shankar) is frustrated as he could not trap us in his web of peace talks. There is no question of responding to his offer to sit for peace talks. We want to make it amply clear that nobody can dictate terms to ULFA. ULFA is an independent liberation front, which functions on its own conscience, Baruah told an Assamese news channel. In April last year, we had made our position very clear to him. We had told him that we wont come forward for talks if the agenda is not the core issue (which is Assams sovereignty)Our movement is not about peace; it is for the liberation of our people, the ULFA C-in-C said. He said he had also told the spiritual leader that, Ours is a political issue and hence, should be resolved politically. He often talks about world peace but where in India could he usher in peace? Baruah asked. Ravi Shankar had telephonic conversations with Baruah on a couple of occasions last year through a mediator. The insurgent leader had categorically told the spiritual guru that the outfit should not be expected to sit across the table if the sovereignty of Assam was not on the agenda. Baruah is believed to be holed up somewhere along Myanmar-China border where the ULFA and several other insurgent groups of the Northeast have their bases.
By Express News Service

KOLKATA: In a major blow to the Communist Party of India (Maoist), the party's Bengal-Jharkhand-Odisha border commander Ranjit Pal and his wife Jharna Giri surrendered to the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police on Wednesday.



The most wanted Maoist leader and his wife said their reasons for picking up arms have been resolved by the Mamata Banerjee government and that poor health and necessity to look after ailing parents pushed them to lay down arms.



Speaking to media at a presser on Wednesday, the Maoist leader said:"I apologise to all the people who had to lose their lives due to my 17-year-long association with Maoists. I have understood that it is not possible to look after wife, children and old parents as a rebel. The reasons for which we picked up arms are being resolved by the current State government in West Bengal. I urge all youths who have taken the Maoist path to return to mainstream."



A native of Barikul in Bankura district, Ranjit Pal was the most wanted Maoist leader in Bengal after Kishenji, who was killed in 2011, and Bikram, the IIT Kharagpur dropout who surrendered in 2012. However, he evaded questions on the association of Maoists with Nandigram agitation or controversy of fake encounter of Telangana native Malloujula Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji.



Ajodhya Hills area Committee commander, Nandigram native and Ranjit's wife Jharna Giri said,"I joined the movement during the peak of Nandigram movement ten years ago. However, I have realised that solution to problems through armed movement is impossible."



As a gesture, Ranjit Pal handed over his Self Loading Rifle (SLR) to state DGP Surajit Kar Purakayastha. The Bengal DGP said that over 290 Maoists have surrendered in the state over the past two years.

KOLKATA: In a major blow to the Communist Party of India (Maoist), the party's Bengal-Jharkhand-Odisha border commander Ranjit Pal and his wife Jharna Giri surrendered to the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police on Wednesday. The most wanted Maoist leader and his wife said their reasons for picking up arms have been resolved by the Mamata Banerjee government and that poor health and necessity to look after ailing parents pushed them to lay down arms. Speaking to media at a presser on Wednesday, the Maoist leader said:"I apologise to all the people who had to lose their lives due to my 17-year-long association with Maoists. I have understood that it is not possible to look after wife, children and old parents as a rebel. The reasons for which we picked up arms are being resolved by the current State government in West Bengal. I urge all youths who have taken the Maoist path to return to mainstream." A native of Barikul in Bankura district, Ranjit Pal was the most wanted Maoist leader in Bengal after Kishenji, who was killed in 2011, and Bikram, the IIT Kharagpur dropout who surrendered in 2012. However, he evaded questions on the association of Maoists with Nandigram agitation or controversy of fake encounter of Telangana native Malloujula Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji. Ajodhya Hills area Committee commander, Nandigram native and Ranjit's wife Jharna Giri said,"I joined the movement during the peak of Nandigram movement ten years ago. However, I have realised that solution to problems through armed movement is impossible." As a gesture, Ranjit Pal handed over his Self Loading Rifle (SLR) to state DGP Surajit Kar Purakayastha. The Bengal DGP said that over 290 Maoists have surrendered in the state over the past two years.
By Express News Service

SULTANPUR: Why did Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav choose Sultanpur Sadar seat to launch his campaign was the most talked about topic doing rounds in Lucknows poltical circles on Tuesday. Some attributed it to astrologers who reportedly advised Akhilesh to kick it off from east, however, others attached it to the perception that its a lucky seat and the party which wins it, forms the government in Lucknow. At least, the statistics of the seat since 1969 buttress the common belief.

However, majority of political parties will start their campaign from UP west, 140 seats of which will go to polls in the first two phases on February 11 and 15. Sultanpur will be in for voting in the fifth phases on February 27. This seat, which was known as Jaisinghpur before 2009 delimitation, has proved lucky for

Congress in 1969 to SP in 2012 all the parties which finally the made the government in the state.

The belief could be the only reason that the CM launched his campaign form this seats while Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address rallies in western UP , BSP chief Mayawati will start

her UP campaign from Aligarh on Febraury 1, said political observer.

Its a saga of over 45 years which started way back in 1969. The fortune has been smiling on different parties whose candidates have won here since 1969. Congresss Sheo Kumar won the seat in 1969 and

his party formed the government in the state with Chandrabhanu Gupta as the Chief Minister. Sheo Kumar regained it in 1974 and so did the Congress government but this time under HN Bahuguna.

In 1977, a Janata Party candidate -- Maqbool Husain Khan won the seat in the Janata wave which swept the nation. In UP, Congress made way for Ram Naresh Yadav of Janata Party to take over as the CM.

In 1980, however, the seat went back to Congresss Devendra Pandey and the party came back to power with VP Singh as the CM. The same equation of Congress winner and Congress government was repeated in 1985, too. In 1989 a Janata Dal candidate won the seat the party formed the government under Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Notably, the BJP won it in 1991, and the saffron party formed its maiden government in the state and Kalyan Singh became the CM. His government fell after Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992

and in the bypolls held the next year, the people of Jaisinghpur elected SP candidate A Raish. After the elections, SP formed the government in coalition with BSP.

Next, in 1996 assembly elections, BSP candidate Ram Ratan Yadav won the seat and results saw a fractured mandate.

However, after six months, BSP and BJP formed their first coalition government. The party retained the seat in 2002 elections and it was a BSP-BJP government again in the state. Continuing with its strange winning trend, the constituency elected a BSP candidate in 2007 and SPs Verma in 2012.

This time, sitting MLA Arun Kumar Verma, who was the youngest winner in 2012, will be facing BJPs Sitaram Verma and BSPs Raj Prasad Upadhyay.

SULTANPUR: Why did Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav choose Sultanpur Sadar seat to launch his campaign was the most talked about topic doing rounds in Lucknows poltical circles on Tuesday. Some attributed it to astrologers who reportedly advised Akhilesh to kick it off from east, however, others attached it to the perception that its a lucky seat and the party which wins it, forms the government in Lucknow. At least, the statistics of the seat since 1969 buttress the common belief. However, majority of political parties will start their campaign from UP west, 140 seats of which will go to polls in the first two phases on February 11 and 15. Sultanpur will be in for voting in the fifth phases on February 27. This seat, which was known as Jaisinghpur before 2009 delimitation, has proved lucky for Congress in 1969 to SP in 2012 all the parties which finally the made the government in the state. The belief could be the only reason that the CM launched his campaign form this seats while Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address rallies in western UP , BSP chief Mayawati will start her UP campaign from Aligarh on Febraury 1, said political observer. Its a saga of over 45 years which started way back in 1969. The fortune has been smiling on different parties whose candidates have won here since 1969. Congresss Sheo Kumar won the seat in 1969 and his party formed the government in the state with Chandrabhanu Gupta as the Chief Minister. Sheo Kumar regained it in 1974 and so did the Congress government but this time under HN Bahuguna. In 1977, a Janata Party candidate -- Maqbool Husain Khan won the seat in the Janata wave which swept the nation. In UP, Congress made way for Ram Naresh Yadav of Janata Party to take over as the CM. In 1980, however, the seat went back to Congresss Devendra Pandey and the party came back to power with VP Singh as the CM. The same equation of Congress winner and Congress government was repeated in 1985, too. In 1989 a Janata Dal candidate won the seat the party formed the government under Mulayam Singh Yadav. Notably, the BJP won it in 1991, and the saffron party formed its maiden government in the state and Kalyan Singh became the CM. His government fell after Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992 and in the bypolls held the next year, the people of Jaisinghpur elected SP candidate A Raish. After the elections, SP formed the government in coalition with BSP. Next, in 1996 assembly elections, BSP candidate Ram Ratan Yadav won the seat and results saw a fractured mandate. However, after six months, BSP and BJP formed their first coalition government. The party retained the seat in 2002 elections and it was a BSP-BJP government again in the state. Continuing with its strange winning trend, the constituency elected a BSP candidate in 2007 and SPs Verma in 2012. This time, sitting MLA Arun Kumar Verma, who was the youngest winner in 2012, will be facing BJPs Sitaram Verma and BSPs Raj Prasad Upadhyay.
Swaran Singh By

In a renewed terror bid, the Taliban orchestrated attacks in Kabul, Kandahar and Lashkar Gah in which over 50 were killed and 100 more wounded. Afghan military leaders have blamed the Haqqani network which is backed by Pakistans ISI. Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa is visiting Kabul to address this menace through dialogue.

Meanwhile, responding to this crisis, US Central Command chief General Joseph Votel visited Rawalpindi GHQ last week even as Sartaj Aziz, advisor to the Pakistan prime minister on foreign affairs, went to the Afghan embassy as part of efforts to defuse the situation between the two neighbours.

But what made these killings grab the headlines was the fact that those killed included five United Arab Emirates diplomats who were visiting the provincial governor in Kandahar.

The UAE delegation was led by their Ambassador Juma al- Kaabi who was injured. Experts who begin to explore why the UAEonce a close strategic ally of Pakistanshould become the target of such an attack would notice the visible correlation with UAEs growing closeness to India. This has come at the expense of Islamabads growing isolation amongst Islamic nations with the UAE playing the lead in this tectonic transformation.

The UAE was the first Islamic country to criticise the Pathankot and Uri terror attacks. It then supported Indias surgical strike inside Pakistan. What makes it painful for Pakistan is that this reinforces a pattern of its Islamic friends deserting it for India. This drift had begun with Pakistans largest benefactor Saudi Arabia demonstrating a similar shift with the inaugural visit by late King Abdullah who was the chief guest at Indias Republic Day Parade in 2006. Manmohan Singh visited Riyadh in 2010 and during Modis visit last April, King Salman conferred upon him their highest civilian honourthe King Abdulzaziz Sash. But remember! Saudi Arabia may have pioneered this pro-India drift of Arab states, but it is the UAE that has since emerged as the lynchpin of Modis expanding engagement with the Gulf region.

It is in this backdrop that one needs to assess the significance of last weeks inaugural India- UAE strategic dialogue and the arrival of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Yayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabis crown prince and deputy supreme commander of the UAE, who will be the chief guest at the 2017 Republic Day Parade.

The stage is set for exploring new avenues for their multifaceted cooperation including countering terror. Modis August 2015 visit to UAE had already showcased their consensus to coordinate efforts to counter radicalisation and misuse of religion by groups and countries for inciting hatred, perpetuating and justifying terrorism. There could not have been a more direct reference to Pakistan.

As part of his hyperactive foreign policy, Modi had visited UAE in August 2015 as his first destination in the Gulf region. While he continues to oscillate about his visit to Israel, Modi has since visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar launching a fresh chapter in Indias engagement with Gulf Cooperation Council. As Moodys Investors Service report shows, India gets 52.1 per cent of its remittances from these Gulf nations. Of about 6 million expatriate Indians in the region, over 2.6 million stay in UAE alone making it next only to the US that hosts 3.2 million overseas Indians.

Reflecting the growing weightage of the Gulf region, the share of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in Indias total exports has moved up from 11 per cent in 2005 to 16 per cent in 2015.

India exports to the six GCC countriesSaudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar have reached $41.71 billion coming close to surpassing Indias exports to the US. The UAE stands tall as the second biggest destination for Indias exports (after the US) and is the fourth largest source of Indias imports. India mainly imports crude oil from UAE but Indias exports to UAE have diversified beyond pearls and precious stones that once constituted over one-third of its exports. They now include space technologies and defence exports. The two have expanded their joint military training and a UAE military contingent will be on display in the Republic Day Parade. The India-UAE combined military exercises called Desert Eagle, resumed after a gap of eight years, promises to herald the next stage of their military ties.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is stuck in a hole and continues to dig deeper. Unlike India, it has failed to balance its ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Pakistans ambivalence to the joint GCC action against Iran has only reinforced the groups Look East policy that, along with President Trumps love for Israel, defines UAEs growing bonhomie with India. Pakistan, that deployed 40,000 soldiers to protect the Saudi regime after the 1979 Iranian revolution, steadfastly refuses to be part of the Saudi-led 39-nation Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism raised in 2015 to fight Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The alliance has since emerged as a potent force to counter the IS. Earlier this month, after Pakistan finally relented to lending them its retired General Raheel Sharif, there was widespread domestic uproar in Pakistani social media.

Rising to the occasion, India has intensified its footwork with visits by several senior ministers including Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Manohar Parrikar, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goel, Nirmala Sitaraman, Dharmendra Pradhan, Jayant Sinha and M J Akbar in the past 32 months. These have been reciprocated by several visits from UAE to India that are laying the blueprints of a segment that could become, in coming times, an example of Modis foreign policy achievements.

In a renewed terror bid, the Taliban orchestrated attacks in Kabul, Kandahar and Lashkar Gah in which over 50 were killed and 100 more wounded. Afghan military leaders have blamed the Haqqani network which is backed by Pakistans ISI. Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa is visiting Kabul to address this menace through dialogue. Meanwhile, responding to this crisis, US Central Command chief General Joseph Votel visited Rawalpindi GHQ last week even as Sartaj Aziz, advisor to the Pakistan prime minister on foreign affairs, went to the Afghan embassy as part of efforts to defuse the situation between the two neighbours. But what made these killings grab the headlines was the fact that those killed included five United Arab Emirates diplomats who were visiting the provincial governor in Kandahar. The UAE delegation was led by their Ambassador Juma al- Kaabi who was injured. Experts who begin to explore why the UAEonce a close strategic ally of Pakistanshould become the target of such an attack would notice the visible correlation with UAEs growing closeness to India. This has come at the expense of Islamabads growing isolation amongst Islamic nations with the UAE playing the lead in this tectonic transformation. The UAE was the first Islamic country to criticise the Pathankot and Uri terror attacks. It then supported Indias surgical strike inside Pakistan. What makes it painful for Pakistan is that this reinforces a pattern of its Islamic friends deserting it for India. This drift had begun with Pakistans largest benefactor Saudi Arabia demonstrating a similar shift with the inaugural visit by late King Abdullah who was the chief guest at Indias Republic Day Parade in 2006. Manmohan Singh visited Riyadh in 2010 and during Modis visit last April, King Salman conferred upon him their highest civilian honourthe King Abdulzaziz Sash. But remember! Saudi Arabia may have pioneered this pro-India drift of Arab states, but it is the UAE that has since emerged as the lynchpin of Modis expanding engagement with the Gulf region. It is in this backdrop that one needs to assess the significance of last weeks inaugural India- UAE strategic dialogue and the arrival of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Yayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabis crown prince and deputy supreme commander of the UAE, who will be the chief guest at the 2017 Republic Day Parade. The stage is set for exploring new avenues for their multifaceted cooperation including countering terror. Modis August 2015 visit to UAE had already showcased their consensus to coordinate efforts to counter radicalisation and misuse of religion by groups and countries for inciting hatred, perpetuating and justifying terrorism. There could not have been a more direct reference to Pakistan. As part of his hyperactive foreign policy, Modi had visited UAE in August 2015 as his first destination in the Gulf region. While he continues to oscillate about his visit to Israel, Modi has since visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar launching a fresh chapter in Indias engagement with Gulf Cooperation Council. As Moodys Investors Service report shows, India gets 52.1 per cent of its remittances from these Gulf nations. Of about 6 million expatriate Indians in the region, over 2.6 million stay in UAE alone making it next only to the US that hosts 3.2 million overseas Indians. Reflecting the growing weightage of the Gulf region, the share of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in Indias total exports has moved up from 11 per cent in 2005 to 16 per cent in 2015. India exports to the six GCC countriesSaudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar have reached $41.71 billion coming close to surpassing Indias exports to the US. The UAE stands tall as the second biggest destination for Indias exports (after the US) and is the fourth largest source of Indias imports. India mainly imports crude oil from UAE but Indias exports to UAE have diversified beyond pearls and precious stones that once constituted over one-third of its exports. They now include space technologies and defence exports. The two have expanded their joint military training and a UAE military contingent will be on display in the Republic Day Parade. The India-UAE combined military exercises called Desert Eagle, resumed after a gap of eight years, promises to herald the next stage of their military ties. Meanwhile, Pakistan is stuck in a hole and continues to dig deeper. Unlike India, it has failed to balance its ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Pakistans ambivalence to the joint GCC action against Iran has only reinforced the groups Look East policy that, along with President Trumps love for Israel, defines UAEs growing bonhomie with India. Pakistan, that deployed 40,000 soldiers to protect the Saudi regime after the 1979 Iranian revolution, steadfastly refuses to be part of the Saudi-led 39-nation Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism raised in 2015 to fight Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The alliance has since emerged as a potent force to counter the IS. Earlier this month, after Pakistan finally relented to lending them its retired General Raheel Sharif, there was widespread domestic uproar in Pakistani social media. Rising to the occasion, India has intensified its footwork with visits by several senior ministers including Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Manohar Parrikar, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goel, Nirmala Sitaraman, Dharmendra Pradhan, Jayant Sinha and M J Akbar in the past 32 months. These have been reciprocated by several visits from UAE to India that are laying the blueprints of a segment that could become, in coming times, an example of Modis foreign policy achievements.
Dr A K Verma By

The Congress has finally managed to clinch a coalition with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh for the 2017 Assembly polls. While the Congress will contest in 105 out of 403 constituencies, the SP will battle it out in the remaining 298 seats. While this foreclosed the possibility of a mahagathbandhan on the pattern of Bihar, it has created hype about a victory for the coalition on the basis of simple arithmetic. The Congress got 11.63 per cent votes in the previous polls in 2012 while the SP received a 29.15 per cent vote share; if one adds them up, it makes for a formidable 40.78 per cent vote share, that may lead to a stunning victory for the Congress-SP coalition.



But politics is not mere arithmetic. There is an underlying assumption in the calculation that both partners would largely be able to get their votes transferred to each other. But would that really be possible? Congress has some traditional voters in all sections of society cutting across caste and class lines, but it is very doubtful if they will vote for its coalition partner. Probably, they would either shift to other parties or vote for the local Congress rebel if he contests as an independent candidate.



In 2012, Congress had contested 355 seats in alliance with Ajit Singhs Rashtriya Lok Dal. So this time, the party faces two major problems owing to the new coalition. One, in constituencies where its 255 former contestants are denied tickets, there is a strong possibility that they would turn rebels or defect to other parties, especially the BJP; in some constituencies, such candidates have already joined the BJP. Two, if the Congress is fighting in only 105 constituencies, the chances are that in the remaining 300 constituencies, its party organisation, which is already fragile, would collapse. This would greatly harm the partys electoral chances in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The SPs core constituency is Ahir/YadavThakurMuslim (ATM). While its Muslim voters may vote for coalition candidates in a bid to defeat the BJP, the same may not be true of its non-Muslim voters. That is because 77 per cent Thakurs and 27 per cent Yadavs had voted BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, and if they do not have SP candidates to vote for in 105 constituencies, there is a possibility that they would not vote for the Congress and shift to the BJP or vote for SP rebels. Thus, the entire Congress-SP coalition is based on flawed logic and may be counterproductive. More, the SP had announced its candidates for all seats in the first and second phases of the polls; withdrawing such candidates now will be politically damaging to the SP and personally embarrassing to the SP candidates.



The second challenge before the SP-Congress coalition is Mayawatis BSP. Since her defeat in 2012, Mayawati appears to be more interested in exterminating Mulayam Singh Yadav and his party than getting the BSP back to power. She had kept a low profile in the 2014 LS polls. Even this time, she is not sure about her support; hence, she is attempting a new social engineering experiment by forming a Dalit-Muslim coalition. Our recent field studies in about 60 sampled Assembly constituencies and 300 sampled polling booths indicate two prominent things. One, Dalit voters, especially non-Jatavs, feel that if behenji (Mayawati) does not put up a good fight, they would not allow the goons of SP to come to power again.

Two, despite Mayawatis offer of 97 tickets to Muslims, they are not enthusiastic about voting for the BSP and their support to the party has gone down from 18 per cent in July 2016 to 14 per cent in December 2016. So, with Mayawati electorally weakened, the Dalits might be forced to shift to the BJP.



Thirdly, the SPCongress coalition may polarise the electorate. The greater Muslim support to coalition may lead to counter-polarisation of Hindus. We had already seen its impact in western UP in the 2014 LS polls after the Muzzaffarnagar riots where the BJP made a clean sweep and the SP was totally wiped out. And the BJP would not miss this opportunity to ensure counter-polarisation. That also has the potential to defeat the aspiration of Akhilesh Yadav, SPs new and young supremo, to win about 300 seats and return to power.



Fourthly, Mayawatis new Dalit-Muslim coalition may bring some surprise Muslim shift to the BSP because she is giving tickets to 97 Muslims as compared to 60 in 2012. In Muslim- dominated constituencies, this would surely lead to division of Muslim votes harming the SPs prospects. In addition, Asaduddin Owaisis MIM is also entering the UP election fray for the first time which may also add to the SPs discomfiture.



And, finally, one does not really know how Akhileshs uncle Shivpal Yadav would sabotage his campaign. The signal was there at the function to release the manifesto of the party which both Mulayam and Shivpal did not attend. The manifesto did not even carry Shivpals picture. He is seen as a tough guy in the party who had control over the rank and file in the party. How his ego and embarrassment gets amalgamated to damage the SPs campaign, only time will tell.



However, having said all that, this is not to suggest that Akhilesh has no chance to return to power. That is because his personal image is clean; he has established himself as a development-centric politician sans criminal company. The entire episode of the feud within the party and government had brought Akhilesh to the centre stage of the SP.



Akhilesh is now seen as a chief minister who can assert himself. Of course, that is not to say that he will not have a difficult time ahead, but he will surely give the BJP a tough fighta fight that appears to be evenly matched at the moment.



A K Verma

Director, Centre for the Study of Society and Politics, Kanpur

Email: akv1722@gmail.com

The Congress has finally managed to clinch a coalition with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh for the 2017 Assembly polls. While the Congress will contest in 105 out of 403 constituencies, the SP will battle it out in the remaining 298 seats. While this foreclosed the possibility of a mahagathbandhan on the pattern of Bihar, it has created hype about a victory for the coalition on the basis of simple arithmetic. The Congress got 11.63 per cent votes in the previous polls in 2012 while the SP received a 29.15 per cent vote share; if one adds them up, it makes for a formidable 40.78 per cent vote share, that may lead to a stunning victory for the Congress-SP coalition. But politics is not mere arithmetic. There is an underlying assumption in the calculation that both partners would largely be able to get their votes transferred to each other. But would that really be possible? Congress has some traditional voters in all sections of society cutting across caste and class lines, but it is very doubtful if they will vote for its coalition partner. Probably, they would either shift to other parties or vote for the local Congress rebel if he contests as an independent candidate. In 2012, Congress had contested 355 seats in alliance with Ajit Singhs Rashtriya Lok Dal. So this time, the party faces two major problems owing to the new coalition. One, in constituencies where its 255 former contestants are denied tickets, there is a strong possibility that they would turn rebels or defect to other parties, especially the BJP; in some constituencies, such candidates have already joined the BJP. Two, if the Congress is fighting in only 105 constituencies, the chances are that in the remaining 300 constituencies, its party organisation, which is already fragile, would collapse. This would greatly harm the partys electoral chances in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The SPs core constituency is Ahir/YadavThakurMuslim (ATM). While its Muslim voters may vote for coalition candidates in a bid to defeat the BJP, the same may not be true of its non-Muslim voters. That is because 77 per cent Thakurs and 27 per cent Yadavs had voted BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, and if they do not have SP candidates to vote for in 105 constituencies, there is a possibility that they would not vote for the Congress and shift to the BJP or vote for SP rebels. Thus, the entire Congress-SP coalition is based on flawed logic and may be counterproductive. More, the SP had announced its candidates for all seats in the first and second phases of the polls; withdrawing such candidates now will be politically damaging to the SP and personally embarrassing to the SP candidates. The second challenge before the SP-Congress coalition is Mayawatis BSP. Since her defeat in 2012, Mayawati appears to be more interested in exterminating Mulayam Singh Yadav and his party than getting the BSP back to power. She had kept a low profile in the 2014 LS polls. Even this time, she is not sure about her support; hence, she is attempting a new social engineering experiment by forming a Dalit-Muslim coalition. Our recent field studies in about 60 sampled Assembly constituencies and 300 sampled polling booths indicate two prominent things. One, Dalit voters, especially non-Jatavs, feel that if behenji (Mayawati) does not put up a good fight, they would not allow the goons of SP to come to power again. Two, despite Mayawatis offer of 97 tickets to Muslims, they are not enthusiastic about voting for the BSP and their support to the party has gone down from 18 per cent in July 2016 to 14 per cent in December 2016. So, with Mayawati electorally weakened, the Dalits might be forced to shift to the BJP. Thirdly, the SPCongress coalition may polarise the electorate. The greater Muslim support to coalition may lead to counter-polarisation of Hindus. We had already seen its impact in western UP in the 2014 LS polls after the Muzzaffarnagar riots where the BJP made a clean sweep and the SP was totally wiped out. And the BJP would not miss this opportunity to ensure counter-polarisation. That also has the potential to defeat the aspiration of Akhilesh Yadav, SPs new and young supremo, to win about 300 seats and return to power. Fourthly, Mayawatis new Dalit-Muslim coalition may bring some surprise Muslim shift to the BSP because she is giving tickets to 97 Muslims as compared to 60 in 2012. In Muslim- dominated constituencies, this would surely lead to division of Muslim votes harming the SPs prospects. In addition, Asaduddin Owaisis MIM is also entering the UP election fray for the first time which may also add to the SPs discomfiture. And, finally, one does not really know how Akhileshs uncle Shivpal Yadav would sabotage his campaign. The signal was there at the function to release the manifesto of the party which both Mulayam and Shivpal did not attend. The manifesto did not even carry Shivpals picture. He is seen as a tough guy in the party who had control over the rank and file in the party. How his ego and embarrassment gets amalgamated to damage the SPs campaign, only time will tell. However, having said all that, this is not to suggest that Akhilesh has no chance to return to power. That is because his personal image is clean; he has established himself as a development-centric politician sans criminal company. The entire episode of the feud within the party and government had brought Akhilesh to the centre stage of the SP. Akhilesh is now seen as a chief minister who can assert himself. Of course, that is not to say that he will not have a difficult time ahead, but he will surely give the BJP a tough fighta fight that appears to be evenly matched at the moment.A K Verma Director, Centre for the Study of Society and Politics, Kanpur Email: akv1722@gmail.com
By Express News Service

TUMAKURU: A gang of three masked men looted a Karnataka Bank ATM and made away with `21 lakh in the early hours of Tuesday.

They barged into the ATM at Gubbi Gate around 3 am and downed the shutters. They threatened security guard Ganganna at knife point and tied his hands. The trio collected Rs 11.16 lakh in Rs 2,000 denomination notes, Rs 2.8 lakh in Rs 100 and Rs 7.7 lakh in Rs 500 notes and fled in a vehicle.

The gang reportedly opened the cassette (money box) by using the six-digit password and executed their plan with ease. Since there was no scratch on the machine, the persons who had loaded the machine with the cash on Monday around 4 pm may be involved, highly placed sources in the police said.

The ATMs cassettes will have dual electronic keys with as many authorised persons. Without knowing the password, none can open the cassette, they said.

In this case, the persons those who loaded the cash were employees of a private agency and not the banks, clarified a senior staff with the Karnataka Bank.

Those who had loaded the cash into the cassette might have left without locking the same or might have shared the password with an intention to commit the crime. In both cases, those who were entrusted with the loading of the cash were responsible, observed, a senior bank manager.

Meanwhile, in a swift operation, police picked up Mahesh and Ashwatha, who loaded the machine, besides security guards Ganganna and Raveesh. SP Isha Pant visited the ATM along with other senior police officials on Tuesday.

TUMAKURU: A gang of three masked men looted a Karnataka Bank ATM and made away with `21 lakh in the early hours of Tuesday. They barged into the ATM at Gubbi Gate around 3 am and downed the shutters. They threatened security guard Ganganna at knife point and tied his hands. The trio collected Rs 11.16 lakh in Rs 2,000 denomination notes, Rs 2.8 lakh in Rs 100 and Rs 7.7 lakh in Rs 500 notes and fled in a vehicle. The gang reportedly opened the cassette (money box) by using the six-digit password and executed their plan with ease. Since there was no scratch on the machine, the persons who had loaded the machine with the cash on Monday around 4 pm may be involved, highly placed sources in the police said. The ATMs cassettes will have dual electronic keys with as many authorised persons. Without knowing the password, none can open the cassette, they said. In this case, the persons those who loaded the cash were employees of a private agency and not the banks, clarified a senior staff with the Karnataka Bank. Those who had loaded the cash into the cassette might have left without locking the same or might have shared the password with an intention to commit the crime. In both cases, those who were entrusted with the loading of the cash were responsible, observed, a senior bank manager. Meanwhile, in a swift operation, police picked up Mahesh and Ashwatha, who loaded the machine, besides security guards Ganganna and Raveesh. SP Isha Pant visited the ATM along with other senior police officials on Tuesday.
By Express News Service

MYSURU: I received a call from my mother around 8 am when I was asleep, telling me in a choked voice that my sister met with an accident, said Vignesh Krishnamurthy, brother of Nethra Krishnamurthy, who was badly injured in an accident in Australia recently.

He still thinks it must be a bad dream. The accident occurred four days ago in Australia on January 20. She was on maternity leave and left India on November 10. We broke down when we heard about the accident. We are now relaxed hearing she is out of danger, he said

My mother Padmavathi left for Australia on Saturday evening. We pray for Nethras speedy recovery, he added.

Nethras family hails from Kalaburagi. After the demise of her father in 2002, the family moved to Mysuru. Residing at Vidyaranyapuram, Nethra tied the knot five years ago and was working for Mexia Consulting Inc, Melbourne, Australia, for the past two-and-a-half years.

MYSURU: I received a call from my mother around 8 am when I was asleep, telling me in a choked voice that my sister met with an accident, said Vignesh Krishnamurthy, brother of Nethra Krishnamurthy, who was badly injured in an accident in Australia recently. He still thinks it must be a bad dream. The accident occurred four days ago in Australia on January 20. She was on maternity leave and left India on November 10. We broke down when we heard about the accident. We are now relaxed hearing she is out of danger, he said My mother Padmavathi left for Australia on Saturday evening. We pray for Nethras speedy recovery, he added. Nethras family hails from Kalaburagi. After the demise of her father in 2002, the family moved to Mysuru. Residing at Vidyaranyapuram, Nethra tied the knot five years ago and was working for Mexia Consulting Inc, Melbourne, Australia, for the past two-and-a-half years.
By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: Consul general of Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Nourian today met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the state secretariat and discussed several bi-lateral issues.

"We discussed about trade, culture, export and imports and possibility of holding a

cultural week of Iran in Bhubaneswar," Nourian told reporters after the meeting.

The Iranian diplomat said that they also discussed about foreign direct investment (FDI) opportunities in Odisha.

"We exchanged views on tourism activities. Over 40,000 Iranian visit India every year. Unfortunately Odisha and southern states do not get much of the tourists. I requested the Chief Minister totake initiative to attract more of the Inranian tourists to the state," he added.

The state has many tourist destinations and historical monuments which will be of interest to Iranian tourists, he said.

"We had a very good discussion and the Chief Minister encouraged his ministers and senior officers to enhance our bi-lateral relations," Nourian said.



BHUBANESWAR: Consul general of Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Nourian today met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the state secretariat and discussed several bi-lateral issues. "We discussed about trade, culture, export and imports and possibility of holding a cultural week of Iran in Bhubaneswar," Nourian told reporters after the meeting. The Iranian diplomat said that they also discussed about foreign direct investment (FDI) opportunities in Odisha. "We exchanged views on tourism activities. Over 40,000 Iranian visit India every year. Unfortunately Odisha and southern states do not get much of the tourists. I requested the Chief Minister totake initiative to attract more of the Inranian tourists to the state," he added. The state has many tourist destinations and historical monuments which will be of interest to Iranian tourists, he said. "We had a very good discussion and the Chief Minister encouraged his ministers and senior officers to enhance our bi-lateral relations," Nourian said.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Leaders of various parties in the Assembly paid rich tributes to late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and recalled their association with her while hailing her courage in her public life.

Members observed silence for two minutes and Speaker P Dhanapal adjourned the House without transacting any business as a mark of respect to Jayalalithaa.



The House also condoled the death of former Governor Surjit Singh Barnala, former President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, Thuglak editor Cho S Ramaswamy, former Minister Ko.Si. Mani, former members of the House - K Paramalai, A Baluchamy, K Kannaiyan, R Navaneethakrishna Pandian and AC Narasimhan.



Moving a resolution to condole the death of Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam recalled the eventful political career of the late leader right from propaganda secretary of the AIADMK to the chief minister of the State for six times. He also recalled Jayalalithaas welfare schemes which were emulated by other States.



The Speaker recalled that Jayalalithaa had given him the opportunity to serve as Speaker of the House and hailed her for announcing various welfare schemes under Rule 110.



The leader of Opposition, MK Stalin said he and Jayalalithaa had entered the Assembly in the same year - 1989. Though we had differed with her politically on many occasions, one aspect of her which is unique was her courage  she never feared anything but faced the problems as they came. He recalled when Jayalalithaa came to know that he was given a seat in the 11th row during her swearing-in ceremony in 2016, she expressed regret and made clear her wish to work together for the welfare of the State.



Congress floor leader KR Ramaswamy reminisced his meeting with Jayalalithaa on the last day of the Assembly session in September last. When I was about to ask her about her health, she asked me whether I have my health check-ups regularly, he said and added that no one could stop her political ascendancy and she remained the iron lady of the State till her last.



Abdul Mohammed Abubacker (IUML), Thameemun Ansari (JMMK), U Thaniyarasu (Kongu Ilaingar Peravai), actor Karunas (Mukkulathor Pulippadai) and Nancy Ann Cynthia Francis also condoled Jayalalithaas death.

CHENNAI: Leaders of various parties in the Assembly paid rich tributes to late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and recalled their association with her while hailing her courage in her public life. Members observed silence for two minutes and Speaker P Dhanapal adjourned the House without transacting any business as a mark of respect to Jayalalithaa. The House also condoled the death of former Governor Surjit Singh Barnala, former President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, Thuglak editor Cho S Ramaswamy, former Minister Ko.Si. Mani, former members of the House - K Paramalai, A Baluchamy, K Kannaiyan, R Navaneethakrishna Pandian and AC Narasimhan. Moving a resolution to condole the death of Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam recalled the eventful political career of the late leader right from propaganda secretary of the AIADMK to the chief minister of the State for six times. He also recalled Jayalalithaas welfare schemes which were emulated by other States. The Speaker recalled that Jayalalithaa had given him the opportunity to serve as Speaker of the House and hailed her for announcing various welfare schemes under Rule 110. The leader of Opposition, MK Stalin said he and Jayalalithaa had entered the Assembly in the same year - 1989. Though we had differed with her politically on many occasions, one aspect of her which is unique was her courage  she never feared anything but faced the problems as they came. He recalled when Jayalalithaa came to know that he was given a seat in the 11th row during her swearing-in ceremony in 2016, she expressed regret and made clear her wish to work together for the welfare of the State. Congress floor leader KR Ramaswamy reminisced his meeting with Jayalalithaa on the last day of the Assembly session in September last. When I was about to ask her about her health, she asked me whether I have my health check-ups regularly, he said and added that no one could stop her political ascendancy and she remained the iron lady of the State till her last. Abdul Mohammed Abubacker (IUML), Thameemun Ansari (JMMK), U Thaniyarasu (Kongu Ilaingar Peravai), actor Karunas (Mukkulathor Pulippadai) and Nancy Ann Cynthia Francis also condoled Jayalalithaas death.
By AFP

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will take a first step toward fulfilling his pledge to "build a wall" on the Mexican border Wednesday, as he rolls out a series of immigration-related decrees.

The White House said Trump will make the announcements during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security in the afternoon.

"Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!" Trump tweeted late Tuesday.

Trump is also expected to sign measures targeting "sanctuary" cities, where local officials refuse to help round up people for deportation.

And according to CNN, he plans to expand the number of customs and border agents.

Stemming immigration was a central plank of Trump's election campaign. His signature policy prescription was to build a wall across the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border between the United States and Mexico.

Some of the border is already fenced, but Trump says a wall is needed to stop illegal immigrants entering from Latin America.

In 2014, there were an estimated 5.8 million unauthorized Mexican migrants in the United States, according to Pew, with fewer arriving each year.

Experts have voiced doubts about whether a wall would actually stem illegal immigration, or if it is worth spending billions on a wall.

But the policy has become a clarion call for the US right and far-right -- the core of Trump's support.

Still, any action from the White House would be piecemeal, diverting only existing funds toward the project.

The Republican-controlled Congress would need to supply new money if the wall is to be anywhere near completed, and Trump's party has spent the last decade preaching fiscal prudence.

Furthermore, much of the land needed to build the wall is privately owned, implying lengthy legal proceedings, political blowback, and substantial expropriation payments.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly even told his confirmation hearing that the border wall might not "be built anytime soon."

- Make Mexico pay? -

Trump had promised to make Mexico pay for the wall, something that the Mexican government has repeatedly said it will not do.

Trump aides have weighed hiking border tariffs or border transit costs as one way to "make Mexico pay." Another threat is to finance the wall by tapping into remittances that Mexican migrants sent home, which last year amounted to $25 billion.

Mexico's foreign minister Luis Videgaray and the country's economy minister are currently in Washington to prepare a visit by President Enrique Pena Nieto scheduled for January 31.

"There are very clear red lines that must be drawn from the start," Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told the Televisa network in Mexico just ahead of the trip.

Asked whether the Mexico would walk away from talks if the wall and remittances are an issue, Guajardo said: "Absolutely."

Trump also wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada, warning last week that he would abandon the pact unless the United States gets "a fair deal."

Mexico has said it is willing to "modernize" the pact, which came into force in 1994 and represents $531 billion in annual trade between Mexico and the United States.

Some 80 percent of Mexico's exports go to the US market.

- Ban on Muslims? -

Trump has also floated the idea of a ban on Muslims coming to the United States.

Trump this week is set to slash the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the United States, according to the New York Times, particularly from Syria and other Muslim-majority countries.

Around 4.8 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries alone, according to the United Nations.

An estimated 18,000 Syrians have come to the United States.

Former officials said Trump could slow the flow down by moving resources away from processing visa requests, or cutting migrant quotas and programs.

The orders would restrict immigration and access to the United States for refugees and visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, according to the Washington Post.

Citizens from those countries already face large obstacles in obtaining US visas.

But the move has prompted a fierce backlash even before it was announced.

"A ban on refugees would not make America safer," said Stephen Yale-Loehr of Cornell Law. "Refugees from Syria already go through a 21-step screening process that takes 18-24 months."

"The head of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services told Congress in September 2016 that not a single act of actual terrorist violence has been a committed by a refugee since 9/11."

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will take a first step toward fulfilling his pledge to "build a wall" on the Mexican border Wednesday, as he rolls out a series of immigration-related decrees. The White House said Trump will make the announcements during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security in the afternoon. "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!" Trump tweeted late Tuesday. Trump is also expected to sign measures targeting "sanctuary" cities, where local officials refuse to help round up people for deportation. And according to CNN, he plans to expand the number of customs and border agents. Stemming immigration was a central plank of Trump's election campaign. His signature policy prescription was to build a wall across the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border between the United States and Mexico. Some of the border is already fenced, but Trump says a wall is needed to stop illegal immigrants entering from Latin America. In 2014, there were an estimated 5.8 million unauthorized Mexican migrants in the United States, according to Pew, with fewer arriving each year. Experts have voiced doubts about whether a wall would actually stem illegal immigration, or if it is worth spending billions on a wall. But the policy has become a clarion call for the US right and far-right -- the core of Trump's support. Still, any action from the White House would be piecemeal, diverting only existing funds toward the project. The Republican-controlled Congress would need to supply new money if the wall is to be anywhere near completed, and Trump's party has spent the last decade preaching fiscal prudence. Furthermore, much of the land needed to build the wall is privately owned, implying lengthy legal proceedings, political blowback, and substantial expropriation payments. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly even told his confirmation hearing that the border wall might not "be built anytime soon." - Make Mexico pay? - Trump had promised to make Mexico pay for the wall, something that the Mexican government has repeatedly said it will not do. Trump aides have weighed hiking border tariffs or border transit costs as one way to "make Mexico pay." Another threat is to finance the wall by tapping into remittances that Mexican migrants sent home, which last year amounted to $25 billion. Mexico's foreign minister Luis Videgaray and the country's economy minister are currently in Washington to prepare a visit by President Enrique Pena Nieto scheduled for January 31. "There are very clear red lines that must be drawn from the start," Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told the Televisa network in Mexico just ahead of the trip. Asked whether the Mexico would walk away from talks if the wall and remittances are an issue, Guajardo said: "Absolutely." Trump also wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada, warning last week that he would abandon the pact unless the United States gets "a fair deal." Mexico has said it is willing to "modernize" the pact, which came into force in 1994 and represents $531 billion in annual trade between Mexico and the United States. Some 80 percent of Mexico's exports go to the US market. - Ban on Muslims? - Trump has also floated the idea of a ban on Muslims coming to the United States. Trump this week is set to slash the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the United States, according to the New York Times, particularly from Syria and other Muslim-majority countries. Around 4.8 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries alone, according to the United Nations. An estimated 18,000 Syrians have come to the United States. Former officials said Trump could slow the flow down by moving resources away from processing visa requests, or cutting migrant quotas and programs. The orders would restrict immigration and access to the United States for refugees and visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, according to the Washington Post. Citizens from those countries already face large obstacles in obtaining US visas. But the move has prompted a fierce backlash even before it was announced. "A ban on refugees would not make America safer," said Stephen Yale-Loehr of Cornell Law. "Refugees from Syria already go through a 21-step screening process that takes 18-24 months." "The head of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services told Congress in September 2016 that not a single act of actual terrorist violence has been a committed by a refugee since 9/11."
By Associated Press

THE HAGUE: The Dutch government says it wants an international fund to finance access to birth control, abortion and education for women in developing countries.

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen announced the plan Tuesday in reaction to an executive memorandum U.S. President Donald Trump signed a day earlier. It reinstituted a ban on U.S. funding to international groups that perform abortions or provide information about abortions.

Ploumen wants to launch a new fund that could be supported by governments, businesses and social organizations to "compensate this financial setback as much as possible."

The ban, known as the "Mexico City Policy" or, by critics, the "global gag rule," has been instituted by Republican administrations and rescinded by Democratic ones since 1984. President Barack Obama last lifted it in 2009.

THE HAGUE: The Dutch government says it wants an international fund to finance access to birth control, abortion and education for women in developing countries. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen announced the plan Tuesday in reaction to an executive memorandum U.S. President Donald Trump signed a day earlier. It reinstituted a ban on U.S. funding to international groups that perform abortions or provide information about abortions. Ploumen wants to launch a new fund that could be supported by governments, businesses and social organizations to "compensate this financial setback as much as possible." The ban, known as the "Mexico City Policy" or, by critics, the "global gag rule," has been instituted by Republican administrations and rescinded by Democratic ones since 1984. President Barack Obama last lifted it in 2009.
By Associated Press

PRISTINA, KOSOVO: A senior European Union official has held an urgent meeting with the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo and encouraged them to work harder to normalize their relations following a recent spike in tensions.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called on them to put aside their differences during meetings and a dinner in Brussels, according to a statement from her office issued late Tuesday.

"I underlined that progress in the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia is essential: for Kosovo and Serbia, for the European Union itself, and the Western Balkans region as a whole," Mogherini said.

Mogherini described the meeting as "open and very constructive" and said they discussed "the developments over the past days, agreed to leave the tensions behind and to focus on the work ahead."

Her meeting was with Prime Ministers Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia and Isa Mustafa of Kosovo, and Presidents Tomislav Nikolic of Serbia and Hashim Thaci of Kosovo.

Thaci on Wednesday described the meeting as "difficult and grave" adding that he was "pleased the main goal of the meeting, lowering tension and avoiding unnecessary provocation, was achieved."

"I believe there has been good understanding between the parties for the necessity to lower and be committed to the process of dialogue with the greatest seriousness," Thaci said at a news conference.

"Both sides agreed that there is no alternative to the dialogue," he added.

Tensions starting building in December when the Serb minority erected a wall at a bridge in Mitrovica, saying it was a barrier to prevent landslides. But ethnic Albanians and others in the ethnically divided northern town said it was erected to keep them out.

The friction increased in early January with the detention of Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovo prime minister, and days later when a Serbian train with signs reading "Kosovo is Serbia" was turned back from the border with Kosovo.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but that hasn't been recognized by Belgrade.

Serbia, backed by Russia, has sought to maintain influence in Kosovo, especially in the north where most of the country's Serb minority lives. NATO-led troops have controlled Kosovo's territory since a three-month air war in 1999 to stop a bloody Serbian crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists.

For years, Brussels has been facilitating a Serbia-Kosovo dialogue to normalize their ties, coping with confrontational stands in both countries where some political groupings have called to end it.

Mogherini said both "agreed to take the dialogue forward in a spirit of respect, cooperation and mutual understanding," intensifying it over the next days with a series of high-level rounds.

Thaci praised Mogherini's "active and decisive role in lowering the tension and opening the possibility of the opportunity for a dialogue." He also said that only a political agreement on the normalization of relations would be "a guarantee for peace and stability in the Western Balkans."

PRISTINA, KOSOVO: A senior European Union official has held an urgent meeting with the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo and encouraged them to work harder to normalize their relations following a recent spike in tensions. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called on them to put aside their differences during meetings and a dinner in Brussels, according to a statement from her office issued late Tuesday. "I underlined that progress in the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia is essential: for Kosovo and Serbia, for the European Union itself, and the Western Balkans region as a whole," Mogherini said. Mogherini described the meeting as "open and very constructive" and said they discussed "the developments over the past days, agreed to leave the tensions behind and to focus on the work ahead." Her meeting was with Prime Ministers Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia and Isa Mustafa of Kosovo, and Presidents Tomislav Nikolic of Serbia and Hashim Thaci of Kosovo. Thaci on Wednesday described the meeting as "difficult and grave" adding that he was "pleased the main goal of the meeting, lowering tension and avoiding unnecessary provocation, was achieved." "I believe there has been good understanding between the parties for the necessity to lower and be committed to the process of dialogue with the greatest seriousness," Thaci said at a news conference. "Both sides agreed that there is no alternative to the dialogue," he added. Tensions starting building in December when the Serb minority erected a wall at a bridge in Mitrovica, saying it was a barrier to prevent landslides. But ethnic Albanians and others in the ethnically divided northern town said it was erected to keep them out. The friction increased in early January with the detention of Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovo prime minister, and days later when a Serbian train with signs reading "Kosovo is Serbia" was turned back from the border with Kosovo. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but that hasn't been recognized by Belgrade. Serbia, backed by Russia, has sought to maintain influence in Kosovo, especially in the north where most of the country's Serb minority lives. NATO-led troops have controlled Kosovo's territory since a three-month air war in 1999 to stop a bloody Serbian crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists. For years, Brussels has been facilitating a Serbia-Kosovo dialogue to normalize their ties, coping with confrontational stands in both countries where some political groupings have called to end it. Mogherini said both "agreed to take the dialogue forward in a spirit of respect, cooperation and mutual understanding," intensifying it over the next days with a series of high-level rounds. Thaci praised Mogherini's "active and decisive role in lowering the tension and opening the possibility of the opportunity for a dialogue." He also said that only a political agreement on the normalization of relations would be "a guarantee for peace and stability in the Western Balkans."
By AFP

PARIS: French investigators launched a preliminary probe Wednesday into claims presidential frontrunner Francois Fillon gave his wife a fake job for years, paying her 500,000 euros ($538,000).

The investigation for "misuse of public money" was triggered by the Canard Enchaine newspaper, which claimed that British-born Penelope Fillon had a fictitious role as a parliamentary aide to her husband, a conservative MP for the northern Sarthe region.

The paper, which mixes satire and investigative reporting, said it had been unable to find anyone who remembered her working in parliament.

Fillon said the claims, which dominated headlines throughout the day, were "mudslinging" and "misogynistic".

"I see that the mudslinging season has started," he told reporters at a campaign event in Bordeaux.

"I won't comment because there is nothing to comment on and I would like to say that I am outraged by the disdain and misogyny in this article."

Fillon's spokesman Thierry Solere confirmed to AFP Tuesday that Penelope had worked for her husband, an arrangement he said was "common" among French MPs.

- 'Not against the rules' -

Hiring family members is not against the rules if the person is genuinely employed, but attention is focused on what work Penelope carried out for a salary of sometimes around 7,000 euros a month.

The silver-haired mother-of-five has kept a low profile in Fillon's nearly four-decade political career and was thought to have been focused on bringing up the couple's children at their chateau in the Sarthe region.

The 62-year-old candidate for the rightwing Republicans party is campaigning on a promise of radical economic reforms and the protection of French culture.

Manuel Valls, who is bidding to be the Socialist party presidential candidate, said Fillon had to "explain himself".

"You can't say you're the candidate of honesty and transparency and not be able to respond to these issues," the former prime minister told France Inter radio on Wednesday.

Other opponents highlighted how Fillon frequently rails against the bloated French state and wasteful public spending, which he plans to tackle by cutting 500,000 public servants if elected.

Employing a family member is banned for MPs in Germany or in the European parliament, but is allowed in Britain where nearly one in four lawmakers has such an arrangement, public records show.

The French investigative website Mediapart reported in 2015 that one in five MPs had employed a family member at some point.

France's election in April and May is seen as highly unpredictable, with Fillon, far-right leader Marine Le Pen, 39-year-old centrist independent Emmanuel Macron and others in a large field of candidates.

Le Pen, whose party faces its own scandal about the use of public funds in the European Parliament, declined to attack Fillon over the issue when asked on Wednesday.

The Socialist party is set to finalise its presidential candidate this Sunday, with Valls up against leftist ex-education minister Benoit Hamon, who is seen as the frontrunner.

The two will go head-to-head in a televised debate later Wednesday.

- 'Very involved in campaigns' -

Citing payslips, the Canard Enchaine said Penelope, nicknamed "Penny", was paid from 1998 to 2002 from funds for parliamentary assistants.

From 2002 to 2007, when Fillon took up a cabinet post under then president Jacques Chirac, she became an assistant to the man who carried out Fillon's parliamentary duties in his place, earning 6,900-7,900 euros per month.

The paper said Penelope was again paid "for at least six months" in 2012 when Fillon, then prime minister, left government.

The paper also claimed that Penelope was paid around 5,000 euros a month between May 2012 and December 2013 by a periodical, Revue des Deux Mondes, which is owned by a friend of Fillon.

Fillon told a television interviewer in November that his wife had brought up their first four children in the Sarthe while he was in Paris as an MP, but she had helped him with some of his political duties.

"She was very involved in the campaigns, handing out flyers and attending meetings with me," he said.

Penelope also told Britain's Sunday Telegraph in 2007 after her husband became prime minister that she was uneasy in Paris and preferred looking after her children and horses in the countryside.

"I'm just a country peasant, this is not my natural habitat," she joked.

The couple met when Fillon was 23 and married three years later as he entered parliament for the first time.

In an unusual twist, Fillon's brother is married to Penelope's sister.

PARIS: French investigators launched a preliminary probe Wednesday into claims presidential frontrunner Francois Fillon gave his wife a fake job for years, paying her 500,000 euros ($538,000). The investigation for "misuse of public money" was triggered by the Canard Enchaine newspaper, which claimed that British-born Penelope Fillon had a fictitious role as a parliamentary aide to her husband, a conservative MP for the northern Sarthe region. The paper, which mixes satire and investigative reporting, said it had been unable to find anyone who remembered her working in parliament. Fillon said the claims, which dominated headlines throughout the day, were "mudslinging" and "misogynistic". "I see that the mudslinging season has started," he told reporters at a campaign event in Bordeaux. "I won't comment because there is nothing to comment on and I would like to say that I am outraged by the disdain and misogyny in this article." Fillon's spokesman Thierry Solere confirmed to AFP Tuesday that Penelope had worked for her husband, an arrangement he said was "common" among French MPs. - 'Not against the rules' - Hiring family members is not against the rules if the person is genuinely employed, but attention is focused on what work Penelope carried out for a salary of sometimes around 7,000 euros a month. The silver-haired mother-of-five has kept a low profile in Fillon's nearly four-decade political career and was thought to have been focused on bringing up the couple's children at their chateau in the Sarthe region. The 62-year-old candidate for the rightwing Republicans party is campaigning on a promise of radical economic reforms and the protection of French culture. Manuel Valls, who is bidding to be the Socialist party presidential candidate, said Fillon had to "explain himself". "You can't say you're the candidate of honesty and transparency and not be able to respond to these issues," the former prime minister told France Inter radio on Wednesday. Other opponents highlighted how Fillon frequently rails against the bloated French state and wasteful public spending, which he plans to tackle by cutting 500,000 public servants if elected. Employing a family member is banned for MPs in Germany or in the European parliament, but is allowed in Britain where nearly one in four lawmakers has such an arrangement, public records show. The French investigative website Mediapart reported in 2015 that one in five MPs had employed a family member at some point. France's election in April and May is seen as highly unpredictable, with Fillon, far-right leader Marine Le Pen, 39-year-old centrist independent Emmanuel Macron and others in a large field of candidates. Le Pen, whose party faces its own scandal about the use of public funds in the European Parliament, declined to attack Fillon over the issue when asked on Wednesday. The Socialist party is set to finalise its presidential candidate this Sunday, with Valls up against leftist ex-education minister Benoit Hamon, who is seen as the frontrunner. The two will go head-to-head in a televised debate later Wednesday. - 'Very involved in campaigns' - Citing payslips, the Canard Enchaine said Penelope, nicknamed "Penny", was paid from 1998 to 2002 from funds for parliamentary assistants. From 2002 to 2007, when Fillon took up a cabinet post under then president Jacques Chirac, she became an assistant to the man who carried out Fillon's parliamentary duties in his place, earning 6,900-7,900 euros per month. The paper said Penelope was again paid "for at least six months" in 2012 when Fillon, then prime minister, left government. The paper also claimed that Penelope was paid around 5,000 euros a month between May 2012 and December 2013 by a periodical, Revue des Deux Mondes, which is owned by a friend of Fillon. Fillon told a television interviewer in November that his wife had brought up their first four children in the Sarthe while he was in Paris as an MP, but she had helped him with some of his political duties. "She was very involved in the campaigns, handing out flyers and attending meetings with me," he said. Penelope also told Britain's Sunday Telegraph in 2007 after her husband became prime minister that she was uneasy in Paris and preferred looking after her children and horses in the countryside. "I'm just a country peasant, this is not my natural habitat," she joked. The couple met when Fillon was 23 and married three years later as he entered parliament for the first time. In an unusual twist, Fillon's brother is married to Penelope's sister.
By AFP

ROME: In a remarkable turnaround, the head of the Knights of Malta resigned after publicly defying Pope Francis over the ouster of a top official involved in a condom scandal, the ancient lay Catholic order said Wednesday.

Matthew Festing, 67, decided to resign after meeting with the pope on Tuesday, the order's spokeswoman Marianna Balfour told The Associated Press.

"I can confirm this," Balfour said in an email, adding a statement would be forthcoming.

Festing had refused to cooperate with a papal commission investigating his ouster of the order's grand chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, over revelations that the Knights' charity branch had distributed condoms under his watch. Festing had cited the Knights' status as a sovereign entity in refusing to cooperate with what he said was an act of internal governance.

The remarkable showdown though was fraught from the start given Festing took a promise of obedience to the pope as a top-level knight, and regardless was the leader of a prominent Catholic order who was entering into a public fray with the leader of the Catholic Church.

The spat unfolded against the backdrop of Francis' increasing clashes with more conservative elements in the church, especially those for whom sexual ethics and doctrinal orthodoxy are paramount. The dispute had once again pit Francis against Cardinal Raymond Burke, a leading conservative and Francis critic who also happens to be the pope's envoy to the order.

Burke had been by Festing's side on Dec. 6 when Festing first asked, then demanded Boeselager's resignation. Boeselager refused, and was ousted two days later under a disciplinary procedure he contends violated the order's own rules.

Festing's resignation, some nine years into a life term, appears to set the stage for the Knights' to convene an assembly to elect a new leader. Many of the orders members had lamented how the confrontation with the Holy See had drawn unwanted negative attention to the order, which relies on donations to fund its huge charity works around the globe.

Festing suspended Boeselager on Dec. 8 over revelations that the Knights' charity branch Malteser International had distributed thousands of condoms to poor people in Myanmar under his watch.

Church teaching forbids artificial contraception. Boeselager has said he stopped the programs when he learned of them. The order's leadership has said the scandal was grave, that Boeselager had hidden the revelations, and called it "disgraceful" that he had refused an order to obey Festing and resign.

Boeselager has challenged his ouster with an appeal to the Knights' internal tribunal.

Francis appointed a commission to investigate after Boeselager said he had been told by Festing, in Burke's presence, that the Holy See wanted him to resign over the scandal. The Vatican secretary of state has said the pope wanted nothing of the sort and wanted the dispute to be resolved through dialogue.

Last week, the Holy See said it expected the order to cooperate with its probe, and in a sharply worded statement said it planned to take action to resolve the dispute. Canon lawyers had raised alarm at the investigation, giving it seemed to set the stage for one sovereign entity intervening in the internal affairs of another.

The Order of Malta has many trappings of a sovereign state, issuing its own stamps, passports and license plates and holding diplomatic relations with 106 states, the Holy See included.

The Holy See, however, has a unique relationship with the order since it is a Catholic entity, and the pope appoints a cardinal to "promote the spiritual interests" of the order and its relationship with the Vatican. Francis appointed Burke to that position in 2014 after removing him as the Vatican's supreme court justice.

The knights trace their history to the 11th-century Crusades with the establishment of an infirmary in Jerusalem that cared for people of all faiths. It now counts 13,500 members and 100,000 staff and volunteers who provide health care in hospitals and clinics around the world.

ROME: In a remarkable turnaround, the head of the Knights of Malta resigned after publicly defying Pope Francis over the ouster of a top official involved in a condom scandal, the ancient lay Catholic order said Wednesday. Matthew Festing, 67, decided to resign after meeting with the pope on Tuesday, the order's spokeswoman Marianna Balfour told The Associated Press. "I can confirm this," Balfour said in an email, adding a statement would be forthcoming. Festing had refused to cooperate with a papal commission investigating his ouster of the order's grand chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, over revelations that the Knights' charity branch had distributed condoms under his watch. Festing had cited the Knights' status as a sovereign entity in refusing to cooperate with what he said was an act of internal governance. The remarkable showdown though was fraught from the start given Festing took a promise of obedience to the pope as a top-level knight, and regardless was the leader of a prominent Catholic order who was entering into a public fray with the leader of the Catholic Church. The spat unfolded against the backdrop of Francis' increasing clashes with more conservative elements in the church, especially those for whom sexual ethics and doctrinal orthodoxy are paramount. The dispute had once again pit Francis against Cardinal Raymond Burke, a leading conservative and Francis critic who also happens to be the pope's envoy to the order. Burke had been by Festing's side on Dec. 6 when Festing first asked, then demanded Boeselager's resignation. Boeselager refused, and was ousted two days later under a disciplinary procedure he contends violated the order's own rules. Festing's resignation, some nine years into a life term, appears to set the stage for the Knights' to convene an assembly to elect a new leader. Many of the orders members had lamented how the confrontation with the Holy See had drawn unwanted negative attention to the order, which relies on donations to fund its huge charity works around the globe. Festing suspended Boeselager on Dec. 8 over revelations that the Knights' charity branch Malteser International had distributed thousands of condoms to poor people in Myanmar under his watch. Church teaching forbids artificial contraception. Boeselager has said he stopped the programs when he learned of them. The order's leadership has said the scandal was grave, that Boeselager had hidden the revelations, and called it "disgraceful" that he had refused an order to obey Festing and resign. Boeselager has challenged his ouster with an appeal to the Knights' internal tribunal. Francis appointed a commission to investigate after Boeselager said he had been told by Festing, in Burke's presence, that the Holy See wanted him to resign over the scandal. The Vatican secretary of state has said the pope wanted nothing of the sort and wanted the dispute to be resolved through dialogue. Last week, the Holy See said it expected the order to cooperate with its probe, and in a sharply worded statement said it planned to take action to resolve the dispute. Canon lawyers had raised alarm at the investigation, giving it seemed to set the stage for one sovereign entity intervening in the internal affairs of another. The Order of Malta has many trappings of a sovereign state, issuing its own stamps, passports and license plates and holding diplomatic relations with 106 states, the Holy See included. The Holy See, however, has a unique relationship with the order since it is a Catholic entity, and the pope appoints a cardinal to "promote the spiritual interests" of the order and its relationship with the Vatican. Francis appointed Burke to that position in 2014 after removing him as the Vatican's supreme court justice. The knights trace their history to the 11th-century Crusades with the establishment of an infirmary in Jerusalem that cared for people of all faiths. It now counts 13,500 members and 100,000 staff and volunteers who provide health care in hospitals and clinics around the world.
Express News Service

COLOMBO: The Chief Minister of Sri Lankas Tamil-majority Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, on Wednesday appealed to President Maithripala Sirisena to send a senior minister post haste to Vavuniya to give some assurance to the men and women who are on a fast unto death that government would take steps to address their demands regarding forced disappearances and political prisoners.

In a letter to the President, Wigneswaran pointed out that the hunger strikers, who are not even drinking water, are getting very weak and warned: Unless something is done immediately we may lose the valuable lives of some of the Satyagrahis.

The Chief Minister appealed to the President to direct a Senior Minister to go over to Vavuniya and give the Satyagrahis some assurance.

Wigneswaran suggested that a time frame be given for proper steps to be taken with regard to the missing or disappeared.

One of the fasting individuals, a female, is holding a picture with her daughter standing beside Your Excellency. At least her whereabouts could be immediately ascertained and she could be released to her mother, the Chief Minister said.

Drawing the attention of the President to the governments commitment to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and replace it with a law of international standard, Wigneswaran said that if the PTA is withdrawn, many political prisoners would have to be released immediately.

Therefore, the withdrawal of the PTA must be undertaken immediately. After all the Government has given an assurance to the world at large that the PTA would be withdrawn, he pointed out.

The Northern Chief Minister told the President that the tremendous expectations and hopes our people (the Tamils) placed in Your Excellency seem to be eroding in recent times and Your Excellency must take note of their feelings not only for political reasons but also for ethnical and humanitarian reasons. I am sure Your Excellency will not let down our people.

Your government came into power inter alia with the goodwill and franchise of our people. Your Government opined that the PTA must be withdrawn, that Political Prisoners must be given an Amnesty, that immediate steps must be taken to inquire into the fate of missing persons and so on. But the Office of Missing Persons is presently only in name. It has no teeth. Even if it starts functioning in earnest, the Panel of Inquirers cannot take effective steps against military suspects. They need to forward their views to the courts, consequently resulting in heavy delay, Wigneswaran pointed out.

COLOMBO: The Chief Minister of Sri Lankas Tamil-majority Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, on Wednesday appealed to President Maithripala Sirisena to send a senior minister post haste to Vavuniya to give some assurance to the men and women who are on a fast unto death that government would take steps to address their demands regarding forced disappearances and political prisoners. In a letter to the President, Wigneswaran pointed out that the hunger strikers, who are not even drinking water, are getting very weak and warned: Unless something is done immediately we may lose the valuable lives of some of the Satyagrahis. The Chief Minister appealed to the President to direct a Senior Minister to go over to Vavuniya and give the Satyagrahis some assurance. Wigneswaran suggested that a time frame be given for proper steps to be taken with regard to the missing or disappeared. One of the fasting individuals, a female, is holding a picture with her daughter standing beside Your Excellency. At least her whereabouts could be immediately ascertained and she could be released to her mother, the Chief Minister said. Drawing the attention of the President to the governments commitment to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and replace it with a law of international standard, Wigneswaran said that if the PTA is withdrawn, many political prisoners would have to be released immediately. Therefore, the withdrawal of the PTA must be undertaken immediately. After all the Government has given an assurance to the world at large that the PTA would be withdrawn, he pointed out. The Northern Chief Minister told the President that the tremendous expectations and hopes our people (the Tamils) placed in Your Excellency seem to be eroding in recent times and Your Excellency must take note of their feelings not only for political reasons but also for ethnical and humanitarian reasons. I am sure Your Excellency will not let down our people. Your government came into power inter alia with the goodwill and franchise of our people. Your Government opined that the PTA must be withdrawn, that Political Prisoners must be given an Amnesty, that immediate steps must be taken to inquire into the fate of missing persons and so on. But the Office of Missing Persons is presently only in name. It has no teeth. Even if it starts functioning in earnest, the Panel of Inquirers cannot take effective steps against military suspects. They need to forward their views to the courts, consequently resulting in heavy delay, Wigneswaran pointed out.
By Associated Press

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump will begin rolling out executive actions on immigration Wednesday, beginning with steps to build his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to two administration officials. He's also expected to target so-called sanctuary cities and is reviewing proposals that would restrict the flow of refugees to the United States.

The president is expected to sign the first actions  including the measure to jumpstart construction of the wall  Wednesday during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security. Additional actions will be rolled out over the next few days, according to one official.

Trump is said to still be weighing the details of plans to restrict refugees coming to the U.S. The current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim majority countries, according to a representative of a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues. The person was briefed on the details of that proposed action by a government official and outlined the expected steps for The Associated Press.

The officials and the public policy organization's representative insisted on anonymity in order to outline the plans ahead of Trump's official announcements.

On his personal Twitter account Tuesday night, Trump tweeted: "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"

Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten U.S. immigration policies, including beefing up border security and stemming the flow of refugees. He also called for halting entry to the U.S. from Muslim countries, but later shifted the policy to a focus on what he called "extreme vetting" for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

While the specifics of Trump's orders were unclear, both administration officials said Wednesday's actions would focus in part on the president's plans to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico. He's also expected to move forward with plans to curb funding of cities that don't arrest or detain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, which could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars.

Trump's insistence that Mexico would pay for the wall was among his most popular proposals on the campaign trail, sparking enthusiastic cheers at his raucous rallies. Mexico has repeatedly said it will not pay for any border wall.

Earlier this month, Trump said the building project would initially be paid for with a congressionally approved spending bill and Mexico will eventually reimburse the U.S., though he has not specified how he would guarantee payments.

Trump will meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the White House next week.

In claiming authority to build a wall, Trump may rely on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-President George W. Bush and the majority of the fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office. The last remnants were completed after President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

The Trump administration also must adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built along the border. The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the U.S.-Mexican border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint U.S.-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.

It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still to be finalized. The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the U.S. for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though the person cautioned the details could still change.

There is also likely to be an exception in the refugee stoppage for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.

As president, Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing. President George W. Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.

Other executive actions expected Wednesday include bolstering border patrol agents and ending what Republicans have argued is a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

If Trump's actions would result in those caught being immediately jailed, the administration would have to grapple with how to pay for jail space to detain everyone and what to do with children caught crossing the border with their parents.



WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump will begin rolling out executive actions on immigration Wednesday, beginning with steps to build his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to two administration officials. He's also expected to target so-called sanctuary cities and is reviewing proposals that would restrict the flow of refugees to the United States. The president is expected to sign the first actions  including the measure to jumpstart construction of the wall  Wednesday during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security. Additional actions will be rolled out over the next few days, according to one official. Trump is said to still be weighing the details of plans to restrict refugees coming to the U.S. The current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim majority countries, according to a representative of a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues. The person was briefed on the details of that proposed action by a government official and outlined the expected steps for The Associated Press. The officials and the public policy organization's representative insisted on anonymity in order to outline the plans ahead of Trump's official announcements. On his personal Twitter account Tuesday night, Trump tweeted: "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!" Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten U.S. immigration policies, including beefing up border security and stemming the flow of refugees. He also called for halting entry to the U.S. from Muslim countries, but later shifted the policy to a focus on what he called "extreme vetting" for those coming from countries with terrorism ties. While the specifics of Trump's orders were unclear, both administration officials said Wednesday's actions would focus in part on the president's plans to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico. He's also expected to move forward with plans to curb funding of cities that don't arrest or detain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, which could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars. Trump's insistence that Mexico would pay for the wall was among his most popular proposals on the campaign trail, sparking enthusiastic cheers at his raucous rallies. Mexico has repeatedly said it will not pay for any border wall. Earlier this month, Trump said the building project would initially be paid for with a congressionally approved spending bill and Mexico will eventually reimburse the U.S., though he has not specified how he would guarantee payments. Trump will meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the White House next week. In claiming authority to build a wall, Trump may rely on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians. The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-President George W. Bush and the majority of the fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office. The last remnants were completed after President Barack Obama took office in 2009. The Trump administration also must adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built along the border. The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the U.S.-Mexican border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint U.S.-Mexican agency that administers the treaty. It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still to be finalized. The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the U.S. for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though the person cautioned the details could still change. There is also likely to be an exception in the refugee stoppage for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations. As president, Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing. President George W. Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later. Other executive actions expected Wednesday include bolstering border patrol agents and ending what Republicans have argued is a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date. If Trump's actions would result in those caught being immediately jailed, the administration would have to grapple with how to pay for jail space to detain everyone and what to do with children caught crossing the border with their parents.
By AFP

BAVARO: Cuba is willing to hold "respectful dialogue" with Donald Trump, President Raul Castro has said, following warnings that the new US leader may halt the two countries' rapprochement.

"I wish to express Cuba's desire to continue negotiating on current bilateral issues with the United States on a basis of equality, reciprocity and respect for the sovereignty and independence of our country," Castro said.

He added that he was willing "to pursue respectful dialogue and cooperation on issues of common interest with the new government of President Donald Trump."

Castro, 85, spoke in an address to a summit of the 33-nation Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), meeting in the Dominican Republic.

Trump has said he may end the diplomatic thaw if Cuba does not make more concessions on human rights -- an issue on which Havana has refused to be lectured.

The restoration of diplomatic ties by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama and Castro in 2015 was a historic breakthrough in a Cold War dispute dating to the 1950s.

Since Raul Castro took the reins of power from his brother Fidel in 2006, Cuba has gradually opened up its economy and foreign relations.

Obama and Castro further eased some economic and trade restrictions, although Washington's main trade embargo on Cuba remains in place.

Fidel Castro died on November 25.

BAVARO: Cuba is willing to hold "respectful dialogue" with Donald Trump, President Raul Castro has said, following warnings that the new US leader may halt the two countries' rapprochement. "I wish to express Cuba's desire to continue negotiating on current bilateral issues with the United States on a basis of equality, reciprocity and respect for the sovereignty and independence of our country," Castro said. He added that he was willing "to pursue respectful dialogue and cooperation on issues of common interest with the new government of President Donald Trump." Castro, 85, spoke in an address to a summit of the 33-nation Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), meeting in the Dominican Republic. Trump has said he may end the diplomatic thaw if Cuba does not make more concessions on human rights -- an issue on which Havana has refused to be lectured. The restoration of diplomatic ties by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama and Castro in 2015 was a historic breakthrough in a Cold War dispute dating to the 1950s. Since Raul Castro took the reins of power from his brother Fidel in 2006, Cuba has gradually opened up its economy and foreign relations. Obama and Castro further eased some economic and trade restrictions, although Washington's main trade embargo on Cuba remains in place. Fidel Castro died on November 25.
Battleground Jallikattu: Massive show of strength by protestors at Marina Beach

Chennai, (Tamil Nadu), , Jan. 23 : Chennai's Marina Beach is crowded with thousands displaying their sentiments and emotions attached with the bull-taming festival of Jallikattu. They are fighting to keep their culture alive for the coming generations, displaying their collective strength.





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Human chains are being formed at the beach to show their cultural unity. They do not want their tradition demolished.Last week, when the demands to allow Jallikattu during Pongal failed to move the Supreme Court, young men and women started gathering on the beach to protest. What started as a trickle last Tuesday morning became a large crowd of a few thousands overnight.Driven by social media, the leaderless gathering of young men and women, drawn from across castes and classes, including students and young professionals, became a massive mobilisation of the kind the state has not witnessed in recent years.For the past six days, Marina Beach has seen massive crowds gathering and demanding a lift of the ban on the traditional sport.The Tamil Nadu Government had earlier sent an ordinance on Jallikattu to the Home Ministry, which was passed by the Centre Saturday.Jallikattu, a sport which was restricted to certain parts of the state, is now transformed into a symbol of Tamil pride provoking people's angst against a perceived suppression of their cultural identity.But it is not about Jallikattu alone, but it encompasses farm distress, drought, lack of rural employment and opportunities, impoverishment of peasants and small farmers. Clearly, the protests seem to reflect the social turmoil, especially in non-urban Tamil Nadu, that the political establishment seems either unaware of, or is insensitive about.Tamil Nadu is the third largest urbanised state in the country, behind Goa and Kerala. A large part of the population continues to be dependent on agriculture for their living.Jallikattu involves young men latching on to the hump of bulls. Those who manage to stay put even after the animal makes three jumps are declared a winner. At times, the participants are thrown off the back of bulls or get gored by the animal.The protests have now moved beyond Jallikattu, to saving Tamil culture. The youth feel political parties have failed to do so and that now, they are the only people who can. They feel that if they exert enough pressure on the state and central governments, the Act will be amended.
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* Close allies chosen for debut overseas trip as Pentagon chief

* Mattis has described the "Pacific theater" as a priority

* North Korea, China top U.S. concerns in the region (Adds background)

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's defense secretary plans to visit Japan and South Korea next week, choosing the two close U.S. allies for his debut trip abroad as Pentagon chief, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

James Mattis, a retired Marine general, was sworn into the Pentagon's top job shortly after Trump's inauguration on Friday and a quick departure to Asia could be seen as a nod to the importance the new U.S. administration places on security ties.

The trip would closely follow Trump's withdrawal from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, fulfilling a campaign pledge but disappointing many key U.S. allies in Asia.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, for example, had touted TPP in part as a counter-weight to a rising China.

No further details were immediately available about Mattis' proposed itinerary.

Still, Mattis, in his confirmation hearing this month, described "the Pacific theater" as a priority and analysts expect new U.S. military spending under Trump's administration would strengthen America's military presence in Asia over time.

Topping U.S. concerns in the region are North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs and China's military moves in the South China Sea.

Tension with Beijing escalated this week when Trump's White House vowed to defend "international territories" in the strategic waterway. China responded by saying it had "irrefutable" sovereignty over disputed islands there.

Mattis, in his Senate testimony, also voiced concern about North Korea, describing Pyongyang's activities as a "serious threat" that required U.S. attention.

There are about 28,500 U.S. troops based in South Korea helping to defend the country against North Korea, which has technically remained in a state of war with the South since the 1950-53 Korean conflict.

Story continues

South Korea and the United States say the upcoming deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system will better help to protect Seoul against North Korea's nuclear and ballistic capabilities.

But China says THAAD's powerful radar could penetrate its own territory, prompting calls from some South Korean opposition leaders to delay or cancel its deployment.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Tom Hogue and Clarence Fernandez)
Tata Power's Maithon Power Plant awarded with Global Energy Management Award 2017

Kolkata/ Dhanbad, Jan 24 : Tata Power's Maithon Power Limited (MPL), the Company's 74:26 joint venture with Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), has always stood out for its exemplary efforts towards energy and environment conservation. In recognition of its excellence, MPL was bestowed by South Asia Forum for Energy Efficiency (SAFEE) with Global Energy Management Award 2017.





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The award which was in recognition of MPLs active contribution in the field of energy conservation was presented at a function by R K Verma, Chairperson, Central Electricity Authority to K Chandrashekhar, CEO ED- MPL on behalf of the company.Other reputed industry players like National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) also attended the event.Expressing his joy on the achievement, K Chandrashekhar CEO ED- Maithon Power Ltd, Tata Power said, It gives me great pleasure to be a recipient of such a prestigious award. We, at Tata Power always strive to lead the reform process for sustainable power and we are committed to safeguarding the environment for future generations. Awards like these, act as an impetus for us and our teams to only continue walking on our path towards sustainability. I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to all team members who have constantly shown a commitment towards excellence. I am sure that we will continue this journey in the times to come.
Blacks more exposed to family deaths than Whites

Washington D.C. [USA] Jan 24. : According to a new study, African-Americans are more likely to lose family members when compared to White family members, because of more number of racial disparities in exposure and timing of family member deaths.





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The study suggests, the Black Americans are more likely to experience more family deaths throughout their lives.The researchers, examined racial disparities in exposure and timing of family member deaths to uncover an underappreciated layer of racial inequality."The potentially substantial damage to surviving family members is a largely overlooked area of racial disadvantage. By calling attention to this heightened vulnerability of black Americans, our findings underscore the need to address the potential impact of more frequent and earlier exposure to family member deaths in the process of cumulative disadvantage," said Debra Umberson.The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Umberson and her colleagues used national representative datasets of more than 42,000 people. They compared the non-Hispanic black and the non-Hispanic white Americans on their exposure to death of biological parents, children, siblings and spouses."If losing a family member is a disadvantage in the present in ways that disrupt the future, racial disparities in these losses over the life course is a tangible manifestation of racial inequality that needs to be systematically documented," she said.The study also showed that Black Americans saw more number of family member deaths overall than whites. By the age of 30, they were twice likely to see a death of more than two or more family members and 90 percent more likely to experience the deaths of 4 or more family members by the age of 65."This is the first population-based documentation of earlier and repeated bereavement experiences for Black Americans. Death of family members is highly likely to disrupt and strain other family relationships as well as the formation, duration and quality of relationships across the life course, further contributing to a broad range of adverse life outcomes including poor health and lower life expectancy," Umberson said.
DRDO takes pride in ATAGS, to be showcased at R-Day parade

New Delhi , Jan. 24 : The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has always been under the scanner for not indigenously building artillery guns and looking to import essential parts from other countries.





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But the DRDO has this time gone ahead and in collaboration with private firms built the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS), a 155-mm, 52-calibre towed artillery gun.The ATAGS will be showcased at this year's Republic Day parade on January 26.Hailing the development, Praveen Kumar Mehta, Director General - Armaments and Combat Engineering Systems, DRDO, said they take pride in manufacturing guns in India and always strive to meet the international standards."We take pride to do things in the country and even if it's not at par with the international standards, we still strive to make it the best. Hence, this gun is a very good example of how the DRDO and the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), along with the industry, can come out with a system within the country and compete with the best in the world. In fact, we look forward to the export of such systems in the time to come," he said.He added, "This gun is an example that you can build the best guns in the country with the best possible specifications that can match the specifications of any contemporary gun in this class built in other countries."Mehta enlisted the parameters where the ATAGS scores above all its competitors from other countries.He said, "Every gun is different in its class. In its class, it has got the maximum range. It has developed the highest pressure in the chamber. The range has been tested for 45 km and is the greatest amongst all guns in this category.""A gun is identified by its calibre. Bofors was a 39-calibre gun; 'Dhanush', which is an improved version of Bofors, is a 42-calibre gun. ATAGS is a 55-km calibre gun - the maximum calibre," he added.Mehta also commented on the firing range of the ATAGS and said it's the maximum if compared with others."The Rate of Firing (RoF) is 30 rounds within 60 minutes, which is again at par with the best in the world," he said.Clarifying that the DRDO manufactures its own guns wherever possible, Mehta said, "As far as certain areas are concerned where we didn't have other options, we built those things in the country. The DRDO has built them. In areas where systems could be imported from outside, we have done that too.""We require a lot of guns of this type, along with 'Dhanush' and Bofors guns. Every gun serves a specific purpose and accordingly, each gun is used in varying numbers. And this gun will, in the time to come, prove to be great for the nation," he added.Mehta also explained that though the gun is towed, it can still move on its own within short distances.He said, "It's a towed gun, but has got a self-mobility also. So, in a limited area, it can move by itself and in a larger space, it will have to be towed with a vehicle in front of it.""Also, it is air-transportable but that is yet to be tried," he added.The benefits that come with being indigenous are that any modifications required, if need be, can be carried out in India only."It's designed and developed in India only. So, if there arises a need to amend its design or repair it, it can be done in the country only," Mehta said.He added, "We have built these guns in collaboration with two companies - Tata Power ACD and Bharat Force. The first prototype has been built and a full-proof testing has also taken place. Now, we are in the process of developing an additional prototype which will be fielded for the user trial in a very short time."Amit Bhatiwala from Armament Research and Development Establishment, Pune, who has been working as Scientist D at the DRDO, said that the calibre of the ATAGS should not be increased any further as it might increase the gun's weight and affect its efficiency."It's a 52-calibre gun, which should not be increased any further. Otherwise, the weight might increase affecting the efficiency of the gun," he said.Bhatiwala was all praises for the indigenous gun and said it is the most contemporaneous gun in the world right now."We were given this project in the year 2012 and we were able to start the manufacture and design by 2014. The most difficult part under this was designing the specification. We wanted the gun to be at par with the guns of other countries or may be superior. And that we have accomplished. We have built the gun in such a way that this is the most contemporaneous gun in the world right now. All the parameters are either at par or superior if compared with those of other countries," he added.Another indigenous gun that will be showcased at the parade this year is the long-range artillery gun 'Dhanush'.Developed by OFB and manufactured by Jabalpur-based Gun Carriage Factory (GCF), the 155-mm desi howitzer is a significantly improved version of Bofors 39-calibre field gun.Indigenously designed Medium Power Radar System 'Arudhra' will also make its debut at the R-Day parade. Arudhra has been developed by Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), Bengaluru, a wing of DRDO.Stating that it one of the best radar systems manufactured, LRDE scientist Manoharan told ANI, "Arudhra is a ground-based radar mounted on a mobile platform. It can be transported by road, rail or air. It has an antenna at the top which works on a new technology that's introduced in India. In this, you can shift the beam. Earlier, beam movement was not possible. Its instrumental range is 400 km and has 360 degree coverage. It can cover 800 km area and 30 km height. It can detect 150 targets simultaneously."He added, "It can even tell you whether the target is a friendly target or enemy target. In its capability, this is one of the best radar systems made."Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates will be the guest of honour at this year's R-Day parade.
Shah Rukh Khan must pay compensation to family of deceased: Manoj Tiwari

New Delhi , Jan. 24 : Calling the stampede at the Vadodara Railway Station as extremely unfortunate, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Tuesday said that actor Shah Rukh Khan should pay compensation to the family of the deceased.





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"Shah Rukh should come forward and pay compensation to the family of the deceased. He should also promote that people should also take care of the security concerns before paying a visit to any event. This is a very unfortunate incident," Tiwari said."Any promotions should keep in mind the security concerns associated with it. Security agencies should also make sure that prior permission is granted before conducting event like this," he added.Commenting on the tweet by BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, Tiwari said that former's statement has always been misinterpreted by the opposition."We need to focus on other issues which are more important than Kailash Vijayvargiya's statement," he added.Earlier on social media, Vijayvargiya took a jibe at 'Raees' and supported Hrithik Roshan's 'Kaabil'.He tweeted, "The Raees that couldn't be of its own country is of no good. On another side we should support Kaabil that is patriotic."Shah Rukh's 'Raees' train journey turned a bitter when a man died in Gujarat's Vadodara due to the chaos at the railway station, where fans gathered to get a glimpse of their favourite star.Deeply saddened by the incident, the 'Dilwale' actor, while speaking to the media, said, "One of our colleagues was traveling with us. Her uncle came down to see her at Baroda. He suffered from a cardiac arrest. It was really unfortunate.""We started the journey thinking we all will travel, spend time with each other when one of your own loses someone one trip like this, it saddens us all. On behalf of everyone, our prayers and blessings with the whole family. She has reached there. I just spoke to her. I think the burial is in an hour or half hour," continued SRK.Adding, "We have some of our people with the family members there. Hopefully God will bless her soon."
In Helsinki, UN appeals for nearly USD 5B to help Syrians and host communities

New York, Jan 24 : The United Nations and partners on Tuesday appealed at an aid conference in Finland for USD 4.63 billion to help people inside Syria, those who fled and the communities hosting them.





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Unless these additional funds are promptly secured, the UN and its partners will have to scale back life-saving assistance, not only for Syrians but also refugees and host communities, with catastrophic consequences, said Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen OBrien.It will force families to try to survive with inadequate food intake; it will stop short nutrition programmes to bring babies back to health; it will mean families having to sleep without even plastic sheeting to protect them, added OBrien, who also heads the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) which co-organized the conference alongside the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).Hosted by Finland, the Helsinki Conference on Supporting Syrians and the Region focuses on key humanitarian priorities: saving lives, protection, and building resilience, according to a press release from the organizers.The international community must send a clear message that it stands with them and provides the urgently needed support, Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in reference to displaced Syrians and host communities in remarks ahead of the funding appeal.Some 13.5 people urgently need protection and life-saving aid, according to OCHA, including 2 million children under the age of five.Within Syria, there are 13 besieged areas with some 650,000 men, women and children cut off from aid.Those people who have been able to flee to neighbouring countries continue to struggle, along with their host communities, to meet the challenges of the political, economic and social spill-over from the Syria crisis.As millions have fled Syria, we have seen extraordinary generosity and solidarity on the part of host countries and communities and they must not be left to cope alone, said Helen Clark, Administrator of UNDP. UN agencies and NGO partners are committed to helping governments and host communities build resilience in the face of this crisis. Weve made important strides, but we need more support.The Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) for 2017 and 2018 launched on Tuesday aims to assist over 4.7 million refugees from Syria and 4.4 million people hosting them in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.The appeal is in addition to the $3.4 billion that the 2017 humanitarian response plan.Photo: UNICEF/Lucy LyonSource: www.justearthnews.com
Eat mushrooms to prevent risk of Dementia, Alzheimer's disease

Washington D.C. [USA], Jan. 25 : A study claims that mushrooms may enhance nerve growth in the brain that can prevent the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.





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According to researchers, certain edible and medicinal mushrooms contain bioactive compounds that may enhance nerve growth in the brain and protect against neurotoxic stimuli such as inflammation that contribute to Dementia and Alzheimer's disease.The study, published in Journal of Medicinal Food supports the potential role of mushrooms as functional foods to reduce or delay development of age-related neurodegeneration.The researchers from University of Malaya in Malaysia discussed the scientific findings related to the health benefits of edible and culinary mushrooms.It is estimated that as many as 5.1 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease and, worldwide, 42 million cases are expected by 2020.Despite the advancement of medication, the management of these diseases has remained largely ineffective.The authors focus on the activity of bioactive components of mushrooms that may offer neuroprotective and cognitive benefits."In contrast to the body of literature on food ingredients that may benefit cardiometabolic diseases and cancer, very few studies have focused on food that may benefit neurodegenerative diseases," explained study author Sampath Parthasarathy from University of Central Florida.They found that each mushroom increased production of the Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) - a molecule primarily involved in regulating growth, maintenance, proliferation and survival of certain nerve cells in the brain."The current study might stimulate the identification of more food materials that are neuroprotective," Parthasarathy added.
PM Modi greets nation on National Voters' Day

New Delhi, Jan 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday greeted the country on the ocassion of National Voters' Day.





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Wishing you all on National Voters Day. We greet the Election Commission salute their important role in our democracy, Modi tweeted.Elections are celebrations of democracy. They communicate the will of the people, which is supreme in a democracy, he said.Modi urged young citizens to register as voters when they turn 18.I urge every eligible voter to exercise his or her franchise call upon my young friends to register as voters when they turn 18, he said.
President Pranab Mukherjee to address nation on eve of 68th Republic Day

New Delhi , Jan. 25 : President Pranab Mukherjee will address the nation today, on the eve of 68th Republic day.





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President's address will be broadcasted from 7 pm on the national network of All India Radio and telecasted in all channels of Doordarshan in English, followed by Hindi.India would be celebrating its 68th republic day tomorrow. The preparation for the same is on full swing.The crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyanwould will grace the Republic day celebrations, as the chief guest, this year.
UAE Crown Prince accorded ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan

New Delhi , Jan. 25 : The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Wednesday received ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here.





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He also paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial Rajghat.The crown prince, who is on a three-day tour in India, and will be the chief guest at this year's Republic Day parade on Thursday, is accompanied by a high-level delegation, including ministers, senior officials and captains of industry.The two countries are expected to ink a strategic agreement to elevate their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, providing for greater cooperation in areas such as defence and security.Cooperation in energy security, space and civil nuclear energy is also high on the agenda.
From Mauritius to India - passing the baton - willingly or reluctantly

By Onkareshwar Pandey, New Delhi [India], Jan.24 : It is public knowledge that Mulayam Singh Yadav was very reluctant to leave the post of Samajwadi Party president, but eventually could not withstand the show of strength and support exhibited by his son and incumbent Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the long drama before the public notwithstanding.





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In contrast, however, is Mauritius, where Anerood Jugnauth, the Prime Minister, passed on the political baton peacefully and willingly to his son and the country's Finance Minister Pravind Jugnauth, citing the need for "a young leadership".Pravind was appointed as the new premier of Mauritius, a nation of just 1.3 million people earlier this week.And, this is not the first time, as politics in Mauritius, has seen a few families dominating top echelons in the corridors of power for decades since that nation achieved independence in 1968, almost similar to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, also seen as the custodian of Indian politics for nearly 50 years post independence.Similar to India, the appointment of a prime minister takes place normally after elections and on the basis of which party has secured a majority vote. Prime ministers can also be appointed without calling for a fresh election, provided the party has majority support in the parliament.The Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) of Anerood Jugnauth had a majority in the National Assembly, and therefore, Pravind Jugnauth, eased himself into the office of prime minister without political murmur.More than thirteen years ago, in 2003, Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth had handed over leadership of his party, which he founded in 1983, to his son Pravind with a lot of emotion and tears in his eyes.He said then, "I have reached the end of this road."Though he stepped down as party president, he remained prime minister until September 2003 and then took over as the country's president.He announced in late 2016 that he would step down as prime minister before his term expires in 2019. It went without saying that Pravind would succeed him.Anerood Jugnauth is widely regarded as the pioneer behind Mauritius' economic revival in the 1980s, when through liberalisation, he reduced dependency on the sugar industry.He served as the nation's prime minister on three occasions i.e. between 1982 and 1995, 2000 and 2003 and finally between December 2014 and January 2017.Politically too Mauritius has developed, where the majority are people of Indian origin, but have no direct linkage to Indian politics.However, the issue of dynastic politics is of course relevant in equal measure in both countries.A casual look at the political spectrum in the India of today where elections for five state assemblies are round the corner, the issue of dynastic politics and the passing of the baton is being widely debated post the Mulayam-Akhilesh episode that hogged prime time on television channels for weeks, and saw both the BJP and the Congress being excessively critical and vocal.The BJP has distributed party tickets to no less than 35 candidates who are kith and kin of party leaders, placing the party on the wrong foot because Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a strong opponent of dynastic politics and has repeatedly promised to put an end to family rule in Indian politics.Prime Minister Modi will surely find it difficult to digest this fact when it is increasingly becoming apparent that dynastic politics is getting irrelevant day by day, and parties are using words and not so credible nomenclature to defend such moves."A dynasty in the absence of a king, the heir apparent takes over, while the BJP has given tickets to people who have to win in order to climb to the top," clarified Sambit Patra, BJP spokesperson after facing a strong criticism over ticket distribution and drew a distinction between dynasty politics and giving tickets to sons and daughters of party leaders recently.The BJP spokesperson had tried to justify it by saying- "the party cannot deny a person a ticket just because he or she is the son or daughter of a politician".With a clear motive in the mind to win the elections at any cost, political parties across the country are distributing party tickets to family members of their party leaders, and clearly proving that family rule is no longer the exclusive preserve of the Congress.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, one of the Prime Minister's closest aides, had once tried to make a point that "the struggle being witnessed in Indian politics was between merit and dynastic politics, and Modi is being targeted by dynastic forces because of his success".But today he cannot deny the fact that his own party, the BJP, has also succumbed to the pressure of party leaders and is or has already distributed tickets less on the basis of merit and more on the basis of family link and allegiance.And why should we only highlight or accuse our own politicians of perpetrating or promoting this malaise? India's immediate neighbours such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Pakistan are also deeply rooted in dynastic politics.In Nepal, the first family are the Koiralas; in Bangladesh, politics is dominated by the kin of Begum Khalida Zia or Sheikh Hasina; in Myanmar, it is Aung San Suu Kyi's writ that runs; in Sri Lanka, it was the Bandarnaikes and the Rajapaksas till not too long ago that dominated the political landscape. In Pakistan, it has been the Bhuttos and the Sharifs.Forefathers, grandparents, parents, in-laws, brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, sons-in-law, uncles, aunts, cousins, sons, daughters and even grandchildren, there is no dearth of examples of politics being a family business.In the West, outstanding examples are Bush, Gore and Clinton families, and before them, the Kennedys. In North Korea, it is the Kims for the past 49 years. From Asia to Africa too, there are any number of examples of political dynastic families.Willingly or reluctantly, the passing of the political baton from father to son, generation to generation, it seems, is par for the course insofar as elections are concerned.
GST on healthcare will make medicare unaffordable, says ASSOCHAM-TechSci study

New Delhi , Jan 25 : The healthcare sector catering to the unmet health needs of the society should be kept out of the purview of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) or else medical care would become expensive and unaffordable for the common persons, said an ASSOCHAM-TechSci Research paper.





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Currently healthcare is exempted from service tax and a similar dispensation should continue even after implementation of the GST regime at least for ten year. Besides, the Finance Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley in the forthcoming Budget should raise tax exemption on preventive health check-up and announce a healthcare infrastructure medical innovation fund, it said."A large number of items like food and other essentials for a common household are being kept outside the purview of the GST. The healthcare is equally important and essential, important only next to food. So, there is a strong case for the sector to be spared the GST," said ASSOCHAM Secretary General D S Rawat.The paper cautioned that if GST is levied on healthcare services and facilities, the much avowed national goal to provide universal healthcare coverage would take a hit.The paper also pressed for significantly raising the tax exemption on preventive health check-up under section 80-D of the Income Tax Act, 1961 from current value of Rs. 5,000-20,000 in order to achieve the aim of universal healthcare coverage. Additionally, the GST exemption should cover the health insurance premium, as the same is exempted from the service tax at present.The other pre-Budget demand with regard to the healthcare sector includes increasing the depreciation rate on medical devices, equipment from 15 percent to 30 percent.Also, the need of healthcare facilities in midsized and smaller cities could be met by revising the corporate income tax incentives, which are currently given on capital expenditure for hospitals having 100 beds and above. This incentive needs to be extended to greenfield hospitals with 50 beds, thereby encouraging the healthcare facilities in tier II, III and IV cities. In addition, medical innovation fund and healthcare innovation fund should be set up in order to encourage new business models and entrepreneurship in healthcare sector, said the paper.The Indian pharma industry, with an estimated turnover at USD 36.7 billion in 2015, is amongst the largest producers of pharma products in the world. Due to economies of scale, the Indian pharma industry also enjoys low cost of production.But the imposition of multiple taxes, litigation cost associated with the current tax setup and loss of credit of tax paid tend to raise product prices. Discontinuance of CST would be the most obvious impact that appears to be proposed with the introduction of GST. It is a cost to pharmaceutical manufacturers whenever they obtain raw materials from outside their state and if sale is on inter-state basis. This is due to the fact that CST paid in purchases is not creditable against VAT liability of manufacturer.
Indiabulls Housing ties up with Paisabazaar for e-Home Loans

New Delhi , Jan 25 (ANI-BusinessWireIndia): Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd. (IBHFL) has entered into a strategic partnership with Paisabazaar.com, India's leading online financial marketplace, to offer online home loans to consumers. With the partnership in place, customers will now be able to avail home loan offerings by IBHFL, through the Paisabazaar.com platform. The loan process would be completely digital from application to disbursal via e-KYC verification and self-attestation of documents, and does not require customers to visit the lender's office.





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Both IBHFL and Paisabazaar.com are the first players within their industries to offer completely digital processes."This association with Paisabazaar marks one of the first such tie-ups in the industry. What gladdens me even more about this tie-up is the fact that the biggest beneficiaries will eventually be our dear customers. Indiabulls Housing Finance having launched India's first completely online mortgage, will synergize the online home loan experience with the scale of Paisabazaar to eventually reach and service customers in the most convenient way possible," said Executive Director Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd., Sachin Chaudhary.Home loan seekers can now get a wholesome experience which ranges from comparing home loan product offerings to actually completing the entire home loan process online.As early adopters of digitally revolutionary practices, it is imperative for organizations like ours to continuously explore newer options to better customer delight. I look forward to a healthy association with paisa bazaar and in the course evolve more such solutions to provide superior customer experiences."Customers, today, are buying everything online - from pizza to phones to plane tickets. Even in financial services, the preference is fast shifting from branch services towards DIY digital platforms. Comparatively, the housing sector has been conservative and slow to adapt digitization. However, with IBHFL offering an end-to-end digitized home loan products, customers can now expect paperless and presence-less processes, something which we at Paisabazaar.com strongly believe in. We are immensely happy to tie up with IBHFL. Together, we aim to offer home buyers a never-before experience through a completely digitized home loan packages that will come with a speedy, convenient and transparent processes," said CEO and co-founder Paisabazaar.com, Naveen Kukreja.Paisabazaar.com currently offers retail customers all types of lending and investment products including loans, credit cards, savings account, mutual funds and fixed deposits on its platform. (ANI-BusinessWireIndia)
Storm brews over ex-army chief getting 90 acres of land

Lahore [Pakistan], Jan. 25 : The allotment of 90 acres of prime land to former Pakistan army chief General (retired) Raheel Sharif has created controversy, though security the establishment has clarified there is nothing unusual about it.





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The land has been allotted on Lahore's Bedian Road area.The price of land in the area where General (retired) Sharif has been given his allotment has started to rise as, affluent people are looking to buy farm-house there.The Dawn quoted a security establishment official, as saying that there is nothing unusual about the allotment and that General (retired) Sharif is getting the land in accordance with the existing rules and purely on merit."It is agricultural land and will be used for this purpose alone. It will not be used for commercial purpose as is the impression being created by some," the official added.The official added that a similar volume of agricultural land has been given to every army chief on Pakistan.
WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The House of Representatives Intelligence Committee called on the Trump administration on Wednesday to provide them with what they expect will be thousands of documents related to the investigation of Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election.

The request may be an effort to avoid a repeat of an unusual document access arrangement made between the Senate Intelligence Committee and CIA to review information related to enhanced interrogation techniques at secret overseas "black site" prisons during the George W. Bush administration.

Under that arrangement, Senate investigators were limited to reviewing documents on a shared computer network set up at a Central Intelligence Agency facility, which later led to accusations the agency had spied on the work of congressional staffers.

"It will not be adequate to review these documents, expected to be in the thousands of pages, at the agencies. They should be delivered to the House Intelligence Committee to provide members adequate time to examine their content," Representatives Devin Nunes, the committee's Republican chairman, and Adam Schiff, its top Democrat, said in a joint statement.

They said they expect "prompt" responses to requests for documents.

U.S. intelligence agencies contend that Moscow waged a multifaceted campaign of hacking and other actions to boost Republican President Donald Trump's election chances against Democrat Hillary Clinton last year.

Trump has worried lawmakers, mostly Democrats but also some Republicans, by dismissing such claims and criticizing intelligence agencies for raising them. They have demanded special committees to investigate, but Republican congressional leaders said they would leave that work to existing committees.

Trump's fellow Republicans control majorities in both the Senate and House.

The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Richard Burr and Democrat Mark Warner, issued a statement late on Tuesday saying their committee was also moving forward with its investigation.

Moscow has repeatedly denied any attempt to help Trump win.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Dustin Volz; editing by Andrew Hay)
Missing Garo youth found after five years

Garo (Meghalaya) , Jan. 25 : In a miraculous incident, a youth from Rongchigre village near Rongram in West Garo Hills who had gone missing for about four years in Kolkata recently reunited with his family.





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Sillian A. Sangma disappeared on December 12, 2012, while coming back from Chennai, where he went in search of livelihood. For the next four years, Sillian, who was then 21, made the streets of Kolkata his home surviving on generous handouts from passing commuters.He befriended an auto rickshaw driver, who asked him about his home. Last December, Sillian told his auto rickshaw driver friend about a phone number he recalled being used by one of his relatives back home, His whereabouts were located when the auto driver helped him to call his relatives in Garo hills.However, what led to his disappearance remains a mystery. With the help of a social activist from Kolkata, Cornelius Gomes, and members of the Garo community in Kolkata, Sillian was finally reunited with his family.Sillian, now 25, claimed that he was drugged and his belongings, including identity papers, were stolen when he arrived in Kolkata. Unfamiliar with the place and language, he suffered a mental breakdown and started living on the city streets.Expressing delight his mother said, "We are really grateful to all who helped us to get back our son. I never expected to see him again but always believed in God. It is he (God) who gave us our son back. I have nothing to repay anyone, who helped us except our blessings which we want to give abundantly".
PM Modi acknowledges UAE as a partner in India's growth story, several MoUs signed

New Delhi, Jna 25 : In his press statement during the joint media briefing with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of United Arab Emirates, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that UAE is an important partner in India's growth story.





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PM Modi said that his discussions with the Crown Prince were wide ranging, covering the entire spectrum of India-UAE bilateral engagement.We have shaped an ambitious roadmap of engagement to make our comprehensive strategic partnership purposeful and action oriented, the PM said.We agreed to sustain the momentum of our relations in key areas, including energy and investments, said the Indian PM.Prime Minister Modi also said that both the countries are working to connect the institutional investors in UAE with Indias National Investment and Infrastructure Fund.We are also encouraging and facilitating business and industry of both countries to increase the quality and quantum bilateral trade, Prime Minister Modi said.He said, Our energy partnership is an important bridge in our linkages. It contributes to our energy security.We exchanged views on developments in West Asia and the Gulf, where both countries have a shared interest in peace and stability. said Modi.Several agreements/MOUs were exchanged on Wednesday on the sidelines of the state visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to India.These included agreement on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, MoU between the ministries of defence of both countries on cooperation in the field of defence industry, MoUs in areas of maritime industry and road transport, on cooperation in prevention and combating of human trafficking, etc.Tweeted Union Minister of Road Transport Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari, The bilateral discussion between India and UAE was very encouraging. These enhanced ties between our Asian nations will deliver a continental benefit.In his statement, PM Modi highlighted, UAE is home to around 2.6 million Indians. Their contributions are deeply valued both in India and in UAE. I expressed gratitude to His Highness for looking after the welfare of Indian nationals in UAE. I also thanked His Highness for allotting land for a temple for the Indian diaspora in Abu Dhabi.Images: PMO India Twitter
President Trump allows Keystone XL Pipeline construction, Canada happy

Calgary Jan 25 : The Canadian government has welcomed the US President Donald Trump's move to revive the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project, according to media reports.





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President Trump, through an executive action on Tuesday, revived the construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines, media reported.The Keystone pipeline, which would span nearly 1,200 miles across six US states, shifting more than 800,000 barrels of petroleum daily from Canadian oil sands through Nebraska to refineries in the Gulf coast, reported The Guardian.The projected was rescinded by the Obama administration due to environmental concerns.During the tenure of Canadas former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, this project was a bone of contention between the two countries.The project,which was fiercely opposed by environmental groups, is supported by Canadas Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau and powerful business lobbies on both sides of the border.(Reporting by Chandan Som )
Jet Airways celebrates R-Day by offering special fares across domestic, global network

Mumbai, Jan 25 : Jet Airways, India's full-service, premiere international airline, on Wednesday announced special fares in connection with the celebrations surrounding India's 68th Republic Day.





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The limited period sale will allow guests to book tickets for as little as Rs. 999 on certain sectors.The special fares are applicable on tickets booked between Jan 25 to 29 for select domestic routes and until Jan 27, 2017 for international travel from India on Jet Airways direct flights to London, Amsterdam, Paris and Toronto.While the sale offer is valid for Economy travel on domestic flights, it includes both Economy and Premiere (Business) travel on international flights out of India, offering guests significant savings and a world class flying experience, given the approaching extended weekend.While international tickets are valid for immediate travel, domestic ones will be valid for travel at least 15 days from the date of booking.In a significant value add and as an industry first, Jet Airways guests flying to international destinations via its gateway at Abu Dhabi will enjoy special fares on both Economy and Premiere travel, courtesy its strategic partner, Etihad Airways. For those flying from Abu Dhabi to alternate global destinations via Etihad Airways, special fares can be availed for Premiere travel.The special fare tickets, available on a first-come-first-served basis, will be valid for travel on direct flights for both onwards and return journeys on Jet Airways network. The air tickets purchased as part of this sale will be non-refundable, though guests can change their travel plans at an additional charge.Jayaraj Shanmugam, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways, said, This Republic Day, Jet Airways offers guests yet another awesome opportunity to discover and experience the joy of flying on its extensive domestic and international destinations. It also offers us an occasion to reaffirm our pride as an Indian airline by bringing the spirit of Indian hospitality to the world.
No support for Katiyar's misogynist statement about Priyanka Gandhi from BJP

New Delhi , Jan. 25 : Hours after Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Katiyar made a distasteful comment about Congress president Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said the statement was unacceptable to both - the party and the government.





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"This is not acceptable to us and neither the party, nor the government supports such statements," he said.Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav yesterday drew an analogy between a woman and a vote. He said that the honour of vote was bigger than the honour of a woman.The senior leader raked in massive criticism over his statement.Naidu expressed hope these senior leaders realise their mistake and withdraw their comments."We are each other's competitors in politics, not enemies. While speaking about women, one must be cautious and keep in mind the culture of our society," Naidu added.Earlier in the day, Katiyar while taunting Priyanka's name in list of Congress' star campaigners made a sexist comment and said that there were many beautiful star campaigners."What difference will it make? We have more beautiful star campaigners...heroines, artistes...they are better," he said.Despite being criticised by women activists and other politicians, Katiyar remained unapologetic.Priyanka, on the other hand, laughed off the comment."He exposes the BJP's mindset towards the better half of the population of India," said a statement from Priyanka's office.
SEBI bans Mallya from accessing security market

New Delhi , Jan 25 : The Security Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday restrained embattled business tycoon Vijay Mallya from accessing the security market.





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Besides the liquor baron, the SEBI banned Ashok Capoor, P.A. Murali, Sowmiyanarayanan, S.N. Prasad, Paramjit Singh Gill and Ainapur S. R. from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities in any manner, directly or indirectly.The SEBI has given leverage to all seven to file their replies to SEBI within 21 days from the date of receipt of this order.The individuals also have to indicate in their replies whether they wish to avail an opportunity of personal hearing in the matter.
Strategic partnership with India priority in Russia's foreign policy: Putin

New Delhi , Jan. 25 : Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a congratulatory message on the eve of India's Republic Day, saying a privileged partnership with New Delhi is an invariable priority in Moscow's foreign policy.





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"Over the decades of independent development, India has achieved impressive success in economic, social, scientific, technical and other spheres. Your country plays an important and constructive role in solving pressing issues of the regional and international agenda," he said in his message to President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi."Special and privileged strategic partnership with India is an invariable priority in Russia's foreign policy," he added.The Russian President reiterated his country's readiness to further strengthening of mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation between both sides in various areas."In this respect, great importance is being attached to the implementation of the map of events dedicated to the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between our countries," said Putin."With all my heart, I wish you good health and success, and to the friendly people of India - well-being and prosperity," he concluded.Relations with Russia are a key pillar of India's foreign policy, and Russia has been a longstanding time-tested partner of India.Since the signing of "Declaration on the India-Russia Strategic Partnership" in October 2000 (during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India), India-Russia ties have acquired a qualitatively new character with enhanced levels of cooperation in almost all areas of the bilateral relationship including political, security, trade and economy, defense, science and technology and culture.Under the Strategic Partnership, several institutionalized dialogue mechanisms operate at both political and official levels to ensure regular interaction and follow up on cooperation activities. During the visit of the Russian President to India in December 2010, the Strategic Partnership was elevated to the level of a "Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership.
The United States has fallen from the ranks of what a respected business intelligence provider considers full democracies and can now only be considered a flawed democracy -- but the reason for the demotion may be a surprise.

As the countrys new president, Donald Trump, sits in the White House and tweets about some sort of federal takeover of Chicago and continues to press false claims of massive voter fraud in an election that he won, it would be easy to assume that the new ranking from the Economist Intelligence Unit is related to his elevation to the White House.

Related: Trumps Brand of Nationalism Reinforces a Divisive Us v. Them Playbook

However, the respected 70-year-old research and analysis division of the same company that publishes The Economist newspaper says that Trumps election is a symptom of broader failings of American democracy, not its cause.

Popular trust in government, elected representatives and political parties have fallen to extremely low levels in the US, the report says. This has been a long-term trend and one that preceded the election of Mr. Trump as US president in November 2016. By tapping a deep strain of political disaffection with the functioning of democracy, Mr. Trump became a beneficiary of the low esteem in which US voters hold their government, elected representatives, and political parties, but he was not responsible for a problem that has had a long gestation.

The US, it adds, had been teetering on the brink of falling out of the ranks of full democracies, and would have done so in this years report even if there had been no presidential election at all.

Americans' Trust in Government 1958-2015

The EIU democracy rankings are based on a ten-point scale, with a score based on combined rating of Electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties.

Related: Trump Outlines an America First Agenda in a Dark Inaugural Address

A cumulative score below 8.0 drops a country out of the full democracy ranks and into those of flawed democracies, where the US now keeps company with countries that include Italy, Botswana, Sri Lanka, and Mexico.

Story continues

Dragging the countrys score down was its rating in the functioning of government (7.14) and political participation (7.22) categories.

The EIU cites multiple long-standing reasons for the decline in the countrys government function ranking, including ideological entrenchment of congressional representatives leading to bitter partisanship.

The upshot is a stronger emphasis on ideological purity and less appetite for compromise, which reinforces a lack of confidence in Congress among voters. Nevertheless, respect for the constitution and democratic values are deeply entrenched as a result of centuries of democratic practice. For urgent and crucial decisions majorities can normally be obtained, but solutions to long-term problems often fall victim to deadlock.

Related: No, Trump Didnt Just Make the Day He Took Office a National Holiday

The EIU report, being descriptive rather than prescriptive, doesnt offer the country a roadmap back to full democracy status. However, it offers some hope that economic growth could help ameliorate some of the countrys problems.

If income inequality has exacerbated American trust in government and public institutions, continued economic progress should start to reverse this trend in the coming years. The unemployment rate has fallen below 5 percent, average hourly wage growth is at its highest level since the financial crisis, and income inequality should gradually narrow if the economic recovery continues. If these trends are maintained, the US could improve in our 2017 rankings.

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3 Newport County teams are one win from playing for a title

The playoffs are underway, and there are teams still alive, while others have been eliminated.
The Hold is a baby calming technique that is the brainchild of Dr. Robert Hamilton, who is an American pediatrician. Dr. Hamiltons technique can be found brilliantly explained on YouTube, and was seen and liked millions of times in a very short period.

This was a clear indication that there are, without doubt, many parents and caregivers out there who are eager to find a means of calming their babies. With more than 3 decades of working with children under his belt, as well as having 6 children of his own, it is safe to assume that Dr. Hamilton anticipated parents would be eager to dip their hands on such information.

How To Calm A Crying Baby - Dr. Robert Hamilton Demonstrates "The Hold" (Official) Play

The hold  procedure

Dr. Hamiltons holding technique consists of some 4 very simple steps. In the first step, the babys arms are folded across the babys chest. Next, the arms are gently secured. Following this, the babys diaper area is grasped before the fourth and final step, which is rocking the infant at an angle of 45 degrees.

The parent or caregiver holds the infant with one hand around the infants chest, while the other hand is positioned under the bottom while gently rocking the infant back and forth. The Hold appears to have an immediate effect, as Dr. Hamilton points out in his YouTube video.

Does it work?

In a media interview, Dr. Hamilton said that his technique is optimal on children between the first 2 and 3 months of life. The objective of the technique is to attempt recreating an intrauterine feeling. This gives the baby a sense of security and calms him or her.

While there is no further evidence to prove or disprove that Dr. Hamiltons technique is foolproof, one thing thats for certain is his technique is quite popular. Dr. Hamilton himself has expressed awe about the popularity The Hold has received and stated that he never would have expected this to happen in his wildest dreams, but he is humbled by it.

Other baby calming techniques

Soothing babies can be tricky, especially if they are well-fed, comfortable, and not ill. Its important to take care of the babys most pressing need, as doing this will immediately solve the crying problem. Some means of calming a baby include singing or talking to the baby in a tranquil voice, while gently stroking or rubbing his or her back. Rattle toys and pacifiers are clever ways of distracting a baby. Sometimes all a baby needs is a little walk or a ride in the stroller, or perhaps some music.

All babies are unique; thus, what may work for one may not work for another. The trick is for parents or caregivers to pay close attention to the little details that work best for them. One important thing to remember is that sometimes its totally ok to let the baby cry, if it is certain that all the babys needs have been adequately met.

Babies cry. Its just what they do and is their primary means of communication. Parents just need to have patience and strong support from a family member or close friend for those times when they feel overwhelmed.

References

Further Reading
Adelaide researchers are one step closer to breast cancer prevention after finding a new driver for breast density, an identified risk factor for breast cancer.

For the first time, researchers have shown that chronic low-level inflammation drives increased breast density and is associated with a woman's risk of developing breast cancer.

This finding opens the door for new approaches to treating density and preventing breast cancer through reducing inflammation.

Published this month in the international journal Breast Cancer Research, the research is led by The Hospital Research Foundation's (THRF) Breast Cancer Research Fellow, Associate Professor Wendy Ingman from the University of Adelaide.

"We induced a low level of chronic inflammation in our lab models and found it was a particular protein called CCL2 that caused the increase in inflammation. This led to an increase in the density in the tissue and also an increased risk of breast cancer," Associate Professor Ingman said.

"While it is already known that certain types of anti-inflammatories (such as aspirin) can reduce breast cancer risk, they are associated with longer term side effects and not recommended for women to help reduce their breast cancer risk.

"With this research we believe we may be able to identify the women most at risk of inflammation-associated breast cancer through measuring their breast density and therefore identify those who will most benefit from anti-inflammatory treatment," Associate Professor Ingman said.

Almost 8% of women have extremely high breast density and are more likely to develop breast cancer in the future.

"Our ultimate aim is to save women's lives and our breast density research is helping us learn more about what drives this area of breast cancer risk to help inform preventative treatments," Associate Professor Ingman said.

"The more we can understand the risks associated with breast cancer, the greater chance we have at treating each risk and preventing breast cancer from developing in women.

"The next step is to conduct further studies into which treatments are best to dampen the inflammation, and to look at the relationship between density and inflammation within a large population of women."

THRF Chief Executive Officer Paul Flynn said this research, supported by the local community, is essential to understanding breast density and why it is an identified risk factor of breast cancer.

"With the help of our generous donors and ticket buyers in the Hospital Research Home Lottery, we're very proud to support Associate Professor Ingman's vital research aimed at preventing breast cancer for women in the future," he said.

Dr Alessandra Muntoni, Director of Research Investment, National Breast Cancer Foundation said that more details on the association of breast density with breast cancer are emerging as researchers learn more about this complex disease.

"We welcome research that brings further light to risk factors for breast cancer and breast density with the ultimate view of tailoring screening and preventing breast cancer," she said.
Healthcare scheduling specialist, BookWise Solutions has announced the launch of a new software application designed to improve the management of doctors in training at Trusts across the UK and further afield.

Technical director of BookWise Solutions, Lee Copestake

StudyWise has been designed to improve transparency and provide access to real time information concerning the doctors request for study leave and the authorisation workflow along the way. The platform also allows staff members to see what areas of training each individual Doctor has previously undertaken, which can then be considered when authorising requests for future training.

The application, which can be accessed via smartphone or tablet, allows instant access to a bank of information, from photo IDs to employment contracts and leave entitlement. Using the app will also reduce the use of emails and telephone calls between members of staff, reducing admin tasks and increasing the time spent with patients.

Financial information and management reports can also be generated using StudyWise, which is compatible with iOS and Android platforms, to help achieve business goals for the trust.

Technical director of BookWise Solutions, Lee Copestake, explains:

It has been well documented that medical staff across the UK are becoming increasingly stretched, with junior doctors at the forefront of this. There has never been a more important time for facilities across the NHS and private sector to utilise technology to improve administrative practises and reduce the chance of potential human error. StudyWise can be accessed from outside of the facility, providing full transparency for all users which is critical for doctors.

BookWise Solutions has also revealed its latest room scheduling system, BookWise Elements. The platform allows users to easily manage meeting and training rooms plus other resources instantly, with staff being able to easily view availability and communicate effectively when requesting and reserving these resources.
New research funded by Pharmacy Research UK published on 19 January, reveals people with dementia may struggle with managing their medication - exposing them to side-effects, medication errors and an increased risk of non-adherence to drug treatment.

Researchers at Aston University, Hull University and the UEA interviewed family carers, people with dementia, nurses, GPs and community pharmacists for the project.

Their year-long research found that as dementia develops the person struggles to manage their own medication and increasingly relies on support from family carers. This is often their partner, who may also be taking many medicines and finding the carer role stressful, thus increasing the risk of medication error.

The study showed that for some carers this was a real burden of responsibility and that they hid their anxieties.

Lead researcher Dr Ian Maidment, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy at Aston said: "Our study found incorrect dosing, forgetting to give the medication and taking medicines which should have been stopped."

Professor Chris Fox, Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist from UEA's Norwich Medical School said: "There can be severe health impact for both the patient and carer - too often in my clinical practice I come across patients and families overburdened and unclear about their medication regimes. This can result in more visits to their GP and hospital and is a cause of avoidable NHS admissions."

Dr Andrea Hilton from Hull University added: "There is a substantial role for community pharmacists and their teams to assist carers; many pharmacists have day-to-day contact both with carers and people with dementia. Community pharmacy is in a unique position to support and embrace patient-centred care and this is currently under-utilised. This research highlights that community pharmacists should be working more with GP practices and have full access to patients' medical records. Furthermore, home visits should be conducted for medication reviews."

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Barbara Woodward-Carlton a former carer and a member of the Alzheimer's Society Research Network highlighted: "During the years I looked after my mother who had Alzheimer's disease I wish I had known what help I could have had from community pharmacists.

"My mother was an extremely pleasant person who always wanted to co-operate but found it incomprehensible that she should be taking any medication at all. At one point when she was very ill, I continued the medication she had been given including 'water tablets' without realising that she was dehydrated. I live with the shame of not knowing that as she was barely drinking and eating I should have stopped that medication. I welcome that community pharmacists are increasingly seen as those who can advise, educate and help those of us who care for others."

Dr Clare Walton, Research Manager at Alzheimer's Society said: "Seven in 10 people with dementia are also living with other health conditions and managing multiple medications which can be a tremendous challenge. Finding new and innovative ways to support people with dementia and their carers to safely and correctly age their medication is a focus for future research."

Ian Maidment added: "People with dementia are amongst the most vulnerable members of society and need more support with medication management. We need to develop new ways of supporting people with dementia manage their management and then test how well these new ways work."
One of the most common infectious diseases in the world, malaria causes public health problems and depresses the economy of infected areas. When untreated or treated improperly, the disease can result in fatalities. Despite impressive control measures and increased prevention techniques, which have reduced the global malaria mortality rate by 29% over the last six years, 3.3 billion people throughout 97 countries and territories still face a risk of infection. According to the World Health Organization, there were 212 million cases of malaria in 2015; approximately 429,000 resulted in death. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to exhibit a disproportionately high number of outbreaks and fatalities.

Mathematical models can effectively predict and track malaria transmission trends, ultimately quantifying the efficiency of various treatment and eradication strategies in high-risk regions. In a paper publishing in the SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics on January 24th, Xiunan Wang and Xiao-Qiang Zhao explain a malaria transmission model that considers three distinct factors: climate, the extrinsic incubation period (EIP), and the vector-bias effect. Using data from Maputo Province, Mozambique to simulate transmission trends, the authors ultimately present a possible way to limit the disease's transmission.

Female Anopheles mosquitoes are responsible for the transmission of malaria, which is caused by the one-celled Plasmodium parasite. A variety of environmental factors -- including temperature, rainfall, humidity, and wind patterns -- significantly impact the maturity, reproduction, and longevity of mosquitoes. The mosquito life cycle, in turn, directly affects the parasite's survival. "Climate factors have great impact on mosquito life cycle and parasite development," Wang said. "It becomes particularly important to consider climate impact on malaria transmission in light of global climate change." For example, an increase in temperature lessens the number of days necessary for breeding and quickens formation of spores in the parasites. Both of these occurrences can increase transmission.

The EIP is the length of time a parasite needs to fully develop in a mosquito and migrate to its salivary glands in preparation for transmission. Female mosquitoes live anywhere from three to 100 days, and a typical EIP ranges from 10 to 30 days. "Only those mosquitoes that live long enough to survive the EIP can transmit malaria," Wang said. They are infectious for the rest of their lives. Additionally, previous research confirmed that malaria-infected humans attract more mosquitoes due to chemical substances emitted by the parasite. Therefore, it seems that mosquitoes prefer infected hosts rather than susceptible ones -- a skewed probability of infection known as "vector bias."

Wang and Zhao adopt prior malaria transmission models in their own vector-bias model, which utilizes the basic reproduction ratio R0 and incorporates the aforementioned three factors. "The basic reproduction ratio serves as a threshold parameter in determining the global stability of either disease-free or endemic periodic solutions for this period and time-delayed system," Wang said. She and Zhao treat all parameters related to humans as constants but assume that mosquito-related parameters are periodic functions, thus incorporating seasonality into the model. Two additional parameters quantify the vector-bias effect, the probability of a mosquito biting an infected or susceptible human. And a constant time delay represents the EIP. The authors apply their model to published data from Maputo Province and simulate transmission trends in the area; the simulated curve matches the real-data curve for transmission. "The numerical simulations for monthly new malaria cases are well consistent with the real data from Maputo Province," Wang said. "This suggests that such a model may give a more accurate prediction of the disease transmission."

Based on their findings of the model's global dynamics, Wang and Zhao discover that malaria will continue to exhibit seasonal fluctuation in Maputo Province in the coming years. More importantly, they show that a shorter EIP directly corresponds with increased malaria transmission. Thus, extending the EIP of mosquitoes could help control the disease and limit its spread. Although this is currently not easy, especially as climate change causes global temperatures to slowly rise, it is certainly possible. "Medical researchers may develop some drugs with such an effect that once a mosquito bites a malaria-infected patient who takes the drugs, the EIP of parasites in that mosquito will be prolonged," Wang said. The development of these EIP-extending drugs could lead to a decrease in the spread of malaria and its dire effects.
A new therapy to treat spinal cord injuries in people who have lost all motor and sensory function below the injury site shows additional motor function improvement at 6-months and 9-months following treatment with 10 million AST-OPC1. The positive efficacy results from an ongoing research study were announced on Jan. 24 in a conference held by Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc., the biotechnology company that manufactures AST-OPC1.

"With these patients, we are seeing what we believe are meaningful improvements in their ability to use their arms, hands and fingers at six months and nine months following AST-OPC1 administration," said Dr. Richard G. Fessler, professor in the department of neurosurgery at Rush University Medical Center and lead investigator in the SCiStar Phase 1/2a study. Rush is one of six centers in the country currently studying this new approach.

AST-OPC1 cells are made from embryonic stem cells by carefully converting them into oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, which are cells found in the brain and spinal cord that support the healthy functioning of nerve cells and can potentially make poorly functioning nerves function better.

A total of six patients were enrolled and treated with 10 million AST-OPC1 cells, with five of six patients having now completed a 6-month follow-up, and three of six patients having completed a 9-month follow-up.

"Recovery of upper extremity motor function is critically important to patients with complete cervical spinal cord injuries, since this can dramatically improve quality of life and their ability to live independently," said Fessler.

In September 2016, Fessler reported positive early efficacy data for AST-OPC1 from the patients who have lost all motor and sensory function below injury site that had been treated with 10 million AST-OPC1 cells in the study. The interim research results were announced at the 55th annual Scientific Meeting of the International Spinal Cord Society, which is being held in Vienna, Austria.

"These results to date are quite encouraging, and we look forward to initiating discussions with the FDA in mid-2017 to begin to determine the most appropriate clinical and regulatory path forward for this innovative therapy," said Steve Cartt, Chief Executive Officer of Asterias.

Each year in the U.S. more than 17,000 people suffer a severe, debilitating spinal cord injury. These injuries can be devastating to quality of life and ability to function independently. Lifetime health care costs for these patients can often approach $5 million. Improvements in arm, hand and finger functional capabilities in these patients can result in lower health care costs, significant improvements in quality of life, increased ability to engage in activities of daily living, and increased independence.

Improvements in upper extremity motor function are being measured using the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) scale, widely used to quantify functional status of patients with spinal cord injuries. The latest results include the following highlights:

Improvements in Motor Function

Upper Extremity Motor Score -- For the five patients who have completed at least six months of follow-up, all five patients saw their early improvements in motor score (UEMS) at three months maintained or further increased through their most recent data point (six months or nine months, depending on the most recent data available for each patient).

Motor Level Improvement -- For patients completing at least six months of follow up, as of the date of each patient's last follow-up visit, 100 percent (all five) had achieved at least a one motor level improvement (using the ISNCSCI scale) over baseline on at least one side, and 40 percent (two of five) had achieved two motor levels over baseline on at least one side, with one of these patients achieving a two motor level improvement on both sides.

Matched Historical Control Data - Asterias and experts in the spinal cord injury field have developed a set of matched historical control data for both Upper Extremity Motor Score and Motor Level Improvement to clearly document expected spontaneous recovery in untreated patients for comparison to results seen in patients treated with AST-OPC1. The key results from this analysis, which show a meaningful difference in the motor function recovery seen to date in patients treated with AST-OPC1, will be presented during today's conference call.

Safety

The trial results to date continue to reveal a positive safety profile for AST-OPC1. There have been no serious adverse events related to AST-OPC1 and data from the study indicate that AST-OPC1 can be safely administered to patients in the subacute period after severe cervical spinal cord injury.

The SCiStar trial is an open-label, single-arm trial testing three sequential escalating doses of AST-OPC1 administered at up to 20 million AST-OPC1 cells in as many as 35 patients with sub-acute, C-5 to C-7, motor complete (AIS-A or AIS-B) cervical SCI. These individuals have essentially lost all movement below their injury site and experience severe paralysis of the upper and lower limbs. AIS-A patients have lost all motor and sensory function below their injury site, while AIS-B patients have lost all motor function but may retain some minimal sensory function below their injury site. AST-OPC1 is being administered 14 to 30 days post-injury. Patients will be followed by neurological exams and imaging procedures to assess the safety and activity of the product.

The study is being conducted at six centers in the U.S. and the company plans to increase this to up to 12 sites to accommodate the expanded patient enrollment. Clinical sites that have enrolled and dosed patients in the study include the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Shepherd Medical Center in Atlanta, University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose.
Researchers have provided new insight into the brain mechanisms underlying a condition that causes reading and writing difficulties.

Humans have a type of long-term memory (called 'implicit memory') that means we respond less to stimuli as they are repeated over time, in a process called neural adaptation. But the new research suggests that dyslexics recover faster than non-dyslexics from their responses to stimuli such as sounds and written words, leading to their perceptual and reading difficulties. The discovery could pave the way for earlier diagnosis and intervention of the condition.

Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that affects one in every 10 to 20 people in the UK alone, impacting their ability to read and spell words but not affecting their general intelligence. Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, led by Professor Merav Ahissar of the Psychology Department and The Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, decided to carry out a number of experiments with dyslexics and non-dyslexics to shine new light on the mechanisms behind this condition.

"While dyslexics are mainly diagnosed according to their reading difficulty, they also differ from non-dyslexics in performing simple perceptual tasks, such as tone-frequency discrimination," says first author Sagi Jaffe-Dax.

"Our lab previously found that this is due to 'poor anchoring', where dyslexics have an inefficient integration of information from recent stimuli, collected as implicit memory. This memory typically forms 'anchors' that provide specific predictions that clarify noisy stimuli, and we wanted to see why this is not the case in dyslexics," says Ahissar.

In the current study, the team gave 60 native Hebrew speakers, including 30 dyslexics and 30 non-dyslexics, frequency discrimination and oral reading tasks. During the frequency-discrimination task, participants were asked to compare two tones in each trial. All participants' responses were affected, or biased, by implicit memory of previous stimuli. Both groups were affected in similar ways by very recent stimuli, but dyslexics were less affected by earlier stimuli.

"This suggests that implicit memory decays faster among dyslexics," says Jaffe-Dax. "We decided to test this hypothesis by increasing the length of time between consecutive stimuli and measuring how it affects behavioral biases and neural responses from the auditory cortex, a section of the brain that processes sound.

"Participants with dyslexia showed a faster decay of implicit memory on both measures. This also affected their oral reading rate, which decreased faster as a result of the time interval between reading the same nonword - a group of letters that looks or sounds like a word - numerous times."

The team concludes that dyslexics' faster recovery from stimuli can account for their longer reading times, as it causes less reliable predictions for both simple and complex stimuli.

Co-author Orr Frenkel explains: "The formation of adequate predictions is crucial for becoming an expert in general, and an expert reader in particular. Achieving this depends on matching printed words with predictions based on previous encounters with related words, but such predictions are less accurate in dyslexics.

"However, while shorter implicit memory means they are unable to yield efficient predictions, it may be advantageous with unexpected stimuli, such as novel events in a sequence of predictable, familiar events. Further studies will be needed if we are to establish whether this is indeed the case."
CreakyJoints, the go-to source for more than 100,000 arthritis patients and their families world-wide who are seeking education, support, advocacy and patient-centered research, today announced the publication of Raising the Voice of the Patients: A Patients Guide to Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis. These new guidelines are the first ever to be developed by patients and reviewed by rheumatologists, specifically for use by rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and their caregivers. It is the first in a planned series of patient-friendly guidelines that will cover additional related conditions such as psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and others.

For me, the greatest challenge of living with RA is the unpredictability. How I feel can change from moment to moment with no warning, and that puts stress on relationships, impacts my ability to work, and sometimes keeps me from doing things I want to do, says Minnesota resident and CreakyJoints member Kelli Carlson, a member of the national Patient Committee that helped develop the patient guidelines. I wish I had something like the patient guidelines when I was first diagnosed. It will be immensely helpful in not only understanding a new diagnosis, but helping explain that diagnosis to loved ones. It will also help us better understand our treatment and management options so that we feel ready and able to make decisions about our health with our doctor.

Patients at the Center of Treatment

Raising the Voice of the Patients: A Patients Guide to Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis opens with a declarative Patient Charter, which details the guiding principles that underscore the CreakyJoints perspective on arthritis education, support, advocacy and research. Most prominently, the Patient Charter states that, The patient experience is at the heart of medicine; thus the patient must be at the center of all medical decision making, and that the medical process should stay between the patient and their care provider with access to care not limited by external forces (financial or otherwise). The guidelines then explain how patients can speak to their rheumatologist or other health professionals about their treatment plan, how to ask questions of their insurance company regarding coverage, and best practices for meeting or communicating with local legislators to advocate for patient-friendly health care laws. The guidelines also describe the different RA medications as well as complimentary therapies.

Nothing is more important following the diagnosis of a lifelong chronic disease, like RA, than educating and empowering patients to make decisions about their day-to-day care, stated Seth Ginsberg, President and Co-Founder of CreakyJoints. Our goal is to help patients understand their treatment options and help them identify the questions to ask when planning their health management strategy. We want the RA community to proactively communicate their preferences to their healthcare team.

Similar in spirit to the current RA Guidelines developed by the American College of Rheumatology for medical professionals, the new patient guidelines were written by a dedicated panel that included patients, rheumatologists, and CreakyJoints staff writers. Raising the Voice of the Patients: A Patients Guide to Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis, was reviewed by Dr. Jonathan Krant, M.D., Medical Director of CreakyJoints, rheumatologist and Chairman of Medicine at the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lakes, NY, Dr. Madelaine Feldman, MD, Rheumatology Alliance of Louisiana and Coalition of State Rheumatology Organization executive committee member; and Dr. Sarah Doaty, MD, Rheumatologist with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer could not offer specific evidence Tuesday to support President Donald Trump 's unsubstantiated claim that he lost the popular vote because millions of people voted illegally.

The president has repeatedly defended his popular vote loss since the November contest and did so again in a Monday meeting with congressional leaders, according to NBC News. Trump spent about 10 minutes of the bipartisan meeting talking about how 3 million to 5 million "illegals" voted, costing him the popular vote.

Trump has presented no specific evidence to back that claim, and state election officials have said they did not see widespread voter fraud. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that he has seen "no evidence" to back Trump's argument.

Spicer said Tuesday that Trump has long held that belief "based on studies and information he has." When pressed more than once on Trump's evidence, he cited a 2008 Pew study that detailed millions of out-of-date voter registrations due to people dying or moving out of a state.

However, the Pew study did not say that the registration errors led to illegal voting.

Spicer said that the Trump administration will "maybe" consider an investigation into illegal voting allegations. Spicer added that Trump is "very comfortable with his win" despite his repeated justifications for his popular vote loss.

Trump's unsubstantiated voter fraud arguments have led to concerns that he will use them to justify laws that restrict ballot access.







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New research shows that patient "navigators" are a valuable resource for American Indians and Alaskan Natives with cancer as they try to overcome barriers to diagnosis and care, and may offer a path to improved treatment outcomes.

The findings, recently published in the Journal of Primary Prevention, are important because American Indians and Alaskan Natives are stricken with cancer at the same rate as non-Hispanic white people but have lower five-year survivorship rates, and are more likely to die of cancer in general.

Indigenous patients in the Pacific Northwest working with a navigator were almost four times more likely to have a definitive diagnosis within a year of an abnormal screening result than patients without a navigator, the research indicated.

In addition, patients in the study praised their navigators' ability to provide emotional and logistical support throughout the complicated and often-confusing treatment process. A navigator coordinated patients' care between multiple providers and agencies and helped connect patients to support groups and other resources.

Megan Cahn, a postdoctoral research associate in Oregon State University's College of Public Health and Human Sciences, was a co-author of the study along with scientists from the Northwest Tribal Epidemiology Center. The center, one of 12 in the nation, collaborates with the region's tribes on health-related research, surveillance, training and technical assistance.

The patients in the study all received care through tribal community health clinics, which receive funding from the Indian Health Service. The project was part of a larger program by the National Cancer Institute examining the effectiveness of the patient navigator model in populations with sub-optimal cancer outcomes.

"One of the big concerns for tribal populations is that they have lower screening rates," Cahn said. "If you don't screen, then you don't detect cancer until someone is showing symptoms. A big part of the program was to see if there was a way to get individuals with an abnormal screening result to get a definitive diagnosis, to shorten that window and get treatment in a timely fashion.

"We found that patients enrolled in a navigator program were 3.6 times more likely to have a definitive diagnosis within a year."

The researchers also learned that not only was the navigator program measurably effective, the patients liked it - an important indicator of the program's long-term success potential.

"If the patients don't find it acceptable, the program won't continue to work," Cahn said.

A patient navigator was hired by the tribe at each of three tribal clinics in Idaho and Oregon, and researchers interviewed 40 patients for their perceptions of the program. The average age of the participants was 54.4, and 65 percent were female. Thirty-four of the 40 rated the navigator program as "good" or "excellent," and one added she felt the navigator had saved her life.

In addition to the screening and diagnosis issue, the research found that the main barriers to cancer treatment cited by tribal members were physical and emotional obstacles - symptoms of the cancer itself or side effects from treatment, and "also the emotional response to the diagnosis."

"There's a lot of fear and anxiety and shock, and those fears often lead patients to be reluctant to continue with treatment," Cahn said. "Some of them felt like they had received mistreatment or had been misdiagnosed, plus there were financial barriers: the cost of care and a lack of coordination regarding payment for the services.

"Other barriers were concerns around transportation - some people would have to travel several hours to get treatment, and the availability and cost of public transportation were problems. Navigators could help come up with strategies that were effective for addressing these logistical barriers."

Sometimes a navigator would accompany a patient to an appointment and help the patient understand what the doctor was saying. Navigators also provided direct emotional support as well as referring patients to support groups.

"Patients said they valued that navigators were part of their communities and respected their culture," Cahn said. "It made them feel like the navigators were invested in the community and the patients and their families."
A cutting edge, portable DNA sequencing device is being brought into North Hospitals for the first time by scientists fighting against anti-microbial resistance.

The Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA) has introduced the DNA sequencing device, MinION, to clinical researchers across the North. With a trial initiating in Liverpool it will then expand to centres in Sheffield, York & Hull Medical School, Newcastle and Lancaster.

The MinION, made by British company Oxford Nanopore, can be used to provide rapid identification of infectious agents and identify genes involved in AMR from clinical samples. This is expected to help to screen samples to determine which antibiotics will be effective when treating a disease, in turn expected to improve patient outcomes and the stewardship of antibiotics.

Dr Alistair Darby, Director of the Centre for Genomic Research at University of Liverpool, said:

The potential for this device is tremendous and extremely relevant for clinical research. Using the consortium the NHSA brought together we hope to convert the technology into a clinically valid test for use with patients.

The MinION is a portable, real time, long read and low cost device that has opened up DNA sequencing to researchers who would never normally have access to this kind of technology. This includes the Arctic, in Guinea for Ebola surveillance, in North East Brazil for Zika surveillance, in the Indian Ocean, on a mountain in Wales and on the International Space Station.

Dr Hakim Yadi, CEO of the Northern Health Science Alliance said:

The accessibility and portability of this technology means that it is highly relevant for taking sample analysis to more locations, for example out of centralised labs and into hospitals or primary care. Its real time nature means that results can be available very quickly and could help clinicians to choose the right antibiotic for treating patients in a more timely way. We have been working with Oxford Nanopore, who recognise its potential within hospitals. Within a month we were able to gather key researchers from Liverpool, Sheffield, York & Hull Medical School, Newcastle and Lancaster around a table with Oxford Nanopore to begin discussing possible clinical applications. With expertise based in clinical pathology, the potential for this technology to quickly assess anti-microbial resistance was realised and an agreement to begin validating the technology in this capacity was formed.

The centres using the technology are University of Liverpool Wolfson Centre for Personalised Medicine, Newcastle University, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Teaching Trust and Hull & East Yorkshire Teaching Hospital.

Funding for the pilot comes from the Medical Research Council.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies MinION device is currently used in more than 50 different countries, in a number of applications in the laboratory and the field.

With coordinating support from the NHSA, the other four centres are providing thoughts and insight on which clinical samples and bacterial strains to look at; the overall aim of which will be to scale up and implement use of the technology across the five centres and eventually into standard NHS practice to fight anti-microbial resistance.
Offering your spouse what you believe to be positive support could have negative physiological effects on them, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

A team of researchers from Binghamton University recruited sixty-five married couples and had them engage in two interactions in which each spouse selected a discussion topic about a stressor external to their marriage (e.g. poor physical fitness, the desire to get a new job). Before and after the interactions, spouses separately completed questions about their expectations and appraisals of their partner's responsiveness during the discussion. The researchers took saliva samples from each spouse and measured for cortisol--a hormone that helps regulate stress in the body--at the beginning of the study and after each discussion. The most consistent finding was that observable behaviors when support was given and received during discussions of wives' stressors were associated with wives' perceptions of their husbands' responsiveness and wives' changes in cortisol.

"What we found, interestingly enough, was that cortisol was really only affected in wives but not in husbands, and only in wives' discussions," said Hayley Fivecoat, a former Binghamton University student who published the results in her dissertation. "For one, we did find that when husbands showed more positive behaviors while they were giving support, wives' cortisol actually went down. Interestingly, we found that when wives showed more negative behavior while their partner was giving them support, their cortisol also went down. That was unexpected. We found that when wives showed more positive behavior while they were receiving support, their cortisol actually went up--they showed signs of more physiological arousal."

While communication skills are often the focus of many clinical interventions, the study suggests that skill in delivering and receiving social support (by using more "positive" support behaviors) is not consistently linked to actual reductions in cortisol, nor increases in perceived partner responsiveness, said Fivecoat. In fact, more positive behaviors may have unintended negative consequences, and classically defined negative behaviors can sometimes have positive effects.

"Say a husband is giving advice to his wife when she has a problem. Even though giving advice is a constructive thing to do, it may not be helpful to her at the moment; maybe she just wants someone to listen to her," said Nicole Cameron, assistant professor of psychology at Binghamton University and co-researcher. "Or maybe there could be the opposite, where the husband is being more of a supportive listener but the wife really wants someone to give her some advice. All of those things are positive, but one is going to have a better effect than the other. What this tells me is that social support is more idiosyncratic and specific to the person and the problem."

In helping couples support each other, clinicians may work together with couples to identify the ways they prefer to be supported in order to capitalize on the positive effects of perceived partner responsiveness on relationships, said Fivecoat. This may be a more fruitful approach than advocating for more general positive and negative communication behaviors while giving and receiving support.

"Perhaps clinicians can highlight the positive intentions of support givers to elicit greater perceptions of understanding, validation and caring from supportive partners. By highlighting intentions of support givers, the effects of more positive behaviors could be enhanced, and the costs of more negative behaviors could be mitigated," said Fivecoat. "Ultimately, a clearer understanding of social support processes, including what is effective in reducing physiological arousal, will allow couples to capitalize on the association between social support and marriage, and reduce the impact of stress on health."

The researchers plan on looking further into the data and publishing more findings in the future.

"I think that there is a lot of research that still needs to be done, because not everybody gets out of counseling feeling better," said Cameron. "So studying what makes people feel better or feel differently is important, and using hormones as a marker of the change is interesting because it goes further than words--you really can see how the body reacts to discussions. If we can figure out how to use these markers, we probably can really improve our knowledge about counseling and couple communication."
Here I am standing up AGAIN for something I truly believe in coz THEIR well-being MATTERS to ME.I'd love to know if it does to YOU as well? pic.twitter.com/3Y5NPmTJhg  Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) January 24, 2017

Actor Akshay Kumar who had recently posted a video on his social media profiles - Facebook and Twitter - in the wake of Bengaluru mass molestation took to Twitter again to thank his fans for their support to his last video. The actor also sent out a message to his critics that he would continue to talk about issues and topics that he think he must speak on and they can either choose to listen or ignore.In the over 5-and-a-half-minute video that the Jolly LLB 2 star recently posted on Twitter, he spoke about his intention of providing a common platform through which people who want to extend financial support to the kin of the martyred soldiers will be able to do so."I think that our country should have a website or a mobile app which directly connects the kin of martyred soldiers and the people who want to extend help to them," said Kumar in the video."This website will host a list of the names of the martyrs, along with the bank account numbers of their close ones - mother, father or wife. And if someone wants to help that jawan's family financially, they can directly make a contribution into their accounts. That account number will be deleted once the total deposited money accounts to Rs 15 lakh. By this, family members of the martyred soldiers can directly use that money." he added.The 49-year-old actor urged his fans to think over what he has said in the video and provide their feedback. He also mentioned that if he receives positive feedback and enough support from the people then he would initiate the setup of such a website or mobile app with the approval of the armed forces and the government.He added that if everyone together makes this initiative possible then that would be the biggest mark of respect that we as citizens can pay to the soldiers on Republic Day.
(Photo: Reuters/Rockets are displayed during rehearsals for India's Republic Day parade in New Delhi, India January 23, 2017.)

(Photo: Reuters/Indian soldiers march during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi, India, January 26, 2016.)

(Photo: Reuters/A military marching band riding camels performs in India's Republic Day parade in New Delhi January 26, 2015.)

A fluttering tricolor and a parade with tableaux displaying the rich culture of the Indian states, the might of the military, navy and air force and the technological and scientific advancements that the country has made since independence,are some of the many things that fill every Indian heart with pride.And as India celebrates its 68th Republic Day this year, here are some facts that every Indian must know.- Earlier, January 26, 1930 was celebrated as India's Independence Day or Purna Swaraj Day, when the Declaration of Independence was officially promulgated. In a resolution passed by the Indian National Congress, it declared Purna Swaraj - complete freedom from the British Raj.- However, in 1947, since August 15 became the official Independence Day, the Indian Constitution was adopted on this day in 1950, to mark the 1930 declaration.- The first Republic Day was celebrated in 1950, three years after we attained independence.- President Sukarno of Indonesia was the first chief guest at the R-Day celebrations held on January 26th, 1950.- On January 26, 1950, the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad took oath at Durbar Hall of government house.- Republic Day is not just a one-day celebration. The celebrations are spread over 3-days and end with the Beating Retreat on January 29.- Rajpath wasn't always where the R-Day parade was held. During 19501954, the celebrations were organised at different venues including Irwin Stadium, Kingsway, Red Fort and Ramlila Grounds. It was only after the parade was held at Rajpath in 1955 that the venue became the permanent location for holding the celebrations.- In 1955, Pakistan's Governor General Malik Ghulam Muhammad was the first chief guest for the parade held at Rajpath.- Abide With Me, a Christian hymn by Scottish Anglican Henry Francis Lyte, is always played during R-Day parade because it was one of Mahatma Gandhi's favourite songs.- It is on this day that the gallantry medals are awarded.
It's not just America's new First Lady Melania Trump who is putting Slovenia on the map.



In the culinary world, there's another Slovenian woman who is fast gaining worldwide recognition, this time for being a gastronomic virtuoso in the kitchen.



The seventh recipient of the World's Best Female Chef award is Ana Ros of Hisa Franko restaurant in Kobarid, Slovenia.



Ros's rise to the top as a chef of haute -- and unexpected -- gastronomy is all the more remarkable as she is completely self-taught, and her career in food accidental.



After meeting her husband Valter, Ros -- who is also a former ski champion -- turned down an offer to work as a diplomat in Brussels, choosing instead to stay in Slovenia and help run his family's restaurant.



To master the craft, Ros traveled and dined at other restaurants where she decrypted recipes and sought inspiration to create her own signature, culinary philosophy -- one that hinges on local products like homemade butter, Tolminc cheese, lamb, and the influences of neighboring Italy, Hungary, Austria and Croatia.



Through trial and error, Ros eventually developed her own gastronomic identity, one that recently caught the attention of the food world via the popular Netflix series "Chef's Table" in an episode that aired last year.



"One of the things that I've always been most fascinated about by Ana's cooking is that she has this particular genius with the unexpected," says "Chef's Table" narrator and food critic Alexander Lobrano.



As an example, he describes one of her most intriguing dishes as a "broken haiku."



"When you read squid, sweetbreads, walnuts and Tolminc cheese, you can't imagine what these flavors are going to taste like when I put it in my mouth," Lobrano says.



"But then you're in the midst of eating the said thing and suddenly you're surprised by how spectacular the food is."

Hisa Franko is located in Kobarid's Soca Valley, just three kilometers from the Italian border, an area best known for having been the site of the 1917 Battle of Caporetto documented in Ernest Hemingway's novel "A Farewell to Arms."



While Ros may never have become a high-ranking diplomat in Brussels, she is widely described as a culinary ambassador for her native Slovenia.



"The award came as a surprise to me," said Ros.



"It is a big responsibility to accept this award, especially as a self-taught cook, but the recognition provides an opportunity for people to reassess Slovenia as an interesting gastronomic destination."



Past recipients of the award include Dominique Crenn, Helene Darroze, Helena Rizzo, Elena Arzak, Nadia Santini and Anne-Sophie Pic.



Ros will accept her award at the World's 50 Best Restaurants awards April 5 in Melbourne, Australia.
New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) in a joint operation with Military Intelligence on Tuesday busted an ISI supported spying network and arrested 11 people from Delhi and other parts of UP.



The spy network was tracked by Military Intelligence Unit in Jammu and Kashmir.



The kingpin of the spy network was arrested from Mehrauli and rest other were arrested by ATS from different parts of UP.



According to ATS sources, the spy ring was running parallel telephone exchange.



The network was being hired by ISI to gather information regarding vital army installations, troop movement and deployments, the source said.



The spying was done conducted using mobile numbers with Direct Inward Dialling Network) to route calls.



The accused made calls to various army stations posing as government officials.
New Delhi: Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar stressed that the best of best institutes should be granted autonomy if the nation has to progress, and that one has to rein in the urge to control in what one funds.



Sometimes the government also needs to learn to fund and dont control. The philosophy otherwise is if you are funding something you need to control it. It is not a correct policy. The best of best institutes need to be given autonomy. That depends on their quality and performance. There is enough accountability, he told reporters after the Union cabinet gave its okay to the new IIM Bill.



The new Bill grants the prestige Indian Institutes of Management full autonomy, under which the IIMs would be declared institutions of national importance. Depending upon the guidelines of the Central government and laws of countries abroad prevalent the IIMs will have the autonomy to expand as well. Accountability measures for of the IIMs include CAG audit and presentation of Annual Reports in the Parliament.



As per provisions of the IIM Bill 2017, the HRD minister will relinquish his role from the IIM Council, which is involved in administration and overall strategy. In the last IIM Council meeting Javadekar told the members about the change, he said, I was hearing the Council of IIMs in Guwahati when they had their meeting and told the members that the new bill will not have me as the Chairman of the Council but somebody from you is going to take the position. My presence will only be on invitation, there will be no way I will impose myself.



The management of these institutions would be Board driven, with the Chairperson and Director of an Institution selected by the Board. There will be greater participation of experts and alumni in the Board. When asked if the Bill has something on the reservation in IIM faculty, the minister said, The law of the land applies here.



Hopeful that the Indian Institute of Management Bill 2017 will be passed in the Parliament, he said. We will introduce the IIM Bill 2017, and if the House decides they can straightaway discuss it or if it goes through the rigor of Standing Committee still I am sure this will be passed soon. There are two parts of this Budget Session, the first part I hope there are introductions of Budget of HRD and also of such Bills. There is latter part of the Budget Session which will give us ample opportunity to discuss the Bill, he said.




New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said that electoral reforms, including simultaneous general and state elections, are possible if the Election Commission (EC) takes an initiative and political parties reach a consensus.



"There has been some talk about simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies in political circles. If the initiative is taken by the Election Commission and political parties arrive at a consensus, reform is possible," Mukherjee said at the 7th National Voters' Day celebrations.



He said such a move can reduce inconvenience in terms of expenditure and management.



Mukherjee conferred national awards for best electoral practices for 2016 on 12 officers.





The President said he was confident the Election Commission can maintain its existing standards and continues to improvise and evolve.



He said the EC has made a unique contribution to strengthening the bedrock of Indian democracy. "We can take legitimate pride in the fact that we are the largest democracy in the world."



On the occasion, the President gave election photo identity cards (EPICs) to five new young voters and felicitated six future voters.



The National Voters' Day has been celebrated since 2011 on January 25, the day Election Commission was set up in 1950.


Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening.

 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

President @realDonaldTrump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017



Have also invited President Trump to visit India.

 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to US President Donald Trump over the phone late on Tuesday evening and also invited him to India.PM also tweeted that both will work closely to further strengthen the bilateral ties.The PM also discussed with Trump the security situation in South and Central Asia during their conversation and resolved that India and US will "stand shoulder to shoulder" to fight global terrorism, the White House said.Strengthening defence partnership was among topics that came up during their talks about furthering cooperation between the two nations, according to the White House."Trump emphasised that the United States considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said.The call took place shortly after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee cleared the first phase of the appointment process for Nikkai Haley to become the US ambassdor to the United Nations. When appointed, she would be the first Indian-American to hold a cabinet-level post in the US.This was reflected in the fact that conversation between the leaders of the world's two greatest democracies came before Trump had talked to leaders of important allies like Britain, Germany and Japan or major powers like China and Russia since formally taking office last Friday.During his campaign, Trump praised Modi as a "great leader" and sought a kinship of ideas with him as a "pro-growth leader" when he attended a rally organised by the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) in New Jersey in October. He added that after his election India would have true friend in the White House.White House said that Trump invited Modi to visit him later this year.President Pranab Mukherjee invited Trump to visit India when he congratulated him on assuming the presidency. The real estate investor-turned-politician has visited India several times for business.Another topic Trump and Modi discussed was strengthening the partnership in the economy, but the statement did not give any details of what they might have discussed.Modi and Trump have parallel priorities of job creation, especially through manufacturing, and increasing investments which may appear headed for a collision.(With IANS inputs)
Pakistan on Tuesday announced first successful test firing of its new surface-to-surface, nuclear-capable missile Ababeel, with a range of 2,200km. Pakistan military claimed that its new missile can deliver multiple warheads, using Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology.Ababeel Weapon System is aimed at ensuring survivability of Pakistans ballistic missiles in the growing regional Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) environment.Ababeel test came, just two weeks after Pakistan claimed of conducting the successful test of Submarine Launch Cruise Missile. So what do these rapid missile tests mean for India? Is India prepared to take on these threats? How true are claims made by Pakistan? At least Indian scientific community gives an assuring answer and missile experts take Pakistan's claims with a pinch of salt.Dr Avinash Chander, former Chief of DRDO and longtime head of India's Ballistic Missile Systems including Agni, in conversation with News18, said that "India has a credible deterrence and our missile programme is capable of taking on any challenge." However, he acknowledged that the test of the new surface-to-surface missile by Pakistan has changed the strategic threat dynamics in India's neighbourhood and this needs to be factored in, in India's future military planning and preparedness.Meanwhile, tall claims made by Pakistan have again raised doubt within Indian science community. Dr Chander wonders if Pakistan's claim regarding MIRV technology in a short-range missile with a range of just 2,200km is true. According to veteran missile scientist, use of such technologies in a short range missile is difficult. Primarily, it is used in long range missile. So we need to wait for more substantial inputs to verify Pakistan's claims.Globally, only US, Russia and China have proven MIRV-enabled missiles in their arsenal. India is still working on it and it is expected that future generations of Agni missiles would be equipped with such capabilities. Interestingly, all the MIRV-enabled missiles are Long Range Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles with a minimum strike range of over 6,000km. Therefore, it is difficult to believe that Pakistan has developed an MIRV-enabled missile with a range of just over 2000km.Nonetheless, to meet any challenge from Ababeel, India's missile defence battery is all charged up. Indian scientists have been working on a two-layered missile defence system since few years. One is designed to kill an enemy missile before it even enters the atmosphere while the other is developed to shoot any hostile missile in the atmosphere. While Exo-Atmospheric missile defence system PDA can destroy any hostile missile at the height of over 80km, the Endo-Atmospheric missile defence mechanism, AAD, can kill enemy missile at the height of up to 30km from the ground level. In the last one decade, AAD system has been tested over 7 times successfully."India is among the top few nations in the world who has a complete indigenous and highly-successful "Multi-level Strategic Deterrence" programme as well as a "Two-layer Ballistic Missile Defence" programme, says former DRDO Scientist Dr Ravi Gupta. Though Ballistic Missile tests being conducted in our neighbourhood by a country with a hostile track record and its support to terrorist activities is indeed a threat to the world peace, India with its indigenous capabilities is fully prepared to take care of any threat, he adds.According to DRDO, India has already tested the missile defence system, including the capability to take down multiple warheads. The test of this capability was first tested five years ago. DRDO statement issued in November 2012 said, A special feature of intercepting multiple targets with multiple interceptors was demonstrated successfully. An electronic target with a range of 1500km was launched and the radars picked up the target missile, tracked the target missile subsequently & launched an electronic interceptor missile.This electronic interceptor missile destroyed the electronic target missile at an altitude of 120km. All the four missiles were tracked by the radars and all the guidance and launch computers operated in full operational mode for handling multiple targets with multiple interceptor.All the four missiles were in the sky simultaneously and both the interceptions took place near simultaneously. This has proved the capability of DRDO to handle multiple targets with multiple interceptors simultaneously. The complete Radar Systems, Communication Networks, Launch Computers, Target update Systems and state of the art Avionics have been completely proven in this Mission.
New Delhi: A senior official of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), who was incharge of the committee that inquired into the incident of beating of a student inside the campus, resigned from his post on Tuesday.



A.P. Dimri, the Proctor of the central university, tendered his resignation allegedly due to differences with the Vice-Chancellor over the outcome of the inquiry.



"We knew of the differences between the Proctor and the VC for quite sometime over the punishment of guilty students. The Proctor suggested punishment to nine students for beating Najeeb Ahmed and served notices to them. But at the end the, matter was rounded off with only an order to change their hostels," Rama Naga, former Joint Secretary, JNU Students Union, told IANS.



"The Proctor was under pressure from the administration to be soft on the students, while the former wanted proper action against them," he added.



However, when contacted, Dimri refused to reveal the reasons for resignation.



A first year M.Sc. student Najeeb Ahmed was beaten up by at least nine students -- who were named in the proctorial inquiry report -- on the night of October 14 last year at his hostel inside the campus.



Ahmed has been missing ever since.
#UPDATE: Avalanche hits army camp in Sonamarg (J&K), body of a jawan recovered. Army sources say death toll could rise  ANI (@ANI_news) January 25, 2017

Operations at Srinagar airport suspended following heavy snowfall  ANI (@ANI_news) January 25, 2017

One army officer has died following an avalanche near a camp in Sonamarg area in Ganderbal district, while four members of a family were buried alive on Wednesday in Gurez sector near the Line of Control in Kashmir.A police official said eight army men who were earlier reported to have been trapped have been rescued successfully during the operation.In a separate incident, an avalanche struck at Badoogam village in Tulail area of Gurez in the wee hours and buried the house of Mehraj-ud-Din Lone, a police official said.He said the house collapsed under the debris of the avalanche resulting in death of 55-year-old Lone, his wife Azizi (50), 22-year-old son Irfan and daughter Gulshan (19).Lone's another son, Reyaz Ahmad, was rescued by the authorities and admitted to a hospital, the official said.The authorities in Kashmir have issued avalanche warning for higher reaches of the Valley following fresh snowfall on Tuesday and advised people to stay away from the mountains and foothills.Meanwhile, all flights to and from the Srinagar International Airport remained suspended due to heavy snowfall.(With PTI Inputs)
Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump discussed the security situation in South and Central Asia during their phone conversation on Tuesday night and resolved that India and US will "stand shoulder to shoulder" to fight global terrorism, the White House said.



Strengthening defence partnership was among topics that came up during their talks about furthering cooperation between the two nations, according to the White House.



"Trump emphasised that the United States considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said.



This was reflected in the fact that conversation between the leaders of the world's two greatest democracies came before Trump had talked to leaders of important allies like Britain, Germany and Japan or major powers like China and Russia since formally taking office last Friday.



During his campaign, Trump praised Modi as a "great leader" and sought a kinship of ideas with him as a "pro-growth leader" when he attended a rally organised by the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) in New Jersey in October. He added that after his election India would have true friend in the White House.



White House said that Trump invited Modi to visit him later this year.



President Pranab Mukherjee invited Trump to visit India when he congratulated him on assuming the presidency. The real estate investor-turned-politician has visited India several times for business.



Another topic Trump and Modi discussed was strengthening the partnership in the economy, but the statement did not give any details of what they might have discussed.



Modi and Trump have parallel priorities of job creation, especially through manufacturing, and increasing investments which may appear headed for a collision.



Earlier in the day, Trump met with auto industry leaders to to promote his programme of "Make in America" and on Monday, he met union and industry leaders and emphasised his campaign mantra of "Buy American, Hire American".



Shalabh Kumar, the founder and head of the Republican Hindu Coalition who is close to both leaders, told IANS that trade need not be a zero sum game and both nations can mutually benefit from their respective "Make in India" and "Make in America" domestic manufacturing programmes.



As an example, he said that while the US increases manufactured exports to India in defence, technology and energy sectors, India will have an opportunity to take advantage of Trump's move away from China and increase its own manufactured exports in a balanced manner. This would help create jobs in both countries and enable both leaders to achieve their priorities, he added.



Trump has also spoken about limiting the use of temporary professional visas known as H1-B, which he has repeatedly said is abused and is used throw Americans out of jobs.



That is a matter of great concern for India as the visas are the lifeblood of technology sector exports to the US.



Tuesday was a special day to hold their conversation. Nikki Haley became the first Indian American to get a cabinet-level appointment when the Senate approved on that day Trump's nomination of her to be the US ambassador to the United Nations.



On Monday, Trump appointed Ajit Pai to be the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, the powerful agency that regulates mobile phones and the spectrum, telephones, radio, television and cable.



A third senior administration appointee of Trump is Seema Verma, who will be in charge of the government healthcare programmes and have a key role in reforming President Barack Obama's health insurance plan.



Before the call with Modi, Trump had spoken only with the neighbours, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Pena Nieto, with premier ally Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who will have a major role in helping Trump deal with the Middle East and with terrorism.










A contingent of UAE soldiers, along with its music band will lead the parade.

The army will also showcase its Tank T-90 and Infantry Combat Vehicle and Bramhos Missile, one of its treasured armour, its Weapon Locating Radar Swathi, Transportable Satellite Terminal and Akash Weapon System. Another attraction will be the Dhanush Gun system.

The 68th Republic Day Parade will showcase India's military strength and achievements in a range of areas and its diverse culture at the Rajpath on Thursday.Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will be the Chief Guest of the Republic Day parade.Led by Wing Commander Ramesh Kumar Dubey, the parade will start with four Mi-17 helicopters, flying an Indian flag and three other helicopters flying ensigns of the Army, Navy and the Air Force, will shower flower petals.This will be followed by Parade Commander Lt Gen Manoj Naravane and his second-in-command, Maj Gen Rajesh Sahai paying respects to the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces  the President of India.Param Vir Chakra and Ashok Chakra awardees will also be follow the Parade Commander.Major attraction of the parade would be marching of India's only mounted Calvary with its majestic horses.The parade will also witness the heroic motor bike stunts by defence personnel. One of the major highlights parade will be the fly past by Mi-35 helicopters, indigenous combat light aircraft Tejas, Jaguars and Sukohis. However, these two events will be carried out at the fag end of the parade.Advanced Light Helicopters Rudra will then make a fly-past.The R-Day parade will also witness Mechanised Infantry Regiment, Bihar Regiment, Gorkha Training Centre and combined band of Punjab Regimental Centre, Sikh Regimental Centre, Madras Engineering Group, Infantry, Battalion (Territorial Army) Sikh Light Infantry.The parade will also see tableau from ex-servicemen followed by Naval Marching Contingent and a naval tableau. An Air force Marching Contingent followed by an air force tableau will also showcase India's air prowess.The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) will showcase its Advanced Towed Artificial Gun System (ATAGS) and medium power radar Arudhra.The Paramilitary forces contingent will be led by BSF's Camel Band followed by marching contingents of Indian Coast Guard, CISF, Delhi Police, elite NSG and the NCC. Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Gujarat, Lakshdwaeep, Karanataka, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, these states will showcase their tradition and culture through their respective tableau.The Department of Central Board of Excise and Customs under the Ministry of Finance, along with the Ministry of Skill Development, will also see their tableau at the R-Day Parade.
Delhi Police have been alerted to the threat of terrorists using animals as suicide bombers on Indias 68th Republic Day on Thursday.Delhi Police were reportedly sent a special advisory on Wednesday informing them that terror groups might use animals to target crowded to create panic.The Delhi Police were earlier issued an advisory stating that terror groups might use new techniques to target the national capital.The advisory has been issued by Special Cell of Delhi Police and has asked personnel to keep a track of stolen pets.Special arrangements have been made at the historic Rajpath where President Pranab Mukherjee, who is the supreme commander of armed forces, will be witnessing nation's military might that will be on display.The entire central and New Delhi region will have nearly 60,000 security personnel drawn from Delhi Police and Central security forces guarding every nook and corner."There is foolproof security in place. Senior officers of Delhi Police will be patrolling the area while borders have been sealed," PTI quoted Muksh Kumar Meena, special commissioner of police, New Delhi range as saying.In view of recent intelligence inputs that terror groups like LeT might be planning to use helicopter charter services and charter flights to launch attack through air, Delhi Police along with other security agencies are keeping a tight vigil.Police is using counter-drone technology to thwart any attack or identify any suspicious flying object, a senior police officer said.Apart from this, security personnel will be stationed atop tall buildings with anti-aircraft guns. CCTV cameras have been installed and a special control room has been set up where the feed will be monitored by Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel, the officer said.The advisory that has been issued to security agencies states that "it is imperative for the security forces to be familiar with the range of threats for devising appropriate counter means" since the use of conventional weapons by the terrorist and criminal groups is a part of an ongoing process to develop new techniques and tactics.Security forces have also been asked to ensure that proper frisking and checking of police personnel and other personnel is carried out since there is a possibility that terrorists may disguise themselves as security personnel.
New Delhi: Nineteen soldiers of the 4 and 9 Para, the special forces' units which undertook the daring cross-border surgical strike across LoC, have been awarded gallantry medals including a Kirti Chakra while their commanding officers have been given Yudh Sewa Medal.



Major Rohit Suri of 4 Para, who led one of the teams across the LoC targeting terrorists' launch pads, was awarded the Kirti Chakra, second highest peacetime gallantry award, on the eve of the Republic Day.



Havildar Prem Bahadur Resmi Magar of the Gorkha Rifles got the Kirti Chakra posthumously.



Col Kapil Yadav, commanding officer of 9 Para and Col Harpreet Sandhu, Commanding Officer of 4 Para, were awarded the Yudh Sewa Medal, one of India's military decorations awarded to mark distinguished service during war time is awarded for a high degree of distinguished service in an operational content, including times of war, conflict, or hostilities and may also be awarded posthumously.



The award is the wartime equivalent of the Vishisht Seva Medal, which is a decoration for peace time distinguished service.



Five personnel from the two para units also got Shaurya Chakra while 13 got Sena Medal (Gallantry).



Also, Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi and Lt Gen P M Hariz, who were superseded by Gen Bipin Rawat in the race for Army chief chief, awarded Param Vishisht Seva Medal.



On September 18, 2016, four terrorists belonging to the Pakistani jihadi group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) struck at an Indian Army camp in Uri.



The resultant impact of the Uri incident, which led to the death of 19 army soldiers, was not the only provocation that hardened the governments resolve and it was forced to move beyond standard reactions.



The Armys action against terrorist launch pads was a result of a build-up of terrorist attacks that had been emanating from across the Line of Control (LoC). This was reinforced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who indicated that those responsible for the Uri attack would not go unpunished.



The response was in the form of a cross-border raid on Pakistani posts to avenge the Uri attack. The raids took place on September 29.



(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: The Swedish government called off the investigation into the Bofors bribery case in an effort to avoid embarrassing then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) documents that were recently placed online suggest.



Stockholm has since called off the investigation of Bofors bribery, probably in an effort to prevent future revelations of bribes to Indian officials that could embarrass Prime Minister Gandhi, the document titled Swedens Bofors Arms Scandal: A Summary of the Diversions, Investigations, and Implications reads.



It further says that Sidelight to the affair include the mysterious death of a customs official, a possible Iranian connection to the murder of Olof Palme and a surge in Swedish investigative journalism. Olof Palme was the then Prime Minister of Sweden.



The document is dated 4 March, 1988 and is part of the largest collection of declassified documents placed online by the American spy agency, running to more than 12 million pages.



The document says that the Bofors case involves business transactions where Swedish arms manufacturers deliberately violated prohibitions on bribes to foreign officials. These include alleged kickbacks to Indian middlemen and officials in connection with New Delhis $1.5 billion purchase of 155mm Bofors howitzers.


Legal complexities regarding 1998 Black Buck Poaching case don't seem to leave Salman Khan's side anytime soon. After been acquitted from Arms Act charges last week, the actor is again supposed to appear before the court on Wednesday along with his Hum Saath Saath Hain co-stars.The actor will appear before a Jodhpur court along with actors Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Sonali Bendre and one local resident Dushyant Singh.During the shooting of the Sooraj Barjatya 1998 film Hum Saath Saath Hain, Salman Khan allegedly went on a hunting trip with fellow co-stars and they were accused of killing two blackbucks in Kankani village, Rajasthan.Following protests by the local Bishnoi community, a case was filed against Salman Khan and the other actors and a local named Dushyant Singh.Salman was recently acquitted by a Jodhpur court in an Arms Act case linked to poaching 18 years ago.All the accused are expected to record their statements in the case while the prosecution witnesses have already recorded theirs a while back. However, it is possible that Salman Khan and other accused file a petition in the court seeking approval for absence due to work commitments.
Mumbai: Actor Gurmeet Choudhary, who visited the CISF Headquarters here to spend time with soldiers ahead of the 68th Republic Day, says the citizens of the country feel safe because of our soldiers.



Praising the jawans, Gurmeet, who visited CISF Headquarters on Monday, said in a statement: "Every citizen of our country feels safe because of them (jawans). Irrespective of the circumstances they face, what matters to them the most is their country's safety. They are the real heroes and I'm fortunate to interact with them. Actors have the option of retakes but for them it's always a 'do or die' situation."



Gurmeet, who hails from an army background, got a chance to dance with the soldiers during his visit.



Later, the actor discussed how an actor's life is different from the disciplined one of the jawans. He also spoke about women safety and recited a few poems with them.



Besides that, a group of women also performed martial arts in front of Gurmeet and also taught him some defence moves.



Gurmeet also shook a leg with the women soldiers on his famous romantic numbers including "Khamoshiyan" and "Tu har lamha".






Los Angeles: US actress Meryl Streep on Tuesday was nominated for her 20th Academy Award, making her the most nominated performer in Oscars history and maintaining her reign as the queen of Hollywood.



The 67-year-old actress was nominated for best actress for her role in comedy biopic Florence Foster Jenkins, which tells the story of a singing socialite in New York.



Streep broke her own record with Tuesday's nomination -- 16 for best actress and four for best-supporting actress. Actors Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson tie for second with 12 nominations each.



Her nomination delighted social media users, who called it a fitting rebuke to President Donald Trump.



Trump described Streep as "overrated" after she denounced him at the Golden Globes ceremony earlier this month before he took office.



The actress, who has also been nominated a record 30 times for the Golden Globes, reacted with a GIF on Tuesday featuring her dancing for joy in footage from a past film.



Fans, meanwhile, took to social media to congratulate Streep.



"This actress is so overrated that she broke her own record with a 20th #Oscar nom. Sad! #MerylStreep," said Annie Clark on Twitter.



Stella Rouse quipped in another Twitter message that Tuesday's nomination was "yet further proof of #alternativefacts that she is overrated."



Streep got her first nomination for an Oscar in 1979 for her performance in the Vietnam war drama The Deer Hunter.



She extended her lead as the most-nominated actor ever with her 19th nod in 2015 for Into the Woods.



She has won the coveted golden statue three times, most recently in 2012 as Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady." Before that she won in 1980 for Kramer v. Kramer and 1983 for Sophie's Choice.
Chennai: PETA India on Tuesday responded to actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan's dare to ban bull riding rodeos in Donald Trump-led US, saying the animal rights organisation helps animals only in India.



Kamal, who feels Jallikattu - the ancient bull-taming sport in Tamil Nadu - should not be banned but regulated, recently told PETA in a tweet: "PETA go ban bull riding rodeos in Mr. Trump's US. You're not qualified to tackle our bulls. Empires have been made to quit India."



In response to this, Poorva Joshipura, PETA India CEO, said in a statement: "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, as is indicated by its name, helps animals in India only and is an Indian entity."



PETA US, on the other hand, has been working to stop animal abuse in the United States since 1980, where bullfighting is illegal and cruel activities associated with the rodeo, which Kamal refers to, are also against the law in many states, the PETA CEO added.



"The rodeo is further prohibited in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and elsewhere. Spanish supporters of another organisation, PETA Europe, have made bull fights in many areas of Spain illegal," added Joshipura.



On Tuesday, Kamal held a press conference at his residence and told the media that the agitation against the ban on Jallikattu is nothing but a symbol of discontent and anger among people.




Ludhiana: Even by the tall list of campaign promises, this one should take the cake. Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal has just promised that if voted back to power, the state government will buy vast tracts of land in US and Canada and resettle Punjabis who want to emigrate.



According to the poll manifesto released by deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal in Ludhiana on Wednesday, the Punjab government will buy one lakh acres in USA and Canada in addition to other countries to settle farmers abroad in professional farmer settlements.



"Apart from helping our farmers in pursuing agriculture in economic farms, this will also enable Punjabis to secure permanent resident status in those countries," says the manifesto.



However, the party didn't offer much clues as to how the plan will be carried out and who all will qualify for this programme.



Akali spokesperson Manjinder Singh Sirsa refused to comment when asked if the countries concerned wouldnt look at the plan as state-sponsored migration.



"We are working on it. We will work out the details," he told News18.



Other promises include getting the state to pay down payments for Ola and Uber cabs besides Rs 2 lakhs to families of youth who quits drugs. Farm debts of all small farmers will also be waived off.



For the Akalis, coming back to power in a state they have ruled for 10 years is a challenge. Sukhbir Badal speaking to CNN News18 said he was surprised people did not understand and see the infrastructure development and the upliftment of standards that has taken place in the state. He said people should understand that he wants to rapidly develop Punjab and make it world class.



Not buying the argument are the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party that say Punjab is witnessing corruption of monumental proportions and that power has been centralised in the Badal family. They cite the examples of the state bus transport service which they claim has been systematically weakened to strengthen the Badal's own bus service. This, of course, is a claim that is vehemently denied by the Badals.



However, now that anti-incumbency is strong and the contest is not just with the traditional foe of Congress, but also with a new and aggressive entrant the Aam Aadmi Party, the stakes are high.



When asked if Punjab can afford these poll promises, Akali spokesperson Manjinder Singh Sirsa said there was a campaign to malign the state government and Punjab. He said Punjab is better than most states in India and can afford the promises made.



However, reports indicate that Punjab's debt has more than doubled under the SAD-BJP rule with the figure touching nearly Rs 1,17,353 crore in 2015 from the Rs 51,153 crore in 2007.








Shahkot/Nakodar: Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh on Wednesday promised to regularise all contractual employees and address the concerns of government employees on priority if Congress is voted to power in the state.



Addressing public rallies in Shahkot and Naokdar, Amarinder reiterated his promise of farm loan waiver, besides innovative measures to improve agriculture.



He alleged, "The Badals have looted Punjab for the past 10 years, and now the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is going all out to loot the state and its people by seizing power by hook or by crook."



Lambasting the Akalis for "obstructing the implementation of the agriculture promotion schemes initiated by him" during his tenure as the Chief Minister, including a World Bank sponsored biggest nursery project, Amarinder said the "Badals did not want to lose their vote bank by allowing people to progress."



He also attacked the "spate of farmers suicides" in the state and promised to bring agriculture back to its old glory, with prompt payment at MSP to farmers and waiver of all their existing debts if Congress comes to power in Punjab.



Punjab goes to polls on February 4 and SAD-BJP alliance government is in power in the state for the past 10 years.



Amarinder promised to set up a potato development and marketing board for farmers, while ensuring power at Rs five per unit for industrial units to ensure their revival if Congress comes to power.



Hitting out at the Badals for allegedly stopping the mega investment projects that would have generated 20 lakh jobs during his previous chief ministerial tenure from 2002-2007, HE promised immediate steps, on coming to power, to revive industrial growth and bring investment back into the state.



Expressing concern about the plight of employees, he alleged they had been completely ignored by the Badal government and were struggling to get even their basic dues under the Akali regime.



Amarinder said besides regularisation of all contractual employees, "the Congress government will ensure that all government servants, including policemen, are provided the basic facilities and amenities to which they are entitled."



"Pending dues of the employees will be expeditiously cleared and policemen will be provided fixed duty hours with regular weekly offs to alleviate their sufferings," he promised.



Referring to the SYL issue, "which has brought Punjab to the brink of a severe water crisis," Amarinder reiterated his vow to prevent water from Punjab leaving the state.



He warned the people that "Haryanvi Kejriwal will sell Punjab's water and other interests to his native state if elected in the state."



"AAP is a party of outsiders that is out to loot the people of Punjab," he alleged, claiming that the AAP leader was only concerned about promoting his own interests.



Promising jobs for the unemployed youth of the state, who would also be given smart phones to connect them with the world, Amarinder said the employment schemes contained in the Congress manifesto would help wean youth away from drugs.
Lucknow: BJP workers on Wednesday stormed into the partys headquarters in Lucknow protesting against tickets being given to outsiders in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls.



They alleged that outsiders were given a preference and not the local party workers.



Uttar Pradesh BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya was also gheraoed. A scuffle broke out after agitated workers raised slogans against the partys central leadership for step-motherly attitude towards local leaders.







The BJP has played down the event. It's true that some workers are upset. There were more than one candidates for one seat who felt that they were the ones who could lead the party to a win, so it was difficult choosing one person, BJP leader Vijay Bahadur Rana said.



Ultimately, they are BJP's candidates only. We're talking to them, we'll calm them down, he added.
New Delhi: BJP on Tuesday raked up again the contentious issue of Ram Temple before the first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on February 11, saying a "grand" temple will be built in Ayodhya if BJP secures an outright majority.



"Ram Mandir is a subject of faith. It is not going to be built in two months. The temple will be constructed after the elections. BJP will come to power with a full majority," party's Uttar Pradesh chief Keshav Prasad Maurya told reporters during an event in the city.



He also hit out at Akhilesh Yadav, saying the UP chief minister is neither with Backward Classes nor Dalits, "he only betrays".



His remark came after Allahabad High Court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure that no fresh caste certificates are issued to those belonging to 17 Other Backward Classes (OBC) groups.



Asked about the SP-Congress alliance, Maurya said: "SP is a sinking ship and that of Congress had sunk long back. Even if BSP joins it, they will not be able to salvage it."



Alleging that the entire government machinery under Yadav was embroiled in corruption, he said that after coming to power, BJP will conduct a probe and if needed, "send them to jail".



He accused the UP chief minister of cheating people and claimed there were irregularities in admissions, women safety issues were not accorded priority and dial 100, launched to improve police services, was nowhere to be found.


BJP workers on Wednesday stormed into the partys headquarters in Lucknow protesting against tickets being given to outsiders in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls.

They alleged that outsiders were given a preference and not the local party workers.

Uttar Pradesh BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya was also gheroed. A scuffle broke out after agitated workers raised slogans against the partys central leadership for step-motherly attitude towards local leaders.

Stay tuned for more updates:

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"Election to Rajya Sabha from UP was incidental. At that time we did not have any seat vacant from Goa," the defence minister said.



"AAP campaign in Goa is being funded through Delhi government exchequer," he alleged.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is not averse to return to Goa politics if BJP is re-elected to power in the upcoming state assembly polls.In an exclusive interview to CNN News18, the former Goa Chief Minister said that he has "never said no to any request by the party".The minister was responding to a statement by BJP president Amit Shah that the next Goa government would function under Parrikar's leadership.BJP had won the last Goa elections under Parrikar's leadership. The then CM was later drafted into the Union council of ministers after BJP came to power at the centre in 2014.Parrikar was brought into Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.Laxmikant Parsekar replaced Parrikar as the state CM when the latter moved to Delhi.Parrikar also does not figure in the list of star campaigners released by the BJP for UP polls."I will not comment on that. Let party take a call on this."The party in the run-up to the elections this time has also faced a rebellion within, with RSS in-charge of Goa Subhash Velingkar forming his own political outfit and aligning with Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party and Shiva Sena.Parrikar is dismissive about the damage by this disruption in state politics."I would not like to comment on this. Just wait for verdict."On the other hand, Parrikar is direct and acerbic in his take on the AAP which is making its foray in Goa."Goa is a close-knit society, overnight success not possible here" he adds on the prospect of AAP in the upcoming polls.Parrikar further feels demonetisation is not an issue in Goa polls." It's impact was the least in Goa because of the vast and effective banking network in the state," he added.
Senior officials of the US-based iPhone maker Apple called upon commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman.The meeting assumes significance as the technology giant is seeking concessions like duty exemptions to set up its manufacturing unit in India."The meeting lasted for 40 minutes. There were three officials from the company, including the company's Global Vice President Priya Balasubramaniam," sources said.The company executives will today meet a group of senior officials from different ministries on their demands.In a communication to the government, the Cupertino-based technology major has asked for several tax and other incentives, including long-term duty exemptions, to enter the manufacturing sector in India.Currently, the government provides support by way of benefits under the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (MSIPS) to boost electronic manufacturing.The company sells its products through Apple-owned retail stores in countries like China, Germany, the US, the UK and France, among others. It has no wholly-owned store in India and sells its products through distributors such as Redington and Ingram Micro.
At the time when GPS was used only for military purposes, one technologist in Silicon Valley envisioned it as a mass product for consumers. He then went on to make it readily available for the everyday usage of people across the globe., popularly known as, talks about his journey in an exclusive interview with News18.com. Read how the entrepreneur, technologist and visionary brought GPS to your smartphones.: What brought on the idea of GPS as a mass product?: When we started SiRF, I realised that although the GPS technology was present, its usage was only limited to defence or other high-end applications. I inherently felt that location is going to have a major impact on the day to day users and nobody was really working on the consumerization of GPS.Coming from a Silicon Valley background (Kanwar used to work at Intel), I felt that if we can integrate all the elements of GPS processing in small chips, then we can achieve a breakthrough in terms of the cost, power and solve some of the problems people were having, with GPS.It seemed a very interesting challenge at the time. If we could solve that problem, then GPS would surely have become a part of peoples everyday lives.: Did you have any Plan of Action for this?: When we started thinking about GPS, we came up with an Idea Book that looked into how GPS can be embedded into peoples lives. We were looking at it as a horizontal market instead of vertical, so we started looking at the problems which people face in the mobile environment.The first was obviously Navigation. The navigation systems were very expensive and were fixed in the car. So we worked upon making it portable and at a lower cost. We created a platform which enabled the Portable Navigation Market.We also started to ponder how to embed this technology into phones. The first idea was focussed on how to build on Geotags. At that time, I was thinking of it as an emergency response for people so they could get immediate help at the push of a button in times of emergency.The idea was to enable location as a core attribute so that other applications like Navigation, emergency response, searches could be built upon that.: What is SiRF Technology? Where all is it used?: SiRF was all about putting location or GPS into small chips and also licensing the technology so it could be integrated into different mobile platforms. Then we merged SiRF with CSR which had Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Technology. Using this, we could combine location with wireless connectivity.SiRF technology is now a part of Qualcomm. We also licensed the technology to Samsung which is integrating it into the mobile phones. The whole idea was focussed on the mass market and not to a dedicated professional usage.: You came up with another startup named Inovi Inc. What was that about?: After SiRF was sold to Qualcomm, me and my co-founder from SiRF, founded a new company which was focussed on wireless broadband. We felt that in the absence of Fibre infrastructure in most of the places, it was much quicker and cost-efficient to extend the connectivity wirelessly.The challenge was how to get the bandwidth that Fibre could provide, in a wireless way. So we started using millimetre waves, which are very high-frequency waves, to create what I call wireless fibre-equivalent.The company was later on taken over by Facebook. Facebook is now deploying the technology to create an open platform which will provide gigabytes of bandwidth anywhere at a much cheaper cost.: How is it different from Facebooks satellite connectivity?: Satellite is more focused on areas with remote connectivity while our technology, called Teragraph, is focussed on urban/ high-density connectivity where people need high bandwidth.: What are the present projects that you are working on?: Now Im working on Internet of Things technology for consumer space. Even in IoT, location plays a crucial part. We are looking at how to bring cloud connectivity and services to day to day consumer lives. It brings the three core elements together: Location, Cloud and the device itself.: How do you ensure the security of the data transferred over the cloud?: We ran into security issues with GPS too. The data transferred over the cloud is very sensitive and should not be compromised. Security for such information should be in multiple layers.First of all, the data should never go raw, it should always be encrypted.Second, the devices should be secured as well. Password protection and other protection measures should be embedded into the device.The link between the device and the cloud needs to be secured as much as the cloud.At the cloud level, you have the aggregation of data and that is the most dangerous place to be hacked. As Cloud combines multiple data streams, it needs to be the most secure platform in the entire IoT ecosystem.: You mentioned that the devices need to be secured. Are there enough mandates in place to ensure that?: In the early stage, it was like the Wild West, as people started experimenting with IoT without realising the security and privacy implications. I think the next generation will be a lot more careful.Recently many cases of hacking came up and now the US regulatory people have started to go after the companies which do not put the necessary security elements into their devices.Today IoT is in the hyped phase. The subsequent generations will be able to make it more robust in terms of security and the services.: How is it different from the security implications for the defence sector?: There has to be a separation between the Consumer Spectrum and the Defence spectrum.Consumer spectrum adds the leverage of making things cost-efficient but that alone does not solve the purpose for defence. Security becomes a significant value-add which you have to create on top of that.: How does India rank amongst the GPS infrastructure?: India is one of the few countries having systems which complement GPS. Europe, Russia, China and Japan are the only other countries in this segment.Since GPS cannot be optimised for every region, complementing it with your own technology can really optimise it for a particular area.India is quite advanced in these terms as it has a good satellite technology and a good understanding of the usage of location and navigation.The challenge for India is that, though we have the scientific knowledge, we are yet to have the mainstream deployment or commercialization of such technology.e.g. for IoT, broadband connectivity is a crucial factor in which India lacks. I feel its a deployment problem.The good part is that India can leapfrog a generation using the already developed technology around the world. India has gone mobile but has not gone broadband as yet. To go broadband India can skip the part of laying down wires now and directly jump to Wireless connectivity.I believe India is now ready to lead the world in terms of technology instead of just following the way.: Having achieved so many accomplishments, what are you most proud of?: The thing that I am most proud of is that we came out with a vision of GPS at the time when nobody really believed in it. Today, I see my daughters who take location based technology for granted. The fact that now everybody uses GPS in their daily lives really makes me proud.
Union minister P P Chaudhary said that institutes like NIEIT will help Rajasthan grow in the electronics and IT sector and contribute to India's digital ambitions.



The union minister of state for electronics and IT further was in the city to take part in an event.



Rajasthan has made commendable progress in contributing to India s digital dream, he said.



More than 40,000 students of the state are connected with E-Mitra's common service centres, which is an achievement itself, said Chaudhary.



He said his ministry wants the state to grow by leaps and bounds in electronics and IT sector and institutes like National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIEIT) are established here.



NIEIT has an important role in chasing digital India dream, digital literacy, Make in India and skill India.



"The institutes have worked tremendously towards digital literacy, and we want to increase NIEIT existence in other states like Rajasthan," he added.
Beijing: Amid reports of China deploying long range intercontinental ballistic missiles near Russian border with the aim to be able to reach targets in the US, Beijing on Wednesday said it was just a "speculation spread online". When asked by a Russian journalist about the reports, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, "What you mentioned is a speculation spread online."



"We attach great importance to the development of China-Russia relationship. Our relationship is developing at a high level with a deepening mutual trust. We would like to further exchange our cooperation in different fields," she said, appreciating "very positive" remarks from the Russian side on missile deployment reports.



Russian official news agency TASS quoted China's state- run Global Times as saying that DF-41 ballistic missiles have been deployed in northeastern Heilongjiang province near Russian border.



"China has deployed inter-continental ballistic missiles near Russia with the aim to be able to reach targets in the US, Canada and Europe," the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Doctor of Military Science Konstantin Sivkov told TASS.



"This is an inter-continental class missile with an effective range of 10,000 to 12000 kms. The missiles dead zone is no less than three thousand kms. A large territory of Russia, practically the entire Far East and West Siberia are not within the missiles reach," Sivkov said.



Selecting this area for deploying the missiles targeted against Russian territory would be not expedient from the military point of view, he said.



"If that were the purpose, the missiles should have been stationed deep inside mainland China or on its southern border," Sivkov explained.



In his opinion, missiles of that class stationed where they are will have the capability to reach targets in the United States, Canada and Europe.



"This is Chinas response to threats pronounced by the new US president, Donald Trump. Also, Chinese missiles would be able to use a more advantageous northern strategic route for approaching targets in the United States, thus bypassing the US missile defence," Sivkov said.



Strategically Russia moved closer to China under the previous Obama administration following differences over Ukraine and Cyber attacks.



However, recent reports in state-run Chinese media spoke of Russia may warm up to US as Trump disassociated himself from Obamas policy and looks to pursue more soft line towards Moscow which may in turn impact ties between Russia and China.



The movement of the missiles were highlighted by official Chinese media as Hua yesterday said China would not backdown from its island building in the disputed South China Sea afterTrump administration official made critical comments.


Seoul: The North Korean regime is on an inexorable decline towards collapse, with its people increasingly disillusioned but its nuclear ambitions undimmed, a top defector said on Wednesday.



"I'm sure and I can say that Kim Jong-Un's days are numbered," said Thae Yong-Ho, who fled his post as North Korea's deputy ambassador to Britain in August.



In his first press conference for foreign correspondents, held under tight security, Thae said he was sure that more of his fellow countrymen would follow suit since North Korea was "on a downward path".



The elite were "turning their backs" on leader Kim Jong-Un, he said, adding: "The traditional structures of North Korean systems are crumbling."



Nuclear-armed North Korea has been ruled by the Kim dynasty since its foundation in 1948. It is subject to United Nations Security Council sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes and is accused by the West of widespread human rights abuses.



Thae is among the highest-ranking defectors from the North for years. He said he had begun to waver as his diplomatic role granted him access to outside information. His disillusionment turned to despair after Kim, who inherited power from his late father Kim Jong-Il five years ago, began ruthlessly purging officials, he added.



Kim had his own uncle and one-time political mentor Jang Song-Thaek executed in late 2013 on an array of charges, including treason and corruption.



Kim was installed as chairman of the State Affairs Commission - a new supreme governing body - in June, a month after his Workers' Party held its first congress in 36 years in what was widely seen as his coronation.



North Korean diplomats are generally compelled to leave one of their children behind in Pyongyang when they are dispatched abroad, but Thae was able to take both his sons, now aged 19 and 26, to London - easing his preparations to defect.



"The Kim Jong-Un regime abuses love between parents and children to control North Korean diplomats," he said. After Thae's defection the North's state media denounced him as "human scum" and accused him of embezzling state funds, raping a minor and spying for South Korea in exchange for money.



Pyongyang carried out two nuclear tests and a series of missile launches in 2016 and Thae said Kim was planning to "complete" its atomic development by the end of this year to take advantage of leadership transitions in South Korea and the US.



"The only way to resolve the issue of North's nuclear threats is the elimination of Kim Jong-Un's regime," he said.
Washington: Describing India as a "true friend" of the US, President Donald Trump invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the country later this year, the White House said on Tuesday after both leaders spoke over phone and discussed issues such as trade, defence and terrorism.



Trump spoke to Modi on Tuesday night over phone, four days after he was sworn-in as the 45th President of America.



"During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in a readout of the call.



"President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the US later this year," the White House said.



The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.



Besides this, they also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the US and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, the readout said.



After Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the November 8 general elections, Modi was among the first five world leaders to have congratulated Trump.



During his gruelling election campaign, India is among the few countries in addition to Israel with whom Trump spoke of strengthening ties if elected to power.



On January 21, Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican Premier Pena Nieto.







On Sunday, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Monday he had a telephonic conversation with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Washington: President Donald Trump has tapped Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai to head the US Federal Communications Commission, which is expected to roll back many of the Obama Administration's telecommunications and internet policies.



Pai, a former Justice Department, FCC and Capitol Hill staffer, in December predicted landmark "net neutrality" rules adopted in 2015 would not last. The son of Indian immigrants who grew up in Kansas, Pai said the commission should take a "weed whacker" to unneeded rules and was harshly critical of many FCC regulations imposed during the Obama administration.



"During the Trump administration, we will shift from playing defense at the FCC to going on offense," he said in December. "We need to fire up the weed whacker and remove those rules that are holding back investment, innovation, and job creation."



Pai will also have a key role in deciding whether to approve or reject or impose conditions on mergers involving cable and telephone companies. In May, Pai opposed FCC conditions imposed on Charter Communication's acquisition of Time Warner Cable.



Last week, then FCC chairman Tom Wheeler urged Republicans against dismantling internet access protections that bar service providers from slowing consumer access to web content.



Internet providers fear net neutrality rules make it harder to manage internet traffic and make investment in additional capacity less likely. The Republican-controlled Congress is also considering rewriting the net neutrality rules.



Pai said in 2015 that consumers would be worse under net neutrality and should "expect their bills to go up, and they should expect that broadband will be slower going forward."



Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington state Democrat, criticized Pai in a letter to President Donald Trump Monday as "not a supporter of the FCCs strong rules to protect an open internet, putting at risk our robust net neutrality rules and the three million internet economy jobs it supports."



Under Wheeler, the FCC and major telecom and cable companies have been at odds over a number of big issues in recent years, including tougher broadband privacy rules and a proposal to allow pay-TV consumers to ditch set top boxes.



Comcast Corp, AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications Inc, Frontier Communications Corp, T-Mobile US Inc and Charter all praised Pai's appointment in separate statements.



"Chairman Pai will work with his fellow commissioners to quickly and decisively put back in place the commonsense regulatory framework necessary to support the presidents agenda," AT&T said.



However, advocacy group Free Press President Craig Aaron said Pai "has been on the wrong side of just about every major issue that has come before the FCC during his tenure. Hes never met a mega-merger he didnt like or a public safeguard he didnt try to undermine".



US Telecom, an industry trade group, said in a statement it shares Pai's vision for a "future based on a bold but pragmatic strategy to erase the many regulatory barriers impeding the expansion of our nation's communications infrastructure, and the jobs and economic opportunity that depend on it."



Pai does not need Senate confirmation as chairman but his current term expires at year end and he will need to be reconfirmed to continue.
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base: They spent seven years locked up under George W. Bush, then eight more under Barack Obama -- yet the five alleged terrorist plotters were convicted of nothing.



Now, the so-called "9/11 Five" are starting the next phase of their Guantanamo Bay legal odyssey under the presidency of Donald Trump.



Accused of plotting the September 11, 2001 attacks, the men are due in a military courtroom Wednesday, the first time the secretive tribunal has been in session since Trump was sworn in less than a week ago.



Renewed focus is on the military prison and the glacial legal process after Trump famously vowed while campaigning that he would load Guantanamo with "bad dudes," and said it would be "fine" if US terror suspects were sent there for trial.



It's been nine years since the United States first charged the 9/11 Five with plotting the September 11 attacks and killing nearly 3,000 people.



A multitude of procedural and legal problems, exacerbated by the logistical challenge of hosting a court in Guantanamo, have slowed the case to a crawl.



"We are just as determined as ever to try these individuals under the rule of law," lead prosecutor Brigadier General Mark Martins said.



"We will do that -- however long it takes."



The general said the government will be ready to begin jury selection in March 2018, but defense lawyers scoff at the idea, saying 2020 is more realistic.



The defendants are alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali -- Mohammed's nephew -- and Mustapha al-Hawsawi.



- 'Don't know what we don't know' -

One of Obama's first acts as president was to issue an order to close Guantanamo's jail, but he failed to do so in the face of Republican opposition and the reluctance of US allies to take in the detainees.



The remaining prison population is now 41, down from 242 when he took office.



On Wednesday, military judge Colonel James Pohl will consider whether hearings can even happen during this session's two allotted weeks.



Bin Attash's chief lawyer, Cheryl Bormann, broke her arm over the weekend, which prevented her from flying to the US naval base on the eastern tip of Cuba.



Because it's a death penalty case, each defendant has the right to a "learned counsel," or capital expert, during every step of the process.



Prosecutors want to crack on with the hearings if bin Attash waives his right for Bormann to be present, but defense teams worry doing so could set a precedent for future proceedings.



On Friday, a father whose son, granddaughter and daughter-in-law were killed aboard United Airlines Flight 175 when it was flown into the World Trade Center, is slated to give a recorded deposition.



The government wants to create a permanent record of such testimony -- the man is now in his 80s -- for use during the sentencing phase at an eventual conviction.



But if bin Attash declines to waive his right for counsel to be there, even that deposition could be nixed -- causing yet another delay in a case that sometimes seems terminally bogged down.



Underpinning everything is the CIA's handling of the 9/11 Five and other prisoners in the years following the September 11 attacks.



Some evidence came through so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques," which critics equate to torture.



Agents deployed an array of measures including waterboarding, chronic sleep deprivation and force-feeding -- either orally or anally.



Since the 9/11 Five were first charged in 2008, the taint of torture and of alleged wrongdoing -- including claims the government spied on defense teams -- soured proceedings.



An ongoing issue is the fact that much evidence remains classified in a government report on torture. Defense teams are infuriated they can't see the report, and thus cannot fully understand what evidence the government has against their clients.



"We don't know what we don't know, and that's the problem," said Hawsawi's defense attorney, Walter Ruiz.
New Delhi: Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit is a frontrunner to be the countrys new foreign secretary, Dawn reported on Wednesday.



The post will fall vacant after incumbent foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry, who has been designated as ambassador to the US, moves to Washington to take up his new assignment replacing outgoing ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani.



Basit is the most senior in the panel of four being considered for the post and has a varied experience of both bilateral and multilateral diplomacy. He joined the Foreign Service in 1982 and has remained Foreign Office spokesman and served on the disarmament desk.



Basit was PM Sharif's first choice for foreign secretary when he last picked one in 2013 and was asked in writing to return to headquarters from Berlin for the new assignment. But later the prime minister changed his mind and appointed Aizaz Chaudhry in Dec 2013. Mr Basit was then sent to India as high commissioner, Dawn said.



Dawn speculated that what could go against Basit is the differences that emerged when the high commissioner hosted Kashmiri leaders ahead of planned Pakistan-India foreign secretaries' meeting in Aug 2014 leading to the cancellation of bilateral talks. The paper said the meeting with Kashmiri leaders was just one incident and there were series of missteps that sowed misunderstandings.










Tuesdays Lynchburg City School Board meeting featured a full agenda as members approved the budget and calendar for the 2017-18 school year and heard an update on the accreditation statuses of T.C. Miller Elementary School for Innovation and Linkhorne Middle School.

In a fourth round of discussion on the proposed budget, the school board unanimously approved an operating budget of $97,976,941 and a total budget of $99,476,941 with the inclusion of $1.5 million in capital projects. The board previously considered the budget in three meetings in December and January. The new budget  excluding the proposed $1.5 million for capital projects  reflects a $3.7 million increase over the 2016-17 operating budget of $93 million.

According to LCS Chief Financial Officer Anthony Beckles, the local funding request is $40.1 million, though he noted those figures may change after the budget is advanced to City Council.

The budget took nearly an hour to be approved Tuesday as a point of contention arose from the proposed addition of 18 slots to the Central Virginia Governors School for Science and Technology. After discussion, board members decided to ax the $84,600 proposal for extra slots, which would lift LCS seats in the Governors School from 42 to 60. Despite trimming that proposal, the school board approved the creation of another staff position in the Office of Engagement, Equity and Opportunity  which works to create opportunities for all students, reduce student discipline issues and engage the community through outreach efforts  at the cost of $60,000 annually.

The school board also approved an additional 1-percent raise for all employees, which tacked on another $710,000, to the adopted operating budget for 2017-18.

In an ideal world, we would be able to fund everything for everyone. Given that we cant, we need to focus on minimum needs, Vice Chair Regina Dolan-Sewell told fellow board members.

The citys finances are tight this year, Board Chairman Michael Nilles cautioned other board members as he emphasized the need to pass a budget that would be approved by City Council.

According to Beckles, it is likely the LCS budget could be finalized by City Council in May.

Tuesday also saw a long-running discussion on the 2017-18 school calendar come to an end.

The school board approved the 2017-18 school calendar by a 7-1 vote, with board member Susan Morrison as the lone nay. She previously had expressed concern for lost instructional time due to half-days.

The calendar was developed after LCS administration conducted a listening tour with three stops in late October and early November to gather community input before bringing a proposal forward.

The division also conducted a survey of parents, staff and students regarding the calendar.

Based on the proposed calendar, school will begin in mid-August but end a week earlier due to the removal of the February intersession. At LCS, intersession currently is offered in October and February. The focus is on students who need remediation or wish to work on college entrance exams. The October intersession will be retained.

The school board also heard an update on how LCS is moving forward at T.C. Miller Elementary and Linkhorne Middle schools after both were denied accreditation by the Virginia Department of Education in October for failure to meet all state benchmarks for four or more years.

State Standards of Learning test scores factor into whether a school achieves accreditation. Elementary and middle schools must achieve a 75 percent or higher pass rate in reading and writing and 70 percent in math, science, and history and social sciences to be fully accredited. For high schools, full accreditation requires SOL marks of 75 percent or better for reading and writing and 70 percent or above in all other subject areas. High schools also must meet commonwealth graduation standards.

Because T.C. Miller Elementary and Linkhorne Middle schools were denied accreditation, both must implement a corrective action plan and timeline to lift the schools accreditation rating. Additionally, a memorandum of understanding must be signed between the local school board and the state Board of Education. Also, school principals, the division superintendent and a local school board chairman may have to present status reports to the state Board of Education, though LCS Superintendent Scott Brabrand suggested it was unlikely the division would be required to do so.

Were not out of the hole yet, but were making progress toward getting our schools to full accreditation status and beyond, Brabrand told school board members Tuesday.

Though both schools will be required to follow a corrective action plan, Brabrand noted strategies laid out are similar to the divisions overall strategy to boost student growth across LCS.

The great news is [that] the schools, as I said, are not having to do something different; theyre just continuing to deepen the strategies of improvement for the whole division, Brabrand said.

LCS has five fully accredited schools: Bedford Hills, Paul Munro, Sandusky and Sheffield elementary schools and Heritage High School. Partially accredited schools are: Dearington, Heritage, Perrymont, Linkhorne, Robert S. Payne and William Marvin Bass elementary schools; E.C. Glass High School; and Paul Laurence Dunbar and Sandusky middle schools.
State police have identified the driver who died after a Tuesday afternoon crash on U.S. 460 in Bedford County between a pickup truck and dump truck carrying gravel.

William John Peters Jr., 62, of Monroe, died Tuesday at Bedford Memorial Hospital from injuries he received in the crash, according to Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Rick Garletts.

Mark Williams, 55, of Vinton, was driving a 2016 Volvo dump truck with gravel in it eastbound on U.S. 460 in the right lane. He was slowing or stopping so that traffic could pass his vehicle and he could make a left turn, Garletts wrote in a news release

Peters 1994 Ford F-150 pickup truck struck the dump truck in the right lane at 11:50 a.m., before the dump truck had made its turn, Garletts wrote.

Both drivers were wearing seatbelts, and Williams was uninjured by the crash, Garletts wrote. The crash remains under investigation and charges are pending.
BEDFORD  Prosecutors may seek the death penalty in the upcoming first-degree murder trial of Lloyd Lee Welch Jr., accused in the abduction and killings of two young girls in 1975, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Circuit Judge James Updike Jr. also found Welch breached an immunity agreement with Maryland prosecutors signed in 2013 by changing his story several times with cold-case investigators.

Welch faces an April jury trial, charged with killing Sheila and Katherine Lyon, two sisters who vanished during a trip to a Wheaton, Maryland, shopping mall.

Investigators claim after killing the sisters, he disposed of their bodies in Bedford County. The remains have never been found.

Welchs defense team has argued for months in court papers that while Virginia statute has a death penalty, that was not the case at the time of the alleged offenses in 1975, and the law cannot be applied retroactively against Welch.

A 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Furman v. Georgia, and a later Virginia Supreme Court ruling, Huggins v. Commonwealth, made the Virginia death penalty statute unconstitutional at the time of the alleged offenses, his lawyers said.

Lawmakers revised the statute to comply with the courts, but the new law was not effective until October 1975, after the alleged crimes, they said.

Even though the state now has capital punishment, that cannot be applied to Welchs case, defense lawyer Aaron Houchens said. There was no death penalty at the time, he said in court Tuesday.

Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Timothy Griffin said the Huggins case merely prevented use of the death penalty in Virginia when, for example, juries acted capriciously  and did not act as a sledgehammer to demolish capital punishment.

Updike said the underlying first-degree murder statute to which the varying sentencing laws had been attached over the years, the same one used to indict Welch, has not changed since 1962, when it was last revised.

All of the statutory changes to how the death penalty could be used since then have been procedural, and case law has held such changes may be applied retroactively, he said.

Prosecutors also scored a win Tuesday when Updike ruled Welch had materially breached an Oct. 16, 2013, immunity letter with the states attorney for Montgomery County, Maryland, by repeatedly telling new and different stories over nearly two years.

His defense team sought to use the letter, which said his statements could not be used against him in a criminal proceeding, to exclude them at trial. His lawyers said prosecutors actually had broken the agreement by introducing the statements during the grand jury proceeding that led to Welchs indictment.

Commonwealths Attorney Wes Nance said Tuesday in court Welchs various stories to investigators meant he breached a condition of the deal of being truthful, candid and complete.

At different times, Welch told investigators he had only seen the girls taken from the mall parking lot; that he had seen them with one or more of his relatives; and had seen them sexually assaulted in a basement, in different, often conflicting accounts told to authorities and some aired in recordings in the courtroom Tuesday.

The judge noted Welch at one point on the recordings admitted not being truthful. Updike said the changing accounts invalidated his immunity deal.

He just told story after story after story. It was a material breach in my view, he said.

Welchs jury trial currently is scheduled for April 18.
UPDATE 4:45: The Virginia State Police said they are working to contact the next of kin after a crash on U.S. 460 this morning resulted in a fatality.

The accident involved an eastbound dump truck loaded with gravel being rear-ended by a pickup truck. The road was blocked for several hours but was reopened at 2:21 p.m. after the vehicles were removed.

Virginia State Police Accident Reconstruction is assisting with the investigation.

EARLIER: The Virginia Department of Transportation said the crash scene has cleared.

State police are investigating a two vehicle-wreck about four miles east of the town of Bedford Tuesday afternoon.

Troopers said a truck collided with a dump truck while traveling east on U.S. 460 and they are reconstructing the incident.

The trucks driver was transported to the hospital.

According to the Virginia Department of Transportation U.S. 460 east, near Krantzs Corner Road and Virginia 715, is closed because of the wreck and all eastbound lanes are closed. Westbound traffic is flowing freely despite wreck.

Motorists can expect potential delays.
RICHMOND  Virginia registrars will be less likely to identify names cast on write-in ballots if a bill that passed the Senate on Tuesday becomes law.

Registrars have said compiling Election Day reports with considerable numbers of write-in votes, such as Lynchburgs local record-setting 2015 state legislature results, strains their limited resources. Opponents argue matching each vote with a name  whether the tally makes a difference or not  is fundamental to democracy.

After Election Day, each registrar compiles a report to certify the results, which includes the number of write-in votes. If the number of write-in votes is at least 5 percent of the total votes cast for that office, registrars must match a name to each vote on the report. Sen. Jill Vogels SB1302 would raise that threshold so names only are attached to write-ins if the total could mathematically change the election result, she said.

They always have to be counted. Thats important for everybody to know, Vogel, R-Fauquier, said Tuesday on the Senate floor. You always count them; youre just not recording the individual identity of each.

Although the 27,000 write-in votes cast in a recent congressional race made no difference in who won, Fairfax County election officials had to identify who received each vote, Vogel said.

That requirement cost the local registrar and electoral board an enormous amount of resources, Vogel said.

Other registrars, including Lynchburgs, have made similar complaints.

In 2015, with the two House of Delegates and two Senate seats touching the Hill City up for re-election and not one challenger on the ballot, Lynchburg set a recent-memory city record with 2,828 write-ins, and Lynchburg Registrar Karen Patterson said at the time that number included results from two Soil and Water Conservation District seats. The lowest percentage of write-in votes for each of the four state legislature seats was 10 percent, although Frank Goodwin won a Robert E. Lee Soil and Water Conservation District seat with 611 write-in votes because no one had signed up to run.

While Lynchburg Electoral Board Chairwoman Pat Bower said she read all 2,828 write-ins out loud over six hours to certify the results, Patterson said she spent a day creating a 30-page spreadsheet catalogingevery write-in vote.

After that election, Bower, a former Lynchburg registrar, sent a letter to Department of Elections Commissioner Edgardo Cortes asking the threshold be raised.

As you know, the Registrar is always exhausted by the end of Election Day, and it feels like cruel and unusual punishment to subject her to several additional days of recording meaningless votes, Bower wrote.

Opponents, who peppered Vogel with questions and hypothetical scenarios about how the bill would actually work, said the public should learn whether an organized candidate made a dent against an incumbent or how well a write-in, third-party nominee fared. The Lynchburg 2015 race was not brought up.

I know that democracy isnt always cheap, said Sen. Adam P. Ebbin, R-Alexandria.  I just think in the name of transparency that this is not the right solution to this problem, if the registrars see this as a problem.

In the high write-in vote 2015 election, Lynchburg College Professor Edward Polloway beat Del. Scott Garrett, R-Lynchburg, in the First Christian Church precinct on Rivermont Avenue by a single vote. Garrett won the district with 87 percent of the vote.

The precincts write-in total was 157. Polloway, who said his write-in campaign consisted of forwarding an email, received 138 write-ins to Garretts 137 votes, Patterson said.

Using the Lynchburg election as an example, under Vogel's bill, election officials only would have tallied the 157 write-in voters. To learn who won the precinct, Polloway, another resident or media member would have had to hand-count the results themselves.

After a 22-17 vote, SB1302 will move to the House of Delegates for consideration and would have to be signed by the governor to become law.

I think that as its drawn, there could be actually fairly highly competitive elections where theres never a tabulation of the second-place finisher, said Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax, referring to small-town elections with multiple declared write-in candidates.

 This is not an idle thing as it relates to elections in small towns and cities.
Revisit the founding of the JSA and foreshadow its future in The New Golden Age #1 preview

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A typical French lunch

As guests arrived they were greeted with beer to, as they said, open the way. That is to open up their appetite, Milcent explained.

Next, guest to take their place at the dressed table or as we say it, laid table for the ap?ritif .

Milcent described it as: spirits in cocktail or natural (some French women should also appreciate some white French wine) served with a few appetisers (amuse-bouches in French). Females were served Planteur (fruits rum), while the men consumed T? punch.

The appetisers can be saucisson (French dried salami), some little salted biscuits, crispie with a sauce, etc.Next was the enjoying of a good meal with some French wine. Milcent said: If you have several plates, dont forget to choose the wines that will match with each of them. We advise one different wine for every different flavour. Placed on the table for this course was Milcents signature dish Pommes de Terres Confites, mixed veggies done French style and Beef Rib Eye Steak, along with a bottle of Lalande-de-Pomerol (Gironde) French Wine After the main course the French stay at the table for the digestif , usually light liquor for women such as the C?ment - Cr?me-au Rhum Vieux and net spirits (Rhum Vieux Agricole X.O. DAge) for the men. Thats supposed to help the digestion and, by the way, permit the people to stay together longer, said Milcent.

As the afternoon wears on he said some beers should be welcomed to go on sharing a good time together.

The most important thing in a French Sunday lunch is to take the time to enjoy and share the drinks, the food and the discussions with your friends or family, said Milcent, who together with Sol?ne and F?lix did just that.

However, to get the recipe for the special Pommes de Terres Confites from Milcent wasnt easy. He just was not ready to share his secret recipe.

Laughing he said: It will cost you many Stags to get my secret recipe. But Ill give you my recipe for the Pommes de Terres Confites. Pommes De Terres Confites shot potatoes (small and young potatoes) duck/goose fat (if you dont find some, mix half salted butter half olive oil) bay leafs thyme salt flower (if you dont find salt flower, try to grind fat your salt)mixed peppers (green, red, white, grey and black) fresh garlic Directions: 1. Put the fat in a high-sided frying pan and make it melt on medium fire (be generous with the fat because it will have to feed your potatoes).

WARNING: during the whole recipe, the fat must tremble but never boil! 2. Clean your potatoes without peeling them. Put them in the fat (hot level 3).

3. Put the bay leafs, the thyme, two pinches of salt, 1 pinch of mixed peppers, garlic (5 or 6 cloves without peeling them; we call it en chemise can be translated by in shirt.

4. Cover and let it go for at least 1 hour. Just stir from time to time and keep an eye on the fat that must not boil.

5. Serve with a good piece of meat and some dry wine (French, of course).
Ghany: Shake-up in Tobago politics

The two-seat gain signals not just a change of fortune from the past THA election four years ago - when the PNM steam rolled the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) 12 to 0 - and also brings to the political fore, the person of PDP head Watson Duke.

As Public Services Association (PSA) head, Duke will likely bring a labour slant to Tobago politics, Ghany predicted. He said the fall in the PNMs tally of THA seats from 12 to 10 is significant, as it stems the past grim outlook of the Opposition in the Tobago political landscape previously signalled by the TOPs decline in both the last THA and General Elections. Saying the PDP won two seats and lost a third by a mere five votes, Ghany surmised, Something is happening on the ground in Tobago. Ghany said Duke has both the perch of the PSA and the perch of THA Minority Leader to use to build a political movement in the sister island. Duke will bring a labour slant into Tobago politics.

Not since United National Congress founder, Basdeo Panday, has there been such a labour leader engaged in politics. Ghany remarked that Duke had contested the Tobago East seat in the last General Election and remarkably retained his deposit, unlike the TOP candidate.

It is very, very significant. Not surprisingly he has built up his momentum to now have two THA seats and nearly win a third. While Tobago has a solid block of voters who do not support the PNM, they have also not supported the TOP, and on Monday opted for Duke.

Asked what the result meant for the PNM, Ghany said the party will need to reassess the situation at ground level, in the areas that will make up both the Tobago East and Tobago West constituencies in the next General Election.

Asked if the PNMs loss of two seats was due to complacency from its 12-0 THA monopoly, Ghany said the factor is more likely leadership.

He said not only had the Tobago PNM changed its leader from Orville London to Kelvin Charles but the latter had won office in a difficult leadership contest where he won just 50 percent of votes cast in the first round. He noted that another leadership contender former THA deputy, Tracy Davidson-Celestine, was not even a candidate in this election, quite possibly leading to disappointment with the result that the PNM lost two seats.

Regarding the PNMs traditional advantage gained by vote-splitting among its rivals, Ghany said the Tobago Forwards - which won no seats - is now in a difficult place and will have to reassess its position.

The forces opposed to the PNM may now want to talk to Watson Duke, Ghany said. Politics will become very exciting, he said.
BIGWU given all clear to represent RBC workers

The Bankers, Insurance and General Workers Union (BIGWU), in a statement issued yesterday, said Certificate No. 1/2017 covers all monthly rated employees of the RBC Group of Companies whose job positions fall within the position levels ten to 12. This includes employees of RBC Royal Bank (Trinidad and Tobago Limited), RBC Trust (Trinidad and Tobago Limited), RBC Investment Management (Caribbean Limited), RBC Merchant Bank (Caribbean Limited), RBC Insurance Services (Caribbean Limited), RBC Financial (Caribbean Limited) and West Indies Stockbrokers Limited .

BIGWU said its representatives will be meeting with top management of the RBC shortly. The bank has informed BIGWU that without prejudice to the RBCs rights and the outcome of the intended judicial review proceedings and subject to the outcome, we are amenable to meeting with your representatives pending a decision on the issues to be brought before the Court. BIGWU will hold an emergency meeting on Saturday at 11 am at its headquarters in Barataria to discuss negotiations on behalf of the 2,000 workers .
COSTAATT dental therapy students want to graduate

The students pursued their Bachelor of Science in Dental Therapy at the COSTAATTs Port-of-Spain Campus.

One of the students, who asked that her name not be used, told Newsday that the students were supposed to graduate in 2016 last year, and are still awaiting their BSc in Dental Therapy certificates.

Up to last February we were told that all the equipment for the practicum was not ordered, when they told us they had already ordered the equipment. She continued, We have had meetings with the head of the department and the president to address the issue and, to date, students have not been told what is going to take place. She indicated that their first practicum was scheduled for February 2012, but was postponed until further notice.
Driver killed in collision with garbage truck

According to police reports at about 11pm, Toondarsingh the driver of a Nissan B 14 was heading north along the Solomon Hochoy Highway when he crashed into a garbage truck proceeding in the same direction. The accident, police said occurred near the Claxton Bay overpass. Police said Toondarsinghs vehicle slammed into the back of the garbage truck and he had to be freed from the wreckage by fire officers.

The driver of the garbage truck sustained minor injuries. An autopsy performed at the Forensic Science Centre revealed Toondarsingh died from multiple blunt force trauma to his body. Speaking to Newsday yesterday, a close female relative said Toondarsingh was on his way home when the accident occurred. She said there are all kinds of speculation as to what caused the accident.

We dont know if he was sleeping , or if he got a bad drive, we dont know. I was not there, she said.

Toondarsingh plied the Chaguanas to San Fernando route. Relatives described the taxi driver as fun-loving and family oriented.

He was the one always making everyone laugh. It is really sad what happened and he would be missed by everyone, the emotional relative said. Up to late yesterday funeral arrangements were still being finalised. Officers of the Couva Police Station are continuing investigations.
More speed guns coming

Responding to a question from Opposition Senator Wade Mark in the Senate yesterday, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said, One road fatality is one too many. Sinanan disclosed that by the end of this week, an article will be published, inviting suppliers to tender for the option to provide certain speed measuring devices.

He said this will be an open competitive bid and the cost of acquiring these devices will be less than that to acquire similar devices previously.

Sinanan said there are currents six spot speed enhancement cameras and nine speed guns. Explaining the former do not require a police officer to operate them and more of them will be acquired over time, Sinanan said they will be introduced on a phased basis.

The minister said among the other measures being taken by the ministrys Traffic Management Branch to improve road safety in TT are the installation of high tension barriers along the Uriah Butler and Churchill Roosevelt Highways; the provision of road studs on highways and main roads and the embarkation of reform of the legislative framework governing the fixed points penalty trafficking system and the introduction of a demerit points system in TT.

Indicating that Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi will soon pilot legislation in Parliament with respect to this system, Sinanan was confident that it would, create the platform for more orderly road use and result in a further reduction in road fatalities and accidents. He said there was, a reduction in road fatalities in 2016 over 2015 and was optimistic this trend would continue this year.
Uber told theyre breaking TTs laws

He could not say however if the location-based app would be suspending its services in Trinidad and Tobago (TT) until it is fully-compliant with all of the countrys taxi and financial regulations.

It seems that somewhere along the line, somebody did not advise Uber about a lot of the things that they should be concerned about.

A lot of questions we asked this morning (Tuesday) seemed to be new to Uber but theyve committed to follow-up and to supply our legal team with the information that is required. Sinanan also told Newsday that Attorney General (AG) Faris Al Rawi informed Ubers two local and two foreign representatives about the relevant tax laws because this is a business earning revenue. The AG was quite accurate in pointing out the company laws, how we operate in TT, how we reimburse taxes and so forth. I think they have a lot of information now to supply to the AGs Office. Well take it from there. Sinanan was speaking with Newsday yesterday following a meeting with Ubers local and foreign representatives, Al Rawi, Transport Commissioner Wayne Richards, and a senior police officer who was there on behalf of Acting Police Commissioner, Stephen Williams.

That meeting, held to discuss the legality of Ubers TT operations under this countrys existing laws, took place at the ministrys head office on Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain. It began at about 10 am yesterday and ended a little after 11.30 am. When asked if Uber would be allowed to continue operating while it gathers the requested information, Sinanan said while it is up to the company to decide what it wants to do, Uber has been advised that they are virtually breaking the law. We pointed that out to them and said we are not in a position to give anybody a grace period to break the law...I dont know if Uber is going to, after this meeting, recognise that they are breaking the laws of TT and suspend their services until they are in compliance. I dont know if they are going to do that but I expect that the police and Licensing Division; who were present and who know what is going on, will do what should be done, Sinanan declared.
Trump: 'I'll Very, Very, Very

Probably Do It Again'
An alleged drug kingpinand current Nigerian senatorwho played a major part in the real-life story behind Orange Is the New Black still can't sue the US government, Courthouse News reports. Buruji Kashamu's claim against the US government was dismissed in court for a third time Monday. Orange Is the New Black follows the prison stint of Piper Kerman, who was busted for smuggling heroin. Kashamu was allegedly the source of that heroin, millions of dollars of which was brought into the US through O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.

Kashamu claims that Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency worked with American DEA agents in 2015 to stake out his home in an attempt to apprehend him and transport him to the US for trial. He says he avoided arrest by hiding in his bathroom for six days until a Nigerian court ordered the agents to leave him be. A US judge reiterated Monday that this was perfectly legal, as US agents are allowed to help foreign agents in an arrest. Kashamu maintains that his brother, who is now dead, was the real drug kingpin and this whole thing is just a case of mistaken identities. (Read more Orange is the New Black stories.)
A former gang member saw his prison sentence commuted by President Obama in Novemberonly to be killed almost exactly two months later. Demarlon Thomas, 31, was transitioning out of the federal prison system in a Saginaw, Mich., halfway house after having his sentence commuted Nov. 22. Two masked gunmen brandishing assault-style weapons sought out and killed Thomas, a former member of Saginaws Sunny Side Gang, at that halfway house Monday night, reports MLive. "They were looking for this person," a Michigan State Police officer says, describing the shooting as execution-style.

One gunman shot Thomas numerous times, while the other held 23 others at gunpoint; ultimately, no one else was injured. "I think it was connected one way or another to the gang he was from or a rival gang," the officer tells Michigan Radio. The suspects are still at large. Thomas had been sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2008 for distributing cocaine after a federal investigation that authorities thought had put an end to the Sunny Side Gang. Thanks to Obama commuting his sentence, he had been scheduled to go free in March, about eight years earlier than his original release date. "He was just happy to ... have a second chance at life," a friend of Thomas tells MLive. (This was far from the most high-profile sentence commuted by Obama.)
When Harold Hayes said he had one helluva war story to tell, he wasn't kidding. The 94-year-old, who died on Sunday, was the last survivor of 30 intrepid Americans who crash-landed behind Nazi lines during World War II, plunging them into a surreal odyssey that included German attacks, blizzards, illness, and near starvation as they trekked 600 miles until their eventual rescue 63 days later. Details of their saga was a "long-held-secret" for decades, the New York Times reports. It all began on a clear day in November 1943 when a cargo plane carrying nurses and medics from Sicily to Bari, Italy, was blown off course by a major storm and fired on by German flak guns. After ditching in a remote area, the group learned they were in Albania from locals.

Under constant threat of capture, Hayes, then 21, and the others bunked with peasants with little to share except lice-infested blankets. They boiled tea from straw and ate berries. Their limbs froze as autumn gave way to white-out blizzards. "When you're hungry, cold, and tired, you forget about almost everything else and are only thinking about surviving," Hayes said, per National Geographic. A British spy found them too sick to go on, and arranged a US air rescue that failed. Crushed, the group managed to continue moving west and reached the Adriatic coast on Jan. 9. To protect their Albanian saviors, they stayed mum during the war and for years after during the Communist years. Hayes "rarely talked about his ordeal," author Cate Lineberry tells the Times. (This lost WWII sub was found off Hawaii.)
The clock is ticking on Donald Trump's first 100 days in office and he isn't dawdling over implementing the most controversial parts of his platform. The president plans what the Washington Post describes as an "immigration blitz" this week with executive orders on several areas of immigration policy. White House insiders tell the Post that Trump, who will speak about border security at the Department of Homeland Securitys headquarters on Wednesday, plans to start off with orders to begin construction of a border wall with Mexico and to punish "sanctuary cities" that fail to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The Wall Street Journal's sources say Trump will also announce the hiring of more border agents.

"Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow," Trump tweeted late Tuesday. "Among many other things, we will build the wall!" Congressional aides tell Reuters that later in the week, Trump plans to issue executive orders temporarily banning almost all refugees and suspending visas for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries: Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. The Journal's sources say Trump is considering shutting down the entire refugee program for as long as 120 days while he brings in measures including the "extreme vetting" he promised during his campaign. Insiders tell the Post that the Trump team is still debating policy in other areas, including President Obama's deferred deportation program. (Read more Donald Trump stories.)
The Senate confirmed President Trump's pick for US ambassador to the United Nations by a decisive margin Tuesday as GOP-led committees paved the way for three more of his Cabinet nominees to be approved just days into the new administration, the AP reports. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley won strong support for the UN post despite her lack of foreign policy experience. Senators voted 96-4 in favor of Haley's nomination. Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Haley is a proven leader who will be a "fierce advocate" at the UN for American interests.

But not everyone was sold. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Haley didn't convince him that she'll serve effectively. The US ambassador to the international body should be an expert on international affairs, Coons said, "not someone who will be learning on the job." The vote on Haley capped a day in which the GOP-led panels endorsed Trump's choices to lead the Transportation, Housing, and Commerce departments. The Senate Commerce Committee approved by voice votes Trump's choices of conservative billionaire investor Wilbur Ross to run the Commerce Department and Elaine Chao to lead the Transportation Department. Ben Carson, nominated to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, won unanimous approval from the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. (Read more Nikki Haley stories.)
A 7-year-old Syrian girl whose tweets from Aleppo showcased the horrors of war has appealed to President Trump to "do something for the children of Syria." Now living in Turkey, Bana Alabed wrote a letter to the new president days before his inauguration, the BBC reports. "Dear Donald Trump," she writes, "I lived in Syria my whole life (and) ... I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war." Although she is now safe, "millions of Syrian children are not like me," she writes. "They are suffering.  I know you will be the president of America, so can you please save the children and people of Syria?" Bana's mother, Fatemah, sent the text to the BBC. (Read the full letter here.)

Bana opted to make her plea in writing after seeing Trump "many times on the TV," Fatemah says. Like Trump, Bana has a penchant for tweetingshe has 362,000 followersalthough hers drove home the terror in besieged Aleppo before her family was evacuated last month as government forces regained control of the city. More than 300,000 people, including 150,000 children, have been killed in the six-year civil war, reports the Guardian. Trump's position on Syria is not yet known. A White House spokesman said the president would "work with any country" committed to fighting ISIS, per the Guardian. The Pentagon, meanwhile, denied on Monday that US warplanes aided a Russian mission in Syria. Russia supports the government of President Bashar al-Assad. (Bana "befriended" JK Rowling.)
President Trump turned his attention to Chicago Tuesday night, saying that if the city doesn't do something about the epidemic of gun violence, he will. "If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible 'carnage' going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!" he tweeted. The Chicago Tribune reports that Trump appears to have taken his figures from a story it ran on Monday and there have now been 247 people shot in the city in 2017, with 44 killed. The Tribune notes that during his campaign, Trump claimed to have spoken with top Chicago police officials who told them they could stop the violence in a week with tougher measures, though the campaign declined to identify the officials he spoke to.

In an interview with WTTW Tuesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel noted that the federal government already has a presence in Chicago, with FBI and ATF agents, among others, assisting local law enforcement, but he would welcome help from Trump in areas including gun tracking and funding the hiring of more police officers. "Over the years the federal governments stepped back their resources, which we have stepped up," the mayor said. "The federal government can be a partner, and to be honest, they havent been for decades." Trump's remarks came a day after Emanuel publicly criticized Trump, telling reporters that the president should be focusing on jobs instead of the size of his inaugural crowd, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. (Read more Donald Trump stories.)
The head of the Knights of Malta resigned after entering into a public spat with Pope Francis over the ouster of a top official involved in a condom scandal, a spokeswoman for the ancient lay Catholic order said Wednesday. Matthew Festing met with the pope on Tuesday and offered his resignation, Knights of Malta spokeswoman Marianna Balfour tells the AP. Festing had refused to cooperate with a papal commission investigating his ouster of the grand chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, over revelations that the order's charity branch had distributed condoms under his watch. Festing had cited the Knights' status as a sovereign entity under international law in refusing to cooperate.

The remarkable showdown is the latest example of Francis clashing with more conservative elements in the Catholic Church, especially those for whom sexual ethics and doctrinal orthodoxy are paramount. In a Jan. 17 statement, the Vatican called the issue a "crisis of the central direction" of the Knights of Malta. Festing suspended Boeselager on Dec. 8 over revelations that the Knights' charity branch had distributed thousands of condoms to poor people in Myanmar under his watch. Francis appointed a commission to investigate after Boeselager said he had been told by Festing that the Holy See wanted him to resign over the scandal. The Vatican secretary of state has said the pope wanted nothing of the sort and wanted the dispute to be resolved through dialogue. (Read more Pope Francis stories.)
Terror and mayhem returned to the streets of Somalia's capital Wednesday with an attack on a luxury hotel that involved a team of gunmen and at least two bombs. Police tell Reuters that at least 13 people, including civilians and security forces, were killed when militants attacked Mogadishu's Dayah Hotel. Police say they are still battling a team of fighters who entered the hotel, which is near the country's parliament and is popular with politicians, the AP reports. The al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab group claimed responsibility for the attack. Al Jazeera reports that the attack began with a massive car bomb at the entrance to the hotel. A second bomb exploded after ambulances and journalists arrived at the scene, injuring several more people. (Read more Somalia stories.)
The son of two Chicago police officers was sentenced to nine months in prison Tuesday for his role in the "Celebgate" nude photo scandal. Edward Majerczyk, 29, admitted to stealing nude photos and other data from 30 celebrities in a phishing scheme, but his lawyers said "there is no evidence that he shared this information with anyone," per CNN. Still, he was ordered to pay $5,700 to cover counseling for one unnamed victim. Court documents showed Majerczyk possessed material belonging to 300 victims, including Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and "people he came across in his life," prosecutors say, per the Chicago Tribune. (Read more hacking stories.)
The Secret Service exists in part to protect the president, which is exactly why the agent in charge of the Denver district is now in hot water. In a since-deleted Facebook post from October, highlighted by the Washington Examiner, Kerry O'Grady explained she "would take jail time over a bullet or an endorsement for [Trump]," whom she described as a "disaster to this country" and to the "women and minorities who reside here." Not only did the post suggest O'Grady wasn't prepared to fulfill her job description if need be, but it also violated the Hatch Act banning certain executive branch members from making partisan statements, which O'Grady herself acknowledged, per the Hill.

O'Grady tells the Examiner that she is a sexual assault victim and her comments were "a very emotional reaction" to claims that Trump had sexually assaulted women. But she says she also regretted her action after a few days. "I firmly believe in this job. I'm proud to do it and we serve the office of the president," she says, noting her personal feelings toward Trump will not get in the way of her duties. Her comments may, however. A Secret Service rep tells CNN that it is "taking quick and appropriate action" after the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General reportedly received at least one complaint. Critics have suggested O'Grady should be fired, per USA Today. (Read more Secret Service stories.)
The good news: Flint's water is now safe to drink. The bad news: You still shouldn't drink it. That was the message from Michigan officials Tuesday after the Department of Environmental Quality announced lead levels in Flint's water have fallen below the federal limit of 15 parts per billion, based on tests from homes with lead-tainted pipes or service lines conducted over six months. However, those lines still pose issues, officials say, advising residents to continue to use water filters or consume bottled water. Mayor Karen Weaver tells the New York Times there are still 20,000 lead-tainted pipes in Flint, with 6,000 expected to be removed by the end of the year. It could take three years for all pipes to be replaced, reports MLive.

"Once those lead pipes are replaced  then hopefully the people of Flint will regain the trust that has been shattered in their drinking water," a pediatrician who helped expose the water crisis tells the Washington Post, describing federal lead limits as "weak." For now, "it is nowhere near the end of the story." Under a judges order, officials are required to check that Flint residents have water filters properly installed. A bottled water delivery is also to be set up for those without filters, though lawyers for the state say that would require a "massive logistical" effort. Free bottled water and filters are also available at spots throughout Flint, which has now gone more than 1,000 days without safe water, reports the Detroit Free Press. (Read more Flint water crisis stories.)
If George Orwell were alive today, he would probably be less than thrilled to find that his vision of a dystopian future at the top of best-seller lists. Orwell's 1984, first published in 1949, is now at No. 1 on Amazon.com's best-seller list and publisher Penguin is planning to print another 75,000 copies to meet demand, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The surge in sales follows Kellyanne Conway's claim that the Trump administration was presenting "alternative facts" instead of falsehoods, an assertion critics described as distinctly Orwellian.

The book hit No. 6 on the list on Monday and reached No. 1 Tuesday night, reports the Telegraph, which notes Conway's comments inspired social media users to share 1984 quotes including: "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." The AP reports that Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel about an authoritarian president, It Can't Happen Here, is at No. 46 on Amazon's list, with Aldous Huxley's Brave New World at No. 71 and Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism also performing strongly. Trump's Art of the Deal, meanwhile, is at No. 31. (Orwell's classic also surged during the 2013 NSA surveillance controversy.)
Late night calls meant for a phone sex line instead awoke residents of a western Irish town who, uh, weren't exactly turned on by the disruption. It seems the phone numbers shared by UK adult channel Babestation on Sky TV were meant for UK callers only. To reach "one of the Babestation girls," callers from Ireland needed to replace the first numeral of the number with an international dialing code, Babestation says. Many, however, failed to do that and were instead connected with residents of the Irish town of Westport, who were "aggravated and annoyed" to be "getting these calls in the middle of night," local politician Michael Ring tells the Irish Independent.

Ring, who claims residents also received calls from people trying to reach Sky TV helplines, says he's asked the Commission of Communications Regulation to force Babestation to change its numbers. The commission says it's working to "identify a solution as soon as possible," per the Guardian. Babestation, meanwhile, has apologized to both the "disappointed callers in Ireland" and Westport's residents for the "innocent misunderstanding." And "as a show of support and recognition," the company says it will send two of its models to speak to Westport locals on Thursday, reports Ireland's Journal. "We don't want them," Ring tells the Herald. (A similar mix-up happened in Maine.)
When President Trump called for an investigation into voter fraud Wednesday morning, he tweeted that it would include people registered to vote in two states. He might want to have a talk with top adviser Steve Bannon: The Guardian reports that Bannon is still registered in both Florida and New York. Bannon voted for Trump in New York, listing his rented apartment in Manhattan for an address. However, state records in Florida show that he remains registered there, too, with his given address the home of Breitbart News friend Andy Badolato in Sarasota County. The newspaper points out that it's not illegal to be registered in two states, only to vote in two states.

"Now, no one is suggesting Bannon has knowingly broken the law or committed voter fraud," writes Chris Anderson at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. "This whole thing is probably a misunderstanding." But he notes a "strange pattern," given that Bannon had been registered in a different Florida county, Dade, before shifting to Sarasota. It doesn't appear that he voted in either locale, reports the Miami Herald. An anti-Trump group called Avaaz previously filed a complaint with the state because it suspected Bannon never lived at the Sarasota address, but the state dismissed it, saying the allegations "are neither factually sufficient or do not set out an incident of 'election fraud' as defined." (Read more Steve Bannon stories.)
Notes that Mark Twain jotted down from a fairy tale he told his daughters more than a century ago have inspired a new children's book, The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine, the AP reports. At the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, there is excitement that the story could help introduce the writer to wider audiencesand provide a financial lift for the nonprofit organization that curates the three-story Gothic Revival mansion where Twain raised his family. A researcher found the story in the archive of the Mark Twain Papers at the University of California at Berkeley. When the University of California Press passed on taking it to publication, the archive's director, Bob Hirst, endorsed enlisting the Twain House as an agent in part because of financial struggles the museum has had to overcome.

"I don't think it's a secret they need funding," Hirst said. "If it was going to make some money, which Mark Twain would certainly approve of, that house was a good place for it to go." The Twain House connected the UC Press with DoubleDay Books for Young Readers, which hired an author and illustrator to turn Twain's unfinished notes into the book to be published in September. The book tells the story of a boy who gains the ability to talk to animals by eating a flower from a magical seed and then joins them to rescue a kidnapped prince. The 152-page illustrated book, completed by Philip and Erin Stead, frames the narrative as a story "told to me by my friend, Mr. Mark Twain." Twain apparently told the story to his daughters in 1879 while the family visited Paris, and one expert says it's exceptional because Twain was not known to write down any of the thousands of stories he told his children. (Read more Mark Twain stories.)
Houston:

A report by Oxfam International said that considering that Bill Gates' fortune is growing at 11 percent per year since 2009, he could become the world's first trillionaire soon.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates will be world's first trillionaire in the next 25 years, according to a new research. According to research firm Oxfam International, the world would get its first billionaire in the next 25 years, when Bill Gates becomes around 86 years old.

When Gates left Microsoft in 2006, his net worth was USD50 billion, according to Oxfam. By 2016, his wealth had increased to USD 75 billion, "despite his commendable attempts to give it away through his Foundation," the report said.

In addition to the charitable work Gates does through his personal foundation, he is one of the founding members of TheGiving Pledge, a commitment from some of the richest individuals in the world to give away more than half of their worth.

For the hypothetical analysis, Oxfam researchers applied the rate of growth he has been enjoying, 11 per cent per year since 2009, to Gates' current levels of wealth (over USD 84billion, according to Forbes).

"In such an environment, if you are already rich, you have to try hard not to keep getting a lot richer," Oxfam noted.

Another report by Oxfam had found that eight billionaires, including Bill Gates, from around the globe have as much money as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world's population.

Another report by Oxfam had found that eight billionaires, including Bill Gates, from around the globe have as much money as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world's population.


New Delhi:

Senior officials of the US-based iPhone maker Apple on Tuesday called upon Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The meeting assumes significance as the technology giant is seeking concessions like duty exemptions to set up its manufacturing unit in India.

The meeting lasted for 40 minutes. There were three officials from the company, including the companys Global Vice President Priya Balasubramaniam, sources said.

The company executives will on Wednesday meet a group of senior officials from different ministries on their demands.

In a communication to the government, the Cupertino-based technology major has asked for several tax and other incentives, including long-term duty exemptions, to enter the manufacturing sector in India.

Currently, the government provides support by way of benefits under the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (MSIPS) to boost electronic manufacturing.

The company sells its products through Apple-owned retail stores in countries like China, Germany, the US, the UK and France, among others. It has no wholly-owned store in India and sells its products through distributors such as Redington and Ingram Micro.
Beijing:

Six former employees of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the worlds third-largest smartphone maker, have been arrested by Chinese police for allegedly leaking commercial secrets to rivals.

News portal sina.com reported that an internal letter issued by Huaweis consumer unit, which includes its smartphone business, said that the six, chiefly engineers and smartphone designers, had been arrested.

The incident came as the Shenzhen-based company is engaged in a fierce battle for market dominance with players such as Oppo Electronics Corp and Coolpad Group Ltd, state-run China Daily reported.

According to the report, the six were suspected of leaking commercial secrets to Coolpad and its largest shareholder LeEco after some of them left Huawei to join the two companies.

Huawei confirmed to China Daily that six of its former employees were arrested, but said the case has nothing to do with LeEco and CoolPad.

LeEco also denied the report.

Xiang Ligang, a smartphone expert and CEO of the telecoms industry website cctime.com, said the dispute underlines once again that China is the worlds most competitive smartphone market, with the largest number of handset vendors.

For any new player which wants to scale up rapidly, such as LeEco, it has no other choice but to poach experienced talent from established companies, Xiang added.

In 2016, Huawei shipped 139 million handsets, up 29 per cent year-on-year, International Data Corp said.

Huaweis stellar growth has lured rivals to vie for its talent with handsome salary packages, the Daily report said.

Last year, a string of ex-Huawei senior executives joined LeEco and CoolPad. Liu Jiangfeng, the former president of Huaweis smartphone sub-brand Honor, took the helm of CoolPads smartphone business in August.

Last month, Ren Zhengfei, founder and CEO of Huawei, said at an internal meeting that the company would step up staff management and crackdown on corruption and bribery.

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New Delhi:

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 has received tremendous response from Indian users after it went on sale on Monday. In a press statement, the Chinese company has revealed that 250,000 units of Redmi Note 4 were sold in 10 minutes in the smartphones first sale.

A Successor to the hugely popular Redmi Note 3, the Redmi Note 4 has got a launch in Indian market with 3 different variants. As expected, Redmi Note 4s price starts from Rs 9,999 for the 2GB RAM variant, while it can go well to Rs 14,999 for the 4GB RAM model.

Xiaomi features the powerful Snapdragon 625 processor with 25 per cent more powerful battery. It runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow platform.

Lets check out what we can expect from Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 in terms of features and specifications:

The all new Redmi Note 4 retains the 5.5-inch Full HD (1080x1920 pixels) display as the Redmi Note 3. The screen has a 2.5D curved glass display with pixel density of 401ppi.

The chipset is backed by a powerful Snapdragon 625 processor with all three variants supporting expandable storage up to 128GB.

With a classic good looking metal built, Redmi Note 4 supports USB Type-C port and fast charging. Like other Xiaomi phones, Redmi Note 4 will also support hybrid SIM slot (Combination of either dual-SIM cards or one Micro-SIM and one microSD card).

With a fingerprint scanner, Redmi Note 4 comes with a 13-megapixel camera on the back. On the front, it will be armed with a 5-megapixel shooter with infra red sensor.

Redmi Note 4 will also have a few other important connectivity options such as GPRS/ EDGE, 3G, 4G with VoLTE, Bluetooth, GPS, and GLONASS. It is also backed by a 4100mAh battery.

With three existing colour options- Gold, Silver and Grey on other Redmi Note phones, the Redmi Note 4 will sport a brand news colour- Matte Black with a classy finish.

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New Delhi:

The 24-year-old man who had rammed his BMW into an Uber cab, killing its driver, in south Delhis Munirka on Sunday, has been released on bail.

While the accused, Shoaib Kohli, had denied driving in an inebriated condition and said that the Uber driver, Nazrul, had applied brakes suddenly, he admitted that he was driving at close to 120/km/hr, since he wanted to reach his friends house in Vasant Vihar fast.

The offences he was charged with are bailable, said a senior police officer.

Nazrul, who was on the first day of his job, was killed on Sunday night after Shoaibs BMW had rammed into his WagonR near Munirka flyover.

ALSO READ | Delhi: Speeding BMW car crashes into cab in Munirka, one dead

The accused was arrested yesterday and was released on bail. Nazruls family left for his hometown Murshidabad in West Bengal for his last rites.

During questioning, Kohli had told police that after the incident he had run away fearing that he may be lynched by the mob, the police had said.
New Delhi:

The national capital has been brought under ground-to-air security cover in view of intelligence inputs that terror groups might try to attack VVIPs through air.

Thousands of armed personnel have been keeping a tight vigil for the Republic Day celebrations here and police is using anti-drone technology to thwart any aerial attack.

In view of recent intelligence inputs that terror groups like LeT might be planning to use helicopter charter services and charter flights to launch an attack through air, Delhi Police along with other security agencies are keeping a tight vigil.

This time, police will use anti-drone technology to thwart any attack or identify any suspicious flying object, a senior police officer said.

Apart from this, security personnel will be stationed atop tall buildings with anti-aircraft guns. CCTV cameras have been installed and control rooms have been set up to monitor the feed from the cameras, the officer said.

Watch | Akshay Kumar suggests best way to salute soldiers ahead of Republic Day

The advisory that has been issued to security agencies states that it is imperative for the security forces to be familiar with the range of threats for devising appropriate counter means since the use of conventional weapons by the terrorist and criminal groups is a part of an ongoing process to develop new techniques and tactics.

Security forces have also been asked to ensure that proper frisking and checking of police personnel and other personnel is carried out since there is a possibility that terrorists may disguise themselves as security personnel.

According to the advisory issued to security agencies, terrorists may use uniform of security forces for fidayeen attack and there should be adequate arrangements made for identification and frisking of personnel who are part of the celebrations.

Security agencies have also been warned that some Muslim extremist organisations are planning 9/11 type of attacks using aeroplanes carrying personnel and weapons on board.

Keeping in view the intelligence inputs, police is maintaining a tight vigil at strategic locations. All the market places have been put on tight vigil and Delhi Police teams are carrying out security audits along with dog squads of key market areas.

Apart from deployment of armed personnel at strategic points, police have also ensured that CCTV cameras are installed at key locations. Meetings are being held to decide on the security arrangements and leaves of police personnel have been cancelled.

The entire Central and New Delhi region will have nearly 50,000 security personnel drawn from Delhi Police and Central security forces guarding every nook and corner.

Various security layers have been put in place and Delhi Police personnel along with paramilitary and NSG commandos have been deployed.
New Delhi:

Thousands of Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel will be keeping a tight vigil on Republic Day in the national capital on Thursday with special emphasis on neutralising air-borne threats in view of intelligence inputs.

Special arrangements have been made at the historic Rajpath where President Pranab Mukherjee, who is the supreme commander of armed forces, will be witnessing nation's military might that will be on display.

The entire Central and New Delhi region will have nearly 50,000 security personnel drawn from Delhi Police and Central security forces guarding every nook and corner.

In view of recent intelligence inputs that terror groups like LeT might be planning to use helicopter charter services and charter flights to launch attack through air, Delhi Police along with other security agencies are keeping a tight vigil.

Police are using anti-drone technology to thwart any attack or identify any suspicious flying object, a senior police officer said.

Apart from this, security personnel will be stationed atop tall buildings with anti-aircraft guns.

CCTV cameras have been installed and control rooms have been set up to monitor the feed from the cameras, the officer said.

The advisory that has been issued to security agencies states that "it is imperative for the security forces to be familiar with the range of threats for devising appropriate counter means" since the use of conventional weapons by the terrorist and criminal groups is a part of an ongoing process to develop new techniques and tactics.

Security forces have also been asked to ensure that proper frisking and checking of police personnel and other personnel is carried out since there is a possibility that terrorists may disguise themselves as security personnel.

According to the advisory, "terrorists may use uniform of security forces for fidayeen attack" and there should be adequate arrangements made for identification and frisking of personnel who are part of the celebrations.

Security agencies have also been warned that some Muslim extremist organisations are planning 9/11 type of attacks using airplanes carrying personnel and weapons on board.

No landing or take-off of any commercial flight will be allowed from IGIA in New Delhi between 10:35 to 12:15pm on January 26.
New Delhi:

Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor is all set to set the screens on fire with his upcoming movie 'Rangoon'.

He will be seen playing the role of an army man Nawab Malik and got the tinselvile talking with his intense appearance in the trailers.

And now Sasha has once again grabbed the eyeballs as he shared a still of himself from 'Rangoon' boasting his fierce look as Nawab Malik.

In the picture, Shahid is seen dressed as a soldier at war with an aggressive expression on his face.

Kapoor captioned the image as "24th Feb", which happens to be the release date of 'Rangoon'.

24th Feb. A photo posted by Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) on Jan 23, 2017 at 10:43pm PST

A

Helmed by Vishal Bhardwaj, 'Rangoon' is set in a backdrop of World War II.

The movie also stars Kangana Ranaut and Saif Ali Khan in key roles.

Interestingly, this is the first time Shahid is working with Saif and Kangana.

While Sasha has shared a great camaraderie with Saif, there were reports of his tiff with the 'Queen' actress.

It was reported that Shahid had refused to promote 'Rangoon' with Kangana.

However, he cleared the air saying, aThere are no issues between me and Kangana. I also read a report that we might not promote the film together. (But) there is no problem. I will promote the film whenever, wherever happily with Kangana and Saif (Ali Khan), who is also a very big part of the film.a

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Chandigarh:

Taking serious note of the circulation of a fake letter on social media, AAP today filed a complaint with the Election Commission seeking its recommendation to DGP Punjab to register criminal case against those who are behind it.

In his complaint to the Election Commission, Convener of Human Rights Cell of AAP, Navkiran Singh said through social media a letter purportedly written by in-charge of AAPs affairs in Punjab Sanjay Singh, to the partys national convener Arvind Kejriwal has come to the partys notice, which has been found to be fake.

In the fake letter, Sanjay Singh was allegedly quoted as saying that Congress is strong on 69 seats and leading on 11 seats. It also cited him as suggesting Arvind Kejriwal to reduce the number of his rallies in Punjab and bring local leaders to the fore.

The fake letter in circulation is highly malicious and fictitious and may be the handiwork of opposition parties to mislead innocent voters of Punjab, AAP said in a statement here.

In his complaint to the Chief Election Commissioner, Navkiran said, We request you to refer the matter to the DGP Punjab to get the matter investigated and to get a case registered under the relevant provisions of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for offence of forgery etc.

Since the letter has been forged in order to jeopardise free and fair elections, urgent action is required in this regard, the party said in its complaint.

However, Sanjay Singh took to Twitter to blame poll strategist Prashant Kishors team, deployed by Congress, for allegedly circulating the fake letter.

READ: FULL ELECTION COVERAGE

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New Delhi:

Reaching out to Punjabis in their own language, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has vowed not to spare those involved in the 2015 alleged desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib at Faridkots Bargari village.

An audio message to this effect, where Kejriwal is heard speaking chaste Punjabi, has been issued by the Aam Aadmi Party across social media platforms.

The message, where the AAP chief begins speaking with the Punjabi salutation Sat Sri Akal, is also being disseminated through IVR (Interactive Voice Response) to reach people through the cellular network.

One year ago Sri Guru Granth Sahib was disrespected in Bargari. People who were behind it have not been caught yet. After jhaadu wali party (AAP) comes to power we will punish them in a way like no one else so that they dare not repeat it again...disrespect of any religious book wont be tolerated, Kejriwal says.

Last week, the first such audio was released by AAP as part of a planned audio and video onslaught, featuring Kejriwal, in the last leg of the campaigning before the state goes to polls on February 4.

We plan to reach out to each and every voter of Punjab, a party member said.

In that message, Kejriwal reiterated his promise to jail Punjab Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, alleging his involvement in drug trade.

In Punjab, AAP is involved in a triangular contest against the incumbent SAD-BJP combine and the Congress, who have often branded Kejriwal as an outsider, which AAPs latest reach out addresses.

Punjab was caught in a spiral of violence following the Faridkot incident in October 2015.

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New Delhi:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has received death threats on his official e-mail following which Police Commissioner Alok Verma has been approached by the city government to look into the matter.



Sources in the Delhi government said the death threat was sent to Kejriwal through email yesterday as well as today.



Delhi Home Secretary S N Sahay has apprised Police Commissioner Verma about the threat and requested him to look into it urgently.

Sahay has also forwarded the threat emails to the police commissioner, sources said.



The sender of the mails has not disclosed identity. There was no immediate comment from police.

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New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a special gesture received Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the airport in New Delhi.

UAE Crown Prince will be the chief guest at this year's Republic Day parade. Al Nahyan, also the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE armed forces, arrived on Tuesday on a three-day visit to India.

Apart from bilateral talks between the two leaders, a Strategic Cooperation Agreement along with more than a dozen pacts is on the cards.

Modi and Nahyan will hold the one-on-one meeting at the Prime Minister's official residence on Wednesday before proceeding to Hyderabad House for delegation-level talks.

ALSO READ | Special gesture: UAE Crown Prince received by PM Modi at airport, to be chief guest at Republic Day parade

India is also hoping to sign an MoU between their investment fund and our National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF) which will put in place a framework as to how the fund will be administered and which all sectors it can be invested in, according to reports.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince is also expected to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice- President Hamid Ansari.

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New Delhi:

President Pranab Mukherjee supported simultaneous elections to Parliament and Assemblies on Wednesday apart from backing the demonetisation drive, two issues on which the central government has focused its attention. He asked the Election Commission to carry forward the idea of simultaneous polls in consultation with political parties.

In his Republic Day eve address to the Nation, the President also asserted that the countrys strength lies in is pluralism and diversity and that India has traditionally celebrated the argumentative Indian; not the intolerant Indian. Multiple views, thoughts and philosophies have competed with each other peacefully for centuries in our country. A wise and discerning mind is necessary for democracy to flourish, he said.Mukherjee underlined that strengths of India democracy but cautioned against disruptions in Parliament and State Assemblies.We have a noisy democracy. Yet, we need more and not less of democracy, he said.

Also Read: President Pranab's speech on eve of 68th Republic Day: 'India's economy has been performing well despite challenging global conditions'

Full text of President Pranab Mukherjee's speech on the eve of 68th Republic Day



But, he said, it is right time to acknowledge that systems are not perfect and those imperfections have to be recognised and rectified.The settled complacencies have to be questioned. The edifice of trust has to be strengthened. The time is also ripe for a constructive debate on electoral reforms and a return to the practise of the early decades after independence when elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies were held simultaneously.It is for the Election Commission to take this exercise forward in consultation with political parties, Mukherjee said.

Also Read: President Pranab: Simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls can reduce expenditure

The President said the depth and breadth of Indian democracy sparkles in the regular elections being held in panchayati raj institutions.And yet, our legislatures lose sessions to disruptions when they should be debating and legislating on issues of importance. Collective efforts must be made to bring the focus back to debate, discussion and decision-making, he said.

On demonetisation, the President said it may have led to temporary slowdown in economy but will bring more transparency in the system.Demonetisation, while immobilising black money and fighting corruption, may have led to temporary slowdown of economic activity. As more and more transactions become cashless, it will improve the transparency of the economy, Mukherjee said.

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New Delhi:

Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel will keep a tight vigil on Republic Day in the national capital on Thursday with an eye on the movement of animals as intelligence inputs claim that they might be used as suicide bombers by terror groups. Delhi Police was sent a special advisory on Wednesday informing them that terror groups might use animals to target crowded areas like important installations, railway stations, etc, to create a panic situation.

While the Delhi Police was earlier issued an advisory stating that terror groups might use new techniques, they received a special advisory warning of this kind of an attack on Wednesday. The advisory has been issued by Special Cell of Delhi Police and has asked personnel to keep a track of stolen pets since terror groups might have stolen them to carry out terror strikes.

Also Read: 68th Republic Day: Dubai's iconic Burj Khalifa glows with Indian National flag colours

Special arrangements have been made at the historic Rajpath where President Pranab Mukherjee, who is the supreme commander of armed forces, will be witnessing the nations military might that will be on display. The entire Central and New Delhi region will have nearly 60,000 security personnel drawn from Delhi Police and Central security forces guarding every nook and corner.

Also Read: President's speech on eve of Republic Day: Pranab Mukherjee backs demonetisation, simultaneous polls and debate on electoral reforms

Muksh Kumar Meena, special commissioner of police, New Delhi range said, There is foolproof security in place. Senior officers of Delhi Police will be patrolling the area while borders have been sealed. 

In view of recent intelligence inputs that terror groups like LeT might be planning to use helicopter charter services and charter flights to launch attack through air, Delhi Police along with other security agencies are keeping a tight vigil.Police is using counter-drone technology to thwart any attack or identify any suspicious flying object, a senior police officer said.

Also Read: Republic Day parade: Delhi under tight security cover, emphasis on neutralising air-borne threats

Apart from this, security personnel will be stationed atop tall buildings with anti-aircraft guns. CCTV cameras have been installed and a special control room has been set up where the feed will be monitored by Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel, the officer said.The advisory that has been issued to security agencies states that it is imperative for the security forces to be familiar with the range of threats for devising appropriate counter means since the use of conventional weapons by the terrorist and criminal groups is a part of an ongoing process to develop new techniques and tactics.

Security forces have also been asked to ensure that proper frisking and checking of police personnel and other personnel is carried out since there is a possibility that terrorists may disguise themselves as security personnel.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Srinagar:

Security forces on Tuesday gunned down two foreign militants belonging to outfit in Kashmir and claimed to have achieved a major success, saying the slain terrorists had been directed by their Pakistan-based mentors to carry out attacks on the eve of the Republic Day.

Security forces launched an anti-militancy operation in the wee hours in Hadoora area of Ganderbal district, 25 km from Srinagar, following information about presence of militants in the area, an army official said.

He said as the security forces were closing in on the position of the militants, the latter opened fire on the troops who retaliated.

In the ensuing gunbattle, two militants were killed, he said, adding they were identified as Abu Anas and Abu Ali, both foreigners associated with the Lashkar outfit.

The official said two AK assault rifles, ammunition and hand grenade were recovered from the possession of the slain militants.

It (killing of militants) is a good success for the security forces especially as it comes ahead of the January 26 (Republic Day), he said.

This is the second major encounter in Kashmir this year. Earlier on January 16, security forces killed three local militants in an encounter in Pahalgam area of south Kashmir.

A police spokesman said the slain duo were active in Srinagar-Ganderbal area for the past three years and had been recently directed by their mentors in Pakistan to carry out attacks on security forces and civilians on the eve of Republic Day.

These slain militants were transporting newly infiltrated groups from one place to another and were managing safe places and hideouts for them, the spokesman said.

They were recently directed by mentors in Pakistan to carry out attack on security forces/civilians on the eve of forthcoming Republic Day celebration 2017 in district Ganderbal and Srinagar, he added.

Giving further details, the spokesman, They (slain militants) were operating in District Srinagar and Ganderbal areas since January 22,2013 and had recently started coordinating with Hizbul Mujhaideen.

They were involved in the killing of a civilian Abdul Ahad Dar in Gusoo area of Zakoora on May 5, 2015.

They were involved in Fidayeen attack on August 15, 2016 at Nowhatta in which a commandant of CRPF Pramod Kumar and a police constable of J&K police Rouf Ahmad were martyred.

They were also involved in the attack on SSB convoy at Zakoora Srinagar on October 14, 2016 in which one SSB Jawan was martyred and seven SSB personnel and a police constable were injured, he added.

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New Delhi:

Twitter is buzzing with news alerts from India and rest of the world. Here are the latest updates from the micro-blogging site in one scroll:

#10:19PM

Rahul Dravid declines Bangalore University Hon. degree, says would like to earn doctrate by accomplishing some academic research in sport

#9:47PM

Congress releases second list of 25 candidates for UP elections

#9:16PM

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal receives death threats through e-mail.Police verifying information

#9:00PM

Special and privileged strategic partnership with India is an invariable priority in Russias foreign policy:President Putin to PM Modi

#8:51PM

SEBI bars Vijay Mallya and six others from the securities market



#8:14PM

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met Vice President Hamid Ansari in Delhi

#8:11PM

J&K: Terrorists fire on a police picket in Kulgam district.No casualties- ANI

#8:06PM

Delhi: Rashtrapati Bhavan illuminated ahead of Republic Day- ANI

#7:55PM

Death toll in Mogadishu hotel attack rises to 28- AFP



#6:15PM

Burj Khalifa to be lit up in tri-colour to mark India's Republic Day

#5:41PM

Former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma & Sunder Lal Patwa among eminent persons selected for Padma Vibhushan posthumously- PTI

#5:34PM

Lieutenant General Abhay Krishna, took over command of South Western Command of Indian Army at a ceremony held in Jaipur

#5:23PM

Such a move can reduce inconvenience in terms of expenditure and management: President Pranab Mukherjee

#5:22PM

If initiative is taken by Election Commission and political parties arrive at a consensus, reform is possible: President Pranab Mukherjee

#5:21PM

There has been some talk about simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies in political circles: President Pranab Mukherjee

#5:00PM

Virat Kohli,Shekar Naik(Captain,Indian Blind Cricket Team),Sakshi Malik to be awarded Padma Shri; Sharad Pawar to be awarded Padma Vibhushan- ANI

#4:35PM

15%-20% decrease in number of accidents. Cases of derailment of trains being investigated: Mohd. Jamshed (Member Traffic Railway Board)

#3:58PM

Today the world economy has slowed down, only bright spot according to World Bank, World Economic Forum is India: Union Min Venkaiah Naidu

#3:59PM

Priyanka Gandhi scoffs at VinayKatiyar for his remarks, says it exposes BJP's mindset towards better half of country population- PTI

#3:25PM

NCW issues notice to Sharad Yadav over derogatory remark on women

#3:14PM

Firing between 2 groups of BJP workers at a meeting being addressed by BJP leader Yashpal Arya in Uttarakhand

#3:10PM

20 people to be awarded Padma Shri including Paralympic Gold medallist Mariyappan Thangavelu and Gymnast Dipa Karmakar

#2:57PM

It is very important issue. Kambala is a must, government should give permission: Former Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa

#3:15 PM

Udhampur (J&K):Traffic on national highway suspended due to fresh snowfall



#3:10 PM

20 people to be awarded Padma Shri including Paralympic Gold medallist Mariyappan Thangavelu and Gymnast Dipa Karmakar (ANI)

#3:00 PM

Olympian Dipa Karmakar among awardees of PadmaShri this year: MHA (PTI)

#2:32 PM

Jawahar Bagh incident: Next hearing on 6 Feb in Allahabad High Court (ANI)

#2:28 PM

Heavy to very heavy snowfall warning in parts of Jammu & Kashmir & Himachal Pradesh for next two days: Charan Singh (ANI)

#2:15 PM

Popular pop singer Hema Sardesai resigns as special icon for Goa Legislative Assembly election. (PTI)

#2:12 PM

US President Trump reiterated that relation between Indian & US will continue to remain strong: Ram Madhav, BJP on PM's conversation with US President (ANI)

#2:10PM

PM Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, Arun Jaitley & Manohar Parrikar among 40 star campaigners to campaign in Uttarakhand polls. (PTI)

#2:02 PM

1984 anti-Sikh riots case: SIT files petition in Delhi High Court against bail granted to senior Cong leader Sajjan Kumar by a Lower Court (ANI)

#2:01 PM

Sonamarg (J&K) avalanche: One army officer martyred, 8 army men safely rescued. (ANI)

#1:53 PM

At least seven killed in Mogadishu hotel attack: police (AFP)

#1:52 PM

Lakhimpur (Uttar Pradesh): UP CM Akhilesh Yadav speaking at a public rally in Nighasan (ANI)

#1:50 PM

Our shared concern on growing threat from #radicalisation and #terrorism is shaping our cooperation: PM (PTI)



#1:47 PM

Atrocious remarks show petty & lowly mindset of BJP's leadership towards women of India. PM must apologise: RS Surjewala on Vinay Katiyar's statement (ANI)

#1:46 PM

Ganga river pollution: NGT asks stakeholders, whether interception of drains which are grossly polluting river Ganga is possible (ANI)

#1:43 PM

He exposes BJP's mindset towards the better half of the population of India: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's Office on Vinay Katiyar's statement (ANI)

#1:36 PM

We also feel that our growing engagement in countering violence and extremism is necessary for securing our societies: PM Modi (ANI)

#1:36 PM

Relief from cold wave conditions in Punjab & Haryana as minimum temperatures rise in both states, Chandigarh records a minimum of 13 deg C (PTI)



#1:35 PM

I thanked His Highness for allotting land for a temple for the Indian diaspora in Abu Dhabi: PM Modi (ANI)

#1:33 PM

We believe that our closer ties are of importance not just for our countries, but to our entire neighbourhood: PM Modi (ANI)

#1:32 PM

Security and defence cooperation have added growing new dimensions to our relationship, we have agreed to expand cooperation: PM Modi (ANI)

#1:31 PM

Knights of Malta chief resigns in condoms row with Pope: Vatican sources (AFP)

#1:30 PM

We regard UAE as an important partner in India's growth story, we welcome UAE's interest in investing in India's infra sector: PM Modi (ANI)

#1:29 PM

UAE is one of our most valued partners and a close friend, an important region of the world: PM Narendra Modi (ANI)

#1:28 PM

India and #UAE sign 13 pacts including one on strategic cooperation. (PTI)

#1:28 PM

No extension beyond 31st Jan will be given to switch off analog signals for Phase III of Cable TV Digitisation drive, says MIB India.(PTI)



#1:27 PM

I warmly recall our earlier meetings in August 2015, and in February last year. Our discussions were wide ranging: PM Modi (ANI)

#1:22PM

Delhi: Exchange of agreements take place, PM Modi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan present (ANI)



#1:16 PM

Twin blasts hit Mogadishu hotel, several journalists injured (AFP)

#1:16 PM

Operations at Srinagar airport suspended following heavy snowfall. (ANI)

#1:13 PM

Maruti Suzuki Q3 standalone net profit rises 47.46% to Rs 1,744.5 cr; total income up 13.06% at Rs 19,173.1 cr.(PTI)



#1:13 PM

One FICN trafficker arrested in Malda, West Bengal for his involvement in FICN smuggling in Kerala. (ANI)

#1:08 PM

Body of a jawan recovered after avalanche hits army camp in Sonamarg (J&K). Army sources say death toll could rise (ANI)

#1:00PM

All flights to Srinagar Airport cancelled following snowfall in Kashmir. (PTI)

#12:58 PM

Delegation level meeting underway between PM Modi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. (ANI)

#12:55 PM

Avalanche hits army camp in Sonamarg (J&K). Casualties feared. More details awaited. (ANI)

#12:51 PM

The businessmen who helped the 'achhe din wale', has suffered the maximum loss: UP CM (ANI)

#12:33 PM

PM Modi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan interact at the Hyderabad House Garden (ANI)

#12:29 PM

AugustaWestland: Delhi HC defers hearing on CBI plea seeking bail cancellation of SP Tyagi till Feb 1 (ANI)

#12:27 PM

SP-Congress will fight together and will get a majority in UP. If the hand can handle well, cycle will certainly run fast: UP CM (ANI)

#12:21 PM

'Achhe din wale' didn't do anything, instead made the public stand in queues: UP CM Akhilesh Yadav (ANI)

#12:19 PM

Mortar shell found near a Roadways bus stand in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh; investigation underway. (ANI)

#12:17 PM

It is well known that elections in Uttar Pradesh is not just state elections but is for the nation: UP CM Akhilesh Yadav (ANI)

#12:15 PM

UP CM Akhilesh Yadav addresses a public rally in Lakhimpur. (ANI)

#11:50 AM

Jammu and Kashmir: At least 4 people buried alive in a snow avalanche in Gurez sector, Bandipora district. More details awaited. (ANI)

#11:36 AM

Layer of shallow fog engulfs Delhi, causes delay of 26 north-bound trains & rescheduling of 4 others; minimum settles at 12.5 deg C (PTI)

#11:35 AM

NCW issues notice to senior JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav over his statement "Beti ki izzat se vote ki izzat badi hai" in Patna. (ANI)

#11:33 AM

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg. (ANI)

#11:29 AM

13 men in MP, who went for recruitment in Army, detained by RPF for pulling chain & creating an uproar in Jabalpur-Atari Exp. Case registered. (ANI)

#11:22 AM

JD (U) will not fight elections in Uttar Pradesh. (ANI)

#11:19 AM

Salman Khan Blackbuck poaching case: Jodhpur Court defers hearing in the case till January 27. (ANI)

#11:07 AM

Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat visits Manipur to review the security situation in the region. (ANI)

#10:59 AM

I didn't say anything wrong. One must have equal respect for votes and daughters in order to have a successful country and government: Sharad Yadav (ANI)

#10:57 AM

On National Voters' Day PM Narendra Modi urges people to register as voter & exercise their franchise. (PTI)

#10:55 AM

Sharad Yadav, JD(U) take a U-turn says, we must have equal respect for vote and daughters. (ANI)

#10:53 AM

A bench of the Supreme Court is expected to hear the petitions on Monday, Jan 30. (ANI)

#10:52 AM

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan signs visitor book, receives momento at Raj Ghat. (ANI)

#10:51 AM

Jallikattu case: Supreme Court decides to hear all petitions filed by Animal Welfare Board of India and other bodies challenging the law. (ANI)

#10:48 AM

Animal Welfare Board of India and other animal welfare bodies move to Supreme Court challenging the new Act allowing Jallikattu in TN. (PTI)

#10:42 AM

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. (ANI)

#10:39 AM

Srinagar-Jammu National Highway closed following heavy snowfall at the Jawahar Tunnel, Banihal area. (ANI)

#10:29 AM

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrives for ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan. (ANI)

#10:28 AM

PM Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee arrive at Rashtrapati Bhavan, ceremonial reception for Abu Dhabi Crown Prince to take place (ANI)

#10:25 AM

Prisoner killed, jailor, 2 guards, 9 inmates hurt at Sada sub jail in Goa. (PTI)

#10:19 AM

Chhattisgarh Armed Force jawan shot dead by colleague in Kanker district of the state. (ANI)

#10:15 AM

Higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district receive heavy snowfall (ANI)

#10:05 AM

Goa jailbreak attempt: Gangster Vinayak Korbatkar was killed by another inmate during the fight in the jail says DGP Muktesh Chander (ANI)

#10:02 AM

I haven't given any such statement, all what I said got misconstrued: UP BJP Chief Keshav Prasad Maurya on Ram Mandir (ANI)

#9:57 AM

I was just having my food, police came and started beating me up and a few others for no reason: Prisoner, Sada sub jail, Goa. (ANI)

#9:44 AM

Sensex 129.24 points up, currently at 27504.82. Nifty at 8516.40 (ANI)

#9:42 AM

Main issues for 2017 are governance, corruption. We want to weed out 'gundagardi' from UP, says BJP state Chief Keshav Prasad Maurya (ANI)

#9:40 AM

We will win more than 300 seats, and form Govt in Uttar Pradesh says UP BJP Chief Keshav Prasad Maurya (ANI)

#9:29 AM

Higher reaches in Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti districts of Himachal Pradesh witness heavy snowfall (ANI)

#9:20 AM

Collision between a truck and a school bus in Bihar's Darbhanga, at least 5 students injured; rushed to a hospital.(ANI)

#8:55 AM

Full dress rehearsal of Republic Day took place in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri yesterday. (ANI)

#8:38 AM

95-year-old Jal Devi standing as an independent candidate for upcoming UP assembly polls filed her nomination papers from Kheragarh, Agra. (ANI)

#8:34 AM

Airport Customs arrested a passenger (Bangladesh citizen) at Kolkata airport, seized a98,03,833 in Euro, Pound, Dirham and Riyal currencies (ANI)

#8:29 AM

Ram Mandir is more about our faith than just being an issue, says Keshav Prasad Maurya, UP BJP Chief (ANI)

#8:29 AM

Ram Mandir is not going to be built in two months, will be built after elections now, says Keshav Prasad Maurya, UP BJP Chief (ANI)

#8:23 AM

Home Minister Rajnath Singh to address election meetings in Sujanpur, Mukerian and Rajpura today. (ANI)

#8:07 AM

Had a warm conversation with President Donald Trump late last evening, have invited President Trump to visit India: PM Narendra Modi (ANI)

#8:03 AM

High alert has been sounded in Katra, J&K ahead of Republic Day, security tightened around Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. (ANI)

#7:53 AM

If a daughter loses her honour, just the neighbourhood will lose its honour. But if a vote gets sold, the entire country's honour will be at stake and the dream will not be accomplished: Sharad Yadav (ANI)



#7:51 AM

People need to be explained about ballot paper at a larger scale. Vote is more important than daughter's honour: Sharad Yadav, JDU (ANI)

#7:35 AM

Security tightened in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri ahead of Republic Day. (ANI)

#7:29 AM

Salman Khan to appear before Jodhpur court today in the Blackbuck poaching case. (ANI)

#7:20 AM

President Pranab Mukherjee to address the nation today on the eve of the 68th Republic Day. (ANI)

#7:16 AM

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to also meet President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari today. (ANI)

#7:15 AM

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to meet PM Modi today, exchange of agreements and press statement to follow. (ANI)

#6:55 AM

Hills burn in Vichuquen, Chile, which is battling devastating forest fires - frantic locals beg for help to save homes, animals, farms (AFP)

#6:28 AM

Trump to sign immigration actions Wednesday tightening border security; refugee restrictions to come later. (AP)

#6:27 AM

Nikki Haley confirmed as US envoy to United Nations (AFP)

#5:46 AM

Ruckus at Sada sub jail in Goa, atleast 45 prisoners attempt to flee. (ANI)

#5:27 AM

US President Donald Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the United States later this year. (ANI)

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New Delhi:

Suspecting the possibility of sabotage in the recent spate of train derailments, railway minister Suresh Prabhu has written to home minister Rajnath Singh seeking a detailed probe by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) into the incidents.

In a letter dated January 23 to the home minister, Prabhu sought an NIA probe into the recent spate of train mishaps and listed six incidents of "possibility of criminal interference by outsiders".

In the letter, Prabhu made a mention of Hirakhand Express derailment near Kuneru station in Andhra Pradesh, two goods trains that went off the track earlier this month on the Koraput-Kirandul section, "cooker bomb" at Ghorasahan station, detection of deep cuts on tracks near Kanpur on January 1 and the obstruction on tracks on a rail bridge between Barauni-Samastipur stations on Monday.

Citing the derailment of Indore-Patna Express in Kanpur in which around 150 people were killed, he said: "Bihar police unearthed a conspiracy to train some persons in the country to tamper with railway tracks to cause train derailments and (their) possible involvement in the accident near Kanpur." "Requesting all to be extra vigilant to foil nefarious designs of these anti-people elements trying to subvert system, dastardly inhuman acts(sic)," Prabhu tweeted on Wednesday.

The minister has also directed railway security personnel to be careful and asked the public to give information of any unusual activity by anti-national elements near stations to law enforcement agencies.

On January 1, Railway Protection Force director general SK Bhagat had written to the CBI requesting for a probe into the suspected involvement of outsiders in making deep cuts on tracks near Kalyanpur, Mandhana stations near Kanpur.

There is a marked increase in derailments in the recent past with strong indications of "outside interference" on track to derail trains on busy routes, according to railways.

A major mishap was averted on Tuesday night by an alert loco pilot of Jan Shatabdi Express who saw a 15-feet rail piece on the track and stopped the train near Diwa in Mumbai.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Washington:

Following the new US President Donald Trumps phone call, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that both of them agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen bilateral ties. Prime Minister also said that he had invited President Donald Trump to visit India.

Earlier, describing India as a true friend of the US, President Donald Trump also invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the country later this year, the White House said on Tuesday after both leaders spoke over phone and discussed issues such as trade, defence and terrorism.

Trump spoke to Modi on Tuesday night over phone, four days after he was sworn-in as the 45th President of America.

During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world, the White House said in a readout of the call.

President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the US later this year, the White House said.

Had a warm conversation with President @realDonaldTrump late last evening.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

President @realDonaldTrump and I agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

Have also invited President Trump to visit India.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2017

The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.

Besides this, they also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the US and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, the readout said.

After Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the November 8 general elections, Modi was among the first five world leaders to have congratulated Trump.

ALSO READ | US Senate confirms Nikki Haley as Ambassador to United Nations

During his gruelling election campaign, India is among the few countries in addition to Israel with whom Trump spoke of strengthening ties if elected to power.

On January 21, Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican Premier Pena Nieto.

On Sunday, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and on Tuesday he had a telephonic conversation with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Patna:

Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) has decided not to contest the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls so as to consolidate and strengthen secular forces and ensure that communal forces are defeated.



JD(U) national General Secretary K C Tyagi told reporters here that the decision to pull out of the UP Assembly polls was taken at the partys core committee meeting here yesterday.



The decision has been taken to defeat the communal forces and also to ensure no further division in secular votes takes place, he said.



Tyagi also expressed disappointment that a comprehensive alliance on the lines of grand-alliance in Bihar, where all secular forces joined hands to defeat the BJP, could not be formed. Samajwadi Party and Congress have, however, formed a pre-poll alliance in UP.



We are disappointed, surprised and hurt that both SP and Congress failed to form a grand alliance on the lines of Bihar that proved to be a milestone in nations politics. Bihars grand alliance was formed by the efforts of both Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad who buried their differences for a bigger objective, Tyagi said.



If we have to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, then it is necessary that BJP must be defeated in UP polls, he said.



The JD(U) general secretary said had RLD and JD(U) been accommodated in the grand alliance, it would have won 300 seats in the UP assembly.



He was accompanied by Water Resources Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, party National General Secretaries R C P Singh, Shyam Rajak, Sanjay Jha and others.



Asked if Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is also partys national president, would go to UP if invited by CM Akhilesh Yadav for campaigning, Ranjan Singh said he (Kumar) would not go to UP for campaigning.



We dont have much stake in UP, so we will pray from here (sitting in Patna) for them to win, Singh said.



Tyagi further expressed his disappointment that hard work put in by party workers in preparing grounds for UP assembly polls in five divisions where Kumar addressed some public meetings could not fructify.

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New Delhi:

TeamIndus has yet again made all the Indians proud as it has made it to the list of five finalists who will be competing in a $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE competition that requires them to land on the Moon and operate their unmanned robotic spacecrafts on the lunar surface.

The XPRIZE Foundation announced on Tuesday that five teams have been shortlisted for the competition. XPRIZE and Google also announced on Tuesday that a $1 million Diversity Prize will be distributed among 16 Google Lunar XPRIZE teams. Five teams have successfully verified launch contracts and are now moving forward to the final phase of the competition.

The foundation said that the contenders now require to launch their respective spacecraft until December 31. The competitors previously completed various activities on Moon, such as having their vehicles run 1,640 feet (500 meters) and broadcast HD video by the end of the year.

The Google Lunar XPRIZE contest was announced in 2007 following which 33 teams originally signed up to compete for the $20 million first prize.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, has also created a documentary series about the Lunar XPRIZE competition. Japan's Hakuto will be carried bt Indian PSLV launcher along with TeamIndus.



The original 2012 deadline for the Google Lunar XPrize has been extended three times. However, contest organisers say they will now abide by the current timeline, according to which the teams are required to launch on or before December 31.

XPRIZE and Google have been awestruck by the educational outreach activities conducted by all of the competing teams and have decided to split the $1 million Diversity Prize across all 16 teams to recognize each of their unique approaches and initiatives over the years, said Chanda Gonzales-Mowrer, senior director, Google Lunar XPRIZE.

Each of these teams has pushed the boundaries to demonstrate that you dont have to be a government superpower to send a mission to the Moon, while inspiring audiences to pursue the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The following five teams have made it to the final phase of the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition:

1. SpaceIL (Israel): SpaceIL is a non-profit organisation and it will be traveling on board the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The aim of SpaceIL is to make an educational impact and to create Apollo Effect for the next generation in Israel.

2. Moon Express (USA): Moon Express has entered into a multi-mission launch contract with Rocket Lab USA for no less than three lunar missions by 2020. The goal is to open up the vast resources of the Moon for humanity. They also aim to establish new avenues for commercial space activities beyond the orbit of the Earth.

3. Synergy Moon (International): Team member Interorbital Systems will be the launch provider and will use a NEPTUNE 8 rocket to carry a lunar lander and rover to the Moon. Synergy Moon involves individuals from more than 15 countries. They aim at making manned orbital travel, personal satellite launches and Solar System exploration cost effective and accessible.

4. TeamIndus (India): TeamIndus entered into a commercial launch contract with the Indian Space Research Organizations Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). TeamIndus spacecraft will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

5. HAKUTO (Japan): HAKUTO will share a ride with TeamIndus that will carry the four-wheeled rover to the Moon on board the PSLV. Hakuto aims at exploring holes that are thought to be caves or skylights into underlying lava tubes, for the first time in history. This could result in important scientific discoveries and possibly identifying long-term habitats to shield humans from the Moons hostile environment.



What is Google Lunar XPRIZE?

The $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE is a competition that challenges and inspires engineers and entrepreneurs from around the world to develop low-cost methods of robotic space exploration.

In order to win the Google Lunar XPRIZE, a privately funded team is required to successfully place a rover on the surface of the moon. The rover should explore at least 500 meters and should be able to transmit high-definition video and images back to Earth.

About XPRIZE



XPRIZE designs and implements innovative competition models in order to solve the grandest challenges in the world. Active competitions include the $30M Google Lunar XPRIZE, the $20M NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, the $15M Global Learning XPRIZE, the $10M Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, the $7M Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, the $7M Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE, the $5M IBM Watson AI XPRIZE, the $1.75M Water Abundance XPRIZE and the $1M Anu & Naveen Jain Womens Safety XPRIZE.

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Dubai:

As the Abu Dhabi-based carrier struggles with investments in European airlines, Australian James Hogan is to standdown as head of the Etihad Airways group, the company said on Wednesday.

After piloting the state-owned Gulf airline through more than a decade of growth, Hogan will leave his post in the second half of 2017, Etihad Aviation Group said in a statement.

Hogan was the architect of a strategy that saw Etihad buy significant stakes and make major investments in other airlines, notably Air Berlin and the long-struggling Alitalia.

But Etihad Aviation Group chairman Mohamed al-Mazrouei said it was time for a company-wide review, following continued cash injections into Etihad's partners.

"We must progress and adjust our airline equity partnerships even as we remain committed to the strategy, "Mazrouei said in the statement.

"We must ensure that the airline is the right size and the right shape."

Hogan's approach was in stark contrast to the strategies of fellow Gulf airlines Emirates, based in Dubai, and QatarAirways, which instead invested in developing their own services.

It saw Etihad spend hundreds of millions on stakes in foreign airlines, including acquisitions of 49 per cent ofAlitalia, 29 percent of Air Berlin, 19.9 percent of VirginAustralia and three per cent of Irish carrier Aer Lingus that it offloaded in 2015.



For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Washington :

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that the US will build its own pipeline and pipes, echoing his"America First" doctrine that could impact Indian Steel industry.

Given that Indian companies have been one of the major suppliers of steel pipes, this could have an impact on export of Indian steels to the US.

"We will build our own pipeline. We will build our own pipes. That's what it has to do with like we used to in the old days," Trump told reporters after he revived two oil pipeline projects blocked by his predecessor Barack Obama on environmental grounds.

Also Read: Aleppo war: 7-year-old Syrian girl blogger appeals US President Donald Trump for rescue of suffering children

Trump gave a conditional go-ahead to the Keystone XLpipeline -- which would carry oil from Canadian tar sands to US refineries on the Gulf Coast -- and an equally controversial pipeline crossing in North Dakota.

"I am very insistent that if we're going to build pipelines in the US, the pipes should be made in the US,"Trump said.

"So, unless there's difficulty with that because companies are going to have to sort of gear up -- much pipeline is bought from other countries. From now on, we're going to start making pipeline in the United States," he said.

Also Read: US man allegedly bites off housemate's ear in row over President Donald Trump's immigration policies

Trump rued that the regulatory process in the country has become a "tangled-up mess" and "very unfair" to people.

"This is about streamlining the incredibly cumbersome, long, horrible permitting process, and reducing regulatory burdens for domestic manufacturing," he said, signing another executive order.

"Many of the people that we've been meeting with over the last long period of time...the process is so long and cumbersome that they give up before the end. Sometimes it takes many, many years and we don't want that to happen," he asserted.



For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
When faced with the frustrating constraint of limited capital, many entrepreneurs contemplate venture capital (VC) as a potential solution. Armed with a compelling vision, marketplace traction and a high revenue growth rate, these businesspeople believe that the only thing standing in their way is their lack of cash to scale the organization. And, certainly, venture capital, approached with the right mindset, can unlock the potential in bootstrapped, fast-growth businesses.

Related: VC Funding Is a Pipe Dream, as Investors Pour Money Into Fewer Companies

I say that from personal experience: As the co-founder and CEO of Hireology, a talent technology company launched in 2010, Ive raised more than $26 million in venture capital from top-tier investors and experienced the incredible opportunities that having the right VC partners affords you.

However, I've also seen many peers' purusit of VC funding lead to harmful, even destructive, results. Before you consider raising outside capital, here are five things most entrepreneurs dont realize about the risks associated with raising venture capital:

1. Your business may not be ready for rapid scaling.

Your new VC partner will expect you to immediately deploy your newly raised capital. Most VC rounds give the company 18 to 24 months of runway. And you may think you understand your customer acquisition model -- after all, you didnt get to this point by not selling things to customers. But, when you double or triple the size of your sales and marketing operations in three to six months, you'll find out quickly whether or not your model was ready for prime time.

The worst-case scenario occurs when you invest heavily in ramping up your customer acquisition operation, but the additional sales dont come fast enough. At a minimum, if you arent getting $1 of revenue growth from each dollar of investment, youre not getting the job done.

My company was in this situation in 2014 after raising our first institutional round. We ramped the team, and revenue was increasing, but not efficiently enough. We were spending $1.40 for each $1 of revenue growth. It didnt take much analysis to realize that the path we were on wasnt working well, so we retrenched to get ourselves back on track and get our selling model right.

2. You are on your investors time line, not your own.

A typical VC fund raises money from investors, such as university endowments, insurance companies and family offices -- and that fund typically has a lifespan of 10 years. That means the VC has approximately a decade to make back all of his or her investments and harvest the returns so investors down the line can be paid back on time.

The rule of thumb for a newly raised venture fund is that VCs will deploy capital for the first five years of the fund and harvest their returns during the second five years of the fund. Your venture capital partner will be facing all kinds of pressure to return capital to investors as that 10-year mark draws closer; and that pressure may be directed squarely at you.

In the most common scenario, your VC could look to force a sale of your company sooner than youd like in order to meet his or her funds investment targets. When your VC decides that its time to sell, theres not a lot you can do to change this person's mind.

A prominent example of this dynamic played out when Sequoia Capital forced Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh to sell his company to Amazon rather than go for an IPO. Despite the fact that Hsieh had brought the company to $1 billion in revenue and what was reportedly $40 million in EBITDA, his investor forced the sale.

3. You might not get along with your new boss.

One of the biggest changes that entrepreneurs fail to anticipate is the impact a professional investor makes on your ability to run the company. Venture capital investors will almost always rework your companys governance structure to give themselves one or more board seats. Its not uncommon for a large venture investor to hold two seats on a five-member board of directors.

As CEO, youre going to be accountable to this group for your results. For many entrepreneurs, thats a new experience, as theyve gotten used to doing pretty much what they want to do, without formal oversight.

Related: Making Your Pitch for VC Funding Means Facing a Very Tough Crowd

Indeed, post-investment, its pretty much guaranteed that major issues with your company are going to arise. Perhaps sales growth is slowing or customers are churning at too high a rate. Are you working with a venture partner who is patient and helpful and approaches problems from an operators mindset?

Or, your venture partner may be treating you as a loan officer from a bank would: He or she is all about the numbers, leaving you little to no margin for error, and hesitant to make big, bold bets. Its those moments where you realize that you should have vetted your VC partner more closely before deciding to ink the deal.

You could now be facing years of misery ahead of you.

When youre raising venture capital, then, understand that money is a commodity. What really matters is what you get in addition to the money. Is your new investor bringing you industry contacts, specialized expertise or connections to additional sales and marketing channels? Is the VC able to invest the appropriate amount of time thinking about your company in order to make an impact; or is your company one of 15 boards the VC company sits on?

What's most important: Do your VCs help create a positive board culture?

The quality of your board meetings is directly tied to the culture of your board of directors. In my view, a positive board culture is one in which members -- including the founder/CEO -- are free to speak their minds and highlight the challenges and opportunities being observed.

When the board culture is positive, members are focused on listening and adding value to the conversation. In a negative board culture, fear and one-upmanship drive the discussion; one or more members pay more attention to getting what they want out of the meeting, versus making the best decisions on the company's behalf.

As Sandy Lerner, the co-founder of internet pioneer Cisco Systems, famously said: "I did not understand an investor could be an adversary. I assumed our investor supported us, because his money was tied up in our success. I did not realize he had decoupled the success of the company from that of the founders." Lerner was subsequently fired by Don Valentine, one of Cisco's early investors, just after the company went public.

4. Your VC doesnt want anything but a grand slam.

Being a venture capital investor is tough business. Out of every 10 investments made, one or two must have an exit large enough to pay for the other eight or nine investments that fail to meet expectations. Shikhar Ghosh, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, has calculated that a whopping 90 to 95 percent of venture-backed startups fail to beat their declared projections.

Thus, venture investors are going to push every single one of their portfolio company CEOs to swing for the fences. Mediocre growth doesnt give investors the returns they need to keep their job as a VC, so theres little incentive for them to accept anything other than an all-or-nothing strategy with each company.

Its better for them to have a strikeout than a single because the only way to hit grand slams is to push portfolio companies to swing as hard as they can.

So, what does that mean? Heres a scenario: Youre one year into your relationship with your new VC investor and things are good, but not great. Youve grown the companys revenue 40 percent in the last year, but nowhere near the 150 percent your original plan projected you to achieve.

Youre thinking that, since you have only nine months of cash left on the books, the smart thing to do is scale back your burn rate and continue to grow at 40 percent. Your VC, on the other hand, tells you to increase your burn rate to ramp up your growth, to increase the likelihood that you'll attract additional financing. Even though you know that its likely your company will run out of cash as a result, theres not much you can do.

If you manage, by some miracle, to get your growth rate back over 100 percent and thread the needle with an additional round of financing, youve made it through the gauntlet. If you fail to hit the numbers, your VC will cut losses and focus on the rest of his or her portfolio companies, whose CEOs are getting the job done.

5. You are putting your payout at risk.

When VCs invest in your company, they structure the investment with preferred stock. This class of stock carries all sorts of preferences for the venture investor, including a liquidation preference. This dictates how much money must be returned to the investor before you, as a common shareholder, see a single penny.

Here's another example: Your company raised $10 million from a venture investor. That venture investor has written into your agreement that he will get two times his investment back before common shareholders see any proceeds from a sale. This is called a two-times liquidation preference, and it means that you owe your investors $20 million before you see a dime.

If you hit that grand slam and sell your company for $100 million, youre in great shape: Your investors will get their $20 million and you'll get to split $80 million with the rest of the shareholders. However, if you hit a snag and are forced to sell the company for $18 million, guess what? Your investor will get all $18 million, and you'll get nothing. Unfortunately, this is one of the more likely outcomes for companies that have raised VC funding.

Related: VC 100: The Top Investors in Early-Stage Startups

It's also yet another reason to be very, very careful about whom you choose for a VC partnership, if in fact you need one at all.

Related:

5 Ways Venture Capital Can Steal Your Dream

How 3 Entrepreneurs Convinced an NBA Star to Invest

3 Shifts That Signify Where Venture Capital Is Headed This Year



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
TORONTO, Jan. 25, 2017 /CNW/ - "Only a week and a half into a legal strike against Molson Coors Canada and we can already see that the company is preparing to bring in replacement workers," says Rob Folk, President of the Canadian Union of Brewery and General Workers, Component 325.

On January 12, the company forced workers to strike by pushing an offer at the bargaining table that would gut the collective agreement by attacking retirement security and health and welfare benefits for working families.

"There was no room for negotiations," said Folk. "Molson Coors Canada representatives adopted a "take-it-or-leave-it" approach. There's always give and take in negotiations but this was take, take, take."

"This is a multi-million dollar corporation fighting 320 of its own workers," said Folk. "We're looking for a decent contract that allows us to pay our bills, raise our families, and have some security for our future."

"Union busting does not represent the values of Canadians," continue Folk. "Our members have been loyal workers who take pride in their work, brewing good beer for the country. This kind of tactic will not put a dent in our spirits or in our commitment to get back to work."

"Molson Coors Canada is looking to increase its already massive dividends, while we're just trying to make a living," said Folk.

"We would like to see the Liberals make anti-scab legislation a priority to protect workers from being stomped on by multi-national companies," said Larry Brown, President of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), of which CUBGW is a Component.

The Ontario government has been reviewing the province's labour legislation in order to make improvements to the system.

About the National Union of Public and General Employees: The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 370,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE

SOURCE NATIONAL UNION OF PUBLIC AND GENERAL EMPLOYEES

To view this news release in HTML formatting, please use the following URL: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2017/25/c5257.html

For further information: Media contact: Rob Folk, CUBGW President 1-416-875-1229 (cell)

Related Links

http://www.nupge.ca


TORONTO, Jan. 25, 2017 /CNW/ - Plenary Health CAMH is the preferred proponent to design, build, finance and maintain the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Phase 1C redevelopment project.

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and CAMH selected Plenary Health CAMH after extensive evaluations following an open, fair and competitive request for proposals process that began in February 2016. The Plenary Health CAMH team includes:

Developer: Plenary Group ( Canada ) Ltd. and PCL Investments Canada Inc.

Design-Builder: PCL Constructors Canada Inc. ( Toronto )

Architect: Stantec Architecture Inc.

Facilities Management: ENGIE Services Inc. (formerly Cofely Services Inc.)

Financial Advisor: Plenary Group ( Canada ) Ltd.

IO and CAMH will now work to finalize contract details with Plenary Health CAMH. The project is expected to reach financial close in March 2017, which will mean that relevant contracts have been signed and a financing rate has been set. The contract cost will be announced publicly following financial close and construction is scheduled to begin in the fall.

The redevelopment project will see the construction of two modern buildings along Queen Street West in Toronto featuring inpatient and outpatient services for those most in need: people who are acutely ill as well as those experiencing the most complex forms of mental illness. The project will result in the construction of approximately 655,000 square feet of new build space, which will include:

inpatient and outpatient clinical services for people with complex mental illness, including emergency care and therapeutic support

research and educational facilities

information and resource facilities

The project includes the extension of roads, parks and green space improvements and restoration of the heritage wall around the facility.

Quick Facts

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Phase 1C project is one of 20 health care projects being managed by IO.

The project is expected to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED  ) Gold certification for design excellence and sustainability.

The project is being delivered using IO's Alternative Financing and Procurement model. Projects that are delivered using IO's Alternative Financing and Procurement model, have a track record of being 96 per cent on budget to date.

35 health care projects have been completed using the AFP model as of September 30, 2016

Ontario is making the largest infrastructure investment in hospitals, schools, public transit, roads and bridges in the province's history. To learn more about what's happening in your community, go to is making the largest infrastructure investment in hospitals, schools, public transit, roads and bridges in the province's history. To learn more about what's happening in your community, go to Ontario.ca/BuildON

Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care

"This is an exciting step forward in helping to provide more services and supports for those living with mental health and addictions issues. This project will integrate innovative treatment, research and education facilities with retail spaces, parks and the surrounding neighbourhood."

Bob Chiarelli, Minister of Infrastructure

"This announcement demonstrates our government's commitment to investing in modern health care infrastructure. This investment will provide residents of this province with modernized and accessible healthcare facilities, vital to those facing mental health and addiction illnesses."

Dr. Catherine Zahn, President and CEO, CAMH

"Phase 1C will be the largest and boldest phase of CAMH's redevelopment project to date. Two light-filled and environmentally friendly buildings will open the doors to our community even wider. They will create dignified spaces for our patients to receive care and support for recovery."

Ehren Cory, Divisional President, Project Delivery, Infrastructure Ontario

"This announcement signifies that we are now ready to negotiate with a preferred proponent for the CAMH Phase 1C project. We look forward to continuing to work with CAMH and begin construction on this project."

Infrastructure Ontario

CAMH

Building Ontario: Our Infrastructure Plan

Follow us

Twitter

YouTube

Disponible en francais

SOURCE Infrastructure Ontario

To view this news release in HTML formatting, please use the following URL: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2017/25/c3564.html

For further information: Media Contacts: Adam Cotter, Infrastructure Ontario, 416-212-0637; Sean O'Malley, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 416-595-6015
OTTAWA, Jan. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - Today, the Minister of Democratic Institutions, the Honourable Karina Gould, issued the following statement after the publication of the final report reflecting Canadians' participation in MyDemocracy.ca:

"The Government of Canada launched MyDemocracy.ca to engage as many Canadians as possible in the national conversation about electoral reform. I am pleased today to publicly release the findings from MyDemocracy.ca. I encourage Canadians to read the report.

I would like to thank the over 360,000 people in Canada who had their say about electoral reform through MyDemocracy.ca online or by phone. We are grateful so many people participated in this innovative, interactive application to help us build a stronger, healthier democracy. I would also like to thank Vox Pop Labs for their hard work in delivering MyDemocracy.ca and providing this final report to us.

We will carefully consider these findings as we move forward."

Stay Connected

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE Minister for Democratic Institutions

For further information: (media only), please contact: John O'Leary, Director of Communications, Office of the Minister of Democratic Institutions, 613-943-2044; Media Relations: Privy Council Office, 613-957-5420

Related Links

http://www.democraticinstitutions.gc.ca/


Solarflare offers customers the lowest latency networking solutions for electronic/high frequency trading and other financial services applications with its high-performance 10GbE server adapters and Onload application acceleration middleware. These products enable customers to leverage their existing Ethernet and IP infrastructures while achieving the absolute lowest latency with no need to modify applications.

The CTO of an equity trading firm, who agreed to talk with HPCwires sister pub EnterpriseTech anonymously, said his company has been a Solarflare customer for four years and that its IT department has validated Solarflares claims for TCPDirect of 20-30 nanoseconds latency.

Financial traders are in a race to make transactions ever faster. In todays high-tech exchanges, firms can execute more than 100,000 trades in a second for a single customer. This summer, London and New Yorks financial centres will become able to communicate 2.6 milliseconds (about 10%) faster after the opening of a transatlantic fibre-optic line dubbed the Hibernia Express, costing US$300 million. As technology advances, trading speed is increasingly limited only by fundamental physics, and the ultimate barrier  the speed of light.

Through glass optical fibres, information travels at two-thirds of the speed of light in a vacuum (300,000 kilometres per second). To go faster, data must travel through the air. Next up may be hollow-core fibre cables, through which light would travel in a tiny air gap at light speed.

High-frequency trading relies on fast computers, algorithms for deciding what and when to buy or sell, and live feeds of financial data from exchanges. Every microsecond of advantage counts. Faster data links between exchanges minimize the time it takes to make a trade; firms fight over whose computer can be placed closest; traders jockey to sit closer to the pipe. It all costs money  renting fast links costs around $10,000 per month.

Colocation beats the speed of light

Locating servers at major exchanges and as close as possible the actual computers that commit the trades.

A group of computers colocated with the exchange servers is optimal. Solarflare further shaves the trading latency

Solarflare is regarded as a partner that allows high frequency trading firms to focus on core competencies, rather than devoting in-house time and resources to lowering latency.

It used to be the case that there werent a lot of commercial, off-the-shelf products applicable to this space, he said. If one of our competitors wanted to do something like this for competitive advantage, Solarflare can do it better, faster, cheaper, so theyre basically disincentivized from doing so. In a sense this is leveling the playing field in our industry, and we like that because we want to do what were good at, rather than spending our time working on hardware. Were pleased when external vendors provide state-of-the-art technology that we can leverage.

TCPDirect is a user-space, kernel bypass application library that implements Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP), the industry standards for network data exchange, over Internet Protocol (IP). Its as part of Onload, Solarflares application acceleration middleware designed to reduce CPU utilization and increase message rates.

The latency through any TCP/IP stack, even written to be low-latency, is a function of the number of processor and memory operations that must be performed between the application sending/receiving and the network adapter serving it. According to Ahmet Houssein, Solarflare VP/marketing and strategic development, TCP/IPs feature-richness and complexity means implementation trade-offs must be made between scalability, feature support and latency. Independently of the stack implementation, going via the kernel imposes system calls, context switches and, in most cases, interrupts that increase latency.

SOURCES  Nature, Tradingmesh, Solarflare
A Kansas State University team of physicists has discovered a way to mass-produce graphene with three ingredients: hydrocarbon gas, oxygen and a spark plug.

Their method is simple: Fill a chamber with acetylene or ethylene gas and oxygen. Use a vehicle spark plug to create a contained detonation. Collect the graphene that forms afterward.

Chris Sorensen, Cortelyou-Rust university distinguished professor of physics, is the lead inventor of the recently issued patent, Process for high-yield production of graphene via detonation of carbon-containing material. Other Kansas State University researchers involved include Arjun Nepal, postdoctoral researcher and instructor of physics, and Gajendra Prasad Singh, former visiting scientist.

We have discovered a viable process to make graphene, Sorensen said. Our process has many positive properties, from the economic feasibility, the possibility for large-scale production and the lack of nasty chemicals. What might be the best property of all is that the energy required to make a gram of graphene through our process is much less than other processes because all it takes is a single spark.

Graphene is a single atom-thick sheet of hexagonally coordinated carbon atoms, which makes it the worlds thinnest material. Since graphene was isolated in 2004, scientists have found it has valuable physical and electronic properties with many possible applications, such as more efficient rechargeable batteries or better electronics.

the serendipitous path to creating graphene started when they were developing and patenting carbon soot aerosol gels. They created the gels by filling a 17-liter aluminum chamber with acetylene gas and oxygen. Using a spark plug, they created a detonation in the chamber. The soot from the detonation formed aerosol gels that looked like black angel food cake, Sorensen said.

But after further analysis, the researchers found that the aerosol gel was more than lookalike dark angel food cake  it was graphene.

We made graphene by serendipity, Sorensen said. We didnt plan on making graphene. We planned on making the aerosol gel and we got lucky.

But unlike other methods of creating graphene, Sorensens method is simple, efficient, low-cost and scalable for industry.

Other methods of creating graphene involve cooking the mineral graphite with chemicals  such as sulfuric acid, sodium nitrate, potassium permanganate or hydrazine  for a long time at precisely prescribed temperatures. Additional methods involve heating hydrocarbons to 1,000 degrees Celsius in the presence of catalysts.

Such methods are energy intensive  and even dangerous  and have low yield, while Sorensen and his teams method makes larger quantities with minimal energy and no dangerous chemicals.

The real charm of our experiment is that we can produce graphene in the quantity of grams rather than milligrams, Nepal said.

Now the research team  including Justin Wright, doctoral student in physics, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania  is working to improve the quality of the graphene and scale the laboratory process to an industrial level. They are upgrading some of the equipment to make it easier to get graphene from the chamber seconds  rather than minutes  after the detonation. Accessing the graphene more quickly could improve the quality of the material, Sorensen said.
[January 24, 2017] Neudesic Earns Nomination as Tableau Alliance Partner of the Year for Excellence in Deploying Transformative Data & Analytics Solutions

IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, at the Tableau Partner Leadership Summit, Neudesic announced that it has been nominated as Tableau Alliance Partner of the Year, highlighting its client solutions amongst the most innovative across the Tableau partner ecosystem. Since 2014, Neudesic and Tableau have partnered with leading enterprises across various industries to offer end-to-end data and analytics solutions that enable the formation of new business models, while helping to sustain market leadership. With Tableau's technology, Neudesic's innovation and thought leadership is rewarding clients with data-driven, customer-centric solutions that open new doors of potential across their organization. "Earning this nomination is proof that we are a recognized leader in helping clients transform their digital business. Our partnership with Tableau is a key contributor to Neudesic's ability to drive value and innovation for our clients. We look forward to strengthening our relationship with Tableau and reinforcing our positioning as a foremost provider of data and analytics solutions and services," said Neudesic's chief marketing officer, Mark Jones. eudesic's data and analytics talent, represented through the Predictive Enterprise Service Line, exploits the scale of the cloud, democratization of software, and growing compute power to shift an organization's data from a vast collection, to a profit generating or cost cutting realization.



"Every day at Neudesic, we innovate with passion and purpose to help our clients transform their business through the power of data and analytics. We are in a prime position to leverage technologies like Tableau 10 to promote self-service data blending while we also help clients maximize investments into real-time analytics and machine learning," said Orion Gebremedhin, director of technology, predictive enterprise solutions, Neudesic. "I want to thank Tableau for this nomination and for their ongoing technology partnership." For more information on Neudesic's Data and Analytics solutions, visit: www.neudesic.com

About Neudesic

Neudesic is the trusted technology partner in business innovation, delivering impactful business results to clients through digital modernization and evolution. Our consultants bring business and technology expertise together to drive enterprise performance through custom application solutions, comprehensive managed service, and intelligent products. Founded in 2002, Neudesic is a privately held company headquartered in Irvine, California, and serves clients globally from offices in the United States and India. For more information, visit www.neudesic.com. Media Contact Mike Rossi

Sr. Marketing Manager

[email protected]

Office: 949-754-4553 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/neudesic-earns-nomination-as-tableau-alliance-partner-of-the-year-for-excellence-in-deploying-transformative-data--analytics-solutions-300396115.html SOURCE Neudesic

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[January 24, 2017] Mobile Advertising Leader Kargo Expands into Asia Pacific Region

Kargo, the leader in mobile brand advertising, announces its expansion into the Asia Pacific region with the opening of its first Australian outpost in Sydney. New executive hires Robert Leach, Peter Birch and Rob Williams will play key roles in continuing to drive the company's international growth. The Sydney office marks Kargo's second global location outside of the U.S., following the 2016 launch of its flagship international office in London. The Surry Hills location is in the heart of Sydney's digital media district and will serve as a hub for clients and publishing partners in Australia and New Zealand. Kargo plans to continue its growth into the Asia Pacific region by doubling its local workforce by the end of the year. As the first Sydney-based Kargo employees, Robert Leach will serve as General Manager, Asia Pacific, Peter Birch as Commercial Director, Asia Pacific and Rob Williams as Operations Director, Asia Pacific. Birch and Williams will work under Leach, and Leach will report to Owen Hanks, who was named Kargo's first General Manager, International in 2016 and tasked with leading the company's worldwide expansion. "Many of the global publishers and top brands that Kargo works with in North America and the U.K. have encouraged us to continue our international expansion into the Asia Pacific region where there is a growing demand for quality mobile advertising," said Hanks. "I'm confident that Robert Leach, Peter Birch and Rob Williams are the right team to bring Kargo's high-impact ad formats and massive alliance of premium publishers to Australia and New Zealand." "Australia is a natural spring boar for Kargo given the region's established media and advertising industries," said Leach. "As mobile usage grows exponentially in Asia Pac, the premium editorial alliance provided by Kargo will afford brands the ideal environment and scale in which to advertise. This coupled with our award winning creative, zero ad fraud and the highest viewability scores in market will undoubtedly attract ANZ brand advertisers to Kargo."



During his 20 years of experience in the advertising and media industries, Leach has successfully launched and grown the digital businesses for some of the world's largest media brands, including BBC Worldwide, News Corp and BSkyB (News - Alert). Birch's experience in traditional and emerging media sales includes work with mobile, broadcast and digital platforms in the U.K. and Australia. Williams joins Kargo from BBC Worldwide, where he led the development of the company's direct-to-consumer digital offerings in the Australia and New Zealand markets. Kargo's expansion into the Asia Pacific region follows a record-breaking 2016 in which the company grew its workforce by nearly 60%, launched its programmatic software business, completed its first major mobile ad research initiative and was recognized for its growth and achievements on lists such as the Inc. 500 and the Entrepreneur 360.

Kargo is the only mobile advertising company that creates rich-media campaigns for 200+ brands (including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Verizon (News - Alert) and L'Oreal) and partners exclusively with an alliance of handpicked publishers (such as Bauer, The New York Times and CBS Interactive) - reaching an audience that rivals Google (News - Alert) and Facebook in terms of scale. ABOUT KARGO Kargo is the leader in mobile brand advertising. Bringing together creativity, technology and quality, Kargo empowers advertisers to break convention and build connections with consumers on the most important screen today - the phone. Through Kargo's high-end editorial alliance of world-class publisher partners, as well as its proprietary advertising automation tools and award-winning creative studio, brands and agencies have the ability to reach 100% of smartphone users in the U.S. with memorable, measurable mobile ad experiences. Kargo and Kargo leadership are regularly recognized for the company's growth and achievements on prestigious lists and by winning prominent awards, including: the Inc. 500 list (2015 and 2016), the Entrepreneur 360 list (2016), the Deloitte (News - Alert) Technology Fast 500 award (2016), the Crain's New York Business Fast 50 list (2015 and 2016), the EY Entrepreneur of the Year NY 2016 award and Business Insider's "hottest pre-IPO ad tech startups" list (2015 and 2016). Kargo employs more than 250 people in New York, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and Sydney. For more information, visit Kargo at www.kargo.com or follow @Kargo on Twitter (News - Alert). View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170124006558/en/

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SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Lundin Law PC Announces an Investigation of PixarBio Corporation, and Encourages Investors with Losses to Contact the Firm

Lundin Law PC, a shareholder rights firm, announces that it is investigating claims against PixarBio Corporation ("PixarBio" or the "Company") (OTCQX: PXRB) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws.

To get more information about this investigation, click here, or please contact Brian Lundin, Esquire, of Lundin Law PC, at 888-713-1033, or via email at [email protected].







On January 23, 2017, the SEC (News - Alert) revealed the temporary suspension of trading in the stocks of PixarBio "because the market for the security appears to reflect manipulative or deceptive activities and because of questions regarding the accuracy of assertions by PixarBio in press releases and its Form S-1 concerning, among other things: (1) the company's business combinations and current shareholders; (2) the identity and qualifications of key shareholders and employees; and (3) the company's current and prospective development efforts." When this news was released to the public, the value of PixarBio dropped, causing investors harm.

Lundin Law PC was founded by Brian Lundin, a securities litigator based in Los Angeles dedicated to upholding shareholders' rights.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170124006582/en/
St. Mary's Students Showcase Talents, Celebrate School Choice Week

The community is invited to learn more about St. Mary's Catholic School at an event timed with National School Choice Week 2017 - the nation's largest-ever celebration of educational opportunity. The event will have cake and drinks, student testimonials, an address from Deacon Vernon Doblemann, and a DJ and student dancing.

The event begins at 2 p.m. on Thursday, January 26 at the school located at 2200 O'Neil Avenue in Cheyenne.

St. Mary's Catholic School serves 191 students in grades PreK to 8.

The goal of the event is to celebrate great education choices in Wyoming and raise awareness among parents about school choice. The celebration is timed to coincide with National School Choice Week (January 22-28, 2017), which will feature more tan 21,000 events across the country.







"St. Mary's Catholic School loves participating in National School Choice Week because we really think choices in education are important in our community, country, and the lives of children," said Patrick Lane, Principal.

Held every January, National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort designed to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options for every child. Through more than 21,000 independently planned events across the country, National School Choice Week raises public awareness of all types of educational choices available to children. These options include traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, online learning, private schools, and homeschooling. You can learn more by visiting www.schoolchoiceweek.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170124006584/en/
[January 24, 2017] IMPORTANT SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Khang & Khang LLP Announces an Investigation of Banc of California, Inc. and Encourages Investors to Contact the Firm

Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces that it is investigating claims against Banc of California, Inc. ("Banc" or the "Company") (NYSE: BANC) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws. If you purchased shares of Banc and want more information free of charge, please contact Joon M. Khang, Esquire, of Khang & Khang, 18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor, Irvine, CA (News - Alert) 92612, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or by e-mail at [email protected]. Seeking Alpha released an article alleging that Banc of California had hidden numerous connections between it and Jason Galanis, who has been convicted of criminal securities fraud. In particular, the Complaint alleges that: Banc of California CEO Jason Sugarman was the founder, CEO, nd indirect owner of a company controlled by Galanis; and that separately, Galanis controlled Banc of California's establishing shareholder. The Complaint further alleges that Banc of California was utilizing an off-balance sheet entity to provide loans to insiders.



Then, on November 10, 2016, Banc of California revealed it would be stalling the filing of its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2016 so that its Special Committee could complete a review into the aforementioned improper relationships and related party transactions. On January 23, 2017, Banc of California revealed that the Securities and Exchange Commission is pursuing a formal order of investigation directed at these same issues. When this information was disclosed to the public, the value of Banc fell, causing investors harm.

If you have any questions concerning this notice or your rights, please contact Joon M. Khang, a prominent litigator for almost two decades, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or by e-mail at [email protected]. This press release may constitute Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170124006610/en/

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[January 24, 2017] ACERUS ANNOUNCES NATESTO ABSTRACTS TO BE PRESENTED AT THE AMERICAN UROLOGICAL ASSOCIATION'S ANNUAL MEETING

Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corporation (TSX:ASP) announces that two abstracts highlighting the clinical benefits of NATESTO were accepted for presentation at the American Urological Association's (AUA) 2017 Annual Meeting, to be held May 12-16 in Boston. NATESTO is the first and only testosterone nasal gel available in Canada and the US indicated for androgen replacement therapy in adult males for conditions associated with a deficiency or absence of endogenous testosterone (hypogonadism).1 Tom Rossi, Chief Executive Officer of Acerus Pharmaceutical Corporation, said: "Studies, including the two accepted for presentation at the upcoming AUA, provide further scientific evidence of the safety and efficacy of NATESTO, and the unique benefits of a nasally administered testosterone replacement therapy. We are very pleased to see that NATESTO continues to capture the attention of the scientific community and would like to thank our partners, Aytu BioScience, for developing these abstracts and for their commitment in building the clinical evidence in support of NATESTO." The following summarizes the two abstracts accepted for presentation at the AUA's 2017 Annual Meeting: Title: Clinical Improvements in Erectile Function and Mood in Hypogonadal Men Treated with 4.5% Nasal Testosterone Gel

Abstract #: 17-6376

Presenter: Larry I. Lipshultz, MD, Professor of Urology and Chief of the Scott Department of the Urology's Division of Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Conclusions: NATESTO achieves large, clinical improvements in erectile function, mood and sexual desire within 30 days of initiating treatment. Title: Preservation of Normal Concentrations of Pituitary Gonadotropins Despite Achievement of Normal Serum Testosterone Levels in Hypogonadal Men Treated with a 4.5% Nasal Testosterone Gel

Abstract ID: 17-6558

Presenter: William Conners, MD, Urologist at Men's Health Boston and Clinical Instructor of Urology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Conclusions: Treatment with NATESTO restores serum total testosterone to normal levels in hypogonadal men, while also mitigating the decline in luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) which remained within the normal range at Day 90 of treatment. About NATESTO (Testosterone) Nasal Gel NATESTO is a testosterone nasal gel developed by Acerus Pharmaceutical Corporation and indicated as a replacement therapy for me diagnosed with conditions associated with a deficiency or absence of endogenous testosterone (hypogonadism). It is the first and only nasally-administered testosterone product approved by the U.S. FDA and Health Canada, and available in a 'no-touch' dispenser with a metered dose pump for reduced transference risk The recommended starting dose of NATESTO in Canada is 11 mg of testosterone (one actuation per nostril) administered twice daily for a total daily dose of 22 mg. A copy of the NATESTO product monograph can be found at: http://www.aceruspharma.com/English/products-and-pipeline/NATESTO/default.aspx.



For further information, specific to the U.S. product dosing and administration, please visit: www.NATESTO.com. About Acerus

Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corporation is a Canadian pharmaceutical company focused on the development, manufacture, marketing and distribution of innovative, branded products that improve the patient experience. Acerus currently markets two products in Canada: ESTRACE, a product indicated for the symptomatic relief of menopausal symptoms; and NATESTO, the first and only testosterone nasal gel for testosterone replacement therapy in adult males diagnosed with hypogonadism. Acerus' pipeline includes two new innovative products: GYNOFLOR, an ultra-low dose vaginal estrogen combined with a probiotic, used in the treatment of atrophic vaginitis, restoration of vaginal flora and treatment of certain vaginal infections; and TEFINA, a 'use as required' drug development candidate, aimed at addressing a significant unmet need for women with female sexual dysfunction. For more information, visit www.aceruspharma.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Notice regarding forward-looking statements Information in this press release that is not current or historical factual information may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of securities laws. Implicit in this information are assumptions regarding our future operational results. These assumptions, although considered reasonable by the company at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect. Readers are cautioned that actual performance of the company is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, and could differ materially from what is currently expected as set out above. For more exhaustive information on these risks and uncertainties you should refer to our annual information form dated March 1, 2016 that is available at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information contained in this press release is based on our current estimates, expectations and projections, which we believe are reasonable as of the current date. You should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While we may elect to, we are under no obligation and do not undertake to update this information at any particular time, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities law. References: 1. NATESTO Product Monograph, December 30, 2015 and Rogol et al. J Andrology 2015, 4(1), 46 View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170124006604/en/

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[January 24, 2017] Mitsubishi Electric Develops Ultra-thin Robot for Power Generator Inspection

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO:6503) announced today that it has developed a 19.9-millimeter-thin inspection robot capable of inspecting a power generator by passing through the narrow gap between the rotor and stator, eliminating the need to remove the rotor. The robot reduces the cost and time of inspections and helps to increase the reliability and availability of power generators. Conventional generators inspections, which are carried out by professionals every four years, require approximately 34 days to complete, in part because the rotor must be removed. Electric power companies have been looking to shorten these inspections as well as improve inspection accuracy to extend the availability of their generators. Mitsubishi (News - Alert) Electric's ultra-thin inspection robot eliminates the needto remove the rotor, so inspections can be completed in just six days. Further, thanks to its high accuracy, inspections can be carried out less frequently than every four years and help operators avoid stocking parts they do not yet actually need. As a result, Mitsubishi Electric's (News - Alert) new robot is expected to help reduce total inspection costs and improve both the reliability and availability of power generators.



Features

Conventional inspection robots are about 30-millimeters thick and thus unable to pass through the narrow gap between the rotor and stator in approximately 30 percent of Mitsubishi Electric power generators. Mitsubishi Electric's new ultra-thin inspection robot is designed to travel in the narrow gap between the generator's rotor and stator to perform accurate inspections, including assessment of stator wedge tightness, detailed visual examinations and core insulation inspections. The robot incorporates a proprietary traveling mechanism comprising a crawler belt and flat plate to achieve a thin 19.9-millimeter profile and low vibration for accurate data acquisition. It is capable of inspecting all Mitsubishi Electric mid- and large-sized generators. The robot's proprietary tapping mechanism, which incorporates a space-saving cam, is capable of delivering a striking force that is 10 times that of a conventional mechanism.

For the full text, please visit: www.MitsubishiElectric.com/news View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170124006647/en/

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[January 25, 2017] The state of New Hampshire and Gemalto go live with a New driver's license program

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, through its subsidiary Marquis ID Systems (MIDS), announces its new drivers license issuance solution for the New Hampshire Department of Safetys Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is operational. Last year, New Hampshires DMV decided to renew the seven year relationship with Gemalto/MIDS as their drivers license and identification (DL/ID) provider.

Under the new multi-year contract, Gemalto is providing an updated photo, signature, and document capture solution. These modernized enrollment features integrate easily with the upgraded cutting-edge central issuance technology, also part of the new contract. New Hampshires robust issuance program is backed by the technology and expertise of Gemalto who has handled secure document issuance and personalization for governments across the globe. The states DMV sites collect the necessary information from applicants, send it to the central facility which then prints and personalizes the drivers license following rigorous inspections and card validations. To maintain business continuity, Gemalto worked closely with New Hampshire DMV officials to minimize the impact of accommodating new contract requirements and system updates. Gemalto technical experts trained personnel on the new software and conducted onsite surveys of the states 14 DMVs to ensure a smooth deployment. As part of the new contract, Gemaltos design team collaborated with the customer to meet the security and artistic needs of New Hampshires drivers license and determine the ideal card artwork to reflect the states branding



Throughout their first contract, the Gemalto/MIDS team provided us with excellent customer service, and understood the challenges that come with increased issuance requests and new security requirements, said Elizabeth Bielecki, Director of Motor Vehicles for New Hampshire. We have had success with our transition to Gemalto/MIDS back in 2009 and they have become a valued partner. Gemalto is also presenting an attractive portfolio of new innovative technology solutions important for the future. New Hampshires continued customer satisfaction demonstrates Gemaltos ability to offer the service and technology needed to operate efficiently and smoothly," said Steve Purdy, Vice-President of Government Programs for North America at Gemalto. A customer contract renewal is one of the most important references for us and speaks to our constant drive to successfully deliver on our projects.

About Gemalto Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the global leader in digital security, with 2015 annual revenues of 3.1 billion and customers in over 180 countries. We bring trust to an increasingly connected world. Our technologies and services enable businesses and governments to authenticate identities and protect data so they stay safe and enable services in personal devices, connected objects, the cloud and in between. Gemaltos solutions are at the heart of modern life, from payment to enterprise security and the internet of things. We authenticate people, transactions and objects, encrypt data and create value for software  enabling our clients to deliver secure digital services for billions of individuals and things. Our 14,000+ employees operate out of 118 offices, 45 personalization and data centers, and 27 research and software development centers located in 49 countries. For more information visit www.gemalto.com or follow @gemalto on Twitter. Gemalto media contacts: Philippe Benitez

North America

+1 512 257 3869

[email protected] Peggy Edoire

Europe & CIS

+33 4 42 36 45 40

[email protected] Vivian Liang

????? (Greater China)

+86 1059373046

[email protected] Ernesto Haikewitsch

Latin America

+55 11 5105 9220

[email protected]

Kristel Teyras

Middle East & Africa

+33 1 55 01 57 89

[email protected] Shintaro Suzuki

Asia Pacific

+65 6317 8266

[email protected]





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[January 25, 2017] Tata Consultancy Services Honoured by the Best and Brightest 2016

MUMBAI and NEW YORK, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Named One of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For and the Best and Brightest in Wellness in the Nation Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, today announced that it has been recognized as one of the 'Best and Brightest Companies To Work For' and one of the 'Best and Brightest in Wellness' in the nation by the National Association for Business Resources. These two awards honour organizations that display a commitment to excellence in operations and employee enrichment, and recognize and celebrate quality and excellence in employee worksite health. The 2016 'Best and Brightest Companies to Work For' was assessed by an independent research firm Inquisium, reviewing several key measures including: compensation, benefits and employee solutions; employee enrichment and retention; employee education and development; recruitment, selection and orientation; employee achievement and recognition; communication and shared vision; diversity and inclusion; work-life balance; community initiatives; and strategic company performance. The 'Best and Brightest in Wellness' 2016 were evaluated by SynBella, the nation's leading wellness systems firm. Company entries were examined statistically for quantitative data and on a point based criteria to benchmark and improve wellness program effectiveness. They include outcomes, analysis and tracking, participation and incentives, benefits and programs, leadership, employee input, culture and environment. "Companies that recognize that their employees are the key to their success achieve staying power. Our 2016 winners create their human resource standards to ensure employee satisfaction and they set standards for every business to aspire towards," said Jennifer Kluge, President and CEO of NABR. "Thisyear's winning companies represent high standards and an exceptional commitment to healthy employees, healthy families and a healthy community."



"TCS is honoured to be recognized as one of the nation's 'Best and Brightest Companies to Work For' and a leading organization that is heavily focused on the well-being of its employees," added Surya Kant, President, North America, UK and Europe, TCS. "These awards illustrate our deep commitment to our employees and our belief that fostering healthy minds and bodies is the best formula for success." About Best and Brightest Companies to Work For

Identifies and honours organizations that display a commitment to excellence in operations and employee enrichment that lead to increased productivity and financial performance. This competition scores potential winners based on regional data of company performance and a set standard across the nation. This national program celebrates those companies that are making better business, creating richer lives and building a stronger community as a whole. There are numerous regional celebrations throughout the country. About The Best and Brightest in Wellness Celebrates those companies that are making their businesses more healthy, the lives of their employees better and the community a healthier place to live. The Best and Brightest Program provides year long education, benchmarking, assessment tools and interaction amongst the best employers. About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS) Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty that no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPS, infrastructure, engineering and assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model, recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata group, India's largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 378,000 of the world's best-trained consultants in 45 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $16.5 billion for year end March 31, 2016 and is listed on the BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) and the NSE (National Stock Exchange) in India.



For more information, visit us at http://www.tcs.com To stay up-to-date on TCS news in North America, follow @TCS_NA. For TCS global news, follow @TCS_News.

Media Contact:

Harsha Ramachandra

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.

[email protected]

+91-22 6778 9078



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RepRisk Releases the Most Controversial Companies 2016 Report

RepRisk, the worldwide leader in the analysis, monitoring, and quantification of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks, has released the seventh edition of its Most Controversial Companies (MCC 2016) Report, which focuses on the companies that were most exposed to ESG risks in 2016.

RepRisk's MCC 2016 Report spotlights ESG issues faced by globally-active companies, and was developed as part of RepRisk's commitment to providing transparency into ESG risks and encouraging companies to systematically take into account such risks in their strategies and processes.

The data for the report is based on information screened, analyzed, and quantified by RepRisk's proprietary research process from a wide range of publicly available stakeholder and media sources.

"Eight of the companies ranked in the report faced governance-related issues involving corruption and fraud," states Philipp Aeby, CEO of RepRisk. "Only two were linked to environmental and social controversies."

The companies included in the report are headquartered in countries around the world, including Brazil, China, Monaco, Korea, Germany, and the US, and span various sectors including financil services, mining, chemicals, food & beverage, and automobiles.







To read the full report click here.

About RepRisk

RepRisk is a leading business intelligence provider, specializing in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk analytics and metrics.

Harnessing a proprietary, systematic framework that leverages cutting-edge technology and hands-on human intelligence in 15 languages, RepRisk curates and delivers dynamic risk information for an unlimited universe of companies.

Since 2006, RepRisk has built and continues to grow the most comprehensive ESG risk database that serves as a due diligence, research, and monitoring tool in risk management, compliance, investment management, corporate benchmarking, and supplier risk. The RepRisk ESG Risk Platform currently includes risk profiles for over 80,000 listed and non-listed companies, 20,000 projects, as well as for every sector and country in the world.

Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, RepRisk serves clients worldwide including global banks, insurance providers, investment managers, and corporates, helping them to manage ESG and reputational risks in day-to-day business.

RepRisk provides the transparency needed to enable better, more informed decisions. For more information, please visit www.reprisk.com or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert).

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170124005956/en/
[January 25, 2017] Implanet Announces Global Marketing Clearance of the New JAZZ FRAME

Regulatory News: IMPLANET (Paris:IMPL) (OTCQX:IMPZY) (Euronext: IMPL, FR0010458729, PEA-PME eligible; OTCQX: IMPZY), a medical technology company specializing in vertebral and knee-surgery implants, today announces that it has been given the green light by the American and European authorities, through FDA 510k clearance and CE marking, to market its new Jazz Frame implant. JAZZ Frame is a system of connectors, the final link in the JAZZ Band technological platform dedicated to the hybrid surgical technique. Implanet now offers surgeons the possibility of defining and optimizing a global strategy to reduce major deformities, thus maximizing long-term clinical outcomes. "Since we have been using sublaminar braid implants to reduce and stabilize scoliotic deformities, we have been able to show significantly greater reductions than we previously obtained with our all-screw or hook-and-screw assemblies", says Professor Keyvan Mazda, MD, Ph.D, Robert Debre Hospital, APHP, adding: "Using the JAZZ Frame facilitates the restoration of both frontal and sagittal balance, thanks to the simultaneous reduction of both thoracic curves. This is most notable in thecase of the most complex deformities where shoulder imbalance is common. The result of years of clinical experience and of close collaboration with Implanet, JAZZ Frame allows us to be even more efficient and quick for the sole benefit of patients."



Ludovic Lastennet, CEO of Implanet, adds: "We continue to strictly adhere to, and execute our business plan. The rapid marketing clearance in Europe and the United States is a real source of satisfaction, innovation that maximizes the clinical value of our technology. Optimized for implementation of the "frame" technique, we expect this implant to be rapidly adopted by our partner surgeons, pediatric and adult deformity specialists alike. The marketing release of JAZZ Frame in our various markets is scheduled for the first quarter of 2017." Next financial press release: 2016 annual results, on March 28, 2017

Implanet will participate in the Invest Securities Biomed Event, on January 26 in Paris.

About IMPLANET

Founded in 2007, IMPLANET is a medical technology company that manufactures high-quality implants for orthopedic surgery. Its flagship product, the JAZZ latest-generation implant, aims to treat spinal pathologies requiring vertebral fusion surgery. Protected by four families of international patents, JAZZ has obtained 510(k) regulatory clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States and the CE mark. IMPLANET employs 48 staff and recorded 2016 sales of 7.8 million. For further information, please visit www.implanet.com.

Based near Bordeaux in France, IMPLANET established a US subsidiary in Boston in 2013.

IMPLANET is listed on Compartment C of the Euronext regulated market in Paris. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170124006126/en/

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[January 25, 2017] Trend Micro TippingPoint Named a Leader in 2017 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems

SINGAPORE, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, this week announced it had been positioned as a leader in Gartner, Inc.'s Magic Quadrant for Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDPS)[1]. Trend Micro (formerly listed as HPE) significantly improved its placement in both 'completeness of vision' and 'ability to execute' from previous years. Trend Micro believes placement of the TippingPoint Next-Generation Intrusion Prevention System (NGIPS) in the Leaders quadrant illustrates the positive progress made since acquiring TippingPoint in March 2016. "Our acquisition of TippingPoint was designed to strategically advance the capabilities of our solutions to meet the needs of our customers faced with the growing complexity of protecting their enterprise networks," said Kevin Simzer, executive vice president, sales, marketing and business development for Trend Micro. "We believe that being named a leader in the Magic Quadrant reflects the hard work we've done and our commitment and long-term vision for comprehensive network security." "We are committed to staying on the forefront of attack trends and anticipating our customers' evolving network security requirements," said Don Closser, vice president and general manager for Trend Micro TippingPoint. "Our teams came together over the past year to fully integrate Trend Micro Deep Discovery/Advanced Threat Protection with TippingPoint Next-Generatin IPS. I believe this successful combination strengthened our overall product offering to solidify our Leader placement in this year's Magic Quadrant."



The TippingPoint NGIPS offers in-line comprehensive threat protection against advanced and evasive targeted attacks across data centers and distributed enterprise networks. It offers in-depth analysis of network traffic for comprehensive contextual awareness, visibility and agility necessary to keep pace with today's dynamic threat landscape. Powered by security intelligence from TippingPoint Digital Vaccine Labs (DVLabs) and the Zero Day Initiative vulnerability bounty program, the TippingPoint NGIPS provides accurate, preemptive threat prevention in real-time without affecting network performance. "As a TippingPoint customer before the acquisition, we were impressed with Trend Micro's leadership, command of product and customer support from the very beginning," said Frank Bunton, chief information security officer for MedImpact Healthcare. "The company's decades of cybersecurity solutions experience was evident by the clear vision they laid out to integrate the TippingPoint technology into their existing security infrastructure and to build a positive security posture across our business -- on endpoints, servers and networks."

To download the full Gartner Magic Quadrant for Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems report, please visit http://www.trendmicro.com/us/business/cyber-security/gartner-idps-report/. For more information about Trend Micro TippingPoint solutions, go to www.trendmicro.com/tippingpoint. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Trend Micro Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized visibility and control, enabling better, faster protection. With over 5,000 employees in over 50 countries and the world's most advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure their journey to the cloud. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com. [1] Magic Quadrant for Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems, January 16, 2017, by Craig Lawson, Adam Hils and Claudio Neiva

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[January 25, 2017] Narayana Health Completes 100 Successful Robotic Surgeries in 5 Months

BENGALURU, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Institute of Robotic Surgery with da Vinci Robotic Surgical System was recently launched in partnership with Infosys Foundation at Narayana Health City and the team of doctors from different specializations has successfully achieved a remarkable feat of completing more than 100 robotic surgeries in just a span of five months. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/461187/PRNE_100RoboticSurgeriesPressMeetofNarayanaHealth_Image.jpg )

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150107/724023 )

With the da Vinci Surgical System, surgeons operate through just a few small incisions. The system features magnified 3D high-definition vision system and tiny wristed instruments that bend and rotate far greater than the human hand. As a result surgeons operate with enhanced vision, precision and control. "We want more number of patients to have the advantage of the most advanced surgical and medical care available at our hospital. We believe that it's a matter of time before most of the procedures on the human body will be done using robotic technology. The da Vinci Surgical System has helped us to provide the best possible surgical outcomes and the completion of more than 100 successful surgeries is a proof of our commitment to provide the latest and the best quality of care," said Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman - Narayana Health. Mrs. Sudha Murty, Chairperson - Infosys Foundation said, "Within six months of launching the Institute of Robotic Surgery, Narayana Health and Infosys Foundation have accomplished the milestone of completing 100 robotic surgeries and training of 10 doctors. This is a testament to the world-class standards set by the two organizations, and speaks highly of its commitment to providing world-class healthcare to the masses by leveraging the power of technology. We are proud of our partnership with Narayana Health. Infosys Foundation donated the 'da Vinci Surgical Robotic System' to develop Infosys Institute of Robotic Surgery and train surgeons for the future. Intuitive Surgical trains surgeons through Technology Training Pathway, which makes sure doctors learn every element of robotics surgery. Dr. Lavanya Kiran, Consultant Obstetrics & Gynecology at Narayana Health City has the distinction of being the first surgeon in India with the least learning curve in robotics for having performed 9 procedures in 17 days as declared by Intuitive Surgical - the official partner of da Vinci for training in robotic surgeries. "My new toy - the da Vinci Robotic Surgical system gives me accuracy and great precision in operating with its 10 times magnification and 360 degree endowrist movement, which helps reach the unreachable places more easily and helps in better resection. It makes me happyand content to give my patient the best result with least complication and minimal stay in the hospital," said Dr. Lavanya.



"We have done hysterectomies where the fibroid size have been almost 20 to 24 weeks and there was no conversion; we managed to do the entire procedure robotically in very less time of just a little more than 2 hours, which usually takes longer in the conventional way. It's a great tool for endometriosis that takes a long time and has a risk of bowel injury and so on," explained Dr. Lavanya. Currently in-house doctors are being trained and some of them have gone for a certification course as well. However, as the learning curve improves, these doctors with the help of Intuitive Surgical team will train doctors from outside NH as well.

All the movements and surgical procedures are guided and performed by the surgeons and not by a robot. The robotic arms that hold the instruments and guide the cameras are all under the direction of a highly trained specialist. The robotic surgical unit is a tool that allows surgeons to give better quality of care with lesser trauma to patients. Dr. Ashwini Kumar Kudari, Senior Consultant Gastrointestinal Surgeon at Narayana Health City indicated that various procedures from benign conditions to malignant conditions - right from the oesophagus to the rectum have been done using the robotic technique. Cancer of the oesophagus, cancer of the pancreas, surgeries for colon cancer, bariatric surgeries for obesity and weight loss as well as Hernia have been covered. All varieties of gastrointestinal problems can be treated using Robotic Surgery. "However, the most challenging case that we have done is the 'Whipple's Procedure' considered as the most complex operation in the upper abdomen," recalled Dr. Ashwini and his team of junior surgeons. "It's been voted as the toughest of all surgeries. This was the case of cancer of pancreas, which was located in between a lot of vital structures, veins and blood vessels; the tumour will be located very close of these and poses a challenge for any surgeon. We have been able to do that successfully and the patient also recovered very well," informed Dr. Ashwini Kudari. One of the important aspects about Robotic Surgery is that post-surgical infection is completely minimized. This surgery went on for 10 hours. The reconstruction part becomes very easy because of Robotic Surgery. Talking about the advantages of doing a Robotic Surgery, Dr. Ashwini said, "This is the only surgery where the surgeon is sitting and operating. The fatigue factor will not be there while performing a surgery using the robotic system, especially when surgeries are long." Recently a three-year old child underwent a Robotic Surgery for Pyeloplasty. "The challenge of performing a robotic surgery on a small child is the scale," said Dr. Sanjay Rao, HoD & Consultant Pediatric Surgeon, Narayana Health City. "Compared to the large robotic system, the child is very tiny and operating on such patients becomes difficult. Across the world, the indications for robotic surgery among children are very limited. The classic indication is this particular operation as it is very difficult to do it through a keyhole surgery," he said."With advancements in technology more instrumentation will be available to operate on smaller children," he added. Speaking about procedures done in Urology, Dr. Prashanth Kulkarni, Consultant Urologist at Narayana Health City said, "Until recently we did laparoscopic procedures for cancer and reconstructive surgeries. Now with robotic Surgeries, the precision has increased with better patient outcomes showing good results. The operation time has also reduced and post operative care is much easier." Patients can get back to their regular routine much faster. Robotic Surgery in Urology procedures is mainly used for Prostate Cancer; other procedures being partial Nephrectomy, treatment to clear blocks in the urinary tube and Reconstructive Surgery, informed Dr. Prashanth. Narayana Health City is one of the few hospitals in the country that uses robotic surgery extensively for complex reconstructive procedures. The surgeons from Narayana Health City trained in Robotic Surgery acknowledged Dr. Devi Shetty's perseverance and vision for their accomplishments. Patients benefit by less blood loss, reduced hospital stay and less time in the ICU and faster recovery time. Since the launch, regular workshops were held to provide hands-on training to surgeons from different specialities such as Urology, Gastroenterology, Oncology, Pediatric Surgery, Gynecology and so on. About Narayana Health: With all super-speciality tertiary care facilities that the medical world offers, Narayana Health is now a one-stop healthcare destination for all. From the first facility established in Bengaluru with approximately 225 operational beds in 2000, our company has grown to a network of 23 hospitals and 7 heart centres across India and single hospital overseas at Cayman Islands with over 5,600 operational beds across all its centres and potential to reach a capacity of over 6,700 beds (For details, visit www.narayanahealth.org) About Narayana Health City, Bengaluru: NH Health City is located in Bommasandra, Bengaluru, which comprises of Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences (NICS), a super-specialty hospital for cardiology and cardiac surgery, and Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center (MSMC), a multi-specialty hospital for cancer care, neurology and neurosurgery, nephrology, urology, and houses what we believe, is one of India's largest bone marrow transplant units. The BMT unit at NH has performed more than 600 bone marrow transplants till now. NH Health City operates a stem cell bank.

Media Contact:

Venkatesh D K

[email protected]

+91-80 71 222 222

Narayana Health



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[January 25, 2017] Cambridge Cognition Awarded US Regulatory Clearance for CANTAB Mobile

The neuroscience digital health company Cambridge Cognition Holdings PLC (Cambridge, UK - LSE: COG) has announced it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ('FDA') to market its CANTAB Mobile product as a medical device. CANTAB Mobile is designed to detect clinically-relevant memory impairment in older adults at the point of care. It includes a computerised test of visuospatial associative learning (CANTAB PAL) to assess episodic memory with optional mood and functional assessments, which can help to detect symptoms of depression and problems with performing regular activities of daily living. The touchscreen test, which takes under 10 minutes to complete, can be self-administered using voiceover instructions in over 20 languages with automatic scoring, accounting for age, gender and education level. All results can be accessed in a simple to interpret, one-age physician's report using a traffic-light output for memory and mood outputs.



Since being classified as a European Medical Device in 2013, CANTAB Mobile has been used routinely to assess over 26,000 patients in the UK who had concerns about their memory or were considered by their physician to be at increased risk of dementia. The test is based on 30 years of research into Alzheimer's disease and over 500 peer-reviewed papers including independent studies demonstrating how the CANTAB Mobile memory assessment is sensitive to detecting the earliest signs of prodromal Alzheimer's disease years before a clinical diagnosis1. The 510(k) clearance for CANTAB Mobile allows Cambridge Cognition to market the medical device for commercial distribution in the U.S. where significant interest in the product has developed among primary and secondary care organisations and corporate health providers.

Dr Steven Powell, Chief Executive Officer, Cambridge Cognition, commented: "There is a great unmet need for effective near patient assessment tools to assess memory impairment. CANTAB Mobile is an established and proven digital health product and we are delighted to announce the 510(k) clearance. Access to the large US healthcare market combined with the recent investment in our U.S. operation will strengthen the Company's revenue and continued growth." View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005423/en/

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[January 25, 2017] Texas Electric Cooperatives to showcase state-of-the-art energy storage system at its Master Distribution Center

AUSTIN, Texas and SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (TEC), an association representing some of the largest electricity cooperatives in the United States, today announced a partnership with cleantech leader Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) to offer AMS services to its member cooperatives, and host an advanced energy storage system installed and operated by AMS at its Master Distribution Center in Georgetown, Texas. This partnership will allow TEC to offer its 75 member cooperatives preferred pricing for advanced energy storage systems and AMS services. The system that TEC will install at its own 160,000 square foot Master Distribution Center will reduce TEC's peak energy demand, while providing support to the electric grid. It will also provide training and educational opportunities for all of TEC's member cooperative electric utilities. The project effectively demonstrates how utilities can use advanced energy storage to maximize efficiencies, reduce costs and enhance the reliability and security of their electric grids. "Battery storage represents the next step in optimizing our use of renewable energy," said Johnny Andrews, Chief Operating Officer, TEC Manufacturing & Distribution Services. "We are excited to provide this technology to our members and to showcase how battery storage can maximize the efficiency of their electric grid. TEC is constantly looking for new and better technological solutions to support our members in their delivery of electricity." Under the agreement, AMS will design, install and operate a 200 kWh advanced energy storage system at TEC's Georgetown Master Distribution Center, which supports electrical cooperatives across Texas and serves as TEC's classroom training facility. "We are exited to be working with Texas Electric Cooperatives," said Susan Kennedy, AMS's Chief Executive Officer. "TEC is a national leader in the cooperative electricity business, and this project will not just contribute to grid modernization and resiliency for its member agencies in Texas; it will serve as a tremendous learning opportunity for cooperatives serving rural areas across the U.S."



TEC and the country's not-for-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives are poised to lead this clean energy transition as they provide service in 47 states. Nationwide, co-ops own and purchase nearly 6.7 GW of renewable capacity for their 42 million customers. TEC's 75 member agencies serve 2 million homes and businesses in rural and suburban areas of Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Texas is a trailblazer in renewable energy and the nation's leader in wind energy, with as much as 48 percent of electricity coming from wind during this last year. Texas is leading the way in the development of cost-effective, scalable and flexible renewable energy solutions for its energy users. Energy storage placed at the point of consumption is an ideal technology to support these efforts, providing a firm, dispatchable, cost-effective resource that utilities can aggregate and deploy instantaneously to meet their most pressing needs.

With this strategic partnership, TEC not only furthers its commitment to its members to offer the latest in energy management, cost reduction, emergency generation and technology advancements, but also leads the nation's co-ops further into the clean energy future. About Texas Electric Cooperatives Texas Electric Cooperatives (TEC) was established in 1941 as a coalition of electric cooperatives formed to have greater bargaining leverage with power suppliers. Since its founding, TEC has advanced with the times to provide its members the services and products necessary to sustain a cooperative business in the 21st century. Today, TEC's members include 64 distribution and 11 generation and transmission cooperatives. The association is led by President/CEO Mike Williams and is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The association's long history is a testament to the effectiveness of the cooperative business model and the Seven Cooperative Principles that guide its purpose. To learn more, visit http://www.texas-ec.org. About Advanced Microgrid Solutions Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) is pioneering the use of energy storage systems for electric utility grid support. Using a technology-agnostic approach, the company designs, finances, installs and manages advanced energy storage solutions for commercial, industrial and government building owners. AMS's unique fleet management software provides optimized resource management, cost reduction and revenue generation for large-scale energy users and utilities. To learn more, visit www.advmicrogrid.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/texas-electric-cooperatives-to-showcase-state-of-the-art-energy-storage-system-at-its-master-distribution-center-300396396.html SOURCE Advanced Microgrid Solutions

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[January 25, 2017] Newly Created University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is Named CollegeNET's Second Social Mobility Innovator for 2017

CollegeNET, Inc., a leading provider of web-based on-demand technologies for higher education, and the creator of the Social Mobility Index (SMI), a data-driven system that ranks 4-year US colleges and universities according to how effectively they enroll students from low-income backgrounds and graduate them into promising careers, today announced that the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley has been selected as the second of 10 Social Mobility Innovators for 2017. The goal of the SMI -- now in its third year -- is to help redirect the attribution of "prestige" in our higher education system toward colleges and universities that are advancing economic opportunity, the most pressing issue of our time. A public university with nearly 28,000 students, UTRGV was formed from two legacy institutions -- the University of Texas at Brownsville and University of Texas-Pan American -- in 2015. Approximately 90 percent of UTRGV's students are Hispanic, and it was ranked among the top 20 schools in the SMI data for 2016. "Most of the higher education rankings try to help students choose a college or university," says Jim Wolfston, CEO of CollegeNET. "The SMI, on the other hand, tries to help policymakers see which colleges and universities are addressing the national problem of economic mobility. Administrators in higher education can be more effective in strengthening US economic mobility and restoring the promise of the American Dream in the 21st century if they can identify and learn from committed colleges and universities like UTRGV that are already skilled at doing this." Eliminating College Cost Pressures and Barriers UTRGV was selected as CollegeNET's second Social Mobility Innovator for 2017 because it has developed a series of cutting-edge programs designed to make college affordable for low-income students and help them realize the significant economic opportunity an undergraduate degree offers.



"A large proportion of our students are from low-income families and they're the first generation in their families to attend college," says Dr. Kristin Croyle, Vice President for Student Success at UTRGV. "We really believe that they're excellent students, and that they deserve to be here on campus. That's why we have such a strong institutional will to serve them, and why student success is our first priority." A key part of this student-centric effort has been UTRGV's attempt to eliminate cost pressures and barriers, which have negatively affected college retention and graduation rates across the US. Tuition and fees for a resident undergraduate at UTRGV in academic year 2016-2017 are $7,438, the second lowest in the University of Texas system and the third lowest in the state of Texas for all public universities. On a national level, the $7,438 figure is lower than the average 2016-2017 tuition and fees for state residents at public colleges -- $9,650 -- according to the College Board.

In addition to low tuition, UTRGV guarantees undergraduates that their tuition won't increase for four years. The university also offers students a robust emergency loan program if their scholarship or aid money is delayed or held up by bureaucratic red tape. Finally, tuition and mandatory fee charges at UTRGV are capped for resident students at 12 credit hours each semester. This allows many students on campus to take an extra 3-6 credit hours per semester for free. "Students are saving money and are on track to graduate earlier because of this program," explains Croyle, who points out that approximately one-third of all UTRGV students are currently enrolled in 15 or more credit hours. To fully prepare students for this post-graduate world, UTRGV provides an array of academic internships and makes sure that undergraduates have every available opportunity for on-campus employment. "Our university staff has to hire a student for a part-time job opening or justify a non-student hire," says Croyle, "because, if students work on campus, they're more likely to go to class and do better academically." Attacking Higher Education's Harmful "Tri-Imperfecta" "It's inspiring that a new university like UTRGV is focused on providing educational opportunity to promising students regardless of their economic background," says CollegeNET's Wolfston. "And UTRGV's selection as a 2017 Social Mobility Innovator is even more important, given the fact that higher education's key role in advancing economic mobility and the American Dream is rapidly deteriorating. Indeed, we're caught in a very damaging 'tri-imperfecta' right now. Tuitions are increasing, economic inclusion is declining on campuses and Pell Grants -- intended for disadvantaged students with financial need -- are being awarded more generously to richer families. The work that UTRGV is doing can help reverse these trends." See the complete SMI rankings. About CollegeNET, Inc. CollegeNET, Inc. builds on-demand SaaS (News - Alert) technologies that help institutions improve operational efficiency, enhance communication with constituents, and save money. The company's systems are used by 1,300 institutions worldwide for event and academic scheduling, recruitment and admissions management, web-based tuition processing, instructor and course evaluation, and web-based career services for students. Additionally, the company operates CollegeNET.com, a social network through which students create topics, write about them, and vote to determine who will win scholarships. CollegeNET.com has awarded more than $2 million in scholarships to date. The company is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005102/en/

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[January 25, 2017] SOTA Medical Products and SafeOp Surgical Ink Distribution Agreement

State of the Art Medical Products, Inc. ("SOTA") today announced that it has signed a three-year distribution agreement with SafeOp Surgical, Inc. ("SafeOp"), a privately held medical device company. Under the terms of the agreement, SOTA will have the exclusive rights to distribute SafeOp's EPAD portable neuromonitoring system to healthcare facilities in the New York Metropolitan area (Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island), New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Pennsylvania. The EPAD system enables the detection of nerve damage and residual paralysis during surgical procedures. "For over 30 years, SOTA has been bringing to our customers cutting-edge technology products that can provide both better patient care and a financial advantage," said Keith Lambie, president and founder of SOTA. "SafeOp's EPAD system is just such a revolutionary product with its ability to deliver a new and needed level of patient safety to surgeries where such monitoring had not been cost-effective. As with all the products we represent, we've done our homework. We anticipate great success in selling EPAD." SafeOp's EPAD system was developed particularl for the rapid detection of Positioning Effect ("PE"). PE is a frequent complication of some surgeries (e.g., orthopedic, general, cardiac, or urological surgery), whereby peripheral nerves may be damaged due to unrecognized extended compression or stretching, or compromise of their blood supply. The EPAD system also allows easy-to-use monitoring of the neuromuscular junction to help detect residual paralysis, which may occur when paralyzing agents have not sufficiently worn off at the end of surgery. It offers real-time feedback, allowing caregivers to adjust the patient's position in time to avoid nerve injury or to intervene when residual paralysis is present.



"This relationship is a key step in bringing to market our unique, cost-effective alternative to expensive insourced- and outsourced-driven neuromonitoring for certain spine surgeries," said Gene Cattarina, SafeOp president and chief executive officer. "We're delighted to have entered into this agreement with SOTA, an organization with an uncanny knack for identifying and successfully marketing new medical technologies. They are an ideal fit to distribute the EPAD system in one of the most concentrated hospital markets in the country." About State of the Art Medical Products, Inc.

State of the Art Medical Products, Inc. (SOTA) is a specialty medical sales and distribution company. SOTA's sales territory includes the New York Metropolitan area (Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island), New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Pennsylvania. SOTA's management team has over 75 years of management, sales and clinical experience. To properly support its manufacturers and its customers, SOTA has evolved into three separate sales teams servicing three specific markets: Advanced Surgical Technologies, Cardiovascular / Interventional Radiology and Surgical. Supporting the sales team is an in-house staff located in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. Visit SOTA's website at www.sotamedical.com.

About SafeOp Surgical, Inc.

SafeOp Surgical, Inc. is a Hunt Valley, Maryland-based medical device company that has developed the FDA-approved EPAD system. The EPAD system enables basic neurological monitoring in a wide array of surgical procedures where full monitoring, which requires the continuous presence of a technologist and neurologist, may not be indicated, cost-effective or feasible. SafeOp currently markets the EPAD system to medical centers throughout the United States. For more information, visit the SafeOp website at www.safeopsurgical.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005144/en/

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[January 25, 2017] Pacific Life Foundation Awards $303,500 to 27 Nonprofit Organizations and 16 K-12 Schools in Greater Omaha, Nebraska

The Pacific Life Foundation announced today that it has awarded over $300,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations in the greater Omaha, Nebraska area. Supporting communities where Pacific Life employees work and live, in 2017 the Pacific Life Foundation expects to contribute a total of $6.25 million in grants nationwide. Grants totaling $250,000 have been awarded to 27 local nonprofit organizations in the areas of arts and culture; civic, community, and environment; education; and health and human services. The 2017 Nebraska recipients include:







Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands $10,000 Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands $5,000 City of Omaha, Public Library Foundation $5,000 Completely KIDS $5,000 DIBS for Kids $5,000 Girls Incorporated of Omaha $15,000 Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, Inc. $10,000 Heartland Family Service $15,000 HELP Adult Services $7,500 Holy Name Housing Corporation $10,000 MICAH House $7,500 Nebraska Council on Economic Education $5,000 NorthStar Foundation $10,000 Ollie Webb Center Inc. $5,000 Omaha Children's Museum $12,500 Omaha Community Playhouse $7,500 Omaha Home for Boys $10,000 Omaha Theater Company $10,000 Omaha Zoo Foundation $15,000 OneWorld Community Health Centers, Inc. $15,000 Partnership For Our Kids $10,000 Project Harmony $10,000 Rebuilding Together Omaha $7,500 Siena Francis House $7,500 YMCA of Greater Omaha $10,000 Youth Care & Beyond, Inc. $10,000 Youth Emergency Services, Inc. $10,000

The Foundation's 3T's of Education program has awarded a total of $53,500 in grants to local K-12 schools where concentrations of children and grandchildren of Pacific Life employees attend. A 3T's of Education grant must be designated in one of the following areas: teacher training, textbooks, or technology. The 16 Omaha area schools awarded a 2017 3T's of Education grant are: Bellevue West High Ronald Reagan Elementary Beveridge Magnet Middle Saint Albert Elementary Crestridge Magnet Elementary Thomas Jefferson High Elkhorn Ridge Middle Westside High Hoover Elementary Westside Middle Millard North Middle Wheeler Elementary Millard West High Wilma Upchurch Elementary Omaha North High Magnet Woodrow Wilson Middle In addition to the grants listed above, Pacific Life is also a sponsor of the Susan G. Komen Nebraska Race for the Cure which is held annually in October. For a complete listing of the 2017 grant awards and additional details about the Pacific Life Foundation's programs, visit www.PacificLifeFoundation.com. About Pacific Life and the Pacific Life Foundation The Pacific Life Foundation was established in 1984. Together with Pacific Life, the Foundation has contributed more than $100 million to community and national nonprofit organizations. Grants are made to organizations that address a broad spectrum of social needs. Offering insurance since 1868, Pacific Life provides a wide range of insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds, and offers a variety of investment products and services to individuals, businesses, and pension plans. Pacific Life counts more than half of the 100 largest U.S. companies as its clients. For additional company information, including current financial strength ratings, visit www.PacificLife.com. Pacific Life refers to Pacific Life Insurance Company and its affiliates, including Pacific Life & Annuity Company. Client count as of June 2016 is compiled by Pacific Life using the 2016 FORTUNE 500 list. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005293/en/

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[January 25, 2017] Uplevel Security Selected as Finalist for RSA Conference Innovation Sandbox Contest 2017

Uplevel Security today announced it has been named one of 10 finalists for RSA Conference Innovation Sandbox Contest 2017 for its work in threat intelligence and incident response. On Monday, February 13, 2017, Uplevel Security will showcase its information security technology to the Innovation Sandbox Contest panel of judges for a chance to be named "RSAC Most Innovative Startup 2017." The Innovation Sandbox Contest promotes new approaches to information security technology, provides advice and counsel for entrepreneurs, and exposes the RSA (News - Alert) Conference community to venture capitalists, industry experts, senior level business practitioners, and thought leaders. "It's no secret that past winners of this honor have become successful additions to the information security industry, and there's no doubt this year's crop of finalists will produce another hit," said Sandra Toms, vice president at RSA and curator of RSA Conference. "This event gives startups the kind of visibility and validation that can easily turn into high growth and increased funding, which we expect to continue with this year's top 10." Uplevel provides the industry's first adaptive response platform. Its patent-pending technology based on graph theory strengthens security posture with every attack or alert by fully leveraging past institutional knowledge and present real-time attack data and intelligence to expedite every step of response and to predict how attacks may manifest in the future. "Our customer tell us that our ability to correlate their formerly disparate data silos, overlay their threat intelligence, and provide a visual view of an actual incident gives them the power to quickly diagnose and respond," said Roselle Safran, CEO and co-founder, Uplevel Security." We apply advanced graph theory to enrich current incidents with historical data and determine whether the incident occurred in the past or if it is still present in their infrastructure."



Uplevel's founders, Safran and CTO, Liz Maida, have decades of experience in internet security innovation. Maida most recently developed large-scale, analytical security products at Akamai and explored the application of graph theory to internet security at MIT (News - Alert); Safran led cybersecurity operations for the White House after serving as digital analytics deputy branch chief at the Department of Homeland Security's US-CERT. "RSAC Most Innovative Startup 2017" will be determined at the conclusion of the Innovation Sandbox Contest after each finalist gives a short presentation to a panel of judges that includes Asheem Chandna, partner at Greylock Partners; Gerhard Eschelbeck, vice president of security and privacy engineering at Google (News - Alert); Niloofar Razi Howe, senior vice president and chief strategy officer, RSA Corporate; Patrick Heim, head of trust and security at DropBox; and Paul Kocher, president and chief scientist of Cryptography Research division at Rambus (News - Alert).

Additional information about "RSAC Most Innovative Startup 2017" and Innovation Sandbox Contest can be found at: https://www.rsaconference.com/events/us17/agenda/innovation-sandbox-contest. About Uplevel Security Uplevel Security is the industry's first adaptive response platform. Uplevel uses graph intelligence and machine learning across event data and threat intelligence to help teams prioritize, investigate and remediate attacks. Recognizing that each new data point is part of a larger picture, Uplevel connects incoming alerts, high fidelity threat intelligence, open source information and historical data to generate a dynamic profile that enables tactical and strategic response. Enterprises across data-driven industries rely on Uplevel Security to provide unprecedented insight and visibility into their security response operations. For more information, please visit www.uplevelsecurity.com. About RSA Conference RSA Conference is the premier series of global events where the world talks security and leadership gathers, advances and emerges. Whether attending in the U.S., the EMEA region, or the Asia-Pacific region, RSA Conference events are where the security industry converges to discuss current and future concerns and get access to the people, content and ideas that help enable individuals and companies to win, grow and do their best. It is the ultimate marketplace for the latest technologies and hands-on educational opportunities that help industry professionals discover how to make their companies more secure while showcasing the most enterprising, influential and thought-provoking thinkers and leaders in security today. For information on events, online programming and the most up-to-date news pertaining to the information security industry visit www.rsaconference.com. RSA Conference logo, RSA, Dell (News - Alert), EMC and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be the property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005374/en/

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[January 25, 2017] Wipro to acquire InfoSERVER, a specialized IT Services provider for Banking, Financial Services & Insurance sector in Brazil

Wipro (News - Alert) Ltd. (NYSE:WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company today signed an agreement to acquire InfoSERVER S.A. for BRL 27.6 Million (USD 8.7Mn). InfoSERVER, an IT services provider, which is focussed on the Brazilian market, provides custom application development and software deployment services. Two-decade old InfoSERVER, which counts some of the largest Brazilian banks as its clients, will help Wipro in expanding its presence in the country's highly traditional and competitive Banking, Financial Services & Insurance market besides adding invaluable domain and process knowledge on the sector. This acquisition closely aligns with Wipro's vision to localise, expand its presence and become a significant partner of choice in the LATAM market and an end-to-end IT services provider that brings global expertise while operating as a local company. Wipro has a significant presence in Latin America with offices across 5 countries in the region - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico. "We welcome InfoSERVER to the Wipro family. The LATAM market and Brazil in particular is a strategic growth and investment region for Wipro. This acquisition will provide Wipro with scale and key client relationships, especially in the banking, financial services and insurance domains, which are the largest and fastest growing sectors in the region," said Ankur Prakash, Vice President and Head of New Growth and Emerging Markets, Wipro Limited. Welcoming the acquisition, Fabiano Funari, Vice President and Head of Sales & Operations, InfoSERVER S.A. said, "We are excited about what Wipro and InfoSERVER can accomplish together for our customers and employees. Wipro and InfoSERVER will combine strong local domain knowledge with technological breadth and global experience to help clients achieve their desired outcomes. Wipro's global client base, delivery expertise and scale will help us expand our reach and offerings." The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and approvals by regulatory bodies in Brazil. About Wipro Limite



Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) is a leading information technology, consulting and business process services company that delivers solutions to enable its clients do business better. Wipro delivers winning business outcomes through its deep industry experience and a 360 degree view of "Business through Technology." By combining digital strategy, customer centric design, advanced analytics and product engineering approach, Wipro helps its clients create successful and adaptive businesses. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship, Wipro has a dedicated workforce of over 170,000, serving clients across 6 continents. For more information, please visit www.wipro.com. About InfoSERVER S.A.

InfoSERVER started its operations in 1995 with a clear objective - to have a thorough knowledge about technologies in order to innovate, develop and offer outstanding services to the market. As its main clients have always been from the financial and banking sectors, the company has invested heavily in technologies involving information security and identity protection, and has become a member of OATH (News - Alert) (Initiative for Open Authentication) - an organization that brings together the biggest and best players of encryption and strong authentication in the world - and has sought strategic and innovative partnerships. HQ: Sao Paulo, Brazil. Intel Capital (News - Alert) owns 36.79% shares in Infoserver S.A. Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property, and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005600/en/

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[January 25, 2017] Chinese New Year Lobster: Limos, Webcams and Rocketing Demand

SHANGHAI, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- While this year's celebrations officially kick off on January 27th and last until February 2nd, demand for lobster has skyrocketed with companies going to great lengths to cash in on high prices. With so many Chinese citizens leaving their rural homes to work in larger cities, this is usually the one time of year when families reunite to splurge and break bread. Or, more specifically, crack some lobster tail. It is in this spirit of reunion and abundance that no cost nor effort to obtain the best (and the most) is spared. And with more families than ever enjoying in increase in disposable income, demand for luxury delicacies is at an all time high. To gain exposure for their online seafood marketplace, Gfresh hired a well-known streaming celebrity to deliver lobster orders by limousine to unsuspecting buyers, while streaming the whole experience on the celebs channel, which has over 100,000 viewers per day. Why stream? The live streaming of your life has quickly become an $11 billion dollar industry in China. Young men and women have become superstars for simply talking about their day, or drinking tea in front of a webcam. And it's now a great way for businesses to get exposure to tens of millions of streaming fans. But that's not the only new thing on the block. Wholesale buyers in China are now using holesale cross-border ecommerce platforms to circumvent the antiquated business model of emails, faxes, letters of credit, etc. that make it difficult and risky to purchase wholesale internationally.



"For Chinese New Year, we wanted to roll out the red carpet for our buyers, while also making a statement: traditional model of wholesale trade is changing fast," says Anthony Wan, Gfresh co-founder. Ok, the limo and webcam are neat, but why lobster?

Of all the elements that go into creating the Lunar New Year dinner, lobster is perhaps the most anticipated. The bright red crustacean evokes thoughts of good luck; and what was once reserved for coastal families and wealthy citizens, lobster is now sought after by more families every year. Up and up and up

The cost fluctuates year upon year, and is affected by not only demand but a number of factors, including weather conditions and freight forwarding costs. This year the cost of almost all types of seafood has increased, in some cases between 50-100 percent. In September 2016, Americans were paying $9 to $11 per pound for a live lobster, which is already higher than the year before. Now, a few months later, consumers can expect to pay around $13 per pound, with prices set to continue to rise until the end of January. Sales volumes tracked by Gfresh show just how much wholesale seafood demand the company has seen during the high demand month of January. The volume of lobster shipped in December to January 2016 saw over a 50 percent increase. Demand is rising all around Lobster isn't the only seafood commodity that sees an increase in demand and cost in January due to Chinese New Year. Geoduck, salmon and Dungeness crab are all making their way onto more tables throughout the country, reaching further inland every year. With Chinese New Year just around the corner and a billion wallets opened wide, companies around the world are going to great lengths to stand out from the crowd. Media Contact Steve Williams

Cell: (778) 554-4607 (Vancouver, Canada)

Email: [email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chinese-new-year-lobster-limos-webcams-and-rocketing-demand-300396338.html SOURCE Gfresh

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[January 25, 2017] Accenture Acquires solid servision to Significantly Expand ServiceNow Capabilities

Accenture (News - Alert) (NYSE:ACN) has acquired solid servision, a Germany-based privately owned consulting and system integration company that is one of the largest independent ServiceNow (News - Alert) pure play companies in Europe. The acquisition further strengthens Accenture's position as a leader in the ServiceNow partner ecosystem, enhancing Accenture's technology capabilities and deep industry experience in cloud strategy, implementation, migration, integration and management. "Our clients are eager to adopt As-a-Service operating models as they fuel their innovation through cloud," said Jack Sepple, senior managing director, Accenture Cloud and Accenture Operations group technology officer. "Accenture's Cloud First approach enables us to offer clients the latest capabilities for an easier and more efficient path to cloud adoption. This acquisition is the latest in a series of significant investments we've made in our cloud business to help our customers on their journey to cloud." solid servision is now part of Accenture's global ServiceNow practice, adding approximately 100 professionals with more than 130 ServiceNow certifications to Accenture, creating a leading ServiceNow implementation team in Germany, and extending Accenture's cloud services leadership position in Europe and in the industry at large. "The expertise of the solid servision staff and depth of their ServiceNow capabilities is a natural complement to Accenture's regional and global position," said Tobias Regenfu, Managing Director Accenture Infrastructure Services Austria, Switzerland and Germany, "solid servision brings one of the largest dedicated and certified ServiceNow Consulting, Implementation and Testing workforce in Germany to Accenture as well as a leading ServiceNow Training Provider in Europe. We are excited to be welcoming solid servision's talented professionals to our cloud team and to begin working together for our clients." solid servision, headquartered in Dresden, Germany, was founded in 2011 and quickly became one of the largest independent ServiceNow pure play companies in Europe, earning the highest customer score in 2016 among all service partners globally and is a Gold tier ServiceNow Services Partner. "solid servision' focus has always been delivery of excellence by having the exceptional technical and consulting skills and broad experience needed to leverage the cloud with the most complex customer demands in IT and non-IT," said Dr. Tilo Steinmeier, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of solid servision. "Accenture's deep industry expertise, business acumen and end-to-end cloud offering makes it a leader in cloud services. Combining solid servision and Accenture capabilities will bring unparalleled quality and scale to our clients when implementing ServiceNow and solve their IT business challenges more rapidly." The acquisition of solid servision is part of a strategic growth plan aimed at strengthening Accenture's position as a leading provider of ServiceNow services and cloud implementations globally. It follows the acquisition of Nashco, a leader in the Canadian ServiceNow market, in November 2016 and US-based Cloud Sherpas in 2015, which cemented Accenture's cloud services leadership globally.



"In the face of industry disruption, companies need to move faster to keep up, Accenture's acquisition of solid servision furthers their ability to lead that transformation with ServiceNow," said David Schneider, chief revenue officer, ServiceNow. "With ServiceNow, customers are replacing manual work patterns of the past with intelligent workflows of the future across IT, HR, Customer service and Security, to energize employees, increase service levels and deliver game changing economics. Accenture's partnership with ServiceNow helps deliver these outcomes." About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions - underpinned by the world's largest delivery network - Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 394,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com. Accenture is a leader in helping organizations move to the cloud to take advantage of a new era of service delivery and flexibility, where applications, infrastructure and business processes are brought together and delivered As-a-Service. Accenture's Cloud First agenda offers comprehensive, industry-focused cloud services including strategy, implementation, migration and managed services, and assets including the Accenture Cloud Platform that can drive broader transformational programs for clients. Accenture has worked on over 20,000 cloud computing projects for clients, including three-quarters of the Fortune Global 100, and has more than 33,000 professionals trained in cloud computing. Forward-Looking Statements Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "positioned," "outlook" and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include, without limitation, risks that: the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for the company; the company's results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company's clients' businesses and levels of business activity; the company's business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company's services and solutions, including through the adaptation and expansion of its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the changing technological environment could materially affect the company's results of operations; if the company is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company's business, the utilization rate of the company's professionals and the company's results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which the company competes are highly competitive, and the company might not be able to compete effectively; the company could have liability or the company's reputation could be damaged if the company fails to protect client and/or company data from security breaches or cyberattacks; the company's profitability could materially suffer if the company is unable to obtain favorable pricing for its services and solutions, if the company is unable to remain competitive, if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if it experiences delivery inefficiencies; changes in the company's level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, could have a material adverse effect on the company's effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition; the company's results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company's business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; the company's work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; the company might not be successful at identifying, acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; the company's Global Delivery Network is increasingly concentrated in India and the Philippines, which may expose it to operational risks; as a result of the company's geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue geographic expansion, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; adverse changes to the company's relationships with key alliance partners or in the business of its key alliance partners could adversely affect the company's results of operations; the company's services or solutions could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company might lose its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others; if the company is unable to protect its intellectual property rights from unauthorized use or infringement by third parties, its business could be adversely affected; the company's ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if the company is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; any changes to the estimates and assumptions that the company makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; many of the company's contracts include payments that link some of its fees to the attainment of performance or business targets and/or require the company to meet specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company's revenues and impact its margins; the company's results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; the company may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" heading in Accenture plc's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture's expectations. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005094/en/

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[January 25, 2017] Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu, P.C. Relocation Announcement

Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu, P.C. is proud to announce the relocation of its New York City headquarters to 4 Times Square, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10036, as of Monday, January 30, 2017. All phone and fax numbers, as well as email addresses, will remain the same -- only our street address has changed. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005299/en/ Conde Nast Building (Photo: Business Wire) Our new offices at 4 Times Square place us in the heart of midtown Manhattan in an iconic 48-story building, also known as the Conde Nast Building. Located at key crossroads, on Broadway between 42nd and 43rd Streets, our offices are a short walk from such convenient transportation hubs as Grand Central Terminal, Penn Staton and the Port Authority Bus Terminal.



4 Times Square is owned by the Durst Organization and was designed by Fox & Fowle, a firm known for its talent in ecologically-sustainable design. As a result, 4 Times Square has been recognized as one of the world's first "green" skyscrapers -- the first of its generation to include energy-efficient lighting, high-performance windows, natural gas-powered absorption chillers/heaters, and many other innovative sustainability features. Moreover, 4 Times Square is about to complete a multi-million dollar upgrade of its systems and public spaces making it a truly state-of-the-art location for 21st Century businesses. The 12th tallest building in New York City, 4 Times Square remains one of the most important examples of innovative, environmentally-sustainable design in the United States.

Fross Zelnick Executive Committee member Lawrence Apolzon notes: "We are all very excited about moving into a contemporary, centrally-located building in Times Square. We have designed our own interior space on the 17th floor to create a balance between the collaborative open spaces that reflect the client team approach our firm has always prized, and the need for quiet, private spaces where confidential and strategic matters can be analyzed with discretion. We look forward to many happy and productive years working in our new offices." About Fross Zelnick Fross Zelnick is consistently recognized by clients and peers as one of the top intellectual property law firms in the world specializing exclusively in trademark, copyright, design and unfair competition law. Fross Zelnick's areas of expertise include litigation, registering, protecting and defending trademarks and copyrights, managing global trademark and copyright portfolios, Internet law, protecting character and publicity rights, design rights, and intellectual property due diligence audits and reviews. Additional information about the firm can be found at www.frosszelnick.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005299/en/

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[January 25, 2017] First International Bank of Israel Selects Transmit Security to Comply with Multi-Factor Authentication Regulations

Transmit Security, the programmable authentication company, today announced the First International Bank of Israel (FIBI) is deploying its platform to meet regulatory mandates that require the implementation of risk-based multi-factor authentication and nonrepudiation. The Transmit Security Platform (SP) virtually eliminates software coding and allows FIBI to reduce the time it takes to add new biometric and mobile identity verification techniques to its customer facing applications by 90 percent. FIBI is the second top five bank in Israel to implement Transmit SP this year. FIBI is among Israel's five largest banking groups. It provides a wide range of financial products and services to customers with the highest standards of professionalism and service. FIBI group includes the parent company, First International Bank, and its banking subsidiaries in Israel: Otsar Ha-Hayal Bank and Massad Bank. Together, the three banks operate a network of over 172 branches. FIBI has assets of over NIS 125 billion and maintains a stable capital base that is among the largest in the banking system and indicative of the Group's financial strength. "First International Bank of Israel selected Transmit Security because we allow them to quickly implement multiple authentication use cases across all their different applications and customer service channels using one platform," said Mickey Boodaei, CEO of Transmit Security. "We've developed a unique 'micro-services' architectue that enables organizations to implement new biometric and mobile-centric identity verification techniques in a fraction of the time."



Financial services regulations in Israel require that banks implement multi-factor authentication and non-repudiation techniques based on risk. As a result, fraud prevention systems must be able track the authentication process of each user and introduce stronger forms of authentication based on risk levels, authorized transactions and usage history. Since Transmit SP virtually eliminates software coding, FIBI was able to reduce the time it takes to add new biometric and mobile identity verification techniques to its customer facing applications by 90 percent. FIBI was able to integrate Transmit SP in a quick and friction-less process. It took less than two months to implement multiple authenticators to their mobile application including fingerprint, pattern drawing and OTP.

Transmit SP can add any form of authentication (facial/selfie, eye, voice biometrics, SMS, etc.) to any application (web, mobile, call center, point of sale, ATMs, etc.) without the need to make any application code level modifications. To eliminate the need to embed authenticators into each application, Transmit SP uses a simple interface to offload all authentication and provisioning tasks. It provides a wide set of built-in authentication methods that enable organizations to mix-and-match any combination of authenticators. Transmit SP also supports any existing third-party authentication or anti-fraud products in use, and can orchestrate real-time responses based on customer configured policies. About Transmit Security Transmit Security allows organizations to implement frictionless omni-channel authentication without making any modifications to their applications. The company's technology supports any authentication technology, from any vendor, in one modular, micro-services platform that enables application owners to slash time-to-market and cost-to-market for new identity related projects. Transmit Security's founders created Trusteer (now IBM (News - Alert) Security) and Imperva (IMPV on NYSE). The company's research and development team is made up of former members of Unit 8200, the elite Israeli Intelligence Corps. Transmit Security is self-funded, and based in Boston and Tel-Aviv. For more information visit http://www.transmitsecurity.com/ or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @TransmitSec. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005283/en/

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[January 25, 2017] Guided Therapeutics Enters into LuViva Advanced Cervical Scan Manufacturing and License Agreement for China

Guided Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB: GTHP), the maker of a rapid and painless testing platform based on its patented biophotonic technology, announced today that it has reached agreement with Shandong Yaohua Medical Instrument Corporation in China for exclusive distribution, sales and manufacturing rights of the LuViva Advanced Cervical Scan for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. In addition to a previous payment of $50,000 made by Shandong Yaohua, the terms of the license agreement include a licensing fee by Shandong Yaohua of $1,000,000, the purchase of a minimum of ten LuViva Advance Cervical Scan devices in 2017 and royalties for disposables based on minimum orders once Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) approval is obtained. To further align the strategic interests of the parties, Guided Therapeutics has agreed to issue $1,000,000 in shares of its common stock to Shandong Yaohua. Shandong Yaohua will conduct the necessary clinical trials and apply to the CFDA for approval to market LuViva in China. Once approved, Shandong Yaohua will provide for the distribution and sale of LuViva within China with its established distribution and sales network. China is potentially the world's largest market for cervical cancer screening with over 390 million women in the recommended ages for screening. The incidence of cervical cancer in China is currently the highest in the world and increasing. Increased screening for cervical cancer is key to mitigating the losses associated with this disease. Under the terms of the agreement, Shandong Yaohua will establish manufacturing lines for LuViva within its existing medical device manufacturing facilities, which will enable Shandong Yaohua to supply Guided Therapeutics with LuViva products. With increased volume of production, advanced manufacturing processes and competitive labor rates, the Company expects that Shandong Yaohua will be able to lower the costs for the LuViva device and disposables for the global market. Worldwide, the market for cervical cancer screening and diagnostics, as currently practiced using cytology (Pap test) for primary screening, is estimated at $6 billion and is projected to grow to almost $9 billion by 2020. There are about 2.6 billion women aged 15 years and older who are at risk of developing cervical cancer worldwide. "We are pleased to be partnering with Shandong Yaohua to bring LuViva to China and improve early detection in a market where cervical cancer, often found too late, is the second leading killer among women's cancers," said Gene Cartwright, CEO and President of Guided Therapeutics. "The agreement also opens up the possibility to bring efficiencies to our manufacturing processes as well as opening up additional markets in East Asia." "LuViva is th ideal product to address this critical women's health concern, which is a national priority for eradication in China," said Li Yaohua, Chairman of Shandong Yaohua. "The combination of early detection and immediate results makes the LuViva appealing to the healthcare professional as well as the patient and her family."



The Company currently anticipates interim device and disposable sales for clinical study and demonstration purposes. In Hong Kong, the Company believes the time to commercial sales is quicker, with device registration, rather than approval required. About Shandong Yaohua Medical Instrument Corporation

Shandong Yaohua Medical Instrument Corporation, traded on the Chinese National Equities Exchange and Quotations as 833141, is the maker and distributor of medical devices and disposables for urine analysis, urine test strips, vacuum blood collection tubes and other medical products. They manufacture, distribute and sell to the domestic market in China, the Middle East and Eastern Asia. Shandong Yaohua Medical Instrument Corporation is located in the high-tech development zone of Shandong Province, where it owns an 86,600 square meter production facility with 20,000 square meters of floor space dedicated to the high tech manufacture of medical devices. Total revenue in 2015 for all Shandong Yaohua holdings was approximately 87 million RMB ($12.7 million USD). About LuViva Advanced Cervical Scan LuViva is a technologically advanced diagnostic device that scans the cervix with light and uses spectroscopy to measure how light interacts with the cervical tissue. Spectroscopy identifies chemical and structural indicators of precancer that may be below the surface of the cervix or misdiagnosed as benign. This technique is called biophotonics. Unlike Pap, HPV tests or biopsies, LuViva does not require laboratory analysis or a tissue sample, and is designed to provide results immediately, which may result in eliminating costly, painful and unnecessary additional testing. LuViva is intended for use with women who have undergone initial screening and are called back for follow up with a colposcopy examination, which in many cases, involves taking a biopsy of the cervix. It has also been used in clinical studies in Turkey and Nigeria as a means to screen women for cervical cancer where the availability of infrastructure necessary for Pap and HPV testing is restricted. The device is used in conjunction with the LuViva Cervical Guide single-use patient interface and calibration disposable. About Guided Therapeutics Guided Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB: GTHP) is the maker of a rapid and painless testing platform based on its patented biophotonic technology that utilizes light for the early detection of disease at the cellular level. The Company's first product is the LuViva Advanced Cervical Scan, a non-invasive device used to detect cervical disease instantly and at the point of care. In a multi-center clinical trial with women at risk for cervical disease, the technology was able to detect cervical cancer up to two years earlier than conventional modalities, according to published reports. For more information, visit: www.guidedinc.com. The Guided Therapeutics LuViva Advanced Cervical Scan is an investigational device and is limited by federal law to investigational use in the U.S. LuViva, the wave logo and "Early detection, better outcomes" are registered trademarks owned by Guided Therapeutics, Inc. Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer: A number of the matters and subject areas discussed in this news release that are not historical or current facts deal with potential future circumstances and developments. The discussion of such matters and subject areas is qualified by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations generally and also may materially differ from Guided Therapeutics' actual future experience involving any of or more of such matters and subject areas. Such risks and uncertainties include those related to the early stage of commercialization of products, the uncertainty of market acceptance of products, the uncertainty of development or effectiveness of distribution channels, the intense competition in the medical device industry, the sufficiency of capital raised in prior financings and the ability to realize their expected benefits, the uncertainty of future capital to develop products or continue as a going concern, the uncertainty of regulatory approval of products, and the dependence on licensed intellectual property, as well as those that are more fully described from time to time under the heading "Risk Factors" in Guided Therapeutics' reports filed with the SEC (News - Alert), including Guided Therapeutics' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 and subsequent filings. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005742/en/

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[January 25, 2017] IDTechEx Research Announces New Report on Energy Independent Electric Vehicles

BOSTON, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IDTechEx Research, a leading provider of independent market research, business intelligence and events on emerging technology, announces the availability of a new report, Energy Independent Electric Vehicles Land, Water, Air 2017-2037. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140310/673848 )

This report reveals how energy independent electric vehicles (EIV) are about to become a major investment target as their status passes from curiosity to being a widely-recognised, huge market opportunity. Road vehicles, boats and aircraft are being prepared for sale that are variously powered by electricity from on-board wind turbines, solar and alternatives. A few are on sale right now. These are the kernel of a business of over $100 billion in EIVs employing multi-mode energy harvesting, extreme powertrain efficiency and other new advances. Investment in these new technologies is derisked by the fct that they will also be useful way beyond EIVs. The leading solar racer company has already spun off five businesses exploiting its discoveries in aerodynamics and the like.





The report uses easily understood infograms, graphs and tables to present the discoveries and interpretation by globetrotting multi-lingual, PhD level analysts at IDTechEx. There are even latest inputs from 2017. Forty-seven categories of electric vehicle are forecasted by number and value from 2017-2027. The report provides a profusion of examples and new market research.

Utilities and charging station networks are bypassed. Batteries become less important in EVs. Less battery may be needed - sometimes no battery at all - but the report forecasts multi-billion dollar businesses being created that make the unprecedentedly efficient powertrains, multi-mode energy harvesting, lightweighting and streamlining required. The reinvented car, boat and plane awaits, easier to use, safer, greener, with lower cost of ownership and longer life. Previously impossible missions are identified in the report and the boost to mobile robotics is revealed. Discover how remote communities and developing countries will prosper as a consequence. Participate and invest before the herd. Here is the knowledge that gives you the power.



Read more about this new report at http://www.IDTechEx.com/EIV and learn more about IDTechEx here. IDTechEx provides companies with tools that can assist them in making essential strategic decisions in emerging technologies. IDTechEx offers research reports, subscriptions, consultancy, introductory services and events.

Contact:

Alison Lewis

Marketing Manager, Reports

[email protected]

http://www.IDTechEx.com

twitter.com/IDTechEx

UK: +44-(0)1223-810-290

SOURCE IDTechEx Ltd

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[January 25, 2017] Country Montessori School of Poway Selected as Model School for Upcoming AMS Tour

Country Montessori School (CMS) is proud to announce today that the School has been honored as one of only three schools in San Diego selected by the American Montessori Society for onsite, educational tours on March 9, 2017. CMS anticipates that more than 55 national and international participants will take advantage of this unique learning experience to tour the school, and meet the faculty and students. As part of the CMS tour, participants will have the opportunity to have a physical tour of the school, as well as attend an onsite workshop by long-time Montessorian and music teacher, Frank Leto. CMS had to meet specific requirements to be considered as a model tour school, including an in-depth interview with AMS (News - Alert) and an onsite evaluation tour. Students will be part of the interactive sessions with Mr. Leto and teachers and staff will assist with the onsite tour and lunch. "We are honored to be a part of the AMS conference and to contribute to such an important event in the Montessori community," said Adela Corrales, Head of School. "Being selected for this tour fulfills one of the dreams that we envisioned when we started CMS over 28 years ago - to be a model school for excellence in education for our students, parents and teachers. Students at CMS are part of a community, not just a school. I'm excited to be able to share this community with teacher and faculty from across the world as part of the AMS tour."



This year's AMS conference theme is "Montessori Beyond Borders," and this speaks to the hearts of the students, faculty and parents of CMS, where valuing diversity, partnering with the local community and supporting global awareness with active student involvement are key to Country Montessori School's mission. "Country Montessori School is the best kept secret," said Mary Ellen Kordas, Board Member and incoming President, American Montessori Society. "I was so impressed with Adela and her school. As the incoming President of AMS, I am just flat out proud. We are so appreciative of CMS hosting our visit and the conference tours. Our attendees will LOVE seeing CMS!"

CMS is in the process of launching enrollment activities for the 2017-18 school year. For more information and a personal tour, where prospective parents and students can see the campus, meet the staff and discuss the School's curriculum, please contact Sheila Walker at (858) 673-1756. Further information regarding CMS can also be found on the School's website at http://www.countrymontessori.org/. About Country Montessori School Founded in 1989, Country Montessori School (CMS) is a nonprofit educational institution dedicated to providing authentic Montessori teaching methods while integrating the latest technologies. CMS serves children ages 2.6 months to 11 years in the School's Early Childhood (Preschool and Kindergarten), Lower Elementary, and Upper Elementary programs. CMS is a full member of AMS and is WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) accredited. Country Montessori School is committed to maintaining its leadership in Montessori education. Our mission as educators and parents is to foster independent, confident, academically prepared, and socially responsible citizens, who will be lifelong learners and problem solvers. We will grow and evolve to meet the needs of our children, parents and community. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005132/en/

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[January 25, 2017] PushCrew Releases World's First Web Push Notifications Report, Says E-commerce and SMBs Leading Adoption

NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2017 /CNW/ - On Wednesday, PushCrew, the web push notifications product from New York and New Delhi-based Wingify, released the world's first ever report on the 'State of Web Push Notifications in 2016'. This is the first time a report has been put together on this technology, being used across domains like e-commerce, blogging, and SaaS. Gaining ground over the last couple of years, web push notifications are clickable messages, similar to app push notifications; that websites can send to their users on desktop and mobile browsers. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/461166/PRNE_WingifyReport_Infographic.jpg )

A comprehensive study of how industries and users are adopting and using web push notifications, PushCrew's report used three distinct sources. First, PushCrew surveyed 500 of their own customers; second, they undertook a consumer survey among SMBs as well as general website audiences in the USA; lastly, they tracked their product's usage across 1000 websites. The results throw new light on what is a very recent space in marketing communications. For example, the report finds that notifications sent in the evening had more engagement than others, and that CTRs steadily decreased for every extra notification sent in a single day.



The report also finds that most of the early adopters of web push notifications are from the e-commerce industry (21%), followed closely by news and media (17.6%). Also, the bulk of push notification users come from small-sized organisations across all industries, inferring that larger organisations are taking time to adopt this new technology. Paras Chopra, Founder and CEO of Wingify, said, "The report was born out of an internal project through which we wanted to better understand our customers. Then we realised it could be of use to the industry in general, so we decided to release it. Web push notifications are very new to the marketing landscape, and this report can serve as a vantage point from which to look at the channel."

"The report is not written as a dreary data sheet. It is designed to be a brief, reader-friendly document that will help decision makers figure out how push notifications are being used, who is already using them, and what its potential might be in the future," added Sairam Krishnan, Head of Marketing at PushCrew, who authored the report. The report itself is free for download here, from the PushCrew website. About PushCrew The second product from the makers of VWO, PushCrew is the most stable, easy-to-use, and popular web push notifications platform. With features like segmentation, scheduled notifications, multi-website support, custom images and so on, PushCrew has everything a marketer needs. With more than 4500 customers, PushCrew's customers include Hubspot, LeadPages, Hindustan Times, Intuit's QuickBooks, Skyscanner, Lenovo, HCL, and UNICEF. PushCrew is the second SaaS product from the Wingify stable. Wingify's first product is VWO, the world's easiest A/B testing and conversion optimisation platform. SOURCE Wingify

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UPDATE: State Auditor John Dougall to Speak at Charter Day on the Hill, A Showcase of Diverse School Choice Options

More than 500 students from 50 charter schools will join Utah State Auditor John Dougall at the Utah Capitol building to showcase the great charter school options available to parents in Utah.

The event, which is designed to celebrate National School Choice Week, will take place in Salt Lake City Thursday, Jan. 26.

Students will host booths in the capitol from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to educate lawmakers on the programs and curricula provided at various charter schools, and on the importance of charter school funding.

State Auditor John Dougall will be the keynote speaker.

National School Choice Week 2017 will feature more than 21,000 school choice events across all 50 states.

or more information, contact Cate Klundt at [email protected] or (702) 767-3994.







As a nonpartisan, nonpolitical public awareness effort, National School Choice Week shines a positive spotlight on effective education options for students, families, and communities around the country.

For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com, or visit www.facebook.com/schoolchoiceweek.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005939/en/
[January 25, 2017] Hylant Names Two to New Roles in Support of Strategic Growth and Service Initiatives

Hylant, one of the nation's largest privately owned insurance brokerage firms, announces the addition of two new roles within the leadership team at its headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, in support of its long-term strategies for growth and commitment to exceptional customer service. Kevin O'Donnell has assumed the role of senior vice president, Property/Marine/Global Practice Leader. Kevin will manage the practice and build strategies to further enhance the Hylant brand through new business growth and customer support, domestically and internationally, within the Worldwide Broker Network. He also will support the claims practice leader in the design of property claims standards and processes and serve as the lead claims advocate. "Kevin's experience in all facets of property, business interruption, marine and international placements provides Hylant with the leadership that credentials us in our expanding market," said Todd Schreck, senior vice president, Risk Management. "His ability to build relationships and his vast expertise in building insurance programs for clients will springboard our growth efforts." Tony Packo III has been promoted to vice president o Strategic Operations. In his new capacity, Tony will have operational oversight of Hylant's Risk Practice and Service groups, as well as oversee client engagement strategy to facilitate further growth and enhance the client experience.



"Tony will leverage his background in management to collaborate with our internal stakeholders and establish sound working relationships with all facets of our strategic sales process," Schreck said. "He will assist in building a long-term strategy for Hylant and further develop operational efficiencies." About Hylant

Hylant, an eight-consecutive-year winner of Best Places to Work in Insurance, was founded in 1935 and is a full-service insurance brokerage with 14 offices in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and Florida. As a member of the Worldwide Broker Network, Hylant offers complete risk management services, employee benefits brokerage and consultation, loss control, healthcare management and insurance solutions for businesses and individuals. Hylant is one of the largest privately held brokerage firms in the United States and serves a wide variety of clients locally, nationally and internationally. For more information, please contact Sandy Seitz at [email protected] or visit hylant.com. Follow Hylant on LinkedIn and Twitter (@hylantgroup). View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005840/en/

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[January 25, 2017] EQUITY ALERT: Rosen Law Firm Files Securities Class Action Lawsuit Against BT Group plc

Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces it has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of purchasers of BT Group (News - Alert) plc securities (NYSE:BT) from May 24, 2012 through January 20, 2017, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"). The lawsuit seeks to recover damages for BT Group investors under the federal securities laws. To join the BT Group class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-1035.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. or Kevin Chan, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action. NO CLASS HAS YET BEEN CERTIFIED IN THE ABOVE ACTION. UNTIL A CLASS IS CERTIFIED, YOU ARE NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL UNLESS YOU RETAIN ONE. YOU MAY ALSO REMAIN AN ABSENT CLASS MEMBER AND DO NOTHING AT THIS POINT. YOU MAY RETAIN COUNSEL OF YOUR CHOICE. According to the lawsuit, throughout the Class Period Defendants made false and/or misleding statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) BT Group misstated its earnings due to improper accounting practices and improper sales, purchase, factoring and leasing transactions in its Italian operations; (2) BT Group lacked effective internal controls; and (3) as a result, Defendants' statements about BT Group's business, operations and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.



A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than March 27, 2017. If you wish to join the litigation, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-1035.html or to discuss your rights or interests regarding this class action, please contact Phillip Kim or Kevin Chan of Rosen Law Firm toll free at 866-767-3653 or via email at [email protected] or [email protected]. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn (News - Alert): https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm or on Twitter (News - Alert): https://twitter.com/rosen_firm.

Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125006035/en/

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Governor Bentley Proclaims Jan. 22-28 "School Choice Week"; Joins Leaders Nationwide in Celebrating Opportunity in Education

School Choice Week is official in Alabama: Gov. Robert Bentley has proclaimed it, joining more than a dozen other governors plus more than 500 city and county leaders in commemorating the week.

The largest-ever celebration of opportunity in education, National School Choice Week 2017 will feature more than 21,000 events, including 200 in Alabama. Events include rallies, roundtable discussions, coffeehouse meet-ups, festivals, school fairs, and more.

National School Choice Week is a nonpartisan, nonpolitical effort seeking to raise awareness about of the school choice options parents have, or want to have, for their children.

"We are delighted that Gov. Bentley has issued this proclamation," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "Like parents everywhere, Alabama parents want their kids to succeed in life, and success begins with a good education That's what National School Choice Week is all about: Parents having the opportunity to explore their options and find the school or schools where their children will succeed."







Held every January, National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort designed to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options for every child. Through thousands of independently planned events across the country, National School Choice Week raises public awareness of all types of educational choices available to children. These options include traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, online learning, private schools, and homeschooling.

For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com, or visit www.facebook.com/schoolchoiceweek.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125006060/en/
[January 25, 2017] Innovative Verity Voting Now Available for Michigan Upgrades

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hart InterCivic's innovative Verity Voting System is now available as a replacement for aging election equipment in Michigan. Secretary of State Ruth Johnson Tuesday authorized spending and set an August 2018 deadline for Michigan jurisdictions to replace election equipment. Hart's Verity is the most advanced system approved for purchase in the state, and the all-new system is customized to meet Michigan's requirements. "Hart would like to thank the State Bureau of Elections and the Joint Evaluation Committee for their diligence and foresight in enabling a much-needed election technology refresh for Michigan's 83 counties," said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic. "Jurisdictions throughout the U.S. are due to invest in their election infrastructure. With this initiative, Michigan emerges as a leader in the nation." "Verity brings a fresh approach to Michigan, and we are ready to hit the ground running," Braithwaite added. "The new systemcan be in place within months of a county's decision, and we encourage swift action. Verity is the voting system of choice for jurisdictions across the country, and 100 percent of customers who switched from another vendor gave Hart's service the highest satisfaction rating in 2016. We are eager to show Michigan voters an easier, more trustworthy experience."



Verity's advantages for Michigan include: All-new technology designed for cost-effective versatility to meet changing customer needs, demonstrated by third federal certification in less than two years

Best-in-industry security protocols, including encryption, two-factor authentication and redundant data storage to safeguard the sanctity of the vote

Cost-saving system and support approach, with compact, lightweight polling place devices that save on storage and transportation costs, a robust design that eliminates the need for costly vendor maintenance and Hart's vendor-direct model that does away with hidden fees

Easiest to use system for voters and election officials with plain-language instructions and consistently user-friendly software and hardware design "Verity is the right choice for Michigan. Let's get started," said Braithwaite from the company's Austin headquarters. "We are proud of our history of innovation and strong commitment to meeting our customers' needs."

About Hart InterCivic, Inc. Austin-based Hart InterCivic is a full service election solutions innovator, partnering with state and local governments to deliver secure, accurate and reliable elections. Working side-by-side with election professionals for more than 100 years, Hart is committed to helping advance democracy one election at a time. The Hart mission fuels passionate customer focus and a continuous drive for technological innovation. The company's new Verity Voting system makes voting more straightforward, equitable and accessibleand makes managing elections more transparent, more efficient and easier. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/innovative-verity-voting-now-available-for-michigan-upgrades-300396875.html SOURCE Hart InterCivic, Inc.

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Following the attempted arrest earlier this morning of Apostle Johnson Suleman, the president and founder of Omega Fire Ministry worldwide by officials from the Department of State Security (SSS), the church management has issued a press release condemning the development.

The statement jointly signed by Dr. Sule Emmanuel, senior pastor, OFM South Africa Churches and Director of Media (OFM Worldwide) and Barrister Samuel Amune Esq, Coordinator, OFM Legal Team Worldwide, reads;

This is to inform the millions of followers and supporters of Apostle Johnson Suleman all over the world that the man of God is very safe, and that the attempted arrest by the Department of State Security on the man of God on the instruction and orders of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari was unsuccessful.

Over the last couple of months, thousands of defenseless Christians have been killed across various cities in Nigeria, with nearly a thousand so far killed in southern Kaduna alone. Shockingly, there has been no firm statement or action by the Nigerian government to stop these destruction of lives and properties neither has any one been arrested or charge to court, largely because these senseless killings are been perpetrated by kinsmen of the President. And because of the body language of the President, these killings have progressively increased.

However, Apostle Johnson Suleman, in his love for Nigeria and as Gods representative to the people, has refused to keep quiet about all these immoral happenings, and he has continued to speak truth to people in position of authority; calling on the government to do the needful, and protect the citizens. Only recently, Gods servant, Apostle Johnson Suleman was forced to call on Christians all over Nigeria to defend themselves against these killers since the spate of killings has been on the rise. Interestingly, the call by the man of God for the Christians to take caution and defend themselves where necessary has become the core focus of the Nigerian government, despite the fact that it has evidently failed to protect her people. It is now determined to exploit the instruments of the State to go after the man of God.

Typical of a tyrannical government, while the man of God was in Ekiti StateNigeria for a crusade which held at the Ekiti State Pavilion, the government of President Buhari ordered two truck-load of fully armed DSS officers to forcefully arrest the man of God, but the people and the government of Ekiti-State overwhelmingly resisted the arrest.

Let it be on record that this assault occurred around 1am in the morning of 25/01/2017 . Apostle Johnson Suleman is not facing any corruption charges neither is there any petition against him. The attempted arrest being masterminded by the PRESIDENCY against him is unconstitutional, morally wrong and procedurally defective.

This country was founded on the principles of equality before the law and justice. There should be strict adherence to the Spirit and Letters of our Constitution and nobody should be treated as a common criminal. As the country belongs to every one of us irrespective of religion, sex and social status.

By the way, the man of God in his prophecies for the year 2017 which he issued before the end of 2016 had already informed the public how God showed him that in 2017 the government of President Buhari will come after him because of his stand against the policies and actions of the government. But God is ever faithful to protect his Anointed from the oppressors.

All over the world, no responsible government ever makes religious leaders their object of attack, but they would rally round religious leaders to see how to forestall any crisis and foster unity. History has shown that when you make religious leaders objects of attack, the repercussions are very grave.

Beyond just being an esteemed and beloved preacher of the gospel, Apostle Johnson Suleman is a renowned philanthropist and statesman. On a weekly basis, he sponsors widows, jobless graduates and several Nigerians to start businesses and give meaning to their lives, while also giving scholarships to countless number of people to obtain university education.

All these self-sacrificing philanthropic gestures are not directly or indirectly funded by the church, but directly from Apostle Johnson Sulemans private resources and from his several business interests.

Even with the present needless sufferings and hardship the present government of President Buhari has plunged Nigerians into, Apostle Johnson Suleman has remained undeterred and consistent in doing his best in alleviating the sufferings of the people. While in Ekiti, he doled out over One Million Naira to certain people who had various financial challenges. These individuals were strangers to him, but because they are fellow Nigerians, he considers them his brothers and sisters, and he just had to do something to end their despair. This is the kind of good heart the man of God, Apostle Johnson Suleman, has for his country and his compatriots.

We are hereby calling on the Nigerian government to put a stop to senseless attacks on Christian leaders, especially Apostle Johnson Suleman. These are leaders and beacons of hope whose integrity and teachings have kept this country in unity and consistently given hope to millions of Nigerians faced with hunger, neglect, abuse and ill-treatment from the government they optimistically voted into power.

We will like to inform the government of Nigeria that Omega Fire Ministry has numerous branches of her ministry in over 51 nations, (with over 500,000 membership in Nigeria alone) and all our National churches have been mandated to take our protest letter to the Nigerian Embassy in all these nations, and to inform the government of the respective nations of the despotic and tyrannical approach of the government of President Buhari to Christians and Christian leaders in Nigeria. We also make bold to say that we shall employ all means whatsoever legally permissible to seek redress and defend ourselves and our Apostle should the Presidency continue this senseless attack. It is unacceptable that the killers of the people are not being arrested, but respected men of God are made object of attacks by the institutions of government.

We like to unequivocally state that Apostle Johnson Suleman believes in the progress and unity of Nigeria, and this will remain the core of all his messages. However, no intimidation from the government will stop him from speaking the truth to the government, and standing in defense of the defenseless.

We believe that the greater and brighter days of this country are very close-by, and God in His judgment will surely displace the enemies of his people, regardless of how highly placed they are.

Apostle Johnson Suleman will continue praying for the good of Nigeria, and for the Almighty God to guide her leaders right.

In conclusion, we use this medium to call on the government of President Buhari to heed the call of all Nigerians, and step-up in his leadership! Protect the people. Stop the mindless killings going on daily in Nigeria. Stop the unwarranted persecution against the church, the Christian community and the wanton destruction of churches. As father of the nation, let your body language and your voice be visibly heard as leader of a united Nigeria.
Femi Fani-Kayode, one of the leading thought leaders in Nigeria, writes on the on-going genocide in Southern Kaduna and the refusal of the government of Kaduna State to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity targeted at Christians.

Not a single soul has been prosecuted, let alone jailed for the genocide in Southern Kaduna and you are blaming someone for preaching self defense? You are INSANE. Yes, INSANE!  Olufemi Korode, Twitter, 24th January 2017.

Can anyone dispute the fact that Mr. Korode is right? Are those that say that Christians should not defend themselves or complain when they are being slaughtered not completely insane?

The truth is that had it not been for the fact that eight more innocent and defenceless people were butchered by Fulani militants in Samaru Kataf, Southern Kaduna on 17th January, that six young students of the College of Education, Gidan Waya, Southern Kaduna were massacred on 23rd January and that twenty innocent souls, including women and children, were slaughtered by the same pack of beastly savages in the village of Ohimini in Benue state on that same day I may not have written this piece.

Yet I am constrained to do so because the animals in human flesh and Islamist demons that are on the rampage in Kaduna state and indeed all over the country have not satisfied their lust for Christian blood and their carnage persists. As a matter of fact the cancer is spreading.

When you add the thirty four that were murdered in the last few days to the 808 innocent souls that were killed by the same creatures on Christmas eve and Christmas day you cannot come to any other conclusion than the fact that this is genocide and that it is time to resist it.

Unfortunately some do not wish to hear that. They would prefer the people of Southern Kaduna to continue to be the sacrificial lambs that they have always been. Permit me to share just one example of their mindset here.

In reaction to the suggestion that the people of Southern Kaduna ought to defend themselves from mass murder and genocide given the fact that the state government has refused to protect them, Mallam Uba Sani, a four foot dwarf and the political advisor to Kaduna states diminutive Midget-in-Chief, Governor Nasir El Rufai, wrote the following in ThisDay and a number of other newspapers:

The greatest challenge to peace in Kaduna State now is the antics of political jobbers and opportunists who have gone as low as spreading hate speeches; telling communities in Kaduna State to defend themselves. This, of course, is an unmistakable call on the people of Kaduna State to procure arms and ammunitions and start killing themselves. This is not just very low but extremely dangerous. This call on the citizenry to take the laws into their own hands totally undermines all on-going efforts to achieve lasting peace in Kaduna State.

These are strong words from the dwarf who appears to be expressing the frustration, angst and cold rage of his employer, the Chief Midget.

Instead of showing remorse for their woeful failures and begging for forgiveness for the oceans of innocent blood that has been shed under their watch, the government of Kaduna State is lashing out at those of us that have called them out and that are deeply concerned about the annihilation and decimation of human life and sheer carnage that is taking place in Southern Kaduna.

The dwarf pours scorn on the suggestion that a man should protect his family, loved ones and home from cold-blooded murderers who are attempting to maim and kill them.

He is suggesting that the people of Southern Kaduna should keep quiet, fold their arms and happily welcome, with a warm smile, those that have come to rape their wives, slaughter their children, burn their homes, wipe out their faith and possess their land. Is that how to make Kaduna great again?

Is that how to get back to the glorious days of Abubakar Dangiwa Umar, Ahmed Makarfi and Patrick Yakowa when Kaduna state was presided over by men of substance and character.

Is that the way to get back to the days when Kaduna State was blessed with kind and compassionate governors who were balanced, mature, sensitive, caring, gentle, cosmopolitan, inclusive and fair to all regardless of faith, tribe or ethnic nationality?

Is that how to get back to the peaceful days of Kaduna when those of us that play polo used to look forward to going there to play a few chukkas at the annual Kaduna Polo tournament?

Is that how to get back to the days when Kaduna was one of the best places to live in or visit in the country?

I doubt it very much. The truth is that nothing could be more insensitive, irresponsible, callous and utterly absurd than the dwarfs counsel and suggestion.

If that is the kind of advice that the midget has been getting from his aides and advisors ever since he was elected as governor one needs to look no further to know why he has failed so woefully.

Under his watch Kaduna state has become more divided than it has ever been in its entire history and the pungent smell and rotten stench of fresh human blood and fly-infested bloated corpses fills the air.

That is the shameful legacy that the midget and his dwarf are desperately trying to white-wash and defend.

Instead of going on their knees and begging God, the Christian community, the Shiite Muslims and the Nigerian people for forgiveness for what can, at best, be described as their irresponsible, incompetent and criminally negligent behaviour and, at worse, their willful and premeditated attempt to wipe out, exterminate and cleanse the land of the entire Christian community and every ethnic and religious minority group in Southern Kaduna and Zaria, they are throwing bricks at their perceived enemies and flying into childish tantrums.

The dwarf spoke of political jobbers and opportunists. One wonders just who they are? Again one wonders precisely what the ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace in Kaduna that he mentioned are given the fact that his boss the midget does not appear to give a damn about the fact that thousands of innocent and defenceless people, including women and children, have been butchered during his watch and right under his nose.

At the end of 2015 over 1000 Shiite Muslims were slaughtered in cold blood and buried in mass graves by the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna state. Many Shiites have accused the midget of covertly playing a sordid and questionable role in the whole affair and when one hears the facts one cannot blame them.

For example is it true that it was he that fingered Sheik Ibrahim El Zakzaky, the Shiite leader, by phoning him and ascertaining his whereabouts for the military before they tracked him down, shelled, shot and murdered hundreds of his people in the sanctity of their homes and proceeded to shoot him and his gentle Yoruba wife in the eye and stomach before whisking them both away.

Since that time they have kept both husband and wife incommunicado and in detention despite court orders to release them. One wonders what efforts the midget has made to get them out?

One wonders why he, a Sunni Muslim, hates the Shiite so much? One wonders why he has been tormenting, arresting, persecuting, outlawing, proscribing and locking them up ever since their leaders arrest even though they have never sought to harm or attack anyone?

Another example of the sheer depravity of this man was provided approximately one month ago over the Christmas holiday.

On Christmas eve and Christmas day alone, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), no less that 808 Christians were killed by the midgets friends and brothers, the Fulani militia (aka herdsmen), in Southern Kaduna.

The midget and his government provided security and enforced a curfew in the Muslim areas of the state but they refused to do the same for Southern Kaduna which is Christian. Consequently the Fulani militia not only struck but they struck very hard indeed leaving nothing but death and destruction in their path.

Evidently the Chief Midget and his government are more interested in insulting, undermining, discrediting and threatening with arrest its critics and those that have expressed outrage about what the people of Southern Kaduna have been subjected to under his watch than in protecting and saving innocent Christian lives.

One wonders why he hates Christians so much to the extent that the only hospital in the relevant Christian community was shut down by his government on the days that the attacks took place in order to ensure that the wounded could not be treated and that as many Christians suffered casualties and died as possible.

Is the midget not vicariously liable and criminally culpable for those deaths even if he did not take part in the attacks himself? What is the source of and reason for his hatred for our Christian brothers and sisters? Are they not human beings as well? Are they not worthy of life? Do they not deserve to be protected?

These questions must be answered whether they like it or not. Yet instead of doing so they are spewing out more and more garbage by the day.

For example in his essay the midgets dwarf went even further by saying that a Yoruba ex- Minister who should know better and who is being sponsored held a series of meetings in his Abuja home with various delegations from Southern Kaduna where they planned how to effect a violent attack on others in Kaduna state.

Though he did not have the courage to mention the name of that Yoruba ex-Minister it is obvious that the dwarf was referring to yours truly.

As a rule I do not respond to hired help and the aides of public office holders no matter how short they are because they are too small for me. This is especially so when they are stunted not just in physical growth but also in mental capacity.

When the midget himself dares to open his mouth and talk rubbish I will give him the full measure of my pen and tongue but I cannot bring myself to the very low level of joining issues with a frustrated dwarf or any of the other hired guns of an embittered and drowning midget.

What I will say to the dwarf however is this. If it was me that he was accusing of having meetings in my Abuja home with various delegations from Southern Kaduna he is absolutely right.

I have many friends in and from Southern Kaduna from both the Shiite Muslim and Christian community who deemed it necessary to pay me a visit in Abuja over the Christmas holidays and tell me about the genocide that they were being subjected to by the Fulani Janjaweed terrorists and military forces, with the full support and knowledge of the midget-in-chief.

I was proud to host them and I will continue to do so whether the little dwarf and his paymaster likes it or not.

I should also mention the fact that at no time did I discuss any violent attack on the Fulani or anyone else in Kaduna state with any of them though I told them plainly that if the government failed in its duty to protect them they must go ahead and defend themselves.

That is my view and it will always be my view and I will continue to share it with whoever I deem fit.

For this counsel I have no apology. If it gives the midget governor and his little dwarf sleepless nights that the people of Southern Kaduna will no longer sit back and allow their loved ones to be slaughtered by their Fulani friends and kinsmen that is their problem. For all I care they can go and hug a transformer or jump in the lagoon. (TO BE CONTINUED).

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
Gambian President and dictator Yahya Jammeh, facing a combined military force composed of Senegalese army troops, the Nigerian air force, and troops from Mali, Ghana, and Togo, has agreed to relinquish the presidency of Gambia. On December 1, 2016, Jammeh was defeated for re-election in a surprise upset by his little-known rival Adama Barrow. Jammeh received only 45 percent of the vote.

During the election campaign Jammeh vowed in an interview with the BBC to rule for one billion years. After initially conceding defeat to Barrow, Jammeh reneged on his promise to step down and announced he would remain as president.

The Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) decided that Jammeh had to go, a stance ironically supported by the United States, which had assisted Jammeh in overthrowing Gambias democratically-elected president, Sir Dauda K. Jawara, in 1994.

The demand from the United States for Jammeh to relinquish power was a display of absolute hypocrisy since Washington had not only installed Jammeh into power but two successive U.S. presidents warmly welcomed the military ruler to the White House. Jammeh, who owns a $3.5 million mansion in Potomac, Maryland, was warmly greeted by President Barack Obama at the 2014 and 2015 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summits in Washington. President George W. Bush greeted Jammeh at the U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Washington in 2003. With the protection of the State Departments Diplomatic Security Service, Jammehs Moroccan-born wife, Zineb Jammeh, ran up huge totals at the Washington areas fashionable shopping malls. She also settled on Sams Club, a wholesale discount store, to buy massive amounts of household goods. Jammeh is a textbook case of CIA-sponsored kleptocracy on a grand scale.

Under Jammeh, Gambia continued to be a strategic ally of the United States. The kleptocratic Gambian leader permitted the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to maintain an emergency landing site for NASAs space shuttle in the country and Gambia participated with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in the post-9/11 rendition program.

Before being installed as Gambias dictator, Jammeh had received training from the Pentagon. Merely a lieutenant in the Gambian National Army. In 1993, Jammeh attended the notorious School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia. The school has trained some of Latin Americas most notorious military dictators and death squad commanders. While in Fort Benning, Jammeh was made an honorary citizen of the state of Georgia. The following year, and before he launched his coup, Jammeh attended the Military Police Officers Basic Course (MPOBC) at Fort McClellan, Alabama. He was also made an honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Alabama State Militia. Jammeh continued to collect American honorifics, including being made an admiral in the non-existent Navy of the State of Nebraska. The corny title is bestowed by the governor of Nebraska to prominent citizens, who have not only included African dictators like Jammeh and his fellow CIA-supported kleptocrat, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, but to the likes of George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Queen Elizabeth II.

It was during the administration of President Bill Clinton that the green light was given for Jammeh to be installed in a CIA-led coup in Gambia.

On July 24, 1994, President Jawara was at his palace in Banjul entertaining the commanding officer of the visiting U.S. Navy tank landing ship, the USS La Moure County. Also present was U.S. ambassador to Gambia, Andrew Winter, a career foreign service officer who represented a new breed of U.S. ambassador  one that routinely and publicly involved himself in the domestic political affairs of the nation to which they were posted. While Jawara and the ships commander exchanged diplomatic niceties, junior army officers, led by Jammeh, staged a coup against the democratically elected government.

Following the announcement of the coup, La Moure Countys skipper could only offer Jawara; Lady Chilele Jawara, one of his two wives; 14 of his 19 children; and his finance minister and police inspector-general a ride to his ship and American protection. Once on board, Jawara was permitted to use the vessels communications equipment to contact his military leaders. To Jawaras dismay, the coup leader, Jammeh, had arrested Colonel Boubakar Dada, the head of Gambias 800-strong army, along with ten Nigerian military advisers.

Instead of stepping in to help the Gambian leader, who had known every American president since John F. Kennedy, the Clinton administration merely offered to mediate between Jawara and the rebels. State Department spokeswoman Sondra McCarty suggested the United States was trying to facilitate dialogue between the two side, as if the Jammeh and his coup partners possessed legitimacy.

The U.S. Navy ship took Jawara to neighboring Senegal where he was granted political asylum by its government. Jawaras relationship with Senegal had become testy in recent years. In 1982, Jawara and President Abdou Diouf had agreed to establish the Senegambian Confederation. Many Gambians criticized the agreement as a de facto annexation of Gambia by Senegal as its 11th region. Sensing the opposition of his people, Jawara scrapped the confederation in 1989. However, this decision did not meet with the favor of the U.S. State Departments incoming breed of African specialists, who were enthusiastic about African integration. In their view, Jawara seemed to be swimming against the tide and an anachronism that should be dealt with appropriately. After being dealt with by the CIA, Jawara eventually took up residence in England.

Ambassador Winter never made a demand that the junta step down and allow Jawara to return to his office in The Quadrangle in Banjul to resume his presidency. The CIA and the Pentagon has already invested heavily in Jammeh as their man. Jammehs pre-coup military training in the United States is similar to that of Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame, who was trained at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas before he left in 1994 to lead an invasion of Rwanda from Uganda, after which, he took over the government.

Witnessing the extreme measures the United States was taking to restore ousted Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide to power, Jawara said: We have an even stronger case than Haiti. He added: I will feel very let down if military rule is allowed to take root [in Gambia]. However, Bill Clinton would not only deal harshly with Gambia but, in the end, Bill and Hillary Clinton eschewed Aristide after they turned Haiti into their personal cash cow. Thanks to the double dealing and corruption of the Clintons, Gambia and Haiti both fell under kleptocratic regimes. Jawara remained exiled in England and Aristide was, for a time, exiled to South Africa after being ousted in a CIA-initiated coup in 2004.

The United States is fond of calling for democracy in countries like Gambia, Haiti, and Rwanda, but those calls come after the CIA destabilized the countries with military coups. Uncle Sam shamelessly wears the hat of a supreme hypocrite.

After Jammeh refused ECOWASs, the African Unions, and the United Nations Security Councils demands to leave office and permit Barrow to assume the presidency, ECOWAS mobilized its military forces. On January 19, 2017, Barrow was sworn in as president in the Gambian embassy in Dakar, the Senegalese capital. Hours later, Senegalese troops began to enter Gambia and Nigerian air force jets buzzed the Gambian capital of Banjul. The presidents of Mauritania and Guinea flew to Banjul to urge Jammeh to leave office peacefully. Jammehs fate was sealed when Major General Ousman Badjie, the commander of the Gambian armed forces, recognized Barrow as Gambias commander-in-chief.
Gambian President Adama Barrow has requested that troops of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) should remain in his ...

Gambian President Adama Barrow has requested that troops of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) should remain in his country for the next six months.ECOWAS Commission President Marcel Alain de Souza, who revealed this yesterday in Abuja, said Barrow would go back to his country from Senegal as soon as it was convenient.He said the regional body was doing everything possible to ensure that Barrow return to his country.He will go when he is sure that the country is safe for him, de Souza said.He noted that the ECOWAS force must be sure that there is no stockpiling of arms.Barrow, according to the president of ECOWAS Commission, also requested that sufficient force be on ground for the next six months.On the request of amnesty by former President Yahya Jammeh, de-Souza said it was yet to be approved by ECOWAS, African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN).He explained that such a request must get the nod of these bodies before it can be granted, stressing that the blanket request of the former president, which includes his family members, supporters and aides would have to follow UN procedures.The ECOWAS Commission boss hinted that the former strongman might not get all what he requested for, as he cannot be guaranteed anything outside what any other citizen in the country gets.He stressed that the constitution and the laws would have to be enforced as the UN, AU and ECOWAS have to validate his request.The ECOWAS has told President Barrow not to witch-hunt his predecessor.The regional body advised that the issue of unifying and rebuilding of the country should be paramount.Also yesterday, the Gambian National Assembly revoked a state of emergency declared by Jammeh in an attempt to stay in power.
Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members on Monday abducted about seven women and killed three other persons when they attacked a village...

Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members on Monday abducted about seven women and killed three other persons when they attacked a village in the southern part of Borno State, witnesses and the police have said.The incident took place in Ndagu Village of Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.Ndagu village is located near Alagarno, a place that was once known as spiritual headquarters of Boko Haram and was said to have been recently liberated by troops of the Nigeria military.A leader of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, VGN, in Borno state, Abbas Gava, informed newsmen that he received a report from one of his colleagues in Askira-Uba Local Government Area that Ndagu in Lassa district came under massive attack by Boko Haram.Mr. Gava said he was briefed by the Commander of VGN in Askira-Uba, Hamidu Wampana, that many of the residents fled into the jungle when the gunmen set the whole village on fire.At about 5.40 p.m. on Monday, Boko Haram group entered Ndagu Village near Lassa, and killed four persons, burnt houses and took away car, he said.We learnt that soldiers of the 115 Battalion and our vigilante operatives have gone on the trail of the terrorists.A resident of the attacked village, Ibrahim Askira, said villages and communities in that area have recently been constantly attacked by Boko Haram insurgents who would in most cases loot their food stores.He said after the attack on Monday, many women were found missing and may have been abducted by the gunmen.As I speak with you now, many people who fled to the bush have not returned, said Mr. Askira.We are not sure what has happened to the missing villagers but the gunmen also took away many women, whose number we cannot ascertain yet.The people in our village are completely traumatised due to this attack, we cannot be sure of our safety the next night.I call on the security agents to be more proactive in dealing with these Boko Haram boys. If the security leave us like this, they will finish us, he said.Askira is one of the Borno communities bordering the notorious Alagarno, the erstwhile spiritual headquarters of Boko Haram. It is also not far away from Sambisa forest.The Borno State Police Commissioner confirmed the attack.From the information we have, the attack took place three days ago, said the CP. And the intelligence gathered was that 7 women were abducted and three persons were also killed. Most of the villagers fled but their houses were completely razed down by fire which the attackers use to set them abkaze.He said he has dispatched a team from the commands Criminal Investigation Department to go and ascertain the details of what actually happened.
Lauretta Onochie, one of President Muhammadu Buhari's aides has been linked to a Dubai ring which deals in trafficking of girls.

Lauretta Onochie, one of President Muhammadu Buhari's aides has been linked to a Dubai ring which deals in trafficking of girls.Her connection to the link was made Public by one Emeka Ugwuonye through a private Facebook page ''The Due Process Advocates [DPA] ''Read Post below:A MAJOR BREAK IN THE TRACKING OF THE DUBAI MADAMS AND THEIR AGENTS- A KEY MADAM REVEALED AS A SOCIALITE WITH APPARENT CONNECTIONS TO NIGERIAN POLITICIANS.I wish I always had good news to report to you, but our world has as much evil in it that it is impossible to keep to that wish. Today, I am ready to make public some snippets of the outcome of a long standing investigation we have been pursuing on the Dubai Madams, their agents and sex-trafficking / sex slavery in Dubai, Greece and Italy with connections to Nigeria.The report of my investigation was not to be released until the end of January. But events have forced me to act sooner by disclosing the identity of, by far, one of the major master-minds and super agents in the human trafficking rings with Nigeria and abroad. This woman goes by different names to various people. To the 15 girls in UAE, Italy and Greece that we have linked to her, she is known as Aunty Lolly. To some people that have worked with her in Dubai, she is simply Lolly. To those who have worked for her, she is Madam or Aunty. To the ordinary people who meet her on social network, she is Lauretta Onochie. These various names belong to the woman whose pictures are shown here. She maintains a Facebook page in which she projects herself as a sympathizer of the Nigerian ruling party.On the surface, judging by our apparent silence in the past three months, one might think that we had given up on our fight against the Dubai Madams and their agents in Nigeria. But far from it. You must know that I have been representing the two girls, whose nude video clips outraged the world. When you undertake such tasks, you cannot give up easily. I had thus continued deep underground investigation of the Madams while preparing a major legal challenge to their operations. I needed to do that because I owed professional obligation to those girls and I have a task in this group to fight human trafficking.It has not been easy to fight the war against human trafficking. The first obstacle we have had is that the victims are too ashamed, too scared and two poor to come out to tell their stories. I managed to have inbox exchanges that run into volumes and thousands of pages with these victims. Gradually, they began to trust and to find the confidence to tell their stories. Even at that, they remain vulnerable to law enforcement agencies both in the countries where they are and back here in Nigeria if they were to attempt to come back. They are fugitives, made so by others. They are outcasts, hunted by law enforcement, exploited by the wicked traffickers and their agents, and despised by all else.The second challenge we have is that those who engage in human trafficking  the Madams and their Agents in Nigeria  are very powerful people. They belong to powerful networks of criminal gangs, politicians, financiers and racketeers. They are savvy. They have incredible ability to intimidate and awe anyone who dares them. Because of their access to powerful people, they have posed a major threat to me personally and to any group that tries to fight them. This has been so abundantly revealed through my investigations both here in Nigeria and foreign countries like the UAE, Italy and Greece.Ms. Lauretta Onochie is clever as much as she could be cruel and mean-spirited her victims. As part of her cleverness, she has associated herself with the Abuja politicians. She likes photo-up opportunities with the most powerful politicians, including Presidents and Vice Presidents. Even though these politicians may not know about the details of her connections with the international human trafficking rings, this woman uses her pictures with the powerful people as a key instrument of shining her credibility and intimidating the victims of human trafficking and their families. Seeing a picture of her and the President is enough to silence the parents of a victim of human trafficking. That is enough to silence any official likely to ask questions. That is enough to get any curious immigration official who intercepts her girls to let them go unstopped. That is enough to cause you and I to believe that she cannot kill an ant. Yet, she is a vicious trafficker of poor girls into international prostitution.My attention was first drawn to Lolly in August of last year. But she was just a mirage them. She was simply defined vaguely as the big Madam. Instead of getting to her, my investigation led me to one Ms. Blessing (which is certainly not her real name  just the name they give the girls). Blessing works for Aunty Lolly; that was the information I had. I pursued Ms. Blessing and the information I shared with the authorities led to the arrest of Blessing with 3 girls at the airport in October. (I reported this arrest before, but then I had not known who Lolly was). But my curiosity was triggered further when Blessing and the three girls were released in less than 24 hours. And Blessing vanished into the thin air. I knew there was a bigger fish behind the scenes. I returned to my contacts in Dubai. Again the investigation kept coming to one Lolly.We came to the conclusion that whoever Lolly was, she must be a big player in the business. This is the business of recruiting young girls, promising them good life in Dubai and elsewhere, swearing their parents to shrines, selling them off for $5000 to $15000, making nude videos of them and using thugs to intimidate their parents back here in Nigeria, and making sure that immigration officials are bribed at the airport to let the girls through despite being underage. Two girls we have been tracking in Italy apparently came through a Lolly by another sub-agent, not Blessing. This suggests that the Lolly is big in the business. We would not have suspected that Lauretta Onochie could be the Lolly for many reasons. Lauretta Onochie based on her Facebook presence looked like a decent lady. Her support for President Buhari seems so honorable and something we would not expect from someone in the business of human trafficking. But something yielded in three days ago, which resolved the puzzle within 3 days.As you well know from at least one previous incident, the Dubai Madams had attempted to mount a major reputational or credibility attack on my person. Their goal was simply to wage a scandal campaign against me and to project me as a bad person. This was their way of discouraging their girls from dealing with me and to scatter my social media support base, as well as to get certain officials working with me to develop cold feet. They made various efforts and have spreading various fabricated stories against me. In other words, they have always planned serious of information attack against me. I have to recognize that they are brilliant and quite organized in this.In a last bid in this effort, Lauretta Onochie brilliantly recruited a number of person who have grudges against me, especially some people that were removed from our Facebook group. She recruited a man I removed from the group after so many complaints from married women that he sexually harassed them. She recruited a man in New York, whom I almost sent to jail for beating his wife and nearing killing her. She recruited Anne Nkwocha, a former DPA admin that I removed for gross misconduct. They has these people and more lined up in the information attacks against me. (I have sms from Anne Nkwocha to confirm their plot). I dont think that these recruits are involved in human trafficking. They are just people angry with me, and Lauretta identified them.The attack on me was launched on Sunday morning on the Facebook walls of Lauretta Onoshie. My mind went to the most important project I have at hand, which has been so sensitive I have had to pursue it discretely. That was my work on the Dubai cases. By Tuesday morning, I had to confront the girls. I started with one girl I has been reluctant to tell me much. I assure her of protection if she would talk. She was prepared to talk. But I suggested that she should simply send me the Facebook profile picture of Aunty Lolly. Low and behold: there she was  Lauretta Onochie, as in the Facebook page.I couldnt believe my eyes as I looked at the picture of Lauretta Onochie. I had to control my excitement. I needed further verification. I sent her pictures to many of the girls we are in contact with, asking for them to confirm if they knew the person on the pictures. Two girls in Greece, one girl in Italy and four in UAE have responded to my querry. They all said that was Aunty Lolly. Note that the girls in UAE did not know about the girls in Greece or Italy  the girls did not know about the other girls in the other countries. But wait. You havent heard the last.After my court activities in Abuja on Thursday, I was so tired, not having slept since Monday. I got to my hotel and fell into a very deep sleep from 6pm to 11pm. I woke up and logged on to Facebook. I had a message from someone I had never known before. The message was simple: Sir, the lady attacking you on her Facebook is a Madam. Be careful. I responded: Which lady is attacking me?. The person just got back to me and confirmed it was Lauretta Onochie.
The management of Daar Communications has washed its hands clean from a purported Facebook post that published President Buhari's dea...

The management of Daar Communications has washed its hands clean from a purported Facebook post that published President Buhari's death in London over the weekend.

The statement reads:

"The attention of the Management of DAAR Communications Plc has been drawn to a FACEBOOK Account purportedly being operated by our Organization.

A report was published on the FACEBOOK that the incumbent President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President ;Muhammadu Buhari ;who is currently on vacation in London has passed on.

We wish to state the following facts:

 It is falsehood dressed up as truth that we opened such FACEBOOK Account

We did not publish nor know anything about the report.

None of our Correspondents in London filed such report.

The Editorial Policy of our Organization is that any of our Correspondents is mandated to file all their reports for vetting and approval before publication which can only originate from our headquarters No Correspondent could individually on his or her own decision publish or cause to be published any story.

 The FACEBOOK Account is the brain child of a faceless and mischievous group whose despicable activities must be investigated by security agencies because of the unpleasant consequences.

 We wish to state that AIT runs an official on-line site for News which is not available for use by outsiders.

 We dissociate ourselves completely from anything contained in the said report which is a figment of the imagination of the authors.

 We also disown the so-called FACEBOOK Account, and have officially reported to FACEBOOK Managers. "
Former Vice President of the World Bank for Africa, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, has described the economic policies of the government as c...

Former Vice President of the World Bank for Africa, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, has described the economic policies of the government as confusing, expressing regret that in spite of the confusion, the government remains adamant.Ezekwesili, convener of the Bring Back Our Girls and former minister was speaking in the current edition of The Interview magazine.Answering a question on the call for diversification, she said: I am not a fan of the economic policies of this government so far; I feel its too tentative in making even the right policy decisions and even when it tries to make the right policy decisions, it has been in the breach. It has been very confusing.In a statement, the MD/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview, Azu Ishiekwene, described the interview as a no-nonsense call to reflection. Oby is not treading on eggshells. Its bareknuckle stuff.Ezekwesili said: Its not that the government is timid; its about doing the wrong things and being adamant about them.She cited the governments monetary and fiscal policies as key areas of denial of empirical evidence and called for structural reforms and better citizen engagement.In the interview, conducted before the BBOGs visit to Sambisa, Ezekwesili wept over the fate of the remaining Chibok girls, saying the episode had exposed the Federal Governments in their worst form.She spoke on what she would do if President Muhammadu Buhari invited her to serve; her perception of former President Goodluck Jonathan and her relationship with former President Olusegun Obasanjo.Also in this edition, the founder of the Centre for Values in Leadership, Prof Pat Utomi, spoke, among other things, on why he is not in Buharis cabinet and on Nigerias self-inflicted recession.Entrepreneur Mo Abudu; leadership capital enthusiast, Linus Okorie; and pharmacist-turned-bag designer, Maureen Obayewa, also share their experiences.
Senator Dino Melaye representing Kogi west senatorial district has said that President Muhamamdu Buhari-led federal government lacked agen...

Senator Dino Melaye representing Kogi west senatorial district has said that President Muhamamdu Buhari-led federal government lacked agenda like previous administrations.Senator Melaye stated this on Wednesday while contributing to 2017 budget debate.Truth be told, the 2017 Budget is too ambitious" and that "we borrow to swagger".He harps on Agricultural development.His Kaduna counterpart, Shehu Sani says he hopes the allocation to Education in the 2017 Budget will address the basic issues in the sector.
The students and staff of Nigerian Tulip International Colleges (NTIC) in Ogun state, who were abducted 11 days ago, have regained freed...

The students and staff of Nigerian Tulip International Colleges (NTIC) in Ogun state, who were abducted 11 days ago, have regained freedom.

A source told newsmen that their abductors released them late Tuesday, but that the captives trekked for three hours before they could get to the school premises.

Cemal Yigit, spokesman of the school, confirmed the release of the students, saying they had reunited with their parents and family members.

We wish to inform the general public that the kidnapped students and staff of the Nigerian Tulip International Colleges (NTIC) Ogun state, have regained freedom, he said in a statement.

The victims were released this evening after a painstaking collaborative effort by the relevant security agencies in the country. The management of NTIC wishes to express our gratitude to the relevant security agencies for their efforts in securing the release of the three students, one Turkish teacher, a cook and three supervisors.

We also wish to extend our appreciation to the government and good people of Ogun state for their support throughout the difficult period. The role of the Ogun state government is highly appreciated.

Our special appreciation also goes to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Inspector General of Police, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, the Chief of Army Staff, and others too numerous to mention for their efforts.





The students and teachers are doing fine and have reunited with their parents. We also wish to extend our heartfelt appreciation to the parents and guardians of NTIC Ogun, for their support all through the period.

Earlier, Kayode Aderanti, assistant inspector-general of police (AIG) , zone 2, had given the assurance that they would be released within 24 hours.

Aderanti said this shortly after visiting former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his hill top residence in Abeokuta.

He said that he spoke with the leader of the search team and that he got a positive response from him.

He denied the reports that the families of the victims had been paying ransom, insisting that no ransom has been paid.

Aderanti urged residents of Ogun to partner with the police to ensure that lives and property were properly secured.

A day after the incident, Yigit had explained how the attackers invaded the school.

At about 9.30pm local time on January 13, a group of people armed with dangerous weapons gained entrance to the girls section through different means and held hostage three female supervisors, a female cook, a female teacher (Turkish) and three students, he had said.





The school security noticed some movement on the CCTV camera at the girls section and promptly deployed security personnel and alerted the relevant security agencies in the area as customary. Upon hearing the security alarm activated and sighting our security personnel, the armed invaders opened fire on the security staff and managed to escape through a very dangerous route with the hostages.




Come and enjoy Read more [...]
The Northern Governors Forum (NGF) has said that the Fulani herdsmen who are killing Nigerians across the country are from Senegal and Ma...

The Northern Governors Forum (NGF) has said that the Fulani herdsmen who are killing Nigerians across the country are from Senegal and Mali.Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima made the comments on Tuesday, January 24, while speaking to journalists in Kaduna.Shettima also said that efforts would be made to secure Nigerias borders and register Fulani immigrants entering into the country to rear cattle.We also mapped out new strategies that would be used by the local Fulani herdsmen to rear their cattle without having to move across the country, the governor said.Shettima also urged Nigerians to see security as a personal business, pointing out that the nation would remain backward if there was no peace.
The embattled chairman of the PDP caretaker committee, Sen. Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, has alleged that some leaders of the APC were behind t...

The embattled chairman of the PDP caretaker committee, Sen. Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, has alleged that some leaders of the APC were behind the rumoured death of President Muhammadu Buhari.Makarfi, who spoke with newsmen in Kaduna, yesterday, said it was APC leaders who are interested in contesting certain positions in 2019 that were behind the rumour.The APC should point its searchlight inward and investigate itself as to the source of the rumour. PDP has nothing to gain from anything; those who are peddling the rumour know themselves and they are in APC.Some of them are already positioning themselves for power in 2019. APC should investigate itself, he said.Makarfi, a former governor of Kaduna State, also advised the people of Southern Kaduna against politicizing the crisis in the area.While describing the crisis in Southern Kaduna as unfortunate, he cautioned the government and the people of the area to resist the urge to politicize the matter.The APC was yet to respond to the claim as at the time of filing this story.
The co-convener of the Bring Back Our Girls, BBOG, group, Aisha Yesufu, has reacted to President Muhammadu Buharis letter to the Senate o...

The co-convener of the Bring Back Our Girls, BBOG, group, Aisha Yesufu, has reacted to President Muhammadu Buharis letter to the Senate on why he cannot sack and prosecute indicted Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal.Recall that Babachir had been alleged to have diverted money meant to fight humanitarian crisis in the North East, and the senate had called for his arrest and prosecution.But Buhari, on Monday had explained why he cannot honour the senates report calling for Lawals arrest, prosecution and sack.In her reaction, Yesufu called out the President, saying the reason for his defense was because he was corrupt.In a series of tweets on her Twitter handle@AishaYesufu , she called on Buhari to resign.She tweeted: Does the President need the senate to even sack d SGF? You must not only talk tough. You must act it.Its surprisingly amazing. President Buhari that was using sachet of milk and beverage now carrying teapot in London. Wahala dey.I will rather die imprisoned for saying the truth than become Defender of the Corrupt like President Buhari.Democracy is not fraud. The win for me was that we changed a sitting government and we would again Insha Alla.If Pres Buhari @MBuhari has any shred of honour, character & integrity he should RESIGN. Enough of the damage that might last a generation.If President Buhari can clear someone that stole 200m from vulnerable IDPs in this type of recession, then imagine what he would have done in abundance.Either Babachir looted on behalf of Buhari or President Buhari has looted more and Babachir has evidence or PMB is going senile.In Nigeria when one is poor one is faceless, nameless and voiceless. President Buhari whom the poor supported massively just reaffirmed it.Rich Nigerians must get fair hearing. The rest can be lynched for whatever reason on the streets. Whatever you do, dont be poor in Nigeria.In Nigeria it seems stealing is not crime. Its stealing small amount or stealing while you are poor or with no connection thats the crime.Rich Nigerians must get fair hearing. The rest can be lynched for whatever reason on the streets. Whatever you do, dont be poor in Nigeria.And I would give up on it if you actually stood up for him.
Omoyele Omogunwa, Senator representing Ondo South today called for the legalisation of corruption in the country.

Senator Omogunwa notes that Budgets doesn't have maximal impact due to corruption. He says corruption shld be legalized/liberalized then.  Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) January 25, 2017

Omoyele Omogunwa, Senator representing Ondo South today called for the legalisation of corruption in the country.The Senator made the call during the debate on the 2017 budget. He said if corruption was legalised, Nigerians who stole public funds would use them in building factories and industries in the country, instead of having them stashed away abroad.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has subtly made a case for other geo-political zones that have not produced a President since 1999 to...

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has subtly made a case for other geo-political zones that have not produced a President since 1999 to have a taste of it in the interest of justice and fairness.The Southeast is yet to produce a President while the Southwest, North and minority Southsouth have had shots at the Presidency at different times.Obasanjo said it was his view that the Southeast should produce a President as Ogun West Senatorial District in Ogun State should also produce a governor soon.The ex-President spoke yesterday when the leadership of Ogun State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Tunde-Akin Akinsanya and other people visited him at his Hilltop home for a special New Year service.According to him, in justice and neglect lie the instigators of conflicts along with ethnic and regional lines in the country.Obasanjo said it was part of his resolve for a just and fair country that informed his decision to work for a Southsouth President in 2009.He said: Irrespective of the thinking of the people ahead of 2019, I personally think that Southeast should have a go at the Presidency too.The same is happening here. If Ijebu and Egba have produced the governor, it is only fair and just to allow the Yewa or Ogun West to also produce a governor. Or else, one day, they will also stand up and take up arms against this injustice against them. That is my personally position on this.The former President cautioned Nigerians against unguided comments over Southern Kaduna crisis.Obasnjo said unenlightened comments about the violence were largely responsible for the escalation of the situation.He said: My findings so far show that everyone is talking from the position of strength. People are not talking from knowledge of what they know. This is not helping. We must be able to dump all our sentiments to overcome the challenges.Just like other cases of injustice around us, we need peace. It is only peace with justice that can solve all these crises. Genuine peace is what everyone is craving for and this can only come when there is justice.Bishop Akinsanya described Obasanjo as a special gift to Nigeria and the world, considering his exploits and fatherly role in Nigeria and beyond.The cleric hailed the former President for facilitating the building of Ecumenical Centre in Abuja, adding that the state chapter of CAN was working on a similar project in Ogun State.
Nigeria's Works Minister, Babatunde Fashola is currently being queried by the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, over the award of 1...

Nigeria's Works Minister, Babatunde Fashola is currently being queried by the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, over the award of 10 road and bridge contracts worth N166bn.





The BPP said Fashola and his ministry violated the laws guiding contract awards in Nigeria in the manner they selected contractors for the projects. The agency is asking Mr. Fashola to explain, among other things, why the costs of some of the projects were inflated and why some were awarded to unqualified firms.



The construction of the roads and bridges, spread across the country, were appropriated for in the ministrys 2016 budget.


The news kid on the block: In 1837, a fledgling New Orleans newspaper rewrote the rule book
- Premier hinting that next relief on electricity prices will help those who are struggling the most

it seems.History professors tell tales of politicians throughout the years that were assassinated for making unpopular decisions. Whether you would argue that anyone who kills another is crazy, or just focused, is another debate. For Premier Wynne at least, she's feeling the cross hairs leveled at her by angry Ontario voters.It's clear to most that she genuinely doesn't care about voters. The years of escalating hydro rates are ample proof of that. Politically speaking, she has to save her life and that means doing something that will register with Ontarians. In this case, it would be lowering hydro bills.Let me be clear. I do not believe she's doing this out of love for the people here. It's political survival. The Liberals are at 16% popularity in the polls. And this poll I trust.I am also cynical enough to believe that Queen's Park realizes that it has siphoned as much as it can from this well. Time to move onto another cash generator.---the rest here...
Christ Episcopal students Lilly Mast, Martha Croxton, Alexander Preau and Davis Levine with CES Spanish teacher Dawn Cox in Malaga, Spain on a class trip. (Submitted by Ashley Gilly)
This computer sketch depicts a "person of interest" in the French Quarter hit and run that killed tourist Josh Woodruff early New Year's day 2016. New Orleans police released the image Monday, Jan. 23, 2017. (NOPD)
Were not just making sh*t up: Neil deGrasse Tyson slaughters anti-science crank at press eventNeil deGrasse Tyson blasted an anti-science skeptic who confronted him at a press conference last week when the man tried to convince him that the Large Hadron Collider is an existential threat to mankind but that HIV is not because it doesnt cause AIDS.Gizmodos Ryan F. Mandelbaum was on the scene to watch the astrophysicist bat aside the skeptics arguments and attempt to explain to the man how scientific consensus works. DeGrasse Tyson said that one lone research paper does not make a significant impact on scientific opinion, especially if no other researchers arrive at the same conclusion.The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you, deGrasse Tyson said. It doesnt give a rats *** how your five senses interact with this world.DeGrasse Tyson was meeting with reporters after the dedication of the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Among them was conspiracy blogger Anthony Liversidge, whose website Science Guardian maintains that science has fallen prey to crowd prejudice, leadership resistance, monetary influences and internal professional politics and abandoned its truth-seeking principles.Liversidge believes in the crank theory that the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is putting the planet in jeopardy with its use of the Large Hadron Collider as well as the discredited theories of physician Peter Duesberg, who has claimed since the 1980s that HIV does not cause AIDS.
Not even a belief in heaven should quell our anger at murder
This has been an unusually deadly year in Jefferson Parish for victims of domestic and family violence.
District 2 Sen. Bill Kintner dodged the proverbial bullet this week by resigning from the Legislature before fellow lawmakers ousted him with a majority vote on a resolution to be introduced Wednesday.

His resignation followed the uproar caused when he retweeted a comment Monday mocking three women holding anti-President Trump signs at the Womens March last weekend.

As a result, many, including Gov. Pete Ricketts, announced it was time for Kintner to resign. Sen. Kintner did the right thing, Ricketts said in a press release issued Wednesday morning. I will move swiftly to fill the vacancy created by this resignation, so the people of District 2 have a voice.

Kintner announced his plan to officially resign on Jan. 30 during a news conference held Wednesday morning. He dubbed himself a fighter for the taxpayer always against big government and higher taxes and for the protection of civil liberties. He said it was a difficult decision, especially following all the emails, tweets and phone calls he received yesterday asking him not to resign.

Ive been lonely at times and Ive lost a lot of battles, but I always kept fighting for the taxpayers, he said. Make no mistake God put me in this seat.

Without referring to the controversy his tweet about the Womens March caused, Kintner said it was now time for him to step down as a member of the Legislature.

He thanked his staff and wife, Lauren, for supporting him. This amazing woman has always been my champion, my guiding light and the love of my life, Kintner said. Together, we have confronted a personal battle far greater than any policy battle that I have fought in this Legislature.

The recent tweet is not the first time the senators use of technological devices thrust him into a seamy spotlight. Last summer, news also broke about him engaging in cybersex while using a state-issued computer.

Because of this action, Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission fined him $1,000 on Aug. 5, 2016, for inappropriately using state property.

Following the Commissions decision, Ricketts ordered Kintner to resign and continued the request. In addition, a grass roots group started a petition during last years Cass County Fair demanding his immediate departure from the Legislature. The Legislatures Executive Board also demanded the resignation and Cass County Republicans issued a resolution asking for the same.

Yet until this week, Kintner refused to comply. Last August, he told staff at The Journal and Lincoln Journal Star he would not resign and would only apologize to his wife and God.

My heart tells me to stay and fight but my head tells me its time to step down, he said during the press conference.

According to an article written by published by Zach Pluhacek Jan. 25, Speaker Jim Scheer had planned to bring a resolution to expel Kintner Wednesday morning. Scheer said he was positive enough senators would support the resolution if Kintner didnt resign.

Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb issued a press release Jan. 25 applauding his resignation. The Womens March just took down their first politician, she writes. The Nebraska Democratic Party welcomes the resignation of Bill Kintner and we look forward to electing a candidate who stands up for women and working class families. We stand ready to recruit and elect a leader who will not betray working class families with disgusting and illegal behavior in the legislature. Sexist comments and illegal behavior should have forced Gov. Ricketts to take action over a year ago. But today, we welcome the resignation of Bill Kintner and look forward to the 2018 election.

Former District 2 Sen. Dave Pankonin said he was relieved and thankful Kintner resigned. Were relieved for him and his family, for the legislature and state. Im thankful this distraction is over, he said.

Cass County Commissioner Janet McCartney said his resignation was best for the county. "I'm glad he stepped down. He was out of control," she said.

Kintner represented an area south of Omaha that includes all of Cass County and parts of Sarpy and Otoe counties, including portions of Papillion and Nebraska City.
The federal government plans to pour $125 million into the fight against a mysterious disease that has ravaged corals in Florida and much of the Caribbean, and now poses a dire threat to the treasured reefs off the Louisiana and Texas coasts.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Donald Trump. The nine-member panel sent a letter to the former president's lawyers on Friday, demanding his testimony under oath by mid-November and outlining a series of corresponding documents. The decision by lawmakers to exercise their subpoena power comes a week after the committee made its final case against the former president, who they say is the "central cause" of the multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It remains unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena, if at all.
A 17-year-old Fremont High School student who posted a photo on social media of him or her holding a firearm was detained by police this week, Fremont Police reported.

Police said that reports came in Monday that there was a threatening post on Facebook.

The student allegedly posted a photo holding a firearm with a symbol of a gun pointing toward the word school beneath the photo.

Police said that nobody in particular was threatened and that the firearm  which turned out to be a BB gun  was not brought into the school.

It was determined that the student was on probation at the time of the incident, and the individual was subsequently transported to Douglas County Youth Center in Omaha and cited for making terroristic threats.
At least 17 businesses are considering Council Bluffs or greater southwest Iowa for expanding their current facilities or building new ones, a local economic development official announced on Tuesday.

I think we have a good diverse group of industry, and Im optimistic several will land or expand here, said Paula Hazlewood, executive director of Advance Southwest Iowa Corp.

Hazlewood provided an update to the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors on the regions current business climate, which seems rather warm right now.

We are busy, she said. We have a lot to offer businesses, and were actively promoting the area.

Specific company names were not given, but Hazlewood broke down the different kinds of businesses and industries taking a close look at the region without naming the particular counties.

Hazlewood emphasized that the businesses are not just looking at Council Bluffs or Pottawattamie County.

Three of them are in manufacturing, three more are classified as warehouse distribution businesses, two are in the health care field, two are in technology, two are office users, one retailer, one service company and two mixed-use projects that are interested in the Rivers Edge office site and the Mid-America Center area, she said.

We are actively working with all of them to either expand or locate to the area, Hazlewood said.

Also included is a government project involving Pottawattamie Countys new waste transfer station, she said. The current number of projects is an increase from 14 late last year, Hazlewood told the board.

Supervisor Tom Hanafan was pleased at how Hazlewood and her office are pursuing this type of economic growth.

Shes looking at the big picture and not centered on just one location, Hanafan said after Tuesdays meeting. I think what theyre doing is the right thing.

Advance Southwest Iowa Corporation is a regional economic development organization that represents Pottawattamie, Harrison and Mills counties. Its also a partner with the Greater Omaha Economic Development Partnership.
A Waterloo, Nebraska, woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing $222,000 from a Carter Lake trucking business  which she will now have to pay back, plus more.

Beth Beutler, 45, was charged with 39 felony counts of forgery  a class D felony  for stealing funds from McMullen Brothers Trucking in 2015.

Beutler was also charged with first-degree theft and ongoing unlawful activity. Pleading guilty to amended charges, she received 25 years in jail, which was suspended.

She was ordered to complete 60 days in jail and pay victim restitution of $260,000 to the company. She also received probation for five years and fines.

According to the police report, investigators were told by an employee at the business on Jan. 6, 2016, they believed someone had taken advantage of their checking system.

The system, called T-Check, allows truck drivers to access authorized funds across the country through authorization codes, similar to Western Union.

The funds are usually used for service payments, gas or other expenses.

Investigators received a history of transactions from January 2014 through December of 2015.

The company said only three employees of the business have the authorization to designate the funds  including Beutlers husband, Bruce Beutler.

The discrepancy was brought to Bruce Beutlers attention, the report states, and Bruce Beutler asked his wife if she knew what was wrong.

Beth Beutlers responsibility at the company was to keep the books and enter the transactions into the register.

She admitted to her husband she had taken the money, the report said.

Through video obtained by the police, investigators were able to verify 38 instances of Beth Beutler receiving funds after using a code at the Pilot Travel Center in Council Bluffs.
The Council Bluffs Community School District has recommended the closure of Crescent Elementary at the end of the current school year.

Its a lovely school. Its just a tiny school, and its only half full, Superintendent Martha Bruckner said.

If the move is approved, Crescent students would attend Lewis and Clark Elementary in Council Bluffs, according to district spokeswoman Diane Ostrowski. Crescent teachers will move to Lewis and Clark as well, if they choose. At least one teacher is set to retire at school years end. There will be roles for support staff as well.

The district sent an email to Crescent parents on Friday and to Lewis and Clark parents Tuesday about the possible closure and movement of students. A meeting for parents to learn about the plan, ask questions and give comments is planned at 6 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 30, at Lewis and Clark, 1603 Grand Ave.

The Council Bluffs school board will hear a presentation on the recommendation to close the school at its Feb. 14 meeting. The board is expected to vote on the matter on Feb. 28.

I think it pulls the guts out of the town, Crescent Mayor Brian Shea said of the potential closure. Anytime you close a school, it hurts the city, in any small town. I dont want to see it happen.

Shea noted that the Feb. 28 vote comes a day before the deadline for open enrollment, which could affect parents decisions on where to send their children for school.

The district cited declining enrollment as a key factor in the decision. The school currently has 85 students, with two classes a combination of two grades  first- and second-graders and fourth- and fifth-graders share a classroom.

If we dont have 20 or so kids at first grade, but have 8 and 12 in second grade  it makes sense from a practicality and efficiency standpoint to combine into one classroom, Ostrowski said. Teachers are skilled at meeting the needs of kids, but clearly this isnt ideal.

Another factor is that many students in the Crescent area dont attend the school. Ostrowski noted that a total of 57 students who live in the Crescent Elementary boundary attend other schools, with 30 at Council Bluffs district elementary schools and 27 enrolled in other districts.

If that school had 150 kids, wed have all the classrooms filled, Bruckner said. Wed love to keep the school open, as long as it makes fiscal and educational sense.

Of the current Crescent Elementary students, 22 come from the boundary for other Council Bluffs elementary schools, and four open enroll from outside the district.

The school was extensively renovated and a full-size gym was added after a fire in the summer of 2006. Students spent the 2006-2007 school year at the now-closed Washington Elementary before returning to Crescent the next year. Ostrowski said the highest enrollment since then was 125 in 2010-2011.

Crescent has averaged 106 students per year since the fire, with this years 85 the lowest total enrollment. Last year, the school had 96 students.

Bruckner said discussion about the closure has persisted since the fire, as enrollment numbers stayed low, and district officials discussed the matter with city officials in 2012. The prospect of closing the school ramped up over the past year.

We love Crescent. Weve maybe kept it open out of emotion instead of rational thinking over the last couple years, the superintendent said. But how many years do you wait?

Lewis and Clark underwent extensive renovations in 2014 and 2015 to update the building. Ostrowski said the school currently has 190 students and could easily accommodate the additional pupils from Crescent. There are two classrooms per grade at Lewis and Clark.

The letter noted the building has a large media center, dedicated art room and music classroom with stage for performances and new playground equipment.

Its a beautiful school, Ostrowski said.

Ostrowski also touted the schools ability to offer talented and gifted courses, additional counseling and academic intervention services.

Those resources are more available on a more regular basis to students in building with greater enrollment, she said.

The letter to parents noted that the district would save an estimated $180,000 annually if it closed Crescent Elementary. The district doesnt plan to sell the building in the immediate future, holding onto the building in case enrollment in the eastern part of the school district should increase substantially, Bruckner said in the letter.

If, in the future, a new set of kids come in and we need it, its there for our use, she said.

Bruckner said the district is working to be up front about the issue and offer plenty of time for parents and others to voice their opinions on the matter. She noted, however, theres no point in dragging this out over two years.

If the board approves closing Crescent, it would be the fifth since the 2009-2010 school year. That year, Pusey Elementary closed its doors, sending 88 students to Longfellow. The next school year saw the closing of both Gunn  which sent its 246 students to Hoover and College View  and Washington, which sent its 120 students to Hoover, Bloomer and Lewis and Clark.

Walnut Grove closed after the 2013-2014 school year and sent its 266 students to Franklin, Roosevelt and Carter Lake.

Unlike Crescent, the majority were closed because the cost of renovations to the buildings. Before Pusey, the most recent closing in Council Bluffs was Glendale Elementary School after the 1992-1993 school year.

Shea pointed to increased development and population in Crescent as a reason for optimism about potential enrollment. The city grew from a population of 488 in the 1990 Census to 617 in 2010.

For example, the city is working to develop a second phase of its Golden Hills neighborhood, located on the western side of town off of Old Mormon Bridge Road.

Crescents growing, probably not as fast as the school district would like to see, but we do have a future, the mayor said. And that school is a big part of it.

Shea said hed work to help keep the school open.

What we need is more numbers in that school to make it viable. We want to see this school continue, he said. Well do whatever we can to help make that happen.

Tristan Morris, Sheas niece, has two daughters, one who would enter Crescent Elementary this fall and another the next year. Like her uncle, Morris and her two brothers are also a Crescent Elementary alum.

Crescent (Elementary) School is a catalyst for bringing new young families to Crescent. I think it should be treated differently from other Council Bluffs schools, since its in a separate town, she said, noting the closure, could hinder our small communitys growth. Its not like wed have to take our kids eight blocks further to another school  more like 10 miles further.
The Prairie Piecemakers Needlework Guild will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1544 E. Military Ave., in Fremont.

Refreshments will be served at 6:30 p.m. with the business meeting to begin at 7 p.m. Members are reminded to bring their coffee cups, name tags and show and tells. Guests are welcome.

The program will be 15-minute round robin demonstrations. Presenters will be: Jan Larsen, magic binding; Dee Bang, folded ornament; Karen Ruwe, easy mitered borders; and Gloria Fink, crochet rugs.

The greeters are Bert Cowles and Fran Steinert. Hostesses will be Dianne Cook, Mary Lou Carlson, Evelyn Elderidge, Marilyn Clark and Hazel Coates.

This months charity for the guild will be school supplies for Fremont Public Schools. Donations should be Kleenex and Clorox wipes.
A Fremont resident lost more than an estimated $100,000 in property Tuesday when a fire started in one of several additions attached to his garage.

Fremont Rural Fire Department was dispatched just after 7 p.m. to the 7100 block of East Military Avenue in reference to a structure fully engulfed in flames.

Fremont Rural Fire Chief Wade McPherson said during a Wednesday phone interview that his department called upon Arlington Fire Department for additional man power and tankers, and the Fremont Fire Department for a stand-by rescue squad.

The home owner was in his shop, he smelled smoke, realized there was a fire and was able to get out, McPherson said.

Unfortunately for the home owner, he was unable to save two antique Corvettes, a truck, two four-wheelers and a lawn mower, among other items, McPherson said.

McPherson said that he and his team were able to get out to the scene of the fire fairly rapidly, but that weather conditions had already started turning when they were dispatched.

We had some pretty adverse weather conditions, the roads were pretty soft with our trucks  really sloppy, he said of traveling down a gravel road to arrive at the residence.

Upon arrival, Fremont Rural was able to stop the spread of the fire within the first 30 minutes.

We stopped it from spreading to other parts of the building, then we had to work on overhauling it, he said. The way it (the garage and units) was built, it took us awhile to get in and address all the hot spots.

The scene was cleared around 11:30 p.m., and McPhersons men finished reorganizing trucks at the station around 1 a.m.

The Nebraska State Fire Marshalls office is investigating the case, but its believed the fire started due to electrical complications.

In terms of what Fremont Rural typically deals with, McPherson said this was a medium-sized structure fire.

Considering some of the houses in our jurisdiction, there are some pretty big fires, unfortunately, he said.

Although it was a medium-sized fire, the layout of the structure made putting it out difficult. The fire chief is proud of his teams effort.

We did an excellent job of knocking it down, controlling it and stopping it from spreading, McPherson said. I was very proud of my guys out there.
"Do you like glitter?"

What?

I stared at the woman in front of me, who was dancing to techno music and tossing her blonde hair about as she made vegan curry in her kitchen, and tried my best to process the four words that had just been said to me.

There I was, in my black skinny jeans and band T-shirt, dyed red hair and lip piercing, and this girl -- too pretty for someone like me to be hanging out with -- was asking me if I liked glitter.

What a mess I had gotten myself into?

I've been in Regensburg for a little over a week now. Our good friend of the family, who has known my parents since kindergarten, had suggested I get out of the house and "meet people." She'd brought up a concert to me, one she knew her young co-worker was attending with her roommates, and before I had time to object, I was holding a ticket to the Isles of Summer and a pass for the bus to Munich.

I had already come up with a dozen reasons not to go -- didn't have the money, what if I got lost, it's not even my kind of music, etc. -- but I had my hands tied. I was going to this concert, and I'd have to make the best of it.

I met my concert mates after six hours of dealing with public transportation and trying to navigate Munich. The three of them -- who have requested they be referred to as "Penelope," "Cinderella" and "Ariel" for the purposes of this article -- were all very welcoming, and immediately fed me and offered me tea. Cinderella happily shared her story about how she became vegan with me, and even fixed me a vegan sandwich. I was content just to sit their kitchen and sip the peppermint tea Penelope had prepared for me, but in reality, the day hadn't even begun.

As we arrived at the concert grounds and I could hear the pounding bass as I walked over discarded beer bottles, I got the feeling that I was in the wrong place. I was the kid in high school who skipped lunch to hang out in the library, never went to parties and would rather read a book in the dugout than step up to bat. Now here I was, surrounded by girls in a completely different league than me, at a festival for music that to me, all sounded the same.

If it were a rock concert, I'd know just how to blend in. I knew my way around a mosh pit, and I had the rock horns and headbanging down. But I realised that to survive this, I'd actually have to learn how to dance.

"You have to move your feet," Cinderella said, already swaying to the electronic beat.

Move my feet?

I tried my best to follow suit, taking steps in time with the heavy bass. I looked over to Penelope and Ariel, trying to copy their movements, and felt I looked more like an awkward penguin on ice than an experienced festival-goer.

"Okay, now your arms," Penelope said.

What, move my feet and my arms? Just how complicated was this dancing thing?

I thought about ducking out, but as I looked around, I knew that I would stand out if I weren't dancing.

Everyone was on their feet, rocking their hips and waving their arms, and I realized that they needed only one thing to look like they knew what they were doing, as cheesy as it sounds: a smile.

If you were having fun, then it didn't matter what your dancing looked like.

As I watched the people around me, one thought came to mind:

"Don't stop moving."

And I obeyed.

By the end of the day, I was feeling the music, taking pictures with strangers and covering my face in glitter. It was unlike any concert I've ever been to, but there was something special about it: Everyone looked so free.

Free of worries, free of fear or anger or regret. Free of responsibilities, free of time, free of everything.

And pretty soon, I started to feel free, too. I wasn't worrying about what time I'd have to leave to catch my bus. I wasn't worrying about how I'd get to the train station. I wasn't worrying about how late I would get back. I wasn't worrying about what these girls, so different from me, thought of me being their tag-along.

I'll admit it. I had fun.

Given the choice, it probably wasn't something I'd ever do on my own. But at the end of the day, I was glad I came. I was glad I got so far out of my comfort zone as to go to a concert with people I'd never met before, listening to music I'd never heard before, dancing like I'd never danced before. It was an experience, and despite my initial fears, it was one worth having.

What I took away from that day is something that should help me get through my year here in Germany... No matter what happens, no matter what I'm afraid of, there's just one thing I have to do: Don't stop moving.
Recently, it was my pleasure to welcome Nebraskans to Washington to celebrate the 58th inauguration of the president of the United States.

My husband, Bruce, and I held a reception for visiting Nebraska families at my offices in the Russell Senate Building, complete with coffee, hot chocolate and cookies. From the longhorns in the conference room, to the painting of the Sandhills, to the piece of the court from the Nebraska national volleyball champions in the reception area, my office has plenty of reminders of Nebraska to make it feel more like home.

None can compare to the warmth of the Nebraska families I met last week.

They came from all across our state, from Grand Island to Omaha, from Lincoln to Scottsbluff. Some were old friends, like our neighbors from Cherry County. Others we were thrilled to meet for the first time.

My office had 400 tickets to distribute to Nebraskans wishing to attend the swearing-in ceremony; my staff received more than 800 requests.

I was delighted to see so many Nebraskans walking the halls of the Senate, chatting with one another after their long journey. Nearly 1,400 miles separate Nebraska from our nations capital. Despite the travel, they talked excitedly about the reason for their visit: the inauguration of our new president, Donald J. Trump.

Every four years, no matter the party and whatever the weather, we gather to observe this event that is, for us, fairly ordinary.

For the world, it is extraordinary.

A different party came into power, but no tanks rolled down our streets. A new president entered the Oval Office, but no refugees fled overseas. Americans are accustomed to the peaceful transfer of power. Weve had them since John Adams handed the reins to Thomas Jefferson, his rival and the leader of the opposing political party, in 1801.

This is rare in much of the rest of the world.

Consider: Recently, the African country of Senegal sent soldiers into neighboring Gambia to force its president to hand over control to the winner of the national election. Such turmoil is tragic. Sadly, it has been common throughout human history.

Americas orderly, peaceful transition of power from one president to another is a profound blessing. We expect it, but we must also be grateful for it. Everything about Jan. 20, 2017, is a part of that blessing of liberty.

The inauguration event reminds us that our country is, at its core, profoundly different from the rest of the world. We were founded upon the idea that free people are capable of self-government, that they can, by their own industry and courage, achieve the environment in which the human person can flourish, as much as one can, this side of heaven.

You could say Americans have high standards in this regard. Let us hope we never lose them. Our American idea has endured some tough times these past 241 years: wars, political crises, catastrophes, and the storms of competing philosophies, some fair, some foul. Yet that American idea is still standing, a beacon of hope for us and for generations to come, here and abroad.

It needs our help to remain standing.

Americans across our country did their part by participating in our celebrated, peaceful transition of power. We must continue to do this in the time to come.
The inaugural 219 Day at the Hammond Civic Center last year was an epic party with a rat pinata, fake mustaches, temporary tattoos, and You know youre from da Region if ... whiteboards.

Revelers got to high-five Gary RailCats mascot Rusty the RailCat and celebrate all things Region with a guy with a White Castle slider head and a mayor in a sleeveless muscle shirt. This year, 219 Day promises to be even bigger and wilder, with a Michael Jackson impersonator on the dance floor, an arm wrestling tournament, an AC/DC cover band and a Ride the Rat mechanical bull.

219 Day returns to the Hammond Civic Center in 2017, though this year it falls on Feb. 18 because it's a Saturday. The popular Twitter comedy account Region Rat Rants, which has more than 6,700 followers, invented the holiday, which is based on a reference to Northwest Indiana's 219 area code and pays a tongue-in-cheek tribute to all things Region.

"Because @RegionRatRants played a part in creating #219Day, it's only appropriate that #219Day is seen as the illegitimate love child of Pierogi Fest," Region Rat Rants said in a Twitter message. "It is also only appropriate that 219 Day will be held on Feb 18. You can't get more Region than that."

Last year, Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. made an official proclamation declaring Feb. 19  2/19  a holiday, then staged a festival that drew thousands to the Hammond Civic Center. He has said it was one of the best-attended events at the Civic Center and he wants to make it an annual affair as large as Dyngus Day in South Bend.

This year's 219 Day celebration is dubbed Back in Rat, an homage to the classic AC/DC album "Back in Black." Souvenir T-shirts features a rat jamming on an electric guitar while wearing Angus Young's signature hat in a lighthearted reference to the Region Rat moniker used to describe Northwest Indiana natives.

It's free, and will run from 6 p.m. to midnight Feb. 18. 219 Day will feature the band Stormy Weather, the DJ Turn it Up! and the AC/DC tribute group Bonfire. It cost $5 to compete in the arm wrestling tournament or ride the mechanical bull.

Returning attractions include the party rock band Dick Diamond & the Dusters, temporary tattoos, a photo booth with props, and an official reading of the Hammond's 2017 219 Day Proclamation. Last year's proclamation made humorous jabs the the Region such as "living in the 219 Region ensures everyone knows how much better drivers they are than people coming from other area codes because we know how to drive around potholes and in snow and entitles people to celebrate July 4th as long and as loud as they want."

Region food will be on sales from vendors like Zels Roast Beef, White Castle, Freddys Steak House, Jodis Italian Ice, Ladys Gourmet Popcorn and Jazzy Bones BBQ. There also will be plenty of Region-made craft beers, including 18th Street Brewery, Three Floyds Brewery, Byway Brewing, One Trick Pony, Crown Brewing and Figure 8 Brewing.

People can also buy 219 Day T-shirts at the event or online at www.store.219day.com.

For more information, visit www.219day.com.
HAMMOND  Police have secured felony charges against a 28-year-old East Chicago man who allegedly ran over the mother of his two children with her own car two months ago, according to Lake County Superior court records.

Charles Anthony Tolbert Jr. faces charges of battery by means of a deadly weapon, battery resulting in serious bodily injury, criminal recklessness, battery resulting in moderate bodily injury and battery resulting in bodily injury, court records show.

An arrest warrant was issued Monday for Tolbert Jr. for him to be held without bail.

The female victim told police Tolbert Jr. approached her in the early morning hours of Nov. 25 near her home in the 3800 block of Ontario Court in East Chicago and told her he was leaving with her car.

The victim told police she then jumped on the hood of her car, and hung on top of the vehicle as Tolbert Jr. drove from East Chicago to Gary, court records show.

At one point, Tolbert Jr. allegedly slammed on the brakes, forcing the victim to fall off the hood and onto the ground where she was run over with the vehicle, the victim told police.

Tolbert Jr. then put her into the vehicle and continued driving to the area of East Fifth Avenue and Tennessee Street in Gary, where she cut his face with a box cutter, court records show. She told police she eventually rolled out of the vehicle and Tolbert Jr. fled the area.

The victim, who suffered fractures to both hips and was bleeding internally, was transported to Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in Gary and later flown to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois, court records show.
Lake County sheriff's police arrested an 18-year-old student Tuesday at Lake Central High School after he mistakenly was released from jail and the department received a tip he may have a bomb or a gun, a department spokesman said.

Andrew Trinidad, 18, of Schererville, was detained by a St. John school resource officer and then taken into custody by sheriff's police, officials said.

Officials placed Lake Central on lockdown for about 30 minutes during a search, and the sweep was completed by 10 a.m., officials said. Sheriff's police also searched Trinidad's home,, said Mark Back, the sheriff's spokesman.

No firearms or bomb materials were found in Trinidad's possession, at the school or in Trinidad's home, Back said.

Trinidad previously was arrested Sunday, after sheriff's police were dispatched to the 100 block of 71st Street in St. John Township, Back said. Trinidad was suspected of discharging a handgun and vandalizing residential property, he said.

No one was hurt in the incident, and Trinidad was arrested after officers found a handgun on him, Back said. He was booked into the Lake County Jail on suspicion of criminal recklessness.

Charges were filed against Trinidad after 4 p.m. Monday, and a warrant was entered into the system, Back said.

About 6 a.m. Tuesday, Lake County Jail staff mistakenly released Trinidad after failing to check the system for outstanding warrants, he said.

Trinidad went to his home, and his mother dropped him off at Lake Central just before his arrest Tuesday, Back said.

St. John police said they were notified shortly after 9:15 a.m. Tuesday of a student with an outstanding arrest warrant. The student reported to the attendance office late for his fifth-period class, and immediately was taken into custody by a school resource officer, St. John Police Chief James Kveton said. He was then turned over the sheriff's police.

Police used a K-9s to search the school, and the Porter County Bomb Squad was placed on standby as a precautionary measure, Back said.

Trinidad was returned to jail Tuesday on warrants for criminal recklessness and several misdemeanor charges related to the Sunday incident, Back said.

Sheriff John Buncich has ordered an investigation and plans to take disciplinary action against corrections officers responsible for Trinidad's mistaken release, Back said.
CROWN POINT  A 32-year-old man was charged Monday with drunken driving in a Dec. 10 crash that injured a Highland police officer.

Jesus Delacruz Jr. was charged in Lake Criminal Court with two felony counts of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, causing serious bodily injury, and six misdemeanor counts of OWI.

Highland police were dispatched at about 12:50 a.m. Dec. 10 to Kennedy Avenue and 39th Place after receiving reports of a two-vehicle crash, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Witnesses told police at the scene a white passenger car was headed south on Kennedy Avenue in the wrong lane of traffic when it crashed head-on into the squad car.

Police officer John Swisher, the occupant of the squad car, was extricated from the vehicle and transported to Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus.

He was then flown to Loyola University Hospital in Maywood, Illinois, where he was treated for a broken pelvis, broken femur, broken ribs and a broken arm.

Delacruz was also transported to Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus. A blood test conducted by the hospital at 1:50 a.m. indicated he had a .17 blood alcohol content. A person is considered intoxicated with a BAC of .08.

Delacruz consented at 4:10 a.m. to a second blood test, which registered a .09 blood alcohol content.
CROWN POINT  Demetrius Lardydell was sentenced Tuesday to four years incarceration for reckless homicide in the slaying of his brother in May at the family's Merrillville residence.

Lardydell, 47, said in a tearful statement at the hearing he was ashamed of his actions, which ended the life of James Lardydell III.

I hit him, but I didn't know it was that bad, he said.

Lardydell said he was sorry to his mother and father for the death. Defense attorney John Cantrell said the brothers had thousands of good days together before the killing.

Prosecutor Bernard Johnsen requested Lardydell be sentenced to the maximum term of six years in prison.

This case reads like the old biblical story of Cain and Abel, he said.

As Lardydell addressed the court, a family member in attendance repeatedly said, Lord have mercy, before he turned to another family member for comfort.

Police found James Lardydell III dead the morning of May 27 at the family's home in the 5900 block of Harrison Street, according to a probable cause affidavit.

A coroner determined the man died as a result of strangulation complicated by blunt force trauma, the affidavit states.

A sister told police Demetrius Lardydell fought with his brother the day before James Lardydell's death.

Demetrius Lardydell denied in a statement to police he killed his brother, but he knew information about the death police withheld from the family and public.

Lardydell was initially charged with murder in the death, but he pleaded guilty Dec. 13 to reckless homicide in a plea agreement.

Judge Samuel L. Cappas noted Lardydell had prior criminal convictions for drug possession and mail fraud.

Cappas sentenced Lardydell to three years in prison followed by one year in Lake County Community Corrections.
HAMMOND  Federal prosecutors announced Tuesday federal racketeering charges against 12 alleged Latin King gang members or associates as part of an ongoing investigation into the gangs operations throughout Northwest Indiana.

Eleven of the 12 individuals have each been charged with conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity and drug conspiracy. Twenty-eight-year-old Kash Lee Kelly, of Hammond, faces a charge of conspiracy to distribute narcotics.

The 12 individuals were added to the existing Latin Kings indictment pending in U.S. District Court, which had previously charged more than two dozen members or associates to the Latin Kings with operations in Chicago and Northwest Indiana.

As I have repeatedly stated, if you are a member of or associate with these criminal organizations we are coming after you. It may take us months or it may take longer but we are coming after you, United States Attorney Attorney Capp said in a news release Tuesday.

Those indicted also include: Jeremiah Shane Farmer, 35, of Hammond; Lazaro "Pollo Loco" Francisco Delgado-Gonzalez Jr., 27, of Highland; Timothy "Slice" Maurice Diaz, 34, of Hammond; Sean "Big Body" Michael Pena, 34, of Hammond; Marquis "Kilo" Sean Medellin, 30, of Hammond; David "Silent" Ulmenstine, 25, of Harvey, Illinois; Jorge "Silent" Esqueda, 22, of East Chicago; Juan "Silent" Alcaraz, 28, of Hammond; Miguel "Egg" Angel Marines, 22, of East Chicago; Rafael Cancel, 35, of Hammond; and Eduardo "Little Smiley" Ivel, 21, of Hammond;

Eight of the 12 were taken into custody Tuesday and two others were already in custody on unrelated charges, according to the news release. Diaz and Pena are both still at large, the release stated.

The indictment alleges new overt acts to further illegal objectives of the Latin Kings, including retaliatory arson fires on Jan. 5, 2013, on Durbin Street in Gary and on March 22, 2013, on Sherman Street in Gary.

Medellin is accused of tipping off two people now charged in the Jan. 23, 2015, attempted murder of Miguel Payan about the shooting victims whereabouts.

The third superseding indictment filed Jan. 19 and unsealed Tuesday charges the defendants with engaging in a racketeering conspiracy  beginning in 2003  that involved conspiracy, murder, sex trafficking, robbery, and narcotics distribution, records show.

Those with information concerning the whereabouts of the above individuals are urged to contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation at 317-595-4000 or Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at 1-800-ATF-GUNS.
HAMMOND  The Hammond Sanitary District has agreed to pay more than $500,000 in penalties related to alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and will engage in a massive public works project as part of a consent decree with the state and federal government over sewer discharges into area waterways.

The Board of Sanitary Commissioners of the Sanitary District on Tuesday signed off on the agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. The agreement still has to be approved by state and federal officials.

The board also Tuesday set a public hearing and vote for Feb. 14 for a proposed 49 percent across-the-board rate hike for sewer customers in Hammond and Munster. The increase in rates is expected to raise $4.7 million annually and cover maintenance the sewer department has delayed for years, according to sanitary district officials. The increase also has to be approved by the Munster Town Council and Hammond City Council before taking effect.

Under the proposal, an average residential customer using 5,000 gallons a month would pay an additional $6.57 per month, according to officials. Hammond City Engineer Dean Button said the rate would still be the lowest in the state.

Additional rate increases are not expected to take place for perhaps three years, according to Button, chairman of the Hammond Sanitary District Board. The additional rate increases are needed at least in part to cover improvements to minimize sewer overflows into the Little Calumet and Grand Calumet rivers in line with the consent decree. The improvements will be made over the next 18 years.

Last year, sanitary district officials anticipated they would need to spend about $190 million to make the various improvements. This money was in addition to $50 million the district already spent on a large 33-million retention basin next to a treatment facility on Columbia Avenue and other ancillary improvements.

Mayor Thomas M. McDermott Jr. has said the district does not have a choice when it comes to making the improvements.

The district board last year initially voted for a two-part rate increase to pay for these projects in the long-term control plan. The first increase of about 70 percent was to take place right away and a second rate increase of more than 50 percent was to take place on Oct. 1. The rate increase, however, was opposed by Munster representatives who disagreed with the way officials arrived at those numbers.

Those rate increases are now off the table as the exact details of the district's long-term control plan are hammered out over the next year. Part of the plan, however, will include retention basins like the one already built next to the plant and one planned between Columbia and Linden avenues, south of 175th Street.

Under the consent decree with federal and state officials, the Hammond Sanitary District would pay the federal government $538,500 and $22,500 to the state for violations. Of that larger amount, $313,500 would go to the federal government for violations of an earlier consent decree entered into in 1999 by the district.

Button said state and federal regulators had originally sought more than $3 million in penalties and the district believes it has "achieved the best deal it can with federal and state regulators."
Im confused. Former President Barack Obama spent eight years using his magic pen to sign unconstitutional executive orders. Before he left office, he had pardoned more people than any previous president. Many were convicted drug offenders.

He also pardoned Bradley (Chelsea) Manning, the soldier who gave thousands of U.S. secret documents to Wikileaks. Some may have disrupted Hillary Clintons campaign.

He pardoned terrorist Puerto Rican nationalist FALN leader Oscar Lopez Rivera, who was responsible for more than 100 bombings, some fatal.

Meanwhile, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich lingers in jail, convicted for making an unwise telephone call.

For the last eight years, Washington, D.C., has been a three-ring circus. Its appropriate this greatest show on Earth is leaving town just as the Barnum and Bailey circus is finishing its 146-year run. Only one will be missed.

Martin Henrichs, Valparaiso
INDIANAPOLIS  "How would you tell if he was truly choking," nurse Amber Burleson asked D'Ondra Gomes, who was holding her 6-month-old son, Kai'Dian, while sitting on her couch last fall.

"Gagging? Color in his face?" Gomes said.

"If he's making noise or if he's coughing, he's still breathing," Burleson said.

The nurse demonstrated CPR on a plastic baby doll. After she was finished, Kai'Dian grabbed the doll and started playing with it.

Gomes picked him up. "He keeps me on my toes. He keeps everybody on their toes," she said. "I didn't expect to be a mom at 21, but it's all worth it. For him."

Burleson works for Nurse-Family Partnership, which sends nurses into the homes of first-time, low-income moms, from early in their pregnancies until their babies turn 2.

She was visiting Gomes' home on the northeast side of Indianapolis, where Gomes lives with her son, parents and brothers. They reside in the ZIP code that, from 2010 to 2014, had the most infant deaths of any in the state. A baby dies almost every month in the 46226. Indiana has the eighth-highest infant mortality rate in the nation.

Gomes has two of the top three risk factors for losing a baby in Indiana, according to a 2014 state report. She is on Medicaid and gave birth between the ages of 15 and 20. However, she went to at least 10 prenatal visits.

She also has help, from social service agencies like Nurse-Family Partnership, and, perhaps more important, her family.

"I have a lot of clients with zero support," said Burleson, the nurse. "A lot of people don't have the support system she has. A lot of people don't have the love she has."

In Indianapolis, the state's capital and largest city, the risk factors for infant deaths are similar to big cities across the nation: poverty, lack of nutritious food and health care, racial segregation, high rates of teen pregnancy. So are the causes: premature birth, low birth weight, suffocation during sleep.

In the past 30 years, Indianapolis' infant mortality rate has decreased from 14.2 per 1,000 live births, to just more than nine per 1,000 live births today. In the past five years, the rate has dropped 10 percent.

Even so, a baby dies in this city of 850,000 every 3 1/2 days.

A legacy of facing infant mortality

In 1987, Indianapolis had the highest black infant mortality rate in the United States. Local health officials formed a coalition, the Indianapolis Campaign for Healthy Babies. They opened new health centers, expanded existing clinics and enhanced services for pregnant women and infants.

In 1995, the Marion County Health Department started the first Beds and Britches Etc. store in Indianapolis. As part of that program, women earn coupons by going to prenatal visits, Women Infants and Children appointments and pregnancy education. They can use the coupons to buy baby supplies from cribs to clothes.

On a fall day at a BABE store in south Indianapolis, Porsche Bancroft stopped to get supplies using coupons she earned from attending breastfeeding courses. She has three kids  ages 6, 4 and 1. She fed the first two formula and is breastfeeding the youngest, thanks to what she learned at the classes. "It's the healthy choice," said Bancroft, 22, a parking attendant.

Research shows that breastfeeding lowers infant mortality because it prevents and reduces the severity of infections, improves respiratory function and causes babies to be more easily aroused from sleep.

"I always do extra classes for coupons," Bancroft said. "It helps me get stuff for my kids. Say you're out of money one week, like today, payday's not till Wednesday. I got two packs of diapers."

Healthy Start has long history in Indy

An Indianapolis chapter of Healthy Start was founded in 1997. The federal program works to get women health care early in their pregnancies.

Victoria Ballard, community engagement coordinator for Indianapolis Healthy Start, said her client base includes moms who have high rates of depression, lack access to nutritious food and don't have cars. It takes 3.5 hours, round-trip, to get to the nearest hospital by bus.

Healthy Start focuses its efforts on the 10 Indianapolis ZIP codes with the highest infant mortality rates, located in the north-central part of the city. Ballard said poverty runs deep in some of these areas.

"You can't fathom a family who doesn't have a bed to sleep in," she said.

"You leave here, you go home and climb in your bed, and you literally have moms who don't have a place to sleep. They're literally on the floor in some areas."

Healthy Start helps fill in those gaps, providing portable cribs, transportation and education.

Myleea Davis stopped by the Healthy Start one day last fall to join a program to help her kick her cigarette habit. Smoking during pregnancy can cause low birth weights and harm a baby's lungs, heart and sleep arousal, potentially leading to sudden infant death syndrome. Baby & Me Tobacco Free provides free diapers to pregnant women who stop smoking.

"Can you imagine how much I'll save on Pampers and cigarettes?" Davis said, as her 1-year-old daughter, Diyah, chewed on a pencil and ate a sucker at the same time. Davis was due to give birth in four months, and also has a 6- and 4-year-old at home.

"You get pregnant and say, 'I'm going to quit smoking.' Next thing you know you're six months pregnant and you're still smoking," she said. "With all these children, I didn't want to be a smoker, anymore. I gave cigarettes 20 years of my life. I don't want to give them any more."

Healthy Start has also gotten Davis into stress management classes and treatment for high blood pressure and gestational diabetes.

City still has work to do

A mid-2000s study by the Marion County Fetal Infant Mortality Review project found that about 43 percent of the infant deaths in Indianapolis were preventable. Reducing the state's infant mortality rate by this percentage would put it just above California to have the lowest rate in the nation. Indiana currently ranks 43rd.

"We know we can prevent some infant deaths. We can't prevent them all," said Dr. Haywood Brown, an OB-GYN professor at Duke University Medical Center and chief elevator for Indianapolis Healthy Start. "We won't get to an infant mortality rate of zero."

But there are ways to reduce risk.

For instance, Brown said, women of childbearing age should take 400 micrograms of folic acid a day and control their diabetes, hypertension and weight. Also, women who have had previous preterm births are supposed to take progesterone to prevent another, yet only about half do.

He noted that the racial disparity in infant deaths in Marion County is as low as it's ever been, thanks to an improvement in the black rate. But he points out that many of the causes and risk factors for infant death are beyond the scope of the medical community.

"We're beginning to learn more about social-environmental interactions," he said.

"The impact of those things on African-Americans may be different because the stressors they live under. People are worrying about child care, worrying about transportation, worrying about worrying. Stressors can incite the uterus to empty early."

The parts of Indianapolis with the highest infant death rates are also the highest crime areas with the most police patrols, according to the Indianapolis Police Department.

"Living in violent neighborhoods is another stressor associated with bad birth outcomes," said Dr. James Collins, a professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University.

Black rate stands out

In Indiana as a whole, the death rate for African-American babies is nearly 2.5 times that of white infants, on par with the national disparity. The state has the second-highest black infant mortality rate in the country, behind only Alabama. The Indiana cities with some of the highest rates  Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Gary, Evansville, East Chicago  are largely segregated by race, according to a racial distribution map created by the Demographics Research Group at the University of Virginia.

Dr. Virginia Caine, director of the Marion County Public Health Department, noted that black women are less likely to attend a prenatal visit in their first trimester, and more likely to have nutrient deficiencies that could be addressed at those doctor's appointments.

"Women need prenatal visits for a healthy pregnancy," she said. "The earlier they come during their pregnancy, the more the baby will benefit."

Certain infections also are higher among African-American women, she said, while their breastfeeding rates are lower, an activity that research has shown to prevent infection.

The top two causes of death for African-Americans, whites and Hispanics in Marion County are short gestation/low birth weight and congenital malformations, Caine said. For African-Americans and whites, the third leading cause is accidents, while for Hispanics it is maternal complications, namely gestational diabetes.

"I think we're very fortunate in Marion County," Caine said. "In the '80s, when they had the campaign for healthy babies and maternal and child health, they came together and have kept that bond of working together in our community. We're just very collaborative in our approach."

Nurses partner with families

On the fall day at the Gomes residence in central Indianapolis, nurse Amber Burleson went over holiday and seasonal safety with D'Ondra Gomes and her 6-month-old son, Kai'Dian. Burleson made sure the baby had a winter coat and the house had adequate heat.

"Is he going to dress up for Halloween?" Burleson asked. "Just don't get him a mask that covers his mouth and nose and he can't breathe."

"I might dress him up as a Minion because he loves 'Despicable Me,'" Gomes said.

Burleson typed on her laptop while the baby tried to stand, wobbling like an intoxicated adult.

"With all he's doing, I wouldn't be surprised if by Christmastime he's trying to walk," Burleson said, adding: "As much as you can, avoid having breakable Christmas ornaments that he can grab. Same thing with candles."

"Ayy, yay," Kai'Dian said in baby talk. "Heh, heh, heeyyyy."

State officials see Nurse-Family Partnership as a promising solution for infant mortality. Gov. Eric Holcomb included $5 million in his proposed budget to expand the program in Indiana.

Almost 90 percent of mothers in the program initiate breastfeeding, compared to the statewide rate of three-fourths, while 60 percent quit smoking and the rest at least reduced their cigarette intake, said Lisa Crane, senior director for Nurse-Family Partnership in Indiana. A 2014 analysis found that for every 1,000 moms the program visited in Indiana, 3.4 infant deaths and 62 preterm births could be prevented.

The program has served 1,709 women since coming to Marion County in 2011.

'It takes a village'

D'Ondra Gomes has a part-time job at a local grocery store. Her parents help watch her son when she works and are there when she needs an emotional break. His father, who lives a 10-minute drive away, has him once or twice a week as well.

During the recent home visit, Gomes' dad, Lawrence Sr., a steelworker out on medical leave, sat at the kitchen table, wearing a white tank-top undershirt. The 49-year-old, who has "God" tattooed next to his right eye, said the family is lucky in another sense: Their street is maybe the quietest in the neighborhood.

"South of here is a lot of drugs, alcohol, teenage folks who think they're grown and do what they want to do," he said. "They have sex with this guy and that guy. But a lot of these kids are scared to tell their parents they're pregnant."

"My daughter took me out to lunch," he said. "Immediately I knew. 'Just don't tell me you're pregnant.' I needed a shot of tequila to make it go down easier."

The family doesn't believe in abortion, he said, so they committed to raising the child  together.

"It takes a village  and we got one," he said, admiring his 6-month-old grandson. "That's my right-hand man. I can't wait till he rides a motorcycle."

This series was produced as a project for the University of Southern California Center for Health Journalism's National Fellowship.
Police are searching for a masked gunman who shot and killed two people in an office on Staten Island.

It happened just after 6 p.m. Tuesday at a Cash Advance store on Buel Avenue in Dongan Hills.

Police say the two victims were both men in their 50s found shot in the head inside Universal Merchant Funding.

We spoke with people who live nearby.

"It's scary, it's unnerving, it's just, um, we life in a crazy world, and, it's just, nobody has respect for life anymore," said one.

"We opened up our front door, I said what's going on, there's lights and cameras and cops," said another. "I said something was going on, we didn't know what."

Investigators say the shooter fled in a grey vehicle.

No word yet on the motive.

Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.
About a third of the preliminary budget proposed by Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday would go to the public school system. He is proposing to spend more on buildings, crossing guards and faster internet service while cutting spending on services for homeless students. Our education reporter, Lindsey Christ, looks at his proposal.

It's an economic issue, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, proposing a $24 billion operating budget for the public school system.

"You hear this from folks in the business community all the time in terms of decisions to build a business, start a business, relocate a business, it comes down to the quality of schools," de Blasio said.

The Mayor's spending proposals reinforce his long-term priorities  $6.3 million for new school crossing guards, an effort to reduce pedestrian deaths; $23.6 million for faster internet, key to his promise to have every student studying computer science; and $14 million for a new second-grade summer school program.

"As one of the ways we supercharge our efforts to achieve that goal of all kids reading by third grade," De Blasio said.

But there are cuts, too.

The Mayor proposes to slash funding for homeless students, even though that population is at a record high  more than 105,000 students were homeless at some point last year, one in every ten children.

Just last month, his schools chancellor touted $30 million in new spending to help homeless students, including placing teachers in shelters. However, the mayor's new proposal would reduce that by $10 million.

Asked about the cut, de Blasio suggested reforms to the shelter system could create savings.

"For example if we get a lot of kids closer to their home districts or in their home districts, that is going to take  thank God  less school busing."

But he said there is time to restore the cut before a final budget is adopted.

The re-election-minded mayor also highlighted his proposal to spend another half a billion dollars to build schools accommodating another 38,000 students.

"A big deal to a lot of parents, its been one of the issues we hear the most about, I hear most about," De Blasio said.

However, that spending is for the capital budget that begins in July 2019 more than two years, and one mayoral election away, meaning it is not ironclad

And it take would years to ease the overcrowding  and reduce the large classes  that exist in many parts of the system right now.
Prosecutors decide not to seek a retrial in a notorious murder case that arguably changed the course of New York. NY Criminal justice reporter Dean Meminger has the story:

Johnny Hincapie broke down in tears while speaking in court, overcome with emotion as murder and robbery charges for the infamous 1990 killing of Utah tourist Brian Watkins were dismissed. However, he is angry he spent more than half of life in prison.

"I was 18 years old, when they took me away from my mother's arms in my home," Hincapie said.

The Watkins and his family were in town for the U.S. Tennis Open when they were robbed on a Manhattan subway platform. Brian Watkins was stabbed to death defending his parents.

Hincapie did not have a criminal record, but was convicted with a group of young men for murder.

He says he wasn't even on the subway platform but was coerced into confessing by the DA's office and NYPD.

"Having a detective beat you up and threaten you to kill you, what would you want to do?" Hincapie said after Wednesday's hearing.

A judge threw out Hincapie's conviction 15 months ago after witnesses came forward saying he wasn't involved.

Prosecutors told the judge Wednesday they still believe he's guilty but decided against seeking a retrial because it would be hard getting a conviction after 27 years.

"He participated in the robbery of Sherwin Watkins and the felony murder of Brian Watkins," said Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Eugene Hurley.

And, they added, since Hincapie served 25 years, there was no need for more prison time.

Hincapie's lawyer calls that a slap in the face. He wanted prosecutors to apologize for a wrongful conviction.

"They didn't say that and they haven't learned anything over the latest three decades and that is the tragedy of it," said attorney Ron Kuby.

"I can finally move forward with my life you know," Hincapie said.

The killing of the Utah tourist occurred during a record year for murder in the city.

It led to the hiring of 5,000 additional officers  an NYPD buildup widely seen as beginning the drastic reduction in crime that continues to this day.
There are new questions about the status of federal and state investigations into Mayor Bill de Blasio and his aides, after the mayor admitted Wednesday that he met with officials from the Manhattan district attorney's office a few weeks ago. NY1's Grace Rauh filed the following report.

Mayor Bill de Blasio says he met with prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office. An aide says the sit-down took place in late December.

"The Manhattan DA's office asked for an interview, and we did an interview," de Blasio said. "It was a few weeks back."

The work de Blasio and his top aides did to support Democrats running for state Senate seats in 2014 is under investigation. So what exactly did prosecutors ask him?

"I'm not going to characterize it," de Blasio said. "It was fine."

The admission was made at an unrelated news conference in Brooklyn about pedestrian safety. It is the first time the mayor has said he has been personally drawn into the multiple probes underway since last spring.

The Manhattan DA's office is focused on whether his fundraising efforts to help Democratic candidates violated campaign finance laws. The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan has its own probe into possible pay-to-play politics, involving the mayor's now-defunct nonprofit group, the Campaign for One New York.

The mayor says he has not testified before a grand jury, and he says he has not been notified that he is the target of a grand jury investigation.

The mayor has said repeatedly that he and his team have done nothing wrong.

The city has been prepared to spend up to $10 million on legal bills related to the investigation. Earlier this week, Dean Fuleihan, the city's budget director, said additional money had been added to the budget, but he would not say how much for the de Blasio probes.

"It's for many different cases," Fuleihan said. "We will get you a breakdown."

When NY1 followed up to ask exactly how much more the city was ready to spend on these probes, we were told we would need to wait until the city filed its contract paperwork with the city comptroller.
Donald Trumps controversial campaign promise to build a wall along the country's border with Mexico is getting closer to becoming reality. The president signed an executive order today calling for the walls construction. As Geoff Bennett reports from our Washington, D.C. bureau, its the first in a series of presidential actions this week aimed at cracking down on immigration.

"Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders," President Trump said Wednesday, speaking at the Department of Homeland Security after signing his first executive order on immigration.

His presidential directive kicks off the construction of a wall along the Mexico border and fulfills his signature campaign promise.

Trump's order directs federal funds toward building the wall. It also eliminates so-called sanctuary cities, adds some 5,000 Border Patrol agents and calls for expanding detention space and prosecuting more criminal offenses along the Southern border.

Later this week, Trump is expected to announce more directives on immigration. Those are aimed at suspending visas from several African and Middle Eastern countries, while temporarily stopping the flow of refugees into the U.S.

Policies Overshadowed by Conspiracy Theories

But the presidents new policies continue to be overshadowed by his conspiracy theories.

On Twitter Wednesday, the president called for "a major investigation" into mass voter fraud  a claim that has been repeatedly debunked.

The president says  falsely  that millions of illegal ballots cost him the popular vote.

Citing no real evidence Wednesday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Trump's announced investigation is meant to: "understand where the problem exists."

"This isn't just about the election," Spicer. "It's about the integrity of our voting system."
MONROVIA, Liberia  How much money did Charles G. Taylor, the deposed president of Liberia, siphon out of his destitute, war-shattered country, and where is it?

For almost seven years, since an international warrant was issued for his arrest, the search has stretched from the mangrove swamps and diamond fields of West Africa to Swiss banks and shell corporations  a state-of-the-art version of the sweeping asset hunts that have accompanied the fall of autocrats since the shah of Irans demise in the 1970s.

Investigators have crawled in the dirt under porches and buildings in this impoverished capital to seek out financial records. They have confronted bankers and government officials on four continents. They have cross-referenced mazes of documents charting the transfer of millions of dollars into and out of dozens of accounts.

But they have come up dry for any money in Mr. Taylors name. In fact, four years ago, Mr. Taylor was classified as partially indigent by the Special Court for Sierra Leone at The Hague, where he is charged with instigating murder, mutilation, rape and sexual slavery during intertwined wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone that claimed more than 250,000 victims from 1989 to 2003.
The make-up of New Zealands co-operative economy has been mapped out for the first time in a new study, and the contribution from the insurance, banking and finance sector is significantly out of sync with the global breakdown, according to the findings.



Globally, the insurance, banking and finance sector accounts for 45% of revenue in the co-operative economy, whereas in New Zealand, it is only 3.4%.



The study  a collaboration between the sector body, Cooperative Business New Zealand, and researchers from Massey University and the University of Auckland - was conducted to examine the significance of the sector in terms of revenue, jobs, and membership as well as obvious differences between New Zealands and other co-operative economies.



The report found the co-operative sector contributed revenues of more than $42.3 billion per annum with New Zealands top 30 co-operatives and mutuals responsible for 1.4 million memberships, employment of 48,500 people, and a revenue to GDP ratio of 17.5%.



New Zealands top 30 co-operatives and mutuals were very strong in agri-food, accounting for 65.2% of assets, and 82.8% of employment in the co-operative economy.

The next largest sector by revenue was retail and wholesale, accounting for 30.3%.



These two sectors accounted for twice as much of New Zealands co-operative economy compared to the worlds top 300 co-operatives and mutuals and three times that of Australias top 100, a result the researchers described as striking.



Leading researcher Dr Elena Garnevska of Massey University described the work as a much needed glimpse into a sector of significant economic and social importance to the country but said she and her fellow researchers had been surprised at the disparity with the breakdown of NZ versus worldwide.



However, she stressed it was in terms of turnover whereas in terms of membership, the banking, finance and insurance (BF&I) category represented 88%, and seven of the top 30 organisations included in the report were in the BF&I sector.



She said that based on the review of the annual CEO and Chair reports of the NZ top 30 co-operatives and mutuals, regulatory requirements played a huge part in this.



It became apparent that governmental policies and regulation is one of the key factors that have a strong impact on the co-operative sector, she told Insurance Business.



We also recognised the recent tightening of regulatory requirements in the financial and insurance sectors have challenged mutual and co-operative organisations operating in the sector.

Garnevska also pointed to The co-operative advantage, a book by author Ed Mayo, who had observed an increased number of new insurance mutuals in the UK.



She said: He argues the way forward is co-operation among organisations to deliver insurance so the risks are shared.



What we see in New Zealand is partnering between large banks and large insurance companies, which makes for a challenging environment.



Craig Presland, CEO of Cooperative Business New Zealand (CBNZ), said the fact that New Zealands banking and insurance industries were dominated by big, mainly Australian-owned companies, none of which were co-operatives, was quite a daunting prospect to any NZ co-operatives looking to compete.



The downside here is that all profits are transferred overseas and not retained in New Zealand, although some of these organisations do have a high level of reinvestment back into the country  some more than others, he said.



Another reason for the disparity is the relatively high set-up and compliance costs in establishing new entities within the NZ banking and insurance sector, thus deterring the entry of new competitors which may have been co-operatives.



Presland said work was actively being done to boost the co-operative business model in New Zealand.



We are actively advocating for and supporting the co-operative business model, assisting new start-up businesses in getting underway, he said.



The co-operative business model is one of sustainability and endurance as evidenced by the fact that of our 60 full members in New Zealand, two thirds have been in existence for over 25 years while of the remaining 20 members, 11 are now over 10 years old.



He also pointed to four members which were over 100 years old, including rural insurer Farmers Mutual Group (FMG) which was established in 1905.



These figures are compelling, he explained. Here in New Zealand we clearly operate within one of the most co-operative economies in the world.



This article is from our sister site Insurance Business NZ by Maryvonne Gray.


October 14, 1918 - January 9, 2017 Frederick "Fred" Dean Mann, 98, passed away January 9, 2017 at Retama Manor-Harlingen. Fred was born October 14, 1918 in Atlee, Virginia to James S. and Linda Lee White Mann. He was the last surviving sibling in a family of 15. Mr. Mann attended the University of Georgia and Spartanburg Methodist College before joining the Coast Guard in January of 1942. He served on the George F. Eliot and called himself the loneliest sailor in the Pacific being the only Coast Guardsman onboard a Navy ship transporting Marines to the beaches of Guadacanal on Higgins boats. On one such trip he saw an enemy aircraft, which had been shot down, crash into his ship which immediately caught fire from the impact. He returned to the ship and manned a fire hose to keep the munitions area from exploding thus saving lives. For his actions he was awarded the Navy Silver Star. While stationed in Miami he met a young SPAR, (the WWII Coast Guard women's branch), Winnie Knox, who would later become his wife of 54 years. Fred continued his Coast Guard career for 31 years living in many places but the place that captured his heart in the 1950's was the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. He and Winnie returned in 1968 and retired in the Valley. They built their dream house on a resaca in Bayview. Fred was always happiest working outside usually in the pith helmet from his days at Guadalcanal. After retiring from the Coast Guard as a Chief Warrant Officer 4, Fred completed his degree and worked in the education field in Brownsville and Los Fresnos. He also travelled extensively with his wife enjoying many cruises until the time of her death in 2001. While living in Bayview and Los Fresnos, Fred was very active taking many leadership roles in Los Fresnos United Methodist Church. He always led Bible studies wherever he lived. He was also a member of the Retired First Marine Division in Harlingen. Later he was active with his son, Fred in the Coast Guard Auxiliary. He was generous and provided charitable grants to the U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Association, the Salvation Army Southern Territory and Spartanburg Methodist College. He also provided college scholarships for his five grandchildren. Fred is survived by his son, Fred Mann (Virginia) of McAllen, Texas; Eric Mann of Davis, California; Vickie Mann Bolling (Rick) of Auburn, Alabama; five grandchildren, Mary Katharine Ramos-Negrete (Mario) of Clemson, South Carolina; Annabelle Bolling (Michael) of Mobile, Alabama; Lara Claire Bolling of Mobile Alabama; Atticus Bolling of Auburn, Alabama; and Nathaniel Bolling of Auburn, Alabama. Survivors also include many nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren. The family would like to thank Paul Villa and family for caring for Fred, John Knox Village and the nurses and staff at Retama Manor, Harlingen. A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, January 27th, 2017, at Mont Meta Memorial Park in San Benito with Rev. Charlie Palmer officiating. Full military honors will be conducted by the United States Coast Guard. In lieu of flowers the family asks that you donate to the Salvation Army which is beloved by many WWII veterans but especially by Fred, Attention: Corp Officers, P.O.Box 4766, McAllen, TX 78502. You are invited to sign the guestbook or share a memory at www.buckashcraft.com. Arrangements are with Buck Ashcraft Funeral Home, 710 Ed Carey Dr., Harlingen, TX 78550, (956) 423-3636.
What exactly will it take to revive the Kenya-Uganda railway line? It is definitely not money.

When a group of lenders pumped millions of dollars in the railway concession between Uganda and Kenya at the turn of 2011, there was hope that East African trade would spike once the railway became vibrant.

At the time, a Cairo-based fund, Qalaa Holdings, had taken over the running of Rift Valley Railways (RVR) in 2011 from a South African firm that had failed to turn around the railway line. This month, Qalaa announced it was in preliminary talks to sell its 85 per cent stake in the railway concession.

Qalaa confirms that preliminary negotiations are ongoing with several prospective local and international investors for the sale of its stake in RVR, the national railway of Kenya and Uganda, it said in a statement.

RVR is running at least 2,352km of the rail, supposed to connect Kampala to Kenyas port of Mombasa. The sale comes amid indications of little, if anything, being invested in the railway line.

More than 95 per cent of the cargo into Uganda is still carried by road. That Qalaa Holdings seeks to leave the concession is a clear testimony of how complicated the revival of the Uganda-Kenya railway concession has become.

No official agreement or offer has been reached as of yet, and Qalaa will continue to communicate further information in due course as negotiations advance, it said in a statement.



GAMBLE TURNED SOUR

The gamble started more than a decade ago in 2005 when the Uganda - Kenya railway was in ruins. A 25-year concession was handed to South African firm Sheltam Railway Company in a bid to revive the line. It emerged in 2010  five years after the concession was handed  that Roy Puffet, the South African investor, had been running shell companies without any substantial capital.

Nairobi-based Daily Nation reported in 2010 that none of Puffets companies had either the capacity or the financial muscle to manage a railway system as large and complex as the Kenya-Uganda Railways.

How the technocrats in Uganda and Kenya agreed to sign such a lopsided agreement remains one of the most puzzling questions in the Kenya-Uganda railways system concession.

At least $350m in investments, with contributors including the World Bank and German lending arm KFW, was lost as Sheltam failed to revive the line, according to media reports.

When the ownership was transferred in 2010 to Qalaa, Kenyas TransCentury group had a 34 per cent interest in RVR while Ugandan businessman Charles Mbire owned a 15 per cent through Bomi Holdings. Mbire had been one of directors of RVR throughout the time Sheltam managed the concession.



ENTER QALAA

The Cairo-based equity fund entered the concession in 2010, first acquiring a minority stake but later increasing it to a controlling shareholding of more than 50 per cent, before raising the figure to more than 70 per cent in 2014. Formerly known as Citadel, Qalaa announced a five-year $287 million turnaround program in 2011 for what was then an ailing railway line.

This money was expected to improve the railway lines performance in addition to increasing cargo carried on railway in the two countries. A group of funders raised a $164m debt package for the firm. They included African Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, KfW, FMO, Kenyas Equity Bank, ICF Debt Pool, Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries.

In 2014, it completed a drawdown of the facility. Two years later, Qalaa said it had realised it needed more money and was selling its stake. This development comes a few months after the World Bank ethics audit report flagged the East African railway operator as a failed project, with the Business Daily reporting that top managers at RVR conspired to defraud lenders and that they left the company in a worse financial position.

The WBs lending arm, the IFC, was one of the lenders that advanced $164m in financing to RVR to rehabilitate the Kenya-Uganda railway, seen as a vital transport network for East Africa, whose rehabilitation will encourage cross-border trade and cut transportation costs for transit goods.

Qalaas impending exit comes at a time when funders are not convinced that their money was used prudently. Qalaa says its indirect ownership in RVR stands at 73.76 per cent and the company has been classified as a discontinued operation on its 2016 financial statement.

However, the firm says in a statement: The decision to divest from RVR comes in the wake of managements conclusion that additional capital is required to complete the companys transformation program, which has already yielded positive results on RVRs operational performance.

Ugandan legislators recently said the concessionaire was not working and that there are shortcomings in regard to RVRs compliance with the set timelines, targets and deliverables in the concession agreement.

An investigation by Finance Uncovered, a network of journalists that covers illicit financial flows, published in The Observer in June 2016, found that while RVR executives claimed to have succeeded in putting the 2,352km railway connecting Kenya and Uganda back on track, hardly anything had changed.

Despite what Qalaa claimed was a massive cash injection  half from international development banks  service is still unreliable. Whats more, freight traffic  the main money maker for the railway  is still below 2011 levels, the journalists reported in a story published in more than six publications.



FAILED INVESTMENTS

RVRs story shows how the private sector can fail even when they have access to funding. Many people thought the Kenya  Uganda railway would get the blessing of traders who spend so much money anf time transporting their goods via road.

According to a 2015 statement, RVR said it invested at least $40m every year on maintenance and improving the railway. Journalists found that in the capital expenditure plan that was presented to investors, $63m was allocated for the purchase of new locomotives.

In its 2013 annual report, Qalaa Holdings mentions the purchase of 20 brand new locomotives but the journalists found that they were not new. The first three locomotives arrived with great fanfare at the port of Mombasa in September 2014. A review of the purchase contract found that no new locomotives were purchased at all, the reporters found. Instead, on show were second-hand refurbished locomotives.

In response to these claims, Qalaa Holdings said in a statement: Since 2011, [we have] overseen the renaissance of a strategic infrastructure asset in East Africa which was previously in a state of disrepair. For the past five years, despite significant challenges, Qalaa Holdings has supported RVRs management and its local partners to implement a comprehensive and complex turnaround program.

In Uganda, the stripping and swindling of railway facilities goes beyond the concession. A parliamentary report found that Uganda Railways Corporation, which is supposed to supervise RVR, had not valued its assets since 1988.



amwesigwa@observer.ug
Orange County supervisors on Tuesday replaced one of John Wayne Airports two long-term operators of private-plane terminals and hangars at a meeting in which board members accused the previous contractors of abusing a monopoly to hike fuel prices.

One supervisor also alleged airport staff engaged in an overt power play to defy the boards direction.

Board members said they awarded the contract to California-based ACI Jet rather than longstanding operator Signature Flight Support to spur competition. That decision follows allegations from some airport tenants in the past year that Signature and the airports other contractor, Atlantic Aviation, simultaneously and artificially inflated their fuel prices, frequently within pennies of each other. Atlantic retained its contract Tuesday.

When people have a monopoly  and the price is really high, call it what it is, Supervisor Shawn Nelson said, later adding that he thought Atlantics representatives had been more responsive to his concerns than Signatures.

Representatives from Signature declined to comment on the boards decision. But on Monday, the company refuted claims it had sold its fuel at hiked prices, saying that at John Wayne it sold less than 5 percent of its fuel at the full advertised price and that it had not received any complaints from its customers about the cost of fuel.

Nelson also seemed to criticize those statements Tuesday, saying: The idea of having two national chains working collectively has worked to the exclusion of people. And whether its 5 or 10 percent, those 5 or 10 percent are my customers  Im responsible for 100 percent.

The issue of high fuel prices came to the boards attention in late spring when airport tenants  which range from flight schools, to charter aircraft, to hangar renters  began to complain to board members. Data presented to supervisors showed that the Atlantic and Signature almost always similarly priced their fuel at John Wayne Airport of each other over a six-year period. That fuel, the data showed, was often $1.50 per-gallon more than at Long Beach Airport, where Signature also operates.

In late July, the board told representatives from the two airport operators it was concerned about fuel pricing and expressed that the county might seek alternative contractors for John Wayne. Around that time, Atlantics per-gallon fuel cost dropped by $2.04  a 31 percent decrease and seemingly its lowest price in the previous five years, according to Flightaware.com, which tracks information about airports. Three months later, after the county had issued a request for qualifications to determine whether it wanted new operators at the airport, Signatures per-gallon fuel price dropped 97 cents per gallon, or 16 percent, around the time applications were due.

Another reason the board sought potential new airport operators is that the county has not renegotiated many of its John Wayne contracts in more than two decades, losing out on revenue, supervisors said.

When Atlantics and Signatures leases expired in October 2014, the agreements were not renegotiated. When the board directed staff in July 2015 to execute one-year contracts that would have included rent increases for the two companies, staff said the companies refused.

When the board directed staff to begin seeking potential new operators in 2016, airport staff protested, supervisors said. And when staff eventually recommended the board keep both Atlantic and Signature, supervisors called the decision suspicious and said the process was flawed.

The delay in securing a new airport contract has caused the county to miss out on as much as $3.9 million over the past 27 months. The new contracts approved Tuesday will earn the county $4.4 million annually  nearly $2.1 million more than before.

Supervisor Todd Spitzer on Tuesday criticized airport staff for inaction, saying they hadnt been responsive to complaints from airport tenants and going as far as to accuse staff members of defying supervisors about how things are going to run in this county.

This is significant because this is a really overt power play, Spitzer said. There are some things that need to be addressed.

Supervisor Lisa Bartlett, the lone supervisor to vote against Tuesdays operator change, defended airport director Barry Rondinella, who was appointed in October 2015, saying he had inherited a mess. She reminded supervisors that their foremost concern was keeping an operator who could help the county implement a new airport master plan in a couple years, including helping to develop new facilities.

But Spitzer said that master plan also has been unnecessarily delayed.

We should have had this master plan to this board a year-plus ago, and you know it, Spitzer said. And in the interim, theres been money left on the table.

Contact the writer: jgraham@scng.com or 714-796-7960
Joany Hernandez cradled the thick, moist driftwood in her arms with plans on creating a new fence. Maureen Walsh scoured the sand for bamboo sticks  perfect for making wind chimes.

Another beachgoer combing Capo Beach on Tuesday wanted to use the wooden logs to create a succulent planter. Another searched around for the perfect walking stick.

Recent storms have sent surging waters down rivers and to the ocean, where trees and debris stuck up stream for years have washed up on the sand, giving Orange County an Oregon feel.

While some thought the mess was unsightly, others relished in the unusual scenery.

Its so different from what were used to seeing on this beach, said Georgia Hechter, of San Clemente, walking with her husband Bob near the big branches and twigs. Whats interesting is some of this weighs hundreds of pounds.

Hernandez, of San Juan Capistrano, said she recently brought a pile of driftwood back home after a trip to Oregon. Her daughter, a park ranger, called her Tuesday morning about the treasure trove of trees that had washed ashore locally.

Now I can get it on my own beach, she said. I think its awesome.

Walsh, of San Clemente, said pieces of bamboo she was finding costs anywhere from $20 to $40 at the store.

Im in my glory here, she said.

Hugh Berenger snapped photos of the odd sight, saying its the most driftwood hes seen on the beach in years.

Its a mess. I like to document for historic reasons, he said. To me, its a nice mess. I love going to Northern California, where this is just kindling compared to the logs up there.

After it dries, it would be perfect to make firewood, he said.

At Doheny State Beach, Kristi Phan used big pieces of bamboo as a makeshift play pen to hold her son Jacob, 2, who quickly escaped through the gaps.

A closer look at the tree branches washed up on the beach reveal trash intertwined with the twigs.

The sticks and stuff, that doesnt bother me. Thats Mother Nature. But all the stuff in it, it makes me sad, Phan said.

She ticked off a list of trash she saw sitting just feet away: Styrofoam, balls and tin cans, shoe soles and liquor bottles.

Its just sad its in the water, and now its here for us to see, she said. I can only imagine what all the other beaches look like.

It was the same story along the entire coast, with trash strewn along the water line, especially heavy at inlets such as the Santa Ana River and San Gabriel River, where rain inland raged toward the ocean, bringing with it trash that has been stuck for years.

Newport Beach Lifeguard Chief Rob Williams said the mass of debris included a few mattresses and couches near the Santa Ana River.

John Hollenbeck, who runs the boat for the Orange County Sheriff Harbor Patrol, said he had to swerve his boat Monday to avoid collision with a Christmas tree out in the ocean.

Everything not bolted down on land tends to get washed into the water by torrential rainstorm, he wrote on social media. The water is the color of a plumbers nightmare.

Mark Gale, president of the Doheny Longboard Surfing Association, said the group is hosting a beach clean up at 9:30 Saturday morning at Doheny State Beach. Volunteers should wear shoes and work gloves, he wrote in an e-mail.

This is a volunteer opportunity to help our beloved beach so please come down and be careful moving around the debris piles as there is a real possibility of injury if you over extend, lift too much weight, or get an abrasion from the drift wood, he wrote.

Contact the writer: lconnelly@ocregister.com
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump will begin rolling out executive actions on immigration Wednesday, beginning with steps to tighten border security  including his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border  and other domestic immigration enforcement measures, according to two administration officials.

Later in the week, the president is expected to restrict the flow of refugees to the United States. The proposed plans include at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim majority countries, according to a representative of a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues. The person was briefed on the details of that proposed action by a government official and outlined the expected steps for The Associated Press.

The officials and the public policy organizations representative insisted on anonymity in order to outline the plans ahead of Trumps official announcements. The president is expected to sign the first actions Wednesday during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security, with additional actions being rolled out over the next few days, according to one official.

It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still to be finalized. The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the U.S. for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though the person cautioned the details could still change.

There is also likely to be an exception in the refugee stoppage for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.

Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten U.S. immigration policies, including beefing up border security and stemming the flow of refugees. He also called for halting entry to the U.S. from Muslim countries, but later shifted the policy to a focus on what he called extreme vetting for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

As president, Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing. President George W. Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.

While the specific of Trumps orders were unclear, both administration officials said Wednesdays actions would focus in part on the presidents plans to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico. Trumps insistence that Mexico would pay for the wall was among his most popular proposals on the campaign trail, sparking enthusiastic cheers at his raucous rallies.

Mexico has repeatedly said it will not pay for any border wall. Earlier this month, Trump said the building project would initially be paid for with a congressionally approved spending bill and Mexico will eventually reimburse the U.S., though he has not specified how he would guarantee payments.

Trump will meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the White House next week.

In claiming authority to build a wall, Trump may rely on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-President George W. Bush and the majority of the fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office. The last remnants were completed after President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

The Trump administration also must adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built along the border. The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the U.S.-Mexican border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint U.S.-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.

Other executive actions expected Wednesday include bolstering border patrol agents and ending what Republicans have argued is a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

If Trumps actions would result in those caught being immediately jailed, the administration would have to grapple with how to pay for jail space to detain everyone and what to do with children caught crossing the border with their parents.
LOS ANGELES  Two Los Angeles police officers acted in self-defense when they fatally shot a 25-year-old mentally ill black man during a struggle over an officers gun and will not face criminal charges for the 2014 shooting that led to protests, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Los Angeles Police Department officers Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas were in fear for their lives and acted lawfully when they shot Ezell Ford on Aug. 11, 2014, as Ford struggled over Wamplers holstered gun, the Los Angeles District Attorneys Office said.

The finding comes more than a year after a police oversight board found the officers wrongfully stopped Ford, violating department policy, which led to the fatal close-range shooting.

The question is did they honestly believe that Mr. Ford was about to take out the gun and shoot them and there is a lot of facts that indicate that they did, District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in an interview Tuesday.

Authorities said the officers had approached Ford, whose family has said he struggled with an array of mental illnesses, after seeing him in a known gang area, telling him they wanted to speak with him. Ford, they said, began walking away, but the officers believed he was trying to discard an illegal substance. Prosecutors said Wampler placed his hands on Fords shoulders before Ford spun around and grabbed the officer at the waist.

Both Wampler and Ford fell to the ground and started tussling as Ford tried to grab Wamplers gun from the holster on his waist, prosecutors said.

Villegas shot Ford twice during the struggle, but Ford continued to fight with Wampler, Lacey said. Wampler was eventually able to retrieve his backup weapon, which was affixed to his bulletproof vest, reached around Fords body and shot him once in the back, she said.

This was not some officer who deliberately took out a gun and said, Im going to shoot Mr. Ford. This was a struggle on the ground, for a couple of minutes, that was very tense, Lacey said. One of the most compelling witnesses, she said, told investigators they heard an officer shouting, Let go of my gun!

Lacey said she called Fords mother Tuesday morning before her office released a report on the shooting and told her they would not be brining criminal charges against the officers. She said Fords mother was very upset and that it felt like she was reliving it all over again.

My son was unarmed. He was murdered and there will be no justice, Fords mother, Tritobia Ford, told reporters as tears streamed down her face. These officers get off scot-free. They just got away with murder. There is no justice for Ezell.

She said the shooting was unjustified and wants the two officers removed from the police force. A police department spokesman said both officers were working in an administrative capacity but declined to comment further.

The Los Angeles Police Commission ruled in June 2015 that the officers had no reason to stop and question Ford, and that violation of department policy led to an altercation that ended with Fords death. The commission found that Wampler was unjustified in shooting Ford and Villegas was wrong to draw his weapon but acted appropriately in firing it because he believed Wamplers life was in danger.

Fords shooting, days after that of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, led to a series of Black Lives Matters protests in Los Angeles. In October, Fords family reached a tentative settlement in a state civil rights lawsuit they brought against the city.
Peggy Huang, Yorba Lindas new mayor, said she has always been driven to help people. But it wasnt until she was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley that Huang discovered her calling.

I volunteered at a domestic violence shelter in Berkeley, said Huang, 46. I met an Asian woman there who felt trapped in her setting because her husband was here on a work visa. He was abusing her and the kids, but she couldnt leave that situation because she would become undocumented. I couldnt speak her language, but I felt so much compassion for this woman.

Resonating with her, Huang said the experience led me to do more volunteering and helped me to see more clearly the needs in the community.

Born in Taiwan, Huang came to America at age 7 with her family. She was raised in San Jose, but spent the last two years of her secondary education at Irvines University High School. After finishing her under-gradaute degree in political science at UC Berkeley, Huang attended law school at University of the Pacific. A perpetual high achiever, she got involved in the Republican party at the college level while completing internships in Sacramento and Washington D.C.

Following law school, Huang served as a fellow for a Republican senator, then worked as an attorney for a nonprofit organization in Sacramento that represented abused and neglected children. Similar jobs followed: in Los Angeles she worked for a law office thats now part of the Childrens Law Center; then she took a position with the California Department of Social Services, where she prosecuted people who abused and neglected children and the elderly.

For the last 10 years, Huang has worked in the Appeals, Writs and Trials Section of the California Attorney Generals Office. Even now I work primarily with developmentally challenged children, she said.

Huang describes her transition into politics as almost accidental. I didnt go into it thinking I would make a career out of it.

The city of Yorba Linda had proposed a new equestrian center in her neighborhood, and as a resident with two kids in middle school, Huang was concerned. I didnt like the way the city was going to spend our money. They were choosing to build something that would cost $9 million right next to a school in a residential area.

Energized by a successful campaign to change the citys plans, Huang ran for council in 2014. I really wanted to focus on infrastructure. I felt that prior councils had allowed some of our roads and sidewalks to fall apart.

Huang said she is proud of those improvements. Shes also pleased with her participation in the ambitious plans for Yorba Linda Town Center. Ground was broken in the fall on the 10-acre, $50-million project, which will be anchored by a Bristol Farms store and a Regal movie theater.

Huang said as a politician, she has one overriding goal. My focus in the past year and my platform going forward are simple: to build a more business-friendly city.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7979 or phodgins@scng.com
Known across the country and even the world for its public schools and safety, Irvine has another item on the list of things to boast about: Financial health.

The city finished fiscal 2015-16 with a $12.3 million general fund surplus, according to a year-end report presented to the City Council on Tuesday. The city has about $41 million in its reserves, or 21.7 percent of the budget.

As a result, Irvine was recently ranked No. 1 in fiscal strength among 116 American cities with a population of more than 200,000, according to the Fiscal Health Index compiled by Marc Joffe, director of policy research for the California Policy Center.

The obvious thing is, were in a very good shape, newly elected Mayor Don Wagner said. Our job is to responsibly manage what the previous council and the staff left for us.

Joffe ranked the cities based on the ratio of a citys general fund balance to its expenditures; the ratio of its long-term obligations to revenues; the ratio of pension contributions to revenues; change in local unemployment rate; and change in property values.

The top six cities  Irvine, Fontana, Moreno Valley, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana and Glendale  are all in California, followed by Boston, Fayetteville, N.C., Washington, D.C. and Boise, Idaho.

Irvines largest revenue in 2015-16 came from sales tax at $65.6 million, exceeding budget expectations by $1.1 million. The city also received $55.2 million in property tax and $12.3 million in hotel tax.

Hotel tax revenues were up by $1.5 million from the previous fiscal year, thanks partly due to a new hotel opening.

Salaries and benefits were the largest expenditures at $104 million.

More news from Irvine:

Great Park meeting: The city will host a community meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to give residents an update on the Orange County Great Park and ask them for input about still-to-be-built segments of the park. No RSVP needed. The meeting is at the Irvine civic center, 1 Civic Center Plaza.

Strategic planning: The city is seeking community input to update its Senior Strategic Plan, which will help shape the direction of senior programs and services over the next five years. Meetings will be held 9:30-11:30 a.m. Thursday at Rancho Senior Center and 6-8 p.m. Feb. 8 at Trabuco Center. Information: 949-724-6685.

Groundbreaking: The public is invited to a community ice facility groundbreaking at 10 a.m. Feb. 16 at the Orange County Great Park. An Anaheim Ducks affiliate and city official will co-host the free ceremony to begin construction of one of the largest public ice facilities in the country. The grand opening will be in 2018.

Contact the writer: tshimura@scng.com
Like more of the same? Youre gonna love the movies of 2017 then.

Therell be superheroes. And sequels. Superheroes in sequels.

What more could you want?

Well, a lot more, and there will be some of that. But first, superheroes.

More to Marvel at

Six of last years top 13 worldwide grossers came from the comic book genre, and were getting an even bigger batch this year.

Disneys Marvel Cinematic Universe entries comprise  surprise  two sequels, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Thor: Ragnarok. The latter is directed by New Zealands Taika Waititi of the eccentric Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Flight of the Conchords, so at least it might feel a bit original.

Additionally, Sonys third  THIRD!  reboot of Marvels webslinger this century, Spider-Man: Homecoming, is the first one done in concert with MCU; Tom Hollands Peter Parker was introduced in last years Captain America: Civil War, and Robert Downey Jr. does his Tony Stark schtick in S-M:H.

Meanwhile, Fox continues to hold Marvels other most popular intellectual property, X-Men, hostage with Logan, which Hugh Jackman is claiming will be his last Wolverine outing. Whether or not Deadpool, who shocked everybody with his movies success last year, will make a guest appearance remains a question of Russian hacking-level import.

As for Warner Bros. dark benighted attempts to give their DC Comics characters decent movies, the studio will try again with Wonder Woman, the first big female-directed (Patty Jenkins) supermovie, and Justice League, made by the same guy who gifted the world Batman v Superman and Man of Steel, Zack Snyder.

Theres at least one good chance to have fun with a DC property, though. The Lego Batman Movie brings back Will Arnetts Cracked Crusader from the unexpectedly witty first Lego cartoon in his own misadventure, with many of your favorite Batcharacters turned into animated bricks as well.

Not just for kids

In fact, with cartoon features representing the other movie cash cow of 2016 (nine in the worldwide top 25, 10 if you count the 99 percent CGI remake of the cartoon Jungle Book), its no wonder that two movies this year are combining drawings with superheroes  depending, of course, on how super you think Ed Helms providing the voice of Captain Underpants sounds.

Other 2017 animated movies include third helpings of talking Cars and Despicable Me. Nothing as exciting as last years Zootopia or even Finding Dory pops out, although Pixars Latino Land of the Dead musical Coco sounds like quite a show if its not a total Book of Life rehash. Disneys also betting a digital effects remake of its Beauty and the Beast cartoon, with a smattering of real humans like Emma Watson, will extend the Jungle Book streak.

Sci-fi and Star Wars

Outside of capes and cartoons, there is one other kind of movie that has proven pretty popular the last two years. So, inevitably, in December well be getting Star Wars Episode VIII, a continuation of 2015s Force Awakens. Beside being the last one with the late Carrie Fisher, theres a slight hope that it wont just be another round of everyone is related and stop the Death Star, since director Rian Johnson is known for distinctive genre exercises like Looper and Brick.

Other sci-fi franchises getting revived in the wake of Star Wars renewed success include the Ridley Scott double feature Alien: Covenant (he directed) and Blade Runner 2049 (Scott produced, Arrivals Denis Villeneuve directed). Elsewhere, Brie Larson finds a bigger big gorilla than anyone has before on Kong: Skull Island, while primates are now at War for the Planet of the Apes.

Im told Transformers: The Last Knight tortures something about Merrie Olde England into the alien car robots mythology. Scarlett Johansson has already tormented many by being cast as the heroine in the live version of beloved Japanese anime Ghost in the Shell instead of an Asian actor. And if they can make a successful movie franchise out of Transformers, why not try with another crappy kids show? Power Rangers is coming to the big screen.

As also in recent years, there should be some decent attempts at original, intelligent sci-fi movies over the next 12 months: Annihilation from Ex Machinas Alex Garland; Life, on Mars apparently, with the tasty cast of Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson; The Dark Tower, Stephen Kings apocalyptic Western starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba; The Circle, in which Emma Watson meets another mysterious, powerful male, in this case tech company honcho Tom Hanks; Guillermo del Toros Cold War NASA-set The Shape of Water; Colossal starring Anne Hathaway; and Gyllenhaal again in Bong Joon-hos Okja, which the Korean auteur insists is not a monster movie.

Even the usually realist Alexander Payne is getting into this game with Downsizing, in which Matt Damon incredible-shrinking-mans himself to achieve a preferable lifestyle.

For the brainy

By now youre asking: Any intelligent movies on the horizon that could quaintly happen in the real world?

Believe it or not, yes. 2017 has a fair share of dramas, both true life and more truthfully fictional. A few that look good at this point include Christopher Nolans World War II epic Dunkirk, another stiff Brit lip wartime drama, Darkest Hour with Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill, and a feminist satire of all of that, Their Finest, starring Gemma Arterton.

Also on the WWII front, theres The Zookeepers Wife and 13 Minutes, true accounts of a Warsaw womans efforts to save Jews from the Nazis and an early attempt to assassinate Hitler, respectively.

The more recently set (1980s) spying drug runner biopic American Made reunites Edge of Tomorrows director and star, Doug Liman and Tom Cruise. Jennifer Lawrence does alluring Russian spy duty in Red Sparrow. And Veep creator Armando Iannucci should have acerbic fun with the unlikely subject of The Death of Stalin.

There will be new films from Todd Haynes (Wonderstruck), Sofia Coppola (remake of Clint Eastwoods Civil War sex thriller The Beguiled), Kathryn Bigelow (untitled, about the 1967 Detroit race riot), Paul Thomas Anderson (also untitled, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as a 1950s fashion designer), Richard Linklater (Last Flag Flying, a sequel to The Last Detail, of all things), James Gray (The Lost City of Z) and It Follows David Robert Mitchell (L.A. neo-noir Under the Silver Lake).

So, some originality to consider. Just try to remember some of these titles when youre in the multiplex lobby wondering why Fifty Shades Darker, The Fate of the Furious, The Mummy, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Baywatch all sound like stuff youve already seen.

Contact the writer: bstrauss@scng.com
A day after announcing the nationwide debut of two additional Big Mac sizes, McDonalds said it would be rewarding fans with free bottles of the burgers secret sauce.

On Thursday, participating restaurants across the nation will be giving away 10,000 bottles of Big Mac Special Sauce. Select locations are taking part in the giveaway, including one restaurant in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles McDonalds, at 201 W. Washington Blvd., has 300 Big Mac Special Sauce bottles to hand out for free on a first-come, first serve basis, McDonalds said. The giveaway is from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., while supplies last. No purchase is necessary. This is the only location in Southern California giving away bottles.

The first 100 fans also will receive a free Big Mac of their choice. Limit one per customer. Local hip hop radio host Big Boy of REAL 92.3 is making an appearance at the Los Angeles restaurant from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

If youre not near a location where bottles are being given away, McDonalds is also giving away bottles at random via its Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. The live giveaways across each of these channels will start at 11 a.m. Pacific.

On Tuesday, McDonalds introduced two new limited-time-only sizes for the Big Mac sandwich  the Grand Mac and Mac Jr. The latest strategy is an attempt by McDonalds to bring in new customers, especially experience-driven millennials. Note: Citing an internal McDonalds memo, last year the Wall Street Journal said only one one in five millennials has tried a Big Mac.)

CLICK HERE to read more about the Big Mac makeover.
UC Irvines Paul Merage School of Business has launched a Master of Finance program. The new program will begin in the fall.

The program lasts 12 months and consists of six required classes and seven electives.

Feb. 1 is the first application deadline for the full-time program. Interested applicants can learn more at http://sites.uci.edu/masteroffinance/admissions/.

Job projection statistics reveal a positive trend in finance-related jobs with growth at both the state and national levels, Jon Kaplan, interim director of the Master of Finance and assistant dean of the Full-Time MBA program at the Merage School, said in a statement.

He said services and products built on finance-related technologies are also on the rise, providing tremendous new opportunities.

Our Master of Finance program will prepare graduates for these financial-specific careers in the complex regulatory environment of banking, investing, risk management and real estate, and give them the leverage to succeed in the evolving finance industry, Kaplan said.

Tuition is $57,750.

UC Irvines Paul Merage School of Business now offers executive education, undergraduate and graduate programs including a Doctoral program, Master of Professional Accountancy, Master of Science in Biotechnology Management, Master of Science in Engineering Management, as well as four versions of MBA (Full-Time, Fully Employed, Executive and Healthcare Executive).

Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter: @HannahMadans
Bloodied and beaten, Yucca Mountain could rise from the grave as a permanent repository for Americas nuclear waste.

Temporary storage sites in Texas and New Mexico also could open within the next decade, giving stranded waste from shuttered reactors like San Onofre first crack at filling them.

Theres a brave new world in Washington, D.C., and the nations decades-old paralysis over nuclear waste disposal is expected to ease under the new Trump administration and a Republican-controlled Congress.

As more aging reactors shut down because the economics of keeping them running no longer make sense  think Diablo Canyon in Morro Bay and Indian Point in New York  pressure for action builds from communities stuck with so-called stranded waste. And as they form an answer, the capitals new majority is less likely to let environmental objections stand in the way of a solution, experts said.

More and more people are dissatisfied with nuclear waste piling up at reactors all over the country, for safety and security reasons, said Dave Lochbaum, director of the independent Union of Concerned Scientists Nuclear Safety Project.

The nuclear industry is becoming disenchanted with having to store it and be responsible for protecting it, Lochbaum added. And whatever the next life is for the land at closed reactors like San Onofre is being hampered because the spent fuel is stuck there. This could change the status quo.

Heres how the gears of government may come unstuck:

 The U.S. Department of Energy launched a push for consent-based siting of nuclear waste a year ago and published guidelines on how to create temporary storage sites in the last week of President Barack Obamas administration. Several interim sites could be up and running while the prickly question of finding a permanent repository  the root of the present paralysis  is hashed out.

 The same day the DOE published its guidelines, Jan. 12, Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, and Mike Conaway, R-Texas, introduced the Interim Consolidated Storage Act of 2017 in the House. The bill would allow the DOE to use interest from the $36billion Nuclear Waste Fund to contract with private vendors for temporary storage. Waste could start moving away from the likes of San Onofre in as little as five years, the congressmen said.

 Last week, President Donald Trumps pick to head the DOE, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, said hed seek a permanent solution to the nuclear waste storage problem and would consider resurrecting Yucca Mountain. A deep geologic repository at Yucca was bitterly opposed by the state of Nevada and the powerful former Sen. Harry Reid, and the Obama administration eliminated it from consideration at the DOE.

A lot of the obstructionism over nuclear waste storage came from Harry Reid and others who endlessly delayed the Yucca Mountain facility for political reasons. But with Harry Reid now gone, it should be a lot more feasible to get something like this passed, said Calvin Moore, a spokesman for Issa.

Thats only part of the story, and the rest of that story offers hints about why nuclear storage could be a tough battle even with one party dominating D.C.

Reids argument, over the decades, noted numerous environmental risks to housing nuclear fuel. He also pointed out that any place that houses nuclear fuel is essentially locking in its economic development (or, rather, its lack of development) for as long as nuclear fuel remains dangerous.

Reids replacement in Congress, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., promises to keep up the fight.

Yucca Mountain is dead and shes committed to making sure it remains dead, said spokesman Rey Benitez.

Consent-based siting is the only path forward, Benitez said. Nevadas congressional delegation introduced a bill requiring the Energy Department to get consent from a governor, local governments and Native American tribes to authorize construction of nuclear waste repositories in any state.

CONTRACT OUT

Another player in the battle over nuclear storage is private enterprise.

Waste Control Specialists in Andrews, Texas, is one of just three private companies licensed to store low-level radioactive waste in the U.S. The company has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for permission to build an interim storage facility for high-level nuclear waste from commercial reactors  something not allowed under current law.

The Issa-Conaway bill would change that.

This legislation allows the Department of Energy to cut through the red tape and enter into contracts with these licensed facilities, such as the one in Andrews, ensuring that nuclear waste will be properly stored until a permanent site is established, said Conaway in a statement.

In Issas district, San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station houses more than 3.6 million pounds of waste right on the coast, along a fault line, on one of the largest U.S. military bases, in the heart of one of our most densely populated communities, Issa said in a statement. Allowing it to stay there indefinitely is only asking for trouble. This is just one of hundreds of examples of similar sites nationwide. This bill advances a creative solution to this problem and is a reasonable plan to get the waste moved quickly and securely.

Some 72,000 metric tons of nuclear waste  more than 154 million pounds  have piled up at 75 commercial reactor sites all over America over the past half century, and it cant stay there forever, said the Government Accountability Office in a recent report.

Used nuclear fuel that has been removed from the reactor core of a nuclear power plant is an extremely harmful substance if not managed properly, the GAO wrote.

Without protective shielding, its intense radioactivity can kill a person who is directly exposed to it or cause long-term health hazards, such as cancer.  If it were released by a natural disaster or an act of terrorism, it could contaminate the environment with radiation.

Some history: In the past century, nuclear power was the future, and to encourage its development the federal government passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, promising to accept and dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste by Jan. 31, 1998. In return, the utilities operating nuclear power plants would make quarterly payments into a Nuclear Waste Fund to pay for disposal.

The utilities and their customers did their part, pumping about $750 million a year into the fund. But nearly two decades after the deadline once set to solve the problem, the DOE has not accepted an ounce of commercial nuclear waste for permanent disposal.

The nuclear industry sued the DOE over all this; a federal judge said DOE couldnt charge for a service it not only wasnt providing but wouldnt provide for many decades. Utilities across America stopped charging customers the disposal fee in 2014.

Even after spending more than $10 billion on Yucca, the Nuclear Waste Fund has the aforementioned $36 billion that could go toward development of permanent or temporary storage.

EAGER FOR CHANGE

My assessment is that the politics of getting legislative approval for consolidated storage have become a little bit easier to manage, said David Victor, director of the Laboratory on International Law and Regulation at UC San Diego and chairman of the San Onofre Community Engagement Panel, a volunteer group of locals advising Southern California Edison as it decommissions the plant.

In part, that is because people have been working on this problem now for several years, and sponsorship of relevant legislation is going up, as is political pressure, Victor said. But the biggest factor is unified government. Quite simply, without unified government almost nothing gets through Congress.

Unified government doesnt solve all problems, Victor said: Some lawmakers are refusing to consider interim storage until the Yucca issue is resolved, and the Republican coalition easily could fracture before it gets to interim storage.

Some longtime observers refuse to get their hopes up.

The feds will continue to do what they have always done: drag their feet, said Roger Johnson of San Clemente. Most likely, it will take another radiation accident to make this a priority issue. When that happens, they will all want to be able to point fingers at someone else.

San Onofre was shut down in January 2012 after a small radiation leak led to the discovery of extensive damage to hundreds of tubes inside its new steam generators.

Edison, the operator of San Onofre, is building a controversial concrete monolith to store the plants waste on the bluff above the Pacific until the federal government finds it a permanent home. Officials say theyre eager to have it moved off-site as quickly as possible.

The Community Engagement Panel asked the California Energy Commission last year to push for interim storage options to speed up removal.

There are myriad devils in the details. When the government references consent-based siting, who exactly has such consent? And should consent today bind generations to come?

But it appears, for now, that the issue is finally reaching critical mass.

Contact the writer: tsforza@scng.com
Orange County soon could fill a law enforcement watchdog position that has been vacant for nearly 10 months after the Board of Supervisors directed staff Tuesday to hire an executive director for its Office of Independent Review.

Once a contract is negotiated, Gary Schons, a former senior state attorney general and former San Diego County deputy district attorney, will be charged with probing the Sheriffs Department and the District Attorneys Office, among other county agencies.

Schons hiring comes during a time when the U.S. Department of Justice, California Attorney Generals Office and Orange County grand jury separately are investigating allegations that county prosecutors and sheriffs deputies misused jailhouse informants and withheld evidence from defense lawyers to win convictions or enhanced sentences.

The Office of Independent Review was formed in 2008 in the wake of the deadly jail beating of John Chamberlain to investigate jailhouse deaths and review allegations of excessive use of force against deputies. In March, its longtime former executive director, Stephen Connolly, resigned amid criticism that he failed to unearth the jailhouse informant issue and didnt provide the board with adequate updates as the controversy became increasingly publicized.

The office has reviewed only the sheriffs department in the past. But that soon will change, as the board voted in December 2015 to expand the watchdogs oversight to include the district attorney, public defenders, probation and social services departments. Schons, who currently works for Best Best & Krieger in San Diego, will provide the board its first opportunity to peer more closely into those agencies, though the scope of those probes has been defined only vaguely thus far.

Earlier this month, three supervisors publicly stated that once the watchdog role is filled, they would direct its leader to launch its first investigation of the District Attorneys Office, focusing on the offices independent DNA collection program.

Schons did not immediately return calls for comment.

Contact the writer: jgraham@scng.com or 714-796-7960
WASHINGTON  The Senate on Monday confirmed President Donald Trumps nominee to run the CIA despite some Democratic objections that Rep. Mike Pompeo has been less than transparent about his positions on torture, surveillance and Russias meddling in the U.S. election.

The vote was 66-32. Pompeo was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence later Monday evening.

Pompeo  a 1982 Los Amigos High graduate  takes the helm at the nations top spy agency at a crucial time for U.S. national security as intelligence  traditionally a nonpartisan issue  has been thrust into the political arena. Trump has been critical of intelligence agencies after their assessment of Russian involvement to help him win the election while the new president also has said he is fully behind them.

Senate Republicans had hoped to vote on Pompeos nomination Friday, after Trumps inauguration. But Democrats succeeded in stalling action until they could debate.

Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden on Monday said Pompeo was the wrong man for the job.

He has endorsed extreme policies that would fundamentally erode liberties and freedoms of our people without making us safer, Wyden said. He said Pompeos answers to questions from some senators have been vague and contradictory, making it impossible to know what Pompeo believes.

I see no real commitment to transparency and his views on the most fundamental analysis of the day  the involvement of Russia in our election  seemed to shift with those of the president, Wyden said.

In written responses to questions from the Senate, on Jan. 3, Pompeo said only that intelligence agency assessments in general should be taken seriously. After Trump conceded Russia was behind the campaign hacks, Pompeo on Jan. 12 told the Senate intelligence committee that particular assessment was solid.

We need a CIA director who is direct about his beliefs and his assessments, Wyden said.

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, said Democrats were playing politics in its efforts to delay and derail Trumps choice to run the CIA.

Pompeo, a conservative Republican from Kansas and a member of the House intelligence committee, faced a mostly friendly confirmation hearing on Jan. 12.

He enrolled as a teenager at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and graduated first in his class in 1986. He served in the Army at a time when the Soviet Union was Americas No. 1 adversary.
A 55-year-old Lake Forest woman has pleaded guilty to federal charges of participating in a real estate scheme that cost Southern California investors $3.5 million, the United States Attorneys Office announced Tuesday.

Angel Bronsgeest pleaded guilty Monday to one count of wire fraud. She admitted that from 2007 to 2014 she, along with 46-year-old Shawn Patrick Watkins of Layton, Utah, would solicit victims at Orange County hotel seminars and ask them to invest in their company The Equity Growth Group.

They claimed the company managed hundreds of properties and generated income from their rents, which was used to acquire new properties. Investors were told theyd be getting large interest payments and their money was secured by collateral through the filing of deeds of property trusts.

In reality, over the course of several years leading up to the collapse of TEGG, the company was not acquiring new properties and had a negative cash flow, the Attorneys Office said in the statement.

Investor money was not used to acquire new properties, nor was it secured by collateral, and many victims did not receive interest payments. In fact, money that was paid to some victims as purported interest or a return on their investment came from investments made by other victims.

Watkins turned himself in September 2016 in Orange County and was arraigned. He was set to go on trial August 1. If convicted he faces a maximum of 180 years in federal prison.

Bronsgeest is scheduled to be sentenced on December 4. Her charge of wire fraud carries a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7865 or afausto@scng.com
BANJUL, Gambia  Gambias lawmakers on Tuesday lifted the countrys state of emergency and revoked a three-month extension of ousted leader Yahya Jammehs term, as the new government began dismantling his final attempts to cling to power.

Both measures were implemented last week as international pressure grew on Jammeh to cede power to Adama Barrow, who won the December election and was sworn in Thursday in neighboring Senegal. As regional troops were poised to move in, Jammeh finally agreed to step down and flew into exile Saturday night. Mediators said he was headed for Equatorial Guinea.

Barrow is expected to return home in the coming days. The troops deployed by the West African regional body known as ECOWAS continued security sweeps in Gambia on Tuesday to secure the country for his arrival.

Barrow has requested that the forces stay for six months, but it is unclear whether regional heads of state will approve a deployment of that length because there is no fund for that now, an ECOWAS spokesman, Liberor Doscof Aho, said Tuesday.

Normally they are supposed to stay for a few days, but because of the situation they will stay for one or two weeks to secure Banjul, he said. The six months is at the request of the new president.
St. Isaacs Cathedral is one of the most impressive buildings in St. Petersburg, Russias grand second city that was the countrys Europe-facing capital for more than 200 years. Completed in 1858, its not only the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in the world but an important tourist spot in the city, last year drawing almost 2.3 million visitors.

Yet despite its heritage, recently announced plans to transfer the ownership of the cathedral from the state to the Russian Orthodox Church have sparked protests in the city, and on Tuesday that dispute turned uglier, with comments from a prominent politician leading to allegations of anti-Semitism in Orthodox-majority Russia.

Those comments were made by Pyotr Tolstoy, the deputy chairman of Russias State Duma, during a news conference on Monday. Tolstoy, the great-grandson of Russian writer Leo Tolstoy and a former journalist who now represents the pro-Putin United Russia party, had been asked to comment on the protests over the transfer of the church.

Heres his response:

Observing the protests surrounding the transfer of St. Isaacs Cathedral, I cannot help but notice the amazing paradox. People who are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who destroyed our churches, 1 / 8of those 3 / 8 who jumped out of the Pale of Settlement with revolvers in 1917, now their grandchildren, working in various very respectable places  on radio stations, in legislative assemblies  continue the work of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

Tolstoy seemed to be linking the recent protest in St. Petersburg with the revolutions in 1917, events which led to the Orthodox Church losing much of its power in Russia.

But for many in Russia the reference to the Pale of Settlement suggests he was referring to the Jewish population. In Imperial Russia, Jews were barred from living in much of Russia and instead limited to the westernmost provinces of the empire in what is now Eastern Europe and the Baltic states. That area was known as the Pale of Settlement, and it was notorious for discrimination and pogroms against Jews. To many Russian Jews and their descendants, the Pale of Settlement is near synonymous with the anti-Semitism that was widespread in the Russian Empire.

Russian Jewish groups responded to Tolstoys comments quickly. During an interview with Echo of Moscow, Russian Jewish Congress president Yuri Kanner accused Tolstoy of open anti-Semitism in his statement. Alexander Borod, the president of the Russian Federation of Jewish Communities, said that Tolstoys statement was the same old, false anti-Semitic myth, whose obvious deceitful nature is clear to any educated person.

I look forward to the appropriate management response of the State Duma and the party, Borod said, according to a report from Interfax.

An official condemnation of Tolstoy seems unlikely, however. Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said Tuesday that while he was happy to meet with Jewish leaders to discuss the situation, he does not believe Tolstoys comments were anti-Semitic. The term 1 / 8Pale of Settlement 3 / 8 applied to convicts, Volodin said. Then convicts began to occupy leadership positions in the Revolution. What if 1 / 8Tolstoy 3 / 8 was referring to this? Has anyone asked him?

Tolstoy also hit back at his critics personally, writing on Facebook that only those who had a sick imagination could see his comments as anti-Semitic. I think just the headlines that came out on the Echo of Moscow and in Nezavisimaya Gazeta are actually anti-Semitic themselves, he told Interfax, referring to two media outlets that had reported his comments.

The situation adds more controversy to the handover of St. Isaacs Cathedral, which many see as further evidence that the Orthodox Church is gaining increasing influence as Russia becomes more nationalist and socially conservative. For decades St. Isaacs had largely served as a museum, with religious services confined to one part of the church and critics argue that the Jan. 10 decision to give the cathedral over to the church may leave the important artifacts at the site neglected.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan  Two days of talks over the Syrian civil war concluded Tuesday with an agreement by Iran, Russia and Turkey to enforce a fragile partial cease-fire. But neither the Syrian government nor the rebel fighters  who briefly met face to face for the first time in nearly six years of war  signed the agreement.

Though the three powers agreed to establish a mechanism to monitor and enforce the nearly month-old cease-fire, they did not say what the mechanism should look like, deferring that issue for future talks.

The statement, at least on paper, brought Iran on board with recent new cooperation between Russia and Turkey, and it strengthened Turkeys commitment to separating rebel groups it supports from jihadi groups.

But representatives of the Syrian delegations  both from the government and opposition  immediately expressed reservations. They emphasized that they had not signed on to a document that had been brokered by the main sponsors of the warring sides in the country, not by Syrians themselves. Russia is the most powerful backer of the Syrian government, which is also closely allied with Iran, and Turkey has been among the main supporters of rebel groups.

Despite the supposed cease-fire agreement, new clashes were reported in Wadi Barada, a besieged rebel-held area and source for most of the drinking water for Damascus, the Syrian capital. Water supplies have been cut off for weeks, a situation for which the government and the rebels have blamed each other.

There had been tentative hopes among some rebel negotiators that Russia might be ready to take on a more active role in seeking a political compromise. But there was no concrete progress on political issues, which were excluded from the narrowly focused talks.

The next round of talks between the Syrian government and the opposition will occur Feb. 8 in Geneva, according to the announcement by the three countries. But diplomats in Astana said it was unclear if that date was firm.
Four days into the new presidential administration and environmental groups began preparing for a fight as President Donald J. Trump began dismantling his predecessors environmental legacy and prohibited federal environmental organizations from releasing information.

Advocates see his quick action to pave the way for two oil pipelines as indications a possible harbinger of further cuts to national preservation programs. Whatever signals Trump gave during the transition that he is open to some environmental causes seem to have been tossed aside.

On Tuesday, Trump revived both the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines and signed an executive order to fast track infrastructure projects that are slowed down by what he termed incredibly cumbersome, long, horrible environmental reviews.

Those actions, though expected, frustrated environmentalists.

We knew that environmental justice communities would be hit first and worst by rollbacks under the Trump administration, said Kay Cuajunco, a representative of the California Environmental Justice Alliance, which has offices in Los Angeles.

Last month, under the outgoing Obama administration, the Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit needed for a crucial segment of the 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline that would cross under the Missouri River just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Trump claims hes a good businessman, yet hes encouraging dirty, dangerous tar sands development when clean energy is growing faster, producing more jobs and has a real future, said Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club.

The Dakota Access Pipeline would connect Bakken oil fields with Illinois, while Keystone XL could link the Gulf Coast with controversial Canadian oil sands. Environmentalists point to climate research that says oil sands emit a significant amount of greenhouse gases when compared with other forms of oil production.

Its appalling that Trump wants to throw open our borders to big polluters, said Rhea Suh, the president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Eliminating the national interest determination process, used by both Republican and Democratic administrations for decades, cedes control of our borders to multinational corporations to jam through cross-border infrastructure projects.:D

Republicans have said the pipeline will create new jobs. Green groups point out that new technologies also create jobs, but not at the expense of the environment.

We will not accept that good jobs and a healthy environment are mutually exclusive, Cuajunco said.

In addition to reviving the pipelines, the new administration instructed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to freeze all contracts and grants, which fund research, and stop releasing updates through social media platforms. Similarly, the administration banned the U.S. Agriculture Department from releasing its research.

Perhaps the first indication Trump might clash with environmental agencies came on inauguration day, when the National Park Service was ordered to stop tweeting after sharing an image that compared the size of the crowd during Obamas swearing in ceremony and Trumps.

On Tuesday the Twitter war resumed between the new president and the National Park Service, when the account for South Dakotas Badlands National Park went rogue and began tweeting climate change facts.

Contact the writer: lawilliams@scng.com
The first words of President Donald Trumps campaign for the job, his famous Mexico sends us rapists and drug dealers speech  and his often-repeated promise to build a big, beautiful wall  hinted at what became reality Wednesday.

Trump signed a pair of executive orders that could change federal immigration policies  and Southern California  in huge ways.

Were in the middle of a crisis on our Southern border, Trump said. A nation without borders is not a nation.

The orders were heavy on broad direction but sometimes short on details about how they might be executed. Many in Southern California, both Trump supporters and critics, expressed confusion about what will happen next.

One order calls for the United States to begin building immediately a wall on the southern border. But Trump again promised that Mexico would pay for it without offering how or when that payment will happen or how he would extract it if Mexico doesnt pay willingly.

Trump signed a second order that will cut some federal money to so-called sanctuary cities without defining which funding will be cut or what communities the administration will define as sanctuaries.

Some parts of the orders, however, were specific. In his order on building the wall  an action entitled Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements,  calls for adding 5,000 border patrol agents.

The president signed the orders during a ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security after honoring the departments newly confirmed secretary, retired Gen. John Kelly.

Trump said the wall will save thousands of lives, millions of jobs and billions of dollars. He said he has a deep admiration for the Mexican people, and the wall will help Mexico as well.

I think our relationship with Mexico is going to get better, Trump said.

Perhaps, but he cant say that about California, at least not in the short term.

Late Wednesday, new state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the state views the executive orders as anything but settled law.

Executive orders cannot contradict existing law. And executive orders can be challenged for violating constitutional and legal standards in their enforcement.

The California (Department of Justice) will protect the rights of all of its people from unwarranted intrusion from any source, including the federal government.

STILL QUESTIONS, NOT ANSWERS

There was great confusion Wednesday about precisely what the presidents actions will mean to California. Is the entire state considered a sanctuary in Trumps view? Or just self-proclaimed sanctuary cities like Los Angeles, Santa Ana and San Francisco?

And just how many billions of dollars are at stake? Los Angeles gets about a half-billion dollars a year from the federal government; Santa Ana gets about $123 million.

Several California cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and Santa Ana, have sanctuary policies in place, and the state has placed restrictions that make it difficult for county jails to turn over illegal immigrants to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials.

I dont think there is any clarity yet. To be honest, I am not sure if the Trump administration has fully flushed out what the effects of this could be, said Alex Nguyen, spokesman for Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Whittier.

Several Republican lawmakers applauded the move.

President Trump is making good on the promises he made to the American people to secure our borders, deport criminal illegal immigrants, and put the security and sovereignty of our country first, said Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, in a statement. I commend his actions and fully support him. If California cities and counties want to harbor criminal illegal immigrants, they are soon going to realize that their negligence towards public safety is now going to come with a very high price tag.

Democrats like Sanchez, however, were aghast.

America is and always will be a nation of immigrants and refugees, she said in a statement. The story of our country is of people from all over the world who came here in search of a better life. The anti-immigrant executive orders signed today by President Trump run counter to the best values and traditions of our country. The United States is the shining light of freedom, liberty, and prosperity to the world. We welcome all who are willing to work hard to achieve their American dream. A wall is the exact opposite of what America stands for.

Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens isnt clear what the Presidents actions will accomplish.

Im part of the Major County Sheriffs Association, Im the president right now, so were looking at that, Hutchens said. What is the definition of a sanctuary city and can government in fact pull funding? It begs a lot of questions, so were looking for answers right now.

Hutchens doubted federal funding would be pulled right away.

Its not like a faucet you can just turn off, she said.

SEVERAL HAPPY ABOUT THE ORDER

The announcement thrilled activists like John Berry of the Redlands Tea Party Patriots.

I was fist-pumping all morning, he said. I was so thrilled. Its about time we got a president who really takes on the issue here.

Berry said he was nearly killed in 2004  five months before his son was born  in a traffic collision caused by an undocumented immigrant.

What took so long to finally have a president to do what we needed to be done to keep us safe? Berry said. Even (George W.) Bush didnt do any of this.

With Trump, every day is Christmas, Berry added.

Robin Hvidston of We the People Rising, an anti-illegal immigration group based in Claremont, said Trump is merely enforcing whats on the books.

We finally have a president who is looking to enforce our federal immigration laws. This has not occurred in decades, Hvidston said.

The mood at Access California Services, an Anaheim-based refugee agency was grim. Groups of refugees and asylum seekers, many of whom came to the U.S. within the last few months, said they are worried about whether Trumps executive order will prevent family members left behind in war-stricken countries to find their way here, to safety.

Saja Sala, 22, came to Orange County two months ago with one of her sisters from Baghdad. Her parents, brother and three other sisters are still back in Iraq because they didnt get visa approval, even though the entire family applied together.

Theyve already attended two interviews, but their process is now stalled, she said, tearing up. What will my sister and I do here by ourselves? If my family cant come here, well have to go back. Its miserable in Baghdad, but I cannot live here without my family.

Staff writers Teri Sforza, Jessica Kwong, Grace Wyler, Jeff Horseman and Deepa Bharath contributed to this story.
A 41-year-old man was arrested Monday in Anaheim in connection with the homicide of a woman in Las Vegas, authorities said.

Frederick Daniels was arrested at about 5:30 p.m. by Anaheim authorities and fugitive task force officials, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced Tuesday.

On Monday, just after 7 a.m., police said a man was arguing with a woman at her Las Vegas apartment before she was found dead from a gunshot wound. Another woman who lived in the apartment saw a man leave the crime scene.

Authorities identified Daniels as the suspect and determined that he might have fled to Anaheim. There was a Las Vegas warrant out for his arrest.

Daniels was taken into custody on suspicion of murder with a deadly weapon and was being held at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana while waiting to be returned to Las Vegas.

The homicide Daniels is suspected in is the 10th investigated by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department this year.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7865 or afausto@scng.com
IRVINE  About 60 people gathered at Congresswoman Mimi Walters Orange County office on Tuesday afternoon to try and meet the representative and discuss concerns brought about by the recent presidential election.

Staffers told them the Republican representative of the 45th District was not in the office on Michelson Drive at about 4 p.m., they pledged to return so they could meet with her.

Walters Twitter account showed her last at a meeting of the Energy and Commerce Committee at the nations capitol earlier in the day.

Today we were focusing on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the lack of any viable replacement, Jessica Riegert said.

Riegert is a public school teacher and member of the Orange County branch of the Democratic Socialists of America. She organized the event just one day before  online  through MoveOn.org and said she was surprised when so many others showed up.

(Walters) is my representative, and we want to make sure that she knows who we are and what our concerns are, Riegert said. We want her to meet with us.

Another participant, Kian Maleki of Irvine, said he was concerned about what the presidents policies meant for people locally. He hoped Walters would be able to discuss those issues.

It concerns me as a person of Middle Eastern descent, as a person on Obamacare and as a gay American, Maleki said.

Organizers said they planned to hold weekly visits to the offices of different Orange County representatives on Tuesdays at 4 p.m.

Walters district covers Irvine, Tustin, North Tustin, Anaheim Hills, Orange, Villa Park, Laguna Hills, Lake Forest, Rancho Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo.

Contact the writer: afausto@scng.com
Working Millennials Burdened by Debt

Wed, Jan. 25, 2017

By Jon Gingerich

Millennials are on track to comprise roughly three-fourths of the U.S. workforce within the next decade, but the unprecedented amount of student loan debt members of this generation have incurred is now impacting their financial decisions in post-college life, including their role and performance in the workforce.
Kivvit Works on Williams' NYC Gas Pipeline

Fri, May 17, 2019

By Kevin McCauley

Tulsa's Williams Cos. uses Kivvit, which has close ties with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, to win support for construction of a nearly 23-mile underwater pipeline to transport natural gas from New Jersey to New York.
Alabama Makes History By Electing Its First Black Woman DA Elijah C. Watson Elijah Watson serves as Okayplayer's News & Culture Editor. When

Alabama has elected its first African American woman District Attorney.

Lynneice Washington officially took up the position this past Tuesday, after defeating republican incumbent Bill Veitch by 299 votes. The 49-year-old, who was originally born in Birmingham, served in a number of notable roles prior to becoming DA, including presiding judge over the Bessemer Municipal court and assistant DA for the Bessemer Cutoff.

I had no clue of the history I was making, Washington said in an interview with AL.com. I love serving people and protecting the underdog.

Washington briefly stated what she hoped to accomplish as Alabamas DA in the interview, saying that her objective is to be fair and balanced in all cases.

I want to be able to stand up when there is some type of inequality, even as a prosecutor, Washington said. I have been sworn to uphold the laws fairly and in a balanced fashion. As a prosecutor we are bound to do that.

In related news, Baton Rouge recently made history by electing its first ever black woman mayor.

The East Baton Rouge Parish selected Sharon Weston Broome over her opponent Mack Bodi White, in a tight race that saw Broome receive 52 percent of the vote. She will succeed fellow democrat Kip Holden, who served for 12 years as the first black mayor of the city.

Tonight Baton Rouge made a statement, a statement that we are a city of inclusion, Broome said in her acceptance speech. That we are a place of hope and optimism. A place where little boys and little girls of all walks of life know that they can grow up and lead a city no matter what their color or gender.

Being unified is not only part of a vision for our future, its the backbone of the process that takes us there, Broome added. We will work for the next four years to make our city an example of how to heal and progress past the hurt that we have seen.
Sen. Bill Kintner would like you to believe that his resignation from the Nebraska Legislature on Wednesday morning was the end result of some super-secret liberal agenda, a punishment for his rock-ribbed conservatism, the fault of the Political Correctness Police as well as Ernie Chambers and assorted other lefty ghouls, goblins and boogeymen.

Bullpucky, said three Omaha-area Republicans I spoke to after Kintner resigned and narrowly avoided becoming the first state senator in Nebraska history to be expelled from office.

The Legislatures now-unnecessary move to expel Kintner had little to nothing to do with Bill Kintner the politician, they said.

It had everything to do with Bill Kintner the man.

I was embarrassed to say that he was a state senator, said Sen. Robert Hilkemann, a Republican who represents part of northwest Omaha.

At some point in time, you have to put your Peter Pan ways aside, grow up and act like an adult, said Sen. Bob Krist, a Republican who also represents a swath of northwest Omaha and the Bennington area.

Sen. Kintner has to take personal responsibility, said Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion, who considers himself both a conservative Republican and

Kintners friend. Its necessary that he take responsibility for his own actions.

How we got here is a story that begins and ends with Kintner doing things that personally disgusted many of his colleagues, no matter where they fall on the political spectrum.

The headliner, of course, is Kintners use of a state computer to engage in cybersex with a woman (not his wife), a violation of state law that he paid a fine for last summer. That was the main offense listed in the legislative resolution authored by Sen. Jim Scheer, the speaker of the Legislature and a Norfolk Republican, that would have removed Kintner from office had he not resigned.

But there are other things, many other things, so many that it would take up an entire page of this newspaper to fully detail them.

An incomplete summary of Kintners Greatest Hits: He compared refugees to insects. He compared his fellow state senators to monkeys.

He posted a photo of a beheaded woman on his Facebook page. He joked that Muslim immigrants be forced to eat pork if they want to enter the United States. He used the racial slur wetback three times on the floor of the Legislature.

He suggested that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Nebraskans leave the state if they were bothered by Nebraskas lack of nondiscrimination laws. He said no one understands women. He said women dont even understand themselves.

And then, in what Hilkemann termed the final straw, Kintner retweeted a joke about sexual assault, fought with several Nebraskans online who were horrified by that joke, then deleted his Twitter account and blamed the whole thing on liberals.

He was still at it during his resignation press conference Wednesday, saying that he hesitated to resign because it will be hailed as a victory to the progressive and aggressive liberal movement.

Never mind, I guess, that Gov. Pete Ricketts has repeatedly called for Kintners resignation. Never mind, I guess, that two-thirds of the members of the officially nonpartisan Legislature, like Ricketts, are registered Republicans.

I assume you dont consider yourself a liberal, I said to Smith on Wednesday morning.

Smith, who was wearing a flag pin on his suit jacket, didnt answer. Instead he stared at me, looking as if he had just swallowed something sour.

It is true that Sen. Ernie Chambers, that self-proclaimed fire-breathing dragon, has trained much of that fire Kintners way this year. And its also true that many senators hated the thought of Chambers slowing the legislative process while using Kintner as his human punching bag.

But Chambers has only one vote. Democrats have only 15. It was Republicans  many, many Republicans  who worked to ensure that there would be at least the 33 votes needed to expel their fellow Republican from the 49-member Legislature.

It would have been interesting to see how close that vote got to 48-0, Hilkemann said Wednesday, assuming that Kintner wouldnt have entered the legislative chamber to vote against his own expulsion. It wouldnt have gotten there, but it might have been close.

It is also true, Hilkemann said, that if Ernie Chambers had done what Bill Kintner did  if he got caught violating a state law  then he, too, would likely face expulsion.

(Chambers) said himself that if this were me, I would have been gone a long time ago, Hilkemann said. And frankly, I agree.

So no, it wasnt the liberal monsters that ended the legislative career of one Bill Kintner, he who sees monsters hidden behind every door.

It was Republicans like Smith, who said he had urged Kintner before the session started to keep a low profile.

My advice to him was, Make the story less about you and more about the conservative issues,  Smith said. He didnt.

It was Republicans like Krist, who said that Kintner often threw temper tantrums when he didnt get his way, throwing cups, pens and papers like a child. Krist said the Executive Committee, which he chaired last year, twice asked Kintner to come speak before them and tell his side of the story after the cybersex scandal threatened to lead to his expulsion.

He refused, Krist said. He felt like he owed no explanation. He felt like he owed no apology.

And it was Republicans like Hilkemann, who said he watched Kintner over the years at pro-life rallies and anti-spending meetings that they both attended, watched him rage against fairly like-minded colleagues even as they stood feet away.

He watched Kintner privately say disgusting things about poor people. And he watched Kintners actions on social media. On Tuesday, just before Hilkemann stepped onto the floor of the Legislature to call for Kintners resignation, he got texts from both of his daughters.

Both daughters live in Texas, he said. One is conservative, he said. One is liberal.

They had heard about Kintners latest Twitter adventures. And they were not amused.

Neither was their father.

It is usually not outside forces that bring a man down, Hilkemann said. Men come down from the inside. They crumble from the inside. And Bill Kintner is a perfect example of that.

Just before Hilkemann said those words, I watched a police officer giving a legislative aide a high-five in a State Capitol hallway because they were both overjoyed at Kintners resignation. Just after, I overheard a red-coated sergeant-at-arms assistant say Kintners resignation was the best present ever.

And then as I sat down to write, I noticed that Bill Kintner couldnt resist taking a parting shot at his fellow state senators.

I look forward to not having to spend 75 more days with politicians, Kintner wrote on his Facebook page.

The feeling is most certainly mutual.
MILWAUKEE (AP)  The Milwaukee Brewers have added another veteran to their bullpen after right-hander Joba Chamberlain agreed to a minor-league contract that includes an invitation to the big-league camp.

The former Nebraska star appeared in 20 games last season for the Cleveland Indians. He had a 2.25 ERA without recording a decision before being released by the Indians on July 10.

The 31-year-old Chamberlain gives Milwaukee another potential piece to the back end of its bullpen. The Brewers last week signed free-agent Neftali Feliz to a one-year deal after the right-hander pitched last season with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Brewers need a closer after trading away Tyler Thornburg in the offseason to the Red Sox, and Jeremy Jeffress at the trade deadline last summer to Texas.
Nebraskas Chris Stephenson was named the NCAA gymnast of the week, just the second Husker to earn the award.

Stephenson was honored by the Big Ten and the NCAA for his performance against top-ranked Oklahoma. He claimed the floor and all-around individual titles with season-best scores of 14.75 and 82.95, respectively.

I feel really blessed to receive these awards, Stephenson said. Im just excited that Im healthy enough this year to go out and perform all six routines.
Theres a long city block in central Omaha thats become a full-service district for arts education and performance.

From 69th to 72nd near Cass Street, you can:

 Learn how to play the tuba or sing an aria

 Portray the lead in a play or musical

 And now, study to be a prima ballerina.

This all became possible when the Omaha Academy of Ballet moved into its new quarters on 72nd Street a few months ago, joining the Omaha Conservatory of Music and the Omaha Community Playhouse in what some are calling an arts corridor.

Leaders from all three groups are excited about the possibilities.

There should be a great trifecta of the arts here, said Catherine Demes Maydew, president of the Omaha Academy of Ballet board. Our goal is to collaborate with all these groups. Were just thrilled to be so close to both of them.

Katie Broman, the Playhouses new executive director, echoed that, saying she has a meeting planned this week with Ruth Meints, who has the same title at the conservatory.

Im not only open to collaboration, Im hopeful, Broman said.

She also will consult with the academys new executive director once a hire is made. The dance school has been without a leader since Cheryl Lerner stepped down last year, and Maydew said the board hopes to have a new director in place in February.

Meanwhile, students and faculty are settling into their new, 10,000-square-foot space, which is exactly twice as big as the 54-year-old schools previous location near 49th and Dodge Streets next to the Dundee Theater.

The new home is in a concrete building, former home of Mr. Kims Tae Kwon Do, that was designed and built in 1954 by the noted John Latenser architectural firm. It withstood the 1975 tornado  unlike many surrounding buildings, including the Playhouse, which lost its roof.

Maydew said the building required minimal remodeling, allowing academy leaders to be frugal when it came to converting it for dance classes. Workers moved a few walls and reinforced some so they would be more soundproof, and installed pliable sprung floors that are raised off concrete, which are safer for dancers. The wood-slat floor in the main upstairs studio is original to the martial arts business.

The building now houses four studios, one at the front facing 72nd Street. Each has a piano and a sound system  the school has five pianists to provide live music for the dancers whenever possible.

To pay for the new location, the academy embarked on its first-ever capital campaign last year. The goal is $2 million: $1.5 million to buy and remodel the building, $250,000 for program expansion, community engagement and scholarships and $250,000 for building maintenance. So far, the campaign has raised $1.2 million, and leaders hope to achieve their goal by September.

Weve been self-sufficient for a long time, Maydew said, so the campaign came as a surprise to some. Omaha Academy of Ballet had an operating budget of $358,000 in the last fiscal year, with $260,000 of that coming from tuition.

The academy has about 330 students and offers a variety of classes Monday through Saturday in beginning and advanced ballet as well as modern, tap and Broadway dance and even pilates.

On a recent Thursday, the school opened in the morning for a private lesson, then came alive in the afternoon as leotard-clad kids  including some tiny tots  filled the studios with kicks, leaps and pirouettes. Students range from preschoolers to adults in their mid-60s. Motivations also vary: Many of the adults just want to move or try something new and many of the kids are there as casual learners.

One of the academys main goals, however, is to train young dancers for potential careers.

We really are a professional dance school, said Maydew, who was raised in Chicago and came to Omaha in 1983 to dance with Ballet Omaha, which had been the academys professional company. It disbanded in the 1990s. Students are trained in a proper syllabus of dance.

That syllabus from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance offers a systematic approach that wont injure kids as they grow and calls for a dance examiner to come in each year to measure progress.

Parent Meg Dodge says she appreciates the academys thoughtful teaching style. The mother of four said each of her three daughters and a son has studied at the academy, with two  Laura, 13, and Isabelle, 12  currently enrolled. Dodge herself was an academy student for a short time as a child.

She said she started at the school because it was convenient to her home at the time and because it came highly recommended, but her reasons for remaining involved have evolved.

The friendships they were making, the kindness of the atmosphere, the obvious interest teachers took in the kids, the discipline of proper alignment, she said. They also kept it fun and there was never any pressure to be a particular body type. Were happy that these people are influencing our children.

In addition to teaching the basics, instructors also teach students how to audition and how to work together as a group through the academys community outreach and performing arm, the Omaha Dance Project. It presents an annual citywide celebration of dance featuring academy students and several other local dance groups such as Ballet Nebraska, the Moving Company from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the Tbd. Dance Collective. This years show is this Friday through Sunday at Creightons Lied Center.

And when the time comes, academy faculty help students with career plans. Laura Dodge, for instance, is very interested in a dance career, her mom said, though shes just 13. When kids express such interests, parents usually have to find the right school to nurture the dream. Dodge said she and her husband are happy to know Lauras already at that school.

Its really about figuring out what individual students want, said Penny Michonski, the schools acting director. Many want to go to dance programs at universities. We help with auditions and with videos to send to (professional) companies.

Academy alumni now are at Butler University and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, among other schools. A few of the UMKC students are returning to perform their own piece at this weekends concert, accompanied by vocalist Grace Heldridge and violinist Elizabeth Chouinard, both current academy students.

Academy students have performed on the Playhouse stage, among the examples of ties that already exist between arts groups in the area. Broman is a member of the Omaha Academy of Ballet board. And Maydew is the Playhouses director of finance.

Those ties will only grow stronger, representatives of the three groups say. Broman said she thinks the missions and purpose of the three groups complement each other and will make the area surrounding the arts corridor stronger, especially considering other neighbors: UNO, Lewis and Clark Middle School and the Do Space.

Think of all the educational and community opportunities that are just within a small range, Broman said. Its nice that midtown is getting a little jolt. I really feel like this area of town is on the verge of a big revitalization, especially when Crossroads gets redeveloped.

*****

Omaha Dance Project

What: Omaha Academy of Ballets performance program open to dancers throughout the community

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday

Where: Creighton University Lied Education Center for the Arts, 2500 California Plaza

Tickets: $15 adults, $10 students and seniors 65 and older

The Omaha Academy of Ballet celebrated its 50th birthday in 2012. Some highlights over the years:

 Emmeline Skinner founded the school in 1962 to develop talent for a civic ballet company.

 Valerie Roche was the first director. She later started a dance program at Creighton University.

 The academy launched its performing arm, the Omaha Regional Ballet, in 1965. It produced its first Nutcracker that December. The company became Omaha Ballet in 1974, when a full-time director was hired. The company disbanded in the mid-1990s.

 In 2003, OAB moved to a storefront at 50th and Dodge Streets.

 In 2005, it created the Omaha Dance Project, a performance and community outreach group. Juliette Henning is its current director.

 In fall 2016, the school moved to its new home near 72nd and Cass Streets.
First National Bank of Omaha President and Chairman Dan ONeill plans to retire on March 31 after an eight-year stint in the banks top post.

ONeill, 63, also will step down from the role of president of First National of Nebraska, the banks holding company. He was promoted to that role in 2001.

During 36 years of dedicated service, and particularly while serving as our president, Dan has simplified, strengthened and improved all aspects of the organization through his leadership and example, said Bruce Lauritzen, chairman of First National of Nebraska. He leaves First National with a strong foundation for our continued success and considerable momentum for the future.

Clark Lauritzen, 40, who oversees First Nationals markets outside of Omaha, will take on ONeills roles once he retires. He also is in charge of First Nationals corporate banking and wealth management divisions; he is the son of Bruce Lauritzen.

The Lauritzen family owns most of the shares of First National of Nebraska, the nations largest privately owned banking company. Its assets amount to more than $21 billion.

Since taking the helm in January 2009, ONeill has led First National out of the financial crisis, which included the banks two-part, $320 million sale of its credit card processing business in 2010 and 2011, and into record-breaking years in terms of net income.

First National had net income of $87 million in 2009. The bank reported record-breaking net income of $191.8 million in 2015. The most recent federal data showed that First National was on track to eclipse that in 2016; through the end of September 2016, it reported net income of about $177 million.

First Nationals assets during ONeills leadership have nearly doubled, from $9.7 billion at the end of first quarter 2009 to $18.6 billion as of Sept. 30, 2016.
Opponents of Costcos proposed Fremont-area chicken operation are taking their concerns downstream. They say the project will foul sources of drinking water in Omaha and Lincoln with nitrates and other pollutants from chicken manure runoff.

Costco says it will take measures to ensure a clean operation.

Panelists will discuss the projects possible effects on water quality and public health in presentations today and Thursday in Omaha and Lincoln.

The Nebraska League of Women Voters will moderate.

Clean water is everybodys most important issue; however, many communities dont realize it until a serious problem occurs, said the leagues president, Sherry Miller.

Panelists include:

 Bill Stowe, chief executive officer of Des Moines Water Works, the utility that is suing three Iowa counties over high nitrates, which require extra processing to remove from drinking water.

 Alan Kolok, director of the Center for Environmental Health and Toxicology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

 A representative of the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, the state agency.

The presentations are from 7 to 9 p.m. today at the University of Nebraska at Omahas Community Engagement Center, 6400 University Drive South, and Thursday at the Unitarian Church at 6300 A St. in Lincoln.

Officials from the City of Fremont and from the Metropolitan Utilities District told The World-Herald in November they are not concerned about nitrate levels rising because of the project. Costco proposes to contract with area farmers to raise approximately 17 million chickens at a time, to be slaughtered at a plant in Fremont.
A U.S. Agriculture Department research agency this week banned the release of news, photos and other material to the public, then, amid criticism Tuesday, appeared set to walk back the order.

In a Monday memo to employees at USDAs Agricultural Research Service, Chief of Staff Sharon Drumm said the agency would immediately cease releasing any public-facing documents.

This includes, but is not limited to, news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content, read the email memo obtained by the Associated Press and reported Tuesday.

Then, a Tuesday statement released by the research services spokesman, Christopher Bentley, said the service values and is committed to maintaining the free flow of information between our scientists and the American public as we strive to find solutions to agricultural problems affecting America.

News agency Reuters reported Tuesday that the USDA said the original email was flawed. This internal email was released without Departmental direction, and prior to Departmental guidance being issued, USDA said in a statement, according to Reuters. ARS will be providing updated direction to its staff.

Later Tuesday, the acting deputy secretary of the Agriculture Department said he would ask officials at the Agricultural Research Service to rescind the memo that ordered employees not to release documents to the public.

Frankly I dont understand what the basis for the ARS email was, said Michael Young, the acting deputy secretary.

The Agricultural Research Service is the USDAs in-house research agency, and carries out about 750 research projects. It has two offices in Nebraska and one in Iowa. Representatives at the offices in Lincoln and in Clay Center, Nebraska, referred questions from The World-Herald to the ARS national office, which did not respond to questions.

Scientists at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center study livestock genetics, breeding and animal health and nutrition. Scientists in the Lincoln office study farm ecosystem management, crops and forage. The Ames, Iowa, office has a focus on animal diseases and many other topics.

President Donald Trump has nominated former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as agriculture secretary, but Perdue has not been confirmed. Young, a career official at USDA for three decades, is temporarily in charge.

The restrictions on information havent been limited to the USDA. The Trump administration has instituted a media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency and barred staff from awarding any new contracts or grants. And the Associated Press reported over the weekend that staff at the Interior Department were temporarily ordered to stop posting to its Twitter account.

Someone at the Badlands National Park defied the order Tuesday to tweet about climate change; the tweets later were removed.

The Monday memo, first reported by BuzzFeed News, drew concern from scientists posting on Twitter.

Scientists from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Doane University who posted concern on Twitter about the news told The World-Herald they were not speaking on behalf of their schools and didnt want to be quoted. An official in the University of Nebraska-Lincolns Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Agricultural Research Division declined to comment. And officials in the institutes extension office didnt respond to a request for comment.

Dan Samorodnitsky, a researcher studying prions  or infectious agents  at the National Animal Disease Center in the Ames office, said he had not received any memo and that colleagues still were submitting research to scholarly journals. Anything hed heard about the memo had come from news reports.

Everyone is totally in the dark  at least the scientists at my level are, he told The World-Herald.

Andrew Kniss, an associate professor of weed biology and ecology at the University of Wyoming, said on Twitter that the ARS will have a hard time pursuing its mission if it cant communicate about its research.

He told The World-Herald that the research is intended to be shared, whether so entrepreneurs can use it to bring new technologies to market, or so farmers can apply it to their own agricultural operations.

Theyre public scientists  this is information that we as taxpayers have paid for, he said. To prevent them from having any contact with outside media  thats really problematic.

The order also got attention outside of scientific research circles.

The directive seems unusual, and is difficult to decipher, said Diane Wanek, director of communications at the Joslyn Institute for Sustainable Communities.

The organization, with offices in Lincoln and Omaha, uses USDA research, works with the USDA on issues like building the rural economy and is a recipient of USDA grants.

She said she hopes the ban is temporary and planned to contact Nebraskas congressional delegation with her questions.

Were just seeing a lot of things from this administration that give us pause because we dont know what is going on, she said.

This report includes material from the Associated Press.
Omaha city leaders have visited with the family of a public works employee who remains at the Nebraska Medical Center after he was hit by a car Monday while working on a pothole repair.

Salvatore Fidone III, 48, of Council Bluffs, was listed in critical condition on Tuesday, according to a hospital spokesperson.

His colleagues in the street maintenance division have taken the news hard, said Public Works Director Bob Stubbe.

Its just very difficult for those individuals, he said.

A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help Fidone's family: https://www.gofundme.com/2km86r89?ssid=889310802&pos=26

Stubbe said the employees have been offered access to an employee assistance program if they need to talk about the incident.

Fidone was taken to the hospital after being hit at 9:50 a.m. Monday at 144th and U Streets, said Omaha Police Sgt. Douglas Klein.

Investigators determined that a city truck and its crew were preparing to fill potholes, and Fidone was standing on the drivers side of the truck. A 2012 Toyota Camry driven by Alan R. Solarana, 53, of Omaha, was northbound on 144th in the inside lane.

Witnesses told police that the Camry drifted over and struck Fidone. Neither excessive speed nor alcohol use was a factor in the crash, Klein said.

Omaha Police Sgt. Chuck Casey said the results of the investigation, once its completed, will be forwarded to the Douglas County Attorneys Office for a decision on any charges.

Stubbe said he, along with Assistant Director Todd Pfitzer, Mayor Jean Stothert and her chief of staff, Marty Bilek, visited with Fidones family in the hospital Monday.

During the invocation at Tuesdays City Council meeting, Councilwoman Aimee Melton asked attendees to pray for Fidone.

She said public works employees are suffering, as is Fidones family.

And she asked motorists to use caution.

When one of our own is out there working hard, working in the cold, we have to remember thats a dangerous job, Melton said.

Fidone has worked in the street maintenance division since October 2015.

Earlier at a City Council work session, Councilman Garry Gernandt expressed his sympathy for the family and said council members are thinking about Fidone. He has parents, siblings and two children, Stubbe said.
A 23-year-old Omaha woman had been on a party bus just before the car she was driving crashed into another car, her attorney said Wednesday.

Samantha R. Robertson has been charged with driving under the influence causing serious bodily injury. She faces up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of the felony offense.

Police say Robertson was driving into oncoming traffic on 168th Street near Pacific Street early Sunday when her vehicle crashed virtually head-on with a northbound 1998 Honda Accord driven by Hailey Smolsky, 17, of Omaha.

Douglas County Judge Jeffrey Marcuzzo set bail Wednesday at $75,000 and ordered Robertson to enroll in the 24/7 sobriety program. That program requires defendants to appear twice a day for Breathalyzer testing. Robertson, who was not injured in the crash, was required to pay 10 percent of the bail amount, or $7,500, to be released from jail.

An assistant prosecutor with the Douglas County Attorneys Office said Robertson was found to have a blood-alcohol level of .197, more than twice the legal limit. Robertson, the prosecutor said, is on 1 years probation after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct in September. She had been ordered to refrain from using alcohol.

Police determined that Robertson was driving a four-door 2006 Mercedes C230 south in the northbound lanes of 168th Street about 2:20 a.m.

Smolsky was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center with serious injuries, including a compound fracture to her right leg, a broken left knee, a broken right ankle and a dislocated left hip, police said.

Smolsky was listed in fair condition Wednesday.

Robertsons attorney, Mike Poepsel, said his client was dropped off at her car from a party bus just before the crash. She and her family are very sorry and upset about the injuries Smolsky suffered, he said.

Poepsel said he has no doubt Robertson will do whatever the court orders, including participating in the 24/7 sobriety program.
A 26-year-old Lincoln man was sentenced to nine months in jail Tuesday after being found guilty in Washington County District Court of soliciting prostitution.

Michael A. Griffin was ordered to report to the Washington County Jail on or before Friday. A charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor was dismissed.

Griffin also was ordered to pay a $250 fine by Judge John Samson. He had faced up to four years in prison if convicted on both charges.

Griffins attorney declined to comment. An attempt to contact Griffin was unsuccessful.

Prosecutors accused Griffin of contacting a 17-year-old Blair girl over the Internet and arranging to pick her up after work to engage in sex. According to an affidavit filed in Washington County Court, the teens foster mother became concerned when the girl didnt immediately return home from work the night of Sept. 30, 2015.

The woman said she was concerned because the teen previously had been involved in prostitution in Omaha and Bellevue. The foster mother later found $800 in cash in the teens room and contacted police.

During an interview with police, the teen admitted to meeting a man and receiving $100 to have sex with him at a Blair motel. Police reviewed surveillance video from the motel and determined the mans identity.
A Waterloo, Nebraska, woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing $222,000 from a Carter Lake trucking business  which she will now have to pay back, plus more.

Beth Beutler, 45, was charged with 39 felony counts of forgery  a Class D felony  for stealing funds from McMullen Brothers Trucking in 2015.

Beutler was also charged with first-degree theft and ongoing unlawful activity. Pleading guilty to amended charges, she received 25 years in jail, which was suspended.

She was ordered to complete 60 days in jail and pay victim restitution of $260,000 to the company. She also received probation for five years and fines.

According to the police report, investigators were told by an employee at the business on Jan. 6, 2016, they believed someone had taken advantage of their checking system.

The system, called T-Check, allows truck drivers to access authorized funds across the country through authorization codes, similar to Western Union.

The funds are usually used for service payments, gas or other expenses.

Investigators received a history of transactions from January 2014 through December of 2015.

The company said only three employees of the business have the authorization to designate the funds, including Beutlers husband, Bruce Beutler.

The discrepancy was brought to Bruce Beutlers attention, the report states, and Bruce Beutler asked his wife if she knew what was wrong.

Beth Beutlers responsibility at the company was to keep the books and enter the transactions into the register.

She admitted to her husband she had taken the money, the report said.

Through video obtained by the police, investigators were able to verify 38 instances of Beth Beutler receiving funds after using a code at the Pilot Travel Center in Council Bluffs.
A man accused of stabbing another man in the back on New Years Eve will stand trial, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Quetin Washington, 28, is charged with first-degree assault and possession of a deadly weapon while committing a felony.

Jesse Popejoy, 25, suffered a punctured lung after Washington stabbed him, Omaha Police detective Shawn Davidson testified. The men were at a gathering at an apartment at 1029 Park Ave. on Dec. 31.

Popejoy had been making derogatory statements and first punched Washington in the face, a witness told Davidson.

The two men got into an argument and then started to fight. Washington pinned Popejoy facedown on the sofa, brandished a knife and said, Dont make me do this, before he stabbed Popejoy once and fled, Davidson testified, according to the witness statements.

A woman who called the witness during the altercation heard yelling in the background. The witness said, Biggie and Jesse are getting into it, then yelled, Dont stab him, Davidson testified.

The phone call disconnected, but the woman immediately called back. The witness told the woman, Biggie stabbed Jesse. Call 911, Davidson testified.

Biggie is the nickname for Quetin Washington, Davidson said.

The knife used in the stabbing was not recovered.

Popejoy, whose heart stopped twice on the operating table because of the life-threatening injury, has been released from Creighton University Medical Center.

Douglas County Judge Darryl Lowe ruled that there was sufficient evidence for probable cause and that Washington will stand trial.
The Metropolitan Community College board Tuesday night whittled 18 applicants for a board vacancy to four finalists.

Board member Tim Dempsey, who represented District 3, died on Dec. 16 at age 73.

The finalists, as described by information they submitted to the board:

 Lisa Hiykel of Blair, a dialysis nurse manager at the V.A. Medical Center in Omaha and an online professor at Bellevue University.

 David Pantos of Omaha, former executive director of Autism Action Partnership in Omaha and former executive director of Legal Aid of Nebraska in Omaha.

 Laura Ulrich Ronning of Blair, school psychologist in Blair and Elkhorn Community Schools.

 Micah Yost of Omaha, vice president for strategic communication with the Sightglass Capital Management equity company.

District 3 includes Washington County and much of northwest and north-central Douglas County.

The Metro board is expected to interview the four finalists and elect a replacement for Dempsey at its Feb. 21 meeting. The interviews will be public, but the finalists will not be allowed to watch the interviews of the others, said Metro President Randy Schmailzl.

The board also elected its officers Tuesday night. Roger Garcia will continue as chairman, Kara Eastman was elected vice chairwoman, Steve Grabowski treasurer, Brad Ashby secretary and Michelle Nekuda assistant secretary.

The board met on its Fort Omaha campus in northeast Omaha.

Metro is the largest of Nebraskas community colleges. It offers two-year programs and other courses and classes. Besides the Fort Omaha campus, Metro has campuses in South Omaha and the Elkhorn area, and centers in northwest Omaha, Fremont and Sarpy County.

rick.ruggles@owh.com, 402-444-1123,
COUNCIL BLUFFS  The Council Bluffs Community School District has recommended closing Crescent Elementary at the end of the current school year.

Its a lovely school. Its just a tiny school, and its only half full, Superintendent Martha Bruckner said.

If the move is approved, Crescent students would attend Lewis and Clark Elementary in Council Bluffs, according to district spokeswoman Diane Ostrowski. Crescent teachers will move to Lewis and Clark as well, if they choose. At least one teacher is set to retire at school years end. There will be roles for support staff as well.

The district sent emails last week to Crescent and Lewis and Clark parents about the possible closure and movement of students. A meeting for parents is planned at 6 p.m. on Monday at Lewis and Clark, 1603 Grand Ave.

The Council Bluffs school board will hear a presentation on the recommendation to close the school at its Feb. 14 meeting. The board is expected to vote on the matter on Feb. 28.

I think it pulls the guts out of the town, Crescent Mayor Brian Shea said of the potential closure. Anytime you close a school, it hurts the city, in any small town. I dont want to see it happen.

Shea noted that the Feb. 28 vote comes a day before the deadline for open enrollment, which could affect parents decisions on where to send their children for school.

The district cited declining enrollment as a key factor in the decision. The school currently has 85 students, and two classes combine two grades  first- and second-graders and fourth- and fifth-graders share a classroom.

If we dont have 20 or so kids at first grade, but have 8 and 12 in second grade  it makes sense from a practicality and efficiency standpoint to combine into one classroom, Ostrowski said. Teachers are skilled at meeting the needs of kids, but clearly this isnt ideal.

Another factor is that many students in the Crescent area dont attend the school. Ostrowski noted that a total of 57 students who live in the Crescent Elementary boundary attend other schools, with 30 at Council Bluffs district elementary schools and 27 enrolled in other districts.

If that school had 150 kids, wed have all the classrooms filled, Bruckner said. Wed love to keep the school open, as long as it makes fiscal and educational sense.

Of the current Crescent Elementary students, 22 come from the boundary for other Council Bluffs elementary schools, and four open enroll from outside the district.

The school was renovated and a full-size gym was added after a fire in the summer of 2006. Students spent the 2006-2007 school year at the now-closed Washington Elementary before returning to Crescent the next year. Ostrowski said the highest enrollment since then was 125 in 2010-2011.

Crescent has averaged 106 students per year since the fire, with this years 85 the lowest total enrollment. Last year, the school had 96 students.

Bruckner said discussion about the closure has persisted since the fire, as enrollment numbers stayed low, and district officials discussed the matter with city officials in 2012. The prospect of closing the school ramped up over the past year.

We love Crescent. Weve maybe kept it open out of emotion instead of rational thinking over the last couple years, the superintendent said. But how many years do you wait?

Lewis and Clark underwent extensive renovations in 2014 and 2015 to update the building. Ostrowski said the school currently has 190 students and could easily accommodate the additional pupils from Crescent. There are two classrooms per grade at Lewis and Clark.

The letter noted the building has a large media center, dedicated art room and music classroom with stage for performances and new playground equipment.

Its a beautiful school, Ostrowski said.

Ostrowski also touted the schools ability to offer talented and gifted courses, additional counseling and academic intervention services.

Those resources are more available on a more regular basis to students in building with greater enrollment, she said.

The letter to parents noted that the district would save an estimated $180,000 annually if it closed Crescent Elementary. The district doesnt plan to sell the building in the immediate future, holding onto the building in case enrollment in the eastern part of the school district should increase substantially, Bruckner said in the letter.

If, in the future, a new set of kids come in and we need it, its there for our use, she said.

Bruckner said the district is working to be up front about the issue and offer plenty of time for parents and others to voice their opinions on the matter. She noted, however, theres no point in dragging this out over two years.

If the board approves closing Crescent, it would be the fifth since the 2009-2010 school year. That year, Pusey Elementary closed its doors, sending 88 students to Longfellow. The next school year saw the closing of both Gunn  which sent its 246 students to Hoover and College View  and Washington, which sent its 120 students to Hoover, Bloomer and Lewis and Clark.

Walnut Grove closed after the 2013-2014 school year and sent its 266 students to Franklin, Roosevelt and Carter Lake.

Unlike Crescent, the majority were closed because the cost of renovations to the buildings. Before Pusey, the most recent closing in Council Bluffs was Glendale Elementary School after the 1992-1993 school year.

Shea pointed to increased development and population in Crescent as a reason for optimism about potential enrollment. The city grew from a population of 488 in the 1990 Census to 617 in 2010.

For example, the city is working to develop a second phase of its Golden Hills neighborhood, located on the western side of town off of Old Mormon Bridge Road.

Crescents growing, probably not as fast as the school district would like to see, but we do have a future, the mayor said. And that school is a big part of it.

Shea said hed work to help keep the school open.

What we need is more numbers in that school to make it viable. We want to see this school continue, he said. Well do whatever we can to help make that happen.

Tristan Morris, Sheas niece, has two daughters, one who would enter Crescent Elementary this fall and another the next year. Like her uncle, Morris and her two brothers are also a Crescent Elementary alum.

Crescent (Elementary) School is a catalyst for bringing new young families to Crescent. I think it should be treated differently from other Council Bluffs schools, since its in a separate town, she said, noting the closure, could hinder our small communitys growth. Its not like wed have to take our kids eight blocks further to another school  more like 10 miles further.
LINCOLN  A new push could be made in January to end the use of secret ballots when deciding leadership positions in the Legislature. At least one state senator isnt ruling out bringing it up on the first day of the session.

Supporters of the proposal say it would improve the Legislatures level of transparency. Continuing the use of secret ballots, they say, promotes distrust between senators and their constituents and allows for vote and influence trading.

Others argue secret ballots fit with the institutions nonpartisan tradition by minimizing the influence of political parties when electing legislative leaders. And they say voting for the legislative speaker and committee chairs in the open could harm working relationships among the 49 senators.

Many say the issue is unlikely to be brought up Jan. 4, the first day of the 90-day legislative session, though State Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell said hes considering it.

All options are on the table. Exactly what may happen, whether in the form of an official action, has yet to be foretold, he said. Certainly the issue is going to be on the minds of senators.

Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, a staunch opponent of past attempts to change the practice, brought up secret ballots in one of his Kintner-grams issued last month.

For months Chambers has used the letters featuring rhymes and drawings to take aim at Sen. Bill Kintner of Papillion over his use of a state computer to engage in cybersex.

Chambers has questioned Kintners call for transparency in leadership votes when he was silent about the cybersex scandal until a year after the incident.

Hes also threatened to read, on the floor of the Legislature, the investigative transcript of Kintners incident, should Kintner not resign. Kintner reported the incident to the Nebraska State Patrol after the woman tried to extort money from him.

Chambers now wont say what he might do. In his latest lengthy poem, which he noted will be his only pre-session comments on secret ballots, Chambers ended with:

If the senators at the start

Tear their Legislature apart....

For, to tell the truth, Ive had it;

Let them stupidly go at it.

State Sen. Bob Krist, who supports maintaining secret ballots, said that if senators want to talk about the issue on day one they should be prepared to deal with Chambers.

If you want to preserve that family day, that traditional day, dont get off course, he said. Theres 89 other days we can talk about that.

Unlike on other days, family members and friends of senators are allowed to join them on the floor of the Legislature as senators elected or re-elected in November are sworn in.

Krist, a Republican in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, was the target of a censure effort in 2015 by the Douglas County Republican Party for not voting to end secret ballots for leadership elections.

The Republican Party has long pushed for public leadership votes and has called on party members to support only Republicans running for leadership positions.

Because elections are done by secret ballot the party cannot identify which lawmakers voted for Democrats or independents. Some Republicans also believe the policy helps Democrats win leadership roles.

The Legislatures leadership is important because those senators set the tone and priorities and often lead the discussions of bills on the floor.

Elections for the positions are held on the first day of the session.

If a change to the process isnt made at the start of the session, leadership for the next two years will be determined by secret ballot.

Kuehn said that public votes are essential to the integrity of the Legislature and that the body needs open and honest dialogue about how it manages the legislative branch of government.

Those discussions should not be tempered because any senator wants to make threats or tries to disparage the integrity, he said.

Gov. Pete Ricketts did not take a position on the matter when his office was contacted last week.

His spokesman, Taylor Gage, said: The governor does not weigh in on legislative leadership elections or the rules governing elections and debate in the Unicameral.

The Legislature has voted for its leadership by secret ballot since the early 1970s, when it began meeting annually instead of every other year, said Clerk of the Legislature Patrick ODonnell.

Before that a small group, including the lieutenant governor and speaker, made decisions in private.

The Legislature operates under temporary rules on the first day of the session. To attempt to open up the leadership ballots, a senator would have to file a motion to amend the temporary rules. Debate would then begin  without rules.

ODonnell said such a maneuver would be unprecedented.

Wed kind of be making stuff up as we went, he said. Its never happened before.

The Legislature and other public bodies are allowed under state law to elect their leadership by secret ballot and record the total number of votes for each candidate. But local governmental boards, all of which are significantly smaller than the Legislature, approach the issue differently.

The Douglas and Sarpy County Boards both vote for the chair and vice chair openly, while the Omaha City Council and Omaha Public Schools board select their leaders by secret ballot.

The Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District board has the option to use a secret ballot if the position is contested, said General Manager John Winkler. If not, the board can vote by roll call, though typically a secret ballot is used.

None of those local governments has seen a push to change the practice.

Douglas County Board Chair Mary Ann Borgeson said the board voted by ballot for several years after she took office in 1995, but has since switched to a roll call vote. The result isnt always unanimous but hasnt resulted in problems, she said.

Kintner, who has unsuccessfully led efforts the past two years to end secret ballots, said he suspects the proposal is gaining supporters, noting that a handful of incoming senators indicated their backing while running for office.

At least five incoming senators  Mike Hilgers and Suzanne Geist of Lincoln, John Lowe of Kearney, Steve Erdman of Bayard and Tom Brewer of Gordon  signed a pledge to support open votes for speaker and committee leadership, said Matt Innis of Concerned Conservatives, the group behind the pledge.

Another conservative group, the Nebraska Chapter of Americans for Prosperity, has launched an online petition to make leadership votes public. Matt Litt, the groups state director, declined to say how many signatures the petition has, saying signatures were still being collected.

Innis said he expects the matter to come up on day one so the record shows whos for transparency and who isnt.

He said his group will be watching and intends to expose people that are not transparent. It also plans to ask future candidates to sign a similar pledge for open ballots to help ensure they are accountable to people in their districts.

Erdman said its not a top priority for him. Hes focused on cutting spending and promoting property tax relief.

However, he said, every vote he took in his 12 years on the Morrill County Board was public, including those for leadership. While serving as board chairman he didnt always receive unanimous support for the post.

It had no bearing going forward, working together and accomplishing the purpose, Erdman said. Not at all.

The two candidates to replace outgoing Kearney Sen. Galen Hadley as speaker of the Legislature are both Republicans, but they have different views on secret ballots.

Sen. Jim Scheer of Norfolk said he supports ending secret ballots, though he understands how others view that as an invitation for partisanship.

My opinion has always been that if I tell you Im going to vote for you, I will, he said. If its open or closed, it doesnt really make any difference to me.

Gothenburg Sen. Matt Williams said he strongly supports maintaining secret ballots because he believes they represent the nonpartisan nature of the Legislature that George Norris, the architect of the unique system, intended.

Maintaining the Legislatures nonpartisan nature is more important than any small loss of transparency from casting ballots secretly, he said.

Williams said there could be more support for opening the ballots in the upcoming session, though he doubts there will be enough to cause a change in the rules.

Williams said he thinks the real goal behind open ballots is control of the body by outside forces, primarily the political parties.

The more political we make this thing, the less we will be able to do what is right, he said.
Well good morning. Thank you all for being here.

I would like to thank Speaker Scheer and Pastor Perry Gauthier, from Capitol Ministries, for being here today. I do want to point out, I speak only for me, not either one of those guys.

You know I am a fighter.

When I first arrived at the Legislature, I fought the rapid expansion of the budget, big government programs and infringement of our liberties. It was lonely at times, and I lost a lot of battles. I won a few. I always kept fighting for the taxpayers. I have never stopped fighting and that is one of the reasons I stand before you today.

As I wrestled with this decision on whether to step down or to stay here and continue to fight the important policy battles for taxpayers, the many emails, text and phone calls I have received asking me not to resign have been overwhelming and humbling.

One constituent from Plattsmouth called me and said, We sent you down to Lincoln to fight for us, so dont quit on us now.

Well as much as my heart says to fight, my head says it is time to step away from the Legislature. It is no secret to anyone who knows me that there have been many disappointing and frustrating times in my over four years in the Legislature.

I have concluded that it is wise to step down as a member of the Nebraska Legislature. Today, I am announcing that I am resigning from the Legislature, effective 12:01 a.m. (on) January 30, 2017.

I presented Speaker Scheer with my resignation letter this morning.

I hesitate to resign as I know my resignation will be hailed as a victory to the progressive liberal movement.

But this is not about justice or doing whats right. This is the old adage that might makes right. You have the votes, you can do what you want.

However, one of the most gifted leaders of all time was King Solomon in ancient Israel  a man of many gifts and many challenges.

In the Bible, King Solomons writings in the book of Ecclesiastes, sets forth that:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to come together.

If you will briefly indulge me, I am compelled to recognize and thank several important people.

First, I want to thank the many individuals and families that worked so hard to help me get elected to the Legislature in 2012 and 2014. My elections were made possible by the generosity and man hours of individuals and families far too numerous to identify individually.

For those who believed in my and my fight for the taxpayers, thank you.

Next, I want to thank those outstanding conservative interests, organizations and friends who have shared my mission and passion for limited government, lower taxes and greater individual liberties.

I have appreciated working with you and I thank you.

I also want to thank the staff who have worked for me as a senator. Their work over these past years has really bolstered me. My two current staff members are here today and I especially want to thank them for all of their excellent work and for being here to support me.

Thanks, Mark. Thanks, Dan.

I want to recognize my family.

I want to thank God for granting me the privilege to serve. And make no mistake, God put me in this seat. It wasnt because I was some brilliant guy.

Finally, I want to thank my Proverbs 31 wife.

My wife is one of the finest people I will ever know in my lifetime. Together, we have been through a lot of challenges, many amazing times and many, many tough challenges. Together, we have confronted a personal battle far greater than any policy battle that I have fought in this Legislature. This amazing woman has been my champion, my guiding light and the love of my life. Thank you Lauren, I love you.

To paraphrase Richard Nixon, you wont have Bill Kintner to kick around any more.

Thank you for being here, today. That concludes my statement. I will not be taking questions. Thank you, Perry. Thank you, Speaker Scheer.
LINCOLN  Nebraska lawmakers took the first step Wednesday toward deciding whether Omaha State Sen. Ernie Chambers meets the residency requirements to continue serving in the Legislature.

The Legislatures Executive Board named seven senators to a special committee that will investigate a challenge to the veteran senators residency.

The seven committee members all sit on the Executive Board. They are Sens. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse, who will chair the new group, Dan Hughes of Venango, Kate Bolz of Lincoln, John McCollister of Omaha, Sue Crawford of Bellevue, John Kuehn of Heartwell and Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer of Norfolk.

Three Executive Board members will not be on the special committee: Chambers, who had recused himself from the board discussion, Sen. John Stinner of Gering, who is a nonvoting member of the board, and Sen. Tyson Larson of ONeill.

Larson said he chose not to be on the committee because of his contentious relationship with Chambers.

The challenge was filed by John Sciara, who was soundly defeated by Chambers in the Nov. 8 election.

Sciara attended Wednesdays board meeting but did not speak.

He said later that he was pretty much satisfied with the committee, although he had hoped for quicker action from the Legislature.

His petition claims that Chambers lives in Bellevue and not in the north Omaha district that he represents. Sciara has said he plans to present witnesses to make his case.

Chambers, who owns a home at 1825 Binney St., disputed any claim that he does not live in his district. He has pointed to bills mailed to his north Omaha address as evidence of his residency.

The Nebraska Constitution requires that senators live for at least a year in their district before they can serve.

Chambers was seated conditionally at the beginning of the session, pending the outcome of the challenge.

As spelled out in legislative rules, the special committee is to consider evidence and make a determination about the residency challenge.

Bolz said the first question that the committee needs to answer is whether Sciara filed the residency challenge properly.

State law and legislative rules require residency challenges to be filed within 40 days of the Nov. 8 general election and a $5,000 bond within 10 days after the petition was filed.

Sciara filed his petition on Nov. 15, one week after the election, but did not provide a bond. Once he learned about the bond requirement, he refiled his petition and submitted a bond on Dec. 15.

The rules require the matter to be handled as expeditiously as possible, while giving due process to both sides.

Watermeier said his initial goal was to decide the matter in January, but it now is clear that it will take longer. He said he hopes to convene the group this week and then to meet every few days thereafter.

He said he will recommend hiring outside legal counsel, rather than using legislative staff, to provide a more independent perspective. The committees final recommendation will go to the full Legislature, which can accept or reject the decision.

Sciara said he had been planning the challenge since 2012, when voters returned Chambers to the Legislature after a four-year hiatus.

In the 2016 election, Chambers got 7,763 votes to Sciaras 1,726.
LINCOLN  Sen. Bill Kintner exited the Nebraska Legislature in the same passionate style as he served the past four years, lauding his supporters and lamenting that his resignation could be celebrated by opponents as a victory for the progressive liberal movement.

After an avalanche of criticism, an embattled and emotional Kintner stepped down ahead of an expected Wednesday vote by the Legislature to expel him.

Earlier, some state senators worried that the controversy would logjam the Legislature and prevent senators from doing the states business. But with Kintner gone, state lawmakers Wednesday moved on to other matters, including a debate about the legislative rules.

Three Republicans on Wednesday evening said they will apply to replace Kintner as the state senator representing District 2, which includes Cass County and parts of Sarpy and Otoe Counties.

They are: Russ Zeeb of Papillion, a retired Sarpy County sheriffs deputy; Janet McCartney of Plattsmouth, a Cass County board member; and Ron Nolte of rural Murray, a former Cass County Board member.

Gov. Pete Ricketts, who had called for Kintner to leave office as recently as this week, will appoint Kintners successor, who will serve until January 2019.

Kintners resignation is effective Monday.

As much as my heart says to fight, my head says it is time to step away from the Legislature, the 56-year-old senator said during a press conference he called. Kintner could run for public office again.

Still, the conservative Republican added that he hesitated to make the decision.

I know my resignation will be hailed as a victory to the progressive liberal movement, he said. But this is not about justice or doing whats right. This is the old adage that might makes right. You have the votes, you can do what you want.

Kintner admitted last year to using a state laptop to engage in cybersex with a woman he met online. But pressure mounted during legislative floor debate Tuesday after he retweeted a Twitter post involving three Womens March participants that appeared to make light of sexual assault.

During the Wednesday press conference, Kintner did not apologize for the recent retweet.

He quoted Scripture, several times thanked his voters, staff and family, and paraphrased former President Richard Nixon, who also resigned from office.

You wont have Bill Kintner to kick around anymore, he said in closing, straying from his prepared remarks and paraphrasing Nixon after he lost the 1962 California gubernatorial election. Nixon went on to be elected president in 1968.

Ricketts, in a statement, commended Kintner for doing the right thing. The governor will take applications for the seat until Tuesday. Applicants must be registered voters at least age 21 who have lived in the district for a year.

Former State Sen. Dave Pankonin, who represented District 2 from 2007 to 2011, thanked Kintner for his decision. Pankonin is a member of the Cass County Republican Party, which in December passed a resolution asking for Kintners immediate resignation.

He said he was still processing the news and didnt have a comment on whether he might apply.

I think people are relieved, but also thankful that Bill Kintner came to this decision, he said.

Nora Sandine, chair of the Sarpy County Republican Party, said that Kintner has been a solid conservative voice for the district and that the party wishes him the best.

Were certainly disappointed things have turned out the way they have for Sen. Kintner, she said. Its unfortunate. It was an unfortunate situation that he found himself in.

Sandine said the party will put its support behind someone and encourage Ricketts to nominate that person.

The governor will pick someone who Im sure well be pleased with, she said.

All three who said Wednesday that they will apply for Kintners seat cited their experience and said they would work to get representation for the district back on track.

Im a very big people person, said Zeeb, 63, a former member of the Papillion City Council. I love listening to people, helping people and doing what it takes. Thats what Ill do if Im appointed.

McCartney, who is retired from the computer programming field, said she had intended to run for the seat when Kintner was up for re-election in 2018.

I feel theres a lot from my past experience that helps me understand what our constituents want and need, said McCartney, 68.

Nolte, a 71-year-old farmer and pilot, ran against Kintner for the legislative seat in 2012 and 2014.

I can bring a lot of leadership to the position, he said.

Meanwhile, the Nebraska Democratic Party in a statement hailed Kintners resignation as a victory for the Womens March movement that took place across the nation during President Donald Trumps inauguration weekend.

The Womens March just took down their first politician, declared Jane Kleeb, the party chair.

Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer had planned to introduce the motion to expel Kintner and believed he had the required 33 votes to adopt it. Kintners removal would have been unprecedented in the 80-year history of the unicameral Legislature.

But Scheer said Kintner delivered his letter of resignation Wednesday morning after the two had a very candid conversation the night before.

Scheer and Perry Gauthier, a State Capitol minister who first heard Kintners confession about the cybersex incident, stood alongside Kintner at his press conference.

I appreciate Bill stepping down and removing himself from the body, Scheer said afterward, adding that his action probably took more courage than staying and fighting. He did the body a favor. He did the state a favor.

Although Kintners resignation does not become official until 12:01 a.m. Monday, he will no longer participate in legislative activities, Scheer said.

Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse, chair of the Executive Board who had called for Kintners resignation, said he attended the press conference to offer support to a colleague and friend he has known for four years.

Hopefully hes at peace, he said.

Kintner, who after the cybersex incident had said God wanted him to stay in office, again on Wednesday invoked a higher power.

Make no mistake, God put me in this seat, he said. It wasnt because I was some brilliant guy.

Kintner choked up while praising his wife, calling her his Proverbs 31 wife, referring to a Bible passage about women of noble character.

Kintner is married to Lauren Kintner, who leads Ricketts policy research office. She didnt attend Wednesdays press conference.

My wife is one of the finest people I will ever know in my lifetime, he said. This amazing woman has been my champion, my guiding light and the love of my life.

Kintner faced intense criticism from Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, who for months distributed poems and drawings criticizing Kintner.

Chambers has said the $1,000 fine Kintner negotiated for misuse of state-issued property wasnt a severe enough penalty.

In the 2015 cybersex incident, which didnt come to light for nearly a year, Kintner mutually masturbated online with a woman who was not his wife.

This entire matter, from the time it was first revealed in 2016 until today, was a tiresome, unnecessary, lengthy process, Chambers said Wednesday. But now it has finally come to an appropriate end. There really isnt much to be said.

Omaha Sen. Bob Krist, the former Executive Board chair who had repeatedly called for Kintners resignation, said he was in some ways happy about the senators decision, but in other ways still troubled.

The thing thats still amazing to me is that he blames his liberal opponents, Krist said. Once again, he blames someone else for his actions. This is not liberal or conservative, right wing or left wing, or Republican or Democratic. These are Nebraska values, and this is Nebraska speaking.

North Platte Sen. Mike Groene, who had supported Kintner until the retweeting controversy, said he urged his colleague Tuesday to step down.

He said he was relieved that Kintners resignation had prevented a vote on expulsion but was sorry to lose a strong conservative voice in the Legislature.

I hope the jackals are satisfied, he said.

Both Groene and Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete said they thought there were more than 40 votes to remove Kintner.

I feel badly for him, but by the same token, it was time for us to move on and we were not going to get past this, Ebke said.

Kintner was elected to the Legislature in 2012 after defeating Republican incumbent Paul Lambert, who was appointed by then-Gov. Dave Heineman following Pankonins resignation. Kintner was re-elected in 2014.

Kintner, who according to his official biography works as a market research sales professional, ran on promises to hold down spending, reduce taxes and fight for personal liberties.

His time in the Legislature was marked by a number of controversial statements, including his May 2015 use of the word wetback while referring to a 1950s crackdown on illegal immigrants called Operation Wetback, and remarks in January 2014 that women, not men, can live a pretty good life by making mistakes such as having more children.

Last year, Kintner used a newspaper column to compare state lawmakers to monkeys and twice called the State Capitol a den of thieves after the cybersex scandal.

This year, he introduced six bills, including one that would require the websites of abortion clinics to provide a link to information provided by the state about fetal development, ultrasound videos and alternatives to abortion.

The bills could remain under consideration should other lawmakers sign on as co-sponsors.

Kintners resignation also opens up a spot on the Legislatures nine-member, budget-crafting Appropriations Committee.

World-Herald writer Joe Duggan contributed to this report.
Douglas County Board Chairwoman Mary Ann Borgeson and Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said they would pursue cuts to the property tax rate if startlingly high preliminary property valuations become reality.

Stothert said she would most likely propose at least a 2 percent cut in the citys tax levy, if current valuations and revenue projections hold. Borgeson said reducing the tax levy would be at the top of the County Boards list, if valuations remain as high as projected. She said she couldnt specify a number yet, because the valuation numbers are likely to change as taxpayers appeal.

Of course, the city and county are only two of the government entities that collect property taxes in Omaha. But even if all of the taxing bodies, including school districts, reduced their tax levies, it wouldnt be enough to offset large valuation increases. Many taxpayers would still be hit with significantly higher property tax bills next year.

Borgeson acknowledged that during Tuesdays Douglas County Board meeting, at which she invited taxpayers and the Douglas County Assessors Office to discuss the issue.

Homeowners gave the board and County Assessor/Register of Deeds Diane Battiato an earful about preliminary 2017 property valuations that most likely would lead to large tax increases.

The County Board had put the issue on Tuesdays agenda amid complaints from taxpayers about the recently posted valuations.

Under the new, preliminary assessments, the total valuation of property in Douglas County would rise by 8.25 percent. In some areas of far west Omaha, valuations would increase by more than 20 percent. Some homeowners in various parts of the city would see their valuations double or more.

Nineteen taxpayers lined up to decry the Assessors Offices valuations. Homeowner Michael Moran, who lives in Linden Estates near 139th and Charles Streets, has seen his valuation go up 25 percent since 2015. He said he protested his 2016 assessment and the county stuck with that valuation in August  then raised it by another $112,000 in 2017. It now stands at $757,900.

Im willing to pay my fair share, but I am not going to be hijacked by these types of situations, Moran said.

Retiree Pam Curry said she worries that people on fixed incomes in her Peony Park neighborhood will be forced out of their homes by higher taxes. She said people in her part of town are angry.

A homeowner from the Ginger Cove area in western Douglas County, accompanied by nine fellow taxpayers from his neighborhood, said the land value on 90 percent of Ginger Cove lots had gone up 200 to 300 percent.

Doug Kagan, president of Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom, called the valuation system a festering sore that never heals.

Battiato told the board that two factors are driving the increases. She said many properties had not been reappraised by the Assessors Office for many years. And she said a hot real estate market has been driving up the value of homes.

Nebraska law requires county assessors to set property valuations at 92 to 100 percent of market value and to ensure that properties are assessed equally.

Battiato, who took over the Assessors Office in 2015, said she realizes that the large increases are shocking to taxpayers. She said her staff will look into the individual issues raised Tuesday. She urged people who believe their valuation is wrong to schedule an appointment to meet with a county appraiser.

Battiato also said shes considering options to lessen the impact. She said that included talking with state tax equalization officials.

That said, she and her chief field deputy, Jack Baines, said they thought their valuations are generally correct.

We have been inundated with calls because there are a lot of very upset people, Battiato said. But the numbers dont lie to us.

Valuation increases probably will mean higher property taxes. But theyre only one part of what determines a tax bill. The other is the levy set by each governing body: city councils, school districts and county boards and the like.

Stotherts opponent in this springs mayoral election, Heath Mello, issued a statement saying he would push for a property tax reduction.

Stothert said she was told that the total valuation across the city would rise 5.8 percent. That would raise city revenue about $8.5 million, she said. A 2 percent property tax cut would amount to about $3.2 million, she said.

At the County Board meeting, Borgeson said its not right, even if the valuations match the market, to raise them all at once.

This is not reality in terms of taxpayers being able to pay their taxes, Borgeson said. Its ludicrous.

She said Nebraskas tax equalization system has never worked and it never will.

Borgeson urged Battiato to ask the Nebraska Department of Revenue if the county could at least spread the valuation increases out over a number of years, if they prove to be accurate.

Battiato said that she would talk with the state and that she and her staff were considering options to lessen the pain.

County Board Member Jim Cavanaugh called the valuation hikes seriously out of whack.

I dont think 300 percent increases are justified, Cavanaugh said.

County Board Member P.J. Morgan, a longtime real estate executive, called the valuations terribly inconsistent.

Battiato said her office had to develop a new market-based method of appraising valuations because they were out of line.

In 2016, the Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review Commission ordered the county to increase valuations by 7 percent across the board on about 75,000 residential properties in central and west Omaha.

Battiato said the 2017 valuations, while difficult to absorb, accurately reflect the rising real estate market.
LINCOLN  Members of the Nebraska Legislature gave first-round approval Tuesday to a bill that would allow members of military reserves to receive license plates to honor the reserve branches of the U.S. armed forces.

Senators voted 40-0 to advance Legislative Bill 45, sponsored by State Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse.

Lawmakers adopted an amendment by Watermeier striking language that would have allowed the plates to be displayed on vehicles registered to a trust that includes the reserve members name. Several members took issue with that part of the original bill during debate, saying eligibility for the plates needs to be restricted to qualifying individuals.

Senators adopted a second amendment, offered by Sen. John McCollister of Omaha, to include military honor plates for officers of the U.S. Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Such plates are available now to active duty members or veterans of the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.

Under Watermeiers bill, the reserve branch plates would be designed by the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump tweeted early Wednesday that he is ordering a "major investigation" into voter fraud, revisiting unsubstantiated claims he's made repeatedly about a rigged voting system.

The investigation, he said, will look at those registered to vote in more than one state, "those who are illegal and...even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time)."

Depending on results, Trump tweeted, "we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

Trump also said he would make his Supreme Court pick Feb. 2.

Trump has been fixated on his loss of the popular vote in the election and a persistent frustration that the legitimacy of his presidency is being challenged by Democrats and the media, aides and associates say.

His exaggerations about inauguration crowds and false assertions about illegal balloting have been distractions as advisers' have tried to launch his presidency with a flurry of actions on the economy.

Trump's spokesman, Sean Spicer, has twice stepped into the fray himself, including on Tuesday, when he doubled down on Trump's false claim that he lost the popular vote because 3 million to 5 million people living in the U.S. illegally cast ballots.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have finalized their election results with no reports of the kind of widespread fraud that Trump is alleging.

"He believes what he believes based on the information he was provided," said Spicer, who provided no evidence to back up the president's statements.

If the president's claim were true it would mark the most significant election fraud in U.S. history and ironically, would raise the same questions about Trump's legitimacy that he's trying to avoid. Yet Spicer repeatedly sidestepped questions about whether the Trump administration would investigate the allegations pushed by the president.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Wednesday his panel has already sent letters to the attorneys general in all 50 states asking for reports of any election irregularities.

"The president can join me and my staff," Cummings said on MSNBC. He also said he wants Congress to restore voting protections, citing a Supreme Court ruling that "gutted" key sections of the Voting Rights Act, particularly the provision requiring southern states to get clearance in advance from the Justice Department before legislating changes in voting laws and procedures.

Some Trump allies say Trump is justified in using his platform to defend his standing. They point to Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis' pre-inauguration statement that he did not see Trump as a legitimate president, as well as U.S. intelligence agencies' assessment that Russia meddled in the election in order to help Trump win.

"Segments of his own government keep driving this narrative," said Roger Stone, a longtime confidant. "I don't think it hurts to point it out."

Key advisers in Trump's inner circle concede the focus on crowd claims and alleged voter fraud have been a distraction.

After Friday's inaugural festivities, the new president grew increasingly upset the next day by what he felt was "biased" media coverage of women's marches across the globe protesting his election, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Trump was particularly enraged with CNN, which he thought was "gloating" by continually running photos of the women's march alongside the smaller crowds that attended his inauguration the day before, according to this person, one of several White House aides and associates who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.

Tuesday night on Twitter, Trump slammed CNN again, referring to the network as "FAKE NEWS (at)CNN" while praising rival Fox News Channel.

Trump has had a tumultuous relationship with the press, frequently calling the media dishonest and insulting individual reporters by name at his rallies and on Twitter. Still, two people close to Trump said he expected his coverage to turn more favorable once he took office. Instead, he's told people he believes it's gotten worse.

The bad press over the weekend has not allowed Trump to "enjoy" the White House as he feels he deserves, according to one person who has spoken with him.

The result has been a full display of Trump's propensity for exaggeration and more. During an appearance at the CIA Saturday, he wrongly said the inaugural crowds gathered on the National Mall stretched to the Washington Monument, despite clear photo evidence to the contrary. And during a reception with lawmakers from both parties Monday night, he repeated his false assertion that millions of illegal immigrants provided Hillary Clinton's margin in the popular vote.

Copyright 2017, the Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
LINCOLN  Nebraska prison officials have recommended striking a controversial change to the states lethal injection procedure that would hide the identities of death drug suppliers.

Gov. Pete Ricketts, who wants to return Nebraskas death penalty to viability, would have to sign off on the recommendation before the confidentiality provision is removed. The proposal is currently under review by the governors policy research staff.

Several critics of the proposed protocol have said adopting the secrecy provision would be illegal. Among them was Shawn Renner, a lawyer who represents Media of Nebraska.

Asked if the Department of Correctional Services recommended dropping the secrecy provision to address constitutional concerns, Taylor Gage, the governors spokesman, said Wednesday he will withhold comment while the proposed regulation is under review.

Several states that have carried out executions in the last year have shielded the identities of drug makers and suppliers because doing so makes it easier for corrections departments to obtain the drugs. Death penalty supporters say disclosing the identities of such suppliers subjects them to public pressure, and possibly harassment, by opponents of capital punishment.

Others argue that the state should keep all aspects of the death penalty open to public scrutiny.

Even if the governor does remove the secrecy provision from the protocol, the Nebraska Legislature will consider a bill that would write similar confidentiality requirements into state law.

State Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell said confidentiality would allow the state to heed the will of the majority of voters who recently reinstated Nebraskas death penalty. Sixty-one percent of voters cast ballots in November to reverse the Legislatures 2015 repeal of capital punishment.

The governor supports efforts to carry out the will of the people on the death penalty and protect public safety, Gage said when asked about the Kuehn bill.

Kuehn said he has not been working in concert with the Governors Office on Legislative Bill 661. He did provide a draft of the bill to the Attorney Generals Office before introducing it, he added.

The Corrections Department, which falls under the governors control, indicated in a Jan. 12 document that it was backing off a plan to withhold public disclosure of the source of lethal injection drugs. Multiple people who testified at a Dec. 30 public hearing on the protocol changes expressed opposition to shrouding the death penalty procedure in secrecy.

The departments response to feedback gathered at the hearing said it is striking the confidentiality provision.

Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, the Legislatures leading opponent of capital punishment, declined to comment on the matter until a final protocol is released.

In the meantime, Chambers has already taken up the fight against Kuehns bill. The legislation has been referred to the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, where it would likely face an easier path for advancement to the floor for full debate by lawmakers.

Chambers has filed a motion to send the bill to the Judiciary Committee, of which Chambers is one of the members.

* * * * *

Correction, Jan. 26: An earlier version of this story stated that Shawn Renner, an attorney representing Media of Nebraska, has argued shielding the identity of drug suppliers in the lethal injection procedure would be unconstitutional. Renner has argued it would violate state public records law. Others have said withholding information about the lethal drugs would violate due process protections contained in both the U.S. and Nebraska constitutions.

* * * * *
LINCOLN  At her farm in the path of the Keystone XL pipeline, Helen Tanderup remained defiant on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump fulfilled a campaign promise by seeking to restart the controversial Canadian tar sands oil pipeline.

Out in Neligh, Nebraska, a protest billboard still stood along Tanderups gravel driveway. She and her husband, Art, hosted a concert headlined by Neil Young to oppose the pipeline in 2014, and their distaste for the project has not waned.

We hate to have to fight it again, Tanderup said. We think its the worst thing that could happen to our land and our water.

Trump signed two executive orders on Tuesday that not only advance the 1,179-mile Keystone XL but also seek to end a stalemate that has halted completion of the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota.

The moves upended previous orders by President Barack Obama to deny a federal permit for Keystone XL and study alternative routes for the Dakota Access project.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts was among those praising Trumps move.

Keystone XL will create good-paying jobs for Nebraska workers and bring property tax relief to counties along the route, Ricketts said.

In Congress, Nebraska and Iowa lawmakers reacted positively.

A large majority of Nebraskans want to see Keystone XL completed, knowing we need long-term solutions for affordable energy, Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., said in a press release.

A spokesman for TransCanada said Tuesday that it is already preparing a reapplication for a federal permit for the pipeline and will be working with the Nebraska Public Service Commission to reapply for approval of a route through the state.

KXL represents the safest, most environmentally sound way to connect the American economy to an abundant energy resource, said Terry Cunha of TransCanada.

A leading opponent of the Keystone XL said that Tuesdays move once again puts Nebraska front and center in the controversy over the pipeline, which would carry thick tar sand oil from Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast.

Jane Kleeb, who heads a four-state environmental group called Bold Alliance, said TransCanada still needs to gain approval for a route through Nebraska  a process that could take up to a year.

If the company tries to use eminent domain to forcibly obtain right of way from Nebraska landowners, a lawsuit would be filed, Kleeb promised.

It isnt right for a foreign corporation to use eminent domain for private gain, she said. At least 100 Nebraska landowners, Kleeb said, will resist selling right of way.

TransCanada has faced multiple delays since first proposing the Keystone XL in 2010.

Landowners objected to what they saw as heavy-handed tactics to obtain right of way, and fought a route through the states groundwater-rich Sand Hills. The U.S. State Department delayed its review of the project, and the Nebraska Legislature in a special session forced a rerouting of the project.

In November 2015, Obama denied a permit for the pipeline, citing concerns about exacerbating climate change. The company then withdrew its application for a 275-mile route across Nebraska.

In comments Tuesday, Trump promised to cut a better deal on the Keystone XL before giving it final approval. Any pipeline in the U.S., Trump said, should be built with steel produced in America.

Right now, about 52 percent of the Keystone XL would utilize U.S.-made steel pipe, with the rest purchased from China and India. Cunha said that the company is still reviewing the presidents executive order, which must be finalized by the U.S. secretary of commerce.

Kleeb said the presidents order puts a 60-day deadline on approval of the Keystone XL, a swift timeline that will spark a lawsuit from environmental groups on the grounds that it is too hasty.

She said that with the market flooded with cheap oil, the expensive tar sands oil is no longer needed.

Im not sure they can get the capital to build it, Kleeb said.

Right now, Canada has pipeline capacity to carry about 4 million barrels of oil a day and produces about 3.9 million barrels a day.

But the head of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Tim McMillan, said that worldwide oil consumption continues to rise and that more pipelines will be needed. They are the safest and most economical way to move oil from Albertas rich tar sands deposits, he added.

It still makes sense today, McMillan said of the Keystone XL.

Members of the Iowa and Nebraska congressional delegations agreed.

It has never made sense to block those pipelines, said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., noted that shes long supported construction of the Keystone XL and said most of her constituents share that view.

Trade unions also have supported the pipeline, which would create hundreds of construction jobs. Critics, though, point out that only 35 permanent jobs would be created.

In recent months, the Dakota Access pipeline has been the scene of several violent protests near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Native Americans fought the project, saying it trampled on tribal rights, while environmentalists said it would ruin drinking water and encourage risky fracking of oil.

Nearly 600 pipeline opponents, who call themselves water protectors, were arrested in North Dakota last year, clogging courts there.

On Tuesday, Trump ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to quickly review and approve construction and easement requests for the Dakota Access pipeline.

From now on, we are going to start making pipelines in the United States, Trump said from the Oval Office.

Ed Fallon of Bold Iowa, a group that has sued to block the Dakota Access pipeline across Iowa, said opponents will not be intimidated.

The alliance of landowners, farmers, tribal communities, environmentalists and property-rights defenders whove fought this pipeline for over two years arent going to lie down and let the presidents Big Oil buddies roll over us, Fallon said.

As a practical matter, the Dakota Access project faces an easier path to completion. The pipeline, which would carry oil from North Dakotas Bakken oil fields to a refinery in Illinois, is complete except for a section that would pass under the Missouri River, just upstream from the Standing Rock Reservation.

Until last year, Trump owned a small amount of stock in Energy Transfer Partners and at least $100,000 in Phillips 66, an energy company that owns one-quarter of the Dakota pipeline. Trump sold the shares last year as part of a wide-ranging stock divestment, a spokesman said.

This report includes material from the Associated Press.
WASHINGTON  Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., reintroduced legislation Tuesday aimed at protecting babies who survive an abortion procedure.

We all know that every little boy and girl deserves a fighting chance and, if youve ever held a newborn or just walked past an NICU, you know this has nothing to do with your politics and everything to do with your heart, Sasse said in a press release.

Sasse said that his legislation would require health care providers to exercise the same care toward a baby who is born alive during an abortion that they would for any other child at the same gestational age.

Sens. Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Chuck Grassley of Iowa are among the other GOP senators sponsoring the measure.

Separately, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, held a Capitol Hill press conference Tuesday touting his own proposal that would ban abortions if the unborn child has a detectable heartbeat, unless its necessary to save the life of the mother.

If a heartbeat can be detected, the baby is protected, King told reporters.

He said the legislation would effectively ban 90 percent or more of abortions in the United States.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., joined King at the press conference to promote the heartbeat bill. He also distributed a press release touting his support for the King bill and one approved by the House Tuesday prohibiting taxpayer funding of abortions.

The measure, which passed 238-183, also would block tax credits for some people and businesses buying abortion coverage under the Affordable Care Act. But the bill faces considerable Democratic opposition in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes.

The House vote was timed to come just after the Jan. 22 anniversary of the Supreme Courts 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion in the U.S., and ahead of the annual march by abortion opponents, which is scheduled for Friday.

If signed into law, the bill would permanently ban the use of federal money for nearly all abortions  a prohibition thats already in effect but which Congress must renew each year.

All five GOP House members who represent Nebraska and western Iowa supported the bill.

I will work tirelessly to advance the rights of the unborn to ensure a culture of life throughout our great nation, Bacon said in a press release. These bills accomplish this while also protecting the health and physical well-being of women.

This report contains material from the Associated Press.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump moved aggressively to tighten the nation's immigration controls Wednesday, signing executive actions to jumpstart construction of his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall and cut federal grants for immigrant-protecting "sanctuary cities." As early as Thursday, he is expected to pause the flow of all refugees to the U.S. and indefinitely bar those fleeing war-torn Syria.

"Beginning today the United States of America gets back control of its borders," Trump declared during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security. "We are going to save lives on both sides of the border."

The actions, less than a week into Trump's presidency, fulfilled pledges that animated his candidacy and represented a dramatic redirection of U.S. immigration policy. They were cheered by Republicans allies in Congress, condemned by immigration advocates and the trigger for immediate new tension with the Mexican government.

Trump is expected to wield his executive power again later this week with the directive to dam the refugee flow into the U.S. for at least four months, in addition to the open-ended pause on Syrian arrivals.

The president's upcoming order is also expected to suspend issuing visas for people from several predominantly Muslim countries  Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen  for at least 30 days, according to a draft executive order obtained by The Associated Press.

Trump is unveiling his immigration plans at a time when detentions at the nation's southern border are down significantly from levels seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The arrest tally last year was the fifth-lowest since 1972. Deportations of people living in the U.S. illegally also increased under President Barack Obama, though Republicans criticized him for setting prosecution guidelines that spared some groups from the threat of deportation, including those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

As a candidate, Trump tapped into the immigration concerns of some Americans who worry both about a loss of economic opportunities and the threat of criminals and terrorists entering the country. His call for a border wall was among his most popular proposals with supporters, who often broke out in chants of "build that wall" during rallies.

Immigration advocates and others assailed the new president's actions. Omar Jadwat, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Immigrants' Rights Project, said the president's desire to construct a border wall was "driven by racial and ethnic bias that disgraces America's proud tradition of protecting vulnerable migrants."

How Trump plans to pay for the wall project is murky. While he has repeatedly promised that Mexico will foot the bill, U.S. taxpayers are expected to cover the initial costs and the new administration has said nothing about how it might compel Mexico to reimburse the money.

In an interview with ABC News earlier Wednesday, Trump said, "There will be a payment; it will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form."

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who has insisted his country will not pay for a wall, has been expected to meet with Trump at the White House next week, although a senior official said Trump's announcement had led him to reconsider the visit.

Congressional aides say there is about $100 million of unspent appropriations in the Department of Homeland Security account for border security, fencing and infrastructure. That would allow planning efforts to get started, but far more money would have to be appropriated for construction to begin.

Trump has insisted many times the border structure will be a wall. The order he signed referred to "a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous and impassable physical barrier."

To build the wall, the president is relying on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The president's orders also call for hiring 5,000 additional border patrol agents and 10,000 more immigration officers, though the increases are subject to the approval of congressional funding. He also moved to end what Republicans have labeled a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are released and given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

Trump's crackdown on sanctuary cities  locales that don't cooperate with immigration authorities  could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars. But the administration may face legal challenges, given that some federal courts have found that cities or counties cannot hold immigrants beyond their jail terms or deny them bond based only a request from immigration authorities.

Some of the nation's largest metropolitan areas  including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago  are considered sanctuary cities.

The president also moved to restart the "Secure Communities" program, which was launched under President George W. Bush and initially touted as a way for immigration authorities to quickly and easily identify people in the country illegally who had been arrested by local authorities.

The program helped the Obama administration deport a record high of more than 409,000 immigrants in 2012. But Obama eventually abandoned the program after immigration advocates and civil libertarians decried it as too often targeting immigrants charged with low-level crimes, including traffic violations.

Among those in the audience for Trump's remarks at DHS were the families of people killed by people in the U.S. illegally. After reading the names of those killed, Trump said, "Your children will not have lost their lives for no reason."

Trump's actions on halting all refugees could be announced as soon as Thursday. Administration officials and others briefed on the plans cautioned that some details of the measures could still be changed, but indicated that Trump planned to follow through on his campaign promises to limit access to the U.S. for people coming from countries with terrorism ties.
State Sen. Bill Kintner would do well to read the tea leaves at the State Capitol and resign. If he continues to refuse, the Legislature is justified to proceed and expel him from the Legislature, as a growing number of senators indicated Tuesday.

That action would best serve the public interest in the wake of what has become an ongoing run of irresponsible actions by the Papillion lawmaker. The latest involves what he terms a Twitter mistake in which he retweeted an outrageous tweet that made light of sexual assault.

Momentum built strongly in the Legislature Tuesday for formal action to remove Kintner. Such action requires support from 33 of the 49 senators, but a growing number of lawmakers, including influential conservative members, made clear that Kintner would be mistaken to think he would receive automatic support from fellow Republicans.

Senators fell silent Tuesday morning and listened closely when Speaker Jim Scheer stood to address the Kintner matter. Scheer, a Republican from Norfolk, said Kintner has lost the respect of the body and called for the senators resignation.

The first item on Wednesdays legislative agenda is a resolution to expel Kintner. Scheer said he believes there are more than enough votes to pass such a resolution.

Other Republicans who spoke Tuesday and called on Kintner to step down included Sens. Jim Smith, Lydia Brasch, Bob Krist, Robert Hilkemann, Matt Williams, Roy Baker and Suzanne Geist.

Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete, a Libertarian lawmaker who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said she supports Kintners expulsion.

This has the potential to totally derail the session, she said of the Kintner controversy. If we care about the Legislature and about doing the business of the people, we need to deal with this.

This weeks push for Kintners removal, in other words, cant be dismissed as an effort by a small minority of lawmakers. On the contrary, its a call from a broad range of state senators, including some of the lawmakers who supported the recent moves that installed conservatives in all committee leadership posts.

Kintner was already on thin ice after having cybersex by videochat on a state computer  a violation of state law. The activity came to light because a State Patrol investigation was initiated after someone tried to extort him by threatening to send the video to his wife and political critics.

Kintner settled the matter in part by agreeing to pay a $1,000 fine to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission for misuse of state property. In the wake of that episode, Gov. Pete Ricketts called for his resignation  a call he repeated Monday. Kintners wife is a respected state policy adviser who works for the governor.

Another of the senators ill-considered actions was posting a graphic photo of a beheaded woman on Facebook, saying he intended it as a commentary on the need for the death penalty.

One argument Kintner puts forward is that its important he stay in the Legislature to stand up for conservative principles. But there are many strong conservatives in the Legislature these days, and unlike Kintner, they manage to conduct themselves while staying free of the kinds of missteps he has repeatedly made.

The sentiment at the Legislature is clear in this matter. Kintner should acknowledge that and serve the public interest by resigning.
Main streets in Omaha were mostly wet early today after Tuesday nights precipitation and light drizzle and snow that fell this morning.

Side streets were slick in some spots.

By 6 a.m., however, street conditions began changing for the worse. Omahas temperature dropped to 30 degrees, and traffic accidents started piling up on main streets as the wet conditions possibly froze and falling snow covered those spots.

At one point, so many crashes occurred this morning that Omaha police stopped taking property-damage accident reports. At least 20 accidents and slide-offs involving 35 vehicles were recorded between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. No serious injuries were reported.

Austin Rowser, Omahas street maintenance engineer, said city crews attacked the roadways with salt overnight.

We were out on the major and secondary streets through the night, he said.

He said crews would move into Omahas side streets Wednesday afternoon if snow began stacking up.

It was a pretty easy, basic storm for us, Rowser said.

The sudden temperature drop caused refreezing just as the morning commute began in Lincoln, too. The refreeze and some light snow created challenging conditions for drivers and for city street crews, roads officials said.

The back end of the winter storm system tracked east across the central Plains today, bringing more snow and strong winds to eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

The heaviest snow was expected north of U.S. Highway 30, which runs from Denison, Iowa, through Blair and Grand Island. Some areas of northeast Nebraska and northwest Iowa could see 8 to 13 inches of snow over two days. Amounts drop to 1 to 2 inches along Interstate 80, including in the Omaha and Lincoln areas, and 1 inch or less in southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa.

Strong winds of 20 to 30 mph were to create blowing and drifting snow in some locations.

The Nebraska Department of Roads website indicated that roadways in eastern, southeast, southwest and central parts of the state were mostly wet, while roadways in northwest, north-central and northeast parts were completely covered.

The Iowa Department of Transportations website indicated that roadways in western, central, northern and eastern parts of the state were partially covered to completely covered.

A KMTV meteorologist, Ryan McPike, said early today that another burst of snow this morning could bring an additional 1 or 2 inches to the Omaha area. He said Omaha already had received an inch overnight.

Elsewhere, he said, ONeill in northeast Nebraska and Valentine in north-central Nebraska each received 12 inches.

Norfolk reported 8 inches of snow by 6 a.m. Wednesday. Other locations in inches: Eppley Airfield, .06; Florence, 1.7: Offutt Air Force Base, 1.0; Lincoln, .06; Valley, 0.5; Tekamah, 0.5; Council Bluffs, .11; Harlan, .07; Red Oak, .03.

It was a quick-mover Tuesday, McPike said, but very, very potent.

Anything this afternoon will be mostly flurries,'' he said. "It should be blustery tonight, and I think the snow is out of here, too.

A winter storm warning was in effect until late morning for north-central and northeast Nebraska and northwest Iowa due to heavy amounts of snow and strong winds.

A winter weather advisory was in effect until 4 p.m. for a very narrow swath of central and eastern Nebraska and western Iowa due to 2 to 4 inches of expected snow.

Omaha and Lincoln were not included in the warning or the advisory.

No arrival or departure flights were delayed or canceled early today at Omahas Eppley Airfield.

Several small schools in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa towns started school two hours or so later today due to the weather.

The latest Omaha-area forecast, according to the National Weather Service office in Valley:

Today  Snow likely (60 percent), mainly before 11 a.m. with the temperature falling into the upper 20s by 5 p.m. Blustery conditions with northwest winds gusting as high as 30 mph. New snow accumulation of less than 1 inch possible.

Tonight  Cloudy with a low around 21 and northwest wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

Thursday  Mostly cloudy with a high in the mid- to upper 20s.

Thursday night  Mostly cloudy with a low in the mid- to upper teens.

Friday  Mostly sunny with a high around 30.

Friday night  Partly cloudy with a low in the mid-20s.

Saturday  A chance of snow showers between noon and 1 p.m., then a chance of flurries after 1 p.m. with a high in the mid-30s.

Saturday night  A chance of flurries with a low in the mid-20s.

Sunday  A slight chance of snow before noon with a high in the lower 30s.

Sunday night  Partly cloudy with a low in the upper teens.

Monday  Mostly sunny with a high in the upper 30s.

Monday night  Partly cloudy with a low in the lower to mid-20s.

Tuesday Partly sunny with a high around 35.
1984 riots: SIT seeks cancellation of bail to Sajjan Kumar

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Jan 25: The Special Investigation Team, probing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, on Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court seeking cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted by the trial court to Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a case of killing of three Sikhs.

Justice S P Garg asked SIT how the trial court order is illegal and said the respondent is facing trial in other matters. He also asked then how is it possible that he could be present at all spots.

"Where is the illegality in the trial court's order. 32 years have passed and now you (SIT) are seeking to interrogate him in the matter pertaining to the incident. Prior to November 2016 there was no complaint against him by the present complainant. Suddenly, the complainant has grievances against him," the court observed.

It was hearing a plea by SIT, which came in appeal against the trial court's December 21, 2016, order granting anticipatory bail to Kumar. It had asked Kumar to cooperate in the probe and not to influence any witness related to the case.

While granting relief to the former MP on a personal bond of Rs one lakh and a surety, the trial court had also said that he will not leave the country without the court's permission.

Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for SIT, submitted before the bench that the cases filed against Kumar falling in jurisdiction of Janakpuri and Vikaspuri police stations in west Delhi, were lodged after delay of over 30 years as the complaintant was 'scared' to name the accused due to his 'powerful' position.

The ASG submitted that since his name has cropped up during the investigation in the case and that he needs to be interrogated and his custody is also necessary as he has to be confronted with the evidence in the matter.

He said that as per complainant, Harvinder Singh, whose counsel also sought cancellation of Kumar's bail. Kumar has been accused of leading a mob during the riots.

To this, the court asked the ASG, apart from the complainant's affidavit on the basis of which the cases were lodged, does he have anything more to establish that the respondent was present at the spot.

"Do you (SIT) have anything more to establish about his alleged involvement. We are not disputing the incident but his involvement is there or not is a question," it said.

It later asked the ASG to produce records relating to the other case he is allegedly involved in and for which he has or is facing trial.

PTI

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 17:16 [IST]
Drone attack at Abu Dhabi's new airport: 2 Indians among 3 killed in UAE; Yemen's Houthis claim responsibility

Jaishankar describes Abu Dhabi's first Hindu temple as 'symbol of peace, tolerance and harmony'

26-year-old accused of molesting minor girl held in Abu Dhabi, 3 years later

IRCTC's affordable Dubai tour package: All you need to know

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince accorded ceremonial reception at Rastrapati Bhawan

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, Jan 25: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is the chief guest of this year's Republic Day parade, was on Wednesday accorded a ceremonial welcome by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The Crown Prince, who is on a three-day visit to India, was recieved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

He will also hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Modi at the Hyderabad House. India and UAE will also exchange agreements during the bilateral interactions.

Indian diaspora has a significant presence in UAE and the two countries share considerable history in trade and commercial ties.

UAE is looking to move away from crude oil based economy to an innovation-driven economy. India can play significant role in helping UAE in acheiving that.

Meanwhile, India would look to attract investments from the Arab nation.

IANS

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 12:06 [IST]
Age no bar: Jal Devi (95), contesting UP polls, promises to fight corruption

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Agra, Jan 25: Every election season, we witness some 'unusual' candidates, who defy all odds to participate in the democratic process. This time, a 95-year-old woman in Uttar Pradesh is contesting the upcoming polls, scheduled to start from February 11.

Since no political party will take the risk of fielding an 'old' candidate, Jal Devi is contesting the poll as an independent.

The nonagenarian has filed her nomination papers from Kheragarh constituency. Kheragarh is a town in Agra district of the state.

Addressing a group of reporters, Devi said she wanted to fight against corruption. "My agenda is to weed out corruption and ensure smooth functioning of my constituency," she added.

The upcoming UP assembly elections is an elaborate affair. The state will go to elections in seven phases. The polling dates are February 11, February 15, February 19, February 23, February 27, March 4 and March 8, 2017. The counting of votes in the state Vidhan Sabha, consisting of 403 assembly seats, will take place on March 11.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 11:30 [IST]
UP: SP leader's car hit by truck, dragged for more than 500 meters in Mainpuri | VIDEO

Akhilesh on SP-Congress alliance: Cycle to ride fastest with the Hand

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Lucknow, Jan 25: Attending an election rally in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav expressed confidence that the alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress is a 'winning combination'.

In the same breath, the UP CM said that Cycle (the symbol of the SP) will ride fastest with the Hand (the symbol of Congress).

"The Congress and the SP will fight the elections together. We will come to power with a majority and form the next government in the state. The Cycle will ride fastest with the Hand (SP-Cong saath saath ladenge aur bahumat ki sarkaar UP mei banayenge; haath se agar handle thik thak hoga toh cycle kitni tez chalegi)," Akhilesh said.

The UP CM reminded the voters that the assembly elections in the state are 'very important' and has national importance.

"It is well-known that UP assembly elections are not just state elections, but is for the nation."

Once again taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation, Akhilesh said, "The people who claimed to bring good days in the country did not do anything. In fact, because of them the entire nation was forced to stand in queues (Achhe din walon ne koi kaam nahin kiya, aur dekho line mein kaise laga diya logon ko)."

"Only big corporate houses that funded elections for these politicians have benefitted from note ban (Yeh vyapari jinhone zyada madad kar di thi 'acche din walon ki', unhi ka sabse zyada nuksaan hua hai)," the UP CM added.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 13:57 [IST]
An oops moment for Hafiz Saeed: Blames China for terror in Pak

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

New Delhi, Jan 25: For the Hafiz Saeed led Jamaat-ud-Dawa it was an oops moment. A statement released by the outfit which finances the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, went on to state, "The Pakistan government should increase pressure on India to stop state terrorism in the country through China, Russia and other countries."

The statement refers to China's role in terrorism in Pakistan. The JuD was quick to retract and said that it had erroneously mentioned China's name regarding terror in Pakistan. The JuD also clarified that its leader, Saeed meant to say that the Pakistan government should link China Pakistan Economic Corridor with freedom of Kashmir. He also said that pressure should be put on China and Russia which are part of the CPEC to influence India to stop terror in Pakistan.

The gaffe comes as a major embarrassment especially since it mentions China. Pakistan has always referred to China as an all weather the friend. China too has reciprocated and has ensured that terrorists such as Maulana Masood Azhar are not on the banned list by the United Nations.

OneIndia News
Aide of shooter in Moosewala case conducted reconnaissance in Mumbai to kill Salman Khan: Punjab DGP

Salman Khan, Shah Rukh's son take drugs, don't know about Aamir: Ramdev in viral video

Blackbuck poaching case: Jodhpur court defers hearing till Jan 27

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

New Delhi, Jan 25: Jodhpur court on Wednesday deferred the judgement till January 27 in the blackbuck poaching case against bollywood actor Salman Khan.

Khan and several other actors were accused of poaching blackbucks on the midnight of October 1-2, 1998 during the filming of Hindi movie Hum Saath Saath Hain. Two blackbucks, protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, were killed on the outskirts of Kankani village near Jodhpur.

On Jan 18, Khan was acquitted by a Jodhpur court in an Arms Act case linked to the killing of a blackbuck 19 years ago.

The prosecution witnesses have already recorded their statements in the court. The accused in the case, including Khan, will record their statements in the 1998 case.

OneIndia News (with IANS inputs)
Calling Modi ahead of Putin, Jingpin or Abe shows Trump's willingness to bolster Indo-US ties

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

US President Donald Trump calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi before Moscow, Beijing or Tokyo shows his willingness to bolster India-US ties. Many observers see Trump's surge to power as similar to that of Modi winning 2014 Lok Sabha elections as both had made nationalist pitch to the electorate.

An Economic Times report says that Trump had identified India as one of the countries he would have a special relationship with during his election campaign. The Republican Hindu Coalition had even organised events for Kashmiri Pandit terror victims and Bangladeshi Hindu victims.

Modi was the fifth world leader that Trump called since assuming office. He had called heads of Canada and Mexico on Saturday and those of Israel and Egypt on Sunday.

Modi was among the first leaders to phone Trump to congratulate him after his election victory, reported ET.

Trump has also named Ajit Pai as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, making Pai the third prominent Indian-American to make the cut in the new administration.

According to reports, Modi and Trump discussed issues such as trade, defence and terrorism during the Tuesday night's conversation.

"During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in a statement.

Besides this, they also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the US and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, the statement said.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 13:19 [IST]
Fake letter scandal: AAP suspects Congress' hand; approaches EC

India

oi-PTI

Chandigarh, Jan 25: Taking serious note of the circulation of a "fake letter" on social media, the Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Election Commission seeking its recommendation to DGP Punjab to register criminal case against those who are behind it.

In his complaint to the EC, Convener of Human Rights Cell of AAP, Navkiran Singh, said through social media a letter purportedly written by in-charge of AAP's affairs in Punjab Sanjay Singh, to the party's national convener Arvind Kejriwal has come to the party's notice, which has been found to be fake.

In the "fake letter", Sanjay was allegedly quoted as saying that the Congress is strong on 69 seats and leading on 11 seats. It also cited him as suggesting the AAP chief to reduce the number of his rallies in Punjab and bring local leaders to the fore.

"The fake letter in circulation is highly malicious and fictitious and may be the handiwork of opposition parties to mislead innocent voters of Punjab," AAP said in a statement.

In his complaint to the Chief Election Commissioner, Navkiran, said, "We request you to refer the matter to the DGP Punjab to get it investigated and to get a case registered under the relevant provisions of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for offence of forgery etc."

"Since the letter has been forged in order to jeopardise free and fair elections, urgent action is required in this regard," the party said in its complaint.

However, Sanjay took to Twitter to blame poll strategist Prashant Kishor's team, deployed by the Congress, for allegedly circulating the "fake letter".

PTI
Foundation works for Ram Mandir to be ready by October, 'garbhagriha' by Dec 2023: VHP

SC judges hearing Gyanvapi case were associated with Ayodhya matter as well

Ghost of Ram Mandir haunts UP polls, BJP promises to build temple

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, Jan 25: In every election season, Uttar Pradesh definitely has to debate on the controversial Ram Mandir issue. This time is no different. The chief of Bharatiya Janata Party in the state, Keshav Prasad Maurya, promised that if the party gets majority in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, it will build the Ram temple.

"Ram Mandir is a subject of faith. It is not going to be built in two months. The temple will be constructed after the elections. BJP will come to power with a full majority," Maurya told reporters in Delhi on Tuesday.

"We will win more than 300 seats and form the next government in UP," he added.

Maurya targeted the Samajwadi Party and accused the ruling party in the state of promoting gundagardi (felony).

"The main issues for the upcoming elections are governance and corruption. We want to weed out gundagardi from UP," he added.

The upcoming UP assembly elections -- scheduled to start from February 11-- is an elaborate affair. The state will go to elections in seven phases. The polling dates are February 11, February 15, February 19, February 23, February 27, March 4 and March 8, 2017. The counting of votes in the state Vidhan Sabha, consisting of 403 assembly seats, will take place on March 11.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 10:36 [IST]
Government unsure if it will tax cash transactions above Rs. 50,000

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, Jan 25: The Finance Ministry on Wednesday clarified that a final call on the recommendations of the panel of Chief Ministers, which includes a tax on cash transactions above Rs 50,000, is yet to be made.

"The recommendations of the committee (on digital payments, headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu) will be carefully examined and appropriate decisions will be taken in due course," the ministry said. "The committee has submitted an interim report to the government. The government has not yet taken any final view on the recommendations of the committee."

The panel said the government must tax cash transactions above Rs 50,000, abolish banks' interest on credit card transactions, give tax refund to consumers on digital payments and extend Rs 1,000 subsidy on smart phones to non income-tax payees to promote a less-cash digital economy. The report was submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

The high-powered panel was asked to suggest measures to enable all sections of the population to migrate to digital payments, and recommend measures to leapfrog to the advanced digital payment systems of global standards. It was constituted on November 30 last year after the government demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

"To curb use of cash for large transactions consider a levy of banking cash transaction tax on transactions of Rs 50,000 and above. Consider a cap on maximum allowable limit of cash in all types of large size transactions," it said among its various recommendations.

IANS

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 14:33 [IST]
How ISI brought back its fake currency operatives post demonetisation

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The November 8 decision on demonetisation brought a grinding halt to the fake currency network. Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence had invested a lot in terms of money and manpower to ensure that this racket spread deep into the Indian monetary system.

However today, several operatives who were specifically appointed for this, are jobless. For the ISI, they are prized operatives who are capable of penetrating several countries in a bid to wreck havoc in India.

[Also read: With Rs 500, 1,000 notes out, Modi wiped out a Rs 12,00,000 crore fake currency racket]

Today, the ISI is rehabilitating these operators who are largely based in Dubai, Nepal, Pakistan and India. The ongoing investigation into the train derailment cases exposed a network of the ISI which was the same one that looked after the fake currency racket.

How ISI rehabilitated the fake currency operatives:

Names such as Shafi Shaikh and Shamshul Huda are not unknown to the Indian agencies. These names have been in circulation for the past 10 years and the investigations clearly suggested that they were the ones running the fake currency racket.

Shaikh is a Dubai-based operative of Pakistan origin. He has been in Dubai for a little over 10 years. His job is to oversee the inflow of the fake currency into the Indian market. Pakistan often prints the fake notes and sends them across to the United Arab Emirates. This consignment is then moved into Nepal before making its way into India.

This is a route that had been adopted by these operatives after India increased the heat on the direct route between Pakistan and Nepal.

Huda too, has been a key player. Based out of Nepal he takes orders from Shaikh. Huda is also the person who deals directly with the operatives in India. His direct points of contact have been in Bihar and West Bengal.

Now with the Bihar police suggesting that the Kanpur derailment in November could have been the handiwork of the ISI, investigations have shown that the same persons were behind it. Yet again, the trail and the route was the same. Shaikh takes orders from Pakistan and in turn instructs Huda in Nepal. Huda activates his module in Bihar and instructs them to carry out the attack.

An Intelligence Bureau official says that if investigations prove an ISI hand in the train accidents, and it becomes clear that the ISI used it same fake currency network to engineer these incidents as well.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 16:35 [IST]
Jallikattu violence: Protesters were warned of 'anti-nationals'

India

oi-Anusha

Intelligence inputs have stated that warnings about 'agenda-based groups' attempting to penetrate the Jallikattu protests went unheeded and that this negligence may have led to the violence that Chennai witnessed on Monday. In a leaderless agitation, with no clear representation, the Marina protest had become a free for all and the opportunity was ripe to peddle 'anti-national' agenda, said state intelligence officers.

Celebrities like actor Raghava Lawrence, RJ Balaji, Hip-hop Tamizha who soon became the face of Jallikattu protests at Marina beach also became the point of contact for many in authority. Some were also warned of anti-social and anti-national elements attempting to divert attention from Jallikattu and propagate agenda-based ideologies but no warnings were paid any heed.

Days of peaceful protests ended with arson, blockade, violence and vandalism across the city of Chennai. The same was prophetically conveyed to the protesters after strong intelligence inputs, claim officers. "The crowds were overwhelming. Most announcements were made on public address systems but sensitive issues could not be addressed on the same. We tried to speak to representatives but, neither were they actual leaders nor was the crowd willing to listen to them. Because of the heterogeneous nature of the crowd, there was no single point of communication. Making the crowd understand that there were anti-national and anti-social elements mingling with genuine protesters became difficult," said an officer on the condition of anonymity.

Vested interests wanted to keep protests going

Officials also believe that the Marina movement went beyond a students' movement on day three. Posters against India, placards threatening to boycott republic day, people propagating anti-India sentiments emerged on day three of the protests. Many volunteers were supplying food, water and biscuit packets and none know where all the supplies came from. Officials believe that some of the packets were distributed to protesters with anti-India, pro-LTTE, anti-national messages on them. "Our first instinct when anti-India material emerged was to use the student volunteers on the ground to curb such messages but not much could be done once again since this was a leaderless protest," an officer added.

What started off as a protest demanding Jallikattu soon turned into a never-ending list of demands by protesters. "First they said they were condemning the inaction by Tamil Nadu government when the government acted they protested demanding Jallikattu event. An ordinance was passed on Saturday and the protesters were informed that the event would take place on Sunday. Once again they extended protests and demanded a permanent solution," claimed an officer who was present at Marina since the day protests began.

"Despite the promise of a bill in the assembly, they were not ready to give up. Each time a section of the protesters agreed to leave Marina, a handful would emotionally threaten them to extend protest. Since it was an emotionally fuelled protest, it was very easy for a handful of people to dictate the path of protest. The situation got difficult when some people stopped others from leaving Marina despite the bill on Jallikattu being passed. Keeping the protest alive for vested interests was the aim of those who infiltrated the Jallikattu protests," he added.

The videos shot by the Chennai police are being verified by experts to identify those who engaged the protesters at Marina with anti-national issues and attempted to spread hatred for a person, party and ideology. Officials also claimed that while those involved in violence are being identified and will be brought to the books, the same will apply to police personnel accused of vandalism.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 14:58 [IST]
Mallya loan case: Money diverted illegally to offshore accounts?

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, Jan 25: On Tuesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a charge sheet accusing liquor baron Vijay Mallya of conspiracy and cheating in the Rs 900 crore IDBI Bank loan case. The case does not restrict itself to the diversion of the loan amount, but also the sanction of the credit too.

[Also Read: Rs 900 crore IDBI bank loan case: Mallya charged with cheating, conspiracy]

There are allegations that rules were bent to sanction the loan to Kingfisher Airlines. The loan was granted despite KFA having negative ratings and a credit previously granted to the now defunct company, the CBI said in the charge sheet.

Money trail

The total loan amount was around Rs 900 crore. First a short term loan of Rs 150 crore was granted to KFA in 2009. The group of companies repaid Rs 100 crore. The second loan was of Rs 750 crore. Out of this, Rs 81 crore was given back by KFA to the Airport Authority of India, Rs 10 crore to oil companies and Rs 17 crore to catering.

The CBI also states that Rs 50 crore went towards income tax payments, Rs 55 crore to settle the documentary bill discounted by the Bank of Baroda and Rs 86 crore to Axis Bank for local payments.

Further it was found that Rs 21 crore was towards interest payments for earlier loans and Rs 290 crore for foreign remittances. An amount of Rs 3.45 crore was paid into a bank account of KFA in London.

The CBI says Rs 422 crore had gone to offshore accounts. This was mainly for leasing companies. What the CBI is trying to find out if these leasing companies were genuine in nature. We are ascertaining all the information, CBI officials said. The CBI added that an amount of Rs 262 crore was diverted by the company for personal use.

OneIndia News
Blow to Nitish Kumar as 5 of 6 MLAs from JD(U) join BJP in Manipur

Manipur: Two ex-Congress MLAs join BJP

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Two Manipur MLAs, who had resigned from the Congress party on Monday, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday ahead of the assembly polls in the state. Former TMC MP Kim Gangte has also joined the BJP.

Congress MLAs Nemcha Kipgen, Vungjagin Valte and ex MP (TMC) Kim Gangte join BJP ahead of Manipur general assembly election 2017 pic.twitter.com/wvZek8TKPp  ANI (@ANI_news) January 25, 2017

Congress legislators Nemcha Kipgen and Vungzagin Valte had submitted their resignation letters to party president TN Haokip as well as to speaker Th Lokeshwor on Monday

With the resignation, the strength of Congress went down to 45 seats in the 60-member Manipur assembly. Kipgen was elected in the last assembly polls from Kangpokpi constituency. Valte was MLA representing Thanlon assembly constituency.

Last year, three veteran Congress heavyweights N Biren, Y Erabot and Francis Ngajokpa had resigned and joined the BJP.

Elections for the 60-member Manipur assembly will be held in two phases, on March 4 and March 8.

OneIndia News
Burqa clad woman who hurled bomb at CRPF camp is member of rabid Asiya Andrabi headed Dukhtaran-e-Milat

X, Y, Z, Z+ and SPG: The whys and hows of security categories in India

In a first, CRPF appoints 2 women cadre officers as IG of RAF, Bihar sector

Mans best friend turned martyred comrade: CRPFs tribute to Pluto

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi: Pluto, the sniffer dog of the Central Reserve Police Force, was killed in an IED blast in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur region on Tuesday. The IED, laid down by the Naxals, exploded in the Murdanda area of Bijapur.

The incident took place early Tuesday morning when a team of CRPF's 229th battalion under Awapalli police station limits was carrying out a search operation.

Pluto, a German shepherd, was a fresh inductee to the battalion.

The CRPF forces paid tribute to their fallen comrade both on social media and by giving Pluto a martyr's farewell.

We look at the life and times of Pluto, the CRPF's sniffer dog.

Able to leap tall buildings Pluto seen here leaping over an makeshift steeplechase during a trial course. Never tire of tyres Pluto scampers over a pile of tyres part of an obstacle course during an obstacle course run. Nets, no trouble Another image of Pluto seen here climbing deftly over an hurdle draped with nets. Ears like a dog Sitting at attention, Pluto peers at the camera in this pic. I aint no fence-sitter Pluto jumps over a high wooden fence while clearing through an obstacle course. The dear departed The CRPF gave Pluto a fond farewell after the K9 was killed by a Maoist-primed IED. Six feet under The CRPF buried Pluto, who had recently joined the force, with full honours on Tuesday.
Cgarh cop wants Bastar to get rid of conflict zone tag, takes up 6,000 kms peace journey on bicycle

'Maoist and their dogs will be stoned out,' Bastar IG tells activists

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Bastar: Following the threat to activist Bela Bhatia, several human rights defenders and lawyers working in the insurgency-prone region of Bastar in Chhattisgarh, claim to have received a string of abusive and threatening messages purportedly from phone numbers belonging to the region's senior most police official, SRP Kalluri.

A day after activist Bela Bhatia threatened to vacate her house in Pandripani village in Bastar district by villagers, it has now emerged that a top cop has also been involved in threatening activists like her in the district.

According to an NDTV report, activists and lawyers claim that they have received abusive messages from Bastar's Inspector General SRP Kalluri, who allegedly called them 'dogs' and said they should be 'stoned out of Bastar'.

Activists claimed that they were sent the abusive messages because they asked Kalluri to intervene in Bela Bhatia's case.

In a message to Kalluri this Tuesday, Sandeep Singh, an activist wrote "This can't go (on for) long. You are not above the constitution. Don't sell your conscience for money." The response he claims to have received reads, 'Maoists and their dogs like you will be stoned out of Bastar. Beware.'

NDTV also accessed the exchange of messages between Pyoli Swatija, a Supreme Court lawyer with the top cop.

'Please ensure Bela Bhatia is not hounded out of her residence,' Swatija wrote to which Kalluri allegedly responded: 'Naxals will be kicked out of Bastar.' 'What does your answer have to do with my query?' she texted back. The only response she received was a curt 'F U'.

Bhatia was threatened in Chhattisgarh's Bastar on Monday and was warned to leave the area within 24 hours. Around 30 men barged inside Bhatia's home where she was allegedly threatened by death and told to leave immediately. The assailants also threatened to burn down her home is she refused to leave.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 11:41 [IST]
Meenakshi Amma: Granny with a sword!

She is India's oldest woman Kalaripayattu exponent, a centuries-old martial art form

Chintakindi Mallesham: Weaver of hopes

He is the inventor of the ASU machine who significantly reduced the time and menial labour required to weave Pochampalli silk sarees.

Daripalli Ramaiah: The tree man

He has dedicated his life to make India green, and has planted over 1 crore trees!

Bipin Ganatra: The fire fighter

He is famous across Kolkata for being there to rescue people whenever there is fire, without fear for his own life.

Suniti Solomon: AIDS crusader

Dr Solomon diagnosed India's first AIDS case in 1985.

Subroto Das: The highway messiah

Dr Das provides immediate medical help to road accident victims on highways.

Bhakti Yadav: Doctor dadi

Dr Yadav is 91, and has been treating patients for free for the last 68 years.

Girish Bhardwaj: The dam maker

Bhardwaj has built more than 100v low-cost and eco-friendly suspension bridges connecting remote villages across India

Balbir Singh Seechewal: The eco baba

He has resurrected the 160-km long kali Bein River in Punjab by mobilising local volunteers.

Anuradha Koilrala: The saviour mother

Koirala has rescued and rehabilitated 12,000 sex trafficking victims, and prevented over 45,000 others.
Priyanka's campaign for UP polls: Good luck to Congress!

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, Jan 25: The list of star campaigners released by the Congress for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections 2017 has the name of Priyanka Gandhi. Her name is among the 40 released by the party for the crucial UP polls where the Congress is battling it out with its alliance partner, the Samajwadi Party.

Priyanka has always worked for the Congress from 'behind the scenes'. Although she has access to the party strategy, the question is how much of a difference will she make to the Congress' fortunes in the polls.

She has been compared to her grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, and party leaders say that she is the one who can carry forward the legacy. When the party announced its alliance with the SP, party leaders made sure that they give due credit to Priyanka for 'sealing the deal'. "It was only after Priyanka stepped in that the alliance was formed," a Congress leader told OneIndia.

Will Priyanka make a difference?

If we compare the 'success rate' of her campaign in 2014, it looks unlikely that Priyanka will make a major impact in 2017. Priyanka hardly makes any public appearances. She surfaces only during elections and this is a huge 'negative'.

However, political analysts say that she is a better bet than her brother Rahul since Priyanka enjoys great deal of popularity across UP. In comparison to her brother, Priyanka is more popular among the young voters. She is being pitched heavily in UP since the Congress vice president has clearly failed to capture the imagination of voters in favour of the party.

While the Congress feels that Priyanka is a better bet, we need to look into the 'Robert Vadra factor' which might stand in her way. In the run up to the UP polls, the Congress had strategically pitched her name. When the alliance formation looked shaky, Congress sources said that it was Priyanka who finally stepped in and ensured that things went on smoothly.

It is clear that the Congress is trying to portray her as the face of the party. For Priyanka, the UP polls will be an acid test. The Congress will fight the elections in 105 seats in UP. An analysis shows, the party is likely to win 50-60 seats.

OneIndia News
Punjab polls: Rahul Gandhi to 'attack' Badals during his campaign trail

India

oi-PTI

Chandigarh, Jan 25: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will campaign for party candidates in some of the key constituencies in poll-bound Punjab from Friday. Congress will go on a mega offensive against the Badals and state minister Bikram Singh Majithia, with Gandhi, along with the party's state unit chief Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu, ready to take on the Akali leaders on their home turfs , a party release said.

Gandhi will arrive in Punjab on a three-day visit, the highlights of which will be joint public rallies with Amarinder and Sidhu in Majitha, Jalalabad and Lambi. "Rahul's tour will raise Congress' campaign pitch in Punjab, where the public mood is clearly in favour of the party," the release said.

While Singh is taking on Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in Lambi Assembly constituency, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is contesting Jalalabad seat. Majitha is the battleground for the Badals's kin and close associate Bikram Singh Majithia.

"Gandhi's campaign will scale up Congress' offensive in all these three assembly segments and will further strengthen the wave in the party's favour in the state," the release said.

Besides these three key assembly constituencies, Gandhi will also campaign in Rampura Phul, Talwandi Sabo and Bathinda Urban, besides Majthia, on January 27 the first day of his visit, followed by Jalalabad, Budhlada and Dhuri on January 28, when he will also meet industrialists in Ludhiana.

January 29 has been scheduled for his public meetings in Gidderbaha and Lambi. Other senior Congress leaders are already in Punjab to support the party's campaign in the state.

PTI
Republic Day: India put on 'very' high alert

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

New Delhi, Jan 25: A high alert has been sounded in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of Republic Day. Intelligence Bureau officials issued the 'Grade A' alert and instructed security agencies to prioritise it as 'very high.'

Security around Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine has been tightened following this alert. There is also high security in Jammu and Kashmir's temple town Katra. Other parts of the state too have been placed under 'very' high alert.

IB officials said that the threat perception in Jammu and Kashmir in particular is very high. While the alerts issued for other parts of the country are general in nature, the one for the Valley is very specific.

J&K: High alert has been sounded in Katra ahead of #RepublicDay, security tightened around Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. pic.twitter.com/uOpVdvBzES  ANI (@ANI_news) January 25, 2017

There is specific intelligence that terrorists groups such as the Hizbul Mujahideen and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba will look to target the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine. There is also an alert that these groups may try and disrupt Replublic Day celebrations.

Meanwhile, a high alert has also been sounded in the border areas of the state as it is suspected that some militants may slip out to target the National Capital.

Recently, a video of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Hizbul Mujahideen surfaced in which the operatives are heard discussing attacks beyond Kashmir. The video suggests that the two groups are planning strikes in the national capital as well.

OneIndia News
Why is the DMK continuing to oppose the imposition of Hindi? - 50 years of struggle and the truth!

Tamil Nadu BJP demands action against those insulting the Tricolour

India

oi-PTI

Chennai, Jan 25: The BJP's Tamil Nadu unit on Wednesday alleged that the Indian flag was being 'insulted' by some persons and urged the state government and police to prevent such incidents.

BJP state president Tamilisai Sounderrajan also appealed against any insults to the national flag, saying persons doing so 'cannot be Tamils or even humans'. She claimed that there had been instances of the national flag being 'insulted' by some persons and expressed concern over it.

"Both sentiments and the law does not allow this and insulting the flag in the real world, as well as the virtual world is not acceptable," she said in a statement.

Such incidents should be avoided and those who had done so on social platforms like Facebook should immediately remove such posts, she added.

"I request the Tamil Nadu government and the police department to prevent insult to the national flag, both in person as well as on Facebook, by anybody. If they continue to do so they should be severely punished," Sounderrajan demanded.

In an apparent reference to the recent pro-jallikattu protests, she said 'anti-national forces which sneaked among youth had diverted a good movement and such anti-nationals could also do this'.

The tricolour's respect should be upheld, she said while extending Republic Day greetings.

Recently, Tamil musician 'hiphop Tamizha' Aadhi had announced backing out of the pro-jallikattu protests, alleging presence of 'anti-national' elements. He alleged that he had come across insult to the national flag during the protests at Coimbatore and that some had even tried to give a communal colour to it.

PTI
UP elections: SP-Cong alliance calls Modi, Shah 'baharwale' in campaign

India

oi-Anusha

A day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav kick-started his campaign, the SP-Congress alliance is ready with its joint pitch against the Bharatiya Janata Party and Narendra Modi in particular. The alliance will pitch Akhilesh Yadav and All India Congress Committee vice president Rahul Gandhi as 'UP ki ladke' (the UP boys) against 'baharwale' (outsiders) Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in their joint campaigns.

Rahul Gandhi has held his parliament seat from Amethi for over a decade, while Akhilesh Yadav drove SP to victory in Uttar Pradesh assembly polls in 2012. Their alliance is now all set to project this familiarity that the leaders share with the voters of Uttar Pradesh as their strength as against a Narendra Modi and Amit Shah who are 'outsiders' to the state. While Priyanka Gandhi and Dimple Yadav will have a key role to play in the campaigns, Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh will jointly don the image of boys next door that people will easily connect with. The alliance is attempting to make a 'apne ladke' perception on the voters.

Given the favourable results to the BJP in most exit polls, the alliance's primary focus becomes discrediting the BJP and this pitch is aimed at the same. The 'baharwale' jibe is not new to Modi who was taunted on similar lines when he contested from Varanasi in the 2013 parliamentary polls that brought him a thumping victory.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 11:14 [IST]
What India expects from Abu Dhabhi's crown prince's visit

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

India hopes that the visit by Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan will help boost ties. The crown prince is in New Delhi to attend the Republic Day celebrations as a chief guest.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a special gesture by receiving Nahyan at the airport. During his visit, he would hold talks on issues ranging from counter-terrorism, investments and energy security. According to the ministry of external affairs several Memoranda of Understanding relating to defence cooperation, maritime partnership among other issues would be signed.

Following Modi's visit to Abu Dhabi in 2015, cooperation between the two nations has been stepped up considerably. Both countries work closely on security related issues and this visit to New Delhi will only enhance it further, MEA officials say.

The visit will also help enhance the cooperation between the two countries in counter-terrorism. The two countries are working closely on issues relating to the Islamic State. Several persons have been deported from the UAE in the past year.

Apart from the Islamic State, the UAE has also helped India in identifying properties of criminals wanted by India. Cooperation while dealing with Indian Mujahideen operatives too has been extended.

Apart from this the MEA feels that UAE may become a strategic partner and help in filling up one of Indias strategic oil reserves. Negotiations to this effect are at a final stage, MEA officials say.

OneIndia News
7-yr-old Syrian blogger Bana Alabed appeals to Trump

International

oi-PTI

Istanbul, Jan 25: Seven-year-old Syrian girl Bana al-Abed, who came to international attention with her tweets giving a tragic account of the war in Aleppo, has written an open letter to new US President Donald Trump.

In her letter Bana, who was evacuated from the besieged city to Turkey in December, appealed to Trump to help the children of Syria, the BBC reported on Monday. "I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war," she wrote, according to a transcript of the letter her mother sent to the BBC.

She told Trump her school in Aleppo was destroyed by the bombing and some of her friends had died. "Right now in Turkey, I can go out and enjoy. I can go to school although I didn't yet. That is why peace is important for everyone including you.

"However, millions of Syrian children are not like me right now and suffering in different parts of Syria," she wrote. "You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you."

At least 15,000 children are among the more than 300,000 people who have been killed in Syria's six-year war between President Bashar al-Assad's regime and rebel forces.

Through her tragic descriptions of life in besieged Aleppo on her @AlabedBana Twitter account, Bana became a symbol of the tragedy unfolding in Syria, although the government had slammed her and her mother's nearly daily tweets as propaganda.

Turkey, which backs the Syrian rebels, is hosting some 2.7 million refugees from the conflict. Syrian rebels and Assad's government are holding peace talks in Kazakhstan but there have been no signs of a breakthrough.

Trump's administration was invited to participate in the talks organised by key players Russia, Turkey and Iran but did not send a delegation. Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday that the new US president was open to conducting joint operations with Russia to combat the Islamic State group, who control significant territory in northern Syria.

PTI
Five years of demonetisation: Notes in circulation on rise; so are digital payments

PM Modi should admit that demonetistion a failure: Owaisi on cash seizure in UP

'A big failure': What Chinese media calls demonetisation

International

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

A Chinese media report has dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's demonetisation move as 'a big failure'.

The report, published as an op-ed in the state-run Global Times on Wednesday, said that the note ban had pushed the Indian economy back by a decade. It further criticised the move for causing incovienience to people, who had to spend hours in queues outside banks and ATMs.

In a scathing attack on the devalution of high-value denominations, the paper said, "This facade of demonetisation is like promising homeless people houses on Mars in one month's time. Unfortunately, the reality is that demonetization has put the Indian economy back by at least a decade, leading to job losses.'

The op-ed made reference of the long queues that were seen outside banks and ATMs in the aftermath of the move. "Furthermore, it resulted in severe mental and physical trauma for older citizens who spend hours in bank queues, where some have even died," said the paper.

The op-ed also pointed out to the problems Indians faced amidst calls to transfer transactions to a digital medium.

"How then can India switch from a primarily cash-based economy to a digital one overnight in the absence of the required infrastructure?" the daily asked.

"This whole exercise is devoid of any sense or logic," the op-ed stated.

Prime Minister Modi had, on November 8, announced that old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 would cease to be legal tenders. The move led to massive cash crunch as 86 per cent of all currency was declared invalid in one go.

The government then introduced new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 to replace the old ones.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 15:56 [IST]
Donald Trump signs order to build US-Mexico wall

International

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Washington, Jan 26: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed immigration actions and an order to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.

Trump, while signing the order said; "'We've been talking about this right from the beginning." White House Spokesman Sean Spicer said that the first executive order will begin with the building of a large physical barrier on the southern border.

One of the orders Donald Trump signed, White House said would jump start construction of a wall on the border with Mexico. The other order signed by US President defunds sanctuary cities like Los Angeles, New York and Chicago that harbour illegal immigrants.

While signing the order Trump told Department of Homeland Security employees that, "A nation without borders is not a nation". He also was quoted, "Beginning today the United States of America...gets back its borders."

Sean Spicer while addressing reporters said: "Mexico will end up paying for the wall one way or another."

During his election campaign, Trump had said that he would build a wall along the US-Mexico border and will make Mexico pay for the same. Trump had also vowed to launch a crackdown on illegal immigrants in the country.

OneIndia News
India-America 'true friends': Trump invites Modi to visit US

International

oi-PTI

Washington, Jan 25: Describing India as a "true friend" of the US, President Donald Trump invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the country later this year, the White House said on Tuesday, after both the leaders spoke over phone and discussed issues such as trade, defence and terrorism.

Trump spoke to Modi on Tuesday night over phone, four days after he was sworn-in as the 45th President of America. "During a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Trump emphasised that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," the White House said in a readout of the call.

"President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in the US later this year," the White House said. The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.

Besides this, they also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that the US and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism, the readout said.

After Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the November 8 general elections, Modi was among the first five world leaders to have congratulated Trump. During his gruelling election campaign, India is among the few countries in addition to Israel with whom Trump spoke of strengthening ties if elected to power.

On January 21, Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican Premier Pena Nieto. On Sunday, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and on Monday he had a telephonic conversation with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

PTI
India concerned about walking back from Paris Climate Agreement

International

oi-PTI

New York, Jan 25: Amid concerns that a Trump administration could withdraw the US from the ambitious Paris Climate agreement, India has said "walking back" from commitments made to implement the landmark deal "can harm us all".

The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the Paris Agreement "explicitly acknowledge a collective responsibility along with the need to assist those who require support", Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs Sujata Mehta said at a high-level dialogue on synergies between the 2030 Agenda and Sustaining peace here yesterday.

She, however, voiced concern that developments following the adoption of the landmark agreements have been "less than encouraging". "Regrettably, the signs of push-back on commitments by traditional donors towards assisting in the implementation of these two landmark agreements, that can actually and in very practical terms transform human societies, for our collective betterment, place a question mark on any such prospects. Walking back from commitments made can harm us all," she said. US President Donald Trump, who assumed office last week, has expressed skepticism about climate change, raising concerns that he could withdraw the US from the Paris deal on combating global warming.

The new UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had also said at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week that business was the "best allies" to shield the Paris climate deal from "the possibility of less supportive action of some governments", making a veiled reference to Trump.

Mehta said India is pushing strongly ahead with implementing an ambitious agenda on sustainable development and climate change, and to partner with developing countries and the UN for capacity building and other forms of assistance in longer term global development efforts. She added that peace and security are now shared and indivisible concepts, which depend on longer term equitable sustainable development.

"This requires a strong commitment to the implementation of the SDGs by national governments, strongly facilitated by a spirit of genuine global partnership." Addressing the event, Guterres highlighted the importance of recognising the links between sustainable development and sustaining peace amid such intertwined global challenges as rising inequality, protracted conflicts and climate change.

"We need a global response that addresses the root causes of conflict, and integrates peace, sustainable development and human rights in a holistic way  from conception to execution," Guterres said. The universal nature of the 2030 Agenda  adopted by the Assembly in September 2015 as a plan to tackle poverty, inequality and other global challenges  and its pledge to leave no one behind ties it to sustaining peace, he explained.

"Our priority is prevention  prevention of conflict, of the worst effects of natural disasters, and of other manmade threats to the cohesion and wellbeing of societies," Guterres stressed, noting that the best means of prevention, and of sustaining peace, is inclusive and sustainable development.

PTI

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 11:55 [IST]
Israel pushes ahead on settlements

International

oi-PTI

Jerusalem, Jan 25: Israel announced plans today to build 2,500 more settler homes on the West Bank, moving to step up construction just days after the swearing-in of Donald Trump brought to power a US administration seen as friendly to the settlement movement.

"We are building and we will continue to build," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a Facebook post. The Trump White House had no immediate comment. Its response could set the tone for the next four years of Mideast diplomacy. While Trump has signaled that he will be far more tolerant of Israeli settlement construction than his predecessors, he also has expressed a desire to broker a peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians, and siding closely with Israel on such a contentious matter could hurt US credibility.

Netanyahu repeatedly clashed with President Barack Obama over settlement construction. Obama, like the rest of the international community, considered the building of settlements on occupied lands claimed by the Palestinians to be an obstacle to peace. Those tensions boiled over last month when the Obama White House allowed the UN Security Council to pass a resolution condemning the settlements as illegal.

Trump harshly criticised Obama for going against Israel and promised a new approach after taking office, raising hopes inside Israel's nationalist government for a new era in relations. Trump has already invited Netanyahu to visit the White House next month, and both men, after speaking on the phone Sunday, promised close coordination on a range of sensitive matters. Netanyahu's office would not say whether he had consulted with the White House before today's announcement, but just a day earlier, the prime minister told a meeting of his Likud Party that there should be no surprises for the new president.

The construction plans were announced by Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who said in a statement that he and Netanyahu agreed on the approval "in response to housing needs." He said most of the housing units will be built in settlement "blocs," densely populated areas where most settlers already live and which Israel wants to keep under its control under any future peace deal with the Palestinians.

PTI
Fact Check: Old images of Imran Khan shared as ones from recent shooting incident

Sharif urges Japan to remove Pakistan from travel advisory list

International

oi-PTI

Islamabad, Jan 25: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday asked Japan to lift the travel advisory asking its citizens to avoid visiting Pakistan.

Sharif, who met the Japanese envoy Takashi Kurai at the PM House in Islamahbad, said that law and order situation has improved significantly as a consequence of operation 'Zarb-e-Azb' and the country hoped that Japan would review Pakistan's inclusion in travel advisory.

The travel advisory, issued by the Japanese government, identifies different risk zones in Pakistan and advises its citizens to be 'evacuated immediately' from terror-infected border regions with Afghanistan including Baluchistan, and several parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Gilgit Baltistan.

Punjab and Sindh are placed in level 2 risk zone, where citizens are advised to suspend all 'non-essential travel'. Several other countries, including the US, UK, and Canada, have issued similar travel advisories for their citizens, asking them not to travel to Pakistan, after a series of major terror attacks rocked the country.

The drying up of tourists from some of the world's biggest economies has badly impacted Pakistan's nascent tourism industry and has destroyed a much-needed source of earning foreign currency.

Sharif also said that Pakistan regards Japan as a 'close friend' and a 'reliable economic partner', according to an official statement. He said that Pakistan looks forward to greater level of cooperation between the two countries particularly in the areas of trade, investment, infrastructure and energy.

"PM stated that both sides need to initiate negotiations on bilateral Free Trade Agreement," the statement said.

The Prime Minister also welcomed Japanese companies to invest in Pakistan that would enhance the capacity of the country's industrial sector to produce value added goods.

PTI
Theresa May will not address Irish parliament

International

oi-PTI

Dublin, Jan 24: British Prime Minister Theresa May has turned down a rare invitation to address the Irish parliament during an official visit scheduled for next week, her Irish counterpart Enda Kenny said today.

"My understanding is that the prime minister's schedule will not allow that to happen and I am not in control of that schedule. Obviously, when details are absolutely finalised, we will be aware of those," Kenny told lawmakers. Dublin is yet to confirm the precise date for next week's visit, during which Kenny will hold a meeting with the British prime minister.

The invitation to address parliament was sent to May's office earlier this month, following earlier confirmation of the one-day visit to discuss the implications for both countries of Britain's decision to leave the European Union. Ireland is set to be the only country in the EU to share a land border with Britain after it leaves the bloc, leading to considerable concerns in Dublin over the implications of a return to border controls with Northern Ireland.

Finances will also likely be discussed during the bilateral meeting, as Britain is the country's single biggest trading partner. Had May accepted Kenny's invitation to address parliament she would have been the second British prime minister to do so, after Tony Blair in 1998 after the signing of an historic peace accord in Northern Ireland to end three decades of violence.

PTI

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 13:58 [IST]
Trump asks FBI director Comey to continue

International

oi-PTI

Washington, Jan 25: US President Donald Trump has asked FBI Director James Comey, who faced criticism over his handling of an inquiry into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email, to stay on the job despite their differences, according to a media report.

Comey told his top law enforcement agents from around the country that he had been asked by President Trump to stay on the job, according to people familiar with the matter. A decision to retain Comey would spare the president another potentially bruising confirmation battle.

It would also keep Comey at the center of the FBI's investigation into several Trump associates and their potential ties with the Russian government, The New York Times reported.

Retaining Comey could also help calm the bureau's work force, which has been rattled after a tumultuous few months in which the FBI and the director himself were sharply criticised for moves that many felt influenced the outcome of the presidential election, it said.

Comey's unusually public role in the election-season investigation into Clinton's handling of classified information on her private email server as secretary of state has made him a target of criticism from Democrats, many of whom believe he cost her the election.

The justice department's internal watchdog, earlier this month, announced an investigation into the department and the FBI's handling of the Clinton email probe. At a reception for law enforcement officials in the White House on Sunday, Trump greeted Comey with a nod to the FBI director's status.

"He's become more famous than me," CNN quoted Trump as saying.

During the campaign, Trump had harshly criticised the FBI and the justice department for not bringing criminal charges against Clinton in connection with her use of a personal email server. After Trump was elected in November, he said in a nationally televised interview that he had not made up his mind about whether he would ask Comey to resign.

Under federal law, the FBI director is appointed to a 10-year term, intended to overlap more than one administration as part of post-Watergate overhauls created to give the director independence and insulate the job from politics. The president can fire the director, though.

Comey, a former senior justice department official under President George W Bush, was appointed by President Obama in 2013. Comey will have to manage an increasingly difficult relationship with Trump and his White House, as the FBI is leading an investigation into ties between Trump''s associates - including his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort - and the Russian government, the NYT said.

As part of that inquiry, agents have examined intercepted communications and financial transactions. Comey has repeatedly declined to discuss the investigation with members of Congress.

PTI

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Story first published: Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 13:13 [IST]
Vladimir Putin greets Mukherjee, Modi on Republic Day

International

oi-PTI

Moscow, Jan 25: On the eve of Republic Day, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday greeted President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying special and privileged strategic partnership with India is an invariable priority in Russia's foreign policy.

"Over the decades of independent development, India has achieved impressive success in economic, social, scientific, technical and other spheres. Your country plays an important and constructive role in solving pressing issues of the regional and international agenda," Putin said in a congratulatory message. He said special and privileged strategic partnership with India is an invariable priority in Russia's foreign policy.

"I would like to reiterate our readiness to further strengthening of mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation in various areas. In this respect, great importance is being attached to the implementation of the map of events dedicated to the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between our countries," he added.

"With all my heart, I wish you good health and success, and to the friendly people of India  well-being and prosperity," he added.

PTI
Accused gets bail in Munirka hit-and-run case

New Delhi

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Jan 24: The 24-year-old man who had rammed his BMW into an Uber cab, killing its driver, in south Delhi's Munirka on Sunday, has been released on bail.

While the accused, Shoaib Kohli, had denied driving in an inebriated condition and said that the Uber driver, Nazrul, had applied brakes suddenly, he admitted that he was driving at close to 120/km/hr, since he wanted to reach his friend's house in Vasant Vihar fast.

The offences he was charged with are bailable, said a senior police officer. Nazrul, who was on the first day of his job, was killed on Sunday night after Shoaib's BMW had rammed into his WagonR near Munirka flyover.

The accused was arrested yesterday and was released on bail. Nazrul's family left for his hometown Murshidabad in West Bengal for his last rites.During questioning, Kohli had told police that after the incident he had run away fearing that he may be lynched by the mob, the police had said.

PTI
Need to keep dark forces of terrorism at bay: Pranab Mukherjee

New Delhi

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, Jan 25: President Pranab Mukherjee, in his address on on the eve of 68th Republic Day said that India today is one of the fastest growing major economies of the world.

Mukherjee, in his address said: "Indian democracy has been an oasis of stability in the region troubled by unrest. A healthy democracy calls for conformity to the values of tolerance, patience and respect for others."

"We have to work harder to keep at bay dark forces of terrorism; these forces have to be dealt with firmly and decisively," Mukherjee said. Speaking on demonetisation, the President said demonetisation, while immobilising black money may have led to temporary slowdown of economic activity.

"As more and more transactions become cashless, it will improve the transparency of the economy," he added.Mukherjee lamented that one-fifth of the country's people remain below the poverty line. "Our economy is yet to grow at over 10 percent for an extended period of time to make a significant dent on poverty. Gandhiji's mission to wipe every tear from every eye still remains unfulfilled," he said.

"The competitiveness of the domestic industry has to be improved by focusing on quality, productivity and efficiency," Mukherjee said stressing on the need for creating world-class manufacturing and services sectors.

"We have to work harder to change our consumption pattern which has resulted in environmental and ecological de-gradation. We have to appease nature to prevent it from unleashing its fury in the form of floods, landslides and droughts," he said.

"We have to work harder to provide safety and security to our women and children.

"We have to work harder because our pluralistic culture and tolerance are still being put to test by vested interests. Reason and moderation should be our guide in dealing with such situations," said Mukherjee.

"We have to work harder to ensure the well-being of our soldiers and security personnel who protect us from internal and external threats," he added.

(With IANS inputs)

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Islamabad is set to initiate new legislation that would merge the countrys restive northwestern Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into the adjacent province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Pakistani media reports say the cabinet is likely to approve the move soon, paving the way for legislation to formally enact reforms Islamabad has been touting for months.

The move aims to integrate the restive region into Pakistans legal, economic, and political mainstream. It will have major implications for domestic stability as well as the countrys relations with neighboring Afghanistan and its fight against terrorism.

Since 2003, more than 50,000 civilians, militants, and soldiers have died in attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, its Al-Qaeda and Central Asian militant allies, and broad Pakistani military sweeps across FATA. The fighting in FATA, a region roughly the size of Belgium with a territory of 27, 000 square kilometers, displaced more than 3 million civilians.

The likely merger is a culmination of decades-long demands, backed by most major Pakistani political parties, to grant the region equal rights and absorb it into the countrys mainstream. The debate took center stage after the region, which borders Afghanistan, became a global headquarters for Al-Qaeda and allied militant movements in the years following 9/11.

After a decade of Pakistani military operations, Islamabad claims to have rid the region of militants. Its powerful military and civilian government apparently agree on the need to reform the regions archaic governance regime in order to strengthen stability.

Former lawmaker Afrasiab Khattak says FATAs merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is an important step forward for both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

It will eliminate the stateless patch of territory available for terror syndicates, he told RFE/RLs Gandhara website. [On the downside], the Pakistani government envisages it as a drawn-out process taking at least five years and rife with roadblocks.

The move will end FATAs 70-year-old status in Pakistan as a colonial holdover, which was mainly administered under a century-old colonial law known as the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). Under the new arrangements, FATAs estimated 7 million to 15 million people will have access to the rule of law and citizenship rights granted to the countrys estimated 200 million citizens by the Pakistani supreme law.

The union will strengthen bonds between the majority Pashtun populations of the two regions. FATA is home to a dozen major Pashtun tribes while most residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are Pashtuns, as well. Over the past four decades, many FATA residents have acquired businesses and properties in the province, where the provincial capital Peshawar also serves as headquarters for the bureaucracy that deals with FATA.

Earlier this month, Pakistans states and frontier regions minister, Abdul Qadir Baloch, said Islamabad was contemplating granting FATA some $1 billion to help bring the impoverished region up to par with the rest of the country.

This amount will be in addition to funds now being given for repatriation of internally displaced people, he told the daily Dawn.

Baloch was part of a government committee that recommended major FATA reforms in an official report last August. Islamabad now aims to gradually merge FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the next five years. The region is expected to gain representation in the provincial assembly after the scheduled parliamentary polls next year.

While the provincial assembly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa adopted a resolution to welcome FATAs amalgamation accession in December, the process is not expected to be all smooth sailing.

Khattak says the merger will render the states and frontier regions ministry, the FATA Secretariat and the Governors Secretariat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa obsolete. The three bureaucracies are tasked with supervising and implementing various governance functions in FATA.

The officialdom, ruling FATA like a fiefdom, would be keen to squeeze the dying system as long as possible, and elements benefiting from the regions illegal economy will resist change, he observed.

Such skepticism has prompted some politicians to question Islamabads motives. Lawmaker Mahmood Khan Achakzai, an ally of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, says the government has failed to take FATAs population into confidence.

The government has taken everyone on board apart from the people of FATA, he told journalists. Everyone is talking about reforms in FATA, but no one has asked the views of the people for whom the reforms are intended.

He noted that the official reform committee paid cursory visits to the seven tribal districts and six more territories that collectively form FATA. The entire exercise lasted for just eight days, he said.

Achakzais Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party is holding consultations over the merger next week.

No one in FATA is against reforms and development, but they need to be consulted extensively, he said. It feels like the fate of a conquered territory is being decided.

Ayaz Wazir, a former diplomat and advocate of FATA rights, said he agrees.

We do not intend to demand anything outside the democratic norms, he said. Now that the fate of FATA is being decided, its estimated 15 million residents should be asked about what they want.

fg/
Rumble 11 Feb 2022

We took a couple of hikes while at the Badlands. This is the hike to The Notch. The Notch is one of three trails you can access..
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network. Greenpeace was founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity" and focuses its campaigning on worldwide issues such as climate change, deforestation, overfishing, commercial whaling, genetic engineering, and anti-nuclear issues. It uses direct action, lobbying, research, and ecotage to achieve its goals.
BBC News 19 Jan 2021

The installation allowed children to play together from both sides of the US-Mexico border.
NYT reported that investigators believed some of the documents were so critical to national security that the DOJ had no choice but..

Business Insider 11 Aug 2022
Rumble 12 Sep 2022

Olivia Wilde is currently promoting her new film, Don't Worry Darling, but has gotten plenty of negative attention for..
Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York:

Los Angeles-based firm Steel Partners is planning to raise a new $500 million hedge fund, the S-III Opportuniity Fund. The fundraise would be the first new fund for activist investor and Steel Partners founder, Warren Lichtenstein, in over twenty years. The fundraise was first reported by Reuters, citing an investor letter.

Steel Partners last fund - Steel Partners II launched in 1993.

According to the Reuters piece, the Opportunity fund will look to invest in pieces of publicly traded companies. The new vehicle will differ from Steel Partners II, which is now a publicly traded entity known as Steel Partners Holdings and buys whole companies.

Lichtenstein will lead the investment strategy of the new fund along with Jack Howard and Ken Kong.

The news of the new fund comes as the firm plans to hold its first ever investor day, on March 28. "We look forward, at our first-ever investor day, to showcase the exemplary company we have built over the last several years," said Warren Lichtenstein, Executive Chairman of Steel Partners said in a statement. "Our corporate and operating management teams will make presentations to review our business simplification and growth initiatives."

Steel Partners was founded in 1990 and focuses on finding companies that are growth oriented and have "simple" business models. The firm has owner......................

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Miss Pilar is a new teacher at Osage High School this year. She is here from Spain for the year through a teaching exchange.

Q: What brought you to Osage?

A: I wanted to work as a teacher here.

Q: What was your first impression of Iowa?

A: Everything works different. I had a good impression. Houses are very separated and there are lots of trees.

Q: Why did you want to teach?

A: I like teaching.

Q: Where else have you worked?

A: I have a Masters degree in Business Administratio, and I have worked in a bank, with accounting, and in international business. Ive got an internship in Germany to work in consultancy for eight months; in Austria I worked for the Spanish Chamber of Commerce for eight months too; and I started to study to become teacher after that. I have been teaching for seven years now.

Q: Who has most influenced you to become an educator?

A: A good friend, he said business was not for me, and he was totally right.

Q: How did your friend influence you?

A: He said that we were very unhappy working in business (that was very true), and that we could begin to study again and get a better job that fulfil our interests.

Q: Who has helped you most since you moved here?

A: Lots of people, and Im very thankful.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish this year?

A: To have an experience in working in the U.S. I also would like to enrich my life by teaching/learning from my students.

Q: What are your strengths as a teacher?

A: Students in Spain say that I explain well in Spanish, above all literature. Students in Spain can tell I enjoy teaching, and I think that I put a lot of energy in teaching.

Q: How long do you plan on staying?

A: For the moment, one year.

Q: How is the food different?

A: VERY, Spanish food is more healthy, not so many fast food, not so many sweets, home cooked meals, seafood, fish, paella, tortilla de patata.

Q: How do you hope to engage your students?

A: I hope they enjoy learning Spanish and dancing, writing, reading and doing projects.

Q: What grade level do you prefer?

A: I like all levels, no preference.

Q: What do you plan to be doing in five years?

A: Teaching in Spain near my family.

Q: What did you learn from this experience?

A: How the educational system works here and how life is here.

Q: Did you teach before you came to the U.S.?

A: Yes, for seven years

Q: How did you learn about this job opening?

A: A program called Visiting teachers in USA and Canada.

Q: Name 3 words to describe yourself.

A: Optimistic, forgetful, cheerful

Q: What is the scariest thing about teaching?

A: When students doesnt understand because its the first time that I explain a lesson in English, and my English is not so good to explain everything.
Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia:

Hedge funds finished December 2016 up 1.05%, its third-best month of the year after March and July, said Greenwich Alternative Investments. For the whole year, the Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index gained 4.61%.

In its monthly report, Greenwich said that the positive performance of the hedge fund space was broad-based across almost every strategy tracked by the Greenwich Indices. Several strategies benefited from the continued rally in global equities, reflected in the S&P 500's 1.98% and MSCI World Equity Index's 2.29%. Bonds, as represented by the Barclays Aggregate Bond Index, snapped a 4-month losin......................

To view our full article Click here
Matthias Knab, Opalesque:

Hayne Leland, Arno Rayner Professor Emeritus of Finance and Management at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business, has been named the 2016 IAQF/Northfield Financial Engineer of the Year (FEOY).

A pioneer in the field of modern corporate finance, Hayne Leland has lead research on option pricing, capital structure and risk management has influenced the fields of banking, asset pricing, bond valuation, portfolio management, and portfolio insurance for nearly 50 years.

The award will be presented to Professor Leland at a gala dinner on Thursday, February 2, 2017 at The Yale Club in New York City. IAQF Senior Fellow Stephen Ross, 1996 Financial Engineer of the Year, will introduce Professor Leland at the event. This evening is one of the premier events on the IAQF calendar and is a phenomenal opportunity to meet many of the most notable members of the financial engineering industry.

The annual IAQF/Northfield FEOY Award, established in 1993, recognizes individual contributions to the advancement of quantitative finance. A nominating committee of approximately 100 people, consisting of all the IAQF governing boards, submits nominations which are reviewed in a two-step process by a selection committee of 25 members, including the IAQF board of directors and senior fellows. This year's selection committee was chaired by Dr. Martin Leibowitz, an IAQF senior fellow and 2014 FEOY award winner.

......................

To view our full article Click here
From The Guardian

Barack Obama left behind hints of a progressive legacy. Unfortunately, despite his faith in our system and his positive track record on many issues over the last eight years, there have been very few permanent accomplishments.

This vulnerable legacy should remind us that what we really need is a strong and unapologetic progressive to lead us. What we need as well is a relentless grassroots movement to hold that leadership accountable.

On the night of 4 November 2008, Barack Obama was elected on a platform of "hope" and "change." He was hailed as a "uniter" in an age of "dividers." I experienced a political awakening that night. I watched as the hope that President Obama represented was tempered by the shocking passage of Proposition 8 by a majority of voters in California. This reversed a major marriage equality court victory from earlier that year.

Throughout his two terms in office, these types of contradictions would persist. Optimism and hope would be met with backlash and hate. He faced unparalleled resistance from his opponents, many of whom wanted him to fail.

I remember during his first inauguration, on an icy January morning in 2009. I sat on the floor of a military headquarters office in Fort Drum, New York. With a dusty overhead television showing the ceremony, I sat, working in support of a half dozen military officers. We had our weapons ready, and our rucksacks heavily packed. Selected as the active duty army unit to deploy to Washington DC in case of an emergency, we were prepared for rapid deployment.

Ironically, many of the officers and enlisted personnel that were selected for this security detail openly despised President Obama. The seething vitriol and hatred simmered quietly in that room. In retrospect, it was an ominous foreshadowing of things to come.

On domestic issues, his instinct, as former First Lady Michelle Obama explained at the Democratic national convention this past summer, was to "go high" when his opponents would "go low." Unfortunately, no matter how "high" the former president aimed to be, his opponents aimed to undermine him anyway. There was absolutely no "low" that was too low to go.

Even when they agreed with him on policy, they resisted. For example, when it came to healthcare reform, Obama opened the debate starting with a compromise. His opponents balked. They refused to move an inch. When he would push for the concessions they asked for, they only dug in deeper in opposition. Even when he tried proposing a bill that had been proposed by opponents years earlier.

In December 2009, I sat in a hot and stuffy plywood room outside Baghdad, Iraq, as President Obama made speeches. He argued that military action was necessary. An unusual statement to present while receiving the world's most prestigious peace prize. Yet, the people around me still spoke about him quietly, with a strong criticism, and even sometimes, pure disgust. When it came to foreign policy, even though he was only carrying out the expanding national security policies of the previous administration, they would ceaselessly criticize him for being too weak, or too soft or too sympathetic. After months of comprise on his end, they never cooperated a single time.

In November 2012, when President Obama was re-elected, I sat in a civilian jail cell in suburban Baltimore, awaiting a court martial hearing. Surrounded by a different crowd of people, the excitement and elation of his re-election was genuine. Even among those being penalized merely for being disadvantaged or a minority. Even in those unbearably unfair circumstances, there was genuine hope, faith and trust in the president.

For eight years, it did not matter how balanced President Obama was. It did not matter how educated he was, or how intelligent he was. Nothing was ever good enough for his opponents. It was clear that he could not win. It was clear that, no matter what he did, in their eyes, he could not win.

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From Our Future



Mega-donors Koch Brothers' operative Marc Short

(Image by anncorcoran2016.org) Details DMCA



When the history of Donald Trump's administration is written, people may point to the appointment of a Koch Brothers' operative to a little-known White House position as a turning point in Trump's evolution from unorthodox Republican candidate to doctrinaire corporate politician.

Meet Trump Legislative Director Marc Short

Think of it as a merger, or an acquisition. His administration hires suggest that Trump, who ran a heterodox and intermittently populist (if consistently bigoted) campaign, has been joining forces with the more established corporate extremism of the Republican Party establishment.

Consider Marc Short's appointment as Director of Legislative Affairs. According to the White House website, the Office of Legislative Affairs "serves as the President's primary liaison to the United States Congress, and is responsible for advancing the President's legislative agenda on Capitol Hill."

The Director of Legislative Affairs has typically been an obscure figure, plucked from a staffer job on Capitol Hill. And while the position calls for "working with Senators, Representatives, and their staffs to promote the President's priorities" (as the White House website puts it), Great Britain's Prince Phillip may have captured a key aspect of the job more pithily when he was introduced to one of Short's predecessors some years ago:

"Ah," Prince Philip said, "the spear catcher."

But Marc Short, who is reportedly Donald Trump's choice to fill the position, is more accustomed to doling out cash than he is to catching spears. It's true that Short has some Hill experience, as chief of staff to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) and then-Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN).

Short isn't really a policy wonk. He's an operative in Republican and right-wing circles. After serving as finance director for Oliver North's failed senatorial campaign, Short reportedly helped Pence run the House Republican Conference, managed the Reagan Ranch, and was a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security under Bush.

The Kochs' Dark Money Man Peddled a Plan to Take Down Trump

Short is best known for his tenure as president of the Koch Brother's Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, the political fund organized by the Koch Brothers to advance their far-right, pro-corporate, anti-environmental agenda. While the group describes itself as a "business league," CMD noted that its fundraising cycles much more closely resemble those of a political party, complete with high-tech voter lists and opposition research.

The Washington Post described the organization as "carefully constructed with extensive legal barriers to shield its donors" and said it operated "de facto banks" that were "feeding money to groups downstream."

Freedom Partners has reportedly cut checks for as much as $63 million to support campaigns and causes beloved by the Kochs and their allies, including anti-environmental groups, the National Rifle Association, and two different groups working to repeal Obamacare, the 60 Plus Association and the Center to Protect Patient Rights (CPPR) run by Koch money man Sean Noble (who renamed the group American Encore.)

CPPR/American Encore created some bad headlines for the Kochs.

It was forced to pay huge fines as part of a settlement with California Attorney General -- now Senator -- Kamala Harris for activities that were described as "campaign money laundering," although Noble and the Kochs denied wrongdoing. Three other groups that received Freedom Partners funding were fined by the Federal Election Commission last year for violating campaign regulations.

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From Consortium News



The DAPL (Dakota Access Pipeline) being installed between farms, as seen from 50th Avenue in New Salem, North Dakota. August 25, 2016.

(Image by (Flickr Tony Webster)) Details DMCA



On his second business day in office, President Donald Trump signed executive actions to restart construction of the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, sending shockwaves through the indigenous environmental communities at Standing Rock and their supporters across the U.S. and around the world.

After Trump's actions, I spoke with Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, who has worked on various grassroots environmental issues with tribal governments to develop indigenous-based environmental protection infrastructures. He was a key organizer at the Standing Rock protests that convinced President Obama to consider alternative pipeline routes.

Dennis Bernstein: Give us your initial response, your overview.

Tom Goldtooth: Yes, our network, which is a grassroots Native organization of frontline organizations and individuals and tribal members throughout North America, are very concerned. We're very alarmed at how fast he has put this ... insane initiative forward.

["] We definitely are opposed to their recklessness, and the political motivation behind these kinds of fossil fuel development projects. As we know, [Trump] is invested in the Dakota Access Pipeline. And this is just a really bad step on his behalf, as a new-seated President of the United States.

He is violating existing, government-to-government policies between the United States and tribes, as federally recognized tribes. He never consulted... no one in his administration consulted with the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, nor any of the other federally recognized tribes, on this initiative that he is putting forward.

And so, we're very concerned as he's taken this executive action towards making the first step towards approving of the easement of the Dakota Access Pipeline across the Missouri River. So, you know, we're very concerned. We had a couple calls with members in the community at Standing Rock. Some people in leadership with the Oceti Sakowin Camp, as well as many of our other supporters. So, we definitely are bringing attention to this ... where's this going to end? [...]

We know that these kinds of pipelines are violating the private rights of private land owners, ranchers and farmers along that corridor, with threats of imminent domain. They were forced. It was a forced choice many of those private land owners were faced with, on these kinds of energy developments. So we're going to see that more under this privatization initiative that Trump has put forward around jobs and economic development. But at what expense?

DB: This is about the most blatant... one of the most blatant things I've seen in my lifetime. But this really does continue, shall we say, Columbus' American tradition of genocide... I mean, this is a white ruler acting on behalf of the white race. Wouldn't you say? It has to be seen that way.

TG: It's a continuation of those colonial policies that are at the foundation of the United States. And throughout past decades under social justice and environmental justice movement initiatives, we begin to try to unwrap these colonial policies built upon racism. And here we are. We got a president in office that is racist and, many people say, is a fascist. And so, this is just another continuing practice that we have to stop. We have to mobilize and stop this right now.

Like I said, this initiative is indicating to us, right now, that he doesn't respect the sovereignty rights of our American Indians and our Alaskan Natives. And this decision he's making, if he moves forward and implements this action with these executive orders, it's going to violate the treaty rights of the Lakota/Dakota people. But where's it going to stop? It's going to violate, again, all of our Native rights. So, we've spoken out against this pipeline and the Black Snake initiative, with all these pipelines. And Trump is portraying his true self, joining forces with that darkness.



Protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 13, 2016

(Image by (Flickr Fibonacci Blue)) Details DMCA



There's no light in his decisions. These prairie lands are very rich culturally, and environmentally, and it's a very spiritual relationship our people have with the land. And he's violating that, as well.

DB: It seems that all the actions at Standing Rock were, in a way, preparation for the resistance of this next level of violence. Would you say that the work that people have done will do them well, in terms of the continued resistance? And perhaps people are already thinking about that, in deep ways?

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The US National Intelligence Council has predicted a nuclear war between India and Pakistan in 2028. The prediction came in the Council report released recently under the title: Global Trends: Paradox of Progress.

Every four years since 1997, the National Intelligence Council has published an unclassified strategic assessment of how key trends and uncertainties might shape the world over the next 20 years to help senior US leaders think and plan for the longer term.

The report is timed to be especially relevant for the administration of a newly elected US President, but Global Trends increasingly has served to foster discussions about the future with people around the world, according to the Council.

About the South Asia, the report said India will be the world's fastest growing economy during the next five years as China's economy cools and growth elsewhere sputters, but internal tensions over inequality and religion will complicate its expansion. .".. "Pakistan will feel compelled to address India's economic and conventional military capabilities through asymmetric means. Pakistan will seek to enhance its nuclear deterrent against India by expanding its nuclear arsenal and delivery means, including pursuing "battlefield nuclear weapons" and sea-based options."

At-sea deployments of nuclear weapons by India, Pakistan, and perhaps China, would increasingly nuclearize the Indian Ocean during the next two decades, the report said adding: "The presence of multiple nuclear powers with uncertain doctrine for managing at sea incidents between nuclear-armed vessels increases the risk of miscalculation and inadvertent escalation. Nuclear mating requirements for naval-based delivery vehicles remove a safety valve that until now has kept nuclear weapons stored separately from missiles in South Asia."

The report predicts three scenarios which "postulate alternative responses to near-term volatility at the national, regional and Communities levels." The India-Pakistan nuclear clash is one of the three scenarios.

The report envisage a crisis between India and Pakistan that may result in a nuclear clash: "The Second Indus Waters Treaty was abandoned by both sides, followed shortly by a series of explosions in New Delhi that the Indian Government quickly attributed to Pakistan-based extremist groups. Islamabad denied involvement, but both sides began mobilizing their military forces. After a few confusing days of cyber attacks that disrupted the ability of both sides to understand what was happening, the situation escalated quickly. According to a subsequent investigation, artificial intelligence systems supporting the military decision makers made the crisis worse by misinterpreting signals meant to deter instead as signs of aggressive intent. The result was the first use of a nuclear weapon in a conflict since 1945."

The report argues that "it took a mushroom cloud in a desert in South Asia (in 2028) to shake us from our complacency."

However, Tom Engelhardt, a co-founder of the American Empire Project, does not agree with the National Intelligence Council scenario of nuclear bomb goes off not over a major city, killing hundreds of thousands, but in a desert area. He wrote:

"I, of course, don't have thousands of experts to consult in thinking about the future, but based on scientific work already on the record, I could still create a very different South Asian scenario, which wouldn't exactly be a formula for uniting the planet behind a better security future. Just imagine that one of the "tactical" nuclear weapons the Pakistani military is already evidently beginning to store at its forward military bases was put to use in response to an Indian military challenge. Imagine, then, that it triggered not world peace, but an ongoing nuclear exchange between the two powers, each with significant arsenals of such weaponry. The results in South Asia could be mindboggling -- up to 21 million direct deaths by one estimate. Scientists speculate, however, that the effects of such a nuclear war would not be restricted to the region, but would spark a nuclear-winter scenario globally, destroying crops across the planet and possibly leading to up to a billion deaths."

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since they became independent in 1947. There was a standoff between the two countries in 2002 after a terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament. The standoff resulted in the massing of troops on either side of the border and along the Line of Control (LoC) in the region of Kashmir. This was the second major military standoff between India and Pakistan following the successful detonation of nuclear devices by both countries in 1998. The other had been the Kargil War in 1999.

In September 2016, India and Pakistan edged closer to all-out war over an attack on an Indian military base that killed nearly 20 soldiers. "We will destroy India if it dares to impose war on us. Pakistan army is fully prepared to answer any misadventure of India," Pakistan's Minister of Defense Khawaja Asif told a local TV network. "We have not made atomic device to display in a showcase. If such a situation arises we will use it and eliminate India."

Perhaps, South Asia or the Indian sub-continent remains among the most dangerous corners of the world. India and Pakistan share 1,800-mile border which is the only place in the world where two nuclear-armed hostile states face off every day.

The US National Intelligence Council report said it will be the combination of competing values among rival states, military build-ups, rising nationalism, and domestic insecurity that will create an era of increased geopolitical competition among the major powers.

"In the early 2020s, polarizing politics and fiscal burdens constrained US engagement on the world stage, prompting foreign assessments that the United States was moving toward a prolonged period of retrenchment. China and Russia, in particular, viewed this time as an opportunity to seek greater influence over neighboring countries within their respective regional economic, political and security orbits. Iran also attempted to take advantage of instability in the Middle East to expand its influence in the region," the report said adding:

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Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"In his new book, Bottom-Up, Rob Kall's exploration of top-down and bottom-up forces in our culture, our brains, and our planet provides a deep insight into the challenges we face. He offers pathways we can use to create the changes we need to break free of the war economy and build local peace economies."



Jodie Evans, cofounder of Code Pink and Chair of the Women's Media Center
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"We need a more Open digital world -- that's good for business, the economy and the future of humanity. To get there is going to take "bottom-up" effort and Rob Kall's book is an exciting roadmap for how that can happen."



Rufus Pollock, author of "The Open Revolution", Founder of Open Knowledge, and formerly Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Rob Kall's Bottom-Up weaves together the many strands of new thinking about how to use decentralized, non-hierarchical approaches to solve crucial social and economic problems. Bottom-Up presents a tapestry of ideas and examples that can inspire and guide readers."



Peter Plastrik, coauthor of Connecting to Change the World: Harnessing the Power of Networks for Social Impact
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Rob Kall's book, Bottom-Up, offers valuable ways of seeing and powerful tools for enabling new power and connectivity to work to change the hope and promise for the future."



Jeremy Heimans, CEO & Co-founder of Purpose and coauthor of New Power
A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017:

UPMEYER SPEAKS TO CONSERVATIVES: House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, says she expects lawmakers to pre-empt local minimum wages different from the statewide level and modify collective bargaining to give "taxpayers a seat at the table," but doubted they would ban the use of hand-held electronic devices while driving this year.

Upmeyer also told members of the Westside Conservative Club she was open to revamping a limited medical marijuana law set to expire in July but first wanted a federal decision clarifying if it was legal for states to enact such provisions.

She also said she expects the GOP-led Legislature to set a five-year "sunset" on all state programs to ensure they are reviewed and necessary, but she declined to rule out a discussion on whether future state "backfill" money should be provided to local governments as part of the 2013 commercial property tax relief package.

She said that issue was not addressed in the fiscal 2017 "de-appropriation" bill that makes $118 million in adjustments to cover a projected budget shortfall by June 30.

UNATTENDED VEHICLES: A Senate Transportation subcommittee unanimously approved a bill Wednesday that would remove a provision of state law that makes it illegal to use a remote device to start the engine of a vehicle parked on the street or public property.

Iowa law prohibits a person from permitting a vehicle to stand unattended without first stopping the engine or without effectively setting the brake and turning the front wheels to the curb or side of the highway when the vehicle is on "any perceptible grade."

Violating the law carries a $20 fine, but Andrew Lewis of the state Department of Transportation said he is unaware of anyone being ticketed for the offense, which does not apply to vehicles parked on private property. Senate Study Bill 1020 eliminates the prohibition of letting a vehicle stand unattended without first stopping the engine.

Sen. Thomas Green, R-Burlington, said he believed the law is antiquated given technology advances, noting his wife's car is equipped with a remote-starting device.

CONCERN OVER DHS CUTS: A retired caseworker, supervisor and investigator with the Iowa Department of Human Services expressed concern Wednesday that mid-year spending cuts could spell trouble for Iowa's vulnerable children and adults.

Bill Dickey, who worked for 34 years in the DHS, told reporters he was opposed to spending cuts that might impact caseloads for workers whose job it is to protect Iowans who are at risk of being harmed or abused.

"Those cuts would endanger children who need our help," he said. "If you've got 30 or 35 or even 40 cases, that's just asking for trouble."

Sen. Amanda Ragan, D-Mason City, said many Iowans are worried about cuts to DHS services. However, DHS spokeswoman Amy McCoy said the DHS adjustments proposed by Gov. Terry Branstad mostly would be covered by surplus funds in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.

But she was uncertain how much of the $11.5 million in unspecified cuts included in a GOP budget "de-appropriation" compromise would affect the department.

NO STATE INCOME TAX COUPLING: The Legislature will not "couple" the state's income tax code with federal tax changes for the 2016 tax year - a decision that will impact Iowans currently preparing their tax returns for the federal and Iowa filing deadlines in April.

Gov. Terry Branstad had proposed partial coupling that would have carried a $29 million price tag, but Republicans who control the Legislature dropped the provision as part of their plan to make adjustments totaling $118 million to erase a projected shortfall in the current fiscal year's state budget.

Sen. Randy Feentsra, R-Hull, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, confirmed under questioning on the Senate floor there would be no tax coupling bill this session.

GOP legislators blamed past overspending while Democrats argued the shortfall was created when tax collections did not meet projections.

The tax-coupling decision will affect businesses, teachers, lower-income and other taxpayer groups. The Iowa Senate is slated to debate the fiscal 2017 "de-appropriation" bill on Thursday the House is to take it up Monday.

FOOD STAMP RESTRICTION: A bill seeking to require the state to get federal permission to restrict food stamps from being used to buy soda pop fizzed out in a Senate subcommittee Wednesday.

Proponents said Senate File 76 was designed to address perceived misuses of deposit money from beverage purchases, but opponents argued it was drafted incorrectly to target only sodas while an issue related to large water bottle deposits was addressed in the 2014 farm bill.

Daniel Zeno, policy counsel for the ACLU of Iowa, called the bill government overreach that penalized poor people.

"This is saying because you are poor, you cannot buy this product," he said.

Sen. Tom Shipley, R-Nodaway, said he has heard constituent concerns that food stamp recipients are abusing the system, but Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said the bill as drafted did not address that issue.

"It's really quite ironic. This strikes me like this is something straight out of Michael Bloomberg," said Quirmbach. "Usually Republicans describe this kind of thing as nanny-state regulation and I'm really quite surprised that it would come forward from a Republican source."

The subcommittee tabled the bill pending further study.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I want to encourage you to get back to your tax preparers to let them know we are not going to couple. That's a news flash this morning that I think the tax preparers all over the state are going to be interested in." -- Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, during a speech on the floor of the Iowa Senate.


The countdown has begun: Inauguration Day in the USA, 20 January 2017

(Image by Hunky Punk) Details DMCA



As Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, observers around the world continue to wonder -- and worry -- about what direction US foreign policy will take under his administration.

There is plenty of reason to be concerned. From the campaign to the present day, Trump has fired off a series of inflammatory and often contradictory statements on his vision for America's role on the global stage. He has praised Britain's exit from the EU, questioned the US' commitment to NATO, and has cozied up to strongmen like Vladimir Putin despite evidence of Russian meddling in the US presidential election. Showing no hesitation to flout longstanding US policy, he and his entourage have made a series of particularly incendiary remarks about Beijing. Last week, for instance, Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said during his confirmation hearing that Washington had to "send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops, and second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed." The only way to stop the island building, however, would be through a naval blockade, which runs the risk of setting off a full-blown war with Beijing -- so much for Trump being an "isolationist" President.

Hillary Clinton would certainly have been preferable to a president who looks practically ready to set off a war over a Tweet. But we have to admit that her foreign policy record and platform also left much to be desired. Clinton has a long-standing reputation as an interventionist and foreign policy hawk. Going against many of her Democratic colleagues, she voted for the US intervention in Iraq, a decision now recognized as a disastrous mistake. She foolishly pushed for a military intervention in Libya that has left behind nothing but a failed state and would have deployed boots on the ground in Syria had it not been for Obama's opposition. And she has a history of cozying up to unsavory regimes -- going so far as to accept donations to her foundation from autocratic Gulf States like Qatar, even while she was Secretary of State.

Even if Clinton's foreign policy platform was far superior to Trump's cacophonous rants, nominating one of the most hawkish candidates in the Democratic Party's history was arguably one of the many mistakes that helped put the Donald into the White House.

To stand up to the foreign policy disaster that the Trump presidency will represent, and to avoid repeating the utter failure that was the last round of elections, Democrats must abandon the faulty tactics used by the Clinton camp and revamp their platform. This means a strong, progressive, principled foreign policy platform more along the lines of Bernie Sanders'. Yes, some critics -- including Democrats -- slammed Sanders for lacking sufficient foreign affairs experience, or even a clear platform. However, Sanders laid out a clear vision for America's role in his world during his campaign, one that is in line with the strong philosophy laid out by three Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2015.

A future Democratic platform must therefore entail, first and foremost, uncompromising support for a defined set of values, including freedom, democracy, and human rights, both at home and abroad. This would involve increased funding for foreign aid, particularly in support of human rights, democracy building, and gender equality initiatives. In addition to foreign assistance, Democrats should commit to equally strong nation-building efforts at home.

Veering away from a hypocritical foreign policy, in which Washington says one thing and does another, the party should pledge to support only those regimes that live up to certain standards. In parallel with these steps, Democrats should commit to diplomacy as a first resort over military tactics. This means promising to strengthen our network of embassies and to provide solid support for multilateral organizations like the UN and NATO.

However, the Democrats should not extend carte blanche support to these institutions if it also means compromising higher principles.

For instance, take the Senate's approval of a resolution supporting Montenegro's membership in NATO on January 11. While many senators might have voted in favor of further expansion of the alliance in part to combat Russian influence, they should have thought twice before blithely giving the go-ahead to a state with a history of corruption and human rights abuses.

Perhaps they missed the headlines this past October, when Montenegro's parliamentary and local election votes were marred by accusations of abuse and an alleged coup attempt by Serbian agents. The subsequent resignation of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, who has governed almost constantly as premier or president since 1991, is not expected to bring much change. Throughout his time in office, Djukanovic has been accused of using his position to enrich himself while most of his countrymen go poor. For instance, Italian prosecutors claim that he was involved in an extensive cigarette smuggling network in the 1990s. It's no wonder that the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project named Djukanovic "Man of the Year" in 2015. Though Djukanovic has deflected attention from his shady past in part by trumpeting his country's efforts to join NATO and the EU, he should be known more for his role in building one of the biggest organized crime hubs in the world.

Instead of rubber-stamping the membership applications of such states, Democrats must take advantage of these opportunities to demand higher standards. Having a clear set of principles and standing up for them will be the only way to face off against the ethical sludge of the Trump administration. After all, let's remember how critics slammed Bernie Sanders for his strategy of emphasizing principles over experience during the Democratic presidential candidate debates. The candidate with more experience, but with a more dubious set of principles, ended up losing the general election. The next time elections come around, the Democrats -- and the world -- won't be able to afford another failure.




"On Bullshit" (2005), by philosopher Harry G. Frankfurt, is an essay that presents a theory of bullshit that defines the concept and analyzes the applications of bullshit in the contexts of communication. Frankfurt determines that the bullshit is speech intended to persuade (a.k.a. rhetoric), without regard for truth. The liar cares about the truth and attempts to hide it; the bullshitter doesn't care if what they say is true or false, but rather only cares whether or not their listener is persuaded." Wikipedia

My thesis is that the claim that alternative facts are real facts is bullshit, using epistemology as a mask for a defense of deceit.

Whether the global temperature is rising is not a question of faith or epistemology but of evidence. Alternative facts are not real facts but lies.

Faith is based on believing the absurd; science and logic are based on measurement and verification. Faith does not lead to knowledge but to belief.

"Tertullian's work De Carne Christi (ca. 203-206)stated "prorsus credibile est, quia ineptum est", which can be translated: "it is by all means to be believed, because it is absurd".

Kierkegaard echoed this assertion in stating "I believe by virtue of the absurd."

In other words, if something can be measured and verified, we do not need to believe it; we can know it. I can know the temperature by measuring and verifying it.

Belief is required to accept as true something which cannot be empirically verified. It has nothing to do with knowledge. It has to do with conviction. I person can have a strong conviction that the earth is flat. That does not make it a fact. Whether you believe it or not, a fact is a fact....and as such is the only basis for agreement. We can disagree about whether X is a fact, but we cannot disagree about whether a fact is true or not: facts are proven truths, observed, verified, replicated. You can believe whatever you wish or are persuaded; you cannot have your own set of facts..for facts are both universal and impersonal.

The end result of this distinction is critical. Remembering that religion has started many wars, supported most, and stopped none, we can understand why Voltaire said:

"Those who can be persuaded to believe absurdities can be persuaded to commit atrocities."

Voltaire's only prayer

We might quote our own Enlightenment genius, Thomas Jefferson from his Notes on the State of Virginia:

"Difference of opinion is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the office of a Censor morum over each other. Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned: yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth."

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By Frank Browning and Steve Weissman

David Horowitz, the Trotskyist radical turned far-right entrepreneur, has just published an instant best-seller, Big Agenda: President Trump's Plan to Save America. Only the agenda is not Trump's. It's Horowitz's, and shamelessly so. Little David, as we distinguished him from Big David at Ramparts magazine in the 1960s, is pushing his Goliath to be even more ideologically partisan and to more readily provoke extremist violence in the United States and Europe.

"There can be no 'honeymoon' in the wake of this election -- the most divisive since America's Civil War," Horowitz writes. "Republicans must drop their attitude that these political conflicts are 'business as usual' and must begin to confront the fact that the progressive agenda is a dagger aimed at the heart of America's social contract and the security of the American people. Progressives are the mortal enemy," Horowitz warns, lumping together everyone from tough-minded Trots to wide-eyed Bernie bros to scheming Clintonistas. For Trump to save America, he says, Republicans need to eradicate this socialist threat. "The strategy is to go for the jugular."

Big Agenda highlights how much Horowitz has tailored his pitch to meet changing times. Promoting himself in the 1980s as his generation's foremost ideological defector, he eagerly joined the neo-cons in the Reagan administration to fight the Contras in Nicaragua. He moved on to earn good money from billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, the Bradley Foundation, and others on the far right by loudly warning how his lumped-together left threatened to subvert America. Then with GWOT, the Global War on Terror, he earned far more by adding an all-out attack on Muslims, creating a double whammy he celebrates promoting his online place of business:

"The David Horowitz Freedom Center combats the efforts of the radical left and its Islamist allies to destroy American values and disarm this country as it attempts to defend itself in a time of terror."

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Global Primary Biliary Cholangitis Treatment Market is Driven by Rise in Incidence of Primary Biliary Cholangitis

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Primary biliary cholangitis, previously known as primary biliary cirrhosis, is a rare chronic liver disease, primarily characterized by destruction of the bile ducts which transport bile acid out of the liver. Although the primary cause of the disease has not yet been elucidated, research across the world has attributed it to be autoimmune in nature. The progress of this disease results in the harmful accumulation of bile acid, which causes severe liver damage, resulting in cirrhosis at the later stage of the disease. The disease primarily affects women in their middle age. The lack of a definitive cure for primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) results in an immensely lucrative business opportunity to tap into this underserved market.Request a PDF Brochure with Report Analysis:Although presently the disease cannot be cured by medication, the progression of liver damage can be stalled with the help of a drug known as ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), the only FDA approved medication for the disease. Additionally, the symptoms of the disease in early stages which include itching and fatigue can be relieved with the aid of drugs such as antihistamines and opioid antagonists. However, if primary biliary cholangitis is diagnosed in later stages, the sole treatment option which remains viable for survival is liver transplantation.The improved diagnostic processes worldwide coupled with rise in patient awareness regarding treatment and physician check-ups upon experiencing symptomatic discomfort has led to lesser requirement of transplants. The improved scenario relating to the prognosis of primary biliary cholangitis has thus made medication a more popular course of treatment in comparison to liver transplants resulting in alleviating the progression of the disease.Although the treatment with UDCA helps reduce advancement of liver destruction, the drug has shown to be ineffective in adequately reducing disease specific blood compounds (such as bilirubin) in over 40% patients. Moreover few patients have experienced intolerance to the drug. Thus, there is immense potential for a new cure and innovative drug to create a remedial breakthrough in the market due to the current unmet need of the patient population.The global primary biliary cholangitis market can been segmented on the basis of type of treatment and by region. Based on type of treatment, the global market has been segmented into drugs and liver transplantation. The drugs segment has been further segmented into primary treatment (UDCA) and symptomatic relief treatment. The symptomatic relief segment includes drugs to aid in reduction of disease symptoms which includes antihistamines, Cholestyramine, antibacterials and opioid antagonists. In addition, a pipeline assessment has also been provided to assess the drugs undergoing early stage and late stage clinical trials.Globally, the annual incidence of the disease is estimated to be between 0.7 and 49 cases per million-population and prevalence between 6.7 and 940 cases per million-population, the variance in cases primarily based on age and gender and geographic location. However, various peer reviewed articles have suggested that the incidence is gradually increasing worldwide. Geographically the market has been segmented into five regions, namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. The market for this disease is expected to be higher in North America and Europe owing to the higher prevalence and incidence of the disease in those regions.Primary Biliary Cholangitis is more prevalent in Northern Europe, North America and Latin America and less common in Eastern Asia, Africa, and Australia. In the U.S., PBC is among the top ten causes to undergo a liver transplant. The incidence of PBC is high in U.K as compared to other regions in Europe and thus U.K is an attractive business opportunity for research as well as trial studies and drug sales pertaining to this disease. Thus, the global market for PBC is driven by rise in incidence of primary biliary cholangitis, increased exposure to environmental triggers to the immune system such as pesticides to susceptible individuals and growth in faulty lifestyle related triggers such as alcoholism, smoking and obesity.Browse Full Research Report:The key players in the market include Novartis AG, Actavis, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Lumena Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Siedco Pharmaceutical Co., and Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc. etc.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Report Explores the Japan Plasma Nitriding Furnace 2016

Plasma Nitriding Furnace

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Sales, means the sales volume of Plasma Nitriding FurnaceRevenue, means the sales value of Plasma Nitriding FurnaceThis report studies sales (consumption) of Plasma Nitriding Furnace in Japan market, focuses on the top players, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player, coveringAdvanced Vacuum SystemsMonometerPVA TePla AGALD FranceBMIALD Vacuum Technologies...Request for Sample Report @Split by product types, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoLow Temperature FurnaceMedium Temperature FurnaceHigh Temperature FurnaceSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Plasma Nitriding Furnace in each application, can be divided intoMetallurgical IndustryAutomotive IndustryCeramic IndustryOthersLeave a Query @Table of ContentsJapan Plasma Nitriding Furnace Market Report 20161 Plasma Nitriding Furnace Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Plasma Nitriding Furnace1.2 Classification of Plasma Nitriding Furnace1.2.1 Low Temperature Furnace1.2.2 Medium Temperature Furnace1.2.3 High Temperature Furnace1.3 Application of Plasma Nitriding Furnace1.3.1 Metallurgical Industry1.3.2 Automotive Industry1.3.3 Ceramic Industry1.3.4 Others1.4 Japan Market Size Sales (Value) and Revenue (Volume) of Plasma Nitriding Furnace (2011-2021)1.4.1 Japan Plasma Nitriding Furnace Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.4.2 Japan Plasma Nitriding Furnace Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)5 Japan Plasma Nitriding Furnace Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis5.1 Advanced Vacuum Systems5.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors5.1.2 Plasma Nitriding Furnace Product Type, Application and Specification5.1.2.1 Type I5.1.2.2 Type II5.1.3 Advanced Vacuum Systems Plasma Nitriding Furnace Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)5.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview5.2 Monometer5.2.2 Plasma Nitriding Furnace Product Type, Application and Specification5.2.2.1 Type I5.2.2.2 Type II5.2.3 Monometer Plasma Nitriding Furnace Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)5.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview5.3 PVA TePla AG5.3.2 Plasma Nitriding Furnace Product Type, Application and Specification5.3.2.1 Type I5.3.2.2 Type II5.3.3 PVA TePla AG Plasma Nitriding Furnace Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)5.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview5.4 ALD France5.4.2 Plasma Nitriding Furnace Product Type, Application and Specification5.4.2.1 Type I5.4.2.2 Type II5.4.3 ALD France Plasma Nitriding Furnace Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)5.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview5.5 BMI5.5.2 Plasma Nitriding Furnace Product Type, Application and Specification5.5.2.1 Type I5.5.2.2 Type II5.5.3 BMI Plasma Nitriding Furnace Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)5.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview5.6 ALD Vacuum Technologies5.6.2 Plasma Nitriding Furnace Product Type, Application and Specification5.6.2.1 Type I5.6.2.2 Type II5.6.3 ALD Vacuum Technologies Plasma Nitriding Furnace Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)5.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview ;.ContinuedBuy Now@CONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Pune, India
WATERLOO | A couple found dead at George Wyth State Park suffered from long-term health problems, according to police.

An autopsy earlier this month confirmed Neil J. Miller, 86, and Marilyn Margaret Miller, 83, of Waterloo, died of gunshot wounds. Police say the husband took both their lives.
Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Industry: China Capacity, Production, Sales, and Revenue

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Sales, means the sales volume of Hydraulic Power Motor and EngineRevenue, means the sales value of Hydraulic Power Motor and EngineThis report studies Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine in China market, focuses on the top players in China market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringEatonParkerBosch RexrothVonrudenItal GroupNingBo Zhongyi Hydraulic MotorSunfabBlack BruinM+S HydraulicRollstarRequest for Sample Report @Market Segment by Regions (provinces), coveringSouth ChinaEast ChinaSouthwest ChinaNortheast ChinaNorth ChinaCentral ChinaNorthwest ChinaSplit by product Type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoHydraulic Diesel EnginesHydraulic Gas EngineHydraulic Electric MotorSplit by Application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine in each application, can be divided intoAgricultural MachineryIndustrial MachineryOtherLeave a Query @Table of ContentsChina Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Market Research Report 20171 Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine1.2 Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Segment by Type1.2.1 China Production Market Share of Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Type in 20151.2.2 Hydraulic Diesel Engines1.2.3 Hydraulic Gas Engine1.2.4 Hydraulic Electric Motor1.3 Applications of Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine1.3.1 Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Agricultural Machinery1.3.3 Industrial Machinery1.3.4 Other1.4 China Market Size (Value) of Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine (2011-2021)1.5 China Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Status and Outlook1.6 Government Policies3 China Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis3.1 Eaton3.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors3.1.2 Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Product Type, Application and Specification3.1.2.1 Hydraulic Diesel Engines3.1.2.2 Hydraulic Gas Engine3.1.3 Eaton Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)3.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview3.2 Parker3.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors3.2.2 Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Product Type, Application and Specification3.2.2.1 Hydraulic Diesel Engines3.2.2.2 Hydraulic Gas Engine3.2.3 Parker 98 Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)3.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview3.3 Bosch Rexroth3.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors3.3.2 Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Product Type, Application and Specification3.3.2.1 Hydraulic Diesel Engines3.3.2.2 Hydraulic Gas Engine3.3.3 Bosch Rexroth 108 Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)3.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview3.4 Vonruden3.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors3.4.2 Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Product Type, Application and Specification3.4.2.1 Hydraulic Diesel Engines3.4.2.2 Hydraulic Gas Engine3.4.3 Vonruden Jan Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)3.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview3.5 Ital Group3.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors3.5.2 Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Product Type, Application and Specification3.5.2.1 Hydraulic Diesel Engines3.5.2.2 Hydraulic Gas Engine3.5.3 Ital Group Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)3.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview3.6 NingBo Zhongyi Hydraulic Motor3.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors3.6.2 Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Product Type, Application and Specification3.6.2.1 Hydraulic Diesel Engines3.6.2.2 Hydraulic Gas Engine3.6.3 NingBo Zhongyi Hydraulic Motor Million USD Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)3.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview3.7 Sunfab3.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors3.7.2 Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Product Type, Application and Specification3.7.2.1 Hydraulic Diesel Engines3.7.2.2 Hydraulic Gas Engine3.7.3 Sunfab Machinery & Equipment Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)3.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview3.8 Black Bruin3.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors3.8.2 Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Product Type, Application and Specification3.8.2.1 Hydraulic Diesel Engines3.8.2.2 Hydraulic Gas Engine3.8.3 Black Bruin Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)3.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview3.9 M+S Hydraulic3.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors3.9.2 Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Product Type, Application and Specification3.9.2.1 Hydraulic Diesel Engines3.9.2.2 Hydraulic Gas Engine3.9.3 M+S Hydraulic Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)3.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview3.10 Rollstar3.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors3.10.2 Hydraulic Power Motor and Engine Product Type, Application and Specification3.10.2.1 Hydraulic Diesel Engines3.10.2.2 Hydraulic Gas Engine3.10.3 Rollstar Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)3.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview;.ContinuedBuy Now@CONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Pune, India
Global Private Care Solution Industry Outlook  Market Overview, Trends, Growth, and Forecast Analysis To 2021

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WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On:- "Global Private Care Solution Industry Outlook  Market Overview, Trends, Growth, and Forecast Analysis To 2021"Notes:Production, means the output of Private Care SolutionRevenue, means the sales value of Private Care SolutionThis report studies Private Care Solution in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringJOLLYSiniCayoABCFemfreshAVONDaisoLeimanMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Private Care Solution in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaTry Sample Report @Split by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoRegular SkinSensitive SkinSplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Private Care Solution in each application, can be divided intoMenWomenFor Detailed Reading Please visit @Some Major Points from Table of content:Global Private Care Solution Market Research Report 20171 Private Care Solution Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Private Care Solution1.2 Private Care Solution Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Private Care Solution by Type in 20151.2.2 Regular Skin1.2.3 Sensitive Skin1.3 Private Care Solution Segment by Application1.3.1 Private Care Solution Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Men1.3.3 Women1.4 Private Care Solution Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Private Care Solution (2012-2022)............7 Global Private Care Solution Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 JOLLY7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.1.2 Private Care Solution Product Type, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Regular Skin7.1.2.2 Sensitive Skin7.1.3 JOLLY Private Care Solution Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Sini7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.2.2 Private Care Solution Product Type, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Regular Skin7.2.2.2 Sensitive Skin7.2.3 Sini Private Care Solution Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Cayo7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.3.2 Private Care Solution Product Type, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Regular Skin7.3.2.2 Sensitive Skin7.3.3 Cayo Private Care Solution Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 ABC7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.4.2 Private Care Solution Product Type, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Regular Skin7.4.2.2 Sensitive Skin7.4.3 ABC Private Care Solution Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Femfresh7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.5.2 Private Care Solution Product Type, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Regular Skin7.5.2.2 Sensitive Skin7.5.3 Femfresh Private Care Solution Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 AVON7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.6.2 Private Care Solution Product Type, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Regular Skin7.6.2.2 Sensitive Skin7.6.3 AVON Private Care Solution Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Daiso7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.7.2 Private Care Solution Product Type, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Regular Skin7.7.2.2 Sensitive Skin7.7.3 Daiso Private Care Solution Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview..ContinuedBuy now @Contact Us:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available.WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPh: +91 841 198 5042
Global Automotive Brake Market by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2021

Automotive Brake Market

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Automotive Brake MarketDescriptionThis report studies Automotive Brake Hub in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringBoschFederal-MogulBendixMATTRWMeritorLinamarACDelcoRaybestosCentricAkebono..Request for Sample Report @Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Automotive Brake Hub in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaSplit by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoType IType IISplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Automotive Brake Hub in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2Leave a Query @Table of Contents1 Automotive Brake Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Automotive Brake Hub1.2 Automotive Brake Hub Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Automotive Brake Hub by Type in 20151.2.2 Type I1.2.3 Type II1.3 Automotive Brake Hub Segment by Application1.3.1 Automotive Brake Hub Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Application 11.3.3 Application 21.3.4 Application 31.4 Automotive Brake Hub Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Automotive Brake Hub (2012-2022)2 Global Automotive Brake Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Automotive Brake Hub Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Automotive Brake Hub Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Automotive Brake Hub Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Automotive Brake Hub Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Automotive Brake Hub Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Automotive Brake Hub Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Automotive Brake Hub Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion......7 Global Automotive Brake Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Bosch7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.1.2 Automotive Brake Hub Product Type, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Bosch Automotive Brake Hub Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Federal-Mogul7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.2.2 Automotive Brake Hub Product Type, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Federal-Mogul Automotive Brake Hub Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Bendix7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.3.2 Automotive Brake Hub Product Type, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Bendix Automotive Brake Hub Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 MAT7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.4.2 Automotive Brake Hub Product Type, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 MAT Automotive Brake Hub Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 TRW7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.5.2 Automotive Brake Hub Product Type, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 TRW Automotive Brake Hub Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Meritor7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.6.2 Automotive Brake Hub Product Type, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Meritor Automotive Brake Hub Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Linamar7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.7.2 Automotive Brake Hub Product Type, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Linamar Automotive Brake Hub Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 ACDelco7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.8.2 Automotive Brake Hub Product Type, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 ACDelco Automotive Brake Hub Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Raybestos7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.9.2 Automotive Brake Hub Product Type, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 Raybestos Automotive Brake Hub Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.10 Centric7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.10.2 Automotive Brake Hub Product Type, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Product A7.10.2.2 Product B7.10.3 Centric Automotive Brake Hub Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.11 Akebono.Buy now @Continued...Contact Us: Sales@Wiseguyreports.Com Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (US) Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Global Robotic Arm Market- FANUC, KUKA, NACHI, COMAU and SiaSun

Robotic Arm

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The market research report by QY Research provides detailed study on the overall Robotic Arm market size, its financial positions, its unique selling points, key products, and key developments. This research report has segmented the Robotic Arm market based on the segments covering all the domains in terms of type, country, region, forecasting revenues, and market share, along with analysis of latest trends in every sub-segment.Click Here to Request Sample Report @The qualitative segmentation of Robotic Arm market covered in the report gives in-depth information of the overall market. Furthermore, the market size, share, forecast trends, analysis, sales, supply, production, demand, major manufacturers, end-users, and many other vital factors are comprised in the Market Research Robotic Arm report by QY Research. By these comprehensive data, it is simple to take and make precise and accurate decisions taking into consideration the present market situation and the forecasts of the global market, which in turn may result into profitable step for our clients.A competitive landscape that identifies the major competitors of the global market and their market share are further highlighted in the research report. A deliberate profiling of major competitors of the Robotic Arm market as well as a inclusive analysis of their current developments, core competencies, and investments in each segment are also elaborated in the research report.Browse Full Report at @The overall information of the Robotic Arm market provided in the report helps our client to make precise and accurate decisions in order to gain maximum profit in this cutthroat competition in the global market. The report comprises various elements such as table, figure, charts, TOCs, chapters, and so on so as to provide a crystal clear data to the client giving a brief of the market and its trends. Thus, the report provides in-depth information of the Robotic Arm market in terms of revenue, value, volume, region, and many more.About Us:QYResearch Group is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. QYResearch Group also carries the capability to assist you with your customized market research requirements including in-depth market surveys, primary interviews, competitive landscaping, and company profiles. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics. QYResearch Group is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,United StatesTel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651
Southeast Asia Pet Care Market Expected to Grow at a CAGR of 6.8% by 2020

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Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers incisive insights into emerging regions in its latest report titled, Southeast Asia Pet Care Market Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2014 - 2020. The report states that the SEA pet care market is mainly driven by the burgeoning trends of pet humanization and increasing adoption of private label brands in countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.FMI analyst P.S. Neha sheds light on why the SEA pet care market will become one of the major markets in the region in the near future: Growth of the pet care market across Southeast Asia is driven by increasing adoption and humanization of pets. Pet owners are now more inclined towards more nutritious, healthy and organic foods for their pets.By type, the overall SEA pet care market is segmented into dog food, cat food, pet products and others. Dog food is the major segment in this region, accounting for a 51.6% share of the market in 2014; however, this is expected to decrease by 30 BPS by 2020.Request For Report Sample:This report also covers the pet care market by category and by channel. On the basis of channel, the market is segmented into supermarket, pet shop, veterinary clinic and others. The supermarket segment is the leading distribution channel in the SEA pet care market. However, veterinary clinics are anticipated to exhibit the fastest CAGR at 7.1%, followed by supermarket at a 6.8% CAGR during the forecast period. This growth is attributed to a shift in consumer buying habits and an increasing inclination of pet owners to purchase health and wellness products from reliable sources such as veterinary clinics.Furthermore, by category, the market includes economy-priced, mid-priced and premium-priced products.Improving consumer lifestyles and increasing disposable income in Southeast Asian countries has resulted in a growing acceptance for pets, not only among the high-income group, but also the middle-income group. In 2014, Thailand was the dominant country in the overall Southeast Asia pet care market with a 43.62% share, followed by Malaysia and Indonesia, accounting for 21.74% and 15.47% respectively.Send An Enquiry:The pet care market in the Philippines is expected to register a significant CAGR of 8.4%. This is expected to be followed by Vietnam at a CAGR of 8.0% during the forecast period.Innovation remains the key to gaining a competitive edge in the SEA pet care market, especially in the pet food category. Companies such as Nestle Purina, Zoetis, Mars, Inc. and Merck & Co., account for over 50% of the overall market share and constantly focus on mergers and acquisitions to expand their geographical presence and customer base.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Smart Factory Market Poised to Rake US$ 215.0 Bn by the end of 2025

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According to the latest market report published by Future Market Insights titled, Smart Factory Market - Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2015-2025, the market was valued at US$ 51.9 Bn in 2014 and is expected to register a CAGR of 13.3% from 2015 to 2025.Growth of the smart factory market is primarily driven by rising focus on advanced manufacturing techniques. Furthermore, developments in information and communications technology (ICT), increased focus on energy consumption, rising prices and stringent environmental regulations are expected to be key factors driving growth of the smart factory market over the forecast period.FMIs report segments the global smart factory market on the basis of market structure, component, manufacturing vertical, and region. Market structure includes to collect, to connect, to analyse and to control. A detailed analysis of each segment is presented in the report to deliver an accurate view of the market.On the basis of manufacturing vertical, the smart factory market is further segmented into automotive & transportation, food & beverages, electrical & electronics, aerospace & defence, oil & gas, garment & textile, chemical and others (healthcare & pharmaceutical).Request For Report Sample:Among these, the automotive & transportation segment dominated the global smart factory market in terms of revenue contribution in 2014. Growth of this segment is primarily driven by increasing investments by leading automobile manufacturers. For example, in September 2015, German luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz announced an investment of US$ 1.3 Bn to expand and upgrade its SUV manufacturing unit in Alabama, U.S. This expansion would add 300 new jobs and support end-to-end digitalization of the production process as a part of the companys smart factory initiative.This report also covers trends driving growth of each market segment and offers analysis and insights about market potential across key regions namely North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and the Middle East & Africa. Furthermore, the market is sub-segmented on the basis of major countries in each region in order to provide a regional analysis of the overall market.Asia Pacific was the largest revenue contributor to the global smart factory market, accounting for US$ 20.4 Bn in 2014. This is mainly attributed to increasing investment in manufacturing plants in the region. For example, in April 2015, the South Korean government along with Samsung Electronics announced an investment of US$ 12.6 Mn to promote the smart factory concept in the country.Send An Enquiry:Smart factory market in Europe accounted for US$ 14.7 Bn in 2014and is expected to register a CAGR of 14.3% during the forecast period. Growth of the market in this region is expected to be driven by increasing government support for development of innovative production technologies in countries such as Germany and the U.K. Also, increasing spending by key players is expected to further drive growth of the market in Europe.Smart Factory Market: Major PlayersKey players in the global smart factory market include ABB Group, Rockwell Automation, Inc., General Electric Co., Siemens AG, Oracle Corporation, IBM Corporation, SAP SE, PTC Inc., Accenture PLC and Atos SE. These players focus on mergers and acquisitions, new product launches, expansions and partnerships in order to remain competitive in the market. A competitive dashboard has also been included in the report to provide detailed information about key players in the market.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Worldwide Smart Building Market Set for Rapid Growth, To Reach Around USD 36.0 Billion by 2020

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Zion Research has published a new report titled Smart Building (Building Energy Management System, Physical Security System, Building Communication Systems, Plumbing & Water Management System, Parking Management Systems, and Elevators & Escalators Management System) Market for Residential, Commercial, Hospitality, Airports, Institutional, Industrial, and Other Buildings: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2014  2020. According to the report, the global smart building market was valued at approximate USD 7.0 billion in 2014 and is expected to reach approximately USD 36.0 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of slightly over 30% between 2015 and 2020.Request Sample Report:Smart or intelligent buildings are buildings that through their physical design and IT installations are responsive, flexible and adaptive to changing needs from its users and the organizations that inhabit the building during its life time. The building will supply services for its inhabitants, its administration and operation & maintenance. The intelligent building will accomplish transparent intelligent behavior, have state memory, support human and installation systems communication, and be equipped with sensors and actuators.Smart Building Market Forecast, 2014  2020The smart building market is driven by various factors such as rapid pace of urbanization across the world, low operating cost and security of building and its inhabitants. Increasing support and favorable government regulations is also expected to mobilize the global smart buildings market. Additionally, smart buildings plays crucial role in energy conservation. However, high cost of smart buildings is expected to be major constraint for this industry.On the basis of types the global smart building market has been segmented into building energy management system, physical security system, building communication systems, plumbing and water management system, parking management systems and elevators & escalators management system. Building energy management systems holds major share in smart buildings market. Building energy management systems reduce overall energy consumption and cost.Residential buildings, commercial buildings, hospitality, airports, institutional, industrial, and others are the key application segments of smart building market. Commercial building segment dominated the smart building market in 2014. Europe was the largest regional market for smart building in 2014. Strong demand from Germany, UK and France has been resulted into growing demand for smart buildings in the region. Europe was followed by Asia pacific and North America. Asia Pacific is projected to be second highest growing region due to rapidly increasing urbanization.Some of the key players in the global smart building market such as Johnson Controls, ABB, General Electric, CISCO, Hewlett-Packard, Accenture, Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, Delta Controls, Emerson Electric, Honeywell, Hitachi, IBM, Schneider Electric, Johnson Controls, TYCO International and Siemens.Do Inquiry before buying:This report segments the global smart building market as follows:Global Smart Building Market: Systems Segment AnalysisBuilding energy management systemPhysical security systemBuilding communication systemsPlumbing and water management systemParking management systemsElevators and escalators management system.Global Smart Building Market: Application Segment AnalysisResidential buildingsCommercial buildingsHospitalityAirportsInstitutionalIndustrialOthersGlobal Smart Building Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeGermanyFranceUKAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East and AfricaBrowse the full Smart Building (Building Energy Management System, Physical Security System, Building Communication Systems, Plumbing & Water Management System, Parking Management Systems, and Elevators & Escalators Management System) Market for Residential, Commercial, Hospitality, Airports, Institutional, Industrial, and Other Buildings: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2014  2020 report atAbout UsZion Research is a market intelligence company providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Zion Research experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants uses proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@marketresearchstore.comWebsite:
Latest Updates on Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Market on Upcoming Technologies, R&D Activities and New Product Launches 2017

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Global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Industry 2017 Market Overview, Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Technology, Applications, Growth, Market Status, Demands, Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2017-2020.A new research report on the global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) market offers a 360-degree overview of it. The report discusses the market in significant details and elucidates all aspects of the global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) market likely to impact its growth trajectory in the upcoming years. Major market stimulants and deterrents have also been examined in great detail, with quantitative and qualitative description of their expected impact on the market in the forecast period. This would enable big and small players operating in the market to understand the dynamics and maneuver their moves accordingly.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The different segments of the global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) market have been carefully discussed at length. The product segments, application segments, and end user segments have been detailed in the report, leveraging historical and current figures. The report gauges the growth figures for each of the segments to understand the global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) markets growth prospects. This helps to offer a granular overview of the Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) market and areas in which it stands to gain and lose.A detailed analysis of the competitive landscape of the global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) market has also been furnished in the report. Chief competitors in the global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) market have been profiled and data about their business and financial activities has been presented. The report also throws light on their strengths and weaknesses. This report has been carefully crafted with data arrived at from primary and secondary research methodologies.The reports primary objective is to help the players operating in the global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) market to gain an insight into the current market dynamics, including opportunities and threats so as to be able to strategize sagaciously. To do, it implements market-leading analytical tools to gauge the current competitive landscape.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X)1.2 Classification of Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X)1.2.1 V2V1.2.2 V2I1.2.3 V2P1.3 Application of Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X)1.3.1 Road safety service1.3.2 Automatic parking system1.3.3 Emergency vehicles1.3.4 Auto car service1.4 Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Market by Regions1.4.1 United States Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) (2011-2021)1.5.1 Global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Competition by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2011-2017)2.1.2 Global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2011-2017)2.2 Global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales and Market Share by Type (2011-2017)2.2.2 Global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2017)2.3 Global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) (Volume and Value) by Regions2.3.1 Global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales and Market Share by Regions (2011-2017)2.3.2 Global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2011-2017)2.4 Global Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) (Volume) by Application3 United States Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales and Value (2011-2017)3.1.1 United States Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2017)3.1.2 United States Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2017)3.1.3 United States Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales Price Trend (2011-2017)3.2 United States Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 United States Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales and Market Share by Application4 China Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales and Value (2011-2017)4.1.1 China Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2017)4.1.2 China Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2017)4.1.3 China Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales Price Trend (2011-2017)4.2 China Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 China Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 China Automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Sales and Market Share by ApplicationFor Market Research Latest Reports Visit @About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Dispersant / Dispersing Agent Market Headed for Global Expansion by 2020

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3359

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/3359

A dispersant or dispersing agent (also known as plasticizer or supper plasticizer) is mostly surface active material or sometimes it can be a non-surface active polymer added to a suspension typically a colloid for enhance separation of particles and to prevent the process of thickening or clumping in the suspension. Dispersing agents include mixture of various chemicals such acrylic acid, polycarboxylate, lignosulfonates, and napthalene sulfonate.A sample of this report is available upon request @On the basis of the end user industry, the market is segmented in the eight broad categories namely, construction industry, paints & coatings industry, pulp & paper industry, detergent industry, oil & gas industry, agricultural industry, pharmaceuticals industry, and other end-user industriesIncreasing demand of dispersant / dispersing agent from growing oil & gas industry, trend towards environmental sustainability and growing end user industries such as construction, paints & coatings industry, automobile industry and paper and pulp industry is driving the global dispersant / dispersing agent market.The continuous variation in the raw materials costs and lack of Innovation in the dispersing agent market are some of the major challenges of the global dispersant / dispersing agent market.Asia Pacific is the largest market of dispersant / dispersing agent market followed by Europe and North America. Asia Pacific is the fasted growing market attributed to growing allied industries such as construction and automotive industry. Surging urbanisation and embryonic transportation infrastructure in developing countries of Asia Pacific is keeping construction as major end user industry for dispersant / dispersing agent in this region. Moreover the rising demand of dispersant agents from automobile industry is expected to keep the growth rate high during the forecasted period.The various application dispersing agents is increasing as a result several players has expanded many new and innovative products to confine an increase market share. Some of the major players of the market have also expanded their geographical presence, capacity expansion, and gone through many merger and acquisitions.Request to view Table of content @Some of the leading companies operating in global dispersant / dispersing agent market include, Cytec Industries Inc., Emerald Performance Materials Llc, Gruppo Chimico Dalton, The Lubrizol Corporation, Rudolf Gmbh, The Dow Chemical Company, Arkema Group, Basf SE, Clariant AG, Evonik Industries, Meadwestvaco Corporation and Ashland Inc.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Global Optoelectronics Market Analysis and Forecast 2022 by Key Players

Orbis Research

http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/184133

http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/optoelectronics-global-market-outlook-2016-2022

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According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Optoelectronics Market is accounted for $xx million in 2015 and expected to grow at a CAGR of xx% to reach $xx million by 2022. Factors such as Laser transmitters for high-speed optical networks, demand for digital cameras, increase in smart phones sales, low power consumption, growing use of optoelectronic systems in automotive sector and high-capacity batteries in cars are driving the market growth.Surge for Organic LEDs (OLEDs), innovations such as plasmanic nanostructures, perovskite transistors, optically active quantum dots, microscopic light bulbs and inexpensive 3D imaging will provide opportunities for optoelectronics market. However, high cost of energy efficient displays, complex operational usage and cheaper substitute technologies will hamper market growth.The automotive industry will be the largest market in the application segment. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) segment will command the product segment market.Request a sample of the report:North America commanded the market followed by Europe in terms of revenue. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market as China and Japan are expected to grow in this field due the increasing demand of laser transmitters.Some of the key players in global Optoelectronics market are Jameco Electronics, Ltd, Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc, Applied Optoelectronics, Inc, Friedrich Lutze GmbH & Co. KG, MaxWell Technologies, Inc., Vishay Intertechnology Inc, OSI Optoelectronics, Mouser Electronics, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH & Co, Texas Instruments, Standex Meder Electronics, Inc, Murr Electronik GmbH, On Semiconductors Corp, Sony Corporation, Samsung Electronics Ltd, Panasonic Corporation, Avago Technologies Ltd, Finisar Corporation, Sharp Corp, Mitsubishi Electric Ltd, Toshiba Corp, San'an Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. and Isocom Components 2004 Ltd.Browse the report:Applications Covered: Computers Consumer electronics Industrial optical sensing equipments Laser equipment Automotive Aerospace & Defense Healthcare Telecommunication Laser equipment Communication paraphernaliaProducts Covered: Image Sensoro CCD Image Sensoro CMOS Image Sensoro Invisible Spectrum Image Sensoro Visible Spectrum Image Sensor Light-emitting diodes (LEDs)o General LEDo Organic LED (OLED)o Ultraviolet (UV) LED Infrared (IR) Componento Infrared (IR) Detectoro Infrared Emitting Diode (IRED)o Irda Transceiver Laser Diodeo Blue Laser Diodeo Green Laser Diodeo Near Infrared (NIR)o Red Laser Diode Optocouplerso Phototransistoro Photodiodeo Photo Relayo Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR) Other ProductsComponents Covered: Fiber & cables Display modules Storage media Transceiver modules Source & detector Connector & hardware Solar Cells Photo Voltaic cellsBuy the Report:Regions Covered: North Americao USo Canadao Mexico Europeo Germanyo Franceo Italyo UKo Spaino Rest of Europe Asia Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao Australiao New Zealando Rest of Asia Pacific Rest of the Worldo Middle Easto Brazilo Argentinao South Africao EgyptWhat our report offers:- Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments- Market share analysis of the top industry players- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants- Market forecasts for a minimum of 7 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets- Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)- Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations- Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends- Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments- Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancementsAbout Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Information:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas  75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +9164101019Email: sales@orbisresearch.com
UNATTENDED VEHICLES: A Senate Transportation subcommittee unanimously approved a bill Wednesday that would remove a provision of state law that currently makes it illegal to use a remote device to start the engine of a vehicle parked on the street or public property. Iowa's current law prohibits a person from permitting a vehicle to stand unattended without first stopping the engine or without effectively setting the brake and turning the front wheels to the curb or side of the highway when the vehicle is on "any perceptible grade." Violating the law carries a $20 fine but Andrew Lewis of the state Department of Transportation said he is unaware of anyone being ticketed for the offense, which does not apply to vehicles parked on private property. Senate Study Bill 1020 eliminates the prohibition of letting a vehicle stand unattended without first stopping the engine. Sen. Thomas Green, R-Burlington, said he believed the law is antiquated given technology advances, noting his wife's car is equipped with a remove-starting device.

FOOD STAMP RESTRICTION: A bill seeking to require the state to get federal permission to restrict food stamps from being used to buy soda pop fizzed out in a Senate subcommittee Wednesday. Proponents said Senate File 76 was designed to address perceived misuses of deposit money from beverage purchases, but opponents argued it was drafted incorrectly to target only sodas while an issue related to large water bottle deposits was addressed in the 2014 farm bill. Daniel Zeno, policy counsel for the ACLU of Iowa, called the bill government overreach that penalized poor people. "This is saying because you are poor, you cannot buy this product," he said. Sen. Tom Shipley, R-Nodaway, said he has heard constituent concerns that food-stamp recipients are abusing the system, but Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said the bill as drafted did not address that issue. "It's really quite ironic. This strikes me like this is something straight out of Michael Bloomberg," said Quirmbach. "Usually Republicans describe this kind of thing as nanny-state regulation and I'm really quite surprised that it would come forward from a Republican source." The subcommittee tabled the bill pending further study.

SENATE RULE CHANGES: Independent Sen. David Johnson of Ocheyedan expressed concern Wednesday over a GOP change to the Iowa Senate's permanent rules that would move "points of personal privilege" to the last order of business each day that the Senate is in session. Traditionally, senators have been granted the privilege if requested to speak on topics of their choosing each day after the Senate gavels into session. A resolution approved by the GOP-run Rules and Administration Committee would move "points" to the end of the day similar to rules in the Iowa House. "We do not want to be like the House," said Senate Minority Leader Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids. Johnson called the resolution "bothersome" because in his view "it suppresses civil discourse and free speech." He said he offered his views Wednesday because he would be traveling to Washington D.C. to participate in a pro-life march when the resolution likely would come before the Iowa Senate on Thursday. Another rules change would remove "party" from the committee appointment provisions to allow the Senate's minority leader to appoint non-majority senators to committee assignments.

CONCERN OVER DHS CUTS: A retired caseworker, supervisor and investigator with the Iowa Department of Human Services expressed concern Wednesday that mid-year spending cuts could spell trouble for Iowa's vulnerable children and adults. Bill Dickey, who worked for 34 years in the DHS, told reporters he was opposed to spending cuts that might impact caseloads for workers whose job it is to protect Iowans who are at risk of being harmed or abused. "Those cuts would endanger children who need our help," he said. "If you've got 30 or 35 or even 40 cases, that's just asking for trouble." Sen. Amanda Ragan, D-Mason City, said many Iowans are worried about cuts to DHS services. However, DHS spokeswoman Amy McCoy said the DHS adjustments proposed by Gov. Terry Branstad mostly would be covered by surplus funds in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program but she was uncertain how much of the $11.5 million in unspecified cuts included in a GOP budget "de-appropriation" compromise would affect the department.

UPMEYER SPEAKS TO CONSERVATIVES: House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, says she expects lawmakers to preempt local minimum wages different from the statewide level and modify collective bargaining to give "taxpayers a seat at the table," but doubted they would ban the use of hand-held electronic devices while driving this year. Upmeyer also told members of the Westside Conservative Club she was open to revamping a limited medical marijuana law set to expire in July but first wanted a federal decision clarifying if it was legal for states to enact such provisions. She also said she expects the GOP-led Legislature to set a five-year "sunset" on all state programs to ensure they are reviewed and necessary, but she declined to rule out a discussion on whether future state "backfill" money should be provided to local governments as part of the 2013 commercial property tax relief package. She said that issue was not address in the fiscal 2017 "de-appropriation" bill that makes $118 million in adjustments to cover a projected budget shortfall by June 30.

NO STATE INCOME TAX COUPLING: The Legislature will not "couple" the state's income tax code with federal tax changes for the 2016 tax year - a decision that will impact Iowans currently preparing their tax returns for the federal and Iowa filing deadlines in April. Gov. Terry Branstad had proposed partial coupling that would have carried a $29 million price tag, but Republicans who control the Legislature dropped the provision as part of their plan to make adjustments totaling $118 million to erase a projected shortfall in the current fiscal year's state budget. Sen. Randy Feentsra, R-Hull, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, confirmed under questioning on the Senate floor there would be no tax coupling bill this session. GOP legislators blamed past overspending while Democrats argued the shortfall was created when tax collections did not meet projections. The tax-coupling decision will affect businesses, teachers, lower-income and other taxpayer groups. The Iowa Senate is slated to debate the fiscal 2017 "de-appropriation" bill on Thursday and House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, said representatives will take it up next Monday.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I want to encourage you to get back to your tax preparers to let them know we are not going to couple. That's a news flash this morning that I think the tax preparers all over the state are going to be interested in." - Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, during a speech on the floor of the Iowa Senate.
Global Cresols (Ortho-Cresols, Meta-Cresols, and Para-Cresols) Market Has Good Opportunities By 2026

www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11092

www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/11092

Cresols is an aromatic organic compound and obtained from coal tar or petroleum as a mixture of three stereoisomers i.e. Ortho Cresols, Meta Cresols and Para Cresols. It is generally referred as tricresol or cresolic acid and very toxic in nature. It is a strong dermal irritant and on inhalation by human, it may cause serious hazards such as dryness, nasal constriction, and throat irritation among others. However it is widely used for variety of applications such as disinfectants, antiseptics, preservative and agrochemicals among others.Request to view Sample Report @Ortho, Meta and Para cresol are stereoisomers and commercially manufactured as phenol derivatives. There are two well-known manufacturing processes of cresol i.e. methylation of phenol using methanol and sulfonation of toluene, followed by hydrolysis. However manufacturing of cresol from toluene is industrially preferred route. It is appeared either as liquid or in solid form with sweet and phenolic odor. Cresol mixture is industrially preferred preservative, solvent, disinfectant and wood preservative. Meta cresol is for manufacturing of herbicides, insecticides, antioxidants, photographic chemicals and explosive. While para cresol is majorly used for manufacturing of antioxidants, dyes and fragrance chemicals. Ortho cresol has found great application as chemical intermediates, pharmaceutical intermediate, disinfectants and solvent.Average price of cresol is subjected to change with geographies and does not follow volume to revenue ration in each individual geographies. Growing demand for specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals intermediates and industrial lubricants is expected to drive global consumption of cresols. The growing demand for antioxidants and preservatives is another accelerator for global market of cresols. Sustainability of the global cresols market is majorly depends on price and availability of raw materials. However alarming government regulations on use of cresols for certain applications such as in cosmetics and hair and dye products may restrain the overall consumption of cresols across the globe.Request to view Table of content @Major consumers of cresols are China, U.S., Western Europe and Japan and collectively accounted for more than 60% of total world consumption in 2015. China is the largest market in Asia-Pacific followed by India in 2016, and is expected to grow rapidly in the near future. Owing to cresols value added applications such as solvent, disinfectant and preservative, it is expected that the consumption of cresol will grow steadily especially in China and India. This is primarily because of expansion of end-use industries such as rubber and plastics, pharmaceuticals, dyes and chemicals in Asia Pacific. U.S. and Western Europe are two leading consumer of cresolic acid and consumption of cresol by this two geographies is expected to grow steadily at a CAGR of 3.0% till 2020.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
PMR Report- Phenolic Resins Market Explores New Growth Opportunities, 2026

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11146

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/11146

Phenolic resins or phenol-formaldehyde resins are the synthetic polymers obtained by the polymerization of phenol and formaldehyde. Phenolic resins possess good physical and chemical properties such as high mechanical strength, low toxicity, good heat resistance, low smoke formation and high thermal stability. Due to such high properties, phenolic resins find their applications in myriad industrial products. From molded products such as billiard balls to coatings and adhesives, phenolic resins are used for different applications across various industries such as automotive, electrical & electronics, construction etc. Besides, by mixing phenolic resins with other polymer, they can also be used in applications like corrosion coating, adhesive, etc. Due to their rising demand from various industries, the global phenolic resins market is expected to register high growth rate over the forecast period of 2016-2026.A sample of this report is available upon request @Construction, automotive, furniture and electrical & electronics industry are the major end-use sectors for phenolic resins. The holistic growth in these industries is expected to drive the demand for phenolic resins in the global market. Phenolic resins find their huge application in different wood products, which is majorly driven by the construction industry growth. Construction industry, which slowed down during 2014-2015, is expected to return to its growth phase post 2016. The growing construction industry output is further expected to have a positive impact on the global phenolic resins market through 2026. Moreover, increase in demand for various molded products in automotive and aerospace industry is also expected to contribute to the global phenolic resins demand through the forecast period.Volatility in raw material prices is a major challenging factor for the growth of phenolic resins market. With global focus growing towards the development of green and sustainable products, bio-based resins are expected to gain popularity among consumers, which could also hamper the growth of the conventional synthetic phenolic resins market.Request to view Table of content @Regionally, global phenolic resins market is segmented into seven key regions, namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Middle East & Africa and Japan. APEJ is expected to emerge as one of the fastest growing regions in the global phenolic resins market due to high rise in demand from construction and furniture industry, majorly in China and India. China is expected to remain a prominent consumer of phenolic resins in the global market throughout the forecast period.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Hemostasis Products Market to Cross US$ 7 Billion Globally by 2024

Hemostasis Products Market

https://www.marketresearchengine.com/requestsample/hemostasis-products-market-report

https://www.marketresearchengine.com/reportdetails/hemostasis-products-market-report

https://www.marketresearchengine.com/

New York, January 25: Market Research Engine has published a new report titled as Hemostasis Products Market By Product (Advanced Hemostasis, Infusible Hemostasis, Topical Hemostasis), By Application (Thrombosis, Stroke, Trauma, Surgery, Hemophilia, Myocardial Infarction) and by End Users (Clinics & Hospitals) - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 2016 - 2024How Big is the Global Hemostasis Products Market?The Hemostasis products market is expected to exceed more than US$ 7 Billion by 2024; Growing at a CAGR of more than 4% in the given forecast period.Download Free Sample Report:The market for Hemostasis products has generously profited in the previous couple of years. Inferable from the inconceivable innovative work exercises attempted in the field of Hemostasis innovation, empowering the advancement of very solid Hemostasis items for use in crisis circumstances. Broad research exercises in the field have additionally brought about the advancement of a wide number of imaginative items, which are as a rule emphatically got by national and worldwide endorsement offices.The major driving factors of Hemostasis products market are as follows:Rise in many surgical and trauma casesExtensive research and technological advancementsThe restraining factors of Hemostasis products market are as follows:Rising use of off label product and patent lossStrict regulatory policiesThe hemostasis products market is segmented on the lines of its product, application, end user and regional analysis. Product segmentation is further classified into advanced hemostasis, infusible hemostasis and topical hemostasis. Hemostasis segmentation covers Synthetic Sealants, Fibrin, Thrombin and Flowable. Infusible hemostasis segmentation covers prothrombin complex, fresh frozen plasma, FVIII derived from blood and platelet concentrates from donor blood. Topical segmentation covers collagen, oxidized regenerated cellulose, polysaccharide and gelatin. Under application segmentation it covers thrombosis, stroke, myocardial infarction, hemophilia, surgery and trauma. Based on end user it covers clinics and hospitals. The hemostasis products markets geographic segmentation covers various regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. Each geographic market is further segmented to provide market revenue for select countries such as the U.S., Canada, U.K. Germany, China, Japan, India, Brazil, and GCC countries.Browse Full Report:This report provides:1) An overview of the global market for hemostasis products and related technologies.2) Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2013, estimates for 2014 and 2015, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2024.3) Identifications of new market opportunities and targeted promotional plans for hemostasis products.4) Discussion of research and development, and the demand for new products and new applications.5) Comprehensive company profiles of major players in the industry.REPORT SCOPE:The scope of the report includes a detailed study of global and regional markets for The Hemostasis Products Market for variations in the growth of the industry in certain regions.The report covers detailed competitive outlook including the market share and company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Abbott Laboratories, Baxter International, Inc., C. R. Bard, Inc., CSL Behring LLC, Grifols, S.A., HemCon Medical Technologies, Inc., Integra LifeSciences Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic plc, and Pfizer, Inc. Company profile includes assign such as company summary, financial summary, business strategy and planning, SWOT analysis and current developments.The Top Companies Report is intended to provide our buyers with a snapshot of the industrys most influential players.The Hemostasis Products Market has been segmented as below:By Product Segment Analysis Advanced HemostasisSynthetic sealantsFibrinThrombinFlowable Infusible HemostasisProthrombin complexFresh frozen plasmaFVIII derived from bloodPlatelet concentrates from donor blood Topical HemostasisCollagenOxidized regenerated cellulosePolysaccharideGelatinBy Application AnalysisThrombosisStrokeMyocardial infarctionHemophiliaSurgeryTraumaBy End User AnalysisClinicsHospitalsBy Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificRest of the WorldAbout MarketResearchEngine.comMarket Research Engine is a global market research and consulting organization. We provide market intelligence in emerging, niche technologies and markets. Our market analysis powered by rigorous methodology and quality metrics provide information and forecasts across emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models. Our deep focus on industry verticals and country reports help our clients to identify opportunities and develop business strategies.Media ContactCompany Name: Market Research EngineContact Person: John BayEmail: john@marketresearchengine.comPhone: +1-855-984-1862, +91-860-565-7204Country: United StatesWebsite:Address: 3422 SW 15 Street, Suite #8942, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442, United States
The Public Safety LTE & Mobile Broadband Market: 2016  2030  Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts

http://www.reportbazzar.com/request-sample/?pid=517772&ptitle=The+Public+Safety+LTE+%26%23038%3B+Mobile+Broadband+Market%3A+2016+%E2%80%93+2030+%E2%80%93+Opportunities%2C+Challenges%2C+Strategies+%26%23038%3B+Forecasts&req=Sample

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http://www.reportbazzar.com/

Due to the bandwidth limitations of their traditional voice-centric LMR (Land Mobile Radio) networks, public safety agencies are keen to leverage commercial cellular network technology to support their growing broadband application needs. Considering its thriving ecosystem, spectrum flexibility and performance metrics, LTE has emerged as the leading candidate for public safety mobile broadband networks. In addition, with the recent approval of the MCPTT (Mission Critical Push to Talk) voice standard as part of 3GPP Release 13, LTE has also become an attractive substitute for providing LMR-like voice services.The Qatar Ministry of Interior made headlines when it deployed a private 800 MHz LTE network in 2012. Since then, numerous public safety LTE networks have sprung up across the globe, including the UAE, China, Laos, Turkey and Kenya. Several early adopter LTE deployments are also operational in the United States, as part of the planned FirstNet nationwide public safety broadband network. While most initial public safety LTE investments are limited to small-scale networks, nationwide rollouts in the United States and South Korea are expected to trigger significant large-scale investments throughout the globe.Request Sample Report Here:The European market is largely dominated by MVNO arrangements, such as the UK Home Offices ESN (Emergency Services Network) program that will use EEs commercial LTE network to deliver prioritized mission critical voice and data services for the UKs public safety agencies. As part of the program, EE is enhancing its existing network with additional sites, satellite backhaul and a dedicated mobile core for first responders, among other investments.Driven by the thriving ecosystem, SNS Research estimates that annual investments on public safety LTE infrastructure will reach $600 Million by the end of 2016. The market, which includes base stations (eNBs), mobile core and transport networking gear, is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 33% over the next four years. By 2020, these infrastructure investments will be complemented by over 4.4 Million LTE device shipments, including smartphones, rugged handheld terminals and vehicular routers.The Public Safety LTE & Mobile Broadband Market: 2016  2030  Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts report presents an in-depth assessment of the global public safety LTE market, besides touching upon the wider LMR and mobile broadband industries. In addition to covering the business case, challenges, technology, spectrum allocation, industry roadmap, value chain, deployment case studies, vendor products, strategies, standardization initiatives and applications ecosystem for public safety LTE, the report also presents comprehensive forecasts for mobile broadband, LMR and public safety LTE subscriptions from 2016 till 2030. Also covered are public safety LTE service revenues, over both private and commercial networks. In addition, the report presents revenue forecasts for public safety LTE infrastructure, devices, integration services and management solutions.The report comes with an associated Excel datasheet suite covering quantitative data from all numeric forecasts presented in the report, as well as a list and associated details of over 90 global public safety LTE network commitments (as of Q22016).Topics CoveredThe report covers the following topics: Business case for public safety LTE and mobile broadband services, including key benefits and challenges Technology, economics, trends, commercial commitments and deployment case studies List of public safety LTE engagements worldwide Public safety LTE infrastructure, devices and applications Industry roadmap, value chain and standardization initiatives Spectrum allocation, deployment models and funding strategies Profiles and strategies of over 260 ecosystem players including public safety system integrators and LTE infrastructure/device OEMs TCO analysis of private and commercial public safety LTE deployments Military and tactical LTE deployments Public safety LTE base station (eNB) form factor analysis Exclusive interview transcripts from 5 key ecosystem players: Ericsson, Airbus Defence and Space, Sepura, Aricent and Parallel Wireless Strategic recommendations for vendors, system integrators, public safety agencies and mobile operators Market analysis and forecasts from 2016 till 2030Browse Report Summary with TOC:Key Questions AnsweredThe report provides answers to the following key questions: How big is the public safety LTE opportunity? What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth? How is the ecosystem evolving by segment and region? What will the market size be in 2020 and at what rate will it grow? Which regions and submarkets will see the highest percentage of growth? How does standardization impact the adoption of LTE for public safety applications? When will MCPTT and proximity services see large scale proliferation? What is the status of private LTE rollouts and public safety MVNO offerings across the globe? What opportunities exist for commercial mobile operators and MVNOs in the public safety LTE market? Is there a market for 400 MHz LTE networks? What are the prospects of tactical, vehicle-mounted and airborne LTE eNB platforms? How can public safety agencies leverage unused spectrum resources to fund private LTE networks? What strategies should system integrators and vendors adopt to remain competitive?Key FindingsThe report has the following key findings: SNS Research estimates that annual investments on public safety LTE infrastructure will reach $600 Million by the end of 2016. The market, which includes base stations (eNBs), mobile core and transport networking gear, is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 33% over the next four years. By 2020, these infrastructure investments will be complemented by over 4.4 Million LTE device shipments, including smartphones, rugged handheld terminals and vehicular routers. Following the Qatar Ministry of Interiors private 800 MHz LTE network deployment in 2012, multiple private LTE rollouts are underway by security forces throughout the oil rich GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region, including the Abu Dhabi and Dubai police forces. Driven by nationwide public safety LTE network rollouts in the United States and South Korea, the North America and Asia Pacific regions will account for nearly 70% of all public safety LTE investments over the next four years. Almost all major LMR industry players are leveraging partnerships with established LTE infrastructure OEMs such as Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and Samsung, to offer end-to-end LTE solutions. Consolidation efforts are continuing to take place throughout the industry, particularly among the largest LTE infrastructure OEMs and public safety system integrators.Enquiry Before Buying:About Us:Reportbazzar.com is your trusted source for the most inclusive and informative assortment of market research reports designed to empower you with the latest in industry information that translates to time and cost savings for your business. We not only help you give wing to your latent business ideas but also facilitate you in taking the best informed and strategic decisions that guarantee success in your most promising business endeavors.Contact Us:ReportBazzarMary Jane30 Wall Street, 8th floor,New York, NY 10005.US: +1 (212) 389-6363India: +91 20 66528525Email Id: sales@reportbazzar.comWebsite:
Anesthesia Monitoring Devices Market: Persistent Technological Advancements Spurs Adoption of Anesthesia Monitoring Devices

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Anesthesia in basic term is insensitivity to pain. It is used to induce unconsciousness during a surgery. The anesthesia monitoring devices, are used to check a patient's response toward anesthesia during a surgical process. The requirement of these devices depend upon the type of surgery being performed and it differs in every case. These devices help the anesthetics to monitor the dose of anesthesia. Proper monitoring of the patient reduces the risks involved in anesthesia and surgery.Request a PDF Brochure with Report Analysis:Global anesthesia monitoring devices market can be segmented into products and end users. By product, it is segmented into integrated anesthesia workstation, basic anesthesia monitors, others (IT enabled) and advanced anesthesia monitors. Advanced anesthesia monitors are segmented into gas monitors, standalone capnography monitors, depth of anesthesia, and MRI compatible anesthesia monitors. These devices are more accurate and reliable in monitoring anesthesia. Anesthesia can be monitored with different methods, such as EEG Monitors, ECG, bi-spectral index (BIS) obtained from EEG, oxygen and carbon dioxide analyzers, and temperature monitors.With the new surgical procedures the expectancy of life in individuals has extended. The geriatric population is highly prone to degenerative diseases and chronic illnesses which has caused an increased verge on surgeries and therapeutics. This demands for continuous monitoring, thus would drive the growth of the anesthesia monitoring devices market.The integrated devices with decision support systems and advanced monitoring capabilities not only monitor complex parameters such as inhalation anesthetics, end-tidal concentrations of carbon dioxide and oxygen levels and transcutaneous oxygen saturation but also provides data analysis to help clinicians take decisions related to surgical and therapeutic interventions. But, presence of conventional techniques and high cost of devices and are some of the restraining factors for growth of this market.Also, there are certain side-effects involved, such as cognitive disturbance and post-surgery delirium related to anesthesia, in elderly patients, which is again a raising concern amongst physicians. These concerns have led to research studies which aim in analyzing impact of anesthesia administration on geriatric patients.Geographically, North America is observed to be the largest anesthesia monitoring devices market due to growing number of surgeries which has raised the awareness among surgeons about the benefits of anesthesia monitoring devices. Also due to extensive technological advancements and rising competition in the market, there is a demand for sophisticated and persistent technological advancements for better result.Asia Pacific is also expected to witness high growth due to unmet wants of large population and the developing healthcare network which is expected to impulse the growth of anesthesia monitoring devices in this region. Moreover, the reimbursement facilities, government funding sources, and increased healthcare awareness has also made easier the usage of advanced techniques in anesthesia monitoring.Browse Full Research Report:The report includes mergers & acquisitions, recent developments and new product launches of leading players in the market. The major players in the anesthesia monitoring devices market are Baxter International, Inc., Cardinal Health, Draegerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, GE Healthcare, Heyer Medical AG, Intersurgical Limited, Medtronic, Inc., Mindray Medical International Limited, Nihon Kohden Corporation, Philips Healthcare, and Smiths Medical, Inc. New collaborative developments and new product techniques are some strategic initiatives taken by the industries to retain oneself in the competition.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Personal Protective Equipment Market: Saudi Arabia Industry Analysis, Future Trends 2021

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Saudi Arabia has been undergoing radical evolution in generating awareness on worker safety over the past few years. The high number of worker accidents in the region have prompted the industries as well as the government to raise the bar on safety standards and implementing these standards as strongly as possible. This impetus in worker safety awareness forms the primary driver for the increasing demand of personal protective equipment in Saudi Arabia.Of all the key upcoming government regulations to be implemented in Saudi Arabia regarding worker safety, the oil and gas industry has been the foremost in it. This industry contributes to a large chunk of the Saudi Arabia GDP and is therefore focused on with a higher priority.Get a PDF Brochure for Professional Market InsightsAdditionally, the implementation of stronger regulations is expected to be complemented well by the increasing number of safety product approvals in the region.However, key players can get sidelined by the number of local players that provide cheap safety products. This is eating into the research and development budgets allotted by the more prominent players by forcing them to cut costs to maintain market volume share. The sales of personal protective equipment are also hampered by the reducing number of workers due to the growing rate of automation in Saudi Arabia industries.The Saudi Arabia market for personal protective equipment is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.0% from 2015 to 2021 in terms of revenue. This market revenue is expected reach US$444.2 mn by 2021, after being projected at US$318.7 mn by the end of 2016.Eastern Province Continues to Show High Personal Protective Equipment DemandOwing to the presence of a large number of boroughs and a very high number of Saudi Arabia locations of oil and gas production, the eastern province has shown the leading demand for personal protective equipment. By the end of 2021, the demand for personal protective equipment in the eastern province is expected to have generated US$233.6 mn in revenue. This region is considered to be one of the key regions for the global chemical industry due to the presence of several of the worlds leading chemical providers, including Nama Chemicals and Saudi Aramco. A large number of these companies operate in both the chemical sector and the oil and gas sector and therefore demand for a large volume of diverse personal protective equipment.The Central province with is a large number of oil and gas companies along with transportation and construction industries, and the Western province with its large number of end-use industries, cater for a lot of the remainder of the demand for personal protective equipment in Saudi Arabia.Application/Products + Company NamesThe demand for personal protective equipment in the Saudi Arabia oil and gas industry has consistently been the leading one over the recent past. This high demand is expected to grow even further over the coming years, due to the upcoming implementation of stricter regulations regarding worker safety in the oil and gas sector. By the end of 2021, the oil and gas sector is expected to contribute US$175.0 mn of the total Saudi Arabia personal protective equipment revenue.Meanwhile, the demand for personal protective equipment in the pharmaceuticals industry in Saudi Arabia is expected to grow at a very high rate. This is attributed to the massive surge in demand for hand protective gear and respiratory protective gear.The top providers of personal protective equipment in Saudi Arabia include 3M Corporation, Honeywell International, Ansell Ltd., Avon Rubber Plc., MSA Safety, E.I. DuPont De Nemours, and JSP.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.ContactMr.Sudip S90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Telepathology Service Market to Benefit from the Remarkable Improvements in Diagnostic Testing

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Telepathology refers to the electronic transmission of high quality pathological data by the means of telecommunications technology to practice pathology from a distance. It opens the door for transfer of high quality image-rich pathological data between different locations for the purposes of diagnosis, education, and research.Request a PDF Brochure with Report Analysis:This technology is being utilized for purposes such as expert opinion on referral cases, emergency services, diagnosis at remote location, quality assurance, conferences and meetings, and for educational training. Telepathology is an emerging technology that offers advancement of telecommunication to reach out patient in remote location and provides best diagnostic inference to distant healthcare provider.This market research provides in-depth analysis of global telepathology service markets. It includes trends and sales in the telepathology service market. Key market players, service segments, supporting technologies, market dynamics, and competitive impact analysis are discussed in depth. The intended audience for this report includes Pathological Labs, Clinicians and Medical Practitioners, Medical Equipment Vendors, Outsourced Clinical Service Providers, Researchers and Academics, Healthcare Consultants, telecoms and tech start-ups among several other readers.In the current economy, cost cutting is a cardinal driver for the advancement of any technology which offers cost effectiveness and global reach to the entire market. Accurate pathological assessment, quick diagnoses, timely treatment and delivery of high-quality healthcare are some of the prime factors that would emphasize the global market demand for telepathology.In addition to that, the widespread presence of cancer, the increasing workload of healthcare providers, and advances in laboratory diagnostic tests drives the growth of telepathology market globally. However, the high initial setup cost and error in sampling pathological data would be catastrophic for global telepathology service market. Other factors which may restrain the telepathology services markets are rigorous regulatory requirements for telepathology systems as different issues arise in quality assurance and assessment of competence.It is of paramount importance to have equivalence between telepathology system and pathologist`s usual method of practice in order to recognize and acknowledge differences. The telepathology systems attributes and advantage differ from one company to the other. Every companys system differs in their telecommunication technology, scanning software and backup. The key to establishing a presence in the telepathology service market is to have a setup with a system design for pathologists that are service provider-centric, that is based on requirements of provider and designed to meet end-user requirements.Telepathology is primarily segmented in three domains, namely, static image-based systems, virtual slide systems, and real-time systems. The global market for telepathology is segmented based on scanning technology, application type (hospital based, home based), software and hardware configuration, clinical application and geography. An aging population in North America and Asia Pacific and rising demand for home-based treatment are expected to boost the current and future telepathology market.23 million individuals aged 80 years or over were living in China in 2013. The USA contributed to about 12 million, followed by India and Japan, which had 10 million and 9 million, respectively. Apart from this increase expenditure in healthcare is also responsible for the shifting paradigm for future technology. It reflects the net result of the aging of the population on demand of technology that would be utilized for home based pathological diagnoses.View Report:Major market players profiled in this report includes include Canada Health Infoway, University Health Network, Meyer Instruments, Inc., Telemedicine Clinic (TMC), AMD Global Telemedicine, Inc., Emerge MD, Focal Point , Nationwide Medical Licensing, Polycom, Inc, Remote Medical Technologies, USAC - Universal Service Administrative Company, Visual Share, Inc., Wolf Vision Inc.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Virus Filtration Market by Type & Application 2016 - 2024

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Virus filtration is an important procedure in the pharmaceutical industry. It ensures the purity and steady consumption of valuable products, besides optimizing the economic process and preventing loss. Virus filtration feed streams generally exhibit high purity and heavy product concentrations. Retrovirus and parvovirus filtration membranes are two ultrafiltration membranes tested (and their performances compared) using realistic model feed streams consisting of minute virus of mice (recommended from FDA). This approach provides an industry-relevant benchmark for the engineering competence of virus filters. Asymmetric membranes operate in direct flow and in a constant pressure mode in accordance with the industrial practice of virus filtration. However, new developments in research and development using flux method allow to image at the performance of virus filtration and similar ultrafiltration membranes, which also provides insights into designing virus filtration membranes.Hike in R&D expenditure, development of the biopharmaceutical industry, and increasing government funding for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are driving the global virus filtration market. According to the parenteral drug association, parvovirus filters in the downstream process have become an industry standard and a common regulatory expectation in the recent years. The filters consistently demonstrate highly effective retrovirus retention without impacting the quality of the product across a wide range of parameters and are an effective method to reduce virus risks in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The filtration technique needs to be approved by the U.S. food and drug administration (FDA). Regulatory agencies in Germany and France require the manufacturing processes to be evaluated and the units to be cleared of the multiple models of relevant viruses before being marketed as authorization. These stringent government validation practices are expected to be a hindrance for the global virus filtration market.Download Complete Healthcare Analytical Brochure:The market has been segmented by product type, application, end-users, and geography. In terms of product type, it is classified into the following categories: virus filters, kits and reagents, filtration systems, and others. It majorly has biological applications, besides being employed in medical devices, water purification, stem cell products, vaccine & therapeutics, and others. Based on end-user, its divisions include pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies (which use virus filtration techniques in order to prevent unavoidable contamination in products), medical device companies, and contract research organizations. Filtration systems and devices are becoming popular because they deliver a high level of retention assurance and productivity across a broad range of feed stream characteristics. Rising industrialization coupled with the rapid evolution of the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and water purification sectors, along with demand for medical devices & implants are likely to propel the virus filtration market by 2024.Geographically, the market is distributed over North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America is the dominant region due to the increasing modern industrialization, sophisticated infrastructure, patient awareness, and high per capita health care expenditure here. Moreover, the emerging trend of single-use techniques provides a boost to the pharmaceutical & biotechnology market, in turn motivating the virus filtration market. This is followed by Europe where there exist favorable government policies regarding health care infrastructure and awareness programs about the various diseases which can spread among the population through the air, water, or even products generated from industries. In 2013, the ICH (international conference on harmonization of technical requirements for registration of pharmaceuticals for human use), a project that brings together the regulatory authorities of Europe, Japan, and the U.S., discussed the scientific and technical aspects of drug registration in order to streamline the testing requirement for research and development of new medicines and eliminate unnecessary delays in their global development. The market in Asia Pacific is projected to expand swiftly due to rising population, changing lifestyles, rising number of awareness programs for patients, and the ever-increasing per capita expenditure. In addition, economic growth supports pharmaceutical and biotechnology units in developing countries such as India, China, and Singapore. All these factors collectively support the virus filtration market in Asia Pacific.Key players operating in the market include Merck KGaA, GE Healthcare, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Lonza Group Ltd., Pall Corporation, Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, Sartorius AG, Asahi Kasei Medical Co., Ltd., and WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Browse Full Research Report on Virus Filtration Market:About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:
Low-Dropout (LDO) Regulator Market - Increased Use In Consumer Electronics, And Circuitry Such As Microprocessors And Microcontrollers Leads To Growth

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An LDO or low-dropout regulator is a DC (Direct Current) voltage regulator that has the ability to regulate the output voltage when the difference between input voltage and output voltage is low. Typically an LDO offers a "dropout" (difference between input and output voltage) of less than 0.3V whereas a standard linear voltage regulator offers a dropout voltage of 1 Volt or more. An LDO finds its use in different industries based on certain characteristics such as the LDOs drop-out voltage, line regulation, speed (how fast it can respond as the load varies), load regulation, quiescent current, and maximum current (which is decided by the size of the pass transistor), among others. Generating 3.3 V from 3.6 V (Li-Ion battery) needs a much lower difference between input and output voltage (less than 300 mV). Applications such as these, require the use of a low-dropout regulator to achieve the lower dropout voltage required. However, under steady state operating conditions (equilibrium condition of a circuit or a network), an LDO behaves like a simple resistor.The rise in demand of LDOs is due to its increased use in consumer electronics, and circuitry such as microprocessors and microcontrollers, among others. Additionally, increased consumer affinity towards portable and wireless application at a global level, is also fueling the growth of the LDO industry. However, rising cost of raw materials needed, and high expenses on efficiency maintenance, are the major restraint that could hinder the growth of the industry.PDF Sample For Technological breakthroughs is @The demand for low-dropout voltage regulators in the global market is expected to increase at a steady pace owing to the growing demand of the product in various industries such as telecommunication, aircraft, and cellular phones. Asia Pacific is likely to show the highest growth in the LDO market during the forecast period from 2016 to 2024.The low-dropout regulator market can be segmented based on application and geography. Based on application, the low-dropout regulator market is classified into LDOs for digital loads, LDOs for analog loads, and LDOs for RF (Radio Frequency) loads. Digital LDOs are designed to save energy with low Iq (quiescent current). LDOs leads to increased battery life as portable systems have long periods of low-power operation when the software is idling. When the systems are inactive LDOs are shut down and consume less than 1 A. LDOs for DSPs (Digital Signal Processing) and microcontrollers have to work with good efficiency and handle high and rapidly varying currents. Noise reduction and supply-noise rejection are two of the most sought after characteristics of components used in wireless systems. It can be achieved by care and ingenuity in the LDOs internal design. Their low dropout voltage and low quiescent current make them a good fit for portable and wireless applications.On the basis of geography, the low-dropout regulator market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. The rising demand in consumer electronics, wireless devices, and portable battery powered appliances market would probably lead to the increase in demand of low-dropout regulators market. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market for low-dropout regulators. The technological advancement in countries such as China, South Korea, and Taiwan coupled with cheap labor and favorable economic conditions, is likely to add to the factors responsible for growth in the Asia Pacific region.There are many players in the low-dropout regulator industry. Key companies include Maxim (U.S), Linear ((U.S), Rohm (Japan), Texas Instruments (U.S), STMicroelectronics (France), and Ams AG (Austria). Other players operating in the market are Analog Devices (U.S), Fairchild (U.S), Toshiba (Japan), Microchip Technology (U.S), ON Semiconductor (U.S), among others.Market Insight can be Viewed @The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
At A CAGR Of 4.82% Global Utilities Security Industry Will Grow Steadily During The Period 2016-2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Utilities Security Market 2016-2020" to its huge collection of research reports.The utilities infrastructure is a major part of critical infrastructure, which involves oil and gas and electricity. The number of critical infrastructures is likely to grow during the forecast period in different regions around the world. Critical infrastructures are high-value construction projects, and their security is crucial for governments as well as enterprises. An increased number of cyber threats are likely to cause more damage than physical threats. Owing to an increase in criminal activities over the network, governments have imposed strict regulations to secure critical infrastructures.Physical security involves the security of an organization's data, hardware, network, and computer programs from external threats. These threats can include burglary, data theft, and terrorism. Numerous hardware devices and software are being adopted by government organizations and enterprises to ensure the security of their assets and physical security of critical business data.Cyber security solutions prevent hackers and network intruders from attacking an organization's network. Cyber security is important for government organizations and enterprises that transmit large volumes of confidential data over the network, including financial and confidential data.Technavios analysts forecast the global utilities security market to grow at a CAGR of 4.82% during the period 2016-2020.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global utilities security market for the period 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of the following applications:Surveillance systemsAccess control systemsPerimeter intrusion prevention system (PIPS)SoftwareCloud-based servicesThe market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasEMEAAPACTechnavio's report, Global Utilities Security Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsAxis CommunicationsBosch Security SystemsHoneywell SecurityQognifyTyco InternationalOther prominent vendorsAlienVaultAnixterCisco SystemsComputer Sciences CorporationG4SGeneral DynamicsGeneral ElectricMcAfeeNorthrop GrummanSiemensSymantecMarket driverTo improve quality of data protectionFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeIntegration issues of security solutionsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncreased demand for vulnerability management and complianceFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
DES MOINES  If Iowa Democrats are to reverse the lopsided electoral defeats they suffered in the past two elections, candidates should take at least one key page from their vanquishers playbook by covering more of the states ground, the Democrats new state party chairman says.

Democratic candidates for statewide office need to do a better job of reaching out directly to voters in more areas of the state, said Derek Eadon, a 33-year-old West Des Moines political consultant who was elected state chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party last weekend.

Eadon was elected to replace Andy McGuire, whose two-year term ended following the 2016 election.

We just have to be present and listen in these communities. We cant just have candidates going to some of these bigger areas, Eadon said this week in an interview with the Globe Gazette State Bureau about the partys future in Iowa.

Its not a new thing, he said. Candidates that have done well in Iowa have traveled extensively. So its not necessarily a new model. But that will help.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and Gov. Terry Branstad, a pair of Iowa Republicans with a combined 64 years in statewide office, visit each of the states 99 counties each year.

Eadon said he thinks more of that style of campaigning may be necessary for Iowa Democrats to recoup the voters they lost in the past two elections, particularly in 2016 when many rural voters who had supported former Democratic President Barack Obama voted for Republican President Donald Trump.

Trump won 93 of Iowas 99 counties in November, including 32 that went for Obama in 2012.

I would encourage our candidates to travel the state as much as possible, listen to these folks, their concerns and talk about how we are going to benefit their pocketbooks, Eadon said.

Eadon takes over at a critical time for Iowa Democrats. In the 2014 and 2016 elections, Democrats lost to Republicans a U.S. Senator, a U.S. House member, and the majority in the Iowa Senate. The latter resulted in giving Republicans complete lawmaking control at the Iowa Capitol.

And that doesnt mention the state going to Trump over Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton by 10 percentage points.

Eadon said despite all that, he remains optimistic about the future for Iowa Democrats. He said attendance has increased at party meetings after the election.

He was heartened by the 26,000-plus who attended a Des Moines rally that was part of the nationwide Womens March movement this past weekend.

I think the rally here on Saturday was a good indication that energy is not going away anytime soon, Eadon said.

Eadon said Democrats must build a strong state party that can withstand mood swings in national elections.

I think we tended to get drowned out in that national message, that national race (in 2016), he said.

We want to make sure that were having a positive culture, were extensively traveling and listening to Democrats, making sure that people feel like they have a place at the table.

In order to strengthen the state party, Eadon said he hopes to invest in the grassroots element of the party by tapping into the enthusiasm that was on display at the weekend rally and on Tuesday at the Capitol, where roughly 300 people came to voice opposition to legislation that would strip public funding to womens reproductive health care clinics that perform abortions.

I think our volunteers are ready to take on leadership roles, Eadon said. We want to empower them. We want to train them. We want to invest in local candidates.

Eadon said building from the ground up is necessary because the ranks of Iowa Democrats in elected office are increasingly thin.

U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack is the only Democrat among the states six elected officials in Congress; the governor is Republican and the Democrats are in the minority in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature.

The problems also are at the local level, Eadon said, noting just 23 percent of elected officials in Iowas 3rd Congressional District are registered Democrats.

That means we dont have Democrats carrying the message, getting out the vote, Eadon said. Theres lots of opportunities to be involved.

The 2018 election provides Iowa Democrats their first opportunity to bounce back. Winning back the governors office  which Iowa Democrats have held for only 12 of the past 48 years - would be a monumental victory for the party.

Branstad is poised to become the next U.S. Ambassador to China, and most expect Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who steps into the office once Branstad leaves, will run in 2018. She may face a primary challenge; Cedar Rapids mayor Ron Corbett has been mulling a run.

Eadon again said the Democratic candidate for governor should travel all over the state. He said he thinks the candidate should focus on economic issues and call attention to Republicans legislative agenda at the statehouse.

In 2016 we were playing a lot of personality politics, focusing on what Trump was saying. I think we need to do a better job of getting people to vote for Democrats the next few years, to show that were fighting for those folks, Eadon said.

One crucial job requirement of a state party chairperson in Iowa  Democrat or Republican  is to ensure the state keeps its bird-dog seat in the presidential nominating process.

Trump has said he wants the Iowa caucuses to remain first in the GOPs nominating process, but the issue is more pertinent and more unsettled for Democrats. The national party soon will elect a new chairperson, whose feeling on the nomination process will be critical; and Democrats likely will have the more competitive nomination bout in 2020, since Trump will be an incumbent.

Eadon said he will watch with interest to see who is elected as the Democrats national leader. One of the candidates, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, of Minnesota, sent a letter this weekend to Iowa Democrats saying he would keep Iowa first.

One of the things Im very interested in is learning from the candidates where they stand on these issues, Eadon said. Its not something thats really prevalent in discussions currently, but we always have to be vigilant.

Eadon said he received a congratulatory phone call from Republican Party of Iowa chairman Jeff Kaufmann, and the two pledged to continue to work together to preserve Iowas first-in-the-nation status.

Im optimistic, but its just something that has not been brought up that much (with the national party), Eadon said. Were still a few months away from figuring out how the chair will insert (themselves) in the process, if at all. So its a little bit of wait and see.
Global Intravenous Solutions Market Research Report 2016 | Now Available at Researchmoz.us

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Intravenous Solutions Market Research Report 2016" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies Intravenous Solutions in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringBaxterB. Braun MelsungenFresenius KabiHospiraBioscripClaris LifesciencesGrifolsJW Life ScienceSichuan Kelun Pharmaceuticaldatra BhaktiTerumoOmnicareVifor PharmaWidatra BhaktiMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Intravenous Solutions in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaSplit by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoCrystalloidsColloidsBlood productsOxygen-carrying solutionsSplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Intravenous Solutions in each application, can be divided intoHumans UseAnimals UseApplication 3To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of ContentsGlobal Intravenous Solutions Market Research Report 20161 Intravenous Solutions Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Intravenous Solutions1.2 Intravenous Solutions Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Intravenous Solutions by Type in 20151.2.2 Crystalloids1.2.3 Colloids1.2.4 Blood products1.2.5 Oxygen-carrying solutions1.3 Intravenous Solutions Segment by Application1.3.1 Intravenous Solutions Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Humans Use1.3.3 Animals Use1.3.4 Application 31.4 Intravenous Solutions Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Intravenous Solutions (2011-2021)2 Global Intravenous Solutions Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Intravenous Solutions Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Intravenous Solutions Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Intravenous Solutions Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Intravenous Solutions Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Intravenous Solutions Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Intravenous Solutions Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Intravenous Solutions Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Intravenous Solutions Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2016)3.1 Global Intravenous Solutions Capacity and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.2 Global Intravenous Solutions Production and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.3 Global Intravenous Solutions Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.4 Global Intravenous Solutions Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.5 North America Intravenous Solutions Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.6 Europe Intravenous Solutions Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.7 China Intravenous Solutions Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.8 Japan Intravenous Solutions Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.9 Southeast Asia Intravenous Solutions Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.10 India Intravenous Solutions Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)4 Global Intravenous Solutions Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.1 Global Intravenous Solutions Consumption by Regions (2011-2016)4.2 North America Intravenous Solutions Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.3 Europe Intravenous Solutions Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.4 China Intravenous Solutions Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.5 Japan Intravenous Solutions Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.6 Southeast Asia Intravenous Solutions Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.7 India Intravenous Solutions Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)5 Global Intravenous Solutions Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Intravenous Solutions Production and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)5.2 Global Intravenous Solutions Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)5.3 Global Intravenous Solutions Price by Type (2011-2016)5.4 Global Intravenous Solutions Production Growth by Type (2011-2016)6 Global Intravenous Solutions Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Intravenous Solutions Consumption and Market Share by Application (2011-2016)6.2 Global Intravenous Solutions Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2011-2016)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/CountriesMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online 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Global Regenerative Medicine Industry Will Grow At Steadily A CAGR Of 20.7% During The Period 2016-2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Regenerative Medicine Market 2016-2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Regenerative medicine is a process of regenerating cells, tissues, and organs to restore normal function in a diseased organ. This branch of tissue engineering and molecular biology is promising and is driven by demand from patients, development of cell therapy, tissue scaffold, and gene therapy products, and increase in the number of pipeline products.Technavios analysts forecast the global regenerative medicine market to grow at a CAGR of 20.7% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global regenerative medicine market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, we used the revenue generated from the sales of various types of regenerative medicine products.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Technavio's report, Global Regenerative Medicine Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsAcelityMedtronicMiMedx GroupOrganogenesisUniQureZimmer BiometOther prominent vendorsACE Surgical SupplyAcologixAdvanced BiologicsAlloCureAllosourceAlphatec SpineAltrikaAmorcyteAnterogenAntibe TherapeuticsAstellas PharmaAthersysAvita MedicalAxoGenBacterin InternationalBaxterBellicum PharmaceuticalsBioCardiaBiogen IdecBioRestorative TherapiesBiostage TechnologiesBluebird BioBONESUPPORTBrainStorm Cell TherapeuticsCaladrius BiosciencesCalimmuneCapricor TherapeuticsCelgeneCell MedicaCellSeedCell TherapyCelyadCESCA THERAPEUTICSCRC for Cell Therapy ManufacturingCryolifeCynata TherapeuticsCytori TherapeuticsDendreonDiscGenicsFate TherapeuticsFibrocell ScienceForticell BioscienceFortress BiotechFUJIFILMGamida CellGeronGlaxoSmithKlineHealthpointHistogenHistogenicsHolostem Terapie AvanzateHumacyteImmunoCellular TherapeuticsIntegra LifeSciencesIntercytexInVivo TherapeuticsiSTO TechnologiesJanssen PharmaJuno TherapeuticsJuventas TherapeuticsKensey NashKiadis PharmaKinetic ConceptLifeCellLifeNet HealthLiving Cell TechnologiesLonzaMaxCyteMEDIPOSTMesoblastNanofiber Solutions CTONanotopeNeoStemNeuralstemNewlink GeneticsNorthwest BiotherapeuticsNovaRxOcata TherapeuticsOpexa TherapeuticsOrganovo HoldingsOrtegOrthofixOsiris TherapeuticsOsteotechPfizerPharmicellPluristem TherapeuticsPrima BioMedQ TherapeuticsRegenerexRegenerysRegienceRegrowReplicelReproCELLRenova TherapeuticsRhinoCyteRohto PharmaceuticalRTI SurgicalSanBioSangamo BioSciencesShanghai Sunway BiotechShire Regenerative MedicineStemCellsStratechTakara BioTEI BiosciencestellaTengionTissue GenesisTissueGeneTxcellVentriNovaVericelViaCyteVistagenMarket driverIncreased focus on cell therapy productsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeHigh cost and failure rate in clinical trialsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncreased number of regenerative medicine in product lineFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales Market Report 2017 (4V-6V, 6V-8V, 8V-12V, 12V-14V, Above 14V) Industry Chain, Efficient Management, Eminent Growth, Developments & Revenues

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This report studies sales (consumption) of Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Market 2017, especially in United States, China, Europe and Japan, focuses on top players in these regions/countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these regions, coveringTEXAS INSTRUMENTSNational SemiconductorTOSHIBA SEMICONDUCTORMicrochip TechnologyNTE ELECTRONICSTELCOM SEMICONDUCTOR, INCR & E International, Inc.TOKO, INCENPIRION, INC.NECON SEMICONDUCTORSUPERTEX, INCANALOG DEVICESMonolithic Power SystemsVishay SiliconixUnisonic TechnologiesLinear TechnologySipex CorporationRequest more information atMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Frequency to Voltage Converter in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanKoreaTaiwanSplit by product Types, with sales, revenue, price and gross margin, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided into4V-6V6V-8V8V-12V12V-14VAbove 14VSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Frequency to Voltage Converter in each application, can be divided intoElectrical EquipmentIndustrial EquipmentAutomotiveAviationView full report atTable of ContentsGlobal Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales Market Report 20171 Frequency to Voltage Converter Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Frequency to Voltage Converter1.2 Classification of Frequency to Voltage Converter1.2.1 4V-6V1.2.2 6V-8V1.2.3 8V-12V1.2.4 12V-14V1.2.5 Above 14V1.3 Application of Frequency to Voltage Converter1.3.1 Electrical Equipment1.3.2 Industrial Equipment1.3.3 Automotive1.3.4 Aviation1.4 Frequency to Voltage Converter Market by Regions1.4.1 United States Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Korea Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Frequency to Voltage Converter (2011-2021)1.5.1 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Competition by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2011-2016)2.1.2 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2011-2016)2.2 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.2.2 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.3 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter (Volume and Value) by Regions2.3.1 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Regions (2011-2016)2.3.2 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2011-2016)2.4 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter (Volume) by Application3 United States Frequency to Voltage Converter (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Value (2011-2016)3.1.1 United States Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.2 United States Frequency to Voltage Converter Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.3 United States Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)3.2 United States Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 United States Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Application4 China Frequency to Voltage Converter (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Value (2011-2016)4.1.1 China Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)4.1.2 China Frequency to Voltage Converter Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)4.1.3 China Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)4.2 China Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 China Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 China Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Application5 Europe Frequency to Voltage Converter (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 Europe Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Value (2011-2016)5.1.1 Europe Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)5.1.2 Europe Frequency to Voltage Converter Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)5.1.3 Europe Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)5.2 Europe Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers5.3 Europe Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Type5.4 Europe Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Application6 Japan Frequency to Voltage Converter (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Japan Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Value (2011-2016)6.1.1 Japan Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)6.1.2 Japan Frequency to Voltage Converter Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)6.1.3 Japan Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)6.2 Japan Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers6.3 Japan Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Type6.4 Japan Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Application7 Korea Frequency to Voltage Converter (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7.1 Korea Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Value (2011-2016)7.1.1 Korea Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)7.1.2 Korea Frequency to Voltage Converter Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)7.1.3 Korea Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)7.2 Korea Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers7.3 Korea Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Type7.4 Korea Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Application8 Taiwan Frequency to Voltage Converter (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8.1 Taiwan Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Value (2011-2016)8.1.1 Taiwan Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)8.1.2 Taiwan Frequency to Voltage Converter Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)8.1.3 Taiwan Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)8.2 Taiwan Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers8.3 Taiwan Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Type8.4 Taiwan Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Market Share by Application9 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Manufacturers Analysis9.1 TEXAS INSTRUMENTS9.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.1.2 Frequency to Voltage Converter Product Type, Application and Specification9.1.2.1 4V-6V9.1.2.2 6V-8V9.1.3 TEXAS INSTRUMENTS Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.2 National Semiconductor9.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.2.2 Frequency to Voltage Converter Product Type, Application and Specification9.2.2.1 4V-6V9.2.2.2 6V-8V9.2.3 National Semiconductor Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.3 TOSHIBA SEMICONDUCTOR9.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.3.2 Frequency to Voltage Converter Product Type, Application and Specification9.3.2.1 4V-6V9.3.2.2 6V-8V9.3.3 TOSHIBA SEMICONDUCTOR Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.4 Microchip Technology9.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.4.2 Frequency to Voltage Converter Product Type, Application and Specification9.4.2.1 4V-6V9.4.2.2 6V-8V9.4.3 Microchip Technology Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.5 NTE ELECTRONICS9.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.5.2 Frequency to Voltage Converter Product Type, Application and Specification9.5.2.1 4V-6V9.5.2.2 6V-8V9.5.3 NTE ELECTRONICS Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.6 TELCOM SEMICONDUCTOR, INC9.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.6.2 Frequency to Voltage Converter Product Type, Application and Specification9.6.2.1 4V-6V9.6.2.2 6V-8V9.6.3 TELCOM SEMICONDUCTOR, INC Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.7 R & E International, Inc.9.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.7.2 Frequency to Voltage Converter Product Type, Application and Specification9.7.2.1 4V-6V9.7.2.2 6V-8V9.7.3 R & E International, Inc. Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.8 TOKO, INC9.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.8.2 Frequency to Voltage Converter Product Type, Application and Specification9.8.2.1 4V-6V9.8.2.2 6V-8V9.8.3 TOKO, INC Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.9 ENPIRION, INC.9.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.9.2 Frequency to Voltage Converter Product Type, Application and Specification9.9.2.1 4V-6V9.9.2.2 6V-8V9.9.3 ENPIRION, INC. Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.10 NEC9.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.10.2 Frequency to Voltage Converter Product Type, Application and Specification9.10.2.1 4V-6V9.10.2.2 6V-8V9.10.3 NEC Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)9.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.11 ON SEMICONDUCTOR9.12 SUPERTEX, INC9.13 ANALOG DEVICES9.14 Monolithic Power Systems9.15 Vishay Siliconix9.16 Unisonic Technologies9.17 Linear Technology9.18 Sipex Corporation10 Frequency to Voltage Converter Maufacturing Cost Analysis10.1 Frequency to Voltage Converter Key Raw Materials Analysis10.1.1 Key Raw Materials10.1.2 Price Trend of Key Raw Materials10.1.3 Key Suppliers of Raw Materials10.1.4 Market Concentration Rate of Raw Materials10.2 Proportion of Manufacturing Cost Structure10.2.1 Raw Materials10.2.2 Labor Cost10.2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Frequency to Voltage Converter10.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Frequency to Voltage Converter11 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers11.1 Frequency to Voltage Converter Industrial Chain Analysis11.2 Upstream Raw Materials Sourcing11.3 Raw Materials Sources of Frequency to Voltage Converter Major Manufacturers in 201511.4 Downstream Buyers12 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders12.1 Marketing Channel12.1.1 Direct Marketing12.1.2 Indirect Marketing12.1.3 Marketing Channel Development Trend12.2 Market Positioning12.2.1 Pricing Strategy12.2.2 Brand Strategy12.2.3 Target Client12.3 Distributors/Traders List13 Market Effect Factors Analysis13.1 Technology Progress/Risk13.1.1 Substitutes Threat13.1.2 Technology Progress in Related Industry13.2 Consumer Needs/Customer Preference Change13.3 Economic/Political Environmental Change14 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Market Forecast (2016-2021)14.1 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue and Price Forecast (2016-2021)14.1.1 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales and Growth Rate Forecast (2016-2021)14.1.2 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast (2016-2021)14.1.3 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Price and Trend Forecast (2016-2021)14.2 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast by Regions (2016-2021)14.2.1 United States Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast (2016-2021)14.2.2 China Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast (2016-2021)14.2.3 Europe Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast (2016-2021)14.2.4 Japan Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast (2016-2021)14.2.5 Korea Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast (2016-2021)14.2.6 Taiwan Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast (2016-2021)14.3 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales, Revenue and Price Forecast by Type (2016-2021)14.4 Global Frequency to Voltage Converter Sales Forecast by Application (2016-2021)15 Research Findings and Conclusion16 AppendixTo Purchase this premium Report With Complete TOC at :About Us:Global QYResearch () is the one spot destination for all your research needs. 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Global Explosion Protection Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022

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ReportsWorldwide has announced the addition of a new report title Global Explosion Protection Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 to its growing collection of premium market research reports.Explosion protection products are mainly used for protect facilities and employees from the effects of combustible explosions. They are including explosion venting system, explosion isolation system, and explosion suppression system products. In China except for CNPC, Sinopec and other big corporations, seldom of middle and small-sized enterprises have installed explosion protection products in their factories, most of those enterprise use dust-cleaning apparatus in their factories. In this report we statistic the explosion venting system, explosion isolation system, explosion suppression system products. They are used in chemical/refining industry, power plant industry, pharmaceutical industry, coal mine industry, and other industries.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Explosion Protection in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.To view a detailed description and Table of Contents please visit:Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Lanhua HS Bossun HeilongJiang Taian Fireanderplosion-proof All Best Technology Tiandi (Changzhou) Automation Zhongronghuigu Sichuan Tianwei Electronic Shanxi Zhongchuangda Chongqing Anyi Mine Equipment NanJing Tanben BasCo Fluid Technology Xuzhou Jiangsu JuxiMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers North America (USA, Canada and Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia) South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.) Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, covers Explosion Venting System Explosion Isolation System Explosion SuppressionMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into Chemical/Refining Industry Power Plant Industry Coal Mine Industry OthersThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Explosion Protection market.Chapter 1, to describe Explosion Protection Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Explosion Protection, with sales, revenue, and price of Explosion Protection, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Explosion Protection, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Explosion Protection market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Explosion Protection sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceTo Get Sample Copy of Report please visit @About ReportsWorldwide.comReportsWorldwide.com is a leading provider of global market intelligence reports and services. With research reports from top publishers, consulting and advisory firms, ReportsWorldwide.com offers instant online access to a growing database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, geographies and trends.Press Contact:Abigail CrastoSenior Vice President101, Arch StreetBoston, MA 02110USPhone +1 (617) 398-4994Fax +1 (617) 398-4995abigail@reportsworldwide.com
Insulin Resistance Market Could go to Higher Levels by 2024; Government Initiatives to Motivate Research in Diabetes Helps in Increasing Demand

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Insulin Resistance Market: OverviewDiabetes has become a major concern across the globe owing to its increasing prevalence. Statistics published by World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that over 350 million individuals suffer from diabetes globally. The data also details that more that 80% cases are recorded in low and middle income countries, majority of which are from Asia Pacific, the Middle East and African countries. India accounts for maximum cases of diabetes with more than 30 million cases registered in year 2000. According to Medscape, a healthcare website, in the United States, the prevalence of insulin resistance is over 3%.Get the Future Market Analysis of Insulin Resistance at:Insulin resistance is a complication in which body develops resistance to insulin due to its over production. As the sensitivity towards insulin decreases, body produces excess insulin for better absorption of glucose. This conditions leads to development of type 2 diabetes or prediabetes. Prediabetes is a condition in which blood glucose level is higher than the normal level, but not enough for proper diagnosis of diabetes. Although exact cause of insulin resistance is not known, scientists and doctor believe that excess and sedentary lifestyle are main causes for development of the disorder. Major symptoms of insulin resistance are lethargy, hunger, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, and kidney damage. Insulin resistance diagnosis is difficult and involves combination of tests. Usually hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp test is used to measures the amount of glucose which is necessary to compensate for increased insulin level without causing hypoglycemia. Other tests include glucose tolerance test and fasting insulin level.Insulin Resistance Market: Drivers and RestraintsFew drugs approved by FDA are available in the market for treatment of insulin resistance. Humulin by Lilly LLC, and Novolin and Velosulin by Novo Nordisk, are the major brands in the market. Various off label drugs are also prescribed to suppress the symptoms of insulin resistance. Inadequate clinical information on insulin resistance has restricted the scope of drug development. Although scientists are trying to gain insight for exact cause of insulin resistance, development of drugs may take more time owing to lengthy clinical trials. Diabetes and the consequent insulin resistance being a major concern in most of the countries, government initiatives to motivate research in diabetes is expected to give rise to more research projects for diabetes and insulin resistance. Aging population and increasing obesity prevalence in developing countries is expected to give rise to patients suffering from insulin resistance. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 35% of the U.S. population is obese. In another data published by OECD, more than 50% of the European Union population is overweight or obese. Obesity prevalence rates are on the rise in China, India and Brazil, making more and more population suitable to insulin resistance. China is now the second obese country in the world followed by India. Adoption of sedentary life style due to and reduced physical activities are adding to worries. Various educational institutes are taking serious steps to curb child obesity by increasing physical activities in schools. These factors are expected to increase the prevalence of increase prevalence of insulin resistance in India, China and other countries. Developing healthcare sector, increasing per capita income and increasing awareness about medical treatments will drive the market in these countries. Reimbursement and other government policies governing pricing will also play a major role in determining the future of the market.Read Current Market Analysis of Insulin Resistance at:Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Europe LEMON BEVERAGE: 2017 Capacity, Production, Sales, Market and Revenue

LEMON BEVERAGE MARKET

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LEMON BEVERAGE MARKETSummerySales, means the sales volume of Lemon BeverageRevenue, means the sales value of Lemon BeverageThis report studies sales (consumption) of Lemon Beverage in Europe market, especially in Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy, Spain and Benelux, focuses on top players in these countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these Countries, coveringFreseniusBaxterAsahiNiproWeigaoBIOLIGHBlue Sail MedicalAngiplast Private LimitedRenax Biomedical TechnologyMarket Segment by Countries, this report splits Europe into several key Countries, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Lemon Beverage in these countries, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeGermanyFranceUKRussiaItalySpainBeneluxRequest for Sample Report @Split by product type, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoPlasticPETGlassCanSplit by application, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Lemon Beverage in each application, can be divided intoRetailWholesaleComplete Report @Table of content:Europe Lemon Beverage Market Report 20171 Lemon Beverage Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Lemon Beverage1.2 Classification of Lemon Beverage1.2.1 Plastic1.2.2 PET1.2.3 Glass1.2.4 Can1.3 Application of Lemon Beverage1.3.1 Retail1.3.2 Wholesale1.4 Lemon Beverage Market by Countries1.4.1 Germany Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 France Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 UK Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Russia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Italy Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 Spain Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.7 Benelux Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Europe Market Size (Value and Volume) of Lemon Beverage (2011-2021)1.5.1 Europe Lemon Beverage Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Europe Lemon Beverage Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Europe Lemon Beverage by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Europe Lemon Beverage Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Europe Lemon Beverage Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.1.2 Europe Lemon Beverage Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Europe Lemon Beverage (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Europe Lemon Beverage Sales and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.2.2 Europe Lemon Beverage Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.3 Europe Lemon Beverage (Volume and Value) by Countries2.3.1 Europe Lemon Beverage Sales and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)2.3.2 Europe Lemon Beverage Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)2.4 Europe Lemon Beverage (Volume) by Application3 Germany Lemon Beverage (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 Germany Lemon Beverage Sales and Value (2011-2016)3.1.1 Germany Lemon Beverage Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.2 Germany Lemon Beverage Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.3 Germany Lemon Beverage Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)3.2 Germany Lemon Beverage Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 Germany Lemon Beverage Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 Germany Lemon Beverage Sales and Market Share by Application8 Spain Lemon Beverage (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8.1 Spain Lemon Beverage Sales and Value (2011-2016)8.1.1 Spain Lemon Beverage Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)8.1.2 Spain Lemon Beverage Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)8.1.8 Spain Lemon Beverage Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)8.2 Spain Lemon Beverage Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers8.3 Spain Lemon Beverage Sales and Market Share by Type8.4 Spain Lemon Beverage Sales and Market Share by Application11 Lemon Beverage Manufacturing Cost Analysis11.1 Lemon Beverage Key Raw Materials Analysis11.1.1 Key Raw Materials11.1.2 Price Trend of Key Raw Materials11.1.3 Key Suppliers of Raw Materials11.1.4 Market Concentration Rate of Raw Materials11.2 Proportion of Manufacturing Cost Structure11.2.1 Raw Materials11.2.2 Labor Cost11.2.3 Manufacturing Expenses11.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Lemon BeverageBuy now @Tables and Figures:Figure Picture of Lemon BeverageTable Classification of Lemon BeverageFigure Europe Sales Market Share of Lemon Beverage by Type in 2015Figure Plastic PictureFigure PET PictureFigure Glass PictureFigure Can PictureTable Application of Lemon BeverageFigure Europe Sales Market Share of Lemon Beverage by Application in 2015Figure Retail ExamplesFigure Wholesale ExamplesContinued...Contact US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories. WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTD Pune - 411028 Maharashtra, India Ph: +91 841 198 5042
Biopolymers for Smart, Green and Sustainable Development

Biopolymers conferences Bioplastics conferences

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By following the successful campaign of "Biopolymers and Bioplastics 2016", Conference Series LLC Conferences is very delighted to invite all the Scientists, Researchers, Professors, research fellows, Students, Corporate personnel, professionals, institutions and Members of different physics associations to attend its 7th International Conference and Exhibition on Biopolymers and Bioplastics, to be held during October 19-21, 2017 at San Francisco, USA with a theme Novel Trends and Advances in Bioworld Innovation: Biopolymers Bioplastics.Biopolymers can be sustainable, carbon neutral and are always renewable, because they are made from plant materials which can be grown indefinitely. These plant materials come from agricultural non food crops. Therefore, the use of biopolymers would create a sustainable industry.Bioplastics are a form of plastics made entirely or almost entirely from renewable raw materials such as vegetable oil, corn starch, and biomass whereas conventional plastics are made from petroleum (oil or gas). Bioplastics can replace conventional plastics in the field of their applications also and can be used in different sectors such as food packaging, plastic plates, cups, cutlery, plastic storage bags, storage containers or other plastic or composite material items you are buying.Biopolymers and Bioplastics-2017 is an event delivering the concept of biobased world across the globe. In the present world where the use of conventional plastics, the consequences of plastic products use and the waste management of these products when they become waste, is a current and pressing issue. Concerns focus on the potential impact of conventional plastics they cause to the environment.The scientific sessions of this 7th International Conference on Biopolymers and Bioplastics 2017 has been designed on vivacious topics such as Biomaterials and Biopolymers, Green Chemicals, Industrial Biotechnology, Future and Scope for Biopolymers and Bioplastics, Biopolymer Applications, Plastic Pollution and Waste Management, Biocomposite materials, Nanopolymers, Biodegradable Polymers, New-to-the-world Biopolyesters.Biopolymers are biodegradable, and some are also compostable. Some biopolymers are biodegradable: they are broken down into CO2 and water by microorganisms. Some of these biodegradable biopolymers are compostable: they can be put into an industrial composting process and will break down by 90% within six months. Biopolymers that do this can be marked with a 'compostable' symbol, under European Standard EN 13432 (2000).Many types of packaging can be made from biopolymers: food trays, blown starch pellets for shipping fragile goods, thin films for wrapping. There is an increase of 20% (approx.) in the production of Bioplastics per year. With a market of around 1.2 million tons in 2011, there is a five-fold increase in production volumes by 2016, to almost 6 million tones. By 2020 Bioplastics production could rise to 12 million tones.Beautiful city of San Francisco is not only known for its attractive weather and popular tourist destinations but also for the major universities and research centers that are focusing on Biopolymer and Bio-plastic research. Apart from this, USA has been the largest producer of plastics and with rise in awareness on its adverse effects, North America turned as the biggest market for biopolymers, consuming more than one-third of the total global demand for biopolymers. Many institutions and departments in United States such as Department of Defense (DOD), National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Department of Energy (DOE), Northwestern University, and University of Akron etc. are encouraging research on Biopolymers and Bioplastics. Various companies like Dupont, Cereplast , Metabolix , Natureworks LLC etc. are now a part of USA and their product services are entirely based on Biodegradable Plastics i.e., Bioplastics.Major Associations around the Globe such as British Plastics Federation, European Council for Plasticizers and Intermediates, American Coatings Association, American Chemical Society (Division of Polymer Chemistry), American Physical Society Division of Polymer Physics (APS DPOLY), Polymer Division of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI Polymer Division) , Belgian Polymer Group (BPG), Brazilian Polymer Association, European Polymer Federation , and Bio-Environmental Polymer Society are promoting Biopolymers.For more details please visit:Or contact Arizona Grey2360 Corporate Circle, Suite 400 HendersonNV 89074-7722, USAPh: +1-888-843-8169Fax: +1-650-618-1417biopolymers(at)chemseries(dot)comConference Series LLC Organizes 300+ Conferences, 500+ Workshops and 200+ Symposiums Every Year on Pharma, Medicine, Science and Technology across USA, Europe & Asia (conference series) with support from 1000 more scientific societies and Publishes 400+ Open access journals which contains over 30000 eminent personalities, reputed scientists as editorial board members. Conference Series LLC conferences always encourage the young researchers and students to share their excitement and enthusiasm with world class expertise.Arizona Grey2360 Corporate Circle, Suite 400 HendersonNV 89074-7722, USAPh: +1-888-843-8169Fax: +1-650-618-1417
Europe Imidazolines Market 2017 - 2022 Industry, Trends, Demand, Growth, Share, Opportunities and Analysis

Imidazolines

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WiseGuyReports Publish a New Market Research Report On  Europe Imidazolines Market Report 2017  Europe Sales, Price, Revenue, Growth Rate and Market Share.Description:This report studies sales (consumption) of Imidazolines in Europe market, especially in Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy, Spain and Benelux, focuses on top players in these countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these Countries, coveringLubrizolLakelandPentagon...Complete Report Details @Market Segment by Countries, this report splits Europe into several key Countries, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Imidazolines in these countries, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeGermanyFranceUKRussiaItalySpainBeneluxSplit by product type, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided into2-imidazolines3-imidazolines4- imidazolinesSplit by application, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Imidazolines in each application, can be divided intoPharmaceutical ApplicationsIndustrial ApplicationsOtherRequest Sample Copy of this Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comTable of ContentsEurope Imidazolines Market Report 20171 Imidazolines Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Imidazolines1.2 Classification of Imidazolines1.2.1 2-imidazolines1.2.2 3-imidazolines1.2.3 4- imidazolines1.3 Application of Imidazolines1.3.1 Pharmaceutical Applications1.3.2 Industrial Applications1.3.3 Other1.4 Imidazolines Market by Countries1.4.1 Germany Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 France Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 UK Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Russia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Italy Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 Spain Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.7 Benelux Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Europe Market Size (Value and Volume) of Imidazolines (2011-2021)1.5.1 Europe Imidazolines Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Europe Imidazolines Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Europe Imidazolines by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Europe Imidazolines Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Europe Imidazolines Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.1.2 Europe Imidazolines Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Europe Imidazolines (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Europe Imidazolines Sales and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.2.2 Europe Imidazolines Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.3 Europe Imidazolines (Volume and Value) by Countries2.3.1 Europe Imidazolines Sales and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)2.3.2 Europe Imidazolines Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)2.4 Europe Imidazolines (Volume) by Application3 Germany Imidazolines (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 Germany Imidazolines Sales and Value (2011-2016)3.1.1 Germany Imidazolines Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.2 Germany Imidazolines Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.3 Germany Imidazolines Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)3.2 Germany Imidazolines Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 Germany Imidazolines Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 Germany Imidazolines Sales and Market Share by Application4 France Imidazolines (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 France Imidazolines Sales and Value (2011-2016)4.1.1 France Imidazolines Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)4.1.2 France Imidazolines Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)4.1.4 France Imidazolines Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)4.2 France Imidazolines Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 France Imidazolines Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 France Imidazolines Sales and Market Share by Application.10 Europe Imidazolines Manufacturers Analysis10.1 Lubrizol10.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors10.1.2 Imidazolines Product Type, Application and Specification10.1.2.1 2-imidazolines10.1.2.2 3-imidazolines10.1.3 Lubrizol Imidazolines Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)10.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview10.2 Lakeland10.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors10.2.2 Imidazolines Product Type, Application and Specification10.2.2.1 2-imidazolines10.2.2.2 3-imidazolines10.2.3 Lakeland Imidazolines Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)10.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview10.3 Pentagon10.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors10.3.2 Imidazolines Product Type, Application and Specification10.3.2.1 2-imidazolines10.3.2.2 3-imidazolines10.3.3 Pentagon Imidazolines Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)10.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview..CONTINUEDMake an Enquiry @CONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Pune, India
Europe High Temperature Strain Gages Market Research Report Size, Share, Trends, Future Challenges and Forecast 2021

High Temperature Strain Gages

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WiseGuyReports Publish a New Market Research Report On  Europe High Temperature Strain Gages Market Report 2017  Europe Sales, Price, Revenue, Growth Rate and Market Share.Description:This report studies sales (consumption) of High Temperature Strain Gages in Europe market, especially in Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy, Spain and Benelux, focuses on top players in these countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these Countries, coveringVishayHBMNMBKYOWATMLHPIZemicYilingHYCSYQPiezo-Metrics, IncComplete Report Details @Market Segment by Countries, this report splits Europe into several key Countries, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of High Temperature Strain Gages in these countries, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeGermanyFranceUKRussiaItalySpainBeneluxSplit by product type, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoFoil strain gaugeWire strain gaugeSemiconductor strain gaugeSplit by application, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of High Temperature Strain Gages in each application, can be divided intoLoad cellsPressure transducerTorque transducerOthersRequest Sample Copy of this Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comTable of ContentsEurope High Temperature Strain Gages Market Report 20171 High Temperature Strain Gages Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of High Temperature Strain Gages1.2 Classification of High Temperature Strain Gages1.2.1 Foil strain gauge1.2.2 Wire strain gauge1.2.3 Semiconductor strain gauge1.3 Application of High Temperature Strain Gages1.3.1 Load cells1.3.2 Pressure transducer1.3.3 Torque transducer1.3.4 Others1.4 High Temperature Strain Gages Market by Countries1.4.1 Germany Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 France Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 UK Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Russia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Italy Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 Spain Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.7 Benelux Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Europe Market Size (Value and Volume) of High Temperature Strain Gages (2011-2021)1.5.1 Europe High Temperature Strain Gages Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Europe High Temperature Strain Gages Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Europe High Temperature Strain Gages by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Europe High Temperature Strain Gages Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Europe High Temperature Strain Gages Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.1.2 Europe High Temperature Strain Gages Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Europe High Temperature Strain Gages (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Europe High Temperature Strain Gages Sales and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.2.2 Europe High Temperature Strain Gages Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.3 Europe High Temperature Strain Gages (Volume and Value) by Countries2.3.1 Europe High Temperature Strain Gages Sales and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)2.3.2 Europe High Temperature Strain Gages Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)2.4 Europe High Temperature Strain Gages (Volume) by Application.10 Europe High Temperature Strain Gages Manufacturers Analysis10.1 Vishay10.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors10.1.2 High Temperature Strain Gages Product Type, Application and Specification10.1.2.1 Foil strain gauge10.1.2.2 Wire strain gauge10.1.3 Vishay High Temperature Strain Gages Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)10.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview10.2 HBM10.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors10.2.2 High Temperature Strain Gages Product Type, Application and Specification10.2.2.1 Foil strain gauge10.2.2.2 Wire strain gauge10.2.3 HBM High Temperature Strain Gages Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)10.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview10.3 NMB10.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors10.3.2 High Temperature Strain Gages Product Type, Application and Specification10.3.2.1 Foil strain gauge10.3.2.2 Wire strain gauge10.3.3 NMB High Temperature Strain Gages Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)10.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview10.4 KYOWA10.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors10.4.2 High Temperature Strain Gages Product Type, Application and Specification10.4.2.1 Foil strain gauge10.4.2.2 Wire strain gauge10.4.3 KYOWA High Temperature Strain Gages Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)10.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview10.5 TML10.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors10.5.2 High Temperature Strain Gages Product Type, Application and Specification10.5.2.1 Foil strain gauge10.5.2.2 Wire strain gauge10.5.3 TML High Temperature Strain Gages Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)10.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview10.6 HPI10.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors10.6.2 High Temperature Strain Gages Product Type, Application and Specification10.6.2.1 Foil strain gauge10.6.2.2 Wire strain gauge10.6.3 HPI High Temperature Strain Gages Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)10.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview10.7 Zemic10.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors10.7.2 High Temperature Strain Gages Product Type, Application and Specification10.7.2.1 Foil strain gauge10.7.2.2 Wire strain gauge10.7.3 Zemic High Temperature Strain Gages Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)10.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview10.8 Yiling10.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors10.8.2 High Temperature Strain Gages Product Type, Application and Specification10.8.2.1 Foil strain gauge10.8.2.2 Wire strain gauge10.8.3 Yiling High Temperature Strain Gages Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)10.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview10.9 HYCSYQ10.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors10.9.2 High Temperature Strain Gages Product Type, Application and Specification10.9.2.1 Foil strain gauge10.9.2.2 Wire strain gauge10.9.3 HYCSYQ High Temperature Strain Gages Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)10.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview10.10 Piezo-Metrics, Inc10.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors10.10.2 High Temperature Strain Gages Product Type, Application and Specification10.10.2.1 Foil strain gauge10.10.2.2 Wire strain gauge10.10.3 Piezo-Metrics, Inc High Temperature Strain Gages Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)10.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview..CONTINUEDMake an Enquiry @CONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Pune, India
Electrical Insulation Market is classified as glass, ceramics, thermoplastic & epoxy resin :2024

Global Electrical Insulation Market

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Electrical insulation is a form of material in which internally present electric charges do not flow freely. This makes it impossible for electric current to be conducted under the influence of an electric field. The main difference between electric insulation and semiconductors and conductors is that the former possesses higher resistivity, while the latter carry current with more ease. A substance is an insulator or a conductor is normally depends on the number of free electrons it possesses, which can be used to carry electric current. An important characteristic of insulating material is its ability to withstand electric stress which is known as dielectric strength. This strength is quoted in kilovolts per millimeter (Kv/mm). Previously, ceramics and glass were the most prominently used electrical insulation material. At present, polymer-based electrical insulation contributes a significant share in the global electrical insulation material market.Download the Exclusive Report Sample Here :Based on type electric insulation is classified as glass, ceramics, thermoplastic and epoxy resin. Electrical insulation material is used in various applications such as cables & transmission lines, power systems, electronic systems, domestic portable appliances, and others. Based on end-use industry, the electrical insulation market can be divided into manufacturing, transportation, infrastructure, and others. Modernization of electricity networks, increasing usage of electric appliances, and demand from the increasing population are factors contributing to the expansion of the electrical insulation market.Consumption of thermoplastic electrical insulation is estimated to increase at a relatively speedy rate during the forecast period. These materials are lightweight, possess high mechanical and electric strength, and also deliver consistent performance in harsh climatic conditions. Thermoplastic electrical insulation also exhibit excellent voltage endurance compared to that of ceramics and a few other materials which makes them the preferred electrical insulation type across all regions.Demand for electrical insulation material has been dominated by the infrastructure segment followed by transporation and manufacturing. Rising construction activities especially in emerging economies such as India and China along with growing urbanization fuel its requirement for electric insulation during the projected period. Usage of electrical insulation in power systems plays a part as well and this is projected to be the markets leading application with fast growing rate during the forecast period. A surge in electrical installation activities in developing countries, improved policy regulations related to electricity, and focus on increasing the rural areas access to electricity are major drivers of the electric insulation market during the forecast period.Based on region, Asia Pacific was a prominent, rapidly expanding electrical insulation market globally and this trend is expected to continue during the estimated period. Rising population leads to a need for better industrial, residential, and commercial infrastructure which in turn elevates the demand for electricity. Modernization of electric transmission networks, government policies for electricity in rural areas, and growth of renewable energy are a few more causal factors. In Asia Pacific, China is considered to be an important market followed by India and South Korea. Middle East & Africa and Latin America are also likely to grow significantly during the forecast period.This market for electrical insulation material is highly competitive due to the presence of a large numbers of local players who supply low-quality products at comparatively inexpensive pricing. Key players operating in the global electric insulation market include DuPont, ITW Formex, 3M, Nitto Denko Corporation, Krempel GmbH, and Haysite Reinforced Plastics.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Browse the Full Brochure at :The study is a source of reliable data on:-Market segments and sub-segments-Market trends and dynamics-Supply and demand-Market size-Current trends/opportunities/challenges-Competitive landscape-Technological breakthroughs-Value chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:-North America (U.S. and Canada)-Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)-Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)-Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)-Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)-Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact TMRTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel:USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog :
DES MOINES | Expanding school choice for parents who want options to public schools has gained momentum, the chairman of the Iowa House Education Committee said Wednesday while attending a United for School Choice rally in Des Moines.

However, Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, and Gov. Terry Branstad cautioned that it will be difficult to expand those options for families who enroll nearly 33,000 students in non-public K-12 education this year if there is a cost to the state. That doesnt include home-schooled students, who are not subject to reporting requirements

Were looking at all options from a pilot to full implementation, Rogers said. A pilot project would be relatively inexpensive, but full implementation would be quite costly.

Branstad has recommended a 2 percent increase in supplemental state aid to schools  about $70 million next year  and protected K-12 funding from $117 million in mid-year budget cuts expected to be approved by lawmakers in the coming days.

Rogers described his school choice legislation as being in in formation, pre-drafting, but it could include state-funded education savings accounts, in which state dollars are earmarked for parents to use toward education costs like private-school tuition. Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, has proposed an educational savings account bill and Rep. John Wills, R-Spirit Lake, has proposed school vouchers, but only in cases of students attending persistently lowest-achieving schools.

Thats what Leah Davenport of Ankeny would like to see. A board member at Ankeny Christian Academy where four of her five sons attends school, Davenport would like the Legislature approve legislation that would allow her family to set aside money to pay tuition at the private school.

I hope to see continued opportunities for school choice, she said at the school choice rally at the State Historical Building down the hill from the Capitol.

Student Tuition Organizations, which give people a tax credit for contributing to funds that provide grants to private school students, have been wonderful, Davenport said, but educational savings accounts would give her family another option, a broader option, she said, for putting money into the childrens education.

Drew Klein of Americans for Prosperity said ESAs would allow parents, not politicians, to decide how education dollars would be spent. The funds directly allocated to families for their childrens educational needs could be spent on online programs, tutors and textbooks, for example.

So far, vouchers, or state-funded scholarships that pay for students to attend private schools, arent a part of the conversation, according to House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake.

I dont hear that word, so thats not what members are talking about, she said.

However, Rogers concedes thats a matter of semantics. He talks of the Legislature approving some type of parental choice in education bill.

That could include what others might call vouchers, but he intentionally doesnt use the word because its really about parental choice in using their dollars for educating their kids. Whatever its called, it would be a system allotting a certain amount of dollars to parents to use for educating their children regardless of what school they attend. It could apply to home-schooled students as well.

Democrats and public school advocates have opposed such programs because typically they result in less state funding for public school districts.

Supporters of educational savings account say they give families the freedom to determine which school is best for their children.
Enormous growth in construction industry and wastewater management system in Asia Pacific due to rise in urban population is fueling the Waterproofing Membrane Market

Global Waterproofing Membrane Market

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Global Waterproofing Membrane Market: Brief AssessmentCoating that prevents passage of water into structural components of a construction is known as waterproofing membrane. Waterproofing activity of the membrane retains structural integrity of a foundation. Structural units of a building such as roof, walls, and basements are protected from intrusion of moisture and water with the aid of waterproofing membrane. Hydrostatic pressure exerted by molecules of water, both in liquid and vapor state, is controlled by application of waterproofing membrane. This type of membrane is composed of plastic, rubber, or coated fabric with water-resistant activity. Waterproofing membrane can be applied to interior side of the building (negative-side waterproofing) as well as exterior side of the building (positive-side waterproofing).Download the Exclusive Report Sample Here :Single or multi-layer materials such as rubber, elastomer, bitumen, PVC, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane, and other polymers are major components of waterproofing membrane. Based on composition, waterproofing membranes are classified into different types such as PVC (polyvinylchloride), TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin), EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer), HDPE (high-density polyethylene), and LDPE (low-density polyethylene). The most important feature of the membrane is to provide water adsorption activity. Waterproofing membrane has wide industrial applications due to its efficient water-resistant performance. Construction (such as roofing, walls, and building structure), water and wastewater treatment, mining, civil, and transportation (tunnel liners, bridge, and highway) industries are key end-users of waterproofing membrane.Global Waterproofing Membrane Market: Trends and OpportunitiesTPO waterproofing membrane is widely employed as roofing material in several end-user industries. This is anticipated to drive demand for TPO waterproofing membrane. Easy installation steps, eco-friendly nature, and high performance efficiency are key benefits of TPO membrane. Energy efficiency, durability, and heat resistance features are primary factors boosting rise in demand for waterproofing membrane globally. Lightweight feature and environment sustainability are chiefly responsible in enhancing the popularity of waterproofing membrane in its end-user industries. Booming construction industry in China and other countries in Asia Pacific contributes to rising demand for waterproofing membrane. Increasing awareness about saving energy and environment-friendly usage fuels consumption of waterproofing membrane in developed as well as developing countries. Key players focus on market expansion through mergers and acquisitions, product innovation, and research initiatives. However, companies need to follow stringent rules and regulations empowered by the U.S. EPA to ensure their products are eco-friendly.Global Waterproofing Membrane Market: Regional OutlookThe global waterproofing market witnessed significant growth in the last few years, and this positive trend is estimated to continue in the next few years. Size of the global waterproofing membrane market is anticipated to rise significantly in the next few years. Enormous growth in construction industry and wastewater management system in Asia Pacific due to rise in urban population is fueling the waterproofing membrane market. Asia Pacific accounts for the largest share of the waterproofing membrane market. Increased usage of waterproofing membrane in roofing, mining, water, and wastewater treatment in this region is likely to boost market prospects. North America accounts for second-largest market share of the waterproofing membrane market. The market in North America is projected to experience steady growth in the near future. Sluggish growth in construction industry in Europe results in a relatively smaller market for waterproofing membrane, whereas the Middle East and Africa appears to be an emerging market. Establishment of new production plants in the developing nations indicates increase in demand for waterproofing membrane.Global Waterproofing Membrane Market: Companies Mentioned in the ReportKey manufacturers of waterproofing membrane include The Dow Chemical Company, Carlisle Companies, Inc., Siplast, BASF SE, W. R. Meadows Inc., Johns Manville, Soprema Group, Firestone Building Products Company, LLC, GAF Materials Corporation, and Sika AG.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:-Market segments and sub-segments-Market trends and dynamics-Supply and demand-Market size-Current trends/opportunities/challenges-Competitive landscape-Technological breakthroughs-Value chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:-North America (U.S. and Canada)-Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)-Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)-Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)-Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)-Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel:USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog :
Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) Analyzers Market and Analysis 2016 - 2024

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Transparency Market Research presents this most up-to-date research on Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) Analyzers Market  Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016  2024Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) can be defined as the rate at which red blood cells or erythrocytes sediment in a period of one hour. ESR is usually measured in millimeter per hour (mm/hr) and a value above 100 mm/hr indicates a disease condition, such as a disease that causes inflammation, active infection, cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, blood disease, diabetes, and collagen vascular disease. However, ESR is a non-specific test for inflammation and is used in conjunction with other tests such as C-reactive protein. Normal ESR result does not rule out the possibility of inflammation. Similarly, an elevated ESR without any symptoms of the disease does not aid in making any medical decision. ESR analyzers are devices employed to measure the sedimentation rate of erythrocytes for an accurate reading. Automated ESR analyzers need to comply with the 2011-published Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines for measuring ESR. The analyzer works on the basic principle of Westergrens method followed to determine ESR.The ESR analyzers market can be segmented based on modality, end-user, and region. In terms of modality, the market can be segmented into automatic analyzers, semi-automatic analyzers, and manual analyzers. Based on end-user, the ESR analyzers market can be segmented into hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, and academic institutions. In terms of region, the ESR analyzers market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.ESR is one of the basic hematology tests performed to identify various disease conditions, which would contribute to the growth of the ESR analyzers market. Technological upgrades leading to the development of automated ESR analyzers from manual ESR analyzers would also contribute to the growth of the market. In addition, the increasing number of infections leading to various health hazards would contribute to the rising number of ESR tests, which in turn would drive the ESR analyzers market in the near future. However, the non-specificity of the tests and the necessity for other tests to be performed to confirm the diseased condition could have a negative impact on the ESR analyzers market, as demand for specific tests increases. Furthermore, false negative results of ESR due to the effect of drugs such as oral contraceptives, dextran, methyldopa, penicillamine procainamide, theophylline, vitamin A, aspirin, cortisone, and quinine also make ESR less desirable, thereby impacting the growth of the ESR analyzers market.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:Automatic analyzers are expected to dominate the ESR analyzers market during the forecast period, owing to their abilities to enhance the workflow and turnaround time. Diagnostic laboratories and hospitals are expected to be the leading segments of the ESR analyzers market. Geographically, North America is expected to be the major market for ESR analyzers. Growth of the market in the region can be attributed to the well-developed health care infrastructure in the region. Asia Pacific is expected to witness the highest growth rate during the forecast period, owing to increasing infections, evolution of new diseases, and poor sanitation conditions which lead to increased infections among the population. In addition, government focus on enhancing the health care infrastructure and providing better health care facilities to the population contribute to the growth of the ESR analyzers market in Asia Pacific.Leading players in the ESR analyzers market include Sysmex, R&R Mechatronics International B.V., TRANSASIA Bio Medicals Ltd., Diesse Diagnostica Senese Spa, Vital Diagnostics, Caretium Medical Instruments Co, Limited, Grifols, S.A., Beckman Coulter, Inc., ALCOR Scientific, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Perlong Medical, BPC Biosed Srl, and SFRI.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications. including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.Highlights of the report:A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent marketImportant changes in market dynamicsMarket segmentation up to the second or third levelHistorical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volumeReporting and evaluation of recent industry developmentsMarket shares and strategies of key playersEmerging niche segments and regional marketsAn objective assessment of the trajectory of the marketRecommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketDownload Exclusive Brochure of This Report :About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Consumer Oxygen Equipment Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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Transparency Market Research presents this most up-to-date research on "Consumer Oxygen Equipment Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024"Oxygen is a colorless and odorless gas necessary for the body to survive. Oxygen therapy is a process to supply oxygen to patients who, due to breathing disorders, are unable to get enough oxygen supply for their body naturally. People who receive oxygen therapy often show improved energy levels and sleep, and better quality of life. Oxygen therapy can be exceptionally beneficial for those who experience low oxygen levels frequently. Regular utilization of oxygen therapy can further allow people to be mobile and active by lowering the breathing disorder. It extends life expectancy remarkably and improves the quality of life.Adoption of innovative technologies in medical devices, rise in government expenditure in health care domain, and increase in investment by companies manufacturing homecare products are likely to boost the growth of the global consumer oxygen equipment market during the forecast period. However, high product costs and stringent FDA regulations pertaining to medical devices are some of the factors which could restrain the growth of the global consumer oxygen equipment market during the forecast period.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:The global consumer oxygen equipment market is segmented by product and end-user. Based on the product segmentation, the global consumer oxygen equipment market is classified into ambulatory devices and oxygen concentrators. The ambulatory devices involve liquid oxygen system and compressed gas system. The oxygen concentrators are basically devices which consist continuous flow oxygen concentrators and pulse dose oxygen concentrators. In terms of revenue, the oxygen concentrators segment dominated the consumer oxygen equipment market in 2015 owing to improved esthetics and extra safety features. The segment is expected to continue its dominance in the market by 2024 due to increasing technological developments in the lighter & portable oxygen devices, suitable for use at shopping complexes, airports, offices, and in flights. Continuous flow technology dominated the consumer oxygen equipment market in 2015. Pulse dose technology provides patients with improved technology, high mobility, ease of use, and increased efficiency. The technology is much reliable and safer than continuous flow technology, which is the reason the segment is expected to dominate the market over continuous flow technology by 2024.Based on the end-user segmentation, the global consumer oxygen equipment market involves hospitals, homecare settings, ambulatory surgical centers, and others. Growing geriatric population, coupled with rising number of long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) patients, drives the requirement for homecare settings. Therefore, the homecare settings segment is expected to grow in the consumer oxygen equipment market rapidly. In severe cases, doctors mostly recommend for oxygen therapies with home oxygen concentrators. Moreover, equipment features such as low maintenance, cost-effectiveness, and provision for intact oxygen supply to patients are driving the homecare settings segment in the market during the forecast period.Geographically, the consumer oxygen equipment market has been classified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America held a large share in the global consumer oxygen equipment market in 2015, which is attributed to the rise in number of COPD patients in the region. The pressure to produce portable, lighter & cheaper equipment which can be used while traveling abroad in turn increased the demand for the consumer oxygen equipment market in North America. Evolution of health insurance system in Europe is expected to contribute considerably to the potential and attractiveness of the Europe consumer oxygen equipment market. The consumer oxygen equipment demand in the U.K. is being driven by the rising levels of smoking. Asia Pacific is considered to be a fast growing region for the consumer oxygen equipment market. Key factors driving the growth in the region include rise in preference for home treatment, high prevalence of respiratory disorders, and improvement in health care system.Major players contributing in the global consumer oxygen equipment market are Inova Labs, Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V., Chart Industries, DeVilbiss Healthcare, Inogen, Invacare Corporation, SeQual, Nidek Medical Products, Inc., Providence Medical, CAIRE Inc., VORTRAN Medical Technology, and Percussionaire Corp.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.Highlights of the report:A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent marketImportant changes in market dynamicsMarket segmentation up to the second or third levelHistorical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volumeReporting and evaluation of recent industry developmentsMarket shares and strategies of key playersEmerging niche segments and regional marketsAn objective assessment of the trajectory of the marketRecommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketDownload Exclusive Brochure of This Report :About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Oncology Information System Market  Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, And Forecast 2016  2024

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Transparency Market Research presents this most up-to-date research on Oncology Information System Market  Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016  2024Oncology information system is an image and information management system that allows to check all parts of oncology care for patients. Oncology information system combines medical, surgical, and radiation oncology information into a comprehensive, oncology electronic medical record that allows to manage patients details from start of the patients admission through diagnosis and follow-up details.The factors driving the growth of the oncology information system market are increase in technological adaption and technological advancement. Increase in health care infrastructure in developing nations, growth in prevalence of secondary tumor, and rise in incidence of cancer are the other factors anticipated to propel the growth of the oncology information system market during the forecast period. According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide; in 2012, there were 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths worldwide. However, lack of health care IT professionals and strict regulation are likely to restrict the growth of the oncology information system market.According to a report by the American Cancer Society, 50% of men and 30% of women are estimated to develop cancer in some form or the other in their lifetime. Increase in amount of cancer patients is a major driver of the sales of the oncology information system market. Additionally, rise in amount of tobacco consumption and increase in amount of carcinogens present in the polluted air or in any other form are projected to drive the oncology information system market in the near future. Some of the factors driving the growth of the market are rising disposable income, which enables patients to avail expensive treatments, easily available medical insurance policies, and growing medical tourism activities. Heavy investments in R&D further act as an opportunity for the growth of the market since innovative and technologically advanced products always have the capability of substituting its predecessors.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:The oncology information system market has been segmented by product, application, end-user, and geography. Based on product, the oncology information system market is classified into patient information system, treatment planning system, consulting/optimization, implementation, maintenance, services, and others. Based on application, the market is segmented into care management, treatment management, and knowledge management. Based on end-user, the oncology information system market is segmented into hospital, government institution, research center, and others.Geographically, the oncology information system market in segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to account for a large market share in terms of revenue, followed by Europe. The oncology information system market in North America is expected to grow due to technological advancement and increase in demand for advanced product. The growing need to implement advanced systems in the health care sector in the region and, at the same time, deliver quality care to patients are the factors likely to drive the market in the near future. Asia Pacific is expected to rise at a high CAGR owing to increase in adoption of technological advanced products, growth in disposable income, and rise in health care infrastructure in countries such as India, China, Australia, and other countries in the region. The Latin America oncology information system market is mainly driven by the increasing adoption of technological products in countries such as Brazil and Mexico. The Middle East & Africa oncology information system market is estimated to grow in the near future due to rise in incidence of cancer. According to World Health Organization, women in the African region had the highest incidence of cancer of the cervix uteri.Major players operating in this market include CureMD Healthcare, Varian Medical Systems, Inc., Flatiron Health, Inc., Epic Systems Corporation, Bogardus Medical Systems, Inc., Cerner Corporation, McKesson Corporation, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Elekta AB, and Accuray Inc.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.Highlights of the report:A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent marketImportant changes in market dynamicsMarket segmentation up to the second or third levelHistorical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volumeReporting and evaluation of recent industry developmentsMarket shares and strategies of key playersEmerging niche segments and regional marketsAn objective assessment of the trajectory of the marketRecommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketDownload Exclusive Brochure of This Report :About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Smoke Evacuation System Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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Transparency Market Research presents this most up-to-date research on "Smoke Evacuation System Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024"Since the past decade, a large number of surgical procedures are moving out of the traditional ways, and they are replaced by minimally invasive techniques which is driving the market of smoke evacuation system globally. Use of electrocautery and electrosurgery devices is unavoidable in minimally invasive surgery which produces surgical smoke. Researchers have found more than 80 organic compounds in surgical smoke such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide that can cause upper respiratory infection, nausea, and other short-term symptoms. Smoke evacuation system has been developed to overcome this problem. The system is intended to remove smoke, aerosol, and noxious odors produced during electrosurgical procedure. Smoke evacuation systems are high-flow vacuum sources used to capture, at the surgical site, the smoke aerosols and gases generated during the use of lasers and electrosurgical units.There are a number of factors that affect the growth of the smoke evacuation system market. Some of the key factors include growth in demand for minimally invasive surgical procedures; development and advancement of energy based electrocautery and ultrasonic devices; and rise in global geriatric population. Other key growth drivers include technological advancements in smoke evacuation system, increase in the number of cosmetic procedures, and high or sudden rise in the number of surgeries related to elderly population. The market is further witnessing restraints, or challenges in its path such as development of other non-invasive surgery technologies, alongside stiff competition among existing smoke evacuation system manufacturers. Moreover, product recalls and government regulations for reduction of overall health care cost are restraining the growth of this market.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:The global smoke evacuation system market is segmented on the basis of product, application, modality, end-user, and region. Based on product, the smoke evacuation system market is categorized into smoke evacuation filters, pencils & wands, smoke evacuation fusion products, and accessories. The smoke evacuation filters segment is further divided into ULPA filters, HEPA filters, charcoal filters, in-line filters, and pre-filters. The ULPA filters sub-segment is expected to hold a significantly large share of the smoke evacuation filters segment. A significant share of this segment is attributed to technological advancement and extraordinary evacuation capacity as compared to other filters. The smoke evacuation accessories segment comprises adapters, reducers, sensors, and smoke evacuation tubing. Among the accessories, the smoke evacuation tubing sub-segment is expected to account for a significant share in the near future. Rise in number of surgeries performed and recent product launches in this sub-segment is contributing to the large share in this market.On the basis of application, the smoke evacuation system market is divided into electrosurgical devices, electrocautery units, radiofrequency units, ultrasonic devices, laser units, and others. The electrocautery devices segment is anticipated to hold a significant share of the market during the forecast period. Increase in demand for minimally invasive surgeries and rise in geriatric population are expected to fuel the demand for the electrocautery devices segment during the forecast period.Based on modality, smoke evacuation systems are available in portable evacuation systems and centralized evacuation systems. High cost associated with maintenance of centralized evacuation systems and less efficiency as compared to portable evacuation systems are estimated to hamper the growth of the centralized evacuation systems segment. New launches and product innovation in portable evacuation systems are further expected to drive the growth of the market of this segment.On the basis of end-user, the smoke evacuation system market is segmented into hospitals, specialized clinics, and ambulatory surgery centers. The hospitals segment accounted for a major share of the market in 2015 due to increasing demand for electrosurgical devices from corporate hospitals. Globalization of health care and pharmaceutical standards is likely to support the growth of better hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers in developing regions such as Asia Pacific and Latin America. This in turn is expected to propel the growth of the smoke evacuation system market in these regions.Geographically, the global smoke evacuation system market is divided into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to dominate the global smoke evacuation system market during the forecast period. Large geriatric and obese population facing cardiac and orthopedic problems and rise in incidences of cancer are anticipated to drive the market in this region. Asia Pacific has a high growth rate and is expected to offer growth opportunities in this market. Improved health care infrastructure and rise in health care spending by government are estimated to increase adoption of smoke evacuation system in this region.Key players operating in this market include Bovie Medical Corporation, Medtronic, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Erbe Elektromedizin GmbH, Boston Scientific Corporation, Olympus, Johnson & Johnson, Symmetry Surgical Inc., ConMed Corporation, KLS Martin, and Bowa-electronic GmbH & Co. KG.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Download Exclusive Brochure of This Report :The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.Highlights of the report:A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent marketImportant changes in market dynamicsMarket segmentation up to the second or third levelHistorical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volumeReporting and evaluation of recent industry developmentsMarket shares and strategies of key playersEmerging niche segments and regional marketsAn objective assessment of the trajectory of the marketRecommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
The key driver for the use of Ball Mills Market compared to other grinding systems is its low cost of installation and high energy-efficiency due to its low medium of grinding

Global Ball Mills Market

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Ball Mills Market: OverviewA ball mill is typically a grinder which is used for grinding (or mixing) materials into extremely fine particle or powder. It is used in paints, ceramics, mineral dressing processes, laser sintering, and pyrotechnics. A ball mill works on the principle of impact; where the grinding media is the balls, which may be made of steel (chrome steel), stainless steel or rubber. The ball mill is a key equipment extensively used for grinding crushed materials in production lines for powders such as cement, fertilizer, refractory material, silicates, glass ceramics as well as for ore dressing of both, black and non-ferrous metals.Download the Exclusive Report Sample Here :Ball Mills Market: SegmentationThe market for ball mills can be segmented based on types of mills viz., drum ball mill, jet-mill, bead-mill, horizontal rotary ball mill and vibration ball mill. Along with these types, there is another type of ball mill called planetary ball mill. Planetary ball mill are small in size and takes less space compared to other ball mills and hence is used mainly in laboratory, for grinding samples to fine particles. These ball mills find extensive applications in the chemical industry, where the challenge is to have the synthesis which is free of any solvents, such as water, supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) or ionic liquids, presence of which would make the synthesis hazardous and can increase chemical waste.As planetary ball mills provide an attractive synthesis solution for grinding of solvent-free samples, thus preventing chemical waste due to solvents and ensure a safe and less hazardous environment. Further, ball mills are divided into dry type ball mill and wet type lattice ball, according to different raw materials and discharging methods. These are especially used in mining industry to grind various ores and rocks in metal and non-metal mines, either wet or dry as per the requirements.Ball Mills Market: Trends and DriversThe key driver for the use of ball milling compared to other grinding systems is its low cost of installation and high energy-efficiency due to its low medium of grinding. Another major driver of ball mill is its adaptability for open as well as closed circuit grinding. Not only it is applicable for materials of all degrees of hardness but it is also suitable for both batch and continuous operations. The major concern with most of the industries is high maintenance costs of grinding mills which in turn contribute to excessive operating costs. Despite of ball mills working strength, frequent maintenance of components such as hollow shaft, bearings and replacement of lubricant oil is a challenge.Innovation in ball mills with integration of drive systems by means of alternatives for variable speed solutions and fixed speed options provides customization to the users application. The inclusion of inching (variable speed) drives from ball mill manufacturers allows the rotation of the mill to slow down, enabling maintenance workers to safely replace the liners within the mill. This mode makes maintenance faster, easier and saves energy since it avoids restarting the mill several times. Moreover, the integrated drive system in the ball mill is extremely energy efficient helping operators to produce finished materials at the lowest possible cost per ton.Ball Mills Market: OpportunitiesDemand for ball mills in cement industry would see a perpetuated growth throughout the forecast period. Technological improvements have resulted in ball mills being used extensively in the cement industry to grind materials into the required size. If the equipment is not operating at optimum efficiency, it results in increased downtime and reduced throughput. This can cause losses in both production goals and operating economics. Grinding processes in a cement plant need accurate speed control so as to accommodate the variations in grinding which otherwise would increase electricity usage. Use of ball mills in cement industry with newer and highly efficient drive systems has enabled the mills to optimize its throughput along with reduced electricity bills for cement manufacturers. The key vendors of ball mills include CNBM International Engineering Co. Ltd., Shaorui Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., Zhangqiu Heavy Forging Co. Ltd., Shanghai Minggong Heavy Equipment Co. Ltd., and Changsha Tencan Powder Technology Co. Ltd.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:-Market segments and sub-segments-Market trends and dynamics-Supply and demand-Market size-Current trends/opportunities/challenges-Competitive landscape-Technological breakthroughs-Value chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:-North America (U.S. and Canada)-Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)-Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)-Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)-Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand)-Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, North Africa)About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel:USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog :
Reciprocating Compressor Market - Trends and Forecast 2016  2024

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Russia Reciprocating Compressor Market: SnapshotThe oil and natural gas industry in Russia accounts for the majority of the countrys GDP and export earnings and the performance of this sector directly impacts the market for reciprocating compressors in Russia.The Russian oil and natural gas sector boasts of the increased presence of blue chip companies. This has substantially raised the demand for equipment that is directly or indirectly involved in subsea applications in exploration and production (E&P) practices.Subsequently, the Russia market for reciprocating compressors has received a significant boost. The market is projected to rise from a value of US$227.1 mn in 2015 to reach US$352.6 mn by 2024. If these values hold true, the reciprocating compressors market is forecast to expand at a CAGR of 4.9% from 2016 to 2024.Request A Sample Of This Report :Local manufacturers of reciprocating compressors in Russia have faced numerous hurdles owing to the lack of sustainability to cope up with international standards and quality benchmarks. Furthermore, the fragile political scenario has resulted in a significantly lower demand from local compressor manufacturers.Transparency Market Research states that the reciprocating compressors market in Russia is anticipated to pick up pace only if manufacturers across the globe advance their technological innovations and develop maintenance-free compressors with greater efficiency.Oil and Gas Industry Leading End User despite Various ChallengesThe oil and gas industry is by far the leading end user of reciprocating compressors in Russia and the share of this segment is pegged to be over 42% by 2024. This sector is also anticipated to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period  a healthy 6.4% from 2016 to 2024.However, the oil and gas sector in Russia has been facing a storm of challenges mainly due to the stagnant European market, expensive Asian projects, and strict Western sanctions. This has resulted in limited investments and innovations within key technological segments of the oil and gas industry.The LNG industrial sector has been identified as highly opportunistic by Transparency Market Research. On the other hand, end users such as chemical, petrochemicals, industrial metallic tools, and metal processing are predicted to register mediocre growth over the course of the forecast period.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email:sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Solar Chimney Market Size, Share | Industry Trends Analysis Report, 2020

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Global Solar Chimney Market: OverviewCurrently, the global market for solar chimneys is in a budding phase and is exhibit high prospects of future growth. The infrastructural advancements in emerging countries and the upswing in the demand for technologically advanced and automated systems is likely to drive this market significantly in the near future.Solar chimneys, commonly known as thermal chimneys, are the systems that provide ventilation using the solar energy. These chimneys function on the basis of three essential parts, namely, glass roof collector, wind turbines, and chimney. The air is passed through the glass roof, which then heats up the water existing in the tubes. This water, which gets heated up in the day time, eliminates heat at night, completing the function of solar chimneys.Get PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical insights :The increasing depletion of fossil non-renewable sources has shifted the focus of investors towards exploring renewable sources for energy generation. With the sun being the most prominent resource of renewable energy in the world, solar energy offers lucrative cost benefits in comparison to other renewable energy. As a result, consumers are highly attracted towards the products that function on solar energy, among which, solar chimneys are prominent ones. Although these chimneys run on a recently developed technique, their future is teeming with productive opportunities.This research study attempts to present a complete and an unbiased overview of the global market for solar chimneys on the basis of its past and existing performance. The key driving factors, restraints, significant trends, opportunities, challenges, and future prospects of this market have also been studied thoroughly in this research report.Global Solar Chimney Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe increasing implementation of strict regulations and norms by several governments for environmental protection is influencing the demand for solar chimneys greatly and is expected to continue doing so over the next few years.On the other hand, the poor efficiency level of these chimneys may limit their adoption to some extent in the near future. However, the swift industrialization in emerging economies and the rising awareness level of consumers about the advantages of solar chimneys, such as robust construction, cost efficiency, and the nominal need for maintenance are likely to create lucrative growth opportunities for this market in the coming years.Global Solar Chimney Market: Geographical AnalysisThe global market for solar chimneys stretches across North America, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. North America has emerged as the key contributor to this market and is closely followed by Europe. Supported by the rising trend of green energy, North America is likely to retain its position as the global leader over the forthcoming years. However, Asia Pacific is projected to present most attractive opportunities for markets growth in the near future on account of the rising urbanization and the increasing initiatives by the governments to encourage the usage of renewable energy.Companies mentioned in the research reportWith the global market for solar chimney still being in its nascent stage, its competitive landscape demonstrates a concentrated structure with a limited number of players. Solar Innovations Inc., EnviroMission Ltd., Helioakmi S.A., and Specflue Ltd. are some of the leading manufacturers of solar chimneys across the world.Major regions analyzed under this research report are:EuropeNorth AmericaAsia PacificLatin AmericaMiddle East and AfricaThis report gives you access to decisive data such as:Market growth driversFactors limiting market growthCurrent market trendsMarket structureMarket projections for the coming yearsAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Water Trading Systems - Global Industry Analysis 2020

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The research report on the global water trading market offers accurate and detailed answers to questions raised by current market statistics. The report incorporates a complete study of the water trading market with respect to its various drivers and restraints. It also discusses the role of leading countries in water trading projects such as Australia, Chile, the U.S., and the U.K. Market trends are fully explored, providing reliable predictions for the near and distant future. An explanation of the industrys overall growth rate is put forth using various market growth maps and overall developments in technology.Get PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical insights :Porters Five Force Analysis provides a thorough coverage of the top players in the global water trading market, while a SWOT analysis brings out its prominent aspects. An investigative value chain assessment and a unique examination of the micro and macro factors of the market provide the reader a useful perspective and valuable insights regarding player sustainability.OverviewThe research report on the global water trading market reveals all aspects connected to the developments in it. Water trading refers to the voluntary transfer of a prescribed amount of water between the buyer and the seller. This is done so that the waters purchaser can satisfy his end demand. Water trading provides a unique and responsive solution to the various verticals of end users in the global water trading market, which essentially refers to everyone who needs water. It is thus an answer for all the various types of users, urban as well as agricultural.It provides equivalent prices and water allocations with respect to the demand. According to Forbes, the global water trading market currently contains numerous projects that have so far conducted a total of more than 100 transactions in water trading, amounting to more than US$10 trillion. Some of the most prominent projects in the global water trading market include Payments for Watershed Services, Water Quality Trading, Herediam, Dar es Salaam, and Saltillo. Branches of the global water trading market include ground water mitigation and flow restoration projects.The primary growth factor for the global water trading market is the increasingly high demand for clean water around the world. A growing population needs larger volumes of water to sustain itself and its economic development. This has put increasing amounts of pressure on the global water trading market to form a supply chain that can be equal to the demand. One of the biggest disadvantages brought forth by water trading is the restriction and closure of public access to clean and healthy water in multiple locations.The major restraining factor in the global water trading market is the high infrastructure cost, which includes water transportation from seller to buyer. Other issues faced by the market include water rights, legal hassles, and social and political boundaries.Companies mentionedThe key companies described in the research report include Severn Trent, Murray Irrigation, Calgon Carbon, Aqua America, Integra Water Services, and Ameron.Major geographies analyzed under this research report are:EuropeNorth AmericaAsia-PacificRest of the WorldThis report gives you access to decisive data such as:Market growth driversFactors limiting market growthCurrent market trendsMarket structureMarket projections for the coming yearsAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
CLEAR LAKE | A man has been charged with felony willful injury after allegedly pushing another man down a flight of stairs a Clear Lake bar and then kicking and hitting him.

Bruce Bonorden, 56, Clear Lake, was arrested Tuesday night by the Clear Lake Police Department.

Police allege he pushed another man from behind at Bikerz, 313 Main Ave., at 2:20 a.m. on Jan. 15 and then followed him to the basement where he repeatedly kicked and hit him in the head and face.

The victim, who was hospitalized for three days, lost two teeth and had cuts and severe swelling in his face in addition to severe bruising to the neck and head with possible nerve damage, according to the police.

His left arm and shoulder also were injured, police say.

Bonorden is being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail on $10,000 cash-only bond. He has a court appearance scheduled for Feb. 3.

-- Mary Pieper
MASON CITY | Cupids Undie Run, in which people run through the streets in their skivvies to raise money for neurofibromatosis, returns to Mason City Feb. 11.

Last year 400 runners participated in the Mason City, one of nearly 40 cities in the United States and Canada hosting a Cupid's Undie Run.

The temperate was around zero so most runners wore outerwear underneath or over their underwear. However, a few women wore bikinis and some men ran bare-chested.

This will be the fourth annual Cupid's Undie Run in Mason City. Last year, the event raised $67,000.

The fundraising goal for this year's run is $79,794. So far nearly $11,000 has been raised.

Neurofibromatosis is a genetic illness that causes different kinds of tumors. It occurs once in every 3,000 births.

The money raised by Cupid's Undie Run goes to the Children's Tumor Foundation.

The doors open at noon at The Music Man Square for the pre-run party. The run of approximately 1 mile begins at 2 p.m. The awards ceremony is at 3 p.m.

Visit cupidsundierun.org/city/mason-city for more information.

 Mary Pieper
1women.JPG

Protesters gather outside the White House at the finish of the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC.

(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

By Francis Wilkinson

The White House can't get over the disparity between Donald Trump's modest inaugural crowd on Friday and the massive protests that took place the next day.

But what matters most is not how the numbers of marchers across America surpassed the numbers celebrating the inaugural. What matters, now and over the long term, is how those protesting bodies challenged the words of Trump's inaugural address, and neutered them.

Millions of Americans took to the streets for a "Women's March" that, in the end, had less to do with sexual politics than with a broad defiance of Trump's new order. They turned out in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Washington D.C., but also in places like Boise, Idaho, and Anchorage, Alaska.

Trump being Trump, he probably would've been unnerved by the size of the protests regardless: Size is a simple handle for an unsubtle mind. But White House strategist Steve Bannon and the shrewder members of the Trump team surely grasped that the protests had just obliterated an inaugural address that was less than 24 hours old.

In his broken beer bottle of a speech, Trump jabbed at the "establishment" he had defeated. "For too long," he said, "a small group in our nation's capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost."

The "rewards of government" is a curious phrase for an American inaugural address, with "rewards" sounding much like the spoils that go to the victor. To make this language less jarring, especially as fabulously wealthy Trump appointees assume power enmeshed in doubts about their ethics and public spirit, Trump insisted in his address that it's really "the people" who have triumphed.

"What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.

"January 20th, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again."

Like countless populists before him, Trump has set himself up as the representative, voice and will of "the people." As Jan-Werner Mueller wrote in "What Is Populism?":

"The claim to exclusive representation is not an empirical one; it is always distinctly moral. When running for office, populists portray their political competitors as part of the immoral, corrupt elite; when ruling, they refuse to recognize opposition as legitimate."

Team Trump relishes the condemnation of elites. When bow-tied George Will called Trump's address the worst in history, it was a victory for Bannonism, the guiding force of Trumpism. A president elected with 46 percent of the popular vote, who entered office with historically low approval ratings, needs the scorn of elites to prop himself up and to buff his populist street cred.

Yet the number of people marching against Trump on Saturday appears to have been north of two million. If Trump embodies the people, who were those millions of bodies insisting that he doesn't represent them? Bow ties were not much visible in the crowds.

Neither Trump nor the organizers of the Women's March could've known how the populist words of his inaugural would be so devastatingly refuted by Saturday's tide of humanity. True, it's a short-term victory. The Trump administration will be the arena for a long and fierce battle. We are at the opening bell.

But it mattered. Everyone in Washington -- from a determined Speaker Paul Ryan to a shell-shocked White House, from tentative Democrats climbing out from the rubble to liberal interest groups searching for an ideological anchor -- just got a look at a very different people from the one described by Trump.

Wilkinson writes editorials on politics and U.S. domestic policy for Bloomberg View.

For more columns from Bloomberg View, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/view.

(c) 2017, Bloomberg View
A judge Tuesday found no basis to suppress statements that Oregon standoff defendant Jake Ryan made to FBI agents before his arrest on federal conspiracy and weapons charges.

Ryan argued that he thought he had immunity from criminal charges in exchange for his surrender on Jan. 28 at the checkpoint outside the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Jake Ryan

He also said he had been tricked into answering FBI questions once he returned to Montana after the refuge occupation ended last winter.

But a prosecutor presented evidence to the contrary, playing a recorded call between an FBI crisis negotiator and Ryan when Ryan remained at the refuge on Jan. 27. The prosecutor also questioned one of two FBI agents who interviewed Ryan in Montana in February.

Ryan faces felony charges of conspiring to impede federal workers at the federal refuge, possessing firearms in a federal facility and depredation of government property. He's also charged with misdemeanor allegations of trespass and tampering with vehicles and equipment.

Ryan was one of five people who remained at the refuge in Harney County on the morning after the Jan. 26 arrests of standoff leaders and the fatal shooting of occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy'' Finicum.

A video shows Ryan digging trenches on Jan. 27 at the refuge using a government excavator, according to prosecutors.

FBI agent Christopher Luh, one of the crisis negotiators, reached occupier David Fry's mobile phone that day, trying to convince those remaining at the refuge to leave. He spoke to co-defendant Sean Anderson, who handed the phone to Ryan.

"I don't know who the freak you are,'' Ryan told the agent.

Ryan talked about how "tyrannical thugs'' are "controlling everything'' in the country and accused the agent of not caring.

"If you do care, you would open the blockage and let us go,'' Ryan told Luh.

"Jake, you can go,'' Luh responded.

Ryan mocked the agent's response, suggesting authorities would take his guns and his rights.

"Jake, you don't have a warrant. You can go,'' Luh told him. "If those weapons are legally yours, you can go.''

Ryan can be heard on the line laughing.

Luh testified that he also spoke to Ryan's brother and instructed him similarly.

Early on Jan. 28, Ryan approached an FBI roadblock unarmed and empty-handed, leaving his firearms and personal belongings behind at the refuge in a trailer, according to his lawyer. He was released and returned to his home in Plains, Montana.

"I wasn't in a position to provide any type of immunity,'' Luh said on the witness stand Tuesday.

Two weeks later, two FBI agents traveled from Salt Lake City to Montana to set up an interview with Ryan. At the request of the Portland FBI office, the agents contacted Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummell to help arrange the meeting.

The agents wanted to find out what Ryan did at the refuge, FBI Special Agent Shawn Hall said, testifying by phone from Utah.

About 5:30 p.m. Feb. 10, the agents met Ryan, along with his parents, Daniel and Roxanna, and the sheriff outside the sheriff's office in Thompson Falls, Montana. They walked to a nearby municipal building to meet in a conference room and Ryan answered the agents' questions for about 30 minutes.

The agents advised Ryan he wasn't under arrest, free to leave at any time and didn't have to speak with them, Hall said. The father asked if he could record or videotape the interview and the agents told him no.

Ryan told the agents he took four guns to the refuge, acquired three more firearms and a tactical vest while at the refuge and placed them in an RV trailer at The Narrows campground nearby. He asked the agents how he could get the firearms back, claiming they were seized illegally.

The agents told Ryan they were unaware of the firearms.

Ryan told the FBI he supported Ammon Bundy's cause, believed the refuge belonged to the people and not the federal government and went to the eastern refuge to learn more from Bundy and Finicum about their interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.

He said he stayed at the refuge about two weeks and was one of three people able to operate heavy machinery on the property, including a tractor, dump truck, excavator and backhoes. He said the equipment was used to repair some of the roads on the refuge.

According to Ryan's lawyer, Jesse Merrithew, Ryan didn't expect his statements to be used against him because he thought he wasn't going to be charged with any crime.

"The FBI, through Sheriff Rummell, tricked Mr. Ryan into believing he was going to the interview for the purpose of getting his guns back. He was never read his Miranda rights, and he had no reason to believe there was any other purpose behind the interview,'' Merrithew wrote in a motion to suppress the interview statements.

On March 6, a grand jury returned an indictment against Ryan and a warrant was issued for his arrest. When the FBI contacted Ryan's family and law enforcement in Montana, they learned Ryan had fled the state.

He was arrested April 5 in Washington, hiding out in a stranger's shed in Clark County with a handgun and several knives, according to federal authorities.

Ryan, who is out of custody, waived his right to be present at the hearing.

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown said his interview with the agents in Montana appeared to be voluntary, that he wasn't intimidated or misled by federal law enforcement and wasn't promised immunity.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian
nazi.jpg

The flyers in question.

(Courtesy/Ashland Police Department)

Justin Anthony Marbury, 28, of Medford, was arrested Tuesday by Ashland police after allegedly posting flyers showing Nazi imagery.

A southern Oregon man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly posting fliers in Ashland that promoted racist hate speech, police said.

On Monday, Ashland police reported they were looking for a man who had posted pro-Nazi, white nationalist fliers around the city the previous night or earlier that morning.

Despite their offensive imagery, said Ashland Police Chief Tighe O'Meara, the signs did little more than cause a stir.

"People just took the signs down and threw them away," the chief said.

Still, investigators were keen to find whoever was posting them and identified the man as using the handle @NationalistAct on Twitter. The account appeared to be suspended as of Wednesday morning when police announced the arrest.

Justin Anthony Marbury, a 28-year-old Medford resident, was taken into custody by police on five counts of criminal mischief, police said, though they emphasized that it wasn't the content of the posters, which contained swastikas and other Nazi imagery, that brought him under scrutiny.

"The police department would like to make it clear that Marbury was arrested for defacing others' property with the flyers, not directly for what the flyers contained," the department said in a statement. "However, the police department also recognizes the particular incendiary nature of the flyers made this situation more alarming and concerning to the department and members of the community than a more innocuous flyer would have.

"While hate speech is protected under the United States and Oregon constitution," police continued, "the Ashland Police Department will do everything it can to ensure all members of the community feel as safe as possible from perceived threats to safety."

-- Kale Williams

kwilliams@oregonian.com

503-294-4048
Just because cannabis is legal for adults in Oregon, that doesn't mean kids aren't still getting arrested for trying to sell it to each other. Now, though, things are different. Now, kids have Snapchat.

Take Brayden Garza, 18, a high school student in Scappoose, who was arrested on Jan. 6 after police served a search warrant at 31000 block of Siercks Road while Garza was in school. While there, they seized items including "3.5 ounces of marijuana, scales, multiple prescription pills and other controlled substance."

A release from the Scappoose Police Department says that the warrant was the result of information they gathered proving Garza was selling marijuana over Snapchat and then posting pictures of himself with large amounts of cash on Instagram.

This would be a good time to remind all teens that your social media profiles aren't invisible to adults.

Adrian Barrera-Mesinas, 35, was also arrested on drug charges. It is not clear how the two are related, though online records suggest they both live at the same location on Siercks Road.

Both men were were taken to the Columbia County Jail.

For his part, Garza is out and posting on Instagram and Snapchat again, though the incriminating posts are gone.

Brayden Garza Snapchat, Jan. 25.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052

lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker
Lightbar+

(The Oregonian/OregonLive file photo)

A grand jury determined a police officer was justified in shooting a Salem man during an armed confrontation outside an Applebee's restaurant earlier this month, prosecutors said Tuesday. The grand jury also indicted the wounded man on several charges.

Prosecutors said Cpl. Jacob Pratt, a 10-year Salem police veteran, shot Casey Duane Howe during the Jan. 13 confrontation, which began when Pratt responded to a report of a wanted, possibly armed person. The Marion County District Attorney's Office didn't elaborate on the nature of the confrontation in a news release Tuesday.

Pratt wasn't injured, prosecutors said, and Howe is in stable condition at OHSU Hospital, where he's being held under custodial arrest and without bail.

Prosecutors said Howe, 33, is now facing attempted aggravated murder, attempted first-degree assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, methamphetamine possession, felon in possession of a restricted weapon and menacing charges. His next scheduled court appearance is Feb 1.

A Polk County judge signed a warrant for Howe's arrest in an open misdemeanor case in December 2016, court records show. His criminal record includes felony burglary and methamphetamine possession convictions, according to court records.

Salem police previously said Pratt was put on administrative leave after the shooting, as is standard practice after such incidents.

-- Jim Ryan

jryan@oregonian.com

503-221-8005; @Jimryan015
Trump.JPG

The United States has been downgraded from a full to a flawed democracy, according to a new index released by the Economist Intelligence Unit in the United Kingdom. While the ranking coincides with the inauguration of President Donald Trump, the factors leading to the lower ranking predate his election.

(The Associated Press)

Oregon's congressional Democrats sent a letter to President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday, calling on him to unfreeze Environmental Protection Agency contracts and grants, while also asking the president to allow agency staff to speak with the media and respond to Congressional inquiries.

U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley signed the letter, along with U.S. Reps. Kurt Schrader, Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici and Peter DeFazio. Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Walden did not sign the letter.

The members of Congress told Trump of their "serious concerns" about his freeze on EPA grants, which provide money at the municipal, state and private-sector level for environmental cleanups and other projects. Each year the agency awards grants worth more than $4 billion, according to its website.

The money has had an effect in Oregon. Grants helped fund industrial waste cleanup in Clackamas County and Tigard, educate kids in Baker City, and pay for environmental assessments in Eugene, according to the letter.

"At this point, it's unclear how the freeze will impact awarded and future grants in Oregon and around the country," said the members of Congress, "putting important projects on hold and leaving communities unsure of how to proceed."

Last year, the EPA played a role in addressing air pollution in Portland neighborhoods. Cadmium and arsenic had been pumped into the air for decades by local glass factories. The EPA helped identify the source of the heavy metals and measure health effects of the pollution.

The letter also called out Trump's gag order on EPA staff, which bars them from speaking to the media or answering inquiries from Congress.

Trump's order "flies in the face of the Constitution by directly undermining Congress's oversight authority," they said.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

gfriedman@oregonian.com; 503-221-8209
wyden_10x8.jpg

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden took to Twitter Wednesday morning to criticize President Donald J. Trump for calling for a "major investigation" into voter fraud.

Wyden said voter fraud is a "fake crisis designed to steal Americans' right to vote." The country would be better off adopting an Oregon-style vote-by-mail system, he said. The Democrat has three-times introduced national vote-by-mail legislation with no success.

I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

Trump has repeatedly said millions of people illegally voted for Hillary Clinton in last year's election, costing him the popular vote win. The claim has been debunked time and again.

In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Secretaries of State and elections experts say there is no evidence that millions illegally cast ballots during the election. Studies purporting to show widespread voter fraud have been criticized for using faulty data. Others, showing the possibility of fraud but finding no evidence of illegal voting, have had their conclusions misstated by some politicians.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

gfriedman@oregonian.com; 503-221-8209
7:55 p.m.: Protesters gathered outside the Justice Center in downtown for a couple of hours before marching around the building. Police officers told people to get out of the street and arrested at least two.

5 p.m.: Portland police say they've arrested five more people on the lower east side. That brings the total to 11 arrests for the day.

4:50 p.m.: People are walking down Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard as traffic slows. Police in riot gear arrive and demonstrators scatter.

Police say they have arrested a total of 6 people Wednesday afternoon.

4:35 p.m.: Protesters are now on the Steel Bridge, chanting "Whose streets? Our streets!" They marched along the upper deck, numbering about 20. They carried a banner that demanded the firing of Portland Police Chief Mike Marshman.

4:30 p.m.: Most of the remaining group get on a MAX train. Reporters on the scene hear the destination may be Burnside and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the east side.

4:25 p.m.: A group of about 30 people were hanging out in Pioneer Courthouse Square, talking among themselves.

3:56 p.m.: Micah Rhodes, a protest organizer, has been arrested and taken away. Police say they have now arrested five.

3:41 p.m.: Traffic is moving again at Fifth and Yamhill. Police say they arrested three of the protesters, the rest of whom remain in the square.

3:33 p.m.: Police move in to clear the intersection and begin making arrests. A crowd of onlookers watching the protesters starts cheering when they see police, who quickly leave the area after making the arrests.

3:20 p.m.: About 30 people gathering at Pioneer Courthouse Square. Shortly after the group moved into the street to block traffic at Southwest Yamhill Street and Fifth Avenue. Buses and MAX trains are blocked, and frustrated motorists are honking and arguing with protesters. One protester is sitting on a bus windshield.

Update 10:45 a.m.: A Facebook page saying it represents the organizers of Wednesday's protest now says protesters will arrive about 3 p.m. The page show 95 people are "going" and hundreds others are interested since the early morning. A handful of people showed up to the Pioneer Courthouse Square in the morning.

***

Scattered protests could pop up Wednesday in Portland as activists say they plan on "shutting down" the city in objection to what they call unjust police force during Friday's demonstrations.

Details indicated a gathering could begin at Pioneer Square at 8 a.m. before moving to City Hall by 9 a.m. A group of up to 200 protesters met early this week and have indicated they plan to participate, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

But as of 8:15 a.m., Pioneer square was quiet and empty.

With @SMatsumoto55 at Pioneer Square where one protest group said they'd gather bet. 8 and 9am, but just media here so far #portlandprotest pic.twitter.com/B3OTgHA3c3  Dave Killen (@killendave) January 25, 2017

Heard about group blocking traffic at college and Broadway, but found nothing out of the ordinary by the time we arrived pic.twitter.com/99a0dDuIZK  Dave Killen (@killendave) January 25, 2017

Activists have demanded Mayor Ted Wheeler fire Portland Police Chief Mike Marshman after officers shot tear gas, flash-bang and sting-ball grenades at protesters at marchers and protesters on Friday. Marshman has told the media he is keeping his job.

Portland Police Bureau spokesman Pete Simpson said in an email Tuesday, "The Bureau is aware of potential protest events on Wednesday and is preparing accordingly for a variety of scenarios.

"As always, the Bureau supports free speech events and would remind organizers that marches or demonstrations occurring in public streets that restrict movement of other community members do require a permit issued by the City of Portland to allow for the safety of all."

This post will be updated as news develops.

-- Tony Hernandez

thernandez@oregonian.com

503-294-5928

@tonyhreports

-- Samantha Matsumoto, Dave Killen and Everton Bailey Jr. contributed to this report.
Updated at 11 a.m.

About two dozen demonstrators took over the Portland City Council chambers Wednesday morning during the commissioners' meeting, saying Mayor Ted Wheeler and other city officials should have done more to prevent a stillborn baby from being delivered on the streets by a homeless woman earlier this month.

The protesters gathered shortly before 9 a.m. outside City Hall to hold what they called a "memorial" for the baby. Some gave speeches critical of city policies they say led to the death.

About 9:30 a.m., the group walked into chambers during its weekly Wednesday morning council meeting, prompting Wheeler to begin reading instructions on what the group should do if members wanted to make comments. But protest leader Mimi German went to the front and started talking.

Wheeler responded, "If you're disrupting this meeting then you're treading on other people's ability to speak." But German started talking over Wheeler, prompting the council to get up and leave.

Lights in the room were turned down. Those attending the meeting to make presentations moved to the waiting area as commissioners went to their chambers.

Protesters remained in council chambers and decided to "hold their own meeting." They began discussing homelessness and how the city could do a better job.

Security guards were present and discussed the option of clearing the chambers.

Wheeler returned about 10 a.m. to speak with the protesters. He said he would meet with them after the meeting and said they would need to leave within five minutes.

That prompted most of the protesters to leave. Some stayed behind and planned to watch when the meeting resumed.

As the larger group left, a group of about two dozen police officers walked past the front of City Hall and walked around back. The officers entered the building but appeared to be there to monitor the situation rather than intervene.

The building was put on lockdown for a short period, but that was lifted before 10:30 a.m., and the public was allowed to enter -- provided individuals had no masks, signs or bullhorns. The council resumed its meeting.

About 11 a.m., however, tensions had risen again to the point of shutting down the meeting. The lights in the chambers were turned down and the meeting went into another recess. Council members again returned to their chambers.

Upset protesters responded with calls of, "Yeah, go to your room ... this is ridiculous."

The baby was delivered stillborn on Jan. 9. Police officers responded to Southeast 91st Avenue and Powell Boulevard where they found the baby boy. The state medical examiner later confirmed the child died in a stillborn birth and not of exposure to the freezing temperatures.

A medical examiner said she found no air in the baby's lungs or in his stomach when an X-ray on the infant was performed. Because the death was ruled a stillborn death, Police Bureau Chief Mike Marshman told The Oregonian/OregonLive the bureau will not assign a detective from the homicide division to the case.

Marshman said he wants officers from the bureau's Behavioral Health Unit to investigate whether the homeless woman had any contact with social service agencies or police in the past.

German says the group is made up of people who do outreach with homeless in their neighborhoods and that they encounter on the street.

She said the emergency shelter model where many people are housed in a few rooms isn't good enough, because many homeless people would rather be outside than cooped up.

The group also takes issue with Wheelers claim that the city opened 600 additional emergency shelter beds and offered community centers in neighborhoods for people to get warm during the day, she said, adding that group members didn't see that where they live.

Danialle James said she is part of Don't Shoot Portland. When Wheeler re-entered the chamber to tell protesters he would meet with them after the council meeting, she moved from the back of the group to the front and yelled over him, saying they didn't want to be given time after. They wanted time now and would continue to interrupt these meetings until they are heard.

Later, she said she doesn't want to seem like her voice is more important that anyone else's.

"At the end of the day, I don't want to be rude, but we have deaths. Lives lost," James said. "And at the end of the day, that's more important than squirrels being fed," which is what she said the council was discussing when they marched in.

This story will be updated as developments occur.

-- Molly Harbarger and Samantha Matsumoto
MASON CITY  The snowstorm didn't reach Mason City until almost dark on Tuesday, but snow fell fast once it arrived.

The National Weather Service says 8-12 inches of snow is possible in Mason City by 6 p.m. Wednesday when a winter storm warning ends for North Iowa.

Although the bulk was supposed to fall late Tuesday night and early Wednesday, the forecast calls for another 2-4 during the day on Wednesday.

Winds are expected to be 15 to 20 mph on Wednesday, with gusts up to nearly 40 mph. Travel of any kind could be extremely difficult.

Several schools dismissed classes early and canceled evening sporting events and practices in anticipation of the storm.

Mason City implemented its alternate side parking ordinance.

Clear Lake and Ventura activated their snow removal ordinances, which require parked vehicles to be removed from public streets and city parking lots.

Blowing snow is expected to continue Wednesday night, which could have wind gusts of up to 28 mph.

Officials do not expect any more snow through early next week.
CLEAR LAKE | Several Clear Lake High School students spent the morning of their snow day Wednesday helping others.

Tali and Nikki Tesar, Mattie Krause and Sophia Willis were out early with shovels, clearing driveways on Maple Lane and Glen Cove Drive.

The teens are members of Lions Reach Out, a service club that began at the high school this semester.

"I thought of it around Thanksgiving and being thankful," said Tali Tesar, a 17-year-old junior. "I wanted to give back and help people."

Nikki Tesar, a 15-year-old sophomore, encouraged her sister's idea.

"I told her, 'Let's go do it,' " she said.

In addition to shoveling driveways after school and on snow days, the club is organizing a formal wear resale and possibly a knit-in and citywide garage sale. They have about 20 members and meet twice a week to brainstorm other volunteering opportunities.

It has also provided a connection for those working on Silver Cord hours.

Bailey Goldberg, a 17-year-old junior, has been working on her Silver Cord since freshman year, which requires students to volunteer 40 hours a year.

"Some people don't know where to volunteer, and this helps with that," she said.

The club welcomes additional volunteers and requests for driveway shoveling -- visit https://clearlakeschools.org/2016/12/21/clhs-lions-reach-out-club or call the high school at 641-357-5235.
FOND DU LAC  Alvin S. Haus of Fond du Lac, WI, died Jan. 22, 2017, after a courageous battle with cancer at the home of his sister, Lucille Brunner in Sun City, AZ.

Alvin, the son of Virgil and Lorraine Haus, was born in St. Cloud, MN, on July 7, 1953. He grew up in Mason City, Iowa, graduating from Newman Catholic High School and attended North Iowa Community College. He was a proud member of the U.S. Army from 1972-1974.

Alvin lived in the Rosalind Apartments for many years and enjoyed all of the many friends he met there.

Alvin is survived by his 2 brothers and a sister; Raymond Haus (Jill) of Fond du Lac, WI, Lucille Brunner (Ron) of Sun City, AZ, formerly of Mason City, Iowa, and his twin Melvin Haus (Jane) of Sun City, AZ, formerly of La Crosse, WI, and many nieces and nephews. He had a heart of gold and a deep love of family.

There will not be a funeral as he was generous enough to donate his body to scientific study. There will be a private family get together at a later date.

The family wishes to thank Sun City Hospice and the VA Hospital for all their help, care, and kindness during this difficult time.
Thursday 26 January 2017 12:21pm



Dr Shef Rogers, Head of the Department of English and Linguistics

The University of Otago and Dunedin City Council are excited to announce the launch of a new doctoral scholarship in literary studies.

A University of Otago City of Literature PhD Scholarship will be offered annually to a research student to study at the University of Otago.

Dr Shef Rogers, Head of the Department of English and Linguistics, says the scholarship was originally suggested by Associate Professor Jacob Edmond. It was developed to establish a tangible recognition of Dunedin's special City of Literature status for the benefit of postgraduate students.

Dr Rogers says graduates in any discipline intending to undertake research at PhD level on a topic relating to literature are eligible to apply.

"The topic could well come from a student in tourism, history or other areas as well as English. The scholarship signals the University's support for the city's designation and deepens the ties already established through the Universitys Centre for the Book.

City of Literature Director Nicky Page says the scholarship celebrates Dunedin's City of Literature status and acknowledges its rich literary past and present.

"The University is intrinsically involved with the city's literary heritage and is a key partner for the City of Literature. We have been working together on a number of exciting projects and I'm thrilled that the Department's vision for this generous scholarship has been realised," she says.

"The scholarship offers an exciting opportunity for writers  it's open to any area of literary studies, from medieval to digital, and includes research combined with a creative writing project such as a novel, short story or poetry collection."

Ms Page says that in a nice coincidence of timing, local writer Beverly Martens recently launched Literary Walking Tours around the University campus. The tours showcase the University's connections with well-known writers such as Thomas Bracken, Charles Brasch, Janet Frame, James K Baxter and Hone Tuwhare.

More information about the scholarship is available on the University website. The scholarship is valued at NZ$25,000 per annum. Applications for this year's scholarship close Friday 31 March.

For more information:

Dr Shef Rogers

Head of Department, English and Linguistics

University of Otago

Phone 03 479 8892

Nicky Page

Director City of Literature

Phone 021 810 057
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MASON CITY | A small fire that broke out in a 24-hour fitness center in Mason City early Tuesday was put out by a patron, officials say.

A member of Anytime Fitness noticed a smoky haze about 12:15 a.m. inside the business at 687 Taft Ave., said Mason City Fire Marshal Jamey Medlin.

He said firefighters were dispatched, but the member was able to put out the small, smoldering fire with a fire extinguisher.

Officials believe it was started by an exhaust fan that was left running.

There was no damage to the building and the business reopened after firefighters aired smoke out of the building, Medlin said.

 Molly Montag
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department.

Monday, Jan. 23

5:26 a.m. A 40-year-old man was arrested in Jerome Township for domestic assault.

10:54 a.m.  A Edenville Township man, 67, reported his credit union notified him that someone tried to use his credit card in Mexico.

12:16 p.m.  Police made arrests for third-offense driving on a suspended license and giving false information to authorities at Isabella Street and Huntley Lane.

1:32 p.m. Police were called to a domestic assault at a Trailridge Drive address.

1:40 p.m.  A deputy investigated a hit and run traffic crash in Homer Township, and found the suspect driver was a 24-year-old Mount Pleasant woman.

2:48 p.m.  A deputy was sent to a report of a driver who might have been causing damage at a Homer Township park. No damage was found and the driver, age 23, was asked to test his vehicle elsewhere.

3:13 p.m.  Police investigated a sexual assault at an Elizabeth Street address.

3:28 p.m.  A deputy was sent to Lee Township to investigate a larceny report, but the resident did not want to report the theft.

5:01 p.m.  A Homer Township couple reported finding suspicious charges on a credit card. The charges were caught before they were processed and no money was lost.

5:55 p.m.  A window was broken from a vehicle in Homer Township, causing $100 in damage. The incident is being investigated.

9:31 p.m.  A Homer Township man, 84, missed his driveway and slid into a ditch after being reported as a missing person earlier in the night. He was not hurt and there was no damage, and deputies submitted a driver reevaluation form to the state.

11:42 p.m.  A Jerome Township man, 28, was arrested in that township for driving while his license was suspended and on a warrant.
To the editor:

The tragedy of the commons is an economic problem in which every individual tries to reap the greatest benefit from a given resource. As the demand for the resource overwhelms the supply, every individual who consumes an additional unit directly harms others who can no longer enjoy the benefits. The tragedy of the commons occurs when individuals neglect the well-being of society in the pursuit of personal gain. Source: Investopedia.

The commons in public education is the total tax dollars available (state, local and federal) to finance public education. Federal tax dollars account for approximately 9 to 10 percent of the total. For every tax dollar given to establish a charter, religious or private school, there will be a reduction of the same amount from the total tax dollars, federal, state and local, available for public education. This is the erosion of the commons (total tax dollars). For example, if charter, religious or private schools take 15 percent of the total tax dollars available, then public education schools would obviously now have only 85 percent of the total tax dollars. If more charter, religious or private schools continue to be established, the financial support for public education will eventually reach a point where it will be fiscally impossible to maintain a viable public education system. This tragedy of the commons could well be the death of public education.

The tragedy of the commons is compounded by the fact that research has shown that charter, religious and private schools that operate with public tax dollars, in general, do not prepare pupils any better than the public schools. Yes, some of the charter, religious and private schools do provide a better educational experience for pupils than public schools, but many do not. Charter, religious and private schools can pick and choose which students to enroll, or not enroll, while the public schools are legally obligated to educate all pupils and are held accountable to the public for the quality of the education programs they provide. Charter, religious and private schools are not held to those same standards. Giving public tax dollars to charter, religious or private schools that often have significant instructional deficiencies and are not accountable to the public does not make sense. In fact, it is insane.

Betsy DeVos, a billionaire Republican candidate for secretary of education, who has never attended a public school (Holland Christian Schools and Calvin College, affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church), has constantly pushed for greater school of choice and unregulated charter school expansion. During confirmation hearings DeVos said she would not rule out defunding public schools! Source: The Detroit Free Press and NewsMax.

In 2002, the United States Supreme Court ruled that vouchers were constitutional if tax dollars followed a child to a school, even if it is religious. At present, 37 states do not allow state-funded school vouchers. At the present time, Michigan is not a voucher state.

Do taxpayers really want to endorse the financing of more charter, religious and private schools knowing full well that there will be a steady loss of funds available to maintain a viable public school system? I sincerely hope not.

ALLEN M. PARELIUS

Midland
James River Church provides free preschool to low-income families in Springfield, Missouri.

With red, puffy eyes and a fatigued, forlorn face, a woman named Mary stepped into a preschool in Springfield, Missouri, to drop off her 3-year-old daughter. Tami Parsley, the early childhood director, noticed Marys expression and inquired about her day. Mary broke down in tears, explaining how the night before, her abusive husband, whom she had filed a restraining order against, pounded on her door all night long. After summoning the police three times, she was a complete wreck. An interesting thing happened, though.

As I was sobbing and shaking, my daughter put her hand on my shoulder and said to me, Mama, itll be okay. All things are possible for those who believe in God, Mary says. I was mad at first but later got to thinking, Maybe God does love me.

The message of hope was slowly starting to seep in.

Its this kind of transformation that Parsley and her staff witness regularly at Preschool Academy, a program that is offered for free through James River Church to families who cannot afford schooling. Located in the most underserved area of Springfield, Missouri, the school opened its doors in August 2016 to 24 impoverished students.

Though James River Church, whose average Sunday attendance is 9,738, also runs two tuition-based preschools, one in Springfield and the other in nearby Ozark, the leaders wanted to offer a program that would minister to both the students and their parents in downtown Springfield. Parents can earn up to 100 points a week by doing things like dropping off their children at school clean, punctual and in uniform. They can also receive points for reading to their children and attending weekly life-skills classes. Parents must maintain a minimum of 80 points to hold their childs spot in the program.

To get out of poverty, you must have a hope greater than yourself, and thats whats happening here with our preschool families, says Parsley. Hearts are changing as they learn to trust God.

Find more childrens outreach ideas 

JAMES RIVER CHURCH

Ozark, Missouri

Senior Pastor: John Lindell

Twitter: @JohnLindell

Website: JamesRiver.org

Founded: 1991

Affilitation: Assemblies of God

Locations: 3

A 2016 OUTREACH 100 CHURCH

Attendance: 9,738

Growth in 2015: +1,354 (16%)

Fastest-Growing: 27

Largest: 39
HANLONTOWN | A pipeline break Wednesday morning near Hanlontown spilled approximately 138,600 gallons of diesel.

The break was discovered about 8 a.m. in a 12-inch line owned by Magellan Midstream Partners near 390th Street and Wheelerwood Road.

Local officials were initially told the break spilled about 63,000 gallons, but a spokesman for Magellan said Wednesday afternoon that the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company believes a total of 3,300 barrels, or 138,600 gallons, had spilled from the line.

Much of the fuel pooled in a farm field.

Magellan, which reported the spill to federal regulators, will remove the diesel and dig up the contaminated soil, said David Miller, an Iowa DNR environmental specialist.

The Iowa DNR and Environmental Protection Agency was on site with local officials and Magellan representatives.

The cause of the leak remains under investigation.

Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story.

Update: Clean-up effort underway at Hanlontown pipeline break

2 p.m. Update

HANLONTOWN | Crews have sucked up about 25,000 gallons of diesel and a slush-diesel mixture that came from a pipeline that broke north of Hanlontown Tuesday morning, officials said.

Crews discovered the break about 8 a.m. near 390th Street and Wheelerwood Road.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it was informed the spill was about 63,000 gallons, or 1,500 barrels, of fuel.

The fuel had pooled in a farm field.

As of 1:30 p.m., about 25,000 gallons of diesel and diesel-contaminated snow had been removed, a Worth County official said.

Crews were hauling in rock and lights so the clean-up and repair efforts could continue throughout the night.

Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story.

Update: Hanlontown pipeline break hasn't impacted nearby slough, officials say

1:30 p.m. Update

HANLONTOWN | An approximately 63,000 gallon spill from a broken pipeline near Hanlontown does not appear to have affected nearby wildlife areas, officials say.

The Mason City office of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources was notified about 8 a.m. Wednesday that a 12-inch pipe owned by Magellan Midstream Partners had leaked diesel near 390th Street and Wheelerwood Road, said David Miller, an Iowa DNR environmental specialist.

That's near Willow Creek, which runs just east of Wheelerwood, and the Hanlontown Slough Waterfowl Production Area, which is on the west side of Wheelerwood just south of 390th Street.

"There's a big pool of diesel fuel out in a field and it has not gotten into Willow Creek or the Hanlontown Slough as far as we can tell," said Miller, of the Mason City office. "(Magellan's crews) going to recover all the liquid product and they're going to excavate all the contaminated soil."

Miller was told the spill involved 1,500 barrels of fuel, which is roughly 63,000 gallons.

The Environmental Protection Agency and Iowa DNR have joined Magellan and local officials at the scene, he said.

A stretch of Wheelerwood -- from 390th to 410th streets -- has been closed so the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based pipeline company can get crews in to repair the leak and clean up the mess.

Although local officials and Magellan's representatives initially said one residence was evacuated, a spokesman for the company later said that was incorrect and no one was evacuated as a result of the spill.

The break is roughly three miles north and one mile east of Hanlontown.

That's about a half-mile west of Interstate 35.

Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story.

Pipeline break reported near Hanlontown

Our earlier story:

HANLONTOWN | At least one residence has been evacuated for a pipeline break near Hanlontown.

The break occurred Wednesday morning in a line owned by Magellan on Wheelerwood Road near 390th Street, said Worth County Engineer Rich Brumm.

He said at least one residence in the immediate area was been evacuated.

Worth County Emergency Manager Ray Huftalin said the pipeline that erupted was carrying diesel.

"The area is secured and there's no threat to anybody," he said.

Wheelerwood is closed from 390th to 410th streets so crews can get heavy equipment in to fix the break and clean up the mess, Brumm said.

The incident is just north of the Hanlontown Slough Waterfowl Production Area, a 939-acre state-owned wildlife area.

Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story.
Stop and go: 67th AMU Crew chiefs keep Eagles flying

U.S. Air Force 67th Maintenance Unit (AMU) crew chiefs work together to quickly and safely change the deflated tire of an F-15 Eagle Jan. 10, 2017, at Kadena Air Base, Japan. The 67th AMU maintainers work around the clock to ensure Kadenas F-15s remain mission ready to defend and support U.S. and coalition partners interests throughout the Indo-Asia Pacific region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Omari Bernard/Released)
An Alt-Nazi at a Milo Yiannopoulos Event Shot an Anti-Trump Protestor And \_()_/ Apparently

By Dustin Rowles | Miscellaneous | January 25, 2017 |

Though it has been widely underreported, there was a shooting last Friday night at an event for alt-Nazi, Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos in Seattle. While protesting a speech by Yiannopoulos at the University of Washington event, an unidentified man was shot in the stomach. The event was hosted by the University of Washington College Republicans. The man who shot the protestor had sent a number of Facebook messages to Yiannopoulos prior to the shooting.

The victim, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (a leftwing union), has decided not to press charges, which is the maddening thing about liberals. According to his attorney, the victim would rather engage in dialogue and a restorative justice process, which is the high road and all, but come on. Hes laid up in a hospital with a bullet in his gut and the guy who shot him  who was released almost immediately  is probably laughing at his restorative justice.

We dont know a lot else about the incident, except that a crowdfunding campaign has raised $45,000 to pay for the victims hospital bills.

But we do know how the University of Washington College Republicans responded to the shooting: If you keep prodding the right you might be unpleasantly surprised what the outcome will be. Youve obviously learned nothing from the Trump election.

Those fucking twerps.

In related, and happier news: Roxane Gay  a feminist associate professor at Purdue University, a New York Times columnist and author of multiple books (including a best seller)  has decided not to turn her book into Simon & Schuster because the company gave Yiannopoulos a $250,000 book advance. I just couldnt bring myself to turn the book in, she told Buzzfeed.

via The Guardian





Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.
NORMAL  There should be no noticeable changes for shoppers at The Shoppes and The Plaza at College Hills in Normal, following the sale of the property announced Tuesday.

Most shoppers wont notice any difference at all, said Greg Slowiak, general manager at The Shoppes. Its going to be business as usual.

Alto Real Estate Funds, a New York-based real estate investment firm, and M & J Wilkow, a Chicago-based real estate firm, have teamed up to acquire the 246,245-square-foot shopping center.

They have been working on this for a couple of months and of course, with any property sale, it takes a little while to get everything in order, Slowiak said.

The Shoppes and the Plaza, which had been owned by Miller Capital of Skokie, include approximately 30 stores and restaurants, Slowiak said, and is 97 percent leased. Also included are anchors Hobby Lobby, Target and Von Maur.

The name will remain the same, Slowiak said.

Details of the sale were not released, but it marks the second joint venture between M & J Wilkow and Alto in recent months. In November, the two firms acquired Plaza at the Pointe, a shopping center near Pittsburgh.

We are very excited to work with Alto once again to acquire The Shoppes and The Plaza at College Hills, said John Wiechart, senior vice president of acquisitions for M & J Wilkow, in a statement released Tuesday. The addition of this center to our portfolio is well aligned with our focus on acquiring and creating value at lifestyle retail properties in growth markets.

The College Hills investment is consistent with Alto's philosophy of acquiring well-positioned assets that will generate consistent cash flow with the benefit of opportunities to add value through active management, said Scott Onufrey, Altos managing partner, said. M & J Wilkow is a proven, first-class operator and we look forward to growing our partnership with them.

College Hills Mall opened in 1980 as a small, enclosed shopping center, and was demolished and rebuilt in 2005 as an outdoor center while retaining its anchor stores as standalone buildings. It was purchased by Cullinan Properties of Peoria, who designed it similar to another Cullinan project, Peorias Shoppes at Grand Prairie.

Jeff Giebelhausen, then president of Cullinans development division, described it at the time as being designed to feel more like a neighborhood with outdoor access, easy parking and lots of greenery.

At the time, officials with the town of Normal anticipated an additional $30 million in new sales, food and beverage, and property taxes from the development during the first 20 years of operation.

M & J Wilkow will manage the shopping center, and The Pollard Group will serve as leasing agent.
BLOOMINGTON  After narrowly avoiding a prison sentence for mob action Tuesday, a Bloomington man convicted in an incident involving a sawed-off shotgun assured a McLean County judge he will complete probation.

Judge Robert Freitag made it clear to Rashaad Becton that probation was "a tough call" on the charges involving a May 2016 dispute on Tracy Drive in south Bloomington.

The judge acknowledged that he was setting aside entirely his disagreement with a jury's acquittal of Becton in November of firearms possession related to the incident that also involved his brother.

Becton's inconsistent statements about the four children he shares with four women also raised doubts for the judge. The defendant's admission that he cannot recall the last names of two of the women "concerns me about your level of honesty," said the judge.

But the judge cited Becton's completion of several programs while in jail and his steady work history as factors that tipped the scale in favor of a term of 30 months of probation.

Assistant State's Attorney Brad Rigdon asked for a five-year sentence, arguing that the incident involved a 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun "with no real legitimate use other than a criminal use."

Rigdon rejected Becton's claims that he was hanging out with the wrong people when the incident took place.

"He is the wrong crowd. He's the person people should stay away from if they want to stay out of trouble," said the prosecutor.

A message must be sent that the rising number of gun crimes is unacceptable, said Rigdon.

Defense lawyer Joshua Rinker argued that Becton, 28, was acquitted of the gun charges and the evidence was insufficient to show that Becton was aware that his brother Termaine Becton actually possessed the gun.

Tremaine Becton pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation for mob action.

In his remarks to the judge, Rashaad Becton repeated his claim that he didn't know his brother had a weapon.

"My brother was drunk. I knew I couldn't just walk away. I'd have felt bad if somebody got hurt," said Becton.
BLOOMINGTON  The Mitsubishi Motors USA Foundation, in partnership with O'Brien Mitsubishi of Normal, is donating $50,000 to the McLean County Museum of History to support the museums free education programs and ongoing upgrades.

Ryan Gremore, general manager and operating partner of the Normal car dealership, presented the donation Tuesday to museum officials.

"With todays gift, the Mitsubishi Motors USA Foundation continues to give back to the Central Illinois community, a region that has been important to the brand's success," said Gremore in a statement released by the museum. "We have an ongoing commitment to this region for many years to come.

Mitsubishi Motors North America will be included in the museum's fourth of five planned new exhibits, "Working for a Living," featuring artifacts, images and documents from its long history in the community.

The exhibit, which is being developed by guest curator Mike Matejka and museum curator Susan Hartzold, is scheduled to open in September 2018.

"It will explore the local stories of workers and the diverse industries and innovations that have built McLean County into the thriving community it is today," according to the statement.

The Mitsubishi plant in Normal, which opened 30 years ago, closed in May. It once employed 3,400 workers.

"Mitsubishi has a longstanding history of supporting the local community and now this gift will sustain efforts to both educate and document Mitsubishis contribution to the local economy," said Don Swearingen, executive vice president, of Mitsubishi Motors North America.

The museum's Extending Excellence campaign raised more than $3 million for upgrades, which include installing new permanent exhibits, embracing new technology and expanding the capacity of the education department at the museum in the former county courthouse.

The museum serves more than 8,200 local students and senior citizens with free educational programs and resources every year, reaching students and residents across nine counties.

The a new exhibit gallery, "Farming in the Great Corn Belt," is set to open March 25.

More information about the Extending Excellence campaign and the museums educational programming is available online at www.mchistory.org.
BLOOMINGTON  Schools across the state are tackling a substitute teacher shortage and Twin City districts are examining incentives to attract more fill-in educators.

A recent survey by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools shows Illinois districts are short 600 substitute teachers every day.

At Bloomington District 87, Human Resources Assistant Darleen Knapp, said the district needs 55 subs on an average day.

Sometimes its lower, sometimes its even as high as 90, said Knapp. The average does raise during flu season and we have unfilled positions every day.

Knapp said District 87 shares many substitute teachers with Normal-based Unit 5, which widens the sub availability, but can hurt one district over the other.

We do have a shortage of subs in our pool and not every sub is able to work several days per week which narrows things down, she said.

An average of 44 of 972 teachers in McLean County Unit 5 are absent each day, said Human Resource Coordinator Bruce Weldy. He said 94 percent of those absences are filled by subs.

The fill rate is really good, but our concerns have always been with the teacher assistant fill rate which was just at 70 percent (full) last year, said Weldy.

Most substitute teachers in the region are paid $80 per day. That number goes up for specialized positions, retired teachers and those who can substitute more often.

Registration fees can be over $200. District officials agree, the cost to register as a substitute teacher is what prevents many people from applying.

Gov. Bruce Rauner recently signed a law that cut the cost of registration fees by $50.

Im hoping that price drop will help, said Knapp. Its still a sizable amount for someone, especially if theyre using this position for short-term employment.

Knapp said District 87 always advertises for subs on its website. The district usually has a recruiting event in the fall, but canceled it last year due to low attendance.

Weldy said Unit 5 is looking for ways to incentivize the unfilled positions, including in-house fingerprinting and other ways to cut fees.

We look at what we can afford fiscally. First, we would ideally help with fees, second would be to increase pay and third would be to create incentives for hard-to-fill days like Fridays, said Weldy.

Weldy said Unit 5 has no upcoming plans of recruitment fairs, but does reach out to universities during graduation.

He said Unit 5 officials are examining hot spots," or centrally-located buildings that tend to have a greater pool of subs than the outlying schools.

Its an ongoing battle, said Weldy. Right now, were studying patterns more in-depth to find challenging days, months and locations so we can develop plans to address those needs.
NORMAL  The investigation continues into a Tuesday morning traffic accident that claimed the life of an 80-year-old El Paso man.

Wayne L. Miller was driving a pickup truck, one of three vehicles involved in the crash about 9:35 a.m. at Veterans Parkway and Fort Jesse Road in Normal.

A minivan and a semitrailer truck also were involved, said police.

Miller died of multiple blunt force injuries, according to preliminary autopsy results released Tuesday afternoon by McLean County Coroner Kathy Davis. Toxicology testing is pending, she said.

After responding to the scene, police officers and fire department crews found Miller, the only occupant of the pickup truck, showing no signs of life. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:01 a.m. by the coroner's office.

Investigating the accident are the Normal Police Department and the coroners office with assistance from Illinois State Police division of commercial vehicle inspections.
BLOOMINGTON  Some neighbors of a planned community engagement center on Bloomingtons west side say they will be glad to see more law enforcement in an area known for its high crime rate, but others fear there will be too much of a "heavy-handed" police presence.

I think its a good idea, said Joyce Palmer, who lives on the opposite corner from the Jefferson Street Community House, which is at 828 W. Jefferson St. We need it."

She said she grew up in the neighborhood but moved to the east side for a while when she worked as a bus driver. Now she is worried about her neighborhood.

"You have to have safety," she said. "There are a lot of elderly people in this neighborhood. We just want everyone safe. Im not doing anything wrong, so Im fine with it.

The Bloomington City Council voted Monday night to establish the Jefferson Street Community House in a now-vacant house it will lease for $12 a year from Mid Central Community Action, which bought and rehabbed it with grant money from the state attorney general's office. While initially describing it as a police substation, city officials say it is more accurate to see it as a community center where police officers can visit with neighborhood residents.

Opponents argued the facility would lead to a more intrusive police presence in the area and said the city should seek other ways to address problems there.

Sidney Stevenson, who does odd jobs in the area, said he also agreed with city's decision.

We need it here because there is a lot of crime right in this area, he said Tuesday while standing in front of the property. This is a high-crime area.

"Having more police here should help run the riffraff away. If they know the police are going to be around, those that are causing trouble are going to go this way or that way."

Bloomington Police Chief Brendan Heffner told the City Council on Monday that during the past 21 months, there had been 15 incidents of gunfire in that area. Eight of those incidents were within 200 feet of the community house, he said.

While safety is one of the main goals of the community house, another is improving police and neighborhood relationships, he added.

The council delayed a decision last month so west-side residents could air their thoughts with city officials.

We look forward to doing what we said we would do during the last month and that is engaging the public better in hopes of improving the quality of life and most importantly, safety, Heffner said.

As a result of that interaction, an advisory board made up of residents from the neighborhood likely will be formed.

That is one of the things I am most excited about, said Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner.

Black Lives Matter Bloomington-Normal issued a statement late Monday night, expressing disappointment with the decision.

Black Lives Matter Bloomington-Normal opposed approval of the substation after reaching out to residents on the west side, many of whom shared experiences of heavy-handed police practices in the area, as well as their desire for a full-time, service-oriented approach to the social outcomes in the neighborhood, the statement read. It is our position that the council should not establish a substation before implementing community policing policies that address the concerns of people of color and west-side residents.

Matthew Drat, the director of resource development and community engagement for Community Action, said Wednesday that opening the lines of communication in the neighborhood has always been a high priority for the social services agency, which works to help residents lead violence-free, financially secure lives.

Resident engagement with police is critical, he said. But so is neighbor-to-neighbor engagement, and that is also what we are trying to encourage.

There is no timetable on when the community center will be open, Heffner said.

We are ready to start working on it and get it in order, but we have some things to do, like get it up to ADA standards and installing a security system.

The council also voted to spend about $5,000 to $10,000 to make the home accessible as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
SPRINGFIELD  Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner will deliver his third State of the State address Wednesday without yet having delivered a comprehensive budget agreement with the Democratic-controlled General Assembly since taking office.

But the first-term governor is expected to sound an optimistic tone about the direction of the state in his noon speech to a joint session of Legislatures two chambers, thanks in large part to the bipartisan negotiations on the budget and other issues currently taking place in the state Senate.

Rauner has said the Senate proposal, which includes tax increases as well as changes to the states workers compensation and pension laws, among other measures, is an acknowledgement that reform is needed to put the state on better financial footing.

Rauner also has said hes encouraged by recent discussion from House Democrats  particularly House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago  of the need for policies to encourage economic growth.

We  Republicans, Democrats and everyone in between  have a moral obligation to work together to bring change, Rauner is expected to say, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks. We, together, can return Illinois to a place of hope, opportunity and prosperity.

Hes also expected to return to familiar issues, encouraging lawmakers to support ballot referendums on amending the Illinois Constitution to enact term limits for elected officials and create an independent commission to redraw legislative district boundaries.

While the budget impasse has been the focus of his tenure so far, Rauner also will tout some of the things he has accomplished, such as increasing funding for elementary and secondary education and improving efficiency at state agencies.

The governor wont deliver his own budget blueprint Wednesday. Hes scheduled to do that Feb. 15 in a separate address to lawmakers.
SPRINGFIELD  Leaders in the Illinois Senate have described their proposed grand bargain on the state budget and other issues as a work in progress.

That work was on display Tuesday as lawmakers began holding committee hearings on a 13-bill package designed to end the long-running standoff between the Democratic-controlled General Assembly and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. The deal includes tax increases, workers compensation and pension reforms, gambling expansion, and a host of other issues.

Even as lawmakers were set to begin hearings, changes were being made to some of the bills, most notably the proposed tax increases.

A penny-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages is out, and the personal income tax rate would now go up to 4.99 percent instead of 4.95 percent from the current 3.75 percent. Thats still slightly below the 5 percent level it was at before a temporary increase began rolling back in January 2014.

Also added to the package were a new business opportunity tax, which would be levied on businesses based on their Illinois payroll, and a tax on certain services, such as dry cleaning and storage unit rentals.

Despite the changes, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, and Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, said they remain committed to moving the legislations through their chamber.

I am very excited to be where were at today, Radogno told fellow senators at a committee hearing. The Senate president and I have been living and breathing this project for two months  to the point I actually dream about it sometimes at night.

While there had been talk of votes on the Senate floor as soon as Wednesday, that now appears unlikely because adjustments are still being made to the packages tax provisions and other components.

As the proposal stands, each of the 13 pieces only becomes law if all the others are approved in the Senate and House and signed by Rauner.

It became clearer Tuesday just how difficult that task may be, with Democrats traditional allies in organized labor and the GOPs backers in the business community lining up in opposition to components of the plan or the entire package.

For example, leaders of the states largest teachers' unions, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, testified against part of the plan that would freeze local property taxes for two years while also giving school districts more flexibility in hiring third-party contractors to provide food, janitorial and transportation services.

Dan Montgomery, president of the IFT, said lawmakers need only look to the problems the McLean County Unit 5 school district faced with its bus service at the start of the school year to see what can go wrong when services are contracted out.

Montgomery also testified against a pension reform proposal from Cullerton that would give workers a choice between counting future raises toward their pensions or receiving compounding cost-of-living raises in retirement.

Opponents say the plan violates the Illinois Constitution, which says current workers pension benefits shall not be diminished or impaired, but supporters say theres no legal guarantee that raises will be counted toward pensions.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, a close ally of Rauner, is opposing the entire package because of the way all the pieces are linked together, President Todd Maisch said.

While there are some positive aspects, Maisch said, Our assessment is the package on the whole is very much a net negative for the business community.

One concern for the Chamber of Commerce is the proposed business opportunity tax, which would range from $225 annually for businesses with Illinois payrolls of less than $100,000 to $15,000 for businesses with payrolls of $1.5 million or more.

State Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, said its important to continue having these discussions to arrive at an agreement that everyone can live with.

This is still fluid, Brady said. Its still our hope that  we will get to a point where the business community believes theres more benefit than negative.

Rauner hasnt weighed in publicly on the specifics of the Senate proposal but has commended Cullerton and Radogno for their efforts.
Women are undeniably making strides in the historically male-dominated field of film directing  after all, 2016 has seen Ava DuVernay make history as the first black female director ever to be hired to helm a film with a $100 million budget, while, in the art film world, Maren Ade's three-hour German comedy Toni Erdmann has topped endless Best-of-the-Year lists. However, while specific female filmmakers may be gaining visibility, the state of the industry at large remains disheartening. According to studies from 2014, only 7% of Hollywood's top 250 films were directed by women. Even the rarified, seemingly more progressive realm of major film festivals reflects this stubborn inequality: in the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, only 15% of the films in the main competition had female directors.

This year's Sundance lineup, however, features a truly exciting number of female-helmed films. Ultimately, the only way to create more opportunities for female directors is by watching movies directed by women  so, below are 10 filmmakers, from newcomers to veterans, whose work is worth seeking out at Sundance this year.

Dee Rees

Courtesy of Sundance

Dee Rees is no stranger to Sundance: she work-shopped her debut feature, Pariah, in the Sundance Institute's Screenwriters and Directors labs, and garnered intense acclaim when the film  a beautiful, semi-autobiographical portrait of a queer teen in Brooklyn  premiered at the festival in 2011. For her sophomore project in 2015, she directed a Bessie Smith biopic for HBO starring Queen Latifah, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Mo'Nique. This year's Mudbound, adapted from the bestselling novel by Hillary Jordan, looks to be Rees' most ambitious project to date: a family epic set in the South in the years following WWII, starring Mary J. Blige, Carey Mulligan, and Garrett Hedlund. This could be the film that officially introduces Rees as a major American filmmaker.

Gillian Robespierre

Courtesy of Sundance

Gillian Robespierre burst onto the scene with the 2014 Sundance premiere of her romantic comedy with an abortion (not abortion comedy) Obvious Child, which taught jaded Brooklyn singles that they could hold out for someone who would warm their butter and cemented Jenny Slate's status as a vulnerable and Gilda Radnerian national treasure. Her latest, Landline, is a period piece (set all the way back in the mid-90s!), which reunites her with her muse, Slate, and features indie favorites John Turturro, Edie Falco, and Jay Duplass. If this has half the Ephron-esque charm and tenderness of her first feature, Robespierre is sure to become a major comedic force.

Janiczo Bravo

Courtesy of Sundance

In her short film work, Janiczo Bravo has worked with stars like Katherine Waterston, Gaby Hoffman, and Allison Pill and her short Gregory Go Boom, which screened at Sundance, achieved some viral fame in 2013, both for its black humor and surreal tone, as well as a minor controversy over Michael Cera's performance as a paraplegic man. Her first feature film, Lemon, stars her real-life husband  the hilarious and fearless Brett Gelman  as a struggling actor whose career and personal relationships are both falling apart. A fantastic cast  including Judy Greer, Michael Cera, Nia Long, Martin Starr, Gillian Jacobs, Shiri Appleby, and Fred Melamed  should lend warmth and humanity to Bravo's daring, spiky style.

Helene Hegemann

Courtesy of Sundance

German writer/director Helene Hegemann has worked in film, theater, and opera; she's written two novels, including the best-selling Axolotl Roadkill (critically praised, a Leipzig Book Fair fiction award finalist, and the subject of a dramatic plagiarism debate); and she's now making her feature debut as a director. She also happens to be twenty-four years old. Axolotl Overkill's story of a teenage girl's decadent journey through Berlin nightlife will bring the Wunderkind's provocateur tendencies to the world cinematic stage.

Jennifer Brea

Courtesy of Sundance

Princeton alum Jennifer Brea was pursuing a PhD in political science at Harvard when she was suddenly struck with a mysterious, debilitating illness. Left bedridden and only able to shoot two days a month, Brea  a Sundance Institute Fellow  turned the camera on herself in Unrest, chronicling her struggles with the little-understood myalgic encephalomyelitis (better known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and her connection with four other families grappling with similar health issues.

Kirsten Tan

Courtesy of Sundance

Singaporean director Kirsten Tan is already an established presence on the international film scene: her work has screened in festivals in Singapore, Rotterdam, Toronto, and Busan, her short film Ella has been included in MoMA's permanent film collection, and CNN featured her in their "Ones to Watch" spotlight on up-and-coming creatives. Pop Aye, a sort of road movie set in Thailand starring a man and an elephant, is Tan's feature debut.

Eliza Hittman

Courtesy of Sundance

Flatbush-born Eliza Hittman's debut feature, It Felt Like Love, a Brooklyn-set drama of sexual awakening, premiered at Sundance in 2013 and went on to become a New York Times Critics' Pick. In Beach Rats, Hittman focuses once again on her hometown, this time examining the thorny subject of burgeoning sexual identity through the prism of a teenage boy simultaneously diving into the world of gay cruising and tentatively embarking on a relationship with a young woman.

Maggie Betts

Courtesy of Sundance

Some filmmakers discover their calling when they see a particularly formative movie as a child or when a life-changing experience demands to be grappled with cinematically. For Maggie Betts, daughter of Chelsea Piers owner Roland W. Betts, the turn to film occurred when family friend Laura Bush urged her to make her mark on something beyond the society pages. Taking that guidance to heart, Betts made her first documentary, The Carrier, about the AIDS crisis in Zambia, in 2011. Her first narrative feature, Novitiate, is a major departure from her documentary work  the film is a coming-of-age period piece, tracing the evolution of a young woman's Catholic faith through the 1950s and '60s.

Sydney Freeland





A Navajo trans woman herself, Emmy-nominated director Sydney Freeland's last film at Sundance, Drunktown's Finest, provided a (still, sadly) rare look at authentic, personal depictions of transgender and Native American characters in a feature film. Her latest, the comedy Deidra & Laney Rob a Train, once more puts its focus on underrepresented points of view in its story of working class teens. Newcomers Ashleigh Murray and Rachel Crow take on the lead roles, alongside supporting performances by the wonderful Tim Blake Nelson and the hilarious, lovely Sasheer Zamata (still woefully underused on Saturday Night Live).

Splash photo left to right Kirsten Tan, Gillian Robespierre, Jennifer Brea courtesy of Sundance.
These are strange strange times we live in. Four days ago, diabolical size queen Donald Trump briefly shut down the official National Parks Service Twitter account after they retweeted comments about his relatively small Inauguration turnout. Then, once the climate change page had been purged from the official White House website, he effectively put a gag order on the entire EPA and Department of Agriculture, forbidding staff to share any updates with the press or on social media. The park rangers at Badlands National Park in South Dakota, who I am assuming are literal cowboys, were having none of it. In a series of tweets, they defied the ban and spoke truth to power about the real effects of climate change...

These tweets were censored and removed, and now the Badlands Twitter page is back to posting decidedly more innocuous fare...





But it's not over for the National Parks Service, not by a long shot. The disaffected rangers of the NPS have formed a renegade Twitter account, @AltUSNatParkService to resist and reject the Trump administration's master plan to purge science and climate change from the national agenda.

























And oh, they got JOKES:















Earlier today, the Trump Administration went to work on the EPA, telling them to remove the climate change page from their website, which contains years of data on climate change that experts are scrambling to save. Expect to see more pissed off scientists take to the streets in the days to come, and keep your eye on the Scientist's March On Washington.

Renegade rangers, we salute you!

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Splash image via Twitter
Pregnancy depression is more common than one might realize. Most people might be aware it can happen postpartum or after birth but there's also a condition known as antenatal depression, which could be experienced during pregnancy.

Experts say antenatal depression doesn't get diagnosed often enough compared to postpartum depression. It's high time, however, for the medical community and the families they serve to give this focus.

Researcher Veronica O'Keane has been studying antenatal depression for years and has recommended hospitals should undertake routine screening for pregnant moms for intervention, according to Irish Times. Depression during pregnancy poses great risks because moms can suffer increased physical stress such as fatigue, nausea, vomiting and other conditions that could also directly impact the fetus' development. In some cases, it can trigger premature birth or pregnancy loss.

According to Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia (PANDA), experts point to pregnancy hormones as a big factor to why moms develop depression during pregnancy. The biological changes can trigger mood disorders, anxiety, crying fits, sleep disorders, lack of focus, lack of energy and interest, and even suicidal thoughts.

Doctors or midwives, however, might not immediately be able to detect that a pregnant mom is going through this condition especially if they don't open up about it. According to O'Keane, this could be because mothers fear to discuss it, knowing that pregnancy should be considered a happy time.

With proper diagnosis, however, moms suffering from depression during pregnancy could receive support and care from trained mental therapists and their families. They could also be prescribed the right anti-depressant or medication that is safe for babies.

O'Keane also stressed that depression won't simply go away. The ebb and tide of emotions can lead to more emotional stress, which could make moms incapable of caring for the baby.

Pregnant moms need all the support they can get from those around them. Learn more about antenatal depression in this video below.
The culture of rudeness is spreading fast these days and it's not just happening in America but all over the world. To help curb the problem, a school in Portugal was reportedly implored to write a message to parents, appealing that they should teach their children manners at home.

The message has apparently been made into posters around the Portuguese school as it has also gone viral on Facebook, according to Newser. Social media users have been urged to share it because its content is timely and relevant, especially with what's happening around the world.

The school's appeal to parents has been listed with five points. It talks of reminding children to use kind words like "I'm sorry" and "Thank you."

The letter also emphasized the importance of the home as the first place where children should learn respect, honesty, sympathy, cleanliness and orderliness. "Here at school, on the other hand, we teach language, math, history, geography, physics, sciences, and physical education," the letter stated. "We only reinforce the education that children receive at home from their parents."

Starts At 60 reports it's unclear if the letter did originate from a Portugal school but that detail seems to be irrelevant now. It has brought to light discussions on manners, however, particularly on social media.

"When [kids] come to school and behave like rude little thugs, you have to wonder what the parents are like," one mom said on Facebook. "I know my Johnny would [misbehave] if he thought he could get away with it."

The news comes as teachers getting blamed for how kids behave is on the rise. According to The New Yorker, whenever a social crisis hits, the public is quick to point fingers at schools and cite lack of education as the problem when they should be learning how to behave their best from their parents first and foremost.
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MASON CITY | One person was hurt when a car went off the road and flew into the air near Mason City on Saturday.
Early this morning Patently Apple posted a granted patent report from Apple covering an optical pattern projection system that could be set up in a desktop like Apple's iMac and allow users in the future to use hand gestures to control aspects of the operating system, or act as an advanced method for logging in. It could be used to control video game play or to quickly stop or start a tune or movie. It could also be used in context with Augmented Reality applications. Apple's Israeli team had pioneered this science of 3D tracking that Microsoft eventually used in their Kinect device.

Today, Microsoft was also granted a patent for tracking hand movements that surfaced last year as a patent application that's not tied to Apple's Israeli team. So it appears that there could be a race on to deliver this feature on future Macs and PCs. What are the chances of both Apple and Microsoft being granted a patent for the same type of technology to achieve the same end result on the same day? While I'm not a mathematician, I'd have to say 1 in million at minimum  and probably more like 1 in 20 million.

Our cover graphic covers Microsoft's patent FIG. 1 which is a schematic diagram of tracking hand pose using an image capture device which is forward facing, upward facing or over the shoulder of a user and FIG. 2 below providing a system overview.





Microsoft notes that Real-time articulated hand tracking from image data has the potential to open up new human-computer interaction scenarios.

Microsoft's invention covers tracking hand or body pose from image data is described, for example, to control a game system, natural user interface or for augmented reality.

In various examples a prediction engine takes a single frame of image data and predicts a distribution over a pose of a hand or body depicted in the image data. In examples, a stochastic optimizer has a pool of candidate poses of the hand or body which it iteratively refines, and samples from the predicted distribution are used to replace some candidate poses in the pool. In some examples a best candidate pose from the pool is selected as the current tracked pose and the selection processes uses a 3D model of the hand or body.

In addition to in-air gesturing being designed to work with future PC's, Microsoft also notes once in their filing that the camera system could be built into a floor to accept gestures. While the patent filing provides no examples as to how it could work in a floor application, we could only speculate that it could have an application for keynote speakers or teachers making presentations to an audience or classroom.

Seven out of the eight Microsoft engineers noted as the inventors of this granted patent are from Great Britain and one from Toronto Canada.

With Microsoft receiving a lot of praise from the PC press for bringing multitouch and digital pen usage to their new Surface Studio desktop display back in October, it's possible that Microsoft could be seriously thinking of bringing more whiz-bang technology to the desktop in the next year or two just to get ahead of Apple.

On the flip side, Apple's Israeli team of engineers appear to be working on this technology almost on a quarterly basis of late and so it's not a given that Microsoft will deliver this feature to the desktop first.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.
A couple of days ago, I posted a link to an item by Matt Roper titled A New York Cumorah? Not a Hill We Have to Die On:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2017/01/new-york-cumorah-not-hill-die.html

Among other things, Ropers article calls attention to what is often styled the two Cumorahs theory, which is a common correlate of Mesoamerican limited geographical models for the Book of Mormon.

In response, a number of people have written to me saying that they believe that, excepting the early chapters of 1 Nephi, the story of the Book of Mormon took place in North America, not in South America  by which they typically mean that they follow a Heartland or Great Lakes model of Book of Mormon geography.

Theyre perfectly free to follow whatever geographical model they prefer, of course. (As I like to point out, nobodys salvation hinges on knowing the precise GPS coordinates of the Jaredite city of Lib.) But everybody should understand that adherents of a Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon  such as I am, although the issue doesnt rank especially high on my list of concerns  also believe that the Book of Mormon narrative took place chiefly in North America. Everything from Canada through the United States and Mexico down to and including Panama is typically reckoned by geographers as part of North America.

Others have written to remind me that the Latter-day Saint visitors center at the Hill Cumorah just south of Palmyra, New York, identifies that hill as a historic site and as the place where the mortal Moroni buried the plates of the Book of Mormon in AD 421. This, they seem to think, is a decisive statement by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proving the two Cumorahs theory wrong.

Again, though, their argument seems to rest on an error. Believers in the two Cumorahs theory  of whom Im one, although, yet again, the issue isnt of pivotal importance to me  contend that the location of the final Jaredite and Nephite battles was far to the south, perhaps near Veracruz, and not in modern-day upstate New York. However, they do not deny that the glacial drumlin between Palmyra and Manchester, New York, is where Moroni buried the golden plates roughly thirty-six years after the Lamanite destruction of the Nephites.

So acceptance of the proposition that Moroni buried the plates in the hill near the later Smith family farm is shared by both Heartland and Mesoamerican models, and cant be used to distinguish between them. It also cant be used to argue that adherents of the two Cumorahs theory are in disagreement with official statements of the Church.

While Im at it, too, here is an interesting exchange on the question of a New York or Mesoamerican Cumorah between Andrew Hedges and Matt Roper:

Cumorah and the Limited Mesoamerican Theory

Plausibility, Probability, and the Cumorah Question

Problems with Probability: A Response

I like the irenic tone of the exchange. This topic doesnt merit anger, irritation, or mutual excommunication. Its very important, in my view, to believe that the story of the Book of Mormon peoples took place. The question of where that story took place, though, while interesting and far from trivial, is of considerably less importance.
Patna: Polytechnics students in Patna who have been on strike since last three weeks took out a 'semi-naked' protest rally on Wednesday to press for their demands and to highlight the indifferent attitude of the Nitish government that, they say, has chosen to ignore their plight.

Wearing only pants with nothing above it and covering their mouths with black bands, hundreds of students, who had also been sitting on a hunger strike in Gardanibagh for the past few days, took out the rally between Anisabad Crossing and Gardanibagh demanding immediate action to their demands.

Protesting students have accused the government of massive irregularity in the hiring of junior engineers in the power companies and have demanded a full investigation into the charges. They are also demanding appointments of only those who hold the diploma and not the B.Tech students who have also been made part of the hiring process.

Meanwhile, five polytechnics students who had been on hunger strike in Gardanibagh for the past week were moved to a nearby hospital after their condition reportedly worsened on Wednesday.

"The government is completely ignoring our plight and this leaves us with no other option but to intensify our stir statewide," said a student leader threatening if their demands were not met immediately, all polytechnic colleges in Bihar will be shut down.
Patna: After failing to forge a Bihar-like alliance in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced his decision not to contest in the UP Assembly polls saying so that secular votes are not divided among too many smaller groups.

Janata Dal  U national General Secretary K C Tyagi, at a press conference in Patna on Wednesday, said that the JD-U had decided to stay outside of the UP polls in the interest of defeating the 'communal force', read the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the state.

"The decision to not field our candidates in the UP elections was taken at a meeting of the core committee of the party on Tuesday. This was a unanimous decision to ensure the defeat of the communal force in the state," Tyagi informed the reporters.

Tyagi, who was accompanied by Water Resources Minister Lallan Singh, Shyam Rajak and a few others, also told the reporters that Nitish Kumar would not campaign in Uttar Pradesh even if invited by the Samajwadi Party leader and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

"We do not have much riding on in the state Uttar Pradesh so we plan to cheer the secular forces from Bihar," the JD-U leader said.

It may be noted that the decision to opt out of UP elections came only after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar failed to engineer a 'Bihar-like' alliance in the neighboring state.

"We were hoping that the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress would be able to set aside their differences and join hands in an attempt to defeat the BJP but that obviously did not happen. Now we can only hope and pray that they are as successful in UP as we were in Bihar," Tyagi said.
Patna: While Janata Dal  U leader and former party President Sharad Yadav was busy comparing the honor of daughters of India to the sanctity of voting rights calling the latter more important than the former, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Vinay Katiyar was servin heartaches to his own party members when he remarked that the BJP had more 'attractive and beautiful' female star campaigners than someone like Congress' Priyanka Gandhi.

Katiyar, a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh and the founder member of Bajrang Dal, while reacting to the Congress' decision to field Priyanka Gandhi, the daughter of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi, as the star campaigner in UP elections, said that her presence would not make any difference since the BJP had many beautiful women and film stars to campaign for the party.

"I think Smriti Irani is a lot more beautiful and she is campaigning for us," Katiyar was reported to have said.

The leader's unvarnished remark about the looks of women in each party, as expected, did not go well with a number of women's group and leaders who demanded immediate condemnation of Katiyar and unconditional apology from the BJP for bringing the looks of women in the electoral campaign.

Amita Bhushan, Congress legislator from Begusarai, slammed Katiyar for his sexist comments saying the BJP leader needed a lesson in class and culture.

Expressing extreme anger on Katiyar's remarks, Bhushan said that the BJP leader owed an apology to all the women of India who had played a major role in the shaping of post-British modern India.

"Remarks like these only expose him of what kind of person he is. It shows his narrow-mindedness and his anti-female mindset. The fact is that the BJP has lost its sleep since the Congress joined hands with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and that is why its leaders are constantly making nonsensical remarks," Bhushan said in Patna.
Patna: Living up to his image of being a sexist and misogynist politician with a long history of demeaning women by his strong rhetoric, senior Janata Dal - U (JD-U) leader and former party national President Sharad Yadav kicked off a sandstorm on Wednesday when he said that the 'integrity of vote was much important than the honor of one's daughter'.

Yadav apparently made the comment during his speech at Sri Krishna Memorial Hall in Patna on Tuesday while attending a government-sponsored event to mark the birth anniversary of former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur.

This was the same speech when Yadav embarrassed his party chief and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar by saying that the Congress Party, an ally of his own party in Bihar, was in worse shape today than during the Emergency period when the party lost big to the emerging Janata Party what is today's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"People need to be educated about the voting ballot. The integrity of a vote is bigger than the honor of a daughter. If a daughter loses her honor, the entire neighborhood and village loses its honor. However, if someone sells his vote, the entire state and the nation loses its honor. That way we are all losers since all of ours dream will not be fulfilled," Yadav said in the presence of Nitish Kumar and other senior JD-U leaders.

Yadav's remark kicked off a political storm on Wednesday when different women and political groups slammed the JD-U leader for comparing daughters to ballot boxes.

"Yadav has a history of objectifying women. He is clueless and does not know what it means to have a wife or a daughter. He is a politician through and through and only cares about winning elections. He does not know what is the meaning of relationship and he should refrain from making remarks about anyone," social activist and Padmashree Award recipient Sudha Varghese said.

When Yadav refused to apologize, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sent the party General Secretary and designated 'clean-up' man K C Tyagi to do the damage control.

"Mr. Yadav was wrongly quoted and his remarks were taken out of context. What he was trying to say that the role of money in electoral politics was a dangerous trend. When a girl is married into the wrong family then one family gets affected but if you vote is cast for wrong people then the entire society suffers," Tyagi summarized.

The former JD-U President has a long history of making sexist remarks against women and his repeated attempt to objectify women is not a secret.

In 2015, he spoke about women's obsession with their desire for white skin and painted South Indian women as 'dusky' and 'desirable'. When BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani, a former television star, objected to his comment, Yadav retorted by saying he knew 'what she really was'.

At another time, he was heard making fun of women who chose to have short hair.

Meanwhile, activists belonging to the BJP and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) took out a joint protest march against Sharad Yadav and burnt his effigy near Kargil Chowk just outside Gandhi Maidan in Patna on Wednesday.
Could A Hard-Line Woman Challenge Rohani In Iran's Presidential Vote?

01/24/17

By Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE/RL



Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi is an Iranian university professor and former lawmaker.

She was Iran's minister of health and medical education.



Four months ahead of Iran's presidential election, the absence of a clear challenger to face incumbent Hassan Rohani has led to talk that the gray-bearded clerics who dominate Iran's opaque system might bet on a woman.

The political and religious leadership that emerged from the 1979 revolution has so far excluded women from the running for a handful of the most senior posts, including the presidency.

With independent polling nearly nonexistent in Iran, it's unclear whether a conservative establishment that gives a woman half the legal standing of a man might actually rally behind a female candidate for president in the May vote.

But the tactic could signal an effort to fracture the power base that swept the reformist Rohani to power nearly four years ago in part on pledges to chip away at legally based gender discrimination.

Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi was the first postrevolutionary female minister and one of fewer than a dozen women to serve in an Iranian cabinet, running the Health Ministry from 2009-13 under hard-line President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. The 58-year-old Vahid Dastjerdi was recently appointed as an adviser to Iran's fiercely reactionary judiciary.

She has been quoted as saying talk of her imminent candidacy are "untrue." But it is arguably a tantalizing political prospect.

"[Vahid Dastjerdi] lacks charisma, but she could be a good rival for Rohani," Parvaneh Salahshuri, a relative moderate who heads the women's faction in the Iranian parliament, was quoted by the semiofficial news agency ISNA as saying. "For me as a woman, there's no difference between a hard-liner or a reformist. I welcome whoever promotes the status of women."

"It doesn't make any difference to us if the candidate is a woman or a man," hard-line lawmaker Hossein Naghavi was quoted as saying earlier this month, "the main issue for the hard-liners is to enter the race with a single candidate."

Naghavi, a member of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, noted that election supervisors at Iran's Guardians Council would need to issue the green light for women to be able to run in the presidential race. But "if those issues are resolved, then there's nothing wrong with a woman being the candidate," he said.

Could A Woman Even Run?

A spokesman for the Guardians Council set rumor mills abuzz in December by suggesting that women could apply as candidates but that the council might disqualify them over a clause in the Iranian Constitution that limits eligibility to religious and political "rejal." The word comes from Arabic and roughly translates as "distinguished men" or, under some interpretations, "personalities." Some argue that "rejal" includes women, but the Guardians Council has ruled in the past for a masculine interpretation.

Some domestic media outlets, including the reformist daily Arman and the moderately conservative KhabarOnline, have suggested that Vahid Dastjerdi could become the hard-liners' choice.

The conservative Tabnak responded with an unsigned commentary asking "what aims are behind the spread of rumors" by reformists seemingly aimed at "introducing candidates on behalf of the principlists" -- a reference to an ideologically rigid camp of Iranian conservatives.

Women who have sought to run in the past, including conservatives, have been disqualified by the Guardians Council based on the "rejal" clause.

Berlin-based Iranian journalist Ehsan Mehrabi tells RFE/RL that he doubts the councilors will change their tune. "The presence of women in important political posts has always been a red line for conservative clerics," he says. "[I] doubt that the Guardians Council would be willing to cross one of its red lines, even with the goal of splitting Rohani's votes."

Islamic law as applied in Iran since the revolution denies women equal rights in divorce, child custody, inheritance, and other areas. Women need the permission of their father or husband to travel. A woman's testimony in court is considered to be half the value of a man's. And women's divorce rights are significantly weaker than those of men.

Women are also banned from attending major men's sporting events.

Many Opinions On Vahid Dastjerdi

Vahid Dastjerdi is a trained gynecologist and two-term parliament deputy who has in the past backed conservative causes including the gender segregation of health facilities and diminished rights for women in the event of divorce.

She was dismissed as health minister following a public disagreement with then-President Ahmadinejad in 2013.

Last month, she became the spokeswoman of a new conservative political group called the Popular Front of the Forces of the Islamic Revolution. Speaking at a January 15 press conference, Vahid Dastjerdi said the group's main aim was to create "unity" among "revolutionary forces" -- a code word for conservatives -- and then produce a candidate who would preserve such unity.

She cited economic problems, unemployment, and "astronomical salaries" among the country's most pressing problems.

Talk of a Vahid Dastjerdi candidacy has led to debate in Iranian social media, with some welcoming it as a move that could shatter a glass ceiling.

"Dastjerdi's most important plus is in that Ahmadinejad is among the people by whom she was fired and that's considered an honor and a plus in Iranian society," one Twitter user said.

  #__      #_               afshin (@afshin67a) January 18, 2017

Others warned against her hard-line stances.

"Marzeh Datsjerdi is among those who proposed a bill to segregate men and women at hospitals and she's been against Iran joining the [Convention] on The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women," another user tweeted.

#__    :                    haniyeh (@juristichms) January 17, 2017

Another user dismissed the rumors about Vahid Dastverdi as a ploy by the Islamic establishment to encourage citizens to vote in May. "In order to push people to vote, authorities [could] even bring Jennifer Lopez to fool people," the user said.

                     !##_

   Azadeh (@AzadehMozafari) January 18, 2017

Rohani's 2013 presidential victory was followed by a return to parliament for his reformist and independent allies in early 2016, although Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the last word on all political and religious matters in Iran.

About the author:

Golnaz Esfandiari is a senior correspondent with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She can be reached at esfandiarig@rferl.org

Copyright (c) 2017 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
Ailing British-Iranian Grandpa Serving 7-Year Prison Sentence Denied Medical Leave

01/25/17

Source: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

Kamal Foroughi, a 77-year-old ailing British-Iranian dual citizen and former civil engineer incarcerated at Evin Prison in Tehran since May 2011, has been denied previously promised and urgently required extended medical leave, his son, Kamran Foroughi, told the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.



Kamal Foroughi with his granddaughter



"For the Iranian authorities we have a simple message: Please let Dad come home," said Kamran Foroughi on January 20, 2017. "Please let Dad live his remaining days with his family and not die alone in Evin prison."

"Dad was granted medical leave (outside the hospital) on January 1 and we are very grateful," he added. "However, he was told that he needs to go back to the hospital for more tests."

"We remain extremely worried about his health," continued Kamran Foroughi. "Most recently, we understand that Dad's lawyer was told by the Prosecutor's Office in a meeting on January 7 that he would be released by January 12 on medical furlough (temporary leave), but he is still in Evin."

Since 2014 in particular and despite President Hassan Rouhani's encouragement of expatriate citizens to return to Iran, dual citizens or Iranians with foreign residency status have been arrested with increasing frequency by the Revolutionary Guards or agents of the Intelligence Ministry and imprisoned for espionage-related charges with little or no access to legal counsel.

Kamal Foroughi was arrested on May 5, 2011 by the Revolutionary Guards at his apartment in Tehran and held in solitary confinement for 18 months in the Revolutionary Guard-controlled Ward 2-A of Evin Prison, according to his son. Judge Abolqasem Salavati of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court eventually sentenced him to seven years in prison for "espionage" and one year in prison for "possession of alcoholic drinks at home." The latter sentence was ultimately dropped.

"Dad has been eligible for release each of the last 1,100 days," said Kamran Foroughi, citing Article 58 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code, which allows prisoners to apply for early release after having served a third of their sentence.

"During these years, my father's lawyer filed more than 50 requests for my father's release and the Tehran Prosecutor's Office gave a verbal pledge that he would go free, but so far nothing has happened," Kamran Foroughi told the Campaign in October 2016.

"His health is concerning," he added. "He was diagnosed about two months ago with cataracts in each eye and needs an urgent operation that is very straightforward, simple and quick to do at the hospital. When he was diagnosed, the specialist said he would get the operation very soon, but he still hasn't had it and we are worried that the longer they leave it, the more his eyesight will deteriorate and the more he will be at risk for permanent blindness."

The Iranian Judiciary's ongoing imprisonment of dual nationals contradicts Rouhani's repeated calls for expatriates to return to Iran. The growing number of arrests also reflects hardliners' efforts to prevent the engagement with the West that the Rouhani administration has sought to encourage.

Iranian-British dual citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, sentenced to five years in prison in September 2016, has been held since April 2016; Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi, held since October 15, 2015 and his father, 80-year-old Bagher Namazi, held since February 2016, have both been sentenced to ten years in prison; Iranian-American Robin (Reza) Shahini, held since July 2016; has been sentenced to 18 years in prison, British-Iranian Roya Saberi Nobakht, held since October 2013, has been sentenced to seven years; and Iranian-Austrian dual citizen Kamran Ghaderi, held since January 2016, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Iranian-born Swedish resident Ahmadreza Jalali; held since April 2016; and Iranian-American Karan Vafadari; held since July 2016, have not been sentenced yet.
Trump Said Readying Temporary Bans On Refugees, Some Muslim Visitors

01/25/17

Source: RFE/RL

U.S. media are reporting that President Donald Trump, starting on January 25, will order sweeping anti-immigration measures, including a temporary ban on refugees and suspension of U.S. visas for citizens of Syria, Iraq, Iran, and other Muslim countries.



Trump has arrived!

(by Iranian cartoonist Javad Takjou, Ghanoon daily)





The ban on allowing refugees into the United States except for religious minorities escaping persecution is expected to last multiple months until authorities put an aggressive vetting process in place, according to Reuters and AP.



Another order will block visas from being issued to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, the news wires said, citing unidentified officials and experts.



The first orders will be signed on January 25 on a visit to the Department of Homeland Security, with others in following days, they said.



Trump confirmed that he will have a big announcement, saying on Twitter late on January 24: "Big day planned on national security tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall" between the United States and Mexico.



Building a wall on the Mexican border was a top Trump campaign pledge. Trump also campaigned on pledges to tighten immigration from majority Muslim countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, including stemming the flow of refugees.



At first, he called for temporarily halting entry to the United States from Muslim countries, but later shifted the policy to a focus on what he called "extreme vetting" of people coming from countries where terrorist groups are located.



Many Trump supporters decried former President Barack Obama's decision to increase the number of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States saying they feared that those fleeing the country's civil war would carry out militant attacks.



Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq -- all nations plagued by war -- are among the countries that are home to the majority of the world's refugees today.



Trump is expected to instruct the State Department to stop issuing visas to people from certain specific nations and he could also instruct U.S. Customs officials to stop any current visa holders from those countries from entering the United States.



White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on January 24 that the State and Homeland Security departments will work on setting up a vetting process to govern entry from those countries.



Legal experts say the executive orders may be open to legal challenge from groups arguing they are unconstitutional because they single out a particular religion for discrimination.



"His comments during the campaign and a number of people on his team focused very much on religion as the target," immigration expert Hiroshi Motomura at the UCLA School of Law told Reuters.



Other measures may include directing all agencies to finish work on a biometric identification system for noncitizens entering and exiting the United States and a crackdown on immigrants fraudulently receiving government benefits, Reuters said.



With reporting by AP and Reuters
NIAC Condemns Trump Plan to Ban Visitors from Iran and Muslim-Majority Countries

01/25/17

Press Release by National Iranian American Council (NIAC)



cartoon by Julio Carrion Cueva





Washington, DC - The National Iranian American Council released the following statement regarding reports that President Trump plans to issue an Executive Order tomorrow banning refugees and visa holders from Iran and six other Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States:



"Donald Trump is making good on the most shameful and discriminatory promises he made on the campaign trail. He called for a Muslim ban and is now taking the first steps to implement one. This will not stand. The American people are better than this.



"This Executive Order is a fundamental challenge to what America is supposed to represent. Many Iranian Americans, like most Americans, immigrated here for a brighter future based on the promise that America has represented for centuries. Donald Trump appears intent on throwing that America away and taking us down a slippery slope towards a dark future. We never imagined that the U.S. would become a country that bars its doors and formally condones xenophobia.



"The Iranian American community has already faced targeting thanks to Trump. In 2015, after Donald Trump called for a 'Muslim ban,' Republican lawmakers slipped language into legislation to bar dual nationals from Iran, as well as Iraq, Syria, and Sudan, from the Visa Waiver Program. Now, our relatives will face a ban on coming to this country at all, and later will face ideological tests.



"We agree with the goal of making America safe from terror, but a blanket ban based on national origin does nothing to achieve that objective. Even if this were the right approach, it is notable that the list doesn't include Saudi Arabia and would have done nothing to prevent 9/11 or the other terrorist attacks committed by radical Wahhabi jihadists in the US. But it does include Iran - from which no national has committed a terrorist act in America.



"This is discriminatory. This is un-American. And last but not least: This is dangerous as it pits Americans against Americans while undermining the very principles of inclusivity and tolerance that define America. We will not be silent and will use every resource at our disposal to fight these shameful actions and protect the values and people who make America great."



About NIAC



The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the interests of the Iranian-American community. We accomplish our mission by supplying the resources, knowledge and tools to enable greater civic participation by Iranian Americans and informed decision making by lawmakers. (read more)


News media beware.

Covering the Trump administration -- in both hard news reporting and opinion writing -- will not be as easy as it seems. The low-hanging fruit offered by a White House prone to hyperbole and even recklessness with truth could turn out to be poisonous.

On Saturday, the new White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, was sent into the Brady Briefing Room to scold media about how it reported crowd size at Trump's inauguration. Sunday, Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway sought to defend Spicer by asserting that he had offered "alternative facts."

Media had a feeding frenzy, ripping Spicer for distorting truth, and then lampooning Conway for suggesting that truth can come in alternative forms.

Spicer's hot-under-his-ill-fitting-collar presentation drew the most criticism for this sentence: "This was the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe."

Here's the thing: It might be true. While television ratings were lower than for Barack Obama's first inaugural, and while there is clear photographic evidence that Trump's crowd on the Washington Mall was smaller than Obama's, the vast increase in digital devices and alternative distribution through social media make it virtually certain that this year's event had the largest total audience ever.

And that's probably what Conway was alluding to when she blurted out the phrase "alternative facts" without fully explaining herself. To grant her complete benefit of the doubt-which she might not deserve: While there is no such thing as an alternate version of a specific fact, there are alternative ways to use facts to make an argument.

On Monday, Spicer's first full-blown White House briefing seemed likely to be a blood bath, with reporters eager to confront him about a weekend's worth of administration puffery. Instead, Spicer was as smooth and effective as anyone who has held the press secretary job and, try though they did, reporters failed to lay a glove on him.

None of this means a hoot in the larger scheme of things, except that it should serve as a cautionary note for media in the Trump Era. The message is threefold.

First, Donald Trump doesn't want a cordial relationship with the press. He campaigned against media with the same vigor he used on Democrats, and at the CIA on Saturday said: "I have a running war with the media.They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth."

Second, Americans' trust and confidence in the mass media "to report the news fully, accurately and fairly" has dropped to its lowest level in polling history, according to Gallup.

Third, in light of the above, every misstep by media -- especially early in Trump's term -- is magnified.

News media have a challenge and an opportunity in covering the Trump administration. They must rely less on official handouts and spoon-feeding by White House sources. They must not take the bait when Trump's people make relatively minor errors, as all administrations do.

Instead, media should focus on bigger pictures and dig deeper. The New York Times is leading the way by beefing up its White House coverage at a cost it says is $5 million above the current budget.

Covering the most unorthodox presidency in history won't be any easier than it was covering the most maverick presidential campaign, when many in media came up short.

Americans depend on news media now more than ever -- even if most of them, according to polls, don't seem to realize it.
mSecure password manager review TechRadar Pro

Updated In our mSecure password manager review, we take an in-depth look at this password manager to help you decide if its the most secure way to handle your sensitive data.
Back in the day, McAfee LiveSafe pioneered the concept of a cross-platform security suite with no specific limit on the number of devices protected. You were (and are) free to install protection on every Windows, macOS, Android, or iOS device in your household. That unlimited protection now applies to all of McAfee's security product line. As you go up the ladder from the standalone antivirus to this suite, Windows devices get more security features, but protection on other platforms remains the same. Well, almost. The Personal Locker encrypted cloud storage feature in LiveSafe works with Windows 8 and newer, Android, and iOS 10 or lower. There's no macOS version, though, and it's incompatible with iOS 11, too.

Those unlimited licenses list for $99.99 per year, and that's not bad. To get unlimited licenses for Bitdefender Total Security, you must spring for the $119.99 Family Pack. Norton costs a little more, $109.99 per year, which gets you 10 cross-platform licenses and 25GB of online storage for your backups. And while Panda Protection Complete costs just $74.99 per year for unlimited licenses, those licenses are only good on Windows and Android. Note that these prices are frequently discounted.

If you go looking for this product in a brick-and-mortar store, you won't find it. On the shelves, McAfee emphasizes McAfee Total Protection, which differs from LiveSafe in just one feature. Don't let the promise of 10 licenses on the Total Protection box confuse you; that's just to catch your eye. Both products really do give you unlimited licenses.

Reading Assignment

Most security companies offer at least three levels of security protection. For example, Kaspersky offers a standalone antivirus, an entry-level security suite, and top-of-the-line mega-suite Kaspersky Total Security. I typically review the antivirus, then summarize and reference that article in my review of the suite, working my way up the food chain.

The McAfee line packs a huge feature set into McAfee Antivirus Plus. Stepping up to McAfee Internet Security(39.99 For the First Year at McAfee)(Opens in a new window), doesn't add a lot. Specifically, the entry-level suite adds an ineffective parental control app, a spam filter that you may not need, and a password manager that focuses on multi-factor authentication. The final step up to McAfee LiveSafe gets you multiple password manager licenses and exactly one new feature, an encrypted cloud storage system with unusual biometric authentication.

Given there's so little difference, I'm not going to recap my review of the entry-level suite. Please read that review before continuing. Done? OK, let's talk about what's different in LiveSafe.

More Password Power

You manage all your McAfee-protected devices from one central console, and the members of your household are surely happy to let you take care of that task for them. There's nothing sensitive or personal about staying safe from malware. But no matter how intimate you are with your fellow McAfee users, sharing your passwords is quite another thing.

McAfee Internet Security comes with a single license for McAfee's True Key password manager. You can use that license on all your devices, and True Key's advanced multi-factor authentication factors give you many options for protecting your passwords and other private data. Your devices all sync the same single password collection, though, and even if you wanted to share, another user would have a tough time supplying your face or fingerprint for authentication.

LiveSafe solves this problem by offering five True Key licenses, not just one. Now each household member (up to five) can have a personal True Key profile, complete with personalized biometric authentication. Given that a standalone True Key license costs $19.99 per year, this is quite a deal.

Personal Locker

In addition to extra licenses for True Key, LiveSafe gives you the Personal Locker, an encrypted cloud storage system that uses advanced biometric authentication. It's not a lot of storage, just 1GB of space, but things you store in it are ultra-safe. You can access your Personal Locker from Android and iOS devices (running version 10 or earlier), and from Windows boxes running Windows 8 or better. Sorry, there's no macOS support with this component, and it's not compatible with iOS 11.

Unlike the File Lock component of Total Protection, Personal Locker doesn't show up in the main user interface. To install it, you log into your McAfee account and either download it to the current device or send yourself a link with an activation code. After an introduction to this app's features, you create a six-digit PIN. Then comes the fun part.

Like True Key, Personal Locker can use face recognition for authentication, but unlike True Key, face recognition is a requirement, not an option. You snap a photo with your device, verify that it's a good likeness, and submit it to the app. When I did this on the Nexus 9 I used for testing, it repeatedly complained that my entire face was not in the picture. The real problem turned out to be my glasses; removing them solved the problem.

Personal Locker also uses voice recognition. To set up this feature, it requires you to speak a specific phrase three times. To avoid the possibility of a sneak thief using a recording to open your locker, at verification time you must also say another phrase, one that's different each time. Among the phrases I encountered in testing were "Don't count your chickens before they hatch" and "If you want something done right, do it yourself."

There is one security hole in the system. In case your face becomes horribly scarred, or your voice changes so it's not recognized, you need a backdoor into your locker. McAfee handles this by asking you for answers to three security questions. As with File Lock in Total Protection, the questions are fixed, with no option to create your own. A hacker could find most of the answers by googling you or peeking at your social media profile. If you take your security seriously, you'll think up wrong answers for these questions, wrong answers that you'll remember but that nobody else would guess. And please do it right the first time, because you can't change your answers later.

I also installed Personal Locker on an Apple iPhone and on a Windows 10 PC. On the Windows device, installing Personal Locker also installed McAfee Central, a Windows Store app that managed your locker also serves to track security status. On the iPhone, I got a warning saying that the app is not compatible with iOS 11. After finishing my testing, I manually updated the phone to iOS 11 and confirmed that it's just not compatible.

Given that iOS users almost universally upgrade to the latest version, that's a serious problem, or so I thought. My contact at McAfee explained that hardly anyone uses this feature, so iOS 11 compatibility is not as important as other work they're doing in the mobile area. I'm not entirely convinced.

Once you've activated Personal Locker on your various devices, you can start putting files and photos into it for safekeeping. You can snap a photo directly into the locker, so it never exists in unencrypted form. If you copy a file to the locker from a Windows device, you should use McAfee's Shredder to securely delete the original. There's no similar secure deletion component on other platforms.

For each secured file you can choose high or low security. If you choose low, then all that's needed to access the file is your PIN. At the high level, opening the file requires face and voice recognition.

From each device that has the app installed, you can view all your devices that have access to Personal Locker. If you lose or replace one of them, you can remove it, so there's no chance anybody else could get access to your stuff. On the flip side, you can share your locker with one or more friends.

Naturally, you must authenticate your identity before setting up sharing. You hand off one of your devices to the friend, who then goes through the same initial setup that you did. Once that's done, the friend can add one or more personal devices.

I haven't run across anything quite like Personal Locker. It has its limitations. You can't use it in the dark, or at a time when speaking aloud would be problematic. It only stores 1GB of data. And there's no support for macOS devices, or devices running iOS 11. But if you truly need super-secure cloud storage with biometric authentication, it's one of a kind.

Do You Need It?

In a household with multiple adults, the five True Key licenses that come with McAfee LiveSafe can be a great boon. You'd pay almost $100 for those if you bought them separately. Personal Locker is cool, in a spy-games sort of way, but few people really need it, and (according to McAfee) hardly anyone uses it. Also, if you truly did need biometrically authenticated cloud storage, would you be satisfied with just 1GB of storage space?

As noted, McAfee's entry-level suite adds little that you don't get with McAfee AntiVirus Plus, which is an Editors' Choice. The suite products install precisely the same protection as the antivirus does on all platforms except Windows. Personal Locker doesn't support macOS or the latest iOS. You just don't get a big benefit by upgrading from the antivirus to any of the three McAfee suite products. Given these factors, we've decided that LiveSafe doesn't merit the Editors' Choice designation we've given it in the past.

While it offers 10 licenses, not unlimited ones, Symantec Norton Security Premium is our Editors' Choice for cross-platform multi-device security suite. Its individual components outshine McAfee's overall, and it comes with 25GB of hosted online storage for your backups.

Sub-Ratings:

Note: These sub-ratings contribute to a product's overall star rating, as do other factors, including ease of use in real-world testing, bonus features, and overall integration of features.

Firewall:

Antivirus:

Performance:

Privacy:

Parental Control:

McAfee LiveSafe 4.0 (Opens in a new window) Check Price (Opens in a new window) Pros Security suite or antivirus protection for all devices in your household.

Offers 1GB of encrypted cloud storage with biometric authentication. Cons Use of security questions renders encrypted storage vulnerable.

Personal Locker not compatible with macOS or with iOS 11.

Parental control weak and awkward. The Bottom Line If you need encrypted cloud storage and multiple password manager profiles, McAfee LiveSafe can help. If not, stick with McAfee's entry-level suite or standalone antivirus.
Prompted by the Dec. 2, 2015, terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Rep. Pete Aguilar on Tuesday proposed legislation requiring federal agencies investigating acts of terrorism on American soil to submit unclassified reports about the incidents to Congress.

If passed, the act would mandate that the submitted reports include factual summaries of terrorist attacks prepared by the secretary of Homeland Security, the FBI director, the Attorney General, and, when appropriate, the head of the National Counterterrorism Center.

Additionally, the reports would include proposed changes in law and policy to help prevent future terrorist attacks.

The act, HR 625, is known as REPORT  Reporting Efficiently to Proper Officials in Response to Terrorism.

Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, co-sponsored Aguilars bill.

As it stands, there is no legal requirement for the Department of Homeland Security to complete a report after an act of domestic terrorism.

In a telephone interview Tuesday, Aguilar, D-Redlands, said he realized the need for such a law after talking to victims of the Dec. 2 attack in San Bernardino, members of their families and law enforcement officials.

As we met with law enforcement officials and victims, we noticed there was not a mandate that Homeland Security produce a report, so that became our focus and what we decided to make this legislation about, Aguilar said.

If the bill successfully makes its way through the House of Representatives and the Senate, it will then go to President Donald Trump for consideration.

Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Los Angeles, declined to comment Tuesday, saying it is against office policy to comment on pending legislation.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller also declined to comment.

About 11 a.m. Dec. 2, 2015, San Bernardino County health inspector Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, pulled into the parking lot of the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, exited their SUV and, armed with assault rifles and clad in black tactical gear, began randomly shooting at people outside the building, killing several people. They proceeded inside to a conference room, where they opened fire into a crowd of about 70 county employees attending an all-day training conference and holiday luncheon.

Fourteen people, including 13 county employees, were killed and 22 others were wounded in the attack, which the FBI declared an act of terrorism.

Farook and Malik were killed in a shootout with police hours after the attack near San Bernardino Avenue and Richardson Street.

One of the best ways to prepare for future events is to look at the past, Rep. Calvert said in a statement. By thoroughly examining what happened and why, we can better prepare and train agencies that may find themselves in similar scenarios in the future.

Aguilar worked with Calvert last year to help return $1 million in federal funds to help offset the cost to local law enforcement agencies in their response to the terrorist attack in the Inland Regional Center.

Last week, Aguilar met with survivors of the San Bernardino attack and victims relatives to hear about their continuing struggles with the county to get medical treatment, and how they would like to see $4 million in federal funds Aguilar helped secure on their behalf used.

Shooting victim Julie Swann-Paez said in a telephone interview Tuesday she was unaware of Aguilars proposed legislation, which wasnt broached at his meeting last week with the victims. But after hearing the specifics of Aguilars bill, she said she was all for it.

I would be completely in support of legislation that reads that way, said Swann-Paez, a county health inspector who was shot in the pelvis and rectum.

Any information that is gained and released so people have a better understanding is good information, she said, adding that she is appreciative of Aguilars commitment to helping her and other victims and their families get the help they need from the county.

It seems hes made some headway with them that we have not been able to make, Swann-Paez said.

Contact the writer: jnelson@scng.comTwitter: @SBCountyNow
Its not often you catch Tucker Carlson without a well-formed opinion at the ready, but the host of Tucker Carlson Tonight freely admits that he doesnt know what the arrival of President Donald Trump will mean for shows like his and others at Fox News Channel, which for eight years often had the Obama administration as a target for criticism.

Were two days into this. This is our first work day actually with Trump as president, so we can only guess, Carlson says on Monday, three days after Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. And guessing has been a pretty inaccurate way of predicting the future.

Its a lot more complicated and a much greater challenge to anticipate what Trump is going to do because hes not an ideologue and hes not a doctrinaire conservative, Carlson says. Hes not really a Republican  hes a third-party candidate who took over the party.

Carlson, who says hes instinctively conservative on issues that have to do with families but less so at times on topics such as the economy and foreign relations, says that though hes more Republican than Democrat in his views, he doesnt owe the new Republican Congress and White House anything.

The only guidepost is what you think is true, Carlson says. Ill tell you what Im not going to do is spend a lot of time getting distracted by the frivolity. Im not going to be doing two segments a night on tweeting.

Im interested in the truth as you see it, he says. My mind changes on questions all the time but youve got to try to be honest. I would say my gut instinct, for whatever its worth, is I dont like to be lied to, so if I think Ive been lied to Im going to challenge you on it.

Carlson, who before Fox News had worked at MSNBC and CNN, moved into one of the networks highest-profile spots earlier this month when he was tapped to replace former Fox star Megyn Kelly in the 9 p.m. Monday-through-Friday slot when Kelly jumped to NBC. He moved there from his former spot at 7 p.m. weeknights and had previously served as a weekend host of Fox & Friends and a contributor and substitute host for a variety of shows since 2009.

Only a few weeks into the new role, he says he hasnt really stopped to think about what it means to be a headliner in the Fox lineup now, focusing instead on the details of how to put together the show every day.

The one thing that is different  if youre at 9 p.m. I think you have to be a little more on the news, Carlson says. Whereas other shows Ive done, you didnt feel like you had to do the big story of the day necessarily if you didnt have anything new to add to it.

Carlson called right around the time Trumps press secretary, Sean Spicer, was wrapping up his first briefing, part of which involved smoothing over the controversy that he and his boss had stirred up Saturday with false claims about the size of the crowd at the inauguration Friday.

I think when you scold people for lying you better have your facts straight  they didnt! he says of Spicers statements Saturday. Thats Life 101. I guess Sean in effect apologized for that, which he should. Its pretty obvious.

His colleague Chris Wallace on Sunday had taken to task Reince Priebus, Trumps chief of staff, for similar statements made by the president, which were provably false. Carlson says he thinks of lot of Trumps missteps and misstatements are due to his background and lack of experience in the careful ways of politics.

Trump is a salesman, Carlson says. He talks like one. He does not speak with precision. He overstates his case habitually. We know this; its obvious. I think thats worth pointing out.

I dont feel an obligation to ignore that. Why would I? But I also think that if theres something bigger going on we should point that out too.

As an example, Carlson pointed to the claims Trump has made about building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and making Mexico pay for it.

I dont think thats going to happen and Id ask him about that, he says. But I also think we need to talk about immigration.

Im just one small cog in the giant machine of American journalism. I feel that my job is to ask questions like that. Im not a beat reporter, Im not covering the White House. Ive done all that.

I like what I get to do right now.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7787 or plarsen@ocregister.com
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a contract to study the countys response to the Dec. 2 terrorist attack, although the study wont include the ongoing controversy over victims workers compensation claims.

That issue is being studied by a separate county task force that will likely report before the after-action report is finished, said county Chief Operating Officer Dena Smith.

This document is an organization response, Smith said. Things like closure and when we reopened, security concerns, how we communicated with employees. Workers comp has emerged as a very, very difficult issue and one the county is taking steps to investigate. We will take a look at this and see whether it makes sense to put those together.

The board voted 5-0 in favor of the one-year contract with Monrovia-based Critical Preparedness and Response Solutions, which goes by the name CPARS Consulting, Inc., for $168,690.

But that vote came with the understanding that the workers compensation information could be added to the report, said Supervisor James Ramos.

If were going to look at the response that the county has provided to the victims of that incident, Im not sure how we could get away from workers comp, and really look at how to improve workers comp for the whole organization, Ramos said.

Last fall, survivors began reporting denials or delays for surgeries, physical therapy, counseling, equipment and prescriptions. They said they tried for nearly a year to get help from the self-insured county during private meetings in which they explained problems with a workers comp system not designed for terrorist attacks.

County officials decided shortly after the Dec. 2, 2015, terrorist attack that they wanted a report on their response.

The finished document will be a blueprint of lessons learned from a major event like a terrorist attack, something that would have helped San Bernardino County in its own response, Smith said.

(Shortly after the attack) we reached out to other agencies that had been through similar events and found some insight, but it was fleeting, she said. And we realized it might be helpful to create a document that would help if someone else suffered an event like we did in 2015.

Fourteen people, 13 of them county environmental health services employees, were killed and 22 were wounded in the attack carried out by county health inspector Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, both of whom the FBI said were radicalized Muslims who committed a terror attack. The couple were killed in a shootout with police in San Bernardino hours after the attack.

Sally Cardinale, a survivor of the terrorist attack, was one of several members of the public who spoke in opposition to the report and the absence of a focus on victims.

I am appalled, Cardinale said.  Theres no reason after everything that weve been saying (pleading for help with treatment) since November that you would not include that in this. Why would you not want to know how you could better serve your employees going forward? Youre playing with the mental health issues of your employees.

The board also voted Tuesday to hire a wellness coordinator to help with operational and administrative work stemming from the Dec. 2 attack.

The coordinator, Jessica Edney, is scheduled to start Feb. 4 and work until February 2019.

Contact the writer: rhagen@scng.comTwitter: @rmhagen
Gov. Jerry Browns emergency declaration in 50 counties in the wake of December and January storms clears the way for Caltrans to seek federal reimbursement for highway repairs statewide, officials said Tuesday.

The edict, however, wont have an effect on local homeowners and businesses. It is designed exclusively to clear the way to fund repairs for state highways damaged by the record-breaking rains.

Officials urged people lacking insurance whose property was hit hard by the storms to report the damage to their local community, which would pass along aid requests to state or federal officials.

The preliminary damage total of $159 million to state highways includes eight projects with a combined cost of $3.9 million in Los Angeles County and three projects costing $575,000 in Orange County, said Mark Dinger, a spokesman for Caltrans in Sacramento.

RELATED: Storms leave Riverside County with lots of cleanup, but no disaster

Dinger said no repairs have been requested from the Caltrans district that covers Riverside and San Bernardino counties. But that is expected to change, he said, and the $159 million total is expected to grow.

The damage is still being discussed and discovered, he said.

Indeed, district spokeswoman Terri Kasinga said Inland highways sustained significant damage, too.

For example, the earth gave way along the southbound 71 connector to the eastbound 91, and that alone could generate $750,000 in repairs, Kasinga said. She said the damage is not an immediate threat to the integrity of the road, but it must be fixed.

Theres also a need to replace steel mesh netting on a slope on Route 18 between the Crestline cutoff and Lake Gregory Drive, where boulders fell onto the road, Kasinga said. Those repairs could run $500,000, she said.

In Los Angeles County, a slope stabilization project on the 23 in Malibu is projected to cost $863,000, said Yessica Jovel, a spokeswoman for Caltrans in Los Angeles.

Jovel said Caltrans anticipates spending $291,000 to replace damaged concrete panels in the pavement of I-10 in Pomona.

Monica Vargas, a spokeswoman for the California Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento, said the highway-driven declaration opens the way for Caltrans to request emergency relief money from the Federal Highway Administration.

The state is trying to do what it can to help communities recover from these storms, which were very strong, Vargas said.

Dinger said Caltrans will fund projects up front, then apply for reimbursement.

Donna Boston, Orange County director of emergency management, said the county had a conference call with officials from cities, special districts, water districts and schools to urge them to report damage by Friday.

There is a time clock thats ticking, Boston said, adding that within 10 days of an event a county must declare a local emergency.

Ken Kondo, emergency program manager for the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management, urged residents and business owners to speak up quickly, too, if they sustained damage and lack insurance.

Kondo said individuals should report damage to their city or town, which then would pass information along to the county. The county would pass along requests for aid to state or federal officials.

Were trying to gather all that information, Kondo said. But its very important for the residents and businesses to report their damages to their local jurisdictions.

Brooke Federico, spokeswoman for the Riverside County Emergency Management Department, said her county does not anticipate seeking state reimbursement, as it escaped relatively unscathed.

However, Riverside County officials found it puzzling that the governors declaration mentioned Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties  but not Riverside. Were not sure why Riverside County wasnt listed out individually because there was damage (to highways), Federico said.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9699 or ddowney@scng.comTwitter: PE_DavidDowney
It may be an easier route for the bicyclists, but hosting overnight stops for Iowas greatest bicycle ride this year will be anything but for three North Iowa communities.

Hundreds of hours of planning and hundreds of volunteers will be needed for overnight stops by the Registers Annual Bicycle Ride Across Iowa in Algona on July 24, Clear Lake on July 25 and Charles City on July 26.

Fortunately, all three cities have been host to RAGBRAI overnight stays in the past  the same three cities were chosen in 2010 -- so officials know what theyre in for. And they know that the rewards can be great  from hefty sales receipts during the event to the potential for future visits by RAGBRAI participants wanting to explore our area in greater depth.

Clear Lakes 2010 event was judged a great success because of planning that started early and included an army of volunteers  something that community prides itself on. Chamber of Commerce officials are fielding numerous calls from prospective volunteers ready to do it all again.

"We already have had people calling like crazy to see how they could volunteer," said Libbey Patton, tourism director for the Chamber of Commerce. Which means to us that they had great fun.

The steering committee is being formed now. Recruitment for volunteers will begin with gusto in March.

"We will need literally hundreds of volunteers," said Clear Lake Area Chamber Executive Director Tim Coffey. "And last time, we had upwards of a thousand."

Charles City will be hosting its fifth overnight event, and key volunteers are currently being selected to lead planning efforts.

"Chamber and city staff will meet in the next couple days to pick up the ball on this and keep running, and hopefully get some names and ideas," said City Manager Steve Diers. "It'll go fast and it'll be rewarding, but it's a lot of work."

Of course, extra costs are associated with the ride in the form of police and city worker overtime, especially. But RAGBRAI distributes some funds in the form of ride proceeds to host cities. Then there is the huge economic shot in the arm experienced by merchants. Its all hands on deck for restaurants and bars, for example, when RAGBRAI rolls through. Linsey James, executive director of Visit Mason City, said the 2014 ride had an economic impact of $3 million.

"Obviously, it's a great way to showcase the community," Coffey said. "And what better way than with bicyclists, or visitors, from 30, 40-plus states and maybe a dozen foreign countries?"

So now the hard work starts. Every detail must be covered; every volunteer slot needs a name associated with it. Experience tells us that volunteers love doing what they do because RAGBRAI riders appreciate their efforts so much, and because communities are big winners.

So kudos to the communities selected for the overnight stops and to those eager to volunteer. North Iowa has a lot to offer, from great restaurants to beautiful parks to historic buildings  and big smiles and hearty handshakes will make visitors experiences even more special.
A portion of Metrolinks Riverside Line was shut down Tuesday, Jan. 24, for crews to repair weather-related damage, a spokesman said.

The damage was between the Jurupa Valley/Pedley station and the Riverside-Downtown station, according to Metrolink spokesman Scott Johnson.

He said that passengers on a train headed from Los Angeles to Riverside had to be bused from the Jurupa Valley/Pedley Station to the Riverside-Downtown station.

Passengers headed from Riverside to Los Angeles had to be bused from the downtown station to the Jurupa Valley/Pedley station.

Johnson said Metrolink learned of the damage from Union Pacific Railroad Company, which operates the tracks, around 2 p.m.

There was a washout somewhere along that corridor that obstructed the tracks, he said.

Johnson said things were expected to be open by the time the next train, expected to reach the area around 5:20 p.m., made its way through.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9693, agroves@scng.com or @AlexDGroves on Twitter.
Chuck Gross, 77, says hes on the street because he cant afford a home.

Gross, who gets around on a power scooter due to bad knees and back problems, said hes been living on the streets of Riverside for 15 years. For the past five, hes been spending his nights on the front steps of the public defenders office downtown.

On Tuesday morning, Gross spoke briefly with representatives and volunteers from the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services, not far from City Hall. He was one of thousands of homeless people being surveyed during the annual point-in-time count.

The count, the first of which took place in 2005, determines the amount of funding counties receive from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Last year, the county tallied 2,165 people. The results from this years survey are expected in early spring.

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Mike Whitham, a homeless services specialist for county, said he thinks this years number might be higher.

There are a lot of new faces, Whitham said.

He knows most of them. He walks the city streets nearly every day, letting the people on the street know that services and help are available to them. Hes been with the county nearly four years, but was working with the homeless population through a private nonprofit group and a ministry for six years before that.

I thought when I started this job that I would come in every morning and don a cape, flying around the city and housing everybody, he said.

But he found out what a challenge addressing the individual problems of homeless people and getting them a permanent place to live, can be.

Youre lucky if you can do that twice a year, he said.

Whitham led a group of five volunteers Tuesday morning as they walked along the Main Street pedestrian mall and some adjoining streets, stopping to speak to homeless residents who agreed to talk with them. They surveyed them about such things as how long they had been on the streets, whether they had drug problems and if they had been the victims of domestic abuse.

They spoke with Robert Charles Gibbons, 29, standing in front of the Pacific Stiks restaurant.

Gibbons, muttered about the Chinese prime minister, the United Nations and having slow body syndrome, in between telling the volunteers that hed been on the street for six years, five of those in Riverside. At one point, while talking about his background, Gibbons began singing in faux Chinese and dancing.

Whitham said Gibbons was more cordial than usual.

This guy curses me out every time he sees me, Whitham said. He just shook my hand. Thats the first time in three years.

If there is one thing Whitham has learned in dealing with the street population, its patience.

You have to treat them with respect and kindness, he said.

A Navy veteran, Whitham said the county has effectively reached its goal of getting homeless veterans off the street  part of a national campaign that began several years ago. The homeless veteran population, he said, is at functional zero.

Pretty much the ones that wanted off the street are off the street, he said.

A moment later, he spots a man crossing Mission Inn Avenue.

This guy on the corner? he said, pointing to the man walking away, Hes a vet and hes housed now.

Sitting in front of the Unitarian Universalist Church, Kevin DeMarco, 53, said he lost his job as a plumber and then his home when the Great Recession began. He has been homeless for seven years. He prefers being on the street to staying in the local shelters.

They need a different system, he said. People take your stuff when you go in there. The homeless steal from the homeless. I mean, what the heck?

Like his fellow street dwellers, he has taken the recent bad weather in stride.

I have my umbrella, he said, pointing to one lying in the grass next to him. Ive got my blankets. Its a little bit rough, but I know how to survive.

DeMarco said he hopes to have a home again some day.

Vadim Dementyev, 43, of Redlands, was one of the volunteers with Whithams group. Hes a pastor at La Sierra University and Riverside Community churches and is on Riverside Mayor Rusty Baileys task force for eliminating homelessness. Dementyev said hes hoping to make it easier for people such as DeMarco to get off the street.

A big part of tackling the problem, he said, is getting people in the community to look at the issue differently and to get involved.

We need to get to them, rather than have them come to us, he said.

He wants to create a countywide database of the homeless population and tap into a local resource that hasnt been fully utilized. College students who are studying social services or other disciplines that lend themselves to social work, could be engaged in helping homeless people get the services they need.

The city will be beautiful if we are beautiful inside, Dementyev said. And the way to do that is to care for others.

As he readied himself to roll away in his power chair, Gross said he is hoping the city effort will come to fruition.

The city is talking about building some more shelters or apartments, Gross said. Its up to the City Council. If they build it, Ill be there.

Contact the writer: mmuckenfuss@scng.com or 951-368-9595
Three suspects were arrested in connection with a Christmas Day incident where a 24-year-old man was found shot and killed inside a Palm Desert home, according to officials.

Alejandro Zendejas, 23, of Indio; Roger Rodriguez, 20, of La Quinta; and Anthony Garcia, 20, of Indio have all been arrested as suspects in the incident, according to a Riverside County sheriffs news release put out Tuesday.

Zendejas was the most recently arrested of the three. He was arrested Tuesday, Jan. 24, on suspicion of murder and booked into the Indio Larson Justice Center, according to online jail records. The records show that his bail was set at $1 million.

Rodriguez was arrested Dec. 28 and Garcia was arrested Jan. 4 on suspicion of such crimes as first degree residential burglary and assault with a deadly weapon. Neither was arrested on suspicion of murder, as Zendejas had been, according to the records.

Both Rodriguez and Garcia remained in custody at Indio Larson Justice Center with bail set at $500,000 each, the records show.

Around 4 p.m. on Dec. 25, 2016, deputies went to the 43400 block of Illinois Avenue in Palm Desert after receiving a report that shots had been fired.

When they arrived they found a person, later identified as Skyler Siva, 24, of Palm Desert, suffering a gunshot wound.

Siva was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injury.

The Riverside County Sheriffs Department is asking anyone with information about the incident to call detectives at the Palm Desert Station at 760-836-1600 or the Sheriffs Central Homicide Unit at 951-955-2777.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9693, agroves@scng.com or @AlexDGroves on Twitter.
A man was arrested Saturday, Jan. 21, in Phoenix, Arizona in connection with a double-shooting Oct. 14 in San Jacinto that left one dead.

Irineo Robles-Gomez, 32, has been charged with murder and attempted murder in the death of Pascual Bueno and the wounding of Josue Bueno, court records show. Robles-Gomez, the Buenos cousin, is scheduled to be arraigned 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Robles-Gomez and Pascual and Josue Bueno all lived at a four-unit apartment complex at 425 N. Ramona Boulevard in different units, according to an arrest warrant for Robles-Gomez.

Witnesses told Riverside County Sheriffs Department investigators that the men were hanging out in the complex when the shooting occurred around 6:40 p.m. When deputies arrived at the scene, they found the Bueno brothers with multiple gunshot wounds. Robles-Gomez had fled the scene.

The Buenos were taken to a hospital where Pascual died the next day.

Detectives spoke to Josue at the hospital, who told them the shooter was his cousin and that Robles-Gomez was undocumented. Deputies shared his photograph and information with the U.S. Border Patrol in hopes of identifying him. They also tracked his cellphone.

Court records show that a warrant for Robles-Gomezs arrest was filed Dec. 12. Its unclear what led to his arrest in Arizona.
Alternative facts from letter writers

First, on behalf of the P-Es readership, and all Americans, let me say how thankful we all are for H.G. Chaffins safe return from his eight-year sojourn through our solar system [Give Trump a chance, Letters, Jan. 20]. While traveling through space, Chaffin must have been unable to receive the well-documented fact about the GOPs plotting, in a D.C. steakhouse on the night of Obamas first inauguration, to obstruct him in every way possible.

Or, maybe Chaffin was only able to receive messages from the Fox News Channel, not unlike Daniel Jeffs [President Obamas last days of chaos, Letters, Jan. 15] and Lawrence Rookhuyzen [History will be unkind to Obama, Letters, Jan. 15]. Both these gentlemen, in willingly treating falsehoods as truths, were well ahead of the Trump administrations intention to offer alternative facts at its press conferences and in statements. Im sure this sits well with Jeffs and Rookhuyzen, who will no longer have to bother with annoying, inconvenient truths and actual facts concerning the present administration. Life is much simpler this way!

 Joseph A. Hamlin, Riverside

Manning put lives in danger

The article, Obama defends Manning clemency [News, Jan. 19], has touched a nerve in this country. President Obama has said Manning had served a tough prison sentence. Well, Manning created this situation when he gave over 700,000 secret and confidential pieces of information to WikiLeaks, which then posted them. Guess what? Al-Qaeda and the Taliban read those posts and deduced who the posts where talking about. Some posts even gave names and locations of the individuals who helped us fight the war there. Our intelligence agencies have stated that, because of these leaks, many of our informants cannot be found, meaning they are dead now. Now, as the military heads back to these areas, do you really think any villager is going to provide information to them, knowing that that information could be released and jeopardize their lives, or those of their family members? I wouldnt! I wonder if Afghanistan or Iraq might now file charges against Manning because of the release of the information, which aided the enemy and caused the death of their citizens. An interesting thought, but it will probably never happen. Thats just my opinion, mind you.

 Edward J. Gersich, Murrieta
After a dreary few days, the sun has come out and Southern Californians should expect to see a lot more of it as the week goes on. Mother Natures moodiness is dissipating and has left Southern California a few inches closer to escaping the drought.

Though blue skies have made their return, temperatures are still below normal. Highs Tuesday will range from 49 to 54 in the Inland valleys, and a frost advisory will be in effect overnight Tuesday into Wednesday. Lows should be 28 to 35 degrees.

The series of storms that started last Thursday was expected to leave Inland valleys with 3-5 inches of rain and mountains with up to 3 feet of snow. So, did the storms live up to the hype? In short, yes.

The National Weather Service has released rainfall totals for southwest California from the past six days and San Bernardino and Riverside county valleys did get the 3-5 inches of rain forecasters had expected.

Norco and Temecula recorded 5.83 inches of rain between Thursday and early Tuesday, while Rialto Municipal Airport recorded 5.55 inches. Murrieta got 4.88 inches, Beaumont recorded 4.29 inches, Ontario International Airport got 4.71 and Cabazon saw 4.84 inches from the recent spate of storms. Riverside Municipal Airport recorded just over 3 inches, Perris got 3.39 inches and Woodcrest got 2.28 inches, according to the Weather Service.

RELATED: The end of Californias drought is much closer after recent rain

Forecasters expected rain to amount to 5-10 inches in the foothills and mountains below the snowline, and the three storm systems delivered.

Cal State San Bernardino and Chino Hills both recorded just over 7 inches of rain over six days, and Lytle Creek Canyon got 6.81 inches. In the San Jacinto Mountains, Poppet Flats recorded 6.19 inches of rain, according to the Weather Service.

Folks who travel to the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway will find themselves in 4.5-5 feet of snow, according to Tramway spokesman Greg Purdy.

Bear Mountain recorded 16-20 inches of snow between Monday and Tuesday, according to the resorts Twitter account. The resort near Big Bear Lake says it has received a record 108 inches this month.

Snow Valley Mountain Resort in Running Springs received 18-20 inches of snow since Sunday morning, according to a news release from the resort.

Those resorts are open again Tuesday after storm conditions forced them to close Monday.

As for the rest of the week, Tuesday may still be slightly rainy and chilly. The Weather Service gives a 20 percent chance of measurable precipitation through evening before the storms clear out for good.

The frost advisory will take effect at 9 p.m. and then expire at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Highs Wednesday should be in the upper 50s for the Inland valleys, but another cold night is on tap, with lows ranging from 31 to 37 degrees.

Beyond that, the weather should be increasingly seasonable. Temperatures will gradually rise into the 70s and by Monday  as far as the forecast extends  Southern Californians can welcome that sunny and 75 weather were used to.



RELATED

Cleanup begins as end of storm is finally in sight

Murrieta firefighters rescue family trapped in rising floodwater
Youd like to think that several armed police officers and a police dog, engaged in a standoff with a middle-aged, legally blind, mentally ill man  clearly agitated and perhaps holding a rock and/or a knife, perhaps not  could end the incident without shooting him dead.

But, unfortunately, that was not the case in a 2015 incident in Fontana.

The shooting death by Fontana police resurfaced last week when lawyers for the family of James Hall, 47, released surveillance video of the confrontation.

The video shows several officers, all with drawn guns or Tasers except for one handling a police dog, who corner the man, later identified as Hall, in the back of a gas station mini-mart.

Police received a 911 call from the clerk reporting a possible robbery in progress, and said Hall was armed with a knife and a rock when they arrived. A police news release said the suspect advanced on officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred.

Hall has something in his hand at one point in the video footage, maybe a rock; its unclear whether he has a knife. Hall is seen shuffling back and fourth between a coffee counter and a self-serve soda fountain before an officer shoots him, but it is not apparent that he advanced or lunged toward the officers.

One would hope such an incident could be ended by Taser or by police dog, not a bullet.

The familys civil rights and wrongful-death lawsuit filed in San Bernardino Superior Court alleges police knew Hall suffered from schizoaffective disorder; and that his disabilities and peaceful nature were well known in the community.

The Fontana Police Department, citing review by the San Bernardino County District Attorneys Office, said after the videos release that it could release no further details. The statement called it a tragic and unfortunate event for everyone involved, and expressed confidence in the investigative process.

When the mentally ill encounter police, it far too often ends badly. A review by Los Angeles Police Department officials found that more than a third of the people shot by L.A. police in 2015 were perceived to have mental illness.

More and ongoing training for officers in dealing with the mentally ill is needed.
Fighting Donald Trump and the Republican agenda was the theme of Gov. Jerry Browns State of the State Address on Tuesday, Jan. 24.

Heres what members of the Inland delegation to Sacramento had to say about the speech.

Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside: I want to thank Governor Brown for his strong stewardship of our great state, Cervantes said in a written statement.

We as legislators must work together, regardless of party affiliation, to do everything we can to improve the lives of all Californians. As Californians, we must be courageous and persevere in defending our Democracy, as our brave servicemen and women have done since our Nations founding. I agree with the Governor that when California does well, America does well.

Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino: Just days into a new federal Administration, I greatly appreciated hearing Governor Browns sensible vision and plan for the state of California in response to constantly evolving rhetoric and realities nationally, Leyva said in a news release. In this changing environment, I am confident that the Governor, the Senate and the Assembly will continue to set California on a path to lead the nation.

As Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Vice Chair of the California Legislative Womens Caucus, I applaud Governor Browns continued commitment to keeping our communities safe and healthy. No matter what happens in the months and years ahead, we will remain strong together. I agree with the Governor that we must continue fighting to protect healthcare, building our states roads and highways and defending the basic human rights of all Californians.

Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside: In a news release, Medina lauded the governors commitment to upholding Californias values and defending its people in the face of uncertainty. I also support his efforts to build a solid rainy day fund and provide moderate funding increases to all segments of Californias Higher Education system despite a projected budget deficit.

However, I remain concerned about the cost of a college education, Medina said. Our states prosperity depends on well-paying jobs and a thriving economy. Both are propelled by the education and innovation that come from Californias higher education systems.

Unfortunately, recent reports from the U.S. Department of Education revealed that more students than previously thought have defaulted on or failed to pay back their college loans. This means that too many young people are starting out with insurmountable debt and suboptimal credit, which have long-term consequences.

Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore: Today, for the first time, the Governor called for true bipartisanship, Melendez said in a news release.

He was right in saying, Democrats are in the majority, but Republicans represent real Californians too; and by the way, those Californians want to be heard. For too long, decades in fact, Democrat leadership has ignored Republicans all across California.

The Governors newfound zeal for bipartisanship is a welcome surprise, Melendez said. But his silence on a score of other issues was deafening. Talking about environmental and immigration issues feed the hungry liberals appetite, but what about Californias small business owners and working families living paycheck to paycheck? There was no mention of a plan to lift millions of people out of poverty or how to combat the rise in crime. These are problems that cannot be ignored.

Assemblyman Marc Steinorth, R-Rancho Cucamonga: Governor Browns State of the State Address offered some positive thoughts and goals for the State of California, Steinorth said in a news release.

The Inland Empire benefits when effectiveness is the goal of the California Legislature, not playing politics. What we need is bipartisan solutions to statewide problems like increasing the amount of market-rate housing and improving and upgrading our deteriorating infrastructure.

I am encouraged by the Governors words regarding increasing above ground water storage. More water storage means a more predictable water supply during unpredictable droughts. Overall, we have a tremendous amount of work ahead of us and I look forward to giving the Inland Empire a strong voice in the State Legislature.

State Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Temecula: Stone used Facebook to take issue with Browns promise to protect undocumented immigrants living in California.

As a senator, I believe we must prioritize citizens that are legally here first, and encourage those undocumented people wanting to stay here to stand in line and apply for citizenship like everyone else is supposed to do in accordance with the laws of our Country, he wrote.

We welcome and embrace immigrants seeking a better life in this Country, but I support our new Presidents call for securing the border and deporting undocumented immigrants that are felons. We should also stop federal funding to Cities and Counties and States that defy U.S. Law(s) including the State of California!

Stone also criticized Browns pledge to continue the fight against climate change and defend Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood does not share our (Judeo)-Christian values that believes in the (sanctity) of life, he wrote. What about personal responsibility for using conception to prevent unwanted pregnancies? What about the thousands of citizens forced to go abroad to adopt children?

Later, Stone wrote: The bottom line: the Governor showed a lot of determination to: continue fighting climate change at any costs including sending jobs elsewhere; giving undocumented immigrants all the same benefits as lawful citizens . period. placing our State at odds with the Trump Administration (and) fighting the Trump Administration by refusing to reduce or eliminate any funding in the State for healthcare for undocumented residents, Stone wrote.

But, President Trump holds all the cards in this poker hand and his royal flush looks pretty good at this time.

Stone added that the governor is proud to accept federal money for infrastructure while the State continues to (pilfer) state taxes intended for infrastructure that now goes to fund social programs.

After coming home from the inauguration, I feel more empowered and optimistic about the direction of this Country and the tough choices democrats (sic) will have to make in the next 4 to 8 years, Stone wrote. This will give republicans (sic) in the State Capitol some chips in the gamesmanship as the democrats (sic) cannot (continue) to run the ship on our collision course with insolvency any more.
The first plank in President Donald Trumps border wall is made of paper in the form of an executive order he signed today.

Trump signed the action entitled Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements, allowing the use of federal funds to begin construction on the wall and add 5,000 border patrol agents.

Were in the middle of a crisis on our Southern border, Trump said Wednesday. A nation without borders is not a nation.

Trump said the wall will save thousands of lives, millions of jobs and billions of dollars. He said he has a deep admiration for the Mexican people, and the wall will help Mexico as well.

I think our relationship with Mexico is going to get better, Trump said.

Trump also signed a second executive order blocking federal funding for so-called sanctuary cities, defined as jurisdictions that decline to cooperate fully with federal immigration enforcement agencies.

Several California cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and Santa Ana, have sanctuary policies in place, and the state has placed restrictions that make it difficult for county jails to turn over illegal immigrants to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials. Regionally, federal money is used for homeless shelters, health care and victims assistance for those injured in the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino.

The president signed the two orders Wednesday during a ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security after honoring the departments newly confirmed secretary, retired Gen. John Kelly.

The executive orders jumpstart construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall, one of his signature campaign promises, and strip funding for so-called sanctuary cities, which dont arrest or detain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

Its a common sense first step, said the presidents spokesman Sean Spicer.

The signings come as Trump prepared to meet with Mexicos foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, who is in Washington D.C. to plan for the arrival of Mexican President Enrique Pena Neito. The Mexican president is expected to meet with Trump within a week.

The controversial wall proposal was one of the foundations of Trumps presidential campaign. He said in numerous campaign appearances that the wall would be more than just a fence and that it would have a beautiful door. The cost, design and precise location of the 2,000-mile wall is still undetermined. Trump said the wall will help stop people and drugs from crossing the southern border of the United States.

The order did not mention Trumps campaign promise that Mexico would pay for the wall.

Questions remain about Trumps ability to block funding for sanctuary cities. Legal experts say that it is unlikely he will be able to block all federal cash, although he may be able to block jurisdictions from receiving certain Department of Justice grants, an option that the agency is already in the process of exploring.

There was great confusion on Capitol Hill Wednesday about precisely what the presidents actions will mean to California. Is the entire state considered a sanctuary in Trumps view? Or just self-proclaimed sanctuary cities like Los Angeles, Santa Ana and San Francisco?

And just how many billions of dollars are at stake? Los Angeles gets about a half-billion dollars a year from the federal government; Santa Ana gets about $123 million.

I dont think there is any clarity yet. To be honest, I am not sure if the Trump administration has fully flushed out what the effects of this could be, said Alex Nguyen, spokesman for Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Whittier.

Several Republican lawmakers applauded the move.

President Trump is making good on the promises he made to the American people to secure our borders, deport criminal illegal immigrants, and put the security and sovereignty of our country first, said Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, in a statement. I commend his actions and fully support him. If California cities and counties want to harbor criminal illegal immigrants, they are soon going to realize that their negligence towards public safety is now going to come with a very high price tag.

Democrats like Sanchez, however, were aghast.

America is and always will be a nation of immigrants and refugees, she said in a statement. The story of our country is of people from all over the world who came here in search of a better life. The anti-immigrant executive orders signed today by President Trump run counter to the best values and traditions of our country. The United States is the shining light of freedom, liberty, and prosperity to the world. We welcome all who are willing to work hard to achieve their American dream. A wall is the exact opposite of what America stands for.

It also remains to be seen how far Trump will go with his immigration actions, including how he will handle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which has provided deportation relief to hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought into the country as children.

During the campaign, Trump said that he would end the program, as part of a broader plan to rescind Obamas executive actions on immigration. But he has since waffled on the issue, and administration officials suggested that this weeks planned actions on immigration will not include any measures dealing with DACA.

Teri Sforza contributed to this story

RELATED

Amid Trumps funding threats to sanctuary cities, police, county sheriffs perform balancing act

Illegal immigration foes are fist pumping over Trumps executive orders

California at odds with President Trump over sanctuary cities as he vows to cut funds

School officials fear retribution after Trumps sanctuary city order
Police suspect that a 17-year-old Perris girl who was involved in a crash that killed a 26-year-old Wildomar woman was driving in excess of the speed limit in rainy conditions, and may have been under the influence of alcohol and drugs, according to officials.

The teen, who was released from the hospital about 3 p.m. Tuesday, was subsequently booked on suspicion of vehicular homicide at Riverside County Juvenile Hall, according to a Murrieta police news release.

The crash, which killed Leah Reay, was witnessed by a Murrieta police officer, according to the release.

Officials say the officer was on a routine patrol on Sunday, Jan. 22, driving westbound on Murrieta Hot Springs road east of Whitewood Road when he saw a Silver Chrysler 300 drive past at a high rate of speed.

The car was driving more than 60 mph. The posted speed limit was 45, wrote Lt. Tony Conrad in an email.

Conrad noted that there was heavy rainfall in the area which may have required the Chryslers driver to drive even slower than the posted limit.

The officer attempted to catch up to the car to do a traffic stop when he saw the vehicle run a red light at Jackson Avenue, continuing westbound, according to officials.

Officials say thats when the officer turned on his overhead lights, but was too far back to get the attention of the Chryslers driver.

The Chrysler ran another red light at Murrieta Hot Springs intersection with Alta Murrieta Road.

Reay was making a left turn from eastbound Murrieta Hot Springs Road to northbound Alta Murrieta Road in her Toyota MR5 when she was struck by the Chrysler and killed on impact, according to officials.

The 17-year-old girl was taken to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar to have a broken wrist and internal injuries treated.

The Murrieta Police Department is asking anyone who might have been in the area and seen the Chrysler around the time of the crash to contact Traffic Investigator Jennifer Metoyer by calling 951-461-6375.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9693, agroves@scng.com or @AlexDGroves on Twitter.
Rural banks in Ghana are gearing up for the first ever brand related awards to be held in Accra on March 31st 2017 on the theme: Rising Competition; how can a rural bank provide a workable Strategic Plan?



One of the banks whose performance in the banking sector has attracted attention is Odotobri Rural Bank. The bank has qualified to receive two top awards including; The Fastest Growing Rural Bank, and The Top Emerging Rural Bank Brand 2016.



A Rural Bank established in 1982 and commenced operations in September, 1983, the Bank which is now headed by the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Siaka Baba Ahmed has grown to become a well branded institution competing effectively with commercial banks in the areas they operate.



Odotobri Rural Bank Limited currently operates 11 branches with a branch each in Jacobu, Obuasi and Bekwai and 8 branches in Kumasi Metropolis.



The award scheme, being organised by Premier Brands Ghana, and sponsored by Delta Capital Ltd, an investment bank for Pension and Fund management, is aimed at paying tribute to the outstanding rural banks whose business performances over the years have reached the apex of branding in Ghana.



Having now attracted the attention of international investors, Premier Brands Ghana has identified them as one of the rural banks in Ghana to be respected and trusted and has accorded them the merit for the prestigious brand excellence award for 2016.



Prior to this award, the bank had already been rewarded with several awards including the CIMG Rural Bank of the Year in 2012; retained membership in the Ghana Club 100 rankings from 2003 to 2015; consecutive awards in the Ashanti Financial Services Awards since year 2005; consistent awards in the Ghana Business & Financial Services Excellence Awards up to year 2015; International Star for Leadership in Quality (ISLQ) awarded by Business Initiative Directions, held in France (2015); International Diamond Prize for Excellence in Quality from the European Society for Quality Research (ESQR) in Vienna (2015); International Award for Business Excellence and Prestige in the Platinum Category, presented by Business Initiative Directions (BID) in New York (2016); Outstanding Rural Bank of the year, received at the West African Regional Magazine Achievers Awards (2016).



Other rural banks that have also been assessed to qualify for other brand related awards in various categories are; South Akim Rural Bank, Amenfiman Rural Bank, Amanano Rural Bank, Sefwiman Rural Bank, Atwima Mponua Rural Bank, Nwabiagya Rural Bank, Kintampo Rural Bank, Lower Pra Rural Bank, Juaben Rural Bank, among others.









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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I have this nagging feeling that because of the constant focus on trivia, many observers of the ongoing vetting proceedings miss moments of importance when they occur.



One such fine moment was when the MP for Asawase engaged the President's nominee for the post of Minister of Energy over Ghana's FRSU policy. Curiously, minutes before the MP began to engage the nominee on the subject I had just taken to Facebook to express my own reservations about the latter's remarks.



As far as I'm concerned, such encounters between the official opposition and the government of the day (incoming or established) marks the high point of our democratic culture. Both gentlemen in facing off against each other did their duty, with exemplary passion and vigour,



If you are one of those who didn't really catch the essence of the exchange, let me try and sketch a brief outline of the essentials.



1. You probably know already that generating power using the Akosombo dam costs this country far less than doing so using the various thermal plants (think of them as huge generators).



2. Note that this is not because there is some blanket fact of "hydro is cheaper than thermal" but rather that there are several specific factors that make such a cost differential *usually* so.



For instance, Akosombo costs us only about 60% of what Kpong costs us to produce the same amount of hydro-power *most of the time*. But Kpong is still fairly cheap as it costs us about 75% on average to produce the same amount of power as the average thermal plant.



3. But things are not so simple. Though it is unlikely that any thermal plant can match Akosombo's cost performance, there is still considerable variation among them, largely dependent on what fuel they use and how they are configured.



4. For example, Karpowership relies on really dirty, heavy, fuel which is likely to affect the health of residents in its catchment area down the line, but the stuff is cheap. Karpower's fuel costs are less than 45% that of major rivals, Tapco, Tico and Sunon Asogli. Tapco and Tico use crude oil (the stuff we have been producing from Jubilee) and Sunon mostly uses gas.



5. Now, here is where it gets interesting. Due to cutting-edge engineering configuration, Tapco and Tico spend nearly the same amount as Sunon Asogli, even though the latter uses gas, whilst CENIT, which like Tapco and Tico uses crude oil, spends nearly 50% more than Tico.



6. Nonetheless, given similar levels of engineering sophistication (no point to get into the "combined cycle" and whatnots here), gas prices have *tended* to be cheaper than crude oil prices. Even with falling crude oil prices, gas can still manage an edge *depending on a number of factors*.



7. The MP for Tamale South asked a related question connected to this see-saw price movements between oil and gas. In simple terms, he wanted the nominee to admit that the notion that gas is *always cheaper* does not hold as a foundation for policy, because it depends on specific contracting methods (for example: did Ghana tie its gas contracts to spot crude prices in anyway?)



8. But assuming wise contracting, sound engineering policies, and sensible local spot market arrangements for electrical power, it always makes sense to favour gas for power, especially since it is also cleaner (better for health and the environment - a fact that can still hold even in a comparison with hydro, especially when flora-fauna impacts are factored into the evaluation).



9. Ghana has thus had a kind of general, sometimes incoherent, policy to favour the use of gas as a fuel.



10. Till date, we have relied on pipelines carrying gas from our own fields offshore, and from Nigeria, to feed the 3 or so thermal plants that rely mostly on gas.



11. The Nigerian suppliers are unreliable and frequently fail to honour their contractual obligations in respect of the volumes required.



12. The gas we have is "associated gas"; it therefore depends on the production level of crude oil. Due to FPSO engineering problems and other factors, this gas supply can also be erratic, though never as bad as the Nigerian supply.



13. So the question has always been: why not acquire the capability to import gas the same way that we can import crude oil to feed the thermal plants. Then and only then would it be correct to say that power supply in Ghana is exclusively a question of financing, since otherwise supply interruptions of gas supply would continue to make it, at least partly, a question of feedstock stability as well.



14. But how does one import gas from overseas? Would it require a pipeline to the Middle East, or Equatorial Guinea? No. The gas can be turned into liquid, and transported here like crude oil (in a form known in the trade as LNG). When it gets here, it can be gassified again and then fed through pipelines to serve the thermal plants (the platform that can receive the LNG, store, and turn it into gas is what is known as the 'FSRU'). Of course, this is cheaper than requiring each plant to build its own LNG handling facility and gassifier.



15. It doesn't take genius to realise that the cost of doing this may be higher than buying gas from Ghana or Nigeria, and with more gas coming on stream and the prospect, however dim, of stability in Nigeria, there is a real risk of a gas glut.



16. The question has thus arisen as to whether the country should have only one FSRU. The back and forth between the MP for Asawase and the nominee was over this point. The nominee claims to have sighted a document that affirms his argument that the country must have only one FSRU and yet the past administration is pursuing three concurrently. The MP sought through his questioning to challenge this view.



17. The fact of the matter is that there are three consortia seeking to build FSRUs in Ghana. There is a question of where to site these massive platforms, how much they will charge for storing the LNG and gassifying same, and whether the variation in terms are problematic.



18. As far as I can see the three platforms have different capacities and overall project designs. Generally, (let me emphasise that these calculations are all crude) 1 million cubic feet of gas should produce about 4 MW of power. Ghana's medium term plan is to produce 5000 MW, which is not really unreasonable.



19. To do so at a reasonable heat rate and reserve margin, we are thus talking about 1000 million cubic feet of gas (if pricing dynamics or policy fiat shift all our thermal facilities to gas) since it is intended for the bulk of this new load to be supported by thermal.



With the country struggling to produce 70 million cubic feet, and the Nigerians struggling to send in 50 million cubic feet on a good day, there COULD be as much as 700 million cubic feet of latent demand even assuming that our new gas fields prove as fertile as the optimistic projections portend.



20. The funny thing is that all three FSRUs are planning a combined initial capacity of less than 750 million cubic feet.



21. Assuming a very sound 60% utilisation rate, the effective combined capacity of the three facilities would only be 500 million cubic feet, the maximal bound of the GNPC's current medium-term projected need (that is ignoring the 5000 MW target and focusing solely on switching existing thermal plants to gas and assuming a resumption of consumption growth, which has fallen by 20% off its recent peak).



22. Simply put, there is no reason why all three FSRUs cannot compete in a sophisticated LNG market. When regional possibilities are considered, the issue becomes a no-brainer. In fact, a full appreciation of the regional opportunity must take into account the prospect of gas exports beyond the immediate sub-region as well, something for which LNG platforms (enhanced with liquefaction modules) would also be required.



23. I acknowledge the concerns around the government being expected to put up security for LNG and thus guaranteeing certain minimum output thresholds, but this is a matter of negotiation, surely? It is strictly a question of minimum utlisation rate, and government guaranteeing uptake only to a rational threshold. Nothing more.



24. It is vital in strategic analysis not to downplay the importance of redundancy and market competition when planning for the security of any commodity, be it light-crop cocoa beans or, indeed, natural gas. In respect of strategic analysis, there is also the issue of the geopolitics of all this.



Which geoeconomic interests is the nominee most eager to confront? The Israeli billionaires with their deep tentacles into the GNPC bureaucracy? The Nigerians, whose gas and crude we so desperately need? Or the French and Americans arrayed like a rock behind the mighty GE, and its Ghanaian scheming allies? Alas, these are the forces backing the three consortia.



25. That is why I am baffled by the nominee for the energy portfolio's insistence that Ghana should have only one FRSU as a matter of policy fiat. And why I believe the clash with the MP for Asawase (and Minority Chief Whip) was a seminal moment for policy debate in this country.



Long may rational debate prevail.

Source: Bright Simons/ Honourary Vice President of IMANI









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The Minister-designate for Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has said, Muslim students must not be forced to take part in morning devotions.



The Minority Chip Whip and a member of the Appointments Committee, Muntaka Mubarak wanted to know the nominees position on Muslims being forced to participate in morning devotions in schools.



The Ghana Education Service in 2015 served notice to all students in missionary secondary schools to attend morning devotion sessions if it is a school rule.



The reaction of the GES followed a directive by the President to all heads of public institutions, including schools, to desist from forcing Muslim students from compulsorily join Christian fellowships.



The Muslim Community and some Muslim students have demonstrated against the directive and called on the GES to reverse the directive. Appearing before the Committee, the nominee for Education said, religious intolerance should not be condoned in this country.



According to him, his constituency secretary and organiser are Muslims.



''They follow me to church to campaign. Muslims must not be forced to take part in morning devotions.''

Source: rainbowradioonline









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The two former detainees from Guantanamo Bay currently being hosted in Ghana, may continue to stay in the country until the two-year contract signed between the government of Ghana and the US expires.



The two, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef, and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby who were in detention for 14 years after being linked with terrorist group Al-Qaeda, were brought to Ghana in 2016, to be reintegrated back into their home countries.



The decision by the Mahama-led administration was met with massive public uproar, as many describing it as a threat to national security.



Several members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) kicked against the decision.



However, speaking to Citi News Umaru Sanda Amadu after taking her turn at the Appointments Committee of Parliament, the Minister nominee for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, failed to disclose whether or not the NPP government will review the agreement.



She said they are one year into the agreement, so we have another year to go before the agreement that was signed comes to an end.



When she probed further, Ayorkor Botchwey said, I dont know [whether it will be reviewed or not], this is sub-judice so I dont think that I want to make any comment on it.



But Im just saying that we are one year into the agreement, the agreement is for two years, when we come to that bridge we will cross it. It is an agreement, the agreement has already been done, the Minister nominee added.



Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey appeared before the Appointments Committee on Monday where she was vetted.



However the Defence Minister-nominee, Dominic Nitiwul, has said the NPP administration will take a decision on the two men.



No security threat



The US Embassy in Ghana had in January 2016, assured Ghanaians that the presence of the two former detainees, posed no threat to the security of the country.



Some two Ghanaians subsequently sued government over the decision.



The two Ghanaians, Margaret Bamful and Henry Nana Boakye, accused former President John Mahama of illegally bringing in the two former Gitmo detainees, without recourse to the laws of the land.



The plaintiffs sought among other reliefs a declaration that on a true and proper interpretation of Article 75 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the President of the Republic of Ghana acted unconstitutionally by agreeing to the transfer of Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby.



The Supreme Court in 2016 ordered the government of Ghana to release its agreement with the United States government regarding the acceptance of two Guantanamo Bay detainees into the country.

Source: Citifmonline









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The Greater Accra Regional Minister Designate Ishmael Ashitey has promised to clean the capital Accra and give it a fresh breathe when pass by Parliament as substantive Minister of the region. The Greater Accra Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) told Bright Kwesi Asempa, host of Onua Fm Morning show Yen Nsem Pa that his immediate priority will be to ensure that within shortest possible time after taking office, Accra will be clean.



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday released list of 10 regional ministerial nominees for the 10 administrative regions of the country, pending Parliamentary approval. Among the 10 names is the former Member of Parliament for Tema East and Minister of Fisheries in during the Kufuor administration Ishmael Ashietey.



In an interview with Onua Fm, Ishmael Ashitey said his immediate task after taking office is to get rid of filth from the capital city as well as the entire region. You know Accra is dirty and sanitation is one of the challenging problems in the region, so I intend to concentrate on cleaning Accra first before moving to other areas he said.



He observed that since money happens to be one of the bottlenecks in ensuring cleaner Accra, he will find the money to make Accra clean, adding that he cannot promise to totally eradicate filth from the region within four years but will make sure that the capital city is clean. Accra is the first place that anyone visiting the country comes so it is important to ensure that it is clean. If there is no money, we will find it and if it be the personnel, we will. I cannot promise I will do all but sanitation is a continuous process JOBS AND SECURITY



He also said job creation will be high on his agenda, making sure that youth unemployment is reduced to the lowest minimum. Ask how he will do that, the Greater Accra Regional Minister designate said jobs will be created when he embarks on cleaning the region.



Noting that youth unemployment has become a headache not for him alone but to many people and it is against this that he is determine to see a success of the NPP policy of one district one factory. He noted that if people are gainfully employed, crime will go down.



It is said that Devil finds job for idle hands, so I will make sure youth unemployment is reduced.



Mr Ashitey has also pledged to collaborate with the Police to reduce crime and also deal with phenomenon of land guard in the region.

Source: Bright Dzakah/Ghana Web









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A teachers journal to assist enhance the teaching of the English language in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa has been launched at British Council in Kumasi.



It would serve as a useful resource for capacity building - to improve the professional competencies of English teachers, to significantly boost their performance in the classroom. The quarterly journal was developed and published by Midstream Literary Agency (MLA).



Mr. Evans Owusu Amankwaa, Chief Executive Officer of the Agency, indicated that the lack of effective avenues for professional development of teachers was a major contributory factor to the decline in the quality of education. This was what the journal, sponsored by the Tony Elumenu Foundation, sought to tackle, he added.

He said the idea was to introduce English teachers to best teaching practices and standards.

Mr Akwasi Osei Bonsu, acting Director of Human Resource at the Forestry Commission, said continued professional training and development opportunities were vital for building a competent team - to achieve high level of performance.



He encouraged teachers to go the extra mile to upgrade their professional skills.





Source: GNA









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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.
HOUSTON, TEXAS, Jan. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Halcon Resources Corporation (NYSE:HK) (Halcon or the Company), today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with institutional investors to sell, in a private offering, approximately 5,518 shares of automatically convertible preferred stock, each share of which will be convertible into 10,000 shares of its common stock, for anticipated gross proceeds of approximately $400 million, or $7.25 per common share. The private placement is contingent and will close upon the Companys acquisition of assets in the Southern Delaware Basin, expected to occur in early March 2017. The Company intends to use the proceeds to fund a portion of the acquisition purchase price and for general corporate purposes.



The preferred stock will automatically convert into common stock on the 20th calendar day following the mailing of a definitive information statement to the Company's stockholders notifying them that holders of a majority of the Companys outstanding common shares have consented to the issuance of common stock upon conversion of the preferred stock. The Company has already received written consent from holders of greater than 50% of its common shares outstanding agreeing to this issuance of common stock to new investors upon conversion. No dividend will be paid on the preferred stock if it converts into common stock on or before June 1, 2017.

The Company has agreed to file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission and to use reasonable efforts to cause the registration statement to be declared effective by the SEC.

The securities offered by the Company in the private placement have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent such registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

This press release is being issued pursuant to Rule 135c under the Securities Act. This press release is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities to be issued in the private placement.

About Halcon Resources

Halcon Resources Corporation is an independent energy company engaged in the acquisition, production, exploration and development of onshore oil and natural gas properties in the United States.

For more information contact Quentin Hicks, Senior Vice President of Finance & Investor Relations, at 832-538-0557 or qhicks@halconresources.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements that are not strictly historical statements constitute forward-looking statements and may often, but not always, be identified by the use of such words such as "expects", "believes", "intends", "anticipates", "plans", "estimates", "potential", "possible", or "probable" or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "will", "should", or "could" be taken, occur or be achieved. Statements regarding our pending acquisitions and divestitures are forward-looking statements; there can be no guarantee that these transactions close on the timeframe described herein or that they close at all. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and expectations and involve certain assumptions or estimates that involve various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the statements. These risks include, but are not limited to the risks set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 and other filings submitted by the Company to the SEC, copies of which may be obtained from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or through the Company's website at www.halconresources.com. Readers should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which are made only as of the date hereof. The Company has no duty, and assumes no obligation, to update forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or changes in the Company's expectations.




The South African church that invited rev. Dag Heward-Mills to preach has distanced itself from the sermon shared by Dag Heward-Mills on his visit to the Church after it incensed a lot of people.



Dag Heward-Mills was invited by the Grace Bible Church as a guest pastor to their 9am service.



Bishop Heward-Mills in his sermon at the Soweto-based Church described Homosexuals as unnatural and unbiblical.



You dont find two male dogs, two male cats, or two male lionseven lizards, two male elephants, there is nothing like that in nature, it is unnatural, yes, there is nothing like that.



His sermon angered a popular South African choreographer and radio personality Somizi Mhlongo who is also a known homosexual. He stormed out of the service and later posted a video on Instagram saying he wasnt going to sit there and be offended.



In a sharp contradiction, the Grace Bible Church have emphatically made it known that they do not share the views of Bishop Heward-Mills on his homosexual stance.



In an interview with a South African media organisation, the spokesperson of the Grace Bible Church, Rev. Ezekiel Mathole, indicated that the Church is open to all manner of people with different views and opinions and different ways of life and will never discriminate against people with a variant way of life.



The only thing we want to say as a Church is that we dont discriminate against gay people and we will never do and have never done that. What was prevalent yesterday was that there was a contrary view that is out there. If you look in the Church its an open secret there are people who are pro-gay and there are people who are anti-gay.



We as a Church have stated that we welcome all homosexuals into the church and we dont discriminate against people.



The Church was also quick to add that this may not be the end of the relationship between the Grace Bible Church and Bishop Heward-Mills, despite the controversy he has generated as he will be called upon when the need be.



The remarks have outraged lots of people and have begun a homosexual rights debate in South Africa. Dag Heward-Mills is the founder and Presiding Bishop of the Lighthouse Chapel International.

Three (3) Videos below-

Source: ghanaweb.com









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Ghana has dropped four places in terms of scores in the 22nd Annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released by anti-graft body Transparency International released on Wednesday, 25 January 2017.



A statement issued by Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of TI said: The CPI 2016 scored Ghana 43 points out of a possible clean score of 100 and ranked the country 70 out of 176 countries included in this years index. In the sub-Saharan region, the country ranked 9th.



GII said the drop in Ghanas performance could be attributed to corruption scandals that bordered on the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Authority (GYEEDA), Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), GHS144 million GRA/Subah Scandal, the infamous GHS51 million judgment debt saga and the Smartty's bus rebranding scandal.



The CPI 2016 used nine (9) out of the (13) data sources of independent institutions with a high level of credibility to compute the index for Ghana. The sources and their corresponding scores include the World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, African Development Bank, Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation, World Economic Forum and World Justice Project. The rest are Economic Intelligence Unit, Political Risk Service International Country Risk Guide, Varieties of Democracy and Global Insight.



This year, the CPI shows that Ghanas performance has dropped by 4 percentage points from its 2015 score of 47 points. This score is the lowest in Ghanas CPI scores since 2012 when CPI scores became comparable.



It is worthy to note that, although Ghana performed better than several other African countries, including Lesotho and Burkina Faso, Ghana also performed below eight other African countries (Botswana - 60, Cape Verde - 59, Mauritius  54, Rwanda  54, Namibia  52, Sao Tome and Principe  46, Senegal  45 and South Africa - 45).



The 2016 CPI score indicates that, in spite of Ghanas efforts at fighting corruption the canker is still a serious problem. Ghanas score of 43 points is a likely reflection of the many exposes of public sector corruption in the last few years including the police recruitment scam, Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Authority (GYEEDA) scandal, Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) scandal, GHc 144 million GRA/Subah Scandal, the infamous Woyomes GHC 51 million judgment debt saga and the Smartty's bus rebranding deal. This is likely compounded by government perceived inability to fully resolve high profile corruption cases, the statement said.



This years index ranked 176 countries/territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The index draws on 13 surveys covering views of business people and country experts. The Corruption Perceptions Index is the leading global indicator of perceived public sector corruption, offering a yearly snapshot of the relative degree of corruption by ranking countries from all over the globe.



THE AFRICAN PICTURE



In Africa, Botswana once again was first with a score of 60, ranking 35 globally and followed by Cape Verde with a score of 59 and ranking 38 globally. Third and fourth was occupied by Mauritius and Rwanda with both scoring 54 and ranked 50 globally. Namibia and Sao Tome and Principe scored 52 and 46 respectively and ranked 53 and 62 globally but fifth and sixth in Africa. Senegal and South Africa both scored 45 and ranked 64 globally. Overall, only five out 46 African countries that qualified to be captured by the index s scored above 50.



Many African countries dominated the bottom of the CPI with Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Libya, Guinea Bissau, Eritrea and Angola scoring 10, 11, 14, 14, 16, 18 and 18 with rankings of 176, 175, 170, 170, 168, 164 and 164 respectively.



GLOBAL PERFORMANCE



Denmark and New Zealand performed best with scores of 90, closely followed by Finland (89) and Sweden (88). Although no country is free of corruption, the countries at the top share characteristics of high standards in open government, press freedom, civil liberties and independent judicial systems.



For the tenth year running, Somalia is the worst performer on the index, this year scoring only 10. South Sudan is second to bottom with a score of 11, followed by North Korea (12) and Syria (13). Countries at the bottom of the index are also characterised by widespread impunity for corruption, poor governance and weak institutions.



This year more countries declined in the index than improved, showing the need for urgent action. Countries in troubled regions, particularly in the Middle East, have seen the most substantial drops this year.

Source: classfmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Former Inspector General of Police, John Kudalor has said his exit from the high office of the police service supports the adage which states so far as there is an entrance, there is an exit.



Mr Kudalor resigned from his position as the IGP stating he was almost due for his retirement.



Officially announcing his retirement to the president at the Flagstaff House on Wednesday January 25, 2017, Mr Kudalor said he believes he discharged himself well. Honestly, I think I have served my nation to the best of my ability, and I am willing to serve it in any capacity that his Excellency may deem fit.



I think everything that we are doing here to me is in very good faith. Because everything is quite candid, legal and lawful. So I am very, very grateful, he told president Nana Akufo-Addo. He took the opportunity to thank his colleagues in the force for supporting his tenure.



Senior police officers who worked with me, the junior staff for the corporation I enjoyed with them and most of all the success that we achieved during the election and again for the corporation that I have had so far with his excellency and the new government.



And I am sure that whoever will take over from me would be properly briefed to take up the mantle and sustain the tempo. He stated he would support his successor in any way that he can.I will be behind the scene to support whoever would come to ensure that the peace of this nation is sustained, he promised



The president on his part told him the state was grateful to him [Kudalor], for his service. Thank you very much and wish you the best of luck in the future, Nana Akufo-Addo said. Kudalor offically became IGP on Friday February 19, 2016 after he acted fro three months.



He was sworn in to office by president John Mahama.

Source: Ghonetv.com









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Former Finance Minister and Member of Parliament for Ajumako Hon. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, has vowed not to allow members of the New Patriotic Party administration to talk down a resilient economy they have inherited from the National Democratic Congress.



Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Marfo has said Ghana's economic figures the NPP inherited from the NDC are not encouraging; describing it as one that is "extremely, heavily indebted but not poor."



According to him, Ghana's budget deficit is hovering at a worrying rate of 8% higher than the 5% expected under the IMF agreement. Ghana is currently under a three year programme with the IMF as part of efforts to bring credibility and stability to Ghana's economy.



As part of the program the country was expected to maintain a budget deficit of 5%, something Osafo Maafo said the previous government could not do.



What is worse, the Senior Minister who was Finance Minister in the erstwhile Kufuor administration said the debt to GDP is 72% a figure which can only be suffocating.



He pointed out that though Ghanas economy is very strong fundamentally, those who managed it under the NDC were the problem.



To him, "the economy is bleeding seriously".



But Hon. Ato Forson in an interview on Radio Gold which was monitored by Peacefmonline.com stated that the NPP has started painting a gloomy picture to create room for their probable excuses in the event that they are unable to fulfill the numerous promises they made to Ghanaians during the 2016 electioneering campaign.



He advised Mr. Osafo-Marfo and his fellow party mates not to downplay the role ex-President Mahamas administration played to build the economy by rating it on nominal GDP.



The Member of Parliament for the Ajumako Enyan Essiam Consistency advised the Senior Minister to stay away from speculations and keep in mind that there is no need for him to comment like "he is still in opposition".



This is a political party that has been in opposition for 8 years. During their campaign, they talked down on the Ghana's economy.



They must leave the past behind them. They are no longer in opposition so they should check the numbers before they speculate. They should wait and not use one indices to judge the Ghanaian economy, he advised.



President Mahama has left behind a strong economy for them to take over, he added.



it is early to know the nominal GDP- the Statistical Service is yet to come out with it... It is too early to put a figure on it, he noted.



He continued that the nominal GDP is yet to come outthe final numbers are not out, the ones we have now are provisional.to conclude that our economy isnt strong is misleading.

Source: Chris Joe Quaicoe/ email: [email protected]









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After the unsuccessful attempt to appropriate his official residence as his end-of-service home, ex-President John Dramani Mahama has started packing his belongings out of No 3 Prestige Link  the official state bungalow at Cantonments  which he had occupied as vice president and president.



Mr Mahama is said to be relocating to the Airport Residential Area where he owns a property.



The residence is next to Gold House at Kawukudi where his brother, Ibrahim, also owns a house.



According to the Greater Accra Regional Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Anthony Nukpenu, the former president will finish packing his personal effects by the close of today, after which he will deliver the keys of the official residence to the government.



The former first familys continued stay at the official residence, despite handing over power to President Nana Akufo-Addo became the subject of public discourse, with Ghanaians agitating for Mahamas eviction from the house.



This, they claimed, would allow Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the current vice president, to occupy the facility, which is meant for vice presidents.



Even though the NDC said that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) side of the Transition Team had agreed in principle to allow the former president and his family to occupy the residence, no documentary evidence had been provided, making the case difficult to appreciate.



In the heat of the controversy, former President Mahama wrote to the new government indicating his willingness to vacate the house.



You would recall, Mr. President, that contrary to the erroneous impression created by some persons in government and the interpretation given to the former letter submitted on my behalf by Mr. Julius Debrah, this was a follow-up of an agreement we had on my choice of accommodation and office. I had never requested to purchase the property; my request is therefore humbly withdrawn, the letter, signed by the former president and copied to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, said.



Mr Anthony Nukpenu confirmed on Asempa FMs Ekosii Sen programme yesterday that John Mahama had started packing out upon his return from Nigeria where he represented the Government of Ghana in the Gambian negotiations.



He is no more there (house), he has started packing outthis started occurring upon his return from Nigeria, he said.



He said the former president would finish packing out of the building he had occupied for eight years by this weekend.



Thus, the ex-president would likely hand over the keys to the Akufo-Addo government by next week.



Touching on where he is moving to, Mr Nukpenu said he (ex-president) was likely going to move to a house near the Gold House at Kawukudi.



He said that the residence near the Gold House was the exact location the former president hosted minority Members of Parliament who paid a visit to him on Thursday

Source: Daily Guide









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A total of 23 candidates have picked nomination forms for election to the Council of State in the Ashanti Region.

Mr. Serebour Quaicoe, Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that three of them had already filed their nomination.

The remaining have up to Thursday, January 26, to submit their forms.The EC has fixed February 09, as the day for the election and a body of electors  two from each of the 33 districts would be voting to decide who represents the region on the Council.Mr. Quaicoe put the age of the oldest contestant at 92, and that of the reverse 21.



The Council among other functions has a duty to advice the President or any other authority in respect of any appointment, required by the Constitution. It may also upon request or on its own initiative, consider and make recommendations on any matter being considered or dealt with by the President, a Minister of State, Parliament or any other authority. It is required to meet at least four times in a year.





Source: GNA









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Several groups within the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Northern Region, have unanimously endorsed Salifu Saeeds nomination as the Northern Regional Minister designate.



These include the United Zongo for Bawumia, NPP Northern Region constituency Chairmen caucus, the partys regional secretariat and Kukuo NPP youth. Salifu Saeed, if approved by Parliaments Appointments Committee, will be the first Northern Regional Minister from the Nanung Traditional Area in Ghanas fourth Republic.



The aforementioned groups in a Citi News interview said President Nana Akufo Addos selection of the former Nanumba North (Bimbila) District Chief Executive is in the right direction.



United Zongo for Bawumia Spokesperson of the United Zongo for Bawumia, Abdul Karim Oliver, remarked that, Salifu Saeeds appointment reaffirms the Presidents commitment to the four paramountcies in the Northern Region comprising Dagbon, Mamprugu, Yagbong and Nanung.



He recalled Salifu Saeeds achievements as a former DCE saying, As a District Chief Executive, he added a philosophy of liberation that in its literate defense of the right of individuals, its educated revulsion against violence and mob inflaming incendiary and more especially its mantra of assuring and giving hope to the youth which got him the catchy phrase you can be sure.



Salifu Salifu presided over a district that was sharply divided as a result of a protracted chieftaincy dispute, and united the factions to the best of his ability and admiration of all. It is these excellent leadership qualities, vast experience, hard work and service above self that the United Zongo for Bawumia never thought the President was wrong in making this decision, Abdul Karim Oliver emphasized.



NPP constituency Chairmen caucus



The Northern Region NPP Constituency Chairmen caucus described Salifu Saeed as a time-tested politician, and a unifier capable of administering the region.



The Spokesperson, Imoro Issahaku Jamal Olando, reposed confidence in Salifu Saeeds ability to galvanize the people for constructive purposes. He pledged the party leaderships unflinching support to enable him deliver his mandate.



Salifu Saeeds profile



Salifu Saeed, who is affectionately called You can be sure was born in Bimbila. He was the Nanumba North District Chief Executive during the erstwhile Kufour led NPP administration. Politically, he was campaign assistant to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumias 2016 campaign team and doubled as a member of the NPP 2016 Manifesto Committee on Infrastructure.



Salifu Saeed until his appointment was the Chief Executive Officer of Africa Commodities and Logistics Company Limited. He was a Co-Director of the Savannah Integrated Rural Development Aid and also served as Programmes Officer, Action Aid/Community Action for Development Partnership.



He holds Masters of Development Management (With Research) from the Ghana Institute of management and Public Administration (GIMPA). He acquired B.A Integrated Development Studies from the University for Development Studies (UDS).



As a social development expert, he will be coordinating 26 districts in the region and one of the priority areas he is expected to tackle is poverty reduction.



Recent Former Northern Regional Ministers include Abubakari Abdullah (Mamprusi), Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna (Gonja) and Moses Bukari Mabengba (Konkomba).

Source: Citifmonline









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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You know what they say about big books? Big brains. Pedestrian Jobs have got your business beach reads sorted for the (almost) long weekend. Plus, were sharing the

And while were all about catching up on those must-read novels of 2016 that sat next to our bed collecting literally a years worth of dust, were also keen to get ahead while we can. Which is where these books come in  the business/borderline self-help (lets just say ~personal development~ and call it a day) titles that are on our to-read list for 2017.

Books: sometimes better than people.

Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss





The latest from the author of such wonder-tomes as The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body and The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans is a productivity bible, containing the tactics, routines and habits of a bunch of insanely talented/generally ridiculous people, from celebs to scientists to athletes. Im esepsh keen to read this one as its based on interviews Ferriss has done for his podcast over the past two years, which I have attempted to listen to but failed, as Ferriss speedy talking makes me feel jumpy af.

Originals: How Non-Conformists Move The World by Adam M. Grant





Theres nothing like a light-bulb moment, and thats what Grants new book is all about: the original ideas that challenge the norm and provide a fresh way of doing, being and thinking. According to good ol Goodreads:

Grant explores how to recognise a good idea, speak up without getting silenced, build a coalition of allies, choose the right time to act, and manage fear and doubt; how parents and teachers can nurture originality in children; and how leaders can build cultures that welcome dissent.

Yes, teach us all of the above, pls.

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

Need a kick up the butt to start that insanely successful global business youve got up your sleeve? Enter Phil Knight: co-founder of a lil brand called Nike. His memoir follows the early days of the business, from distributing sneakers from Japan up until 1980. Read it for the history, yes, but more for the insight into Knight and his personal journey from a 24 year-old virgin with an MBA and a year in the army, but no practical idea of what he wanted to do as a career (Wall Street Journal) to the 24th richest person in the world.





Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

A book about rest, to read while resting? Meta-tastic. We know how good rest feels, but Pang shows us how good rest actually is: for productivity, creativity and general wellbeing/fulfilment. Sleep advocate Arianna Huffington reviewed it for The New York Times and said:

If work is our national religion, Pang is the philosopher reintegrating our bifurcated selves. As he adeptly shows, not only are work and rest not in opposition, theyre inextricably bound, each enhancing the other.

Hatching Twitter by Nick Bilton

Another business bio, the zero-to-$11.5 billion tale of Twitter is equal parts juicy (read: betrayal, power plays etc.) and impressive (read: that $11.5 billion). The New York Times writer Bilton goes BTS to follow the four founders on their journey and dives deep to give the low-down on one of the most influential media bizs of our time. The book broke ground when it was released in 2013, shedding light on the previously unknown story of the company, and remains a riveting, pacey read that we cant wait to rip in to.

Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business by John E. Mackey & Rajendra S.Sisodia.





Conscious capitalism is so on our radar, not to mention a major source of #inspo when it comes to managing people. This book by Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey explains how business and capitalism can work for the greater good, following the four pillars of higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership, and conscious culture and management. Sophia Amoruso of #GirlBoss / Nasty Gal fame told Goodreads of the book:

I want to meet John Mackey. I have so much respect for what hes built at Whole Foods. His story is an inspiring one, and Im in total agreement that capitalism, when done right, can make things better for everyone involved.

Good enough for the OG GirlBoss = good enough for us.

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull with Amy Wallace

When it comes to creativity in business, well take lessons from Pixar Animations Studio co-founder Ed Catmull any day. This book follows Catmull from Ph.D student ~with a dream~ to ground-breaking, animation-changing guy ~making dreams come true~ (Toy Story anyone? FINDING NEMO, ANYONE?). Hes got some gems in here, for managers and creative peeps, that will change the way you think about communication, leadership, the creative process, feedback, transparency and more.

Read em and weep.

Recruit your next MVP with Pedestrian Jobs : the #1 site for creative 18-35s.

Dont let your dream job slip you by  Love your work!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and get yourself signed up to our Daily Job Alerts.

Photo: Chatter Busy
Gang, its that time again, that special time of year known as Cheap Airfare Week.

Yep its 100% on again over at Jestar, who are counterintuitively telling people to go away, without leaving home with a shitload of ridiculously cheap flights as part of their Australia Day sale.

For example, Sydneysiders can hit up Melbourne for $35 between April 27th and June 21st, Brisbane for $55 between February 21st and March 29th, or Cairns for $95 between July 18th and September 13th.





Similarly, Melbournians can go to Hobart for $29 between May 02 and June 27 (although only if theyre willing to brave Avalon Airport, otherwise its $45), Adelaide for $55 between February 21st and March 22nd, or Brisbane for $75 between Feb 21st and March 29th. Although those last ones are mine, bitches, so BACK off.

People who are, inexplicably, living outside of these two hubs also have a bunch of cheap deals; Perth residents can fly to Melbourne for $109 between April 27th and June 21st, and Brisbanerds can check out the Whitsundays for a cool $59 between February 22nd and March 29th.

The only city exempt from this deal, at least right now, is Canberra, aka Australias toilet.

But seriously there are dozens of these things, although be warned: the sale only lasts until Monday, and a bunch of the more popular ones are likely to sell out quick.

So, while personally I in no way support celebrating Australia Day (aka Invasion Day aka Survival Day), a deal is a deal is a deal. Give em a squiz over here.

Source: Ten News.

Photo: Getty / Bloomberg.
Award-winning stunt person Judd Wild, famous for his work on Mad Max: Fury Road, was the stunt co-ordinator overseeing filming of the Bliss n Eso music video in Brisbane on Monday, during which stuntman and actor Johann Ofner was tragically killed.

Warren Ritchie, a well-known Australian armourer and owner of pyrotechnics company Fireworks Down Under, oversaw the use of the real and prop firearms that were used on set.

Neither have responded to media requests for comment.

According to Fairfax Media, police were notified before the shoot that guns would be used on set, but were told that no live ammunition would be used.

An industry insider told Fairfax, on condition of anonymity, that while blanks were used on set, they suspect that a piece of debris in one of the chambers of a double-barrel shotgun is what fatally injured the Gold Coast 28-year-old. The actor Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, was killed in a similar situation on the set of The Crow in 1993.

Apparently Ofner, a father of one, suffered a wound to the chest that was not consistent with a shotgun blast, and there was very little blood surrounding him. Although crew members performed CPR as soon as they realised what had happened, Ofner died almost immediately.

Police have not ruled out pressing criminal charges, and continue their investigation into the tragedy.

Source: SMH.

Image: Facebook.
NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ITG (NYSE:ITG), a leading independent broker and financial technology provider, today announced the addition of trading in Thai equities to the POSIT and POSIT Alert crossing platforms. Thailand marks the 11th country in the Asia Pacific region and the 37th country globally where POSIT Alert block crossing is available.



In addition to launching POSIT and POSIT Alert for Thai equities, ITG is also implementing the PowerScore trading measurement system across the Asia Pacific region. The PowerScore feature works to improve user experience and overall performance across the POSIT network by providing a score to each user based on metrics that contribute to positive interactions among users on the platform.

The addition of Thailand, a key Asia Pacific market, makes POSIT Alerts liquidity offerings even stronger. This expansion further demonstrates our commitment to providing a high-quality block crossing network for our clients around the world, said Ofir Gefen, Co-Head of Execution Services for ITG in Asia Pacific. There is a clear demand for block liquidity in the region, as demonstrated by our 66% growth in value traded in POSIT Alert in 2016, he added.

POSIT Alert is a valuable trading resource for buyside traders in 37 countries across the Americas, Europe and the Asia Pacific region, seamlessly connecting the trade blotters of nearly 2500 traders. In 2016, POSIT Alert averaged more than $50 billion in indicated liquidity per day, including more than $6 billion in Asia Pacific, with a global average trade size of $1.4 million. For more information about accessing the full POSIT suite, including POSIT Marketplace dark aggregation, POSIT Alert, POSIT crossing and ITGs full range of global electronic brokerage capabilities, please contact info@itg.com or call ITGs New York Trading Desk at +1-212-444-6100 or Hong Kong Trading desk at +852-2846-3535.

About ITG

ITG applies technology and trading expertise to reduce implementation costs, helping clients improve investment performance. An independent broker established in 1987, ITG provides liquidity, execution, analytics and workflow solutions to leading asset management and brokerage firms. Investment Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE:ITG) has offices in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America and offers trading services in more than 50 countries. For more information, please visit www.itg.com.
As tributes flow for victims of last Fridays Bourke St rampage, official talk has turned to creating a permanent memorial for people to pay their respects and grieve in private.

The news comes from Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, who stressed that while plans for a reflective, contemplative [and] respectful memorial outside the immediate mall area could be announced sometime next week, he would need time to discuss with Premier Daniel Andrews.

Doyle also wants to give people time and space to actively grieve in the mall area, which he described quite touchingly:

Something very personally uplifting for me is the word Ive heard most often this week  love.

I think thats what were seeing here in the Bourke Street Mall.

People are still laying flowers here, so its still a very active scene of grieving and it will remain so until that slows down and stops.

But we will probably make some announcements once Ive had some more discussions with the premier.

As Doyle mentions, people in the area are still visibly reeling from the car attack that killed five and injured roughly 30 pedestrians.

Reports of people laying flowers, post-tramatic stress counsellors supervising the area, and pedestrians brought to tears in the area are still pouring in.

Messages and flowers outside the lotto mart on #BourkeSt for Jess.

Everybody pauses. pic.twitter.com/cRVwJi6GFX  Deborah Staines (@DeborahRStaines) January 25, 2017

#bourkest paying my deepest respects & condolences with kindred spirits with grieving tears RIP dear lost souls & god speed all healing pic.twitter.com/vA8HmuEhIx  Claire Seppings (@claireseppings) January 25, 2017

A city in mourning. Please thank the roaming counsellors if you see them. Amazing people, and a tough job. #bourkest pic.twitter.com/lUXVi3AyUK  Jodi Braszell (@JodiBraszell) January 23, 2017

Following days of tributes, vigils and incredibly successful fundraising campaigns, the idea of a permanent memorial honestly sounds like a terrific, fitting way of remembrance.

Doyle has reportedly been in discussions with his Sydney counterparts, who were in a similar situation following the 2014 Martin Place siege.

He also urged parents to reconsider bringing children to the Bourke St area, and, for those who do, to contact nearby counsellors to assist in discussing the event with minors.

Finally, Doyle said that hed like the memorial to be outside the mall area itself, in order to give people a quieter place to grieve, and to commemorate both the victims and the human decency thats shone in the wake of the horrific event:

Id like to see it [Bourke Street Mall] returned to being the centre of Melbourne. But Id still like to see something that commemorates not only the lives lost  but the hope and support that we saw from the kindness of strangers here on that awful day. And thats going to take time.

Source: The Age.

Photo: Getty / Scott Barbour.
US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order issuing a temporary ban on most refugees, as well as one suspending visas for people from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

According to unnamed US aides and experts, Trump is expected to sign the first of these orders on Wednesday (US time).

The multi-month ban will reportedly affect all refugees except for religious minorities escaping persecution (although why they are the exception is not immediately clear) and is only meant to be temporary, until the US State Department and the Department of Homeland Security can institute tougher vetting processes.

The news follows Trumps not-at-all terrifying promise that tomorrow will be a big day [for] NATIONAL SECURITY that will include constructing his infamously stupid wall.

Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

And while its only meant to be a temporary ban, this notion of institutionalised racism but only for a little while follows Trumps fool-proof idea to ban Muslims until we find out whats going on, which he has since reworked into banning people from these specific, Islamic countries.

Because meeting the global social and religious persecution of Muslims thats inarguably contributed to pockets of radicalisation with yet more racism is definitely going to end well.

Presumably, the temporary ban will also quash Australias suspiciously-optimistic resettlement plan to resettle refugees on Manus Island and Nauru in America, as, like, most of the people were torturing were already fleeing conflicts in those places.

The Australian government is yet to respond to this news, but the reaction from refugee activists has naturally been depressing.

This is #WhiteSupremacy and #Fascism in action. Ill update you on what it means for refugees on Nauru & Manus once I know more. Sickening. https://t.co/xvQ4igIhI4  Kon Karapanagiotidis (@Kon__K) January 25, 2017

Well, back to the drawing board for old Dutters and co. If only there was a safe, wealthy country around these parts who could meet their goddamn human rights obligation and welcome these people.

Source: ABC.

Photo: Getty.
Donald Trump is continuing his warpath of executive orders, doing his best to use his powers as president to unwind Obama administration policy as quickly as possible. His latest target is two enormous oil pipeline projects that were blocked by Obama: the Keystone XL and the widely protested Dakota Access Pipeline.

You might remember the Dakota pipeline as the one which stirred a mass protest last year led by Native American activists who argued that the path of the pipeline threatened the Standing Rock Sioux Tribes water supply and sacred sites. The Army Corp of Engineers declined to work on the project until an alternate path was found.

Now, Trump has signed an order giving the conditional go-ahead to both projects.

Signing orders to move forward with the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines in the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/OErGmbBvYK  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2017

The response was immediate. Dave Archambault, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, criticised the move. We are not opposed to energy independence, he said. We are opposed to reckless and politically motivated development projects that ignore our treaty rights and risk our water.

A statement was also issued on the tribes Facebook, arguing that they will fight this in court:

Standing Rock Sioux Tribes statement on Trumps allowing the Dakota Access pipeline to proceed: https://t.co/33dbmkAwTh pic.twitter.com/5bTK8mI37F  Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) January 24, 2017

A question was asked of Press Secretary Sean Spicer in a briefing after Trump signed the paperwork asking about a potential conflict of interest, given that Trump owns stock in a company associated with the pipeline. In the form weve come to expect of Spicer, he deflected the question, said Trump cant have conflicts of interest and implied that a small stock investment for a multibillionaire cant actually be a conflict of interest at all.

On whether Dakota, Keystone pipelines would benefit Pres. Trump financially, Press Sec. Spicer says by law, he cant have conflicts pic.twitter.com/6GSXTKwu9X  CBS News (@CBSNews) January 24, 2017

Well see how this goes  but it doesnt look good for the people who fought so hard at Standing Rock.

Source: 9 News.

Photo: Getty Images.
Lets not kid ourselves here: Piers Morgan is one of the most powerful voices in media. Hes also a dick.

The man routinely gets off by stirring the pot and causing controversy, largely for the sake of it (people slow down for a car crash, etc), but also appeal to the type of demographics who. actually, Im not sure. I googled who likes Piers Morgan and the first result was an article on alt-right hub Breitbart titled 12 Reasons Why Everyone Hates Piers Morgan. And its not satire.

His recent act? This self-identified feminist who loves women continually and repeatedly undermining the historic Womens March.

e.g.

Im planning a Mens March to protest at the creeping global emasculation of my gender by rabid feminists. Whos with me?  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 21, 2017

Following his many, many remarks, Scottish actor Ewan McGregor yesterday cancelled an appearance on Good Morning Britain after realising that Morgan was one of the hosts and that producers wouldnt acquiesce his request to be interviewed by co-host Susanna Reid only.

Was going on Good Morning Britain, didnt realise @piersmorgan was host. Wont go on with him after his comments about #WomensMarch  Ewan McGregor (@mcgregor_ewan) January 24, 2017

Sorry to hear that @mcgregor_ewan  you should be big enough to allow people different political opinions. Youre just an actor after all.  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 24, 2017

That was, at the time of writing, 12 hours ago. It should be noted that McGregor hasnt tweeted since  he made his point, explained his decision, and refused to engage in the spiralling arguments in his mentions.

Morgan, on the other hand, hasnt STFU about it.

In a column for the Daily Mail, he accused McGregor of being a pedophile-loving hypocrite who holds Trump and Brexit voters in utter contempt, imploring his readers to boycott McGregors movies.

Why? Because McGregor spoke positively of director Roman Polanski in 2010, calling him a legendary filmmaker, one of the best.

Polanski plead guilty to the rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1977, and fled the States to avoid sentencing. McGregor  and every actor and filmmaker who continue to support Polanskis work and honour his achievements  absolutely should be called out for this.



But what youve got here is Morgan licking his wounded pride by waving around an old crime, similar to the way people bring up his role in the phone-hacking scandal to discredit his opinions. (Hey, both sides are guilty here.)

Morgan is also famous for his inability to fess-up when he gets it wrong. Take his comments on the womens march, for example:

It was that it seemed to serve no real purpose other than creating an outlet for women to vent their wrath at the fact Trump beat Hillary Clinton, thus preventing her becoming the first female president.

In fact, the Womens March aligned itself within a number of progressive issues, including reproductive rights, LGBTQIA rights, workers rights, civil rights, disability rights, immigrant rights and environmental rights  all of which is available on its website.

So yeah. The extremely not mad and actually very chill about it all Piers Morgan has spent the last 12 hours continually tweeting that Ewan McGregor is a pedophile-loving hypocrite. Because he didnt appear on his show.

Ive got a feeling peoples opinion of womens rights hero @mcgregor_ewan might dramatically change when they read my new column. pic.twitter.com/SO3lygD6wD  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 24, 2017

Not mad at all.

NEW: Ewan McGregor hates the way Trump treats women but loves Roman Polanski who raped a 13-yr-old girl.

My column: https://t.co/JzM8ikcIJp pic.twitter.com/PuAqAeqsRF  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 24, 2017

Like honestly its fine.

Damn, forgot to run my column past @mcgregor_ewan.

I know how he likes to approve peoples opinions. https://t.co/JzM8ikcIJp pic.twitter.com/GDkcNwORM2  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 24, 2017

No Im fine.

We were going to talk about his film but if he wanted to take me on over the march, he should have had the balls to do it on air. https://t.co/xvgEzxXRfl  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 24, 2017

Hes also been retweeting accounts with less than 100 followers  always a sure sign that youre seeking validation wherever you can find it.

@mcgregor_ewan @piersmorgan Ewan, youre the father of 4 girls, but fawn all over man who raped & sodomized 13 year old girl. Shame on you.  Nina (@ninamarie60) January 24, 2017

And retweeting articles about Ewan McGregors walkout, because he just cannot let even one thing go.

Yeah, and I just called HIM out for his child rapist loving hypocrisy. https://t.co/JzM8ikcIJp https://t.co/o7AZyW2k8x  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 24, 2017

And Im not having any of his pro-feminist claptrap given his support for child rapist Polanski. https://t.co/r8xuf3ZRB5  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 24, 2017

And continuing to discredit the entire womens march because Madonna made an ill-advised joke about blowing up the White House (which she has since clarified was a metaphor and one that was taken out of context).

Madonna stood up for bombing the White House.

Thats important, too. https://t.co/HM8fQdGIxX  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 24, 2017

And making fun of peoples Twitter avatars.

Christ mate, are you actually dead in that profile pic? https://t.co/IKrRMul5fB  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 24, 2017

And again proclaiming himself to be the best type of feminist.

I grew up around many strong, feisty, opinionated, independent women who never felt inferior to men. They find rabid feminism absurd too.  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 24, 2017

And  and this is the really insulting one  INSINUATING THAT STAR WARS EPISODES IIII ARE THE ONLY STAR WARS MOVIES. Buddy. Can I introduce you to a little known film called The Empire Strikes Back??

Now you all know why Ive never watched a single Star Wars movie.  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 24, 2017

And oh god, its exhausting. Honestly, just go to bed.

Photo: Getty / Alberto E. Rodriguez.
The only thing worse for an actor than not being nominated for an Oscar is being named as a nominee, then having it rescinded quickly after everyone realises it was actually an error.

Pray for Tom Hanks and Amy Adams, who were named on the Oscars website as Best Actor and Best Actress nominees despite the fact they were absolutely not up for the awards.

Why are Amy Adams and @tomhanks in the list of nominees (and not Ruth Negga and Lucas Hedges) at @TheAcademy website? #OscarNoms #Oscars2017 pic.twitter.com/7u9easmk5v  Arturo Aguilar (@aguilararturo) January 24, 2017

You can see how they made the error with Adams at least, given that Arrival is up for a bajillion other awards. Sully, not so much. Sorry Tom.

The Oscars released a statement later in the morning after the issue was corrected apologising for the error.

This morning, in an attempt to release breaking news as announced, ABC Digital briefly posted inaccurate nomination information on the Oscar.com website. The nominees announced by the Academy on Twitter were accurate. ABC quickly identified and corrected the errors. We apologise to the Academy, press and fans for any confusion.

Cue Tom Hanks and Amy Adams screaming into their pillow for the next day, I assume.

Source: Oscars.

Photo: Sully.
NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, the former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., reminds investors that they have until March 27, 2017 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Mallinckrodt Public Limited Company (NYSE:MNK), if they purchased the Companys securities between November 25, 2014 and January 18, 2017, inclusive (the Class Period). The action is pending in United States District Court for the District of Columbia.



What You May Do

If you purchased securities of Mallinckrodt and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com). If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by March 27, 2017.

About the Lawsuit

The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Mallinckrodt and its CEO, Mark Trudeau, made a series of false and misleading statements and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the long-term sustainability of Mallinckrodts revenues for HP Acthar Gel (Acthar), the only FDA-approved adrenocorticotropic hormone preparation. The action alleges that Acthars monopoly status was the product of unlawful anticompetitive practices and failed to disclose that its increasing reliance on Medicare and Medicaid meant that Mallinckrodts monopolistic Acthar revenue would be threatened if the government took action to limit the price paid for this drug by taxpayers.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include the Former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.
One minute, a 53-year-old high school music teacher in western Pennsylvania was practicing a number with a group of students. The next moment, he collapsed due to what authorities are describing as a medical emergency that proved fatal, WPXI in Pittsburgh is reporting.

Now, the school, Leechburg High School in Armstrong County, Pa., is in mourning, with extra grief counselors on hand for stunned students, WPXI reports, adding:

The stricken teacher, identified as David Ritzel, 53, of Monroeville, was pronounced dead at a hospital after suffering the medical emergency in his music class at around 1:20 p.m. Tuesday.

At the time, he was helping some music students practice for a performance before the school board that evening, school officials tell WPXI. He then collapsed and was unresponsive.

Students were praised for immediately seeking help for their stricken teacher, Superintendent Tiffany Nix told WPXI.

Alas, the medical emergency proved fatal, with Ritzel pronounced dead at a hospital around 3 p.m. the same day.

His exact cause of death hasn't been announced.
Allman Brothers Band

In this photo provided by StarPix, MSG Entertainment announced Monday, Nov. 22, 2010 that The Allman Brothers Band will return to the Beacon Theatre in New York City and perform eight shows beginning March 10 through March 19, 2011. Pictured from left to right, Gregg Allman, Jaimoe and Butch Trucks from the band. (AP Photo/Amanda Schwab/StarPix)

(AMANDA SCHWAB)

Butch Trucks, legendary drummer and founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, died Tuesday evening in West Palm Beach, Fla., his booking agent confirmed to Rolling Stone.

He was 69.

"I'm heartbroken," Gregg Allman said in a statement. "I've lost another brother and it hurts beyond words. Butch and I knew each other since we were teenagers and we were bandmates for over 45 years. He was a great man and a great drummer and I'm going to miss him forever. Rest In Peace Brother Butch."

Allman Brothers Band -- which created an annual festival in Scranton each August (Peach Music Festival, or "The Peach") after including the Pennsylvania city consistently on their tour stops over the years -- formed with two drummers. Trucks, along with drummer and percussionist Jai "Jaimoe" Johnny Johanson, laid that foundation.

"The Trucks and Allman Brothers Band families request all of Butch's friends and fans to please respect our privacy at this time of sadness for our loss," Trucks' rep said in a statement. "Butch will play on in our hearts forever."

The Allman Brothers band perform in 1972 in front of a television audience. The musicians, from left are, Chuck Leavell, keys; Jamoie Johanson, drums; Dickey Betts, lead and slide guitar; Berry Oakley, bass; Butch Trucks, drums and percussion. (AP Photo)

The band was formed in Jacksonville, Fla., in 1969 by brother Duane Allman (slide guitar and lead guitar) with Gregg Allman (vocals, organ, songwriting), Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Trucks and Jaimoe. The Southern rock band is also a favorite on the jam band circuit.

Trucks was born Claude Hudson Trucks in Jacksonville on May 11, 1947. He started playing drums in the eighth grade and joined Jacksonville's Englewood High School band, according to Skydog: The Duane Allman Story. Rolling Stone reported that his parents were strict Baptists and refused to buy him a drum kit of his own until 11th grade when he promised never to play in an establishment that served liquor.

Trucks and the Allman brother met at a gig in Daytona Beach -- three years later, they formed the band. They broke up and re-formed three times in the four decades since, and for the last stretch (1999 to 2014), they brought in Trucks' nephew, Derek, to play guitar. Derek is married to Susan Tedeschi, and they tour as the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Tedeschi Trucks Band was part of the 2014 Peach lineup, along with Allman Brothers.

The band -- along with Trucks -- were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Butch went solo without the Allmans and also formed a new group, Butch Trucks and the Freight Train Band. There were shows booked for spring, but Trucks played his last show Jan. 6.

In an interview with Rolling Stone last year, Trucks talked about the Allmans and headliners, and how it was unexpected.

"We were in another universe," he said. "We were out spreading the gospel of this music we had discovered. We never thought that we would be more than an opening act. Atlantic Records was riding our ass constantly to get Gregg out from behind the organ, stick a salami down his pants and jump around the stage like Robert Plant. ... 'We're playing this for ourselves. We've tried it your way before. We didn't make any money and we had a miserable time.'

"[By the time of the Fillmore East show], we decided, 'OK, we don't care if we don't make any money. We're having the time of our lives,'" he continued. "Little by little, people started understanding what we were doing. But it had to start with us. Once the crowd got in and we could feed on their energy, we'd feed it back to them."
The television and film actress, who starred as a single working woman in the groundbreaking "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and as a homemaker and mother in "The Dick Van Dyke Show," died Wednesday, her publicist told The Associated Press.

Moore died with her husband and friends nearby, said Mara Buxbaum, her publicist, according to the AP. She was 80.

BREAKING: Mary Tyler Moore has died, her spokesperson says pic.twitter.com/RqWiaY4Hg6  Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) January 25, 2017

She was known for her roles in siticoms, such as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," in which she starred as Mary Richards, single woman in her 30s working as a Minneapolis local news producer, and in "The Dick Van Dyke Show," in which she played Laura Petrie, a dancer-turned-suburban homemaker and mother. Moore won seven Emmys.

She also starred in 1967's "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and 1980's "Ordinary People," for which she gained a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She played an affluent mother whose son is accidentally killed.

Moore was born Dec. 29, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York, to George Tyler Moore and Marjorie Hackett Moore. She was the eldest of three children in the Catholic family, which moved to Los Angeles when Moore was 8. She began acting and dancing in high school and got her start in show business doing commercials -- she played a home appliance named "Happy Hotpoint" in the mid-1950s, according to bio.com.

After working in several variety shows, she landed a role in "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" in 1959. Then in 1961, she landed the role of Laura Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," winning Emmys in 1964 and 1966 (the year the show ended). She also made her film debut in 1961 with "X-15," an aviation drama starring Charles Bronson, and took several film roles before returning to television with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in 1970. She won Emmys for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in 1973, 1974 and 1976 for the show, which ended in 1977.

Her production company, which produced "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," also produced her company produced programs including "The Bob Newhart Show" (which ran from 1972 to 1978); "Taxi" (1978-1982); "Hill Street Blues" (1981-1987); Remington Steele (1982-1987); "Cheers" (1982-1993); and "Mary Tyler Moore" spinoffs "Rhoda" (1974-78), "Phyllis" (1975-77), and "The Lou Grant Show" (1977-1982).

Moore married three times: Richard Meeker in 1955 -- they have a son, Richard; television executive Grant Tinker in 1962; Robert Levine in 1983. Her son, Richard, died from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1980.

Moore struggled with alcoholism and checked herself into the Betty Ford Clinic in the 1980s. In her early 30s, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and became a spokeswoman for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

She was also active with the Farm Sanctuary, and she founded Broadway Barks with Bernadette Peters in 1999 to promote pet adoptions from shelters.
monica 2.jpg

Monica Lamping and her two children, Kai, 7, and Oria, 9 months, were found safe days after being reported missing.

(City of Virginia Beach)

A Virginia woman missing with her two children has been found.

Monica Lamping, 29, and her children, 9-month-old Oria, and Kai, 7, were reported missing from Virginia Beach on Sunday, a few hours after she went on a blind date and her home burned down, said Kevin Lamping, Monica's ex-husband and Kai's father.

The Virginia-Pilot reports Wednesday morning that Monica Lamping left willingly and won't be charged.

LOCATED - Monica Lamping & her 2 children have been located SAFE in an adjoining state. @CityofVaBeach https://t.co/WZdkmS4yHh pic.twitter.com/Fu9XZy7ViQ  Virginia Beach PD (@VBPD) January 25, 2017

The fire at her house was sparked by a space heater early Sunday, Kevin told PennLive Tuesday night, as he and his wife Moira Lamping, who's from Middle Paxton Township, worked with police and media to spread the word about the disappearance.

Monica's Jeep Cherokee reportedly was tracked heading into Portsmouth, Va., around 2 a.m. Sunday, about two hours before emergency crews responded to the fire call at her home. The fire is under investigation.

Kevin said he recently won physical custody of his son in court, but he and Monica split time with their son nearly equally. A member of the Navy, Kevin said he was on a boat off the coast of Florida when he found out his son disappeared.
secretservice.jpeg

Secret Service agents protecting Donald Trump following a scare at a campaign rally last fall.

(Associated Press)

A U.S. Secret Service agent is expected to be called onto the carpet over several Facebook postings, including one suggesting she wouldn't be willing to "take a bullet" for Donald Trump.



Kerry O'Grady is the special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Denver district, which plays a role in coordinating local visits by the president and other administration members, according to news organizations including the Washington Examiner.



O'Grady has been a government employee for more than 20 years. She made the posts last fall before the election of Trump, but they have only recently come to light.



According to a screenshot of a Facebook post the Washington Examiner said was made by O'Grady, she wrote she would "take jail time over a bullet or an endorsement for what I believe to be a disaster to this country an the strong and amazing woman and minorities who reside here." The post didn't actually name Trump.



The Examiner noted that Secret Services employees are protected by the Hatch Act, which prevents most federal employees from advocating for or against a candidate.



Another of her Facebook posts appears to endorse Hillary Clinton.



The Washington Examiner reported that O'Grady provided this statement:



"I serve this country with pride and I proudly diligently and fiercely protect and support the institutions and pillars of our republic established by the very same document that allows my free expression. I do so with every fiber of my being for the very reason that those institutions are in place to guarantee my right and the rights of all our citizens to voice and express our opinions and beliefs even when and especially when those values may be contrary to those of the party in power. My devotion to mission and country is only strengthened by the fact that the founders recognize the value of dissent and the freedom to assemble and voice those opposing convictions.



"They enshrine those rights for future generations so we avoid the path of authoritarian regimes that shackle their people with fear."
Trump Inauguration Protests

A parked limousine burns during a demonstration after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, in Washington. 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 Photo/John Minchillo)

(John Minchillo)

Some 33 Pennsylvania residents were arrested for rioting in Washington, D.C., during President Donald Trump's inauguration.

The Pennsylvania suspects hailed from cities and towns including Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Mechanicsburg, Harrisburg and Erie, according to the district's Metropolitan Police Department,

UPDATED - Protestors Charged With Rioting at Presidential Inauguration by PennLive on Scribd

Those suspects represented 33 of some 230 total individuals who were arrested and charged with rioting after protests during Trump's inauguration ceremony on Friday turned violent.

The resulting damage included a destroyed limousine, broken store windows and police injured by objects thrown by members of the crowd as well.

Police used tear gas, pepper spray and percussion grenades to control unruly protesters, reports indicated.

The Washington Post, in its reporting on the Friday protests, said those arrested included 70 from the district, Maryland or Virginia, "with the remainder from 24 other states, including large groups from New York and Pennsylvania."

News reports also said the majority of protests seen in D.C. during the inaugural weekend and during the inauguration itself were non-violent.

Of the 230 arrested, there are also a number of people who dispute the circumstances surrounding their arrests, including a number of journalists. All are innocent until proven guilty.

UPDATE: This article has been updated to include the final paragraph.
dauphincountyprison.jpg

Unidentified prisoners can be seen through a glass-block window during a tour of the Dauphin County Prison with Warden Dominick L. DeRose, May 1, 2015

(Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com)

The ACLU says it may renew legal action against Pennsylvania in the coming months over concerns the state has violated a settlement agreement to curb excessive delays in hospitalizing seriously mentally ill inmates and defendants.

Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, says that despite actions taken by the Department of Human Services over the past year, Pennsylvania's state hospitals continue to have the worst backlog in the nation, leaving psychotic individuals to wait hundreds of days in county prisons before they can receive treatment.

"Whatever they are doing is not enough," Walczak said. "There needs to be more done."

Federal courts have ruled that it shouldn't take longer than seven days to transfer people in the criminal justice system to state hospital beds for urgent psychiatric treatment. In Pennsylvania however, wait times for beds at Torrance and Norristown state hospitals - the two facilities that handle those patients - are far longer.

According to statistics from the Department of Human Services, patients waited an average of 76 days for beds at Torrance in December.

Meanwhile, patients waited an average of 238 days for beds at Norristown over the past six months, according to data from the ACLU.

In its settlement with the ACLU last January, the Department of Human Services agreed to create 120 new "treatment slots" for those on the waiting list who needed less intensive treatment. The state also began rotating existing patients into those alternative beds to free up room.

Dennis Marion, deputy secretary of the department's office of mental health and substance abuse, says that initiative worked to an extent: more patients are now moving through the system than a year ago.

But Marion concedes that wait times are largely unchanged and said the department doesn't know why.

"I don't have a singular answer at this point," he said. "We are analyzing it, we have received updated data on the waitlist."

Marion speculated that it could be due to rising numbers of defendants and inmates who require psychiatric hospitalizations. Or, he said, it could be that some patients are taking longer to treat, meaning they're taking up beds for longer.

Marion said the department had a number of plans to create more alternative placements to free up room in the state hospitals to reduce wait-times.

That includes an initiative, announced this month, to close the civil section at Norristown State Hospital - intended for people not in the criminal justice system - and convert some of those beds to "transitional beds". Patients who no longer need intensive treatment will then be stepped down to those beds from the criminal section.

"We are taking the steps that we believe will bring the waitlist down in the way we need to," Marion said.

But the ACLU of Pennsylvania, while pleased with many of the department's actions, isn't confident that its current plans will reduce wait-times to constitutionally appropriate levels.

Walczak, the ACLU's legal director, said his organization is also frustrated that the state hadn't yet analyzed why wait-times aren't improving.

"There's an answer," he said. "There's a way to figure out why that's happening - they haven't begun the requisite analysis."

Meanwhile, some are concerned that the department's actions have created new problems.

Todd Haskins, vice president of operations for PrimeCare Medical, a prison health care contractor, is concerned by a new procedure the state created last year to move certain patients ahead of others on the waiting list.

The department says this system was created to transfer particularly mentally ill inmates into the state hospitals faster.

But Haskins said, based on his observations, the opposite has happened: less sick patients are jumping ahead of sicker patients on the waitlist.

There are typically two ways for a mentally ill person in Pennsylvania's criminal justice system to be transferred to a state hospital: either they are found incompetent to stand trial and need to be restored to competency or, alternatively, they are being held in a county prison - either awaiting trial or already sentenced - and require hospitalization because they are intensely psychotic.

Haskins said that because the ACLU's lawsuit appears to have only focused on the former group, known as "402 commitments", and not the latter group, known as "304 commitments", those inmates have been prioritized.

The problem, said Haskins, is that he believes the latter group usually has a more dire need for treatment.

"I believe the most acute people are on a 304 basis and they are the ones waiting longer," he said.

Rachel Kostelac, press secretary for the Department of Human Services, said that the department only expedited transfers for a small number of patients last year.

Even then, regardless of whether they were expedited or not, she said the department did not give preferential treatment to 402 commitments over 304 commitments.

"This is not true," Kostelac said in a statement. "The department moves patients chronologically based upon their place on the waiting list."

Regardless of how effectively the state's new system is working, it's clear that most patients still face excessively long wait-times, according to data compiled by the ACLU.

Roughly 200 patients are currently waiting for beds at Torrance and Norristown, which collectively have about 200 beds.

Over the past six months, 12 patients waited more than a year for beds at Norristown, including one man who was admitted in September after 581 days.

For those working on the ground, such as Mike Carey, deputy warden for Cumberland County Prison, there has been no discernible difference in wait-times since a year ago.

The system, he said, is as broken as it ever was.

"The whole point is urgent care is needed," he said. "No one can tell me, if urgent care is needed, 90 to 100 days is reasonable."

[Editor's note: This story was updated to provide more information about the Department of Human Service's plan to reduce wait times]
nuclear-power-plant-70893_960_720.jpg

Stock photo via Pixabay

A self-described "anti-nuclear advocacy group" is calling for operations to be suspended at a Pa. nuclear power plant amid concerns about potentially defective parts and a scandal involving documents falsified by the French manufacturer of those parts.

According to the advocacy group, Beyond Nuclear, the concerns involve parts manufactured and imported from Areva's Le Creusot Forge in France, which is currently "at the center of an international nuclear safety controversy," a statement from the group reads. The full statement is included below.

Beyond Nuclear identifies 17 affected units at U.S. nuclear power plant sites. They include units at First Energy's Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in Shippingport, Beaver County, located 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. Middletown's Three Mile Island plant is not included on that list.

Petition for Emergency Enforcement Action - Beyond Nuclear by PennLive on Scribd

Jennifer Young, a First Energy spokesperson, confirmed the presence of Le Creusot parts at the Beaver Valley plant, but added: "We have not been notified that any components at Beaver Valley associated with the Creusot Forge are affected by safety, technical or quality challenges. We will take appropriate actions if they are recommended in the future."

Young said the unit containing the parts in question -- subcomponents in a replacement reactor head and steam generators -- has been in operation with those parts for a decade. She said First Energy is also routinely testing metal samples from the reactor core to ensure the integrity of those component parts.

But Beyond Nuclear and other petitioners are now calling on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to take emergency enforcement action requiring emergency shutdowns of such plants pending the "enhanced inspections of at-risk components along with material testing of surplus material taking [sic] from the component."

The NRC posted this update on the issue earlier this month, in which it downplayed any Areva-related safety concerns.

"Because there are no immediate safety concerns, there is no justification for the NRC to order plants to shut down and inspect components, as some groups have suggested," the Jan. 10 post reads. "Should new information raise a specific safety concern, the agency will take appropriate action."

The NRC, in an email to PennLive on Wednesday, said there remain no known safety concerns with plants using the parts, but that it will "continue to independently evaluate any potential effects" on those facilities.

Meanwhile, groups like Beyond Nuclear continue to raise the alarm, pointing to an ongoing Paris probe into allegedly falsified documents at Areva's Le Creusot foundry and questions about the extent of U.S. vetting of incoming components and parts from the company.

"The NRC cannot reasonably rely upon paper reviews of potentially defective reactor components here in the U.S. to assure our public safety," said Paul Gunter, Director of the Reactor Oversight Project at Beyond Nuclear.

"We are asking the NRC to initiate the same level of scrutiny with enhanced component inspections and materials testing as is ongoing at European reactors with these at-risk components," Gunter added.

The group's concerns involve possible defects with Areva-made parts in use at a handful of nuclear sites nationwide, including Beaver Valley. This after the group says testing revealed the parts were at risk of fracturing and therefore a public safety concern. But the NRC maintains that Areva components supplied to U.S. plants have "performed well and inspections during their operating life have revealed no safety issues" thus far.

UPDATE: This article has been updated to correct the amount of time subcomponent parts from Areva and the Creusot Forge have been in place at First Energy's Beaver Valley plant. The article has also been updated to include additional comment from the NRC.

Activists call for temporary shutdown of Pa. nuclear power plant amid safety concerns by PennLive on Scribd
David Irvin.png

David Irvin

(Provided photo)

Apparently, David Irvin didn't learn the first time he was sent to prison for selling heroin.



So a Dauphin County judge reinforced that lesson this week by sending the 26-year-old Harrisburg man back to jail for 4 1/2 to 10 years on his second drug dealing conviction.



Irvin came before President Judge Richard A. Lewis after being convicted by a county jury of selling heroin to a police informant twice in September 2015.



Deputy District Attorney Ryan Shovlin said Irvin was arrested a month after being paroled from a prison term he served for dealing drugs in Cumberland County. His 2015 arrest in Harrisburg's Allison Hill section came while Irvin was living in a state halfway house, Shovlin said.



People like Irvin are fueling the heroin epidemic, the prosecutor said, because they make it "easier to get than a loaf of bread."



OD deaths again rise last year, with fentanyl and 'elephant tranquilizer' growing problems
philadelphia police

A U.S. appeals court has found that a man who claims he was abused by Philadelphia police waited too long to file a lawsuit.

A federal judge wasn't being racist when he dismissed a street vendor's rambling $900 million police brutality lawsuit against Philadelphia, a U.S. appeals court has ruled.



Instead, the judges on the panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit sided with their colleague's finding that David B. Cassel had waited far too long to file his complaint against the city.



What killed Cassel's suit is the fact that he filed it in U.S. Eastern District Court last year,even thought the main alleged incident he complains about occurred in the summer of 2003, the appeals judges found. They noted in an opinion issued this week that a two-year statute of limitations applies to such cases, so Cassel missed the filing deadline by 11 years.



District Court Judge Mark A. Kearney's dismissal ruling rested on that legal math, the appeals judges concluded in rejecting Cassel's claim that Kearney's decision was racist.



Cassell's handwritten filings in the case are hard to discern and lacking in detail. He claims he came to the U.S. from Africa in 2001 and had his first run-in with police over where he parked his water ice cart. He claims to have been beaten and falsely arrested repeatedly by city police.



Although he gave no specifics about other supposed incidents, Cassell claims to have been a victim of police abuse periodically through 2015. "Every summer I get harassed by officers," Cassell contended in his failed suit.




NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, reminds investors in Banc of California, Inc. (Banc of California or the Company) (NYSE:BANC) of the March 24, 2017 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action lawsuit filed against the Company and certain officers.

The lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of all those who purchased Banc of California securities between October 29, 2015 and January 20, 2017 (the Class Period). The case, Fernando X. Garcia v. Banc of California, Inc. et al, No. 8:17-cv-00118 was filed on January 23, 2017, and has been assigned to Judge Cormac J. Carney.

The lawsuit focuses on whether the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose: (1) that the Company had extensive ties to Jason Galanis (Galanis) and that given Galanis history, the Companys ties to Galanis created significant regulatory risk; (2) that the revelation of Galanis ties to the Company could cause a considerable decline in the market price of the Companys securities; (3) that the Companys communications to investors regarding the Seeking Alpha investigation was misleading; and (4) as a result, the Companys statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

Specifically, on October 18, 2016, a contributor on Seeking Alpha published an article entitled, BANC: Extensive Ties To Notorious Fraudster Jason Galanis Make Shares Un-Investible. The article alleged, among other things, that the Companys senior-most officers and board members had ties to Galanis. According to the article, Galanis has a long history of secretly gaining control of banks and public companies via front men, looting assets, and leaving unsuspecting investors and taxpayers with hundreds of millions in losses.

On this news, Banc of Californias share price fell from $15.87 on October 17, 2016 to a closing price of $11.26 on October 18, 2016 a $4.61 or a 29.05% drop.

Then, on January 23, 2017, the Company announced its CEO had resigned and that the Securities and Exchange Commission had opened an investigation into whether the Company had misled investors.

On this news, Banc of Californias share price fell from $16.15 on January 20, 2017 to a closing price of $14.65 on January 23, 2017a $1.50 or a 9.29% drop.

Request more information now by clicking here: www.faruqilaw.com/BANC. There is no cost or obligation to you.

Take Action

If you invested in Banc of California stock, options or bonds between October 29, 2015 and January 20, 2017 and would like to discuss your legal rights, visit www.faruqilaw.com/BANC. You can also contact us by calling Richard Gonnello toll free at 877-247-4292 or at 212-983-9330 or by sending an e-mail to rgonnello@faruqilaw.com. Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding Banc of Californias conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others.

The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class that is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.

Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner.
A Bradford County man accused of illegally bartering for a bald eagle skull was ordered to pay more than $1,500 in fines and costs by a Lancaster County judge.

John E. Palfreyman, 63, was charged last year with trading a river otter skull for an eagle skull possessed by undercover federal agents, at the Adamstown Rod & Gun Club Aug. 29, 2015, Lancaster district attorney's office said.

Palfreyman was convicted last year in district court of summary counts of bartering game and violation of the federal migratory bird act filed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

He appealed the summary conviction and a hearing was held Monday in Lancaster County Court. But Palfreyman, after hearing potential penalties upon conviction, withdrew his appeal. Judge Howard Knisely told Palfreyman he faces up to a year in prison and a $5,000 fine if convicted on one of the counts, said the district attorney.

Palfreyman decided to withdraw his appeal, and he was ordered to pay the original $1,519 fine and costs ordered at the prior hearing.
Monica Lamping.png

Police have issued a missing and endangered alert for Monica Lamping, 29, ex-wife of Kevin Lamping, and their 7-year-old son, Kai, who were reported missing from their Virginia Beach home early Sunday. Monica Lamping's 9-month-old daughter, Oria, also has been reported missing. Police said Monica and her children disappeared under 'suspicious circumstances' shortly after she went on a blind date, and not long before her home burned down.

(Submitted by Kevin Lamping)

Update: The three have been found safe

A Virginia woman and her young children have disappeared under what police have deemed 'suspicious circumstances.' And the military has flown the son's father home to help with the search.

Monica Lamping, 29, was last heard from around midnight Sunday, and was traveling in a 2002 Jeep Cherokee with her two children, 9-month-old Oria, and Kai, 7, police said.

Lamping was reported missing around midnight Sunday, a few hours after she went on a blind date with a man named "Chad" and her home burned down, said Kevin Lamping, Monica's ex-husband and Kai's father.

Kai and Kevin Lamping

The house fire was sparked by a space heater early Sunday, Kevin told PennLive Tuesday night, as he and his wife Moira Lamping, a midstate native from Middle Paxton Township, worked with police and media to spread the word about the disappearance.

No one was home when the blaze ignited, but two pets died in the fire, Kevin said. Police said they could not immediately confirm whether the fire stemmed from the disappearance of Monica and her children.

Monica's Jeep Cherokee reportedly was tracked heading into Portsmouth, Virginia, around 2 a.m. Sunday morning, which is about two hours before emergency crews responded to a fire call at her home.

Before she disappeared, loved ones said Monica told a friend that the man she went on a blind date with was going to help her fix her Jeep the following day. Her cell phone is reportedly dead.

Kevin said he recently won physical custody of his son in court. But he and Monica h split time with their son nearly equally, he said. He said he last spoke with Monica and Kai Saturday, and everything seemed fine.

He said would be "extremely out of character" for Monica to take off with her children to raise them on her own, Kevin said. However, given the circumstances, Kevin said that would be the best scenario.

A member of the Navy, Kevin said he was on a boat off the coast of Florida when he found out his son disappeared. He can't help but think about what the worst case scenario is.

"Worst case scenario, this Chad guy has taken them, and we have no idea where they are and I have no idea what his intentions are," he said. "Worst case scenario is that I'm not going to see my son again."

Monica Lamping was last seen driving a green 2002 Jeep Cherokee with Virginia tags XPU-6357. Anyone with information regarding her whereabouts is asked to call the Virginia Beach Police Department at 757-385-5000.
PORTSMOUTH, N.H., Jan. 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sprague Resources LP (Sprague) (NYSE:SRLP) announced today that its operating subsidiary, Sprague Operating Resources LLC, has signed a definitive agreement to purchase the East Providence, Rhode Island refined product terminal asset of Capital Terminal Company (Capital) for $23 million in cash at closing. The terminals combined distillate storage capacity of just over 1 million barrels has been leased exclusively by Sprague since April 2014 and was previously included in the companys total storage capacity of 14.2 million barrels.



In conjunction with the purchase agreement, Sprague also announced today that it will invest $8 million to convert half of the terminals storage capacity to gasoline and ethanol service in order to create a new revenue stream at the facility in addition to Spragues existing proprietary distillate marketing business. The expansion investment will be supported by a new long term gasoline storage and handling agreement with a large multi-national supplier operating an extensive proprietary branded distribution business. The fee-for-service gasoline contract is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2017, contains ratable take or pay revenue guarantees and does not require Sprague to take title to any of the gasoline inventory held by its customer.

In addition to the purchase and investment in Spragues new East Providence terminal, the company announced a $3 million expansion capital investment to optimize distillate storage and expand the materials handling business at its existing Providence facility. Cash flows from the gasoline services agreement and increased materials handling in Providence are expected to begin following the conversion projects completion in the third quarter of 2017. The transaction is expected to be accretive to distributable cash flow and ramp-up to approximately $6 million of adjusted EBITDA annually as minimum handling volumes increase over the first five years. Sprague intends to fund the transaction with borrowings from its senior secured credit facility; closing is expected to occur within thirty days.

I am excited to announce the latest example of our acquisition strategy in action, said David Glendon, President and Chief Executive Officer. The Capital terminal has given a boost to Spragues distillate marketing activities in Providence over the past two years, and we are thrilled to convert our status from tenant to owner of this high quality terminal and welcome the site employees to the Sprague team. We are looking forward to investing in the terminal and diversifying the product mix to include more ratable gasoline handling services, eventually making East Providence the highest volume gasoline facility in our system. Our ability to finance the upgrade at a low effective multiple by simultaneously signing a long term take-or-pay contract demonstrates our teams ability to think creatively and uncover additional value inherent in our asset base.

Sprague has updated its investor relations website with slides containing additional information regarding the pending acquisition. The presentation can be accessed from Spragues website at http://www.spragueenergy.com/investor-relations.

About Sprague Resources LP

Sprague Resources LP is engaged in the purchase, storage, distribution and sale of refined petroleum products and natural gas. The company also provides storage and handling services for a broad range of materials. More information concerning Sprague can be found at www.spragueenergy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond managements control. Although Sprague believes that the assumptions underlying these statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and involve risks that may affect our business prospects and performance causing actual results to differ from those discussed in the foregoing release. Such risks and uncertainties include, by way of example and not of limitation: increased competition for our products or services; changes in supply or demand for our products; changes in operating conditions and costs; changes in the level of environmental remediation spending; potential equipment malfunction; potential labor issues; the legislative or regulatory environment; terminal construction/repair delays; nonperformance by major customers or suppliers; and political and economic conditions, including the impact of potential terrorist acts and international hostilities. These and other applicable risks and uncertainties have been described more fully in Spragues most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 10, 2016, and in our subsequent Form 10-Q filings, as well as Form 8-K and other documents filed with the SEC. Sprague undertakes no obligation and does not intend to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information or future events. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement the financial information presented in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Spragues management uses certain non-GAAP financial measurements to evaluate its results of operations which include EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted gross margin and distributable cash flow. Sprague believes that investors benefit from having access to the same financial measures that are used by its management and that these measures are useful to investors because they aid in comparing its operating performance with that of other companies with similar operations.

As EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted gross margin and distributable cash flow are measures not prepared in accordance with GAAP they should not be considered as alternatives to net income (loss), or operating income or any other measure of financial performance presented in accordance with GAAP. Additionally, Sprague's calculations of non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other businesses because they may be defined differently by other companies.

You can find disclosures on our use of these non-GAAP measures, as well as reconciliations between GAAP and these non-GAAP measures, in Sprague's "Non-GAAP Measures Quarterly Supplement" located in the Investor Relations section of Spragues website, www.spragueenergy.com.

EBITDA

Sprague defines EBITDA as net income (loss) before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. EBITDA is used as a supplemental financial measure by external users of Spragues financial statements, such as investors, trade suppliers, research analysts and commercial banks to assess:

The financial performance of Spragues assets, operations and return on capital without regard to financing methods, capital structure or historical cost basis;

The ability of our assets to generate sufficient revenue, that when rendered to cash, will be available to pay interest on our indebtedness and make distributions to our equity holders;

Repeatable operating performance that is not distorted by non-recurring items or market volatility; and

The viability of acquisitions and capital expenditure projects.

Distributable Cash Flow

Sprague defines distributable cash flow as adjusted EBITDA less cash interest expense, cash taxes, and maintenance capital expenditures. Distributable cash flow calculations also reflect the elimination of compensation expense expected to be settled with the issuance of Partnership units, expenses related to business combinations and other adjustments. Distributable cash flow is a significant performance measure used by Sprague and by external users of its financial statements, such as investors, commercial banks and research analysts, to compare the cash generating performance of the Partnership in relation to the cash distributions expected to be paid to its unitholders. Distributable cash flow is also an important financial measure for Spragues unitholders since it serves as an indicator of its success in providing a cash return on investment. Additionally, distributable cash flow is utilized as a performance measure in certain of its compensation plans. Distributable cash flow indicates to investors whether or not Sprague can generate performance that can sustain or support an increase in quarterly distribution rates. Distributable cash flow is also a quantitative standard used throughout the investment community with respect to publicly-traded partnerships because the value of a unit of such an entity is generally determined by the unit's yield, which in turn is based on the amount of cash distributions the entity pays to a unitholder.

Expansion Capital Expenditures

Expansion capital expenditures are capital expenditures made to increase the long-term operating capacity of our assets or our operating income whether through construction or acquisition of additional assets. Examples of expansion capital expenditures include the acquisition of equipment and the development or acquisition of additional storage capacity, to the extent such capital expenditures are expected to expand our operating capacity or our operating income.
Brett McCann, left, his wife Mary-Ann McCann, daughter Nicole Walshe and her husband Casey Walshe speak on closed-circuit television from Melbourne, Australia after the sentencing for Travis Vader in Edmonton Alta, on Wednesday January 25, 2017. A judge has sentenced Vader to life in prison for killing two Alberta seniors who disappeared on a camping trip. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Jacques Corriveau arrives at the Montreal courthouse with his lawyer Gerald Souliliere Wednesday, January 25, 2017 in Montreal.The ex-Liberal organizer convicted of fraud related to the federal sponsorship scandal has been given a four-year prison term. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
This image shows a Twitter post from the National Park Service's Death Valley National Park account. The National Park Service employees' Twitter campaign against President Donald Trump has spread to other parks. A day after three climate-related tweets sent out by Badlands National Park were deleted, other park accounts have sent out tweets. Death Valley National Park tweeted photos of Japanese Americans interned there during World War II, a message that some saw as objecting to Trump's pledge to ban Muslims from entering the country and a proposal to restrict the flow of refugees to the United States. A park service spokesman declined to comment on Jan. 25. (National Park Service via AP)
A banner unfurled by Greenpeace demonstrators that reads "Resist" is seen at the construction site of the former Washington Post building, near the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017, after police say protesters climbed a crane at the site refusing to allow workers to work in the area. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Jan. 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PositiveID Corporation (PositiveID) (OTCQB:PSID), a life sciences company focused on detection and diagnostics, today announced that it is scheduled to present at RedChips Global Online Growth Conference on Thursday, January 26, 2016, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The presentation can be viewed at www.RedChip.com. A live Q&A session will follow the investor presentation.



William J. Caragol, PositiveID's Chairman and CEO, will provide an update on PositiveID's molecular diagnostics business including its Firefly Dx real-time pathogen detection system; E-N-G Mobile Systems, its mobile labs business; and Thermomedics, its medical device business, which markets the Caregiver FDA-cleared, non-contact thermometer.

RedChips Global Online Growth Conference brings together investors and executives of leading microcap companies, representing a broad spectrum of industries and sectors, including oil & gas, technology, mining, healthcare, consumer goods, energy, and more. More than 10,000 investors attend RedChips microcap conference series each year.

No registration is required to participate in the conference. Start times are subject to change.

About PositiveID Corporation

PositiveID Corporation is a life sciences tools and diagnostics company with an extensive patent portfolio. PositiveID develops biological detection and diagnostics systems, specializing in the development of microfluidic systems for the automated preparation of and performance of biological assays. PositiveID is also a leader in the mobile technology vehicle market, with a focus on the laboratory market and homeland security. For more information on PositiveID, please visit http://www.psidcorp.com, or connect with PositiveID on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.
Charlevoix closes the door to J-L comeback, earns third straight D3 district title

HARBOR SPRINGS  When the Charlevoix volleyball team took a two-set lead over Johannesburg-Lewiston in their Division 3 district final match Friday, there was no way the Rayders would be celebrating 
Trump to lay out steps on Mexico and national security



Trump to unveil plans for Mexico border wall and limiting refugees' entry

WASHINGTON

Petroleumworld.com 01 25 2017

President Donald Trump plans to unveil actions on national security starting Wednesday that are expected to include steps toward building a wall on the Mexican border and limiting refugee inflows to the U.S., moving to fulfill key promises he made during his election campaign.

Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall! the president wrote Tuesday night in a message on his personal Twitter feed.



Donald J. Trump ?

@realDonaldTrump

Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among

many other things, we will build the wall!

The announcement on the border wall is expected during a Wednesday afternoon visit by the president to the Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency that has primary jurisdiction over securing the border and would carry out most of the other immigration-related steps that Trump talked about in his run for office.

The Mexican peso reversed early gains to drop to a session low against the U.S. dollar after news of Trump's plan emerged.

One of the hallmarks of Trump's presidential run was his pledge to build an impenetrable wall between the U.S. and Mexico to keep out the people taking our jobs and to immediately round up and deport criminal aliens. He repeatedly said he will make the Mexican government pay for it, but may tap existing appropriations for border security at DHS to get the process started. Mexico's government has rejected the notion that they will ever pay for the wall.

Refugee Freeze

Trump's tweet presaged what's expected to be broader moves in the coming days to curb immigration that would include limits on government programs to settle refugees in the U.S. The Trump administration is considering a 120-day suspension on refugee admissions and a reduction in the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. this fiscal year to 50,000 from 110,000, according to a person familiar with the plan.

During his campaign, Trump warned that the U.S. risked allowing extremists to slip into the country as part of the refugee program, pointing to terrorist attacks such as the killing of a French priest and a bombing at a German music festival, as evidence of the danger posed by refugees. He's said Germany's moves to admit hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict were a disaster.

Trump once proposed a temporary ban on all Muslim immigration to the U.S.; after drawing bipartisan criticism, he subsequently proposed blocking immigration from countries with a "proven history" of terrorism. Other than Syria, he had not specified what countries would meet that definition during his campaign.

We're letting people come in from terrorist nations that shouldn't be allowed, Trump said at a campaign rally in September. This could be the great Trojan horse of all time.

Under President Barack Obama, the U.S. focused its refugee admissions on individuals with existing links to America, as well as women and children facing persecution or in desperate need of medical care. The screening process averages 12 to 18 months and includes biometric data and reviews by multiple law enforcement and intelligence agencies.






Erik Dowell was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Americas for InMode



IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- InMode/Invasix, a rapidly expanding professional aesthetic device company, announced Erik Dowell as Chief Executive Officer of the Americas. Mr. Dowell assumes leadership of the companys North & South American sales, marketing, service, logistics and finance.

Moshe Mizrahy, CEO of InMode International Division, comments: Erik is a veteran in the medical aesthetic industry and I am sure that he will bring with him many new ideas and lots of energy to continue our momentum in the market.

Prior to that, Mr. Dowell served as President of the Americas with Syneron Candela since July 2013. With over 18 years of experience in the aesthetic light-based industry, Mr. Dowell held several positions within the company, including Vice President of the EMEA region (2010 - July 2013), Vice President of North America (2007-2010) and Regional Sales Director in North America (2003-2007). Prior to working for Syneron, Mr. Dowell worked for Coherent/Lumenis laser company from 1999 serving as the Western Regional Manager. Mr. Dowell received a B.A. in Business Management from University of Phoenix. He also completed the Executive Education Programs at the University of Chicago, and Harvard Business School (Harvard University).

About InMode/Invasix

InModes technological advancements have become the new standard for aesthetic medicine, specifically in the radio-frequency aesthetic market. For more than three decades our R&D team was critical in developing state-of-the-art light, laser, and radio-frequency devices, thereby launching and shaping the industry. Our technology continues that legacy in providing superior satisfaction for both the patient and the practice. Learn more about InMode/Invasix technologies by visiting www.inmodemd.com.
Vegan eating has skyrocketed in popularity over the course of recent decades, with more than 1,400 plant-based restaurants opening all across the US. While Philadelphia is historically known for cheesesteaks, countless vegan restaurants now call the city home. This is
ATLANTA, Jan. 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This week, Smithfield Foods Helping Hungry Homes initiative, a program focused on alleviating hunger across the country, joined forces with Publix to donate more than 30,000 pounds of protein to Atlanta Community Food Bank. The donation, which is equivalent to more than 120,000 servings, will help alleviate hunger across the Atlanta Metro area, where one in seven people struggle with hunger.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c969348d-0e87-4aa8-89fb-c9e897c7476d.

Each year, we provide more than 58 million meals to those in need throughout our community, said Kyle Waide, Chief Executive Officer for Atlanta Community Food Bank. We are grateful to Smithfield and Publix for this large protein donation, which allows us to provide our partner agencies with high-quality protein for families across Metro Atlanta & North Georgia.

Representatives from Smithfield and Publix presented the donation to Atlanta Community Food Bank at the event on Monday, Jan. 23. Members from all three organizations spoke about the issue of food insecurity in the local community and the significance of this donation to Georgia, where one in four children live in food insecure households.

At Publix, we are passionate about serving those in need and have taken an active role in the fight against hunger, said Brenda Reid, Media and Community Relations Manager for Publix. Like Smithfield, we have a long-standing relationship with Feeding America and its network of food banks, allowing us to make a true impact on the many communities we call home.

Smithfields donation to Atlanta Community Food Bank followed the kick-off of the 2017 Helping Hungry Homes nationwide hunger-relief tour in Virginia last week. Throughout the annual tour, Smithfield will provide food banks with large-scale protein donations, partnering with local retailers along the way.

We are proud to offer support to Atlanta Community Food Bank and the nearly 800,000 individuals it serves every year, said Dennis Pittman, senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods. Although this donation will positively impact many individuals in the Atlanta area, hunger is a national issue, and we encourage others to join our fight and volunteer at their local food bank.

Helping Hungry Homes, now in its ninth year, will help fight hunger this year through more than 50 large-scale protein donations to food banks across the United States. To date, Helping Hungry Homes has provided more than 49 million servings of protein to food banks across America. For more information about Helping Hungry Homes and a list of upcoming donation events, visit helpinghungryhomes.com.

The tour will visit Community Food Bank of Central Alabama next in Birmingham on Thursday, Jan. 26.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, John Morrell, Cook's, Kretschmar, Gwaltney, Curly's, Margherita, Carando, Healthy Ones, Krakus, Morliny and Berlinki. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.

About Atlanta Community Food Bank

The Atlanta Community Food Bank works to end hunger with the food, people and big ideas needed to ensure our neighbors have the nourishment to lead healthy and productive lives. Far too many people in our own community experience hunger every day, including children, seniors and working families. Through more than 600 nonprofit partners, we help more than 755,000 people get healthy food every year. Our goal is that, by 2025, all hungry people across metro Atlanta and North Georgia will have access to the nutritious meals they need when they need them. It takes the power of our whole community to make that possible. Join us at ACFB.org.

About Publix

Publix is privately owned and operated by its 189,000 employees, with 2015 sales of $32.4 billion. Currently Publix has 1,136 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina. The company has been named one of Fortunes 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for 19 consecutive years. In addition, Publixs dedication to superior quality and customer service is recognized among the top in the grocery business. For more information, visit the companys website, corporate.publix.com.
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- City National Banks Reading is The way up literacy program, in partnership with Barnes & Noble, today announced the donation of new books and cash totaling nearly $ 250,000 to 33 schools and nonprofit organizations in California, Nevada, New York City, and Nashville, Tennessee. The bank also announced that this year marks the 15th Anniversary of its award-winning Reading is The way up literacy program.



In an effort to promote literacy and support local communities, the book donations were part of the 9th Annual Holiday Book Drive last December at Barnes & Noble, the worlds largest book seller, in partnership with the Reading is The way up program at City National.

Customers at 16 Barnes & Noble stores in four states donated 60,000 new books, which City National provided a $120,000 cash donation for additional new books to be purchased through Barnes & Noble by the school librarians at each of the schools and nonprofit organizations receiving books. This years donation also set a new record for the number of books ever donated through the holiday book drive program.

Its very impressive of the number of books Barnes & Noble collected from its customers, said Carolyn Rodriguez, vice president and program administrator for City National. What began nine years ago with Barnes & Noble has grown into a wonderful partnership we have established to help kids develop a love of reading. This is a great example of how collaborative partnerships can help our schools and communities on The Way Up.

The City National and Barnes & Noble Holiday Book Drive ran from November 1 through January 1 and included 16 stores in the four states where the bank has a presence. City National and Barnes & Noble representatives are presenting the books and monetary donations to school administrators at school assemblies and nonprofit groups over the next several weeks. The banks literacy mascot Blue is also taking part in many of these donation presentations.

With this year marking the 15th Anniversary of City Nationals Reading is The way up literacy program, the bank is planning a number of fun and exciting programs to further engage and enhance our educational partnerships to benefit schools and students throughout our footprint, added Rodriguez. We want to develop something very special that reflects the importance of this program and how it helps promote literacy and excellence in education.

About City National

With $47 billion in assets, City National Bank provides banking, investment and trust services through 73 offices, including 16 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville and Atlanta. In addition, the company and its investment affiliates manage or administer $58 billion in client investment assets.

City National is a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), one of North Americas leading diversified financial services companies. RBC serves more than 16 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the United States and 36 other countries.

For more information about City National, visit the companys website at cnb.com.

About Reading is The way up

Originally established to help improve the education of Californias future leaders, City National in April 2002 launched the multi-faceted Reading is The way up initiative to restock the states school library system. The program has since been expanded to include all areas where the bank has a presence. Since its inception, the award-winning program has:

Donated more than 400,000 books to California, Nevada, New York, Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia school libraries.

Awarded more than $1 million to teachers at elementary, middle and high schools for creative literacy projects.

Received the 2005 Presidents Volunteer Service Award, the 2005 Corporate Philanthropy Award from the Los Angeles Public Library, the 2006 Corporate Award from the Getty House Foundation, the Hugh OBrien Youth Leadership Corporate Citizen Award, and honored as the 2007 Corporate Visionary Partner by the Wonder of Reading.

Received the 2013 Innovations Reading Prize Award presented by the National Book Foundation.

Received the 2013 Outstanding Corporation of the Year Award presented by the Clark County School District-Community Partnership Program in Las Vegas, NV.

Received the 2013 Angel Light Foundation Award for excellence in community service and educational outreach presented by the Angel Light Academy in Orange County, CA.

The Reading is the Way up Fund is a 501(c)(3) administered by the California Community Foundation. For more information, visit www.readingisthewayup.org.

Following is a list of schools and nonprofit groups in the four states receiving new books and monetary support from City National and Barnes & Noble:

California



Ocean Knoll Elementary, Encinitas



Paul Ecke Central Elementary, Encinitas



Lake View , Huntington Beach



Childrens Hospital, Los Angeles



Girls Academic Leadership Academy , Los Angeles



Assistance League of Long Beach, Long Beach



St. Cornelius , Long Beach



St. Josephs, Long Beach



Star View Elementary, Midway City



Colette Elementary, Riverside



Erickson Elementary, San Diego



Garfield Elementary, San Diego



Hage Elementary, San Diego



Assistance League of Greater San Diego, San Diego



Reading Partners, San Jose



Family & Children Services, Santa Clara County



Marin Foster Care Association , San Rafael



Opening the World Through Travel, San Rafael



Rio Seco School, Santee



Sycamore Canyon Elementary, Santee



Nevada



C.C. Meneley Elementary, Gardnerville



Fay Herron Elementary, Las Vegas



Lincoln Elementary, North Las Vegas



Foster Youth, Reno



Echo Loder Elementary , Reno



Hidden Valley Elementary, Reno



New York



Hyde Charter Elementary, Bronx



PS 134-Lower Manhattan, New York City



Girls Prep Lower East Side Charter School , New York City



Visiting Nurses Services of New York, New York City



Child Center of New York, Queens



Tennessee


A 20-year-old was fatally shot Tuesday in Winslow Township, authorities said.

Michael Branham, of the township's Sicklerville section, was found shot just before 6 p.m. inside his vehicle along Victoria Manor Court. Police responded on the street after a 911 call.

Branham was taken to Kennedy University Hospital, Washington Township, where he was pronounced dead at 7:10 p.m.

No arrests were made.

Anyone with information is urged to call Camden County Prosecutor's Office Detective Dennis Convery at 856-365-3279 or Winslow Police Detective Darren Dogostino at 609-567-0700.
BURLINGTON COUNTY, N.J., Jan. 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Directors of the Defense Enhancement Coalition (DEC)  an advocacy group dedicated to watchdogging and promoting the viability of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL)  voiced support for the Air Forces recent decision to locate the Air Forces next generation air refueling tankers  the KC-46A at JBMDL. Travis Air Force Base in California was the other selected site. The two were chosen from a final list of five bases in the country.



This is another victory for the long-term viability of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, said Executive Director, Mike Warner. It has been gratifying to work with bi-partisan representatives from both New Jersey and Washington delegations who helped make this possible.

Instrumental in securing the KC-46As, were U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Bookers, as well as Congressmen Tom MacArthur (NJ-3), Chris Smith (NJ-4) and Donald Norcross (NJ-1).

JBMDL is the nations only tri-service joint installation  home to Air Force, Army and Navy Operations  and the second largest employer in New Jersey, spanning both Ocean and Burlington Counties. The DECs statistics underscore JBMDLs economic impact on 35,000 direct military and civilian jobs on base, with another extended combined reach of 100,000 jobs throughout the state.

Warner added: Working in tandem with our elected officials, as well as many, many community and local advocacy groups, we were able to get the job done. This is a critical next step in maintaining the Bases mission-readiness, and ensuring its future.

About the Defense Enhancement Coalition: The Defense Enhancement Coalition (the DEC) is a 501-C6 organization formed in 2013. It formalized a loose coalition of individuals, businesses and various community and municipal groups throughout Ocean and Burlington Counties who mobilized together during the federal governments last Base Realignment and Closure Committee (BRAC) and helped create the consolidation and growth (rather than closure) of what is now Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL), the nations only tri-service military base. The DEC continues this advocacy mission, working to protect and expand JBMDLs mission, strategic military value, and provide opportunities for strong liaisons with active duty personnel, reinforce cost efficiencies through JBMDL purchasing and operations standardizations, and maintain the Base as a key element for future workforce development.
NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against BT Group plc (BT Group or the Company) (NYSE:BT) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and docketed under 17-cv-00558, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired BT Group American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) between May 23, 2013 and January 23, 2017, inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.



If you are a shareholder who purchased BT Group securities during the Class Period, you have until March 27, 2017 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.

[Click here to join this class action]



BT Group is a multinational telecommunications services company that offers fixed-line services, broadband, mobile and TV products and services, and networked IT services in the United Kingdom and across the world. The Company also sells wholesale products and services to communications providers around the world. Globally, BT Group supplies managed networked IT services to multinational corporations, domestic businesses, and national and local government organizations.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the Companys Italian division had for years engaged in improper accounting practices; (ii) as a result, BT Group significantly overstated its earnings throughout the Class Period; (iii) the foregoing facts, when they became known, would foreseeably cause BT Group to cut its revenue, earnings, and free cash flow forecasts; and (iv) as a result of the foregoing, BT Groups public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On October 27, 2016, BT Group announced that the Company had uncovered inappropriate management behavior at its Italian division. BT Group advised investors that the Company had conducted an initial internal investigation which included a review of accounting practices during which we have identified certain historical accounting errors and reassessed certain areas of management judgment. Consequently, the Company announced that it had written down the value of items on the balance sheet by 145 [million]. On this news, BT Groups ADR price fell $0.57, or 2.39%, to close at $23.25 on October 27, 2016.

On January 24, 2017, BT Group issued a news release entitled Update on investigation into BTs Italian business and on BT Group outlook. On this news, BT Groups ADR price fell $5.05, or 20.67%, to close at $19.38 on January 24, 2017.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com
NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ABM (NYSE:ABM), a leading provider of facility solutions, today announced that its Board of Directors has elected Art A. Garcia and Filippo Passerini as independent directors, effective immediately. Committee appointments for Messrs. Garcia and Passerini will be finalized in March 2017.



Maryellen Herringer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ABM said, We welcome Art and Filippo as the newest additions to our board, and look forward to their insights and contributions as ABM continues to execute its transformative 2020 Vision to enhance shareholder value.

Scott Salmirs, President and Chief Executive Officer of ABM, said, Art and Filippo bring extensive business knowledge and executive experience to our strong and diverse board. The election of Art and Filippo demonstrates our commitment to long-term succession planning at the Board level, and attracting high caliber leaders as members of our Board.

Mr. Garcia is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Ryder System, Inc., a publicly-traded commercial fleet and supply chain management solutions company, a position he has held since 2010. Mr. Garcia has held several senior-level positions since joining Ryder in 1997, including the roles of Senior Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer and Group Director of Accounting Services. Prior to joining Ryder, Mr. Garcia spent 14 years with the Miami office of the accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand LLP as Senior Manager of Business Assurance. Mr. Garcia brings extensive business, financial and management experience to the ABM Board of Directors.

Mr. Passerini is an Operating Executive in U.S. Buyouts at Carlyle Group, a position he has held since 2015. Prior to his tenure at the Carlyle Group, Mr. Passerini was an executive at Procter & Gamble, a leading multinational manufacturer of consumer goods, most recently serving as Officer on Special Assignment to the President and CEO of Procter & Gamble. Prior to that, Mr. Passerini served as Procter & Gambles Group President, Global Business Services (GBS) and Chief Information Officer (CIO), respectively. Mr. Passerini joined Procter & Gamble in 1981 and held executive positions globally. Mr. Passerini currently serves on the Board of Directors for Integer Holdings Corporation and United Rentals, Inc. Mr. Passerini brings more than three decades of global experience in operations, information technology, shared services and general management roles to the ABM Board of Directors.

ABOUT ABM

ABM (NYSE:ABM) is a leading provider of facility solutions with revenues of approximately $5.1 billion and over 100,000 employees in 300+ offices throughout the United States and various international locations. ABMs comprehensive capabilities include janitorial, electrical & lighting, energy solutions, facilities engineering, HVAC & mechanical, landscape & turf, mission critical solutions and parking, provided through stand-alone or integrated solutions. ABM provides custom facility solutions in urban, suburban and rural areas to properties of all sizes - from schools and commercial buildings to hospitals, data centers, manufacturing plants and airports. ABM Industries Incorporated, which operates through its subsidiaries, was founded in 1909. For more information, visit www.abm.com.
CLEARWATER, Fla., Jan. 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A coalition of Tampa Bay residents from various religious faiths met on Saturday the 21st of January in the ballroom of the Church of Scientologys Fort Harrison, to come up with New Year resolutions for social issues. About 100 people from Catholic, Muslim, Nation of Islam, Unitarian Universalist, Christian Science, various Christian denominations and Scientology faiths attended.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cddc4eba-0c46-47b4-a4df-124a732517fb

Father Bob Swick, senior chaplain for the Clearwater Police Department, delivered the opening prayer and the Church of Scientologys Flag choir performed two inspirational numbers. Pat Harney, the Public Relations Director for the Church of Scientology was the MC. Special guest speaker was author and motivational speaker Terry Hitchcock, whose life was the subject of an award-winning documentary, My Run, narrated by Academy Award nominee Billy Bob Thornton. Mr. Hitchcock spoke about his lifes exploits to show that Nothing is impossible and how this could be applied to resolving social issues.

The audience was then broken down into panels to discuss drug abuse, crime, education, homelessness and human rights. Facilitators with experience in their subjects were chosen to run the panel.

One pastor said, At one point in the room, you could feel a palpable change where people realized that we need each other, one person can make a difference and when we multiply an effort with more talents, we can discuss things on a bigger level. This is so important and it is the only way to bring change.

At the end of the discussions draft resolutions by the interfaith group were presented by: Terry Hitchcock on the topic of Crime among Youth; Mark Phillips, anti-drug activist on the subject of drug abuse; Alex Melgarejo, Deputy ED of the Clearwater Community Learning Center on the subject of failing schools; Anna Harbour, Church of Scientology representative, on the subject of homelessness and Cristian Vargas, ED of United for Human Rights Florida office on human rights.

Pat Harney reported that throughout the year the coalition will follow up with the actions they recommended and announced the next coalition event will be on the 22nd of February in the Fort Harrison.

The Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization

The Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization is the international religious retreat for Scientologists all over the world. This Clearwater Church makes its historic Fort Harrison available free of charge to nonprofit organizations to hold community events and supports area nonprofits. Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard once said, "On the day when we can fully trust each other there will be peace on Earth."
In anticipation of a series of public meetings  including the first one Tuesday  about the proposed changes to the Denver Police Departments use-of-force policy, The Denver Post sought reviews from criminal justice experts and compared the policy to a set of recommendations endorsed this month by 11 national policing organizations.

Thus far, most of the discussion surrounding the policy has been focused on whether or not Chief Robert White should have sought community input before writing his proposed policy. Among those who have criticized him for excluding people outside the department are the Denver Police Protective Association, the union that represents police officers, and community groups such as the Colorado Latino Forum and the Denver Justice Project.

Overall, criminal justice experts who reviewed the draft policy agreed that Denvers police department is headed in the right direction.

To their credit, they are adjusting to shifting public opinion on police use of force, said Joseph Schafer, chairman of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Southern Illinois University.

Denvers policy contains many of the recommendations included in the National Consensus Policy on Use of Force, which was released Jan. 11 and endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Schafer said.
The City of New York is planning to spend $10.4 million to outfit all NYPD patrol cars with bullet-resistant window inserts, according to City Hall officials.

The plan is expected to be announced Tuesday when Mayor Bill de Blasio unveils an $84.7 billion preliminary fiscal 2018 budget  up 3.1 percent from last years $82.1 billion preliminary plan.

The NYPD began piloting the inserts in 2016, which protect the back portion of the driver and passenger-side windows but dont allow the window to be rolled down, the New York Post reports.

The move followed the killing of two NYPD officers in their patrol vehicle in Brooklyn in late 2014 and the murder of officer Brian Moore in Queens while he rode in an unmarked patrol car.

In July, city officials announced they were allocating $6.8 million to outfit the NYPDs 3,813 patrol cars with bullet-resistant panels that protect the doors.
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After sending out a series of tweets about climate science on Tuesday, the Badlands National Park Twitter account was forced to delete its postings in the midst of a crackdown by the Trump administration on the scientific community.

Luckily, Twitter users captured the tweets before they were taken down:

Democrats were quick to pounce on this in a statement, saying Vladimir Putin would be proud of the Trump administrations Orwellian crackdown on the fact-based community.

Tweet:

That was fast DNC out with statement on the deletion of the Badlands tweets: Vladimir Putin would be proud. pic.twitter.com/xx0PdNd7gp  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 24, 2017

The posts were deleted the same day it was revealed that the Trump administration banned the Environmental Protection Agency from talking to the press or posting updates on social media outlets. Trump also restricted the EPA from giving out any new grants or contracts.

It was also discovered Tuesday that the Department of Agriculture would no longer be able to share its scientific research with the public.

Starting immediately and until further notice, [the Agricultural Research Service] will not release any public-facing documents, ARS Chief of Staff Sharon Drumm wrote in an email to the department, according to Buzzfeed. This includes, but is not limited to, news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content.

These developments come just days after the National Parks Service retweeted an image of President Trumps small inaugural crowd, prompting a quick response from the new administration to restrict the services use of social media.

There is no word yet on whether Donald Trump  who often uses his Twitter account to spew baseless conspiracy theories and throw childish temper tantrums  will ever face any type of restriction on his irresponsible use of social media.

In any case, the next four years will be a difficult time for the scientific community  and any Americans who care about the well-being of the planet.
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President Trump is very upset. According to anonymous White House aides, the womens march gave him bad media coverage, which is preventing him from enjoying the White House like he feels he deserves.

The AP reported:

After relishing in Fridays inaugural festivities, the new president grew increasingly upset the next day by what he felt was biased media coverage of womens marches across the globe protesting his election, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Trump was particularly enraged with CNN, which he thought was gloating by continually running photos of the womens march alongside the smaller crowds that attended his inauguration the day before, according to this person, one of several White House aides and associates who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.

.

The bad press over the weekend has not allowed Trump to enjoy the White House as he feels he deserves, according to one person who has spoken with him.

The President seems to think that the White House is some sort of vacation getaway. The President Of The United States doesnt get to enjoy the White House. He was sent there to do a job, and I am sure that the millions of Americans who protested on Saturday arent sorry at all that they disrupted Trumps enjoyment of his weekend.

Trump was blaming the media for the bad press, but the protests were at the heart of why he was so outraged. The protests drew bigger crowds and got more coverage than he did one day after taking office. While Trump was blaming the media coverage, the reality is that the protests got so much coverage because they were massive and well organized.

Donald Trump isnt grasping the fact that he is working for those millions of people who protested on Saturday. They are his boss. The White House isnt a vacation spot. Trump is not entitled to enjoy his weekend.

The President wants the protesters to stop protesting, and the media to stop covering any protests that happen.

All Trump has accomplished with his most recent outburst was to guarantee that there will be more loud protests and the nations television cameras will be covering them.
saileebh wrote:

Hey,



Please evaluate my profile for ISB:



Age: 23 yr



GMAT Score: 690 [Quant:50 , Verbal:33, I.R.:8 , AWA:5]



Educational Qualifications:



Graduation: Completed B.E in Computer Science from Mumbai University in 2012 with 78%.

H.S.C: secured 92.17% from Science stream from Maharashtra Board in 2008.

S.S.C: secured 88.33% from Maharashtra Board in 2006.



Work Experience:

Working as a Quality Analyst in ThoughtWorks for 21 months now.



Extra Curricular:

I spoke at Grace Hopper Conference (GHC), Bangalore in 2013 about Accessibility Testing and also in an ThoughtWorks internal testing conference VodQA about Security testing. I also have attended OWASP security conference in the same year.

I have also participate in organizing different internal events for ThoughtWorks.



I love meeting different people, conversing with them.

I love playing different outdoor sports like cricket, volleyball, basketball,etc. Also, I participated in different sports since school days.

As far as i heard, you can apply with your current WE as you will be having nearly 2 and half years of experience when the program starts.But the stats says, normally the current students in ISB have around 5 years of work experience in average and GMAT score above 700. Not to discourage you, this is what stats says.But it is recommended you get some leadership skills in current work and try. But you can always try now as well. One of my friends friend got into ISB with around 3 years of exp, but had a hard time getting a job in placements as his class average age and work experience was more than his experience.but that doesn't mean, he dint get the job. He got it, but had a little hard time for the same.You can check the stats here- http://gmatclub.com/forum/isb-class-of-2015-calling-all-applicants-151341.html?fl=homemba All the best for the application. If you are really stand out in crowd that applies to ISB- you can get through. But it is worth a try now though_________________
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Fulfilling a campaign promise contradictory to American values, Donald Trump is reportedly moving forward with his plan to ban those living in Muslim countries from coming to the United States.

According to the Associated Press, the president is expected to sign several executive orders on Wednesday restricting immigration from Syria and six other Middle Eastern or African countries, according to several congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter.

The AP also notes that Trumps order will restrict access to the United States for most refugees, which are mostly vulnerable women and children.

More from the report:

To block entry from the designated countries, Trump is likely to instruct the U.S. State Department to stop issuing visas to people from those nations, according to sources familiar with the visa process. He could also instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to stop any current visa holders from those countries from entering the United States.

Like most of Trumps extreme campaign-season proposals, the Muslim ban is a plan the majority of Americans consistently oppose. Republicans, from House Speaker Paul Ryan to former Vice President Dick Cheney, have even condemned it.

Throughout the campaign, many of the most reluctant Trump supporters expressed their wishful thinking that Trump wouldnt seriously follow through on his most dangerous proposals, like killing family members of terrorists or deporting millions of undocumented immigrants.

The executive orders he plans to sign on Wednesday are proof that Trump intends to follow through on each and every one of them.
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*The following is an opinion column by R Muse*

There isnt anything that should shock and awe Americans with a lying authoritarian leading the lying barbarous Republican congress, but the latest hint of what is about to occur in America, although not shocking, is unprecedented. No-one alive in America doubts that with Trump and his overinflated ego seeking a means of claiming 100 percent support for every last Republican atrocity wrought on Americans, and his lust for vengeance against anyone not kissing the ground he walks on, there is a new proposal from a trusted Trump advisor that does not bode well for federal employees.

One of the new atrocities Republicans in the House put in place was a reiteration of the Holman rule that allows any individual legislator or Republican Congress to unilaterally summon, interrogate, terminate or cut the salary to $1 of any private citizen working for the government who fails to hew closely to the Trump-Republican ideology and all the badness it entails. Top Trump supporter and advisor, Newt Gingrich, has an addendum to the Holman rule that mandates firing any federal employee at any level who voted for Trumps opponent and winner of the popular vote Hillary Clinton. This tyrannical and anti-democratic concept is not as far away from reaching fruition as one might think at first blush. In fact, it is a very real and present danger with a Republican Congress, vindictive lying occupant of the White House and an ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation plan to enact wholesale discretionary spending cuts intended to dismantle every last aspect of the government.

The disgraced, and corrupt, Gingrich was speaking at, where else, the Heritage Foundation when he was wetting his underpants over the horrendous Heritage plan Trump-Republicans intend to use as a blueprint to take apart the government. What seems to have given Gingrich a waking wet dream is the plan to kill over 20 percent of the federal workforce. In fact, Trumps inhumane transition team led by former Heritage Foundation employees has been meeting for months with career officials in the White House to outline its plan for massive cuts to the workforce. The plan is the result of the Heritage Foundation model that essentially calls for cutting nearly all of the governments discretionary spending.

Gingrich is seriously excited that Trump will give Republicans the Koch vision of America, one hes called for over a couple of decades that deconstructs the government. He told a bunch of cruel and inhumane Heritage event attendees that, I would say by one week after the inaugural, it will be very interesting to look at how many things have changed. But good old Newt sees one risk to the Trumps immediate demolition of the government; instantly slashing a federal agency to death will lead other employees to find ways to sabotage each new cabinet secretary as soon as they walk through the door. Gingrich is describing the typical Trump-Republican voter, not any Democrat.

His solution, perhaps the most nakedly political argument for mass firings of federal employees, is summarily terminating every single federal worker who voted for Hillary Clinton. He said, all those bureaucrats overwhelmingly voted for Clinton. There wont be any real cooperation until we change federal law so we can fire them. (author bold) It is vindictive and it is also a shamelessly racist attack on the Black community. Gingrich, like the malcontent conservatives at the Heritage Foundation, is well aware that African Americans make up about 20 percent of the overall federal workforce. It is not enough satisfaction for Republicans to kill off federal jobs for sheer sport, they have to make sure a very large percentage of those jobs are held by African Americans; it is so typically Republican racist.

But just firing federal workers who voted for Hillary Clinton wasnt the only Trump vengeance Gingrich called for. He also demanded summarily abolishing the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for not rubber-stamping fiscally detrimental Trump-Republican policies. He took a page out of deceitful Donnies book and lied saying,

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is simply incompatible with the Trump era. It is a left-wing, corrupt, bureaucratic defender of big government and liberalism.

Gingrich is fuming that the non-partisan CBO revealed that repealing the Affordable Care Act would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 18-million in the first year, and increase insurance premiums for the non-group market by 20 to 25 percent, also in the first year. Like Trump, Gingrich subscribes to the philosophy that anyone in any agency that doesnt praise a Trump-Republican policy or agenda as god-sent is Satanic and has to be deleted from existence.

Gingrich claims that the Republicans and Democrats serving in the CBO are not only dirty liars, he says they are indefensible, wrong and they are clearly corrupt. It is worth reiterating again that the only reason Gingrich and the Trump believe the CBO is corrupt is because it didnt give its glowing approval of a fiscally disastrous and inhumane action called for by Trump Republicans.

Many pundits keep throwing around the word unprecedented to describe what is happening to America with Trump-Republicans wielding unchecked control over the nation. Although it may be unprecedented in a representative democracy like America, it is completely normal in authoritarian regimes where a tyrant will not countenance dissent or criticism. Any American who still believes Trump or Republicans have any regard for the people or the government that exists to serve and protect them is an idiot. Maybe in the Trump era today Republicans will only target Clinton voters, women and minorities, but like any tyrannical regime, the autocracy will eventually get around to terrorizing the entire population like Iraq under Saddam Hussein, North Korea under Kim Jong-un, Germany under Hitler and rapidly developing America under the Trump.
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In December 1936 Goerge Orwell set out for Spain to fight against fascism in the Spanish Civil War. Exhausted but excited after his long journey, described as lean and gangling by those who met him, he was clad in a corduroy jacket and going by his birth name, Eric Blair.

The 62 33-year-old Orwell looked about for a militia to join. Having planned to enlist in the International Brigades made up of Americans, English, and other foreigners, he ended up joining the POUM militia in Aragon, putting down his occupation not as a writer, but a grocer. He was an unknown at the time but as one author remarks (Adam Hochschild, Spain in Our Hearts, 2016),

The book he would write about his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, Homage to Catalonia, would eventually become the most widely read memoir of this conflict in any language.

It was in that book that Orwell left us these powerful words, as relevant today as ever: There are occasions when it pays better to fight and be beaten than not to fight at all.

There can be no doubting Orwells bona fides: unlike Donald Trump, who fled from service to a cause, Orwell came about his honestly, earned in brutal combat against fascism in Spain where he was shot in the throat and nearly killed.

In Why I Write (1946), he expressed his feelings on the subject of totalitarianism:

Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it.

Now that Donald Trump has shown his fascist leanings for all to see, and Kellyanne Conway has taken the very Orwellian step of speaking of alternative facts, 67 years after his death Orwell has become popular again.

As CNN reports,

On Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning the book was #1 on Amazon's computer-generated list of best-selling books https://t.co/NK2zpp24nr  CNNMoney (@CNNMoney) January 25, 2017

This means as CNN goes on to say, The publisher of George Orwells 1984 is printing more copies after the book hit Amazons bestseller list.

Orwell speaks to a new generation because the face of totalitarianism never changes. Orwells line, Science, in the old sense, had almost ceased to exist. In Newspeak there is no word for science, is as valid today as when he wrote it.

As Margaret Sullivan wrote at The Washington Post on Sunday, when Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told Meet the Press Sunday that Spicer had been providing alternative facts to what the media had reported, it was made clear weve gone full Orwell.

If Orwell had many prescient observations about the nature of fascism, he also had a warning for those of us who oppose it, something liberals and progressives must take to heart (Letter to Richard Rees, 3 March 1949):

I always disagree, however, when people end up saying that we can only combat Communism, Fascism or what not if we develop an equal fanaticism. It appears to me that one defeats the fanatic precisely by not being a fanatic oneself, but on the contrary by using ones intelligence.
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The conspiracy artist President strikes again.

After spending Monday, his first full weekday as President, blaming 3-5 illegal immigrants for losing the popular vote, President Donald Trump asserted Wednesday morning that he would be asking for a major investigation into voter fraud, including those who are illegal, and depending on the results he will strengthen up voting procedures!

I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

On Tuesday, reacting to Trumps Monday inaccurate claims of widespread voter fraud, the New York Times came out with a lie title, Trump Wont Back Down From His Voting Fraud Lie. Here Are the Facts.

Trumps problems with facts are so egregious that we are not even a week in and the NYT has resorted to using the word lie in their title. Not a word they like to use.

Trump has claimed serious voter fraud in numerous states that Hillary Clinton won, which Politifact called out as Pants on Fire  meaning a statement that is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim.

California, New Hampshire, and Virginia are the specific states Trump has called out in the past with no evidence.

Focusing on California, where Trump and his supporters aim most of their ire, PolitiFact called it again as Pants on Fire.

In the same PolitiFact, they quote Trump as saying he would have won the popular vote if not for the millions of people who voted illegally.

There is no evidence that this happened (although Steve Bannon, of Breitbart and now the Trump administration, was accused of being registered to vote in a swing state in a house in which he doesnt live), nor would the data leading up to the election support this conclusion or even be a lingering smell of smoke. Trumps allegations have been repeatedly called unfounded. Not only unfounded but there is strong evidence that it did not happen.

Trump offers no proof or evidence for his claims. Pressed to present the evidence for Trumps belief, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (who lied to the press during his first briefing) said Trump believed it was true, and then when pushed harder cited a widely debunked study from 2008.

Elections officials and nonpartisan observers in California said there were no widespread reports of voter fraud. The state has some of the most stringent voter verification laws in the country. Allegations of fraud are so rare that Los Angeles County, the states largest county, does not track them, PolitiFact noted.

Trumps claim about California voter fraud is equally reckless and without substantiation. We rate it Pants on Fire, the fact-checking site concluded.

Additionally, PolitiFact New Hampshire rated Trumps claim of voter fraud in their state as reckless claim with zero evidence, and rated it Pants On Fire.

Trumps willingness to believe any far-fetched notion that confirms his ego is troubling.

If Trump or the Republicans really believed that there was wide spread voter fraud, they would have challenged the vote but they didnt. Theres no way Trump wouldnt go to the ends of the earth to prove he won the popular vote if he really thought he could. According to numerous recent reports based on interviews with Trump insiders, the President is obsessed with the fact that he lost the popular vote.

Trump is using a ridiculous, inaccurate claim to justify an investigation into nothing in order to justify his goal to strengthen up voting procedures!, that is to say, to make it even harder for likely Democrats to vote. While its despicable to continue trying to make it harder for citizens to exercise their right to vote, its also indicative of Trumps desperate need to feel loved.

Like an abuser, Trump will just kill the right to vote for the people who dont love him. That will make him feel better, and thats all that matters.

The Trump war on reality wages on.
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Democrats are gearing up to fight Trumps nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died nearly a year ago.

Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, told the New York Times,

We are prepared to oppose every name on Trumps list, The progressive, civil rights community will be united in opposition to either of those prospects or anyone else on the list.

When you look at Trumps short list of Supreme Court nominees, you realize its a good thing someone is paying attention. The Alliance for justice reviewed all of the known nominees for consideration on an issue by issue basis and it is not pretty.

Trump has narrowed it down to three white men with a proven potential to take a wrecking ball to the Constitution, as we know it. Every one of them is a far right judicial activist and a member of the far-right Federalist Society.

The three federal appellate judges under consideration are 49-year-old Neil Gorsuch of the 10th Circuit, 51-year-old Thomas Hardiman of the 3rd Circuit and Bill Pryor, aged 54 of the 11th Circuit. All of them are young, all but assuring Trumpisms influence will be felt in Supreme Court rulings for a very long time.

Leonard Leo, a Trump advisor and a top official in the Federalist Society told Politico: Trump hopes to have a nominee next week. Based on Leos other comments as quoted in Politicos report, its likely that Gorsuch and Hardiman are the front runners.

One quote, in particular, stands out:

Under our Constitution, the power rests with the people, and that was at the core of Justice Scalias legacy, and you heard from President Trumps inauguration that is the core of Trumps agenda.

Also, reported criticism of Pryor suggests Gorsuch and Hardiman have the inside track. The reason why Pryor is considered a dark horse should concern us all. Conservatives, reportedly, criticized him for ruling with the majority to protect trans-genders from workplace discrimination in Glenn v. Brumby.

When taken with the reasons Leo praises Gorsuch and Hardiman, Trumps top priority is to nominate a rubber stamping Justice. Unless you are white and male, your rights and protections under the constitution are very likely to be on the endangered species list for a very long time.

Throughout the campaign and during the brief time since Trump took the oath of office, the only thing predictable about Trump is his unpredictability. So even if Gorsuch and Hardiman are front-runners we should know why William Pryor remains as a possible nominee.

Recently Josh Gerstein described the judge from Alabama as staunchly conservative. He should appeal to Trump because like incoming Attorney-General Jeff Sessions, Judge Pryor was considered too extreme to pass confirmation for a seat on the appellate court. His nomination was stalled for a year, but he got confirmation through the Gang of 14 deal that also made Justice Alitos confirmation possible.

But being too extreme to be confirmed by the Senate isnt enough to satisfy Mr. Trump. So what else should we know about the rumored front runners?

Neal Gorsuchs resume reveals a rare quality in a Trump nominee  a background suited to the job he is seeking. Gorsuch clerked for Supreme Court Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy. A graduate of Columbia, Harvard, and Oxford he, he spent a decade in private practice. He held a top position at the Justice Department. He was confirmed, to serve on the 10th circuit in 2006. However, this does not make him less extreme than Trump, as reflected in his rulings.

Nominating Gorsuch amounts to a declaration of war on women. Gorsuch was responsible for the lower court ruling in the Hobby Lobby case. You may recall that case provided privately held corporations with religious freedom protections as a basis to deny employees access to reproductive healthcare under the companys healthcare plan. His strongest draw is perhaps as an opponent of the Chevron Doctrine, which holds that courts should generally defer to agencies when the law authorizing a regulation is ambiguous.

This brings us to the other top contender, Thomas Hardiman, a graduate of Georgetown law. Like the other three, Hardiman was appointed by George W. Bush.

Hardiman is a longtime member of the conservative Federalist Society and has spoken at four Federalist Society panels since joining the Third Circuit. Hardiman is known for his dissent in B.H. v. Eastern Area School District where the majority held that breast cancer awareness bracelets are protected speech under the First Amendment.

He argued the bracelets fall under an exception to the First Amendments free speech protections for student speech that is lewd, vulgar, indecent, or plainly offensive because the word breast was on them.

His views on gun safety align with the NRA and anyone else with a gun fetish. In Drake v. Filko, Hardiman was the holdout in a ruling that upheld a New Jersey law requiring someone who wants a license to carry a firearm in public to demonstrate they have a justifiable need.

All extreme, all guaranteed to crush constitutional protections for women, minorities, the LGBT community, and immigrants. All guaranteed to weaken federal agencies. It is therefore guaranteed that whatever regulations survive the Trump regimes wrecking ball will be interpreted to give corporations as much power and the people as little power as possible.

This is too serious to suggest that Trump and his nominee should get a chance to make a civil rights something people say used to exist in America.
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Donald Trumps Chief Strategist Steven Bannon isnt guilty of voter fraud, even though he was registered to vote in two states, one of them at an address where he reportedly didnt reside.

Ron Turner, a Sarasota elections official told the Miami Herald that the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections office removed Bannon from the voter roll today, based on information they received from the New York City Board of Elections.

President Trumps call for an investigation into virtually non-existent voter fraud is a sad and obvious case of projection given that many of the few documented cases of actual voter fraud were people voting for Donald Trump, some of them seeming to be motivated to vote twice to make up for the imaginary voter fraud Trump drummed up for them on the trail.

Thats quite a trail of alternative facts.

But its instructive that even Steve Bannon is not guilty of voter fraud. He did not vote twice, he simply was registered in two states. Many people do this; many voters fail to cancel their old registration.

Yet this is exactly the kind of instance Trump is clinging to as problematic since he cant come up with any evidence that there is widespread voter fraud that would account for his loss of the popular vote.

This witch hunt Trump wants to go on against voter fraud is a transparent attempt to obstruct voters who didnt vote for him. As I wrote Wednesday morning after Trump announced his plan to call for a big investigation into imaginary voter fraud, this is just like an abuser saying If I cant have you, no one can.

If we give Steve Bannon the benefit of the doubt, that there was no bad intent on his part, and there isnt indication that there was even though he reportedly didnt live at the house where he was registered, it goes to demonstrate just how ridiculous this waste of taxpayer money is going to be.
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*The following is an opinion column by R Muse*

Most people likely understand that a regular citizen who is also a pathological liar is basically really harmless because they only end up embarrassing themselves. However, there are a few groups that simply cannot stop lying and they pose a clear and present danger to other Americans and society as a whole; these are violent career criminals, pretend Christian preachers, corporate CEOs, Republicans in Congress and state legislatures, and the biggest liar in America Donald Trump.

Like every stinking thing Trump lies about, they are always predicated on perpetuating his own sense of being god-like as well as to protect what he believes is the magnitude of his Earthly being. It is why he reacts like a petulant punk if he even thinks the publics perception of him does not align with his personal sense of Earth-shattering awesomeness. It is also why he is in a running war with the media; they are not trumpeting the magnitude of Donald Trumps deity or the superhuman greatness confined in his mere mortals body.

A monumental lie Trump began spreading ad nauseam after the election was that his victory was a world record-setting landslide and first-ever in American history universal mandate by all good Americans; despite losing the popular vote by roughly 3 million ballots. Trump supporters naturally spread the lie and it wasnt until this week that the Trump finally acknowledged that he did, in fact, not win the popular vote by any kind of margin but it wasnt his fault, it was the Mexicans. There was a good reason he sort of admitted being 3-million votes less popular than Hillary Clinton and it provided him with a perfect opportunity to do what he does best and start spreading another lie; a dangerous one at that.

By now one or two Americans are aware that tantrum Trump met with congressional leaders and lied through his teeth that the only reason he lost the popular vote was because between 3 and 5 million illegal immigrants illegally cast illegal votes for Hillary Clinton. Of course that is patently false, and of course, no-one in attendance at the meeting dared call Trumps lie what it is, a filthy easily debunked lie. It is curious why none of the Democratic leaders called bullshit on Trumps claim, but there is a very good reason why the Republicans in attendance just smiled, nodded their heads in the affirmative and nothing else; they desperately want Trumps lie propagated throughout the population to garner support for the planned expansion of soon-to-be enacted voter suppression laws under development in 16 states; that is the inherent danger in Trumps universally debunked lie.

First, out of the roughly 128 million votes cast in the 2016 presidential election, officials report there were indeed a whopping sum total of 4 documented cases of fraudulent voting. At least three out of the only four officially documented cases were illegal votes cast for the dirty lying Donald J. Trump; it is a number and fact he will never trumpet.

That figure squares with another humongous comprehensive study published in 2015 that found from 2000 to 2014 out of 1.2 billion votes cast in every federal, state, city, municipality and county election there were exactly 31 officially suspected cases of voter fraud. Trump, the congressional leaders in the meeting, Republicans at all levels of government, and election officials nationwide know there is no such thing as massive voter fraud and in fact there is virtually no fraud at all; except by Republican voters. But now, with the loudest liar in the nation claiming I was robbed by illegal aliens casting illegal votes, Republicans are empowered and emboldened to expand their attack on democracy because that propagandist (liar) and fear monger in the White House has a big audience.

Sadly, the state-level Republicans possibly will have a very sympathetic ear at the Department of Justice who believes legislation and agencies protecting voting rights, such as the Voting Rights Act, are intrusive and have no place in Trumps America. This is the same malcontent Southern racist, Jeff Sessions, who believes that the Separation Clause of the Constitutions First Amendment is also intrusive on Christian theocrats as well as unhistorical and unconstitutional. Instead of protecting civil and voting rights as is its primary function, the DOJ under Jeff Sessions will provide nothing but animus for disenfranchised Americans and voting rights activists.

Sessions will have plenty of help in his war against voting rights besides just Trumps big lying mouth. According to a preview (2017) put out by the Brennan Center for Justice, as of last week there were already at least 33 bills to restrict access to registration and voting [that]have been introduced in 16 states as of January 17. Not surprising at all, despite several federal court rulings and studies finding that requiring photo ID at the polls is discriminatory and depresses minority turnout, some states are working on enacting extremely strict vote suppression legislation.

Nine additional states are considering harsh voting laws and one in Iowa will limit absentee voting. Some others are considering bills to limit voting to citizens with proof of American citizenship, eliminating Election Day registration, and disallowing voter registration groups from registering new voters. In Texas, Republicans are working on a plan to make it impossible for people who love democracy to help voters who need language assistance. Because it is Texas and Republicans run the state, the mindset must be that if they dont talk Murican they arent Muricans and cant vote.

Look, nobody likes a liar and it is probable that not many people like Trump; who could possibly blame them? However, this particular lie is, combined with conspiracy whackos and fake news sites repeating Trumps claim that 3-5 million illegal aliens cast illegal votes for Hillary Clinton and cost Trump the popular vote victory is not the run-of-the-mill Trump lie. It is a deliberate propaganda tool to bolster support for Republicans to disenfranchise literally millions of American citizens and the reason is perfectly clear. With a fascist regime now controlling the nation, the last thing Koch Republicans and their anti-democracy ALEC legislation mill want to see is American democracy in action because when all Americans are allowed to vote Republicans cant win.
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In the wake of Donald Trumps threat to invade Chicago, the Rev. Jesse Jackson also responded, tweeting,

We need a plan, not a threat. We need jobs, not jails. #Chicago  Rev Jesse Jackson Sr (@RevJJackson) January 25, 2017

This is what Mayor Rahm Emmanuel has said was needed as well, in an interview on WTTW:

I believe that we should be making investments, both in jobs, alter after school activities, helping police officers. All those efforts.

In that same interview he said he welcomes federal aid. Of course, he isnt going to get federal aid but an armed invasion. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson pointed to the problem of guns in a statement made through a spokesperson:

The Chicago Police Department is more than willing to work with the federal government to build on our partnerships with DOJ, FBI, DEA and ATF and boost federal prosecution rates for gun crimes in Chicago.

The problem is, the people he is going to likely have to work with is the National Guard. Federal resources could be better used to help disaster victims in Georgia, tornado victims in Mississippi, or to bring water to people in Flint, Michigan.

The problem with guns as a problem is that Republicans insist guns are not a problem. Guns make us safe, they insist. But guns do not make us safe, and Voxs German Lopez scores a point when he says,

Trump wants to "send in the Feds" to stop Chicago gun violence. He should consider federal gun control: https://t.co/BIrAkKXDqu  German Lopez (@germanrlopez) January 25, 2017

Obviously, gun control legislation is not going to happen in a Trump administration. Even if Trump supported gun control, the Republican-controlled Congress would kill any efforts in that direction, just as they did during OBamas two terms.

So what will Trumps feds do? Take away guns? If from minorities, Republicans will be all for it since theyve shown they do not think the Second Amendment applies to minorities any more than the First Amendment applies to Muslims.

As GQs Kevin Nguyen tweeted,

It should be criminal the way Trump/GOP/Fox cite Chicago homicide rates as an argument that black people don't deserve basic human rights.  Kevin Nguyen (@knguyen) January 25, 2017

Trump has already promised to create jobs but has shown more interest in creating more wealth for himself and for the 1 percent. His opposition to the Democrats job-creating infrastructure bill and his knee-jerk response to violence in Chicago implies he really has no plan to do so.

Money spent helping everyday Americans, let alone minorities, means less profit for wealthy Americans and corporations. And make no mistake, it is corporations, not minorities, who are the intended beneficiaries of any Trump jobs plan.

As Jesse Jackson said, what is needed is a plan  a real plan  but Donald Trump has no plan, just a bunch of things he doesnt like and a short enough fuse to make that a problem.
Surprise, surprise! The 2017 Oscar nominations were announced today, and, as we saw at the Golden Globes a couple weeks ago, the nominees are pretty much the same, despite one or two changes.

The main difference is that the Golden Globes' best picture and acting categories are separated by drama and comedy/musical, whereas the Academy Awards' are not. This means films like La La Land are up against powerhouses like Moonlight (both films won the GG for Best Picture in their respective genre).

But even though these films and actors are now running against each other, it's still clear to me which films are going to receive the awards.

Acting

Lead Actor

Both Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea) and Ryan Gosling (La La Land) are nominated, and they both won the Golden Globe. While my first choice would be Denzel Washington for Fences, I think the Academy is going to choose Affleck. It was my prediction at the Globes, and it is my prediction now.

Lead Actress

While my prediction for Isabelle Huppert (Elle) came true for the Globes, I can't say for sure that it'll come true for the Oscars. The Academy has grown to love Emma Stone (La La Land), and since she did win at the Globes, there's a good chance she'll win here. While Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins) and Natalie Portman (Jackie) are both Oscar veterans, I think Stone will receive her first win this year. I didn't understand the hype everyone else bought into for La La Land, but Stone is one of my favorite actresses, and I'd be happy if she won.

Supporting Actor

I was elated to see Michael Shannon nominated for Nocturnal Animals. His was a performance that slipped under the radar. I was disappointed to see Aaron Taylor-Johnson snubbed for a nom, even though he won the Golden Globe. I suppose you can't have everything. Anyway, this category is a tough one for me to determine. My gut is telling me the Academy is going to pick Mahershala Ali (Moonlight). I found Moonlight to be incredibly slow and certainly undeserving to win the Globe over Fences. However, Ali's performance was the best of the cast, so I'm locking in my final answer.

Supporting Actress

I'm excited to see such a diverse selection for this category. While Nicole Kidman's (Lion) and Michelle Williams' (Manchester by the Sea) performances have been lauded heavily by critics, I believe the Academy is going to pick my Golden Globe prediction-come-true, Viola Davis (Fences). She's the most deserving and, by far, the most talented. I'd love to see her receive her first win for this compelling role.

Best Director

I've become such a huge fan of Damien Chazelle. Whiplash (2014) has quickly become one of my favorite films. But I was disappointed in La La Land. I think the Academy is going to pick him, but if it were up to me, I'd pick Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea).

Screenplays

Best Adapted Screenplay

It's deadlocked between Fences and Lion for me. Both films were beautiful, torturous and engaging. But, because I'm predicting Lion misses out on all these awards (as it did at the Globes), I really think Lion is deserving of this one. A) Because it's a heartbreaking true story and B) Because I've never seen a more inspiring film in my life.

Best Original Screenplay

As I've said again and again, I wasn't thrilled with La La Land. I love the vision Chazelle was aiming for, but it wasn't properly executed, in my opinion. However, I think the Academy will see differently. Next!

Music

Best Original Score

All together now: La La Land! Those montages were underscored with beautiful melodies that had us floored. Composer Justin Hurwitz also worked on Whiplash, so you know I'm into it. This is one of a few nominations for La La Land I can get on board with.

Best Original Song

And this is one I cannot. As I've mentioned in a previous article, I am gunning for Lin-Manuel Miranda to win for Moana. He is officially EGOT nominated, but this win would secure that prestigious title for him. He is more than deserving of the award, and "How Far I'll Go" is a wonderful song! Hopefully the Academy sees that instead of La La Land.

And finally...Best Film

This is a tough category. The Academy isn't too keen on giving this award to musicals; the last musical that won was Chicago in 2002. Perhaps 15 years is what it takes. My first choice would be Manchester by the Sea, but based on La La Land's whopping 14 nominations, all roads seem to lead there.

The Academy Awards air live on CBS Feb. 26.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Some sun in the morning with increasing clouds during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 80F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies. Low 69F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
In the past few weeks, our SCORE chapter has gotten requests from a few folks who are either wanting to start doing being business globally or already are doing so.

I thought this was a little out of the ordinary until I did some digging and was reminded thousands of small businesses, which account for 99.7 percent of all employers in the United States, export products and services to other countries. According to the U.S. Trade Commission in 2012, small- and midsize-businesses comprise about 98 percent of U.S. companies in the international trade arena. In fact, they accounted for 33 percent of goods exports.

As the internet and social media continue to bolster our ability to collaborate across the globe, it's not a stretch to predict more small businesses will embrace the opportunities to reach customers beyond the United States. According to the Export.gov website, 96 percent of consumers and two-thirds of the world's purchasing power comes from outside the United States. Doing business internationally offers advantages operationally and competitively via the potential to increase revenue and gain some protection from fluctuations in domestic markets.

That doesn't mean doing business globally is easy, though. Entering markets in other nations requires attention to details you may not have had to concern yourself with before. In addition to its many opportunities, doing business overseas poses some risks and obstacles:

 Getting paid

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 Protecting intellectual property rights

 Corporate income tax in certain countries

 Lofty shipping costs and unreliable postal services

 Trust issues with the partners or agents you're working with

 Cultural expectations when conducting business

 Rules, restrictions and license requirements when shipping products

 Language barriers

"If you're interested in going global, be sure to understand the local culture, and be sure to account for extra costs, be it in the form of tax, tariff, delivery costs and other costs," said SCORE mentor Jim Han, who has more than 20 years of global consulting experience.

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For additional insight about doing business globally, you can tap these resources that specialize in providing information and programs in support of international trade:

 SBA's Office of International Trade: This office works with other federal agencies and public and private groups to encourage export opportunities for small businesses:

 U.S. State Department's Direct Line to American Business: This program gives small businesses direct access to U.S. ambassadors, mission teams and foreign government officials to explore market opportunities in their respective countries. The State Department also provides the Business Information Database System, a portal to help U.S. businesses learn about international projects that might offer commercial opportunities.

 U.S. Commercial Service's Gold Key Matching Service: This service can help small businesses find potential overseas business partners, agents, distributors and sales representatives.

 Export.gov' s links to information about doing business in specific countries: These links offer insight and data about various countries' cultures, business climates, market research, service providers, trade events and other information.

"Doing business globally can be immensely rewarding, both financially and culturally," Han said. "However, there is also an added learning curve in order to reap the benefits, so be sure to perform due diligence, and seek advice where possible."
Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect , and while some defects are mild, some can be quite severe. Ebsteins Anomaly, for example, makes up less than 1% of congenital heart defects (CHD), and causes one of the heart valves to work improperly, making the heart less effective. Even though the defect can be found during pregnancy, the symptoms may not show up for years.

Thats what happened to Lola Montilla . Born with Ebsteins Anomaly, she lived a fairly normal life until she was 12. Then she began feeling exhausted, getting tired even when walking up the stairs. Her doctors in Puerto Rico learned of a physician at the Mayo Clinic specializing in fixing the same heart symptoms Lola had. And recommended she go, since her heart had enlarged over the last year. So Lola and her family traveled to Mayo Clinic for surgery.

Always a positive person, Lola used her experience with CHD , and her scar from surgery, and turned them into something beautiful, spreading a message of positive body image and strength with the world. She will share her message of heart health and self-love as the Passion Speaker at this years Go Red for Women event on February 23 at the Mayo Civic Center.

Now 15 years old, Lola is fighting to better the world around her. Her tenacity led to the passing of a bill in Puerto Rico requiring mandatory pulse oximetry screenings for newborns, helping detect CHD early, and even brought her to the White House to visit Michele Obama, thanks to the Make-a-Wish foundation.

Instead of being ashamed of the scar from her surgery, Lola takes selfies and showcases in an act of acceptance and a desire to help others love themselves. She even wrote a book, "Beautiful Scars," to raise awareness of CHD and inspire others to see themselves, scars and all, as beautiful.

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5 facts about CHD from Mayo Clinic

1. Congenital heart defects can take many forms: holes in the heart, obstructed blood flow, underdeveloped hearts, and more.

2. CHD develop during heart formation in the womb, though the reasons why are still unknown.

3. Some defects are small and dont need treatment, while others, like Lolas, may require surgery.

4. Serious defects can be found in infancy, though less serious defects may not appear until later in childhood.

5. Pale gray or blue skin, shortness of breath, and swelling in the legs, abdomen or near the eyes are a few of the symptoms of serious CHD.
A Colorado man is in custody locally after authorities say he sexually assaulted a child in his care.

Jason David Hintze, 38, of Montrose, Colo., appeared Monday in Olmsted County District Court, where he's been charged with one count each of first-degree and second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Both are felonies.

He remains in the Adult Detention Center in lieu of $100,000 conditional bond and is due back in court Feb. 17.

The investigation began in September, when Rochester police received a report of sexual assault. A woman said Hintze watched a child in the family's home in August; the child told them Hintze had twice touched her. He "massaged her genital area over her clothes" and asked her to touch his genitals, the complaint says.

The child told an investigator that Hintze put his hand inside her underwear, but she kept moving away from him. When he asked her to touch him, she refused, court documents say, and he stopped.

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Hintze also allegedly came into the girl's room during the night and woke her up by putting her hand on his genitals. According to the reports, the child "kept taking her hand away," but Hintze would put it back on his genital area.

The first-degree count carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a $40,000 fine, or both. The second-degree charge is punishable by up to 25 years in prison, a $35,000 fine, or both.
Liban Barre was out of jail for less than four hours before he was arrested again on suspicion of felony theft, officials said this morning.

Barre, 31, of Brooklyn Park, walked out of the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center about 3 p.m. Within minutes, he allegedly stole a purse from an employee back room at Limb Lab, 400 S. Broadway Ave.  less than two blocks away from the ADC.

From there, Barre traveled to Apache Mall, said Capt. John Sherwin of the Rochester Police Department, where he went on a spending spree with the credit cards he found in the purse.

He made significant purchases at several stores, the report says, including $1,700 at a jewelry store, for a total of nearly $4,000.

The spree ended when Barre tried to use one of the credit cards to pre-pay cab fare to Brooklyn Park, Sherwin said. The cab driver thought it was suspicious that the card carried a woman's name, and called law enforcement.

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Barre was arrested about 7 p.m. He could be charged with multiple felonies, including theft and financial transaction card-fraud.
ST. PAUL  A day after fainting during his State of the State address, Gov. Mark Dayton disclosed he was diagnosed with prostate cancer last week at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

Dayton told reporters on Tuesday that he underwent a biopsy at Mayo in Rochester on Wednesday and got the test results on Friday.

"It confirmed it was cancer almost certainly and has not spread (beyond the prostate) almost certainly," he said.

A Mayo Clinic spokesman affirmed Dayton's disclosure of the prostate cancer diagnosis.

"He has follow up appointments next week to determine further steps," the spokesman said. "It's premature to offer any more details at this time. Governor Dayton will learn more about his treatment plan after meeting with his Mayo Clinic medical team next week.

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"Governor Dayton was seen today by a Mayo Clinic physician in internal medicine about his fainting spell during his state of the state address," the spokesman said. "Mayo Clinic believes this episode was situational and related to standing for a long time while giving his speech and possible dehydration. It is not related to his prostate cancer diagnosis. He was encouraged to stay hydrated. Governor Dayton remains upbeat and looks forward to his follow-up appointments next week."

Dayton said he expects to begin treatment next week in Rochester. He said he is not sure yet what treatment will involve. He said it could potentially require surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. He said the diagnosis is "grim," but said his doctors have been reassuring.

"It's not that uncommon and as they said down there (at Mayo), it's one of their success stories," Dayton.

The governor will celebrate his 70th birthday on Thursday. His diagnosis of prostate cancer is the latest in a series of health issues. Dayton had surgery at Mayo in 2015 and in 2012 to deal with spine and hip ailments.

Asked whether he believes he is still capable of serving as governor, Dayton replied, "I think I am. And if I don't, I won't continue."

The governor became aware he may have cancer two weeks ago during a routine exam at Mayo. His PSA test, which screens for prostate cancer, showed elevated levels. He credits that test with potentially saving his life.

The governor's father, Bruce Dayton, underwent surgery for prostate cancer 25 years ago at Mayo. He was successfully treated.

The Minnesota Democrat said he does not believe Monday night's fainting spell is at all related to his cancer diagnosis. Shortly after the incident, he said his Rochester doctor called him at the Governor's Residence after having seen via Twitter that the governor had collapsed. Dayton is planning to come to Rochester on Tuesday afternoon for an exam.

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"I'm going to give Minnesotans the assurance I'm functioning normally, which I certainly believe I am," Dayton said.

During the news conference, a reporter jokingly asked Dayton if he was getting special treatment since his Mayo doctor had made a point of calling him after his collapse. Dayton replied, "If one of the perks of the job is you can get into Mayo on short notice, I guess it is. It's not one of the ones I was actually bargaining for when I sought the job."
A new study paints a mixed picture of health for the Mississippi River upstream of the Twin Cities.

The upper stretch of the river is in pretty good shape, but the lower river needs large-scale changes to reduce pollution, according to the report out Wednesday from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

"The pattern that we found is that the water quality in the Upper Mississippi, from the headwaters down to about the St. Cloud area, is really very, very good," said Dana Vanderbosch, manager of lake and stream monitoring with the MPCA. "But then, south of St Cloud and into Minneapolis, the water quality really starts to degrade, and the river life isn't as healthy."

That northern stretch of the river flows largely through forests and wetlands that help filter out pollutants, but the lower stretch starts to receive a lot more polluted runoff from farms and urban development.

In fact, the Crow River, which flows through heavily farmed areas before it enters the Mississippi near the town of Dayton, doubles the nutrient pollution in the river, causing algae blooms and other problems.

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That's despite the fact the Crow River covers only about 15 percent of the total land draining into the upper Mississippi.

The river also fails to meet water quality standards for recreation and river life between St. Cloud and Minneapolis. That means it's not safe to swim in the river at certain times of the year, and it doesn't support as many fish and other aquatic life as it should.

To fix those problems, the MPCA says farmers need to add buffer strips to capture soil runoff and do things such as add cover crops and optimize when and where they spread fertilizer and manure.

Those practices are largely voluntary. But Dennis Fuchs with the Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District said farmers in his area are making changes.

"We've spent a significant amount of time working with producers to solve feedlot runoff problems," he said, "and to develop comprehensive nutrient management plans that help them optimize fertilizer and manure use."

Fuchs acknowledged the river is not meeting several water quality standards.

But in the Sauk River watershed near St. Cloud, he said, phosphorous and sediment levels have dropped.

"We've had significant improvement in water quality over time because of conservation practices," Fuchs said.

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While the challenge in the river from St. Cloud to the Twin Cities is to fix existing water quality issues, the priority near the headwaters is to keep that stretch pristine.

"We really have a rare opportunity to look at developing those watersheds in different way, where we can incorporate various strategies and best management practices as we're planning to develop those areas so we can do this on the front end," said Dana Vanderbosch, of the MPCA.

The biggest threat to that stretch of the river, Vanderbosch said, is the conversion of forests and wetlands to farms and urban development.

Between 2008 and 2013, more than 260,000 acres of forest, wetland and grassland were converted to agriculture in the Mississippi River Headwaters area, according to the Nature Conservancy.

"We can't afford to lose these large swaths of forest wetlands and habitat in the upper reaches because that's what's producing our clean water," said Ron Biske, who manages the group's freshwater program.

The Nature Conservancy has helped purchase conservation easements in the area. Minnesota's Outdoor Heritage Fund also has helped conserve land.

But Biske said more needs to be done.

"From my view, I don't think Minnesota has done enough to protect this critical area of the state, to have a deliberate effort by the state and partners to protect critical areas for the river," he said.

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The Mississippi River provides drinking water to 1.2 million people between the headwaters and the Twin Cities. As this study helps show, what happens in one section of the river can have major impacts that flow downstream.
In other words

In the summer of 1858, Abraham Lincoln stood before his state convention and warned, "a house divided against itself cannot stand." The apt re Read moreThe danger of an island divided
According to Eliana Johnson at Politico, President Trump has narrowed his list of potential Supreme Court nominees to three: Judge Neil Gorsuch, Judge Thomas Hardiman, and Judge William Pryor. Eliana reports that Pryor, once considered the frontrunner, now is thought to be fading.

Pryor has the advantage of being backed by Sen. Jeff Sessions who is about to become Attorney General. He was also mentioned, along with Judge Diane Sykes, by Trump last February as the kind of Justice he would be looking for as president. And Pryor has long been highly regarded by movement conservatives.

Working against Pryor might be his age. Hes only 54, but Gorsuch is five years younger and Hardiman three years. The Supreme Court being what it has become  the potential arbiter of almost everything  partisans prefer young appointees because they are likely to serve longer. Sad to say, every year matters.

Also working against Pryor might be the vehemence of Democratic opposition. Pryor ran into a buzz saw before finally to being confirmed as court of appeals judge. Gorsuch and Hardiman were confirmed essentially without opposition.

Trump has the votes to confirm Pryor, but the Senate would probably have to change its rules  i.e., eliminate the filibuster  to accomplish this. That might not be necessary for the other two.

Finally, Pryor has run into strong criticism from some social conservatives. The criticism centers around two decisions involving gay and/or transgender rights and religious freedom. I mentioned this controversy here, and cited a ScotusBlog article discussing the cases (under the heading LBGTQ rights).

Before presenting my views on the criticism of Pryor by some social conservatives, I will link to two more pieces on the subject. This one, by Judicial Action Group, makes a case against Judge Pryor. This one, by John Malcolm of the Heritage Society, defends Pryor.

Now for what I think:

The two main cases in question are Glenn v. Brumby and Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley. Ill start with Keeton because I think its more easily dealt with.

The plaintiff was a student at a state college who was working towards a degree in school counseling. She described herself as a Christian committed to a religiously-based belief that homosexuality is immoral and a voluntary choice.

School officials asked her to participate in a program designed to address her views on homosexuality, which the school claimed violated the code of ethics of her intended profession  a code the school was required to adopt and teach to retain accreditation. Keeton refused, citing her First Amendment rights to free speech and the free exercise of her religion.

She sought a preliminary injunction against the school. A plaintiff seeking a preliminary injunction faces the burden of proving (1) a substantial likelihood of success on the merits, (2) an irreparable injury, and (3) that the balance of harms weighs in her favor or that an injunction would serve the publics interest.

The district held a hearing at which Keeton did not testify. The district court ruled that she failed to make the showings required for a preliminary injunction.

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed in an opinion written by a liberal judge, Rosemary Barkett. Judge Pryor voted with the majority and wrote a concurring opinion.

The court ruled that, at this early stage of the proceedings, Keeton had failed to establish that the school singled her out for disfavored treatment because of her views on homosexuality, as opposed to a desire to ensure that she complied with the current ethical standards of her profession. It remanded the case to the district court for a trial on the merits.

In his concurring opinion, Judge Pryor noted the sparseness of the record at this stage. Speaking to the likely outcome of the case on the merits, he stated that there was some evidence that the school intended to discriminate against Keeton because of her views on homosexuality.

He also pointed out that although the court has previously held that universities can enforce codes of ethics with respect to school-sponsored activities (like a clinical practicum), we have never ruled that a public university can discriminate against student speech based on the concern that the student might, in a variety of other circumstances, express views at odds with the preferred viewpoints of the university.

In addition, Pryor insisted:

As the First Amendment protected the professionals who successfully advocated against the then-prevailing view of the psychiatric profession [that homosexuality was a mental disorder], so too does it protect Keeton should she decide to advocate that those professionals got it wrong.

As I see it, Judge Pryors vote in Keeton was based mainly on the procedural posture of the case, not an insufficient regard for free speech and religious liberty. I find neither his vote nor his opinion problematic. (In this law review article, Judge Pryor provides us with a good sense of the man, his faith, and his approach to judging.)

Glenn v. Brumby decided a constitutional issue, not a request for a preliminary injunction, and thus potentially raises more serious concern. Glenn, a transsexual, was born a biological male but decided to begin the transition process to becoming a woman. When he informed his employer of this fact and said he would come to work dressed as a woman (a prerequisite to sex-reassignment surgery), he was immediately fired.

Glenn sued, alleging sex discrimination in violation of the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The district court ruled in Glenns favor. The Eleventh Circuit, in another opinion written by Judge Barkett, affirmed by a 3-0 vote. Judge Pryor did not write separately.

In my view, it was wrong for the employer, the Georgia General Assemblys Office of Legal Counsel, to fire Glenn. But was it unlawful?

Judge Barkett said it was because the Supreme Court has ruled that unlawful sex discrimination encompasses discrimination based on a failure to conform to stereotypical gender norms. In that case, Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, a woman was denied partnership in her firm because she used profanity and was considered too macho by some of her male colleagues.

I do not believe that Price Waterhouse, which did not involve any transgender issue, requires the conclusion that Glenns employer engaged in sex discrimination. That result can be teased from Price Waterhouse, but it is not compelled. I probably would have voted against Glenn.

I assume, however, that the concern over this decision resides in the view that it manifests judicial activism  stretching to find rights that have no basis in statutes, the Constitution, and precedent  not in the fact that a transsexual won in court. So the issue in terms of Judge Pryor as a Supreme Court nominee is whether the Glenn case shows him to be an activist judge.

I dont think it does. Though I may disagree with the result, I dont think it was indefensible. Judge Pryor has been deciding cases for more than ten years. No one will agree with all of his votes.

If there is a pattern of activism and inventing rights, then Trump should not nominate him for the Supreme Court. I dont see such a pattern. I see one case where he went further than I might have, but did so based on a Supreme Court decision that plausibly can be read as supporting the result he reached. This certainly shouldnt disqualify him.

Finally, its important to note, as John Malcolm does, that Glenn did not reach the question of whether the plaintiff, as a biological male, would be entitled to use the womens bathroom. The court made it clear that this issue was not before it. The employer raised it only after the case had been filed, so the court didnt need to decide, and did not decide, whether this rationale justified the firing. (The court did point out that the argument was highly implausible because the office had only single-occupancy restrooms; it is hard to disagree with this).

There are reasons why Trump might decide to nominate Judge Pryor and reasons why he might decide to nominate one of the other fine contenders. The claim that Pryor has shown himself to be an activist judge by virtue of his rulings in Glenn and Keeton should not be among the reasons weighing against nominating Pryor. In my view, he has shown no such tendency.
Visiting Amsterdam in 2013, we found the native Dutch to be uniformly friendly and good-humored. I wrote about our visit to Amsterdam in the Power Line posts Nazi chess, The Anne Frank Museum, and Impressions.

The Dutch reminded me of Minnesotans. We wanted to blend in, but we were routinely greeted in English. I asked, how did you know Im American? They just smiled.

We didnt cover a large cross section, but we came across no Dutch citizen who spoke anything less than nearly perfect English. We spoke with a (Dutch, as it turned out) food vendor outside the Rijkmusuem who spoke perfect English with a New York accent. I asked him if he was from New York. He responded with a smile, I get asked that a lot. From our experience I concluded that the average Dutch citizen speaks better English than his American counterpart.

I was reminded of our visit to Amsterdam by the clip below from the satirical Dutch show Zondag Met Lubach (Sunday with Lubach), hosted by Arjen Lubach. The folks at ZML released a faux tourism advertisement on the premise that they were introducing the Netherlands to President Trump. They explain: The whole world was watching for the inauguration of the 45th president of the United States: Donald J. Trump. Because we realize its better for us to get along, we decided to introduce our tiny country to him. In a way that will probably appeal to him the most. While it borrows several of the left-wing tropes deployed against Trump, the bit is actually somewhat humorous.

Via Leslie Eastman/Legal Insurrection.
It is an article of faith in the liberal press that Barack Obama was a popular president. Is that claim true? No, according to the Gallup Poll. In fact, according to the most basic measure of popularityaverage approval rating during his years in officeObama ranks among our least popular recent presidents, behind, among others, George W. Bush and Richard Nixon:

Every case is different, and all kinds of distinctions can be drawn. John Kennedys average approval rating is no doubt due in large part to the fact that he served less than a full term. George W. Bushs rating is certainly inflated by the consensus approval he received after 9/11. But, slice it any way you will, there is no basis for pretending that Barack Obama was particularly popular.

If you followed his approval ratings even casually, e.g. as they were tracked on Rasmussen Reports, the pattern was clear: Obamas approval rating would rise as an election approached, peak at around the time of the election, and then plummet. There are several ways one can interpret this. I think the most obvious is that Obama the candidate was vastly more popular than Obama the president. Even liberals freely admit that Obamas personal popularitysuch as it wassignificantly exceeded the publics opinion of his policies.

In my view, it is foolish to look at poll data on Obama without acknowledging that in the eyes of a huge number of Americans, his principal significance was that he was the countrys first black president. I think that a great many people who told pollsters they approved of Obama (while going on to disapprove of most of what he did) were really saying that they approved of having a black president.

Be that as it may, the final numbers are in, and they are not impressive. In terms of public approval, Barack Obama was below average for a modern president. So can we stop with the press hagiography?

For purposes of comparison, Rasmussen tells us that so far, just a few days into Donald Trumps administration, 57% of likely voters approve of his performance. To date, at least, Trump is viewed considerably more positively than Obama was, on the average, over his tenure in office. I suspect that trend will continue as the effects of Trumps policies are experienced.
Moscow, January 25, 2017

Photo: https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com

For the first time ever, a same-sex family has been entered into Estonias population register, reports Interfax-Religion.

As explained on Estonian television, Ats Joorits says he had to leave Estonia for Sweden thirty years ago due to problems with his orientation. There he met another man, with whom he wanted to return home, but in 2015 the Harju County Council refused to add the family to the population register.

The administrative court of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, upheld the decision of the county court, based on the fact that Estonia does not recognize same-sex unions.

However, the Tallinn district court, as a court of second appeal, ruled in favor of Joorits and his mate on the basis that those who settle in Estonia or receive Estonian citizen rights should be entered into the register.

The courts decision came into force on December 28, 2016 and the family was entered into the population register on January 24.
Seven single-family homes owned by the City of Dearborn are available for purchase at a good value until Feb. 22.

The opportunity is available for people who are willing to buy the property as is, and will bring the house up to building codes within one year of purchase. The houses must be owner-occupied for 10 years.

The houses are being sold for minimum prices ranging from $54,565 to $166,315. They are located primarily in west Dearborn, including one house in the Dearborn Hills neighborhood and one home in the Ford Historic Homes District.

The bid package and the list of the seven properties are on the homepage of the citys web site cityofdearborn.org. Copies of the bid information also can be obtained 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at the Dearborn Administrative Center, 16901 Michigan Ave.

All bids are due by 3 p.m. Feb. 22.

While the houses can represent a good value to potential buyers, there are guidelines to follow. Check the bid packet for complete information.

Some of the pertinent information and guidelines are:

* The houses are single-family residences and are located in well-established residential neighborhoods with extensive public amenities located nearby.

* These houses were acquired from Wayne County through the tax foreclosure process and all of them require varying degrees of rehabilitation and repairs. The bid packet includes a list of required repairs for each house.

* Each house is being sold as is, where is, and with no warranties or representations.

* Minimum acceptable bid amounts are provided in the bid packet.

* Minimum bid prices were established by deducting the estimated cost of repairs that are needed to each house from the True Cash Value, as determined by the city assessor. Each house may require more repair than estimated.

* Buyers are required to repair the houses to building code and must qualify for a certificate of occupancy within one year of closing. Repairs must be performed by a licensed contractor.

* Each house must be owner-occupied for 10 years after rehabilitation is completed. Details of each of the houses are in the bid packages and should be viewed carefully by the prospective bidder to gain a better understanding of its size, location and amenities.

* Walk-though inspections of each house will also be offered on specific dates found in the bid packet.

* Sealed bids will be received by the City of Dearborn Purchasing Department up to and including 3 p.m. Feb. 22.

* Sealed bids will be publicly opened and read aloud on the same day in the City Council chambers. Sale to the highest bidder will be recommended for approval by the City Council.

* A check for $500 made payable to the city must accompany all bids submitted on each parcel.

* The city payment requires cash payment in full at the time of closing. Closing must occur within 90 days from approval by the City Council.

Questions regarding the houses and properties should be directed to the Property Maintenance & Development Services Department at 313-943-2216.

Source: City of Dearborn
I was born in what had been a hospital on the corner of Morley and Oakwood. I now live two short blocks from my place of birth. I grew up on North Elizabeth, near Ford Road and Outer Drive, and have either lived in Dearborn or worked in the city at Henry Ford College almost all my life.

Some 1.7 million viewers have watched a negative Youtube video on the shift in Dearborn culture from European to Middle Eastern. When I hear negative things about Dearborn, I get my back up I dont have a handle on statistics, so let me give some personal stories and thoughts as they relate to the changing culture.

In my role of financial aid director at the college, I made presentations before students and parents throughout our service area, ranging from Detroit to Plymouth to Southfield to Grosse Ile. There has never been a more polite group of students than those I found at Fordson High School, which is predominantly Arab.

Since my retirement from my administrative duties in 2003, I have been teaching as an adjunct instructor. Typically, my Arab students are more dedicated in the classroom than others.

East Dearborns business and residential stock was disintegrating before Arabs came to Dearborn. The east side has been rejuvenated. If it werent for them, Dearborn would be a declining part of Detroit. It is a fun experience to eat there.

I have met many cultured Arabs. At the Arab American National Museum my wife and I met a couple who were originally from Iraq but migrated to Yemen. The husband had written 25 books only to be outdone by the wife who had written 28. They rejoice in their lives in the United States and have become proud American citizens and contribute to the American culture by their teaching at Washtenaw Community College and the University of Michigan.

My Arab neighbor down the street is an anesthesiologist who is from Jordan. His father had a doctorate degree and came to the U.S. because of the 1948 conflict in Israel. Many assume that all Arabs are Muslim; my neighbor is Christian.

My immediate neighbor is Arab and cuts my front lawn. In recent snowy weather, he also cleaned my walk.

A former colleague of mine who is Muslim called and asked if I might come to a meeting to discuss the negative image of Arabs. I happily agreed to do so. They are as concerned about their negative image as we who view it.

I am the chair of the Dearborn Historical Commission. There are two members who are Arab and working to sustain the history of Dearborn.

I am an officer in the Dearborn Democratic Club. Our president is Jordanian and Muslim. Another officer is Jordanian but Christian. I would say that my values correspond with both of theirs. We are all out to make the city, state and government more functional through supporting good candidates. At potluck functions we get lots of great Arab cuisine.

My wife and I have garage sales, which are perfect for our location, across the street from the old Dearborn High/Adams Junior High. We typically host our sale during homecoming weekend. We have lots of Arab people visit us.

One buyer at our garage sales made a real impact on me. She is from Lebanon and told me how her family home was destroyed by American-made Israeli jets. I drove her purchases over to her house. I noted the American flag flying in her yard. Her son is currently serving in the Marines.

There are aspects of the culture which we might not like, but there are aspects of the American culture that Muslim Arabs dont like either. I greatly respect my Muslim friends who fast during Ramadan. I remember when it was a big deal for us Catholics to fast from midnight until Mass time so that we might receive Communion. I suspect that many Muslims suspect we are weak because of todays minimal fasting.

While some Muslims do drink alcohol, most dont. I am sure that they consider us heathens when we toss down a few. Apologetically, one Muslim friend did not post a sign advertising our museums beer tasting party.

I am currently reading Juan de Segovia and the Fight for Peace  Christians and Muslims in the Fifteenth Century by Anne Marie Wolf, daughter of classmate Kathy Hass (1960). The book is excellent and tells how Muslims thought that Christians believed in three gods. If I were they, I could very well consider Christianity to be irrational. It seems that there was a breakdown in communication even then.

Am I saying that all Arabs are good people? No. Obviously, I also dont consider all Christians to be good people either.

Last week I spoke with an American neighbor who had invited an Arab neighbor to his house for Thanksgiving. The neighbor was filled with joy at being invited into an American household. This same neighbor was chatting with another American neighbor who was going to move to the state of his birth because he felt so isolated here in a Dearborn neighborhood where a Muslim had that same feeling of isolation. There is a need for communication here  and everywhere  about the American experience.

I am very proud of my 12 years of education at Sacred Heart. In addition to a pretty good education, the nuns instilled in me a thirsting for social justice. When generalizations such as the ones in this video are made, it goes against my Shamrock heritage. Its just plain wrong.

Scripture tells us to be kind to the poor and to the immigrant. That means Arabs and Muslims, too.

Dearborn resident L. Glenn OKray is chairman of the citys historical commission.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  A school board member in Hillary Clinton's hometown resigned after making a derogatory reference on Twitter to the female anatomy in describing women marching against President Donald Trump. An Illinois teacher was pulled from the classroom for a tweet deemed sexist. And a freshman Indiana lawmaker was inundated with criticism over a Facebook post mocking "fat women."

In Atlantic County, New Jersey, Freeholder John Carman posted a meme about the Womens March on Washington that featured a picture of a woman cooking soup with the caption, Will the womans protest be over in time for them to cook dinner?

On Tuesday, more than 30 people  mostly women  showed up at the freeholder meeting to voice how they felt about the incident to Carman. The freeholder did not apologize.

These are a handful of examples from across the U.S. of mostly male public officials who have been reprimanded, called out or disciplined over social media postings about the women's marches around the globe last weekend.

The rash of incidents, which range from boorish to downright vulgar, highlight how nasty political discourse has become since the divisive presidential election. But in an era when Trump made lashing out against "political correctness" central to his appeal, the consequences these officials face for unfiltered use of social media once again demonstrate that what you say on the internet still can hurt you.

"Very few people in public life, even today, get away with what Trump was able to get away with," said Michael Cornfield, a George Washington University professor who studies politics in the internet age. "I wonder what these gentlemen were thinking."

It's not the first time rantings on social media have sparked backlash. Public officials for years have found themselves in trouble, and even resigned from office, over comments that were impolitic, distasteful and sometimes even racist. It's also not strictly a partisan issue.

A writer for "Saturday Night Live" was suspended this week after writing an offensive tweet about Trump's 10-year-old son Barron. The writer, Katie Rich, deleted the tweet, briefly deactivated her account and then apologized after a social media outcry led to calls for a boycott of the show.

Still, the number of incidents following the women's marches, which packed public squares in blue states and some red as well, has put a few elected officials and supervisors in an awkward spot. And it's not clear where to draw the line.

In Indiana, Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma says he's conducting social media tutorials after posts from at least two state lawmakers.

A weekend Facebook post by Indiana state Rep. Jim Lucas, a Republican, showed a photo of a woman sprayed in the face with pepper spray with a caption that read: "PARTICIPATION TROPHIES. NOW IN LIQUID FORM."

Another post by newly elected Indiana state Sen. Jack Sandlin, also a Republican, credited Donald Trump with getting "more fat women out walking than (former first lady) Michelle Obama did in 8 years."

Sandlin, who says he didn't knowingly share the since-deleted post, was inundated with criticism on his Facebook page and has apologized. He says the incident was a powerful lesson on the "unintended consequences" of opening up "your social media to try to get it out as broadly as you can."

Bosma partially blamed "the Twitter storm created by our president" which he said "makes people feel this is an appropriate vehicle to communicate." He added: "We're elected officials, we're held to a higher standard."

On Monday, Dathan Paterno, a school board member in Park Ridge, Illinois, where Hillary Clinton grew up, abruptly resigned after he called the protests a "farce" by "vagina screechers" on Twitter.

Paterno, who did not respond to a request for comment, later deleted his social media accounts, said district Superintendent Laurie Heinz. He wrote in his letter of resignation that the tweets were "understandably misinterpreted."

In the Quad Cities, along Illinois' western border, a teacher was "removed from the classroom" for posting a view of women that "does not reflect the values" of the school, district officials said in a statement.

The teacher, Mark Kaczmarek, tweeted a photo of a 1950s housewife, and commented that the protesters "all went home to make dinner."

One online petition called his tweet "unacceptable" while a rival petition said there is "no proof" that he "ever engaged in any kind of sexist, racist or even homophobic hate speeches in his classroom."

A person who answered the phone at a number listed to Kaczmarek declined to comment.

In Nebraska, a retweet of an offensive joke may be the final straw for state Sen. Bill Kintner, who admitted last year to having cybersex on a state computer with a woman who later tried to blackmail him. The Republican's colleagues on Wednesday will debate whether to expel him after he retweeted a joke implying that three women's march demonstrators were too unattractive to sexually assault.

Other incidents were reported in Mississippi, Rhode Island and New Mexico.

Cornfield, the political science professor, said that he thought most people learned the lesson about crossing the line in social media posts years ago during the early days of email.

"I guess now that we've elected the real Donald Trump some people need reminders," he said.

__

Associated Press Writer Darcy Costello contributed to this report.

Press of Atlantic City Staff Writer John DeRosier contributed to this report.
NORTHFIELD  Kalyn Guenther, 18, finished her required laps in the U.S. Army Recruiting Center parking lot and dropped down to the ground to catch her breath.

I didnt realize how out of shape I was, said Guenther, of Galloway Township, as two other recruits completed additional laps to meet the requirement for their desired military job.

Starting this year, being Army Strong has taken on a new meaning.

Army recruiters must now give recruits an Occupational Physical Assessment Test, or OPAT, to see if they are physically capable of doing the job they signed up for. They are tested in four physical challenges and must meet the fitness level assigned to the job, either moderate, significant or heavy.

Someone interested in a desk job would require the moderate level, while infantrymen must achieve the heavy level. Guenther wants to go into military police and must meet the significant level.

Last chance to nominate a student for Press' second Young Leaders awards Do you know a high school senior who might be a Young Leader? We want to know.

The new test is an early warning alert, designed to reduce injuries and help future soldiers find the best fit for them in the Army.

Staff Sgt. Nicholas Cassano, a recruiter at the Northfield center, said he tells recruits about the requirement when they pick their job. The test must be given within 30 days of enlistment, and Cassano said he typically gives it the first week to recruits, whom he calls future soldiers, so they have time to train and retake the test before the deadline.

If they struggle, he would suggest a different job. If they cannot meet the minimum requirement, they will be discharged.

The four challenges include a standing long jump, seated power throw, weighted dead lift and aerobic interval run.

There is general agreement that the run is the toughest. Its the last event, and while the runs are short, 20 meters from cone to cone, there is a time element to meet, signaled by beeps.

The beeps get progressively faster. If a beep sounds before the recruit makes the run, the lap doesnt count. Miss three in a row, and the test ends. The scoring counts the number of successful runs.

I want you to pass with flying colors, Cassano said as he put future soldiers through the test last week.

Alexander Enriquez, 18, of Pleasantville, signed up for the infantry and wants to go to Ranger school. He said he has a passion for physical activity and has boxed, but the run was still a challenge.

Ive always been in shape, but I didnt know how much I needed to improve, he said. Theres a lot of pressure on the run because it gets faster and faster.

He said passing gave him more confidence that he can succeed.

I feel very confident that I will be able to do what they throw at me, he said.

The Army began looking at adjusting physical requirements after women joined combat units since they tend to have different physical strengths and not all jobs need the same level of physical strength.

Alex Herod, 17, of Galloway Township, admitted the toughest challenge for her was the dead lift, though she lifted the weight she needed, 140 pounds, and also managed 160 pounds.

Ive just never been good at dead lifts, she said.

Cassano is working with 20 future soldiers, many of whom are still in high school and have a few months to train before leaving for basic training. They meet every Thursday afternoon to learn about the military, do some physical training and become part of the Army family.

While the newer recruits took the OPAT, the rest cheered them on and did physical drills and team pushups.

Cassano said he encourages young people interested in the military to come out Thursday and learn what is expected. He said the new OPAT also gives recruiters a chance to see the overall fitness level of young people interested in the Army.

This lets me see the generation that is coming up and how fit they are, he said. So far they are better than I thought. But that run is going to be a challenge.
VENTNOR  Tonya Smith found herself helping an elderly woman in her early 90s from Ventnor who had shown up to a recent mobile food pantry in Somers Point.

Smith, mobile pantry coordinator for the Community FoodBank of New Jerseys Southern Branch, said the woman needed proper hearing aids but couldnt afford them. She shouldnt have been driving that day, but she had no choice, Smith said.

A fight over the relocation and re-establishment of the Ventnor mobile pantry will make more needy residents travel farther, food bank advocates said.

Ventnor officials shut down the mobile food pantry in July because its spot at the Veterans of Foreign Wars building on Dorset Avenue had become overcrowded.

Meet the woman helping to keep South Jersey fed in tough times On a Wednesday, a line of people with shopping carts and boxes makes its way around a makesh

City Commissioners proposed moving the mobile pantry to Ski Beach near the NJ Transit bus stop and ample parking spaces, but nearby residents said they dont want it there.

Were not against the mobile pantry or helping anyone in need, said city resident Susan Blitzstein. We just dont think this is the right spot for it.

Food bank officials said they established the mobile pantry in Ventnor in 2011 because they identified a population of people lacking access to healthy food.

More than 14 percent of Ventnor residents live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That rate is higher than those in Egg Harbor Township, Galloway Township, Somers Point and Middle Township, all of which host a food bank mobile pantry one day per month for two to three hours.

Food bank officials said they have a list of 107 families, including 72 children, in Ventnor who visit mobile and regular food pantries. Ventnor and Margate residents enrolled in state assistance programs must now travel to Somers Point to attend a mobile pantry.

Im confident that we can work with the neighbors and the mobile pantry to get this done, whether its at Ski Beach or another location in the city, Commissioner Lance Landgraf said. I think at Ski Beach it can work if its done correctly.

Food bank in Ventnor lacks site Each year the Community FoodBank of New Jerseys mobile food pantries deliver more than 1 mi

City officials said residents around the VFW previously complained that pantry clients were knocking on their doors, asking to use their bathrooms or sitting on their steps. Food bank officials said they did not receive those complaints while the mobile pantry stopped in Ventnor.

Mayor Beth Holtzman told The Press of Atlantic City in December she understood the need for the mobile food pantry but wanted to find a way to balance it with residents concerns.

Several people speaking during a commission meeting Friday suggested a better spot for the mobile pantry would be at the Ventnor Public Library, but city officials said the parking lot at the library is too small for the truck that distributes the food.

The Ventnor mobile pantry will be canceled for an eighth consecutive month if the commission does not pass a resolution to allow the pantry to set up at Ski Beach.

Peter Kleiner, former president of the Crown Key Condominium Association, said during Fridays meeting that condo owners at Crown Key were against the move.

Diane Birkbeck, a food bank mobile pantry volunteer who attended the commissioner meeting, said the mobile pantry would be set up on Ski Beach for three hours a month.

We are talking about a public park, and it is for the use of anyone in our community, she said.

Food bank and city officials have been discussing the relocation and reinstatement of the mobile pantry for months.

Now it seems almost like everyone is asking that question of what do I pay or how do we eat this week or how do I make this stretch, Smith said in December at a Somers Point mobile pantry. Its something very prominent, and were trying to help as much as possible.
NORTHFIELD  Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson told the public and the Board of Chosen Freeholders on Tuesday that this years budget is one of the most complicated the county has seen.

In his annual report to the freeholders, Levinson said there are three major issues complicating the process.

Two have to do with Atlantic City.

The budget and tax rates will be introduced at a later date. When its ready, the plan will be presented to the freeholders, the public and the Division of Local Government Services.

Levinson said the ongoing fight over the countys share of the PILOT bill money is a difference of $4 million per year for 10 years.

When the state passed the PILOT legislation, it failed to clearly specify what the Atlantic County taxpayers share would be, even though the sponsors statement had 13.5 percent included, Levinson said during the speech. Let me remind you that there was an accepted consensus regarding 13.5 percent.

The city now says it only wants to give the county 10.3 percent of the payments in lieu of taxes from the casinos.

The second issue regarding Atlantic City are the tax refunds the county has given to the resort. Since 2007, Atlantic County has refunded the city $51.7 million in property taxes because casino properties were over-assessed. The county will refund another $12.7 million this year.

This whole problem could have been avoided, without a PILOT, simply by assessing casinos correctly, Levinson said.

The third issue is the new bail-reform law that took effect in the state Jan. 1. This year, the county will spend $800,000 on the new law because of new staff members and other expenses. In coming years, Levinson said, that number will be higher.

The county argues the legislation was not needed because it had already decreased its jail population from 1,200 inmates to 700 in the past several years because of cooperation between the jail and the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office.

But despite the challenges, Levinson said the county is still in good financial shape and pointed to major projects such as the coming Stockton University campus in Atlantic City and the Stockton Aviation Research and Technology Park as a sign that better times are ahead.

Places like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Dubuque, Iowa, or Reno, Nevada, overcame economic diversity and have successfully established themselves as regions known for medicine, education and technology, he said. Atlantic County is on this same path, and I will assure, that we, government, business and private citizens, will do the same.
It all started with the controversial remarks that Atlantic County Freeholder John Carman posted to Facebook on the day of the Womens March on Washington.

Now, after the post received some backlash and criticism, some South Jersey women are planning to take action and show up at the freeholder meeting Tuesday to tell him how they feel.

Carman, a Republican who is up for re-election this year, posted Saturday a meme that featured a woman cooking soup and the caption, Will the womans protest be over in time for them to cook dinner?

Janice Ursani, 58, of Smithville heard about the remarks after returning from the Womens March in Washington, D.C. and decided, with a few others on Facebook, to attend the next freeholder meeting to speak up.

We were offended, Ursani said. Thats not a joke, Im sorry, its not. Thats one of the reasons we went to Washington.

While Carman said Monday the post was meant to be a joke, Atlantic County Democrats denounced the post, some calling it misogynistic and hateful.

On Saturday, millions of women all across the country and the world stood up to hate, intolerance and misogyny, Atlantic County Democratic Committee Chairman Mike Suleiman said. That same day, Freeholder Carman embraced the very hate, intolerance and misogyny just to get a few shallow likes on Facebook.

The Atlantic County Democrats Facebook page posted Monday inviting people who were offended by Carmans post to attend the next Freeholder meeting, which is Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the Stillwater Building, 201 Shore Road in Northfield.

I fully support womens rights and issues, Carman said Monday. I thought it was funny. People need to lighten up.

Public comment has begun. First comment: "The joke will be on you when we take your seat away this year in the election."  John DeRosier (@ACPressDeRosier) January 24, 2017

Public commenter brought John Carman takeout menus from various restaurants  John DeRosier (@ACPressDeRosier) January 24, 2017

John Carman's wife, Joanne, defends her husband at the freeholder meeting. She says America has lost its sense of humor. pic.twitter.com/Kw8vue3Gx6  John DeRosier (@ACPressDeRosier) January 24, 2017

Northfield resident Eileen Toland tells Carman that the joke was not funny. Says the residents are now watching everything they are doing pic.twitter.com/4yvWHHgpJc  John DeRosier (@ACPressDeRosier) January 24, 2017
VINELAND  Police said they arrested a mother and father for allegedly shaking their 1-month-old child to the point where the infant suffered life-threatening brain injuries.

Doctors at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, said the injuries could not be classified as accidental and were consistent with shaken baby syndrome, police said.

Police said they charged Enrique R. Rivera, no age provided, of the 700 block of South East Avenue with two counts each of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child, and a single count of child neglect.

The infants mother, Maria C. Sanchez, no age provided, also of the 700 block of South East Avenue, is charged with one count of child neglect.

Grand jury clears officer in Joshlee Vadell shooting ATLANTIC CITY  A grand jury Wednesday cleared the Atlantic City officer who opened fire and

Police said they and the Special Victims Unit of the Cumberland County Prosecutors Office were notified by hospital officials Jan. 10 of a suspected case of child abuse.

Police said the report prompted an investigation by local authorities, the Prosecutors Office and the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency. Rivera and Sanchez were both charged as a result of that investigation, police said.

No additional information about the case was immediately available.

Police said anyone with information about the incident can call police at 856-691-4111 or the Prosecutors Office at 856-453-0486.
New Jersey has once again proved it is failing to pay to reduce tobacco use, according to a new national report.

The American Lung Associations State of Tobacco Control report, released last week, showed New Jersey is one of only two states that allocates zero state funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs as taxpayers absorb $4 billion in tobacco-related health expenses.

Its a disservice to young people in not providing prevention education and services, said Deborah Brown, president and CEO of the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic. Because weve been talking about tobacco for years, people think the problem is solved, but its not.

New Jersey has a poor history with decisions on tobacco-prevention funding. It has not provided any funding since the 2012 fiscal year, even though smoking tobacco remains the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States.

About 14.8 percent of adults in New Jersey use tobacco, according to the report, and 8.2 percent of high school students smoke.

New Jersey worst in the nation for state spending on tobacco prevention

The report found 11,780 state residents died from smoking-related health issues between 2005 and 2009.

They need to still care about it, said Evelyn Coulbourne, 20, of Atlantic City. There are some people out there who really want to quit but dont know how.

Coulbourne stood outside Atlantic Citys NJ Transit bus station Wednesday morning holding a Newport cigarette in one hand and her phone in the other. She started smoking when she was about 17 and tried to quit once, but was unsuccessful.

She said she started thinking about quitting again after giving birth to her son last year but knows quitting is not easy.

I know it sounds hypocritical, but I wouldnt want my kids smoking, Coulbourne said. I do want to quit, especially because its so expensive.

Poor puff, suffer as N.J. cuts anti-smoking aid

State lawmakers put a $2.70 tax on packs of 20 cigarettes with the goal of discouraging people from buying them, but experts at the American Lung Association recommend New Jersey increase that tax and create tax parity with other tobacco products, such as electronic cigarettes.

For every pack of cigarettes purchased, taxpayers will spend $35 on health-related costs for a smoker, the American Cancer Society says.

Tobacco-tax revenue is combined with revenue payments from the Master Settlement Agreement, a 1998 settlement with the tobacco industry on smoking cessation, to bring in nearly $1 billion to New Jersey.

Instead of using that money for prevention and cessation efforts, New Jersey will use it to begin repaying hundreds of millions of dollars to bondholders, a result of a decision made in a previous administration to fill a budget hole in 2014.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend New Jersey spend $103.3 million on prevention efforts. The only funding for such programs comes in the form of nearly $1.4 million from the CDC and U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The state fulfills 1.3 percent of the CDC-recommended level, the lowest percentage in the nation, according to the report.

Its just wrong. It says it right on the label that its dangerous. They should tax tobacco more, said William Gallagher, 54, of Egg Harbor Township. Im getting ready to quit, but when I first started smoking, nobody talked about how bad it was for you.

Areas that New Jersey did well in on the report were smoke-free air laws and minimum age of sale for tobacco products, which is 19. The state scored an A for having laws preventing smoking at worksites, schools, child-care facilities, restaurants, most bars, retail stores and recreational facilities.

Atlantic City casinos can allow smoking on as much as 25 percent of their gambling floors. Laws prohibiting smoking in other areas are enforced with penalties.

American Lung Association officials recommend New Jersey follow in the footsteps of California and Hawaii, which increased the age of sale to 21. The New Jersey Assembly and Senate passed that bill in January 2016, but Gov. Chris Christie vetoed it.

New Jersey wants to raise legal smoking age to 21

The Christie administration argues the states smoking rates are declining, according to the state Department of Health. Meanwhile, it has pledged $100 million for addiction and mental-health services for the next year.

This is no less important than other epidemics, Brown said. Young people can start with smoking, which can lead to the development of other addictions. We need young people to make healthy decisions and choices, and we can do that with prevention programs.
MAYS LANDING  Members of the Communications Workers of America union and a Mays Landing resident gathered in front the office of Rep. Frank LoBiondo on Wednesday to urge the congressman to not vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

We plan on being here every Wednesday. The vigils will continue to take place, said Mike Blaszczyk, president of CWA Local 1085. We believe very strongly in this, and were trying to make Mr. LoBiondo understand the effect this will have on his constituents.

A press release from New Jersey Citizen Action said the Vigils to Save Our Health Care are intended to urge Republicans to save the Affordable Care Act and maintain funding for Medicare and Medicaid.

Wednesdays vigil was one of seven held across the state in front of the offices of Reps. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-11th, Leonard Lance, R-7th, Tom MacArthur, R-3rd, and Chris Smith, R-4th.

A repeal would cause more than 51,000 adults in the 2nd District to lose health care coverage, said Blaszczyk. Repealing without a replacement would be devastating.

Last week, President Donald Trump signed executive orders that give federal agencies broad powers to undo regulations created under the Affordable Care Act, including enforcement of the penalty for people who fail to have health insurance.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell R-Ky., have laid out an aggressive legislative agenda calling for Congress to repeal major portions of the ACA within the first 200 days of Republican control in Washington.

I thought wed have more time to mobilize and get the message out there, said Melanie Moriarty, of Mays Landing.

LoBiondo, R-2nd, is in Philadelphia ahead of the Congressional Republican Retreat. A statement from his office said of the vigil attendees, We welcome them, like we welcome all constituents to come to the office.

Each of the demonstrators at the vigil told personal stories about their experience with health care coverage and the benefits of the ACA.

Beth Afflerbach-Ziegenfuss, a social worker in Gloucester County, said she helps people get health insurance through the ACA every day.

We just need to get it across about how important it is not to take peoples health coverage away, Afflerbach-Ziegenfuss said.

The group is reaching out through social media to inform the public of the vigils. More information can be found at facebook.com/ njcitizenaction.
More than two dozen local people were arrested in the past three months as part of a statewide violent-offender fugitive sweep by State Police.

A total of more than 150 people were arrested during the investigation, which began Nov. 1, according to a news release.

The operation was intended to target violent fugitives, many of whom are criminal gang members with arrest warrants for crimes such as murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping and drug trafficking, State Police said in a news release.

In addition to the arrests, police seized 11 firearms, 631 packets of heroin and 60 vials of crack cocaine.

Attorney General Christopher Porrino also announced a new law-enforcement directive designed to prevent victim and witness intimidation.

Among those arrested were Kamal Sears, 36, of Atlantic City, Otis Dennis, 21, of Millville, and Balil Burton, 26, of Atlantic City.

Vineland police break up alleged sexual assault in downtown business VINELAND  A womans screams for help ended with police stopping a man from sexually assault

Sears was arrested Dec. 8. He was wanted for escaping from a New Jersey Department of Corrections facility where he was serving a five-year prison sentence for multiple weapons offenses. Police did not say when Sears escaped or which prison he escaped from.

Dennis was arrested Nov. 15. He was wanted for unlawful possession of a weapon.

At the time of his arrest, it was discovered that Dennis was out on bail from a previous murder charge.

Burton was arrested Dec. 14 in Atlantic City. Police said Burton is a member of the Bloods gang and was wanted for an armed robbery in Galloway Township. Police did not say when the robbery took place.

State Police also included the arrest of Jeremiah Monell in the count. Monell, of Cedarville in Lawrence Township, was wanted for allegedly killing his estranged wife in December. He was captured behind a shopping center in Folsom.

Hearing for suspects in Angstadt killing moved to May CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE  The two men charged with murder in the 2015 killing of a Lower Townsh

The primary focus of the investigation was in Newark, Trenton, Camden, Millville, Atlantic City and Pleasantville.

Other local offenders arrested in the sweep were Adam Ali, 45, Angel Hernandez, 35, Michael Jackson, 47, and Devan Leggette, 20, of Mays Landing; Malik Anderson, 21, of Buena; Clifton Bailey, 25, Jules Black, 30, Brian Cox, 27, Chance Graves, 19, Angel Jose Guzman, 55, Juan Velazquez, 26, and Deondrae King, 34, of Vineland; Jermaine Carmichael, 33, Jayce Thomas, 25, and Essance Kurkland, 27, of Atlantic City; Anthony Chatum, 29, Terrence Jones, 34, Jacob Surwilla, 48, and Rashaida Rhett, 21, of Millville; Allen Williams, 23, of Bridgeton; Laquinta Price, 26, of Pleasantville; Emils Mors, 22, of Egg Harbor Township; Devon Rocker-McAlpin, 25, of Commercial Township; and Bryan Weisgerber, 32, of Stow Creek Township.

The remaining offenders arrested in the sweep were:

Clauvens Alcius 28 Irvington

Lisa Anderson 33 Trenton

Dremere Anthony 21 Fair Haven

Jeremy Arrington 27 Newark

Antwone Bethea 30 Trenton

Corey Billings 36 Trenton

Kai Bowman 39 Trenton

Jamie Buhpan 21 Camden

Jashawn Burnett 23 Newark

Tyreef Burton-Spellman 24 Wrightstown

Saymon Cabral 33 Paterson

Gerry Caridad 24 Neptune

Jermel Carter 35 Trenton

Ameer Castleberry 33 Newark

Rashon Causey 38 Burlington

Nyron Chin 18 Pemberton

Christopher Clark 25 Burlington

Tirkirah Clark 19 Trenton

Kevin Clayton 25 Newark

Timothy Cocchi 34 Burlington

Geoffrey Colucci 49 Toms River

Tyson Coney 30 Wharton

Quantea Crawley 24 Browns Mills

Antoine Crawley 31 Pemberton

Paul Crawley 17 Burlington

Fuquan Cromwell 30 East Orange

Emmanuel Cruz 29 Morrisville

Corey Dames 40 Newark

Jarett Darby 25 Hamilton

Yusef Davis 20 Irvington

Shakiera Davis 21, no hometown given

Alicia Dennis 39 Willingboro

Tiago Diaz 31 Neptune

Kateena Diggs 28 Burlington

Welder Dubon 31 Piscataway

Dantavis Dukes 23 Carneys Point

Matthew Dukes 27 Trenton

Gary Elysee 26 Orange City

Roger Estivez-Jimenez 22 Perth Amboy

Jennifer Ferro 32 Belmar

Bryheem Frazier 31 Camden

Thomas Fryar 36 Burlington

Carlos Garcia 37 Fort Myers

Carson Givens Jr. 36 Manalapan

Louis Gould 41 Haddon Twp.

Kareem Griffin 39 Oaklyn

Bernadino Guervil 28 Trenton

Bryant Hawkins 39 Newark

Niquawn Hayes 35 Trenton

Kevin Hernandez 20 Elizabeth

Kenneth Hilton 43 Newark

Ibn Holman 35 East Orange

Antonio Jefferson 30 Willingboro

John Johnson 23 Newark

Tysheim Johnson 26 Newark

Djuan Johnson 23 Newark

Raheem Jones 35 Newark

Timothy Jones 35 Newark

Belinda Kellicker 49 Bellmawr

Stephon Keys 24 Asbury Park

Ramel Kirkpatrick 30 Neptune

Thomas Lacovara 45 Williamstown

Rose Landwher 46 Deptford

Danielle Landwher 20 Swedesboro

Jaquan Lane-Nevius 22 Newark

Tyrone Lattie 33 Jackson

Troy Leary 30 Camden

Altyreek Leonard 23 Asbury Park

Leon Livingston 54 Trenton

Jose Lopez 45 Newark

Alexandra Louzan 25 Manchester

Alfatah Loyal 31 Irvington

Asad Majors 24 Irvington

Dayron Marquez 24 Camden

Jaishawn Mathis 23 Trenton

Frank McCord 23 Jersey City

Thomas McGinnis 35 Toms River

Nikkiya McKenzie 33 Newark

Isaiah McNeil 20 Newark

Patricia Mendez 41 Toms River

Kenny Mosley 52 Willingboro

David Murri 46 Westville

Zeldrick Nance 29 Trenton

Bruce Neal 37 Burlington

Joshua Norwood 27 Newark

Ricardo Palacios 25 Long Branch

Deandre Parker 27 Irvington

Myson Peeples 26 Paterson

Mario Perez-Gonzalez 60 Newark

Jeremy Pickett 27 Salem

Alex Pullen 25 Trenton

Hezron Rodgers 28 Newark

Rasheeda Sampson 22 Trenton

Edwin Santiago 24 Newark

Terrance Shells 19 Newark

Marquis Skillman 30 Trenton

Patrick Smith 26 Willingboro

Jashawn Smith 18 Trenton

Tyre Sorbino 18 Newark

Darnell Starks 27 Newark

Lucas Sumler 42 Newark

Nysha Taylor 23 Mount Holly

Aljuquan Thomason 24 Newark

Larry Thompson 35 Princeton

Shawn Tift 24 Trenton

Abdul Wahid Ubaidah-Crumblin 48 Linden

Kyle Vance 20 Ewing

Juprie Wadley 19 Trenton

Paulette Wakefield 35 Tinton Falls

Jesse Weaver 19 Monroeville

Kahail Weeks 24 Newark

Rashad Wells 22 Trenton

Shaeed White 30 Newark

Marquise Wiggins 20 Newark

Blair Williams 19 Camden

Darell Williams 20 Newark

Marvin Williams 31 Trenton

Charles Willis 24 Trenton

Darshon Womack 28 Newark

Timothy Wright 24 Hamilton

Authorities have sought pretrial detention or protective conditions for pretrial release for some of the more dangerous defendants, while other defendants have been released and ordered to appear at a later date for first appearances.

State Police Units assisting with the operation include the Crime Suppression Unit, Gangs and Organized Crime Unit, New Jersey Regional Operations Intelligence Center, and the Real Time Crime Center. The United States Marshals Service and the NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force have also assisted with the initiative.

Porrino also detailed an anti-violence initiative to prevent victim and witness intimidation. The states new bail reform practices, which began Jan. 1, have provided a unique opportunity to address the problem, Porrino said in the release.

The new initiative:

 Directs that when prosecutors have reason to believe a defendant or his associates might engage in witness intimidation, they must notify police before producing any evidence or documents in discovery to a defense attorney that could reveal the identity of a victim or witness, so police can take immediate precautions to warn and protect the victim or witness.

 Mandates that when charges of victim or witness intimidation can be substantiated, police and prosecutors must aggressively pursue such charges. The directive instructs them to be particularly wary of emerging forms of witness intimidation, including social media.

 Directs the development within 90 days of an online training course for police and prosecutors to teach them about the legal tools available to fight victim and witness tampering. Requires all prosecutors to take the course within 90 days of its launch.

 Requires that when officers learn that a defendant might try to intimidate a victim or witness, they shall promptly notify the prosecutor. The prosecutor, in consultation with the police, must consider whether to seek pretrial detention of the defendant under the Bail Reform Act, or whether some form of restraint (e.g., no contact order, electronic monitoring of defendant, etc.) should be imposed by the court as a condition of pretrial release.

 Mandates certain protocols (use of anonymous references, seeking protective orders) to protect witness confidentiality and anonymity wherever possible and specifically authorizes use of forfeiture funds for witness relocation.{/span}
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE  The two men charged with murder in the 2015 killing of a Lower Township teenager are scheduled to appear in court Friday for a hearing.

Superior Court Judge John C. Porto asked the prosecution and defense to return with more direction at a hearing last month for Charles Mosley, one of the men accused of killing 15-year-old Nicole Angstadt.

Mosley, 33, and Derrick Powers, 23, both recently of Middle Township, have separate hearings scheduled for Friday morning.

First Assistant Prosecutor Rob Johnson said last month he intends to take the case against both men to trial, but he stopped short of withdrawing plea offers  a 45-year prison sentence for Powers and 30 years for Mosley.

Prosecutor expects trial for two men charged in Angstadt case CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE  The case of two men accused of killing 15-year-old Lower Township res

Johnson also expressed interest in trying both men at the same time.

Mosleys attorney, Ed Weinstock, said he expects to file a motion to sever his clients case from that of Powers, in effect creating two separate cases and potential trials.

In August, prosecutors said Mosley admitted to detectives he raped and dismembered Angstadt.

The teenagers remains were found in December 2015 in the crawlspace of a vacant home in the Rio Grande section of Middle Township.

The killing shocked the community and led, in part, to the Middle Township Police Department opening a 24-hour substation in Rio Grande.

Mosley, who is being held on $1 million bail at the Cape May County jail, pleaded not guilty in August to murder, aggravated sexual assault, criminal trespass, endangering the welfare of a child, conspiracy and disturbing human remains.

Suspect in Angstadt killing a no-show for status hearing MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  One of the men charged with murder in connection with the death of 15-year

Powers, who also pleaded not guilty, faces charges of murder, robbery, conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to desecrate a body and endangering the welfare of a child. He is at the Atlantic County jail on $1 million bail.
Mark Taylor walked through a patch of woods in Vineland on Wednesday toward a tent.

There was no sign of movement from the site, which was close enough to the highway to hear traffic but concealed behind thick brush and a small shopping center.

Is anybody there? Taylor called out. Were here to help.

There was no reply, but Taylor, director of veterans services for the Diocese of Camdens Catholic Charities, left a bag of soap and other items for whoever may be living in the small dome tent in the middle of winter.

Taylor was one of hundreds of people who scoured the state Wednesday for NJ Counts 2017, part of an annual effort to tally the states homeless.

The event doesnt provide a perfect count, only a one-day snapshot of the homeless at campsites, shelters, abandoned cars and houses, and any other place where they may find refuge.

The count is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as a prerequisite for federal funding of certain grants.

In Cumberland County, volunteers went Tuesday night to warming centers in Bridgeton, Millville and Vineland operated by the Cumberland County Code Blue Coalition. They got about 40 homeless people to fill out surveys that will help determine not only their number but also their demographics.

Street teams fanned out in Atlantic County starting at midnight. Their overnight efforts resulted in 60 homeless people filling out the surveys and others getting information about Project Homeless Connect. That event, held at the Salvation Center facility in Atlantic City, provided another opportunity to count Atlantic Countys homeless, while providing the homeless with access to social service organizations, food and clothing.

The final results of NJ Counts 2017 will likely be ready no earlier than late spring, said officials with Monarch Housing Associates, which oversees the state homeless count.

Most of the counting took place Wednesday.

At the Catholic Charities facility in Vineland, Cynthia Lebron, regional coordinator for Cumberland and Salem counties, was organizing the three street teams that would search Cumberland County. They take with them clothes, items for personal hygiene and snacks. Homeless women get pocketbooks filled with personal goods.

Lebron and her team found about eight men sitting against a wall and across the railroads tracks near West Pear Street. Most of the men were Spanish, so Lebron got an interpreter. Several filled out surveys.

Off to a good start, she said.

But those were the only homeless the team found in the first two hours of searching parks, areas behind shopping centers and woods. Some of the camps where Lebron and others had won the trust of homeless residents were empty. The homeless were likely pushed out by nearby construction, she said.

Elsewhere, the discoveries were all about the same: There were tents or shelters made from blue tarps held down by cinderblocks. Trash was strewn across the ground.

Its always heartbreaking, said Vineland resident Mary Sauceda, who volunteered for her eighth homeless count.

Sauceda works at the Cumberland Guidance Center in Millville. Shes part of a program that reaches out to homeless people who have mental and physical disabilities.

You think of the hardship that these people are going through, especially in the winter, Sauceda said.

In Atlantic City, at least 300 people were estimated to attend Project Homeless Connect in the Salvation Armys gym on Texas Avenue.

Beth Joseph, director of communications and donor relations for Jewish Family Services, said her organization and other agencies spend time getting to know the homeless in Atlantic County. She said that familiarity, coupled with a feeling of security at the Salvation Army gym, make it more comfortable for the homeless to fill out the survey.

The homeless attending the event also can meet with representatives of Atlantic Homeless Alliance, she said. The alliance is a one-stop agency that connects, or reconnects, the homeless with necessary services, including finding housing, she said.

And the annual NJ Counts play a crucial part in reducing homelessness, said Christina Bailey, the alliances association director.

Theyre key to finding what leads to homelessness and how to get people out of homelessness, she said.
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.
Disapproval of the proposed reduction in the summer flounder catch is nearly unanimous.

Fishers dont like it and will do everything they can to fight all five options suggested for cutting the already reduced flounder harvest by 40 percent. Theyre packing hearings, signing petitions and pressuring legislators.

Lawmakers have responded. Five N.J. congressmen, including both senators and Rep. Frank LoBiondo, sent a bipartisan letter asking the outgoing U.S. secretary of commerce to order the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make a new assessment of flounder populations before reducing the catch. That didnt happen, so a similar appeal will be made to the new Trump administration.

A resolution along the same lines passed the Assembly on Monday, sponsored by Democrat Vince Mazzeo and supported by Republican Chris Brown. Its being fast-tracked to send it to NOAA before the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meets next month and possibly gives final approval to one of the catch-reduction options.

This kind of strong public and bipartisan support usually indicates how an issue will be decided, and that may be the case here. With this much political and public lobbying, even the regulators might cooperate. But will the fish?

At bottom, what everyone wants is to turn back the clock to days when flounder fishing was much more satisfying, when you could drift fish a summer tide for a couple of hours and be pretty certain youd bring home the freshest fish dinner.

When some of todays fishermen were kids, the U.S. population was half what it is now. More fishers  recreational and commercial  are chasing a decreasing number of fish, and pursuing them more effectively and ardently.

Overfishing is a classic example of the tragedy of the commons, in which individuals fairly pursuing their own interests together deplete a public resource and collectively work against their own interests. Fortunately, fish can be a sustainable resource and might return to populations that remain stable even with a larger harvest.

But only in the last quarter century has awareness of overfishing led to efforts to restore fish, so the science and regulation dont have the experience needed to deliver consistent results. Catch limits resulted in a welcome rebound of striped bass, for example, but have failed since 1992 to increase northern Atlantic cod.

Scientists and regulators are proposing to limit individuals to two or three flounder each in summer 2017, down from a possible nine (combining ocean and bay limits) last year. They also want to increase the size for legally kept flounder from 17 or 18 inches last year to 18 or 19 inches this year.

The effectiveness of only taking the biggest flounder is a point challenged by fishers, who say that such fish are spawning females needed to sustain the population. Maybe marine biologists should consider that, or maybe they already have.

However imperfect the science of fish populations and their management, it is societys best path to sustaining this valuable public resource. We think therefore that regulations to restore fish must ultimately be left to scientists and technicians.

In this case, if the marine biologists have a high degree of confidence in their data and approach, they should hold firm to their 40 percent catch reduction. If theyre less certain of flounder populations or the effectiveness of their limits, and if they think a complete collapse of the flounder fishery isnt imminent, they should study some more and consider more options before nearly ending what is the summers most popular shore fishing.

Fishers and their representatives may well get the catch reduction postponed while more studying is done. They should be careful what they wish for.

Its possible that prevailing now could mean an effective end to flounder fishing for a long time. Just ask the Georges Bank cod fishers.
Find and eliminate waste at bistate Port Authority

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has been a repository of political hacks for a long, long time. A couple of years ago the governors of both states vetoed motions by both state houses to investigate the agency and with good reason. From guys like David Samson, who had the airlines create a special flight to accommodate his travels, to James Weinstein, who by all reports was arrogant and condescending and a man nobody liked, to the two fall guys/girls, Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni, the Port Authority never lack for overpaid, do-nothing employees. If the fraud and waste and duplication in the state were eliminated, there would probably be enough money to run the state twice over. A great place to start would be the Port Authority.

But of course, thats not happening. The governor is too concerned with new books, special privileges for his friends and the wealthy, and ruining the newspaper business at the expense of the public. Nothing new there.

Talk about hypocrisy, contrast Kelly and Baroni, who after being found guilty in the bridge-closing case, are now back in court to have their convictions overturned due to government over-reach, while some average Joe loses both his jobs over a petty theft charge for stealing $8 worth of coffee and rolls at a convenience store.

It all reminds me of the line from Animal Farm by George Orwell, All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Frank Geiger

Del Haven

Must atone for abortions

Americans live under a dark cloud of their own making, that of unrestricted abortions, the state-approved annihilation of many millions of lives over the past 43 years. The unwanted truth is that we, as a nation, are the perpetrators of a holocaust, having victimized the most vulnerable among us for the sake of nothing more than convenience.

Since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision Jan. 22, 1973, the nation has been in moral decline. Many who promote this medieval procedure would be falling over one another to prosecute anyone who might even inadvertently disturb a piping plover nest. Evidently human life has become much less precious. Why is the murder of a pregnant woman a double homicide when another woman who chooses to end her pregnancy is merely having a medical procedure?

Perhaps Americans have taken a step toward righteousness with a new president who is anti-abortion and may pick new Supreme Court justices with this in mind. Like the national shame of slavery, abortion must end. Any reason other than saving the life of the mother is unacceptable. Most mothers-to-be would risk their lives to give birth.

Americans are a good people who have been led astray by a decision of the few. The nation has suffered mightily in submission to this wickedness, and thus is duly bound to atone for this evil.

James M. Spickard

Little Egg Harbor Township
Mary Tyler Moore, star of "The Dick Van Dyke Show," and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," has died at age 80.

In the 1960s, Moore become a household name as frazzled wife, Laura Petrie, on "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

By the 1970s, she became a sitcom heroin on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," as "Mary Richards" and the first character that was an unmarried, career focused woman on television.

The show, which aired on CBS and ran from 1970 to 1977, received critical acclaim as well as Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series three years in a row.

In 2013, the show was recognized in the top 10 best written TV series of all time by the Writers Guild of America.

Below is a round-up of some of the show's most iconic moments:

The opening

Few things are more iconic about "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," than the actual opening itself. In the show, 30-year-old single Mary Richards moves to Minneapolis and becomes the associate producer of fictional WJM's evening news. Many will remember Moore tossing her hat in the air as the theme crooned, "you're gonna' make it after all!"

When Mary Richards goes to jail

One major plot point in season five is Richard's trip to jail. In the episode, "Will Mary Richards Go to Jail?" Moore's character is staunch in her decision to not reveal a source that gave her scoop on a story to a grand jury and faces time behind bars.

The green dress

One fan favorite is a scene where Richards is gifted a green, scantily clad dress by a prostitute (Barbara Colby) that Moore befriended in prison and helps in episode 21 of season five, You Try to Be a Nice Guy."

Chuckles' funeral

Episode, Chuckles Bites the Dust, takes a humorous approach to the death, using Chuckles the Clown as the dearly departed in question. Richards co-workers joke about the clowns untimely death much to her chagrin. At the funeral, her co-workers are model attendees while Richards cant contain her laughter. Perhaps the most poignant scene is when the priest urges Richards to laugh, as Chuckles lived to make people happy, and she cant help but dissolve into tears. One of the best lines comes from Sue Ann (Betty White) when she asks to be cremated and have her ashes thrown on Robert Redford.

The final goodbye

After the buy-out of the station Richards works at, the central characters share a final, tearful goodbye. The farewell is made even more heart-wrenching by Richards normally curmudgeon boss Lou Grants (Ed Asner) emotional goodbye.
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.
For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME.

Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire.

Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III.





to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever.





Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation.





View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union.

Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history.

Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words.




Economic Crises and the Crisis of Economics

LONDON  Is the economics profession in crisis? Many policymakers, such as Andy Haldane, the Bank of Englands chief economist, believe that it is. Indeed, a decade ago, economists failed to see a massive storm on the horizon, until it culminated in the most destructive global financial crisis in nearly 80 years. More recently, they misjudged the immediate impact that the United Kingdoms Brexit vote would have on its economy.

Of course, the post-Brexit forecasts may not be entirely wrong, but only if we look at the long-term impact of the Brexit vote. True, some economists expected the UK economy to collapse during the post-referendum panic, whereas economic activity proved to be rather resilient, with GDP growth reaching some 2.1% in 2016. But now that British Prime Minister Theresa May has implied that she prefers a hard Brexit, a gloomy long-term prognosis is probably correct.

Unfortunately, economists responsibility for the 2008 global financial crisis and the subsequent recession extends beyond forecasting mistakes. Many lent intellectual support to the excesses that precipitated it, and to the policy mistakes  particularly insistence on fiscal austerity and disregard for widening inequalities  that followed it.

Some economists have been led astray by intellectual arrogance: the belief that they can always explain real-world complexity. Others have become entangled in methodological issues  mistaking beauty for truth, as Paul Krugman once observed  or have placed too much faith in human rationality and market efficiency.

Despite its aspiration to the certainty of the natural sciences, economics is, and will remain, a social science. Economists systematically study objects that are embedded in wider social and political structures. Their method is based on observations, from which they discern patterns and infer other patterns and behaviors; but they can never attain the predictive success of, say, chemistry or physics.

Human beings respond to new information in different ways, and adjust their behavior accordingly.

Thus, economics cannot provide  nor should it claim to provide  definite insights into future trends and patterns. Economists can glimpse the future only by looking backwards, so their predictive power is limited to deducing probabilities on the basis of past events, not timeless laws.

And because economics is a social science, it can readily be used to serve political and business interests. In the years leading up to the financial crisis, global economic growth and profits were so strong that everyone  from small investors to the largest banks  was blinded by the prospect of bigger gains.

Economists employed by banks, hedge funds, and other businesses were expected to provide a short-term view for their employers and clients; and to dispense their wisdom to the general public through interviews and media appearances. Meanwhile, the economics profession was adopting more complex mathematical tools and specialized jargon, which effectively widened the gap between economists and other social scientists.

Before the financial crisis, when so many private interests and profitable opportunities were at stake, many economists defended a growth model that was based more on irrational exuberance than on sound fundamentals. Similarly, with respect to Brexit, many economists confused the referendums long-term impact with its short-term effects, because they were rushing their predictions to fit the political debate.

Owing to these and other mistakes, economists  and economics  have suffered a spectacular fall from grace. Once seen as modern witch doctors with access to exclusive knowledge, economists are now the most despised of all experts.

Where do we go from here? While we should appreciate Haldanes candid admission, apologizing for past mistakes is not enough. Economists, especially those involved in policy debates, need to be held explicitly accountable for their professional behavior. Toward that end, they should bind themselves with a voluntary code of conduct.

Above all, this code should recognize that economics is too complex to be reduced to sound bites and rushed conclusions. Economists should pay closer attention to when and where they offer their views, and to the possible implications of doing so. And they should always disclose their interests, so that proprietary analysis is not mistaken for an independent perspective.

Moreover, economic debates would benefit from more voices. Economics is a vast discipline that comprises researchers and practitioners whose work spans macro and micro perspectives and theoretical and applied approaches. Like any other intellectual discipline, it produces excellent, good, and mediocre output.

But the bulk of this research does not filter into policymaking and decision-making circles, such as finance ministries, central banks, or international institutions. At the commanding heights, economic-policy debates remain dominated by a relatively small group of white men from American universities and think tanks, nearly all of them well-versed devotees of mainstream economics.

The views held by this coterie are disproportionately represented in the mass media, through commentaries and interviews. But fishing for ideas in such a small and shallow pond leads to a circular and complacent debate, and it may encourage lesser-known economists to tailor their research to fit in.

The public deserves  and needs  a marketplace of ideas in which mainstream and heterodox views are afforded equal attention and balanced discussion. To be sure, this will take courage, imagination, and dynamism  particularly on the part of journalists. But a fairer, more pluralistic discussion of economic ideas may be just what economists need as well.
LONDON, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- VTTI B.V. ("VTTI"), the global independent provider of energy storage, today announces an acquisition of a 230,000 m3 facility in Panama, resulting in a joint venture between VTTI and Global SLI. This deal sees VTTI take a 75% interest in PetroAmerica Terminal, S.A. ("PATSA"), a terminal strategically located on the Pacific side of the country, close to the Panama Canal, with a wide range of refined products storage.

VTTI's expertise and knowledge of the industry as well as its international network will further strengthen the central role PATSA plays in supplying domestic and international markets and enhance its multiple potential growth opportunities. PATSA is a highly regarded regional terminal company with an excellent operating track record.

In addition to this acquisition, VTTI today closes the recently announced transaction with Energia Naturalis Holding (ENNA), comprising 70% of the newly built Adriatic Tank Terminal (ATT) in the Port of Ploce, Croatia. In 2016, ATT completed the construction of 50,000 m3 of clean petroleum product storage. A second stage of development is now expected to commence to deliver a further 200,000 m3 of liquid product capacity, as well as up to 60,000 m3 of LPG capacity.

Rob Nijst, CEO of VTTI commented: "With these two transactions we have hit the ground running in 2017, and we now have an exciting roadmap of growth opportunities ahead of us. These opportunities take us into new geographies, extend our portfolio commercially, and further realise our aim to be a top 3 company in the global terminalling industry, as always in combination with our focus on safe operations."

The company is also currently investing in projects at its existing terminals ETT and ATPC, in Rotterdam and Antwerp respectively, as well as negotiating a new project in South Asia:

Rotterdam : At the heart of Europe's largest port, VTTI will expand its ETT terminal, adding further capacity of 174,000 m3 to provide flexible product storage.

: At the heart of largest port, VTTI will expand its ETT terminal, adding further capacity of 174,000 m3 to provide flexible product storage. Antwerp : VTTI's increasing capability in LPG will be further strengthened by a new refrigerated pressure vessel project at its ATPC terminal, which includes two new spheres of 15,000 m 3 .

: VTTI's increasing capability in LPG will be further strengthened by a new refrigerated pressure vessel project at its ATPC terminal, which includes two new spheres of 15,000 m . South Asia : VTTI recently signed a share purchase agreement for a new greenfield terminal project in South Asia. Negotiations are ongoing and the closing of the deal is anticipated to occur at the beginning of March.

About VTTI

VTTI is a fast-growing independent provider of energy storage worldwide. VTTI currently offers over 9 million cubic meters of combined storage capacity across 5 continents. VTTI's terminals are strategically located at major shipping crossroads of the globe as well as in locations that are supply gateways to or from specific oil markets. VTTI benefits from two strong shareholders, Buckeye and Vitol that support VTTI's continued growth as an independent global terminal operator. VTTI is run as a standalone company under the leadership of CEO Rob Nijst. www.vtti.com

About Global SLI

Global SLI is a pioneer and leader in several business areas. Global SLI has its headquarters in Panama and presence in Argentina, Brazil, Kenya, the United States and Uruguay. Global SLI develops its activity with the purpose of promoting business initiatives of international scope that create a real value for local communities. Mr. Guillermo Liberman is the executive president.

Global SLI has been involved in the logistics sector in Panama since 2002 with important facilities at the entrance of the Panama Canal in the Pacific, amongst them, PATSA and a Container Terminal. Global SLI along with strategic partners promotes the development of this key sector for the Panamanian economy with new investments, job creation and the implementation of best practices. www.globalsli.com

About PATSA

PATSA is the operator of refined products terminal with a capacity of approximately 230,000 m3, located in the Rodman area, Province of Panama, Republic of Panama.

For more information:

VTTI:

Lisanne Kosters

M: +31(0)652526405

lis@vtti.com

Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/155895/vtti_energy_partners_logo.jpg

Related Links

http://www.vttienergypartners.com



SOURCE VTTI Energy Partners LP
CAMARILLO, California, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

TSX ticker symbol; BKX

BNK Petroleum Inc. (the "Company") (TSX: BKX) is pleased to announce that it has begun drilling the second well of its 2017 drilling program, the Hartgraves 1-6H well, in the Company's Tishomingo Field, Oklahoma.

The Hartgraves 1-6H well is expected to be drilled in 30 days. The Company has a 100% working interest in the well.

The previously announced Chandler 8-6H well is now scheduled to begin fracture stimulation operations a week later than originally anticipated, due to the fracture stimulation contractor being delayed on its previous job. Once the stimulation operations are complete the Company will immediately begin flowing back the well and put it on production.

About BNK Petroleum Inc.

BNK Petroleum Inc. is an international oil and gas exploration and production company focused on finding and exploiting large, predominately unconventional oil and gas resource plays. Through various affiliates and subsidiaries, the Company owns and operates shale oil and gas properties and concessions in the United States. Additionally, the Company is utilizing its technical and operational expertise to identify and acquire additional unconventional projects. The Company's shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the stock symbol BKX.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is used in applicable Canadian securities laws, including statements regarding the timing of and expected results from planned Caney wells development and the timing of production and the performance of planned wells. Forward-looking information is based on plans and estimates of management and interpretations of data by the Company's technical team at the date the data is provided and is subject to several factors and assumptions of management, including that that indications of early results are reasonably accurate predictors of the prospectiveness of the shale intervals, that required regulatory approvals will be available when required, that no unforeseen delays, unexpected geological or other effects, including flooding and extended interruptions due to inclement or hazardous weather conditions, equipment failures, permitting delays or labor or contract disputes are encountered, that the development plans of the Company and its co-venturers will not change, that the offset operator's operations will proceed as expected by management, that the demand for oil and gas will be sustained, that the Company will continue to be able to access sufficient capital through financings, farm-ins or other participation arrangements to maintain its projects, and that global economic conditions will not deteriorate in a manner that has an adverse impact on the Company's business, its ability to advance its business strategy and the industry as a whole. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause plans, estimates and actual results to vary materially from those projected in such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause the forward-looking information in this news release to change or to be inaccurate include, but are not limited to, the risk that any of the assumptions on which such forward looking information is based vary or prove to be invalid, including that the Company or its subsidiaries is not able for any reason to obtain and provide the information necessary to secure required approvals or that required regulatory approvals are otherwise not available when required, that unexpected geological results are encountered, that equipment failures, permitting delays or labor or contract disputes or shortages are encountered, the risks associated with the oil and gas industry (e.g. operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration and development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of reserve and resource estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses, and health, safety and environmental risks, including flooding and extended interruptions due to inclement or hazardous weather conditions), that the offset operator's operations have unexpected adverse effects on the Company's operations, that completion techniques require further optimization, that production rates do not match the Company's assumptions, that very low or no production rates are achieved, that the Company is unable to access required capital, that occurrences such as those that are assumed will not occur, do in fact occur, and those conditions that are assumed will continue or improve, do not continue or improve, and the other risks and uncertainties applicable to exploration and development activities and the Company's business as set forth in the Company's management discussion and analysis and its annual information form, both of which are available for viewing under the Company's profile at http://www.sedar.com, any of which could result in delays, cessation in planned work or loss of one or more concessions and have an adverse effect on the Company and its financial condition. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, other than as required by applicable law.

Wolf E. Regener, +1-(805)-484-3613, Email: investorrelations@bnkpetroleum.com, Website: http://www.bnkpetroleum.com

SOURCE BNK Petroleum Inc.
PORTLAND, Oregon and PUNE, India, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, "Chemotherapy-induced Nausea and Vomiting (CINV) Market-Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014-2022," the global chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) market was valued at $1,663 million in 2015, and is estimated to reach $2,659 million by 2022, registering a CAGR of 7.1% during 2016-2022.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 )



Summary of the Chemotherapy-induced Nausea and Vomiting (CINV) Market Report can be accessed on the website at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/cinv-market

Increase in adoption of chemotherapeutic drugs is directly linked to the growth of the CINV drugs market. It is estimated that in 2016, approximately 1.6 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed with breast, lung, and bronchus cancer. It is observed that approximately 35% of patients experienced nausea within 24 hours of chemotherapy, while 54% suffered from nausea and 34% experienced vomiting after 24 hours.

Growth in number of patients undergoing chemotherapy drugs treatment and introduction of new drug delivery methods to improve patient compliance are the major factors that significantly impact the growth of the CINV market. At present, pharmaceutical companies are increasingly investing in the R&D of CINV drugs to offer better chemotherapy drugs and increase their market share.

According to Sriram Radhakrishnan (Team Lead, Healthcare Research) at Allied Market Research, "The needle free, painless, and cost-effective transdermal delivery system is expected to witness increase in demand in global CINV market."

KEY FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

The Aloxi segment generated highest revenue in the global market in 2015, accounting for over half of the total market.

The Netupitant-Palonosetron FDC segment is the fastest growing segment at a CAGR of 10.8%.

The North American market has witnessed a significant growth in the recent years. Presently, it is the largest regional market for CINV drugs and an its market share is anticipated by 2022. Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing market due to increase in number of cancer population, high incidences of gastroenteritis and other diseases that lead to nausea and vomiting. This region boosts up the demand for antiemetic drug due to growth in demand for CINV drugs and is expected to fuel the market growth in this region.

Partnership and collaboration is the key strategy adopted by companies to strengthen their position in the market. The key major players in the global chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting drugs are GlaxoSmithKline plc, Helsinn Holding S.A., Heron Therapeutics, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., and Tesaro, Inc.

Summary of similar reports can be viewed at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/life-sciences/Pharmaceuticals-market-report

About Us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.



Contact:

Rahul Thakur

5933 NE Win Sivers Drive

#205, Portland, OR 97220

United States

Direct: +1-503-894-6022

Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada)

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E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.com





Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com

SOURCE Allied Market Research
ALMELO, The Netherlands, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The Dutch-German engineering company EMS now offers heat treatment and vacuum brazing services to the aerospace industry based on a successful a Nadcap accreditation

EMS now delivers its products and services to the aerospace industry based on a successful Nadcap accreditation. The certification was granted on 20 January after an intensive review of all related equipment and manufacturing processes, procedures and control measures. Through this accreditation, customers from the aerospace industry now receive independent and reliable evidence for EMS working according to the world's highest standards applying to these processes.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/460154/EMS_Nadcap.jpg )



40 years of experience in heat treatment and vacuum brazing

"Our customers rely on the 40 years of experience which we have in advanced heat treatment and vacuum brazing", explains EMS Managing Director Pieter Folkers. "Having both vacuum and atmospheric furnaces in place, a complete portfolio of heat treatment and brazing capabilities is offered to meet customer requirements for a wide range of components. The Nadcap accreditation now independently demonstrates our ability to fulfil advanced product and process requirements in a controlled and predictable way."

EMS looks back on more than 40 years of industrial experience. The engineering company has entered the aerospace market in 2016 after having received the EN 9100 certification for "Brazing and Heat Treatment of Aircraft parts".

EMS is a Dutch-German engineering company based at Almelo

(The Netherlands) and Julich (Germany). We are a leading manufacturer of advanced high-quality CFRP products and specialised in Electron Beam Welding, precision tubes and heat treatment services.

http://www.ems-evolves.com

contact@ems-evolves.com

Twitter: @EMS_evolves

SOURCE EMS
LONDON, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Link Financial Group today announced it invested over 580m in non-performing and performing loan portfolio acquisitions in 2016, whilst also expanding into three new markets. Significant investments made during the year included sizeable pools of non-performing and re-performing retail loans from three of the UK's largest banking groups, totalling 345 million of investment value alone.

The Group also built on its 10 year presence in Italy with a ground-breaking deal to acquire the run-off of BBVA's Italian consumer finance business for just under 100 million as well as acquiring a second portfolio in the Italian mortgage market and a string of purchases in the auto sector in Spain. Further loan portfolios and a second operation in Ireland were added through the acquisition of Everyday Finance, based in Galway.

Capital was also deployed outside these core markets with smaller transactions in France and Poland. Link also established an operating presence in Portugal and is already eyeing up several local investment opportunities. The Group sees good scope in these new markets to grow both its investment capability and deploy further capital in 2017 and beyond.

2016's portfolio purchases take the Group's total managed assets to over 15.5 billion making it one of the larger, long-standing credit investors in Europe to be focussed on consumer and SME assets.

"These new portfolios demonstrate our ability to complete multiple, complex transactions across Europe within tight timeframes, despite the challenging market conditions. We see huge potential for further investment as we look to deploy available Group funds across our new and existing markets."

Selina Burdell, COO - Link Financial Group

Notes to Editors:

The Link Financial Group is owned by founders and management; the core leadership team has been in place for over 10 years

Since 1999 when the Group was founded, it has purchased more than 2,000 loan portfolios with a gross book value managed of over 15.5 billion

Link Financial Group manages over 2.5 million underlying customers, servicing a full range of consumer and SME loan types; including credit cards, auto loans, residential and commercial mortgages, leasing, utilities and student loans

The servicing businesses within the Group use the same in house systems, processes and procedures across 10 European offices, ensuring adherence to the highest quality standards. ESG principles and treating customers fairly have always been firmly embedded in the organisation

The UK servicing entity is rated 'Strong' by Standard & Poor's

Link Financial Group contact: Anthony Harrison, Group Marketing Director, T: +44(0)203-198-8635, aharrison@linkfinancial.eu

SOURCE Link Financial Group
MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Moose Toys continues to dominate on the world stage, taking out two key awards at the Toy and Supplier of the Year Awards presented last night by the British Toy and Hobby Association with the Toy Retailers Association. The awards were presented at the gala event to kick-off the first day of the 64th annual London Toy Fair.

Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/461388/Moose_Toys_Little_Live_Pets_Snuggles.jpg

Moose Toys continues to dominate on the world stage, receiving two key awards at the Toy and Supplier of the Year Awards presented by the British Toy and Hobby Association with the Toy Retailers Association. Shopkins was honored as Best Collectible Range of the Year, and Snuggles My Dream Puppy was awarded Interactive Toy of the Year, presented at the gala event to kick-off the 64th annual London Toy Fair. (PRNewsFoto/Moose Toys)

For the third year running, global phenomenon Shopkins has won in the Best Collectible Range category, cementing its position as the world's number one collectible brand.

Little Live Pets has also continued to hold the position as #1 in the Interactive Toy category taking out a win with Snuggles My Dream Puppy.

This is the third year in a row Little Live Pets has won in this category. In another show of confidence in the brand, Little Live Pets Surprise Chick was been nominated for Best New Toy in 2017!

Moose further showcased its status as the #1 manufacturer within the Collectible Category with new brand, The Grossery Gang, awarded the runner-up prize in the Best Collectible Range Awards.

And, in only the brand's second year, Shopkins Shoppies was awarded runner-up in the Doll of the Year Category.

"We are excited and honoured to be walking away from this year's London Toy Awards with two wins! It is a real testament to the team and the fans that both Shopkins and Little Live Pets have won awards in their respective categories for three years running," said Paul Solomon, Co-CEO of Moose Toys.

"It is also fantastic that we have been recognised in three categories: Collectibles, Dolls and Interactive toys. We are looking forward to a fantastic 2017, expanding into new categories like craft and games, so watch this space!"

About Moose Toys

Moose Toys is a global toy company with offices in the US, UK, Hong Kong, China and the head office based in Melbourne, Australia. This award-winning company is known for designing, developing and distributing toy and lifestyle products across the globe for children of all ages and the young at heart. Moose has products in all toy categories including collectibles, arts and crafts, activity toys, dolls, novelty items and outdoor products, and has brought joy to kids worldwide with successful products such as Mighty Beanz, Beados, Aqua Sand and The Trash Pack. In 2015, Moose expanded several major product lines for boys and girls, including Shopkins, the hottest girl's collectible line of grocery and fashion themed characters; Little Live Pets, electronic pets that come to life in the palm of your hand; as well as line extensions for Qixels craft activity sets. Moose Toys has scored numerous coveted toy awards from industry experts and major retailers. In 2016, Walmart selected Little Live Pets Snuggles My Dream Puppy for its Top 25 Holiday Toy List, and Toys"R"Us chose Little Live Pets Snuggles My Dream Puppy, The Grossery Gang Vile Vending Machine, SelfieMic, the Shopkins Tall Mall and the Twozies Twogether Pack for its Hot Holiday List. The Shopkins Scoops Ice Cream Truck was awarded 2016 Girl Toy of the Year by the Toy Industry Association, and the Shopkins Small Mart playset was awarded the 2015 Girls' Toy of the Year. Shopkins was awarded the 2016 Licensed Character/Toy of the Year by LIMA. Visit www.moosetoys.com for more information.

Related Links

http://www.moosetoys.com



SOURCE Moose Toys
LONDON, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The way businesses are planning their workforce is changing, and being impacted by the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automation. Fifteen per cent of HR leaders said their plans were being affected right now, and a further 40 per cent believe this will happen within the next two to five years. This is according to the sixth annual Harvey Nash Human Resources Survey, representing the views of 1,008 HR leaders from over forty countries.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150115/724638 )



Technology as a whole is revolutionising how today's HR departments are operating, with 60 per cent of respondents saying the importance of Technology Enabled HR has increased within the past year. Over half of respondents understood that innovation for their organisation was 'very important', and the vast majority (86 per cent) believe that HR has its own role in promoting and supporting innovation.

The current economic uncertainty is reflected in the decreased focus on training and recruitment as priorities. This year training and education was considered a priority by four percent fewer HR leaders than last year, with recruitment the drop was even greater at eight percent. Succession was also less of a priority, which may be explained by those in senior positions not being quite so keen to move on.

Lisa Wormald, director, Harvey Nash Group said: "It probably comes as no surprise that technology is seeping into the Human Resources department, but what is particularly striking is quite how many HR leaders believe that AI and automation are affecting their plans already. The good news is that HR is not only embracing this innovation, but is a key part of it."

For more information about the survey including and to request a full copy of the results, please visit http://www.harveynash.com/hrsurvey or email michelle.smith@harveynash.com .

Read full press release here

Media Relations contacts:

Michelle Smith

Marketing and Digital, Harvey Nash plc

michelle.smith@harveynash.com

+44 (0)20 7333 0033



SOURCE Harvey Nash Plc
LONDON, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PennWell International, a diversified global media and conferences and exhibitions company, announced today that it has acquired 50% of Sektorel Fuarcilik, owner of ICCI, the largest power generation conference and exhibition held annually in Istanbul, Turkey. ICCI, which is the International Energy & Environment Fair & Conference of Istanbul, will next take place 3-5 May 2017. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

PennWell International, a subsidiary of U.S.-based PennWell Corporation, purchased the 50% ownership share from Hannover Fairs Turkey, a subsidiary of German trade show organizer Deutsche Messe. As a result of the purchase, ICCI will be promoted as "ICCI Powered by POWER-GEN." PennWell's POWER-GEN brand is widely known for serving the energy industry with multiple worldwide events.

In conjunction with the joint venture, Feraye Gurel has been named General Manager of Sektorel and will oversee all operations of ICCI, reporting to Alexander Kuhnel, general manager of Hannover Fairs Turkey and Glenn Ensor, Managing Director of PennWell International.

Founded in 1994, ICCI Powered by POWER-GEN will celebrate its 23rd year at the Istanbul Expo Center in May 2017. The 2016 ICCI had 14,000 visitors including participants from 21 countries to address the opportunities in the Turkish electricity, natural gas and renewables markets. Its 285 exhibitors occupied over 7,000 net square meters to showcase products, equipment and services for all energy sectors including wind, solar, biomass, cogeneration, and energy efficiency, as well as the technology developments across those sectors.

According to Glenn Ensor, "ICCI offers the perfect opportunity to partner with Deutsche Messe and Hannover Fairs Turkey on the largest and most respected energy fair in Turkey. We look forward to adding this event to the PennWell portfolio, as our customers have long been asking for access to the substantial and growing Turkish market. The established and highly professional operations of our new partner in Turkey mean we will be able to provide exceptional service to the international energy sector interested in Turkey and neighboring countries."

Alexander Kuhnel said, "We welcome PennWell as a prestigious international partner and are most pleased to have Feraye Gurel return to manage ICCI, as she was instrumental in its growth and development over several years." Ms. Gurel is based in Istanbul and will manage the Sektorel team and also coordinate the joint efforts of parent companies Hannover Fairs Turkey and PennWell, which have sizeable teams in Istanbul and London, respectively.

ICCI Powered by POWER-GEN will join the family of PennWell's POWER-GEN events led by POWER-GEN International, the world's largest power generation conference and exhibition held annually in North America with 1,300 exhibitors and sponsors, 27,000 net square meters, and 20,000 attendees. The annual POWER-GEN Europe rotates across strategic locations in Europe co-located with its Renewable Energy World Europe to serve 340 exhibitors and 14,000 attendees. Its sister events include POWER-GEN Asia, POWER-GEN India & Central Asia, and POWER-GEN Africa. PennWell also owns DistribuTECH, which serves the growing international transmission and distribution segment of electric power.

About PennWell

Founded in 1910 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, PennWell Corporation is a privately held and highly diversified business-to-business media and conference and exhibition company that provides quality content and integrated marketing solutions for the following industries: Oil and gas, electric power generation and delivery, hydropower, renewable energy, water and wastewater, lasers and optoelectronics, fiber-optics and cable, aerospace and avionics, LEDs and lighting, fire and emergency services, and dental. PennWell publishes over 130 print and online magazines and newsletters, conducts 40 conferences and exhibitions on six continents, and has an extensive offering of books, maps, websites, research and database services. In addition to PennWell's headquarters in Tulsa and several other U.S. locations, the Company has two major offices in London, England.

About Deutsche Messe AG

From its headquarters in Hannover, Germany, Deutsche Messe AG plans and stages leading capital goods trade fairs around the globe. The company ranks among the five biggest tradeshow organizers in Germany. The company's event portfolio includes such world-leading events as CeBIT (digital business), HANNOVER MESSE (industrial technology), LABVOLUTION with BIOTECHNICA (lab technology and biotechnology), CeMAT (intralogistics and supply chain management), didacta (education), DOMOTEX (carpets and floor coverings), INTERSCHUTZ (fire prevention, disaster relief, rescue, safety and security), and LIGNA (woodworking, wood processing, forestry). With approximately 1,200 employees and a network of 62 sales partners, Deutsche Messe is present in more than 100 countries.

About Hannover Fairs Turkey A.S.

With more than 20 years' experience in the Turkish market Hannover Fairs Turkey A.S. (HFT) is the biggest non-Turkish fair organizer in Turkey. HFT conducts about 20 exhibitions in different sectors every year. The majority of these exhibitions and congresses are focused on manufacturing industries. The featured fairs organized by Hannover Fairs Turkey are WIN EURASIA Metalworking, WIN EURASIA Automation, Automechanica Istanbul (in cooperation with Messe Frankfurt), ICCI International Energy and Environment Fair&Conference, DOMOTEX Turkey, ISK-SODEX Istanbul, teskon+SODEX, SODEX ANKARA, Pool Expo, ANKIROS, TURKCAST, ALUEXPO

US Contact: Jayne Gilsinger

1-918-832-9303; jayneg@pennwell.com

UK Contact: Lee Catania

+441992656647; leec@pennwell.com

SOURCE PennWell Corporation
SAN FRANCISCO, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The global protective coatings market is expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period owing to the increasing demand for anti-corrosion, thermal resistant, and durable coating formulations in the aerospace and oil & gas industries. The rising demand from key end-use segments such as oil & gas, aerospace, construction, and industrial owing to its superior properties over its counterparts is expected to propel the industry demand over the forecast period. The growing application scope of protective coatings in the aforementioned segments can be attributed to the growing need for low-VOC coating solutions, which offer resistance to wear & tear, high temperatures, and corrosion, while ensuring low maintenance costs.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150105/723757 )



Construction dominated the industry, globally, in 2015. The growing infrastructure development in emerging countries such as India, China, Brazil, and Russia is expected to drive demand for the product in the construction end-use industry over the projected period.

Browse full research report with TOC on "Protective Coatings Market By Resin Type (Acrylic, Epoxy, Polyurethane, Alkyd), Product (Water-borne, Powder-based), End-Use (Construction, Oil & Gas, Aerospace, Industrial, Marine, Automotive, Power Generation), And Segment Forecasts, 2014 - 2025" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/protective-coatings-market

Further key findings from the report suggest

Globally, epoxy and alkyd product segments are slated to witness significant growth in terms of volume during the forecast period, growing at a CAGR of over 10% during the forecast period. This is mainly attributed to low VOC content, efficiency, and favorable government policies, along with the rising demand from key end-use verticals such as construction and aerospace.

Asia Pacific dominated the market for protective coatings in 2015, with revenue of over USD 18 billion ; and is estimated to grow significantly over the coming years owing to the rising demand from high-growth end-use segments such as construction, aerospace, and automotive.

dominated the market for protective coatings in 2015, with revenue of over ; and is estimated to grow significantly over the coming years owing to the rising demand from high-growth end-use segments such as construction, aerospace, and automotive. Furthermore, the Asia Pacific region is expected to grow the highest in terms of revenue during the forecast period, slated to grow at a CAGR of over 9%. The region is dominated primarily by China , which is likely to witness growth at a CAGR of nearly 10% during the forecast period. However, rapid infrastructure expansion in India and Indonesia is likely to drive growth over the forecast period.

region is expected to grow the highest in terms of revenue during the forecast period, slated to grow at a CAGR of over 9%. The region is dominated primarily by , which is likely to witness growth at a CAGR of nearly 10% during the forecast period. However, rapid infrastructure expansion in and is likely to drive growth over the forecast period. Key participants in the industry include AkzoNobel NV, PPG Industries, The Sherwin-Williams Co., and Arkema SA, among others. In recent years, key players have turned towards capacity expansion and new product developments to strengthen their positions in the industry globally.

Browse related reports by Grand View Research:

Bio-based and Low VOC Paints Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/bio-based-low-voc-paints-market

Defoamers Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/defoamers-market

Anthracene Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/anthracene-market

Dispersing Agent Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/dispersing-agent-market

Grand View Research has segmented the global protective coatings market on the basis of resin type, product, end-use, and region:

Resin Type Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) Acrylic Epoxy Polyurethane Alkyd Polyester Others

Product Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) Solvent-borne Water-borne Powder-based Others

End Use Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) Construction Oil & Gas Aerospace Industrial Marine Automotive Power Generation Mining Others

Regional Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) North America U.S. Europe Russia Germany Asia Pacific China India Japan Central & South America Brazil Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia



Read Our Blog - Protective Coatings Market - Increasing demand from construction industry in emerging countries to drive demand growth

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.

Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc.

Phone: 1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com



Web: www.grandviewresearch.com



SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
MUMBAI, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Heart disease has assumed great magnitude as an endemic health problem. Cardiology field has seen significant efforts in clinical research in the past few years with the development of new drugs and surgical modalities of therapy as well. However, the mortality rates remain very high. In this context, stem cell applications in cardiology assume great significance since stem cells have been found to be successfully used in tissue regeneration. Heart disease, including myocardial infarction and ischemia, can be treated with the applications of stem cells. This Stem Cell Research in Cardiology Report emphasizes on the market for stem cells in Cardiology.

The study is segmented by Source (Allogenic and Autogenic) and by Type (Bone Marrow Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, and Other).

Topics Covered:

Scope & Methodology

Introduction

Segmentation of Stem Cells in Cardiology

Stem Cells in Cardiology - Global Market Analysis

Market Dynamics

Global Stem Cells Market

Global Market for Stem Cells in Cardiology

Analysis by Source

Analysis by Type

Market Trends

Stem Cells in Cardiology Market Outlook

Company Profiles - Major Players in Stem Cells in Cardiology Market

Major Product Innovations/Launches in Stem Cell Research - Cardiology

Product/ Technology Research

Stem Cell Research in Cardiology Research Briefs

Corporate Directory

Patents

Report Published Date: Jan 2017

Pages: 215

To view more details please click on the following URL:

https://www.bharatbook.com/biotechnology-market-research-reports-227950/stem-cell-research-in-cardiology.html

About Bharat Book Bureau

Bharat Book Bureau is the leading market research information aggregator that provides market research reports, industry analysis, company profiles, business reports, Country Reports, newsletters and online databases. Bharat Book Bureau provides over a million reports from more than 400 publishers around the globe.

Press Contact:

Poonam

P: +91-22-27810772 / 73

E: poonam@bharatbook.com

W: http://www.bharatbook.com



SOURCE Bharat Book Bureau
GENEVA, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

In an effort to improve the international response to combatting multidrug-resistant TB, MPP and Johns Hopkins University sign licensing agreement for investigational treatment sutezolid

The Medicines Patent Pool today announced that it has signed a licence with Johns Hopkins University to facilitate the clinical development of tuberculosis (TB) drug candidate sutezolid. The antibiotic sutezolid has long been considered a promising investigational treatment that, if further developed in combination with other drugs, could be used to more effectively treat both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB in patients.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160706/813286 )



"We are proud to work with Johns Hopkins University to encourage the further development of sutezolid, a potentially important component of new TB regimens," said Greg Perry, MPP's Executive Director. "Faster acting, better therapies to treat TB are a particularly urgent global public health priority. With the exception of two new drugs that have come to market recently, the dearth of new alternatives to decades-old TB drugs contributes to our limited response to the epidemic."

Johns Hopkins University is granting the MPP an exclusive, royalty-free licence covering all countries that currently have patents issued or pending for a combination therapy comprising sutezolid and two additional compounds used to treat TB such as pretomanid, delamanid, bedaquiline, rifampicin and moxifloxacin. The patent for the base compound sutezolid expired in August 2014, but the patent for the use of sutezolid in combination therapy for TB-held jointly by Pfizer Inc and Johns Hopkins University-is valid until August 2029 in the countries in which it was filed.

"The MPP-John Hopkins University agreement is an extraordinary step as it seeks to jump-start currently stalled development on a compound that showed promise in early stage trials," said Mario Raviglione, Director of the Global TB Programme at the World Health Organization (WHO). "The current scarcity of treatment options is threatening to derail the WHO's global targets to slash TB deaths by 95% over the next two decades. We are in urgent need of new and better combination regimens, especially for patients with multidrug-resistant TB, and the inclusion of sutezolid might bring great benefit."

According to the WHO, there were an estimated 1.4 million TB deaths in 2015, including 0.4 million among people living with HIV, making it one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide. Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death in people living with HIV, and a treatable and curable disease facing the specter of growing drug-resistance. The latest WHO data shows that, worldwide, only 52 percent of multidrug-resistant TB patients and 28 percent of extensively drug-resistant TB patients are currently successfully treated.

Sutezolid is an oxazolidinone antibiotic in the same class as the commercially-available drug linezolid but in early-stage testing was shown to be more potent and less toxic. Currently in Phase IIa clinical development, Phase I trials revealed that the compound has action mechanisms similar to those of linezolid. Despite positive early study results published in 2014, however, there has been no further development of the treatment.

"Understanding the crucial importance of moving sutezolid forward, the TB community has long advocated for responsible, public health-oriented licensing of the product," concluded Perry. "We commend Johns Hopkins University for its commitment to improving treatment options for TB patients through this licensing agreement."

The MPP was founded and remains fully funded by UNITAID.

- # # # -

About the Medicines Patent Pool

The Medicines Patent Pool is a United Nations-backed public health organisation working to increase access to HIV, viral hepatitis C and tuberculosis treatments in low- and middle-income countries. Through its innovative business model, the MPP partners with industry, civil society, international organisations, patient groups and other stakeholders to prioritise, forecast and license needed medicines and pool intellectual property to encourage generic manufacture and the development of new formulations. To date, the MPP has signed agreements with eight patent holders for twelve HIV antiretrovirals, an HIV technology platform, one hepatitis C direct-acting antiviral and one tuberculosis treatment. Its generic partners have distributed four billion doses of low-cost medicines to 125 countries.

http://www.medicinespatentpool.org

-# # #-

SOURCE Medicines Patent Pool
BEIJING, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- XCMG was recognized for its outstanding contributions in corporate social responsibility with two awards presented by the 6th China Charity Festival held from January 10 to 11 in Beijing, China, the most distinguished Special Tribute Award and Green Model Award.

At last year's China Charity Festival, XCMG launched "BlueDream" Special Charity Fund jointly with China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA), carrying out 14 precisely positioned projects as part of the "For Better Life" global public welfare campaign to bring the much-needed help for people around the world.

"Since the 'BlueDream' fund was established, XCMG has gained support from a wide range of communities, the XCMG public welfare ambassadors and members of CFPA has dedicated love and strength to the charitable platform," said Han Bing, vice general manager of XCMG.

In 2016, XCMG has launched Children's Home, a comprehensive social care model for "left-behind" children in Qingliang Village, Sichuan Province which can then be introduced to more provinces benefiting children in need; a water cellar project in eastern Ethiopia to build 50 economical and practical water cellars in three years to solve the daily and agricultural water usage issues for 50 families of two communities; and the Global Excellent Operator program that aims to train 200 machinery operators worldwide every year for free at the first mechanical driving training base in the country established by XCMG.

XCMG has devoted tremendous efforts to public welfare in the past 73 years, providing equipment and rescue teams support to 23 major disasters worldwide in eight consecutive years, hosting "one-day salary donation" event for 14 years that have been invested in building 10 XCMG Primary Schools benefiting 5,800 children as well as establishing scholarships for six schools of six countries including Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

"With projects like Children's Home, water cellar in Africa and more, public welfare campaigns have encouraged XCMG employees, suppliers and clients to continuously contribute physical and emotional support to people in need of help," Han said.

About XCMG:

XCMG is a multinational heavy machinery manufacturing company with a history of 74 years. It currently ranks ninth in the world's construction machinery industry. The company exports to more than 176 countries and regions around the world.

For more information, please visit: www.xcmg.com, or XCMG pages on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram.

SOURCE XCMG
LOMA LINDA, Calif., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Confirming its position as the leader in records retrieval and document management for the legal industry, ABI Document Support Services today announced that it has been named the 2016 recipient of Attorney at Law Magazine: The Los Angeles Edition's "Professional Service of the Year" Award.

ABI wins Attorney at Law Magazine: The Los Angeles Edition's "Professional Service of the Year" Award.

"We are honored to receive this prestigious award that recognizes our innovative record retrieval and document management services for the legal industry," ABI Document Support Services President David Benge said today. "2016 has been an extremely successful year for ABI, and we plan to continue our momentum into 2017 to further revolutionize how records are retrieved and analyzed by the legal community."

Attorney at Law Magazine: The Los Angeles Edition's "Professional Service of the Year" Award honors a forward-looking legal-support company that best reflects the values of excellence in the pursuit of customer satisfaction. This year's award recognizes ABI Document Support Services for their professionalism, commitment to personalized customer service, and for their continued development of a seamless records retrieval/reporting/management system that is second to none in the industry today.

"We are delighted to honor ABI Document Support Services as our 'Professional Service of the Year,'" Attorney at Law Magazine: The Los Angeles Edition's Publisher Sarah Torres said today. "This company has earned a reputation for their professionalism and personalized customer service. Their records retrieval reporting services are truly unparalleled."

In 2016, ABI served 7,000 ordering clients and 245,000 active users. And, in November alone, the company fulfilled over 46,000 record requests. "I truly believe that ABI's web portal is the easiest and most complete records management tool available to place orders, track real-time order status, view records, securely download records, organize and make notes, and create medical record summaries," Benge concluded. "This award is certainly confirmation that we are vastly improving how record retrieval and summarization is done!"

ABI Document Support Services is the largest nationwide provider of records retrieval for the legal and insurance industries. Since 1981, ABI has developed technology and processes that significantly streamline the entire records retrieval process. In fact, ABI's sole corporate focus is records retrieval. That focus, combined with ABI's commitment to innovative records retrieval technology, allows the company to provide substantial cost and time savings for its customers, and has resulted in a 98% client retention rate. ABI's integrated Claims/Legal Records Management tools continue to innovate and raise the bar for cost effective records retrieval, analysis and summarization.

Be sure to check out Attorney at Law Magazine: The Los Angeles Edition's December issue, which includes a feature story on ABI Document Support Services. For more information, contact Leslee Detillo at (909) 762-9448 or [email protected]

About ABI Document Support Services

ABI Document Support Services is the nation's leading provider of records retrieval and analysis technology for the insurance and legal industries. For more than 35 years, ABI has helped businesses by offering innovative processes for efficient record retrieval, online record ordering, and eSummary for more thorough records analysis and summarization. To learn more, visit www.abidss.com.

Media Contact:

Jess Passananti

[email protected]

(212) 481.3456 x23

SOURCE ABI Document Support Services

Related Links

https://www.abidss.com


WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Equitable Food Initiative (EFI), a nonprofit organization that brings together workers, growers and retailers to produce safer, more responsibly grown fruits and vegetables, today announced that Alpine Fresh, Inc. has received its first farm certification for two locations in Puebla, Mexico. Alpine Fresh will begin distributing the first organic and conventional French beans and organic broccoli with the EFI Responsibly Grown, Farmworker Assured label this month to the western United States.

Alpine Fresh organic French beans produced in Puebla, Mexico, are now certified and include a label from the Equitable Food Initiative.

The Puebla farm locations are the second EFI certification for Alpine Fresh. They join its MangoPack operation in Tecate, Mexico, which was certified in March 2016.

"We are proud to have been the first packing operation certified by EFI, and now to have two of our farm locations certified under the EFI label," said Manuel Rivera, director of value added operations for Alpine Fresh. "As a company we are working on ways to bring workers and management together to create a better product and better working conditions, and EFI has been an important element in our progress and success."

"After the EFI trainings, we have seen great improvements on the farm," said Alma Rivera, social responsibility compliance manager for Alpine Fresh. "There is better communication, more respect, and everyone wants to work together to solve problems and make the best product possible."

The Alpine Fresh certification has expanded EFI's certifications to seven Mexican states, three U.S. states and one Canadian province. "We value our partnership with Alpine Fresh and look forward to expanding EFI further into the Americas to support their supply chain," said Kevin Boyle, director of business and workforce development for EFI. "EFI is predicated on creating value for growers and workers alike, along with their retail customers and consumers. Alpine Fresh has been key in driving this solution forward."

For more information on The Equitable Food Initiative, visit www.equitablefood.org.

About Alpine Fresh

Alpine Fresh is a Miami-based grower, importer and shipper of a range of fresh fruits and vegetables with operations throughout the United States, Mexico and Latin America.

About the Equitable Food Initiative

The Equitable Food Initiative brings together workers, growers and retailers to provide Responsibly Grown, Farmworker Assured fruits and vegetables. As produce farms comply with EFI Standards  for improved working conditions, pest management and food safety  benefits are seen for the entire food system, from farmworkers to businesses to agricultural communities and consumers.

EFI is a nonprofit organization that receives funding support from The Atlantic Philanthropies, Broad Reach Fund, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Cedar Tree Foundation, Oxfam America and The Walt Disney Company's Supply Chain Investment Program.

Members of Equitable Food Initiative's multi-stakeholder board, instrumental in the development of the EFI Standards, include:

- Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce

- Bon Appetit Management Company

- Center for Science in the Public Interest

- Consumer Federation of America

- Costco Wholesale

- Farm Labor Organizing Committee

- Farmworker Justice

- NatureSweet Tomatoes

- Oxfam America

- Pesticide Action Network North America

- Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste

- United Farm Workers

The Equitable Food Initiative Links:

Website: http://www.equitablefood.org

Twitter: @EquitableFood

Facebook: facebook.com/EquitableFoodInitiative

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/equitable-food-initiative

Contact: LeAnne R. Ruzzamenti, (202) 796-8815, [email protected]

SOURCE Equitable Food Initiative

Related Links

http://www.equitablefood.org


While terms of the Agreements provide for long-term product development and commercialization, the immediate opportunity to manufacture and distribute proprietary products in the US, Canada and the United Kingdom represent significant revenue generating businesses for Alternate Health for many years to come."These patents allow Alternate Health to specifically control dosages and provide a safe, medically viable delivery system for cannabis and CBD's," said Jim Griffiths, CFO for Alternate Health. "This furthers the Company's plans to become an international leader in cannabis derived medicines."

Under the previously announced pending Alturas Joint Venture Agreement, an existing building on sovereign Native American land in northern California will be used as a research and testing facility. It will also include a CBD extraction and refinement plant expected to be operational this spring. Alternate Health is also currently in discussions with several Canadian LP's (licensed providers) for manufacturing and delivering its patented products and delivery systems in the Canadian market.

According to USA Today, the California marijuana Industry is estimated to grow to $25 billion annually, and is set to eclipse $50 billion by 2026. "Alternate Health is uniquely positioned for licensing their manufacturing pharmaceutical grade delivery systems of CBD and THC healing products in this fast-growing new marketplace," said Jim Tykoliz, Director of New Ventures, Alternate Health. "It is Alternate Health's intentions to provide organic, safe and healthy medicines through our patented delivery systems to patients around the world, and the California market represents a significant starting point for us."

Successful First Day of Trading

On January 24th, 2017, the Company's first day of trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange, Alternate Health's shares opened at $3.28, traded at a high of $3.50, at a low of $3.15, and closed at $3.28; on volume of 44,300 shares.

About Alternate Health

Alternate Health (http://www.alternatehealth.ca) is a diversified healthcare company that uses its expertise in technology to revolutionize patient care and service delivery in both traditional and complementary medical fields. With investments in research, education and cutting edge technology, Alternate Health is a leader in software applications and processing systems for the medical industry using proprietary technology platforms. Through its subsidiaries, Alternate Health offers services ranging from medical practice and controlled substance management software to blood analysis and toxicology labs, to clinical research and continuing education programs. Alternate Health's goal is to continue to lead the medical industry with data-driven results in patient care and product development.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of

ALTERNATE HEALTH CORP.

"Jim Griffiths"

Director and CFO

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company's future operations, business prospects and financing plans, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward- looking statements.

SOURCE Alternate Health Corp.

Related Links

http://www.alternatehealth.ca/


IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ampronix discusses Sony's recent run of medical technology innovation that is continuing into 2017. Last year the company released four new medical products; two 4K medical monitors and a recorder that combines 4K and 3D imaging technologies, both industry firsts, and the UPA-WU10 wireless print system.

Sony releases four new medical products for 2017

The monitors deliver superior brightness, enhanced resolution and an increased depth of field, while the HVO-4000MT medical recorder is able to store the video images for patient records or educational purposes. The wireless print system allows connection to Sony medical printers compatible with surgical endoscopes, ultrasound systems, and other hospital imaging modalities.

Sony's 55-inch LMD-X550MT and 31-inch LMD-X310MT monitors are able to display both 2D and 3D video images in 4K or HD from endoscopic/laparoscopic cameras, surgical microscopes and other compatible medical imaging systems. Their exceptional quality is an asset to both healthcare and educational settings, allowing students to gain a more complete view of the human internal organs. The monitors can display the images and video in a multitude of ways; side-by-side, top and bottom or as interlaced lines.

The HVO-4000MT is able to store those 4K, 2D, and 3D images using a 4 TB hard drive and includes network connectivity that allows the Sony Content Management System (CMS) to easily search, store and distribute records to appropriate staff.

Three dimensional visualization is able to increase surgeons' confidence and in 95% of cases, the technology correlated well with physicians regardless of surgery type.

The UPA-WU10 wireless print system allows cable-free connection, replacing the conventionally wired USB connection between printer and imaging modality. In clinical settings, such as operating rooms, equipment is constantly being transferred between locations with limited space for storage. With a 10 meter signal range, the transmitter alone can be inserted into modalities while the printer is stationed elsewhere, freeing up additional space on medical carts.

The system includes two units, a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter plugs into the imaging modality and the receiver is connected to the printer. Multiple transmitter/receiver pairs in the same room allow for simultaneous use of three user-selectable radio channels. All inclusive, there is no need for additional software. The device auto links to the closest receiver emitting the strongest signal without the need for any local Wi-Fi. If relocated, the printer will automatically reconnect to the modality.

Ampronix believes these new products from Sony are designed to improve efficiency in a clinical setting by providing surgical teams with more in-depth views of the human body with increased precision. Leading the way in technological advancement, these are only a portion of what's to come in 2017 from Sony Medical.

Contact Ampronix:

Email: [email protected]

International Sales: +1 949-273-8000

Domestic Sales: 1800-400-7972 for US and Canada

Follow Us:

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

Contact Ampronix:

Email: [email protected]

International Sales: +1 949-273-8000

Domestic Sales: 1800-400-7972 for US and Canada

Follow Us:

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

About Ampronix

Ampronix is a renowned authorized master distributor of the medical industry's top brands as well as a world class manufacturer of innovative technology. Since 1982, Ampronix has been dedicated to meeting the growing needs of the medical community with its extensive product knowledge, outstanding service, and state-of-the-art repair facility. Ampronix prides itself on its ability to offer tailored, one-stop solutions at a faster and more cost effective rate than other manufacturers. Ampronix is ISO 13485:2003, ISO 9001:2008, and ANSI/ESD S20.20-2014 certified.

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This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Ampronix
Starting today, car buyers in 46 states can obtain up to four financing offers on any make, model or trim of new or used car by following four easy steps on the easy to use AutoGravity platform. The app returns personalized loan and lease offers within minutes, empowering consumers with transparency, convenience, and the power to choose the rate and lender that's right for them before they visit the dealership.

"AutoGravity has brought car finance into the digital age," said Andy Hinrichs, who became AutoGravity's founder and CEO after decades as an auto finance executive. "Our industry-leading technology has been embraced by top banks and captive auto lenders, as well as leading dealer groups who see customers shopping on their smartphones every day. We've re-designed the car finance experience, taking it from hours to minutes for car buyers across the country."

Based in Irvine, California, AutoGravity is the latest in a long line of technology visionaries that is revolutionizing common products and services by bringing the power of choice to the palms of consumers' hands. Embracing innovation, AutoGravity has built partnerships with the world's leading banks, car companies' own lenders, and leading dealership groups. As a result, AutoGravity is the only company to successfully bring thousands of dealers and an extensive list of top global lenders together in a single, convenient digital marketplace.

"To truly empower car buyers with access to every possible vehicle, dealer and finance choice, the AutoGravity platform must be an attractive place for lenders and dealers to do business," said Serge Vartanov, AutoGravity's chief marketing officer. "We've spent over a year integrating lenders and dealers into the platform, and we're now ready for customers across the country to start shopping and financing making AutoGravity a game-changer in the auto-finance industry."

The first-of-its-kind app, launched in California in 2016, is available for download on from the Apple App Store and from Google Play. AutoGravity is also available as a mobile-responsive web-app at www.autogravity.com. The app guides car shoppers through an intuitive four step process:

Select any make, model and trim of new or used car available in the United States . Select any dealership from AutoGravity's proprietary national database; the platform automatically pinpoints your location and shows you the closest dealers selling the vehicle. Search for financing for your selected car, right on your smartphone. You can scan your driver's license and connect to social media to quickly pre-fill your finance application. Receive up to four finance offers within minutes. Simply select the loan or lease offer that's right for you and head to the dealership to complete your purchase with peace of mind.

AutoGravity's highly-streamlined process is designed to address the shopping habits and demands of modern consumers, particularly millennials. This is made possible through AutoGravity's unparalleled technical expertise, partnerships with the world's most prominent lenders and a proprietary database of trusted dealerships. Designed with state-of-the-art security, AutoGravity protects consumers' information with advanced bank-level encryption and proprietary data security technologies, ensuring sensitive information is processed in a safe and secure way.

About AutoGravity:

AutoGravity is a FinTech pioneer on a mission to transform car financing by harnessing the power of the smartphone. AutoGravity partners with the world's leading banks and financial services companies to give consumers direct control over how they finance their cars. Available as a native iOS, Android and web app, AutoGravity offers a secure and convenient platform that empowers customers with multiple finance offers within its network of trusted car dealerships. Based in Irvine, California, AutoGravity was founded in 2015 by an international team of digital natives and industry veterans. For more information on AutoGravity, please visit www.autogravity.com and follow @AutoGravityHQ on Twitter.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Kent Barrett, [email protected]

Priyanka Banerjee, [email protected]

310-503-0877 (cell)

310-373-0103 (office)

Mike Geylin, [email protected]

844-640-2925

SOURCE AutoGravity

Related Links

http://www.autogravity.com


LONDON, Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2015, the annual production volume of Vietnamese 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler vehicle manufacturing industry was growing positively by 6.4% year-on-year. Following, 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler vehicle manufacturing industry is forecasted to experience a stable growth at a CAGR of 6.7% in Vietnam during 2015  2022.



The 2-wheeler vehicle manufacturing industry has reached at a maturity stage in Vietnam, mainly due to the high usage rate and its role as the main transport solution among residents. Besides, limited road infrastructure expansion and low highway rate have caused serious traffic congestion in the city areas, such as Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City for example. Nevertheless, 2-wheeler vehicle is still highly favourable and adapted by Vietnamese, due to price-friendly and convenience factors.



Under comparison, the 4-wheeler vehicle manufacturing industry is considered as a new emerging industry in Vietnam which is in fast-growing stage at the moment. Country's development, higher urbanization rate, rising working opportunity, the improvements of income and purchasing power are driving the application demand and purchase desire of Vietnamese.



This research service provides an outlook of the current manufacturing capabilities among both 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler automotive manufacturers in Vietnam. The base year of the study is 2015. It covers the government's policies in developing automotive manufacturing capabilities throughout complete vehicle assembly, as well as the production of automotive parts and components in Vietnam.



The research service also discusses the main challenges that facing in 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler manufacturing industries respectively, key automotive manufacturing industrial parks that available in Vietnam, manufacturing plants mapping of automotive OEMs, manufacturing plants mapping of key automotive parts manufacturers, manufacturing capacities of key automotive OEMs, vehicle production volume by region, vehicle production volume by OEMs and SWOT analysis of different automotive manufacturing industry.



Research Scope

This research service aims to analyze automotive OEMs manufacturing capabilities in the Vietnam market. The study is also aimed to provide the information about Vietnamese automotive market in recent year and forecast towards 2022.



Research Objectives

- To provide strategic overview of 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler vehicle market during 2015  2022.

- To provide the location map of OEMs automotive and component manufacturing plants.

- To provide the newest mechanic automotive industrial park development with government incentive policies.

- To identify the government policies which supporting OEMs manufacturing capabilities development.

- To develop future automotive manufacturing market outlook in Vietnam.



Key Questions this Study will Answer

- What are the key challenges that facing by the automotive manufacturing industry in Vietnam?

- Which policies are developed and supported by Vietnamese government toward automotive manufacturing activities?

- Who are the key industry participants in 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler vehicle manufacturing industry in Vietnam?

- Who are the key industry leaders in terms of automotive production volume in Vietnam?

- What are the annual production volume capacities by each OEM in Vietnam?



The research closes with conclusions and future outlook. The availability of automotive mechanical industrial parks, manufacturing incentive and manufacturing tax waiver which developed by Vietnamese government is likely to bring new business opportunity excitement in the automotive manufacturing activities.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4636276/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

http://www.reportbuyer.com


recipes for designed-to-be-shared meals

a canvas tote bag to bring meals to loved ones

a 32-page inspirational journal to track things you're thankful for  and people you want to serve

other surprises selected by Debbie

Every purchase of a Blessings Box is guaranteed to make a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable children around the world. For each Blessing Box sold, $5 of the proceeds will go directly to World Vision to help fund education for girls.

"I truly cannot express what a blessing World Vision is  it brings me such joy to be partnering with this incredible organization," said Macomber. "My hope is that as we start 2017, together we can be a blessing to children, and their families and communities all around the world. But for me, this journey really began a long time ago.

Debbie Macomber is one of today's most popular writers, with more than 200 million copies of her books in print worldwide. Macomber's annual Christmas books are beloved and five have been crafted into original Hallmark Channel movies. She is a longtime supporter of World Vision, and was recently announced as one of its newest celebrity ambassadors.

About World Vision:

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. For more information, please visit www.worldvision.org or follow World Vision on Twitter @WorldVisionUSA.

SOURCE World Vision

Related Links

http://www.worldvision.org


LONDON, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Brunswick Group, a leading corporate advisory firm, announced today that Raul Damas and Hannah Stott-Bumsted are joining the firm as Partners. Raul joined Brunswick in New York on Jan. 9 from Purdue Pharma, where he was Vice President of Corporate Affairs & Communications. Hannah Stott-Bumsted will join on Feb. 13 in Washington, D.C. from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where she was Counselor to the Deputy Secretary.

Raul joined Purdue in 2013 after having spent seven years at Pfizer, most recently as Senior Director of U.S. Policy. Before this, Raul worked in politics as the White House Associate Director of the Office of Political Affairs and a senior administration official on political and public policy developments. Raul also served as National Coalitions Director at the Republican National Committee and co-founded Latino Opinions, a bilingual polling and strategic communications firm.

Hannah advised the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on a wide range of complex and high-profile policy and political matters, including the Affordable Care Act, drug pricing, and cybersecurity. Before joining HHS, she served in the Office of General Counsel at the Department of the Treasury where she was the lead lawyer on litigation matters and congressional investigations. Hannah joined the Obama administration after eight years at Williams & Connolly LLP, where she advised major corporate clients on litigation, investigations, and arbitrations.

Group Chief Executive Susan Gilchrist said: "The arrival of Raul Damas and Hannah Stott-Bumsted continues to strengthen our Healthcare & Life Sciences practice in the U.S. and globally. Raul Damas brings significant corporate communications and policy experience, including directly advising CEOs and boards. Combined with Hannah Stott-Bumsted's expertise and understanding of the regulatory, policy, and legal landscape, this is a very compelling proposition. We are delighted they are joining Brunswick and know they will be invaluable to clients at a time when they face incredibly complex challenges."

Raul Damas said: "Having been a client of Brunswick, I know firsthand the expertise that the firm brings to critical situations. Brunswick has a fantastic range of clients in healthcare and beyond, and I am excited to be joining at a time when great corporate communications has never been more vital."



Hannah Stott-Bumsted said: "I am thrilled to join Brunswick and to work with its clients as they navigate the exciting opportunities and challenges presented by a dynamic political and regulatory landscape."

Raul Damas

Raul Damas joins Brunswick from Purdue Pharma, a privately-held mid-cap specialty pharmaceutical company, where he was Vice President of Corporate Affairs & Communications. He was responsible for the company's corporate communications, government affairs, health policy, and alliance development functions.

Prior to joining Purdue, Raul spent seven years at Pfizer in roles of increasing responsibility for media relations, government relations, and policy development. Before that, he served in the White House as Associate Director of the Office of Political Affairs, where he advised the President and senior administration officials on political and public policy matters. Prior to this, Raul was Coalitions Director at the Republican National Committee. He also co-founded Latino Opinions, a bilingual polling and strategic communications firm.

Raul is a graduate of Villanova University, holds a master's of political management from George Washington University, and holds an MBA from Columbia University.

An avid runner, Raul serves on the board of New York Road Runners, as well as the Public Affairs Council.

Hannah Stott-Bumsted

Hannah Stott-Bumsted joins Brunswick from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she was the Counselor to the Deputy Secretary. As a member of the senior leadership team, she advised the Secretary and Deputy Secretary and managed teams responding to a number of high-profile policy and programmatic issues. Before joining the Department of Health and Human Services, Hannah was a senior official at the Department of the Treasury where she handled a number of high-profile congressional investigations.

Prior to joining the government, Hannah practiced law at Williams & Connolly and represented dozens of companies in adversarial matters, including litigations, investigations, and arbitrations.

Hannah is a graduate of Smith College and holds a J.D. from Georgetown University School of Law, where she periodically teaches a seminar in civil litigation practice.

About Brunswick Group

Brunswick Group LLP is an advisory firm specializing in critical issues and corporate relations. Founded in 1987, Brunswick is an organically grown, private partnership with 23 offices around the world. For more information, visit: www.brunswickgroup.com.

Contact

Cecilia Arradaza

Tel. +1 202 393 7337

Email. [email protected]

SOURCE Brunswick Group

Related Links

http://www.brunswickgroup.com


WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic-Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today issued a statement in reaction to executive orders expected to be signed by President Donald Trump restricting immigration from a number of Middle Eastern and African countries.

WATCH: Full CAIR News Conference

https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational/videos/10154469231537695/

President Trump is also expected to temporarily bar most refugees from entry to the United States and block visas from being issued to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

SEE: Trump Executive Order: Muslim countries Are the Target of Upcoming Immigration Ban

https://mic.com/articles/166571/trump-executive-order-muslim-countries-are-the-target-of-upcoming-immigration-ban

Donald Trump is About to Enact a Severe Immigration Crackdown. Here's What You Need to Know.

http://fusion.net/story/382917/trump-immigration-ban-muslim-syria-wall/

During a news conference this afternoon at its Capitol Hill headquarters in Washington, D.C., CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:

[NOTE: Other news conference participants included Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the National Council of Churches. Nihad Awad's prepared text may be published by media outlets as an editorial.]

"Make no mistake  whatever language is used in President Trump's executive orders on refugees, immigration and visa programs  Muslims are the sole targets of these orders.

"These orders are a disturbing confirmation of Islamophobic and un-American policy proposals made during the presidential election campaign.

"Never before in our country's history have we purposely - as a matter of policy - imposed a ban on immigrants or refugees on the basis of religion, or imposed a religious litmus test on those coming to this nation.

"Ideological and religious questioning imposed on our government agencies by Islamophobes  many of whom are now in policy-making positions - will not make us safer and will instead send a very negative message that Muslims are not welcome in America.

"One of our nation's darkest moments was during World War II when we turned away Jewish refugees seeking our protection. We cannot allow religious bigotry to affect our willingness and ability to welcome those fleeing violence and persecution.

"Refugees coming to America are the most vetted of all those entering our country. They go through multiple levels of screening by multiple national security agencies before they can enter, and before they are even selected as refugees.

"These orders will have an adverse impact on American Muslim families trying to connect with visiting relatives from overseas and parents seeking medical treatment. The orders will tarnish our image in the Muslim world, making us seem uncaring and hard-hearted.

"This ban does not make our country safer. Instead, it serves to stigmatizes Muslim refugees and the entire American Muslim community. It will hand a propaganda tool to our enemies who promote the false narrative of an American war on Islam.

"We have already seen an unprecedented spike in anti-Muslim bigotry in recent months. The negative perceptions and association created by these orders will very likely cause a further increase in hate crimes, discrimination and bigotry against ordinary law-abiding American Muslims.

"The ban on travelers from Muslim-majority and Middle Eastern nations, as well as the construction of a multi-billion-dollar monument to racism on our border with Mexico and the appropriation of sacred Native-American lands, flies in the face of the American values of religious and ethnic inclusion that we all hold dear.

"We must address the issue of terrorism based on evidence and hard data, not based on faith, race or national origin.

"It is encouraging to see that while some national leaders pander to fear and intolerance, many local elected officials and leaders are standing up for their neighbors of all faiths and backgrounds by rejecting Islamophobia and racism.

As we saw more than a million people in this country and around the world marching for justice last Saturday, we will  God willing - see millions more join the movement for human rights and equality.

"We are always strongest as a nation when we stand together in defense of the Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees."

The Washington-based Muslim civil rights group is asking Muslim community members who believe their rights have been violated to contact local police and CAIR's Civil Rights Department at 202-742-6420 or by filing a report at: http://www.cair.com/civil-rights/report-an-incident/view/form.html

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

La mision de CAIR es mejorar la comprension del Islam, fomentar el dialogo, proteger las libertades civiles, capacitar a los musulmanes estadounidenses, y construir coaliciones que promuevan la justicia y la comprension mutua.

Become a Fan of CAIR on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational

Subscribe to CAIR's Email List

http://tinyurl.com/cairsubscribe

Subscribe to CAIR's Twitter Feed

http://twitter.com/cairnational

Subscribe to CAIR's YouTube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/cairtv

CONTACT: CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

Related Links

http://www.cair.com


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DALLAS, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New Mexico's international trade with its third-largest export market will be the topic of discussion at a press conference at 1:00 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26 at the Rotunda of the State Capitol in Santa Fe with the Consul General of Canada, Mrs. Sara Wilshaw.

In addition Mrs. Wilshaw will note the 150th Anniversary of Confederation, the founding of Canada in 1867 and the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Consulate General of Canada launching official diplomatic representation to the State of New Mexico in 1967.

Canada is New Mexico's third-largest export market. New Mexico exports $180 million in goods to Canada annually, supporting 42,800 jobs in the state. 92,600 Canadian tourists visit New Mexico each year, boosting the state's economy by $32 million.

CONTACT:

Henry Wells

Senior Political and Economic Relations Officer

Cell: 214-837-7207

Email: [email protected]

Consulate General of Canada

Social Media: @CanCGDallas

SOURCE Consulate General of Canada
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Capital Properties, Inc. (OTCQX: CPTP) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell the petroleum storage terminal and Wilkesbarre Pier in East Providence, Rhode Island to Sprague Operating Resources LLC ("Sprague"), a subsidiary of Sprague Resources LP (NYSE: SRLP), for $23 million in cash at closing. The terminal's combined distillate storage capacity of just over 1 million barrels has been leased exclusively by Sprague since May 1, 2014. The closing is subject to customary terms and conditions and is expected to occur within thirty days.

The Company expects to use proceeds from the sale, net of income taxes, to redeem its 5% dividend notes due December 26, 2022.

Robert H. Eder, Chairman of the Company, said: "We are pleased to announce the agreement today to sell our petroleum storage assets. The changing nature of the distillate market in southeastern New England requires the conversion of a significant portion of the terminal's capacity to gasoline products, which would involve significant capital investment and substantial additional risk. The Company's board of directors determined that it was in the Company's and its shareholders' best interest to divest these assets rather than undertake the conversion."

About Capital Properties, Inc.

Capital Properties, Inc. and its subsidiaries operate in two segments: (1) Leasing and (2) Petroleum Storage. The leasing segment consists of the long-term leasing of certain of its real estate interests in downtown Providence, Rhode Island for commercial development, the leasing of a portion of a building and the leasing of locations along interstate and primary highways in Rhode Island and Massachusetts for outdoor advertising purposes. The petroleum storage segment, which is the subject of the sale, consists of the petroleum storage terminal and the Wilkesbarre Pier in East Providence, Rhode Island, which the Company operates for Sprague.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain written statements made in this press release may contain "forward-looking statements" which represent the Company's expectations or beliefs concerning future events. Certain risks, uncertainties and other important factors are detailed in reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Forms 8-K, 10-K and 10-Q. The Company cautions that these statements are further qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

CONTACT:

Barbara J. Dreyer, Treasurer

(401) 435-7171

SOURCE Capital Properties, Inc.

Related Links

http://capitalpropertiesinc.com


NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Captain D's, the leading fast casual seafood restaurant, announced today its year-end results, achieving its fourth successive year of record high system-wide AUV. Captain D's also saw a fourth-quarter system-wide same-store sales increase of 1.3 percent and a 2.3 percent system-wide same-store sales increase for the entire fiscal year, marking the company's 21st consecutive quarter and sixth consecutive year of positive growth.

Captain D's

"The Captain D's brand continues to evolve each year, but we have never wavered from our guest-centric values and our commitment to serving high-quality, innovative seafood dishes. Our dedication to excellence has lead to a passionate following of consumers nationwide. We're thrilled with our ongoing, year after year success, and we know that we're just getting started," said Phil Greifeld, chief executive officer and president of Captain D's. "Coupled with our strong franchise development pipeline, the exceptional growth we experienced last year has positioned Captain D's for immense potential in 2017. We look forward to accelerating this momentum in the new year and taking the brand to new heights."

Throughout 2016, Captain D's experienced a surge of franchise and corporate development, with 13 new locations opened, along with numerous development agreements signed to open an additional 25 new restaurants this year. This ongoing growth expanded the brand's presence in states nationwide, including Florida, South Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Illinois, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas and Virginia.

Captain D's success in 2016 was further driven by its seafood expertise and product innovation, with the system-wide launch of its Nashville Hot Fish, which gave customers a true taste of its Nashville heritage. Coupled with its menu diversification and expanded array of offerings, Captain D's credits its new restaurant beach design with contributing to the brand's compounding success. To date, 59 percent of all restaurants have been reimaged to the brand's new vibrant, coastal design, with another 50 locations to be remodeled by the end of this year. With these efforts, Captain D's has remained true to what it does best  serving high-quality seafood with warm hospitality at an affordable price in a welcoming atmosphere.

With 518 restaurants in 21 states, Captain D's is the fast-casual seafood leader and number one seafood franchise in America ranked by average unit volume. The company is currently seeking single- and multi-unit operators to join in the brand's rapid expansion. For more information about franchise opportunities, visit http://www.captaindsfranchising.com or call 877-635-6502.

ABOUT CAPTAIN D'S

Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., Captain D's has 518 restaurants in 21 states, plus military bases around the world. Captain D's is the nation's leading fast casual seafood restaurant and was named the #1 seafood chain in the QSR 50, ranked by AUV. Founded in 1969, Captain D's has been offering its customers high-quality seafood at reasonable prices in a welcoming atmosphere for more than 47 years. Captain D's serves a wide variety of seafood that includes freshly prepared entrees and the company's signature hand-battered fish, which is cooked to order. The restaurants also offer premium-quality, grilled items such as shrimp, and surf and turf, as well as hushpuppies, desserts and freshly brewed, Southern-style sweet tea, a Captain D's favorite. For more information, please visit www.captainds.com.

Contact:

Samantha Russo

Fish Consulting

954-893-9150

[email protected]

SOURCE Captain D's

Related Links

http://www.captainds.com


"Daniel is a seasoned e-discovery veteran who has helped law firms, Fortune 100 and global companies solve a variety of e-discovery problems through the years," said Catalyst President John Barr. "He has an established track record of helping to build successful companies and of enhancing customer service and satisfactioneven going so far as to build custom solutions when there were no viable alternatives readily available in the market."

Au Yeung has worked with Catalyst as a consultant since 2012, most recently helping to spearhead development of Insight Enterprise, Catalyst's newly launched platform specifically designed for corporate general counsel to centralize, simplify and reduce the cost of e-discovery across all their legal matters and teams.

"Catalyst is a true technology leader in e-discovery and I am thrilled to be part of the team," said Au Yeung. "I am especially happy to have played a role in building Insight Enterprise and I look forward to continuing to lead product planning and management."

Prior to coming to Catalyst, Au Yeung was chief technology officer and partner at the litigation support services company Datum Legal, where he built his division entirely from scratch to increase annualized revenue from zero to a multi-million dollar concern. During his time at Datum Legal, Au Yeung was also responsible for building the imaging, printing, electronic discovery, ASP hosting and certified training business service lines as well as the IT infrastructure to support it all.

Later, after global legal process outsourcing provider Integreon acquired Datum Legal, Au Yeung became Integreon's chief technology officer for discovery solutions. In that role, Au Yeung oversaw electronic discovery operations, U.S. IT and global product development. He also led research and development of new technologies, performed due diligence on possible target companies, and integrated the operations of acquired companies.

Earlier in his career, Au Yeung was part of the original team that established and grew Concordance Technologies prior to its sale in 1996 to IKON Office Solutions.

"Daniel's experience with many of the industry's software is second to none," said Chris Egan, Au Yeung's former partner at Datum Legal and SVP at Integreon. "He's exceptional at understanding the client's needs and designing the right solution."

About Catalyst

Catalyst designs, hosts and services the world's fastest and most powerful document repositories for large-scale discovery and regulatory compliance. For more than 15 years, corporations and their counsel have relied on Catalyst to help reduce litigation costs and take control of complex legal matters. To learn more, visit catalystsecure.com or follow the company on Twitter at @CatalystSecure.

SOURCE Catalyst Repository Systems

Related Links

http://www.catalystsecure.com


LOS ANGELES, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cetera Financial Group ("Cetera")*, a leading network of independent broker-dealer firms, announced today that it has named Thomas B. Taylor to the position of President of Cetera Advisor Networks ("Networks"), one of its member firms. Mr. Taylor, currently Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Cetera Advisor Networks, will replace Douglas S. King as President effective immediately. Mr. King is departing the firm to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.

Cetera Advisor Networks is an independent broker-dealer that specializes in supporting high-performance teams of independent financial advisors - referred to as Regional Director firms - that offer local support and guidance to their affiliated advisors while facilitating opportunities to share best practices and business opportunities.

Robert J. Moore, Chief Executive Officer of Cetera Financial Group, said, "I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Tom Taylor as the new head of Cetera Advisor Networks. As a longstanding and highly effective member of the senior leadership team at Cetera Advisor Networks, Tom has earned tremendous respect from the firm's advisors, regional directors and staff for not only his leadership ability, but his depth and breadth of knowledge of all aspects of the business. I am confident that Tom's extensive familiarity with the firm's culture, coupled with his business expertise, will enable him to continue to drive enormous success at Networks through the delivery of exceptional support for years to come."

Mr. Taylor, 48, with over 26 years of financial industry experience, joined Cetera Advisor Networks in 1997 and worked across a series of management roles, becoming Chief Operating Officer of the firm in 2006. During that time, he has been instrumental in developing many of the company's new operational, technological and sales initiatives. Before joining Cetera Advisor Networks, Mr. Taylor spent five years as a top-producing registered representative at Liberty Securities Corp./IFMG before being promoted to sales manager. He also ran an investment program and managed a corps of advisors for a financial institution in southern California.

Mr. Moore continued, "I am also extremely grateful to Doug King for his many contributions to Cetera. Doug has done an outstanding job leading Cetera Advisor Networks and has positioned them for even greater success in the future. Doug, who has decided to make a change in his career and serve our industry in a more entrepreneurial capacity, has contemplated this personal decision for quite some time. I am extremely appreciative that Doug, Tom and I will work closely together to effect a smooth leadership transition over the coming weeks. We wish Doug great success and good fortune in all his new endeavors."

Mr. King said, "I feel privileged to have served with Cetera, alongside so many terrific people for the past several years. I'm grateful to Robert and all of my colleagues both at Networks and across the broader Cetera organization for their tremendous support. I am confident that Networks is better positioned today than ever before, and will be in excellent hands for the future with Tom Taylor at its helm. Tom is a seasoned leader and a highly trusted colleague who has always worked tirelessly for the firm's regional directors and the advisors they serve."

Mr. King joined Cetera Advisor Networks as the firm's President in April 2012.

Mr. Taylor said, "I'm honored to have the opportunity to work with the field leaders of Cetera Advisor Networks, and I'm enthusiastic about helping move the firm forward at a time of such change and opportunity in our industry. Cetera Advisor Networks' distinctive culture and business model, together with its extensive advantages in being part of the broader Cetera organization, will continue to make the firm a preeminent destination for advisors and advisor groups seeking to maximize the advantages of independence in a collaborative team-based environment."

About Cetera Advisor Networks

Cetera Advisor Networks LLC is an independent broker-dealer and registered investment adviser firm that utilizes a unique regional director model to support financial advisors through the entire life cycle of their business. As part of Cetera Financial Group, a leading network of independent retail broker-dealers, Cetera Advisor Networks is able to build and support regional teams through local service, regional offices and a national home office, facilitating the success of financial professionals.

Cetera Advisor Networks is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). For more information, see ceteraadvisornetworks.com

About Cetera Financial Group

Cetera Financial Group ("Cetera") is a leading network of independent retail broker-dealers empowering the delivery of objective financial advice to individuals, families and company retirement plans across the country through trusted financial advisors and financial institutions. Cetera is the second-largest independent financial advisor network in the nation by number of advisors, as well as a leading provider of retail services to the investment programs of banks and credit unions.

Through its multiple distinct firms, Cetera offers independent and institutions-based advisors the benefits of a large, established broker-dealer and registered investment adviser, while serving advisors and institutions in a way that is customized to their needs and aspirations. Advisor support resources offered through Cetera include award-winning wealth management and advisory platforms, comprehensive broker-dealer and registered investment adviser services, practice management support and innovative technology. For more information, visit www.ceterafinancialgroup.com.

* "Cetera Financial Group" refers to the network of retail independent broker-dealers encompassing, among others, Cetera Advisors, Cetera Advisor Networks, Cetera Investment Services (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions), Cetera Financial Specialists, First Allied Securities, Girard Securities and Summit Brokerage Services.

Media Contacts:

Joseph Kuo

Haven Tower Group

Tel: 424.652.6520

ext. 101

[email protected]

Matthew Griffes

Haven Tower Group

Tel: 424.652.6520

ext. 103

[email protected]



SOURCE Cetera Financial Group

Related Links

https://www.cetera.com


CLEVELAND, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Chagrin Valley Engineering, Ltd., a recognized leader in the fields of Civil Engineering & Site Planning, Municipal Engineering, Land Surveying, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Environmental and Storm Water Services, announces three new partners. The promotions will enhance the future growth of the firm.

"We're extremely proud to promote these outstanding professionals who will complement our other partners with their depth and breadth of engineering expertise," said Donald F. Sheehy, one of the firm's founding Partners. "Through their leadership, they have demonstrated a remarkable commitment to our clients and to our company. We're thrilled to welcome them as our newest partners."

JOSEPH L. GIGLIOTTI, PE

Joseph Gigliotti joined the team at Chagrin Valley Engineering, Ltd. in September of 2002. Joe graduated from the Cleveland State University Fenn College of Engineering in May of 2000 with a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering and received his professional engineering license in 2004. Joe serves primarily as a project manager handling several municipal clients dealing with infrastructure improvements, planning and zoning and drainage concerns. His practical and theoretical experience will continue to provide the clients of Chagrin Valley Engineering a quality product.

MATTHEW M. JONES, PE

Matthew Jones joined Chagrin Valley Engineering in 1998 after graduating from the University of Toledo with a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering. Matt is an active member of the Municipal Engineers Association of Northeast Ohio and the Lake Erie chapter of the American Society of Highway Engineers. Currently, Matt acts as the City Engineer for the City of Brunswick as well as dealing with other municipal and private project management. By using his skills gained by working with governmental agencies and private clients, Matt provides his clients with designs that are both efficient and sensitive to the needs of the community.

BRET A. KELLER, PE

Bret Keller joined Chagrin Valley Engineering, Ltd. in March of 2006. Bret graduated from the Purdue University School of Engineering in December of 2004 with a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering with an emphasis in Construction Management and earned his professional engineering license in 2008. Bret serves as the project manager on projects for numerous local municipalities throughout northeast Ohio. His wide range of experience in civil design and construction management has been instrumental in the growth at Chagrin Valley Engineering, Ltd.

Contact:

Mike Henry

Chagrin Valley Engineering, Ltd.

440.439.1999

[email protected]

www.cvelimited.com

SOURCE Chagrin Valley Engineering, Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.cvelimited.com


Voome, short for "Vision of Me", now is a face alignment and tracking algorithm engine, with several SDK packages that can be downloaded from the website "Voome.cn". Developers have the freedom to integrate it into their dazzling applications, to meet R&D demands in R&D of gaming, live streaming, marketing and e-commerce. Meanwhile, Topplus has pledged to keep the software unconditionally free of cost.

Various potential application scenarios of the Voome are focusing on diverse vertical markets, including precisely adding AR emoji stickers onto human faces, enhancing precision of virtual makeup filters, and helping online eye wear vendors to improve the shopping experience with virtual try-ons.

"Many small business groups and individuals have been hindered from realizing their innovative ideas by huge R&D costs required for technology" said Dr. Yidan Xu, founder and CEO of Topplus, as he explains that application level algorithms have largely been fragmented and guarded by industry leaders as well as the academic world.

"Voome's launch is the first time that a company is sharing their fully functional face alignment and tracking software with the public, for free permanently." he said.

Voome's launch is based on two solid years of R&D experience accumulated by expertise from Topplus, one of China's most promising computer vision start-ups. The company has received positive market feedback and built up sufficient confidence in its unique and accurate algorithms through a variety of cases, including the TopUAV visual solutions for consumer drones, TopGlasses virtual try-on solutions for vertical e-commerce platform, face swapping digital marketing campaigns. They as well won Alibaba's Tmall Social-Tech Creative Award in December, 2016.

"We hope Voome will be a good algorithm engine, for AR/VR and application developers, and those who believe in a better interaction of the virtual and the reality. We sincerely hope, more and more people to participate, to share and to realize dreams and visions collectively, promoting the shared innovation and achieving agreement on software engineers' role and commitment to current and future world." said Dr. Xu.

SOURCE Topplusvision
LONDON, January 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

BlackRock Inc, one of the world's biggest asset management firms, announced on Thursday they had taken on former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, who will advise the company on major asset purchases.

Following the UK's shock vote to leave the European Union, Osborne was ousted from his position having been the youngest politician to hold the famous briefcase. Osborne's appointment back in 2010 was part of a Conservative Party move to drive forward austerity in an effort to drag the country out of the hole created by the global financial crisis of the previous years.

Stuart Poulson, Head of Corporate Trading at CITIC Tokyo International was surprised Osborne will retain his standing as a Member of Parliament while simultaneously working with BlackRock part-time as an investment consultant. Stuart Poulson noted, "With this dual position a conflict of interest could arise and it will be up to regulators to decide whether he has abused his influence."

BlackRock shareholders have been distressed by the company's recent research reports for global investments. James Richards, Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at CITIC Tokyo International, has raised concerns that financial returns may take a significant hit this year unless a change in strategy is quickly formulated.

After the Brexit vote added further stress to the financial markets, Osborne had resigned. In his new advisory role with BlackRock, he will work with the strategic investment team on Chinese economics, Euro zone debt politics and retirement planning.

"We are very much looking forward to working with George and utilizing his talents in a number of different economic and political areas," the statement read.

Government watchdogs will have a keen eye on the appointment and said he would not be allowed to directly lobby the government on behalf of his new employers for another two years. They also stated that privileged information Osborne garnered in his role as Chancellor was not to be used.

"The honorable gentlemen will agree that he will not pursue or be intimately involved with projects together with the British authorities," said a letter from the government's Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.

Osborne had been widely tipped as the next Prime Minister until his fortunes changed with the worldwide economic downturn. His new appointment is just the latest in a string of high-profile job switches to occur in the politico-economic arena. Both, Ben Bernanke, former Fed chairman, and Gordon Brown, former British PM, work in advisory roles for Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco). Shortly after leaving office, Tony Blair took up a job with U.S. banking giants JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Citigroup announced last week that William Hague, former British Foreign Minister, would act as a senior advisor for the firm.

Source: Mr Stuart Poulson, Head of Corporate Trading, CITIC Tokyo International.

Media Contact:

Mr Yamaha Masu,

CITIC Tokyo International,

+81 3 4540 5936,

[email protected]



SOURCE CITIC Tokyo International
NAPLES, Fla., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cohen & Grigsby, P.C. is pleased to announce Michael G. Dana has joined the firm's corporate and tax group as a director, effective Jan. 13.

Mr. Dana advises American businesses and their owners with respect to U.S. tax matters. He also provides legal advice in connection with all aspects of formation, operation and disposition. His diverse practice includes advising clients on corporate, partnership, tax, securities and other business law matters.

Prior to joining Cohen & Grigsby, Mr. Dana was a lawyer in the Naples office of an Ohio-based law firm. A 2004 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, Mr. Dana received his Master of Laws in Taxation (LLM) in 2011.

ABOUT COHEN & GRIGSBY

Since 1981, Cohen & Grigsby, P.C. and its attorneys have provided sound legal advice and solutions to clients that seek to maximize their potential in a constantly changing global marketplace. Comprised of more than 140 lawyers, Cohen & Grigsby maintains offices in Pittsburgh, PA and Naples, Fla. The firm's practice areas include Business Services, Labor & Employment, Immigration/International Business, Intellectual Property, Real Estate & Public Finance, Litigation, Employee Benefits and ERISA, Estates & Trusts, Bankruptcy & Creditors Rights, and Public Affairs. Cohen & Grigsby represents private and publicly held businesses, nonprofits, multinational corporations, individuals and emerging businesses across a full spectrum of industries. Our lawyers maintain an unwavering commitment to customer service that ensures a productive partnership. For more information, visit cohenlaw.com.

Contact: Christine Mazza

412.297.4900

[email protected]

The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. Before you decide, ask us to send you free written information about Cohen & Grigsby's qualifications and experience.

 Cohen & Grigsby, P.C., 2017

SOURCE Cohen & Grigsby, P.C.

Related Links

http://www.cohenlaw.com


As more shoppers rely on the internet to self-direct the buying process, dealers and automakers must maintain a consistent online presence at every touch point in order to drive engagement and sales. Power of Three helps realize this goal by providing unified access to the industry's most visited consumer shopping site, most trusted vehicle research site, and most widely used dealer digital marketing platform. Cox Automotive's 2017 Car Buyer Journey Study indicates that 87 percent of shoppers interact with Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com or a dealer website before purchasing. Users can leverage this reach to make more targeted connections with in-market shoppers, improving the buying experience and increasing conversion.

"Today's consumers have high expectations for the car-buying process, which makes delivering a high-quality online experience key," said Brian Geitner, president of Cox Automotive Media Solutions. "With consumers using so many different shopping methods and information sources today, creating targeted and consistent messaging can be a challenge. We designed Power of Three to help the automotive industry get better results online because dealers don't just need better classifieds sites or better dealer websites, they need total connectivity of platforms."

To make Power of Three even more valuable for dealers and automakers, Cox Automotive has added new enhancements to several features of the brand's engagement platforms. Autotrader's new Connections App analyzes online listings' web activity to identify units with the greatest walk-in potential. Dealer.com's Audience Targeting reaches Autotrader and KBB.com shoppers and directs them back to dealer websites using Dealer.com's industry leading machine learning and real-time bidding automation. Additionally, the Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer features new customization, more integrations and a license plate validation feature, which have helped increase the tool's offer volume by 19 percent when comparing offers made from January to October of 2016 to those made from January to October of 2015.

To learn more about the benefits of Power of Three, visit Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book and Dealer.com at the 2017 NADA Convention and Expo, booth #1315.

About Autotrader

Autotrader is the most visited third-party car shopping site, with the most engaged audience of in-market shoppers. As the foremost authority on automotive consumer insights and expert in online and mobile marketing, Autotrader makes the car shopping experience easy and fun for today's empowered consumer looking to find or sell the perfect new, used or certified pre-owned car. Using technology, shopper insights and local market guidance, Autotrader's comprehensive marketing solutions guide dealers to personalized digital marketing strategies that grow brand, drive traffic and connect the online and in-store shopping experience.

Autotrader is a Cox Automotive brand. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. For more information, please visit http://press.autotrader.com.

About Dealer.com

Dealer.com provides an integrated platform of Advertising, Website and Managed Services products which allow OEMs, dealer groups, retailers and agencies to leverage advanced digital technology and data to better engage and connect with their customers. The company practices a deep commitment to its culture of innovation, with a focus on health and wellness, making it one of the most desirable places to work, and a valuable partner for automotive retailers. Based in Burlington, Vermont, Dealer.com is a Cox Automotive brand. For more information, visit www.dealer.com.

About Kelley Blue Book (https://www.kbb.com/)

Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource, is the vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry. Each week the company provides the most market-reflective values in the industry on its top-rated website KBB.com, including its famous Blue Book Trade-In Values and Fair Purchase Price, which reports what others are paying for new and used cars this week. The company also provides vehicle pricing and values through various products and services available to car dealers, auto manufacturers, finance and insurance companies, and governmental agencies. Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com ranked highest in its category for brand equity by the 2016 Harris Poll EquiTrend study and has been named Online Auto Shopping Brand of the Year for five consecutive years. Kelley Blue Book Co., Inc. is a Cox Automotive brand.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. is transforming the way the world buys, sells and owns cars with industry-leading digital marketing, software, financial, wholesale and e-commerce solutions for consumers, dealers, manufacturers and the overall automotive ecosystem worldwide. Committed to open choice and dedicated to strong partnerships, the Cox Automotive family includes Autotrader, Dealer.com, Dealertrack, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim, NextGear Capital, vAuto, Xtime and a host of other brands. The global company has 33,000 team members in more than 200 locations and is partner to more than 40,000 auto dealers, as well as most major automobile manufacturers, while engaging U.S. consumer car buyers with the most recognized media brands in the industry. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., an Atlanta-based company with revenues of $18 billion and approximately 60,000 employees. Cox Enterprises' other major operating subsidiaries include Cox Communications and Cox Media Group. For more information about Cox Automotive, visit www.coxautoinc.com.

SOURCE Autotrader

Related Links

http://www.autotrader.com


Mayor de Blasio's preliminary $84.7 billion budget for the twelve months starting this July, which he announced Tuesday, includes hundreds of millions of dollars to repair leaking roofs at NYCHA buildings, and add 40,000 public school seats by 2025. There's an additional $400 million for Vision Zero, including nearly triple last year's funding for bike lanes. It's also de Blasio's first budget under the Trump administration, amid threats of funding cuts to so-called "sanctuary cities," and in the face of a Republican-majority Congress. In a Tuesday budget presentation titled "New York Stands Strong," the mayor acknowledged that the entire funding plan is rolling out "against a backdrop of a lot of uncertainty.""

Briefing reporters, de Blasio voiced his concerns upfront. "We all understand we're dealing with the great unknown," he said. "The president has said a lot of things. He's also changed his mind on a lot of things, and very little has been put into written proposals."

These concerns, however, are not reflected in the preliminary budget. "It's a budget that focuses on what we can do for ourselves while we wait to see the shape of things in Washington," he said.

Of the total $84.67 billion proposed budget, about $7 billion has been preliminarily set aside as federal funding. This is less than half of the projected State commitment, of $14.6 billion. The ten-year capital spending plan, for infrastructure projects, is $89.6 billion, with $3.5 billion in assumed federal commitments.

"Federal funding is not as big a piece of the budget as people think," said Maria Doulis, director of city studies for the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan research group that analyzes city and state spending.

"But," she added, "a lot of the federal dollars are for programs that help low-income people. Federal funding goes predominantly toward social services, education and health. To the extent that the federal government pulls back on these things, it will put pressure on the state and the city. And there is a limit to how much the city can do to address these needs on its own."

Mayor de Blasio acknowledged five major areas of concern on Tuesday. For one, the NYPD is poised to overrun its overtime budget dispatching security to Trump Tower. Of the projected $35 million for security between November and January, the federal government has so far committed $7 million. New York City's cash-strapped network of public hospitals could also take a hit if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. ("They have a large share of patients who are uninsured and on Medicaid," Doulis explained. "Part of what the ACA did is expand Medicaid coverage.") Public funding for education could also be threatened, as well as funding for storm resiliency and public housing.

"My fear is that affordable housing programs might be one of the first areas they look at," de Blasio said.

But the mayor refused to treat any of the potential funding cuts as a done deal, saying that Trump "respects strength," and that he would match it. "The last conversation I had with Trump was perfectly pleasant on getting the reimbursement for the Trump Tower," he said. "I believe if one is firm and consistent, that is the best way to deal with him, and deal with his team."

In addition to federal funding, Doulis told Gothamist this week that she predicted a "larger, more broad impact" on the budget in the area of tax reform. Both Congress and the Trump administration have said that they would repeal a tax deduction that allows individuals to deduct their state and local taxes from their federal taxes. It's especially beneficial to New York, where these taxes are high.

"To make up for that additional tax liability, the city and state might feel pressure to lower taxes locally, which would mean less revenue for the state and the city," Doug Turetsky of the city's Independent Budget Office told Politico.

That said, President Trump has expressed interest in funding infrastructure projects. Increased funding in that area could go towards a third water tunnel, which Mayor de Blasio is prioritizing with a $303 million commitment in the wake of criticism last spring.

This year's state budget also draws much less heavily on city coffers than it did last year, when Governor Cuomo proposed about $1 billion in city spending, to de Blasio's chagrin.

Throughout the week, de Blasio has reiterated that he is staring down Trump with adequate savings and reserves, totaling about $5 billion.

"Right now we're talking about $5 billion plus in reserves, and that's the kind of buffer that allows us to keep our budget on track and be ready for all sorts of eventualities, whether in the larger economic reality, or whether it's something emanating from Washington," de Blasio said on NY1 on Monday. He added, "It's a buffer, it's also a de facto rainy day fund."

According to the city, about $1 billion of the total is savings accumulated over the past four years. The remaining $4 billion comes from a retiree health benefits trust fund, which the Citizens Budget Commission argues should not be for general use.

"The amount we owe for retiree health insurance is huge," Doulis said. "It's going to get to the point where the benefits paid out each year are so enormous that they swallow the budget. That money should be dedicated to retiree health care expenses, because that's what that fund is there for."

The mayor's office didn't immediately comment on the health insurance funding.

In a statement on the preliminary budget, the City Council said that "more must be done to find additional, lasting savings across all city agencies." At the same time, they asked for more funding for the Department of Homeless Services, citing the current record shelter population. Asked about homeless funding on Tuesday, the mayor said that he has made "a lot of investments." But the preliminary budget shows a smaller investment than last year: $1.43 billion, down from $1.69 billion. (According to the NY Times, the city has alluded to more homeless funding in the final budget.)

"It is disheartening that there was no funding in the budget to move New Yorkers out of hotels or otherwise dedicated to tackling homelessness," stated Public Advocate Letitia James.

The Mayor's Office will hammer out a final budget by March, at which point de Blasio said he hopes Trump will have provided more clarity on his own funding goals.

"Our belief is that by the time of the executive budget at least some of this will be clear and hopefully not as bad as we fear," de Blasio said.

Other priorities in Mayor de Blasio's 2017 budget include:

$6.3 million to fund 200 school crossing guards and 100 supervisors.

$5.2 million for bullet-proof window inserts in NYPD vehicles.

$162 million over the five years to mitigate flooding in Southeast Queens.

$20 million over two years to renovate the Orchard Beach Pavilion.

$16.4 million towards faster internet speeds at city schools.
The study, conducted in coordination with IHS Automotive, indicates that the average car buyer spends 60 percent of their total purchase process online, 62 percent of which takes place on third-party sites. Further, only 32 percent of consumers know the exact vehicle they want when starting to shop online  but 55 percent test-drive only the vehicle they purchase, indicating that the decision was made online. This data presents an opportunity for dealers to increase their traffic, engagement and sales by influencing consumers' purchase decisions during the online research phase.

The study also highlights the growing importance of mobile in the car-buying process. 53 percent of consumers now use a mobile device to shop for a vehicle, compared to just 46 percent in 2016. In addition, 18 percent of consumers research vehicles exclusively on mobile, up from 14 percent last year. This continuing rise of mobile creates a chance for dealers to target and effectively influence shoppers at any time and from anywhere, through mobile-specific content.

"This study confirms our belief at Cox Automotive that reaching and engaging car buyers online is becoming more important every day," said Scott Hernalsteen, senior director of research and market intelligence at Cox Automotive Media Solutions. "That belief is also why we developed Power of Three, our AutoTrader, Kelley Blue Book and Dealer.com unified media solution, that helps dealers enhance their online presence and engage consumers at every touch point. We hope dealers will take advantage of this data to hone their online messaging and sell more effectively to today's shoppers."

For more information, read the full 2017 Car Buyer Journey Study in Cox Automotive's Dealer Learning Center.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. is transforming the way the world buys, sells and owns cars with industry-leading digital marketing, software, financial, wholesale and e-commerce solutions for consumers, dealers, manufacturers and the overall automotive ecosystem worldwide. Committed to open choice and dedicated to strong partnerships, the Cox Automotive family includes Autotrader, Dealer.com, Dealertrack, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim, NextGear Capital, vAuto, Xtime and a host of other brands. The global company has 33,000 team members in more than 200 locations and is partner to more than 40,000 auto dealers, as well as most major automobile manufacturers, while engaging U.S. consumer car buyers with the most recognized media brands in the industry. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., an Atlanta-based company with revenues of $18 billion and approximately 60,000 employees. Cox Enterprises' other major operating subsidiaries include Cox Communications and Cox Media Group. For more information about Cox Automotive, visit www.coxautoinc.com.

SOURCE Cox Automotive

Related Links

http://www.coxautoinc.com


MIAMI, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida-based restaurant group Surfside Pizza, LLC led by Chris Mellgren, will soon open the doors to Florida's first PizzaRev  a craft-your-own artisanal pizza concept that has earned a loyal following for its revolutionary approach to an American favorite. The new Coral Gables restaurant, scheduled to open in March at 130 Miracle Mile, will change how the community thinks about pizza with offerings like fresh-pressed, homemade dough, locally sourced ingredients, all-natural cheeses, and vegan and gluten-free options. It will be the first of 45 franchise locations this group has planned for the South Florida market. Each new restaurant will bring approximately 50 jobs into the area.

"We are thrilled to expand our restaurant portfolio with PizzaRev  a brand that is revolutionizing America's favorite food," said Mellgren. "We're eager to introduce this new dining experience to the Coral Gables community and know this new destination along Miracle Mile will become a popular place for families and friends to create new memories while enjoying pizza."

This marks the 23rd group of major restaurant brand operators PizzaRev has partnered with to expand the fast-casual pizza franchise across the country. Based in Miami, Florida, Surfside Coffee, LLC, also led by Mellgren, operates one of the largest Dunkin' Donuts franchise networks in the state. The group is backed by Fireman Capital Partners, LLC ("FCP"), a private equity firm, and led by Mellgren as its CEO. Mellgren brings a wealth of experience in the space having developed multiple, highly successful franchise networks across the U.S.

PizzaRev offers a fully customized dining experience that empowers guests to craft a personal pizza, including any of the 30+ toppings, for one price. The restaurant also serves custom entree salads, the famous OREO dessert pizza, and a selection of beer and wine.

Most unique to PizzaRev, and what enables the restaurant's unprecedented speed of service, is the custom-built, 900-degree stone-bed oven. Guests watch the dancing flames in the background as their pizzas are fired to a perfect, Roman-style crispiness in less than three minutes. Exposed ceilings, concrete floors and natural tones offer a minimalist yet inviting atmosphere, where the focus is on providing guests with an interactive pizza experience unlike anything they've ever had.

About PizzaRev

PizzaRev is a "build-your-own" fast-casual pizza concept that has reinvented the way America eats its favorite food. Guests are empowered to fully customize a personal-sized, 11" pizza for one price. Homemade dough options, flavorful sauces, all-natural cheeses, and more than 30+ artisanal toppings, everything is on display at PizzaRev and assembled right before your eyes. The pizzas are then fired in a 900-degree, stone-bed oven, which produces a crispy Roman-style pizza in just three minutes. Los Angeles-based PizzaRev was founded in 2012; the executive team possesses a combination of Fortune 500 operating experience and high-profile restaurant management. PizzaRev is currently franchising and currently operates 46 locations with more than 200 additional franchises under development across Mexico, Washington, D.C., and 17 states: AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, MA, MN, NE, NJ, ND, NV, NY, OH, SD, TN, TX and UT. Visit www.PizzaRev.com for the latest company news and location information. You can also find PizzaRev on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

Media Contact:

Rachel Tabacnic

Fish Consulting

954-893-9150

[email protected]

SOURCE PizzaRev

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http://www.PizzaRev.com


ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The global medical computed tomography (CT) systems market is valued at $4.9 billion for 2016, according to Kalorama Information. CT utilizes a number of x-ray images taken from different angles to produce crosssectional tomographic images, or slices of specific areas of area of the body. They have become essential for many medical procedures. The device and diagnostic market research firm says that growth should continue about twice as fast as other medical devices, partially due to product improvements. The growing number of clinical applications for CT, coupled with an aging population with significant diagnostic needs, along with a growing incidence of chronic disease, is also propelling the market for the modality. The healthcare market research firm's report, Computed Tomography Markets, focuses on the worldwide market, providing market size and forecasts.

Computed Tomography (CT) Markets can be found at Kalorama Information: http://www.kaloramainformation.com/Computed-Tomography-CT-10559414/.

Kalorama noted the following trends in the CT Market:

320s Proving Out: The emphasis on cutting healthcare and hospital costs is never ending. When it comes to CT and slice capability, some wonder about the need for 256- or 320-slice CT systems for such clinical applications as cardiac imaging. Some believe that a 64-slice system is good enough to make a cardiac diagnosis without spending twice as much for the higher-slice systems. However, those who adopted 256- or 320-slice systems say the quality of the images are superior and lead to better diagnoses in CT angiography.

The emphasis on cutting healthcare and hospital costs is never ending. When it comes to CT and slice capability, some wonder about the need for 256- or 320-slice CT systems for such clinical applications as cardiac imaging. Some believe that a 64-slice system is good enough to make a cardiac diagnosis without spending twice as much for the higher-slice systems. However, those who adopted 256- or 320-slice systems say the quality of the images are superior and lead to better diagnoses in CT angiography. Computer Software Aids in Reducing Dose: CT exams can add to a patient's lifetime exposure to ionizing radiation, and so dosing is an issue for the increased use for these systems. However, they can also be more beneficial in cases where magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound might not be able to detect early-stage cancers. To best realize the benefits, software is to the rescue. CT systems currently feature different technologies, such as iterative reconstruction software, intraoperativity, and dose-tracking software in order to reduce the amount of emitted radiation and the number of unnecessary scans. In addition, recent studies on the use of CT on select patient populations and the modality's benefits in detecting certain cancers are showing that the risks of CT imaging can be both good and bad.

CT exams can add to a patient's lifetime exposure to ionizing radiation, and so dosing is an issue for the increased use for these systems. However, they can also be more beneficial in cases where magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound might not be able to detect early-stage cancers. To best realize the benefits, software is to the rescue. CT systems currently feature different technologies, such as iterative reconstruction software, intraoperativity, and dose-tracking software in order to reduce the amount of emitted radiation and the number of unnecessary scans. In addition, recent studies on the use of CT on select patient populations and the modality's benefits in detecting certain cancers are showing that the risks of CT imaging can be both good and bad. Pediatrics a Growth Market: The clinical application of CT in pediatrics has increased sharply since 1996, especially for older children, but has started to decrease in the past few years. The limited evidence about the appropriateness of most CT procedures, particularly for children, makes it difficult to know how much further the rates should be reduced. Moreover, radiation doses from pediatric CT vary widely in clinical practice. This indicates that there may be an opportunity to reduce doses through standardized protocols and other processes. Implementing these readily available dose-reduction strategies, combined with the elimination of unnecessary imaging, could dramatically reduce future radiation-induced cancers caused by CT use in pediatrics.

The clinical application of CT in pediatrics has increased sharply since 1996, especially for older children, but has started to decrease in the past few years. The limited evidence about the appropriateness of most CT procedures, particularly for children, makes it difficult to know how much further the rates should be reduced. Moreover, radiation doses from pediatric CT vary widely in clinical practice. This indicates that there may be an opportunity to reduce doses through standardized protocols and other processes. Implementing these readily available dose-reduction strategies, combined with the elimination of unnecessary imaging, could dramatically reduce future radiation-induced cancers caused by CT use in pediatrics. Ultra-Fast Systems: The improvement in image quality and speed, and the robustness and utility of the CT technique have increased the clinical utilization of CT. Helical scanning and multidetector row CT have led to a tremendous improvement in the speed with which 3D volume can be imaged, and much better routine spatial resolution in the slice direction. Combined with other advances, this led a phenomenal increase in the imaging speed of CT since its introduction in the early 1970s. The growth in imaging speed is essentially exponential. The speed has increased by more than seven orders of magnitude during this period of time. This increase in speed along with improvements in low-contrast detectability and image quality has allowed the technique to be much more robust and this, in turn, has enabled CT to become main stream in medical care.

The improvement in image quality and speed, and the robustness and utility of the CT technique have increased the clinical utilization of CT. Helical scanning and multidetector row CT have led to a tremendous improvement in the speed with which 3D volume can be imaged, and much better routine spatial resolution in the slice direction. Combined with other advances, this led a phenomenal increase in the imaging speed of CT since its introduction in the early 1970s. The growth in imaging speed is essentially exponential. The speed has increased by more than seven orders of magnitude during this period of time. This increase in speed along with improvements in low-contrast detectability and image quality has allowed the technique to be much more robust and this, in turn, has enabled CT to become main stream in medical care. Better Resolution With Smart Photons: CT systems are limited by "crosstalk" based on their use of reflectors. Direct conversion photon counting detectors, each photon creates a number of charge carriers in the semiconductor in proportion to the energy deposited. Crosstalk between adjacent detector channels is prevented because the charge carriers produced in the semiconductor follow electric field lines. As a result, these detectors avoid the geometric inefficiencies in scintillator-photodiode detectors used in current commercial systems. They can readily achieve much better spatial resolution.

CT systems are limited by "crosstalk" based on their use of reflectors. Direct conversion photon counting detectors, each photon creates a number of charge carriers in the semiconductor in proportion to the energy deposited. Crosstalk between adjacent detector channels is prevented because the charge carriers produced in the semiconductor follow electric field lines. As a result, these detectors avoid the geometric inefficiencies in scintillator-photodiode detectors used in current commercial systems. They can readily achieve much better spatial resolution. Portable CT units: It is likely that portable CT will become a standard of care in the next decade. Portables will continue to appear as the importance of rapid diagnosis and treatment plays into improving patients' health outcomes and cutting health care costs. Specifically, portable head CT imaging is becoming important in facilitating the diagnosis and treatment of patients with cranial pathology. In general, bringing the modality to the patient can increase the speed and safety of imaging, which is critical, particularly for many neurologic emergencies.

Computed Tomography Markets includes the following market information: CT scanner market by slice, 2014 and 2016; world market for medical CT systems, 2016-2021; key players' percentage share  world market for medical CT systems, 2016; US, European, Chinese, Brazilian, Asia Pacific (APAC), and rest of world markets for medical CT systems, 2016-2021; future CT geographic sales growth trends; ; and CT testing procedures (scans), 2016 and 2021 (US, world, total). The report also covers significant trends and recent market developments. Market competitors profiled in the report include GE Healthcare, Hitachi, Philips, and Siemens.

Please link any media or news references to our reports or data to http://www.kaloramainformation.com/.

About Kalorama Information

Kalorama Information, a division of MarketResearch.com, supplies the latest in independent medical market research in diagnostics, biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and healthcare; as well as a full range of custom research services. Reports can be purchased through Kalorama's website and are also available on www.marketresearch.com and www.profound.com.

We routinely assist the media with healthcare topics. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and our blog on our company website.

Press Contact:

Bruce Carlson

212 807 2262

[email protected]

SOURCE Kalorama Information

Related Links

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ATLANTA, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Yippy, Inc. (OTCMKTS:YIPI) (www.yippyinc.com) ("Yippy" or the "Company"), a technology company known for its search, eDiscovery tools and data compression technologies, announced today that the Company's Board of Directors has appointed Mr. John P. Macartney, age 52, as its President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Macartney will continue to serve as a member the Company's Board of Directors and Mike Pointer, who previously served in the capacity of Chief Operations Officer, will now serve as the Company's Chief Scientist, and will be responsible for overseeing all prototyping and software development for the Company.

Mr. Macartney is a respected technology executive with over 30 years of industry experience. He previously served as the Chief Scientist for the web research business unit of Cengage Learning, a leading global provider of educational content, technology and services for higher education, K-12, professional and library markets worldwide. Prior to Cengage, Mr. Macartney held various positions including Director of Technology, Chief Architect and Chief Scientist at Highbeam Research, Inc., and was responsible for various key design components of the technology platform which lead to the sale of Highbeam Research to Cengage Learning in 2008. Between 1985 and 1999, Mr. Macartney held senior engineering positions for IBM/Lotus and Unisys, were he designed e-mail integration applications and complex distribution systems.

"For nearly six years now I have been a part of the Yippy family, first as a consultant and later as a member of the Board of Directors. Over that time there have been countless nights and weekends helping our great Company expand its software and technology assets. I stated in 2014, when joining the Board, that this team has great depth and vision for the future. The outlook is very bright for Yippy, and I look forward to helping lead us into many new exciting opportunities," stated Mr. Macartney.

He added, "Mike Pointer, in his new role as Yippy's Chief Scientist, will be leading a team of very accomplished data scientists and development personnel. Mike and I have known each other for several years, and we have tremendous respect for each other's respective abilities. We will now collaborate on all future projects for Yippy to help advance our lead in search and compression technology."

"There are many reasons our Yippy Search Appliance (YSA) and Cloud (YSC) are doing well in the current marketplace, but chief among them is our team's hard work, dedication and attention to detail," stated Richard Granville, Chief Executive Officer, Yippy, Inc. He continued, "I believe that together John and Mike are going to make the Company very successful in our quest to be the best alternative for the Google Search Appliance (GSA) as customers seek a replacement. We are very blessed to have John on our executive team and Board, and I believe our customers and shareholders are going to benefit greatly from his direction and experience."

About Yippy, Inc.

Based in Fort Myers, Florida, Yippy, Inc. is a technology company that specializes in the development of search-based applications, data normalization and aggregation through enterprise application (app) service environments (EASE) for consumer and enterprise markets. Yippy's proprietary web-based product suites are deployed over cloud architecture and provide secure, redundant and maintained data services for businesses and education markets. The Company also provides the most advanced alternative for those seeking to replace the Google Search Appliance (GSA). The Company also operates several online internet properties and educational reference portals. Investors can find current financial disclosure for the Company at http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/YIPI/filings.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information contained herein includes forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Additional information on risks and other factors that may affect the business and financial results of Yippy, Inc. can be found in the filings of Yippy, Inc. on OTC Markets (www.otcmarkets.com).

SOURCE Yippy, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.yippyinc.com


Strengthening the core business of AL-KO Vehicle Technology



KOTZ, Germany and WIEHL, Germany and PADERBORN, Germany, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DexKo Global, a global leader in highly engineered running gear technology and chassis assemblies and related components, is planning to expand the operations of AL-KO Vehicle Technology through the acquisition of BPW Fahrzeugtechnik, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BPW Bergische Achsen KG and based in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia.

BPW Fahrzeugtechnik's focus lies particularly on the development and manufacturing of trailer running gear in the low axle load range. The company is an established manufacturer that provides high-quality and reliable products. Approx. 200 employees at the Paderborn location make sure of this.

Fred Bentley, CEO at DexKo Global: "We look forward to being able to access the proven expertise of BPW Fahrzeugtechnik. True to our corporate theme "together is better", we will be utilizing the available synergies to continue the dynamic, further development of our companies."

Harald Hiller, President and CEO of AL-KO Vehicle Technology elaborates: "The combination of AL-KO Vehicle Technology and BPW Fahrzeugtechnik will strengthen the portfolio of our core business, provide us access to proven know-how and guarantee our customers top products of the highest quality."

Markus Schell, General Partner of BPW Bergische Achsen KG: "All parties will benefit from this agreement. Within the BPW Group, we will be able to now focus on our core business, the development of system solutions and services for goods transport and logistics. The staff of BPW Fahrzeugtechnik, along with AL-KO Vehicle Technology, will continue to be part of a globally active, long-established company with a long-term strategic focus."

Both parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction price. The acquisition is subject to the approval of the German Antitrust Authority.

ALOIS KOBER GMBH

Founded in 1931, AL-KO Vehicle Technology is now a global technology company with sites in Europe, South America, Asia and Australia. A supplier of high quality chassis components for trailers, leisure vehicles and light commercial vehicles, AL-KO is synonymous with ergonomic and functional excellence, superb comfort as well as innovations to enhance road safety. The company specialises in sophisticated innovation processes and has received many awards for this.

AL-KO Vehicle Technology and Dexter Axle have joined forces as DexKo Global Inc. (USA), one of the world's leading manufacturers of high-quality running gear technology, chassis assemblies and accessories. DexKo Global Inc. has a turnover of over US$ 1 billion.

About BPW Bergische Achsen KG

BPW Bergische Achsen KG is the parent company of the BPW Group. With more than 1,600 employees, the family-run company has been developing and producing complete running gear systems for truck trailers and semi-trailers at its headquarters in Wiehl since 1898. BPW's technologies include axle systems, brake technology, suspension and bearings. BPW's trailer axles and running gear systems are in use in millions of vehicles around the world. An extensive range of services also provides vehicle manufacturers and vehicle operators with the opportunity to increase economic efficiency in their production and transport processes. The BPW Group also includes Hestal (lock systems and cab technology), Ermax (lighting systems), HBN-Teknik (plastics technologies) and idem telematics (user-friendly telematics applications for trucks and trailers).

www.bpw.de

www.wethinktransport.de

About BPW Fahrzeugtechnik

BPW Fahrzeugtechnik based in Paderborn is an established manufacturer of comprehensive chassis technology, especially for trailers, in the private and commercial sector. The company employs approx. 200 people.

www.bpw-fahrzeugtechnik.de

Please send inquiries to: ALOIS KOBER GMBH Thomas Lutzel Press agency: Michael Schneider

Phone: +49 8221 97-8239

kiecom GmbH Ichenhauser Str.14 Fax: +49 8221 97-9214

Fon: +49 89 2323-620 89359 Kotz Mobile: +49 170 9252099

[email protected]

[email protected]



AL-KO on the internet: www.al-ko.com





SOURCE DexKo Global Inc.

Related Links

http://www.dexteraxle.com


RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- From professional musical instruction to creative filmmaking, this year's Dominion ArtStars award-winners are sure to contribute to the next generation of successful students as well as artists. Five winning nonprofit organizations from different regions of Virginia have been chosen to receive a Shining Star ArtStars Award of $10,000 each in support of their dedication to arts education.

"ArtStars is about recognizing arts and cultural organizations that are making communities and schools more vibrant through theater, art, music, and other artistic forms," said Hunter A. Applewhite, president of the Dominion Foundation, the charitable arm of Dominion Resources. "Dominion is proud to support these five winners as they continue their efforts to enrich students' education through the arts."

Dominion ArtStars Awards recognize arts organizations in Virginia that best demonstrate the ability to advance the synergy between arts and education for the benefit of students and their communities.

The following ArtStars winners and their outstanding programs will be recognized today at the Virginia Commission for the Arts' Art Works Conference in Richmond:

Light House Studio, a Charlottesville -based studio that helps students develop their creativity and vision through filmmaking. The award will support workshops that teach technical film skills to underserved students across the Shenandoah region.

-based studio that helps students develop their creativity and vision through filmmaking. The award will support workshops that teach technical film skills to underserved students across the region. The HARPS Foundation of Richmond , an organization that combines professional harp instruction with community outreach and education, for Sound Experiences, a program brings musical education to disadvantaged students across central Virginia .

, an organization that combines professional harp instruction with community outreach and education, for a program brings musical education to disadvantaged students across central . The McLean Project for the Arts in Fairfax County for its ArtReach program. The program offers underserved students a field trip to experience contemporary art exhibits and hands-on art projects exploring STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) topics.

for its program. The program offers underserved students a field trip to experience contemporary art exhibits and hands-on art projects exploring STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) topics. The Pro-Art Association, which brings professional performance artists and art educators to geographically isolated communities in southwestern Virginia , for its WiseJAMS program. The program provides instrumental instruction and promotes the area's cultural heritage to 3 rd -8 th grade students.

, for its program. The program provides instrumental instruction and promotes the area's cultural heritage to 3 -8 grade students. The Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra, for its Side-by-Side Concerts with Williamsburg Youth Orchestras. The program gives young musicians the opportunity to learn from and perform alongside professional musicians.

Dominion (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy. The Dominion Foundation is dedicated to improving the physical, social and economic well-being of the communities served by Dominion companies. The Foundation supports nonprofit causes that meet basic human needs, protect the environment, promote education and encourage community vitality. For more information, visit www.dom.com.

SOURCE Dominion Resources

Related Links

http://www.dom.com


LONDON, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- After reviewing more than 1,000 applications from EdTech startups in 70 countries, the Global EdTech Startup Awards were hosted by Israel-based MindCET January 24th on the eve of BETT. Fifteen finalists presented their products and vision to a standing room only crowd and a panel of distinguished judges.

"We had finalists from the U.S., U.K., India, Israel, France, and Columbia," said Avi Warshavsky, MindCET CEO. "EdTech startups from 70 countries competed for the prestigious Global EdTech Startup Awards, illustrating the global reach that education technology has. In the end, 15 finalists were chosen, with Penpal Schools, Primo Toys, and Edovo winning the competition."

Chicago-based Edovo has a unique mission: to provide meaningful access to education and self-improvement tools that can unlock the potential of every person affected by incarceration. The company provides education programs for prisons, bringing EdTech advances to a population sorely underserved.

"Successful prison Education is proven to reduce recidivism rates by 43 percent, and that translates into real savings for the taxpayer," explained Edovo CEO Brian Hill. "Today's correctional facilities struggle to "correct anything" because of financial and operational challenges inherent to the system. The Edovo platform efficiently and cost effectively combats that through the use of secure tablet technology to help incarcerated people take the steps to make positive change and reenter society. Tablet users may browse topics related to cognitive behavioral therapy, vocational training, academics, and more."

Edovo's impact is impressive. In 2015 alone they supported 5,600 incarcerated users who completed 162,000 lessons and collectively logged 59,000 hours of coursework.

As the winner of the first place prize, Edovo will receive $10,000. Edovo, as well as runners-up Primo Toys and Penpal Schools will receive access to EdTech incubators and accelerators in Tel Aviv, New York, London, Barcelona and Bogota  including office space and facilities, networking, mentoring and guidance.

About Global EdTech Startup Awards

The Global EdTech Startups Awards is the largest EdTech startup competition in the world. It is an initiative led by a group of leading education innovation organizations from across the world, including the Center for Educational Technology, Digital Promise, Technologico de Monterrey, LearnLaunch, and others. The Awards will identify, showcase and recognize the world's most promising EdTech startups. With partners in a dozen countries, the GESAwards provide an unmatched showcase for the most innovative EdTech companies from across the world.

SOURCE EdTech

Related Links

http://www.edtech180.com


LONDON, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dell EMC, the infrastructure solutions business of Dell Technologies, announces a new portfolio of education PCs and monitors designed to help teachers leverage the latest technology to improve learning opportunities for K-12 students worldwide. This newest line of products from Dell's client solutions portfolio helps educators improve teaching practices by introducing three new purpose-built laptops designed to withstand the rigors of the day-to-day classroom environment. New to the education portfolio will be a 360-degree convertible notebook built for K-12 students.

Dell created these new systems with flexibility and choice in the learning environment in mind. Each of the three new devices are fully compatible with either Windows or Chrome operating systems, designed to provide options to our customers as many schools have hybrid technology implementations and multiple technology needs. The new devices are also built for a full day of learning, delivering all-day battery life2. Each new product features 6th Gen and the latest 7th Gen Intel processors for maximum performance without sacrificing battery life.

With the rising importance of visualization and creative learning in a digital age, the power of having multiple displays present in learning environments is paramount to helping teachers and students alike. With this in mind, Dell is also introducing two interactive displays built for classroom presentations and collaboration.

"Learning model best practices have evolved and today's education environment needs to be personalized and student-led, giving students the freedom to produce their best work both inside and outside the classroom," said Jon Phillips, managing director of worldwide education strategy, Dell EMC. "With this release of our best-ever portfolio of education devices, we want to empower student-led learning by providing the tools both educators and students need to inquire, create and collaborate, wherever that may take place."

Latitude 11 Convertible (3189) with Dell Productivity Active Pen (PN557W) and Chromebook 11 Convertible (3189)

The two 11-inch 2-in-1 convertible laptops are new additions to Dell's education product lineup and adjust to the needs of the lesson of the day by offering 360-degree flexibility with clamshell, tablet and tent modes. Corning Concore Glass and Gorilla Glass NBT add durability and scratch resistance to the touch-enabled display. The Latitude 11 Convertible is available with 7th Gen Intel Celeron and Pentium processors, while the Chromebook 11 Convertible is available with 6th Gen Intel Celeron processors.

While in tablet mode, the Windows-version has a "world-facing" camera available for creating videos on the go and opening up creative possibilities. The Windows-version also offers the optional Dell Productivity Active Pen so students can improve their understanding of conceptual applications by writing notes and making diagrams with natural pen-to-paper writing motion.

Latitude 11 and Chromebook 11 (3180)

These reliable and affordable 11-inch notebooks have an all new design that reduces the overall size so they're easy to move from desk to table for group assignments. They feature an ergonomically designed keyboard for natural, comfortable student use and all-day battery life2. The fully sealed keyboards and click pads provide protection against spills and the "secure" keys are 50 percent more tamper resistant than in previous generation products.

They also feature a 180-degree lay-flat, durable hinge to support collaboration, allowing students and educators to gather around a single device and view material together. The Latitude 11 is available with 7th Gen Intel Celeron and Pentium processors, while the Chromebook 11 is available with 6th Gen Intel Celeron processors.

Latitude 13 and Chromebook 13 (3380)

These 13-inch notebooks deliver a larger screen, more powerful processing performance and faster memory for students to create and excel using the latest STEM applications. The laptop's design will support advanced curriculums, content delivery methods and learning use cases, providing a powerful platform for students and teachers to create and explore.

Even with increased performance and reduced size, these laptops also deliver all-day battery life2, an improvement over previous generation products. Optional E-Rate mobile broadband (Windows only) allows educational institutions to support connected learning at a discounted rate wherever Wi-Fi isn't available. The Latitude 13 is available with 6th and 7th Gen Intel Celeron, Pentium, and up to Core i5 processors, while the Chromebook 13 is available with 6th Gen Intel Celeron or Core i3 processors.

Built to Survive the Classroom Environment

All three mobile devices have been designed to MIL-STD 810G specs to survive the daily rigor of the classroom environment. Each model includes fully sealed keyboards and touchpads, providing protection against spills on a student laptop, and a metal bracket adds torque-resistance to the power port.

Dell delivers fully rugged products for the harshest environments. Drawing from Dell's experience building mobile devices for field services, law enforcement, first responders and the military, the new education laptops are designed to ensure students and teachers have the most durable products to rely on, every day.

Dell 55 and 86 4K Interactive Touch Monitors

The release of Dell's 55-inch and 86-inch 4K Interactive Touch Monitors (C5518QT and C8618QT) follows the introduction of Dell's 70-inch Interactive Touch Monitor (C7017T)  the company's first interactive touch, 70-inch, Full HD (1080p) monitor, developed in response to increasing demand for Interactive Flat Panel Displays (IFPDs) as an easier to manage alternative to Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs).

As the newest additions to Dell's expanding portfolio of large displays, the Dell 55 and 86 4K Interactive Touch Monitors offer a touch display for collaboration with up to 20 touch points for classrooms and meeting rooms. New InGlassTM touch technology allows for a natural writing experience with two included passive styluses as well as anti-glare and anti-smudge coating on the cover glass for easy viewing. Both monitors feature 4K UHD resolution and utilize monitor technology for clear text and images.

To further support the needs of teachers, these monitors are also easy to connect and manage, with multiple ports for plug and play connectivity and optional wireless connectivity via the Dell Wireless Module. Both the C5518QT and C8618QT have a unique design that can integrate a Dell OptiPlex Micro desktop within the back panel and without a separate power cord. As a Dell display built on proven technology, it also offers reliability and world-class support, backed by Dell's three-year Advanced Exchange Service and Limited Hardware Warranty3.

New Dell Mobile Computing Carts

The open architecture Dell Mobile Computing carts are versatile ways to store, charge, manage and secure up to 30 select Dell computing devices. With horizontal shelves and vertical dividers, the footprint of the carts is the same whether the doors are open or closed, and separate storage areas ease device access by multiple users at one time. Large 360-degree caster wheels and a comfortable handle allow for ease in transporting.

Pricing and Availability

The Latitude 11 Convertible and Chromebook 11 Convertible (3189) will be available beginning Feb. 7, 2017 , on Dell.com in the U.S. The Latitude 11 Convertible will be priced starting at $579 and the Chromebook 11 Convertible will start at $349 .

, on Dell.com in the U.S. The Latitude 11 Convertible will be priced starting at and the Chromebook 11 Convertible will start at . The Latitude 11 and Dell Chromebook 11 (3180) will be available beginning Feb. 7, 2017 , on Dell.com in the U.S. The Latitude 11 will be priced starting at $349 and the Chromebook 11 will start at $219 .

, on Dell.com in the U.S. The Latitude 11 will be priced starting at and the Chromebook 11 will start at . The Latitude 13 and Dell Chromebook 13 (3380) will be available beginning Feb. 7, 2017 , on Dell.com in the U.S. The Latitude 13 will be priced starting at $519 and the Chromebook 13 will start at $299 .

, on Dell.com in the U.S. The Latitude 13 will be priced starting at and the Chromebook 13 will start at . The Dell 55 4K Interactive Touch Monitor (C5518QT) and the Dell 86 4K Interactive Touch Monitor (C8618QT) will be available beginning March 30, 2017 , on Dell.com.

, on Dell.com. The Dell 55 4K Interactive Touch Monitor (C5518QT) will be priced below $5,000 USD and the Dell 86 4K Interactive Touch Monitor (C8618QT) will be priced below $11,000 USD .

Dell at #BETT2017

These announcements come as part of Dell EMC's participation as an exhibitor at the BETT Show, taking place Jan. 25-28. To learn more about how Dell EMC is transforming education, visit stand B330. Dell EMC specialists will be on hand to offer their technology expertise and will be hosting daily interactive presentations. There will also be immersive virtual reality experiences, hands-on opportunities with the latest technology, and a chance to win exclusive prizes through various competitions. Register for BETT here. Visit Dell.co.uk/education to learn more.

About Dell Inc.

Dell Inc., a part of Dell Technologies, provides customers of all sizes  including 98 percent of the Fortune 500  with a broad, innovative portfolio from edge to core to cloud. Dell Inc. comprises Dell client as well as Dell EMC infrastructure offerings that enable organizations to modernize, automate and transform their data center while providing today's workforce and consumers what they need to securely connect, produce, and collaborate from anywhere at any time.

1Source: IHS Global Inc. Desktop Monitor Market Tracker (2013 to 2015)

2Based on testing using the MobileMark 2014 battery life benchmark test. For more information about this benchmark test, visit www.bapco.com. Actual battery life may be significantly less than the test results and varies depending on product configuration and use, software, usage, operating conditions, power management settings and other factors. Maximum battery life will decrease with time.

3Limited Hardware Warranty available by writing Dell USA LP, Attn: Warranties, One Dell Way, Round Rock, TX 78682 or see dell.com/warranty

Dell, Dell EMC and Dell Inc. are trademarks of Dell Technologies in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

SOURCE Dell EMC
CHICAGO, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gladys C. Zolna has joined McDonald Hopkins LLC as a member in the law firm's Employee Benefits Practice Group. Based in Chicago, Zolna comes to McDonald Hopkins from Freeborn & Peters LLP, where she was a partner.

Employee benefits attorney Gladys C. Zolna joins the Chicago office of McDonald Hopkins

Zolna has 14 years of extensive experience with qualified retirement plans, health and welfare benefits, and executive compensation. She advises small and mid-sized businesses, as well as Fortune 500 companies in the design, implementation and administration of plans and individual arrangements, as well as drafting of plan documents and forms. Zolna's considerable knowledge encompasses a wide range of issues, such as retirement plan qualification rules; IRS and Department of Labor plan correction procedures; ERISA rules; prohibited transactions; multi-employer plans; cafeteria plan rules; and the Affordable Care Act.

At McDonald Hopkins, Zolna will be working with a national employee benefits team that focuses on the design, implementation and operation of sophisticated benefit programs, retirement programs, and health and welfare plans. "We are delighted that Gladys Zolna has chosen to practice law at McDonald Hopkins," said Richard N. Kessler, managing member of the firm's Chicago office. "Her in-depth understanding of complex employee benefits issues is an excellent fit for our clients."

Zolna earned a J.D. from University of Chicago Law School and a Bachelor of Science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a board member of Connections for Abused Women and Their Children. Zolna can be reached at 312.642.6733 or [email protected].

About McDonald Hopkins

Founded in 1930, McDonald Hopkins is a business advisory and advocacy law firm with locations in Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Miami, and West Palm Beach. The firm's Chicago office opened in 2007 and is located in the 300 North LaSalle building on the Chicago River. For more information about McDonald Hopkins, visit mcdonaldhopkins.com.

CONTACT:

Deborah W. Kelm

McDonald Hopkins LLC

600 Superior Avenue, East, Suite 2100

Cleveland, Ohio 44114

Phone: 216.348.5733

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE McDonald Hopkins

Related Links

http://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com


Among the central findings, over half of solar companies surveyed (53%) report that their largest obstacle in closing sales is the confusion created by their competitors and its impact on consumer confidence overall. Similarly, the survey reflects an increasing trend noted in last year's report: customer acquisition has become more challenging due to increased competition and consumers reviewing more quotes before buying. However, the study also reveals that installer confidence levels have increased nationwide in the last year.

"Looking back, 2016 was a year of ups and downs for solar," said Vikram Aggarwal, CEO and founder of EnergySage. "Despite the welcomed extension of the Investment Tax Credit and the reaching of one million residential U.S. solar installations, some of the industry's largest companies struggled to stay afloat and our political climate became more uncertain. Looking into 2017, we encourage all solar installers to collaborate more and seek out new ways to improve consumer confidence. As the expression goes, 'a rising tide lifts all boats'."

More insights from the EnergySage Solar Installer Survey include:

Competition heats up  Installers report that competition in the industry continues to build. Over 50% of installers said their customers see three or more quotes before making a decision, and also reported that customer acquisition became harder in 2016 as compared to 2015.

Installers report that competition in the industry continues to build. Over 50% of installers said their customers see three or more quotes before making a decision, and also reported that customer acquisition became harder in 2016 as compared to 2015. Installer confidence climbs  Despite headwinds, installer confidence was up in 2016. According to the nationwide average, more solar installers said that their confidence increased (47%) than decreased (29%), as compared to one year ago.

Despite headwinds, installer confidence was up in 2016. According to the nationwide average, more solar installers said that their confidence increased (47%) than decreased (29%), as compared to one year ago. Batteries charge ahead  Energy storage is the number one new offering planned for next year. While three out of five solar installers report offering battery installs today, another 16% plan to offer this in 2017. No other new product or service was nearly as popular.

Energy storage is the number one new offering planned for next year. While three out of five solar installers report offering battery installs today, another 16% plan to offer this in 2017. No other new product or service was nearly as popular. Ownership reigns  74% of installers surveyed said that they do not use leases or power purchase agreements (PPAs), which is up significantly from 50% in last year's report. Though ownership dominates, no available financing options scored well in installer satisfaction ratings.

"This is an important study for the industry and we are excited that EnergySage is asking the right questions" said Raghu Belur, Co-Founder and Vice President of Products and Strategic Initiatives at Enphase Energy. "Often, little information is available about these local, privately-held companies that are driving so much of the growth of residential solar. This report reveals what it's like to be a solar installer in the U.S. and what their needs are, which helps us to figure out the best ways to support them through our own unique products and services."

"There has never been a better time to work in the solar industry and that's reflected in the findings in this report," said Justin Baca, vice president of markets and research for the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). "As the solar industry continues to grow in this competitive marketplace, solar companies are looking for ways to fine-tune their businesses to offer customers the best value, while still improving their margins."

EnergySage fielded this survey between November 9th and December 31st, 2016. In addition to EnergySage, pv magazine, a leading solar publication, as well as several large manufacturers, distributors, and industry associations sent the survey to their own installer networks. Over 360 solar installers located across 42 states and the District of Columbia participated.

The latest report can be downloaded for free at: www.energysage.com/data/#2016-survey. All solar installers who download this survey will be invited to participate and have their voice heard in the 2017 edition. For questions and feedback, please contact [email protected].

ABOUT ENERGYSAGE, INC.

EnergySage is the leading online comparison-shopping marketplace for rooftop solar, community solar, and financing. Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, EnergySage is the trusted source of information for over 1 million consumers across 30+ states. In 2016, the company sent nearly $1 billion in solar installation requests to its network of more than 350 pre-screened solar installation companies, and served as a high-quality lead source for solar financing companies and powerful distribution channel for solar equipment manufacturers. EnergySage is unique in that it allows consumers to request and compare competing quotes online, unlike traditional lead-generation websites. For this reason, leading organizations like Kaiser Permanente, National Grid, Schneider Electric, and Staples refer their audiences to EnergySage to empower them as they consider solar. The EnergySage formula of unbiased information, transparency and choice helps consumers go solar with confidence  at a higher rate of adoption, and lower cost. For more information, please visit EnergySage and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

SOURCE EnergySage, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.energysage.com


[UPDATE BELOW]



The family of Ramarley Graham, the Bronx man who was shot and killed by an NYPD officer in his apartment in 2012, accused the NYPD of misleading the public on Tuesday, a day after the officer's disciplinary trial came to a close.

At a press conference in Midtown, Graham's mother, Constance Malcolm, played surveillance camera footage that was not shown at the trial, which she said should have been introduced as evidence. Malcolm and advocates who have been representing the family are arguing that crucial witnesses and information had also been excluded.

"The family of Ramarley Graham and the public was subjected to a web of lies by the NYPD," said Loyda Colon, who serves as co-director of the criminal justice advocacy group Justice Committee.

Graham's family has called for the firing of the officer, Richard Haste, as well as two other officers who were present at the scene of the shooting, and nine officers who later responded to the shooting. Sergeant Scott Morris and Officer John Mcloughlin are facing disciplinary charges related to the shooting, but their trials have not yet been scheduled.

"They all murdered my son," Malcolm said. "Richard Haste pulled the trigger, but they all finished it."

On the afternoon of February 2nd, 2012, Haste, who was surveilling a Bronx bodega for potential drug activity, observed Graham entering and exiting the store. Haste has claimed he saw what appeared to be a gun in Graham's waistband. Video footage shows Haste, Morris, and Mcloughlin entering the building after Graham. According to police testimony, the officers followed Graham to his apartment and then proceeded to bust down the door.

Graham was in the bathroom when Haste fatally shot him. Investigators did not recover a weapon from the scene, though a small amount of marijuana was found in the toilet. Graham's grandmother and six-year-old brother both witnessed the shooting.

Haste was originally indicted by a Bronx grand jury on two counts of manslaughter, but the case was dismissed in 2013 after a judge ruled prosecutors had erred in their instructions to the jury. A second grand jury declined to indict Haste and, last spring, federal prosecutors declined to pursue criminal charges, citing insufficient evidence.

In the current police trial, Haste was charged with using "poor tactical judgment" by breaking into the apartment and firing at Graham, and breaching protocol by failing to call for support or take cover. If convicted, he faces, at most, dismissal from the NYPD.

The central question in the trial was whether the officers were justified in kicking down the door to Graham's apartment and entering without a warrant. Haste's lawyers have said that Haste and the other officers' actions were justifiable because they believed Graham was armed and dangerous.

Haste's attorney, Stuart London, told Gothamist that it remains unclear whether Graham had been armed at the time that Haste saw him on the street. "I know they say he never had a gun, but I think that's not believable," London said.

But NYPD prosecutors argued at the trial that once Graham was inside his locked apartment, the officers should have retreated and called for back up.

Graham's family has claimed that Haste and the other officers on the scene ignored police protocol when they broke into the apartment. The family also says the officers sought to cover up their actions by not calling for an independent investigation of the crime scene.

Colon told reporters that the officers' behavior, as recorded by surveillance cameras in front of and behind the house, indicated that they did not fear for their lives. Colon noted that Haste brought his face up to the glass of the front door, indicating he was not worried about being shot through the door, and that Haste and Mcloughlin both turned their backs to the building while standing outside of it before entering. Colon also argued that key facts in the case, including that Grahamas seen in video footagewas not running from police when he entered his apartment building, were obscured during the trial.

"The reason they targeted Ramarley was because he was a young, black man walking with a purpose," Colon said in reference to the officers' decision to pursue Graham.



(Courtesy Graham family)

Malcolm's attorney, Royce Russell, called the officers' actions "the highest illustration of recklessness." He said he believes they should have faced a criminal trial. He also said the disciplinary trial, which did not include any civilian witnesses, "did not look at the totality of the circumstances."

London said in an interview with Gothamist that if any civilian witnesses, including Graham's grandmother, had "valuable material or relevant information," they would have been called to testify.

While Haste testified, according to the NY Times, that he was "not pleased with the result" of his encounter with Graham, he defended his actions. "I know that what I did was justified in that I protected my life and my team, based on the information we had at hand," he told the court.

Malcolm said she hopes the department will institute policies that promote accountability and transparency in cases of alleged police misconduct.

Rosemarie Maldonado, the deputy commissioner who presided over the trial, will make recommendations on departmental action on Hastes case to Commissioner James P. O'Neill. O'Neill has final say in the matter.

Meanwhile, Haste has been on modified duty since the shooting, and his salary, records show, has increased $30,000 since 2012 to $94,364 in 2016. In 2015, the city settled a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by Graham's family for $3.9 million.

The NYPD did not respond to Gothamists request for comment.

Update: It was originally unclear whether the NYPD would make public O'Neill's decision because of its newly broadened interpretation of the New York State Civil Rights Law, which protects NYPD officers' disciplinary records from public view. But on Wednesday, Deputy Commissioner Kevin Richardson said the NYPD plans to make the final outcome of Haste's trial public. Richardson said the NYPD is making an exception to the civil rights law because of the importance of Graham's case.


AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Epicor Software Corporation, a global provider of industry-specific enterprise software to promote business growth, today announced its Epicor Data Analytics (EDA) solution is now available with Epicor Prophet 21 delivering cloud-based business insights essential to wholesale distributors on their digital transformation journey.

"We are excited about the features available in the EDA for Prophet 21 solution. The ad hoc data mining capability, for instance, will allow us to gain a deeper understanding of our business and position us for growth." PJ Glauber, Chief Operating Officer, Glauber Equipment Corporation

According to Forrester Research, more than 70% of decision-makers report planned or current initiatives to encourage more data-driven decisions1, making unlocking the value of integrated business data critical to success in today's modern distribution marketplace. Competitive pressures have tightened business margins, and companies are looking for strong, modern data analytics solutions to drive transformational decision-making.

"Epicor Prophet 21 is a proven success for distributors of all sizes, supporting growth through rapid implementation and easy expansion regardless of supply chain size," said Doug Smith, director of product marketing, retail and distribution, Epicor. "Our newest cloud solution, Epicor Data Analytics, is a powerful, easy-to-learn tool that allows distributors to discover new business insights and increase productivity with Prophet 21 to help transform and grow their business."

Reaching New Levels of Business Understanding with Epicor Data Analytics

As competition increases and margins narrow, distributors need sharper tools and deeper understanding to support the business - tools must be intuitive and easy to use so business users can identify data that offers valuable insight. A business analytics solution such as Epicor Data Analytics can help meet these objectives. As a complete end-to-end solution that enables unprecedented business insight, Epicor Data Analytics helps companies grow by reducing cost, identifying new opportunities, supporting specific programs, and speeding decision-making.

Epicor Data Analytics is fully integrated with Prophet 21 and uses data to help distributors understand their business better, with function-specific content packs that provide a dashboard with deep integration into a specific set of Prophet 21 data--sales, purchasing, inventory, general ledger, accounts payable, and accounts receivable.

"We are excited about the features available in the EDA for Prophet 21 solution," said PJ Glauber, chief operating officer, Glauber Equipment Corporation. "The ad hoc data mining capability, for instance, will allow us to gain a deeper understanding of our business and position us for growth."

Epicor Data Analytics for Prophet 21 is now generally available.

About Epicor Prophet 21

Leveraging more than 40 years of distribution industry knowledge and expertise, Epicor Prophet 21 is an end-to-end distribution solution offering deep functionalityfrom open ecommerce platforms to mobile sales and field services, wireless sales counters and warehouses, advanced inventory management, and customer optimization tools. Visit the Epicor Prophet 21 solution hub to learn more.

About Epicor Software Corporation

Epicor Software Corporation drives business growth. We provide flexible, industry-specific software designed around the needs of our manufacturing, distribution, retail, and service industry customers. More than 40 years of experience with our customers' unique business processes and operational requirements are built into every solutionin the cloud or on premises. With this deep understanding of your industry, Epicor solutions manage complexity, increase efficiency, and free up resources so you can focus on growth. For more information, connect with Epicor or visit www.epicor.com.

Epicor, the Epicor logo and Prophet 21 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epicor Software Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. Other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners. The product and service offerings depicted in this document are produced by Epicor Software Corporation.

Contact: Katie Chubb

Public Relations Specialist

Epicor Software Corporation

+1 512 278 5365

[email protected]

1 Source: Forrester Research, Inc., "Insights Services Disrupt the Data and Analytics Market," by Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D. (February 8, 2016)

SOURCE Epicor Software Corporation

Related Links

http://www.epicor.com


IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Episerver, a global provider of a single platform to smartly manage digital content, commerce, and marketing in the cloud, today announced its ranking as a "Leader" in "The Forrester Wave: Web Content Management Systems, Q1 2017," released today by Forrester Research, Inc.

For its independent report, Forrester evaluated vendors in the web content management space on criteria including current offering, strategy and market presence, giving Episerver a score of 4 out of 5 for strategy.

"Episerver is solid across core web CMS extensibility and architecture, keeps pace with modern developer expectations, and is pushing ahead in practitioner features like testing and personalization," the report stated. "Episerver has emerged as a well-rounded, mid-sized enterprise solution, especially for those clients with a European focus or early adopters looking to boost their North American expansion."

Episerver is now supported by a network of more than 880 partners who empower more than 8,800 digital leaders in 30 countries, and influences some $18 billion in omnichannel revenues across the globe. The Episerver Digital Experience Cloud empowers digital marketers and content professionals to create, manage and personalize digital experiences for their visitors and customers.

"As we continue to scale our Digital Experience Cloud platform and double down on our partner strategy, we are realizing Episerver's future at the forefront of immersive and transformative digital experiences," said Mark Duffell, president and CEO of Episerver. "Our partnerships and investments, especially over the past year, have paved the way for our rise as a leader in the digital experience space and have helped us supercharge one of the most powerful and productive web content management (WCM) tools available on the market today."



According to Duffell, Episerver's ranking in the "The Forrester Wave: Web Content Management Systems, Q1 2017" reflects its growth, particularly around increased demand for its Microsoft Azure-based PaaS, and expanded product offerings in 2016. Last year, Episerver acquired two cloud companies -- Peerius and Optivo -- and debuted three new products to enhance its vision for autonomous personalization and omnichannel campaign management capabilities. The report notes, "Episerver's vision is heavily intertwined with Azure's cloud platform to support new capabilities such as machine learning."

"Episerver shares our commitment to cloud innovation and collaboration," said Julia White, corporate vice president, Azure and Security Marketing, for Microsoft Corporation. "Episerver's user-friendly content and commerce platform has proven to be a valuable addition to the Microsoft Azure Marketplace since joining last year."

To read the "The Forrester Wave: Web Content Management Systems, Q1 2017" report, download a complimentary copy from Episerver here.

About Episerver

Episerver connects digital commerce and digital marketing to help organizations create unique digital experiences for their customers, with measurable business results. The Episerver Digital Experience Cloud combines content, commerce, multi-channel marketing, and predictive analytics in a single platform to work full-circle for businesses online  from intelligent real-time personalization and lead-generation through to conversion and repeat business  with unprecedented ease-of-use. Sitting at the center of the digital experience ecosystem, Episerver empowers digital leaders to embrace disruptive, transformational strategies to deliver standout experiences for their customers  everywhere they engage. Founded in 1994, Episerver has offices in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, UAE, UK and the USA. For more information, visit www.Episerver.com.

Rachel Teitt

Sr. Manager, Analyst and Public Relations, Episerver

+1 614 817 1846

[email protected]

Jennifer Mulligan

Sr. Account Executive, Walker Sands

+1 312 648 6005

[email protected] http://www.episerver.com/

SOURCE Episerver

Related Links

http://www.episerver.com


MONTREAL, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - EquiSoft is pleased to announce the creation of Inovva, a wholly owned subsidiary offering innovative solutions that leverage digital technologies to drive growth for today's media, publishing and subscription-based companies.

In addition to serving EquiSoft's media and publishing client base, Inovva will seek out new markets by enhancing its product offering. The Montreal-based company will maintain EquiSoft's high standards of quality service as it positions itself for future growth in the softwarebased business solutions market.

Inovva boasts highly skilled experts

Inovva clients will benefit from the expertise of several high-profile professionals, including EquiSoft founder and CEO Luis Romero, and Brinda Luckoo, EquiSoft's former Executive VP for Media Services, now Inovva's President. Other executive team members include John Milne, Vice-president, Media Services, Martin Boucher, Director of Accounts and Operations, and David Ferland, Director of IT and Software Development.

"We have assembled an outstanding team of industry experts under the Inovva brand, says Equisoft CEO Luis Romero. This move is designed to strengthen our offering with new services and fully dedicated resources focused on improving operational efficiencies and growing revenue for our clientele, whether they use print, web or mobile formats."

New acquisition supports expanded offering and growth opportunities

The recent acquisition of Publish2Profit.com, based in Calgary, is part of Inovva's strategy to expand its product line, pursue new business opportunities and gain market share in North America. Publish2Profit products are complementary to Inovva's offering, and include P2P, featuring modules to manage advertising sales and track newsstand sales.

P2P will be offered alongside Inovva flagship products PublisherElements, an advanced audience-management suite for media and publishing professionals, and RoyaltyElements, a sophisticated tool for managing rights and royalties in the music, publishing and audiovisual industries.

"Every element of our product line-up has great brand value in the marketplace, says Inovva President Brinda Luckoo. That combined with our in-depth knowledge of the publishing and rights industries, and our extensive experience with digital technology will provide clients with key benefits, including comprehensive solutions that meet their specific needs."

Inovva poised to help clients meet tomorrow's challenges

With new technologies creating new rules, companies face increasingly complex challenges to drive engagement across multiple channels. Inovva is well positioned to help media, publishing and subscription-based organizations seize opportunities and develop new revenue streams.

"Our new offering enables us to add value at different points in the audience engagement process, says Luckoo. Also, it allows us to remain competitive, as we continue to invest in software technology to secure our growth and better meet the future needs of our clientele. We have never been in a better position to help clients rethink their business and prosper."

Inovva will ensure seamless service continuity to Publish2Profit clients under the Inovva banner. In addition, Inovva will continue to provide specialized services and expertise to EquiSoft's current media and publishing clients, which include Re:Sound, MROC, Ricardo MEDIA, Annex Business Media, as well as some 150 other magazines in North America.

About EquiSoft

Founded in 1994, EquiSoft is a global provider of digital business solutions for the insurance and wealth management industries. In 2017, the company created Inovva to tap new markets and further develop its Media & Publishing division. EquiSoft has a growing team of some 250 professionals operating in Canada, the United States, Latin America, South Africa and India.

For more information about Inovva, please visit www.inovva.com.

SOURCE EquiSoft

Related Links

http://www.equisoft.com/


WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Farmers Insurance, an organization founded by two World War I veterans in 1928, today announced the collection of more than 70,000 pieces of business attire as part of its national Suits for Soldiers campaign to help active duty military personnel who have served our country while they transition to the civilian workforce.

As part of the 8th annual Farmers Insurance Open, a group of Farmers executives and employees were joined by local San Diego veterans, and PGA TOUR players Rickie Fowler, Brandt Snedeker and Ben Crane, to announce the campaign's milestone. The support of the players, their apparel partners and PGA TOUR employees contributed to Farmers Insurance reaching this important goal.

"We have a proud tradition of working with veterans to assist with their transition from active duty responsibilities to the civilian workforce," said Jeff Dailey, CEO of Farmers Insurance. "As a recognized military-friendly employer, we understand the value of the training, skills and work-ethic of veterans and how that benefits business."

More than one million military personnel will make the transition from the military in the next couple of years, according to the Department of Defense office of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, and many of these veterans may not own appropriate business attire to go to networking events, interviews or even to work. Suits for Soldiers started with a goal of collecting 50,000 items that can help create an easier transition for veterans into the civilian workforce. The total now exceeds 70,000 pieces of attire.

"It's an honor to be able to help support our nation's veterans and give back with Farmers in any way that I can," said Farmers Insurance Brand Ambassador, Rickie Fowler.

Named a top 150 military employer and one of the top 50 military spouse employers by MilitaryFriendly.com, Farmers is collaborating with Team Rubicon, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to uniting teams of veterans and first responders, to aid in already robust catastrophe response efforts. In 2014, Farmers signed a statement of support with the Department of Defense office of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), committing to seek ways to increase opportunities for guardsmen, reservists and veterans. Farmers also has an active veteran employee resource group, which helps provide important networking and career development opportunities for its employees.

Visit www.agents.farmers.com to find your nearest agent. We also encourage veterans to visit www.farmers.com/careers/veterans-resources/ for additional resources to aid in the transition to the civilian workforce.

About Farmers Insurance

"Farmers Insurance" and "Farmers" are tradenames for a group of affiliated insurers providing insurance for automobiles, homes and small businesses and a wide range of other insurance and financial services and products. Farmers Insurance is proud to serve more than 10 million households with over 19 million individual policies, across all 50 states, through the efforts of more than 48,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 21,000 employees. Farmers Insurance Exchange, the largest of the three primary insurance insurers that make up Farmers Insurance, is recognized as one of the largest U.S. companies on the 2016 Fortune 500 list. For more information about Farmers Insurance, visit Farmers.com, Twitter and Instagram, @WeAreFarmers, or Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance.

Media Relations

Phone: 818-965-0007

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Farmers Insurance

Related Links

http://www.farmersinsurance.com


WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Latham & Watkins LLP1 is pleased to announce that five accomplished lawyers will join the firm in the coming weeks after recently completing public service in key senior positions at three US federal Departments and Agencies.

Bill Voge, Chair and Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins, said: "We're delighted to welcome a dynamic group of lawyers to the firm who have served the public with distinction in high-ranking positions, each of whom brings abundant experience in critically important energy and environmental matters."

The lawyers and their most recent titles are:

From the US Department of the Interior: Janice Schneider , Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management , who will rejoin the firm as a partner in the Environment, Land & Resources Department in Washington, D.C. Schneider previously served as Chair of the Department in the firm's Washington, D.C. office and as Global Co-Chair of the firm's Project Siting & Approvals Practice Group. Schneider first joined Latham in 2001 and became a partner in 2005. She left the firm in 2014 on her confirmation by the US Senate as Assistant Secretary, where she oversaw four Interior Department agencies  the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement  with a combined budget of $1.5 billion . Tommy Beaudreau , Chief of Staff, joined Latham as a partner in the firm's Environment, Land & Resources Department on Jan. 23 in Washington, D.C. As Chief of Staff to Secretary Jewell, Beaudreau oversaw the Department's policy and operations across its entire 70,000-employee enterprise. Since joining the Department of the Interior in 2010, Beaudreau also served in other senior leadership positions, including as the first Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (2011-2014) and as Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management (2013-2014). He was previously in private practice as a partner in an international law firm. Nicole "Nikki" Buffa, Deputy Chief of Staff, who will rejoin the firm as counsel in the Environment, Land & Resources Department. As the Deputy Chief of Staff, she managed a diverse set of missions within the Department of the Interior and served as point person in the Secretary's office on issues ranging from conservation to Indian education. Buffa was an associate at the firm (2006-2008) prior to joining the White House Council on Environmental Quality at the start of the Obama administration (2009-2011). She also served as the Deputy Director of Cabinet Affairs at the White House (2011-2013), working closely with senior White House staff and agency leadership to advance the policy priorities at the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Energy, and Transportation. She joined the Department of the Interior in May 2013 .

From the US Department of Energy: Steven Croley , General Counsel, who will join as a partner in the firm's Litigation & Trial Department and the Environment, Land & Resources Department in the firm's Chicago and Washington, D.C. offices. He actively managed the Department of Energy's major litigation, regulatory, and energy policy matters. Croley previously served in the Office of White House Counsel (2011-2014), as Senior Counsel to the President and then as Deputy White House Counsel, and on the White House Domestic Policy Council (2010-2011). He previously served as a Special Assistant US Attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan (2006-10), where he represented the federal government in affirmative and defensive civil litigation in the district and appellate courts. He has also served as a tenured professor of administrative law and civil procedure at the University of Michigan Law School.

From the US Environmental Protection Agency: Joel Beauvais , Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Water , who will rejoin the firm as a partner in the Environment, Land & Resources Department in Washington, D.C. Beauvais has held positions in the EPA's Office of Policy (2013-2015) and Office of Air and Radiation (2012-2013), and as Special Counsel to the Office of the EPA Administrator (2011-2012). He previously worked on Capitol Hill as Counsel to the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce and to the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. He first joined the firm as an associate (2005-2007) after completing a clerkship with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor .



Jim Arnone, Global Chair of the firm's Environment, Land & Resources Department, said: "Latham's environmental practice has long been at the top of the market. This outstanding group of seasoned lawyers will further enhance our ability to advise on key policy and market developments. We're looking forward to putting this exceptional team to work helping our clients comply with complex federal regulations, navigate agency rulemakings, win approvals for energy and infrastructure projects, and deal with environmental enforcement and litigation."

Mary Rose Alexander, Global Vice Chair of both the firm's Litigation & Trial and Environment, Land & Resources Departments, added: "Latham has a phenomenal track record in environmental disputes, from complex trials and settlements to strategic and preventative counseling. The skills and experience of these new and returning lawyers will strengthen our entire practice and bolster our team approach to advising clients on such vital matters."

Michael Egge, Managing Partner of Latham's Washington, D.C. office, said: "This group is a strategic complement to the broad government agency coverage Latham offers in Washington. Many of our 300 plus lawyers have previously served in public sector leadership positions and are distinguished by their keen knowledge of the inner workings of government. Our DC team and these new colleagues know the agencies and issues well, and they offer our clients astute insights into policy, regulatory and enforcement activities."

Schneider stated: "I've seen in both government and in private practice that the best results are achieved when thoughtful people forge effective strategic approaches and solutions together. That's a hallmark of Latham's environmental practice. I'm very excited about rejoining the firm and working with clients who share our commitment to excellence."

Beaudreau commented: "I'm thrilled to return to private practice at a firm that has earned a stellar reputation for its market-leading natural resources and environmental practice. When major regulatory or litigation issues arise for clients -- including in crisis situations  I look forward to strengthening the firm's existing capabilities by adding my experience developing strategic responses to challenging and multi-faceted issues. This is one of Latham's particular strengths, and I am excited to add my experience to the team."

Buffa said: "Working with the incredible people at the Department of the Interior and at the White House over the last eight years was an honor and a privilege. I'm excited to return to Latham to rejoin my former colleagues, and particularly pleased to do so with several other wonderful colleagues from the Obama Administration. I look forward to working with them and our clients, putting to use the experiences I've gained to address our clients' important legal and business concerns."

Croley added: "We'll continue to see complex legal issues play out in the courts and at government agencies over the nation's energy and environmental policies and priorities. I'm looking forward to working closely with clients and my new colleagues at Latham to deal effectively with such important and intricate matters."

Beauvais said: "I've focused throughout my career on the most important legal and policy issues facing the country in the areas of energy, climate, air quality and water resources. Leading companies are facing big challenges and opportunities in these areas, building and managing critical infrastructure while working to balance the imperatives of environmental protection and economic growth. I'm thrilled to join a team at Latham that understands these challenges well and works collaboratively to advise clients on innovative solutions."

Photos

A selection of photos are available here under "Download Photos"

About Latham & Watkins

Latham & Watkins is a global law firm with approximately 2,200 lawyers in its offices located in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States, including: Barcelona, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Century City, Chicago, Dubai, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Riyadh, Rome, San Diego, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. For more information on Latham & Watkins, please visit the website at www.lw.com.

Notes to Editors

1 Latham & Watkins operates as a limited liability partnership worldwide with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the practice in the United Kingdom, France and Italy and affiliated partnerships conducting the practice in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. Latham & Watkins operates in Seoul as a Foreign Legal Consultant Office. Latham & Watkins practices in Saudi Arabia in association with the Law Office of Salman M. Al-Sudairi.

Contacts

Bill Voge, Chair and Managing Partner, +1.212.906.1352

Jim Arnone, Global Chair of the Environment, Land & Resources Department, +1.213.891.8204

Mary Rose Alexander, Global Vice Chair of the Litigation & Trial and Environment, Land & Resources Departments, +1.312.876.7672

Michael Egge, Office Managing Partner, Washington, D.C. +1.202.637.2285

SOURCE Latham & Watkins

Related Links

http://www.lw.com


A creative leader at Disney Consumer Products for more than 5 years, Porter was most recently in the R&D Division of DCP where she was creative lead on the product innovation team. Her main focus was on concepts and prototyping for digital/physical, licensed products, and media, as well as overall creative and technology exploration.

While at Disney, Porter has three U.S. patents pending for unique digital experiences that will soon be released. Porter also received numerous awards from Disney including a nominee for a "Best of Disney" Innovation Award and three Disney Inventors Awards. Prior to Disney, Porter held a senior UI Design role at Mad Mobile, winning design awards for mobile applications including a national MOBI Award.

As VP of Digital Innovation and User Experience at Mad Mobile, Porter will lead creative execution as well as product innovation for the award-winning Concierge solution. She will be bringing these innovative experiences to top retailers including Talbots, Book-A-Million, and Ashley Furniture. The Concierge solution empowers store associates and customers with mobile access to retail system data, which can be displayed on mobile devices or in-store digital screens such as smart mirrors, to enhance the shopping experience and convert more sales.

"As we enter this next phase of growth for Mad Mobile, Kim is a critical addition to the Mad Mobile leadership team," said Bruce Bennett, CEO. "She brings a tremendous passion for exceptional end-user experiences that are memorable and unique, perfect for enhancing in-store experiences for the retail industry. This passion, paired with her experience and vision, will help us gain even more traction among the world's largest retailers."

"I joined Mad Mobile because of the company's passion for technology innovation and consumer-first experiences", Porter said. "The retail landscape has changed and Mad Mobile is at the forefront of the disruption. I am beyond excited to return to Tampa Bay to join the team and get to work re-inventing retail in-store."

ABOUT MAD MOBILE

Mad Mobile is transforming retail with mobile solutions that empower store associates to engage with customers, enhance the in-store shopping experience, and sell more. Concierge is a mobile retail platform that connects store associates with valuable customer and product information from enterprise systems (ECOM, ERP, CRM, DOM, POS) to unleash powerful functionality for clienteling, assisted selling, and mPOS. Top clients include Talbots, Books-A-Million, Ashley Furniture, Aeropostale, Sysco, AutoNation, and Payless Shoesource. Offices in Tampa (HQ), NYC, Milan, Buenos Aires, and London.

SOURCE Mad Mobile, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.madmobile.com


PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fred Meyer Stores has recalled Bakery Fresh Goodness Carrot Cupcakes sold in its retail stores because the product may contain milk and soy not listed on the label.

People who are allergic to milk or soy could have a severe reaction if they consume this product. For consumers who are not allergic to those four allergens, there is no safety issue with the product.

Fred Meyer stores located in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington are included.

Fred Meyer has removed this item from its store bakery departments and initiated its customer recall notification system that alerts customers who may have purchased recalled Class 1 products through register receipt tape messages and phone calls.

Fred Meyer is recalling the following items:

Product UPC Codes Size Bakery Fresh Goodness

Carrot Cupcakes 41573-27731 Sell By 1/30/17 OR BEFORE 6 ct. Bakery Fresh Goodness

Carrot Cupcakes 41573-27732 Sell By 1/30/17 OR BEFORE 12 ct. Bakery Fresh Goodness

Carrot Cupcakes 41573-27733 Sell By 1/30/17 OR BEFORE 25 ct.

Customers allergic to milk or soy who have purchased the above product should not consume it and should return them to a store for a full refund or replacement.

Customers who have questions may contact Kroger at 1-800-KROGERS.

Every day, the Kroger Family of Companies makes a difference in the lives of eight and a half million customers and 431,000 associates who shop or serve in 2,778 retail food stores under a variety of local banner names in 35 states and the District of Columbia. Kroger and its subsidiaries operate an expanding ClickList offering  a personalized, order online, pick up at the store service  in addition to 2,230 pharmacies, 785 convenience stores, 323 fine jewelry stores, 1,400 supermarket fuel centers and 38 food production plants in the United States. Kroger is recognized as one of America's most generous companies for its support of more than 100 Feeding America food bank partners, breast cancer research and awareness, the military and their families, and more than 145,000 community organizations including schools. A leader in supplier diversity, Kroger is a proud member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable.

SOURCE Fred Meyer Stores
NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- GLC Advisors & Co., LLC ("GLC Advisors") is pleased to welcome nine seasoned M&A professionals, including former Partners and professionals of Denver based St. Charles Capital, LLC. The additions extend GLC Advisor's geographic presence in the Western United States through the opening of the Denver office, and add a nationally-recognized team of tenured and talented M&A professionals.

The Denver-based advisory team will leverage past M&A and investment banking successes and will complement the firm's existing New York and San Francisco based advisory teams. GLC Advisor's Denver-based professionals will continue to provide mergers and acquisitions and private capital raising advisory services, as well as corporate valuations and fairness opinions to founder, venture capital, and private equity owned businesses.

In Denver, Adam Haynes and David Bluth will lead GLC Advisors' efforts in Technology, focusing on Software, Internet and IT services while continuing to build the firm's technology, media and telecom team. Messrs. Haynes and Bluth, supported by Jim Williams and Anita Lombri, bring together over 100 successful M&A and capital raising transactions totaling over $6 billion in value, and will remain focused exclusively on providing sector focused M&A advisory services to leading middle market technology businesses, nationwide. Having executed successful outcomes for tech leaders for the last 16 years, the team is thrilled to bring its reputation for excellence in execution and industry knowledge to GLC Advisors.

Also in Denver, Adam Fiedor and Michael Richter will lead GLC Advisors' efforts with Financial Institutions and Specialty Finance companies. Messrs. Fiedor and Richter, supported by Michael Fleschner, bring 30 years of collective corporate finance and investment banking experience and their M&A practice is consistently ranked as one of the most active in the United States by SNL Financial. Their transactional experience includes over 50 successful M&A transactions and financings for Community Banks, financial services companies and SBIC funds.

"Both industry groups in Denver will grow their presence in their respective markets, in the way we did with our previous firm. We'll leverage our excellent track record of superior client outcomes, as well as our drive to get deals done," said Mr. Haynes. "Joining a firm with GLCs reputation, global reach, and client relationships, particularly in the middle market, is an extremely exciting opportunity, and we look forward to building a first-class, industry-focused M&A boutique with their assistance and talent," added Mr. Fiedor.

In New York, Bill Detwiler and Tatyana Donova have joined the GLC Advisors team. Mr. Detwiler will focus on M&A as well as equity and debt private placements and Ms. Donova will focus on advising energy companies. Mr. Detwiler has operating and advisory experience in energy services, consumer and retail sectors, as a strategic advisor, investor and board member. Mr. Detwiler joins GLC Advisors from United Safety Ltd., a global energy safety services company with operations in 20 countries where he served as Chief Investment Officer. Previously, Bill was a founding partner of Three Ocean Partners, a New York-based merchant bank. Prior to Three Ocean, he was a senior managing director and co-head of the Consumer, Retail and Healthcare group at FBR Capital Markets in New York, where he joined after selling Watch Hill Partners to FBR in 2009. Ms. Donova joins from the Energy Investment Banking Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch ("BAML"). Prior to joining BAML, Ms. Donova was employed by the Global Industrial Group at Jefferies.

"These professionals are a significant addition to GLC Advisors, as we meaningfully increase the firm's investment banking footprint. Expanding into industry-focused advisory has been a long-term goal for us and we are pleased to have found the ideal partners to accelerate our growth," added Thomas Benninger, Managing Director and the Chairman of GLC Advisors & Co. "We look forward to combining our broader product suite with our new partners' sector expertise, unmatched reputation and extensive relationships to build on the firm's long history of success."

"Finding like-minded professionals, talented and tenured in their practices, who  like GLC  emphasize a culture of collegiality and hard work, is rare. We look forward to helping the new team grow and succeed. We are pleased to have taken this important next step to expand GLC Advisors offerings," said Soren Reynertson, Managing Director and the Managing General Partner of GLC Advisors & Co., which he co-founded in 2009.

Founded in 2005, Global Leveraged Capital Holdings, LLC (GLC) is a private investment and advisory firm. GLC focuses on two primary businesses: GLC Investment Advisors and GLC Advisors & Co. GLC Investment Advisors has approximately $500 million of assets under management. GLC Advisors & Co. is a leading independent investment banking boutique focused on providing investment banking advisory services to client involving restructuring, M&A and capital raising.

SOURCE GLC Advisors & Co., LLC

Related Links

http://www.glca.com


ST. LOUIS, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- GoJet Airlines is pleased to announce that it has rolled out a number of new initiatives that significantly increase new hire pay for its pilot group. In addition to starting pay that's among the highest in the industry ($36.50 per flight hour), all new hire pilots are now eligible for a $12,000 signing bonus. New hire pilots with a current CL-65 or ERJ-170 type rating are also eligible for an additional $3,000 training bonus, for a total bonus of $15,000.

New hire pilots with the aforementioned type ratings may also take advantage of a number of other benefits, including the ability to carry over longevity from another carrier at a rate of 1:1 (for example, a pilot with two years of longevity at another carrier would start at GoJet with two years of longevity). New hire pilots with these type ratings are also eligible to earn up to six months of early seniority, greatly decreasing their likelihood of sitting reserve. This program allows pilots to come to two days of initial training, receive a seniority number, and then be placed on personal leave for a maximum of 180 days.

This program is especially advantageous for pilots with these type ratings who join GoJet as Direct Entry Captains. These pilots will earn a minimum of $86,000 in combined pay and benefits during their first year. That number increases for every year of longevity that a Direct Entry Captain carries over from their previous carrier.

"While new hire incentives at regional airlines typically focus only on starting pay or signing bonuses, this package also offers some really attractive incentives for pilots who have accumulated time at other carriers," said GoJet Airlines Chief Operating Officer Terry Basham. "We're particularly excited about our longevity carry-over and early seniority programs, which allow pilots facing long upgrade times to launch new careers at GoJet with a head start on the seniority list and no loss of accumulated longevity."

Additionally, GoJet pilots are now eligible to receive a $10,000 bonus for each successful pilot candidate they refer to the company, with no cap on referrals.

The aforementioned programs are effective immediately.

About GoJet Airlines

GoJet Airlines is a premier regional carrier operating as United Express and Delta Connection. GoJet proudly flies the Bombardier CRJ700 and CRJ900, two of the youngest and most technologically advanced regional jets in the industry. GoJet serves over 4.5 million passengers annually, with more than 240 daily flights providing service to over 60 destinations. GoJet is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and has crew bases in Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Raleigh-Durham and St. Louis.

SOURCE GoJet Airlines
ATLANTA, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Grady Health System announced today that the two organizations have agreed to a new contract which maintains full in-network access for Aetna members to the clinical services of Grady Health System.

The negotiation began in July 2016 to address the ten year old contract.

"We are pleased we have successfully and mutually reached a new agreement with Aetna," said Richard Rhine, Senior Vice President, Revenue Cycle, Grady Health System. "This new agreement means that Aetna members continue to have access to the unparalleled skill and experience that Grady provides area residents."

About Grady Health System

Grady Health System is one of the largest safety net health systems in the United States. Grady consists of the 953-bed Grady Memorial Hospital, six neighborhood health centers, Crestview Health & Rehabilitation Center, and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding, which is operated as a Children's affiliate.

With its nationally acclaimed emergency medical services, Grady has the premier level I trauma center in the Metro Atlanta region and serves as the 911 ambulance provider for the city of Atlanta. Grady's American Burn Association/American College of Surgeons verified Burn Center is one of only two in the state. And the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center is a Joint Commission designated Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center.

Other key services include Georgia's first Cancer Center for Excellence, The Avon Breast Health Center, the Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, and the Ponce de Leon Center - one of the top three HIV/AIDS outpatient clinics in the country. Grady's Regional Perinatal Center with its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Primary Care Center and the Rape Crisis Center are also notable components of the health system. The state's only Poison Center is housed at Grady as well.

SOURCE Grady Health System